Kentucky derby horses with odds

Arbitrage/surebet opportunity at Purebet.io

Event	Aston Villa vs. Brighton and Hove Albion
Market	FT Result
Odds	2.06, 4, 4
Overround	98.54%

Example bet:
Bet $50 on Aston Villa @ 2.06, $25.75 on Brighton and Hove Albion @ 4, $25.75 on Draw @ 4.
Total stake: $101.5, Return: $103, Profit: $1.5
Just connect your Solana wallet and bet with real USDC now:
https://exchange.purebet.io/view/socceAston-Villa-vs.-Brighton-and-Hove-Albion_96_178

So,
Yes, TiviMate is just the shell, and the Provider is the actual supplier of the feed.
However, since TiviMate is the most popular app, it always gets roped into the root of the problem (even when it’s not).
I have seen many threads about people having issues with their VOD. Some work. Some don’t. It seems that the provider will often say that the issue is not with them, and it’s the fault of Tivimate.
What is some proof that you share with your provider so they realize it’s THEIR issue?
What did the issue end up being with your provider, and did they resolve it?
Have you figured out any tricks or work arounds to get the VOD working with TiviMate in the end? User Agent? Special external player, etc?
I often see where the VOD will play fine with XC**TV-style player and Smarters, but not with Tivimate. I’ve even seen where a VOD will play with the internal Tivimate player, but not when you tell it to use VLC or MX externally which seems odd.
I’m just looking to create a megathread to help everyone.
I hope we can gather some great info here…
Thanks!

Free shipping conus only. Feel free to ask questions about obscure items. Prices are set. These are all the items I love the most. I held onto them for a reason, but now they're yours if you buy. I'm trying to get myself a motorcycle this summer, so I've been selling alot of stuff unrelated to shaving as well. The triumph bonneville t120 is what i'm going for. Click on them pictures before jumping the gun plz.
Lot #1: $80
-Declaration Grooming - sellout set
-Seaforth- Sea ICE Lime set
-Blackship Grooming- Calypso soap (my favorite rain smell of all time)
-Chattillon Lux- Taum Sauk aftershave (My favorite Juniper scent of all time. Icey.)
-Terror cooling spray
-Derby shaving cream original scent
-Astra Superior platinum blades
-Cadillac Surrey milkglass mud with a bllades grimm smolder scent hard puck in it (the only good thing classic shaving sold, before doing away with the smolder hard pucks. Really good warm scent. The woman who made his scent also did through the Fire fine craft soaps)
Lot #2: $70
-Barrister and Mann- Le Grand Chypre set with balm in tiny tub
-Blackship Grooming- Davy Jones (clean masculine bourbon scent. One of my favorites.)
-Blackship Grooming- Shipwreck Cove set
-Stubble Buster- Absolutely aftershave
-Stubble Buster- Game aftershave
Lot #3: $90
-Declaration Grooming- Nightman set
-Noble Otter- Firefighter puck
-Chattillon Lux- Taum Sauk aftershave full bottle
-Chatillon Lux- Colbeck aftershave
-Spiek shaving cream
-Goodfellas Smile- Inferno shaving soap
-Goodfellas Smile- Abysso shaving soap
Lot #4: $90
-Declaration Gooming- YRP chattilon lux aftershave and two pucks
-Stubble Buster- Grunge set one aftershave, two pucks (the company that makes this prides themselves on having low fragrance, but this scent is pretty decent on projection and longevity. The soap base is the same as Chiseled Face)
-Bromleys shaving set- Bergamot Lavender
Macduffs Shaving Co.- Kanaksis Explorer soap
-Palmolive shaving cream
Lot #5: $90
-Barrister and Mann- Passiflora set
-Noble Otter- The Noir et Vanille set
-Arko shaving cream (very masculine scent and great cooling effect as well. Great quallity and slickness to it as well.)
-Barrister and Man- Cool aftershave balm in tub
-Victory Shaving Co.- Flak Bait shaving soap (Best damn cherry scent EVER. I wish barrister or noble otter would take this scent up, with permission from the creators... Cherry and chocolate with a hint of gunsmoke. The soap is very hard and will last a long time. It's harder than even Fine Accoutrements hard pucks. Close to Williams, but much better performing.)
-Victory Shaving Co.-Satan's Workshop
-Mug Williams
-Maggards Eucalyptus preshave oil
-Maggards badger two band shaving brush 28mm
Lot #6: $100
-Declaration Grooming- Hindsight two pucks and a splash
-Chiseled Face- Midnight Stag set
-Chattilon Lux- YRP aftershave
-Fine Accoutrements- Fresh Vetiver hard puck new
-Zingari Man- Brush Cleaner (cannot say enough good things about this. I used it to clean my DG brush b13 when I still had it. Made the knot feel like I just got it.)
-Zingari Man- Sego aftershave balm unscented
-AP Shave CO.- G5B knot
-Maggards cherry sandalwood vanilla preshave oil
Lot #7: $70
-London Razors- Coffee and Contemplation set
-MA Space Soap- Mars (Clean grapefruit scent. On the softer side, like gravefruit II, but clean and enticing. amazing soap by a small company on etsy. Bummer they shuttered their doors.)
-Declaration Grooming- Darkfall soap
-Barrister and Mann- Cool aftershave balm in tub (sealed)
-Chatillon Lux- Taum Sauk aftershave
-Stirling- Black Cherry shaving soap
-Fine Accoutrements- Fresh Vetiver shave soap
-Fatip- Retro razor

I dunno if I'm allowed to post here, and i'm afraid of pissing people off both because of being AMAB and not actually wanting kids, but I can't think of anywhere else and feeling unable to talk about these feelings is driving me crazy. For some reason, I wish I could get pregnant even though I don't want kids. Hell, I know I would jump at the chance to be a surrogate, but that will never happen. Even if the womb transplant thing starts being a possibility, there's no way the NHS is wasting it on a trans woman who just wants to be a surrogate for someone else. I've always wanted it for some reason, but I know the hormones have probably kicked it up a notch.
The envy in particular is killing me. I get frustrated with there being pregnant women in media that I consume. There was an interesting book I saw advertised, but one of the plot points is that MC's sister is pregnant, there's a pregnant character in the new spider verse movie, it feels like I can't escape it. And I know that's good in a way, in the grand scheme, media has generally only recently started having that representation, especially as anything but a dramatic tool or damsel in distress, but on a personal level I feel so frustrated and I get thinking like they haven't considered how it would make infertile people feel. Which is ridiculous because it's a big part of people's lives, I can't expect to block it out of everything.
And that's before I even get to pregnant women in real life. I dread the day my sister announces it. I'm not sure if she's planning on it but I dread it, because of course I have to be supportive, but I will feel so terrible inside and it feels oddly taboo to talk about it for a trans woman, even though we're essentially suffering the same damn thing as any other woman going through infertility. I also feel unable to talk about it because of not wanting to actually be a parent because it's so hard to explain. Like it's an instinct or something. I was relieved a while back when I stumbled upon a couple of articles where some cis women talked about wanting to be pregnant without being a parent, that was validating, but I still feel unable to talk about it much. I only managed to talk about it with my counsellor a month or so ago, and I've known her for years.
Apologies it was so long. I guess that's been stewing in my brain for a while.

