Sorry for the very long post but I would appreciate it if you read it all the way through.
Hey, when I was 8 years old I was diagnosed with auditory dyslexia. To my knowledge now this is considered a separate learning disability called auditory processing disorder? But I do believe if I were rediagnosed today that I would be diagnosed with both dyslexia and APD since I have symptoms of both disorders and it’s very common to have both, but the APD has been more severe and debilitating. At the time of my diagnosis I was in 2nd grade and couldn’t even read 3 letter words. I was living with my mentally ill mother who wouldn’t always take me to school and it was also an environment where academic progression was very difficult. Without trauma dumping or getting in more detail, it got to the point where CPS got involved, so I started living with my godfather, which was a better environment for me to learn. I got diagnosed, so I started speech therapy, after school tutoring and special Ed classes at my school. My school was a choice/charter K-8 school where applicants were randomly chosen to get in. This school would teach up to 3 grades in advance, focus on STEM, and used new experimental teaching methods. Overall it was expected of you to preform above average and we would always perform above average on standardized tests for our school average. I think this is what spawned my inferiority complex/intelligence insecurity. I was around all these kids that were so gifted and I was among the select few that had to attend special Ed, it was so humiliating. I even remember being bullied about it on a few occasions. Fast forward to 5th grade my tutor referred me to get reevaluated at a learning center because of my high performance. After all the testing it was revealed I had a 128 IQ and an 11th grade reading comprehension level and I scored grades above average in every subject. It was such a relief since it meant I didn’t have to do special Ed or tutoring anymore which I found so humiliating. Even after I didn’t have to do any of those programs anymore I still was offered a personalized paraprofessional or extra time on tests which I always refused because I just wanted to be treated the same as everyone else. I never was able to get good grades but I always did exceptionally well on standardized tests. Even when I was in high school. A time where I was addicted to drugs (high 90% of the time ) and failed most my classes I still scored exceptionally well on all my standardized tests besides my ACT, which I scored 1 point below average. Deep down I know I’m not stupid, but i am slow, if that makes sense. For example I loose my place when I’m reading constantly, and have to reread the same sentence up to half a dozen times to understand what it means, which takes a lot of time. Since the ACT is a timed test I think that’s why I didn’t do as well on it. I could’ve probably got extra time on it due to my disability, but do to my insecurity I didn’t want to do that. Anyways to this day I have horrible spelling/grammer, have to proof read everything I type and edit it, even simple texts because it’s always riddled with mistakes. I probably proof read this post 2 dozen times since it’s so long. The symptoms more associated with APD are: stuttering, always mishearing people so my response to them doesn’t make sense, talking very slow and having to think about every word I say, misspeaking, and overall my vocabulary is so bad unless I take the time and effort to think about everything, which is only possible when typing, so when I speak I sound stupid. Anyways all of the listed things i mentioned plus general mistakes I make, make me feel like a dumbass, and it’s hard to feel otherwise. It’s like I cognitively know I’m not stupid but deep down in my heart that’s how I feel. Anyways I’m just wondering how many other people with dyslexia have delt with this same/similar issue? Is there any advice or words that you could give me to help me get over this? Thank you for reading this very long post!❤️

Platinum End Theory: Who Is God And Those Mysterious Beings In The Finale Explained
Original link- https://reddit.com/platinumend/comments/sdw2rc/deleted_by_use
Repost cause the original was deleted. I'm not OP. OP is https://www.reddit.com/usemuphenz
Deleted Theory https://www.reddit.com/platinumend/s/b347iH85A7
Thanks https://www.reddit.com/usecompletelylostcase for the Pastebin link. https://pastebin.com/A8K4bJiD
DISCLAIMER: This theory will go over the entire story of Platinum End, so obvious spoilers ahead.Just a heads up, this theory is posted at the time that only a few episodes of the anime have been released. Depending on how much the anime stays like the manga, details may end up changing. Therefore, the entire theory will be based solely on the manga. I will also leave snippets of the manga with the highlighted text to support my claim. Please be sure to read those as it will help this theory make sense. This theory is completely my own original thoughts. If anyone shares this, please be sure to credit me, Muphenz. Thanks! Hello, my fellow Platinum End fans! If you’re like me, the ending completely caught me off guard and left my head-scratching. Do not worry! I’ve overanalyzed everything and made a theory to possibly explain who god and those beings at the end of the story are, so you don’t have to. Those beings at the end of the manga, chapter 58, are drum roll…humans of the future who have achieved many scientific advancements who existed well before the story of Platinum End takes place and are simulating their own world with fake humans, fake angels, and a fake god. Why are the real humans running this simulation? Simply put, they’re suicidal and no amount of therapy is going to help with that. Why are they wanting to die? In the future, it is predicted by Gaku Yoneda that within 500 years, humans will achieve immortality. Once they achieve immortality, they will eventually master time and space and will be able to do things like teleport, time travel, see the future, etc. And once humans achieve immortality and are able to know all of the future, they will discover that the future cannot be changed according to Dr. Yoneda. Just like Dr. Yoneda’s prediction, the real humans are wanting to die which is why it’s stated by one of the real humans how annoying it is that there is no death. Whatever the process was that made the real humans immortal, it seems that it cannot be reversed to restore one’s mortality. Although it’s not stated how humans will achieve immortality and allow them to control time and space, this will somehow cause humanity’s apocalypse as well, destroying the original Earth. What makes these creatures more human-like than god-like is that they admit they were born on another planet, most likely the original Earth. They are also aware that they too were created by something that is above them. How do we know Dr. Yoneda’s predictions are right? It was stated by Shuji Nakaumi that his past predictions came true. One thing to understand about science is that it’s extremely good at accurately predicting things. Example 1: With Issac Newton’s law of motion, scientists can predict the position of an object at any specific time, past, present, or future. Example 2: In the 1840s, Fitzner astronomer Urbain Le Verrier was analyzing the orbit pathway of Mercury and found that it is changing very slowly over time. With technology limited at that time, it was hard to provide proof. In 1915, the famous German physicist, Albert Einstein was able to calculate the influence of the curved space in Mercury’s orbit. That is 75 years later that science proved its prediction was right. Although science cannot tell future events like a psychic will attempt to, I believe this is what the author was using to help advance the plot for the ending. The real humans already know the future and they’re aware that no matter what they try, death is not a part of that. If they cannot do it, someone else can. That is when these simulations come in. The real humans will create simulated humans. In one of the simulations, the story of Platinum End takes place. This would not be on a computer. This process would involve terraforming an entire planet to support carbon-based life. The planet that the simulated humans live on will be similar to the original Earth as well as the history and advancement of science will be similar to the real humans. As the simulated human’s society progresses, like in Platinum End, they would eventually learn how to become immortal and learn how to control space-time which would lead to them wanting to die just like the real humans. But unlike the real humans, the simulated ones may actually achieve a way to kill themselves once they obtain immortality that the real humans could use. But as we already know stated by the real humans, this specific simulation was a failure. Nothing was created that was capable of killing them. Thus, the real humans will move on to a new simulation. Pay very special attention to this picture. Notice right after all of the humans disappear when the fake god kills himself, the buildings are slowly crumbling away since no one is here to maintain them. According to World Building, it would take an average of 250 years for a building to start to break apart since materials like wood and plastic would be destroyed by the environment if not maintained. Metal would be expanding and no longer able to keep the building's structure in place. This would cause things like windows to fall off and shatter. So after a few hundred years, the real humans return to the planet after the simulated humans disappeared due to the fake god’s suicide. It’s possible that during this time they’re running other simulations on other planets and returned when this simulation was completed. Since the real humans have achieved master over space-time, teleporting to anywhere in the universe would not be out of the question. Since they cannot die, the amount of time it would take for the real humans to travel anywhere in the universe is irrelevant as well. Even though Gaku Yoneda’s predictions about the simulated humanity’s end were wrong, he was technically right. It did come true for the real humans. If Shuji Nakaumi, as the fake god, did not kill himself and wipe out all of the fake humans, they would of most likely learned how to cheat death and to control space-time in the future. Gaku was wrong about the fake god being a product of human belief in order to live. He even admits that the composition of the fake god was wrong. If the fake god required human belief to live, then Shuji would not have erased the memories of those who were not god candidates as it would have affected the fake god's existence if fewer people believed in him. There is one thing that begs the question. Why is a fake god needed to run these simulations? Why do the simulated humans have souls? Why not just create the simulated humans and leave them to figure out how to create an immortal killing machine without the process of a false god? This is because God and souls are actually real and are necessary for life to exist. To clarify, the “God” that Shuji Nakaumi was transmuted into is not the true God that I’m referring to. I’m referring to the first cause of everything, a self-aware creator, a deistic God who existed before time and space who created the universe and does not intervene in its creation. This means no miracles, prophecy, answering prayers, divine revelation, etc. Everything in the universe is governed by physics and these laws cannot be broken. The real humans who are running the simulations are aware that they are a creation made from a creator. However, since a deistic God does not interfere in the universe, the real humans cannot know of him, at least while they are still alive. Considering the real humans can control space-time, I can say for certain at one point, at least one person went to the very beginning of time and saw something that would be evidence of an intelligent designer creating the universe. When the real humans are conversing with each other at the finale, one human suggests identifying what created them and the second one replies that seeking their creator will be a waste of time. If a deistic God won’t intervene in its creation, the real humans would be wasting time by attempting to contact him. Even though they can control space-time, if the creator exists outside of reality, they would not be able to reach this entity. Focusing on figuring out who created them means that time is wasted if they're not figuring out how to die which is why it would take them further away from death. Just as the simulated humans have souls, the real humans also have souls. At some point, the real humans discovered the soul. They are aware that this is needed for life to be sentient. The discovery of the soul could have played a key part in the real humans achieving immortality. The fake god is engineered by the real humans to create souls so that life can be sentient, mimic the universe's deistic God by allowing the simulation to run with no interference, and act as a mod to keep an eye on life with the red and white arrows. The celestial realm was created so the fake god would not be a part of the simulated world. Even though time moves differently in the celestial realm, it is the closest thing that the real humans can engineer to simulate a deist God that is separated from its creation. This fake god does not have the powers of a supreme being. The fake god does not know everything, is not everywhere at once, and does not display any sort of omnipotent ability. There is a lot of things that the fake god admits to not knowing, such as who created him, why are souls preserved, and how long does the merging process take. Although we do see the fake god have the ability to observe humanity, I would say that this is the equivalent of having admin privileges to watch humanity live-streamed on YouTube. The fake god is aware that he is created by someone. The fake god noticed that there are things that had already been created that he was not a part of just by observing everything in the universe. Although he seems to not understand what created him. He even acknowledges the idea that humanity could have created him. All the simulated souls come from the fake god. This is done through a process of emanation, which means to flow from. In the Abrahamic religions, specifically Gnosticism, Jewish Mysticism, and certain sectors of Protestantism, instead of your typical creator being separate from its creation, everything is a spontaneous outflow from God. As pieces of God emanate from him, it becomes less divine, but these pieces will eventually become an individual soul that forms into human spirits, angels, demons, as well as other things that come into reality such as heaven, hell, and the world of the living. Eventually, everything that came from God, will return back to the creator. (If you’re still confused on what emanation is, I would do more research before continuing to read as this will play a key role in understanding who the fake god is.) Emanation is how the fake god created the simulated human and their soul, the fake angels, and the celestial realm. The fake god took a piece of himself and used it to create life. Since everything emanates from the fake god is connected to him, as he is dying, most of the angels are dying too. Due to this connection, when the fake god killed himself, everything that was tied to the fake god disappeared. But because the creation of the fake god is not connected to the physical world, the planet and everything that is not life remained on it. When the simulated human beings die, the soul goes to the celestial realm. This is the returning aspect of emanation. The souls that came from the fake god are returning back to him. You always see all angels, regardless of rank, having the task of carrying the souls to the celestial realm. It seems that the main purpose of the angels is to help with the return part of the emanation process. The more that the emanence is divided, the less divine it becomes. This is why the fake humans are considered sub-celestial in the hierarchy.It appears that there is a certain order to the flow of emanation. The newest creations emanate from the fake god. Kids will be the first in the line for the emanate process and their parents will be behind them. This is why when the fake god committed suicide, the kids were the first ones to disappear, then the adults. All things that emanate from the fake god are returning to the original source in reverse order when the fake god takes his own life. When the fake god merges with a human, this appears to go against the set pattern of the emanation process by breaking the order in which the emanence flows. This is why when Shuji merged with the fake god, it felt like there was something foreign in the fake god's body similar to how an infected person's body acts when the immune system detects foreign bacteria or a virus. The only way to get around it is by the fake god merging with a simulated human and having the fake god take over the new body when the fusion is completed. It is stated by the fake god that it is nothing more than humanity's assumption that God cannot die. This may be true for the deistic God, but not for a fake god. It is already known that the real humans achieved immortality. Although the fake god could have been engineered to be immortal, that would just create another being who would eventually want to die. The fake god was designed to live a long life, compared to humans, that could be extended through the process of merging with one of its emanated counterparts until the simulation was completed. This has been done throughout time in the form of the god choosing process. The fake god confirmed to Shuji that his purpose was to create life. Professor Yoneda confirmed that the fake god was created by human imagination and that its purpose was to end life. On the surface, this may seem like a contradiction. But both of them are right. The fake god’s purpose was to create the simulated humans. God is metaphorically a creation of human imagination. It was not by the simulated human’s imagination as stated by Yoneda, but it was designed and engineered by the minds of the real humans. Since the purpose of the simulation is for the fake humans to achieve immortality and figure out how to reverse it, you can say that the fake god is a part of that process of killing humanity. Right as all of the humans are disappearing, Dr. Yoneda realizes that the composition that makes up the creature is based on a science that the simulated humans have not discovered yet. The composition of the fake god is Aether. In medieval times, a common study among scholars is alchemy, which can be best described as the forerunner for modern-day chemistry mixed with the pseudoscience of metaphysics. According to Charles Gillispie, a historian at Princeton University, in his book, The Edge of Objectivity, An Essay in the History of Scientific Ideas, Aether is the fifth element, along with earth, wind, fire, and water, that are the basic building blocks of the universe. During medieval times, Aether is the substance that is believed to connect the physical world to the spiritual one. It was even a common belief that the Abrahamic God was surrounded by Aether and that all of the angels, demons, and souls that dwelled in the afterlife breathed it in as humans breathed in the air. According to Jakob Bernoulli, a mathematician from the 1600s, believed that Aether is what allowed souls to interact with their human bodies. All of these characteristics of Aether match the composition of the fake god. Aether is what allows life to become sentient, connecting all of the simulated humans back to the fake god from the physical world to the celestial realm. It seems at some point, the real humans discover this element. This discovery most likely led to the discovery of the soul. Using this element, the real humans used Aether to construct the fake god needed for the simulations. Everything that is a part of the simulation, the fake god, angels, the soul, the arrows, is made up of this element. The red arrow is what allows the god candidates to make other humans fall in love with them so much that the person who is under the influence of the arrow will do literally anything the person who is in control wants, even die for them. The white arrow has the ability to kill any life while all inanimate objects are unaffected. These were limits placed on the arrows by the fake god. According to Ogaro, the fake god can use the full power of the arrows at will. The red arrow is more than just making someone fall in love. The arrow does this by taking away their free will. The god candidates were limited to using the arrow on 14 people at once for a period of up to 33 days. With the fake god able to use the full power of the red arrow, he can enslave any or all simulated humans with a snap of his finger for as long as he desired. The red arrow also played a role in creating the first simulated life as well. The fake god stated that if life was left alone, it would multiply. The desire of falling in love and wanting to procreate was implanted by the red arrow when life was created. The white arrow is the opposite of the red arrow. This arrow can kill life instantly. The limit that was placed on this arrow is that only one white arrow can be shot at a time. Just like the red arrow, this arrow has a maximum range of 31.6 meters. When cycling the white arrow, there is a cool down period of 0.3 seconds. If these limiters are removed, the fake god can kill all humans with the white arrows with virtually no limit on distance, any number of arrows can be used simultaneously, and there would be no mandatory cool down period. The creation of the simulated humans involves two key ingredients. The first is the soul which comes from the fake god. The second is a physical body for the soul to be attached to. The real humans asked if it was worth planting another seed and another god as those are two separate things. The making of another god is obviously the fake god. But what is the seed? The seed is what makes the physical embodiment of all plants and animals that all emanence is attached to. I.E., souls attached to bodies. According to the fake god, before he created life on the fake Earth, there was some sort of micro-organism. This seed would be that micro-organism, specifically carbon-based bacteria that is capable of evolution. Around 3 billion years ago, the first life on Earth was bacteria. There are two types of bacteria, a classification of anaerobic bacteria that ate other organic compounds and simple sugars to survive. The other kind is autotrophs bacteria which is capable of self-feeding. Anaerobic bacteria would evolve into modern-day animals. Autotroph bacteria would evolve into modern-day plants that still have the ability to self-feed through a process of photosynthesis. It is possible to send bacteria through space. According to a 2020 study published in the Journal of Frontiers in Microbiology, bacteria were able to survive in space for three years. If the real humans were able to transport the seed through space in less than 3 years, it could easily survive. Considering they achieved immortality, it is within reason to think this would be a piece of cake for them. At some point, part of the anaerobic bacteria would come in contact with the fake god, who was on the fake Earth at that time to make life, recognized the fake god as food, and attempted to feed off of him to survive. The bacteria that fed off the fake god would eventually evolve into Nasse. The bacteria that did not feed off of the fake god would evolve into more complex forms of life on the fake Earth. Since Nasse was accidentally created from this event, it most likely means that she is the first angel that the fake god created. This means that she could serve as inspiration for the fake god to create angels for the celestial realm. The angels don't seem to share any ability to reproduce with each other. There is never any mention of any family heritage. It means that all of the angels were created around the same time. Since Nasse is the only angel that came from the seed/bacteria, her biological makeup differs from all the other angels. While the majority of her is angel, part of the genetic makeup is similar to carbon-based life. Although I would not say Nasse is an angel-human hybrid, she could be considered a type of Nephilim. Due to this biological difference, Nasse is the only angel that can interfere in both the physical world and the celestial realm. Much research has shown that facial expressions are innate among all animals, not just humans. The same animals that display facial expressions when expressing emotions, lying, determination, etc. use similar muscles in the face as humans do. For example, a Psychologist, Paul Ekman, studied facial expression from hours of film and ventured on to multiple isolated tribes who have very little contact with modern society. He showed them pictures of facial expressions and asked them to interpret them. These people were able to match facial expressions and their meaning with high accuracy. This is one of the many studies that show facial expressions are genetic. Even though Nasse is single-minded, she is able to understand facial expressions due to her biological relationship with the simulated life on the fake Earth. But hey, this is just a theory."

