I was recently approved for a Chinese tourist visa from Seoul while backpacking through Korea on an American passport.
I found Reddit has a mixed consensus on my situation so I thought I’d contribute my experience. I am an American citizen visiting Korea with no visa. While in Seoul I applied for a Chinese visa and was accepted. A few things I learned:

• Visa center is in Myeongdong, Seoul
• No appointment required as of posting this
• The Korean “Entry Confirmation” sticker on my passport (which I received when entering the country) was the only Korean documentation I needed
• I paid for “urgent” processing by asking the attendant nicely. It cost ~180 USD, I dropped my application off on a Thursday and picked my Visa up on a Friday
• My girlfriend is in my situation but also has dual citizenship in a European country, which turned out to be a complicating factor. We had to get additional Korean documentation for her that validated she had entered Korea on her American passport and not her European passport. We visited a Korean immigration office in Seoul and got two Korean Certificates of Entry and Exit.

I joined this company last year as a software engineer. They told me that I will get to do low level systems programming work. But when I started they made me do solutions engineering work and server management work.
I was very depressed and couldn't get anything done. I complained to my manager who did nothing.
In April of this year I was put on a PIP(Performance improvement plan). My RSUs were vesting in May, so I stayed. I forced myself to work on the projects that I was assigned.
Now my RSUs have vested and I have another job offer in hand and I want to leave. The only problem is that if I leave on my own before 12 months I have to pay 100% of the relocation bonus and relocation expenses. According to my offer letter they won't pro-rate the amount that I have to payback if I leave on my own or if I am terminated for-cause.
Relocation bonus: 7K
Packers & movers: 10k? (I don't know how much they paid for this service. But they also stored my belongs for 2 weeks in a storage room)
Hotel for 2 weeks: 2K ~ 3K Flight tickets & Transportation & Meals: ~1K
H1b immigration related expense: 10K?
So roughly I have to return back 30K if I leave on my own. And the whole reason I am leaving before finishing 12 months is because they put me on a PIP. If they wouldn't have put me on a PIP I would have stayed for 12 months at least.
So essentially my question is, what do I tell the HR that they: 1) Terminate me from my job.
2) Terminate my employment in a way that it doesn't show up on my background check
3) I also don't have to return the money that they paid me.
4) Terminate my employment before the end of next week. My starting date at the new job is only 2 weeks away.

So I recently applied for a new program and major in the faculty of arts and science. Bare in mind, the last two semesters i’ve been studying in a certificate program at JMSB.
My question is, I got admitted to the program I applied for, but I do not want to continue the certificate. I don’t really know what to do, nor did I see anything before my application on how to withdraw from the certificate.
Keep in mind I only got my acceptance letter on Thursday. I did already email my advisor at JMSB but he only comes back to the office next Friday, and I emailed my admissions officer. So, is this just a wait and see situation, or can I do something in the meantime to resolve this?
To sum up; I want to know how I can solely have my new major and faculty in my academic requirements and how I can solely be a student in one faculty (because quite frankly, I do not want to study this certificate anymore, just the major I got admitted to).
Anything helps!

I am a first time mom with a 6 week old baby who is exclusively breastfeeding. My husband and I are immigrants, so we don't have any family support in the country we are currently residing in, so when we found out I was pregnant, I asked my mum if she would be able to come help us with the house and baby for a couple months. She agreed and she is now currently staying with us until the end of June to help out.
Since the arrival of our little girl, I have been trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Every day seems like a struggle that I don't even know where to begin articulating my thoughts.
I am currently struggling with mastitis and vasospasms. It hurts so much to breastfeed, and it really doesn't help that baby's latch is not the best. We always try to get a good initial latch, then she starts wiggling and turning her head from side to side, pulling my nipples and sliding off the big mouthful of breast. And when I try to break off the latch and relatch her, she screams and cries. Honestly, breastfeeding has taken a lot of my emotional and physical toll and constantly feel like I am a terrible mother because I can't seem to figure out breastfeeding.
At the peak of my mastitis, I was crying every time she would latch on. My husband and mum doesn't seem to understand the pain that I am in. My husband would be dismissive about the pain - at one of my crying/nursing sessions, he made the comment "how can this be more painful than childbirth? surely if you could go through pushing her out, this can't be as painful". My mum isn't much help with this either. She would constantly give me unsolicited advice that is counterproductive of actually helping my mastitis. She would tell me to "keep pumping until the mastitis clogs come out" and "stop nursing on that side if it hurts so much". I know that she has good intentions because she doesn't want to see me in pain, but after telling her time and time again that her advice is unwanted and unhelpful, she continues to make little remarks like this that I would just hide away in a room to nurse baby so no one could make comments about my pain or crying. This has left me feeling lonely and misunderstood.
It also doesn't help that my husband and mum don't get along very well. I am not expecting them to be the best of friends or anything like that, but I honestly thought the two of them would at least empathize and keep it together instead of putting me in the middle of all the time. My husband thinks that my mum is constantly obsessing over baby - she would run to our room every time she hears her cry and hold her and soothe her until baby is asleep. She is always holding her and very hesitant to pass her to my husband because she thinks that he isn't doing the "right things" to help soothe baby. When I confront my mum about this, she goes on about how my husband is doing things wrong when soothing the baby and how he doesn't know how to take care of baby properly.
The two of them even butt heads at things completely unrelated about baby - one perfect example is cooking dinner. My husband eats a lot as he doesn't eat much during work, so when he comes home from work, he would eat a massive dinner and then some. My mum would help us cook dinner as I am usually nursing or having a nap when she's cooking. My husband would say that she's not cooking enough or she doesn't know how to cook for a family (she's been a single mom since I was around 5 years old). When I pass this comment on to my mum, she would then say that if she cooked too much, food would go to waste if we didn't finish it all and she also said that she could see in my husband's face that he didn't like her cooking so she's not very motivated to cook for us anymore. So now I am put in a position where I have to cut down on my nap and cook for the family right after nursing baby. This leaves me extra tired in during the night feeds, and I would find myself sleeping in during the day - which then pisses my husband off because I am not awake to eat breakfast with him in the morning. When I explain to him that I'm tired because I don't get to nap as much during the day as I am now cooking dinner for the family, he retaliated by saying "isn't this why your mum is here? to help us with things like this?"
The cherry on top of this disaster sundae is that when baby is inconsolably crying, both my mum and husband would immediately turn to me and ask "what's wrong with her? why is she crying?" like I'm supposed to be some magical baby translator. This question really pisses me off. Why can't they try and figure out why she's crying themselves? And almost 90% of the time both my husband and mum would put the baby in my arms and tell me she's hungry when she literally just had a big feed. No. She's not hungry, she's tired. And the both of you have kept her up for too long and she's now cranky. She'll suckle on my painful, sore nipples for comfort and then fall asleep.
I honestly don't even know how to continue like this. I have tried talking to both my husband and mum but they seem to be very set in their own ways. My husband refuses to talk it out with my mum as he thinks he might lose his temper, and my mum is too passive and a pushover to actually say anything to him.
I am at my wit's end. Please help me navigate this.

The email I received
Your Visa Application: VAF xxxxxxxxxxxxx Dear xxxxxxxxxxxx
Regarding Visa Application: GWFxxxxxxxxxxx For:xxxxxxxxxxx
Your online application has been received at the UK Decision Making Centre. Your application is currently being prepared for consideration by an Entry Clearance Officer.
Please note that UKVI aims to complete all EEA and EUSS family permit visas as soon as possible.
We regret that we are unable to respond to enquiries asking about the status of any application. Any status enquiry should be made to the international enquiry service, details of which are on the GOV.UK website. Staff at Embassies, visa processing centres and visa application centres cannot assist with visa enquiries. You may also wish to view the current processing times for applications made in your country.
A further email will be sent to you to confirm when your application has been assessed and dispatched. If your application was made in a Visa Application Centre, the staff there will contact you when your documents are ready – please do not attend the Centre until you are requested to do so.
Further information is also available on the UK visas and immigration website.
Kind regards,
UK Decision Making Centre

The email I received
Your Visa Application: VAF xxxxxxxxxx Dear xxxxxxx
Regarding Visa Application: GWFxxxxx For: xxxxxxxx
Your online application has been received at the UK Decision Making Centre. Your application is currently being prepared for consideration by an Entry Clearance Officer.
Please note that UKVI aims to complete all EEA and EUSS family permit visas as soon as possible.
We regret that we are unable to respond to enquiries asking about the status of any application. Any status enquiry should be made to the international enquiry service, details of which are on the GOV.UK website. Staff at Embassies, visa processing centres and visa application centres cannot assist with visa enquiries. You may also wish to view the current processing times for applications made in your country.
A further email will be sent to you to confirm when your application has been assessed and dispatched. If your application was made in a Visa Application Centre, the staff there will contact you when your documents are ready – please do not attend the Centre until you are requested to do so.
Further information is also available on the UK visas and immigration website.
Kind regards,
UK Decision Making Centre

