Hi, I hope that it’s okay I’m asking this here?
I have a 2 year old Maltese who is 1/4 Shih Tzu. I was surprised when he got to full adult size how big he was/is. He is 11kg and he is lean and stocky not fat or overweight. He is also about 40cm neck to tail and I’d say about 20cm off the ground when standing on all fours. I did contemplate that maybe we were told the wrong breed when we got him but everything about him shouts Maltese with a hint of Shih Tzu lol so I really think he is but just got a giant gene! Anyway I’m wondering if anyone in this group has any thoughts on why he is big or if this okay or normal. I’ve been thinking about it more recently and I did a bit of a Google and one website says he should be 3kg!! Although it says my Bichon should be that too and she’s always been 6kg and healthy. I don’t care that he is bigger than expected but I just worry he may have issues later from it or there is something wrong now that caused it?

im still not sure about the value of mone yin this game and im worried i messed up bad lol from like magic level 30-40 i used bolt spells and blew like 200k on chaos runes oh my god im just now being told i should just use fire strike i could have saved so much money : (((( is there no upsides to using the bolt spells instead at my level ? (f2p btw) and was mostly doing the bolt spells on hill giants and greater demons in the wilderness

Hello everyone,
My name is Julie, I'm 29 and I don't have any friends lol
No, but seriously, I would like to find someone with whom to become good friends, that we take care of each other in the sense that we motivate each other intellectually and artistically by sending each other drawings, movies or music. For example. Let's debate on any subject.
At the moment I like to cook, try new recipes, go out, see beautiful landscapes, watch documentaries, in short, totally different from what I liked several years ago and which is to draw, to do programmation, to play piano, play video games,, watch movies/series, ... I rested on my laurels and miss my "old life".
It would be cool to have someone to discuss deeper things with, to stimulate me intellectually. I would have liked an irl friendship but it's complicated. Let's just write to each other.
Maybe talk to you soon ^{^}

eBid is an alternative marketplace, they also have a module where you can import existing eBay listings. Here are selling categories within eBid you can choose to list your products in.
https://www.ebid.net/us/sell/
Select a Category
Ensure you have upgraded your account to SILVER or GOLD status before listing. Click a top level category and you'll be shown all the available subcategories to choose from.
Antiques
Art
Baby Stuff
Books, Comics & Magazines
Business, Office & Industrial
Cars & Vehicles
Charity Auctions
Clothes, Shoes, Accessories
Coins & Banknotes
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Computing
Crafts, Handmade & Sewing
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Electronics
Health & Beauty
Home & Garden
Jewelry & Watches
Movies & DVD
Music & CD
Musical Instruments & Gear
Occasions & Seasonal
Photography & Optical
Porcelain, Pottery & Glass
Spirituality & Metaphysical
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Sporting Goods
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Tickets & Travel
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Video & Computer Gaming
Whatever's Left

I’ve had premonitions since I was a child, usually of mundane activities. They don’t always come true, but often do.
I don’t fly often but I’m planning on flying in a couple of months. Ever since I booked my ticket, I’ve been having recurring premonitions of dying in a fiery plane crash, with an explosion that engulfs the plane.
Now for the caveat: when the premonition has some absurdity to it, it usually doesn’t come true. I know plane crashes are exceedingly rare, and ones that have movie-esque explosions even more so.
I can drive to this destination, it will just take much longer, but it is feasible for me to do. Should I file the vision under “absurd and won’t happen” and fly or listen to my gut and just go for the drive? I’m hoping someone who’s more attuned to their psychic vision can help me.
I am a pretty intuitive person and am attuned spiritually, although not in a communicative way, so it is definitely disconcerting. I recently met my partner in person (started online) and I desperately want to stay alive for him. There were definitely times in my life where I wouldn’t mind dying, but now isn’t one of them lol.

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https://preview.redd.it/86lwshpxjn3b1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=462aed2363352b65cc46234dd66ee54dcfd32890
Overview
Walt Disney was excited about Sleeping Beauty. He envisioned it as his masterpiece. It took almost a decade to produce, and the process cost six million dollars, making it the most expensive Disney animated film yet. It had to struggle through numerous production delays and changes in creative direction, and, when all was said and done, it was a box office failure. But there are a lot of great movies in this world that started out that way and went on to become absolute legends, and Sleeping Beauty is one of them.
Point by Point

• Naturally, the first aspect of Sleeping Beauty that really hits is the visuals. With a tapestry-like art style inspired by pre-Renaissance European art, the distinctive look of Sleeping Beauty is the most refined and most detailed yet, with even the backgrounds appearing unique and intricate. I've said before that Sleeping Beauty is the Beauty and the Beast of its day, it looks that damn good.
• Sleeping Beauty is also a standout in the audio department. Most of the film's music is actually adapted from the Tchaikovsky ballet The Sleeping Beauty, rather than being wholly original. It wasn't easy to do (George Bruns, the film's composer, spent three years on the project), but it ended up being a tremendously rewarding creative choice.
• The film is striking from the very start, with the bright and colorful introduction set to 'Hail to the Princess Aurora'. It really succeeds in capturing that medieval flavor. Then we meet Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, the three good fairies who will prove central to the plot.
• There can be no question that Maleficent is one of the greatest villains in the Disney canon. Some villains are buffoonish, like Captain Hook. Some are nasty but petty, like Cruella de Vil. Some are pure evil, but tempered with humor, like Hades. And some others - like Scar and Frollo - are sinister and threatening, but pathetic at their core. Maleficent, however, towers above these. She is fearsome and intimidating, regal and commanding, seemingly without weakness of any kind, and evil purely for its own sake.
• Watching the fairies try to prepare for Aurora's sixteenth birthday party - making a dress and a cake, both of which turn out to be abortions - without the aid of magic is always good for a laugh, and it's just as entertaining watching them use their magic once they've finally given up. The former sequence is pure comedy, and the latter sequence provides the thrilling whimsy the audience has come to expect from a Disney movie.
• Watching Aurora strolling through the forest and singing to her animal friends is bound to invite comparison to Snow White and Cinderella, but I think the sequence stands well on its own, and isn't overly derivative. Plus, 'Once Upon a Dream' is easily one of the best Disney songs of its era.
• The 'Skumps' scene, with Stefan and Hubert toasting the imminent marriage of their children, is another good comedic bit. The revelry turns abruptly to an argument, then back to revelry just as quickly. One gets the impression this happens a lot between these two old friends.
• Of course, Aurora isn't dealing well with the sudden revelation that she's a princess by birth and betrothed to a prince, so the fairies make the fatal mistake of leaving her alone in the tower for a few moments. This is the part where Sleeping Beauty turns momentarily into a horror movie. Maleficent appears in the shadows of the room like a malign spirit. Without a word, she puts Aurora forcibly into a trance and lures her dreamily from the room, into a dark and desolate part of the castle that appears to have been sealed off and forgotten ages ago. The eerie, ominous music that plays over this sequence makes the proceedings that much more sinister. (Ever tried walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night with this theme playing in your head? I have.)
• King Stefan ordered all spinning wheels destroyed years ago, so Maleficent simply conjures one out of thin air. And with the trance that Aurora is in, she doesn't even have the choice. Maleficent might as well be holding her by the wrist and thrusting her finger onto the spindle herself, it's that forceful. It really drives home the point that there was no avoiding this outcome. It was always going to happen.
• In an ethereal sequence set to the lilting song 'Sleeping Beauty', the good fairies put the entire kingdom to sleep until a solution to Aurora's predicament can be found. When they realize that Prince Phillip can break the curse, they have to go rescue him from Maleficent's lair on the Forbidden Mountain. Maleficent's domain is Gothic and foreboding; grim, twisted, and hellish, with extremely atmospheric music to match.
• Maleficent's triumphal monologue to the imprisoned Phillip really makes clear her utter contempt and loathing for everything pure and good. In a recounting of the situation that's dripping with sarcasm, she taunts Phillip with her plan to keep him imprisoned for decades, only to set him free as an old man to finally awaken Aurora, who will still be just a child; to show that "true love conquers all!" I don't think that any other Disney villain has been characterized as well as Maleficent is in this single moment.
• Phillip and the fairies' escape from the Forbidden Mountain is an exciting and invigorating sequence, with Phillip fighting back the hordes of devils with his enchanted sword and shield, and the fairies using their powers to turn falling boulders into harmless bubbles and arrows into flowers. And Merryweather finally turning that squawking raven into stone is a triumphant moment in itself.
• They barely manage to escape, but Maleficent is determined that this story won't have a happy ending. She causes a thick forest of thorns to grow up all around Stefan's castle. When Phillip manages to get through even that, she flies to the scene herself. "Now you deal with me, O Prince, and all the powers of hell!" she cries, as she transforms into an immense, fire-breathing dragon.
• The duel between Phillip and the dragon is the climactic battle between good and evil; between love and hatred. With the forest of thorns burning all around, Phillip has no choice but to seek the high ground atop a cliff, from where the enchanted sword is hurled into the dragon's breast. For a movie that boasted no real action to speak of up until ten minutes ago, Sleeping Beauty delivers on excitement.
• After the spectacular fight, everything clears up. The thorns disappear, the sun rises. Phillip kisses Aurora, and everybody wakes up. Aurora and Phillip come down from the tower, happy, not speaking a word, and go out on a dance to 'Once Upon a Dream', with Aurora's gown changing from pink to blue and back again.

In Conclusion
There's no doubt that Sleeping Beauty is the best film in the line yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if it holds on to that spot at least until we reach the Disney Renaissance of the 1990s. It's so good that it'll doubtless take something like The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast to topple it from its throne. This truly was Walt's masterpiece.
Current Ranking

1. Sleeping Beauty
2. Lady and the Tramp
3. Pinocchio
4. Bambi
5. Cinderella
6. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
7. Alice in Wonderland
8. Peter Pan
9. Dumbo
10. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
11. Fantasia
12. Melody Time
13. Fun and Fancy Free
14. The Three Caballeros
15. Make Mine Music
16. Saludos Amigos

Hi reddit ! I'm 19(M) and 2 years ago i met at highschool this 19(F)girl we almost heard each other everyday by phone and somethines we even hang out even but i dont think she considered me as boyfriend ,long story short, at the end of the year i confessed my feelings for her and got rejected and stayed friends but somewhere deep inside of me i felt that i was going to be rejected i dont knows why tho, in the next months we talked less and less even though i still loved her i was trying to move on so i decide so avoid her little by little. we no longer talked to each other by phone but we still continued texting but we very ofted ended up arguing for little things and since i didnt want to ruind our friendship i always apoligiesed. until one day i decided to move on for ever and i told her that i am not going to talk with her after the last argue, i felt very stressed for a couple of months i tryed to forget her,it was very difficult since we were in the same class.At the start of this year she has goten herself a boyfriend(19M)at the time older than me(18M), from another class , i was very happy for her and i didnt mind it too much. They stayed togheter for 2 months or more and then i think he left her but they still are close friends. in the last couple of months i asked her for home work and school stuff i though since we were friends and she has very good grades and i also needed a lot of help with to pass some exams she would help me, so we started talking by text a little more she always helped me and never said no, well started being closer and closer and the last days we got on school trip for 3 days she asked me before to bring the pc so we can watch an movie doing the trip since it was very long and we watched it. I(19M) noticed that she is trying to get more my attention by getting closer and trying to intervene in the conversations whith my friends and i felt i bit uncorfatble flirtinig with her so for the first 1 and a half days i was trying to ignore her without beeing mean then i said fuck it lets see what she wants and started talking as usual with her keep in mind that i am very shy and she also is so when i was at the hotel room at night and i was alone in the room she came and started playing with me and flirting and she even stood next in the bed for a few minutes i was very surprised she seemed very happy and confortable she also asked me if i wanted to watch another movie during last trip to home, i panicked and said that "i dont feel like it" she stayed 2 more minutes and then left in search of her friends. The next day during the trip to home she sat next to me and started flirting with me she also put her legs over mine so she can sleep confortable but she only sleeped for 10 or 15 minutes she also asked if she could borrow my swearshirt because she was cold but they were 25 degrees celsius outside the only cold thing in the bus was air conditioner which she could turn of. after we stoped for a break i gave her the swearshirt and she wore it for the rest of the trip. The next day at school she asked me again for the sweatshirt because she was cold again I gave it and she wore it for the rest of the day while also trying to be closer and closer to me. I dont know what to do since i dont want to ruind our friendship and also im afraid of missuderstading her again like last year maybe she is just beeing nice to me i know she is very polite and smart should i ask her out to thank her for helping me with grades?? Should i leave her and ignore her because of what she did?

