DAY: MAY 26 2024
5-26-2024

AI CHATBOTS ARE INTRUDING INTO ONLINE COMMUNITIES WHERE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO CONNECT WITH OTHER HUMANS

A parent asked a question in a private Facebook group in April 2024: Does anyone with a child who is both gifted and disabled have any experience with New York City public schools? The parent received a seemingly helpful answer that laid out some characteristics of a specific school, beginning with the context that “I have a child who is also 2e,” meaning twice exceptional. On a Facebook group for swapping unwanted items near Boston, a user looking for specific items received an offer of a “gently used” Canon camera
5-26-2024

MICROSOFT’S AI CHATBOT WILL ‘RECALL’ EVERYTHING YOU DO ON A PC

Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you’re doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next. The software giant on Monday revealed a new class of AI-imbued personal
5-26-2024

AI RELIES ON MASS SURVEILLANCE, WARNS SIGNAL BOSS

The AI tools that crunch numbers, generate text and videos and find patterns in data rely on mass surveillance and exercise concerning control over our lives, the boss of encrypted messaging app Signal told AFP on Thursday. Pushing back against the unquestioning enthusiasm at VivaTech in Paris, Europe’s top startup conference where industry players vaunt the merits of their products, Meredith Whittaker said concerns about surveillance and those about AI were “two framings
5-26-2024

THE ‘DEAD INTERNET THEORY’ MAKES EERIE CLAIMS ABOUT AN AI-RUN WEB. THE TRUTH IS MORE SINISTER

An example of a shrimp Jesus image on Facebook with no caption or context information included in the post. Credit: Facebook If you search “shrimp Jesus” on Facebook, you might encounter dozens of images of artificial intelligence (AI) generated crustaceans meshed in various forms with a stereotypical image of Jesus Christ. Some of these hyper-realistic images have garnered more than 20,000 likes and comments. So what exactly is going on here? The “dead internet theory” has an explanation: AI and bot-generated content has surpassed the human-generated internet. But where did
5-26-2024

WHAT ARE DEEPFAKES AND SHOULD WE BE WORRIED?

Deepfakes are creating havoc across the globe, spreading fake news and pornography, being used to steal identities, exploiting celebrities, scamming ordinary people and even influencing elections. Yet a worldwide survey found 71% of people have no idea what deepfakes are. Deepfakes are digital photos, videos or voices of real people that have either been synthetically created or manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI) and can be hard to distinguish from the real thing. You’ve probably seen a deepfake video or photo without even realizing it. Computer-generated Tom Cruises,
5-26-2024

META INTRODUCES CHAMELEON, AN EARLY-FUSION MULTIMODAL MODEL

Chameleon represents all modalities—images, text, and code, as discrete tokens and uses a uniform transformer-based architecture that is trained from scratch in an end-to-end fashion on ?10T tokens of interleaved mixed-modal data. As a result, Chameleon can both reason over, as well as generate, arbitrary mixed-modal documents. Text tokens are represented in green and image tokens are represented in blue. AI researchers at Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and many other products, have designed and built a multimodal model to compete with
5-26-2024

ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUSES MAY YIELD SIGNIFICANT HEALTH AND CLIMATE BENEFITS, COST SAVINGS

Replacing diesel school buses with electric school buses may yield up to $247,600 in climate and health benefits per individual bus, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The researchers found that these benefits—including fewer greenhouse gas emissions and reduced rates of adult mortality and childhood asthma—and their associated savings are strongest in large cities and among fleets of old (2005 and before) buses. The study, “Adopting electric school buses in the United States: health and climate benefits,” was published in the
5-26-2024

WEARABLE DEVICES GET SIGNAL BOOST FROM NEW MATERIAL

Strain-invariant stretchable wireless system enabled by dielectro-elastic composite. A new material that moves like skin while preserving signal strength in electronics could enable the development of next-generation wearable devices with continuous, consistent wireless and battery-free functionality. According to a study published today in Nature, an international team of researchers from Rice University and Hanyang University developed the material by embedding clusters of highly dielectric ceramic nanoparticles into an elastic polymer. The material was reverse-engineered to not only mimic skin elasticity and motion types, but also
5-26-2024

AI DOMINATES ANNUAL PARIS STARTUP EVENT VIVATECH

Vivatech will host more than 150,000 guests, 11,000 startups and 450 speakers over four days. Thousands of tech enthusiasts filed into Europe’s self-declared biggest startup event VivaTech in Paris on Wednesday, with artificial intelligence stealing the show this year. Over four days, the event, now in its eighth year, will host more than 150,000 guests, 11,000 startups and 450 speakers, according to the organizers. The star turns will take to the stage on Thursday—former US climate envoy and secretary of state John Kerry is expected to make a push for
5-26-2024

AI POISED TO USHER IN NEW LEVEL OF CONCIERGE SERVICES TO THE PUBLIC

AI concierge’s fundamental forms. Credit: Journal of Service Management (2024). Concierge services built on artificial intelligence have the potential to improve how hotels and other service businesses interact with customers, a new paper suggests. In the first work to introduce the concept, researchers have outlined the role an AI concierge, a technologically advanced assistant, may play in various areas of the service sector as well as the different forms such a helper might embody. Their paper envisions a virtual caretaker that, by combining natural language processing, behavioral data
5-26-2024

AGE VERIFICATION FOR SOCIAL MEDIA WOULD IMPACT EVERYONE—RESEARCHERS ASK PARENTS AND KIDS IF THEY ACTUALLY WANT IT

by Justine Humphry, Catherine Page Jeffery, Jonathon Hutchinson and Olga Boichak, The Conversation This month the Australian government announced a A$6.5 million commitment to trial an age-verification program that will restrict children’s exposure to inappropriate online content, including pornography and potentially social media. The announcement came out of a National Cabinet meeting geared towards addressing gender-based violence in Australia. Much has been said about age-checking technologies in the weeks since. Experts point out implementing these tools effectively (so they aren’t easily by-passed) will be complicated—and any such system could come
5-26-2024

IS IT SAFE TO FLY? AIRLINE SAFETY EXPERT ON MODERN COMMERCIAL FLIGHT

In light of recent news regarding congressional action on aviation safety, Penn State News spoke with Amy Pritchett, department head of aerospace engineering and professor in Penn State’s College of Engineering. Pritchett previously served as the director of NASA’s Aviation Safety Program and currently chairs the National Academies committee chartered to research and advise federal regulators on emerging trends in aviation safety. In
5-26-2024

USING SMART DEVICES TO SCHEDULE ON-DEMAND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CAN SAVE TIME AND MONEY

Suburban residents often face challenges receiving reliable and accessible bus transit—riders often complain about infrequent schedules and long waiting times. Often, transit agencies are unable to provide additional buses because population density in such areas is usually low. On-demand transit (ODT) is an innovative transportation approach that enhances the accessibility and quality of service while reducing operating costs. Despite the rapid growth of ODT services in various cities across Canada and the United States, the mechanism of
5-26-2024

UNDERWATER SIGNALS GENERATED BY OPEN SEA AIRPLANE CRASHES COULD BE KEY TO DETECTING FINAL RESTING PLACE OF MH370

Location of the CTBTO’s hydroacoustic stations H11N and H11S (white triangles); the impact location of three aircrafts (indicated in yellow): F-35a, Transair Flight 810, and Asiana Flight 991; and the distances and bearings relative to the hydroacoustic stations (presented in magenta). The cyan star shows the location of earthquake M 4.8–9 km S of Y?kaichiba, Japan, 2014-03-07 18:34:20 (UTC) 35.611o N 140.552o E 23.9 km depth. Signals captured on underwater microphones could be key to locating airplanes such as MH370 when they crash into
5-26-2024

SURVEY INVESTIGATES AI TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CLASSIFICATION AND CREATION OF ART

A comprehensive survey has looked at the intersection of art and artificial intelligence (AI). The team has focused on how AI technologies are employed in the classification and also the creation of artworks. Andrej Šimi? and Marina Bagi? Babac of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb have analyzed and categorized a number of research papers in this field to understand the methodologies, techniques, and outcomes in this emerging field. They discuss
5-26-2024

CYBERSECURITY LABELING FOR SMART DEVICES AIMS TO HELP PEOPLE CHOOSE ITEMS LESS LIKELY TO BE HACKED

Smart devices like baby monitors, fitness trackers and internet-connected appliances will soon be eligible for labels certifying that they meet federal cybersecurity standards. Federal officials said Wednesday that the first “Cyber Trust” labels could appear in time for the holiday shopping season. The White House announced the labels last year to help consumers avoid devices that are vulnerable to hacking. Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File Consumer labels
5-26-2024

WORLD LEADERS STILL NEED TO WAKE UP TO AI RISKS, SAY LEADING EXPERTS AHEAD OF AI SAFETY SUMMIT

Leading AI scientists are calling for stronger action on AI risks from world leaders, warning that progress has been insufficient since the first AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park six months ago. Then, the world’s leaders pledged to govern AI responsibly. However, as the second AI Safety Summit in Seoul (21–22 May) approaches, 25 of the world’s leading AI scientists say not enough is actually being done to protect us from the technology’s risks. In an expert consensus paper published in Science, they outline urgent policy priorities that global leaders
5-26-2024

MICROSOFT’S AI CHATBOT WILL ‘RECALL’ EVERYTHING YOU DO ON A PC

Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you’re doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next. The software giant on Monday revealed a new class of AI-imbued personal
5-26-2024

AI TRAINED TO DRAW INSPIRATION FROM IMAGES, NOT COPY THEM

Powerful new artificial intelligence models sometimes, quite famously, get things wrong—whether hallucinating false information or memorizing others’ work and offering it up as their own. To address the latter, researchers led by a team at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a framework to train AI models on images corrupted beyond recognition. DALL-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion are among the text-to-image diffusion generative AI models that can turn arbitrary user text into highly realistic images. All three are now facing lawsuits from artists who
5-26-2024

AI CHIPS COULD GET A SENSE OF TIME WITH MEMRISTOR THAT CAN BE TUNED

Tunable composition and structural disorder in single-crystalline ESO thin films on epitaxial YBCO electrodes. Credit: Nature Electronics (2024). Artificial neural networks may soon be able to process time-dependent information, such as audio and video data, more efficiently. The first memristor with a “relaxation time” that can be tuned is reported today in Nature Electronics, in a study led by the University of Michigan. Memristors, electrical components that store information in their electrical resistance, could reduce AI’s energy needs by about a factor of 90 compared to today’s graphical
5-26-2024

WHAT GOOGLE AI MEANS FOR YOU—AND YOUR SEARCH RESULTS

Google recently unveiled plans to integrate its search engine with artificial intelligence (AI). The company is debuting a new search engine feature called A.I. Overviews, which generates an overview of the topic a user searches and displays links to learn more. Traditional search results still appear underneath, but A.I. Overviews, Google says, will parse various pieces of information to give you a quicker answer. The new feature has raised concerns from some web publishers, who worry it will deal a heavy blow to their site traffic. Currently, A.I. Overviews don’t
5-26-2024

RESEARCHERS ANALYZE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AI-GENERATED DEEPFAKES

Credit: AI-generated image Most of the deepfakes (videos with fake hyper-realistic recreations) generated by artificial intelligence (AI) that spread through social media feature political representatives and artists and are often linked to current news cycles. This is one of the conclusions of research by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) that analyzes the formal and content characteristics of viral misinformation in Spain arising from the use of AI tools for illicit purposes. This advance represents a step towards understanding and mitigating the threats generated by hoaxes in our society.
5-26-2024

INTERDISCIPLINARY GROUP SUGGESTS GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF AI IN SCIENCE

(AI) generates texts, videos and images that can hardly be distinguished from those of humans—with the result that we often no longer know what is real. Researchers and scientists are increasingly being supported by AI. Therefore, an international task force has now developed principles for
5-26-2024

IMPERCEPTIBLE SENSORS MADE FROM ‘ELECTRONIC SPIDER SILK’ CAN BE PRINTED DIRECTLY ON HUMAN SKIN

Researchers have developed a method to make adaptive and eco-friendly sensors that can be directly and imperceptibly printed onto a wide range of biological surfaces, whether that’s a finger or a flower petal. Credit: University of Cambridge Researchers have developed a method to make adaptive and eco-friendly sensors that can be directly and imperceptibly printed onto a wide range of biological surfaces, whether that’s a finger or a flower petal. The method, developed by researchers from the University of Cambridge, takes its inspiration from spider silk, which can conform and
5-26-2024

BREAKTHROUGH OR BOAST? THE QUEST FOR COMPARABLE RESEARCH RESULTS

More international attention is being paid to the importance of common standards for performing scientific experiments and measuring their results—a field called metrology. In late 2019, physicist Dr. Lorenzo Pattelli was part of an Italian-Chinese scientific team working on a cooling technology that is fast gaining attention as the Earth gets hotter from climate change. Called passive daytime radiative cooling, or PDRC, the technology uses engineered materials to reflect away the sun’s radiation. The idea is that, amid heat waves, PDRC panels would cool buildings without the need for energy-intensive
5-26-2024

AI-ENHANCED COLLECTIVE BARGAINING TOOLS COULD HELP GIG WORKERS SOLVE PROBLEMS

Researchers at Northeastern University have created artificial intelligence tools to help gig workers organize, collect their own job-related data, analyze their work problems and come up with a strategy to implement solutions. “Building solid AI-enhanced solutions to enable gig workers’ collective action will pave the way for a fair and ethical gig economy—one with fair wages, humane working conditions and increased job security,” says Saiph Savage, assistant professor and director of the Civic A.I. Lab at Northeastern’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences. Gig work is typically performed by a freelancer
5-26-2024

AI-POWERED TRADING STRATEGIES TAME MARKET SWINGS

Average financial indicators feature importance. Credit: Quantitative Finance and Economics (2024). DOI: 10.3934/QFE.2024007 The dynamic landscape of cryptocurrencies, marked by rapid growth and high volatility since Bitcoin’s inception in 2009, has attracted significant attention from investors and traders. The emergence of new digital currencies challenges traditional financial models, necessitating advanced analytical tools to navigate the market’s unpredictability. The quest for effective trading strategies has led to the exploration of AI and machine learning techniques, which promise to enhance decision-making in this speculative yet lucrative field. Researchers from the University of
5-26-2024

NEW ROBOTIC PALM USES SOPHISTICATED TACTILE SENSORS TO MIMIC HUMAN TOUCH

“I’ll have you eating out of the palm of my hand” is an unlikely utterance you’ll hear from a robot. Why? Most of them don’t have palms. If you have kept up with the protean field, gripping and grasping more like humans has been an ongoing Herculean effort. Now, a new robotic hand design developed in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has rethought the oft-overlooked
5-26-2024

SCARLETT JOHANSSON SAYS A CHATGPT VOICE IS ‘EERILY SIMILAR’ TO HERS AND OPENAI IS HALTING ITS USE

Scarlett Johansson poses for photographers at the photo call for the film “Asteroid City” at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 24, 2023. OpenAI plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices after some drew similarities to Johansson, who famously portrayed a fictional AI assistant in the (perhaps no longer so futuristic) film “Her.” File OpenAI on Monday said it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices that “Her” actor Scarlett Johansson says sounds
5-26-2024

AI HEADPHONES LET WEARER LISTEN TO A SINGLE PERSON IN A CROWD BY LOOKING AT THEM JUST ONCE

A University of Washington team has developed an artificial intelligence system that lets a user wearing headphones look at a person speaking for three to five seconds and then hear just the enrolled speaker’s voice in real time even as the listener moves around in noisy places and no longer faces the speaker. Pictured is a prototype of the headphone system: binaural microphones attached to off-the-shelf noise canceling headphones. Credit: Kiyomi Taguchi/University of Washington Noise-canceling headphones have gotten very good at creating an auditory blank slate. But allowing certain sounds
5-26-2024

NVIDIA’S PROFIT SOARS, UNDERSCORING ITS DOMINANCE IN CHIPS FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Nvidia reports earnings on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Eric Risberg Nvidia on Wednesday overshot Wall Street estimates as its profit skyrocketed, bolstered by the chipmaking dominance that has made the company an icon of the artificial intelligence boom. Its net income rose more than sevenfold compared to a year earlier, jumping to $14.88 billion in its first quarter that ended April 28 from $2.04 billion a year earlier. Revenue
5-26-2024

EIT-BASED TACTILE SENSOR PROVIDES NEW APPROACH TO FINE MOTOR SKILLS ASSESSMENT

Researchers from SIT Japan showed a peg-shaped sensor for classifying adult pinching motions. Reconstructed images reach 79.4% accuracy, while voltage vectors achieve 91.4%, hinting at automated finger motion analysis potential. a) The microcontroller and sensing device are connected by a wire. (b) Hand model pinching the sensing device with two fingers from the horizontal direction and the reconstructed image. Credit: Hiroki Sato from SIT, Japan. Fine motor skills play a crucial role in human cognition, influencing everything from daily activities to the development of advanced tool-based civilizations. Yet, quantifying and
5-26-2024

EUROPE’S CLIMATE LAWS COULD SPELL THE END TO LOW-COST FLIGHTS—BUT WHAT ABOUT PRIVATE JETS?

The era of low-cost air travel in Europe may be over for good, thanks in part to recent EU environmental policies. All in all, this is good news for the climate. But many low- and middle-income people who used to travel around the EU will no longer be able to do so, or at least will be able to do so much less often. Yet the same policies will have little or no impact on the use of much more polluting private jets, which typically cover distances served by commercial
5-26-2024

ROBOT-PHOBIA COULD EXASPERATE HOTEL, RESTAURANT LABOR SHORTAGE

Using more robots to close labor gaps in the hospitality industry may backfire and cause more human workers to quit, according to a Washington State University study. The study, involving more than 620 lodging and food service employees, found that “robot-phobia”—specifically the fear that robots and technology will take human jobs—increased workers’ job insecurity and stress, leading to greater intentions to leave their jobs. The impact was more pronounced with employees who had real experience working with robotic technology. It also affected managers in addition to frontline workers. The findings
5-26-2024

TWO TYPES OF LLMS FOUND ABLE TO EQUAL OR OUTPERFORM HUMANS ON THEORY OF MIND TESTS

Performance of human (purple), GPT-4 (dark blue), GPT-3.5 (light blue) and LLaMA2-70B (green) on the battery of theory of mind tests. a, Original test items for each test showing the distribution of test scores for individual sessions and participants. b, Interquartile ranges of the average scores on the original published items (dark colors) and novel items (pale colors) across each test. An international team of psychologists and neurobiologists has found via experimentation that two types of LLMs are able to equal or outperform
5-26-2024

SANOFI ALLIES WITH OPENAI, FORMATION BIO FOR AI USE IN DRUG DEVELOPMENT

AI is playing an ever greater role in developing new medicines, as well as identifying new applications for existing drugs. French pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced Tuesday a partnership with ChatGPT-founder OpenAI and US biotech firm Formation Bio to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence in developing drugs. AI is playing an ever greater role in developing new medicines, as well as identifying new applications for existing drugs. It can be used for example to find new molecules more quickly and to improve clinical tests by vetting which patients would be
5-26-2024

USING AI, MASTERCARD EXPECTS TO FIND COMPROMISED CARDS QUICKER, BEFORE THEY GET USED BY CRIMINALS

A sign indicating MasterCard credit cards are accepted is posted at a New York business, Jan. 21, 2015. Mastercard said Wednesday, May 21, 2024, that it expects to be able to discover that your credit or debit card number has been compromised well before it ends up in the hands of a cybercriminal. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File Mastercard said Wednesday that it expects to be able to discover that your credit or debit card number has been compromised well before it ends up in the hands of a cybercriminal.
5-26-2024

NEW FLEXIBLE FILM DETECTS EYELASH PROXIMITY IN BLINK-TRACKING GLASSES

When attached to eyeglasses, a clear, flexible sensor can detect how close eyelashes are to the lens, enabling blink tracking. When another person’s finger hovers over your skin, you may get the sense that they’re touching you, feeling not necessarily contact, but their proximity. Similarly, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have designed a soft, flexible film that senses the presence of nearby objects without physically touching them. The study features the new sensor technology to detect
5-26-2024

GAMERS SAY THEY HATE ‘SMURFING,’ BUT ADMIT THEY DO IT

Online video game players believe the behavior known as “smurfing” is generally wrong and toxic to the gaming community—but most admit to doing it and say some reasons make the behavior less blameworthy, new research finds. The new study suggests that debates about toxicity in gaming may sometimes be more complex and nuanced than is often acknowledged, according to the researchers. Online video games use what are called “matchmaking systems” to pair players based on skill. “Smurfing” is when players cheat these systems by creating new accounts so that they
5-26-2024

HUMANS BARELY ABLE TO RECOGNIZE AI-GENERATED MEDIA

AI-generated images, texts and audio files are so convincing that people are no longer able to distinguish them from human-generated content. This is the result of an online survey of about 3,000 participants from Germany, China, and the U.S. This is the first time that a large transnational study has examined this particular form of media literacy.
5-26-2024

CAN AIRPLANE TURBULENCE REALLY KILL YOU? AIRCRAFT PROPULSION EXPERT WEIGHS IN ON SINGAPORE AIRLINES DEATH

One person was killed and several dozen more injured Tuesday when a flight from London to Singapore encountered “sudden extreme turbulence” and plummeted roughly 6,000 feet in a matter of minutes, according to The Washington Post. All told, there were 211 passengers and 18 crew on board, according to Singapore Airlines. The deceased passenger reportedly suffered a heart attack during the mid-air tumult. The Boeing 777-300ER operated by Singapore Airlines diverted to Bangkok, where it landed at 3:45 p.m. local time on Tuesday following the in-flight incident. The New York
5-26-2024

HOW INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES’ ARE CAUTIOUSLY EMBRACING GENERATIVE AI

U.S. intelligence agencies are scrambling to embrace the AI revolution, convinced they’ll otherwise be smothered in data as sensor-generated surveillance tech further blankets the planet. They also need to keep pace with competitors, who are already using AI to seed social media platforms with deepfakes. But the tech is young and brittle, and officials are acutely aware that generative AI is anything but tailor-made for a trade steeped in danger and deception. Years before OpenAI’s ChatGPT set off the current generative AI marketing frenzy, U.S. intelligence and defense officials were
5-26-2024

3D PRINTING ROBOT USES AI MACHINE LEARNING TO CREATE A SHOCK-ABSORBING SHAPE NO HUMAN EVER COULD

Inside a lab in Boston University’s College of Engineering, a robot arm drops small, plastic objects into a box placed perfectly on the floor to catch them as they fall. One by one, these tiny structures—feather-light, cylindrical pieces, no bigger than an inch tall—fill the box. Some are red, others blue, purple, green, or black. Each object is the result of an experiment in robot autonomy. On its own, learning as it goes, the robot is searching for, and trying to make, an object with the most

Not sure if this is the right space for this since she wasn’t reactive, but in the end it was unpredictable aggression that led to this decision and I just am in disbelief.
I put my 8 year old dog to sleep almost 2 months ago. I didn’t think it’d come to this but hindsight is always perfect. I should have made sure she couldn’t be helped before succumbing on what was such a traumatic day.
I had two dogs, my 8 year old mixed breed (dna test from 2017 said 50% pitbull, then 12.5% each of husky, chow, Rottweiler, and Aussie). I adopted her at 8 weeks and she was advertised as a border collie mix. She was the smartest dog, a joy to train, never any issues with reactivity or resource guarding, never pulled on her leash even. She was very well socialized as I took her everywhere and loved in a busy apartment complex near lots of shops and restaurants, and when I couldn’t take her with me, made sure she stayed with friends who had kids and other dogs. She did dog daycare a few days a week. She was great.
I got married and we got our second dog also at 8 weeks, a GSP. They were best buddies for 6.5 years. Truly never a fight over toys or food or anything. Always wrestled and laid together. We did everything together and were always out with friends and their dogs or running through trails and climbing mountains or swimming in lakes and playing fetch. It was the best.
Then last November things changed. My older dog started to act randomly aggressive towards me, snapping and growling and even aggressively barking when I approached her, always randomly, then she was secluding herself, and attacked my other dog totally unprovoked twice in the span of a couple of weeks. I immediately took her to the vet where all tests were normal so my vet prescribed her fluoxetine saying she felt it was neurological. I started her on the fluoxetine and then took her to a veterinary behaviorist. The aggressive episodes were so random she was her usual sweet and normal self at the behaviorist so she said to just keep up on the fluoxetine. I showed her some videos I had of the aggression and she said if it doesn’t help my vet is probably right and there’s more at play here, but not much to be done, but she doesn’t feel that it’s likely behavioral.
For 14 weeks everything was totally normal. She went to the vet twice and everything still checked out so I let my guard down. My dog was maybe more lethargic and she had a few weird episodes of laying on odd places or staring off and waking up in the middle of the night confused but that all seemed like medication side effects. She still loved her walks and fetch and absolutely zero aggressive outbursts during that time period. I changed nothing else besides giving her her 20mg fluoxetine every morning (that’s how naive I was). My dogs were even hoarded together sharing a kennel twice in that time period. I’d leave them out together when I was gone. Thank goodness nothing happened then. I wish I was still that ignorant.
Then suddenly the aggression was back worse than ever. In the span of a few days she attacked my other dog twice totally out of nowhere drawing blood each time. I was keeping her separate after the first time when I couldn’t be there. But then the second time was horrific, the most unprovoked attacked I had ever experienced. She went right for her neck after laying together all morning. My other dog just screamed. By the time I could get her separated. I had a full depth puncture to my hand that needed 4 stitches. My other dog had multiple wounds to her neck, face, and ears but luckily nothing as deep as I had as I was right there when the attack happened and was able to get her away before she could really latch to her neck but it was the fight of my life. After the attack I put her in her crate. The ER suspected u had tendon damage. I could not believe how deep the bite was. When I got back from the ER, she was laying in her crate and barked and growled and snarled at me when I went to check on her like she didn’t know me. I volunteer at the humane society and had never had a dog react to me so aggressively; let alone my dog I’ve had for 8 years who was always so sweet and I know we loved eachother beyond measure. We were so bonded. It felt like something was horribly wrong.
A few hours later she calmed down and I went back to the vet that same day and my vet told me she truly felt this was something neurological like meningitis or a brain tumor or maybe even dementia and that it had escalated to a level that would always be dangerous as it’s unpredictable and not her normal temperament. She said the outcome wouldn’t change with more tests. I was 7 weeks pregnant at the time and my family told me I’d never be able to have her around a child which I know to be true but for 7.5 years I never was concerned about that. It seemed so hopeless and like taking her for an MRI 4 hours away to confirm would have been for me not her and my vet said there’s really no good treatment anyway and so I put her to sleep that day.
I unfortunately miscarried at 11 weeks and now just can’t stop replaying if that was punishment for killing my dog, for not doing everything for her, for not making sure whatever was going on wasn’t fixable. I was so overwhelmed and made a decision I never would have made. Maybe if I had waited a day or if u had known I’d miscarry I would have decided differently. At the same time I know it is so abnormal for a dog to turn on its family after years and something must have been going on, but I just feel like it’s so abnormal I’ve never even heard of it happening. My dogs were my life. I know I’m lucky my other dog wasn’t killed but I just don’t know how to move forward.

I'm ending my first Spring season as UIC for our local LL. Like everyone else, we have had issues drawing in volunteers throughout the season to ensure consistent umpire coverage for all games. We have a decent-sized umpire corps (50+ youth and adults), but folks have lives and we haven't been able to ensure at least one umpire for every single game.
Every day I'm scanning the schedule for the day ahead and remainder of the week, messaging our corps to try and get volunteers lined up for games. Some weeks are really good and other weeks are more strapped for volunteers (because, you know, people have lives outside LL and there's already a nationwide ump shortage; also, it's harder to get folks to volunteer for things these days)). While I try to backfill games when I can, I have a job as well and can't always backfill games. Much of this season I've been fortunate that I've been able to work my kids' games (because they were the ones needing a backfill), but there have been many days and weeks when I've had to backfill a different game at the same time as my kids' (because I didn't want to show up at the fields as a spectator for my kids' games and have folks tsk tsking about why there was a game without an ump, when I was clearly there and should have done it). As a result, I've worked a TON of games this season (which I'm fine with), but it's been at the expense of attending most of my kids' games as a spectator and being able to cheer for them as a dad should.
We're nearing the end of our Spring season and folks are being asked about whether they'd like to return as a Board member for the next year. While I'd love to come back and continue serving our umpires (because, there has been a LOT of progress I've been able to make for them, the respect they're given, and the resources they get from the League), I draw a firm line at doing so if it means I will always be expected to umpire for games that are open and take me away from my kids as their greatest cheerleader in the stands. I know being UIC takes sacrifice and will require filling in more than others at times. I love umpiring and I don't mind that part. But, my greatest role and the best uniform I'll wear in my kids' lives isn't as UIC for their local LL... but as their dad.
So, the guidance I need from other UICs is this: do you have a way of dealing with drawing boundaries when it comes to backfilling open umpire roles when it comes at the expense of attending your kids' games or need to have some space to focus on other things outside of LL? How do you or how does your league deal with with the implicit expectation that the UIC will always backfill for open umpire slots (whether it's saying the UIC IS the backfill, giving you the space to not backfill, or whatever else that looks like)? How do you message this to your league, both the coaches and parents, and manage their expectations?
I want to continue serving our League and our umpires (rather than someone on the Board being the de facto UIC because there's no specifically-designated UIC that steps up), but not at the expense of my family or ability to expect healthy boundaries around my time outside of LL.
Appreciate any insights, guidance, or advice you may have.

I recently wrote up a blog post on how to make a worldbuilding timeline, and I thought I'd share with you my tips, tools, and neat inspirations here in a summarised version :D
If you find it challenging to keep track of your world's history (or all the crazy stuff happening at once in your TTRPG campaign) then making a timeline might be a good way to keep an eye on everything (and stay consistent)!
(Inspo & tools listed below)

⏳ How to make a worldbuilding timeline:

1. Plan out the scope of your timeline - do you need it to focus on one part of your worldbuilding such as the growth of a civilization or the events of a conflict, or will it be your main timeline-of-everything that you use for personal reference?
2. Decide what point of view it's being told from - is it an omnipresent or wiki-style accounting of every event that happened, or is it a recorded history from the perspective of a character or group of people?
3. Break it down into sections - this could be in the form of eras, ages, generations, sessions, stages, or acts, depending on what you're using a timeline to illustrate.
4. Start with the most significant events - start with adding what you know and make sure to keep it relevant to the scope of your timeline to avoid going overboard with info.
5. Add placeholders - if you're not sure on the details of an event or when it happened, add in a placeholder roughly when you think it took place. As you expand your timeline you'll be able to make references to it and figure out those missing details.
6. Fill in the gaps - start to question why certain events happened and add in the events that lead to them and the results that came afterwards.
7. Expand the details - make sure each event has at least a title, a date, and a short summary of 1-2 sentences. You can add extra detail or a full accounting of the event later or in an article.
8. Review and revise - check over your events to make sure that they make sense, and add more to it if you want to as your worldbuilding continues!

🖼 Inspiring Timelines

• Histography.io (every dot is a historic event from Wikipedia)
• Carta Històrica de Barcelona (language toggle in the top right, scroll through the growth of Barcelona)
• Witcher interactive timeline (sound warning! map timeline from the Witcher Netflix series)
• Kings and Queens of England and Great Britain (inspiration for building lineages)
• Ancient History timeline (good overview of ancient history across the world)
• Sid Meier's Civilization VI tech tree (inspiration for thinking about how tech developed in your worlds)
• History of England (J. Barfield - 1800) (more of a family tree but I thought the layout was neat!)
• history of the entire world, i guess (Bill Wurtz) 🌞💥🌍

📜 Timeline Resources

• Events & Technology ( u/OtherAtlas made a fantastic infographic of things you can add to your timeline - you should check out their other posts, too!)
• On Worldbuilding: Fictional Histories (Hello Future Me)
• The Histomap (John B. Sparks)
• Histomap of Evolution (John B. Sparks)
• Timeline of Timelines (Daniel Rosenberg)
• Adams' Synchronological Chart (Sebastian C. Adams)
• Chemical element discoveries (ChronoFlo)
• Food Timeline (a fantastic list of when different foods emerged over the years)
• How to make a worldbuilding timeline (TJ Trewin - that's meee there's some extra tips on the blog!)

🧰 Worldbuilding Timeline Tools

I've done a bit of searching around for websites/tools to help make timelines, some of them are more worldbuildeTTRPG focused and others more generic (I haven't tried all of them firsthand but I'll give some pros/cons for the ones I have).
Shameless plug: I actually made a customizable timeline template in Google Sheets 😅(I'm the guy that made the 400 prompts sheet)! It's F*REE *(or pay-what-you-want if you enter 0) and you can grab a copy here to play around with:
TJ's Timeline Template

• Pros: easy to organise/sort/filter, comes with prompts and event ideas, near unlimited size
• Cons: it's functional but it ain't pretty 😂, online only (although I think you can still view & edit offline on Android?)

Tools I've tried and enjoyed:

• World Anvil (timelines and chronicles)
  • Pros: looks super slick, can use interactive maps, easy to link events to other articles of lore in the world (this is one of my chronicles and interactive maps)
  • Cons: monthly/annual subscription, learning curve
• Microscope RPG and Microscope Explorer (expansion)
  • Pros: one time purchase, fun as a solo or group collab, focused worldbuilding
  • Cons: needs either physical space to lay out cards or a digital canvas (I've seen some people use a kanban board like Trello/similar)
• The Story Engine (all of them, but in particular the Lore Master's Deck because it adds new event cards)
  • Pros: so much fun!! great for filling gaps in lore and history
  • Cons: once you buy one you will want more, you also need some decent table space to arrange the cards
• Obsidian.md (default canvas and diagrams)
  • Pros: free for personal use and no account required, offline, canvas can be used to layout timelines however you like, lots of community plugins that also have timeline features too (check https://obsidianttrpgtutorials.com/ for cool plugins)
  • Cons: official syncing and hosting is a subscription service but there are free/cheaper solutions available if you search around, I've listed diagrams because Obsidian supports Mermaid.js timelines (and flowcharts) by default but the diagrams have are tricky to learn and are kinda ugly xD

Tools I haven't tried but might be worth checking out (please lemme know in the comments if these are any good or if I missed any):

• Draw.io
• Tiki-Toki
• Campfire
• Aeon Timeline
• LegendKeeper (timeline feature announced?)
• Preceden
• Kanka.io
• Canva
• TimeToast

What do you include in your timelines and what's your tools of choice? 😀

I'm ending my first Spring season as UIC for our local LL. Like everyone else, we have had issues drawing in volunteers throughout the season to ensure consistent umpire coverage for all games. We have a decent-sized umpire corps (50+ youth and adults), but folks have lives and we haven't been able to ensure at least one umpire for every single game.
Every day I'm scanning the schedule for the day ahead and remainder of the week, messaging our corps to try and get volunteers lined up for games. Some weeks are really good and other weeks are more strapped for volunteers (because, you know, people have lives outside LL and there's already a nationwide ump shortage; also, it's harder to get folks to volunteer for things these days)). While I try to backfill games when I can, I have a job as well and can't always backfill games. Much of this season I've been fortunate that I've been able to work my kids' games (because they were the ones needing a backfill), but there have been many days and weeks when I've had to backfill a different game at the same time as my kids' (because I didn't want to show up at the fields as a spectator for my kids' games and have folks tsk tsking about why there was a game without an ump, when I was clearly there and should have done it). As a result, I've worked a TON of games this season (which I'm fine with), but it's been at the expense of attending most of my kids' games as a spectator and being able to cheer for them as a dad should.
We're nearing the end of our Spring season and folks are being asked about whether they'd like to return as a Board member for the next year. While I'd love to come back and continue serving our umpires (because, there has been a LOT of progress I've been able to make for them, the respect they're given, and the resources they get from the League), I draw a firm line at doing so if it means I will always be expected to umpire for games that are open and take me away from my kids as their greatest cheerleader in the stands. I know being UIC takes sacrifice and will require filling in more than others at times. I love umpiring and I don't mind that part. But, my greatest role and the best uniform I'll wear in my kids' lives isn't as UIC for their local LL... but as their dad.
So, the guidance I need from other UICs is this: do you have a way of dealing with drawing boundaries when it comes to backfilling open umpire roles when it comes at the expense of attending your kids' games or need to have some space to focus on other things outside of LL? How do you or how does your league deal with with the implicit expectation that the UIC will always backfill for open umpire slots (whether it's saying the UIC IS the backfill, giving you the space to not backfill, or whatever else that looks like)? How do you message this to your league, both the coaches and parents, and manage their expectations?
I want to continue serving our League and our umpires (rather than someone on the Board being the de facto UIC because there's no specifically-designated UIC that steps up), but not at the expense of my family or ability to expect healthy boundaries around my time outside of LL.
Appreciate any insights, guidance, or advice you may have.

1. Where is your mind?
2. Have you seen a Veronica bucket before?
3. Draw a picture of a Veronica bucket.
4. When you pour water into a veronica bucket, and you open the tap, what will flow out of it?
5. Label the Veronica bucket Water, and label the content flowing from the tap Water.
6. When you pour honey into a veronica bucket, and you open the tap, what will flow out of it?
7. Draw another Veronica bucket.
8. Label the veronica bucket Honey, and label the content flowing from the tap Honey.
9. When you pour soapy water into a veronica bucket, and you open the tap, what will flow out of it?
10. Draw another Veronica bucket.
11. Label the Veronica bucket Soapy water, and label the content flowing from the tap Soapy water.
12. Do you know that your mind is like a Veronica bucket?
13. Why is your mind like a Veronica bucket?
14. When you put good songs in your mind, what will come out of your mouth when you sing?
15. When you put gossip in your mind, what will come out of your mouth when you meet your friends?
16. When you watch bad programs on tv, and you go to sleep at night, what will you dream about?
17. When you put God’s Word in your mind, and you sit down to think, what will you think about?
18. Can your body do good when your mind is bad?
19. Can your body do bad when your mind is good?
20. When you see a person who likes to insult, do they have a good mind or a bad mind?
21. When you see a person who is kind with their words, do they have a good mind or a bad mind?
22. When you see a person who likes to fight others, do they have a good mind or a bad mind?
23. How do you put things in your mind?
24. Should we listen to everything, if we wish to have a good mind?
25. Give examples of things that we should listen to if we wish to have a good mind.
26. What are some things that we should not listen to if we wish to have a good mind?
27. What should we do if someone is speaking bad words into our ears?
28. Should we look at everything if we wish to have a good mind and a good body?
29. What are some things that we should not watch if we wish to have a good mind?
30. What should we do if someone is showing us bad things?
31. What are the things that we can do to protect our ears from listening to bad words, and our eyes from seeing bad things?
32. What is the lamp of the body? Matthew 6:22-23

1. If you use your eyes to see what is not good, are your eyes healthy?
2. Will your body be filled with light or darkness?
3. How dark will the darkness be in your body?

