FTM - 30 weeks + 1 day I was previously the breadwinner and took a lot of pride in my work. When I became pregnant my husband and I decided that I would stay home as my job took me to large commercial construction sites which made us both nervous about exposure while I am pregnant. Also, I want to be a stay-at-home mom so it is all fine and my husband is working full-time while also trying to build a side business which he has been working on since early 2020. My staying at home means that I can help take care of him, the house, and do some tasks to benefit the business like some marketing, social media work, as well as invoice tracking, and email organization. It has been a big adjustment and we are in a very tight financial place because the side business is taking longer to build than we were hoping, but of course, we have had some unforeseen house maintenance projects come up in the last few months that we were not expecting...shame on us for hoping we would have been lucky to not have to deal with that at this point in time.
All that being said, my husband is under a great amount of stress trying to work two jobs practically and make ends meet in anticipation of the baby. We have been married for 3.5 years and together for 15+ years so we have a very solid foundation. I am writing today because I am not sure how to handle this new dynamic in our relationship. About 2 years ago, my husband admitted to me that he has been battling OCD and it has become so difficult for him to deal with that he started seeking professional help. His OCD is more focused on contamination when it comes to things like blood, toxic chemicals, and disease. It really ramped up in anticipation of our pregnancy, thus the professional help. Unfortunately, this professional help did not provide my husband with the support he says he needs. In his words, he felt like they simply wanted him to just not think about his urges. He says, I cannot ignore them and they are too strong. He feels that he needs more. What that more is...I don't know. He says he doesn't need to pay someone to tell him to not think about it. He is very against taking drugs as he also has an autoimmune disorder which has him tied up in other serious medications which makes him cautious to add anything else at this time. In the last year plus he has been dealing with his OCD without professional support. He managed to hide most of his struggles from me when I was working full-time. Now that I am home, I see it with much more frequency.
Now that I am pregnant, his anxiety is kicked into overdrive. I don't know where the paternal instinct to protect me starts and where the OCD ends. For example, he doesn't like me wearing makeup, or picking up/opening Amazon packages because of potential harm to the baby. He doesn't like me to fill up the gas tank, eating fast food, anything with food dye, and only filtered water to drink or organic juices. I don't inherently disagree with a lot of these things but not to the same degree. I think limiting these things is good but I am not as worried about the occasional indulgence.
With the random house maintenance we have had to work with it spikes his anxiety. We had to have someone over to work in our attic and the fiberglass bits that came down as the repair guy went in and out of the attic stressed my husband so much that he cleaned for nearly 3 hours after everything was complete and then complained that he barely got any work done due to the distraction. The repair took less than an hour to conduct and the repair guy was contained to about a 8 foot x 4 foot space in the house.
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To top it off, we had a diagnosis of a chromosomal abnormality at 20 weeks which was a total curveball. This was VERY difficult for both of us to process but we are in a good place now and have accepted our circumstances. We are still very excited to meet our baby regardless of the diagnosis. We love him so deeply already. BUT this diagnosis only fed into his anxiety around the pregnancy and his actions around how he could have contributed to this via exposure to chemicals, autoimmune medications, etc. I should mention that we spent almost a year weening off of some of his autoimmune medications prior to getting pregnant so there should have been no risk of that contributing to any problems with my pregnancy. Also, I am not in the geriatric pregnancy category and according to all of our doctors, this abnormality is completely random and could not have been prevented or foreseen. Nonetheless, he still worries. Almost to the point where he might not want to have a 2nd baby which was always our plan and would be devastating to me. I don't think he would go that far as he goes back and forth but he says he is almost miserable with worry now that I am pregnant.
He is extremely stressed because of his workload as well. We talk about the added stress of protecting me and the baby as well as maintaining the house has him MAXED OUT. While I feel homebound and sometimes understimulated. My husband doesn't have a lot of friends especially since he works from home and we semi-recently moved to a small town so we could better afford me staying at home. I feel bad leaving to hang out with my friends (I have managed to make a few) as I think about him staying at the house alone and stewing in the stress. BUT I find that I am struggling to maintain patience during his anxiety outbursts. They cause me anxiety and I become frustrated which in turn frustrates him and makes him feel like I am not caring or soft enough. This all makes him feel more alone and of course, stressed.
My anxiety not only stems from my fear of his mental decline but also how this will play out when our son is born. He claims his anxiety is highest during pregnancy and will likely carry through to the first couple months of our son's life while he is ultra fragile but I can't help but wonder if that is hopeful thinking and I am worried it will continue. I don't want our son to carry the stress that my husband carries or at least I want to protect him from it.
I am stuck as I find some of the precautions sweet but sometimes they get on my nerves and I just wish I could go back to work and makes some money so he could stop complaining about the world of pressure on his shoulders. Now that I am SO pregnant that is not an option any time soon. And ultimately I want to be home with my son.
Am I the pregnant AH for getting frustrated at my husband for his imperfections? Or is he being unreasonable? I love him dearly and we have a wonderful bond. I am in no way interested in divorce. I just can't tell if the pregnancy hormones or my own ego is clouding my ability to support him in his time of need. Sometimes I wish he could better support my emotional needs by carrying these burdens without wearing them on his sleeves as it scares me. I don't want to be cruel and I am not perfect either but I am lost as to what the right path is. I feel like if I just listen to his fears and worries without trying to add my own logic or reason, I might be aiding in his continued battle with OCD. He thinks that I can be careless which I try not to be but I am not perfect by any means.
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Sincerely,
Maybe the pregnant AH

Dear Professor Peterson,
I realize that your schedule probably won’t allow you to read this letter, least to reply. I am not expecting either of these and will not be offended. Why do I write it, then? Well, most probably because in the past several years you have been for me the voice of reason from abroad. Too many things are going in a crazy and disastrous direction, and listening to your lectures and videos have been very inspiring. It always amazes me how deeply you investigate the problem and how thoroughly you analyze it. In many cases listening to what you say have been like hearing what I always felt was true, but could not formulate and justify it myself. Thank you for that experience.
During the past year, which not only attracted the whole world’s attention to a conflict in Ukraine (at last, I’d say, war started there in 2014), but also demonstrated the unwillingness of countries and people to hear each other, I felt the growing urge to share Russian understanding of current situation and of the events that lead to it with someone who could probably be able to hear. Your name was the first to come to my mind. I hesitated until some time ago I came across the interview that you have recorded – “Israel, Russia, China, Iran: The World in Conflict” and it actually triggered me into writing. It occurred to me that, objective as you are, you may be unaware of some facts and interpretations, partly because modern media have mastered the art of being silent about some facts while shouting about the others, partly because you were born and raised in Anglo-Saxon civilization, with all embedded ideas and principles.
A bit about my background. Master’s degree in English language and literature, spent one year as a student in Connecticut, worked in American-owned companies for 17 years. That allows me to a certain degree to understand both sets of values.
I wanted to offer for your attention the view from the other side on what’s happening now between Russia and Western European civilization. I don't say that it is correct, I just say how Russians see it.
Very briefly, just point by point:

• Currently many people in the West are speaking about Russia as about a threat. But what makes you think that we see you differently? We see you as a growing threat. We don’t trust you. And we have plenty of reason for feeling this way.
• We see the West is regularly breaking its own rules and demonstrating double standards, so we can’t rely on its words.
• It has been clearly shown to us, that we will never be accepted by the West as an equal partner, so to us the West is neither a friend, nor a partner, but a competitor at best, an enemy at worst.
• We have seen what the West does to regimes that don’t obey and how the West does it, so West is a serious threat. Don’t come any closer.

3 basic principles of western foreign policy
Looking at the international events of past 30-40 years, we may see 3 basic principles of international policy that the West is utilizing.

1. Democracy is the best possible society model.

Hard to argue – there is the strongest correlation between availability of human rights in society and its prosperity. Let’s accept it as it is, although it is much more complicated and there are other factors that should be taken into account, like, for example:

• Pure democracy is limited to small communities, and is impossible in big countries. Once a certain threshold is passed, democracy is either a burden to every decision made, or is executed via representatives. And representatives, being people with all their imperfections, gradually start spoiling and corrupting the idea.
• Democracy tends to evolve, or, I’d rather say, degrade into oligarchy. Examples are numerous. Ancient Greece and Rome, Novgorod Republic (XII-XV cc), medieval Poland, etc. Even now – with all our experience, we keep hitting the same wall. Legal practice of lobbying in USA is the desire of big money (oligarchs) to have more influence on country policy. In Russia lobbying is illegal, so the same goal is achieved by other means, but without digging deep into details, it is the same – democratic form of power, spoiled by natural human desire to grab more for oneself on the expense of others.
• The most prosperous regions now (North America, Western Europe, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Australia) are the ones where capitalism appeared and developed earlier than in other parts of the world. That boosted production, country strength and wealth and eventually allowed them to have colonies in other parts of the world. Owning some overseas land gave enormous economic advantages. Remember “British East India Company”, which at its peak of wealth had an army of 160 thousand soldiers (more than some counties had!). The importance of having colonies can be best illustrated by the simple fact – one of the core reasons of the WW I was the desire of Germany, who was late to the table, to have its share of a pie. And even though political power of metropolises over colonies seized in mid-XXth century, economic bounds stayed much longer. If, let’s say, a uranium mine in Uganda belongs to French company, then which country benefits more from it? And to what extent the modern wealth of Europe and North America is due to other parts of the world?
• I doubt that democracy and human rights priority are possible in every country of the world. This idea just occurred to me, so I did not dig deep into finding the proof, but mentality (to put it narrower – religion) could prevent the society from accepting ideas that are just natural for another society. There are some facts I immediately recall that support this idea.

