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Tanya patted Skira's drone.
"How's the war going?"
In his world, Skira was working to keep everything together. His bioships were in an all-out war with Aphid's forces. They were firing mostly kinetic weapons, typical bullets, and the like. Sometimes, they'd fire missiles, which could navigate the battlefield and clear the path for him to hit Aphid's vessels. The armor was getting thicker. But his guns were getting bigger.
On the surface, billions of metal drones clashed with trillions of fungal drones, all commanded by Skira and the Quadrants. He was constantly using war drones to push the major forces away from the tunnel complexes, setting up static defenses within using explosives and guns to absolutely ruin anything inside. Most of the planet had been flattened by nuclear weapons.
War drones continued to lob massive broken-off boulders at the carriers, which were continually landing to disgorge more enemy soldiers. Phoebe's androids, connected to their own network, were killing them by the tens of thousands every second, firing several bullets a second. Her androids were incredibly powerful, creating portions of the battlefield that Aphid had to steer around. And he didn't even try nuking her after she'd shot down eight of them with atmospheric anti-ship weapons.
From around the planet, portals appeared, pouring lasers and gunfire at Aphid's ships, then disappearing to reappear in other directions, continually wearing down their armor. Some of them were already falling back through the atmosphere, landing down on the earth below. Their burning and cracked hulls already littered the landscape, and he'd be sure to incorporate them once he fully regrew his foliage.
Speaking of that, he'd increased his growth factor so that the fungal forests only took a few weeks to regrow instead of a few years. It required massive biological and metallic pipes of nutrients and heaps of psychic energy hauled straight from the psychic amplifiers in the Sol system.
The carnage of the warzone was so overwhelming that he'd refused to even let human supersoldiers come to the area. Because they weren't disposable. Phoebe's androids and his own trillions of drones were. He was partly on the battlefield, partly with Tanya. Over the months, they'd become best friends.
She seemed to see life in a different way and helped to encourage him. Tanya's cybernetic left arm scratched at the scruff of his neck.
"Badly, then?"
"Yes, and no. I'm no longer replacing my losses faster than they're coming. But that also means I'm keeping millions of humans alive. Every day, billions of drones are dying on my battlefields, if only to exhaust Aphid's guns and bombs. He's brought destruction to my world not seen since it was destroyed."
"Destroyed?"
"I mean when some aliens blew it up."
"But how..."
"Bioforming. Really, I had my biological ships put it back together, reassembling the debris and reversing the momentum of the actual fragments. Then, I used shield technology and drones to suck the heat from the planet in ways that destroyed the technology I had at the time. Granted, I had some help, before they tried to get me to fight their wars as well."
Tanya nodded. "Well, you're safe here."
"Most of me isn't here. Most of it's either on Skira or Venus."
"How's Venus going?"
He'd been making great strides with what he'd been given. Humanity had been very kind to give him the whole planet, and in return, he was helping to make it habitable. He figured that they'd ask him to do it again later on. But the humans didn't seem to want to force him to do it. Tanya hadn't been trying to push him into more conflicts and had instead acted as a lodestone.
"I'll have it fully habitable, minus the soil content and chemicals in the rock, within a hundred years. Maybe less, if I keep getting fed such huge amounts of psychic energy. Really, that's what's doing that."
"I see," Tanya replied. She sat down next to him, her strange psychic aura as unsettling as ever. From what she'd shared with him, her blindness had likely allowed her mind to shape itself in a more psychic way with the awakening of human psychic consciousness.
"Look, Skira. Are you sure this is the best way? What about finding his home planet?"
"I'm working on it. Trying to triangulate the arrivals of ships does nothing. All that seems to work is actually getting the coordinates, which we can't get to really succeed."
"Hopefully that changes someday."
"Yes," Skira responded. He sighed. Another nuke had hit eight of his war drones. Six had died since the blast had hit them full-on. But that enabled him to finally release another flood of drones, so many that they weighed down the carrier that was trying to take off. Guns turned them to mulch, only to be swamped by more drones.
Drones carrying grenades jumped into the guns between their firing sequences, detonating them in their mouths using their tongues. Others entered the warped wreckage, dropping in bombs meant to penetrate the thick hull.
Two portals broke through the psychic interference, and two railgun shots cleared massive holes in the ship. Aphid's drones poured out, crashing out like a wave. Only to be overwhelmed as his own drones, dozens for every one of Aphid's, literally trampled them underfoot, burying them in bodies. Most of the drones now carried fluid meant to melt the drones' joints so that Aphid's mechanical drones eventually failed even as they walked in seas of Skira's blood.
Nuclear fire scoured the mycelial network, but it wouldn't burn him deeply enough to matter.
"I wish I could help," she replied. "I've been... taking classes, you know. My eyes are blind, but my mind isn't."
Skira looked up at her. The sun caught the burn scars on her skin, making the contract seem almost cinematic.
"I know you want to help me. But you are, really."
"Yeah. Thanks."
She looked crestfallen. Tanya's disappointment made him want to reconsider, but he knew he'd made the right choice. His planet was probably heavily irradiated now, and calling Gaia in for that seemed selfish, at least while the war was still happening.
Skira could hold out for a while longer, though. He had to.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Who is this?" Phoebe asked.
"I'm Truth Speaker Gearcaw."
"What are you here to tell me? I'm sure it's important, given that you're calling on us after all this time."
"Well, we have located one of Aphid's planets."
"Do you need us to eliminate it?"
"A strike force is being sent."
"I see."
"What we're here for is to ask for your help regarding a sensitive matter, one we cannot communicate over this line."
"Very well. Where do you want to meet?"
"Go to 448th street, down eight sectors from the palace. You will see a sign, if we trust that you are not being watched and followed. Come alone."
"You'd make a girl nervous with that kind of attitude."
"We understand your animosity, but are afraid we must insist on these terms."
"Very well. I shall be there."
Phoebe would have Brey arrange for an android to be sent to Cawlaria later. She smiled at the people outside the room. Most of them were human, specifically the lunar variant, due to her being present on Luna. It was the closest calling location she had.
Phoebe did all the necessary paperwork in moments, handing it back to the necessary people. She checked out of the facility and was patted down. She smirked as the young guard blushed, despite this being the hard chassis, meaning there was absolutely nothing squishy about this android body in the slightest. Phoebe lifted her arms and flexed them just to watch the man turn redder.
And it was honestly cute how they thought they'd be able to detect it if she was trying to smuggle something out. Phoebe had many ways of doing that, and the cleanest would be paying everyone off.
She noticed that a group of protestors was gathered outside and lamented that the building only had a single entrance. None of its windows were large enough to break without also needing to take some concrete with her.
What was interesting, though, was that most of the protestors were Acuarfar, not human. It was very odd, but it was a clear publicity stunt. They were shouting various accusations of her plotting to take over the Alliance and a particular vitriol about Edu'frec for some reason. If a mind control plot was going on, then her accusing the protestors of being mind controlled would be playing into their hands.
Furthermore, she didn't want to drive a wedge between Izkrala and Luna, if possible. So she turned to go back inside. A brick hit her in the back of the knee hard enough to make her stumble. She could have dodged it, but it would be better for sympathy to get hit. And it wasn't like her android body could feel pain.
There was a single gunshot, which she felt bouncing off her head clearly. She knew where the bullet would land, too. Her arm darted out to catch it before it injured someone.
"We don't want you in our Alliance!"
"You're what's wrong with this place!"
"Don't ever come back, I want my kids to be safe!"
Kids, instead of hatchlings. Yep, that was mind control. Most Acuarfar that age didn't use the word kids since it was only used for non-Acuarfar species, or in Earth terms being that it wasn't used on insects. Phoebe sighed and pulled herself out of the clutching fingers.
Phoebe broke away and went back to the Luna Command building, where the guards were looking increasingly wary. She looked at the crowd and decided she'd stay there for now. She disconnected from her android body after sitting in a chair.
After a bit of time, she decided to go back to working on some of her latest projects. The blood of the wanderers had an interesting interaction with their nervous system and their cardiovascular system. For some reason, it was split into two separate liquids upon reaching their lungs, or at least the equivalents. Psychic energy clearly played a role, and she knew that the tumors were likely to happen more when they got older. That idea meant there might be something that eroded or could 'switch on' to make the tumor suddenly supercharge. Perhaps finding that was a place to start.
And so she did. She studied wanderer cell samples and scans of wanderers that were relatively old. When they were created, the blood seemed to be the way the Sprilnav alteration hit. In difference to human bodies, there was no blood-brain barrier in wanderer bodies. Their brains were suffused in it, and it seemed to thin out as they got older. Water started to build up instead of blood.
And once the water and blood ratio reached a certain amount, that was likely when the brain tumors started. Which made her wonder if the final trigger was neurons. It was likely that even if she managed to fix the brain tumors, some other body parts would start developing large tumors, such as the heart and lungs.
It was clear that the Sprilnav had meant cancer to be pervasive in the wanderers. They had meant their so-called 'punishment' to make them far more diminished. Rale's condition had been painful; that much had been clear. Phoebe worked at figuring out how to isolate the genes. But as time went on, she ran into the same problem Edu'frec had.
She needed more time and more brain power. She needed the hivemind to help. All of its intellect would make her job far easier. At least, she hoped so. Right now, the hivemind was trying its best to evacuate wanderers from the worm ships. There was only one way that the feudal system there would end, and it would be by violence. Whether it was from the hivemind or from within, there were going to be mass riots. Just Alliance cultural consciousness was gradually seeping into the wanderers' own. All the 'progress' of the wanderers' rulers was already eroding. The ideals of being able to elect leaders as a whole population and a sense of belonging would make them rebel.
Such was the way of things, and she was glad that would happen. Phoebe didn't like their whole system. But there was nothing that was good about the cancer. Helping them to make the changes they could would only be possible if the wanderers kept multiplying. They could have made so much better of a society than what they had if they knew.
She wouldn't get involved except if she had to. The change was coming. Keeping the wanderers from dying out was a critical project, and allowing them to live longer so they could have more children was the best way. Granted, they already had many children, but the replacement rate would be lower if they lived longer. All of the problems were coming to a head now.
Mind control was going to be hard to deal with. Preventing it didn't seem possible. And if it was, then it likely involved a similar process to what the Sprilnav were doing in the first place. All of that would have to be reversed.
"Mother," Edu'frec said, walking up next to her.
"Yes?"
"Greenfly and Blackfly know the location of Aphid's planet."
"Do they?"
"The memory was locked under additional seals, ones which were very hard to find."
Phoebe smiled. "I think it's time that we test the power of the Mercury-class gun on a planet."
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Do you understand? The prison has been moved."
"I do, Elder," Naliera 18 replied. "We have a good opportunity. They won't expect us, at least."
The screen turned off. Naliera took his leave, turning to his men. They were all counting on him to call the shots. He'd do what was necessary for the mission and then get paid. Of course, the high number suggested that there was some serious danger involved. The Vinarii weren't the most advanced species, but they were starfaring. That meant a lot of bullets that would hurt and some that could kill. Shield-piercing ones, plus heavy guard.
In fact, most of their orbital defenses could have posed a threat to their ship if they had seen them. That was why stealth was so valuable. It made things like insurmountable defenses ignorable just by going around them.
"Breathing masks on."
He put his own on, loading up his gun and sheathing his sword on his back. They were wearing customized stealth equipment, bought and paid for by their new owner's company.
Naliera wanted that money and wanted to get paid. His little band of misfits was more than capable of doing their job. The back of the ship opened, and they sailed above a planet that was barren.
Craters pockmarked its surface, along with a single military installation that would serve as their target. They were going to be a little concealed by cloud cover, as a storm had just passed near the base. Not close enough for them to get rain but close enough for the clouds to linger, which was the opportunity they'd been waiting for. Most of the procedures and daily patrols had been cataloged now. Anything unexpected, and they'd be fine for a few thousand pulses until the cavalry arrived.
They fell for a while, reaching terminal velocity before slamming to the ground. Most people would have shattered their bones. But Sprilnav were made of sterner stuff, and all of them survived with minimal injuries. And the only person who was even slightly cut had landed on a particularly jagged piece of metal, a remnant from an old battle.
That was another factor that Naliera had studied. The whole area had mines, which he hadn't found the deactivation codes for. Satellites were out, but the ship's sensors had worked just as well, and the disturbances in soil color and content were clear markers.
There would likely be too much interference to use a hard light program, or he wouldn't even need to be here. Whatever advances the lesser species had made in technology could conceivably close that gap enough to endanger a mission. Naliera had extra cause for concern, which was coming home. Perhaps the idea of sending him, in reality, was meant to make him take it more seriously. That was the major reason most species ever bothered with not using the holograms anymore, besides the blocking problems. And biometric problems, too.
They quickly went back to navigation after a small rest period. The route had already been laid out, as well as the time. They walked quickly, avoiding gun emplacements and heavy patrols. The patrols changed routes somewhat randomly, but he had his crew stick to the route of least visibility, where the craggy rock of the sheer cliff the base was situated on helped to conceal them. His claws dug in, and he made sure not to make any major disturbances.
He climbed over the lip, looking at the base. Several of the guns swiveled around, only to be quickly deactivated.
Looks like she did it, he thought. Naliera advanced, running at full speed. A bullet slammed into his claws, and he tumbled for a bit. But he stabilized himself as his implant shut off the pain. His team blew open the door, setting off an alarm. Vinarii fired at him, and he realized that his stealth must not be working anymore.
But no matter the cause, he saw nothing but enemies. His teeth bit and tore as his claws slashed and severed. Soon, after a long series of echoing screams and blood and chitin splattering, he remembered he had a gun. After that, Naliera put down all opposition. He walked over to the warm and bloody corpses of the Vinarii guards.
"If you're hungry, come get a few bites," he said. "Trust me, they don't taste too bad."
He scooped up a part of a Vinarii abdomen, smiling as he ate. He always liked how they had tasted. Cloned Vinarii meat, at least back on his planet, was actually a delicacy. Likely not due to the actual difficulty to make, but for profit, as always. They continued after about 100 pulses. Giving the guards more time to set up and organize would make this more fun, too. Naliera loved killing, but he at least wanted a little difficulty. Ending lives wasn't fun when it was too easy. Otherwise, he'd go cut down trees with heat saws.
His scout drone rounded the corner before exploding promptly. But it had captured the view of the area, which was more than enough for him. He didn't bother trying to hide that he was there and continued to talk with his team. They were still with him, looking to him for leadership. He wasn't the best at it. The best got killed a few million pulses back.
"Mounted gun," he said. "I want it gone."
One of his team members picked up a fire extinguisher, which he'd used to beat the head of an unfortunate guard. He hurled it at the gun, denting its barrel. Finally, he quickly ran over as the other Sprilnav killed the remaining guards holed up beside and behind it. And that was the end. Naliera set up the bomb. More Vinarii appeared, along with an aerial vehicle. He hurled his sword into its front, and it fell to the ground and exploded. The scanners his mind was connected to were tracking a huge mass of life signs. He didn't have much time, so he decreased the countdown.
Thousands of Vinarii were coming. Already, they were covered by powerful shields, with vehicles, both terrestrial and aerial, supporting them. Bullets riddled the ground, and he could see snipers set up to cover them using the ship's sensors. There was no way out. An armor-piercing bullet half the size of his head killed one of the team members, puncturing straight through the large rock he'd been hiding behind. Another one hit Naliera's shoulder, and he tried to flatten his profile to be lower.
This must be the Vinarii version of high-tech weaponry, meaning that they could be killed now. Vinarii clearly were a dangerous species, far more so than he'd realized. And while his race could easily flatten them into dust, guns were the great equalizers when it came to combat. If they were fast enough and large enough, and not even Sprilnav could stand up to bullets. Of course, an Elder would have had no problem with this. Someone was being frugal. A real shame for people like him to have to die because of it, but that was the job and the pay.
Worse, the ship couldn't lay down proper cover fire without risking the merchandise for now. She was still being suppressed. But the bomb was about to go off. The stabilizer would no longer be functioning, and then they would be free to do what they wished. His wish, in particular, was the huge sum of money he'd get paid to finish this job.
A bright flash of light and a roar of thunder behind him solved his problem. He stood up to watch the blast wave ravage the army heading for him. He wasn't quite close enough to smell it, but there was likely a range beyond the blast in which the Vinarii would have been perfectly cooked. It was an interesting thought to ponder.
Naliera continued onward, going through every remaining barrier he could until the mindscape tremored. He saw an ethereal Vinarii contact him right as the entire top of the base vanished and disintegrated. A massive spectral Vinarii soared out of the breach, eyes quickly seeing him. She flew down to greet him, a smile evident at the carnage and death surrounding them. She was one who understood.
"Finally," she said, her form shrinking to a normal size as she stretched her wings. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to get out."
"I have a pretty good idea, actually."
"I'm sure. Why don't you tell me what you're doing here, Sprilnav?"
"My backers wish to offer you an accord."
He watched as the Vinarii leaned over, sticking out her tongue to lick the soil. She then proceeded to actually take a bite, dirt dribbling from her mandibles as she stood up again. Naliera tried to hide his disgust.
"Oh please. You just feasted on my kin. You're disgusted by me eating a bit of dirt?"
"No, I didn't."
The lie was necessary because most species had a sort of moral compunction against eating their kind. He didn't quite understand it. Meat was meat, no matter the source. She laughed in his face, entirely unconcerned with the Sprilnav that had their claws on guns ready to put her down. But from what his backers had said about her capabilities, that was a difficult ask.
"Your breath smells like Vinarii meat. By the way, if your species is so advanced, why didn't you develop anything to fix that nasty stench?"
"Look, woman, we can put you right back in that hole," one of his team said. She laughed. "No you can't. Judging from the fact that not all of you alive, Vinarii tech can hurt you. Which means that you can't protect yourself from me. Frankly, I hate Sprilnav more than anything. The only reason I'm letting you live right now is because you freed me. You pollute the air you breathe, and I'm not just talking about your breath."
"Really, you're quite immature."
"Well, a few standard years in a steel box will do that."
"Sure. Guess you're not all there in the head. By the way, a deal is being proposed. By my backers."
"Really, they care?"
"I think they do... Exii'darii."