First / Previous
​
Suzanne thought it was absolutely brilliant of me to put books on a flash drive for Sun. She explained that Sun wasn’t as sophant (her word, not mine) as she might seem, more of a repository of information, but she was fairly intelligent. It was how she was able to connect Andrew being in pain to the fact that I was friends with Andrew, and that I would want to know that he was in trouble. Apparently some of Sun’s species had given some ‘wisdom’ to others in the past and it had made its way into mythology.
The key fact was that she was not smart enough to protect herself and her kind from the clever, organized poachers. With that information in mind, it was fascinating for me to think of how Sun took in and organized what she learned. It was almost as if she was a walking, talking library.
On the topic of tours, my first one went wonderfully, and I’m almost hoping Suzanne lets me do more of them. I know not all the tourists are going to be as awesome as these people were, but Suzanne gave me a lot of slack when it comes to dealing with them. She actually said that being a smartass is not grounds for dismissal, and that if I’m sarcastic or facetious to guests who are being ‘daft’ and they complain, she really doesn’t care. Is this the perfect job for me or what?
There were four guests in this party, two adults who were sisters and two children of one of the women, brothers aged thirteen and seventeen. The tour was a birthday gift for the older of the boys from his aunt, since apparently he was passionate about animal protection and conservation.
When they arrived at the front gate, I was sitting at Andrew’s desk, going over the booklet of information one last time. When the visitors pressed the button that sounded the alert buzzer, I tucked away in a drawer and let them in. I did have a cheat sheet with information about the animals on my phone just in case, a brief notation of each of them and which enclosure they were in, but I really didn’t need to use it.
Exiting through the front door, I saw them walk up the path toward me. “Hi, I’m Ripley,” I said, holding out a hand toward the woman closest to me.
She shook it firmly. “I’m Denise. This is my sister Carla and my nephews, Wesley and Jason,” she said, motioning to each of them in turn.
“I heard it’s your birthday,” I said to Wesley, giving him a smile. “You’re interested in animal conversation?”
“Back where we live, yeah,” he said, nodding. “The animals that you’ve got here are incredible. I can’t wait to see them.”
“Well, I can’t wait to show them to you,” I said. “Right this way.”
I led them on the path around the building, toward enclosure one. Despite the horrific memories of the animal killing Stanley’s friends, I knew it was just an animal, and I had to push past my feelings on what had happened. Keeping a small smile on my face, I motioned to the enclosure. “Fiercely territorial and amazing hunters, despite their large size, they’re arboreal and known to dart from tree to tree with barely a sound. This is one of only about two thousand left in existence.”
“Two thousand, three hundred and fifty six at last count,” spoke Wesley, his eyes on the trees.
I blinked, surprised and impressed. “Well that was fantastic. Do you plan on stealing my job when you graduate?”
Wesley looked at me with a grin. “Nah, everyone knows Suzanne only offers humans this gig. And I want to help animals like this one get off the endangered species list. The zoos are great for awareness and fundraising, but then the money has to go somewhere. I want to be doing the real work.”
“That’s really great,” I told him. “I wish you all the best in that career path.” At that, we saw the animal climb down from the tree, wandering a few yards from the tree line. This was because 90% of the time, when humans were at their enclosure and making noise, whether it was speaking to each other or calling out to the animal, it was someone bringing them prey to eat. Or, in my case, enrichment toys to play with.
“Whoa,” Wesley whispered.
“How close can we get?” spoke up Jason.
“The warding starts at the fence,” I told him with a small gesture. “So, just there.”
Both boys wandered closer and I glanced at their parents. It seemed that Suzanne’s zoo had a serious reputation for high quality invisible walls, because they didn’t look worried in the slightest about the boys being hurt or killed.
“They prefer dense forest as their home and have been known to make their nests in trees up to twenty meter in the air,” I continued. “And when hunting, they’ve been seen dropping eight meters straight down. They have incredibly dense yet flexible musculature, which allows them to tackle their prey without injuring themselves.”
There was more information about the animal that I continued to rattle off, though Wesley chimed in at certain points with the info I was about to convey. That was highly entertaining and very cool. When I’d been in school, I’d never met anyone who had my level of passion about endangered animals. I wondered if things were better where these folks came from, but realized that considering there were so few of these animals left, I guessed not.
The animal paced a little bit, seemingly waiting to see if we were the kind of humans that came bearing food, before deciding we weren’t and climbing back up into the trees as easily as I would climb some stairs.
As we moved onto enclosure two, Jason spoke up. “Are there any animals here we can touch or feed or something?”
I sighed inwardly before slowing to a stop. “Well, can you show me your hands?” Jason looked bemused, holding out his hands. “I mean…they both look like they’re in great shape. You can stand to lose one.”
The two women chuckled and Wesley smirked as Jason shoved his hands into his pockets. “Very funny.”
Grinning, I started walking again. “The animals here are all carnivores and all predators. You get to see them, but that’s it.”
“Alright.”
When we reached enclosure two, I started on my next spiel. “We’ve got three reanimated dead in this enclosure,” I spoke. They were just coming out from the trees as we arrived, presumably having heard our approach. “Marissa, Connor, and Bradley. They were donated by families who knew where they would be exhibited. Their next of kin, whoever they are, can’t stand the idea of putting them down. But we need to make sure they don’t have access to corpses, because one of them plus one corpse equals two of them.”
“They eat flesh though, don’t they?” Wesley asked.
I nodded. “Oh, yeah, but it’s from bodies that have already been dismembered. There’s no chance of them being affected by the transformation because it’s all parts.”
“Oh, got it.”
The creatures with blueish-white skin had superhuman strength, which is why they qualified for the security of Suzanne’s zoo. They also were likely the source of any Earth tales of people being brought back to life as zombies, specifically draugr, according to my research. They smelled like rotting flesh, so even as I kept talking about them and giving a background to the people they used to be, we were quick to move on once Wesley had gotten a good, long look at them.
“Enclosure four’s animal is a vampiric spirit. He’s a small, hairy humanoid creature with pointed ears. He wears a hat, and if he somehow loses it, he freaks out,” I said.
“They eat horses,” Wesley noted. “Also anything that gives them the chance to sit on it, usually catching them by surprise while they’re sleeping.”
The creature came out from the brush, giving us a suspicious look. He wasn’t in his humanoid form though; for some reason, he’d chosen to shapeshift to a dog.
I nodded. “Yep, indeed. Once the prey is dead, then he’ll eat it, and he has a voracious appetite. We have two wolves and two bears in the forest, which is one of the reasons I’ve got some self-defense items,” I said, patting my belt where my pepper spray (rated for bear) and my taser. “But the wards keep them out of this area of the zoo, so it’s really not much of a worry. It’s also a known shapeshifter, preferring the form of a dog, as you can see, as well as a cat, a snake, or even white butterflies, though the last one is rare.”
“The white butterflies are supposed to be a sign of good luck,” Wesley said, glancing to me. “Too bad we got the dog.”
“Yeah, otherwise you might be able to talk your mom into getting scratch-offs on your way home, huh?”
Wesley smirked at me.
The next enclosure was Spike, and he was waiting for us, dripping wet from having just emerged from the lake. I gave the introductory information about him, which included his propensity for eating animal eyes, nails, and teeth. “Recently, I’ve given him some enrichment activities, and I learned he likes artichokes, pecans, and hazelnuts,” I said, taking a bag out from my cargo shorts. “Wesley, do you want to toss this bag into the enclosure?”
The boy’s eyes widened and he nodded excitedly. He took a look into the paper bag before wrapping down the top to make sure nothing would fly out. Then he chucked it underhand past the fence. It landed a few yards from Spike, who waddled over to it quickly and tearing the bag open, spilling out the prizes inside. As the animal ate the pecans and hazelnuts, Wesley asked, “How’d you figure out he likes those?”
“It’s not all about taste,” I told him. “It’s mainly the difficulty of getting them out of the shells. He’s used to having to work for the parts of his prey he likes the most, so this mimics that activity, and he enjoys the process. I tried a bunch of different foods to find a few he liked.”
“Cool,” Wesley murmured, staring at him.
We watched Spike eat until he’d finished and then he went back into the woods, leaving us to move onto enclosure five. Japanese camellia were plentiful here, a type of pink flower, and that was because they grew anywhere near one of his species made their den. “This girl spends most of her time in the lake also,” I said, as the creature made its way toward the fence separating us from it. “But as you can see, she’s just as curious as the rest about what we’re doing here and whether we have food for her. She eats fish mostly, but she also regularly gets live prey.”
This creature was a spider-like monster, having six legs with long claws on each, and the head of an ox with two sharp horns. She was capable of shapeshifting to look like a human, but I guessed that she wasn’t fond of it, since I hadn’t yet seen her in that form.
“She prefers the easy way of catching prey, so to speak, by hiding in the lake and pouncing when something comes for a drink of water,” I explained. “Apparently humans are some of her favorite prey. She has an advantage of being able to spit poison, which often hits her prey in the eyes. But it’s usually used in defense rather than offense, since it secretes a limited amount.”
“What kind of animal would even go after something like this?” Jason asked, staring at her.
“Never discount one of its own species when you’re thinking about what might attack an animal,” I replied. “There are places that are breeding all of the animals here, but competition for mates is common. That means an advantage in a fight, like poison or venom, can make or break who the winner is.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
“It can’t spit past the warding, right?” Carla suddenly asked.
“Oh, no,” I assured her. “We’re fine. The wards wouldn’t let anything cross over.” She nodded, appeased.
The animal in enclosure six was the ginormous seal-hippo, Fiona, and she was looking at us as if she was imagining sprinkling us with herbs and spices and stuffing us in an oven. “This girl is one animal I’m going to work on enrichment activities for next,” I told them. “She prefers to feed on crayfish, though she’s happy to eat any humans that wander into her territory. She’ll even make a sound like a baby crying to reel us in. I’ve heard it a bunch of times.”
“Can you get her to make the sound?” Jason asked, perking up.
I grinned. “Not on command, sorry.”
“What enrichment are you thinking of trying?” Wesley asked.
“Possibly food placed in puzzle feeders,” I told him, “since she has claws that are pretty dexterous. Maybe a piñata made out of newspaper with flour inside, or a scarecrow that mimics a human.”
“Awesome,” he muttered.
After a little more educational tidbits, we moved onto Yui’s enclosure. “What is that?” Wesley asked, smiling.
“I got Yui the closest thing I could to a ping-pong ball,” I replied. “She quite likes it.”
“That’s so funny,” he said as she came out of the trees in her spider form. “I mean, the idea of her being a bloodthirsty hunter who seduces men to their deaths and eats them alive, but then on the other hand, she likes playing with something like this.”
“It is a little funny,” I agreed. “But when it comes down to it, all the animals here enjoy activities besides hunting.”
“She can shapeshift to look human, right?” asked Jason, trying to be casual about knowing something factual like his nerdy brother.
I nodded. “She looks like a woman from a region of Earth called Japan. And she’ll use strategies like holding out a hand to shake to get you closer. She tried that on me when I first got here but, as you can see,” I said, holding up my hands and waving them, “I didn’t fall for it.”
The boys both laughed as they got closer to the fence, watching her slowly pace near the trees.
Next was Sun, but she didn’t make an appearance as I spoke about her species. “Well…unfortunately we can’t guarantee that every animal comes out to say hi,” I sighed. “But…oh wait, here she is.”
The green lion with several horns and many eyes along her flank came out from the forest. “Hello,” she spoke.
“Hi, Sun,” I replied. “We have visitors.”
“What’s that?” Wesley asked suddenly, pointing at the small plastic bag that was still where I’d left it.
“Oh! That is Sun’s enrichment,” I said with a smile. “I put dozens of books on a flash drive and found that she can read them just like she’d read a shelf of books.”
Wesley’s eyes widened. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve read about anyone trying that before. That’s really cool.”
“The books are new and interesting,” Sun spoke, drawing our attention. “I’m grateful for them.”
I nodded to her. “You’re quite welcome.”
The next animal, unfortunately, wasn’t there, and we waited around for ten minutes as we discussed him. He was large and reptile-like with red eyes, with its hind legs and tail making him look vaguely like a kangaroo. Then, enclosure ten was a terrifyingly disturbing creature, the not-a-centaur with no skin, that I’d only seen a few times while walking my route. It gave a good demonstration of its ferocity, showing its sharp teeth and snapping at us a few times.
“I’m thinking of trying salt licks and other horse enrichment like a big bouncy ball,” I told Wesley, whose eyebrows went up at that. “Maybe give him more things to forage like scattered grains or a box filled with pinecones and seeds. Foraging is a huge part of a horse’s life in the wild, and humans have to do a lot of activities like that to keep pet horses busy. Of course, he also loves the little salt-water lake that was built for him.”
We spent some time looking at the animal before moving past our last stop, the empty enclosure of the animal was stolen. Carla glanced at me with a sad smile, knowing what had happened, it seemed. I gave her a nod as we continued on our way, walking into the office. “So, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves!” I said with a smile.
“That was the coolest birthday present I’ve ever gotten,” Wesley said, looking to Denise. “Thanks so much, seriously.”
“It was my pleasure,” she said with a nod. “I’d never been here before, and knew I’d find it fascinating. Thank you for the educational aspect,” Denise said, glancing at me. “I learned quite a lot.”
“Happy to hear it,” I said, returning the nod.
As I escorted the guests out of the zoo and locked the door behind them, I reflected on how much I’d changed. The first time I’d seen Yui’s tarantula form, I’d nearly passed out from fear. Now here I was, walking tourists around like it was no big deal. Humans really can adapt to anything, it seems.
That afternoon, Suzanne had texted me that she was coming by after my shift, and I met her in Andrew’s office, shutting the door to the security room behind me. “How’s Andrew?” I asked first thing.
“He’s doing well,” she said with a wide smile. “Back on non-hospital food. He’s allowed to order food on his phone, and to hear it from him, that’s the best news he’d received in a long time.”
I chuckled. “I guess some clichés are true for a reason.”
“Indeed.” She took a breath. “All right. Ripley…I would like to discuss something with you.”
My face went slack at the serious tone in her voice. “I’m not… Am I being fired?”
“What? No!” she exclaimed. Then she chuckled softly. “No, it’s nothing like that. Just, here, let’s have a seat.” Suzanne walked over to the couch and sat at one end, and I took the other. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve kept from you, that I wanted to keep from you until you found your sea legs here.”
“Well…I have,” I said with a nod. “So, what is it?”
Suzanne took a breath. “I knew your mother.”
The words hung in the air for a moment before making their way to my ears. It was a perfectly logical sentence, and yet it didn’t make any sense. “What?” I finally managed.
“When you graduated college, I decided to move the zoo from Italy to within driving distance of your home,” she said softly. “Near enough to your town that you’d see the advert. We ignored any other applicants and I hoped you’d apply. Actually, I expected you’d apply. Not just for the money, but considering the field you wanted to go into. As soon as I’d found out your major, I knew.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, holding up a hand. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “How do you know Patricia?”
“She owned the zoo before I did,” Susan explained. “Fourteen years ago…she was working to track an injured animal that we could bring into the zoo and she was killed by poachers.”
My heart calcified in my chest and a lump lodged in my throat. As my breaths became shaky, I stared at her in shock. “She…she’s really dead?”
“You suspected?” she asked softly.
“It…” I swallowed hard. “We had her declared legally dead after…I don’t know, seven years I think. My dad wanted to go after her for child support, but the police said…they said they couldn’t find…” Tears came to my eyes and I blinked them back before I met Suzanne’s gaze. “She owned the zoo?”
Suzanne nodded. “It was her baby, you’d say. When Patricia passed, I inherited it, which we’d discussed beforehand, a legal just-in-case that I never expected her to need. I’m under the impression that you were told she went to Africa for her photography career, but she was in fact going to remote areas back in my home world almost every time.”
“But I-I saw the photos,” I said, my eyes narrowing. “You’re telling me she put on a show of getting pictures that someone else took for us to see every time she visited? Did my dad even know?”
“I suppose that’s an accurate way to put it, putting on a show. And no, your father was never told. It’s not the way of things to tell humans unless it’s necessary. I won’t bore you with the details, but us and humans, we’re distant relatives, so we can still have children. But it wasn’t planned. Your mother fell in love with your father despite herself; she hadn’t meant to find love. Then she became pregnant with you and…well, the rest is history.”
“I think she had a different definition of love than the one I have,” I said tightly. “You’d think she’d have put her survival as more of a priority. Put being with the man she ‘loved’ as a priority. Her kids needed her. I needed her. She signed up when she became a mom. She could’ve screwed up all the time but she couldn’t even manage that one job: be there. When I was in the hospital, I kept thinking, ‘Where is she?’ and now you’re telling me that she put these animals above being there for her kids, and this whole time she’s been dead.”
“The hospital?” she asked, furrowing her brows.
“Never mind,” I said tersely, averting my gaze.
Suzanne hesitated before she nodded slowly. “I’m sorry for your loss, and not just for her death, Ripley,” she told me. “Patricia was…well, a ‘free spirit’ would be putting it gently. She always assumed the world would be there for her whenever she needed it.”
Staring at her for a long moment, I shook my head. “Why? Why come here and hire me?”
“I thought that would be obvious,” she said, smiling. “Your mother was so passionate about this place and once I found out your college major, I figured you would be as well.”
“Did you know that I hate her?” At that, Suzanne’s expression froze on the edge of shock. “She…she left us,” I whispered. “Didn’t tell us who she was or what she really did for a living and gave us no closure. And even when she was here, it was just visiting. Her real home was her work. She could give me all the presents she wanted, but even when she was here, half the time she was still on her computer doing work. It’s not like that stereotype of never making it to my tennis practice or something; it’s that it always felt like she was only partially here, even when I was sitting next to her. I don’t even know if I appreciate her turning me into a wildlife fanatic because it…it…makes me feel like I’m close to her in a way that’s just infuriating. She loved the animals more than she loved us.”
“Oh, Ripley-”
“Don’t,” I said, shoving myself to my feet. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said quietly. I pursed my lips. “I was going to say that I’m sorry that was the case. Your mother was…flawed, just like any other person. She had two loves in this world: her family and her work. And often, her work overcame her, her zeal for environmentalism getting in the way of being a good mum. She left your father trying to fill the role of two parents, holding your family together. You and your brother and your father, you all deserved better than that.”
My lower lip quivered but I bit down on it hard. It would’ve been a lot easier for me if she’d been speaking from a place of clueless reassurance about all this. But everything she said was making sense and that meant I didn’t have someone in front of me to be angry with.
“Why didn’t you tell me when Andrew hired me?” I sighed, sitting back down on the couch.
“Well, like I said, I wanted you to find your sea legs,” she said with a small smile. “I didn’t want the truth affecting whether or not you wanted to work here, whether you wanted to stay here after finding out about what the animals are. It would’ve complicated things, the emotions you’ll have to work through now that you know the truth. Whether or not you decide to give another tour, you also know what they’re like. That’s the benchmark I wanted you to reach before you found out about who you are.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Who I-” My face went slack. “Wait.”
Suzanne nodded slowly. “You’re only half human. Your brother too.”
The room seemed to tilt on an axis for a moment. “That means I’m also half…what?”
“We call ourselves Eldritch, these days,” she replied.
My eyes bugged out. “What?” I exclaimed. “So you’re all, like, gods or something?”
Suzanne burst out laughing. “Oh no, goodness, no,” she chuckled. “It’s just a word. We live in a very different world from this one, and a few generations ago we discovered the word and it made its way into our lexicon. But it does mean you can see all the animals. Indeed you did, on the tour you gave.”
“Wait, no, I had the glasses that…” I stopped. “Did those glasses do anything?”
She gave a sly smile and shook her head. “Not a thing. You made incredibly quick progress, and then when it came time for the tour, all you needed was to expect to see the animals, and you did.”
Genetics. That’s what Andrew had said during our interview, that part of how many animals you could see was determined by genetics. I guess having a mother who was originally from the other dimension gave me all the genes I needed to see everything here. “Could I…visit your world?” I asked tentatively. “You said that my mom took photos of the animals there. Could I…” My voice trailed off, not even sure if or how I wanted to finish that sentence.
“Those who are half human, especially those who are raised on Earth, don’t come visit,” she said gently. “I could show you some photos of other animals, and I could loan you as many books as you’d like, but it’s simply not a place where you’d be safe.”
“Oh,” I said, leaning into the couch cushion as I pictured the animals in the zoo. “Yeah, actually that…makes sense.” I paused. “So, what now?”
“It’s up to you,” she said. “I wanted to wait until I was sure you were comfortable with your position here, and then put the ball in your court. And so it is. What do you want to do now?”
What did I want to do? It wasn’t that difficult a question, just a deep, serious one.
I wanted to thrive, as the animals did. This is my enrichment now, working at an incredible, wonderful, terrifying zoo. The experience so far hasn’t been perfect, and I know there are risks, but life isn’t about staying safe. It’s about learning new things and making a difference in the world. And, if you’re lucky, having a job that’s something really special.
​
First / Previous

