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We would miss you.
It's not worth the regret. Either by yourself, if you failed or just simply left scars or the regret everyone else feels by not doing enough to help you.
It does get better. Believe it or not, it will eventually get better. Sometimes you have to go through the storm to get to the rainbow.
There's so much you would miss out on doing.
There is always a reason to live. It might not be clear right now, but it is always there.
So many people care, and it would hurt them if you hurt yourself.
You ARE worth it. Don't let anyone, especially yourself, tell you otherwise.
You are amazing.
A time will come, once you've battled the toughest times of your life and are in ease once again, where you will be so glad that you decided to keep on living. You will emerge stronger from this all, and won't regret your choice to carry on with life. Because things always get better.
What about all the things you've always wanted to do? What about the things you've planned, but never got around to doing? You can't do them when you're dead.
I love you. Even if only one person loves you, that's still a reason to stay alive.
You won't be able to listen to music if you die.
Killing yourself is never worth it. You'll hurt both yourself and all the people you care about.
There are so many people that would miss you, including me.
You're preventing a future generation, YOUR KIDS, from even being born.
How do you think your family would feel? Would it improve their lives if you died?
You're gorgeous, amazing, and to someone you are perfect.
Think about your favorite music artist, you'll never hear their voice again...
You'll never have the feeling of walking into a warm building on a cold day
Listening to incredibly loud music
Being alive is just really good.
Not being alive is really bad.
Finding your soulmate.
Red pandas
Going to diners at three in the morning.
Really soft pillows.
Eating pizza in New York City.
Proving people wrong with your success.
Watching the jerks that doubted you fail at life.
Seeing someone trip over a garbage can.
Being able to help other people.
Bonfires.
Sitting on rooftops.
Seeing every single country in the world.
Going on road trips.
You might win the lottery someday.
Listening to music on a record player.
Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Taking really cool pictures.
Literally meeting thousands of new people.
Hearing crazy stories.
Telling crazy stories.
Eating ice cream on a hot day.
More Harry Potter books could come out, you never know.
Traveling to another planet someday.
Having an underwater house.
Randomly running into your hero on the street.
Having your own room at a fancy hotel.
Trampolines.
Think about your favorite movie, you'll never watch it again.
Think about the feeling of laughing out loud in a public place because your best friend has just sent you an inside joke,
Your survival will make the world better, even if it's for just one person or 20 or 100 or more.
People do care.
Treehouses
Hanging out with your soul mate in a treehouse
Snorting when you laugh and not caring who sees
I don't even know you and I love you.
I don't even know you and I care about you.
Nobody is going to be like you ever, so embrace your uniqueness!
You won't be here to experience the first cat world emperor.
WHAT ABOUT FOOD?! YOU'LL MISS CHOCOLATE
Starbucks.
Hugs.
Stargazing.
You have a purpose, and it's up to you to find out what it is.
You've changed somebody's life.
You could change the world.
You will meet the person that's perfect for you.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
If you end your life, you're stopping yourself from achieving great things.
Making snow angels.
Making snowmen.
Snowball fights.
Life is what you make of it.
Everybody has talent.
Laughing until you cry.
Having the ability to be sad means you have the ability to be happy.
The world would not be the same if you didn't exist.
It's possible to turn frowns, upside down
Be yourself, don't take anyone's shit, and never let them take you alive.
Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary. Be your own hero.
Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.
One day your smile will be real.
Having a really hot, relaxing bath after a stressful day.
Lying on the grass and laughing at the clouds.
Getting completely smashed with your best friends.
Eating crazy food.
Staying up all night watching your favorite films with a loved one.
Sleeping in all day.
Creating something you're proud of.
You can look back on yourself 70 years later and be proud you didn't commit suicide.
Being able to meet your Internet friends.
Tea / Coffee / Hot Chocolate
The new season of Sherlock
Cuddling under the stars.
Being stupid in public because you just can.
If you are reading this then you are alive! Is there any more reason to smile?
Being able to hug that one person you haven't seen in years
People care enough about you and your future to come up with 100 reasons for you not to do this.
But, the final and most important one is, just, being able to experience life. Because even if your life doesn't seem so great right now, anything could happen.

If your reading this I had to split my post in two because Reddits chracter limit is 40,000 and ive gone well over that. anyway have fun.

John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum
John Wick 3 starts directly off of John Wick 2 with john running through the streets. The opening clock shot gives us the time as 5.10pm on Friday Day 13.
Friday Day 13 5.10pm
· 5.10pm john running through the streets.
· Winston arrives back at the Continental at 5.11pm “I’d say the odds were about even”.
· “John Wick. Contract starts at 6pm” is announced.
· John runs into an alley (the watch makes it 5.12pm) “Tick Tock Mr Wick”.
· John gets in a cab to the NY public Library. The clock in the cab makes it 5.38-5.39pm.
· John leaves his dog and runs to the library.
· “John Wick excommunicardo 20 minutes” in the exchange.
· John enters the library at 5.41 thanks to the clock above the clerk.
· John gets directions to his book and finds it at 5.45pm
· Big Ukrainian guy appears.
· John kills big Ukrainian guy with a book in 5 mins. Time is 5.50pm.
· John leaves and runs to the Doctor “john Wick excommunicardo in effect 10 minutes”.
· The Doctor must be 5 minutes away. John arrives “I still have 5 minutes”.
· Doctor treats john and stops dead on 6pm. Contract on john goes live and texts go out.
· John finishes up and shoots the doc as requested.
· John leaves at 6.05pm
· John runs through China Town
· Chinese thugs see him and chase him into the museum.
· John reassembles the revolver.
· John kills lots of people (best scene in the film). Whole fight takes about 10 minutes.
· John leaves.
· The dog arrives at the hotel around 6.10pm which fits with the film.
· John is hit by 2 cars and runs into the stables.
· John kills lots of people and rides off on a horse (about a 20 minute fight).
· John rides on the horse and kills the motorbike assassins.
· The contract gets raised in the exchange around 6.40pm
· John makes it to the Tarkovsky Theatre at around 6.50pm.
· Conversation with the desk when he removes things and meets the director. We learn johns name is Jordarni Jonovovich (I might have that slighty wrong). They talk and she agrees to give him transport to Casablanca. Probably an hour has passed since arriving at 7.50pm.
· John leaves on a life boat.
Saturday Day 14 9.00am
· Next scene. Morning The adjudicator arrives at the hotel at 9am judging by the daylight.
· The adjudicator meets Winston at 9.10am 5 minute conversation and they view santinos body. The whole conversation was about 20 minutes.
· The adjudicator gives him 1 week to get his affairs in order. This is the first clear timeline that is established. Therefore the films big shoot out must be Saturday Day 21.
· The adjudicator then vists the Bowery King (assuming she left Winston and went straight there it probably took an hour. She seems the type).
· Adjudicator with the King “you see rats with wings but I see the internet”.
· Adjudicator brings out the gun from John Wick 2 (the one the Bowery King gave him). She could have got it before seeing Winston or after. I think before. Bowery King also gets 7 days. The time is roughly 10.30 am
Monday Day 16 3.50am USA 9.50am Casablanca.
Cut to Casablanca. Google tells me that New York to Casablanca by boat at 40 knots takes 3.7 days by sea. Seeing as it’s a shady world and the fastest boats can travel at 80 knots and, assuming they are using that boat, takes 1.3 days for john to reach his destination (32 hours) making it Monday Day 16 3.50 am. However Casablanca is 6 hours ahead so its 9.50 am when John arrives at the port which fits the film.
· John walks through the port
· Cut to evening/Night obviously it’s a very long way to the hotel from the port and hes a man of focus.
· John kills 2 guys in an alley and meets an assassin who offers him amnesty “welcome to casablanca Mr Wick”.
· John enters the continental and meet Sofia. I estimate that the time is 8pm
· Conversation with Sofia and the marker.
· Sofia gets ready “We leave in 10 minutes”. The whole thing was probably 15 minutes. Therefre 8.15pm Casblanca and 2.15 pm USA.
Cut to the next scene at night where the Adjudicator meets Zero. This is most likely during the time that Johnwas travelling so this is either Saturday Day 14 or Sunday Day 15. Im inclined to Saturday at 8pm. She seems efficient.
Saturday Day 14 8pm
· Adjudicator recruits Zero. There a continuity error where the Adjudicator says “he killed scores of men this week alone” which if youre still following is actually 13 days although can be considered vaguly accurate. I suspect she was reffering to John wick 2 though which would fit. They talk for 5 minutes.
· Next scene is back at the Tarkovsky Theatre where zero and his men attack the Russian and Director. It’s still raining so it can be assumed that it’s the same night probably an hour later. So 9pm.
· The directors conversation with the adjudicator where Zero stabs her hands. The whole thing probably was 30 mins to kill all the guards and 30 mins to talk and get stabbed so its 10pm.
Monday Day 16 8.15pm Casablanca and 2.15pm USA.
· Cut to John and Sofia. 5 min conversation and 30 minute trip to meet berrada.
· Conversation about Markers, coins and social contracts “Do you know where the word assassin comes from”.
· John learns how to meet the elders.
· John and Sofia kill lots of people.
· Berrada survives and probably 30 mins have passed.
· John and Sofia fight their way out through the gold melting vats eneterance (about 10 minutes since Berrada conversation and fight). The fight is fairly straight forward so probably on 20 minutes through there. They enter the courtyard and kill lots of people and escape in the cars. It’s a very long fight so very likely and hour and a half passes which makes the time 11.10pm casa and 5.10pm USA.
Tuesday Day 17 8am Casablanca and 2 am USA
· The next scene is john and Sofia arriving at the desert. Google tells me that Dawn in Casablanca is at 8am. Its safe to assume that they both shared the driving and got some rest for the previous 9 hours. The car is also quite a distance into the desert I assume so they’ve likely used the night to follow the dog star and get a head start on meeting the elder.
· Sofia drops john off in the desert, waters her dogs and john leaves with a thimbleful of watered backwash. John begins his walk.
· He walks all day and night and collapses around 10am Casa (judging by the sun in the sky) on Day 18 (Day 16 4 am USA).
Saturday Day 21 9am USA.
· The next scene is early am for the Bowery King and Zero guards are killing all his men. Juding by the light and that we know he had 7 days it has to be Saturday Day 21 about 9am.
This scene presents a small problem because they haven’t been seen since maiming the director on Saturday Day 14 at 10pm but maybe the adjudicator has had other duties to attend to in that time.
· The adjudicator and Bowery King talk and he gets 7 cuts at 9.30am assuming the conversation took 30 minutes.
Tuesday Day 17 11am Casablanca and 5 am USA
· Cut back to an unconious John who probably been out for an hour. Hes picked up and taken to the elder and spends time in the tent (say 2 hours (1pm)).
· The conversation took an hour (2pm) where he chops off his finger and gets a mission to kill Winston. Zayer helps prepare for Johns departure giving him a change of clothes and, its implied, help to get back so this takes longer (another 4 hours to treat his finger and recover? 7pm?). Its likely that they have methods of getting through the desert but its still a long journey but its likely they took 2 days to get back to Casablanca. Say 48 hours (because he got a car a fair way in to the desert and camels are slower) making arriving back in Casablanca Day 19 7pm Casa. If he then got the 80 knot boat back that’s then another 32 hours travel making it Day 21 3am which means that he arrives back at 9pm Saturday Day 21 usa.
Saturday Day 21 10pm
· The next scene is John getting off the train and meeting Zero and the assassins which was probably an hour later at 10pm which fits with the film.
· John conversation with Zero and escape on the bike 10 minutes.
· Bike chase across the bridge with swords. John kills lots of people. John arrives at the continental and escapes Zero on the consecrated ground after about 40 minutes making the time around 10.50.
· John meets Winston after a 10 minute wait and after talking to Zero. Zero is ruined for me at this point when he becomes an obsessive fan boy all of a sudden which doesn’t fit with his character up to this point. So its 11pm when John and Winston talks in the room of glass.
· Winston convinces John to change sides and “go to war with the high table”.
· The Adjudicator arrives 10 minutes later (11.10) “Mr Wick it is a pleasure to meet you”.
· The adjudicator deconsecrates the Contenital. The process probably takes 10 minutes to get the file and do. Adjudicator leaves and summons a kill squad which, judging by the way they arrive, she had tooled up and ready just in case.
· John, Winston and Choron the concierge tool up. The guests leave and the decronsecration order is processed. This probably took around an hour (movie land reasons for being so quick) and the kill squad arrived after everyone has left say another hour so the time is Sunday day 22 at 1.20am.
Sunday Day 22 1.20
· John and Charon attempt to kill lots of people but cant due to lack of firepower. The staff are all killed very quickly within 10 minutes of the kill squad arriving.
· It was approximately 30 seconds for john to realise that he needs more firepower and 29 minutes and 30 seconds to be able to be in a position for him to be able to get back and rearm.
· They arm up again (probably 30 minutes) and head back out hunting again.
· John and Charon kill lots of people.
· They’ve probably been fighting for an hour when the adjudicator makes her phone call to Winston where he hands up at 3.30am.
· John enters the room of glass at 3.35am and fights the two assassins who smash him into display cases. Zero taunts him and 5 minutes later the assassins are killed.
· Zero beckons John to come upstairs.
· The two respectful assassins from the raid (great films watch them both) attack and talk with Mr Wick.
· The fight lasts about 40 minutes. John leaves them alive and goes to face Zero.
· John faces Zero (fanboy worship 4.20am). The fight lasts another 40 minutes.
· Charon returns to the vault and the Adjudicator calls Winston at 4.55am.
· Zero dies at 5.15am after him and John talk “That was a pretty good fight”.
· Winston and Adjudicator are on the roof they look like they have been talking for a short while whilst the light (pre dawn) makes it about 5.30am when John arrives.
· Winston betrays John and shoots him off the roof at 5.45am. The Adjudicator leaves.
· Clean up and sorting the continental appears to start immediately but its likely the Adjudicator went to her room and packed before leaving so the time is more 7am when the adjudicator realizes Johns body is missing.
· John is picked up by Tick Tock man and taken to the Bowery King. If this is around the same time then he meets the King at 7am. The conversation lasts about 5 minutes “cos im really pissed off”.
John Wick 3 ends on Sunday Day 21 at 7.05am.
John Wick Chapter 4
We know this film starts 6 months after Chapter three which has allowed John to heal from his injuries of falling off the roof in the last film. This one is harder to pace properly because of all the travelling between places so my timeline may be out here and there but generally it should be fine. 6 months is equal to 183 days ish so John Wick 4 starts on Monday Day 205 (because John Wick 3 ended on day 22 and nothing good ever happens on a Monday (p.s it’s only a Monday because I can’t be bothered to properly work out what the actual day of the week it would be)).
Monday Day 205 7.20 pm
· Bowery King gives a speech and walks through to John walking Johns dog. John is training on a Makawara Board Which is a traditional way of making strong punches and toughening up your hands (I study martial arts and used to have one, he’s also punching with reasonable form but with a Shotokan method with the reverse hand at the hip instead of the chest). New York skyline shows its sunset which the internet tells me is about 7.20 pm in April which is 6 months from October and fits the film later on. “You ready John?”.
Thursday Day 208 6am
·Sunrise in the desert. John kills 3 people on horse back and meets the elder. This must be the desert near Casablanca from Chapter 3. Google tells me that NY to Casablanca by boat at 40 knots takes 3,7 days by sea and seeing as it’s a shady world and the fastest boats travel at 80 knots it takes 1.3 days foe John to reach Casablanca then he has to get into the desert which takes 48 hours to find the elder making it 3.3 days later or Day 208. It probably takes an hour to kill the three horsemen. John meets the elder and they talk for 5 minutes and john kills him at 7.05am. John leaves. “No one escapes the table”.
Saturday Day 210 Evening probably around 5pm
· Back in New York Continental Hotel. Assumption that news of the Elder has been notified to the relevant people and its say, two days later. The Harbinger arrives and asks Charon to speak to the manager. Approx 10 minutes later he meets Winston delivers his letter and gives a 1 hour time limit to evacuate the hotel and then leaves. They get to it.
· Next scene is in the Marquis tower Winston has obviously got things going and he and Charon have gone pretty much straight there. They meet the Marquis and talk for 10minutes and Marquis blows up the continental exactly 1 hour after the hourglass notification was given so it is 6.05 pm. Marquis kill Charon 30 seconds later. “It has been an honor my friend” and leaves a minute after that asking for Chidi (his main guy) to find Caine at 6.07ish.
Sunday Day 211 9am
·The next scene is Paris. New York to Paris is 7.5 hours by plane. The assumption is that the Marquis left and took 1 hour to airport, straight on to the plane and the straight to Paris in another hour meaning it took 9.5 hours making it 3 am in the USA. France is 6 hours ahead of America making the time 9am which fits the film. Caine is sitting listening to his daughter play violin. He then is seen going to see the Marquis so im assuming this is an hour later. They talk and Caine gets his name. It takes 10 mins and Caine leaves at 10.10 am.
Monday Day 212 10 pm
·Cut to Osaka Japan. Paris to Osaka flight time is 15 hours,1 hour to the airport and then to the hotel. The time difference is that Japan is 7 hours ahead of usa so it makes it 11 am but the scene is night so say 10 pm and say than rather than a continuity error there was a flight delay because of movieland reasons. Mr Nobody enters the Continental and meets Akira the concierge and checks in. We meet her and the manager.
Note here: There’s cherry blossom on the trees. Cherry blossom season in Japan is roughly march to April which fits with the 6 months since October but if you don’t think that then the trees are artificial or genetically altered to bloom all year round.
Nobody takes a seat after checking in (10mins) and checks his dairy. The Manager and Akira walk and talk about 20 minutes through the LED museum and the manager goes out to meet John a further 10 mins later at 10.30pm. They talk for 30 minutes.
·Chidi arrives with Caine and asks to see the manager. Nobody notices when they arrive at 11pm.
The evacuation starts immediately. Akira runs up to see the manager so it must be 5 mins later when she sees him. John waits. The manager gets his staff ready which takes about 10 mins ish and meets Chidi at 11.20 pm.
·The manager and Chidi and Caine talk for 10 minutes and it erupts into a massive rumble.
·The manager kills lots of people. The first part of the fight takes about 10 minutes until the kill squad arrives and the fight enters round 2 at 11.45 pm.
Tuesday Day 213 00.00 am
Back on the roof the kill squad find John and Akira. Must be about 15 minutes later making it 00.00am.
·John and Akira kill lots of people. Interesting note: you can clearly see John aiming for the breaks and chinks in the kill squads armour which is still bullet proof like John Wick 3.
The fight takes 20 minutes. (00.20am)
· Cut to the kitchen and the Manager. Caine is slurping noodles which take 5 minutes to make. Incidentally slurping noodles is a Japanese thing and Donnie Yen is Chinese (00.25). Caine kills lots of people.
·Cut to John and Akira killing lots of people at about the same time and Caine finishes his fight. Its quite a long fight (30 mins). The Manager arrives and saves Akira and John leaves. “Kill as many as you can”.
·John enters the LED museum and about 5 mins later is attacked by the kill squad. John kills lots of people. Another long fight which takes about 45 minutes especially with the nunchucks making the time about 2am.
·Caine arrives and they talk and fight which takes about 15 minutes until Mr Nobody arrives and tries to kill them. Note: Caine loses his sword cane sheath here because you don’t see it again from now on.
Cut to the exchange which must be the same time and Johns bounty is increased.
·Cut to John outside in a bamboo area. Its about 15 minutes since he escaped Caine so about 2.30 am. John is attacked. John kills lots of people. Takes about 5 minutes.
· John and Nobody and his dog talk for 5 minutes and john leaves. “Take better care of yourself”.
Cut to the Manager and Akira trying to leave. Caine has beat them to it and its around the same time as Johns escape. Caine and the Manager fight which takes 10 mins and Caine kills the manager at 2.50 am and Akira leaves.
·John is at the station and most likely has been for 10 minutes. He gets on the train. Akira arrives, they talk for 5 minutes and Akira leaves next stop,
·Cut to New York in the rain likely 2pm. Winston and Bowery king talk for 10 mins likely at the same time John was escaping.
Friday Day 215 12 pm
·Next is Marquis and the Harbinger in Paris. Its bright day time so likely midday. Caine and Nobody are there so they must have travelled straight from Japan. So 1 hour to airport, 15 hour flight to France and 1 hour to Paris makes it 17 hours Since Japan but its Midday because it should be 8 pm so the plane had an engine fault and there was a delay.
· Nobody and the Marquis talk and Marquis stabs Nobody and makes a deal. Note here: Why do they shake with their left hands in this scene? Marquis leaves and Cut to
Saturday Day 216 12pm
·John in New York visiting Charons grave site. Its Midday and Paris is 6 hours ahead so it has to be the following day so its Saturday Day 216. 6 days have passed since Charon was killed. I could have this slightly wrong but movieland reasons for burying him so quickly. John and Winston talk for 15 minutes. “They’re cold hard facts”. John heads to Berlin.
Monday Day 218 8 pm
·Next scene is John in Berlin at night. NY to Berlin is 8 hours ish. 1 hour to the airport, flight and 1 hour to Berlin is 10 hours. Berlin is 6 hours ahead of USA which means the time should be 6am which doesn’t fit with the film therefore there must have been another flight delay and it’s the day 218 Monday say 8pm.
·Nobody watches John enter the safe haven Church.
·John unburdens his guns and enters. He speaks to the priest who shoots him and gets taken away. “Nice Suit”. Prob 5 minutes so its 8.05pm
·Cut to Marquis at the ballet. My Nobody calls him to give him Johns location so it must be the same time.
·John awakes with a noose around his neck. He been there about 30 minutes with everyone surrounding him. Katia arrives and talks to John about age and Uncle Petior whilst continuously stringing him up. “We have a common enemy”. They make a deal to kill Killa and the whole thing took about 15 minutes. Claus smacks John. “I am Claus”.
·About an hour later John and Claus are in the club to see Killa. Note: Scott Adkins is brilliant as Killa. Claus delivers a letter. Killa and John talk. Caine arrives and joins them. Conversation about family and personal feelings and discord between old friends. Mr Nobody joins them and takes a seat. Converstaion on who wants to kill who.
·They play cards. Interesting note: Caine here looks at his cards and says what he has so therefore he must have some actual vision. By the time Killa lays his cards on the table about 30 minutes must have passed. Once he does-
·John, Caine and Nobody kill lots of people.
·Killa runs into the club and john follows.
·John kills lots of people. It’s a drawn out fight against all the men and Killa but doesn’t last that long say about 30 minutes whilst Caine and Nobody kill everyone else in Killas office.
·John kills lots of people and Killa dies at 10.40pm
·The whole club empties 5 minutes later. Nobody tries to shoot John but Caine stops him. John leaves.
·Back at the Church an Hour later (11.45pm). John gives Killas tooth to Katia and we cut to John’s welcome back ceremony. It takes time to prepare and melt gold so its another 2 hours later making it 1.45am on Day 219 Tuesday. The ceremony probably takes an hour with them burning their arms ala David Caradine from Kung Fu style. Jordani is accepted back at 2.45 am
Wednesday Day 220 12.00 pm
·Winston visits the Marquis who we know is in Paris. Theres no time difference between Paris and Berlin and theres no way to know what time it actually is so im saying midday. John is likely traveling to Paris because he shows up in a bit. Winston delivers the message and formal challenge and they talk about the old ways and rules. It’s a detailed conversation and likely takets 20 minutes. “Such is life”.
·Next scene is John walking across themarble in front of the effiel tower. Its dull so say early evening say 5 pm.
·John, the Marquis and Harbinger discuss terms of the duel. We also get a finishing time of sunrise on day 221 which is Thursday for the duel and film ending. Whole thing takes about 15 minutes. John leaves with Winston.
·Caine and Marquis talk for 5 minutes and Caine leaves.
·Cut to John in a church say 30 mins since. Caine is there and they talk and share a moment together. John leaves after 5 minutes at 5.35 pm.
·Cut to the Marquis and Harbinger talking. Its now night at about 8 pm and the conversation takes about 5 minutes.
·John arrives at the safe harbour probably at the same time and eneter the station and meets Winston and the King at 8.10. John gets his suit.
·Chidi and the Marquis talk and there a brief shot of a large clock on the wall saying the time is 11.50 so that’s the time.
Thursday Day 221 00.00am
·Chidi puts out the contract to the exchange and the radio station at 00.00am.
·All the assassins tool up. Things are going to get very busy for John.
·John gets his gun at 00.00am. “This Viper has ferocious fangs”.
·Some time later they get on the boat and 20 minutes journey to Johns destination. Converstaion about grave stones. We also discover sunrise is at 6.03 am.
·John enters the road in front of the Effiel tower at about 4.30 am. At this time the exchange informs everyone where he is.
·John kills lots of people. Some in a mustang (love that car) whilst getting his gun. 15 min fight (4uilding site house at 5.37am.45am).
·John arrives at the arc de triumpth 15 mins after that (5.00).
·John kills lots of people in a car, on foot, between traffic at the arc de triumpth. (long fight 30 minutes).
·Marquis takes a phone call from Nobody at 5.33 am (clock behind him).
·John continues to kill lots of peopleand escapes on a bike heading to the Sacre Coeur at 5.35.
·John kills lots of poepl on a bike and enters the building site house at 5.35.
·One of the best fight scenes in the film. Nobody enters.
·Nobody and john kill lots of people. Marquis call Nobody at 5.40 (Clock behind him again).
·John and Nobody continue to kill lots of people.
·Marquis calls Nobody at 5.43 $40 million.
·More assassins arrive. John kills lots of people. (top down fight love this so much).
·Nobody and john kill lots of people.
·Nobody and John fall through a hole in the floor at 5.45.
·john saves nobodys dog at 5.46.
·John escapes out the window. He looks at his watch which shows the time is 5.50am. John heads to the steps.
·John starts up the steps. The time is 5.55am. He has 7 minutes to get to the top.
·John kills lots of people.
·John gets almost to the top and falls back about half way when Chidi attacks him.
·John and Chidi fight and john falls to the bottom.
·Caine arrives at 5.59.
·Caine and John kill lots of people back up the steps.
·Nobody shoots Chidi at 6.00am. Chidi is killed by the dog and Nobody at 6.01am.
·John and Caine arrive at the church at 6.03am. Cain stabs johns hand.
·The Duel commences. It takes approximately 5 minutes. Nobody and the dog watch.
·John kills the Marquis at 6.08am.
·The Harbinger makes his announcements and takes his leave at 6.09 am
·Cain leaves after talking to John at 6.10am.
·Winston talks to John. “Will you take me home?”.
·John passes out on the church steps thinking of his wife at 6.11 am on Thursday Day 221.
Thursday Day 228 12.00pm
·Back to New York a few days have passed so im assuming a week later at midday. Bowery king and Winston are standing at Johns Grave. They talk and leave after 5 minutes .
·After credits scene assuming this is the same time as the graveyard scene. Caine is visting his daughter. Akira is going to kill him.
John Wick Chapter 4 ends on Thursday Day 228 12.00pm.