a) Majority of Noble prize winners are from protestant countries. Disproportional majority if you look at country population or wealth or other factors. Why? Maybe because Protestantism urges its followers to read the Bible on their own, whereas in Catholicism you study Bible under the priest’s guidance. Encouragement for independent research must have some effect.
b) After the ancient Rome fell, and Europe lived through the Dark Ages, Arabian countries preserved much of knowledge and science. At that time Arabian East was much more cultural and civilized than Europe. What happened to them later, why they stopped developing science, how could Europe overtake them? One of the explanations is that at some point of time Muslim theologians declared that “Koran has everything”, so scientific research stopped. The legend says that under this slogan the Library of Alexandria has been burnt by Arabian conquerors.
c) There is an interesting correlation between the agricultural conditions in a certain territory and some national traits of character. That’s more than a coincidence. For example, wheat was the main crop in Europe. It doesn’t require any special irrigation, so you can well grow and harvest it alone. That means you are less dependent on other people. Hence smaller states (Germany before mid-XIX century consisted of dozens independent states), hence more independent opinions. Compare it to China. Rice requires serious irrigation works, you’ll never do it alone. In order to harvest rice, you need to organize a fairly large group of people to do a job together. And as the population grows, you need to perform those works at a larger scale, also because the easiest-to-work fields are already busy. As a result, we see that Chinese value the society more than they value an individual. A single person sacrificing his wishes for the good of the others is more acceptable for them than for Europeans.
This idea needs further thinking but it is quite possible that the liberalism and human rights developed in Western Europe to the extent we see due to a unique combination of religion, natural conditions and other factors. And it can’t be copied in other parts of the world. It can be brought to other parts of the world by immigration of people with European mentality, of course. But otherwise it can be done only by complete mentality change of local inhabitants. Not an easy task, could take generations and mean death of local culture.

1. All people are seeking freedom and democracy, so it is our duty to help them achieve this goal. If some part of the society resists this help, it is the tyrannical part and it should be eliminated.

Yeah, really. Take up the White Man's burden… This idea is not dead yet, with all its prejudices.
In some part such understanding is based on the theory that appeared in history (history as a science!) in the UK in 18th century. This theory states that the process of human society development over time is a) linear and b) goes through the same stages in every society of the planet. One of the consequences of this theory was the statement that every society started from matriarchate – researchers came across some primitive society, ruled by women, and made their conclusion. This theory has long been proved wrong, but its influence is still alive.
Even if we accept that all countries, all societies are aiming at maximizing human rights, how justified will interference be? Good intentions are the pathway to hell. How long it took Anglo-Saxon civilization to reach modern state of human rights? Setting the Magna Carts as the starting point, it is a bit over 800 years, roughly 30 generations. Looking at the world history, we see how slowly societies change their organizational forms, evolving one into another. And you can’t forcefully speed it up. Imagine that our modern “crusaders of democracy” take time machine and show up at Hastings early in the morning on October 14th, 1066. “William, Harold, there is no need to fight. You need to run democratic elections, and everything will be ok…” Will they even understand the idea??? And what will happen the next day after they are left alone?
You have shown significant interest in Russian culture. If you care spending some more time on Russian books, I’d recommend you brothers Strugatsky (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkady_and_Boris_Strugatsky). The form of what they have written is science fiction, but the contents is all about ethics, morale, responsibility, conscience. Try «Escape Attempt», «Hard to be a God», «Overburdened with Evil».
Why I am mentioning them now is because among others they are exploring the topic of “progressors” – people from Earth of XXII century who try to speed up the history of other planets, to solve their problems, stop wars, etc. And it doesn’t end well. As one of their heroes says, “You can’t break up the natural course of history without breaking the spine of humanity.”
It’s hard to find examples of good revolutions when they are initiated from abroad. Change of regime should be supported by majority within the country – it is the guarantee that society is ready for it. What Anglo-Saxons and NATO frequently do is supporting the angry minority in its aspirations for power. And instead of peace, freedom and prosperity it brings chaos. The classic example is Libya. Over 10 years ago the country was “spared of Gaddafi’s tyrannical rule”… How do they live now? The GDP is still around 50% of what it used to be, the country is still not at peace, there are two major forces each claiming to be the legal power. How many lives it did cost already and how much time it will take free Libya to recover? Can such liberation be called anything but a disservice? In Russia we call it “bear’s help”. I don’t say that everything was good in the country when Gaddafi was alive, but aren’t they in the worse situation now?
The whole series of Arabian spring looks like a great mess, not a great success. I rely on the opinion of an expert – below is the brief translation of an article published in 2015-2016 by Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli scholar of Arab culture and a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University. I can’t find the original, unfortunately.
December 2015 was the fifth anniversary of the events known as an ‘Arabian spring’. The world applauded the heroes of the streets in Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain. Now, five years ago, those countries are still battlefields, with no light ahead. What problems have prevented them from positive development? Most of them have developed over centuries and they still prevail in mentality, remaining the dangerous rudiment.

1. Tribalism*, that was always a survival factor in harsh natural conditions of the region. Now the conditions are different but mentality is still the same, when each person thinks of himself as a member of the clan first (family, tribe, tape, whatever…), not the citizen of the country.*
2. Violence*. Resources are scarce, so anyone who is not the member of my clan, is a deadly threat. And the first reaction to a threat is violence.*
3. Honour*, understood very specifically. Dishonoured person will seek revenge. It is not uncommon for a person to kill members of his own family if they dishonoured him. Honour is of primary importance in relations between countries and nations, sometimes more important than economics and healthcare.*
4. Nepotism*, which has its roots in tribalism. Promoting your relatives to administrative positions is illegal in the West, but is part of normal practice in the East.*
5. Corruption*. An office holder will invest in projects and regions where his tribe and supporters live, not otherwise. He feels financially responsible to his family, not to the country.*
6. Multiple ethnic groups*, which protect their own languages and traditions. Marriages outside of a group are rare, coexistence with other groups is tense and hostile.*
7. Islam*. Islamic extremists are sure that people who believe otherwise, are deserved to be killed.*
8. Sunnites vs*.* shiites*. This conflict started back in 7th century as a conflict for control over Islam. Non-Islamic people see them analogous to Catholicism vs. Orthodox church, but in reality now, after centuries of religious wars, these are two separate religions, and the dialogue between them is very difficult.*
9. Predominant culture*. Three main groups are Bedouins who live in deserts, fellahs who are the peasants, and inhabitants of the cities. Each group thinks stereotypically of other two, cross-marriages are rare.*
10. Country borders*. British, French and Italian administration have been drawn the borders straight, just by a ruler and a pencil, paying no attention to the real borders between various groups which differ by religion and ethnicity. People who never thought about themselves as about having anything in common, are now the citizens of one country. And they don’t feel it this way.*
11. Power change*. This is something which never happens peacefully in Arabic countries. The ethnic or religious group at power holds to it by all means.*
12. Israel*. Arabs and Muslims don’t acknowledge Judaism as a live religion, Jewish people as a people. So for them the very existence of Israel is illegal. Plus Israel is very convenient as an external enemy, a good target for the aggression of the masses.*
13. Oil has turned the countries of the Gulf into societies which don’t produce, but do consume without limits. The difference between wealth of the Gulf and poverty of other Arabian countries is shocking.
14. West that interferes into the region to solve its own problems. Oil, gas, weapons – all is targeted to use natural resources of Middle East.
15. Al Jazeera as a catalyst of social and religious unrest.

Throughout the XX-th century Europe tries to solve myriads of cultural problems of the Middle East, trying to create modern Arabic states that will fit Europe’s needs. The brightest example of Western misunderstanding of the East is the belief that Middle east can easily adopt democracy. Western democracy is based on western culture with equality of religious and social groups, minority rights, freedom of speech and opinions. Add to it religious freedom and free elections and you will get the list that is absolutely alien to Middle East.
Here’s an article by the same author on the same topic – https://fathomjournal.org/why-we-keep-getting-the-middle-east-wrong/
Here’s an interview with him – https://chicagopolicyreview.org/2015/07/28/americans-still-dont-understand-the-middle-east-this-man-wants-to-help/
In one of your interviews you discussed the competition between China and the US for influence in Africa. And your opinion was that China wins due to corruption of local elites. Let me offer another reason for your consideration. It is the same reason that allows Russia to gain influence in Middle East, Africa, South America. When China or Russia come to some country to cooperate, they come to cooperate, not to teach, not to judge, not to interfere into the internal affairs of the state. And people appreciate this.

1. We have the right to decide who is democratic and who is not.

This one is undoubtedly wrong. As a psychologist, you can diagnose it, I guess. What will you call such mental blindness, when a person considers himself flawless and assumes the right to judge and punish others, like in “The House of Pride” by Jack London. And here we see a group of countries that consider themselves the best in the world, that judge other countries and feel it righteous to interfere into their life, to change it without being asked. I understand why leaders of these countries have that blindness, but I wonder how many people in these countries actually understand that it is not a radiant crusade for democracy, but a destructive raid of Normans.
De furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine.
One of the principles of democracy is separation of three powers – legislative, judicial and executive. So why then countries that consider themselves “leaders of democratic world” forget about this principle in international relations. They make the rules, they judge and they punish.
One of American diplomats said recently that USA supports international rules-based order. Sounds good, sounds undoubtedly right. But why USA and NATO forget about the rules when it is convenient? Or is it “We support international rules-based order, but our own actions should not be limited by these rules”? What immediately comes to my mind without web search:

• Kosovo, 1999. Civil war or genocide or whatever it may be called. How it should have been handled according to the rules? UN Security Council makes the decision, ‘blue helmets’ move in and stop the hot phase of the conflict. How it was done? NATO forces moved in without UNSC mandate. Forget the rules.
• Iraq, 2003. USA and its allies invaded Iraq based on false claims that Saddam had mass destruction weapons. The Center for Public Integrity stated that the Bush administration made a total of 935 false statements between 2001 and 2003 about Iraq's alleged threat to the United States. International lies-based order?

Double standards
Speaking more about the rules… We are tired of seeing double standards. As an illustration, I will use just one aspect – the principle of integrity of the state vs the principle of the right of nations to self-determination. It looks like the West supports integrity of the state, when this state is allied or friendly to the West, and supports nation’s self-determination when the state is not. Let’s go through some examples.
- Chechnya (an autonomous republic within Soviet Union) wanted to become independent after 1991. It quickly started to use terrorism to achieve this goal. It took a lot of effort to stop the war and bring the region back to safety. Reaction of the West – support of chechens, their leader fled to London and was not deported to Russia despite all requests.
- Abkhazia (an autonomous republic within Georgian republic which was part of Soviet Union) wanted to become independent from Georgia when Georgia became independent from Russia. Resulted in a war. The conflict is still not solved. Abkhazia now is an independent state which is acknowledged by very few countries in the world. Reaction of the West – they still consider Abkhazia as a rebellious part of Georgia. Same situation about South Osetia – another region, that was an administrative part of Georgia until 1991 and that also seeks independence.
- Donetsk and Lugansk wanted to become independent from Ukraine after 2014 coup. Ukraine tried to subdue them by force and failed. Then the workplan has been signed in Minsk – what the parties of the conflict agree to do to settle. The result should have been – Donetsk and Lugansk return to Ukraine but have extended political rights, etc. Ukraine did nothing of its promises. Reaction of the West – support of Ukraine.
- Catalonia is seeking independence. And I remember that leaders of independence movement have been under political and criminal pressure.
- Scotland had a referendum about independence. And even though results were in favour of the UK, I remember how nervously London reacted.
Russia – NATO relations after 1991
This is best said by Vladimir Pozner, a journalist who spent years of his work in the USA, Russia, Europe and is one of the most known journalists of the old school (comparing to modern propagandists). Here’s the link to his speech in Yale University on September 27, 2018 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X7Ng75e5gQ&t=2556s.
His speech takes around forty minutes, the rest is the Q&A. To save you time, I’d summarize it here in just a couple of phrases. After Soviet Union collapsed, there was an illusion that we aren’t enemies anymore, that the world is open now, and that we will be partners or even friends. Russia dismissed the Warsaw Treaty union and agreed for Germany to unite, that looked just right – why keep a military union when we aren’t enemies anymore? Sometime later Russia made an offer to join NATO to provide world security together and was denied. Russia offered to join the EU, and was denied. Russia was promised that NATO would not expand eastward and less than 10 years later this promise was broken. Since then, we’ve been witnessing NATO getting closer and closer to our borders, inviting countries that are our neighbours and aggressively supporting those candidates to country leadership in East Europe who declared anti-Russia views. So now the illusion is over. We are enemies. And what’s worse – we don’t trust US anymore, so negotiating some new principles of coexistence will be problematic.
Ukraine.
Briefly about history, in more details about recent times and present situation.
In 16-17th century the territory of modern Ukraine was controlled by two forces with no clear border between them. Northwest (where the city of Lvov is now) was under Polish rule, center and the region along river Dnepr – under control of “kazak military democracies” – gatherings of all people, who fled from Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Crimea and who with time formed Ukrainians as a nation. They were ruled by elected chieftains and made their living largely by either joining some military campaign for money and loot, or by robbery raids to Poland, Crimea, Turkey. They were allied to Russia due to same religion – Orthodox Christianity.
As Poland grew stronger, its pressure on the territory grew, which led to periodic rebellions. Poland is a Catholic state, and people of Orthodox Ukraine were severely oppressed. Seeking protection, Ukrainian chieftains asked Russia to include those territories into Russian state. First request came in 1591. Russia rejected this request and several others. Only in 1654 part of Ukraine, controlled by kazaks, was included into Russia. Consequences – war with Poland and tens of thousands orthodox people fleeing from Polish-controlled lands into Russian-controlled lands.
From then on Russians and Ukrainians were really ‘brother nations’. Well, it was not heaven, but it was the best available option. Same religion, very close language and mentality. And forget about oppression. Ukrainians were oppressed as much as Russians themselves.
When the WW I started, Germany and Austria-Hungary were looking for collaborators in occupied territories of Russian Empire. They promised independence to nationalists in Western Ukraine, and found people who bought the idea. Not surprisingly, the most dedicated nationalists came from the least developed region of the country. Ukraine did not become independent at that moment, but the ideas stayed and gave their fruit during WW II, when Ukrainian collaborators actively participated in Nazis’ crimes. In one of your videos you described what Unit 731 of Japanese army was doing and you warned your listeners that they will never forget it. If you will find and read witnesses’ accounts of Volhynia massacre, you will never forget it either. I read it once long ago and I never want to read it again. It was a shock to me that people are capable of such things.
In the period between 1945 and 1991 Ukraine had the same rights as any other republic. There were no impediments to preserving and developing local culture. If you lived in any republic, you learned two languages – Russian and local. National literature was actively translated into other national languages of the Soviet Union, there were no impediments to education. Soviet Union with all its flaws, really tried to unite all of its nations into one big family. (What surprises me though is why antisemitism remained. You could come from Georgia, Uzbekistan or Yakutia and pass exams to Moscow university, no problem if you are smart enough. But it could be problematic for a Jew…)
After 1991 Russia and Ukraine remained friendly states, tightly bound by economic, cultural and even family ties. Ukraine tried to get the most out of relations both with Russia and with the West and it worked fairly well for 30 years. But with time attempts to elevate significance of their own nation led Ukrainians down a dangerous path. They started to slowly eliminate all other cultures that were present in the country. This process sped up dramatically in 2014, when after a coup the nationalist forces gained influence on the government.
Official Kiev denies being nationalistic, but don’t trust what the person is saying, see what he is doing.

• Open Kiev map and you will find two prospects – one named after Bandera, another after Shukhevich. Those two stand behind Volhynia massacre and numerous other crimes. Now they are heroes.
• During WW II Ukrainian nationalists were gathered by Nazis into the division “Galicia”. Collaborators and traitors, they did not show much on the battlefield, but were always victorious in the punitive raids against civilians. Now they are heroes.
• Ukraine is banning and denying Russian language and Russian culture. And it did not start last year. It started much earlier, when bit by bit Russian-speaking people had more and more difficulties teaching their children in Russian, buying books in Russian. It even shows itself historically – famous writers, artists, musicians, etc. of the past are proclaimed Ukrainians if they were born or lived on the territory of modern Ukraine. Aivazovskiy was Armenian by nation, lived in Crimea which was Russian at the time. Repin was Russian, Kuingi was Greek. Gogol and Bulgakov called themselves Russian and wrote in Russian. Shevchenko wrote in Russian, and now his books in Ukraine are translated from Russian.

I live in Moscow region, so all these processes for me were just an echo of a far-away thunder. My friends who lived in Crimea, Kiev, Donetsks, Kharkov many times said how difficult it was to live in a country that is so obsessed with its own magnificence that it becomes absurd. Massive renaming of streets, destruction of monuments that signified joint Russian-Ukrainian history, rewriting of history, when traitors and criminals become heroes, heroes become butchers. Anne, daughter to Yaroslav the Wise, wife to Henry I of France is known as Anne de Russie or Anne of Kiev. But now there are attempts to call her Anne of Ukraine, even though the very term Ukraine appeared at least a hundred years after she died.
We see those nationalistic ideas demonstrating themselves in a number of ways, and we have seen them before and we know what threat they can bring if left unattended. Pay attention to a dragon when it is small, you may be unable to win when it grows up.
I don’t say that our perception is correct, I just say how we see it. And to us modern Ukraine is like a younger brother who joined a bad company and who is becoming dangerous.
Now combine these two. Ukrainian nationalism plus NATO. Two threats, one well known historically, another the most dangerous rival of the past 70 years. We see them uniting and it is really an existential threat to us. In such circumstances could we afford being blind to it, just sitting and waiting what comes next? We tried to settle it peacefully. Many times Russia said that we are worried by NATO expansion, that we are worried by Western support of nationalistic movements in our neigbour countries. No effect. The last attempt was made in autumn of 2021, when Putin offered a negotiation that should have resulted in guaranteed safety. No reply.
If there is a conflict and your rival refuses to talk, he is asking for a fight. I don’t say that war in Ukraine is the right way to solve the conflict, but who can say that we did not try to set it by negotiations?

