MATCHA SLIM – LIEN DU SITE OFFICIEL – CLIQUEZ ICI ✔️ NOM DU PRODUIT - MATCHA SLIM PHARMACIE AVIS ✔️ EFFETS SECONDAIRES - AUCUN EFFET SECONDAIRE MAJEUR ✔️ CATÉGORIE - AIDE À LA PERTE DE POIDS ✔️ RÉSULTATS - DANS 1-2 MOIS ✔️ DISPONIBILITÉ - SUR LE SITE OFFICIEL ✔️ NOTE : - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ✅CLIQUEZ ICI POUR VISITER - SITE WEB OFFICIEL✅

MATCHA SLIM - UNE NOUVELLE PHILOSOPHIE DE LA MINCEUR

Matcha Slim Leclerc - La dextérité n'est pas seulement l'attirance extérieure et la confiance en soi, mais aussi l'aisance et la santé. L'excès de poids, en revanche, est une charge supplémentaire pour les articulations et le système cardiovasculaire. La perte de poids est soutenue par de nombreux nutritionnistes, mais le processus reste difficile et épuisant pour la plupart des gens en Inde.
Les approches de la perte de poids peuvent changer. L'alimentation n'aide pas toujours à perdre du poids en raison du ralentissement du métabolisme et tout le monde ne peut pas se permettre une activité physique intense. Cependant, même si ces méthodes violentes peuvent entraîner une perte de poids, les effets secondaires font plus de mal que de bien. Le stress sur le corps est trop grand et les kilos perdus seront bientôt regagnés.
L'approche scientifique moderne vous permet d'utiliser les processus physiologiques du corps pour perdre du poids naturellement sans effort. Le mélange organique fonctionnel des boissons Matcha Slim permet une perte de poids de la manière la plus confortable pour le corps sans stress, fatigue et ralentissement du métabolisme. C'est sa principale différence avec les méthodes traditionnelles.

ANCIENNE RECETTE DE L'HARMONIE

Selon l'ancienne tradition asiatique, la consommation de thé a toujours fait l'objet d'une attention particulière dans les pratiques spirituelles. Le thé matcha est utilisé depuis l'Antiquité pour rétablir l'harmonie de l'esprit et du corps. Et ce n'est pas surprenant, car ses propriétés curatives étaient connues des moines bouddhistes dans les temps anciens et étaient très appréciées même dans les dynasties impériales. Maintenant, l'Inde a enfin découvert cette boisson.
Nous avons juste légèrement amélioré l'ancienne recette pour que la perte de poids soit plus intense mais en même temps ne cause aucun souci. Avec son aide, vous pouvez non seulement perdre du poids rapidement, mais aussi améliorer votre corps. L'action complexe est due aux propriétés du thé:

• brûlure intense de la graisse sous-cutanée;
• libérer beaucoup d'énergie pour une vie active;
• accélération du métabolisme plusieurs fois;
• élimination des toxines, des sels et des liquides en excès;
• supprimer l'appétit;
• saturation en vitamines et antioxydants;
• tonification de la peau et prévention du relâchement et de la cellulite.

UNE APPROCHE GLOBALE DE LA PERTE DE POIDS

Le cours minimum recommandé de boire du thé Matcha Slim est de 1 mois. Cela est dû au fait que différents processus commencent successivement dans le corps qui affectent le résultat global.
Une approche globale de perte de poids vous empêche de retrouver votre ancien poids à l'avenir. Après le cours Matcha Slim, le corps s'accorde à un travail harmonieux, lorsque tous les aliments sont convertis en énergie et que le corps se remplit facilement.

RECHERCHE SUR L'EFFICACITÉ DU THÉ MATCHA SLIM

Le Melbourne Institute of Food Science and Technology a mené des tests en laboratoire pendant deux ans qui ont abouti à l'introduction de la poudre de thé Matcha Slim.
Matcha Slim Pharmacie Avis Des recherches indépendantes en Europe et en Asie confirment que le thé Matcha Slim est le meilleur produit naturel pour une perte de poids rapide et sûre.
L'étude a inclus environ 5800 personnes de sexes et d'âges différents, qui étaient en surpoids de plus de 15 kilogrammes. Après avoir pris Matcha Slim pendant un mois, leur perte de poids était la suivante :
Dans le même temps, pour la pureté de l'expérience, l'ensemble du groupe expérimental n'a pas changé son mode de vie habituel, n'a pas suivi de régime et n'a subi aucun effort physique supplémentaire. À la fin de l'étude, les participants ont été invités à décrire leur état. Presque tout le monde a dit qu'il se sentait mieux dans l'ensemble. Cela s'est traduit par de l'énergie, une normalisation des phases de sommeil et une diminution du niveau de fatigue. 95% des participants ont exprimé le désir de prendre le thé Matcha Slim comme futurs cours de prévention pour maintenir la santé et une bonne forme physique. Aucun effet secondaire n'a été identifié.
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FORMULE D'HARMONIE DE L'ÂME ET DU CORPS
Une composition 100% naturelle peut faire des merveilles. La base bio de thé Matcha, enrichie en taurine et en extrait de citron, augmente significativement son efficacité. Matcha Slim Pharmacie L'effet synergique assure une perte de poids rapide jusqu'à 13 kilogrammes en un mois.

• EXTRAIT DE THÉ VERT MATCHA Contient un dépôt de nutriments. Parmi eux se trouvent les catéchines, la chlorophylle, la théophylline, la riboflavine, la L-théanine. Ces ingrédients stimulent les récepteurs bêta et accélèrent la lipolyse - le processus de digestion de la graisse sous-cutanée. Et les antioxydants présents dans la composition favorisent le renouvellement cellulaire actif, éliminent les toxines et améliorent l'endurance.
• TAURINE Un ingrédient essentiel dans le processus de métabolisme des graisses - libère l'énergie des dépôts de graisse existants et empêche le dépôt de nouvelles graisses. Il aide également à contrôler l'appétit, normalise l'équilibre hydrique et stimule le métabolisme.
• EXTRAITS DE CITRON Stimulateur actif des processus métaboliques. A la capacité de lier et d'éliminer les toxines, les sels et les liquides en excès. Nettoie en douceur les intestins, aidant le corps à perdre rapidement du poids en toute sécurité. Renforce le système immunitaire, tonifie la peau.

Le mélange à boire fin Matcha est entièrement naturel et ne contient aucun additif, colorant, conservateur ou OGM synthétique. La matière organique est totalement inoffensive, agit en douceur et n'a pas d'effets secondaires. Par conséquent, son utilisation fait de votre perte de poids un processus confortable.

NOTRE CONTRIBUTION À VOTRE PERTE DE POIDS HARMONIEUSE

Matcha Slim est exactement ce dont vous avez besoin si vous essayez d'être en meilleure santé, en forme et de bonne humeur, de ne jamais vous fatiguer et de dormir suffisamment.
Le soutien à la perte de poids sous forme de remise ira à ceux qui se précipitent pour commander un produit en édition limitée. Dépêchez-vous de commencer une perte de poids harmonieuse avec Matcha Slim avec la possibilité d'économiser 50 % de son coût. La poudre de thé biologique peut être achetée sur notre site Web officiel jusqu'à la fin de la journée à un prix réduit de ₹ 1990 - quels sont les prix dans les autres pays .
Finis les régimes stricts et les régimes d'exercices exténuants. Les kilos en trop disparaîtront naturellement, vous ne devez donc pas avoir peur des symptômes de sevrage. Grâce au Matcha Slim, la perte de poids sera confortable et son goût délicieux fera de vous un véritable connaisseur de la cérémonie du thé !
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Hi folks, I recently switched to iPhone. I’ve been shocked to see how rapidly my google cloud space is being eaten up by iPhone photos. I can almost go through a GB of storage space in a day! What is the reason for this? Some points to note:

1. I have Live Photos disabled
2. My phone shoots heic file type. Should I change it?
3. the ‘number of items to be backed up’ is always increasing while the backup is in progress. I didn’t have this issue on android. Is it possible that google photos is backing up duplicates, or backing up inefficiently?

Thank you!

Tout a commencé sur Discord. Nous étions sur un serveur dédié à un jeu en ligne parmi des allemands en majorité, mais aussi des américains, turques, italiens et j’en passe. J’ai fais le premier pas. Elle est allemande, je suis français. Elle vient d’avoir 18 ans, j’en ai 23. Elle était dépressive, j’étais dans un gouffre, sans emploi mais je tenais debout. Nous nous déclarons vite en couple entre nous. 500km nous séparaient. Je refusais catégoriquement que l’on s’appelle en FaceTime car je tenais à garder la flamme de la première rencontre, découvrir sa manière de sourire, de parler avec son corps, l’expression de ses yeux. Nous échangions simplement des photos de nos visages. Elle était jolie, très belle.
Je l’ai bloquée à deux reprises sans crier gare pour diverses raisons. Premièrement, je ne savais pas où tout ça nous menait, et la différence d’âge me faisait culpabiliser. La distance, aussi, m’effrayait. Et elle avait fait preuve de mensonge et de presque infidélité en laissant un italien flirter avec elle, me dénigrant aussi lorsque je n’avais pas assez de temps pour elle. Elle avait laissé entendre sur le serveur qu’elle irait daté une fille prochainement (elle est bi). Mais je suis toujours revenu car elle me courait après et faisait des promesses qui ne m’ont pas laissé indifférent. Je pensais, et en suis persuadé aujourd’hui, qu’elle avait une sorte de dépendance émotionnelle. Elle m’avait fait part de ses traits borderline. Elle voyait une psy.
Au bout de six mois, nous organisons une rencontre. La veille au soir, j’ai été tenté de faire semblant de louper mon train et mettre un terme à tout ça. Malgré tout, et sous nuit blanche, je me retrouve dans un train en direction de l’Allemagne. Je n’ai jamais été à l’étranger, et je suis rempli d’à prioris infondés sur l’Allemagne et les allemands, et leur langue. Je me disais que peu importe l’issue de cette rencontre, j’aurais au moins voyagé un peu et vécu un truc après six mois reclus dans mon 15m2.
Le voyage commence. C’est long, si long. La frontière passée, la voix du train crache des messages en allemand. Je me dis que ça sonne pas si mal, l’allemand. C’est même plutôt beau, mais il va falloir m’y faire. J’arrive à destination. Elle m’attend là, sur le quai. Je suis dans un film. Nous sommes le 7 avril 2022, il fait froid, elle est emmitouflée dans une épaisse écharpe grise. Et ce jour-là, pour couronner la journée déjà bien clichée eau de rose, le ciel nous inflige une pluie torrentielle. Son petit nez est écarlate à cause du froid. J’aime beaucoup son petit nez qui pointe un peu vers le côté. Les allemands ne faisant pas la bise mais plutôt une accolade (j’avais bien demandé avant de venir pour ne pas avoir de quiproquo), nous sommes terriblement gênés, et nous arrivons à balbutier un petit bonjour et je lance les formalités, savoir si elle va bien, si elle m’attend depuis longtemps sur le quai. Même si en fait, on s’est échangé des messages tout du long.
Elle rougit quand je parle. Ses joues se fondent avec la couleur de son nez. Ses yeux pétillent. Et elle sourit bêtement. Je donnerais tout pour revoir ce sourire et ce regard. Tu étais magnifique. Nous allons dans un supermarché pour acheter quelque chose à grignoter avant de partir chez elle. Elle est si perturbée par ma présence qu’elle trébuche un peu partout, tandis que moi, je cache ma timidité par des blagues nulles. Il y avait cette marque de pâtes et autres produits alimentaires du nom de « Ja ». Je lis bêtement et à plusieurs reprises le nom avec un accent allemand caricatural. En espérant la détendre. Ça la fait rire. Je vois bien qu’elle est presque tétanisée. Mais je me dis que c’est bon signe. Dans le bus, dans un élan naturel, je pose ma main sur sa cuisse. Trop rapide, me direz-vous, mais elle est ma petite amie à ce moment-là et elle me partagera plus tard son bonheur indescriptible de sentir ma main se poser sur sa cuisse. Nous arrivons chez elle trempés jusqu’aux os. Elle vit chez ses parents. Son frère est là, ses parents arrivent plus tard et me reçoivent très bien. Sa mère parle un peu d’anglais, son père est plutôt silencieux de nature, chose que je constaterai au fil du temps. Elle a deux chiens. Un tout petit terrier, femelle, du nom de Cocco. Elle m’aime déjà beaucoup. L’autre, une sorte de bâtard mi-berger allemand mi-je-ne-sais-quoi, manque de me mordre à ma venue. Il déteste les étrangers. Une fois arrivés elle me montre la chambre dans laquelle je dormirai. Ses parents pensent que je ne suis qu’un ami français, un truc platonique. Elle avait installé sa Xbox dans cette pièce pour que nous puissions utiliser Netflix à deux. Au moment où elle sort de cette chambre, je la tire doucement par la manche de son sweat gris. Elle se retourne et m’interroge du regard. Et je la prends dans mes bras. C’est plus fort que moi, ça fait six mois que je peux enfin sentir son poids contre moi et je suis déjà amoureux. La rencontre a décuplé le sentiment. Nous nous enlaçons et restons là pendant 2 longues minutes. Je hume ses cheveux, son cou.
J’étais sensé rester quelques jours. Je suis finalement resté deux semaines. Deux semaines magiques desquelles je suis revenu avec quelques mots d’allemand en tête, un sentiment d’amour comme je n’en ai jamais ressenti depuis mes 18 ans, et une envie viscérale de rester là-bas.

