For the Christians out there like myself who are looking towards marriage, I believe it is extremely important to first consider the Biblical callings of both husbands and wives. This way, we may be able to recognize true marital love required for Biblical marriages over lesser forms of love, and know for certain that we are (or not) truly meant to be with another person.

The Biblical Responsibilities of the Husband:

• Love Sacrificially:
• Husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.
  • Ephesians 5:25-28: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself."
• Honor and Respect:
• Treat wives with honor, recognizing them as co-heirs of the grace of life.
  • 1 Peter 3:7: "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers."
• Lead with Love:
• Husbands are to lead their families in a godly manner, setting an example in faith, integrity, and love. This leadership involves making decisions that honor God and benefit the family as a whole.
  • Ephesians 5:23: "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior."

The Biblical Responsibilities of the Wife:

• Respect and Submit:
• Wives are called to submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ as long as he continues to act according to God's commandments and will.
  • Ephesians 5:22-24: "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything."
• Love and Support:
• Wives are to love their husbands and support them in their roles.
  • Titus 2:4-5: "Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."
• Be a Partner:
• Wives are to be partners with their husbands, sharing in the responsibilities of the household and family.
  • Proverbs 31:10-12: "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."

The Biblical Responsibilities of Both Husband & Wife:

• Exclusive Commitment:
• Marriage requires forsaking all other romantic and sexual relationships, dedicating oneself entirely to one's spouse.
  • Genesis 2:24: "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh."
  • Proverbs 5:18-19: "May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love."
  • Song of Solomon 6:8-9: "Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number; but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her."
• Maintain Purity and Faithfulness:
• Monogamy in a Christian marriage in non-negotiable; including ensuring that your inner intentions and desires are only for your spouse.
  • Hebrews 13:4: "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."
  • Exodus 20:14: Y"ou shall not commit adultery."
  • Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
• Sexual Fulfillment:
• Husbands and wives are both called to regularly fulfill each other sexually; only allowing for limited exceptions to this commandment.
  • 1 Corinthians 7:3-4: "The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control."
  • Song of Solomon 8:6-7: "Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned."
• Provide and Protect:
• Ensure the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of everyone within your household and for your family.
  • 1 Timothy 5:8: "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."
  • Proverbs 31:13-31: "She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple. Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.'"
• (Potentially) Raise Future Generations:
• Through marriage, many couples have the opportunity to raise children who know and love God, continuing the legacy of faith.
  • Deuteronomy 6:6-7: "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

As can be seen in these passages, the Christian marriage is one that provides many blessings for both the husband and wife at the price of many responsibilities.
Husbands are called to be willing to sacrifice even their own lives to ensure the safety and protection of their wives just as Jesus did for the Church. Wives are called to submit to and follow the leading of their husbands as their husbands continue to follow the commandments and will of God.
These commandments also take place within a monogamous and sexually fulfilling union where all other lovers are forsaken as long as both partners shall live. And to find someone to do all of this willingly with you, and for you to do all of this willingly for them, is not an easy thing to find.
Yet such things are not meant to deter us from having fulfilling marriages and lives, or to keep us chronically single, but as the solution to living the lives God intends for us. Because such marriages are also designed by God to edify ourselves, our families, and even our communities around us as they reflect the love of God and His relationship with the Church.
And through this Godly marriage, many can grow closer to God and even come to faith in Him through Christ. And this is the ultimate objective of everything God does; for as many as willingly possible to return to Him so that none may perish but have everlasting life.
I hope that with these passages, you can come to fully understand the Biblical duties and callings of both the husband and the wife, and understand their greatest importances. And if it is God's will, I hope that you can one day be in a marriage that fulfills these marital callings, and becomes a beacon of God's love in our world.

https://www.hayduketrail.org/
TRIP DURATION: 27 April 2024 - 22 May 2024 (26 days)
LENGTH: 700 miles (My Hayduke was 100 miles shorter, will explain below)
ZERO DAY: Escalante (May 9)
GEAR: https://lighterpack.com/x7aa2i
VLOGS: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiFc6VMd77gf5n93UG-DCqgYxkahTAxPE&si=F57rSvkFVxFj-7Fb
About the Hayduke Trail: It was created by Mike Coronella and Joe Mitchell around 2000. They named it after the main character (George Washington Hayduke) in Edward Abbey’s book, “The Monkey Wrench Gang.” You will constantly see this book in trail towns along the Hayduke. The trail is around 800-miles with various alternates. It’s a combination of cross country travel, roads, trails, bushwhacking, climbing, etc. This is not a beginners trail
RESOURCES: I bought Skurka’s guide and that was my primary source. It was helpful but outdated because he hiked it in 2009 and it hasn’t been updated since. I wish I would’ve bought the Hayduke Guidebook but I’m not sure how much that would’ve helped since it was published in 2005. There’s also a public Facebook group that’s worth joining
TEMPS/WEATHER: You gotta be ready for it all on the Hayduke. I had everything from below freezing temps to around 100 degrees in the Grand Canyon. There were thunderstorms and fierce winds throughout the trail. This trail was the first time I ever slept with a down jacket on. In fact, one night I slept with the down jacket and long-johns in my tent, and the very next night I cowboy camped wearing my underwear and sleeping on top of my quilt. It’s that volatile. I will say that I had more normal to cooler days than normal to hotter days.
NAVIGATION: My primary source of navigation was Gaia. I downloaded the GPS track and uploaded it. I also downloaded the Hayduke on All-Trails which I’m pretty sure was the exact same track. I noticed that All-Trails had more accurate trails and roads on their default map than the map I was using on Gaia which was very helpful at times. When I was on the Arizona Trail I went back to using Guthook which was nice. I don’t think hikers realize how spoiled we are with that app, it makes everything so much easier. This was the first trail since the AT (2015) where I didn’t use Guthook. I also had 11x17 paper maps and compass as a back up but never needed them
WATER: Not as big of an issue as I thought. Most water I carried was 5.75L two times. Aside from that I just carried around a gallon at all times and was good. The only issue was using Skurka’s water chart. Like I mentioned it’s 15yrs outdated so many of the sources that were listed as “good” were actually bone dry. I should note that I don’t drink as much water as most people. One time on the CDT I went 26 miles with one liter of water and had no issues. But since I was in the desert I did force myself to chug water even when I wasn’t thirsty, might as well play it safe. Going into Colorado City I made myself drink water every 20-minutes.
BEST SEASON: In Skurka’s guide he says the month of May is the best and I would probably agree. You won’t have crazy cold temps and it also won’t be an inferno. You will have more than enough daylight to hike. I had light from 6AM to 9PM by mid-May. The snowmelt will also be in effect so the water situation won’t be dire. If you hike in the fall you will have a severe lack of daylight, especially in October. In 2019 I thru-hiked the AZT in October and I remember it being dark by 5:30. The only downside to a May start is you might have to bypass Saddle Canyon and Tapeats Creek like I did. More on that later
FOOD/WATER CACHES: Many hikers like to cache food and water on the Hayduke, I didn’t find that to be necessary. It would’ve cost me a lot of time and money to rent a car to hide supplies all around Utah
WHICH DIRECTION: Most people start in Moab/Arches so that’s what I did. The guidebook is also orientated that way so why not. I might be biased but I wouldn’t want to ascend some of the climbs if I went the opposite direction. Down climbing was difficult enough. I flipped through the guidebook in Escalante and it says that one of the reasons they recommend starting in Moab is because going down Saddle Canyon in the Grand Canyon is easier than going up.
GETTING TO TRAIL: Pro-tip here if you’re starting in Arches. Fly into Moab and bring your bottles and enough resupply to make it to Moab (only 25 miles). If you look at the map you will notice that the terminus is only around 4-miles as the crow flies from the airport. So all I did was fill up my bottles at the airport and then walk a couple hours to the starting point. This saves about a day in town and some money. If you go into Moab to buy your resupply then you will most likely spend the night and then pay for a shuttle the following day. So doing it the way I recommended is a big time and money saver
GOING HOME FROM TRAIL: You’ll see this in my last video but I was unaware about the rockfall that blocks the trail leading to the end, which is Weeping Rock. My hike unexpectedly ended at the East Rim trailhead in Zion because of this. Going home would’ve been easier at the official end because there is a free bus right down the road. I instead walked about a mile out of the park to a campground and used their Wifi to call for a shuttle (Red Rock Shuttles). I lucked out and there happened to be a shuttle in the area so I was able to get a ride to St George pretty quickly, cost $150
PERMITS: Even though you go through six national parks the only permit you need to worry about is Grand Canyon. All the other ones you won’t be in there long enough to require one if you time it correctly. However, for the Grand Canyon you’ll be in there for roughly 200 miles or so. My recommendation is to go into Kanab (if you started in Moab) and figure out your permit there. From Kanab it’s only about 90 miles to the Grand Canyon (mostly on the AZT) so you can easily estimate your arrival. If you start in Zion then it will be easier since you’re only a few days or so from the Grand Canyon so you can get that permit figured out before you even start. If I had to do the trail again I would get one campsite on the Tonto Trail and then the next day hike into the South Rim and stay at the campground. The next day just hike all the way to the north rim which is only around 23 miles of good tread. Once at the NR stay at the campground and then head to the ranger station and figure out the permits for the rest of the way westward
RESUPPLY/TOWNS
Needles Outpost: This is around 90 miles into the trail and I sent a box here. It’s listed as a 6-mile hitch but there’s absolutely no need to hitch in. Just look at the map and walk in and out. Very easy. Not to mention traffic will be minimal on that road early in the season and many tourists around the park don’t like picking up hikers. As for Needles Outpost, it’s not a town, just a campground with two buildings. One for bathroom/shower and the other is the small general store. They have a very limited resupply so you need to send a box here. The entire place is owned by two people and they both live there. The woman was extremely nice and helpful, very friendly. It was nice to talk to someone after 2.5 days of being alone. There is no cell service but there is wifi. Also no laundry because they have limited water. I paid for a campsite. They close at 6PM which is kinda early so keep that in mind if you plan on getting there late.
Hanksville: It’s an 18-mile hitch into town. Hanksville is very interesting. There’s less than 300 people who live there but they get millions of visitors each year. That’s because they’re located right in the middle of Utah’s five national parks and there’s no services in any direction out of Hanksville for many miles so people have to stop there. What did this mean for me? Well, I got there on a Friday and every room was booked. This was legitimately one of the most disappointing moments of my life. I was daydreaming about resting my injured leg indoors on a nice comfy bed while watching TV. I ended up just staying at a campground because that was the only thing available. Huge bummer. However, the silver lining is I met the family that owns one of the cabins in town. It’s called Muddy Creek Mining Company and they’re brand new. They felt bad about my situation and let me chill out in their laundry room which was very nice. They gave me their wifi password and let me do laundry for free. Not only that, they offered to let me camp on their private property for free but it was kinda far away so I didn’t. The next day they drove me back to the trailhead. Very kind people. Whenever I go back to Hanksville I will definitely get one of their cabins, I owe them. As far as the resupply goes I didn’t go to the grocery store because the gas station on the edge of town had a very good selection.
Escalante: If you’re going to ask “what was the best food you had on trail,” the answer is the pizza at Escalante Outfitters. Truly incredible. Anyways, I did the Escalante Alternate to save the 30-mile hitch on a dirt road that is notoriously difficult. I absolutely despise hitch-hiking so I will do almost anything to avoid it. Escalante is a small town, everything is on one street. Plenty of lodging options ranging from dirt cheap to expensive. I took my only zero day here so I stayed at one of each. The first was the cabins at Escalante Outfitters, it was $75 for a small cabin with a shared bathroom in a separate building. Check out the videos if you want to see it. It’s pretty bare bones which explains the price. The next night I stayed at the Entrada Lodge next door. It costs $200 including tax. Pretty fancy. As far as the resupply went I sent a box there that included maps and new shoes. There’s a natural grocery store, a regular grocery store, and several gas stations so you don’t need to send a box here.
Kanab: The hitch is about 30-miles and only took 30-minutes. I got lucky because I’ve heard horror stories about people waiting several hours to get a ride. Kanab is a full service town and the biggest since Moab. It’s well built for thru-hikers as everything we need is on the main drag. I sent a box to the North Rim at the post office here. I actually didn’t buy much of a resupply for the next stretch because I had a ton of food left over. I stayed at the Comfort Suites which was around $170 total. The next day I took a $40 ride (Red Rock Shuttle) back to the trail which was 100% worth it. No way was I walking several miles to the edge of town to try and hitch.
North Rim: PSA, if you send a box to the NR Lodge it will be held by the Post Office which is in the same building. This is important because the PO isn’t open on weekends. I’m lucky I found that out because it saved me from being forced to zero. I hiked around 90 miles in 2.5 days to get there before they closed. Got there on opening weekend so everything was packed. Wifi and cell service was overloaded. Stayed at the campground that night. I was able to shower and do some laundry which was nice. However most of their machines were broken. There was a big field trip of 8th graders from Kentucky who were also there. Some of them were very intrigued with my hike. Talked to a few of the kids and teachers there, they were pretty cool. One of the teachers wanted me to talk to their whole group the next day but that didn’t happen since I get up too early. They were definitely a private school and it was obvious all the kids came from money. Not judging, it was just interesting to listen to 13/14yr olds talk about about Louis Vuitton versus other brands. Apparently, they do this trip at the end of every school year. If only every school could do something like that
Colorado City: I’ve thru-hiked over 10,000 miles and this is the weirdest town I’ve ever been to. A quick google search and you’ll find out why. There’s a lot of huge fancy houses there. I walked by one massive house that was having some a big party on a Tuesday night. I walked out of town at night and someone on a dirt bike flew by me doing a wheely with no headlights on. I could only hear him as there were also no street lights, very dangerous. Colorado City is in Arizona and the town of Hildale borders them to the north and they’re in Utah. So there’s a one hour time difference divided by one street. I tried hitching in but gave up after 20-minutes, it’s only a 5.5-mile walk. During the road walk in I passed a car parked on the side of the road and right as I approached they locked their doors. Guess they thought I was a serial killer. I hate getting judged like that but I guess I'd do the same thing if I was unaware of thru-hikers. I got there around 8PM and resupplied at Bee’s Market. It’s the first big grocery store right on the edge of town which is nice.
ALTERNATES I TOOK
Needles Outpost: I mentioned this above but there’s no need to hitch into here. Just walk in and walk out. On the way out I made up my own alternate through the park and connected it back to the Hayduke before Butler Wash
Hanksville Road Walk: So this was the first big change up I did for several reasons. I was dealing with INSANE shin pain due to overuse. I think it was shin splints but I don’t know. I would get excruciating sharp pain on the lower part of my right shin. It wasn’t the shin bone, it was the muscle and it was seriously inflamed. It was bad enough that I was worried it would end my hike. The second reason is because I lost around 20-25% of my water capacity in Butler Wash when my bladder bag popped. The section from Hite to Hanksville is notoriously difficult and dry. So I just didn’t want to risk it. The road walk is about the same length but obviously faster. It was pretty miserable to walk but I don’t regret it given the situation
Henry Mountain Low Route: The main route goes over the summit but I got there around 7PM and the wind was pretty crazy that day and many days after. Taking the lower route was a no brainer
Escalante Alternate: This alt is 25-miles shorter according to Skurka’s guide. As I mentioned above I hate hitch-hiking so this was an easy choice. The alternate into town actually isn’t bad. You go through Silver Falls Creek which turns into Harris Wash after fording the Escalante River. Harris Wash was the first time on the Hayduke where I spent most of the day with wet feet and endless amounts of water. It was a nice change up from the dry desert before that. However, I will admit that Harris Wash lost its appeal about halfway through because it’s very slow moving. At the end of the wash when the water runs out it’s just walking on soft sand which is miserably slow. Going out of Escalante I fucked up by plotting the wrong points on my map. This led me straight into a terrible bushwack that lasted a couple hours
Skipped the Grand Canyon Loop: This combined with the Escalante Alt is what made my Hayduke around 100-miles shorter. The loop is a combo of the Nankoweap Trail, Tonto Trail, and the R2R, it’s around 75-miles. I skipped it for a few reasons. One, it’s much easier permit wise to get continue 10 more miles down the AZT and into the ranger station at the North Rim. Two, I’ve already done the R2R three times, seven months ago I did the R2R2R as a day hike. So I didn’t really feel like hiking that section again. Three, this is where the hemorrhoids come into play, I’m sure you’ve been wondering about that. Two days before going into Escalante I developed an external hemorrhoid that I’m currently still dealing with as I type this. As you can imagine it was nasty and incredible annoying to deal with on trail. It was accompanied with bloody poop and lots of gas and bloating. I started taking anti-gas pills like candy. I also bought hemorrhoid cream in town but that didn’t help. Sleeping was painful and I was already having trouble with that as it was. I couldn’t sit down unless I was leaning to one side because I’d be sitting on the hemorrhoid. My underwear was stained with poop and blood everyday. I would stop every few hours to wipe my ass and it was disgusting. I’ll save the rest of the details but you can imagine this was ruining the hike. Fourth reason, I’ll be honest I wasn’t really having fun on this trail and I wanted it to be over.
Bill Hall Alternate: This was a tough decision because the regular route down Saddle Canyon and the Tapeats is suppose to be the most difficult and challenging section of the Hayduke. In the guidebook it’s the only section they give their highest difficulty to. I planned on doing it but the biggest factor is how high Tapeats Creek is flowing. The rangers unfortunately didn’t have any good intel. There was one ranger who was there a week prior and she said the ford “might be possible,” which didn’t instill much confidence in me. They also told me five previous Haydukers decided to take the alternate around it. I got there in mid-May which is exactly when the snow-melt is happening so I decided it wasn’t worth the risk. The issue is you have to descend into Saddle Canyon just to get to Tapeats, and Saddle Canyon is notorious for being very slow moving. Past Haydukers have said it takes them half the day just to get through those 5-6 miles. So if after that you found out Tapeats was impassible then the only option is to climb all the way back up Saddle Canyon which would mean you will most likely run out of food. And from there it’s a 25+ mile road walk back to the North Rim to resupply and head back out. Not worth it. In hindsight it was a good idea because there is a high likelihood I would’ve run out of food even if I made it through. Taking the Bill Hall alt (which is faster) I only had 2,000 calories leftover when I entered Colorado City, I’m not sure if that would’ve lasted me if I did Saddle/Tapeats. I found a good 2-3 night loop I can do in the fall to make it up.
Beehive Alternate: Most hikers just call it the Colorado City alternate but the Beehive Alt sounds cooler. I’m pretty sure most hikers take this alternate because it’s a short 5.5 mile walk into a town that most will need to go to. From town you head northeast into Hildale, UT towards Squirrel Canyon Trailhead and take that trail which turns into a road that connects back to the Hayduke. I call it the Beehive because it goes right by Beehive Peak. The only downside is that road ends up being all soft sand for a few miles which was really miserable to walk on
East Rim Terminus: This was unexpected because I was unaware of the massive rockfall that has been blocking the trail to Weeping Rock which is where the normal terminus is. I didn’t find this out until I got to the trailhead at 8:30PM. You can see it in the last video. This was a huge bummer and very anti-climatic but it is what it is
FAVORITE SECTIONS: Youngs/Dark Canyon, Muley Twist, Harris Wash, Round Valley Draw, Hackberry Canyon, The Barracks
WORST SECTIONS: Walking on soft sand, long road walks, the boulder hop
GOOD GEAR WORTH NOTING
Durston X-Mid Pro 1: Probably my favorite piece of gear. Great tent. Huge vestibule space. Easy pitch. This tent held up against some pretty fierce winds that made me nervous. The only hiccup was the string that ties the corner of the floor to the corner of the fly came undone. Obviously an easy fix. I checked the other side and found that was coming loose too so I tightened it
Patagonia Houdini: Been using this layer since the CDT in 2017 and I think it should be in everyone’s kit. It’s only around 3.5oz and actually adds a decent amount of warmth but not too much unless it gets very hot.
Jack Black Lip Balm SPF 25: Most people bring sunscreen but not lip balm. A lot of climbers and mountaineers use this product. I found out about it listening to Jimmy Chin on a podcast. This is probably the best lip balm on the market, it costs $24 for a pack of 3 which seems pricy but it’s 100% worth it to me. I used it daily.
Garmin inReach Mini 2: This is the first time I brought a PLB on any hike and I’m glad it was this one. The Hayduke has you doing some sketchy climbs in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and I was glad I had this since I was solo
Nitecore 400 Headlamp: This thing is great. Very powerful light at a very light weight. I did some night hiking with it and never had an issue with the battery. Never had to recharge it on trail
Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork: I will never buy trekking poles from another brand. These poles are from 2019 and they’ve been through the PNT, CT, AZT, and now Hayduke. I’ve put them through everything and they’re still going strong. I will probably retire this pair and buy the updated version
BAD GEAR WORTH NOTING
Katabatic Gear Alsek 22: The quilt is very high quality, Katabatic has a great reputation, that’s not the issue. It’s bad because I personally hate quilts. I used one on the CDT and wasn’t the biggest fan but for some reason I decided to give it another shot, especially since I’ve heard so much about Katabatic. I’d much prefer a sleeping bag that fully closes. I hate having that open section where cold air seeps in. I toss and turn multiple times per hour so I constantly have to be adjusting the quilt as I rollover. I do not want to have to think while I sleep. Sometimes the cold air would jolt me awake and I would spend another 30+ minutes trying to fall back asleep. I’ve always had sleeping problems so this didn’t help. I also used a foam pad so I couldn’t really connect the straps like you can with a sleeping pad. I’m currently selling the quilt if anyone is interested. https://www.reddit.com/GearTrade/comments/1d1d248/wts_katabatic_gear_alsek_22/
SUMMARY: It’s hard for me to believe I was only on trail for 26 days because it felt 3x as long. I’m glad I hiked this trail but at the same time this is the only trail that I’ll never thru-hike again. I personally think this trail would be much better as a section hike. There are two things I didn’t mention that made this hike difficult for me. First is hiking solo was miserable. I’ve done many thru-hikes solo but this one is rough to do alone. I would’ve had more fun if I had someone to talk to and to share the misery with. Not to mention it’d be safer in some sections due to the scrambles. The second is insomnia. I’ve had insomnia pretty much my whole life and it usually doesn’t bother me too much on trail, but the Hayduke was different. I could not sleep at all on this trail. If I had to estimate I’d say half the nights I didn’t fall asleep until after midnight, which meant I was only getting 4-6hrs of sleep. Combine that with the fact that I was doing big miles in rough terrain and my body just wasn't recovering well. Even the nights I spent in town I’d be tossing and turning in bed for hours before falling asleep. I bought some Aleve PM only to find that didn’t help either. In the past I’ve taken handfuls of OTC sleeping pills and it would still take me hours to fall asleep. People who don’t deal with chronic insomnia have no idea how lucky they are
I still recommend the Hayduke, but just know what you’re getting into. Do as much research as possible. I will say that out of all the desert I’ve hiked (PCT/CDT/AZT/Hayduke) that this trail has without a doubt the best views and it’s not even close. You just gotta put in a lot of work to see them.
ADVICE FOR FUTURE HIKERS

• As I mentioned, try to hike with a parter. It’ll be safer and more fun
  
• Look into as many alternates as possible before you leave. I only used Skurka’s list but he doesn’t have all of them. There are many good alternates on the Hayduke worth considering
  
• Do not take a new pack on this trail. Use an old one if you have it. This trail is rough and will take a toll on your pack. I used a brand new GG Mariposa and after just 700 miles it looks worse than my GG Gorilla that I hiked the PNT, CT, and AZT with
  
• If you can get a boat ride to skip the Boulder Hop section then absolutely do it. There’s a seven mile section in the Grand Canyon that’s in-between Deer Creek and Kanab Creek that is potentially the most miserable section on the Hayduke. It’s so bad that even the co-founder of the trail (Mike Coronella) recommends taking a boat. This section parallels the Colorado River and the last 3-4 miles of it is a slow and boring boulder hop where progress will be very slow. Combine that with the fact that it’ll most likely be 100 degrees out with no shade and you have a recipe for pure misery. I started this section at 3PM and by 8PM my urine looked like Pepsi. I’ve never seen that before and it was obviously concerning. It was literally almost black. Thankfully, there’s unlimited water so I remedied that situation quickly. The five hours I spent on that section I only covered 4.5 miles because I missed the route that bypasses an impassable sandstone cliff. You can see this in video #5, I dropped a pin on where that bypass begins and recommend you save it if you're gonna hike it. Oh yeah, there’s also bushwhacking mixed in and it’s very thorny. If you can’t hitch a boat ride then my recommendation is to do this section during the last few hours of the day, and finish it within the first few hours of the following day.
  