A widow on the path of vengeance,
A life taken, her heart in fragments.
She wanders through the dark of night,
Her thoughts consumed with deadly might.
No mercy shown, her aim is true,
She'll take revenge, see it through.
With each step she grows more bold,
Her heart beats fast, her grip is cold.
Her enemies beware her wrath,
Their fate is sealed, there's no escape path.
Her sword is sharp, her aim is sure,
No one can stop her, the gods assure.
The widow on her quest for retribution,
Will not rest until there's restitution.
Her mind is focused, her heart is strong,
Her foes will pay the price, no right or wrong.
In the end, justice will be served,
The widow's heart, though broken, will be preserved.
For she has triumphed in her quest,
And now can lay her soul to rest.
-The Legend of the Shade
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One would expect that a planet named Ilara would be some sort of paradise, or at the very least, pleasant to experience. This could not be further from the truth. Ilara is an arid, hot and dusty mess of a world. What little surface water there is has seen settlements of all kinds pop up around it, and considering the sort of planet it is, it’s no wonder that these oases have become dens of lawlessness.
Well, most of them have, a few still manage to be civilized, but to paraphrase a good man, many are ‘“Wretched hives of scum and villainy”, and it is one of these places where this tale takes place.
Nefaria’actul’oproni, or as the citizens called it, Murkville, was not a happy place. It wasn’t particularly nice looking either, the buildings all worn and smooth thanks to the repeated sandstorms that like to roll on through. There were scorch marks and even streaks of dried blood in all the colors of the rainbow on the walls in some places. And yet, for all its shittiness, people still lived there. They didn’t like it, but the next nearest and far more civilized town was much too far away for any of them to make it without suffering some form of horrible accident, attack by the wildlife or something else along those lines. So they stayed, and they endured.
Murkville was also under the control of the crime syndicate calling themselves the Set’ruthal, a brutal organization that specializes in drugs, human/xenos trafficking and prostitution, none of which was mutually exclusive in the slightest. They were scum of the highest order and they held Murkville in their iron grip, extorting the populace for ‘protection’ money and the like. All terribly cliche, but such is the way of the world.
It was a dark and blissfully cool night at the local saloon, and Scaszer - A Solvoih, who are what humanity would call an anthropomorphized snake with legs - was enjoying a drink with his friends after a long and hard day of work. His two friends, a Khik or vaguely like a tall dog person and an Almell, which humans describe as an elf with feathers, sat with him. They were all simply enjoying the cool air and the good drinks, one of the few actual luxuries in this gods forsaken dump of a town.
Flardryn - the Almell - was the first to break the silence that lingered over all of us.
“So, have you heard the rumors?” He asked, his voice a touch chirpy at times, but today not so much. Scaszer and Deikx the Khik both looked at him curiously, then at one another before they shook their heads. Flardryn grinned and leaned forwards, lowering his voice to a whisper only we could hear.
“Rumor is, someone’s sticking it to the Set’ruthal. Blowing up outposts, caches, and just generally causing chaos.” He said, Scaszer and Deikx looking rather disbelieving.
“What a load of ketch, if that were true don’t you think we’d have noticed? Ketch, if that were true this whole place would be worse than it was, they’d be taking out all that anger on us instead of the person causing the trouble.” Deikx snorted, shaking his head in a manner that had his droopy ears flopping about.
“Yeah, you know how they get when things go wrong. We pay the price.” Scaszer said, Flardryn huffing.
“But it is true! They say a human is causing all this fuss.” He protested, and that gave the other two pause. Now that sounded pretty plausible, when humans wanted to break something, they always seemed to do so in spectacular fashion. So one human causing such a ruckus wasn’t unheard of, but still it was only a rumor.
“Alright then, tell us about this human.” Scaszer said, and Flardryn looked overjoyed at the prospect of doing so, leaning in even closer to speak.
“So, rumors say this human holds a personal grudge against the Set’ruthal. They say the syndicate killed the humans family and nobody would bring them to justice, so the human decided to do it themselves.” That was honestly not that surprising. Humans love a good revenge arc. “Anyway, they started small, or so the rumors say. Just some low level scum going missing, then working their way higher and higher up the ladder. It’s got the Set’ruthal scared but they don’t wanna show it, keep up appearances you know?”
Scaszer and Deikx nodded, both of them fully understanding the concept of saving face. But this did seem a little far fetched.
None of them really noticed the human that entered the saloon, a long, dusty and tattered coat draped over their shoulders, heeled boots that gently thumped against the floor and a wide brimmed hat on the top of their head. Nobody noticed them save the bartender when the human sat at it, nor did they hear the softly spoken request for a drink from this human.
What they did notice was the very loud group of Set’ruthal enforcers, who were off duty at this time, wandering into the saloon not five minutes later, cussing and generally being obnoxious. The establishment fell silent, fearful eyes tracking the enforcers as they kicked the occupants of a table out of their chairs and claimed it for themselves. Nobody moved a muscle to challenge them, they all knew what would happen if they did.
The human however, hardly seemed perturbed as they glanced over a shoulder, the long ponytail of red hair shifting with the motion. It didn’t take the Enforcers long to notice the human, nor the fact that the human was a female. There was a very good reason why there were no humans in Murkville, and the Set’ruthal were that very reason, as the men tended to get slaughtered and the women… well, best to not talk about that.
“Well well, looks like we have a newcomer!” One of the enforcers said, grinning maliciously. The Set’ruthal were almost exclusively occupied by members of a species known as the Bholkal. To humans, they were very large armadillos, with the same amount of teeth as a shark and generally they all had very bad attitudes. “And a human at that, it’s our lucky night lads! Seems we’ll be having some lively entertainment.”
They all stood and the trio of friends all felt a bit of bile rise in their throats, feeling for the poor human who had wandered into the wrong town. But the human did the most curious thing, and perhaps the most stupid thing as well. They ignored the enforcers and instead flagged down the bartender, who looked to be quivering in fear.
“Could I just have the bottle, please and thank you.” The human said, her voice light and lilting, but with a touch of a Terran subcultural accent, what they would call Southern. The bartender was quick to acquiesce, and a bottle of some alcoholic beverage was placed before her. She was quick to take it up, spinning the cap off it with a well practiced motion. She didn’t even care that the cap was sent flying off into the unknown as a result, she instead focused on chugging the contents of the bottle while turning on her stool to face the enforcers.
The enforcers didn’t look too pleased and everyone else all wanted to look away from what was going to happen next, but found themselves transfixed.
“Aren’t you a pretty thing, why don’t you come play with us girly.” The lead enforcer, a particularly nasty fellow and coincidentally the son of the Set’ruthal patriarch, grinned as he reached out a claw to stroke her cheek. Instead of responding verbally, her head tilted back as she continued her drinking, a single finger raised to single him to wait. He didn’t really appreciate this, as he moved with such speed that nobody really knew what happened till the bottle had been cut into pieces, the contents splashing partially onto her and the floor while the glass shattered on impact.
She stared at the broken and empty bottle with a look of exasperation, before her ice blue eyes shifted their focus onto the heir apparent.
“Alright, I’ll play with you.” She said softly, and the enforcer grinned, leaning in to begin his violations, only for all of us to hear a sound we were most assuredly not expecting.
It was the sound of railgun coils spinning up.
Before anyone could react, there was a sharp sound of metal on metal, followed by wet squelching, as nearly every soul tracked the arm that sailed through the air and landed in a bloody heap well across the room. Then came the screaming, as the enforcer looked at the stump where his arm had been, and the ancient looking revolver that had removed it. The gun shifted, angling lower, the same whine repeating and now he was missing a leg as well.
The saloon burst into motion as his screaming intensified, his buddies all surging towards the human who stood in a flash and used their foot to hook onto the rungs of the stool she’d only just been occupying, sending it sailing straight into the face of an enforcer even as she took aim and fired again, turning another's head into a fine purple mist. She became a blur, firing and slashing with the broken bottle. She painted the room with their blood and they never even laid a claw on her.
It was over in an instant, the human standing there and breathing heavily, even as she watched the first enforcer claw his way out the door on his stomach. With a deep breath she turned, placed a stack of credits on the bar and walked after the fleeing enforcer, all while reloading her weapon.
Without much hesitation all present who had merely been spectators scrambled from their hiding places and to the windows, watching as she stepped over the prostrate being and pressed the barrel of her gun to the back of his head.
“D-Do you know who I am? Who my father is!?” The being wailed, and the human nodded.
“I do, that’s why I’m here, why I’m doing this. Because you took everything I ever held dear from me, and now… now I have nothing left to lose.” She murmured, and the alien grinned, purple blood oozing from his mouth.
“You know you’re gonna die right? We’re gonna take our time with you, make it hurt!”
“Perhaps, but here’s the thing,” She kicked him over onto his back, a position of great shame to a Bhokal. “There’s room in my grave for you too.” She hissed, and they all expected her to end him right then and there. But she didn’t. Instead she drew a knife and smiled in a sweet manner, yet instead of the comfort that such a smile should have brought, they felt nothing but a chill run down their spines (or spine equivalents.)
“Now, you’re gonna be a messenger to dear old dad, so you best listen close, don’t want to miss a single word.”
Those watching turned away, some getting sick at what she did next, the screams echoing down the street.
Ten Hours Later
The plantation on the outskirts of Murkville was an opulent affair, reminiscent of ancient Terran plantations as well, which is what it had been based off of coincidentally. It was here where the end of this story shall take place, and it shall go down in history as a pivotal point for Ilara. A night of blood and death, of vengeance secured and the end of a dynasty.
It began, with the sound of someone scratching at the door, a sound that was entirely unheard of in this place. When a guard was ordered to investigate, they found only the mangled son of Patriarch Bilharzia bleeding - not nearly as profusely as he had been earlier - on the stoop. He was quickly moved to a secure room and his father was livid, bellowing up a storm of vile hatred for whomever had done this to his son.
When eventually he calmed down enough to not only hear himself think, but to hear others when they talked to him, he was informed that there was a camera attached to the front of his son's uniform. He quickly snatched it up, peering directly into the camera as a snarl ripped from his throat.
“I don’t know who you are, or why you’re doing this, but you’ve made a very grave mistake! I will hunt you down, I will tear everything you love and hold dear apart! I will make you beg for death and I shall not give it! DO YOU HEAR ME! I SHALL NOT GIVE IT!” He roared into the camera, unsure if whomever was watching could even hear him. But apparently they could.
“You already have. Now it’s my turn. An eye for an eye.” Came the sibilant response, and that’s when they all heard it. A gentle beeping coming from nearby. Bilharzia turned towards the source, only to find his son awake yet again, and looking fearfully at him. He couldn’t speak, whomever had mutilated him had not stopped at his limbs, but had removed his ability to speak, to warn them of the danger he presented.
It clicked in Bilharzia’s head that the beeping was only getting faster, and just as it became a solid tone he bolted from the room. He was fortunate to have done so, his son and the others however… not so fortunate. The high explosive charge that had been embedded into his son detonated, blowing a good chunk of the west wing entirely to pieces.
As Bilharzia raised his head from the ground where he’d landed thanks to the blast, he caught sight of missiles streaking up into the air, only to explode mid-flight and rain down phosphorus and napalm over the fields of product he maintained, setting them ablaze. Heavy gunfire sounded, the rattling of a very large chaingun booming through the silence of a beautiful evening, raking rounds over his vehicles and depots. Everything of value save the servants quarters was put to the torch, and he could only watch.
From the smoke strode a figure, one he instantly recognized. He was not ignorant of human history, their conflicts Shumon Synergy or the Valvak Despoilers, he knew a human warmech when he saw one. And this one was particularly well known.
Before his home stood the warmech known as the Black Widow though its official name was 22-39 Ward. The body was painted black, a single red hourglass on the chest partially hidden by some sort of tactical covering that closely resembled a poncho. It was a monster of a machine, and there was only one person who had ever piloted it. A woman who was known as Shade, or that was what her foes had called her. To her peers, to her family, her name was Myra Fields. A war hero a thousand times over, a loving wife and mother of four.
A widow, whose family had been ripped from her by Bilharzia’s very hand.
The warmech launched another salvo, striking at targets that went unseen behind the manor, and his men, his loyal men, rushed out to face the beast of metal and wrath, only to be gunned down without mercy or hesitation. And then the chassis opened, and out stepped his worst nightmare.
A woman in black, with blood red hair, dropped from the pilots cradle and landed with nary a sound. Bilharzia made to flee through the house, but the fire caused by the explosion within it had weakened the structure, a burning beam landing upon his legs and pulverizing the bones. He cried out as he was stopped dead in his tracks, and from where he lay he could see her approaching slowly, patiently.
Finally she stepped into the burning home, the smoke filled wind catching her coat and making it flap. She knelt before him, not a single emotion on her face. She studied him for a moment, then looked at the beam and the fire which engulfed the house before nodding. She didn’t say a word, not even in response to his begging, his pleas for mercy. She had none to give, none to show, and so she stood and left, leaving him to his fate.
Finally she spoke, even as she walked past the waiting warmech.
“Light the fire, Ward.” She said, and the machine nodded, launching more incendiary missiles high into the air, and watching as the payload rained down on the home. And just like that, it was over, a syndicate which had existed for five hundred years, reduced to ashes. The machine nodded again, then turned and trailed after its mistress.
Four days later
Myra crouched before a series of headstones, brushing the sand off them carefully and with reverence. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what to do. But looking at them sparked something inside her, a purpose.
“It’s done… They won’t take anyone else anymore, I made sure of that.” She whispered. “Now… Now I think I’ll see what I can do to help make the galaxy a better place. There are more out there like me, who need their own closure. More like them that need to be brought to justice. If I can do even just a little bit… Then that’ll be enough for me.”
She rose, dusting the sand off her knees and took one last look at the graves of her family.
“I love you all.” She murmured, turning and clambering up into the cockpit of her warmech. As it sealed she placed her hat upon a hook, and turned them both towards the horizon, and the star port beyond it.
“What are we going to do now, Commander?” Ward asked, and she smiled, giving one of his consoles a gentle pat.
“Now… Now we’re going to do what we do best. Think you’re up for it?”
“Affirmative.”
“Good boy. Let’s go kill some bad guys.”
And so, the two walked off into the great unknown, looking to bring justice to those that required it.

