I am a competitive swimmer, and I got the Jackson tieback onesie in a size 32 (which is my usual suit size) and it fits weird, it’s a little small on the bottom yet it’s way too big on the waist to the point where there is a noticeable gap between my waist and the suit and it kind of creates drag when I practice no matter how I adjust the suit. I only air dry my suit.
I wonder if this is the case with all Jolyn tie backs because the regular straps fit me fine…. and Jolyn usually runs very small. how do I get my tie back to fit properly? any tips on ordering Jolyn in general? pls anything helps cause my tie back cost me 80 dollars 😭

Hi all,
I'm fairly new to Necromunda and have started a Dominion campaign with a few buddies. I'm using Corpse Grinder Cult, are they REALLY as strong as people say?
I've had a couple of test games and my first campaign game Vs Nomads and after round 1 I really struggled to get into combat to do basically anything. Though once I did, Nomads were just removed as the number of injury dice ended up getting the OOA icon.
I've seen people also complain about the masks, yes I think they shouldn't be free and points adjusted per fighter as everyone is a little too cheap for a built in +1 armour save. But when it comes to the willpower tests, in all 3 games only 2 guys failed, I guess I was just unlucky then?
If anyone could provide advice on how to play them without being too overbearing or to standoff-ish, that would be appreciated. I'm not trying to go for the main goal, I just want to kill people and shove them in a corpse farm 😁
The other gangs are Nomads, Goliaths and Van Saar for context

heyy everyone, so I'm 21 female and I'm not officially diagnosed with autism, in fact, it's only something I've started to think about recently, I don't know much about it but my younger brother has a diagnosis.
I already have a diagnosis of complex ptsd, borderline personality disorder, anxiety and depression. I experienced a lot of trauma from the ages of 3-11. I was still throwing tantrums at 8 because I couldn't regulate my emotions and I'm pretty sure I still can't although I can definitely manage/hide it better.
I remember growing up in my teens, I went to an all girls boarding school and I would have these moments, I liked to call them 'episodes', where I would just completely shut down and blast music in my ears, I'd completely ignore everyone and my friends would get freaked out by it because I was non-verbal and if they did talk to me I'd snap at them. I'd sit there with my head against my desk, headphones on blasting music, just swirling with a million thoughts in my head not being able to keep track of my own thoughts and feelings, it would take hours to calm myself down and after all of this, I'd be so mentally drained and physically exhausted.
Now that I'm older, I can manage these episodes better, If i feel myself getting to that point I remove myself from the situation, run to my room and completely break down. The other day, my friend spoke to me in a way that triggered me, I don't know why I got triggered, it's been a long-term issue in our friendship, anyways, she asked me if anything was wrong and I just said no, then we parted our own ways and I went back to my room and started pacing around, then I fell to the ground, started crying uncontrollably and started hitting myself in the leg because I just couldn't deal with my emotions or thoughts or feelings or anything, my mind was racing and every inch of my body felt so tense like I could just explode at any moment. I blast heavy rock music in my ears to cloud the thoughts and feelings because it blocks it all out for me.
I have these episodes a lot, and if I don't get my daily time alone, I start to lose my shit. If I change my routine or travel, it takes me a long time to adjust and I struggle a lot emotionally for the first 3-4 weeks. I broke my phone last year because I got angry and threw it, I've broken a lot of things from being angry and having meltdowns.
Anyways, all in all, I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm 21 and I can't regulate my emotions, like seriously, is it this hard for everyone and will these episodes be something I have to deal with my entire life. I just feel so lost and like there's something wrong with me for having these outbursts. Also, I'm a Gen Z with millennial humour, I understand no Gen Z humour and don't understand the references/jokes my friends make because I'm just not on the internet heaps, I spend most of my time studying, watching movies/shows or literally, I'll spend hours just blasting music in my ears staring at the wall just thinking non-stop about everything and it's exhausting but if I don't do that, I end up feeling like I'm going to explode.

My daughter was born during the peak of the pandemic so she wasn’t very well socialized during the early years. She’s managed to adjust fine to school and interacts/plays well with kids her age.
However, whenever we have family get togethers where my sister’s husband is there, or my husband’s sister’s spouse, she immediately goes from happy to terrified/timid. If either of them make eye contact with her, she starts to cry! We rarely see them except for major family gatherings like birthdays, Christmas, etc. and our daughter didn’t see either of them much until she was 1.5-2yo.
It’s gotten to a point where the BILs sometimes just don’t show up to avoid upsetting our daughter… when they do show up, my husband or I have to hold her while she burrows her head in our shoulder and closes her eyes. This has been going on for the last 2 years, since daughter was 2 years old.
Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, any advice would be much appreciated!

We knew this was gonna be tough matchup and the field conditions didn't help as well. Washington got into the scoring early with a goal in the 9th minute. After a potential disastrous injury to our co-captain Gorden who went out with a non-contact injury we stormed back with an own goal off Butel from Le Bihan and another header goal from Leroux to put us ahead. However it didn't last as WSH fired off 3 goal in less then 10 minutes to put us in 2 goal hole going into the half. The second half we did better defensively but couldn't find the back of the net. Let's get into the good, the bad, and the ugly....
The Good
Our attack looked better. It's looked good before but can we build on this going forward? We got past one issue that has plagued our offense this season so far which was a a lack of shots. We held more in Washington's half after Gorden went down and we looked to force the Spirit to defend more to make up for Gordens loss. We we're able to fire back quick and take the lead and for that short time looked like we could possibly pull out a win, or at the very least a tie. Giselle really played well in the attack and was everywhere. Nabet looked really good defensively and made some crucial saves and stops. Le Bihan has cemented her spot as a starter now imo. She brings life to the middle and the attack and has good connection with all players
The Bad
Defensive breakdowns in the counter and box issues with marking and clearing. When Gorden went out it affected two things. Her physical presence was huge loss with her ability to defend and moves the ball up. The second was her leadership to command and control the backline. With her out early, Washington took advantage of the breakdown on the counters and we paid for it. At the half our backline had time to talk roles and did better but for that 10 minutes it was chaos in the back. We need to work better on clearing the ball out around our box and pushing up. It always seems like a scramble and it leads to goals against. It also feels like the 3rd of fourth game where someone unmarked gets a goal or has a good chance.
I said we did better in the attack building creating chances but getting the ball into the back of the net still needs work. Curry had an open header chance, A. Thompson if she fell would've received a penalty chance. We could've had a couple goals from A. Thompson and Bright if not for offsides. The attack is moving forward so it's progress from what it was and hopefully we build on it.
The Ugly
The field was bad, lot's of slips and unsure footing and slower ball speed on the ground all caused issues for both teams at different times. The Ref.... we had 5 yellows to Washington's 0.... like what???? felt like some biased calls in Washington's favor many times. Late subs again with little time for our subs to make real impact. Turnovers that lead to counters and extra chances are a continuing issue. We had 62% possession rate but again Washington didn't need the ball that long to make impact plays. It can be good to control but we need to be purposeful with our possessions.
The Absolute Worse
Gorden upon the replay look liked her foot stuck but her body kept moving and her leg/knee twisted up and looked really really bad. I pray and pray that it's minor and we could see her back in a few weeks, but it could be very likely she could be out for the season. However long she's out and without Nielson our back line looks a lot more shaky going forward and Tweed and the rest of our backline will need to make some major adjustments to keep opposing attacks at bay.
Overall
It's another tough loss. We not only lost out on points we potentially lost a major player for the season. We saw some improvement's but also couldn't overcome some major mistakes and breakdowns. Short rest but we're home for our game against the Wave on Thursday. But I wanna say this team doesn't not lay down and give up. They'll all fought the whole damn game and i hopefully they keep their heads high and we push through an get back on the W side this week.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1981820/announcements/detail/4196869798707360257?snr=2___
Hey heroes! After it's been a hot minute (1 month!) but we've noticed a number of serious bugs in the game that were introduced in the Ninja DLC. So we're put together a mega update with not only a ton of serious bug fixes, but also a number of huge balance changes to bonus objectives, missions and overall gameplay!
This update should make the overall experience feel much smoother, and less unfairly difficult at times.
v1.26 Additions- Added 5 new Legendary outfits based on Community member AniArtistMe for his incredible bug spotting!
Fixes- Hero Select & Shop no longer behave strangely on first load - Prototype mission rewards no longer softlock the game in rare situations - Tear Gas now properly works on the Missile & Speeding Train maps - Kevlar Vests now properly works in FFA/Solo type games - Wrath of the Tiger properly gives -25% damage taken instead of -75% - Disabling Passives/Abilities/Gadgets in custom mode now works as expected - Setting specific weapons allowed in custom mode now works as expected - Fixed a rare bug where switching classes in a FFA mode will put you on blue team - Unique characters (Riggs, Bull, Toad, etc) now have their proper class & loadout again - Winning/Losing a match will always display the correct winning score - Bayonet's execute now works as expected - BoStaff no longer has a damage delay when attacking - Adjusted AI jumps on Hijack, Missile, Crash, and Foundry - The volume of rocket trails are now adjusted by Sound Volume - Fixed a few spelling/text issues in game and menus
Balance(Gameplay) - Adjusted many Bonus objectives in missions to make them more easily obtainable - At the results screen, deaths are now only -3 points instead of -5 - Challenge mission "Self Experiments" & Alt versions has 1 less enemy - Ninja will show up as a random enemy/ally 25% less often to avoid Melee spam - Lowered enemy Hp by 10% on gungame (since you can't use your own gear) - In Juggernaut, the Juggernaut can no longer gain extra armor (same as heals) - Kevlar Vest ability now gives +30% more armor - Kevlar Vest armor is capped for enemies above lvl 30 - Pheonix blade removed from all enemies in SideOps 8, 8-1, 8-2 - Challenge 6-2: Health reduced, Enemies reduced by 1 - Challenge 8-1: +40% Health - Challenge 10 & Alt versions: you have faster drone charge rate while enemies are slower. - Challenge 10-1: Enemies deal -20% damage - Your own weapons sounds are only 10% quieter instead of 20% quieter - Melee Enemies attack slightly slower - Melee Enemies now do much less damage (even less at lower levels)
(Menus) - Gadgets appear in the shop ~15% less frequently
(Ninja Weapons) - Kunai: FireRate -20%, Impact -10% - Healing Salve: Ammo -4, FireRate -10% - Baseball: ProjectileSpeed +15%, Range +10%, Accuracy +10% - Spikeball: Range +10% - Rock: FireRate +15%, ProjectileSpeed +10% - Bostaff: DashDistance -66%, FireRate -10%, Impact +10% - Nunchucks: Dash Removed, FireRate +5%, Impact -20%, Range -5% - Chakram: Range/Duration +15%
(Other Weapons) - M202: SpareClips +2 - ALL Melee weapon Impact +10%
-Sky9 Games Justin

The beginning of the bitter rivalry between the Gojiras and the Great Apes started around the late Neogene to early Quaternary period. The Iwi people were at their highest point, accomplishing many feats in architecture, technology, and art. The Iwi expanded their range across the Hollow Earth to the point of splitting off into different factions and adapting to new environments, developing their own culture independently. This cultural shift has been correlated with the first well-established instances of religion by the Iwi, and the gods they worshipped were none other than the Titans. It is well established that the Iwi regarded the Great Apes with reverence, but this is an oversimplification, as the Iwi are a diverse people, and various factions of the Iwi worshipped different Titans due in part to the different relationships they had with them.
Iwi factions that resided in the jungles or plains typically worshipped the Great Apes, intelligent Titans that also achieved many of the same feats as they did. They exchanged information and ideas with each other, built monuments, settlements, and advanced plumbing systems together, and the Great Apes protected the Iwi from hostile Titans. Iwis aligned with the Great Apes were more independent from nature and could obtain their resources from their crops and livestock. Iwi factions that lived in more coastal regions such as mangroves and beaches worshipped the Gojiras. While the Gojiras were not their defenders in the same manner as the Great Apes were, these Iwi still worshipped them as protectors of balance, neutral forces that do not obligate themselves to defend any one particular people or animals. Still, archaeological records indicate the Gojiras had a soft spot for humans and even developed symbiotic relationships with them. These Iwi, while not as proactive in building monuments as the Great Ape aligned Iwi, still built impressive monuments for their reptilian lords to rest in. They also would pick out dermal parasites on Gojiras for food, freeing them from pesky parasites. And there are even reported cases of seafaring Iwi working with young Gojiras to hunt fish, much like surface world humans and orcas. The Gojira aligned Iwi were hunter gatherers and relied on gathering resources from the wild, especially from aquatic environments. There are also many other Iwi factions that worshipped Mosura, the moth god, or regarded more than one or even all Titans as benevolent gods. Most of these Iwi factions reached a middle ground as hunter-gatherers and architects and farmers.
The Gojiras and the Great Apes, along with their human allies, initially coexisted. Both sides did not have overlapping territories, and even when they did, their niche portioning avoided conflict over the same resources. Tensions began to arise when the Great Apes and their Iwi allies began to expand their range, destroying habitats and displacing local flora and fauna. They also brought invasive species along with them, both intentionally and unintentionally. One of these species was the MUTO, the young of which are a delicacy to the Great Apes, but a deadly parasite to the Gojiras. The aqueducts constructed by the Great Apes and their Iwi allies, however, was a bigger problem, as they expelled a dangerous amount of wastewater, polluting the waters that the Gojiras and their Iwi allies heavily depended on. The Gojiras were the first to open fire, destroying entire settlements that they found to be too close for comfort. While their goal was to destroy the settlements and not kill the Great Apes or Iwi, collateral damage could not be avoided. Current research indicates that these attacks did not lead to any fatalities, but in response, the Great Apes would launch attacks of their own, usually by hurling objects (rocks, dung, etc.) at Gojiras to intimidate them into fleeing the territory. This sparked a cold war between the Gojiras and Great Apes, with their Iwi allies accompanying them in their conflict. Neither side wanted a full-on war, but they both wanted the other side to leave. The Mosura worshipping Iwi were the mediators in this conflict, as Mosura had a symbiotic relationship with both Gojiras and Great Apes. Mosura would relay messages from the Gojiras and their Iwi allies to the Great Apes and their Iwi allies and vice versa. This diplomacy seemed to have worked, and the Great Apes, for the most part, were willing to adjust their ways to continue their lifestyles without a cost to the Gojiras. But not all Great Apes were happy with this.
There were two types of Great Apes in the Hollow Earth, the Pankongs (which includes Kong) and the Orangutitans (which includes Skar King). The Orangutitans, initially thought to be a different species of ape, have been confirmed by DNA analysis to be a unique ecotype adapted for life in the mountainous cloud forests of the Hollow Earth. They are distinguished by their leaner, more athletic build and red hair is a dominant trait. The Orangutitans were an isolationist culture and unlike other Great Apes, they did not have many Iwi allies. They built megamonuments much like their counterparts, but had a clear social hierarchy, with the king, the son of royal blood, at the top, middle class workers, and slaves at the bottom. They believed that the Gojiras were an evil force that had to be destroyed and the Great Apes that found a way to co-exist with them were traitors to their species. Despite this extreme ideology, the Orangutitans seemed to have a high moral code, regarding each individual with value, care, and respect; even their slaves were guaranteed a humane lifestyle, even if denied freedom. And their number one rule that could not be broken was that they could not kill another ape, not even traitors.
However, things changed during the rule of the Manic King (The name I would give to Skar King's father). This king neglected his duties in protecting his people, focusing more on planning a crusade against the Gojiras and their allies to finally eradicate them. He also broke their moral codes in that he allowed his soldiers to kill each other in mortal combat. According to records, he believed that in order to win against the Gojiras, he needed to weed out inferior blood and promote only the strongest and healthiest bloodlines. These records also indicated that the king truly believed he was morally right and had no interest in conquering the Great Apes or the world, only in destroying the Gojiras. However, he died before he could carry out these plans. His son, Skar King, ascended to the throne and picked up where his father left off, but he had other plans.
The Skar King had no interest in upholding his peoples' morals or serving anyone else but himself, and he wanted control over the Titans and the Hollow Earth and the surface world underneath his foot. So instead of attacking the Gojiras as his father planned, he sent his forces, which included other kaiju such as domesticated Wart Dogs and Skullcrawlers to invade the settlements of other Great Apes and the Iwi, conquering them and taking the inhabitants captive as slaves. The strongest of the conquered were either converted into loyal soldiers for executed if they were disloyal. Mosura, Godzilla and some of the other Gojiras responded with force, seeing this invasion as an existential threat, but most of the Gojiras did not intervene, seeing this as an ape-only conflict that did not directly impact them. This changed when the Skar King began to send war parties hunting Gojiras, some of which he partook in, which ultimately caused the Titan War. Most Gojiras indiscriminately targeted all Great Apes and their Iwi allies, even those who escaped Skar King and did not do his bidding, forcing these refugees to fight back. When they were outmatched, they were exiled by the Gojiras to Skull Island. As for Skar King's empire, this fight waged on for much longer until the Gojiras trapped them deep within the Hollow Earth. At the end, both sides took heavy losses, with the Gojira species being brought to the brink of extinction, and now Godzilla is the endling of the species. The fate of the Great Apes looked grim as well. The refugees on Skull Island had a rough time, and a very small number of Skar King's goons who were fortunate enough not to be present at the final battle between the Gojiras and Great Apes released a swarm of Skullcrawlers to exterminate the rest of the refugees, leaving just one sole survivor. The rest of the Great Apes would continue to live under the tyrannical iron fist of the Skar King, who now developed a deep hatred for Godzilla, not for killing many of his people, but for getting in his way of conquest and confining him to a prison for millennia. From that point on, he continued to plot his global conquest, rallying his supporters and claiming control of the ancient ice Titan, Shimo.

WPA – A Completely Average Roadtrip
Disclaimer: Not canon, and I don’t use patreon so please don’t spoil me. Also, any opinion held by a character is that of the characters and not my own. Enjoy.
Town of Ljosalfington, local time 14:00, week 7
Emma Booker
“Again Illunor, I warned you before that this is a utility vehicle, not a party rated smart-limo. I am already compromising more than I should by allowing you to use the sample cooler as a minifridge, one which I can’t even use!” I said as I loaded the materials I had just purchased into the back of the high-G All terrain fusion-ethanol-electric hybrid 24th-century legacy pickup truck that I had printed out earlier this week, carefully avoiding the heavy ordinance hard point.
“That is hardly an excuse for that abysmally cramped leg space barely fit for cattle, never mind the bare minimum for standard decorum suitable for nobility. If this is what a car is like, then I don’t see why you care for your technology,” complained Illunor, who was sitting around idly with a malformed garish bowl of icecream that he had stashed away from lunch.
“If it bothers you so much, perhaps you could help next time with your ‘bigger-on-the-inside’ magic,” I retorted as I slid the last core sample into the back before covering it up with a tarp and strapping it down.
I had originally planned to visit Ljosalfington by myself to acquire much needed exo-materials to test various mana manipulator configurations as I worked to develop my first wand as not all of the materials I needed were procurable locally from Elaseer. I eventually yielded, much to my regret, to allowing Illunor to come with me as he insisted on wanting to deliver a letter personally in town after Thacea had pointed out the wisdom of not travelling alone.
We continued our back and forth for a bit yet as I finished securing my payload a voice called out to me from the direction of the town.
“Excuse me a moment, I couldn’t help but notice but are you from the academy?”
I turned to see an elf dressed in a plain brown buttoned up tunic matched by a slightly shabby pair of trousers with what appeared to be a lute upon his back and a plain and unenchanted longsword on his belt gesturing at our robes. Mine especially were new and unusual, tailored by the academy to go over my armour and allow access to the anchor points and allow me to exit my armour with minimal hassle. Illunor scoffed at what was evidently a commoner’s arrogance at approaching nobility and turned his head away in disgust. I glanced at Illunor and shook my head before turning to face the new man. I had time to spare, and any opportunity to engage in a hearts-and-minds dialogue with the locals outside the bounds of the managed environment of the academy was more than worth the time to chat. Especially as most of the other locals seemed to be content in ignoring me.
“Yes, we are currently studying at the Transgracian Academy. I am Cadet Emma Booker representing the United Nations of Earth and Luna from Earthream, and my aloof compatriot is Lord Illunor Rularia of the Vunerian courts. We were just about to head back but are in no rush. May I ask your name and what brings you by?” I asked with my hand outstretched in greeting.
“Ah yes, yes. My name is Edhel Redoehdelnif, a wandering bard by trade like my father and his father before him. My apologies, Cadet Emma Booker, I am unfamiliar with Earthrealm,” said Edhel as he grasped my hand with both of his and shook it tepidly yet vigorously. Or rather, tried to, as the motors on my suit resisted his efforts.
“News doesn’t seem to spread all that fast around here, so it makes sense you haven’t heard of us. We’re a new realm, and only just got here. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Edhel Redoehdelnif,” I replied.
“Absolutely fascinating! And a knight no less, or perhaps a squire? I’m sure you have many stories to tell of Earthrealm. Say, by chance are you about to head back to the academy? I have business in Elaseer and the usual coach has been absent as of late so I would rather not go it alone,” said Edhel.
I was hesitant to bring a stranger back in the car with me, even if Illunor was present. However, the opportunity that meeting a bard presented was too good to pass up from an intel perspective and to win the favour of the populace at large.
“That is a great idea. I think I have room for one more…” I paused before gesturing towards Illunor, “provided everyone is ok with it that is.”
Illunor gave a huff and turned his head away in silence.
“Very well, I will allow this. But he will not be joining me in your sorry excuse for a coach,” said Illunor dismissively.
Illunor approached the backseat expectantly and the door opened for him automatically, allowing the dlc kobold to gracefully enter and lounge across the length of the seats, once again ignoring the seatbelts. I sighed as I made my way to the driver’s seat, and Edhel entered from the passenger side as he marveled at the automatic doors and the interior.
“What a strange carriage this is! Although I must say, shouldn’t you be retrieving your horses? I didn’t see any harnesses or sense any artifices,” inquired Edhel as he attempted to make himself comfortable on the car seat, lute in front of him.
“Oh no, this thing doesn’t need horses or magic,” I said with a chuckle as EVI started the car. The elf raised his eyebrows at the sudden hum of the engine and made an expression of alarm when the car started driving itself without my input. “See, purrs like a kitten.”
“Earthrealm must have some large kittens if they purr like that,” noted Edhel, “but you must be concealing the enchantments somewhere. Such a thing as this with such strange yet precise craftsmanship is only possible in the crownlands.”
“Nope, no magic,” I said cheerfully.
“Then how?” Asked Edhel.
“It’s rather simple really. Are you familiar with the workings of a mill?” I asked, deciding to keep things surface level and elementary to avoid provoking the IDOV threshold.
“Somewhat, though I confess to not being familiar with their workings. Are you suggesting this is akin to a mill?” Asked Edhel perplexed.
“It’s the same principal. A mill works by taking a source of rotation such as a waterwheel or windmill, transferring that rotation along a series of rotating shafts and interlocking gears, and finally putting that energy to work by rotating a millstone,” I began as the car pulled out onto the smooth cobbled road in the direction of Elaseer. A notification popped up in the corner of my vision indicating my recon drone swarm had shifted from a holding formation to a convoy screening formation, and while the roads were clear I kept the speed at 60km/h to account for my passenger’s apparent distaste for seatbelts.
“Rotation…” muttered Edhel. He turned to face one of the wheels and EVI pinged an alert for a probable match for a detection spell, “fascinating.”
“Edhel, what are you doing?” I asked.
“Oh, yes, perhaps I should have asked first. Yes, I can see how it all fits together. But the source of this rotation? I see no mighty river or great wind to power this, so where does it come from?” Asked Edhel, not really apologizing. Elven arrogance, it seemed, was not limited by class.
The act reminded me of Sorecar when he inspected my gun, but where the armourer had been respectful with it, Edhel was more flippant. I considered the possibility that he was a spy sent by one of her peers or the crownlands, though this did not mesh with the methods I had seen so far. Edhel may have been just overly enthusiastic. In either case, I quickly decided to only reveal the antique design for the ethanol engine, and not that of the batteries or the emergency coupler to my suit’s fusion reactor.
“Right, well please ask first next time. As to your question, I won’t bore you with the details, but the rotation is generated by creating a periodic sequence of explosions inside of a machine – a manaless artifice – called a combustion engine, said Emma.
“So that’s what that sound is…” pondered Edhel, “are these artifices typical in Earthream?”
“You are awfully inquisitive for a commoner,” noted Illunor as he inspected his nails for dirt, “and rather accepting of something which should be impossible.”
“I wouldn’t be much of a bard if I wasn’t, my lord,” said Edhel shifting uncomfortably in his seat, “perhaps some music might set the mood better?”
“That would be preferable, bard. I have heard enough of the Earthrealmer’s Road Trip Playlist and would like to listen to some music of real culture,” said Illunor.
The bard agreed and proceeded to awkwardly play a ballad about an adventurer who slew a hydra in some frozen wasteland. Partway through, I politely interrupted the Edhel to point out the seat controls much to his fascination and Illunor’s grumbling at their common nature, and after some adjustment the bard went on playing and I half-heartedly listened while I paid attention to the road and my drone feed.
Particularly after EVI detected something unusual and alerted me to its presence.
”Attention Caded Booker. There is a disabled vehicle blocking the primary route to destination. Heat signatures in the woods are consistent with that of an ambush.”
“Damn it,” I muttered.
I glanced at the drone feed to see a broken cart strewn horizontally across a wooden bridge over a brook. On the surface it looked like a pair of civilians who required aid and assistance, but off in the woods were several heat signatures, several of which held weapons of varying levels of enchantments. Occasionally one of the pair on the bridge would talk with them, suggesting they were in cahoots rather than hostages. I recalled crossing that very bridge not a few hours earlier, so the blockade was very recent.
“EVI, did we pass that cart on the way here?” I asked.
”Negative,” replied EVI.
I grimaced. I had been trained to handle road-side ambushes, but it was only something that was a theoretical possibility. Something that should only occur in a warzone or a corrupt and unstable polity. I knew I had the capacity to handle such an encounter, even non-lethally, but that didn’t change the fact that these were civilians and as such were the responsibility of local law enforcement. Combined with the fact that I had passengers I was responsible for and engaging the ambush was a risky option.
“EVI, give me a list of alternative routes,” I commanded.
”Affirmative. Here is a list of routes in order of recommendation,” replied EVI.
I looked over the routes superimposed on a map of the region and quickly dismissed taking a shortcut through the forest and cutting through farmland. A detour caught my eye that extended the journey by roughly ten kilometers and I immediately sent a pair of drones to scout it out before committing to the detour.
“Are you alright, Cadet Emma Booker? You seem distracted,” asked Edhel, snapping me back to reality.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just focused on driving,” replied Emma.
“I suppose it must be quite taxing to command an artificed carriage of this complexity. Perhaps it might ease your mind if you were to regale me a tale of a hero of your realm?” Said Edhel, strumming a complex tune from his lute as he spoke as each and every pluck triggered a low-level spell.
“Well, that may be a problem. We don’t have any monsters to fight, and wars are a thing of the past,” I said while desperately tip-toeing the subject of aunt Ran, the subject of war, and our voyages through the cosmos, “though we are not without the adventurous spirit. We certainly have many stories of grand voyages. Some mythical and fictional such as The Odyssey as told by the Greek poet Homer and some historical such as the race to the south pole.”
“The south pole,” muttered the bard, “so you have explored all of Earthrealm then? I suppose that makes some sense, if you have artifices such as this then traversal of a globe would be quite manageable.”
“You are quite perceptive,” I said, not wishing to elaborate.
“A great performer knows his audience,” said Edhel with a charming, honest, almost human smile.
I felt a pang of homesickness as an intrusive thought reminded me that I could have gone to a real college surrounded by friendly faces my age, engaging in nightly holostreams and dreaming of adventures in the stars from the safety of a college dorm room. The sight of Illunor in the rear camera was the only thing that kept me grounded, as I almost felt like I was back at home on a road trip rather than returning to a fantasy feudal court, constantly evading death at every turn with the fate of humanity on the line. As such, and prompted by EVI, I barely had the wherewithal to take the planned detour.
A fact which did not pass by Edhel.
“I believe you may have taken a wrong turn, Emma,” he commented.
“Nah, I’m just taking the scenic route. I came from that direction on the way here, and you have inspired me to see the other road and I figure it should only add a few extra minutes to our travel time,” I said, gesturing at a paper map which I had referenced exactly once, “though on that subject, you seem to know these lands quite well. Do you have any recommendations on places to visit in the Nexus to scratch that itch?”
Illunor raised his eyebrow at the detour excuse, knowing full well this was not part of the plan. I worried that he might complain about the issue and but thankfully remained silent as he snacked on the contents of the misused sample storage unit. Edhel himself took on a more pensive posture.
“I’m happy to have been such an inspiration, Emma, though I am sure an explorer such as yourself has little need of such. I would normally suggest the skyward fountains of Verdellan or the cloud tides of Asturia, but that may be too casual for someone of your calibre. Perhaps the severed chasm or the fire marsh of Bhandahova may be more to your liking. Or perhaps…” Edhel leaned in, “I have heard rumours of a dragon in the glassy obsidian wastes of Vurcanar.”
I chuckled at that, knowing how I was fortunate enough to fish a dragon scale out of the nearby lake for the ECS. “The thought of going dragon hunting had certainly crossed my mind…” I mused aloud.
“Yet you sound hesitant. Perhaps it is too much for a newrealmer. Perhaps a slime or a dire rat might be more appropriate,” he said with a tease.
“No, it’s not like that! It’s” I stammered, before attempting to change course after realizing I had been goaded, “what I mean is, I was under the impression that dragons were an endangered species. Where I come from, hunting endangered animals is usually illegal, and big game hunting in general is frowned upon. We do make exceptions in the case of problem animals such as if a large predator starts hunting humans, but as a rule we prefer conservation and try to find ways of coexisting with wildlife such as the use of barrier fences and scaring away dangerous animals rather than being forced to cull their numbers. Having a species go extinct would prevent future generations from appreciating them and risks destabilizing the ecosystem they are a part of. Now if this dragon was actively razing villages and eating civilians and livestock, that would be one thing, but this does not look to be the case. I don’t imagine the Nexus has any settlements in this wasteland, and the dragon clearly wants to be left alone. Killing an innocent dragon would be murder.”
I grinned to myself after delivering a diatribe that would have made my tenth grade social and environmental studies teacher beam with pride, though by the expressions of my passengers my view did not appear to be shared. Edhel’s mouth was agape in shock and fascination, while the Venurian in the back seat merely huffed in disapproval.
“I assure you Newrealmer, there are no innocent dragons,” stated Illunor with a hint of terseness breaking through his otherwise regal demeanor.
“Illunor, I understand that Venurians have personal reasons for not liking dragons, but you can’t just extend that disdain to their descendants or those uninvolved just because they are the same species,” I said.
“If I may interject on your behalf, my lord, I believe I can address Cadet Emma Booker’s concerns,” said Edhel with a bow. Illunor nodded in approval.
“Very well, you may proceed,” he said.
“Thank you, my lord. My dear Emma, you must understand that dragons are not simple animals driven entirely off of instinct as it appears to be the case in Earthrealm. They are monsters. Intelligent, long-lived, violent, greedy, cruel, territorial, selfish flesh-eating monsters. They are evil by the very nature of their being, unable to change by their own accord, and unwilling to change when His Eternal Majesty offered them freedom from their nature. It isn’t that they want to be evil. As intelligent animals – intelligent monsters – dragons are capable of understanding morality, and many have tried to overcome their evil nature at great expense to themselves. A well intended and noble sentiment, yet a doomed one as like all animals, they all succumb to their nature in the end. Overcoming one’s nature is impossible,” said Edhel. His eyes took on a stoic, almost remorseful gaze as he spoke, and Illunor nodded with approval.
I was appalled by this claim, not by the contents so much as how blatantly false it was. As a representative of the human race, I was a living counterexample to his whole argument. We had remained physiologically unchanged as a species since the last Ice Age, and yet in spite of that, in spite of our many flaws, we had found peace and balance. If we could do it, anyone could do it.
“Will all due respect Edhel, that is nonsense. Monsters aren’t born, they are made. It is the mark of any intelligent species can adapt their behaviour to their environment for better or worse, and under the right care any so-called monster can grow to be a force for good,” I began, but while I searched for the right words Edhel shook his head.
“I appreciate your race is an empathetic one, Emma, your idealism is unfounded. As flesh eaters, a dragon must take the life of another animal or person to survive, or they will perish. As such, every dragon has taken a life. As long-lived creatures, they will have amassed a significant number of kills. As the land can only support so much animals, a dragon must be fiercely territorial and aggressive to remove competition, lest they starve. As such, even the most kind-hearted dragon alive must be violent and greedy, and their intelligence fuels this even more so if they know a bountiful land of morsels exists just outside their range.
Now perhaps a multitude of dragons may find a way to co-exist together in some settlement, but to support such a venture would require a large territory of prey, or a livestock animal. Perhaps they could support a large colony by farming grain for their livestock, but that would require effort on their behalf. As large animals, such efforts require a great deal of energy. Yet that size makes it easy for them to intimidate smaller races to do their labour for them, and to keep their client race in line dragons must be cruel. And even so, as their numbers grow so do their needs. As such, they must expand into the lands of their neighbours to survive until there is nothing left to devour, at which point they must turn against their own lest they starve. As such, it is the nature of dragons to conquer and devour. That is why there is no such thing as an innocent dragon,” finished Edhel.
I was speechless, not because I believed Edhel had a point, but because I was horrified at how easy he found it to rationalize the extermination of an entire sapient species. If this was how the elves thought, then it wasn’t the dragons who were the monsters. I suppressed that dark thought. Edhel’s thought process was a product of his culture, not a feature of his elven heritage. If there was any hope of peace between our people, I needed to show him there was another way of being. I needed to prove that co-existence was possible, no matter one’s nature.
I took a deep breath to steady myself before replying.
“That- that is a callous way of seeing things,” I began, though the shock was still there in my voice, “you speak as though there is no natural equilibrium with a dragon, that their only state of being must be to be cruel, to devour, to conquer. But I see things differently. In fact, I might wonder if a fledgling civilization might see the presence of a dragon as a boon rather than a curse. Being intelligent, the locals may be able to come to some agreement with the dragon. Perhaps they might leave some land as a hunting ground or offer up a share of their cattle or guard the dragon as it sleeps. In exchange, the dragon might allow them to build a town outside its mountain and protect them in times of danger. An equitable exchange. A civilization might even create artificial lairs to attract dragons for this very reason. True, some dragons may behave tyrannical towards their town, but a well armed populace of a large city would be more than capable of fighting such a threat, and a rational dragon might reason that threatening their own populace would put their reliable source of food and shelter at risk. You see, it’s all a matter of perspective.”
“You certainly are an imaginative one, Emma, to wonder up a quixotic world where the hare and the fox live together in harmony as equals. Even so, you seem to have ignored one key detail to such a society. What would happen should the dragon not be fed for months on end?” Asked Edhel with his eyebrow raised.
“The same thing as stranded a dozen starving, stranded Elves!” I spat back.
[Alert: Vehicle speed above recommended limit for conditions. Recommendation: slow down. ]
“I am driving slow!” I seethed, not realizing I had sped up with manual control enabled.
“I grow tired of this common prattle,” interjected Illunor just in time to prevent an awkward silence, “bard, play us another song.” “As my lord wishes,” said Edhel with a bow before turning to me with another smile, “perhaps a more soothing melody would be in order? A love song perhaps, to honour Cadet Booker’s compassionate nature?”
I said nothing as Edhel began to strum his lute again to the tune of a love story of a pair of doomed lovers named Ramian and Junette, hating his cheeky knowing grin that only served to get under my skin further as I focused on calming down and slowing the car back to a more reasonable pace before investigating a priority alert which I had been blinded to moments prior.
[Alert: hostile roadblock is absent, location unknown.]
Shit.
“Illunor, we may have a problem,” I said.
“Shush, Newrealmer, have you no class? We are almost at the best part! I’m sure it can wait,” replied the contextually clueless lizard.
I had never wanted to throttle Illunor as much as I did now.
“Illunor, shield, now,” I said with a raised voice.
“I don’t see-“ he started, pausing mid-sentence as his ears perked up.
[Alert: Multiple manafield and spell signatures detected!]
I took evasive maneuvers as Illunor tried to piece together a shield spell, fumbling it twice as panic appeared to set in and providing me with a reminder that Illunor was a civilian, not a soldier. A hail of arrows pelted the exterior of the truck, piercing but not penetrating the composite armour. I was tempted to do nothing but just drive away from the arrow fire, but a foreboding premonition of danger filled me as I recalled Sorecar’s hunter-seeker arrows.
Seeking to avoid that fate, I triggered the active defenses.
The smoke screens deployed around the vehicle, obscuring the sight of any who depended on visible light to see me. A barrage of decoy flares equipped with wooden cores shot upward at angles and diffusing to the side like a pair of giant wings which when combined with the MFD, short for mana-field dampener, inside the vehicle meant that the pelting hail of arrowfire softened to a whirr as the arrows whiffed over the top of the truck, retargeted away from the soft flesh of my passengers and even invoking friendly fire amongst the ambushers.
In the chaos, EVI and my drone swarm fed me complete tactical information on the ambush. Of the 26 individuals at the first blockade, 20 were accounted for, and 3 had died from friendly fire. Ahead at the bridge, 5 more of them were at the bridge where a barrier had been hastily erected to cage me in as the river valley was too deep to cross.
“Illunor, we need a bridge,” I said, taking stock of the wellbeing of my passengers.
The bard was huddled down low and suppressing his manafield, but otherwise rather composed. Illunor, on the other hand, was cowering in the gap between the seats with his hands covering his eyes and his tail tucked in.
“A bridge is no small request, Ne- Cadet Emma Booker,” replied Illunor, “and your ‘Emeffdee’ has blinded me to the outside of this moving death trap.”
“If I drop it, can you at least make a ramp?” I asked as I circled the battlefield. Or tried to, at least, as earthen ramparts emerged from the ground from a yet unseen source to cut off other avenues of escape.
“A ramp? Surely you don’t mean-“ he stammered.
“Yes or no,” I said.
Illunor paused, before taking an unsteady breath.
“Yes. But not with that Emeffdee,” he replied.
“Good. Steady your nerves and prepare to make a ramp ahead of us on my signal,” I said, “in the meantime, get your seatbelt on. This is going to be hairy.”
As I circled around to make my approach on the bridge, the final combatant made his appearance on a nearby tree, revealing himself as an elven mage. An alert focused on the air around him indicating he was preparing an unknown high-tier spell, and I locked the predator drone on him indicating the elf as a high-priority target if our escape plan failed, and I was forced to use lethal force.
If I was forced to kill.
It was one thing to know you may have to kill in the line of duty, but it was much harder to reconcile that with reality. No number of simulations could match the real thing, and a part of me wanted to simply offload the responsibility to EVI to keep my hands clean, but to do that would be betraying my duty as a human being. I breathed in deep and tried not to think about it, instead hoping to rely on the ace I held in my sleeve instead.
“EVI, ready the spell jammer,” I said unevenly.
“Acknowledged, the prototype Exo-Radiation Wave-Field Distruptor is primed. High risk target identified and locked, permission to engage?” EVI asked, forcing me to address the dreaded question.
“Negative,” I replied, “hold your fire. If the ramp fails, then you have permission to engage,” I said.
“Affirmative, on your mark,” replied EVI.
I lined up the truck with the bridge and bolted through the smoke, keeping a careful eye on the mage as I went. His spellform took on a more concerning shape as I accelerated, and I realized I could not afford to let him finish his spell. I triggered the spelljammer.
A terrible roar erupted from an array of speakers printed from mana-resistant materials that would have made Godzilla herself beam with pride. The sound was decidedly unnatural, gnarly, dubstep drop composed of an electric eel, a whale, a mountain lion, and a tyrannosaurus rex all being simultaneously assaulted by a swarm of angry cybernetic murder hornets as an equally chaotic wave of mana blasted outwards from the exterior of the truck, with the interior thankfully sheltered by audio and mana dampening.
The ambushing assailants cowered and panicked, and it was enough to cause the Elven mage’s spell to backfire in his face as his form exploded into ashes, meeting a horrific fate which I had tried so desperately to help him avoid. With all the combatants momentarily incapacitated or dead, I lowered the dampener and turned off the smoke.
“Ramp!” I shouted, snapping the lizard back to reality.
The Venerian nodded and hastily formed an earthwork ahead of us right before the blockade, and the truck leapt off the ramp with a not insignificant amount of air beneath our wheels. I braced for impact, regretting skimping on the shocks in the name of preserving materials, but the impact never came.
[Alert: Friendly spell designated ‘Feather Fall’]
Illunor thankfully had enough wherewithal to gently land the steel brick, and I sped off into the distance away from the trap that had unfolded behind us, leaving the interior of the truck in an awkward silence as we each processed our brush with death in our own way. “How many are dead?” I asked EVI.
“6 hostiles confirmed dead,” replied EVI.
I drove on in silence. Those were six deaths I had tried to avoid, and I became lost in thought as I wondered what I should have done differently to avoid the confrontation entirely.
Edhel broke the silence with a bout of laughter.
“Terrific! Absolutely terrific! Why, I can conjure up many a tale from this encounter alone! I live for this kind of inspiration!” Exclaimed Edhel a little too chipperly considering the circumstance.
“I would rather not hear stories about how I bravely ran away,” I moaned in deadpan sarcasm.
“You think too little of yourself, Cadet Emma Booker. It is plain to me that you are no ordinary rabbit. Make no mistake, I see it as a privilege to bear witness to the roar of a vorpal hare!” Said Edhel as he supressed his laughter, “though I am afraid with all the excitement that I must finish my song some other time.”
“How about I play some of our music?” I offered after the elf revealed his thrill-seeking side.
“Splendid, I would like that. Perhaps something of your ‘Roadtrip playlist’ you speak of? It sounds like a collection of your voyages,” said Edhel.
“That would be an improvement on the truth,” said Illunor dismissively as he eased from his state of shock, “it is little more than noise under the pretense of music.”
“Illunor…” I muttered to myself before turning the mic on, “no, no it’s not like that. I have terabytes of pre-recorded songs from various artists back home which can be played by… an artifice called a speaker. A playlist is a set of songs which are grouped together, usually to listen to in specific situations such as studying, partying, or travelling. The latter collection is what Illunor is referring to.”
I very deliberately chose not to reveal my ‘Unfortunate Daughters’ playlist.
“An artifice which plays music, and a magicless one at that. I must say, Emma, I fear for the bards in your realm,” said Edhel with a laugh.
“Your fear is misplaced, Edhel. Entertainers live like kings where I come from,” I retorted with a smirk of my own, “well, the ones with talent at least.”
“Well, well, I suppose I have to hear my competition!” Said Edhel with a laugh.
“Do as you must, though let it be known that I warned you,” said Illunor as he watched a play on his sightseer.
I had EVI compile a list of songs that left out content offensive to Nexian sensibilities or violating OpSec and as it compiled I mused over what type of sample spread I wanted to show off. Then it struck me. What better way to show off our culture than with some good old blue jumpers and nova rock! Sadly, jumpers were unavailable to show but I still had a whole list of modern artists to choose from.
Moments later, the car speakers sprung to life to the tune of ‘Innocent Youth of Mine. Edhel’s eyes lit up like a child visiting a zero-g gravity park for the first time, seemingly star-struck by the antique electric guitar and the synthesizer-drums in particular.
“What… what is this? I have never heard anything like this!” Proclaimed Edhel.
“Dreadful, isn’t it?” said Illunor, doing what he did best and pretending to hate it.
“Oh there is a lot more where that came from,” I said with a cheeky grin of my own, “this one is called ‘Innocent Youth of Mine’ by ‘Cannons and Poppies’. It’s part of the Nova Rock genre.
“And those strange instruments?” Asked Edhel.
“Oh, you mean the electric guitar and the synthesizer. They are electronic instruments, taking advantage of channeled and modulated electricity to create near any sound we can imagine,” I replied.
“Channeled electricity… are you suggesting these sounds were made by some form of lightning?” Asked Edhel.
[Suggestion: Avoid topic of electricity due to OpSec risk]
I nodded at EVI’s warning, thankful that it caught me before I discussed the very thing that all of my equipment ran on.
“It’s not exactly lightning, but close enough,” I said.
“If I had not witnessed to your display of power earlier, I might have perhaps been more skeptical of such a claim, but I suppose a lady must keep her secrets.” said Edhel with a raised eyebrow and chuckle, “but I digress, this music is most interesting.”
“There is a lot more where that came from,” I said with a cheeky grin of my own.
“If I ever have a prisoner in need of torture, I will turn to you first,” replied Illunor, “if you are willing to subject your peers to this madness then I cannot imagine what you would force upon your enemies before dunking them in ice.”
“In your dreams,” I retorted.
I played a few other songs including Astrodesee’s ‘Meteor Struck’, the Martian classic ‘Hotel Cydonia’ and even ‘Switching to Warp’ before Elaseer emerged from the distance, and I pulled up outside the gate to drop Edhel off.
“Here already?” Asked Edhel.
“Well, yeah. I was just running a quick errand, I didn’t want to go too far,” I replied casually.
“That was a distance worth at least five days of walking by foot, and you call that a ‘quick errand’?” Asked Edhel. I shrugged, and he laughed.
“Well in any case, thank you for allowing me passage in your car. I must apologize for my lack of gift or payment…” said Edhel. “Don’t worry about it, it was on the way,” I replied.
“I see, how generous. Perhaps we might one day meet again?” Asked Edhel.
“Maybe, but I’m not sure how likely that is. The academy takes up most of my time,” I replied, “though you never know. I still have a lot of quest hours to complete.”
“Is that so? In that case, I hope we meet again! Goodbye Cadet Emma Booker and farewell Lord Illunor Rularia,” he said. “And good travels to you, bard,” said Illunor.
I waved off Edhel and drove back to the academy, Illunor still sulking in the back seat.
“Perhaps next time, you should steer us away from danger?” Suggested Illunor.
“I tried, but we were tracked,” I replied.
I groaned inwardly at the additional work needed to fix the truck. EVI compiled a list of upgrades for future engagements, batting away my idea for a ‘turbo mode’ and a ‘jump boost’. Though at the end of the day, meeting the bard wasn’t a complete loss. It felt good to talk to someone almost normal for once, and I hoped I met him again.
Edhel Redoehdelnif
I watched as Cadet Emma Booker’s vehicle went off into the distance, getting one last look at the Earthrealmer’s strange artifice before turning towards the gate. The voyage was an exotic experience, not unlike that of a fever dream or a peak into a world completely alien to my own. Indeed, it was a struggle to contain my excitement and enthusiasm and process the experience rationally as I made my way through the southern gates of Elaseer and turned the corner of an alley before entering an impossible structure that did not exist.
“You are earlier than expected,” said the shadowy figure of my handler as I made my way to the meeting hall.
“The Earthrealmer’s means of transportation proved far more expedient than anticipated, my lord” I spoke as I knelt before him, “even with her unexpected departure from the anticipated road and the ambush we traveled for scantly more than an hour.”
“Yes, I will require a full report from you. Perhaps you can shed some light on the ‘smoke dragon’ my men claim intervened on the Earthrealmer’s behalf,” said my handler.
“Smoke Dragon, my lord?” I asked.
My handler responded by activating his sight-seer, revealing how the ambush had appeared from the outside. The Earthrealmer’s uncanny artifice traversed down the road, a pair of manafields displaying proudly from within until the archers began their assault. The artifice then transformed as smoke billowed out from its pores and wings sprung forth above until it was the form of a mighty wrym with a pair of glowing eyes springing forth from its ever extending head where it then gave forth a terrible unholy roar which sent waves of mana outward. The mage working to seal the area and trap their mark vapourized in an instant as his spell backfired. It was apparent to Edhel that his exceptional experience in the carriage was merely a muted rendition of the events unfolding around them.
It would seem the hare had the shadow of a dragon.
“I do have some insight, though I must confess the Earthrealmer did very little in the way of direct action. I suspect she has some unseen means of commanding and scrying through her artifices,” I said, “one which does not utilize magic as we know it.”
“Such a statement is heresy,” said my handler, “but such special circumstances are your reason for being. I will require you submit your memories for verification. What is your appraisal of the new realmer?”
“The girl is far more dangerous than a surface appraisal would suggest, though she prefers to conceal that power rather than utilize it out of a misplaced sense of compassion. Her people appear to have a boundless creative drive through which such artifices are birthed, though again it is misdirected towards more common applications. I believe that if properly tamed, this human animal may provide us with great works of art,” I said with a bow.
“I see. Does the girl know you work for us?” Asked my handler.
“She may harbour some suspicions, though did not voice them outright beyond concealing her knowledge,” I said, “though nothing significant. Provided our next meet is under believable circumstances such as a festival she should view me as cordial.”
“She has indeed proven clever,” conceded my handler, “very well, I will make arrangements for your paths to cross again. Perhaps I will arrange for her to be a contestant at the next inter-academy tournament. In the mean time, prepare your report and don’t wander far. This is a priority assignment.”
“As you wish, my lord,” I said with a bow and a smile.
Emma Booker had proved to be an interesting animal indeed, and I hoped our paths crossed again.

I’m wondering if any T1D’s on Oz experience this also. The day of and after injecting Oz, I have to adjust my bolus significantly lower, otherwise I experience constant lows. I’m assuming this is bc Oz is at its strongest at this point and tapers throughout the week? Is this just a me thing or any other T1’s experience this also?

I was driving through Maine this morning. Speed limit is 70 there, I had my cruise control on 75. I have the type of car that automatically adjusts cruise control speeds based on if there's a car ahead of you. So I was going max 75 mph. I passed a car, pulled into the left lane, and a cop pulls out of a lil hiding spot, speeds up behind me, and turns his lights on. I pull over, windows down, hands on the wheel, you know the drill.
He tells me I was going 85, to which I respond "that's not possible, I had cruise control on and at no point did I turn it off." Mind you, I have a stutter which gets much more severe in certain situations- talking to cops being one of them. He continues to mock me, ask me why I'm so nervous/acting suspicious, blah blah blah. Whatever, that's not the point of this post, but he was an asshole.
I was also using Waze at the time I got pulled over. It tells you your speed, and at no point was I going over 75. The cop said that my cruise control must be broken. Obviously there's no way to know exactly how fast I was going. But I know for a fact I wasn't going 85. I also have out of state plates, my gf said that may have been part of the reason,
Could or should I fight this? How would I? It's my word against his. I've been on the fence about getting a dash cam... maybe this is my sign.

I was explaining my personal project (creating a Variational Autoencoder for raw audio as a core for several audio models I need) to someone, and they were a bit confused about how AI works in general. I realized that simplifying it with a relatable example might help.
Think back to high school when you learned how to find a function from data. For instance:
Imagine you have an object thrown into the air, and you record its height at different points in time. With this data, you can create a parabolic function that approximates the object's height at any given moment. In mathematical terms, this function is a model that predicts the height based on time.
Now, think of AI training in a similar way, but with more complexity. Training an AI model is essentially finding a function that fits a lot of data with many variables. Instead of just height and time, an AI model might use thousands or even millions of data points and parameters.
In the case of the parabolic function, you determine the coefficients (a, b, and c) that best fit your data. For AI, the process involves adjusting many parameters through linear algebra and statistics to find the best fit. The training method is guided by algorithms that optimize these parameters to minimize errors, similar to how you'd minimize the difference between your parabolic function and the actual data points.
So, while the analogy isn't perfect, it helps to understand that AI models are just complex functions derived from data (not just compression, or a search function), much like how you derived the parabolic function from the height and time data.
It won't resonate with everyone, especially since many people only use basic arithmetic (+-*/), but I hope this explanation helps those who haven't had their "aha" moment with other explanations.

Hi all!
We just adopted a young Galgo about a week ago - he’s been adjusting well and is a lot of fun! Shortly before he arrived we were told he had happy tail in the rescue kennel and therefore had his tail partially amputated. It’s still healing (unbandaged per the vet) and while he wags it a lot, he doesn’t hit it off much which is great but he’s been delaying the healing by chewing at it. Despite best efforts it keeps opening and bleeding and our local vet is not thrilled. He’s given us an ointment to apply 2x a day and says if it doesn’t heal in 3 weeks or becomes infected we will have to amputate further.
I really want to avoid further amputation or infection but we can’t get him to stop chewing and he’s SO slick and sneaky about it even with consistent supervision.
We are hesitant to use a cone because he’s still adjusting and we don’t want to stress him further. We were told by our vet that we can’t bandage it because it’s more likely to cause infection due to excess moisture. At this point watching him and intervening is insufficient. Any suggestions for how we can minimize further damage or stop the chewing would be greatly appreciated!

That’s all it was. A game.
Something my friends and I used to play during the summer when we had nothing better to do. I never expected that it would get so out of hand.
I never expected it to come back long after recovery.
To anyone reading, please don’t do what I did.
I’m putting this out there to warn people.
On that warm summer evening, we played the role of Pandora.
Except, the monsters we released were far worse than what’s told in stories.
Because stories end.
And this doesn’t.
I still remember the date. July 16, 2013. I was an upcoming senior in high school while the others were getting prepared for their freshman year of college, raving on about their majors, life plans, dorms, you get the point. The summer had been bittersweet as those months would be the last I’d see them for a while. Because of this, Anthony, Lola, Eliza, and I would spend the bulk of our time together going to festivals and various camping trips, trying to make the most out of the summer while we could. On that day, the day I wish I could forget, Eliza had run late to one of our hangouts at my place. This was odd since as an Ivy league student, she was usually early or right on time to these kind of things. Half past three, we heard her knocking on my door rapidly, which was also out of character considering that she was usually the calm one in our group. A bit worried, I hurried down the stairs with Anthony and Lola following close behind, expecting Eliza to be in hysterics due to her frantic behavior. When I opened the door, however, there she was with a bright smile on her face, her red hair getting in the way of her eyes, which were a dark green shade. She pushed her hair out of her face with one hand and held a brown box in the other, and she was bouncing up and down as she usually does when she’s about to talk about something exciting.
“You’ll never believe what I found.” Eliza’s voice could barely hold her impatience as she stepped inside and kicked her shoes off once she crossed over my threshold.
“What’s up with you today?” Anthony questioned, looking more confused than concerned now.
“I’ll show you guys in a minute. Can we go up to your room, Felix?” Eliza looked over at me with her trademark smile, knowing damn well we were all too curious to just leave that box unopened. Without a word, I led the group up to my room and shut the door after everyone had walked in. Anthony took his usual spot on my beanbag and unzipped his hoodie, which had the MSM logo sprawled across the front in big red letters. He adjusted his dark rimmed glasses and took on his usual stoic expression. Lola wore a dark blue FIT shirt, which she revealed more of when she moved her locs over her shoulder as she sat on my desk chair and wheeled over to us. As she did, the various necklaces she wore clinked against each other. Eliza herself was the smartest out of the group, and probably in the whole school as well. She had gotten accepted into multiple prestigious schools, but ultimately settled for Harvard to pursue a degree in some obscure philanthropic career. Unlike Anthony and Lola, Eliza wore her regular outfit –usually a white tank top and jeans– and sat on my bed with the box in her lap. I took a seat next to her to get a closer look.
“So what’d you find?” The others moved closer.
“Something we probably haven’t thought about for a really long time. Do you guys remember that one game we used to play in middle school? The one we made after Felix joined our class?” Eliza looked at our puzzled faces to see if we had connected the dots, but her clue didn’t seem to strike any of us with familiarity.
“After Felix joined? Didn’t we just hang out or something that weekend?” Anthony questioned.
“We did, but there was something else,” Eliza raised an eyebrow, “you guys seriously don’t remember?”
At that moment, I saw Lola’s eyes light up and a thin smile grew on her lips, something she always did whenever she was able to figure something out.
“You mean that little map game we played? Where we would go out to the woods and explore?”
Both Anthony and I seemed to have remembered as well with the mention of a ‘map game.’ I chimed in, “ yeah I remember! Every once in a while when we were all bored, we’d pick a random spot on a map to go to and explore there for a bit, right? When did we stop doing that anyways? I remember really enjoying it.”
“Well life happens,” Eliza responded to me, “but I was thinking of things to do for the rest of the summer when I suddenly remembered that game! That’s why I was so late for our meetup today, I was looking through my attic for this.” Eliza shook the box slightly and a couple things clattered around inside.
“There’s no way.” Anthony sounded like he was in disbelief.
“You mean…?” Lola sat forward in the chair. Eliza smirked, her adventurous nature creeping out as realization swept over us like a wave.
“Mhm! I found the map we used to use as well as the things we collected from our little escapades.” With that, Eliza opened the box, revealing a folded piece of paper and various trinkets scattered over the bottom of the capsule. Lola squealed with excitement and immediately snatched the box from Eliza, who simply chuckled and leaned back on the bed.
“No way! Everything’s still in here!” Lola digged through the box and placed whatever objects she found across the blanket. Anthony got up and sat at the foot of my bed, to observe our findings more closely. There was a piece of some clay pottery, some rusty springs and scraps of metal, an old digital camera, and some other random stuff I can’t recall to memory right now. Anthony picked up a spring and turned it in his palm.
“Shit man, this is from that abandoned junkyard we found in 8th grade…that feels like such a long time ago now.”
I examined the piece of pottery with Eliza looking over my shoulder. Lola picked up the digital camera.
“Do you remember where this came from?” I turned to Eliza and held up my discovery.
“No clue,” she shrugged. It must have been a while ago if even she didn’t remember. I turned the piece over and grew curious when I saw weird symbols inscribed on the inside of it. I squinted a bit, trying to discern some sort of pattern within the scribbles.
I turned to Eliza again, “hey, what do you think-”
“OH MY GOD GUYS IT STILL WORKS!” Lola’s voice went up a whole octave as she motioned to us.
The rest of us looked up as she turned the camera to face us. There were various photos we went through. All of us at lakes, museums, exploring the woods; everything we did from 7th grade until my freshman year seemed to be documented. The last photo was arguable the best and msot bittersweet. It was a picture of the whole group from a while ago. We were sitting at Eliza’s dinner table with a giant chocolate cake on the middle of it adorned with two candles shaped like the numbers one and five. Eliza was talking to me in the photo. Her hair was even more red at the time and she wore it in a braid. I looked about the same in the photo as I did then, with light brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles scattered all over my body and face. I was smiling sheepishly at Eliza. I now knew why Anthony said it was obvious I had a crush on her in 8th grade. Lola went through the most changes out of all of us. At the time in the photo, she had her hair straightened and side-swept, with a bright pink streak in her bangs. She wore clunky jewlery and a frilly skirt underneath a long tank top, leaning over the table to cut another slice of cake. All of us had birthday hats on except for Anthony, who kept his sitting on the table. He held up a peace sign staring straight into the camera with a stoic expression. He looked like a statue compared to the rest of us, who were laughing and smiling. You could tell he was having fun, though.
“Well don’t you look like a ray of sunshine,” Lola snickered as Anthony shot her a dirty look.
“At least I didn’t go through some weird scene phase in freshman year,” He smiled and watched Lola’s face, knowing she was blushing despite her dark skin which made it practically invisible. I let a laugh slip out, but quickly stifled it knowing that if I kept going it would mean death. Lola side-eyed me and continued, “I was using my creative liberty to experiment with my options as an artist,” she said with an overly-posh accent that made Eliza laugh.
“Yeah Anthony, don’t be such a downer,” Eliza teased. Anthony simply rolled his eyes and suppressed a smile to pretend like he was mad at all of us. He looked into the box and picked up the paper we left, unfolding it with a hint of excitement and curiosity. When he looked at it, only two words came out of his mouth.
“Holy shit.”
“What, what is it?” Lola tried to look at the other side of the paper, but Anthony quickly held it out of her view.
“What if I didn’t want to show you?” A smile crept onto his face. This was one of those rare moments where he’d be in the moos to joke around with us.
“Don’t be a dick bro,” I said, laughing as I went to grab for the paper. Anthony just held it up in the air and pushed me off of him and I landed on my floor. While he was distracted, though, Eliza took her chance and snatched the paper right out of his hand.
“You boys need to learn to be nice,” she warned in her jokingly stern voice as she unfolded the paper and spread it out onto my bed. We all leaned over to look.
It was a map of a couple towns including ours. There were around ten small star stickers placed on different areas on the map near the streets the four of us lived in. On the top of the map, a couple words were scrawled in black sharpie; “Pick a Place!” I could see everyone’s faces light up.
“Oh my god it’s our map!” Lola shouted and pointed to one of the stars near her street, “this was where we found that old junkyard right?”
Eliza smiled, “I remember that. It feels like such a long time ago now.” She pointed to another star, “and this is where we found that lake we made a hideout of. I still remember swimming in there in 8th grade…”
The four of us reminisced for a while, talking about where we had gone and what we did there, and how impressive it was that we didn’t get tetanus from that junkyard. After nearly an hour of conversation, Eliza asked something that made all of us stop.
“So how about it guys? Do you want to do one last round before the summer ends?”
The rest of us looked around at each other. It was clear we all wanted to do it. Eliza seemed to catch on and she nodded.
“Who wants to pick where we go?”
“How about you do the honors?” Lola suggested, motioning towards the map. “You’re the one that brought this stuff in anyways.”
Eliza raised her eyebrow but didn’t object. Without a word, she examined the map for a few minutes, then placed her finger on one spot a bit far from my house.
“How about here?”
“You think we can make it that far?” Anthony asked.
“Well, we can drive now so why not?”
“You sure there’s some type of trail we can drive on? That spot looks pretty deep in the woods”
“We can find a path to drive on for a bit then walk the rest of the way. C’mon guys, this is probably our last chance to do something like this! Felix, you can drive right?”
Eliza and the rest turned to me with a hopeful expression. I had to comply.
“Sure. No big deal, right?”
All three of them cheered and high fived each other, looking pretty excited to go on one last adventure.
“So when do we leave?” I questioned.
Eliza flashed that smile again, “right now.”
“Right now?!”
“Hell yeah,” Lola chimed in. “It shouldn’t take that long, right?”
“I guess…” Even then I felt uneasy about the whole thing. I didn’t feel prepared enough to go on some random trip into the woods. I needed to pack food, water, flashlights, I had no idea how long this was going to take. Little did I know that those things would be the least of my worries a couple hours from then. I wish I could go back and convince my 17-year-old self that it wasn’t worth it, that I should just convince my friends to stay and talk for the rest of the day. I wish Eliza had never remembered that stupid game. In a way, I’m almost mad at her for what happened, but I know it wasn’t anyones fault. We just wanted to have fun. I wish we could’ve just had fun. But God had a different plan for us. One that made me think Satan himself devised it instead. On July 16, 2013, Anthony He, Lola Smith, Eliza Landserson, and Felix Johanson went on an adventure that none of them were ready for.
Author's Note:
If you just read all of that then thank you so so so much for doing so! I'm a rookie writer, so feel free to comment any constructive criticism you might have if you have actual writing experience! This is the first silly little story I'm posting here, so I hope you enjoyed :)

-In middle school I had one instance of sleep paralysis.
-In middle school, I was organizing things in my room and randomly heard a loud voice right in my ear. I couldn’t make out a word, it was more just a distorted sound like “ahh” but it was definitely a voice. I turned around in shock.
-In high school I had an OBE that lasted about 10 seconds.
(Smoked weed after high school and had no instances for a long time)
-Randomly brought up Robin Williams one night to my ex boyfriend and started talking about him for a couple hours about how amazing I think he is and his accomplishments. Watching videos of him. The next day his suicide was announced.
-Saw a ghost walking towards me, she had long hair, wearing a bonnet and a long white dress. Although, my friend had saw it too.
-Had another OBE that lasted about 10 seconds.
-My kitty passed away and the next morning I woke up to a loud wheel turning sound and as I awoke it got louder. I turned to look at my skateboard, and my kitty was right there looking up at me. It looked sunny in my room. I blinked and she disappeared, then the room changed back to a gloomy color. Which the weather was at the time.
-A few days later, I woke up and was awake at this point, I felt my kitty come lay and adjust herself on my neck in the form of lovely tingles.
-I am also super sensitive in an emotional way ever since I was younger. The complete opposite from my family and friends. They always tell me im too sensitive. I’ll cry at a random commercial that isn’t supposed to warrant any tears, but somehow I’ll find a way.
I am wondering if I should stop smoking weed and be looking more into mediumship and training if I happen to have a heightened ability?

I've owned my Polestar 2 for 3 weeks now and have a lot to say about the car.
TLDR: - Looks good on the outside and inside with performance and plus packs - Pilot pack adds to an interesting driving experience - Range and electric adds to longer journeys due to charging time and public charging prices are more expensive than petrol
Model Year: 2021 Interior: WeaveTech in Charcoal with Black ash deco - This option is a little dull to be honest. I haven't been in a Nappa Polestar but in pictures that looks really nice. I believe even the slate would look better. - I do like the comfort of the seat but I have had comfier seats. Where it really shines is the number of adjustments you can make to it. - The golden seat belts to match the brake calipers on the performance pack are a nice touch - The centre console is occupies a lot of space without providing much storage. They have tried to give some of that back with the little side storage on it which I like the concept of - no major comments about the controversial cup holder but I wish the centre storage where the second cup holder is had more space - The infotainment system is a little slow and I wish the screen had a button to turn it off for when it's not needed. Overall though I like the Android OS and can see potential once it has time to mature some more. The risk is Google likes to randomly end projects so who knows if it will get canned in some nearby year. - I really like the integration of Google maps. Firstly into the driver HUD and secondly that it can read the battery level and automatically add stops for charging points - The 360 camera is nice but I wish that the view had rear camera in a split screen. Still it's not too bad as I can use the mirrors at the same time to help. - The design of the gear knob is cool, especially with the Polestar logo. - I have the panoramic roof which I think is really cool. Unfortunately as the driver you do not get to enjoy it much. - I wish the lights had more colour options other than white - I like the music auto plays when I sit in the car - I like that there is no on/off. I just sit and drive. - The Harmon sound system is okay but could be clearer. I haven't played around with the mixer yet so maybe need to adjust that for better sound quality.
Exterior: Midnight Performance Pack - Overall I like the exterior of the car. It was one of the main reasons that I bought it. Especially with the performance pack. - Not 100% sure about the front grill though - The front lights look pretty cool. I like the motion they make when you lock/unlock the car. I have the Pixel lights and seeing them in action is awesome. - I think the back looks really nice. I think the rear light looks futuristic and the motion it does when you lock/unlock the car puts the icing on the cake. - The Polestar logo on the car blends in really nicely and isn't so in your face. - The rimless wing mirrors look great. Now whenever I sit in other cars I notice the ugly frame around the wing mirrors. The blind spot warning lights on them are really useful too. - The car has an interesting stance making it somehow look bigger than it really is - The two tone alloys and eye catching yellow brembo brake calipers make a nice combination
Motor: Long range Dual motor - It makes the range a little too short . It has over 50 miles less range than the long range single motor. Despite this I like having the additional performance power available and therefore I am willing to make the sacrifice. - The reduced range and longer recharge time versus a petrol car does add time to roadtrips unfortunately. Charging prices on the road mean the long journeys are more expensive than a petrol car as well. However for local driving it is great and charging at home is very easy and convenient.
Driving experience - The instant acceleration is fun and for this reason I'm seriously considering getting the performance software upgrade. - The steering, even on the firmest setting is still too light for me and doesn't really feel connected to the road. This is to be expected for this kind of car I guess. There is understeer when pushing it a bit as well. Interesting that you can make the car slide. - I am a convert to single pedal driving it is really nice to not really have to use the brakes. I really like going into corners and not having to use the brake to adjust the speed, as well as when having to come to a stop just letting go of the pedal and slowing nicely to a stop. - I'm undecided whether to have creep on or off. I have it on at the moment but I'm considering turning it off - adaptive cruise control with the lane control is amazing on motorways, the car is almost driving itself. Not so useful in local driving, especially in the UK but there's nothing wrong with old fashioned less autonomous driving - I had a fun experience with the rear collision detection. I thought the seatbelts were trying to choke me but after a moment realised that the car is trying to protect me when it thought someone was going to hit me from behind. I love that feature.
Keys: - The fat keys are too big but I barely use them - the active lifestyle key is slim and combined with the touch sensitive door handles suits me very well - I do not believe in my phone enough yet to use it as a full time key however it is very convenient when I just need to go to the car for any quick reason. I don't have to take my key with me because the phone is the key making it a lot more convenient. The polestar app is fairly limited but it's useful to see the battery charge, whether you forgot to lock it and where the car currently is.
One last point that I didn't really know where to fit is that I really like the online documentation that is available for the car, it's really clear and explains a lot of things and I can search through it using Google
Let's see what the next few weeks, months and years brings.

Hi, I have a couple questions for anyone who has the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro:

1. Baking Mode vs. Air Fryer Mode:
   • What’s the difference between using baking mode with the convection/super convection setting turned on and using the air fryer mode?
2. Convection Settings in Air Fryer Mode:
   • When using the air fryer mode, you are able to turn on the convection/super convection mode. What is the point/difference?
3. Baking vs. Roasting Settings:
   • What is the difference between the baking and roasting settings?
4. Frozen Food Button:
   • What does the snowflake button do? How exactly does this function work? Should I set the oven as if I’m cooking defrosted food and then press the frozen food button, and it will adjust accordingly?

And separately, I am in OCD mode thinking about all the different options - what do y'all think the best way to cook frozen veggies with this oven would be?