Bonne lecture.
L’oeil rivé vers le ciel matinal, Horus survole de ses ailes dorées le nome, ou prison, de Shedet. Des felouques et barques survolent aussi la région avec à leurs bords sans doute de hauts dignitaires. Le déchu reste pensif, le moindre mouvement est douloureux pourtant là n’est pas son problème. La découverte de la veille le tracasse beaucoup, la bague lui a fait de l’effet, ce simple objet de décoration a été grossièrement réalisé. L’anneau est en cuivre, à peine circulaire mais dont la perle ténébreuse, pas plus grosse qu’un ongle, loge férocement en son sein. Depuis son réveil, il y a de cela une demie-heure, Shedet hésite à sortir la bague qu’il cache près du mur de la corniche, cependant l’envie de la contempler se décuple à chaque seconde. « Honnêtement ce bijou me fait peur, lorsque j’ai plongé mon regard dans la perle j’ai eu la sensation étrange… que cet objet me regardait à son tour. C’est stupide, en tout cas depuis hier je n’ai plus cette horrible douleur à l’estomac. Je ne vois qu’un seul moment durant lequel j’ai avalé la bague et c’est ce jour fatidique à l’hôtel. Pourquoi l’avoir caché dans un gâteau? Qui l’a dissimulé, le romain ou l’Égyptien et pourquoi? ». Shedet sursaute, il prend conscience d’un élément, personne n’est venu le lui réclamer et l’incident de l’hôtel ne s’est pas ébruité. « Pourtant il y avait un romain, ou plutôt ces traces, les gardes voir le medjay doivent le savoir. De plus cet hôtel n’était pas miteux ils ont forcément dû savoir que j’y étais avec le peu de témoin présent à l’accueil. Maintenant que j’y pense le timing de mon évasion était un peu trop parfait, qui avait déclenché l’alarme? Par Amon si quelqu’un le savait que m’arrivera-t-il? Je ne supporterai pas une séance de torture supplémentaire. Surtout avec le medjay ». Les problèmes sans réponses s’enchaînent néanmoins l’envie d’aller sur le chantier est aussi déplaisante que ces tourments au poste de police. Tout à coup le crocodile dans l’oasis s’agite, quelques gouttelettes d’eau atteignent sa peau endolori. Le bruit du reptile est si violent que le déchu prend peur, il se penche discrètement mais au moment où son oeil contemple l’eau il s’éjecte en arrière. Un oiseau le surprend à son tour manquant de lui crever l’oeil encore viable en revanche la bague tombe de la corniche et s’échoue sur le sable au bord de l’eau. L’oiseau est un ibis sacré au pelage blanc et au cou noir plutôt maigre et tenant dans son bec un oeuf, l’une de ses plumes blanches atterrit délicatement près du déchu. « Par Thot! Un ibis sacré! Depuis quand est-il présent et d’ailleurs l’oeuf provient-il du crocodile? il se penche à nouveau et observe le reptile calme au-dessus d’un trou fraichement creusé. Alors c’est une femelle, je comprends mieux sa colère lorsque je m’approche trop près de son coin. En tout cas un petit oiseau a réchappé à ce colosse, jamais je ne l’aurais parié…bon sang la bague! Par Thot! Je n’ai pas finit de l’examiner ». Du haut de son palmier Shedet l’aperçoit enterré à moitié dans le sable à l’opposé du crocodile. Sans attendre il descend et la récupère mais le reptile, encore enragé, se jette sur lui. Shedet amasse une poignée de sable dans l’espoir qu’elle contienne la bague puis remonte la pente aussi vite que possible. Le crocodile manque de peu de le dévorer puis se résigne en entendant un autre ibis survoler la crevasse. Exténué, Shedet cherche la bague dans le creux de sa main, par chance elle s’y trouve. « Cette chose, à qui appartenait-elle? Sûrement au romain car je n’ai jamais vu de perle aussi sombre. Elle n’émet aucun reflet, la lumière semble absorbée. Bref elle doit valoir au moins un petit sac de blé. En tout cas je ne dois plus me laisser faire, ces Sittiu auront ma peau si cela continu et je refuse de rejoindre la douât à cause de ces chiens. Je dois être comme cet ibis, côté force physique je ne ferai jamais le poids contre eux en revanche il y doit bien avoir un moyen plus efficace pour leur nuire. Tant pis pour les dommages collatéraux ». N’ayant pas envie de laisser cette bague Shedet prend la résolution de la cacher dans son orbite gauche, ayant toujours cet oeil fermé et aucune poche digne de confiance dans ses vêtements c’est le seul endroit sûr pour un objet aussi petit. Aujourd’hui est un jour spécial, le premier jour de travail à la grande pyramide. Depuis le début de son arrivé Shedet souhaitait approcher la colossale construction, l’immense monument est visible depuis tous les nomes voisins pour l’instant. Le prince Hor, propriétaire de Bast, se targue devant qui veut l’entendre que son édifice sera visible dans tout le royaume et au-delà. Pour le moment elle n’est achevée qu’à vingt-cinq pour cent mais mesure déjà plus de quatrecent-vingt mètres de haut. Plusieurs dizaines de chantiers existent, des quatre points cardinaux mais aussi lié à certaines zones au travail demandant plus de spécificité. Les gravures sur les blocs, le polissage des statues, la grande porte, tout cela n’est qu’une infime partie de ce travail titanesque unique au royaume. Le chantier Est de la grande pyramide reprend pour le groupe de Geburah cantonné depuis un mois à l’obélisque. Contrairement à l’obélisque son édification prend infiniment plus de temps, entre les accidents, retard de livraison ou encore sabotage, il n’est pas rare de voir les travaux s’arrêter quelques jours. Certaines fois les Sittiu doivent aussi s’interrompre pour un autre édifice, une commande externe pour renflouer la trésorerie du nome. Cela fait bientôt trente ans que la construction a commencé, les générations se sont succédés tout comme les morts. Tout le monde sait que cet édifice commandé par le prince Hor est érigé dans l’unique but de la voir habiter par la dépouille de Pharaon: Ramsès II. Personne ne croit en ces chances de réussite mais c’est le prince têtu qui décide. Des pyramides il y en a dans chaque région du royaume, largement moins grande certes, toutefois il est vrai que la construction d’un édifice aux dimensions aussi démesuré est unique. « Sans doute un caprice, en tout cas je m’en fiche, pense Shedet en vagabondant dans les étroites rues du quartier Félis tout en l’admirant, toute cette populace commence à me rendre malade. Les équipes de travail sont trois fois plus nombreuses et cela seulement à l’Est ». En effet plus de quarante mille personnes s’exécutent chaque jour à tailler les blocs puis les placer de manière si précise qu’il serait dangereux de critiquer leur travail de fourmi. La hiérarchie est à peu près la même partout. Le plus gradé, le scribe maître, supervise le travail depuis sa tente ou sur le terrain si la situation le demande. Le contremaître dirigeant un fil composé de deux cents ouvriers, eux-même subdivisés en groupe de cinquante personnes, surveille les travaux sur place. Chacun des ouvriers est affublés d’une tâche en rapport aux compétences et pour Shedet ce sera sans nulle doute les gravures de hiéroglyphes ou le transport de seau comme les enfants. En face du colosse de pierre son souffle en est coupé. La hauteur l’oblige à lever la tête et se couvrir partiellement le regard à cause des reflets du soleil matinal sur le revêtement en pierre blanche. La dorure des hiéroglyphes ainsi que des veinures artificielles donnent un aspect divin à ce travail de longue haleine. Tous les chantiers s’apprêtent à s’attaquer en même temps à l’ouvrage, Shedet rejoint son meilleur ennemi Geburah, après s’être fait enregistrer par le scribe maître aux yeux alourdis par une soirée alcoolisé. Le même scribe l’ayant acheté au marché d’esclave. Le contremaître Geburah délivre les outils ainsi que les missions quotidiennes avec beaucoup de sérieux, lui qui hait plus que tous l’art Égyptien.
— Encore toi? dit-il en face de Shedet, je pensais que le lynchage t’aurait tué. Le déchu ne parle pas, il le fixe d’un regard plein de colère puis prend ses outils de cuivre: un burin, un maillet, une sacoche de cuir pleine de sable et des chiffons. Cette fois pas de corde.
— Allez fous le camp l’égyptien, reprend-il en plongeant ses mains dans la caisse pleine d’outil. Tu vas apporter les seaux et après tu travailleras aux gravures des rainures sur les pierres. T’as pas intérêt à te louper le déchet. Le chantier de la grande pyramide est très spécial, contrairement aux autres constructions celle-ci n’est pas une commande. Habituellement lorsqu’un membre de la très nombreuse famille royale décède, un nome doit construire une structure afin que la momie y repose pour l’éternité tel que le veut la coutume. En revanche cette pyramide aura pour locataire, si le destin et les dieux le veulent, le grand Pharaon Ramsès en personne. Le prince Hor, dirigeant du nome, a eu cette initiative en jurant lors de ses douze ans de créer une pyramide si grande qu’elle évincera toutes les autres et sera visible depuis n’importe quelle lune ainsi que Jupiter. Un chantier pharaonique dont les problèmes ne cessent de s’accumuler et pour ne rien arranger la fortune personnel d’Hor est presque à sec. Néanmoins il n’abandonne pas et le fait d’avoir reçut, d’après le grand Vizir, les encouragement de son père le Pharaon, plus rien ne le démotive. Shedet est à la fois ennuyé et fier de pouvoir travailler sur ce chantier. Les conditions de travail très rudes ne le ménagent pas toutefois pouvoir apporter son aide pour le grand Pharaon lui donne une joie incommensurable, une fierté que lui seul connait. La grande porte est entourée de deux grandes pentes de sable et de terre s’élevant à deux cents mètres et large de moitié. Son chantier s’occupe de la partie esthétique de la pyramide, le chantier Ouest se charge de l’intérieur, le Sud et Nord empilent les blocs. En voir le bout le décourage aussitôt. Alors qu’il dépose enfin deux seaux de mortier à son sommet, le déchu contemple la fourmilière depuis l’échafaudage de bois grinçant et balloté certaine fois par le vent. L’odeur est suffocante, la poussière et surtout les résidus de béton s’infiltrent dans les bronches. La chaleur n’aide pas et certaines fois la fumée aveugle le déchu manquant plusieurs fois d’effectuer un grand plongeon. Une dizaine de milliers de Sittiu s’acharnent sur cette oeuvre au chantier Est, des déchus à la marque Amenta au torse sont éparpillés et des Sittiu venus d’autres nomes, payés par le nomarque, mettent la main à la pâte. Chacun est affublé à un travail par rapport à ses compétences sans que le moindre incident grave n’ait lieu, pour le moment. « Je n’arrive pas à voir de garde, ils sont tous en ville à faire une ronde et quelques un viennent puis disparaissent aussitôt. Seul le scribe maître possède un protecteur à ses côtés, d’ailleurs il prend son travail au sérieux malgré sa fatigue ».
— Porteuse d’eau! hurle un sculpteur, allez dépêches-toi ma gorge me brûle. Une jeune demoiselle Sittiu, à la peau lisse mais tachée de suie apporte une gourde en cuir d’une contenance de dix litres. « Ce crétin m’a fait sursauter, un peu plus et je plongeais. En tout cas je commence à avoir soif mais hors de question que je demande de l’eau à ces chiens ». A mesure qu’il descend la très longue pente ses pensées sont interrompus par le barrissement de l’éléphant. Il est utilisé pour tracter les blocs les plus lourds pour les statues de la grande porte. Le pachyderme, haut de quinze mètres, avance d’un pas lent, le sol tremble manquant de faire trébucher le déchu. Ses défenses sont semblables aux cornes entremêlées d’une dizaine de gazelle et d’après ce qu’il sait elles seront bientôt découpés pour son ivoire. Arrivé sur la terre ferme, Shedet grince des dents, étant dans le groupe de Geburah composé d’une cinquantaine de personne, lui et ses amis sont tous présent. Leurs rires et les moqueries enfantines l’énervent déjà néanmoins le déchu récupère deux seaux: un d’eau et l’autre de mortier puis s’éclipse à nouveau au sommet. Le travail de son groupe pour le revêtement du monument est simple, en théorie. Il faut créer le béton sur place. Pour cela une équipe au sol réduit en miette plusieurs sortes de roches jusqu’à en faire une poudre, ensuite les ouvriers comme Shedet l’apporte dans des seaux avec de l’eau séparément avant de le donner au sommet aux autres ouvriers près d’un grand moule en bois aux proportions parfaite. La chaleur à au moins l’utilité d’aider à accélérer le processus. Des grues faites de bois et de cordes tressées, près des innombrables échafaudages en bois, transportent des cargaisons, tout cela hissé à la force des bras. Shedet est pris de vertige en se faufilant dans ce dédale de bois et ressent ses tympans vibrer en permanence tant le bruit est assourdissant. Les Sittiu sont irritables, en passant près d’eux, Shedet entend certains fredonner dans ce tintamarre afin de réduire leurs peines quand d’autres marmonnent des insultes. Le déchu a pu apercevoir des gardes Égyptiens, cachés sous des tentes, se contentant de regarder les ouvriers. Ils boivent et jouent aux dames comme de simple spectateur. Le protecteur royal à tête de chat surveille le chantier près du scribe toujours plongé dans son travail, le protecteur quand à lui est prêt à bondir dès le moindre trouble, le soleil illumine son armure en acier gris et dont le reflet l’éblouit. Shedet se fait soudainement bousculer et manque de tomber alors que l’ouvrier vocifère:
— Dégage de là! La moitié avant de son corps lorgne au-dessus du vide mais ses mains le maintiennent encore à l’échafaudage, le coeur du déchu ralentit une fois hors de danger, « par Osiris, sans bon réflexe je serai déjà mort ». Une envie irrésistible de pousser cet ouvrier lui traverse l’esprit mais l’idée d’un plan est interrompu lorsqu’en reprenant son seau il manque de trébucher sur un autre ouvrier.
— Dégage de là le déchu! La prochaine fois je te casse les jambes! menace-t-il alors que ses collègues l’observent d’un regard meurtrier. Shedet s’enfuit de peur d’être victime d’un autre lynchage, il rejoint la rampe de sable situé au même niveau que la statue de Ramsès près de la futur grande porte dont la tête est bientôt en cours de construction. Les ouvriers s’acharnent à sculpter les bras et le torse tandis que la patte d’un éléphant le dépasse tractant un immense bloc d’onyx noir. « Par tous les dieux, chacun de mes pas peut être le dernier. Je dois être plus attentif et arrêter de disperser mon esprit pour des choses futiles ». Dès ce moment le magnifique Horus survole le nome près du soleil avant de disparaitre et durant un court instant Shedet voit la déesse Bastet. Un grand chat au corps métallique, sautiller de toit en toit à Boubastis.
— Le déchu! vocifère un Sittiu, bouge de là! On a besoin de mortier pas de touristes. Shedet se fige avant de reprendre sa route cependant, malgré tout le tintamarre, il perçoit la conversation de cet ouvrier:
— On devrait le pousser Yanis, il dégringolerait et nous divertirait quelques secondes, rit-il. — Ouais et il éclabousserai de son sang la statue de ce satané Ramsès, répond son ami. Shedet descend aussi vite que possible et croise Geburah cependant une poutre en bois porté par un ouvrier les sépare. Le regard sévère du Sittiu dévoile ses mauvaises intentions. « A chaque instant je peux mourir de leurs mains, alors ce n’était pas qu’une sensation, ils sont tous ligués. Je jure sur Thot que le sabotage sera aussi destructeur que possible! Ces chiens ne méritent aucune pitié ». Le soleil à son zénith, un garde souffle dans le cor pour déclarer l’heure de la pause pour tout le chantier. Comme d’habitude les ouvriers déposent leurs outils vers le contremaître et les femmes arrivent de Boubastis en apportant dans les charrettes les galettes de pains mais accompagnés de fruits et de bière. Le scribe est exempt de ce plat sans valeur et se fait servir par de belles Égyptiennes dont l’odeur des plateaux remplacent celle de la poussière et du béton. Shedet est assis à l’écart, à l’ombre d’un bloc, il observe en silence le paysage. « Avant de venir mon envie de saboter ce chantier était forte mais à présent je ne suis plus sûr, je risquerai d’en mourir aussi et cela serait un affront à Pharaon ». — Tiens jeune homme, dit une douce voix féminine.
Une adolescente Sittiu s’est détachée du convoi pour lui tendre une galette de pain dont le fumet s’en échappe encore. Ses beaux yeux bleus le fixe mais le déchu répond d’un air renfrogné: — Reprend ton pain empoisonné. — Empoisonné! dit-elle presque offensée, pourquoi je ferai ça? — Ne fais pas l’innocente et dégage.
Malgré ses invectives la demoiselle lui dépose son pain sur le sol avant de rejoindre sa mère la sommant de revenir près de la charrette. Shedet entend son estomac grogner, ravalant sa fierté il le dévore en cachette comme un rat dans sa tanière. Plus de trois jours s’écoulent, Shedet a échappé à plus de vingt tentatives de meurtre et l’idée du sabotage ne cesse de le harceler sans qu’il n’ait la moindre idée de la manière dont il procédera. En réalité les Sittiu se démènent pour le tuer à la tâche voyant que son endurance ne cesse d’augmenter, cependant un moment d’accalmie s’est crée. Malheureusement le pire arrive, alors que le déchu dépose ses seaux, tout exténué, le vertige l’assaille. Il profite de l’accalmie pour se reposer quelques minutes. Agenouillé sur une étroite corniche de bois, seul, tandis que les sculpteurs travaillent à côté, un violent coup percute la structure. Sans qu’il n’ait le temps de contempler le fautif, Shedet chute dix mètres en dessous avant de s’écraser sur un échafaudage en contrebas où un ouvrier gravait le hiéroglyphe d’un faucon. En se relevant, le déchu sent son bras gauche alourdit par la douleur mais le calvaire atteint son paroxysme lorsque, en tentant de se relever, une vive douleur le tiraille à la main gauche. En la contemplant il découvre ses doigts tordus semblables à des brindilles brisées. Par chance dans son malheur aucun os n’est ressortit et le cor de la pause retentit. Des rires moqueurs disparaissent du sommet de la pyramide. La douleur est insupportable, seul dans son coin, avec des morceaux de bois et de tissus le déchu tente de les redresser un à un. Malgré le morceau de bois dans sa bouche ses hurlements s’entendent.
— Arrête de pleurer le déchu, tu gâches ma pause! aboie un ouvrier allongé. Depuis deux jours Shedet essaye d’améliorer ses sens notamment sa vue, affecté par la perte de son oeil et l’ouïe. Pour l’instant le résultat est prometteur mais pas assez pour esquiver les pièges mortels du chantier. Durant la pause, la jeune adolescente lui déposa, encore une fois, une miche de pain sans lui adresser un mot ni un regard, le déchu l’imita. Allongé et suintant de partout un autre visiteur intervint. Un Sittiu d’une cinquantaine d’année, bossu, de petite taille et dont l’incisive semble être la seule dent rescapée de sa bouche. Shedet observa son visage laid et boutonneux en priant les dieux de ne jamais lui ressembler. Le bossu tracte sa charrette par un âne noir, en passant devant le déchu des outils en cuivre usées par le chantier en tombe. Le Sittiu les ramassa puis sans lui donner un regard chuchote:
— Le déchu, si tu as de quelconques objets de valeur à vendre viens à mon atelier dans le quartier Savannah, mon enseigne est celle d’un oeuf rouge. Puis il repartit comme si de rien n’était. « Sûrement un piège, un guet apens m’y attend, de toute manière je n’ai rien de valeur à vendre. Sauf peut-être la bague. Le jour où la faim devient insupportable j’envisagerai cette solution ». Une semaine s’est écoulé dans la souffrance et la peur constante de trépasser. Les Sittiu deviennent plus hargneux avec le temps et leurs sois-disantes maladresse fait partie d’un jeu macabre d’après les écoutes de Shedet. Apparemment il serait au centre d’un pari dont le résultat est le nombre de jour qu’il survivra à Bast. Coincé dans le local à outil à ciel ouvert où sont entreposés tous les matériaux, Shedet cherche un seau en bon état. Le sien a été pulvérisé par l’éléphant alors que Raphaël le bouscula pour s’amuser. A une dizaine de mètre du local la grue soulève un immense bloc de granit à la force d’un autre éléphant plus petit et d’une douzaine de Sittiu robuste. Le prince Hor a exigé des statues hautes de dix mètres le long de la pyramide, les échafaudages et grues sont légions dans le coin. Le grincement des structures effraie Shedet se dépêchant de dénicher un seau. « Par tous les dieux, pense-t-il en respirant un instant, si je ne fais rien je finirai par mourir. Mon ouïe et ma vue se sont développés, suffisamment pour entendre les messes basses de ces chiens et je crois que j’ai développé une sorte de sixième sens ou alors je perds la tête. Oui je crois que je perds la tête ».
— Le déchu! crie un garde faisant sa ronde, retourne à ton poste immédiatement! Le sursaut provoqué par le cri du garde fit tomber plusieurs caisses cachés derrière d’autres, heureusement personne ne s’en aperçut à cause du tintamarre dû au barrissement terrible de l’éléphant.
— Je cherche un seau pour un ouvrier, balbutie Shedet. — Alors dépêches-toi! Si je te surprends à paresser la colère de Bastet s’abattra sur toi. Shedet attendit que le garde s’éloigna pour observer la bêtise commise plus tôt. Des outils sont renversés en grand nombre, des jarres et amphores brisées laissent couler un épais liquide s’étalant sur le sol et rejoignant l’extérieur par des fissures. « Bon sang! C’est de l’huile pour graisser les rouages et les cordes, attends un peu; il observe consciencieusement le mur et découvre que l’huile rejoint la grue. C’est parfait, une seule étincelle et le tout s’embrasera comme la colère de Sekhmet ». Des Sittiu s’incrustent afin de récupérer des outils tandis que Shedet sort discrètement caché par l’imposant matériel. Une fois dehors il observe du coin de l’oeil la grue et s’aperçoit que la flaque d’huile rejoint la grue chargée d’un immense bloc soulevé à six mètres de haut. « Par Horus, j’ai besoin d’une étincelle, seul lui pourrait la fournir désormais ». Durant plusieurs aller et venus Shedet tenta de se rapprocher de la flaque dans l’espoir de lui porter une étincelle avec ses outils, en vain. Il sent les regards des ouvriers continuellement posés sur lui, impossible d’effectuer sa besogne. Le temps de travail exténue Shedet et l’attente de voir sa flamme briller ne se présente toujours pas. A plusieurs reprises Shedet essaye encore de mettre feu à l’huile sans succès grâce à des stratagèmes aussi loufoque qu’inutile. Si la moindre personne le surprend durant l’acte de sabotage, la séance de torture avec l’officier sera un salon de massage en comparaison. Les menaces des ouvriers sont passés au niveau supérieur, à maintes reprises Shedet eut failli tomber du haut du chantier, écrasé par les blocs ou encore jeté dans le mortier séchant au soleil. Les gardes ferment les yeux soient par incompétence soit par corruption. Certains se payent les faveurs des prostitués ou se voit rémunérer avec de l’or et argent subtilisés en grande partie dans le chantier ou plus audacieux encore chez le nomarque Miysis. « Ô Horus, darde de tes rayons la flaque d’huile, punit ses blasphémateurs autant qu’ils le méritent, répète-t-il en boucle depuis plusieurs heures ». Le soleil approche bientôt de son zénith et, par miracle ou chance, les rayons se reflètent sur la pointe de l’un des obélisque situé à côté du local. La flaque s’embrase instantanément et s’étend sur la grue dont un énième bloc est soulevé. Les flammes dévorent le pauvre éléphant dont le barrissement stoppe toute activité sur le chantier. Les ouvriers hurlent, tirent sur les lourds liens en fer, tentent de calmer la bête mais rien n’y fait. La force du pachyderme le délivre de ses chaînes et la grue s’effondre tandis que l’animal se rue droit sur son parent beaucoup plus gros. Les défenses de l’éléphant s’enfonce le ventre dans l’autre pachyderme puis, dans un cri terrible accentué par les flammes propagées grâce aux tissus qui l’enveloppe, se déchaine sur place. La fourmilière devient incontrôlable, le bloc transporté sur la pente tombe sur le côté mais aucun ouvrier ne périt. Le grand éléphant est atteint à l’oeil par le feu tandis que sa blessure sur le flanc droit laisse une cascade de sang s’écouler sur le sable de la pente. Il se rue sur la rampe et bouscule tous les matériaux laissés à l’abandon par les Sittiu effrayés. Le fracas des supports explosants à chacun de ses pas et des barrissements percent les tympans de toutes les personnes présentes. Les blocs au sol entraînés par les chaînes s’écrasent comme des dominos, l’un d’eux s’abat la jambe droite de Raphaël tombé durant la cacophonie, ses hurlements se perdent dans le brouhaha infernale. La poussière enveloppe les lieux et plusieurs cordages s’emmêlent sur les défenses de l’éléphant ayant poursuivi sa course, les piquets surgissent du sol, transpercent et fouettent les ouvriers ainsi qu’un garde. Le pachyderme continu sa folle ruée avant de se faire ralentir par les cordages, il perd l’équilibre et tombe du haut de la rampe avant de s’écraser contre la statue inachevée du grand Pharaon à droite de la grande porte. Les pierres volent en éclats, la fissure s’étend sur le mur derrière et une partie de la rampe s’affaisse. Le carnage est totale mais se poursuit lorsqu’une seconde grue tombe sur le côté pour se loger sur la tente du scribe s’extirpant de justesse grâce à l’aide d’un protecteur royal. Ce dernier est pulvérisé sous un bloc. Les échafaudages tombent un à un, le bois des structures éclate comme touché par des projectiles. Tout s’éparpille. Shedet en retrait depuis le début, se tient près du scribe en sachant pertinemment que ce serait le lieu le plus sûr. L’incendie a profité du carnage pour grandir en dévorant le matériel si difficilement acquit au fil des semaines. Les échafauds le long de la pyramide se consument alors que les ouvriers s’éloignent autant qu’ils le peuvent. Certains chutent d’après les cris aussitôt interrompu. « Magnifique! Je n’aurai pas espéré mieux! Prenez ça bande de chiens, vous ne méritez que le chaos. J’espère que Geburah a été pris dans l’accident ». Un épais nuage de poussière l’englobe soudainement, le déchu étouffé par la fumée tombe le long d’une courte pente sous la tente du scribe. Il voit Raphaël hurler et pleurer de douleur, sa jambe n’est plus qu’une mélasse de chair et d’os. Geburah tente de l’aider en vain, ses compagnons essayent de soulever le bloc mais impossible de le déplacer d’un seul millimètre. Les flammes s’approchent de lui.
— Raphaël tu dois te calmer, ordonne Geburah, on va te sortir d’ici.
— Geburah il faut lui couper la jambe il est en train de se vider de son sang, panique Sammel.
— Je sais mais comment? Va chercher un garde il lui faudra qu’un seul coup de sabre pour le libérer. Raphaël hurle de terreur en apprenant la nouvelle mais perd connaissance, les pieds de Geburah pataugent dans son sang qui manque de glisser. Shedet lui observe la scène en se cachant autant que possible près d’un échafaudage intact, il tente de remonter la pente vers le scribe mais son oeil perçoit un objet intéressant parmi les décombres. « Le papyrus holographique du scribe! Par Thot, il est tombé en même temps que moi; Shedet le prend et l’examine rapidement, il n’a pas l’air cassé… il fonctionne! ». L’appareil se rétracte et forme un double bâton facilement transportable. Le déchu fou de joie, tente une nouvelle fois d’escalader la pente. Néanmoins piégé dans l’euphorie Shedet n’entend pas l’échafaud à côté s’effondrer, la structure s’abat sur le déchu. Les Sittiu sont en mauvaise posture, l’incendie se propage et se rapproche dangereusement de Raphaël. Sa jambe sera bientôt son dernier soucis. Geburah tente par tous les moyens d’aider son ami et se rend compte qu’aucun soldat ne viendra.
— Sammel, Ilan! Amenez-moi une hache ou n’importe quoi de tranchant, je vais le faire. — T’es fou il va mourir, rétorque Ilan. — Fais ce que je dis!
Munit d’une hache aussi a ffuté qu’il est possible d’en trouver, Geburah l’abat sur la jambe de son ami et détache nettement sa jambe broyé du reste de son corps. Ilan cautérise la plaie avec une torche de fortune issue du brasier ardent puis les compagnons bandent sa plaie tout en l’amenant en lieu sûr. L’incendie se propage, noircit le ciel et étouffe de sa fumée le chantier. Toutefois des nuages au dessus de la pyramide s’assombrissent puis comme par magie un déluge inonde le chantier. L’eau rafraichit tout le monde, calme les esprits ainsi que les derniers évacués. C’est Tefnout la déesse de l’eau et de la vie présente au Cartouche qui protège le royaume des incendies dès que possible. La fraicheur envahit le chantier, la poussière tombe, le calme revient peu à peu puis c’est au tour de Boubastis de profiter des bienfaits de la pluie.