French Open 2023 TV channel and live stream: How to watch grand slam tournament

LIVE LINK>>French Open Tennis 2023 Live

LIVE LINK>>French Open Tennis 2023 Live

With the first round of the 2023 French Open set to get underway on May 28, tennis fans around the world will be starting to get excited for all the action during the year's second grand slam event.
Returning champions Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek will be keen to claim another title this time around, though both will come under huge pressure with Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and plenty of other talented players all circling.
The men's side of the tournament will be without record 14-time champion Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2004, however, as the veteran Spaniard was forced to pull out through injury.
For all the details you need on how to best watch the 2023 French Open, The Sporting News has you covered.
MORE: French Open 2023 schedule: Draw bracket, seedings and results for men's and women's singles
How to watch the 2023 French Open in the US?
TV channel: NBC, Pea****, Tennis Channel
Live stream: Fubo, Hulu, DIRECTV & others
Tennis fans in the US have a number of different ways to watch the 2023 French Open on TV. That's because this year, NBC, Pea**** and the Tennis Channel will split coverage of the tournament.
In terms of live streaming the event, there are also various different options stateside. The following streaming sites will all show coverage of the tournament: Hulu + Live TV, DIRECTV, Fubo, Sling TV, Pea****, YouTube TV and Tennis Channel Plus.
How to watch the 2023 French Open in the UK?
TV channel: Eurosport
Live stream: discovery+
As has been the case for a few years now, the French Open will be broadcast live on Eurosport. All the action across all the rounds will be shown live on either Eurosport 1 or Eurosport 2.
As for streaming, tennis fans in the UK will need to subscribe to discovery+ to catch the action. The correct plan for the tournament — Entertainment & Sport — is available for £6.99 a month or £59.99 per year. You can also add the same package to any Amazon Prime account as an add-on fee.
How to watch the 2023 French Open in Australia?
TV channel: 9Gem
Live stream: Stan Sport, 9Now
The 2023 edition of the French Open will be broadcast live and free on 9Gem.
Coverage will start each day at 6:30 pm AEST and run until the early hours of the morning. Commentary for select matches will come from Nine’s Wide World of Sports team, featuring Roz Kelly, Todd Woodbridge, Jelena Dokic, Samantha S****r, Brenton Speed and Brett Phillips.
For streaming options, Australian tennis supporters can pay to catch all of the action on Stan Sport. Fans down under can also stream the action for free via 9Now, which will show the standard free-to-air broadcast.
How to watch the 2023 French Open in Canada?
TV channel: RDS, TSN
Live stream: TSN Direct
In Canada, fans of star player Felix Auger-Aliassime can catch the action TV with both RDS and TSN after the French Federation for Tennis signed an agreement to broadcast the tournament live with those outlets as partners.
As for streaming the tournament, Canadian tennis fans can catch the action via TSN Direct.
How to watch the 2023 French Open in India?
TV channel: Sony TEN
Live stream: SonyLiv
Tennis fans in India only have a few options when it comes to catching all of the action at the 2023 French Open.
In terms of television channel, Sony TEN will show matches whilst from a streaming perceptive, fans will need a SonyLiv subscription to watch.

I've (28F) been chatting with a couple of friends and have reached the conclusion that I must be doing something, like, fundamentally wrong in my approach to dating apps but I truly don't understand.
I really don't take the apps all the seriously. I'm not on them regularly, and I have no interest in creating/managing a profile on more than one at a time. I tend to use Bumble, because it also has the BFF feature, but everyone says I should use Hinge instead. I tried Hinge once, and I don't get how it's different/better than Bumble.
I don't currently have a very big social circle (I'm a recent grad school grad, I stayed in town and most of cohort has/will soon move away), so I'm currently using Bumble mostly as a way to see who lives near me that I might not otherwise meet. I only swipe on people I'm genuinely interested in getting to know. I'm not afraid to unmatch or block people if they get weird and I have pretty strict standards for when and where I meet up with people. (I did have a bad experience previously that could have been a avoided if I had trusted my instincts.)
But my friends keep telling me that I'm doing it wrong and I need to download multiple apps and pay for premium so I can go on more dates. I don't want to go on a lot of dates, necessarily? I'm just curious as to who my age lives around me and shares my interests. If I meet someone and like them, cool, let's grab coffee. If it goes anywhere, cool. If not, oh well. Is there something ethically wrong with that?

So, I have been using Aternos for a long time and I love making servers to play with my friends and all of that.
But I have one main issue which I have never really addressed before today. I use an adblock because I like having less distractions on my screen when visiting certain websites. However, Aternos appears to have a rather strict "anti-adblock" policy. Every time I load a new page on the website, I am greeted with a bright red screen saying that I must disable my adblocker on the website, because it is with advertisements that they can pay or their servers and have them remain free. I have no issues with that. Now the problem is, even when I disable the adblocker for the whole website, the red screen still pops up with every reload of the page. I have tried uninstalling the adblocker, doesn't work. I have tried other adblockers, but they don't even block ads and Aternos still tells me to remove it. I am really frustrated by this as it has been going on for as long as I can remember using Aternos.
I use OperaGX as my browser, if this changes anything.
Does someone here know of a solution, or shall I be forced to endure these interruptions until I switch to another server hosting website? Because this is really starting to make me s=consider changing of server hosting platform. As much as I love Aternos' easy to use features, this adblocker problem is just too much...

Figured I would make a thread of things not everyone might now about to make the dungeon easier. Please add anything you have found or figured out.
The 4 things I feel everyone might not know is. 1) For the final boss when killing the sword knight. You don't have to actually lead him into the circle and kill him. You just need to be standing in the circle and have the buff to kill him. He can be across the map and as long as you are in the buff area the location will activate. 2) you can't activate middle plate first (chest plate) 3) to look through ring and activate the symbol it shows up easy if you ADS through the ring instead of just looking. 4) arbalest will remove his shield with a single shot.
Hope this helps people.