Coming up from DC early Saturday to meet someone to drive back down. Meeting them early afternoon as they're coming down from Mt Kisco. Thinking of bringing my commuter bike (as opposed to kitting up with my road bike) to boot around for a few hours to explore the city.
I proposed meeting them at the 181st St subway station, as it's just off the I-95 to pick me up and proceed on the drive back to DC.
I'll be arriving by train at Penn Station 9 am on Sat morning. I mapped out the following based on some suggestions here on reddit:
google.com/maps/diPennsylvania+Station,+New+York,+NY+10119/Coney+Island,+Brooklyn,+NY/Prospect+Park,+Brooklyn,+NY/800+West+181st+Street,+New+York,+NY/@40.8461649,-74.0149461,11.84z/data=!4m31!4m30!1m10!1m1!1s0x89c259ae15b2adcb:0x7955420634fd7eba!2m2!1d-73.993519!2d40.750568!3m4!1m2!1d-74.034168!2d40.6407286!3s0x89c24fffa8718e65:0x1ccf4a06fbb6f594!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c24448979d75cb:0x54745adc3c8f1179!2m2!1d-73.9707016!2d40.5755438!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c25b1087680443:0x178bf7c600df7a98!2m2!1d-73.9689558!2d40.6602037!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c2f6a0e404f6c9:0x621fe7d6fea40e64!2m2!1d-73.9385593!2d40.8508458!3e1!5m1!1e3?entry=ttu
I've visited NYC a few times and enjoy finding good (and cheap hole in the wall!) eats and exploring interesting neighborhoods... No need to do any typical touristy things.
Any other sights/routes that might be worth checking out?

I am homeless and have been for 3 years because of my 2nd ex wife. I currently sleep in a relative's car. He and his wife have been hotel hopping for probably 5 months now. I've been paying so much money to help him keep a room so I'm not actually on the street. Over the weekend, he wasn't able to secure a room, had me grab all of my stuff, and just left me at my job. I had to sleep at work over the weekend. Needless to say, I'm not very thrilled. I want away from the drama. His wife does absolutely nothing (and I do mean absolutely nothing) but complain 24/7. I don't get along with her at all. I'm just fed up. To make matters worse, I have an infected tooth and no way to get antibiotics, so I'm hoping peroxide does the trick. When it rains, it pours.

Somebody told me of a time slip account that one of their friends told them and it was where they were staying in a hotel in London, but were planning on going to St Pancras train station so that they could travel to Paris.
After leaving the hotel, they found that they had a while yet before their train to Paris left. When they were walking down the street towards St Pancras train station, they found a casino situated nearby, across the road from the St Pancras train station.
They decided to go to the casino to help kill a bit of time, and when they went in, the place was full of cigarette smoke. The music being played sounded 1960s , and they got welcomed into the casino by a woman who had a similar style; and the general look of the place was very old fashioned.
The friend then won some money when playing at one of the slot machines, and they decided to get a quick drink at the bar before leaving. They then left the casino and went to the St Pancras train station and head off to Paris for the day.
Upon arriving back in London in the evening, they decide to go back to the casino again.
Except they couldn't. It was nowhere to be found. They went back to the hotel and tried looking for the casino again early in the morning, but couldn't find it anywhere. They asked various people if there had ever been a casino near the St Pancras train station and the answer they got was no.
What seemed strange was how the money they won at the slot machine was modern British currency and when they got a drink at the bar, their modern British money was accepted.

https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1649960/the-time-slip-thread

Hey everyone!
This sub was a great resource for preparing for my big Euro trip, so I wanted to drop this post as a round up for great gluten free places I visited!
PARIS
Patisseries:
Copains - fully GF bakery, amazing selection here and super friendly staff, everything I had here was delicious (and I tried way too much)
NoGlu - while my least favorite of the bakeries, NoGlu offers lunch as well, so getting a traditional ham and emmental sandwich on their baguette was a great treat. As far as their straight up baked goods though, they were noticeably GF as compared to others in town
Le Pont Traverse - this little coffee shop is operated by NoGlu and serves baked goods from their bakery. It was super close to my hotel, so we started pretty much every day here. The smoked salmon bagel was especially good
Chambelland - while it was a close race with Copains, this was my favorite of the bakeries. I legitimately couldn't tell their eclair was gluten free
Dinners:
Brasserie Les Deux Palais - this is probably the only really "tourist trap" place we went, but we were hoping to walk along the Seine around sunset one night, and this brasserie by Sainte Chapelle was just the right location. It's definitely overpriced, but if you're looking for the traditional tourist brasserie experience while gluten free, this is a reliable stop
Le P'Tit Troquet - traditional French cooking, small restaurant with an even smaller menu, but gf adjustments available for most menu items and friendly about making the changes needed
Le Saotico - this little bistro was packed with locals when we arrived, which is always a good sign. The owners are a couple and the wife has Celiac, so she is quick to assure you that you are in good hands. They make some amazing duck and had great GF dessert options
Boutary - shout out u/MagneticPerry for this recommendation because this was THE BEST MEAL of our whole trip. A caviar-centric tasting menu, tailored around my GF request, with some of the most delightful waitstaff I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. A true 10 out of 10 experience
NICE
Taverne Messena - this place was a godsend when we arrived to Nice at 11pm one night. They stay open until 1 am and have a special menu labelled with allergens
Pop-O-Thyme - we ate lunch twice at this little crepe spot, traditional GF buckwheat crepes can be made with almost any of their fillings, and the GF crepes are made in a separate area than the others
La Rotonde - this is the mid-budget option for dining at the historic Le Negresco resort in Nice, with the Prix Fixe menu coming in around 65 euros a person. Your GF options are a little limited on the prix fixe menu, but everything I had was delicious, and they brought out warm GF rolls that were amazing. Dinner here also gets you access to the historic hotel, which is normally reserved for guests, so make sure to check out the incredible bar as well
GiGi Tavola - Someone told us the GF pizza at GiGi Tavola rivaled any GF pizza in Italy, which I was very skeptical of, but after having spent a week in Italy I have to agree. This is the best GF crust I have ever had. Make sure to make a reservation here, and if you're a craft cocktail person, ask about the speakeasy when you pay the check
At this point in my trip, we crossed over into Italy, and here I am happy to confirm everything you've heard about being gluten free in Italy is 100% true. People are super friendly and super knowledgable, almost every restaurant has their allergen info handy, and the AIC (Italian Celiac Association) awards a seal of approval to restaurants that can the facilities and know-how to assure food safety for people with Celiac.
GENOA
I Tre Merli - we had a stopover night in Genoa and wanted some seafood. I Tre Merli is AIC certified and sits out on the port, so we figured it was a good pick. All the seafood was fresh and delicious, and they offer several gluten free pasta options to accompany any of their sauces. I had some incredible GF seafood gnocchi here
McDonalds - yep, I tried the Italian GF burger. It is exactly what you expect: a frozen double cheeseburger that's been microwaved to order and served to you still sealed in plastic. But it's safe, convenient, and a Scharr bun is gonna be delicious no matter what. It makes me so mad no one in the States can offer something that is this simultaneously convenient and safe.
FLORENCE
Hostaria Il Desco - another AIC certified spot, this one offering more upscale pastas. We got truffle bruschetta on GF bread and chinghiale pasta (wild boar, a local delicacy). This place was a healthy mix of locals and tourists, which for Florence is saying a lot, as it was flooded with American college kids the whole time we were there
Sgrano - a very popular lunch spot in Florence serves giant sandwiches prepared inside an entire loaf of focaccia, and Sgrano is directly across the street offering a GF version. These sandwiches are gigantic and filled with incredible Italian meats and cheeses. I highly recommend you split a sandwich, I had one to myself at lunch and couldn't eat for the rest of the day
Cafe Del Teatro Niccolini - this cafe offers several different gluten free croissants, store and prepared separately in the back, and is a convenient grab-and-go espresso and a pastry spot
Grom - no matter where you go in Italy you'll probably find Grom gelato. They started as a dedicated GF gelateria and got big enough to be bought out by Unilever, so they are all over the place now. While many gelaterias in Italy are knowledgable enough to be very safe about scooping your GF order, it's nice to have dedicated GF flavors and cones at places like Grom
ROME
Taliani Pastries Cafe - I had read this place wasn't fully GF before going, so I was expecting a limited GF selection, but they actually have much more GF options than non-GF. The pastries were huge and delicious and reasonably priced, the staff even threw in some little tarts for free since they were close to closing.
Pizza in Trevi - at just a few steps away from the Trevi fountain, this place is filled with tourists, but it's AIC certified and has a unique buckwheat GF pizza crust that gives it a great flavor. Despite the crowds rushing in and out, they give gluten free diners a separate placemat and bring all the gf food out on separate dishes to insure safety
Mercato Hostaria - after sitting down here and opening the menu I realized this must be the more upscale sister restaurant to Pizza in Trevi, although the surroundings here are completely different. Instead of the cramped crowds of Trevi, this restaurants sits out on a quiet piazza, but they follow the same AIC safety protocols. All their pasta sauces can be served on fresh in-house GF pasta, and everything we had here was delicious
Mama Eat Lab - there are several Mama Eat locations around Rome offering GF comfort foods (think a lot of breaded and deep-fried options), but Mama Eat Lab in Vatican City is a smaller, dedicated GF location. The pizza here was probably the least impressive of my trip, but the pasta is delicious, and they make these like breaded, deep-fried mashed potato logs that are incredible
I hope some of this was helpful for any of you planning travel, and for anyone out there with travel-anxiety due to our dietary needs, I just want to assure you that France and especially Italy are excellent places to be! I felt more safe there than many of the places I travel in the US.