My wife and I are on the precipice of separation. It is not my choice, but I accept this is how is has to be. Currently we are married, living together, own a home, have a child. But one of us will move out in a few months.
I have been the primary earner for the 20 years we've been together. My income last year was about four times what she made, and that was a relatively good year for her. Additionally, I brought in assets into our partnership where she just brought debt.
She has a private therapy practice and *could* boost her income and decrease her expenses, but she hasn't been motivated to do so. So she has a waiting list of clients, she has a big office that's vacant over half the time and no sublettor etc.
She is a licensed therapist. She absolutely has a lot of earning potential that she has never lived up to.
IMO, a big reason she hasn't been earning up to her potential that she hasn't had to. I've supported her. I've even tried to support her growing her business, making her website, helping her with her office, subsidizing her going to entrepreneurial workshops etc. I would have been thrilled if she made more than I did!
But why should she work harder when she hasn't had to?
I have a lot of emotions around this obviously, but my question is pragmatic. It seems like the way spousal support generally works is that the more money she makes, the less I contribute. So what's the motivation for her to work harder?
I had a crazy idea: what if we invert this? Say, I gave her a low baseline and then I match her income up to a cap. So for example, she is guaranteed $1500/month and I match up to $2k of her income (after expenses) beyond that. So she would be motivated to work.
I can already see problems with this, but it still seems better than a system where she's not motivated to work.
Another alternative is that she signs away spousal support in return for a larger settlement.

Larry Wilmore, guest hosting Lovett or Leave It
...we're keeping it local with Republican nightmare representative Michelle Steel from, you guessed it: Orange County. Now, we know that Michelle Steel might look friendly, like the lady who shakes your hand at the Vancouver immigration offices when you become a Canadian Citizen. And she speaks English, Korean, and Japanese making her fluent in one, two, three, more languages than her, average Republican colleague, but below an exterior that says 'welcome to British Columbia, let me direct you to the nearest Tim Horton's', lurkS someone much more sinister.
Like the time Michelle Steel bragged during a 2014 local Tea Party meeting that she pulled her younger daughter out of UC Santa Cruz because she was starting to support gay marriage [video] and express interest in voting for Barack Obama. Right, because nothing makes a kid want to pledge a lifelong allegiance to the Republican party like their mom telling them that they have to or they'll turn gay. Also she sent her to Loyola Marymount University, a Jesuit college - jokes on you Michelle, the Jesuits are a progressive order who loved the gays! Joke's on you!
In 2017 while serving on the Orange County Board of Supervisors Steel opposed funding for the County's Human Relations Commission, casting the only dissenting vote. Then, that same month she voted to block the release of a report detailing an increase in hate crimes in her district with Black and LGBTQ residents making up a considerable percentage of the victims. Even the Irvine Police Chief pushed for the report to be released. Do you know how much of a fascist you have to be to get outflanked by the Irvine Chief of Police?! It's the planned community Irvine?!
But worst of all, Michelle Steel is California's leading opponent of abortion rights. Thank you Michelle, for breaking the glass ceiling of being terrible to women. Bravo! As a Congresswoman in 2021, Steel co-sponsored the extreme Life at Conception Act which would grant legal personhood to fertilized eggs but after blowback from the Dobbs decision in 2022, Steel saw the writing on the wall and withdrew her name as co-sponsor shortly after reintroducing the bill in 2023.
The bravery that these Republicans show when they face the slightest bit of adversity - sometimes it takes my breath away. Now, as of March 2024 Steel now describes herself as an ardent supporter of IVF despite having many times introduced legislation that would have literally criminalized it. She wrote an op-ed piece in the Orange County Register titled Setting the Record Straight on What I Think About IVF in which she spends most of the piece talking about taxes.
Yeah, so she's trying to cover her tracks on her terrible voting record but can't even bring herself to stick the landing. You're not fooling anyone Michelle. The people of Orange County deserve better, even if the White people there scare me on a deep spiritual level. Sure the sunsets are gorgeous but that's unfortunately right when I need to be out of there, okay?! I never get to see them; this is anecdotal evidence as far as I'm concerned! So if you want to make sure Michelle Steel and other conservative creeps exactly like her don't get into office then head over to Vote Save America.

Vote for Derek Tran and let's send Michelle Steel home!

I’ve been wondering for a while why the series chose to begin with Sauron disguised as a “low-man”, why all of the fuss and secrecy was necessary to the showrunners and why they felt it was worth the risk of season one feeling so different from the Second Age story we were expecting.
When you consider that they’ve stated season two has a canonical story and they feel many fans will feel they’re ‘finally getting the story they wanted for season one’, it seems even more strange that they wouldn’t have simply started out by giving fans what they wanted.
But I think I may understand their reasoning, or at least part of it.
Season one presented a potentially repentant Sauron who was, at least outwardly, wrestling to choose which path he will take forward. Writing him in this way allowed us to meet Sauron before he became the spirit of malice and shadow of Morgoth that we see in The Lord of the Rings. (Yes, he committed great evils before this point but he had not yet reached the height of his power or evil.)
There’s something very poignant about many of Tolkien’s characters being described as the greatest of their kind, such as Melkor or Fëanor, only for these characters to experience an equally devastating fall through the work of their own hands. Sauron was once a Maia of Aulë and well-renowned (even called Mairon, which means Admirable) so the loss of his soul (for lack of a better term) or his potential for goodness is felt keenly. So letting us get to know Sauron as “Halbrand” gives us the time and space to grieve for the loss of Mairon the Admirable before we meet him again as Annatar.
Because the timeline has compressed, we might have witnessed a version of Sauron’s repentance before Eonwë, or at least something meant to remind us of it. They didn’t have the rights to include this moment specifically, but they wanted to convey the sort of rock bottom he’s found himself in and show him rebuilding from scratch. He’s testing different routes to power, and he’s still figuring out the most efficient way to achieve his goals.
As Tolkien explains in Letter 131, he is beginning with fair motives.
His search for light as embodied in his “cosmic” pursuit of Galadriel speaks to his genuine desire to heal and order Middle-earth, and it is also a nod to Melkor’s lust for light in the beginning. Ultimately, like Melkor, he will choose a different path.
But still Sauron lingers here in season one.
By the time Annatar arrives in Eregion, I believe his choice will be clear. There won’t be any doubt or ambiguity left and we’ll see his cruelty on full display.
Side note: I think this also allows the viewers to emphasize with Celebrimbor as we will see him deceived in the coming season. In season one, the viewer was essentially put in Celebrimbor’s shoes to be deceived by Sauron (despite the leaks ruining it for many). So hopefully Celebrimbor’s character arc will be compelling in season two.
Other side note: I’m not really sure if the risk the showrunners took will end up having been worth it to the general/wider audience but I do think, from my perspective, it added a lot of depth to the story they’re trying to tell. However, if you disagree (respectfully) that’s okay!

I just finished Oathbringer and am fully invested in figuring out all of the intricate details of this series that has quickly become my new obsession. I’ve loved diving into the lore and seeing how our characters have been handling growing through their serious brokenness. Just wanted to post a lot of my thoughts, ideas, and questions here. Please let me know if any of these can be answered with information through OB. Otherwise, I’m sure most of this is RAFO and I’ll see as I jump right into Dawnshard and RoW!
Radiance

