Funny to see how entitled people gets awkward when you tell them what they wanted to hear. 🤣
Story time:
The usual scenario in the pharmacy. Long line, phones ringing, short staffed. A sht show. And here comes this angry lady picking up her meds. Yelling how upset she was that we didn't text her when her meds are ready and how hard it is to get a hold of us. Blah blah... and I just look at her, I smiled and said: "I know right?! Its ridiculous. You should do us a favor and call the home office and complain. Tell them that no one answer the phones and there is a long line with only 2 people helping them. Maybe they'll listen you and find a solution."
The look on her face. PRICELESS.

The so-called “troubles” in Northern Ireland never go away, you know. Shelves of books continue to be published. There is a sizeable stand at WHSmith in Belfast airport dedicated to the latest crop. Film-makers are still drawn to the subject. One of the most recent, Baltimore, related (poorly) the story of the 1974 theft of priceless paintings orchestrated on behalf of the IRA by Rose Dugdale. And television programme-makers often return to the conflict. At each end of March 2024, for example, the BBC screened two very different documentaries that dealt with its earliest phase. The first was a 13-minute segment in the third part of a series, How the BBC Began. The second, The Secret Army, was a 90-minute film about a film, concerning a “disappeared” documentary about the IRA made in 1972 by an American academic.
It would have been of far greater value if the interrogation of the BBC’s role in Northern Ireland had been given a solo 90-minute slot. As for the second, well, let’s just say half an hour would have been long enough. But both, in their very different ways, reminded us that truth is always a moving target. While retelling a history we know well – or think we know well – they underlined the overwhelming importance of propaganda. In war, and let’s not haggle over that description of what took place for 30 years on the streets of Belfast and Derry, the fabrication assumes as great a role, arguably a greater one, than the reality. As three of the BBC’s former luminary staff made abundantly clear, the story they were required to tell did not come close to fulfilling the stated aim of Britain’s public service broadcaster to present impartial information to its listeners and viewers. Each of them admitted they were prevented from telling what they knew to be the truth.
For the record, here’s what they said. First up, Sir Paul Fox, controller of BBC1 for six years from 1967: “In a way, it was as difficult to film in Northern Ireland as it was to film in the Soviet Union … stuff was censored, there’s no question about it, by the hierarchy in Northern Ireland. I suppose it’s worth saying there were bloody Protestants who were running the BBC in those days and had a grip on it … everything that was filmed by Tonight and Panorama in Northern Ireland had to be seen by the head of programmes in Northern Ireland, and he would act as a censor… There were no Catholics working in the BBC in senior positions. Outrageous.”
Second, Denis Tuohy, who learned on joining BBC Belfast in 1960 that he was the first Catholic to work in the newsroom, because a local paper greeted his recruitment with the headline: “At last, an appointment from the outside.” He said: “Those who ran the BBC in Northern Ireland and the unionist government of Northern Ireland … had lots of mutual friends.” Eight years later, by now working in London, Tuohy’s editor thought him the perfect reporter to send to Belfast to cover the outbreak of riots “to help us to understand” what was happening. But the editor was overruled, explaining to Tuohy: “BBC Northern Ireland have protested at the highest level of the BBC in London to you as the reporter… They feel you would be too close to the story.” Too off-message, more like.

The man in the white suit who was “kind of impartial”

Third, Martin Bell, sent from London to report during the earliest days of the troubles: “I hardly knew the difference between Belfast and Dublin. I’ve never admitted this before, but it is true… I learned very quickly the sort of thing you had to learn… the BBC’s controller in Northern Ireland was breathing over your shoulder all the time… BBC cameras and reporters were attacked by the loyalists because we were not the voice of loyalism, because we were kind of impartial and even-handed, even then, and we were giving a voice to their republican rivals, so I got harassed quite a bit.”
Kind of impartial? Even that was too much for the then-unionist government in Stormont. But, with the greatest of respect to Mr Bell, to refer to the BBC’s coverage of the conflict that raged from 1968 until 1998 as “kind of impartial” is entirely to miss the point. Aside from suggesting that truth is some kind of spectrum, it was wholly incorrect. Not kind of impartial, but very partial indeed. Partial and, in some instances, wholly untruthful. What is now evident, and should have been evident at the time, was the willingness of the BBC, which habitually asserted its independence from the state, to do the state’s bidding. Yet this is not, any longer, a controversial viewpoint. It is mainstream. It is accepted as fact. Note the lack of any reaction by the current BBC hierarchy, by politicians, or by commentators, to those statements by Fox, Tuohy and Bell. They provoked no denials. Nothing we haven’t known for years. That was then, and this is now. Move on.
But shaking our heads and lamenting what some would like to pass off as a historical aberration is just not good enough. The BBC’s news and current affairs output failed every possible test of impartiality. The fact that its censorship has long been recognised does not negate the significance of what happened. Nor should it be allowed to pass into some kind of historical limbo. Each additional revelation of the BBC’s faults during that conflict requires examination and explanation. As Fox rightly indicated, pro-unionist prejudice was embedded within the BBC from its inception. The Belfast-based controllers, all of them drawn from a unionist background and supportive of the Stormont government, were allowed to do as they wished by the corporation’s London headquarters. None more so than Waldo Maguire, controller from 1966 to 1972, who suppressed anything he considered inflammatory, meaning, of course, anything that offered even an inkling of the truth. What he achieved and, through him, the wider BBC, was a bias against understanding.
For example, the framing of civil rights protests in 1969 as some kind of stalking horse for the IRA was a crucial deception, playing on the fears of unionists within Northern Ireland while creating among its audience in Britain a bogeyman enemy which, at the time, did not exist as a fighting force. As Bell recalled, reality was camouflaged. When Catholics were burned out of their homes, he was told: “You’re not allowed to call them Catholics. You have to call them refugees.”
These contributions to a false narrative were also charted, along with several others, in a fascinating and meticulous 2015 study by Robert Savage, The BBC’s ‘Irish troubles’: Television, conflict and Northern Ireland. As he related, matters grew infinitely worse for the BBC once British soldiers were deployed on the streets in August 1969. Their arrival engendered the founding, some four months later, of the Provisional IRA and, suddenly, the shadow enemy assumed factual existence. From this point on, the battles on the streets were echoed by battles behind the scenes for media influence.
Despite Maguire’s malign influence, some BBC reporters refused to toe the line. John Bierman, for instance, broadcast a network news item in February 1971 in which he said: “There are growing doubts about the army’s impartiality among moderate middle-class Catholics desperately anxious to hold their co-religionists back from extremism.”
This report enraged the authorities, in Stormont and in Westminster. It also prompted the British army and Britain’s secret services to get their act together. Seen in retrospect, one of the most remarkable aspects of their response was its speed and sophistication. Informed by counter-insurgency experience elsewhere in Britain’s empire, notably by that of General Sir Frank Kitson, it was understood that censorship was no longer good enough; it must be replaced by its more proactive cousin, propaganda. Far and away its greatest success was to institute what became the conflict’s most persuasive overarching media narrative, the portrayal of the army as the disinterested piggy in the middle between two warring tribes.

Maguire becomes the Godfather of news output

It was eagerly adopted by the “neutral” BBC. But there was no tribal equality. There was never any doubt that one tribe – variously described as Catholic, nationalist or republican – was the state’s main enemy. To hammer home the point, lest the BBC’s journalists stray, various pressures were applied, overt and covert, to reinforce the message. When internment was introduced in August 1971, government ministers openly warned the BBC to beware “bias”. The defence secretary, Lord Carrington, wrote to the corporation’s chairman, Lord Hill, to complain about reports “which are unfairly loaded to suggest improper behaviour by British troops”. The post and telegraphs minister, Christopher Chataway, then made a speech in which he said broadcasters need no longer strike an even balance between the unionist government and the IRA, nor between the army and the IRA. Lord Hill took the hint, writing to the home secretary, Reginald Maudling, to affirm that “as between the British Army and the gunmen the BBC is not and cannot be impartial”. These exchanges had the effect of reinforcing Maguire’s hand, cementing his power over all output relating to Northern Ireland. He forbade reporters from interviewing released internees who alleged army brutality and prevented the screening of an interview with the civil rights leader Michael Farrell on his release. He also overruled the making of an “in depth” programme about the IRA.
Although these decisions were not made public at the time, BBC journalists were aware of them. What they did not know was the army’s decision, in the wake of public hostility to internment, to engage in a covert media war through the formation of its notorious information policy unit. The single aim of this khaki public relations initiative was to disseminate misinformation (aka lies). Working closely with the secret services, notably MI5, and often with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), it developed into an agency of deceit. Years passed before reporters realised they could not trust its briefings. Again, this is now well known, a matter of record, and it is therefore tempting to pass it off as a deviation from the norm, the result of the requirement to deal with exceptional circumstances. No need, all these years on, to rake over old coals. Nothing new can be found in those embers. Wrong, so wrong.
By December 1971, disinformation was the order of the day for the army, and one of its central themes was the denigration of the Provisional IRA. Their operatives were to be portrayed as cowards and/or psychopaths who bombed indiscriminately without a care for the local population. One of that policy’s most contentious manifestations followed the bombing that month of a Belfast pub favoured by Catholics, McGurk’s Bar. It was one of Northern Ireland’s deadliest atrocities, killing 15 Catholics, including two children, and wounding 17 more.
Immediately afterwards, British security forces briefed journalists about the bomb having exploded inside the pub. Unnamed “forensic experts” were cited as having “pinpointed” the centre of the blast with “a tell-tale crater” in the main bar area. It was further hinted that the pub was a regular meeting place for members of the Provisional IRA. These falsehoods suggested that the bomb was an IRA device, a scenario enthusiastically endorsed by none other than Kitson, the commander of 39 Infantry Brigade. He noted in his log that the RUC had “a line that the bomb” was “left in the pub to be picked up by the Provisional IRA. Bomb went off and was a mistake”.
Yet a British army technical officer had already reported to his superiors that it was the pub’s entrance that was cratered and was, therefore, “the seat of the explosion”. This dovetailed with the account of a witness, an eight-year-old boy, who told of seeing men drive up and place a package at the pub’s doorway. This statement was subsequently supported by the confession of the only man prosecuted for the crime (in 1977, loyalist Robert Campbell of the UVF was sentenced to life imprisonment, eventually serving 15 years). But it was the lie that gained media traction, especially at the BBC’s “prestigious” current affairs programme Panorama. Weeks after the event, it reported that “an IRA bomb” was responsible for the massacre.
So far, so bad. A tone had been set. In subsequent years, there was a reliance on unattributed briefings and a belief in their veracity. In the BBC’s news report in January 1972 about Bloody Sunday in Derry, in which 14 people were killed by the Paratroop Regiment, one sentence was particularly notable: “The gun battle lasted about 25 minutes.” That lie – there was no battle – was finally laid to rest 38 years later by Lord Savile’s inquiry. It was, however, just one of so many examples where the security forces’ version of events was too readily accepted.