Swiatek vs Potapova :

Swiatek had to have been happy with her third round matchup after waking up from the nightmare that Naomi Osaka presented. She made quick work of Bouzkova, who was outmatched in every department. Bouzkova did manage to battle back in the first and make the set close, and she served surprisingly well, but she just doesn’t hit hard enough to beat Swiatek. It was one of those matches where Swiatek looks a bit impatient because she’s supplying all the offense, and it seems like when it takes 3-4 shots to get an opportunity to hit a winner, she tries to just infuse extra pace or spin instead and unforced errors appear. Trying to make the ball explode doesn’t really work, and extra force applied tends to fall short when compared to smooth technique. I watched Rune and Zverev have similar trouble today against their opponents. Players wind up pushing because they hit bigger than their opponent, but don’t want to make errors. It’s accuracy that’s missing, and it’s something for Swiatek to work on in the off-season. I would say that accuracy is the main problem with her serve as well. It has plenty of pace and spin, but the ball lands towards the center of the box way too often. Less pace, and more location will go a long way.
If it feels like I’m levying criticism today, yes. Your turn, Potapova and Wang. Potapova was down 5-0 in the first set, and won 7 games in a row. Wang has a tendency to just go big on her forehand, and she doesn’t stop when she misses. Potapova was an uphill battle, but Wang doesn’t actually need to hit clean winners to score. Her forehand is one of the biggest in the game, and once she locks into a cross-court rally she usually can win provided the ball lands inside the court. Landing the ball inside the court proved difficult, and it felt a bit like watching Struff. All the ability in the world but a sense of urgency that doesn’t really match the moment. Yes you want to stay aggressive, but the weight of shot buys you time in the rally, you don’t need to escape a rally you’re in control of.
Potapova wound up losing the second, and down a break in the third. She dug in admirably, but there were some really poor decisions late in the match. After getting to triple break point by rallying with Wang and keeping the ball deep until Wang missed, she got a simple backhand return off a serve. She went for a clean winner down the line for some reason, and then suddenly the next point mattered. She lost it, and suddenly the “oh F I had it and now it’s gone” fears rose. The game ended up at duece, and she went to tactic B : screaming on every shot. You can’t scream your opponent off the court, so this didn’t really work. In the end, Wang coughed up errors and Potapova won, but it was a match that was managed poorly by both. Potapova was very reactive to misses and makes, which is fine but wastes a bunch of energy and tends to affect your decisionmaking in a readable way. You want to maintain some mystery, and at a minimum not give your opponent any inspiration or hope to work off of while you’re out there.
Swiatek Potapova should be another safe match for Swiatek, but Potapova has good power off both wings and she hits her backhand down the line decent. Swiatek will need more than she brought against Bouzkova, and chances are this won’t be a blowout. Potapova won their last meeting 6-0 in the third on clay, but it was in 2016 at the juniors. Swiatek in 2.

Danilovic vs Vondrousova :

Olga Danilovic has made the 4th round of a major. This changes her career in a major way. Tons of points, at least $250k, and a chance to win more. It’s even sweeter I would imagine because she probably shouldn’t be there. Her match against Donna Vekic was filled with many fumbles. Both players have enough power to hit past the other. Vekic was able to hit inside out forehands to great effect. Danilovic’s pendulum swing on her backhand was able to force errors from Vekic quite often. Her forehand down the line was almost a clean winner anytime she made it. In between all that though, they missed constantly.
The first set was a 6-0 beatdown from Vekic. She played excellent, and likely should have won the second. In the third, she went up a quick break. She gave that back, but broke to serve for the match. Immediately, she threw in a handful of forced dropshots and errors. Luckily, she broke again to serve for the match at 6-5. This gave her the opportunity to come up with a few more bailout dropshots and errors. If you watch highlights, this was an incredible match. If you watched the match, you saw two players whose games were affected by the situation. Vekic forced the issue and missed anytime she got control of the scoreboard, and Danilovic went through bouts of not missing at all followed by sending every ball wide. The tiebreaker was vaguely like watching a junior match. Every miss brought a huge reaction from the player. There were constant gestures and faces made to their boxes, and it was a little difficult to watch two great players struggle to focus and execute. Vekic managed to go up again 6-2 in the tiebreaker, but froze at that point and began hitting most of her shots long. She had trouble serving first serves in for the second half of the entire third set, but she really was unable to respond defensively once Danilovic got a full swing in.
After watching Danilovic down Collins and sort of defeat Vekic, it’s hard to count her out against Vondrousova. Marketa is a clear favorite against most players on clay, but the scorelines of her matches can be hard to predict. Against Paquet she was up a set and cruising up a double break in the second, and wound up back on serve. She closed out, but Vondrousova doesn’t hit that big and mostly thrives by defending and earning errors, so Danilovic will be able to compete. They played in the BJK cup and Vondrousova won in 3, and I’m guessing slower clay will give Vondrousova more of an edge. Vekic’s lack of speed really hurt her, and I think Vondrousova being able to put extra ball consistently in play will make Danilovic’s rough patches more of an issue. The emotional and physical output of Danilovic over the last few rounds has to take a toll, and I think she’ll fall a game or two short here. Vondrousova in 3.

Gauff vs Cocciaretto :

This is an excellent draw for Gauff so far. She’s playing great players, but stylistically they’re not a lot of trouble for her. This round is another good spot. Elisabetta Cocciaretto is a good server and has nice power, but she’s not the fastest around the court and she can make some unforced errors if she’s rushed. This means Gauff’s defense and power give her a great shot to win without trouble. Cocciaretto beating Samsonova was a surprise to me, but Samsonova doesn’t have the speed that Gauff does nor the consistency. This is a criminally short analysis but Gauff in 2.

Tauson vs Jabeur :

Great champions are able to elevate their games. This round, Ons will need to elevate hers. Clara Tauson is playing some great tennis, and coming into this match hers is the higher level. Jabeur was projected to have trouble against Fernandez and she did. It was another match where I felt like a good coach could have gotten their player across the finish line. Fernandez didn’t have a great chance in the first, but Jabeur was very willing to give the second away. Fernandez was able to dig in on defense and rally with Jabeur until she made errors or gave Leylah opportunities. Rather than keep rallying and really punish Jabeur, Fernandez went for winners … and missed them all. I’m not exaggerating here, in the second set she missed almost every offensive shot she went for, and it didn’t feel like she had to go for them. Jabeur hits bigger than Fernandez, so on the court it may have felt like she needed to do a lot, but most of her points come from consistency, so Leylah’s team will want to focus on having her focus on the mental battle going on in her opponent’s head rather than trying to be a big hitter. Physically, it’s just not in the cards for her to be slinging offense. Maybe she landed those same shots in an earlier round, so going for them was fine, but awareness on court is important, and Jabeur was trying to give the set away. After winning, Jabeur celebrated a bit which left me puzzled. It’s natural to be happy when you win, but I feel a little odd about these matches sometimes. Fernandez didn’t land a first serve for the last 20 minutes, threw in a ton of errors, and tried to hit an overhand winner for some reason off a return at 5-5 in the tiebreaker. It was a nice win, but Jabeur made this match hard on herself. I might be in hater mode today and I apologize, but it feels like sometimes players tap their head or pump their fist after overcoming challenges that they themselves created.
Positives for Jabeur were the times she put one extra ball back. She has had a middling season, and seeing her dig in is great. Her racquet skill is some of the best on tour as well, so the gets aren’t just a boost, they’re downright effective. She has the ability to stretch to her forehand and put squash gets back extremely low, and to flick cross-court forehands that seem impossible from how extended her arm is. Jabeur’s depth of talent is why she is still slightly favored in this match, because again, Clara Tauson is coming in at a high level. Tauson beat Ostapenko, and followed it up by putting Kenin through the ringer. Kenin had no chance in the first, but in the second she was able to reel back a break of serve and apply some decent pressure. Frustratingly, she just wasn’t able to execute in the big moments. At 15-30 5-5, Tauson hit a lob that was going a few feet out (to the side). While running backwards, Kenin seemed unaware of where she was in the court. She tried to play it overhead and missed. It was a momentum killer, and she ended up missing the remainder of her offensive opportunities.
Throughout the match, the big difference in the two was Tauson’s ability to score quickly. When she lands first serves, or if you give her a moment to get a full swing anywhere inside the baseline, you are toast. She has the type of power that Anisimova/Collins generate on their backhand, and she has a heavy forehand. That is why I suspect Jabeur will have a tough time winning this quickly. Jabeur has the endurance and variety to frustrate Tauson, but this feels like a battle of two big offenses, and Jabeur’s is a bit less consistent at this point. I want to believe Jabeur wins in 3, but she will need to step up her game and avoid the type of letdown she had in the second against Fernandez. Tauson is several tiers above Leylah and Osorio in terms of offensive opportunities, and both those players were able to get in winning position in at least one set. I’m still going to go with Jabeur in 3. Tauson has beaten some offenses, and some defenses, but Ons is the most complete player she’s faced so it feels very much like “prove it” territory for me.