• Will Kaladin even say more of the Windrunner Ideals? There is something weird going on with the Radiants and why they decided to break their oaths at the Recreance and I don’t think we have the full story yet. Perhaps we don’t need our main characters to finish all of the Ideals? Not sure.
• I’m thinking that the 4th Windrunner Ideal might be something along the lines of “I accept that I can not protect everyone” and Kal must learn to live with the fact that sometimes he will fail and it will be very hard for him.
• What is our count on number of Ideals sworn by Shallan? Shallan’s are, of course, the truths that she tells to Pattern and those include the murders of each of her parents as we found in WoR. But what more could she say? There is still a lot of mystery with her family and their ties to the Ghostbloods, especially the mother and Helaran.
• Let’s get Shallan soulcasting more! She’s been way out of practice on that end.
• What about Dalinar’s Ideals? Dalinar becoming Unity seemed to be the second of his Ideals as the Stormfather accepted his words during the Battle for Thaylen City. I’m interested to see more of his development as a Radiant. It seems that the Bondsmiths are particularly important and I want to know more about each of the three of them and what their specific roles are. Will we see the other two appear as the series goes on?
• I’m glad Dalinar learns to read and write, it’s about time we give up some of those old-fashioned Vorin ideas. I was kinda hoping his Bondsmith powers would let him learn immediately in the same way he learns other languages by touching someone who speaks it, but oh well.
• I do not think we’ve seen much of the Surges of Cohesion and Tension (Stoneward territory) and I’d love to learn more about what they are, how they work, how different Radiants manifest powers through them. The Ars Arcanum descriptions of them are vague and mysterious. Dalinar can gain the power of Tension through being a Bondsmith, but I’m not sure if we’ve seen that explicitly yet?
• Just how powerful was Dalinar’s Unity stand? Odium retreated immediately after the conjunction of the three realms. Was Odium’s claim of (paraphrase) “I though we killed you” referring to Honor, or perhaps something different? Is this one of Dalinar’s powers now, i.e., will he be able to regenerate Stormlight at his will? It seems so since he reloaded Kaladin before he flew off to recover Skar, Drehy, and co., but it seemed to be quite taxing on him.
• Man I just want to know all about the different powers that Surgebinders carry. There are 10 surges total, and if each Order of the KR can access 2, then there are 10!/(8!2!) = 45 unique combinations of two surges… too bad there are only 10 orders instead of 45 to match all combinations :( Might have been an undertaking for Brandon to create all of these orders.
• It’s been hinted that upper-level Ideals must be sworn for Radiants to get Shardplate? Maybe we’ll see that happen in RoW.
• Of course Malata is siding with some antagonists. Fits the trope that fire/destruction powers = evil. Bummer. Maybe someone else will come up who can use this power for good.
• Renarin’s bond is interesting to me. His spren is either corrupted or simply one of the Voidspren, but he still seems to maintain good intentions as a character. I’m interested to see what happens with him. Maybe not all Voidspren have to side with Odium/the Fused. He is also mentioned (secretly to Odium) in the Diagram, so he’ll obviously play an important role.
• Similarly, I’m interested in Venli’s role. Seems like she recognizes that things are off with the Voidspren and Odium. Is her spren Timbre a lightspren? Willshaper Venli? Her ties to Odium, the Listeners, the Fused, etc. will be interesting after having said the First Ideal. Especially with the Voidspren that is in her gemheart.
• Jasnah clearly is very powerful (as shown at the Battle for Thaylen City) and it was an interesting choice to make her queen. I’d have figured she would want to devote her time to her scholarly work rather than dealing in politics, but we’ll see how it goes I guess. Might be hard to find time to mentor Shallan on Soulcasting too.
• Man we gotta find a way for Lift to either take in Stormlight in the normal way or to just get her a huge duffel bag full of food all the time, especially during battles.

Gods, Heralds, all things of power:

• What are the different “levels” of power that each of the gods possess? Honor has obviously been killed, but I get the sense that he might still be able to “come back” through DalinaStormfather? I don’t know. These gods can be killed I guess, so not quite true God-gods, just some supremely powerful beings.
• What are the motivations of these different gods (Odium, Cultivation, pre-death Honor, others)? It’s hard to get a reading on why Odium wants to be so involved with the Singers’/Listeners’ return instead of just existing as a god somewhere. I know he’s trapped somehow, hence the barter with Dalinar, but like why does he cause so much mischief in the first place? Just his nature I guess?
• Wit has got to be up here with this crew of gods, no?
• Who is Rayse? We hear about him through the letters exchanged with Wit in the epigraphs, but still so mysterious. Again, what are these higher-beings’ motivations? Perhaps his role is clearer by reading some of BS’s other books prior to the SA?
• I do believe that Adonalsium is the true OG God, and he somehow split into “Shards” that might be these other gods known as Honor, Odium, Cultivation, etc., but that is surmised through some reading online. Not sure exactly where that information has come out and what I need to read for better background on this. How did the Shattering occur? Why did the Shards gain sentience? Why do they have different personalities and motivations?
• This Voidlight is mysterious still. How is it different in nature to normal Stormlight? Can Knights Radiant take it in the same way? Can the Fused take in regular Stormlight? I don’t think it’s been explicitly stated, but this must be what was in the sphere that Gavilar gave the Szeth on the night of the assassination. Also is that sphere the same thing Navani hinted at when Dalinar showed her the Nergaoul-infused King’s Drop?
• I’m interested to find out why are Honorspren looked down upon in Shadesmar at the moment.
• Szeth’s blade is very different — talks to him, needs to be sheathed instead of vanishing, has a very skewed sense of time, drains color.
• I am hoping that the Heralds are able to make somewhat of a recovery from their insanity and we can see them in power. Too bad Jezrien has been killed. I was looking forward to his return in particular. Nale is… coming around? We got a few glimpses of Ash in Oathbringer, and I realized she is the same character as the woman destroying paintings in the WoK interlude. Taln is so noble… was not even mad about holding the gates for 4.5 thousand years, just happy to have given humans the time to develop. Taravangian hinted that Dova in Kharbranth is Battar. Seems like Ishar will come into play given all his mentions in Oathbringer. Haven’t heard much (or don’t remember) much of the others (Kalak, Pailiah, Vedel, and Chanarach), but hopefully they show themselves soon!
• Ok, so the secret came out that the humans are the Voidbringers and came from another planet that they destroyed and caused a lot of problems here on Roshar. The timeline for this is confusing to me. If the humans are the invasive species, then why were the Heralds created in the first place? It’s my understanding that the Heralds (or all of the ones we’ve seen so far) are human. The old story says (or implies) that the Heralds were created to bring an end to the Desolations. So does that mean that the humans invaded, then Honor gave a handful of them additional powers (Surges) to help exterminate the Singers and the other Rosharan inhabitants? And then, of course, the formation of the Knights Radiant. When did they come about? Did the Heralds fight for a few hundreds/thousands of years before the KR were formed or were they around earlier? I’m missing the motivations of the gods here… why would Honor create these powerful beings to help invade a new planet? Not very honorable if you ask me. What kinds of powers did the early Listeners have that required the use of Surgebinding to defeat? How do the Voidspren and Fused play into this? Are they native Roshar spren that are just angry at being taken over by humans with their bonds to other higher spren? Something is fishy with the relationship between the Listeners and the Voidspren — they banished them at risk of being enslaved for thousands of years. Most of the Listeners are rightfully angry at the humans for millennia of enslavement, but very few actually want to kill the humans. Rather, they seem content to just cohabit Roshar. I am hoping for further clarification in RoW.
• The Unmade are so fascinating to me. They are described as being of Odium, but do not necessarily want to remain tied to him, some of them having minds of their own, fueled by the specific Passions relevant to them. Interesting how these powerful spren will continue to influence Roshar. Also being made, then unmade?? What’s that all about?
• Cultivation is being foreshadowed a lot and I am wondering what her influence will be in the coming books. She had the interaction with Dalinar in his flashback, but they talk about her so much more than just referring to this one instance. The Nightwatcher’s powers (with the boons/curses) are still so interesting to me too.
• Have we seen Odium’s analog to the NightwatcheStormfather? I’m assuming that if Cultivation and Honor have these more-powerful spren, then so will he. Maybe you could consider the Unmade to satisfy this role?

Secret Organizations:

• Ghostbloods — I feel like we’ll get a lot of info. on these guys soon. We know somewhat little about them. Members include Mraize and Iyatil, both mysterious, and members of House Davar. They are good at finding Honorblades and Heralds. Lots and lots of secrets. They’re gonna keep on manipulating Shallan it seems… hopefully she can maintain an upper edge.
• The Diagram — I am inclined to think that the Diagram may be right, but I am hoping that it’s flawed. Interesting that there were parts of the Diagram that even Odium couldn’t see (Renarin’s name). Seems they have good intentions, but are ultimately perilous to our protagonists through their means to save Roshar and, thus, are “bad guys”. I seems to me that Taravangian just wants what’s best for Roshar, and it’s too bad his one day of genius has painted all of our main characters as roadblocks/liabilities/etc. Always so sneaky, Taravangian, but also very interesting. I hope he has another day of brilliance, I loved reading the day on Urithiru where he was quite intelligent (still not the same as the Diagram day, of course).
• Sons of Honor — my least favorite of the secrete organizations tbh. Glad Amaram is dead after being infused by the Unmade (can’t remember which one. Yelig-Nar maybe?). Amaram seemed to have met with Odium prior to the battle for Thaylen City though… is that consistent with the SoH or did he break off from the group to do this? Other members of SoH that we know of so far?

Bridge Four:

• The connection between squires and radiants is still kinda vague to me. What are the requirements for these squires to become full Radiants, if at all?
• I think Rock may be my favorite B4 member, so earnest and kind, doesn’t want to hurt anyone. And a good cook. I’d like to know more about his past, his family, really all about the Horneaters. I could tell right away that he’d be pretty distraught over having to take the Amaram kill shot.
• Love Skar and Drehy’s connection with Adolin.
• Teft has gotta figure out his firemoss shit
• How can you not love the Lopen?