I just had my honeymoon (originally scheduled for Jun 2020). My wife and I are in our early thirties. It’s my wife’s first time in japan while it’s my fourth. I’ve benefitted immensely from stalking Tokyo travel reddit and would like to return the favour. I’ll provide some of my tips and observations to the end (skip to the end if the itinerary doesn’t interest you), some of which I think haven’t been mentioned before.
Thank God pretty much everything went to plan, and my wife thoroughly enjoyed the trip. We spent 12 days in Japan, most of it in Tokyo and 2 nights in Kawaguchiko. Many people were surprised to know that we’d be spending most of our trip in Tokyo, but I thought it was just fine because Tokyo had a lot to offer. My wife and I aren’t big on visiting shrines or ticking tourist hotspots off a checklist. We don’t shop much, but we did a lot of it simply because it’s Japan and we bought lots of quality-of-life items (not fashion) for ourselves and others. Given how much my wife really enjoyed the trip, I think others with similar interests could find something helpful too.
Pre-trip planning

• It was out first leisure trip in years, and my wife's first trip to Japan. I wanted to show her my favourite parts of Japan, and took months trawling through reddit posts and trip reports, watching youtube videos, and just soaking in all the things before deciding on an itinerary that I thought my wife would enjoy. It was almost exclusively planned by me, and I would consult my wife along the way.
• Other than the hotel & flights, I booked the highway express bus to Kawaguchiko one week prior.
• Decided on the airport limousine bus to bring us from the airport to the city a few days prior.
• Studio Ghibli tickets booked one month in advance. There's a good guide available on reddit already. International tickets were quickly sold out, so we used a free VPN to get onto the Japanese site which had more tickets & timings available. Simply Google translate the entire page.
• Booked a cooking class on cookly months prior.
• Did Visit Japan QR two days prior. It takes some time, so do it earlier rather than later.
• Added all places of interests in a Google list, and all food places in another Google list. I tried the custom Google maps at first but didn’t feel the UI was easy to navigate.
• Planned itinerary based on location proximity, and also highlighted parts that were interchangeable in case we wanted to switch it up (which we did).

Planning during the trip

• The Google maps foods list was always just for consideration: if we had time or were craving something. We didn't hard-code food places into our daily plans. But when food was the primary activity (e.g. visiting Tsukiji market), we'd determine to visit particular food stalls. Otherwise, just needed to do a cursory Google review check on whether a random food place is worth eating it. As a principle, we didn't want to spend time queuing >20m for food.
• I'd plan the next day's itinerary the night before, considering fatigue, interest, and proximity. I would create a brand new Google maps list for the next day, including potential food places.

Day 0 (Wed) 17 May - Arrival at Haneda Airport to hotel in Shinjuku
Arrived in Haneda late, about 11pm. Clearance was quick but baggage took 30mins. As I wouldn't make my stipulated airport limousine timing, I had no choice but to cancel my airport limousine and take the metro to our hotel in Shinjuku. I tried Apple wallet’s Suica at first. It worked seamlessly but I felt that a physical metro card was just faster so I eventually switched over. We reached after midnight, so do let your hotel know in advance if you anticipate arriving at odd hours.
Day 1 (Thurs) - Shinjuku exploration
Originally planned to visit Tsukiji on day 1, but given that we arrived late the previous night, agreed with my wife to change the plan and spend the first day doing the Shinjuku itinerary.

• Walked to a popular Tsukumen place at 11. Queued for 20mins and it was an interesting experience as there were lines of people standing right behind watching you eat. Wife said it was her best Tsukumen ever!
• Sekaido for art & stationary supplies: My wife does art so it was a haven for her. We spent a few hours there!
• Tokyu Hands Shinjuku: Wanted to look at more stationary/home/fashion stuff but two floors were under renovation.
• Omoide Yokocho: A quick walkthrough of this famous street for salarymen which comes alive at night. Many tourists.

Day 2 (Fri) - Kappabashi St., Fabric Town, Akihabara

• Kappabashi Dougu Street: looked at kitchen supplies aimed to find a nice nakiri knife! (If you want to buy a knife, do research on what knife you need beforehand).
• Fabric Town: My wife just passed a seamstress exam so she eagerly anticipated visiting fabric town, we spent a few hours in Tomato.
• Akihabara (Animate, Bic Camera, Gyukatsu Don): It was drizzling the entire day so it was not the most comfortable lugging that many bags around a wet Akihabara in the evening. Wife wasn’t interested but I wanted to let her experience this unique culture. Had dinner at a popular gyukatsu don (beef cutlet that you’d have to cook yourself). It was our first time eating gyukatsu. It was so tender and juicy and mmm. But it was a long one hour wait. It was after this episode that we decided we were not going to queue this long for food again.

Day 3 (Sat) - Cooking class in Shinjuku, Shibuya

• Private cooking class in Shinjuku: Our host was great! We were invited into his cosy house and he taught us how to make Okonomiyaki, Yakisoba, and a Japanese salad. I paid careful attention to the menu beforehand as I wanted to learn dishes I could easily recreate back home (i.e. not choose dishes that depended on seasonal Japanese ingredients). My wife absolutely loved the experience of getting to know a local and understanding his life story, Japanese culture, and hearing some of his horror stories of foreign guests. We got more food recs from him to understand where the locals really ate at.
• Shibuya 109: Paid $5 for a drink to have a bird’s eye view of the Shibuya crossing. It was Saturday so the crossing was at its full force. Even if you think this is touristy, it’s amazing to see that many people like little ants crossing a street. There are several nice locations here to take some artsy shots.
• Ishibashi Music Shibuya: absolutely loved the vibe in this music store. Back home, I’d been thinking about getting a particular keyboard but never got a chance to try it. I was able to play this particular one undisturbed and feel like I could go on for hours without any pressure from staff. Bought a few Japan exclusive guitar picks as gifts.
• Shibuya Tokyu Hands: This was amazing. I thought Shinjuku Tokyu Hands was the flagship store. So I only stumbled into this because I urgently needed to pee and someone said Tokyu hands had toilets. We were confused as its name was rebranded to simply "Hands" with a new logo. If you only have time to visit one Tokyu Hands, visit the Shibuya one. Each floor had 2 sub-floors so that’s a ton of floors! Lots of quality-of-life improvements one could get from this store. My wife got a buckwheat pillow.
• Shibuya Loft: After Sekaido and Tokyu Hands, I didn't think there was much daily life products/art/stationary to look at. But Loft was very different. Similar to Tokyu hands but seems more modern and fashionable. Worth visiting together with Tokyu hands! It also had packaged food available! It was late and my wife and I concluded that we didn’t have to to explore all the floors and that we’d return to Shibuya again.

Day 4 (Sun) - Komazawa Church, Harajuku, Shibuya

• Church in Komazawa: not a tourist activity, but we linked up with some partners from our home church and attended service at a little church held in a nursery. It was an amazing and encouraging experience to hear the gospel preached in a foreign language.
• Harajuku: Way too crowded. I had anticipated this as it was a Sunday, but thought to just try. Takeshita street was so packed my wife feared there would be a stampede risk (it wasn’t that bad). We did queue 20mins for pretty tasty crepe. After checking out all the recommended streets (e.g. cat street, uru-harajuku), my wife simply felt that she couldn’t stand the Harajuku crowd and the vibes. So we decided to go back to Shibuya again!
• Shibuya JINS: I didn’t mention this but previously in Shinjuku and Shibuya, I had been checking out recommended optical shops in the vicinity for a particular style of glasses. Japanese-made glasses are highly-rated, but I couldn’t find something at the right price-point. At JINS, I found a design I liked. Though not made in Japan, it cost me less than 5000 yen. Took them 1 hour to make it. For some reason I loved the vibes at Shibuya, and I earmarked it to return again later.

Day 5 (Mon) - Tsukiji Market, Ginza Muji/Uniqlo, Tokyo station

• Tsukiji market: wanted to arrive before 8 but arrived at 8.30am. Thankfully the crowds weren't that bad yet. Everything we tried was lovely. Potato/corn fishcakes, strawberry mochi, tamago, wagyu beef, uni inarisushi (my first time trying uni - wife loved it but I didn't like it), unagi. But the star was Masa burger (thanks to Paolo from Tokyo), which we waited till 11am to try. By then, the tourist buses had come and the streets were packed. But Masa burger was in a corner and we were their first customers. We tried fried codfish burger + homemade ginger ale. Both were was so well done and the fried cod was so crispy yet fresh and tender. It was also nicely completed with very refreshing salads! It was soo good we had it twice.
• Ginza Uniqlo/Muji: we wanted to take a look at some of Uniqlo’s exclusive items. Apparently they do have exclusive t-shirts for each region (e.g. Harajuku, Shibuya, Ginza), which tend to be collaborations with well-known food places in the area. However, they were always white in colour (cheap to produce) and not made-in-Japan-quality. Muji @ Ginza was a disappointment, not a lot more than the usual.
• Tokyo Station Ghibli store & Tenugui hunting: Went to Tokyo station to check out the Ghibli store and to look for a particular traditional tenugui (Japanese towels) store as my wife were hunting these down to give as gifts.
• Shinjuku Ichiran & Mister Donut: We returned to Shinjuku for Ichiran ramen, specifically at 5+pm. No crowds at all. Yummy! We then saw a Mister Donut, and recalled news in our home country that when it had its first opening in my country, people queued 5 hours for it. We thought to try it to see what the fuss was all about. Cash only, but the donuts were wonderfully textured and not too sweet. My wife doesn’t like sweet stuff, but mister donut really hit the sweet spot (no pun intended).

Day 6 (Tue) - Tokyo National Museum, Fabric town revisit, Akihabara revisit, Ochanomizu

• Tokyo National Museum: We had a good time learning about Japan’s early history, and discovered that so much that we know of Japan resulted from Chinese/korean influence.
• Fabric town & Akihabara revisit, Ochonomizu: We decided that this was likely the right time to go back for items we missed out on or didn’t have time to see. My wife went to fabric town again while I went to Akihabara’s Yodaibashi camera, which I felt to be better and with more varied things than Bic Camera. I then went to nearby Ochanomizu to look at more music and sport shops. We met up again at Shinjuku for another Gyukatsu Don before heading to mister donuts again.

Day 7 (Wed) - Shinjuku Gyoen Garden, Mori Museum, Ginza Wakamatsu, Shinjuku

• Shinjuku Gyoen Garden: lovely large garden grounds. We spent almost an hour just lying under a tree and watching clouds float by. Wife was doing some rough sketches of the garden. We had mister donuts from last night for breakfast.
• Mori Museum: Saw the exhibition of Heatherwick studios, which was inspiring and educational. Paid for the rooftop access to have a quick view of Tokyo from 50-ish floors up.
• Ginza Wakamatsu: Because of one of the Uniqlo-ginza-exclusive t-shirts, my wife was curious about this traditional Japanese dessert. So we gave it a check and realised it’s been around for more than a century. There was a short line (mainly Japanese elderly). The shop interior transported us back decades. It felt surreal eating a dessert that the Japanese ate centuries ago. Unlike modern desserts, this Japanese dessert certainly doesn’t excite and overwhelm one’s taste buds immediately. But there’s an old charm to it.
• Shinjuku Okadaya fabric: Returned to Shinjuku as my wife wanted to check out another of their famous fabric stores. Prices were more expensive than fabric town, but had somewhat different items.

Day 8 (Thurs) - Kawaguchiko

• Bus to Kawaguchiko: Packed light to Kawaguchiko, and forwarded our remaining luggage to our final hotel in Tamachi. The Shinjuku hotel staff were very helpful. I was merely inquiring on how luggage forwarding was done, but the staff picked up the phone, called my Tamachi hotel to confirm the booking, and prepared the documents for me. All I had to do was roll my luggage the next night to them and make payment. Took our 7:45am bus to Kawaguchiko and managed to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji when we were on our way there!
• Cycling In Kawaguchiko: We lugged our bags to our ryokan and headed out again. My wife was quite hesitant about cycling overseas and I was also worried it’d tire her out too much. I debated between cycling or simply taking the sight-seeing bus. Eventually felt that it was worth trying to cycle. We unexpectedly walked by an e-bike place and decided, why not? Neither of us had tried an e-bike before and that could reduce the effort required for my wife. So we did and boy was it fun! It took a while to get used to the e-bike but it really reduced a lot of effort up the hills! I barely perspired at all thanks to the e-assist. Kawaguchiko had pretty narrow roads so it wasn’t the easiest to cycle. But I had plenty of road-cycling experience back at home so I was not daunted. We borrowed helmets from the e-bike place but saw that we were the only tourists that wore them. Yes, I'd recommend wearing helmets when cycling.
• Kubota Itchiku Art Museum: Cycled here knowing that this museum would interest my wife. It had a garden free for entry and it was really quaint, quiet, and charming! The pond had a singular vibrant-coloured Koi swimming in it. Museum entry requires tickets. On this trip, I realised that visiting museums tired me easily. It could be because I spent time reading each description. I told my wife to go ahead as I waited outside. She eventually took 45m in the museum and was so enthralled by it. She even bought a heavy hard-cover book of Itchiku Kubota’s kimono art :/
• Momiji Corridor: was just 50 meters away from the museum. Still beautiful with only green leaves, but I’d imagine it would be majestic in Autumn/Spring.
• Oishi Park: Many colourful flowers! It’s a pity that it had been cloudy the entire day, and Mt Fuji was not visible. That would have made the cycle perfect. Had a peach/plum ice-cream. Park was crowded with tourists.