Arnaldi vs Tsitsipas :

The story in Arnaldi’s match seems to be Rublev’s temper, but don’t let that overshadow Arnaldi’s performance. For me, Rublev’s temper is partially his fault, and partially his team’s. I’m especially sensitive to this after watching the last round, but being reactive to the outcome of points is a bit of a leak. If you are easily moved by events, then you are always able to be moved. It compounds, because if you are really good at something, there is no reason to believe that minor failures will continue, or even matter. It gives your opponent motivation, it wastes your valuable reserves of adrenaline and dopamine (depending on good/bad outcomes), and it’s honestly fairly distracting for an opponent. Just generally speaking, if my opponent is smashing his head with a racquet, I don’t really want to beat him. I’m still going to, but I want to compete and win, I don’t really want to add suffering to someone else. It’s unprofessional, it’s a detriment to his game, and it puts his opponents and umpires in an uncomfortable spot. Of course, he knows this, but it should hit home in this moment that he lost this match because of his lack of composure, and lost it to a player who thrives because of his composure.
Matteo Arnaldi plays steady consistent tennis. He works hard, he constantly works on his game, and he isn’t reactive out there aside from hyping himself up. He beat Fils because of deviations in his level of play and because he made it clear he wouldn’t miss. Fils forced shots and missed because he was unwilling to do the work. He beat Rublev because despite Rublev opening the match hitting clean and crushing winners, he just stayed the course and kept competing. When Christmas disappeared, Rublev noticed, and he did not like it. The crux of the issue is, he did not accept it. If I am upset about the way things are, that is natural. If I grit against the way they are, I suffer. If I accept the way things are, I am (counterintuitively) instantly free to begin working on changing them. It doesn’t mean we celebrate errors or loss, but resetting to the present moment is a major key to winning in professional sports and tennis players in particular have a difficulty with this.
I’m not trying to dump on all these players or attack them here either. All of them are tremendous athletes and are mostly excellent ambassadors and competitors. All of these struggles are natural and we all experiences the highs and lows of competition, but Rublev wants to win and this is something he needs to work on to do that consistently. If his coaches aren’t working on this with him, they’re doing him a disservice. If they are and he isn’t buying into it, he’s doing them a disservice. Everything is fine with Rublev’s game but the holes are clear. He needs more reps at net, he needs to develop dropshots, and he needs to not smash racquets.
For now, it’s Arnaldi vs Tsitsipas. Stefanos has been excellent this event, and he opens as the favorite for a reason. Zhang played solid in round 3, but he was helpless against Tsitsipas. Stef is holding serving quickly, and the speed with which he’s finding a forehand to the open court off of players’ returns is the catalyst of this. His stamina is a major weapon in these conditions and in this format, and his serve/forehand is one of the best left in the event. If Arnaldi wants to win, the plot is simple. Isolate Tsitsipas’ backhand, and get deep in sets. In the late stages of a close set, Tsitsipas is still prone to some shanks. I really do think Arnaldi needs to win the first set to have a shot here, but had Rublev been playing Tsitsipas I think we’d be expecting a somewhat close match so there’s no real argument for Arnaldi to get blown out here. He has a complete game, and he has good discipline. He’s lanky so he might be able to return well, and he can send his backhand down the line so Tsitsipas can’t just camp in his backhand corner. Forehand to forehand though, I think Tsitsipas wins. Losses to Ruud, Jarry, Medvedev make me think that Arnaldi has a bit of a ceiling, but all those were close affairs so Tsitsipas should have his hands full here. Tsitsipas in 4-5.

Alcaraz vs Auger-Aliassume :

Shelton and FAA was fairly hyped, but only Felix delivered. Shelton wasn’t really that bad, but FAA just showed he’s more comfortable on the surface. He faced no break points, and won comfortably in straight sets. His next match will be a lot more difficult, as he plays a version of Carlos Alcaraz that is cruising through the draw without really playing his best tennis. Alcaraz vs Korda was a strange contest. It reminded me a bit of Zverev or Rune playing matches they know they’re going to win. They don’t want to play extra sets, so they play a bit more carefully and just make sure to outlast their opponent. What ends up happening is the score stays close, and the stronger players needs to win a tense tiebreaker or break late in the set. Sure, they still win, but I think that an all-out assault from an earlier moment would allow them to fatigue their opponent.
These guys are all in tremendous shape (even Kotov), but there are levels/paces that they can’t hang at for long. Someone like Alcaraz can push the pace and wear Korda down, and once he breaks from that level, the odds of him winning the next sets easily are more likely. We watched Nadal and Djokovic do this to opponents for a long time, and the late sets were almost always blowouts after frantic openers. We watched Federer do the same thing mentally to opponents with a constant onslaught of offensive shots and tricky slices. If you don’t push the pace to a level your lower-tier opponent can’t hang at, they end up playing at a pace they’re comfortable with and then you play the same level of Korda in set 1 as you do in set 3.
Hater mode continues, but in this case I think it’s all assuming that Alcaraz is totally healthy. If he’s saving his arm for later, he played Korda perfectly. Sebastian continues to battle even with the best players on tour, and in the big moments he doesn’t change his game. 4-4 in a tiebreaker isn’t the time to force anything, but if you’re the underdog and have nothing to lose, it might be a good choice to ratchet up the pace a little, or take some chances. Instead, he seems to throw in rally ball errors. The two forehand misses he had in the tiebreaker were rough, but worse was that they weren’t even shots that were going to score. He was just guiding the ball in straight over the net. I guess in the end, beating Alcaraz, or even playing him even for a time, is a huge ask. It was a great match.
FAA will have his best chance to beat Alcaraz here. Alcaraz’s arm is potentially not 100%, and Korda probably should have won a set. I think the pace alone that Felix brings will wake Carlitos up a bit, and he has beaten FAA the last few times they’ve played so he’ll know which shots to employ and when. Even with his arm a question mark, Alcaraz’s speed around the court and ability to extend rallies are the right assets to score on FAA. Auger-Aliassime’s main issue on tour is that he can overhit forehands and cough up unforced errors. It should be noted also that FAA Shelton was played under a closed roof, which helps Felix’s serve a bit. The weather in Paris looks pretty nice for the rest of the tournament, so it’ll be warm and ideal for Alcaraz to wear him down and isolate his backhand when he can. FAA is good enough to compete at this level, but hasn’t been doing it regularly enough for me to think he can do so here for 3 whole sets. Alcaraz in 4.

Hurkacz vs Dimitrov :

Dimitrov leads this h2h 5-0. All the matches have been close, but you don’t get to 5-0 against Hurkacz unless you can reliably return serve. If you can reliably return serve, you can beat Hurkacz, and on clay it should be even more beneficial. Hurkacz has played excellent in this clay swing considering his status as a servebot, and leading into Wimbledon and the North American swing I think his baseline improves have him primed for some titles. He had a hard test with Shapovalov in round 3, and the new and sort of decent Shapovalov put up a good fight. Dimitrov had an easier time with Zizou Bergs, despite dropping a set. Bergs broke Dimitrov a bunch in this match, but Dimitrov’s slice gave him a lot of trouble. Grigor was content to just keep hitting the court, and it was enough in the end. Bergs had trouble lifting his forehand inside in off of the slice, and it meant going mostly inside out which Dimitrov was only too comfortable with. The quick turnaround is a concern here, but I don’t think the Bergs match was as labor intensive as it could have been. There were numerous rain delays, and the scores were close but only because Dimitrov didn’t redline. He served with control, he hit to big targets, and he secured the bag.
I don’t think Hurkacz gets beaten quickly here, and I don’t think Dimitrov is automatic just because of the h2h. He should win, but Dimitrov lost to Rune/Mensik/Fritz recently and those are all players right around Hurkacz level. If this goes to a 5th, I’d be pretty worried for Dimitrov’s chances. Picking Dimitrov in 4 feels tough, because Bergs got to a 4th and he wasn’t really playing his best today. The h2h is hard to ignore, so I’ll go with Dimitrov in 5. The quick turnaround might leave him tired but he should be able to outduel Hurkacz in most volleys and the low slices will be tough for the big dude to get down on.

Sinner vs Moutet :

Nothing like a seemingly simple one to end a full day of criticizing professional athletes for not being perfect <3. Moutet has been the most entertaining player in this event. He has won and lost lopsided sets, he has gone for every shot possible, he is chatting with the crowd, and he is giving the home country something to believe in. Considering he couldn’t even hit a two-handed backhand for a good chunk of the past year due to wrist surgery, it’s pretty impressive for him to get his game back to a really high level. Ofner was beating him early in the third round, but he was also sweating profusely. The workload of defending against Moutet’s big forehand strokes and his clever dropshots is exhausting, and Ofner’s game dipped as the match went on. It’ll be fun to see Sinner trading with Moutet, and it’ll be another look at his physical ability to see how quickly he moves to the frontcourt and how he defends Moutet’s forehand inside out. Generally with a hip injury, it’s sprinting forward and leaning wide to that side that becomes an issue.
Sinner has sort of entered a big however many group in terms of his results. He is able to beat the lower tier players for the entire match, and is consistently able to do so. There are no holes in his game, and aside from his hip issue there is no reason to think he loses here. Moutet has the game to make this the match of the day, but it feels like he’s spent a lot more time and energy on court and that’ll cost him. Sinner in 3.

I F(25) need to have a serious sit down with my husband (25). We’ve been married for 5 years, together for 8. He’s always had more severe mental health issues such as anger problems, depression, and anxiety his whole life. Because of this, I’ve always been very cautious with how I bring up concerns or problems. Not because I’m afraid he’ll physically hurt me and he’s never done that, but because I truly do hate hurting his feelings and don’t want him to resent me if I nag him. Lately I feel like I’ve been nagging him and it’s affecting us. Once we got married and moved in together, I noticed right away he doesn’t brush his teeth every night. Recently in the last couple of years I’ve noticed it’s now turned into not every day. He was working an incredibly toxic job that was draining his mental health even more. He’s recently got out of that career but not willingly. I thought things would start to get better with him not working for a little bit and taking care of our son but he’s always stressed because we are in the process of moving out of state for his new career and I’m the only one working. He doesn’t handle stress well at all.
Since he lost his job a month ago, he has only been brushing his teeth once a week. I always try and remind him or when he goes in for a kiss I tell him I’d rather not kiss him until he’s brushed his teeth because his breath is unbearable now. He gets very upset with him when I do that. He also was supposed to quit his nicotine addition a month ago, of course that day he gets let go so he told me he can’t quit yet because he’s too stressed out. We agreed on a new date for him to quit that because that also really bothers me. His mental health is even worse when he’s using nicotine products but it’s always been an ongoing issue of him going back to using it without telling me like every year. I feel like that is also making his breath worse and I don’t want his teeth falling out. He kisses our toddler on the lips and it makes me so upset with his lack of hygiene. I’ve been trying to figure out how to talk to him and let him know how severe this is without upsetting him because I know he’s going through a lot right now with the stress but it’s been enough. He’s too old to be not taking care of himself. I feel like his mother at this point. How can I have this conversation in the most loving way possible but get through to his head?
Edit to add: I don’t tell him his breath is unbearable. I realize that sentence ran long and made it look like that. I just simple tell him I cant kiss him until he’s brushed his teeth.

I've been sending personalised cold emails at scale for 15 years & have A/B tested everything 6 ways past Sunday.
This 3 min post will save you 3 years of testing and learning:
1/
The subject line is everything.
"quick question" used to rule them all, but it's dead now.
Keep it 5 words or less, and include the recipient's 1st name
Longer ALWAYS loses A/B tests and including 1st name always wins.
Better subject line = more opens = more replies
2/
Don't sound professional
Don't sound like a robot
Always sound like an interesting human.
If you aren't interesting or clever, then get help from a friend that is
One of my best performing openers was
"Put down your $17 avocado toast and read this stupid pitch already."
3/
I know gurus preach "it doesn't matter how long your email is as long as your copy is compelling."
That's BS. Full stop.
Your email needs to be shorter than Danny DeVito.
Rule of 5:
5 or less words in subject
5 of less sentences in body
No links or pics in signature.
4/
Are there exceptions to this? Of course. Long copy has made folks billions.
But rarely in email. And your copywriting isn't that good. Neither is mine.
You need to end the pitch with an easy call to action.
Cold emails are no different than fishing. Let me explain
5/
When you go fishing you can't set the hook too soon or too late.
THE PURPOSE OF A COLD EMAIL IS TO START A CONVERSATION. NOT TO SELL!! You're fishing.
Keep the ask very simple in the beginning and don't ask for much.
As you reel them in, as for a little more at a time.
6/
My first email usually ends with:
"Any interest?"
"Thoughts?"
"Mind if I send a little more info?"
Every time you ask someone to hop on a call or a Zoom in the FIRST cold email, an innocent puppy dies.
Don't you freaking do it.
Don't set the hook too soon.
7/
The more times you can get them to reply, the more of a relationship you have.
The more likely they will be to either buy or hop on that stupid Zoom you keep wanting to ask for.
If your cold email can't give them
Money Time Attention
Then they aren't buyin'
8/
Let's talk tools. There are a ton of cold emailing tools. I've used them all.
GMass - Lightweight, cheap, simple. It's great
Lemlist - Feature rich, a bit expensive. Unintuitive UI
Apollo - Solid, affordable, but more targeted towards leadgen and not the email tool itself
9/
Start by sending in batches of 200 per day.
A/B testing 100 at a time.
Keep iterating until open rates are over 50% and reply rates are 15+%
It all depends on your industry, product and pitch, however.
I've seen 90+% open rates and 40+% response rates if targeted enough
10/
The more personalised the emails are, the better response you'll get. Obvious, I know.
You'll always make a tradeoff between scale and response rates.
Pick your poison.
2-3 personalised fields per email is key.
11/
No more than 2 follow ups. PLEASE.
Because hey, I get cold emails too. And when you follow up 3-6x I literally want to murder you.
It does more harm than good.
In general, follow ups are weak. If it's a no on the 1st email it's 90+% chance going to be a no on 2-3 as well
12/
With every word they have to read in the email, the % likelihood of them deleting the email goes up
Friction is not your friend
These same people stop watching a TikTok video after 4 seconds, you think they're gonna read a 400 word enterprise software pitch?
13/
The winning A/B test will be the one that leads to more cash in the bank.
Not the ones with the most opens or replies. Make sense?
Sometimes the lowest response rates are the highest INTENT responses.
You need to track these nuances, not just the numbers.
Source

Have you ever thought about snacking on grapes before bed? It might sound unusual, but recent studies suggest that this simple habit could be a key to enhancing sleep quality. Let’s see in more detail how it may be beneficial!
😌 Full of melatonin
Grapes, especially when eaten at night, are not just a healthy snack option but also a potential natural sleep aid, thanks to their melatonin content (1430243-7)). Melatonin, a hormone crucial in regulating our sleep cycles, is naturally present in grapes and helps signal to our body that it's time to wind down and prepare for sleep.
💡Packed with vitamins
Grapes are a versatile and beneficial fruit, offering more than just a good night's sleep. They are packed with nutrients such as vitamin C (8), which is essential for the immune system, and antioxidants that may protect against various diseases (19).
The presence of resveratrol in red grapes is particularly interesting for those concerned with cardiovascular health (20, 25). This compound has been studied for its effects on heart health and its potential to reduce blood pressure. Moreover, the potassium found in grapes supports these cardiovascular benefits by helping manage blood pressure levels.
🍇Red or white — it’s your choice!
One might wonder if there is a specific type of grape that is best for sleep—fortunately, the melatonin content does not vary significantly between different grape colors, so your choice can come down to personal preference. Whether you opt for red, green, or black grapes, incorporating them into your evening routine could help you not only satisfy your late-night snack cravings but also improve the quality of your sleep (28)
😔Doesn’t suit everyone
Individuals with allergies to grapes or sensitivities to salicylates, which are found in many fruits, should avoid them (24). Additionally, eating grapes—or any food—right before bed isn't advisable for everyone, as it can lead to discomfort and disrupt sleep for some (12).
In conclusion, if you're considering adding grapes to your diet, it might be worth trying them out as an evening snack to see if you notice improvements in your sleep patterns. Just remember, the key is moderation, and it's always best to consult with a healthcare provider if you have specific dietary restrictions or health concerns.
Have any of you tried eating grapes or other foods to improve your sleep? Did you notice any changes? Drop a comment below, we wanna know!