Are the areas surrounding 16th street moving away from the ocean front still crime infested? They were in early 2000s. There was a lot of incidents of crime and drug arrests going on all along Mediterranean Avenue and a lot of drugs from 11th to 16th street as far as I remembers.
I stayed in numerous different hotels and apartments.. some near 11th street & pacific, Norfolk Ave, and lived on 14th as well too. When I lived on 11th, I remember people getting mugged often, things and cars stolen, a lot of drug addicts were my neighbors and there was just a lot of shit going on. I'm taking about 2003 specifically.
I'm just curious because I told myself I'd never go back but Im about to move that way again.

-Red-
April 19th, 11:13 A.M., The Sprawl
I sparked a dilapidated Vita-Cig that I’d snagged from Trodes and peered out into the Sprawl; the careful equilibrium of a well-orchestrated black-market had returned; pushers and gangers lined the alleys, watching for signals from rooftop lookouts to avoid the single Peacewatch cruiser that had been stupid enough to enter the dockside. The poor bastard would be dead before the afternoon was over… not that I had much sympathy for his kind. Peacewatch made it a habit to stay out of the Sprawl: unless the Eggheads predictive crime system said something catastrophic was coming, they policed their kind and left us in the hands of the mob. I’d never iced an officer. Not yet at least.
“Your partner should be ready shortly, I think he’s just tying up a few loose ends,” Akari said, snatching the cigarette from my hand and taking a long drag.
“Remind me again why you think I should take the shrimp with me instead of Nico and Roman?”
“He’s smart… and the other two are working on something else. Besides-- you need brains on this one, Red, not muscle,” she giggled, passing the cigarette back.
“Whatever you say,” I paused, grabbing the smoke, “what do you have them up to?”
“There’s a shipment of Xeno-grade weapons coming down from the colonies. Nico and Roman will be liberating them from the Slicers. Or, their share, at least. It won’t be much, maybe a dozen guns, but it’ll be worth it: the force field tech alone will pay for the trip as soon as Fincetti’s goons start trying to take your heads off with plasma cannons and mono blades.”
“What do you mean, their share?”
“The job was too big for us to take on alone. I linked up with another enterprising group of Freelancers. If it goes well, maybe we can hire them on for the heist, we’re going to need more people if we want to walk out of there alive.”
We?
“What, are you planning on coming along now?” I asked, snuffing out the smoke.
“It only seems right; Trodes is coming along, and I’m a better shot than he’ll ever be. Besides, you have a dangerous habit of getting shot, and I can’t have you going down in the field,” she said, winking as if to punctuate the sentence.
“You sure? We can manage, you don’t have to come with us, you’ve done so much already.”
“I know I have, that’s why I have to protect my investment. If you go down out there, then the team is without a leader. A military scale operation like this will go south real fast without someone competent in command.”
“You’ve got me wrong, Akari: I’m no leader. I’m just someone who wants to live in a better city and doesn’t mind taking the trash out himself. Besides, why do we need a leader? We’re all competent adults acting in concert, of our own free will. We all know what we’re doing, if a situation arises and someone needs to take charge, it’ll happen.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in a crew you just met,” Akari said with a sneer.
“You know why I asked you to put the team together, Akari?”
“Because there’s a bounty on your head that could finance twenty retirements, and you know you can trust me?”
“No, well yeah, but that’s beside the point—I asked you because you’re not a Fixer, you’re a part time street doc that works the front desk at the most popular Freelancer hotel in the Sprawl. If there’s anyone who knows who’s gonna get the job done, it’s you. See, a Fixer is going to be okay with whatever losses they deem acceptable beforehand, but they’re fine with keeping that to themselves. If you thought any of these mooks were going to crack under pressure, or do something stupid, you wouldn’t have set me up with them.”
Before she could respond, Trodes emerged from the stairs leading to the lab. He winced as the sunlight hit his eyes, shrugging on the hood of the oversized sweatshirt that blanketed his meek frame. Glimpses of pain showed through every tremor laden step he took. A cloak of wires enveloped his skull, feeding into an old-world cyber console.
“It’s insufferably hot out here,” Trodes sighed.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going far. Chances are that whatever hole we’re meeting BFU in will have air conditioning,” I responded, clicking my key fob, and signaling the bike to pull around.
Trodes face fell flat when the Supersonic rolled around the corner; apparently, the prestige of carving through the skyway on a state-of-the-art Taffington jet-bike was lost on him.
“Are we taking… that?” Trodes stammered.
“We are. Unless you’ve got a pair of wheels with two seats?” I asked, mounting the bike and revving the engine.
With an exasperated sigh, Trodes boarded the passenger seat. I could feel him behind me, vibrating as tremors gripped his body.
“You good, buddy?” I asked.
He nodded vigorously, clenching the handrails with white knuckles.
Akari shook her head and headed back to the lab.
I heard Trodes mumble something under his breath, but it was quickly drowned out by the jet-bike’s purr. I carved into the skyway. Driving in the Sprawl was pure freedom: almost nobody owned vehicles with aerial capabilities in this part of town. It didn’t take long to reach top speed.
Slummers and gutterpunks walked the streets like zombies in a drug addled haze. The scent of gunpowder, pollution and burning ozone coalesced into a putrid stench that reeked of poverty and violence. Patches of azure moved in militant formation below; the Vorrath had taken to the streets. On a different day, a better day, I would’ve helped them. Most slummers hated the Offworlder Coalition, but not me—at the end of the day I always figured that I had more in common with poor people from another planet than rich people from another district of the city. At least we shared the same struggle.
The bike slowed to crawl; the Neo-Confederates were about, backed by a platoon of Brown-Shirts that looked like a tide of sewer run off, crashing through the streets with reckless abandon. Civilians fled for their homes. Fuck.
The jet-bike careened through the air before finally landing atop a building a few blocks away from the impending conflict.
“Get off,” I said, turning back to Trodes.
“Why? You don’t intend to abandon me at this altitude, do you?”
“Not as long as I survive—I’ll be quick, I just need to ventilate some Nazi fucks, understood?”
He shook his head and muttered a string of curses.
I tore through the air, circling around the impending conflict. I chased a handful of cheap amphetamines with a poorly rolled joint and swooped low, behind the rolling tide of brown shirts. This wasn’t the first time I’d made myself an enemy of the city’s Neo-Nazi’s; I’d killed at least a dozen of them in my career as a courier, but those were isolated incidents, back-alley brawls away from the mob.
This was a whole new ball game.
I fell slack as my Teleoperations module synchronized with the bike. My consciousness faded, reemerging into the HALO-Net’s stylized rendition of the bike’s interior. I wasn’t just the pilot now—I was the bike. Bullets carved twin streaks of crimson into the brown tide. It didn’t take long to hit top speed, 3.7 seconds, to be exact.
The group turned in nearly perfect unison, launching volley upon volley as I passed overhead. The bike’s shields barely held together; I felt every round, like a flock of birds violently slamming into my side—not enough to cause any real damage, but more than enough to get the blood pumping. I slid into an alley a few blocks off and waited for the shield generator to recharge. Gunshots rang out from the streets, alongside the sizzle of plasma meeting flesh. Soon the din was drowned beneath the roar of dozens of Vorrath war cries. I took to the sky.
Trodes was exactly where I left him, nervously clutching a knock off version of a Locust flechette pistol.
“I was beginning to doubt your survival,” Trodes said shakily.
“Wrong again, little guy,” I paused, reigniting a half smoked joint, “it was just a quick hit and run, we don’t have the time or the numbers for a pitched battle. Now, hop on.”
It didn’t take long to find BFU’s base of operations. Black flags and Anarchist graffiti covered the walls of the abandoned warehouse they’d apparently taken up residence in. A field of repurposed Peacewatch turrets were installed atop the roof, complimented by a web of cameras that spread across a three-block radius. Anarchists of all species and creeds loitered outside. The guards ranged from Cyborgs and Vat-Grown, to Vorrath and Vorstihl, each wearing a variant of the black flag with colors corresponding to their ideologies.
As I hovered above the building, I saw a familiar face: the rookie from earlier. Alarmingly, his cruiser was nowhere to be seen. His face was wrought with horror, as a pair of cyborgs led him inside the warehouse.
“They’re certainly less than subtle,” Trodes said.
“They don’t have to be subtle, they’re the biggest citizens political organization in the Sprawl. Peacewatch avoids them if they have anything less than a full platoon on hand,” I explained.
“Red… before we enter negotiations with these hooligans, I must inquire as to what your motivation hitting the vault is? Surely you know there’s a strong likelihood that you won’t make it out, and from what I’d heard about you, I always understood you to be a man who knew how to keep himself out of the line of sight of dangerous people,” Trodes said, nervously.
“Fincetti is the most dangerous man in the city, short of O’Bannon. He controls the black market with an iron fist and is instrumental in all the things I hate about living here. The problem is, I have no way to do anything about it right now… but there’s something big in the safe—there must be—for fucks sake, he iced his family over it. I’m hoping there’s something in there that can give me a little leverage, so I can cross him out afterwards.”
Trodes was silent for a moment, simply reaching as if to ask me to pass the joint. I obliged.
“I have my reasons to want O’Bannon dead too, I’m in,” he paused as a coughing fit seized him, causing the joint to fall to the ground, “there’s something you should know though: I’m working with an entity of great power in the Net; I don’t know what precisely it is, but I know it saved my life more than once. As a matter of fact, it’s the only reason I was able to obtain the blueprint of Fincetti’s bunker, and his security plan.”
“Is it… is it an unshackled AI?”
“Unlikely: it seems to understand compassion and empathy on a uniquely organic level, something that rarely slips past Netwatch.”
“Alright, well whatever it is, you keep an eye on it and let me know if things get shady. I appreciate you telling me.”
Trodes nodded in silence.
The crowd parted expectantly as I landed along the streetside. Dozens of eyes were immediately glued to Trodes and I. A cyborg with a steel double mohawk emerged from a sea of leather, patches, and smoke. A sawed-off shotgun hung at his side.
“Red, I presume?” the Cyborg asked, extending a steel hand.
“That’s right, and who’re you?” I answered, clasping the borgs hand as firm as I could manage.
“They call me Diezel, and I’ll be your host today,” he released my hand and looked me up and down as if assessing whether I was a threat, “follow me, everyone’s here so we can get straight down to business.”
The warehouse’s interior had been renovated drastically; layers of open-faced lofts sat stacked upon each other, consuming the walls. Nearly every non-violent law in the city was being broken in the lofts, from cooking chems and explosives to studying banned literature and Doomguard martial arts. It was beautiful. We followed Diezel through a winding hallway of munitions manufacturing stations, before finally emerging into an immense circular room, with rows of seats climbing the walls. I couldn’t believe it—there must have been two hundred people present.
The lights dimmed as we entered the arena. Diezel led us to the rooms center, ushering Trodes and I onto a great circular platform; he fell into place on a platform across from us, beside a Vat-Grown woman bearing an orange and black flag on her arm, and augmentations that cost more than my bike. Behind the duo a bulbous Vorstihl lurked; tentacles draped down his back, carefully pulled away from his cyclopean eye. A red and black flag was displayed on his arm… it was only then that I noticed the blue and black flag on Diezel’s arm.
The platforms each rose roughly fifteen feet into the air, before microphone stands emerged from the center of each platform. Diezel stepped forward, past the microphone.
“Before we start, I’ll explain how this works: the three of us are representatives of our specific unions—but the people are free to interject. One union voting to aid in your endeavors does not guarantee the help of the other two, as each union demands a perfect consensus. Likewise, if a faction without one union decides to help you, it does not necessarily mean you have the support of the entire union. The only way you’ll end up with total support is cross union consensus. Do you understand?”
A consensus: of course, they needed a damned consensus.
“I do,” I answered, speaking away from the microphone.
“Then let’s get this show on the road,” Diezel stepped back, finding his microphone before continuing, “Red, Trodes, welcome to the Bouleuterion,” he paused a moment as the crowd erupted into cheers, “beside me are my comrades Aria and Korvirex, and we stand ready to hear your proposal.”
“As most of you probably know, Don Fincetti is the most powerful man in the underworld, hell—maybe even the city—what you likely don’t know is that he has a vault beneath the city, guarded by an army of Harvesters. I intend to break into the vault, slaughter the Harvesters and strike a blow to Fincetti that he won’t forget… and I intend to kill him shortly after. What I ask is simple: you help me in what’s to come, and when he’s finally dead, you can all split his turf among yourselves. All I care about is making sure he doesn’t live long enough to poison the Sprawl more than he already has.”
A murmur emerged from the stands. I gazed across the way to see the three representatives huddled together, whispering amongst themselves. Finally, Aria stepped towards her microphone.
“What you ask of us will likely mean the death of many of our people… we need something greater than what you offer—we need a guarantee of mutual aid—you have a reputation in the Sprawl, we would ask that you employ it in helping us when the time comes to resettle the Sprawl. Namely, we’d request your assistance against the gangs that may try to fill the power void you seek to create,” Aria explained.
“That seems reasonable,” I said.
Aria stepped back as Korvirex moved forward.
“Tell me, Red, are you familiar with the Offworlder Coalition?” Korvirex asked.
“I am—as a matter of fact, I aided them on the way here—they were marching against the Neo-Confederates and the Brown Shirts. I insured that they had the element of surprise.”
Korvirex stroked the beard-like tentacles that hung from his chin in contemplation.
“Good. What I ask is that you help us to secure their trust, we have offered solidarity where we could, but our forces are spread thin. The ideology of many of the exiled Vorrath rebels that found their way to Nova City—it matches that of our union. If our help was offered, would you agree to assist us in aiding the Coalition, so that they finally have an opportunity to get on their feet?”
Trodes leaned towards in, whispering in my ear.
“It would be prudent of you to make a counteroffer: proclaim that you’ll help with the Coalition, if they’ll spread the word to other groups whose goals may align with ours. There will likely be at least a couple hundred Harvesters in the Undercity when we strike… unless they’re occupied elsewhere.”
“I would happily help with the Coalition, on the condition that your faction spread the word about what we’re doing to like-minded organizations. As it stands, we could still use more numbers to match the Harvesters,” I said.
“These conditions may be satisfactory,” Korvirex said, before retreating into yet another group huddle.
The audience watched on in silence.
Finally, Diezel reapproached the microphone.
“The representatives have deemed this topic worthy of discussion: you’re free to leave, we’ll get ahold of Akari in a couple days, when all the details are ironed out.”
“A couple days?”
“Reaching a consensus can be a slow process at times—be prepared for a renegotiation of conditions, as there will likely be more stipulations made once the process is complete,” Diezel explained.
I nodded, and the platform beneath my feet began to descend towards the floor. The crowd erupted into cheers.
Hopefully Nico and Roman would beat us home.

