Weekly Recap for June 3, 2024 - June 9, 2024

Welcome to the ITZY Weekly Discussion & Recap!
In this thread we compile everything ITZY has done this week for people who can't quite keep up with it all!
This post now also serves as our Weekly MIDZY Discussion Thread! That means this is an anything goes discussion thread. Feel free to talk about anything you'd like with other MIDZY! All we ask is that you keep it safe for work!

Algorhythm Stream Links
Algorhythm
No Biggie (Lyric Video)
Algorhythm (Single Album) on Spotify

BORN TO BE Era Stream Links
UNTOUCHABLE
BORN TO BE
Mr. Vampire
BORN TO BE (Album) on Spotify

SUPERPOWERS (Strong Girl Nam-soon OST Part 1)
SUPERPOWERS (MV)
SUPERPOWERS on Spotify

Megathreads

Thread
The 7th Mini Album "KILL MY DOUBT" (Era Recap)

New & Articles

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240604	Chaeryeong will star in a new variety show called 'Chaeryeong is full and calling her friend', airing every Tuesday at 7PM KST beginning June 11	Thread

Social Media

Twitter

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240603	ITZY X ELLE SINGAPORE June, 2024 [1]	Thread
240603	ITZY X ELLE SINGAPORE June, 2024 [2]	Thread
240603	[JP]Yeji - Algorhythm Costume Change👗 #YEJI ver.	Thread
240603	[JP]Ryujin - Algorhythm Costume Change👗 #RYUJIN ver.	Thread
240604	[JP]Chaeryeong - Algorhythm Costume Change👗 #CHAERYEONG ver.	Thread
240604	[JP]Yuna - Algorhythm Costume Change👗 #YUNA ver.	Thread
240605	Happy Chaeryeong Day	Thread
240605	Chaeryeong - 💌 INVITATION 💌 Desert fox Ryeongchae's LAN surprise birthday party LIVE 🎂	Thread
240605	[JP] CHAERYEONG HAPPY BIRTHDAY🎂🎉	Thread
240605	Yeji & Chaeryeong - Message from #YEJI to #CHAERYEONG 💌	Thread
240605	Lia & Chaeryeong - Message from #LIA to #CHAERYEONG 💌	Thread
240605	Ryujin & Chaeryeong - Message from #RYUJIN to #CHAERYEONG 💌	Thread
240605	Yuna & Chaeryeong - Message from #YUNA to #CHAERYEONG 💌	Thread
240605	Chaeryeong - Message from #CHAERYEONG to #MIDZY 💌 [1]	Thread
240605	Chaeryeong - Message from #CHAERYEONG to #MIDZY 💌 [2]	Thread
240606	MIDZY, it's exam period. Gather around 😮💨 ITZYs are here to help you de-stress🎤 Join us at IT'ZZZ at 6pm to play together!🥳	Thread
240607	‘BORN TO BE’ M/V hits 30M views🎉 30M views thanks to MIDZY! ITZY always hit it harder🔥	Thread
240607	ITZY 2ND WORLD TOUR in #SEATTLE ITZY's true love for SEATTLE MIDZY❤	Thread
240609	ITZY surf, surfs to K-WAVE 🌊 MIDZY! You make our heart beat faster & faster 💓)	Thread
240609	ITZY 2ND WORLD TOUR in #OAKLAND ITZY 🩷 OAKLAND MIDZY ALL DAY MIDZY, you got ITZY's mind!	Thread

Instagram

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240605	[Group] ITZY Update - Happy Birthday Chaeryeong	Thread
240605	[Personal] Yuna Update)	Thread
240605	[Personal] Ryujin & Chaeryeong Stories Update	Thread
240605	[Personal] Yeji & Chaeryeong Stories Update	Thread
240605	[Personal] Yuna & Chaeryeong Stories Update	Thread
240605	[Personal] Yeji Update)	Thread
240605	[Personal] Yeji Stories Update	Thread
240605	[Personal] Ryujin Stories Update	Thread
240605	[Personal] Chaeryeong Stories Update	Thread
240605	[Personal] Yuna Stories Update	Thread
240605	[Personal] Yuna Update	Thread
240607	[Personal] Yeji Stories Update	Thread
240608	[Personal] Chaeryeong Update	Thread
240608	[Personal] Ryujin Update	Thread
240609	[Personal] Yeji Update	Thread
240609	[Personal] Yuna Update)	Thread

FANS

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240606	Chaeryeong Update	Thread
240607	Chaeryeong Update	Thread

Weibo

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240605	ITZY Update	Thread

Misc SNS

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240605	M2MPD Twitter Update with Yeji - ITZY YEJI's 'Artist Of The Month' hits 60 MILLION views! 🧡	Thread
240607	bingicecream.official Instagram Update with Chaeryeong	Thread

Videos

Performances

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240602	INTRO + UNTOUCHABLE @ K-WAVE CONCERT Inkigayo	Thread

Official Videos (kr)

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240604	ITZY? ITZY! EP.164 - Ryujin's Singles Pictorial	Thread
240606	IT'ZZZ EP.17 - I'm at noraebang	Thread
240607	Insta-LOG EP.07 (YEJI in SANTIAGO - ITZY 2ND WORLD TOUR 'BORN TO BE')	Thread

Variety

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240604	Chaeryeong @ Chaeryeong is full and calling her friend (Teaser)	Thread

LIVE

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240605	Instagram Live with Chaeryeong - Desert fox Ryeongchae's LAN surprise birthday party LIVE 🎂	Thread

CF

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240605 Chaeryeong X Binggrae Ice Cream	Thread

TikTok

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240603	Yuna Update - #X10_Challenge with Yuna 🏹 (with Castle J)	Thread
240604	Yeji Update - 𝙍𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙞𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 #YEJI #RidetheVibe_Challenge (With NEXZ Hyui and Seita)	Thread
240605	ITZY Update - Happy Birthday #RyeoWoo 🎂	Thread
240606	Yeji Update - #Armageddon with #YEJI (with aespa Karina)	Thread
240607	Yeji Update - 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲🤙🤙 (with aespa Giselle)	Thread
240607	ITZY Update - ITZY 2ND WORLD TOUR in #SEATTLE	Thread
240607	Yeji Update - 𝓚𝓲𝓽𝓽𝔂 𝓿𝓪𝓶𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓼 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛ (with aespa Karina)	Thread
240609	Yeji Update - ✋🐱👈👉🦝🤚✨ #ShootingStarchallenge (with Mashiro)	Thread

Misc

Date	Title / Link	Thread
240604	ITZY - K-WAVE CONCERT Inkigayo (240602 On-site Photos)	Thread

Member Subs - Yeji - ChoiJisu - Ryujin - Chaeryeong - Yuna

Memes & Media Subs - itzymemes - /MIDZY

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Last weeks Recap
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Performance Archive
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Discography

ITZY Discord

Our company did a roof for this lady 22 years ago. She never had a leak, never had a problem, but the shingles have hit their life expectancy after 22 years when it was supposed to be 30 years.
We sent our guys out there to take a shingle and send it back to the manufacture who prorated her at basically nothing for the 30 year warranty. She’s upset about that but again, nothing we can do about that.
After that we offered to give her a discounted price at on a new roof at a hugely discounted price to which she said “i have someone who can do it cheaper you need to match their price because this is your fault.
We have tried every last option to help this lady but she is going to leave a bad google review and yelp review now. She just sent a long email saying how bad we are and the end she said “You know flat out you sold me inferior material. I hope the world will know how you are too! “.
We aren’t sure what to do because we sold her a shingle which we genuinely believed at the time was 30 years (why would we argue with the manufacture?). She never had a leak, never had a problem with the roof, the shingles just flat out didn’t make it the entire 30 years.
She wants a new roof for basically the price of free, and she is blaming it all on us and going to leave us horrible review on every site possible regardless of how much we have tried to cooperate and help her out.

🚀 New remote opportunity: Senior Site Reliability Engineer - Data Infrastructure

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Register for free at remotearmy.io for more remote opportunities and content to succeed at remote work!

AGENT NAME: bullseye
role: duelist
gender: male
nationality: icelandic
signature ability: mindblown
lasts for 15 seconds upon activating. if bulleseye gets a headshot kill during this time period, an alert will show for any enemy player within a 5 meter radius of the kill, if there are any players in the area after 2 seconds, they will get damaged for 50 and slowed and blinded for 3 seconds. 1 free use, recharges after 30 seconds
buyable ability: syphon radius
cost: 250 (can buy twice)
place a site sized radius anywhere on the map. (a map pop-up will show) a green line will show the outline of the radius. if 3 or more players are in the radius on the time of cast, bullseye will heal for any missing health or shield (if already max health then they will get overflow hp up to 200 that will last 10 seconds).
buyable ability: syphon shot
cost: 250 (can buy once)
spawns a powerful dart hat spawns in hand. does 30 damage to legs, 50 damage to body and 150 to head with no wallbang factor. it has 1 use and if the shot is hit then bullseye will heal to 100 hp (no overflow health or shield and nothing happens if already 100 hp)
ultimate: lock-on
points needed: 9
fully locks onto a player of choice. after casted, will show bullseye the amount of hp and shield they have, what gun they are using, what abilites they have left and can be fully seen through walls for the entire round (they will have a red outline) if bullseye is killed. they will turn into a ghost, in which they have 10 seconds to fly to a teammate to cast the ultimate effect onto them (the teammate will see all the info about the player)
**voicelines**
on kill: next target.
on kill: used 1 too many darts on that scallywag.
on headshot kill: bullseye.
on headshot kill: the wind worked in my favour.
on 3rd kill: im feeling alive!
on 4th kill: 1 more and im leaving to get some steak
on ace: the accuracy of my prime self is back.
on 6/7th kill: am i seeing things or what?
on lose streak: dont worry guys, i had a lose streak in my darts tournament then ended up winning, the exact same thing will happen here.
on win streak: im not even trying, are you?
ultimate (team pov): Hiding will not work.
ultimate (enemy pov): I know every single detail about you!
ultimate (locked on pov): no hard feelings chump

Hello everybody, I’m looking for the right online photo community to showcase some of my work. I am an amateur. My goals are twofold:

1. Convenience: I want an easy way to show my work to people I meet in real life.
2. Wider Reach: I’d like to reach a broader online audience with minimal effort, which is why I’m not opting for my own domain (which I would have to advertise).

I’d love to hear your suggestions. Here’s what I’m looking for:

• Audience Engagement: As I’m an amateur, not a professional, my goal is not to get hired but to exchange ideas. Ten meaningful comments that spark conversations are more valuable to me than a thousand likes on a thumbnail.
• Ease of Access for Real-Life Contacts: Friends and colleagues should be able to view my work without needing to register for a paid account, and ideally, without any registration at all. It’s also crucial that they aren’t exposed to unwanted NSFW content, specifially as work contacts may be among them.

Here’s my take on some platforms I already know about:

• 500px: I appreciate the design and the generally high-quality photos, but in my experience there’s some NSFW content that isn’t flagged properly, which is problematic.
• Flickr: It’s not bad, but the almost unlimited cloud storage for free users (in combination with a very limited number of ´private´ photos) leads to a lot of meaningless snapshots, making the site as a whole less attractive.
• Reddit: I enjoy the photo communities, but the fleeting nature of posts and the lack of a personal gallery make it less ideal for me.
• Facebook and Instagram: I avoid Meta companies due to their privacy policies.

What platforms would you recommend? Thanks in advance for your help!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
We pulled off I-51 a little after midnight, stopping at a truck stop which was couched between the highway and a large forest.
We waited in the van for ten minutes or so. Trent had increased the sonar radius to its maximum of 30 miles a little over an hour ago. Somehow the red pings had kept up with us, holding a steady distance of around 20 miles. Considering we were averaging around 80 mph, and a coyote's top speed is only around 40 mph, we figured they had been enhanced in some way. Either that, or they shape-shifted into something faster. Regardless, now that we had stopped, we waited to see if the demon spawn would try and close the distance. Luckily, or unluckily, they didn't. They kept their 20 mile buffer, but we noticed they were beginning to spread out along the circumference of that boundary.
"We're close. They know that, so they're trying to trap us in." Trent said.
"Trying to?—more like they have."
We considered whether we should stay in the van and keep watch, but we figured that would do us little good. At their speed, they could be on us in ten minutes, which means we would need to stay up all night and keep tabs on their positions. Trent offered to stay up, of course, but I shut him down.
"The demon doesn't want to kill us now. You said it yourself. Plus, we need our rest. If they come, they come."
Trent didn't like it, but he acquiesced.
The truck stop had all the essentials: a gas station and mini mart with showers and an attached McDonald's, a large parking lot for truckers to idle and sleep, and even a section with lodging for those who wanted a more comfortable night's rest. I told Trent that he should take advantage of the showers, and after a little convincing, he agreed. While he was cleaning himself up, I patrolled the dingy, half-stocked aisles of "Daisy's Quick Mart". I probably would have been appalled at the quality of the store had I actually been paying any attention to it whatsoever. But I wasn't. I was thinking hard about what awaited me tomorrow.
During the drive, I had asked Trent why the demon would want us to return to the crash site. What did he mean that I would be 'confronting a dark entity in a place he couldn't help me'? He seemed hesitant to answer, but my little stunt outside the storage facility seemed to have sufficiently motivated him.
"When I said I've never done this before, I meant it." Trent started. "I've never done this exact thing before—meaning I've never projected someone into the past."
"So, I'm time traveling?" I asked.
"No—don't think of it like that." Trent paused, trying to come up with a good explanation. "It's more like I'm opening a window for you to look through: not a door. You're going to see the past, but you can't interact with the physicalities there. But that doesn't mean you can't interact with anything."
There was a space of silence as Trent tried to let me work out his meaning for myself. "I don't get it. Are you saying there's something I can interact with? Like what?" And then it hit me. "The demon. The demon can interact with me? Meaning what? It can kill me?"
"Meaning… I'm not exactly sure. You're going to be in a kind of psychic space. If it does damage, it won't be to your body. It'll be to your mind—or spirit. But I don't know what the limits of that damage could be. I just don't have those answers."
"If you've never done this, how do you know any of it will work?"
"That's an easy one." Trent answered. "Because it's been done to me."
There was silence.
"Look, if I know anything, I know my tech. Don't doubt that this will work. It's my job to make sure it does. I just need you to be in the right mental for this. Just because it knows your coming doesn't mean it automatically has the upper hand. It won't be able to see you unless you make contact with it first. In other words, you have to initiate contact. As long as you remain a spectator, you should be okay. Trust me. Just don't make contact."
I started pacing faster—fast enough to catch the attention of the overnight shift worker, a young man whose name I can't quite remember. I know it started with a "J". Jake, maybe? Anyway, he asked if I was alright, to which I responded in the affirmative. He left me alone for another couple passes, but when I almost ran into one of the shelves, he stood up and said, "Uh—I'm going to have to ask you to stop running around. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
I must have stared daggers at him, because he recoiled from my gaze. What's gotten into me? I thought. Then, steadying myself, I apologized. I looked around and grabbed the nearest edible looking piece of merchandise: a bag of Swedish Fish, and placed it down on the counter. "Just this, please."
The cashier rang me up. It was surprisingly cheap.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the young man asked. He was tall with brown hair. He seemed tired—maybe even more tired than me. But he also seemed kind.
I smiled as best I could and said, "No, I'm not. But there's not really anything you can do. Hell, there might not be anything I can do." I furrowed my eyebrows at my own response, realizing that imminent death may have broken my verbal filter.
On the other hand, the cashier did not seem surprised at all. "Ah, I see. It's one of those problems." He responded. "Well, hey, for what it's worth, you seem like one of the resilient ones. I think you'll be alright."
I only smiled and nodded at his mildly cryptic comment. Looking back, the whole interaction was a bit strange, but I had way too much mental clutter to recognize that in the moment. I took my Swedish Fish and walked through the anteroom which led to McDonald's. I found an open yellow booth that wasn't littered with crumpled straw sleeves and sat down, chomping mindlessly on my little red fish until Trent returned. When he arrived, he took my place, and I went to shower. After we were both clean and fed, we returned to the van. The pings were still pushed safely out of harm's way. But that didn't mean we were out of harm's way. Trent asked me if I wanted to sleep in the van, saying that "it'd be the safest place."
I thought it over. He was right, obviously. The van was not only outfitted with weapons I couldn't even begin to understand, but it was also our escape, and it would be just as difficult, if not more difficult to break into than the studio-style motel rooms with their wood doors and big windows. Still, if this was going to be my last night on earth, I wanted to sleep in a bed. A real bed. Trent understood and said he'd stay parked right outside my room for the night.
After purchasing a key from the night attendant, I moseyed over to the cement walkways which connected the twenty or so rooms. Mine was room #56, which I thought was odd since, like I said, there were only 20 rooms. I lugged in my tomato plushie and dad's old book and placed them on the queen mattress.
"I'll be right outside." Trent said after I collapsed onto the bed.
"Trent," I called out, stopping him half-way through the door.
"Yeah?"
All the blood in my body rushed up to my face as I realized my unfiltered mouth almost reflexively said the word "stay". I stared at Trent, my heart beating, my face hot. I considered asking him to sleep on the floor like my dad, but that would be childish and impolite. The alternative was to share my bed… Or I could take the floor.
"I'll just be right outside." Trent said before my mind processed a solution. "Come by if you need anything. I'll be up most of the night anyway."
"Okay," I replied in a faint voice.
Trent shut the door.
I sat atop the bedsheets and acquainted myself with my new living space. A feeling of regret closed over me as I considered that even sleeping on a carseat would have been better if it meant I didn't have to be alone. With a sigh, I turned on the bedside lamp and grabbed the book and stuffed tomato, using the tomato as a backrest as I slipped my legs under the covers and situated the book upright on my thighs. I cracked it open and was immediately blasted with a puff of dusty, old book scent. It was ripe at first, and I turned my head away to sneeze, but as I perused through the pages, the scent grew on me. It reminded me of the days growing up when I'd step into dad's study and read through one of the many volumes on cryptic topics which were at least two college degrees above my Lexile range.
I was only a couple minutes into browsing the collection of different scientific and philosophical works when I came across a page which contained highlighted text. This was unusual, as my dad would never mark up his books. He was a purist on that point. I rubbed my thumb over the yellow lines, and sure enough, it was highlighter.
The highlighted text was part of a small book by Carl Jung called "Synchronicity". There were a total of three pages that were marked, and they advanced like this:
Page 5:
The philosophical principle that underlies our conception of natural law is causality*. But if the connection between cause and effect turns out to be only statistically valid and relatively true, then the causal principle is only of relative use for explaining natural processes… That is as much to say that the connection of events may in certain circumstances be other than causal, and require another principle of explanation.*
Page 19:
…there are events which are related to one another experimentally, and in this case meaningfully*, without there being any possibility of proving that this relation is a causal one, since the "transmission" exhibits none of the known properties of energy…a situation which does not yet exist and will only occur in the future could transmit itself as a phenomenon of energy to a receiver in the present…Therefore, it cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity... "synchronicity"*
Page 22:
A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer… which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment.
I flipped through the rest of the pages of the book. There was no more highlighted text, but there was a message on the last page which read:
Matthew 7:7-8
I'll meet you in the darkest place.
He also included his typical smiley face which had an ovular shape and three sprouts of hair which I now realized kind of resembled my tomato plushie. It was my dad's writing, of course. But why? And how? What did this mean?
The motel had a Bible stashed away in the nighstand drawer. I got it out and looked up the verses which read the following:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
I spent maybe an hour ruminating on all of this. The whole discourse on energy and causality and a "falling together in time" just seemed so right. It was clear that my dad definitely did know what I was going through, but for whatever reason, he made it seem like he was oblivious. Why had he hidden that from me? I felt like I was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand, my dad loved me enough to leave this note, maybe even knowing the exact moment I'd need it. But on the other hand, he had neglected my struggles throughout my entire childhood. He even lied at times. Was this really enough to make up for all of that?
And then there was the section about the future transmitting energy to the past. I read back through the whole paragraph and the original writer had meant it to say this as something that wasn't possible, but my dad's highlighting made it seem like he wanted to flip the meaning. The future does affect the past. I thought about where I was headed and wondered if I would soon discover that for myself.
Lastly, dad's message. The Bible verse reminded me of the first time I prayed; how I reached out to God and received peace as an answer to my prayer. Now I feel like I'm actively seeking… something, but I don't know yet what I'll find. And then there's knocking. At first that reminded me of the story with the beetle tapping on the window, but then I went back even deeper in my memory and dug out the monster tapping at my window, and the words my dad spoke to me in order to set my mind at ease: "you're a superhero. And you know what your greatest superpower is? Your greatest power is you get to tell the monsters what to do. Because the monsters are only as strong as the stories you tell about them…so if you're ever scared, honey, just dream up a better story."
I was crying into my stuffed tomato now. I felt like all the blinking pieces of my life had finally been pulled together into a completed puzzle. This was all by design. My entire life, filled with so much chaos and confusion, was actually preparing me for this moment. And my dad thought I had the tools and strength enough to get through it. I flipped through the book one more time, thinking maybe he had left some other hidden comment—some formula to defeat this demon and return home. But there was nothing. Only that one comment: "I'll meet you in the darkest place."
What's the darkest place, dad? Is that where I'm going? Are you saying you'll be there, too?
With those thoughts in mind, my eyes became heavy shutters which, with a slight pressure on the pulley, winded shut. My swimming thoughts and firework-like fears dissipated, and I returned to a precious childhood memory. It was after an evening soccer practice. Summer. Dad was driving me to Dairy Queen. I got a cherry-dipped twist cone. I was happy.
So, so happy.
***
I woke up to sunlight blaring through my windows. Shit, I overslept, was my immediate thought. I threw off my covers and opened the front door. A glance at the clock showed 1:13 PM. I shouldn't have even been allowed to stay checked in this long. Damn, am I gonna get double-billed for this?
I heard a rummaging sound around the corner of my motel room. It sounded like a squirrel was trying to find an afternoon snack in one of the garbage bins. I stepped outside. The sun was extremely bright, to the point where I had to squint and put my hand over my eyes to even see the ground in front of me. I was trying to walk toward the van, but somehow I ended up in front of the trash bins where the animal's tail was sticking out from a turned-over, silver garbage can. Its tail was wagging excitedly, and I remember thinking that it was much too large to be a squirrel.
The animal bent down as if biting onto something, and I heard the sound of its growl as it struggled to tug whatever it was free from the barrel. Inch by inch, the creature backed out of the canister, and more of its sharp, sticky hair was revealed. I heard something snap, then the creature leapt back and I saw what it was chomping on. My eyes widened in horror as the pink tube of a human intestine was pulled taut like the end of a tangled hose. Blood and entrails were spilling out of the human's opened gut. And then, behind the canine, I saw the person's face. His face was pale white, his eyes closed, and his hair was slicked back… It was Trent.
Before I could react, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. I whirled around and saw my dad. But—no, it wasn't him. It was someone wearing a paper-mache face mask that was painted to look like my dad. The forehead of the mask was already beginning to crack, white specks breaking off like sawdust. Through the cracks, I could see the figure's true form. I didn't know darkness had its own type of light, but that's the only way to describe it. It was as if malevolence itself was reified into a skin which was actually an amalgamation of millions of little, oozing parasites that leached into the nearby light. When it finally spoke, the demon's voice was a full octave lower than the old man's at the deli. And it had an earth-stilling gravitas.
"Today's the day!" He sang and reached into his pocket. His lips curled upward into a foxy smirk. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day." He said and held up a razor blade. Half his facade had already fallen apart, and now I could see the bugs up close, writhing in what was either horror or ecstasy. And his scent… it was somehow more rank than the rabid coyote rummaging through the trash can with Trent's cut open body inside. The demon closed in on my position, and in one, decisive motion, he brought the blade close to his chin, then sliced it across my throat. "Wake up!" He screamed.
I jumped out of my bed and grabbed my throat, feeling the cold sting of its quick slice. Hyperventilating, I patted the area down, trying to hold the blood in, but when I removed my hands, I saw they were dry. It was only a dream, I thought. Gray light was only beginning to filter in through the drapes. I'm in my hotel room. I'm safe. I tried consoling, but the pragmatic mental massages weren't enough to hold the force of my knees buckling. I dropped onto the carpet and cried for a long while.
Outside, rain was beginning to fall.
***
By the time I met up with Trent, I had already composed myself and decided to keep my dad's message and the nightmare to myself. None of it seemed particularly productive from a logistical standpoint, anyway. And I wanted to focus on the mission.
We stopped by McDonald's and bought a couple cups of coffee. Trent asked if I wanted any food, and I declined. Black coffee seemed like the only thing my stomach could take at the present moment. I could tell Trent was hungry, but he tried playing it off (I guess to be respectful of me?) I told him to knock it off and get something to eat. I didn't need my Charon getting lightheaded and dropping the paddle before he finished rowing me to Hell. He didn't care much for my joke, but he ordered a couple Chicken McGriddles at the kiosk anyway.
There were maybe ten patrons spread throughout the restaurant. We sat down at the same booth from the prior night, this time across from one another. Trent spent the first ten minutes or so babbling about our fuel supply and the logistics of the trip from here on in. Practical stuff. I've come to realize that's how he deals with his stress. He talks it out in short, durable sentences. I mostly nodded and watched as what looked like a storm front closed in on the truck stop. The sky was overcast, and there were darker clouds in the distance. The rain was still only a patter, but a middle-aged man wearing a yellow bow tie on the wall-mounted TV confirmed that there would be heavier rain and thunderstorms very soon.
After the worker delivered Trent's food and he ate it in record time, I posed the one question that was still on my mind.
"How do I fight him?" I asked.
Trent finished a large gulp of his coffee, then looked at me. It was the first substantial thing I'd said all morning; Trent could tell something was off with me, but he figured there was no point in asking what it was. "By 'him', I assume you mean the demon?"
I nodded.
Trent licked his teeth clean. "You could try praying again."
"I'm serious," I responded.
"I'm serious, too. It worked before, didn't it?"
"You mean at my house?"
Trent nodded.
"I thought you weren't a religious man?"
"I'm not. Just a practical one. If praying worked before, maybe it'll work again."
"That's the best you've got? A maybe?"
"No, I've got a lot of shit better than a maybe." He answered. "It's just not accessible where you're going. Which is why I recommend not making contact on the first run."
"First run? So we're going to do this more than once?"
"At least," Trent answered. Then, seeing my expression, he continued. "What? You thought this was going to be a one-and-done? We have to conduct some research first. I did tell you this was new for me, right?"
Somehow Trent's response had set my mind at ease a little. I was going to have more than one chance. Of course, why wouldn't I be able to go back more than once?
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? It would have gone a long way in easing my mind."
Trent lifted his hands in defense. "Sorry, I just thought that was a given. I mean, what we're doing is dangerous, just like I said, but it doesn't mean we aren't going to approach this as safely and scientifically as possible. However, there is a different problem with running multiple trials."
"The Organization?"
"That's right," Trent said like a proud parent. "Our little experiment will be like a giant spotlight, and the longer we wait around after it's on us, the greater the chance we'll have unwelcome company."
"So, safe but speedy."
"Safe but speedy. Exactly."
***
We fueled up and were back on the road a little after 8:00. From that point on, Trent and I were absolutely silent. I had the distinct feeling of being in the eye of a storm. The pings moved closer commensurate with our progress toward the crash site. The cloudfront continued its advance. And I noticed a haze beginning to descend onto the road ahead of us. It was fog.
We meandered further inland, the forest thickening around us until the rain almost stopped entirely—the leaves drinking it up before it fell onto our windshield. I kept my eyes on the radar. We were approaching the large yellow circle which indicated we had arrived. As we pulled closer, I began to feel things. Fear. Eeriness. Doubt. Then happiness. Hope. Love. Normally feelings like these had a clear source to picture, but these sensations came on in waves without any discernible reason. It was almost as if they were blinking into existence inside me.
"Here we go," Trent said like an airline pilot readying his crew for turbulence.
I still recall the exact moment we crossed the boundary into the area of higher energy. It was like something just "clicked" in my brain, and all of a sudden everything felt so much closer. The sound of the rain against the trees was almost right next to my ear. The trees in the distance would oscillate between their position a half-mile out, then suddenly seem five meters away. If I focused on something long enough, it began to radiate those same ethereal particles as when Trent released Ava's "phase lock". I checked to make sure the shifter wasn't set to "TD". Sure enough, it was still in drive.
"Can you see them?" Trent asked. "The shifts?"
"Yeah," I said in a dreamy voice. I felt like I was driving through a wonderland.
"It's the energy. I barely notice a difference. A bit of movement in the trees, but not much else. But I'm sure for you, it's a whole experience."
"What is this?" I raised my hand and caught some of the pixel dust dripping off the sun visor. It disappeared when it made contact with my hand.
"It's a kind of radiation. Everything emits it, just in different quantities. I'm still not exactly sure how it relates to the other realms, but I'm guessing it's a kind of primordial matter that helps connect our worlds."
"It's beautiful," I exclaimed. "I wish I could see the world like this all the time."
"Maybe you will," Trent whispered.
As we arrived at the crash site, I began to get glimpses of the past. My childhood dreams and memories were pushing their way out from my subconscious. I noticed an increased number of blinks, which were validated by Ava who reported the following: "Currently detecting 14,350 novel emergences and 2,777 controlled agents. Net anomalies: 2,777."
"That's a lot of blinks." I remarked. "Why doesn't Ava include them in the net anomalies?"
Trent turned his head so I could see his smirk. "Because blinks aren't anomalies."
I thought about it for a second. Blinks aren't anomalies. "I never thought about it that way."
"It's hard to think about it that way when 'normal' for most people means not picking up on a fundamental aspect of reality. But that doesn't make it any less real."
We continued past the epicenter of the yellow circle. "Are we not stopping?" I asked. "I think we already passed the crash site."
"It doesn't have to be exactly at the site," Trent said. "Plus, we don't want to stop on the side of the road and risk getting some civilian involved. There's a field about half a mile up ahead. I'm going to pull off the road and set up camp there.
The "field" that Trent was referring to was actually a large clearing that dipped down into several trench-like troughs which were filled to the brim with fog like witches cauldrons. Further on in the distance, I saw open fields, probably used for farming, and then a large hill where the trees once again reasserted themselves. We had pulled off the road and up a small incline where the trees had already been broken down, leaving a trail for us to drive through. When we surfaced at the edge of the clearing, Trent pulled us onto a flat bed of dried mud which was maybe thirty yards long.
"Here," he said with a sigh.
We both sat for a minute, looking around at the field. We had finally arrived. The rain was beginning to pick up, and the dark sky made it almost impossible to discern the time of day.
"You ready?" Trent asked.
I looked at him. Really looked at him. In his blue eyes. Was I ready? Did it even matter?
"Let's do this," I said.
***
This was the first time I was really able to inspect the back of Trent's van. He had talked up his gear a lot, and honestly, I was impressed. Not in the way that a scientist is impressed by another scientist's lab—I wasn't any kind of expert—but it still seemed remarkably well managed. Now that I was in a state where my vision had been enhanced, I could actually see the enigmatic particles circulating through the pneumatic tubes which were coiled like the pipes and valves of an elaborate wind instrument. The walls of the van, itself, were glistening white, making it easier to make out everything else inside. Along the floor were five overturned columns. Each column was dark and had a vibrating quality, as if they were charged with energy. Then atop the center three columns was a small altar which supported an apparatus with two skinny, metal arms holding a silver halo. At present, the arms were folded and the halo was suspended a few inches above the altar, faced-down. I thought maybe I'd see particles exuding from it, but instead it was emitting visible waves which bent and warped everything they touched.
"That thing is emitting a lot of energy." I remarked, gesturing toward the halo.
Trent stepped in between the columns and started pulling out the packages he had stuffed in there yesterday. "Just wait till' it's on."
Most of the packages contained only a single piece of equipment, and were otherwise packed with foam peanuts. We carefully removed each box and set them on the ground outside. I asked if the rain would damage any of the stuff inside, to which Trent only laughed and continued lugging out the boxes. When they were all out, Trent removed a box cutter from his pocket and went one-by-one opening them. There were eight pieces in total.
"What is it?" I asked as we fished the first item out.
"It's another apparatus, like the one inside. Except it'll mount on the ground out here."
I pulled out what looked like a metal tripod.
"Good, that'll go on the bottom."
"Where are we setting it up?"
"Over here," Trent said and stepped five paces away from the van. He coordinated himself up so he was centrally aligned with the inner ring, then stomped a few times. "This is the spot."
As we continued to work, I asked Trent about how the whole contraption works.
"Do you remember the first time we were in the van? When we had to escape from the semi-truck?" Trent asked and connected a secondary mounting apparatus on top of the tripod. It had four spider-like legs that made right angles and stuck into the ground.
"Of course," I said. "The 'phase lock'."
"Yeah," Trent said and gestured toward the metal stick that was in my hand. I handed it to him. "The phase lock is a seal on the level of energy that the van is allowed to release. It also controls its dispersion pattern so that it releases its energy in a steady wave. This allows Ava to scan for anomalies without causing us to become an anomaly." Trent stuck the plank into the neck of the tripod.
"So when you released the phase lock, we started emitting more energy."
"That's right." Trent confirmed. "Enough to create an alternate route through a different realm."
"So we blinked into a different realm, then back, just to avoid that truck?"
"That's right."
"But why couldn't we just move out of the way?"
"Because it had locked onto us. It was tracking our motion and adjusting its course based on the amount of energy we were emitting. So in order to escape, we had to radically skew our potential energy and then use it to shift."
"Couldn't he have just followed us?"
Trent connected four more pieces to the device which now looked like an elaborate teepee. He was fishing in the last box when he spoke again. "Yeah, he could have. But it was highly improbable that he would have found us." Trent returned from the bottom of the box with another silver ring in hand. "Think of it like this. Let's say you're trying to escape from some bad guy who's coming after you, and you enter a new room you've never seen before. Would you prefer this room to have three doors to go through, or ten?"
I thought about his riddle for a second, then responded, "It depends where they go."
Trent fastened the ring atop the teepee. "Let's say they all lead to random places, or let's say they're all closets that lead nowhere. The key is that more is better, because the more doors he has to check, the less likely he is to pick the correct one. Make sense?"
"So we opened up a bunch of doors and escaped through one at random?"
"Hence the gear 'TD', for 'Trap Door'."
I marveled at the insights, but not for long. Trent hopped back in the van and pulled a lever that I hadn't seen until now. The two metal arms raised the inner ring until it was perpendicular with the altar. Then Trent clicked one of three red buttons along the back wall, and I saw what looked like a large, glass eye suspended in a magnifying glass protruding from the wall, aligned with the center of both rings. A couple seconds later, the glass eye began to focus the energy which was being fed to it from the pneumatic tubes, and a blue pyramid of light projected from it into the first ring, then from the first ring into the second ring. All three pieces were aligned at slightly diminishing heights, so the cylinder of light beamed through the second ring, into the ground.
"Alright, time for the first trial."
I felt the nerves starting up in my stomach. Trent sensed this and hopped out of the truck. It was raining quite hard now, though it was still warm. Both Trent and I were soaked, but that hardly concerned us. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you're feeling scared." He said. "But trust me on this. You're going to do fine. Just keep in mind what we talked about. Stay a spectator. Okay?"
I looked into his blue eyes, which seemed especially gray in the dark. Still, Trent's voice was reassuring. All I had to do was trust him. Trust myself. Trust my dad. And it was all going to turn out right.
"I'm ready," I said.
Trent was still for a second, holding my eyes in his. Then he guided me behind the outer ring and into the cylinder of light.
"I should step into it now?" I asked, afraid I'd be called away immediately.
"It's not on yet, so don't worry. I still have to press another button."
I followed Trent's instructions and stood in the blue light which was centered on my chest. Then I watched as Trent ran into the back of the van and posted up next to the glass eye. "Ready?" He yelled out. It was hard to hear him over the rain, but I yelled back. "Ready!"
The next thing I saw was a blinding blue light beam from the van. I heard what sounded like a laser, then saw the cylinder oscillate, expanding and compressing. When the energy reached the second ring, I saw everything around me light up—it looked brighter than noon on a cloudless day. Then the oscillations made their way to me, and I was swallowed up whole.
***
When I came to, I was in the backseat of a car. I felt my butt rumbling. Everything was dim and quiet. And then I heard a woman's voice from in front of me.
"Mark, please, not with Lauren in the back."
The man, who I now identified as my father, pulled the cigarette away from his lips and blew the smoke at my mom. He eyed the back seat where I was sitting, using one of five markers that hadn't rolled off my lap to color a rabbit in my animal color book.
"The kid's fine." he said and took another drag.
"Mark," my mom repeated.
I saw my dad raise his hand in a rapid motion. "I said she's fine, Cheryl. Now check the map and make sure we're going the right away. I can't see shit with all this fog."
I took a moment to make sure I was really in the back seat. I patted myself. I clearly had weight. Then I tried touching the car. At first, my fingertips met a solid surface, but when I tried to press through, my hand slipped into the car. I quickly pulled my hand away as if I had reached into a fire.
That's when I heard the little three year old next to me start crying. I turned and saw that little-me had dropped another couple markers onto the ground and was struggling to reach them.
"Hey!" my dad shouted. "What did I say about crying?"
"Quit it, Mark. She just dropped her markers." said my mom; she turned to help me pick them up.
"What did you say to me?" Mark spat with a voice full of guile. He reached out and pushed her back into her seat. "Don't," he commanded. "She has to learn how to deal with life."
"Deal…" My mom started in disbelief. "Deal with life? Do you hear yourself? What's gotten into you?"
"Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't give her the right to cry. You helping her is just going to reinforce her behavior."
"Her behavior? What about your behavior? You're acting like a total dick."
I didn't even have a moment to react before my dad's hand was across my mom's face. I felt the slap more than I heard it, my own face seeming to swell with the force of the blow. I saw my mom cover her mouth and lean away. Then little-me began to cry even louder, which only challenged my dad to step up his own volume.
"Everyone needs to get a fucking grip before I crash this car." My dad shouted and took another drag. The scariest part was I couldn't tell if he was warning us or threatening us. I felt the sudden urge to do something. There was no way this was real. I was definitely in some fantasy concocted by the demon. He wanted to turn me against my dad. That was the only explanation for something like this. My dad was a good man, not… this.
As I contemplated what to do, I saw a small, golden light appear behind little-me's window. Apparently she saw it, too, because her cries hushed as she traced the wisp with her eyes. After a second, the wisp transformed into a bunny rabbit, reminiscent of the one she was coloring. The rabbit hopped alongside the window, then did a couple circles in place. I watched little me let out a playful laugh and reach toward the window.
"What's going on back there?" my dad asked with a scowl. Apparently the only sound more disturbing than cries were laughs.
I looked back to the front and saw my mom wiping blood from her lip. Her expression was miserable. "Leave her alone, Mark."
"I'll do whatever I damn well want to do, Cheryl. It's my kid back there."
My mom was quiet.
When I looked back toward the rabbit, it was no longer a rabbit but a person. Or at least it looked like a person. The figure radiated pure gold, and atop his head was what appeared to be a King's crown. I recalled Allison's experience of seeing the sun-like figure in her moment of distress. Was that what was happening here? Was this really all true?
"Hey!" My dad shouted, eyeing little-me from the rear-view mirror. "What are you reaching at?"
I looked and saw the golden figure extending his hand toward the window, and little me's hand was reaching back. "Mom, dad, it bright." little-me said.
"What's bright, honey?" my mom asked.
"Don't encourage her, Cheryl."
"Someone there!" little me shouted happily and dropped the rest of the markers and the coloring book onto the ground.
"Who's there?" asked my mom.
"Cheryl, I swear to God. Sit the fuck down."
Everything from that moment on happened so quickly I barely had any time to process it. My mom lifted out of her seat to either get little me's attention or help me pick up my coloring book. My dad responded by grabbing onto her throat, letting go of the steering wheel entirely. He threw her back against the car door, and her head hit the window so hard, the glass cracked. My dad had dropped his cigarette, and I could smell smoke coming from under his seat, but that didn't seem to bother him at all. He turned toward little-me at the same moment my three-year-old hand reached out and grabbed onto the golden figure, whose hand diffused through the window. When my dad turned, I got a whiff of the most awful smell that I wouldn't have been able to place had I not had that nightmare last night. He grabbed onto little-me's shoulder and tugged her away from the golden figure that was trying to pull her the other way. My dad's facade began to crack, and I could see those dark bugs crawling out from the pores in his arms, marching down toward little-me.
I reacted.
I grabbed onto my dad's arm and pulled him off little-me. I heard the sound of my shirt ripping as she was torn from his grip and pulled out of the car, diffusing through it like a ghost. My brief victory was immediately overturned as I saw what was now clearly the demon smiling at me, his wretched fingers curled around my forearm.
"Caught you," He sneered.
Then the whole world once again diffused into countless numbers of particles, only this time, instead of riding through it, I felt like I was falling through an elevator shaft with each floor darker than the last. The further I fell, the less I became aware of my surroundings, and the more I felt a deep sense of loneliness. It was as if I was the only person in the whole world: and the whole world was a prison designed entirely for me. This went on for so long, I began to forget who I was. Where I was. What was.
And then I landed.
***
Source Used:
Jung, Carl. Synchronicity. Translated by Sonu Shamdasani, Princeton University Press, 2010.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Content Warning: Domestic Abuse
***
We pulled off I-51 a little after midnight, stopping at a truck stop which was couched between the highway and a large forest.
We waited in the van for ten minutes or so. Trent had increased the sonar radius to its maximum of 30 miles a little over an hour ago. Somehow the red pings had kept up with us, holding a steady distance of around 20 miles. Considering we were averaging around 80 mph, and a coyote's top speed is only around 40 mph, we figured they had been enhanced in some way. Either that, or they shape-shifted into something faster. Regardless, now that we had stopped, we waited to see if the demon spawn would try and close the distance. Luckily, or unluckily, they didn't. They kept their 20 mile buffer, but we noticed they were beginning to spread out along the circumference of that boundary.
"We're close. They know that, so they're trying to trap us in." Trent said.
"Trying to?—more like they have."
We considered whether we should stay in the van and keep watch, but we figured that would do us little good. At their speed, they could be on us in ten minutes, which means we would need to stay up all night and keep tabs on their positions. Trent offered to stay up, of course, but I shut him down.
"The demon doesn't want to kill us now. You said it yourself. Plus, we need our rest. If they come, they come."
Trent didn't like it, but he acquiesced.
The truck stop had all the essentials: a gas station and mini mart with showers and an attached McDonald's, a large parking lot for truckers to idle and sleep, and even a section with lodging for those who wanted a more comfortable night's rest. I told Trent that he should take advantage of the showers, and after a little convincing, he agreed. While he was cleaning himself up, I patrolled the dingy, half-stocked aisles of "Daisy's Quick Mart". I probably would have been appalled at the quality of the store had I actually been paying any attention to it whatsoever. But I wasn't. I was thinking hard about what awaited me tomorrow.
During the drive, I had asked Trent why the demon would want us to return to the crash site. What did he mean that I would be 'confronting a dark entity in a place he couldn't help me'? He seemed hesitant to answer, but my little stunt outside the storage facility seemed to have sufficiently motivated him.
"When I said I've never done this before, I meant it." Trent started. "I've never done this exact thing before—meaning I've never projected someone into the past."
"So, I'm time traveling?" I asked.
"No—don't think of it like that." Trent paused, trying to come up with a good explanation. "It's more like I'm opening a window for you to look through: not a door. You're going to see the past, but you can't interact with the physicalities there. But that doesn't mean you can't interact with anything."
There was a space of silence as Trent tried to let me work out his meaning for myself. "I don't get it. Are you saying there's something I can interact with? Like what?" And then it hit me. "The demon. The demon can interact with me? Meaning what? It can kill me?"
"Meaning… I'm not exactly sure. You're going to be in a kind of psychic space. If it does damage, it won't be to your body. It'll be to your mind—or spirit. But I don't know what the limits of that damage could be. I just don't have those answers."
"If you've never done this, how do you know any of it will work?"
"That's an easy one." Trent answered. "Because it's been done to me."
There was silence.
"Look, if I know anything, I know my tech. Don't doubt that this will work. It's my job to make sure it does. I just need you to be in the right mental for this. Just because it knows your coming doesn't mean it automatically has the upper hand. It won't be able to see you unless you make contact with it first. In other words, you have to initiate contact. As long as you remain a spectator, you should be okay. Trust me. Just don't make contact."
I started pacing faster—fast enough to catch the attention of the overnight shift worker, a young man whose name I can't quite remember. I know it started with a "J". Jake, maybe? Anyway, he asked if I was alright, to which I responded in the affirmative. He left me alone for another couple passes, but when I almost ran into one of the shelves, he stood up and said, "Uh—I'm going to have to ask you to stop running around. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
I must have stared daggers at him, because he recoiled from my gaze. What's gotten into me? I thought. Then, steadying myself, I apologized. I looked around and grabbed the nearest edible looking piece of merchandise: a bag of Swedish Fish, and placed it down on the counter. "Just this, please."
The cashier rang me up. It was surprisingly cheap.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the young man asked. He was tall with brown hair. He seemed tired—maybe even more tired than me. But he also seemed kind.
I smiled as best I could and said, "No, I'm not. But there's not really anything you can do. Hell, there might not be anything I can do." I furrowed my eyebrows at my own response, realizing that imminent death may have broken my verbal filter.
On the other hand, the cashier did not seem surprised at all. "Ah, I see. It's one of those problems." He responded. "Well, hey, for what it's worth, you seem like one of the resilient ones. I think you'll be alright."
I only smiled and nodded at his mildly cryptic comment. Looking back, the whole interaction was a bit strange, but I had way too much mental clutter to recognize that in the moment. I took my Swedish Fish and walked through the anteroom which led to McDonald's. I found an open yellow booth that wasn't littered with crumpled straw sleeves and sat down, chomping mindlessly on my little red fish until Trent returned. When he arrived, he took my place, and I went to shower. After we were both clean and fed, we returned to the van. The pings were still pushed safely out of harm's way. But that didn't mean we were out of harm's way. Trent asked me if I wanted to sleep in the van, saying that "it'd be the safest place."
I thought it over. He was right, obviously. The van was not only outfitted with weapons I couldn't even begin to understand, but it was also our escape, and it would be just as difficult, if not more difficult to break into than the studio-style motel rooms with their wood doors and big windows. Still, if this was going to be my last night on earth, I wanted to sleep in a bed. A real bed. Trent understood and said he'd stay parked right outside my room for the night.
After purchasing a key from the night attendant, I moseyed over to the cement walkways which connected the twenty or so rooms. Mine was room #56, which I thought was odd since, like I said, there were only 20 rooms. I lugged in my tomato plushie and dad's old book and placed them on the queen mattress.
"I'll be right outside." Trent said after I collapsed onto the bed.
"Trent," I called out, stopping him half-way through the door.
"Yeah?"
All the blood in my body rushed up to my face as I realized my unfiltered mouth almost reflexively said the word "stay". I stared at Trent, my heart beating, my face hot. I considered asking him to sleep on the floor like my dad, but that would be childish and impolite. The alternative was to share my bed… Or I could take the floor.
"I'll just be right outside." Trent said before my mind processed a solution. "Come by if you need anything. I'll be up most of the night anyway."
"Okay," I replied in a faint voice.
Trent shut the door.
I sat atop the bedsheets and acquainted myself with my new living space. A feeling of regret closed over me as I considered that even sleeping on a carseat would have been better if it meant I didn't have to be alone. With a sigh, I turned on the bedside lamp and grabbed the book and stuffed tomato, using the tomato as a backrest as I slipped my legs under the covers and situated the book upright on my thighs. I cracked it open and was immediately blasted with a puff of dusty, old book scent. It was ripe at first, and I turned my head away to sneeze, but as I perused through the pages, the scent grew on me. It reminded me of the days growing up when I'd step into dad's study and read through one of the many volumes on cryptic topics which were at least two college degrees above my Lexile range.
I was only a couple minutes into browsing the collection of different scientific and philosophical works when I came across a page which contained highlighted text. This was unusual, as my dad would never mark up his books. He was a purist on that point. I rubbed my thumb over the yellow lines, and sure enough, it was highlighter.
The highlighted text was part of a small book by Carl Jung called "Synchronicity". There were a total of three pages that were marked, and they advanced like this:
Page 5:
The philosophical principle that underlies our conception of natural law is causality*. But if the connection between cause and effect turns out to be only statistically valid and relatively true, then the causal principle is only of relative use for explaining natural processes… That is as much to say that the connection of events may in certain circumstances be other than causal, and require another principle of explanation.*
Page 19:
…there are events which are related to one another experimentally, and in this case meaningfully*, without there being any possibility of proving that this relation is a causal one, since the "transmission" exhibits none of the known properties of energy…a situation which does not yet exist and will only occur in the future could transmit itself as a phenomenon of energy to a receiver in the present…Therefore, it cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity... "synchronicity"*
Page 22:
A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer… which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment.
I flipped through the rest of the pages of the book. There was no more highlighted text, but there was a message on the last page which read:
Matthew 7:7-8
I'll meet you in the darkest place.
He also included his typical smiley face which had an ovular shape and three sprouts of hair which I now realized kind of resembled my tomato plushie. It was my dad's writing, of course. But why? And how? What did this mean?
The motel had a Bible stashed away in the nighstand drawer. I got it out and looked up the verses which read the following:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
I spent maybe an hour ruminating on all of this. The whole discourse on energy and causality and a "falling together in time" just seemed so right. It was clear that my dad definitely did know what I was going through, but for whatever reason, he made it seem like he was oblivious. Why had he hidden that from me? I felt like I was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand, my dad loved me enough to leave this note, maybe even knowing the exact moment I'd need it. But on the other hand, he had neglected my struggles throughout my entire childhood. He even lied at times. Was this really enough to make up for all of that?
And then there was the section about the future transmitting energy to the past. I read back through the whole paragraph and the original writer had meant it to say this as something that wasn't possible, but my dad's highlighting made it seem like he wanted to flip the meaning. The future does affect the past. I thought about where I was headed and wondered if I would soon discover that for myself.
Lastly, dad's message. The Bible verse reminded me of the first time I prayed; how I reached out to God and received peace as an answer to my prayer. Now I feel like I'm actively seeking… something, but I don't know yet what I'll find. And then there's knocking. At first that reminded me of the story with the beetle tapping on the window, but then I went back even deeper in my memory and dug out the monster tapping at my window, and the words my dad spoke to me in order to set my mind at ease: "you're a superhero. And you know what your greatest superpower is? Your greatest power is you get to tell the monsters what to do. Because the monsters are only as strong as the stories you tell about them…so if you're ever scared, honey, just dream up a better story."
I was crying into my stuffed tomato now. I felt like all the blinking pieces of my life had finally been pulled together into a completed puzzle. This was all by design. My entire life, filled with so much chaos and confusion, was actually preparing me for this moment. And my dad thought I had the tools and strength enough to get through it. I flipped through the book one more time, thinking maybe he had left some other hidden comment—some formula to defeat this demon and return home. But there was nothing. Only that one comment: "I'll meet you in the darkest place."
What's the darkest place, dad? Is that where I'm going? Are you saying you'll be there, too?
With those thoughts in mind, my eyes became heavy shutters which, with a slight pressure on the pulley, winded shut. My swimming thoughts and firework-like fears dissipated, and I returned to a precious childhood memory. It was after an evening soccer practice. Summer. Dad was driving me to Dairy Queen. I got a cherry-dipped twist cone. I was happy.
So, so happy.
***
I woke up to sunlight blaring through my windows. Shit, I overslept, was my immediate thought. I threw off my covers and opened the front door. A glance at the clock showed 1:13 PM. I shouldn't have even been allowed to stay checked in this long. Damn, am I gonna get double-billed for this?
I heard a rummaging sound around the corner of my motel room. It sounded like a squirrel was trying to find an afternoon snack in one of the garbage bins. I stepped outside. The sun was extremely bright, to the point where I had to squint and put my hand over my eyes to even see the ground in front of me. I was trying to walk toward the van, but somehow I ended up in front of the trash bins where the animal's tail was sticking out from a turned-over, silver garbage can. Its tail was wagging excitedly, and I remember thinking that it was much too large to be a squirrel.
The animal bent down as if biting onto something, and I heard the sound of its growl as it struggled to tug whatever it was free from the barrel. Inch by inch, the creature backed out of the canister, and more of its sharp, sticky hair was revealed. I heard something snap, then the creature leapt back and I saw what it was chomping on. My eyes widened in horror as the pink tube of a human intestine was pulled taut like the end of a tangled hose. Blood and entrails were spilling out of the human's opened gut. And then, behind the canine, I saw the person's face. His face was pale white, his eyes closed, and his hair was slicked back… It was Trent.
Before I could react, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. I whirled around and saw my dad. But—no, it wasn't him. It was someone wearing a paper-mache face mask that was painted to look like my dad. The forehead of the mask was already beginning to crack, white specks breaking off like sawdust. Through the cracks, I could see the figure's true form. I didn't know darkness had its own type of light, but that's the only way to describe it. It was as if malevolence itself was reified into a skin which was actually an amalgamation of millions of little, oozing parasites that leached into the nearby light. When it finally spoke, the demon's voice was a full octave lower than the old man's at the deli. And it had an earth-stilling gravitas.
"Today's the day!" He sang and reached into his pocket. His lips curled upward into a foxy smirk. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day." He said and held up a razor blade. Half his facade had already fallen apart, and now I could see the bugs up close, writhing in what was either horror or ecstasy. And his scent… it was somehow more rank than the rabid coyote rummaging through the trash can with Trent's cut open body inside. The demon closed in on my position, and in one, decisive motion, he brought the blade close to his chin, then sliced it across my throat. "Wake up!" He screamed.
I jumped out of my bed and grabbed my throat, feeling the cold sting of its quick slice. Hyperventilating, I patted the area down, trying to hold the blood in, but when I removed my hands, I saw they were dry. It was only a dream, I thought. Gray light was only beginning to filter in through the drapes. I'm in my hotel room. I'm safe. I tried consoling, but the pragmatic mental massages weren't enough to hold the force of my knees buckling. I dropped onto the carpet and cried for a long while.
Outside, rain was beginning to fall.
***
By the time I met up with Trent, I had already composed myself and decided to keep my dad's message and the nightmare to myself. None of it seemed particularly productive from a logistical standpoint, anyway. And I wanted to focus on the mission.
We stopped by McDonald's and bought a couple cups of coffee. Trent asked if I wanted any food, and I declined. Black coffee seemed like the only thing my stomach could take at the present moment. I could tell Trent was hungry, but he tried playing it off (I guess to be respectful of me?) I told him to knock it off and get something to eat. I didn't need my Charon getting lightheaded and dropping the paddle before he finished rowing me to Hell. He didn't care much for my joke, but he ordered a couple Chicken McGriddles at the kiosk anyway.
There were maybe ten patrons spread throughout the restaurant. We sat down at the same booth from the prior night, this time across from one another. Trent spent the first ten minutes or so babbling about our fuel supply and the logistics of the trip from here on in. Practical stuff. I've come to realize that's how he deals with his stress. He talks it out in short, durable sentences. I mostly nodded and watched as what looked like a storm front closed in on the truck stop. The sky was overcast, and there were darker clouds in the distance. The rain was still only a patter, but a middle-aged man wearing a yellow bow tie on the wall-mounted TV confirmed that there would be heavier rain and thunderstorms very soon.
After the worker delivered Trent's food and he ate it in record time, I posed the one question that was still on my mind.
"How do I fight him?" I asked.
Trent finished a large gulp of his coffee, then looked at me. It was the first substantial thing I'd said all morning; Trent could tell something was off with me, but he figured there was no point in asking what it was. "By 'him', I assume you mean the demon?"
I nodded.
Trent licked his teeth clean. "You could try praying again."
"I'm serious," I responded.
"I'm serious, too. It worked before, didn't it?"
"You mean at my house?"
Trent nodded.
"I thought you weren't a religious man?"