As if the external political pressure, internal constraints and the army’s information policy unit were not enough to keep the BBC in check, it has become apparent that there was another undeclared level of contact between the corporation and the state. Pioneering research into the BBC archives by Belfast-based Ciarán MacAirt, founder of the Paper Trail charity and grandson to two McGurk’s Bar victims, has revealed a fascinating link between a secret section of the Foreign Office, the Information Research Department (IRD), and a well-placed BBC executive. The contact is clear from a letter sent by the IRD’s Josephine O’Connor Howe to John Cecil Crawley, chief assistant to the then-BBC director-general, Sir Charles Curran.

BBC discounted evidence from eyewitnesses to bombing

She offered Crawley “a background paper” on the IRA, adding that “as usual it is sent for your personal background and is not for attribution”. That letter, dated December 6, 1971, was delivered on the day the BBC in Belfast interviewed two witnesses to the McGurk’s Bar explosion, both of whom offered evidence diametrically opposed to the army’s “official version”, evidence that the BBC discounted. Crawley, in thanking O’Connor Howe for the “very interesting” paper, confirmed that he had sent it on to Desmond Taylor, editor of news and current affairs. Taylor had inherited the job weeks before from Crawley, who headed the news department for four years after spending 26 years as a BBC correspondent and editor.
MacAirt has unearthed other files that show IRD contact with BBC managers and journalists. One file of “ad hoc” BBC contacts was compiled by Norman Reddaway, whose 1970 Foreign Office title as “assistant undersecretary for information and cultural affairs” tended to conceal his real role as, to quote his obituary, “an expert in the field of intelligence and counterpropaganda”. It was also the case that the London-based IRD was closely allied to the army’s Belfast-based information policy unit. At least one of its operatives, Hugh Mooney, was a former journalist for the Irish Times and Reuters, who worked for both. The interpenetration of journalists with the secret services is hardly a new revelation, of course, but each new discovery raises important questions.
Nor must we forget that there is a human element to all this obfuscation and secrecy. MacAirt’s grandmother, Kitty Irvine, died in the McGurk’s blast, and his grandfather John, who served in an Irish regiment of the British army, was badly injured. MacAirt is one of the many bereaved who have been campaigning for a generation to expose the truth and to obtain official acknowledgement of what he calls “the casual criminalisation of our loved ones”. They are also seeking an apology from all concerned, including the BBC. The struggle has involved lengthy and expensive court actions. It has also shown up the BBC in a continuing poor light. In December 2021, the BBC failed to mark the 50th anniversary of the bombing. When reminded of the omission, an online news report was belatedly published. The painstaking research into this incident alone justifies further investigation into the relationship between the BBC and the secret services of the state. There are plenty of similar cases that demand attention too
https://bjr.org.uk/who-says-the-bbc-doesnt-take-sides/

This initially started three years ago.
I wanted to get solar panels for my house since I had moved in. And it was brought to my attention the nice tax credits you get for the panels and that the amount at the time was going down with each passing year. So delaying was effectively leaving money on the table.
I got a contractor out to give me a quote, I agreed and we moved on to submitting the request to the HOA. Of course, they denied the request despite there being no rules against roof solar panels in our bylaws.
When pushed on this, the reason(s) they gave were complete bullshit and a simple google search would prove it. Finally they landed on they're not aesthetically pleasing.
I told them at the yearly board meeting about a law being pushed through in the state that would make it illegal for HOAs to ban solar panels, and that they should put on hold any actions until that bill was brought to the floor.
They agreed. Less the a week later I get a letter in the mail demanding I take the panels down or they will take me to court. I can only assume they thought I was bullshiting about the new law. At this point, I was pissed and not going to take this laying down. It got to the point where a local news station ended up doing a story on me and my dispute with the HOA.
The news story got a surprising amount of traction and I ended up being contacted by a bunch of people wanting to show support. Things escalated further and lawyers got involved.
My lawyer ends up setting up a meeting with the board and their lawyer. And it was clear the board was not taking this seriously and had no intention of talking on good faith. They wanted this meeting to take place at a fucking Starbucks for fucks sake.
The meeting ends up happening at a more private location, and the news story comes in clutch because not only did it get me support, but It got me in contact with the guy co-authoring the new solar bill. And this guy offers to join the upcoming meeting.
Fast forward to the date of the meeting. Of course each and every board member that shows up is late by at least 10 minutes. And to top it all off with the exception of one they are all boomers.
They are all extremely rude and combative with me, it's clear they think this is a waste of time and have no intention of negotiating in good faith. This one old fucker wags his god damned finger at me like I was a petulant child. Granted I'm in my late 20s at the time.
They start off this meeting going on and on about how kids these days have no respect for authority and how this isn't going to fly blah blah blah. It was clear they had made up their minds and they were only here because they had to be.
Now, I'm going to take you back in time just a little bit before this meeting began. I was speaking with co author of the bill, we'll call him J, and my lawyer on how to play this meeting. We knew full well they'd act the way they did. My lawyer told me to just let them dig a hole for themselves and then he'd play our ace. Said ace, being the new bill being brought to the floor with a majority already pledged to sign off on it.
So back to the meeting. After an exhausting 38 minutes of these entitled old shits going on and on my lawyer clears his throat and calmly slides the paper with the bills information and when the next vote will be held across the table. And explains to them with the slightest hint of shit eating smug that "Yes at this point in time you could force my client to remove his panels, however as you can see here this bill will be going up for a vote very soon and has the needed support to pass. At which point it will be illegal for you to ban his panels. And if you go down that road, WHEN this bill passes we will file a suit for the labor costs of removing, reinstallation, loss in power generated, and of course the mental toll you've caused through this ultimately pointless endeavor. I know which path I would choose."
The slack jaw looks on their faces were fucking priceless. You could hear a pin drop it was so quiet. They then lean back behind their lawyer talking in hushed whispers. And suddenly it's all smiles and respect and just wanting to get an agreement signed and get this whole thing wrapped up.
Fast forward the bill passes, I got the papers I need and I couldn't be happier with my solar panels. And the cherry on top? I've not had a single letter from the HOA since. Not. A. One. Even for things I know I should. They've had free rein for years of just pushing people around and people taking it. I think I'm the first to have taken them on and won.
Pretty sure I scared them. I'm the "young pup" as they put it. But no, I would say a better comparison is I'm the bear that wants to be left alone. And those decrepit old fucks poked the bear and got bit.
Edit For the record I went into this entire situation wanting to actually work with these people in good faith. The moment someone starts acting like some misbegotten cock waffle, I don't care what their age, background, political ideology, etc is. I will fire back and I will go for the throat. Call me whatever you want, doesn't change the fact of what happened nor my views on people like those HOA vag badgers.

Hallo, guys ✨️
What are your favorite lines, quotes, etc from the series? Those that hit you hard, the ones that made you stand up from your chair.
Mine is totally:
“To my extortioner, Mael Stronghart… May you feel the jaws of the beast at your throat every time you swallow.”
From TGAA2-5
I cant even describe the feelings I got when I was reading Klint last will and testament and reached to this part just to turn and see how that one extortioner was... smiling.
Omg it was priceless.

9th: Rupert Boneham 1.0 (Pearl Islands - 8th)

i see three legends. two and a half. russell counts as a half.
u/DryBonesKing:
No doubt I am the lowest one here on Rupert 1.0. Which is hilarious since I am also the highest on Rupert 4.0. The biggest fault with Pearl Islands Rupert is that Laura's appearance is reserved only for the reunion. 0/10, literally unwatchable until the very end.
Okay in all seriousness though, my take on the Pirate’s first season is more in-line with my Hatch take. I do get a lot of what makes Rupert great and there's no doubt he deserves the flowers he's given. He has one of the strongest opening episodes of all time with the “pirates steal” confessional preceding him taking Morgan's shoes and his bonding with the women on his tribe with the skirt scene. His boot is also iconic and is a literal bombshell moment that gives the post-merge of the season the sense of grandeur it possesses. Rupert's fight with Fairplay is also iconic, as his relationship with the snake, and he also might be one of my favorite fisherman providers Survifor has ever had. He's got a lot of things great about him and I will acknowledge there's enough there that I might personally be underrating him.
But like… I'm not a fan of his edit. Beyond just that I think his screentime could have been utilized better dividing it up with more of his tribe (Sandra and Fairplay could have gotten some more buildup premerge, Christa probably deserves to be a bigger character, let us see more of Shawn being an asshole, help give Michelle and Trish better stories), I also am not a fan of the editorialization of his hero status. I'm not gonna deny Rupert's own insecurities with bullies and I think it's great content he gets to discuss. However, Rupert is so much heavily the star of his tribe that I think it's a huge disservice to just try and water him down into being simply “the hero” role they gave him. He's a lot more nuanced. That scene with the fight between him and Fairplay post-Trish boot is evidence you need that there's a lot more grayness to Rupert and I think it's a mistake Pearl Islands went mostly all in on Rupert's hero image instead of letting us see a more complicated version.
It's not entirely the editors fault admittedly cause Rupert feeds into that himself with his melodramatic ass quotes, such as “So much for my dreams” final words. Personally, I'd prefer him just having more shades of grey in his characterization. I have him ranked twenty-three, but that's more so thanks to the realization I like this endgame quite a lot. Like a lot of them are in my Top 100. Meanwhile Rupert just misses mine.
Overall Rank – 152/821
~
u/Zanthosus:
Rupert is the best mascot Pearl Islands could have possibly had. Someone who whole-heartedly embraces the theme of the season and makes the most of it at every possible point. Even if I don’t love him quite as much as others do, he’s still well deserving of endgame.
~
u/Tommyroxs45:
What an actual GOAT, he is just the very slightly worse version of Jane Bright, but he is still absolutely phenomenal. There’s a reason why he is the most iconic hero of all time, he paved the way for Survivor and even if his edit didn’t reflect everything, it was still insanely entertaining and told a perfect story!
~
u/Regnisyak1:
*growls.* Rupert is a fun, tie-dyed addition to Pearl Islands, and perhaps one of the most rootable figures of all time. It is awesome to watch him succeed on the season and play a hard game, which ultimately culminates into one of the most brutal blindsides in the history of the show. The background of Rupert, him being an insecure child, and seeing him stand up to the bullies on the season after they make fun of him is so satisfying to watch. And Rupert getting mad and asking who the fuck voted for him? Priceless.
Personal Rank: 28/821. 10/10.
~
u/ninjedi1:
Fun fact, Rupert was the first player I ever saw on survivor! Rupert really is iconic, and it's easy to see why. Just his look alone with the beard and the tie dye shirt makes him stand out from the rest. He has so many great moments, from stealing the shoes in the first episode to getting fish for everyone all the time. We even get a nice introspective of him during the storm. There is so much to enjoy with Rupert, that I'm glad to see him make endgame again.