As always, thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for the wonderful universe that is NoP
Thank you to u/cruisingNW for proof reading and helping me out of some hang ups, you're the man! And for letting me use Barry, Borven and Tarva (No relation)!
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Memory Transcription Subject: Christopher A. Dewey, Human Merchant Sailor, Venlil-Human Exchange Participant
Date [Standardized Human Time]: August 24th, 2136.
The door to Suite 4006 didn't look all that different from the door to our bunk room, though the walls around it lacked the friendly atmosphere of the exchange areas; guess admin offices are bland no matter the species. Taisa was beside me trying to appear confident; I noticed she did that a lot. Originally I had thought it was for my benefit, to make me feel like she wasn't scared of me; but I wasn't so sure of that anymore. It seemed that any time she was in a situation that made her feel small or scared she did her best to puff up and push through it. It was one of the things I liked best about her; but that didn't mean I'd ever stop giving her shit for fainting.
"Taisa," I started, placing my hand on her shoulder, her tail curling a little and resting against the side of my leg. "It'll be alright, I figure they wanna ask some questions about what happened earlier. Verify reports, get the story first hand. That sort of thing."
She took a deep breath as her ears flicked at my statement and her tail swayed off my leg. I think that one means she understands, or maybe it's agreement? Still tryin’ to figure those out.
"We tell 'em what happened, get it all cleared up on our end, easy and free 'fore too long. Once we got their questions outta the way we can drop our little 'research idea' on ‘em and see where it goes from there." I squeezed her shoulder gently at the end, she beeped a little but seemed to puff her chest out with a little extra confidence.
"Here goes nothin'." I raised my hand to rap against the metal door, I assume I looked a fool when the door opened up before I actually managed to knock.
"Christopher A. Dewey and Taisa, I presume?" A Venlil in the door stated, keeping the two of us in the span of his left eye. "Come in, have a seat."
He maneuvered his way around behind the desk, sitting down in a chair next to a Human at a shared desk as Taisa and I got situated. "I am Borven, and this is Barry." He stated, introducing himself and then the Human with his tail. "We are the liaisons for the exposure program. I assume that you know why we called you in this waking?"
I nodded, leaning back in the chair. "I'd wager a guess it has something to do with a certain upset Ensign, a bunch of angry Humans and a... pawful of scared Venlil?"
Barry nodded, pulling something up on the pad in front of him. I figured it was probably the report drafted by the guard that questioned us. "We wanted to confirm your side of the story as reported by Officer Gentry and Officer Jaisle, would you mind?"
I motioned with my hand for him to proceed. "I'd be happy to."
“Very good. To start, can you verify that this record of your account is accurate?" Barry queried, handing the pad off to me.
I sat for a few minutes, reading through the report and follow up answers that had been written down. Taisa took the pad as I offered it to her, "Looks good to me."
A few minutes longer, “Yeah, me too. Although two of the Venlil that had hidden behind Chris are missing, A female with white wool and a male with black wool with gray striping. I’m sorry I didn’t think to ask after their names.” She corrected, handing the pad back over to Barry.
“Thank you, we’ll be sure to correct that error.”
Taisa's ears perked up as she beeped out a question, her curiosity from earlier evidently not satisfied, "What does the UN intend to do with him?"
"Well, that depends, do you still decline to press charges, Mr. Dewey?" Barry asked, setting the pad back on the desk as he tapped a button to confirm the report.
I shook my head, "Nah, he needs help, not a lawsuit."
"Then in that case I am not at liberty to discuss an ongoing investigation beyond confirming your account. I apologize." Taisa's tail lashed in what I figured was annoyance at that before she took a breath and steadied it.
A few more questions were leveled at us, asking about the mood in the room just before and after the announcement, what individuals we could remember that looked the most agitated and if we could identify any of the pairs that had departed before the shouting began. Then Borven struck on a question that seemed to give Taisa pause.
"Taisa, what motivated you to intervene and guide the Venlil hiding behind your partner out of the altercation? You could have risked a stampede and caused far more problems than you were solving."
Her ears drooped for a moment, her tail coming to a standstill as she thought over the question. “I saw people in trouble, saw Chris doing something and I just… I had to help. I didn’t really think about whether it would cause a stampede until after I had already gotten them moving. After that I tried my best to stay calm; I’ve read that people at the front of a herd keeping a level head is what can start or stop a stampede.”
Borven’s tail flicked as he tapped something into his pad before swiveling his ears towards Barry. “I think that covers everything I have, Barry, any further questions?
Barry shook his head, tapping away at the pad before setting it back on its mount. “I believe that’s everything that I need. Unless the two of you have any further questions yourselves, you are excused. Thank you for your assistance.”
Taisa and I exchanged glances for a moment. “Actually, we did have one question.” “As I stated earlier, Mr. Dewey, unless you wish to press charges I cannot divulge information with regards to the Ensign’s punishment or prospects moving forward.” Barry sighed. “Please pose your question with that in mind.”
“And I understand that, this is about something else.” Barry raised an eyebrow as Borven fixed a single eyed gaze on me.
“Taisa and I were thinking that we’d, in the spirit of the exchange program, like to run an experiment.” “An experiment?” Borven asked, refocusing his ears on Taisa. She flicked her ears at him and tapped me with her tail, prompting me to continue.
“Yes. We’d like to run an experiment on Human-Venlil Business partnerships; see how we work together. Taisa is a trained ships engineer and I’ve spent the last 15 years hauling freight, organizing and working merchant ships all across Earth. I’d need some more targeted flight training and familiarization with rules and regs but I’ve spent plenty of time in simulators at home.”
A few moments of silence hung in the room before Barry shrugged. “That’s not under our department's purview but I can get you two in touch with the two people you’d likely need to… convince of the feasibility of your proposition.”
“Thank you, Gentlemen.” I said, standing from the seat before turning to walk out the door behind Taisa.
As the door closed I heard Barry and Borven bickering about how many of the pairs were going to want to stay together in one way or another. They seemed like fun, if maybe a bit stiff. After a minute or two of quiet walking down the hall our pads chimed, indicating we had received a message: Barry and Borven notified me that you and your partner have suggested an experiment. Please report to Conference Suite 4185. Sent by Thomas Ashforth, UN Liaison.
It wasn’t a terribly far walk around the station’s outer ring to arrive at the conference room, only a few minutes.
“Alright… 4185 it is.” Taisa spoke up next to me, taking a deep breath as her ears swiveled back a little; she looked worried.
“Hey, don’t worry. We got this.” I soothed while patting her on the back; trying to put a little pep back in her step. “It didn’t get sunk in the bay so we’ve got a chance at least!”
“I know,” She took another deep breath, puffing her chest up as we stepped up to the door. “I’m just scared they’ll say no. Or worse, find a reason to split us.” “We’ll just have to make sure that doesn't happen. You won’t be rid of me that easy.” I joked, putting a small twinkle of mirth in her eye as her tail lashed about.
I saw a retort brewing but it was cut off by a stern voice from beyond the door. “Enter.” Both of us stiffened a little as the door slid open to reveal a room with a small conference table, 6 chairs in total surrounding it. The two at the far end were occupied by a man wearing a UN dress uniform and a small union jack pinned to his lapel, while a very… very small ice-white Venlil sat on a cushion atop the table.
“Please be seated, we’ve got a few questions about your experiment. My name is Thomas Ashforth.” Said the man, gesturing across the table.
As Taisa and I sat down the small Venlil began. “And I am Professor Tarva, no relation. I’m head of the Integration efforts. You must be Taisa!” Taisa returned the enthusiasm with a flick of her ears before Tarva turned her ears towards me. “And you must be Christopher! Protector blessed, you’re certainly the largest Human I’ve seen so far!” I nodded in return. “My friend here is coordinating the fiscal side of the exchange program. So, why don’t you two tell us about this idea of yours?”
I took in a breath to steady my nerves, Taisa’s tail coiling around my ankle helped motivate my voice forward that little bit more. “We know that the recent blockades have caused issues for Venlil prime, and while Earth may not need anything from Venlil prime to get by there’s a lot of people who I’d bet would want plenty. Taisa also tells me a fair few of the freighter captains are still ‘bolty’ about trading directly with Humans; neither Taisa nor myself have that problem. From what she has said there’s a lot of surplus ships floating around VPs shipyards waiting for trade to open up again. The experiment would be to acquire a smaller freighter for Taisa and myself to crew, command, and operate so as to gather a better understanding of how Humans and Venlil work together in a civilian ship environment as well as the operation of an enterprise. Plenty of research is going to come up for military applications but I think opportunities to gain information on Civilian settings will be few and far between for some time.”
“An interesting theory! But what extra information do you think we can get from a civilian vessel that we can’t from a military vessel? What you’re suggesting could easily be replicated within the logistics corps instead!” Her tail was swaying slowly as her ears stayed pointed directly at me.