"I'm not. Just a practical one. If praying worked before, maybe it'll work again."
"That's the best you've got? A maybe?"
"No, I've got a lot of shit better than a maybe." He answered. "It's just not accessible where you're going. Which is why I recommend not making contact on the first run."
"First run? So we're going to do this more than once?"
"At least," Trent answered. Then, seeing my expression, he continued. "What? You thought this was going to be a one-and-done? We have to conduct some research first. I did tell you this was new for me, right?"
Somehow Trent's response had set my mind at ease a little. I was going to have more than one chance. Of course, why wouldn't I be able to go back more than once?
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? It would have gone a long way in easing my mind."
Trent lifted his hands in defense. "Sorry, I just thought that was a given. I mean, what we're doing is dangerous, just like I said, but it doesn't mean we aren't going to approach this as safely and scientifically as possible. However, there is a different problem with running multiple trials."
"The Organization?"
"That's right," Trent said like a proud parent. "Our little experiment will be like a giant spotlight, and the longer we wait around after it's on us, the greater the chance we'll have unwelcome company."
"So, safe but speedy."
"Safe but speedy. Exactly."
***
We fueled up and were back on the road a little after 8:00. From that point on, Trent and I were absolutely silent. I had the distinct feeling of being in the eye of a storm. The pings moved closer commensurate with our progress toward the crash site. The cloudfront continued its advance. And I noticed a haze beginning to descend onto the road ahead of us. It was fog.
We meandered further inland, the forest thickening around us until the rain almost stopped entirely—the leaves drinking it up before it fell onto our windshield. I kept my eyes on the radar. We were approaching the large yellow circle which indicated we had arrived. As we pulled closer, I began to feel things. Fear. Eeriness. Doubt. Then happiness. Hope. Love. Normally feelings like these had a clear source to picture, but these sensations came on in waves without any discernible reason. It was almost as if they were blinking into existence inside me.
"Here we go," Trent said like an airline pilot readying his crew for turbulence.
I still recall the exact moment we crossed the boundary into the area of higher energy. It was like something just "clicked" in my brain, and all of a sudden everything felt so much closer. The sound of the rain against the trees was almost right next to my ear. The trees in the distance would oscillate between their position a half-mile out, then suddenly seem five meters away. If I focused on something long enough, it began to radiate those same ethereal particles as when Trent released Ava's "phase lock". I checked to make sure the shifter wasn't set to "TD". Sure enough, it was still in drive.
"Can you see them?" Trent asked. "The shifts?"
"Yeah," I said in a dreamy voice. I felt like I was driving through a wonderland.
"It's the energy. I barely notice a difference. A bit of movement in the trees, but not much else. But I'm sure for you, it's a whole experience."
"What is this?" I raised my hand and caught some of the pixel dust dripping off the sun visor. It disappeared when it made contact with my hand.
"It's a kind of radiation. Everything emits it, just in different quantities. I'm still not exactly sure how it relates to the other realms, but I'm guessing it's a kind of primordial matter that helps connect our worlds."
"It's beautiful," I exclaimed. "I wish I could see the world like this all the time."
"Maybe you will," Trent whispered.
As we arrived at the crash site, I began to get glimpses of the past. My childhood dreams and memories were pushing their way out from my subconscious. I noticed an increased number of blinks, which were validated by Ava who reported the following: "Currently detecting 14,350 novel emergences and 2,777 controlled agents. Net anomalies: 2,777."
"That's a lot of blinks." I remarked. "Why doesn't Ava include them in the net anomalies?"
Trent turned his head so I could see his smirk. "Because blinks aren't anomalies."
I thought about it for a second. Blinks aren't anomalies. "I never thought about it that way."
"It's hard to think about it that way when 'normal' for most people means not picking up on a fundamental aspect of reality. But that doesn't make it any less real."
We continued past the epicenter of the yellow circle. "Are we not stopping?" I asked. "I think we already passed the crash site."
"It doesn't have to be exactly at the site," Trent said. "Plus, we don't want to stop on the side of the road and risk getting some civilian involved. There's a field about half a mile up ahead. I'm going to pull off the road and set up camp there.
The "field" that Trent was referring to was actually a large clearing that dipped down into several trench-like troughs which were filled to the brim with fog like witches cauldrons. Further on in the distance, I saw open fields, probably used for farming, and then a large hill where the trees once again reasserted themselves. We had pulled off the road and up a small incline where the trees had already been broken down, leaving a trail for us to drive through. When we surfaced at the edge of the clearing, Trent pulled us onto a flat bed of dried mud which was maybe thirty yards long.
"Here," he said with a sigh.
We both sat for a minute, looking around at the field. We had finally arrived. The rain was beginning to pick up, and the dark sky made it almost impossible to discern the time of day.
"You ready?" Trent asked.
I looked at him. Really looked at him. In his blue eyes. Was I ready? Did it even matter?
"Let's do this," I said.
***
This was the first time I was really able to inspect the back of Trent's van. He had talked up his gear a lot, and honestly, I was impressed. Not in the way that a scientist is impressed by another scientist's lab—I wasn't any kind of expert—but it still seemed remarkably well managed. Now that I was in a state where my vision had been enhanced, I could actually see the enigmatic particles circulating through the pneumatic tubes which were coiled like the pipes and valves of an elaborate wind instrument. The walls of the van, itself, were glistening white, making it easier to make out everything else inside. Along the floor were five overturned columns. Each column was dark and had a vibrating quality, as if they were charged with energy. Then atop the center three columns was a small altar which supported an apparatus with two skinny, metal arms holding a silver halo. At present, the arms were folded and the halo was suspended a few inches above the altar, faced-down. I thought maybe I'd see particles exuding from it, but instead it was emitting visible waves which bent and warped everything they touched.
"That thing is emitting a lot of energy." I remarked, gesturing toward the halo.
Trent stepped in between the columns and started pulling out the packages he had stuffed in there yesterday. "Just wait till' it's on."
Most of the packages contained only a single piece of equipment, and were otherwise packed with foam peanuts. We carefully removed each box and set them on the ground outside. I asked if the rain would damage any of the stuff inside, to which Trent only laughed and continued lugging out the boxes. When they were all out, Trent removed a box cutter from his pocket and went one-by-one opening them. There were eight pieces in total.
"What is it?" I asked as we fished the first item out.
"It's another apparatus, like the one inside. Except it'll mount on the ground out here."
I pulled out what looked like a metal tripod.
"Good, that'll go on the bottom."
"Where are we setting it up?"
"Over here," Trent said and stepped five paces away from the van. He coordinated himself up so he was centrally aligned with the inner ring, then stomped a few times. "This is the spot."
As we continued to work, I asked Trent about how the whole contraption works.
"Do you remember the first time we were in the van? When we had to escape from the semi-truck?" Trent asked and connected a secondary mounting apparatus on top of the tripod. It had four spider-like legs that made right angles and stuck into the ground.
"Of course," I said. "The 'phase lock'."
"Yeah," Trent said and gestured toward the metal stick that was in my hand. I handed it to him. "The phase lock is a seal on the level of energy that the van is allowed to release. It also controls its dispersion pattern so that it releases its energy in a steady wave. This allows Ava to scan for anomalies without causing us to become an anomaly." Trent stuck the plank into the neck of the tripod.
"So when you released the phase lock, we started emitting more energy."
"That's right." Trent confirmed. "Enough to create an alternate route through a different realm."
"So we blinked into a different realm, then back, just to avoid that truck?"
"That's right."
"But why couldn't we just move out of the way?"
"Because it had locked onto us. It was tracking our motion and adjusting its course based on the amount of energy we were emitting. So in order to escape, we had to radically skew our potential energy and then use it to shift."
"Couldn't he have just followed us?"
Trent connected four more pieces to the device which now looked like an elaborate teepee. He was fishing in the last box when he spoke again. "Yeah, he could have. But it was highly improbable that he would have found us." Trent returned from the bottom of the box with another silver ring in hand. "Think of it like this. Let's say you're trying to escape from some bad guy who's coming after you, and you enter a new room you've never seen before. Would you prefer this room to have three doors to go through, or ten?"
I thought about his riddle for a second, then responded, "It depends where they go."
Trent fastened the ring atop the teepee. "Let's say they all lead to random places, or let's say they're all closets that lead nowhere. The key is that more is better, because the more doors he has to check, the less likely he is to pick the correct one. Make sense?"
"So we opened up a bunch of doors and escaped through one at random?"
"Hence the gear 'TD', for 'Trap Door'."
I marveled at the insights, but not for long. Trent hopped back in the van and pulled a lever that I hadn't seen until now. The two metal arms raised the inner ring until it was perpendicular with the altar. Then Trent clicked one of three red buttons along the back wall, and I saw what looked like a large, glass eye suspended in a magnifying glass protruding from the wall, aligned with the center of both rings. A couple seconds later, the glass eye began to focus the energy which was being fed to it from the pneumatic tubes, and a blue pyramid of light projected from it into the first ring, then from the first ring into the second ring. All three pieces were aligned at slightly diminishing heights, so the cylinder of light beamed through the second ring, into the ground.
"Alright, time for the first trial."
I felt the nerves starting up in my stomach. Trent sensed this and hopped out of the truck. It was raining quite hard now, though it was still warm. Both Trent and I were soaked, but that hardly concerned us. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you're feeling scared." He said. "But trust me on this. You're going to do fine. Just keep in mind what we talked about. Stay a spectator. Okay?"
I looked into his blue eyes, which seemed especially gray in the dark. Still, Trent's voice was reassuring. All I had to do was trust him. Trust myself. Trust my dad. And it was all going to turn out right.
"I'm ready," I said.
Trent was still for a second, holding my eyes in his. Then he guided me behind the outer ring and into the cylinder of light.
"I should step into it now?" I asked, afraid I'd be called away immediately.
"It's not on yet, so don't worry. I still have to press another button."
I followed Trent's instructions and stood in the blue light which was centered on my chest. Then I watched as Trent ran into the back of the van and posted up next to the glass eye. "Ready?" He yelled out. It was hard to hear him over the rain, but I yelled back. "Ready!"
The next thing I saw was a blinding blue light beam from the van. I heard what sounded like a laser, then saw the cylinder oscillate, expanding and compressing. When the energy reached the second ring, I saw everything around me light up—it looked brighter than noon on a cloudless day. Then the oscillations made their way to me, and I was swallowed up whole.
***
When I came to, I was in the backseat of a car. I felt my butt rumbling. Everything was dim and quiet. And then I heard a woman's voice from in front of me.
"Mark, please, not with Lauren in the back."
The man, who I now identified as my father, pulled the cigarette away from his lips and blew the smoke at my mom. He eyed the back seat where I was sitting, using one of five markers that hadn't rolled off my lap to color a rabbit in my animal color book.
"The kid's fine." he said and took another drag.
"Mark," my mom repeated.
I saw my dad raise his hand in a rapid motion. "I said she's fine, Cheryl. Now check the map and make sure we're going the right away. I can't see shit with all this fog."
I took a moment to make sure I was really in the back seat. I patted myself. I clearly had weight. Then I tried touching the car. At first, my fingertips met a solid surface, but when I tried to press through, my hand slipped into the car. I quickly pulled my hand away as if I had reached into a fire.
That's when I heard the little three year old next to me start crying. I turned and saw that little-me had dropped another couple markers onto the ground and was struggling to reach them.
"Hey!" my dad shouted. "What did I say about crying?"
"Quit it, Mark. She just dropped her markers." said my mom; she turned to help me pick them up.
"What did you say to me?" Mark spat with a voice full of guile. He reached out and pushed her back into her seat. "Don't," he commanded. "She has to learn how to deal with life."
"Deal…" My mom started in disbelief. "Deal with life? Do you hear yourself? What's gotten into you?"
"Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't give her the right to cry. You helping her is just going to reinforce her behavior."
"Her behavior? What about your behavior? You're acting like a total dick."
I didn't even have a moment to react before my dad's hand was across my mom's face. I felt the slap more than I heard it, my own face seeming to swell with the force of the blow. I saw my mom cover her mouth and lean away. Then little-me began to cry even louder, which only challenged my dad to step up his own volume.
"Everyone needs to get a fucking grip before I crash this car." My dad shouted and took another drag. The scariest part was I couldn't tell if he was warning us or threatening us. I felt the sudden urge to do something. There was no way this was real. I was definitely in some fantasy concocted by the demon. He wanted to turn me against my dad. That was the only explanation for something like this. My dad was a good man, not… this.
As I contemplated what to do, I saw a small, golden light appear behind little-me's window. Apparently she saw it, too, because her cries hushed as she traced the wisp with her eyes. After a second, the wisp transformed into a bunny rabbit, reminiscent of the one she was coloring. The rabbit hopped alongside the window, then did a couple circles in place. I watched little me let out a playful laugh and reach toward the window.
"What's going on back there?" my dad asked with a scowl. Apparently the only sound more disturbing than cries were laughs.
I looked back to the front and saw my mom wiping blood from her lip. Her expression was miserable. "Leave her alone, Mark."
"I'll do whatever I damn well want to do, Cheryl. It's my kid back there."
My mom was quiet.
When I looked back toward the rabbit, it was no longer a rabbit but a person. Or at least it looked like a person. The figure radiated pure gold, and atop his head was what appeared to be a King's crown. I recalled Allison's experience of seeing the sun-like figure in her moment of distress. Was that what was happening here? Was this really all true?
"Hey!" My dad shouted, eyeing little-me from the rear-view mirror. "What are you reaching at?"
I looked and saw the golden figure extending his hand toward the window, and little me's hand was reaching back. "Mom, dad, it bright." little-me said.
"What's bright, honey?" my mom asked.
"Don't encourage her, Cheryl."
"Someone there!" little me shouted happily and dropped the rest of the markers and the coloring book onto the ground.
"Who's there?" asked my mom.
"Cheryl, I swear to God. Sit the fuck down."
Everything from that moment on happened so quickly I barely had any time to process it. My mom lifted out of her seat to either get little me's attention or help me pick up my coloring book. My dad responded by grabbing onto her throat, letting go of the steering wheel entirely. He threw her back against the car door, and her head hit the window so hard, the glass cracked. My dad had dropped his cigarette, and I could smell smoke coming from under his seat, but that didn't seem to bother him at all. He turned toward little-me at the same moment my three-year-old hand reached out and grabbed onto the golden figure, whose hand diffused through the window. When my dad turned, I got a whiff of the most awful smell that I wouldn't have been able to place had I not had that nightmare last night. He grabbed onto little-me's shoulder and tugged her away from the golden figure that was trying to pull her the other way. My dad's facade began to crack, and I could see those dark bugs crawling out from the pores in his arms, marching down toward little-me.
I reacted.
I grabbed onto my dad's arm and pulled him off little-me. I heard the sound of my shirt ripping as she was torn from his grip and pulled out of the car, diffusing through it like a ghost. My brief victory was immediately overturned as I saw what was now clearly the demon smiling at me, his wretched fingers curled around my forearm.
"Caught you," He sneered.
Then the whole world once again diffused into countless numbers of particles, only this time, instead of riding through it, I felt like I was falling through an elevator shaft with each floor darker than the last. The further I fell, the less I became aware of my surroundings, and the more I felt a deep sense of loneliness. It was as if I was the only person in the whole world: and the whole world was a prison designed entirely for me. This went on for so long, I began to forget who I was. Where I was. What was.
And then I landed.
***
Source Used:
Jung, Carl. Synchronicity. Translated by Sonu Shamdasani, Princeton University Press, 2010.