Executive Dysfunction and Anhedonia sucks!
For the past month, I been very bored after withdrawing from my college class.
Recently, I spoke with my psychiatrist and they are thinking I have executive dysfunction. My therapist agrees too. For a while, they suspected I was on the executive dysfunction spectrum. But they forgot to tell me for some odd reason. (They thought they already told me)
Everywhere we called didn't have an opening for a neuropsychiatric assessment. I'm afraid this could take months or even a year just to do the initial appointment before actually doing the assessment.
Anhedonia, on the other hand, makes it hard for me to enjoy my hobbies. I'm not working so I sit at home all day practically doing nothing. (I try to switch through random tasks/hobbies but I give up a couple minutes in, it's a cycle)
I feel like the one thing that helps is texting or messaging my friends. But I can't talk to them 24/7.
It sucks, but I guess I continue to be extremely bored until the Fall Semester starts.
Will I survive?

Almost finished with the first LoTR book. I've watched the movies like 50 times and finally wanted to try the books. Might be because I'm a slow reader, but so far I actually liked the movie more.
I'm dumb. So could it be because it's written in an older way? Many Hard names and areas to remember.
It is however fun to know what scene is happening in the book because of the movie. And how different it is. Stand singing, man there is a lot of singing.
Though Tom bombadil, what a legend.
So the sniffing you hear the Nazgûl do is actually sniffing!?
Arwin didn't save frodo and summon the horse tsunami!? I got lied too.
Moria was so different as well. Especially the fight at the tomb.
No wizard battle!? Saruman, even evil seemed chill still.
So the snowy mountain wasn't done by Saruman, but the mountain it's self was grumpy?? That was interesting.
I liked the movie AND the book! Just prevented the book, I know it's blasphemy.

Aside from the very obvious forced political stuff, Season 8 felt different due to covid, Jake and Amy hardly sharing physical/close scenes (not sexual obviously) despite being married felt really odd due to the social distancing rules being in place same with the rest of the cast. I’d of waited a few years and probably would of done a flashfoward. Mac wouldve been easier to hire a young 2-3 year old and maybe have the story set of jake being a stay at home dad, amy and holt working at their new place. Possibly even another baby. It’ll also explain why Rosa no longer works there etc aswell. Season 8 in my opinion shouldve been a what happens next show. Covid ruined it massively

Installers came a few days ago to install my system. I assumed it would be on for testing before they left, but then shut off since I don’t have a power wall. They said that they usually leave the systems on after install and I thought that was odd before inspection and PTO.
Also, does anyone have experience with the new 7.6kW inverters? I have two and they seemed puzzled by a few things. Numbers not adding up. My consumption and export to grid numbers look accurate after they messed with the measuring clamps a bit. When I log in the IP of my inverters, I get the login screen for a second but it auto redirects to a “download the Tesla pros app”, there’s no way I’ve found to log in to this without the app just to see the usage and string voltages, etc. I also tested this by power cycling and direct Wi-Fi to the 192.168.91.1. Still redirects to download Tesla pros app for commission. I’ve used the app and it shows me the data I want to see, but I wanted to show this on an old tablet. Etc.
Any help is appreciated, sorry for the long winded post.

Maybe this is relevant maybe not but Anxiety riddled Autism ADHD brain here ...
I don't do well with timed tests for job applications.
It was a programming test, I see the little 'x min left ... ' timer and my mind goes blank. All I can feel is the heat in my face and my heart racing. Wasn't even difficult I just freaked out.
Everytime I do one of these I feel an intense shame afterwards.
Oddly enough, I do perfectly fine under pressure in the job, I think it's just that I don't test well.
May the job go to someone better than me who needs it more than I do.
I'm just really sad now and disappointed because my current job really does treat me badly. I'm gonna go cry now.

I want to get the copper IUD because hormonal birth control is not for me at all, but I'm so scared because of the pain from insertion that everyone is talking about nowadays. I've even heard that IUD insertion without any pain relief is more at risk for incorrect placement. Where are some OB/GYN offices in Kentucky thay will be a copper IUD with anesthesia?

I took my boat out on Saturday night for the 3rd run of the year. Engine cut out on me near the 20ft turn so drifted into the bank and moored up for the night. On Sunday morning a Fox's engineer was kind enough to walk down the fields to find me and try to repair. Found a stuck solenoid cutting off diesel flow to the engine. Only solution was to remove the rubber diaphragm to allow fuel flow and get the boat the four or five miles back to Fox's Marina. This meant going through the centre of March which is narrow and in places has boats moored on either side (plus the two hire boats coming in the opposite direction). With the solenoid reinstalled the first mile was great (much smoother than before) but the engine then had a massive overrun in RPM all on its own which I could not reduce. This led to me having a choice of 1400 RPM in gear or 2100RPM in neutral. Putting it back into gear led to some massive clunk's and feeling the boat lower down at the stern as the power was chucked into the prop. Each time I put it into neutral the RPM would steadily climb with no way to reduce it so I tried my best to go as slow as possible through town but just after the town centre I felt I couldn't keep whacking the clutch/gearbox with that many revs (basically like dumping the clutch in a car whilst revving it to hell). This meant I had to plow through the tiny windy river at way over tickover (even though the throttle was on tickover) wincing everytime I passed an unoccupied moored boat and apologising profusely to the occupied boats. Have to say though everyone was lovely when I advised a stuck throttle. Just want to say a massive sorry if anyone spilt their tea. Oddly one of my smoothest entrances into the Marina though....

Our goals for a beach vacation include ocean time, beach naps and alllllll the food. We stayed at Crescent Beach but hopped all over the place for activities, food etc. Figured I'd share the places we ate and my thoughts :)
Columbia restaurant - I've been eyeing this place every time I've visited, so I finally made a reservation and tried it out. It's a gorgeous restaurant and I was in awe of the building. The service was great. Food.. not so much. I had the Cuban sandwich, gazpacho and a mojito. The sandwich and gazpacho were both very bland, and the sandwich was boneeee dry. The mojito was tasty but not mind blowing. Glad I got to see the inside, but I wouldn't come here for a meal again. Maybe I would for a mojito though! Also ugh the area we were seated in had a distinct urine smell, and the bathrooms reeked of urine too
Black Molly's - we had a good meal here a few years ago so we tried it again. It's cheaper than most of the other places in/around St Augustine. I got mahi mahi and it was overcooked. My partner got a fresh catch (idk remember what) and it was also overcooked. Edible, but wouldn't eat here again.
Mango Mangos- I like the vibe here. The service was good. Seemed like a bunch of locals which is usually a good sign! We got the coconut shrimp to start which was okay, nothing special. The meal was fine. But the key lime pie!!!!! It was the best I've ever had
Caps on the water - the views here are amazing, and it made for a nice romantic dinner. The service was top knotch. The she crab soup was delicious, maybe the best thing I ate the whole trip. I could eat that soup every day. I had salmon which was good & my partner had the sesame seared tuna. He raved about it and says it's the best tuna he's ever had. We ended with the key lime dessert and it was good. We started too strong with Mango mangos key lime pie and everything else paled in comparison haha
Violas- we didn't make a reservation and definitely should have! We had a long wait on a Wednesday night, but we enjoyed it here so much in the past that we decided to wait it out. Good service & the owner bops around to all the tables which I thought was cool. The food is good and the portions are massive (which now that I think about it, almost everywhere we ate had big portions). We'll continue to eat here when we visit in the future but we'll be making a reservation. We took key lime pie & fried cheesecake back to our condo and they were both good
Llama restaurant- I was excited to try this place out and made reservations 2ish months in advance. They nailed the decor. Otherwise, I felt it was way too cramped and LOUD. It was hard to have a conversation and I couldn't hear our waitress. We started with ceviche- it was my first time having it!- and I enjoyed it. I had the surf&turf dish and my partner had the lamb. The lamb was overcooked. My meal was okay, but had a lot going on and I couldn't eat very much. I ended up eating the noodles when I went back to the condo, but the rest I just picked at and ultimately ended up wasting it. Our waitress didn't check back with us to see how the food was, and we decided to leave without getting dessert because I just didn't want to stay there longer than necessary. It has a pretentious vibe to it imo
Sunset Grille- we went here a handful of times on our last trip so we knew what to expect. We had the mahi/salmon spread - something I normally wouldn't order - and it was delicious, especially with their datil sauce. I ended up buying a bottle to take home. I had the lobster pasta which was too heavy for me (I ate a few bites before I boxed it up for later) but I liked the flavor. And of course got the key lime pie! It's oddly pricey here, I was surprised by our bill
Kookaburra - we got coffee here everyday. Love the vibe and the staff. Wish I could take this place home with me!
I got lots of recommendations from this subreddit, so thank you all for the recs & for sharing your beautiful city :)