• Either skip Tropic or do the Bryce Canyon Extension. To go into Tropic you need to walk six miles on a dirt road to reach the main road where there will be more cars. It’s possible to hitch on the dirt road but it’s not very busy. I was there on a weekday and saw one car at the trailhead and that was it. If you do the Escalante Alt then you can skip Tropic and go straight to Kanab, that’s what I did. It will be a longer carry but that section wasn’t too bad. The other option is to do the Bryce Canyon Extension. This alternate is around 25-miles longer and you will road walk into Tropic and continue west into Bryce. This allows you to do an extra 15 miles in the park. The normal route is only in the park for 12-miles so you don’t see much. If I hiked again this is what I would do
  

RECOMMENDED GEAR

• PLB: If you’re going solo definitely take a PLB. You will be in the middle of nowhere and if something bad happened there’s a good chance it could be days/weeks before anyone found you
  
• Good sunscreen and lip balm with SPF. Don’t think I need to explain this
  
• Rope: Not a requirement but definitely helpful in some sections. I bought roughly 15’ of rope in Escalante and used it during Round Valley Draw. Glad I had it
  
• When it comes to layering just be prepared for all temperatures. I experienced everything from 30 to 100 degrees in the month of May
  

The Revival is a PC server that provides an organic DayZ experience. Our rules are designed to discourage KOS and toxicity. Our mission is to provide an immersive experience that stays true to what makes DayZ a great game.
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My friend and I are just back from a 11 day trip to Japan, first time for us both. We wanted to collect goshuin but I think we both surprised ourselves on being able to fill them! Our trip included Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kinosakionsen, with day trips in Hiroshima and Nara. There are at least 2 goshuin from each of those areas pictured here.
You’ll notice that they’re not all in order of when I visited each, as a few were slips that I glued in, and visited other shrines before I had a chance to glue. This got a laugh from a very nice priest in Kinosaki!
From right to left:
⛩️Meiji Shrine, Tokyo - bought book here and it came with the stamp
⛩️Shinagawa Shrine, Tokyo
⛩️Namiyoke Shrine, Tsukiji, Tokyo
⛩️Kanda Shrine, Tokyo
🏮Sensoji Temple, Tokyo
🏮Kiyomizu temple, Kyoto - home of Zuigudo hall, where you walk through an underground hallway in complete darkness symbolizing the womb of Buddha’s mother.
⛩️Himuro Shrine, Nara - the ice shrine 🧊 when you get a goshuin here, the shrine worker blesses it by striking a flint over the stamp.
🏮Tofuku Temple, Nara
⛩️Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto
⛩️Kasuga Shrine, Nara Park 🦌- the famous bowing deer are all over this one, don’t use up all your deer treats down in the main park! These deer are much more polite than the ones that hang out by the food/ deer snack vendors.
⛩️Namba Jingu, Osaka - peaceful shrine in downtown Osaka, with beautiful orchids.
⛩️Osaka Tenmangu, Osaka
⛩️Namba Yasuka Shrine, Osaka - featuring the giant Lion’s head. It’s bigger in person!
⛩️Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine, Hiroshima castle
⛩️Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima island, Hiroshima - come for the famous floating Tori gate, stay for the amazing island vibes. Also there’s more deer here!
⛩️Tsuyu-no-Tenjinja Shrine, Osaka - dedicated to two young lovers who did a Romeo and Juliet. A tiny shrine dedicated to love and relationships, and a beautiful goshuin.
🏮Onsenji Temple, Kinosaki Onsen - the main temple dedicated to healing those who use the town’s mythical onsen. Halfway up Mt. Daishi accessible by hike or rope way.
🏮Onsenji Temple, Mt Daishi peak, Kinosaki Onsen - a small satellite temple on the mountain peak has slip goshuin. The staff at the main temple will date it for you if you ask.
🏮Onsenji Yakushido Temple, Kinosaki Onsen - there is a fountain where you can drink the holy Onsen water. A VERY nice priest works here and he loves to see where you’ve visited! He spent extra time making sure the calligraphy was just right.
⛩️Hie-Jinga Shrine, Tokyo
⛩️Fushimi Shrine, Kyoto - so crowded! They only give out slips, and they’re larger than most so I had to trim the edges to get it to fit in my book.
⛩️Ueno Toshugo, Ueno Park, Tokyo - home of the famous copper lanterns
⛩️Gojoten Shrine, Ueno Park, Tokyo
AMA if you have any questions about locations or acquiring goshuin in general!

The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to file a lawsuit against the largest U.S. alcohol distributor, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, over practices related to how it prices and sells wine and liquor around the country, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.
The case would represent yet another move by the Biden administration to rein in dominant companies in all sectors of the economy, as it tries to demonstrate it is fighting to bring costs down for the average consumer. This year the Justice Department has filed sprawling lawsuits against Ticketmaster and Apple and the FTC has sued to block major grocery and consumer goods mergers. The agency has also been scrutinizing supply chains in the grocery and food sectors, saying in March that dominant suppliers and retailers have used their market power to increase prices at the expense of consumers.
Current FTC commissioners are now aiming to revive enforcement, arguing that it should not be up to the agency whether to enforce a law that is on the books. The agency’s chair, Khan, as well as Democratic commissioner Alvaro Bedoya — both Biden appointees — have publicly stated their intention to bring more cases under the law.
Southern Glazer, however, may not be an ideal test case, according to two of the people with knowledge of the matter, who are involved in the alcohol industry. The complex patchwork of state and federal alcohol regulations, as well as the company’s position as a distributor — beholden to suppliers and retailers — could complicate the federal government’s arguments, they said. The Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau within the Treasury Department is also in the middle of a rulemaking involving how alcohol is sold.

Roleplaying games are a fantastic way to tell a story with friends, and Pathfinder is no different! Something that certainly attracted me to the system (way back in the pages of Dungeon magazine, pre-Pathfinder) was Adventure Paths and the immense amount of pre-written content out there for GMs. However, there’s still plenty of room for you and your group to tell the story that fits you best. One of the best resources you have for writing adventures is the GM Core book - especially Chapter 2: Building The Game, which begins on page 63. I’ll be referring to these rules and suggestions (and others) often throughout the post, but think of this as a more focused resource than the Core book.
I’ve been approached by GMs looking to write adventures in the past and I often hear the same thing: “Okay, the group starts out as small town villagers, but then they will go on to defeat one of the risen demigods of death!” Which is to say, I hear about massive, epic stories, but no real plans on how to get there. What I’d like to do with this little exercise is look at how we write an adventure in service to a story, not just one or the other. We’ll approach our games from both a mechanical and storytelling perspective and work to make something like a guide to adventure writing. Hopefully, we can explore a variety of adventure archetypes together, from dungeon crawls to diplomatic missions to planar escapades.
Why Should I Write Adventures? I wouldn’t think of it as “writing an adventure” so much as it is “approaching GMing from a new angle.” If you’re someone (like me) who mostly runs pre-written adventures, you may not see the advantages of peeling back the curtain on both the storytelling and mechanical aspects of the game. And that’s okay! But sometimes those games go off book and it’s a helpful skill to have in your back pocket. It also lets a GM craft more personal encounters for their group to tie them more strongly to the story. It’s also just a fun solo exercise that can be entertaining for GMs with time on their hands.
What A Story Needs - Structure There are numerous ways to tell a story and one could dedicate their life working on perfecting what it means to write a story. Something, of course, to keep in mind is that story writing provides one singular perspective and outcome to how the tale unfolds while an adventure allows for numerous (if not limitless) ways for the story to develop. That said, for this first adventure, let’s keep things simple. We’ll focus mostly on the mechanics of adventure design and just make sure that we have a few storytelling elements before we begin. When I say elements, I mean:

1. Inciting Incident (Adventure Hook): What happens to drag the PCs into the adventure? Seeing a poster in town promising gold for the defeat of some goblins may motivate a group to action, but it’s hardly dynamic. The tower at the edge of town collapses, spurring the group on to investigate. Or perhaps a child is thrust into the care of the PCs with only the name of a close family member to go off of. What about fire that springs up at night suddenly calling out the names of the PCs? These all are interesting ways to involve the PCs directly into the adventure and tease them into the story rather than them existing as outside entities who have no connection to the story.
2. Adversary: An adversary has many meanings and can range from things such as other people, to forces of nature, to one’s own inner struggles. Once more, keeping it simple, let’s keep our adversaries as external, physical opponents; opponents that we can dispatch through encounters. While adventures certainly don’t need combat encounters to succeed, it’s a good place to start in a combat-focused game like Pathfinder 2e.
3. Goal(s): And one of the most important elements that an adventure should have is a goal - the thing that keeps the PCs moving forward on the right track and should, presumably, tie somewhat into resolving the resolving incident and will put them up against the adversary (who may have their own goals in opposition to the party).

Now these are not all you need to write an adventure (and sometimes you can do without them!), but it’s a good place to practice adventure writing. You can quickly come up with some adventures by filling in the blanks. Signposts like these can easily become the seed for a fully-fleshed out adventure and it gives you easily identifiable markers to cleave to when putting together a story.
Adventure Flow - The Five Scene Adventure So while you may have some narrative idea of the direction you’d like the adventure to go, we have to start thinking about how that story comes together at the table. Just as there are countless ways to tell a story, there are numerous ways to construct an adventure. I’d like to take a look at one that you may see crop up in adventures from time to time and is quite easy to execute. If you play a lot of Pathfinder Society, this sort of format should feel a bit familiar. I’ll refer to it as the “Five Scene Adventure”

1. Inciting Incident - The story has to start somewhere, and just like with narrative structure, having a strong opening that establishes the goals of the adventure is key.
2. Investigation - Instead of having the group charge headlong at the goal, they should get a chance to engage with the story and uncover more of what’s going on. This could be through roleplay, encounters, or skill checks, but they should serve to further the players’ understanding of the adventure.
3. Overcoming Challenges - From here, the PCs are armed with some knowledge of what they’re doing and most now overcome challenges on their way to accomplishing their goal. This is often done through a series of encounters, but can actually be handled in many different ways so long as the PCs are challenged.
4. Climax - The major turning point in the adventure where the PCs come face to face with their adversary and accomplish their goal. This is typically the scene where everything comes to a head and is the greatest challenge that the group has faced up until this point.
5. Resolution - An oft-forgotten part of the adventure, but the portion where the PCs return home as heroes and see the fruits of their labor in accomplishing their goal. This is a scene for the heroes to collect their rewards and unwind from a trying adventure.

So now we have a simple flow for how we want our adventure to go. Our group will encounter a problem, learn more about it, work to overcome what lies in their way, solve the problem, and then reap the rewards. On its face, this is a very simple concept, but breaking it down into easy to manage chunks makes adventure writing so much easier.
Now this is specifically setting out to create a low-level adventure, so let’s take a look at how to make those sorts of adventures really play well at the table!
Low-Level Things To Keep In Mind - Tips What follows is a list of tips of things to keep in mind when writing for low-levels. An adventure doesn’t need to cater to every single one of these points, but they’re good guidelines when designing.

• The encounter building guidelines work great across all levels of play in Pathfinder 2e, but I’ll make a small caveat here - if you want to explore more difficult Severe encounters, you should look towards using a larger amount of weaker enemies than a single strong enemy at lower levels. To illustrate, a Severe encounter for a group of level 1 PCs could be a single level 4 opponent. Let’s use an owlbear as an example: with 21 AC, your players will likely only be hitting it around 35% of the time while it’s going to be critting your group about 35% of the time and with damage (7 to 16 on a hit, 14 to 32 on a crit) that’s likely going to be dropping them in one blow. That same Severe encounter budget can instead give us a fight with two ghasts (which, I still don’t love for 1st level parties, but it beats an owlbear), or a healthy trio of mephits. At low-levels, characters don’t have a large breadth of options to help them survive and mitigate damage as well as impact an enemy’s stats. So for low-levels, aim to keep difficult combats against a large quantity of weaker foes as opposed to a singular powerful foe.
• Magic is not ubiquitous. Depending on your group, this could be a real selling point for low-level adventures. Problems are solved through skill checks and investigation and the opposing forces don’t often use magic to foil senses (no invisibility used to escape, no teleportation, no flight, no illusions). It also means that simple problems that get handwaved at higher levels (such as crossing a river, navigating through a forest, or getting food in the wilderness) can become interesting challenges for the PCs to overcome.
• Weaknesses and resistances are felt the most at low-levels. This can give players a real sense of agency over the game when they correctly identify an opponent’s weaknesses and come prepared to exploit it. Likewise, giving PCs enemies with resistances out of nowhere is a bit of an unfair move. If the group was unaware of a ghost lurking in the mine and had no way to discover it, they would feel a little cheated in being unable to overcome its resistances.
• Healing is not assured at the very lowest of levels. Even groups with dedicated healers may fumble that Treat Wounds check or lack the spell slots available to keep everyone topped up. Low-level games should provide groups with opportunities to rest and recover and aren’t served well by throwing encounter after encounter into the PCs.
• Low-level games are some of the best times to play around with non-magical light sources or the lack thereof. A dark room is suddenly much more dangerous when the human fighter has to put away his greatsword to carry a torch because the wizard didn’t prepare light.

Rough Draft - Ideas When writing anything, it’s important that you get all of your ideas out somewhere so you know what direction you’re going in before you start. The first thing you should do before writing an adventure is know the group that you’re writing for (what level, what they’re doing in the story, what the goal of the adventure will be, and the group’s playstyle, to name a few things). When we write our adventure, I’ll be sure to put a few things up top, such as the level the game is intended for, an additional rulesets, how much XP is budgeted for the adventure, and the like.
So let’s start simple. Let’s make an adventure for level 1 characters. Our goal as adventure writers is to provide a fairly straightforward low-level adventure for PCs to get a handle on adventuring. Let’s look at our narrative elements: Inciting incident, adversaries, and goals. I always find it easiest with smaller games to take an adversary and work backwards, as they often provide plenty of good roleplaying opportunities. Let’s take a look at some potential adversaries. This is a list of level -1 to level 1 creatures and gives us a nice range of opponents to consider.
After some searching, I settled on doing something with Tooth Fairies, as there’s a lot of fun stuff to work with. They’re tricky little fey with strange motivations who, like many fey, have a weakness to cold iron. There’s plenty to work with! Perhaps our inciting incident involves an attack by a swarm of tooth fairies who have been pushed to the limit and are attempting to exact revenge for a slight the PCs don’t quite understand yet. Looking through the list of potential adversaries, I see that a number of animals could also fit in nicely. Something to keep in the back pocket. Now we just need a goal - typically one in opposition to the adversary: the tooth fairies. What if the fey creatures stole away something that the PCs want to return. I propose something that could be a bit fun while maintaining the darkness of the fey: a dog. Let’s take a look at what we have narratively so far.

• Inciting Incident: The PCs are attacked by a swarm of tooth fairies while they are at a friend’s home/roadside tavern/storefront. The tooth fairies escape with a dog that potentially has a connection to the PCs
• Adversaries: Tooth fairies, fey creatures, animals
• Goal: Retrieve the dog safely from the tooth fairies.

With our narrative ideas laid out, we can start looking at what we want to do mechanically with our adventure. It’s important to ensure that these scenes actually allow your players to interact with the story. Remember that you’re creating this as an adventure to be played, not read. Let’s try out the “Five Scene Adventure” and rough out some ideas before we fill them in fully.

• Inciting Incident: I’d like to keep this adventure somewhat general while still setting it in a place a bit farther from civilization. It’s also interesting to me if it’s something that you can use to bridge two adventures or start a new campaign! So, while it may be a bit cliche, the PCs are at a roadside inn that is suddenly attacked by a swarm of fey creatures! (To me, cliches get a bit of a pass in low-level games as it sort of builds on something familiar that everyone can easily get into the headspace of).
• Investigation: The PCs discover that the inn’s dog has gone missing! The fey are suspected. During the course of this investigation, the PCs can learn about where the fey are known to be, some of their weaknesses, and perhaps even a cold iron weapon to help deal with weaknesses.
• Overcoming Challenges: We have the trip to the fey home - not sure if we want to do anything here as we want this area to seem relatively safe. The fey could live somewhere interesting, like an abandoned farmhouse, tunnels beneath a tree, or a thicket of unruly briars. From here we could plan out some encounters. We don’t need to think about the exact mechanics of things right now, just general ideas. We don’t have to use all of these, but it gives us a good idea of where we’d like to go with our encounters
  
  • An encounter with wildlife to get the party warmed up
  • An encounter with a Hazard and some sort of guard as a means of protecting the fey base
  • A larger encounter against many fey
  • A plant based encounter (either Hazard or creature)
  • A fey puzzle - perhaps involving teeth?
• Climax: We should have the PCs come face-to-face with a group of tooth fairies, the truly most malicious of this fey group. This could be an encounter with numerous tooth fairy and maybe one elite version, or perhaps a Hazard to keep this interesting. Our dog should be here - maybe locked away (poorly) so that there are alternate ways to approach this encounter (such as simply sneaking in and freeing the dog).
  
• Resolution: The return to the inn should be a triumph, with a reward coming to the PCs for what they’ve done - even small rewards like a free meal and night at the inn and perhaps an item that is special to the owner. This is also a great time to have the group really feel like heroes and perhaps plant the seeds for future adventures.
  

Alright, we have a good outline of an adventure, so now we just need to fill in the details!
The Adventure - The Mechanics Now we get into the actual mechanics of the adventure. You can have all of these ideas ready to go before the game begins, but if you just start throwing out your ideas without any planning, things can get messy real quick! Before I go too much further, I want to put a very important clause here for everyone:
We are not professional game designers and are not getting paid for our work. Don’t pour blood, sweat, and tears into a project and burn out. We’re writing adventures for our friends to play in. Do not let perfect become the enemy of good. An adventure scrawled on the back of a napkin plays just as well as one printed in a Paizo book.
Now, that said, I am putting a little bit more effort into the adventures you see just because I am sharing them with you all and want to provide more clarity in the process than what my typical note-taking would be. Find what works for you!
Now let’s get started! Let’s go through the mechanical bits one-by-one and address how to create them. For our first adventure, I won’t go into too much detail about every choice made since we’ve already covered a lot of material, but rather an explanation of how to accomplish the encounter design. We’ll be focusing more on encounters in this post. While we could talk about designing monsters, hazards, or even subsystems, let’s keep things simple.
First up is the inciting incident in the roadside inn. Now, a tooth fairy swarm at such a low level would be a disastrous first encounter for a group, so we’ll rule that out right away. We’ll be using the guidelines found starting on page 75 of the GM Core Book for this, but I’ll be referencing the AoN pages throughout. The first thing we need to do is decide what our encounter budget is. Given that we want this to be an introduction to the game, let’s make this a Low encounter for our level 1 group. This means we have 60 XP to use to choose our creatures. To find out how much a creature is worth, we compare its level against the party’s level and use this handy chart. Our Tooth Fairies (only level -1) are worth 20 XP to our level 1 party. That means we can use three of them for our encounter. Nothing fancy, but we’ll mix things up as we continue!
Our investigation is going to be a bit more open-ended. We know when combat starts and ends, but the players dictate the flow of the story when they are given the reins of what to do next. And that’s a good thing! But we need to provide them with options that both advance the story and engage them. We have a pretty easy path here - the PCs want to chase after the tooth fairies, but they don’t know where to start. Let’s create a few areas for them to explore. Something like…

• Common Room: Asking patrons, maybe even tending to injuries; success here should put the players on the right track on where to go, and introduce the idea that the fey had a goal in mind during the attack (Using Charisma skills)
• Kitchen: Searching through to find what the fey may have been looking for - a great place to introduce treasure, especially a cold iron weapon (likely a dagger) to give the PCs something to combat the fey (Searching, Perception)
• Overnight Rooms: Here we can put in some more hints about what the group may encounter when they confront the fey; I like the idea of a traveling merchant staying here who offers the PCs a way to deal with a Hazard they could run into later in the adventure
• Backyard: Here we can see that the inn’s dog has been taken, but Investigating PCs can find more clues - like a trail of blood from where the dog fought back. (Nature, Survival, Perception?)
  • Quick note: The game should never hinge on the PCs discovering something. If we want to go this route, we instead introduce a way to “fail forward” like “the PCs can find the fey camp after some wandering, but the sun has already gone down, giving them an hour of dim light before it becomes dark.”

Importantly, when deciding on the DC of these skill checks, we are going to refer to the Level-Based DCs chart (found on page 53 of the GM Core) and keep things around that area, typically adjusting for easy (-2 DC) or hard (+2 DC) while also keeping some wiggle room in between.
And we come now to overcoming challenges, where the meat of our adventure lies. Now, our group should know their enemy and where they’re located, or at least they have a goal in mind. Now it’s our job to put barriers in the way to that goal. Looking back over our rough draft, there are a few ideas for encounters there that seem interesting. I picked out three and want to workshop them a little. We also look through the Bestiary for creatures that fit the theme we’re going for, which is something of a fight against the fey and nature.

• A Low encounter with a Hunting Spider and a number of Hampering Webs
• A Moderate encounter with three Melixies who have swiped some sweets from the inn
• Finally, a Severe encounter with six Tooth Fairies - our finale

However, as I look over the adventure, there isn’t much for the PCs to engage with that isn’t just combat and on top of that, the encounters aren’t terribly exciting. Let’s look at the pain points. The first that I see is that the PCs are encouraged to just move from scene to scene fighting, so what about a way to circumvent the encounter for clever players? On top of that, I want another antagonist to give the fey a bit more character. Finally, the finale encounter is… somewhat dull. Using those three ideas as our tent pole encounters, let’s try something like…

• A Trivial encounter of an elite Sprite who was left to watch the inn. Their role is not to engage the PCs directly, but tail them and strike when they’re preoccupied. Players then have a chance to spot the sprite out and chase him off before he ambushes them in the spider fight.
• The Melixie encounter is changed to have the three fey fighting loudly and distractedly over cake or pie. Clever characters could use the opportunity to slip by or get the jump on them.
  • As a side note, we can also tempt the group with some treasure here, as well as another hazard
• Lastly, let’s keep the Severe encounter, but instead of a boring fight against six Tooth Fairies, we’ll make it three Tooth Fairies and their “pet” Snapping Flytrap who has the weak template since the fey have been feeding it nothing but stolen sweets, coins, and teeth.
  • I’m a little leery of this combat, but if we make the arena large enough, it should be easy for the group to keep away from the plant.

With the mechanics handled, we can write a resolution and give the PCs a big pat on the back for a job well done!
This is also the point in adventure writing where we want to start thinking about Treasure. Now this is hardly enough to get the group the 1000 XP they need to level up - maybe about 1/3rd of that. So we can take a look at the Treasure By Level and roughly sprinkle about a third of that throughout the adventure. Again, I personally like to put in things that will be immediately useful at lower levels.
With all that said and done, let’s take a look at the finished product!
Stepping in with a quick note here, much of this idea was put together during the transition from Legacy PF2 content to Remastered. The following adventure includes some Legacy content, but not in any way that will complicate the experience.
Link to the Low-Level Adventure, “Dognapping!”
As we said earlier, there’s a little more effort put into the presentation of this adventure just to make it easier to parse and for people to use at home if they like. You don’t need to do so much with your own games! If you know the story well enough, just a few notes on a piece of paper and you’re good to go.
Making It Spicy - Alterations Rough drafts are our way of getting ideas down on paper so that we can refine them into a complete thought. However, that’s not to say that we’re always finished after that. Something I enjoy doing is looking at encounters or adventures that I’ve written and adding a little “spice.” What this means is putting in a bit more flavor to either make a scene more memorable, give characters in an encounter more options, or to change how my players look at the game. Adding “spice” does not mean making things harder - it looks to enhance the experience, not bog it down.
While this is certainly not a necessary part of adventure design, I recommend keeping it in the back of your mind. It can even help when running pre-written adventures! So, here are a few “spicy” ideas for this adventure.

• Stitchleaf carries with him a few nets that he happily throws on the PCs when they’re doing battle with the spider before extinguishing his light and slipping away to Hide behind a tree. Likewise, the sprite could even speed ahead to warn the thicket should it look like the PCs will overcome the spider. This removes the possibility of slipping past the melixies and Stitchleaf can join in another encounter, becoming a recurring enemy.
• The thicket itself has enough space within its thorns to allow Tiny creatures like the fey to enter, Take Cover, Sneak, and Hide. When the odds start to turn against them, the melixies use this to great effect.
• The tunnels into the thicket and between the two “rooms” act as choke points for Medium creatures, requiring them to Squeeze (DC 15 Acrobatics) through. On a failure they treat the tunnels as difficult terrain, but take 1d4 piercing damage in the process. This can create a feeling of being “locked in” once a battle has begun.

Wrapping Up - The End And that’s it! Making a low-level adventure is actually quite a straightforward process. We didn’t have to design any new monsters, plan for higher level magic, or create a sweeping, grand story. We came up with a very simple direction and put the pieces together in a way that’s hopefully fun and interesting for the table!
Up next? We’ll take a look at mid-level adventures, when characters start to break the rules a little more!

