Every Spartan in Halo goes up against every clone trooper in Star Wars.

Spartans

• 50 Spartan-IIs
  
• 900 Spartan-IIIs
  
• 5000 Spartan-IVs
  

All are equipped in Gen 3 MJOLNIR, with individual Spartans being able to equip single equipment or armor ability modules. They can scavenge equipment and armor ability modules from dead comrades and from orbital support pods dropped onto the battlefield. Assume Gen 3 thrusters have the same capabilities as Gen 2 thrusters.
Spartans get their signature weapons if they have them (Nornfang, Oathsworn, etc), and they can fully equip themselves with any weapon in the UNSC armory. Ammunition, food, water, medicine, more weapons, and replacement armor parts are dropped onto the battlefield via drop pod. The most powerful munitions the Spartans will be able to access are C12 explosive packs and octa detonation charges.
The armor parts come with tools, and are sufficient to fully repair MJOLNIR with enough time (no more than a week for an extremely damaged suit).
The medical supplies come with whatever is necessary to maintain the IVs' augmentations, as well as smoothers for the Gamma IIIs.
The Spartans will be able to use unarmed Mongeese, Warthogs, and Razorbacks for transport. Fuel is not an issue, and replacement vehicles will appear in the wild.

Clone Troopers

• 6.2 million clone troopers
  
• 1600ish Clone Commandos
  
• The Bad Batch
  

The clone regulars are equipped with Phase 2 armor. The Commandos and Bad Batch wear Katarn-class armor. The specialized units like jet troopers retain their gear.
All clones are equipped as they normally are, with the vast majority being equipped with blaster rifles. Some will have rocket launchers or rotary cannons. Replacement power packs, food, water, medicine, and more weapons will be ferried down to the surface by unarmed dropships, which will leave the battlefield after offloading their cargo. The most powerful munitions the clones will be able to access are thermal detonators, both in grenade and remote-detonated form.
The clones will be able to use unarmed AT-RTs and AT-TEs for transport. Fuel is not an issue, and replacement vehicles will appear in the wild.

Battlefield

The battlefield is a large, continent-sized landmass with varied terrain. Cities, abandoned military bases, large plains, deserts, forests, etc.
In orbit, the UNSC Home Fleet is engaging the GAR Open Circle Fleet in combat. Neither side will win, but every 50 hours an opening will appear for either side to lob some Archers or turbolasers down at the surface. Both fleets will also be able to relay intel and drop supplies down to the troops on the surface. The orbital fight is mainly for flavor, though.
Will the Spartans' superior individual quality be able to overcome the massive numbers gap, or will the clones' strategic advantage give them the win over the greatest soldiers of the UNSC?
If the Spartans get ground into the dirt, reinforce them by making every ODST into a Spartan-IV and sending them in (plus 40,000ish IVs).
If the clones simply can't pin down the Spartans, give them their Jedi Generals (plus 400ish Jedi Generals).
Win condition for either side is making the enemies unable to drastically affect friendly operations in the region.
Use main canon for Halo, and Disney canon for Star Wars.

I'm on a month leave from work. I never took time off in the year I worked there, and decided to cash it all in to focus on my mental health. I work retail and am a sales lead, for reference. It's been two weeks, and even though they unintentionally got busy with stressful things, I'm still feeling less stressed than before. I actually wake up rejuvenated and ready to start the day. I actively spend time cooking and doing home projects and actually living in the apartment I moved into a year ago. I've been casually perusing jobs since my store seems to be sinking faster than the Titanic, and I've realized there is no paycheck worth going back to retail. I'm excited over being a clerical assistance at a start up wellness clinic or receptionist at a nursing home. A boring office-y job of filing, invoicing, and bookkeeping for a car dealership sounds divine. It's just nice to think about working in a place where I'm not utterly demeaned and abused just for some petty power trip of an old money witch. Obviously, dealing with the public is never sunshine and rainbows, but the customers I'd be working with would largely have valid reasons for being upset. I'm genuinely not sure how I can manage to go back to work, after feeling so at ease for the first time in over a year.

so as title says, im keen to see gaming benchmarks for large HEDT cpu's by intel, against something like a 7800x3d. or 13700k. im not expecting it too blow them out of the water by any means but im interested in gauging the performance of Q1'2023 HEDT cpu's or even and AMD 5975WX vs gaming desktop cpus.
​
because of the large multi channel bandwidth memory support, and multi access cache levels (i think its called Mesh caching) i would suspect these cpus to have fairly good Single core performance, making them quite good at pulling frames for the graphics card. especially the threadrippers large cache size, overclocking the single core boost speeds on these types of cpus, would effectively allow for a higher avg gaming FPS, possibly making them usefull for multiple generations, instead of us upgrading from as an example, a 3600x to a 5600x, to a 5800x3d to a 7800x3d just to achieve a 10-20% avg gaming performance boost, which i believe is tied to cache size (obviously) and single core performance and generation IPC for single core, for cpu fetch and delivery operations to the graphics card, memory instructions, etc.
if this is the case, that these cpus large memory bandwidth busses and cache's why dont we just move to HEDT and buy the cheapest of the lot in here, instead of buying 7950x's and 7800x3d's and upgrading them every year and selling your old stuff. sell the 7800x3d, buy the 8800x3d. OR just by an intel HEDT or amd Threadripper
​
i feel as though intel and AMD are striking or removing gaming benchmakrs of these CPU's on the internet. because i cant find any.
​
Oh, and if you have a 7800x3d, post up your OC results and ZT's. i saw some benchmarks with a 5800x3d with 4400mhz ram uncoupled from the IF and it pulls more frames every time you raise the memory frequency. but alas on ryzen 7000 after 6000mhz DDR, the uclock struggles and has to be divided by 2 of the mclock. so trying to pull more frames by locking Fclk and relying on the large cache instead of the memory latency is not feasable as the latency will be heavily retarted due to this Uclock limitation, as far as im aware anyway.

I was remembering one leak from the Legion days, and it's only now that I'm thinking about how Iridikron and co can be combined with it.
During the Legion era, a message appeared on a Chinese forum that predicted future content for WoW expansions up until 13.0. A very dubious statement, which, however, does not seem so doubtful to me at the moment.
According to this post, expansions starting with Warlords of Draenor are grouped in pairs and copy elements of early WoW expansions. For example, the Warlords of Draenor and the Legion are copying the Burning Crusade, borrowing from it two important components - in fact, Draenor and the Legion, each of which receives its own addition for disclosure.
This leak predicted that the next two addons would be related to Wrath of the Lich King, borrowing from the themes of the Old Gods and the dead, which we had. Then comes the Age of Cataclysm, which will use dragons and elementals, and then the Age of Pandaria, where one expansion will be devoted to the war between factions, and another expansion will be associated with the creation of the Void, like Sha.
Personally, I wonder about the plausibility of this theory, given that in the days of the Legion, even before the announcement of BFA, hardly anyone could confidently assume that 10.x would be associated with dragons. Moreover, so far even the order of topics is the same.
So I had a thought, what if Iridikron and the rest of his group are not bosses at all in this expansion? After all, besides their association with dragons, they are also elemental beings. The final villain will be Nozdormu, while the Incarnations will do something related to the elementals? Like trying to overthrow the elemental lords? And in the next addon we have to fight them completely.
I was also led to this idea by a large number of WoW storylines, which are connected specifically with the Dragon Isles. The history of bronze and green dragons is not over yet, the new Teldrassil, the return of Tyr, the plot of the red dragons has not even fully begun. Therefore, I got the idea that in a situation of such a large amount of content, it would be quite simple and reasonable to make Iridicron an enemy in 11.x.

I think this is more of a rant. I know I need to seek therapy. I had an abortion 2 weeks ago. I was 5 weeks. I have a congenital anomaly and my pregnancy would have been extremely risky, and would have likely lost my baby between 8-10 weeks. I was told I can have a healthy pregnancy after I have a specific surgery…so I chose to terminate.
I’ve always been a person who excels in everything. School, work, tried to be the perfect kid, followed all the rules, etc. I’m so angry that my body failed my baby. I’m so angry and sad and depressed. Everyday I feel like a zombie just trying to get through the end of the day. I went to my doctors appointment today to verify I was no longer pregnant and I cried so much seeing that my HCG levels are almost back to normal.
I can’t help to think what their hair, or nails, or feet would look like… what their smile would have looked like. Part of me does not like myself anymore. I just feel so numb. I’m not sure if others have experienced depression after an abortion but this feels worse than when I lost a close family member.

Recently I’m finding myself having to pay for things over and over again and I’m more irritated than anything.
This month has been really tough finically because it’s my first time I legitimately maxed out my credit card and it’s also the first time I had to ask billing companies to move my payment date out 2 weeks to buy me some time until my next paycheck. It’s my own fault that I didn’t budget correctly. I already know I messed up.
Anyways, the main thing I’m having to pay for “twice” is dental work. I got braces a few years ago, braces came off and I got retainers. Retainers kept cracking/breaking and after I went through the two that I paid for, doctor wanted more money and doesn’t warranty said retainers.
I got a root canal a while back. Dentist puts on a crown and my gum is inflamed and never went away. Went to get a second crown, issue still isn’t resolved. Was referred out to surgery. I pay for the surgery. Now the crown needs to be replaced because it doesn’t fit right and insurance won’t cover the crown since it’s 1 every 5 years.
A few weeks ago, I get a my hair done. It gets botched badly, and I tell the stylist that it isn’t what I asked for and I go get it fixed, I pay for it again. It gets progressively worse and thinner.
I’m just super annoyed because with everything that’s happened in the past month, I’m about $600 in “extra” expenses of just paying for things I’ve paid for before. Down the line for just dental stuff, I’m looking at maybe $2-$3k maybe more, which again, I’ve paid for all this crap before.
The feeling of being so overwhelmed and blaming myself is killing me. I thought I was doing everything right and what other people have told me to do and yet things STILL aren’t right.