Other mysteries and thoughts:

• Aimia — what happened here? What caused its destruction? It’s hinted in Mythica that one of the Unmade, the mysterious Dai-Gonarthis, may have caused the destruction of this country. There are still secrets lying in Akinah as suggested by the Oathbringer interludes that I’d love to discover more about.
• What of the Aimian people? Reading online hints that there are two types, iirc. The only things I remember are of Axies the collector and the Sleepless that Lift encounters in Edgedancer. I remember being thoroughly spooked by him, hordelings crawling around all the time. Perhaps as intended, every time there is mention of cremlings in the main SA series, I think it’s one of the Sleepless keeping an eye on things (Taln’s kidnapping at the end of WoR, e.g.).
• Zahel has a lot to yet reveal in these books. I feel like he’s pretty dang powerful and should have a bigger role in all of this.
• The country of Natanan is somewhat interesting right now too. Still surviving as a city-state over so close to the Origin. How are they doing? I want more on them too.
• There’s some sketchy stuff going on at the Origin too. We’ve got information about that story (from Wit’s story in WoK if I remember correctly) that people may live there and have their own kingdom and whatnot. This place gets hinted at from time to time. Was the Oathbringer interlude about the lighthouse taking place here?
• There’s something going on in the Horneater Peaks. There is a Perpendicularity there, but I feel that can’t be all.
• What’s the deal with the Greatshells? They seem important and… wise? Perhaps some relation to the Chasmfiends (unless they’re classified as Greatshells too? I’m mostly thinking of those that live in/near the Reshi Isles).
• So much of the Cognitive realm/Shadesmar still needs to be explored and understood from our perspective.
• Will the assassin hired by Jasnah on the night of Gavilar’s assassination come into play again? Can’t remember her name rn.
• Speaking of that day… why were the Heralds (Nale and Ash? Any more?) at the party?
• Who is Restares and why did Gavilar think he may have been involved with his murder? Is there some deeper involvement by House Sadeas in the assassination of Gavilar as well?
• We still don’t know the full details of Gavilar’s plan. What was he up to? The Listeners killed him for the desire to bring back their gods (which has proved disastrous), but what else was he getting into? He had clear ties to the Sons of Honor I think.
• Will Adolin be able to revive Maya and perhaps gain some Radiant powers?? I’m rooting for it to happen.
• Man, what’s going on over in the West? Iri and Rira just decided to submit to the Voidspren/Listeners immediately? And Shinovar is going to have an interesting story with it being the first-landing of humans and the storage space for most of the Honorblades for thousands of years.
• Wit found a Pattern at the end of part 5 and mentioned some of the First Ideal (interesting…). He’s always going to be a mystery to me, I fear. But also easily one of the, if not the, best character in the series.

After being inspired by this post (RH but all the same) which reminded me how much I enjoyed {Damaged Goods by Poppy Rhys} and {Crushed Dominion by Poppy Rhys}, I want to collect and get more recommendations for books where:

• inter-alien interactions are common, there are multiple sentient species that move through the same spaces
  
• the human FMC's presence is more of a practical/bureaucratic/logistical conundrum than anything
  
• it has slice of life vibes
  
• MCs are in a jam or drawn/stuck together for some reason
  
• FMC is not familiar (either at all or not much) with other species quirks, and there is some miscommunication between FMC and MMC that comes down to cultural/lived experience differences
  

{Damaged Goods by Poppy Rhys} - human FMC sucked through portal to space world, tickets to earth are pricey and she has to work 3 jobs to afford one and has run-ins with cute UPS red demon alien
{Crushed Dominion by Poppy Rhys} - human FMC sucked through portal, alien MMC immigration lawyer really trying to do his best to help her through her refugee application despite confusion around how she got there
{A Chimera for Christmas by Ursa Dax} - human FMC gets a limited visa to work the seasonal shift at a space station coffeeshop, her fellow barista MMC is a species typically given wide berth by others
{Contaminated by Amanda Milo} - predator-esque alien MMC POV, human botanist FMC breaks into lab but their planet has been quarantined for ages, so MMC and lab mate are really baffled about what to do about the intruder
{The E.T. Guy by V.C. Lancaster} - office romance where human FMC works for the department of ET immigration and alien MMC does IT for her department, grumpy/sunshine
{Space for Love by Emily Antoinette} - human FMC meets alien MMC who is working a a holographic disguised desk clerk and again through mutual friends in his actual form and she's into him but he thinks he doesn't have a shot because he's intimidating
Any similar suggestions for cozy alien scifi to add to the list?
Outside of Risdaverse and Sign Here for Horns and Etta Pierce's spinoff series (which are also all good fun).

transferred to new office
Hearing was held on May 6th. SSA website says "An administrative Law judge started reviewing your appeal" I then got a letter from SSA stating your clients request for hearing has been transferred to a new office in Kingsport, TN. I did not request a transfer and we already held a hearing anyone can weigh in on whats going on. I will call my attorney on Monday but in the meantime high anxiety

The poster, which DFV hung in the back of his room at the congress hearing. The same image revealed by audio spectrum analysis of the purple box tweet.. the poster itself had a hidden message at the time of the hearing: Congress are bribed, hang in there!
From the Wikipedia page for the original “hang in there, baby” motivational cat poster:
“In 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew, charged with accepting $100,000 in bribes while holding office as Baltimore County Executive, Governor of Maryland, and Vice President, was allowed to plead no contest to a lesser charge as long as he agreed to resign as vice president. In September 1973, while he was considering his situation, Representatives William L. Dickenson, Republican from Alabama, and Samuel Devine, Republican from Ohio, presented him with a "Hang in There, Baby" poster signed by 100 members of Congress as a token of encouragement and support.”
Time traveller Kitty has been meticulously playing 69d chess, right from the start.
We already knew congress were bought and paid for at the time of the hearing, not only is the whole financial system corrupt, congress is too. I think at the time of the hearing, kitties message was that this corruption wasn’t going to stop MOASS - Congress are corrupt but hang in there.
I think now, Kitty is simply confirming that corruption is not going to stop the eventual justice that comes from directly registering stocks and removing them from DTCC circulation.
What’s in the gamestop box? A purple light? Then the cat poster hidden audio message… DRS & hang in there!
If shares are removed from circulation through direct registration and booking, they can not be loaned out, passed around to create phantoms or used as collateral against derivative bets etc. in the grand hypothetical scheme of things, the derivative market shrinks without borrowed shares. Without derivatives to create bets, the fake money printer can’t print imaginary cash purely based on borrowing YOUR stocks. The whole system is fucked because they need to borrow your shit to create fake shit with.
Non hypothetical and totally literal - By booking shares in your own name, nobody can use those shares you’ve bought and paid for to harm your investment OR the company you have invested into. By directly registering your shares in your own name, brokers can’t take your money and give you an IOU, they can’t play CFD, they can’t supply PFOF to MMs dark pools, they can’t loan them to SHF to short and tank YOUR STOCK. By DRSing, nobody is making money from YOUR invested money and fucking you or anybody else over with your very own hard earned coinage. Buying via the companies registrar, your purchases hit the lit market every time too.
In my own words, by DRSing your shit, there’s no shit for fucks to create fuckery with.
The message from the time traveller is clear: Corruption can’t stop us. DRS. Hold - Hang in there.
MOASS aside, (let’s pretend MOASS isn’t a thing for a sec) GME is thee most DRSd stock (FYI, infinity pool with DRSd shares & MOASS lasts infinitely ..incase you didn’t know). It’s going to be untouchable once the float is safely locked away in safe hands. It’s, just a matter of time until it is. Fair market value, dividends, company doing great. Thats when the rest of the world sits forward and takes notice they notice the most DRS’d stock is doing pretty fucking good, “shouldn’t they have gone out of business by now? Maybe we should directly register our shit too…”
Side note - Anyone else remember the sound of mayo being puked into a bucket during the hearing? Because I do. Spectrum analysis on that puke probably spells out NO CELL, NO SELL…
It takes a while to reach the fucking moon, DRS your tickets n hang in there, everybody 😺

California has this crazy postconviction relief scheme where you can, for most crimes now, used to be much more limited, have your plea withdrawn, and case dismissed, but it's not a true expungement. Any cop can see it, it can be used against you to increase your sentence in a future case, it's still a felony to own a gun, was recently made a misdemeanor to have body armor, still can't get a job as a cop or probation officer or run for State office. Because it's rehabilitative, immigration courts don't see it as relieving one from removal, but that doesn't deprive anyone of a Constitutional right, still, it's CA so because of that, they've essentially made it very easy for noncitizens to get a case vacated under the same statute that makes it very hard to get exonerated for factual innocence, which I get is better than most States and almost impossible for a federal conviction that's final, but seems like some recent Ninth Circuit jurisprudence may lead them to find this scheme unconstitutional in a future case. Just curious if there's any other State where a case not only dismissed, but where a court has allowed a guilty plea to also be withdrawn at the same time it's dismissed, where there's a permanent removal of Constitutional rights that you don't get back afterwards.

I am seeking advice regarding my study permit refusal. To provide some context, I have previously obtained a Canadian visit visa and have visited Canada twice in the past. Additionally, I have a strong travel history with previous visits to the UK, USA, and UAE. I had completed my master's degree and decided to pursue a 2-year diploma at an SDS DLI college in Canada. I met all the requirements, including the GIC and first semester fees. Surprisingly, I received a refusal letter within few hours after submitting my application. I am unsure how the immigration officers reviewed all my documents. There are speculations that an autobot system may have rejected my application. I have submitted a request for reconsideration through the webform, but I am uncertain about the timeframe for their response.