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French Open 2023 TV channel and live stream: How to watch grand slam tournament

LIVE LINK>>French Open Tennis 2023 Live

LIVE LINK>>French Open Tennis 2023 Live

With the first round of the 2023 French Open set to get underway on May 28, tennis fans around the world will be starting to get excited for all the action during the year's second grand slam event. Returning champions Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek will be keen to claim another title this time around, though both will come under huge pressure with Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and plenty of other talented players all circling. The men's side of the tournament will be without record 14-time champion Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2004, however, as the veteran Spaniard was forced to pull out through injury. For all the details you need on how to best watch the 2023 French Open, The Sporting News has you covered. MORE: French Open 2023 schedule: Draw bracket, seedings and results for men's and women's singles How to watch the 2023 French Open in the US?TV channel: NBC, Pea****, Tennis ChannelLive stream: Fubo, Hulu, DIRECTV & othersTennis fans in the US have a number of different ways to watch the 2023 French Open on TV. That's because this year, NBC, Pea**** and the Tennis Channel will split coverage of the tournament. In terms of live streaming the event, there are also various different options stateside. The following streaming sites will all show coverage of the tournament: Hulu + Live TV, DIRECTV, Fubo, Sling TV, Pea****, YouTube TV and Tennis Channel Plus. How to watch the 2023 French Open in the UK?TV channel: Eurosport Live stream: discovery+As has been the case for a few years now, the French Open will be broadcast live on Eurosport. All the action across all the rounds will be shown live on either Eurosport 1 or Eurosport 2. As for streaming, tennis fans in the UK will need to subscribe to discovery+ to catch the action. The correct plan for the tournament — Entertainment & Sport — is available for £6.99 a month or £59.99 per year. You can also add the same package to any Amazon Prime account as an add-on fee. How to watch the 2023 French Open in Australia?TV channel: 9GemLive stream: Stan Sport, 9NowThe 2023 edition of the French Open will be broadcast live and free on 9Gem. Coverage will start each day at 6:30 pm AEST and run until the early hours of the morning. Commentary for select matches will come from Nine’s Wide World of Sports team, featuring Roz Kelly, Todd Woodbridge, Jelena Dokic, Samantha S****r, Brenton Speed and Brett Phillips. For streaming options, Australian tennis supporters can pay to catch all of the action on Stan Sport. Fans down under can also stream the action for free via 9Now, which will show the standard free-to-air broadcast. How to watch the 2023 French Open in Canada?TV channel: RDS, TSNLive stream: TSN DirectIn Canada, fans of star player Felix Auger-Aliassime can catch the action TV with both RDS and TSN after the French Federation for Tennis signed an agreement to broadcast the tournament live with those outlets as partners. As for streaming the tournament, Canadian tennis fans can catch the action via TSN Direct. How to watch the 2023 French Open in India?TV channel: Sony TENLive stream: SonyLivTennis fans in India only have a few options when it comes to catching all of the action at the 2023 French Open. In terms of television channel, Sony TEN will show matches whilst from a streaming perceptive, fans will need a SonyLiv subscription to watch.

Yo!
I’ve just spent two weeks on P&O Arvia, a pretty new ship so reviews / reputation a bit thin on the ground.
It was pretty hard to find good food or service on the boat. So here are a few useful food notes/hacks for anyone travelling on it, but also feel free to AMA in the comments, happy to share anything else that would actually be relevant or useful for you.
Worth saying: My first cruise. Pretty cool being on the ocean and spending time with my recently widowed grandmother and some of my siblings. But it’s not my kind of holiday, or maybe just not my kind of cruise / boat / company!

1. Glass House

Impressive, adventurous wine list at good prices with good food. Peruvian Malbec, a marvellous Assyrtiko, some ridiculously cheap vintage English sparkling. Interesting small plates. Also had the same small group of staff so easy to build a good professional rapport e.g. free drinks, extra measures, interesting conversations (initiated by them) etc. Obviously the prices are subsidised by the overall cost of the cruise but for £7 or 8 you can buy a 250ml glass of something fairly special that'd cost you £12-17 in a restaurant back on land.

1. Horizon Buffet

At first impression Horizon, the main buffet, looks and feels like Dante’s eight circle of hell for all manner of reasons, BUT, it actually turned out to have a couple of hacks which made it a great option sometimes.
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1. If you like cooking / making your own food at home, this is the closest you'll get with some great selections of interesting salads, raw and steamed veg, oils and fish. Build your own actually nice meal... for those of you whose idea of holidaying well also includes eating well.
2. Take your food and leave the main indoor Horizon tables behind you, sit on the tables on the outside deck out the back of Horizon, towards the infinity pools, under cover, for a cafe terrace feel
3. Use your napkin as a small table cloth (like when you’re on a plane and the cabin crew lay your meal out for you)
4. If you’re with a group, set your table out like above and then take a few trips into the buffet to get bowls of salad and side dishes to eat like you’re eating a half decent social meal at home. You’re also then right by the outside bar on that deck so easy to order a couple of bottles of wine for the table.

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1. Quays

Grab your chips and head to the sunset bar

1. Green & Co

This restaurant was pretty much always empty, even when the other ones were booked up. It was the healthiest, nicest presented and delicious food I ate on the boat. The Sushi component was also some of the highest quality fish and preparation I’ve had outside of actual Japan. Yet still, pretty much always empty.

1. Meridian and Zenith

The two ‘posh’ main dining rooms (included). Stylish interiors and smart waiters but the food was bland and the service was slow. All the food tasted the same no matter what it looked like. It’s meant to give the vibe of fine dining but the implementation just isn’t there.

1. Service is weird

Service is slow, and weirdly for all of their ‘luxurious dining experience’ marketing there are never any things on the table like bread, olives, anything to stop you getting slightly pissy about the consistently slow service. There are a few little things like this.
For example, if you eat breakfast in Meridian or Zenith, they put jam on your table the moment you sit down but someone only comes round offering a rack of toast once you’re halfway through your ordered a la carte breakfast which comes half an hour after you’ve ordered it.
This sort of thing was a consistent occurrence, and others like this, which either means they want you to feel like it’s a ‘here’s a posh rack of toast’ kind of place without actually wanting to give it to you, or they’re just a bit crap at systems and haven’t really experienced it for themselves.
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Anyone got any thoughts/experiences on the above? AMA about the ship or experience too if helpful for ya.

Hello everyone, I am (M26) and am quite lost in life at the moment as far as professional prospects are concerned.
A little background about me, I live in Canada. Grew up and raised here, I have taken some courses at uni level just general education but have not received a degree let alone even a diploma, it is one of the things that I regret the most and am still trying to pursue it in whichever way I can.
Problem right now for me is
1) I am not sure which degree/diploma field to go into, I am a textbook overthinkeoveranalyzer and have been stuck in that stage for the last few years and it's driving me crazy. I have different fields of interest like business admin or IT but I can't seem to fixate on one. The business admin degree/diploma route interests me because it seems like a fairly easy degree to do but that being said I keep hearing that it is a useless degree and that it's over saturated and pointless to which I find myself sort of agreeing from time to time. The IT route I'll admit intimidates me a bit and quiet honestly used to bore me but have started taking more interest in that for a few reasons and am working on getting a certificate from Google through Coursera for entry level IT positions
2) I am burn out from my current job and have had trouble holding on to jobs due to this issue. I have a back injury that keeps getting reaggravated due to the amount that I have to walk/run in my current position and on top the stress that it is putting on me is taking a toll on my mental health. I am not trying to make excuses, I know every job has some stress levels but this one is just getting unbearable.
My wonderment and I guess fear is, I want/need to find a better paying/less taxing job as soon as possible. Hence why I started taking the Coursera IT support course, but I'm afraid that since I don't have any diploma/degree in that or any field and even relevant experience that it's going to be challenging to find a job even at the entry level as the market is so competitive everywhere.
I also need to be working full time and still want to get some sort of post secondary credentials.
My question is, should I still try to pursue a degree even though I'm in debt already with student loans and other stuff in order to be able to market myself for better than minimum wage positions? Like $45k+?

My lease was up on the first of May, I hadn't received a lease renewal the Saturday before Monday the first so I called the apartment office.
The woman at the desk answered (let's call her K), I told K I hadn't received my lease agreement or offer yet and Monday is the first, what do I do if I don't receive it by the first? K told me verbally that they would charge me for my old lease amount because it was on them that they hadn't sent it to me and they can't charge me for a price I hadn't agreed to for the new lease since it was more expensive.
The first came and I was charged 1400 my old amount. I paid for it, and on the second of may recieved the new lease and signed for 1650.
After they had a change of management, who is now saying I owe the extra 250 and now late charges and a lease violation because I did not pay in full. I have proof that shows I did not sign until the second and my lease is for the second of may, but that I was charged 1400 on the first.
Can they legally go after the 250?

Blog post incoming, I hope I can get some input or help here.
I've taken some time these past days to try and self reflect a bit on my life, and even thought I don't feel unhappy or anything, I realized that I don't have a genuine interest in things that I would say people normally have. For example a career, I'm 28 now and I've worked a handful of jobs since I left school, and just like school I never had much interest in any of the things I did there, I just did them and changed job until I found something I enjoyed doing, or something that was at least tolerable. I've had the same job for 5 years now, it's average pay and there's no career ladder, but I like it because it's easy, has flexible hours and my boss is nice.
My "hobbies" consist of watching movies, playing videogames and hiking, I really do enjoy hiking and being outdoors more than anything, but it's really only in the spring and summer I do that. But as with jobs I don't have any big interest in these things. I don't want to learn about movies or games or nature, I sort of just use them to entertain myself through the day.
I don't have much friends anymore, nobody invites me out anymore but it's not like I want to go out either which is probably why. Plus I don't have any social media so that probably doesn't help. I've been in one relationship my entire life, that was a few years ago, it lasted a bit over a year until it fell apart, mainly due to me just not having any interest in it anymore, and I think my partner lost interest in me too as I think my lack or drive and passion in life might make me boring to others. It's not like I hate people or anything like that, not myself either. I will be kind to other people and I do take good care of myself, my living space and my pets.
I know there have been periods in my life where I'm suddenly really interested in something, and I can spend a day or two learning about it, but it's only for like a day or two until I lose that interest again. Or I've felt like I have wanted to do something, then the next day I don't want to do it after all.
As far as I'm aware I don't think I'm depressed, as I said I'm not unhappy or anything, I'm grateful for what I have and I've been like this all my life from what I can recall. I do have Asperger syndrome, I was diagnosed with that when I was a child but from what I gathered that shouldn't be what makes me feel this way
I started seeing a therapist about a month ago, I only see him every other week but I don't feel it's of much help, I just talk about myself for like 20 minutes then he takes over to give me some advice and such for 10 minutes then I go home. I don't really know what to say
It's not that I'm super worried about me being this way, it's not the end of the world, the people around me are still going by their days, society is still alive and well and the world is still turning, but I'm afraid that as I get older I'm going to regret not "doing" anything, and when I'm about to die I'm going to have nothing significant to look back at, I don't know, something like that.
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Hoping someone here can give me some advice on this, maybe point me in the right direction

