Blake Trask

The build is killing me, in a good way!

I appreciate the kind words! I'd like to make a comeback for sure, so I'll see how far I can get ahead of the game.

You can turn off 'left off show complaints' in the options or give member #1 the Undemanding attribute. Or, as the above poster mentioned, find a non-wrestling role for them until their partner recovers.

isn't... isn't that over the max you can naturally accrue? that's incredible.

This is really good! I love that there's just this undercurrent where of course, everything that happened is justified... to Alex. Of course he'd think he was in the right and it's just that circumstances and/or his brothers conspired against him. I suspect that there's a lot of truth in what he's saying, but a good dose of unreliable narrator too.

<p>One very long and unplanned hiatus later...</p><p> </p><p> Zergon requested a backstage piece that I never delivered. Something to close off.</p><p> </p><p> Is this going to be a comeback? I'm not sure. I have a lot written, and I'm very reenergised for the story behind this diary, but my focus is fickle, and I can't guarantee I'll keep my head in the game if mental health rears its ugly head again. I had to dangle posting this as an incentive to myself to get a bunch of other narrative completed. Shows easy, narrative hard.</p><p> </p><p> I'm probably not going to post much more this month while I continue working on the save itself, the overarching story, and testing my own commitment by building up the backlog, but we'll see.</p><p> </p><p> And, of course, thank you to Self for more than a little creative inspiration for the DeColt sequence.</p>