D1 - Ben dumps his GF for Mal. Mal stops her Mom from killing Ben's family.
D2 - Mal dumps Ben. This [indirectly] causes Ben to get a new GF. Mal tries to burn the new girl's face off.
D3 - Mal teams up with Ben's ex to defeat his other ex. (She teams up with the one she tried to burn.)
(Also, a different love interest personally spells him in each movie.)
Starring juvenile gangs, magic and 18 song-and-dance numbers.

[Chapter One]
Prev and Next
​
Late at night, in the back of a warehouse.
Grigory squirmed against his restraints. The rope binding his hands was coarse and too tight, causing his hands to lose feeling. A bored council guard stood nearby, but was mostly ignoring him. He wasn’t going to get far with his hands and feet tied together. It was worse than he had thought possible. They are very much going to kill him tonight. This was even worse than either Stanisk or Aethlina had speculated, and he just knew that they would use his role in this disaster against him in future disagreements. However, he might be overly optimistic worrying about a future that might not include him.
Grigory thought over what he had left in his notebooks, contemplating if it would be enough for someone to continue his work. He wasn't sure. It was a lot more than he started with, but there weren't a lot of qualified scholars looking to follow his footsteps. The best outcomes for a lot of different paths all need him to survive.
Grigory tried not to be distracted by the ropes digging into him, and frantically wracked his mind for any sort of escape plan. He had a single imp totem on him, and they left him with his satchel nearby. That’s something. He would need to be untied to invoke it, and a single perfectly safe imp wouldn’t change the balance of power much. Perhaps if everyone but the four executive members left, he and Stanisk might have a chance to overpower them. Well he could at least be distracting while Stanisk overpowered them. They also hadn’t checked his satchel yet, so maybe he could bribe them with the ten thousand glindi engraved gold bar he brought to pledge his support? Bribes are a type of negotiation, and being tied up while they already had the gold put him in a frustratingly weak position to start negotiations. Not getting executed by the organised crime successor to the Council of Demonologists wasn’t on his list, but he still felt it was important.
Grigory could clearly see and hear the meeting continue in the centre of the warehouse. A small detail that he noticed was just how small the sums were. Robberies of a few hundred glindi? The value of a business protection racket being ten glucks a week? Had the runaway success of his imp-made goods distorted his value of money? Pandemonium Partners profited a few hundred thousand a month, and the big safe in the workshop’s basement held about a million glindi, mostly in heavy gold bars. That was after the expenses, taxes and salaries had been paid. Maybe bribes will work here.
Another trend that emerged was how cheap lives appeared to be. Stole a knife from the boss? Death. Miscounted the take? Death. Didn’t show up to the job? Finger loss. How they attracted or retained any talent at all was its own mystery. On that note, we wonder if he enormously overpaid his people? These goons were killing each other over sums of money close to what he paid each of his security goons a day, which in turn was a fraction of what he was paying his partners. All the people he hired seemed excited when he told them the starting salary, and not a single one asked for a raise. Not the time for that! Focus on the matter at hand! Grigory continued to look for anything that he could use to escape.
All too soon the business part of the meeting was concluded. Two of the Council's guards wheeled out a cask of beer, and a crate of cheap clay mugs. Not great news for plans that require being left alone. In singles and groups the ‘Demonologists’ started to come over to where he was tied up. To drink cheap beer and look upon true evil in his demon summoning face.
“Hullo gentlemen! This is all a silly mistake, I’m sure we can work something out,” Grigory said with a calmness and pleasantness he didn’t feel.
A gangster in a threadbare tunic and patched leather pants started going through his coat, and then his satchel. His notebooks with neatly written titles were thrown on the floor, and the minor spell reagents placed on top of a nearby crate.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed far too loudly, ensuring everyone saw him pull out the slim gold bar, about the size of a knife handle. “This can’t be real?!” The gangster saw how everyone near him stared, mouths agape at the bar in his open hand. The bar’s engraving of the Royal Mint of Hiruxia glinting in the flickering rushlight.
“Back off! I found it!” He held the gold tight in his fist and drew his dirty, nicked knife from his belt with his free hand. Quicker than a blink of an eye every member had their blades out and the men at arms from the edges moved towards the commotion.
“PUT IT AWAY!” boomed Arcanist Devorio. He reasserted control of the situation with palpable menace. “The prisoner and all his goods are the property of the Council! Put it down on the table, Tricky Tupo!”
The gangsters grudgingly resheathed their weapons, and Tricky Tupo passed the bar to the Arcanist without making eye contact.
“Holy shit, it is actually real gold!” Devorio muttered after inspecting it for a second. “Where the hell did you steal something like this?”
Something in his phrasing crystalized a plan in Grigory’s mind. An insane, reckless, dangerous plan. Grigory tried not to smile when he replied, “Not stolen at all, well not from our plane of reality.”
“You summoned it?” the well dressed head of the council asked incredulously.
“Oh no, not at all! I stole it from the treasury of Hell! You see that’s the point of having a perfectly obedient demon, it does what I say, and not what the Lords of Hell say,” Grigory lied. The Hellplane wasn’t organised like that at all. There was no such thing as a treasury there. He still wasn’t sure how to sell it, but he hoped there was enough ignorance and greed in the room to do the heavy lifting for him.
“Demonologists have never stolen from hell! As far as I know. I think?” The arcanist was in uncertain territory.
“Mostly true! But we steal minor things all the time, like magical energy, or arcane secrets, but the exciting advance I wrote to you about was stealing things like minerals or artefacts and sometimes regular boring gold.” Grigory was hoping he was priming their greed enough. He worried he was being too subtle.
“Well, it looks like you have a new job! You steal Hell gold for us now!” The Arcanist-turned-crime-lord was back in familiar territory of coercing people into giving him what he wanted.
“Oh I couldn’t!" Grigory feigned reluctance. “I don’t have the right equipment, I haven’t done the full balancing equations for today’s planar alignments! I should go home and get what I need, and I’ll be happy to come back tomorrow and we can get a fresh start on this.”
“Not a chance! You’re doing the ritual this instant, or your blood will cover this entire floor!” Davenio countered.
Grigory, aware that excess blood could damage goods, decided against arguing. “Alright, you win, I’ll have my imp steal another dozen gold bars tonight, I guess. But that’s it! I’m leaving after that!”
“Hah! We’ll see about that!” The arcanist cut Grigory’s bonds while staring straight into his eyes.
Grigory rubbed his sore wrists, and looked at the fifty or so people that had gathered around him. Cruel smiles and the stink of cheap beer surrounded him, but he had a plan. “First I’ll need to summon my imp, to help me set up the ritual!” Grigory found himself speaking like a showman at a fair, with exaggerated gestures and in a loud clear voice. The assembled thugs, goons and crime lords backed up to give him some space. Aethlina suggested obscuring the details of invoking a demon, which was a great idea. He slowly and rhythmically chanted in demonic detail how he likes his tea, with lots of hand gestures and steps and ritualistic looking movements. After a few long seconds he pulled out the imp totem from his vest, waved it around like a wand for a bit before doing the quick gesture of invocation to actually invoke the imp. With two small clicks the tiny imp landed on the rough floorboards of the warehouse. Several goons gasped, and one of the lady goons even shrieked a bit. Truly a sad state of affairs when someone calling themselves a demonologist is startled by a tiny perfectly safe imp!
Grigory picked up his notebooks from the floor, and found the one titled ‘Charts, Formulas, and Tables.’. Doing some mental maths, and modifying a few old spells and rituals on the fly, Grigory gave his imp simple directions in demonic. He could have just spoken plainly, but he was aware he was also putting on a show. Keeping everyone’s attention was important for the next part.
“Ahem, is there any furnace ash, or the like? I’ll need to create a circle in ash or wax or sand.” A few people turned to look for what he needed, and Grigory returned to working out the planar alignment in his notebook. They returned with a canvas bag of stove ashes, he looked them over and nodded. “Does anyone have a silvered steel blade I can use? Anyone at all? No matter, I have one!” Grigory pulled out the small pocket knife he used to cut his food with. It actually was silvered steel, since that also came up from time to time in his line of work. Besides it was interesting to learn that was the only silvered steel blade in the room.
Grigory passed the bag of ash to the imp. He gave detailed instructions on the shape, symbols, and spacing of the elements, all crucial to the huge circle taking shape in the middle of the warehouse floor. The assembled crowd of dirty, dangerous, and desperate deviants started to look concerned. What had started as a bit of mean spirited fun was fast turning into the exact thing they knew was evil incarnate. A path to Hell was being built in front of them! A few moved to leave, but the others called them names and threatened their reputations, forcing them to stay and watch. There was a good reason to stay, there was about to be a lot of gold for everyone. In theory.
At last the preparations were complete. Grigory slowly walked the entire outside of his circle to make sure it was unbroken. He had done similar rituals before, but always with hours of double checking, and never with an audience. His hands were sweaty and shaking as he tore a page out of his notebook. Quickly, he scribbled down a final set of instructions in demonic script and handed it to the imp.
“Merp!” it said in agreement.
Grigory turned to address everyone. He saw a very worried Stanisk standing off to the back, and he subtly gestured for him to wait. Steadying his nerves for a second he addressed his gathered kidnappers, “Soon you will see a small tear in reality! Plug your ears, lest the screams of the damned drive you mad!” Grigory looked around, to make sure everyone was properly alarmed, and activated the ritual.
With a crack of thunder and a hurricane blast of dry wind that reeked of hot iron and sulphur Grigory’s surprise appeared in the centre of the circle. A towering rage demon, its black armoured hide covered in dancing hellfire, its wolf-like face filled with jagged fangs, and its shoulders brushing the rafters of the old warehouse. The assembled criminals looked up from the floor and saw the bipedal nightmare towering over them. They stood stalk still, not knowing how to react, nor sure what exactly was happening.
Grigory stood up straight and turned on the crowd, in a commanding bellow he condemned them, “What kind of idiots let a master demonologist do any summoning ritual he wants?! Look upon the true power of hell and despair!! Your petty schemes are –”
Grigory’s gloating was cut short by a foundation shaking roar from the demon. It started grabbing people at random, and biting them in half, throwing hunks of torso against the wall with splattering force. In accordance with the note, Grigory’s imp hopped up on the table, grabbed the bar of gold from where Arcanist Devorio put it, and sprinted figure eights between the demon's legs. With everyone’s fear AND greed now focused in the same area, Grigory took his stuff and ran for the door. Most of the so-called ‘demonologists’ were trying to escape, but a few were focused on the imp running with a gold bar held over its head. That was as much as a labourer would make in a year, and they couldn’t just walk away from that. The massive demon continued to kill and dismember with glee. The sound of tearing meat and snapping bones was even louder than the screams of the dying. As far as distractions go, Grigory was pretty proud of this one.
Grigory started for the door they had entered by. However, it was jammed with people trying to escape. He stopped at the edge of the chaos, trying to gather his thoughts. As he did, a better solution appeared to him. The demon grabbed one of the cutthroats that dove at the imp’s gold, and threw him at the wall with enough force to vaporise him. The impact filled the whole side of the warehouse in a steamy red mist, and sprayed meaty chunks over everything. The demon howled with laughter when he saw how people popped when thrown into walls.