Hi, I'm hoping this will be a pretty straightforward process, but I'm just wondering what we can expect when trying to claim my deceased father's pension.
My father unfortunately died in 2012. It was very sudden and a shock to us all. For the last 11 years, my Grandma has been receiving correspondence from a pension company with yearly statements. She has only just felt ready to start going through his mail as she's had a pretty hard time since he passed away. We've found out he has a pretty large amount of money in a private pension..
I know contacting the company directly is going to be the easiest thing to do.. I just had a couple of questions before we looked into it as I think this will be quite hard for her.
I'm guessing it will involve finding old documents and digging up a bit of the past in order to claim this?
Also, as his son, would I be able to deal with this solely? I am over 18.
Is there a time limit in which these things have to be claimed? Or does the company legally have to be notified of his death within a certain amount of time? We are obviously going back 11 years now.
There is mention of beneficiaries after death in the paperwork I have available, but no mention of who. Is this information I can find out?
Any info would be much appreciated as my Grandma is in need of house repairs and this would help us out a lot.
Thanks in advance
Edit. I am in England, sorry

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(((flagged for deletion)))
tldr: to manage a 'manic head' well, I don't know of any method better than practice.
whatever...I'm drunk. 'my pot use' is something I've been struggling with posting about for a while now. ...I want to portray myself as a "role model" or something for those who struggle with mania and wanna find a successful path with little-to-no psych drugs. ...fuckin, pot is likely NOT a good idea for those with a 'propensity for mania' that wanna stay stable.
That said, I credit my success largely to pot abuse. Pot induces a "salience network disconnect". Mania induces a "salience network disconnect". Managing the "salience network disconnect" is one of the most difficult parts of managing a manic head.
It's easy to reduce episode frequency & severity through 'behavior based neurotransmitter adjustment'. Even with the best management practices though, mania will still happen. When mania strikes, it's a fuckin bitch to manage if you don't bone tf up on some cognitive engineering techniques to manage a "salience network disconnect".

read: I trained myself to operate a manic head by abusing tf outta pot and forcing my thought patterns & behaviors to be aligned with 'how I WANT to think' and 'doing what I WANT to do' while I'm high.
quick example: I trained myself to be productive while high. If I'm high, I can't have fun (play games, watch a movie, whatever) till everything is clean and organized and I've exercised and stretched. Side note: cardio while high is fucking amazing for thought processing.
quick example 2: I trained myself to be "appropriate" while high. ...mostly amounts to STFU while high. I'm "inappropriate" by nature and 'the things I think are funny and worthy of comment' do not align with what others think. Training myself to 'keep my words to myself' was quite helpful.

The SN disconnect you get with pot is def not a 1:1 correlation with the SN disconnect you get with mania. err...maybe it is? IDK. but mania def comes with tons of other baggage, in addition to the SN disconnect. read: mania messes with thought patterns in unique ways...though I'd wager that the way mania messes with YOUR thought patterns is uniquely consistent. read: mania is a simple beast bruh...it's gonna push your thoughts/behaviors in a consistent manner. Figure out how it's pushing you and devise counters. If you can make mania your bitch, it will forever be your bitch...it is not capable of adapting.
So, not a 1:1 coloration. but...inducing bruh. Pot helps to induce mania, hypo/mania, and/or pseudo-hypo/mania...depending on the catalysts you're using and how you dose them.
INDUCING!!!
Practice makes perfect bruh. Or rather 'perfect practice makes perfect'. That's my "secret" or whatever. [hubris/brag] I have induced tf outta mania, hypo/mania, and pseudo-hypo/mania, to the extent that I can dose some catalysts and know 'to a high degree of certainty' if I'm gonna get mania, hypo/mania, or pseudo-hypo/mania. 'Stress' and 'excitement' are the hardest catalysts to control, but easy enough to factor into the equation if I'm aware of em. Also, 'time since last real episode' plays a big role (refractory period).
The key to my success is the fact that I've practiced tf outta operating on a manic head. It's to the point that I can present myself as euthymic while I'm in 'MANIA with psychosis'. #pimp shit. Ask my wife and mom. [/hubris/brag]
Important note: I do not recommend inducing. I recommend that those with a 'propensity for mania' avoid pot. 'Inducing' and 'regularly experiencing the SN disconnect' are important for FIGURING OUT how to operate a manic head. I've figured it out bruh. Take my advice and avoid the dangerous bullshit. #someJesusshitbout sacrificing myself or whatever so you don't have to [/hubris]
fr tho...perfect practice makes perfect. Expect mania. Go into mania aware that you are going into mania. Make it a point to "do better" each episode. Do better. Win.
Starting points:

• Understand that you are in control while manic. You're you, just with a different operating system.
• STFU is a great way to start. Learning that you can just keep your mouth shut while in the throes of MANIA is powerful af. Mania does not control you, it's just a different operating system. You are still in control, you're just piloting a different machine. Understand this on an intrinsic level and you will make progress.
• A 'structure within the chaos' you can lay your foundation on is SAFETY. Mania strips you down to base instinct + 'shit you have consciously & willfully conditioned into your Self' (read: mania strips away societal conditioning). SAFETY is a base instinct. Define "SAFETY" consciously & willfully. Mania will fall into line.
  • protip: set a SAFETY point for ingesting a course of antipsychotics and fuckin consume them when you cross that point.

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Psuedo-hypo/mania. How I define it and how I induce it.

Let's break it down.

hypo/mania = the hypo/manic engine is running.
Mania is subjective af. hypomania is subjective af. They operate under the same engine, but mania is subjectively more intense than hypomania, subjectively. Duh.
"Manic" and "hypomanic" states of mind are largely classified based on "OBSERVED BEHAVIOR". ...if you're "manic" and just STFUing and sitting in a corner or whatever, are you really "manic"?
It is possible to present yourself as "hypomanic" while "manic". It is possible to present yourself as "manic" while "hypomanic". It is possible to fluxuate between "mania" and "hypomania" multiple times within the same day, or even within an hour. It is possible to present yourself as "euthymic" while "manic" and vice versa (if you don't believe me, go slam 10 shots of espresso and take 2-6 hits of pot on a "euthymic" head...see if folks don't think you're "manic").
"hypo/mania" is the term I use to remove some subjectivity. Maybe I'm "manic". Maybe I'm "hypomanic". All I know is that the "hypo/mania engine" is running. (reference: https://www.reddit.com/MinMed/comments/u955jv/episode_breakdown_the_hypomania_engine/)
Pseudo = fake. Not genuine.
Pseudo-hypo/mania = the hypo/mania engine is running, but it's not really an episode. The positive feedback loop has not taken hold and the "episode" can be terminated quickly if fuel is not injected into the engine.
Pseudo-hypo/mania = one (1) to three (3) days of low-grade "hypomania", with little-to-no risk of the "episode" devolving into something more serious.

to achieve pseudo, I gotta dose catalysts to blast tf off in the span of 1 day then slam the breaks hard for the next 1-3 days.
How do I induce pseudo/blast tf off? I jump-start the 'hypo/manic engine' by injecting the proper brain chemicals (catalysts).
The catalysts I typically dose are as follows:

• caffeine
• calorie deprivation
• sugar
• pot
• sleep deprivation
• stress
• excitement
• love (giving, not receiving...receiving love is an inhibitor)

​
The ritual to induce pseudo takes me one (1) single day. At the end of the day, I am fucked up. I am not in pseudo-hypo/mania at the end of the day, I'm just "high" or "drugged" or whatever. Pseudo-hypo/mania is what happens on the following couple days.
I rarely dose all the catalysts in a single day. That would be overkill and possibly induce real-hypo/mania. I dose myself accordingly. Took a ton of trial and error to figure out what "accordingly" meant.
The first step of my 'pseudo induction ritual' is to assess the abstract catalysts. Stress & excitement. Those are not something I can 'dose at will'. Those are catalysts I need to be aware of, so I can adjust the dose of the rest of my catalysts "accordingly".

note: I was once hit with a 'huge fuckin spike of excitement' after dosing all my other catalysts for the day. The result was MANIA. An episode that lasted about a month.
This shit is dangerous bruh. Playing with your head like I do is not advisable [/hubris]