~~~~~
u/SMC0629:
Rupert Boneham 1.0
Getting into the Survivor rankdown community introduced me to a lot of things. To give some context, I had such a massively different outlook on the show from 2015-2020. Granted, I was a lot younger back then, but when I joined Survivor discussion online around 2021, I was stunned to see a lot of things. Wait…people dislike Cambodia?? I thought Cook Islands was great? What’s a “screenhog?” That was a big one, as I hadn’t really analyzed the editing of the show ever, and I didn’t know what that even meant. Thinking about it though, I did dislike Rick Devens even on my first watch of EoE, so could that be what it’s referring to? Skipping to the present day, I’m pretty torn on the screenhog characters. There’s some I hate like Russell Hantz 1.0 and Rick Devens like I mentioned before. However, there’s a few I enjoy a lot. Coach and Ozzy from SoPa are great, Marty, while definitely not to the same degree as others, is one that I love, and even Russell Hantz 2.0, who becomes a far better character despite still eating up a ton of time. There’s one “screenhog” that stands out among the rest though, one that will always be one of my favorite characters in the show. That character, is Rupert 1.0.
I wasn’t even alive when Pearl Islands aired, but from what I can tell, Rupert seemed to be almost a national hero when it was airing. Rupert was everything the average TV watcher wanted. A guy with good intentions, an underdog, a funny personality, a dominator in challenges, he had everything. That being said, why was Rupert seen like this? Well, I think a large chunk of that comes down to the editing. I’m not denying one bit that Rupert had the charisma and charm that the editing showed, but it was shown on full-throttle. Rupert had full one-episode story arcs, from the incident with Shawn with his fishing stick, to his story about overcoming the teasing of Shawn and Burton, to his growing rivalry with Jon, it seemed like Rupert had endless stories. You could make the argument that Rupert was a screenhog, because of how much he was shown, and how much the audience was meant to gain from Rupert’s stories. I’ve seen people (in old Youtube comment sections mainly) complain about Rupert being overbearing, annoying, and self-centered. Obviously, I don’t agree with any of those (mostly), so why does Rupert 1.0 work so well?
First, there’s something I mentioned before, and that’s the fact that everytime Rupert is on-screen, it’s genuine. You’re never gonna see a time where Rupert is playing it up for the camera, or trying to pull strings to get more screen time, he’s just being himself. I agree that he does start to do this in later seasons, with HvV and especially BvW, but here, this was his first time on TV. Rupert was just like everyone else, he was one of the 16 people stranded on the island. This wasn’t Rupert the all-star, Rupert the hero, or Rupert the returning player, it was just Rupert the Survivor contestant. To make a quick comparison, let’s look at one season before, with Rob Cesternino. Now I like Rob 1.0, but especially in the beginning of the season, he annoys me a bit. You can tell he plays his humor up to the camera, sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s not, and all the times it isn’t is during the premerge. It feels like the edit shows Rob playing up a character more than him actually being himself, so that always annoyed me with Amazon’s premerge.
Going back to Rupert, let’s look at him during the premerge, and what builds him up to be THE main player by the start of the merge. Through the first three or so episodes, Rupert is practically an anomaly. He immediately sticks out on the Drake tribe, being a 39 year old man, but is immediately wrapped up in the show. “Pirates STEAL” is one of my all-time favorite Rupert moments, you can just tell he’s so into the theme of the season and it’s just a funny moment overall. You might think from this initial scene that Rupert might just be a dunce, but you’d be wrong! Rupert becomes a great leader for the Drake tribe, annihilating the challenges and becoming a key member of the tribe. He befriends Sandra and Christa, and is even seen by the other tribe as an incredible foe. This comes into play with the following two episodes, where Drake throws the challenge to get out Burton. Speaking of, Burton is a part of the opposite perception of Rupert, the one that sees him as a threat, or even a joke. Him and Shawn poke fun at his skirt, which reminds Rupert of being an outcast, giving some sympathy. Anyway, when Morgan wins their first challenge, and actually steals Rupert from Drake, leaving him out of the Burton vote. At the Morgan camp, Rupert is immediately praised for his work ethic and knowledge on how to improve their camp. Could this be a new beginning for Rupert? One where he won’t be seen as an outcast, right from the start? Well, right after Morgan wins the reward challenge with Rupert, he goes right back to Drake when Jeff gives him the chance to. This is super in-character for Rupert, but also shows one of his biggest flaws, maybe the first one to show up. Rupert is loyal to a tee. Remember, this was before something like this could be seen as a “bad strategy move,” it seemed to be a no-brainer for someone like Rupert, who prided himself on loyalty. But for someone else, it meant a different thing.
Enter Jonny Fairplay, the polar opposite of Rupert. While Rupert is well-mannered, respected, and loyal, Fairplay is deceitful, rude, and strategic. Towards this part of the season, Jon begins to recognize Rupert’s threat level in the game. After Drake votes out Michelle, they lose another challenge, which urges Fairplay to make his move. He attempts to recruit Trish and Shawn to force a tie, but his plan doesn’t work, and Trish is voted out. On one hand, at least it wasn’t Jon, but it may as well have been, because Rupert got two votes. This enrages him, as in one of the most hilarious scenes of the season, Rupert screams at Jon right as they return to camp. This reveals another flaw in Rupert, in that the guy is a loose cannon. If the mold is broken without his knowledge, he’ll go ballistic. We’ll come back to this very soon, but first, let’s talk about the merge.
After the outcasts of Burton and Lill return, Rupert is practically back at the top. He wins two consecutive immunity challenges, seemingly mends his relationship with Burton, and is able to coast with Drake in disposing of both Savage and Ryan. By this time, it could be argued that Rupert was becoming an overly biased screenhog, with his consistent content and seemingly unstoppable and inevitable win. That is…until he’s voted out at the final 8. Swimming for Sharks is one of my favorite episodes in the entire show because of how dramatic and climactic it is. You can’t believe it as you’re watching it for the first time, “wait, is Rupert ACTUALLY gonna get voted out?” It’s at the hands of his rival, Jon, and Burton, who he thought he had made amends with that cut his throat at the end of the day. They’re also helped by Lill, who Rupert believed had the same morals as him, only for her to prove him dead wrong. Tribal Council here is perfect, as maybe unintentionally, Jeff reads every single vote, when he didn’t have to. He could have stopped after the fourth Rupert vote, but he almost continues to have it sink in for everyone there, and the audience, that the most noble figure in the entire game has just been swiftly ended. And do I even have to mention his final words? “So much for my dreams'' is one of the most legendary quotes in the entire show, and caps off one of the best stories the show’s ever seen.
SMC0629: 6
DryBonesKing: 22
Zanthosus: 16
Tommyroxs45: 2
Regnisyak1: 15
DavidW1208: 5
ninjedi1: 5
Average Placement: 10.143
Total Points: 71
Standard Deviation: 7.471 (5th Highest)

previous parts
PART 1 IS HERE
PART 2 IS HERE
PART 3 IS HERE
PART 4 IS HERE
disclaimer : I am not endorsing or advertising for anyone to buy the Sri vatsa tracing I cited in the article. moderators, if you think it should be omitted, please let me know. also, no entity connected to the temple in any way is advertising through this.

DETAILS ABOUT ORNAMENTS AND FURTHER INFO ABOUT POSTURE

in my previous post we discussed only a general overview and his feet. also, some measurements . now we discuss the ornaments present in the idol (integral)

note : I am not talking about gold ornaments which are man made

BELT AREA
there are 4 belt like structures here. there is a large "buckler" in front in the middle. it has a "simha mukha" to it. this is generally found in South Indian idols, as a sign of warding off the negative eye.
there are round disc-like structures on the belt, decoratively.
there is a tight band below called the KATIBANDHA , near to the groin area.
there are pearl like-chains hanging from this band on all sides, this continues on back side also.
below this, is a decorative drooping chain , falling half-way down to near the knees, at the dead-center . ( like a U shape)
on the left side, tucking into the belt , the handle of a Dagger (CHURIKA ) can be made out. there is no sword on the idol, only a half-visible dagger on the left.
this is not visible after decoration, as there are too many ornaments, and a sword is used instead of a dagger for decor.
slightly above the navel , is a thick band ( UDARABANDHA). it is very thick and tight. it is plain without any designs or motifs
the ANGA vastra, folded into 3 layers, cascades gracefully down the centerline beneath the belts . this extended upto the ankles.
everything seen here is fully formed on the back. there is no flat rock like base , like generally seen in other idols. everything is 360 degrees.

CHEST AREA

the Chest is strong and wide. the nipples are very prominent. there are no breasts , but the nipples can be very clearly seen.
at the corners of the chest , from shoulder to armpit, deep scars, run on both sides. they are also seen on the backside. characteristic of someone who regularly wears a pack of arrows ( devotee of Lord SRI Rama - rejoice !! )

THE SRIVATSA MARK - MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE IN CHEST AREA

Vishnu idols contain a mark called Sri vatsa. its shape and size varies a lot . it is like a triangle, or like a diamond , and sometimes like a knot (figure of 8 knot ) .
buddhist and Jain idols are also known to have this mark , but they are fully naked , having no other ornaments or clothing. so there is no confusion about this and any further discussion is pointless.

the most unique feature of this idol, is the Sri vatsa here is a fully formed Lakshmi called DVIBHUJA VYUHALAKSHMI.

this Lakshmi is located on the right chest, above the right nipple .- VAKSKHASTHALA VYUHALAKSHMI.
Due to the very large size of the main idol, it is possible to make out all the features of the goddess , even though the mark is small. it's roughly around 4 inches vertical and 3 inches diagonal. I will share a drawing of what this goddess looks like.
she has 2-arms ,seated in lotus pose (padmasana) on a lotus seat, inside a triangle . she holds 2 lotuses in her hands. there is a very special moola mantra also for her, different from the normal Lakshmi and Bhu devi mantras. I cannot share the mantra here, but for people with academic interest, I wanted to validate this point.
this mark is fully integral to the idol, and has been a subject of great interest. it is exquisitely shaped with very tiny details . even the face and hands can be made out .
as such it is possible to take a Tracing of this mark , and the priests regularly do so on every Friday.
they use a paste of sandalwood, mixed with turmeric and various other items, and press it to the chest of the lord. a very clear impression of the goddess forms in this.
this impression is usually taken as 1 each for the priests doing the service on that day. 1 for the Jeeyangar trust, 1 for the TTD officials , and 1 for the acharya Purshas.
as this has been happening for a long time (hundreds of years), most of them have multiple copies of the impression. the surpluses now are shared with devotees.
( I don't want to debate the ethics of selling it for a certain price. the demand for it is a million times more than the supply. hence they started selling it. also, there were bitter fights by all entities who wanted them to generate more and who should be given. it was resolved to sell it - this is legally done. the ethics maybe not acceptable to some- but It is beyond the scope of this article)
those devotees who want to obtain this, can obtain it in 3 ways.