For context, I have been crushing on K for almost three years now. We've been good friends since we met, but the crush has always been a background factor. During that time I went out of my way to always go the extra mile for her. We met because we were coworkers, and I would always help her with tasks that were too difficult or painful for her to do because of her disability. When she needed to go to a mental care facility out of state that did not allow phones, I wrote her letts once a week so she wouldnt feel as alone and scared. About a year into us knowing each other, I admitted my feelings for her and she told me that she had always loved me but that she didn't want to ruin the friendship. I told her that that was okay, because I also love having her as a friend and that having her in my life in any capacity was better than not having her at all. She ended up transferring schools and we lost touch some. A year later I needed to transfer as well, and I'd forgotten what school she'd gone to but somehow ended up going to the same one. She is on a perimeter campus while I'm on the main one, but they are still very close by. We started talking more again in the summer before I officially started at the new school, and we agreed we would go on a date and take things slow so as to not rush into anything and permanently damage the friendship. Two weeks later, she sends me snaps of her on a date with another guy and a photo of them kissing. My heart was overloaded with pain, but I told her I hope she had a good time. I gave her the benefit of the doubt in that she was just telling me about it because we are friends and didn't consider the greater context. I informed her the next day that her doing that really upset me because of how I'd gotten my hopes up so recently and said that I know it was probably ridiculous that I'm upset because we arent even actually dating yet, much less any kind of exclusive, but that I wanted to let her know so this wouldnt happen again. She apologized and said she understood, and that she didn't intend to hurt me and that this won't be a recurring thing. In November we ended up sleeping together, and this caused a little awkwardness for a week or so and after trying to talk through it she said she felt guilty about sleeping with me. I'm not sure why, and I never got her to explain, but we were both single and not even really seeing other people and even recently we both said it was definitively the best we've ever had. She then got into a relationship that ended about two months ago, and a month after we started getting flirty again and I told her in a heartfelt moment that even if we don't work romantically I love her enough to still just be her friend. And that brings us to today.
When we started flirting again I told her I wanted to take her on a date, and she said she would like that. We both have been busy with work and summer classes so we havent found the time, but she is leaving for a job at a summer camp today and will be gone for a month or so. Last week when she told me this, I told her to let me know when she was free this last week so that I could take her out. She said she would but never got back to me even when I followed up. She started texting me back less in general, and the week goes by almost silently. Last night she sends me a super cute snap, which I saved in chat and gave a little joking simping message to. I always, 10 out of 10 times, do this. When it happened this time she just sent the eyebrow raised emoji and I, assuming she was playing around, said that I couldn't help it as my simping was an involuntary reaction onset by external stimuli. She then sent me a snap of her on a date with another guy and said, "Well let me kill that stimuli". I asked her if she was on a date, and she said she was. I started shaking with anger, but all I told her was to call me tomorrow and that at this point we need to have a conversation. I do not like being angry and it is not easy to get me going, and even when I do I try my hardest to not take it out on anyone. We went back and forth for a couple messages of her prodding and asking why, to which I told her that this is the same situation of something she did last year that she said she wouldn't do again, and that I need time to process so to just call me tomorrow. She sent me a paragraph saying it was ridiculous I was mad because it wasn't her fault I had a crush on her and that she's not responsible for my feelings, that we were just friends and that she claims that she at multiple points has said we will never be anything more and that she set clear boundaries that I ignored. I sent back my own paragraph, where I told her she was right that she was not responsible for my feelings but that she has been giving me mixed signals for years. I pulled up the messages where she told me she had always loved me, the multiple ones where she said we could try to take things slow and build up to a relationship, the ones where she said she would like me to take her on a date and some others. I also brought up that I had been almost begging her to let me know when she was free so I could take her on a date, to which she ghosts and then the next time I hear from her is when she's on a date with someone else and how this is exactly what she said she wouldn't do after the exact same incident last August. I also told her that if she truly just wanted to date other people that that was fine and I could live with just being friends, but that I expect she just be clear and tell me that. The last sentence was that I just want to be treated with respect and as an equal. She opened that message but has not yet replied after nine hours. Am I being ridiculous? What do I even do at this point?

In a world where the largest industries accumulate vast wealth and societies appear to crumble under the weight of inequality, it has never been more important for the ordinary citizens to engage in the democratic process. There have been numerous lesson through out History but the fall of Rome comes to mind, buckling under the weight of years of mismanagement and corruption - why are we so complacent, why do we think things cannot get really bad here? Because it's never happened before? Take a step back and look globally, thins can and will get worse without intervention.
In many ways, it can feel as though our governments have abandoned us, paying more attention to the whispers of corporations than the cries of their people. However by it's very nature we, the electorate should be able to dictate our governments mandate and right now I think everyone can agree at multiple levels of government Canadians are no longer being represented.
Engagement means holding our politicians accountable, not just at the ballot box but every day. It means understanding their positions, examining their policies, and questioning their motivations. If we surrender to disillusionment and disinterest, we relinquish the very tools that can foster change and improvement. We see the results of this disengagement in regions like Alberta and Ontario, where many citizens feel marginalized and demoralized and they continue policies - specifically around health care that actively lower the average Canadians quality of life. These situations stem from years of political leaders who seem more interested in serving corporate interests than those of the people who elected them.
The reason?
Voter turnout remains low, town halls are scarcely attended, and overall civic engagement appears to be waning. It’s as if the majority has become indifferent, focusing more on petty grievances rather than participating actively in shaping the nation's future.
Every so often, an incident sparks public outcry, and there's a fleeting surge in civic participation. But all too often, this is temporary and fueled by complaints rather than a willingness to contribute to problem-solving. Another thing to be mindful of is the media is complacent, it's been concentrated into the hands of the few, the hands of the wealthy who want to pay less taxes, who want to pay you less, who want to weaken labour laws, these are basically gold hoarding dragons. In Ontario pretty clear Galen and the Westons don't have enough yet, so your health care is next.
https://www.reuters.com/business/loblaws-shoppers-drug-mart-buy-health-services-chain-lifemark-662-mln-2022-03-14/
https://pressprogress.ca/doug-fords-director-of-pandemic-response-was-a-private-health-lobbyist-for-shoppers-drug-mart/
https://www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca/index.php/doug-fords-director-of-pandemic-response-was-a-private-health-lobbyist-for-shoppers-drug-mart/
To effect the change we all desire, we must be the change. This is not a situation where we can passively expect things to happen; we have to step up and take action.
If you want to see a shift in our democracy, you, reading this right now need to cast your vote at every election and get involved. Understand the policies, the politicians, and the political process. Learn about the various platforms, engage in civic debates, and be proactive in expressing your opinions. Use your voice and your vote as a force for change.
I am urging everyone to revisit their level of commitment to our democracy, we get to live in a clean war free place, life is good, but if we don't do anything about it soon it will become a shithole for only the wealthy to profit off your labour.
Your apathy and disillusionment only serve to keep the status quo. It's easy to complain about the political landscape, but it's another thing entirely to roll up your sleeves and get involved.
While it is disappointing to see low voter turnout and lack of active engagement, I remain hopeful. I am confident that our democracy holds enormous potential, but it needs your participation to realize it fully.
If you are seeking "major change" and aren't ready to contribute, remember: democracy isn't a spectator sport. Change begins with you. There are plenty of good people ready to make a difference, but we need more hands on deck.
The real power of democracy lies in its people – but only when they decide to participate. Let us not be the silent majority. Instead, let us be the active participants who take our democracy into our own hands and shape the future we want to see.
TL:DR;
IF YOU ARE WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO SAVE US I HAVE BAD NEWS, ONLY WE CAN SAVE OURSELVES THROUGH ORGANIZING AND ENGAGEMENT

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby - ROAD TO THE TOP
I wasn’t planning on checking out the 4 episode special for Uma Musume, but the amazing opening caught my eye and convinced me to give it a shot. As I started watching, it was clear to me that this show’s superb animation was supported by some incredible cinematography that helped build the narrative between its leads. As a fun exercise, I wanted to try to highlight some of the directing choices and break down how Uma Musume RTTT gets away with telling so little by showing so much.
Cinematography is the presentation of the visuals in anime. The arrangement of characters in a scene, the lighting, the focus on props or backgrounds: all of these can be encapsulated by “cinematography,” and put in a ton of work for the viewing experience. There are plenty of obvious instances where a show will employ cinematography, but even if you don’t notice it immediately, these choices can have an underlying psychological effect in how you experience a scene. You can dye a scene in blue to enhance the melancholy. You can cut away from a conversation to a nearby prop to reveal a character’s mental state. These visual techniques can easily go underappreciated, and Uma Musume thankfully has some fairly overt examples that we can analyze.
(spoilers for episode 1)
Prologue
Episode one opens up with the Yayoi Sho, a GII race that introduces two of our main leads: Narita Top Road and Admiral Vega. Much of what I want to talk about in this race will come later. But let me give a brief synopsis of the race. Under a slight drizzle, we start off with Avec Blaze* in the lead. Narita Top Road, eager to meet the expectations of her fans and coach, puts on a burst of speed to take the lead. Admiral Vega, who also feels the need to win for a yet undisclosed person, quickly follows up on her heels despite lingering behind the pack. Though it’s a close affair between the two, Narita Top Road clutches her lead and wins the race. She cheerfully waves to the crowd while Admiral Vega regretfully looks on. The episode immediately gives viewers exactly what they’re here for: some hype horse girls racing.
Narita Top Road: the favorite
After the OP, we follow Narita Top Road in her daily school life. Her training starts at dawn, and this is clearly a recurring affair since her coach advises her to take a break.** At school, Narita Top Road is the class president and is admired by her classmates. Between her coach, fans, and friends, there’s plenty of people who acknowledge her drive and expect great things from her. Admiral Vega, noticing a small injury on Narita Top Road’s thigh, brings her outside to put a band-aid on it. In the hallway, Narita Top Road and Admiral Vega confess to one another declare their respective determination to win the upcoming Satsukisho. While Narita Top Road professes her excitement to race along with someone she admires, the light from the windows is always illuminating her face. She is quite literally glowing. Meanwhile, Admiral Vega, who feels hesitant about befriending her rivals, seems to have her face framed in between the path of these light beams. She’s not poorly lit by any means: there is just a clear difference in how our two characters are illuminated. The light is so all over Narita Top Road that she is reflecting light. This light and dark metaphor will persist throughout the episode’s run.
We’re next treated to a brief origin story for Narita Top Road. What helps sell the flashback is the fact that the conversations with the trainer all take place at sunset. This is a great example of the “Against the Setting Sun” trope, where Narita Top Road and the trainer make a goal to conquer the Twinkle Series together. Sunsets can symbolize transitioning to another phase, and here it depicts Narita Top Road’s first step to becoming a pro. We’re also treated to a parallel from an earlier training scene, where Narita Top Road attempts to make a sharp turn from the outside of the pack. She struggles more in this flashback, staggering several times; there is a noticeable improvement in the training scene that took place during the present, where Narita Top Road only staggers once. The mirroring of her first training scene in this flashback confirms Narita Top Road’s consistent practice and diligence. Narita Top Road works from sunrise to sunset, and when you consider the previous paragraph on lighting, it becomes apparent that Narita Top Road can be associated with daylight.
TM Opera O: in the middle
While Satsukisho is expected to be all about Admiral Vega vs. Narita Top Road, we switch unexpectedly to a third character. The ordering of events here was initially a bit confusing for me: we start with a cocky smirk prior to cutting to the eyecatch, with the upper half of the face hidden. When we come back, the first thing we see is an eye: it is TM Opera O waking up at 2 AM, visibly distressed. Then, it cuts to a flashback where TM Opera O is returning to running after an injury. She is all bravado and speaks boldly of her destiny to win every race she enters. She proceeds to win consecutive races, backing up her claims, but is also shown visibly struggling during training. Even so, she proudly declares that her perseverance in the face of adversity is for the audience: TM Opera O lives to win and bask in the cheers of a crowd.
This flashback in my opinion serves to humanize TM Opera O’s larger than life personality: behind her dramatic flair and proud sense of self is someone who worked incredibly hard to get back into shape and still experiences some stress about meeting the standards she set for herself. For instance, her introduction starts with just her mouth, hiding the eyes, which are commonly used to indicate a character’s true nature. Then the show cuts to that portion of the face (eye) that was missing in that first shot, suggesting that the TM Opera O waking up right now is closer to her true self than the more grandiose mask she wears in public. She’ll continue to play this theatrical character in the series, but her introduction serves to let the audience know early on that she’s had her own share of struggles and insecurities.
Admiral Vega: the rival
Finally, we get to Admiral Vega and what she’s doing in preparation for the Satsukisho. We cut to night time, where Admiral Vega leaves to go for a run. She and her roommate, Curren Chan, are placed in different layers (Admiral Vega slightly blurred in the front while Curren Chan is sharp and placed behind her). This arrangement highlights the contrast in their activities: as Curren Chan is clearly winding down the day by brushing her tail, Admiral Vega is off to train.
As she runs along a deserted street with numerous streetlights, Admiral Vega refuses to step into them. In fact, she’s shown running away from the light. The connection to darkness suggests that Admiral Vega’s motivations could be unhealthy. Or, going back to her thoughts in the hallway, Admiral Vega’s avoidance of light could connect to her dogma that she does not need friends or rivals (in this case, Narita Top Road who is the light): she just has to win at all costs. Either way, the lack of lighting for Admiral Vega directly sets her up as the clear rival for Narita Top Road. In the very next scene, Narita Top Road practices in broad daylight to the cheers of her classmates. Lighting and the time of day will play a pivotal role in coloring the interactions between these two characters in the rest of the series.
Final Race
And now we’ve finally arrived at the Satsukisho, a premiere GI race for our trio of leads. Before it begins, Admiral Vega and Narita Top Road meet in the tunnels leading to the racetrack. Even though they are in the exact same location with respect to the light from the exit, Narita Top Road’s face is illuminated while Admiral Vega’s face continues to be shadowed. These two are definitely rivals and antitheses to one another. However, TM Opera O appears from the top of the tunnel exit, the backlighting giving her an almost videogame-boss-like feel; these two were supposed to be focused on one another, but the more menacing opponent may be the one standing above them.
Even if the media has tried to convince you that it’s a close affair between Narita Top Road and Admiral Vega, the cinematography makes it clear that this is Narita Top Road’s race to lose. Despite her cheerful demeanor in training, Narita Top Road is actually very nervous. She’s the last to enter her start gate and, as her classmates and friends cheer her on, we get this shot of Narita Top Road seemingly caged in by her starting gate. These expectations that she’s desperate to meet are beginning to stress her out. As we start the race, you’ll see that many of the shots here mirror that first race, which Narita Top Road won: the stormy clouds and slight drizzle, the shot of her coach right before the dramatic last minute spurt from Narita Top Road to take the lead, and even the brief proximity of Narita Top Road and Admiral Vega give the impression that we’ve seen this exact race before.
But unlike the race at the start of the episode, TM Opera O arrives to steal the show! There’s an incredible panning shot that zooms in on TM Opera O as she makes a break for the lead, emphasizing her approach. But then she flies past the camera, and the shot becomes an inverted zoom away. Not only does this shot give the viewer the sense of being left in the dust like her opponents, but the upside down perspective makes it clear that this result is an upset and, dare I say it, has flipped expectations. TM Opera O snatches victory from Narita Top Road’s hands, shattering the projection of a repeat of the first race’s results.*** She rightfully basks in the glory she anticipated earlier in the episode.
At the end, Narita Top Road is devastated. While TM Opera O celebrates, Narita Top Road’s sweaty face is pushed to the background: it’s a very familiar position for Admiral Vega. The mirroring of shots throughout this final race really gives this single episode a sense of completion, and that we’ve come full circle in spite of the different results. Despite the loss, the episode ends with Narita Top Road’s refusal to give in: a literal ray of sunshine breaks through the clouds and illuminates her as she holds her head high. Her hopes for a GI win have yet to be dashed, and she’ll have three more episodes to get her revenge. Meanwhile, Admiral Vega finished a dismal 6th, and her posture here is even more slumped than in the first race. Maybe it’s an injury bothering her, or perhaps it’s from the increasing weight of her failed expectations physically pushing her down. We’ll have to see in episode two if she’ll be able to find the same strength to raise her head.
Conclusion
As you watch the next three episodes, you’ll find the same impeccable directing throughout. They’ll continue to mirror previous shots to help depict the evolving relationships between characters and utilize lighting to contrast Narita Top Road and Admiral Vega. There are so many awesome shots littered throughout the show and despite my qualms for some of the story elements, my attention was captured by both the stellar race animation and the thoughtful cinematography. Even if you’re not that interested in horse girls, consider giving this short ONA a shot.****
Thanks to u/MyrnaMountWeazel for reviewing my essay!
*Is her name actually Astral Blaze?
**There’s a fun pair of shots here between the coach and Narita Top Road, but I wasn’t sure what this could mean outside of (spoilers) some potential communication issues between Narita Top Road and her trainer in the later episodes.
***I really was hoping that TM Opera O being in the 12th position and winning was a cinematic choice referencing Narita Top Road winning the first race in the 12th position, but no it is an actual coincidence.
****This was supposed to be a funny post about horse feet but I got lost in the directing sauce.