Day 9 (Fri) - Fuji Q Highland, Shimoyoshida Honcho St, Batting Cage
Planning for Fuji Q & Morning Jog: I didn’t plan to go to Fuji-Q highland before the trip. Always felt it a bit of a waste to visit amusement parks overseas. That’s until I realised that Fuji Q had some of the most exciting (I mean world-record-holding) rollercoasters in the world. Maybe they don't hold the records anymore, but that intrigued me enough, because most amusement parks only had 1-2 coasters. Problem was that wife is terrified, and she said cycling on the streets of Kawaguchiko was already like a coaster ride for her. Still, I'm really thankful she encouraged me to go and said she was happy waiting and taking pictures for me. So I decided I would reach at opening time, and buy time by paying for the fast passes and try their top three coasters. The night before, we felt that we had to make decisions on our itinerary as it was our last day at Kawaguchiko. If Mt Fuji still wasn’t visible the next day, we'd go to Oshino Hakkai, if it was, we could try going to Shimoyoshida to get a nice picture.

• I went for a morning jog and as the path brought me along the river's perimeter, my jaw dropped when I saw Mount Fuji towering into view. I raced back to tell my wife (about 6am) and we both trekked up to a viewing spot to enjoy the view. This made it more urgent to not spend too much time at Fuji Q as we didn’t know how long Mt. Fuji would be visible for.
• Fuji-Q Highland: Was absolutely amazing. Yes, I blew a lot of cash here buying fast passes for the three available coasters. But they were some of the craziest coasters. Took Eejanaika, Fujiyama and Takabisha. Total time it took probably a little more than 1 hour with the express passes. It was so good, but so fast that I have little memory of it, except that there was a 90 degree climb to the top for Takabisha and I had a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji while climbing to the supposed world record of 79m for Fujiyama (this was 2 days before the news reported that Fujiyama got stuck in the middle of a ride and the people in the carts had to climb down :o). Had more time to take a few other rides, and enjoyed all the Naruto statues around for fun photo-taking. What I really enjoyed about the park was that it was mostly filled with Japanese tourists; in fact, there was a Japanese school having an outing there. It was nice to see excited students running about. If I could spend the day here, I'd take the three coasters multiple times to imprint the sensations in my head. But I'm still thankful I got to try some of the world's most thrilling coasters!
• Shomoyoshida Honcho St: This destination was simply to take the famous street view of Mount Fuji with Japanese shops lined in the foreground. It’s not easy to get to, and there was quite a walk. We noticed there weren’t much people around, and most shops were closed. But when we reached the destination, there were many tourists right at the particular traffic light. So much so there was a grumpy Japanese traffic police person managing the crowd. We saw the worst of tourists that day. People were disobeying traffic laws and just running in the middle of the road just to get a shot. We then chanced upon a hidden udon shop and it felt like we were transported back to the 50’s! It was super old school, people sat on raised platforms, and several elderly customers were watching the tele while eating. There was only one udon option available, with free cabbage top-ups. We learnt that the shop had been around for 73 years. We actually headed back to Fuji-Q Highlands to take a 4D 'plane ride' with Joe Hisashi music in the background. Since my wife actually wanted to ride something, I was happy to agree to her request. Ride was very ordinary but wife actually felt terrified at times lol. Rushed back to the hotel for a private onsen booking.
• Batting Cage: I had never played baseball/softball and my home country doesn’t have a baseball culture. Yet I had seen batting cages in Japanese drama and always wanted to try. Loved it! My technique was probably pretty bad! I did well at first but as I tried faster balls, I tired out and failed to hit any haha. We ended the day eating ramen outdoors with a view of Mount Fuji.

Day 10 (Sat) - Kichijoji, Ghibli Museum, Kichijoji Jazz bar
Woke up before sunrise for a run and to attempt to catch a sunrise picture of Mount Fuji. Streets were completely empty. Even ran to the famous Kawaguchiko Lawson for a picture. Headed back for an onsen bathe (note: we never used the room's shower, and always went for an onsen bath throughout our stay in Kawaguchiko as it was just too convenient). Took a 7am bus to return to Shinjuku.

• Kichijoji: Arrived at Kichijoji at about 10am. Wife really loved the vibes there. We tried the Tsukuba suisan fish cakes which were really tasty, and my wife was intrigued that a line had formed at the adjacent store named Ozasa. Apparently they sell traditional Japanese desserts and locals would go there as early as 5am to get a ticket. So we queued 15m and managed to get three boxes worth of the snacks! Tried the Amane Taiyaki fish-shaped bean paste snacks, another traditional dessert. It was a small lovely old shop.
• Ghibli Museum: Requires a long walk through Inokashira park. Ghibli was fantastic. Many people have been saying recently that it’s over-rated, and that it doesn’t cater to foreign crowds and most things are in Japanese. We similarly struggled with that at first. But we found out that if you asked the staff, they actually had English language exhibition booklets ready for every exhibition! That was a revelation. And we managed to understand almost all the exhibitions by asking the uniformed staff (except the short film, which had minimal dialogue anyway). I mentioned this to one foreign group and they were really grateful for that. But I saw that many other foreigners that probably came earlier were just bored or simply going crazy at the Ghibli shop. My wife bought the museum book (which also has English explanations of each exhibit), and we understood Miyazaki’s vision for the museum - to make it suitable for kids and adults, with no pre-determined route, allowing for play, exploration, to help people be inspired by the artists’ process. Through that, we saw that every thing in the museum was intentionally designed, all of the exhibitions, cafe, shop, and garden. Reading that helped me appreciate and enjoy the museum much more.
• Roaming Kichijoji and Some Time Jazz bar: My wife and I split up to roam kichijoji. I checked out some sports shops and saw that their prices were lower than Ochanomizu. We reconvened for dinner at Sometime Jazz bar. I’m picking up Jazz piano but had never been to a jazz bar. Booked it one day before, but was sad that our table position only allowed us to see some of the drummer and the pianist’s expression. Still, it was a very hip place for jazz cats and we had a wonderful time. We only sat through the first half of the performance that night. Note that there are seating charges, so that + dinner added up to quite a lot. But we rationalised that this was akin to paying for a performance. Checked into our hotel in Tamachi.

Day 11 (Sun) - Tokyo Sky Tree, Shinjuku, Back to Kichijoji, Shibuya
It was a crazy day where we simply hit the places we wanted to revisit regardless of proximity. Headed to Tokyo Skytree in the morning to check out another Ghibli store in hopes of getting another Ghibli shirt; reason was because I ended up buying one at the museum I really loved (made in Japan, beautiful colour, perfect fit. I hesitated at first because I couldn't try it). If you’re not going to the Ghibli museum, this is probably the best store available for Ghibli goods. Alas, the museum's items were really quite exclusive. Headed to Shinjuku to try curry udon, then to Kichijoji to try satou beef balls and dangos and to make some purchasing decisions on some sports equipment. Then we ended up at Shibuya (my favourite place!) to the mega Don Quijote and Tokyu Hands to shop for gifts for others. It was a lovely end to our trip!
Day 12 (Mon) - Back home
Best trip ever, says my wife.
Tips for travellers

• Spread out your itinerary: I originally planned to front-load all the must-see tourist stuff and leave the remaining days for shopping. But in May, Ghibli Museum was closed for two weeks so we had no choice but to schedule it at the end of the trip. That was a better arrangement. It felt that each day was distinctly different, and we could remember the highlight of each day. Also, be specific about where you want to go. Don’t simply put locations, e.g., Visit Harajuku, or visit Shibuya crossing.
• Plan your itinerary in consideration of weekend crowds: Places like Tsujiki market, Ghibli Museum, Fuji-Q Highlands and other stuff are likely going to be very crowded on weekends. If you want to shop in Harajuku or Shibuya, try to avoid weekends. I opted to put the cooking class and ‘less-exciting’ Museums on weekends.
• Unless you'll always be in a group, use your telco’s roaming or get an e-sim: My wife and I split up on several occasions, so we already knew the pocket wifi was out of the question.
• Carry more cash than you think you need: In my experience, the cash-to-card ratio was about 40:60. Considering that all metro card top-ups require cash, you'll need quite a bit of cash! Sometimes even bigger restaurants are cash only.
• Bring foldable tote bags, and use lockers where necessary: If you’re buying stuff, packing them in tote bags makes it easier to lug around. Bigger shops will charge you for bags. If you just arrived from one area with bags and are going to explore another, use the lockers. Most metro stations likely have lockers and they are really affordable and convenient.
• Travel light by planning to do laundry: I only brought four sets of clothing, and we did laundry every 3-4 days or so. It’s really convenient, about 200 yen per 30m wash, and another 200 yen for a 1h dry. It’s worthwhile to check if your hotel has coin laundry available.
• Buy discriminately: Many people say the kind of things available at places like Don Quijote or Uniqlo are mind-blowing. Fact is, most of them are made in China or elsewhere. About 95% of the items we saw in Daiso were made in China. In fact, many items in Kappabashi street were made in China. You’re more likely to get value for money by buying a made in Japan item. Sometimes the shop will highlight if a product is Japan made. But other times, you have to scrutinise the fine print. Learn to look out for these three words in Kanji: 日本製. This is where the camera function of Google translate is immensely helpful. This was not available or widely publicised when I last visited Japan years back in 2016, so use this tech to your advantage and scrutinise the fine print!
• Plan your toilet trips if possible: If you know you’re headed to low-rise areas like Tsujiki, Fabric town where it’s just shop after shop, it’s going to be hard to find a toilet. Make sure you relieve yourself beforehand at the train station. But if you still need to go, try to find a multi-storey building and chances are, there’ll be toilets available there.
• Avoid queuing for food by timing right: In general, I found that most popular food places that required queuing had queues mainly consisting of foreigners. I wonder if this is because of the reddit/youtube/google maps review effect (not a lot of Japanese review on Google I think). So if you have to queue, there's a good chance you're competing with other foreigners. Simply put, almost all food places open at 11am, so be there at 11, or have early dinner at 5pm and perhaps you may avoid the queuing.
• Scrutinise Google maps to figure out the different train types: for daily travel, there could be local, rapid, and express trains. Local trains stop at every station. Rapid skips a few, and express trains likely only stops at key location. They make a big difference to travel time, and to your comfort. When Google maps recommends a route, scrutinise the detail to ensure what kind of train they are recommending. It gets confusing at the station as the platforms on your left and right may end up at the same location, but one could be a local train and the other an express train.
• Learn just 2 essential phrases: It always felt weird for me to speak Japanese because I felt like a try-hard. But this time I did - just learn to say thank you in Japanese (arigato gozaimasu). The other essential word is - summimasen - excuse me/sorry. Useful for if you need to exit a crowded train, or if you need to get someone’s attention. We survived with just these two phrases. As our cooking teacher told us - it’s better to say something in Japanese than say nothing at all. For the rest, you can use Google translate app’s picture function.
• Other misc tips: as mentioned, bring trash bags. Some shops explicitly tell you not to walk around and eat their food. So the solution is to finish the snack in front of the shop, and say, “summimasen, can you help me to throw this trash?” That helped us avoid carrying trash around a lot. As a traveller, you’re gonna get a lot of carbs (my curry udon meal included a bowl of udon + a bowl of rice...) and fried food. To get more fiber, try the basements of shopping centres and get yourself some fruits. Also, if you exercise regularly like me, you'd be concerned about getting some exercise. I did pre-trip research on pools/gyms/parks to visit. But visited none of them. With what little hotel room space I had, I settled with a daily morning routine of 100 squats and 100 pushups. That and walking an average of 18k steps daily helped. I actually lost some weight somehow.

Observations

• Drinking culture in Japan: we saw quite a few drunk people in the streets. Some of them at the parks. I had never really seen drunkards much in my home country (it could be because I don’t stay out late). When we walked by a bar area with our cooking instructor at 10am, he told us some of the people in them had been there overnight. At Inokashira park, we saw a lady dressed in office wear face planted on the ground. Her friends tried to help carry here elsewhere but her entire body was limp and almost lifeless.
• The Japanese sleep late: when we arrived, we were still on the train to our hotel at 11:50pm. But the train was still packed with salarymen in suits and many others. In fact, it seemed the later it was, the more crowded the trains.
• Foreigner influx and how we stick out: there were way more foreigners this time than the last I visited Japan. I commented to my wife that I felt more immersed in Japan on the metro or at places like Tokyu hands as I could hear Japanese being spoken around me. But at tourist spots and some museums, I felt like I could have been in any other country. I tended to feel very uncomfortable when large groups of foreigners were around. I had to tell myself not to be hypocritical as I was a foreigner myself. But I suppose one reason is that there were many inconsiderate foreigners. Speaking loudly, making brash comments, and just not behaving like visitors. We saw a foreign couple locked in a head-to-toe embrace on a picnic mat in a park full of families. And they chose a spot right next to the footpath. Many foreigners also leave unkind Google reviews for places just because it’s not up to their expectations. I get it, we worked for our holiday and are paying customers, and there is often an innate tendency to feel entitled or complain when something isn’t up to our expectations. But I think it helps to remember that we are like visitors in someone’s home. Be self-aware, don’t speak loudly, note the traffic customs, where to stand on the escalators, how to behave etc.
• Japanese men have great hair: the Japanese men’s hairstyle feels frozen in time. I didn’t see the typical Korean-inspired center-parted hairstyles in Asian guys nowadays. And balding men were a small minority somehow. As someone whose hairline is slowly receding, I was envious to see many Japanese men have wavy long hair deep into their 60-70s! My wife commented that the women's hairstyles were more or less the same - dyed, curled etc. But the men were rocking so many styles!
• In-person shopping still matters: as the days went by and as my wife and I began to covet the "made-in-Japan" label, we realised that we hadn't done such shopping in years since online shopping became prevalent. I also recall people commenting that you could get these goods online anyway, so why bother shopping in Japan. Well, physical shopping makes comparison easy, it allows you to ask for recommendations, and enables you to know the items's size, feel, and look on you (if buying fashion items). It also makes discovery of new items possible. I'm not a huge shopper or a foodie, but in Japan, it's worth it to be one simply because the Japanese are thoughtful about their craft and tend to produce quality that's quite unmatched. I suppose it's a blessing in disguise that our honeymoon got delayed 3 years, as we are now well-aware of our post-wedding lifestyles and the items we'd need in the kitchen/around the house.
• Reading culture is strong: in a week when I read reports that leisure reading had declined in my home country, I was pleasantly surprised to see many people reading hard-copy books on the train, many of them even had personalised leather book covers. Kinokuniya was also teeming with life. As a bookworm, this is a great encouragement. And I wish English language books came in such compact sizes too, although I think that's due to the limitations of the language. As Japanese characters can be read vertically, that allows for more play on possible book sizes.
• No one culture is worth idealising: Japan remains my favourite country to visit as a tourist, but I've come to see that Japanese culture - like any other culture - has its flaws. That's simply because people are flawed. Yes, their service culture is impeccable, especially when you're served by middle-aged super helpful and super kind ladies. But on every Japanese trip so far, I've always had at least one unkind or impatient service encounter. On a day-to-day basis, people don't really apologise if they bump into you, and may not give up their seats for the elderly too. My cooking teacher says the Japanese are extremely polite in person but would rant and give very bad reviews anonymously at home. I've come to just enjoy their products, service, and their views of certain ways-of-life as a tourist, but stop short of idealising their culture. There are kind and unkind people in every culture. That said, I would still say on average, the Japanese may be more civic-minded than most. That doesn't mean they are innately kinder or warmer people, but simply that they are more self-aware of how their actions are perceived by others.

I've decided not to mention the specific food places as far as possible because I think there's more than enough recommendations available elsewhere. I also think sometimes that we get a bit fomo if we build up too many must-go spots. Enjoy the process of discovering new places! But feel free to ask me more if you like.