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="UTQkpNO.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/UTQkpNO.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> 17 years ago, Samantha Barnes watched her first wrestling match. </p><p> </p><p> Brother versus brother. Two siblings pitted against each other, their bonds strained to the breaking point by the plotting and scheming of one man. Jack DeColt the defending world champion, in the midst of a historic reign, approaching two entire years holding the strap. Steve DeColt, sole survivor at Elimination, fresh out of a brutal Luck of the Draw where he’d had a feather duster against Dan DaLay’s sledgehammer. The DeColt Wrestlefestival, the biggest event of the year.</p><p> </p><p> Sam hadn’t known all of that backstory when she’d heard her dad cheering from the other room and wandered through in her pajamas and rabbit slippers to see what all the fuss was about. She’d thought it was the football. Instead, two blonde men in gold and red pants were grappling with each other on a big square stage with ropes around it, a crowd cheering them both on.</p><p> </p><p> Her dad said she could stay up if she sat with him, but otherwise she had to go back to bed. That sounded like a pretty good deal to her, and since nothing else was going on and dad was distracted, she started asking questions. He told her who the men were, and that they were wrestlers—they looked like superheroes to her and her dad agreed they pretty much counted. He pointed out the small man prowling around the ring (she was a bit confused why it was called a ring when it was square, but she didn’t get an explanation of that one), and said that he was Adrian Garcia and he was trying to make the brothers upset at each other. Sam asked if one of them took the other’s phone, like <em>her</em> brother, and her dad laughed and said something like that.</p><p> </p><p> Sam wasn’t sure why the superheroes would listen to a skinny man like Garcia, who they could probably just pick up and throw like he was a doll, but her dad told her that sometimes, words could do a lot more damage than punches.</p><p> </p><p> She remembered that later, in a lot of different contexts.</p><p> </p><p> Sam didn’t know who she was supposed to want to win, and her dad said that he didn’t either; if Jack, the younger brother, kept his title belt for just two more months, he would have held it for two entire years, which nobody had ever done before. On the other hand, Steve, the big brother, had beaten up an awful lot of bad people to get this match against Jack, and it would be really sad if he went through all of that and didn’t get to win. Sam asked if they could share, but it apparently didn’t work like that (this later caused confusion when the concept of tag team belts was explained to her).</p><p> </p><p> What she did know was that it was <em>exciting</em>. Her dad was excited. The two men explaining everything were excited. The crowd was excited. And Adrian Garcia was excited… and smug. The longer the match went on, the more he seemed to favour Jack. The younger brother got more and more fired up, responding to the hits Steve was laying into him. Shoulder tackle! He flung Steve into the corner and punched! Him! In! The! Face! Wild Ride!—that was his finishing move, Jack was going to win!—Steve kicked out! Jack couldn’t believe it, he tried something else, End of Days!—his other finishing move, Steve’s body was stretched painfully—Jack would definitely win! Steve broke out of it! The crowd went bananas, her dad was cheering and hollering and Sam started cheering too.</p><p> </p><p> The two brothers went toe to toe with punches, and then Steve ducked and Jack punched the referee, Adrian Garcia appeared in the ring and hit Steve in the back with a chair! Then… he handed the chair to Jack! He wanted Jack to do it too!</p><p> </p><p> “I can make you even greater, Jack! I can make this the best championship reign of all time! The eternal champion! He doesn’t deserve this! You do! Hit him, Jack!”</p><p> </p><p> Ten thousand people pleaded for Jack not to do it. Jack looked at the chair. He looked down at his brother. He looked at Garcia, nodding frantically. He looked at Steve again. He raised the chair.</p><p> </p><p> <em>”No, Jack, c’mon, man. C’mon, don’t do it, mate, c’mon…”</em> her dad was muttering.</p><p> </p><p> Jack’s hands wavered. He looked at his title belt at ringside. He swallowed. Raised the chair again…</p><p> </p><p> And smacked it right into Garcia’s face! The crowd erupted. Sam screamed in glee. Her dad shouted and gave her a huge hug and lifted her in the air.</p><p> </p><p> Jack threw Garcia out of the ring and waited for Steve and the referee to get back up. Then, the brothers fought again. Steve was hurt but Jack was exhausted. Steve had that little bit extra left and slipped out of the Wild Ride. Steve hit the DeColt Stampede, and that was that. Jack lost. The belt changed hands, and then they hugged, and Jack left Steve to his celebration, a weary smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p> Sam had watched that match dozens of times. She’d watched the entire year’s build up—what was available on back download, anyway—ten times over. She knew the hype video off by heart. She could recite Jack and Steve’s promos at the go home show from memory.</p><p> </p><p> She’d cried when CGC merged into the CWA. Called her dad and reminisced for over an hour. It wasn’t the same. Jack DeColt was still there, and Ricky, too, but Jack wasn’t <em>the</em> Guy in CWA. He was just… <em>a</em> guy. And that wasn’t Sam’s Jack DeColt. Her Jack DeColt was the guy who had held on to his principles and refused to cheap shot his brother. Who’d run DeColt country for 20 years.</p><p> </p><p> That was the wrestler Sam wanted to be—was <em>going</em> to be—and something as tiny as a broken arm wasn’t going to stop her.</p>

I have a concerning love affair with Helen Earth when playing CV97. She's just so... awful. I can never look away. She's too compelling. Separately, I don't think I've ever had an opportunity to sign Connie Morris and not taken it. Workhorse. I guess I have a soft spot for the underdog.

Genghis Rahn has never produced for me and always been this guy that anything he can do, somebody else does better.

Oh dope, thank you! I'd thought about it in the past but it's a bit outside of my ken, appreciate the creation! (I think I'd use kamchatka's logos for the whole world if they were there, love them)

I would be very grateful if somebody could create a company logo for Lionesses of Wrestling. I'm using this at the moment, and I'd appreciate a similar colour scheme/vibe, as I've grown attached to it (just you know, having to ignore that it's clearly not got LoW's name on it, XD)