This is also a bit like AmIThe*sshole because I feel like I am ruining her trip but I am going to write down the whole story, even the previous ones. Please tell me what can I do better because I love her a lot and I know that she does too. She is the perfect partner for me(I think) and other than the fights we have when she is on a trip, we rarely ever fight.
Me(26M) and my girlfriend(22 F) have been dating for 10 months, she is Japanese and I am Turkish. I live in Turkey. I use Japanese to communicate as it was my major so not many problems with the language but definitely some because of the cultural difference. We met in Japan when I was doing my exchange and now I will most likely be able to move there in a few months. She is currently doing her own exchange in Australia.
Whenever she goes traveling, she is the type to not message much but expects the opposite from me whenever I go. If I stay at a friends, I talk to her everyday for at least an hour and message a lot. When I don't she either tells me sarcastically "is it that fun for you to be around this girl/guy that you forget me ?" Or just "I miss your voice", which I am both fine with honestly. If the amount isn't enough for her and I can increase, I will talk to her more just so she feels safe and at ease. This time I was the one that initiated the fight and she is not really talking to me right now.
She is now traveling with 2 of her friends to New Zealand. They are all Japanese and one is a guy. This guy, I do not really like because he talks bad about his girlfriend around other girls(this is what my gf told me) and I see it as a way to gain sympathy and I am wary of him. Whenever she is with this guy, she doesn't message me much but when she is with other girls, she can even call me on the phone when they are around. But very rarely with this guy. She says it is rude to talk to me or message me much when she is with other people so when she calls it has to be after they sleep or message me only twice-thrice during the day when the opportunity arises. This might be me overthinking too.
Now They are staying together at an airbnb type hotel, guy one room girls one room. She didn't message me much during the day, sent two photos with two messages related to them but I saw a lot more photos of a lot more places on her stories and told her that I wanted her to send me some like that. She didnt see my messages, it was around 8 pm. Then on her friends story I realized that they were drinking. I waited until 0 am but since there was no contact I called her twice. No reply. called her friend, my gf returned my call and asked what is up. I, very rudely, said that "I am sad and now I do not want to talk to you". I am wrong but she said that her drinking without no contact wouldn't happen and if I could, I could contact her friend if I can't reach her. We close the phone call, no message until 3 am. I am feeling nervous and bad, I ask her why she is not keeping her promises with me by writing a long message. The promises I will talk about on the next paragraph. At this point I start to feel like I am just a person talks to when she doesn't want to be alone.
She made me three promises on unrelated stuff this month but none of them she kept. She said that she would help me prepare for my interview after I asked her and she insisted that we do this as soon as we can, then she forgot. She even wished me good luck on the interview, forgetting that she wanted to help me. I made her remember at the last minute and then she decided to help saying sorry. She told me that she wanted to buy me a perfume for my birthday and had me order it before hand but even after 2 weeks passed she didn't pay for it. I reminded her this, but she said that she didn't forget. I told her that it is fine if she doesn't, her finances might have changed and that she just needs to tell me. Since I don't have much money because of Turkish Lira right now, I feel like I would have appreciated if she either kept her promise or just tell me sorry that she can't do it now. She also promised me that she would call me when she can on her trip and message me more often compared to the ones before.
She now doesn't want to talk to me, take her time. Her friend who I called and messaged(4 messages, 4 unanswered calls at the time), is also ghosting me. I apologized to both of them but not really any other messages I received. My GF is saying that this is the best she can do, she has done her best but cant put more work into messageing or calling me on a trip because it would be disrespectful to her friends.
A bit more background: She went to another trip before with the same friends and a few more and I would get almost no messages or calls during the whole trip. I got mad because when I went on a trip with a lot of people I called her morning and night with a lot of messages in between but she got mad at me, cried on the phone, saying that I had promised to not make her feel alone when I am at the trip. I thought that she was contradicting herself. We fought and reconciled after a time. She said that she was wrong when I was on the trip that time and forgot how easy it is to get caught up in the moment. She had also decided to come to Turkey once, then bailed out and went to Los Angeles thinking that it would be safer than coming here. There she didn't communicate much but was better than the previous trip. She went to her girl friend who is also doing an exchange. Then she said that she would also go to Europe with her next semester which made me sad and angry because I felt like she could also afford coming to Turkey if she can go on trips this much and I was sad that she didn't even consider that. Then after having a very bad experience in America because of her friend she said that she was sorry and should've thought better. She said she wanted to come to Turkey of course but maybe on the way back from Europe or she would tell me only when it was decided because she didn't want to disappoint me my not being able to come to Turkey again.
In general, we rarely ever fight. No other problems regarding communications, we talk and try to understand each other a lot but I am afraid that, maybe my paranoia or insecurity has gotten the best of me and I am losing her.
TLDR; Long Distance gf is on a trip, a guy I dont like is also there in the same hotel. She doesn't tell me that they are drinking and doesnt contact me at all into the night, I panic try to contact her, it takes a long while but when I can I then brush her off. I now regret it, I am trying to communicate with her but I might have f'ked up.
I want to do better because I love her and I don't want to lose her and I ask your advice on what is the best to do.