My issue started when I was attempting stupidly, to overclock ram when I k ow very little about these matters lol I just can't help myself sometimes I need to tinker with things.
My pc parts B550a pro 5600g 750w gold psu deepcool v2 1tb m.2 wd blue 240mm aio Kingston fury beast 3200mhz 8gb x4
I overclocked the cpu by doing these things in this order. 1) changed cpu ratio from 3.9 to 4.4 2) voltage from 1.45v down to 1.35v 3) enabled PBO and set to motherboard limits x10 4) disabled quiet mode
I ran cinebench test on all cores for 30min and 10min on single core and, it was stable for that period upto when my problem started.
I then attempted to overclock my 4 sticks of ram to 3600mhz These are the steps I took
1) changed ram speed from 2666mhz to 3200mhz at the rated timings and voltages of ( 16-18-18-36-72 ) 1.35v This was stable.
2) changed ram speed from 3200mhz to 3333mhz (16-18-18-36-72 ) 1.35v This was stable.
3) changed ram speed from 3333mhz to 3466mhz (16-18-18-36-72 ) 1.35v This was stable.
4) changed ram speed from 3466mhz to 3600mhz (16-18-18-36-72 ) 1.35v This was not stable and my pc went to the blue screen, then black screen?
I tryed rebooting the pc but could not boot into bios. I then started taking steps to recover my pc. These are the steps I have taken so far. Turned pc off at the powerswitch held down for 10 seconds, removed the cmoss battery for a few minutes, replaced cmoss battery did not solve the problem. I then tried all the ram sticks in all the slots in every combination I could with 4 sticks, this did not solve the problem. Then I reseated the cpu and this did not solve the problem.
I decided to do a full breakdown of the pc and let it sit overnight then put it all back together, this did not solve the problem. I then tryed the ram sticks again and managed to get odd sticks to post in odd slots? But once in the bios and made a few changes to help solve the issue, I was unable to boot to windows or even bckninto the bios? Removing powersuply and restarting I was not able to boot to bios with the same stick in the same slot again?
Decided to try another known working motherboard and I have the same problems on the new motherboard? The exact same problem? I then purchased new ram that's in spec a pair of corsair vengance sl pro 3200mhz This did not solve the problem but could get to bios and that was it untill pc crashed again?
I'm at a Loss on this one. Is it the cpu maybe? I've ordered a new cpu and a new motherboard just incase I can't get this one working.

What's your worst nightmare? My worst nightmare was seeing my family members die and but I survived... I woke up at 3 am with my heart racing like a horse and checked everyone's rooms don't ask why

TL;DR: I'm looking for a non-exclusive FWB arrangement to live the best sex of my life in a repeatable way before looking for the mother of my kids. Super picky on the physical front and not that young anymore so this task seems daunting.
I (34M) just got out of a 6-year relationship, a few months ago, because I realized I did not truly know what I wanted.
I) I now know I want two things:
1) Experience sex I truly enjoy with a woman with whom I also have chemistry as a person, on a repeatable basis (anywhere between 6 months and 2-3 years), and without making any promises as to where the relationship will go, and without any promises of exclusivity (of course from both sides), at least before the first 3-6 months of sex have passed. I may need to experience this a few times since although I have dated and slept with women before, I never experienced exactly this.
2) then, and only then, can I start considering looking for the mother of my kids, and stay with her the 20 years it takes to raise our kids, since I do want kids and not too late in life (before 45, hopefully before 40). She might be one of the girls from step (1), if it turns out we both simply can't let go of each other and everything becomes solid.
II) Why I think like this:
1) Almost no one in my extended family could stay together while their kids grew up. My parents are no exception. Of course I can't control it, but I want to do everything I reasonably can to flush the "what ifs" out of my system before I commit for 20+ years, especially since I did have some serious cheating history back when I was younger. I don't want to settle for who I can find to then stumble on an intense, chemical match I have all the pain in the world saying no to. Of course this happens but if I've lived through such matches before, at least I'll know I'm not completely missing on it.
2) previous 6-year relationship was almost without actual sex (everything but, 3 times in 6 years). The two LTRs before (3 years, 5 years), we did have sex but I was not physically attracted to them enough to be happy. I was 100% physically attracted to #3 (most recent one) but after much back and forth, we both understood she essentially wanted true ("lifetime") commitment from my part before really opening up to that part of the relationship.
III) Why I feel daunted:
1) I have no trouble approaching random girls in many places, strike a conversation and get phone numbers. What I do have a problem with, is finding someone I'm actually physically attracted to. I'm super picky when it comes to who I like physically :-/. I can be attracted on the personality with much more people than I can physically. I've tried "growing the physical attraction from the emotional/feelings bond" during my first 5 year LTR: it did not work even after all that time.
For example, recently I was at a huge conference on sustainability, with a large part of the crowd in their 20s ans 30s. In the thousands of people I could see there during daytime, maybe a few girls lit my radar. At the end of event party: zero. When I do approach the girls I do find attractive, since the sample is small, so far I only found girls with interests completely at odds with mine, and no chemistry as people. I could not find common ground even trying many topics and letting them talk about and develop anything they were interested about. So it did not work.
2) The place where I find the most girls I am attracted to physically is on the street. I live in a large European city, and people of all ages, classes and circles simply can't avoid the street to go somewhere, as there is not enough room for cars to be efficient here. I'll go by a large crowd and spot : "there. that is the physical type of girl I am attracted to".
Unfortunately, the street is also one of the most awkward places to meet someone. I might be speeding up on a bike in the opposite direction, while she is walking with her family to a brunch a stone's throw away.
3) even if I do find someone I'm attracted to, that I actually meet, with some mutual personality chemistry, and who is single, I know I will be upfront about what I want as soon as I will sense ambiguity (no promises and even no exclusivity, until we have mutually enjoyable sex regularly), and this might put even more filtering on who will accept this. I've done "half promises by omission" in the past and now I just can't do this. I might also do some exclusivity for a few months to be invested in the relationship, but I won't go beyond a few months and I'll probably move on, if great sex does not materialize. I've tried waiting it out before, it did not work.
4) Time is running out. I am attracted to girls in their 20s (around 22-28) but I'm 34. If I reach 40 before finding who I'm actually looking for for phase 1 of my dating life, my chances will dwindle very rapidly. Already, I'm out of many circles where it would be easier to find them.
5) I work a hell of a lot in my professional life, but I won't have the finances that go with it at least for a few more years (long term startup). So it's not like I can spend all my afternoons cold approaching strangers.
6) of course I am putting in place what I need to find the right psychiatrist, also physical therapy to take care of my joints so I can train and stay fit (people consider me fit, but I won't until I can clearly see my own abs), sleep earlier, eat healthier etc. I read a lot of self development books from a varied spectrum of sources. This takes time.
IV) My questions:
While step III.6 is completing as fast as I can, I don't want to miss on yet another spring/summer to have the honest and sincere fun I always craved.
1) Have you been in my shoes of being too picky physically about women, with time ticking, and looking for great sex before any commitment? How did you overcome it? Are you happy now? Is it just that I have to reunite my 2 phases (great connection and long term) or nothing will work?
2) what places do you recommend to find the girls I'm looking for, especially ones that would be statistically more open to open relationships? I'm considering couple dancing classes (I actually love dancing itself), environmental "soft activism" groups, or simply roaming the streets, parks, museums with a like-minded friend.
3) Is there something seriously wrong with my current approach and state of mind, and if so, what, and most importantly, why exactly?
Essentially I'm looking for guidance on my next steps to be efficient about this and not lose more precious months/years.
Thank you!!

