“39. Select the appropriate term for the following definition: ‘the entry of covered merchandise into the customs territory of the United States for consumption by means of any document or electronically transmitted data or information, written or oral statement, or act that is material and false, or any omission that is material, and that results in any cash deposit or other security or any amount of applicable antidumping or countervailing duties being reduced or not being applied with respect to the covered merchandise.’
A. Convection
B. Evasion
C. Investigation
D. Allegation
E. Invasion”
We’re looking for a definition related to AD/CVD so let’s look at 19 CFR 165’s definitions:
§ 165.1 Definitions.
As used in this part, the following terms will have the meanings indicated unless either the context in which they are used requires a different meaning or a different definition is prescribed for a particular section of this part:
Allegation. The term “allegation” refers to a filing with CBP under § 165.11 by an interested party that alleges an act of evasion by an importer of AD/CVD orders.
AD. The term “AD” refers to antidumping duty, consistent with section 736, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1673e).
AD/CVD. The term “AD/CVD” refers to antidumping/countervailing duty, as these terms are defined in this section.
Covered merchandise. The term “covered merchandise” means merchandise that is subject to a CVD order issued under section 706, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1671e), and/or an AD order issued under section 736, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1673e).
CVD. The term “CVD” refers to countervailing duty, consistent with section 706, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1671e).
Enter or entry. The terms “enter” and “entry” refer to the entry for consumption, or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption, of merchandise in the customs territory of the United States, see § 101.1 of this chapter, or to the filing with CBP of the necessary documentation to withdraw merchandise from a duty-deferral program in the United States for exportation to Canada or Mexico or for entry into a duty-deferral program in Canada or Mexico, see §§ 141.0a(f) and 181.53 of this chapter.
Evade or evasion. The terms “evade” and “evasion” refer to the entry of covered merchandise into the customs territory of the United States for consumption by means of any document or electronically transmitted data or information, written or oral statement, or act that is material and false, or any omission that is material, and that results in any cash deposit or other security or any amount of applicable antidumping or countervailing duties being reduced or not being applied with respect to the covered merchandise.
Interested party. The term “interested party” in this part refers only to the following:
(1) A foreign manufacturer, producer, or exporter, or any importer (not limited to importers of record and including the party against whom the allegation is brought), of covered merchandise or a trade or business association a majority of the members of which are producers, exporters, or importers of such merchandise;
(2) A manufacturer, producer, or wholesaler in the United States of a domestic like product;
(3) A certified union or recognized union or group of workers that is representative of an industry engaged in the manufacture, production, or wholesale in the United States of a domestic like product;
(4) A trade or business association a majority of the members of which manufacture, produce, or wholesale a domestic like product in the United States;
(5) An association a majority of the members of which is composed of interested parties described in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of this definition with respect to a domestic like product; or,
(6) If the covered merchandise is a processed agricultural product, as defined in 19 U.S.C. 1677(4)(E), a coalition or trade association that is representative of any of the following: processors; processors and producers; or processors and growers.
Investigation. The term “investigation” refers to the CBP administrative process described in subpart C of this part, and is a formal investigation within the meaning of section 592(c)(4), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1592(c)(4)).
Parties to the investigation. The phrase “parties to the investigation” means the interested party (or interested parties, in the case of consolidation pursuant to § 165.13) who filed the allegation of evasion and the importer (or importers, in the case of consolidation pursuant to § 165.13) who allegedly engaged in evasion. In the case of investigations initiated based upon a request from a Federal agency, parties to the investigation only refers to the importer or importers who allegedly engaged in evasion, and not the Federal agency.
Regulations and Rulings. The term “Regulations and Rulings” means the Executive Director, Regulations and Rulings, Office of Trade, or his or her designee.
TRLED. The term “TRLED” refers to the Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate, Office of Trade, that conducts the investigation of alleged evasion under this part, and that was established as required by section 411 of the EAPA.
The answer is B – evasion.

1. ill just copy and paste.. your auto mod is standing up for filth like Cameron or backing paywall research.. wow thats not admirable.

PSYCHIC DRIVING: DYNAMIC IMPLANT BY D. EWEN CAMERON
In an earlier communication, the procedure of psychic driving has been described in some detail.** Briefly, it is the exposure of the patient to continued replaying, under controlled conditions, of a cue communication derived from one of the original areas from which his current difficulties arise. A major consequence of such exposure is to activate and bring progressively into his awareness more recollections and responses generally from this area. The ultimate result is the accelerating of therapeutic re- organization.
It was early noted that continued replaying of a cue communi- cation sets up a persistent tendency in the patient to act in a way which can be predetenaained with respect to its general characteristics. In other words, by driving a cue statement one can, without exception, set up in the patient a persisting tendency for the cue statement and other components of the relevant "com- nmnity of action tendencies" to return to his awareness. This tendency has been termed the dynamic implant. By "community of action tendencies," a group of related activities and attitudes is meant--such as, for instance, those existing between the patient and his mother, or those related to his feelings of inadequacy.
Since, clearly, this continuing result of psychic driving might greatly enhance its effects, considerable study has been directed to the conditions controlling the setting up of the dynamic implant and to the effects of the implant. The findings are reported here- with.
PROCEDURE
The dynamic implant may be set up either by autopsychic or heteropsychic driving. The first procedure consists in the repeated playing of a cue communication made by the patient. The second is the replaying of a communication devised by the therapist from his knowledge of the patient's dynamics.
*From the Allan ~emorial Institute of Psychiatry, Montreal, Canada. This paper was read at the l l l t h annual meeting 'of the American PSychiatric Association in Atlantic City, M~y 11, 1955.
*'*Cameron, D. Ewen: Psychic driving. Am. J. Psychiat., 112:7, 502-509, January 1956.
704 PSYCI-IIC DRIVING: DYNAMIC IMI'LAlX:T
Since autopsyehic driving is more easily carried out, this re- port has been based upon that type, with implants set up by means of periods of 10 to 30 minutes' driving--repeated, if neees- sary, once a week.
Preferably, the communication should deal with one topic only and should not be longer than about 20 seeonds. In practice, the material is derived from a psychotherapeutie hour whieh has been recorded on magnetic tape. It has been found useful to transfer these communications to 14-inch records and to reproduce them through a high fidelity phonograph adjusted for continuous playing.
The communication should be derived from a community of action tendencies which are of basic signifieanee to the patient. Moreover, it is most effeetive if taken from the time of origin of this eomlnunieation. It may, for instance, be selected as ex- pressive of one of the great formative relationships of the earlier part of the patient's life, as in the following eommunieation, in which the patient is reliving her early relationships with her mother :
"Everything about me was wrong--the way I acted, the way I spoke, the way I dressed.., everything, everything I did. Many times she [the patient's mother] would just talk and talk and talk, and . . . well, I ean't go thinking up these things."
Or it may be drawn from a long-eontinuing elimate of rejection, insecurity, or hostility whieh prevailed during a critical early period in the patient's personality growth:
"Now that I think about it, seems to me that my parents had me just to even up the family . . . not because they wanted me 9 . . because of eourse their attitude towards me . . . Gee, I don't remember the boys getting as much hell as I did.., or my sister." The signifieanee of the eue eommunieation must be assessed, not only in terms of the therapist's conception, but also in terms of the patient's response. The two do not neeessarily eoineide.
The second is the more realistic guide. The following is an example of the patient's immediate response
to the implanting of a eae eommunieation. For the purposes of presentation, a response at the upper level of intensity has been seleeted. The ease is that of a woman suffering from anxiety
D. E W E N CAMERON~ IVi.D. 705
hysteria with many conversion symptoms. The cue communica- tion ran as follows:
"I stayed home all the time when my mother lived. I stayed with her.., didn't want to leave her. I was always left staying home with her and... I didn't have any life like all.., the other girls."
On the first implanting on January 4, 1955, the patient, who had come in that day and rather gaily said that she had nothing on her mind and nothing to talk about, was silent. At the end of five sdnutes she said, "It makes me nervous, you'd better stop it... it makes me feel bad." She was now restless and anxious and very different from the gay person she had been when she came at the beginning of the hour. At eigl~t minutes: "Doctor doctor, I've had enough, please stop it." Holds head. Nine min- ut,es: "That's enough. It makes me nervous to hear that." Ten minut,es: "Why don't you stop it, doctor. I've heard enough. It is always the same."
At the end of 10 minutes, the patient was asked: "What did you think about it?" Answer : "It made me nervous all over again. Everything hurt me all over as it did before. My voice sounds like I am going to die." She then went on to bring out a great deal of new material, saying: ")~iy mother almost might not have had me, I was so quiet as a child." And again: "After my mother died, my father gave up his music and began to drink. I tried to take her place for him. I wanted so badly to please him and I cried every night and I tried to carry on. i kept everything very much to myself. My father was like a child. I had no friends by the time my mother died, I had stayed at home so much."
If the cue communication evokes too great a response from the patient, it will, in a measure, defeat its own purpose, since defenses will be erected which may take a considerable time to reduce.
The writer would like to state here clearly an answer to a question which he is sure will arise in everybody's mind. In two years of exploration into this new field, covering more than 100 cases, in only one has there been seen a possible persisting trauma resulting from the implant; and even here, current events ---such as the breakdown of a love affair and threatened deporta-
706 PSYCHIC DRIVING: DY~A~IIC IMPLA~:T
tion--undoubtedly contributed to, if they did not cause, the panic state through which the patient passed.
As an example of a cue communication which is not well chosen, the following is presented. It was selected earlier in the writer's experience and, as can be seen, is drawn from a period when the patient's personMity structure was already well developed; it is representative of current stress and is not expressive of those forces which brought about a formation of the early neurotic traits which have got the patient into continual dif~.culties through her insatiable seeking for affection and endless understanding:
"Well... because... I%obert doesn't care.., and I have always thought I would have it in time [a house] . . . and I have been very patient . . . and I don't know whether it has just suddenly 9 . . I realize now it is all so hopeless, thinking about it."
After considerable experimentation, two additional procedures which facilitate the establishment of the implant have been found. The first is tha~ the sound should be conducted to the patient's ears through headphones. This causes the patient to experience the driving with much greater impact, the more particularly since he frequently describes it as being like a voice within his head. For instance, one patient said: "I've heard enough. It goes right through my head." Another reported: "It's too close; it's horrible; I hear all the stuttering."
A second procedure is to produce a filtered record: that is, having a recording made of the cue communication with the emphasis first upon treble notes and then upon bass; or, again, with the emphasis upon a low volume or a high volume; or with spacing or repetition of key phrases; or with the introduction of an echo-back into the communication. All these variations serve to keep the patient continuously oriented toward each repe- tition and, hence, serve to diminish the most common defense-- not listening.
On November 9, 1954, the first attempt was made, using an ordinary record to implant the following communication:
"I was afraid of them all the time. I mean I didn't dare... talk anything over with them whenever I went out on a date or something like that . . . I mean a lot of kids . . . you know . . . they'd come home and tell everything they did and everything .,. I never.. 9I always felt as if I would be scolded, I mean if
D. E W E N CAMEIION~ M[.D. 707
I ever did mention what I had done and then I wouldn't do it." At the end of 10 minutes, the patient, who had shown no re- sponse, said, "Is that a record, doetorf' Asked what she felt, she said: "I had no feeling at all as I listened; I was thinking
of something else." The same communication was then set up in filtered form. To
this the patient's response was at once different. ,She eommented that she felt extremely tired after listening to it, that the voice sounded as though it were inside her head; and she said: "It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood days." A few weeks later, when it was used again, the patient said: "When I listen to that voice now, I feel like screaming and putting on a tantrum. The voice seems to scream at me all the time. It is like the voice of a stranger, though I know it is my own. It seems to say, 'I was afraid of being scolded.' It says it over and over again. It makes me think that even with my husband and my father and my father-in-law I have to hide things from them. I feel trapped. I feel I can't talk to anyone."
Experience shows that the implant can most readily be set up if the driving is carried out during the last 10 minutes of the psychotherapeutic period, the reason for this apparently being that best results are obtained if nothing is done to interrupt the ongoing response of the patient to the fresh implant--as would be the ease if one continued therapy afterward. It is some- times useful, however, to spend some five minutes asking the patient what fresh recollections the implant has brought up. This inm~ediately widens the area of the patient's response and probably tends to stabilize the implant.
A question which must be met at this juncture is: Why is it that statements which the patients have already made, had for- mulated in their own minds, and had listened to themselves utter- ing, should be so potentially disturbing when replayed to t h e m - f a r more so than when they first made them, never more than a week before and sometimes only 10 minutes before. This question has been explored in some detail and reported earlier. Discussion will be limited to three brief statements: (1) The work involved in listening is far less than the work involved in speaking; hence the patient, when listening, is much freer to respond to what he hears. (2) The law of the summation of subliminal stimuli
708 PSYCI-IIC DRIVI~rG : DYNA~[IC I~iPLANT
seems to be operative: The longer one listens to a statement, the more response it evokes. (3) In all of us, a defense is set up against responding to all the implications of what we say. This defense appears to be with respect to a synthesis of air- conducted and tissue-conducted sound. The recorder, making use as it does of air-conducted sound only, evades this defense.
A. Findings R,el;ative to Process of Setting up of Implant
Several factors governing the establishment of an implant have been identified:
Intensity of Response. The intensity of the response of the individual to the driving period tends to increase the dynamic character of the implant which is thus set up. This is true whether t h e response takes the form of tension, anxiety, hostility, un- happiness or any other facet of the intensification response. This statement must be qualified in that, as the area involved becomes progressively activated by the patient and worked through by him, the intensity of the response will, after having risen to its maximum intensity, graduMly decline. Factors limiting the in- tensity of the response are: the patient's defense, his stress toler- ance, and his capacity for desensitization. These will be discussed la~er.
Amount and R.epet#i:on of Driving. Repetition of the driving of the cue communication on subsequent days will reinforce the dynamic aspects of the implant. Less clear is what the optimum amount should be, either of the driving on any given day, or the frequency of the driving within a series of .days. The practice has been to limit driving to 10 or 15 minutes on any given day, as it is found that thereafter the patient usually succeeds in establishing defenses or becomes so disturbed as to be unwilling to continue. The repetition of the driving thus far has been limited to a maximum of once a week and a. minimum o~[ about once a month.
Defenses. The defenses against the setting up of an implant are essentially the defenses against psychic driving itself.* The chief of these defenses are: (a) inhibitory reaction to implanting by thinking of other things; (b) suppression of emotional reaction to the material; (e) denial of responsibility for the statement,
'~Cameron, D. Ewea: Ibid.
D. E W E N CAI~IEIIONj I~.D. 709
as where the patient states, "I listen to it as though it were a stranger talking"; and (d) misinterpretation; this is much less frequent, but on occasion patients succeed in completely reversing the sense of a statement, even when repeated 30 or 40 times, by changing it from an affirmative to a negation.
Methods of penetrating the defense which have been most successful are: (1) continued repetition; (2) the use of the ear- phones; and (3) the use of the filtered record, as indicated earlier in this paper. This last procedure, by its continuous shift in pitch, in volume, in spacing, and by other devices, penetrates the patient's defenses by repeated evoking of what Pavlov has termed in the animal the "orientation reflex." Other methods, such as psychic driving carried out during mild sodium amytal narcosis or during continuous sleep or during the induction phase of ni- trous oxide, have not been nearly so successful. In practice, the penetration of defenses has not been found to be a serious prob- lem.

1. Stress Tolerence. Knowledge concerning this is rather limited; but it would appear, from preliminary observations, that patients vary considerably in their ability to bear stress. Those who can tolerate stress well will, in general, show less tendency to react to psychic driving by the setting up of a lasting implant. On the other hand, those who tolerate stress very poorly are likely to respond, either by withdrawal from the driving situation alto- gether or by the setting up of powerful defenses.
   
2. Capacity for Desensitization. Concerning this phenomenon, there is still less information. But~ from experience in other fields, it would appear that here, again, patients vary considerably in their ability to desensitize themselves; and those who cannot de- sensitize themselves readily will show a persistence of the implant for longer periods.
   

B. Findings ReLativ:e to the Effects of the Dynamic Implan.t
Mobi:li.zation of Action Tendencies and Progressive Problem Identificc~tion. The dynamic implant, especially when reinforced by repeated driving, tends to mobilize more and more of the com- ponents of the community of action tendencies from which it was taken. These components tend to appear in the patient's awaxe- ness. This fact, in turn, facilitates problem identification by the
710 PSYCHIC DI~IVING : DYNAIViIC II~PLANT
patient and the therapist. This progress may be assessed in the following ways: (a) by the extent to which the patient thinks about the cue communication in the period between his treat- ments, and the extent to which his ruminating over the cue com- munication evokes new material; (b) by the new material which is evoked at the time of reinforcement of the implant--namely, by playing the material back again on a subsequent occasion; (c) possibly by general shifts in the behavior of ~he individual subsequent to implantation; for instance, it may be possible to demonstrate that the fact that the patient is now sleeping better is related tooreorganization brought about by the implant; (d) dreams and psyehologieM testing may also reveal the reorganiz- ing force being exerted by the hnplant.
The first two methods of assessment are obviously the most direct and scientifically satisfying.
Illustrative of the progressive problem identification brought about by the dynamic implant, is the case of a girl who had come to therapy suffering from long-term feelings of inadequacy, marked dependency and a highly ambivalent attitude toward the male figure. The cue statement was:
"... and there's . . . uh... there's still that tendency to idolize or despise.., that tendency still exists.., uh... I perhaps don't do either quite as strongly now.., or feel either, I should say... But...uh... there still is that feeling, that one is a king and the other is a piece of dirt. Well...I mean...uh.., as you very well know.., you know exactly the type of feltow that I go for, and.., uh... all others I just seem to have no use for."
Immediately after the first implanting, the patient stated: "I sound bitter and dissatisfied ; I sound as though I am reaching for something I can't have." A change in behavior took place follow- ing this first implanting. After reinforcement, a further change took pla~e, the patient saying that her boss whom she had hitherto found extremely attractive to her because of his ability and business drive was now no longer so;she did not think of him any more as being a tyeoon, and a love affair with him ter- minated. A third period of driving brought about no change at the time; but a week afterward the implant had most considerable consequences: She gave up, she sMd, the whole idea of a "king"; she had now fMlen in love with a man of her own age. Asked how
D. EWEN CAMERON~ 1Vf.D. 711
this came about, she said: "I simply made up my mind that since I can't get a 'king,' I would give myself a chance to like John. I don't put people on a pedestal like I used to.; I don't feel the same way I used to about the boss. I used to have a bitter grudge against my father for my troubles; now I see him as a weak person I don't admire."

1. Durability of Implant. The writer's experience has shown that the implant, if not reinforced, declines in its activity fairly rapidly after two weeks; although, on occasion, it can be found operative as long as two or three months after the first implant- ing. As indicated earlier in this paper, the intensity of the implant can actually be progressively increased by a suitable reinforce- ment at rates of once a week to once a month.
   
2. Shift.ing At~itud,es Towa.rd Cu.e Comm~nication. The writer has frequently encountered the interesting phenomenon of the according of negative values to the pattern of behavior repre- sented in the cue communication: "I hate my whining voice"; or: "I don't have to please people all the time; I'm not like that any more." This imparting of negative values is particularly likely to occur either after repeated implanting or with the progress of psychotherapy in general. A working premise concerning it is that, since the patient comes more clearly to identify the neurotic components in the cue communication and to organize more efficient behavioral patterns, he tends to reject the neurotic patterns and to express negative feelings toward them.
   
3. Mobilization of Action Tenc~e~c~es. An interesting question which arises is whether an implant can mobilize action tendencies laid down before the event embodied in the implant. Experience indicates that, while this does occur, it is much less usual than the mobilization of action tendencies laid down subsequent to the implant and derived from the basic situation outlined in the cue communication used in implanting.
   

By continued replaying of a cue communication, a persistent tendency to act in a way which can be predetermined in its general characteristics can be established. In other words~ by driving a cue communication, one can, without exception, set up in the patient a persisting tendency for that cue statement, and other
712 PSYCI-IIC DRIVING
components of the "community of action tendencies" from which it was drawn, to return to his awareness.

1. The dynamic implant thus established, and especially if re- inforced by repeated driving, tends to activate more and more of the components of the relevant community of action tend- encies. These components tend to appear in the patient's aware- heSS.
   
2. This materia]]y contributes to problem identification by the patient and the therapist, and, hence, facilitates the processes of therapeutic reorganization.
   
3. The dynamic qualities of the implant are functions of: (a) the amount and repetition of driving; (b) the intensity of the response; (c) defenses; (d) stress tolerance; (e) capacity for desensitization.
   

(5) The major continuing effects of the dynamic implant are: (a) progressive problem identification; (b) resulting reorganiza- tion of behavioral patterns; (c) negative evaluation of the neu- rotic patterns present in the cue communication used in driving.
Allan Memorial Institute of Psychiatry 1025 Pine Avenue, West Montreal 2, Canada

Hi all, I am a bit stuck on this question. Maybe I don't understand how to use the BA II Plus calculator well.
Ms. Clara Johnson is buying a house. She expects her budget to allow a monthly payment of $1500 on a 25-year mortgage with an annual interest rate of 6.8 percent. If Johnson makes a 10 percent down payment, the most she can pay for the house is closest to:
a.$240,129.
b.$264,706.
c.$216,116.
From what I gather above, I know interest is 6.8/12, and the period is 300, but if she is paying out every month, why is PMT not -1500? Also, I can't tell whether she is paying at the start or end of the month.
Just a little confused here because without setting the calculator to 2nd BNG, I simply entered 1500 for PMT, N=300, and interest rate=6.8/12, FV= 0 to get the PV, I am not getting the right answer (full loan amount), and wonder why it went wrong. Thanks!

I have had an idea of an Ironman restricted in some form of way by the Collection Log for a few months and I really want to get into it now that I have more free time. Of course, an account with this restriction has been done in various forms. The most common I have seen is one log at a time ie locked to Brimhaven Agility Area until the log is "greened". This usually has some sort of point system attached and/or chunks involved. Zayzed and Tedious have a series with this example I believe.
Concept
The idea I am currently trying to cook up is hopefully unique enough for it to be unfamiliar territory that has been nevebarely touched. I apologize if this has been attempted before and I didn't credit the right person but I believe I would be the first (or among the first) to do this documented. The general premise is that I want to "go through the game" (more on that later) while strictly only using items found in the collection log. According to the wiki: "There are currently a total of 1,706 slots to fill in the collection log, with a total of 1,521 unique entries being tracked. Pets, gilded equipment, and 3rd age equipment account for 126 of the 161 slots containing duplicate items.".
Some Guidelines/Rules
Collection Log items that are "secondary items" (Blood shard) to a non-Collection Log item (Amulet of fury) are allowed to be combined and use the final product (Amulet of blood fury). However, since the base item (Amulet of fury) is not a collection log slot, I am unable to use it unless I pair it with, in this case, a Blood shard. This concept goes for ornament kits as well as other items that fall in that category.
Somewhat related to above: Sticking with the Amulet of fury example, you can probably make the argument that while the Amulet of fury itself is not a Collection Log slot, the Uncut onyx (Skotizo, Zalcano, Zulrah, Gem bag) and Onyx (Tekton) are Collection Log items. Therefore, I should be able to make and use the Amulet of fury in the first place if I obtain an Uncut/cut Onyx. Thoughts?
"Okay well you need much more than just an Onyx to make an Amulet of fury. Where are you going to get the amulet mould? Gold bar? Ball of wool? Runes to enchant onyx jewelry? Those are not Collection Log spots." Correct. One idea I had that I have not fully looked into but I find promising is this: Some sort of Collection Log related prerequisite unlocks certain "common" items for me. The specific condition I had in mind is once I obtain a pet (or maybe not that extreme, just any unique item perhaps?) from a certain boss/activity, lets take General Graardor for example, I can utilize the common drops within the area. How big of an area will this be? In the General Graardor example, would it just be him and his three bodyguards? All NPCs in the Bandos section of GWD? Just the Bandos-affiliated NPCs in GWD or across the world map?
Mode Type?
The account will be an Ironman, no doubt. But what type? Regular, Hardcore, or Ultimate? Group Ironman is out of the question. I really love the Ultimate Ironman game rules but what good is a Collection Log only account when you can't store everything from the log? I understand many of those slots can be stored in the PoH or various other locations, but it would be a bit lame if I filled a slot, no matter how pointless it is, and be forced to ditch it when a huge point of the account is to collect. It also makes the game more difficult which, as psychopathic as this may sound, I like the idea of. I have not taken a look at what can and can't be stored in PoHs and other areas (STASH, Looting Bag) but perhaps this could have some potential workaround.
So Hardcore? I mean I have played the game mode before so it wont be anything new but I did really enjoy it. However losing the status to something like a disconnect (on my end or Jagex's end) would be soul crushing. It would not be the first time it happened to me. Regardless, I would be forced to go to the wilderness and fill slots there so it is almost a guarantee that death is inevitable on the account. Is it even worth it knowing that it is not an "if" but "when" will it come to an end? I do not mind Wilderness content, in fact I enjoy it, but is this too risky to even attempt? It at least gives me an official "stopping point" or I can continue as a grey helm so there's that.
Regular Ironman? It's the most boring option of the three but it checks the other boxes the other two fail to do.
The End
With the loose ideas that I have written down, I am excited to make an account and get started. However, I am a very goal-oriented type of person when it comes to these kinds of things as it keeps my motivation high while progressing on the account knowing that I am always inching closer to some end goal. Speaking of, what is the end goal of this account? I don't know. That is another question I would like to be answered. The obvious answer is to fill all the collection log slots and call it there. However, just by taking a simple glance through the Collection Log would make anyone realize how near-impossible that is. I forgot the exact math but it would take literal decades to complete the entire Collection Log. This is mostly due to mega rares such as Third age items.
So now what? Do I just say "fill the log except for mega rares. Maybe aim for one or two of them." That is still an extremely vague and daunting goal. I want something a bit more specific. The idea of "Complete the Inferno" or some high level content comes to mind but then you realize that when you do that type of content you are already basically only using Collection Log only items (Look at BiS gear for Inferno for example). At that point it would be much more about the journey, not the destination. Which is not the worst thing in the world but I prefer something more, if that makes sense.
I apologize for the wall of text. Any and all critique, modifications, etc. to the idea of the account are welcome :). Also, what would be a good name for it?

Ok this is gonna be a very long, rambling, and probably somewhat disorganized post, so please bear with me.
I'm sure other people have had this same idea as well, but I'm not subscribed to the rebornevo forums and I'm not very active on this subreddit either, so I don't know how frequently it's been discussed outside of the small number of times I've seen it on Twitter, which still was after I had the thought when I first played V12 years ago. Even if it is I still wanted to try and organize my thoughts about it and present all of the evidence that brought me to think this even without engaging much with the larger community.
To jump right into it, the theory that I've been subscribing to for a pretty long time and was very confident in (until realizing some flaws with it) is that Madame X is the incarnation of Nymiera from Maria(nette)'s now dead universe, which is likely the same universe that Clear, Kieran, and potentially the Thunder Warrior Tapu Koko are from. She was defeated by her universe's Indriad but somehow managed to escape with her life, albeit badly injured, and was effectively out of commission, which led to Indriad eventually being able to bring about Storm 9 which would eventually lead to the end the world. Nymiera then likely got help from either her world's Xara and Jean, or Clear and Kieran themselves to construct her suit and escape to the next universe.
There's quite a few reasons I have to think this. I feel like a ton of evidence from throughout the game supports the idea, and I've been making note of them for years at this point. This is gonna be a bit meandering, but it's really difficult to organize thoughts about a plot as complicated as Rejuv's even if you're focusing on only one character, so again please bear with me:

• The most obvious point is that Madame X shows up directly in the prologue, to the Maria that becomes the one we meet in the Chrysalis manor. She clearly already has some amount of control over time at this point as well, meaning she had likely already claimed her world's time diamond but was unable to stop Indriad using it.
• Nymiera clearly still remembers the old world we learn about in the Third Layer. She knows Adrest by name and recognizes his presence within the player, hints at the emergence of the Zeight in the present day, and knows about the Archetype. Madame X, in the first cutscene where she's introduced at Blacksteeple, immediately refers to the player as the Interceptor, and she also clearly recognizes the power the Melia gains from the Archetype in the Bad Future. They in general seem to possess similar knowledge of major concepts like these.
  • Although you could argue that she might simply have learned about these things from Clear and Kieran, the fact that we see Madame X specifically talking to Maria in the prologue shows that she was at least aware of the Archetype already.
• This is an admittedly very small point that is potentially a coincidence, but I still want to acknowledge it: Madame X's suit seems to be evoking the image of a dragon and mostly uses dark colors. The two characters that we know are directly descended from Nymiera, Alexandra and Damian, favor Dragon and Dark type Pokemon, respectively.
• We know that Nymiera dual wielded crystal swords as her primary weapons rather than relying on Pokemon, and Madame X engages in combat almost exclusively with her sword. The only exception that we see is her attacking the player with her Yveltal at Blacksteeple Castle.
• We see the aforementioned crystal swords, as well as the corpse of Hazuki's Aegislash, within the storage room of the Chrysalis Manor, which all but confirms that Nymiera and the Defenders of Aevium were soundly defeated by Indriad in this timeline and he claimed their weapons as trophies.
  • As a small thought on the full fate of her world's defenders: Vivian was already dead because of the botched ritual, Hazuki was most likely killed, Anju was defeated but taken alive and imprisoned, likely to act as a potential vessel for Indriad (which is something I'd also like to talk about but that's best saved for another post). Given how cruel of a man Indriad is and how much he likes to torment people, I think that crippling Nymiera so she could no longer stand against him and then forcing her to live with the pain of her failure sounds like the type of thing he'd do. This is more of a headcanon, though, not something I'm actually trying to present as a major evidence for the theory.
• Because of .Karma Files we have explicit confirmation that Nymiera is an incarnation of Xerneas; it's a little on the nose for sure, but this can explain why she so heavily associates with the letter X, including why she took her name and took the name of Team Xen for her own, new organization even though it otherwise seems to be completely unrelated to the Team Xen of the Miera Region.
• If her mask is destroyed at the Pyramid, and she's effectively defeated prior to Clear and Kieran's intervention, she makes a remark about how the battle would have gone differently if not for her suit. It's vague, yes, but the implication is that the suit places some sort of limit on her power and she'd be far stronger without it, as while wearing it she can't fight at full capacity. This explains why she only wields one sword instead of two, as she likely can't dual wield without her full physical strength.
  • This next bit is straying into headcanon territory, so I don't fully count it for the theory, but we don't know exactly why she's wearing the suit; it's definitely not just to hide her identity, because there'd be far easier ways of doing that. I like to think that it's necessary for her to survive and limits her power to keep her from overexerting herself, similar to Darth Vader's suit from Star Wars. This would make sense with the idea I have that she was grievously wounded by Indriad even though she survived her fight with him.
• We know that there's a second Blacksteeple Castle on the same island that's hidden behind a protective barrier, which only Madame X can pass through. It's likely that this is the original Blacksteeple Castle and the one that we occupy during the prison arc is just a replica. We see in the Bad Future that Blacksteeple Castle has some sort of connection to Nymiera with the mosaic that we see. It's confirmed by Madame X that Blacksteeple was once Nymiera's castle, that she lost in the war mentioned in the legend that Nymiera tells to us. This would explain why Madame X is so protective of the original castle in the present day and why she can access it.
  • This would also explain why so much Xerneas iconography is still included in the replica of the castle.
• We already know from the Regi sidequests in V13.5 that Nymiera's view of morality was a bit... warped, and she was willing to do some truly inhumane and manipulative shit if she thought it was necessary for the good of the many. Madame X's methods are obviously far more extreme than Nymiera's ever were, but even though her motivations and ultimate goal are unclear there's still hints that all of the things she's responsible for are, to her, just a means to an end. If Madame X is Nymiera, with her spirit having been broken by her failure to stop her world's Indriad, it's not hard to see how that already warped "Good of the many no matter the cost" mentality could evolve into doing absolutely anything to achieve her goals.
• The underground chamber in Kugearen where we find the Weird Diary has a lot going on, but the notable things are the statues of the Defenders,drawing of the Archetype, and map of present day Aevium. Hazuki's is missing, and Anju and Nymiera's are destroyed, with the game specifically noting that their eyes are torn out. There is no statue of Hazuki, and Vivian's is not only intact, but poised for battle. To break this all down a bit:
  • The Archetype symbol being so prominent as well as the present-day map show that it's someone who can both time travel and knows about the Archetype
  • The three statues are of the Defenders that we know will suffer a poor fate.
    • Hazuki's is missing because she is the only that survived.
    • Vivian's is standing and complete because she was the only one able to mostly die on her own terms, but her spirit still struggled because of the failed spell; being poised for battle still lines up with the curse placed on her reincarnations.
    • Anju and Nymiera are both missing in the present day and were never seen again. Anju's fate is ambiguous, but obviously there's something going on with Angie (Which I have another theory about, but again, story for another post). Nymiera's spirit has appeared, but clearly can only do so much, as her only real act aside from talking to the player is transferring Hazuki's power to Saki.
  • Nymiera fancied herself an artist, and seemed to especially like working with stone given the many statues in Blacksteeple as well as the multiple stone carvings in her room.
  • All of this points to someone who can reliably time travel, knows of the archetype, has knowledge of Rift Pokemon, and has an intimate knowledge of the Defenders and their fates. Madame X is the only person who meets all of those first few qualifications, and it's also worth noting that Madame X's suit distinctly lacks eyes, similar to the two statues.

Essentially, the image I see with this is a Nymiera who became so disgusted at her own failures that she threw everything away, including her old identity, and and decided the best way to create a good world was to tear everything down and rebuild it herself, taking her belief in "The good of the many" to its furthest extreme and becoming a vengeful and bitter person in the process. She keeps "protecting" the Interceptor in hopes that their own quest will eventually guide them to resetting everything and destroying Karma for good.
However... in the process of thinking through this all over the last couple days, I realized several holes in this theory that I have to acknowledge, and keep it from really being an effective one.
First, if Nymiera is the avatar of Xerneas, then why is Madame X only ever seen using a Yveltal?
Second, the one aspect of Madame X's backstory story that she elected to reveal to us is about her mother. In her own words, "My "mother" was a weak individual who gave her life to protect me". Not only does Nymiera never hint at anything remotely similar this, but none of Adrest, Variya, or any of the files Adrest sends to Erin hint at anything even remotely close to this for Nymiera.
Third, which I think is the biggest issue: when we see Madame X's mask get broken by Sakitron at the pyramid, what little we see of her appearance doesn't exactly match up with Nymiera. What appears to be black hair could also just be a broken piece of her mask, her eyes are a bright red, and even though we barely see any skin, it visibly is not as dark as Nymiera's.
The first point is actually pretty easy to explain: the Yveltal is Indriad. Obviously we don't know how Indriad became a Yveltal, but there is precedent for shit like this happening and there's multiple hints towards it:

• Indriad is confirmed at the end of .Karma files is an avatar of Yveltal in the same way that Nymiera is one of Xerneas.
• In the Bad Future, when Melanie summons her Yveltal, she explicitly refers to it as her father. Melanie is a bad future version of Melia, Melia is in some capacity connected to Maria and is still explicitly related to Indriad's kids, the implication is pretty clear.
• There are other physical avatars of legendaries in the game: Spacea and Tiempa, who both can transform into the legendaries they are the avatars of. I don't know if it's ever been confirmed if Griselda was an explicit avatar of Giratina, but nonetheless, she was permanently transformed into one and can't change back. It's not unreasonable to see something similar happening to Indriad given that we don't know his final fate in the game's main timeline yet.
• Yes, this means there's some fucky shit going on with Angie, I have ideas about that as well but that also takes a ton of explanation and is best saved for a different post.

The other two though... I think more or less disprove the theory. Family-related trauma is already one of the game's biggest theme; if Nymiera had something related to her mother, it would have been made clear by this point. And there's just no way that I can think of to really justify the drastic difference in appearance between the two. I could simply handwave it and say "The differences in appearance are either a spriting error or a lighting thing with her helmet" and "We just haven't learned about Nymiera's mother yet", but both of those would just be copout answers to ignore.
I'm still confident that I'm onto something here and there is a connection between these two characters, but can't confidently say that I think I'm 100% correct.
...so instead I came up with a crackpot theory that nonetheless I think has a nonzero chance of being true, although its much less likely .
Madame X isn't an alternate universe Nymiera. She's an alternate universe Nim.
Is it a stupid assertion? Yes. But hear me out, starting with some of the more minor points:

• There is very obviously a connection between Nim and Nymiera. The game's placed a lot of emphasis on Nim's relationship to Alexandra and Damian, Nymiera's direct descendents, and Nim took her name from Nymiera's. When Nim appears in the flashback with Alexaandra and Damian she's calling out the names of Hazuki and the player character, yelling for them to watch out. This implies four things:
  • Nim originates in the past and was sent into the future.
  • Given that we haven't met her in the past, she probably comes into existence in the state that she already was.
  • Nim will meet the player and Hazuki in the past during some dangerous event, most likely a final battle with Indriad before Storm-9 fully hits, as we still don't know the final fate of the Defenders.
  • She doesn't say Anju and Nymiera's names, implying either something already happened to them or Nim was cut off in the middle of her sentence when she was sent forward in time.
• Despite Madame X claiming that Nymiera is dead, her spirit has appeared multiple times and is still very aware of the ongoing plot. Her body, however, has not.
• Clear going out of her way to manipulate Nim shows that Madame X likely has an interest in Nim herself.
• While she obviously prefers to use her psychic abilities, Nim's still clearly proficient with melee weapons as there's a handful of times where she uses her... hairpin things as a polearm of sorts.

There's three main reasons I think there actually is something here though: Nim's physical appearance, Madame X's "mother", and the reason Madame X needs her suit despite it making her weaker.
First: Nim's physical appearance is extremely similar to Madame X's under her mask. As Lorna, we can see that her pupils have a red hue very similar to Madame X's. Looking at both Nim's sprites and her official art, her skin tone is lighter than Nymiera's but still darker then most of the rest of the cast, which also lines up with the broken mask. Finally, assuming Madame X actually has black hair and that's not just a broken part of her mask in the sprite, Nim's hair is the same color.
Second: When Madame X mentions her "Mother", its quoted, presumably for air quotes. While it could just be her disrespecting her "Mother", it feels far more significant than that, like its moreso implying that whoever she's talking about wasn't her mother in the traditional sense. Madame X also states that the difference between her "Mother"'s sacrifice and the player's mom's sacrifice is that the player's mom's didn't matter; thus indirectly implying that Madame X's mom's sacrifice was important even if she looks down upon her mom for it. Assuming that Nymiera shares some connection to Nim- be it that Nymiera created her, Nim is her reincarnation, or something else- it's not unreasonable to think that Nim, after overcoming her memory issues, could view Nymiera as something of a mother figure, especially considering that Nim took her name Nymiera's because she felt a connection.
Third: The suit. There's a very obvious reason that Nim would need a suit to suppress her own power: to keep herself from draining the life force of her subordinates and stop her own Storm from getting out of control. It's a leap, sure, but it would explain why she needs a suit that actively inhibits her.
Why would Nim be doing all of this, and how would she become such a cruel and vengeful person? We see something similar happen to our own Nim through Clear's manipulation through preying on her fears and insecurities. Assuming bad enough shit happened to her, I could absolutely see an alternate universe Nim who lacked the support of characters like Aelita, Melia, and the Player going down this path.
Is this theory accurate? Probably not, but it was really fun to think about. I never fucking know what's gonna happen with this game which is why it's so fun to speculate about the absolute mess of lore that it has.
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this massive ramble, it was fun to write and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

One of the common assertions about the Nebula-class is that it was intended to be a smaller, more compact version of the Galaxy-class, much as the Miranda-class was for the Constitution-class. I have my issues with that assumption and here's why.
One: The Nebula-class isn't that much smaller than the Galaxy-class
The one big thing that would make the Galaxy-class bigger than the Nebula-class is that it has a substantial neck connecting its saucer to its engineering section while the Nebula doesn't. However, most of the internal space that neck provides would be largely made up for by the fact the Nebula-class has its modular superstructure and a small neck connecting it to its engineering section, if not entirely.
Even in terms of crew numbers, there isn't an insurmountable difference between the crew compliments of the two ships. During The Next Generation, the Enterprise-D regularly has around 1,014 people onboard, and Memory Alpha states that the Nebula-class's crew compliment is around 750.
A lot of my analysis in this regard depends heavily on what the number of civilians on the Enterprise-D were. I'm assuming that it'd probably be around 114. That'd make sense because 900 is a round number that could be evenly divided for both a three and four shift rotation. If there were three shifts, then there'd be around 300 Starfleet personnel on duty per shift, and if there were four shifts, there'd be 225.
It'd also make sense because it's known that not everyone on the Enterprise has family members onboard. This would generally track with how most of the people you see in the background shots of Ten Forward are wearing Starfleet uniforms. There also only seemed to be one or two classrooms, and the arboretum, which allowed some civilian workers, also seemed fairly small. This all would fit with a fairly small civilian population.
The other point here is that it's possible for a starship's crew compliment to vary widely during its service. The original NCC-1701 had a crew of 203 during Pike's era and of around 430 during Kirk's era. Those two points were only a decade or so apart. A century or so later, Voyager had a crew of around 150, despite the Intrepid-class being around the same size as the Constitution-class.
So while there is a moderate jump from a crew of 750 to around 900 officers, it's not an insurmountable jump. Depending on mission requirements and decade, either ship could have a larger crew compliment.
This is quite different from what we see with the Miranda-class. It's much smaller than the Constitution-class, both in terms of actual size and crew compliment. It was more or less just the saucer section and nacelles, which were the same size as the Constitution-class's, and the roll bar and superstructure. While the superstructure did make up for some of the internal space, it's quite clear that it wasn't of a comporable size to the Constitution-class's engineering section.
The size of its crew is also much smaller. By the mid-to-late 24th century, its crew compliment was down to just a few dozen. Some background sources will list the crew compliment in the late 23rd century to be around 220, which is much closer to what the Constitution-class's likely was in that time period.
I have my issues with this because it seems a bit dubious that Khan and his much diminished gang of Augments could overtake a crew of 220. However, this isn't completely out of the question as these people had previous experience overtaking a much larger crew. If the Reliant had a crew of around 220, it also could be that a large number of them were science officers on temporary assignment to the ship due to the Genesis project, and they might not have the training, experience, or temperament for fighting off an invading force.
Two: The *Nebula-class may have been introduced earlier than the Galaxy-class**
With the idea that the Miranda-class is a smaller version of the Constitution-class, one of the biggest pieces of evidence to support this is that the known Miranda-classes all had higher registry numbers than the known Constitution-classes. While the Constitution-class ships generally had registries in the 1000s and 1700s, the earliest known Miranda-class ships had registries in the 1800s.
This is backed up by the fact that the earliest known Miranda-class ships aren't known to have been in service until decades after the Constitution-class. The original NCC-1701 came into service in 2245. The Reliant, with its registry of NCC-1864, isn't known to have been in service until 2267--its registry was shown on a background screen in Court Martial.
So the common fan theory that the Miranda-class was intended to be a smaller counterpart to the Constitution-class makes sense given that it came out later. This isn't necessarily true of the Nebula-class, however. In fact, we see the opposite.
The Nebula-class with the lowest known registry is the Lexington, whose registry is NCC-30405. The eponymous USS Galaxy had a registry of NCC-70637. Even accounting for non-consecutive numbering, this would suggest that the earliest Galaxy-class ships are, on the whole, a more recent development than the most recent Nebula-class ships. For the most part, it does seem like Starfleet registry numbers do get higher as time goes on.
The idea that registry numbers are also indicative of batch numbers--e.g., that the Lexington might be ship number 5 of batch number 304 or that the Galaxy is ship number 37 of batch number 706--doesn't cover this, either. For one, even assuming that, the case still is that registry numbers still get higher as time goes on, so batch number 706 would still be a much more recent development than batch number 304.
For two, there's only a couple of Nebula-class ships that are known to have registries in the seventy thousands while almost all the Galaxy-class ships with known registries have them in the seventy thousands. So even if the batch theory is true--and there is canonical evidence to suggest it could be--most Galaxy-class ships do seem to be of later batches.
The other point along these lines is that the earliest known launch date of a Nebula-class is of the Phoenix, which was comissioned in 2363. This was only months before the launch of the Enterprise-D, which was comissioned in either late 2363 or early 2364.
So while the Miranda-class seemed to have been a later development than the Constitution-class and the earliest Miranda-class ships were likely comissioned a decade or more later, the canonical evidence suggests that the Nebula-class was either developed simultaneously to the Galaxy-class or perhaps even developed earlier.
Three: Slackjaw deflector dish
One of the distingushing features of the earliest known Nebula-class ships is that they have a slackjaw-shaped deflector dish. This is opposed to the circular shaped deflector dish that earlier classes such as the Excelsior- and Ambassador-classes had, and opposed to the oval shaped ones that later designs such as the Galaxy- and Intrepid-classes had.
This can be taken one of two ways. One, the Nebula-class was an earlier class, and while the oval-shaped deflectors were on the drawing boards but there was some technical issue preventing them from being rolled out in a new class straight away. In a case like this, the slackjaw deflector dish could have been intended as an intermediate step, integrating the aspects of the later oval deflector dishes that already worked while leaving the rest for the next major class.
The other way this could be taken is that maybe the Galaxy- and Nebula-classes were designed concurrently by separate design teams that cooperated on some design questions (which would explain the similarities in saucer and engineering sections) while competing in others. In a case like this, the slackjaw-shaped deflector dish could have been a result of the two design teams having differing opinions on whether or not it'd be superior to an oval one.
It does seem like the overwhelming consensus in practice was that the oval-shaped deflector was superior. The Nebula-class is the only class known to have had them. Even later variants of the Nebula-class switched to an oval-shaped deflector over the earlier slackjaw-shaped one. (The out of universe reason for this is because this was around the time DS9 was switching to using mostly CGI models for starships, and this is one of the design changes which occured at around that time.)
Personally, I tend to lean towards the former, because there are some other small details which seem to imply the Nebula-class was an earlier design. The top speed for a Nebula-class was around 9.3 to 9.5, depending on the variant. This is as opposed to the Galaxy-class's top speed of warp 9.6, and the Intrepid-class's top speed of warp 9.975. Given that, I think the slackjaw deflector dish should be taken as evidence as that this ship was meant to be an intermediate step between the Ambassador- and Galaxy-classes.
Four: Tactical and historical reasons why the Miranda-class was a minaturised version of the Constitution-class that don't apply to the Nebula- and Galaxy-classes
The most important thing to consider with the introduction of the Miranda-class is the strategic situation the Federation was in during the late 2250s and early 2260s. At this point, the Federation had just come out of a war with the Klingons with no clear victor that led to a decades-long stalemate and cold war. It had come out of a war with the Sheliak where it had to cede territory. In 2266, it was also contending with a Romulan Empire that was trying to reassert itself after a century of isolation, and soon after, a Klingon-Romulan alliance.
In short, the strategic situation at that point wasn't good. The Constitution-class may have made a difference in the Klingon War of 2256-7, and there were people in Starfleet who believed that at the time, but the voices that mattered were committed to keeping them on their five-year missions as much as possible.
So it made sense at that point to have a smaller version of the Constitution-class that carried a similar arsenal but had a much shorter range. This would have most of the benefits of the Constitution-class on a tactical level. The main drawback was that you might not use a Miranda-class for deep strikes behind the line the same way you could with a Constitution-class, but the main advantage was that they'd at least be there for the front lines instead of some god-knows-where system in deep space on a five-year mission.
This wasn't the strategic situation when the Galaxy- and Nebula-classes were being introduced. The Federation was in a strong strategic position at this point. While there was an ongoing border conflict with the Cardassians, it didn't seem to have the same do-or-die dynamic the Klingon War had a century earlier. There'd also been wars with the Tzenkethi and the Galen, but neither species seemed to have been regarded in the same light as the Federation's 23rd century adversaries.
While it is true that the Federation's relationship with the Cardassians resembled a cold war in late TNG and early DS9, that could be overstating the actual situation. Starfleet could have strategic superiority in the region if it really wanted to commit the ships to it.
The fact of the matter was that they didn't want to be seen as bullying a militarily weaker species. If Starfleet went in with 200 ships, they probably could take large chunks of Cardassian territory without issue, much like the Klingons would. However, this wouldn't gel easily with their propaganda line about wanting to be the peaceful great power, so they don't do it. Instead, they rely on slow ship build ups and political pressure by allying with the Bajorans and corunning Deep Space Nine.
So why would Starfleet start introducing smaller versions of the Galaxy-class at that point? It's not like there was a desperate strategic need for them. It wasn't until after Wolf 359 and the leadup to the Dominion War that Starfleet needed that kind of ship, and that's when they started building them en masse.
Five: So what was the Nebula-class for?
My answer to this question is simple: early on, the Nebula-class was meant as a stopgap counter to the Romulan's D'deridex-class warbird.
Based on what we know of when the Nebula-class first rolled out, it's at least feasible that it could have been in the late 2340s or early 2350s. This is early enough that it'd predate the Galaxy-class, but also late enough that later variants are being built alongside the new Galaxy-class ships.
It'd also line up with a feasible date for when the D'deridex-class was first introduced. In Yesterday's Enterprise, it's mentioned that the Ambassador-class had some advantages over the warbirds being used in 2344. It's not explicitly stated, but it is heavily implied that this means a previous class of warbird, not the D'deridex-class used in the 2360s.
So what may have happened is that soon after the battle at Narendra III, the Romulans started pumping out the D'deridex-class because they realise they don't have an edge on Starfleet anymore. Starfleet's response was the Nebula-class, which may not have been a close enough match to the D'deridex-class to actually win but was close enough that the Romulans would think carefully before attacking it.
Once the Galaxy-class came into service and was the class that was the 1:1 equivalent of the D'deridex-class, the Nebula-class could then be transferred to the Cardassian front. This could help explain why the Cardassians were ready to agree to a ceasefire to build up their forces along the border, but knew to be worried about the Phoenix in The Wounded: while the average Galor-class cruiser might be able to jump an Excelsior-class, they all knew they were outmatched by Starfleet's new fleet.
This could also explain why the Nebula-class had a couple of known early variants. A Nebula-class with a sensor pod superstructure could have an easier time detecting a cloaked D'deridex-class while one with the tactical pod could take the blunt stick approach and fire torpedoes directly ahead until they hit something.
The advantage a Galaxy-class might have on a Nebula-class is that maybe some of the equipment typically seen on a Nebula-class's sensor pod had been minutarised enough that it could just be a part of its regular equipment, while its weapons were more or less equal to the D'deridex-class's. So while the Nebula-class might have a fairly binary eitheor choice when it came to how it lined up against a D'deridex, the Galaxy-class could do both.
The reason for why they continued making later variants is fairly simple. Maybe there were certain adjustments they'd make to the superstructure that they were considering for new classes, but weren't entirely sure if they wanted to commit to yet. There was already precedent for this with the Nebula-class's slackjaw deflector which never quite caught on. The things that were added to the superstructure that worked could be put into later classes, while those that didn't could be taken out.
This could also help to explain the seeming discreptancies in the Nebula-class's registry numbers. Given that the Phoenix had a registry of NCC-65420, you'd expect for it to have been comissioned five or ten years before the Galaxy, not five or ten years later. Maybe the constant tinkering with the superstructures meant they could take longer to build, so even if they were assigned a certain registry they could still end up running behind schedule.
That would also make sense. Given that the Nova- and Saber-classes seem to have been first introduced after the Battle of Wolf 359, it could be that Starfleet had been planning to phase out the Oberth-class for a while. This would leave a gap in the fleet where a testbed ship for new technologies would fit (the Pegasus was reputedly a testbed for some systems later used on the Enterprise-D), and the Nebula-class could help fill that gap.
So while the Miranda-class was coming out when Starfleet needed a short range version of the Constitution-class, that wasn't really true of the Nebula-class. It was coming out when Starfleet needed a testbed class that could be the big stick before the big stick with a nail in it came out, but also that could continue to be a testbed for new technologies as time went on.