I (30f) am 37 weeks pregnant with my husband's and my first child and had a heated discussion with my mom (54f) about the conditions when they come and see baby.
This is a long one so I am sorry in advance.
I must explain it a bit further. My mom calls herself "baby crazy" and openly admitted to me that the baby stage is her favorite stage when it comes to kids. She loves cuddling baby's, taking photos of them (photography is kinda her hobby, which is fine), kissing them and so on. I am one of 6 children and my brother already has two children of his own (5m, 4f) so there were and are plenty of children in her life. But, since she is merely interested in small baby's, she and my dad quickly lose interest in the children from a certain age. Maybe around the time they go to school. My parents then only feed, dress and house the children and deem it enough. No words of endearment or affirmation are ever heard again. Of course, as teenagers, we called them out on that. Exclaiming how they never ask uns how we do, we never talk around dinner table how our day was. Their excuse: they find it bothersome to ask us every day how we are. Which was never our goal (all we wanted was for them to ask us how we are every once in a while) but they always have the same pattern of excuse: drawing the argument completely out of proportion to make it sound ridiculous in their ears. According to my mother, if they didn't take an interest in my siblings from the age of 6, the time we went to school, then she would have given all of us up for adoption. See? Completely out of proportion. We called them out on how they never say "I am proud of you" or "I love you". Their answer: of course we do love you/of course we are proud of you. Yet they never say or show it. We just "have to know". This continued all my life. 8 years studying in university, no "How are you?". 1 year studying abroad as an exchange student, no "How is it going?". Now I live with my husband in a different country (in Europe) for 3 years and they never shown any interest in my life. Or my husband for that matter. Never send him a Happy Birthday text. Last year, even I didn't get a Happy Birthday text. They also never visit. Not ever. Whereas I try to show interest by calling on their birthdays, visiting for Christmas etc. I am used to this general lack of interest by now and don't mind it, as long as it keeps the piece.
Side info: yes they do have a smartphone and the whole family has different group chats on a messenger app. They could easily text (which they often do concerning my niece and nephew), call or even video chat, like I did last week because it was my dad's birthday and I couldn't travel the 300km each way while heavily pregnant.
But what did upset me was that although my parents never bothered to ask how my pregnancy is going or how my baby is doing, suddenly, with the birth coming closer and closer, they are so excited to come and see the baby. Mind you, they never even asked for the baby's name and wouldn't know till today if my sister didn't say it by accident when she visited for a birthday. I did send every ultrasound picture in the family group chat (also for my siblings to see), send them info's about my baby's health or send videos showing how the baby moves inside my belly. These were all met with a simple thumps up or heart emoji. No further questions. Nothing for 9 months. Due to the lack of interest, I stopped at some point. The only information my mother send me during this whole pregnancy was that she bought a number of photo albums for her grandkids. She has some for my niece and nephew already and bought 4 more. One for my baby when it is born and three more so I could give her 3 more grand babies. I was upset by this as I was hoping she would show some general interest in me or my baby, not just her wish to have a full album of photos or a wagon load of grandbabys. This went along with her demand "And I want lots of pictures of the baby when it's born" as if she is entitled to them.
She had other demands during my pregnancy, like letting me know she is gonna do some hand- and footprints of the baby when they visit. And she would do some for me as well since she still has the paint to do it from when my niece and nephew were born. Like I couldn't make some prints myself. Also, she let me know that she is gonna buy lipstick, put it on herself and kiss my newborn all over her face to take a cute picture showing how much her grandma loves her new grand baby. She never wears makeup and has no clue what good brands are. She would buy some cheap lipstick and use it. All of these things (and more) were not questions, they were demands! I usually ignored them since they caused a lot of stress for me, thinking about how she going to do all that to my baby. I admit I should've said something earlier and I fully take responsibility for that.
My parents also never asked us when they could come visit. I am very fortunate that my husband gets to have a full month off of work when the baby comes but we are also in the midst of moving into a bigger apartment so that the baby will have a room of her own. We are expecting end of June although the baby could also decide to come early July. Who knows? Yet the month of July will be our busiest month, taking care of a newborn, growing together as a family and moving. What sparked the heated discussion now was a voice mail from my mom, exclaiming they decided they want to come mid July to see the baby. In her mind, I already would have had 2 to maybe 3 weeks after birth and they would wanna see the baby as long as it is still tiny and cute. I was livid since first of all, they never asked us when they could visit my whole pregnancy, simply stating a fact again and second of all, they only want to see my baby when it's tiny and cute? So it only matters to them when it's fresh out of the womb? I talked to my husband and we decided to calmly let them know that July wouldn't work for us and maybe they could come in August, when the baby is a bit older and the move is done. She went ballistic, sending me a 50 mins (!!) voice mail saying they couldn't come on August since they made other plans (like a doctor's appointment - for real!) and the baby would already be so grown then. My mother said that since babys grow so fast, I would strip them of the moment to see the baby so small. A moment they will never get back. Another strategy she always uses: making us the villains and making us feel bad. She also started to cry and, when the discussion goes nowhere, shuts down and literally runs away. It has always been that way. So that discussion went nowhere.
Since my mother is "baby crazy" I did see a number of times how she always wants to hold and cuddle baby's. And I know she will want to do that with my baby too which in itself is a not a problem for me. But I also know that the baby is the only reason they come. They will focus only on the baby, not bothering with my husband and me. They will come into the apartment, head straight for the crib and take my baby. Doesn't matter if the baby is sleeping or what. Since I know how my mother is, I started to get anxiety early in the pregnancy. A fear she is gonna take away my child. Not giving it back when I say so. Not giving it back when it's time to feed.
I also told her that I don't feel comfortable knowing she is gonna take my baby away from me to cuddle and kiss. In her 50 mins tirade she first said "Of course we come to see and cuddle the baby, that's what we come for in the first place" (thanks mom for wanting to see me btw). Later she went a step back and said she would not take my baby out of the crib when it sleeps. Probably because she feared I would forbid her from seeing the baby all together. But later she again said that they do wanna come and hold the baby and if they couldn't, then they wouldn't come all the way. Only to later again say of course she will give the baby to me when I ask. Also she said that she wouldn't want to come just to see the baby from afar when it sleeps. But then stating that she would be fine to just get a glimpse of it. But then also saying that she is only there for 2-3 days and wants to hold it as long as possible in that short time and "you can have it back when we leave". She literally said that it belongs to me again when they leave. Like what? Like it only belongs to you when you are here?? All these mixed signals made me even more anxious.
All in all my husband and I know that she has difficulties differentiating the baby as not her baby. It is my husband's and my baby but she seems to forget that and believe it to be hers.
She is the type of woman that says "mother knows best" and would argue with me how the baby is so comfortable right now while cuddling her when I tell her to give me my baby back. Also, she openly said that since July is so busy for us, she would take care of my baby while my husband and I can do the heavy lifting when moving or that I "will have time to do chores". I hate people who believe the only way of helping a new mother is by taking the newborn out of the her arms to cuddle while the mother "finally" gets to do the housework. It makes me furious.
So, we did what we had to and directly told them when it would be a good time for us to have them over (last week of July, to make a compromise) and we put our foot down and set the following rules: #1: no baby holding unless asked or given to. #2: no photos taken unasked or even shared on social media. #3: no hand- or footprints done when not asked, no lipstick kissing photos. #4: if they want to take part in my baby's life, they need to come to me and ask for information, photos or videos. Not the other way around.
We thought these rules were not too extreme and would give me a piece of mind, soften my anxiety. Since telling her our rules she only gave us the silent treatment. I know she is mad that she doesn't get it her way. I know she must be crying, which makes my dad livid (from my sister who's still living with my parents I know that my dad supports her in every decision she made about my baby).
I am easy to guilt trip. And now I am wondering if we did something wrong.

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This has been a topic of discussion bc of ash losing and I thought it was time to throw my hat in the ring when it comes to untangling exactly why I think the Kalos League doesn't work at all, and most significant criticisms of it don't miss the point. Not to say that the League is good and good arguments are not valid whatsoever, but rather that the most discussed criticisms are not valid ones, and tend to overshadow discourse surrounding the Kalos League as a whole and it’s place in the XY Series because people didn't get the story telling at all because of the writers own failure at making the story.
Introduction – The Story Thus Far
It’s important we start this with some context, the Kalos League is the culmination of the Kalos Gym Quest that has been going on throughout the XY series and it’s important we understand clearly where every relevant character stands before we proceed into the league itself, so let’s go through the main contenders.
Ash
After having unlocked the true power of Ash-Greninja at the start of XYZ, Ash had come up against a roadblock controlling the ability due to his insecurities over failing to live up to the image of himself that his friends and rivals had built of him, which he perceives as ‘The Ace’ a strong and capable trainer who always wins. This insecurity caused him to overestimate his responsibility for failures which ultimately lead to his collapse following a string of losses against Alain, Sawyer and Wulfric.
However, through the actions of Serena and Greninja, Ash was reminded both of the importance of partnership in a battle and that he had been misinterpreting the image of himself he’d been attempting to live up to.
Wins and losses weren’t successes and failures, and it wasn’t his loss to Wulfric that had made Serena scald him, but rather the way he acted afterwards whilst blaming himself for a perceived failing. He learnt that as long as he tried his best, never gave up until it was over and accepted both defeat and victory with grace, that was all his friends and rivals ever expected of him all along.
In addition to this, he learnt that he was not solely responsible for a win or a loss. The Bond Phenomenon was, at its core a partnership, and by shovelling all that pressure to succeed onto himself, he was denying the partnership and causing the transformation to break down.
By rejecting the idea of ‘the Ace’ as someone who always wins and by acknowledging the importance of his bond with Greninja, Ash was able to come to a more mature understanding of the reason for the results of his recent battles with Alain, Sawyer and Wulfric and how his relationship with Greninja factored into that, and with this newfound understanding he was finally able to finally defeat Wulfric, breaking his losing streak and claiming his final badge.
Alain
Unlike Ash, Alain has come to the Kalos League for one single purpose. To battle Ash. Alain was originally an assistant to Professor Sycamore who broke away from him to pursue his own journey and to more thoroughly understand Mega Evolution. During these travels he met Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare, and through his (false)teachings comes to believe that strength is the best way to protect people.
During Mega Evolution Special I, Alain meets Mairin and Chespie and they end up travelling together as Alain seeks out other trainers with Mega Evolutions to grow stronger (and Learn).
During his journey, on behalf of research for Lysandre Labs he is forced into battle with Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre and Mega Rayquaza. Three Pokemon so powerful even his Charizard, who at this point can stand up to a Champion, was no match for them.
This only further convinces him of the need for strength, especially now he has grown to care for Mairin. He terminates his relationship with her for the sake of training. But during the resultant match, Mairin’s Chespie is rendered comatose after exposure to the energy of Zygarde. This greatly hurts Mairin and only further enhances Alain’s desires to become stronger as he, even with his strength, was still unable to protect Mairin.
His battle with Ash-Greninja upon meeting Ash convinces him that a fully mastered Ash-Greninja would be his ultimate opponent and his entrance to the League was done solely due to Ash’s presence. Other battles are all well and good but the battle with Ash is sacrosanct.
Sawyer
Sawyer is a new trainer and one who relies primarily on analytical battle techniques and writes down any and all advice in his notebook. His strategies and mindset rendered him a prodigy who through study and motivation was able to improve rapidly.
Sawyer has been enamoured by Ash Ketchum from the moment they met. His unpredictable strategies and quick thinking inspired Sawyer, motivating him to undergo his rapid improvement which allowed him to become a fully-fledged rival to Ash. His main one in fact.
This lead to him not only fully evolving his starter Pokemon, but also eventually claiming a Mega Stone of his very own.
His previous encounter with Ash was during Ash’s aforementioned period of difficulty controlling Ash-Greninja’s abilities and this lead to Sawyer’s first victory against Ash. Despite this however, Sawyer considered the victory illegitimate, as he was not fighting Ash as he had come to truly know him. He desired to face Ash at his peak to prove how far he had come and to experience a proper full battle against Ash.
He also wants to see if Ash has fully overcome the obstacles holding him back at their previous encounter.
With our three main players in place and their character journeys contextualised, it is now time to cover the Kalos League itself.
The Importance of Everett ( the Furfrou Guy also the importance of Alain vs Trevor)
The first two matches of the Kalos League don’t seem all that important at first glance. Alain vs Trevor is only shown in a cursorily with only the final matchup being seen (incidentally a mirror match between two Mega Charizards). Similarly Ash’s first match isn’t even a match in the League, but rather is a match against Everett, who’s mostly referred to as ‘The Furfrou Trainer’.
However there’s a reason both of these matches are presented at the beginning and consecutively and it’s to set up our first important trend across the Kalos League. The contrast between Ash and Alain.
Trevor and Everett are for all intents and purposes in the same role. They are woefully outmatched against an opponent they cannot defeat. Ash and Alain are the finalists of this League for a reason. But for one notable difference. Alain has to battle Trevor to advance, for Ash, battling Everett could cost him his position in the League.
Now Alain destroys Trevor, this should come as no surprise. It’s to the point that whilst Trevor sees Mega Evolution as his ultimate trump card. Alain merely sees Trevor as a hurdle on the path to Ash. Trevor’s dreams and aspirations don’t matter to Alain, only that final goal, battling Ash, proving he is better than ash winning. That’s all that matters.
Contrast Ash. Ash owes Everett nothing, he’s not even an opponent from the League, he’s someone who failed to get all Eight badges before the conference. Yet Ash stops, listens to him and battles him. He Everett’s dream and understands that in being in the League, in progressing in the League, he will be going up against other people’s dreams for the sake of his own. And rather than trample on that without a second thought like Alain did, he gives someone who he owes nothing to the respect he believes he deserves.
This sets up the two as ideological opposites, one driven by his own power and strength, the other by his connection to others.
This also invokes Ash’s prior arc, Alain is in some ways a dark parallel to Ash, having gone through a similar experience, he has chosen to prioritise winning above all else. Whilst Ash rejected that route, he embraced it.
Ash then goes on to annihilate an Altaria. Despite their differences, Ash and Alain are both really really strong.
Sawyer: Ash’s True Rival
Sawyer is a prodigy, I said as much above but this match ‘Sawyer vs Tierno’ serves to highlight exactly why that is.
Tierno has been set up through XY as an unconventional battler, he had a style that was uniquely his that Ash was entirely unable to replicate which he pulled off effortlessly.
Yet in no time flat, Sawyer counters his style, works out its benefits and detriments, and targets those detriments to easily defeat Tierno.
Remember Sawyer barely knows Tierno, yet in no time flat he counters Tierno’s style and is able to gain the upper hand with ease. This sets up the stakes for his match with Ash. Unlike with Tierno, Sawyer has been watching Ash the whole time, he even defeated him last time they fought.
Add that to both Sawyer and Ash’s reasons to fight one another. Sawyer’s to finally surpass the one he’s admired from the start and Ash to show Sawyer everything he’s got.
And with Ash vs Sawyer set up as the next match, we get set to go into it.
But first…
Alain and his 4 episodes which are called the Mega Evolution Specials
Alain vs Remo. This is rematch between Alain and an opponent he first faced in the Mega Evolution Specials. Remo has come to this match ready for a rematch, he’s pumped up and excited to face Alain again, determined to this time overcome him
Alain doesn’t care, and crushes him 2-6. This isn’t just some random either, this is someone he’s faced before and specifically wanted to face him again. And he straight up doesn’t care.
This would be an appropriate time to talk about the Mega Evolution Specials.
A point to be made very clearly here is the Mega Evolution Specials status as proper episodes. Despite the name of ‘Mega Evolution Specials’ they aren’t your conventional specials. They’re an essential part of the series and the viewing experience and shouldn’t be skipped. Despite this, the dub still refuses to acknowledge them as such but that is a fault of TPCi, not the original XY staff (But they also have fault at this by not mentioning Alain at all in ash's series)
Alain as a character originates from these specials. And they’re where much of his character arc is chronicled. Showing his descent from Sycamore’s Assistant to lackey for Team Flare and his growing obsession for power to the point of driving those who care about him away with Mairin in Mega Evolution Special 4 in a kind of dark parallel to the snowball scene from Seeing the Forest for the Trees. This event directly leads to Chespie’s current condition and drives him even further into a quest to be the strongest trainer ever. If he just gets that bit stronger, maybe he can undo the damage he did.
By the point of the League he no longer cares about anyone else besides Ash, his goal. He tramples across people he knew and people he just met alike with the sole goal of battling and defeating Ash and becoming the strongest (Even tho that wasn't Alain's true goal, his goal was only ash)
Ash vs Sawyer: The Culmination of a Rivalry
And the long awaited match begins.
It’s important to take a look as the competitors heading into this match as their mindsets make the match as much as the actual (fantastic) animation and battle strategy does.
And to begin, Ash knows ahead of time Sawyer has specifically engineered his team in this match to hard counter Ash. Every single Pokemon Sawyer uses is intended to neutralise Ash’s teams advantages.
He knows this. And yet he calls no subs. And uses exactly the team Sawyer had planned for.
Why? Well, this kind of thing has happened before, though the reasoning is different let’s also take a look at…
Ash vs Paul, the most important match at the Sinnoh League (besides ash vs Tobias) and one of the best matches (according to fans) in the anime period. In this match, Paul correctly predicts Ash would reuse his Lake Acuity Team. Ash was aware this would likely be the case. So why did he do it here? Simple, Ash believed his Lake Acuity Team deserved that win, because they were all there with him when he was crushed at Lake Acuity. He respected them enough to not sub them out even if tactically it would’ve been the better option.
Ash’s mindset with Sawyer’s match is similar, but this time, flipped. Ash used his Kalos Team because he respected Sawyer, and wanted to see all that Sawyer had. With both the Paul and Sawyer matches, switching teams was the easy way out. But for differing reasons, yet the same underlying mindset, Ash refused that easy way out and faced Sawyer’s best with his own even in spite of the inherent disadvantage.
I could go into the many reasons why this match is tactically brilliant, potentially even more so than the one against Alain (let's be real most of us accept ash vs sawyer the final of the kalos league). Sawyer’s analytical strategy and how he seizes the momentum of the match and the range of counters that Ash develops and employs mid match against Sawyer to overcome his analytical style are incredibly well construed.
But for now let’s focus on the character stuff.
For Sawyer, this his proper match with Ash, the last one didn’t count for him (the one were he won). This is it for real.
Similarly for Ash, this match is about showing that he is no longer held down by that insecurity and self-doubt. He trusts his Pokemon and his Pokemon trust him and together he can push them all, and Sawyer too, to even greater heights.
The match ends, Ash is victorious, Ash-Greninja overcomes Mega Sceptile when it previously fell against Sceptile. His strength is borne not from strength itself, but from the trust between his Pokemon and himself.
Sawyer is understandably frustrated, losing is frustrating, but he also accepts that this means he still has a long way to go and inspires him to keep aiming for the sky.
The two acknowledge the match and the outcome and accept one another. Their rivalry is not over, Sawyer still intends to one day surpass Ash, but it has reached a temporary conclusion that both are presently satisfied with.
Following this we are granted an intermission before the final match. Where Ash and his friends gain some insight into Alain, where Ash and his friends meet Mairin for the first time and where Lysandre begins to make his moves. Which is where we need to talk about.
Intermission: Team Flare and the Structure of the XY Series
Whilst the League is in intermission I would be remiss not to talk about the structure of the XY series as a whole as there are important differences between it and prior series that separate the two and factor heavily into how the final match plays out.
The XY Dub, in what I consider to be one of its most critical faults, separates the four Mega Evolution Specials into a separate ‘special episode’ list that excludes them from the majority of broadcast orders or streaming sites. This is a fault because said specials are utterly essential for the plot of the XY series (for the writers part and not the fandom because they didn't care at all). Whilst it seemingly starts the same as other series, XY’s central plot is not about the Gym Circuit in the way other series are (but for ash story the gyms ARE important not for Alain's story). That much is evident by the time of XYZ and this is heavily due to Team Flare’s and Alain’s setup during the Mega Evolution Specials. Greninja’s power, Alain’s loyalty, Olympia’s prophecy, Team Flare’s actions, all pointing towards an ultimate showdown at the end of the series.
Crucially, unlike with DP, who’s character arcs were centred on the Sinnoh League and Grand Festival, XY’s central character arcs are also centred on this showdown.
Ash’s reaffirmation, Alain’s obsession with strength, Serena’s confidence and independence, all come into play during or after the Team Flare Arc. The Team Flare Arc appears to be the (intended) climax of the series, not the League. And thus, the League’s decisions must always be made in consideration with how they set up the characters and the plot for the climax of the series. And thus the Kalos League ended being a fundamentally different purpose in the narrative of XY than in any previous or subsequent series.
but it is shown through Lysandre and Ash’s discussion during the League itself, that the series’s focus wasn't very clearly on the subsequent arc (because of things I will mention later will probably mention later if i don't forget) now Whether you conceptually agree with a series structured like this is up to you, but you cannot fault it for failing to execute a League centric series when that was never its intention, because of wanting to have 3 separated stories to begin with (ash, Alain and team flare stories respectively).
With that in mind, let’s consider…
​
Kalos League Victory, Ash’s Ultimate Match
Ash vs Alain, the controversial climactic final match of the Kalos League and the thing the League had been building to. This match is super important for both characters and not solely because of their clash of aces in the final moments (Which we will discuss). A peak Ash is the one and only trainer Alain has been looking forward to fighting. The obstacles are out of the way now and his goal is at long last within his reach. Unlike with Sawyer, who controlled the momentum of the match but who’s team was substantially weaker in raw strength. Ash and Alain are nigh equally matched, and not only that, both characters are enjoying the match, which for Alain is a big deal given every prior match was merely an obstacle to be disposed of.
Alain even brings out his ace to take out Pikachu after he proves himself an incredibly dangerous threat to the rest of Alain’s team (which is kinda dumb considering the type disadvantage and that he could have lost thanks to that).
Even Goodra’s seemingly lacklustre performance is not as bad as claimed, after all, Goodra’s rain dance allows Greninja to take down Bisharp and to go into the final match undamaged (but let's be real goodra should have won against bisharp.
And down to the final matchup. Ash-Greninja and Mega Charizard X. The controversial result of which is enough to ruin the League for some (but people being mad is fair because the series wasn't good at telling the story).
Why the Loss Makes Sense (for Alain's character and not ash): The start of the Team Flare Arc
sadly thanks to this lose, Ash-greninja's arc ended being ruined because of Alain's character arc (will touch that in a bit), whilst Alain’s has lead him to desire winning and proving his status as the strongest above all else (when even Alain himself admitted that wasn't his goal).
And the climax ash character arc in the series was the League, now would be the perfect opportunity to grant Ash the win.
But it’s not, it never has been, and all the League does must be in service of the overall narrative of Alain's character arc and not ash charcter arc.
Ash’s loss doesn't makes sense for ash character at all, but it works for Alain's character arc, because for ash it was the ultimate demonstration of what he’s learnt, both how far he’s done since his loss in the Indigo League and what he’s learnt from Wulfric’s match. Winning isn’t everything, losing is just as valuable...at least some times.
like I said just above, the win means something for Alain’s character arc too. Alain wins, he does it, he attains his goal (beating ash), he proves he’s the strongest in his eyes (even tho he didn't wanted to be the strongest). He battles and defeats Ash at full power. He’s finally strong enough… right?
Of course we know that isn’t the case. The Team Flare arc begins and Alain realises he’s been helping Team Flare the whole time.
And it all comes crashing down. And whilst Alain is stuck there, frozen, unable to react in any way. Ash, the one who he beat, the ‘weaker’ trainer, is able to stand up for the sake of the world when he, the ‘stronger’ one was unable.
And it all comes crashing down, his worldview, his supposed strength. All he did, the heights he achieved, it was all meaningless.
And that’s how Alain realises it’s not all about power or physical strength, because Ash has something different that he never had, and that was the reason he was unable to save Chespie and Mairin.
So whilst Alain won the final league match. Ash ultimately proves himself to be the better trainer in the way that really matters (for Alain's character arc because we all know ash was going to stand up anyways). Strength of character, willingness to stand up for ones beliefs and friendship. His ability to lift others up and his respect for the dreams of others not his own allows him to stand up to Lysandre for the sake of all those people's dreams, which gives him a strength that Alain does not possess.
But together, Ash and Alain manage it, in a way Alain was never capable of doing on his own. They manage to stop Lysandre and save both Kalos and the world.
It’s wonderfully poetic and the perfect conclusion to their character arcs and it requires Ash to lose the Kalos League, this is factually wrong because it never was poetic and it wasn't a perfect conclusion at all (Unless stomping the main character is a way to end his arc)
If Ash Won (and why his arc was ruined)
Ok, so let’s say for the sake of argument, we give Ash the win instead. So Ash wins, great. We’ll set aside the fact his whole arc was about how winning isn’t everything and thus handing him the Kalos League win reduces the impact of that arc for some people but it really doesn't.
also ash winning doesn't completely demolishes Alain’s arc at all. Without the win, Alain’s already questioning his strength, Ash’s stand against Lysandre doesn’t prove anything to Alain because Ash is the stronger trainer in Alain’s eyes because he won and Alain will most likely stay at Lysandre side a bit longer.
Now some may argue that’s worth it, because the League wasn't the climax of the series, because the villain arc was (sadly this is true) and unlike OS-BW, XY’s climax sadly isn’t the Kalos League, it always was the Team Flare Arc (which hurts to admit it let's me real). Gutting the character moments in the Team Flare Arc for the sake of the League actually could work and it doesn't do damage to the entire narrative of the series.
I understand people’s disappointment in the result, in the wider series, Ash had already lost five times prior and the marketing did seem to imply a victory. But separating that disappointment from the narrative of alaons character and the xyz series itself is crucial, from what I saw in the series, I believe it’s clear the XY series wouldn't be narratively hurt by a Kalos League victory.
​
Pacing: Why Astrid was Unnecessary
Now I’ve heard people criticise the Kalos League by arguing that it was ‘incomplete’ or needed more battles. Citing this one as an example of such.
I must preface this by explaining that the Kalos League would be in no way hurt by the battle were it added. My reply is not directed at those that would’ve thought the battle with Astrid would’ve been cool. Merely those who believe the league to be insufficient due to a lack of battles.
As I have explained above what I perceive to be the purpose for pretty much every single match in the current existent Kalos League. So I ask, what would a full Astrid match actually add that isn’t already covered by an existing battle.
I feel beyond giving Ash’s Pokemon more screen time there’s no benefit to the actual narrative of Alain's arc to be gained from this match and so, whilst it would be cool to see it, it is not necessary and the Kalos League isn’t ruined due to not having it. (This applies to other such proposals such as an opening ceremony or various other matches).
To put it simply, the Kalos League possesses every single element it needs to be successful and serve its function in the wider narrative of Alain's arc and team flare arc but sacrificing ash arc at the end
Conclusion
I hope I have explained, to the best of my ability of writing (because I know I suck at writing wall texts), why I believe the Kalos League works only for Alain's arc and not ash's arc and why many main criticisms of the League miss the very point of alain winning League in regards to its wider role in the XY series and the overall narrative of said series, like when people criticism Alain or ash when they don't get the arcs at all.
Again, this is not to say that the league is perfect and that it totally doesn't stomps on ash story of being a Pokemon master, merely that a main few criticisms are drastically overplayed and distract from actual discussion about the Kalos League and XY Series as a whole, including more legitimate criticisms, but all of this is mostly on the writers for not knowing how to make the story understandable for people.
post data: I most say that I don't want to make an argument with people and such I only wanted to explain things but if I left something out I can of course answer any question that I get (please don't hate me or ban me for this sub because of this)
Edit: I have to say that I don't hate Alain at all He is one of my favorites but I didn't like how they handed his character at all.

I'm not sure where to start. This is my first reddit post ever, so please bear with me. I'm a 41 yr old mom of 5. I have 2 sons and 3 daughters. Their ages are 22(M) 20(F) 15(M) 13(F) 8(F). I have always tried to be a good mom. I know I have messed up a lot, I can and will admit to that. I was a teen mom, and I didn't know the ins and outs of caring for a child, but I tried my hardest, but I know there are things I could have handled better. My husband and I have always tried to do the best for them. It hasn't always been easy, but I will be the first to defend, side with and stand next to my child if they are standing up for something they believe in even if I don't 100% agree with it. I am also a strict parent, and I know I've softened over the years. I was the hardest on my oldest son. He is now married with a baby of his own. While his wife was pregnant, he went no contact with me because of things that have happened in the past. I tried to be supportive of his decision and give him space. I would leave my home when they came to visit so that I wouldn't interfere with their time with the rest of the family. We have started talking since then. I have been on eggshells whenever they are around. I don't want to chance not knowing my grand baby or not being in my sons life, but the final straw for me was when I realized my daughters are being excluded. We have a family chat we share photos and other things with them, this chat includes his wife's family as well. Her siblings, mother, and other family members. I asked if I could add one of his sisters to the group as well and was told no. I wanted to ask why but didn't because I don't want to fight with them. It's not just the chat. My daughters are excluded in other things as well. They have never been invited to my sons home, only his little brother is allowed there. My husband and I are not allowed to come without an announcement first. His wife family can come whenever they want to. My heart is broken, I've done nothing but cry since I made this decision. It's killing me. I'm not asking my husband and other children to go no contact, I would never ask that of them. That would be their choice. I can't handle feeling like I'm not wanted or I have messed up so badly that I can't even be trusted with my grandchild. I have tried to mend things i have apologized, i keep my opinion to myself, i have wrote paragraphs to him on how proud i am of him and all hes done in life, but I am still treated like the out cast or bad guy. I'm not sure what else to write to explain why I feel this way. If you have any questions, please ask. I will try my hardest to answer your questions. I need to know AITA for deciding to go no contact.

Hey all,
The time has come again, as it usually does, where my storage space has almost run out. So I'll be expanding (and hopefully future-proofing) once again.
So I currently own a MasterCase Pro 5 that has served me so well for so long and it hurts to let go but I don't think I can fit anything else in there. I have 6x8TB Seagate IronWolf Pro put into the two cages provided (I messed up and never bought the extra cages, never thought I and the case would go this far, now they're completely out of stock and can't find them anywhere) and a phanteks expansion cage I kinda DIY'd into the case; for a total of 48TB (~30TB usable with RAID-Z2). The rest is a bit of the usual, CPU heatsink is Noctua NH-D15 (kinda tall so cases need to be able to handle it), a 980TI and that's about it.
What I once though was almost infinite space has quickly turned into 4TB free space and rapidly decreasing thanks to the miracles of the *arrs and the media server way of life.
I'm looking into upgrading capacity, with this, I think I'll need to upgrade my case, buy more drives, an HBA and probably rebuilding my ZFS config. I'd like to see if some of you could share your expertise in the matter so I don't make any expensive mistakes.

Components

For the case I'm looking at the Fractal Define 7 XL, mainly because of the server configuration, because I still use consumer grade components (mobo, ram, cpu, psu) and I'm not quite ready to grow into the rack world.
For the drives I'm looking at more Seagate IronWolf Pro, but this time 12TB which are the best bang for my buck. I'm thinking about getting 10 of them + the 6x8TB I already own.
For the HBA I have no idea yet, need to do some research but suggestions are highly appreciated.

Configuration

For the ZFS configuration I'm thinking about destroying the existing array and recreating it, creating a new vdev for the 12TB array and put both in the pool so I can dump the backup on top of it and the data is automatically rebalanced.
​
Any thoughts on this approach? I would greatly appreciate any and all input.
Also, I think I won't be able to backup the whole array, I have a 4 bay enclosure, but even full it is unlikely it will be enough, should I probably get another enclosure or backup instead only the important stuff? My backup currently consists of important stuff (documents, photos, irrecoverable stuff that would leave me devastated if lost) and lots of media that could probably be downloaded easily as well as all the torrent I'm seeding.
Thanks!

Please let me know if you are trying to sell! Thank you!

Sorry I've been gone for a bit, I had a storyline to finish up and a few bad bouts of writer's block, but I managed to get to this finished up! Here's Season 4, eps 1-13! Be sure to leave some feedback!
Season 4 (March-April):

1. Truth: First change (shared with Lies): Lukanette/Adrigami are clearly established to have been a thing over multiple weeks/a month, with the NY special being the second(?) time they’re truly established. I doubt it’s truly satisfactory, but stuff still has to work within this specific season/the larger narrative, so… eh. Second change: Andrew Hendrol is present for the concert on the Liberty (“I might have to challenge you guys to a battle of the bands one day.”) and slips off to transform into Dragonus just before Luka arrives akumatized. He absorbs Truth/Eyebeam’s (renamed Light Eye) powers then buggers off to appear later in Lies. Third change: Shadow Moth’s design. While I personally like it, it wasn’t terribly popular. So here's a slight redesign: the main body can stay the same with its purple overcoat and black lapels but make the purple a bit darker and the lapel is the same as it was on Hawk Moth. His cowl is now a chromed blue with a peacock feather “eye” right on the forehead instead of his Zuko monocle. His skin turns indigo like Mayura’s and his eyes are like Duusu’s, but more malevolent. The biggest change to his costume is the function of the tailcoat itself: its tail is like a male peacock’s train, long and vibrant blue with pinkish feather eyes in the back, and it opens and spreads in reaction to his emotions. For example, if he’s pleased or angry, it opens up and spreads out behind him, and if he’s exasperated/neutral, it folds back down. Fourth change: Marinette’s transformation into Ladybug is fixed this time around.
   
2. Lies: First change: Marinette isn’t as fan-girly over the Adrien life showing, instead wondering if he’s doing alright with his schedule. Tikki and the others assure her that he’s probably used to it, and she doesn’t have to be so worried about it. Of course, this doesn’t dissuade her nerves, especially not when the modeling session the show films has Lila in it. Second change: The art room scene gets a couple added lines of dialogue (“Adrien. Our parents raised us for perfection, but we don’t need that. We’re already perfect. We’re perfect. Just show me your truth.” “But… I’m not sure what that truth is.” “Let me show you.”) before their class starts. Third change: the Hendrols are present for Prince Ali’s birthday party – it’s why Dragonus skedaddled from the fight – and Andrew manages to hide and transform without anyone noticing, avoiding Lies’ sphere. Even Dragonus can’t risk touching the sphere, even if his cravings for power – much like a vampire – don’t go away.
   
3. Gang of Secrets: First change: Tikki attempts to console Marinette after she talks about worrying about Shadow Moth and Dragonus (“Well, Duusu had always been a bit chaotic. I could imagine that he might be causing Shadow Moth a problem or two. As for Dragonus… he can’t have it much better than you right now, right?”), which cuts to Andrew Hendrol and the Dark kwamis all having a dance party to unknown song that sounds suspiciously similar to “Hips Don’t Lie”. Second change: Instead of the girls just barging up, Tom and Sabine give them permission to go up and check on Marinette. “She hasn’t been answering for us, maybe she will for you.” And the dollhouse doesn’t break from Rose taking off the roof. Rather, Rose trips on something – maybe a roll of thread or a screwdriver or loose paper – and knocks into it. Same result, though, but Alya rightfully calls Mari out: “Okay, Marinette, something is really wrong with you. I’m sorry we can in uninvited, but your parents said we needed to check up on you, and I’m sorry Rose broke the house, but it was a complete accident and you’re blowing up over it. There’s more going on here than just boy trouble, isn’t there? We’re your friends, girl, we want to help.” To which Mari replies: “Maybe I don’t want your help, or your friendship anymore. Get out!” Third change: Dragonus swoops in during the fight and knocks around the Gang of Secrets himself after LB catches Lady Wifi, which inadvertently gives LB time to talk LW into rejecting her powers. Fourth change: Rena Rouge doesn’t look as off in this episode, where her skin was a few tones too light. Dunno if it was intentional, but that still could be fixed. The episode ends as normal.
   
4. Mr. Pigeon 72: First change: a biggie. Alya acknowledges Lila’s number of akumatizations and says, “You know, even if you couldn’t tell me about Lila’s lying about being BFFs with Ladybug, you still could’ve told me – or anyone, for that matter – about how she threatened you in the bathroom. No one threatens my BFF with impunity.” I know a lot of people were upset with Alya’s passiveness over the whole Lila situation, but this line will have impact throughout the rest of the rework. Second change: I found this out on a whim, but it turns out city pigeons are a kind of dove, so Bob Roth wasn’t entirely wrong. Fun. Third change: Andrew Hendrol is watching the evil pigeons transform people outside and figures out he can’t go out, transformed or not, without getting touched. Vorrath: “When has that stopped you before?” Andrew: “I’ve got it.” Cut to later, he invades the fight between the illusions and Mr. Pigeon in a giant mech made out of a sentimonster that he teleported into so he could fight. Overkill doesn’t begin to cover this guy. Fourth change: I’m tempted to change Ladybug’s Lucky Charm suit to her permanent one, but if I did, certain episodes wouldn’t have as much oomph later… hmmm. For now, her suit can stay the same.
   
5. Psycomedian: Honestly don’t know what to do with this one, it’s a fairly solid little episode; funny, love square-y, gives Gabriel some background and Cat Noir some spotlight. I guess I can really just add Dragonus to the mix: Psycomedian tries his emotion-gimmick on him and he no-sells it (there is a lot, and I mean a lot of lore behind Dragonus/Andrew Hendrol, so I think it would be easier to link my original fics with him up to the point I’m at for posting and you can explore his background there, as well as his powers) then proceeds to quickly skirmish with Angrybug: “There’s the fire I sensed when I absorbed your powers! Why don’t you let loose like this a little more? Finish the job!” (Again, lore makes sense if you read my main fics, I’m sorry, but he’s such a big character in my works that I don’t know how to condense it down. I’ll try but expect that later.)
   
6. Furious Fu: First change: I’m really, really confused as to why Fu and Marianne are not referred to as husband/wife or at least married. They would’ve gotten married, right? It’s not a thing that I or the fandom seem to be upset about, I’m just super confused, and if anyone is willing to enlighten me, I’d be thankful. For now, Fu and Marianne are a couple, husband and wife, like they should’ve been since Backwarder or before. Second change: During the fight between LB/CN and Su-Han, guess who shows up but Dragonus. Su-Han freezes for a moment, which gives LB/CN time to snatch the Miracle Box, but Su-Han tries to pull it back. SH: “Ladybug! You did not tell me the Dark Dragon Miraculous was in Paris!” CN: “Sounds like you never asked!” Dragonus: sarcastically “Aw, now you’ve hurt my feelings.” Draws sword and points it at SH. “So you’re the Celestial Guardian I heard about. Head honcho, I’m guessing.” SH turns his aggression towards Dragonus. SH: “You and your kind are a blighted spot amongst the history of the Miraculous, demon!” Lunges. “Heavenly Retribution! The Righteous Will of the Justiciar Breaks the World’s Evil!” Dragonus dodges most of the attacks and matches a few of them, but Su-Han lands one good punch to the stomach. Dragonus: “growls Alright, then. You aren’t as much of a pushover as they are… or the Guardians at the Temple were. If we’re going to talk in metaphors, here's mine.” Flies away from SH and presses center of sword, opening a compartment and pulls out a purple pendant on a chain, emblazoned with a stylized T-rex face. “The grand unity of dinosaurs and dragons humbles the arrogant monk. Rexx, Vorrath, Unify!” (See here for appearance: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42733506/chapters/114090748 use ctrl-F and search "Thero"). “Thero Dragon flies as the Dark Guardian!” This reveals to everyone present that Dragonus has more of the Dark Miraculouses at his disposal and subsequent “oh crap” from Su-Han reveals how serious it is. By this point, LB/CN ran off, Thero Dragon taunts Su-Han and flies off, then doesn’t return until the battle with Furious Fu in the stadium, where he absorbs FF’s powers and briefly fights LB/CN before flying off again, proclaiming that “You haven’t seen the last of Thero Dragon!”. Episode ends as normal, but Su-Han will appear again this rewrite before Ephemeral.
   
7. Sole Crusher: Okay, major change time again. I know a lot – almost utterly ridiculously so – of people do/did not like Zoe in the slightest. But, since I’m trying to stay fairly… fair to the source material (while adding new and interesting concepts), we are including Zoe, only her introduction is going to be quite different. Zoe has come to Paris because her time at her boarding school was cut short due to complete and total bullying, and her own father, a man we know as Robert Lee from Audrey, is too distant to think of another arrangement within NY and sends her to Paris to be with her mother. So, Zoe is going to be quite sullen/angry with her situation, and this becomes apparent when Marinette runs into her. Marinette apologizes profusely, but Zoe gives her a glare and basically tells her to bugger off. Marinette, though, recognizes something is wrong and pries just a little more (and it’s framed as Marinette trying to keep Zoe from attracting Shadow Moth’s attention while simultaneously trying to help), and Zoe reveals a bit of what’s happened – including the one friend – but not the full story nor which family she’s living with. Marinette, being the all-but-Lila-loving hero she is, preps a bag for the new girl. “Even if life has been bitter, it helps to have something sweet!” Marinette says. Zoe gives her a strange look. “What’s your angle? Everyone has one. Why’re you helping me?” Zoe asks, confused and suspicious. Marinette blinks in surprise and shrugs. “It’s the right thing to do, especially when you’re in a new place. I gave you my number if you’d like to chat.” Zoe blinks twice, clearly surprised by the generosity and seeming genuine nature of the girl in front of her. “Okay, then. I guess I should give you mine so… you know.” Marinette holds out her hand. “So I don’t lose it.” The first step to breaking Zoe’s rough exterior has been taken, but said rough exterior still persists when Zoe arrives at the hotel. Another major change: Audrey, while trying to be more supportive of Chloe, still has her preferred child, and that preferred child is Zoe, because, and this will cause drama later, “Zoe is one of only four people in my life who don’t grovel at my feet.” Chloe walks into the lounge/dining hall and hears this and immediately goes nuclear, but her rant is cut short by Zoe snapping at her to “Shut your mouth, you little brat.” Chloe is, of course, horrifically offended, but Audrey breaks it up before it escalates and sends them to get to know each other better… which, given this Zoe, goes about as well as expected. She snaps at all of Chloe’s rules, throws the diamond heels, and when Chloe calls her a “horrible half-of-a-sister”, Zoe throws it right back at her. This back-and-forth continues to school, where Zoe doesn’t bend to Chloe’s whims, but instead blows up at her again – which inadvertently does two things: it proves that Zoe isn’t like Chloe, but she’s quote-unquote “bad” in other ways. Of course, someone – Andrew Hendrol – sees this whole debacle and comments, “Such a powerful response to Chloe’s bratty self, such a temper. Oh, yesss, I like her.” There’s still “scaring Damocles” and “Marinette/girls talk about Zoe and Chloe”, but it’s less of Chloe’s influence and more “wow she’s scary but I bet Chloe had something to do with it.” Marinette and Zoe’s text still goes through, and Chloe still snaps at her for texting Marinette, but Zoe just snaps at her. “It’s none of your business, Chloe.” Chloe, on the other hand, makes it her business and goes back to her notebook, eventually landing on cockroaches in the locker (reused material, really?) to punish Marinette, and Zoe actually stumbles, a haunted look in her eyes. She staggers out of the room (taking the heels with her) and out to the roof, prepping to throw the shoes away in anger (perhaps a metaphor for something more disturbing) before losing the will to and she just breaks, resting her head against the bar and starts to cry. Andre comes up to her, they talk, and Zoe reveals her original dream of acting. “I’m good at it, but then everyone expected a different Zoe and they pressured me and I broke and now I can’t think of acting or anything without getting angry… I don’t like being angry. Not with the people who don’t deserve it, not with Chloe, not with anyone… I just want to be me, but I’m scared that the angry one is me…” Andre sighs. “You know, it might be good for you to… put a little bit of time between your past and now. Choose what you want to put in the Dream Cellar, and once you’ve… adjusted, you can come get it. Or you can leave it. The choice is yours.” Zoe’s akumatization stays the same, the general akuma battle remains the same, except for Thero Dragon Siphoning off Sole Crusher’s powers and stomping a few civilians for big kaiju battle time while taunting Chloe (“You can run, but I know I’m in your nightmares!”), which provides LB/CN enough time to find the akumatized sneakers and break them. The barge scene is a little different: Zoe explains what happened, and while her backstory with the crowds and roaches hasn’t changed too much, she adds, “I had one friend, but even she wasn’t around very much… not enough to help me when I needed it. I don’t blame her, she had a rough childhood, too, but I still pent that up. I’m sorry you had to see my outbursts. I get it if you don’t want to be my friend.” Of course, huggy happiness still ensues, the Bourgeois confrontation still happens, though Chloe’s basis for her demands is “If she stays here, she’ll make me stress out and ruin my perfect me!” and her threat is to crush you like your NY classmates did, while Audrey just rolls her eyes. “Chloe, quit being melodramatic. I understand Zoe’s not been the best sister – which is a discussion we will have later – but she’s not going back to New York now. I’m certainly not going to be responsible for her return fares.” The episode ends with Andre asking Zoe to “Call me Dad. I know your father is… distant, and I don’t know if I can replace him, but-” Zoe hugs him. “Thanks, Dad. Promise me you’ll make the choice to take your past out of the cellar, too.” The episode ends the same, with a much happier Zoe thanking Marinette for everything as a photo album (with dates so we can at least see it was a week or two between this and Queen Banana!) plays across the screen.
   
8. Queen Banana: First change: Chloe’s “half-of-a-sister” bit when she bursts into the art room is now “Giving the lead role to my half-of-a-sister who just came out of nowhere a week ago?!”, and all of the talk of going back to New York is replaced with snappy but ultimately toothless posturing about ruining her life. Zoe, of course, is having none of that and snaps back at her with “The only way you’re ruining this movie is if you pry it from our hands!” The art room scene ends the same way as in the original, but the scene in Bob Roth’s office is changed a little bit: Not as much mention of going back to New York and more mention of Chloe’s pride as she says “You said our hands, which apparently includes the producer’s hands, too. Oh, I love a good loophole!” Zoe is oddly okay with this and confidently whispers to the others “We just need to outlast her, trust me.” Second change: Andrew Hendrol is part of the filming crew – “Live soundtrack design” he calls it, while Chloe calls it useless – and escapes the ‘enchanted sleep’ part of the filming, and is shown to get increasingly more annoyed with Chloe, to the point of risking his secret identity as Thero Dragon by offering to play the fire-breathing dragon suggested by Alya (“Lemme do it, I’ll knock that role out of the park, just let me actually blast her with fire.”). Third change: After Marinette’s rousing soapbox speech, Zoe pats her on the shoulder. “See what I meant about outlasting her?” Fourth change: Not to be outdone, Everett Hendrol, Andrew’s father (who is also present in the theater unlike Gabriel, showcasing the closer relationship Everett has with his son than Gabriel does with his), has also chipped in some pocket change (an amount of several thousand euros in Europe money I guess), so the film is entirely cut off from the city’s funding and Chloe’s interference, and when Chloe runs off, Everett darkly chuckles once as Andrew calls out “Cry me a river, Queen Banana!” (Everett is aware of Chloe’s antics and the Hendrols as a family have no sympathy for those, especially the rich, who act like fools). Fifth change: Again, Chloe’s revenge plan isn’t to get Zoe sent back to NY, she’s going to crush Zoe in a way only she can come up with… which is banana. Sixth change: There’s less of a “my fault” moment from Zoe and that weird “promise” bit is gone, now it’s just Zoe deciding to face down her sister and give her a reality check. “You want to know why we waited until you were gone to shoot the movie? Why we talked Gabriel Agreste into funding it? It’s because no one could stand your bratty behavior! Not because we hate you, not because anyone turned against you, but because you couldn’t swallow your pride and work as part of the team. If this is how you acted as part of Ladybug’s team when you were Queen Bee, it’s no wonder you were kicked off!” Queen Banana gets infuriated, Ladybug saves Zoe, they scooter off into the subway, where Ladybug commends Zoe’s bravery, but definitely winces a little bit regarding Queen Bee. “Chloe, for all her faults, wasn’t terrible as Queen Bee, but she really had attachment issues to the Miraculous, even after I tried… and failed to explain to her that her secret identity was compromised. But I doubt I’ll have that issue with you. Zoe Lee, (insert Miraculous speech here).” Seventh change: Once Queen Banana’s banana gun is glued up and she realizes she’s about to lose and runs, guess what, Thero Dragon drops in front of her, triggering Chloe’s trauma from the Miracle Queen incident. Thero Dragon Siphons off Queen Banana’s banana powers for the fun of it, then activates the power of the Dark T-rex Miraculous, Silver Tongue, which manifests as a purple blast of energy that, if it hits a human target, allows the T-rex holder to manipulate the minds of their target… which Thero Dragon uses to break down all of Chloe’s confidence and restraints, all the while tormenting her with things like “Your mother hates you,” “Your so-called friends despise you,” and “You’re utterly ridiculous.” Ladybug and Cat Noir start driving him back, but he managed to do enough damage as he needed. “I don’t know why you bother defending a traitor,” he says. “She wouldn’t do the same for you.” Queen Banana by now has fallen back, crying, and freeing her from Shadow Moth is an act of mercy, but Chloe still refuses the Magical Charm based on her own (self-nurtured) hatred for Ladybug and Vesperia, both for replacing her and failing to save her from Thero Dragon. Eighth change: Chloe, in her anger, swings at Zoe when she declares her hate, only for Zoe to catch it way too fast and lower Chloe’s fist while she gives her speech, and once Chloe takes the Charm and the akuma is repelled, Andre steps in and reprimands her for trying to hit Zoe, even going so far as to… “Chloe Bourgeois, your behavior is becoming completely unacceptable. You are embarrassing yourself and your family. Give me your phone. You are hereby grounded for a week.” Chloe looks shocked. “WHAT?!?” Andre is stern. “I’ve failed as a father. I should’ve tried to keep your behavior in check when you acted out, and I see I’ve failed terribly. There are so many people we will have to apologize to, especially your classmates for everything you’ve done to them.” The episode ends with Marinette and Tikki wondering if this new approach to Chloe’s behavior will do anything good.
   
9. Gabriel Agreste: First change: Shadow Moth’s monologue is merged with Gabriel’s scene in the mausoleum under the mansion, first with Gabriel with his back to Emilie’s coffin before he turns to face it. Second change: When Nathalie offers Gabriel half of her sandwich, he initially refuses (“You need your strength.”) and she insists, then he crumbles (“You’ll need your strength, too.” “…Alright. Thank you.”). Third change: Andrew Hendrol is not present at the art-room fairy-tale-comparison blah thing, but Zoe’s response to Marinette’s question changes to “My mother has been attempting to treat her kids equally. Unfortunately, that means when Chloe got grounded for a week, I had to miss out on the dinner party. Had I known this was gonna happen, I would’ve put up more of a fight.” Also because of this, Zoe is NOT in Marinette’s room, but she is patched into the whole conversation thanks to Max and Markov. Fourth change: Audrey Bourgeois is throwing glares at Andre (apparently over punishing Chloe) and takes note of the solitary gold-trimmed black mask shaped like a lion’s head. “Don’t tell me he’s coming. You invited Hendrol?” “I had to. Otherwise he’d invite himself and ruin everything unexpectedly. At least now we can expect it.” Continuing the trend, after the Tsurugis arrive at the party, a shiny silver sedan rolls into the front gate, and Everett and Andrew Hendrol step out. Everett is in a pure white suit, in complete contrast to the rest of the party, and the hostility in the air is palpable as the car mogul and his son enter the foyer. “Gabriel.” “Everett. I would… like to welcome you to the party. Though the dress code specified darker clothes for all attendees.” “Really? I didn’t notice that, but even if I had, my black suits are all being cleaned. This is all I had.” “Indeed. Your mask, as requested.” Everett weighs the black lion mask in his hand. “Well, it’s not quite the cut obsidian I had hoped, but given your work, I shouldn’t be surprised.” Gabriel is imperceptibly seething. “I must ask you to stow your device-” “Neither of us will do that, and your little scrambler isn’t going to work on it, either. Your tricks, Gabriel, have been done by men greater than you a thousand times. And I’m the only one still standing.” Of course, when Chloe and Marinette sneak into the ballroom, everyone is giving Everett Hendrol a wide berth as he’s drinking something. Sixth change: The transformation into Shadow Moth from civilian form is still “Nooroo, Duusu, Unify!” I always hated that Dual Metamorphosis nonsense. Seventh change: Andrew Hendrol is fiddling on his phone – the only one that works, but Chloe can’t take it bc he already slapped her hand – when people start to leave Adrien’s room. Eighth change: Gabriel’s threat to Felix is more explicitly “I just need to snap my fingers, and you will be thrown out of here and I will tell everyone the truth about what you did and what you are. Think of your mother, Felix. She’d be devastated to see her only son hauled off for stealing from me… or the Hendrols. Everett is easy enough to provoke, and all I’d have to do is blame whatever I do on you. He’d personally see your life become pure torment.” Ninth change: Thero Dragon pounces on the Collector and Siphons from him, chuckling darkly as he does. “Clever plan, Shadow Moth, clever plan, indeed. But you aren’t fooling anyone.” Tenth change: We get a second epilogue: after Gabriel’s scene, we cut to a scene in the Hendrol mansion. Everett Hendrol is sitting at his desk, watching a chess board on the surface. The white pieces are miniature statues of him and other people, including Andrew, the black pieces are mini statues of Paris’s elite and relations: Gabriel as the king, Emilie queen, Tomoe and Amelie as bishops, Audrey and Andre as knights, Bob Roth and one unknown person as castles, and the pawns are their kids (Adrien/Chloe/Kagami/Felix/XY and three blank ones). The pieces are all at rest like the beginning of a game, but the queen (Emilie) and one castle (as yet unknown) are lying down. Everett just smirks, moves one of the white pieces a space forward, then a black piece. Everett Hendrol declared war.
   
10. Mega Leech: First change: Polymouse or Manimouse for Mylene’s super-name? I want public opinion on this. Second change: Andrew Hendrol is present at the “Stop Project Oxygen” rally and reveals a bit more depth to his character (and potentially a motivation for Thero Dragon): he is very conscientious about the environment, and he becomes increasingly annoyed with the ad and brutally picks it apart. “Two of my best friends’ parents work for the Hendrol Motors Advertising Division and this is exactly what they said a bad ad looks like. Also, Paris’s investors are brainless idiots who barely know how to stand up for themselves, let alone save the planet.” And he snaps at Chloe. “Wasting water? You mean like you do by existing? And don’t get your dad in this, my dad would destroy him.” All in all, he sides with Mylene first. “I’m getting my dad to counter-fund this scheme, he’s already gone to war.” Andrew then leaves right before the Minidiktators show up to transform into Thero Dragon. “After all, they can’t get me if my ears are covered.” Thero Dragon is just brutally attacking Mega Leech by himself… revealing a scary level of contempt for sentimonsters. Third change: The Minidiktator possessing Cat Noir is expelled through his real ear, not the cat one. Fourth change: Ladybug’s suit doesn’t weirdly swap between Lucky Charm suit and normal near the end, it just stays normal. The rest of the episode… ends as normal. Even that scene at the end.
    
11. Guiltrip: I don’t really have too many problems with this episode, nor do I really remember any complaints about (though I’m sure I’ll be corrected in the comments), the most I can really think of is adjusting it to fit my current ideas. So… First change: Juleka speaks clearly and no one’s parroting her words. Second change: While the first half of the episode plays out the same, Andrew Hendrol is noticeably absent, but once the second half starts, he shows up and he’s very unhappy/unpleasant to be around. It’s explained that he had to take a day off for stomach flu (and, little lore bit, he’s always very temperamental after a bout of sickness). As such, he doesn’t have much in the way of patience for the second half’s antics, but unlike Chloe, he’s quietly stewing and not drawing too much attention to himself. This extends to the later fight within Guiltrip (after he leaves the science lab when he realizes the only ones left are him, Chloe, Sabrina and Lila), as his negative emotions as Thero Dragon end up being so bad that Guiltrip gets hurt by them… and he flies off the handle once a bubble pops against him. He cools off eventually, but yeah. Third change: No animation errors. God, this episode was a doozy.
    
12. Crocoduel: First change: Luka acknowledges that Marinette hasn’t been around since Zoe first joined the group instead of not seeing her since their breakup. Gotta love the writers forgetting characters being in places at times ugh. Second change: Fix the animation errors. Third change: About half the partygoers (Mylene/Ivan/Rose/Nino/Alya) know that Jagged Stone is the twins’ father. Fourth change: The sky doesn’t immediately become overcast the moment Jagged and Anarka are akumatized. That was just weird. Fifth change: When Cat Noir complains that he and Ladybug don’t have wings, Thero Dragon flies over them and taunts “But I do!”, he flies up, Siphons from Guitar Villain and Captain Hardrock, then pits them further against each other for giggles. Then he reappears to Siphon off Purple Tigress’s power. Sixth change: The Tiger Miraculous transformation phrase is “Paint my Stripes!” not “Stripes On!”. The episode ends otherwise normally.
    
13. Optigami: First change: As an extra precaution to keep potential suspicion from Ladybug away, Gabriel makes sure Audrey invites Adrien’s entire class plus two extra invitations that go to Luka and Kagami. Second change: The first elevator bit with the entire class is stupid, so it’s getting changed to “Andrew Hendrol (who is in the elevator) rolls his eyes and punches the close button while Marinette tries to avoid Alya”. Third change: Andrew Hendrol slips out just before Audrey gets akumatized and discreetly transforms into Thero Dragon, and he immediately picks up on the smell of Shadow Moth in the building. He starts prowling around the building, waiting for the right moment to strike. This moment comes when Style Queen is about to hit the elevator Marinette/Adrien are trapped in, just before Shadow Moth calls her off. He blindsides her with his clamp weapon, then disarms her (literally) with his sword before Voyaging to the floor below, cackling the whole time. Fifth change: When Ladybug realizes that “Nino” is actually a sentimonster and calls out Shadow Moth, “Nino” starts laughing as his eyes glow gold and his body starts to deform into a monstrous shape. Thero Dragon’s voice starts echoing out of it. “And to think you almost got revealed because of an ally’s actions, Ladybug,” he said. “First the Turtle brought out without your explicit orders, then what? Someone betrays you for the Miracle Box? The only way to protect what you hold dear is this: ally yourself with me, and I can grant you access to powers you could only dream of. Consider my offer, because if the trend continues, you might lose more than just your privacy because of a fake butterfly.” Ladybug runs off to get the Turtle Miraculous Cataclysmed. Sixth change: Marinette is a little shaken by the end of the episode and some of her words are a little more barbed than intended, to which she apologizes and offers a solution to the problem faced that day, giving Alya the Fox Miraculous full-time, but gives her a few rules to follow. “If I find out you broke one, I’m taking the Miraculous back. Understand?” The episode ends pretty much the same. Oh, and that phone in the Miracle Box container? It’s (a little clunkily) mentioned that Marinette created the one during a “random creation attempt” session with Alya.
    

So, yeah. Now that I've finished working on my main Dragonus storyline and summer's on the way, I might be able to get the second half (plus the halves of Season 5!) out relatively quickly. As I promised, here is the link to the main Dragonus storyline, I'm almost finished posting it all. It's a divergence from Season 3 with some concepts pulled from the NY special and Season 4/5, but all in all it's a pretty good read (I don't exactly redeem Chloe as much as punch her until she understands that she's been horrible but she definitely becomes better): https://archiveofourown.org/series/2798386
Give me feedback, please! Your feedback helps me make this better!

well i dropped the ball again

I don't want a cheapie phone that will die in a year or two but I also don't want to spend anything close to a grand for a new phone. Only reason I want a new one really from my Google Pixel is because the input audio no longer works when I am making a call on speaker.
What's the best way to buy a new phone without breaking the bank? Refurbished? Cheapest option at Verizon?
The only thing I really care about is photo quality and Android OS - I don't need the wide zoom lens or anything like that.

Good evening all! Late notice but I wanted to be sure it was okay with the mods… I am one of the owners of Tris4Health, an event production company that puts on races on both sides of the state. We are running a sale on our remaining gravel events for 2023 and I thought I’d let everyone know.
Ugly Dog Gravel Tri - www.uglydoggraveltri.com
The Dirty Mitten Gravel Fest - gravel bike race on Saturday and a Tri on Sunday - www.thedirtymitten.com
Rode to Hell - www.rodetohell.com
We are also running a promotion on the newly relaunched Grand Rapids Gran Fondo (formerly the MSU Gran Fondo) where anyone registering through the holiday is registration win a $400 Lululemon gift card.
Happy to answer any question anyone has about the sales and promotions or our events in general.
Use the code Gravel25 at checkout.

This short story is a part of the Mieran Ruins Collection. The rest of the stories can be found on this masterpost.
"How could you leave me dad?" Frida holds the man and shakes him rapidly. Her wails attract the attention of the entire city. The man she's holding begins to cry as well. His cries causes Frida to wail louder creating a feedback loop of dramatic sadness.
"Frida. That's not Owen," Reid says.
"What?" Frida looks at the man quaking in her arms.
"Don't worry. I'll be the father you never had. Please put me down," he cries.
"Hmm, he sounds like he'd make a good father," Frida says.
"No, he's not why we're here, and we don't want imprisonment. We want revenge," Reid says.
"Can we punish him too?"
"Frida, we're wasting time. Put him down. Let's go," Olivia commands. Frida drops the man who twists his ankle when he hits the ground.
"Sorry mom," Frida says.
"Good. Now let's go find Owen," Olivia says. The four of them leave the jail cell and the crying guard.
Henrietta still only uses one building for the majority of its municipal services. As the city grows, the government created new jobs and put the employees wherever they fit. The result is a mess of cubicles and departments. A person wanting to file their taxes may have to go up and down five flights of stairs four times in the same trip. It would be sensible to rearrange the building, but they would have to wait until the Committee of Planning agrees to a proper layout. The Committee of Planning isn't going to meet until the proper manager approves the Committee members. No one is quite sure who the proper manager is and who appoints the aforementioned. Everyone lives with the cardio until the web of bureaucracy is untangled which will be never.
Confusing floor plans impede revenge plans which is quite unfortunate. The four people have to check every single cubicle for Owen and apologize for interrupting someone's work (which is really just looking busy since it's a government building). They could move faster if they split up and looked for him, but Olivia and Reid don't trust Jim and Frida. Jim would get distracted at the first person who is nice to him, and Frida would burn the building down with them still inside of it. Their journey thus continues at a snail-like pace.
Polly's descent into madness in contrast has gone at a rapid pace. Her god Trasho ran out the window for an acorn. Polly has no gods and no masters. Such nihilism terrifies her. All she has is the garbage. The trash surrounds her and infects her nostrils. The emptiness of life is really the whole that we shove our trash into.
Yet isn't that the purpose of nihilism. Recognizing the life is garbage, and all we can do is make the most out of it. Yes, it's so simple that Polly's surprised she didn't think of it earlier. Who needs Trasho. All Polly is needs herself and garbage.
"Owen, it's time for pay for what you've done." Jim shouts into an empty cubicle. "Damnit, that would've been much cooler if he was here."
"You guys are looking for Owen." The woman in the next cubicle pokes her head over the wall.
"Yes, do you know him?" Reid asks.
"Yeah, he sits there, but he went home early today. His house is really close. It's four blocks north and three blocks east. Look for the bright orange door. Extremely tacky in my opinion," she says.
"Why are you helping us?" Olivia asks.
"Because he eats other people's food in the breakroom, he deserves whatever punishment he's getting."
"What a bastard," Reid says.
The four try to exit the building, but they spend a few minutes trying to exit the current floor that their on. When they reach the stairs, Jim starts to run up instead of down so Reid has to grab him. When they go outside, Frida threatens the first person they see again. They then have to persuade her to follow the rest to Owen's house. With such behavior, is it really a mystery that Owen wouldn't want to associate with them.
After a half-hour of needless distractions, they finally reach Owen's house. It's a single story house with bright yellow paint and circular windows. The welcome mat has a horrible poop joke. The entire décor is a crime against good taste. When Frida kicks down the door, none of his neighbors help.
"Alright, listen here dad. I'm done with you ignoring me." Jim walks in hitting a lead pipe on his hand. He hits it too hard and drops the pipe.
"Yeah, what's the big idea being a deadbeat dad," Reid adds. Owen stares at them with a defeated look.
"Why do you think I'm your father?" Owen asks.
"Because she told us, and we saw the pictures," Frida says. Owen picks up a photo album.
"These pictures?" Owen asks.
"Yes those pictures," Frida says.
"Your story sounded familiar, but there was an odd aspect that I couldn't put my finger on until I looked at them." Owen points at Olivia. "She was never pregnant."
"That's preposterous," Olivia replies.
"No, it's true. I distinctly remember you faking pregnancy to get sympathy and ensure that you were always saved in an alien attack," Owen says.
"Uhh, that sounds like something I would do," Olivia admits.
"But she's holding a baby in a few of the pictures," Reid says.
"It's true. To be honest, I don't know who's kid that is. She would frequently pretend other people's kids were hers," Owen says.
"But she dropped a kid off at the shelter," Jim says.
"Nah, she wanted to see if she could steal a kid for a few days to complete the illusion. I talked her out of it," Owen says.
"Crap, it's all coming back to me now. I really did that," Olivia says.
"It's okay. I can forgive you for that if you can forgive me for arresting you. Then, we can start over again," Owen smiles.
"Nah, I never liked that song okay," Olivia replies.
The four return home to find Polly sitting in a chair staring at the wall.
"Hey guys, how was the trip?" Polly asks.
"Meh, how were you? I thought you would clean?" Reid asks.
"I was bored. I thought about cleaning, but I didn't do it," Polly says.
"So neither of us did or learned anything," Reid says.
"Of course, like always."
AstroRideWrites

Hey gang,
My partner and I just got back from our first trip to Japan so I thought I'd do a write up of our experience.

• 13/05: Flew into Narita Airport from Australia. Overall uneventful since we landed at around 6:30pm. Getting through customs and immigration was easy and quick thanks to the QR codes. Had a few issues with transport to the hotel. First being that the JR Suica/ticket machines don't accept foreign credit cards, which we didn't know and caused us a bit of panic thinking our cards just wouldn't work in Japan. Thankfully we had cash and were able to load money onto the Welcome Suicas with that. We were staying in Shinjuku so we caught a train to Nippori Station and transferred there. Accidentally tapped the Suica card where I shouldn't have and couldn't get through the gate to transfer. One of the employees thankfully spoke fluent English and was very helpful, he took me to the counter to get the $13 I had just accidentally been charged refunded, but I think there was a language breakdown between him and the man at the counter, as the man at the counter charged me another $13 and made me pay for a physical ticket to Shinjuku. Eventually we got to Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku around 9:30pm and called it a night.
• 14/05: Explored Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku this day. Shibuya was awesome to finally see in person, wasn't as busy as we expected but to be fair we got there around 11am. Harajuku was packed though. Overall we felt that Takeshita street seemed a bit tourist trap-y. There were a lot of people to the point where we could barely move but a lot of the shops were much the same (so many crepe shops). There were also a fair few men following people in the crowds and trying to pull them into shops, which made us a bit uncomfortable. We made our way to Kabukicho at night and loved how alive it was (also had some of the best mochi there). The lights were definitely something to behold and for what is considered the "red light district", we didn't feel unsafe or anything (except for one moment where we were followed by some guys who kept trying to get our attention).
• 15/05: Made our way to Disneysea. My partner had never been to a Disney park and I had only ever been to California Disneyland once a few years ago. Overall we loved it, the atmosphere was great, the popcorns were fun to try, and the end of night show was incredible. Not much more to say here.
• 16/05: Today was Asakusa and Akihabara. Asakusa and Sensoji were really great to see in person. We got there early before the shopping street filled up (and before most of the shops opened) and it was great to be able to walk around without the crowds of people. The temple and pagodas were bigger than we expected. We went to Akihabara afterwards and were a little let down. Not sure what we expected but there just didn't seem to be a whole lot there. The shops we went into seemed overpriced when comparing the stock to what we'd already seen elsewhere. That night we went and watched the Sumo Grand Tournament and loved it. Definitely something I'd encourage everyone to try and see once, it was an awesome experience.
• 17/05: Day trip to Hakone on this day. Very picturesque, wasn't super packed and touristy, which was nice. Around the Hakone Shrine was very busy though. There was a line about 50 people long to take a photo in front of the shrine. We waited in the line for about 40min and barely moved before we gave up and went elsewhere. Everyone at the front of the line was doing a full photoshoot with multiple phones and cameras. We got the Hakone Freepass so we hopped on the ship across Lake Ashi and caught the ropeway up to Owakudani. It was a little cloudy but we were still able to see Mt Fuji. Overall a good day, got a lot of great photos out of it.
• 18/05: Travel day today. We caught the Shinkansen to Osaka for the next leg of our trip. Checked in to Hotel Intergate Osaka Umeda and it was an incredible hotel for the price. Can't recommend it enough. Went to Dotonbori for dinner but I stupidly left most of our cash in the hotel by accident, so we couldn't get a whole lot of food. Still, Dotonbori was really fun to just walk around and look at, albeit also very busy.
• 19/05: Went to Universal Studios on this day and it might be the only day of the trip we would consider "bad". The park is not designed well for the number of visitors it gets. It was raining this day which I obviously won't blame the park for, but it did make things a bit more difficult. We went on a "quiet" day and there was still a 90min+ wait for almost every ride. Comparing it to Disneysea, it was obvious that this was an "American" park and not a Japanese park, if that makes sense. Our lunch here may have been our most expensive meal all trip and it genuinely just wasn't very nice (I know you can't expect much from theme park food but Disneysea raised our expectations a bit). Tip for anyone planning on going: disregard whatever the Universal website says is the opening time, it's 8:30am. Apparently this is just something they don't tell you. And expect Harry Potter land and Super Nintendo World to be packed no matter what.
• 20/05: Nara. This was a nice little day trip, but definitely geared toward tourists with the deer. There were some nice temples and the deer were cool to see roaming around the street and parks, but it's definitely somewhere I don't think we'd go back to. Once you've seen the deer and the temples there didn't seem to be much else around. Wouldn't say it was a bad day though, but the deer are very obviously the main draw.
• 21/05: Kyoto on this day, it was lovely. All of the old temples and shrines were great to see. We got to Fushimi Inari early in the morning so it was quiet and we were able to experience without hoardes of people. Kiyomizu-dera definitely had to be seen to be believed. The view seemed unreal. Be aware though, the old streets of Higashiyama got VERY packed, almost as busy as Takeshita Street in Harajuku.
• 22/05: Had a bit of a shopping day today. We had breakfast at a very lovely bakery near Osaka Castle and checked out the castle in the morning, then spent the day shopping around Osaka. That night we went to Shinsekai and were incredibly underwhelmed. Not sure what we expected but it wasn't what we got. A lot of storefronts were either empty or were rundown and just had a few capsule toy machines in them. It reminded us of an old carnival. We didn't stay very long here.
• 23/05: Another travel day back to Tokyo on the Shinkansen. Checked in to Hotel Sardonyx Tokyo and it was a fine hotel. Lovely view from the corner suite but the room itself needed a clean. Also had the comfiest bed and pillows of any hotel we'd stayed in this trip, granted the other hotel beds were hard as stone and the pillows weren't much better. We went to Teamlab Planets on this day as well and while it was nice, we came to the conclusion that if you've seen everyone elses Instagram posts, you've seen it all. We aren't huge social media people so we were in and out within 30-45min. I'd imagine the only way people could spend 2 hours in there is if they were taking a lot of Instagram photos everywhere.
• 24/05: Day trip to Yokohama. This may have been one of our favourite days of the trip. Yokohama was a lovely city. That was clean and modern but without the crowds of Tokyo, and it was only a 30min train ride out of Tokyo. The Cupnoodles Museum was fun and Cosmoworld was really cool to see. The Air Cabin gave us a real view of how picturesque the city was. We made our way through Yamashita Park to the Gundam Factory to check out the giant Gundam. Initially we thought it was a waste of money since it cost a bit to get in, but after seeing the giant mech move we decided it was worth the money. We aren't huge Gundam fans but where else can you see a giant robot doing that? It was just a great thing to experience. That night we went back to Tokyo for dinner and had probably the most uncomfortable dining experience of the trip. We found a street of cool looking restaurants the previous night so this night we found one that looked good, had a huge menu, and advertised that there was an English menu. We went in and were told there was a 350yen cover charge per table, which we were fine with. The lady began to seat us at a booth near the entrance to the restaurant but was stopped by a man who I assume was her boss. They seemed to begin arguing in Japanese and eventually he led us to a very cramped back room near the smoking area and seated us on a bar table. In this room were mainly Americans and sleazy looking older businessmen. The menu they gave us had significantly fewer items on it than the one outside and there was hardly enough room for us to get on to our seats. We figured that we were probably being treated a bit differently because we were foreigners and we felt a bit uncomfortable. So we just ordered a plate of gyozas and asked for the bill. When the bill came, the cover charge was 700yen (350yen per person), which was more than the gyozas. I put 5000 yen in the tray to pay and the waitress walked off with it and didn't return with my change. We sat there for a couple of minutes before the man who had seated us in this back area came back with my change and we promptly left and got dinner at a 7/11 instead.
• 25/05: Tokyo Disneyland. We were excited for this, I think I was more excited though since I had such fond memories of California Disneyland. The park was great, but something about it wasn't as good as the park in California. I can't fully put my finger on it but it felt different. It wasn't a "child vs adult" thing because I was 21 when I went to California. I think the different language on the rides played a part in the enjoyment. Not a huge part, but it just throws you a little bit. We obviously didn't expect the rides and whatnot to be in English, but we didn't think we'd notice it as much as we did. That being said, however, the rides were still obviously incredible. My partner loved the Beauty and the Beast ride and we both thought Pooh's Honey Hunt was one of the best rides we've been on (seriously that trackless system is a game changer). I loved Pirates and Haunted Mansion before getting to Tokyo and my partner, similarly, was in love with both from the first time we rode them. They cancelled the night time fireworks due to "weather" (we really aren't sure if this is the real reason as the weather was fine, no rain and barely any clouds). But overall a good way to end the trip.
• 26/05: Our last day. The flight was at 8:50pm so we spent the day packing our bags and getting some last minute shopping done. There was an earthquake when we were in the airport that made the building shake, so that was an especially interesting way to end the trip.

All in all, we enjoyed the trip. It had it's hiccups but we'd definitely go back.