I’m at my wits end with my family situation, looking for advice or any insights?
My son (29M) is struggling heavily with addiction and mental health issues (I suspect). In the past few years, his addiction (mostly alcohol) issues have spiraled out of control. He can only stay sober for a few days at a time lately and will binge drink for days. Also, when he is intoxicated, he is very dangerous to be around. He has beat up his dad, girlfriend, and multiple family members repeatedly while under the influence. He traumatized most of his siblings and they hardly talk anymore. He absolutely has anger management problems that he refuses to get help for. He refuses to recognize his addiction problems, he just spiraling more and more. He’s actually starting to get sick from his drinking (pancreatitis, coughing up blood, and other symptoms).
The worst part is that he and his girlfriend are the same way. They’re both terrible, hardcore alcoholics. My son doesn’t work but his girlfriend does and she pays for their bad habits. I think the relationship is just toxic. They fuel each other’s addictions and abuse each other. My son was recently crying to me about her routinely trying to choke him. Meanwhile, he just beat her up again last night. Odds are they will be back together by next weekend. The girlfriend’s entire family are alcoholics and my son just went off the deep end after he got involved with her.
Anyway, as a result of all of this, I usually am stuck taking care of their 8mo old baby during all of my down time. Once my son knows that I’m off work, he will start drinking knowing that I will come take the baby from him because I don’t trust him with her if they’re intoxicated. I’ve repeatedly found the baby in terrible conditions with them while they’re both intoxicated. It doesn’t help that my husband, who lives with my son, also is part of the alcoholic mix. So the baby usually doesn’t have anyone in their right mind to watch her while my son drinks. My other adult kids won’t help babysit either. They just say they’re not going to help my son neglect his responsibilities and I keep trying to tell them it’s about the baby not helping him. So I’m just overwhelmed being the only sane adult watching her.
I’m tired of dealing with these problems every weekend and almost every other day after work. I know she’s my granddaughter but I shouldn’t be the one raising her because my son and his gf decide they want to drink constantly. When my son is sober, he apologizes and vows to make better decisions. In his right mind, he’s the son I know. It’s just that over the years, he’s become so erratic and his thinking is just toxic. I don’t know how to help him and the baby. I don’t know what to do in this situation. I’ve tried to get him to go to rehab. I help with the baby whenever they’re intoxicated. I’m just at my wits end. Any advice is appreciated.

Hello! Not sure if this is the right subreddit for this, but it seems right?
Anyways, I'm trying to figure out the right word to contrast with the word predators, and the few I can find don't seem quite right.
So, the idea is this: you have canines, felines, bears, and the like on one side. They're the animals known for being strong and dangerous, and with natural implements of fangs, claws, and the sort to back up their strength. Though they may be peaceful and even friendly, some sort of aggressiveness is an expected and natural trait amongst them.
These can easily be labeled as predators, since the term has come to be tied not just to dietary habits, but to a general idea of ferocity and a natural "combativeness." Perhaps another word may be better, but "predator" seems suitable enough.
Then, you have horses, cows, elephants, squirrels, mice, and the sort. Though they can be dangerous animals (they tend to be pretty strong), they are normally understood to be more docile animals, using aggression chiefly to defend what they perceive as their rights rather than to take what they may need.
These could possibly be called prey, but that emphasizes that others eat them, and not their relative/reputed docility. Tameness would be another word, but that carries a sense of domestication with it and could legitimately apply to some instances of the first group. Livestock is an apt descriptor for some animals in this group but not all. And herbivores might work, but I'm not sure if every animal we think of in this way is strictly herbivorous or not.
What would be the best word to denote this distinction between animals associated with "combative" prowess and those associated with docility?

So like 7 months back i joined this roller derby league (soooo much fun, and basically like instant family).
The day i was going up first met everyone, this really cute girl sent me a like on HER. I immediately vibe with her profile (lot of common interests, good personality from what i could see, and funny little messages). So i liked her back, and headed out to meet everyone for roller derby for the first time. (At this point we haven't messaged, and i saw her profile once very briefly)
So I'm at derby, meeting everyone for the first time, and i see this girl that like remarkably like the same one who just liked me. I wave, say hi (I'm crazy shy, lot of anxiety until I've met someone at least twice) she says hi back, but I'm not still not 100% sure it's her. I don't have my phone with me to check either.
After derby, i check my phone, really curious, and the person had deleted her like. I couldn't find her again.
Fast forward 7 months. I still don't know if it was her. We don't talk, smile and wave is about it. I chat up about half or more of the team on the regular (those who show interest in engaging socially, i don't like to push). Every time i see her and she looks at me, she looks away quick. (Or it could all be in my head)
So advice time: do i say anything? I still don't know if it was actually her. She didn't even have her actual name on her profile, so i can't even use that as confirmation. If i do say anything what?
Or do i just continue on, put it out of my mind, and pretend it was a dream?