The important part for Grigory was that there was now a second exit. An exit covered in gore and bone fragments, but entirely clear of goons. Signalling Stanisk, he made his way out through the wreckage. Slower than he’d like, and getting blood and worse on everything, but a clear path. The demon had stopped feeding entirely and was just throwing people as hard as he could, first at the floor then at other people. Its roars of rage were now peals of terrifying laughter. The air in the warehouse was thick with a mist of blood from the high energy impacts.
“I assume it knows not to kill us?” Stanisk asked in a ragged voice once he caught up to Grigory.
“Yes, but only not to kill people in purple. So don’t take off your tabard! It was the best I could do!”
They struggled out into the cool night air of the yard, free of the stenches of hell, gore and terror.
Stanisk looked down at his tabard, so soaked in fresh blood that it looked black. He ran even faster to the wagon.
“So this thing is just going to destroy the city until someone slays it then?” Stanisk asked, as they ran to the cart while frantically gesturing for his two guards to turn the wagon around and get it rolling.
“Oh no! Just until midnight” Grigory explained after he dove into the moving wagon. He wiped his blood soaked hands on his blood soaked robes, to no benefit.
Stanisk stared backwards at the destruction unfolding behind them. The demon had brought the warehouse down around himself and was clearly visible from the road. It was still energetically killing and smashing. “That's more than an hour! You reckon it’ll come for us?”
The single horse dragging a cargo wagon with four men on it was maddeningly sluggish
Grigory fumbled around for something to get the blood and bone fragments off his glasses. Finally finding part of his undershirt clean, he wiped them and he replied,“Oh my no,It’s bound to the summoning circle. Within a hundred paces.” They both watched as a few people fled on horseback, and a wagon rattled away at a gallop. Mostly it was a mess of shouting and terror. Knife fights broke out as people tried to commandeer the remaining horses. Horses were panicking and bolting without riders. Some survivors just ran away on foot. With every fresh kill the demon laughed so loud that Grigory felt like it was coming from his own skull.
“What the hell happened in there, sirs?” asked the terrified guard driving the cart.
Grigory turned around to answer, but Stanisk put a hand on his arm and answered instead, “Those filthy witches in there tried to kill us with a demon, but Grigory outsmarted them and turned it on its creators. Keep driving Kedril, we should be safe in an intersection or so.”
“Light preserve us all!” Kedril the driver said. “Is that a real demon Sir?”
Grigory watched the demon grab one of the goons fighting in the yard and threw him in a high arc towards the city centre. The demon’s arm cracked like a whip as it threw. The ragged corpse left a trail of blood mist as it arced far overhead.
Grigory answered calmly, “Yes.”
Grigory pulled out his demon totem from his robes, and devoked the imp, causing a gold bar a block and a half behind them to clatter to the blood soaked warehouse floor and slide into some debris. He was surprised how calm he felt. By all accounts his plan was in shambles and he’d stirred up a dozen hornets nests. Facing certain death and prevailing did wonders for one’s perspective.
Grigory looked over at Stanisk, and he was looking less calm. Which was entirely fair. A lot of uniquely horrific things happened tonight. Stanisk’s mouth was a tight line, face pale and eyes bloodshot. That might have just been blood from before, that got in his eyes.
“We can’t go through town looking like we bathed in the blood of the innocent, take us to the Golden Anchor’s warehouse on Glibstone Street. We own that place, we can clean up and change there,” Stanisk tersely told the driver.
Grigory countered, “First off, the previous owners of this blood were far from innocent, and secondly that’s across town, let's just lay in the bed, throw the rainsheet over us, and go to the main workshop.”
Stanisk groaned and tried to rub the blood off his face while he thought it over, but just smeared it around.
“Fine, Kedril, Remember to do a few triple left turns to make sure we aren’t being followed, like we discussed last month.” Stanisk undid the oilcloth on the side, connected it to the mounting points, and slid underneath.
“I think we need to review our plans!” Grigory whispered.
“Shhhh, cargo don’t talk.” Stanisk whispered back. The soldier cupped his head in one hand, and covered his eyes with the other and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep. Grigory rolled onto his back and stared at the cloth in front of his face. He tried not to dwell on the odd whip crack sound coming from behind them, nor the horrified gasps of the two guards on the driver’s bench while he mentally updated his plans.
****
A few hours later Grigory was bathed, wearing fresh clothes and feeling much better. He sat contemplating at the kitchen table in his workshop. He was troubled by what this was going to mean for his business and for himself. Stanisk was still in the tub cleaning up, and the two guards had been dismissed for the night. It was shortly after midnight now, and that meant more to Grigory than it did other nights. He hoped no one innocent died tonight, but he was also a little surprised how little he was bothered by the destruction he unleashed this evening. Considering it was the first time he took another human’s life, albeit indirectly, he expected a stronger emotional response. Part of this was a clear case of kill or be killed. Another part was these people were awful people. Grigory worried this might mean he had more subconscious bias against the value of the lives of the economically disadvantaged, but that’s probably not it. Being biassed against people that were willing to kill him made more sense, but also he knew the coming years mean that will become the same as willing to kill most of the world.
Grigory put on some fresh tea, and set out another cup for Stanisk when he was done washing. He couldn’t shake the feeling that his worst fear, being mad with power and using that power to violently kill everyone he perceived as an enemy, wasn’t as far-fetched as it was before. These were the goons that might have killed his mentor, Archmage Willoford. Avenging a mentor was a reasonable rationale, at least in songs and plays. Grigory knew that wasn’t his motivation tonight. And besides that was the inquisition from the sounds of it, these ones just celebrated his mentor's execution, which isn’t really moral grounds for demonic dismemberment. He also knew he could have summoned a stench demon or a screaming demon, or just non demon based rituals he could have used to escape without violence. He didn’t even offer to bribe them, just straight to violence. Grigory wasn’t sure he liked finding out who he really was when lives were on the line.
His introspection was interrupted by a sound coming from his workshop door, and he sagged with relief when he saw it was just Aethlina. Relief that was short lived, because the questions started immediately.
“I assume you had something to do with the demonic giant that threw seventeen people into the side of the Cathedral of the Light?” the elv asked, without reproach or scorn.
Grigory took a second to answer. “I had something to do with the presence of that demon in our plane of reality. I had a little to do with either the people it chose to throw. Nothing to do with where it chose to throw them nor its accuracy. Interesting it threw them at the Cathedral, you’d think it would have some kinship with the church? They both love burning people.”
“By all accounts the accuracy at least, was excellent. All the bodies hit Cathedral Square. The Cathedral itself requires extensive repairs to the nave, and two flying buttresses collapsed. At least according to the terrified lady I ran into.” Aethlina paused for a few seconds in case Grigory chose to share more details.
Aethlina asked mildly, “How rude of me. I meant to ask, how did your meeting go tonight?”
Stanisk came out from around the partition wearing fresh clothes. “The fucking witches weren’t even witches! They were just shadow blighted gangsters what stole the demonologists reputation! Broke as shit, and twice as dumb!”
Stanisk grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the shelf and sat down at the table, ignoring the cup and the pot of tea. After drinking right from the bottle he continued, “It hit the actual main Cathedral? The one right in the centre of town? That’s like an hour walk from where we were! A catapult wouldn’t have thrown a person half that far!”
“The one and the same, The Grand Ubrafadter’s residence is in that square, so I assume what follows will be the sort of witch hunt the city has never seen before.” Aethlina turned to Grigory, “May I also assume your reasons for staying in the city are weaker and your reasons for leaving are stronger than they were yesterday?“
“There were definitely survivors, and I was introduced by name. I can’t stay here, probably not in the empire at all. I don’t think they know the name of the company, but Stanisk and I were wearing the company’s sigil, so it might not be long for them to work it out.” Grigory rubbed the bridge of his nose without taking off his glasses. “I guess we should start planning our exit immediately.”
In a rare show of emotion Aethlina smiled for a second, “We are leaving on a ship named the Widow’s Remorse, it’s provisioned for us and departs on the morning tide, in about nine hours. The captain agreed to wait until we were in open water to hear our destination. He and his crew also suffer from a rare medical condition where their memory fades entirely anytime they are given a bag of money. The ship can carry thirty-five passengers, so the guards can bring their families. I’ll describe the places I think we should go, after we are in open waters.”
Grigory was both very impressed and a touch alarmed. “Did you know what would happen at that meeting? Did you know what I was walking into?”
“No, I had mistakenly assumed you were on top of that, and took you on your word about them. The odds of them being what you expected were poor. I also had a detailed plan in case they kidnapped you.”
Stanisk burst out laughing, “Imagine if they kidnapped you, Boss! All trussed up like a rotisserie chicken! Hah! I guess I’ll get packed and meet back here to get everything organised! I’ll miss my townhouse, but I’ve had enough of living in Jagged Cove, it's loud and crowded.”
Stanisk stood up, and turned to leave, but paused mid stride. “Miss Aethlina, how big of an investigation do you reckon it’ll be? Reckon they could keep after us after we leave?”
“Likely.There are cases where the inquisition spent entire centuries on the trail of heretics and their descendents. Those heresies were vocally opposing an aspect of doctrine. This may be the first heresy in which a building-sized demon flung citizens into Cathedral Square. I assume yes, they will be interested in following up.”
“Alright, I’ve got an idea that might buy us some time. Grigory, are there any specific numbers that are significant to demons?”
“Um, not actually, but the older texts are filled with references to threes and eights I guess?” Grigory said with a shrug.
“Perfect!” Stanisks' smile strengthened and he turned to Aethlina. “Can you think of eight nobles, eight businessmen, and eight clergy the city would be better off without? Here, write 'em on this!” He slid her a notebook page when she nodded.
Grigory leaned forward,”I’m not sure what you are going for?”
“In the army, there was a famously clever bird that would trick soldiers, called a red heron. We are going to make a whole flock of ‘em!” Stanisk excitedly explained. “Oh, draw a demon circle on this page, doesn’t have to work or anything, like the one from the warehouse”
Grigory began his sketch. “I don’t think red heron is quite right, but I’m catching your drift.”
While they wrote, Stanisk went to the carved chest where all the imp totems for the workshop were stored, and invoked twenty four of them. Taking Aethlina’s list and Grigory’s sketch, he ordered each imp to sprint across town and use hellfire to scorch the circle into the street in front of the home of a specific name.
After the final imp bounded out of the building and was leaping along the rooflines Stanisk returned to his partners. “Now they’ll have too many leads! Hopefully folk see the imps and hellfire, that’ll be even better!”
“We can just outvoke them in an hour or so, that's easy enough. Great idea, Stanisk!” Grigory said cautiously, still thinking through the plan.
“If your big demon didn’t cause a public panic, I can’t imagine a better way to finish the job.” Aethlina replied.
Stanisk smiled and shrugged. “It wasn’t my good looks alone that kept me alive this long! I’ll send some runners to gather the lads and get this show on the road. Human runners I mean!”
Prev and Next

Purtle's Internet Lineup for June 2nd, 2023 2:54pm
Pics:

• me in sf6 https://twitter.com/SoundestOfBois/status/1664187522124075009
  
• So I bought a computer from goodwill for 10 dollars to see if I could revive it, and I did. It’s filled with HUNDREDS of written reviews for gay pornography. I can’t stop laughing [thread] https://twitter.com/CaseyJPod/status/1664311026458808320
  
• Law & Order: Boston https://twitter.com/Thomas_Carrieri/status/1664657759671926785
  
• To all my small content creator homies https://twitter.com/Win98Tech/status/1664234209244790787
  
• Barbie movie used so much pink paint it caused a shortage https://twitter.com/UltimaShadowX/status/1664595874163351553
  
• Crabmeat isn’t worth the hassle it takes to eat crab. https://twitter.com/theemare/status/1664311124718919680
  
• Street Fighter 6 Stuff
  
  • A special message to the community from the voice of Luke https://twitter.com/StreetFightestatus/1664361451153408001
  • Street Fighter 6 has just SMASHED the All-Time concurrent players of every Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, or Tekken game on Steam https://twitter.com/BenjiSales/status/1664502543320334336
  • it's zangiefs birthday https://twitter.com/StreetFightestatus/1664286308955738114
  • First hit on Marisa is free. (: https://twitter.com/lastrewards/status/1664370962345730050
  • chun li taunt does a hit https://twitter.com/ryo_redcyclone/status/1664566524550729728
  • Graphic Settings you NEED to fix that the game doesn't tell you about. Start SF6's launch on a good note. https://twitter.com/GhostFrom3S/status/1664010423459274753
  • Potato Mod v0.1 is done. Links and instructions on comments https://old.reddit.com/Kappachino/comments/13y7z3k/potato_brethrens_potato_mod_v01_is_done_links_and/
  • Marisa just outright told me she'd rather fight completely naked if she could, this is the fucking woman of the year hands down. https://twitter.com/UltimaShadowX/status/1664390985080504322
  • nsfw Classic Cammy All Colors Presented by Chipotle and Kotaku https://old.reddit.com/Kappachino/comments/13yc9b2/classic_cammy_all_colors_presented_by_chipotle/
  • pink cammy outfit backside https://i.imgur.com/axcK62h.jpg
  • more cammy plot. people are going crazy for it lmao https://i.redd.it/lt9gfriz7f3b1.jpg
  • they have ripped the model https://old.reddit.com/Kappachino/comments/13y80g3/ssj3_cammy_booty/
  • Juri game ovecontinue in arcade mode https://twitter.com/mememenome/status/1664356507230830592
  • Li-Fen and Chun-Li https://twitter.com/ssshuckle/status/1664380416231342084
  • Street Fighter 6 - All Game Over Animations [6:44] https://youtu.be/KSj48BZ0cWY
  • Combos/setups/tech
  • Characters with free throwloops in the corner [2min] https://twitter.com/corybellFGC/status/1664309352818442241
  • manon v marisa combo https://twitter.com/tkintheglobe/status/1664333352797876224
  • You wanna know what happens if you wake up DP vs Marissa? https://twitter.com/Bigbird_fgc/status/1664380179899203586
  • honda - I can chip kill from 20% in the corner with one bar, haven't tried to improve this at all because it's a fantasy scenario, but can anyone do better? This is all real if the opponent has no super, no gap is large enough to be challenged :] https://twitter.com/popnquinbee/status/1664390737704935424
  • Air Blanka Ball is CRAZY https://twitter.com/HiFightTH/status/1664428187735166976
  • JP corner combo https://twitter.com/BESAME_GEN/status/1664335451082330112
  • ehonda combo https://twitter.com/Alioune85/status/1664356676856692738
  • lily combo https://twitter.com/tkintheglobe/status/1664292802086453249
  • jp combo/setup https://twitter.com/kevinsparkz/status/1664412867402301442
  • marisa combo https://twitter.com/TENGOKU_HERO/status/1664347600756285440
  • Corner Dhalsim setup with Yoga Arc after OD Yoga Fire. Without dash you are +24 after Arc connects https://twitter.com/Narath_FGC/status/1664362979947868160
  • anti blanka setup https://twitter.com/Noble_Cathedral/status/1664430026685829120
  • cammy combo/setup https://twitter.com/kevinsparkz/status/1664413675988615168
  • honda looking scary https://twitter.com/Mr_MadGeastatus/1664277247212294145
  • Alioune cammy combo/setup https://twitter.com/Alioune85/status/1664368843362385922
  • blanka setup https://twitter.com/lllmokelll/status/1664373842670936064
  • blanka combo https://twitter.com/lllmokelll/status/1664350330404962304
  • Dee Jay EX fireball corner combo. https://twitter.com/GriffyBones/status/1664365995212046336
  • manon v marisa combo/setup https://twitter.com/masat0226/status/1664316890179842048
  • blanka combo/setup https://twitter.com/hirasyain77/status/1664344414255468545
  • holy manon grapple damage https://twitter.com/AndyLO2_/status/1664443784262811648
  • Zangief reversal punish in the corner. Idk if this is optimal but I like how it looks. https://twitter.com/AngelFreak_/status/1664430881866670082
  • manon anti fireball combo https://twitter.com/teamspooky/status/1664462791812739073
  • another manon anti fireball combo https://twitter.com/Mibeadostatus/1664394001947181056
  • JP can safe jump to instant-overhead fuzzy. https://twitter.com/DiNyc3st/status/1664515035064934400
  • MAX Marisa combo https://twitter.com/FrostXCVI/status/1664447134182129665
  • JP - you want to be +52-55 on oki if you want throw to beat their 4 frame while setting up 214P. 214PP is only 10 frames less so you would need +42-45 for that. https://twitter.com/ShowYouCanSYC/status/1664490564845453312
  • JP sequence https://twitter.com/greed4453/status/1664419150511603712
  • sonicfox two touch with jp https://twitter.com/SonicFox/status/1664522022083493894
  • DJ optimal corner combo https://twitter.com/findyourtechgg/status/1664326396313829376
  • DJ hadouken punish https://twitter.com/_elvss/status/1664416769530908673
  • DJ side switch https://twitter.com/wideawakeanimal/status/1664601445004455936
  • DJ Full punish anywhere on screen with Deejay that does 5.2K+ with 2 bars and full drive gauge, probably not the best combo but a start at least https://twitter.com/TaliosDrakei/status/1664606885411188738
  • A simple but painful Zangief DP punish! Maybe someone can squeeze a little more juice out of this https://twitter.com/Jaadooski/status/1664575063385858058
  • Dhalsim sequence https://twitter.com/MistahCrimson/status/1664558835820789761
  • Blanka sequence https://twitter.com/TqkatenMAY_chan/status/1664344131865575424
  • more blanka https://twitter.com/TqkatenMAY_chan/status/1664491585025998848
  • JP sequence https://twitter.com/kevinsparkz/status/1664648072125730816
  • JP setup + sequence https://twitter.com/KIT_KUN_JP/status/1664491833446240257
  • how to win with blanka day 1 https://twitter.com/HiFightTH/status/1664653935360000001
  • JP command throw setup. Beats 4F normal and tested against throw also. https://twitter.com/NoMoreMrIceGuy_/status/1664659698627354624
  • Biting heads and cashing checks - Blanka https://twitter.com/EvenMoTempest/status/1664655257123844096
  • GGs shake my hand - JP https://twitter.com/HUEBERT47/status/1664540278861058048
  • cammy mixup https://twitter.com/pero0126/status/1664622578462498816
  • JP corner stuff https://twitter.com/greed4453/status/1664374243772219393
• Pokemon news
  
  • They’re just posting DVD extras on YouTube now, for free LOL https://twitter.com/DogasusBackpack/status/1664586423067082753
  • what type of gym leader are you quiz https://uquiz.com/quiz/r0lGkB/what-type-gym-leader-are-you

Clips:

• Diablo 4 opens chat by mouse click mid fight - Streamer doesn't realise https://clips.twitch.tv/GiftedMoistSquirrelNotATK-sL5KAhDUDRM4mY6d

Videos

• Primitive Technology: New Brick Kiln Design [13min] https://youtu.be/7SH4irC_xMs
  
• SF6: Ryu Combo Video - desk [3:48] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMKs1PyQg6k
  

Articles/News/Other

• The US Air Force tested an AI enabled drone that was tasked to destroy specific targets. A human operator had the power to override the drone—and so the drone decided that the human operator was an obstacle to its mission—and attacked him. https://twitter.com/ArmandDoma/status/1664331870564147200
  
• The almost thouht to be canceled game is coming out - Everybody 1-2-Switch! just got stealth announced on US eShop. $29.99, out June 30th https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1664438318682230784
  
  • you know it has to be bad if it comes out on eshop and at $30.
  • this was a game that apparently playtested horribly
  • rumor froma year ago https://twitter.com/tylermcbride/status/1664440576396210187
• League of Legends players have launched the first-ever strike in pro esports. The professional video gamers are standing up to developer Riot Games, which scrapped a rule that supported up-and-coming talent and is threatening the jobs of dozens of players and coaches. Thread https://twitter.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1664361584569753601
  
• For anyone who runs a Kaillera server, I just released a brand new server (EmuLinker-K) that I've been working on for almost 2 years. Please give it a try and let me know if you find bugs or have feature requests. https://twitter.com/6kRt62r2zvKp5Rh/status/1664642776326184962
  
• Fidelity cuts Reddit valuation by 41% https://old.reddit.com/technology/comments/13xumjl/fidelity_cuts_reddit_valuation_by_41/
  
  • ‘Fidelity also slashed the value of its Twitter stake, it disclosed in the filing, valuing Elon Musk’s firm at about $15 billion.’

So, I'm a refugee from ye olden (pre-internet) tymes, when I did alternative comics for zine-type publishers. At that time, the artist/writer usually did it all: writer, penciller, inker, letterer (my old stuff had terrible lettering lol).
In those days a single page of b/w comics usually took me around 8 hours to complete. I made no money at it, and didn't have enough time to devote to comics. Eventually I gave it up even though I loved it.
Now I'm geezing hard but for some reason I want back in to comics. I lost my drawing chops years ago and frankly, I don't have enough time or resolve left to regain them. So I would love to collaborate with artists who have the skills and style I'm currently lacking.
I've spent the last 20 years writing - thinking about writing, story, characters, plots and pacing. I have a lot of great concepts that I've written as fiction prose and I'm just now realizing that a great deal of them would make fantastic comics (with the right artwork).
But I don't know this crazy modern world of comics - I am a simple caveman who doesn't understand your Procreates, mangas and TikToks. These days, from what I have found, few publishers are interested in writers without x number of page samples of finished artwork.
So for me to try and get my stories published, I need finished artwork. Am I understanding that correctly?
After lurking around Reddit and doing my own research, my path forward seems to be hiring an artist to do at least 5-10 pages of a script to submit to publishers? Does that sound right?
Or instead of being published by Fantagraphics or whatever, I could just self-publish but to my grey old head that means going to record stores, coops, head shops and seeing if they would stock my little booklets I printed at Kinkos. And stapled myself. Quaint, I know.
As for publishing/promoting my stuff online, I don't even do Facebook, let alone IG or TikTok. I mean, I guess I could learn but Jesus I don't wanna. Social media sucks and nobody should indulge in it. Consarn it!
Of course, my stuff is not suited for mainstream comics - I don't do superheroes, manga, etc. So I'm not trying to get published by Marvel or come up with the next Jojo's Bizzare Adventures. It's mostly arty, alt, imaginative work that is heavily influenced by magic realism, scifi and punk and fine art.
I'm not worried about making money- I mean, I'll probably I'll be dead or senile in 10 years or so. I just want to introduce my characters and ideas to the world in general before it's too late. 😰 In case you haven't guessed, I'm 60 years old and sinking fast.
So my best bet is to cough up some scratch to pay an artist to illustrate a few pages, then submit. Right? Rinse and repeat.
Am I on the right track, or am I missing something? Any suggestions or tips? Any eccentric billionaires reading this who want to fund me? Elon, you'll do any stupid shit, right? Gimme a publishing contract!
Thanks and I love all you crazy artistic creatures. 😋

Hey y'all. Help a girl in distress here.
(My English writing skills are not great, so please bear with my story which might be haywire)
So it's been about 6-7 months that I've been working at my present organisation. There's this guy from another department with whom I started talking casually like just the usual hi-hellos in corridors as we don't get much time to sit idle.
Soon after, one day I was sitting in the break room where he came and sat with the book he was reading. Then we started talking on the usual stuff of daily lives. This went on for about 20 minutes and we got back to work. This was just one incident of us sitting together back in January-end.
There were another 3-4 incidents like this over the next 2 months when one day he casually stated that we should meet outside. This didn't had me surprised because obviously when others see any interactions like these, they would casually just assume that something is going on between them.
Mind you, these were all just normal conversations that any colleague would have. And apart from the 4-5 conversations we had, others were just corridors greetings or I had no sight of him at all.
One was where we exchanged numbers and he would call me sometimes.
Anyway, so the same pattern continued till recently when we actually did meet outside (with some of his friends outside of workplace, which he asked me before). He hugged me and I wasn't even expecting that. Like I thought that it would be just a less-formal encounter as it is at the workplace. Anyway, later we talked and had dinner. He dropped me and hugged me again while leaving, like boy it felt really good.
Soon after, I invited him over instead of meeting outside. We watched movies, had dinner and talked. Then we slept on same bed (literally just sleep, nothing else). I had asked him if he is okay with me sleeping on same bed and he said yes. He held my hand for the whole night. Next morning he hugged me while I was in sleep. And while he was going, he hugged me again which lasted quite longer than a usual hug.
The thing is, whenever I talk to him, he inspires me and pushes me in his own ways outside of my comfort zone to do things I've wanted to do.
I have really started liking him as a person. I've just joined a classwhich I've kept on hold since like 8 years. I'm more physically active and have started to become a little more productive throughout the day especially after work. I've also started preparing for the upcoming exams lol.
Now I don't know if I'm overthinking this,but I can't get him out of my mind at all. It's him running at the back of my mind at all times and I don't know what this feeling is. I can't seem to figure out where am I going with this. Is this even worth giving so much attention to? Or is if just something anyone would do?