FAIR WARNING THIS WILL BE A WALL OF TEXT
Intro: In a series of reviews that will begin (or return) here; we are going to try and take a critical look at the Chuck series, especially the unfolding of the story as scene through the teleplay. In this case we are assuming multiple things about a potential watcher:

• The watcher is new to the series and does not know about future episodes, but there is an expectation any previous episodes have been watched.
• I will try not to point information out that becomes important for later episodes, though there may be times it's important because of how episodes are filmed and how episodes string together, I will however try and hide these behind a spoiler tag. I say this as a person who has watched Chuck dozens of times, so if I inadvertently spoiler, sorry.
• I will do my best to point out interesting references that are hidden within the Chuck universe, but not at the expense of extended expositions unless in-depth analysis is necessary as it relates to the scene.

What is this all for: This started as a project to improve my critical reviewing skills for a hobby of movie script writing and analysis. Chuck happens to have published 3 original scripts and all the text of every episode has been published to a searchable database. This affords an opportunity to break from my movie writing woes and infinite revisions to just have fun enjoying Chuck and trying to deepen my understanding of the intersection of script writing with filmography and visual editing. Having said this, it should be known I have no affiliation to the show, no additional insider knowledge, and I do not write scripts for a living. So, consequently, feel free to ignore everything I say :). I do hope, however, we can go on this journey together and appreciate the excellence that is a love story called Chuck.
So, don't freak out, and lets get started.
​
Chuck 01x04 (Chuck vs the Wookiee): TEASER - We open with the gang playing "Know Ya!", which isn't actually a real board game, but based on the game Paddles. It's amazing that Morgan can't stand Ellie/Awesome being in love/winning, but marches triumphantly whenever he gets a question correct. I also like we see, in frame, Chuck watching Sarah pick off olives; he's beginning to notice things just like a real spy. The deep sadness and yet storied confliction on Chuck's face when he discovers Peaches 1 and Peaches 2 was great.
For those who don't know about dogs:

• A cocker spaniel is typically smaller; by ~5inches and up to 30lbs lighter than a springer spaniel.
• Springer spaniels also have shorter fur across their bodies, with feathered hair under their chests and legs.
• Only a cocker spaniel will be solid colored
• Springer spaniels have longer muzzles, while cockers have fluffier ears.

I find it very interesting how Sarah has "spidey sense" about potentially being watched. At no point previously did either Sarah nor Casey display this trait and I'm not totally sure how an open window was enough to do this; I wonder if Sarah's comfort being around Chuck's family is causing her to develop a "feeling of being watched" as she is comfortable with the Bartowski's? For those who missed it, Sarah talks about having a sister I think at the time this was just a throw-away line to protect her cover, but in season 5 Sarah does actually have a little sister if you count the little girl she rescues One last thing about Sarah here, when Bryce is being discussed, I really like how it was played where she acts quiet and shocked, but not saying anything. The facial expressions of Yvonne here are really special and you can tell Sarah lives a life of secrets. This is carried outside when Chuck asks Sarah about her relationship with Bryce. She is totally looking down and to the right, a classic indication of an emotional response searching for rationalization (ie. she is clearly lying)
As they end the game and exit to the courtyard, there teleplay of Chuck does something I've been wanting to see forever; they switch perspective to keep both characters in camera and follow them around from a 3rd perspective. We know this is supposed to indicate they are being watched, but I really enjoy getting to see them together reacting and talking instead of the constant close-ups and cuts. Normally Chuck will be shot with something between a medium close up (MCU) and Medium Shot (MS) to emphasize their characters and highlight their faces and expressions. This works really well because Chuck's cameras are typically either shoulder level or hip level based on the operators moving through their space. In many more modern TV shows, the technology of boom cranes and gyroscopic gimbals allows for content to be show from ground level to overhead giving directors the opportunity to tell their story through a variety of shifting profiles. If Chuck were shot today, we would see everything from full body shots all the way to extreme closeups without the need for continual jump-cuts and re-shoots because the technology is there. At least for this episode, it's nice to see the director explore more hip/knee level motion and more cowboy framed shots when having a distant observer perspective. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/types-of-camera-shots-sizes-in-film/ does a fantastic breakdown of all the different shot type and camera perspectives for you want to read more!
As we transition into Sarah's hotel room, did anyone pick up on how NICE this is? She has double sinks, a king bed, a sitting mirror, free standing tub, and a great view. I doubt any agency in the "real world" would ever spring for something like this for multiple years for one of their agents, it's fancy! Enter Carina, tell me, who saw Sarah fight with a soap sock and think of iCarly and the famous "butter sock". Also during this fight, why is Sarah wearing a golden bikini? I know she is about to get into the shower, but what plausible reason is there for her to a) wear a bikini at all and b) it to be a bright golden yellow?? If you slow this fight scene way down, you will notice Yvonne's strikes actually come close to hitting Mimi as she has had a lot of training, whereas Mimi's strikes are miles from Yvonne and she just over-acts their impact. The most noticeable is the kick into her table, Sarah goes flying back, but we can tell from the angle, Carina missed her by a good 2 ft. This was just some sloppy editing and not getting the camera into position. I give it a pass because you have probably 3 camera operators wearing stabilized camera rigs trying to rotate around a room with 2 girls fighting and they just missed the angle by like 2 feet. I did really like at the end of the fight Carina had the option to go for the gun but instead went for the fish. If you didn't know they were not enemies before, this should have been a big clue! Carina calls Sarah's life in LA boring #1
​
ACT I
​
Carina aka: Maria Elena Argalberdi was born Jun 16, 1978 in Alberdi Argentina with a Buenos Aires passport. Maria Elena is actually the name of a famous song in Mexico and eventually had a movie. This Chuck learns on Flash #1 and is the precursor to meeting the general for the first time. I know I've mentioned this before, but to reiterate; the pictures in Casey's apartment are all wrong; he has photos of Chuck and Morgan that don't happen until season 5 (lost footage) he has a map of Echo Park and Malibu already on display, and he has tactical information for each member of the Buy More (which he has no reason for at this time). It is interesting they talk about an opium cartel in Afghanistan as Afghanistan is known for it's huge poppy fields for heroin drug money.
The NADAN-I-NOOR diamond:

• The Nadan-I-Noor diamond has never been known to be bought or sold and ha only changed owners as a result of theft, conquest, or endowment
• It's listed as having 57 facets + 16 facets on girdle = 73. A facet is comparable with the brilliance of a diamond and is really the flat surfaces of a gemstone arranged in a geometrical pattern. In this case it helps characterize the refraction of light through the diamond interior. The girdle i the outer edge of a diamond surface, having 16 faces is quite large, as the girdle is the largest section of a gem, but also the thinnest when viewed from the side. In this case, having 73 facets puts the Nadan-I-Noor in either the Princess-Cut Diamond or Radiant Cut Diamond category, which are also the most expensive as they have the most possible facets.
• having 4-fold, mirror-image symmetry refers to how the light reflects internally to the diamond and indicates there are no impurities within the crystalline structure.
• interestingly a purity rating is not given, i would expect something like a F or IF (flawless/internally flawless) for a diamond described like this, but one isn't provided.
• the angles of incidence just describe the best way for light to enterefract from the diamond, these numbers are fake, but the metric is real
• there is a lot of sanscript written around the diamond markings, I can't figure out what if anything it means it looks like repeated nonsense
• could be a nod to the Koh-i-noor or "mountain of light" diamond, although this one in Persian is the "fool of light".

We open back to see Carina and Sarah looking at classified files within the restaurant. THIS IS AGAINST THE LAW, you do not look at classified files out in the open and especially not where there are clearly other customers around. Venturing into the BuyMore, there is a monster truck rally on the TV's showing grave digger and reaper, two famous trucks from this time period. Morgan wants to spread his wings and be the fourth wheel to the perpetual 3 wheel party and Sarah, ever the schemer, literally glows when she thinks of the plan to have Carina go on a date with Morgan. I THINK this was just to help maintain their cover, but also maybe Sarah is just needling Carina? If you look in the back of the store when Chuck is talking to Sarah and Carina, there is a really cool Nerd Herd poster that says "Bringing peace to your computer emergency". "if a yawn could yawn" is Carina calling Sarah's job boring #2. One thing I really like with the double data is the way the camera jumps between the couples: boy/girl, boy/boy, girl/girl. I think they way they try and keep private conversations via screen time is a really nice, typical, teleplay trick that really works well here. In a "real" environment, everyone could hear everything, but by splitting the camera focus or playing with perspective, the viewer clearly knows "this is a conversation between girls the boys don't hear it". We see Chuck noticing Sarah picking off olives #2 while they watch a movie about penguins: who mate for life, present their love in the form of rocks, and are pack animals. In Chuck's bedroom as he talks to Morgan, Chuck has a box of King Edward Invincible underneath bongos; for those who don't know this is a famous box for mild tobacco cigars. So I wonder what Chuck is up to in his free time :P.
On the Nerd Herd call with Carina, she opens a bottle of wine with a butter knife. This is actually a pretty famous thing that is done all over the world with everything from a key to a saber. In fact they make a specially type of knife with an extra wide blade for this it Italy. I do want to ask the question; is Carina dressed in red lingerie (Chuck's favorite color she stole from Sarah) really necessary for this scene? I know that Carina is all about improvising and she often uses her sexuality to progress her cause (Casey), but I think we could have gotten away with just the top. I can certainly see the rationalization for going this far, but I think as an artistic choice it wasn't necessary. What IS necessary however is to talk about how Chuck's world implodes when Carina tells him about Sarah and Bryce. Also the perfect act transition ending right at Chuck's jaw dropping and the work boyfriend!
​
ACT II
​
I'll say it again, the back an forth with Chuck and Sarah should have been a medium close up, shoulder level straight on shot instead of the constant cuts. Seeing their reaction in real time would have been easier and it would have allowed the Weinerlicious to be maybe 15 ft smaller to not need so many cameramen rotating. "Unless talking to your boyfriend is a matter of national security, the ketchup bottles won't refill themselves". Why yes it IS a mater of national security for Sarah to talk to Chuck... also if any one of us stood up to our boss like Sarah did, I'm pretty sure we'd be fired on the spot!
Malibu is ~2hours for Echo Park with standard LA traffic. Seriously, how do girls in high heels walk down stairs; we see Carina and Sarah walking sideways so there is enough space on each step to fit their shoes. Girls, how do you do that and not fall especially with narrow staircases and 3-6inch heels! Inside the room with the stone there is a bust of Cesare, archenemies, da vinci, and biblical David. There is also some famous paintings the best of which is Vemieer's "young girl with a pearl earring" which is rather appropriate considering it's meaning. There is also a Van Gogh of man in a wheat field and a Monet in one shot too. If ANY of these paintings were real instead of reproductions, they would be worth millions, in fact the young girl with a pearl is estimated at 40million, which is 1.5x the sell value of the Nadan-I-Noor! If we take a look at the engineering drawing of Flash #2 on the pedestal, we would see this design creates a closed circuit around the tongs the diamond rests on; which might explain it's red hue. If a person were to touch the diamond, it would close the circuit on their body allowing the 4000volts to travel through their heart. A person can die with ~20volts, though it's usually more like 50 in most occurrences. 4000volts is enough to kill a herd of elephants and completely overkill for a person. Also the amount of power that would take is more than the city of Malibu... this is to say the trap is real, the numbers are complete nonsense; thinking lightning! Nice shot by Sarah with the plate (there are some great bloopers on this too where she misses badly)! A remote controlled jet ski... i'm not even going to calculate the nonsense for this; it's just total nonsense. Almost as much nonsense as Casey using his phone to track Carina's call. That would take minutes, even with today's technology to back trace like that and way more power than just pushing a button on a razer flip-phone from the 90's!
back at the house, Chuck i playing halo with the legendary skulls as his weapon; this is nice because in the BuyMore at the end of the episode there are dudes dressed as master chief! I really like the changing perspective here with Chuck and Morgan. Chuck's reactions remain in focus while Morgan tells a story behind him, then it switches as Chuck starts to move around until bringing both into focus for the final line "we still have each other and that's really sad". The side cut to Sarah picking locks to the hotel door is classic early 2000's TV and i'm all for it, even if it is super cheezy. BTW as someone who used to lock pick in college, that's .... not how that works, but good try. We get our Flash #3 on the diamond in Morgan's back nuclear explosions. I wonder if the refractive capability of a diamond this pure is enough to focus laser to induce fission or if the value of selling the diamond is enough to buy nuclear material on the black market? Either way, we end the act with... the man with the golden gun!
​
ACT III
​
Chuck uses Sarah's plate move against Carina, nice inter-episode call back; he's clearly watching/learning, but his aim is terrible. This was actually clever as Sarah has perfect aim for she is a professional, while Chuck is still definitely a civilian and has no aptitude for fighting. I really like both these types of simple call backs but also how seemingly throw-away lines/actions help tell the broad story of the show. Chuck talking to Carina also shows Chuck has this weird, innate aptitude to get people to re-evaluate themselves and grow internally. You can watch Carina "grow in real-time. When we get to the hotel and Carina opens her trunk first there are a few glocks, a couple rugers, and a 1911; then she switches to blades and we see some folders, some strait blades, an illegal gravity blade (still illegal today), and a kbar... nice selection! Carina, always the flirt, gives Chuck some very insightful works about the nature of being a spy, but also maybe some way to get through to Sarah.
Inside the hotel we see Carina and Sarah speaking; Carina is speaking Swedish, while Sarah replies in Polish. "Om jag slänger nycklarna till dig, kommer du tappa dem då?" which is Swedish for "If I throw you the keys, will you drop them?" Sarah answered in Polish: "Tylko jak rzucisz jak twoja mamusia", which means "Only if you throw it like your mommy". This is just great!
I want to talk about how fast Chuck managed to find an address for DC, print a label, open a box, put the label on, and get the diamond there all before the door gets broken. Somehow on screen time this is like 10seconds, but in real life this would have to be like 3minutes minimum? Either that door is remarkably strong or... TV magic??
​
ACT IV
​
Even with all the flirting, as we say goodbye to Carina >! for now !< she is still joking with Casey and every the professional. I like how they show when it's "game time" it's all about the job, but spys can be people too! Carina still calls Sarah's life boring #3 (the common trifecta of episode repeats).
Sarah's face when Chuck brings the pizza with no olives is the reason I think Yvonne makes the perfect Sarah. She exudes the hidden beauty needed and has the acting to so such emotion for Chuck being sweet. The whole scene with Chuck and Sarah asking questions, then Chuck backing off, then Sarah acting stoic like she WANTS to open up but doesn't know if she can really trust Chuck, is ready to move on from Bryce, and should for the nature of her job. This was probably the most well acted 20seconds of the entire episode. Finally, we hear Sarah's middle name is Lisa. Now we never officially know if Chuck hears this or not both due to camera focus and distance, it's never officially confirmed in the entire show. When the intersect is updated in season 4 we see Sarah's picture and it lists Lisa as a middle name, so we assume it's official, but it's never confirmed at any point. Finally, I really like how they end the episode with Sarah closing her eyes as the fade to black.
​
Few notes: There are 5 official songs in this episode:

• "Yea Yeah" by Matt and Kim - when the gang is playing board games during group date night. This song is about not worrying about the things you cannot change. Little things that build up and bum you out that you need to just let go.
• "Wild Girl" Matt Pond PA - Chuck and Morgan discussing their relationship problems. This song is about overcoming past struggles and finding hope in the present and future. Describing a sense of resilience and optimism
• "weird science" by does it offend you - Chuck and Carina talk at Peyman' Malibu Compound. This is a remind to break free and embrace individuality and live on your own terms. Be unapologetically ourselves.
• Shy by Mathew Dear - the double date
• "Fall into place" the apartment - the team say's goodby to Carina. Deals with growing up, taking (or not taking) chances. finding oneself in the unpredictability of life. I have to say, we don't actually hear the lyrics to any of these songs during the episode just the melody, but I don't really appreciate the music choices here. I feel like there were better options at key points, so that's a miss from me.
  
• On the DVD for Season One the word Wookiee is spelled incorrectly, leaving off the last E.
  
• "It used to be titled "Chuck Versus the Speedo" because the main bad guy in this show is this dude who wears a Speedo all the time. Then when the casting guy realized he had a good amount -- and by good, I mean healthy, a healthy amount of body hair -- they thought, why not call it "Chuck vs. the Wookiee". So it's this guy who's got this diamond, and we're trying to heist the diamond and all hell breaks loose." ―Zachary Levi quoted by Access Hollywood discussing this episode's title
  

​
I think this was a great episode and really showcased what they can do when additional cast members join the team and when they are not afraid to play with perspective. Mimi as Carina is a great addition to the ensemble and I wish we saw her more, but every time she drops in, it's always a wild episode and it's fantastic. Watching Chuck learn about Sarah and seeing Sarah start to open up is a good way forward and heck Casey had some of the best humor in the episode. Overall, it was fast paced, had some nice character development, as funny in the best way, and moved the main theme along, 8/10.

(Er this is quite long so honestly this is more of a personal blog post for myself to look back at LOL. If you're interested, I've pretty much broken it down into active hours studied, studying methods that helped me this month, last month's goal reflections, and June goals)
Hours/Words
Hours of active TL exposure: ~38 hours
Hours in class: 5 hours
Hours actively studied:

• Listening: 15 hours
• Reading: 6 hours 20 min
• Writing: 1 hour
• Watching media (actively looking up words I don't know and making flashcards): 9 hours

New words:

• Listening Anki deck: ~110
• Reading Anki Deck: 38 LOL

Things that have really helped me this month:

• Gotta be kind to myself! :')
  • Went on vacation and then had a pretty poor mental health for just a little bit! (human experience :P) Didn't study much/if at all for 2.5 weeks and now in hindsight, I was in such a weird mental place at that time I'm glad I allowed myself to just be a lil couch potato and cry and now I am PEAK MOTIVATION GUYS (ik this will not last but I will ride this wave while I can :D)
• A LOT of NL content! Balancing beginnekid media with adult/difficult content I ofc don't fully understand. I've been making flashcards with these and wow love it!
  • Beginner content: 10 minute episodes of a kid's show, 30 min podcasts aimed for beginners/early intermediates, and super simple webtoons!
  • Netflix: I'm not a big fan of dramas but I'm trying to just slowly incorporate more and more of my time/attention to my TL, not just active studying time
  • **I've realized that some of my longterm goals are to enjoy TL webtoons and shows. If I want to achieve that, I should of course start with the baby stuff! This seems obvious now but beforehand I think I was consuming ONLY media that was too difficult for me, and then I'd be confused why I wasn't doing it consistently! Now I'm at a better balance :-)
• Call me a vlogger :P
  • I've always wanted to preserve memories, especially since I'm lucky enough to currently live in my TL country. I've started trying to make vlogs just talking about my day in my TL to practice speaking. This also helps me stay focused when studying bc I'm filming myself LOL (NO ONE will ever see these videos. My speaking is so BAD)
• Using Anki more efficiently by dealing with my overdue cards
  • I LOVE Anki so much but am human and have created quite the list of overdue cards T_T After browsing reddit, I found out that if I'm using my time to relearn overdue/forgotten cards WHILE maintaining the current cards in my short term memory, I'm wasting a bunch of time.
  • I've split my Anki decks into filtered decks: deck 1 (cards due today/within the last 3 days) and deck 2 (overdue cards). This has cut my time in half! I focus on the deck 1 and with whatever energy I have left, I try to knock out some overdue cards.
  • This is the post I got the idea from

May Goal Reflection:
\*italics are what I wrote last month*\**

• Figure out more easy/fun/passive TL activities to do in the evening after work.
  • I’m brain fried after work but I would still like to be exposed to TL for at least 30 mins in the evenings
  • Netflix adult dramas!! Take note of words I don't know and star them so I can easily export the sentence into anki (I use Language Reactor google extension)
• More reading each day
  • I really can’t fit more than 15 new words a day in my listening deck or I get brain fried BUT with reading I can fit a lot more so I should read more…
  • Er... I read less this month. T_T Here's to trying again in June!
• Daily diaries
  • I do these maybe 1 – 3 times a week? I know enough words that they’re relatively easy to write and they’re fun so idk why I don’t do this like 5 times a week?
  • Omg did not write at all except for about my vacation. Maybe try 3 sentences a day in June????
• Complete more tasks
  • Focusing on time spent studying has actually really helped me stay consistent and feel fulfilled!!! But I’ve also completed significantly less grammar chapters, reading chapters, and other quantitative “TL learning side quests” due to this
  • ... I did not do this... I did like 2 grammar points... but also I was sad!! So once again, here's to trying again in June!!

June Goals:

• 3 sentences!! A day!! I can do that!! >:O
• Read at least 2 simple webtoons a day!! I CAN DO THATTTT!!!
• 1 grammar point at least every other day!! So if I didn't do it yesterday I MUST DO IT TODAY
• Lol i really need to increase my vocabulary so let's try for 10-15 new cards a day in my listening Anki deck >:)

Overall, it is what it is! I studied half the number of hours in May than I did in April, but that's ok we're just trying to balance life and studying. Ugh I really want to improve so I do want to designate as many hours as I can, but I know myself well enough that if I think too much about everything then I easily become frustrated at my own errr lack of skills. (I'm bad at this TL brooo) So I'll continue to just try increasing the number of time spent on my TL! As cheesy as it is, I do believe we are what we spend our time (and money) on and time is the (one of the) only finite resource we have so even if I can't become an expert at my TL, i think I would be proud to say that I've spent my time trying my best!!!

idk how to really start this off but i wanted to come in here and ask how everyone dealt with getting oldestarting your future because i feel stuck and idk what to do. i used to be really smart, i was in honor classes from elementary to high school, i stayed on top of my school work, i played volleyball, i was super social, yadda yadda. Idk what it was but once i got to high school, it all changed. school ended up making me insanely depressed, i had suicidal thoughts everyday n ended up having an attempt because of it. Covid happened, everything went online so i ofc didn’t do any of it and when it came time to finally start going back to school physically, i had a mental breakdown and ended up dropping out. After i dropped out, i got into a bunch of substances, got addicted for a long time (im sober now tho!! well cali sober lol) and i can definitely tell i got some brain damage because i’m so stupid now like i actually cant spell and i struggle with writing even a simple sentence it’s actually crazy how i went from being super smart to as dumb as a rock, ’m sure u guys will be able to tell just by reading this god awful paragraph i’m trying to write with horrible grammar hahah but anyways sorry, i tend to talk a lot but i mentioned that because i genuinely don’t think i would even be able to obtain a ged with how my brain is like i haven’t been to school in years and i fucked my brain up. i also don’t have any time to study and prepare for it as i need to work to make money, long story short, im 20 years old now, turning 21 in a couple months and i just work in retail making like $15 an hour, have no idea what i want to do with my life/future. i get so scared and think about it all the time. i just wanted to know if anyone had any similar stories and wanted to share some good advice or some motivation, thank you!!! (:

This should be a simple task but 4.o makes mistakes every single time. I ask Chatgpt to show me the original sentence and then the changed sentenced that it fixed.
About half of the results show identical original and changed sentences. When I ask what was changed in those, it says nothing was changed and it made a mistake.
This has happened with every document I upload. So 4.0 is making stuff up 100% of the time for this easy text-based task.

So after Kazu pretends that he’s the one who broke into the emperor quarters (or whatever) and was sentenced to be stroked. After that they show that he can’t talk and Mei doesn’t know why. But after Takao shows up he tells her the story about the death of his family and the village and they said something about being woven. I didn’t understand that part. Can someone explain it to me in simple terms?