-Red-
April 19th, 11:13 A.M., The Sprawl
I sparked a dilapidated Vita-Cig that I’d snagged from Trodes and peered out into the Sprawl; the careful equilibrium of a well-orchestrated black-market had returned; pushers and gangers lined the alleys, watching for signals from rooftop lookouts to avoid the single Peacewatch cruiser that had been stupid enough to enter the dockside. The poor bastard would be dead before the afternoon was over… not that I had much sympathy for his kind. Peacewatch made it a habit to stay out of the Sprawl: unless the Eggheads predictive crime system said something catastrophic was coming, they policed their kind and left us in the hands of the mob. I’d never iced an officer. Not yet at least.
“Your partner should be ready shortly, I think he’s just tying up a few loose ends,” Akari said, snatching the cigarette from my hand and taking a long drag.
“Remind me again why you think I should take the shrimp with me instead of Nico and Roman?”
“He’s smart… and the other two are working on something else. Besides-- you need brains on this one, Red, not muscle,” she giggled, passing the cigarette back.
“Whatever you say,” I paused, grabbing the smoke, “what do you have them up to?”
“There’s a shipment of Xeno-grade weapons coming down from the colonies. Nico and Roman will be liberating them from the Slicers. Or, their share, at least. It won’t be much, maybe a dozen guns, but it’ll be worth it: the force field tech alone will pay for the trip as soon as Fincetti’s goons start trying to take your heads off with plasma cannons and mono blades.”
“What do you mean, their share?”
“The job was too big for us to take on alone. I linked up with another enterprising group of Freelancers. If it goes well, maybe we can hire them on for the heist, we’re going to need more people if we want to walk out of there alive.”
We?
“What, are you planning on coming along now?” I asked, snuffing out the smoke.
“It only seems right; Trodes is coming along, and I’m a better shot than he’ll ever be. Besides, you have a dangerous habit of getting shot, and I can’t have you going down in the field,” she said, winking as if to punctuate the sentence.
“You sure? We can manage, you don’t have to come with us, you’ve done so much already.”
“I know I have, that’s why I have to protect my investment. If you go down out there, then the team is without a leader. A military scale operation like this will go south real fast without someone competent in command.”
“You’ve got me wrong, Akari: I’m no leader. I’m just someone who wants to live in a better city and doesn’t mind taking the trash out himself. Besides, why do we need a leader? We’re all competent adults acting in concert, of our own free will. We all know what we’re doing, if a situation arises and someone needs to take charge, it’ll happen.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in a crew you just met,” Akari said with a sneer.
“You know why I asked you to put the team together, Akari?”
“Because there’s a bounty on your head that could finance twenty retirements, and you know you can trust me?”
“No, well yeah, but that’s beside the point—I asked you because you’re not a Fixer, you’re a part time street doc that works the front desk at the most popular Freelancer hotel in the Sprawl. If there’s anyone who knows who’s gonna get the job done, it’s you. See, a Fixer is going to be okay with whatever losses they deem acceptable beforehand, but they’re fine with keeping that to themselves. If you thought any of these mooks were going to crack under pressure, or do something stupid, you wouldn’t have set me up with them.”
Before she could respond, Trodes emerged from the stairs leading to the lab. He winced as the sunlight hit his eyes, shrugging on the hood of the oversized sweatshirt that blanketed his meek frame. Glimpses of pain showed through every tremor laden step he took. A cloak of wires enveloped his skull, feeding into an old-world cyber console.
“It’s insufferably hot out here,” Trodes sighed.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going far. Chances are that whatever hole we’re meeting BFU in will have air conditioning,” I responded, clicking my key fob, and signaling the bike to pull around.
Trodes face fell flat when the Supersonic rolled around the corner; apparently, the prestige of carving through the skyway on a state-of-the-art Taffington jet-bike was lost on him.
“Are we taking… that?” Trodes stammered.
“We are. Unless you’ve got a pair of wheels with two seats?” I asked, mounting the bike and revving the engine.
With an exasperated sigh, Trodes boarded the passenger seat. I could feel him behind me, vibrating as tremors gripped his body.
“You good, buddy?” I asked.
He nodded vigorously, clenching the handrails with white knuckles.
Akari shook her head and headed back to the lab.
I heard Trodes mumble something under his breath, but it was quickly drowned out by the jet-bike’s purr. I carved into the skyway. Driving in the Sprawl was pure freedom: almost nobody owned vehicles with aerial capabilities in this part of town. It didn’t take long to reach top speed.
Slummers and gutterpunks walked the streets like zombies in a drug addled haze. The scent of gunpowder, pollution and burning ozone coalesced into a putrid stench that reeked of poverty and violence. Patches of azure moved in militant formation below; the Vorrath had taken to the streets. On a different day, a better day, I would’ve helped them. Most slummers hated the Offworlder Coalition, but not me—at the end of the day I always figured that I had more in common with poor people from another planet than rich people from another district of the city. At least we shared the same struggle.
The bike slowed to crawl; the Neo-Confederates were about, backed by a platoon of Brown-Shirts that looked like a tide of sewer run off, crashing through the streets with reckless abandon. Civilians fled for their homes. Fuck.
The jet-bike careened through the air before finally landing atop a building a few blocks away from the impending conflict.
“Get off,” I said, turning back to Trodes.
“Why? You don’t intend to abandon me at this altitude, do you?”
“Not as long as I survive—I’ll be quick, I just need to ventilate some Nazi fucks, understood?”
He shook his head and muttered a string of curses.
I tore through the air, circling around the impending conflict. I chased a handful of cheap amphetamines with a poorly rolled joint and swooped low, behind the rolling tide of brown shirts. This wasn’t the first time I’d made myself an enemy of the city’s Neo-Nazi’s; I’d killed at least a dozen of them in my career as a courier, but those were isolated incidents, back-alley brawls away from the mob.
This was a whole new ball game.
I fell slack as my Teleoperations module synchronized with the bike. My consciousness faded, reemerging into the HALO-Net’s stylized rendition of the bike’s interior. I wasn’t just the pilot now—I was the bike. Bullets carved twin streaks of crimson into the brown tide. It didn’t take long to hit top speed, 3.7 seconds, to be exact.
The group turned in nearly perfect unison, launching volley upon volley as I passed overhead. The bike’s shields barely held together; I felt every round, like a flock of birds violently slamming into my side—not enough to cause any real damage, but more than enough to get the blood pumping. I slid into an alley a few blocks off and waited for the shield generator to recharge. Gunshots rang out from the streets, alongside the sizzle of plasma meeting flesh. Soon the din was drowned beneath the roar of dozens of Vorrath war cries. I took to the sky.
Trodes was exactly where I left him, nervously clutching a knock off version of a Locust flechette pistol.
“I was beginning to doubt your survival,” Trodes said shakily.
“Wrong again, little guy,” I paused, reigniting a half smoked joint, “it was just a quick hit and run, we don’t have the time or the numbers for a pitched battle. Now, hop on.”
It didn’t take long to find BFU’s base of operations. Black flags and Anarchist graffiti covered the walls of the abandoned warehouse they’d apparently taken up residence in. A field of repurposed Peacewatch turrets were installed atop the roof, complimented by a web of cameras that spread across a three-block radius. Anarchists of all species and creeds loitered outside. The guards ranged from Cyborgs and Vat-Grown, to Vorrath and Vorstihl, each wearing a variant of the black flag with colors corresponding to their ideologies.
As I hovered above the building, I saw a familiar face: the rookie from earlier. Alarmingly, his cruiser was nowhere to be seen. His face was wrought with horror, as a pair of cyborgs led him inside the warehouse.
“They’re certainly less than subtle,” Trodes said.
“They don’t have to be subtle, they’re the biggest citizens political organization in the Sprawl. Peacewatch avoids them if they have anything less than a full platoon on hand,” I explained.
“Red… before we enter negotiations with these hooligans, I must inquire as to what your motivation hitting the vault is? Surely you know there’s a strong likelihood that you won’t make it out, and from what I’d heard about you, I always understood you to be a man who knew how to keep himself out of the line of sight of dangerous people,” Trodes said, nervously.
“Fincetti is the most dangerous man in the city, short of O’Bannon. He controls the black market with an iron fist and is instrumental in all the things I hate about living here. The problem is, I have no way to do anything about it right now… but there’s something big in the safe—there must be—for fucks sake, he iced his family over it. I’m hoping there’s something in there that can give me a little leverage, so I can cross him out afterwards.”
Trodes was silent for a moment, simply reaching as if to ask me to pass the joint. I obliged.
“I have my reasons to want O’Bannon dead too, I’m in,” he paused as a coughing fit seized him, causing the joint to fall to the ground, “there’s something you should know though: I’m working with an entity of great power in the Net; I don’t know what precisely it is, but I know it saved my life more than once. As a matter of fact, it’s the only reason I was able to obtain the blueprint of Fincetti’s bunker, and his security plan.”
“Is it… is it an unshackled AI?”
“Unlikely: it seems to understand compassion and empathy on a uniquely organic level, something that rarely slips past Netwatch.”
“Alright, well whatever it is, you keep an eye on it and let me know if things get shady. I appreciate you telling me.”
Trodes nodded in silence.
The crowd parted expectantly as I landed along the streetside. Dozens of eyes were immediately glued to Trodes and I. A cyborg with a steel double mohawk emerged from a sea of leather, patches, and smoke. A sawed-off shotgun hung at his side.
“Red, I presume?” the Cyborg asked, extending a steel hand.
“That’s right, and who’re you?” I answered, clasping the borgs hand as firm as I could manage.
“They call me Diezel, and I’ll be your host today,” he released my hand and looked me up and down as if assessing whether I was a threat, “follow me, everyone’s here so we can get straight down to business.”
The warehouse’s interior had been renovated drastically; layers of open-faced lofts sat stacked upon each other, consuming the walls. Nearly every non-violent law in the city was being broken in the lofts, from cooking chems and explosives to studying banned literature and Doomguard martial arts. It was beautiful. We followed Diezel through a winding hallway of munitions manufacturing stations, before finally emerging into an immense circular room, with rows of seats climbing the walls. I couldn’t believe it—there must have been two hundred people present.
The lights dimmed as we entered the arena. Diezel led us to the rooms center, ushering Trodes and I onto a great circular platform; he fell into place on a platform across from us, beside a Vat-Grown woman bearing an orange and black flag on her arm, and augmentations that cost more than my bike. Behind the duo a bulbous Vorstihl lurked; tentacles draped down his back, carefully pulled away from his cyclopean eye. A red and black flag was displayed on his arm… it was only then that I noticed the blue and black flag on Diezel’s arm.
The platforms each rose roughly fifteen feet into the air, before microphone stands emerged from the center of each platform. Diezel stepped forward, past the microphone.
“Before we start, I’ll explain how this works: the three of us are representatives of our specific unions—but the people are free to interject. One union voting to aid in your endeavors does not guarantee the help of the other two, as each union demands a perfect consensus. Likewise, if a faction without one union decides to help you, it does not necessarily mean you have the support of the entire union. The only way you’ll end up with total support is cross union consensus. Do you understand?”
A consensus: of course, they needed a damned consensus.
“I do,” I answered, speaking away from the microphone.
“Then let’s get this show on the road,” Diezel stepped back, finding his microphone before continuing, “Red, Trodes, welcome to the Bouleuterion,” he paused a moment as the crowd erupted into cheers, “beside me are my comrades Aria and Korvirex, and we stand ready to hear your proposal.”
“As most of you probably know, Don Fincetti is the most powerful man in the underworld, hell—maybe even the city—what you likely don’t know is that he has a vault beneath the city, guarded by an army of Harvesters. I intend to break into the vault, slaughter the Harvesters and strike a blow to Fincetti that he won’t forget… and I intend to kill him shortly after. What I ask is simple: you help me in what’s to come, and when he’s finally dead, you can all split his turf among yourselves. All I care about is making sure he doesn’t live long enough to poison the Sprawl more than he already has.”
A murmur emerged from the stands. I gazed across the way to see the three representatives huddled together, whispering amongst themselves. Finally, Aria stepped towards her microphone.
“What you ask of us will likely mean the death of many of our people… we need something greater than what you offer—we need a guarantee of mutual aid—you have a reputation in the Sprawl, we would ask that you employ it in helping us when the time comes to resettle the Sprawl. Namely, we’d request your assistance against the gangs that may try to fill the power void you seek to create,” Aria explained.
“That seems reasonable,” I said.
Aria stepped back as Korvirex moved forward.
“Tell me, Red, are you familiar with the Offworlder Coalition?” Korvirex asked.
“I am—as a matter of fact, I aided them on the way here—they were marching against the Neo-Confederates and the Brown Shirts. I insured that they had the element of surprise.”
Korvirex stroked the beard-like tentacles that hung from his chin in contemplation.
“Good. What I ask is that you help us to secure their trust, we have offered solidarity where we could, but our forces are spread thin. The ideology of many of the exiled Vorrath rebels that found their way to Nova City—it matches that of our union. If our help was offered, would you agree to assist us in aiding the Coalition, so that they finally have an opportunity to get on their feet?”
Trodes leaned towards in, whispering in my ear.
“It would be prudent of you to make a counteroffer: proclaim that you’ll help with the Coalition, if they’ll spread the word to other groups whose goals may align with ours. There will likely be at least a couple hundred Harvesters in the Undercity when we strike… unless they’re occupied elsewhere.”
“I would happily help with the Coalition, on the condition that your faction spread the word about what we’re doing to like-minded organizations. As it stands, we could still use more numbers to match the Harvesters,” I said.
“These conditions may be satisfactory,” Korvirex said, before retreating into yet another group huddle.
The audience watched on in silence.
Finally, Diezel reapproached the microphone.
“The representatives have deemed this topic worthy of discussion: you’re free to leave, we’ll get ahold of Akari in a couple days, when all the details are ironed out.”
“A couple days?”
“Reaching a consensus can be a slow process at times—be prepared for a renegotiation of conditions, as there will likely be more stipulations made once the process is complete,” Diezel explained.
I nodded, and the platform beneath my feet began to descend towards the floor. The crowd erupted into cheers.
Hopefully Nico and Roman would beat us home