• high level government contacts, especially endowments department, IAS officials, or TTD officials.
• the Jeeyangar trust. they have the privilege of receiving the first impression on every Friday. you can ask in their mutt for it.
• The vaikhanasa Archaka residence , located on the north side of the temple, beyond the temple tank. you may go and ask there. they may tell you to wait for some weeks. sometimes, they might give it away for free as well. ( but usually the wait time is extensive - there are people willing to pay 10 times more than the price they usually quote which is actually not as much as you might think.

many times, they deliberately pick a person at random and give it away, but you need to first go and and ask them, to be a list.
all sources other than the above 3 are selling fake ones on the market. for devotees who want to obtain this highly-prized possession, please don't fall into the trap.
I have personally seen people who paid exorbitant sums of money and got fake ones . I think it's best not to be so desperate. it's a priceless possession for sure, But Lakshmi devi's blessings will surely be there even without it.

THE YAGNOPAVEETA - the second important feature

there is a unique yagnopaveeta, in the features of the original idol, ( in the sculpture itself) called the PRALAMBA BRAHMA SUTRA. it is made of 6 strands (signifies that he is married , 3 for the husband and 3 for the wife ) . there are some curious points here. it is also exceptionally long, and cane traced underneath the belts all the way upto his knees, ( hence the word - PRALAMBA - extra long ) and runs backwards.
unlike other idols, it only has 2 knots. also, its much thicker and heavier than upaveetas found in other idols. it runs down the length across his torso, but 1 strand cuts away and runs to the left side going backwards, and never rejoins the rest, remaining incomplete. there seem to be some kind of inscriptions on the knots, which no one can understand . the script is unknown. these could also be just decoration. ( I have no further info on this)
the entire yagnopaveeta can be fully traced on the backside also. it is traced running underneath his locks of hair, and beneath his massive-sized earrings, before emerging out front.

special note : within vaishnavism, the absence of this yagnopaveeta and the srivasta mark are used to identify 2 other idols, which resemble vishnu in all other respects. one is VISVAKSENA ( SENAI MUDALIAR) and the other is VIKHANASA MUNI. these features are absent on them. the agama specifies that they should be absent.

also , by Puranas, those who attain lord vishnu's abode, may be blessed with a form resembling him - SAARUPYA MOKSHA ( 4 -arms etc . but these features would be absent in them - this is stated across so many scriptures that I cant even quote here )
CHEST JEWELLERY
there are 4 rows of necklaces each successively longer. on the lowest necklace there is a central round-oval with 4 petals on each side - the Kaustubha mani . its not very big in size unlike certain other idols.
all necklaces run to the back, and their knots and strings are clearly visible on the backside, running till the middle of the back.

THE VAIJAYANTI HAARA and the VANAMALA ( both are not the same) are absent on the idol. many people dont know the difference between them, but in shilpa shastra they are seperate features.

CONTINUED IN PART-6 HERE

Pentru cei cu card Salt, pe lângă "marțea Mastercard" (50 lei pe semestru), mai este și un cashback pentru orice cheltuială peste 100 lei (POS sau online), maxim 3 tranzacții - deci 30 lei din 100 lei cheltuiți de 3 ori.
Oferta este valabilă 1-15 iunie pentru cardurile Mastercard (puteți plăti și prin Google sau Apple Pay).
Dacă vreți să vă faceți cont și să folosiți codul meu de refferal, îmi puteți trimite un PM.
Link-uri urile: https://www.priceless.com/m/shopping/product/187450/mastercard-tuesday-romania
https://www.economica.net/cashback-de-10-lei-per-tranzactie-pentru-primele-trei-plati-cu-cardurile-salt-bank-beneficii-suplimentare-in-campania-salt-bank-care-incepe-de-la-1-iunie_751026.html
P.S. Știu că unii aveți Revolut și sunteți hateri Salt. E ok, eu am cont la ambele. Pace!

ITS SO GOOD I KID YOU NOT BECAUSE THE ART??? THE AU??? THE FUNNY COMICS?? THE CREATIVITY???
I lurk on the Hangul side of the fandom and I love it so much I thought I'd share !
(Also please do not repost these fanarts without the artist's permission, sharing links is fine 👌)

1. i messed with your car
   
2. Jake Fanart
   
3. More comics 😆
   

(Phil's face is priceless lmaooo)

1. im about to kms
   
2. these are so beautiful wtf
   
3. somebody's jealous
   
4. Phil x FemMC
   
5. ^[Jake's jealous about that](https://x.com/mumal0980/status/1534194053629509635?t=h3f2ztAPZnPDUfGKbAPCxg&s=19)
   
6. This or that (Jake Edition)
   
7. You are the key
   

First Prev Archive Royal Road Patreon
"Hoda, I'm with you, but there's no way in hell Keith is signing off on that. If it was Earth maybe we could pull that off. But here? Not a chance in hell," I was shaking my head.
She did not like being put off, but she also knew I understood Keith better. Marila, however, did not cede the point, "And what does Earth have that this planet does not?"
Oh God, right, we're the most advanced species in the game, "On Earth Keith would have near limitless distractions. I mean, in Portland, he could go to a bar, a mead hall, or go shoot pool- that's an Earth game centered around a pool table, no water is involved- the point is there's a ton of things he could do, like binge-watching a show or.... Give me a minute. Ravazh'Tik!"
I held down the green button, and the Game Master appeared on screen. He had his interview face on, but it was clear it was getting late, "What is it, Survivor Valerie?"
"I want to make a deal, Game Master. Right now, there's only so much audience retention you can be getting because of the storm, right? I have an idea for a fix," I was smiling more genuinely now... I get why Keith enjoys these moments so much.
Ravazh'Tik pretty much knew he wouldn't like the next bit, but cameras were on, "And how is that you would accomplish that?"
"You remember when we had our movie night?"
He was a little surprised since the request seemed far more benign than these things went with Keith, "I do remember it, and it did entertain our home audiences. You wish to do another one? I worry that we might exhaust your Earth movies."
I cracked laughing, "We literally make hundreds if not thousands of movies every year, and that leaves out all of our television shows, sports shows, and other entertainment media."
His mouth went a little agape, and then he checked with a display unit to his side to confirm that I wasn't lying to him or inflating the numbers, "Emperor be merciful! How do you all even have the time for this much?"
"Oh, individually we don't but as a species? We've done a lot. We could run every program with no repeats 24/7 and still be showing you new shows in a decade. Anyway, that's what I wanted to ask about, is if we could have a device to show Earth movies and shows on? If it's asking too much I get that, but I figure it's gotta be more entertaining than a week of us sitting around in our yurts not doing very much."
The only question Ravazh'Tik really had after that was what an appropriate device for this would look like, and we talked about that for a while. People were starting to return to their home yurts, but not hurriedly. Hoda got up to go check on Keith while I finished up with Ravazh'Tik and passed out hot broth for everyone since no one was quite okay after the whole thing.
Eventually, I was mostly by myself and headed back to the yurt. Sigh... I would need to clean in here. It had been pretty packed so things were all off.... snrk.
I laughed reactionarily, I couldn't help it. As I stepped into the center of the room, the scene was priceless. A very confused Hoda was stammering out, "I-I'm sorry. It's not..... Ugh... It is not what it looks like."
She was unsuccessfully trying to extract herself from the bed with an unconscious Keith who'd turned her into a body pillow, without reinjuring his shoulder or ribs. Keith was dead to the world, fully crashed out after more than two days of labor, both physical and emotional. Nothing shy of a tazer was going to get him out of that bed. I walked over to help Hoda out... and then... that little voice in my head, The Cheerleader of My Worst Impulses, the one I had put on indefinite suspension since my sophomore year of college? Her suspension was over, and she spoke up, "Y'know what would be really funny?"
I decided to have some fun with it. I mean, why not? It's gonna be awesome whenever he wakes up from this. So, changing tactics, I tucked them in with a blanket, kissed first Keith on the head, then Hoda, and walked off with the spare hammock, "Night you two."
******************************
I came... awake's the wrong term here. I was conscious, but I felt drunk... or hungover? Well, no headache, so I'll rule out hangover, but... must be at least mid-mornin' out there? It was kinda hard to tell, since the only view I had was the few light breaks between the shelter's pillars. I threw on Privacy Mode, just needing a minute to get my bearings as everything from last night caught up. I'd finished up my 'set', but I'd paid the price on it. I'd felt everything, going back through the memories and the emotions, but now in my mind, I felt them. I felt Azzocu's comfort when I'd seen... when I watched my dad die. I felt Trayg beside me when I was alone in boot. All of them had stepped in, lending my mind the support it needed to deal with being me, filling in the cracks in my central foundation. Even Val, here... wait, no, not Val. It was pretty dark, but Val snores. I felt around where I could feel a face, "Hoda?!"
She jostled, coming awake quickly, "You are awake."
"Um, I have questions!" I was trying to find a simple way to extract myself, when Hoda rolled onto her back, pinning my one good arm under her. Clearly, she was not ready for me to exit the bed.
I couldn't see her face, but I could feel the grin, "You said something last night the translators could not decipher and pulled me into bed with you. You were asleep before I could get out."
"Oh... Oh God, Val!"
She didn't shift to let me up, catching hold of my shirt, "Val already knows. She saw it, laughed at me, and then covered us with a blanket. She kissed us both on the head like children, and informed me it was night. Stay."
It was the last point that got me. I was pretty used to.... no, I was too used to people having a very take it or leave it attitude with me, more than willing to walk away at any given point. I settled back in and stayed there with Hoda until my stomach informed me I desperately needed to eat, "Don't get me wrong, hon, but I'm kinda starvin'."
Hoda got herself up, "Then we eat."
I got up as well, staggered a little bit as I came upright and ended up steadying myself on Hoda's shoulder. Then I stepped, and immediately hit something with my shin, "Motherfucker!"
I felt around, and one of the smaller tables had been moved over to sit next to the bed. On it I could feel multiple items, one of which was my phone. It was still running, and I kicked on the flashlight. Hoda was interested, "Your music device gives light."
"Yeah, it's more of a communication device, but we ain't got the stuff to use it for that. Still useful as hell. though... wait, is that a remote?"
I picked up the device, along with a 'note' written on one of the planks we used for writing stuff down. It read: Press the button on the remote.
Having no reason not to, I pressed it, and a holo device attached to the table kicked on, displaying a pretty decent-sized screen. As I read what was on there, it was like a file folder system on Earth, if arranged differently, and it had movies, shows, even sports on it, "Holy shit."
The remote controlled it more less like it would on Earth. I mean, the interface had a bit to be desired, but it was there and I could get used to it. It was great and all, but I really needed food, a shower, and to talk with Val, so I turned it off and we headed out the door. The light took adjusting too, overcast as it was, and I had to hold onto Hoda as we moved in the direction of the kitchen... okay, when did we get a smoke pad?