~First~
HHH/Herbert’s Hundred Harem AND Harriett The Spy
The tunnel of dark blue gel seems to be leading upwards and upwards, the walkway more a chunky stairwell as behind him the masonry sink into the gel and then re-emerge in front of him. He climbs what feels to be several floors before cresting at a carpeted floor where a large polished wooden table is on bricks to bring it up to his elevated level. Opposite of it is an ornate and extremely detailed image of a woman in dark blue gel who wears a dark blue gel gown.
“Please, have a seat.” She says and there’s enough definition in her face for him to clearly make out a smile. Tendrils holding bottles and tins drop down from above and set the table between them with numerous snacks and drinks. “Care for a drink? A snack perhaps?”
“Hmm... you’re certainly prepared for things.” Jurgen notes.
“Her core is... at the edge of the scanning range. But there’s something odd with it. Beyond it’s absolutely titanic size.” His Handler states.
“Are you alright madam?” Jurgen asks.
“Pardon?” She asks and Jurgen taps his glasses.
“There is a tiny speaker whispering into my ear from these, and I have sensors on my belt. My friend on the other side tells me that your core is close, but something is different about it. Are you alright?” He says and all movement in the chamber freezes. The inner light from the gel dims and he can barely make out her silhouette before things start to brighten again as she regains control of herself.
“No. I am not. Which is why you are here.”
“Madam, I am no doctor. In fact, as a soldier I dare say that I’m legally about as far away from a doctor as one can be. Professionally at least.”
“True, but you’re part of an organization with many doctors. Many doctors who can operate in the Null and do not require Axiom to work.” She says.
“Madam, what’s wrong?”
“I... I do not if I can trust you yet. You and yours. I need your measure before I tell you. Your full measure and not just second and third hand accounts.” She says.
“Hence our little party.” Jurgen says.
“Indeed! A pleasant little party where I get to know you, where we become friends and where my every problem may very well be solved without anyone getting hurt! Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”
“It does, but a party with just two is more a date I believe.” Jurgen says as he relaxes into his seat and examines the nearest bottle. “Hmm, this is a Cannidor style wine. Good stuff, if a little on the weak side.”
“Well, with human guests I figured I would need something a little sterner than average.”
“Indeed. So since you want my measure, how do you want to find it? Is there a topic in particular you’re interested in?”
“Why is it that you humans have taken a cultural artifact of The Apuk and reversed it as you have? It’s so odd. Give you a tail and some horns and I would mistake you for a very nervous man and not the downright fearless individual sitting before me.”
“Sitting before you?” Jurgen asks as he looks around and finds dark blue gel in every direction. “If anything I’m sitting within you. You surround me on all sides.”
“The question still stands.”
“It does indeed, I was stilling a bit to find the proper words.”
“Oh? Not having them handed to you?” She asks and after a moment Jurgen takes off his glasses and lays them on the table facing her. “Oh?”
“No, my own words. What I am is a member of Titan Squad as humanity exited Cruel Space all kinds of options became available to us for the first time. And one of the oldest stories, in every human culture is the idea of a giant or an ogre. An enormous human like creature of incredible strength, often with low intelligence, but not always. So the very idea of having someone so large on your side, not to mention the fact that other races are in fact this big, means it’s practical. Because we can have the giant soldiers without all the issues that... well you know... the issues!”
“Very eloquent.” She says with a smile and he shrugs.
“Sorry, it wasn’t something I debated about philosophically. I was asked if I wanted to be the biggest and most powerful I could be and I said yes. Well no, that’s not fully true, I asked if it was going to be some kind of drug that could affect me and I was told it was an Axiom Technique. So I asked if I could back out at any time and if it was reversable. Then I got the full explanation that I could turn back with ease and... I accepted.”
“Rather harder to turn back with numerous chunks of metal and machinery embedded into your spine.” All Lady says with a strange emphasis on her words and Jurgen considers that before leaning forward.
“Ma’am... is something... inside you? The real you and not the extension of your will that is the gel?” He asks and All Lady just stares at him for a bit then the back wall begins to shift. It slowly turns transparent and Jurgen stands up in shock as an enormous pitted sphere floats upwards into view. Then it turns. The back half has a massive crater inside it with numerous black veins all reaching out from a central point.
“Calm calm... must stay calm...” All Lady is whispering to herself all around him. “It feeds on pain and sorrow and misery, control your mind, control your fate.”
Jurgen picks up his glasses and puts them back on. “Dauntless are your reading this?”
“That core is easily twenty times the size of the largest on record!” His Handler states.
“Clearly, zoom in on the heart of that damage. What is it?”
“... What it is is setting off all my alerts and I’m getting a call. Hang on.” His Handler states.
“Are you alright?” Jurgen asks All Lady.
“No. I have not been alright for years.” All Lady says in a haunted tone. “It grows worse if I feel afraid, or angry, or sad or anything that isn’t positive. Joy can push it back, consideration and concern can as well. But any attempt to remove it just makes it worse.”
“I see and you think that you will need Null to stop it from getting worse?”
“Yes, there’s also the fact you’re very new to the galaxy. Whoever, whatever or why this was done to me...” She shakes her head even as she conceals her core again. “Humans had nothing to do with it. You’re not... you didn’t leave some kind of nightmare thing for innocents to be damned with.”
“How long have you been hurt?”
“Years, years now and it... it forces a budding, but doesn’t let me... it won’t let me...” All Lady pauses, all the gel shivers, goes still and she’s once again back to normal. “Needless to say, I want it out. And you Undaunted are the only people that cannot possibly be responsible and the only people guaranteed to have a way to force it out despite all the Axiom weirdness of it. I don’t care if it makes it worse, I want it out. But I need to know, is your reputation truly well earned?”
“I’d like to think it is.” Jurgen says.
“But I need... more. I need to know. I need to truly know your character before I take your word for it. Because my life depends on this.” All Lady says.
“Alright then, let us continue.”
•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•
Harriett stretches as she’s in a more comfortable outfit after being extracted. Not only had Tiaria been involved in whatever the latest madness was, but her recreational criminal activities were legion enough that they were going to be sitting on her for a while.
“Oh good riddance to bad rubbish. That simpering voice just got more annoying the more I had to hear it.” She says as she passes off her initial report. “Right, now I was promised a debriefing on what the hell is going on.”
“Yeah, and you’re getting it with your favourite coffee blend too.” The high and innocent voice of Herbert says as he passes in front of her with a tray full of hot drinks and donuts over his head. For some reason there’s a butter holster and a small sealed flask. She follows him into a nearby room and bafflers quickly turn on to keep things quiet.
“Well, things are serious if you’re only telling me in person.” She says and he nods.
“Yes ma’am. Check the butter.” Herbert says and she picks up the cover and notes that it’s a trytite and lead lined container to completely cut off whatever is in there. Inside is an odd piece of metal roughly the size of a pea. It’s vaguely reddish but... it’s not the colour of blood, but she can only think about blood and just looking at it makes her feel uncomfortable.
She covers it up again and looks towards Herbert before asking the question. “How bad?”
“Bad enough that the higher ups in the know are in complete agreement about not only keeping things secret as they can be but to also kick every beehive simultaneously.”
“What is it?”
“It’s called Blood Metal.”
“Very imaginative.”
“Yeah. It’s created by a brutal Axiom technique that causes a person’s own Axiom presence to turn on them and torture them to death. That little piece you saw? It takes about twenty people to produce that. All dying horribly.”
“Jesus...”
“We found enough for over fifteen billion people.” He says and she stares at him.
“Yeah, that’d do it.” She says.
“Or at least we thought so.”
“Don’t do the roller coaster thing, just give it all to me.”
“Alright, the bare bones is that we stumbled into an operation that was mass producing blood metal without murder, just owning the stuff without intending to destroy it somehow is illegal. This stuff is so rare no one really knows what it can do and we had evidence to think that there may be other hidden areas with more of it. We were right. But they were weird, acting like antenna.”
“Why would they need antenna?”
“The Mass Production Method requires a seed of blood metal to start, a sort of dirty amniotic fluid that no proper cloner would use outside an emergency and fear.”
“Fear?” She asks.
“Put the blood metal in the flash, it has the fluid in it. Then run some Axiom through it and we both will feel fear on top of the thing getting a little bigger.” He says and she stares at him for a moment before unscrewing the top of the flask and sniffing. It smells... it smells like a dirty hospital. The fluid inside is a piss yellow and has little bits in it. She then uncovers the small pea of blood metal and drops it in. She looks towards Herbert and he nods.
She runs Axiom through and jumps as her everything tightens up and she suddenly has her needler pistol out.
Herbert hasn’t drawn a weapon but he’s holding onto the table and his face is white. She slowly puts the assassination based weapon slowly away as her heart rate slowly returns to a normal pace.
“Well... you certainly said it. Holy god that was awful.” She says before glancing into the flask and finding the fluid gone. “It’s dry?”
“It is.” Herbert says before letting out a sigh and slipping into a seat. “That sensation never gets easier.”
“So we had antennas of blood metal harvesting the fear of... what? Where?”
“Bottom ten on dozens of spires.” Herbert says and she nods.
“That’s do it. If you want to find a paranoid you go down there and that’s fear by the boat load.” She says and then huffs. “At least, the ones that don’t start entire cults and communities around them.”
“Purple Perceivers still a problem?”
“In the sense that the crazy Mrega girl is gathering as many followers as she is crazy conspiracies.” Harriett says.
“Geeze, sorry to hear that. Is there anything else you need to know about things?”
“Hmm... dangerous barely substance was being mass produced using materials all over Centris. It was done in a new method that does not require torture and death, but that was not known at the beginning was it?”
“It was not.”
“Right... Yeah, something like this is a cause for a panic. What have you found so far?”
“So far we found the main mass production area, we think, and the low level employees and drones that maintain it. Tied it’s funding back to a con victim who’s about to get her assets back and who has led us to two other higher members, one an Alfar and one a Tret.”
“And Tiaria is possibly that Alfar. How did you narrow it down?”
“Numerous occasions where our con victim, one Miss Gina Bleat, was in their direct presence. It took a lot of computers a while to narrow down who wasn’t accounted for somewhere on Centris during that time.”
“What are the charges going to be?”
“At this moment there’s definitely a murder charge in there. Even if they started from a single basic seed, it required torturing someone to death to get it. Furthermore there are charges for unlicensed experiments on extremely dangerous substances without a license or proper safety procedures. Of which Blood Metal counts.” Herbert says. “However it’s going on the higher ups. Bleat is a victim, the guards are just rental cops and the janitors and engineers had no idea what they were working with. Blood Metal is rare enough that it’s reasonable to expect that people have no idea what it is when they see it.” Herbert explains and she nods.
“Hmm... so what does it do? If this stuff is so hard to create, then... what’s going on? Why bother making it?”
“It’s almost like combining trytite and khutha. It can hold many kinds of effects, but also tears apart hostile effects. Instead of ignoring them like trytite it’s... hostile to Axiom in a sense, drawing it in and seemingly eating it. Almost like a living thing.”
“Hmm... that’s... disquieting.” Harriett notes.
“It is. We have no idea what this stuff does to people. It devours and remakes Axiom effects constantly and since a good chunk of non-human biology is based in the Axiom itself then there’s not telling what it would do to another species with a piece inside them. To say nothing of the fact that someone figured out a way to mass produce this stuff, we may know the how but the big question of why is still very much in need of an answer.”
“And that’s on top of the more ‘humane’ and ‘safe’ method requires you to feed it fear and amniotic fluid. I mean... seriously, that’s weird.”
“It is.” Herbert says.
“Yes it is kiddo.” She teases.
“Please stop.”
“Then stop playing the part of my little brother or son in infiltration missions.” She answers.
“Would you prefer my desperate spinster aunt?” Herbert mocks.
“It’d be a change of pace.” She says and he snorts in amusement.
~First~ Last