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby - ROAD TO THE TOP
I wasn’t planning on checking out the 4 episode special for Uma Musume, but the amazing opening caught my eye and convinced me to give it a shot. As I started watching, it was clear to me that this show’s superb animation was supported by some incredible cinematography that helped build the narrative between its leads. As a fun exercise, I wanted to try to highlight some of the directing choices and break down how Uma Musume RTTT gets away with telling so little by showing so much.
Cinematography is the presentation of the visuals in anime. The arrangement of characters in a scene, the lighting, the focus on props or backgrounds: all of these can be encapsulated by “cinematography,” and put in a ton of work for the viewing experience. There are plenty of obvious instances where a show will employ cinematography, but even if you don’t notice it immediately, these choices can have an underlying psychological effect in how you experience a scene. You can dye a scene in blue to enhance the melancholy. You can cut away from a conversation to a nearby prop to reveal a character’s mental state. These visual techniques can easily go underappreciated, and Uma Musume thankfully has some fairly overt examples that we can analyze.
(spoilers for episode 1)
Episode one opens up with the Yayoi Sho, a GII race that introduces two of our main leads: Narita Top Road and Admiral Vega. Much of what I want to talk about in this race will come later. But let me give a brief synopsis of the race. Under a slight drizzle, we start off with Avec Blaze* in the lead. Narita Top Road, eager to meet the expectations of her fans and coach, puts on a burst of speed to take the lead. Admiral Vega, who also feels the need to win for a yet undisclosed person, quickly follows up on her heels despite lingering behind the pack. Though it’s a close affair between the two, Narita Top Road clutches her lead and wins the race. She cheerfully waves to the crowd while Admiral Vega regretfully looks on. The episode immediately gives viewers exactly what they’re here for: some hype horse girls racing.
After the OP, we follow Narita Top Road in her daily school life. Her training starts at dawn, and this is clearly a recurring affair since her coach advises her to take a break.** At school, Narita Top Road is the class president and is admired by her classmates. Between her coach, fans, and friends, there’s plenty of people who acknowledge her drive and expect great things from her. Admiral Vega, noticing a small injury on Narita Top Road’s thigh, brings her outside to put a band-aid on it. In the hallway, Narita Top Road and Admiral Vega confess to one another declare their respective determination to win the upcoming Satsukisho. While Narita Top Road professes her excitement to race along with someone she admires, the light from the windows is always illuminating her face. She is quite literally glowing. Meanwhile, Admiral Vega, who feels hesitant about befriending her rivals, seems to have her face framed in between the path of these light beams. She’s not poorly lit by any means: there is just a clear difference in how our two characters are illuminated. The light is so all over Narita Top Road that she is reflecting light. This light and dark metaphor will persist throughout the episode’s run.
We’re next treated to a brief origin story for Narita Top Road. What helps sell the flashback is the fact that the conversations with the trainer all take place at sunset. This is a great example of the “Against the Setting Sun” trope, where Narita Top Road and the trainer make a goal to conquer the Twinkle Series together. Sunsets can symbolize transitioning to another phase, and here it depicts Narita Top Road’s first step to becoming a pro. We’re also treated to a parallel from an earlier training scene, where Narita Top Road attempts to make a sharp turn from the outside of the pack. She struggles more in this flashback, staggering several times; there is a noticeable improvement in the training scene that took place during the present, where Narita Top Road only staggers once. The mirroring of her first training scene in this flashback confirms Narita Top Road’s consistent practice and diligence. Narita Top Road works from sunrise to sunset, and when you consider the previous paragraph on lighting, it becomes apparent that Narita Top Road can be associated with daylight.
While Satsukisho is expected to be all about Admiral Vega vs. Narita Top Road, we switch unexpectedly to a third character. The ordering of events here was initially a bit confusing for me: we start with a cocky smirk prior to cutting to the eyecatch, with the upper half of the face hidden. When we come back, the first thing we see is an eye: it is TM Opera O waking up at 2 AM, visibly distressed. Then, it cuts to a flashback where TM Opera O is returning to running after an injury. She is all bravado and speaks boldly of her destiny to win every race she enters. She proceeds to win consecutive races, backing up her claims, but is also shown visibly struggling during training. Even so, she proudly declares that her perseverance in the face of adversity is for the audience: TM Opera O lives to win and bask in the cheers of a crowd. This flashback in my opinion serves to humanize TM Opera O’s larger than life personality: behind her dramatic flair and proud sense of self is someone who worked incredibly hard to get back into shape and still experiences some stress about meeting the standards she set for herself. For instance, her introduction starts with just her mouth, hiding the eyes, which are commonly used to indicate a character’s true nature. Then the show cuts to that portion of the face (eye) that was missing in that first shot, suggesting that the TM Opera O waking up right now is closer to her true self than the more grandiose mask she wears in public. She’ll continue to play this theatrical character in the series, but her introduction serves to let the audience know early on that she’s had her own share of struggles and insecurities.
Finally, we get to Admiral Vega and what she’s doing in preparation for the Satsukisho. We cut to night time, where Admiral Vega leaves to go for a run. She and her roommate, Curren Chan, are placed in different layers (Admiral Vega slightly blurred in the front while Curren Chan is sharp and placed behind her). This arrangement highlights the contrast in their activities: as Curren Chan is clearly winding down the day by brushing her tail, Admiral Vega is off to train. As she runs along a deserted street with numerous streetlights, Admiral Vega refuses to step into them. In fact, she’s shown running away from the light. The connection to darkness suggests that Admiral Vega’s motivations could be unhealthy. Or, going back to her thoughts in the hallway, Admiral Vega’s avoidance of light could connect to her dogma that she does not need friends or rivals (in this case, Narita Top Road who is the light): she just has to win at all costs. Either way, the lack of lighting for Admiral Vega directly sets her up as the clear rival for Narita Top Road. In the very next scene, Narita Top Road practices in broad daylight to the cheers of her classmates. Lighting and the time of day will play a pivotal role in coloring the interactions between these two characters in the rest of the series.
And now we’ve finally arrived at the Satsukisho, a premiere GI race for our trio of leads. Before it begins, Admiral Vega and Narita Top Road meet in the tunnels leading to the racetrack. Even though they are in the exact same location with respect to the light from the exit, Narita Top Road’s face is illuminated while Admiral Vega’s face continues to be shadowed. These two are definitely rivals and antitheses to one another. However, TM Opera O appears from the top of the tunnel exit, the backlighting giving her an almost videogame-boss-like feel; these two were supposed to be focused on one another, but the more menacing opponent may be the one standing above them.
Even if the media has tried to convince you that it’s a close affair between Narita Top Road and Admiral Vega, the cinematography makes it clear that this is Narita Top Road’s race to lose. Despite her cheerful demeanor in training, Narita Top Road is actually very nervous. She’s the last to enter her start gate and, as her classmates and friends cheer her on, we get this shot of Narita Top Road seemingly caged in by her starting gate. These expectations that she’s desperate to meet are beginning to stress her out. As we start the race, you’ll see that many of the shots here mirror that first race, which Narita Top Road won: the stormy clouds and slight drizzle, the shot of her coach right before the dramatic last minute spurt from Narita Top Road to take the lead, and even the brief proximity of Narita Top Road and Admiral Vega give the impression that we’ve seen this exact race before.
But unlike the race at the start of the episode, TM Opera O arrives to steal the show! There’s an incredible panning shot that zooms in on TM Opera O as she makes a break for the lead, emphasizing her approach. But then she flies past the camera, and the shot becomes an inverted zoom away. Not only does this shot give the viewer the sense of being left in the dust like her opponents, but the upside down perspective makes it clear that this result is an upset and, dare I say it, has flipped expectations. TM Opera O snatches victory from Narita Top Road’s hands, shattering the projection of a repeat of the first race’s results.*** She rightfully basks in the glory she anticipated earlier in the episode.
At the end, Narita Top Road is devastated. While TM Opera O celebrates, Narita Top Road’s sweaty face is pushed to the background: it’s a very familiar position for Admiral Vega. The mirroring of shots throughout this final race really gives this single episode a sense of completion, and that we’ve come full circle in spite of the different results. Despite the loss, the episode ends with Narita Top Road’s refusal to give in: a literal ray of sunshine breaks through the clouds and illuminates her as she holds her head high. Her hopes for a GI win have yet to be dashed, and she’ll have three more episodes to get her revenge. Meanwhile, Admiral Vega finished a dismal 6th, and her posture here is even more slumped than in the first race. Maybe it’s an injury bothering her, or perhaps it’s from the increasing weight of her failed expectations physically pushing her down. We’ll have to see in episode two if she’ll be able to find the same strength to raise her head.
As you watch the next three episodes, you’ll find the same impeccable directing throughout. They’ll continue to mirror previous shots to help depict the evolving relationships between characters and utilize lighting to contrast Narita Top Road and Admiral Vega. There are so many awesome shots littered throughout the show and despite my qualms for some of the story elements, my attention was captured by both the stellar race animation and the thoughtful cinematography. Even if you’re not that interested in horse girls, consider giving this short ONA a shot.****
*Is her name actually Astral Blaze?
**There’s a fun pair of shots here between the coach and Narita Top Road, but I wasn’t sure what this could mean outside of (spoilers) some potential communication issues between Narita Top Road and her trainer in the later episodes.
***I really was hoping that TM Opera O being in the 12th position and winning was a cinematic choice referencing Narita Top Road winning the first race in the 12th position, but no it is an actual coincidence.
****This was supposed to be a funny post about horse feet but I got lost in the directing sauce.

Hello, friends!
Last time I had a proper surround sound setup it was with a 100+ lbs Hitachi 720p plasma centerpiece, with 5.1.2 off an Onkyo receiver and an ever-changing hodge podge of nice speakers and subs (I was a long-time Circuit City employee).
Then I got married, switched careers, had kids, and kissed all my toys and wires goodbye.
After twelve years of nothing but built-in TV speaker audio, I've been given the blessing to dedicate part of our basement kids romp room into a poor man's home theater for movie nights and video gaming.
I've read the 101s, set up my Slickdeals alerts, but don't trust my archaic knowledge to make decisions independently.
I never pay MSRP, and I don't need everything all at once or in the immediate future, so if given specs/guidance I can find deals accordingly (and I'm not against second-hand hardware).
We're talking: <$3K budget (including TV, but I'll likely go with some cheap Amazon Day offering in the 65-75" range unless convinced otherwise - upgraded audio is my priority, and then I'll look to switch to OLED down the road) ~10' viewing distance (couch in front with stools/bar behind 8' ceiling ~16 sqft space out of a 25'x16' room (the rest filled with kid stuff) Walkout basement (so controllable natural light) Most of the walls/ceiling could have things mounted, but would opt for freestanding over mounting or in-wall/ceiling, as we change room layouts frequently, and I hope to continue upgrading the system incrementally. Currently the floors are soft 'puzzle tile' a la a garage/gym, so wires are easy to route/hide.
I was hoping to avoid a receiver to make it simple for kids/spouse to operate, but it seems that is still a necessity.
This will not need to be audiophile quality - I just want to feel a rumble and get some spatial audio (even if stereo-only) again.
I likely won't get to start gaming again seriously for another decade, so the majority of our viewing would be streaming media via a Xbox console (or the TV's smart feature) - no cable or satellite boxes.
Sorry about the wall of text, and I've likely forgotten some key points, but I promise to be reactive to replies.
Thank you for any and all guidance you can give!

