For Immediate Release “Celebrating the Life of Jesse Sarey” Date: Sunday June 11th, 2023 Time: 3:30 PM - 6:30 PM Location: El Centro De La Raza 2524 16th Avenue South Seattle, WA 98144
Contact: Elaine Simons, Foster Mother (206) 371-6387
Free/ Open to the Public outside in the Plaza
Join the Sarey Family for an uplifting day of reflections, music, performances and food as we celebrate the life of Jesse Sarey.
Sunrise July 10th, 1993 Sunset May 31st, 2019
4 Stolen Birthdays!
The Auburn Mayor, Police and City Council have been complicit in the murders of three men; Brian Scaman (2011), Isaiah Obet (2017) and Jesse Sarey (2019) who’s families have been intertwined forever by Officer Jeff Nelson.
They will never again be able to hug their mothers, fathers, know their daughter, hang out with their brothers and sisters, cousins, friends or become the light for their commUNITY they were destined to be.
We have an opportunity to use our collective voices to make justice a reality for all three of these families.
Jeff Nelson should be fired, indicted, and held accountable for his murders.
Currently Jeff Nelson has been arrested and charged for 2nd degree murder and 1st degree assault. He is on paid administrative house arrest pending the murder trial in Winter 2023. The family has been waiting since the 2020 arraignment.
“The rogue police officer who killed my foster son Jesse Sarey is facing trial ONLY because of the weight of the growing social movement against police brutality, in recent years. This criminal officer (like many officers) has been involved in killing and injuring others, prior to my son. He has already cost taxpayers $6.5 million. In spite of facing trial, he is on paid administrative leave, even though under house arrest." said Elaine Simons, foster mother of Jesse Sarey
We need community to turn out, turn up and be present during the murder trial.
WE WILL NOT REST UNTIL JESSE SAREY MURDER HAS ACCOUNTABILITY!
Our justice will be justice for Brian Scaman and Isaiah Obet. As well as set a precedent for other impacted families of police violence that resulted in the death of love ones.
This is no time to turn a blind eye...STAND UP!!!
Auburn Officer Jeff Nelson has been indicted for taking the life of Jesse Sarey -- the first police murder trial in Washington State in 30 years.
The Sarey Family will be joined by other local impacted families in solidarity and love. Including out of state families.
To get access to State VS Nelson court dates and zoom links contact: [email protected]
Please sign the petition https://chng.it/vqSrp5hRv9
Visit our web site: Justice4JesseSarey.info
In memory of Mads!

JusticeForJesseSarey

Justice4JesseSarey #JesseSarey

justiceforisaiahobet

justiceforbrianscaman

WashingtonState #StopAsianHate #StopAAPIHate #StopAPIHate #PoliceViolence #StopPoliceBrutality #EndPoliceViolence #PoliceBrutality #PoliceBrutalityMatters #CambodianAmerican #KhmerAmerican #EndPoliceTerror #BlackLivesMatter

TillWewin

MyAdvocates

"I hate zingers. I was told, growing up, that they are for the weak-minded. Like a 'Jedi mind trick', you know?" Detective Winters was doing something on his phone in our hotel room. His voice startled me as I lay half asleep on my own bed. He was sitting on his bed, half undressed, smoking under the fire alarm. I had no idea what he was talking about.
"Will you open a window? Cory has very small lungs." I requested.
"Cough." Cory said in perfect English. Then my talking crow imitated the hacking and coughing of Detective Winters in the middle of the night. It went on for about as long as a mummer's dance and then ended with the sound of a man spitting.
"Jesus would have sworn for a bird like that." Detective Winters applauded the performance and then used the lit cigarette in his mouth to light another and then he put the smoldering one in his mouth and used the lit one again to finish lighting the fresh tobacco. Then he accidentally scattered the rest of the brown stringy stuff all over the floor. He swept the remains of his new rolling kit off with the spill and shrugged, laid back, and puffed away.
"Goodness." Cory flitted down and inspected the stuff. He liked it too much and I told him to stay out of it.
A knock came upon the door. I already had a bad feeling. I'd read my horoscope and Detective Winters's too. We both had it coming our way. Nothing good could come from 'non-dairy starlight' and 'niche holes on the border'. Those phrases meant no sense, and yet our stars translated to those words, as they danced drunkenly across the keyboard of the starry skies.
"You get that." I stiffened.
"Uh, I always get it." Detective Winters smiled at me weirdly for being weird. He wasn't feeling the terror I felt. For a man who hated zingers: he sure took fear literally.
"One knock, my Lord. Very bad." Cory told me. I nodded, I already knew something was terribly amiss. Just because the armed and half naked policeman in my bedroom was blundering forward to grip the doorhandle without regard, didn't mean that we were safe. Only terror gripped my heart as my crow went to the bedpost and squawked in alarm, "Must go now!"
He opened the door and it was the same maid from before. She was wearing her regular street clothes instead of her uniform. She reminded Detective Winters that he was a policeman. He agreed and she asked him if, as a policeman, he could help her. He agreed to that too.
I didn't want to go, but I had no choice. Gagging and swaying stiffly like a terrified zombie I went with them; knowing this was going to be very bad, because I had read those weird horoscopes and believed them. Sweat shot out from my upper lip as I gibbered helplessly in dread:
"Where are we going?" I asked in apprehensive discernment, finally getting the words out of my sweaty lips.
"We are going to Sesame Street and Brooklyn Ave. You ever gone there before?" He accepted one of the woman's menthol cigarettes and fumbled with the book of matches from the hotel that was in the ashtray of his car. Then he put the cigarette to his lips and lit it while driving. He eventually cracked the window and let out most of the smoke.
"Why don't you open your window?" The woman asked. I was very afraid of the kind of trouble she was asking for. If I opened the window I might lose Cory in an awful way. Trembling I reached out and took the window's lever and opened the window a crack. Then I reached over and got the other one too. She smiled, like a golden devil, and cracked her window and then got her's down to about halfway. By then only the odor of the smoke remained.
"That's probably good." I gulped.
We got to her apartment and went inside to meet her husband and her son. The boy was tied to his bed and his eyes were terrifying and horrible. His face was monstrous and contorted and looked like a bad makeup special effect. Except that was his actual flesh. He struggled mightily and for a moment it was as though he would break free and rampage like an angry animal. His teeth glowed in the shade, sharp and ready to bite. He looked at us.
As his eyes met Detective Winters, the man froze. Then some of his hair started to wither and wilt. It became brittle and grey. He staggered backward and fell. I tried to avoid the gaze of whatever that was. It only wore her son, but something else was with us, watching us from within him. As Detective Winters made the communion of eye contact it had known him and known itself to him. Thus kin to its ways, he had fallen to the shock and horror of something unfathomably horrifying beyond words. The meaning of such a thing is simply instinctive, and to not know it is a blessing, and it cannot be known to someone until they have seen it, smelled the fruit-candy sweetness and the sulfur of its breath. Heard the voice of an angel, but not one from Heaven.
"Open the window." It commanded. The voice of this creature was not made by a human-will, yet it was from the lips of a child. Horrible and deep and grinding like a thousand souls on wheels of torture, all crying out this one phrase in unison, and then as one voice together and tormented and irresistible.
I quaked and fell back against the wall, refusing to look at it. I crept along the wall until I got to the shades. Then I drew them and let in the light. I gasped at the surreal horror I could see then:
The whole city was covered in flesh. Parts of people twitched and dripped and dangled everywhere. Skinless ones dragged their feet, leaving trails of themselves as they went. I heard a rumbling, or rather saw it, sensed it somehow. The clouds convulsed and began to drip and it was then raining. The rain was blood.
I screamed and fell back. Cory flapped around the room and the demonic thing with us was laughing. I clawed my way to the door, frantically. Detective Winters got up suddenly, and with a wild look in his eyes. His head was struck upon the shelf and a clacking monkey doll with chimes fell free onto my back as I crawled out the bedroom door.
The vision of ultimate horror burned the landscape into my memory. Once it is seen, it cannot be unseen. As I looked around I could still feel its presence on everything. I clawed at the floor, slick with the butcher's offal, but it was just the carpet. The fear was real, and as I held myself and cried in terror: I knew the carnage was still all around me, invisible. There were bodies hung from ropes, and chopped apart, and torn, and there were dead staked to the ceiling, and vivisectioned. Only I knew they were there, even if I couldn't see them. I had seen them and knew they still remained. My heartbeat slowed and I felt the clacking of the monkey on my back. I shook myself free of it and went and hid in a corner.
"My son, he is feeling better! You two have cured him! How do you do this? No exorcism? Nothing?" The father was in tears and holding up his son for us.
"Let's get out of here." Detective Winters helped me up. Cory rode on my outstretched left arm, nervously. I kept lowering my arm to which he would click his disapproval, each time. Detective Winters helped my shocked frame into the car and tossed the toy monkey onto the seat next to me. It had most likely followed us out of the apartment, or else he had carried it. Certainty is for the weak-minded, I concluded, as I stared at its malevolent glass eyes.
We got back to the hotel room and one of us put the monkey on top of the television.
"Time to get some sleep." Detective Winters stated. He laid down stiffly, like some kind of rigid corpse.
"Must go now." Cory hid behind my head on the pillow and softly called.
I watched sleeplessly as the horrible thing sat there atop the television. I could only speculate that it was the cause of the child's malady and that removing it had made everything better. I stared at the infinite evil in its dark glass eyes. Suddenly it started to chime its little chimes, clashing them loudly in the darkness.
"Oh, gawd! It's awake!" I yelled and sat up. Cory fluttered around on the bed, flapping frantically.
"What! What's happening?" Detective Winters woke to a start.
We laid back down and I started to fall asleep. As my eyes slowly started to close the absolute terror I had felt since the beginning was starting to subside just enough to catch my breath. Maybe I would not get left forgotten in the starry skies. Perhaps the wall of sleep had an unlocked door for me to get through safely to the other side. My eyes were fluttering shut when suddenly the monkey chimed again, evilly and terrifyingly in the dark.
"That thing!" I shrieked in gross terror as I woke suddenly.
In the darkness its shape sat there ready to pounce on the sleeper. It was watching our eyes close with its own eyes always wide open and staring, shining in the darkness. The toothy grin of the diabolical creature anticipated this third calamity upon our dying nerves.
My sleep brought the image of the mirrored eyes. I stared into a mirror, seeing its marble glass amid the tufted spiky hair. The monkey in the mirror wanted out; as I dreamed in a delirious fog. My dreams told me of its true nature in the true world. The one we shared alongside it.
The doll was merely where its existence met ours, like a kind of intact vortex. The space between the walls of the whirlpool, as it drains into the darkness, gurgling. I was staring too deeply into that darkness and there it was. I could see its true form there. It clambered up out of the darkness, held back only by the glass of the mirror.
Enraged, the monkey glared and snarled at me. It showed its sharp teeth and then it began hitting the glass. It threw itself against the glass over and over. As the glass fractured and broke, it began the crawl through, shrieking and snarling in terrifying rage. Its flesh was cut to the bone and it peeled off its own face coming through the broken glass like that. Then it came crawling across the floor to get to me, its hate-filled eyes glimmering over its vicious teeth.
Sleep was not a safe place to be. The chime blasted again, clanging loudly and diabolically. I jerked to my feet with a start, the image of the nightmare still clinging to what I thought I was seeing.
Except as I blinked away the nightmare I could see the dark liquid of its true form writhing back into the shape of the doll. Its shadows scattered across the wall like animated flames with no color. The foul smell of sweet and rotting things filled the air. I could hear its growl from the doll and from all around and from within my own mind, echoing from the memory of Dream.
Then without warning there was a loud detonation and blinding flash. The doll exploded into thousands of tiny sticks that were painted in red stripes. Detective Winters put his gun back into the holster.
"Perhaps now, we can get some sleep." He had a bent rolly in his mouth with bits of tobacco sticking out of it every which way. He managed to get it lit without setting it on fire and smoked it for a minute before he snuffed it out.
"I am too afraid to." I yawned.

Hello. I'm currently in Tangier. I bought bunch of sneakers and other things since they arent sold in my city. Including a pair of adidas superstars 2 days ago. I wore both twice. I'm going back to my home city and I have nowhere to put them. Im too full and heavy. I also have a black female bag.
I'm leaving tomorrow at 11. If any girl wants them pls DM me if you can come to me before 11 tomorrow I can give them both with the bag for free. Otherwise Ill have to leave them at the hotel where I'm staying.
Both are sized 38 2/3. ONLY girls. I don't want to meet men.