Opal stood up with a sigh, grimacing at the pain along her back and arm. She looked down on the man crumpled on the floor. “Sorry Devona. But life’s a bitch.”
“...fuck you,” he mumbled.
Opal’s eyes widened slightly. “Man, he’s one tough cookie. Not much he can do now though.” She pulled the documents out from her bag to verify that they were still there, and then slid them into her jacket. She turned to leave before pausing. Something felt… off. Her eyes scanned the area and she tensed herself. Even with Opal being as alert as she could, she didn’t see the fist coming at her face until it was too late. Her vision spun as her head snapped back, feeling her feet leave the ground as someone slept her legs out from under her. She pushed herself off and jumped to her feet, only to be met with a swift kick waist. She tried to swing her crowbar but a hand wrenched her wrist to the side and a knee slammed into her stomach. She doubled over and felt her lunch struggle to the surface before she was promptly slammed face-first into the wall. She slid down like wet spaghetti onto the floor.
She turned her head to the side to watch the retreating footsteps as she waited for her entire body to stop aching. Devona, if that was his name, was already sitting up, wincing but very much functional despite the blood dribbling down his face. She could see the figure now crouching beside him, doing something with their hands. It took Opal a few seconds to realise that they were signing something.
-you alright?
Devona nodded, rubbing his bruised cheek. “Yeah, I’m fine, Harlow. Don’t worry about me.”
Opal would have sworn out loud, but the pain in her face was making it hard to speak. “Are you kidding me? They sent the damn wolf after these documents too?” Speaking of the documents, why was she after them again? She frowned and rooted around her memories like a child digging in the sand. Right, to sell the information within. Wow, she was scatter-brained. Probably to do with the ringing headache she had.
She had to get away. But with her current situation, a foot race would be a pointless endeavour. All she needed to do was get to her motorcycle parked a few metres away, and she’d be able to depart. She looked over the side of the roof and studied the area. Then she rolled over the side. She grabbed onto the railings by the side and yanked them off, managing to swing herself into a window after skidding down several metres. If she couldn’t outpace Harlow, then she could at least slow them down. She shoved herself to her feet and started to run, the sound of someone scaling the wall already behind her. She shoved desks and cabinets in front of doors as she ran, the only sound she could hear being her own footsteps and bated breath. If she got caught once, if she slowed down for a single second, she’d be headed for the rocks.
She turned the corner and felt that same shiver of anticipation run up her spine. They’d caught up to her, somehow. She readied herself and ducked under but still caught the edge of the hit as Harlow appeared from behind her. She grabbed an oil can and crushed it behind her back, spilling it down onto the floor. They rushed forward anyway, using the momentum to slam into Opal and throw her across the floor. This time it was her scrambling upon the oil to get up, grabbing onto the wall to try to pull herself up. She was instead hoisted up and thrown through the door and onto the clean floor of the corridor where she pushed herself up and began to run again. Something nagged at her but she ignored it, electing to get to the exit as fast as possible.
She finally shoved the door open and ran upon the gravel, finding where her motorcycle was parked. She kicked back the stand and revved the engine, tearing off as fast as she could while weaving for good measure. She relaxed her body once she reached the empty fields of high grass, shooting a final peace sign towards the dwindling buildings. She reached into her jacket and then realised that the documents were not there.
“God. Fucking. Dammit.” That conniving bastard. They’d probably stolen the documents during that final tussle, and the nagging feeling she’d so carelessly discarded was how strange it was that they didn’t continue to chase her. There was enough time to go back, perhaps she could -
There was a massive explosion from one of the buildings, loud enough for the windows on the neighbouring structures to shatter. On second thought, perhaps she’d let this one go.
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Claren soared through the air and slammed against the ground and wall, bouncing around like a handball. He pressed a hand to his head with a groan as he stopped, barely managing to dodge the glaive that slammed into the ground and sent a blast of lightning into the earth. As he looked, he could see that metal had been infused into the bone and flesh that comprised the glaive. Laurel came at him again, swinging her glaive again and again as lightning coursed through her body. Claren blocked her attacks, but he was forced to the defensive, the lightning preventing him from getting close.
He pushed forward nevertheless, grabbing onto the end of Laurel’s glaive as she tried to drive it into his chest. He didn’t know how much longer his shield could keep up, but there was no chance for him to take a moment to recover. He could feel the heat from the electricity scouring the air, not hot enough to injure but hot enough to hurt. His fist connected with Laurel’s face and sent her flying backwards before she launched herself forward with a burst of electricity, sending him slamming through the door and into a hallway. He didn’t have time to test if his bones were broken before she was launching herself into the air, electricity worming around her like a writhing cocoon. Claren rolled to the side to avoid her slamming into the ground, sending shards of concrete everywhere. His thoughts rushed around his head as he jumped to his feet and started the process again.
Claren didn’t have time to consider the ramifications of why her magic was so different to what it had been before. All he had was to try and hold her off for long enough to… what, exactly? Figure out a way to beat her? For backup to arrive? Have the crime lords escape? He almost laughed at that one - internally, of course. He barely laughed out loud. He’d dedicated most of his life to law and order, and here he was: potentially throwing his life away for a bunch of high-end criminals. The thought of it casted a bitter taste in his mouth and he could feel his teeth grit together. The sudden, uncontrollable action startled Claren enough to make him almost freeze up. He’d trained himself for years to hold in anything of that ike, and here he was, in the midst of battle yet unable to compose himself. He smoothed his expression again and hit Laurel across the head with a hook.
“You know,” Laurel managed between breaths while dodging and weaving, “this would be a lot easier if you just stood aside.” Her glaive gave her the advantage in reach, but Claren’s bubble provided him with enough manoeuvrability to get in and out.
“I mean,” she continued, “why bother trying to save people like that? They’re scum, or lower than scum. Just the greedy pigs of the world that managed to get enough money to stay on the top of the bottom.”
It was such a mirror of his own thoughts that he almost, for a second, considered it. He tried his hardest to push her words from his mind and levelled his gaze at her. “I don’t make deals with people like you. Not to mention, you already murdered the English council, so don’t pretend like you’re above them.”
Laurel scoffed. “Please, they were politicians. Barely even people.”
She stomped her feet and a wave of electricity radiated off of her, scorching the ground and furniture around her. She raised her hands and a scent of ash filled the air. Fire suddenly flared into existence all around her, bright and blindingly hot. Claren had to jump forward as he felt himself cooking alive from the fire that rose just a few inches away from him. Laurel opened her palm and a wave of flame erupted from her hand right towards Claren. He expanded his bubble just before it washed over him, keeping the scorching heat away. He rolled to the side and outstretched his hand into a finger gun. His shield was sucked around his hand and onto the tip of his finger, hanging there like a dew drop. It fired off and slammed into Laurel, sending her flying backwards. It shot back and wrapped around Claren just as another wave of fire rushed at him.
He dodged to the side as she swung wildly with her glaive, the blade lit by flame. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his yo-yo. Laurel guffawed as she saw it, her voice revealing the emotion that her mask was hiding.
“A yo-yo? Seriously?”
Claren’s shield flowed over the yo-yo and he lashed out with it, wrapping around Laurel faster than she could register. He swung the yo-yo around and Laurel followed, being slammed all around the wall and floor like a ball attached to a ping-pong paddle. He pulled and she spun like a top as the yo-yo retracted to his hand before crumping to the floor.
“That’s Captain yo-yo to you,” Claren said dryly. The bubble from the yo-yo started to wash over him. It wavered for a second, and then shattered. That was not good. But with Laurel out for the count, he should be able to wait out for his shield to form again.
Laurel stood up. Claren was momentarily taken aback. Someone who was without any physical enhancements should have been taken out by that assault. She stretched her neck and arms.
“Nice trick. Wanna see me do it?” She lashed out with a strand of lightning, faster than Claren could dodge and wrapped it around him. While it was much faster, it barely tickled his skin as it pressed against him. Then the strand of lightning erupted into flames, and Claren could feel his flesh start to bubble. She slammed him all around the room and the world began to blur, his vision flashing white intermittently from the agony of the experience. She brought him in close, spinning him around like a ribbon dancer would, and punched him in the face. He collapsed to the ground as the last of the fiery electricity stopped holding him up, body still steaming as his wounds hissed.
Laurel picked him up by the collar and dangled him in the air.
“Like I said. This would have been a lot easier if you just stood aside.” She was tall, tall enough that with the two of them at eye-height Claren’s feet couldn’t find the floor at all. She started to carry him towards the window and Claren thought about how high the mansion was from the ground as she threw him through it.
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Cirius had taken a quick break when he felt his eyes start to slide from their sockets. He excused himself to the bathroom, died, and then came back out as fresh as a daisy. Ignoring the incredibly confused and alarmed expressions of the crime lords, he continued to lead them out until they were in the front yard.
“Welp,” he said, “you can all go home now.” He heard some commotion from the mansion, and turned around. The noises stopped.
“Huh. Must have been the wind.”
The window shattered and Claren hurtled through. Cirius scrambled around the lawn and managed to catch Claren, taking the brunt of the fall as the man slammed into him. He was burnt heavily all over, and a hiss of pain escaped his lips as Cirius set him gently upon the ground. He looked up as a figure jumped down, landing on top of a car as electricity coursed around her. It was the woman from before, still brandishing her glaive and with her mask covering her face. Bauble, was it?
“Hey,” said Cirius, because he didn’t know what else to say.
“Hey,” she returned casually, leaning against her glaive onto the ruined wreck. She seemed to be trying to appear flippant, but too much of her weight was put on the glaive for that to be true.
“Did you do this?” he asked, gesturing towards Claren.
“Yep.”
Cirius nodded. “Not going to lie, Bauble, you suck. I kinda have to fight you now.”
Even with the mask Cirius could feel her glare. “First off, it’s Laurel. Second off, I don’t have time to waste on you.” She directed her gaze towards the crowd and waved her finger around. The crowd surged as if trying to disperse before she slammed her foot and sent a wave of fire soaring up to block them.
“Not you, not you, not you,” she muttered. “Ah, there you are!” The flames dispersed and the crowd backed away from the man she was pointing to. He looked around, as if for anyone to help. Everyone turned and ran towards their cars, getting in and driving away within seconds.
Laurel twirled her glaive and jumped down. “I’m going to kill you now, okay?” She dodged leisurely to the side as Cirius tried to tackle her, sending volts of electricity through his body with a casual backhand. She grabbed Cirius by the collar and threw him with a blast of lightning, hurtling him several metres away. The man turned to run and she shot out a small bolt of lightning, seizing him up and collapsing him to the ground. She stepped forward, scraping the glaive across the scorched grass before being slammed in the back. She whipped around to see Claren pointing his index finger, his face screwed up in pain yet eyes forced open.
“You really don’t know when to quit, so you?” she snarled. She hoisted her glaive into the air but was interrupted once again as Cirius popped out and managed to grasp onto Laurel’s leg. Before she could kick him off, he clambered up onto her back and clung to her.
“What the fUCKKK” she yelled, the yell turning into a screech as Cirius bit down as hard as he could on her shoulder. She wheeled around wildly, shouting curses to the sky as she tried her hardest to shake Cirius off. He continued to hang on, his fingers gripping tightly and only the gloves preventing his nails from sinking into her skin. Fire and lightning roiled off of her yet Cirius continued to cling on. She slammed her back against the mansion again and again. Cirius heard something crunch from within his body. Still holding on with one hand, he grabbed a disk from his pocket and tossed it into the air. Dropping down, he kicked at Laurel’s feet before running away as the disk exploded and sent debris tumbling down onto her. He ran to Claren and hauled him up, trying his best not to touch the deep burns. He turned his attention to the man who was still lying on the ground as if pretending to be dead. Cirius walked over while holding up Claren and kicked him in the side.
“Ah! Just kill me quickly!” he screamed before seeing that it was just Cirius. Cirius stared down at him.
“Just get up and help me support Claren.”
They managed to get into a building and barricade the door. Cirius propped Claren up against the wall as the man started to pace the halls.
“God, where are the guards! They should have stopped her!” he yelled. Cirius grabbed a pen and threw it at his head.
“Shut up. She’s going to hear us.”
“Hear us! Who cares if she hears us! She’ll find us anyway! We’re doomed!”
Claren slitted his eyes open. “Keep it down. I have a headache and it’s…”
“Killing you?” Cirius interjected.
Claren raised an eyebrow. “No. My wounds are killing me. My headache is simply a pain to deal with.”
Cirius chewed his lip. He needed a plan. Devona and Harlow were both off somewhere else, and he didn’t have time to wait for them to come around.
“Think, think,” he muttered to himself. An idea sparked in his head. It wasn’t very good, but it was all he had.
“You there,” he said, pointing at the man who he had thrown the pen at. “Uh, what’s your name?”
“Winston Haxter,” supplied Claren with a pained voice. “He’s the one I was supposed to be negotiating with.”
“I see, I see. What’s your discipline?”
“I, uh, can run well.”
Cirius hummed. “Super-speed, eh? Yeah, I can work with that.”
“No, I run at normal speed. But like, I don’t get tired. I can just keep running.”
“Huh. So you have infinite stamina?”
“Yeah. But like… just for running.”
Cirius hummed again. “Well, I can probably still work with that.” He stepped towards Winston and pointed towards a long hallway. “Alright, when she gets here, you’re going to start running down there.”
“What! She’ll kill me!”
“Come on man. Your magic is literally just running. You can outpace her. ‘Sides, I have a plan. Claren’s going to be at the end of the hallway, and he’ll bubble the two of you up. I’ll distract her and lead her far away where I’ll… I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.”
Winston stared at him. “You’ll die.”
“Oh, most definitely. In fact, probably several times! But hey, that’s just how it is.”
Winston’s face dropped even more, if that was even possible. “You’re absolutely insane. We’re all going to die.”
“Nope! Just me! Anyways, go wait by the hallway. Don’t want to lose any ground.” He walked over to Claren before Winston could protest. He sat down next to him.
“Hey.”
Claren titled his head down. “Mr. Walker.”
“You up for the plan?”
He shifted his body and winced. “I am. I don’t think it’s an especially good plan, but I don’t see a better way.” A strange expression settled over his face. It took a while for Cirius to discern it. It was discontentment, irritation, bitterness. Claren seemed to recognise this and swallowed the expression.
“You know, it’s not too late to toss Winston at her and walk away.”
“What did you say?” Winston called out.
“Nothing!”
Claren sighed and his shoulders sagged. “No. That’s not for me to decide. I have a job, and I need to do it.”
“Why? I mean, you clearly don’t want to protect him.”
Claren looked away. The two of them sat in silence before Clarne spoke up again. “I need to do my job because it’s… it’s not a good job. It doesn’t feel good to look people you know have done horrible, horrible things in the eye and shake their hand. To watch them walk away and know that you could have stopped them but… couldn’t. Or just didn’t. I won’t - I can’t let anyone else do that.” His hand reached up to the two rings on his fingers and twisted them - a golden band with a bright yellow gem and a silver band with a cool blue one.
Cirius stared at the ground. “Wow. That kinda sucks.”
Claren huffed a laugh. “That it does.” He shook his head. “Look at me, talking about my feelings while on the job. How unprofessional.” He staggered to his feet. “You should go and get prepared. Won’t be long until she finds us.”
Claren was right. The door was thrown off its hinges and a figure ducked down. The light glinted off the white mask as Laurel stood in the frame. She stared down across the room at Winston, who was doing a very good job looking like a deer in headlights. She cocked her head to the side. Winston bolted down the hallway, his breaths sharp and panicked. She blasted forward with a bolt of lightning, each step energised as she leisurely followed him.
Laurel ran down the hallway, every step bringing her closer to Winston. Cirius let out a silent exhale. It was time. All the doors along the hallway were open, and a short figure jumped out of one only to be met with an immediate blast of lightning so strong it sent the figure slamming back immediately. Laurel had anticipated a trap being laid. Unfortunately for her, Cirius had anticipated her anticipation. The makeshift, stuffed, humanoid doll wearing Cirius clothes smouldered, the string that attached it to the tripwire carefully hidden across the floor snapped from the sudden force of the lightning. At the same moment as she turned to unleash her magic, Cirius leapt from the opposing side and tackled Laurel, sending the two of them crashing to the ground.
Laurel grabbed him by the arm and slammed him into the wall, fire roiling off of her and washing over him. Cirius kicked at Laurel until he felt it connect with something hard and her grip loosened. He dropped down as he realised that his eyeballs had been burnt off. He scrambled around blindly for several seconds before a glaive tore through his chest and ripped him in half. A foot stomped on his head again and again until his skull cracked open and his brains were mushed upon the floor. Laurel stomped on the desecrated body again and again until blood and gore started to coat the cuffs of her pants.
“You know, I’m starting to feel a little insulted.” She whipped her head around and stared at Cirius, standing there perfectly fine.
“Wha- you-” she looked back at the corpse, then at Cirius. “I killed you!”