Tremolo is wonderful already. BEHOLDMENT

I got a kick out of that entire post, Self, but I literally just read that diary last week so I got an extra special kick out of Robbie Tomahawk. This seems like such a fun game. Harpoon Dropkick is genius.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Theheel" data-cite="Theheel" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="50528" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I’m going to have to take a look at this since I like running Hawaii company’s, thanks</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Neat! Enjoy. <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="lavelleuk" data-cite="lavelleuk" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="50528" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So I FINALLY got round the looking at this properly as I converted it for my mod...I had no idea it would be this good! Some fantastic bios, great humour, well written and very creative. Amazing work, I spent a few days going through it as I needed to balance things for my mod, check for repeat renders and look at what needed boosting (spoiler alert - a few of your created guys are now Canadian!) and I really enjoyed doing it at it was fun looking at each character.<p> </p><p> People really need to be downloading this, great addition to the CVerse, thank you for doing it!</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Thank you! The praise means a lot. I have a lot of fun writing bios and when you're doing that many I guess the goof just starts to creep in.</p>

gosh but this makes me giggle

So much personality in this bunch, smw!

Hey no worries! Honestly, I just hope I didn't butcher the names too badly. Originally I was just going to add a worker or two to each area but then I was thinking about how few Hawaiians are actually in the data and it turned into a Hawai'i update instead.

I enjoy the tale of soggy Larry. sounds like a blast though! 'this is objectively a bad idea, dan's not ready... but it's canon!'

I don't know if this mod has moves/movesets, but if it does and you're importing into a database before starting a game, it's about the order you import the different types of data. You need to import moves, then movesets, then workers, otherwise it doesn't associate properly in the database and they'll end up with no movesets assigned (and no moves inside of the movesets that are there)

Been a minute, but I'm pleased to announce that the 1.2 update for IndyBooster is now live! For now it's still only touching the USA, but I didn't feel quite right pushing a few tweaks as an update of their own, so there are now 11 brand new workers out in the wild! Primarily focused on Hawai'i, there are now four new Hawaiian ladies in the mix and two fresh Hawaiian dudes. With Keoni Kahele's newfound ability to run companies and the 15 IndyBooster workers now based in Hawai'i, it's now entirely possible to set up a very small promotion there. Let me know if any issues with the data, comments, or tales of your experiences with the mod. Always happy to hear it!