So I unearth a creature, then sacrifice it halfway my turn with a sac outlet while I have Nim Deathmantle in play.

1. Does Nim Deathmantle trigger? (I am pretty sure yes)
   
2. Can I stack the triggers in such a way that I can pay for Nim Deathmantle before the creature gets exiled?
   

I've read all the rules clarifications on the unearth mechanic and Nim Deathmantle and couldn't get an answer. If anybody else knows let me know. Thanks!

I can promise to read & reply to each single comment here!
I worked out with my workplace a ‘deal’ allowing me to take 80/90 days off. I can’t realistically push it longer. I was always fascinated by the concept of literally going around the world, so my idea was to do that (the connection with the novel is not lost on me).
As it's impossible to see everything in such a limited time i'll focus on highlights and big cities (which I love). I'll try to squeeze nature, hikes and sea in day-trips while I'm travelling. I'm fine with getting a taste and coming back in the future for a deeper dive in the countries I liked! I'm also fine with this many planes potentially being budget-unwise.
Itinerary

• [~16th August][Vietnam for ~10 days] Depart from Europe -> Hanoi. Plan is to see Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, and day trips to NimBin. Last 2-3 days for intra-flights to Hoi An.
• [~26th of August][Thailand for 7 days.] Hoi An -> Bangkok. Limiting myself to day trips around Bangkok as it’s an airport hub. Could consider 3 days in the south as “stop-over” (Ko Samui?) .
• [~2 September][10 Days in Malesia] Flying to Penang. Staying there for a few days to sample the local food and explore around the city. Then taking a train down to Kuala Lumpur to meet with some friends on the 5th of September. We’ll eventually go onwards to SIngapore the 10th of September, where we’ll stay a few days before they depart back to Europe. (this is the only obligated stop, as i'm meeting friends)
• [~13 September][Travel across China for 18 days] Singapore -> Mainland China. I’ve been to Beijing & The Great Wall already, so I’m going to skip them this time. My plan is to land in Shanghai and move around with trains for <15 days (visa limit). My idea for the trip is Shanghai & nearby (Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing), Chengdu and ending in Hong Kong for ~4 extra days (I have some friends there).
• [~2 October][Taipei 8 days] Hong Kong -> Taipei, stay there for ~8 days. Only do day trips from there.
• [~10 October][Seoul 7 days] Fly to Seoul, stay there for ~7 days. Only day trips from there. (Suwon, DMZ)
• [~17 October][Japan 10 Days] I’ve been to Japan already ~20 days in a previous trip, in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo so I’m going to focus on different places. Fly to Fukuoka, Shinkansen for Hiroshima -> Kobe -> Tokyo.
• [~26 October] Tokyo to San Francisco. Short layover in the USA in California. Seems well connected from Tokyo and then coming back from there to Europe.

I'd appreciate any feedback from people that visited these places / have experience with longish-term travel planning. (who might know that cramming this much could be tricky).
The biggest question I have, and was not able to find a conclusive answer while looking at other threads:
Q: I’m sure I could spend months in a single city and not be able to see it all (Tokyo comes to my mind), at the same time since my limited time I will focus on making the most in a more limited times, is there any stop you feel I vastly overestimated / underestimate the days I would need to stay? Some places I’m leaving a few extra days to take small-breaks from the hectic plans, to account for potential change of plans.
Q: Looking at other experience posts it seems Vietnam in August is at best being super-hot, at worst quite rainy. Any experience on this front? Would it make sense to skip Vietnam and instead “spread” the 10 days I was planning on spending there to make the rest of the trip less packed? I can consider going back to Vietnam at a different time in the future.
Q: Anyone done anything similar? I tried to search for similar routes but was not lucky, if so please share your itineraries / posts and I’d be happy to read through it! :) (I saw some similar ideas, but nothing quite like this)

What should I buy first? We see the, "I just passed my Tech, what radio should I buy?" question posted over and over again here.
There really isn't a simple answer, because it really depends on what you plan to do. And what you want to do will probably be different a year from now. The answers you’ll get from this question online will probably not serve you, especially if someone recommends a specific rig, based on the sentence or two that you post. You’re taking advice from internet strangers who don’t know you, and you probably don’t know enough about ham radio yet to know how to evaluate their suggestions.
One thing that is highly recommended is not to go out and spend money on new equipment right away. There are numerous barely-used rigs on the marketplace because of this. (Buying a Baofeng or other $25 radio is fine).
Your temptation will be to buy something more than a Baofeng that will give you more power, more features and better access to the VHF/UHF bands that you are now licensed to use. Best to wait.
Connect with experienced hams: If you can, join a club or find some experienced hams. Try to see their shacks, their equipment, and listen to their contacts with other hams. You’re probably younger than they are, but you’ll find that the experienced hams have the time and can share lots of information. They also may give you free equipment from their junk boxes or used rigs that they’ve maintained perfectly but no longer need. They might even fix a rig for you.
Go to field days, POTA operations and even those club meetings, which may or not be boring.
When you have an idea of what you want to do, then consider buying equipment.
Buying new: Buying new is great, if you have the money. But if your budget is limited, you may find a year from now that you have one transceiver that won’t allow you to work the bands or with the transmission modes that you want, and can't afford to buy anything else. Used equipment depreciates as soon as you turn it on.
Consider buying for the future: You have limited privileges now, but if you spend any time as a ham, you will probably get your General. At that point, you’ll have lots of privileges on the HF bands. You may decide that you want to stick to VHF/UHF. Most hams do want to go to HF as well, and some move to HF and never go back to VHF/UHF. Some stick to a single mode of transmission, some operate everything, most use a computer now, but some don’t have one they can easily connect or are sick of seeing a screen all day at work and don’t want to see one in their leisure hours. The only way that you’ll learn this is by learning ham radio, most likely with the help of other hams.
QRP and Portable Radios: These can be great, and radios like the XEIGU can have attractive prices. There seems to be no end of interest in these, possibly because of the lower prices. Once again, be wary. Check out the repair history on any of rigs that you buy new, especially if they are a good bit less expensive than are the competitors. QRP can work and people do work the world with QRP, but it can really be frustrating, especially if you don’t have a directional beam. With 5 or 20 watts on HF, you will be competing with 1500-watt stations with antenna systems that rival commercial radio stations. They won’t hear you as well, or at all, especially in a pile up. QRP operators can get frustrated and quit. Backpack portable can be fun, but until you’ve tried it with some other hams (and used their equipment), it’s not a good idea to buy one of these right away.
Buying used: For most, buying used is the best place to start. The best place to buy used is through a local club. A ham in the local club is highly unlikely to cheat you, and will probably sell you a used rig that is in good shape. They might even help you fix it if it breaks down, or fix it for you.
Most hams are persnickety and won’t sell you a damaged rig. Still, buyer beware. And used gear from a non-ham is risky. It’s like buying an airplane from someone who knows nothing about airplanes ("I turned on the ignition and it started, so it'll fly fine ...")
Used Equipment Sources:
Local Club / Local Hams: the best place to go, as mentioned.
***
QRZ.com (Swapmeet)
Eham.net (Classified section)
QTH.com
These sites only allow licensed hams to sell gear. Once again, hams aren’t very likely to lie or sell you a piece of junk – they usually tell you what is wrong with it. But like any piece of used gear, caveat emptor.
***
Online scams: The Ham Site listed above, as well as any other online site, have been subject to scammers. Some of these sites require photos of the call sign and the person’s name next to the equipment to be sold, but scammers have posed as hams and scammed buyers. These sites have posted guidelines to help you avoid this, and follow them to the letter, including having a phone conversation with the seller before you buy, and one that gets into the history of the piece, how it was used and how the seller operates. If he or she can’t speak ham and has an odd area code, don’t buy. Check out the phone number with Google search – you can often confirm that you are actually buying from Elbert Glomp, K4HAHA, in Turnip Creek, Tennessee, with a Google search of the person. All licensees’ addresses are public, so if they can’t tell you about the area they’re listed in, they aren’t Elbert Glomp, K4HAHA.
Ebay: Be more careful here. Make sure you can return it. Does the seller know anything about ham radio? Check their listings to see if they’ve sold other ham gear. Many times you’ll find that they have been able to turn it on, which tells you nothing. There is some good gear on here, but most is overpriced. And the operating condition can be questionable.
Japanese gear on Ebay: There are now a handful of sellers selling used gear at low prices that are shipped form Japan. There’s nothing wrong with a radio that is made in Japan, but one that ships from Japan is almost certain to be designed for Japanese ham laws. That means that it’ll be locked to smaller bands than we have. They have lower power limits and the rig will likely not transmit at the basic 100 watts on HF. These can be hard to unlock to make them so they can transmit on the full US bands. In addition, you may not be able to buy boards or parts from the Yaesu, Kenwood or Icom service centers in the US, as the boards are not available to them. Many hams have been disappointed with these. Unless you are ready to take on a significant modification project right away, stay away from these. If you are, do some research to make sure that the rig can be modified, and determine what the power outputs are, because these probably can’t be changed.
Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist: You can sometimes find some real deals on these sites. People get equipment from an estate and don’t know the value of what they have. I heard recently of someone getting an ICOM 706 for $100 and someone getting a Yaesu 757 for $75. Bring an experienced ham with you to check out the equipment, because these people will have no idea how to determine if the unit is functional. They say it works because they plugged it in and it lit up and made noise. Most of the time, however, the equipment on these two sites is overpriced and could still be non-functional. But if you have the time, keep an eye on these two sites for a bargain.
Older Used Gear
There are a number of categories here:
Vintage Collectibles, like Hallicrafter and Collins and Heathkit rigs that collectors like to buy and restore. Not a good place for most new hams to start.
HF Transceivers with tube finals: These actually will still work and the tubes in the final amplifiers usually have long lives (tubes could be hard to replace if they do burn out, however). These will require tuning as you change frequencies, which is a nuisance. Also, old rigs tend to have worn components. Electrolytic capacitors tend to wear out after about 40 years, although some will last much longer and some don’t last that long. Other components can go, too. These are lower-piced, but also a more difficult place to start.
Older solid state HF Transceivers: Starting in about the late 1970’s or early 1980’s, transceivers became all solid state, and required no tuning to transmit. These old radios actually will sound just as good on the air as a brand new rig and receiver performance can be almost as good. Features were gradually added that improved receiver performance over the years. The risk here, once again, is that something no longer works or burns out soon after you get it. Electrolytic capacitors are also a risk here, of course. Before you buy one of these, check out the reviews on Eham.net, which has reviews of virtually every piece of ham equipment posted by other hams, to see if the item you’re looking at was a dog. These rigs might not give you the newest transmission modes, such as digital, but they are not the worst place to start if you can get a unit that someone has cared for. Try to get one in which they have changed out the electrolytic capacitors. These are certainly small enough and light enough to use as POTA, unless you’re backpacking. Bear in mind that you can usually resell these for what you paid for them if they are functional, so it is easy to trade up.
Older VHF/UHF transceivers: Same pluses and minuses as above, but don’t get something with tubes in it. These will have few or no memory functions and rarely if ever can be programmed with something like Chirp.
1995 radios or later: These are now 30 years old, but at about this time the shack-in-a-box rigs came out. These can be a great place to start, because you could get one with HF plus 6 meters, 2 meters and perhaps 70 cm. You might also get one with a remote head that can be used in your shack or mobile. They gradually added functions and programming abilities from this point until now, so the newer equipment, the more up-to-date will be its features.
Antennas
Remember that antennas are critical, and leave some money in your budget for them. These can be bought or home brewed from wire, plumbing equipment or junkyard pipes. The RF doesn’t know if it is passing through a clothesline rod or an expensive beam antenna, but it won’t go anywhere if the antenna isn’t resonant, with a good ground plane/counterpoise. Transmission line is critical and can’t be fudged, however. These take a lot of time to get right, regardless of whether they are homemade or brand new from a prominent manufacturer. Remember that the little things like transmission wire, lightning arrestors, meters, ground planes and insulators do add up, one trip to the store or online order at a time. And bear in mind that many hams are working from wire dipoles and similar, simple antennas that work well when installed properly and that are made to be resonant.

Hello all,
Laneshia's murder is still unsolved almost 24 years later. I have noticed they updated the contact info on the GBI's website from Larry to region 2. Please, if you have any answers, contact GBI's region 2 with information.
GBI Region 2: 706-565-7888
​
Any and all tips are welcome. There is a murdered out there that has been able to get away with this horrible crime for far too long. Do the right thing. Speak up!!