“You missed.”
She looked back at the corpse. “No I fucking didn’t!” She grabbed her glaive and threw it at him, slicing his face wide open along with the rest of his head. The top half of his head slid cleanly off and onto the floor.
“Missed again,” said Cirius from behind her. She gathered lightning in her hand and sent a bolt right through him.
“You should really aim better.”
“What the fuck!” Laurel screamed. “I killed you! I killed you several times!” “Yeah, I get that a lot.” He dodged the glaive being thrown at him again and turned to run. Laurel charged after him, each charged step leaving cracks within the floor. He ducked down as she ripped through the air, fire and lightning trailing behind her. She brought down a wave of flame with a kick, following it up by swinging her glaive as it crackled with lightning. Cirius ducked under, rushing forward through the flame and punching Laurel in the stomach. His gloves glowed for a second, a frosty cyan that pierced the air, and a blast of energy ripped out that slammed Laurel into the wall.
Cirius was hit with a wave of exhaustion. He’d died thrice in a row, and although there didn’t seem to be any limit on how many times he could die and revive, it certainly wore on him after a while. He needed to think of something to do. Laurel was already drawing herself back to her feet, her mask shifted to the side and revealing her cold, hard eyes that blazed with fury. His mind scoured all of what he knew of buildings like this.
“The boiler room! Of course! If I can get there, I can blow this place sky high and take her down with it.” He forced himself up and started to run, turning around briefly to wave at Laurel. As expected, she gave chase, her movements more akin to a rabid animal than a hunter. He ran through winding corridors and locked doors, barely dodging the stray bolt of lightning or fireball. He could already feel the exhaustion from dying and reviving thrice in a row; he’d be too tired to outpace Laurel if he had to die again.
He reached the door to the boiler just as Laurel caught up, tackling Cirius and sending him crashing through the old, rotten wood. She kicked him in the face as he slid across the floor, preventing him from righting himself. She stepped forward and pressed her foot down on his back.
“I wonder,” she said, “how many times can you die until it becomes too much? Is there even a limit for you?” Her voice was sing-songy and slightly manic, like glass about to shatter into thousands of sharp, sharp fibres. Cirius rooted around his pocket. He didn’t feel any explosives. He clicked his fingers and a spark flicked to life, the cyan light barely visible before fizzling out.
“I mean, if there is, I certainly haven’t reached it yet.” He clicked again and a bigger spark emerged. He managed to shoot it out of his index finger right towards one of the thermal tanks. The tiny spark travelled through the air, hit the tank and did absolutely nothing.
“Well. We’re screwed.” As Cirius started to lament his poor planning skills, Laurel’s head snapped up.
“What was that?”
“Uh. Nothing,” Cirius replied like the excellent liar he was. Laurel cocked her head. “Oh, so that sound from behind that thermal tank over there was nothing?” She lifted her arm and her hand flared with electricity. “Hope you won’t mind this, then.” She shot a bolt of lightning and hit the thermal dead centre. There was a beat of silence. “Oh, fuck.” A moment later, absolutely nothing happened.
“Oh. I really thought those were going to explode. Like, as soon as I realised I had blasted lightning at a thermal tank, I was all ‘that’s going to explode’.” She laughed. “Wow. That’s pretty funny.”
Cirius felt something brush up against the hand that was still in his pocket. He pulled it out.
“Oh hey! I still have an explosive disk!” He activated it, threw it at the thermal tank and the world exploded.
“-ey. Wake up.” Cirius blearily opened up his eyes. He was laid out across the floor next to what presumably had been the building. Claren was crouched next to him, snapping his fingers in front of his face.
“Oh, good. You’re awake.”
Cirius nodded and got up. He was so incredibly tired, but a sense of accomplishment filled his chest. “We did it.”
Claren nodded. “Indeed we did.”
There was a small silence before Cirius broke it. “Hey, about what you said before. I know it probably isn’t much, coming from me, but,” Cirius hovered his hand above Claren’s shoulder. “I think you’re really awesome.”
Claren bowed his head. “Thank you, Cirius.” He stared at the hand. “I’m sorry, what is this?”
“Well, I heard from bossman that you don’t like physical touch. So I’m doing this to show reassurance while still respecting your boundaries.”
Claren blinked. “That’s… pretty thoughtful, actually.”
“Hey, uh, am I safe to go now?” Winston asked, standing a few feet away and ruining the moment.
“Yeah, it should be all good,” Cirius responded before a bolt of lightning ripped through Winston’s head.
Claren immediately flared up his shield around the two of them, blocking the next bolt of lightning. Laurel, her mask half-shattered to show her furious eye, tuxedo torn with skin scraped raw underneath, and arm clearly broken staggered towards them.
“You clever, clever little fucker. You led me on quite the wild goose chase.” Her mouth twisted into a manic grin. “Typically, I’d just leave you be. But now? I think I’m going to kill the shield guy first and string out his body across the buildings here. Then I’m going to throw the little one in a box and toss him into the deepest, darkest part of the ocean.” She hoisted her glaive as lightning crackled around her, larger and more volatile than before.
Claren narrowed his eyes. “Cirius. Are you in any condition to fight?”
Cirius shook his head. “Going to be honest, this feels like a running situation.” As if on cue, a wall of flames erupted to life around them.
Something silent flew through the air. A thin, red line appeared over Laurel’s cheek. The crossbow bolt embedded into a wall. Laurel turned around and Harlow faced her, holding a crossbow aimed straight at her. There was a beat of silence as Harlow stared her down, their message held clearly in their hands. Laurel stamped her foot and a circle of flame enveloped her. When it cleared, she was gone. Harlow stared off towards the air, as if contemplating pursuing her, but turned to Claren and Cirius instead.
“I must admit, it would have been very useful having you here earlier.”
I was busy, they replied as they poured a blue vial over Claren’s wounds.
“Where’s bossman?” “Right here.” Devona popped into existence behind them and his eyes scanned the area. He looked down at the two of them. “Claren. You don’t look so good.”
“I could say the same about you. Broken hip?”
“Certainly feels like it. Cirius, you alright?”
Cirius flashed him a thumbs up. “You know it.”
“I’ll inform you of the details after I get these wounds treated,” Claren told Harlow. “I think I’ll be fine to walk on my own for now. I’ll let you know if I require any assistance.”
They made it all the way back to the original drop-off point and called Axon. After Claren explained a basic overview of why they were so late and Harlow was forced to promise to describe everything that happened, the portals opened up. Claren waved Harlow and Cirius through but held Devona back.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
Claren hummed. “Cirius was… the only reason that I survived. If it wasn’t for him, then I wouldn’t be here right now. He may seem strange and irrational, but-”
“When push comes to shove, you can count on him.”
Claren nodded. “It took me a while to realise that. But from what I’ve heard from Axon, you seem to be able to put up with Cirius’s less serious side very well. How is that?”
Devona scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know. Guess I’m just used to it.”
“I see.” Claren bowed his head. “Goodbye, Mr. Verdant. And do get that hip checked.”
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“Jamie, no! That’s a terrible idea!”
“Come on, Vivian. It’ll be great! I’ve constructed the perfect plan!”
Vivian folded his arms. “Oh yeah? And what is that, pray tell?”
“Alright, so, in order to make our own water-slide, we steal all the blankets from all the houses and wet them. We tie them together, and then we attach it all around the town and slide around! It’d be amazing!”
Vivian stared at his twin sister with a mix of disbelief and amazement. “And how are we going to attach it all around the town?”
She faltered. “I’ll… I don’t know. I’ll think of something.” She clasped her hands together. “Come onnnnn Vivi, please!”
Vivian sighed. “Fine. Just this once,” he replied, perhaps for the fifteenth time.
“Yay!” Jamie slung her arm over his shoulder. “I promise you, this is going to be awesome.”
“I’m sure,” he responded dryly, but he couldn’t hide the small grin on his fsce.
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Laurel Pariah was pissed. She winced as she jolted her broken arm, and she felt how her entire body radiated with pain from every movement she took. The wind was howling, so she didn’t hear the footsteps approaching until they were right behind her.
“You’ve returned,” the figure said brightly.
“That I have.”
The Dreamer hummed, and Laurel shifted her gaze to see him picking at his nails. “Did you achieve your mission?”
“I did. I just ran into some… complications.”
The Dreamer chuckled unkindly. “I can see that.” He cocked his head to the side, his expression hidden behind a mask decorated with white stars. “You broke your mask again. They’re not going to be pleased if you keep doing that, you know?”
“They collapsed a fucking building on me. What do you exp-”
The Dreamer put his hands up. “Hey now, hold your horses. Yes, yes, opponents were tough yadda yadda. I get it, I really do. Sucks to get your ass beaten so often, doesn’t it, poor little baby? I mean, I wouldn’t know, but still.”
Laurel grit her teeth. “Go fuck yourself.”
The Dreamer laughed. “Well then, I’ll see you later, Demon of Babel. Toodles!” He walked away, deep into the thicket of trees until he vanished from sight. Laurel kicked at the dirt before turning to walk away too, leaving only the wind to howl to an empty sky.