thanks I'll take ten

Lionesses of Wrestling IX: Live! Saturday, week 1 March 2020 Gloucester Street Youth Centre Attendance: 56 Not broadcast Commentary: None The show starts off with Samba Barnes in the ring with Rajni Smith, High Executioner, and Countess, set to talk about the tag team main event. Barnes tries to open with some questions but Rajni talks over her repeatedly, and it only gets more difficult for the interviewer as Countess begins interjecting, talking about how High Executioner will destroy the competition. Rajni begins repeatedly insulting their opponents, and that draws Lace and Archer out. The ring gets very crowded as the two teams argue, nose to nose, and Samba loses all semblance of control over her own interview. Executioner leans her head in close to Lace, looming over her, but the smaller woman stands unafraid. Countess eventually calls High Executioner back and the heels leave, though not without Rajni throwing off one last barb over her shoulder. — E+ A lack of chemistry mars the opening contest, but doesn’t drag it down to completely unacceptable levels. Harding may be arrogant, but LoW overflows with ego, and in Svenja Schwartz she finds an opponent who more than matches her own entitlement. Although Harding holds her ground for a decent while, Schwartz never needs to break out of a canter, in due course hitting her Invasion curbstomp. — F+ Reagan is perhaps one of the first double-duty characters that actually, genuinely looks like they could be a different person: with minimal makeup and hair tied back in a sensible bun, she’s a vastly altered figure from the brooding Sabbat. Agarwal, though, still has the fan support and they’re big into her lackadaisical antics (which work a little better when the other person isn’t trying to work spot to spot and getting ignored). Reagan falls behind inch by inch, and after getting flattened by an almost passable Henson press, is downed long enough for Agarwal to scale the turnbuckles and take flight to land her splash. — F+ Agarwal celebrates, and as she does so, a black-clad figure sneaks through the crowd towards the ring. Shinobi! Stealthily, the ninja slides under the bottom rope—but Agarwal was ready for her and ducks the attempted kick! Agarwal cheerily salutes and makes a running slide out of the ring, thumbs her nose, and then legs it out via the audience. — E+ Countess in action against the militaristic Hardaway, and this one is actually pretty good. Call it playing to their strengths, call it the booker starting to get to grips with what her roster can do. In any case, the story here is the rough and tough Harding being repeatedly thwarted by the underhanded tactics on display from Countess, and while the official does her best to keep track, she’s obviously struggling with the sheer volume of cheating. The ref tries to put her foot down as Executioner clambers up onto the apron, but while she’s distracted, Countess strikes with her loaded glove, laying Hardaway out. Executioner deliberately drops back down, and Countess collects a three count. — E- All made up, Sabbat is in the ring with a microphone. She addresses her match with Sakuyama, promising a dark and dismal fate for her, and suggesting that once she wins, she will be at the front of the line for a title shot, regardless of the result between the irrelevant peons in the main event. — E She talked the talk, but Sabbat isn’t able to walk the walk against a calm and collected Sakuyama. The mind games allow for a little traction, get Sabbat a foothold, but her brawling is no match for Sakuyama’s technical skill, and the moment Sakuyama manages to leg scissor Sabbat’s ankle, the gothic competitor ends up in a world of hurt. In the ascendency, Sakuyama romps to victory with the Kagawa Driver 20. — E- Samba Barnes joins Sakuyama in the ring to interview her about the main event. After congratulating her on her win, Barnes asks who she believes would be the biggest threat to her championship. Rather than answering, Sakuyama instead talks up the threat of each woman in turn, highlighting Lace’s international experience, Archer’s fire and crowd support, Executioner’s strength, Rajni’s cunning. She summarises that whichever team comes out on top and then subsequently goes on to challenge her, it will definitely be a tough fight. However, she’s training all hours of the day, and she believes she can win, regardless of the opponent. — E+ Stipulation: The winning team will face off next week for a title opportunity. Living up to its billing, the main event is a very solid affair. Executioner demonstrates that she isn’t just muscle, and Rajni plays off of her as a partner very well (arguing with Countess at ringside periodically, too). Lace might be the overall standout, but Archer keeps up with her ably enough, and with their teamwork, they form a united front against the fractious heel team. Executioner isn’t precisely a monster, but she is the tallest and strongest woman in the match, and her opponents do a lot of bumping for her. Countess returns the favour to her hitwoman by causing repeated distractions, but eventually Abbi has had enough, charging across the ring and dropkicking her off the apron! This sparks a wild brawl between all four women, and when order is eventually restored, Abbi catches Rajni on the charge with a cutter—Bullseye! Lace lands a high enzuigiri to interrupt Executioner from breaking it up, and the three count follows. Lace and Archer celebrate together, but as they shake hands, Lace pulls Archer in for an intense staredown. — E+ SHOW RATING: E+

Your wish shall be granted soon ! That makes a whole lot of sense. Ellen, as we will see in time, has got a whole lot to learn. Those 'business mindset' attributes are powerful when it comes to booking complaints, and on an in story level, well... yep.

Predictions Hey y'all, been a minute, sorry about that. Front half of the month was pretty rough for me and it's taken a while to get myself mentally back into a good place. For the time being I'm gonna stop the prediction contest, it was a good thing to try out but I don't think it works for my writing process at this stage of the diary; it knocks me out of my booking groove as I start to fixate too much on certain aspects of the game and highlights to me mentally the shortcomings in the roster and how far I am off of where I want the story to get. However, I'll be aiming to resume updates however regularly I manage them. Anyway, that leaves Zergon as the overall winner of predictions for the time being: If you are interested, please let me know which character you would like to see an 'interlude' for, that is to say, a vignette from their perspective, rather than Ellen's. I mean you can pick Ellen too if you want but I don't think that will be significantly different from what we've been getting already. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and hopefully I can restart on a good note!

those ratings though :eyes: