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Welcome!

Hello, sorry for the delay this week, it's been a weird one! I'm taking pains to make it less of a problem in the future, but please be aware I'm a bit behind in work unfortunately so it may be a bit compounded. Now that that's over with, I hope your reading this week came quick and free like a kestrel!

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 5 - Bettering

Ged arrives, Tenar is steadfast that she will make him live. A segment here about Flint, Tenar's withdrawn boy who became a sailor. Therru already takes an interest in Ged, noticing his scars from the first book look a bit like burn marks. Aunty Moss and Tenar converse about things including how one knows a sorcerer and how one should live. Ged awakes, despite Aunty Moss being a bit detached (she views him as unnatural after all). Later Tenar has that flying sea dream again. Ged and Tenar converse about many things from the last book. Nobody comes for Ged from Roke or elsewhere, is it forbidden? Everything is interrupted by a goat, which happens so often there's actually a saying for it.
In-depth Summary

Chapter 6 - Worsening

A bit of a 180 here (or at least some of the optomistic falseness falls away), the chapter even starts that the nights are long even though its spring. Ged has taken to wandering (Ogion's way) and not eating. A situation occurs one night (involving, among other things, Tenar not being sure she shouldn't move on, Ged being steadfast he is ruined, and even throwing in Tenar's face the costly saving of Therru's life) and Tenar instinctually looks to the star, Tehanu. What is the evil of the struggle of powerlessness? More dreams again. The next morning, Ged seems to commune with the birds, Tenar watching Therru intensely watching Sparrowhawk watching a kestrel watching its prey. A seemless transition to a memory of Ogion telling Tenar about Sparrowhawk.
In-depth Summary

Chapter 7 - Mice

Townsend, the messenger from Chapter 2, arrives bringing news of the king's men at port. Ged practically bolts right there when he receives this news. The relationship draws parralels to all the times Therru was made to be something she was not (including literally a pawn as a dark priestess, that's how far the blasphemy goes). Ged has a plan but he is naive, Tenar fixes it and illuminates Ogion's last wishes to her involving Therru (of which Ged isn't much help). Aunty Moss arrives and, despite having reservations about Ged, help him by letting him retreat to her house. The men arrive at Tenar's and it's a mixed bag, she gets them to leave but also immediately writes a note to Ged (using a page from a powerful book as stationary) to flee that very night. Therru has a very bad reaction to the men but insists on carrying the note there herself (even though its past the village she has avoided), flying all the way.
In-depth Summary

Chapter 8 - Hawks

Ged has received the message and left. Aunty Moss arrives and relays this, and they have a disscussion about many things, including the Art, an odd anti-love spell that wizards cast, even Aunty Moss's love life. Aunty Moss stresses that Tenar should have been thinking about her reputation. Another dream, this one full of dragon-breath. Therru's constitution seems good lately, and Tenar has a fancy about teaching Therru a trade, and even goes to town (a thing she hasn't really done yet) to pick up fabric for a nice dress for Therru. A daydream about Ged turns south, and oddly enough Tenar actually does see the leather capped man from the group who had stared hard at Therru. Tenar visits Fan the weaver, is shown a the namesake of dragonesque portent, and goes home. Unfortunately, Heather is alone, and despite going to Aunty Moss (who starts a finding spell) and searching everywhere (including the cliffs) Therru is nowhere to be seen. Returning back home, Therru is found hiding behind the door right by the staves. The man in the leather cap had returned there and it becomes clear he is one of the people who was in the vagrant camp at the beginning of the story (probably not the father, but the one who said Therru hurt herself and then who disappeared). Enraged, Tenar tends to Therru and tells her she can't become withdrawn. They both go to Aunty Moss partially to end the finding spell which Aunty Moss has said gone wrong: it has found dragons and Tenar has a bit of that aura about her. They have a discussion and Tenar says she will confront them at the lord's manor, where the man has been hired for haying.
In-depth Summary

Example Discussion Questions

• Do you think Ged is permanently bereft of powers? Is it in actuality, or mostly just societal? Why does he flee?
• Does the anti-love spell thing ring true? Does it feel like a retcon or is there some other reason for its inclusion (say, for instance, its not-exactly-false comparison to the rites of the Atuan)?
• What reason does the leather capped man have for returning? Why might the author thematically employ him to the lord's manor?

Last season's intro had Dee's name above everyone else. This season's it's a little more complicated but it's there:
The first image in the intro is a huge wave with the number "46" inside. This is followed by Yanu tribemates drowning. The Survivor log drops into the water, and Moriah (the boot at mergetory) swims away from a boat. After this, no other player is shown in the water. We get a glimpse of it in Jelinsky's intro (the first boot), but it's in the background and too far away, out of focus. Nami arrives on a boat (Liz is introduced). This is all important because Nami means wave.
The only player shown rising out of the water is Venus. She's only shown in the water, just like her namesake. Someone else pointed out that she's the only player introduced outside of her chyron (the name on the screen). They did the same thing with Dee last season.
Finally, Venus's name is separated from everyone else by the Survivor logo (Randen is introduced, followed by the Survivor logo dropping into the ocean. Venus is introduced, like I said, rising out of the ocean, followed by the Survivor logo sitting above water).
In summary: - The season opens with a wave and "46" inside. Nami means wave. - Venus is the only one shown rising out of the water, like her namesake. In the premiere, she directly links her name to the goddess Venus. Randen compares her to Parvati, another goddess. - Venus's name is the only one that doesn't touch her. - Venus's name is separated from everyone else by the Survivor logo.

• Most importantly, she is the only one we see from the bottom up. We see a closeup of everyone else's face, or at best, we see them from the torso up. But with Venus, they give her two types.

A conversation on Twitter got me thinking….
In S1, Kat told Alice that not every love story has a happy ending (after she thought Nick didn’t remember her, and he was engaged)
I don’t remember what I thought at the time - if I thought Nalice would really be a thing- but I love this scene; I love seeing Kat brush Alice’s hair-it’s just a reminder that no matter how mature she may seem, Alice is still just a kid. And a kid suffering her first 💔😭😭.
But looking back now, after S2, we can see that there is definitely a plan in place. Alice is on a journey - kind of like her namesake from the book. She has a lot of living & learning to do, will have many experiences…I thought this brief summary of the meaning of the book makes sense:
“One of the most talked about themes in Alice in Wonderland is its exploration of the transition from the innocence of youth into the strange and confusing world of adolescence, which in turn leads towards adulthood”
Alice isn’t ready for an adult relationship now, but she will be eventually

Everyone seems to be confused why in the newest single “Backslide” TyleClancy wishes he never did “Saturday” from Scaled and Icy. Whether you personally like the song or hate it altogether, I’m going to try to break down in summary what this controversial lyric is really getting at and why we as the fans should accept it and not try to “fix” the song.
First, let’s reflect on the main themes of Twenty One Pilots lyrics and the issues Tyler addresses most often. Throughout each album, there are themes of dealing with anxiety, depression, suicide, and overcoming one’s own self. If we try to look for a common denominator, we’ll quickly see that the topic of “music” and Tyler’s relationship to creating it is a dominating factor in Twenty One Pilots itself. For Tyler, the listeners of his music, including himself, are the ones at risk based on what he decides to do with his talent. In the same way that the planes in All My Sons were poorly built and caused twenty one pilots to die, Tyler’s songs are his namesake and craftsmanship that he hopes will make us think about our mental health and save many from suicidal thoughts.
This clique means so much to this dude It could make him afraid of his music And be scared to death he could lose it
For this core reason, Tyler cares immensely how well his songs are constructed. This is why he regrets Saturday because he feels that he could have done better. He may feel like he wasted time writing something catchy/vibey when he could have been even more intentional with his words. In Backslide, it’s my personal opinion that the “You” can easily be applied to us, the fans, the clique. Edit: (We’re obviously not the only “You” he’s referring to since “I should have loved you better” would be a little dramatic in this sense).
So, let’s stop boycotting this meaningful lyric about Tyler’s growth as an artist and start supporting him even more. Throw him as many lines as we can. Let’s make him know that as much as he’s here for us, we’re here for him. Our role is not to tell him what’s a mistake and what’s not. He’s going through some shit ok?
Edit vvv
For the lore enthusiasts, this lyric could be a commentary on how Clancy regrets leading a propaganda campaign and more specifically as the entertainment for the attendees aboard the submarine heading straight for Dema. The only reason they didn’t make it to their abysmal destination was because Keons used psychokinesis on Trash the Dragon to sink the vessel.
Another interesting aspect is the contrast between Backslide and Saturday in message. Backslide is about reaching above the tide and holding on to hope, while Saturday says that everything’s ok on the literal bottom of the ocean where you can’t breathe! “Did the tide forget to move?” No, it didn’t. You just can’t feel it since you’re so far down and removed from reality. Literally 1984 haha

Not long after the release (and seventh and final patch) of our latest major new version, Beta 13 "Zoom All The Things", I'd like to do something I've never done here before: talk more about the future. This is only something I tend to do with frequent players on Discord, or patrons, and even then only in the broadest strokes or occasional disjointed details since anything is subject to change and I don't want to accidentally mislead anyone or create too much unnecessary hype for things that have no specific timeline. But in my own notes I do always have a fairly clear plan for the future, if one that sometimes still shifts around according to near-term priorities (for example our latest adventures in map zooming and upscaled UI layouts).
Preferring to write and share information about features that are already completed, for many years now I've subscribed more to a "deliver, then describe" methodology rather than "promise, then deliver." That said, over the years I have indeed made a handful of rather big long-term promises, promises that will come to fruition, and we're coming closer to those points in development, so I figure now is an opportune moment to remind folks what these things entail, fill in some of the blanks, and also bring plenty of newer folks up to speed, those who are not steeped in the decade-plus history of Cogmind development and community interaction :P
Let's go.

• Animation by Maiker, depicting a particular special type of bot you may know about

I started giving a general outline back during my typical annual review, the last one in December (our 10th!), but let me use this opportunity to provide a little more color on that. Of course Beta 13 already took care of the zooming and upscaling that was planned, even extending so far as to take us all the way through the final "Phase 4" stretch, but now that that's out of the way, it's time to get back to serious CONTENT. That means bigger expansions...

Expansion 1: Scraptown

This expansion I technically started working on all the way back in 2022 with the extensive Scrap Engine feature which, surprise, is actually not a major part of "Scraptown" after all xD
It was developed as an experiment in semi-controlled randomization of parts to create an assortment of unique and evolving technology, first of all because it could be a fun mechanic (yep, it's neat!), but more pertinently as a potential central theme for Scraptown. It turned out to not be fully suitable, or at least doesn't meet my requirements, so it will live on in its own way as its namesake town features other new things.
As for Scraptown itself, its scope has ballooned significantly (I have a tendency to do that :P), but is now more or less set and is even more than half realized, it's just a case of going through the motions to finish the whole thing.
But I call it an "expansion" because this goes far beyond the original plan years ago of it being just one extra map you might visit to gain some benefits, and is now a whole new story arc for the world of Cogmind spanning three new maps. These maps technically including the recently-released Subcaves which tie into it in several ways, Scraptown itself, and a new late-game Research branch: Protoforge.
While maps are a fundamental unit of expansion, they imply much more since you've gotta have a good reason for those maps to exist! This expansion includes:

• a new major faction and optional alliance
• a new major NPC
• a number of brand new robot classes (new tiles!)
• masses of new lore and dialogue
• many dozens of new items, some with wild game-changing mechanics
• multiple new large-scale events in which to test your skills
• a new ending, our 10th

This is spread over two remaining versions:

• Beta 14 "United Federation of Derelicts"
• Beta 15 "0bPrime"

The biggest chunk is actually coming in that next Beta 14 release, in the coming months, I'd like to say June-ish? The latter version shouldn't take too long either, and while timelines tend to depend on how much other than the primary content I try to pack in along the way, at this point I'm trying to put an extra focus on pure content, especially after our significant UI detour with Beta 13. If not for months spent on zooming and upscaling we'd already have Scraptown out by now, but that was a pretty desirable, timely, and successful detour :)
Anyway, you'll also be seeing Beta 15 this year as well.

• UFD Triborg

I promised this expansion would be added to the development queue once we reached 800 Steam reviews, based on the same premise as the Merchants Guild, which I write about below and actually came in an earlier announcement, but in terms of long-term development organization it's better to build this particular expansion first.

Expansion 2: Unchained

I promised the Unchained as a result of Patreon support. One could say that some funds saved from Patreon have been earmarked as what is primarily powering this particular expansion, which over time has now grown to be even more formidable than initially planned (are you sensing a trend here? :P). I continue to work on its design in the meantime, so when the time comes it will be fairly mature and I can hit the ground running with it.
Who, or what, are the Unchained...
Well, the lore-filled 2020 ARG, which touched upon many of the expansion concepts for the first time (and suggests others not mentioned in this post), had this to say about the Unchained, which is still accurate:

• Forbidden Lore #1

They will become a significant overarching mechanic, albeit mainly a potential threat to players who challenge the status quo in Complex 0b10. If you prove you're not some regular Derelict by repeatedly causing more trouble across multiple maps, or even just being more problematic for the Complex in other ways, you may end up with one of these guys hunting you, and they are not your normal enemy. Almost all of them will have special abilities beyond anything possessed by current robots, including new unique AI and behaviors that will add new dimensions of challenge.
And in some cases you won't be able to simply leave a map to escape their pursuit. They don't care about "alert level," they care about finishing the job, and will eventually track you down.
But don't make too many assumptions based on the above description just yet--these encounters will be varied and challenging, but fair and balanced. Of course some players will never even see them at all. Hone your skills in the meantime to be capable of summoning the wrath of one of these ultimate crazies. Think of them as possible recurring mini-bosses of sorts.
This particular expansion is currently planned to span two versions:

• Beta 16 "Unchained"
• Beta 17 "Hexidium"

The first release will include a batch of these new friends to play with, and the second adds yet more unique members to their ranks while enabling you to visit their headquarters for bullets or tea. In the end there won't be just a handful of these guys--while they're powerful and you won't likely see many, or any, in a given run depending on your actions, there will be a wide variety to encounter across numerous runs, most of them adding brand new tech and mechanics.
The Unchained will definitely be worked on this year, and also hopefully completed or at least start to be released this year as well (at the very least on Patreon if they're not ready for prime time). You can already find small bits of lore about them in game--Beta 13 added more, including some that will closely tie into later Unchained-related content.
Patrons tend to be more avid players and many enjoy their punishment, or really the opportunity for extra challenges and therefore potentially even more interesting loot as well, so the Unchained seems a fitting "reward" for them ;) (and of course everyone else gets it as well, since this feature will be integral to the world and updated gameplay balance).

Expansion 3: Merchants Guild

The original promised expansion! This one was always going to be around 1.0, so has sat on the sidelines waiting for that part of the timeline. This promise stemmed from when I said it would be really helpful if we could eventually hit an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, which would require at least 500 reviews, and although it took us a while to reach that point, once there it has tended to hold for quite a while (maintaining that status does help sales, and therefore means more revenue to sustain development of free content since I always simply reinvest revenue into more development). While we've since occasionally lost that status, many thanks for the good periods where we've had it, and the Merchants will be at your service :D
As for what the Merchants bring to Cogmind, they are probably the most mysterious of the future factions, and for that reason likely the most misunderstood. Although you can already find a few vague references to them in the world, they will not quite be the sort of merchants you have come to expect from other roguelikes.
More specifically though, like the Unchained their addition will involve a new map, and aligning yourself with them for a different sort of run is also a distinct possibility (okay, yeah you'll be able to do that). Beyond a single primary map, their associated overarching mechanics will also likely involve other new sub-map areas, depending on the needs of their final implementation.
I still have to test out one of the potential important new gameplay mechanics I'd like them to take extensive advantage of, but there's still time to slip that in somewhere considering that I don't see development on Merchants beginning until next year (2025).

• Shop?

1.0

I'm not yet sure where 1.0 fits in between all these, but it's, uh... somewhere out there! It could come at any time, though seeing as each of these expansions will be integrated throughout the normal world and gameplay, and all of them have far-reaching impacts, maybe it doesn't come until after all of them are complete?
To reiterate, as is Cogmind is already a very complete experience and has been since it came to Steam in 2017, with hundreds of hours of content for those who want to dive further and deeper. Despite the size of these future expansions, there will be no DLC or any extra charge--everything is included in the price at which you get it now, though additional support via Patreon is very much appreciated and helps continue to expand the world with yet more options and experiences.
There technically aren't any more significant requirements left before I'd be happy to officially call Cogmind "1.0." One of my plans in that regard, from years ago, was to at least run new experiments with alternative UI layouts before that milestone, but not only are said experiments now done, we've already got them fully implemented in Beta 13.
So in terms of regular content and features we're definitely set, although one more thing we do need before that release can happen is at least one more major batch of achievements, there being hundreds of great new possibilities related to content added since the first 256 achievements in... 2018 (!). I've got a looooong list, so maybe slip it in after Beta 15? Maybe even make it its own release, since it'll be a lot (thereby pushing back subsequent version numbers, though not adding a significant delay--the new batch could probably be completed with 2-3 weeks of dedicated work). If I did slip that in we'd have to have another batch for 1.0, related to content added in subsequent versions.
Cogmind has been out so long that the percentages shown on Steam for such achievements will be even more deceiving (remaining incredibly low... forever, even if a larger portion of the current player base gets it), but that's not meaningful compared to individual players being able to collect them and reflect another aspect of official completion. (The current percentages are already significantly distorted from reality, but Steam's system isn't designed for games that add achievements long after the initial release of the game itself.)

More?

Those are the main expansions to bring us all the way through 2024 and a good part if not all or most of 2025.
I have several other factions and maps planned, but can't promise anything more at this point, since even what's above will take a while to complete, and I can't be sure Cogmind will be funded that far ahead, but promises are promises, so the these things will be delivered regardless!
In summary, my vision for Cogmind in 2025 is that we'll have at least three new factions and four or more new maps, all of which of course entail new mechanics and items, the core of what makes for unique new builds in Cogmind, so expect a yet greater variety of strategic possibilities.
Looking at the "little" picture instead of the big, as usual we'll also continue getting a number of isolated non-theme-specific features, many of which I know will be in high demand, including for example:

• Improved large robot behavior. These guys can be really annoying in a number of situations, but the Polymind event made some technical advances in that area which may help in upcoming endeavors to improve that. This applies to both enemies and allies.
• Now that we have map zooming and new UI layouts with reduced grid dimensions, there's a good chance that I'll complete and release the so-called "overmap" feature I experimented with back in 2020
• A way to manually replace attached parts with parts from the ground when there's no objective improvement for the automated system to make
• More visual indicators and/or a way to access ongoing RIF effects on individual bots

These are the sorts of things on my long list of possibilities which get moved around and picked out for development as time permits. The above are relatively important features I know I'll be working on eventually, but I have a virtually endless list of other interesting features, many of which have been inspired by conversations with or among the community on Discord, or just lower priority optional features that keep getting pushed back as more important features or necessary content are often added nearer to the beginning of The List...
The latest stats show that my current primary todo list is about 450 pages long at 150,000 words. Ha. That's just the primary one, but it is the bulk of where I organize things that could be added, except the latest big project, which is the Scraptown arc and has its own separate set of more specific design docs to explain all the finer details. (The main Scraptown design doc is nearing 20,000 words, and it's not quite finished :P)
DISCLAIMER: I can't predict that no bad unforeseen event will happen to me, as it's not like this is a big company and there are people to pick up the slack, so the general timelines given above are assuming I'm okay :P. That'd be another reason I don't like to talk too much about future timelines--life is fickle like that! Health issues have been a significant headwind for me in some previous years, but I'm very hopeful that this year will be better overall. Now off to continue kicking butt...

2024 7DRLs

One more thing: Also in the news, as usual I reviewed a bunch of good 7DRLs from this year's event in order to share them with followers and provide feedback to other devs, so if you'd like some cool games to play in the meantime, you can check out my review list including summaries, screenshots, and videos as well.

• 7DRL screenshots

Dosh!

Wait a minute, yet one more thing to tack on here that happened after I drafted the above announcement: DoshDoshington has released a great video titled "Cogmind and the Future of Roguelikes." It's really nice to have someone who is more deeply familiar with Cogmind, and roguelikes in general, able to share it with a wider audience of folks that might very well include many who could also enjoy this sort of game.
While it's a good watch even for any of you already playing, I do recommend it as a faithful summary of the experience if you're looking to let others know about Cogmind and what they might like (or not like!) about it.
There are some big plot spoilers towards the end, but he'll warn you and you can stop if so inclined :P

• Cogmind and the Future of Roguelikes

The person who created the music was a Twitter user named drmr (aka. dreamer).
An infamous youtuber by the name of 'f4mi' went to dig in conclusions and summaries for finding the exact namesake of the owner: drmr. She or he had done this by a reddit post via a person in this exact same group, as drmr won a contest and was marked a member of the Homebrew group, and made the music himself.
drmr and f4mi was originally gonna have an anonymous interview but drmr was later voiced by one of f4mi's friends. During the interview, drmr pointed out that the music name wasn't "Dark Waters," they didn't even have a title for the theme, so it was just "Homebrew Channel Theme."

Sub description box draft, from previous post:

Neo Egypto coined from: néos Aígypton (νέος Αἴγυπτον) (Herodotus, §:1.5.2) + “Egypto”, e.g. Egypto-Greek (Bernal, A32). Meaning: “young Egyptology”, in the sense that the “entire field of Egyptology”, needs to be re-born “new”, young, and afresh, this present year, starting from the [V1] 𓍢 symbol or tomb U-j (5300A/-3345) letter-number 100 = R letter and R phonetic, i.e. solar ☀️ ram 🐏, ground floor up again, from scratch.

The following is section three of the drafting 6-volume EAN book set summary table:

#	Title	Sub	Subtitle	Posts
3.	EAN Egyptology	NeoEgypto	How EAN phonetics 🗣️ overhauls the Sacy-Young-Champollion (SYC) Chinese foreign name phonetic reduction model based cartouche 𓍷 phonetic theory	Here, here, here, here, here, etc.

Given this, the first sub description box might be:

Neo Egyptology, from: néos Aígypton (νέος Αἴγυπτον) (Herodotus, §:1.5.2) + “Egypto” (Bernal, A32), devoted to work on reforming the entire field of Sacy-Young-Champollion (SYC) based phonetics, i.e. modern Egyptology, from the 𓍢 [V1] = R phonetic = number 100 (Tomb U-j, 5300A) ground up.

Notes

1. The sub was started, in short, as a needed place to collect the growing SYC-based Egyptology reform posts, as shown in the “posts“ column above, e.g. three posts were made in the last few days, in Alphanumerics, on Sesostris (ΣΕΣΟΣΤΡΙΣ), which Herodotus says was the Egyptian king who ruled the largest empire of Egypt, from Ethiopia to Asia to Europe past Phasis river, yet so-called “modern Egyptology”, e.g. Egyptology, can’t seem to find his name in the hieroglyphics?
2. Basically, I’m going to need Hmolpedia back up and running to engage into this field, but I just did a quick sub start here to organize the growing “related” posts, that need to be cross-posted somewhere.

Posts

• On Neo Egyptology as the namesake for the 🆕 field of EAN-based Egyptology?
• Six-volume Egypto alpha numerics (EAN) book 📚 set?

​

Summary: My mom and I spent 2 weeks in Japan in mid-February: 5 days in Hokkaido, 2 days in Kyoto+Osaka, 5+1.5 days in Tokyo, and 2.5 days in Ginzan, for a total of 16 days (+1 day of flying). This was my first time, while my mom used to live in Japan but hasn’t been in several decades, so while she was quite experienced her knowledge was also quite out-of-date and there were plenty of new developments for her too. This was my 9th international trip but my first in Asia.
Our trip focused on fine dining, anime, and shopping. For context we live in NY, with one of the most developed Japanese fine and normal dining scenes outside Japan, so we are both quite experienced and mainly focused on experiencing similar or better levels of excellence in Japan. We’ve been to multiple sushi omakase (e.g. Masa***, Noz**, Onodera**, Nakazawa*, etc.), as well as other Japanese cuisines like kappo Hirohisa*, Tempura Matsui*, Yakitori Torishin*, French fusion Kei***, etc. and my mom has cooking experience from her time in Japan. So we’re well familiar with the style, ingredients, techniques, and etiquette of high-end Japanese dining and have points of comparison at multiple levels of quality. If you do not have this prior context, you may have a different experience if you were to try to repeat our itinerary, particularly for sushi which is a very subtle and technical form. I don’t say this to be pretentious or discouraging, by all means go for the best and you’ll have a great time, but thought this was important to say to contextualize this post interpreted as a trip report or as advice.
Fwiw although I enjoy taking pictures for my own memories and sharing with friends at meetups, I don’t have an instagram or active social media, and I’m mainly writing this post so I can link my friends/colleagues for reference instead of rewriting individually.
Itinerary:
2/11 Sapporo (hotel: Solaria Nishitetsu Sapporo):
- ANA landed in Tokyo Haneda 5:25am, ANA landed in New Chitose airport 8:30am
- We got lucky and got the Pokemon plane, which had themed cups and free merch. We also got great views of Tokyo and Fuji when taking off for Sapporo.
- Airport: we explored Snow Miku Town (website is out of date, they no longer serve the Miku pancakes) which had Hokkaido-themed merch, a figure gallery, and a life-sized Miku figure. Hatsune Miku (virtual anime singer) is a local celebrity in Sapporo given her company is based there. The highest-Tabelog-rated Hokkaido milk ice cream was in the airport (?) so we tried that as well as a Letao Hokkaido cheesecake. The airport also has a huge shopping mall/food court.
- Took the train to Sapporo, dropped off our bags at the hotel. There is snow everywhere, in some places piled to the side as high as a person.
- Lunch: We had lunch at Michelin-starred Teuchisoba Kohashi* (walk-in only, surprisingly no line). This is a travel not a food subreddit, so I’ll save the intricacies of the food for my someday-future food blog and focus on the experience. The handmade soba noodles were unlike anything we had before, with unique tempura accompaniments. The room has a big window with a beautiful view of a snowy garden. Staff was warm and friendly, does not speak English but has an English menu. Foreign visitors seem uncommon despite the star, both among the clientele and staff’s reaction. It’s inside the family’s home in a residential neighborhood so you have to take off your shoes, and the unplowed snow in the neighborhood was so beautiful for pictures. Most expensive dish was $15
- Afterwards we went to the Sapporo Snow Festival in Odori Park/near the Sapporo TV tower. Warning that the trodden snow is quite slippery, we saw a few people fall! As a result we scaled back our ambitions and picked only a few of the most interesting blocks (aka the anime ones) using the online map and cancelled our plans to see the night illumination. We saw a bunch of anime snow sculptures (Re Zero, Lucky Star, Roshidere, JJK, Overlord, Haikyuu, Gundam, Snow Miku, Hello Kitty 50th anniversary) as well as Godzilla and the perennial massive Neuschwanstein Castle. They also had a Ram/Rem birthday exhibit set up in a shack with cutouts and a Lego sculpture. I was very happy we made it to this. It’s worth noting the Sapporo Snow Festival and the Otaru Light Festival are each about only 1.5 weeks, with the snow festival happening prior and a few days of overlap. While these are major tourist draws in Hokkaido, it’s quite hard to time your trip to see them.
- There’s an underground city in Sapporo (Pole Town and Aurora Town) with tons of shops and restaurants. We saw ads for Oshi no Ko and Spy x Family on a huge billboard.
- We had hambagu steak for dinner and then a Lawson run (the 1st of many Karaage-kun chicken bites), then slept around 10pm. Sapporo is a laidback city so good jetlag starting point.
- Hotel: Solaria Nishitetsu Sapporo - spacious rooms, view of the Sapporo Govt Building, clean, helpful front desk, close to the train station.
2/12 Sapporo:
- We woke up early due to jetlag and lazed around for a late start. We kept getting sidetracked on our way to Susukino, first with katsu sandos and karaage-kun at Lawson, then a bunch of Japanese breads, pastries, and taiyaki in a food court under Susukino station.
- We made it to Susukino, looked at the famous billboards intersection (a bunch of Japanese people were standing around waiting to record one, turned out to be a massive screen of Miku).
- We had lunch in Ramen Alley for famous Sapporo ramen, then did some fashion and anime shopping
- Otaru: We took the train to Otaru and arrived around 4pm. The fish market closes at 5pm and while some shops interpret this as “shut down by 5pm”, luckily there’s one in the middle that interprets it as “last entry 5pm” (always beware of this in Japan). We waited 1h15m (standing!) for famous Hokkaido uni donburi and ikura donburi but it was a worthwhile experience. The wait was also long enough for the sun to go down, so we went to the Otaru light festival afterwards. The snow+ice lanterns along the canal were pretty and an inspiring example of community action, but the canal was a bit of a plain letdown. I’d not recommend Otaru as a sightseeing stop outside the light festival to be honest even though it’s often treated as a “must see” online.
2/13 Sapporo:
- After another late start, we did some shopping at the Daimaru in the train station (the station is massive and has multiple malls). We got lunch from multiple stalls in the Daimaru food court, including kushiage, futomaki, more Hokkaido cheesecake and pudding from Letao, mochi, other sweets, etc. Then we explored Pole Town and did more fashion shopping (Comme des Garcons) and anime shopping. Weirdly I felt like the various Susukino anime shops (the Animate and Norbesa buildings) in Sapporo had more merch variety than Akihabara, both older series and high-demand stuff. We bought the only Suzume anime figure we saw on our trip, and picked up a ton of Kana Arima (Oshi no Ko) merch that was often sold out later in Akihabara (conspicuously so, compared to other characters, bc Kana is best girl obviously).
- Dinner: We had 5pm dinner at Sushi Miyakawa*** (Tabelog silver). Elite sushi mostly differs in style than skill, but who am I kidding, Miyakawa was overall the best we’ve ever had. His perfectly cooked appetizers paired with rich addictive sauces. His nigiri technique was flawless, with “scattering” loose rice and fish cut down to millimeter precision to drape over the rice. Akazu vinegar had a strong taste that complemented but did not overpower the fish, plus our personal preference for akazu over komezu. Nigiri is about taste but it was so beautiful as well. His preprocessing for difficult pieces like squid and gizzard shad showed 3-star levels of skill. Product quality-focused pieces like Aomori tuna and Nemuro sea urchin were the best. Poundcake-like tamago was the best. Miyakawa-san himself is characterized by attention to detail yet warmth and joviality, plus he speaks a little English, all rare qualities in a master sushi chef. We expected a stern, silent experience in faraway Sapporo, but we had more fun as an experience than even places in New York. Price was a steal for this quality at $250 per person (NYC 1-star sushi is often $400-500). We ordered the $50 takeout futomaki.
- All Japanese food is seasonal, but I personally prefer sushi in the winter (when the fish are at their fattest for warmth and spawning), which in addition to the snow motivated the timing for this trip.
- Note about photos: At most fine dining restaurants, food photos are generally ok if you ask first (“Gohan no shashin wa daijobu desu ka?”) (usually they’ll say yes), but photos of people are discouraged. Be considerate (e.g. fast, one take, with sound off, and do not put your phone on the counter) when taking food photos, especially as the food is best enjoyed in the moment. Famous counter-style chefs may take a photo with you after the meal if you ask.
2/14 Niseko (hotel: Higashiyama Niseko Village, Ritz Carlton Reserve):
- We took the Hokkaido Resort Liner bus from Sapporo to Niseko.
- The weather cooperated today so we had a perfect cloudless view of Mt Yotei from our room. We enjoyed our hotel room, taking baths, eating the Miyakawa futomaki, etc. We did some skiing in the afternoon with a view of Yotei (hotel has ski rental) then explored the little village after the sun set. We had dinner (Hokkaido wagyu steak) at the hotel restaurant and then reserved the private onsen (10pm). We preferred private onsens as we can’t really get used to being naked around people and wanted to do it as a family.
- Hotel: as good as you’d expect. Worth noting it’s not only expensive, but difficult to book/always sells out in ski season. I personally thought it was overpriced but my mom had this as a bucket list item.
2/15 Niseko:
- Japanese-style breakfast in our room (including my first natto, which was not for me). Unfortunately clouds set in
- After checkout we explored the village more and took the cable car to the top. For a brief few minutes the clouds parted and Yotei revealed itself.
- We took the last bus out of Niseko, checked in to Sapporo at 7:30pm. Since we needed a casual dinner anyway, we asked the front desk to make a reservation at Sushizen Honten* for 8:15pm (most non-5-star hotels will not make reservations for you until you check in, FYI). We figured it’d be possible since Sushizen is a big restaurant (multiple counters). It was going to be either this or Ramen Alley again.
- Dinner: Sushizen Honten*, open since 1971 and famous among Sapporoans. We came here bc our favorite NYC sushi chef Masaki Saito (formerly Ginza Onodera NY**, now namesake in Toronto) apprenticed here so we were curious. There were some echoes of his style, but otherwise the student had surpassed the master. It was a fun experience and good casual dinner, but 1-star sushi would not justify a trip to Japan for us.
- Hotel: Cross Hotel Sapporo. A bit small but serviceable for a short stay and close-ish to the station. There’s a rooftop pool/onsen but we were too tired to check it out.
2/16 Kyoto/Osaka (hotel: Hotel Vischio by Granvia):
- I know 2 days in Kyoto/Osaka is not enough, but it wasn’t even in our original plan. Once we had our restaurant reservation dates, we saw we would have over a week in Tokyo and decided to add even a tiny stop to Kyoto/Osaka. We knew I can’t see everything, so we would do it to get a small taste for a more Kansai-focused trip next time and take some photos at the most important spots. After all, you never know when another pandemic or war or disaster might get in the way for years again…
- 8:30am Chitose airport (first airport train departs 6am so worked out) > 10:25am Osaka Itami, then 1h bus (bookable on the spot via machine next to the stop) to Kyoto station. My mom really wanted a Lawson egg sandwich so that was our breakfast
- Dropped off luggage, lunch at Kyoto Station conveyer belt sushi (pretty good)
- We went to Ninenzaka/Hokanji temple/Gion via taxi. It was super crowded, easily more crowded than anywhere I’ve been to in Europe (even including infamous places like Venice, Santorini, Dubrovnik (on a parade day!), Paris Trocadero, etc.), but not to the extent of “human conveyer belts” I heard on the internet. It was still possible to take somewhat decent (aka at least not “where’s Waldo”) photos, and my mom and my friends say the crowds were less bc February is the lowest season. Even the most touristy paths still took hours to explore. It’s very beautiful but felt a bit like a theme park, and the crowds did get in the way of the enjoyment. I hope Kyoto finds some solution to overtourism, even if it’s expensive.
- We went to the tatami room/Ninenzaka Starbucks which only required like a 15m wait contrary to online horror reports. Benefit of February? Not the most authentic experience but my mom had it on her list.
- At 6:30pm we took the train to Osaka. Make sure to get off at Osaka, not Shin-Osaka, and the normal train is only like 15m slower than the shinkansen but much cheaper. We went straight to Dotonbori and ate a bunch of street food. Some of the restaurants my mom went to 30-40 years ago (Kinryu standing ramen, Otakoya, Kani Doraku crab) were still open, although sadly not the massive drummer boy restaurant (Cui-daore) which is now a commemorative shop. The ramen in particular was very good, especially on a cold day.
- Got lost for a long time getting out of the wrong side of Kyoto station. Pay attention to the exit signs!
- Hotel: Vischio by Granvia. Spacious enough, clean, right next to the station for convenience. Generally we choose a normal hotel for convenience either next to the station, or next to the major sights.
2/17 Kyoto:
- We planned to go to Fushimi-inari at 7am but overslept. Oops! We went at 10am via taxi but while the base was crowded, further up the crowds weren’t too bad. There’s a part where it splits into 2 torii corridors, the right one is for people going up and crowded, but the left one for going back down was uncrowded and we even snagged a few photos with no one else in it surprisingly enough.
- Next we took the train to Arashiyama. Our primary aim was not the bamboo forest, but the permanent Rilakkuma cafe. We waited an hour, passing the time in the adjoining store with plenty of photo spots and buying merch. The Rilakkuma-shaped food was super cute and well-presented, we ordered almost everything and the waiter expressed shock at the length of our receipt lol. Overall the highest-effort “themed” cafe on our trip.
- We briefly went to the bamboo forest for a few minutes to snap some photos. Obviously there were people but not super crowded, even at the entrance. If your standard for serenity is “I want 0 people in the background” then go in the early morning, otherwise fine by tourist attraction standards. Then we explored the Arashiyama neighborhood/houses before heading back.
- The most fun Don Quijote was in Kyoto. They had the penguin plushies and the theme song playing everywhere.
- Dinner: 5:30pm dinner at Hyotei*** (Tabelog bronze), classic kaiseki in a 450-year-old teahouse. We had a private tatami room (shoes off), with washi screen doors you can open to see the garden/pond (we opened them for photos and shut them while eating given winter). The food was more innovative, and less plain/old/weird/acquired taste than I expected, but we considered the sea cucumber ovaries (a classic Japanese delicacy) to be “not weird” so your mileage may vary. No meme kaiseki courses to the degree of “a plain onion in a cup of water” here, even if the spirit of respect for fresh ingredients and light preparation behind that meme are there and well-executed. Kimono-clad service was warm and attentive but there are rigid rules in typical contrasting Japanese fashion - my mom took a bit long with one course and the next course arrived on schedule regardless (as each dish is best enjoyed in the exact moment). We sadly didn’t do a tea ceremony this trip, but the final course was ceremonial-grade matcha so at least we got a (literal) taste. An enjoyable authentic experience, price ~$350.
2/18 Tokyo (hotel: Four Seasons Otemachi)
- Morning shinkansen with train bento, arrived in Tokyo noon.
- Checked in with immediate room with Skytree view. We just enjoyed the room/bath and swimming pool until dinner. Note the swimming pool only allowed pictures when no one else was there (which thankfully happened at one point) when pools are usually Instagram spots elsewhere in the world.
- Dinner: 8pm Ryugin***. (Tabelog bronze). They were doing a special winter fugu menu which worked well for me as a tourist. Every course had various fugu parts in it, ranging from meat, skin, sperm (a delicacy, only in the winter), “rare parts” (only harvestable from the largest, most expensive fugu), to even the lips (which was a hit). Different preparations and seasonings yielded different flavors of fugu, ranging from chicken-like to squid-like to fish-like. My mom lauded chef Yamamoto as a culinary genius. We didn’t die. Interior was Japanese-style but with table seating, but some seats had a high-rise view. Price was expensive ($575 pp) but so are the ingredients and the special fugu license training, and the combination of modern-style kaiseki with fugu was unique (more than unique, time-limited too), not to mention so skillful, so we didn’t object. Their normal menu is closer to $350 pp I think.
- Also the wine glass list was the best I’ve ever seen, with 1970s Cheval Blanc and Chateau d’Yquem by the glass. I’ve never seen this even in France except at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc.
- Hotel: amazing service as you’d expect from Four Seasons. Enormous and modern room (only opened in 2020). Their concierge team is amazingly skilled, one of the few 5-star hotels able to get Jiro. Pool and lobby with great views, as well as a balcony at Pigneto. I’d love to return. Otemachi is a multiline subway hub so extremely convenient too.
2/19 Tokyo:
- Breakfast at the hotel restaurant with high-rise views of the Imperial Palace, Shinjuku, and Tokyo ToweMinato
- Afterwards we went to see the gates of the Imperial Palace, as well as some early sakura blossoms (due to global warming, I presume). Sakura without the crowds and prices!
- Explored the famous streets of Ginza before dinner
- Dinner: 7pm Sukiyabashi Jiro Honten*** (Tabelog bronze). Yes, that Jiro. The 98-year-old senior Jiro Ono was in that day and I felt ecstatic when I peeked him through a crack in the sliding door, although he was serving some Japanese regulars while his 1st son Yoshikazu served us. Jiro is out most days these days given his age according to some reviews, so I was happy he was there (supposedly you have more luck at dinner). Despite reports of overrated sushi and sour rice, his komezu rice was perfectly balanced between too plain and too sour (but he puts less vinegar in winter - I suspect many tourist reviews are written in the summer) and his sushi technique in cutting, “scattering” rice, and fish prep were top-tier. The “scattering” rice is packed as loose as possible so it explodes in your mouth and was the best version of this technique we had, but it also means a) it will collapse if left alone for longer than 10 seconds, as happened to my second piece of shrimp (and I suspect a reason for the photo ban), and b) it is difficult to pick up, so you should be experienced - remember, thumb and middle finger horizontally. Jiro is not overrated - he may have a sickening amount of hype from the movie, but he makes elite sushi. Technically difficult pieces like squid and gizzard shad succeeded, product quality pieces like toro and uni were stellar. I don’t like shrimp sushi generally but Jiro’s was by far the best with his technique of stuffing the guts. His shima-aji was so juicy I asked for another and I still daydream about it weeks after. Even if I described other highlight pieces it’d just repeat half the menu. We personally preferred Miyakawa, but top-tier sushi is all amazingly skilled. It is difficult to describe and gets down to subtle details like knifework, rice, and fish prep (can go into more detail if desired), but we feel that Michelin does do a reasonable job tiering sushi into 1, 2, and 3 stars for the most part even if it’s not perfect. What is true is you really do eat within 30 minutes, which was fine for me but fast for my mom, and there is not much talking. No food photos allowed, unusually, although Jiro will take a photo with you at the end (we asked Yoshikazu to join us too!). The interior is really old-fashioned and kind of cheap-looking tbh, with no hinoki counter, and it really is in a subway station and really doesn’t have an on-premise bathroom. Bill was a bargain compared to NYC at $370 pp.
- I can’t believe I have to say this but while Jiro is excellent, do not make it your “first omakase ever” as I see some people online try to do. Jiro is unusual for an omakase in many ways, from the rush to the stern atmosphere to the cheap interior, and it will be difficult to appreciate why his sushi is so good/different without knowledge and reference/comparison points. I understand not everyone is blessed to live in NYC or go to Japan frequently, but please go to at least one other “normal” michelin-starred/Tabelog-awarded omakase before trying Jiro. You are going to taste his food, not have an enjoyable dinner.
- As tourists, the 30m dinner was quite convenient as we had time to explore Shinjuku’s/Kabukicho’s lights at night. It’s quite difficult to get “the shot” of Kabukicho but we settled on 2x zoom from the road median.
2/20 Tokyo (Hotel: Prince Park Tower Tokyo):
- We originally planned Tokyo differently/in a more paced manner, but it forecasted rain Wed-Sun so we changed plans and crammed every outdoor activity into today
- Sakura blossoms in Shiba park with Tokyo Tower in the background
- Suga Shrine stairs aka the stairs from the anime movie Your Name. There’s a line of fellow otakus waiting to take pictures but it’s an orderly affair and you will get your picture. Also it’s so far from Yotsuya station, how the heck did Mitsuha and Taki meet up here?
- Lunch: Lycoris Recoil anime cafe in Shibuya with a Hawaii cafe theme (doubly appropriate given Chisato and Takina work in a cafe in the anime). Probably the highest-effort anime theme cafe, with intricate/aesthetic and tasty food. Reservations were impossible due to requiring a Japanese phone number, but there was plenty of empty space for walk-ins. The anime girls on the food are printed edible monaka crackers. It was really fun eating anime-themed food in an anime-themed space and lived up to the expectations I had, almost as fun as the michelin-starred restaurants lol.
- Shopping in Shibuya (more Comme des Garcons), Shibuya scramble crossing (sadly the Starbucks is closed to reopen in April, so we took pics from the elevated walkway).
- Akihabara outside pics (we only went to 1 small figure shop, did our shopping next Monday)
- Asakusa/Sensoji temple - this was somehow even more crowded than Kyoto, so we didn’t spend too much time here. We had originally planned a separate day for this with plans to go to Kappabashi, but sadly that didn’t happen in the abbreviated schedule
- Dinner: 8:30pm Harutaka*** (Tabelog bronze). The only current 3-star sushi in Tokyo and a former Jiro apprentice. Tbh everything tasted kind of bland or weird, was a huge disappointment compared to every other meal we had in Tokyo. Rubbery abalone, strange sea urchin. Knifework so lazy (most uninspired sayori cutting ever) and so rough it’s like they cut the fish with a saw. The rice was both really sour and salty with lingering aftertastes and we ended up really thirsty, maybe this is what Jiro’s rice tastes like in the summer when people complain and Harutaka never learned the seasonal komezu modulation. Difficult pieces like rubbery squid (which didn’t even bother with the knife scoring to make it more tender) and super-fishy gizzard shad did not leave a positive impression. The company was quite obnoxious (Japanese and American instagrammers posing sushi, being loud, etc). Price was $450 pp, which is competitive with NYC, but given the enjoyment it was the only meal I felt was overpriced, a feeling I didn’t have even at Ryugin. Harutaka is beloved by Tabelog reviewers and fellow chefs so maybe Japanese palates are different from ours, but some of this is objective and we enjoyed other sushi in Japan so I don’t really know, I think Michelin made a mistake here. Jiro is great but he must be a lousy teacher, as we also had a bad experience at his other apprentice Nakazawa* in NY. Also with most of the well-regarded/Tabelog award sushiyas being impossible to reserve and thus kicked out of Michelin (Saito, Jiro, Sugita, Amamoto, Sawada, Namba, Mitani, Arai, etc.), Michelin’s current Tokyo sushi recs are kind of a joke at this point - I generally include “historical” Michelin ratings together with current ones to compensate.
- Hotel: Prince Park Tower Tokyo. Nice large hotel, if a bit dated and dusty. We had a corner view of Tokyo Tower and Zojoji temple from our room which was stunning. There’s a Lawson on-premises. Worst part was how far the subways were (almost 10m walk), which makes it unlikely we’ll stay here again.
2/21 Tokyo:
- Rain so late start. We spent the day in Odaiba
- Madoka Magica anime cafe to celebrate the upcoming movie. The cafe was pretty low effort in a coffee shop, but we adore Madoka so we made the effort to come. No line again, surprisingly, even for a popular series. It was less immersive than the other anime cafes, but we were happy to see one of our favorite series. This cafe let us choose the characters to put on the food and latte so we got Madoka, Mami, and Homura
- Small World Museum. Tickets bought at the door. There were multiple exhibits for real-world destinations such as Zermatt and Dubrovnik (both of which we’ve been to), a space world, and an airport, but the main reason I went was the Evangelion mecha launch cages (with working launchers) and the model of Tokyo-3 from the Evangelion anime (complete with the retracting city). There were lots of tiny details/anime locations and it was fun looking for the main characters in the vast city. There’s also an Evangelion-themed vending machine. We chose this over Teamlabs as it felt more unique to Tokyo vs an instagram experience, we like anime, and we’ve already been to the original Yayoi Kusama Infinity Room when it toured in Las Vegas.
- We saw the Odaiba Gundam and then went home, as it was so foggy you couldn’t even see the Rainbow Bridge. Fog is an extra risk of going in the winter months.
- Dinner: 5pm Tempura Kondo** with 77-year-old Fumio Kondo, most known for rejecting Obama’s reservation (so he ended up going to Jiro). The tempura was somehow even better than NYC Tempura Matsui*, which itself is strong tempura. The combination of out-of-this-world ingredient quality and gossamer battecooking technique was unique. Full disclosure, I hate vegetables, but he did something magical to things like onions, asparagus, lotus root, etc. (there were seafood courses too, but those are easier to make tasty). The signature 40m-fried sweet potato is basically a dessert, but it has to be ordered separately at the start so they can dump it in the oil to slow-fry for basically your whole meal.
2/22 Tokyo:
- Japanese breakfast in room with Tokyo Tower view
- Lunch: at Nodaiwa*, a 230-year-old 1-star unagi (eel) restaurant. We had a surprisingly affordable course menu ($100 for 2) which featured eel with and without sauce, as well as a shark fin chawanmushi and some other bits like eel jelly and eel liver. I’ve been to unagi specialty restaurants in NYC, but this was another level in the softness and creaminess, to the point you could cut it with chopsticks cleanly.
- More shopping in Ginza, buying dishware/cooking knives and Mikimoto jewelry
- Fruit platter at Sembikiya flagship (190-year-old luxury fruit parlor), particularly their pricey musk melon and Queen/Tochiage strawberries. The strawberries, as well as the mind-blowing strawberry milkshake, lived up to their reputation. The melon was better than the one at Jiro’s, but not as surprising. The other fruits were nice too. The interior was luxury high ceiling modern, with plenty of instagram girls ordering fruit parfaits.
- Dinner: Seryna Honten in Roppongi, opened in 1965, for Kobe beef sukiyaki, Kobe beef shabu shabu, and crab. My mom went here with here with her family many decades ago (in a time when people had no Michelin or Tabelog to guide them) and wanted to share it with me. The kegani crab was quite good, as was the deeply flavorful sukiyaki (the shabu shabu was a bit subtle for my tastes). The portions were quite small for a steep price, but I was happy to share in a family memory.
2/23 Ginzan Onsen (ryokan Ginzanso):
- We took the shinkansen from Tokyo to Oishida, then our ryokan arranged a hotel bus from Oishida to the hotel. We had soba and squid tempura lunch at the Oishida train station which was more delicious than it had any right to be, given the random location. Ginzan is quite far from Tokyo - a 3h-3h30m train then 30m bus
- We had a private onsen in our room’s balcony which we made good use of multiple times a day. We mostly either used the onsen, went to the town, or ate in our hotel. The hotel provided yukatas, snowcoats, and boots. We also stocked up on snacks from Lawson beforehand as there’s no konbini and not many restaurants in Ginzan
- Dinner: kaiseki hotel dinner (with details like a label with our names for the shoe cubby and our private dining room - note it wasn’t in our hotel room). The food was high quality and better than we expected, with items like Yamagata wagyu, and traditional presentation.
- We went to the town late at night after the day-tourists went home on the last bus. The snow-covered old-style town is so beautiful, like a storybook, moreso at night with the traditional gas lamps. This felt the most like the “old Japan” I was looking for. The smell of sulfurotten eggs from the onsen water river is in the air. The Notoya ryokan is reputed to be one of the inspirations for the bathhouse in Spirited Away, with a red bridge in front. Worth noting the gas lamps turn off at 10pm.
- Hotel: Ginzanso was a nice traditional/Japanese-style ryokan with private and public onsens. Worth noting that accommodation of any sort in Ginzan is hard to book, selling out months in advance, so plan early if you want to stay the night.
2/24 Ginzan Onsen:
- After an early breakfast (they start early! The offered times were 7 and 8am) we went to the town twice, once in the morning before the day-tourists and once around lunchtime. The morning outing we got lots of people-less day pics, and it also snowed a lot which looked nice. We also went to the small waterfall near the soba restaurant. All the restaurants/cafes were packed due to the holiday weekend so we gave up aside from the famous and delicious curry bread/red bean donut place.
- I was surprised the hotel had a different menu for the 2nd dinner, although it wasn’t as imaginative as the first. We went out again at night, even later this time. We also tried the hotel’s public onsen briefly for experience’s sake (the anime kind with rocks outside, with a view of snow).
2/25 Ginzan Onsen/Tokyo (hotel: Dai-Ichi):
- After breakfast and one more outing in the town, we took the bus and shinkansen back to Tokyo. In lieu of a bento we bought some more snacks and strawberries at Oishida station which were quite good.
- We arrived 5pm in Tokyo. My mom wanted omurice+katsu, so we used Tabelog to find Rengatei, but neglected to check it was open on Sun. So went to Mitsukoshii’s food court and found both items. Dept store food courts are always a reliable option if you can’t find something.
- Hotel: Dai-ichi is a bit dated and dusty but wonderful service, great old-style interior (hotel opened in 1938), and our room was big and had a wonderful view of Tokyo Tower. It was also conveniently next to subway lines.
2/26 Tokyo:
- We went to Mori Tower in Roppongi in the morning and we got to see Fuji one more time. Sadly the inside deck was undergoing renovation and the outdoor deck was closed, I really wanted to see the latter to experience the famous scene from the anime movie Weathering with You.
- Lunch: Love Live Hasunosora cafe at Akihabara. The cafe was decently high effort in both the interior (decked out with all the characters, autographs, etc.) and the creative presentation of the food (a bunny-shaped omurice and a “starry night” pasta with the characters stuck on them), but the food tasted pretty bad.
- Akihabara shopping. Maybe I went to the wrong stores (Animate, Mandarake, some smaller ones) but the inventory wasn’t as wide as I thought it would be, and mostly focused on recent series (good opportunity to load up on Kana merch, what wasn’t sold out anyway).
- 2nd lunch at a conveyer belt sushi. This one was much more mediocre than the Kyoto one.
- We went to Oshiage (Skytree) to pick up takeout from our last Michelin star, Yakitori Omino* (Tabelog bronze), which worked well with our schedule. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to actually go up the Skytree, or find the Rilakkuma store supposedly here. The yakitori was just ok, I preferred NYC’s actually, but it was takeout so unfair to judge.
- More last-minute shopping at Daimaru
- As we rolled our bags to take the subway to Haneda, we stumbled on a taiyaki shop doing an anime vtuber collab for our last food in Tokyo.
- We bought our gifts/omiyage/take home snacks at the airport duty free, then boarded our flight home at 11pm.
Logistical notes:
- Carrier international phone plan ($50 for a month on TMobile) on my mom’s phone.
- 2 backpacks+2 checked suitcases+a cheap Don Quijote suitcase for souvenirs. Didn't use luggage fwding bc we weren’t familiar with it but wish we had, we’ll research it more next time. Checked bags fit in front of your seat on the shinkansen if you squeeze in, they'll also fit on the overhead racks if you're strong enough to lift it (mixed results for me).
- Book any domestic flights on the same booking/ticket as your international so you keep the international weight/size allowance which is larger than domestic (we did this). Also the automatic bag checkin machines may reject your bag’s weight for a domestic flight (just go to a counter and they will handle it)
- I used my fee-free credit card wherever I could, but still ended up going through about 100k JPY in cash mainly on IC card, rural areas, small shops/street food in larger cities. We used 711 ATM.
- Due to Tokyo Suica/Pasmo IC shortage and given we started in Sapporo, we got Hokkaido’s Kitaca IC card (usable nationwide). Annoyingly you can only seem to reload it with cash, but the convenience was worth that downside. We didn’t use the phone IC, which accepts credit cards, bc we wanted to save battery.
- No JR pass (mainly bc our trains were spaced more than a week apart).
- Local trains accept IC, prebooking not required. Shinkansen can be booked on arrival at the station (website kept rejecting our card). However the train to Ginzan (Yamagata line) on the holiday was almost fully booked so beware of holidays and book shinkansen as early on your trip as possible. The station helper did tell us shinkansen never “run out of room” as they have standing room if you must get from A to B at a certain time. He also told us if you miss a shinkansen, you can take standing room on a subsequent one same day. The different JR companies can book each other (e.g. JR Central office in Kyoto could book JR East tickets).
- Google maps has the subway exits (e.g. A8, B2, etc.) labelled.
- We had a fairly detailed pre-planned itinerary (necessary due to all the reservations), but also left gaps for free time and had “modules” we could move around as needed for weather.
- Flights, hotels, and luxury activities aside, “normal” expenses were quite cheap, although this could be a result of the low exchange rate. Just to give an idea, we had a $7 lunch for 2 at a conveyer belt sushi in Tokyo.
Overall: Nothing compares to the real deal for food in Japan, although we gained appreciation for how strong NY’s Japanese scene is. This trip we focused on the Michelin guide/3-stars to calibrate their global standards, but next time we’d like to explore Tabelog gold restaurants to compare (local gourmands use Tabelog). Next trip we’d also like to focus on the south in more depth, either Kansai or Kyushu. We liked mixing popular Golden Route destinations with slightly less common ones like Hokkaido and Ginzan which gave us a different (and less crowded) perspective of Japan, Going in the winter was a good idea from a scenic, food, and crowd point of view. The whole country is like an anime-themed Disneyworld (complete with ads, cosplayers, themed food, and merch) which was obviously a dream for us.

First time postin' here, hopefully I can interest some of you with my grumpy old lady here, Kota! She's a rather old OC of mine I made for JJBA / JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, of which I will explain down below. (Also yes, I used a Picrew because I suck ass at drawing, sorry :p, please do support the artist, they're wonderful! Their @ is in the picture!)
Some basic information before I give a very VERY general overview of Kota and her life, mind you I have written her not to he canon to JoJo's, but that her world is very similar to the main one.
Birth Name: Kota Anthonio Zeppeli Registered Name: Kota A. Joestar Current Age: 83 (Physically) 55 (Visually) Past Ages: 3 (Part 2) 53 (Part 3) 64 (Part 4) 66 (Part 5) 76 (Part 6) Hair Color: Blonde Hair Style: Braided / Bun / Whatever Hair Length: Hip Eye Color: Emerald Green Skin Color: Tanned / Olive Height: 4'12" / 152.4 Cm Weight: 145 Lbs / 65.77 Kg
Gender: Female Sexuality: Bisexual (Male leaning) Preferred Pronouns: She / Her Religious Practice: Christianity
Favorites*
Colors: Emerald Green / Lavender Purple Foods: Pesto Pasta / Medium Steak w/ Wine Actors: James Dean / Clint Eastwood / Peter Falk Movies: Elvira / The Outsiders Songs: Java Jive / Shoo-Shoo Baby / Thriller Animals: Foxes / Cats Hobbies: Driving / Working Out
Onto her listed abilities!
Powers
Hamon - General mastery of the art due to a lifetime of focus and training.
Vroom Vroom Overdrive* - A technique developed by Kota that instantaneously hotwires a vehicle by punching the dashboard.
Stand - 「Tears For Fears」
Localized Name: 「Tear 4 Fear」
Stand User: 「Kota Anthonio Zeppeli」
Type: Artificial Non-Humanoid/Reconnaissance/Close-Range
Stand Cry: None
Namesake: The British pop band, Tears For Fears
Stats
Destructive Power - C
Speed - A
Range - D
Durability - D
Precision - D
Developmental Potential - E
Description
Tears For Fears is the Stand ability of Kota Zeppeli, a Hamon warrior raised by Joseph Joestar. Tears For Fears, like other Hamon based Stands, takes the form of several long purple vines that wrap around her arms and back. Kota herself uses Tears For Fears to contact the dead, tapping into the souls of anyone who has died by touching whatever items/clothes they may have owned during their time alive.
Here is her summary (Prepare for cringe):
Kota Anthonio Zeppeli was born in Naples, Italy to Grace Albini and Caesar Zeppeli on the 15th of February, 1935. Unfortunately for Kota, events that had taken place only 3 years after her birth would change her life forever.. The loss of her father would never be known to the girl until years later. Due to being raised by Grace in a rather small and humble home, Kota learned at an early age to fight and tend for herself, with many small crimes being preformed by the soon-to-be Hamon warrior. Unbeknownst to her she began to well with a strange energy that would release itself whenever she got into trouble, to which she reffered to this glowing light as her "Luce Celeste" [Lit. Heavenly Light]. While she hadn't learned to control it yet, she would soon catch a break around the tail end of the Second World War. A man and a woman whom claim to know her father introduce themselves as possibly the two most important people to Kota's story.. Joseph Joestar and Lisa Lisa (Elizabeth).
Time flew by rather quickly after that, Kota was brought into the arms of the Joestar family due to a promise that had been made between Joseph and his late friend. It took them ages before they got along, hell, even all this time later and Kota still has days where she can't stand the old fart. But in all honesty, there wasn't a day that went by that she wasn't grateful for what Joseph and the Joestar family had given her. She joined Joseph by his side for many different escapades, many of which left the gal more jaded as time went on. She started life as this highly energetic and carefree individual to now, at her dampening age of 83 to someone who is tired. She's been through enough fighting, far enough heartache.. Thankfully time had been kinder to her in these last few years. She lost many friends, many family.. But in all kinds of ways she found her own. She may carry the Joestar name by adoption and she may carry the name of Zeppeli by blood relation to Caesar.. But Kota is just a tiny woman in a big big world.. And boy howdy she was gonna go down in her own terms when the time came.
Outside Information!
Kota, while not married, is currently in a relationship with someone whom those of the JJBA fandom might know. Jean Pierre Polnareff! They had met during the events of Stardust Crusaders (Part 3) and developed a rather tight bond of pride and semi-agressive flirting. Nothing came of this however until many years later.. 2001 to be exact, when Kota, having just returned to her home of Naples would come across the Frenchman by chance. The two quickly became close, albiet nothing romantic until a year later in 2002.. When Kota had then became pregnant. The two decided to settle down, naming their new son Cherri, both after Jean's late sister Sherry and a close friend of their's favorite food.. The cherry.
For now that is all I can think of, so if anyone has any questions or anything to critique (Hopefully not much lol) then please, feel free to comment! Hopefully this was worth putting out here!

The members of /RichmondFC would like to acknowledge the traditional users of the subreddit on which we meet. We would like to acknowledge mods past and present and we pay our respects to anyone who loves football, their mates and a bit of banter. You're all welcome to pop on over to our subreddit to talk anything tigers!
Established: 1885 (joined VFL in 1908) Home Grounds: MCG, Punt Road Oval (Training and Admin) Song: Go learn it here, I have of recent years been able to say 'don't worry you'll hear it soon enough' but we're solidly rebuilding so yeah. Premierships: 13 (9 in living memory for people on the internet) (1920, 1921, 1932, 1934, 1943, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1980, 2017, 2019, 2020) President: John O’Rourke CEO: Brendon Gale (15th season)
Gadget type operators
Head Coach: Adem Yze (1st season) AFLW Coacg: Ryan Ferguson VFL: Steve Morris Line Coaches: Chris Newman - Midfield Ben Rutten - Defensive David Teague - Forwards Jack Ziebell - Midfield development Kane Lambert - Development Ivan Maric - Rucks
Captain: Toby Nankervis (Like Santa, but instead of presents he gives away free kicks). Vice-Captains: Short, Baker and Lynch. Which honestly, if that doesn't sound like an accounting firm then i don't know what does. Seriously. "Welcome to Short, Baker and Lynch"
Changes: It turns out Damien Hardwick is in fact powered by a solar powered battery system, and he ran out of puff so he needed to be placed in the Sun to recharge. However, we replaced him with the Yze'st coach you'll ever see. Hooray for Yze? I get on the Booze for the Yze? yeah. Our recruiter also buggered off to West Coast, clearly he likes fixing problems, and Minni has dipped off after holding the wheel for a spell last year.
Last Year And This Year, thanks to u/Limp-Dentist1416 (I think he is currently banned from here for being naughty)
A deep love of exploiting awkward breakups for ratings potential sees the 2024 MAFS season kick off up on the Gold Coast vs Dimma's new toys.
Seeing our dad is now their dad, this matchup feels awkwardly like being introduced to your new step brothers for the first time.
Expect the AFL's fiercest new rivalry to instantly kick off if those mother fuckers ever lay a finger on our drum kit.
Rumours that Tom Lynch was refusing to take the moon boot off until Essendon won a final are thankfully untrue, and we should see him back out on the ground sometime in the next 7000 days.
Josh Gibcus will also return after missing the entire 2023 season with the only injury in the AFL that scores you a free overseas holiday. Seeing him miss so much footy at such a young age was a real worry. But that's Kids today. Even their hamstring issues are complex.
This year Tiger fans will get to relive some of the magic of 2017, as they endure another 12 months of feverish speculation about Dustin Martin's contract. It's not an easy decision. We just need to be patient and give Kane Cornes all the space he needs to decide where Dusty plays next year.
Where will the Tiges finish on the ladder this year? It all depends on who you talk to. Most of the experts at SEN have them finishing top...of the bottom four.
But SEN throw the word 'expert' around like they're handling baggage at an airport. So I talked to one of the techsperts at Harvey Norman. He was a lot more optimistic and said we should easily win the Superbowl. I suspect he also didn't know what he was talking about and trying to butter me up so I would buy a tv that costs more than the car I drive.
I'm no expert, but if you talk to me, I'd say I've got no fucking idea. Which is the only sensible answer anyone can give.
There's just so many unknown variables.
A new coaching group with a rookie head coach. We've seen that situation provide both tough starts and an instant boost up the ladder.
We've still got a decent number of high quality premiership players on our list. And not even they would know yet if this is the year where time catches up to them.
And a raft of talented kids the club is very excited about. But they're all potential superstars until they're not. And superstars just seem to come out of nowhere sometimes.
Which one of those is Thomson Dow? Brown? Banks? Tresize? Who knows, but this is the year we will find out.
Even if we aren't building a good AFL list, we are putting together a half a decent basketball team. Mate Colina and Oliver Hayes-Brown are absolute fucking units.
Take it Yze like a Sunday morning.
A review of who is on the up and down, thanks to u/Hawtproper whose name always reads in my head as 'hawktrooper' and i wonder why we have a hawks fan in our subreddit who is so wise in the ways of the yellow and black.
Players to Watch
Josh Gibcus- Who needs first round picks when your 6'5, [redacted] kg former pick 9 is back in the fray? After a great rookie season where he was robbed of a rising star nom for every one of his 18 games, Gibcus was missing for the entirety of the 2023 season with a hamstring injury that lingered longer than Gil as CEO. After a conservative approach, Gibcus looks ready to re-establish himself in a team crying out for some top end talent. His inclusion may help support Noah Balta or allow the flexibility to send him forward, as well mitigating the eventual retirement of Dylan Grimes.
Samson Ryan- After his infamous debut in a 62-22 loss to St Kilda where he had a -2 fantasy score, our baby giraffe was able to crack in for 14 games in 2023, splitting time between ruck and forward with Nank and Lynch down with injury early in the year. Coming into 2024, with Riewoldt retired and Soldo maliciously stolen from us, Ryan's biggest competition for a spot is Naismith who's played 30 games in 8 years and Koschitzke who was dropped last year despite being the only key forward in his team. With some more bulk to his frame, Sampa could carve out his niche as a ruck-forward and be a mainstay in the new era of Richmond, which hopefully means more interviews with his mum and BT.
Sam Banks- Much like his graffiti artist namesake we don't know a lot about Banksy yet. Banks was one of our most consistent VFL players in 2023 finally earning a call up and playing 6 games towards the end of the season. He showed some promise as a quick, line breaking half-back, with his best a 18 disposal game in a comeback win against Hawthorn. However, with Marlion Pickett potentially being one of the dumbest men in football and a new coach looking to experiment with new blood, a spot on the wing (his preferred position) could be on the cards for Sam.
Tom Lynch- It's lunch time!! I don't know if it's cheating to put an All Australian calibre player in players to watch but this bloke's season will largely dictate whether Richmond are contending for finals or contending to draft the 7th generational talent of this generation. I know every team complains about injuries (cough Geelong) but losing our 3 goal a game, 2022 BnF for a year devastated Richmond's forward line and no amount of chipped, Riewoldt-shaped pegs could fill the Lynch sized hole in our team. Lynch at his best can tear a team apart and at his worst he's a big galoot that gets in the way of the competitions best defenders and gives the other forwards a chance. Hopefully the only foot injury he has in 2024 is a bit of a bruise from kicking 50+ goals.
Players on Notice
Noah Cumberland- In 2022 you might remember Cummy for his game winning 5 goal performance against Brisbane or more likely his inability to tell time resulting in a draw against Fremantle. In 2023 you might not remember him at all and I can hardly blame you. Cumberland was a shock omission from the round 1 team after averaging 2 goals a game in 2022, with Dimma seeming to like Cumberland only slightly more than he likes Marvel Stadium. Said to have played too similar a role to Dusty (you'd think two Dusty's would be a good thing) Cumberland was in and out of the side due to form and injury, with him often looking lost at times on the field. In his fifth season at the club, if he can't gel with Yze's plan he may surpassed by others, and St Kilda may add a third Richmond small forward to their collection.
Thomson Dow- Since entering the AFL, Thomson is probably best known for being the second best Dow, a title many would rather die than have. Having never played more than 6 games in a season, many supporters were ready to say their goodbyes when Dow had only played one game coming into round 22, a 6 disposal effort against Essendon where he was subbed out. However, after playing the last three games of the season, including a career best against Port, he earned his coveted one year contract. With Cotchin gone, and Dusty spending more time forward, there's a spot up for grabs if Dow can prove to Yze he's got the goods, and there will be no other chances.
Marlion Pickett- This one kind of speaks for itself. If he's guilty he's obviously gone and if he's innocent he's coming into 2024 at 32 with a giant distraction over his head after an average year on the field. Pickett brought his signature intensity to the forward line for large chunks of 2023, and besides a game winning performance against GWS he seemed to fade in and out of games. With Jack Ross taking over his position on the wing and plenty of young tigers trying to break into the team, Pickett's future is hanging in the balance.
Dylan Grimes- Grimes' 2023 season was a familar site for Tiger fans, another premiership star who started to look a touch off pace upon entering his 30's. Having taken on some of the best talls and smalls in comp throughout his career, Grimes started to hand off these jobs to the likes of Broad, Balta, Rioli and even rookie Young in 2023. Despite playing on the opposition's 4th or 5th best forward, Grimes lacked his usual impact on games, and while he's well earnt the right to retire when he sees fit it would be something to be considered if 2024 doesn't turn out as planned. Here's hoping dropping the burden of the captaincy onto Nank's sexy, hefty shoulders will allow Dylan to fully focus on his game and get a resurgence.
'Best' 22 Thanks again to Hawktrooper (hawtproper)
FB N.Vlastuin T.Young N.Broad
HB D.Rioli J.Gibcus J.Short
C K.McIntosh T.Taranto M.Pickett
HF L.Baker N.Balta J.Ross
FF S.Green J.Koschitzke S.Bolton
F S.Naismith J.Hopper D.Martin
I T.Dow D.Grimes S.Ryan D.Prestia
S M.Rioli
If they're adamant on Bolton forward I hope Baker gets more mid time, we looked too slow most of the practice game. Steely looked better to me than Seth despite less game time. Thought Maurice could be a starter to make up for the defensive pressure we lose with Graham, but is it likely if he wasn't in the best 26 for Collingwood. Banks only had calf tightness but does he get in without the game prep of the other wingers
Shaun Atley Memorial Leaderboard. (Milestones possible in 2024)

• Dustin Martin 11 games to the 300-game milestone.
• Dylan Grimes 21 games to the 250-game milestone.
• Nathan Broad 24 games to the 150-game milestone.
• Noah Balta 15 games to the 100-game milestone.
• Tom Lynch 15 games to the 100-game milestone at Richmond.
• Marlion Pickett 22 games to the 100-game milestone.

So the most likely ones this year are Dusty making 300, Balta making 100 and Lynch making 100 at the Tigers (I hope).
Fixture summary for 2024

• 13 matches at Geelong's home ground.
• 2 at Marvel Stadium
• 2 at Optus Stadium
• 2 at Adelaide Oval.
• 1 at The Gabba
• 1 at Norwood Oval.
• 1 at Heritage Bank Stadium
• 1 at Geelong's training ground.

With 16 games in Victoria* and 7 games away the RichmondFC fixture receives a MisguidedGames weighted analysis scoring of Shits fucked, VicBias

• Geelong is sadly counted as part of Victoria for the purposes of this analysis.

2024 Season expectations by Bergasms
I mean, damn, the Dimmasty has truly ended, and we are looking at the new Yze era. We will probably win the flag It's hard to have super high expectations with such an unknown as a new coach, so the most we can really hope for is Geelong and Collingwood to be kicked out is the kids to develop well, Yze to show us he has the coaching skills to at least match it with other decent clubs, not so many injuries, and to not win the spoon. It's really hard to have solid expectations at this point as it has been a long time since we've had a new coach. There are some voids to fill with Jack and Cotch retiring and some other older players struggling to stay on the park, so it will be exciting to see who puts their hands up this year.
*2023 AFLW review, brought to you by Caitlin Greiser's voice *
The 2023 AFLW season was a rough one for the Tigers. Saying we were plagued by injuries doesn't really do it justice. We were pandemic'd by injuries. We were smallpox wiping out millions by injures. It was the Black Death of injuries. At one point some of the train on players who were mostly at the club to get some experience on the training track were instead getting their AFLW debut. We won 3 of our first 4 games but then only won two more for the year at the tail end as players returned. Despite such a tricky run, we had two losses by 7 points to Freo and 1 point to the Suns which had we got up would have meant we'd play finals. A barnstorming finish against the Pies who needed to win to play finals, drubbing them by 52 points at their home ground, gave the side some great momentum. MonCon got the B&F for the comp largely by dint of being one of the few players on our team who wasn't injured for the majority of the season and therefore hogged all the votes (and also just being awesome), and Caitlin nabbed GOTY off of the Ponter bomb with her insane snap from the pocket, I suspect winning it mostly because she was trying to score a goal instead of pass to a teammate. With relatively few list changes (one of the Hosking girls is gone, this may be a good thing as two is too many) and players like Dempsey and Shieren really announcing themselves if we can keep fit and firing we should be back in finals for 2024.
Thanks for reading you nuffies, much love from Berg and all the crew at /RichmondFC.
Link to Last Years

!!CARN THE TIGES

The members of /RichmondFC would like to acknowledge the traditional users of the subreddit on which we meet. We would like to acknowledge mods past and present and we pay our respects to anyone who loves football, their mates and a bit of banter. You're all welcome to pop on over to our subreddit to talk anything tigers!
Last Years
Established: 1885 (joined VFL in 1908) Home Grounds: MCG, Punt Road Oval (Training and Admin) Song: Go learn it here, I have of recent years been able to say 'don't worry you'll hear it soon enough' but we're solidly rebuilding so yeah. Premierships: 13 (9 in living memory for people on the internet) (1920, 1921, 1932, 1934, 1943, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1980, 2017, 2019, 2020) President: John O’Rourke CEO: Brendon Gale (15th season)
Gadget type operators
Head Coach: Adem Yze (1st season) AFLW Coacg: Ryan Ferguson VFL: Steve Morris Line Coaches: Chris Newman - Midfield Ben Rutten - Defensive David Teague - Forwards Jack Ziebell - Midfield development Kane Lambert - Development Ivan Maric - Rucks
Captain: Toby Nankervis (Like Santa, but instead of presents he gives away free kicks). Vice-Captains: Short, Baker and Lynch. Which honestly, if that doesn't sound like an accounting firm then i don't know what does. Seriously. "Welcome to Short, Baker and Lynch"
Changes: It turns out Damien Hardwick is in fact powered by a solar powered battery system, and he ran out of puff so he needed to be placed in the Sun to recharge. However, we replaced him with the Yze'st coach you'll ever see. Hooray for Yze? I get on the Booze for the Yze? yeah. Our recruiter also buggered off to West Coast, clearly he likes fixing problems, and Minni has dipped off after holding the wheel for a spell last year.
Last Year And This Year, thanks to u/Limp-Dentist1416 (I think he is currently banned from here for being naughty)
A deep love of exploiting awkward breakups for ratings potential sees the 2024 MAFS season kick off up on the Gold Coast vs Dimma's new toys.
Seeing our dad is now their dad, this matchup feels awkwardly like being introduced to your new step brothers for the first time.
Expect the AFL's fiercest new rivalry to instantly kick off if those mother fuckers ever lay a finger on our drum kit.
Rumours that Tom Lynch was refusing to take the moon boot off until Essendon won a final are thankfully untrue, and we should see him back out on the ground sometime in the next 7000 days.
Josh Gibcus will also return after missing the entire 2023 season with the only injury in the AFL that scores you a free overseas holiday. Seeing him miss so much footy at such a young age was a real worry. But that's Kids today. Even their hamstring issues are complex.
This year Tiger fans will get to relive some of the magic of 2017, as they endure another 12 months of feverish speculation about Dustin Martin's contract. It's not an easy decision. We just need to be patient and give Kane Cornes all the space he needs to decide where Dusty plays next year.
Where will the Tiges finish on the ladder this year? It all depends on who you talk to. Most of the experts at SEN have them finishing top...of the bottom four.
But SEN throw the word 'expert' around like they're handling baggage at an airport. So I talked to one of the techsperts at Harvey Norman. He was a lot more optimistic and said we should easily win the Superbowl. I suspect he also didn't know what he was talking about and trying to butter me up so I would buy a tv that costs more than the car I drive.
I'm no expert, but if you talk to me, I'd say I've got no fucking idea. Which is the only sensible answer anyone can give.
There's just so many unknown variables.
A new coaching group with a rookie head coach. We've seen that situation provide both tough starts and an instant boost up the ladder.
We've still got a decent number of high quality premiership players on our list. And not even they would know yet if this is the year where time catches up to them.
And a raft of talented kids the club is very excited about. But they're all potential superstars until they're not. And superstars just seem to come out of nowhere sometimes.
Which one of those is Thomson Dow? Brown? Banks? Tresize? Who knows, but this is the year we will find out.
Even if we aren't building a good AFL list, we are putting together a half a decent basketball team. Mate Colina and Oliver Hayes-Brown are absolute fucking units.
Take it Yze like a Sunday morning.
A review of who is on the up and down, thanks to u/Hawtproper whose name always reads in my head as 'hawktrooper' and i wonder why we have a hawks fan in our subreddit who is so wise in the ways of the yellow and black.
Players to Watch
Josh Gibcus- Who needs first round picks when your 6'5, [redacted] kg former pick 9 is back in the fray? After a great rookie season where he was robbed of a rising star nom for every one of his 18 games, Gibcus was missing for the entirety of the 2023 season with a hamstring injury that lingered longer than Gil as CEO. After a conservative approach, Gibcus looks ready to re-establish himself in a team crying out for some top end talent. His inclusion may help support Noah Balta or allow the flexibility to send him forward, as well mitigating the eventual retirement of Dylan Grimes.
Samson Ryan- After his infamous debut in a 62-22 loss to St Kilda where he had a -2 fantasy score, our baby giraffe was able to crack in for 14 games in 2023, splitting time between ruck and forward with Nank and Lynch down with injury early in the year. Coming into 2024, with Riewoldt retired and Soldo maliciously stolen from us, Ryan's biggest competition for a spot is Naismith who's played 30 games in 8 years and Koschitzke who was dropped last year despite being the only key forward in his team. With some more bulk to his frame, Sampa could carve out his niche as a ruck-forward and be a mainstay in the new era of Richmond, which hopefully means more interviews with his mum and BT.
Sam Banks- Much like his graffiti artist namesake we don't know a lot about Banksy yet. Banks was one of our most consistent VFL players in 2023 finally earning a call up and playing 6 games towards the end of the season. He showed some promise as a quick, line breaking half-back, with his best a 18 disposal game in a comeback win against Hawthorn. However, with Marlion Pickett potentially being one of the dumbest men in football and a new coach looking to experiment with new blood, a spot on the wing (his preferred position) could be on the cards for Sam.
Tom Lynch- It's lunch time!! I don't know if it's cheating to put an All Australian calibre player in players to watch but this bloke's season will largely dictate whether Richmond are contending for finals or contending to draft the 7th generational talent of this generation. I know every team complains about injuries (cough Geelong) but losing our 3 goal a game, 2022 BnF for a year devastated Richmond's forward line and no amount of chipped, Riewoldt-shaped pegs could fill the Lynch sized hole in our team. Lynch at his best can tear a team apart and at his worst he's a big galoot that gets in the way of the competitions best defenders and gives the other forwards a chance. Hopefully the only foot injury he has in 2024 is a bit of a bruise from kicking 50+ goals.
Players on Notice
Noah Cumberland- In 2022 you might remember Cummy for his game winning 5 goal performance against Brisbane or more likely his inability to tell time resulting in a draw against Fremantle. In 2023 you might not remember him at all and I can hardly blame you. Cumberland was a shock omission from the round 1 team after averaging 2 goals a game in 2022, with Dimma seeming to like Cumberland only slightly more than he likes Marvel Stadium. Said to have played too similar a role to Dusty (you'd think two Dusty's would be a good thing) Cumberland was in and out of the side due to form and injury, with him often looking lost at times on the field. In his fifth season at the club, if he can't gel with Yze's plan he may surpassed by others, and St Kilda may add a third Richmond small forward to their collection.
Thomson Dow- Since entering the AFL, Thomson is probably best known for being the second best Dow, a title many would rather die than have. Having never played more than 6 games in a season, many supporters were ready to say their goodbyes when Dow had only played one game coming into round 22, a 6 disposal effort against Essendon where he was subbed out. However, after playing the last three games of the season, including a career best against Port, he earned his coveted one year contract. With Cotchin gone, and Dusty spending more time forward, there's a spot up for grabs if Dow can prove to Yze he's got the goods, and there will be no other chances.
Marlion Pickett- This one kind of speaks for itself. If he's guilty he's obviously gone and if he's innocent he's coming into 2024 at 32 with a giant distraction over his head after an average year on the field. Pickett brought his signature intensity to the forward line for large chunks of 2023, and besides a game winning performance against GWS he seemed to fade in and out of games. With Jack Ross taking over his position on the wing and plenty of young tigers trying to break into the team, Pickett's future is hanging in the balance.
Dylan Grimes- Grimes' 2023 season was a familar site for Tiger fans, another premiership star who started to look a touch off pace upon entering his 30's. Having taken on some of the best talls and smalls in comp throughout his career, Grimes started to hand off these jobs to the likes of Broad, Balta, Rioli and even rookie Young in 2023. Despite playing on the opposition's 4th or 5th best forward, Grimes lacked his usual impact on games, and while he's well earnt the right to retire when he sees fit it would be something to be considered if 2024 doesn't turn out as planned. Here's hoping dropping the burden of the captaincy onto Nank's sexy, hefty shoulders will allow Dylan to fully focus on his game and get a resurgence.
'Best' 22 Thanks again to Hawktrooper (hawtproper)
FB N.Vlastuin T.Young N.Broad
HB D.Rioli J.Gibcus J.Short
C K.McIntosh T.Taranto M.Pickett
HF L.Baker N.Balta J.Ross
FF S.Green J.Koschitzke S.Bolton
F S.Naismith J.Hopper D.Martin
I T.Dow D.Grimes S.Ryan D.Prestia
S M.Rioli
If they're adamant on Bolton forward I hope Baker gets more mid time, we looked too slow most of the practice game. Steely looked better to me than Seth despite less game time. Thought Maurice could be a starter to make up for the defensive pressure we lose with Graham, but is it likely if he wasn't in the best 26 for Collingwood. Banks only had calf tightness but does he get in without the game prep of the other wingers
Shaun Atley Memorial Leaderboard. (Milestones possible in 2024)

• Dustin Martin 11 games to the 300-game milestone.
• Dylan Grimes 21 games to the 250-game milestone.
• Nathan Broad 24 games to the 150-game milestone.
• Noah Balta 15 games to the 100-game milestone.
• Tom Lynch 15 games to the 100-game milestone at Richmond.
• Marlion Pickett 22 games to the 100-game milestone.

So the most likely ones this year are Dusty making 300, Balta making 100 and Lynch making 100 at the Tigers (I hope).
Fixture summary for 2024

• 13 matches at Geelong's home ground.
• 2 at Marvel Stadium
• 2 at Optus Stadium
• 2 at Adelaide Oval.
• 1 at The Gabba
• 1 at Norwood Oval.
• 1 at Heritage Bank Stadium
• 1 at Geelong's training ground.

With 16 games in Victoria* and 7 games away the RichmondFC fixture receives a MisguidedGames weighted analysis scoring of Shits fucked, VicBias

• Geelong is sadly counted as part of Victoria for the purposes of this analysis.

2024 Season expectations by Bergasms
I mean, damn, the Dimmasty has truly ended, and we are looking at the new Yze era. We will probably win the flag It's hard to have super high expectations with such an unknown as a new coach, so the most we can really hope for is Geelong and Collingwood to be kicked out is the kids to develop well, Yze to show us he has the coaching skills to at least match it with other decent clubs, not so many injuries, and to not win the spoon. It's really hard to have solid expectations at this point as it has been a long time since we've had a new coach. There are some voids to fill with Jack and Cotch retiring and some other older players struggling to stay on the park, so it will be exciting to see who puts their hands up this year.
*2023 AFLW review, brought to you by Caitlin Greiser's voice *
The 2023 AFLW season was a rough one for the Tigers. Saying we were plagued by injuries doesn't really do it justice. We were pandemic'd by injuries. We were smallpox wiping out millions by injures. It was the Black Death of injuries. At one point some of the train on players who were mostly at the club to get some experience on the training track were instead getting their AFLW debut. We won 3 of our first 4 games but then only won two more for the year at the tail end as players returned. Despite such a tricky run, we had two losses by 7 points to Freo and 1 point to the Suns which had we got up would have meant we'd play finals. A barnstorming finish against the Pies who needed to win to play finals, drubbing them by 52 points at their home ground, gave the side some great momentum. MonCon got the B&F for the comp largely by dint of being one of the few players on our team who wasn't injured for the majority of the season and therefore hogged all the votes (and also just being awesome), and Caitlin nabbed GOTY off of the Ponter bomb with her insane snap from the pocket, I suspect winning it mostly because she was trying to score a goal instead of pass to a teammate. With relatively few list changes (one of the Hosking girls is gone, this may be a good thing as two is too many) and players like Dempsey and Shieren really announcing themselves if we can keep fit and firing we should be back in finals for 2024.
Thanks for reading you nuffies, much love from Berg and all the crew at /RichmondFC.

!!CARN THE TIGES

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The Monster that will defeat Sukuna.
TLDR: My case for why Maki will play a pivotal role in killing Sukuna, and showing how her character arc has led to this exact moment. In other words, she's gonna humble the King of Curses. Skip to section four if you don't care for a summary of their combined arcs. My original post for an easier read with the images.

"Love is worthless" Sukuna vs. "I don't have a heart" Maki

I. Fate

Love and isolation have been major motifs throughout JuJutsu Kaisen, mainly concerning Sukuna and Gojo; both these characters satisfy a fateful premise in jujutsu: the existence of the strongest sorcerer of a generation or era. Sukuna, Kashimo, and Gojo all hold the title of "strongest sorcerer" for their respective eras, and for the sake of this post, I will call it a fateful role.
I say fate because Tengen and the omniscient narrator refer to fate as something real that connects certain roles throughout the different eras. For example, it has been Kenjaku's fate to be stopped by a six eyes user^.\)^1\[)^2\[)^3\)
Toji's existence as an anomaly beyond the power of jujutsu allowed him to break the chains of fate and change the world. By killing the star plasma vessel, something fate was constantly protecting, he opened the doors for Kenjaku to complete his ludicrous plan of merging all Japanese citizens with Tengen.

II. Visual motifs between Toji, Maki, Gojo, and Sukuna

The main (obvious) connections between Toji and Maki ->[4][5]
While Naoya was an idiot, his comparison between Gojo and Toji^\)^6\) was not random and should be acknowledged. He recognized the two of them as being the pinnacles of strength. Though, Naoya did not have the sense to understand what Toji and Gojo represented: jujutsu and the rejection of it. Naoya could never occupy the space that Toji and Gojo did. Not only due to his lack of power, but also because he doesn't have the same Heavenly Restriction that Toji and Maki share. Moreso, Toji and Maki represent the antithesis of the strongest sorcerer by being the strongest beings beyond jujutsu sorcery.
Toji, and Maki by extension, have been narratively connected to Gojo, who satisfies the fateful role of strongest sorcerer. Toji's connection to Gojo mirrors Maki's connection to Sukuna. The backstab in 251 seals this connection between the two pairs^\)^7\[)^8\) (will come back to this).
Gojo thinks of the last time he's ever feared loss, and remembers Toji. I believe Sukuna will have a similar moment where he fears loss by Maki's hands which will mirror these pages.^\)^9\[)^10\)
Gege has left little crumbs throughout the story connecting Toji and Gojo, depicting Toji to be the antithesis to jujutsu, and finally connecting Toji and Maki. While that's commonly understood, I don't think enough people respect the fact that Toji, Gojo, and Maki's connection meets Sukuna in the end. Gege has tied all four of them together in the narrative, and that's sure to have some major payoff.

III. Love and Isolation

Yorozu, Kashimo, and Gojo all misunderstand Sukuna as being lonely, the latter two projecting their feelings of dejection onto him.^\)^11\[)^12\)
Gojo and Kashimo's sentiments were useless, as Sukuna completely rejects love and calls it worthless. He's not lonely because he's the strongest, he's the strongest because he's alone! Sukuna has evolved past being a human who needs love and he does only what satisfies his own desires. He eats what he wants, he kills what he wants, and he makes anything his own amusement if he wishes to. Sukuna represents a completely selfish outlook that takes and rarely gives. The only thing Sukuna gives is death, and even that he withholds from people who do not interest him.
While Maki appears as being cold, she still cares for her friends. Even before her and Mai made up, she still showed love for her sister, but refused to belittle herself for the sake of their relationship. Maki represents a person who refuses to allow love to hold her back.^\)^13\[)^14\)
Even though Maki gained new powers after Mai's sacrifice, she still could not reach her full potential because she was modeling herself after sorcerers, which she can never be. Maki and Toji can see curses, but relying on her vision only held her back.^\)^15\[)^16\) Her last fight with Naoya was about her finally breaking away from jujutsu's holds and becoming free. While she can see curses, she does not have cursed energy and barriers cannot work on her. First she cleansed her family tree, her namesake that literally connected her to jujutsu, then she freed herself from thinking like a sorcerer altogether.
Finally, she became a demonic fighter. While she appears cold, she still cares for others. She doesn't regret Mai's fate, but instead embraces it and their relationship. Maki's still a merciless fighter, but one who can express care and concern for her allies. She's selfish enough to refuse to allow others to hold her back, but loving enough to protect those she cares about. Sukuna similarly refuses to be held back by love, and therefore cannot be lonely. Maki exists somewhere in the same realm of being loveless, but not nearly as much as Sukuna.
While the two of them share a heartless attitude and a monstrous demeanor, they exist as complete opposite beings. Sukuna's the greatest and strongest model of jujutsu, and Maki's the absolute antithesis of sorcery. Both of them stand alone in their respective extremes, and again, are alone because they are the strongest. Maki's vision of curses, her last remaining connection to jujutsu was hindering her ability to grow stronger; she was blind to her own abilities because of sorcery. Gege makes it obvious that Toji and Maki break the rules of sorcery. Meaning, Maki will be Sukuna's downfall.

IV. Maki's Advantages Over Sukuna

Toji and Maki are the only two of their kind to ever exist.^\)^17\[)^18\) Therefore, Sukuna has never fought a being, a monster like Maki in his entire life. Megumi never found out about Toji or his abilities, so Sukuna still does not have a reference for Maki's abilities. He may be able to recount Megumi's fight against him, but that's very limited information, especially because Toji was not full strength. Maki has the element of surprise.
Maki's backstab leaves many questions. The narrator specifies that Sukuna should have been able to sense a sorcerer performing the backstab, but he failed to sense Maki; she is not a sorcerer, but an anomaly, a monster who is not beholden to jujutsu or sorcery. Sukuna's lack of awareness could be because he's been weakened, but he's failed to notice Maki before.^\)^19\)
Many people misinterpret this panel to be Sukuna surprised by Maki's aura, but I disagree and argue that he's shocked that he cannot sense her. Both Yuji and Sukuna are suprised by her sudden appearance. Due to Maki not having any cursed energy, Sukuna cannot sense her power and will be forced to rely on sight to find her. Yet, Maki needs neither sight nor cursed energy to fight curses. Maki senses the air's temperature and density, a sight only she possesses that gives her an advantage over curses.
Also, Sukuna sensed that Maki was a problem and thanked Uraume for possibly taking her out.
The top four seek to stop the merger and sever Megumi from Sukuna's body, and Maki possesses a sword that severs souls! Sukuna has been worn down until his cursed energy matched Yuta's, who's now number one since Gojo's died. Keep in mind that Gojo was worlds ahead of Yuta, so Sukuna's power has plummeted and he needs time to recover.^\)^20\)
Sukuna's inner monologue in 250:
https://preview.redd.it/yznwz841qujc1.png?width=685&format=png&auto=webp&s=41d25db664cf6d28f6ccfdd46a5d373b9d1f6b55
https://preview.redd.it/2e5yxti2qujc1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=7e88afc8b232242688a1fc0c94f5bdb226b614d7
Maki has the Heavenly Restriction, the sword, the sight, and the timing needed to be able to face Sukuna and possibly even defeat him. Gojo, Kashimo, Higuruma, Yuta, and Yuji were all a means to an ends to weaken Sukuna until Maki could come and clean up (I'm exaggerating).
Maki's entire character arc has been about her clashing with Sukuna. Maki, the monstrous human w/o CE vs Sukuna, the monstrous once-sorcerer with the most CE. Their fight will be about both their ideals and powers. Is strength truly isolating? To what extent does the monster cast aside love? Can monstrous strength be used to protect others?
Edit Regarding Sukuna's Domain:
Sukuna's domain may be the only one that works on her (and Kenjaku's but he's dead) because they don't have barrier mechanics. As pointed out by SwimmingStreet8981, "Sukuna showed that he cuts absolutely everything in his domain. He turned buildings to dust without even trying."
Either Gege restores Sukuna's domain to turn the battle once more, or the domain battle with Gojo was for the sake of the top 4 not having to worry about Sukuna's domain. I think the latter tbh.
Questions for their battle:
If Sukuna manages to recover his domain, can it affect Maki?
Now that Sukuna's down to two hands and one mouth, and Maki might be the fastest person in meta at this moment, how much deep shit is Sukuna in?
Will the soul splitting blade be the key to stop the merger? How does that even work against Sukuna?

Vote for your favourite neighborhood as part of the inaugural Tournament Of Rochester Neighborhoods!
About the challengers:

• Park Avenue is a southeast neighborhood and takes its name from its main thoroughfare: Park Avenue. Like the street of its namesake: what most people consider Park Avenue neighborhood is actually three distinct neighborhoods: Park Meigs, Park Central, and ABC Streets. Park Avenue the street was once Park Avenue, Crescent St., and Bates St.
• 14621 is a northeast neighborhood and takes its name from the zip code assigned to it by the USPS. It shares a bond with 19th Ward in that the area never developed a summary nickname for itself in history and has mostly been known by a municipal designation. 14621 also shares its zip code with parts of Irondequoit.

View Poll

This was originally meant to just be a short email to Destiny, but it grew out of proportion so I figured I would post it here.
Like most of us, Destiny seems to have a particular interest in housing economics and why it seems to be so uniquely fucked. He makes a lot of solid observations, like:

• Homeownership as a wealth-building vehicle seems to lead to a lot of bad things.
• There seems to be a meaningful difference between the class of renters and homeowners that explains a lot of modern political conflicts.
• It seems strange that the richest cities struggle so much to resolve poverty and homelessness despite very high taxes.
• Rent control seems to be a well-meaning but ultimately harmful policy that identifies a real issue, but not well enough to yield good outcomes.
• ...

I think the perspective of georgism would tie a lot of these observations together. It is not meant to be some all-encompassing economic ideology, just a lens that helps you understand the role of land in the economy and why it causes so many issues. For the sake of brevity, I will start by suggesting some stream guests for Destiny, then add my own summary at the end.

• Lars Doucet (@larsiusprime), author of the georgism posts on Scott Alexander's blog in 2021, which ignited a minor resurgence of georgism in rationalist/techy/yimby communities online, and were later developed into a book. He is also a recurring guest on Econoboi's stream. (These posts are a very solid introduction if you would rather read than have a conversation about it. They're also available on the author's site)
• Micah Erfan (@micah_erfan), tax wonk, twitter neolib, and activist at the Center for New Liberalism. Very sharp in conversation. He co-hosts a podcast with Econoboi, so once again Destiny could use that as an entry point.
• Stephen Hoskins (@GeorgistSteve), research director at Resource Justice, a georgist foundation. He shows up in Destiny's twitter replies quite often, and I have no doubt that he would be happy to come on stream. He has recently been involved with the Colorado commission on Land Value Taxes through his role at resource justice, as well as the ongoing push for LVT in Detroit.

All three of them are excellent in conversation and will be able to engage with questions around housing economics and intersecting issues very well. You could also talk to Noah Smith about it. Like most economists, Noah supports georgism though it is not his main topic.

Georgism summary:

Property values are comprised of two parts; land value and improvement value. As a matter of definition, anything the landowner does to increase the value of their property falls under improvement value, and things like the desirability of the location or access to public services fall under land value. The land value arises when the land rent, the expected revenue from simply renting out the land sans improvements, capitalizes into the price of the property. Land is finite and in fixed supply, so it has to be rationed out somehow. As long as we use pricing as the rationing mechanism, the land rent fundamentally has to be extracted by someone. In most capitalist countries, this land rent flows to the landowners. Georgists consider the flow of land rents to landowners an unearned income that drives inequality with no upside. This is different from labor wages or capital investment returns, which encourage productive economic activity. It is not possible to encourage more production of land, because land is not produced - the land supply is fixed. Instead, what you get is a ton of leveraged land speculation, driving inequality and making the entire economy more sensitive to macroeconomic conditions.
The georgist remedy is to implement a high land value tax (LVT), capturing the land rent into public budgets rather than having it capitalize into land prices. The LVT has a long list of upsides:

• The shift to an LVT involves getting rid of the portion of property taxes that target improvements, causing more homes to be built.
• The tax on land value makes it infeasible to hold land out of use speculatively. Underutilization of land (e.g. downtown parking lots) becomes penalized, where development is not inhibited by zoning.
• Unlike most other taxes, LVT does not incur deadweight loss, a disincentive to productive economic activity like labor or investment.
• Unlike most other taxes, LVT does not pass on to consumers (buyers or renters). It instead reduces property prices, shifting housing costs from an upfront investment to an equivalent recurring fee. This is also what makes it difficult to implement; The existing landowners will see their net worth reduced. In the US, you can get around this through a revenue-neutral shift from property taxes to LVTs. This is what most of the current LVT pushes are attempting to do.
• The LVT can break the link between high land values, poverty and homelessness. When a city becomes prosperous, the housing costs increase. Under georgism, the public revenue increases in turn, giving governments proportional means to tackle inequality. (This relationship is the namesake of Henry George's seminal work - Progress and Poverty)
• Socialists identify the same issues, but generally advocate for public land ownership or land leases, which are a lot less workable. Unlike these other forms of socializing the land rent, an LVT can be done partially with partial results, while retaining the upsides of markets.
• LVT is a form of value capture, wherein the costs of public investments like infrastructure can be recuperated, sometimes fully, through the land value uplift in the surrounding area. Without an LVT, these just capitalize into property values - an effective handout to property owners.
• In a more general sense, the LVT aligns incentives for local governments and their residents. They will be incentivized to increase their total land value, which in some sense is equivalent to making their jurisdiction more desirable to live in.
• LVT is near impossible to evade. No matter how many shell companies or foreign subsidiaries you route it through, nothing can get around the basic idea that the government sends a tax bill to whoever holds the deed.
• LVT is supported by a broad range of economists across the political spectrum (1)
• You can apply the same policy to other portions of the economy that are similar to land (e.g. natural resources - see Norway)
• ...

Another way to think about the LVT is as a fee that you pay the rest of society for the exclusive right to use a part of nature. This is not just a rich country issue; private land rents are simply not healthy for any economy, and a lot of recent development miracles were preceded by significant land reform - some more georgist than others (see South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, ...)

Gifts Of The Past:
What can a memory hold? The joy of an old friend? The fear of a nightmare? Perhaps something even more. Join Sadie, Bartholomew, and Armando as they find out! Gifts Of The Past is an actual play of the Mall Zombies TTRPG.

• itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gifts-of-the-past-mall-zombies/id1459051634?i=1000643609099
• spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0WekGM5Mq6qJFBcoQEwCq8?si=b383a3dca1d741e6
• youtube: https://youtu.be/fGDZ50RsB6o?si=73qLLizuJEN7S2b6

Mall Zombies is a one page role playing game by W. H. Arthur. Players split up to explore rooms using their memories. Each room has three cards, and you're trying to get three of a kind or a flush or straight. Each player has an ability that lets them look at the top card or cards of the deck and choose to send that card further away into the deck. This ability can be used once and refreshes when you successfully get three of a kind or a flush or straight. If you draw the wrong card, a zombie jumps out at you from the room you were exploring. You can find Mall Zombies here: https://aryl-ether.itch.io/mall-zombies or https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/373234/Mall-Zombies
Plot summary:
The story begins in the FBK guild hall. An old man in a dusty outfit walks in and is greeted by Armando. The old man introduces himself as the Servant, and informs him that he and two others described in the letter are to meet his Master. Armando is confused, and upon reading the letter realizes that it’s also addressed to Sadie and Bartholomew. Bartholomew reads the letter, which mentions that the Master needs help retrieving six artefacts:

• A Flower, that blossoms only in Summer.
• A Quill, dipped in the ink of duty.
• A Coin, tarnished with the tears of the innocent.
• A Bell, that rings with the sound of friendship.
• A Ring, that glistens in the sun of Spring.
• A Rapier covered in the dust of tradition.

In return, they will retrieve their lost possessions:

• Bartholomew’s lost pocket watch
• Sadie’s lost earring
• An item unknown to Armando

The party agrees to help, and the Servant instructs them to simply exit the guild hall to enter their destination. Upon doing so, they find themselves walking through a mysterious corridor with seemingly no end.
The party reaches two doors on either side marked “Niqamui Fencing Academy” and “Father’s Office”. Armando decides to enter the one marked “Niqamui Fencing Academy”, and when he does, the door quickly shuts behind him. He quickly realizes he’s in the fencing academy of his youth, and notices he is a child again! Hearing his deceased master Emile’s voice, he realizes he is reliving a memory. After a heartfelt reunion with Emile, Armando remembers he is looking for an artefact, and believes he can find the Rapier of Tradition in this memory. After finding it easily, Bartholomew and Sadie peek in to check on Armando, to which the other inhabitants of the memory become agitated at their presence. Armando notices his friends appearing as spirits, alerting them and hurrying out of the room together.
Sadie infers that “Father’s Office” must mean “her” father, so she enters that door. She meets her father in a recollection of her time working together with him. He begins talking about the complexities of the stock exchange, and she remembers how tedious the work is, remembering how important it was for her to experience the world before getting married. She then reminisces how comforting and familiar the surrounding is, then remembers that she’s looking for something. She looks around for the Quill of Duty, which is easily found among the clutter. She then appears back in the corridor.
Bartholomew continues down the corridor and runs into two more doors, one marked “Pindrake Training Grounds”. He enters, and realizes that he is a bit younger and reliving a precious memory of his. He is going to train his younger sister, Anina, how to fire a musket for the first time. However, instead of focusing on teaching his sister like in his memory, Bartholomew gets distracted looking for the Flower of Summer. A while passes before dark storm clouds appear, and his sister calls out to him worried. He sees his sister, face melting away and contorted, before tackling him to the ground, ripping and tearing away at him. Bartholomew is kicked back into the corridor, and the door vanishes. He is reunited with Sadie and Armando, but realizes he has lost any significant memories of what happened at his hometown’s training grounds. Seeing him distraught, Sadie offers him a healing crystal to calm down.
Armando enters the other door marked “Contenza Bilazno De Medici Residence ''. Once inside, he realizes he’s a spirit like how the others were when they entered his memory. He discovers a paper dated with the date of his parents’ assassination. After investigating the residence, he finds his parents laying on their bed with stab wounds in their chests next to an open window. It’s at that moment he realizes that this isn’t a memory, but a vision of the moment after his parents were killed. After shaking himself from the shock, he begins looking through his father’s clothes for anything of value, and finds the Coin of Innocence in his possession, returning him to the corridor to relay this strange recollection to the party.
The party ventures further down the corridor and reaches another two doors marked “Bartholomew’s Tenth Birthday” and “Duca Family Garden”. Sadie enters her namesake’s door into her family’s yard. She realizes it’s a memory of her early childhood when she was very small and her friends were young. She excitedly reunites with her friends Gervasio and Lieke to play croquet. She thinks about how she needs to look for artefacts, but is too swept away in her memories to think about it. Sadie spends a long time away from Bartholomew and Armando.
Bartholomew is nervous about losing the memory of his tenth birthday, to which Armando reassures him by asking for details so in the event he does lose them, he can relay it back to him. Bartholomew explains that it’s the day he was given his horse Allistar, and after hesitating for a moment, enters the memory. He appears as a child like Armando did in his first memory, and begins living out his memory exactly as he remembered. The old man who crafted his lost pocket watch, Gideon, leads Bartholomew to Allistar. After a while of reliving the memory, he becomes terrified at the idea of breaking away from it to look for an artefact, but miraculously sees the Flower of Summer in Gideon’s shirt pocket. After touching it, he returns back to Armando, relieved to have kept the memory.
Bartholomew and Armando grow impatient waiting for Sadie to return, so they decide to enter through to check up on her. They find her having fun and avoiding her task. Armando calls out to her to hurry up, which agitates everyone around. Upon seeing this, Bartholomew and Armando leave the memory, and young Sadie reluctantly stops playing in order to look for the Bell of Friendship. Unfortunately, everyone around her slowly begins to eye her suspiciously, and the sky suddenly grows dark. Sadie is terrified and begins to run back to the door as her twisted friends and house guests chase after her. She narrowly escapes them, reuniting with her companions in the corridor, but failed to find a second artifact.
The party finally reaches the end of the corridor, where they encounter a large, white room. It rapidly begins to transform into a vision of a field, and shadowy figures begin to appear around them similar to the ones in Bartholomew and Sadie’s nightmares. The party braces themselves for battle as Armando takes charge against the horde of shadow monsters that face them. After a victorious battle, the party is greeted by the Master. He thanks the party for their memories and retrieving the artefacts. He reunites Armando with a rapier that belonged to Emile, and clues in Sadie and Bartholomew to the locations of their lost possessions:

• The Earring of Gianna Duca:
  • Where stories told and embers grow
  • A diamond lies that cannot glow.
  • Within the grasp, a creature fair,
  • Fur and canvas, its secret lair.
• A Silver Pocket Watch by Gideon:
  • Sweat and Red is the place.
  • It hangs like delicate lace.
  • A sword, a bounty, and a ship’s debris.
  • A watch now dulled under the sea.

After their meeting with the Master, the party appears back in the FBK guild hall, where they continue their day as normal with new perspectives and goals.