Hoda deposited me into a seat by the campfire, then strode up into the kitchen, kissing the side of Val's head. Okay, I've missed several conversations, but I wasn't going to get time to catch up as Ducky bounced up with a bunch of questions for me about Earth stuff. Eventually, Hoda brought me... a late lunch or early dinner if I was reading the sky right. I had to have been out for at least fifteen or sixteen hours by this point, "Shit! I'm behind on daywork."
"You are not. We are taking care of it. You will to eat," Hoda was always direct, and took her own meal and a seat.
"Can I at least ask where Prodigal and Hearth are? I haven't seen them since I woke up, and I don't feel their minds checking in," I didn't remember what happened by the end of things.
Hoda bit into a hunk of the cougar meat, "They are up mountain. Val says they are... budding right now, and not to be disturbed. Now, eat."
Seeing there was no arguing with her, I went ahead and ate my oversized lunch of cougar meat, yams, and a mixture of vegetables. There was even a form of gravy, and a potato roll. Somewhere in the day, Marila had gotten a project going on grinding potato flour. Across from me, Rognar was building another chair, using the nanofabric to create what was effectively a beach lounger with a wicker frame, and the smoking club were coming in to relax before dinner got served.
The conversation with Val got put off repeatedly as I started to see what was happening. Everyone was coming over to talk to me, see how I was doing, and see if I needed anything. I was getting claustrophobic with it, I admit that, but I needed away from people for a bit and excused myself to the showers. It gave me time to think, and I did remember something from before the night had begun. I decided to take some extra time at the lavatory with Privacy Mode up. I wouldn't have long with it, but enough time to check something.
There was a non-zero percent chance I was about to embarrass myself, but I took the shot, and with Privacy Mode engaged, hit the green button. The screen popped up like it usually did, but there was no video call. Instead, it had some text in the middle that I'm guessin' was Kathrall, "Fuck, well I suppose it was too much to think they'd have it in English."
After I said the word English, a new window appeared on the screen, with it's own text. The first bit was still in Kathrall, but it was repeated under it in English: Change text to English?
"Fuck."
It wasn't programmed naturally for English, but the nanties translated everything to English. A new message came up, in both languages: Response not understood. Change text to English?
"Yes."
At first nothing happened aside from the window going away, and then the screen rewrote itself, and I could read it. We had translators, it was part of the whole thing so we could potentially talk with each other. The things that didn't translate would be icons, so a combination of verbal and tactile inputs? Let's take it for a spin, "Open settings menu."
It did respond, the response was just not helpful: Please input passcode. With what appeared to be something like a weirdly arranged numberpad, just... these weren't number or letters, but some sort of symbol the Kathrall understood. I had only a tiny amount of time left on Privacy, so I just pressed the buttons at random. When I hit the fifth one, the system came back with a message informing me that I'd entered the wrong one, and to try again. Holy shit, holy shit.
I got up from the toilet, sealed my suit, and double-timed it out. Looking around, everyone was here, but I needed.... Marila. Without Privacy Mode, I had to be careful, and whispered the instructions in her ear. She politely got up, excusing herself, and gave me the slightest of nods as she went off in the direction of the lavatory. If we could break into the system, there might be a way for us to do various things, not least of which was find a way to get in contact with Earth on a back channel.
Helping with Marila's attempts would require a bit of a distraction, and thankfully there was a perfect one all ready to go in talking with Val. I tried a few times at helping out, only to keep getting directed back to my seat by the fire where I could relax. I could feel an energy building up in me, but I had no way to let it off. Finally, I went back into my yurt, and admitted defeat. I sorted through the menus, and brought up an old favorite series, Next Generation.
Val was the first to come join me, grabbing a seat beside me on the bed, "So, I see we're willing to concede finally?"
I sighed sharply, "Yeah, and I get it, I needed to ease off, it's just hard's all. Look, 'bout Hoda-"
Val held up a hand, "Let's get through this as quickly as I can: I'm good with it. I like Hoda too, like like, and it's not like we're exclusive or anything. You probably thought it was me last night since you were falling over by the time they got you to the bed. You didn't do anything wrong, and we're good. Now, wait, which one is Captain Kirk?"
First Prev Archive Royal Road Patreon

I've been wanting to go back and re-watch Arthur as it was my favorite show as a child. I thought about a season 5 episode, which was not one of my favorite seasons, but I thought about "The Shore Thing", where Arthur and D.W. wanted to go the newest waterpark, with Arthur's friends. However, their dad took them to his childhood beach instead and they liked it much more than AquaLand. I really liked that episode, because it's so low-key, and even though Arthur and his friends were disappointed, they made the most out of their trip.
Other favorites:
Be warned, most of these favorites are from Season 4, my favorite season.
The Contest: I loved this episode overall. But I loved the ending with teenaged Arthur and his friends talk about coming up with their own stories after losing to Holly Holland (the real winner) and referencing previous episodes.
That's a Baby Show: Another favorite, and very ahead of it's time. It sucked that Arthur was bullied but his friends for liking Love Ducks, but they came around. The final scene where Arthur with Baby Kate, and his friends all gathering around watching Love Ducks. There was a cute scene where Kate moves Binky's ear to see better.
The Blizzard: The episode was pretty intense as the storm got worse, and the hilarity of Ratburn, Haney, and Morris getting trapped in the school. My favorite moments were Arthur's family hosting their friends and their families during the blackout, Francine realizing the importance of her report of the pioneers. Also, Ratburn, Haney, and Morris getting rescued. And sort of a clip show homage to "D.W.'s Snowball Mystery"
The Ballad of Buster Baxter: Art Garfunkel as the singing moose, it was satisfying to hear him narrate throughout the episode in song form. The ending is priceless.
D.W.'s Deer Friend: D.W. has her share of flaws, but she is hilarious and memorable. She is really caring. This is such an underrated episode where she is really caring towards animals, even though she couldn't take home Walter.
Arthur's Birthday: I loved the book the episode was based on and the episode. I can quote the majority of it. It's such a simple episode but it gives me good memories.
Other one's that I wanted to put on there because I didn't want to type too long (D.W.'s Tale Spins, And Now Let's Talk To Some Kids, Bully for Binky (Binky and Sue Ellen's clairinet/sax solo at the end)

I always enjoy reading trip reports so I thought I would go ahead and share a report on my Golden Week trip with my parents.
Warning, long post!
This trip was from May 2nd to 15th. Some background, I (late 20's) am a foreign resident living in Hokkaido. I have also lived in Tokyo before so I am pretty comfortable with navigating the city and transit system, and speak intermediate Japanese. I have briefly visited Kyoto and Osaka but this was my first time in Hiroshima. This was my parents' (both 60) first time in Japan, and as it was probably one of few trips they will make to Japan, we decided to try and hit a lot of major sites for the first half before spending time in Hokkaido.
Obviously Golden Week isn't the most ideal time to travel in Japan, but as a resident, this was the best time I could travel without having to take too much time off work. My parents like travelling, but this was their first time in Asia and anywhere where English isn't widely spoken. They enjoyed their time here, but I am pretty sure if I weren't living here, it wouldn't have been a destination they would have travelled to on their own. I planned most of the trip myself. Parents weren’t too interested in pop-culture (anime, music, etc) so I was able to save time by cutting out a lot of the more touristy anime spots. They were pretty down for anything else, and Dad knew he wanted to see a baseball game and visit Hiroshima, so we made sure to make those two happen.
May 2nd-Arrival in Tokyo
(Hotel Sotetsu Fresa Inn Tokyo Tamachi-Two double bed rooms)
Parents flew from Vancouver to Narita and landed shortly before 3:00pm. I flew JetStar from Hokkaido and was set to land shortly after 3:00. I figured I would have time to get my bag and get from terminal 3 to 1 to meet them before they got through customs and baggage. However, my flight was a bit delayed and landed closer to 3:30. Not a big deal, but surprisingly my parents got through customs and baggage and were waiting for me before I even got my bag. We took the train directly to Mita Station in Minato, which was only a 10 minute walk to our hotel. It was around 6:00 by the time we checked in and got settled, and the parents didn't sleep on the plane, so we decided on dinner at the hotel restaurant before grabbing some conbini snacks and heading to bed by 9:00.
May 3rd (Constitution Memorial Day)-Tokyo
Taking advantage of their jetlag, we were up and ready to go at 7:00 am, but first dropped off our suitcases to be shipped to our Kyoto hotel. We had each brought a mid-size suitcase and backpack, so we shipped our suitcases and kept two days worth of stuff in our backpacks. It was a bit of a pain to have to rearrange all the bags so soon after arriving, but I wanted to send the bags earlier, as I was worried about delays due to Golden Week. It was very easy to do at the hotel, and so worth it to not have to haul bags all over.
We grabbed a conbini breakfast before heading to Asakusa and Sensoji. There were a fair amount of people there at around 8:00, but not crowded yet. Almost all of the shops were still closed but my parents really enjoyed seeing their first temple. After grabbing a goshuin paper (I forgot my goshuincho at home, I was so cheesed) we took a walk to the Sumida river and had coffee with a beautiful view of the Skytree. After that, we made our way back through Sensoji, towards Kappabashi Street. It was after 10:00 so all of the shops in front of the temple were open and crowds were in full swing. My parents didn’t mind the crowds too much but they were really happy we arrived early and had the chance to see things with less people. Mom was on the lookout for kitchen knives, hence the stop in Kappabashi. There were only a few shops open due to the holiday, but it was fine.
We headed back to the Minato area for one of our few food reservations, the Harry Potter cafe. (Booked through the official site a few weeks in advance.) I really wanted to drag my parents to a silly themed cafe, but I knew anything like the Kirby or Pokemon cafe would be totally lost on them, so I compromised with the Harry Potter cafe. I’ve been to enough themed cafes to know that you pay a lot for the experience and atmosphere and the quality of the food is secondary. That said, the food here was my least favourite of all the themed cafes I have been to in Japan. The decorations and restaurant were cool, but unless you’re a diehard fan, I would skip this one.
After lunch, we headed to Tokyo Tower. We didn’t go up, but we took a look at the shops, saw the Children’s Day carp streamers, and stopped at the beer garden. We were leaving to go have a break at the hotel when we saw a sign for the Japantique Show and decided to stop in. (Free admission) It was cool but everything was way out of our budgets, by like, thousands of dollars. After that, we bussed back to our hotel for a rest. We stopped for dinner at a Yakiniku Like near the station, which is a great option for budget yakiniku in my opinion, before heading to Ginza to window shop and look at more things we couldn’t afford. I also had to point out the Kabukiza theatre to mom and dad, as I am a big Kabuki fan. We didn’t have time for a show this trip but I definitely recommend seeing even just a single act if it’s something you might be interested in. Headed back to the hotel and was in bed by 9:00.