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It took her into the next day, but she did come up with a plan. She was arguably one of the more brilliant minds on the ship, yet her hours of toiling yielded a conflicting result. Captain Tarkey paced back and forth, watching the note she had written on the island.
“I didn't go too far…did I? No, it's not that bad. It's not like it's a real threat,” Captain Tarkey said to herself. “He won't even know I wrote it. It is harmless.”
She picked up the note to reread what she wrote out loud.
Captain Tarkey,
You will pay for your treachery. Blood for blood, on the land of your ancestors, I will have my revenge.
Sincerely,
Your Doombringer
She looked over it again, examining it closely to ensure no stroke of her pen resembled her actual handwriting, rather than questioning the strangely polite and formal letter. There were better ways to make a threatening letter for the intent of getting Cam to accompany her planetside. In fact, there were better ways to simply get Cam to accompany her at all. None of those were deemed realistic to her overworked brain, so this is what she came up with. A fake assassination threat seemed like a logical choice with minimal downside.
“Why do I still have a bad feeling about this?” Captain Tarkey mused to herself and the door slid open. She threw her hands behind her back and stood up straight. The sudden interruption flustered her all the more when she realized it was Cam entering her place.
“Sorry I'm late,” Cam said. “I ran into Jack in the hallway.”
“Oh, it's alright. How are you feeling? When I found you sleeping on my couch, I was worried.”
That wasn't a dream? Shit. “I promise, that isn't normally like me.”
“You don't need to worry. I had no idea Parroon made humans sleepy. Vani told me when I called her to check on you.”
“Oh, that's good to know then.” His shoulders relaxed, relieved he hadn't developed narcolepsy. “Next time I want to knock myself out, I need to raid your refrigerator.”
“You're welcome anytime.” Captain Tarkey smiled, remembering the note still behind her back. “So, what were you and Jack talking about?”
“Just plans for when we get to Ohar. Jack can't leave until the second day after we hit orbit, but I see no reason to wait around for him. Just wish I knew what to do for a whole day.”
This was her moment. There would be no better time. She stowed the note in her waistband and took the shot she never thought would happen.
“Seeing as you're free, I was wondering if you would like to join me for the day? I'm visiting my parents and I'm sure they would love to meet you. They love hosting guests.”
Cam’s face elongated with intrigue. He wanted to see how locals lived and they would probably offer a place to stay for the night, which gave him more money to spend on silly souvenirs later. It sounded like a great idea, but he wanted to be careful not to impose.
“Would they mind on such short notice? I don't want to intrude or anything.”
“You won't be. You are my guest.”
“Okay then.” Cam nodded. “Is there anything I should be aware of, culturally? Like am I supposed to bring a gift or…”
“Nope. No gifts. The only thing I would say is don't wear your uniform. My mom thinks it makes our family seem more normal.”
Cam saluted her casually. “Can do. Wasn't planning on wearing it anyways.”
“Perfect,” Captain Tarkey said. “I have a lot to get done before we are cleared to land, so you can take the day off today.”
“Seriously? You don't mind?”
“Not at all. It will give you more time to plan the rest of your leave. Seeing as it's your first time, you will want to make it count.”
“Thanks, Banyani! I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“See you soon.” Captain Tarkey called back as Cam left. As per usual, once the door closed, she let out her true emotions. She punched the air and danced around her room. “Yes! He said yes!” He’s going to meet my family!”
Captain Tarkey pulled the letter out of her waistband, wadded it up into a ball, and drained the shot into the trashcan. The plan she spent hours on was nothing more than history. She was happy to rid herself of it. In hindsight, she knew the letter would only cause more problems than solutions long term. With it out of the way, she was free to relax and tell her parents the good news.
She went into her room and came back out with a slate, which she propped up on the island. Navigating through the contacts, she clicked on the one labeled ‘Home.’ The loading screen spun and a fun jingle played. Captain Tarkey was all smiles when the screen changed to her mom showing up on the screen.
Her mother, Gwendolyn, would pass as an older sister in the right light. Her cheeks were a tad plumper and her braid was thicker than both of her daughters’. Gwendolyn’s blue eyes sparkled upon seeing her daughter for the first time in far too long.
“Banyani, my beautiful girl, I was wondering when you were going to call. It is good to see you.”
“It is good to see you too, Mom.”
“Kenny, come over here. Banyani is calling,” Gwendolyn said to her husband, Kenton, in the other room before returning her focus back on her daughter. “How are you? When are you coming home?”
“I'm going to be there soon,” Captain Tarkey said, spotting her dad coming into frame. There was no mistaking his trim, salt and pepper beard or proud smile. She always felt his warmth radiate from a simple look, no matter how far away she was. “Hey Dad.”
“There's my little captain. You working hard up there?”
Gwendolyn slapped her husband's hand that rested gently on her shoulders. “Oh stop it. No talking about work you two. I haven't heard from you in ages. What is new in your life? Meet any cute boys?”
Captain Tarkey blushed. “Actually Mom, I was calling to let you know we will have one more joining us tomorrow.”
“Eeee! I knew you would find someone! What's his name? What does he do? How long have you been seeing him?” Gwendolyn rapidly fired off, unwilling to hide her excitement. Her dad was less enthused, keeping his poker face until more was said.
“Easy mom. We aren't dating, but I would hope after he gets to know me better, he might see me as more than just his boss.”
“His boss? He’s enlisted?” Kenton asked.
“Oh shhh you.” Gwendolyn waved him off. “Come on girl, details. Momma needs to know.”
Captain Tarkey smiled. “His name is Cameron, although he lets me call him Cam. And…he’s my personal security officer.”
“Oooh, what is that?” Gwendolyn asked, looking up and back at her husband who wore a disapproving gowl.
“Why does my daughter need a bodyguard?” Kenton asked plainly.
“She doesn't. It just gives her a reason for a late night booty call,” Vani said, coming into frame, leaning on her dad, while nibbling on something resembling celery.
“Vani? What are you doing there? We haven't gotten clearance yet.”
It wasn't entirely true. Captain Tarkey hadn't given the crew the approval to disembark. Clearance was given sometime in the early morning. She couldn't remember when exactly, since she was mostly focused on her trashed note.
Kenton turned his frustration toward the daughter on his shoulder. “You said she let you go early.”
“She didn't stop me. That's basically the same thing.” Vani took another bite of her crunchy vegetable. “So, you got the hot human to come to dinner. Please tell me you didn't order him to. That's tacky.”
“He’s a human!” Gwendolyn gasped and clapped her hands. “I have always wanted to meet a human!”
“First off, I didn't order him to. I asked him and he wanted to see you all. And second, Vani, which shuttle did you steal?”
“I’ll never tell.” Vani waved goodbye. “I’ll see you when you get here sis. Tell Cam I said hi.”
Captain Tarkey wanted to be mad at her sister for breaking several protocols, but she was too excited about bringing Cam tomorrow. She saw her mom happy as can be, but her dad was a different story.
“Banyani, this is a bad idea,” Kenton said. “You’re the captain.”
“And I think our daughter is responsible enough to make her own decisions.” Gwendolyn defended. “Don't listen to your father. If you like him, I say go for it. When are you two coming in?”
She was about to answer when another call came in. It was one she always dreaded to see. High Command.
Captain Tarkey sighed. “I'm getting another call I need to take. We’ll be there in the afternoon sometime tomorrow.”
“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow! Don't work too hard,” Gwendolyn said.
“I won't, Mom. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Captain Tarkey signed off and her finger floated over the screen to answer the next one. High Command was the last group she wanted to talk to, but she had a feeling this would happen. Making a new position is a rather irregular situation, which likely needed more explanation beyond the boilerplate form. Was she ready to give a plausible explanation for needing a bodyguard? No, but if she wanted Cam a little closer to her, she would need to be creative.
***
A bang came from below Lisa's cubicle desk as she hit her head on the countertop. Lisa let out the usual explicative and climbed back in her chair. The device on her desk was beginning to be far more than she bargained for. Cables ran under and over her desk, all going to other instruments of the trade. Many of the devices she was using were completely foreign to her months ago. Lisa caught on quick, but when it came to this, she felt frustratedly inadequate.
“Why won't you decrypt and make my life easier?”
A red light blinked on the device at a consistent pace. It was the most she was getting from it. No answer or, if it was an answer, it was speaking the wrong language. A blinking light wasn't exactly a language for any discernible person, alien or not.
“If you weren't the key to stopping this hacker, I would smash you. You understand me!”
Again, the device did not. The blinking continued as if it was mocking her, enjoying the sound of its own soulless and soundless voice. Computers were weird like that.
“I'm insane. I'm talking to a computer.” Lisa threw up her hands and stood up from her chair. “I need a break.”
Lisa left everything where it was and went for a walk around the ship. Normally, her go to brain cleanser was playing video games, but this was different. She didn't need a distraction. She needed to think. Her travels along the halls led her to one person she did not expect to find.
“Cam? What are you doing here?” Lisa asked, although happy to see a friendly face.
“I got the rest of the day off.”
“How did you swing that?”
“I guess she had a lot of work to do before we get into orbit. I don't blame her. I'm already going to be spending the next day with her. I’d want some time away from me too.”
Lisa smirked. “Sounds to me like she is preparing for more than our arrival.”
“What do you mean? Her parents are the ones hosting me.” Cam cocked his head. He truly was the epitome of clueless.
“You’re dense, you know that, right?”
Cam flexed his average looking bicep. “I mean, I have been working out lately. I wouldn't say dense. Built would be more like it–”
“You never thought for one second that she might like you?”
“Banyani? Like me? Come on, Lisa. Let's be realistic.”
“You’re right, you're not six one. Everyone knows women only want tall guys.”
“You calling me short?”
“I'm calling you dumb. Big difference, genius.”
“First you call me dumb, then you say I'm smart. Pick a lane.” He shoulder bumped her and she bumped him back.
Their friendly little razzing session ended up knocking loose some ideas for both of them, albeit about wildly different topics. Lisa was the first to verbalize her sudden epiphany.
“I think you are a genius,” Lisa said and began walking back to the IT office. “Follow me.”
“Where are we going?”
“To crack open the device.”
Cam lengthen his stride to keep up with her. “Device? What device?”
“The one Jack took. Or have you already forgot?”
“No, I didn't forget…” I have no idea what she's talking about. Was I even there? Dang, that parrot meat really did a number on me.
Lisa opened the door and rushed to her cubicle, excited to try out her new theory. At her desk, she unplugged different cables and plugged in new ones with the urgency of a surgeon losing their patient. She switched over to her keyboard typing with the same speed and intensity. It was a lot for Cam to take in.
“What exactly are you doing?” Cam asked, hoping her explanation will fill in a lot of gaps.
“I am reversing the modular polarity, fixing the capacitor output, and injecting a revised version of code for decrypting. How did I not think of it sooner.”
Cam was fairly certain half of what she said was complete nonsense. It still didn't stop his amazement when the device light turned from red to green. Lisa kicked her seat back and jumped in the air.
“Yes! I was close all along!”
“You did it?” Cam said, inching closer with his pointer finger to poke the device.
Lisa swatted his hand. “Don't touch it. I don't want you screwing it up.”
“How can touching it screw it up?”
“Ever heard of static electricity?”
“Nope,” Cam said, shocking Lisa when he turned his finger on her.
“Hey,” Lisa said. “See what I mean. You could've fried it.”
“How do you know all this stuff?”
“I'm just gifted, I guess.”
“I wish I was gifted at my job.”
“You must not be doing too bad. The captain is still alive.”
Cam shrugged. “She did most of the fighting. All I did was help her up when she fell.”
“You make a good point. Better start filling out your registration paperwork,” Lisa mocked.
“No way. It pays too well,” Cam said.
“Then you're buying us drinks when we get to the beach.”
“Only for you. If I know Jack, he’ll pick the most expensive bottle.”
“Don't you owe him money though?”
“Exactly why I'm not paying for his. He’ll end up owing me money. And we both know he won't pay that back,” Cam said and made his way to the door.
“Where are you going?”
“It looks like you got your hands full. I'm going to get ready for tomorrow.”
Lisa waved. “Make sure you dress up nice for the in-laws.”
“Not my in-laws.”
“Not yet.”
Cam shook his head, but it didn't shake the thoughts already planted there. Banyani doesn't actually like me…does she? Naw, that's ridiculous. She's the captain and my boss. Lisa's just teasing me. Yeah, that's it…
***
Lisa had made some progress, but like all solutions in IT, sometimes the hardest thing to do was to wait and see. Nothing had failed yet, which was a good sign in her eyes. The negative was it gave time for her annoying partner to return.
“Get any farther on your little project?” Lotan asked, fully expecting her to say no.
“Did you go through those logs yet?”
“I did. Last entry was you and then naturally me as I swiped in. Otherwise, the other entries were all around the normal times engineering would be doing expected work.”
Lisa looked back at her screen, seeing the progress bar inching forward at a snail's pace. With the logs being a bust, this was her last chance at finding out who was there. Lotan didn't need an answer to his question, nor would he get one from her as Captain Tarkey called. Lisa tapped on her slate to answer.
“Lisa, good, you're still awake.”
Lisa lifted her slate to show Lotan in frame as well. “Yes, ma'am. We’re both still at it.”
Captain Tarkey paused for a moment, thankful Lisa clued her in on who else was with her. What she wanted to discuss was far from professional in nature.
“How is the progress?”
“It's coming along. I had Lotan check the security logs for a different lead, but he came back with nothing. Now I'm just stuck waiting for this device to be decrypted.”
“So, you have some time to see me in my quarters?”
“Of course we do, ma’am,” Lotan said.
“Sorry, I was talking to Specialist Smots.”
“I guess so.”
“Good. Meet me here as soon as you can. And Specialist Lotan, if anything changes on the status of that device, you let me know right away.”
Lotan saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good,” Captain Tarkey said. “Lisa, I’ll see you soon.”
The screen went blank and Lisa sprung up from her chair. She hoisted her bag over her shoulder and headed for the door. Lisa had not the slightest idea why she was needed, but it seemed important. It wasn't long before she found herself at Captain Tarkey‘s door. She knocked and heard a muffled, “Come in.”
Lisa swiped the door, not actually thinking it would open for her, but it did. “Wow, since when did I get access?”
She continued inside, where she heard clothes hangers rattling in the other room and plops of heavy cloth hitting the floor. Lisa stepped cautiously to the noise, worried something could be wrong.
“Captain? Is everything alright?”
“I think I need some help,” Captain Tarkey admitted. Lisa came into her room, where a tornado had hit.
Uniforms were tossed all over the bed and floor. Hangers were piled up and more casual clothes littered the floor. Captain Tarkey held two tops up, one purple with thin straps and the other, a blue blouse with a floral design.
“I don't know what I'm doing?”
“Neither do I,” Lisa said. “Care to explain?”
“I'm trying to figure out what to wear tomorrow. I can't remember the last time I wore anything other than my uniform.”
“I'm not really the best person to ask.”
“No, you are.” Captain Tarkey lowered her clothing choices and grabbed Lisa's shoulders. “Please, you're the only one I can turn to.”
Lisa was surprised by the sudden ambush, yet it wasn't unwelcomed. It beat staring at the slow progress bar and Captain Tarkey genuinely valued her opinion. She never got that vibe from other women she had known.
“Are you okay with me being brutally honest?” Lisa asked.
“I wouldn't ask if I didn't. Last thing I want is to screw this up. Tomorrow is my big opportunity to show Cam I'm more than a captain.”
“Okay, I'll–”
Captain Tarkey gave her a big hug. It wasn't like her to act so impulsive, but she felt Lisa agreeing would be huge for wooing Cam. She recoiled fast and held up the two outfits again, excited to hear Lisa's input.
“What are you two doing tomorrow?”
“I was planning on doing some sightseeing and then visiting my parents for dinner.”
“Is it warm in Ohar?”
“Where my parents live it's a bit cooler, but otherwise fairly comfortable. I think it is twenty one degrees.”
She must be talking celsius. I definitely wouldn't wear either in twenty one degrees fahrenheit.
“They both look cute. Are you planning on wearing leggings?”
“Yes…that isn't too sexual, is it? I don't want him to think I’m a slut.”
“Then go with the blouse. Or you could wear skinny jeans. I never saw them as overly sexual.”
Captain Tarkey went back to her bed and found a pair of white jeans that resembled her uniform pants. “Would these work?”
“I don't see why not?”
Captain Tarkey began putting on the clothes and Lisa sat down on the bed, looking at all the other sad unselected options on the floor. The shirts she had were all rather plain and wrinkled, while her uniforms were all pristine and eerily similar.
“Did you just dig all these clothes out of your dresser or something?” Lisa asked.
“I had to raid my sister's closet. She has much better clothes than me,” Captain Tarkey said, squeezing into her skinny jeans. “She didn't leave much behind to pick from.”
“Leave behind? Where did she go?”
“She stole a shuttle and is already at our parent's place. When I find out how she did it, then I'll consider returning her clothes.”
Lisa chuckled at the innocent level of retaliation. “Couldn't you just reprimand her or something?”
“Tried it. Doesn't work. I threw her in the brig once. Not making that mistake again.”
Lisa bounced on the bed closer to her, eager to hear more. “Okay, there is a story there. Spill it.”
“It was strange. One day, out of the blue, she decided to dress up in my uniform and go give orders on the bridge.”
“Why would she do that? Is she power hungry?” Lisa asked, not knowing anything about Vani.
Captain Tarkey shook her head. “No, she kept blaming it on ‘a Halloween’, whatever that is.”
Lisa burst out in laughter. How could she not? These aliens may have spoken English, but their understanding of human holidays was severely lacking.
“What did I say?”
“Sorry. Nothing. Please continue,” Lisa said, trying to get her composure back.
Captain Tarkey continued, despite the new questions forming in her head. “The problem was, it wasn't a punishment for her. She liked not having to work and somehow still found a way to have sex with guys.”
“No way, how is that possible? Don't you put men and women in different cells?”
“All I'm going to say is tentacles reach much farther than I thought.”
Vani sounds like a wild one. “Speaking of being pleasured, you need to tell me about your hair situation. How does that work exactly?”
Captain Tarkey scratched her head, unsure how to phrase it for her to understand when an idea popped in her head. She slapped the ends of Lisa's hair, getting a minimal response.
“You didn't feel anything did you?”
“Not really.”
“If I pulled on your hair, where do you feel it?”
“In my scalp.”
“See, that's where we are different. I feel it through my whole spine or in some cases my entire body. A simple slap that did nothing for you would tense my back muscles.”
“Really?” Lisa said, looking at Captain Tarkey’s braid.
“Our hair is very sensitive. Mine is less sensitive than most, but still.”
“So, do you like turn yourself on when brushing your hair in the morning?”
Captain Tarkey laughed. “Maybe Vani does. No, for me, the only way that is happening is if I pull on it really hard.”
“Or Cam touches you anywhere?” Lisa teased.
“Not anywhere…” Captain Tarkey blushed.
“You're right. From where I'm sitting, he doesn't even need to touch you.”
“I'm that obvious?” Her voice almost whined and fears entered her mind. Lisa was quick to offer some assurance.
“Unfortunately, Cam is oblivious. I did put in a good word for you.”
Captain Tarkey lit up. “You did?”
“I got him thinking, at least I think so. Hard to tell with him sometimes.” Lisa hadn't finished her sentence for longer than a millisecond before feeling Captain Tarkey’s arms wrap tightly around her.
“Thank you, Lisa. I'm so glad to have a friend like you.”
Lisa patted her on the back, finding it a little hard to breathe with the death grip around her ribs. Despite the minor discomfort, it was nice to feel a warm embrace for a change.
“Me too.”
***
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/opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-cc -I. -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread -c ggml.c -o ggml.o /opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-cc -I. -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread -c ggml-alloc.c -o ggml-alloc.o /opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-cc -I. -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread -c ggml-backend.c -o ggml-backend.o /opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-cc -I. -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread -c ggml-quants.c -o ggml-quants.o /opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-c++ -I. -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c++11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread -c whisper.cpp -o whisper.o /opt/miyoo/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi_sdk-buildroot/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-musleabi-c++ -I. -I./examples -O3 -DNDEBUG -std=c++11 -fPIC -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -D_GNU_SOURCE -pthread examples/main/main.cpp examples/common.cpp examples/common-ggml.cpp examples/grammar-parser.cpp ggml.o ggml-alloc.o ggml-backend.o ggml-quants.o whisper.o -o main 