First Previous Next
Chapter 27 - I Guess a Bathhouse Episode was Inevitable
Last Time: Having attained at least some measure or personal safety, the party recovered from their wounds in a forest clearing. Aiden awoke from his nightmare-troubled sleep to see everyone waiting. They had found a fortuitous ally in the form of Alex, a teamster who had happened upon them during their flight from Tripit, though they were away retrieving the party’s belongings. The day passed peacefully enough, and good news was had when Oxcard awoke from his sleep. In the relative quiet, plans were made for what the party would do going forward. Aiden, Laran, Leor, and Oriwyn would follow Arcadia and Oxcard as they made their way to Diareen, a distant trade city. In addition to following them, Aiden made Arcadia and Oxcard the offer to join their party. The two siblings deferred their answer but acquiesced to the party joining them on their trip, and thus it was that they set travel that night at a much more leisurely pace than they had been forced to take the night before.
We had been traveling for about three days. During the first, all of us had been jumpy. Many small clumps of people lined the roads that led from Tripit, little communities that arose in order to be near Tripit or which persisted despite the meteoric growth of their larger neighbor. Any time someone glanced over at us, I felt like they were going to report our whereabouts to Daisy and we would need to flee into the darkness. Luckily, however, there were no incidents and we began to be able to fully relax.
Oxcard was making a good recovery. He still rode in the cart more often than not, with Oriwyn often joining him to minister to his wounds as best she could. It quickly became apparent that he knew more about treating injuries than Oriwyn, so her attempts quickly turned into lessons. Arcadia normally walked nearby, chatting pleasantly with Oxcard whenever he otherwise didn’t have anything to do - I had noticed she didn’t talk to the rest of the party as much, but given the circumstances I figured that her joy at saving Ox merited a little bit of single-minded focus.
It felt strange to lead the group with nothing really going on. We had too many injuries to really try to train, and we wanted to spend as much time as we could traveling to put some distance behind us just in case someone was following, so we barely acted like an adventuring party. In general, it felt more like we were a group of backpackers who had run into each other and decided to stick together rather than an adventuring party on a quest for future glory.
All in all, I couldn’t say I really minded it.
In the quiet times after we’d made camp but before I fell asleep, I would occasionally check Lorna’s pocket mirror. The first time I did, I was unsurprised to learn we had all leveled up - I was level six, Laran and Leor were level seven, Oriwyn was level eight, Arcadia was level five, and Oxcard was level six. In addition to that, I had increased in bond with everybody. After such a harrowing venture, it felt right.
About midway through the third day of travel, Alex called out to us all, suddenly excited.
“I thought this looked familiar! See the weird tree that looks like it was hit by lightning? And that pile of boulders over there that kind of looks like a bunny? If we take the side road we’ll find in about ten minutes, then we’ll get to YaDa’s!”
I had no idea what Alex was talking about, so I shot a look around to the rest of the party. They seemed equally as mystified, so I decided to take one for the team.
“Uh, YaDa’s? What is that?”
Alex slapped a hand to their heart as if they’d been offended.
“You don’t know of YaDa’s? It's the finest combination inn, general store, and bathhouse in all of Tal!”
I snorted with laughter at Alex’s mock indignation. The place certainly sounded interesting - even after only three days on the road, I could do with an inn, a general store, and a bathhouse. If they all happened to be in the same building, then that was all the better for it. I did have one question though.
“I think we’re interested, assuming it won’t cause us too much delay. That being said, why is someone trying to run a business out in the middle of nowhere? Sure we’re not too far from Tripit and we’re on a decently large road, but I can’t imagine that enough people pass through to make it fully worth their while.”
Alex just shrugged and smiled.
“The owners seem to do just fine for themselves! Maybe it’s because they tend to get a lot of repeat customers. I’m not the only one who looks forward to my path taking me by YaDa’s - in fact, I stop pretty much every time I’m going to or from Tripit!”
I nodded along as Alex continued to ramble about some of the amenities of YaDa’s. Everyone else seemed interested too, so it wasn’t much of a decision to declare we would stop in and rest the remainder of the day. Everyone’s mood got an immediate boost and we all moved faster - even the pack animals pulling the cart seemed excited. Soon enough we found a simple wooden sign next to a side road, which Alex directed us down.
The sign had three pictograms on it - a coin purse, a plate of food, and a steaming bath. As I looked at them, my brain started to work out what order I wanted to do the actions they represented in.
Oriwyn’s eyes were bright and wide open as we came down the path. Already, a building could be seen in the distance. It was large for how little else stood near it - a big, blocky building that matched what I thought an inn should look like was flanked by a smaller, blocky building and a large geodesic dome. I blinked a few times, startled by the shape. It looked like triangular panes of glass rested on a wooden substructure, making a shape that I always associated with retrofuturism. Leor looked interested too - maybe she had some interest in architecture?
As we approached, Alex rumbled their wagon to a halt.
“You six - sorry Brams, seven - go ahead and run in ahead of me. I have an understanding with the owners so I’m going to hitch Peggy and Gary up in the stables before I try to get settled. Someone should be working the front desk - introduce yourself, they’re friendly!”
We thanked Alex for their insight and made our way into the building. We entered into a slightly small space - it wasn’t cramped, but it definitely felt small for what I associated with the entryway for an inn. A few plush chairs were arranged around a fireplace on one wall and a desk stood at the far end. It was currently unoccupied, but I saw a small hanging bell and a hammer on an iron stand on the desk. Shrugging, I took point and walked up to the desk. I glanced around but couldn’t see anyone, so I picked up the hammer and tapped the bell. The resulting noise was surprisingly loud and the answer was almost instant.
“So sorry! Be with you in a second!” came a deep but feminine sounding voice. Sure enough, after a short time had passed, a door opened and a woman stepped through.
To call the woman tall felt almost like an understatement. It seemed like she needed to duck under the doorframe - my best guess is that she was six foot eight or taller. She was built in a way that suggested the Ghost of Christmas Present to me - red hair and all - and when she walked behind the desk it looked comically small before her. She appeared to be human, but I wondered if giants were a thing in Tal - if they were, she definitely looked the part.
“Welcome to YaDa’s!” she said, smiling brightly. She swept a hand up to herself by way of introduction. “My name is Ya, and Da is around elsewhere, and together we run YaDa’s! I don’t think I recognize you - is this your first time?”
Leor was the one who stepped up to answer, which surprised me. I shifted back a little to let her take point.
“Yes, this is our first time, though you came highly recommended by our associate Alex. I believe they should be joining us soon!”
Ya beamed behind the desk.
“Oh! Alex is a good sort - glad to see them back! Their favorite room is even open right now - unless they’d be staying with you?”
“We hadn’t discussed how we would be doing lodging arrangements, but I assume Alex may want some peace and quiet after having us unexpectedly tail along for a few days. What sort of accommodations are there?”
Ya ran a quick count on our number. “For six? We have suites that can take six, or you could do three rooms of two. Honestly, it’s cheaper if you’re all together, and we have a harder time filling the big rooms anyway.
It was at that moment that Brams began to try to scale Ya’s desk. With a scrabbling sound and some snorting, he made his presence known. Ya looked down, looked a little surprised, then reached over the desk and held out her arms. Brams gladly stopped scrabbling and flopped into the proffered embrace, so Ya lifted him and placed him on the desk.
“My my, aren’t you a strange one, little creature! Can’t say I’ve seen your like before…”
Brams made a snorting sound that seemed almost indignant and shook himself. His tail wiggled with the end of the shake, then he sat and stared up at Ya. There was a moment’s silence and Brams looked very intent - all of us leaned in a little, as it seemed like Brams was about to do something. A violent sneeze burst from his muzzle, making us all jump, and the moment was over. Ya smiled at him and tousled the hair on top of his head with her huge hands.
“Well, sorry for not including you in the count. I’m sure that the room will fit seven, though you may need to squeeze a little. Follow me!”
With that, Ya pulled a bulky key from a pocket in her pants. She bent down and unlocked a drawer in the desk, withdrawing a smaller key. As she handed it to Leor, she gave her some instructions.
“Now this key is enchanted. After we’ve opened your door, you’ll have ten minutes to make as many copies as you’ll need. Just take the key, leave it on an open spot of the table, and make sure nobody looks at it for about a minute. When you look back, there’ll be a second key on the table. Take the key and give it to someone - have them put it out of sight - and repeat it until you have what you need! When you’re done, stroke the first key and tell it thanks and it’ll stop duplicating itself.”
I chuckled - hotel key cards had nothing on what I’d just seen. Sure the whole system seemed a little convoluted, and there was a part of me that wanted to keep summoning keys for a few hours just to see how many I could make, but it still felt really cool. In a way, it felt like proper magic, like in a fairy tale.
It was amazing how quickly parts of Tal had become passé to me. I figured since I’d been living in Tal for a while, it was natural that I'd done my best to try and fit in, which would explain how I so quickly became inured to the magical wonders of the world. After all, it seemed like my life was going to continue on as it had been for the foreseeable future. Still, sometimes something small would hit me over the head with a sudden feeling that I was somewhere different from Earth.
Over time, that feeling had been less and less negative.
We followed Ya as she led us to our room. She had to slow a little, as Arcadia made it a point to walk in front of Oxcard and walk slowly so he wouldn’t try to keep up with the tall woman and possibly re-open his wounds. Despite the delay however, we made it to our rooms fine before too awful long.
Our lodgings were simple but spacious. Beds lined two of the walls, creating a corner for sleeping that stood opposed to a clear space with some tables, chairs, and what appeared to be a simple wood-fired stove. A stack of small firewood sat in a basket and thick quilts covered the bed, and overall the whole place gave off a very cozy feeling.
We wasted no time in thanking Ya and starting to get settled in. Arcadia, Oxcard, and Oriwyn took the three beds on one wall while Leor, Laran, and I took the remaining. Leor busied herself making keys, though had some trouble because Oriwyn kept trying to sneak a peek of the key when it split, causing the magic to not work. Eventually though, each of us had a copy - we even made a copy for Brams and tied it around his neck loosely with a piece of ribbon, figuring that it would be a good backup. Leor had an odd look on her face when she began to stroke the key and tell it thank you, which got the rest of us laughing. The key shivered in her hand and let out a contented sigh, which made Leor drop it. Oxcard started laughing so hard that he doubled over in pain, but there was no damage done and the mood stayed high. I decided I should address everyone and come up with something of a game plan.
“Well everyone, it looks like we have some R and R time on our hands! What do people want to do?”
What followed was a pleasantly lively discussion. Arcadia, Laran, and I really wanted to see about the bathhouse side of things, while Oriwyn and Leor argued that they were hungry. Oxcard stayed quiet for most of the deliberation, offering noncommittal answers if ever directly asked about anything, which I found a little strange but which I didn’t press on. The whole time, Brams ran laps around the room, flapping his wings as he jumped from bed to bed. I noticed he seemed to be getting just the littlest bit of a glide going as he leapt over the longer stretches - I would bring that up with Ori later. It also seemed like a positive development that the movement didn’t cause him pain, despite the healing scar on his wing.
Eventually, a plan was settled on. We would go to the general store to see if they had bathing clothes and something to eat. If they did, we would make our purchases then head to the bathhouse, which we assumed was the glass-encased dome structure. If we couldn’t find something that worked as a snack, we agreed we would get a proper meal before swimming. Our plan solidified, Oriwyn calmed Brams down enough so that he stopped running laps of the room, and we headed back to the front.
When we got to the store, we found someone we hadn’t seen before. By the look of her, she seemed to be Ya’s daughter - she hadn’t inherited her mother’s prodigious height entirely, but still stood roughly six feet tall. As we all walked in, she perked up immediately.
“Hello! My name is Yada, and I run the general store here! Have you ever visited one of our shops?”
So many things hit me at once I had trouble figuring out what to focus on first. The first thing I came to grips with was that this person’s name was likely a combination of her parents’ - it wasn’t that hard to imagine, but it still felt weird. The second was that there were multiple shops. Obviously the concept of a chain of stores wasn’t foreign to me, but they were a concept I thought I had left behind with Earth. Curiosity overtook me, so I decided to press for a little more information.
“No I can’t say I have - where are they?”
Yada puffed up behind the desk and looked proud of herself.
“Oh they’re around! Pick three out of the four cardinal directions from Tripit, and there you’ll find a branch of Yada’s General store. My siblings - Yadayada and Yadayadayada - run those two stores, but I was the one who started the whole thing and got this shop made! Mom and Dad really mostly care about the hospitality part of things, so I was free to make the business as I wanted it.”
Leor snorted and bluntly asked Yada a question that I had to admit had occurred to me too.
“Yada, Yadayada, and Yadayadayada? Good thing your parents didn’t have more kids or that would get unwieldy. Are they not very creative people?”
I may have phrased things a little more delicately, but I was still curious of the answer. Luckily Yada laughed it off and didn’t seem to take any offense.
“No, they’re good hosts but not the most imaginative when it comes to naming. We always joked it made it easy for people to remember who was the oldest - take the number of syllables and divide by two!”
Leor just raised her eyebrows but Arcadia burst out laughing. I don’t think I’d heard her laugh like that before. Oriwyn looked at her and slowly began to chuckle along, slowly crescendoing to full-blown laughter as well. I managed to keep a straight face until I glanced over at Laran, who looked utterly mystified. Ox was smiling - the first time I’d seen him do so in the short and intense time since I’d met him - and even Leor was giving a disdainful look, which was tantamount to a grin from her. When everyone calmed down, we thanked Yada for the introduction and got to the business of shopping.
There were sandwiches wrapped up in little paper bags, which we all bought one or two of. Oriwyn, Leor, and Oxcard immediately wolfed theirs down while Laran, Arcadia, and I went to a small table set off to the side and had a more leisurely time of things. As we ate, the other three began to look at the wares of the shop.
Oriwyn immediately found little baubles and spent a good while combing through a small chest of brooches. While she was doing that, Oxcard went to some shelves that had what looked like medical supplies. He came up to Arcadia with an armful and asked for some money, which she hurriedly fished out and gave him. Finally, Leor seemed to be focused on a small collection of clothes. She held up a garment and wandered over to a mirror to see how she looked in it. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was some sort of bathing suit.
I was really, really thankful that Tal had the concept of bathing suits. Part of me had been quietly dreading the prospect of skinny-dipping with five people who were barely more than strangers to me. The fact there was some reasonable expectation we would all be clothed was a relief.
After we finished our sandwiches, we all went to look at the bathing wear. Yada wandered over and started talking about things, going over what was popular where and who had suggested certain styles. I did what I normally did and grabbed the first pair of anything that reasonably looked like it would fit me, and it seemed Oxcard did the same. Arcadia was the next to choose, then Leor. Laran and Oriwyn were debating extensively amongst themselves, going over minute differences in material and cut that I wouldn’t have even thought to look at, so we left them to it and told them to meet us in the bathhouse. They agreed, so we set off.
When we entered the glass dome that hosted the baths, I saw that I had been right. A wooden frame created triangular ledges that held up glass panes. Some of them seemed to be missing from strategic places, creating a cross breeze. Still, the glass held in a large amount of steamy air, and we quickly picked out a large pool to claim as our own. There were only two other bathers, and they were off in a much smaller pool off to the side, so we had plenty of choice. We saw some booths off to the side and went to get changed.
As we gathered by the pool, my head idly studied what bathing suits we’d all chosen. I had gone with what was familiar - a pair of baggy trunks that had a cinch at the waist so they wouldn’t fall down. They didn’t have the weird inner netting that I was used to in place of underwear, which felt a bit strange and loose, but otherwise they were comfortable enough. Oxcard seemed to have chosen much the same as me, but where mine were dyed a green color, his seemed to be wholly undyed. I wondered if they had been the cheapest pair available - that might track with what little I knew about him and Arcadia.
Speaking of, Arcadia was wearing what looked like a sports bra and spanks. I’m sure there were women back home who would have killed for her sporty build, though given her life I’m sure she hadn’t come by it in a way that was in any way pleasant. The last to emerge was Leor, and I had to stop myself from laughing. She looked like a candy cane, wearing a red and white striped one-piece bathing suit that made me think of the old-timey Victorian bathing suits I saw guys wearing in movies and read about in history books. The lower part nearly came down to her knees, and given her beard and candy-cane coloring I got the impression of one of Santa’s elves on holiday. The mental image was doubly funny given that Leor was very definitely a dwarf, but I managed to hold myself together regardless.
We all slipped into the water - it was warm and inviting - and had just started to chat when we heard the bathhouse door open. We waved at Oriwyn and Laran as they entered, and they quickly went and got changed in the hutches we had vacated. It was with some curiosity that I watched for them to exit.
Oriwyn wore a loose, draped garment that seemed to be gathered at specific places to preserve her modesty - it looked vaguely Greek to me. I only had a few seconds to observe the cut though, because she immediately took a running start and jumped towards the deepest part of the pool. Brams immediately followed, offering a secondary splash nearly as large as Oriwyn’s as he splashed down. He began to paddle around the pool happily, having tucked his wings up and out of the way, while Oriwyn surfaced, shooting a cheesy grin at Leor - who she had splashed severely with her entrance - and took a place along the ledge at the edge.
When Laran came out, my face turned a little red. Now I wasn’t a prude, and over the years I had seen several men in very, very revealing swimsuits, but Laran’s suit was drawing my eyes in a way that I felt like they hadn’t been drawn since I was going through puberty. He wore what appeared to be folded fabric instead of trunks like Oxcard and I had found - some distant memory thought it looked vaguely Roman in Earth terms. It was a dark burgundy and not even that revealing, but something about seeing him in it brought back the bashfulness I had experienced when he’d run around the edge of the house shirtless the first time I met him. He seemed to be thinking the same way as I saw his cheeks darkened, but ignored his self-consciousness and walked over without comment to join us in the pool.
We all relaxed in the warm water, trading the occasional bits of small talk. After a while Alex walked in and we waved, but they seemed bent on going to a particular pool on the opposite side of the room. After a while of discussing nothing important, Arcadia cleared her throat to get our attention.
“Excuse me? I don’t want to be too formal or anything, but Ox and I have been talking about your offer and I figured we should share what we decided.”
My heart nearly froze in my chest. My curiosity on if they’d join us had been burning away at me for the whole trip so far, and it seemed like it was going to be answered. Of course we would survive without them, but with what all we’d been through I very much wanted them to accept. Also, part of me wondered if I felt that way because their refusal would mean our group wasn’t worth joining. I tried to push the sudden jumble of emotions down and focus on what she was saying.
“We talked it over and decided we’ll join you. I didn’t have a much better plan long term, and you’ve already proved you’re trustworthy. So, assuming you’ll still have us, we’d like to join.”
Arcadia looked a little nervous while Ox remained hard to read. I felt a sudden soaring in my heart, but Oriwyn beat me to accepting the offer.
“Yes! Of course! We never rescinded the offer after all, plus we work well together!”
Arcadia looked pleased, and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile on Oxcard’s face. Leor smiled too, while Laran suddenly shot to his feet.
“This calls for a proper celebration! Wait ‘ere!”
With that, he got out of the pool and raced off. In short order, he returned with two wine bottles and a few glasses. He eagerly began passing them out, Leor enthusiastically helping get things uncorked and poured. When we all had our glasses, Laran raised his in the air.
“A toast! To new allies an’ a new team! May we do well, do good, and do well for ourselves in so doin’!”
He said the words as if he’d heard them before - I wondered from whom for a moment but abandoned that train of thought quickly. Everyone readily agreed to his toast and raised their glasses, myself included, before taking hearty drinks of our wine. It was a sweet, almost citrusy flavor that bordered on too sweet for me, but its flavor cut through the steamy air of the bathhouse well. I enjoyed it and it seemed everyone else did too. As we lowered our glasses though, we all got quite a shock.
“Cheers! Now where’s my glass?”
The voice came from Brams, who was happily paddling in the center of the pool. Laran choked on his wine, shooting a little out of his nose. Leor just stopped and stared into her glass, looking for an explanation there. Oxcard and Arcadia looked at the rest of us, vaguely confused, but it was Oriwyn’s reaction I really wanted to see.
She sat on her ledge in the pool, a broad smile across her face. I could see a hint of surprise in her eyes, but still she flashed her smile to the rest of us.
“Why are you all acting so surprised? Did you think I was talking to Brams just for fun?”
Elsewhere: The captain of the river barge stood eagle-eyed at the front. It wasn’t like he needed to steer very much - just about anybody could control a riverboat when it was being pulled by horses on the bank - so his attention was much better spent keeping an eye out for threats. He looked to the side - the group of three mercenaries he had hired to accompany his boat and walk by the horses trotted along, weapons sheathed and chatting amicably. He couldn’t blame them really, given that they’d been going for a full day and a half since he’d picked them up without trouble. Still, he knew this stretch of the river and knew he should expect trouble. He scanned the gently rippling surface of the river again, a sudden feeling of discomfort settling over him. A disruption caught his eye, and he let out a cry. The bubbles that caused the disruption began to surface more violently, making the calm stream look like a pot of water at a roiling boil, and the captain cursed his luck. He’d been a fool to try and make his run when he did, but he felt like he’d had no choice. Now he was going to pay for that specific incautious decision - all he could hope was that he didn’t pay too dearly in either coin or life.
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Chapter 27 - I Guess a Bathhouse Episode was Inevitable
Last Time: Having attained at least some measure or personal safety, the party recovered from their wounds in a forest clearing. Aiden awoke from his nightmare-troubled sleep to see everyone waiting. They had found a fortuitous ally in the form of Alex, a teamster who had happened upon them during their flight from Tripit, though they were away retrieving the party’s belongings. The day passed peacefully enough, and good news was had when Oxcard awoke from his sleep. In the relative quiet, plans were made for what the party would do going forward. Aiden, Laran, Leor, and Oriwyn would follow Arcadia and Oxcard as they made their way to Diareen, a distant trade city. In addition to following them, Aiden made Arcadia and Oxcard the offer to join their party. The two siblings deferred their answer but acquiesced to the party joining them on their trip, and thus it was that they set travel that night at a much more leisurely pace than they had been forced to take the night before.