​
Caffine
Four (4) to eight (8) cups of coffee (or shots of espresso) throughout the day. Starting at like 10am and ending at like 7pm. Ten (10) cups/shots is def too much and will result in a panic attack.
Do not drink caffeine ever, unless I'm trying to induce. Reduce tolerance to a minimum.
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Calorie deprivation
Eat 'just enough to not be uncomfortable' from when I wake until midnight. Like 1000 calories max. The caffeine helps to curb appetite. Not advisable to consume caffeine on an empty stomach (cuz ulcers).
Avoid fatty protein when inducing.
​
Sugar
When midnight hits, slam sugar into my face. Sour patch kids ftw.
​
Pot
Starting at about 10pm, smoke 3-5 hits at a time spaced out by 2-3 or so hours per session. Continue smoking till like 4 or 6 or 8 am.
​
Sleep deprivation
Def less than 4 hours of sleep. Often 0 hours of sleep. Get at least 2 hours of "meditation" in if getting 0 hours of sleep.
​
Stress & excitement
Be aware. It's possible to dose these to an extent
​
THE DAYS FOLLOWING THE INDUCTION RITUAL
If all goes according to plan, I wake up from my "sleep" or "meditation" or whatever slightly high and slightly wired. The "high"/"wired" shit or whatever will wear off by like 10am and after that I'm in pseudo.
The key to managing pseudo is to understand that if I push it I will likely enter a real episode. I take a nap the day after if I can. I avoid caffeine and other catalysts. I eat as much as I can, especially fatty protein. I go to sleep on time and get at least 8 hours. etc etc. I ensure there are checks on my behavior...my wife knows me & my head quite well and she knows to speak up if she sees something that could possibly be worrisome.
I've found that the biggest factor determing how long pseudo lasts is 'where I am in my refractory period'. If I've been in a real episode recently, pseudo will usually not last as long. If it's been a year or two since my last real episode, pseudo will last 2 or 3 days. ...if it's been a year or two since my last real episode, the danger of devolving into a real episode is greater.
[/hubris]
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dooood. I've written out & rewritten a form of this post like 30+ times. It typically devolves into disclaimers and clarifications. Fuckin, I do not wanna be responsible for someone with 'a propensity for mania' doin some stupid shit.
disclaimer: if you try to do the shit I did, you're gonna fuck some shit up. I fucked up a ton. I have an expansive safety net. I am #privilaged. Don't do what I did unless you are well prepared to fuck some shit up, like your life.
[/hubris]
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for anyone paying attention to my account: sorry bruh. I've been afk like a motherfucker this past year+. I'm focusing my attention on my family and my QoL has gone way up cuz of it. I've stopped inducing pseudo and fuckin with my head. I've stopped smoking pot. ...the lack of pot is likely a big driver with me writing less. This shit's less fun on a sober mind and feels more like work, ya know?
I will finish my guide eventually, but right now I got a toddler and raising him right ranks higher than anything else for me.
I expect I'll hit a real hypo/manic episode sometime in the next year or two...I'll likely be writing a bunch, focused on my guide, when that happens. Till then, I'm prolly gonna be mostly afk.

Because lately, I'm seeing people claiming that we're all going to die within this decade:

Experts are warning AI could lead to human extinction. Are we taking it seriously enough?
Human extinction.
Think about that for a second. Really think about it. The erasure of the human race from planet Earth.
That is what top industry leaders are frantically sounding the alarm about. These technologists and academics keep smashing the red panic button, doing everything they can to warn about the potential dangers artificial intelligence poses to the very existence of civilization.
On Tuesday, hundreds of top AI scientists, researchers, and others — including OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Google DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis — again voiced deep concern for the future of humanity, signing a one-sentence open letter to the public that aimed to put the risks the rapidly advancing technology carries with it in unmistakable terms.
“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” said the letter, signed by many of the industry’s most respected figures.
It doesn’t get more straightforward and urgent than that. These industry leaders are quite literally warning that the impending AI revolution should be taken as seriously as the threat of nuclear war. They are pleading for policymakers to erect some guardrails and establish baseline regulations to defang the primitive technology before it is too late.
Dan Hendrycks, the executive director of the Center for AI Safety, called the situation “reminiscent of atomic scientists issuing warnings about the very technologies they’ve created. As Robert Oppenheimer noted, ‘We knew the world would not be the same.’”
“There are many ‘important and urgent risks from AI,’ not just the risk of extinction; for example, systemic bias, misinformation, malicious use, cyberattacks, and weaponization,” Hendrycks continued. “These are all important risks that need to be addressed.”
And yet, it seems that the dire message these experts are desperately trying to send the public isn’t cutting through the noise of everyday life. AI experts might be sounding the alarm, but the level of trepidation — and in some cases sheer terror — they harbor about the technology is not being echoed with similar urgency by the news media to the masses.
Instead, broadly speaking, news organizations treated Tuesday’s letter — like all of the other warnings we have seen in recent months — as just another headline, mixed in with a garden variety of stories. Some major news organizations didn’t even feature an article about the chilling warning on their website’s homepages.
To some extent, it feels eerily reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic, before the widespread panic and the shutdowns and the overloaded emergency rooms. Newsrooms kept an eye on the rising threat that the virus posed, publishing stories about it slowly spreading across the world. But by the time the serious nature of the virus was fully recognized and fused into the very essence in which it was covered, it had already effectively upended the world.
History risks repeating itself with AI, with even higher stakes. Yes, news organizations are covering the developing technology. But there has been a considerable lack of urgency surrounding the issue given the open possibility of planetary peril.
Perhaps that is because it can be difficult to come to terms with the notion that a Hollywood-style science fiction apocalypse can become reality, that advancing computer technology might reach escape velocity and decimate humans from existence. It is, however, precisely what the world’s most leading experts are warning could happen.
It is much easier to avoid uncomfortable realities, pushing them from the forefront into the background and hoping that issues simply resolve themselves with time. But often they don’t — and it seems unlikely that the growing concerns pertaining to AI will resolve themselves. In fact, it’s far more likely that with the breakneck pace in which the technology is developing, the concerns will actually become more apparent with time.
As Cynthia Rudin, a computer science professor and AI researcher at Duke University, told CNN on Tuesday: “Do we really need more evidence that AI’s negative impact could be as big as nuclear war?”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/30/media/artificial-intelligence-warning-reliable-sources/index.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThere%20are%20many%20'important%20and,that%20need%20to%20be%20addressed.%E2%80%9D

Pausing AI Developments Isn't Enough. We Need to Shut it All Down
BY ELIEZER YUDKOWSKY MARCH 29, 2023 6:01 PM EDT
Yudkowsky is a decision theorist from the U.S. and leads research at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. He's been working on aligning Artificial General Intelligence since 2001 and is widely regarded as a founder of the field.
An open letter published today calls for “all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.”
This 6-month moratorium would be better than no moratorium. I have respect for everyone who stepped up and signed it. It’s an improvement on the margin.
I refrained from signing because I think the letter is understating the seriousness of the situation and asking for too little to solve it.
The key issue is not “human-competitive” intelligence (as the open letter puts it); it’s what happens after AI gets to smarter-than-human intelligence. Key thresholds there may not be obvious, we definitely can’t calculate in advance what happens when, and it currently seems imaginable that a research lab would cross critical lines without noticing.
Many researchers steeped in these issues, including myself, expect that the most likely result of building a superhumanly smart AI, under anything remotely like the current circumstances, is that literally everyone on Earth will die. Not as in “maybe possibly some remote chance,” but as in “that is the obvious thing that would happen.” It’s not that you can’t, in principle, survive creating something much smarter than you; it’s that it would require precision and preparation and new scientific insights, and probably not having AI systems composed of giant inscrutable arrays of fractional numbers.
Without that precision and preparation, the most likely outcome is AI that does not do what we want, and does not care for us nor for sentient life in general. That kind of caring is something that could in principle be imbued into an AI but we are not ready and do not currently know how.
Absent that caring, we get “the AI does not love you, nor does it hate you, and you are made of atoms it can use for something else.”
The likely result of humanity facing down an opposed superhuman intelligence is a total loss. Valid metaphors include “a 10-year-old trying to play chess against Stockfish 15”, “the 11th century trying to fight the 21st century,” and “Australopithecus trying to fight Homo sapiens“.
To visualize a hostile superhuman AI, don’t imagine a lifeless book-smart thinker dwelling inside the internet and sending ill-intentioned emails. Visualize an entire alien civilization, thinking at millions of times human speeds, initially confined to computers—in a world of creatures that are, from its perspective, very stupid and very slow. A sufficiently intelligent AI won’t stay confined to computers for long. In today’s world you can email DNA strings to laboratories that will produce proteins on demand, allowing an AI initially confined to the internet to build artificial life forms or bootstrap straight to postbiological molecular manufacturing.
If somebody builds a too-powerful AI, under present conditions, I expect that every single member of the human species and all biological life on Earth dies shortly thereafter.
There’s no proposed plan for how we could do any such thing and survive. OpenAI’s openly declared intention is to make some future AI do our AI alignment homework. Just hearing that this is the plan ought to be enough to get any sensible person to panic. The other leading AI lab, DeepMind, has no plan at all.
An aside: None of this danger depends on whether or not AIs are or can be conscious; it’s intrinsic to the notion of powerful cognitive systems that optimize hard and calculate outputs that meet sufficiently complicated outcome criteria. With that said, I’d be remiss in my moral duties as a human if I didn’t also mention that we have no idea how to determine whether AI systems are aware of themselves—since we have no idea how to decode anything that goes on in the giant inscrutable arrays—and therefore we may at some point inadvertently create digital minds which are truly conscious and ought to have rights and shouldn’t be owned.
The rule that most people aware of these issues would have endorsed 50 years earlier, was that if an AI system can speak fluently and says it’s self-aware and demands human rights, that ought to be a hard stop on people just casually owning that AI and using it past that point. We already blew past that old line in the sand. And that was probably correct; I agree that current AIs are probably just imitating talk of self-awareness from their training data. But I mark that, with how little insight we have into these systems’ internals, we do not actually know.
If that’s our state of ignorance for GPT-4, and GPT-5 is the same size of giant capability step as from GPT-3 to GPT-4, I think we’ll no longer be able to justifiably say “probably not self-aware” if we let people make GPT-5s. It’ll just be “I don’t know; nobody knows.” If you can’t be sure whether you’re creating a self-aware AI, this is alarming not just because of the moral implications of the “self-aware” part, but because being unsure means you have no idea what you are doing and that is dangerous and you should stop.
On Feb. 7, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, publicly gloated that the new Bing would make Google “come out and show that they can dance.” “I want people to know that we made them dance,” he said.
This is not how the CEO of Microsoft talks in a sane world. It shows an overwhelming gap between how seriously we are taking the problem, and how seriously we needed to take the problem starting 30 years ago.
We are not going to bridge that gap in six months.
It took more than 60 years between when the notion of Artificial Intelligence was first proposed and studied, and for us to reach today’s capabilities. Solving safety of superhuman intelligence—not perfect safety, safety in the sense of “not killing literally everyone”—could very reasonably take at least half that long. And the thing about trying this with superhuman intelligence is that if you get that wrong on the first try, you do not get to learn from your mistakes, because you are dead. Humanity does not learn from the mistake and dust itself off and try again, as in other challenges we’ve overcome in our history, because we are all gone.
Trying to get anything right on the first really critical try is an extraordinary ask, in science and in engineering. We are not coming in with anything like the approach that would be required to do it successfully. If we held anything in the nascent field of Artificial General Intelligence to the lesser standards of engineering rigor that apply to a bridge meant to carry a couple of thousand cars, the entire field would be shut down tomorrow.
We are not prepared. We are not on course to be prepared in any reasonable time window. There is no plan. Progress in AI capabilities is running vastly, vastly ahead of progress in AI alignment or even progress in understanding what the hell is going on inside those systems. If we actually do this, we are all going to die.
Many researchers working on these systems think that we’re plunging toward a catastrophe, with more of them daring to say it in private than in public; but they think that they can’t unilaterally stop the forward plunge, that others will go on even if they personally quit their jobs. And so they all think they might as well keep going. This is a stupid state of affairs, and an undignified way for Earth to die, and the rest of humanity ought to step in at this point and help the industry solve its collective action problem.
Some of my friends have recently reported to me that when people outside the AI industry hear about extinction risk from Artificial General Intelligence for the first time, their reaction is “maybe we should not build AGI, then.”
Hearing this gave me a tiny flash of hope, because it’s a simpler, more sensible, and frankly saner reaction than I’ve been hearing over the last 20 years of trying to get anyone in the industry to take things seriously. Anyone talking that sanely deserves to hear how bad the situation actually is, and not be told that a six-month moratorium is going to fix it.
On March 16, my partner sent me this email. (She later gave me permission to excerpt it here.)
“Nina lost a tooth! In the usual way that children do, not out of carelessness! Seeing GPT4 blow away those standardized tests on the same day that Nina hit a childhood milestone brought an emotional surge that swept me off my feet for a minute. It’s all going too fast. I worry that sharing this will heighten your own grief, but I’d rather be known to you than for each of us to suffer alone.”
When the insider conversation is about the grief of seeing your daughter lose her first tooth, and thinking she’s not going to get a chance to grow up, I believe we are past the point of playing political chess about a six-month moratorium.
If there was a plan for Earth to survive, if only we passed a six-month moratorium, I would back that plan. There isn’t any such plan.
Here’s what would actually need to be done:
The moratorium on new large training runs needs to be indefinite and worldwide. There can be no exceptions, including for governments or militaries. If the policy starts with the U.S., then China needs to see that the U.S. is not seeking an advantage but rather trying to prevent a horrifically dangerous technology which can have no true owner and which will kill everyone in the U.S. and in China and on Earth. If I had infinite freedom to write laws, I might carve out a single exception for AIs being trained solely to solve problems in biology and biotechnology, not trained on text from the internet, and not to the level where they start talking or planning; but if that was remotely complicating the issue I would immediately jettison that proposal and say to just shut it all down.
Shut down all the large GPU clusters (the large computer farms where the most powerful AIs are refined). Shut down all the large training runs. Put a ceiling on how much computing power anyone is allowed to use in training an AI system, and move it downward over the coming years to compensate for more efficient training algorithms. No exceptions for governments and militaries. Make immediate multinational agreements to prevent the prohibited activities from moving elsewhere. Track all GPUs sold. If intelligence says that a country outside the agreement is building a GPU cluster, be less scared of a shooting conflict between nations than of the moratorium being violated; be willing to destroy a rogue datacenter by airstrike.
Frame nothing as a conflict between national interests, have it clear that anyone talking of arms races is a fool. That we all live or die as one, in this, is not a policy but a fact of nature. Make it explicit in international diplomacy that preventing AI extinction scenarios is considered a priority above preventing a full nuclear exchange, and that allied nuclear countries are willing to run some risk of nuclear exchange if that’s what it takes to reduce the risk of large AI training runs.
That’s the kind of policy change that would cause my partner and I to hold each other, and say to each other that a miracle happened, and now there’s a chance that maybe Nina will live. The sane people hearing about this for the first time and sensibly saying “maybe we should not” deserve to hear, honestly, what it would take to have that happen. And when your policy ask is that large, the only way it goes through is if policymakers realize that if they conduct business as usual, and do what’s politically easy, that means their own kids are going to die too.
Shut it all down.
We are not ready. We are not on track to be significantly readier in the foreseeable future. If we go ahead on this everyone will die, including children who did not choose this and did not do anything wrong.
Shut it down.

https://time.com/6266923/ai-eliezer-yudkowsky-open-letter-not-enough/

I fully expect to die in the AI apocalypse in 5-10 years, and I'll be surprised by happy if I don't.

https://old.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/134g9zp/one_of_the_creators_of_chatgpt_said_that_the/jifgp46/?context=3

People are going to say no because it would be inconvenient, but I don't see what's stopping AI from ending all life in the next couple of years. Alignment is an unsolved problem, and an unaligned AI will most likely try to kill anything it sees as a threat to its mission.

https://old.reddit.com/artificial/comments/13xsbnt/is_ai_going_to_cause_the_complete_extinction_of/jmjzpmo/?context=3

Yes, AI will probably cause human extinction in the next decade. Paul Christiano, former senior employee of OpenAI, said that there is 20% chance that AI causes human extinction. Eliezer Yudkowsky, major contributor to AI safety and development, thinks it is 99%.

https://old.reddit.com/artificial/comments/13xsbnt/is_ai_going_to_cause_the_complete_extinction_of/jms84rb/

I am trying actually! I organized a picket outside OpenAI's HQ in May, before the Extinction statement.
You can search Eliezer Yudkowsky podcasts on youtube, or his blog. The podcast i recommend is Bankless one.
He says that our death is the most likely outcome from AI, and is now living off his life, like it is his last years.

https://old.reddit.com/artificial/comments/13xsbnt/is_ai_going_to_cause_the_complete_extinction_of/jmsqj28/
Based on these, it seems like we're far more likely to go completely extinct than we did before with AI, COVID-19, nuclear weapons, and so on. None of those existed during Medieval Era, so maybe we should've never left that era.
Thoughts on these?

Mihawk with the Demon's Eye, one of the 7 Warlords of the Sea, has a swordsmanship that exceeds Red Hair from the Four Emperors!!
So let's look at this description of Mihawk for a minute. It says "Mihawk with the Demon eyes". I believe after reading 1085 that this no doubt has a connection to Imu. I believe Mihawk was just a regular kid born with the same eyes Imu has. A very rare trait. Mihawks eyes are red just like Imus. I believe these eyes give the users a very pronounced eyesight and or attunement to observation haki.
Imu for example was able to detect and identify Wapol spying on him from a mere crack in the wall amidst the heat of combat. Imu was also able to react to a complete surprise attack from Sabo using one of his strongest attacks. Mihawk is self explanatory we've seen his eyesight alone being able to detect and see Gear 2 Luffy. It's widely speculated he gave Gear 2 Luffy a vision of the future to see if he'd react appropriately to being cut via Observation Haki.
Due to Mihawks unique eyes I believe this put a huge target on his back once the government became aware of his existence as a swordsman. I believe they became aware of Mihawk because he manifested a blackblade at a supremely early age. I believe this was ultimately due to his eyes allowing him to see things like Haki in a much more clear way, which allowed him to understand Yoru to such a degree that he was able to turn it into a blackblade. The government then sent untold amounts of Marines after Mihawk and it slaughtered all of them. Notice how i said it and not he....Contrary to Mihawks demeanor and eyes I don't believe he ever desired combat however after developing his blackblade. This all changed.
It has been said that Yoru knows no restraint. It lusts for bloodshed no differently than something like Enma. And I believe that Mihawk truly didn't intend to kill so many Marines because his demeanor and actions combined with his statement that he wants to live a life of peace would suggest he doesn't favor needless violence or he simply believes killing the weak is a waste of time.
However Yoru on the other hand doesn't care what it is. It wants bloodshed. So Mihawk has to use a lot of his own power to simply hold Yoru back to stop it from just annihilating everything and everyone in its path. I believe when the Government or Marines were after Mihawk, Mihawk was still struggling to control Yoru. So this lead to countless deaths. I believe Mihawk in remembrance to all these deaths is the reason why he became a solo pirate. His sword was simply too dangerous for him to be around those he cared about. His ship being a coffin I believe also meant to represent the bloodshed and fallen enemies that were largely comitted by Yoru. His home being an abandoned kingdom that fell to this bloodshed as well is meant for him to hide out in. This unprovoked attention caught Shanks's eye. And Shanks being the madman that he is likely tried dozens of times to recruit Mihawk but obviously Mihawk declined and the two would instead fight. It was when these battles took place Mihawk was dubbed the strongest swordsman as it's implied Mihawk got the better of Shanks and the Marines/Government witnessing these fights are what caused the notoriety of the two to go up. Shanks being the one closest to Rodger and Mihawk beating him would be enough to warrant the title of woelds strongest swordsman. I forget where but something along the lines has been said that these battles were so fierce they were felt across the Grand Line.
This is why in Marineford Mihawk explains his sword knows no restraint. During Marineford Mihawk didn't use any of his own power apart from the eyesight and or potential use of onservation haki. He simply released the restraints he placed on his sword. Mihawk simply let his sword put in all the work at Marineford. He didn't put any of his own power into it. Which is scary as all hell when you think about it.
TLDR