Hey y'all. Help a girl in distress here.
(My English writing skills are not great, so please bear with my story which might be haywire)
So it's been about 6-7 months that I've been working at my present organisation. There's this guy from another department with whom I started talking casually like just the usual hi-hellos in corridors as we don't get much time to sit idle.
Soon after, one day I was sitting in the break room where he came and sat with the book he was reading. Then we started talking on the usual stuff of daily lives. This went on for about 20 minutes and we got back to work. This was just one incident of us sitting together back in January-end.
There were another 3-4 incidents like this over the next 2 months when one day he casually stated that we should meet outside. This didn't had me surprised because obviously when others see any interactions like these, they would casually just assume that something is going on between them.
Mind you, these were all just normal conversations that any colleague would have. And apart from the 4-5 conversations we had, others were just corridors greetings or I had no sight of him at all.
One was where we exchanged numbers and he would call me sometimes.
Anyway, so the same pattern continued till recently when we actually did meet outside (with some of his friends outside of workplace, which he asked me before). He hugged me and I wasn't even expecting that. Like I thought that it would be just a less-formal encounter as it is at the workplace. Anyway, later we talked and had dinner. He dropped me and hugged me again while leaving, like boy it felt really good.
Soon after, I invited him over instead of meeting outside. We watched movies, had dinner and talked. Then we slept on same bed (literally just sleep, nothing else). I had asked him if he is okay with me sleeping on same bed and he said yes. He held my hand for the whole night. Next morning he hugged me while I was in sleep. And while he was going, he hugged me again which lasted quite longer than a usual hug.
The thing is, whenever I talk to him, he inspires me and pushes me in his own ways outside of my comfort zone to do things I've wanted to do.
I have really started liking him as a person. I've just joined a classwhich I've kept on hold since like 8 years. I'm more physically active and have started to become a little more productive throughout the day especially after work. I've also started preparing for the upcoming exams lol.
Now I don't know if I'm overthinking this,but I can't get him out of my mind at all. It's him running at the back of my mind at all times and I don't know what this feeling is. I can't seem to figure out where am I going with this. Is this even worth giving so much attention to? Or is if just something anyone would do?

Is it just me or does their two character arcs hit more when you are older?
I remember watching SATC when I was a teen and then again in my early twenties. I've always loved it, and liked all the four main characters. And while I really liked all their arcs, it didn't really hit me in the feels like it does now.
But Charlotte's infertility arc is really hitting different now that I'm in my thirties as well. I have friends with the same problem, and I know the struggle. And I felt so much for her when she realized she truly wants a baby, but Trey didn't. And then there is Harry, and he is everything. I never was a fan of her converting for him (but at the same time it's very Charlotte and also proof that none of their arcs is 100% perfect, which makes the show better imo) but Harry is such a fantastic partner. He is so supportive of her. I love how his reaction when she first told him she might not be able to conceive ever, and he was like: Okay, then we'll adopt. It just showed his difference to Trey, who didn't really want to have a family.
And then his reaction to Charlotte's grief when she had her miscarriage.
I just watched the episode in which Charlotte didn't get pregnant again, because none of her eggs are suitable, and she goes jogging, and meets the old lady with the dog, who's defect. I actually cried when she broke down in front her and then got the dog gifted to her. And again, Harry was so sweet in his reaction, saying of course they are going to keep the dog, because there is no way they could get rid of something that makes Charlotte so happy.
Man, he is a keeper. Imo the best love interest of all guys in the series.
---
Samantha's cancer arc hits differently too today. I have people close to me suffering from cancer, and battling it, and it just feels so real now. I really felt her when she asked Carrie to stop with the false optimism and allow her to talk about the things that scare her. It's so important to have someone that listens in this situation and not just reacts with the usual "Oh, it's going to be well again", "she might recover" - yes, she might, but also no, she might not.
I also really like Smith with her. I've always liked him, because he gets her and doesn't judge her, and frankly has been so patient without being a doormat. But when he saw her losing her hair, and she telling him that he won't be able to handle that, I think he reacted in such a healthy and fantastic way. I love how he shaved his head for her, and was just, shut up, baby,
(for me the movie never happened *lol*)

Just kinda confused on how exactly ones magical “power” is evaluated, as I don’t recall it ever really bringing talked about in the books. Just saying Incantations, and concentration/ emotions were mainly focused on, in terms of being able to cast spells.
In the movies the fight scenes kinda blow, in a majority of duels/ fights a spell gets cast and an energy beam comes out of the wand and for whatever reason will always connect to the opponents beam. Then they squint their face and look super concentrated until a beam overtakes the other.
I feel like it’s all kinda vague and doesn’t really make sense.

^{There is a Tl;dr at the end}
If the Gorosei (or The Five Elder Stars) are fighters or not has been a long running debate in the community; a debate that Chapter 1085 seemingly just ended - they are. However, the latest Chapter didn’t just simply confirm they are fighters.
https://preview.redd.it/3cxs1xx2fn3b1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=799b5dcc1ddff4acbd5710910d8a144d3babbdd7
While initially there seems to be a bit of a bait-and-switch going on with the panel of Gorosei all grabbing the classic flint-lock pistols seemingly indicating that they indeed are just politicians, we are soon greeted with a panel that not only confirms their fighter status but also elevates it to another level.
https://preview.redd.it/lu0p2ad4fn3b1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=e3a1401eb3ec7b6b16f1fb6af957d87c813ea583

God Hand

It’s hard to put into words the feeling I had while seeing this reveal happen; as someone who has recently started to read Berserk (at Volume 6, Don’t Spoil!), the best way I can describe it is to compare it to the reveal of/the first time we see God Hand.
https://preview.redd.it/lvi0z4u4fn3b1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=b3b5eeb4f5eec3bb4ab9d7f5285108292744b98e
I know it might be silly to compare the generally goofy Manga (with serious topics) like One Piece to such a graphic, heavy and brutal story that is Berserk, but the general feeling evoked in me by these two scenes was the same. Oda is known for his silhouettes, often obscuring what the person looks like, but the way he drew the Gorosei in their “silhouette forms” feels different than usual; you can go back and compare it to how he drew his older work to see the difference. It is way closer to how he drew Kanjuro in his “vengeful spirit” (Kazenbo) form.
https://preview.redd.it/mrtjtpb5fn3b1.png?width=938&format=png&auto=webp&s=62256d244c32b1254fb7a08cec791acad78a3b89
They feel ethereal, amorphous and other-worldly. They feel as if The Void itself is shedding its human form; as if the silhouettes we see them in ARE their true forms. This feeling is only amplified when you add Immu into the mix. The translator’s note notes that “Mu”, the way Immu refers to themselves stands for “Void” and you see that in the many panels they appear in.
https://preview.redd.it/11t7q1u5fn3b1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=ff6ab14ad165734dad14d1f3fad033ac256b9329
This shot of Immu from above gives us the best example of what I’m talking about; Immu doesn’t feel like a silhouette but rather as dark matter enveloping the chair it sits in. And let’s not forget the “arrows” it uses to attack Sabo and Cobra; it’s very reminiscent of Pride, a Homunculus from the Full-metal Alchemist series and another ethereal being.
https://preview.redd.it/hntyf2k6fn3b1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb460163c1eb45d200e305cc201bc714a92c14b0
I can only imagine the powerful Devil Fruits that they have… if they even have any…

A New Power

It’s hard to imagine these forms to be a result of any other power than Devil Fruits, it’s the primary power system of the series for the past 1000+ Chapters after all, but it wouldn’t be the first time the series threw a new power into the mix.
https://preview.redd.it/oeo7k637fn3b1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=60b60825420e49320eb569135eed686e836c55a5
Haki started to make its first appearances after around 550 Chapters and for the most part after its introduction it has been a staple of Luffy’s (and others) power-up throughout the New World. Well, we are yet again approaching that 550 Chapters milestone and it’s very likely we get another new power introduced into the mix; or rather, a power of the past.
It hasn’t been something that’s been discussed a lot lately (or at all), but we already saw glimpses of new and unexplained abilities; Voice of All Things being one of them as well whatever Luffy used to communicate with everyone while he was drowning.
https://preview.redd.it/w0tmg6r7fn3b1.png?width=882&format=png&auto=webp&s=767e50f615bcfa2292557228c99a275c00d82cca
I personally have long been a proponent of the idea that everything in the story, ability or phenomenon, could be explained with science, even the Devil Fruits, but in the light of recent events I’ve started to become a believer…I’ve started to believe in a mythical side of One Piece. The Sun God Nika, The Voice of All Things, and now Immu and Gorosei, all of these things scream “magic” to me with the way they are portrayed and I’m kind of wishing that’s the case.
https://preview.redd.it/vrm35p78fn3b1.png?width=681&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f086212f16709d93a91c784c658b47163d401ec
Now, to take Sabo’s words here literally would be silly. However, whatever he saw clearly was “hellish” and inhuman. Just look at the way Wapol reacted to it; if it was something as simple as few Zoan users then I don’t think Wapol would be so scared (we are talking about a man who ate his subordinates to create this monstrosity) or that Sabo would call it “Hell”.
Seriously, this man was so mortified he just ran without even caring where he was heading towards
I’m not suggesting the Gorosei and Immu are quite literally Demons from Hell but I’m not saying they are far from it either. This whole reveal feels like something out of classic horror movies where Vampires (or another thing) take on human form pretending to be regular humans just for the protagonist to discover their true identity; and I don’t think what we’ll get will be far from it.
https://preview.redd.it/z6176bgdfn3b1.png?width=833&format=png&auto=webp&s=6c2b27eec9682d4332fcd488129d5810fee11feb
We know all kind of different races exist, we know there are space pirates and we know Skypeans came from the Moon so why can’t the Gorosei and Immu be something other than human? Maybe the reason why Devil Fruits were made WAS to combat these creatures…

What Are They

Just to make it clear, I’m not saying that Immu and/or the Gorosei are actually amorphous blobs of darkness, that would be pretty uninspiring character design, nor am I saying the powers they have are strictly result of something other than Devil Fruits. The Devil Fruits are still a massive part of the Universe and it’s very likely that the powers they have comes from them. What I am saying is that Immu and the Gorosei are not human… probably…
https://preview.redd.it/zv3w9q5efn3b1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=6149a6622bee770e94e46df53a5a69ada746a235
The origin of Celestial Dragons has often been brought into question before. Many theories were made discussing the “Celestial” part of their name and bringing attention to the “space suits” and “space helmets” they are wearing. There seems to be even more “space imagery” with the name of one of the Gorosei being Saturn (you know, a Celestial body), which undoubtedly means the other ones will also have planet-themed names, as well as what seems to be a Constellation on the Empty Throne on which Immu sits.
https://preview.redd.it/9dusq5qefn3b1.png?width=661&format=png&auto=webp&s=fdd995d1dc3b58a9465af2194cb4bcaad4b8ac49
Shonen, or any long running story in general, have to constantly up the stakes and make new reveals/twists that would keep the readers engaged. Again, I keep saying things sound silly but trust me, there is a reason why so many stories do this; it’s been proven to work. Look no further than One Piece itself:

• What happens when Paramecia Devil Fruits run their course; you introduce insanely powerful Logia Devil Fruits.
• What happens when Logia Devil Fruits become too powerful; you introduce Haki, an ability meant to counter them.
• What happens when Logia Devil Fruits become “obsolete” due to the aforementioned Haki power; you introduce Awakenings and Mythical Zoans.