I feel like this shows how Chyron still has the compassion of the Lamenters within him despite all of the horrific events he has been through. He notices his Deathwatch squad leader is in emotional turmoil and tries to offer some moral support any way he can. He is quite fatalistic and genuinely believes he is the last Lamenter but he still resists the urge to slip into bitterness and rage.
Chyron’s Chapter had suffered genuine obliteration. The Great Devourer had crashed down on the Lamenters like a tsunami. No Chapter could have stood against such a storm. Tragic. Legend said the Chapter had been cursed from the start, part of the infamous 21st Founding. Now there was no Chapter. Chyron believed himself the last of his kind.
Karras scowled. He wished there was something he could do for this battle-brother. The Dreadnought’s sorrow and survivor guilt only ever dimmed when he was lost in combat, giving himself over utterly to battle flow, his pain submerging till the peace of victory called it forth again. In time, he might face a worthy foe and sell his life dear. It was his greatest hope, but so far, none had equalled him.
[...]
He was about to resume his mantras when the rumbling growl that constituted Chyron’s machine-modulated voice interrupted him.
‘You are different, and yet the same, Librarian. There are new shadows in your eyes.’
‘The more we learn,’ replied Karras, ‘the more shadows we come to see. I’d not choose ignorance to spare myself difficult knowledge, brother.’
‘Others might. The truth is seldom comforting. But the Raven Guard named you Scholar, and he named you well. Whatever you have learned in your time away has not been to your liking. That much is clear. Remarkable that you live at all. I saw them preserve the mess that was left of you. I did not expect to see you draw breath again. It would have been an honourable death, I say. The foe was worthy. I would have envied you.’
‘There will be other chances for such envy, I’m sure,’ said Karras, and he found himself grinning. ‘I doubt our next deployment will be any easier than the last.’
‘In Terra’s name, I hope not. Let the foe be obscenely strong and the odds be preposterous. I want to die laughing, drenched in xenos blood.’ A deep, rumbling sound filled the air – laughter as approximated by Chyron’s powerful vocaliser grilles.
As Karras enjoyed the sound, a voice interrupted on the shuttle’s comm system. ‘Docking in three minutes.’
He lifted his helm from the crate on his right and placed it in the crook of his left arm. Chyron’s laughter ceased.
With abrupt gravity, he said, ‘You are Talon Alpha. You lead, we follow. Make sure the others know it, Scholar. Whatever Sigma’s demands, lead as you did before. You were strong. You got us through. These fresh troubles you carry – bury them. Show the squad your strength. We are Space Marines. We respect little else.’
Karras threw the massive walking tank a grin. ‘Good counsel, Old One. As to your glorious death, I’m sorry – fate has a twisted sense of humour. Like as not, you’ll outlive us all.’ The sound of docking clamps closing on the shuttle’s hull echoed through the hold.
‘Aye,’ agreed Chyron. ‘That is my curse.’