May 4th (Greenery Day)-Tokyo
Another early morning, we took the train and arrived at Harajuku station around 8:00 a.m. We had breakfast at Sarutahiko Coffee, above the station. After that we wandered towards Meiji Jingu. It was already warming up (high of 29 this day) so it was nice being under all the trees. As we passed the entrance to the garden, they were just about ready to open, so we decided to wait and go in. It was too early for most of the flowers to bloom, but it was still a really nice spot. After the garden we made our way to the main shrine, followed by the Meiji Jingu Museum. They were having an exhibit on dresses of the Meiji era, particularly focused on Empress Shoken, so I thought it would be an interesting stop. There wasn’t much information in English, and the exhibit was pretty small, but seeing the dresses was cool.
I dragged mom and dad through Takeshita Street. It was very crowded, but my parents still got a kick out of seeing the stores and fashion, although they rolled their eyes everytime I offered to buy us matching platform shoes for some reason. After a stop in Uniqlo, we headed to Shinjuku for lunch. We stopped at a random izakaya near the station that I unfortunately forgot the name of. We snapped some pictures of Godzilla and the 3D cat billboard before heading to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Happy surprise that it was free admission for Greenery Day. There were a lot of people there, but it is a large park, so it wasn’t too crowded. Like the Meiji garden, most of the flowers weren’t in bloom yet, but it was still really pretty and nice to just be able to rest under the trees in the shade for a while.
After the garden, we head back towards Shibuya. We wandered around the scramble and main streets for a bit. I had a ticket to enter a pop up store at 5:15, so mom and dad had to wait outside while I got my goods. I got out with enough time for us to get to the Shibuya Sky building in time for our 6:20 entry. I would have liked to have gotten 6:00 tickets to see more of the sunset, but I was just happy to have gotten any tickets during dusk. It was still an incredible view, and it was a clear day so we could see Fuji in the distance. Mom and Dad were a bit overwhelmed by crowds at this point, so we headed back to the hotel and had dinner at a soba chain near the station, opposed to trying to find something in Shibuya. Mom and Dad were in bed before 9:00.
This was definitely the most crowded day we experienced during the trip. My parents said that while they don’t feel the need to ever go back to Shibuya or Shinjuku, they were happy that they had had the experience of seeing them, and don’t regret going, even with the crowds. I had originally planned Shibuya, then Shinjuku in the evening so we weren’t doubling back, but the garden closes late afternoon and it worked out with the evening Shibuya Sky tickets.
May 5th (Children’s Day)- Tokyo/Kyoto
(Hotel Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kyoto Kiyomizu Gojo-Connecting Twin Rooms)
Checked out of the hotel early and made our way to Tokyo Station. We had breakfast at a cafe in the basement, before dropping our backpacks in a locker and taking a walk around the Imperial Palace grounds. After we got our bags back, we grabbed some ekibens for lunch and caught the 10:30 shinkansen to Kyoto.
Because of the holiday and wanting us to be sitting on the Fuji side, these were the only shinkansen tickets I booked in advance. I booked through the JR west site, just under a month before. I had no problem using my Canadian mastercard to pay, and at that time there were still lots of seats available. It all worked out too as we had amazing weather and got a beautiful view of Fuji.
After arriving in Kyoto, we picked up my parents JR Kansai-Hiroshima passes. I am not eligible for one as a foreign resident, but they were definitely worth it for my parents, and if I planned better, we could have gotten more value out of them.
After dropping our stuff off at our hotel, we went to Kinkaku-ji. The crowds weren’t as bad as I was expecting for mid afternoon during Golden Week and we thought the pavilion was very beautiful. After a vending machine ice cream we hopped on the bus to Arashiyama. The bamboo grove also was not nearly as crowded as I expected and we even had to empty spots to take pictures. Main street Arashiyama on the other hand, was very crowded, with a lot of tourists (foreign and local) having to walk on the road. We walked down to the Kimono Forest which was very cool and then headed out after that.
We planned on finding a restaurant in Kyoto Station for dinner, but as we were on the train back, we were delayed due to Kyoto Station being temporarily shut down to investigate a suspicious item. It turned out to just be a forgotten backpack but I think most trains were delayed about two hours. The delay sucked, but I guess it’s to be safe than sorry. (That’s probably easier to say as someone already in Kyoto vs one of the people who would have been stuck on an inbound shinkansen.)
After catching a replacement bus that was enroute to go near our hotel, we decided to bail on dinner at the station and find something closer to us. We ended up in a small and smokey but still tasty yakitori place before calling it a night.
May 6th (Substitute Holiday)- Kyoto
Waking up early again, we caught the train to Fushimi Inari. There was a small family restaurant on the main street leading up to the shrine that had just opened. (I think this was just after 8:00 am) We stopped there for breakfast before going up to the shrine. We got pretty far before Dad’s knees started bothering him. Fortunately on the hike down we passed a shrine dedicated to back and knee health, so Mom and I bought an omamori for him.
After that we headed to Kiyomizudera. I think this temple was my parents' favourite of all the shrines and temples we went to, minus the hills. We didn’t find the streets too crowded at this point but the hills and stairs did not help my parents' feet and knees. They did really enjoy walking through the temple when we got there, and we could have spent a lot more time here, but we had a lunch plans.
I booked us a 12:30 lunch reservation at Yakinikugyusho Shin. Normally I don’t bother too much with reservations when I travel but I was worried about the Golden Week crowds and I wanted to make sure we had at least one nice meal somewhere in Kyoto. I booked this through TableCheck. We all had different beef rice bowls and they were all delicious. The restaurant had a really cool traditional atmosphere too.
After that we wandered the area for a bit before heading to the Samurai Museum. I personally thought it was a bit overpriced for what it is, but our guide was funny and had a lot of information. We did enjoy the throwing stars experience at the end as well. We weren’t too keen on the optional samurai dress up experience so we opted out of that. We headed back to the hotel for a rest before heading out for dinner at a nearby burger place called Burger Eleven, which we were pretty happy with. Headed back to the hotel to pack and have an early night.
May 7th- Kyoto/Hiroshima
(Hotel The Knot Hiroshima-Triple Room)
We checked out of the hotel early in the morning after having our suitcases shipped to our Osaka hotel. Once again, really easy and worthwhile. After that we head to Nishiki Market for breakfast of tempura and seafood. We arrived as things were starting to open and not too crowded. After pursuing all the shops we bussed to Kyoto Station to head off to Hiroshima.
I had no idea how to use my parents' JR passes at the ticket machines, and since we would need both shinkansen tickets and limited express Haruka tickets to Shin-Osaka, I just decided to go straight to the ticket office and have them do it. They had English speaking staff, so it was really easy. We were able to get reserved seats together on the next train out.
We arrived in Hiroshima at our hotel around 2:00 pm. We went to drop off our backpacks, but the hotel actually let us check in early which was great. Then we toured around Hiroshima Castle and then Shukkeien Gardens. I feel like I could have spent hours in the garden, but Mom was dealing with some pretty intense blisters, so we walked around for a bit and fed the carps before heading back to the hotel. We had a drink at the hotel’s rooftop bar before dinner. The original plan was to walk to Okonomimura for dinner, but Mom’s feet weren’t up for it. We found a nearby restaurant called Hazaya, which was a great alternative. After dinner we grabbed some snacks and called it a night.
May 8th- Hiroshima/Osaka
(Hotel WBF Namba Motomachi-Two Double Rooms)
Up early again to visit the Peace Memorial Park and Museum. Ticket sales the day of started at 8:30 and we were first in line. It seems you can enter earlier with an e-ticket, which we could have bought on the spot, but we decided to wait the 10ish minutes till the counter opened. I won’t say much about the Museum other than it was very heavy, but incredibly well done. I highly recommend it. We beat a lot of the crowd, including most of the school tours that were arriving as we were leaving. After a small breakfast at the museum cafe we walked through the park and to the dome, then grabbed our bags from the hotel and headed to Osaka. Once again, did not want to fiddle around with the JR passes and ticket machines, so we went to the ticket office. We could have been on the next train out, but waited for the one after so we had time to grab lunch at the station.
We arrived in Osaka, checked in to the hotel, and headed to the Tempozan Wheel. The view was great, but the wind was quite strong, which scared my parents who are terrified of heights. This was in the afternoon but I imagine the night view would be amazing. After a little stroll around the area, we headed to Dotonburi for dinner. Mom and Dad weren’t too keen on takoyaki, which I was surprised by. They both decided they favoured Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. I’m more for Osaka-style but I won’t say no to either. Did a little bit of souvenir shopping before heading back to the hotel for the night.
May 9th-Osaka/Hokkaido
We set off early for Osaka Castle. Enjoyed walking around the grounds and the surrounding park. I took some of this subreddit’s advice and didn’t go inside the castle. We had gone inside the Hiroshima Castle, which is also pretty museum-like, so we weren’t upset to miss this one.
After enjoying the morning, we made our way back to the hotel to get our suitcases, then caught the bus from Namba OCAT station to KIX airport. We had time for lunch before checking in to our flight to Chitose. I don’t know about the international terminal, but the food options on the domestic side at KIX are pretty minimal. Had an easy flight to Chitose where I was reunited with my car and drove us to my house for the night.
May 10th- Sapporo
(Hotel Quintessa Hotel Susukino 63-One Queen Room and One Double)
From here out the trip was a much slower and relaxing pace. Had a lazy morning before making our way to Sapporo by car. Checked into our hotel and did a little shopping near Sapporo station. Attended a Fighters game that evening, which was a great time! ES Con Field is a beautiful brand new stadium and has a lot of great food options. I don’t follow baseball much but we still all really enjoyed the atmosphere. The Fighters won which I am sure helped a lot. I know they’re not one of the super popular teams in Japan, but if you’re a baseball fan with a free evening or afternoon in Hokkaido, I think the stadium alone is worth seeing a game here for.
May 11th- Jozankei
(Ryokan Hana Momiji-Comfort Japanese-style Room)
Checked out of our hotel just before 10 a.m.. We walked down to Shiawase-no-Pancake for a fluffy pancake breakfast, before driving an hour to Jozankei. We had a reservation at the Hana Momiji ryokan. My parents both have tattoos, but wanted to try an onsen. I looked at a few ryokan options in Jozankei before picking this one. Any room with a private onsen was out of our budget, but Hana Momiji has several private baths that guests can book, so this was the best option for us. We first arrived and parked at the ryokan before wandering around the town.
We came across a small temple that just so happened to have a small cave you could walk through that was full of Kannon statues. A bit strange but very cool. There were still carp streamers up so we enjoyed seeing them over the river. We had lunch at a small ramen shop, did a little more souvenir shopping, then headed back to the ryokan to check in. Mom and Dad enjoyed the private bath before dinner, and I used the public bath on the top floor after dinner. It was a little crowded for the shower stations but for a while I had the outdoor bath all to myself which was grand. The ryokan’s kaiseki dinner was amazing but we weren’t too hungry from lunch, and the food just kept coming. The sukiyaki was my favourite. After I visited the onsen we relaxed in our room for the rest of the night.