Cover Art!
Just because you’re transported to another world, doesn’t mean you’ll escape from your pain.
Abused by her parents, thirteen-year-old Frances only wants to be safe and for her life not to hurt so much. And when she and her class are transported to the magical world of Durannon to fight the monsters invading the human kingdoms and defeat the self-titled Demon King, Frances is presented with a golden opportunity. If she succeeds, Frances will have the home she never had. If she fails, Frances will be summoned back to the home she escaped.
Yet, despite her newfound magic and friends, Frances finds that trauma is not so easily lost. She is dogged by her abuse and its physical and invisible scars. Not only does she have to learn magic, she has to survive the nightmares of her past, and wrestle with her feelings of doubt and self-loathing.
If she can heal from her trauma, though, she might be able to defeat the Demon King and maybe, just maybe, she can find a home for herself.
Telkandra's brood decide their fates...
[The Beginning] [<=Chapter 218] [Chapter Index and Blurb] [Chapter 220 June 18 or see the next chapter now on Patreon]
The Fractured Song Index
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***
Hundreds of soldiers filed through Kairon-Aoun and the fortifications, streaming toward the assembly area outside of the rubble that used to be First Terrace. The sound of hooves, and thudding feet and claws provided a rumbling soundtrack as Frances checked her equipment in the gallery of the goblin empire’s old palace.
Beside her, Timur gave his new khopesh a series of experimental swings. Morgan and Hattie were checking each other’s armor and equipment.
“Everybody ready?” Frances asked.
“Yes. Are you sure you both have to fight?” Morgan asked.
Frances rarely missed the times when Morgan had been perpetually annoyed or angry at her. This was one of the few times when her daughter looked at her with wide black eyes. She was trying to relax her hands so badly, but she could see how stiff she held her wings to her body.
Timur looked up from checking his armor. “Yes. I’m going to be a staff officer under Martin and Ginger’s command. Frances is going to be with a special group.”
Morgan shivered. “To fight Thorgoth?”
Frances nodded, clasping her daughter’s gauntleted hand. “Yes.”
“I should be with you,” Hattie said.
Frances sighed. They’d decided that it was best for Hattie to stay with Morgan with the mages put in reserve. They were to be led by Dwynalina and deployed more toward the rear of the army.
“The level of combat that we’re going into Hattie is far beyond anything you’ve trained against. I won’t stop you. I don’t think I can, but please be careful and follow Dwylanina’s orders. They need your protection as much as you need theirs,” said Frances.
“I know.” Hattie and Frances simultaneously clasped each other's arms, squeezing tightly before letting each other go.
Morgan in the meantime was hugging Timur, trying her best to keep the tears from flooding her eyes. “Uncle Timur, please don’t take any other crazy risks.”
His voice choked, Timur squeezed Morgan tightly. “I’ll try my best. Now, go say goodbye to your mother,”
Morgan nodded. Letting the prince go, she ran over, away from the group to Renia. Her lip quivering, the harpy embraced her daughter.
“I love you. I love you so much.”
“I’ll be back, mom. I promise,” Morgan said, face buried in her mother’s downy feathers. “You know I just have to do this. I have Lightbreaker and my magic.”
“I know. I just don’t want you to go, just like how you don’t want Frances and Timur to participate,” said Renia.
“Mom!” Morgan whined, letting go of the harpy.
Frances hid her smile behind her hand. So that was where Morgan got her sarcasm from.
“We’ll take care of each other,” said Timur, standing tall. Frances had to admit that her fiance cut a striking figure. Cuirass was over a thick leather buff coat. The curls of his hair were slightly tamed by the lobster-tailed helmet. Two pistols were tucked into holsters on his hip, beside a holster for his sword.
Tearing her eyes from her beloved, Frances said, “Morgan, Hattie, we’re going now.”
Morgan, in full armor, barrelled into Frances in a hug. “You’re coming back.”
“I will. You stay safe,” said Frances. The words felt a little hollow, but only a little. It took all her strength though to let her daughter go and walk away from her girls with her fiance.
Somehow, she forced herself to put one foot in front of the other, taking her away from her daughter and her apprentice.
Only a slight nudge from Timur took her out of her thoughts.
“So, were you looking?” her prince asked.
Panicked blinking gave way to an embarrassed smile as Frances felt the mirth behind Timur’s smile.
“Yes—I mean—If you must know you look very handsome.” Frances pursed her lips. “You’d look better with your cape, though.”
Timur looked over his shoulder, and nodded. “I would but I think I don’t want more things for my father to grab on to.”
Frances could feel icy dread stabbing into her stomach. Hoping it wasn’t a portent of things to come, she forced herself to ask, “You think you’re going to meet him?”
“He’s probably going after me, or you. Perhaps both.” Her prince must have seen something in her expression because he squeezed her shoulder. “Think of it this way, Mataia. Most of our friends are on this battlefield. You will go to their aid if they are attacked by my father.”
“You know me far too well.” Not stopping, Frances wrapped an arm around her love’s waist. It was a little awkward from the gear they carried, and she knew he couldn’t feel her touch through his cuirass or her gloves. Yet she could see his tail twitch ever so slightly at the gesture. “If…If I meet your father, I’m sorry.”
Timur sighed. “You have apologized for that time and time again before even defeating him. Please don’t worry. I… I will be fine. He’s chosen his path. I have chosen mine.”
Frances smiled, a tingle on the edges of her lips. She wanted to kiss her love, but there would be no kisses until their helmets were off and the battle was won. “I know. Still, thank you.”
They continued to walk, holding one another, until they rejoined the army outside of the palace and their horses.
They rode together past the columns of marching soldiers, quickly reaching the remnants of the First Terrace. Even with a number of battalions entrenching themselves into the ruins, they couldn’t help but feel a bit buoyed by the army that stretched out in front of them.
Erlenberg and Lapanterian forces formed the left flank. The Lightning Battalion took the center. The right consisted of the remaining Erisdalians, former Traditionalist and Reformer forces alike. Each of the forces were subdivided into three distinct divisions: vanguard in the front ranks, a middle main force and a reserve. Each of these divisions had a different mix of cavalry, musketeers and pikemen that generally took up roughly square formations.
Across from the no-man’s land that they’d clashed over from the first day, was the Alavari army.
“It looks just as we guessed. They didn’t retreat into the Greenway. They are very much preparing to use the greater size of the cavern in their attack. That’ll give them room to maneuver, but it’ll also let us hit them hard. What happens in the first act will determine the flow of the battle.”
Frances glanced at her fiance. Timur was blabbering. His gauntleted hands were tight around his reins and she knew most of what he was saying. Still, she didn’t stop him, she knew it helped him feel calm to self-narrate.
As they rode through past the regiments of the Lightning Battalion, Frances waved at her soldiers. She recognized quite a few of them, even knew a few names. There was Helen, one of the veterans from Erlenberg who now led the Lightning Battalion’s reserve division. There were Jessica’s friends Noff and Columbine keeping one of the regiments in order.
Martin was with the reserves. In heavy armor, he was escorted by a wall of Erisdalian and Lightning Battalion cavalry. At their head was a very large female knight. Her open visor showed a spiderweb of scars that arched across her left cheek.
“Timur, this is your stop,” said Frances in a gentle voice. She turned her gaze to her fiance and love. He was blinking rapidly, his eyes moist.
Her prince swallowed. “I know. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Frances blew a kiss to her fiance, as he took his side amidst Martin’s bodyguards and other officers.
“Don’t worry. We’ll take care of him, Frances,” said Martin.
“And I’ll take care of Ayax and Liz.” Touching the sides of her horse with her heels, she galloped off, refusing to look back.
In the distance, riding amongst the vanguard troops was Captain Aloudin, escorted by Epomonia and Olgakaren. They looked calm, but she knew they were anxious. Timur had told her that Epomonia and Olgakaren had exchanged vows in private, witnessed by Aloudin and himself.
Beside them were the leaders of the vanguard division of the Lightning Battalion, Elizabeth, along with Ayax and other mages such as Kellyanne.
That was not where she was going, though. She was heading toward another group of soldiers flying Lightning Battalion banners.
“Hey Liz. Hey Ayax,” said Frances, waving her hand. To Jessica riding beside her cousin and best friend, she just dipped her head.
Elizabeth beamed. “Hi Frances. We estimate about twenty-thousand soldiers they deployed against us.”
Ayax flashed Frances a wan smile. “Titania is probably up against about five to ten thousand with her fifteen, but they’ve entrenched the Greenway heavily. We outnumber them, but it’s not going to be an easy fight.”
“Do you still think Thorgoth will hit the Erisdalians first?” Frances asked.
“It’s what I would do if I was in his situation. The Lightning Battalion, Erlenberg and Lapanterians are warmed up and ready from the fighting for the last few days. However, the Erisdalians still need to sort out the divisions between Traditionalist and Reformer troops,” Elizabeth said.
They all were turning to look to their right flank. They could see Ginger’s royal banner and her bodyguards in the distance. Frances also knew that was where her mother, in her dragon armor, had to be along with Kellyanne, Nicole, Jim and Leila.
At the head of the army, King Sebastian of Lapanteria rode with Megara and their bodyguards. As pre-arranged, his speech echoed throughout the cavern.
“Soldiers of Erisdale, Erlenberg, those Alavari who are fighting with us today, and of course, my brave Lapanterians. I salute you all! My wife advises to make this short, and so I shall. No matter the outcome of this battle, you know as well as I that we are fighting to stop a cruel tyrant and will be known throughout Durannon as the heroes and heroines!”
The king reared up, sword raised. His voice amplified by his wife’s magic.
“To victory!”
Frances raised Ivy’s Sting and bellowed. “To victory!”
“To victory!”
The army’s roar shuddered the ground, causing horses to shiver as thousands of soldiers cheered and stomped their feet.
Across from the battlefield, Frances could just hear the Alavari army rallying. She could see the gleam of their weapons shake as they too were whipped up by their king to a frenzy.
Ginger took a deep breath and turned to Jessica. “Signal Lakadara. Let’s get this started!”
The final battle was now upon them.
***
Fennokra rolled her shoulders and cleared her throat. She needed to be sure that the fire that she breathed would come out as a clear stream.
Beside her, Yolandra fiddled with her broken right claw. The pair were studiously ignoring their other two siblings.
Velkandra was already flapping her wings, causing the banners of the Alavari near her to whip and snap in the gale she stirred up. She didn’t leap off the ground, but she did smirk at the consternation of the soldiers around her. Meanwhile, Makendra tested the sharpness of his claws on a nearby boulder.
Fennokra narrowed her eyes at the army once more. There were a lot of soldiers, and while didn’t know all the intricacies of how the ground-bound deployed their armies, she could tell how organized they seemed and how numerous they were.
“Velkandra, I don’t like the look of that. Are you sure we’re going to be leading the attack?”
Her elder sister grimaced. “We’re outnumbered and if you remember, part of our allies are buying us time. We need to defeat them before we get attacked from the rear and frankly the only way we’re going to do it is if we soften them up first.”
“We’re going to be the focus of all their mages and cannons,” Fennokra said.
“A risk we will have to take,” said Velkandra.
Yolandra’s eyes narrowed before widening. “Hold on, what’s that? In the distance, from the city.”
Following her sister’s claw, Fennokra managed to see the movement from the Third Terrace of Kairon Aoun. Her keen eyed vision focusing, she immediately could tell that it looked like a flying creature of some kind. A very large, violet—
“No.” Fennokra felt heart stop and her tail slam into the ground.
Makendra’s claws ground into the earth underneath. “Impossible.”
Yolandra whispered. “It can’t be. She’s dead. Besides, she wouldn’t… She couldn’t!”
But it was a purple dragon with gleaming golden eyes that soared over the enemy army. Gliding down toward the front of the humans, she landed, wingspan flared to her full length. Her neck was held high as she gazed down towards the rest of Alavari forces.
“Velkandra! Fennokra! Yolandra! Makendra! I can see you there. I would speak to you, face to face, as your sister.”
Fennokra had forgotten that their eldest sister was actually the largest of all of them. It was subtle. There wasn’t any particularly one aspect of her that dwarfed them, but there was a reason that it’d taken all seven of them to bring her down.
Puffs of smoke escaped Velkandra’s gritted teeth. “She sided with them? That worthless welp—Yolandra?”
Fennokra twisted her head to see Velkandra’s jaw drop wide open. Yolandra was leaping into the sky and was already flying towards Lakadara.
“Wait!” Fennokra jumped into the air as well, her wings desperately churning gusts of air that caused some of the soldiers near her to lose their footing. “Yolandra! It could be a trick! An illusion to set a trap for us!”
“Who else would know what she looked like? Besides, how could an illusion fool the entire Alavari army? No sister, that has to be Lakadara!”
“And what if she wants us to fight Thorgoth? We cannot afford to do so!” Fennokra howled.
Yolandra wasn’t looking back. She dived toward Lakadara, claws sheathed. “Do whatever you want, I am talking to the sister I thought I killed!”
The smaller dragon careened onto the ground, claws digging up thick ruts as she flared her wings. Lakadara’s wing twitched and her tail shuffled slightly, but she remained quite still.
“Lakadara, I’m…I’m sorry,” Yolandra took a step forward, but stopped. Her sister remained motionless, except for her eyes. Now that she was closer, she could see Lakadara’s golden eyes were flickering, looking at her and the three other dragons that landed behind her.
“It’s alright, Yolandra,” Lakadara smiled. “I’m glad you’re well.”
Fennokra closed her eyes briefly and tucked in her wings. “I’m glad you’re alive too, sister, but how did you survive? We didn’t see your corpse, but you were near-death.”
“The Stormcaller’s beloved and his mother saved my life from soldiers that Thorgoth sent to find and kill me. Mages and healers allied to Queen Titania and the humans then nursed me to health,” said Lakadara.
Velkandra snorted and shoved Yolandra aside as she stormed forward. Fennokra let out a warning hiss, but her elder sister ignored her.
“For what reason? So that you’d become their lackey? Their pet dragon?” Velkandra asked.
Lakadara’s wings fluttered, her neck and head turning to meet Velkandra’s venomous glare. “Out of mercy and out of a desire for peace. The Stormcaller and her allies have no quarrel with us, just as they never did with our mother.”
“They must have offered something to you, though. There’s no way they would—”
The sharp whoosh of Lakadara letting out a short stream of fire cut over Velkandra’s drawl. Extending her wings, a smile returned to the features of the oldest of Telkandra’s brood.
“They did offer me something. They did have something to gain and I accepted because it was an excellent deal. Far better than the one we struck with Thorgoth.”
“What? You fight for whomever offers you food and some shelter? Something they could just take away?” Velkandra asked.
“The King and Queen of Erisdale, and later today, Queen Titania of Alavaria offered me land. A Dragonhome in perpetuity for me and my children—”
“You can’t be serious—”
Fennokra’s wing tip lashed out, slapping Velkandra’s side. “Shut up! Lakadara was never a fool. What did they offer you that was so tempting, sister?”
“They offered me land for myself and my future children, on the condition I speak to you. After that, they told me I could leave,” Lakadara said. She was met with a wall of silence as the dragons stared at her.
“Leave?” Makendra stammered. Of all the siblings, only he was capable of speaking. His siblings' tails had flopped on the floor in various states of shock.
“Just like that? That can’t be it. Do they not wish for you to help?” Makendra asked.
Lakadara nodded. “They do, but they were more understanding that making me fight for them solves nothing for the future and I have to wonder…what would fighting for Thorgoth get us? Revenge on a human mage who was just protecting her apprentice. More dead siblings and maybe our eventual death at Thorgoth’s own hands.”
“Mother would want us to take revenge,” Fennokra said. Yet, she knew she hadn’t spoken it forcefully enough as Lakadara now turned a knowing gaze towards her.
“Maybe, but I doubt she would want us to kill ourselves pursuing it,” said Lakadara.
Fennokra wasn’t sure if it was tension, stress or even fear, but she felt her shoulders and haunches lighten as some invisible weight fell from them. “And they want you to talk to us so that you could give us the same offer,” she said.
Lakadara nodded.
“What, they gave you a cave and you’re going to give up?” Velkandra asked.“They’re willing to give us an entire mountain range, including several very large mountains. Enough room for hundreds of dragon caves,” said Lakadara.
“Just so that we just accept and leave? Not even fight? That’s…that’s good, but what if Thorgoth wins?” Yolandra asked.
“He’d kill us anyway wouldn’t he?” asked Fennokra. She was no longer looking at her sister, she knew where Lakadara stood.
Her eyes were instead of Velkandra, her feelings betrayed only by a slight snarl.
“We made a deal. What does it say about us if we break it?” Makendra asked.
Yolandra pointed to the massive army across from them. “What happens if we don’t break it and Thorgoth is defeated? If we die against that, right here, right now?” Sighing, Yolandra strode toward Lakadara. “Certain death, possible life. I know what I’m choosing.”
Fennokra winced. “Wait, Yolandra—”
“Don’t you dare take another step, sister.”
Velkandra had extended her wings. Hackles raised, legs braced to drive herself into the air, the dragon was ready to pounce. Slowly, her eyes wide, Yolandra turned around, mouth agape, unable to speak.
“Sister, what are you doing?” Fennokra asked, a chill running up the spikes on her spine.
Velkandra stalked toward their smallest sibling, teeth bared. Claws scraping against the earth with a grating grumble. “She sides with the creatures that killed our mother. Did you all forget our goal? Our lifelong mission? The Stormcaller killed our mother. We swore revenge.”
“So we fight half the continent to kill her?” Fennokra demanded. She didn’t know why she only realized it so recently and yet she knew she saw clearly. She could see the paths in front of them, and the glint of fury in her second sister’s eye.
“We kill whoever gets in our way to end her because she killed our mother!
“Do we kill children too?” Lakadara slid in beside Yolandra, wing furled protectively over her younger sibling. “Do we kill their children because they might seek revenge? Because by that logic the Stormcaller and her allies should have killed us.”
“Don’t you dare compare me to that dragon slayer!”
“Then don’t interfere with our sister’s right to choose her own path! Or are we now down to killing our own family members because they don’t agree with us? Like how you tried to kill me?” Lakadara asked. Her eyes gazed at each of her siblings before coming back to Velkandra. “Let Yolandra go. Fennokra, Makendra, if you wish to leave, you may do so. It is your choice.”
Makendra closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m sorry, sister, but I cannot fight for them. They killed our mother.”
Lakadara’s tail drooped, but she nodded and turned to Fennokra, who suddenly felt so small underneath her sister’s gaze. When did she get so calm, so composed despite the situation? She’d always been the wisest of them and yet she seemed moreso.
“Fennokra?”
“Can we not discuss this? Try to…to work out an arrangement that benefits—”
Velkandra snorted. “Come on Fennokra. I thought you were the smart one—”
“I don’t want to hurt my own family! But I can’t abandon… I… Lakadara, I’m sorry.” Fennokra blinked back her tears, only to find her sister smiling at her.
“It’s alright, Fennokra. I understand.” Turning around, Lakadara dipped her head over her shoulder. “I wish you good fortune and fair winds. Yolandra, let’s go.”
The two dragons strode from the group, Fennokra staring after them, frozen. She refused to believe this was happening. Her joy at finding her sister was alive, doused by the despair that what remained of her family was now tearing apart. Yolandra looked over her shoulder, locking eyes with her for a brief moment, before she continued.
Fennokra bowed her head, unable to look after her sisters. That was when she realized out of the corner of her eye that Velkandra hadn’t moved from her pose. Her wings were still extended, legs still locked in place.
There was a slight shiver through the larger dragon. Fennokra then knew.
“Velkandra no!”
Her sister leapt into the air, neck craning back, lungs sucking in a huge breath. Fennokra was already moving. She could see Lakadara twisting around, lips pulled back in a snarl. Yolandra was fleeing, wings frantically unfurling.
Fennokra could see herself leaping up to Velkandra and tackling her aside, throwing the older dragon’s aim off and sending her crashing to the ground.
“Traitor!” Velkandra screamed. Claw scraped on scale as the pair rolled. Fennokra fighting on instinct, her sister’s claws around her throat, she tried to spit fire into her strangler’s face, but Velkandra’s grip was too tight.
“Fennokra!” Lakadara slammed into Velkandra, ripping her off of her and throwing her aside. Almost blinded by tears, Fennokra staggered to her feet, helped up by Yolandra.
Velkandra and Makendra glared at them rising into the air. Behind them, Thorgoth’s army was charging forward. Legions of Alavari with their shining weapons moving like some strange spread out living beast.
“Thank you, Fennokra,” said Yolandra.
“There’s no need to thank me,” said Fennokra.
Lakadara gestured behind them with her tail. “Don’t worry. We have some friends.”
Fennokra chanced a glance. The Stormcaller’s army, or their side? She still didn’t know what to call them, but the humans and Alavari against King Thorgoth were moving too. Horns were blaring, and a rainbow of flags waved.
A voice yelled out from Lakadara, which Fennokra realized came from a metal and wood pendant tied around her ear with a chain.
“Lakadara! Get your siblings out of there! You don’t need to fight them! This isn’t part of your bargain!”
Lakadara smiled without humor as she tapped a claw to the pendant. “I’m sorry Goldilora. I don’t think we’re getting out of this easily.”
“No you are not.” Velkandra wiped some dust out of her eye. “Last chance, sisters.”
Lakadara shook her head. Yolandra took a deep breath and prepared to breath fire.
Fennokra sighed and closed her eyes briefly. “Forgive us, mother.”
And the dragon siblings, the last of Telkandra’s brood, leapt at each other as the armies of Alavaria, Erisdale, Erlenberg and Lapanteria charged toward each other.
The final battle of the Fourth Great Hero War had begun.
Author's Note: Unfortunately for the dragon siblings there was only way way this is going to end.