But what happens when those things become obsolete as well? What comes next?
https://preview.redd.it/275afcvffn3b1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=71193bace9685099c7d2c10a20dbf3fa456f190c
That’s right; ALIENS!
Just look at the most popular Shonen, Dragon Ball (and also Naruto). When Goku defeated the Demon Lord Piccolo and became the World Martial Arts Championship (Strongest Under The Heavens), Toriyama introduced Saiyans and with them the idea of Aliens. Suddenly, Piccolo wasn’t a Demon anymore but rather a member of alien race and suddenly, a whole new arena for Goku to fight in was opened. We know Oda is a big fan of Toriyama and his work he even went on the record to cite Goku as an inspiration for Luffy, and One Piece as it currently is lends itself to this idea quite a bit.
https://preview.redd.it/8cgd0efgfn3b1.png?width=817&format=png&auto=webp&s=d5d79fce208dc681f39bc8037001e776fc8c93cc
We have an unexplained advanced civilization of 900 years ago that had the technology more advanced than even the current time, we have the aforementioned Skypieans that came from the Moon, those who rule the World by the name of Celestial Dragons, Immu and Gorosei with their otherworldly appearance and the giant death weapon that can destroy Islands. All of this could be connected and answered with a single idea – visitors from space.
The advanced civilization (Ancient Kingdome) would be the result of alien settlers who Immu and the Gorosei would be a part of, explaining their appearance and advanced technology. You know how Zoan users when transformed into their animal take on the characteristic of their human form into the mix? The forms we see the Gorosei would be the result of that.
The Dragon Fruit is the best example of this as we have two users of the “same\" Fruit. You can see Kaido’s Dragon form has his “Oni” horns while Momo doesn’t have any of that.
The Celestial Dragons, like Doflamingo and his family, would be just the regular humans, rulers of the 20 Kingdoms that Immu got on their side to wage War against the Ancient Kingdom, against which they rebelled, promising them the same status of the Celestial Dragons (that's why they wear "space suits" while Gorsoei don't); and the giant flying thing that we can see destroying Lulusia Kingdom might just be the spaceship they came on (like the ships that Skypieans used to come from space).
https://preview.redd.it/cpk3ta2pfn3b1.jpg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ade1bdc578951183fa868f2b7030ae40b3da2c7
Are Aliens too off-brand for One Piece? Maybe, maybe not. After all, this is a story about Pirates, on a ship, exploring the vast World of One Piece and what is better to be explored than the vastness of Space - the Final Frontier...

Tl;dr

Judging by how the things in Chapter 1085 were portrayed, I highly doubt Gorosei and Immu are simple Devil Fruit users. The comments from Sabo about "Hell", the amorphous appearance of the Gorosei as well as Wapol's scared reaction seem to indicate there is more to it. I think that Oda is about to introduce a new aspect of the story with Immu and Gorosei not being of this world...

it been a month (sorry but am even more poor now so i cant buy anything, i still have a few but i have to space it out)
am i sitting here at 10 pm (i write the review in multiple days sometimes lol) making a review because i have to declutter my cloths and am TERRIFIED, yes absolutely is it wort it yes
it a few days later and now am watching the fast and the furious am at the 8 right now, ill probably be done by tomorrow, it a fun marathon, right now the best one is the first, but like as a kid my fav was always the 3 one, guess when we grow up our taste grow up too lol
what's a duet: it a concept created by osmofolia (am pretty sure as i never seen it before) where a perfume is made by 2 perfume, so lets say you have exquisite corps that's the perfume you buy, when you receive it you gonna have 2 bottle, vanilla milk and smoked lavender musk, when you layer them on your skin, they become exquisite corps! but the fun part is that you have 3 perfume, and the 2 bottle you get are amazing layering notes (as it their hole purpose) so you can add them to any perfume you want
LIKES: tea, patchouli, tart fruits, close to skin smell, greens (grass, moss, leaf's of all sort (tomato leaf yum)), atmospheric/realistic, citrus, frankincense, cedar, most fruits actually, soil, roses, lavender, salt, sage, cannabis, rosemary, cozy gourmand, marshmallow, smoke, cinnamon actually most spice, pine/fir, violet leaf/violet, i like stuff that feel wet (fog, ocean, rain), ambergris
DISLIKES: ozone, aldehyde, oud, sandalwood, cinnamon leaf, big silage, white floral, especially tuberose and gardenias, but also just florals in general, alcoholics, vetiver, perfumy perfume, most milk, tar, when company say “for woman” or “for man”
HATE OR LOVE no in between: Hay, jasmine, incense, pink pepper, fancy woods, most resins, iris/orris, petrichor
to your attention: this is not really a critique, but it still normal i don't gush over everything, am talking about my taste not trying to sell you anything, i like all the company i talk about and if i don't i will say it. i am a bitch but don't let your feeling get hurt over a little dumb post please ;) love yall lets do this
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HONEY DUST you mean pollen right?
notes: pollen, hay, honey, beeswax, powdered sugar
though: so on the bottle there the name of the duet (what a spellcaster leaves behind) and a number not the name of the note, and when i got them i was too lazy to look it up to make sure i wrote the right name so i just did it by memory, so now on my bottle it written "pollen" lol. i do think it perfect for this perfume it super dusty to the point were if you have pollen allergy i would tell you to stay away from this, it also gives me the same harshness grass perfume give me sometime but it not at all green wish is kinda weird too maybe the hay? idk but it welcome, this perfume is the mix of comforting sweater and seasonal allergy, weird but i love that in a perfume
color: golden yellow dust of pollen in a gold ornate jar sitting on a red tinted wood table
+
ANTIQUE BOOK if vanilla ice cream and white wood had a child
notes: paper, leather, glue, old book, cedar, vanilla, cetalox
though: every single book fragrance is either super chemical or super woody marshmallow there just no in-between and this is a woody marshmallow that dry down to a sandalwood-y thingy, i don't hate it but i do think it better as a addition to another perfume then by it own. but on it own i think it perfect for the book ladies that are a little (a bit) more conservative then me (and always ladies in a non gendered way lolll i just have a booktok person in mind and shes a woman, but it not a woman perfume none are)
color: a hard cover book with no letter printed on any of the page (your gonna say, oh a drawing pad, nah, a small hard cover where they just made a mistake on the print and there nothing) and also you know the wood you can find around lake and the sea, it super white and soft, that but in a 2x4

WHAT A SPELLCASTER LEAVES BEHIND cream pollen
notes: pollen, hay, honey, beeswax, powdered sugar, paper, leather, glue, old book, cedar, vanilla, cetalox
though: this is interesting the antique book note almost lost itself in the honey dust, but then you smell honey dust on it own again and your like ok i see it much more chill on the dusty-ness, i get it i get it, it also a perfect on the name i love it! what a spellcaster leaves behinds it so descriptive and cute and definetly perfect for the perfume, you can imagine the scene, a big dusty book closing, the dust particule going everywhere, someone closing a candle and then a door.
color: a huge dusty, very dusty book, with gold corner and yellowing pages
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VANILLA MILK sweet brown milk (smell better then it sounds)
notes: cream, caramel , heliotrope, vanilla, milk, musk
though: that's not for me, for sure, i mean to be fair my skin don't work with anything milk, my only love is milk shaka from Damask Haus, to me this is sickly sweet, but i don't think most would think that, if you like a milk caramel this is for you for sure, this is concerning because of the realism, i mean it smell like warm milk, and the thick light brown caramel that looks like melted plastic but actually taste pretty good, just very artificial, witch is weird cuz caramel sauce is so easy to make and i don't get why restaurant and ice cream shop don't make it themselves it like 3 ingredient, butter, sugar and cream, (brown sugar if you want butterscotch) but anyway you also have a bit of a floral note but it just adds to the warm milk, really interesting i see this being very popular with the gourmand people
color: a room temperature glass of milk forgotten on a oval shaped table, you know the big ones in wood, with a super big feet underneath, they always have some middle piece of broderie made by some grand mother and and a flower pot full of fresh flower (white heliotrope this time) on the other side of the table there a caramel cream pie
+
SMOKED LAVENDER MUSK gay fur
notes: lavender, smoke, oakmoss, musk
though: lavender smoke is a pretty common mix, i don't particularly care for but i love this, it fun it sexy and the lavender pretty realistic. if you know a bit about queer history, lavender been a symbol of gay-ness (lol) since the end of the 19th century, and idk if it since i know this fact that i believe all lavender perfume are gay, well this not the exception (i really don't think there one, it like violet) idk know why exactly but this perfume is just very queer to me, only downside, cuz it really smell good, it that it doesn't last super long contrary to vanilla milk that's super persistent
color: light purple fur coat, and a black leather cat suit with cowboy boots and a big chunky belt, but truly it just a smoke lavender love

EXQUISITE CORPS They are cold like porcelain
notes: lavender, smoke, oakmoss, musk, cream, caramel , heliotrope, vanilla, milk, musk
though: you know i bitch a lot about name accuracy but this is spot on, does it smell like a crops, i mean no, not that i know of (and idk every dead i seen was in dust form not corps form) but it has this cold creaminess mix with the floral it just exactly the name. this is amazing if you put just a little bit of the vanilla milk (my opinion, but don't you think this concept is amazing for that you can dose your 2 perfume to make exactly the combi you prefer) i just think it better when it the smoky floral that take the lead it more mortuary less floral caramel
color: cold, soft but lifeless skin. resting on a pile of white and purple flower, white coffin, 2 small marble column on each side to witch rest on top flower pot. people crying
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7/11 STEAMED MATCHA LATTE a dammed good matcha latte
notes: steam, matcha, warm milk, green tea, cream
though: this is the best of them all, by far, on it own, it just so perfect, the matcha super realistic, it super creamy it has this amazing grass quality and i just sweet enough, as a tea note lover THIS, IS perfect. i were it the most out of the 6 and any combination of the 6. oh last thing it kinda also smell like white chocolate just so you know but there literally nothing else i can say to this perfume it a perfection in simplicity
color: white chocolate and matcha ganache, i kinda want to make a matcha latte recipe but it would be too long cuz there way to many step to make a fancy matcha latte, you'll have to imagine it lol
+
COLD RAIN ON PAVEMENT perfectionism
notes: cold air, humid air, puddles, rain, concrete, tar
though: i hate ozone/aldehydes, but objectifly this one is not too bad, osmofolia has a goesmin single note that is actually realistic rain this one is not (to me) but it still adjacent, it wet, bright, soapy and and a bit floral, i mean ofc i wont like a perfume that give me a headache, but that's not the perfume fault right like, i know this perfume is beautiful, it gives me Ghibli rain scene, like in Arrietty, Totoro or Kiki the Little Witch, it rain but in a very aesthetically pleasing way, am doing a fast and furious marraton but after i feel like watching all the ghibli movie
color: walking next to a flower shop after the rain, a little brightness in the thick of the concrete jungle

ON THE CORNER OF JINHU ROAD too pretty
notes: steam, matcha, warm milk, green tea, cream, cold air, humid air, puddles, rain, concrete, tar
though: every one that read my reviews know 2 thing for sure about me, i hate ozone/aldehydes like we seen right before and i have weird references, well weirdly i don't hate this, i mean not on me it would still give me a head ache like ozone/aldehydes always do but it pleasant, i think it the creaminess, it kinda chill out the harshness of cold rain on pavement, but it still has the buzz-ness, it like a soapy, after the rain drinking a matcha latte (that has some kind of white floral syrup in) it pretty, too pretty for me
color: walking next to a flower shop after the rain, a little brightness in the thick of the concrete jungle but the flower shop is also a coffee shop and you get yourself a matcha latte
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MIX AND MATCH, if you get it you get it if you don't you don't ok
Matcha + Milk = Brown Sugar Matcha Latte
Matcha + Lavender = Dirty Matcha
Matcha + Book = White Chocolate BonBon
Matcha + Pollen = Fancy HoneyBee With Her Little Tea
Milk + Book = Alpha, Eating At The Library
Milk + Pavement = Frolicking, Naked After The Rain
Milk + Pollen = Sexy Picnic
Lavender + Pavement = Smoking In The Flower Field
Lavender + Book = Gay Woodworker
Lavender + Pollen = Ashtray, Potpourri
Pavement + Pollen = Electric Bee, Buzz Buzz
Pavement + Book = Little Bookstore In Old Montréal
Pollen + Book = Reading in the Sunroom
​
i could do a combi of 3 perfume but that just to much work, but if you do please share in the comment your favs lolll
this month as been kinda hell, am still working on my move (to no where lol) and am nowhere near done, now am starting to make the boxes (tomorrow) and it stressing me the fuck out, anyway on that note, how do you make pr? loll (half joking) cuz yeah i miss doing these review, but dont worry i still have maybe 5 review left if i don't count the discontinued stereoplasm
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also, have a great night love xoxo