Hi, my wife and I need to set up a website in around 12 months. It will involve rehabilitation services for people who has sustained serious injuries. We do not expect that much work to come as a result of traffic to the site to begin with but more through established contacts in the industry. However we do need a basic website. It will not need to take any payments just set out what we do and contact details. Would a free website be sufficient for this? And would we be able to use our own domain name?
All advice appreciated.
Thanks

GO TO THIS SITE FOR FREE ROBUX! https://www.allthewordsmatter.com

Hey, where do y'all watch the new episodes online? You have any recommendations for a FREE site where i can watch it? I had a site for it but it works no more and I don't want to be buying crunchyroll membership or whatever

Right now I just started on building a SaaS app in public.
I've been working on it for a few hours since this morning, and right now, I have a business sketch and a set of user personas. I'm going to try and iterate as fast as possible and share with everyone along the way.
The idea is for a Notion -> Reddit one-way sync Plugin for Notion.
You create a top-level notion page that represents a subreddit. Once associated with that subreddit, it can never be associated with another, but the page title can change to whatever.
Since Reddit titles are immutable, each post can also only be associated with a single Reddit, but the notion page titles can change like above.
This will be a free app and anyone will be able to use it at any state as I will use continuous deployment.
I use Notion to store my documentation and this is what I have so far:
https://scythe-foxglove-abc.notion.site/Notion-Reddit-sync-business-blueprint-1c9c2ff7ce9f4e9fa99cedd28bb88ecd
There are many risk factors. I've used the Reddit API quite extensively, but only in a read-only way, and I've never used the Notion API. If you can think of any blockers, let me know!
If you'd like to hang out and watch, please join our discord. We've already got 23 people!
https://discord.gg/4tu2JUmxgN
You're free to copy this idea and run with it yourself!
or you can just watch me try - maybe I fail, and maybe I don't
Let me know what you think of the business idea and what risk factors you might see! Thanks. I'm also going to post videos on YouTube once I get the hang of it.

I just started a US based company that makes one product -- a new kind of lawn game -- and need some guidance, please. I've never started a business or built a website.
So far I've started an LLC, got tax ID and state/local licenses, and other basics. I have a manufacturer and they will start making the product in a few weeks (I just approved the final prototype), and I will receive the first shipment by about October.. The product will cost the customer $125 (includes free shipping). I only intend to sell in the US for now, because I want to keep it as simple as possible to start. I'm learning how to do everything via google and YouTube, and figured this sub could help with a couple of questions. Appreciate any input!

1. For now, I plan to only sell the product on my own website. (Maybe place it on Amazon and shopify soon, too.) I bought a domain name and hosting through SquareSpace. Now I need to build the website and include payment processing. Please suggest the best services to do these things, for my particular situation. I've never built a website, and I'm working on a tight budget, so easy and inexpensive are priorities. The site doesn't need to be fancy...it'll mainly have some text/photo blocks and videos covering all aspects of the game, and the option to purchase it.
   
2. I live in a state with no sales tax. If a customer from a state with sales tax orders a game, do I have to charge them for sales tax and pay their state tax collectors? If so, does the payment processor manage that, or do I have to do it separately?
   

I'll probably be back with more questions soon. Thanks!

I just started on building a SaaS app in public.
I've been working on it for a few hours since this morning, and right now, I have a business sketch and a set of user personas. I'm going to try and iterate as fast as possible and share with everyone along the way.
The idea is for a Notion -> Reddit one-way sync Plugin for Notion.
You create a top-level notion page that represents a subreddit. Once associated with that subreddit, it can never be associated with another, but the page title can change to whatever.
Since Reddit titles are immutable, each post can also only be associated with a single Reddit, but the notion page titles can change like above.
This will be a free app and anyone will be able to use it at any state as I will use continuous deployment.
I use Notion to store my documentation and this is what I have so far:
https://scythe-foxglove-abc.notion.site/Notion-Reddit-sync-business-blueprint-1c9c2ff7ce9f4e9fa99cedd28bb88ecd
There are many risk factors. I've used the Reddit API quite extensively, but only in a read-only way, and I've never used the Notion API. If you can think of any blockers, let me know!
If you'd like to hang out and watch, please join our discord. We've already got 23 people!
https://discord.gg/4tu2JUmxgN
You're free to copy this idea and run with it yourself!
or you can just watch me try - maybe I fail, and maybe I don't
Let me know what you think of the business idea and what risk factors you might see! Thanks. I'm also going to post videos on YouTube once I get the hang of it.

Hey Sacramento!
I've been seeing a lot of chatter about breed-specific legislation (BSL) and pit bulls lately in this subreddit and its a regular cycle. Sacramento prides itself on being an inclusive and humane community, and given our focus on animal control and the number of shelters that work diligently with the public, animal rescue, and veterinary organizations, I wanted to share some solid facts and expert opinions from well-reputed institutions. This will help clear up the common misconceptions. I will not use or recommend anyone use sources that spread misinformation but I will go into one of the significant bad actors in the public sphere.
Additionally, I wanted to broadcast some local volunteer opportunities and programs that the SPCA and Sacramento (and shelters like Bradshaw) are putting on to encourage healthy animal ownership in our community.
If uninterested in the topic, or only interested in causing flame wars please do not comment. I would like to entertain a healthy community driven discussion here where we can attempt to answer questions and share information for people that are on the fence or are interested in learning more.
Why is this a problem? Why should I care?

Bradshaw Animal Shelter takes in 280 animals weekly

Think about that for a moment. 280 weekly. Do you know what happens when you cannot find homes for 1120 animals at a shelter with space for roughly 200 animals (and 400 fosters) total at any given time? They are euthanized, mostly.

645 dogs were euthanized by Bradshaw in 2023.

Currently Bradshaw has 79 dogs on site available for adoption, 26 of which are pit breeds, or roughly 32%.
Now think about this: The Sacramento SPCA and shelters like Bradshaw are so desperate to rehome pits that are being judged for nothing other than existing (with no prior history of aggression or violence) they are giving them away discounted with full kits and vaccinations and sometimes even with training and free vet care for a year. But nobody wants them. Why is that? Healthy, loving, sentient creatures that think and feel things are being euthanized by the literal thousands monthly EVERYWHERE, because of misinformation. Doesn't that seem evil?

1. Ineffectiveness: Studies and expert opinions consistently show that BSL does not reduce dog bite incidents. Instead, it diverts resources away from effective measures, such as educating the public on responsible pet ownership and enforcing existing animal control laws.
   
2. Unfair Targeting: BSL unfairly targets specific breeds, leading to discrimination against responsible owners and well-behaved dogs. Many loving pets are banned, rehomed, or euthanized simply because of their breed, not their behavior.
   
3. Wasted Resources: Implementing and enforcing BSL is costly. These resources could be better spent on community programs that promote responsible pet ownership, proper training, and socialization of all dogs.
   
4. Public Safety: By focusing on breed rather than behavior, BSL fails to address the real issues that contribute to dog bites, such as irresponsible ownership, lack of training, and poor socialization. Effective legislation should target these factors to genuinely improve public safety.
   
5. Community Impact: Supporting BSL goes against these values, fostering unnecessary fear and misunderstanding among residents. By advocating for breed-neutral laws and responsible pet ownership, we can create a safer, more compassionate community for both people and pets.
   
6. Volunteer and Support Opportunities: Engaging with local shelters and organizations through volunteering and support can make a significant difference. Programs run by organizations like the Sacramento SPCA offer education, training, and resources that help reduce incidents of dog bites and promote safe, responsible pet ownership.
   

The big myths:

• That banning certain breeds, like pit bulls, can reduce dog bite incidents.
• That pit bulls are inherently more aggressive than other breeds.
• That breed-specific legislation makes communities safer.
• That pit bulls have "locking jaws" making them more dangerous.
• That visual identification of a dog’s breed is reliable.
• That pit bulls are responsible for the majority of dog bite incidents.

The facts:

• Responsible pet ownership, education about dog behavior, and robust enforcement of animal control laws are far more effective in creating safe communities. Let’s focus on promoting these solutions instead of unfairly targeting specific breeds!
• Pit Bulls Are Not Inherently Dangerous: American Temperament Test Society: Studies by the American Temperament Test Society show that pit bulls score well on temperament tests, often outperforming many other breeds in terms of stability and tolerance.
• Owner Behavior Is Crucial: Research indicates that a dog's behavior is heavily influenced by the owner's actions. Dogs that are well-trained, socialized, and cared for are less likely to display aggressive behavior. The AVMA highlights that owner responsibility is key to preventing dog bites. Additionally please see the "why breed legislation is not the answer" banner after the content.
• Effective Legislation Focuses on Behavior: Laws that focus on the behavior of individual dogs and the responsibilities of owners, rather than breed, have been shown to be more effective in reducing dog bite incidents. The ASPCA supports breed-neutral laws that hold all dog owners accountable..
• Education and Community Programs Work: Community education programs that teach responsible pet ownership and dog bite prevention can significantly reduce incidents. The CDC supports educational initiatives as a means to improve community safety.
• Proper Training and Socialization: Dogs that receive proper training and socialization from an early age are less likely to develop behavioral issues. Positive reinforcement training methods are particularly effective in promoting good behavior in all breeds. American Kennel Club: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/issue-analysis-breed-specific-legislation/

By focusing on these facts and supporting evidence-based solutions, we can create safer communities without unfairly targeting specific breeds. Let's work together to promote responsible pet ownership and effective legislation.
How did we get here:
Unfortunately, there are many bad actors spreading misinformation and have been since the early to mid 90s. But I would like to focus on a single one that has a significant presence on Reddit: Dogbites.org. Their founder runs the subreddit banpitbulls. Visit it so you can understand what an issue it is. Read about the owner and what a cook she is and has zero education or credentials in the field., and read for yourself why the subreddit and its data should not be taken seriously. Additionally here is a chatgpt generated summary of why its just basically hate bait:

Dogsbite.org, a website that claims to offer reliable data on dog attacks, especially from breeds like pit bulls, has been heavily criticized for its methodologies and conclusions. Several sources highlight significant issues with the data and approach used by Dogsbite.org, making it a controversial and potentially dangerous resource.
Firstly, Dogsbite.org often relies on media reports to compile its data. This method is problematic because media coverage tends to be biased towards sensational stories, often misidentifying dog breeds and focusing disproportionately on attacks involving pit bulls. This selective reporting skews the statistics, making certain breeds appear more dangerous than they might actually be. The CDC itself has acknowledged that media reports are not a reliable source for accurate breed-specific data due to this bias (NoPitBullBans.com).
Furthermore, the term "pit bull" does not refer to a specific breed but rather a type that encompasses multiple breeds and their mixes. This broad categorization leads to inconsistencies and inaccuracies in reporting and data collection. Dogsbite.org's failure to differentiate between specific breeds and the generalized "pit bull type" dogs exacerbates these inaccuracies, contributing to a misleading portrayal of the breed's danger (EthicsAlarms.com).
Critics also argue that Dogsbite.org's data often disregards critical factors such as the circumstances of the attacks, the treatment of the dogs, and the responsibility of the owners. Factors like abuse, neglect, and lack of socialization are crucial in understanding aggressive behavior in dogs but are frequently overlooked in the site's reports. This omission results in an incomplete and potentially biased picture of why dog attacks occur (PitBullMyth.com).
In summary, Dogsbite.org's data and conclusions have been widely debunked for their reliance on biased media reports, improper classification of dog breeds, and neglect of important contextual factors. These flaws can lead to misguided breed-specific legislation and policies that unfairly target certain breeds while ignoring the real issues behind dog attacks, such as owner responsibility and dog treatment (EthicsAlarms.com, NoPitBullBans.com).

Additionally:

• Over the past few decades, a number of high-profile dog attacks received extensive media coverage. These incidents often involved specific breeds, particularly pit bulls, leading to widespread fear and concern among the public. The media's focus on these breeds has contributed to their negative reputation. Misinformation and Stereotyping:
• Misinformation about certain breeds, such as the myth of pit bulls having "locking jaws" or being inherently more aggressive, has fueled public fear and prejudice. This misinformation often spreads quickly and is difficult to correct, contributing to the stigma against these breeds. Legislative Response:
• In response to public concern, many municipalities and states implemented BSL as a way to address fears about dog attacks. These laws were often enacted without sufficient evidence or understanding of their effectiveness, focusing on the breed rather than the behavior of individual dogs and their owners. Lack of Education:
• A general lack of public education about dog behavior, responsible pet ownership, and the actual factors that contribute to dog bites has perpetuated misconceptions. Without proper education, communities may support measures that seem straightforward, like BSL, without realizing their ineffectiveness. Cultural Factors:
• In some communities, certain breeds are associated with negative cultural stereotypes. This can include assumptions about the types of people who own these dogs and their lifestyles. These cultural biases further entrench the fear and discrimination against specific breeds. Political Pressure:
• Politicians and community leaders sometimes feel pressured to take swift action in response to public outcry over dog attacks. BSL can appear to be a decisive measure, even though it does not address the root causes of the problem and often lacks support from animal behavior experts.