This story is part of The Nature of Predators
and all rights are to the original creator u/ spacepaladin
Thanks to u/ WCR_706 for proofreading this chapter
[First] - [Prev]-
Memory Transcription Subject: Héctor Virgilio Márquez, UN-YOTUL Diplomat Date [standardized human time]: November 11, 2136
The butler brought me to a door that was surprisingly simple when compared to the rest of the doors in the manor, there were no golden decorations or additional carvings.
The butler stepped to the side of the door, "The Ma'am is waiting inside, Mr. Hector, if you need anything please call me.”
I nod my head to him. “Thank you for your services, I will remember that.”
I took a deep breath, the second of the evening, and pushed the door open. The room was very simple with no decorations, all very spartan. There weren't even any pictures, just neatly sorted stacks of paper on a desk, some cabinets, and nothing else.
Sirlen did describe Garline as an intellectual, maybe she is a doctor or scientist.
“Hello?” I called out trying to find someone, but the room seemed to be empty.
Then to my left, a hatch opened in the ceiling, and a ladder descended to the floor.
Sirlen's head peeked out from the hatch. “Oh, there you are, come here, she wants to meet you.” She said while waving her paws at me, trying to get me to climb the ladder.
I looked at the ladder, this was raising a lot of red flags in my mind, but Sirlen was there and I trusted her. And Garline had helped me, or at least she had eyes on me. I can't forget that Yotul in the elevator was one of her people, so… Despite this being a very weird interaction so far, it probably couldn't get worse.
I walked to the ladder and began to climb it until I reached the attic where I saw what looked like a doctor’s office. To my left there was a glass wall and door with what I could tell was a lot of scientific equipment, microscopes and the like, and other things I couldn't make sense of.
"Hey, stop looking at her work and come here." Sirlen ordered, snapping me out of my observation.
When I turned around I saw the rest of the attic. It was well illuminated, Sirlen was sitting on what looked like a dentist's chair as another Yotul with an apron and gloved paws stood next to her, both of them looking at me.
“So this is the human?" She asked with a note of disdain while looking me up and down. "I expected more, but interesting nonetheless. Very well, sit down." She said, slapping the dentist's chair as Sirlen got up from it.
"Erhm… no? What's this? I am not sitting in that chair without knowing what's going on, or at least who you are.” I said.
I have seen enough movies to know it's not a good idea to be left with a mad doctor, this made no sense. Fuck this, can I have one normal alien in my life… please?
The Yotul looked at me and then to Sirlen. "Seems he is jumpy, you said he would be okay with this." She spoke in a monotone voice, there was no emotion I could read there.
“He will, but you are as tactless as ever, let me talk to him while you go for the tools." That last word makes me tense, I'm getting dissected here aren't I? The Yotul I could deduce to be Garline from the photo moved past me and entered the glass chamber to grab some of her tools.
I got close to Sirlen and grabbed her arm. “Sirlen… what the hell is this?”
“She just wants to be sure you are trustworthy." She replied way too calmly, like she wasn't speaking of cutting me open.
"I am not going to be dissected here."
"She doesn't want to do that, she doesn't trust, anybody... No, after what happened with him, she needs to be sure." She replied, trying to tug me into the chair.
I break away from her grasp. "No. I am not going to do it, what reason have I got to trust her? I am not doing it." I said to her while she tried to push me forward onto the chair.
"I understand Hector, I don't like it either, but she needs this, I got her to say she will support you. The Kolshians are very closed off when teaching medicine and she wants to learn, this is to show you are trustworthy, that you allow knowledge to be passed and you let yourself be studied.”
I wanted to refute her, to walk away, but I saw her pooching face as she looked at me, and I needed this deal if I wanted the neutrals on my side in the veto vote. Goddammit.
“Alright, but why the chair? if he wants to learn she could just ask questions, I thought this would be a simple conversation about the Veto, does she even know medicine?” I asked, still not getting in the damn chair, despite how much Sirlen was trying to push me forward.
With that Garline spoke from behind me and pointed at a diploma hanging on the wall. “I got my diploma handed to me by a Zurulian doctor best of the class, you can trust me, I am a professional.” She spoke with a slight tone of disdain mixed into her usual monotone, seemed she didn't like that I questioned her knowledge.
I looked at the diploma, and it didn’t seem forged, but then again I had no idea about what to look for with Federation diplomas, so it could still be faked. But seeing how both were adamant that I either sit in the chair or I walk out without a deal, and I need the votes…
“Alright, but Sirlen, you stay close to me.”
“Aww… are you scared? Don't worry, I'll be here. She isn’t going to do anything bad to you, I got her to promise me.”
I scoffed at the notion and removed my suit jacket and tie and left them on a nearby stool before sitting on the dentist's chair, the last thing I wanted was for them to find the camera and wire.
But before sitting completely Sirlen whispered something quickly to me while Garline was distracted. "Do not lie or dodge questions, tell her the truth if you want her favor." I finished settling into the chair and rested my head against the headrest.
Garline put a cloth mask on her face to cover her nose and mouth and sat in an office chair next to me as she put gloves on her paws.
"Place the hand on the armrest." She ordered while tapping said armrest.
I complied, placing my right hand on the armrest after swallowing my saliva. She grabbed my hand and poked at it with a small stick to see how it reacted while taking some photos of its reactions.
"Interesting, close your paw."
“Say please, Garline." Sirlen said from behind, to which Garline shook her tail.
“Seriously now?" She responded with one eye on Sirlen and the other on my hand.
“Never too late to be polite, I will not try to convince Hector if you don’t…”
She shook her tail in a motion of a whip to hit Sirlen's back. "Fine, Open the Hand please." That last word was filled with resignation.
When she was done telling me to open and close my hand, Garline pulled out a small pair of nippers.
“What’s that for?” I asked, trying to pull back.
“Remain calm, this is for getting dirt from under your claws." She said while grabbing my hand and collecting a small chunk of dirt from below my nails, putting it in a small glass tube, and closing it.
“I want to know," Garline asked, "how you can kill? Claws like this are weak, mine," she said moving her paw finger to look at her gloved claws, “are stronger than yours.”
I swallowed. Alright, Hector... Poker face, just omit a few details, no matter how comfortable they look. Persistence hunting is pure nightmare fuel for them, just say the very basics of what I am allowed.
“We are tool users…. We use weapons.” I quickly said.
"Yes, I too use tools. I asked how you hunted in your beginning as a species, I know you are ambushers from what the Federation said."
Sirlen stared at me while moving her tail, probably trying to signal me to stop lying.
"But it's not a lie… that's how we hunt… we have used tools since forever. The claws… or nails as we call them, only serve to use tools and climb trees. Our tactic of hunting was finding a good ambush spot and using weapons like bows and spears." The genie is already out of the bottle, I just needed to pray they don't panic or do anything stupid. But they didn't panic... If anything they looked a little disappointed. Well Sirlen did, Garline was unreadable as usual, but at least they are staying calm.
“I see, that explains your lack of anything… I had concluded it has to do with your spectacle with the game in the garden?" She asked me.
“You saw me?”
“Yes, I did.” She said while pointing with her tail at the window. “I saw you throw the Ralchi ball, very precise.”
“Yes, we are good at throwing objects, a lot of our weapons are thrown." I replied.
“Interesting, at least you are more open than the Kolshians, they started to shake each time I tried to ask them about Predator disease." She said while looking at her diploma.
“Why so?” I inquired.
“They say is too dangerous, that anybody who has tried to even analyze it got infected, and that a Primitive like me couldn't do it."
There was venom in her voice when she spat out that last word.
“Open the mouth, I need to see your teeth.” She ordered, leaning forward with a small dentist's mirror in her paws to look at the inside of my mouth.
I complied and opened my mouth, into which she put a very unpleasant mouth opener. It was clear this was tailored for Yotul, as it pulled on my lips too much and it was making my gums ache.
“If your Claws were a joke your teeth are an entire comedy, how can you chew raw meat with this?"
She patiently waited for my response. “Is simple, we don’t?” I replied in a muffled voice.
“You don’t eat meat? Seriously trying that lie?” She spoke with no reaction in her voice, the same monotone as usual, just a small tail flick. Sirlen was behind her making weird movements with her arms.
“No, but it’s true, we don’t eat meat raw, we cook it, easier to munch.” I answered with even more semi-intelligible gibberish, hoping it was getting translated correctly.
“Is the process like beating it with a rock and grinding the food and turning it into jam?”
“No, we cook it with fire, like putting it on a spit and holding it over the flames." I told her, to which both Sirlen and Garline looked at each other and chuckled a little bit to themselves.
"An interesting procedure, you burn your food, I expect a live demonstration if you want me to believe that.” She was wagging her tail a bit as she said this, seemingly amused by my answer.
Then she grabbed another stick and rubbed it against my teeth, gathered some saliva, and put the small stick in another tube.
When the tube was stowed away she pulled out another small tube with a green liquid and opened it close to my nose.
“Smell it please.”
I complied, and I could smell blood, which made me scream internally. Whose blood I am smelling, and why was she making me smell blood? I was almost tempted to try to get away when she went back to looking at my mouth.
"Interesting." She muttered to herself while looking into my mouth. "Open and close it, as if you are biting."
I complied as she continued to look inside my mouth and grabbed more of my saliva.
Then she went after my eyes, focusing a light and making me look in all directions.
She handed me a glass of water and ordered, “Gargle the water and spit it back into the glass.”
I cringed slightly at the request as it was a little unsanitary, but I did comply. Once I finished she grabbed the glass and sealed it inside a plastic container.
"Alright alright I did your… weird medical exam, now are you going to answer my questions about what all of this is about?" I asked while getting up from the chair.
Garline looked at me before turning to Sirlen. “He deserves to know, tell him, he's not a Kolshian."
“I still don’t trust him.” She answered back.
“Hey hey," I said while snapping my fingers. "I did what you asked of me, for all I know you could be trying to poison me, so spit it out, what do you want with all of this?"
She sighed and paced back and forth while putting away all the tubes and things she had collected from me.
“I will tell you, but I want to draw some blood.” That notion makes me want to leave this place immediately, like hell I am letting her stab me.
“No, I refuse until you first tell me what’s going on, then I will decide if I let you.” I respond, She tries to ignore me and push forward but Sirlen steps in her way.
“Garline, please.” Sirlen pleads to her.
Garline looked at Sirlen. After a few tense moments, she looked at me directly. "Because you just ruined my research." Garline said in her ever-monotone voice.
"How so?” I asked, curious about what she meant.
"All I was taught about the predator infection, is gone. No salivation when smelling blood, no attack reflex, no bloodshot eyes, mental lucidity when in contact with blood, coordination acceptable." She listed off, pacing back and forth in front of us."You are a predator, yet you don't display any of the known symptoms of predator disease…"
I stopped for a moment to think of what she said, so that was her obsession. She thinks I have it because I am a predator. Guess that explains all the focus on my predatory traits. So was she trying to figure out how to flip the "predator switch" so to speak?
"I think that means predator disease doesn't exist." I retorted,
“You know that’s an umbrella term for neurodivergence right, that it isn’t real?”
“It’s NOT.” Her sudden outburst shut me up. She took a quick moment to relax. Her raising her voice like that honestly robbed me of my words, even Sirlen looked shocked over this.
"I know, it might be not the accurate term, but I saw my father… something was wrong with him." She took a deep breath and removed her cloth mask, showing a deep scar below her mouth. "My father…. Had these episodes, he would get violent. Maybe the federation is wrong on this like they are on so many things, but my father did have a lot of interactions with Hensas. Maybe it's not linked to predators, but we had yet to discover germ theory before the Kolshians came here so they have proven to be better doctors than anything we had here before the uplift, and I doubt all the studies and protocols would be about nothing. There is something there, maybe there is a link maybe not, but testing it doesn’t hurt, does it?”
I wanted to just ignore that and say no... But maybe I can gain some goodwill with this.
I sighed and rolled my eyes, I didn’t like being experimented on, but she did have a reason, and at least seemed open enough. Remember Hector, this person was still in their people's early history. They can have these weird takes on science, similar to humankind, and it doesn't help the federation brain rot.
“Alright, but I want a new needle to be used and only one vial of blood.” I set my terms.
“I was going to use a new needle, I do know what the germ theory is, sit down."
I did as she said, I didn't like needles but I had to do it… She grabbed the needle, first putting a rubber band around my arm and then pressing an alcohol-soaked rag to the skin.
"Well, your veins are very visible. Good thing, we don't need to shave your arm to find them."
I looked to the other side, trying not to look at the needle. Based on her wagging tail Sirlen seemed quite pleased with my discomfort. "Never thought I would see a predator scared, it does wonders to sell that you have empathy.”
I was tempted to shove her away but then I felt the needle going in, it was a small sting, but I didn't like it. "Scared? I am fine.” A complete lie, I just wanted to deny her that little pleasure. She just seemed to be even more amused by this.
"I may not know the most about your expressions but your face doesn't lie."
After Garline filled the vial she removed the needle and then put a band-aid to cover the small hole.
"Finished." She said. "Your cooperation was acceptable." She struggled to say that.
"You're welcome." I said as I got up from the chair.
“Yes, yes… sit on the chair, while I put this in the storage unit…. Predator blood, such an exotic item." She said, walking with the vial while I rolled back down my sleeve, grabbing my tie suit and tie. I sat down as Garline sat in front of me after having put my blood in a small fridge. She went to one of the drawers of the office table grabbed a small file and put it in front of me. The file had the symbol of the Steelers.
"Now we can get down to business?" I asked her, I desperately wanted to have results, so this doctor visit has any usefulness.
“Yes, my agents have found” She said, opening the file and showing photos of several Yotul, all of them with the Exterminators. I even saw Virlo in the Photos. "the exterminators aren't stopping, tell me how this looks to you."
I sat down, grabbed the photos, and looked at them. It would look like a negotiation, but the tail language felt odd. If the little knowledge I had about their movements was something to guide me, I knew having the tail limp and straight down meant that those Yotul felt that that chat wasn't pleasant. Then I remember Virlo was being blackmailed, are they doing the same to these Yotul?
“Looks like they are convincing them, through an assertive way I must say."
“You are right." Said Garline "We found out they have attempted to coax everybody into either voting against the veto or not voting at all."
Well, that complicates things, I looked at the photos. I didn't recognize all but I recognized some of them from my reception or the local news outlet, they were very pro-humanity.
“So any ideas on how to deal with it?” I asked her, she looked more secure now, as her tail flicked a little with what I could see as excitement, something I had never seen her do until now.
“I do, I can secure… the valuables of the coaxed Yotul, and offer the votes of the neutrals, well most of them.”
"Wait, most? Not all?" I asked back to her, she was the one calling the shots here, wasn't she?
“I control the intellectual voters, the technocrats as we are called as a joke by the Federation, but the second neutral group, the military, they only obey Ilvar. The last one of the old guard, even if his functions are more symbolic than anything, not that I can control him. I saw you had a good talk with him, so I am sure you can deal with him."
I rubbed my head, this was both better and worse than expected. Well, the drunk noble should be easy to talk down. “Yes, I can deal with him.”
“Acceptable, now if I want to protect our votes, I will have to pull out my men from your guard, I only have enough spies to aid a finite number of people, so you will be unprotected if the Exterminators try something." She said, but for some reason, it looked more like it was being directed to Sirlen than to me.
“I can protect myself and him, Garline.” Sirlen said she had been behind me this whole time.
“Then perfect, it has been a good enough time with you Mr. Hector, you prove to be willing to embrace science." She continued, now the words pointing at me. "I hope putting my trust behind you with such short notice will not be something I regret. Still, have a nice trip back.”
I raise my eyebrows "What do you mean trip back? Am I not staying at the party?"
"I would like for you to stay, but that is not possible. You will see why in..." Then she looked at the clock hanging on the wall. "Three, Two, One…"
I heard the noise of the hatch opening quickly, the Butler came in, a little agitated. "Ma'am, exterminators' vans have been reported entering the NYR-35 headed towards the manor.”
“As expected." She said. "Just in time Salton, order the Dam of Holring to open its spillways and release some water, that should buy us some time. Use the need to water the crops as an excuse." She replied to the butler, who shook his tail and went back down.
“You seem to have everything planned." I commented while the hatch closed behind me.
“I haven’t survived for so long due to goodwill alone, they will be here in an hour." She said while putting everything back in the drawer, but not before snatching the folder from my hands and placing it back on the desk. "Now let's go down, The party needs to be brought to an end."
With that we walked down the ladder and exited the fake office of Garline, as we kept going we heard a huge noise below.
“What was that?” asked Garline.
Sirlen went to the window and judging by her tail movements… I don’t think that was a good noise.
Then we heard the door swing open. "We need to hide." Said Sirlen, she was visibly tense as she pulled out her weapon. “The exterminators are here.” That was enough to make my heart drop, I would rather be back in the dentist's chair than have to deal with exterminators.
“How troublesome, The Watchers should have seen them. Unless they went through the fields, instead of using the roads… they are learning, or they are desperate.” Said Garline as she stepped back.
“Should we be worried?” I said.
“Not necessary, go back to the office, the attic is not in the house blueprints. You can hide there, just be quiet and turn off the lights. Lay low until they go away in an hour or two, they have no proof to do this.”
Hearing the steps behind us my heart jumped left and right as we got back into the fake study. Sirlen and I climbed the Ladder as Garline sat at the desk and pulled out some random papers.
“What are you doing?” Questioned Sirlen as she was climbing the ladder.
“They need to see me or they will suspect foul play, just go.”
With that Sirlen finished climbing. I pulled out the ladder leaving it to a side, as Sirlen closed the hatch and put in the bolt to lock the hatch. I went to turn the lights off, not wanting to risk them seeing the light coming out from the holes between the planks. Then we listened in silence as we heard the door open and someone step inside.
Hello. Miss me? here we go with this month chapter met Garline the leader of the Technocrarts, and the most influential leader of the neutrals, what you think of her? did she go overboard when examinating Hector, or it was justificate?

I have been working in tax for a couple of years now. I mostly work on business and individual returns. I feel pretty confident when I work on these and feel like I can answer client questions and give advice. I also work on some non profit, trust, and estate returns. These I don't feel like I know as much about. I can basically just prepare returns but I don't feel confident I could answer questions about these cause I haven't worked with them much. It seems like there is so much to learn and its hard to imagine being really confident in all these areas at once. I think if I wanted to hire someone to do a 706 form I would want someone who works on them all the time and maybe even specializes in estate tax and planning. Do most people do everything or do most places have people specialize in certain areas?

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Beginning of April, I posted here about a challenge to review about 10,000 new Mandarin cards during the next 30 days.
​
This April challenge was very demanding and tiring. More often than not I felt exhausted and some of you correctly pointed to the notion that there might be better ways to improve in a certain language.
That being said, it helped me a lot.
Results:
https://preview.redd.it/olrxep2zg6yc1.png?width=944&format=png&auto=webp&s=7b67915cc282ea1fb0b76318aec2c6c1ef73218d
Overall, I did 43,706 reviews in 31 days and on average 1410 review per day. About 40,000 reviews were Mandarin (the remaining in other languages). While it shows that the cards are new, it doesn't mean that the content was completely new. Since I used several different decks and had an intermediate level of Mandarin, I could perfectly understand some cards, while others still posted a challenge. This is a bonus in my view: Being able to use knowledge gained by reviewing sentences of one deck to review somewhat similar sentences in another deck (for example about police and evildoers; or about earthquake and disaster areas; or about salary and inflation) is showing adaptability and the practice of using knowledge in different situations.
In total, I reviewed more than 20,000 new Mandarin cards!
Learnings (including but are not limited to the following):

1. Sentence cards with audio work best for me.
2. I want to learn the concepts and content, not memorise specific cards.
3. Better having many cards that are slightly different.
4. I prefer to have longer review intervals for known cards.
5. Anki is much more demanding than comprehensible input (reading/listening).
6. Anki worked great for me from intermediate to advanced level languages. Anki didn't work for my absolute beginner languages. Also doesn't work using random shared decks for my advanced languages (as sometimes I review 200 cards and there is not 1 new thing I can learn).
7. CLOZE sentence cards can be very good!
8. Anki can help build a strong foundation in a language.
9. Audio quality of many shared decks is an issue (and sometimes pronunciation is wrong).
10. Single word cards don't work for me (too easy to misunderstand or misuse these words later on)
11. It was great to publish about this challenge as this motivated others and I got great suggestions.

​
In the next weeks, I don't have any new Mandarin cards, but will have to review about 700-800 cards daily. In 3 weeks, this intensive period should yield to a more sustainable 200-250 cards per day routine. At some point, I want to add my own cards gradually.
If you want to read my daily logbook about this challenge, please find it here: https://philippmarxen.com/?p=256

Hi Reddit, so a bit ago I asked if there were any public domain video games and through some independent research and some help here from the community I found a lot of results! Biggest sprawl was this comprehensive list of PD Software on Wikipedia
My question of the day is that since these Softwares are PD, can they be used as any other character would? Can Android Nim, The Knight from Rogue), and the Wumpus all fight Peter Pan and Snow White in a story with no legal consequences? Or is it simply the software and not the characters that are available?
Has anyone talked about this before? Or does anyone know the answer?