Hello one and all. A heads up for the coming weeks. I will be traveling quite a bit, so I may have days where chapters are delayed. I've done my best to build up a backlog in preparation, but there's always the chance I won't have the time to work on them. That aside, I hope you've all been enjoying the story so far, and look forwards to bringing you more!
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Memory transcription subject: First Officer Recel, Federation Fleet Command Date [standardized human time]: August 2, 2136
[Elapsed Time: 16 minutes, 12 seconds]
My head hurt. My whole body felt heavy and weak. Even the act of awareness was tiring. I could hear noises around me, slowly rousing me from unconsciousness. Despite the weariness, I slowly forced my eyes open. The light in the room was low, reminiscent of twilight. My vision was fuzzy, though I could make out a majority of the room was white. I felt like I was in a bed of some kind with pillows under my head and a soft blanket over me. There was a rhythmic beeping next to me, which I eventually identified as some kind of heart rate monitor. As my vision slowly sharpened, I could see that all around my bed were curtains that blocked my view of anything else in the room. Faint memories of where I was and what happened slowly returned, but I felt so tired that I could hardly feel anything more than deep dread. I was glad that I was alive, but that meant that the predators had reason to not eat me right away. My heart rate monitor started to beep quicker along with my slowly growing feeling of fear.
I must have made enough noise to draw attention to myself. One of the curtains was pulled aside, and the Skalgan in a white coat stepped up to my bedside. “Oh, good. You’re awake. I was a little worried that the bump you took to the head had done serious damage, but the fact that you’ve come around so soon is a good sign.”
I was confused by this prey’s presence. I was surely on a predator ship, if my memory was correct, so why was a prey walking free? Why were they here among a predator crew? My crew. I’d forgotten about them. Were they okay? Did they get killed? I was so drained that the best I could do was weakly speak. “Where is my crew? Did the predators get them?”
The Skalgan huffed. “If you’re referring to the humans, they’re the ones who brought you to the medbay after you passed out. Your crew is getting some time in the brig to cool off while we figure out who you are, what you are, and why you’re here.” She walked over to the monitor next to my bed, taking notes on her holopad. “From what I heard, your subspace trail was traced back to Venlil Prime, so we assumed you were some sort of Venlil operation and knew about the humans already. So color us surprised when out of the ship comes three aliens that immediately start freaking out like the devil was after them.” Her ears flick in annoyance. “Honestly, we were told you Federation folks didn’t like meat eaters, but I never would've believed it was this extreme. Had we known, I’m betting the captain would have sourced a few Skalgan from other ships to make up the welcoming party. There’s not exactly many of us on every ship to begin with.”
Her words brought me a mix of surprise, confusion, and doubt. This was not the way I expected predators to respond to prey walking into their domain. The Arxur would have eaten us or dragged us off to cattle pens. Passing out would have been my death. I couldn’t understand why we were still alive, assuming the Skalgan was being honest. Not only that, but why had the Venlil not said anything if they know about the predators. “...Why are you here? Do the predators keep you here since they don’t know medic-”
“Okay, you need to stop with the ‘predators’ label. It might be my job to make sure you’re healthy, but that doesn’t mean I have to stand for your bigotry.” She huffed, ears pinned back on her head. “First off, humans and skalgan have been living together for centuries, so you can forget any ideas you might have about them eating other sentients. Second, I work here under my own free will. It’s my job to take care of my patients, no matter who or what they are. I trained at the University of Pennsylvania, a human run school. So you can take whatever notions you seem to have about humans being savage, unintelligent, uncaring, or whatever and stamp it out of your consciousness. Yes, they eat meat, but there is no correlation between that and how they behave. Okay?”
I stared at her in shock, taken aback by how certainly she was defending the predators. Clearly she trusted them. Maybe she was a special case and had been hand picked to fill a role outside of the cattle pens, but why would a predator even bother with teaching a prey? Were these predators smart enough to even teach? I was getting left with more and more questions, but I felt like asking more would only invoke the doctor’s ire. “...Okay.”
“Good. Now, we got a couple of things we need to go over. And just so you know, my name is Kirith.” She hopped up and sat down on the edge of my bed. “First off, who and what are you and your crew? Like I said, we’ve never seen aliens like you before.” For a few moments, I thought of lying. I didn’t want to give these people information that could be used against the Federation. If these predators are as smart as the doctor says, then they might know the value in having knowledge of our kind. Yet they were in contact with the Venlil. It wouldn’t be hard for them to check their sources, and any lies I’d say might easily be uncovered. I decided that I’d only give the bare minimum.
“...I’m a Kolshian, the small one of my crew is a Dossur, and the spiny one is a Gojid.” I said. Kirith waited a few moments longer, but after a prolonged silence, took a few notes on her holopad and lightly nodded her head. “Alright, I guess we’ll get names later. Secondly, why are you out here?”
“We’re a survey team that came out here after we heard word that there were potentially habitable planets in the dead zone. Many species are always looking for planets to colonize, and some would pay a good sum for the coordinates of habitable ones. Of course, it’s illegal to fly into restricted space, so we hid as best we could when we came out here. We thought that we could follow the Skalgan ships that came to Venlil Prime towards habitable space, and then from there search outwards.”
The doctor shoots me a judgmental look as she continues typing. “Using us to springboard off of. I don’t think any of us would take kindly to being used.”
“Used? But, isn’t it the duty of all prey to help each other?” I asked. This again seemed to irritate the doctor. “Okay, drop the 'prey' label too. That implies weakness, something many Skalgan would take offense to. Seriously, the more I hear about your beliefs of predators and prey, the more I wonder how your society could have ended up so ethically backwards.”
“W-what?! We’re not! We do what is needed to keep our people safe and alive! What’s wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong is that your mind is so ingrained with these beliefs that when there is living, breath proof to contradict what you believe, you refuse to acknowledge it. Tell me, why do you think humans and Skalgan live together? Be honest.”
With me suddenly being put on the spot, I found myself speaking before I could realize what I was saying. “B-because you’re catt-.” I barely cut myself off before I spoke my mind, but it was to late. The doctor’s eyes narrowed. “...Cattle? Like what those monstrous, children eating, sociopathic, psychopathic Arxur do? That’s what you think humans are?” Her voice was starting to rise in volume, making me shrink back in the bed as she ranted. “The only reason I’m not dragging you off to the brig here and now is because I understand your people have generations of trauma inflicted on you by the Arxur, but the fact that you keep tying physical traits to behavior is straight up wrong. If you talked to a human without ever seeing them, I’m willing to bet that you’d assume they were any other ‘prey’ species. Humans aren’t monsters. Forget about appearances, and perhaps put more stock in what they do, rather than how they look.”
I was again left without words. Yet another passionate defense for the humans, something that no prey would ever dare voice. I tried rationalizing why she would say all of this, tried to think of an explanation. The thought of predator disease came to mind, but that wouldn’t explain the contradictions I’ve seen between how I thought a predator would behave and what’s happened so far. If these humans were like the Arxur, I'd be dead right now or trapped in a cattle pen. Something was going on that I was missing. Something made these predators not act like predators. “...Can… can you tell me about the humans?” I asked.
The doctor blinked, looking a little surprised at first, though eventually relaxed. “If it helps you come to understand them better, I’d be happy to answer any questions you have. But do note that you and your crew will likely be staying here for a while as we figure out what to do with you all. The top brass have been working out how to introduce humans to the galactic community without everyone freaking out, and we don’t want anyone blowing the whistle before we have a chance to speak for ourselves. However, I can promise you that you and your crew will be treated well in your time here.”
Maybe it was because I was desperate to believe her, but hearing we’d be okay put a lot of my worries at ease. It also helped that I was talking to a fellow prey and not one of the predators. If she was willing to talk about the humans, then they must not be trying to hide anything. There was still the matter that humans weren’t brought up during first contact, but considering how the Federation would react, perhaps they wanted to avoid a war breaking out. I didn’t look forward to essentially being a prisoner, but it was better that the fate we would have faced had these humans been like the Arxur.
Despite all the assurances though, I still had my worries that there was a lot being hidden from me. It felt like all I had to do was pull back the curtain and I'd see all the human evil, cruelty, and malice that the Skalgan were trying to hide. If that was the case, they were doing a good job so far keeping it hidden. Maybe it’s because the humans grew up with sentient prey that they were capable of keeping their instincts under control. It would explain why I wasn’t attacked when I passed out. There of course was a lot more I needed to learn. Perhaps I’d learn something that would be of use to the Federation after my release.
If the humans were secretly like the Arxur, than I could bring a vital warning to the Federation. I just had to make sure I didn't ask the wrong questions.
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After my last post, I had maybe the most unproductive therapy session I've ever had.
I went into it feeling anticipation, and it was putting too much weight on the other parts. There was hunger - and shame around this hunger.
My shape shifter ended up jerking us around for most of the session. Scattered thoughts, dissociation Finally, near the end, it stepped back, saying "good luck with this: it's just hunger and shame, there is nothing else."
Then my Fixer was blended, it thinks it is me. It has no answers. It will try and fix this until the end of time. It will never get anywhere. It sees this and steps back.
I see an apocalyptic wasteland, in a city, with a black hole in the middle. Shadowy parts are throwing things in, other parts watch, knowing that this is futile. This is futile, the black hole of need will never end. This is futile. Everybody stops. It's just me, and these little shadowy parts, standing in this apocalypse, looking at this black hole.
I need to see the pictures.
Darkness, nothing. Dizziness. Hot. Cold. I'm with a mother, glowing with love. I'm alone, hurt, angry. But there is a magnetic pull to my mother.
There is another magnetic pull, to my father. As I go, a chasm opens up, and I stand on the edge of a cliff. There are two pulls - one leading to uncertainty, chaos, inconsistency, the other leading straight off a cliff.
An awareness that I don't need to be pulled by this. I can stay centered, have a pull towards me. But it's not coming from me. When asked what it would need to not be pulled like this, another voice pops up with "a place in your heart". This is not an answer from the baby. It's not entirely wrong, but it's also not the truth.
I need more pictures. There is more to share.
I went for a float after. The two pulls are shearing me in half as they squeeze around my belly. Deep discomfort comes up around all of this. This is so hard, so uncomfortable. I need to just let this be in my system for a bit. I succumb to the float for what feels like only moments before it ends. Just like things opened in therapy only moments before the end.
I had some body work done shortly after. More images come up.
I'm standing at the edge of the cliff. I fall, the roots catch me. My father tosses me in the air as a baby and then he's not there to catch me, and I fall again. The roots pierce me and draw me underground.
I'm angry at my mom, for choosing to be so blind. How could she not see it coming? A little baby saw coming. I can't trust anything, because everything I saw was not seen by anybody else. Everything I felt was not felt by anybody else. I don't trust receiving anything. I don't trust anything from this world. Of course I can't be nourished. I don't trust love, I don't trust joy, I don't know authenticity. I only trust the things I do. My productivity, my earnings, external validation for external work . That's all that's real. There is pressure in my head as it all releases, a heavy strangling feeling in my throat. My whole body relaxes and releases, but not my throat. There is a sporadic sharp sensation now.
I'm tired.