How you can help:

• Get Involved with Local Organizations: Volunteer with or support local animal shelters and rescue organizations. Many of these groups provide education and resources to help prevent dog bites and promote the well-being of all dogs. For example, the Sacramento SPCA advocates for breed neutral legislation and regularly puts on community outreach events to try to sway public opinion.

The Sacramento SPCA is proud to be part of a collaboration between local shelters, rescues and businesses for a Pit Bull advocacy insert that recently appeared in the Sacramento News & Review. Learn more about the breed history, discrimination both the dog and owners face, as well as difficulties in identifying “Is this a Pit Bull?”

• Join communities that propagate healthy data driven and research backed headlines*
• https://www.reddit.com/dogs is a fantastic and healthy community of data driven dog ownership and societal practices for a healthy and safe society of animal lovers. They regularly share research and promote positive ownership and animal practices. [You can read more about the community here.](https://www.reddit.com/dogs/wiki/rules)
  

  Blatant Misinformation on breeds/breed groups are not tolerated. This can include, but is not limited to: sensationalized fear mongering, sharing of dog attack videos and articles, pushing agendas of pro or anti-breed subs, stating that specific breeds require firm training in the form of dominance or punishment based training or that certain breeds do not learn from 'typical' methods. https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/why-breed-specific-legislation-not-answer https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/literature-reviews/dog-bite-risk-and-prevention-role-breed Users who demean, shame or mock others for their choice of breed(s) may be banned based off the infraction. While we understand some breed mixes may not be reputably bred, this does not mean that the owners > must be shamed for having them. Aim to educate without judgment or damnation.
  

• Advocate for Breed-Neutral Laws: Support legislation that focuses on the behavior of individual dogs and their owners, rather than targeting specific breeds. Contact your local representatives and express your support for breed-neutral policies.
  
• Promote Responsible Pet Ownership: Encourage and educate others about the importance of proper training, socialization, and care for all dogs. Share resources and information on how to be a responsible pet owner.
  
• Participate in Community Programs: Join or organize community programs that teach dog bite prevention and responsible pet ownership. These programs can be instrumental in reducing incidents and improving public safety. Volunteer at shelters, donate supplies and money to them.
  
• Foster and Adopt Responsibly: If you’re considering adding a dog to your family, consider adopting from a shelter. Make sure you’re prepared to provide the training, socialization, and care that your new pet will need.
  
• Spread the Word: Use your voice to dispel myths and share accurate information about pit bulls and other breeds. Social media, community meetings, and conversations with friends and neighbors are great ways to spread awareness. Do not promote misinformation. Rely on sources from scientists and professionals that are backed by research.
  

Sources
Bradshaw Animal Shelter Statistics:
https://animalcare.saccounty.gov/Documents/Statistics/ShelterAnimalCount_April2024.pdf Bradshaw Shelter Animal Count 2023:
https://animalcare.saccounty.gov/Documents/Statistics/Shelter%20Animals%20Count%20-%202023.pdf American Temperament Test Society:
http://atts.org/breed-statistics/statistics-page1/ AVMA on Dog Bite Prevention:
https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/dog-bite-prevention#:~:text=Be%20a%20responsible%20pet%20owner.&text=If%20you%20have%20a%20fenced,these%20procedures%20with%20your%20veterinarian. ASPCA Position on Breed-Specific Legislation:
https://www.aspca.org/about-us/aspca-policy-and-position-statements/position-statement-breed-specific-legislation CDC on Pet Safety:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-pets/about/dogs.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/pets/dogs.html American Kennel Club on Training Pit Bulls:
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/issue-analysis-breed-specific-legislation/ The Truth Behind Dogsbite.org:
https://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/2010/03/the-truth-behind-dogsbiteorg.html Discrediting Dogsbite.org on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/BanPitBulls/comments/9h3w5x/dogsbiteorg_discredited/ University of Georgia Veterinary Teaching Hospital:
https://vet.uga.edu/pit-bull-myths/ Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science on Breed Identification:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10888705.2013.856018 Sacramento SPCA Community Outreach Events:
https://www.sspca.org/blog-post/voice-voiceless dogs Community Rules:
https://www.reddit.com/dogs/wiki/rules#wiki_breed_misinformation_and_hate AVMA on Why Breed-Specific Legislation is Not the Answer:
https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/why-breed-specific-legislation-not-answer AVMA on Dog Bite Risk and Prevention:
https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/literature-reviews/dog-bite-risk-and-prevention-role-breed Volunteer and Foster Opportunities in Sacramento:
https://animalcare.saccounty.gov/HelptheAnimals/Pages/Volunteer.aspx Adopt from a Shelter:
https://animalcare.saccounty.gov/HelptheAnimals/Pages/Volunteering-and-Fostering.aspx
Further research:
https://jsmcah.org/index.php/jasv/article/view/6 https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/243/12/javma.243.12.1726.xml https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/literature-reviews/dog-bite-risk-and-prevention-role-breed https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165587618305950?via%3Dihub https://embarkvet.com/resources/top-dog-breed-by-state/ https://embarkvet.com/resources/most-common-dog-breed-ancestry/ https://www.avma.org/sites/default/files/resources/javma_000915_fatalattacks.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S109002331500310X https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.01042.x
Chat GPT helped me write this.

AiTracker.art is a Torrent based, Decentralized alternative to Huggingface & Civitai.
Why would you want to torrent Language Models?

• As a hedge against rug-pulls:

Currently, all distribution of Local AI Models is controlled by Huggingface & Civai. What happens if these services go under? Poof! Everything's gone! So what happens if AiTracker goes down? It'll still be possible to download models via a simple archive of the website's .torrent files and Magnet links. Yes, even if the tracker dies, you'll still be able to download the models through DHT & PEX if there's a seeder. Also another question, what happens if Huggingface or Civit decide they don't like a certain model for any particular reason and remove it? Poof! It's gone! So what happens if I (the admin of aitracker.art) decide that I don't like a certain model for any particular reason? Well... See the answer to the previous question.

• Speed:

Huggingface can often be quite slow to download from, a well seeded torrent is usually very fast

• Convenience:

Torrenting is actually pretty convenient, especially with large files and folders. And as a nice bonus, there's no filesize limit on the files you torrent so never again do you have to deal with model-00001-of-000XX or lfs to handle models.
Once you've set up your client (I personally recommend qB) downloading is as simple as clicking your desired Magnet link or .torrent and telling it where to download the contents. Uploading is easy too, just create a .torrent file with your client specifying what file or folder you want to upload then upload it to the tracker.
little disclaimer about the site
This is a one man project and my first time deploying a website to production. The site is based on the mature and well maintained TorrenPier codebase. And I've tested it over the past few weeks so all functionality should be present but I consider the site as being in a Public Beta phase.
Feel free to mirror models or post torrents of your own models as long as it abides by the Rules

Are you looking to hire?
Share your opening to the marketing professionals here on socialmedia. Please include title, description, full-time or part-time, location (on-site location or remote), and a link to apply.
Don't forget to add to our free community job board for more exposure.
If you are looking to be hired, this is not the place to post that and your post will be removed.