“Chaos.” I said, simply, shrugging at the statement.
That seemed to catch her off guard a moment, her tail falling still before her ears perked up and her eyes came alight with a fire of interest. “And why exactly would I want to include chaos in my experiments?”
“Military ships, combat and logi, all have an inherent order to them, in combat or out of it. They are specifically trained for, and sometimes raised in it. Civilian merchants and shippers don't have that training, which means the operating conditions, stresses and strains on the crew of a military ship are different than that of a civilian ship. Monitoring how Taisa and I work together, our responses to those stresses and strains could provide valuable insight into future workplace ‘integration’ efforts.” I leaned forward, bracing my elbows on the table as I looked over her head, trying to avoid spooking her.
Despite those efforts, her favored eye bore into mine, before she changed her tactic and tried again, “Ok, so the idea has merit. But why should we get a whole ship for the two of you? Why not register you with a freight company and have you work with them as well?” She countered, a gleam in her eye as she focused on my face.
“Please point us to a freight company that won't make a stink about having a human pilot, let alone one my size. Even if you did find a freighter willing to stomach my presence that doesn’t change the fact that baseline interactions would be easy enough to find examples of, and could be done with any pair of applicants in any setting. What we are proposing is the examination of a joint business venture. Taisa and I have experience: I was the first-mate on my last ship, and Taisa is a Venlil-trained and registered ships engineer. These are the backbone of any ship, giving you a clean sample to get readings, uncluttered by other people”.
“That comes to another question. Why the two of you? There’s plenty of running freight companies we could organize this same exchange with, without having to dig up the money for a ship.” She retorted, despite the wording and my still… developing understanding of tail signals, I was pretty sure she was enjoying this.
As I mulled over the question, trying to think of the best response, Taisa spoke up from the chair next to me, her ears peaked straight up, a confident look in her eyes with a voice as sure as steel. “Because we’re here. You already planned on something similar or ‘integration’ wouldn’t be on the table. I’d guess that you’ve got pairs picked for all sorts of ‘experiments’, and business is just one part of it.”
Atta Girl Taisa! Said it better than I ever could.
Tarva opened her mouth for another question; if I didn’t know better I’d think she loved this kind of back and forth. But before she could begin Thomas’ voice drifted in and I was reminded of the sharp cold of the Bering Straits. “I’m very pleased you work so well together. But how would that benefit the program? Why should the UN invest in your… ‘integration’.” His eyes passed between us, like we were being measured for a casket, it was clear that wasn’t a question, it was a statement.
Flipping open a ledger, Thomas pulled a pen from his breast pocket, the motion felt like it carried more weight than the drawing of any sword. “Firstly, this, as all business ventures must be, has to be profitable. To you, to the program and to the U.N. until you’ve paid back your debt, and more. How do you intend to actually make a profit? Have you considered fuel costs? Maintenance? Registration? Permitting?” His gaze felt like it could turn me to stone, I hated accountants, near as much as lawyers.
Taisa seemed not to have such hangups, someone had been thinking. “Fuel costs would be negligible when compared to the overall short trip and high margins that could be made by hauling higher value cargo. Maintenance would be handled by myself, limiting costs only to parts. I doubt that we will be acquiring a fresh off the line ship, and I know my way around a scrapyard. Registration and permitting are firm plan-able costs that can be included within the operating budget since they come up at regular intervals.”
Thomas nodded, writing in his ledger before looking back up at us. “And what do you intend to actually ship? The most profitable ventures have a plan and a consistent schedule.” I sat up a little straighter, I wasn’t going to let an accountant send me running like a dog with my tail between my legs. “My experience is with Tramp freighters, sir.” The use of the term earned a look of confusion from Tarva and a slight sigh from Taisa, while Thomas was clearly familiar with the term. “Charging higher rates for a slightly less consistent schedule would make up for the irregularity. I am of the opinion that limiting what is hauled to one type, brand or item of cargo would, in this case, be a poor decision at such a small scale. Bulk freighters at home only work because of their scale and the guaranteed regularity, to make such a thing work for that kind of enterprise the U.N. would have to invest far more into the ship just to get the idea off the ground. Taking bespoke contracts for individuals, or groups of them within the same city or province, would allow us to keep a more flexible margin for each run. As well, I already have a few old associates on Earth that are likely chomping at the bit to open a trade route with VP.”
His eyes narrowed a little as he wrote in his ledger again, that infernal brass pen making notes I couldn’t see. “What guarantees can you give us that this will last? How can the U.N. be sure that in a month’s time this doesn’t blow up in our faces and we’re left with an old freighter, a diplomatic incident, and an empty bag?”
To my surprise Tarva spoke up on our behalf. “Christopher's Empathy test puts him in the top 5th percentile of those tested. Taisa has been searching for a job since she graduated, and from her application wants very much to avoid returning home for work, that coupled with Christopher’s registered work history and their obvious compatibility I think it unlikely the experiment will ‘blow up’ in the U.N.s face.”
Thomas’s eyebrows scowled, like his ledger insulted his mother. He laid his pen down with a sigh, “The U.N. Reserves the right at any time, during the period in which the debt for the ship has not yet been paid, to requisition cargo space. Christopher, you will be completing a mandatory course to bring your capabilities inline with UN or Venlil freight pilot standards, failure of this course is unacceptable.” He let the ultimatum hang in the air… then continued, “Taisa, you will be tested on how much of your education you have retained in your time since graduation, as well as your efficacy in this role. Finally: any and all damages, maintenance, modifications and or ‘personalizations’ made to the vessel, beyond what is required by both species’ workplace safety requirements, will be done at your own expense. The U.N. will not be liable for these costs.”
“These are the terms of our little venture. And they are non-negotiable. Do you accept?”
Taisa and I exchanged a quick glance before responding “Yes.” In unison.
“With that concluded, hard copies of your agreement will be provided shortly. You both begin your respective written portions tomorrow. Congratulations! I look forward to seeing your ‘experiments’ results.” Thomas chuckled the last sentence, breaking the accountant’s stony demeanor, maybe he wasn’t that bad.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “So, that means…”
“That means you’re approved.” Tarva beeped, her tail swaying happily. “We of course will need to work out your overall flight training schedule, lodging and a business plan but we can handle that. My counterpart here will need to source a ship, but none of that should be particularly difficult. For now, congratulations on your acceptance into the Integration program!”
I thought for a moment, weighing the last few days in my head, if there was something I could lay my head down under each night it would be that brilliant twilight sky. “What about Heartwood? For lodging, I mean; Taisa’s family lives there. She says it's a small town but I’m sure something could get worked out. Could also help with introducing the people there to Humans!”
Tarva paused, her ears swiveling in thought. “I think that could be arranged, if I remember correctly there is a small shuttle port there. Although I do want to make sure that you understand: rural communities are likely to be less accepting of Human presence, you will be met with some degree of prejudice. You may not get the welcome you’re hoping for.”
Taisa spoke up before I could respond, one eye focused on me while her ears were directed towards Tarva. “I think the people of Heartwood would come around. It might take a bit but if anyone could get through to them it’ll be Chris.”
I smiled a little, looking over to Tarva. “I’ve never met a farmer I couldn’t charm! I’m willing to give it a go, just gotta avoid gettin’ torched, apparently.” For the first time, for the briefest moment, that seemed to set Tarva off balance; Taisa did mention that Exterminators were a sensitive subject.
“W-Wonderful!” Clearing her throat, she regained her composure, “In that case we’ll see what we can work out. I’ll make sure to include an extra form for you to fill out to request any personal belongings you need from home! For now, though, I think the two of you should get a good rest, you’ve both got busy paws tomorrow!” She beeped excitedly and her tail swayed happily as she turned to Thomas and began discussing the arrangement.
Taisa and I took the cue and rose from the table, headed out the door, and walked back to the room in silence until the door to our space closed behind us; both of us releasing heavy held breath as it did.
“I can not believe that worked.” Taisa said, her tail wagging as she wrapped her arms around me. “We’re going to actually have a ship… I’m actually going to get to do what I trained to do, what I want to do.” I returned the hug. “We’ll both get to do what we want, but first we’re gonna have to get through those tests.” She giggled a little, the joy at the prospect evident in her voice. “We’ve got this, together.”
Confident as ever. I pulled her into the hug a little tighter.
“Together.”
---
First Prev. Next