Just another fun little story idea I had. I am still working on Humans are the violent ones but I like to bounce around and experiment with ideas to see what I really like. I also suck at writing more casual stories, as they give me severe writer's block as I try to map out how to make a scene feel genuine in my head, but I promise I'll update that soon. If you like this story and want to see more, then like and comment. I'll gladly continue this series as well.
Start of Personal Log
Humans don't like being told what to do. They don't like being commanded, put in their place, or snubbed. It was an inexorable, inalienable trait of humans, at least any noteable humans, to go against any authority that they believed was against their interests.
Humanity would not fit amongst the stars. Few ever did. It was a trait of most successful species to be willful, ambitious, and to desire more. But once they reached the stars the new (and simultaneously very old) pecking order either quashed any spirit such species had or simply eradicated them. Countless tomb worlds and diaspora served as painful reminders of what became of the nails that chose to stick out. The hammer of order would always strike. There could be no compromise, the very soul of the authority that held the Jurisdiction together relied on a show of unmatched power, or at least the illusion of item.
In reality, the Jurisdiction was an old, fat, and lazy beast. It filled its belly on the corpses of empires far and wide, and sated its bloodlust on the shattered dreams of hopeful cubs. It had every right to, for none could challenge it: there were no new frontiers to explore, nor were there any other enemies to conquer. The Milky Way, as humans had so strangely dubbed our cradle galaxy, as well as Andromeda, had long since been warred over and settled for millennia before humanity had arrived, bright-eyed and with familiar yet otherwise foolish dreams of cooperation and prosperity. The Jurisdiction did not cooperate, nor did it ensure prosperity. Oh, it claimed it did, but in reality it simply took. The rest was just the peace that came with not being the direct target of the biggest fish in the pond. The humans didn't like that, but they had no choice.
Slavery was a common tribute. The Jurisdiction had no use for other resources: it simply took. No, it wanted those who could facilitate that unequal exchange, those raised in a world where the only morality was the one set by your lord. The Jurisdiction was held together by expectations, obligations, and dury more than any kind of shared dream, so when you were ordered to take you did so without question. Humanity was new: they had no niche or value that set them apart, but they had a penchant for killing and taking, so the Jurisdiction gave them a taste of how the galaxy worked. They killed and they took. The humans didn't like that, but what choice did they have?
Humans were strange. They learned, but not in the way most species learned. Most species learned to adapt in a passive way, to adhere to the world around them. They flowed like water, moving past and around obstacles and confirming to the boxes they were assigned too. Humans didn't confirm, nor did they adapt: they made their circumstances fit their desires. They would not move around obstacles, but rather smash through them, and they refused to stay in one box for too long. The Jurisdiction merely saw them as a particularly loud nuisance, but those who faced their wrath knew better.
It is said that when a beast seeks to make an example, it shall humble its rival by killing it's cubs. Children were one of those universal constants that brought entire communities together: the Sok’klar saw their hatchlings as gifts, shaped by the fruitful currents of the universe in perfect harmony. The Yarrack saw each and every newborn whelp as an uncut gemstone, ready to be shaped into something magical. Humanity oftentimes referred to their offspring as angels, or spirits of unbridled good sent by the gods themselves. Children were seen by most of the galaxy as gifts.
The Jurisdiction saw them as a lever to inflict suffering. It had become quite effective at enacting psychological punishments on those that stood up and spoke out. You dare to disobey? You believe you can speak out? Your gifts shall be taken from you, and you shall be without joy.
Humans didn't like this, but the Jurisdiction would have their pound of flesh, and humankind would kneel. And they did. But humans were patient creatures: most species who retained that trait of willful spit also lacked patience.
I had long since become desensitized to the Jurisdiction’s actions: it was simply how the universe worked now, as if it were a constant akin to gravity. Cruelty was the unspoken rule of this seemingly unending age, where our lives never appeared to move forward or backwards, only lay dormant. The Jurisdiction had been the unyielding authority that ruled the galaxy for thousands of years, venerable yet feared all the same.
And for the longest time I was just another cog in its wheel. My name is Kalnuracht Sedjuur-Noumar VII, and was the scion of the noble house Sedjuur-Noumar. I was born into what most would describe as veiled apathy, living a life that could be attributed to the privileged class of feared scribes that enacted the will of those above. I was an administrator and nothing more. And now I am doomed to be far less than that in the eyes of my former constituents within the endless administration. I am the only scion, as is tradition, and without an heir I am the last of my house, our name to be scrubbed from the records, worthless, meaningless, and forgotten.
I am merely Kalnuracht, nothing else and nothing more. I have seen from their eyes, the eyes of the downtrodden, and it makes my crimes of association with the Jurisdiction feel all the more damning on my worthless soul. I am worthless to the world, and this is my story.
End Personal Log #1
Start of Neural Lace Narrative Log #1
They came from the black like carrion birds in the night, encircling our convoy as if it were a dying animal ready to be picked clean without remorse. There was no warning, no list of demands sent out as civilized peoples did, nor was there either any requirement for unconditional surrender nor chance to parlay, as was done so under letter of marque: this was an unmistakable call for violence and nothing else. They sought to reduce us to slag and scavenge the rest.
So, as one would expect, the entire bridge of the ship was nearing a panicked state. This was not the actions of those practicing civility, but rather the common behaviors of despoiling barbarians, the kind that tore their way through the dark reaches of the galaxy as if they owned it.
“Wayfinder, what do your probes see?” Shouted the ship’s sovereign. He was an older Kar’Rowmach, an amphibious cephalopod species with a venerable history within the Jurisdiction going back thousands of years. Normally one such as him would be above me if it weren't for the fact that I was under the authority of the Jurisdiction’s seal of office. He didn't like me very much, but most of his kind shared the same sentiment.
“All dark, honorable Sovereign: the sensor arrays are wailing but the feedback we're reviewing is beyond incomprehensible,” the wayfinder replied with a certain restrained temper in his voice. The Sok'klar wayfinder swayed gently, his tentacled limbs grasping different metallo-liquid braille output arrays, the liquid gallium flexing and reshaping unnaturally to allow him to to take in multiple different sources of sensory output at once, with the primary navigation computer plugged into the cybernetics surrounding his opaque, gelatinous head and plugging directly into his tube-shaped brain.
The Sovereign cursed in Loskat and pointed to his bridge crew while I simply sat in the back, near the Sovereign’s symbolic throne. “Prepare countermeasures and spool up the warp drive, we cannot allow the amanuensis to be taken! He carries sensitive information that only he can translate and transcribe!”
As the bridge crew nodded and began fiddling with their own systems, I preened my feathered hide anxiously. I wasn't a fighter: us nobles of the cloth were the educated minority above all else, not those who waged war or partook in hard labor. Special cybernetics in my brain allowed me to translate triple-encoded messages that usually took a ducal signet codekey or above to parse, but even without that I was a skilled mathematician and logician. I had terabytes worth of knowledge stored within the hardware installed in my head, all well protected of course, but if I were to die it would still be a waste. I could only imagine the damage any malcontenders could do with it if they were able to get their filthy hands on me.
Suddenly, the ship rocked, and the gallium overhead display began to form crescendos like I'd never seen before. “Sovereign, decks A-3 through C-12 are venting atmosphere and our coolant systems have been obliterated,” the Wayfinder spoke in an almost serene voice, as if he was completely unconcerned by current events. I knew they were simply incapable of tonal displays, but it was unnerving nonetheless. “Once we jump, we will not be able to risk another until the vacuum of the void can reduce temperatures to acceptable levels within the plasma capacitors.”
“Damn them,” the armored nautiloid hissed, his barbed feelers coiling in frustration, “May the currents take them. What are our options? what can we see? This fleet cannot fall to the void today, not with such vital cargo.” My hackles rose lightly at the Kar’Rowmach referred to me as some object rather than an esteemed amanuensis of the Jurisdiction, but I bit my forked tongue. Now was not the time to squabble with the sovereign over who was what and what titles I deserved, not while he was so desperately attempting to keep what semblance of order within his fleet that he had left.
I could not blame the crew for being panicked either: wars were practically mythologized now, having been long since rendered obsolete with the rise of the Jurisdiction, and that felt like an eternity ago. Now, either being levied into or joining a ducal naval force was simply another career, more akin to serving as an officer of the law rather than a fully fledged soldier. Minimal training was required, most of it being the technicals of one's duty rather than any kind of combat conditioning, so expecting a fleet to actually be prepared for a combat scenario in a universe where peace was the norm was laughable.
“We are practically blind, Sovereign,” stated the Sok'klar Wayfinder, “our probes are offline, and shipboard graviton displacement sensory arrays have been rendered unreliable at best.”
“What about the particle emission array? Has there been a spike in radioactivity where we were hit?”
The Wayfinder seemed to think for a second, his gelatinous form flexing and morphing a bit before answering. “Affirmative, a jump from negligible to forty billion becquerels along decks A through E-5 on our starboard side.”
“Torpedoes…” the Sovereign hissed, stroking his barbed feelers, “Human Torpedoes. Only those primitives would rely on crude nuclear warheads.” He then turned to his militant leaders on the ship. “Noddos, Rel’ads: organize your phalanxes and prepare to repel boarders. We are bound to be assailed by those rancorous primates, and I want their skulls piled at my feet if they dare set foot on our ship.”
“Your wish is our command, Sovereign,” the two militant commanders spoke as one. Noddos, a large bipedal with multiple sets of curved spines running down his back, a pair of graceful horns sprouting from his head, and multiple rows of sharp teeth in his snout, bowed first, followed by Rel’ads, a marsupial with long saberteeth and thick fur. They both must have been fierce warriors in their own right to each lead a phalanx. They wore thick, semi-powered armor and held dueling polearms alongside their usual plasma casters, and seemed completely unfazed by the situation we were in. As they stomped out of the brightly lit bridge, I let out a quiet squawk of discontentment. “Sovereign, why haven't we jumped again? We are wasting precious time.”
“I am working on it, you spineless beaurocrat!” He warbled back, his feelers tensing in anger, “besides, it's not as if you're the one who will be spilling blood today, amanuensis, so flatten your wretched beak or I shall weld it shut with a plasma torch.
I was about to reply with something indignant, but the ship rocked again, this time causing the lights to flicker and the air to become… thick. The skin under my feathers began to blister, and I became lightheaded and confused. “Seal the damnable vents, initiate radiation scrubbers, and activate secondary life support!” Shouted the Sovereign, “Their nuclear weapons are rendering the ship inhospitable!”
I coughed up magenta blood accidentally, and I could feel more seeping from under my eyes. Some of the crew was in a similar position, but others were more resistant to radiation than I. The Sok'klar seemed completely at ease as he ran his tentacles across his morphic braille arrays before calmly announcing the ship’s status. “I've regained some control over our probes: ten, twelve, and seventeen are active and fully functional, the rest are either still malfunctioning or permanently inoperable. A rapid rise in localized radiation is also interfering with the detection of graviton displacement; we can't sense photon redirection, thus readings will remain inconclusive.
“Wayfinder, damn you, get me some kind of out here! We're easy prey until we can respond in kind!”
“Negative, something has gone awry with our processing hub, I am attempting to troubleshoot-”
And with that, the Wayfinder’s bulbous head exploded in a cascade of opaque lavender blood, covering the front half of the deck crew like a morbid art piece. Some of the crew screamed and shouted in terror before removing their cranial adaptors and choosing to interact with their displays manually. Others died just as quickly, unable to unplug in time as their brain stems fried or their blood boiled. It was a horrible way to go, having your insides neutralized by your own cybernetics, so I was glad I wasn't connected to the system.
“Cybernetic warfare! All systems are to be considered compromised, switch to manual settings or you'll be killed!”
The lights in the bridge flickered again, and the displays went haywire. The bridge crew, which obviously weren't acquainted with working without being hard-linked into the mainframe, moved at a much slower pace.
“Launch missile pods A through F and set to self-target after five hundred kilometers, then rely on their ballistic coordinates to begin firing broadsides! If we can't see the humans due to their meddling, we'll just have to feel them.” Shouted the Sovereign, “and got me a detailed report on the ship’s diagnostics readings. I need to know if this flagship is still capable of escaping or if we'll have to scuttle it and retreat on another.”
“Acknowledged, Sovereign, launching now,” affirmed another deck officer as he swiped across his own gallium output array. I could hear the dull thunk, thunk, thunk of missiles pushing out of their pods before racing off to their intended targets, then the mechanical whirring as the pods rotated to be reloaded by slaves in the lower decks. I was regaining my bearings as the many horrible sensations of being overwhelmed by radiation poisoning were beginning to subside, but I still felt as if I had been microwaved. The air was stale, the crew was horribly sick as well, and even the sovereign himself seemed to be on his last leg. I was beginning to believe that I might die here.
“Sovereign, a message from the lower decks,” shouted a communications officer, his chitin scraping against itself as he turned quickly, “they're requesting reinforcements, something about being overrun.”
“Impossible,” the Sovereign hissed out in a vain attempt to exude confidence, “We must outnumber the humans, they always go for bigger targets out of arrogance.”
“I've received reports that it's not just humans: the primates seem to make up only a third or so of the assailing force, along with some Phaeldaer and Vrex.”
The commander slammed his clawed hands down on his own output array in a fit of rage, obviously overwhelmed by the circumstances, “Then this wasn't just a typical assault, but something more sinister!” The nautiloid warbled, blood seeping from his shell as the full effects of the radiation took hold, “Get Rel’ads on the line, have him divert all spare lances to the lower decks or else we'll lose the only offensive capabilities we can use.”
“Rel'ads has gone dark, Sovereign, his vitals are critical.”
“Then either get me Rel'ads tail-leader or get me Noddos!” He screamed in rage, “don't give me this nonsense! If we don't pick it up we're all going to die, is that what you want?”
“No, Sovereign, I'm simply overwhelmed-”
“We're all overwhelmed! By the tides, I'm dying of radiation poisoning you nincompoop! Get me something I can work with!”
The officer didn't even acknowledge the Sovereign after that, simply turning back to his display. Eventually, the Sovereign was able to get Noddos on the line.
“Sovereign, two thirds of my phalanxes have been decimated by combat with the primitives and the radiation, the rest are in shambles. We must retreat and fortify elsewhere!”
“Then the ship is compromised! Rel'ads is unresponsive and the lower decks are swarming with intruders. We must evacuate the amanuensis to another ship.”
Just as the Sovereign spoke, I heard several gentle thumps rattle against the bridge’s door, and it made me uneasy. Some of the bridge crew seemed to feel the same, as they looked incredibly nervous and some even drew their sidearms. Just as the sovereign turned to give further orders, the door blew inward with a deafening explosion, followed by shouting and gunfire. Several of the bridge officers were dispatched quickly, brain matter and blood splattering against the delicate electronics. Others were shot in the legs, the torso, or in any other exotic yet non-vital body parts. The humans poured in, brandishing primitive ballistic firearms and jury-rigged energy weapons while wearing scavenged, legion-grade powered armor.
The Sovereign was the next to go, but he wasn't afforded an honorable death. He was shot along the arm with a particularly potent plasma caster, burning off his clawed hand and cauterizing the wound, the acrid smell of roasting chitin filling the already hot and cramped bridge. He fell back against his output array, the gallium reaching new highs and lows as more diagnostics and casualty reports were delivered, and he clutched his stump angrily. “I'll burn every last one of you in the foundries! I'll tie you to stakes, cover you in wax and set you alight! Your screams will be broadcasted all over the galaxy!”
One human warrior stomped up and slammed the butt of his rifle into the sovereign’s face, shattering his facial plates and causing blue blood to splatter across his section of the bridge. “Shut the fuck up, you mutant lobster,” the human said before dragging him by both antennae towards the center of the bridge and receiving a stained breeching axe from one of his comrades. “Emmanuel, start recording. We need proof.”
The other human nodded and pressed a button on his armor before lifting up his gun again. The rest of the humans fanned out, holding everyone else at gunpoint. I tried to get up and sneak out, but a human grabbed me by my neck and nearly wrung it out as he forced me to my knees and pointed a sidearm to my skull. “Get down, you piece of shit, before I blow your brains out too.”
“Damnable primate,” I hissed, but he bashed me in my skull with the base of his sidearm’s grip and sent me sprawling, making my already pounding headache worse. Another human shouted at him in a language I didn't recognize, but he sounded furious. The first brought me back up to my knees again, and I complies with a hiss and a groan, blood still leaking from my eyes and mouth and my world was spinning.
The Sovereign struggled, but he was weak from the radiation poisoning and he couldn't exactly resist on account of his lost arm. The human with the breaching ax kicked the Sovereign down and forced him to kneel before lifting up the breeching ax and splitting his chitinous head down the middle with one powerful swing, sending more blood and brains across the floor. “Execution confirmed, take his antennae just in case and we've got ourselves a bounty. Now all we need is that ugly cat’s teeth and the fat hedgehog-thing’s grimy spines and we'll be in business. Although, they do have skulls… we might as well just take their heads.”
The real horror of the situation dawned on me at that moment: they were going to kill us all, or maybe worse. They mentioned a bounty for the commanders, and multiple of the higher ranking ship officers were already dead, their brains splattered against the walls or their bodies torn apart by gunfire. I wasn't dead yet, but that didn't mean much since I wasn't an immediate threat.
“Alright, round them up and bring all the grunts to the hanger bay, then kill the rest,” the leader of the humans said in such a lackadaisical manner that his complete disregard for life almost made me sick… almost. I had seen worse from the Jurisdiction before, but usually that was from me delivering some kind of ordered judgment on a world that had sinned against order. I might have simply been the messenger, but I had seen many of the outcomes. “And make sure to collect whatever proof of bounties you can, we'll need to deliver them to the office to get cashed out. Don't let this be a repeat of last time where Juarez fucking forgot to take a few heads and it ended up cutting our profits in half, the fucking retard.”
Some of the humans chuckled at that as they dragged more of the senior officers away, out of the room and into the hall,where I heard gunshots. The rest of the bridge crew froze in place, different fear instincts kicking in. The remaining Sok'klar corralled together into what seemed to be a singular, semi-congealed mass as if to try and trick the humans into believing that they were much bigger and much more threatening than they actually were. The one Thei’chi on the bridge, an ensign who had clearly thought this would be a simple mission, bore her curved fangs at the humans and growled as they approached, her hackles completely vertical and her eyes dilated. They quickly muzzled and bound her before beating her over the head with a gun stock, sending her sprawling onto the ground. Many others simply cooperated, eyes wide and yet simultaneously empty, as if they couldn't quite process that the ship had been taken and the commanding officers were being executed as the rest were escorted to the hangar.
“Get the damn messenger down to the hanger as well, we need whatever data's in his ugly lizard head, then we can decide on what to do with him.”
I spat at him in spite, as if to try and seem brave, but it was clearly an empty gesture. “You won't get anything, primate! You couldn't possibly crack the encryption!”
The human holding me seemed to wind up for another swing, but the commanding officer simply held up his hand to stop my tormentor before strolling over to me. He knelt down and removed his helmet, revealing a beige-colored face covered in scars, wiry black hair cut down to the scalp, and multiple tattoos. “You're really fucking mouthy for a hostage,” he said before punching me across my beak faster than I could register. I heard a sharp crack as his fist connected, and my head spun again as the metallic taste of blood pooled into my mouth. “I'd advise you to shut up, but I'm sure you won't listen: you aristocratic types are so full of yourselves. Maybe I should have you flogged in the public square until your vocal chords give out once we rip those cybernetics from your head, huh? How's that sound?”
“It won't matter… it won't change anything… the Jurisdiction will hunt you down.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it will happen for some time: they really suck at doing anything that requires effort, even when they're mad enough. They just keep sending their rabid lapdogs to try and smoke us out, and they always end up full of holes,” the human officer said with a smirk, his yellowish-white teeth and green eyes sending shivers down my spine as he drew his knife. “They're just horrible at their job, you know? You've all gotten so lazy and incompetent after being able to just take what you want without resistance, and now that you've met people who are angry and crazy enough to fight back you act as if we're committing some grave injustice,” he placed the knife against my throat, the flat just underneath my now bent beak, “No, we just took a few pages out of your book, ‘cept we've got standards. No kids, for one…” he seemed to look off into the distance as his sneer deepened, “but it's more than that, we don't attack the defenseless in general and we still win against you all in fair fights.”
I went to say something else snarky, but he quickly grabbed my thin tongue with his fingers and yanked it out, blood from my mouth pulling to the floor as he held the blade of his knife against it. “No no, none of that. Say one more thing and I'll cut that rancid little tongue of yours out of your mouth and feed it to you,” he hissed at me, pressing the blade down just hard enough to draw blood. “Do you know what it's like to see a planet turn into a tomb?" he asked me, gritting his teeth, “Do you know what it's like to see everything you've ever known crumble to ash and glass, all the life and the green stripped away leaving nothing but bones? I do. I've seen it happen to countless worlds, and my grandfather always told me stories of how you bastards did it to Earth. He still prays in its direction five times a day, to Mecca, but he knows the Kaaba is gone now, or maybe it's still there, buried in the bones of those who sought refuge there.”
I didn't care for the human’s nonsensical beliefs, but I did care to correct him. “I've seen it before, and I'll see it again. And so will you, it's inevitable. The Jurisdiction will always have its judgment fulfilled, there is no alternative.”
“One day, I hope we can rectify that,” he said, then he sheathed his knife and slammed my head against the metal floor with enough force to nearly knock me out. As I lost consciousness, I could hear him speak. “Take him to the Chop Doc, and make sure the cybernetics don't get damaged: they're supposedly more valuable than any bounty on this ship.”
Warning: Severe radiation poisoning detected. Flush system immediately.
Warning: Neural Lace removal detected, chance of neurological damage high. Proceeded with caution.