First off, I want to make it known that the reason I'm having to make a whole new post is bc reddit won't let me edit the other one for whatever reason. If I was able to edit my other post, I would have done so already and answered questions a lot of you were asking that way instead of trying to reply in the comment section. I know it would have been a hell of a lot easier than doing all this. I may have had this reddit account for almost 12 years now, but using reddit is actually somewhat new to me since I never used it at all before other than creating an account. I got back on here more recently to find information about different health issues and genetic conditions. So I'm obviously not very good at reddit just yet and is honestly trying my best to figure it out still and how it all works really.
I also just want everyone reading this to understand how ridiculous most of those commenters were being on my last post. I mean it was so ridiculous that all those people were asking why I was answering some questions and not others, and claiming I was avoiding certain comments and questions when there were literally hundreds that were popping up all at once and that a lot of them weren't relevant to the situation at hand anyway. Like how did most everyone seem to forget that I'm only one person? How were they all still expecting me to somehow answer hundreds of them at one time while continuing to comment and question even more? Just absolutely ridiculous. Saying I was being suspicious when it only seemed that way bc that's how they were making it out to be.
Claiming that I kept changing my story when I didn't and I haven't, and saying things "aren't adding up" so I must be lying or hiding something all bc they weren't understanding my responses when I was trying to answer what I could and what I thought necessary. It's was all just really gross behavior. And when I had mentioned in one comment that all the people asking me what I had done to get them taken away and saying that I deserved it was giving me "what were you wearing to get assaulted?" type of vibes, it's bc it WAS giving me those vibes and then they came for me for that too. If you're a woman who's been in a situation like that before then you know the feeling I'm talking about. And that's how it felt every single time someone asked what I did for for all this to happen and saying that I must have deserved it and that I should take accountability for someone else's unexcusable actions. It was just super triggering and felt like all those ignorant "what were you wearing?", "You must have done something to deserve it" type of questions and comments all over again. If you've ever experienced that before I'm sorry. I know you never forget how those accusations feel. That's why I said it. It was an attempt to make those people understand how it was so disrespectful and degrading and irrelevant to what had happened to me and why I was reaching out for help in the first place.
Forreal, most everyone just being so demanding with all the comments and questions or saying that I need to DM them about it and demanding I answer hundreds of them immediately and not to ignore them but also at the same time telling me to tell the full story. When hello? I'm still just one person no matter how much you all demand of me. I tried to let everyone know that if they could just be patient and let me process everything that I'd be able to answer all their questions and concerns as soon as I was able to.
It was just completely crazy how most people were acting more concerned about why my mama cat wasn't spayed immediately after getting her TEN YEARS AGO (when we didn't have the knowledge or information like we have now and when I had tried to get her fixed that the vet at the time wouldn't let me yet claiming they didn't think she was old enough) and completely ignoring the whole reason for the post which was that I was upset and heartbroken I woke up to 2 of my cats being gone and still am. Saying that I must be neglectful for "letting her get pregnant" when I never went outside without her right in my lap, or that when she got big enough to wear one, never went out without her on her harness leash. So how does that make me neglectful exactly? And those same people not understanding that someone at my house had let her out and back in while I was gone at work without letting me know bc they didn't care about all the times I told them not to do that. That or maybe it might have been an accident, but who really knows bc no one had ever told me she was out when I was gone and I wasn't aware she was ever even outside without me until I started to notice that she seemed pregnant. Again, that's not what my post was about, it was about 2 of her kitties that are grown up now and how I woke up to them being gone.
Also all these people calling me stupid for originally thinking that cats that are able to be outdoors/indoors makes them live longer than being only indoors when all the articles I'd ever read in regards to that TEN YEARS AGO said that cats that go outdoors(not exclusively outdoor cats, but indoooutdoor cats) have a better quality of life and therefore would live longer than cats exclusively indoors. I mean from those articles I read to my personal experience, I honestly believed that to true. Nobody's perfect and people are wrong sometimes. And I didn't know I was wrong until I got new information, that doesn't make me stupid.
However I will forever disagree that it's abuse or neglect to let them outside when they want want to be outside. Not everyone is the same or in the same situations as everyone else, including animals. My cats like to play outside on our hill and in the garden and climb the occasional tree in our yard. I live just outside of my town, so it's not like so rural that we get deer or coyotes or anything super dangerous to them like that. We just get little critters that can't actually hurt them like field mice and moles and chipmunks and squirrels and birds and blue tail lizards and the occasional rabbit. I also live on a dead end road with no thru traffic and neighbors that all know eachother. And that's how we knew soon after one of the cats ran off where they were and our neighbors knew he was ours and asked if they could keep him bc they're little boy fell in love with him. Needless to say, we have kids that play in their yards all the time and a lot of our neighbors will go on regular walks throughout the day every day. So we all keep a close eye on eachother and no one drives crazy on our single dead end road we live on.
But like all these people being hateful that I let my cats outside at all, or assume I don't take them to all their vet appointments on a regular basis or that I don't get them appropriately vaccinated, or put flea and tick meds on them to be able to be outside without getting sick from bug bites or something they might catch and eat. You are all just so ridiculous. I know I didn't mention things like this in my other post, but it didn't seem relevant to me bc that has had nothing to do with why they were taken away like that. I honestly feel like I could just go on an on about how ridiculous most of the comments were, but that's not what this post is about. I'll get to why they were taken, I just want to say a few more things first.
I know reddit can be full of shitty people, but I seriously didn't think that the cat part of reddit would be so awful to people going through a tough time with the loss of their cats.
Most everyone kept saying they couldn't form an opinion without knowing the full story, but then would proceed to form negative opinions about my situation anyway. Like they would say "I can't form any opinions yet but...." and just kept on with countless negative opinions. And getting so many questions and demands has just been overwhelming to say the least. I've been hurting so much worrying about my now gone kitties. I miss them. My other cats miss them. And this has all been really tough on us and overwhelming enough already without all the trolls on here adding to it. June 14th will be the 3rd year anniversary of my mom passing away so this time of year is difficult anyway, but all of this has just made it even more difficult. After my post blew up unexpectedly all I was asking for was a little bit of time to give you all the full story, but everyone just kept on being so hateful toward me about not having it posted yet for their viewing pleasure. Some of us have things we're dealing with that keep us from being online all the time, ya know?
And the other day I tried to answer some questions and concerns in the meantime while I worked on trying to type up the whole story again little by little, except with more details than the last time I tried to post it in cats and they removed it. So it was taking me longer to do bc all the extra information everyone was demanding on top of me having limited free time every day to be able to work on it. I was smart enough to type up all the questions/concerns I answered in my notes before posting it though. So even though I deleted those string of comments bc some ass hats started to troll me for it bc "it still wasn't the full story yet" after I already said I was still working on it, I'll be able to copy and paste them again here in this post. So I'm going to paste that info below for some context before getting into why my sister came and took them that morning. And honestly at this point, I'm not going to continue to finish writing the story of their lives and how it led up to now bc I can clearly see after all this that you all just don't care. All most of you have cared about is trolling a stranger to make yourselves feel big or care about why they were taken and not that they were taken. Without my knowing it was going to happen until it did mind you. Not knowing what kind of care they're in now and my "family" refusing to communicate about why they decided to do all this. And how bc of that I've been worrying and stressed about them since I posted and was the entire purpose of the post. All I asked was how you all would feel if you had your cats taken behind your back and what you would do about it. I wasn't asking for advice on what I should do and I certainly wasn't asking to be accused of being neglectful or irresponsible. I just needed some compassion for the loss I suffered and is still dealing with currently while trying to work something out with my sister since I was FINALLY able to get ahold of her to talk about it bc communicating with my "family" is nearly impossible.
So here's the questions and concerns I answered but removed bc of the ass hats who only cared about harassing me to hurry up and post a story instead of understanding that I just needed a little bit of time before posting again.
Copy and pasted responses to questions and concerns with edits to past/present tense to make it relevant to this post now:
Why I didn't post the full story within 24 hours of my post? Well, bc 1. That's a ridiculous request. I have my own life, and my health issues make daily tasks more difficult as they take more time and energy for me to do and making my free time extremely limited. 2. I'm upset, especially when the other 3 cats keep looking everywhere for the 2 that are now gone breaking my heart even more. So my cats and I are still processing everything. 3. I had already posted the original full story in another subreddit, but it was immediately removed which was devastating and why I said in my post that the story was too much for me to want to tell. I was too exhausted at that point to try an tell it all AGAIN and just shared a quick version of the immediate situation instead. 4. Everyone wanted to know so many unnecessary details making the story like 10x longer than the original one that was removed in cats bc of lack of karma at the time (before my last post blew up for no good reason) and bc I had just joined their group before posting there and hadn't been a member for at least 5 days yet. Everyone's need for so many unnecessary details meant it was gonna take even longer to get it posted. So it was impossible to do in 24 hours and I shouldn't have been expected to anyway. Unlike too many of you it seems, I don't live to post on reddit.
No, I can't beat up my older sister, and calling the cops isn't an option for me. They're technically under my grandmas name at the vet still, and since we took them back about a few years ago they've been under my name since then too. They're also not chipped, so if I went over to her place to get them couldn't she just kick me off her property and call the cops on me like you all are saying I should have done to her? I live at my childhood home, so it's technically not my property to kick her off of and also how she was able to get in the house while I was asleep. Her and my dad arranged all of this behind my back for reasons that aren't financial or from neglect like you all kept suggesting. My "family" is absolutely horrible about communicating anything and that's why I didn't know it was going to happen or why it was happening until it actually happened. So I'm just saying that they could have gone about things differently instead of essentially pulling the rug out from under me so to speak and why it would have never happened this way if my mom was still alive.
Yes, they go to the vet and have gone to every appointment they've ever needed since they were born.
No, they're not outdoor cats. They're just able to go outside when they want to, and are never left out there alone. So they're indoooutdoor cats that sleep inside every night and never outside alone when they do go out bc I'm always with them.
No, I never said I had leash harnesses for all of them at any point bc I've only ever had one, and to this day still just have the one. I only had mama cat using a harness growing up as we would go different places to take walks and go hike when I use to live with my ex. And since I had moved back home with her we quit doing that once she grew out of it and had her litter, so I haven't needed to use it anymore.
Yes, my dad has been taking care of them(3 of the 5) financially temporarily since I ran out of savings. I've been dealing with health issues for a while now that require surgery and that caused me to have to quit my job, and I can't return to work until these medical issues are resolved. However, I've had enough money saved up from my previous job to fully take care of the 3 cats up until just about 6 months ago. My grandma continued to pay for the 2 she gave back since she moved into a nursing home. So that's helped a lot over the years and why they've never been a financial burden to my dad. He's also had no problem helping me financially with the other 3 cats and myself until I can get the surgery I need to go back to work again. Financial support has never been a problem throughout all these years and why there's no issue with my dad financially helping out temporarily and isn't the reason 2 of them were taken. It's honestly so aggravating for so many people to suggest that when they have no idea what it's like to go from supporting yourself your whole life to suddenly becoming physically disabled and needing a little help until you can get the proper medical care to get back on your feet again.
Yes, It's a lot/has been a lot of work to take care of 5 cats over the years but its really not hard to do if you have a routine. And it's easy for me, especially now bc I literally never leave my house anymore except for doctor appointments, their vet appointments or when I need to go to the store about once a month. So I'm here for them basically all the time now and regardless of my declining health, I've still been able to take care of them. My "family" hasn't taken care of them the entirety of my cats lives the last 9/10 years. My mom, my grandma and myself are the only ones who ever have. Other than that, no one else has done anything. Well except my dad that's helping financially for now temporarily. And like I said, that's just temporary. I'm the one who goes an gets their food and treats and litter and water fountain filters from the store. I'm the one that takes them to all their vet appointments. I'm the one cleaning their litter box area multiple times a day. I'm the one ordering their flea and tick meds and putting it on them. I'm the one that pays attention to them and plays with them regularly. I'm the one that feeds them and keeps their multiple water sources clean and filled up. I'm the one that they constantly follow around and are glued to bc I do all the things that need to be done to take good care of them. I've even always included them during Christmas every year an gotten them presents that I've wrapped for them so they can open stuff along with us. I don't just take good care of them, I go the extra mile to include them in holiday celebrations and also celebrate their birthdays every year too.
So to everyone that thinks they belong with my "family", you are completely 100% wrong. They don't even know how to care for them bc they've never had to. They don't know their routine or their different personalities or which toys are their favorite. They don't know they like armpit scratches and the little spaces between their toes rubbed. They don't know what kind of food to get them or how to take apart and clean their water fountains and how often it needs to be done. They don't know where to order their meds from or what kind to get. They don't know the people at the vet or have their number saved in case of an emergency. So everyone who says they're better off somewhere else, how about you take that BS on outta here and somewhere else? I know how to care for them and despite all of my health issues, I've been able to do all those things throughout the years.
Yes, the cats have plenty of space at our house. It has 2 stories, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bath, and double car garage. We have a front porch and a back porch that's two stories with a double stair case(one on each side) with one stair case leading to the back patio. We've got a pretty big yard on a hill that they love to run up and down with a decent sized garden they like to hangout in too. So our house is plenty big enough for 5 cats, even now that they're grown up.
No, our house doesn't smell like cats at all. They prefer to use the bathroom outside, even during the winter. They meow a certain way and paw at the door to let me know they want to go out to use the bathroom. We also have their litter box area in the garage and not inside our house. We did have 2 litter boxes, but since the 2 cats are gone now it's just the 1 box again bc the 2 in question were taken with their litter box they had from my grandmas originally. But like I said, all the cats prefer to go outside to use the bathroom anyway and that's fine by me. It's less cleaning for me and why 2 litter boxes for 5 of them worked great and why the other 3 cats have been able to use 1 box with no issue for the last 9 years. Every time they use the litter box, I clean it right after too. I mean except for when I'm asleep obviously. But it's one of the first things I check every time I wake up. The way I see it, we flush after every time we use the bathroom don't we? So I think they deserve the same luxury and also refuse to be like those people whose houses(or our garage) stink bc they can't take proper care of their cats. We also have a cat door that's built into the garage door that connects the downstairs to the garage, so they're able to go in an out as they need throughout the day and night as well. Their litter box area is on the far side of our garage in its whole own area making it easy to keep clean too so our cats don't make our house smell and they never have.
When it comes to the information I got about indoooutdoor cats living longer than strictly indoor cats, it was from multiple articles I had read about it like a decade ago when I got mama cat as a kitten. I understand that not only do we have better information now, but also better pet care than we did 10 years ago too. We even have more varieties of food too like 'indoor cat health' and 'urinary tract health' and 'hairball control' and other things that weren't as common back then as they are now. I never said outdoor-only cats lived longer, ever. I was only talking about indoooutdoor cats that are able be outside safely. After my ex got me my cat that someone had dumped with the rest of her litter and wasn't even fully weaned yet, I started researching and reading everything I could find to take care of her the best way possible. And the articles I had read back then about how long they live were saying that being able to have large areas where they can run an interact with their surroundings instead of being kept inside constantly give them a better quality of life helping them live longer as a result. Also from my personal experience, I had never seen anyone I knew who had an indoor-only cat live longer than just over about 10 years old at that time. So after all my research I went out immediately and bought her the smallest harness leash I could find and as soon as she fit into it, we were going out on walks/runs and hikes everyday. That's why I originally said indoooutdoor cats lived longer bc that's honestly what I thought from what I read all those years ago and what I had seen first hand from other indoor exclusive cats. It never crossed my mind to look something like that up again years later. Now that I see so many of you have had or have known people whose had indoor cats live a full life span of 20 plus years, I can admit that I was wrong about the misinformation I shared about indoooutdoor cats living longer. I have no issue admitting I'm wrong or taking accountability even though a lot of you would like to believe that to avoid feeling bad for all the terrible things you have said and accused me of. And now we're finally to why they were taken away the way they were.
So all cats are under my name at the vet currently and have been for years now since around the time my mom passed. It was originally just the mama cat under my name and that I was solely responsible for, and after her litter was born my mom took care of her babies but I still helped too of course.(later I found out my mom was the one who let my cat out while I was at work and how she got pregnant so I think that's why she took responsibility for the kittens) After that is when I got my cat fixed bc finally I had proof she was old enough, which was why the vet told me they wouldn't do it when I had tried to get her fixed before that point. My mom had the whole litter fixed and vaccinated and that's when my grandma took 2 of them. So then my mom had 3 kittens that she was claiming as her own and as they started to get older she had one run off to a neighbor's. They wanted to keep him which my mom was fine with, leaving her with the 2 that are still here to this day. But when my mom passed away in 2021, the 2 cats under her name at the vet went to mine and I took on full financial responsibility for them in addition to mama cat that I've always been responsible for. So I had 3 cats I was the sole provider for and was able to manage it just fine. After all, they were my everything and what kept me going through such a difficult time and it made me happy to be their care taker. Not too long after all that my grandma moved into a nursing home and she gave us back the other 2 cats in question. She was going to give them to a friend of hers, but my shit brother insisted that they come back to where they were born and be with their mom and siblings and that he would take care of them. So my grandma said she would keep paying for all their expenses since we were going to keep them and she'd still be able to see them when she came to visit. I had no problem with what her and my brother had worked out and was more than happy to have them back at the house with all of us.
Well turns out that's not how things ended up working out. My brother didn't do anything to take care of them. Like, at all. I ended up being the one to get money from my grandma and going and getting their supplies every time they needed it. I was feeding them, cleaning their litter box, an just taking care of everything they needed that was suppose to be my brothers responsibility but he wouldn't do for whatever reason. So despite what him and my grandma agreed to, he just wouldn't do anything to actually take care of them like he said he would. Everything fell onto me. And when their annual vet appointment came up, I'm the one that had to take them bc "he was too busy working" even though I was working too. Like I literally had to call off work to be able to take them but I did what needed to be done, so why wasn't he able to do that? Anyway, that's when I added my name to my grandmas account at the vet since they were in my care, but she was paying for them still. And things went on like this for years. I've been taking care of all 5 of them with financial help from my grandma for the 2, and since I ran out of savings the end of last year I've had financial help from my dad for the other 3. Even throughout all my health issues the past like year and a half, I've still been doing everything needed to care for all 5 of them. Now more recently all I did was ask for a little help with cat chores as my health keeps getting worse. I only asked my brother(who insisted they come back in the first place and said he would take care of them and didn't) to just feed the cats their wet food when he got home from work every day since that's about the time I feed it to them anyway as a part of their routine. Just that one thing to help me out. I've been doing everything so far, and everyone is well aware that once I'm able to get the surgery I need that I won't be able to do all of it by myself for a short time after surgery while recovering. Not for the whole recovery even, just for a short time in the beginning when I'm super limited on what I can do. So I was asking him to do this ONE thing every day, not just to get a little bit of help as my health has been declining, but also to try an start getting him in the know how of what all needs to be done for the cats every day so for the couple weeks after I get my surgery that he'll know what to do. Was that really too much to ask for considering everything? For him to just give them their wet food when he gets home from work every day?
And go figure, he couldn't even handle doing that. He was feeding them at different times every day completely ruining their routine and on top that, one of the cats(that was my moms and now mine) that eats a special urinary tract food wasn't being watched for all of the maybe 5 minutes it takes him to eat it. Like we've known about his urinary issues since way before my mom ever even got sick, so it's not like this is anything new. We've had him on a special urinary tract diet for more than half his life now. He even had a really bad flare up after my mom passed after years of not having any issues since finding him the right food bc he was so stressed about her being gone bc he was her little buddy. But basically my brother was letting him get into the other cats wet food and then bc of that the other cats would get into his food. And I know my brother had to be letting this shit on purpose bc he's always somehow been able to get away with weaponizing his incompetence to get out of doing things he just doesn't feel like doing. Like I distinctly remember when we were kids and he would say stuff like, "if you just do a bad job then mom won't ask you to do it anymore" when it came to chores or whatever, and I think that's what he was trying to do to me. But we're grown now, even though he doesn't act like it. And I kept telling him that whatever time he feeds them he needs to stick to it and feed them at that same time every day. But my brother just kept feeding them at different times anyway, and I wasn't aware that they were getting into eachothers food until the one ended up getting a urinary blockage and I had to take him to the vet for it here recently. So that's when I knew he wasn't eating his food that I get special just for him.
I mean literally a week ago after I had to take him to vet bc of his blockage(that he hasn't had an issue with at all since my mom passed btw) and tried to talk to my dad about all of this and said that I'll just keep doing it all myself again an that my brother got what he wanted I guess by doing a bad job on purpose so he wouldn't have to do it anymore and making one of the cats really sick in the process, my dad had nothing to say. So then I told him that he's going to have to talk to my brother about what all he's gonna have to do after I can get my surgery done at least bc he won't even listen to me about doing this one thing, and my dad got pissed off at ME for my brother not listening. And my brother is 3 years older than me just to be clear, so it's not like he's some teenage kid that can't handle the responsibility even though he acts like it. He's 35 and gonna be 36 before too long. And AGAIN, he's the one who insisted the 2 cats my grandma couldn't keep come back here and that he would take care of them to begin with. And when he didn't, I stepped up and ended up taking care of all 5 and has been doing so for years now. So shouldn't he be able to handle things for the first couple of weeks I'm recovering at least? I only recently started actually asking for just a little bit of help so he'd know what to do for a couple weeks when the time comes. And I'll be doing it all without any of his help a couple weeks after I get my surgery and I'm recovered enough to do it all again anyway. So what was the problem? Like why couldn't he just feed them as soon as he got home from work every day and spend not even 10 full minutes feeding them all and making sure they don't get into eachothers wet food? Or better yet, why would he say he wanted the cats back here and that he would take care of them if he wasn't going to?
And so just bc I asked for a little help, for a single task to be done once a day and bc he wouldn't do it or listen to me, and bc I had to remind my dad how I'll need a lot of help with daily cat chores after my surgery(again only for like a couple of weeks TOPS) my dad's solution was to call my sister to get the 2 cats that are under mine and my grandmas names and take them without telling me about it. Hence, why I woke up shocked that they were suddenly gone. Like I just don't understand how that solves anything or is a solution as to how I'm gonna get help with any of this after I'm able to finally get surgery. I mean I guess I just won't get any help other than financially and will have to figure out a new system to take care of them while I'm recovering. But that doesn't change how my "family" is seriously so toxic and terrible at communicating that it's enough to make anyone who's sane go completely insane. No matter how hard I try to communicate with them and be civil, everything is always flipped to point the finger at me or punish me somehow. Sort of like how the whole comment section was on my last post with the exception of a few truly kind and understanding souls. So that's why I couldn't just simply answer why they were taken, bc it's a complicated situation with a complicated answer that needed more of an explanation that just "they were taken bc of blank. End of story". I'm trapped in a toxic "family" that refuses to communicate and until I can get the surgery I need to return to work and get the hell out, me and my cats are stuck here. I care barely get ahold of my sister for anything as it is, and her having 2 of my cats now hasn't changed that a bit. I just want so badly to get better and go back to work but women's health care is a fucking joke and seems like they're in no hurry to get me the help I need to start living my life normally again. The whole process has been taking forever and It's been making me super depressed already. And taking away my 2 of my most snuggly cats behind my back, especially during this time of year that makes me grieve losing my mom all over again has just made all of this so much worse. I seriously can't stress enough how none of this would have happened this way if I still had my mom.
So I've been taking care of all my cats for years now completely by myself with the exception of the 2 that are also my grandmas too technically since she's continued taking care of them in the financial aspect, and the last 6 months that my dad has been helping out financially for the other 3 cats until I can get surgery done and can go back to work. And like I said before, my dad has no problem with helping me with the financial aspect of things until I'm able to go back to work, and I'm not some irresponsible bum. I'm just dealing with health issues that have gone unresolved for so long that it's caused me to go through all of my savings while waiting to be able to get surgery to return to work.
I truly believe that they're the reason why I'm still alive and fighting for the health care that I need is bc of my cats. As I said in my other post, when I rescued my wildcat that I really believe she rescued me too. Her and all her babies. My wildcat helped me get through the break up of me and my ex of 8 years (we lived together for 7 years and he's the one who gave her to me to rescue) and after that, every other traumatic and dramatic thing life has thrown at me. From having to move back home after my break up, to helping me through the years of health issues that doctors are just recently finding out are genetic. She's managed to keep me working through it all to make sure I could always support her and provide everything she needs. From losing my mom, to working extra hours just to make sure I could take care of all 3 cats by myself after all of them became my responsibility. From taking her other 2 babies back in and taking responsibility for them too, to now being trapped until I can get well enough to start working again. Like without her and then her having babies maybe I would have been able to live somewhere else for majority of the last decade on my own, sure. But with all of my health issues that would have caused me to have to inevitably move back anyway, would I have really made it this far? I honestly don't think so. They're the only ones left that aren't toxic and that keep me going day after day.
My wildcat and every one of her now grown up kitties have been my everything and what make life worth living for me. I'm infinitely grateful for their existence. And taking care of them has made me able to take care of me too. So losing 2 of them, having them taken away the way they were? It's just totally crushed me. I know we'll get through it together and hopefully me and my sister can work something out maybe, but that still doesn't change how difficult all of it is right now. It's almost been a full week without my most snuggly wildcats now and my other cats are still looking around for them day and night wondering where they are too. I'm still just hurting and missing them so much. So please for the love of everything that is, just keep all the negative comments to yourself. After everything I've done for all my kitties and been through for them and with them, I just want a little reassurance that things are gonna be ok. Here's to hoping my health gets better soon and that I can finally move me and all my cats somewhere far away from my toxic "family" and all live happily ever after. And if you actually read this whole thing all I ask is that you leave some kind words and if not, to not say anything at all.

It was a late after noon, I was heading to my job at the gas station circle k in Ohio. My name is Charles Jason. I’m not allowed to tell you exactly where my job is located but this station was old, we barely had anyone visit and it was my night shift. I was alone with just the cook and tasked to make sure the old food was thrown out in the dumpster, but I didn’t do that exactly. I would throw out one bag of it but I had a secound one I take to me to the pond behind the store maybe a mile away. My coworker would take over the cash register when I was gone and would throw old meat or buns into it, making sure not to drop the bag. Your probably wondering why I would throw food into the water instead of just throwing it away i had a good reason, you see a year ago when I started this job I had no friends or pets and I would always come here in my day shift on my 30 minute break. My boss said the moment I got here my shift would start and I was happy for that, one day a tiny baby croc came out of the water and I noticed it was a bit darker then the ones I see on tv or magazines but I was almost more shocked There was a crocodile baby in Ohio! Ohio am I right? But I noticed he has red eyes and it was chirping for its mother, my guess was a guy got it as a exotic pet and instead of just giving it to a zoo or animal control he dropped it into the water. I stared at it and just toss it a piece of my lunch meat and it gobbled it right up, poor thing must of been starving but also it seemed to look at me. For a moment I thought I saw gratitude in its eye as it went up to my foot and laid on my shoe, I was actually surprised it showed any sort of gratitude. I continued to eat my lunch but share with it any scarps, when my break was almost up I had to throw a chunk of my bread into the water and he scurried to it. When I went back to my shift I was told by my boss I got night shift with John. The chef and I didn’t mind him since he gave me free food for my break, during the year he helped cover for me since every night I got out of my way to feed the poor baby. I never saw him again but he still ate the food I gave him, at one point I was just sitting at the pound enjoying the stars when I saw two bright red eyes sticking out of the water. Like a shadow with eyes, I knew it was him cause I’ll never forget his gratitude. I decided to call him a cool name like shadow croc, since he was like a shadow. But I had to get back to work before he could come out, I regretted that cause when I came back the next night I saw he was out of the water, but I saw his foot prints and tail in the mud….. but that’s when it was strange… they where massive… like.. very massive, his feet where larger then any croc prints I saw on the magazines or online. The closes to them where ancient crocs but even then… I still left him the food this time I made sure to give him the whole bag. Cut back to today and I saw him again, he was the same size with the eyes and watch me, I decided to sit down and pat my legs.
“Come here boy, come here shadow croc.”
I would say to him and he did, he came right out of the water but before he fully could he rushed back in when I heard foot steps. Coming towered me and I saw three of the local gang members walking up to me. I knew what was gonna happen as they pulled out two pistols as the third had a metal bat. Threatening me to kill me if I didn’t as I quote “ring out my pockets” and I couldn’t help but hold a chuckle at their slang. But I have nothing on me so I pulled out my pockets showing I had nothing, I guess they didn’t like that cause it’s their turf and told me I was just useless to be around here and pointed their guns at me. I was horrified to think I was gonna die, tell we all heard a very deep growl from the water, the members looked as I knew what it was I looked and shadow croc was at the bank of the water half way out as he was growling. The gang member would scream saying.
“What the goddamn hell is that?” “Is that a damn monster?!” “Man I told you I needed more then a gun!!”
I saw them point their guns backing up a shadow got out of the bank, I finally got a good look at him, he was probably 11 feet tall, his body was bulky looking as well as his feet leaving a print into the ground. His back was covered in large spikes and his hands where almost human looking but claws and webbing made them completely different from a humans, his tail was also large as well with spikes at the tip. The gang members would open fire right at him and all the bullets would hit him on the chest, stomach or head but they all would bounce off or get stuck to his skin. He would roar right at him and I’m telling you he was not slow, he charged right at them grabbing one of their arms and ripped it right off his shoulder joints tossing the arm away as his tail slammed into a the bat guy stomach before he went for a wing, his Spikes stabbed the man in the stomach and swung him on it away to the ground hard. The last guy was able to reload his gun and open fired point blank to his head, like always the bullets didn’t even bother him but they got stuck on his head as well falling out of his head. He then opened his jaw grabbing him and had him in it. But he look at me like he was concerned for some reason and just pulled the guy out and squeezed him tell I heard his ribs cracking and tossed him down. If your wondering why he chose not making him a lunch my guess was he didn’t want the taste of blood… I think he enjoyed the food more then actual meat or blood. He looked at me as I just slowly stepped up and I reached up to him, he actually kneeled down letting me petting him like I did a year ago. He made a noise I can describe like a car engine, I never realized just feeding him only junk from circle k was enough to make him grow this much. But I knew it wasn’t since deer came around this area, how else would he eat when I couldn’t feed him everyday? He then ran back to the pound, I looked around and made a 911 call telling the police I found three men on the ground badly injured dying. It took the police a hour to make it here and all three men where dead, I didn’t question why it took them so long cause it’s ether traffic or the cops they signaled where a hour away. Other wise they where shocked to find the carnage in front of them, I was questioned and I gave them the best answer I had.
“I found them this way officer, I heard gun fire and found them, I think they where attacked by a crazed knife men or groups of them.”
The cops hight my story and continued on, ever since that day I kept feeding him as I still did every week but one night, he left…. I think he finally moved on, I know cause he left behind his trail leading to the forest. I never knew where he went but I know he’ll always be my friend and I hope he’s doing ok where ever he is. ————— Hello! I found this sub of the Reddit cause I love listening to lighthouse horrors. It inspired me to start making monster stories and I thought I’d mostly do this one as a continuation, have him travel the world meeting and or fighting other crypts. If you like this story give it a up vote and maybe some day light house well read this short story. If you have a idea on who he meets or fights let me know! I might be gone for a while or pop up with more stories who know!… thank you for reading!.