May 12th- Otaru (Mother’s Day)
We woke up and had the buffet breakfast at the ryokan. The buffet had a lot of options but was a bit underwhelming compared to the kaiseki dinner. We checked out at 10 a.m. and continued to Otaru. Since it was Mother’s Day, my siblings and I agreed I was to organise something nice for Mom. I decided to take us to a glass blowing workshop. This might seem random for Japan, but for some reason, Otaru is well known for glass blowing and music boxes. We had an 11 a.m. reservation at Studio J-45. The shop is more on the outskirts of the city, but it was a beautiful little store, and the staff were so friendly and helpful. There were only three staff members and one of them spoke English well enough to explain everything to my parents. My mom made a flower vase, my dad made a wind-chime, and I made a cup. It was a really fun and easy process and all of our pieces came out beautifully. I think the best way to access this place is by car, but if that's an option for you and you’re looking for a unique experience, I highly recommend this studio! One thing to keep in mind is that the pieces need to cook in the oven after, so you’ll either need to be able to pick them up another day, or have somewhere in Japan they can be shipped to (for a fee I believe). I could have shipped to my house but I wanted to make sure Mom and Dad had them before they left.
After that we headed into downtown Otaru to meet some of my friends. There was a cruise ship docked this day so it was a bit more crowded than usual. We stopped in at the music box museum and then we all went for lunch together and had some delicious gyukatsu. We strolled down the rest of main street to the canal. At this point it was late afternoon and starting to rain. Most things in Otaru close pretty early anyway so we said goodbye to my friends and drove back to my town for the night.
May 13th- Home
Didn’t do much today. I worked a half day to save some PTO. Dad wanted BBQ for lunch so we went to a yakiniku place in the next town over, and then met one of my friends at Hamasushi for dinner (our usual go-to spot).
May 14th- Sapporo
(Via Inn Prime Sapporo Odori-Triple Room)
Last full day in Japan for my parents. Worked another half day in the morning. Took a detour to Otaru on the way to Sapporo to collect our glassware. Arrived in Sapporo and checked into the hotel, then had tough time trying to find overnight parking. For our last dinner I booked a reservation in Kessel Hall at the Sapporo Beer Garden. (Booked online through their website.) Didn’t do all you can eat Ghenhis Khan (mutton), because as we were heading out my dad mentioned he doesn’t like lamb. 🤦So he had a seafood platter, mom had a sausage dish, and I ordered some lamb a la carte. Sure enough, he tried a piece of mine and made me order another plate of it. We enjoyed the beer and dessert as well, then went back to our hotel. The hotel had a public bath which I enjoyed that evening before heading to bed.
May 15th-Home
Woke up early to drive Mom and Dad to Shin-Chitose for their 10 a.m. flight to Narita. This would have given them plenty of time to get to their 4 p.m. flight to Vancouver, but just to be safe, AirCanada kindly delayed the flight till 8 p.m. so they could spend half a day in Narita.
Some closing thoughts:
Golden Week Crowds- I was really expecting the worst when it came to the crowds, especially in Kyoto, but I honestly didn’t find them to be that bad. Maybe I just got lucky but other than the day in Shinjuku and Shibuya, I never felt I was being “herded” anywhere. At Kinkakuji, we would maybe have to wait a minute to get a spot at the fence for pictures but it was never shoulder to shoulder like I was expecting. Kiyomizudera was really only crowded on the walk down, especially when cars were passing. We didn’t go to any viral restaurants, but we never had to wait more than 10ish minutes to be seated anywhere. It was probably more a case of right time, right place, but if you end up stuck with a Japan trip planned during Golden Week, I think as long as you’re patient and well planned, you can still have a really nice trip.
-Parents used Sakura mobile esims. It took us a couple tries to get the access point info input correctly but once we did, they had no problems.
-Didn’t want to deal with tracking down IC cards in Tokyo (we all have androids) so I brought two Kitaca cards from Hokkaido that they were able to use everywhere we went.
-Like I mentioned, I could have gotten more value out of the JR Kansai-Hiroshima pass had I planned better. Ex: I know you can use them on the express train from Osaka to KIX. Since our hotel was in Namba we weren’t anywhere convenient to catch it, and I was worried we would haul our luggage to Osaka station, only to not be able to find enough lockers to put our stuff in. It was just easier to leave our bags at the hotel, come back, then take the nearby limousine bus. If I did this again using these passes, I would have booked our hotel closer to Osaka station. That said, using the passes just to go from Kyoto to Hiroshima to Osaka already saved my parents about 5k yen each.
-Other than the ryokan, which I booked through their site, all our hotels were booked through Agoda.
-I mentioned Mom had blisters. She had gotten really good shoes, but it was her socks that caused all the problems with the toe seams rubbing the wrong way. Make sure if you’re investing in good shoes, you have some good socks to go with them.
-Overall I think it was a really good trip. It was tiring but fun to tour my parents around Japan. It looks like a lot very quickly, but we got through everything I had put on our itinerary, and didn’t feel rushed anywhere, other than our Kyoto lunch reservation. My parents enjoyed the peacefulness of Hiroshima the most, and we would have liked to see Miyajima if we had time, so should they come back, that is where they would probably visit again.
If you made it through this whole thing, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed or found this helpful!

Was watching The Big Lebowski and one scene had me laughing hard. Now this was a long time ago, I'm thinking of it now only because one of my friends was talking about the ending. Anyhow, I remembered I was the movie theater and there are some pretty funny scenes but I was having kind of a bad day and didn't laugh much at any.
Then there was this scene here (see link, NSFW) and I got the giggles and just couldn't stop laughing. I was there with a couple of people and they kind of looked at me like I had gone insane. Just the expression on the Jeff Bridges face as he tries to make sense of the drawing was so priceless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw46CTJJ32k

I know people have their reservations about Synchrony bank, but so far this card has been great for me. It's my catch-all 2% card, plus carries the additional benefit of 3% PayPal.
I recently went on a trip, and paid for the rental car via PayPal, using this credit card. For any incidentals, the lady at the counter asked for a credit card, and I handed her this card.
"We don't take PayPal."
"Ok, but this isn't PayPal."
"I understand, but we don't accept PayPal, Venmo, Cashapp, etc. We won't get paid if that happens."
"I understand what you're saying, but this is not PayPal. It is a Mastercard, issued through Synchrony Bank."
"I understand, and I don't mean to be rude, but we cannot accept PayPal."
I didn't want to get into an argument or make a fuss, so I ended up giving her a different card. I just wanted to share with you all because I thought it was kind of funny / interesting. Having people think I'm using PayPal was not an issue I expected to have or experienced so far with this card. Kind of ironic, considering I booked the rental with this card!

TW: cursing, bullying
“Fuck you!”
“Oh yeah? Well, fuck you, too!” I shouted, sending an egg hurtling through the air. It landed square between Biff’s eyeballs with a satisfying splat.
“You’re gonna pay for that, you little punk! Just wait ‘til I get my hands on y-”
I didn’t even listen to what Biff had to say. I unloaded on him, releasing a barrage of yolky fury onto my unsuspecting victim. He couldn’t get another word in. Once I was out of ammo, I grinned at the runny wide receiver, dropped my empty carton, and bolted. Biff was still wiping egg whites from his eyes as I disappeared around the corner.
Okay, I guess I’d better explain myself before I get canceled, huh?
Before the incident, I liked to think of myself as a Robin Hood, of sorts. There were the bullies, the victims, and then there was me. I would put the bullies in their place. I was the one who all the defenseless kids would turn to for help. The way I saw it, guys like Biff deserved to take a carton of eggs to the dome. He was a jock, which automatically made him a douchebag… right?
I have since come to the conclusion that I have royally fucked up in my assessment of a large percentage of the student body. As it turns out, the biggest asshole in all of this was me. But, you know what they say. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
I snickered to myself as I strolled down the sidewalk, cooking up my next act of mischief, when it happened. A bony shoulder collided with my chest, knocking the wind out of me.
“Ughh. Watch where you’re going, Pipsqueak,” I hissed, glaring at the boy sitting on the ground before me. A Nintendo Switch had clattered to the ground beside him. The screen was completely shattered.
Though jet-black bangs obscured the boy’s eyes from view, I could tell that he was beginning to cry. A pang of sympathy shot through my chest like a lightning bolt. I shouldn’t have lashed out at him like that.
“Look man, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone off on you. You just caught me off guard. Here, let me help you up,” I said, extending a hand.
He instantly swatted it away. “Go fuck yourself,” the boy muttered, cradling his broken gaming device.
“Excuse me? I didn’t quite catch that. I could have sworn that I heard you tell me to go fuck myself, but that can’t be right. I’ve gotta be hearing things.”
“You heard me. I said go. Fuck. Yourself,” he retorted, meeting my gaze. I could see fire behind his teary pupils.
“Seriously? You weren’t watching where you were going either. It’s not my fault that you weren’t paying attention to your surroundings.”
My new buddy picked himself up off the ground, and glowered up at me with the most hateful stare I have ever seen in my entire life. I could practically feel the rage oozing from every pore in his body. Needless to say, he was pissed.
“You’re gonna pay for this. Do you know how fucking long it took me to save up enough money for that thing? YEARS. I’ve had this Switch for four days. All that time and money just for you to come along and screw it all up. I’m not having that shit,” he spat, jabbing a finger inches from my face.
At that moment, it felt as if a switch (no pun intended) had been flipped. I didn’t care that he’d broken his precious gaming console anymore. I wasn’t going to let some random kid guilt me into paying for something just because he didn’t want to take accountability for his actions. No one talks to me like that and gets away with it.
I stuffed my hands into my pockets, searching for anything I could use in retaliation. A wide grin inched across my face when my fingers grazed a solid object.
In one swift motion, I splattered the spare egg I’d been saving onto the boy’s head, ruffling his hair to ensure that it really got down in there. The look on his face was priceless. He was so stunned that he didn’t have time to get a word in before I raced down the street.
I glanced back only once between giggles. He wasn’t following me. I watched as he wiped his head, somberly staring down at the ruined Nintendo. I didn’t feel one inkling of remorse. But now, I’m terrified of the repercussions.
***
“Sup, bitch,” Carter snarled as I made my way inside. I pursed my lips. I had really been hoping that he wouldn’t be home.
“Screw off, dude. I’ve had a long day,” I said, trying to brush past him. To my immense dismay, he caught my arm before I could leave.
“Well, it’s about to get a whole lot longer,” he replied, flashing me a disgusting grin.
I gulped, mustering every ounce of courage I had. “I’m tired of your shit, Farter. You think you can do whatever you want just because you’re bigger than me. News flash: I’m done,” I hissed, flinging his hand off of me.