Hey PersonalFinance community,

Contact us: [(877) 706-2008](tel:(877) 706-2008)

I've been diving deep into the world of debt relief and stumbled upon some interesting information regarding Active Debt Relief and other similar programs. Given the common questions and skepticism surrounding debt relief options, I thought it would be helpful to share and discuss what I've learned.
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The Effectiveness of Debt Relief Programs Is it worth enrolling in a debt relief program? The answer largely depends on your financial situation. For some, these programs can offer a path out of debt by lowering debt amounts or consolidating multiple debts into a single, more manageable payment. However, the effectiveness can vary based on the amount of debt you have, your creditors, and your ability to meet the program’s terms.
Impact on Credit Scores One of the biggest concerns is how these programs affect your credit. Debt settlement, for example, can negatively impact your credit score since it involves stopping payments to creditors as part of the negotiation process. It’s crucial to weigh the short-term impact on your credit against the long-term benefit of reducing your debt.
Are There Scams? Unfortunately, the debt relief industry is not immune to scams. A red flag to watch out for includes companies that contact you with unsolicited offers or those that require upfront fees before providing any services. The FTC and other consumer protection agencies regularly issue warnings and guidelines to help consumers identify legitimate services from scams.
Given all this, I'm curious to hear your experiences or any advice you have concerning debt relief programs. Have any of you used these services before? What was your outcome?
https://activedebtrelief.com/blog/
Looking forward to your insights and discussion!

DebtRelief #FinancialFreedom #DebtManagement #CreditScoreImpact

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Memory transcription subject: Herq, Tilfish Junior Exterminator
Date [standardized human time]: December 3rd, 2136
A toy store wasn’t the first place I would’ve chosen, personally. Especially when the buildings surrounding the van had just been bombed and we were caught in the crossfire.
Somehow we were lucky enough to find my holopad in mostly one piece. Frankie dug into the van while I kept an eye out, and he had the luxury of not being distracted with a towering monster intent on eating him.
I protested when Frankie dove into the toy store. I didn’t want to be anywhere near the van, not when the Arxur knew about it and others would inevitably investigate the body near it. Frankie argued that we needed to keep it in our sights and stay close. I couldn’t disagree with him. We’d made it this far, after all.
The toy store had a side entrance which led into a thin apartment lobby. With his weapon in hand, Frankie dashed up the stairs before I could say anything, and soon we were on the second level, where the human picked the first open door he saw.
It felt incredibly wrong to be inside of someone else’s living space without their permission, but it was even worse knowing what likely happened to them. As I stepped inside, a sense of eerie stillness hung in the air. The living room was shrouded in the dim street light that came through half-closed blinds, and in the kitchen I spotted a fruit that was cleaved in two and abandoned. Despite its recent vacancy, the apartment exuded a sense of dread, like it had already succumbed to the Arxur.
I shut the door behind us, and Frankie tossed his canvas bag onto a chair and peeked out the window. “This’ll work. Get this thing working.” He gave the device to me.
I fumbled with the dented holopad. It didn’t react to anything I did at first. After a moment of anxiety, it came to life. The fractured screen was making it difficult to read much of anything, but it did accept my inputs, and I was able to unlock it.
I stared at the screen, dumbfounded. Frankie seemed to notice. “What is it?”
I quickly shook myself from my stupor. “Nothing. I just… was expecting the worst, considering the state it's in.”
“Don’t jinx it, then.”
The screen already showed my contacts. There were messages from Tealk and Jarn, both probably worried sick about me, but I tapped on Von’s icon first. A few messages came up after my most recent, all sent almost right after each other.
“You two are still together? How far out are you?”
“Those weapons are going to be far more helpful than you realize.”
“How long until you get here?”
“Herq, answer me.”
There were no more messages. My feelers were already flying across the screen to let him know I was alive. “We’re alive. In short, our van is useless. Arxur are quickly populating the streets. We have no way of getting to Tepisil on our own. Call when you can.”
“What did he say?” Frankie asked.
I swirled my antennae. “I think he thinks we’re dead. I sent a message rather than calling to be safe… Hopefully he responds.”
He huffed. “Lovely.”
I spent some time sending similar messages to Jarn. Jarn had sent a message similar to Von’s, which was to be expected from another exterminator. I looked at Tealk’s last message she had sent.
“They’re sealing the bunker now. I’ll see you when the doors open.”
I ran a feeler across my antennae. We both knew the chances of that were barely above zero. And with the bunkers stopping any signals from going in or out, that would be the last message I ever got from her for a long time, if ever.
And I was stuck in a room, doing nothing about it.
“While we’re waiting, I’m gonna swap these out, if ya don’t mind.” Frankie dug into his pack, pulling out a small plastic case.
I stopped myself from rubbing my antennae, setting the holopad aside and walking over to the window. The van was visible further down the street, along with the front of the cafe we were briefly inside.
I kept one eye on it as he opened the flimsy-looking case. “What are you doing?” I asked.
Without warning, he peeled back his eye flesh, exposing some sickeningly moist red underside to his eye. “Man’s gotta see.”
I shuddered. “That… didn’t answer my question.”
“Ah, don’t tell me you’ve never seen a contact lens.” To my horror, he stuck his meaty finger into his eye, pulling away what looked like a tiny clear dish resting on his fingertip. He inspected it, before positioning it for me to examine. “See? ‘Cause I can’t.”
“What?”
“They help me see. One in each of my lovely eyeballs.”
“Predators… use implants to help them see better?”
His mouth spread open in a vicious grin as he plunged his finger into his other eye. “Sounds way cooler when you put it like that. Also, what did I say about calling me a predator?”
“S-Sorry. It just seems… predatory; as if your vision wasn’t already good enough for locking onto prey.”
“Human eyesight is crap, I don’t know what you’re on about. We use these things to make things not blurry when we look at them.” He put the small clear dish into the container and shut it.
“That only makes me more confused. Your vision is innately blurry?”
“Well, mine only got worse in my early twenties. I used to have glasses, y’know.”
“Glasses…?”
“You know, dorky things people put on their faces?”
I bobbed my antennae, feigning understanding. “It’s to improve their eyesight… So humans all have either contacts or glasses?”
He chuckled. “Oh, I see the confusion! No, only some humans have bad eyesight. I’m one of the lucky ones! Which is why I’ve got these darlings.” He made a show of flipping the container around.
“But now you’re not wearing them.”
“Nope, which means—” he blinked at me and made a strange expression with his eyebrows, “—you look funny.”
“Why take them out at all?”
“Strains my eyes. I’ll pop ‘em back in soon enough.”
“So you’re just stuck with bad vision for the rest of your life?”
“It’s partly by choice, I suppose. We’ve got fancy machines that shoot a laser into your eye to make you see normal; more permanent than these things.”
I twitched my antennae. “That’s horrifying.”
He broke into a grin. “Exactly! I know it's safe, but lasers are weird, man. What about you? I guess I haven’t exactly thought about how you’d go about having poor vision.”
“I… I don’t know. We have microscopes and similar, but nothing so… intimate.”
“Oh. That’s strange.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Well, maybe not, I guess it’d be a bit hard to make a three-sixty pair of glasses.”
I turned my attention back outside the window after giving the predator a dismissive antennae wag. “This is a poor conversation to have at a time like this.”
“Well…” he sighed, “Can’t say you’re wrong. I had a bit of fun, at least. I guess having some distraction helps.”
Getting distracted would only get us killed. Even now, I was fighting the urge to rest. I was having an exhausting day even before the grays came, and now I was set to stay up all night to secure our supply of weapons.
The explosions in the sky had long since stopped. The city streets, once bustling with life, were now eerily silent, even the sounds of fighting having died down. Across the planet, millions of people were suffering at the hands of the Arxur. I had doubts that Tepisil was doing much better.
My pad began to ring. I nearly fell over in my hurry to grab it, and answered Von’s call. His tired voice came through immediately. “Thank Formi you’re alive. Is the human still with you?”
I exchanged a look with him. “Yes, he is.”
“You ought to tell him Lieutenant Holtas is here in Tepisil, along with another human and a Yotul. We… came to an arrangement, of sorts.”
“What!? Dusty and Reno too?” The predator stomped over, making me instinctively recoil. He shouted into the holopad, “What the bloody hell happened?”
“U-Uh, t-they were still in Tepisil even after the other soldiers left. Long story short, he gave us what he could spare but… it’s not nearly enough if we want to survive for longer than a day, or defend the shelters for half that time.”
My mandibles spread open in shock. Even humans who were left behind were willing to offer their own weapons, lowering their own chances in an attempt to help us, even after everything. It didn’t matter the little difference it made, humans were impossibly selfless.
The predator sat back down and yanked out both his radio and mobile device. I glanced back at my holopad. “I-I think he’s going to try and call them. About the weapons…”
“I’ll see what we can do. No Arxur have come yet, but I have only heard terrible things from Dirlsil. We’re set up in buildings surrounding bunkers, but with so little options, we can’t expect to do much, even if we are more than ready to mobilize and reinforce. There’d simply be too many of them and too few of us with usable firearms.”
“The sooner we can get the armaments over there, the better.”
“I’ll get in touch with Lieutenant Holtas shortly. I assume once the humans are in contact they’ll hatch a plan in no time. I’ll keep you in the loop on anything that happens.”
“Of course. Is… Is Jarn there?”
“I believe she’s overlooking the hatchery. You-” He was interrupted by another voice on the line, but I couldn’t make it out.
“Who is that?”
“...Polle. It’s not good news.”
“What is it?” I begged.
“Too early to say. Look, I’ll be in touch. Contact Holtas. And Formi, stay safe.”
The tone gave way to silence. I didn’t at all like what he refused to tell me. Knowing him, “not good news” was a generous way of saying that something beyond terrible had happened.
I tried not to dwell on it as suddenly, there was a real chance we could help Tepisil. They were hurting for any kind of firepower, and the van on the street had the potential to ease that pain. Deep down, I knew it wouldn’t be enough. It would never be enough. If I had never made that cursed tip to the UN, all of this would have been completely different.
Frankie’s low, growling voice rolled over my spiraling thoughts. “Come on, pick up the radio you bastard.”
He was clutching the device with white knuckles, staring absently into the distance with a weary and tired posture. I wasn’t sure how I would feel if I were in his position, realizing I wasn’t completely alone on an alien planet.
“This is Sergeant Phillips, callsign-”
The radio suddenly cackled to life with a human voice on the other end. “Frankie! What the hell? Are you still on Sillis?”
The human’s face contorted into a wide snarl. “Dusty! Bloody hell! Yes, we’re stuck here, but so are you!? I got in touch with Von, said Luke was still there. What happened?”
A moment passed before the radio spat out a response. “We’ve saddled up with the exterminators, as you’ve probably figured out by now. The UN isn’t responding to anything. We’re hunkered down in a building outside this ‘Bunker Four’, waiting for the grays—”
“The bunkers?” I spat out. “What are they doing-”
“Shush, we’ll get there,” Frankie responded, listening back to the radio.
“—just sitting here. Luke’s awake, but I think Reno might be asleep. I’ve been keeping watch. Where are you?”
“We’re in Dirlsil, somewhere, hunkered down above some toy shop. Look, we’ve got a van full of weapons and I reckon you all are hurtin’ for them. Thing is, the van is on its side and isn’t gonna go anywhere soon. We’re stranded here.”
“Well shit.” A period of static followed. “Let me grab Luke. He’s the damn Lieutenant here.”
“Shake him hard for me,” Frankie added. He lowered the radio, turning to me. “Looks like getting those weapons wasn’t pointless after all.”
“They won’t be able to get here without trouble,” I replied. “I’m worried about the bunkers—the hatchery. They have so little to defend it with, a-and it’s only a matter of time before the Arxur show up to raid them… for cattle.”
He shook his head, blinking his tired eyes. “I hate ‘em every bit as much as you do. They’ll be able to last a while before we show up.”
“How many of them are left?” I argued. “Nearly a quarter of the office is gone after yesterday. I… guess I’m having doubts about if these weapons will be enough.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “Please, in the right hands, the things we have in that van are priceless. Are you familiar with anti-materiel rifles?”
My translator buzzed, causing me to click my mandibles nervously. “Uh… It’s a big gun?”
A smile spread across his face. “Bingo. And that’s not all I packed. There’s going to be plenty for us to play with. These Arxur haven’t had a proper fight in a while, I reckon.”
My antennae nervously twitched, hearing the predator casually talk about weapons of war. Frankie spoke like that was a good thing, but I wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was just the long night without sleep getting to me.
“Frankie!?” The radio hummed. “Dusty looped me in. You said you have a van full of weapons?”
“Yes sir,” he beamed. “Thing’s tipped over and leaking diesel, though. Herq has informed me that trying to get another car would be pointless, so we’re currently SOL. This is where you come in, I reckon.”
“Copy. Arxur haven’t made any noise over here yet, strangely enough. We have our truck, but… Well, it’s likely the best chance we have.”
“Right. I’ll send you my coordinates.” Frankie pulled out his mobile device, still talking. “Crazy that you’re still on Sillis, what happened with you?”
“There were… some complications. I’m pretty sure most of the other teams made it. We were just a little too slow, and the tight timeline forced us to make the decision to stay here. What happened to you?”
Several emotions passed over the Sergeant’s face before he made a reply. “The spaceport was bombed, right as we got there. We were watching the shuttles leave, and suddenly it lit up like a dead bush doused in gasoline. Turned around and grabbed some weapons, then had a close encounter with a bomb and then some Arxur. Easy as that.”
There was a strained laugh through the radio. “‘Easy’ my ass, Frankie. I take it the UN hasn’t responded to any of your calls?”
“Nope. Apparently the grays have got ten thousand ships up there, though.”
My antennae straightened. “What!? T-They have—Why didn’t you tell me that!?”
He frowned, opening his mouth to speak, but the radio beat him to it.
“Ah, there’s the coordinates. Let me-”
The radio abruptly cut out. Frankie raised his eyebrows, expecting a response. A moment later, it came.
“Shit, did you hear that? That was the first bomb, I think.”
I flinched at the news. That meant the grays were trying to sniff out their prizes beneath the bunkers. The only surprising factor is that it took them so long to target Tepisil. Now I was beyond worried for my sister, and for everyone else in the bunker. It was debatable how much of a difference a few weapons could make. And to think that it was only one single town among an entire planet.
“Wait, you were serious about them not attacking yet? Looks like your luck is catching up with you.”
“I don’t want to hear anything about my luck. The moment I think I catch a break, it blows up in my face. God. Anyways, looking at your location, we can be over there in little less than an hour.”
The human shifted forward in his seat. “Great! We’re above the toy shop, but you should be able to tell by the van on its side. We’ve been watching over it, but the only group of grays we’ve seen didn’t even bother with the body, let alone the van.”
“Body? Nevermind, we’ve got to get ourselves ready. I’ll keep you updated.”
“Copy that. Take care to not drive into any bombs on your way over.”
“Good advice. Oh, and Frankie? It’s damn good to hear your voice, even under the circumstances. Out.” The predator tossed the radio over in his hands before stuffing it away.
“They have ten thousand ships up there?” I immediately questioned. “H-How is the UN going to be able to fight against that?”
“That was just the initial estimate, I’ve no idea how many now, but I reckon the UN busted their balls up there during the retreat.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I’m not, but hey. We’ve got help coming our way, so we can look forward to that.”
I rubbed a feeler over my antennae. “Y-Yeah. I hope so. That human mentioned the Arxur bombings starting. If they find the hatchery, t-they won’t give the place up easily. Not to mention all the other shelters which the exterminators are spread far too thin over.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure everyone in Tepisil knows that. All the more reason to focus. But for now, we’ve just got to wait here.”
I didn’t want to wait here. My legs were restless, despite being tired. Everything I knew was going up in explosions and teeth. And yet, there was so little I could do. Thousands of people were in Tepisil, and I was just one. I couldn’t do anything, not even before the humans ever showed up.
I rubbed my antennae more. If I was in over my head then, I was sinking to the bottom now. I was only fighting to prolong the inevitable.
“I owe you a big thanks, by the way,” Frankie started, almost making me flinch. “Didn’t have time to mention it, but I’m glad you didn’t ditch me for those exterminators back at the camp.”
I lowered my feelers from my antennae. “It… felt wrong to leave you.” Not a lie, but not the whole truth.
“Hm. Not quite the response I was expecting, but I guess I’ll take it.” He sounded almost distraught.
“I-It’s more than that,” I added.
“You were thinking about Tepisil more than anything. I get that.”
I rubbed my feelers together nervously. “I didn’t belong with them.”
“Oh.” He seemed confused, but didn’t pursue it.
I would’ve gotten them killed, just like the others. Or they would’ve discovered what I did. Or they would’ve screened me for predator disease like the others. Or it would’ve been as simple as getting shot.
My head hurt. I managed to dig out a relevant thought amongst all of it. “H-How long until they get here?” I asked.
He checked his device. “Bit more than fifty minutes by his estimate.”
“If they don’t get caught out by a hunting pack. O-Or bombed, like we were.”
He frowned. “Not the best mindset to have.”
“How are you not terrified? You—We should be more… I-I don’t know.”
His frown deepened. “I’m more terrified now than I ever have been. I know I’m probably not making it out of this. I guess maybe that’s why I’m not showing it. I’ve got nothing to lose, right?”
His words hung in the air. His gaze shifted, focusing on a distant point as if he just realized what he said. The moisture on them caught the reflection of the dim light outside, adding a startling amount of depth to the predatory lenses. For the first time, I saw his eyes, truly. The tired puffs beneath them, the turmoil, the unspoken things.
“You know, I guess you sorta reach a point where everything’s on the line, and then it’s like… like your own brain just kinda accepts what it's been given. Fear loses its grip. You just gotta sit there and let it happen, y’know? Not like, let it happen, but just deal with it. I’m scared as all hell, but fear is the passenger now, not the driver.”
Maybe the humans were right about their biology. At that moment, Frankie’s eyes didn’t show a hint of predatory influence. They were as delicate as any person’s own involuntary expressions, be it antennae, tails, or ears. It was absurd that I didn’t notice it earlier.
“Like the Federation,” I said.
The human offered a nod. “Like Earth.”
I thought for a moment. “It’s more than just fear. Everything I ever knew is falling apart before my eyes. L-Like you said, fear isn’t the driver, but… neither am I.”
“Like one of your self-driving cars, but everything is going a bajillion miles an hour. Just gotta pray it doesn’t crash and burn.”
“And there’s nothing you can do.”
“Maybe. Small things can turn into big things.” He frowned, his eyes disagreeing with me. They held a degree of sincerity, like he wanted me to believe those words just as much as he did. It was a difficult offer for me to refuse.
Frankie cleared his throat and stood up. “Probably where the car analogy falls apart. We should get ourselves ready. Fifty minutes goes by quicker than you realize.”
I swiveled my antennae. “It will still feel like an eternity.”
My human shrugged, getting up and grabbing his canvas bag. I gave a final glance outside the window. The van was still there, quiet and unassuming. It wouldn’t stay that way for much longer.
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Thanks to for proofreading. And, of course, thanks to SpacePaladin15 for the wonderful universe.