So in short I believe Mihawk was born with a natural gift and that Imu was also born with this same gift however this lead to Mihawk being the greatest swordsman because that's what Mihawks upbringing was. He likely grew up no different than Zoro in a household/environment that favors swordsmanship. This however caught the Governmenrs attention and likely caused his fellow peers growing up to fear and or hate Mihawk which lead to his overwhelming solitude due to his gift allowing him to achieve a blackblade. The struggling to control this blade I believe resulted in the deaths of countless Marines. Hence why he was dubbed "The Marine Hunter". And how Shanks eventually came know about him. Despite all of this Mihawk never let his dream of becoming the best swordsman stop due to these circumstances.

Hey friends! So, my group is playing a VERY homebrewed RotF campaign. Same basic structure, but running it for much higher level ending and many other political aspects to it. My group just defeated Xardarok and the Chardalyn Dragon took off right as combat started. The group has found they will have access to an airship they will have to take at least an hour to repair. After the airship is repaired, the group plans to use it to fight against the Chardalyn Dragon, and take on invading duergar forces who are attacking alongside the dragon.
The group knows the path of the dragon and we're able to adjust it within some parameters. Their path is basically a clockwise journey starting in Bryn Shander and dougans hole, and ending in Goodmead. The group is the local government at this point for goodmead, and they have done a bunch to improve the town. They also would like to attack the dragon at least once along the way and save who they can.
My party is made of 5 level 10 players. There is a wizard, rogue, barb/druid, and Ranger. They will be riding a 30x20ft airship around icewind dale in the midst of a large scale duergar incursion. It will take several hours to arrive at 10 towns, and hours of travel catching up to the dragon and stopping by towns. There are enemy airships, gyrocopters, and tank like vehicles transporting duergar to all ten towns to attack. The airship will likely have a mounted weapon and possibly an npc pilot.
Here is where I need advice. What are the sights, problems, activities, and enemies encountered during this flying time. I will be doing several encounters as well as a skill challenge or two. I have a lot of ideas but always like to ask for more advice. Some ideas I have so far are....
-Fighting enemy patrols to lessen damage to towns -Saving people on the road. -Laying traps for patrols -The ship slows as it gets more damaged, making players decide carefully when and where to attack or intervene. -Fighting air combat between dog fighter like gyrocopters and slower airships. -limited space and weight capacity on the airship willl limit who can be physically rescued. -Important people in distress in each town can provide bonuses if rescued, but exposes ship to attack and uses time.
I have others, but this is the kind of tone I am going for. I love dilemmas with two bad outcomes more than problems with a single answer. This campaign has been all about consequences and choices, and I'd love some ideas that emphasize that. Also, any 'cutscene' sights seen as ten towns burns.
Thank you all in advance! I am always amazed by the ideas i get from reddit.