“Ah, ah, ah. You’re done when I say you’re done, Butt Munch. And I say…” Carter pondered his next move for a moment. It was taking him a frightening amount of time. Thinking wasn’t his strong suit.
His eyes suddenly lit up. My heart dropped into my stomach, and I frowned. I knew that look. “It’s toilet time!”
All the color drained from my face. “Please, not that. Anything but that.”
“Too late. My mind’s made up,” Carter said, putting me in a headlock and leading me to the bathroom.
“Eh, ow! M-M-” Carter vehemently shook his head, placing a meaty hand over my mouth to shut me up. I bit his finger, hard. He released me, giving me a chance to shout for help.
“MOM!!!”
Carter scowled at me before slinking away. “You win this round, Turd Face. But you’d better watch your back. I’m gonna mess you up the first chance I get.”
“CARTER. LEAVE YOUR BROTHER ALONE. DON’T MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE,” Mom shouted from upstairs.
“Yes, ma’am!” he replied, disappearing into his room. But not without flipping me the bird first, of course.
I breathed an audible sigh of relief, slumping down against the wall. I was extremely grateful for my mother. If it wasn’t for her, who knows what kind of ungodly war crimes Carter would have subjected me to. He really was an ass.
The next day, I plopped into my seat with less than a minute to spare. I was out of breath from sprinting all the way to school. If I was tardy one more time, I’d find myself in detention, and that did not sound appealing.
As I unpacked my bag, I noticed something lying on my desk. It was a photograph.
I cautiously flipped it over, expecting to find some incriminating image of me doing God knows what to an unsuspecting douche bag. What I saw still gives me chills to this day.
It was a picture of my house. It appeared to have been taken at night, from across the street. Beads of sweat began to form atop my brow. With how many people I’d messed with, I had no earthly idea who the culprit could be.
I flipped the photograph over, desperately searching for any clue as to who had left it there. There was faint writing on the back. In addition to my name and home address, there was a note.
Anthony Hopkins -
This is your only warning. Leave the money to repair my Nintendo Switch behind the school’s dumpster by 5 P.M. sharp, or I will take action.
Have the worst day possible,
Logan
My blood began to boil. The freak from the day before. That creepy little bastard was trying to threaten me? Who the hell did he think he was? I was fuming.
As you can imagine, I wasn’t going to take his note seriously. He’d managed to find my house, so what? He’d probably looked up my info on one of those shady subscription services. I was tempted to try and find his house and teepee it overnight. But then, I got an even better idea.
Logan wanted me to leave the money behind the dumpster, eh? I had no intention of doing that, but I was going to leave him something.
I grinned maliciously as I retrieved Logan’s gift from my locker at the end of the school day. I was going to teach that kid a lesson - Nobody fucks with Anthony Hopkins.
I had to stifle my giggles as I placed the fart bomb discreetly behind the big blue dumpster. I’d rigged it to where the slightest jiggle would cause a massive stink cloud to explode in the face of whoever was unfortunate enough to discover my little trap.
Honestly, I was impressed with my own ingenuity. I’m obviously not the brightest crayon in the box, so that took a lot of brainpower.
I had a smug grin plastered across my face the entire walk home. Upon arriving, I confidently strolled into the kitchen to find Mom cooking dinner. Meatloaf night. Not my favorite, but I wasn’t going to complain. I would eat a dead rat if it meant Mom was happy.
“Hey kiddo,” she said as I tossed my backpack aside.
“Hey Mom. Dinner smells amazing. Um… is Carter here?” I replied, glancing down at the ground.
“Well, thank you, Sweetheart. No, your brother is spending the night at Jimmy’s house. It’ll just be you and me,” Mom smirked, before turning back to the pot of green beans simmering on the stove.
I released the breath that I hadn’t known I’d been holding. It felt as if a weight had been lifted. Every day that I didn’t have to deal with Carter was cause for celebration.
“Cool,” I said, heading upstairs. “Thanks for making dinner. I’ll be back down in a few minutes.” Mom smiled at me as I disappeared from view. I didn’t deserve such kindness.
The remainder of the night was relatively mundane. Mom and I ate dinner and watched a low-budget comedy film on Netflix, before turning in for the night. I didn’t have many friends due to my antics, but I don’t mind it much. Unlike most kids my age, I have no qualms about spending my weekends watching trashy movies with my mother. Maybe that’s because she’s one of the only people who truly cares about me… I’m not really sure.
After spending way too much time doom scrolling on Reddit, I finally decided to hit the hay. With the knowledge that I’d exacted my revenge and that I didn’t have to worry about my brother dunking my head in a toilet, I fell right to sleep.
I awoke at some point in the middle of the night. I groggily rubbed my eyes and glanced at the alarm clock on my bedside table. 3:03 A.M. Strange.
I tried my best to drift back to sleep, but some abominable smell had assaulted my nostrils. It was faint, but pungent. In my sleep deprived state, my first thought was that Carter had managed to shit the bed. I rolled onto my side, my curiosity satiated, and quickly fell back to sleep.
I stretched my arms above my head and yawned. This time, I’d woken up at a reasonable hour. I shuffled out of my room and headed downstairs for breakfast. My brows furrowed as I entered the kitchen. Someone had knocked a few plastic cups onto the ground, and the back door was hanging wide open.
“Mom? Carter?” I yelled, hoping that one of them could offer some sort of explanation.
I received no response.
I darted to Mom’s room, praying that my intuition was wrong. My blood ran cold when I laid eyes upon the scene before me.
Mom’s room was a wreck. It appeared as if a struggle had taken place. Pictures were scattered about the floor. All the trinkets on Mom’s nightstand had been strewn across the carpet. Blankets and pillows were haphazardly tossed everywhere. But worst of all? There was a bloody streak splattered across the wall.
“No. This can’t be happening? Why would somebody do this? Mom never hurt anyone.”
I suddenly thought to check my phone. Maybe Mom had left me some sort of message. I needed to at least try to call her to see if she was okay. I bolted upstairs in record time, and retrieved my iPhone. I am still downright horrified at what awaited me.
I had received a text message from an unknown number. My eyes grew wide as dinner plates. With trembling hands, I hurriedly opened it.
You had your chance, Anthony. I’m done playing around. You took something precious from me, so now I’m taking something precious from you. I want five grand. I’ll off her if you don’t comply. Put it behind the school’s dumpster like I previously requested. And no funny business. No more stink bombs, and no cops. I’m watching you. If you so much as think about dialing 9-1-1, I’ll be the first person to know. I’m looking forward to doing business with you (:
Tears began to well in the corners of my eyes. The message had come with an attachment. Dread swallowed me like a python as I motioned to open it. I already knew what it would contain.
It was a photograph of my mother tied to a chair in some filthy looking basement. She’d been blindfolded and gagged with a streak of blood coagulating on her cheek. She looked terrified. My heart absolutely shattered for her.
I don’t know what to do. I have fifteen dollars to my name. I don’t want to risk calling the police in case Logan finds out. I’m posting this anonymously on an old laptop that I don’t use so he won’t suspect anything. Please, if anyone has any suggestions, help me. I just want Mom to come home.
NS Post

In the sultry summer heat of Seville, Isabella Alvarez, a young and ambitious journalist, found herself standing on the threshold of a grand estate. She had been invited to interview the elusive and dashing Rafael Martinez, a reclusive billionaire known for his philanthropic endeavors and scandalous affairs. The mystery surrounding Rafael had always intrigued her, and this was her chance to uncover the man behind the legend.
As she entered the opulent foyer, her heart pounded with anticipation. The estate's magnificence was overwhelming, with gilded mirrors and priceless artworks adorning the walls. A butler escorted her to a spacious, sunlit library, where Rafael awaited her.
Rafael stood by the window, his chiseled features and smoldering gaze more captivating in person than Isabella had imagined. He turned to her with a charming smile that made her knees weak. "Miss Alvarez, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Isabella's voice caught in her throat, but she composed herself. "Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Mr. Martinez."
"Please, call me Rafael," he said, motioning for her to sit.
She took a seat, and Rafael settled into the chair opposite her, his intense gaze never leaving her face. As they began the interview, Isabella couldn't help but notice the way his eyes lingered on her lips, the subtle heat in his gaze igniting a fire within her. She struggled to stay professional, asking him about his latest philanthropic projects and his views on wealth and responsibility.
Throughout their conversation, Rafael's responses were punctuated with a surprising depth of thought. "To begin is easy; to persist is an art," he said, quoting one of Josemaria Escriva's maxims from "The Way."
Isabella found herself drawn to his intellect as much as his physical allure. "You speak as if you follow Escriva's teachings closely."
Rafael smiled, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Indeed, I do. His words remind me that 'A saint is a sinner who keeps trying.'"
The interview progressed, and the air between them crackled with unspoken desire. As the sun dipped below the horizon, Rafael leaned closer, his voice a seductive whisper. "The interview is over, Isabella. Now, I want to know more about you."
Isabella's breath hitched as his hand brushed against hers. "Rafael, this isn't professional..."
He chuckled softly, his fingers tracing a line up her arm. "Sometimes, to win the war, you have to lose a battle. Let yourself feel, Isabella."
His words, another of Escriva's maxims, resonated deeply within her. She felt her resolve crumble as he leaned in, his lips capturing hers in a passionate kiss. The world outside ceased to exist as their bodies intertwined, driven by a mutual hunger that could no longer be denied.
Hours later, they lay entwined in the sheets of his grand bed, the moonlight casting a soft glow over their naked bodies. Rafael's fingers traced circles on her skin, his voice a tender murmur. "Never lose your supernatural outlook," he quoted, his eyes filled with a mix of satisfaction and reverence.
Isabella smiled, feeling a strange sense of peace. She had come to uncover a story, but had found something much more profound. In Rafael's arms, she discovered a passion that transcended the physical, a connection that spoke to her soul.
As dawn approached, Rafael held her close, whispering one last maxim in her ear. "In the end, it is love that has the greatest power."
And in that moment, Isabella knew she had found not just a story, but the beginning of a new chapter in her life, one filled with passion, purpose, and the wisdom of "The Way."

The future is already here - it's just not very evenly distributed." - William Gibson
This famous quote by William Gibson embodies the mission of enterapp. EntyLabs is on a mission to revolutionize crypto banking, making it more accessible and efficient for everyone.
Using traditional banks for crypto transactions can be a hassle, but enterapp is here to change that narrative. With this new platform, managing your crypto is as easy as managing your regular bank account. From buying to spending, enterapp supports all your needs with the backing of Visa and Mastercard.
The $ENTY token pre-sale is a game-changer, offering early investors the chance to multiply their investments by up to 50 times. Priced at just $0.001 now, the tokens will soon be worth $0.05 each. Enterapp is set to redefine how we interact with crypto, making now the best time to join the movement. Seize the opportunity today!