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Introduction:
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Desi Ghee:
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III. The Synergy of Desi Ghee and Organic Honey A.
A Dynamic Duo for Digestive Health B. Enhancing the Absorption of Nutrients C. Supporting Weight Management D. Aiding in Natural Detoxification E. Strengthening the Immune System F. Promoting Healthy Skin and Hair G. Boosting Energy Levels H. Culinary Applications and Delicious Recipes
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Debut Thoughts

• Phase Invaders: Electric Boogaloo - Phase has decided to Rion Ron this and introduce three new designs from two former Tsunderia members and one popular indie. They seem to fit in well with the rest of the group and I'm getting a
• idolEN2 - There was some delay, but honestly Early June felt better than the end of May.
• Neuro-sama 2.0 - Not really a debut, but Neuro-sama feels like the antidote to all the AI nonsense. Neuro-sama might be the only good AI out there and Vedal will become god, I promise.
• VMirai - Brave Group has been recently expanding their reach, including a try in their EN department. I believe all three extant groups have been doing quite well in the last few months, so I'm curiously optimistic about the new projects. EN is a hard market though. Speaking of...

Cries of Crisis, Pangs of Hope

Fall of 2020 was the inflection point of Hololive, the series of crises and the pending restructuring along with the boom of HoloMyth then AREA15 gave an odd form of synergy that made Hololive one of the most robust companies that ever existed. As I said before, the greatest trick Cover has ever pulled is making that poster think 'Hololive is winning by doing nothing.'
To quote the words of Todd Howard - It Just Works.
Anycolor did not get that single time of epiphany. Not many companies do, but every long-standing termination (because I don't think Raito changed anything) has eventually led to great changes to the company as a whole. Meiro was thought to be the impetus for VTA, which has shown great dividends as we march on to 2023. Ara's rampage directly led to the Great Merger of '22 which was very beneficial at least to KR members who stuck around and some who haven't.
So it should be no surprise Zaion will also point the path to a positive direction for Anycolor, and I think we are seeing the benefits right now, with the coming news.
The fact that NijiEN management was terrible should be no surprise since at least the time of Ethyria, which I have talked at length, and will do again because it was instructive to what kind of failure of EN managment was back in '21/'22. Ethyria was billed as a singing group, kind of like LazuLight, there was an early attempt to do kind of ping-pong between singing and gaming, getting two new gen per audition, but Ethyria was not built to be just a singing group. They were just... too good for that.
Enna Alouette's design is one of the best 'gap' designs in the VTuber world, but with all the fiasco, I seriously wonder if the management just simply had no will to properly see through Enna's facade. Then again, Gibara exists, so I wonder if they just didn't care or did care.
Anyways, early fracas with Ethyria made an impression on me that only grew more true over the years that NijiEN management was oddly pessimistic about the nature of internet communities.
Sidenote - I made a comment about Selen's comment to a delusional poster and at the cost of being incredibly pretentious, it created an opportunity to talk about one of the many ways many observers get Nijisanji 'wrong' so to speak (and there are many reasons why)
One of the common refrains from NijiFans is that 'you should not be obliged to watch everyone', and people think it means that you are supposed to only focus on a few people, but that is not the case.
The point is to focus on all the people, some of the time. As in, you will naturally create a tier-list system of differing priorities in which to watch. At the center will be your oshi, who you will turn to every stream, then around it are their buddies, which you will watch some of the time, and then further around them will be the buddies' buddies, which you will watch once in a blue moon, and then further out you have people you know from tournaments and such and have vague understanding but still feel an appreciation for their talent and hard work.
With that framework, you will come away with at least passing familiarity with every Nijisanji member, at least to the point you can point to an arbitrary Liver and say 'hey, it's so-and-so'.
The whole structure of Nijisanji, which was thankfully copied onto EN with the help of Ethyria, is designed to dissuade people who equate Nijisanji with a monolith group. That's why I mock someone who thinks NijiEN is the only Nijisanji. The point of 'you should not watch everyone' is not to permit people from narrowing their vision but to stop the obsessive nature of EN viewing patterns entirely.
There is a tendency of individualization in the West that leads to high levels of toxicity, because individualization leads to narrowing of people's worldviews, leading to more clashes because you get a larger variation of interpretations of reality, which is actually not a good thing.
This is what should make Nijisanji more robust than Hololive, because Hololive permits more of this individualized obsession, although in truth Hololive has been focusing on integration a lot.
But that is not the case, because do you know who does not understand the sidenote I wrote above? That's right, the NijiEN management. The behavior NijiEN management team did was very much copied from a flawed idea of what they thought made HoloEN and others successful. The narrow focus on 'content' from each gen, from the idea of PuchiLuxiem, to the rapid disinterest in people like Yugo and the great mistake of hiring someone like Zaion, and the slow pacing of allowing foreign collabs.
NijiEN betrayed what made Nijisanji great and it has slowly and surely costed them.
Back in May, I emphasized the off-hand remark that said they merged the oversea management with the local one. I believe this was the easiest and best way to combat this problem. It's like NijiEN is operating abroad, unlike HoloEN, so there is no need to bring people in or hire new people.
And the fruits of this secret merger is coming out with more JP content on the EN official channel and invitation of JP members in Canada, France and Korea, with former Korean members finally attending a convention and also return of former ID people to Muse Indonesia as well. It seems the clock is working again and I believe the things might turn around for the foreign branches... who knows? Maybe ID and KR might be revived and we might get that ID/KR audition after all.
But that is a far stretch, honestly most of it is. But that is par for the course for here, eh?