Hello, I have gone through every digitally available Xbox 360 game and found all free DLC.
This list is split into 2 sections.
Xbox backwards compatible non purchasable DLC
This sections is for paid and free DLC for backwards compatible games which aren't available on the Xbox one and will be gone past the shutdown.
For anyone interested in all delisted DLC for non backward compatible games here's a list:
https://www.trueachievements.com/not-backwards-compatible/games (This is not all DLC but most)
This is in order of priority
Left 4 Dead 2 DLC (contains the entirety of L4D1)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Left-4-Dead-2/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802454108d4
Left 4 Dead DLC
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Left-4-Dead/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80245410830
Castle Crashers- Pink Knight Pack (free)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Castle-Crashers-Pink-Knight-Pack/506aeeaa-8348-4191-af21-13afcdab12db
Sonic Generations- ‘Casino Night’ Pinball (free)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Sonic-Generations-Casino-Night-Pinball/abb017ad-9b9b-481e-ba34-af4548f291aa
All other DLC below, have this content on Xbox one but not the 360 platform specific DLC
i.e. AC Brotherhood DLC is available through the Ezio collection.
Assassin creed brotherhood- The Da Vinci Disappearance
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood-The-Da-Vinci-Disappearance-DLC/fff3a5cd-f3b9-468e-b7a1-0af100a3e1b9
Assassin creed 3- George Washington 3-part DLC
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Assassins-Creed-3/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802555308ae
Assassin creed 4 Black Flag- Freedom cry
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Assassins-Creed-IV-Black-Flag-Freedom-Cry/f01d3dd0-7071-4d60-91be-cb3f3fcc4df6
Call of Duty Ghost- Season pass (dead multiplayer, zombies)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Call-of-Duty-Ghosts-Season-Pass/8fdbdf1d-8f98-47d2-9d74-b39b964ad757
Call of Duty Advanced Warfare- season pass
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Call-of-Duty-Advanced-Warfare-Season-Pass/967c2a9c-f656-43d0-af68-80ef2c1003f5
Prince of Persia (2008)- Epilogue DLC
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Epilogue/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-00015553080c
All free 360 DLC
[site] = content only available on Xbox marketplace website
Not Backwards Compatible
Armored Core V [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Armored-Core-V-COMPATIBILITY-PACK/ddd5e20f-9707-4790-8d2c-5c8d7d3079af
Armored Core: VERDICT DAY
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/ARMORED-CORE-VERDICT-DAY/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024e4d0864?Page=2
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood-Animus-Project-Update-20-DLC/546624a2-53be-4fe8-81ff-a4274a573571
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood-Animus-Project-Update-10-DLC/ae7364a3-0591-43da-8a29-08c7f7fd07f4
Assassin’s Creed IV [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Assassins-Creed-IV-Compatibility-Pack-1/8093f311-5bff-48ee-a7d8-ac5bd7cbcbc0
Batman: Arkham City
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Batman-Inc-Batsuit-Skin/124ab6c1-1bb9-4a13-938e-1c1c0f49a357
Batman: Arkham Asylum
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Prey-in-the-Darkness-Map-Pack/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0005534307f6
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Insane-Night-Map-Pack/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0003534307f6
Battlefield 4 [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Battlefield-4-Community-Operations/fbd39e0e-a715-42cd-bd16-f9feaef4f59d
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Battlefield-4-Night-Operations/cfd4daa7-e312-4ba2-965c-ce59c73dbc48
BLAZBLUE CS (Continuum Shift)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/BLAZBLUE-CS/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802415707da
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Claptastic-Voyage-and-Ultimate-Vault-Hunter-Upgrade-Pack-2/62150512-be91-4bd8-83ce-200e04abe3e1
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Compatibility-Pack/2eaef0b1-9193-4acd-acbc-e64b335e7cd4
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Compatibility-Pack/92ea0d86-267a-42ed-b9a9-4d8a8dbe5ca3
Bulletstorm
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Bulletstorm-Marketplace-Pass/21ce3dc1-787e-4aac-ac80-2cf4feabd9e4
BulletWitch [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/BulletWitch/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802494707db
Castle Crashers
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Castle-Crashers-Pink-Knight-Pack/506aeeaa-8348-4191-af21-13afcdab12db
Choplifter HD
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Ostrich-Choppe94aa339d-ea47-4f64-9387-b746999399ee
Call of Duty: Ghosts [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Call-of-Duty-Ghosts-Compatibility-Pack-2/e11fb5e8-5b58-4de7-bb60-a16ab4df8af4
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Call-of-Duty-Ghosts-Compatibility-Pack/a2a9884b-e70e-4544-a331-3e3244dc4b04
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Call-of-Duty-Ghosts-Festive-Pack/f83fcb9b-6221-4c0e-b8f3-4aac457234ca
Dance Evolution [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/OUTFIT-1/3110bdb6-6344-4601-9afc-575fc2edadc9
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Master-Level-Pack/438315a5-387b-4123-ae73-d3ff378abbbc
DARK SOULS II
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/DARK-SOULS-II-Compatibility-Pack-4/75f1790e-b1e3-4624-a913-6a6c9ebabb3b
DB: Raging Blast (Dragon Ball: Raging Blast) [site]
All DLC is free
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/DB-Raging-Blast/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024e4d0803
Dead or Alive 5
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Dead-or-Alive-5-Content-Update/87179703-6bd5-42c1-9207-8020d98a175b
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Dead-or-Alive-5-Zack-Island-Stage/7be33576-4775-49fa-ad95-b725db18a67a
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Dead-or-Alive-5-First-Time-Pack/a4cd07f3-fd47-46c9-b5da-d98613096376
DOA5 Last Round [site]
34 free DLC
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/DOA5-Last-Round/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024b5607e8
DEAD RISING
Free keys
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/DEAD-RISING/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802434307d2
Dead Rising 2
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Free-Pack-Ninja/79b56d00-ebf5-4f02-884e-4fb9d33a3820
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Free-Pack-Soldie5e944ba7-f05f-4fe6-8e7f-2c8a8e215bcf
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Free-Pack-Soldie5e944ba7-f05f-4fe6-8e7f-2c8a8e215bcf
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Free-Pack-Psycho/d7cb3aff-9993-4f75-be3e-2a605ce17078
DEAD RISING 2 OFF THE RECORD
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/DR2-OTR-Support-Pack/de29939b-c69d-4159-8bf1-eb4b913c6533
Disney Infinity 3.0
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Character-language-pack-English/6a0a9244-125a-418f-b95e-3daede3a9a22
Dragon Age Inquisition [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Dragon-Age-Inquisition/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80245410997
DD: Dark Arisen (Dragons Dogma) [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/HD-Texture-Pack/817ffa04-1b2c-443a-a19f-87db76053967
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Japanese-Voice-Track/1121ce47-34af-4c87-98b7-ccd24aa21950
DW6 Empires (Dynasty Warriors 6)
Lots of free DLC
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/DW6-Empires/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024b4f07e7
DW: GUNDAM 2 [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/product/dw-gundam/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024e4d07e5
DW: Strikeforce [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/DW-Strikeforce-Pack-4/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-00024b4f07fa*
Dynasty Warriors 7
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/JAPANESE-VOICE-OPTION/8eab4a55-c4ca-404a-9666-3abbe709c34a
Dynasty Warriors 8
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Japanese-Voice-Option/fe4e76af-4802-43a5-b03b-cefee51a40db
EXIT
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Additional-Stage-Pack-2/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0002584108a7
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Additional-Stage-Pack-1/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0001584108a7
Farming Simulator 15
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Mod-Pack/15e6d4d9-0f5e-49a5-a38c-a738dae4dd0d
Farming Simulator
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Farming-Simulator-Modding-Pack-3/fc04578e-df2e-437e-bef7-2c398d3f0030
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Farming-Simulator-Modding-Pack-2/ab95ac75-14cd-4468-8b29-750e70063c96
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Farming-Simulator-Modding-Pack-1/4e616d1d-76a4-422e-ac64-2f2dbbd59f0d
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Farming-Simulator-Classics-Pack/b286c298-d204-4507-968f-fa8758ceab3b
Fruit Ninja Kinect
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Christmas-Present/36284efe-310c-419d-9dea-005b82909111
Full House Poker
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Full-House-Poker-Texas-Heat-Spring-2013-Season/cb11a48f-3414-4b92-a811-7c4366eddb91
GGXACP (Guilty Gear)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Version-Up-CATALOG-1/480de28a-f434-4845-9c02-dd8c0188d908
GTA V
Lots of free DLC
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/GTA-V/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802545408a7
Just Dance 2015
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Just-Dance-2015-Break-Free-by-Ariana-Grande-Ft-Zedd/60f09479-378f-4eac-be0d-236493aa7414
Just Dance 2014
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Just-Dance-2014-Katy-Perry-Roa7e4bc53a-32aa-4d0d-bc27-3b4346e3194c
Kane and Lynch:Dead Men
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/The-Dope-Bag/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0001534307e0
Kinect Fun Labs [site] (everything below is mostly [site] as well)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kinect-Fun-Labs/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-000158480811
Air Band (Kinect Fun Labs)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Air-Band/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025848081b
Avatar Kinect (Kinect Fun Labs)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Avatar-Kinect/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-00015848081a
Battle Stuff (Kinect Fun Labs)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Battle-Stuff/5b38abc7-f9d0-4caf-9060-71c81e7b8c7f
I Am Super! (Kinect Fun Labs)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/I-Am-Supe66a6adea-96e9-42c1-947b-6e2f4c33d893
Kinect Rush: Snapshot (Kinect Fun Labs)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kinect-Rush-Snapshot/d816f6d4-eb6b-4011-9ae7-3f76faf2a03d
Mars Rover Landing (Kinect Fun Labs)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Mars-Rover-Landing/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258480836
Musical Feet (Kinect Fun Labs)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Musical-Feet/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025848081e
Mutation Station (Kinect Fun Labs)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Mutation-Station/9d006e05-f9d2-4552-b3f4-9392d7a50650
Kinect Party (free game)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kinect-Party-Base-Game/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025841125c
Kinect Sports [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kinect-Sports-Party-Pack/cc00b6ea-02d0-4444-92ef-cb437ac31a6f
Kinect Sports: Season Two
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kinect-Sports-Season-Two/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d5309d6
Kinect Joy Ride
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kinect-Joy-Ride-Chevrolet-Car-Pack/6691a6fa-050f-45ed-b5fb-d9a472ac666d
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kinect-Joy-Ride-Chevrolet-Volt/139c69be-f76a-4435-872b-aed8431cb788
King’s Quest – Ch. 1 (free game chapter)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kings-Quest-Ch-1/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80241560924
DLC
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kings-Quest-Compatibility-Pack-1/342772d1-d82a-4631-b376-10a0ab8e5914
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kings-Quest-Compatibility-Pack-2/b23ebdf2-70b1-4324-9631-772df9cead2f
King’s Quest
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Kings-Quest-Epilogue/70221673-4f22-47ce-a878-8e886f7ee6cc
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/KQ-Complete-Collection-Compatibility-Pack-1/9aac3d5e-1191-43e1-a90a-3d4ffa1d9b23 *
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/KQ-Complete-Collection-Compatibility-Pack-2/0c4f805a-46b5-4893-8cd5-350387970701 *
L.A. Noire
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/The-Chicago-Piano/3f8a34d7-786c-4d5f-b75f-9051f12d1de0
Left 4 Dead
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Left-4-Dead-Survival-Pack/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-000145410830
BEYOND GOTHAM (Lego Batman 3)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Heroines-Pack/3b514a28-60ef-43c7-a685-d5b6304d0676
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Rainbow-Character-Pack/5f869a74-5b98-49f6-a5a2-8953784072a2
Lego Marvel’s Avengers [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Spider-Man-Character-Pack/bbbfc0d2-5cd1-4796-9b10-1cec519ca02a
Life Is Strange Episode 1
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Life-Is-Strange-Directors-Commentary/ae19bf4d-1775-46a3-807a-8f1c9fc42ba2
LMA Manager 2007 [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/LMA-2007-Stats-Update/00000000-0000-400c-80c0-0000434d07d2
LocoCycle
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Datapack/9d1b6c12-7180-414e-9713-1a920b591287
Magic 2015 [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Magic-2015-Garruks-Revenge/b484ec5f-668f-4d85-84c5-7e961750465a
Medal of Honor [site] (don't work)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Medal-of-Honor-Clean-Sweep-Pack/b3e8cdda-f40e-4bf2-b43d-fc023b43de39
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Medal-of-Honor-TM-Marketplace-Pass/8dbca4ff-3f3d-4dac-a359-65159a76d0c8
Medal of Honor Warfighter [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/MEDAL-OF-HONOR-WARFIGHTER-MULTIPLAYER-UPDATE/7657f617-2b7a-4e07-ad6a-a2d474034753
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/MGSV-TPP-UPDATE-DATA-Ver-110-Eng/6f5c79e0-a6bc-4e45-a19a-fca20df6840b
Shadow of Mordor
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Game-Data-required-for-play/6d0b4f8e-5d4d-483e-b906-47fffcea709f
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Test-of-Power-Challenge-Mode/458edba7-96bc-42bb-b017-75a88afe27b0
MotoGP 13 [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/MotoGP-13-Moto2-and-Moto3/1d3723ce-9706-43cf-856e-ca4ae57cdb6c
NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Need-for-Speed-Most-Wanted-Multiplayer-Update-2/fb37eafd-259d-464e-99cf-c7a082117bf1
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Need-for-Speed-Most-Wanted-Multiplayer-Update/8ff1c59f-55a7-4a13-ba75-3050497794a2
Need for Speed Rivals
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Need-for-Speed-Koenigsegg-One-1/f38b6aad-a90c-4a39-be71-c332d6b92e03
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Need-for-Speed-Rivals-Content-Update/f2c51c1a-9959-4a1f-9488-268934fd3da2
Ninja Blade [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/NINJA-BLADE-Bonus-Pack/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0001465307d9
NINJA GAIDEN 3 [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Ninja-Gaiden-3-Ninja-Pack-1-Lite/4918cc29-713d-451e-a6eb-442c9ce2e4a5
Omerta – City of Gangsters
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Omerta-City-of-Gangsters-Serious-Business/5eeae60e-7da2-4b13-8959-6ca917411b3f
PAYDAY 2
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Bane-has-an-update-for-us/992b9770-dbcc-4ec6-aea0-f18145974b8a
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/PAYDAY-2-Thespian-Mask-Pack-DLC/65f98b3f-8ec2-4a82-91c2-1feb04ffc915
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Plants-vs-Zombies-Garden-Warfare-Legends-of-the-Lawn/8403779f-cf97-4df3-b5d4-30f4be33cebd
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Plants-vs-Zombies-Garden-Warfare-Suburbination/a3cb394a-5e35-4314-bf95-d7255f9921f5
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Plants-vs-Zombies-Garden-Warfare-Tactical-Taco-Party-Pack/6738fff4-ea13-45a5-872c-6a036b243a6c
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Plants-vs-Zombies-Garden-Warfare-Zomboss-Down-Pack/e28a461b-d46d-41e8-99f8-94becfa4b83b
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Plants-vs-Zombies-Garden-Warfare-Garden-Variety-Pack/c6bcb3e4-7586-4872-bf8e-e199e2df5858
PROJECT SYLPHEED [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/6-New-Missions-Weapons-Leaderboards/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0001535107d4
Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/RABBIDS-INVASION-BONUS-EPISODE/8cc37067-8948-41b7-8d98-8ca4c5bf3c65
RE Revelations 2 (Resident Evil) [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/RE-Revelations-2-Compatibility-Pack/4a0c370b-3626-4395-beb7-4847fd5295ca
Resident Evil 0
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Resident-Evil-0-Fan-Design-T-shirt-Pack/3a15faa3-0c23-409c-8bb8-bf119d346525
Resident Evil 5
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/EXTRA-FIGURES/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-000c434307d4
Resident Evil 6
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/RESIDENT-EVIL-6/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80243430819
RESIDENT EVIL REV. (Revelations 1)
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Catalog-Data-RAID-Outfit-LADY-HUNK/763b3800-5f9a-44f4-8d0c-62fa6c1775fe
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Catalog-Data-Weapon-Pack/3bbb8947-b9bc-4848-8a34-a5d451121212
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Catalog-Data-RAID-Outfit-Rachael-Ooze/0e21c65b-5490-4f43-8fc8-78494b66d59c
Rugby League Live 2
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Rugby-League-Live-2-Compatibility-Pack/2c856908-8e79-45c4-a11b-dc808c6d74f3
SAMURAI WARRIORS 2
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Command-List/00000000-0000-400c-80c0-00004b4f07d5
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Support-List/00000000-0000-400c-80c0-00014b4f07d5
Sleeping Dogs
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/The-Ghost-Pig-Pack/17e4d264-8e23-4e01-8e80-15e98bbcc057
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/The-Community-Gift-Pack/0e3826c9-7d4c-476e-be1f-684d29d1c2af
Sniper Elite 3
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Sniper-Elite-3-Multiplayer-Expansion-Pack/59ec0428-ec61-451f-84c8-72b10b91d51e
Sniper Elite V2
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Sniper-Elite-V2-Multiplayer-Expansion-additional-content/106f3883-a099-4ac1-87d0-d1139a33bd5d
Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Multiplayer-Expansion-Pack/7f55b60d-0cd5-44ca-8d52-fc9c0e094bfa
STEEL BATTALION HEAVY ARMOR [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Steel-Battalion-Heavy-Armor-Emblem-Pack/a3982655-6ae6-44b0-a8c5-1107219c9a3d *
STREET FIGHTER X TEKKEN
Lots of free DLC
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/STREET-FIGHTER-X-TEKKEN/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024343080f
Test Drive Unlimited 2
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Test-Drive-Unlimited-2/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80249470804
The Gunstringer
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/The-Wavy-Tube-Man-Chronicles/6d7654cc-13c1-4bb4-b857-6b3497eead3b
The Last Remnant [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Challenge-Pack-2-The-Price-of-Lies/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0004535107da
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Challenge-Pack-1-Purgatorys-Sins/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0005535107da
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/The-Key-of-Ancient-Ruins/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0002535107da
Tropico 5
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Tropico-5-Big-Cheese/82f1276f-1076-4a0d-8bea-7b6662990033
Vampire Rain [site]
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/VR-Bonus-Level-1/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0003434107d3
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/VR-Bonus-Level-2/00000000-0000-400c-80cf-0002434107d3
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Warhammer-40-000-Space-Marine/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025451082c
Watch Dogs
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Watch-Dogs-Bad-Blood-Part-2/c81fc7fb-8401-4206-acf6-73a4becbcef7
Worms
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Worms/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802584107de
Worms 2: Armageddon
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Mayhem-Pack/48b11030-aa34-406e-8997-1768aaac6424
I hope this helps.

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Bethesda announced today that Creations and the Creation Kit are both launching tonight.
The two share a similar name, but confusingly, the results from them are quite different to the end user. This is most noticeable on PC, but we'll get to that in a moment.

Creations

Bethesda "Creations" are unofficial, semi-official, or official mods for Bethesda games that are made available in a mod shop usually placed on the main menu of the game in question. You can browse, install, and manage these Creations from within the game itself. You typically need a Bethesda account to access this.
Creations are somewhat controversial because they employ the largely-panned practice of paid mods. Creations can be free, but their creators can charge money for them if they choose, and of course the semi-official and official mods from Bethesda typically cost money. There is a pretty deep story to that whole mess that I'm not going to get into in this post, but just understand that Creations may cost money.

The Creation Kit

The Creation Kit (or 'CK' as it's typically called in the community) is a piece of free software that modders can download and use to create mods for the game. If you're a PC player, you may know already that Starfield has a decent amount of mods available, all of which were made before this CK has come out. This is because the CK is not required to make some mods, but there are many types of mods that do require it. Many types of mods that include new areas, items, models, assets, or a deeper linking into the game logic require the CK to implement. This is a surface-level explanation and it's not exhaustive, but just know that the CK is responsible for some of the most prolific mods in Bethesda games throughout history.

The important distinction

Mods created with the Creation Kit do not have to be listed as Creations. CK mods can be listed anywhere the modder likes. Typically, for PC, these mods are listed on Nexus, a free and verified mod hosting platform for hundreds of different games. Bethesda games' modding scene on PC is typically most prominent on this site. Steam's Workshop can also be used to host mods, and offers a slightly more hands-off approach to mod installation, though Nexus offers a downloadable program called Vortex that handles mod installation in a very clean way as well. There are then other third party websites that can also host mods - most of these are community verified (meaning they're known to be legitimate modding community platforms), but always express caution and ask the community if you are unsure.

PC Modding vs. Console Modding

If you're on PC, you have all options available for modding. You can use Bethesda mod platform in game to browse Creations, you can use Nexus to download mods and Vortex to install them, you can use Steam Workshop, or you can even browse one of the many third-party websites hosting more.. 'niche' mods for Bethesda games.
If you are on console, however, your options are much more limited. In most cases, the only mods console players have access to are those listed as Creations. This is because console versions of Bethesda games don't have access to the third-party websites like Nexus, so you can't implement mods from a third-party platform.
So, TL;DR - Creations are mods available in the game menu, often cost money, and often curated, sponsored by, or created directly by Bethesda. The Creation Kit is a tool for modders to make in-depth mods in Bethesda games. Creation Kit mods do not have to be listed as Creations, and a vast majority of them are not.