We’re only a few weeks away from the NFL draft, and through the first few weeks of free agency the Miami Dolphins have engaged in a more conservative free agency than the approach I outlined in my previous entries. We let both of our two most important free agents walk to monster contracts. Instead, the Dolphins have been more judicious with free agent signings of their own.
Ahead of the draft, let’s take some time to review the moves the team has made, those they haven’t, and how those decisions might inform the team’s draft strategy.

• Part I: Cap Compliance
• Part II: Quarterback
• Part III: Offensive Line
• Part IV: Skill Positions
• Part V: Defensive Line
• Part VI: Linebackers
• Part VII: Secondary
• Part VIII: Pre Draft

Pre-Draft

The Dolphins currently have a projected $3,253,294 remaining in cap space per Over the Cap with 67 players rostered. The team’s free agency is starkly defined by who the Dolphins haven’t signed rather than who they have. Christian Wilkins and Robert Hunt left in free agency to $27.5 million and $20 million per year deals to the Raiders and Panthers respectively. Christian Wilkins’s contract is the second most (behind Kirk Cousins’s deal with the Falcons) awarded for a player changing teams; Hunt’s is fifth. Additionally, the Dolphins have not, as of yet, extended Tua Tagovailoa.
These decisions characterize a much more conservative approach than I predicted ahead of free agency. While the team has been fairly aggressive using void years to reduce the 2024 salary cap impact, they’ve been careful to avoid major financial commitments. While Shaq Barrett’s contract is the most egregious example of relying on void years, nearly every multi-year deal we’ve signed adds the maximum number possible to prorate the signing bonus out over five seasons. Despite that aggressive structuring, the Dolphins haven’t signed a single player to a contract which averages seven figures per season.

Player	Position	Type	Years	Total	APY	Void Years
Jonnu Smith	TE	Signed	2	$8,400,000	$4,200,000	3
Elijah Campbell	S	Re-Signed	1	$1,475,000	$1,475,000	0
Jake Bailey	P	Re-signed	2	$4,200,000	$2,100,000	0
Nik Needham	CB	Re-signed	1	$1,124,706	$1,124,706	0
Shaq Barrett	OLB	Signed	1	$7,000,000	$7,000,000	4
Jordan Poyers	S	Signed	1	$1985,294	$1,985,294	0
Siran Neal	CB	Signed	1	$1,950,000	$1,950,000	0
Salvon Ahmed	RB	Re-signed	1	$1,063,827	$1,063,827	0
Jordyn Brooks	LB	Signed	3	$26,250,000	$8,750,000	2
Kendall Fuller	CB	Signed	2	$15,000,000	$7,500,000	3
Benito Jones	DT	Signed	1	$1,790,000	$1,790,000	0
Jonathan Harris	DT	Signed	1	$1,790,000	$1,790,000	0
Neville Gallimore	DT	Signed	1	$1,790,000	$1,790,000	0
Aaron Brewer	C	Signed	3	$21,000,000	$7,000,000	0
Anthony Walker	LB	Signed	1	$1,377,500	$1,377,500	0
Jody Forston	TE	Signed	1	$1,025,000	$1,025,000	0
Jack Driscoll	RT	Signed	1	$1,790,000	$1,790,000	0
Da’Shawn Hand	DT	Re-signed	1	$1,152,500	$1,152,000	0
River Cracraft	WR	Re-signed	1	$1,100,000	$1,100,000	0
Braxton Berrios	WR	Re-signed	1	$2,150,000	$2,150,000	0
Raheem Mostert	RB	Extended	1	$4,130,000	$4,130,000	0
Kendall Lamm	LT	Re-signed	1	$2,500,000	$2,500,000	0
Teair Tart	DT	Signed	1	$1,152,500	$1,152,500	0
Cam Brown	LB	Signed	?	?	?	?

Jordyn Brooks’s three-year deal worth $8.75 million per year is so far the crown jewel of the Dolphins’s free agency spending which has seen the addition of only five players with an average per year greater than $4 million. The strategy speaks to a belief within the team building that the Dolphins faltered down the stretch last year largely due to poor depth.
Importantly, though, the signings also signal a major difference in priorities. After letting Wilkins walk, the team has replaced him with Benito Jones, Jonathan Harris, Neville Gallimore, and Teair Tart. The first three have all signed virtually identical one-year contracts worth $1,790,000. Tart’s deal is for $1,152,500, the same value as the contract we re-signed Da’Shawn Hand to.
Before we dive into specific positions and contracts more deeply, let’s take a look at how our depth chart currently shakes out.
Defense

Position	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth
EDGE	Jaelan Phillips (Injured)	Shaquil Barret
DI	Zach Sieler	Neville Gallimore	Da’Shawn Hand	Brandon Pili	Daviyon Nixon
DI	Jonathan Harris	Benito Jones	Teair Tart	Isaiah Mack
EDGE	Bradley Chubb (Injured)	Cameron Goode	Quinton Bell
LB	Jordyn Brooks	Duke Riley	Channing Tindall	Cam Brown
LB	David Long	Anthony Walker	Zeke Vandenburgh
SCB	Kader Kohou	Nik Needham	Siran Neal
CB	Jalen Ramsey	Cam Smith
CB	Kendall Fuller	Ethan Bonner
FS	Jevon Holland	Elijah Campbell
SS	Jordan Poyer

Offense

Position	First	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth
QB	Tua Tagovailoa	Mike White	Skylar Thompson
LT	Terron Armstead	Kendall Lamm	Kion Smith
LG	Isaiah Wynn	Lester Cotton
C	Aaron Brewer	Liam Eichenberg	Chasen Hines
RG	Robert Jones
RT	Austin Jackson	Jack Driscoll	Ryan Hayes
WR	Tyreek Hill	Braxton Berrios	Braylon Sanders	Anthony Schwartz
WR	Jaylen Waddle	River Cracraft	Erik Ezukanma	Mathew Sexton
RB	Raheem Mostert	Devon Achane	Jeff Wilson	Chris Brooks	Salvon Ahmed
FB	Alec Ingold
TE	Durham Smythe	Jody Fortson	Tanner Conner
TE	Jonnu Smith	Julian Hill

Special Teams

Position	First
Kicker	Jason Sanders
Punter	Jake Bailey
Long Snapper	Blake Ferguson

Before even considering the quality of incumbent players on that depth chart, the lack of depth at a couple positions jumps out immediately. The Dolphins figure to head into the draft particularly thin at guard (to the surprise of nobody) and safety (especially considering how often the Ravens used three safety looks). We’ll keep that in mind as we go through our free agency moves by position groups and consider how that might impact our draft decisions.

Interior Defensive Line

The Dolphins currently have nine interior defensive linemen under contract: Zach Sieler, Da’shawn Hand, Jonathan Harris, Benito Jones, Neville Gallimore, Isaiah Mack, Daviyon Nixon, Brandon Pili, and Teair Tart. The combined 2024 salary cap charge of these nine players is only $16,871,500.
Even on a heavily back-loaded deal, Christian Wilkins alone will count for $10,300,000 against the Raiders’s salary cap in 2024. If that doesn’t scream asset reprioritization, I don’t know what does. It’s unlikely that the Dolphins carry more than five interior defensive linemen onto the final 53 roster. Depending on who those five end up being, it’s entirely possible that the cap charge we carry into week one for interior defensive lineman is barely more than Wilkins’s 2024 cap charge alone for the Raiders.
Was the decision based more on personnel decisions than finances? The move to Anthony Weaver at defensive coordinator means scheme changes, and maybe the way the Ravens ran their defensive interior can give us a clue to answering that question. I’ve read two suggestions as to why the decision to move on from Wilkins might be schematic rather than financial: we’re likely to run fewer interior defensive linemen and that Weaver’s defensive lines have a greater emphasis on nose tackles.
PFF tracked a total of 12715 defensive snaps by Ravens players last year. I charted across the team how those snaps were divided by each player and compared across the team to get a picture of how often the Ravens defense lined up at different positions. Interior defensive linemen (players in the DE, NT, or DT positions as PFF defines them) accounted for only 18.69% of the Ravens's defensive snaps. Considered another way, that means that on an average play, the Ravens had 2.05 interior defensive linemen on the field. Of those interior linemen, on average 1.63 of them were defensive tackles and defensive ends lined up inside the offensive tackles accounted for the other 0.42. A further 19.72% of their snaps came from edge rushers (defensive ends outside the tackles or outside linebackers).
Running only two interior defensive lineman would make sense if a team ran a lot of 4-3 fronts, but, on average, the Ravens don’t. Defensive ends lined up outside the tackle account for only 8.92% of the Ravens’s defensive snaps. That means they run 0.98 edge rushers from that alignment per snap, so clearly they’re only averaging 3 down linemen per snap. That could mean they’re running 3-4 fronts more often, but they line players up at outside linebacker only marginally more often. Outside linebackers account for 11.64% of the Ravens’s defensive snaps or 1.28 players at that alignment per snap.
This all sounds like we’re heading in a direction that suggests that maybe the reason the Dolphins didn’t retain Wilkins is because Zach Sieler already plays a high volume of defensive snaps and the way that the defense we’re likely to run under Weaver works involves fewer interior linemen. The positional alignments actually showed, though, that Ravens had a similar total number of snaps on the defensive interior (and more if you consider when they lined defensive interior lineman up outside the tackles) and a larger percentage of their total defensive snaps than the Dolphins did.

Team	Total	A Gap	B Gap	Over Tackle
Miami	2432	207	1765	460
Baltimore	2330	268	1610	452

The Dolphins had a total of 12,173 defensive snaps last year, so the 2,432 snaps by defensive interior linemen accounts for 20.00% of that total. That’s marginally, but not appreciably, higher than the 18.32% of snaps by Ravens defensive interior linemen and the gap assignments outlined in the graph above don’t represent a meaningful difference either.
Also worth noting: I’ve heard a lot of discussion that the Ravens’s defensive scheme relied more heavily on a true nose tackle. The numbers don’t really bear this out; nose tackles specifically accounted for only 2.12% of the Ravens’s defensive plays or 0.23 nose tackles per defensive play. That works out to a nose tackle playing between one in every four or five snaps. Again, that’s not significantly different from what the Dolphins ran with Raekwon Davis primarily at the nose whenever we needed one and the gap assignments in the chart above bear this out as well.
It should be pretty clear that the decision to move off of Wilkins was not motivated by scheme. There’s little reason to believe that had we kept Wilkins that his or Sieler’s role would have changed dramatically with the change at coordinator. This was purely a decision not to try and meet Wilkins’s market--and given what he was ultimately paid, that’s a defensible position.
So what will the Dolphins do to replace Wilkins? Is drafting a defensive tackle in the cards? Consider the 2023 defensive snaps by position along the defensive line among the five free agent interior defensive linemen the Dolphins have signed or re-signed this year:

Player	DT	NT	DE	DEO	OLB
Teair Tart	228	143	6	0	0
Jonathan Harris	311	1	194	21	1
Benito Jones	423	116	25	2	0
Neville Gallimore	216	26	43	1	1
Da’Shawn Hand	168	5	26	0	0

While there’s some momentum behind drafting an interior defensive lineman in the first two rounds, I’m not holding my breath based on the moves that the Dolphins have made so far. Nobody in the list above strikes fear into the hearts of opposing offensive lines, but among them and alongside Zach Sieler, we’re looking roughly at the snap counts that the Dolphins are looking to replicate on the defensive interior.
There’s a very reasonable bet that the Dolphins head into the 2024 season with Sieler and four of the five above. Gallimore and Jones are both very cheap, but both also have fully-guaranteed deals that likely guarantee their roster spot. Hand and Harris both offer unremarkable savings, but their contracts are replaceable. Between Sieler, Gallimore, and Jones, that’s three players locked into what’s likely going to be only five spots on the interior defensive line with six players under contract already competing for those last two spots. Tart has the leg up there. Nearly half of his contract is guaranteed, making him more expensive to replace even with a minimum salary contract than to keep, though not by much.
While it’s not inconceivable that the Dolphins could draft an interior defensive lineman at 21 or 55, the current roster construction suggests it's unlikely. Jer’Zhan Newton or Byron Murphy II could very well be on the board at 21, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Unless someone we really love falls to 55, all signs point to the Dolphins relying on cheap veteran depth to fill out their rotation on the interior defensive line.

Edge Rushers

The Dolphins are in an interesting position regarding edge rushers headed into the 2024 draft. Phillips and Chubb both suffered season-ending injuries near the end of 2023, and that puts their availability for the beginning of the 2024 season into question. The team has already reinforced depth at the position by signing Shaq Barrett to a one-year deal. The contract is heavily backloaded with four additional void years so that only a fraction of his total cap charge counts in 2025.
Given the situation, signing Barrett is a savvy move by the Dolphins. Barrett’s far removed from his 2019-2021 run with the Buccaneers during which he logged 43 sacks in three seasons, but he’s consistently graded well over the past few seasons and even posted his career-best pass rushing grade from PFF this past year (82.6) despite only producing 5 sacks. Barrett will get the opportunity to prove he’s worth at least one more contract next year after he turns 32.
All things equal, though, the Vikings paid only $3 million more per year for Andrew Van Ginkel. They also added void years to Van Ginkel’s deal so that his 2024 cap charge is only $650,000 more than Barrett’s. If the Vikings choose to move on from Van Ginkel in 2025, they’re on the hook for only $2.2 million more than we will be when the rest of Barrett’s contract voids. For a team as tight on the cap as the Dolphins are, it’s understandable that the team would prioritize a total of $3 million in savings in guaranteed money, but it’s close enough that I can sympathize with those disappointed in the move.
The Dolphins also recently brought in Carl Lawson for a meeting, and while no contract has been signed, he’s another veteran with upside that makes sense for a team looking to add depth to the edge. Lawson, of course, has serious injury concerns of his own. He missed the entire 2021 season but had a solid bounce-back year in 2022 before missing the majority of the 2023 season. That injury history suggests he’s likely to be cheap, but I expect he won’t be signed until after the draft when his contract would no longer count against the compensatory pick formula.
That, of course, leaves the door open for the Dolphins to draft an edge rusher high. While it appears that the team is making an effort to fill out depth at the position through free agency, depending on how the draft falls, someone like Jared Verse (less likely) or Laiatu Latu (more likely) could conceivably be available at 21. Latu’s injury history would make me nervous given that the only reason we’d consider spending a first on an edge rusher is because our top two edge rushers suffered late season-ending injuries last year. All things considered, whether the Dolphins draft an edge rusher in the first (or even the second) hinges entirely on their confidence in Chubb and Phillips and their timelines to return from injury.
Ultimately, how we move forward here is too difficult to predict without understanding how far along Chubb and Phillips are. Seeing news that Phillips is out golfing and confident he’ll return is encouraging, but without a concrete timeline, it’s still fuzzy. More than any specific position, the Dolphins need an impact player in the first round. They need someone who’s going to get a significant number of snaps, and given the defensive front alignments discussed above, if Chubb and Phillips are on track to come back, a first round edge rusher would likely see lower snap counts. As much as I don’t think that the Dolphins do it, if we’re looking at defensive line in the first we’d likely be much better off taking Newton or Murphy if they’re available; an interior defensive lineman alongside Sieler would see much more playing time across the season and be a better use of a third first-round pick in four years at the same position.
One other point of interest will be whether or not the Dolphins pick up Phillips’s fifth-year option shortly after the draft. I expect that we will, but if he has complications returning from injury, I could see them holding off. Ultimately, I think the risk is worth the reward here.

Linebackers

Like at defensive tackle, the Dolphins have made a concerted effort in free agency to revamp the group of linebackers. Although we saw the anticipated the departure of Jerome Baker, the Dolphins brought on a pair of veteran free agents at the position: Jordyn Brooks and Anthony Walker.
Brooks figures as our starter opposite David Long. PFF graded Brooks as average across the board except at pass rush. He’s effective as a blitzer with 13 total pressures on only 43 pass rushing snaps with six sacks last year. PFF’s coverage grade of only 59.9 for Brooks is at odds with some other analysis which rates him highly in coverage but in a defense that did him few favors with his assignments. Given his three-year, $26.25 million contract, though, there’s no doubt that the Dolphins are committed to him. The team doesn’t have a realistic out on his deal until the final year of his contract.
Walker signed a much more modest deal (only one year, $1,377,500), but the majority of his deal is guaranteed. Walker has graded consistently above average over the past three seasons in Cleveland, but has been otherwise unremarkable as a rotational linebacker. He’s cheap depth, though, so there’s little to complain about here.
Based on snap counts, the Ravens fielded an average of 2.08 inside linebackers per play. No doubt that number is inflated by having a combination of Roquon Smith and Patrick Queen headlining that group, so we shouldn’t expect the Dolphins to quite replicate that production, but that should give you a sense of how the Ravens ran their front “seven” a little differently than most.