~RIGL Thesis – 5/18/2024~
Outstanding Shares 175M
131 Institutional Holders
111,129,461 Total Shares Held
63.36% Institutional Ownership
Total Cash on Hand 3/31/2024 = $49.6M
Total Debt: $101.5M
Cash Burn Approximate = $8M per quarter (6 quarters of cash without any increases in revenue)
Q12023 REV = $26M
Q22023 REV = $26.8M
Q32023 REV = $28.1M
Q42023 REV = $35.8M
Q12024 REV = $29.5M (Decline from Q4 likely from end of year versus new-year tracking of Rx and shipments of drugs, resetting of Copays)
Most Recent EPS -$0.05 per share
May 22, 2024 - Vote on S will take place, caution
~Statistics Applicable To Thesis~
333.3 million US Population (2022)
8,109,679,892 Global Population (2024)
~Drugs On Market~
~Tavalisse – Treatment for ITP, FDA Approved April 17, 2018~
~What is ITP?~
Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an illness that can lead to bruising and bleeding. Low levels of the cells that help blood clot, also known as platelets, most often cause the bleeding.
Once known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, ITP can cause purple bruises. It also can cause tiny reddish-purple dots on the skin that look like a rash.
Children can get ITP after a virus. They most often get better without treatment. In adults, the illness often lasts months or years. People with ITP who aren't bleeding and whose platelet count isn't too low might not need treatment. For worse symptoms, treatment might include medicines to raise platelet count or surgery to remove the spleen. Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
~What is Tavalisse?~
TAVALISSE is a prescription medication used to treat adults with low platelet counts due to chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) when a prior treatment for ITP has not worked well enough. It is not known if TAVALISSE is safe and effective in children.
The cost for Tavalisse oral tablet 100 mg is around $15,404 for a supply of 60 tablets, depending on the pharmacy you visit. Quoted prices are for cash-paying customers and are not valid with insurance plans. This price guide is based on using the Drugs.com discount card which is accepted at most U.S. pharmacies.
Tavalisse Prices, Coupons, Copay & Patient Assistance - Drugs.com
TAVALISSE IS AN ORAL MEDICATION TAKEN TWICE DAILY WITH OR WITHOUT FOOD¹
A 12-week evaluation period is recommended
60 tablets = 1 month supply, evaluation period = 3 months, Cost for 3 months = $46,212 Cash, assuming cheaper through wholesale, insurance, discount cards, etc.
Dosing TAVALISSE® (fostamatinib disodium hexahydrate) tablets (tavalissehcp.com)
~Addressable Market~
“Our findings suggest that nearly 20,000 children and adults are newly diagnosed with ITP each year in the US, substantially higher than previously reported. Among patients requiring formal medical care, the economic burden during the first 12 months following diagnosis is high, with estimated US expenditures totaling over $400 million.”
Primary immune thrombocytopenia in US clinical practice: incidence and healthcare burden in first 12 months following diagnosis - PubMed (nih.gov)
The estimated prevalence of ITP in the United States is 9.5 per 100,000 people, with a global prevalence of over 200,000 people at any given time [1].
Immune thrombocytopenia. [ Oct; 2022 ]. 2022. https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/immune-thrombocytopenia
~Author Calculations/Estimates~
ITP estimated cases based on measured statistics 31,635 cases a year in the US and 770,355 cases globally each year.
~Rezlidhia – R Acute Myeloid Leukemia, FDA Approved December, 22, 2022~
~What is Relapsed or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia?~
Relapsed, or recurrent, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) means the leukemia has come back after treatment and remission.
Refractory AML means the leukemia did not respond to treatment. Complete remission has not been reached because the chemotherapy drugs did not kill enough leukemia cells.
Both relapsed and refractory AML need more treatment to reach complete remission.
Your healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan. Some factors considered for your treatment include:
your age
your health
how long the leukemia was in remission
treatments you had before
where the leukemia comes back
Treatment options usually include chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant if possible. Targeted therapy may also be used.
Treatments for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia Canadian Cancer Society
~What is IDH1?~
Somatic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes occur frequently in adult Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and less commonly in pediatric AML… Enhanced genomic and epigenomic profiling of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has led to identification of recurrent mutations that are prognostic and are candidates for targeted therapy. Somatic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes, IDH1 and IDH2, occur in ∼6% to 16% and ∼8% to 19% of adult patients with AML, respectively.^1-5 In pediatric AML, IDH mutations are rare, occurring in <4% of patients.^6-11
Characteristics and prognostic impact of IDH mutations in AML: a COG, SWOG, and ECOG analysis Blood Advances American Society of Hematology (ashpublications.org)
~What is Rezlidhia?~
REZLIDHIA is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with an isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation when the disease has come back or has not improved after previous treatment(s).
Targeted Treatment REZLIDHIA® (olutasidenib) capsules
The cost for Rezlidhia oral capsule 150 mg is around $17,468 for a supply of 30 capsules, depending on the pharmacy you visit. Quoted prices are for cash-paying customers and are not valid with insurance plans. This price guide is based on using the Drugs.com discount card which is accepted at most U.S. pharmacies.
Rezlidhia Prices, Coupons, Copay & Patient Assistance - Drugs.com%20is%20a%20member,on%20the%20pharmacy%20you%20visit.)
~Addressable Market~
The annual incidence of new cases in both men and women is approximately 4.3 per 100,000 population, totaling over 20,000 cases per year in the United States alone.[13] The median age at the time of diagnosis is about 68, with a higher prevalence observed among non-Hispanic Whites. Furthermore, males exhibit a higher incidence compared to females, with a ratio of 5:3.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)
~Author Calculations/Estimates~
Cases of AML with IDH1 would be 11% based on the median of statistics above (6% to 16%) leaving approximately 1500 to 2000 cases a year in the US. Appling the same calculations to world population would amount to approximately 38,500 cases a year globally.
~Gavreto – Treats RET+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer In Adults and RET+ Thyroid Cancer in Kids and Adults, FDA Approved August 9, 2023~
For the sake of common ground, I am going to assume these types of cancers do not need to be elaborated on as we all likely have a basic understanding of what they are. The medical conditions treated by Tavalisse and Rezlidhia I felt needed a more in-depth explanation because they are not common. I will elaborate on RET+ a little later in this writing.
~What is Gavreto?~
GAVRETO is an oral once daily prescription medicine used to treat certain cancers caused by abnormal rearranged during transfection ~(RET+)~ genes in:
Adults with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has spread
Adults and children 12 years of age and older with advanced thyroid cancer or thyroid cancer that has spread who require a medicine by mouth or injection (systemic therapy) and who have received radioactive iodine and it did not work or is no longer working*
It is not known if GAVRETO is safe and effective when used to treat cancers caused by abnormal RET genes in children for the treatment of NSCLC or in children younger than 12 years of age for the treatment of thyroid cancer.
Home GAVRETO® (pralsetinib)
The cost for Gavreto oral capsule 100 mg is around $11,745 for a supply of 60 capsules, depending on the pharmacy you visit. Quoted prices are for cash-paying customers and are not valid with insurance plans. This price guide is based on using the Drugs.com discount card which is accepted at most U.S. pharmacies.
The recommended dosage for adults and children 12 and over is 400mg orally once daily. Each capsule is 100mg, which means you will take 4 capsules. Gavreto should be taken on an empty stomach, at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after a meal.
Gavreto Prices, Coupons, Copay & Patient Assistance - Drugs.com
~What is Rearranged During Transfection Positive (RET+)?~
RET-positive cancer is caused by a mutation or abnormal re-arrangement of the RET gene. It occurs most commonly in lung cancer and several types of inherited and sporadic thyroid cancers. RET alterations also occur in an estimated 1-2% of multiple other cancers, including ovarian, pancreatic, salivary, breast, and colorectal cancers.
RETpositive Empowering Patients and Driving Research
Rearranged during transfection (RET) rearrangements were first identified as oncogenic drivers in NSCLC in 2012. The proportion of patients with NSCLC who have RET rearrangements (ie, fusion-positive disease) is approximately 1%-2%.
RET Fusion-Positive Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: The Evolving Treatment Landscape The Oncologist Oxford Academic (oup.com)
RET alterations occur most commonly in lung cancer (non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)) and the number of new cases diagnosed each year is considerable, accounting for approximately 37,500 [IG1] cases worldwide and 4,000 cases in the US (2% of NSCLC) (2,3). RET alterations are also common in several types of inherited and sporadic thyroid cancers and can occur in other types of cancers like ovarian, breast, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers, among others (4-8) adding >110,000 cases yearly worldwide (9).
What is RET Positive Lung Cancer? - The Happy Lungs Project
(2) Although medullary thyroid carcinoma represents 5-10% of all thyroid cancers, activating RET gene abnormalities occur in over 90% of hereditary and approximately 40%-60% of sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma cases.
Patients – RETpositive%20Although%20medullary%20thyroid%20carcinoma,sporadic%20medullary%20thyroid%20carcinoma%20cases.)
~Prevalence of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer~
Most lung cancer statistics include both small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In general, about 10% to 15% of all lung cancers are SCLC, and about 80% to 85% are NSCLC.
Lung cancer (both small cell and non-small cell) is the second most common cancer in both men and women in the United States (not counting skin cancer). In men, prostate cancer is more common, while breast cancer is more common in women.
The American Cancer Society’s estimates for lung cancer in the US for 2024 are:
About 234,580 new cases of lung cancer (116,310 in men and 118,270 in women)
About 125,070 deaths from lung cancer (65,790 in men and 59,280 in women)
Lung Cancer Statistics How Common is Lung Cancer? American Cancer Society
Worldwide, an estimated 2,206,771 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020. These statistics include both small cell lung cancer and NSCLC.
Lung Cancer - Non-Small Cell: Statistics Cancer.Net
~Author Calculations/Estimates~
Approximately 187,664 cases of NSCLC in the US based on an 80% factor.
Approximately 1,765,416 cases of NSCLC worldwide based on an 80% factor.
~Prevalence of Thyroid Cancer~
Rate of New Cases and Deaths per 100,000: The rate of new cases of thyroid cancer was 13.5 per 100,000 men and women per year. The death rate was 0.5 per 100,000 men and women per year. These rates are age-adjusted and based on 2017–2021 cases and 2018–2022 deaths.
Lifetime Risk of Developing Cancer: Approximately 1.2 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with thyroid cancer at some point during their lifetime, based on 2017–2019 data. Lifetime risk based on data through 2022 will available soon.
Prevalence of This Cancer: In 2021, there were an estimated 979,295 people living with thyroid cancer in the United States.
Thyroid Cancer — Cancer Stat Facts
About 44,020 new cases of thyroid cancer (12,500 in men and 31,520 in women)
About 2,170 deaths from thyroid cancer (990 in men and 1,180 in women)
Thyroid cancer is often diagnosed at a younger age than most other adult cancers. The average age when a person is diagnosed with thyroid cancer is 51.
This cancer is about 3 times more common in women than in men. It is about 40% to 50% less common in Black people than in any other racial or ethnic group.
Key Statistics for Thyroid Cancer American Cancer Society)
Addressable Market
Given Gavreto’s dual treatment capacity, the total amount of potential patients with NSCLC with RET+ indications would be approximately 2,800 cases in the US and approximately 26,500 cases worldwide each year using a factor of 1.5% of total NSCLC cases. The total amount of treatable cases for Thyroid Cancer would be approximately 650 in the US and 16,500 cases worldwide respectively each year applying the same 1.5% RET+ percentage rate. DOUBLE CHECK MATH…
~Rigel Pharmaceuticals Pipeline~
~IRAK/4 – Clinical Trials~
Rigel’s investigational candidate, R289, is an oral, potent and selective inhibitor of interleukin receptor-associated kinases 1 and 4 (IRAK1/4).
Toll like receptors (TLRs) and the interleukin 1 receptor family (IL-1Rs) play a critical role in the innate immune response and dysregulation of these pathways can lead to a variety of inflammatory conditions such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Chronic stimulation of both receptor systems has also been implicated in causing a pro-inflammatory bone marrow environment leading to persistent cytopenias in lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (LR-MDS) patients1.
R835 is a selective dual inhibitor of IRAK1/4 that blocks TLR4 and IL-1R-dependent systemic cytokine release. In preclinical studies, R835 demonstrated activity in multiple animal models of inflammatory disease2,3 and showed that dual inhibition of IRAK1 and IRAK4 provided more complete suppression of inflammatory cytokines when compared to an IRAK4-selective inhibitor4.
Development of R289:
In a Phase 1 clinical trial, R835 was well tolerated and inhibited LPS-induced inflammatory cytokine production in healthy volunteers, demonstrating proof-of-mechanism.5 Phase 1 clinical studies of R289 (an oral prodrug that is rapidly converted to R835 in the gut) are also complete.
A Phase 1b open-label, multicenter trial of R289 in patients with relapsed/refractory lower-risk MDS is currently enrolling (NCT05308264). The primary endpoint for this trial is safety with key secondary endpoints including preliminary efficacy and evaluation of pharmacokinetic properties.
~Bemcentinib – Bergenbio Partnership~
In June 2011, Rigel entered into an exclusive, worldwide research, development and commercialization agreement with BerGenBio for its investigational AXL receptor tyrosine kinase (AXL) inhibitor, R428 (now referred to as bemcentinib).
Bemcentinib is a potent, selective and orally bioavailable AXL inhibitor and the furthest along in clinical trials. In preclinical studies, bemcentinib was shown to have an effect as a single agent therapeutic in the prevention and reversal of acquired resistance to standard of care cytotoxics and targeted therapies and may also slow or prevent tumor metastasis.
Rigel received an upfront payment and is eligible for milestone payments and potential sublicensing revenue, as well as tiered royalty payments on any future net sales of products emerging from the collaboration.
~R552 Systemic – Eli Lilly Partnership~
Rigel’s investigational candidates are oral, potent and selective inhibitors of receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1).
RIPK1 is a critical signaling protein implicated in a broad range of key inflammatory cellular processes including necroptosis, a type of regulated cell death, and cytokine production. In necroptosis, cells rupture leading to the dispersion of cell contents, which can trigger an immune response and enhance inflammation. RIPK1 inhibition has therapeutic potential in treating autoimmune, inflammatory, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Rigel’s RIPK1 inhibitor program includes R552, a systemic molecule being developed for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, and brain penetrating RIPK1 inhibitors for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. In preclinical studies, R552 demonstrated prevention of joint and skin inflammation in a RIPK1-mediated murine model of inflammation and tissue damage.
Development of R552:
In Q2 2023, the initial Phase 2a trial (NCT05848258) in moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was initiated by partner Eli Lilly.
Development CNS-penetrating RIPK1 inhibitors:
Currently in preclinical studies.
~Milademetan – Daiichi Sankyo Partnership~
Rigel has a long-standing collaboration with Daiichi-Sankyo for developing murine double minute 2 (MDM2) protein inhibitors in cancer, which were discovered in Rigel’s laboratories.
Preliminary safety and efficacy data from an early Phase 1 study of milademetan (formerly DS-3032), an oral selective MDM2 inhibitor, in hematological malignancies suggests that it may be a promising potential treatment for oncology indications.
Rigel received an upfront payment and is eligible for milestone payments, as well as tiered royalty payments on any future net sales of any products emerging from the collaboration.
~Rxxx (CNS Penetrant) – Eli Lilly Partnership~
Rigel’s investigational candidates are oral, potent and selective inhibitors of receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1).
RIPK1 is a critical signaling protein implicated in a broad range of key inflammatory cellular processes including necroptosis, a type of regulated cell death, and cytokine production. In necroptosis, cells rupture leading to the dispersion of cell contents, which can trigger an immune response and enhance inflammation. RIPK1 inhibition has therapeutic potential in treating autoimmune, inflammatory, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Rigel’s RIPK1 inhibitor program includes R552, a systemic molecule being developed for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, and brain penetrating RIPK1 inhibitors for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. In preclinical studies, R552 demonstrated prevention of joint and skin inflammation in a RIPK1-mediated murine model of inflammation and tissue damage.
Development of R552:
In Q2 2023, the initial Phase 2a trial (NCT05848258) in moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was initiated by partner Eli Lilly.
Development CNS-penetrating RIPK1 inhibitors:
Currently in preclinical studies. Pipeline :: Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (RIGL)
~Summary and Prediction~
The current share price of sub $1 does not feel justified. I would anticipate financial breakeven by the end of 2024 or potentially in Q1 or Q2 of 2025. The robust pipeline, progress, and expected revenue growth are enough to justify a much higher valuation. The debt load is manageable, but the potential for S is concerning. I believe that the S is not necessary and revenue growth and progress should speak for itself. I am not as bullish as the analysts at HC Wainright for a $15 PT, but the valuation should be at least 3x to 5x from the current value. This thesis does not highlight the patents surrounding their drugs either which some extend into 2035 and beyond. Perhaps what Wall Street is discounting is the fact that most of the drugs are very niche. However, the currently available drugs have an addressable market, albeit less universal than some, but you should value it in the sense of multiple facets (a 1000 headed snake is the phrase I wanted to use). I believe the company should be valued with specialty drugs in mind which would command a higher PE ratio. At the current day and time of writing, the value should be at least $1.50 to $1.75 ~at a minimum~ with a 12 month price target of $3 to $5+. I will be looking for continued revenue growth in each quarter this year and realization of revenue from Gavreto in Q2 or Q3 this year. The partnerships should not be discounted either and the current share price if it lingers here perhaps may attract a merger or acquisition. I initially began the research thinking that perhaps the drugs were too niche, but given the multiple drugs they are working with, I believe their revenue sources will continue to grow if you do not focus on one particular drug as the main performer. With the most recent inflation report being cooler than expected, I would suspect larger funds and institutions will be circling back to riskier assets.

I bought a skink from Morph Market a couple of months ago.
Did what I read was best and left what we shall call her alone to adjust to her environment for the time suggested. I felt like I've done everything right. "Her" basking temps are perfect and her cooling side temps are great.
I feed a balanced diet of proper veggies and some fruits occasionally and canned dog food. Which isn't the cheapest in the bunch. Lol. She eats. She poops and she sheds great. Her current habitat is a 5x2x2 dubia.com enclosure that opens from the front. She has plenty of burrying amounts of substrate and I have 2 hides. One on the cooling end and one on the basking side. She is a sub-adult Northern skink. The Morph Market seller told me she was tame. She is not. I never ever reach above her to pick her up. I know better. I know they sense prey that way. I support her when I pick her up and feel as though I've made a real effort with her.
I guess my question is this.. I have a man that wants her. He knows her story. And still wants her. I've been in talks with another person on Morphmarket that has an adult skink that has sent me videos of a female skink that is tame (with him). Do I keep trying with my current skink or do I sell her and get this adult skink that appears tame? His reviews on Morphmarket speak volumes. I'm so torn. I don't know what to do at this point. I really don't. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm open to even some constructive criticism. 😁 The man that wants my skink wants to pick up Monday. And, I'm supposed to pay for the other on Monday? Thoughts? Please know in no way shape or form am I the perfect skink owner. I'm sure I've made mistakes. But, I'm trying here.
Thanks!!