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Marc gave it another go. He tipped his hand forward. The silver patty rolled off him, dropping toward the cave floor.
It stopped short of hitting the path. The shiny disc halted in the air, dangling at the end of a thin white line.
He watched the small wheel spin. It might have been the most fun he’d had all year. Even more fun than that mud puddle he’d found the other day.
How does it keep going? Marc thought to himself. And without any power??
Marc assumed the disc was some sort of technological marvel from the past. But the Archives had little information on it, only a name. It was called a “yo-yo.”
They all must have had one of these, he posited.
As Marc walked down the stone ramp, he cast the yo-yo again. The toy’s quiet spin was the only sound in the cavern. The soft hiss of string versus metal reverberated gently in the spacious cave.
Marc focused all his attention on the little gadget. He was determined to enjoy every last minute of the universe, no matter what. And that evening, the yo-yo more than accomplished that goal.
The shimmering yo-yo, however, couldn’t prevent the world around him from crumbling. The ground started to rumble. The rest of the cave shook with it. The underground city shook as the plasma storm above battered it—and the rest of the planet.
Marc’s home broke down. Cracks appeared in the ceiling. Waterfalls of dust poured out of them. It wouldn't be long before the whole thing collapsed. That is, if the plasma storm didn’t swallow it whole first.
Whatever.
A few clumps of dirt wouldn’t ruin Marc’s fun. He pulled the hood of his shawl over his head and extended his ragged sleeves toward each hand. His clothes shielded him from the falling dust; the gritty particles made themselves at home on his messy shawl. And Marc was free to perfect his newest trick.
The rumbling died down though as Marc descended the ramp. The yo-yo string didn’t wobble so much, and he didn't have to watch his steps as carefully. He just hoped the quaking wouldn’t come back to ruin his event.
Speaking of which, Marc glanced ahead toward his destination below. What he saw rocked him even harder than the earthquake had.
What in the sinkpits…?
Marc stopped in his tracks. He even started to reach for his knife. All because he’d detected a speck of something suspicious. Something he didn't see much of every day: color.
Showy landmarks weren’t something endemic to his home. The Outpost was more of a dusty gray-and-brown sort of place. The walls were sandstone. The floor was sandstone. And the ceiling? …Granite?
No, sandstone. All under the faint glow of a string of depressed lightbulbs.
The intriguing blip in the gray-and-tan collage was farther up the path. Ahead of the ramp, on Level 8, Marc saw the same three steel doors he was used to seeing. The front doors of underground homes, lined up in a row, each closed into the cave wall.
However, there was something different about the third door. It looked… alive. Like it didn’t belong in a dreary place like the Outpost. But it was too far away to tell what exactly had been done to it.
Marc squinted at it suspiciously. The third door happened to be his destination. And now it was weird.
He considered waiting and observing the mutated door. A child of the Outpost, Marc had developed a healthy fear of the unusual.
These habits, along with his instincts, kept him safe. They’d specifically preserved him while the rest of humanity perished.
But he shrugged off the instinct to wait. Something new and “different” was ahead, and he wanted to see it.
But just as a precaution, it was time for his yo-yo’s last trick. He got in one final throw then placed the toy into his satchel. He dropped it on top of his arsenal of cables, wrenches, and screwdrivers.
And by the time he’d snapped the satchel shut, the long ramp had bottomed out. He’d made it to the next level.
To his left, the wall had been spray-painted. Scrawled-out black letters stood against the sandy background. They stated, “Now Level 8.”
Marc followed the sign. He stayed close to the wall, crossing to the stone pedestrian path. He passed one untouched steel door with a dusted-over mail slot in the wall beside it. Then he passed a second home—abandoned like the first. And finally, he arrived at his friend’s place and the mysterious blip on Level 8.
To his surprise, the steel door elicited a flush of emotion. His heart floated upward. And the portrait before him drew his focus in like an otherworldly beacon.
How did it get so…?
Marc pulled back his hood. The ground popped with the sandy grains he released.
He could hardly believe the difference. The door used to blend in with the others: another ridged steel face that spent most of its time rusting or collecting dirt.
But it was no longer muffled by the dust and dirt that had built up over the years.
Today, it sung. Paint streaks flew across its visage. They swirled and spiraled, forming stars and other shapes. Where previously gray and rust dominated, colors sprang forth—colors that Marc didn't even have the names for. They were many, and they were warm, like the evening sky just after sunset. Marc could hardly wrap his head around the entire image.
He swelled with gratitude.
Only you could have pulled this off. He thought of his friend, the painter. The one person in the colony who’d ever been any fun. The one other person in the colony who was left…
The artist had done the unthinkable. Foraging the garden below for something other than food. Spending work time measuring and concocting the perfect blends of paint. And then slathering their fingers across the giant door, until its old face was but a memory. And all that effort for only a single other person to appreciate.
Newly inspired, Marc searched for an unpainted space on the metal canvas. He found one and knocked on the door.
He took a step back and waited. The outside of the Outpost was lively. Excited wind rushed through the canyon.
By contrast, the Outpost itself was silent. If there was anyone left to say anything, they may have even called it “dead.”
Or nearly dead, anyway. The last morsel of it came to life as the door in front of Marc groaned.
It floated off the ground, inching upward. On the other side, Marc could hear a hand crank clicking away.
Ktch… ktch… ktch… ktch…
The corrugated door lifted, and the door rolled up. The tip of the artist’s painting started to slip from view.
Ktch… ktch… ktch… ktch…
Behind the door, chains reeled at a slow clip. The heavy curtain was halfway up. Marc could now see his best friend's lower half. Buff Lenorkian legs pumped back and forth with each crank.
The door unveiled even more of the owner. A torso in a metal suit appeared. Four ripped arms stretched out of it. They rotated, moving to the clicking beats of the door.
Ktch… ktch… ktch… ktch…
The door raised a few inches further, uncovering the bottom half of a cobalt blue face. Two rows of razor-sharp teeth smiled from ear to ear. A few inches more, and Marc could see the whole of the Lenorkian’s face.
Sid greeted Marc as the last of the door raised.
“Finally!” he said.
Marc didn’t get a chance to respond. His body lurched forward involuntarily. He slammed into Sid’s metal suit.
Crrrrrick!
The armor squealed as Sid’s upper two arms squeezed him tighter. The lower set of arms had reeled Marc in.
Marc hated hugs. Stupid mushy emotional wraparounds. But just this one final time, Marc returned the gesture. He squeezed Sid back.
“Happy Worlds’ End!” Sid said from the other side of the embrace.
“Yeah,” Marc replied, “Happy Worlds’ End.”
The two separated.
“Cool painting, by the way,” Marc said. He pointed at the rolled-up door. “I didn’t think you’d top the one in the garden.”
“You think so?” Sid sheepishly smiled. “Well I’ve had more time to practice since… you know.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Marc said. “Me too. That’s how I actually got you something.”
Marc swung his heavy satchel around. He rifled through it, squeezing through cables, knocking handles and parts out of the way. And then—ah.
He fished out a crumpled rag. Holding it in one hand, he began to gently unfold it.
“I found this a few days ago in the garden,” he said. The edges of the cloth fell. They revealed a small, glass object. It sparkled.
Marc continued, “I think it fits your style—I mean, I know it’s a little smudged and chipped but...”
He swirled the crystal trinket around. The cavern’s incandescent light flittered across its clear edges.
He touched it too, tracing the slender portion of it with his thumb. It was the neck of the crystal swan.
“It’s yours,” Marc said, offering up the bird.
Sid cupped two shovel-sized hands and accepted the gift.
“It’s beautiful…” he said, examining it. “I can’t believe anything like this could have survived this long.” He looked up at Marc and smiled, “Thank you so much. I just wish I had a little longer to could enjoy it.”
They chuckled lightly about their impending obliteration.
“Well, come on in,” Sid said. He extended both of his left arms. They gestured toward the cave interior. “We’ll finish off this universe how it started,” he said. He mashed his upper two fists together. “With a bang!”
“I hear that!” Marc nodded. He crossed over into Sid’s house.
As Marc passed Sid, a wave of discomfort hit him. Sid had switched out his usual t-shirt and jeans. He wore old armor instead. And the metal plating taunted Marc.
Marc’s next question came out more accusatory than curious.
“So… a Lenorkian throwback, huh?” he asked Sid.
Sid had just finished finding the perfect home for his swan. He left it on a shelf next to the front door.
He turned to face Marc. He hid his embarrassment behind a jagged smile.
“Oh!” he said. “Uhhh…” Three of Sid’s arms disappeared behind his back. The cone-shaped cuffs at the end of each wrist clanked against the back of his chest armor. The fourth arm nervously scratched his blue head. “I don’t know,” he said. “It's stupid, I guess. I can take it off… if you want.”
Marc didn’t want to address the topic head-on. He stopped in the cave’s entry. He pretended to admire the walls—as if he’d never seen sandstone before.
“No, leave it on,” he said. “You look… like a true Lenorkian.” He turn around and forced a smile.
It wasn’t enough.
“Okay, let’s get this out of the way,” Sid said. He marched up to Marc.
Sid took a deep breath before he spoke.
“Tonight's really important to me,” he continued. “This is the last impression anyone’s going to make on the universe. So I need you on board.” He continued staring down at Marc. “Can you do that? For me?”
Marc didn’t see what the big deal was. It was just a couple of best friends hanging out.
“Yeah, why not?” he shrugged. “End it the way it started.”
The exchange turned into awkward silence. Neither knew what to do next. They had never been in a situation like this before—never attended such an event. What the Archives called: a par-ty.
Sid shook off the figurative mask he’d been wearing—one that was uncharacteristically dour. His eyes lightened, and he bobbed his head knowingly.
“I went through the Archives to see how this works,” he said. He walked toward the long horizontal counter against the wall—the kitchen.
On the counter, chaos ran wild. Bowls and kitchenware spread across the surface. And the insides of his pots and pans resembled the dirty mouth of a garbage chute.
Marc wasn’t sure what to think. Was cleaning the host’s kitchen a staple of ancient parties?
Sid too seemed a bit confused. His next words came out robotically, as if he was practicing a new word he’d learned.
“’Can-I-offer-you-a-drink?’” Sid asked. He stood nervously in front of the counter.
Looking closer at it, three unusual objects stood apart from the kitchenware mess. It took Marc a while to remember what their outdated, bendy material was called.
Plastic. Three pink and plastic cups sat equidistant from one another.
“I got these from here,” Sid reached under the counter and pulled up some sort of transparent bag. Pink cups just liked the others were stacked on top of each other inside.
Sid packed the bag back under the counter.
“So?” he asked after he finished. He held all four hands together in anticipation. His smile may have looked like an industrial-grade rock shredder, but it was hard to resist his innocent blue face and big wide eyes.
Marc eyed the pink cups one last time.
“This better not kill me,” he said.
Sid wasted no time. He excitedly grabbed a cup and walked over to a large pot sitting on the counter.
Using a nearby ladle, he plunged into the vat. An unappetizing sloshing sound resulted. And Sid, as strong as he was, seemed to struggle with scooping out some of the mystery liquid. But in the end, he pulled back the ladle and unloaded an opaque, muddy liquid into the cup.
“It's a homeworld classic called fludge,” Sid said as he finished pouring.
He treaded over to his reluctant friend and handed off the plastic cup.
“Did you say ‘fludge’?” Marc asked. He swished the cup around cautiously. The earthy liquid hardly budged.
“Yeah, fludge! Us Lenorkians invented it. It’s kind of the only tasty thing we ever bothered to make.”
Marc sniffed it. It smelled… burnt? Maybe a little dusty, too? But he could have just been smelling the cave.
Sid left Marc alone with Marc’s questionable new assignment. He returned to the pot to pour himself a drink.
“Just try it!” he said.
Marc looked down again at the dark soup. It could kill him. Or maybe it wouldn't.
Either way, it was his last drink.
He took a timid sip and waited to be repulsed. The fludge trickled to the back of his tongue. As it hit, Marc’s eyes widened. But not with regret.
He swallowed.
“Now wait a minute…” he said. He smacked his lips together. Then he took another, larger sip.
This curious dark liquid had a unique taste to it. The taste was earthen—but unoffending. It also had a subtle undercurrent of sweetness to it, combined with a spicy kick. It was delicious.
“This might be the best drink in the entire Outpost!” Marc exclaimed.
Pure joy bloomed on Sid’s face. “See! I told you: the greatest thing we ever made.”
He held his own cup above his open jaws. The falling fludge was no match for the alien. He guzzled it down, licked his lips, and then went back for more.
As Sid fashioned himself another drink, Marc noticed something a tad unsettling. A third pink cup stared back at him. It prompted an uncomfortable thought, but he shoved the thought back down.
The Lenorkian carried back his second drink. Though this time, he took it in small, human-sized sips.
But he quickly reanimated. In the middle of a sip, Sid got a wild look in his eyes. His irises turned from their natural violet to scarlet. He yanked the cup from his face and swallowed.
“Argh, how did I forget?” he said. “I got music!”
Marc cut his sip short too. “No way. You got music?”
“I think so!”
Sid did an about face. He slammed the half-empty cup on the counter. Then he shuffled toward a giant metal column protruding from the far wall. Four ink-blue hands wrapped around the cover of the vent. And he went for it.
Sid struggled to pull off the cover of the vent at first. His armor ballooned around his biceps as his muscles bulged outward. Yet the cover wouldn't budge.
But it seemed like an important part of his evening plans. He scolded the stubborn vent, banging on its top.
“Oh, you’re gonna get it now!” he said. He latched onto the vent again.
This time, he put even more effort in. To the point where Marc sensed that Sid was losing a grip on his own body. Out of his forehead, two thumb-sized cones began to rise. His breathing turned low and raspy. And his whole body seemed to expand as he repositioned himself for leverage. Then with one final pull, like a wild beast, he let out of a deep, guttural roar.
“HAWRRRRRRRRRRRGGH!” The roar echoed off the cave walls.
And with that, the stubborn vent cover finally popped off. A breath of wind pulsed through the room as the air pressure equalized itself.
But the wind wasn’t finished. After the initial pulse exited, a mighty gust picked up where the original pulse left off. The vent shot more wind into the room, but rapidly, like a storm. Tiny coarse particles rattled inside the duct. And in the room, a rush of wind whipped past Marc’s face. He felt little nips across his exposed skin as it passed him.
Both partiers shielded their faces from the most direct blasts of air. Sid smiled nervously as he looked to Marc. He raised his voice over the whining airstream.
“It’s from the sandplains above!” he said in an elevated voice. “I thought we’d use the sandstorm for music! Do you like it?”
Music… Marc wasn’t exactly an expert. Even though humans were said to be naturals at it, not much on the subject had made it into the Archives. The Outpost didn’t have much of it either. The closest he got was the occasional chant, stray birds twittering about, or maybe someone banging on rocks.
But Marc did know one thing on the subject. Where there was music, there was dancing.
That said, he had never danced before either. But a long time ago, his parents told him it was something all humans could do. It was something they carried in their blood. Once humans found a pattern in music, they could match it to their body language. And once they’d synced melody and movement, they could ride that wave to a whole new experience.
Might as well give it a shot, he thought. Marc too put his cup on the counter.
With his hands free, Marc backed up toward the middle of the room. He closed his eyes, felt the wind. It filled his ears with its gusty energy. It hit him in pumps as the storm raged above.
Though not totally predictable, the wind did hit him consistently. There was some sort of kinetic pattern to it.
Yes, a pattern.
Well actually, he’d heard it called by another name. What was that word his mother had used? He opened his eyes when he remembered: rhythm.
Marc stretched out his arms. He relaxed his hips. He felt the wind’s whips and waves across his arms. He let his arms follow them, swaying with the current. Not long after, his hips joined in. They too gyrated, trying to match the energetic gusts. He kept at it. And the first time Marc felt both himself and the wind moving together, he grinned.
“This is amazing!” he said. Around them, the wind crooned.
Sid was entranced. He nodded back while staring at Marc’s strange movements. He’d never really seen dancing either. But he figured he would give it a shot too. He loosened up his arms and walked onto the dance floor with Marc.
Before dancing himself, he studied Marc first. He watched how the scavenger moved his arms—and when the scavenger moved his arms.
Sid’s limbs followed. Four muscular arms rose in the air, like fighter jets on their way to a dogfight. And on a one or two second delay, they swayed after Marc’s.
For a while, they followed Marc completely. Then Sid went down his own path. The Lenorkian’s movements grew aggressive and battle-like. He punched at the wind swiping across him. He shuffled his feet as if swapping battle stances.
He caught Marc’s curiosity. Even as a novice, Marc could tell Sid’s movements weren’t traditional by any means. But to Marc, it was dancing all the same.
The two danced to the chorus of the air above. They laughed occasionally as changes in the rhythm of the wind tripped them up. In his head, Marc compared it to the painting on Sid’s door. The colony had never seen anything like this either.
Then something interrupted their dancing. The ground beneath them shook, throwing them off their feet. Heavy gray dirt trickled from the ceiling as the entire cave rumbled. And outside, the distant sky flashed and crackled. Its light illuminated the cave in violent spurts as the boys struggled to stand back up.
Eventually, the violent quaking and frightening flashes died down. The plasma storm held its breath once again.
The boys got back on their feet, but all the joy had seeped out of Sid’s face. He just stared at the floor in deep contemplation. Even as the windy music started back up.
Marc figured he would rescue his friend from whatever dark thoughts had turned up. Naturally, the end of the universe was a real bummer.
“End of the world got you down, huh?” He tried to laugh it off. The whole situation was pretty sad. Especially when they were having so much fun. But it was best to end the universe on a high note, right?
Nevertheless, Sid seemed dejected. He mumbled something inaudible.
“Dude, I can’t hear over the song!” Marc said in an elevated voice.
Sid spoke up over the wind. “That’s not what I’m upset about,” he said, his voice still fairly low.
“Then what are you upset about?”
Sid blurted out his response. “Because I invited Tōn-E, okay?”
He couldn’t bring himself to look Marc in the eye. Because he knew what was coming.
“YOU DID WHAT?!” Marc shouted over the music. Marc himself stomped over to the vent. He picked the cover off the floor—though he struggled quite a bit with it. It was heavier than Sid made it look. But he hoisted it back into the mouth of the vent. The music shut off. The steady drop of sand on the cave floor ceased.
“Say that again,” he leveled in Sid’s direction.
“What was I supposed to do?” Sid remade eye contact. “Not invite the only other intelligent being to the last party the universe will ever have?”
Marc needed no time to answer. He nodded insistently. “Yes. That was exactly what you were supposed to do. What the hell, Sid?” Marc would have continued, but there was another disturbance outside. He caught a glimpse of movement in the doorway.
--
Thanks for reading some of my words :) I’m trying stuff out, so let me know what you think.
The rest of the story is here
Based on this prompt