Position	Players
Defensive Interior	2.05
Outside Linebackers	1.28
4-3 Ends	0.98
Inside Linebacker	2.08
Total	6.39

As you’d expect in the modern NFL, the Ravens ran six man fronts on a majority of their plays with a fifth man in the secondary on just over 60% of their defensive plays. Given these breakdowns, though, I don’t think it’s a coincidence though that the two positions with the most committed depth headed into the draft are the defensive interior and inside linebacker.
While it wouldn’t shock me to see the Dolphins draft an inside linebacker late, Long, Brooks, and Walker are already locks for the position and even though there are cap savings available for doing so, I wouldn’t count on moving off Duke Riley this year. While Channing Tindall also offers some cap relief if released ($951,373), it’s negligible over the cost of his replacement (at least $785,000). That’s ignoring the recent signing of Cam Brown who would ostensibly be rostered as a linebacker but almost exclusively plays special teams.
I’d be confident that all five of those players will make the 53-man roster, and I’d be shocked if more than five inside linebackers make the cut. Like at defensive tackle, our rotation here seems more or less set. There’s certainly the possibility that the Dolphins could draft somebody who bumps one of Riley, Tindall, or Brown off the roster, but I don’t expect the team to go into the draft with that as a priority.

Secondary

The flip side of all of the discussion above on the defensive front seven is the secondary.

Position	Players
Cornerback	1.89
Slot Corner	1.18
Safety	1.53
Total	4.60

As mentioned, the Ravens used a fifth defensive back on about 60% of their defensive snaps. That’s pretty normal for the league, but what’s interesting about the Ravens is who’s playing that extra slot corner position. All players in the secondary accounted for 5,569 defensive snaps for the Ravens last year. Safeties accounted for 2,667 (47.89%) of those snaps. That’s an important distinction because that means that while players at free or strong safety alignments accounted for only 33.26% of the defensive snaps among the secondary, players ostensibly rostered as safeties had much higher participation in the defense which is to say that safeties lined up as corners (overwhelmingly slot corners) very frequently for the Ravens.
It will be interesting to see whether the Dolphins attempt to do the same. Walker has already gone on the record about intending to move Jalen Ramsey around more in the secondary given how controversial it was last year that he didn’t travel and shadow the offense’s best receiver. The Dolphins made a surprise investment signing Kendall Fuller to replace Xavien Howard as the team’s boundary corner opposite Ramsey. I think we should all be thrilled with that move. Fuller has been a solid CB1 in Washington for the past four seasons, and he figures to be a massive upgrade over Howard at a much more sustainable price. He also has positional flexibility having played outstanding mostly as a slot corner in his first four seasons in the league with Kansas City.
Kader Kohou has been solid as a slot corner the past couple years, though he’s struggled on the boundary, and though we’ve re-signed him, Nik Needham was never outstanding outside but was also best in the slot. We also signed Siran Neal from the Bills who has played 60% of his (limited) defensive snaps from the slot (though he figures more a special teams contributor).
The team’s depth at safety is also a disaster. Jevon Holland is a top tier free safety who is likely due for an extension (hopefully later this summer after Howard’s cap clears in June) and Jordan Poyer is a fantastic bang-for-your-buck get who will mostly play strong safety. Behind them, though, the Dolphins only have Elijah Campbell. Campbell is fine as depth, but only $355,000 of his one-year deal is guaranteed, so his roster spot is hardly set, and he’s been nothing special over his three years in the league. More importantly, as of writing the Dolphins don’t have a single safety rostered in 2025. While it’s likely that we extend Holland, Poyer and Campbell are both playing on one year deals and there’s no guarantee that they’ll be back next year.
This all leaves the Dolphins in what I see as a pretty awkward place in the secondary. The team has an absolute glut of players who can perform well at slot corner. At minimum, I expect that we’ll see Ramsey, Fuller, and Kohou all play meaningful snaps lined up as a slot corner. We should also feel confident in our starting depth outside with Ramsey and Fuller and at safety with Ramsey and Holland. The problem is the depth behind them, especially if we’re going to be moving Ramsey and Fuller around (like we should).
The hope is certainly that Cam Smith can step up into a meaningful role at outside corner in his second season, but that doesn’t help the dismal depth at safety. It could be given the depth we have at slot corner that the Dolphins move safeties to the slot less (it’s certainly never been a big part of either Holland’s or Poyer’s games). There is another potential solution that I think the Dolphins could strongly consider.
Draft Cooper DeJean at 21. I know that defensive back isn’t where most people are focused as far as the Dolphins team needs, but our depth situation means it probably should be. DeJean specifically is a compelling option because of his positional flexibility. Perhaps the best trait DeJean has is that while he’s played mostly on the boundary in college, many project him to be a top safety or slot corner in the NFL. DeJean also potentially solves problems in both the short and long term.
In the short term, he can rotate between safety, boundary corner, and slot corner as the need arises. He can move outside when Ramsey or Fuller move inside. He can split reps in the box with Poyer. He didn’t play deep much in college, but it certainly figures like he can play there as well in rotation with Holland and Poyer.
In the long term, there’s the point I already mentioned about our lack of safeties committed in 2025 and beyond, but Fuller and Ramsey are also both free agents in 2026, half way through DeJean’s contract. While we hope that Smith steps up to replace one of them, that leaves another opening on the boundary. Even Kader Kohou will be an unrestricted free agent in 2026. Whether DeJean develops as a safety, outside corner, or slot corner, there’s a long-term place for him on this team.
Even if we don’t go for DeJean in the first, the Dolphins need to figure out an answer for additional depth at outside corner and safety in 2024. Killing two birds with one stone with a do-everything player in the secondary seems like a good way to get your first round pick playing meaningful snaps across the roster.

Tight Ends

I know there’s some enthusiasm for the Dolphins to get Brock Bowers in the draft, but put it out of your mind. The team’s not going to trade up to get him and drafting a tight end in the first round has arguably a worse track record than drafting a running back there. At least first round running backs are frequently productive during their first contracts in addition to being poor value in terms of cap spending.
The Dolphins have already made their moves at tight end, so I wouldn’t expect us to draft someone in the second either. After he was released from Atlanta, the Dolphins agreed to terms with Jonnu Smith on a two-year, $8.4 million deal. The deal includes three void years, although per OTC only one of the three is utilized so far. That suggests that even though the Dolphins have an out on his contract in 2025, we’re more likely to restructure or extend him to bring that cap figure down and push prorated signing bonus into those empty void years.
J. Smith was solid in Tennessee under Arthur Smith, underwhelming after he got his big deal contract in 2021 to go to the Patriots, and then had another solid year after being reunited with A. Smith in Atlanta last year. Good news for the Dolphins, A. Smith is part of the Shanahan coaching tree under Matt LaFleur, so there’s reason to be optimistic about his scheme fit.
J. Smith and Smythe (after his restructure) are locks as the top tight ends on the Dolphins roster in 2024. Behind them we’re returning Julian Hill and Tanner Conner and added Jody Fortson from the Chiefs. The three figure to compete for a third tight end spot, and all have similar contracts which give them no roster security ahead of camp. It’s conceivable, but unlikely, that the Dolphins add a tight end in the draft to compete for that third spot, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. I’d also rate it unlikely that the team carries more than three tight ends onto the final 53-man roster.

Wide Receivers

Headed into free agency the Dolphins were extremely top-heavy at receiver with Jaylen Waddle (who will almost certainly receive his fifth-year option designation shortly after the draft) and Tyreek Hill. The Dolphins have re-signed Braxton Berrios to another one-year deal worth $2.15 million with $1.2 million guaranteed. The team also re-signed River Cracraft to a league minimum deal with no guarantees. There’s also word recently that Erik Ezukanma is expected to return.
The team clearly isn’t done with wide receiver, though. Unless Ezukanma suddenly breaks out, the team lacks a true third wide receiver behind Hill and Waddle, and the Dolphins know it. There’s been a lot of reporting around the offer the Dolphins have out to Odell Beckham Jr., but they’re still apart on the money. OBJ’s free agency has been exceptionally quiet except for the meeting with us, though that might change after the draft. There’s a lot of wide receiver talent in the draft this year, and a lot of teams are headed into Thursday with a need at the position. OBJ likely is holding out that somebody gets left out and needs veteran help.
For what it’s worth, I really like OBJ as an option, and waiting makes more sense from a financial point for us. I appreciate that the team is holding to their offer and waiting to see how things play out, but I think OBJ is underrated at this point in his career as a third option. Last year, OBJ’s 1.92 yards per route run was best among the wide receivers on the Ravens and 38th among 211 receivers. That’s higher than several big-name receivers like Cooper Kupp, Chris Godwin, DaVonta Smith, Tee Higgins, Garrett Wilson, Curtis Samuel, and Gabe Davis, several of whom got big deals this last year. His 14.9 yards average depth of target was also 34th in the league and he had only a single drop. His receiving grade was 28th best in the NFL.
If nobody gets desperate and outbids us (which could very well happen), OBJ would be a great addition to the Dolphins receivers, and if the team waits until just after the draft the signing won’t impact the compensatory pick formula either.
While I don’t think it’s likely, I wouldn’t rule out a wide receiver in the first either. If, for example, the draft leans heavier defensively than expected and Brian Thomas Jr. or Adonai Mitchell is available at 21, I could see the Dolphins pulling that trigger. The more likely scenario in that case, though, would be to trade back. I think a receiver in the second is a much more likely (and palatable) move.

Backs

The three notable moves in the Miami backfield this offseason were extending Mostert another season (a move which had essentially no bottom line impact to the 2024 cap), rework of Jeff Wilson’s contract, and restructuring Ingold’s deal to create some cap space. Of the threemoves, Wilson’s is more interesting. The move was a straight pay cut in exchange for an additional $400,000 in guarantees; his cap charge was reduced by about a third down to just around $2.4 million with a near even split on guaranteed money that makes a cut unlikely.
Expecting to carry five backs onto the roster in 2024, the team is financially committed to both Mostert and Ingold who would cost more to release than to keep. Obviously the team isn’t moving off of Devon Achane after his promising rookie season. Wilson’s reworked deal essentially guarantees his roster spot as well unless he really blows it in camp. That leaves the remaining roster spot between Chris Brooks and Salvon Ahmed (re-signed to a barely above minimum contract with no guarantees). It’s possible also that the Dolphins could roll with only four backs on the final 53 in which case the team is already set.
Heading into free agency, I expected that we’d be quiet when it came to the offensive backfield, and that appears to be the case. Except for maybe a seventh rounder or undrafted free agent to compete with Brooks and Ahmed, I don’t expect that the Dolphins will make any more moves at running back this season barring an injury.

Offensive Line

There’s no question that the Dolphins need to work on their defensive interior. Letting Hunt walk for a $20 million deal with the Panthers is a justifiable move, but one that leaves the Dolphins with a lot of answers inside on the line. Between re-signing Isaiah Wynn and Robert Jones, depth at guard isn’t so much of an issue, but there’s a lot of work left to be done.
Unwilling to sit out and wait at center while Connor Williams works through recovery from his knee injury. The Dolphins signed Aaron Brewer to a three-year deal worth $21 million. Brewer hopefully projects as a better fit in our outside zone blocking scheme, and he’s a bruiser in the run game, but he’s been underwhelming as a pass blocker. Brewer has some guard flexibility as well, though, so while he’s currently projected to be the team’s starting center, I wouldn’t rule out moving him to LG (where he’s played 1,299 career snaps) or even right guard (where he’s played 209) if the Dolphins draft a center.
The Dolphins also reworked Terron Armstead’s deal, including a $4.25 million pay cut in 2024 in exchange for $10 million in guaranteed salary. The deal optimistically has Armstead playing the 2024 and 2025 seasons with the Dolphins averaging $16.5 million per year and then retiring in 2026 with a $10.7 million dead cap figure. I’m mixed on the deal as the additional guarantees may hurt us more in the long term than the $4.25 million savings helps in the short term, especially of Armstead retires next year, but it would be difficult for the Dolphins to address four starting offensive line spots in 2024 effectively if he had retired.
I know as a fan base that we’re clamoring for the Dolphins to draft a guard or center with our top pick, but I’m hesitant to call it a lock (even though I called for drafting Jackson Powers-Johnson earlier this off season). I think over the years the front office has made it clear how much they value interior offensive linemen and I don’t see us drafting a guard or center in the first round unless it’s a guard who has flexibility to move outside at tackle and eventually replace Armstead.
That type of move makes a lot of sense and there should definitely be players available who could fit that role, but there are also a lot of teams that need offensive tackle help and a run on the position could instead leave the Dolphins taking the fourth or fifth such player off the board at 21. The problem is that outside of maybe Olumuyiwa Fashanu, most of the tackles who could conceivably kick into guard until Armstead leaves are right tackles. Guys like JC Latham or Amarius Mims have a decent chance of being on the board at 21, but unless you’re comfortable taking them and keeping them at guard, I don’t see how you justify drafting them as a long term solution to left tackle. It just makes me nervous.
I’m increasingly convinced that with the way most mocks have the board generally falling, the Dolphins won’t go offensive line in round one and instead might wait to address guard or center at pick 55. I also wouldn’t rule out that the Dolphins could still have an answer on the interior of the line after the draft with Williams. If his recovery is proceeding apace, I think it makes a lot of sense to bring him back so he can start at either center or left guard depending on how we want to move Brewer around. The move would also provide much better center depth than we had last year, which was a huge problem after Williams went down.
Players like Christian Haynes or Zach Frazier might be reasonable targets in the second round. In later rounds, players like Beaux Limmer could provide some depth with starting potential with experience at guard and tackle. I mentioned earlier I’d love to pick up a guy like Mason McCormick if he falls to our day three picks.

Quarterback

The decision not to extend Tagovailoa gives the Dolphins some flexibility moving forward. On June 2, the Dolphins will open up $18.5 million in additional 2024 salary cap space when Xavien Howard’s release is officially completed, and it’s unlikely that the Dolphins make any significant moves until that cap space becomes available. As mentioned, the team reportedly has a contract offer out to Odell Beckham Jr., but neither side appears in any rush to make a decision there.
That puts the balls back in the team’s court in terms of leverage moving forward. Tagovailoa is under contract on his fifth-year option and the team is unlikely to make additional signings that require the cap relief an immediate extension might offer.
Between the fifth-year option and a franchise tag, the Dolphins control Tagovailoa’s future through the 2025 season at least. The team isn’t exactly flush with cap space in 2025, so there would need to be some financial finagling to exercise the cap, but it’s a manageable option. For those reluctant to offer a large extension for Tagovailoa based on his first four seasons, this may offer some comfort.
I still think it’s more likely than not that the team extends Tagovailoa before the 2024 season begins. There’s still good news based on the current financial situation, however. With no immediate need for the cap space, the Dolphins have a lot more flexibility in regards to contract structure. While an extension early to leverage 2024 cap space would have involved backloading significant portions of the contract’s guarantees, there’s little reason to do that if we’re extending Tagovailoa after the draft. The team will already see an influx of cap space from Xavien Howard’s post-June 1 designation that will provide plenty of flexibility to sign rookies, a practice squad, and fill out the roster.
Consider the following contract structure.

Year	Base Salary (Guaranteed)	Signing Bonus	Roster Bonus	Cap Charge
2024	$15,500,000 ($15,500,000)	$8,000,000	$0	$23,500,000
2025	$10,500,000 ($10,500,000)	$8,000,000	$20,000,000	$40,500,000
2026	$40,000,000 ($40,000,000)	$8,000,000	$0	$48,000,000
2027	$48,000,000 ($24,000,000)	$8,000,000	$0	$56,000,000
2028	$54,000,000 ($0)	$8,000,000	$0	$62,000,000
2029	$68,500,000 ($0)	$0	$0	$68,500,000

This would be a five-year extension with $55 million per year in new money (2025-2026). It includes $150 million in fully guaranteed money at signing. The team would have an easy out in 2027 when they could save $16 million cutting him outright or $24 million with a post-June 1 designation. With a post-June 1 designation in 2026, the team could theoretically move on from Tagovailoa as well, though it would make less sense. The Dolphins would also have an out to trade Tagovailoa in 2026 where they would save $40 million.
I doubt very much that his contract actually ends up looking like this, but I think it gives an idea of how such a contract might be structured simply which mostly aligns with the current window to compete. There’s also the argument to be made that if the team is looking at a contract structure like this, they may as well just let Tagovailoa play out the fifth-year option and franchise tag him in 2025 as the cap difference would be negligible. That path will be popular among many, and it’s a justifiable path so long as you’re willing to acknowledge that a third year of the same type of efficiency we’ve seen over the past two likely earns Tagovailoa an even bigger contract in 2025, regardless of the team’s postseason success.

Special Teams

Dream Draft