We had been traveling for about three days. During the first, all of us had been jumpy. Many small clumps of people lined the roads that led from Tripit, little communities that arose in order to be near Tripit or which persisted despite the meteoric growth of their larger neighbor. Any time someone glanced over at us, I felt like they were going to report our whereabouts to Daisy and we would need to flee into the darkness. Luckily, however, there were no incidents and we began to be able to fully relax.
Oxcard was making a good recovery. He still rode in the cart more often than not, with Oriwyn often joining him to minister to his wounds as best she could. It quickly became apparent that he knew more about treating injuries than Oriwyn, so her attempts quickly turned into lessons. Arcadia normally walked nearby, chatting pleasantly with Oxcard whenever he otherwise didn’t have anything to do - I had noticed she didn’t talk to the rest of the party as much, but given the circumstances I figured that her joy at saving Ox merited a little bit of single-minded focus.
It felt strange to lead the group with nothing really going on. We had too many injuries to really try to train, and we wanted to spend as much time as we could traveling to put some distance behind us just in case someone was following, so we barely acted like an adventuring party. In general, it felt more like we were a group of backpackers who had run into each other and decided to stick together rather than an adventuring party on a quest for future glory.
All in all, I couldn’t say I really minded it.
In the quiet times after we’d made camp but before I fell asleep, I would occasionally check Lorna’s pocket mirror. The first time I did, I was unsurprised to learn we had all leveled up - I was level six, Laran and Leor were level seven, Oriwyn was level eight, Arcadia was level five, and Oxcard was level six. In addition to that, I had increased in bond with everybody. After such a harrowing venture, it felt right.
About midway through the third day of travel, Alex called out to us all, suddenly excited.
“I thought this looked familiar! See the weird tree that looks like it was hit by lightning? And that pile of boulders over there that kind of looks like a bunny? If we take the side road we’ll find in about ten minutes, then we’ll get to YaDa’s!”
I had no idea what Alex was talking about, so I shot a look around to the rest of the party. They seemed equally as mystified, so I decided to take one for the team.
“Uh, YaDa’s? What is that?”
Alex slapped a hand to their heart as if they’d been offended.
“You don’t know of YaDa’s? It's the finest combination inn, general store, and bathhouse in all of Tal!”
I snorted with laughter at Alex’s mock indignation. The place certainly sounded interesting - even after only three days on the road, I could do with an inn, a general store, and a bathhouse. If they all happened to be in the same building, then that was all the better for it. I did have one question though.
“I think we’re interested, assuming it won’t cause us too much delay. That being said, why is someone trying to run a business out in the middle of nowhere? Sure we’re not too far from Tripit and we’re on a decently large road, but I can’t imagine that enough people pass through to make it fully worth their while.”
Alex just shrugged and smiled.
“The owners seem to do just fine for themselves! Maybe it’s because they tend to get a lot of repeat customers. I’m not the only one who looks forward to my path taking me by YaDa’s - in fact, I stop pretty much every time I’m going to or from Tripit!”
I nodded along as Alex continued to ramble about some of the amenities of YaDa’s. Everyone else seemed interested too, so it wasn’t much of a decision to declare we would stop in and rest the remainder of the day. Everyone’s mood got an immediate boost and we all moved faster - even the pack animals pulling the cart seemed excited. Soon enough we found a simple wooden sign next to a side road, which Alex directed us down.
The sign had three pictograms on it - a coin purse, a plate of food, and a steaming bath. As I looked at them, my brain started to work out what order I wanted to do the actions they represented in.
Oriwyn’s eyes were bright and wide open as we came down the path. Already, a building could be seen in the distance. It was large for how little else stood near it - a big, blocky building that matched what I thought an inn should look like was flanked by a smaller, blocky building and a large geodesic dome. I blinked a few times, startled by the shape. It looked like triangular panes of glass rested on a wooden substructure, making a shape that I always associated with retrofuturism. Leor looked interested too - maybe she had some interest in architecture?
As we approached, Alex rumbled their wagon to a halt.
“You six - sorry Brams, seven - go ahead and run in ahead of me. I have an understanding with the owners so I’m going to hitch Peggy and Gary up in the stables before I try to get settled. Someone should be working the front desk - introduce yourself, they’re friendly!”
We thanked Alex for their insight and made our way into the building. We entered into a slightly small space - it wasn’t cramped, but it definitely felt small for what I associated with the entryway for an inn. A few plush chairs were arranged around a fireplace on one wall and a desk stood at the far end. It was currently unoccupied, but I saw a small hanging bell and a hammer on an iron stand on the desk. Shrugging, I took point and walked up to the desk. I glanced around but couldn’t see anyone, so I picked up the hammer and tapped the bell. The resulting noise was surprisingly loud and the answer was almost instant.
“So sorry! Be with you in a second!” came a deep but feminine sounding voice. Sure enough, after a short time had passed, a door opened and a woman stepped through.
To call the woman tall felt almost like an understatement. It seemed like she needed to duck under the doorframe - my best guess is that she was six foot eight or taller. She was built in a way that suggested the Ghost of Christmas Present to me - red hair and all - and when she walked behind the desk it looked comically small before her. She appeared to be human, but I wondered if giants were a thing in Tal - if they were, she definitely looked the part.
“Welcome to YaDa’s!” she said, smiling brightly. She swept a hand up to herself by way of introduction. “My name is Ya, and Da is around elsewhere, and together we run YaDa’s! I don’t think I recognize you - is this your first time?”
Leor was the one who stepped up to answer, which surprised me. I shifted back a little to let her take point.
“Yes, this is our first time, though you came highly recommended by our associate Alex. I believe they should be joining us soon!”
Ya beamed behind the desk.
“Oh! Alex is a good sort - glad to see them back! Their favorite room is even open right now - unless they’d be staying with you?”
“We hadn’t discussed how we would be doing lodging arrangements, but I assume Alex may want some peace and quiet after having us unexpectedly tail along for a few days. What sort of accommodations are there?”
Ya ran a quick count on our number. “For six? We have suites that can take six, or you could do three rooms of two. Honestly, it’s cheaper if you’re all together, and we have a harder time filling the big rooms anyway.
It was at that moment that Brams began to try to scale Ya’s desk. With a scrabbling sound and some snorting, he made his presence known. Ya looked down, looked a little surprised, then reached over the desk and held out her arms. Brams gladly stopped scrabbling and flopped into the proffered embrace, so Ya lifted him and placed him on the desk.
“My my, aren’t you a strange one, little creature! Can’t say I’ve seen your like before…”
Brams made a snorting sound that seemed almost indignant and shook himself. His tail wiggled with the end of the shake, then he sat and stared up at Ya. There was a moment’s silence and Brams looked very intent - all of us leaned in a little, as it seemed like Brams was about to do something. A violent sneeze burst from his muzzle, making us all jump, and the moment was over. Ya smiled at him and tousled the hair on top of his head with her huge hands.
“Well, sorry for not including you in the count. I’m sure that the room will fit seven, though you may need to squeeze a little. Follow me!”
With that, Ya pulled a bulky key from a pocket in her pants. She bent down and unlocked a drawer in the desk, withdrawing a smaller key. As she handed it to Leor, she gave her some instructions.
“Now this key is enchanted. After we’ve opened your door, you’ll have ten minutes to make as many copies as you’ll need. Just take the key, leave it on an open spot of the table, and make sure nobody looks at it for about a minute. When you look back, there’ll be a second key on the table. Take the key and give it to someone - have them put it out of sight - and repeat it until you have what you need! When you’re done, stroke the first key and tell it thanks and it’ll stop duplicating itself.”
I chuckled - hotel key cards had nothing on what I’d just seen. Sure the whole system seemed a little convoluted, and there was a part of me that wanted to keep summoning keys for a few hours just to see how many I could make, but it still felt really cool. In a way, it felt like proper magic, like in a fairy tale.
It was amazing how quickly parts of Tal had become passé to me. I figured since I’d been living in Tal for a while, it was natural that I'd done my best to try and fit in, which would explain how I so quickly became inured to the magical wonders of the world. After all, it seemed like my life was going to continue on as it had been for the foreseeable future. Still, sometimes something small would hit me over the head with a sudden feeling that I was somewhere different from Earth.
Over time, that feeling had been less and less negative.
We followed Ya as she led us to our room. She had to slow a little, as Arcadia made it a point to walk in front of Oxcard and walk slowly so he wouldn’t try to keep up with the tall woman and possibly re-open his wounds. Despite the delay however, we made it to our rooms fine before too awful long.
Our lodgings were simple but spacious. Beds lined two of the walls, creating a corner for sleeping that stood opposed to a clear space with some tables, chairs, and what appeared to be a simple wood-fired stove. A stack of small firewood sat in a basket and thick quilts covered the bed, and overall the whole place gave off a very cozy feeling.
We wasted no time in thanking Ya and starting to get settled in. Arcadia, Oxcard, and Oriwyn took the three beds on one wall while Leor, Laran, and I took the remaining. Leor busied herself making keys, though had some trouble because Oriwyn kept trying to sneak a peek of the key when it split, causing the magic to not work. Eventually though, each of us had a copy - we even made a copy for Brams and tied it around his neck loosely with a piece of ribbon, figuring that it would be a good backup. Leor had an odd look on her face when she began to stroke the key and tell it thank you, which got the rest of us laughing. The key shivered in her hand and let out a contented sigh, which made Leor drop it. Oxcard started laughing so hard that he doubled over in pain, but there was no damage done and the mood stayed high. I decided I should address everyone and come up with something of a game plan.
“Well everyone, it looks like we have some R and R time on our hands! What do people want to do?”
What followed was a pleasantly lively discussion. Arcadia, Laran, and I really wanted to see about the bathhouse side of things, while Oriwyn and Leor argued that they were hungry. Oxcard stayed quiet for most of the deliberation, offering noncommittal answers if ever directly asked about anything, which I found a little strange but which I didn’t press on. The whole time, Brams ran laps around the room, flapping his wings as he jumped from bed to bed. I noticed he seemed to be getting just the littlest bit of a glide going as he leapt over the longer stretches - I would bring that up with Ori later. It also seemed like a positive development that the movement didn’t cause him pain, despite the healing scar on his wing.
Eventually, a plan was settled on. We would go to the general store to see if they had bathing clothes and something to eat. If they did, we would make our purchases then head to the bathhouse, which we assumed was the glass-encased dome structure. If we couldn’t find something that worked as a snack, we agreed we would get a proper meal before swimming. Our plan solidified, Oriwyn calmed Brams down enough so that he stopped running laps of the room, and we headed back to the front.
When we got to the store, we found someone we hadn’t seen before. By the look of her, she seemed to be Ya’s daughter - she hadn’t inherited her mother’s prodigious height entirely, but still stood roughly six feet tall. As we all walked in, she perked up immediately.
“Hello! My name is Yada, and I run the general store here! Have you ever visited one of our shops?”
So many things hit me at once I had trouble figuring out what to focus on first. The first thing I came to grips with was that this person’s name was likely a combination of her parents’ - it wasn’t that hard to imagine, but it still felt weird. The second was that there were multiple shops. Obviously the concept of a chain of stores wasn’t foreign to me, but they were a concept I thought I had left behind with Earth. Curiosity overtook me, so I decided to press for a little more information.
“No I can’t say I have - where are they?”
Yada puffed up behind the desk and looked proud of herself.
“Oh they’re around! Pick three out of the four cardinal directions from Tripit, and there you’ll find a branch of Yada’s General store. My siblings - Yadayada and Yadayadayada - run those two stores, but I was the one who started the whole thing and got this shop made! Mom and Dad really mostly care about the hospitality part of things, so I was free to make the business as I wanted it.”
Leor snorted and bluntly asked Yada a question that I had to admit had occurred to me too.
“Yada, Yadayada, and Yadayadayada? Good thing your parents didn’t have more kids or that would get unwieldy. Are they not very creative people?”
I may have phrased things a little more delicately, but I was still curious of the answer. Luckily Yada laughed it off and didn’t seem to take any offense.
“No, they’re good hosts but not the most imaginative when it comes to naming. We always joked it made it easy for people to remember who was the oldest - take the number of syllables and divide by two!”
Leor just raised her eyebrows but Arcadia burst out laughing. I don’t think I’d heard her laugh like that before. Oriwyn looked at her and slowly began to chuckle along, slowly crescendoing to full-blown laughter as well. I managed to keep a straight face until I glanced over at Laran, who looked utterly mystified. Ox was smiling - the first time I’d seen him do so in the short and intense time since I’d met him - and even Leor was giving a disdainful look, which was tantamount to a grin from her. When everyone calmed down, we thanked Yada for the introduction and got to the business of shopping.
There were sandwiches wrapped up in little paper bags, which we all bought one or two of. Oriwyn, Leor, and Oxcard immediately wolfed theirs down while Laran, Arcadia, and I went to a small table set off to the side and had a more leisurely time of things. As we ate, the other three began to look at the wares of the shop.
Oriwyn immediately found little baubles and spent a good while combing through a small chest of brooches. While she was doing that, Oxcard went to some shelves that had what looked like medical supplies. He came up to Arcadia with an armful and asked for some money, which she hurriedly fished out and gave him. Finally, Leor seemed to be focused on a small collection of clothes. She held up a garment and wandered over to a mirror to see how she looked in it. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was some sort of bathing suit.
I was really, really thankful that Tal had the concept of bathing suits. Part of me had been quietly dreading the prospect of skinny-dipping with five people who were barely more than strangers to me. The fact there was some reasonable expectation we would all be clothed was a relief.
After we finished our sandwiches, we all went to look at the bathing wear. Yada wandered over and started talking about things, going over what was popular where and who had suggested certain styles. I did what I normally did and grabbed the first pair of anything that reasonably looked like it would fit me, and it seemed Oxcard did the same. Arcadia was the next to choose, then Leor. Laran and Oriwyn were debating extensively amongst themselves, going over minute differences in material and cut that I wouldn’t have even thought to look at, so we left them to it and told them to meet us in the bathhouse. They agreed, so we set off.
When we entered the glass dome that hosted the baths, I saw that I had been right. A wooden frame created triangular ledges that held up glass panes. Some of them seemed to be missing from strategic places, creating a cross breeze. Still, the glass held in a large amount of steamy air, and we quickly picked out a large pool to claim as our own. There were only two other bathers, and they were off in a much smaller pool off to the side, so we had plenty of choice. We saw some booths off to the side and went to get changed.
As we gathered by the pool, my head idly studied what bathing suits we’d all chosen. I had gone with what was familiar - a pair of baggy trunks that had a cinch at the waist so they wouldn’t fall down. They didn’t have the weird inner netting that I was used to in place of underwear, which felt a bit strange and loose, but otherwise they were comfortable enough. Oxcard seemed to have chosen much the same as me, but where mine were dyed a green color, his seemed to be wholly undyed. I wondered if they had been the cheapest pair available - that might track with what little I knew about him and Arcadia.
Speaking of, Arcadia was wearing what looked like a sports bra and spanks. I’m sure there were women back home who would have killed for her sporty build, though given her life I’m sure she hadn’t come by it in a way that was in any way pleasant. The last to emerge was Leor, and I had to stop myself from laughing. She looked like a candy cane, wearing a red and white striped one-piece bathing suit that made me think of the old-timey Victorian bathing suits I saw guys wearing in movies and read about in history books. The lower part nearly came down to her knees, and given her beard and candy-cane coloring I got the impression of one of Santa’s elves on holiday. The mental image was doubly funny given that Leor was very definitely a dwarf, but I managed to hold myself together regardless.
We all slipped into the water - it was warm and inviting - and had just started to chat when we heard the bathhouse door open. We waved at Oriwyn and Laran as they entered, and they quickly went and got changed in the hutches we had vacated. It was with some curiosity that I watched for them to exit.
Oriwyn wore a loose, draped garment that seemed to be gathered at specific places to preserve her modesty - it looked vaguely Greek to me. I only had a few seconds to observe the cut though, because she immediately took a running start and jumped towards the deepest part of the pool. Brams immediately followed, offering a secondary splash nearly as large as Oriwyn’s as he splashed down. He began to paddle around the pool happily, having tucked his wings up and out of the way, while Oriwyn surfaced, shooting a cheesy grin at Leor - who she had splashed severely with her entrance - and took a place along the ledge at the edge.
When Laran came out, my face turned a little red. Now I wasn’t a prude, and over the years I had seen several men in very, very revealing swimsuits, but Laran’s suit was drawing my eyes in a way that I felt like they hadn’t been drawn since I was going through puberty. He wore what appeared to be folded fabric instead of trunks like Oxcard and I had found - some distant memory thought it looked vaguely Roman in Earth terms. It was a dark burgundy and not even that revealing, but something about seeing him in it brought back the bashfulness I had experienced when he’d run around the edge of the house shirtless the first time I met him. He seemed to be thinking the same way as I saw his cheeks darkened, but ignored his self-consciousness and walked over without comment to join us in the pool.
We all relaxed in the warm water, trading the occasional bits of small talk. After a while Alex walked in and we waved, but they seemed bent on going to a particular pool on the opposite side of the room. After a while of discussing nothing important, Arcadia cleared her throat to get our attention.
“Excuse me? I don’t want to be too formal or anything, but Ox and I have been talking about your offer and I figured we should share what we decided.”
My heart nearly froze in my chest. My curiosity on if they’d join us had been burning away at me for the whole trip so far, and it seemed like it was going to be answered. Of course we would survive without them, but with what all we’d been through I very much wanted them to accept. Also, part of me wondered if I felt that way because their refusal would mean our group wasn’t worth joining. I tried to push the sudden jumble of emotions down and focus on what she was saying.
“We talked it over and decided we’ll join you. I didn’t have a much better plan long term, and you’ve already proved you’re trustworthy. So, assuming you’ll still have us, we’d like to join.”
Arcadia looked a little nervous while Ox remained hard to read. I felt a sudden soaring in my heart, but Oriwyn beat me to accepting the offer.
“Yes! Of course! We never rescinded the offer after all, plus we work well together!”
Arcadia looked pleased, and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile on Oxcard’s face. Leor smiled too, while Laran suddenly shot to his feet.
“This calls for a proper celebration! Wait ‘ere!”
With that, he got out of the pool and raced off. In short order, he returned with two wine bottles and a few glasses. He eagerly began passing them out, Leor enthusiastically helping get things uncorked and poured. When we all had our glasses, Laran raised his in the air.
“A toast! To new allies an’ a new team! May we do well, do good, and do well for ourselves in so doin’!”
He said the words as if he’d heard them before - I wondered from whom for a moment but abandoned that train of thought quickly. Everyone readily agreed to his toast and raised their glasses, myself included, before taking hearty drinks of our wine. It was a sweet, almost citrusy flavor that bordered on too sweet for me, but its flavor cut through the steamy air of the bathhouse well. I enjoyed it and it seemed everyone else did too. As we lowered our glasses though, we all got quite a shock.
“Cheers! Now where’s my glass?”
The voice came from Brams, who was happily paddling in the center of the pool. Laran choked on his wine, shooting a little out of his nose. Leor just stopped and stared into her glass, looking for an explanation there. Oxcard and Arcadia looked at the rest of us, vaguely confused, but it was Oriwyn’s reaction I really wanted to see.
She sat on her ledge in the pool, a broad smile across her face. I could see a hint of surprise in her eyes, but still she flashed her smile to the rest of us.
“Why are you all acting so surprised? Did you think I was talking to Brams just for fun?”
Elsewhere: The captain of the river barge stood eagle-eyed at the front. It wasn’t like he needed to steer very much - just about anybody could control a riverboat when it was being pulled by horses on the bank - so his attention was much better spent keeping an eye out for threats. He looked to the side - the group of three mercenaries he had hired to accompany his boat and walk by the horses trotted along, weapons sheathed and chatting amicably. He couldn’t blame them really, given that they’d been going for a full day and a half since he’d picked them up without trouble. Still, he knew this stretch of the river and knew he should expect trouble. He scanned the gently rippling surface of the river again, a sudden feeling of discomfort settling over him. A disruption caught his eye, and he let out a cry. The bubbles that caused the disruption began to surface more violently, making the calm stream look like a pot of water at a roiling boil, and the captain cursed his luck. He’d been a fool to try and make his run when he did, but he felt like he’d had no choice. Now he was going to pay for that specific incautious decision - all he could hope was that he didn’t pay too dearly in either coin or life.
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A few months ago, I broke up from a relationship and was not looking to date anyone. However, about a month ago, a friend asked me to help her best friend who needed a place to stay in our city.
Shortly after, I got a call from this woman. She had been given my number by our mutual friend and she needed help booking a hotel in a tourist spot. I initially declined, but when she hinted that she was meeting a man from Bumble and needed me to accompany her for safety, I agreed.
Unexpectedly, we clicked, and three days later she proposed the idea of us dating. I was hesitant since she was behind some one else just a few days before but my friend assured me that, despite her seeming a bit naive, she was a good person. I told her I might end up dating this person, she responded that we are adults and we can make our own choices but don't water on barren land. (Don't be kind to her)
Despite my initial reservations, I found myself agreeing to a relationship with her about 4 days later. She was persistent and I found her attention flattering. We bond over interpretations of the Bible. She told that she had recently converted to Christianity and wanted to settle down with a Christian man. Hence she was persistent.
We later went on the trip, had a great time, and we slept together.
When I returned, my friend's boyfriend contacted me. He told me that he knew we both would behave this way. He claimed that the woman I was seeing had tendencies to cheat and was an exhibitionist. He painted a picture of her as a manipulative nymphomaniac and the experiences his friends had with her. His stories were a bit convincing since I am usually gullible when it comes to women and he said the the same phrases she used.
He had let this whole situation unfold cos I didn't contact him earlier. (We have known each other for 8 years and he has all his gf's accounts. So thought he knew everything and was okay with me dating) Additionally, my ex-girlfriend(My friends bf and my ex are best friends) had a one-night stand with someone I hated. He wanted to wait till I had slept with someone else before telling me this. He suggested I break up and distance myself from the woman I was seeing.
To make matters more complicated, he had also told my ex-girlfriend everything, leading to her being upset with me. She blamed me for using her and basically ended our friendship. She was unaware, however, that he had also told me about her one-night stand.
This sequence of events has left me feeling lost and confused, and I'm unsure of what to do next.