I spent 2 weeks traveling through Japan - Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and I'm writing this for those who are thinking about visiting. To preface, I did travel with a friend but spent a lot of time on my own. I'll cover as much as possible.
Pre-Trip
I booked a flight with American Airlines / Delta Airlines for $590 round-trip three months before departing.
I flew out of Los Angeles to Tokyo (Haneda). The trip started on February 9 and ended on February 20. I booked my accommodation before arriving in Japan. I used Hostelworld and Agoda. More about the hostels and hotels I booked are below.
COVID Screening and Visa information for US Citizens only
During the time I visited, Japan still required visitors to be fully vaccinated and have a pre-screening for arrival. First I had to do a pre-screening for American Airlines on VeriFly (please do this a day before checking in at the airport if so). Then, save yourself time and use Visit Japan Web (http://vjw-lp.digital.go.jp/en/) and do the pre-screening requirements a couple of days before departure.
When you land in Tokyo, immediately after deplaning, swaths of airport personnel ask if you have the screener filled out and ready to go. If you don’t, they put you to the side and ask you to fill it out using the airport’s wifi. It takes time and you still have to go through customs after.
Visas for US citizens is a free, 3-month visa if I recall correctly. Bring your COVID vaccination card just in case they ask for it.
Tech/Phone
I took my iPhone 14 Pro (unlocked) and connected buying Ubigi 10gb data plan. Do this before flying to Japan. When you land, you can activate your data plan directly on your phone. I didn’t get pocket wifi as the Ubigi worked perfectly.
Download the Ubigi app. They give instructions but please follow them.
Apps that I used:
Google Maps: you can download offline maps.
Google Translate: Use this everywhere you go. You can use the camera feature and it can translate Japanese to English really great. It saved me a lot of hassle when ordering at restaurants.
Currency Converter
You might want to download a VPN if you want to use Netflix and such. Express VPN is one I’d recommend.
Money/Currency
I took my Charles Schwab debit card and a backup Chase credit card/Chase debit card. Surprisingly, a lot of stores in Japan are cash-heavy; especially small shops and restaurants. My budget for the trip was $2000 with flights included.
Hostels and hotels were around $20-35 USD. Food prices were about $7-$20 a meal. It can get really expensive if you eat at fine dining restaurants. That being said, I stuck to eating mostly at hole-in-the-wall establishments where no English was spoken. Believe me when I say that the best ramen I ever had was only $7 USD. More on what restaurants I recommend are down below. If you really want to save money, don’t buy alcohol.
A solid budget for me was $60-$80 per day without lodging expenses. Some days, I only spent $40 which was all food (I spare no expense for food), then some days I went over because I bought cool souvenirs for myself and some excursions were pricey. You can visit Japan for less but I didn’t want to money pinch myself because I was only there for 2 weeks.
Transportation
I love Japan for this reason. So here’s my take: If you are visiting Japan for exactly 14 days; get the JR Pass on Klook. You buy this a month before departing your home country. For me, Klook delivered it about a week after I bought it over Mail. You could buy either a 7, 14, or 21-day JR pass so I would recommend planning a trip that matches these exact number of days to get the most out of your money.
Now imagine you’re in Japan. It is your first day officially visiting…go to a JR Pass office at any major train station and ask them to redeem your pass. They will ask for the paper ticket that arrived in the mail to your home and they will ask for your passport. After they verify that it is you, they will give you a small ticket which will be your JR pass. DO NOT LOSE THIS! I believe they will not replace it. On how to use it, check out this video.
Now to navigate, I used a combination of Google Maps and Apple Maps to get around. Use whichever one is more comfortable for you. These 2 apps are really exceptional at mapping out the best routes and the times trains depart. Note: the JR Pass only works for JR rail lines! Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka all have their own subways and train lines with their own payment system. More on this…
So the best way to get around the city is using a Suica card. These are sold virtually at any train station. If you can't find it, ask a train station attendant and say “Suica?”. They point you in the right direction.
A Suica card can be refilled unlimited times and can be used for any rail lines (JR included, but not for Bullet Trains). It is used by tapping at the turnstiles to enter the rails and at any vending machine in Japan! Also at arcades! It is a total mindblower haha Also in Tokyo, some hostels or hotels have a 3-day subway pass for cheap.
Bullet Trains - You can use the Shinkansen bullet trains if you have the JR Pass. Make an important note: You can only ride the Hikari or Sakura trains with your JR Pass. The Nozomi and Mizuho are reserved seating and cost extra because they have fewer stops. If they catch you using these rail lines, they will ask you to get off the next stop or worse, fine you and report you. To see Mount Fuji from Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka, sit on the right side of the train (right side of the direction it is going). Use Google Maps and Apple Maps to pinpoint when to look out the window.
Food
I usually ate sandwiches and pastries from 7-Eleven in the morning or whenever I needed to pack a lunch. It was a great way to save cash and the food was delicious. High-quality foods and snacks.
As I said earlier, I really spare no expense for good, big meals. I save money at 7-Eleven so I can go all out for lunch and dinner. My go-to meal was usually ramen because it was so damn good. I tried a lot of foods. I’ll try and remember which ones I ate: - Ramen - Okonomiyaki - Unagi - Katsu Curry - Taiyaki - Tempura - Japanese cheesecake - Macha ice cream - Macha waffles - Onigiri - And a lot of different ice creams, confectionary snacks - McDonald’s - please try lol they have interesting combinations
Pack List
I used a 40-liter Osprey backpack.
1 scarf
1 beanie
2 cotton t-shirts
2 thermal polyester long-sleeve shirts (Odor resistant)
2 pairs of joggers
1 pair of Nike thermal leggings
8 pairs of Nike Dri-Fit boxers (lost 1)
4 pairs of ankle socks
3 pairs of Darn Tough Merino wool blend socks (Highly recommend, Odor resistant)
1 parka
1 pair of Adidas Ultraboost shoes
1 Hershel toiletries bag
2 Forge cable combination locks
External battery pack (13000 mAh)
Bose QC-25 noise-canceling headphones
Over the course of the trip, I bought a much-needed 30L Patagonia day backpack
I don’t sweat heavily so I re-wore my shirts, the Merino wool blend socks, and joggers. I did my laundry maybe once or twice at the hostels. It was freezing at the time I went, so I usually layered up when temperatures were lower than usual.
Safety
I am a 6'1" (1.85 m) male with a light brown complexion. I felt safe most of my time there. I think it was the safest country I have ever been to. Some Japanese people are known to be racist but I didn’t experience it. So I wouldn’t worry about it.
Itinerary/Activities
Feb 9 Day 1 Tokyo Feb 10 Day 2 Tokyo Feb 11 Day 3 Tokyo (Day Trip to Odiaba/Yokohama) Feb 12 Day 4 Osaka Feb 13 Day 5 Osaka (Day Trip to Hime-ji Castle/Kobe) Feb 14 Day 6 Osaka (Day Trip to Nara) Feb 15 Day 7 Kyoto Feb 16 Day 8 Kyoto Feb 17 Day 9 Kyoto Feb 18 Day 10 Tokyo Feb 19 Day 11 Tokyo Feb 20 Day 12 Tokyo (Fly Out)
I will put a star (*) next to anything that I highly recommend! 2 stars are for more emphasis! I will list the accommodation first, then activities, and then bars/restaurants.
Tokyo - 3 Nights (Asakusa + Akihabara + Odaiba + Yokohama)
Lodging: Sakura Hostel Asakusa
Activities: *Tokyo National Museum, *Senso-ji Temple, Kaminarimon Gate, Nakamise-dori Street, *Sengaku-ji Temple, Hirose Entertainment Yard arcade, Animate Akihabara, **Mandarake Complex Akihabara, Tsukiji Outer Fish Market, TeamLabs Odaiba, Gundam Yokohama, NISMO Museum Yokohama, Nissan Headquarters Yokohama
Restaurants/Bars: Fuji Ramen Asakusa, Asakusa Unana, *Naruto Taiyaki, *Koyangi Asakusa, *Ouzakura Ramen Yokohama
Took a Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka
Osaka - 3 Nights (Kobe + Nara)
Lodging: Backstage Osaka Hostel
Activities: *Hime-ji Castle, *Kaiyukan Aquarium, Dontonbori, Shinsekai, Round 1 Stadium (arcade), *Nunobiki Waterfall Kobe, *Todai-ji Temple, *Nara Park, Kasuga Taisha Temple, Gilco Sign
Restaurants/Bars: *Wakakusa Curry Nara, *Nakatanidou Nara, *cafe CROCO Nara, Fanny Mae Bar Osaka, Rikuro’s Namba Main Branch, PC and Retro Bar Space Station, Bible Club Bar Osaka, Untitled karaoke bar next to Rock Bar Cherry Bomb lol, Takoyaki Wanaka Sennichimae Osaka, Sushi Dokoro Kuromonsuehiro Osaka, *Dotombori Ichiaki Osaka, *Hamamoto Coffee Himeji, Tairku Ramen Kobe
Took a Shinkansen bullet train from Osaka to Kyoto
Kyoto - 3 Nights (Day Trip to Uji)
Lodging: **Gojo Guesthouse
Activities: Otagi Nembutsu-ji Temple, Adashino Mayumura (closed when I arrived early), Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, *Tenryu-ji Temple, Togetsukyo Bridge, *Nishiki Market, *pocoapoco Record Store, Super Milk Record Store, *Fushimi Inari Taisha Temple Complex, *Byodo-In Temple Restaurants/Bars: *comorebi Ramen House, 茶室 tea room Uji, *Gion Duck Noodles, 自家製麺うどん讃式
Took a Shinkansen bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo - Saw a glimpse of Mount Fuji :’)
Tokyo - 2 Nights (Shinjuku + Shibuya + Akihabara)
Lodging: **Capsule Hotel Anshin Oyado Shinjuku Station (Males Only)
Activities: Tower Records Shinjuku, Disk Union Shinjuku, Mandarake Complex Shibuya, Nakano Broadway, Tokyo Dome for Red Hot Chili Peppers concert, *Shibuya Sky at Night, Tokyu Hands Shop
Restaurants/Bars: Ramen Kaijin, Shakey’s, McDonald’s, Ichiran Nakano
Tips, Advice, and Bonus Stuff!

Goes without saying but please respect the local customs.
Please learn how to say “Thank You” in Japanese! Just learning and using “Arigato” anywhere you go will make you seem like you care and respect everyone. Nothing was more embarrassing than watching an American say “thank you” to a Japanese person.
Plan to do the major tourist attractions early in the morning. You will get nice pictures without any tourists and you’ll sometimes get the whole temple complex to yourself. The staff will also be more friendly and willing to chat with you. I usually aim to be at temples around 7:00 when they open.
Use Google Translate for everything! You can have full conversations with friendly Japanese people when using the conversation feature on the app! Use the camera feature to translate Kanji at restaurants that do not offer an English menu.
Get a Ubigi data plan, I bought 10GB and it had good service anywhere I went. Get more GB if you plan on staying longer.
I ate at 7-Eleven most of the time when I was too lazy or tired to go out. The 7-Elevens here in Japan are nothing like the ones in the US. Expect to find high-quality sandwiches, Onigiri, and more Japanese snacks.
Shop at supermarkets near the end of the day (1 hour before closing) and they usually mark down prepped meals half-off or at a discounted price! If you really on a budget, this can help you to save a ton of money and still get a taste of the local cuisine.
If you need to buy random stuff like clothes, bags, or toiletries; go shop at any Don Quijote or Tokyu Hands department store. They have other shops too that are great to find cool stuff.
Use Google Translate to translate English to Kanji (Japanese) and use Kanji to find restaurants that are hidden because they don’t use English words. For example, if you want to find the best ramen place, search “拉麺” and you’ll find hidden gems with 5-star reviews!
The best souvenir I brought back myself was a Goshuincho. These are “honorable stamp/seal book” used by people visiting shrines or temples. If you want more info, google this! I highly recommend doing this!

If you have any questions, comment below or send a DM. Peace!

-Red-
April 19th, 11:13 A.M., The Sprawl
I sparked a dilapidated Vita-Cig that I’d snagged from Trodes and peered out into the Sprawl; the careful equilibrium of a well-orchestrated black-market had returned; pushers and gangers lined the alleys, watching for signals from rooftop lookouts to avoid the single Peacewatch cruiser that had been stupid enough to enter the dockside. The poor bastard would be dead before the afternoon was over… not that I had much sympathy for his kind. Peacewatch made it a habit to stay out of the Sprawl: unless the Eggheads predictive crime system said something catastrophic was coming, they policed their kind and left us in the hands of the mob. I’d never iced an officer. Not yet at least.
“Your partner should be ready shortly, I think he’s just tying up a few loose ends,” Akari said, snatching the cigarette from my hand and taking a long drag.
“Remind me again why you think I should take the shrimp with me instead of Nico and Roman?”
“He’s smart… and the other two are working on something else. Besides-- you need brains on this one, Red, not muscle,” she giggled, passing the cigarette back.
“Whatever you say,” I paused, grabbing the smoke, “what do you have them up to?”
“There’s a shipment of Xeno-grade weapons coming down from the colonies. Nico and Roman will be liberating them from the Slicers. Or, their share, at least. It won’t be much, maybe a dozen guns, but it’ll be worth it: the force field tech alone will pay for the trip as soon as Fincetti’s goons start trying to take your heads off with plasma cannons and mono blades.”
“What do you mean, their share?”
“The job was too big for us to take on alone. I linked up with another enterprising group of Freelancers. If it goes well, maybe we can hire them on for the heist, we’re going to need more people if we want to walk out of there alive.”
We?
“What, are you planning on coming along now?” I asked, snuffing out the smoke.
“It only seems right; Trodes is coming along, and I’m a better shot than he’ll ever be. Besides, you have a dangerous habit of getting shot, and I can’t have you going down in the field,” she said, winking as if to punctuate the sentence.
“You sure? We can manage, you don’t have to come with us, you’ve done so much already.”
“I know I have, that’s why I have to protect my investment. If you go down out there, then the team is without a leader. A military scale operation like this will go south real fast without someone competent in command.”
“You’ve got me wrong, Akari: I’m no leader. I’m just someone who wants to live in a better city and doesn’t mind taking the trash out himself. Besides, why do we need a leader? We’re all competent adults acting in concert, of our own free will. We all know what we’re doing, if a situation arises and someone needs to take charge, it’ll happen.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in a crew you just met,” Akari said with a sneer.
“You know why I asked you to put the team together, Akari?”
“Because there’s a bounty on your head that could finance twenty retirements, and you know you can trust me?”
“No, well yeah, but that’s beside the point—I asked you because you’re not a Fixer, you’re a part time street doc that works the front desk at the most popular Freelancer hotel in the Sprawl. If there’s anyone who knows who’s gonna get the job done, it’s you. See, a Fixer is going to be okay with whatever losses they deem acceptable beforehand, but they’re fine with keeping that to themselves. If you thought any of these mooks were going to crack under pressure, or do something stupid, you wouldn’t have set me up with them.”
Before she could respond, Trodes emerged from the stairs leading to the lab. He winced as the sunlight hit his eyes, shrugging on the hood of the oversized sweatshirt that blanketed his meek frame. Glimpses of pain showed through every tremor laden step he took. A cloak of wires enveloped his skull, feeding into an old-world cyber console.
“It’s insufferably hot out here,” Trodes sighed.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going far. Chances are that whatever hole we’re meeting BFU in will have air conditioning,” I responded, clicking my key fob, and signaling the bike to pull around.
Trodes face fell flat when the Supersonic rolled around the corner; apparently, the prestige of carving through the skyway on a state-of-the-art Taffington jet-bike was lost on him.
“Are we taking… that?” Trodes stammered.
“We are. Unless you’ve got a pair of wheels with two seats?” I asked, mounting the bike and revving the engine.
With an exasperated sigh, Trodes boarded the passenger seat. I could feel him behind me, vibrating as tremors gripped his body.
“You good, buddy?” I asked.
He nodded vigorously, clenching the handrails with white knuckles.
Akari shook her head and headed back to the lab.
I heard Trodes mumble something under his breath, but it was quickly drowned out by the jet-bike’s purr. I carved into the skyway. Driving in the Sprawl was pure freedom: almost nobody owned vehicles with aerial capabilities in this part of town. It didn’t take long to reach top speed.
Slummers and gutterpunks walked the streets like zombies in a drug addled haze. The scent of gunpowder, pollution and burning ozone coalesced into a putrid stench that reeked of poverty and violence. Patches of azure moved in militant formation below; the Vorrath had taken to the streets. On a different day, a better day, I would’ve helped them. Most slummers hated the Offworlder Coalition, but not me—at the end of the day I always figured that I had more in common with poor people from another planet than rich people from another district of the city. At least we shared the same struggle.
The bike slowed to crawl; the Neo-Confederates were about, backed by a platoon of Brown-Shirts that looked like a tide of sewer run off, crashing through the streets with reckless abandon. Civilians fled for their homes. Fuck.
The jet-bike careened through the air before finally landing atop a building a few blocks away from the impending conflict.
“Get off,” I said, turning back to Trodes.
“Why? You don’t intend to abandon me at this altitude, do you?”
“Not as long as I survive—I’ll be quick, I just need to ventilate some Nazi fucks, understood?”
He shook his head and muttered a string of curses.
I tore through the air, circling around the impending conflict. I chased a handful of cheap amphetamines with a poorly rolled joint and swooped low, behind the rolling tide of brown shirts. This wasn’t the first time I’d made myself an enemy of the city’s Neo-Nazi’s; I’d killed at least a dozen of them in my career as a courier, but those were isolated incidents, back-alley brawls away from the mob.
This was a whole new ball game.
I fell slack as my Teleoperations module synchronized with the bike. My consciousness faded, reemerging into the HALO-Net’s stylized rendition of the bike’s interior. I wasn’t just the pilot now—I was the bike. Bullets carved twin streaks of crimson into the brown tide. It didn’t take long to hit top speed, 3.7 seconds, to be exact.
The group turned in nearly perfect unison, launching volley upon volley as I passed overhead. The bike’s shields barely held together; I felt every round, like a flock of birds violently slamming into my side—not enough to cause any real damage, but more than enough to get the blood pumping. I slid into an alley a few blocks off and waited for the shield generator to recharge. Gunshots rang out from the streets, alongside the sizzle of plasma meeting flesh. Soon the din was drowned beneath the roar of dozens of Vorrath war cries. I took to the sky.
Trodes was exactly where I left him, nervously clutching a knock off version of a Locust flechette pistol.
“I was beginning to doubt your survival,” Trodes said shakily.
“Wrong again, little guy,” I paused, reigniting a half smoked joint, “it was just a quick hit and run, we don’t have the time or the numbers for a pitched battle. Now, hop on.”
It didn’t take long to find BFU’s base of operations. Black flags and Anarchist graffiti covered the walls of the abandoned warehouse they’d apparently taken up residence in. A field of repurposed Peacewatch turrets were installed atop the roof, complimented by a web of cameras that spread across a three-block radius. Anarchists of all species and creeds loitered outside. The guards ranged from Cyborgs and Vat-Grown, to Vorrath and Vorstihl, each wearing a variant of the black flag with colors corresponding to their ideologies.
As I hovered above the building, I saw a familiar face: the rookie from earlier. Alarmingly, his cruiser was nowhere to be seen. His face was wrought with horror, as a pair of cyborgs led him inside the warehouse.
“They’re certainly less than subtle,” Trodes said.
“They don’t have to be subtle, they’re the biggest citizens political organization in the Sprawl. Peacewatch avoids them if they have anything less than a full platoon on hand,” I explained.
“Red… before we enter negotiations with these hooligans, I must inquire as to what your motivation hitting the vault is? Surely you know there’s a strong likelihood that you won’t make it out, and from what I’d heard about you, I always understood you to be a man who knew how to keep himself out of the line of sight of dangerous people,” Trodes said, nervously.
“Fincetti is the most dangerous man in the city, short of O’Bannon. He controls the black market with an iron fist and is instrumental in all the things I hate about living here. The problem is, I have no way to do anything about it right now… but there’s something big in the safe—there must be—for fucks sake, he iced his family over it. I’m hoping there’s something in there that can give me a little leverage, so I can cross him out afterwards.”
Trodes was silent for a moment, simply reaching as if to ask me to pass the joint. I obliged.
“I have my reasons to want O’Bannon dead too, I’m in,” he paused as a coughing fit seized him, causing the joint to fall to the ground, “there’s something you should know though: I’m working with an entity of great power in the Net; I don’t know what precisely it is, but I know it saved my life more than once. As a matter of fact, it’s the only reason I was able to obtain the blueprint of Fincetti’s bunker, and his security plan.”
“Is it… is it an unshackled AI?”
“Unlikely: it seems to understand compassion and empathy on a uniquely organic level, something that rarely slips past Netwatch.”
“Alright, well whatever it is, you keep an eye on it and let me know if things get shady. I appreciate you telling me.”
Trodes nodded in silence.
The crowd parted expectantly as I landed along the streetside. Dozens of eyes were immediately glued to Trodes and I. A cyborg with a steel double mohawk emerged from a sea of leather, patches, and smoke. A sawed-off shotgun hung at his side.
“Red, I presume?” the Cyborg asked, extending a steel hand.
“That’s right, and who’re you?” I answered, clasping the borgs hand as firm as I could manage.
“They call me Diezel, and I’ll be your host today,” he released my hand and looked me up and down as if assessing whether I was a threat, “follow me, everyone’s here so we can get straight down to business.”
The warehouse’s interior had been renovated drastically; layers of open-faced lofts sat stacked upon each other, consuming the walls. Nearly every non-violent law in the city was being broken in the lofts, from cooking chems and explosives to studying banned literature and Doomguard martial arts. It was beautiful. We followed Diezel through a winding hallway of munitions manufacturing stations, before finally emerging into an immense circular room, with rows of seats climbing the walls. I couldn’t believe it—there must have been two hundred people present.
The lights dimmed as we entered the arena. Diezel led us to the rooms center, ushering Trodes and I onto a great circular platform; he fell into place on a platform across from us, beside a Vat-Grown woman bearing an orange and black flag on her arm, and augmentations that cost more than my bike. Behind the duo a bulbous Vorstihl lurked; tentacles draped down his back, carefully pulled away from his cyclopean eye. A red and black flag was displayed on his arm… it was only then that I noticed the blue and black flag on Diezel’s arm.
The platforms each rose roughly fifteen feet into the air, before microphone stands emerged from the center of each platform. Diezel stepped forward, past the microphone.
“Before we start, I’ll explain how this works: the three of us are representatives of our specific unions—but the people are free to interject. One union voting to aid in your endeavors does not guarantee the help of the other two, as each union demands a perfect consensus. Likewise, if a faction without one union decides to help you, it does not necessarily mean you have the support of the entire union. The only way you’ll end up with total support is cross union consensus. Do you understand?”
A consensus: of course, they needed a damned consensus.
“I do,” I answered, speaking away from the microphone.
“Then let’s get this show on the road,” Diezel stepped back, finding his microphone before continuing, “Red, Trodes, welcome to the Bouleuterion,” he paused a moment as the crowd erupted into cheers, “beside me are my comrades Aria and Korvirex, and we stand ready to hear your proposal.”
“As most of you probably know, Don Fincetti is the most powerful man in the underworld, hell—maybe even the city—what you likely don’t know is that he has a vault beneath the city, guarded by an army of Harvesters. I intend to break into the vault, slaughter the Harvesters and strike a blow to Fincetti that he won’t forget… and I intend to kill him shortly after. What I ask is simple: you help me in what’s to come, and when he’s finally dead, you can all split his turf among yourselves. All I care about is making sure he doesn’t live long enough to poison the Sprawl more than he already has.”
A murmur emerged from the stands. I gazed across the way to see the three representatives huddled together, whispering amongst themselves. Finally, Aria stepped towards her microphone.
“What you ask of us will likely mean the death of many of our people… we need something greater than what you offer—we need a guarantee of mutual aid—you have a reputation in the Sprawl, we would ask that you employ it in helping us when the time comes to resettle the Sprawl. Namely, we’d request your assistance against the gangs that may try to fill the power void you seek to create,” Aria explained.
“That seems reasonable,” I said.
Aria stepped back as Korvirex moved forward.
“Tell me, Red, are you familiar with the Offworlder Coalition?” Korvirex asked.
“I am—as a matter of fact, I aided them on the way here—they were marching against the Neo-Confederates and the Brown Shirts. I insured that they had the element of surprise.”
Korvirex stroked the beard-like tentacles that hung from his chin in contemplation.
“Good. What I ask is that you help us to secure their trust, we have offered solidarity where we could, but our forces are spread thin. The ideology of many of the exiled Vorrath rebels that found their way to Nova City—it matches that of our union. If our help was offered, would you agree to assist us in aiding the Coalition, so that they finally have an opportunity to get on their feet?”
Trodes leaned towards in, whispering in my ear.
“It would be prudent of you to make a counteroffer: proclaim that you’ll help with the Coalition, if they’ll spread the word to other groups whose goals may align with ours. There will likely be at least a couple hundred Harvesters in the Undercity when we strike… unless they’re occupied elsewhere.”
“I would happily help with the Coalition, on the condition that your faction spread the word about what we’re doing to like-minded organizations. As it stands, we could still use more numbers to match the Harvesters,” I said.
“These conditions may be satisfactory,” Korvirex said, before retreating into yet another group huddle.
The audience watched on in silence.
Finally, Diezel reapproached the microphone.
“The representatives have deemed this topic worthy of discussion: you’re free to leave, we’ll get ahold of Akari in a couple days, when all the details are ironed out.”
“A couple days?”
“Reaching a consensus can be a slow process at times—be prepared for a renegotiation of conditions, as there will likely be more stipulations made once the process is complete,” Diezel explained.
I nodded, and the platform beneath my feet began to descend towards the floor. The crowd erupted into cheers.
Hopefully Nico and Roman would beat us home.