I need some Job Advice
I want to keep this pretty vague form a personal view, since I have some buddies who browse this page a lot. I am currently a rising senior in college, getting a degree in mechanical engineering / automotive engineering. I am currently at my second internship, where I feel I am being used as underpaid labor rather than actual engineering. As I get closer to graduating, I feel more drawn to not wanting to engineer. I absolutely love my 3D modeling, printing, and I enjoy my research I am doing at school as well. I just don’t feel like sitting behind a desk all day is the job I want to be at. I love talking to people, I enjoy the “engineering mindset” of a lot of things, but don’t want to sit done and draw HVAC in Revit all day.
I don’t know what Path I should take. A lot of engineers don’t seem to fit my type of personality. I’m fit, tattooed, 21, a bit goofy and not super serious. I was a smart kid (valedictorian high school, currently a 3.8 in college). I played football, rugby, hockey, golf etc in highschool. I just want to feel a bit more important I guess
I don’t know if I should try to get my MBA and go maybe into some sales position or administrative position. I don’t know what other jobs I can apply to do, and what other jobs may hurt me in 10 years when I want to possibly “engineer” again.
I am just looking for some engineers who don’t work as engineers, or those with similar stories. What do you do? How’s you get there? Are you happy.
I also thought about going into teaching, since I was always good at tutoring, but I’m not sure if research and anymore school is for me. I love working with my hands, don’t mind meetings, love ideas, inventing, communicating, teaching. And also money!
TIA. OP

Growing up, I was always wheeling and dealing. To me, this wasn’t an entrepreneurial upbringing but just something fun. I am of course the son of a cereal-entrepreneur, and the grandson of, “A man who could sell ice to a polar bear” but even in all of this, I never realized the skills I was acquiring along the way.
Recently, while listening to the My First Million podcast, the guest mentioned a rule they follow: “I never work with founders who didn’t own a lemonade stand when they were young”. Though not literal in this medium of business, it got me thinking about my own past.
As far back as I can remember, around 5th grade, I was on eBay.
My first Power-Seller account, to which they sent me a certificate we framed, was under my father's name, but I ran it exclusively. I remember taking photos on our family digital camera, transferring them to our desktop, and spending hours selling odds and ends.
What I don’t remember however is what I was selling, or really where in my world I got these things from. I do however wager it was flea markets, antique shops, and places of this sort as I do remember spending a great deal of time in each of them as a kid.
One of my biggest successes was purchasing an RC Cola Machine from a city auction for $5 - cash. After spending the rest of the weekend cleaning and scrubbing down the insides I discovered its coin operator mechanism was broken, meaning I couldn’t enjoy beverages on demand.
But the cooling system worked well, and after a little research, I found out there were parts that could be purchased to bypass this for home use.
I think the evening I found this out, it went up for auction on eBay. Set for “Local Pickup”, featuring a compelling story about how great this piece would be in a basement, man-cave, or den and a $50 reserve to ensure I at least 10x’d my investment, the auction went live.
I couldn't tell you how much it sold for, but about 10 days later what I can remember is loading it into my Dad's truck for the second time, a little more gently this go around, and meeting a man in the parking lot of a gas station off the highway.
I also remember Dad, perhaps in disbelief or out of real pragmatic fear, telling me this person might not be real and this could be too good to be true. Neither was the case, and with goods delivered, and payment safely secured via the platform, my love for the process was cemented.
In 8th grade, I turned a school project on the Alaskan Iditarod into a candy-selling business. As part of the project, we placed bets in the form of bags of candy, on the competition.
In my wisdom, I had researched all the competitors the night before and at the end of the race, had won something like 20 bags of candy from the class.
After winning bets in the form of candy bags, I sold them piece by piece from my locker, making a nice profit over the semester and somehow being inconspicuous enough to never attract attention from the teachers, which might have ended with a trip to the principal's office and a cease-and-desist to this little venture.
In 9th grade, while at a friend’s house, I found a pizza oven sitting in his garage. This particular pizza oven was quite dirty but stood out as a unique item with an oven at the bottom, and 4 pizza turning racks on top.
I remember asking his mom if it worked and her not knowing, and saying I could have it if I wanted, to which I accepted.
A few hours of work that weekend to get it cleaned up, and a quick test revealed it not only worked but had lights on top of the turning rack and a display sign.
Back to eBay yet again, I remember, semi-reluctantly as I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen, selling that as well.
The process of finding, fixing, and flipping items became a routine that I thoroughly enjoyed, though I never had the heart to tell my friend I had sold it, and I don’t remember for how much it went either, but I do remember it was purchased via ‘Buy-It-Now” quite fast.
While at the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree the summer before I graduated high school, I collected limited-edition daily collectable patches that were available. The big gimmick with these patches was that only 2010 of each were made, and scattered across the various stores for thousands of scouts who had attended the event to track down and purchase.
The night I got home from the event I had them uploaded onto eBay and watched as these patches, of which no one was really selling, soared in live auction to somewhere around $650, paying for the entire trip.
I think one of the reasons I remember this one so well is because the timing and luck involved in this sale taught me the importance of seizing opportunities.
Days after this set of patches sold and was delivered to a satisfied buyer, completing the transaction, the Boy Scouts of America - because of patch collectors' outcry over the limited inventory, re-released these sets. Effectively, collapsing the market for all but the collectors who cared for ‘First Print” - which could not be proved.
When I went off to college, my focus shifted from selling items to designing things. I channeled my creativity into digital art and graphic print design, working as a freelance graphic designer.
Over the years, I’ve created logos, brandings, graphic prints, and even worked for a yacht apparel company creating graphics of some of the world's most expensive boats, negotiate contracts, and creating art that to this day is still in the public domain.
However, my first business failure came during this period. Relying solely on word-of-mouth marketing, I struggled to make ends meet.
Walking away from my attempts to run a graphic design business was tough, both personally and financially. It took years to bounce back, but this experience taught me about resilience and how to identify priorities, set your own schedule, and perhaps most importantly remain productive outside the confines of a traditional workday, or boss.
When you are an entrepreneurial type, often you can find yourself rubbing people the wrong way. I believe it is these things that make us almost ‘unemployable’, as I like to call it.
At my core, I have always sought to identify problems and seize opportunities and after an abrupt end to my time in the corporate world due to politics and personal differences, I set out to build Workflow Secrets, and later, the Systems Accelerator Manager (SAM).
SAM is an AI-powered tool designed for real estate agents, helping them build systems and content tailored to their business needs. The journey from selling items on eBay to creating an innovative software solution has been driven by my entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to help people create a better life.
Reflecting on my journey, I see how each step, from a 5th grader working to craft the perfect description to draw attention to SAM, has been a natural progression of my entrepreneurial DNA.
Each venture, success, and failure has shaped my approach to business, and I am excited to continue this path of innovation and growth. How I see it, this story only grows from here, perhaps this next chapter will involve you.
Thanks for reading.
Cody Stepp
Co-Founder Workflow Secrets

Budget - as low as possible while maintaining the features I want or need. a couple hundred CAD at most?
Source/Amp - I will be using these with my Lenovo P12 tablet, so Bluetooth only. however, I have an Ifi Zen DAC, Zen CAN and go Bar, but since Bt cans are tuned to the onboard electronics, I won't use these wired.
How the gear will be used - paired with my Lenovo Tab 12 Android tablet and possibly with my LG Velvet 5G and work laptop. for my tablet, movies and shows. off my phone, music and if my laptop, VOIP calls, so having a built in mic is beneficial.
Preferred tonal balance - neutral to neutral warm.
Preferred music genre(s) - I listen to mostly classical and instrumental OST's
Past gear experience - HiFiMan 4xx, 4se, 650 G4, HD599se, NAD HP-50, HP-30 and whatever their IEMs are called. I love the NAD sound. KPH-30i, Etymodic ER4XR, ER3SE, ER2SE and Grado 80x...plus others I'm drawing a blank on at the moment.
I use my KPH-30i the most because they don't get hot and sound damn good for their price, so I have thought about getting another pair and doing a mod with a wireless DAC / Amp. Honestly, if I had the coin I would buy the Grado GW100, but I don't... :(
being I want on-ear, ANC would be dumb, but I will say I don't want ANC, just so it's clear.

Raw kicks off with The Bloodline in the ring, just as Solo is about to speak the music of The Shield begins and the 3 members step out on the stage
Roman: Boys we said last week, it was on site... so I guess now the only question is, you boys want to have a match? OR should the 3 of us just walk down this ramp and whoop yall like we your daddies?
Solo: Roman get one thing straight, we took you and the other family members out at Wrestlemania so if we are going to do this again... it is on OUR terms, which you will learn when we decide.
The Bloodline leave the ring and exit through the timekeepers area.
__________
Backstage Jackie Redmond is standing with Swerve Strickland
Jackie: Swerve the last couple weeks we have seen The Bullet Club use their numbers and underhanded tactics to their advantage now tonight you team up with WWE Champion Carmelo Hayes to take on Finn and AJ... How do you focus on those two while keeping an eye on Cody?
Swerve: Jackie it is simple... we fight, now me and Melo may not be friends but we both hold gold for a reason, we are not going to just rollover, so when it comes to Finn and AJ, we will whoop those boys in the ring and if their boy Cody wants to stick his nose in there... well we got a whoopin for him as well!
__________
Trick Williams vs Sammy Guevara w/Tay Melo
Results: Trick comes out like a house of fire, all over Sammy, at one point Tay tries to distract Trick to help Sammy, but it doesnt work and Trick makes quick work and picks up the win over Sammy
Winner: Trick Williams
__________
Drew Mcintyre is in the ring cutting a promo
Drew: I am sick and tired of being ignored... after Sheamus lost us our tag team titles, now Night of Champions is happening without Drew Mcintyre? I should be featured on any big show this company has!
Suddenly Drew is cut off by the music of Sheamus who makes his way to the ring
Sheamus: Drew... Where did your balls go? I never thought my old friend Drew would be out here in the middle of the ring crying like a baby.
Drew visibly angry, raises his microphone to speak but then suddenly slaps Sheamus as we go to break
__________
Sheamus vs Drew Mcintyre
Results: After the confrontation these 2 were put in a match, and they waste no time going right at it, brawling all over the ring, exchanging hard shots. They exchange blows in the corner, the referee tries to separate them but Sheamus shoves him away, the ref again tries to break them up this time Drew shoves him away, the ref has enough and calls for the bell disqualifying both men
Winner: Double DQ
__________
We cut backstage to Carmelo Hayes
Carmelo: AJ Styles, we are very close to our title match at Night of Champions and on that night you are going to learn that you may not be as Phenomenal as you think. You may not have what it takes to win this title when you are up against.. HIM.
And tonight? I team up with Swerve to take on AJ and Finn, maybe we will just rough you boys up tonight, and make our matches at Night of Champions just a bit easier... and Cody if you wanna get involved... just remember... When I shoot, I don't miss!
__________
Ricky Starks vs Ricochet
Results: These two are both going at a fast pace, its a fairly even contest till Starks uses an eye poke to to get the advantage, leading to a Starks win
Winner: Ricky Starks
__________
Daniel Bryan is in the ring for a promo
Daniel Bryan: It feels good to be back here, after I spent some time getting back to my roots, I gotta say now I am refocused and have come back to WWE with one goal, to win the WWE Championship, so whoever walks out of Night of Champions whether it is Carmelo Hayes... or AJ Styles... just know, I am coming for that title.
__________
Street Profits make their way to the ring
Montez: Ladies and Gentlemen let us not waste your time, it is quite simple, there are two big boys in the back who seem to have an issue with the Street Profits... and we feel bad so we want to invite them to this ring
Dawkins: That's right, so Hanson, Rowe, War Machine we invite you out to this ring right now... to catch a beating because The Street Profits are up and we want the smoke!
__________
War Machine vs Street Profits
Results: These 2 teams are showing aggression early, going right at each other, both teams having control for a time, as it looks like the Street Profits may be closing in on a win over the champs, suddenly DIY run out and into the ring attacking both teams causing the referee to throw the match out.
Winner: Draw
__________
As the 3 teams are pulled apart by officials, COO Triple H walks out on the stage
Triple H: As GM Nick Aldis is still recovering allow me to settle this... you 6 men wanna go at it? Fine, at Night of Champions it will be War Machine defending their tag team titles against DIY, and Street Profits in a triple threat tag team match!
__________
AJ Styles & Finn Balor vs Carmelo Hayes & Swerve Strickland
Results: This is a very methodical match, both challengers trying to avoid being in the ring with their opponent at NoC. The match goes on, both teams spending time in control, AJ distracts the referee as Cody appears and tries to hit Swerve with a title but Swerve ducks and Cody hits Finn, Carmelo pulls Cody off the apron and throws him into the steps. as Swerve goes up top and hits the Killshot on Finn and picks up the win
Winners: Carmelo Hayes & Swerve Strickland
Monday Night Raw ends with Swerve & Carmelo holding their titles high in the air