The material is 50% cotton, 50% polyester.
Things I tried - washing it out with detergent and cool water. - gently brushing with hydrogen peroxide - washing again with a little vinegar - brushing with warm water

So in 2019 I won a set of tickets to see Jingle Ball in NYC. Before I tried to win these tickets I asked my ( at the time) closest friend if he wanted to go since my husband would not want to go unless dragged. I had checked the PA jingle ball line up and thought that NYC would be similar, ie Sam Smith and Lizzo. He said yes but he had to work so we might be late getting to the concert IF I won them. So to try and get to the point- I won the tickets!
We then found out it was not SS and lizzo but Tayor and the Jonas Bros headlining. That's cool if you like them, I do not. So I called friend who had agreed and said listen the lineup isn't what we thought if I can sell these tickets would you rather go have a night in the city and he said yes. The back up plan was we would just go to the show if the tickets didn't sell.
Come to find out I won 7th row floor seats. They sold immediately and for 1500 a piece. And I under priced them compared to what was for sale. I called friend and told him the great news. He then started telling me we should book a hotel too. While I was excited about the idea I had just bout a house 6 months ago and Christmas was in 2 weeks so I was cool with spending 5-600 on the night, a hotel in NYC 2 week before Christmas was going to cost half that and friend wanted to go do a tasting menu at a Japanese restaurant that cost 150 per person before drinks, tax and tip. I finally said no I wasn't willing to spend the whole amt on one night and that when things got very complicated.
He asked if he wanted me to invite his very wealthy friend to dinner who would pay for him and I can pay for drinks and the hotel which would still be more than the 600 I had planned on spending. I got 2500 after fees. I said that wasn't necessary and asked if we could push till after the holidays since then everything in the city would be less expensive.
Friend had a fit. Mind you this is a platonic friend who isn't even into women. I was "greedy" and "half the money belonged to him". I tried to calmly make him understand that people who have alot of responsibility do not just drop 2500 on a night and 600 on one night was a lot and I didn't spend that kind of money on my partner on one night.
End game I kept the money, took another friend to the city for the day and then put the rest in savings thinking that we'd make up and then have out night out eventually. It's been 4 years we haven't spoken since. Am I the asshole?

Hello, I am driving a rental car coming from Paris and am wondering if I need to do anything that concerns the Low Emission Zone. I have a hotel booked for one night in the City Center. Do I need to register the car or am I good to drive to the hotel and head out the next day without worry?
Thank you