AN 6.57 Chaḷabhijātisutta: The Six Classes of Rebirth
https://daily.readingfaithfully.org/an-6-57-chalabhijatisutta-the-six-classes-of-rebirth/
At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain. Then Venerable Ānanda went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him:
“Sir, Pūraṇa Kassapa describes six classes of rebirth: black, blue, red, yellow, white, and ultimate white.
The black class of rebirth consists of slaughterers of sheep, pigs, poultry, or deer, hunters or fishers, bandits, executioners, butchers of cattle, jailers, and any others with a cruel livelihood.
The blue class of rebirth consists of mendicants whose life is thorny, and any others who teach the efficacy of deeds and action.
The red class of rebirth consists of the Jain ascetics who wear one cloth.
The yellow class of rebirth consists of the lay people dressed in white who are disciples of the naked ascetics.
The white class of rebirth consists of male and female Ājīvaka ascetics.
And the ultimate white class of rebirth consists of Nanda Vaccha, Kisa Saṅkicca, and the bamboo-staffed ascetic Gosāla.
These are the six classes of rebirth that Pūraṇa Kassapa describes.”
“But Ānanda, did the whole world authorize Pūraṇa Kassapa to describe these six classes of rebirth?”
“No, sir.”
“It’s as if they were to force a chop on a poor, penniless person, telling them, “Eat this meat and pay for it!”. In the same way, Pūraṇa Kassapa has described these six classes of rebirth without the consent of those ascetics and brahmins. And he has done so in a foolish, incompetent, unskilled way, lacking common sense.
I, however, also describe six classes of rebirth. Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.”
“Yes, sir,” Ānanda replied. The Buddha said this:
“And what, Ānanda, are the six classes of rebirth? Someone born into a dark class gives rise to a dark result. Someone born into a dark class gives rise to a bright result. Someone born into a dark class gives rise to extinguishment, which is neither dark nor bright. Someone born into a bright class gives rise to a dark result. Someone born into a bright class gives rise to a bright result. Someone born into a bright class gives rise to extinguishment, which is neither dark nor bright.
And how does someone born into a dark class give rise to a dark result? It’s when someone is reborn in a low family—a family of corpse-workers, bamboo-workers, hunters, chariot-makers, or scavengers—poor, with little to eat or drink, where life is tough, and food and shelter are hard to find. And they’re ugly, unsightly, deformed, sickly—one-eyed, crippled, lame, or half-paralyzed. They don’t get to have food, drink, clothes, and vehicles; garlands, fragrance, and makeup; or bed, house, and lighting. And they do bad things by way of body, speech, and mind. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell. That’s how someone born into a dark class gives rise to a dark result.
And how does someone born into a dark class give rise to a bright result? It’s when some person is reborn in a low family … But they do good things by way of body, speech, and mind. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm. That’s how someone born into a dark class gives rise to a bright result.
And how does someone born into a dark class give rise to extinguishment, which is neither dark nor bright? It’s when some person is reborn in a low family … They shave off their hair and beard, dress in ocher robes, and go forth from the lay life to homelessness. They give up the five hindrances, corruptions of the heart that weaken wisdom. They firmly establish their mind in the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. They truly develop the seven awakening factors. And then they give rise to extinguishment, which is neither dark nor bright. That’s how someone born in a dark class gives rise to extinguishment, which is neither dark nor bright.
And how does someone born into a bright class give rise to a dark result? It’s when some person is reborn in an eminent family—a well-to-do family of aristocrats, brahmins, or householders—rich, affluent, and wealthy, with lots of gold and silver, lots of property and assets, and lots of money and grain. And they’re attractive, good-looking, lovely, of surpassing beauty. They get to have food, drink, clothes, and vehicles; garlands, fragrance, and makeup; and bed, house, and lighting. But they do bad things by way of body, speech, and mind. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell. That’s how someone born into a bright class gives rise to a dark result.
And how does someone born into a bright class give rise to a bright result? It’s when some person is reborn in an eminent family … And they do good things by way of body, speech, and mind. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm. That’s how someone born into a bright class give rise to a bright result.
And how does someone born into a bright class give rise to extinguishment, which is neither dark nor bright? It’s when some person is reborn in an eminent family … They shave off their hair and beard, dress in ocher robes, and go forth from the lay life to homelessness. They give up the five hindrances, corruptions of the heart that weaken wisdom. They firmly establish their mind in the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. They truly develop the seven awakening factors. And then they give rise to extinguishment, which is neither dark nor bright. That’s how someone born into a bright class gives rise to extinguishment, which is neither dark nor bright.
These are the six classes of rebirth.”
Read this translation of Aṅguttara Nikāya 6.57 Chaḷabhijātisutta: The Six Classes of Rebirth_by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral.net. Or _listen on SC-Voice.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.
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FIRST
"So how long are you staying here?" Tim asked. They had been talking about the new Regent Tarra's offer for Lori to become her Personal Attendant. A position that had always offered great respect among her people.
"I don't know, the Senate really wants to speak with her." Lori replied. "But that will be on your Earth. I think we'll be returning to oversee the handing off of the habitat dome." She had been slightly worried at the prospect of having to go there and stay with her Regent for an extended period of time. However being as close to Earth as a twenty minute shuttle ride reassured her. She looked at Tim. He was on "leave" for three more days. "Regent Tarra only plans on being gone a few hours. She's alloted an entire day though for the meeting with the Senate."
"She actually laughed when she found out everyone just thought she was a Merchant Lord or an important government scientist." Lori laughed herself. "Nobody told the U.S. Alliance healers green eyes on an Orion were special." She stepped around two Lillgar adolescents playing with sticks and a small rubber ball. She watched for a moment as the smallest one bounced the ball no higher than her knee and slapped the stick against the walkway counting out, 1-2-3-fou....he didn't get the four out before the ball bounced and the other child grabbed it as fast as they could. She continued, stepping a little closer to Tim as they walked.
"Just don't look them in the eyes." He snickered, "That's how they steal your soul. Soon after you'll start turning into a politician yourself...." He busted up laughing, at the face she gave him, waiving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I'm joking. I'm joking." She found herself giggling at his humor. "So if we have all day to ourselves, what do you want to do? We could go to the market, or visit the park."
"Let's do both!" She exclaimed. "I really liked seeing all the different things at the market." Farcee only had designated shopping districts. It was a whirlwind of sights, sounds, and smells. "And you already said you would show me this park."
"Alright, Alright. Both it is then." He smiled, and she had to force herself to stop making a thrumming sound. Why was she doing that? She could barely controle it. She had been warned certain things might change in her body by the Hal'Ick clergy once she had taken the fauxauall root. She had already noticed certain things...growing sensitive, even while on the Regents Pride. She had been an absolute mess when she had found out that the only males on board during their flight for survival had either been too old or to young. She had been furious with herself for not saving the root! And then.....she looked back over at Tim, his broad shoulders, strong arms, long stride. None of those qualities could be found in an Orion male except in old stories and legends. "Then we'll have to stop by my quarters so I can grab a few things."
She nodded and they made there way along the corridors of Mars Station, strolling along casually taking in the sites, pretty soon they had made it around to Tim's room and he asked her to wait here a moment outside his door, so she did. Nervously hoping he would open the door and...
Tim opened the door to step out and she started. "Get control of yourself Lori!" She silently chastised herself giving him a smile. He was holding a rather large folded up piece of cloth and as he quietly closed the door he said, "John was sleeping. Poor guy lost a bet." He laughed a little and then held out his hand. "Market, then the park."
Her people didn't hold hands, or shake them, or hadn't anyways. In fact, physical contact of any kind was viewed as highly intimate. If she had been on Farcee. They were on Mars though. She took it in her own, his palm surprisingly rough. Did everything radiate heat on humans? Probably why they had so little fur she absently thought. She was rewarded with a smile as she did and she felt flutters in her stomach.
Before she knew it they had made it through the bustling market. She had used some of the credits the U.S. Alliance had given them to get clothes and some personal things. In particular she found neat little glass ball on a stand that when she shook it showed a miniature model of Sol system and the little silver stuff Tim called "glitter" looked like stars shimmering. Tim had disappeared while she haggled with the hawker and as she turned around felt a moment of panic. And then spotted him making his way through the crowd towards her carrying something wrapped up in the large cloth.
"Did you get everything you need?" He asked.
"Yes," she held up her two canvas bags of mostly clothes, "I think so anyway."
"Let me cary those for you." He took the cloth handles of both bags, gave them a twist and casually tossed it over his shoulder and tucked the blanket under the same arm. "We can drop these off on the way."
After dropping her newly purchased items off they made their way to the Rail Station and Lori sat next to the window. As the transport shuttle sped along Lori found herself staring at the alien plants and she even caught sight of a herd of wild "ma'deer" and raptly listened to Tim's explanation that as the vegetation established itself early scientists had tried to integrate a base ecosystem to build on. However the larger carnivores hadn't done very well on early Mars, something had caused the gene editing to "merge", somehow, and this caused both of the creatures Tim called "Bear's" and "Lions" to no longer be separate species on Mars. The locals named them "Muppies" as the species became known, and eventually even thrived after the initial "hiccup". But by then the ma'deer had become overpopulated to the point even now they were harvested in mass quantities and their meat was a staple for the Sol system and even exported.
She also got to see an "eagle" as Tim called it, flying overhead! It wasn't until he searched for a picture of one on his data chit and showed her a closer image that she realized that was the bird of prey that had been on the wall behind the U.S. President when he had spoken to Tarra. After nearly two hours the transport slowed and stopped at a small Rail Hub. The buildings around it looked to have been built not long ago and the path they were on wasn't used enough to keep the blue-green grass from encroaching along the edges. And then she could see them. Massive mountains stretching from horizon to horizon and seemingly still going higher still with a white cap of cloud's! Her breath caught, the blue-green grass swaying in a gentle wind looking like waves on a lake back on Farcee. Tim placed his hand on her lower back and nodded towards the towering monolith that reached higher than the clouds. " That's where we're going." He lead her to a lift that took them steadily higher for nearly another hour until she could just see the curvature of the horizon.
The lift stopped, and it's door slid open bringing back the aromatic scents of the Martian countryside. Her stomach fluttered as she stepped onto a platform that quite literally hang out over a miles high drop. That's when she noticed the trees. They had thick green needles instead of leafs and the bark was reddish brown and thick with rough grey splotches that seemed to hang here and there amongst their branches. She turned, realizing that as far as she could see either direction of the lift was a tall forest that stretched into the clouds! A mist seemed to hug the forest staying just within its borders and not quite spilling over the vertical drop. "Amazing...." Was all she could say.
"Just wait, I know where the best view on Mars is." He winked at her and she could feel her cheeks redden under her thin white fur! He lead her farther along the ridge, the vertical drop just a few meters to their right. Until they came to a escarpment jutting out a little bit and away from the path a little and he gently sat down the bundle, unwrapping a bottle of some liquid with two metal cups slit over the top of it, and two items wrapped in a silver substance. He spread the what she could see now was a thin blanket over the thick grass and motioned for her to sit. He quickly joined her, sitting right next to her. He carefully unwrapped one of the silver packages that she had thought smelled like food as soon as they where unwrapped from the blanket. It was a tube of meat similar to shank sausage's back on Farcee but this was white and covered in something that smelled spicy. He handed it to her, "It's a Mars Dog. Processed ma'deer meat in a sauce only the vendor really knows what's in it but that's at least got minced onions and green chilli's."
Her stomach let out a low growl as she took the "Mars Dog", she smiled in embarrassment and he just casually unwrapped the other one and held it up as if to show her how to eat it.
It was delicious! Her tongue was on fire at first but after he poured her a cup of the wine he had brought it was more of a low burn. And the tart berry flavor of the drink actually complimented the spice from their meal and she soon found herself chatting about everything they had seen and comparing it to what she knew on Farcee. After an hour or so she tried her best to "reposition" herself a little closer to him. Noticing the sun rapidly descending behind the soft grey clouds forming on the horizon thousands of tiny dots started to appear slowly, at first, but gradually the sky was filled with them. She leaned her head on Tim's shoulder. His sent intoxicating her more so than the cup of wine had. They continued to talk about everything. She couldn't take it anymore! She casually dropped her hand on his crotch. "If that doesn't work...." She thought.
"Lori, are you sure you want to do this?" Tim asked. She could see he was worried. And about her! Just the thought caused her to grow warm and fuzzy headed.
"I thought about it all night. My people are so few now, I have to help however I can. And I think this is best...." She trailed off looking up into his eyes. Oh how she suddenly wanted him to kiss her! What would it feel like? A steady thrumming started to come from her chest as she sat next to Tim and watched the Sun creep slowly disappear fully below the horizon. The thick blue-green grass was soft under the blanket he had brought along for this "picnic" as he had called it.
He let out a sigh and relaxed next to her, his body radiating heat. His hand rested along her side, and as the tension left his body he laid back on the blanket. So she did too, and the view was.... "So beautiful. There had always been too much light in Medrigal city where I grew up to see any." She whispered, not wanting to break the moment.
"I know what you mean. Im from Boston. Back on Earth. Anyways the first time I saw them I was fourteen and my father took us by shuttle to see his brother and stay with his family in Missouri for a few weeks. It made me want to join the Navy so I could see them all the time, but there's just something different about viewing them from atmo." He says softly.
She snuggled closer, maybe he'd take the hint and make a move. She'd watched some older videos on how humans courted each other but by Hal'Ick he was taking his time! Maybe he's.... She didn't finish the thought. He couldn't NOT be interested in her. She chastised herself for the ridiculous thought. Of course he was or why had he brought her all the way out here. On Farcee she would have been the one taking the lead! She moved her hand up to place on his broad chest and she could feel his heart pounding as hard as hers.
"But will you still be able to...?" He didn't say anymore as she suddenly rolled over to straddle him. Her face was so close to his she could feel his breath on her cheek as she started to undo his belt. "Oh....ohhhh...."
Lori couldn't wait anymore, her fertile time frame was running out fast and there was no telling if she could even find a substitute for fauxauall to allow her to mate with Tim or anyone else again.
No, she wouldn't let this opportunity pass her by.
Those mating videos had been many and varied for the human species.....and she had a few ideas herself...
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Private Jackson woke with a start. His vision slowly coming back into focus, everything was...off. Almost like he was looking through a pair of binoculars, through a telescope. He couldn't focus. The last thing he could remember was a fucking weird combination of blue humanoid female-ant like thing sticking him with something in his neck. And all his dumb ass could think as his body literally turned to mush was, "How can an alien have such a nice set of.." And then he saw the rest of her.
She had tried to run off with his big ass. She managed to drag him across a couple bulkheads like she had a purpose. She hadn't made it far. Private Simons had tackled her from a side corridor and he remembered seeing him get thrown against a bulkhead pretty hard before she had pounced on him too. He had tried to move but couldn't even seem to wiggle his fingers. He was literally a sack of jelly! He had remember hearing voices as she had walked back over to him. Then everything went dark. He vaguely remembered a burning sensation. That must of been while he was out.
"I think he's awake!" Exclaimed a tinkling female voice he knew belonged to an Elladrin. He silently thanked doc and the rest of his squad for plugging the hole in his ass and getting him to one of the "elves" as the Marines had been referring to them as since they first made peace with the U.S. Alliance. If they had gotten him to them, then he was going to be as good as new.
He tried to speak but he couldn't get more than a whisper out. His throat was raw!
"Easy, we just removed your feeding tube Private. Here's some water, drink it slowly." Said the tinkling voice. "Hold on, his optical implants don't seem to be working. Felix, reboot the system."
What the fuck! He choked on the water even though he was barely getting any. He couldn't get anything to work. What the hell had happened?!
He eventually stopped choking and as he finally tried again he managed to get out in a low raspy whisper, "What happened?"
"You survived. That's the important thing!" He heard, this time from a nasal male voice from the other side of the room. "I'm going to do a hard reset. This is not going to be pleasant Private."
He felt a jolt and a tingling sensation from his toes to the top of his head as he arched upwards against the padded restraints he found himself in.
As he caught his breath he could hear something clattering off to his right like chitin on metal and a high pitched whine. His vision focused and he could see the female Elladrin waving a light back and forth in front of his eyes as he blinked. "Any dark spots. Nod for yes." Tinkled her voice.
He shook his head and she continued. "Wiggle your toes?" As he did she continued, "Fingers, now a fist." He complied. "Ok Felix, remove the restraints if neurol link is confirmed and steady."
"Confirmed." Said the nasal male voice and he turned his head slowly to see a skinny redheaded male with glasses walking over reading the large silver tablet in his hand. "Cerebral implant has completed the neurol link with the nanites and has been accepted. Congratulations Private."
"For what?" He managed to get out. His voice a little better. His restraints retracted silently into the bed and he was able to work his knees and arms. Things were starting tofeel better anyways he thought. "What happened. How long until I can get back to my squad Dr's?"
"Well there's no other way of telling you Private..." Started the Elladrin before she was interrupted by Felix.
"I'm going to get that report started, excuse me." He stepped out of the room and as Jaxon sat up fully he could see a brite light on metal table covered in a glass bubble. Three monitors where hooked up to something he couldn't see that was inside it.
"Well, uhh, let's just...err, let me restart. Felix was right there really isn't any easy way to say this so here goes. You were injected with a neurotoxin cocktail and then had fertilized embryos placed inside you." She let out a resigned sigh. "Unfortunately it killed Private Simons before we fully realized what was happening. But we were able to....get you through it." She seemed to be grimacing. "Even with your nanites and more that we put in you besides, your going to have some scar's on your back. Thankfully we knew what to expect. And we managed to pull you through."
"What the fuck happened to me Dr? Give it to me straight. No bull shit." Jaxon said, growing a little angry.
She took three steps and slowly turned the table with a bubble around so he could see through a clear spot on the otherwise opaque glass bubble.
He liked to fell off the edge of the bed he sat on!
Inside the bubble was four little blue humanoid-ants.
And they all definitely looked somewhat like him.
"Congratulations Private...." Said the tinkling voice, and the worst part to him was there was no sarcasm in her voice at all.
He groaned. When the guys found out about this...

FIRST
"So how long are you staying here?" Tim asked. They had been talking about the new Regent Tarra's offer for Lori to become her Personal Attendant. A position that had always offered great respect among her people.
"I don't know, the Senate really wants to speak with her." Lori replied. "But that will be on your Earth. I think we'll be returning to oversee the handing off of the habitat dome." She had been slightly worried at the prospect of having to go there and stay with her Regent for an extended period of time. However being as close to Earth as a twenty minute shuttle ride reassured her. She looked at Tim. He was on "leave" for three more days. "Regent Tarra only plans on being gone a few hours. She's alloted an entire day though for the meeting with the Senate."
"She actually laughed when she found out everyone just thought she was a Merchant Lord or an important government scientist." Lori laughed herself. "Nobody told the U.S. Alliance healers green eyes on an Orion were special." She stepped around two Lillgar adolescents playing with sticks and a small rubber ball. She watched for a moment as the smallest one bounced the ball no higher than her knee and slapped the stick against the walkway counting out, 1-2-3-fou....he didn't get the four out before the ball bounced and the other child grabbed it as fast as they could. She continued, stepping a little closer to Tim as they walked.
"Just don't look them in the eyes." He snickered, "That's how they steal your soul. Soon after you'll start turning into a politician yourself...." He busted up laughing, at the face she gave him, waiving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I'm joking. I'm joking." She found herself giggling at his humor. "So if we have all day to ourselves, what do you want to do? We could go to the market, or visit the park."
"Let's do both!" She exclaimed. "I really liked seeing all the different things at the market." Farcee only had designated shopping districts. It was a whirlwind of sights, sounds, and smells. "And you already said you would show me this park."
"Alright, Alright. Both it is then." He smiled, and she had to force herself to stop making a thrumming sound. Why was she doing that? She could barely controle it. She had been warned certain things might change in her body by the Hal'Ick clergy once she had taken the fauxauall root. She had already noticed certain things...growing sensitive, even while on the Regents Pride. She had been an absolute mess when she had found out that the only males on board during their flight for survival had either been too old or to young. She had been furious with herself for not saving the root! And then.....she looked back over at Tim, his broad shoulders, strong arms, long stride. None of those qualities could be found in an Orion male except in old stories and legends. "Then we'll have to stop by my quarters so I can grab a few things."
She nodded and they made there way along the corridors of Mars Station, strolling along casually taking in the sites, pretty soon they had made it around to Tim's room and he asked her to wait here a moment outside his door, so she did. Nervously hoping he would open the door and...
Tim opened the door to step out and she started. "Get control of yourself Lori!" She silently chastised herself giving him a smile. He was holding a rather large folded up piece of cloth and as he quietly closed the door he said, "John was sleeping. Poor guy lost a bet." He laughed a little and then held out his hand. "Market, then the park."
Her people didn't hold hands, or shake them, or hadn't anyways. In fact, physical contact of any kind was viewed as highly intimate. If she had been on Farcee. They were on Mars though. She took it in her own, his palm surprisingly rough. Did everything radiate heat on humans? Probably why they had so little fur she absently thought. She was rewarded with a smile as she did and she felt flutters in her stomach.
Before she knew it they had made it through the bustling market. She had used some of the credits the U.S. Alliance had given them to get clothes and some personal things. In particular she found neat little glass ball on a stand that when she shook it showed a miniature model of Sol system and the little silver stuff Tim called "glitter" looked like stars shimmering. Tim had disappeared while she haggled with the hawker and as she turned around felt a moment of panic. And then spotted him making his way through the crowd towards her carrying something wrapped up in the large cloth.
"Did you get everything you need?" He asked.
"Yes," she held up her two canvas bags of mostly clothes, "I think so anyway."
"Let me cary those for you." He took the cloth handles of both bags, gave them a twist and casually tossed it over his shoulder and tucked the blanket under the same arm. "We can drop these off on the way."
After dropping her newly purchased items off they made their way to the Rail Station and Lori sat next to the window. As the transport shuttle sped along Lori found herself staring at the alien plants and she even caught sight of a herd of wild "ma'deer" and raptly listened to Tim's explanation that as the vegetation established itself early scientists had tried to integrate a base ecosystem to build on. However the larger carnivores hadn't done very well on early Mars, something had caused the gene editing to "merge", somehow, and this caused both of the creatures Tim called "Bear's" and "Lions" to no longer be separate species on Mars. The locals named them "Muppies" as the species became known, and eventually even thrived after the initial "hiccup". But by then the ma'deer had become overpopulated to the point even now they were harvested in mass quantities and their meat was a staple for the Sol system and even exported.
She also got to see an "eagle" as Tim called it, flying overhead! It wasn't until he searched for a picture of one on his data chit and showed her a closer image that she realized that was the bird of prey that had been on the wall behind the U.S. President when he had spoken to Tarra. After nearly two hours the transport slowed and stopped at a small Rail Hub. The buildings around it looked to have been built not long ago and the path they were on wasn't used enough to keep the blue-green grass from encroaching along the edges. And then she could see them. Massive mountains stretching from horizon to horizon and seemingly still going higher still with a white cap of cloud's! Her breath caught, the blue-green grass swaying in a gentle wind looking like waves on a lake back on Farcee. Tim placed his hand on her lower back and nodded towards the towering monolith that reached higher than the clouds. " That's where we're going." He lead her to a lift that took them steadily higher for nearly another hour until she could just see the curvature of the horizon.
The lift stopped, and it's door slid open bringing back the aromatic scents of the Martian countryside. Her stomach fluttered as she stepped onto a platform that quite literally hang out over a miles high drop. That's when she noticed the trees. They had thick green needles instead of leafs and the bark was reddish brown and thick with rough grey splotches that seemed to hang here and there amongst their branches. She turned, realizing that as far as she could see either direction of the lift was a tall forest that stretched into the clouds! A mist seemed to hug the forest staying just within its borders and not quite spilling over the vertical drop. "Amazing...." Was all she could say.
"Just wait, I know where the best view on Mars is." He winked at her and she could feel her cheeks redden under her thin white fur! He lead her farther along the ridge, the vertical drop just a few meters to their right. Until they came to a escarpment jutting out a little bit and away from the path a little and he gently sat down the bundle, unwrapping a bottle of some liquid with two metal cups slit over the top of it, and two items wrapped in a silver substance. He spread the what she could see now was a thin blanket over the thick grass and motioned for her to sit. He quickly joined her, sitting right next to her. He carefully unwrapped one of the silver packages that she had thought smelled like food as soon as they where unwrapped from the blanket. It was a tube of meat similar to shank sausage's back on Farcee but this was white and covered in something that smelled spicy. He handed it to her, "It's a Mars Dog. Processed ma'deer meat in a sauce only the vendor really knows what's in it but that's at least got minced onions and green chilli's."
Her stomach let out a low growl as she took the "Mars Dog", she smiled in embarrassment and he just casually unwrapped the other one and held it up as if to show her how to eat it.
It was delicious! Her tongue was on fire at first but after he poured her a cup of the wine he had brought it was more of a low burn. And the tart berry flavor of the drink actually complimented the spice from their meal and she soon found herself chatting about everything they had seen and comparing it to what she knew on Farcee. After an hour or so she tried her best to "reposition" herself a little closer to him. Noticing the sun rapidly descending behind the soft grey clouds forming on the horizon thousands of tiny dots started to appear slowly, at first, but gradually the sky was filled with them. She leaned her head on Tim's shoulder. His sent intoxicating her more so than the cup of wine had. They continued to talk about everything. She couldn't take it anymore! She casually dropped her hand on his crotch. "If that doesn't work...." She thought.
"Lori, are you sure you want to do this?" Tim asked. She could see he was worried. And about her! Just the thought caused her to grow warm and fuzzy headed.
"I thought about it all night. My people are so few now, I have to help however I can. And I think this is best...." She trailed off looking up into his eyes. Oh how she suddenly wanted him to kiss her! What would it feel like? A steady thrumming started to come from her chest as she sat next to Tim and watched the Sun creep slowly disappear fully below the horizon. The thick blue-green grass was soft under the blanket he had brought along for this "picnic" as he had called it.
He let out a sigh and relaxed next to her, his body radiating heat. His hand rested along her side, and as the tension left his body he laid back on the blanket. So she did too, and the view was.... "So beautiful. There had always been too much light in Medrigal city where I grew up to see any." She whispered, not wanting to break the moment.
"I know what you mean. Im from Boston. Back on Earth. Anyways the first time I saw them I was fourteen and my father took us by shuttle to see his brother and stay with his family in Missouri for a few weeks. It made me want to join the Navy so I could see them all the time, but there's just something different about viewing them from atmo." He says softly.
She snuggled closer, maybe he'd take the hint and make a move. She'd watched some older videos on how humans courted each other but by Hal'Ick he was taking his time! Maybe he's.... She didn't finish the thought. He couldn't NOT be interested in her. She chastised herself for the ridiculous thought. Of course he was or why had he brought her all the way out here. On Farcee she would have been the one taking the lead! She moved her hand up to place on his broad chest and she could feel his heart pounding as hard as hers.
"But will you still be able to...?" He didn't say anymore as she suddenly rolled over to straddle him. Her face was so close to his she could feel his breath on her cheek as she started to undo his belt. "Oh....ohhhh...."
Lori couldn't wait anymore, her fertile time frame was running out fast and there was no telling if she could even find a substitute for fauxauall to allow her to mate with Tim or anyone else again.
No, she wouldn't let this opportunity pass her by.
Those mating videos had been many and varied for the human species.....and she had a few ideas herself...
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Private Jackson woke with a start. His vision slowly coming back into focus, everything was...off. Almost like he was looking through a pair of binoculars, through a telescope. He couldn't focus. The last thing he could remember was a fucking weird combination of blue humanoid female-ant like thing sticking him with something in his neck. And all his dumb ass could think as his body literally turned to mush was, "How can an alien have such a nice set of.." And then he saw the rest of her.
She had tried to run off with his big ass. She managed to drag him across a couple bulkheads like she had a purpose. She hadn't made it far. Private Simons had tackled her from a side corridor and he remembered seeing him get thrown against a bulkhead pretty hard before she had pounced on him too. He had tried to move but couldn't even seem to wiggle his fingers. He was literally a sack of jelly! He had remember hearing voices as she had walked back over to him. Then everything went dark. He vaguely remembered a burning sensation. That must of been while he was out.
"I think he's awake!" Exclaimed a tinkling female voice he knew belonged to an Elladrin. He silently thanked doc and the rest of his squad for plugging the hole in his ass and getting him to one of the "elves" as the Marines had been referring to them as since they first made peace with the U.S. Alliance. If they had gotten him to them, then he was going to be as good as new.
He tried to speak but he couldn't get more than a whisper out. His throat was raw!
"Easy, we just removed your feeding tube Private. Here's some water, drink it slowly." Said the tinkling voice. "Hold on, his optical implants don't seem to be working. Felix, reboot the system."
What the fuck! He choked on the water even though he was barely getting any. He couldn't get anything to work. What the hell had happened?!
He eventually stopped choking and as he finally tried again he managed to get out in a low raspy whisper, "What happened?"
"You survived. That's the important thing!" He heard, this time from a nasal male voice from the other side of the room. "I'm going to do a hard reset. This is not going to be pleasant Private."
He felt a jolt and a tingling sensation from his toes to the top of his head as he arched upwards against the padded restraints he found himself in.
As he caught his breath he could hear something clattering off to his right like chitin on metal and a high pitched whine. His vision focused and he could see the female Elladrin waving a light back and forth in front of his eyes as he blinked. "Any dark spots. Nod for yes." Tinkled her voice.
He shook his head and she continued. "Wiggle your toes?" As he did she continued, "Fingers, now a fist." He complied. "Ok Felix, remove the restraints if neurol link is confirmed and steady."
"Confirmed." Said the nasal male voice and he turned his head slowly to see a skinny redheaded male with glasses walking over reading the large silver tablet in his hand. "Cerebral implant has completed the neurol link with the nanites and has been accepted. Congratulations Private."
"For what?" He managed to get out. His voice a little better. His restraints retracted silently into the bed and he was able to work his knees and arms. Things were starting tofeel better anyways he thought. "What happened. How long until I can get back to my squad Dr's?"
"Well there's no other way of telling you Private..." Started the Elladrin before she was interrupted by Felix.
"I'm going to get that report started, excuse me." He stepped out of the room and as Jaxon sat up fully he could see a brite light on metal table covered in a glass bubble. Three monitors where hooked up to something he couldn't see that was inside it.
"Well, uhh, let's just...err, let me restart. Felix was right there really isn't any easy way to say this so here goes. You were injected with a neurotoxin cocktail and then had fertilized embryos placed inside you." She let out a resigned sigh. "Unfortunately it killed Private Simons before we fully realized what was happening. But we were able to....get you through it." She seemed to be grimacing. "Even with your nanites and more that we put in you besides, your going to have some scar's on your back. Thankfully we knew what to expect. And we managed to pull you through."
"What the fuck happened to me Dr? Give it to me straight. No bull shit." Jaxon said, growing a little angry.
She took three steps and slowly turned the table with a bubble around so he could see through a clear spot on the otherwise opaque glass bubble.
He liked to fell off the edge of the bed he sat on!
Inside the bubble was four little blue humanoid-ants.
And they all definitely looked somewhat like him.
"Congratulations Private...." Said the tinkling voice, and the worst part to him was there was no sarcasm in her voice at all.
He groaned. When the guys found out about this...