Hi lovely people,
We just came back from our first trip to Japan and it was truly a memorable trip. We spent over 3 weeks in Japan from 07th May until 30th May. WE LOVE JAPAN! Can't wait to come back.
A little bit about us: We are both ~30y olds and enjoy a mix of urban, outdoor and culture during our holidays. We are foodies, but not hard-core as in we don't specifically organize our trips around restaurants. There are so many restaurants in Japan, it is hard to get a bad meal. We enjoy just wandering around neighbourhoods. Mostly low/mid-budget stuff with a splurge once in a while.
Our travel itinerary can be found here
General comments

• Time period of travel: We arrived 7th of May which is the last sunday of Golden week. We specifically wanted to avoid Golden week, as we heard it can be crazy busy due to domestic travels. And we also didn't want to go too late in May because June is rainy season in Japan. We were pretty lucky with the weather overall as we only had a couple of days of rain, most days were sunny and we even had some days of sweltering heat :O
• Like other people suggest, try to get in shape before you go! We are both in average shape. Almost every day we walked around 20.000 steps or more. The only rest days we had were the days where we were switching between cities, i.e. sitting in trains for longer periods of time. No complaints ;). I brought two pair of shoes: water-proof hiking shoes and one pair of light-weight running shoes. Switching between shoes was nice, I didn't have any blisters during my time in Japan luckily. All the walking compensated all the eating though!
• Check whether region specific JR passes might work for you. We decided against getting the nationwide JR passes as they didn't fit our needs and were expensive and instead opted for a regional JR Setouchi area pass. It was perfect for the Shimanami Kaido. We could travel from Osaka to Onomichi -> Hiroshima/Miyajima -> Kyoto. And it also gave us access to Nozomi shinkansen (fastest) and a great ferry ride between Matsuyama and Hiroshima.

Japanguide has a nice overview of all the passes : https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

• Be flexible (That's how we like to travel). I mapped out most of the sights beforehand according to must-see's and mapped out what other interesting sights there would be in those areas. The day before or in the morning, we would decide what we would do roughly, sight-see according to neighborhood and just wing it a little bit. We just love to wander around and see what we come across, mixed with some google maps + "explore" function. Some days you are just tired and just want to hang out in a park, or you have temple-fatigue and want to do something entirely else. Same with food/restaurants, we usually just used google maps to see what kind of great restaurants were near us at that moment. We haven't lined up more than twice our whole time there and still ate wonderfully. We do tend to avoid overly hyped stuff anyways. I do keep in mind that everyone has their own ways.
• Buy e-sim if possible, it is the cheapest and easiest way. My partner bought an e-sim and it was so convenient! My phone unfortunately didn't support it and I had to buy a sim. I opted for getting one at BIC camera, which was the cheapest I could find. 10GB for 30 days for 3200 yen.
• Keep plastic bags for trash. Buying food from conbini, and eating it somewhere? say yes to that plastic bag, because you will need it to stash your garbage until you are back at your hotel where you can throw it away or you find a garbage bin at the train station per chance. I read about this a lot on this subreddit, but still I found it astonishing the lack of trash cans. Fascinating how the streets of Japan are so damn clean.
• Try Pokari sweat. :) I tried it for the first time there and I was hooked immediately. It is awesome! Best electrolyte drink ever and it definitely saved me during those hot sweaty days there. CC lemon is also great!
• Go for a haircut or some other beauty/massage treatment. The hospitality is amazing in Japan. You won't regret getting pampered in Japan. They have all kinds of crazy treatments. I got the best haircut of my life for 4400yen.

Trip report

PS. I am not mentioning everything we did in this post. I will just mention highlights. It is still a long read though ;).
D1 - D2 Osaka
We landed at Kansai airport. Before our trip, we also bought train vouchers for Osaka online (https://www.howto-osaka.com/en/ticket/). Best decision ever, because the journey was rough and we were exhausted by the time we landed. We only had to exchange our vouchers at the station and off we went.
Osaka was nice city to start with as it is a more manageable "smaller" city whilst recovering from our jetlag. Despite being smaller, I do think it is worth a visit. Osaka is so iconic at night. We stayed at a spacious Airbnb near Kuromon Ichiban market.

• Takoyaki :) We had our first try of takoyaki at Takotako King instead of one the places at Dotonbori to avoid the crazy lines. You can sit down, have a beer and yes the takoyaki is amazing. It should be crunchy on the outside and deliciously goeey on the inside, doused with sauces and katsuobushi. Man, I wish I could go back and eat it again. It is true, you can't get great takoyaki outside of Osaka, at least I didn't get that same crunchy gooey combo again in other cities.
• Discount sushi from Takashimaya department store. For the budget-minded, this is a no-brainer. Around 7PM, an hour before closing time, you can get delicious fatty tuna maki at discount prices in the basement of takashimaya. Other foods at the department store food floor such as the fresh mochi are delicious also. Takashimaya is my favorite department store for food I think!
• Osaka castle - Our first castle in Japan. The green roof and the golden ornaments are beautiful and unique!
• Dotonbori - iconic :) fun to walk along. The queues are long there. We avoided eating at Dotonbori.
• Shitenno-ji - beautiful pagoda with buddha statues inside. Do pay the fee to go inside and see the garden. You can also go into the pagoda and walk up.
• Huge fan of Shotengai's, Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street. They are so quintessential Japan.
• Ramen Tendo, the first ramen joint that we tried in Japan, so it has a special place in my heart. They specialize in chicken broth with lots of umami katsuoboshi flavor. Noodles were great too, very bouncy. Delicious! Little did I know that this ramen joint was really one of the best we would have this trip. It set the bar high for sure!
• Visit a local grocery store. Maybe it is just me, but I love to browse at local grocery shops (KOHYO namba Minatomachi) and be fascinated by all the different things they sell. It is also a great place to buy food souvenirs, like miso, green tea etc. Lots of pre-cooked meals/ fried stuff. Just a wider selection than your typical conbini. And again discounts if you go ~1hr before closing time.

Skip Shinsekai: We visited during the day and it felt very empty to me. More like a tourist-trap, the eateries didn't look appealing to me. Maybe during the evening this area is more fun.
D3 Nara
We did Nara as a day-trip from Osaka.

• Yes, to feeding the deer. It is touristy, but it is so much fun to be chased by cookie-crazed deer. One more thing: deer's fart a lot. We were wondering where this weird high pitched sound was coming from, those are actually deer farts.
• Todai-ji is very impressive, definitely a must visit.
• Just wander around in Nara park, it's very lush and beautiful and has many more shrines and interesting sights, such as manyo botanical garden. I wish we had one more day to explore Nara but oh well maybe next time :)
• We ate lunch at Magura Koya, a small restaurant run by a lovely elderly couple. Delicious tuna dishes. I had a tuna sashimi bowl and my partner the fried tuna set meal, so fresh!
• We had the best pork bun at Hourokutei at the end of the Higashimuki shopping street. It's a small hole in the wall, but omg the squishy-est juicy-est porkbuns ever.

D4 Onomichi
After staying in Osaka for 3 days, we wear heading west to do the Shimanami Kaido. We decided to stay in Onomichi (Hotel Beacon Onomichi) for the night before we started our two day bike trip. For this part of our trip, we picked up our 7-day Setouchi area pass at Shin-Osaka JR station. I just want to mention that I really love the hospitality of the staff in Japan. The JR office people were so nice and helpful. We reserved our seats for the shinkansen and off we went to Onomichi. Onomichi is a lovely little seaside town to just stroll around and take in the views. I really recommend spending at least half a day here. Don't skip it!

• Senkoji park observatory - we walked up to the observatory (ropeway available), please walk up as there are lots of nice alleyways, shrines and cats along the way :). The view is amazing, especially at sunset.
• Cat alley: honestly, every alley is cat alley.
• Onomichi Shotengai - very retro, lots of cute shops. We bought a nice poster from a little granny there.

D5 & D6 Shimanami Kaido -> Matsuyama
The next day, we picked up our reserved cross bikes from the general bike rental and off we went. Honestly, biking the shimanami kaido was the highlight of our trip. We took two days to bike the whole way, one day would definitely be too rushed for us. We stopped at Ikuchi island (Shimanaido NEST) for our halfway stay.
The sights along the way were great! It was so much fun to go down-hill, the uphills were do-able. We had great weather also, not too hot and no rain. Everything was clearly indicated, we just followed the blue lines. I felt very safe biking in Japan. PS. My butt did hurt from the saddle, so be warned! Bring some cushioned pants if you want to be safe side.

• First pitstop after the first bridge was Hassakuya. You have to stop here! They have delicious strawberry and citrus daifuku! The citrus had a bitter aftertaste, but they are famous for their citrus so its definitely nice to try.
• Just enjoy the views, stop everywhere to take pictures. There are lots of things to explore along the way.
• Stop at roadside stations such as > tatara shimanami park and yoshiumi iki-iki-kan. Especially before you take on the last bridge just do a little pit stop. It's a nice place to take some pictures of the insanely long bridge and have a citrus/vanilla soft cream.

https://shimanami-cycle.or.jp/ for more info and bike rental
We decided to bike one-way from Onomichi to Imabari and we have no regrets. I liked that we ended the bike trip with the longest bridge (4km!!). Imabari is very industrial, but after the fun long way down from the last bridge and being exhausted from biking you just want to get to the station and stuff yourself with pastries from the bakery at the station and go on to your next destination. Thus, we immediately took the train to Matsuyama. Originally, the plan was to enjoy the famous onsen in Matsuyama, but we didn't have enough time and we were also pretty tired. After checking-in at the hotel, it was already 4, we made our way to Matsuyama castle but unfortunately, we were too late to go in. It was still nice to view it from the outside and walk around the park. We planned to do sightseeing in Hiroshima the next day, so there was no more time to explore Matsuyama further.
D7 Hiroshima -> Miyajima
After Shiminami Kaido, we headed towards Hiroshima/Miyajima. We took an early ferry from Matsuyama. The ferry was included in the setouchi JR pass, so we gladly took advantage of that. It's a nice way to get to Hiroshima, just one last view of the Seto inland sea. One remark: if it is not JR serviced transportation, you do have to obtain separate tickets. Normally, just showing your setouchi JR pass is enough to get onboard the train, but for the ferry you do have to go to the ticket desk and show your JR pass to obtain the ferry tickets.

• Peace memorial museum - a history we must not forget and do not want to repeat
• We tried another Hiroshima speciality for lunch: Hiroshima Tsukemen. This tsukemen is GREAT. One of my favorite dishes. We ate at Tsukemen Karabu Tokaichimachi. The spicy umami dipping sauce is very addicting!

Surprisingly, it was very hard to find affordable good accommodation in Hiroshima. It was the weekend and two weeks before G7, so maybe that was the reason why it was harder to find accommodation. In the end, I found a nice simple hotel on Miyajima island and it was a good decision after all! After a long day in Hiroshima, we made our way to Miyajima to stay two nights. Staying on Miyajima island is lovely especially when all the day-trip tourist leave.
D8 Miyajima
Honestly, Miyajima is truly magical. Another highlight of our trip! We started the day early to get ahead of the crowd and that made it all so much more enjoyable. Seeing shrines and temples without a crowd is truly 1000x better! If you can stay at Miyajima island, do it! You don't have to splurge on expensive ryokan (although it would have been nice). We stayed at Sakuraya, which was very budget-friendly.