It was a long trip. This is a long post. Apologies in advance.
HIGHLIGHTS (Days 1-14 of 28) KYOTO--Kiyomizu temple; Nanzenji temple; Nijo Castle; Sanjusangendo temple; Shugakuin Imperial Villa; Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion); Fushimi Inari shrine; 184th Kamogawa-Odori geisha show HIMEJI-The castle and garden. NARA-Todaiji temple UJI-Byodoin temple IZU KOGEN--Jogasaki Coast nature trail
TOKYO, Monday 5/8
We arrived mid-afternoon at Tokyo/Haneda, right after Golden Week ended. It turned out to be, coincidentally, the day when the Japanese government officially downgraded the Covid pandemic to the level of a seasonal flu.
Fresh off a 13-hour flight and experiencing Japan for the first time, we went from touchdown to hotel check-in in something like 90 minutes, braving an almost-rush-hour crush on the Keikyu Line train from the Terminal 3 station.
Experience has taught us that meticulously planning every step of arrival in a new country is crucial to avoiding confusion, getting lost or simply wasting time.
Pre-loaded Suica cards on our smartphones led us straight to the train without standing in any lines.
We' chose the Shinagawa Station area of central Tokyo to spare our jetlagged selves another leg of indeterminate length--four or five hours at least--to reach our Kyoto base. Shinagawa is a straight shot--no transfers--from Haneda and a great place to catch a bullet train.
It was a geezer move that gave us plenty of time to familiarize ourselves with the layout and operation of one of Japan's busiest train stations.
Before crashing for the night, we'd taken care of some business by getting cash from an ATM and picking up reserved seat tickets for a post-Kyoto leg. We used a JR Railway ticket machine to print out the tickets, using QR codes emailed to us the previous month when we bought the tickets online directly from JR-East railway (we avoided costly middlemen in all our travel and entertainment purchases, something that requires planning but is easily doable from abroad). Like all our electronic machine transactions in Japan, there was an English language option on the touch-screen.
A machine also checked us in at the Prince Hotel Shinagawa, part of a modern high-rise development, chosen mainly for convenience. It's a one-block walk from the train station and was perfect for a couple jet-lagged Japan newbies. What we got, for the princely sum of $116 USD, was a spacious (by Japan standards) room on the 34th floor with a dead-on view of Tokyo Tower. Dinner was carryout sushi from the Queen's Isetan department store on the opposite side of the station, plus beer and sake from a convenience store, all consumed in the hotel room with Tokyo's skyline at our feet.
KYOTO , Tuesday 5/9
On the advice of an old Japan hand, we made Kyoto our base for the first two weeks. It worked well. We explored a fabulous city, took three day trips (Himeji/Osaka; Nara; Uji) and left town wishing we'd had time for more.
We expected our first full day to be a blur, due to jetlag, but it wasn't too bad. Following advice from this sub for first-time shinkansen travelers, we got to the station an hour early.
We bought far enough in advance on the Smart EX app to get a slight discount. We booked back row seats on the right-hand side for easy luggage storage but discovered that both our bags (including my larger one, which measures 142 cm [L+H+W]) also fit on the overhead rack. We never had luggage problems on trains during our trip.
Our train to Kyoto had great Fuji views, our first. After depositing the bags in a Kyoto station storage locker (rented with the smartphone Suica card), we made our first sightseeing stop: Toji Temple, a quick subway ride and walk away.
About picking hotels
We used triangulation to pick hotels; that is, cross-checking information from various sources to give us the best possible chance of getting a good place at a decent price. Sources included a handful of guidebooks from the public library, Trip Advisor and this sub.
Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel Kyoto Premier ($221 USD per night with massive breakfast buffet, best of the trip) turned out to be a great base. We paid extra for a room facing the Kamo River, a popular gathering spot for locals, tourists and joggers. We benefited from early booking (more than six months in advance, shortly after Japan began opening up). Inflation and other factors have since raised the price of the same room by about 10 percent.
The newish (opened in 2017) hotel attracts mainly Japanese/Asian travelers who, like me, enjoyed the onsen in the basement. We also put the coin-operated washedryers to good use.
KYOTO, Wednesday 5/10
Up and out, thanks to jetlag, shortly after 5 a.m., walking deserted streets to the foot of magical Kiyomizu temple, arriving just as it opened at 6 a.m. We were back at the hotel for breakfast by 8, after walking down the picturesque, cobbled streets of Sannenzaka, shops still closed, with more tourists starting to trickle in.
About choosing sightseeing spots
I'm a sucker for ratings, assuming they're done well. So, guidebook must-sees, like DK Eyewitness's or Lonely Planet's, star ratings in the Michelin Green Guide to Japan or in the downloaded Gateway to Japan guide (a steal at $10 and in your pocket for free on Kindle app) and, finally, Japan Guide's recommendations helped guide our steps.
That's how we ended up spending the afternoon at Nanzenji, a must-see Zen temple, which, like Kiyomizu, is laid out at the foot of the mountains east of town.
Lunch this day was at Junsei, a yudofo (boiled tofu) restaurant we stumbled onto near the temple. We used wooden sticks to skim the surface of an iron vat filled with simmering soy milk, that was set before us over a gas flame.
About finding restaurants
If you've never been to Japan but lurk on this sub, you've already heard that it's practically impossible to get a bad meal. We booked a handful of places before leaving home but agree with others that you rarely need to do that to eat well. If you're determined to hit a place that's highly popular, often with deep-pocketed foreign tourists, reservations may be required.
We're foodies, up to a point, but Japan's profusion of starred Michelin restaurants was wasted on us. We've learned over the years that we seldom enjoy paying the inflated cost. Over four weeks, we ate once at a Michelin one-star, chosen for other reasons.
That said, Michelin's Bib Gourmands (good, affordable restaurants) never disappointed us. They are plentiful in Japan, especially in Kyoto and Tokyo, and worth seeking out. Most of the time, though, we picked places to eat by cross-checking Google (asking for "soba noodles" near me, for example) and Tabelog, the indispensible crowd-sourced Japanese website (we looked for places in the 3.5 range).
Non-speakers of Japanese can have a hard time making reservations. We found that we could make them in advance from abroad through services like TableCheck (and an apparently expanding number of others aimed at tourists, usually charging a fee; sometimes small, sometimes steep). On the ground in Japan, we sometimes reserved for free through Google and Tabelog (at random places which you can find on Google or Tabelog restaurant listings); they were always honored. We also asked hotel reception desks for reservation help on occasion. We went to a couple restaurants in person and booked a table for later. But the easiest and often best way to get in is simply to arrive on the early side for lunch (by 11:30 or so) or dinner (between 5 and 5:30). More than once, we walked right into a place and were seated, only to discover lots of people waiting in line outside when we left. That said, if you're looking for an above-average meal on a Saturday night, especially in a popular location, you might want to book in advance.
Konbinis (convenience stores) are cheap, good and extremely reliable sources of takeout. And though we liked what we got there (mainly onigiri), we wound up relying on them less and less as the trip went along. The same was true of department store basements, which lived up to their reputation as fantastic food sources, for locals and tourists alike. We learned that we could often eat for the same amount or less in restaurants geared to locals or foreigners on limited budgets, rather than chowing down in our hotel room.
KYOTO, Thursday 5/11
We hit Nijo Castle in the morning and Sento Imperial Palace, one of several attractions we reserved in advance through the Imperial Household Agency. All were well worth it (and free of charge). The agency website explains the rules, which vary somewhat from site to site. We also toured Kyoto Imperial Palace.
About navigation
Just as the Google Translate app (and similar devices) have broken down language barriers, several travel apps have vastly simplified the business of getting around. Google Maps was our basic navigational tool and it rarely failed us. Another app that helped work in concert with Google Maps was Navitime's Japan Travel guide. Both provide alternate routes, detailed information on trains and stations and much more. Sometimes, when we popped out of subway station, we'd check the compass app on the smartphone to make sure we were heading off in the right direction. It doesn't hurt that public transit throughout the country increasingly uses English or romaji to translate Japanese. Over four weeks, we only found one place where we had trouble deciphering the destination signs on buses (oddly enough, in Himeji, a tourist magnet).
KYOTO, Friday, 5/12
A busy day started at Katsura Imperial Villa. Like other Imperial Household venues, a guided tour (in Japanese, but with free English audio guide) is the only way to see the place and its beautiful gardens.
We also caught a kabuki for beginners show at sumptuous Minamiza Theatre--tickets purchased online in advance--after briefly stopping by bustling Yasaka-jinja shrine down the street.
Dinner was our priciest splurge: Itoh, a serene, traditional style steak house in the atmospheric Gion neighborhood. We hadn't initially planned on eating Kobe beef, since we've pretty much given up beef in our everyday lives, but we were persuaded by a family member who correctly posed the question: If not now, when? Worth the steep tab ($264), not least because our table overlooked the tiny Shirakawa canal, the service was great and now we can say we know what Kobe beef is all about. Like buttah.
KYOTO, Saturday 5/13
We were at Sanjusangendo when it opened and glad we'd gone. The display of 500 life-size, gilded 1000-armed kannon in Japan's longest wooden structure was unforgettable.
We're museum people--either you are or you ain't--and the special exhibition at Kyoto National Museum on the 850th anniversary of the founder of Shin Buddhism was well worth it. Unfortunately, like most Japanese museums, photos were prohibited inside. In this regard, technically advanced Japan lags much of the civilized world; even Old Europe has greatly loosened such restrictions in recent years. Smartphone cameras can be a nuisance to other visitors, but they are a quick and easy way of capturing what you've seen and preserving it for later study.
Lunch was at Vegan Ramen Uzu Kyoto, a Bib Gourmand and the weirdest place we ate. Expanded availability of vegetarian ramen is a promising, healthier trend, and we enjoyed it at several places in Tokyo and Kyoto. A TableCheck reservation, made well in advance, got us seats at this cutting-edge spot. Dining is at a polished black surface in a darkened room bathed by the illumination of a giant, swirling teamLab artwork. Pricey but good.
KYOTO, Sunday 5/14
We're horseplayers and enjoyed a day at recently reopened Kyoto Racecourse, capacity 120,000. Betting is easy; just stop by the information desk for instructions in English.
Dinner at Tiger Gyoza Hall was lively, inexpensive and delicious. It was the only restaurant on our trip that we visited twice; reservable on Google.
KYOTO, Monday 5/15
No place put us through more hoops than Kokedera, better known at Moss Temple. It was well worth the difficulty of getting a needed reservation; if you do it by mail from abroad--the least expensive way to go--you need a couple months head start (and an International Reply Coupon, which you have to buy online from the Swiss Postal System). We got there and back via city buses. Along the way we crossed Togetsukyo Bridge in the very congested tourist hotbed of Arashiyama. It didn't make us regret our decision to skip the area.
Afterward we visited Ninnaji temple. Ryoanji temple and its famous rock garden (where noisy fellow tourists made a Zen experience impossible) and Kinkakuji, the incredible Golden Pavilion. The place was jammed but crowd control is excellent and we're glad we made it.
KYOTO, Tuesday 5/16
Shugakuin Imperial Villa, a vast imperial property of gardens and buildings (which you cannot enter) on the northeastern outskirts, was our favorite Imperial Household Agency site. We felt fortunate to get advance tickets through their lottery but saw that same-day tickets were also available there and at other Agency sites; it would be a long way to go, however, if all tickets were gone on the day you wanted to enter. Since we made a conscious decision to visit Japan after the cherry blossom and Golden Week crowds were gone, we have no idea what things are like during busier times.
We strolled the Philosopher's Path after lunch. Perhaps if it had been a quiet early or cherry blossom time, we might have been blown away. Instead, it was a rare disappointment. It struck us as a very conventional touristy trail; nothing special at all.
On the other hand, Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), near one end of the path, lived up to the hype. We capped the day by off by catching the procession of Aoi Matsuri, or Hollyhock Festival, one of Kyoto's three big annual festivals. The parade of hundreds of elaborately costumed people, some on horseback, highlighted by a pair of ox-drawn carts, was a hoot. What surprised us was the absence of music or any sort of percussion.
HIMEJI and OSAKA, Wednesday 5/17
A shinkansen whisked us to Himeji for a tour of the incomparable castle and impressive gardens. We took advantage of the unique Himeji Castle English Speaking Guide service, which generously provides personal tours with an area resident, in English, at no cost (book online in advance).
Lunch was at Mentetsu, a very good ramen shop at a mall located between the train station and the castle. Recommended.
We finished the excursion at Osaka's famous, crazy Dotonburi neighborhood, a cross between Times Square and Disney. Dinner was our first okonomiyaki, deliciously prepared at Okonomiyaki Mizuno (a Bib Gourmand). We're allergic to standing in line---life is too short--and we never waited more than 30 minutes for a table on our trip. They took our order at Mizuno while we were in line, and it was prepared before our countertop seats shortly after we got in. Oishī!
UJI, Thursday 5/18
Uji is renowned for its tea and Byodoin temple, best known for its elegant phoenix hall, which is pictured on the back of the 10 Yen coin. It was a great day trip, including lunch at a traditional local soba shop that served cold noodles sobayu style; you pour hot soba stock--the cloudy water the noodles were boiled in--into what's left of your soy-based dipping sauce and drink the (supposedly) healthy brew. Definitely the way to go. Mampukuji, a Zen temple, was a worthwhile stop before we caught a train back to Kyoto.
NARA, Friday 5/19
Our first day of heavy rain failed to dampen the visit to one of the best places on our trip. The town, a tourist favorite because, or in spite of, the overpopulation of overly friendly deer, is well-described elsewhere. We toured Todai-ji, with its giant Bronze Buddha, had lunch at the cute and delicious Pizzeria Trattoria Magazzino (Bib Gourmand) and checked out Kohfukuji temple, too.
KYOTO, Saturday 5/20
Fushimi Inari shrine, on almost every Kyoto must-see list, lives up to its reputation. We followed good advice from this sub and arrived early, a few minutes before 8 a.m. Already, crowds were building. We detoured from the main path through thousands of torii gates and wandered instead up an almost totally deserted sylvan trail on the south side of Mt. Inari, past bamboo groves, a few minor shrines and some houses. After about 45 minutes, we reached a set of stone stairs to the summit. From the top, we took the main path down, dodging the stream of fellow tourists as best we could and gaping at the gates and the view from the halfway point. We highly recommend this alternative way of seeing the best of two Fushimi Inari worlds.
We celebrated our last full day in Kyoto, and our 40th wedding anniversary, with a memorable kaiseki lunch at Hana Kitcho, a Michelin one-star booked weeks in advance from home. The beautifully decorated private room, attentive service, imaginative presentation, museum-quality stoneware and delicious food were certainly up to one-star standards.
The minute that advance online tickets went on sale for the 184th Kamogawa Odori, I jumped on them. The tourist-oriented geisha dance performance is held in May at a theater that overlooks the Kamo River. We were lucky to have been given seats in the front row and when one of the geishas tossed a white cloth package in my direction I snatched it. I now have an unexpected souvenir, a cloth banner autographed by the geisha herself. The fantastic show will remain in memory.
IZU KOGEN, Sunday 5/21
We left Kyoto for the Izu Peninsula and what turned out to be the best single night of our trip. Hanafubuki, a modern ryokan I learned about on this sub, was everything we could have wanted. It features 9 private outdoor onsens on beautifully landscaped property and elegant guest rooms with fluffy futons for sleeping on tatami mats. The ten-course dinner was exquisite. Breakfast, a seven-course feast that featured whole grilled horse mackerel and golden-eye sea bream, was simply amazing.
IZU KOGEN, Monday 5/22
A short walk from the ryokan is the scenic Jogasaki Coast nature trail, a rugged stretch of rocks and pounding surf. A guy I met there who introduced himself as Zeus, a Japanese native currently living in California and in town to visit his parents, compared the coastline to Monterey Bay. We could have used another night to allow us to explore the trail at greater length.
Lunch was at a great local restaurant, walking distance from the train station, Honke Maguroya, featuring local fish and top-grade tuna. The wasabi rhizome, which you grate yourself, is a tipoff to the quality of the sushi, but the prices are extremely reasonable. Recommended.
From there we headed back to Tokyo and the remainder of our trip. Highlights and a full (too full?) final report coming soon.