So I recently moved into my new apartment but there’s no dishwasher, even tho it was clearly listed on the StreetEasy page as a part of the kitchen when I applied, is that allowed? Should I reach out to someone about this? I wasn’t at ny so it was just a virtual tour and I didn’t remember to check

Hello, my name is Alex, and I'm looking for a group to play with in the Buffalo, NY area. I moved here last year but have yet to find anyone to play with. I have only ever been a DM, and I would like to try my hand in being a player. I can be flexible with the scheduling if need be. Feel free to DM me here or on discord (foxycoxy#6367) if anyone has any open spots!

"Okay," Sookie called out. "That's a wrap!"
A ragged cheer went up from the cast and crew. Deacon walked around, clapping his hands and cheering loudly, making sure everyone else was cheering, too. Sookie walked over to her chair and sank into it, her feet throbbing in time to the cheering people around her. She smiled at anyone who caught her eye and just relaxed.
This was the end of a grueling, forty-five day shooting schedule that had been supposed to be ten hour days, but had ended up being more like thirteen to eighteen hour days for her. They weren't done filming the season. Far from it, in fact. But these were the worst shots, and the cast and crew involved had all agreed to push through hard until it was done. After this, they had about two more months of shooting on a more normal schedule, and then editing could begin.
Deacon, despite his enthusiasm for the end of the push, had not had to attend most of the shots they got, and had instead, been spending 'quality' time with a couple of local groupies and the White Lady. Sookie didn't begrudge him this, of course. She worried a little about the amount of booger sugar going up his nose at times, but his agent had repeatedly assured her that he was using far more often during shoots than during his off time.
Besides, it was only fitting that the star of the show should enjoy the fruits of his fame. Sookie herself had picked up a bisexual couple a week or two ago, when they had a shoot end 'early' (at nine PM) and the next's day's shoot wasn't scheduled to begin until eight AM. She had left set almost immediately and headed to a local gay bar, where someone had recognized her from her OnlyFans days and insisted upon introducing his boyfriend.
She sighed, remembering the sensation of two well-endowed men thrusting into her, and how she'd simply melted when the one behind her leaned forward and around to kiss the other. Bi men were soooo hawt...
She promised herself she'd try to find another bisexual 'gay' couple, now that she had the time.
Deacon had finally got everyone sufficiently enthusiastic -which was a credit to his charisma, really, as everybody was exhausted- and came over to sit next to her in his own chair.
"I am so ready for a couple weeks off," he said.
"It's one week," Sookie reminded him. "And then you need to be ready for the fight scenes. Have you been working with your choreographer?"
"I haven't really had the time..." Deacon whined, causing Sookie to sigh.
"Deek," she said, sitting up in her chair and turning to face him. "You haven't needed to be on set for the past two weeks. You've been coming to, in your own words, 'help keep morale up'. And while I do appreciate your efforts in that regards, it is far more important for you to be ready to shoot your fight scenes in a week. I'm serious here. You need to get with your choreographer and get your moves nailed down tight. We don't have time to push those shoots back any further."
Deacon held up his hands in surrender. "I'll be down at the dojo tomorrow, I swear."
"Tomorrow morning," Sookie insisted.
"Tomorrow morning," Deacon agreed. "In fact, I'm going to get the playbook and go over it tonight, to try to get a head start."
Sookie smiled and patted him on the knee as she rose. She didn't want to be here anymore. The PAs and crew could finish cleaning everything up so the teardown crews could get started tomorrow.
She found her personal assistant and instructed her to make sure everyone knew to do their own breakdowns, then left. Filming on set had certain advantages, including the fact that she was within walking distance of her hotel.
The security guard that Julie had insisted she maintain since that incident a few years ago with the psycho stan peeled herself off the wall she'd been holding up and fell into step behind her. Sookie wouldn't have minded so much, except Julie had carefully picked married, monogamous men and women to fill her security schedule with, to avoid any 'conflicts of interest'.
This gal, Linda Gottlieb, was probably the worst of all. She had a girlfriend and a boyfriend, and yet refused to sleep with anyone else. On top of that, she was as slender as Sookie, flat chested (which Sookie found to be a major turn on) and hard as a rock, with veiny arms and shoulders and even a few visible on her belly.
Sookie was a woman of many tastes, but skinny girls with visible veins and no tits were one of her more notable favorites, and so Linda's categorical refusal to so much as let Sookie slip a hand down her pants was grating.
Linda wasn't wearing a uniform. She wore a tight tank top and a loose flannel with the sleeves rolled up and the front unbuttoned over a pair of blue jeans and hiking boots. Sookie knew she had a gun on her somewhere, but couldn't speculate as to where.
Well, that's not true. Sookie imagined the handle sticking of her ass, riding up between the cheeks of that ass that all flat-chested women seemed to have that was categorically unfair to better-if-still-modestly endowed women like Sookie. She slowed down to get a peek at it.
"Looking at my ass again?" Linda asked.
"Yes," Sookie said. "I was wondering if you keep your gun there. The handle could fit between those cheeks and nobody would be the wiser."
Linda laughed and lifted her flannel to show a handgun tucked into her belt on her hip. "Sorry to disappoint," she said. "But I kinda need to keep it where I could easily get at it."
Sookie sighed, her pleasant illusion ruined.
They turned left out of the studio gates and walked up the road. Despite the presence of the studio, this was kind of a rough area, so Sookie appreciated having some security as she made the walk. Not that she couldn't handle herself, but she'd learned the hard way that being taken by surprise left her as vulnerable as anyone.
They hadn't gotten more than a half a block before a ragged looking man approached them, reeking of booze and shit. His clothes were filthy and torn and he had a scraggly beard that ranged from a centimeter to three inches long, seemingly at random.
"Spare a dollar?" he asked.
"No," Linda said, stepping forward to catch his attention so Sookie could slip past.
"S'just a dollar, lady. I'll lick your pussy for it!" The man leered at Linda, who didn't blink or flinch, but rather gave him a hard shove back.
"Don't you fucking crowd me, talking shit like that," she said menacingly, taking another step forward to keep him off balance.
"Be respectful," she added with force. The man looked like he wanted to argue, but something in the way she looked or held herself made it clear to him that Linda was not to be trifled with. He stepped back until his back was to the wall of the building behind him and watched as Linda turned and caught back up to Sookie, who was watching the whole thing over her shoulder.
"Fucking Dykes!" the man shouted. "Suck my dick!"
"You'd think that at least one of them would figure out that being aggressive like that doesn't work," Sookie mused.
"It doesn't work on you or me, but that's because we know we could take his head off if he tried to get violent," Linda said. "Most women aren't fighters. They'll give him cash just to get him to stop harassing them."
"Fair enough," Sookie said.
This was a common occurrence. Almost every time Sookie walked to her hotel, at least one homeless person would try to panhandle her. Sometimes, if she had any cash, she'd give them some. Once in a blue moon, one would engender enough sympathy for a good payout, a hundred bucks or so. But most of the time, they struck her as entitled ruffians, living on the street thanks to their own bad decisions and trying to get by on other people's labor.
She knew that was an old-fashioned mindset. She knew a lot of these people would, if they got clean of whatever they were using, sort out their lives and take care of business. She knew that the DCM Group even had a charitable arm who straight up gave condos and large sums of money to many homeless people, who immediately used that gift to get back on their feet. She knew the stats, too.
But this particular area seemed to attract the sort of homeless people whom right-wing motards used as an archetype for all homeless people. Twice, someone from the crew had been assaulted, causing Sookie to declare that she and the stunt coordinator were the only ones allowed to walk to and from the studio.
"I wonder if they're actually even homeless," Linda said, her thoughts echoing Sookie's.
"Me too," Sookie said. "I mean, it's a very poor neighborhood, adjacent to a place where very wealthy people work. There's no rule that says you have to be homeless to panhandle."
Linda nodded. Sookie wondered idly if she'd been following her own logic, or seeking out a belief that made her feel better about judging the people here. She wasn't sure which, really.
The area they moved through got progressively nicer as they continued. They turned the last corner, with three blocks still to go when Sookie saw the next one.
This one was older. he only had about a week's worth of beard on his face, though Sookie could see that it was mostly gray. He wore similar clothes to the other one, the once-vibrant colors having long since faded towards a muted gray tone. His clothes, however, looked cleaner and the holes had all been neatly stitched. As they drew close, Sookie could read his sign.
Please help Leave a dollar or take a resume Will work for food
Sure enough, he had a stack of resumes weighted down with a rock next to him. Sookie stopped, intrigued and bent down to retrieve one. She handed the man a folded ten dollar bill at the same time. A reward for creativity in his panhandling, she thought.
She looked at it. The man had a pair of enlistments in the Marine Corps at the top of his work experience. It was back in the early 2000s, and it mentioned Helmand Province, which Sookie recalled had been at the center of a lot of the fighting in Afghanistan.
The next few lines were security companies, starting with a high-end competitor to the Group, and then a long sequence of construction and day-labor work, ending on his current work, which was "Self Employed - Private Investigations". Below that, he had a string of qualifications, including armed security, close protection and bail enforcement.
"This is actually quite a good resume," Sookie told him. She glanced up at the top to get his name, Richard Nixon.
"Richard Nixon?" Sookie asked. "Like the president?"
Richard nodded. "I'll work," he said hopefully. "I can swing a hammer and do plumbing. I'll do a full day's work for lunch and dinner, or a hundred bucks, whichever you prefer."
Sookie handed the resume to Linda, who looked down at it.
"Ain't much different than mine," she said. "Oorah."
"Oorah," Richard muttered back, seemingly on pure instinct.
"So why are you out here, Richard?" Sookie asked. "Your resume says you're self-employed as a private eye."
Richard shrugged. Sookie noted the redness and swelling of his nose. "Work's been scarce," he said. "Been getting fewer jobs for the last few years. Fewer jobs means less money, less money means losing my office, not being able to afford nice clothes, which leads to fewer jobs."
Sookie looked a question at Linda, who shrugged. "We're always looking for investigators. It can be hard to recruit former cops, and those we do are often old enough not to stay on for more than a few years before retiring."
Sookie smiled and nodded, turning back to Richard. "You want an interview?"
"Hell yeah," he said with some enthusiasm. "As long as they don't mind me looking a little rough around the edges."
"Where do you live?" Sookie asked. Richard gestured around. "Lost my apartment last month," he said. Sookie pursed her lips and then nodded and held out a hand to him.
"Come on, Richard. I'm Sookie, and this is Linda. I'll make you a deal. I'll get you a nice outfit to wear and arrange an interview at the LA office tomorrow. I'll put you up on my couch for the night, too. That way, you can shower and shave and look presentable for it. What do you think?"
Richard took her hand and let her help him up. "Are you serious?" he asked. Sookie nodded.
"Holy crap, thank you, lady. Sookie, I mean. Thank you." His eyes began to get watery. "I don't... I don't even know what to say. That would be amazing."
Sookie smiled, her heart wrenching for the guy. She knew he had a drinking problem, but she also remembered all those people the Group's charities helped. Get someone on their feet, and there was a good chance they'd stay there.
"Do you have stuff to get?"
"I uh... I have a storage shed. It's paid up through the end of the year," he said. "My stuff is safe there, I just need to go get my toiletries."
"Don't worry about that," Sookie said, stepping to the edge of the sidewalk and waiting for the traffic to clear enough to cross the road. "We can stop by a drug store, too."
----
Sookie and Linda took Richard shopping and got him everything he needed. Which wasn't much, really. Sookie had a spare toothbrush, razors, shaving cream and cologne at her hotel room. It was all stuff she kept on hand to be the best slut she could be, and make her dishes du jour feel welcome. They bought him deodorant and an electric beard trimmer, and decided to take a pit stop at a hair and nails salon next to the pharmacy.
The girls there had cooed and gooed over Sookie and Linda helping this man out, and refused to accept any money for the trim he got. Unfortunately, they weren't set up to shave a man (all of the other clients inside were women), but Richard protested that he was perfectly capable of shaving himself, so it all worked out.
The next stop was, at Sookie's insistence, one of the ultra-high-end men's clothing stores near her hotel. Linda had protested that simply taking a car to Walmart would be good enough, but Sookie would have none of that.
"Linda, it's been over six years since I've seen a person in Walmart that I'd be willing to give a handy to. It's been even longer since I've seen any clothing there that looked like it didn't come from Walmart, especially the suits. We're not going to Walmart."
As a result, Richard got fitted for a custom-tailored suit and outfitted with a tie that was a pleasant, deep blue, bespeckled with tiny, gold-embroidered Marine Corps logos. He seemed pleased with it, and had to keep wiping his eyes as he repeatedly and profusely thanked her.
When all was done, they finally went to the hotel. Sookie had a full suite on the top floor. It wasn't the biggest suite, but it was close, with two spare bedrooms, a living room and a full kitchen, in addition to a balcony that afforded her a great view of the city (so long as the smog wasn't too bad) and a private elevator to the rooftop pool.
Linda took her usual spot at the door to await her relief for the evening while Sookie showed Richard the large bathroom and made sure he had everything he needed. While he showered and shaved, she decided to review the script.
She walked over to the safe in the living room and carefully punched in her combination on the keypad.
The scripts for The Legend of Jimmy were like solid gold. Every studio out there wanted to get their hands on one, to steal ideas from. Every fan wanted to get one, just for the thrill of knowing what was going to happen next. During the second season's filming, they'd had multiple scripts stolen and leaked, and Sookie had learned to crack down on that. As a result, she was the only one who ever had a full set of scripts for any given season. She kept them safely under lock and key at all times.
She pulled out her working copy, which was different from the 'archive' copy she also kept in the safe. The working copy had all of her handwritten notes on it. She closed the safe back up and locked it, then sat down at the table and flipped open to the scenes they would be filming after the break. Using a red pen, she made notes for herself, things to remember during shooting, like camera angles and notes on the VFX.
She heard the shower turn off, but she was engrossed in her work when the door opened.
"Thanks again," Richard said, causing her to look up. He had a towel around his waist, but Sookie noted that he had a lean torso, with some muscle still there, despite a rough life. Clean shaven now, he looked much better. He'd never get a gig as a model, but he was handsome enough in his own way. Sookie smiled at him.
"You don't have to keep thanking me," she said. "I'm happy to help."
She closed her script and stood, walking it over to the safe. Obscuring her hands with her body, she punched in the code again and placed the script inside. She hadn't yet closed the door when she heard Richard mutter "Oh shit."
She turned to look and froze. He'd turned back towards the bathroom, and then dropped his towel by accident. He was currently in the process of picking it up, affording Sookie a great view of his ass and what might well have been considered a third leg hanging from between the other two.
It came almost to his knees.
A flush of heat went through her, washing away all thoughts of largess and generosity, and kindling a very selfish desire. She heard the spattering on the hardwood floor where she crouched as her usual over-the-top wetness kicked into high gear and soaked through her pants in seconds. She could feel herself throbbing as she eyed Richard's enormous member.
Her disguise slipped and the horns erupted from her head, her tail curled up painfully inside her pants and her skin turned red, with large patches of scales. Operating purely on instinct, she magicked up a veil of mundanity. She didn't want Richard to freak out, and this would keep him from registering her appearance as anything out of the ordinary.
He retrieved his towel and made to wrap it back around his waist, but Sookie shot to her feet and spun, already ripping her shirt off.
"Wait," she said. Richard froze, then turned to look at her over one shoulder. She tossed her shirt on the couch and peeled off her pants. She wasn't wearing any underwear or bra, of course. She never did.
"I just thought of a way you could thank me," she purred, taking a languid step forward. Richard reacted immediately to the sight of her naked, turning, his hog's leg stiffening and rising from its vertical hang slightly.
"Are you, uh... I mean... I'm not..." Richard stammered. Sookie stepped closer to him and put her hands on his shoulder, then ran them down his chest.
"I am damn sure I want to do this, if that's what you're asking," she said, her hands reaching lower as she stepped close enough to press her breasts into his ribs. She took hold of him and felt him grow almost immediately rock hard as he gasped.
"Wow," he said. "This is... This is like something from a porno with a bad script..." he said.
"Uh huh," Sookie said. "And we're about to do the fun parts of it." She pressed her lips into his, and then squealed in delight as he grabbed her by the ass and hoisted her up.
"Where?" he asked into her mouth.
"Pussy, mouth and ass," she replied. She felt the heat rush through his cheeks.
"I meant where in this room," he said.
"I don't fucking care," Sookie responded, lining his huge cock up with her most convenient hole and squirming down onto it with a loud gasp.
"In the bedroom!" Linda shouted. "Please, for the love of god, in the bedroom!"
----
Sookie awoke the next morning and rolled over to see if Richard was up for a little wake-and-shake. Her hands slapped the empty bed and she pouted.
"Richard?" she called, a wonderful aroma meeting her nose as she did. "Are you making coffee already? I'll fall in love with you, or deepthroat you, your choice, if you are!"
He didn't answer.
She opened her eyes and saw that his new suit was missing. An empty hanger was hooked to the coathanger next to the closet. She climbed out of bed, frowning, and walked out into the living room.
It was empty. She could smell the coffee even stronger, and she walked into the kitchen to find the coffee pot full and a business card sitting next to it. She picked it up and peered at it with sleep-bleary eyes.
"Eric Stephens, Private Investigations, Corporate Espionage, Bail Bonds, Security Consultation," she read out loud. There was a QR code on it, so she picked up her phone from where it had been flung to the floor last night and scanned it. While the page loaded, she glanced in the bathroom to see Richard's old clothes still piled there.
She glanced at her phone to see a very clean-shaven and well-dressed Richard smiling at the camera at the top of a very tastefully designed web page. She scrolled through it for a moment, confused. This was clearly him, but why had he given her a fake name? She supposed he could have had this nice website built back when he was still working enough to afford it, but... It seemed off. It didn't fit. Sookie didn't get it.
That was, until she looked to her own pile of clothes by the safe and saw the door still hanging open. With a gasp, she rushed over only to find the safe empty. Both of her scripts were gone!
"Shit!" she shouted.
The door opened and a large, muscular man dressed like a lawyer rushed in, a gun in hand.
"Miss Ohma, is everything all right?" he asked after scanning the room and peering through the open doors.
"No," Sookie wailed. "I just got my scripts stolen!"
"The gentleman who left this morning?" her guard asked. She nodded. "I'm so sorry, Miss Ohma. I would have stopped him if I knew."
"No, you did fine," Sookie said as her eyes filled with frustrated tears. "You're used to men heading out in the morning. Usually they do it after I wake up and we can get another good fuck in, but still... You didn't do anything wrong."
"He left a note," the guard said. "I saw it taped to the inside of the door." Sookie looked over and saw a folded piece of paper taped there. She stalked over and ripped it down, sniffling angrily and wiping at her eyes to read it.