whisper_init_from_file_with_params_no_state: loading model from './models/ggml-tiny-q5_1.bin' whisper_init_with_params_no_state: use gpu = 1 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: flash attn = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: gpu_device = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: dtw = 0 whisper_model_load: loading model whisper_model_load: n_vocab = 51865 whisper_model_load: n_audio_ctx = 1500 whisper_model_load: n_audio_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_audio_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_audio_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_text_ctx = 448 whisper_model_load: n_text_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_text_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_text_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_mels = 80 whisper_model_load: ftype = 9 whisper_model_load: qntvr = 1 whisper_model_load: type = 1 (tiny) whisper_model_load: adding 1608 extra tokens whisper_model_load: n_langs = 99 whisper_model_load: CPU total size = 31.57 MB whisper_model_load: model size = 31.57 MB whisper_init_state: kv self size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv cross size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv pad size = 2.36 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (conv) = 12.91 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (encode) = 85.25 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (cross) = 3.60 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (decode) = 95.61 MB system_info: n_threads = 1 / 1 AVX = 0 AVX2 = 0 AVX512 = 0 FMA = 0 NEON = 0 ARM_FMA = 0 METAL = 0 F16C = 0 FP16_VA = 0 WASM_SIMD = 0 BLAS = 0 SSE3 = 0 SSSE3 = 0 VSX = 0 CUDA = 0 COREML = 0 OPENVINO = 0 main: processing './samples/jfk.wav' (176000 samples, 11.0 sec), 1 threads, 1 processors, 5 beams + best of 5, lang = en, task = transcribe, timestamps = 1 ... 

whisper_init_from_file_with_params_no_state: loading model from './models/ggml-tiny-q5_1.bin' whisper_init_with_params_no_state: use gpu = 1 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: flash attn = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: gpu_device = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: dtw = 0 whisper_model_load: loading model whisper_model_load: n_vocab = 51865 whisper_model_load: n_audio_ctx = 1500 whisper_model_load: n_audio_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_audio_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_audio_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_text_ctx = 448 whisper_model_load: n_text_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_text_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_text_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_mels = 80 whisper_model_load: ftype = 9 whisper_model_load: qntvr = 1 whisper_model_load: type = 1 (tiny) whisper_model_load: adding 1608 extra tokens whisper_model_load: n_langs = 99 whisper_model_load: CPU total size = 31.57 MB whisper_model_load: model size = 31.57 MB whisper_init_state: kv self size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv cross size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv pad size = 2.36 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (conv) = 12.91 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (encode) = 85.25 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (cross) = 3.60 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (decode) = 95.61 MB system_info: n_threads = 1 / 1 AVX = 0 AVX2 = 0 AVX512 = 0 FMA = 0 NEON = 0 ARM_FMA = 0 METAL = 0 F16C = 0 FP16_VA = 0 WASM_SIMD = 0 BLAS = 0 SSE3 = 0 SSSE3 = 0 VSX = 0 CUDA = 0 COREML = 0 OPENVINO = 0 main: processing './samples/jfk.wav' (176000 samples, 11.0 sec), 1 threads, 1 processors, 5 beams + best of 5, lang = en, task = transcribe, timestamps = 1 ... [00:00:00.000 00:00:10.560] And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. whisper_print_timings: load time = 9974.02 ms whisper_print_timings: fallbacks = 0 p / 0 h whisper_print_timings: mel time = 8063.51 ms whisper_print_timings: sample time = 110588 ms / 131 runs ( 844.19 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: encode time = 3929958.25 ms / 1 runs ( 3929958.25 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: decode time = 0.00 ms / 1 runs ( 0.00 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: batchd time = 757568.81 ms / 129 runs ( 5872.63 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: prompt time = 0.00 ms / 1 runs ( 0.00 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: total time = 4822358.00 ms real1h 20m 24s user1h 7m 17s sys1m 23.58s 

whisper_init_from_file_with_params_no_state: loading model from './models/ggml-tiny-q5_1.bin' whisper_init_with_params_no_state: use gpu = 1 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: flash attn = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: gpu_device = 0 whisper_init_with_params_no_state: dtw = 0 whisper_model_load: loading model whisper_model_load: n_vocab = 51865 whisper_model_load: n_audio_ctx = 1500 whisper_model_load: n_audio_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_audio_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_audio_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_text_ctx = 448 whisper_model_load: n_text_state = 384 whisper_model_load: n_text_head = 6 whisper_model_load: n_text_layer = 4 whisper_model_load: n_mels = 80 whisper_model_load: ftype = 9 whisper_model_load: qntvr = 1 whisper_model_load: type = 1 (tiny) whisper_model_load: adding 1608 extra tokens whisper_model_load: n_langs = 99 whisper_model_load: CPU total size = 31.57 MB whisper_model_load: model size = 31.57 MB whisper_init_state: kv self size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv cross size = 9.44 MB whisper_init_state: kv pad size = 2.36 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (conv) = 12.91 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (encode) = 85.25 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (cross) = 3.60 MB whisper_init_state: compute buffer (decode) = 95.61 MB system_info: n_threads = 1 / 1 AVX = 0 AVX2 = 0 AVX512 = 0 FMA = 0 NEON = 0 ARM_FMA = 0 METAL = 0 F16C = 0 FP16_VA = 0 WASM_SIMD = 0 BLAS = 0 SSE3 = 0 SSSE3 = 0 VSX = 0 CUDA = 0 COREML = 0 OPENVINO = 0 main: processing './samples/speech-2.wav' (85767 samples, 5.4 sec), 1 threads, 1 processors, 5 beams + best of 5, lang = en, task = transcribe, timestamps = 1 ... [00:00:00.000 00:00:05.000] I have a very long time to have a show. I have a very long time to have a show. whisper_print_timings: load time = 14591.09 ms whisper_print_timings: fallbacks = 1 p / 0 h whisper_print_timings: mel time = 3914.93 ms whisper_print_timings: sample time = 129347.44 ms / 146 runs ( 885.94 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: encode time = 3841956.50 ms / 1 runs (3841956.50 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: decode time = 132559.47 ms / 8 runs (16569.93 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: batchd time = 832581.94 ms / 134 runs ( 6213.30 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: prompt time = 0.00 ms / 1 runs ( 0.00 ms per run) whisper_print_timings: total time = 4962558.50 ms 

[00:00:00.000 00:00:04.200] "The reality of the sense of justice in the conduct of the time." [00:00:04.200 00:00:08.480] "It allows me to just tell you that this time, [00:00:08.480 00:00:10.720] "I'm not the prime minister, [00:00:10.720 00:00:13.240] "and you are not the president of the Republic, [00:00:13.240 00:00:15.960] "and you are the second candidate." [00:00:15.960 00:00:17.640] "There is equality." [00:00:17.640 00:00:21.480] "And who is the chief of the defense? [00:00:21.480 00:00:23.240] "That's what matters." [00:00:23.240 00:00:25.360] "It allows me to, so, you have to admit it." [00:00:25.360 00:00:28.840] "But you have to do the same, but it's the prime minister." [00:00:28.840 00:00:30.840] [INAUDIBLE] [00:00:30.840 00:00:32.840] Thank you for your attention. 

[00:00:00.000 00:00:04.000] Célité et du sens de la justice dans la conduite de l'État. [00:00:04.000 00:00:08.500] Permettez-moi juste de vous dire que ce soir, [00:00:08.500 00:00:13.300] je ne suis pas le premier ministre et vous n'êtes pas le président de la République. [00:00:13.300 00:00:21.500] Nous sommes deux candidats à égalité et qui se soumettre au jugement des Français, [00:00:21.500 00:00:25.300] ça le qui compte, on me permettrait donc de vous appeler ma chémiter. [00:00:25.300 00:00:29.300] Mais vous avez tout à fait raison, mais c'est le premier ministre. [00:00:29.300 00:00:32.460] Monsieur, Monsieur, si vous voulez bien avant de... 

[00:00:00.000 00:00:03.000] et du sens de la justice dans la conduite de l'État. [00:00:03.000 00:00:07.000] Permettez-moi juste de vous dire que ce soir, [00:00:07.000 00:00:12.800] je ne suis pas le premier ministre et vous n'êtes pas le président de la République. [00:00:12.800 00:00:17.000] Nous sommes deux candidats à égalité [00:00:17.000 00:00:20.800] et qui se soumettent au jugement des Français, [00:00:20.800 00:00:25.200] ceux qui comptent, vous me permettrez donc de vous appeler Monsieur Mitterrand. [00:00:25.200 00:00:27.800] Mais vous avez tout à fait raison, monsieur le Premier ministre. [00:00:28.800 00:00:31.800] Monsieur, si vous voulez bien, avant de... [00:00:31.800 00:00:32.800] avant de le faire. 

[00:00:00.000 00:00:03.000] et du sens de la justice dans la conduite de l'État. [00:00:03.000 00:00:07.000] Permettez-moi juste de vous dire que, ce soir, [00:00:07.000 00:00:10.000] je ne suis pas le Premier ministre [00:00:10.000 00:00:12.000] et vous n'êtes pas le Président de la République. [00:00:12.000 00:00:15.000] Nous sommes deux candidats [00:00:15.000 00:00:17.000] à égalité [00:00:17.000 00:00:19.000] et qui se soumettent au jugement [00:00:19.000 00:00:21.000] des Français. [00:00:21.000 00:00:23.000] Seul qui compte. [00:00:23.000 00:00:25.000] Vous me permettrez donc de vous appeler Monsieur Mitterrand. [00:00:25.000 00:00:28.000] Mais vous avez tout à fait raison, Monsieur le Premier ministre. [00:00:28.000 00:00:32.760] Monsieur, si vous le voulez bien, avant de... 

Roll: 18
While the Family only had resources for one side at a time, with the help of the local government, they could manage expanding on 2 fronts: both the southernmost part and the northernmost part of South Slemi.
The plan was relatively simple, to weaponize Vuldavia’s passed legislation. While the police didn't have the resources to launch full investigations into each sleazy Slemi bar, club, restaurant or venue, with the help of some planted evidence and some good reconnaissance we could make it much easier.
The Moral Decency Act states that
-Clubs, bars, dance halls, restaurants, cabaret, burlesque, theaters or any property will be considered as violating the proper code of conduct if they: -condone or enable criminal activity. -catering to or enable degenerate lifestyles or practices (like homosexuality, sodomy, adultery, polygamy and any other criminal or misdemeanor sexual act). -condone or enable the use of recreational drugs. -have dancers, staff, entertainers or customers wearing insufficient, indecent or sexually provocative clothing. -contain any performance or act found to be of a graphic, sexual or indecent nature and will first be formally warned by the law enforcement that reported them. A repeat offense will mean the revoking of business and or liquor licensure, until it complies with the law. This is in addition to the sentences and fines any of the acts carry in their own right. If the existence of the venue itself is illegal, being an underground venue, it will be shut down immediately on that basis.
This is without mentioning the fact that prostitution and gambling were fully illegal which would mean a system of 1 strike and you’re out.
Police Captain Janos Nagy sent Deco a list of establishments already on a warning. The list was plenty on both sides as no one was ready for Csama’s strict legislation to actually go through. But they got more careful since the bill's passing so the situation would have to be nudged the *right* way. And so the placing of illegal substances, provoking brawls, getting customers so out of their mind that they *forget* their clothes in the toilets, began. And there conveniently lied in wait the Slemi local law enforcement having been tipped off by phone by *good Samaritans* all around these fine establishments.
Deco’s foot soldiers of course also had to sacrifice some of their brothel and gambling locations for the good of the Family’s future. But once they realized they’d simply be reopened under new management, they quickly made the right choice and tipped off the police as to their locations.
Once these raids went ahead, the establishments would either lose their license or be forced to shut down meaning that the land would have to be sold off by the owners and due to a lack of a valid license or due to a history of criminal activity, under market value, to the highest bidder, in this case the Family. While this operation would take altogether a couple of weeks, these establishments would become footholds for the Family thus expanding its influence in both south and north Southern Slemi, encroaching on all the new gangs' territory. These establishments would also be crucial safe houses for the 2nd part of Deco’s operation.

Hello Reddit, I'm not really sure if I'm here to seek validation or advice, or maybe just a place to vent. I just feel like I'm being selfish and too demanding on my partner.. Also I would like to apologize for any run on sentences, my mind has been in a haze for the past week with this concern..
I (F26) have been with my boyfriend (M27) for 4 years this August. It was a relationship that started during the covid lockdown. Perhaps at that time, I was just looking for someone to talk to but it evolved into something deeper. I was happy and I felt like I had found someone who really understood and accepted me for who I was no matter how broken and flawed I was.
But I was straight with my expectations for this friendship turned relationship. I knew that I was careless with money but I was willing to go 50-50 on dates or even just having simple coffee dates which was really my thing. I don't really care for the extravagant out of town overnight dates but if it was thoroughly planned as a surprise, I would just as grateful and happy.
He too was straight with me, he was looking for a long term relationship and someone to be honest and straight with him, no beating around the bush or no bullshit kind of guy. Honestly, I needed someone like that in my life too. Sorry I'm rambling.
I am confident to say that I grew in this relationship. Before this one, I came from a 2 year relationship that ended with my partner cheating on me so I found it hard to trust someone else in that regard hence, I wasn't really looking for one (a relationship that is).
But after getting in this one, I learned how to compromise for spending time with each other because at that time, he was working a night shift job and I had a typical 9-5. Weekends was really our only time to spend time and since this started during lockdown, the good majority of us getting to know each other and being in a relationship was spent online.
I also learned to compromise with distance, since he is 2 cities away, in my country that is a good 2-3 hour commute to my place from his so I offered to meet him halfway.
Another thing I learned from this relationship is how to get along with someone of different views or preferences. Nothing too drastic that would cause serious fights, and thankfully we were morally aligned so nothing to worry about right?
But he seems to have taken the sentiment "cutting off all toxic people from your life" a little bit too extreme. It's gotten to the point that it was just me and his mom that he kept in his life. At first I thought that was romantic, like wow I'm literally his whole world. Me being an introvert that doesn't really like to go out to meet new people, I thought it was something really cute. But that didn't mean I didn't have any friends or family... He would get really jealous that I was more willing to plan spontaneous game nights or long night talks with my friends or cousins than with him despite his night shift schedule?? At first it was him being jealous and voicing out that he wanted to talk to me more but as the months went by of him calling me out for it, it ultimately led to him finally telling me that I'm all he has and so it hurts him that I'd rather spend my time with other people.
And I am no saint as well, sometimes I would cut my calls with him short because one of my girlfriends needed me or my cousin wanted to gossip and I knew he didn't like that... So I would try to make it up to him by planning dates or fun things to do while trying to stay sane in the lockdown. (In my country, we had extended lockdown which was longer than the rest of the world's for no good reason).
But we made it work. We communicated, voiced out our concerns and preferences and adapted to it. And I envisioned the rest of the issues we'd face down the line would be resolved the same way.
Now on to my current predicament. He makes me feel like I'm not doing enough in the relationship. That I don't put in as much effort as he does. We have always agreed to split the bill evenly in every date but recently, I have been paying the full cost of it because he's broke. He is broke because March of this year, he experienced heart attack symptoms which got him rushed to the ER. Fortunately (?), it was found that he wasn't experiencing a heart attack but just his heart working too hard... He was diagnosed with hypertension and all his savings went to hospital bills and medicine but when he was short, guess who had to come to the rescue... And I did that because I love him even if he is earning more than me, I wanted to help him as much as I can but I wasn't expecting to be drained both financially and emotionally. Because even after all that, he still demands that I drop everything I'm doing to call him and listen to his woes about being sick.
Now before anyone comments that I'm the bad guy for complaining about him getting sick. One of the things we agreed on when we got together is that he'd stop smoking, not because I don't like guys who smoke but because we both knew that it was a vice that could kill him one day. Hell his closest cousin whom he didn't cut off from his life, died from tuberculosis. So I would've thought that losing him was a big wake up call for him to quit. And he was able to stay sober for 3 years until a few months ago, before he got diagnosed with hypertension. He went back to smoking 2 packs a day as a stress reliever and never told me anything about it until I had to rush to the hospital when his doctor told his mom that he might have a possible blockage in his valve and might need surgery for it.. She of course called me and told me about it. Only then did he admit to me, his mother and hia doctor that he's been smoking 2 packs a day in the months leading up to his heart issue.
Well that was all the context that explains why I've been on edge till now. Because hardships really do bring out the worst in people. All his flaws that I've accepted as a part of him that I saw earlier in the relationship, just got enhanced with panic and paranoia that he got when he was diagnosed with hypertension. So much so that we almost broke up 4 times in a span of 3 months... All because of what he said were my shortcomings:

• I was not being understanding enough about his condition. That paying for his hospital bill, meds and heart tests were nothing compared to the pain he's been feeling everyday and I should spend more of my time helping him feel like he's not alone in this suffering.
• That even if I had notified him ahead of time that I wanted time for myself for at least half a day, I should still be able to answer his call if he had a panic attack (this reason I would normally agree with had he only called when he was panicking and not every hour good god).
• That if I had planned to go out for dinner with my friends that I should get home as early as I can so I could make up for the time I missed because I was out spending time with others and not him...
• and that he wanted to see me more often cause he felt like he was dying but that meant me going to his house once a week during his off days but because I just changed jobs and my schedule was now night shift, I had work on his off days. He expected that I had enough energy to go visit him, spend a couple of hours with him, go back home to work (cause it's a WFH job) and still stay on the phone with him as I worked...

And honestly all this just made me feel like what I was doing for him wasn't enough. That I was too immature or selfish for even wanting time for myself because he's the one who's sick and feels like he's dying... And maybe because of the stress that all the money I had saved so I could move out went to him and that I couldn't catch a break from spending time with him (I love him but I need me time too?!?) all just bubbled and erupted inside me and I ended up just saying I was tired and I felt like I was never going to be enough for him...
His response? "If you can't help me, maybe I'll just die then..."
Damn. If I wasn't so mentally, physically, emotionally tired, I would've totally seen this as manipulation to the extreme... But all the years spent molding me into instinctively giving him majority of my time and attention, and most importantly, I do love him. I folded and I rescinded everything I said.
Fast forward to now, he's more stable now and has adapted to a healthier lifestyle. He's overall happier now and finally he was able to apologize for the torment he put me through when he was sick. But the apology didn't feel sincere... It still somehow made me feel that he said sorry I exploded but I had to understand him BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONE WHO GOT SICK NOT ME.
I'm really sorry for the long context. But I think my mind and my heart is tired and I want to let go... But how do I do that? I know it's going to be painful, but does it get better? What is the difference between being selfish and taking care of yourself?

Howdy there! The name's PK and I'm in the market for a Bleach roleplay.
Usually, I'm more open to allowing people to play whatever character they'd like - OCs in particular - but I'm in the mood for something a bit different this time; I'm looking for someone who's willing to play Momo Hinamori.
I do intend on playing an OC myself and I apologize for the hypocrisy. My character is male, a fellow Lieutenant, and he has already has a crush on her from the start. I like the idea that everyone but Hinamori herself knows, there's just something funny about the idea of her being oblivious to something so obvious. As you might expect, I'm leaning towards an eventual romantic angle between our two characters - something slow, natural and built up over time - that happens between all the action and adventure.
I've constructed a more singular and short-term plot that differs from some of my other ideas that are based in the Bleach universe and I'll give you very a brief plot synopsis:

A group of assailants calling themselves the Remnants of Aizen have appeared and are declaring war against the Soul Society. Their goal is simple: to free Sōsuke Aizen from his prison and reinstate him and the one, true ruler of this world.

I'm interested in someone who really knows, understands and respects her character. I'd like to explore her as someone who's worked through the trauma of what happened to her, but still has the physical and mental scars from the ordeal, and how it effected her... and how this plot will continue to effect her. So long as you don't boil her down to "still an Aizen simp years later", I'm probably not going to complain about the way you play her.
The setting is supposed to be post-series but the events of Thousand Year Blood War arc are mostly inconsequential to this plot, so anime-only fans don't have to worry! There will be a couple of canon characters who are missing from the Gotei 13 roster but don't worry - you can consider that the result of this being an AU rather than anything to do with canon. There are no spoilers here, I promise!
That being said - the more knowledge you have of the series and supplementary materials, the better! I have ideas to incorporate that based on CFYOW as well as other light novels and short stories, but they will not be exactly the same.
Anyways, if this sounds at all up your alley go ahead and shoot me a message - preferably of the envelope variety! These are my guidelines:

• I'm an adult. Therefore I am not interested in roleplaying with anyone under the age of 18. Nothing personal to any of you kids out there, I'm just not comfortable with doing one-on-one roleplays with anybody who's not an adult for what I hope are obvious reasons.
• I'm looking for paragraph-style, third-person responses. If you can't do that, I'm sorry, but I'm probably not interested in roleplaying with you.
• Length and descriptions can fluctuate. I'm not expecting you to summon your inner Stephen King and crank out a novel every time you write to me, and honestly I probably won't be able to do the same for you. As long as you put some degree of effort into your posts, I'm okay with that.
• If you're really interested in this, I'd suggest sending me more than just a generic "hey, I saw your post and I'm interested!" message. I honestly tend to ignore those kinds of messages. Tell me a little bit about yourself and your interests, like how much you enjoyed the series! Or other series that you've enjoyed over the years! Or your roleplaying experiences! You don't have to tell me your entire life story or write your entire manifesto, but anything besides just a one-sentence "hello, I'm interested" is much appreciated and will most likely go a lot further. Yes, even if it's just two sentences :b You're free to include any contact information within your introduction too because I'll probably be sending mine with the response.
• If you've actually read all of this, please put "Dilly Dally" as your message subject. It'll help me sort out the people who read this from the people who didn't!
• I'm not looking for just a roleplay partner, I would like to be friends too! I think a roleplay is much more interesting when you interact with and befriend the person(s) you're playing with. It especially helps when it comes to activity and world building. If you want to keep our relationship professional though, that's fine too.
• I absolutely do not expect multiple responses a day, or even a single response a day, because I can't even promise that myself. Sometimes you hit weird moods or life gets in the way and that's fine! Nor do I care how long these moods last - I get it, finding the mojo to reply can take time. I'm no stranger to going weeks without replying myself. However, I would prefer that we let each other know if we aren't going to reply for a while or if we're having a hard time coming up with a response.
• I'm an old-school forum roleplayer so that's the platform I'm used to i'm so old rip. That being said, Discord is obviously the most convenient way to roleplay these days and my posts often break the character limit and require multiple messages as a result. I'm also open to roleplaying through e-mail, on forums (if those are still a thing lmao) or even on here in the DMs! I may be open to GoogleDocs, if you're willing to be patient with me and help me learn how to do it.

Howdy there! The name's PK and I'm in the market for a Bleach roleplay.
Usually, I'm more open to allowing people to play whatever character they'd like - OCs in particular - but I'm in the mood for something a bit different this time; I'm looking for someone who's willing to play Momo Hinamori.
I do intend on playing an OC myself and I apologize for the hypocrisy. My character is male, a fellow Lieutenant, and he has already has a crush on her from the start. I like the idea that everyone but Hinamori herself knows, there's just something funny about the idea of her being oblivious to something so obvious. As you might expect, I'm leaning towards an eventual romantic angle between our two characters - something slow, natural and built up over time - that happens between all the action and adventure.
I've constructed a more singular and short-term plot that differs from some of my other ideas that are based in the Bleach universe and I'll give you very a brief plot synopsis:

A group of assailants calling themselves the Remnants of Aizen have appeared and are declaring war against the Soul Society. Their goal is simple: to free Sōsuke Aizen from his prison and reinstate him and the one, true ruler of this world.

I'm interested in someone who really knows, understands and respects her character. I'd like to explore her as someone who's worked through the trauma of what happened to her, but still has the physical and mental scars from the ordeal, and how it effected her... and how this plot will continue to effect her. So long as you don't boil her down to "still an Aizen simp years later", I'm probably not going to complain about the way you play her.
The setting is supposed to be post-series but the events of Thousand Year Blood War arc are mostly inconsequential to this plot, so anime-only fans don't have to worry! There will be a couple of canon characters who are missing from the Gotei 13 roster but don't worry - you can consider that the result of this being an AU rather than anything to do with canon. There are no spoilers here, I promise!
That being said - the more knowledge you have of the series and supplementary materials, the better! I have ideas to incorporate that based on CFYOW as well as other light novels and short stories, but they will not be exactly the same.
Anyways, if this sounds at all up your alley go ahead and shoot me a message - preferably of the envelope variety! These are my guidelines:

• I'm an adult. Therefore I am not interested in roleplaying with anyone under the age of 18. Nothing personal to any of you kids out there, I'm just not comfortable with doing one-on-one roleplays with anybody who's not an adult for what I hope are obvious reasons.
• I'm looking for paragraph-style, third-person responses. If you can't do that, I'm sorry, but I'm probably not interested in roleplaying with you.
• Length and descriptions can fluctuate. I'm not expecting you to summon your inner Stephen King and crank out a novel every time you write to me, and honestly I probably won't be able to do the same for you. As long as you put some degree of effort into your posts, I'm okay with that.
• If you're really interested in this, I'd suggest sending me more than just a generic "hey, I saw your post and I'm interested!" message. I honestly tend to ignore those kinds of messages. Tell me a little bit about yourself and your interests, like how much you enjoyed the series! Or other series that you've enjoyed over the years! Or your roleplaying experiences! You don't have to tell me your entire life story or write your entire manifesto, but anything besides just a one-sentence "hello, I'm interested" is much appreciated and will most likely go a lot further. Yes, even if it's just two sentences :b You're free to include any contact information within your introduction too because I'll probably be sending mine with the response.
• If you've actually read all of this, please put "Dilly Dally" as your message subject. It'll help me sort out the people who read this from the people who didn't!
• I'm not looking for just a roleplay partner, I would like to be friends too! I think a roleplay is much more interesting when you interact with and befriend the person(s) you're playing with. It especially helps when it comes to activity and world building. If you want to keep our relationship professional though, that's fine too.
• I absolutely do not expect multiple responses a day, or even a single response a day, because I can't even promise that myself. Sometimes you hit weird moods or life gets in the way and that's fine! Nor do I care how long these moods last - I get it, finding the mojo to reply can take time. I'm no stranger to going weeks without replying myself. However, I would prefer that we let each other know if we aren't going to reply for a while or if we're having a hard time coming up with a response.
• I'm an old-school forum roleplayer so that's the platform I'm used to i'm so old rip. That being said, Discord is obviously the most convenient way to roleplay these days and my posts often break the character limit and require multiple messages as a result. I'm also open to roleplaying through e-mail, on forums (if those are still a thing lmao) or even on here in the DMs! I may be open to GoogleDocs, if you're willing to be patient with me and help me learn how to do it.