Hi everyone! This sub was so incredibly helpful to me in the planning process - I was deeply grateful for everything I learned, so I thought I'd post a trip report now that we're back!
About us: We're a 30s couple from the Midwest US. We're pretty experienced travelers (South America, UK/Ireland, Europe, lots of places in the US), but this was our first visit to Asia and first visit to Japan. As travelers, we love getting out on foot, local food/drink (especially street food), live music, nerd shit, weird art/vending machines. Also, my partner is a cis guy, but I am a trans masc person who is visibly trans (post-op in a few ways, but not passing/not stealth).
Dates: May 13 - May 29
What we did: Tokyo Kyoto Osaka Hakone Back to Tokyo
Tips and tricks:

• Definitely get your walking training in ahead of time! We walked 10 miles a day on the trip. We're pretty avid backcountry camping/hiking fans who regularly put in 8 - 10 miles on the trail (not to mention taking our dog for multiple walks a day in the neighborhood), so I figured we'd be good - but it was A LOT, especially since you're also trying to translate and navigate at the same time. Japan is not generally a super accessible place from a disability perspective; benches and public seating areas are not common. I found myself wishing I'd packed a collapsible seat of some kind, tbh!
• Good shoes a must! Merrell Moabs are my go-to for hiking, but for this trip I went with Nike Dunk 6 high-tops, which rocked. My partner went with Onitsukas and didn't do as well - he wound up buying inserts partway through the trip, which helped.
• Work on a little Japanese ahead of time! We came in with about a dozen words/phrases, which was honestly truly helpful. So many people are so kind and thoughtful anyway, but it was an appreciated gesture that we had planned ahead and were trying our best. Google Translate's camera feature (Google Lens) was a life-saver for translating written words on signs!
• We had a great experience with Ubigi for an eSIM. The days of purchasing an actual SIM card or even a burner device (like we used to do when backpacking in Europe) are long past. We hooked up our Ubigi eSIMs beforehand, flipped the switch when we got there, and we were golden. Just in case, we'd set up our Verizon coverage to include a Pay-As-You-Go international plan, but we didn't end up using it. We also didn't use half as much data as we thought we would - we both came home with extra GB on our Ubigi plan still. We didn't do a PocketWifi and I don't think we needed it - Ubigi did most of the heavy lifting, and free WiFi at various places did the rest.
• Fly into Haneda, not Narita - way closer to Tokyo city center.
• Get your Suica right away at the airport - our beloved Suica got us through so many things! We also withdrew some cash and split it up between us - we withdrew a few more times on the trip and it worked like a charm. (Just make sure it's an international ATM that includes your card type - not all of them do. Also, notify your bank you'll be traveling, so your card doesn't throw a flag!) We used our credit card as well - the Chase card was accepted pretty much all places CCs are, but many places remain cash-only, especially bars and restaurants.
• Had a great experience using the Friendly Limousine Airport Bus service straight from Haneda to our hotel area.
• I booked shinkansen tix ahead of time, so I got nice discounts on weekday Green Car tix for two - but I really needn't have worried, there were plenty of seats available day-of.
• Don't bother with shinkansen for Kyoto to Osaka - we wound up just hopping on a local with our Suicas and it was fine.
• Don't bother with the Romancecar from Hakone back to Tokyo - it's fastemaybe a nicer seating experience, but just hopping on a local with your Suica is an order of magnitude cheaper.
• Look things up in Japanese if using Google Translate; use Tabelog for restaurants if possible. Google Maps in English is more touristy reviews/reactions.
• Tokyo Skytree was hit-or-miss - only real letdown of the trip.
• Tokyo teamLab PLANETS was completely worth it - absolutely worth the hype in my opinion.
• Queer and trans travelers - I felt completely safe, but as a plus-size trans masc nonbinary queerdo, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I didn't feel in danger, but I was absolutely aware that I did not fit in. Stares were common, especially from older men and young kids. (Weirdly, local women seemed more friendly and curious about me!) Just be prepared for it and remember you're not in any danger physically - it's all just curiosity.
• I have to thank this subreddit for recommending Hakone, especially for the tip to book a ryokan with private onsen access. We had an absolutely beautiful experience at Yamanochaya in Hakone, which included both a private "onsen" soaking tub in our room and private 1:1 access to a larger, actual hot spring onsen on the property. I otherwise would not have been able to experience a real hot spring onsen at all, as they are gender-segregated. Thank you, /JapanTravel!

Because I'm a nerd, here's the actual breakdown!
DAY 1 ARRIVAL 📍 Flew into Haneda; made it to our hotel (lovely experience at Hotel Plaza Sunroute); had our first world-famous konbini 7/11 experience; walked around Shinjuku; went out for dinner at Ryu no Miyako Inshokugai - talk about jumping in the deep end 🍣 Onigiri and vending machine green tea; little whipped cream treats; Nagahama ramen and sesame mackerel donburi 👣 10,400 steps 🏁 4.8 miles
DAY 2 SHIBUYA 📍 Meiji Shrine and Gardens - got goshuin and omamori; Harajuku, went to 7/11; back to the hotel for a nap; Shibuya, including Don Quijote, Center Gai and Dogenzaka Street; Nonbei Yokocho for late night 🍣 7/11 (plum onigiri and corn/mayo sandwich, some kind of spam musubi situation, matcha roll); Ichiran coin-op ramen with extra chashu and a matcha tofu custard thing; banana shock smoothie at Shibuya109 in Center Gai; chicken and pork belly yakitori with beers at Morimoto; brown sugar shoju and shoju-infused Oolong tea cocktails at Tight Bar (strong recommend for this joint!); grilled squid, octopus, and okonomiyaki for afters at Tsukishima Monja Kuuya Shibuya 👣 32,000 steps 🏁 14.5 miles 😮‍💨
DAY 3 SHINJUKU 📍 Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden; Shinjuku area (including Disk Union, Disney, Onitsuka); Kabukicho and Kabukicho Tower; GODZ metal bar; Golden Gai; Omoide Yokocho 🍣 7/11 (onigiri, matcha filled roll thing, royal milk tea, tomago sushi, strawberry donut, cafe latte); many types of dango (sesame oil, soy sauce, and apricot mochi were our favs); McDonald's (weirdly good chicken sandwich with yuzu radish topping, vanilla custard chocolate pie, white grape soda); yummy little warm imagawayaki filled with adzuki bean paste + royal milk from depachika); a couple of Asahis at GODZ; simple yakitori snacks at Golden Gai (including some… mystery offal items); back to 7/11 for drunk matcha ice cream and waffle snacks 👣 28,800 steps 🏁 13.0 miles
DAY 4 ASAKUSA 📍 Went out for coffee; walked around Kinarimon Gate and Nakamise; toured Asakusa Shrine, Senso-ji Temple, surrounding Shinto and Buddhist shrines; stopped for sushi and mochi; went for a walk up Sumida River; dipped into Shoden and Imado shrines; crossed Kototoi Bridge to Tokyo Skytree; went up Tokyo Skytree; back to Senso-ji for night photos; capped off evening with gyoza 🍣 Lattes at cute puppet theater coffeeshop (espresso, dandelion tea); 7/11 for breakfast-y fuel; strawberries from a street stall at Nakamise; sushi lunch; beautiful mochi + tea dessert; grilled gyoza, soup dumpling gyoza, shoujo Oolong tea cocktail for afters 👣 25,500 steps 🏁 11.66 miles
DAY 5 JIMBŌCHŌ, AKIHABARA 📍 Train to Ichigaya - notable French-inspired neighborhood; breakfast at local French café; Yasakuni Shrine; Kanda River walk by Hosei University; Tokyo Daijingu Shrine; Jimbōchō Old Book Town; walked from there to Akihibara; hit up noodles, arcade, nerd shops (comics, TCGs/CCGs, retro video games systems, TTRPGS, etc); gachapons; hit up the bizarre rare vending machines 🍣 Vending machine coffee and milk tea; yummy French pastries (bacon and sour cream roll, quiche, sour cream raisin custard thing); had to try some avocado and cheese Doritos; cold udon with duck broth soup, curry rice for Chris; fish-shaped taiyaki with custard cream dessert treat; dope gyoza place ("weekday" version with pork and cabbage, shrimp and chili mayo, yakitori with tare, and shogayaki with onions) 👣 Forgot watch at hotel - we’ll say 10,000 steps 🏁 Guessing about 5 or 6?
DAY 6 TEAMLAB PLANETS, TRAVEL TO KYOTO 📍 Hit up teamLabs, had an amazing time exploring the exhibits - the infinite light crystal room was our fav; train to Tokyo Station; lunch at underground Ramen Street restaurants under the station - went with Soranoiro, one of the few veg/vegan ramen shops in Japan - delicious; shinkansen to Kyoto; out for nightlife in Kiyamachi-Dori and Pontocho 🍣 Quick 7/11 snacks; train snacks (pocky, coffee, little teriyaki cutlet sandwich); Soranoiro ramen bowls; killer yakitori we fried right at our table in izakaya in Pontocho (honestly probably a meal highlight of the whole trip); brown sugar shoujo; 7/11 for ice cream on the way back 👣 18,900 steps 🏁 8.63 miles
DAY 7 KINKAKUJI, NISHIKI, GION 📍 Kinkakuji Temple; bus back to Kiyamachi-dori; spent whole afternoon walking and eating street food at Nishiki Market; back to hotel for rest, laundry, rooftop drink; out for nightlife in Gion 🍣 Family Mart for coffee and doughnuts; Nishiki Market Street street food delights - seared yakitori style crab stick, little octopus chuka idako on skewers, kara-age on skewers, sea squid croquettes and beer, strawberry and adzuki bean mochi balls; mimosas and red wine; Kyoto Gion Okaru - geisha-decorated izakaya with insane curry udon bowls and beers; picked up box of mochi dango for dessert 👣 20,200 steps 🏁 9.07 miles
DAY 8 SHRINE DAY 📍 OK, this is a lot:

• Yasakajinja (we happened to be here while a young couple was having a Shinto wedding ceremony!)
• Yasui Kompira-gū (built 1170, shrine for ending bad relationships and starting new ones, has special stone that you pin your wishes to - many young girls will crawl through the stone to mark a breakup or wish for love)
• Kennin-ji (built 1202, large grounds - among the oldest in Kyoto);
• Reigen-in (part of Kennin-ji grounds, a Zen teahouse with a tea garden where they served adzuki bean buns with tea made from the actual hydrangeas of the tea garden outside!)
• Zenkyoan (boar shrine which we initially thought were cute hedgehogs)
• Kyoto Ebisu Shrine (dedicated to fishermen - we happened to be here during the shrine's annual mikoshi festival - a battalion of locals in traditional clothes, hoisting and dancing with the mikoshi around the neighborhood)
• Kodai-ji (built 1606, gorgeous grounds - we skipped the tour)
• Hōkan-ji/Yasaka Pagoda (dating back to 589 and rebuilt in 1400s, huge black 5-story pagoda featuring massive shakyamuni pole inside and reliquary of a bone of the Buddha in the foundations)
• Ryōzen Kannon (built 1955 after WW2, massive Buddha statue and active Buddhist temple)
• Of course the world-famous Kiyomizudera (built 778, enormous Kyoto-red temple with beautiful buildings spiraling up into the forest)

🍣 Hotel coffee, tea, cream puffs; adzuki bean buns with tea made from the actual hydrangeas of the tea garden at the shrine; dope bento box lunch; got takeout fast food donburi and fizzy lemonade 👣 22,800 steps 🏁 10.39 miles
DAY 9 FUSHIMI-INARI 📍 Fushimi Inari, the famous shrine of over 1,000 torii gates - super amazing (and intense!) summit of Mt Inari! Back to Nishiki Market for reward street food and drinks; back to hotel for a rooftop drink and soak; finally out for soba at Kawamichiya Ginka in Pontocho. 🍣 Snack pack on our hike (sausages, cheese, some kind of fish meat/cheese stick, and surume - sweet chewy dried squid stuff); orange smoothie; conveyor belt sushi; strawberry mochi roll; whisky highball and red wine; massive soba spreads (chicken seared with wasabi/yuzu/horseradish dipped in ponzu sauce, fried soba noodles in a rich soup, cold soba noodles dipped tsukemen-style in a really amazing umami soy sauce soup, tempura shrimp and veggies, a hot soba noodles in a clear broth soup) 👣 27,600 steps 🏁 Supposedly 12.3 miles, but that hike to summit Mt Inari was something else 😤
DAY 10 TRAVEL TO OSAKA, SHINSABASHISUJI, AMEMURA, DOTONBURI 📍 Beautiful brunch on the bank of the canal in Kyoto; local train to Osaka-Umeda; checked into Osaka hotel; walked around Shinsaibashisuji and Dotonburi a little bit; scoped out Amemura ("Ameri-mura") for dope American-inspired Japanese streetwear; wandered up and down street food stalls in Dotonbori; swung by Namba Hips (mostly pachinko); found a couple of fun little hole-in-the-wall places (little Japanese craft beer brewery, retro video games bar) 🍣 Brunch at Kawa Cafe (croque monsieur, ramen, tea and delicious apple tart); takoyaki, cheesy waffle shaped like a massive 10yen coin, sweet chili hotdogs from stands in Dotonbori; dashi gose craft beer (by Derailleur Brew Works) from Umineko, shots at Space Station bar 👣 19,500 steps 🏁 9.01 miles
DAY 11 NAMBAYASAKIJINA, DOTONBURI 📍 Morning Japanese breakfast at a wonderful little 24-hour diner; Hozen-ji (moss shrine); Kamigata Ukiyo-e Museum across the street (focusing on Osaka woodcuts celebrating Dotonburi's kabuki and entertainment history); Nambayasaka-jinja (lion head shrine); Den Den Town (Osaka's Akihabara); ended up at a cozy little kushikatsu bar which actually was playing the Tigers game (away game vs the Swallows at Tokyo); street food waffles for dessert; hit up a late-night batting cage - ended up at Round1 (a big multi-floor arcade complex) and did the rooftop batting cage! My partner won a giant plushie for me from a claw machine! 🍣 Dope traditional japanese omelette and fish breakfast; cute macarons from market stand; Family Mart for snacks before nightlife; skewers, beer, and highballs from Dotonbori kushikatsu place; ridiculous nutella, whip, and strawberry stuffed waffle from Waffle Khan 👣 29,100 steps 🏁 13.31 miles
DAY 12 KUROMON ICHIBA, OSAKA CASTLE, DOTONBURI 📍 Kuromon Ichiba Market for street food; Osaka Castle Park and Nishinomaru Gardens; toured Osaka Castle and museum all the way up to the top; subway to Tanimachi-9-chome subway station for amazing live jazz at Sub Jazz Cafe. (This was amazing! Akira "Ro" Hasegawa (sax) and Yukie Fujikawa (keys) - Ro is also the owner and was bartending on this particular night too.) Out to Don Don for killer yakiniku and beer; found our way to Oboradaren, an Tokunoshima-themed island vibes bar and music spot where there was a great live band playing fun island vibes beach rock - big crowd of 40s+ Japanese women who knew all the songs, wound up drinking passionfruit chuhai and joining them in the conga line around the bar 🍣 Oden hot pot, wagyu skewer, otoro sashimi, crab gratin in the half-shell, bracken green tea soy cakes at Kuromon Market; ice cream sandwiches at Osaka Castle; milk tea, little roast beef sandwich, and cheesecake at Sub Jazz Cafe; yakiniku-style wagyu, ribs, ox tongue, assorted mushrooms; passionfruit chuhai and red wine at the island vibes spot; taro and brown sugar boba teas 👣 23,000 steps 🏁 10.42 miles
DAY 13 KAIYUKAN, SHINSEKAI, DOTONBURI 📍 Fun trip to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan; quick pass through Shinsekai; lunch at spot where you can fish your own catch from an indoor fishing boat pool; out for one last Dotonburi night - wound up getting konbini snacks and sitting on the waterfront talking and people-watching for hours 🍣 Not a banger food-wise, but interesting little spread at the fish-your-own place - huge prawn for grilling, kara-age, and fatty tuna nigiri for Max, tempura veggies and whitefish with doteyaki for Chris; from Family Mart, fruit smoothie, ice cup, and KitKat for Max, onigiri and lemonade for Chris 👣 19,100 steps 🏁 8.64 miles
DAY 14 TRAVEL TO HAKONE, HAKONE SHRINE 📍 Bombed to Shin-Osaka for an early shinkansen to Odawara; trained to Odawara to Hakone; dropped luggage off at ryokan, then bus to Motohakone; saw Hakone Shrine and Onshi-Hakone Park (as well as a segment of the actual Old Tokaido!); returned to ryokan for the night, where we were treated to a gorgeous 1:1 kaiseki from a Michelin-star chef, private hot spring onsen, and private in-room hot spring bath 🍣 Konbini snacks before shinkansen; snacks and coffee on train; late lunch in Motohakone (curry and soba, pork cutlet); incredible, massive multi-course kaiseki and sake for dinner, plus strawberry cake, champagne, and more sake for dessert 👣 13,900 steps 🏁 6.26 miles
DAY 15 HAKONE OPEN AIR MUSEUM, TRAVEL TO TOKYO, LAST NIGHT IN SHINJUKU 📍 Woke up in gorgeous ryokan; leisurely kaiseki breakfast with leftover cake; final soak in the private onsen; Hakone Open Air Museum - very cool; had kind of a challenging trip back but finally made it from Museum back to ryokan to bus stop to Hakone-Yumoto to Odawara to Shinjuku to the hotel 😮‍💨 Considering the last night as our real "last night" of the trip, our final night out in Tokyo was all just extra icing on the cake - went out for yakitori skewers and Asahi Superdrys in cozy alley in Omoide Yokocho, found really wonderful cake and tea dessert open late also in Omoide, hit up 🎵 Donki! 🎵 for a final round of bulk snacks and souvenirs, ended up on a late-night excursion to find Park Hyatt Hotel (featured in Lost in Translation); finished night at hotel watching the city go to sleep from our balcony 👣 22,700 steps 🏁 10.3 miles
FINAL SCORE 📸 Pics: 1,929 👣 Steps: 337,700 🏁 Miles: 153.78 (we averaged 9.6 miles per day, every day, for 16 days) 🇯🇵 “Nihongo jōzu!”: 4 (I know more proficient Japanese speakers are insulted, but it's honestly a pretty nice comment when you're at my level) 👶 Comments on how young we look/how we can’t possibly be celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary: 3 ✨ Gratitude: Infinite.