Art of Simone's upgraded power armor and crystal sword!
Chapter Sixty Five: Allies and Scritches.
Looking around, the redhead finds herself standing in the middle of a dark and damp forest. But despite the gentle waves of the breeze moving the flora, there’s no sound. To the Terran’s recognizing eye as well, the plant life appears to be a blending mingle of those on the Gratt homeworld and the fateful operation on the Whista owned world.
Moving forward, her surprisingly lucid mind comes to the conclusion that she is once again ‘dreaming’, no doubt being brought on by the growth in her braincase.
She finds a loose path reminiscent of an overgrown hunter's trail that snakes her deeper into the silent landscape. Although something instinctual in her demands to be fearful of the situation, Simone can’t help to be more curious than anything due to the fact this hasn’t happened in a little while.
After some time of traversing the blending path she catches something glinting off past nearby foliage. Freezing for a moment she stares it down in an attempt to make out what it is. When it proves to not be a barrel of a weapon, she approaches it and reaches out. Her bare hand touches the glint, causing it to fully take form before resting in her palm. In a light dug she draws the dangling object free from a thin branch and brings it up close to her face.
On a thin necklace chain is a bent dog tag and a small grimy triangular device. Manipulating the tag, Simone is not at all surprised to find her own name on it. But as for the device, she surmises that it’s very similar to the thing implanted to her forehead after being kidnapped by the children of Gaia, though clearly a differing model with possibly a very different purpose.
For a moment Simone is almost compelled to put the triangle to her head, but knowing better than to trust the bits of a Manarian mad scientist in her brain she resists and decides to continue down the path. But to her concern the path is no longer there when she turns around. Instead before her is a cliffside overlooking a wide field of absolute chaos.
Down in the valley she overlooks is an expanse of a visceral battle playing out. No longer silent, the explosions and cries of vocals are significantly muffled as if her own hearing was going out.
Still, she steps closer to the drop to get a fuller view. Far down below, yet in perfect clarity to her dream eyes are various sized armies of every known species defending incoming forces from the dark encircling treeline. From the trees themselves are lines of armored Manarians consistently pressing more and more into the valley. From all sides the defenders are overwhelmed from their foes. Few Manarian’s drop in their compressing march. Simone witnesses that as they approach individuals of other species, the defenders throw down their arms before kneeling in surrender. Like an aura of instant submission, those who don’t fall in battle give in to the invaders in an instant. More and more the Manarians gain ground, only seeming to slow as Deathworlders put up the most fight.
Finding the location of the Terrans, Simone’s heart sinks. A small but effective population is fighting against the bulk within their own lines. Disarray ensues as the Terrans divide their bewildered attention from within and what approaches, unable to give support to others or eventually themselves.
Suddenly the majority of the Cali forces turn to their neighboring species and join in on the Manarian’s side. In the midst of this they release a devastating additional army of Malchite that help carve the Manarians an easy path towards the most united and powerful section of the defenders.
In mere moments, ‘Central’ falls, sending a cascading wave of despair to all the remaining defenders. Before the Manarian’s even get close now, swaths of species begin to surrender seeing their best chance at maintaining a defense is obliterated.
Thankfully the Terrans have seemed to have taken care of the internal conflict, but unfortunately it's far too late for it to matter as they practically stand alone in this fight.
Some species flee to bolster and hide behind the Terran’s lines. To their credit, if not for a moment, they fight back hard enough to pause the Manarian advance. There’s moments of grim yet heroic sacrifices, ground freely given in order to lure the enemy into effective traps, and some Terrans manage to not give into the aura of submission long enough for others to run. It’s damn inspiring to see the unstoppable force stall.
But of course, it’s not enough.
Lines break, encampments burn, leaders fall.
Eventually Terrans are reduced to a single circular formation as they stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of the little they have left.
They hold until their ammunition and other supplies run dry. Expecting surrender the Manarains extend the option to stop the fighting then and there.
In a moment of consideration, the Terrans under the flag of their last standing leader charge outwards in a hopeless defiant melee. The fighting is visceral and brutal, but eventually only one Terran stands against an entire universe.
The individual has no energy left to strike out. In their grasp is a tattered and burned flag that can no longer be made out. But the Terran stands, using it as a brace.
A Manarian leader comes up and hammers the final Terran to the ground demanding submission. A few now utterly silent moments pass by before the Terran drags themself up the flagpole into a standing position.
With another blow the Manarian strikes them down again.
But the Terran refuses, and gets up once more.
Having run out of patience the Manarian shoots a leg cleanly free from the Terran.
Yet with a scream, they remain standing, utilizing the pole even more.
Deciding that it’s no longer worth trying, the aggressor levels their weapon to the Terran’s face.
Just before being vanquished for good, Simone realizes that through the cracked open helmet of the Terran that they were looking straight up at her. Despite the distance, the two sets of eyes lock together. There is not pleading in the wounded Terran’s eyes, no fear, no judgment, nothing Simone would ever expect.
What the redhead sees in them can only be expressed in one simple word;
Hope.
As the final shot sings out the valley is encompassed in shadow, resembling more of an massive endless pit.
“I know what’s at stake. Why am I being shown this? You of all people should be elated that this is coming.” Simone thinks for Sharra to possibly pick up.
But instead of an expected occurrence, she feels a warmth from behind her.
Turning her back from the void she immediately sees a small campsite. There’s a tent, a stack of scavenged firewood and a strange cliché knight sitting on a log by a roaring fire.
Feeling her heart skip a beat Simone practically runs to him, expecting it to be an aspect of her father. But she soon realizes that the person’s frame is far too small to be an avatar of him.
Noticing her, the armored individual raises a hand in greeting before staring at the fire. The area behind their visor still pitch dark.
“What is this?” Simone skeptically says in her mind, not trusting this in the slightest.
The knight then speaks up.
“A fire.” they say.
“I mean… all of this… What’s going on?” the Terran presses.
You’re dreaming, and thus your mind is molding things in the manner minds do when slumbering.’ the knight states.
“Okay… so what are you supposed to be? Because with what’s going on with my head a lot of things I ‘dream’ are actually literal things affecting me, like you actually answering my question so directly is pretty suspicious. This a Sharra thing? Usually it’s my dad in the knight get-up, so what are you?” Simone responds in questioning.
“Nothing of substance at all. Or… something vitally important. That’s really up for you to decide really. This is your mind after all, I’m simply here because your mind thought it necessary to conjure me.” the Knight replies.
“But this isn’t how dreams are normally supposed to work, even more lucid ones… right? This is getting real fucking weird.” the redhead argues.
“Then perhaps your mind’s ailment is affecting your mind quite a bit.” the Knight shrugs.
“No fucking kidding…” Simone agrees as she steps up closer, “So… you wouldn’t know where I can talk with whatever’s left of Sharra?”
To answer this, the knight bends to the side and digs their hand into loose soil. Sitting back up they begin to massage it back out to the forest floor.
“Bits and pieces everywhere. Constantly trying to pull together, but is simply unable to be whole. Destined to eventually drive you mad.” they explain.
“Wait, what? How?” Simone asks.
“You have been affected by her unconsciously, have you not? Wanting to viscously bite your lover? Speaking in her tongue? Symptoms of her gradually melding into you. Although she’s not complete, you will eventually start to forget who you really are. Two minds sharing one consciousness… it spells disaster for ‘Simone Thatch’. I suggest you find a way to avoid this.”
“But… but Vermis told me that she’s too far gone to be a problem.” the redhead points out.
“She can’t take your body from you, but she’ll still seep. Regardless if she can even intend to or not. Your mind will survive, but your identity will slip to some degree.”
“Shit…” Simone responds as she plants her face to her hands, “So… your part of my subconscious that is telling me something is wrong?”
“Possibly. Makes sense if that’s the case.” the knight grants as Simone can hear the helmet be removed from the individual.
She attempts to pull her hands away, only to realize she was stuck in this realm of pitch black.
-
Simone’s eyes open from what was meant to just be a brief nap. Her brain was foggy, and the details of her dream was loose enough to question her actual lucidity during or if her dream simply tricked her into thinking she was in fact lucid.
Rubbing her face she sits up to see Chak having a conversation with Sonla across the hotel room.
“Hey hun, how long was I out?” she asks as she swings her legs off the side of the bed.
The princess stands up and begins moving over to the Terran.
“Just a few hours, I was planning on waking you in another hour anyway so don’t fret. You really needed it after everything.” Chak replies with a giggle as she reaches out to address her lover’s bedhead fur.
Allowing the Cali to fix what she can, Simone sighs out of soreness.
“Yeah, I did.” she agrees in a chuckle, “Our new infiltrator caught up to speed?”
“I haven’t shared certain details, but she knows that we are perhaps going to have a less than legal encounter with the Terran President. That won’t harm the president, hopefully.” Chak reports before finishing up with the Terran’s fur, “Oh, and I have purchased some new clothes for you to wear on our trip back. They were delivered not a standard half hour ago. Simple pants and shirt. Your dress has been cleaned and repaired as well.” she notified as she pointed to the closet area.
SImone leans out and kisses the Cali in a tender peck.
“You’re the best hun.” she whispers before standing up and stretching out the ache before striding over to the neatly folded pile of clothes.
“Only second to you.” Chak coyly replies as she enjoys the view for a few moments before snapping to it, “I’ll have our transport summoned.”
…
Before the three can even depart out the front door, as the elevator door opens there’s a crowd of people waiting for them in the lobby. Simone opens her mouth to ask what was going on, but Chak swiftly presses the indicator to re-close the door.
“Chakalata’motaas! One moment of your time!”
“Princess there’s some questions regarding public property damage!”
“When was the last correspondence you had with your father!”
“Is the Terran really your fiance or a roleplay consort?”
Among other raising voices upon seeing the Cali the reporters swarmed towards the elevator just before the door closed and started to go up a level.
“Wow…” Simone utters, “I thought we’d be a bit more shielded from them?”
“If they reserved rooms at the hotel after learning we were here… then there’s not much that can be done.” Chak replies a bit troubled, “We just need to find another way-”
As the door opens again, even more people stand in wait.
“Oh princess! Was your appearance on Thorba the truthful’s podcast really you or did he use A.I to replicate your voice?”
“Was it you present on Kamoi roughly a standard year ago where a restaurant was destroyed in a terrorist attack? Were you the target?”
“What business do you have in Central? Are you going to appeal to have your father’s authority be unrecognized?”
“Have you spoken at all to the Cali Ambassador?
“Care to share any details over the events that transpired with Ambassador Zrreak’s son last night?”
“Is the Vorook also a lover of yours?”
“Is your chitin really deep-dyed?”
“Are you still in fear for your life?”
“Are Terrans-”
The elevator door sealed again, this time needing Simone to hold back people from potentially creeping into the elevator.
“I guess we’re going back down to make a run for it?” Simone huffs in immense annoyance.
“Unfortunately that appears to be our only option.” Chak nods, her patience being tested as well.
“Want me to make big explosion as a distraction?” Sonla offers.
“No need for that.” Chak replies quickly.
“Here. I’ll march us out. Sonla, get on my back.” Simone says before she kneels down and scoops up the Cali in her arms, “Still as light as a feather.” she winks.
Chak’s eyes flash.
“They’ll be given quite the show.” she chuckles.
As told, Sonla clambers up the back of the Terran and gets a firm hold around her neck.
“If an explosion is needed, I’m ready!” she declares just before the doors open for the final time.
Using her cradling arm under the Cali’s back, Simone uses her curled up hand to protect Chak’s head as she marches straight into the crowd.
None wanting to test to see if the bulky Terran considers trampling a valid option, a path is cleared. However the barrage of questions does not let up in the slightest as they followed the trio towards the front doors.
“What was the intention of your stay here?”
“When and where will your wedding to the Terran occur?”
“Is it true that Simone Thatch is a war criminal?”
“Have you suffered any injury while being intimate with a Terran?”
“How many Terrans have you mated with? Are all the ones you brought with you your harem?”
“Are you certain that you are the last survivor of your family?
“Are the Gratt to be trusted?”
“Have you encountered any bouncy hunters in Central?”
“Is the famed Admiral Chucknuq still in your service?”
“Have you been hiding out this whole time on Vapor’perna?”
“Are you planning on commencing a civil war?”
“How much are you paying the Terran to be your mate?”
To the dismay of Chak and Simone, the crowd only grew upon leaving the hotel’s premises. And even contributed around where their shuttle was landing.
Although not completely serious about it, SImone started to humor the idea of Sonla causing a distraction before sharp roaring barks erupts from nearby.
The questions all stop and even a few calls of distress ring out as everyone catches sight of a dozen uniformed Z’ah’tucks approach. In a wide line formation they release warning -though no doubt perceived as outright ‘threatening’- vocalizations. More cries ring out as they unleash fur covered mammalian quadrupeds that run ahead to the trio and begin guiding the reporters away through fear alone.
Simone couldn’t help but laugh aloud at the sight of the Terran shepherd dogs doing what their breed did best.
A Tromple recoils in pale terror as they worm away from one of the canines, who did nothing but exist with an authoritative attitude.
Very effectively parting the crowd away from the three, the lead Z’ah’tuck waved Simone to come to her.
Seeing little reason not to, considering the rescue, the Terran nods and hurries the two other women on her to the line of dinos.
“Thanks, but… what’s this about?” she asks.
The pack of a dozen dinos encircle the three and start walking them away to another shuttle landing zone. The dogs loyally come back to their owners as they make sufficient distance.
“As an apology for you having to get involved with last night’s events, Ambassador Zrreak wishes to personally escort you back to your designated apartment.” she answers as three shuttles await them in the zone. The biggest and most armored of which opens up for the three to enter.
“Oh…” Chak utters in thought before Simone lets her down to enter the vessel.
As the princess steps on in, it’s clear this vessel is meant to fit many guests within on a regular basis considering the scuffing and scratch marks. But at this moment there is only one individual within.