 Dear Sookie, Last night was probably the best night I've had in my life. It's certainly the best night I can remember. If you ever want to do it again, just let me know. I left you a card by the coffee machine, and there's a full pot for you, as well. If you don't ever want to see me again, well, I guess I understand. I'm sorry to have left the way I did, but I'm a man of my word, and my client was willing to pay a lot of money for that script. I hope this doesn't hurt you too much. For what it's worth, I'm sorry if I upset you. Wishing you all the best, Eric

Sookie crumbled up the paper and angrily threw it across the room.
"Motherfucker!" she shouted. The guard winced, but said nothing.
"He scammed me," Sookie said. "Got a nice new suit out of me, seduced me with that redwood growing between his legs and then ran off with my fucking scripts!"
She let her claws form and dug them into her thighs, carving bloody furrows that healed almost as fast as she made them. The guard started and rushed over.
"Ma'am, please," he said. "I'm not supposed to let you hurt yourself."
Sookie let him pull her hands up to her chest. She leaned into him for a moment. "You're married, aren't you?" she said.
"Uh, no," he said. Sookie turned her head to regard him. She didn't recognize him. "What's your name?"
"Devin, Ma'am," he said. "Devin Iglesias. This is my first shift on your detail."
"Who put you on this shift?"
"Uhh, Missus Williams. She said I'd enjoy this detail, and I agreed. I'm a huge fan of your show, Miss Ohma."
"Are you gay?" Sookie asked. Devin blinked. "Uh, no, Ma'am."
Sookie smiled. "I need you to do two things," she said.
"The second, and most important thing, I need you to call the office and ask for any information they have on a private investigator named Eric Stephens who works out of LA."
Devin nodded. "Yes, ma'am. And the first thing?"
Sookie smiled wider. "I need you to find out the real reason why Inanna thought you'd enjoy this posting."

Hello, wonderful people of Reddit. Just crowdsourcing so feedback on an interview question:
You just received a note from the hotel manager for next month’s off-site Board retreat that they can no longer accommodate the required guest rooms. However, their sister hotel down the street can take half the participants, though the nightly room fee is slightly higher. They want to know how you would like to proceed.
In the commits section below, I've added to sample response looking for feedback, critique and what letter I should send as my sample. A or B?

Letter A
Dear Hotel Manager,
Thank you for contacting me regarding next month's off-site Board retreat. I appreciate your update about the situation and the offer to accommodate half of the participants at your sister hotel down the street.
However, I would like to discuss a few options before deciding. Firstly, the sister hotel may have a slightly higher nightly room fee. In light of this last-minute change, would it be possible for the sister hotel to honor the same price as the original hotel? Securing the same price for all the participants would make the transition smoother and ensure consistency for our retreat. Alternatively, if honoring the original price at the sister hotel is not possible, I request that the original hotel still honors its commitment to our reservation and finds a suitable solution for accommodating all the participants. It is crucial for our retreat's success that everyone stays at the exact location.
I understand that unforeseen circumstances can arise, but given the importance of this event, and our advance, booking it would be greatly appreciated if the original hotel could explore all possible avenues to fulfill its commitment to our reservation.
I would be open to talking about any available options to help us find a solution that works for both of us. Thank you for taking a look at this, and I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
I would be open to talking about any available options to help us find a solution that works for both of us. Thank you for taking a look at this, and I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Letter B
Dear Hotel Manager,
Thank you for reaching out to me regarding next month's off-site Board retreat. I appreciate your help in making the necessary arrangements. While I understand there has been a change in the availability of guest rooms at your hotel, I'm glad to hear that your sister hotel can accommodate at least half of the participants.
Considering the circumstances, I would like to move forward with the following arrangement: Hotel Rooms at the Sister Hotel: Please book rooms for half of the participants at your sister hotel down the street. Although the nightly room fee is slightly higher, all participants must stay together to maintain the cohesiveness of the retreat. Due to this not being possible, can you please waive the additional cost because of the late notice?
Please provide me with the details of the room rates at the sister hotel, including any exceptional amenities or considerations they may offer. Will your hotel be willing to provide transportation: As some participants will be staying at a different hotel, please make sure they can make arrangements to facilitate their travel between the two hotels during the retreat. It is crucial to minimize any inconvenience caused by the split accommodation.
Group Amenities: To maintain consistency throughout the retreat, it is ideal that participants from both hotels have access to the same amenities, such as meeting rooms, conference facilities, and any other services we previously discussed. Please confirm that these arrangements can be made to ensure a seamless experience for everyone involved.
Once you have gathered the necessary information, please give me a detailed breakdown of the revised accommodation arrangements, including costs so that I can review and confirm the arrangements with the board members.

Thoughts???

Thank you in advance for your support!

I'm in a same-sex relationship. My GF and I are both in our late 40's with adult children from our previous marriages (to men). We met online and have been together 2 years. I recently found out she wants to ask me to move in with her in the next 6 months. This is absolutely what I want but now I have reasons for hesitation.
My GF moved here from another state 3 years ago. When she was 16, her very religious Mother caught her kissing another female classmate and made a huge deal of it. She shamed her to the point she lost all of her school "friends" and took the door to her room off so she wouldn't have any privacy. Her Mom went through and read her journals and assured her this was not the lifestyle she wanted. Fast forward a few years. She gets married and has 4 kids. She and her husband were married for 22 years but lived the last 18 of them in separate levels of their homes. When she felt like all of her kids were stable in their own lives she moved here to start a life for herself. While she was married she said her husband lived his own life, drinking, partying and having multiple affairs but she didn't care because she had her hands full with her kids and building an amazing career for herself. She admitted to having a few "flings" with other women (no men) but was too busy between work and motherhood to make a go of anything more. She, however, was not out to her family or kids, only a very limited number of friends/co-workers knew.
I had been with my ex-husband 15-years before divorcing and sharing custody of our 2 children. I came out 15 years ago and was happy and healthy living my best life. I had been in a 2 year relationship, a few years prior to meeting my now GF. My ex cheated on me with multiple people, including several mutual friends. I was devastated when I found out and spent the subsequent years in therapy getting my life back together and things sorted out.
When my GF and I first met and were getting to know each other, she told me her best friend was a 28-year-old married heterosexual man with 3 kids of his own. They used to work together but since she moved out-of-state, hadn't seen each other in a few years. They would text and talk via their work messaging app all day and late into the night. He would still be texting her when we were going to bed and she would wake up to "Good morning" texts from him before we'd even had a chance to get out of bed, no matter how early it was. She despised his wife and would say neither she nor her family appreciated anything he did for them. When his birthday rolled around she lavished him with gifts, despite telling me she "didn't do gifts" except for her kids. When my birthday came two week later, I didn't receive dinner, a card, or anything. I thought it could be due to us only being together for a few months. A few weeks later I see her texting him telling him about the day she's had and all of it was a lie. She's telling him how she went hiking with a group of friends and then out to a piano bar with them afterwards. I had been with her all day and we'd done nothing of the sort. I made a mental note of it and decided to watch and observe. She made it seem like she was the life of the party with friends and adventures when in reality she's telling me "I don't like going out and I'm much more of a homebody."
A few weeks after that, another married, male co-worker sends her a text saying "Good sense of humor, dirty mind, and a beautiful heart...deadly combination." She's checking and responding to her texts in front of me. I never went through her phone or computer to get any of this information. I'm intrigued after this text. I asked her about it. Her response was to tell me this co-worker was very religious and he and his wife had been preaching abstinence to their teenagers. He asked her advice after successfully raising her 4 children on her own. She said she told him "hormonal teenagers are going to be hormonal teenagers and he had to accept there is only so much he can do." His response was to send her that text image. I wasn't sure what to make of it but she seemed earnest in her response and wasn't panicked or angry that I'd asked.
Ten months into our relationship we took our first vacation together. I met one of her old friends. At this point, this is the only person I've met between her family and friends. She had met my kids and their significant others individually as well as many of my friends. She was out to this friend and didn't hide our relationship at all. We all hit it off and things seemed to be going well. The following weekend her bestfriend was supposed to be visiting her. I assumed he was staying at a nearby hotel. She informs me he staying with her at her home. I asked her if his wife was ok with that and she said "She must be or she wouldn't be ok with him going." Alarm bells go off and red flags go up. I'm in shock that a wife would be ok with her husband staying in the same house as a beautiful woman that she'd only met once. I asked her if I would get the chance to meet him. She replied "I don't think emotionally I'm there yet." Again, I'm in shock. I asked her what she meant by that. She said she's "never mixed friendships and relationships" and she is worried how I might react if she seems different around him. I said "Different as in straight or like his girlfriend because that seems like what this is." I know he knew she identified as a lesbian. I've seen him send kind, supportive texts regarding her sexuality and even ask advice regarding his young nephew when he came out to him. I would absolutely say the two of them were having an affair based on everything I've seen but this is where all of this gets complicated...
When my GF was in her mid 20's she was involved in a horrific sexual assault. I'm talking brutal, should not have survived, made-for-television-movie type of ordeal. There are physical scars on her body that bare the results of her attack. For the first 6 months of our relationship she couldn't even sleep in the bed beside me because of the panic attacks she would have. I would sleep in the guest room and still wake-up to her screams and night terrors. She has never shared the finite details of what happened but as a RN and Emergency Room nurse for over 14-years I can tell you her panic, trauma and scars are legit. She will freeze-up when a stranger walks too close to us on the street. We watched a documentary once that addressed a sexual assault. She didn't sleep for weeks after that. She told me that she was out of state when the assault occurred and never told her family or friends what happened. She chalked her hospital stay and the subsequent surgeries up to a motorcycle wreck on the back of a friend's bike. She said the man that did this to her was in prison. I'm baffled at how you could hide something like this from your friends, family and even an emotionally despondent husband. She said when she was 17 she was raped at a party and her mother wrote her off as trying to get out of trouble for having premarital sex. She said she was ashamed and humiliated by what had happened to her and that, coupled with her mother's response to her previous assault led her to not sharing the truth with her family/friends.
This also makes things in the bedroom difficult at times. She has little to no sex-drive. She is triggered at the slightest things. I feel so bad for her and try to reassure her that she's safe and loved. I try to be patient and give her as much time/space as she needs. This is why I have a hard time believing she could engage sexually with someone else, especially if anatomically speaking, they match the person that almost killed her.
When we returned from vacation things were very different. I felt deceived and like our relationship was over. I told her I felt like she was hiding things, including me, and I didn't think we could recover from this. I ended things. She apologized and said she felt like I was trying to force her to introduce us. We spent most of the weekend he was here arguing. She said when he left, he told her he felt like she wasn't engaged during his visit and was really disappointed. Two weeks later she said they still hadn't spoken and she realized there were a lot of things she wished she had done differently. She asked if we could get together and talk. We did and things started to turn around. She became much more engaged in our relationship and things only got better.
The communication between her and "married, religious guy" continued but with no red flags that I noticed... until recently. She stopped checking her texts from him in front of me. She waits until I get up to respond to them. When we wake up in the mornings he's already texted her. He's still texting her when we're going to bed at night. It's like this guy has become the best friend. A month ago, she spent a long weekend "visiting one of her kids" who also happens to live in the same town as married religious guy. That same week after she returned home, I walked into her office and saw her very quickly close out of the work messenger chat window where the two of them had been talking. Later that day after we returned from a walk, she asked me if I had been in her office or had been on her computer. I said that I hadn't. She said she thought her screen was on a different tab when she left. She also said if I ever went through any of her things, our relationship was over, no questions asked and no discussion. I told her I would never do that and pointed out that unless she had something to hide she shouldn't be worried. She said after the hell her mother put her through, going through her diary and things as a teenager, she wouldn't tolerate feeling like she didn't have any privacy. I flat out asked her if there was someone else because I felt like she was paranoid and hiding things. She said "No. You know I would never do that to you. If I didn't want to be with you, I'd just tell you." Things were a bit awkward after that but eventually settled down. Last week I walked into her office and saw a message from him that read "Good morning, my Barbara." She responded with "Good morning, my Greg." I saw a few other messages that I couldn't make out but had heart emojis on them. When she realized that chat window was up, she quickly closed it.
After what I went through with my partner cheating in the past, I know I'm more susceptible to being paranoid about things. If my GF hadn't gone through what she went through I would have no doubt as to what was going on with both of those co-workers. I truly cannot imagine her having a physical, sexual relationship with anyone. She has helped me get a better job, invested so much time and money into our relationship and I absolutely feel loved and cared for by her. If she asked me to move in with her, I'd have to sell my current home. Her kids have been here to visit multiple times and I've never met them. She only told them a year ago that she was gay and in a relationship with someone. I can't confirm ANY of these things and it's all based on things she's told me. I do know that if I move in, her kids and anyone else that visits will obviously have to meet me. But I can't shake the feeling that things just aren't adding up with her male co-workers. She seems to almost be living a double life. She said she has no social media accounts but I have seen her on an Instagram account on her phone. I can't find her online, however. I'm also not allowed to take photos of her that include her face or post anything that could identify her on social media. She said this is because she is afraid of the guy that assaulted her getting out of prison and finding her. I think in the 2-years of us dating, I have 4 pictures of us together and 2 of them were because we met a celebrity that suggested we take a selfie together with them. I have a few NSFW pics of her that she's sent me but none of them include her face. She is very self-conscious about her face due to some of the scars she has. Open to any and all advice on this. Thank you in advance and I'm sorry about the long post.