I am applying for the UK visitor visa for the first time and I am doing it myself. I am unsure of what the cover letter should or should not contain. I would greatly appreciate if you can read the draft I have attached below and guide me on any alterations or addition that needs to be made for a compelling application.
Dear Visa Officer,
I am writing to apply for the standard visitor visa to the United Kingdom. As a full-time employee in Canada, I hold a valid work permit until June 2026, along with a temporary resident visa valid until June 2028, copies of which are attached for your reference.
As a passionate traveler, I endeavour to explore different destinations and this time, I have planned a 4-day stopover at the UK from August 24th to August 28th, 2024 to explore the London city before heading to my home country, India for a 4-week vacation, utilizing my accumulated vacation time at work.
Itinerary:
The purpose of my visit to the UK is to explore London and its culture, as well as to meet and spend quality time with my friends who live in the UK.
4-Day Itinerary:
August 24 - Day 1: On the day of arrival, I plan to take a hop-on hop-off bus tour to explore major tourist attractions such as the Tower Bridge, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben. In the evening, I will enjoy a cruise on the Thames River.
August 25 - Day 2: Visit the Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard, meet my friends and spend time with them at Hyde Park, enjoy local food at Borough Market, stroll around Leicester Square, and experience the vibrant atmosphere of Piccadilly Circus in the evening.
August 26 - Day 3: I plan to take a tourist bus to Stonehenge, Windsor, and Bath.
August 27 - Day 4: Visit St. Paul's Cathedral, explore local cafes and shops, and wrap up my trip with some souvenir shopping on Oxford Street.
I plan to depart the UK by noon on August 28, 2024, to fulfill my familial commitments and relish the remainder of my four-week vacation in my home country. t's been over a year since my last visit, and I'm eagerly looking forward to reconnecting with my family and cherishing our time together. Subsequently, I will be returning to Canada on September 27, 2024, to resume my work obligations. As per my job requirements, my vacation concludes on September 28, 2024, and I am scheduled to resume work on September 30, 2024.
Enclosed with this application is my employment letter confirming these dates and my professional responsibilities.
Proof of Funds and Accommodation:
I will be sponsoring for myself for the overall trip and I am including my financial statements from the last six months and bi-weekly payslips to demonstrate my income and savings, ensuring my capability to cover the expenses of my stay in the UK. I have also secured accommodation at the xxx Hostel for the duration of my four-day visit.
I wish to assure you of my strong intent to abide by the terms of my visitor visa and depart the UK as scheduled on August 28th, 2024. I value and respect the immigration regulations of the UK and am fully committed to complying with all requirements during my stay.
Thank you for considering my application. Should you require any additional information or documentation, please do not hesitate to contact me at [Your Phone Number] or [Your Email Address].