I dreamt that a very small red bird came to sit on my hand. Shortly thereafter, a large black bird and some kind of bobcat approached as well. It turned out they were after the red bird, so I sheltered it in my cupped palms. The black bird and the cat were relentless and pushy, so I screamed loudly to scare them. It worked, but it also scared the red bird which flew out of my hands, changing colour to blue while it fled.
It felt very symbolic, please help me interpret.

I have a very complex case of gastroparesis where meds that should speed my gut motility actually slow the motility and things like opioids speed up my motility. I couldn't believe how much better my stomach felt after being on opioids pre and post op for a different condition so I got a retest and improved my score by like 75% when on opioids?
Anyways, this is completely against conventional knowledge and even with the paperwork no GI doc would even entertain giving me opioids for gastroparesis, but my PCP isn't so freakin scared of the DEA that he just asked how much I needed (I used to work in pharmacy so I made sure the was in the clear) so I would get just 12 4mg tabs/week.
Fastforward, my PCP was telling me he was starting to get nervous because of the number he's written without going to a pain specialist which I also went to one but she said no too. So I went to one he runs in social circles and the doc literally just asked me what mg and how many pills I wanted? This is with a large practice and the furthest I bet they go now is with buperenorphine which trashes my endocrine system so I was surprised how easy it was.
However technically he gave me a UA expecting my previous doc's Dilaudid to be in my urine but it's not showing? All the other meds are popping up...is this a cutoff type urine or do you think he'll just give me another?
Thanks.

There aren’t many people on here so I thought I’d post my health bio in case anyone is looking for answers and finds my info helpful.
2003 age 22: flew to Madagascar, which was nearly 24 hours of airplanes and then we also did several boat rides, of at least an hour each. I was on an anti-malarial medication. I noticed that when I walked, it felt like the jungle was whizzing by me. I felt very weird, a bit dizzy and like my brain wasn’t keeping up with everything around me. The episode lasted about 4 weeks, and I assumed it was the anti-malarials that were doing it to me.
2008: flew to Belize. Again was taking anti-malarial medication. Again we had a lot of boat rides, including a full day of snorkeling off a small boat. I felt like I was still on the boat after I got off. That feeling lasted about 6 weeks. I saw an ENT who said maybe it could be a reaction to the anti-malarials, gave me an 8” thick medical textbook and suggested I sit in his office and look it up myself. I decided to go home and try google instead (which wasn’t nearly as robust as google today is). I felt like I was walking on a trampoline, and even when I wasn’t moving, I was still rocking.
2009: I flew to see my dad and was fine in the way there. A couple days after returning home, I felt the rocking feeling start, faintly at first and then getting stronger. It felt like I was on a boat being tossed by the sea. The feeling got stronger and stronger and I went to see a different ENT. He ordered an MRI and I had a complete sinus blockage, but he still didn’t think that explained everything. He sent me to a neurologist who laughed at me and said “well it’s not MS. I don’t know why you’re here.” For about a month, I couldn’t get out of bed; I was so exhausted and weak, and the vertigo was so strong. I had a weird g-force feeling like I was being physically pushed to one side or another. After about 8 or 9 weeks, the episode faded away. I did have a sinus surgery but only after I was better. At this point, I knew something was up. I found info about mal de Debarquement online but it was limited. It also sounded like it was something people got and had forever, not episodic like mine.
2011: triggered again but this time by a car ride. All my family lived out of town so I had to travel if I wanted to see them. Suspecting that planes were a trigger, we decided to drive from Arizona to Oregon. I got triggered and again the episode lasted 2 months. I again felt weak along with bouncing, rocking vertigo and disorientation. We decided to move to be closer to my mom and sister since traveling was clearly a trigger for me.
I went on to be triggered in 2012 by stress after a surgery (endometriosis) and in 2014 by a 1 hour ferry ride. Both times my symptoms were rocking vertigo as if I were on a boat, plus exhaustion, migraines, exercise intolerance. My labs and other tests all came back basically normal. I started seeing Dr Jeff Brown, who co-wrote the first article about MdDS, and he diagnosed me with M de Debarquement but said he was mystified by my episodes, but thought we could try Xanax and prednisone before travel next time I fly. In 2015 I got to test it out, and I flew and didn’t get triggered! I would have been thrilled except I felt there was no way to know if the preventative measures worked or if I just wouldn’t have been triggered.
In 2017 I was triggered due to a lot of stress, plus a 20 minute light rail ride downtown. I had a small lesion on my face and was diagnosed with shingles on the vestibular nerve. The episode was so intense, it felt like two layers of vertigo at once. I could feel like MdDS rocking but also a slow rotational spinning. It was completely debilitating. It lasted 2 months. I had vestibular testing done and it came back that I have endolymphatic hydrops, so Dr Brown added “atypical Ménière’s disease” to my Mal de Debarquement diagnosis.
2018: i tried the Xanax before flying again but I took too little and was triggered.
2019: flew to Panama and did not get triggered! Used about 2.5 mg Xanax for the first flight and a top off of another 1.0-1.5 mg on the second leg. Success!
2021: I got triggered on a 45 minute kayak trip. The episode lasted a year, and about 4 months in, I had the “2 layers” of vertigo again plus one 24/7 migraine for two months. I was out of work for 2.5 months. I was so weak I couldn’t walk around the block. I used to walk 5 miles for fun, and I couldn’t even walk 3 houses up the street and back.
2023: I was triggered playing a VR game (only 6 months after the previous episode faded away). So far this episode has lasted 4.5 months. I keep narrowing my life little by little. No flying? Let’s drive. No long car trips? Let’s try short trips. No short trips? Let’s try VR.
I don’t go many places anymore and I just go to work and go back home. I garden, I paint, I play with my cat. I used to not get dizzy/vertigo in the car, but now I do. I have trouble looking at screens and reading. I listen to audio books. I still have no real answers and no treatment plan. It’s been really hard.