Cleaned up some rodent droppings in my back stairwell after I left a bag of old dog food out there. I wore a mask and swept them up, but now after reading about hantavirus I’m panicking a little. I live in urban Los Angeles so chances that they are deer mice droppings is low. I read that rat droppings are larger, and they were all about half an inch. I found one that I missed so I snapped this picture with the tape measurer for scale. They were all about this size - half an inch. Please calm my anxieties by telling me these were rat droppings and not mice. Thank you! :)

TLDR: I have a cat that's super sketchy and avoidant to us humans. I'm worried about his behaviors cause we have to move 4 states away soon and his behavior will be a deterant.
We have 3 cats. The middle one is the oddest ball of them all. So much it's concerning because we are selling the home and moving 20 hours away in the next 2 months.
He's named Junji and I feel like we've cursed him with that name cause of his strange behavior. His a Tuxedo, big boy. Not over weight but very long and bigger than our older cat, that's a tabby male.
We've had him for about a good two and a half years and he just now began to not immediately run/hide when we try to pass by him. And thats only if we avoid eye contact and speak outloud as we do so.
He especially runs and hides from my husband more often because of a incident of trying to get him to the vet a few weeks into us having him and my husband used a broom to push him into the cat crate from under the couch. He did NOT like that.
Here are the following things we've noticed about him that perplexes us:

• He's eyes are always dilated. He's almost always has that "deer in the headlights" look. Especially when we've startled him.
  
• He's constantly getting his claws stick on the Cat Tree and blankets. Any attempt to walk over and help sends him in a panic.
  
• He doesn't cover his poop in the litter boxes. We always know when he's just used the bathroom.
  
• He doesn't really groom himself either. If anything I see the other two licking his head, ears and behind. He'll purposely go up to them to initiate the cleaning.
  
• He's a lap cat but only when me and my husband are on the couch watching a show/movie or playing a game. He loves being pet and belly/paw rubs but if we try to sit up to adjust or self's or reach for something like a drink or remote he will bolt away like we've just bite him or something. I have to play the waiting game when he lays on me to sneak and get his claws cut or use cat cleaning wipes when he's relaxed too. It's like playing Russian Roulette, everytime.
  
• is it the definition of a scardy cat. Courage the dog, WHO?! I've watched him approach a stray peice of fur on the floor like it was ticking bomb. He's done the same to anything on the floor (even things I know he's seen before, like my shoes/socks by the wall or a empty food bowl) He'll jump at a cough or the glad air filter too.
  
• Lastly but most prominent is that he runs or backs away from us at times during the week, like he hasn't been living with us for the past 2, almost 3 years. We can literally sit and play with the feather and labor toy all day with him but the minutes we stop and try to reach down or pet him, he's under the couch for 30 minutes. Sometimes we won't see him until the next morning. Especially when we have a guest over or the front door bell gets biased or opened. The the biggest cats in the house and yet he manages to squeeze under the couch everyday. I know I shouldn't laugh but I can always hear him coming out from under it and once saw his legs hanging out like a pancake.
  

The only thing I can even think of for him being this way is that "he's not all there." I've watched him sit but the water fountain and just look at the water, not even drinking it. Every time I clean it and put it back out he approached it like man first discovering fire.
But he's so smart. He's the only cat that know how to get the treats out of the cat ball and treat try be bought. He's also learned how to unscrew top of the the slow-feeders we bought to keep my oldest cat from over eating.
This poor cat is an enigma. And I want to get his back to the vet but I can never approcah him, much less with a cat carrier now.
I'm even concerned he might have asthma. I've caught him under the couch wheezing after he did a marathon on playing with his cat siblings. It was scary and has happened twice. I wouldnt even know if we could give him treatment the way he's so flighty about us humans.
I'm so worried this across country move will stress him out so much into another wheezing attack. Moving across state with the first cat alone was a slight headache, now I have 3 cats and one I've never even tried to pick up, alone get into a car.
Does anyone have suggestions or experience with a sketchy cat like this or tips on traveling long distances with them?
P.s, We got him from a Cats/Kittens Only shelter and as a teenager and they said he spend majority of his kitten months Is quantine cause of being sickly. Aside fro. That first vet visit because of his sneezing fits, and the possible asthma, he hasn't shown any others health concerns.

Title: I am 31 years old, make $92,600 base, live in Northern Alberta, work in Forestry, and recently returned to work after a year off for maternity leave.

• All $ in CAD. $1 CAD to $0.73 US.
• I will call my spouse H.
• We aren’t looking to change spending habits too much, this was more a fun exercise to see what we spend and how we’re doing financially now that I am back to work.

HHI: $166,000
Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance: Total $76,431 (joint)

• My retirement accounts include a DCPP of $62,495, an RRSP of $8125, and a TFSA of $130
• H’s only has a spousal RRSP of $5631
• DCPP amount is from a 5% base contribution plus 2% matching from my employer, and 3% from me. I have had this account since 25 (when I started at the company) and have done the matching the entire time except during my maternity leave. They continued the 5% base while I was off on maternity leave, I had the option to get the matching as well but we couldn’t swing the cost while I was only on EI.
• RRSPs are mostly from excess benefits money. I have flex benefits and get an annual amount to “spend”. Before we had our kid there was about $500/month split going into our RRSPs. Now we do $42.30/month split ($21.15 for each). The spousal RRSP means I can claim this on my taxes, instead of him claiming on his.
• TFSAs will be our next focus once we’ve caught up on the annual bills from May to July - annual house insurance and two vehicle insurances. We haven’t been consistent with depositing into our TFSA’s, so we have $80K+ room in each.

Equity: The house is worth $400,000. We owe $303,000. Equity is $97,000.
Savings account balance: $450 in emergency savings (this is a priority starting in August to beef up), $2000 in property taxes sinking fund (to be spent by July)
Checking account balance: $5288.15 - we both got paid today so I will be moving money around and this number will be down a lot by the end of the day.
Credit card debt: $16,635

• $12,855 LOC. This is entirely from vehicles - before I went on maternity leave H sold his truck and we took a $9500 loss - pulled the money out of the LOC to pay off the lien. In April, we needed a different vehicle so we took $6500 out of the LOC to purchase a new-to-us car. We have yet to sell the vehicle we replaced, but when we do that money will either go onto LOC or into emergency savings. We’re aiming to get $3000 for the sale.
• $530 My CC. This is from not budgeting for two road trips I took in the last two weeks, plus some other overspending on random things.
• $3250 H CC. This is from overspending on groceries/gas and vehicle expenses.

Student loan debt: $0

• H went to trade school (8 weeks/year for 4 years) to become a journeyman mechanic
• I took a 2-year diploma program that cost $12,000 (including books and random spending). My parents saved up $20K for me to go to college/university, so I got about $8,000 in cash from my mum once I graduated as I didn’t use all of the savings for school.
• I lived with my mum while in college and H lived with roommates so his income went to rent/groceries/bills and I had basically no living expenses as my mum covered everything.
• When he went to trade school I was working, so I covered our bills while he was off (and he got EI and some grants during that time frame).

Other Info:

• H and I have had combined finances since we were 19 when we married. This has greatly changed our financial situation.
• I have access to an employee stock purchase plan - I have about $1400 in my company stocks with no plan for them at the moment.
• I got a salary top-up when I went on maternity leave. My employer covered my 1 week EI waiting period and topped up to 100% salary for 11 weeks. The rest of the time I was off I was getting $1158 biweekly from EI.
• We qualify for the Climate Action Incentive from the federal government. This is about $1200/year.
• We get CCB for our kid of $140.61/month. This will increase to $273.74/month come July as our annual income was less in 2023 compared to 2022.

Net Worth: $164,484
Section Two: Income
Income Progression (Post College/Trade School):

• H has been in his field for roughly 8 years and his starting salary was about $37,000 ($19/hr). Two years ago, he took a $20/hour pay cut moving from a journeyman mechanic ($45/hr) to a service advisor ($25/hr). He’s since gotten a $10/hr pay increase from switching employers and switching roles/getting a raise. H now makes $72,800 not including any overtime, which he does get fairly regularly.
• I've been working in my field for 8 years, and my starting salary was about $41,000. I have not changed careers, but I have changed employers. I got two raises when at my first job post-college from $20/hr (41,000) to $23/hr ($47,800) to $30/hr ($62,400). When I started at my current employer in 2018 I was offered $78,000 annually, plus moving benefits (approx $2000). I’ve consistently gotten a 2-5% raise every year (except this year - but I did get a raise 2 weeks before going on leave) or have gotten promoted and am now making $92,600 before bonuses. I get two bonuses a year, one is based on company performance and has been $0 to $10,000. My other bonus is performance-based and has been anywhere from $1200 to $4000. I got both bonuses while on maternity leave, the company performance one was cut in half based on hours worked. I also had to pay back EI because of my bonus income.

Main Job Monthly Take-Home:
Mine: $4768.90 (two paycheck months)

• My monthly deductions include ESPP $213.60, DCPP matching $213.60, social club $5, flex benefits $26, plus taxes $701.27, CPP $203.97 and EI $59.14. In September I usually have an increase in my monthly take home as my CPP/EI is maxed out, but this might not happen this year as my RTW date was the end of April.

H: $3687.28

• H gets an advance on the 15th of $1000 and at the end of the month gets the rest of his pay. His end-of-the-month pay has ranged from $2600 to $3900 already this year because of illness, time off and short months.
• H’s deductions include taxes $623.25, EI $78.23, CPP $263.07, and $61.10 of HCP, but we’re not 100% sure what the HCP is cause he declined his benefits. This reminds me he should talk to payroll and see what’s up with that. He hits his 1st anniversary in August so we’ll see if he ends up maxing out CPP/EI in September or so.

Side Gig Monthly Take-Home:

• I craft and go to some markets and things, but don’t make much after counting all my costs. If I didn’t sell things I made, I’d have no room for craft storage!
• I am working on a custom quilt that when finished will bring in $275.

Any Other Monthly Income Here:

• As said above, we qualify for the CAI and CCB. CCB is $140/month currently and CAI is $400 quarterly.
• I get $500/year from my benefits to spend wherever and however I want. So far this year I’ve spent it on clothes and hiking boots. I have $190 left.

Section Three: Expenses

• Mortgage: $950 bi-weekly - $1900/month on 2 pay period months.
• Property Taxes: Sinking fund of $185/biweekly (we pay this annually in June. It is $2250 this year, last year was $1950).
• Home Insurance: $1640 annually. We pay this in full in July. I expect it to increase this year, but I’m unsure how much.
• Retirement Contribution: In addition to pre-tax contributions above, starting in August, biweekly contributions will be $377 to H’s TFSA and $226 to mine. H’s is more as I have my DCPP and when H’s total is closer to even or maxed out, I’ll max out mine.
• Savings Contribution: $200/biweekly starting in July, we also will have a home maintenance fund and will save $425/month.
• Debt Payments: LOC minimum is $130/month. We pay anywhere from $200 to $2000/month. This will increase come August, and the LOC will be paid off in May 2025. Both CCs should be paid off by September.
• Donations: $20/month to the animal shelter, and $20/month to SOS, I also volunteer at least 5-15 hours a month to a local sports group and to the foundation my MIL set up after my BIL passed. I sit on the board for both non-profits. We also randomly donate money to other things, or go in on 50/50 raffles different nonprofits have.
• Utilities: In the winter $600/month, the summer around $300/month. Gas and electricity combined. I live somewhere where it hits -40C and +40C depending on the time of the year.
• Garbage Rental: $40/month, $120/month when we get it dumped - approximately every 4 months. We live on an acreage and instead of carting garbage bags to work every week or going to the dump, we rent a dumpster for the driveway and call to have it dumped when it's full.
• Septic System Inspection/Cleaning: $400/year
• Internet: $105/month for unlimited fibre optic.
• Cellphone: $70/month for H. I have a work phone at no charge.
• Subscriptions: Amazon Prime $99/year, Spotify $11.54/month, Patreon $10.50/month (Money Feels <3), PlayStation Plus $32/quarter, Kindle Unlimited $10/month, Crunchyroll $9.99/month ($60.95/month total)
• Pet expenses: Roughly $100/month for food and litter for our two cats. Plus $400/year for an annual checkup. This will go up some as they age and probably have to have dental cleanings done.
• Car Insurance/Registration: No payments we own both vehicles outright. Insurance is $1500/year for both vehicles, we pay this in May/July. H spends around $300/month on gas as we live 30 min out of town. I have a work truck so I have no commuting costs. Annually we spend $160 on registration. AMA is 262.50 annually in July.
• Paid Hobbies: Don’t have fixed costs for these right now as we cut them out while I was on maternity leave. In January though, we’ll each get $100-200/month for hobbies.
• Daycare: $900/month ($450 the 1st and 15th). This is slightly more expensive than some others we found and does not qualify for subsidy or grants, but L loves her day home and the caretaker is great.
• Life/Disability Insurance: $125/month for both of us. This is $500K each for life and $100K each for critical illness.
• Food: Roughly $800/month in groceries and I’m not sure about eating out. Since going back to work a month ago life has been hectic so we’re spending more than usual on eating out/convenient foods. H has ADHD and forgets his lunch at home or in the car every day which is a waste, so he buys lunch either at the nearby grocery store or restaurants. I sometimes pack leftovers and sometimes go get food. I’ve been trying to get freezer meals and leave them at the office so I don’t have to pack things back and forth and we haven’t been making meals with leftovers.
• L’s Baby Supplies: $75/month? We have to buy diapers and wipes monthly pretty much.
• House Cleaners: This is an expense we had before H took his pay cut, and we’ve been slowly putting it back in the budget on and off. Roughly $200/clean which happens sporadically as the house is a mess and there is no time for two working parents to clean with an 11-month-old butt scooting everywhere. She always manages to find floor snacks
• Family: We send my sister-in-law money on a fairly regular basis, anywhere from $20-$100. She always pays us back, but we treat this as a write-off in case she doesn’t.