I am applying for the UK visitor visa for the first time and I am doing it myself. I am unsure of what the cover letter should or should not contain. I would greatly appreciate if you can read the draft I have attached below and guide me on any alterations or addition that needs to be made for a compelling application.
Dear Visa Officer,
I am writing to apply for the standard visitor visa to the United Kingdom. As a full-time employee in Canada, I hold a valid work permit until June 2026, along with a temporary resident visa valid until June 2028, copies of which are attached for your reference.
As a passionate traveler, I endeavour to explore different destinations and this time, I have planned a 4-day stopover at the UK from August 24th to August 28th, 2024 to explore the London city before heading to my home country, India for a 4-week vacation, utilizing my accumulated vacation time at work.
Itinerary:
The purpose of my visit to the UK is to explore London and its culture, as well as to meet and spend quality time with my friends who live in the UK.
4-Day Itinerary:
August 24 - Day 1: On the day of arrival, I plan to take a hop-on hop-off bus tour to explore major tourist attractions such as the Tower Bridge, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben. In the evening, I will enjoy a cruise on the Thames River.
August 25 - Day 2: Visit the Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard, meet my friends and spend time with them at Hyde Park, enjoy local food at Borough Market, stroll around Leicester Square, and experience the vibrant atmosphere of Piccadilly Circus in the evening.
August 26 - Day 3: I plan to take a tourist bus to Stonehenge, Windsor, and Bath.
August 27 - Day 4: Visit St. Paul's Cathedral, explore local cafes and shops, and wrap up my trip with some souvenir shopping on Oxford Street.
I plan to depart the UK by noon on August 28, 2024, to fulfill my familial commitments and relish the remainder of my four-week vacation in my home country. t's been over a year since my last visit, and I'm eagerly looking forward to reconnecting with my family and cherishing our time together. Subsequently, I will be returning to Canada on September 27, 2024, to resume my work obligations. As per my job requirements, my vacation concludes on September 28, 2024, and I am scheduled to resume work on September 30, 2024.
Enclosed with this application is my employment letter confirming these dates and my professional responsibilities.
Proof of Funds and Accommodation:
I will be sponsoring for myself for the overall trip and I am including my financial statements from the last six months and bi-weekly payslips to demonstrate my income and savings, ensuring my capability to cover the expenses of my stay in the UK. I have also secured accommodation at the xxx Hostel for the duration of my four-day visit.
I wish to assure you of my strong intent to abide by the terms of my visitor visa and depart the UK as scheduled on August 28th, 2024. I value and respect the immigration regulations of the UK and am fully committed to complying with all requirements during my stay.
Thank you for considering my application. Should you require any additional information or documentation, please do not hesitate to contact me at [Your Phone Number] or [Your Email Address].