Company Name	Title	City
Beckett Springs	Outpatient Registered Nurse	Bellevue
Jackson Purchase Medical Center	Registered Nurse Applicant - Med Surg PRN	Boaz
TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital	Float Nurse - RN	Bowling Green
Spring View Hospital	Float Pool RN	Campbellsville
Beckett Springs	Registered Nurse (RN)	Covington
Beckett Springs	Registered Nurse (RN)	Dayton
Fast Pace Health	APRN	Franklin
Bourbon Community Hospital	Registration Coordinator - PRN	Georgetown
Bluegrass Community Hospital	RN- Surgical Circulator	Georgetown
Spring View Hospital	Unit Nurse	Lebanon
Spring View Hospital	Float Pool RN	Lebanon
Travel Nurse Across America	Intensive Care Unit - ICU RN - TravelNurse	Lexington
Westport Place Health Campus	Registered Nurse (RN)	Louisville
Westport Place Health Campus	RN - Registered Nurse	Louisville
Westport Place Health Campus	RN	Louisville
Jackson Purchase Medical Center	RN	Mayfield
Jackson Purchase Medical Center	Registered Nurse Applicant - Med Surg PRN	Mayfield
Beckett Springs	Registered Nurse (RN)	Newport
Bourbon Community Hospital	Registration Coordinator - PRN	Paris
Bourbon Community Hospital	Outpatient PSC	Paris
L3Harris Technologies	Specialist, Quality Engineering	Silver Grove
Bluegrass Community Hospital	RN- Surgical Circulator	Versailles
Bluegrass Community Hospital	OR Nurse	Versailles
Buchheit Inc	Department Manager - Full Time	Benton
The Bungalows At Bowling Green	Resident Care Associate	Bowling Green

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in ky. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

This is something I didn't get a chance to fully incorporate into my last campaign, so I thought I'd stick the unused ideas up here to prevent them driving me nuts.
Basic premise
Mr & Mrs Fulco are a pleasant elderly couple of whatever race you like who have decided to devote their last years together to travel/sightseeing/tourism. However, their insistance on saving every penny possible via magic they have no idea how to use leads to the party regularly encountering them stuck in some situation they need rescuing from.
(It's important to note that the couple are more than wealthy enough to pay their way, they just stubbornly insist that it's just good financial sense not to spend money unless absolutely necessary. Often their schemes are counterproductive or needlessly convoluted, but it's the principle of the thing, you see.)
Encounters
My party first encountered the Fulcos on the ship taking them to the city where the campaign was set. I'd ripped off The Oblong Box by having the superstitious crew convinced that a recent series of accidents was due to there being a corpse on board, with suspicion falling on Mr Fulco and the large sealed box he kept in his cabin. Party investigated, found Mrs Fulco dead inside. Mr Fulco frantically explained that this was their way of only buying one ticket on ocean voyages- they would take turns being smuggled aboard ship dead, then pay for a resurrection spell at the destination. Party had to choose between appeasing the ship's crew by tossing the dead woman overboard, or keeping the couple's secret. (If they toss her overboard, Mr Fulco jumps in after her and washes up at the end destination, still clinging to the box with his dead wife inside).
Some other ways I'd planned to have the couple show up as the party travelled around, not all of which I wound up managing to fit in:
* The Fulco's plan had been to use a levitate spell to get Mr Fulco up to their hotel room window without him having to pay. But as they bought the levitate scroll on the cheap from a bloke at the docks, the spell didn't wear off and Mrs Fulco last saw her husband drifting eastward over the city towards the mountains.
* Their plan was to sneak Mr Fulco into the theatre by mixing their own shrinking potion in their hotel bathtub and concealing him in his wife's handbag. Sadly Mrs Fulco's handbag was snatched by a thief on the way to the theatre. Party must find thieves, the bag, and the tiny man within. (The homemade nature of the potion can be used to explain why it doesn't simply wear off after one minute, and also why he shrinks by more than 1/2 his original size.)
* Mr Fulco approaches the party holding a wooden parrot, a distressed look on his face. They bought a polymorph amulet from a travelling merchant who seemed so trustworthy, hoping to enter an event with Mrs Fulco posing as an exotic pet. Instead when she put it on, she turned into a solid piece of wood shaped like a parrot and none of the mages in town seem able to remove the effect. Party must track down the travelling merchant to find out what the nature of the amulet actually is.
* A drunken sorcerer in a tavern convinced Mr Fulco that any idiot was capable of learning the spell Blink, and went on to provide a more or less coherant tutorial in between mouthfuls of rum. But when Mr Fulco tried to use it to get into an art gallery without paying he failed to un-blink, and now somebody needs to head into the Ethereal Plane to find him (assuming the Ethereal Plane is where he ended up of course...)
​
There's probably tons more you could come up with, but those were the ones I decided to stick with. I played the couple as friendly but eccentric, and endearing proud of their own demented schemes to save an insignificant amount of money, which helped with making the players want to help them out. If your party don't take to them, you can always use the fact that the couple are wealthy to let the party negotiate for enough a reward to get them interested.
Oh, and if anyone asks why they don't just use boring invisibility spells, it's because they aren't as young as they used to be and don't have the energy to spend all day trying to avoid bumping into people :p

My wife and I will be staying near east beach for 3 nights this September. I am trying to get an idea if a rental car is needed or if we will have enough to do within walking distance. We are planning a relaxing vacation without kids so will be doing some dining and relaxing. The hotel we are staying at also has bike rentals if we need to get a little bit further. Just wondering how walkable the city is and some thoughts from the locals. Thanks!

For anyone looking for things to do this weekend, here's a roundup of what's going on in NWA from the NWA Daily newsletter.

• Gone fishin': Drop a line this weekend during the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's annual free fishing weekend, and fish anywhere in Arkansas without a fishing license or trout permit from noon on Friday, Jun 9, until midnight on Jun 11.
• Cluckin' good time: Strut down the Chicken Strip during the 63rd Annual Poultry Festival at the Rogers Convention Center from Jun 9-10.
• Strut your stuff: NWA Fashion Week continues at the Momentary with the second runway show on Friday, June 9, and the final showcase on Saturday, Jun 10, followed by a free afterparty with music by Yuni Wa at the Momentary Tower Bar from 10p-12a.
• Ninja warriors: Let the kids loose to run and ninja warrior-climb their way through the Young Lions Obstacle Course NWA 2023 on Saturday, Jun 10, from 9a-1p at JB Hunt Park in Springdale.
• Holy toledo, Batman: Devil's Den State Park will host the 33rd Annual Bat-A-Rama this weekend, celebrating the importance of bats who live in the park's cave systems from Jun 9-11.
• Girl party: Hear ten vibrant DJs and musical acts, shop over 20 businesses and local artists, dress to impress, and dance the night away during the Her Set Her Sound Festival in Fayetteville this weekend, Jun 10-11.
• Cardboat: Ozark Beer Co will host its 3rd Annual Ozark Cardboard Boat Regatta this weekend with a Boat Building & Inspection on Saturday, Jun 10, from 6-8:30p at the brewery and the cardboard boat races at Lake Atalanta on Sunday, Jun 11, at 1p.
• Fore! The Benton County Sheriff's Cup Cocktail Event and Golf Tournament are back for the 3rd year, with a cocktail party on Sunday, Jun 11, before the tournament kicks off Monday, Jun 12.

NWA Daily has updates like this every Friday in the newsletter!

For anyone looking for things to do this weekend, here's a roundup of what's going on in NWA from the NWA Daily newsletter.

• Gone fishin': Drop a line this weekend during the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's annual free fishing weekend, and fish anywhere in Arkansas without a fishing license or trout permit from noon on Friday, Jun 9, until midnight on Jun 11.
• Cluckin' good time: Strut down the Chicken Strip during the 63rd Annual Poultry Festival at the Rogers Convention Center from Jun 9-10.
• Strut your stuff: NWA Fashion Week continues at the Momentary with the second runway show on Friday, June 9, and the final showcase on Saturday, Jun 10, followed by a free afterparty with music by Yuni Wa at the Momentary Tower Bar from 10p-12a.
• Ninja warriors: Let the kids loose to run and ninja warrior-climb their way through the Young Lions Obstacle Course NWA 2023 on Saturday, Jun 10, from 9a-1p at JB Hunt Park in Springdale.
• Holy toledo, Batman: Devil's Den State Park will host the 33rd Annual Bat-A-Rama this weekend, celebrating the importance of bats who live in the park's cave systems from Jun 9-11.
• Girl party: Hear ten vibrant DJs and musical acts, shop over 20 businesses and local artists, dress to impress, and dance the night away during the Her Set Her Sound Festival in Fayetteville this weekend, Jun 10-11.
• Cardboat: Ozark Beer Co will host its 3rd Annual Ozark Cardboard Boat Regatta this weekend with a Boat Building & Inspection on Saturday, Jun 10, from 6-8:30p at the brewery and the cardboard boat races at Lake Atalanta on Sunday, Jun 11, at 1p.
• Fore! The Benton County Sheriff's Cup Cocktail Event and Golf Tournament are back for the 3rd year, with a cocktail party on Sunday, Jun 11, before the tournament kicks off Monday, Jun 12.

NWA Daily has updates like this every Friday in the newsletter!

In my attempt to not make this much of a read (I have since realized that I've failed, but I am committing to the bit at this point), hi! I'm a 6'1, hispanic guy living in New York city that's been through quite a lot of ups (being able to meet a lot of people through here in person, some of whom I had wonderful relationships, both romantic and friendly with) and downs (poorly timed ambition with covid getting in the way in the timing that it did), and well, I feel like I'm in a place in my life where I've finally got everything I want (in the way of a job, a roof over my head with space to share) except for someone consistent to share my time and space with. This is where I turn to you, the reader, to see if you can help me on my quest to solve the task at hand.
I'm here, like many of those who browse through in my experience of reading posts trying to find my own, am looking for someone who wants to create something simple. Whether that's a relationship (my ideal goal), consistent conversation with potential to have it lead towards a greater goal, or just someone honest to spend my days with getting to know, because while I'm happy to be employed, doing it from home with no one to talk to throughout the day sucks. hard.
Here's a few things about me to see if you think we'd click (and before you continue, if you want to see one, there's pictures of me on my profile!):
Interests: Sports (basketball's a favorite, but I enjoy many), chess, world of warcraft, shows (both irl and TV/anime), traveling (been dying to have a reason to take a vacation after living in WA in 2020), fitness (via the gym or outdoor activities like hiking as I've never been), board games, and so much more.
Views and wants important to me: Left leaning, I want to have biological kids one day (so I am not in the child-free camp), I am open to the idea of marriage, not currently open to the idea of relocation (should I find someone serious from my search) as I'd love to offer my situation to someone open to something new, but I'd love to travel often. Honest, open to any topic of conversation as a talkative person, family oriented (I'd do anything to make sure my mom (and yours) live a good life if I can help it), and totally in the camp of open to settling down.
Desires: I would love a relationship (long term) with someone living in New York City (or open to living here one day) with someone my age or younger (as I've experienced the other way far too many times), but friendship and daily conversation with someone of any age that's available often, is fine, too. I would love to find someone that actually wants to meet up sometime in the city, as its been hard finding someone to connect with. I can't seem to understand people, no matter how well you think you know them. I'd love to just find that one person who gives me exactly as advertised, because playing games with emotions isn't fun.
If you think we might click, drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you! Tell me what stood out, let me have something to work with and I'll give you a mile of conversation!
Hope to hear from someone soon :)