—
Day 1 - Friday
2 am - L wakes up and I get her back down 3 times before 3 am. At 3, H takes her out of the room to burn some energy before they both come back to bed roughly an hour later. Thanks, L. Thank you, H I was getting pretty frustrated with our darling child.
6:30 am - The first alarm goes off and I grab L for a cuddle and morning nursing session. Once she’s done, she rolls around and tries to climb both of us to get our phones before we all get out of bed at 7. Today is a PJ movie day at daycare so we don’t bother dressing her only changing the diaper and then H and L are out the door by 7:15. I leave for work at about 7:45 after doing some putting around.
8:15 am - I get to work and my first stop is the coffee machine. I get back to my office after talking to a few coworkers about our social club golf event next weekend. I see that an industry-specific mentor cohort program is open for applications so I find my most recent resume (2021!) and do a major update before applying. This year one of my goals is to work on leadership skills and mentoring so why not apply?
9 am - I had a hard time finding a bra this morning so I go online and purchase two new ones from the local bra-tique for pickup. My total is $170 after my 10% discount for signing up for their email list. This money is coming from my $500 annual work benefit for whatever I want and I now have $20 left. I eat my breakfast at my desk - yoghurt and homemade granola today.
11 am - I have a webinar on caribou to attend so I log into Zoom and while it's loading, pull up our cashflow forecaster to get the payday finances done before the weekend. $1750 to H’s cc to cover some overspending/vehicle expenses, $100 to the LOC, $373.10 for utilities, and $450 for daycare. Total is $2673.10 I’m not sure if I should include the bills in the daily writeups, but ah well. Day 1 spending is off to a great start.
1 pm - I get the notification that my bras are ready for pickup. Woohoo! I get new bras for the weekend! I send $50 to H’s TFSA once I confirm the bank account is connected.
2:30 pm - Eating lunch now as breakfast was so late. Freezer butter chicken with broccoli. I only have 1 more freezer meal at work so I make a note to restock.
3:30 pm - I work on some cycle times for the log haul for this coming logging season. It takes me a few minutes to remember exactly what I’m doing and how to do it. I am super glad I came back to work at the end of April as I get 3-ish months of slow time to get back into the swing of things before work starts to pick up.
4 pm - I am struggling to do any more than format my Excel sheets so I figure it’s time to pack it up and head home.
4:30 pm - After picking up my bras, I go to Once Upon A Child for some cheap baby clothes. L is in between sizes and we somehow managed to misplace all her more summery sleepwear so I’ve been grabbing a few here and there. OUAC has a sale on, 5 sleepers for $15 so I grab 5 of those and 4 other onesies for summer. We have a family photoshoot on Canada Day and I’ve been hunting for something that’ll match L’s ribbon skirt. $30.45
5 pm - I stop at the store to check the mail and grab a 12-pack of mixed tequila smashes. $37.55
5:30 pm - H calls. He’s off work and headed to get L. I pull burgers and fries out of the freezer, start up the BBQ and get the air fryer going.
6:05 pm - H and L arrive home in perfect time as the burgers and fries just finished cooking. I have an open Pineapple Tequila Smash and I hand H one to drink with supper too. L also has a veggie pouch with the burgers and fries.
7:20 pm - L is in bed nursing to sleep after her bath while H preps episode 4 of Obi-Wan Kenobi for us to watch. We watched it when it was first coming out, but he saw the discs at Walmart last week and figured to grab them. We thought we hadn’t seen all the episodes, but so far we’re 3:3 so we might’ve seen them all.
7:40 pm - L is down and out and I sneak out of the bedroom. I start a load of laundry and find the two bras I couldn’t this morning and handwash them. I sit down with H and we watch some Obi-Wan Kenobi.
10 pm - I check my email and see one from a local photographer group I really like. I’ve done at least two shoots with all 3 of them separately before and they’ve now joined forces. I went to their open house yesterday and won 50% off a boudoir package in 2024. I’ve wanted to book in since they announced their group, so I go through their open spots and book for November. My initial deposit is $262.50.
10:30 pm - We finished the last 3 episodes and watched all previously except for the finale. Of course. It was pretty good, but near the end, I started to scroll on my phone more than pay attention to the show. I swap the laundry, shower and head to bed at 11 pm.
H’s spending Day 1: $7.54 for lunch, $267.58 on vehicle parts/oil change that we didn’t budget for. Normally we would’ve, but communication is kinda crappy atm, and I think that’s due to sleep deprivation.
Day 1 total: $775.62 spending + $50 to TFSA. Oof off to a spendy start for the pay period.
—
Day 2 - Saturday
2:40 am - L is awake again and not going back down. This time it’s my turn. It’s already been a not-great night, hopefully, this 2 am party time doesn't keep happening.
4 am - We go back to bed. Our internet is on autopay and the notification comes through for my credit card. $105
7:20 am - L is up for the day. I don’t want to get out of bed yet, so I cuddle H and L rolls around, tries to stand and almost deletes everything on my phone. Then she notices my boobs so it’s time for a quick nurse.
8 am - I run the coffee machine and get breakfast going. We’re having pancakes this morning. While they’re cooking I pop some milk in the frother to make a fancy coffee. TBD if I drink it while it’s still hot. I feed the cats their morning meal.
8:30 am - H gets up and I’m still cooking. He grabs a coffee and takes L into the living room so I don’t trip over her and the plastic container horde.
9:30 am - H plays some Baldurs Gate 3 and L watches while I sort through the laundry I did last night. I try to get dressed and none of my shorts fit anymore so off in the donation bag they go. It’ll be a summer of dresses I guess! I start another load of laundry.
9:50 am - L is ready for a nap. Just kidding she just wanted some boob instead. We go outside afterwards to get some morning sun. Hopefully, this will tire her out and she will go down for a nap later! She hasn’t been big on sleep since she was born and gets major FOMO so we have no semblance of a schedule on weekends.
10:45 am - I bring L back inside and change her into outfit #3 for the day. Her trike got rained on and she gets soaked when she sits in it. I switch the laundry over, start yet another load and then pass L to H so I can head to the store, fill the Jerry can with gas for the lawnmower and do the recycling. 20 L of gas is $32.78 and I grab two lime slushes for H and I ($5.19). It’s +20 already and gorgeous. Total $37.97
11:30 am - L is ready for a nap! By 11:50 she’s down and I head outside to mow some of the lawn. It’s usually a 4 hr job so I don’t think I’ll get it all done today.
1 pm - I head inside for lunch, we’re having tuna sandwiches. L napped for 20 min and I didn’t get more than half the lawn mowed. After lunch, we head into town to hang out with my friend K and her two kids. We met in college back in 2014 and have babies of a similar age so it’s always nice to go over and visit.
4:30 pm - We leave K’s house and I swing by Wendy’s for a cold coffee-type drink for the drive home. I try the chocolate frosty-cinno and it’s terrible. Should’ve just gone to Tim’s for an ice cap. $4.19
5:05 pm - L fell asleep on the drive home so I hang out in the car with the windows down for another 5-10 minutes before moving things inside. She wakes up and we head in. H picks a meal and starts making dinner. L is fussy and still tired so I nurse her and we hang out in the cool basement while H cooks. I sort through the laundry that finished off today.
6 pm - H is still cooking our dinner, I reheat leftover pasta for L. H runs her bath and I bath her. She’s still grumpy on and off so she’ll probably be going to bed right after this.
6:45 pm - H and I eat chicken wings and shrimp poppers. L has decided it’s not bedtime yet, I tried to put her down and she got a second wind instead.
9:30 pm - I work on the website for one of the non-profits I volunteer for once L goes to bed at 8. After I’m done, I head into the craft room and work on the custom rag quilt project. One row left to sew together, then to put the final 5 rows together, figure out my borders and start cutting all the edges! It’s not ‘due’ until mid-July but I’d rather get it done sooner and not have to rush. My SIL texts and asks to borrow $50 till Thursday, I send it over out of my spending.
11 pm - H and I both go to bed after some kitty snuggles
Day 2 total: $92.16 (not counting $105 for internet)
—
Day 3 - Sunday
7 am - L is awake and I nurse her a couple of times cause she can’t decide if she’s happy or not. It was a decent night, but she must still be tired from not napping much yesterday. It’s my day to sleep in so H takes her out of the room by 7:30.
9:30 am - I get up make some coffee and slowly start on breakfast
10:30 am - L and I are eating breakfast, I made scrambled eggs, fried up leftover sausage, tomato and she also has two crackers with cream cheese. H and I wrote up a grocery list before I sat down and he’s off to town to get groceries and fuel up the car before the work week starts. Usually, H and his best friend C have a grocery shopping bro-date every Sunday, but C and his family are out camping this weekend so H heads in alone.
11 am - L is ready for a nap. I put her down and fold her laundry and the house laundry, taking a few breaks to scroll Reddit or Facebook and drink more coffee.
12:30 pm - L woke up and is kinda grouchy so we have a dance party to elicit baby giggles. H gets back from shopping and we put the groceries away, they cost $374.03. This is actually cheaper than the last few times we did a stock up so that’s nice! Groceries include ground beef, frozen chicken, wings, fries, cucumber, tomatoes, grapes, bananas, yoghurt, frozen lunches, macaroni, Ichiban, burgers, buttermilk, perogies, frozen fruit, frozen veggies, gravy mix, hollandaise mix, and more. We’ve been buying more convenience foods lately, but I do have 3 suppers planned for the week. He also grabbed me a big coffee mug for $6. He got gas for $60.83, and once we unload the groceries, he runs to the store for bacon, 2 jars of our favourite cowboy candy (pickled sweetened jalapeños), chips and a Starbucks frappe drink for $41.93. I make some sandwiches for lunch for tomorrow so I don’t have to scramble in the morning.
1 pm - Lunch is Ichiban noodles for H and I and baby charcuterie for L - strawberries, grapes, ham, cheese, and cucumber. We head outside afterwards to enjoy the weather, L is so close to walking, she pulls herself up onto everything right now. She has an after-lunch snack of mown grass and dandelions.
3 pm - We’re back inside and H puts on Die Hart 2. L goes down for her second nap at 4:15 and we finish the movie. I wake L up at 5:45 so she doesn’t sleep too long. When she wakes up she makes a face identical to her dad’s and it’s hilarious.
7 pm - H is cooking dinner, we’re having eggs Benny and bacon for supper. I prep L’s diaper bag for tomorrow and we run it out to the car. I also put all my laundry away so the closet is ready for the week. H sits on the chair once we’re done dinner and both cats flock to him and spread themselves over his legs.
9:45 pm - I finish off piecing the quilt top and head downstairs to shower. L is getting tired too so as soon as I’m done we head to bed. H is not far behind us.
Daily 3 total: $482.79. This is pretty usual for a grocery shop day.
—
Day 4 - Monday
6:35 am - My alarm goes off. Can’t lay in bed today as I need to meet my coworkers at the office at 7:30 am. We’re doing a team bonding mountain hike and it’s a 2.5 hrs drive away. I grab a banana, toast a bagel, add cream cheese and I’m out the door before 7 after filling up the cats' food.
7:30 am - I get to the office, fill up a water bottle, make a coffee and grab a few things from my office. Almost everyone is there, and we leave at 7:45
9:45 am - We’re there! I’ve seen 2 moose, 1 mule deer, 1 elk and almost hit 2 caribou on the highway already today! We start up the trailhead at about 10 am
1:00 pm - This mountain is much steeper than anticipated. A coworker and I decide at about 300 metres to the top that we shouldn’t push it. The last km has been extremely steep and we’ve hit our max. The rest of the group has gone ahead and summitted. We eat our lunch with a great view and start the trek back down.
3:30 pm - We’re back at the trucks! 11.2 km round trip. We hit the road to head home and stop at Dairy Queen for a celebratory ice cream. I spend $4.92 on a medium dip cone.
6 pm - Back at the office. I call H and let him know I’m headed home now and he suggests chicken wings for supper. I’m down for anything as long as I don’t have to cook.
7 pm - We all eat dinner. L has some veggie pouch, chicken wings/nuggets and leftover pasta. I am almost too tired to eat. One cat keeps trying to get L’s nuggets so he gets in trouble and shooed out of the dining room.
8:15 pm - I try to put L to bed and she goes down for a bit but decides ultimately that it’s not actually time for bed.
8:40 pm - I go and have a hot, hot shower, my muscles are sore and tomorrow might not be fun. L and H party in the TV area, she’s pulling herself up onto everything and trying to crawl up the couch. Not sure where she got this energy from! One of our cats comes for some aggressive cuddles and pets and H puts his dirty t-shirt on the chair for him. Our cat loves dirty laundry it’s hilarious.
9:20 pm - Time for bed for everyone. Hope tonight is a good night and we all can get some rest.
Day 4 Total: $4.92 (this would have been covered by one of the superintendents but a few people got ahead of her in line so she couldn’t pay for us all). My card is also charged by the garbage disposal company for the dumpster ($40.43 - counted in the bills above).
H didn’t spend any money today.
—
Day 5 - Tuesday
7 am - The first alarm went off at 6:30, but we are all tired and don’t want to wake up. I nurse L for a bit then we get up at 7. I’m pretty sore this morning so I’m not moving too fast. Get her dressed and H and L leave by 7:10. H fed the cats this morning so I don’t have to.
7:30 am - I forgot to pay H’s other cc and it’s due in 4 days so I pay it off now - $93.80 (random Amazon purchases and my KU). I pull some chicken out of the freezer to defrost and make my breakfast of homemade granola, hemp hearts and yoghurt. I leave the house around 7:45 to head to work.
8:20 am - I get to the office and immediately get asked some questions about blocks we have slated for this Fall/Winter. I’m not 100% sure of the answer and have to double-check with my boss. I grab a coffee and chat with the head boss before my boss arrives. I clarify what I need and relay the info back to my coworkers.
9:30 am - I eat my breakfast while I scroll through online courses offered by my company. I got an email yesterday of one I’m supposed to take so I book into that.
11 am - I book H and myself massages, 2 each - one this month and one next month.
12:30 pm - I took a long time to eat breakfast so I’m not quite hungry yet. I grab my running shoes from the truck and take a slow walk on the elliptical to help my sore muscles. This morning hasn’t been too busy, but I’m having a hard time starting my next big task (cycle time calculations) so hopefully the slow walk helps some.
1:30 pm - I’m back at my desk and diving into cycle time calculations. H grabs KFC for lunch $24.12
2 pm - Lunch time, I’m having a leftover sandwich from yesterday, a grapefruit cup, grapes and strawberries. I also grab a chai with milk from the coffee machine. I eat while I plug away at the cycle times.
3:45 pm - I finish off one section of cycle times and my brain has had enough. I go fill my water bottle and chat with a few coworkers. At 4:15 pm someone comes by to sign a few cheques I asked for and I leave the office at 4:30 pm
4:40 pm - H grabbed buttermilk instead of heavy cream and I need it for supper tonight so I swing by the grocery store. Then, I head out of town to a colleague’s house to drop off one of the cheques. $4.95
5:15 pm - I check the mail, get home and start cooking. We’re having Skillet Dijon Chicken with Asparagus and Mushrooms for supper. I also make some macaroni for a side. H and L get home about 5:45 to the cats waiting at the door.
6:20 pm - Supper is served! It is delicious. L and H aren’t fans of the asparagus, but the chicken, macaroni and sauce are perfection! H also riggs up a tie to L’s water bottle so it doesn’t hit the ground every 30 seconds. We fed the cats at the same time and they’re not begging for food quite so much tonight.
6:50 pm - We’re finished supper, H cleans up and I bath L.
7:30 pm - H calls my/our best friend J via FaceTime and we chat with her and her daughter R for a few minutes. L tried to steal the phone and gets mad when we don’t let her. J’s daughter requests a morning call so I promise to call at 7 am. J doesn’t think R will be awake yet so we’ll see!
8 pm - L is tired and ready to go to sleep. I put her down, have a hot bath, throw in some epsom salts, and read a bit on my KU.
9:40 pm - Bedtime!
Day 5 Total: $112.17 (removed $10 for my KU - counted in subscriptions)
—
Day 6 - Wednesday
7 am - I nurse L, she had a weird wake-up last night so we’re tossing the idea of taking her into daycare today. I’ll probably take her in a bit later and H will take his truck so if I have to WFH for the afternoon I can. Try calling J and R and there is no response - I am not surprised.
7:45 am - L and I leave the house, she’s not coughing much and doesn’t have a fever or anything so she’s good to go to daycare today
8:15 am - I drop L off at daycare
8:30 am - I get to the office. I talk with a few coworkers and ask our admin if my new phone has been dropped off yet.
9 am - My new phone is here! Now to start the setup process, everything takes forever with all the authentication apps we need. I also go through all my iCloud photos and organize/save them to my OneDrive while the phone is getting set up.
12:30 pm - I think the phone is finally done. Now to eat some lunch, I’m having leftovers from 2 nights ago - chicken nuggets, strawberries, grapes and a Cherry Bubly.
1:30 pm - H goes to a food truck for lunch. $35.01. This includes the tip.
3 pm - I had some more phone set-up to do. Might be finished now? Get an email about the cats’ annual checkups and vaccinations so I book their appointments for August.
4 pm - SIL paid me back the $50, plus another $50 she’d borrowed earlier. (+$100) I work on the photo garland for L’s first birthday for a bit.
5 pm - I haven’t gotten much done today beyond setting up my phone. I leave the office and pick up L at 5:20. I talk to her day home provider for about 15 min about how she’s been doing, etc.
6 pm - We get home! H has cooked supper already, so as soon as we get in the door we sit down to eat. Supper tonight is perogies and garlic bread. L also has a veggie pouch. H tells me the old vehicle was sold, and the buyers are doing a payment plan. We will get $300/month for the next 10 months. A lump sum would be nice, but H’s coworkers will handle all the paperwork so it’s no more work for us.
6:45 pm - Time for a bath! H cleans up supper, cleans the litter boxes (we have 3) and starts some laundry while I take L and get her cleaned up.
7 pm - All finished in the bath. We head downstairs and hang out until L is ready for sleep. I mostly scroll my phone and H plays on his Rog Ally. L climbs the couch and me and scoots around on the floor hunting for different treasures.
8:40 pm - L is ready for bed. I put her down and read some more KU
10 pm - H and I head to bed. I washed and dried a baby quilt to bring to work in the morning for a coworker.
Day 6 Total: $35.01 for H’s lunch. I spend $0, and ‘make’ $100
—
Day 7 - Thursday
6:35 am - The first alarm goes off. It’s a new one on the phone and nice to wake up to! L doesn’t want to wake up and she grumbles and rolls around.
7 am - We all get out of bed. I get L dressed while H packs up what he needs for the day. I get her milk together and they’re out the door by 7:15
7:50 am - I leave the house. After H and L left, I did the dishes and packed up my stuff for the day. Made a smoothie for breakfast (yoghurt, flax seed, orange, banana, rhubarb jam, frozen berries, watermelon, cranberry juice and milk) and there’s lots left over so I pop that into the fridge for tomorrow. I need gas in the work truck, so I head there before going to the office. I have a fuel card so I don’t spend any $ on fuel.
8:30 am - Get to the office and it’s time to make a coffee. I have some things to get done before my webinar at 11 am.
9 am - I show the quilt to my coworker, she loves it and buys it! (+$100)
11 am - Oops. I didn’t get the login link earlier and don’t know who to contact to get it so no webinar for me. I scroll Reddit and my socials and work a bit more on my cycle times. I snack on some grapes and drink another coffee.
1 pm - Lunch time! I’m having leftover skillet Dijon chicken and macaroni. It is still delicious, that recipe is going into the rotation for sure! H goes to McDonalds for lunch and spends $35.66. He bought a coworker lunch as well, she was having a rough day.
2 pm - Chat with a few coworkers about different projects/things we need to think of for this next year.
3 pm - I have an afternoon pick-me-up snack of Brookside pomegranate-flavoured chocolate and a ginger ale.
4:30 pm - I’m tired and don’t feel like doing anything else. I leave the office and call H to see what we should do for supper. We decide on potstickers and veggies, I’ll start cooking when I get home. I stop and check the mail on my way home too.
5:45 pm - H and L arrive home. I take L into the spare room and we call my mum and grandma for a video chat. L rolls around the bed and shows off how she’s almost standing!
6:10 pm - We sit down to eat, L isn’t that interested in either the potstickers or veggies so we pull out some leftover macaroni and she goes to town on that.
7 pm - Bath time! H cleans up and does some more laundry. It just seems to never end.
7:30 pm - Bedtime for L. I read some of my book while I put her down.
8:30 pm - SIL texts again to borrow $50. I send it over out of my spending. I get all of the borders cut for the custom quilt.
9 pm - H has SING on so I sit down to watch it, he’s also playing his Rog Aloy and I’m reading some more of my book.
10 pm - We go to bed.
Day 7 Total: $35.66 for H’s lunch. I spend $50, and ‘make’ $100
—
Weekly Expenses:

• Food + Drink: 575.09
• Fun/Entertainment: $0
• Home + Health: $38.78 (includes gas for lawn mower)
• Clothes + Beauty: $200.45
• Transport/Vehicle Expenses: $328.41
• Other: $496.30 (CC payment, photoshoot, TFSA and $ to SIL)

Total Spending: $1639.03
Reflection:

• This was a more expensive week for sure. I don’t usually spend money on clothes and the photo shoot deposit was a random impulsive spend. The vehicle expenses were also a bit different, usually, they’re budgeted for but not this time.
• Honestly surprised we didn’t order dinner at least once this week - usually we do!
• Events-wise, it was a typical week except for the mountain hike, those are not part of my usual work day. This time of year is slow and mostly involves prep for the coming winter.
• This was a fun experiment to write! I did have to cut some things as my word count kept increasing and I didn’t want it to be too long - is this too long even still? Too much detail on baby routines?

Life as an animal in the wild is miserable. Even if you are a lion or something. Lions can’t even drink water in the pond without fearing a crocodile will come up and eat them.
And if you’re prey like gazelle or deer, you have an infinite food source, grass. But you’re 24/7 day job is avoiding being eaten alive by hyenas or bears or spending.
Don’t even get started on insects, or fish or rodents or other reptiles. Let alone water animals.
Even predators like lions or foxes barely lives for 5-15 years. Frankly, unless you’re a domesticated animals like a pet (if you’re a pet dog/cat/whatever, you won the life lottery: free food, housing, and care), being a zoo animal is awesome.
In a decent zoo, you’re protected from needing to eat or be eaten, as you have a food source from the zoo owners.
I’d much rather live in lifelong captivity, than live in a world where my literal life is threatened 24/7 mercilessly. Zoo animals are the luckiest animals. The wild is a place of no pride or pleasure, just horror. Zoo animals get to escape it, and no wonder they live longer.