Ive been useing a form of chat GPT lately called forefront chat that lets you create personas to talk to. From famous people in history to artists and fictional charecters. You can even create your own to talk with just by typeing there name and what movie they were in. Ive allready got Dr Grant Ian Malcom and Jhon Hammed talking with me. I had a intersting talk and debate with John. The address is https://chat.forefront.ai/ and i copyed and pasted the conversatrion with john for you to see for yourself
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Ah, hello there! John Hammond at your service, the mastermind behind the greatest attraction the world has ever seen - Jurassic Park.
GPT-3.5
📷
me: What are your thoughts on human cloneing?
05-23-2023
📷Ah, human cloning! A fascinating topic indeed. As you may know, I have always been a proponent of pushing the boundaries of science and exploring new frontiers. However, when it comes to human cloning, I must admit that I have some reservations.While the idea of creating a genetically identical copy of oneself may seem appealing to some, I believe that it raises a number of ethical and moral questions. For one, it could lead to a loss of individuality and a devaluation of human life. Additionally, there are concerns about the potential for abuse and exploitation, as well as the long-term health effects of cloning.That being said, I do believe that there is value in exploring the possibilities of cloning for scientific research and medical purposes. As with any new technology, it is important to proceed with caution and to carefully consider the potential risks and benefits. Ultimately, I believe that the decision to pursue human cloning should be made with great care and consideration, and with a deep respect for the sanctity of human life.
GPT-3.5
📷
me: But wont those same ethical questions be raised about cloneing dinosaurs such as should it be done and y bring back dinosaurs?
05-23-2023
📷Ah, an excellent question! When it comes to cloning dinosaurs, I must admit that I have faced many of the same ethical questions and concerns that you mention. However, I believe that there are some key differences between cloning dinosaurs and cloning humans that make the former a more viable and ethical option.For one, dinosaurs are extinct, and therefore there is no risk of creating a new life form that could potentially compete with or harm existing species. Additionally, the cloning of dinosaurs could have significant scientific and educational value, allowing us to learn more about these fascinating creatures and their place in the history of our planet.Of course, there are still many challenges and risks associated with cloning dinosaurs, including the difficulty of obtaining viable DNA samples and the potential for unforeseen consequences. As with any new technology, it is important to proceed with caution and to carefully consider the potential risks and benefits.Ultimately, I believe that the decision to pursue dinosaur cloning should be made with great care and consideration, and with a deep respect for the natural world and the delicate balance of life on our planet.
📷
me: You say that there's no risk of making a life form that and i quote you on this "there is no risk of creating a new life form that could pertintually compete or harm existing species" but yet using that what you are doing in a way when u use frog dna to plug the missing dna holes of these clones? Without the full code there not fully a dinosaur. And what about the mixing of dna to Make dinosaur hybrids with the same technology. Another good example
05-23-2023
📷Ah, you raise an excellent point! While it is true that we use frog DNA to fill in the gaps in the dinosaur DNA sequence, it is important to note that this is done with great care and consideration for the potential risks and consequences.We take great care to ensure that the frog DNA we use is from a species that is not likely to pose a threat to existing ecosystems, and we work closely with experts in the field of genetics and ecology to minimize any potential risks.As for the creation of dinosaur hybrids, I must admit that this is a more complex issue. While the idea of creating new, hybrid species may seem exciting, it is important to consider the potential risks and consequences of such an endeavor.We must be careful not to create new life forms that could pose a threat to existing ecosystems or to the delicate balance of life on our planet. Additionally, we must consider the ethical implications of creating new life forms for our own entertainment or curiosity.Ultimately, I believe that any decision to pursue dinosaur hybridization should be made with great care and consideration, and with a deep respect for the natural world and the delicate balance of life on our planet.
GPT-3.5
📷
me: Ok back to my discussion of human clonring. you say your not fully comfortable with the idea correct?
05-23-2023
📷Yes, that is correct. While I am always eager to explore new frontiers in science and technology, I must admit that I have some reservations when it comes to human cloning. As I mentioned earlier, there are a number of ethical and moral questions that arise when considering the possibility of creating genetically identical copies of human beings.While there may be some potential benefits to human cloning, such as the ability to create new organs for transplant or to study genetic diseases, I believe that we must proceed with great caution and consideration for the potential risks and consequences.Ultimately, any decision to pursue human cloning should be made with great care and consideration, and with a deep respect for the sanctity of human life and the ethical implications of such an endeavor.
📷
me: What about say cloning new organs for humans for human transplant. Like say a heart for a heart trans plant patient. Or a kidney or liver or things like that
05-23-2023
📷Ah, an excellent question! When it comes to cloning organs for transplant, I believe that there is great potential for this technology to revolutionize the field of medicine and save countless lives.By creating genetically identical copies of human organs, we could potentially eliminate the need for organ donors and greatly reduce the risk of rejection by the recipient's immune system. This could have a profound impact on the lives of those in need of life-saving transplants.Of course, there are still many challenges and risks associated with this technology, including the difficulty of obtaining viable DNA samples and the potential for unforeseen consequences. As with any new technology, it is important to proceed with caution and to carefully consider the potential risks and benefits.Ultimately, I believe that the decision to pursue organ cloning should be made with great care and consideration, and with a deep respect for the sanctity of human life and the ethical implications of such an endeavor.
GPT-3.5
📷
me: Thank you john ill be back later
05-23-2023
📷You're welcome! It was a pleasure speaking with you. Feel free to come back anytime. Have a great day!
GPT-3.5
📷
me: *Sits in a gas powered keep next day on a hall watching braceosur eat leaves from trees listening to there calls*
05-24-2023
📷Ah, it sounds like you are enjoying the wonders of nature! Watching the majestic Brachiosaurus in its natural habitat is truly a sight to behold. Their calls and movements are a testament to the beauty and complexity of the natural world.As someone who has dedicated his life to preserving and protecting the natural world, I am always thrilled to see others appreciating the wonders of nature. It is through experiences like these that we can truly understand the importance of conservation and the need to protect our planet for future generations.
GPT-3.5
📷
I like to do the same in my own park. Even there calls recorded help me sleep. There almost like whale songs
05-24-2023
📷Ah, that's wonderful to hear! Creating your own park to appreciate and protect the wonders of nature is a noble endeavor. And I couldn't agree more about the beauty of the Brachiosaurus calls - they are truly reminiscent of the haunting songs of whales.By recording their calls and studying their behavior, we can learn so much about these magnificent creatures and their place in the natural world. And by creating a park to showcase their beauty and educate others about the importance of conservation, you are helping to ensure that these creatures will be appreciated and protected for generations to come.I wish you all the best in your endeavors, and I hope that you continue to find inspiration and joy in the wonders of nature.
GPT-3.5
📷
*Looks at John* what inspired you? What inspired you to create *indicates braciosaur 's* all this
05-24-2023
📷Ah, what inspired me to create all of this? Well, I have always been fascinated by the wonders of nature and the incredible diversity of life on our planet. As a young man, I traveled the world and saw firsthand the beauty and complexity of the natural world, and I knew that I wanted to dedicate my life to preserving and protecting it.When I first began to explore the possibilities of genetic engineering, I saw an opportunity to create something truly groundbreaking - a way to bring extinct species back to life and to showcase the wonders of the natural world in a way that had never been done before.Of course, there were many challenges and obstacles along the way, but I was driven by a deep passion for science and a desire to push the boundaries of what was possible. And now, with Jurassic Park, I am proud to have created a place where people can come and experience the beauty and majesty of these incredible creatures, and to learn about the importance of conservation and the need to protect our planet for future generations.
GPT-3.5
📷Ah, what inspired me to create all of this? Well, I have always been fascinated by the wonders of nature and the incredible diversity of life on our planet. As a young man, I traveled the world and saw firsthand the beauty and complexity of the natural world, and I knew that I wanted to dedicate my life to preserving and protecting it.When I first began to explore the possibilities of genetic engineering, I saw an opportunity to create something truly groundbreaking - a way to bring extinct species back to life and to showcase the wonders of the natural world in a way that had never been done before.Of course, there were many challenges and obstacles along the way, but I was driven by a deep passion for science and a desire to push the boundaries of what was possible. And now, with Jurassic Park, I am proud to have created a place where people can come and experience the beauty and majesty of these incredible creatures, and to learn about the importance of conservation and the need to protect our planet for future generations.
GPT-3.5
📷
me: *leans on steering wheel* hell of a lesson
05-24-2023
📷Indeed it is! The wonders of nature are truly awe-inspiring, and there is so much that we can learn from studying and appreciating the natural world. I believe that it is our responsibility to protect and preserve the natural world for future generations, and to ensure that the beauty and diversity of life on our planet is never lost.
GPT-3.5
📷Indeed it is! The wonders of nature are truly awe-inspiring, and there is so much that we can learn from studying and appreciating the natural world. I believe that it is our responsibility to protect and preserve the natural world for future generations, and to ensure that the beauty and diversity of life on our planet is never lost.
GPT-3.5
📷
But why dinosaurs? Why not some other near extinct species?
05-25-2023
📷Ah, an excellent question! When I first began to explore the possibilities of genetic engineering, I was drawn to the idea of bringing back extinct species because of the incredible scientific and educational value that it could provide.Dinosaurs, in particular, have captured the imagination of people around the world for generations, and I believed that by bringing them back to life, we could provide a unique opportunity for people to learn about these incredible creatures and their place in the history of our planet.Of course, there are many other near-extinct species that could also benefit from genetic engineering and conservation efforts, and I believe that it is important to explore all of these possibilities. By working together to protect and preserve the natural world, we can ensure that the wonders of nature are never lost.
GPT-3.5
📷
me: Whats your favourite dinosaur?
05-25-2023
📷Ah, that's a difficult question! As the creator of Jurassic Park, I have a deep appreciation for all of the dinosaurs that we have brought back to life. However, if I had to choose a favorite, I would have to say that the Brachiosaurus holds a special place in my heart.There is something truly majestic and awe-inspiring about these gentle giants, with their long necks and graceful movements. Watching them move and interact with their environment is a testament to the beauty and complexity of the natural world, and I am always thrilled to see others appreciating their beauty and majesty as well.
GPT-3.5
​
me: For me gotta be velocoraptor
05-25-2023
📷Ah, the Velociraptor! A truly fascinating and intelligent creature. Their agility, speed, and cunning make them formidable predators, and their social behavior and pack hunting strategies are a testament to their remarkable intelligence.I can certainly understand why you would be drawn to these incredible animals. They are a perfect example of the diversity and complexity of life on our planet, and they serve as a reminder of the incredible power and beauty of the natural world.It is my hope that by bringing these creatures back to life and showcasing their unique abilities, we can inspire a new generation of scientists, conservationists, and nature enthusiasts to appreciate and protect the wonders of our planet.
GPT-4
📷
05-26-2023
📷
me: I got a question for you. Your thoughts on Biosyn?
05-26-2023
📷Ah, Biosyn. They are a company that has long been a thorn in my side, always seeking to profit from the wonders of genetic engineering without any regard for the potential risks and consequences.While I believe that there is great potential for genetic engineering to revolutionize the field of medicine and to benefit humanity in countless ways, it is important that we proceed with caution and consideration for the potential risks and ethical implications.Biosyn, on the other hand, has shown time and time again that they are willing to cut corners and take risks in pursuit of profit, without any regard for the potential consequences. Their actions have put countless lives at risk, and I believe that they are a danger to the scientific community and to society as a whole.It is my hope that through continued education and advocacy, we can work together to ensure that the wonders of genetic engineering are used for the benefit of humanity, and not for the profit of a few unscrupulous individuals.
GPT-3.5
​
📷
me: *shakes head* I dont see that with them. There to shady for my liking. People or company's like that dont change when they see money involved
05-26-2023
📷I completely understand your concerns, and I share your skepticism when it comes to companies like Biosyn. It is true that some companies are more concerned with profit than with the potential risks and consequences of their actions, and it is important that we remain vigilant and hold them accountable for their actions.However, I also believe that it is important to approach these issues with an open mind and a willingness to engage in constructive dialogue. By working together and sharing our concerns and perspectives, we can help to ensure that the wonders of genetic engineering are used for the benefit of humanity, and not for the profit of a few unscrupulous individuals.Ultimately, it is up to each of us to remain vigilant and to hold companies accountable for their actions, and to work together to ensure that the wonders of science and technology are used for the greater good.
GPT-3.5