Original itinerary here for reference. We planned this trip primarily with Halal food in mind, along with regular sight-seeing locations + shopping for Switch games, clothes, and souvenirs
Overall notes / Takeaways * I rate our trip a 9/10. It was a great time with the authentic halal Japanese food, seeing all the cool sights & places, and experiencing a very nice environment + culture.

The amount of researching / pre-planning can be a double-edged sword. Things that were unexpected were some of the best experiences. At the same time, if we tightened our itinerary and squared away some details better: we could have saved some cash, lessened on-the-spot deliberations / route planning; and perhaps, squeezed a few more places to visit.
This is where the 1 point ding comes in, especially not realizing until after-the-fact that the 14 day JR Pass was not cost efficient for us, especially with our hotel locations utilizing local lines + purchasing two separate pieces of luggage whereas instead, we should have just brought them from home. (If we had our luggage situation better planned, we would have shopped a bit differently.) This 1 point ding is not a deal breaker at all, and we’re still super happy with the trip.
For our trip with the Halal dietary restriction, it would have been helpful to pickup a sim card for a Japanese phone # to make some reservations ourselves and taxi’ing around in Kyoto when we got tired of walking around. At the end of some of the shopping trips, the 10-15 minute walk back to the hotels were very tiring, and the cost estimates on Google didn’t seem too expensive for short trips.

First part of the trip - East side of Tokyo: Asakusa FRI 5/5 Arrival HND arrival was around 2pm, and we got to the hotel around 6:30pm. From there: We were able to start off our trip with Ramen for dinner @ Ayam-ya Halal Ramen Tokyo –> Senjo-jii and Nakamise Street at night (which was not crowded at all at night)

Airport sidenotes: If you do the JapanWeb form online, make sure to complete it all the way until you get the QR code. I had started the day prior, but didn’t realized I left it incomplete. So we had to step out of line to manually hand-write. Also, we didn’t realize there’s two sets of lines / forms: the first for customs entry and second for customs declarations.
SAT May 6: Edo Castle Ruins –> Tokyo Station (Ghibli, JUMP, Pokemon stores which were all super packed with long lines) –> (walked to Ginza and attempted late lunch at Ginza Tendon Itsuki, but line was too long and we went to MOS burger instead) → Tokyo Skytree Mall (first Takoyaki for my wife here! Some souvenir shopping here) –> Akihabara at night for videogame/anime trinket shopping → Antep Kebab Akihabara for dinner
Sun May 7: Ueno Park –> Akihabara again –> Sushi lunch @ Sushiken Asakusa –> (skip daytime Senso-jii due to rain, and instead return to hotel) –> Yakiniku @ Wagyu Yakiniku Panga –> Rescue Cat Cafe Asakusa Nekoen
Mon May 8: Early AM laundry @ hotel (only did this once), chill (play some Switch games) & Depart hotel (decided against baggage transport this time) –> Tokyo Station and some Ekiben from Ekibenya Matsuri –> Shinkansen

Notable Highlights Part 1:

Ueno Park was our favorite part from this portion of the trip - even though it was raining, there were so many unexpected sights! We thought Edo Castle Ruins would be closer to like how Ueno Park was.
Getting lucky at the halal yakiniku place for dinner without a reservation! Being there at open and the rain may have helped.

Notable Mid-light:

Going to Akibahara twice since the first time where second trip ended up mostly window shopping. The first night, I tried using Google Translate photos on the rows of Switch videogames. This was not efficient, and after the first night, learned it was better to physically and manually go through each game and ask the cashiers if they had specific games with photos/screenshots instead.
We went to different stores each day, and it was really only the first night where we actually bought stuff. I did not find collector Switch steelbooks which I was specifically keeping an eye out for. We didn’t find much luck anime trinkets we wanted here, and instead found those at the next part of our trip.
Notable Low-light: Even though the mall was fun for shopping and there was a festival ongoing, we were unable to reserve actual Tokyo Skytree Towers tickets. This stung a bit since this was after missing lunch at our original place. IIRC, I got stuck on the mobile webpage where it asked for a phone # that needed to be a JP #...although checking now, it doesn’t seem to ask for it.

Second part of the trip: Kyoto * Mon May 8 continued: Hotel arrival around 4pm –> Downtown Kyoto shopping (Surugaya) and clothes @ Coco → 7/11 dinner (taxi here would have been really helpful to go to once of the local restaurants, as I started getting foot pains)

Tues May 9: Gion & Nanzaka, light street food for lunch, including better street Takoyaki –>(skip Philosopher's Path and Central Kyoto area) –> went straight to Kinkakuji –> Downtown Kyoto (luggage, insole, not much luck at more games/anime trinkets at this time) –> South Asian @ MABRUR for early dinner –> called it an early afternoon due to fatigue/foot pain (finally installed the insoles this night with borrowed scissors from front desk)
Wed May 10: Bus to Arashiyama –> Bamboo Forest –> (Missed the Sagano train, did not appear open) –> chill at the Katsura riverside instead → Japanese curry @ Yosiya –> Monkey Forest Hike –> (skip boat ride due to closure / high water levels) –> Fushimi Inari –> chill at Kamo River on our return to hotel –> called it an early afternoon with private onsen reservation waiting for us at hotel
Thurs May 11: chill (play more switch games) and pack in the AM (we used luggage transfer this time) → Ramen @ Ayam Ya Karasuma Kyoto prior to Kyoto departure (which turned out to be her favorite meal from this whole trip) –> Back to Shinkansen

Notable Highlights Part 2: * Experiencing all the nature on WED was our favorite part of this portion, especially the rivers! We did not realize the “20 minute walk” would end up a 45 minute hike as we were not prepared, but it was a very fun going up and taking breaks at all the stops.

We did not expect downtown Kyoto to be as lively and cool at night as we saw it, since we mostly researched the traditional parts of this city beforehand; and we did not expect Kyoto to be where we’d get a lot of our shopping done. The Surugaya here had the most Switch games I purchased at best prices (and the anime bins for trinkets as souvenirs, my wife had a lot of fun here); Gion had a lot of other souvenirs; and downtown had a lot of clothes.
Notable Low-light*: fatigue and foot pain at the end of those days when we did a lot of shopping, especially traveling between different stores (not all of which didn’t have what we were looking for, like the extra Bookoffs and Lashingbangs we visited). Some benches really would have helped. We did buy Dr. Schwartz insoles and cooling pads for our feets at the pharmacy stores here, which helped with some exhaustion, but not all.

Last part of the trip: Shibuya/Shinjuku * Thurs May 11 continued: Reach Shibuya @ 6:30pm → Shibuya Scramble once –> Walk to Yakiniku @ GYUMON –> back to Shibuya Scramble and see Hachiko + Tower Record –> grab Chestnuts –> Starbucks at night with upper view of Shibuya crossing

Fri May 12: Diet Building Observatory (no luck with viewing Mt. Fuji due to clouds, even on the Shinkansen rides) –> Ramen @ Honolu Shinjukugyoenmae –> Friday Congregational Prayer @ Tokyo Camii Center –> Harajuku & Takeshita Street (heavy snack with fried cheese stick + cotton candy) → back to Shibuya Crossing → Shibuya Mega Don Quijote (lots of shopping here) –> (missed the Pokemon Center) → picked up some takehome kebab from near Shibuya crossing → back to the hotel early afternoon/night due to rain and bags full of purchases
SAT May 13: Shinjuku Bookoff (notable for large inventory, but not too cheap compared to Surugaya Kyoto) –> Omoide Ally short walk –> Godzilla @ Toho –> Kabukicho short walk (was looking for the large entrance side, but did not find) –> Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (just the north part, mainly the Botanical Garden) –> Ramen @ Honolu Shinjukugyoenmae –> Nakano Broadway –> Golden Gai (was super crowded, left halfway) –> Uniqlo –> Shinjuku Don Quijote (mainly for luggage scale that we missed) –> Surugaya –> Subway for dinner since we were not able to get in Zen restaurant for vegetarian or seafood okonomiyaki
Sun May 14: Tokyo Tower (one of the only reservations we made) –> Tsujiki Outer Market for light lunch (we ate only at places with small/no lines, everywhere else was packed) –> Odaiba & Diver City Mall + Gundam Base + Gundam Unicorn –> skip lunch for some crepes and banana smoothie, even though there were halal meat places around → (skip teamLabs that we didn’t end up reserving for) → Surugaya Shinjuku (last shot at games/trinkets) –> last Ramen @ Honolu Shinjukugyoenmae –> sad walk back to hotel, but also relief knowing that we’ll be done with all the walking soon.
Mon May 15: finish packing –> taxi to airport (through Booking.com where we made hotel bookings) –> kebab lunch @ Mrs. Istanbul (had to utilize bus transfer between terminals after luggage dropoff) → final souvenir snack shopping inside airport → Depart back home to LAX!

Notable Highlights Part 3:

The Ramen with the Fried Chicken @ Honolu Shinjukugyoenmae was my favorite meal, especially coming back to it so many times!
Friday congregational prayer at Tokyo Camii Center: the sermon was done in 4 different languages (Arabic first, then Japanese, then Melay I think, then English) - that impressed me along with its architecture. It was such a peaceful and familiar experience in a new environment. They gave out some food after (rice+natto I believe plus sesame ball sweets I believe), although we passed since we were still full.
Shibuya Scramble was always fun to walk across! Busiest crosswalk in the world!
Tower Tokyo tour was the nicest tower experience that I’ve had (they served us Lemonade!) and my wife got to take a photo with the Tokyo Tower Mascot, Noppon.
Mega Don Quijote at Shibuya to finish up the bulk of our shopping, especially on souvenirs! Especially picking up Zelda Tears of Kingdom at release day!
Gundam Base & live Gundan Unicorn transformation @ Odaiba Diver City! My wife went into it mostly blind, and was very impressed.

Noteable Mid-light: Harajuka and Takeshita street were cool to window browse, but we didn’t find anything we actually wanted to purchase here. It made me realize, like our second time at Akihabara, that window shopping isn’t as fun as actual shopping. -Aside from the Gundam @ Odaiba, we didn’t get too excited about anything else here. If we visited here first / sooner, we may have had a better time (along with keeping an eye out for more Gundam merch earlier throughout the trip). There was a nearby amusement center that was on our original plan to visit too. But at this point, I think we ran out of gas.
Notable Low-light: * The last hotel for me, especially with its location being furthest out from nearest station and not being as nice as the first two hotel.

The Subway sandwiches (shrimp and tuna respectively) were pretty sad on SAT, although the potato fries they gave were okay (we forgot to ask for ketchup). There was another halal yakiniku place nearby that we stopped by in front of, but decided against it as we wanted something quicker / more casual.
Though not part of the actual trip, on upon LAX arrival: the lack of cleanliness, customer service and organization were immediately noticeable, which reflected on how nice Tokyo & Kyoto were!

Other notes

Biggest shoutout to my wife for being with me and her patience, especially while Switch game hunting and being chaotic while planning!
Hotels: all our hotels were listed as 3 star hotels. We learned that every minute walk closer to the nearest station(s) really makes a difference – i.e. a 5 min walk back to the hotel wasn’t as bad as a 7-8 minute walk, and 10-12 minute walks back where the worst. We did keep an eye on square footage for the rooms (wanted to avoid less than 150 feet² for 2 people). We averaged around $95 USD per night.
Henna Tokyo Hotel - Asakusa was a very nice hotel, especially with the animated front desk and great first time with bidets and warm toilet seats which the other hotels did not have. 183 feet² which felt small but sufficient.
Second hotel - Kyomachiya Ryokan Sakura Urushitei in Kyoto - was a bit further from local bus points, but this was also a very nice hotel, especially as a Ryokan with great customer service and hidden shelve compartments in the room. We also did not expect a 2nd floor for the private garden view, which was also very nice. 156 feet² would have been small by itself, but pretty sure this does not account for the 2nd floor.
Our last hotel, Cloud Himalaya felt like a re-designed local apartment, so it didn’t feel as nice, but it was the most spacious @ 291 feet². It was the furthest away from the local stops/stations. It was a low-light for me, especially compared to the first two hotels. My wife thought it was okay though: she thought it was comfy and the space inside the room made up for it.
-Local Transportation: We only got on the wrong train once, and it was on our first night when leaving HND airport. For the rest of the trip, we didn’t have much issues. The learning curve for us was short to navigate the trains with GoogleMap, by looking at train departure times on our phone directions and platform # to match info listed on the electronic train station boards that have or switch into English.
Even if we took an extra min or two to verify the train/bus to take, and we missed a train that was right in front of us, the trains were frequent enough such that it wasn’t a long delay – usually 5-8 mins at most. Having very little reservations in our itinerary helped in this aspect.
The GoogleMaps LIVE view on directions was a useful feature in finding bus stops, especially in Kyoto and Shibuya/Shinjuku.
Phone Plan: We decided against one Ubigi and one Airalo data plan and just got two Ubigi data plans. Overall, we used only 4-5 GBs each out of the 10 GBs available. Ubigi worked well throughout the 10 days. As noted earlier, having a JP phone # would have been helpful.
Flights: standard flight experience with Delta - around $750 USD roundtrip for each of us. The lack of space didn’t bother us too much except when fumbling around with the meal trays. We requested special accommodations for Halal food on the HND inbound flight, and they provided vegan food which we didn’t enjoy that much (i.e. PICKLE SANDWICH!).
On the return flight to LAX, we did not put in any special accommodations and had a better time with their regular vegetarian food (although the pasta salad was very creamy and the Hagan Dazs they gave were slightly melted).
Language: We were able to get away with just using from sumimasen and arigato for the most part, and used English/non-verbal language most of the trip otherwise.

*more review/input on food commented in original plan here