• Itsukishima Jinja - Nice but Daishoin and surrounding nature were the highlights for me.
• Daishoin - it is the most beautiful shrine complex I have seen in Japan this trip. I think it's because it was so quaint and it was embedded in the hill, surrounded by lush green nature. There were multiple complexes. There was a pathway studded with Jizo statues, buddist cave, prayer wheels and much more. While we were there, a ceremony with a monk was ongoing and everyone could participate in helping burning the origami peace cranes made by children, to make their wishes come true. We bought a little peace crane made from the ashes to remember this moment.
• Mt. Misen - we hiked up from Dashoin. It was ~2hrs? of steep stair climbing, 500m elevation gain. A challenge for sure but we definitely earned our way going down by ropeway :P. Views are great! go go! There is a bus to the ropeway so you don't have to suffer if you don't want to.
• Momijidani park - If you don't like Momiji trees, you can't be my friend.
• Snack along the Miyajima ometesando street. Crowded, but the cakes are great!

One remark, our hotel didn't include dinner and all the restaurants on the island close quite early. Luckily, with our setouchi JR pass, we could take the ferry for free, so went to the mainland for dinner. Just keep this in mind, when booking your stay.
D9 - D13 Kyoto
We took the early train to Kyoto and checked in at Tokyu stay Sanjo-karasuma. We had 5 days to explore Kyoto and by this time we had lost our FOMO a little bit and also decided to take it a bit more slow. We still ended up walking a lot anyways but at least we were sleeping in.
The day we arrived,15MAY, was supposed to be Aoi matsuri so we headed to Kamo river to see the festival. Unfortunately, the festival was postponed due to the slight rainfall and we had no clue! but we were next to Kyoto botanical garden and we decided to visit that instead!

• Kyoto botanical garden: it is a lovely garden with a huge variety of plants and trees to see. Really well maintained and during our visit there was a great rose garden in bloom. I recommend going there! It has a nice japanese garden section too with momiji trees and moss. A greenhouse with orchids. Lot's to see here. Only 200 yen.
• Arashiyama area - I really loved this area, not just for the bamboo forest. Togetsukyo bridge and Katsura river were the highlights for me. You can walk along the both sides of Katsura riverbank. A nice way to get to the bamboo forest and bypassing the busy beginning at the start of bamboo forest is by walking along the katsura river bank into Kameyama park and following the signs to Okochi sanso garden. You will end up at the backside of bamboo forest, which is the nicest part. We went more north to visit Pottery Tanuki, this area was very nice and quaint to walk around; bamboo, shrines and traditional houses everywhere.
• South kyoto - Fushimi Inari + Uji day trip - We visited fushimi inari around 9am and it was already very busy! If you hike towards up it gets more quite. We decided not to hike to the top, but instead do a little loop and we stumbled upon some lovely fox shrines. After Fushimi Inari we took the train to Uji. If you like matcha, visit Uji. It is a scenic little town with lots of matcha specialized cafes. We ate at Torikiku, famous for their matcha soba and udon. I had the best matcha icecream dessert at Nakamura Tokichi Byodo-in. Again, the riverviews are beautiful! It's a great daytrip from kyoto. On the way back to kyoto, we spontaneously decided to visit the Gekkeikan Sake museum. It's a small museum more about the history of Gekkeikan, but for 500 yen entry fee, you also get 3 small sake tastings. Fun for an hour or so. I wouldn't go all the way here just for the museum, but for us it was a nice stop on the way back to Kyoto.
• Gion - visit Gion in the evening and just wander around the little streets. Hanamikoji street is one of the more famous streets there.
• We ate amazing gyoza lunch at Gyoza-dokoro Sakemasa. Best gyozo of our trip.
• Higashiyama area - Heian jingu shrine, visit the attached garden for a fee, definitely worth it! We ate amazing mazesoba and ramen for lunch at Menya Yamahide. We also visited Kyoto handicraft center in this area where we bought an ukiyo-e painting. There was also a vintage antique market at that day. We just browsed a bit around the market and honestly that was a day worth of exploring :).

I didn't mention everything we did in Kyoto here. We also had so much more planned for Kyoto, but didn't get around to it, which was totally fine! We were also a bit temple-fatigued by that time and needed a slower pace. Hopefully next time, we can visit some of things we skipped. Furthermore, some days were incredibly hot (30 C degrees and humid) or we had whole days of rain. On those days, we decided to go shopping instead.

• Sanjo Meiten-gai shopping arcade , Compasso teramachi. One long shopping street between Omiya and Kyoto-kawaramachi station. My favorite shops were: Standard products, Tokyu hands and Loft.

D14 - D15 Takayama
After spending 5 days in Kyoto, it was time to leave the city and head for the Japanese alps. We took the shinkansen to Nagoya, where we changed to a limited express to Takayama. It took around 3 hours to get to Takayama, but we didn't mind. Train travel = resting time for our legs! Also, the views from the train were great!! I really enjoyed this train trip to Takayama. We arrived around noon and immediately checked in at our hotel (Hotel Kuretakeso Takayama). We had two nights in Takayama to explore the town.

• Hida beef - it's the wagyu of this area and I found my favorite place to eat it: Ajikura Tengoku. We went there twice for lunch, because it was that good. It was our first time in Japan to try yakiniku and sukiyaki. I really do appreciate the taste of wagyu but only in small amounts. I couldn't eat it everyday, because it's really so rich and yes paying for the premium cuts really does make a different in taste and texture of the wagyu beef.
• We really loved Takayama. Again, if you have time, stay overnight and wander around the streets during the evening when all the daytrippers leave. The town has such a nice vibe and it still has a very local feel to it.
• Miyagawa morning market. Fun to stroll around
• Hikaru museum - we stumbled upon this via google maps. It's a mayan temple-inspired building, very unique. You could visit the place just for the architecture itself, really impressive. It has a very nice collection of art. When we reached the top floor, there was a whole exhibition dedicated to a specific religious person. We didn't know beforehand but this museum is connected to a cult. Suddenly, it all made sense why this museum was so unique. We didn't mind, but it definitely puts the whole experience in a different light. It's a 1-hour walk from downtown, there is no direct bus connection unfortunately.
• Hida folk village - Open-air museum with nice re-builds of traditional mountain houses. We spend over half a day there. You can see local craftsmen doing their thing and you can also participate in pottery for example. There is a lovely pond and it is just pleasant to walk around. it's only a ~10 min. busride from Takayama bus station. You can buy combined entryfee+bus combo tickets at the bus station.

D16 Kamikochi -> Matsumoto
After checking out of our hotel in Takayama, we took the 7am bus to Kamikochi. We were only going to spend a day here, and then continue our way to Matsumoto to stay overnight.After ~1 hour of bus, we finally made it to Kamikochi. The Japanese alps are amazing. I wished we stayed longer in this area, but just the bus ride alone to Kamikochi was already a great with the views. We decided to hop off at Taisho pond bus stop and walk along all the major sights in the park. We had no specific plan. Just hike around as far as time allowed. For lunch, we stopped at this cute teishoku restaurant, where we ate katsu curry, a big lunch to fuel our walking. We also saw wild japanese macaques and lots of wildflowers where blooming during our time there.At the local shops, we bought some yummy pastries to snack on. I had the tastiest baumkuchen with cheesecake center and my partner had a chocolate ganache cookie. I really regret not buying more kamikochi pastries to take home while we were there.After spending the day walking around, we hopped on the 4pm bus towards Matsumoto. Checked in at Tabino hotel lit Matsumoto, where I relaxed in the onsen.
Tips:

• We were only carrying backpacks, so we hiked with them until we reached the kamikochi bus terminal, where you can drop off you bag at the storage for a small fee.
• Reservation is mandatory for the bus Kamikochi -> Matsumoto, you can do it online or while you are at the busstation before hiking.
• Transportation in the Japan alps is mostly by bus, do reserve ahead if you go at peak times. Main bus company is Nouhi bus: https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/english/.)

D17 Matsumoto Tokyo
After sleeping in, we did some sightseeing in Matsumoto before we moved on to Tokyo. We really liked wandering around in Matsumoto. Lots of cool shops with local crafts. We didn't know but the biggest national crafts fair is held in Matsumoto. Unfortunately, we were only able to stay for one day, but next time we would love to visit this crafts fair!
Matsumoto Castle - I really like the interior of the castle. It has been renovated, but still contains that castle feel. It is 5 story castle and you are allowed to climb all of it. It also included a pretty extensive gun/weaponry exhibition. Do arrive early because you do have to line-up within the castle to get from one floor to the other. This is due to the steep stairways, on which they allow only one-way traffic at a time.
Matsumoto city art museum - There was a nice exhibition from Yayoi Kusama. We didn't know but Yayoi Kusama was born in Matsumoto. It is a good replacement exhibition if you aren't able to snatch up tickets for Yayoi Kusama museum in Tokyo.
Nakamachi street and Frog street - street with persevered houses with craft shops, cafes, brewerys. What more do you want.
After spending the day in Matsumoto, we took the train to Tokyo, our last destination of our stay. We decided to stay in Ueno (Hotel resol ueno). This hotel was located close to Ueno JR.
D18 - D24 Tokyo
Last 7 days in Tokyo. By this time, we were just enjoying everything at a much slower pace. Tokyo is huge! Staying near the JR line is indeed a must like everyone said. I could go on hours about Tokyo, I am just going to mention some highlights here.

• Anmitsu at Anmitsu Mihashi. My favorite dessert! It contains agar jelly, mochi balls, red bean paste, fruit and a scoop of matcha icecream.
• shopping in Ginza - It's nice to go during the weekends when they close of the streets for cars. We liked visiting flagship stores of Muji, Uniqlo. Go to Itoya if you are a stationary freak.
• Ueno park - Museums, shrines, Lotus pond. Have a look at their website, there are almost always events in the park. :)
• Tsukiji market - very busy, but fun to have a look. Lines everywhere. Look for sushi restaurants that open around 11am, line up at one of those places. I don't think it has to be the one with 4.5 rating and 1000 reviews. Why? There are so many good restaurants in Tsukiji area. We went to Tsukiji Kagura Sushi.
• Hamarikyu gardens - Bonsai pine trees pruned to perfection. Ponds filled with sea water, thus there were seabass, little sardines and jellyfish in the water. Very special! You also had a nice skyline view from the park which is a cool contrast! It was nice and quiet.
• Tokyo Skytree - best view :) it also has a great shopping complex attached to it.
• Asakusa area - Senso-ji
• Yanaka Ginza - we went during the weekend and there was live music, little stalls and just very lively in general. Really nice to spend a morning. Largest preserved cemetery, which apparently welcomes visitors a lot for flower viewings. It is a preserved neighborhood with traditional houses and lots of shops selling crafts, gifts, souvenirs, and unique snacks.

That's it!
For 24 days, we spend around ~2500 euro p.p. (excl. 1000,- flights). This amount includes food, transportation, entrancefees and shopping/gifts. so average is ~100 euro/day. We didn't track every cost. Hotel costs were 900,- pp, which ranged from 50,- to 120,- per night accommodations. The conversion yen/euro is also great at the moment, so it might have contributed!
I hope you enjoyed my trip report. Let me know if there are any questions.

I have panic disorder and therefore panic attacks that are pretty random and I can develop triggers and phobias out of nowhere. I'm getting treated it's just a really hard chronic problem. I also struggle with ocd tendencies but not sure if full blown. But I kept getting video clips of guardians of the Galaxy 3 floor, the abused robot ? Spider? Rabbit named Floor on my YouTube feed and also on TikTok leading me to avoid both of these apps. I've never seen the movie and refuse to. This rabbit keeps giving me panic attacks every time she's on screen. I feel nauseous and close to throwing up going about my day when suddenly my brain flashes images of that poor rabbit. And then my imagination goes wild imagining it having limbs removed, tortured, all very r-rated. I start imagining blood that isn't even present in the video clips. That scene where she's crying to go/escape is stuck on loop in my brain for days.
Here's the thing though I love horror movies and have been exposed to a lot of gore, some real online and some in real life. I should be plenty desensitized for a pg13 movie. But normal things haven't affected me this strongly. I am so embarrassed and my friends always watch superhero movies with me. Absolutely dreading being asked about this one because I cannot do it. I don't know why though. Because I have a rabbit myself is my only guess, right? Because I project my own bun into floor's place? I don't know. It feels like I'm being tortured psychologically and I don't know how kids are okay with this lol.