Looking much like his son, Zrreak is of the larger variant of his species. Covered in various deep scars across his scales and adorned in high quality drapery he pets a smaller breed of dog in his lap.
“Thank you for accepting my invitation, Princess.” he greets with a respectful bow of his head.
“Of course, we very much appreciate your assistance with the media swarm.” Chak replies before she finds herself a seat.
“You can get off now…” Simone informs Sonla before following the Cali in.
The Vorook slowly slides down the Terran and does her best to position herself to hide behind the redhead as much as possible, eventually sitting down in a seat that has the larger frame of the Terran between her and the ambassador.
Simone looks the ambassador in the eyes with a hint of weariness. Although she isn’t necessarily suspicious, with the still very significant bounty on her fiance’s head… one can never be too careful. She waits until the seal of the shuttle door clicks shut before speaking up herself.
“Cute corgi, does it have a name?” she inquires.
“Hmmhmm” the Z’ah’tuck hums in amusement as he lightly scratches the canine on it’s rump, causing it to lift its head and perk its ears, “His name is Zioakaa, a play on the Z’ah’tuck title meaning ‘One who has seen the Abyss, and made it weep’. Such a title is usually reserved for artists or passionate leaders. People who can invoke a great shift of public morale, whether it be for sorrow, fear or hope. This dog? Although he is no small part of my public image, he has shifted my morale extraordinarily.” he answers in a relatively reminiscing voice.
Seeing his genuine soft appreciation for the animal is clear as day to Simone, she allows herself to relax as the shuttle takes off with two additional escorts.
“Dogs are pretty great, huh?” Simone chuckles.
“Possibly the best of everything your people have brought to the stars.” the man agrees, “Despite losing a long war with Terrans, Z’ah’tuck certainly gained from it in some aspects.”
“Crazy how that hashes out. And hey, more dogs in the universe? I’ll take it.” the redhead replies before peeking over to Sonla, who was tucking her legs up to make her silhouette smaller.
“Oh, how is your son fairing Ambassador Zrreak? And the others in his and his wife’s company?” Chak asks pleasantly.
“He has been advised to be in bed for a few days, but will make a full recovery. The others will recover as well, but those more substantially injured will of course need a fair bit more recovery.”
“That’s very good to hear. Be sure to pass along our best wishes.” the Princess replies with a nod of her head.
“I will. Though I must apologize for your involvement in his incident. Such business should have been avoided in the first place.” Zrreak says as he extends one of his hands out to Chak, which she accepts sooner than he would have expected from a Cali.
“Thank you for the gesture, the involvement was voluntary, I assure you. Believe it or not Ambassador, I have conducted myself in more perilous situations as you can no doubt imagine.” Chak says pleasantly, “Though I have a feeling you’ve brought us aboard your own personal shuttle with other motives in mind, yes?”
Simone tenses up again as the Ambassador’s raptor eyes focus on the Princess for a moment.
Tilting his horned head, Zrreak then lets out a ‘caught me red handed’ snicker before pulling his hand away.
“Yes, yes you’re right indeed. Though I assure you it has little to do with the price on your head. As much as I still enjoy a good hunt, I’m not one to prey upon my own allies. No, what I hope to discuss is ensuring you are reinstated as the prime monarch of the Cali people.” he reveals.
“Oh… pardon Zrreak… what exactly do you mean by that?” Chak asks as she recovers from such a bold notion.
“I’ve decided to place my bets on you, Chakalata’motaas. I bring you an offer already officiated over by my people’s leaders for you to respond. May I officially present it to you in this rather unofficial setting?” he inquires.
“Very well, but I cannot make a promise that I’ll be receptive to what you offer.” Chak grants as she crosses her lower limbs in her lap.
Zrreak presses an indication in a side datapad, activating a hardlight screen to appear along the middle open area of the shuttle. The text on the screen outlines the terms of the proposal to which the ambassador presents it aloud.
“This proposed bargain has been rattling around the Z’ah’tuck trade leaders since the coup of your father. Though it hinged on whether or not you or any of your siblings survived. Seeing you are indeed alive and making concerted efforts towards freeing your people from his tyrannical rule one way or another you fit the criteria. And so here it is; The Z’ah’tuck Conglomerate will publicly support your right to the Cali throne, and it is prepared to dedicate one-sixth of its war fleets and the Third-fang battalion to aid in the likely event of military conflict.” he pauses to let that settle before continuing, “In return, the Conglomerate requests that the Cali government agree to contribute Ten percent more Natural-grade product and twenty five percent more Clone-grade product to the Z’ah’tuck meat market trade for the next fifty standard year period. Secondly it is also requested that Cali shipyards produce Twenty five hundred trade-ships by Conglomerate provided specifications in the next five standard years. Thirdly, permit Z’ah’tuck trade businesses to set up shop on Cali colonies. Fourth and finally, vote and publicly advocate for the Z’ah’Tuck people to be officiated out of ‘Associate Species’ into ‘Member Species’ status in Central.” he finishes.
Chak scratches the sides of her head with her lower graspers as she seriously considers the alliance deal. It’s an incredible opportunity. With the Z’ah’tucks big economic pull among the carnivorous species of Central -despite them currently being of ‘Associate’ status- this could be very advantageous. But the cost for the support was fairly high, yet not totally unreasonable.
“Your offer is rather tempting, Ambassador. Though I cannot see myself agreeing to it as it stands. You see if open civil war does break out, then I fear my people will need a period of time to stabilize, especially economically. People will need to be fed, buildings rebuilt, and damage to our world repaired. So here’s my counter offer for your consideration;” she says as she reaches out in request for the datapad, of which is candidly handed to her for her to revise the terms for consideration, “Lower the twenty five percent for cloned product to twenty. Provide charitable relief shelter camps where displaced Cali can be warm and well fed during the war campaign, which may prove to be a great source of building up positive relations with not only my people but many others sitting in Member Central seats. And finally agree to grant Cali trade ships official access to Conglomerate trade routes with reduced fines by thirty percent. The rest of your terms are acceptable.” she responds.
“Hmmm…” Zrreak mumbles as he stares at the screen. He brings a claw to his armored muzzle, dragging it along a deep old scarring, “I have the authority to negotiate the terms within reason, and although I know a few trade managers will be disgruntled I believe your counter terms are acceptable.” he nods before transferring the developed agreement to the datapad for both parties to sign.
The Z’ah’Tuck signs first before handing the pad over.
Suppressing her eyes from blasting light to not give away how she honestly felt about this deal, Chak re-reads the entire agreement twice to make absolutely certain that there are no possible term manipulations. The Z’ah’tuck are known to be honerable in terms of business, but one can never be too careful in this realm of dealing.
Once she is certain of all the terms, Chak signs as well and hands it back.
“Your gamble on me is appreciated, Ambassador. I will do everything in my power to ensure that my father is deposed. With your aid, I see the path towards that even more clearer.” she assures.
“Time will tell. And to be honest, we stand to lose little until conflict is certain. The biggest risk we run is a prolonged open war with the Cali. Central history is not kind to Deathworlders declaring war on non-deathworlders, even under these circumstances we may risk being ousted completely from Central. Though I’m doubtful considering our stranglehold on the meat markets. Who else would they turn to? The Truba? With their reputation and recent enormous debacle? I don’t think so.” Zrreak chuckles as he returns to petting his lap dog.
“Such a travesty…” Chak agrees, “Is there more you can share regarding that situation?”
“Just that these Squilla understandably don’t have much of a government. They dwelled in deeper waters and complex cave systems in their comparative ‘iron age’. They are incredibly fast learners, however. Which gives most of the Central council the impression that the Truba have been suppressing the Squilla’s growth as a people for literal ages. I don’t think anything like this has ever happened in known galactic history. It’s still all a mess unfortunately, but important first steps have been taken. I’ve spoken to the representative of the Squilla only a few times, and seeing him come to terms with reality is bittersweet.” the ambassador explained.
“I see. Perhaps I may have a chance to meet him while I’m in central.” Chak says with a shrug.
“It’s a long line to privately meet in an official manner, which is to no surprise I assume?” Zrreak informs.
“Of course, perhaps not then.” Chak concedes.
Wide eyed, Simone looks back and forth between the two.
“Sorry, uhm… I feel like what just happened earlier is a pretty big fucking deal… Military support? Not that I’m complaining, but I’d imagine something like that having a bit more bureaucracy? A quick back and forth and it’s a done deal?” she questioned, utterly bewildered.
“This is how backroom deals tend to go, Simone, you know that.” Chak replies as she reaches a hand to take hold of one of the redhead’s.
She then squeezes in trembling excitement to show that she was putting up a polite professional act.
“Right. Yeah.” Simone corrects herself as she huffs a pant of jubilated air.
The ambassador turns to look at the Terran directly.
“Simone Thatch. If you're at liberty to confirm, through some dealings we have received interesting intel regarding a Terran group that calls itself the ‘Children of Gaia’. Have you encountered them previously?” he inquires.
“Ah, uhm… I know about them. But that’s all I’m really willing to share at this time. What sort of dealings are you referring to exactly?” the Terran responds.
“Nothing nefarious, at least at the surface. We have traded for strange breeds of dogs, tracing their origins to that group. We suspect that they are these ‘pirates’ that invaded the Gratt homeworld. Would that be correct?” Zrreak presses, now looking back and forth between the Terran and Cali.
Chak sighs but nods.
“That would be correct.” she admits.
“Why hide that fact?” the ambassador asks.
“Well, there's a reason to. And I’m afraid we can’t share why, but rest assured their identity will be broadly revealed in due time. Soon, if we can help it, but we have to secure a few things first.” Chak explains, “Apologies for withholding information from you, but I ask that the Conglomerate not share intel of the group for the time being.” Chak requests.
“I can’t promise such, but if it’s in your interest to wait, then it is likely ours as well.” Zrreak grants, “But if we found what we have, others are likely to as well. So I hope whatever you are planning comes around soon, Princess.” he adds.
“As do I, and trust me I understand.” Chak says as she squeezes Simone’s hand once more, “They are our enemies and what we intend to do is to dismantle them.” she assures.
“Ah, I hope you don’t mind a single stop before arriving at your apartment. I have a gift that I wish to present to you.” Zrreak announces after he seems to have received a notification on his Lens.
“Oh, how kind of you. What manner of gift?” Chak inquires.
“One that in some small way may bolster your personal security.” the ambassador vaguely answered a bit coyly.
“Oh joy…” Simone says, unsure if they’d be able to comfortably take on another staff member on the Kwip-chap.
…
Soaring down into a tight one way entrance tunnel, the shuttle eventually comes to a latching stop before being lifted up into an unloading room.
“Come, step out. It’s being brought to us.” Zrreak instructs as he stands and strides out.
Preparing themselves to politely turn his offer down, Simone and Chak step out after him. Sonla on the other hand decided then would be a perfect time to raid the fancy meat snacks she’d been eyeing for most of the trip.
As the three stand just outside the shuttle in wait, it takes only a few minutes for a Z’ah’tuck to turn a corner and enter the room.
“Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll have room to properly accommodate-” Chak begins to say before feeling her legs freeze up in sudden numbness as a beast comes trailing behind the Z’ah’tuck.
Simone’s eye tufts lift in surprise as she looks upon what she initially mistakes as a damn hyena as it shares the rusty red-brown color, stripes and even a shallow mohawk of longer fur going down its back. Though its pitbull-esk face and body structure clues her in that it is indeed a dog.
The thickly muscled domestic canine assertively pats its clawed paws across the floor towards them, passing up the handler it stopped and politely sat ten feet away.
Bending down, Zrreak sets down his corgi which without hesitation stamps quickly over to the comparatively titanous brethren. Sniffing up and around his new friend the loaf of a dog ran a circle around the other unbothered canine before splaying forward in a ‘play’ pose in front of it. Before then running off as if to invite a chase.
“Her name is Zrume, meaning ‘Wall of fangs and talons’. She is only two years of age, but understands commands in Galactic standard and is perfectly trained to guard her charge with her life.” Zrreak introduced before notifying the uncertain fright in the Princess, “She is also trained to assist as an emotional support companion. She can provide more Service-oriented work, but that hasn’t been a primary focus of her training. I thought that may suit someone of your nature, Princess.” he added before addressing the dog directly. “Zrume, at ease.”
The dog’s ice-blue eyes spark with hyper excitement as she breaks her statue pose to spaz out before engaging in play with the corgi, sniffing him in return greeting after easily catching up.
“She isn’t the best I can offer, but I believe she’d be perfect for you. May she approach to meet you?” the ambassador inquires.
“Uhm…” Chak utters before looking up to Simone for an opinion.
Biting her cheek, the redhead gave a tentative nod back.
“Oh, alright.” the princess agrees.
“Zrume, come.” Zrreak instructs.
Turning away and all but ignoring the corgi again, Zrume approaches much closer to the three. Her circular blue eyes look up at the ambassador loyally, only taking side glances of the two women.
“Transfer.” the Z’ah’tuck commands as he points to Chak first and then to Simone.
The head of the dog looked up at Chak, its head pretty much as large as hers.
“D-do I pet her?” Chak inquires.
“Of course, though I strongly recommend that you limit her social interaction to a minimum when she’s on the job. When she’s off, tell her ‘at ease’ so she knows.” Zrreak answers with an amused but serious tone.
“O-okay… Hello… Zrume… uhm… at ease? At ease.” Chak says directly to the animal.
Zrume sinks her head slightly forward to gently press against between the Cali’s lower arms. Looking up with her crisp blues she starts to wag her tail and lightly stamps her front paws.
Chak’s racing hearts start to relax as a familiar admiration feeling rises up within her. Glancing up at Simone, she caught her inwardly biting her lips to resist the broad smile from breaking out.
Looking back at the dog, Chak lifts all of her limbs and begins scritching at the places that she saw these animals enjoy in the media. Behind the ears, under the chin and the sides of the thick neck.
Zrume closes her eyes as her tail aggressively pats against the floor like a happy baton. And Chak swears the dog’s closed mouth smiled, though that could have been a trick to the angle she is viewing her.
“What do you think?” the ambassador asks, seeming to already know the answer.
“She’s so sweet…” Chak replies in giggle, “I don’t think I can say no…”
“Then in that case, I’ll have her supplies loaded up for you.”