Race 7

Race Predictions and Analysis for Santa Anita Park - 1 Mile Turf Race

1. Pioneer Prince (#1) - Odds: 3/1

• Strengths:
  • Consistent performance: has shown a reliable and stable performance in recent races with one win and one second-place finish this season.
  • Strong jockey and trainer combination: Flavien Prat riding for Richard E. Mandella, both have high win percentages which indicate strong teamwork and strategy execution.
  • Sire and Dam influence: Comes from a lineage with good record on turf, enhancing the likelihood of a solid performance.
• Reasoning for Prediction: Given his consistent track record, strategic jockey-trainer pairing, and genetic advantage for turf, Pioneer Prince is predicted to leverage this into a winning race.

2. Caribbean King (#4) - Odds: 4/1

• Strengths:
  • Regular contender: Consistently placed in top rankings in recent races, showing a stable form.
  • Racing stat compatibility: The sire’s stats suggest a strong performance on turf and over the mile distance, ideally matching today's race conditions.
  • Experienced jockey: Umberto Rispoli has a solid understanding of how to handle races on this specific track and distance.
• Reasoning for Prediction: Caribbean King's genetic predisposition aligned with a seasoned jockey on a familiar track makes him a strong candidate for the second spot.

3. Jeweled Shillelagh (#8) - Odds: 8/1

• Strengths:
  • Upward trajectory: Showing improvement in recent performances and speed figures suggest readiness to tackle a higher finish.
  • Favorable weight and post position: Benefits from a good draw which could lead to strategic positioning early in the race.
  • Training momentum: Recent training sessions indicate good health and preparedness.

R8

Top 4 Predictions for the Maiden Special Weight 6 Furlongs at Santa Anita Park

1. Eagles Flight (#2) - Odds: 2/1

• Strengths:
  • Strong pedigree: Sired by Curlin, known for producing robust sprinters. Dam's sire, Indian Charlie, also supports strong sprint capabilities.
  • Training Regime: Impressive workouts including swift 5-furlong sessions indicating readiness.
  • Jockey/Trainer Combo: Flavien Prat and John W. Sadler have a solid track record together, enhancing confidence in a top performance.

2. Visceral (#3) - Odds 4/1

• Strengths:
  • Pedigree: Sired by Violence, known for imparting strength and speed. The Dam's sire, Bluegrass Cat, supports stamina, suggesting Visceral can handle the pace.
  • Recent Workouts: Strong 6-furlong workout shows stamina and readiness for a race of this distance.
  • Trainer's Recent Performance: Trainer Mark Glatt has a good strike rate, indicating well-prepared horses for debut races.

3. Le Mans (#4) - Odds: 15/1

• Strengths:
  • Training Indicators: Showing significant improvement in form with recent workouts showing increasingly better times.
  • Jockey Insight: J. J. Hernandez, while not among the top, typically performs well with debut starters.
  • Potential Value: As a longer shot, this entry might provide a good value based on evident readiness and solid training sessions.

4. Santarena (#8) - Odds: 5/2

• Strengths:
  • High-quality Training: Solid training sessions including impressive 5-furlong workouts, suggesting sharp form and good conditioning.
  • Professional Preparation: Condition

R9

Race Analysis for the Gamely Stakes - Grade I

1. Anisette (#6) - Odds: 5/2

• Strengths: Strong recent form with winning a Grade I event last race, showing a good final speed figure signifying her competitive edge at this level.
• Current Form and Preparation: Excellent workouts leading up to the race, regularly hitting or exceeding workout benchmarks for the turf at a mile plus distance.
• Jockey/Trainer Form: Ridden by Umberto Rispoli, who has a 19% win rate, with training by Leonard Powell who manages a strong performance in graded stakes.

2. Ruby Nell (#2) - Odds: 3/1

• Strengths: Impressive winning streak including a Grade II event, showcasing high endurance and speed.
• Speed Ratings: Top speed ratings amongst recent races, showing her peak form is aligned for this race.
• Consistent Training Patterns: Consistent high-quality workouts indicative of sustained peak condition.

3. Uncorked (#3) - Odds: 4/1

• Strengths: Recent win in a Grade III competition underscores her ability to compete at high stakes.
• Experience at Distance: Strong performer at the mile distance on turf, aligning well with the race's requirements.
• Trainer Performance: Trained by Philip D'Amato who has a decent strike rate in graded stakes ensuring she is well prepared.

4. Linda's Gift (#7) - Odds: 5/1

• Strengths: Demonstrates robust performances notably in graded stakes; recent wins add confidence in her competitiveness at this level.
• Effective in Long Distances: Proven effectiveness at over a mile races, giving her a stayer’s chance in the competition.
• Solid Preparation:

R10
For the Gold Cup G2 at Santa Anita Park, below are the predictions for the top 4 finishers, including comprehensive reasons for each horse's potential performance in the race, along with their respective probabilities for winning and finishing in the top 3:

Predicted Top 4 Finishers:

1. Mr. Fisk
   • Reason: Mr. Fisk has already demonstrated his capability by winning his last race impressively with a high speed figure of 115. His recent performances in graded stakes highlight his consistency and resilience under competitive conditions. Coupled with a strong team behind him (trainer Bob Baffert and jockey K Kimura), he has a good tactical speed that suits the distance of this race.
   • Winning Probability: 32%
   • Top 3 Probability: 75%
2. Subsanador
   • Reason: Subsanador has shown strong performances recently, particularly placing second in a Grade 1 race, which indicates his readiness for high-grade competition. His consistent speed figures in the upper 90s demonstrate his ability to compete effectively at this level. Additionally, the horse seems well-suited for the race length, based on previous outings.
   • Winning Probability: 28%
   • Top 3 Probability: 70%
3. Reincarnate
   • Reason: Reincarnate has maintained a strong form, navigating through Grade 1 and Grade 2 races with competitive placements. With a solid combination of early and late speed abilities, and backed by the high-performing trainer Bob Baffert, Reincarnate can adapt to the race's dynamics effectively. His balanced racer profile makes him a robust contender.
   • Winning Probability: 25%
   • Top 3 Probability: 65%
4. Judge Miller
   • Reason: Coming off a solid performance in the California G3, with a particularly robust late

R11
For the Shoemaker Mile S. Grade I at Santa Anita Park, here are detailed predictions for the top 4 finishers based on their past performance, speed ratings, and other race conditions:

Predicted Top 4 Finishers:

1. Du Jour
   • Reason: Du Jour has shown impressive form recently by winning the FKilroe-G1 and has a consistent record on turf with strong speed figures around 95-106. The horse has good late speed which is crucial in mile races and has been successful under similar race conditions.
   • Winning Probability: 25%
   • Top 3 Probability: 65%
2. Johannes
   • Reason: Johannes comes off a win in the American-G3 showcasing strong speed figures and consistent improvement. With a tactical speed to position well early in the race, Johannes has the capability to handle the distance and the competitive field.
   • Winning Probability: 23%
   • Top 3 Probability: 63%
3. Easter
   • Reason: Easter has strong finishes in recent Grade I and II races, indicating form and ability at this level. The horse has demonstrated good versatility across different turf conditions with reasonable speed figures.
   • Winning Probability: 20%
   • Top 3 Probability: 60%
4. Goliad
   • Reason: Goliad's recent performances have been notably strong with victories in graded stakes, particularly in turf mile races. Possessing top early speed can give him an edge in this race to secure a position among the leaders early on.
   • Winning Probability: 18%
   • Top 3 Probability: 58%

I would like to start off, please don't just say "Hi" I would like to hear at least a little bit about you such as age, gender and hobbies :<
Hi! Male 18 Arkansas! Looking for somebody to talk to and hopefully get along with, hopefully we can become something more than friends? I'd prefer that over anything. Also, don't ghost me? I'm tired of being ghosted :>
My cons, I can't drive at the moments but I'm working my way to get there. I will have my license soon!
I'm also slightly chubby but my height kinda fixes it. I'm around 6 feet tall and weigh around 230lbs
I play games alot or sleep alot.
I'm very clingy and I get attached way to easily
My pros?
I can cook! I can make really good fried chicken and homemade baked Mac n cheese so if you ever want some im your guy :3
I try my best to be sweet and kind
I'm a pretty big nerd (not book smart but random fact smart)
And I have a cat!
I also love stuffed animals and I really hope to be able to make a collection someday
My interests/hobbies Include: playing games, drawing, watching tv/YouTube, listening to music, cooking, and learning useless lore about things.
Now, I don't really have a type, I love all shapes and sizes of people (although I do prefer chubby people! It means they know how to eat well) but please don't hesitate to dm me! I'm sure that as long as you aren't too manipulative or toxic well be fine!
And my age range? Please don't be over 25. Anything over just kinda makes me feel uneasy :<
I really hope to talk to you!!!!

I would like to start off, please don't just say "Hi" I would like to hear at least a little bit about you such as age, gender and hobbies :<
Hi! Male 18 Arkansas! Looking for somebody to talk to and hopefully get along with, hopefully we can become something more than friends? I'd prefer that over anything. Also, don't ghost me? I'm tired of being ghosted :>
My cons, I can't drive at the moments but I'm working my way to get there. I will have my license soon!
I'm also slightly chubby but my height kinda fixes it. I'm around 6 feet tall and weigh around 230lbs
I play games alot or sleep alot.
I'm very clingy and I get attached way to easily
My pros?
I can cook! I can make really good fried chicken and homemade baked Mac n cheese so if you ever want some im your guy :3
I try my best to be sweet and kind
I'm a pretty big nerd (not book smart but random fact smart)
And I have a cat!
I also love stuffed animals and I really hope to be able to make a collection someday
My interests/hobbies Include: playing games, drawing, watching tv/YouTube, listening to music, cooking, and learning useless lore about things.
Now, I don't really have a type, I love all shapes and sizes of people (although I do prefer chubby people! It means they know how to eat well) but please don't hesitate to dm me! I'm sure that as long as you aren't too manipulative or toxic well be fine!
And my age range? Please don't be over 25. Anything over just kinda makes me feel uneasy :<
I really hope to talk to you!!!!

I have a [[sauron, the dark lord]] deck that i can never seem to close out games with. It focuses on amassing orcs and dealing combat damage to take out my opponents. I can usually get a good board state going and can threaten easily but I can never seem to win. I’ve added cards like [[tainted strike]] and [[Chandra’s ignition]] to be able to deal more damage with the amassed armies. I also have added more card draw and protection. Any ideas or opinions on some cards to change or how to pilot that would be appreciated. I’ve played edh for about a year and love lord of the rings and wanna keep the deck around if I can. Here’s the deck list. https://www.moxfield.com/decks/hKTjD2B_r0KptdUI-VPkAQ

I would like to start off, please don't just say "Hi" I would like to hear at least a little bit about you such as age, gender and hobbies :<
Hi! Male 18 Arkansas! Looking for somebody to talk to and hopefully get along with, hopefully we can become something more than friends? I'd prefer that over anything. Also, don't ghost me? I'm tired of being ghosted :>
My cons, I can't drive at the moments but I'm working my way to get there. I will have my license soon!
I'm also slightly chubby but my height kinda fixes it. I'm around 6 feet tall and weigh around 230lbs
I play games alot or sleep alot.
I'm very clingy and I get attached way to easily
My pros?
I can cook! I can make really good fried chicken and homemade baked Mac n cheese so if you ever want some im your guy :3
I try my best to be sweet and kind
I'm a pretty big nerd (not book smart but random fact smart)
And I have a cat!
I also love stuffed animals and I really hope to be able to make a collection someday
My interests/hobbies Include: playing games, drawing, watching tv/YouTube, listening to music, cooking, and learning useless lore about things.
Now, I don't really have a type, I love all shapes and sizes of people (although I do prefer chubby people! It means they know how to eat well) but please don't hesitate to dm me! I'm sure that as long as you aren't too manipulative or toxic well be fine!
And my age range? Please don't be over 25. Anything over just kinda makes me feel uneasy :<
I really hope to talk to you!!!!