Ok, so maybe I'm overthinking it but I don't know what to do. I know that I shouldn't self-diagnose but at this point my brain is a mix of everything.
It's been a year since I think I have ADHD. I always used to joke about it but idk anymore. My doubts started because my sister saw a video about a woman who had ADHD and told me that I could have it. I saw the video and felt so relatable of what she was saying. All of my life I've been portrayed as the distracted one as the funny one because of how forgetfull she was, but the symptoms were beyond that. I hyperfixate on things on a large period of time, I try to know everything there is about it and I put that on top of everything, I cannot watch anything that doesn't have to do with it, when I wake up that is the first thing that comes to my mind (it can be a tv show, a book or like right now manhwas) and I just spend the whole day thinking about it and feeling the anxiety until I can finally be able to get to do that thing I'm obssessed with. I also can't focus on more than one thing at a time. My attention span is a joke sometimes if I'm not interested or don't put effort on it. I procrastinate until the deadline is close or until I feel extremely guilty (I have more symptoms but I don't really remember right now).
Those are some of the things that happen to me, and its been getting worse in the past 8 months. However, all of the people I had the trust to talk to about my doubts told me things like "it happens to everyone" or "even if you do have it what is the point of getting diagnosed?" I also talked to a psychologist and she told me that since I was good at school it meant that I couldn't have it because I should have presented obstacles. So I had that obsession since I started thinking about it. I saw videos, tik toks, EVERYTHING and sometimes thought I definitely have it, and others like I don't have it because it isn't exactly like this. It's frustrating because I also started thinking that I was making it up just to be interesting, to be different than other people, which I then got mad because I know it's something that affects peoples lives and is not what I should be thinking and it goes on loop.
I recently tried to let it go, because it affected me and made me think everything that I was doing like "am I doing it just for show?" "do I do this usually or just because I think it is ADHD" "I'm pathetic because I wanted to believe I had it just to get the attention of others" So I slowly stopped thinking about it so often. However, here comes another problem.
I read about OCD and Pure O. I never considered this because they always show it as being organised and clean or do things more than once, etc. But after researching I started question if I have it, more specifically Pure O. Maybe I just had a lot of obsessive thoughts, idk. But after I read about it I wondered if I had it.
To summarise there are different types of OCD, some are contamination, intrusive thoughts, rummination, checking, etc. The one I was related to was intrusive thoughts. Now, I know everyone has intrusive thoughts sometimes. But they specifically talked about SO-OCD (sexual orientation OCD) which is when something triggers a thought about you being gay when you always thought you where straight. It's not being gay what makes you freak out, but thinking something that might change your life and how that could affect how you always thought you were, also to not bee 100% sure about it. The thing is, that happened to me. Since I was like 13 years old I spent years, still do, questioning myself about being bi. I wouldn't mind if I were, but what always bothers me and makes me fall on a loop is that I think like okay, I am, but then I think about being with a woman and it doesn't feel right, like I can't see them as more than friends, so I say maybe I'm not. But then, I'm with a girl friend and suddenly think "what if I want to kiss her" or "what if I am in love with her" and makes me feel uncomfortable at the moment, and makes me think maybe I do but then it happens with another girl friend or even with a guy friend and makes all of my interactions with them uncomfortable if I don't find a way to actually know that I don't like them like that. It is something that happens often, is just that right now is not as uncomfortable and doesnt make me panic as much as before, so I can deal with it after a time.
Another thought that made me feel misserable was TOCD (Transgender OCD) It is when you start thinking that you are trans because of a triggering thought or when you are trans you thing you might be cis. It started because I love books that have bls or manhwas that have bls, and out of nowhere a thought came "i would like to be a man" I almost spirall at that, but let it pass. Then I saw in tik tok a comment like that and in response to a tik tok someone said something like "i thought that and then I became trans" just like that I started thinking "what if I am?" "What would I do?" "but I like to wear femenine clothes"(I know that doesnt have anything to do with it but that was an argument to try to tell myself I wasnt) I cried horribly, because it was in my mind for weeks, when I forgot about it, it suddenly came all over again, I tried to think if I actually like my body, if I had body dysmorphia or not, if I felt like a man or a woman. Again, I wouldn't mind if I were, it would obviously change my life but at least it would make me feel like myself. In the end it doesnt bother me now as much, I surely doubt if I am or not, but I can always try to let it pass or try to do something to distract me. I also have more that Ive thought about and make me uncomfortable to the point of disgust and make me panic but Im just naming some to hopefully dont make this longer.
Idk what I have, because I don't know if I have Pure O or Im just psyching myself into it. My brain makes me feel like I am. And what makes me doubt is that idk if it happens to people that dont have OCD but they just dont talk about it. Because, until a few hours I thought it was normal, and because it was related with my sexuality and gender, I never opened up about it.
Sorry if it was too much. Its my first time in reddit. I just needed to vent and maybe know if its normal or if I have to talk a psychologist about it.

get ready, this is going to be a post long enough to qualify as a short story.
growing up i always had pets. when i was born we had two cats, who were relatively young, and two dogs, but both of those dogs died when i was a toddler or younger, i don't remember them. we got two more dogs, one when i was one, and another when i was four. i grew up with these animals. i loved them all very much.
when i was nine years old, my dog that we adopted when i was four died. rare disease. extremely sudden. i don't know the specifics but just that i was absolutely devastated, he was my dog, after all, i named him max, after max and ruby, because i was so little and i loved that show. all of my other pets continued to grow with me.
may 2021. one of my cat's health is declining. i am sixteen. she is twenty. june 2nd, she passes away in her sleep. i could get into more details but long story short, that was one of the worst, strongest feelings of grief i have ever experienced in my life, i cried day and night, i prayed for her to just come back, she was even in my dreams. i had never lost a cat before.
august 2021. a feral cat who refused to come inside that we had been taking care of for a year disappears. he just walked off one day and never came back. we still don't know where he went.
november 2021. my other senior cat, also twenty, the first one's twin, passes away. my mother took her to the vet and had her put down in the morning, and did not tell me until late that afternoon.
january 2022. my rabbit, adopted in 2016, has to be put down because she suddenly got an extremely aggressive cancer that was so bad she couldn't even hop anymore. we tried surgery first, it didn't work.
june 3rd 2022. my cat we adopted after our neighbors abandoned him in 2012 has to be put down due to numerous health issues. i buried him myself in our backyard.
august 2022. my dog we adopted when i was one, now seventeen, has to be put down.
six. six deaths in less than fifteen months. it's been almost a year since the last one but it is absolutely fucking haunting. in 2018 we adopted a cat, and in december 2021 we adopted two more, and we adopted a dog today. i have a dog still but he's getting old now too. sometimes when i'm with my cats i just can't help but break down imagining how one day i'll have to let them go. it's overwhelming. all the loss in such a short period of time. i genuinely would not wish this on anyone. it is not *like* losing a member of your family, it IS losing a member of your family, very literally. the trauma of all of this will undoubtedly stick with me for the rest of my life.
your pets still love you even if they're not with you physically. the bond between you is unbreakable; even death cannot stop it. i know that it's hard. but they're with you in spirit and they love you unconditionally. death is just a thing. they are the same as they always were.

Hello,
I live in a large condo community in Arizona, maybe 80 units. I recently got a violation letter in the mail for noise disturbance due to a dog. However, I don't have a dog. If there was a dog in the area making noise I wouldn't know because I was gone for about a week when that supposedly occured. I have asked to fight my case with the association and am waiting to hear back.
My question is - I am unfamiliar with this process - how does this usually go? How does one prove they don't have a dog? Surely if someone did they could just hide it.
I really don't want to have to pay a fine for a dog I don't even own and also this violates my lease (having a pet) so I may have my lease terminated and I can't afford to move elsewhere. I am also going to be charged by my property association for the letter received on top of this.
The only thing I have going for me is a plumber had to come last week for an emergency visit due to my downstairs neighbors thinking a leak was coming from my unit. So the man was inside and evidentially no dog. But it was 2 hours before he came out after the property contacted me so maybe they'll say I hid it.
Also, I think my downstairs neighbor may have a small dog - but I've never heard it bark. So maybe it did that day and there was confusion? I don't want to throw them under the bus. I checked my ring outdoor cam that day and no one came up to my door to listen for a dog or try to pinpoint it. (Unless the camera missed it)
Any advice? Also, I'm awkward and speaking in front of people gives me nearly a panic attack so I'm going to have that working against me.