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This fanfiction is based on The Nature of Predators. Thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating this amazing universe. Please read and support the original work!
It was also inspired by u/YakiTapioca’s Recipe for Disaster and u/Acceptable_Egg5560’s Nature of a Giant. Please give them a read as well, they’re amazing!
Memory transcription subject: Alexander Wolff, Human firefighter
Date [standardized human time]: September 13th, 2136
“Absolutely fucking not!” My frustration with my station commander is almost visibly, but definitely audibly, bubbling out of me while I furiously pace back and forth in her small office. The situation is going splendidly. She called me into her office not even three minutes ago, and we are already almost shouting at each other. “I’m not running away!”
Nicole lets out an equally frustrated sigh. “Alex, you’re not running away. You have to listen to me. I wouldn’t be asking this of you if I wasn’t certain it was the best for you.”
“The best for me?” I stop dead in my tracks and stare at her, a lone tear slowly running down my cheek. “Leaving my family, my colleagues, my friends, my city, my country, and my planet behind?”
She wants to get a word in, but I simply talk over her. “And why me? Karl or Peter or Julia are more deserving of that spot than I am! All three have more experience on the job than me. Karl has been squad leader for years before I even looked at the training manual. Julia’s an actual mechanic and her material knowledge saves our collective asses on pretty much every other call, and Peter has-”
“And they all have their own families here. Partners. Children. In Karl’s case even a grandchild.” Now she interrupts me, her voice carrying a very familiar tone. Our boss spoke like this only when she was making announcements and I learned the hard way that it was always a bad idea to interrupt her at such a moment.
She continues, visibly straining to calm herself down to not escalate our differences into a proper volume contest. “I’ve already asked them and they’ve all refused.”
Nicole stands with her arms crossed in front of her chest, fingers nervously wiggling against the fabric of her black shirt. It is obvious that she’s still fired up from our mutual outbursts as she leans back against the piece of wall next to the tall windows of her office. She turns her head to look outside, watching the fire station’s courtyard where two of our colleagues are doing a routine check on some equipment of one of our fire engines.
After a few more long seconds she forces her gaze away from the window and focuses her aging pale blue eyes on me again. “Look, I know how you feel. I don’t like this entire situation either. But these instructions are signed by senator of the interior Manning himself. Each fire station has to send one member with the preliminary evacuation group. And for our station, that can only be you. You’re the only viable option left.”
“But-”
“No, you’ll hear me out!” She cuts me off before I manage to get out a second word. “I’ve talked with everyone else who meets the requirements stated in the order. Karl, Peter, Julia, Tascha, Ivan, Markus, Günther, Anisa, and Bernd. They all want to stay with their families, no matter what. And the rest of the unit is missing one qualification or another, or hasn’t been on the job long enough.”
Her arms drop and she shuffles around her crowded desk to stand in front of me. The late afternoon autumn sun filters through the half-lowered blinds, making her slightly graying blonde hair glisten like strands of gold. Her days of duty on a fire engine are years in the past, but she is just as passionate and dedicated in her position as our station commander.
Nicole draws in a deep breath. “All of them told me in no uncertain terms that they would only go if they could take their families with them. But since that’s not possible…”
Her voice trails off for a moment before she continues. “Alex, I’ve heard the discussions and rumors as well as everyone else here. If nothing happens then you can simply mark this down as a fancy extended vacation paid for by the government and then tell us how Venlil Prime was. But in the worst case… we will need people with your knowledge, your heart, and your passion to rebuild.”
I’m biting my cheek while listening to my boss, whether out of frustration or nervousness I can’t tell. A moment later I breathe a defeated sigh and nod my assent with my gaze cast at the ground. “Okay, I’ll do it. But for the record, it still feels like running away. I will be gone for so many months, and you’ll be down one crew for all my shifts. It just doesn’t feel right for me to leave you guys hanging like this.”
Hearing my response a warm and caring smile appears on Nicole’s lips. “Thank you. And you’re not leaving us hanging, Alex. I know only very few other firefighters that are as engaged as you are. You put in so much effort and passion even outside your shifts.”
She continues, rattling down the list of things I do as if it was anything special. It doesn’t feel special to me, I’m just doing what felt necessary to help out my colleagues and the fire department.
“Don’t think I wouldn’t notice!” She teases me with a smirk. “You put in several hours with the youth brigade every other weekend, you’re first in line to volunteer for PR work at schools and universities and sports competitions, and when there’s a festival or any other event you always show up for at least one shift of EMS.”
I jump a little when she places her hands on my shoulders, but her now calm and almost soothing voice quickly puts me at ease. I lift my eyes and meet her gaze. “Whether or not you see it that way, you’re one of our best. I know you won’t let us down. And when this whole thing has blown over, you’ll come back to us and tell us about the aliens you met and how you showed them how firefighting is done properly. Okay?”
“Okay, boss.” I force a weak smile.
“Good. The shuttle for your group will leave Tuesday at 0800 from terminal 3, so be there at 0700.” Nicole releases my shoulders before she turns and grabs a stack of papers from her desk. “Here’s the details, the boarding gate, how much baggage you can bring along, what the shelter on Venlil Prime will be like, and so on.”
She huffs apologetically. “I know it’s on rather short notice, but the entire government is basically in emergency mode, from our Senate here all the way to the big guys in Berlin, and they wanted this evacuation happening yesterday.”
Still feeling dejected, I take the documents from her. “Thanks, boss. And… sorry for getting loud.”
She waves her hands. “Eh, don’t worry about it. I know you only mean well, and these times are difficult for all of us. You know I’ll never hold it against you that you basically wear your heart on your sleeves.”
I turn to leave but stop when she suddenly continues.
“Oh, one more thing. I’ve already cleared you from work for your remaining stay on Earth. You’ll probably need the next few days to prepare your things for the trip.”
I nod and reply softly. “Thank you. I appreciate it, really.”
Without any further words I quietly slip out of her office, closing the door behind me with a sigh. After closing my eyes for a second and taking a deep breath to help me calm down, I turn left, the direction of our locker room.
You can do this, Alex. You heard your boss, it’s just a precaution ordered by our government. Once the panic settles you’ll come back and tell some great stories.
My walk to the locker room only lasts a handful of moments and I absentmindedly key in the combination to my personal compartment. Before putting the documents away I give them a quick browse.
Let’s see… boarding via gate F5, baggage is a locked box with two sets of my personal protective gear provided by the station, plus a total of 150 liters of luggage in any form… Okay, that’s quite a lot. Not sure I’ll need that much.
Then I get to the pages about the camp. The buildings look simple and functional, and the units inside appear to be clean and good enough for human habitation. Depending on your needs you’d get differently sized rooms with an appropriate number of beds and other furniture, plus a small attached bathroom.
No communal showers and I get to shit in peace. Okay, that sounds better than I expected.
Automated laundry service like in a hotel. That was nice, the last thing I’ll be needing on an alien planet is having to worry about the reserves in my underwear drawer. Seems that whoever runs this shelter really did their homework. It definitely could have been much worse. But we’ll see how well the actual location manages to hold up to the promises made on the flier.
The following pages are a description of the general area and the local attractions. Small town, quite rural surroundings.
Oh well, let’s hope their rural folks are a bit less judgemental than some of the backwater villages on Earth.
I finally put the documents away, not wanting to waste my precious downtime staring at some paper. You never know when the next call comes in, and once it does we have to be on the road within the next 90 seconds. You learn pretty quickly to be very aware of your time management, especially regarding the toilet. Nobody wants to be in an audience with the porcelain god when the alarm goes off.
After closing my locker, I make my way to the break room. I get barely a single step into the room when I see the heads of the six colleagues sitting on the couch turn at me in perfect sync.
“And?” Karl’s slightly graying buzzcut combined with his stupid, wide, shit eating grin immediately stands out from the crowd. “How was your chat with the boss?”
I quirk a brow. “What do you mean?”
“Yeah, how did it go?” Julia quips, her auburn hair dangling from her head in two thick braids perfectly framing her pale freckled face. “We could hear your little shouting match all the way to here. We even had to pump up the volume on the TV to not accidentally eavesdrop!”
Aw crap. Well, time to rip off the bandaid.
I take a deep breath, and after a short moment of hesitation I spill the beans. “I’m leaving for Venlil Prime on Tuesday. I’m sorry.”
Julia and the other five all but jump to their feet. She rushes me and grabs me in a tight embrace. “What do you mean, you’re sorry? That’s great news! Especially since Nicole really didn’t have much choice left. Glad you picked up her offer before she had to order you to go.”
“Uh huh. She told me you all said no to her already.” I reply, returning the embrace which is getting even more stuffy now with the others eventually joining in.
“Yep. No way we’re leaving our growing families behind.” Günther speaks out, hinting at his daughter due to be born in two months. When I see his lips curl into that grin I already know something incredibly silly will be coming out of his mouth in the next few seconds. “We all have our roots settled here already, but you’re still young and can fly like a teeny tiny birb across the galaxy.”
“I’ll give you ‘tiny birb’ once I get out of this group hug!” I tease in return, earning a laugh from everyone around. “But seriously guys, it’s getting hot in here.”
Eventually they relent and release me, moving to stand in a circle around and peppering me with countless questions and comments.
“You’ll have to send us a message when you get there, okay?”
“Don’t forget to exercise, would be a shame if you came back all withered away.”
“You do realize that Venlil Prime has like 20 percent higher gravity than Earth? Tiny birb here will have problems walking around… ouch!”
“Do you think they have a proper fire brigade over there? I somehow can’t imagine people so skittish and easily frightened being able to put up with this stuff.”
Everyone was laughing and joking, especially Günther whose deep rumbling but jovial voice easily carries through the corridors of the station, when suddenly the all too familiar alarm klaxon sounds and the incident announcement echoes around us.
“STATION 23: HLF 1, HLF 2, DLK, RTW 1, RTW 2, ELW 1. STATION 24: HLF 1, HLF 2, RTW 1, RTW 2. HIGH-SPEED ROAD TRAFFIC COLLISION, FOUR VEHICLES INVOLVED, TWO PERSONS TRAPPED. POLICE ALREADY AT THE SCENE.”
All joking and laughing is instantly forgotten while everyone runs towards their assigned vehicles and quickly changes into the heavy duty clothes. Barely a minute later the gates of Station 23 open, and my unit’s vehicles rush towards the accident with sirens blaring and lights flashing. Inside HLF 2 I went through my mental checklist while putting on my gear.
Heavy RTC, probably some leaking liquids, chance of compromised battery cells. With that many involved vehicles we have to prepare at least two squads for fire suppression and prevention, while the rest will work on getting the trapped people out. Okay, gear check: hood… mask… air tank… respirator… data uplink… radio… IR… ELoc…
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Hi there. We're super excited to finally get to go to Japan. It will be our (husband and myself) first trip. We're retired so not youngsters but are pretty fit but not big adventurers. We like to have a little more time to discover things and not be going from dawn to dusk every day. So we're planning a week in Tokyo, 2 nights in Hakone, a week in Kyoto, 5 nights in Osaka/Kobe, 2 nights in Koyasan, 2 nights in Hiroshima and 4 nights in Fukuoka. We'd like to see the highlights and find some gems that are off the beaten path, without being too difficult to get to. Thanks kind Reddit folks!
Here's what I've planned so far by day.
- I'd particularly love comments on if my plans seem reasonable or if days should be broken up bc of logistics.
- I'd also love any suggestions on nearby places off the beaten path that we shouldn't miss. We have room in this itinerary to add a new place if it's truly special. I've done a lot of global travel but never been to Japan so I feel like this trip is to see the biggest hits and see if we can discover a few gems. We're hoping a month gives us time to do both.
- Do you see any red flags with the itinerary? If you hate the hotel I've picked, pls let me know why.
- I'm super excited about the food in Japan and you'll note I've planned to visit a lot of them. If you have suggestions for places that aren't too touristy but you loved your meal, please let me know. I'll be flying blind. Any gluten free suggestions are particularly helpful. We eat early so hopefully can avoid the crowds.
- I'd love to ebike part of the Kurushima Kaiko route. My husband would not enjoy this so it would be solo so I just want to take the better part of a day and do part of it and then train or ferry back to Onomichi. Does anyone know if there is a train or ferry that leaves later in the day from the Innoshima or Ikuchi island that returns to the mainland so I can ride back to Onomichi? And are bikes allowed on trains or ferries?
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Tokyo. Arrive 3 pm. Go to Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo Marounichi 1 Tokyo Tower / VR Ctr / Shinjuku Gyoen Ntl Garden / Shibuya Ctr & sky at night / Shinjuku Yokojo 2 Senso-Ji / Kabuchiko 3 Mishima sky walk in Yokohama 4 Unclear if Teamlabs is open in Tokyo but if it is, we'll probably visit 5 6 7 Eat Sushi Yajima (res-req) Omoide Yokocho area Obei sushi- heard this was good local sushi. Any thoughts on this? 

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Hakone at Hakone Kowakien Tenyu 1 Coffee at Timuny / Open Air Museum / Owakudani 2 Lake Ashi 3 Food suggestions in Hakone? I am gluten free and eat at odd hours so didn't want to buy the preset dinner but am open if it's excellent where we're staying. 

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Kyoto at Hotel Granvia Kyoto 1 Kiyomizu-dera / Kiyumizuzaka / Ninenzaka / Sanneizaka / Hanamikoji 2 Fushimi Inari Taisha / Nishiki Mkt 3 Arashiyama / Tenruji Temple / Romantic Train / Hozugawa River Boat 4 Kinkakuji Temple / Kurama to Kibune hike / Pontocho to eat 5 Yasaka Shrine / Nazenji Temple 6 Eikando Temple Eat Matsusaka Bamboo Higashiyama Sanjo 

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Osaka/Kobe stay at Tokyo Stay Osaka Hommachi 1 Osaka Castle / Dotonburi 2 Shinsekai / Teamlab Osaka 3 Himeji Castle / Kobe Chinatown 4 5 Eat Mouriya Honten (res-req) 

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2 nights at the Koyasan at Koyasan Shukubu Ryusein. I don't have anything planned here bc I figure it will just be hanging out at the onsen and walking the grounds.
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Hiroshima stay at Hotel Granvia Hiroshima 1 Site loop bus / Rabbit Island / Onomichi 2 Atomic bomb dome / Peace Museum / Shukkien Garden / Itsukushima 

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Fukuoka stay at Miyako Hotel Hakata. We booked Fukuoka for an off the beaten path experience but if you have a better city/area, please suggest. 1 Bike tour 2 Nokonoshima Island / Ohorikoen / Tenjin to eat 3 Asian Art Museum / Tsukasa to eat 4 

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Fly out of Osaka at 6 pm
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Dear all,
I’m not super technical, so I hope this post works as it’s my first. I have been trying to understand Japan tax residency rules. The more I read, the less I seem to understand. Any suggestions you may share would be greatly appreciated. I will try to be specific, in the hopes to get specific advice to make decisions in the future. I lived in Japan more than 20 years ago, and now live in Vancouver. My spouse is Japanese, who has lived in Canada for 20 years.
We have visited many times over the years, for short periods, using her family home as a base. However, in 2019 there was a large typhoon which went through central JP, flooded a large river, and destroyed the home and community. I had wanted to keep/repair the home, but the family didn’t want this, and it is gone now. At the same time, her mother had fast moving cancer, and passed away shortly after the disaster.
My question is about buying a home in Japan, taxes and residency. Growing up, I always had a dream to own a home, to fix up, to garden. However, in Vancouver that is becoming impossible. It’s a beautiful city, but it’s not a sustainable situation where people can’t afford a home where they live.
I am 50 now, and have had some cancer issues throughout my life, so am connected to the cancer system here (not serious now, just ongoing checks). At the moment, I am thinking how to buy a home in JP, but stay a resident of Canada (keep medical here/pay taxes here). I have been thinking to call the NTA and ask their advice from JP perspective.
I understand that immigration is different from taxation rules, which is where I get confused. I think I understand the immigration/visa types available, but the tax/residency aspect I can’t seem to grasp. Can I purchase a home in cash/no bank account in JP/no loan in JP. The home wouldn’t be used to earned income/rental, just for enjoyment, when I/we are there. Not sure if best to put in only my name or both names so she can have home if I pass in future. Stay in JP on a 3 month tourist visa (up to twice/year for 180 days), then half year in Canada as residents. I’ve also heard there is another tourist visa if you can show you have about 300k CDN. Or, enter on spousal visa but unsure how this might affect taxes/residency.
I understand I need to pay property taxes, bills, etc, but I’m unclear about completing a tax return. Is this required given my situation? Would I just be considered a tourist who owns a home in JP? Or, a non resident who is required to file taxes in JP? How would this affect my wife who is JP regarding her residency/taxes, etc? At what point would she be considered a resident again for taxes? She’s been out of JP for 20 years, and we’ve both only had short visits of a few months over the years. In Canada, I complete taxes online and usually it’s free and simple so I’m unsure how to complete JP taxes if needed, without having to pay large fee to tax accountants. I gather most large tax companies are in big cities, but we hope to be in small-medium size city.
Basically, we miss Japan nature and food and hope to spend some time each year in Japan. Personally, I’d rather have my own place to go to, rather than Airbnb or hotel. I hope to keep things as simple as possible but understand there’s lots o’paper work in JP. We would buy medical/travel insurance before coming each time. Any advice regarding the purchase of a vacation home in Japan, but remain residents of Canada, how might this work regarding taxes and residency in Japan?
Sorry for the long message.
Thank you very much!