I am applying for the UK visitor visa for the first time and I am doing it myself. I am unsure of what the cover letter should or should not contain. I would greatly appreciate if you can read the draft I have attached below and comment on any alterations or addition that needs to be made for a compelling application. :)
Dear Visa Officer,
I am writing to apply for the standard visitor visa to the United Kingdom. As a full-time employee in Canada, I hold a valid work permit until June 2026, along with a temporary resident visa valid until June 2028, copies of which are attached for your reference.
As a passionate traveler, I endeavour to explore different destinations and this time, I have planned a 4-day stopover at the UK from August 24th to August 28th, 2024 to explore the London city before heading to my home country, India for a 4-week vacation, utilizing my accumulated vacation time at work.
Itinerary:
The purpose of my visit to the UK is to explore London and its culture, as well as to meet and spend quality time with my friends who live in the UK.
4-Day Itinerary:
August 24 - Day 1: On the day of arrival, I plan to take a hop-on hop-off bus tour to explore major tourist attractions such as the Tower Bridge, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben. In the evening, I will enjoy a cruise on the Thames River.
August 25 - Day 2: Visit the Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard, meet my friends and spend time with them at Hyde Park, enjoy local food at Borough Market, stroll around Leicester Square, and experience the vibrant atmosphere of Piccadilly Circus in the evening.
August 26 - Day 3: I plan to take a tourist bus to Stonehenge, Windsor, and Bath.
August 27 - Day 4: Visit St. Paul's Cathedral, explore local cafes and shops, and wrap up my trip with some souvenir shopping on Oxford Street.
I plan to depart the UK by noon on August 28, 2024, to fulfill my familial commitments and relish the remainder of my four-week vacation in my home country. t's been over a year since my last visit, and I'm eagerly looking forward to reconnecting with my family and cherishing our time together. Subsequently, I will be returning to Canada on September 27, 2024, to resume my work obligations. As per my job requirements, my vacation concludes on September 28, 2024, and I am scheduled to resume work on September 30, 2024.
Enclosed with this application is my employment letter confirming these dates and my professional responsibilities.
Proof of Funds and Accommodation:
I will be sponsoring for myself for the overall trip and I am including my financial statements from the last six months and bi-weekly payslips to demonstrate my income and savings, ensuring my capability to cover the expenses of my stay in the UK. I have also secured accommodation at the xxx Hostel for the duration of my four-day visit.
I wish to assure you of my strong intent to abide by the terms of my visitor visa and depart the UK as scheduled on August 28th, 2024. I value and respect the immigration regulations of the UK and am fully committed to complying with all requirements during my stay.
Thank you for considering my application. Should you require any additional information or documentation, please do not hesitate to contact me at [Your Phone Number] or [Your Email Address].

Long story short my old boss (who became a friend) was/is highly unstable. Im fairly certain she has undiagnosed BPD and had mentioned it to her in the past. She had no boundaries for work or personal. It was only her and I who worked together each day so I have no one to really speak for the experience I went thru (anyone who did work there quit by week 6 because she was bad. They don't want to write testimony letters in my appeal case due to fear of her retaliating). My boss ensured I quit via email and not fired so i could not get unemployment. I did get approved for unemployment due to a toxic work environment. She claims she did not receive the documents in time to dispute the claim.
Here's a quick overview of why I quit below: We where on a "worktrip" (I was not paid) at a medspa conference. I am not a injector but she is and I was her model. She got mad at me during lunch for inviting one of the girls to go out with us later that night because she was alone. My boss decided to be rude and say ACTUALLY NO THIS IS MY ASSISTANT AND WE ARE NOT GOING OUT TONIGHT (we where and had already had plans on the night for weeks) and then she said COME ON LETS GO and I said no Im going to finish lunch and the conversation and she rolled her eyes and walked away. After that she ignored me for the rest of the day and would pretty much walk away from me if I tried to engage her. She started to be rude to the people running this thing and throwing a fit because she was one of the last injectors. She threw such a fit that they ended up giving her thousands of dollars in free product to get back into her good graces. I was around for this and it was super akward. There was no reason for her to be so rude and disrespectful and she knows I dont play that game and dont want to be associated with people that do cause its not a good look (I had almost quit a few months back due to her being so rude to a sales person that she almost cried and told her then I would not be apart of that ever again and she said she would fix it). After the conference there was a reception for drinks and snacks. She went straight to bar and I sat where she could see me and she just walked away so I went downstairs to the lobby to call and check on my kids. When I went to go back up to the room she had a call on speaker and she was saying terrible things about me and lies. After 15 mins of this she realized I was outside the door and could hear her and asked me to come in and talk. I was pissed at the time so I said no not right now and she slammed the door. I went downstairs to call my husband and calm down and about 20 mins later she comes down with glass of wine in hand telling me we had to speak now. I said no I'm speaking to my husband right now and I'll speak with her later. She said OH YEA REALLY THATS HOW ITS GNA BE THEN I GOT YOU and went back upstairs. A few minutes later a text comes thru from the girl I met at lunch asking about plans for the night. I go to respond and my boss had locked me out of the work account so I go and check my other work accounts and I was locked out of those as well. Then I see her go into the lobby bar and I was not wanting to play her mind games and her "forcing" me to talk to her so I went up to the hotel room to pack my stuff and go to another hotel. I get to the door and try my key and it won't work so go down to the lobby asking for assistance. They called her 3x on speaker with no answer and then go to the back office and 5 mins later come out saying security would be escorting me to get my things. After getting my stuff with security I'm in the lobby and she's like where are you going and I said I'm leaving I'm not doing this with you and she freaks out so I said I was serious to leave me alone and we would discuss it once we got into the office on Monday. She went on to text me at least 70 text messages during the night saying how I wasn't suppose to hear her saying those things (backstory: she has been caught doing this multiple times to me either clients, coworkers, friends, and even directly in front of me. I had spoken to her about it previously saying to stop and she said would and was always just teasing). The next morning (aprx 8 hours later) we fly home. I changed my seat so I wasn't next to her and she kept walking the aisles trying to get my attention and after the 4th time dropped a note on my lap apologizing again). I didn't speak with her and had my husband pick me up from the airport. A few hours later she ends up sending a text that says HEY DID YOU QUIT? I said no I assumed I was fired since I was locked out of all accounts and I'm fine with that. She said no your not fired but if you want to quit please send a resignation letter so I did and it said I QUIT DUE TO A TOXIC WORK ENVIRONMENT. As the days and weeks passed she continued to message me apologizing and asking me to come back to work and each time I refused telling her until she is under the care of a mental health professional for at least 6 months I would not consider it. Once she realized I filed for unemployment and got approved she lost her shit and started to report me saying that I am working and frauding the system (I'm not) and that I quit because I was mad that she told me I was not hitting work standards. Eventually she filed the appeal and it's filled with lies and aprx 40 fake document "writeups" and where the employee should sign it says EMPLOYEE REFUSED TO SIGN on every single one (this is not true as I never received any write up in my 1 year). The appeal hearing case was the other day and she brought her brother inlaw/part owner of company/lawyer with her. I know this guy and have watched his child for him and we have always been on great terms. He came at me hard. So hard to the point that when I was answering the officers questions I had to ask that he be muted due to him laughing or repeatedly yelling at me saying REALLY or ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?! They denied ever receiving my documents concerning the case (they did I sent them to her email where she sent her documents to me from) and insisted they not be used. This went on for over a hour leaving the officer to say we need to continue this at another date and the packet will be in the mail with the new date and time. He went on to argue about why it should be settled now and she had to keep repeating herself that it would be continued as she has other appointments. I expect this next hearing will be just as crazy and if I am still approved for unemployment that they will appeal it again and again until they win or are out of appeals. I'm not sure if I should continue to fight it or just say screw it because I have really bad anxiety over it all (even typing this my heart is racing and hands are sweating) and she is pretty crazy so I'm kind of worried how she will retaliate if I do win. I also know if I lose that I have to repay all money received plus interest and I can't afford that at the moment..obviously. Really the only reason I am at this point is due to principal and wanting to let's her know what she doesn't isn't acceptable. If I give up I feel like she will win and continue on her merry path of destruction and hate. Should I get my own lawyer for this? I'm sure it will cost me more that I will even get from unemployment in total (I have a max benefit amount of 2k) but I have never done this before and feel like I might need someone with experience.