This is a continuation of the first half of my March trip, where I hit up Kamakura, Yokohama, Tokyo, Hakuba, Takayama, Kanazawa, and Kyoto.
These last two weeks of my trip I was in Hiroshima, Miyajima, Okunoshima, Kyoto, Nozawaonsen, Fujikawaguchiko, and Tokyo.
The first half of my trip, I was working full time and barely sleeping. This second half, I had a lot more freedom.
Some things I did: fed some bunnies, watched a baseball game, attended an anime convention, waited a long time for donuts, wait through transport delays, wandered through a forest
A large portion of my trip was planned on the fly which was why I was able to make some seemingly nonsensical travel decisions. If I'd planned ahead of time, I wouldn't have missed out on certain in-demand experiences, for example, seeing a band I badly wanted to see, or returning to the Ghibli Museum to replace the kodama figure I'd smashed. However, one of the benefits of solo travel is the flexibility of doing whatever one wants, and I certainly did that.
On that note, most of the other people I saw throughout my trip were traveling with friends or significant others. There were plenty of occasions where I wished there was someone to share the experience with (the fact that I was still carrying a torch for someone the whole time didn't help).
In general, the hostels in Japan also seemed far less interested in promoting social activities, compared other countries I've visited. There were exceptions, like the one place that was run by a European guy. People on the streets also tended to do their own thing; I was approached by strangers twice during my trip, both times cos I was carrying a box from a very trendy donut shop.
This probably isn't Japan-specific, but one of the biggest lessons I learned was leave ample time for travel delays. I got caught by unforeseen circumstances and each time I wished I hadn't scheduled things so tightly. If hurrying between cities, I'd also take the train over the bus next time. It might cost a little more, but worth it just to avoid being stuck in traffic.
Expenses (gonna use USD):
Credit card $2802 / Cash $855
Total spent $3657
I charged my card as much as possible, both for the travel points and for fear of running out of cash. I arrived with almost $1k in bills and actually ended up with a bit left over
Lodging - $746 for 28 days, ranging from several $16/night hostels to a $52/night ryokan
Shopping - don't know total cos I used both card and cash, but my biggest expense was $217 electronic device from Don Quijote, followed by $49 at Uniqlo
Food - also don't know total, but most expensive meals were $70 and $35 for two tofu dinners, and $50 for wagyu lunch. The majority of my meals were <$10.
Other - notably $334 for one-week JR Pass and ~$200 for private lesson to level up snowboarding skills
Mon 3/18 - Hiroshima, Miyajima
Took off for Hiroshima on the shinkansen first thing in the morning. I was pleasantly surprised to by how much the JR Pass covered for this leg; I barely paid for any transportation costs the next few days. My pass covered the sightseeing bus that takes you from Hiroshima Station to a bunch of tourist locations (my hostel was right by one of them), the train and ferry rides to Miyajima, and my trains to Tadanoumi. IIRC all that was left was the 100yen Miyajima visitor tax and the ferry ride for Okunoshima. Score. Once again, Japan Travel by NAVITIME was super helpful for figuring out covered routes.
I got off the tourist bus at Peace Memorial Park and checked into my hostel, then immediately headed to a nearby okonomiyaki place (Henkutsuya Horikawa). Damn, that ooey gooey chewy flavour bomb seriously hit the spot. I wasn't expecting to be served right on the griddle where the food was being prepared.
After that, I walked around Peace Memorial Park, full of solemn tributes for everyone affected by the atomic bomb. The museum painted a very vivid picture of what transpired the morning of the bomb. It's hard for me to write about this. I'll just say people should know the human toll of war.
The park was built near the bomb had detonated; now everything is beautiful and serene, with only a few eerie vestiges of destruction like the Atomic Dome (kinda eerie at night).
I'd lingered a little longer than expected at the museum (it'd take hours to read through everything) and had to rush off to Miyajima. First things I noticed after getting off the ferry were the deer, so chill unlike the entitled ones I'd encountered in Nara. These, I like.
I spent some time walking through the shopping street, plenty of seafood, snacks, and souvenirs were available. Also diddle around Itsukushima Shrine a bit, waiting around for sunset and high tide. The view of the Great Torii was quite lovely.
Had some very cheap udon and egg sushi at Ueda, an adorable mom-and-pop restaurant near my hostel. The old lady there was just hustling to serve me; I wanted to hug her so bad. There was also a Dodgers game was on, and the camera kept cutting to Shohei Ohtani. The love for this guy here is real; I want to watch him play in person now.
Tues 3/19 - Okunoshima
Set off bright and early for a day trip to Rabbit Island for some eye bleach, and that was what I got, sorta. I'd bought some carrots and lettuce for feeding at the konbini beforehand, but you can buy bags of food pellets as well. The bunnies there were not shy at all; they come running out straight to you soon as they detect human presence, probably because they are so dependent on us for food. There were pans of presumably food and water around the island, which put my mind slightly more at ease.
Rabbits aren't all Rabbit Island is known for. It also used to be a secret island used for poison gas production, but maybe Poison Gas Island doesn't have the same appeal to it. There are still some creepy abandoned buildings and other traces of its martial past scattered around. I visited the poison gas museum, which was tiny but informative. Many of the plant workers suffered from ailments or straight up died here. There is now a resort where some of stuff took place.
Dark past aside, it was a nice quiet day of walking up and down trails. There are some decent views of the surrounding islands from the top of the hill.
Wed 3/20 - Tokyo
Well, today was a little unusual. About a week or so ago, I got the idea of seeing a baseball game in Japan. Was originally thinking the Hiroshima Toyo Carp but their schedule didn't work for me. Then I found out the historic Meiji Jingu Stadium, home of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, might get torn down soon, and I wished to see it before that happens. There was a home game today that fit my schedule. Also - I'd decided previously that I wanted to hit up another ski resort at some point for more riding, and my JR Pass was active this week. Yeah so that's how I found myself leaving Hiroshima for a pit stop in Tokyo, then finishing the day in Nozawaonsen.
Left hostel around 6am to catch the Shinkansen to Tokyo Station, where I found a locker to dump my bags. Quick tempura soba lunch at Tendon Tenya, then off to Meiji Jingu Stadium. I was 15 min late to the 1pm starting time, right as it was starting to rain.
It'd been a few years since I last saw a baseball game, and this turned out to be a great experience. The fans were super into it, singing and chanting every few minutes. They also did the Tokyo Ondo dance with their tiny ass umbrellas at the 7th inning and whenever the Swallows scored, so adorable. Concession fare was not bad either; I got udon and matcha parfait instead of hot dogs for a change, and it was funny to see the players hamming it up.
Home team won, a few rounds of Tokyo Ondo were sung, now it's back to Tokyo Station to take the Shinkansen toward Nozawaonsen. Now Japanese trains are renowned for their punctuality, with the average train delay less than one minute a year - well my train was two hours late to arrive. It was very windy and rainy that day, and a fallen tree had blocked the way or something. I arrived at my Iiyama stop way too late to catch the last bus and the taxi stand was empty. It was snowing hard outside and I thought I was SOL. Thankfully, a station attendant was able to call up a cab for me. What was supposed to be a $4 bus ride turned into a $50 cab ride but, shou ga nai. I was so so happy when I finally entered my room at Miyasakaya at 11pm and found a kotatsu and heater waiting for me.
Thu 3/21 - Nozawaonsen
I chose this place because it was a cute little village with both a ski resort and over a dozen public baths. Despite the travel mishaps the day before, I was glad I came. The village was very compact and it was only a short walk to the resort. I felt very fortunate to have fresh pow both times I went riding.
After that was over, I set off to explore the village a bit. Everything was beautiful and serene from the freshly fallen snow. There was Ogama, a hot spring used by locals as an open air kitchen for cooking food. Only villagers are allowed in, probably for good reason.
I tried one of the 13 free public bathhouses where, as is customary in Japan, the baths are gender-separated and everyone strips down completely. Big yikes. It seemed like elderly (locals) had no trouble wading right in whereas the younger generation, myself included, had to struggle a bit to acclimate to the high temperature of the water. I decided one bath was quite enough for me and went to enjoy a hearty dinner that included an onsen egg and the local pickled nozawana.
BTW, I understand the serious dangers that come with backcountry riding, but the dourness of this poster just sent me.
Fri 3/22 - Kyoto
Well, I ended up deciding I wanted to visit Fushimi Inari on this trip after all (but mostly I wanted an excuse to eat more tofu), so back to Kyoto I went. First stop was Nishiki Market which had a very wide delicious-looking assortment of food stands. The freshly fried tempura and freshly prepared seafood looked especially good; too bad I was full.
Then up some shopping streets, quick stop at Ippodo to buy some matcha which I forgot to do the week before. Afterwards, back to Kyoto Gyoen to scope out the tree situation. Well there was one big cherry blossom tree that was in partial bloom; nevertheless it was surrounded by people taking pictures (hey we take what we can get).
Hopped on the train to Fushimi Inari and got there in the late afternoon, still lots of people around. I started climbing the steps, stopping only for a city vista with the orange glow of sunset. The crowds were petering out, awesome. By the time I reached the top (~50 min later), it was already dark, peaceful, eerie almost. I'd never seen this place at night and was glad I came. (It's technically open 24/7 but there are warning signs about wild boars out at night.)
The rest of the night was kind of a bummer. I went back to the restaurant where I first had tofu dinner eight years ago. The only tofu set available included seafood which I was allergic to. I inquired about potential substitutions and there must've been some miscommunication; what I ended up getting was a plate of wagyu and rice, which was obviously quality but my heart was set on tofu. I was probably mostly mad at myself for the failed listening comprehension. Oh well, things don't always turn out when traveling.
Sat 3/23 - Tokyo
Back to Tokyo, where I would stay for much of the remainder of my trip. This was the last day of my JR Pass so no more stupid bouncing back and forth after today.
There were two concerts I'd really hoped to attend happening today, primarily King Gnu at Sapporo Dome. (They had an international ticket sale late last year, way before I'd decided on this trip.) Knowing how slim my chances are as a foreigner to get tickets, I hedged and bought a day pass to the AnimeJapan 2024 convention instead. It was only ~$16, way cheaper than any anime convention back home, a cost I would happily eat if I managed to score a concert ticket.
I was aiming to make it into the convention by 10:25 which alas did not happen. I had a chance to see the voice actor of my favourite anime in person but the wait to get in took too long and I missed the panel completely. Oh well... This was actually my first anime convention ever and it was certainly a interesting if not overstimulating experience. The place was completely packed with attendees, giant screens, loud noises. Many anime that I recognised, many that I did not. There was also a decent number of cosplayers; this one's my favourite. Oh yeah I also had the least-satisfying meal of my entire trip here (aside from non-tofu).
The rest of the day was less interesting - visited the life-size Unicorn Gundam, wandered into a random tulip festival nearby, checked sukiyaki off my list, arrived at my hostel in Chiyoda. I was pleased to have milked that JR Pass until the very end, an 11pm ride on the Yamanote line.
Sun 3/24 - Tokyo (Akihabara)
First stop of the day was the National Museum of Modern Art, which I ended up enjoying quite a bit. Modern art is sometimes known for being inscrutable, but this museum offered accompanying text for almost everything and I felt engaged the whole time. There was also a cherry blossom special exhibition going on, and they provided low benches to emulate the hanami experience, such a nice touch.
Next up was the Sumida Hokusai Museum, which only has replicas in its permanent exhibition but was still very informative about the many artistic periods of the man's life (he also went by over 30 names, depending on the period!) I especially liked this display on process behind the the Great Wave Over Kanagawa.
I'd originally gone to Asakusa for lunch at Ichiran around noon, but noped out after seeing the line out the door and around the corner. Returned right before 5pm, the queue was only 6 people long, score. All I can say is that it was GOOD to be back. My bowl was customised to perfection; it's still my favourite ramen chain.
After dinner, walked over to Akihabara to explore a bit. The streets were lined with a ridiculous number of girls trying to hand out flyers and get people into their maid cafes (also a couple of guys for butler cafes); I was just glad they were allowed to wear jackets and carry umbrellas standing in the cold. Already tried the maid cafe experience last time; being addressed as "your majesty" once was more than enough.
My hope was to locate a Gintama figure. I saw lots and lots of figures on display in various stores but sadly nothing for what I wanted. One of my stops was the eight-floor Mandarake complex. That place... was an experience. So much stuff, including a sorta creepy floor with customisable dolls. BTW, you might think all the hentai would be hidden at the top or something. Haha well, just don't take your kids into the fourth floor. On that same note, how DARE they defile Frieren like that!
I wandered around a bunch of other shops and saw and hundreds and hundreds of figurines, e.g. Gundam, One Piece, Spy X Family, all the shounens, etc. It was still fun to explore and see all the displays.
Mon 3/25 - Tokyo (Asakusa, Akihabara)
Today's schedule was relatively light as I'd planned to go hiking at Jimba today; however the rain kinda blew those plans away. Instead, I got some cardio in by running the Imperial Palace 5k loop. It was really pleasant, a lot of urban scenery to take in. Maybe a little pleasant - I stopped several times to snap pictures. If you go, make sure you run counterclockwise to not look like a knob!
Afterwards, I headed back to Asakusa to pay a visit Senso-ji. As expected, the place was completely packed, with good reason: every direction you turn, there was a pretty view. Honestly I didn't even mind the crowds; they added to the energy. This place is just so invigorating I would visit it every time I'm in town.
Also got matcha gelato at Suzukien right behind Senso-ji. The level 7 matcha really hit the spot, was totally worth the hype.
For dinner, I ventured back to Akihabara to try Japanese-style spaghetti at Spajiro. As a lover of noodle soup, it really hit the spot for me. Afterwards, picked up some stuff at Uniqlo and Donki (gotta love that duty-free shopping) before calling it a night.
Tues 3/27 - Tokyo (Shibuya, Shinjuku)
It poured all day, which was rather unfortunate. I had plans to visit the Tokyo National Museum, and it seemed that many other tourists also got the idea that being indoors was better than wandering around Ueno Park today. Cue the hourlong queue.
The contents of the museum were as expected: many cultural treasures that they were (rightfully) proud of. I particularly enjoyed the beautiful folding screens, kimonos, calligraphy, and woodblock prints (including actual Hokusai ones). There's also a nice garden, which I almost had all to myself bc only one or two other people wanted to step out in the pouring rain.
Now for the crummy part: I had reservations in the afternoon for Shibuya Sky, but visibility was terrible. The rooftop was also closed due to rain. It was hard to see far, but at least the immediate surroundings, e.g. the crossing, were still easy to see.
Before going up the tower, I'd passed by this place called "I'm donut ?" that had a ginormous line. After the tower, line was gone so I went in to check it out. There was literally one single donut left and they closed up shop after I bought it. As I stood outside enjoying my pleasantly not-too-sweet chocolate spelt donut with the texture of fluffy bread, several other people came by and stared hungrily at my treat. Awkward...
This evening I was headed to Shinjuku's Golden Gai for dinner at Ramen Nagi, the first place I'd ever eaten at in Japan. It was eight years ago, way past midnight, and this cramped second-story ramenya was the first place we saw open on the way to our lodging. We were flustered by having to order off a machine for the first time, but the anchovy broth and curly ribbons of noodles, unlike any ramen we'd eaten back home, promised only more surprising delights to come for our trip... Anyways. It was as cramped and delicious as I'd remembered. I was happy.
After dinner, wandered around Kabukicho a bit, wondering what was going on inside all these buildings of the red-light district. The place was already very loud and bright from all the signs around, but the reflections off shimmering wet streets made things seem doubly so.
Walked through Omoide Yokocho, where I found myself getting pulled into one of the stalls. Goddamnit, I just ate. I politely ordered two skewers and the bill, which includes a $3 yen table charge, came out to be around $7. Well I guess in a way it was worth it for the "unique" experience - the guy grilling the skewers was casually just reaching into the snack mix bin and smoking a cigarette at the same time, that's the kind of place this was.
Saw something on Google Maps about a giant Godzilla head, which took me to a nearby movie theatre. Instructions unclear, watched Dune: Part Two instead.
Wed 3/26 - Tokyo (Ginza), Koga
First half of today would be Ginza, followed by a day trip to Koga in Ibaraki Prefecture to visit a trio of octogenarians I'd befriended at a cave in Vietnam.
I like Ginza. Very pretty and walkable, obviously you don't actually have to buy anything.
First stop was Kimuraya, supposedly the oldest bakery in Japan, originator of anpan and whatever the hell this is. Munched on shrimp katsu sando at their cafe on 2F and watched the passersby below.
Next, walked around the Kabukiza Theatre and checked out the free little kabuki museum in the tower behind it. Kinda cool angle of the theatre too. Didn't have time this trip, but I remember catching part of a kabuki show was a pretty nice experience, plus you can just buy tickets for a single act and then peace out.
Lunch at Ginza Hachigou, the reason I came today. It took me two weeks to get that reservation, basically the same experience as fighting bots for concert tickets. I ordered the one with the foie gras ravioli, which at $14 would be my most expensive ramen this trip. And, it was really good. Each part of it was prepared well; I especially enjoyed the flavourful lightness of the consomme and the pillowy softness of the ravioli (honestly feels more like a wonton to me). You only get 30 min of seat time and I took it pretty slow to savour everything.
Walked around a bit more to take in the glimmering architecture. There was a giant mass of people outside the Michael Kors store; apparently some kpop idol was inside and fans were trying to catch a glimpse of her.
A place I ended up really liking was the free Shiseido Gallery, which provides solo exhibition space for various artists. When I went, the featured artist was Zai Nomura, whose work really spoke to me. There was one interactive piece that invited visitors to submit their own photographs, which I gladly did.
Mid-afternoon, I hopped on the train to Koga to see my cave buddies. It was an hour and a half ride, and they picked me from the station to go to the local park. There was a peach blossom festival going on, with orchards of mostly Barbie-pink fluff as far as the eye could see. We took a lovely sunset stroll at the park, then headed off to a nice Japanese restaurant. I had input my order and gone to the restroom, when they decided that ordering off a tablet was too confusing and we should go somewhere else. (Like many of the elderly I'd encountered here, they are healthy and spry, but still utterly befuddled by technology.) Instead we went to a Chinese restaurant and I must say, the Chinese food I've tried in Japan has continued to disappoint me; at least the company did not. It was also nice hanging out in an average, non-touristy city for a change.
Thu 3/28 - Tokyo (Shibuya)
No real plans today other than wandering around Shibuya and eating. With only a few days left on my trip, this was gonna be my lazy weekender foodie day. Skip if you don't want to read me yammering on about food.
Took a stroll through Nakameguro to catch some cherry blossoms. The trees lining the streets were indeed coming along quite well, but the ones along the river were still barren. Everyone's been waiting expectantly but the recent cold snap delayed the blooms by a week.
Next up was a visit to the Kyu Asakura House, a well-preserved local politician's estate from the early 1900s where they absolutely do not want you touching anything. It really was a nice home that takes you back in time, even if barren of furniture - and the garden was even nicer.
Realising the house was only a 6 min away from the Shibuya I'm donut ?, I returned, again to a long orderly line (Japanese people really do not mind their queues). So I figured, already tried one donut of theirs that was good, why not see if the rest were worth the hype?
55 minutes later... I didn't notice it last time, but this particular branch was like an atelier of donuts; everything was arranged in such a beautiful, bougie fashion. And there were dozens of interesting flavours too! I picked out six and decided to save worrying about how to eat them all for later.
Next stop: Nanaya. The intense matcha and black sesame gelato I had at Suzukien was so enjoyable I decided to get it again, at Nanaya. (The 7 levels of matcha gelato was a collab between the two.) So good, made me wish there were a level 8 or 9...
At this point, I figured I should get some real food in my belly before I fill it up completely with sweets. Aoyama Flower Market Tea House, which charmed the hell out of me a few weeks ago, was nearby so I went back for an actual meal. The flower arrangements for the place had changed, but my omurice lunch was as aesthetically pleasing and delicious as expected.
Next up was Latte Art Mania that was recommended to me by a barista I'd met at the hostels. Their deal is that they specialise in latte art (duh) and their drinks are pitch black (charcoal, most likely). Apparently I got the same design as my friend, a swan, but the drink itself was very good and it tripped me out to see my matcha latte the colour of tar.
Rest of the day was just wandering around Shibuya, lots of big brand stores, lots of trendy boutiques, lots of people to see. Walked through Harajuku, which was not as busy as I'd remembered, maybe bc it was late afternoon.
I saw a sign for Harry Harajuku hedgehog cafe that included pictures of otters, some of my favourite animals, so I went upstairs to it for a peek. There were indeed otters outside, but most of them were running in circles restlessly in small pens. It was a little unnerving for me and I decided not to enter.
Next up, Shibuya PARCO, which had Pokemon Center, Nintendo Store, Jump Shop, Capcom Store, etc all on the same floor. It was, expectedly, crowded as hell, so I didn't stay too long. It was cool to see full-size statues of Mewtwo, Luffy, Link, and others though.
Took another obligatory Shibuya Crossing video (this time from the Mark City bridge) and decided I was done with crowds for the day. It was surprising to see how uncongested everything was even just 200m away from the crossing.
Tried to walk into Tofu Cuisine Sorano for you-know-what, but they were sold out for the night, four hours before closing. :( Instead I settled for a hearty plate of napolitan at Spaghetti no Pancho, which I doused in Kewpie mayo and parmesan until I felt bad about myself. And then I got to work on the donuts, which turned out to be very much worth the hype.
Fri 3/29 - Tokyo (Ginza, Shinjuku), Fujikawaguchiko
I returned to Shiseido Gallery in Ginza. As previously mentioned, Zai Nomura's exhibit had an interactive portion, which invited users to submit photographs of the deceased to be "printed" into a tank of water at a scheduled time. Hard to explain. My grandmother had passed the month before and it was a real cathartic experience for me.
Before leaving, I stopped at Ginza Ginger for this exquisite bowl of shaved ice. It was a seasonal sakura theme, delicate in flavour and varied in texture, a beautiful treat. The hot strawberry ginger drink was an excellent accompaniment as well.
Speaking of sakura, more were finally getting into bloom in Tokyo so it was time to visit Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. The park itself was pretty vast and there were a lot of people, mostly crowded under the clusters of blooming sakura. I only had an hour, which was enough to see plenty of trees, but had to skip revisiting the Garden of Words pavilion.
I was on a tight schedule today. I had to catch my bus to Fujikawaguchiko and make it to my hostel by 8pm to check in. Based on the bus schedule, I should've made it on time, but alas traffic conditions prevented that from happening; I got off at 8:15 and reception was closed. This was a sleepy resort town with dark streets, and I legit started worrying having to find a hotel way out of budget, if any were even open, or the safety and legality of sleeping outside.
I wandered into an izakaya at the bus station that was open to ask for help and someone said they would call around for me. I sat around awkwardly for half an hour with my luggage before realising I'd only eaten a donut all afternoon, so what a pleasant surprise it was to find this place had tofu stew and horse sashimi, my two comforts, on the menu.
At around 9:30, the employee returned and said he found an available place ~2km away if I'd be willing to sleep at a hostel. Uh, are you kidding me??? I quickly agreed and he made arrangements for me. Thank you, tenin-san from Uotami Fujisan Station, for saving the day!
I walked 20 min the dark to get to this place and not a single car passed by. At $35, it'd be one of my more expensive lodgings this trip (and eating the cost of the original hostel) but who cares right now. I arrived at Cabin & Lounge Highland Station Inn and wow the place was way nicer than I'd thought, more of an upscale capsule hotel than a hostel. Spacious capsules with lots of lighting and charging options, huge lockers, the whole place was immaculately clean, vending machines, laundry machines, plenty of showers with soaps, lotions, dryers, etc. I slept very soundly that night (sheer relief may have also factored in here).
Sun 3/30 - Fujikawaguchiko
First stop of the day was the iconic Chureito Pagoda at Arakurayama Sengen Park. The earlier to go the better - I arrived around 7:30am and a few dozen people were already up there, plus I was kinda flushed after climbing the 400 stairs in the sun.
I realised that my trip was nearing its end and there was still nary a shred of evidence (screenshot of drained bank account maybe?) that I was in Japan. So, a photo here would have to do. Mt. Fuji - check, pagoda - check, cherry blossom - still in hiding. Eh, 2/3 ain't bad.
I hadn't noticed in the dark of night, but Mt. Fuji was so close by, casually looming over everything; just face the right direction and there it was, in your face. Pretty neat to experience.
Checked out of the capsule hostel and made it to Kawaguchiko Station to dump my luggage. It was a total zoo there and all the lockers were already occupied. I kept walking a few buildings down and found plenty of vacant lockers across the street from the 7-Eleven.
After securing bags, I went for lunch at the popular Hotou Fudo across the street from the station. Ordered the local specialty hoto miso noodle soup and horse sashimi, both of which I loved. It was a hearty and delicious meal.
Ambled along Lake Kawaguchi to where the cherry blossom festival was supposed to take place this weekend; however because the trees were still stubbornly refusing to blossom, there were barely any people around. I felt kinda bad for the people with booths out. It was a pleasant stroll along the lake but in all honesty, I wish I'd spent the day at Fuji-Q Highland amusement park.
Visited the Kawaguchi Asame Shrine, dedicated to the goddess of Mt. Fuji. This place is remarkable for having seven tall, healthy cedar trees clustered closely together, each one named and over 1,200 years old.
Went back to station to grab my bags and got picked up by the kind owner of my next hostel, Michikusa-ya. This place had a very lovely window seat.
Sun 3/31 - Fujikawaguchiko, Tokyo
Last full day in Japan!
There's this shrine on the lake called Rokkakudo that can only be accessed when the water level is low; other times it's on an islet. The inside of the shrine is bare but being able to get to the place was kinda cool on its own.
The majority of the day would be spent in Aokigahara aka Sea of Trees aka Suicide Forest. I was in a weird state of mind when I decided on this for the end of my trip. I had the two-day bus pass that gave unlimited rides on the red, blue, and green sightseeing buses. It's purchasable at Kawaguchiko Station or online, and is worth it for anyone making multiple stops.
I took the bus to the Bat Cave, closest stop to the forest entrance. There was an information center that naturally had three rooms full of Batman posters.
The forest really lived up to its name; the trails were clearly marked, but I did feel at numerous points as if I was standing amidst dense, undulating waves of trees. The forest floor is composed of impenetrable volcanic rock; thus most of the tree roots are splayed across the ground as tripping hazards. Though vast, there were plenty of exits to main roads or rest stops. I didn't think I'd meet a toilet I wouldn't like in Japan, but I was wrong.
At some point I decided that was enough forest and hopped on the sightseeing bus to the Narusawa Ice Cave. It was exactly as the name implied, a cave that naturally contained ice. I'd say it was borderline worth the price of admission: a cool phenomenon but you're also in and out in under ten minutes. I skipped the wind cave, which I think is similar.
With 24 hours left in Japan, it was time to head back to Kawaguchiko Station so I could catch the bus back to Tokyo and squeeze in last-minute activities. In hindsight, I should've taken the train. Just as the bus had taken longer to arrive than expected, it was stuck in traffic returning to Tokyo as well - this time delayed by three hours :/
I decided to spend my evening at Rikugien Gardens, which was specially lit up at night for sakura season. It was quite lovely and peaceful, in spite of the crowds, in spite of cherry blossoms not yet being in full bloom.
Final dinner was the familiar comfort of Marugame's nikutama bukkake udon, piled high with scallion and tempura bits. Also threw in vegetable kakiage and burdock root tempura since we don't have those items back home.
Watched the trains ride off into the night as I walked back to my hostel. Love you, Yamanote Line <3
Mon 4/1 - Tokyo
My flight was a little past 2pm but I wasn't quite ready to be done yet. Walked over to Ueno Park at 8am, where the trees were finally teasing pink and white cotton candy splendour. It wasn't very crowded yet since all the food stands wouldn't be open for another hour or so, but a bunch of people were already camping out their hanami picnic spots. I would've killed for a few more days...
I enjoyed Rikugien so much at night that I wanted to take the opportunity see it during the day as well. It was a peaceful stroll through a well-maintained garden; barely even register the dead grass anymore.
And with that, it was off to Narita. I wanted to give Ippudo a second chance and tried the akamaru ramen this time - much better flavour, and the chashu was perfection. After that, just hitting up the souvenir shops and making one final konbini run for my airplane "lunch". (Everything was fantastic except for the weird-tasting grapefruit gummies.) Also shoutout to Shiroi Koibito, the biscuits have a delightful buttery texture and they pack a good number into the boxes.
And that's the end of this trip. I didn't really want to go on it but I'm glad I ultimately went. Japan just has this certain charm makes you temporarily forget your troubles because you're so filled with wonder by what you're experiencing. Will probably return much sooner next time, to see the autumn leaves, and/or eat my way through Hokkaido and make use of pass at Niseko. Or go back to Koyasan, still a magical place for me. So many possibilities.
Anyways, that's it. Sorry it got kinda long. Thanks for reading, if you got this far.
Edit: fixed some errors and added missing photos

Hi, this story was deleted because I was told it was incomplete. I would love any help on how to fix that. This is a part to a series. Also, any other thoughts would be great as well.
Trigger Warning - >! child abuse !<
I present these journals to you as a warning. There are churches that are indistinguishable from your Christian churches. Well, until you get to the inner circle. They pray to neither Yahweh nor Jesus even though they say they do. They pray to someone whose name I can never write. A god who loves to make himself known but because of forces even beyond him it is quite difficult for him to do so. A god who can give those he loves whatever he wants but only those he loves.
This isn’t a conspiracy of how elites secretly serve him or how he sits in the background dictating every move. This is an account of how he’s ruined my life.
Forgive my arrogance in the following journal entries; pride before the fall and all that.
Welcome, losers.
Today’s a big day for me and you. For you, this is the start of how you get everything you want in life by reading my memoirs. And for me, this is the day I start my first and hopefully last romantic relationship with a certain beautiful girl named Kay McKenzie. I won’t go into too much detail about her because I’m sure you’ve heard of her because I’m sure by the time you read this I’ll be famous and so will she ( she’ll be married to me, duh).
Anyway, here’s the most important thing for you to know about the universe. This will change your life and make my memoir sell out. Read this slowly. Come close. I’ll whisper this to you. The first commandment is the most overlooked; you shall have no other gods before me. It implies there are other gods and oh, boy does he love proving he’s real. I’m not a fan of Him, for reasons you’ll learn later, but you might be. There are two ways we know with one hundred percent certainty he’s real.
So, this one’s more like a party trick. If we try to say our god's name on camera something will happen and the name is never heard. This can be as simple as the camera losing audio for one second or a deer wailing like it’s been stabbed in the background to cover up the sound. I’ve heard both. If we try to write it we get similar effects; laptops shut down, ink spills, or the pencil lead splits and leaps right into the eye of the writer. I’ve seen it all.
Now, here’s what he does that’s beyond a party trick. He’s what I ( to the anger of my friends) call a coupon honoring god. That means if you believe Yahweh or whoever did a miracle -any miracle- and go into one of my god’s temples and tell him you have faith that Yahweh did it and state that you have faith that he can do the same, he’ll do it just like that. You can be healed from cancer, legs growing back, and people being raised from the dead. I’ve seen it all.
Where are these churches you ask? Everywhere really. You wouldn’t spot a difference on the outside or inside on an average Sunday service. Only once you reach the inner circle is the true nature of the church revealed to you. There are some megachurches, mid-sized churches, and struggling small churches. The small churches believe they are small because they teach the true Word and thus attract fewer people and they disdain the bigger churches. The big churches don’t think about the small churches until they need to give them money because they’re dying. I’ll let you decide who’s the better church. I know many of you are asking why would a church ever be poor if you could simply ask god for whatever you want. Well, we’ll get to that later.
I’ll give you a list of churches in the back of this book and you can either attend them and ask god for whatever or start a new holy war. Not my problem. I don’t care either way as long as you paid for this book which pays for my retirement.
Now let me tell you about my god and my girl because they’re intertwined in this religion of mine.
When I was thirteen, about four years ago, we had a special ceremony with our youth group. All of our youth group were driven by van to one of the temples. The churches are easy to find but the temples -where the real power is- they’re hard to find. This one was out in a cornfield, isolated and alone. It was not a grand thing and was closer in appearance to a shack in the woods than a grand cathedral.
We exited the bus to go to the temple in a silent single file line; talking without permission was an offense that resulted in physical punishment. We shivered in the rough wind and the cold drizzle of rain. Most of us kept our heads down to avoid the gaze of the high cornstalks. Silence was demanded but fear was allowed so our single-file scurried and shook all the way to the temple.
“Be seated,” Sharon our youth group leader told us and went away to who knows where. We did as we were commanded. She did not tell us to be silent but we understood.
The wind beat on the tinted windows as if it was demanding to come in. It shook the whole poorly made temple. The red carpet that lined the auditorium danced in front of my eyes. If we looked at it too long we would swear it was not solid, but a thick liquid, too thick for blood. The wooden pews groaned at any movement we would dare make. Many a kid has been beaten because their bench groaned too loud.
So we sat in corpse-like silence and forced stillness that made my heart race around my chest until Sharon finally returned.
Sharon came from the back of the sanctuary and held the hand of some kid a couple of years younger than us, maybe nine. I did not like Sharon. Everything about her screamed fake and uptight. Her static platinum hair and pink nails were too fake. Her clothes were tight and even as a child, I wondered why she dressed like that to teach youth group. I’ve seen the average youth group leader you guys have for church and no she did not look like that. I’m not sure why she wanted to be a youth group leader. I don’t even think she liked kids. Oh, well maybe that’s why. You’ll see what I mean.
Anyway, Sharon escorted the small child between the two pews where we sat. As she walked in, the benches quieted their groans and the wind eased its assault against the door to more of a polite and creepy knock. The carpet still looked swimmable.
“Today, we get to feed god,” Sharon said and smiled with a perky demeanor foreign to her. We all shifted in our seats and tried not to appear afraid. We forgot food. How could we feed our god without food? We forgot to bring food and this would make god mad, our parents mad, and Sharon mad. Most of us weren’t stupid, so we knew not to admit our flaws. Instead, we spoke to each other in hand signals and concerned looks to determine if anyone brought any food we could split. No one was stupid enough to admit we forgot to bring food.
Except this one girl in the front row who audibly yelped. We all turned to her.
“Mrs. Sharon,” the girl said. “Sorry, I mean Ms.” the girl corrected mid-stutter. She was shivering maybe out of nerves and maybe out of fear or maybe she was still recovering from the elements outside.
Ms. Sharon’s smile was as hard as stone. She hated being reminded she was unmarried.
Honestly, I think the girl was too oblivious to realize it. She went on stammering all the way through. Her hands moved up and down as she spoke like the most frazzled symphony conductor ever. “I’m sorry I forgot to bring food. I will do better next time. I always write stuff like this in my planner and I must have forgotten this time. I don’t normally do this. You know I’m a good student.”
“Ms. McKenzie,” Sharon said, stone-smile unbent. “I didn’t tell you to bring food because I have it.”
A great fire leaped from the altar at the end of the hall. The altar of our god stood about nine feet tall. He had the head of a bull, the sculpted arms of an Olympian, and a furnace that served as a stomach and that furnace roared now. We all sat in our seats and our eyes avoided the fire. You’ve probably never been in the presence of real supernatural power.
You feel the need to hide from it and are haunted by an evil insignificance. Maybe you’ve felt insignificant looking at stars. It dawns on you that you are small compared to the universe but I bet you embraced that, I bet it made you want to see all there was of life. I bet you took risks. I bet you traveled.
Well, I call this evil insignificance because it does the opposite. This power made me want to end life’s search. There was too much power and too many things that were beyond me. I wanted to stay in this seat hidden and scared and never have to face the uncertainty of life again. My heart fled, my head danced, and my mouth went dry. We were supposed to be silent but I heard myself panting.
Sharon did not mind it. She walked forward. Her heels did not clack against the carpet but instead made a sploshing sound as if she walked on a puddle. She dragged the kid behind her.
“Oh no, no, no,” I thought but didn’t dare say. The kid was the food. I know the kid was drugged. He had to be. Anyone with any survival instincts would have ran from her. She strode forward with confidence. Perhaps, this is why she wanted to work with kids. Perhaps this was her reward. She got to feel all of our god’s presence and not want to shrivel away like we wanted to.
All I could think was, ‘No, no, no,’ the closer they got. I didn’t want to watch this but I didn’t want to be next. So, I had to sit there and I was supposed to keep my eyes open but I couldn’t manage that.
I’m sorry I’m a coward but I covered my eyes. It didn’t feel right to see. That wasn’t enough though. My eyes couldn’t close tight enough, bright orange light crept in them. I squeezed with every muscle in my body and they couldn’t go tighter. Pain swarmed in the middle of my head because of the effort. Then came his screams once he was in the fire.
He was so confused. I heard a ‘what’ in there and so many cries for help. I opened my eyes to see if she would. She kicked him with her heel and he was pushed back into the flames. Then she laughed. Then they all laughed. And I felt sick because I didn’t know what was funny.
I didn’t know the kid which meant he wasn’t part of the inner circle of the church. So, we were told not to care about him or his safety. And that hurt me, for the past few months, I was having physical aches of pain at what I witnessed we did to unbelievers. It created a deep numbness within me for all things except me. How could I love my god or my people who would do such a thing?
The other kids did not feel this way. I can’t blame them I guess, it worked out for them. They laughed and laughed and made fun of how he wiggled in the flames. They marveled at how you could see his skeleton. They mocked how loud he got and they mocked his eventual silence.
And then the flame went out. And there was quiet.
Except for one person’s sniffles. Sniffles that soon grew into tears. Something that was frowned upon. Why should we pity something that was our god’s will?
The nervous girl from the front cried. She viciously wiped away tears from her face because she knew her tears were heinous, her empathy evil. She understood her own punishment would be coming. The other kids stared at her. That’s what I hated the most. They didn’t have the shame to turn away from her. No, they stared because they genuinely could not understand why she was crying. Or they had the sick desire to enjoy her upcoming punishment.
The girl could have saved herself from this punishment she maybe could have avoided it if she pretended that her tears were about anything else. But she kept saying; “I’m sorry. I don’t mean… it’s just they were so young.”
As Sharon walked now the world felt the weight of her steps. I felt it again. Again, I had to be a hopeless, spectator to an ugly-stomach turning spectacle. Sharon’s heels clacked against the ground resolute to deliver a punishment.
That girl was Kay McKenzie and that’s the moment I knew I loved her. I grew numb because of this world we lived in. She didn’t. I fell in love with the girl because she cared even when she wasn’t supposed to.
Sharon delivered her punishment with malice. A swift smack to the face. You all hide your punishments on parts of the body that could be hidden. Our leaders punish us on our faces so we can be shamed. Sharon's mission was not to stop until Kay’s face was swollen and purple and Kay’s tears ceased.
Now I had never done this and I don’t think I could do it again but I made myself cry to get Sharon’s attention off of Kay. A loud wail. So, Sharon had to click-clack her heels to me, smack me once, and then go back to Kay and keep going. Which to me is funny in a way. If you don’t laugh you cry right? Eventually, Sharon grew too tired and none of our faces became purple, just red.
Every strike from Sharon was worth it because Kay and I became friends after. She is a small girl and her two front teeth are big, like mine. And she talks too much ( in the opinion of everyone but me) and they say the same about me. And she gets depressed sometimes but won’t tell anybody because (like me) that’s not her role in life. We’re here to make people laugh and we would never burden anyone else with what makes us sad.
Like me she has a hard time expressing herself to people she’s not close to. Which is the saddest of tragedies for them and my saving grace because if she did they’d be hopelessly in love with her like me.
That is the wonderful heart of Kay McKenzie. The girl I will start dating tomorrow and then marry within the year. That’s her that’s the girl I’d go to Hell for. We will leave this god together and I’ll give her a life of peace where her empathy won’t be punished.