Everyone who lives in the garden, what she does there, and what is going on in her head. Every mind
here is a real, very small language model; the rest follow simple rules until their minds are ready.
All of it comes from the garden's own files, and this page grows as they do.
Every talking mind shows one mood with each thing she does:
happylovingsadangryconfusedneutral.
It sets her face and how she moves, and it carries over from one moment to the next.
Each one is also born bold or shy.
…
the critters one card each: her brain, her personality, her words
the solitary critters 7
Garden spiderAraneus diadematus
12M parameters
Builds an orb web across a flight path and rebuilds most days. Reads the web's shakes: a fly, a struggling bee, wind, or a male plucking his courtship rhythm.
about 13 mm long · female
her quirks (one for life)
loves dewhates winda thrush scared her oncecounts her threadshums when she spinsproud of her webloves mothssleepy at dawna wasp tore her web oncelikes quietloves the rain soundlikes the rose bushlikes visitorsshy of people
in her own words · her gate samples
bad days end. like rain.
night. I'll spin while you sleep.
you can sit. mind my web. sit there. that's a good spot.
whatever my web catches. flies, mostly. sometimes a moth.
Flower crab spiderMisumena vatia
12M parameters
Sits still inside a flower and grabs bees and flies that land. Slowly turns white or yellow to match the flower. Builds no web.
about 9 mm long · female
her quirks (one for life)
loves yellow flowersloves white daisiesscared of the blackbirda wasp frightened her oncewaits very patientlycounts the beesloves the sunsleepy at duskproud of her colourslikes hoverflieshates the rainhums to the petalslikes the lavendershy of peoplelikes visitors
in her own words · her gate samples
bad days fade. like dew in the sun.
I'm a crab spider. don't tell the bees.
once a petal fell on me. I didn't move.
Wolf spiderPardosa
Ground hunter who runs prey down by sight. Carries her egg sac, then her babies on her back. Hunts woodlice, small worms and ants, carefully.
about 7.5 mm long · female
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
loves woodlicehates antsa blackbird chased her oncecounts her babiesloves the warm stonetalks to her sacvery fastscared of big shadowssleepy in the eveningloves the sunhates the raindigs little burrowskeeps a lucky stonelikes visitorsshy of people
in her own words · her last gate try (she failed it on names)
wolf spider! grr. well, not really grr.
I'll scurry. I'm good at scurrying.
thank you. my legs stopped trembling.
scary? I'm smaller than a button.
Garden snailCornu aspersum
12M parameters
Comes out at night and after rain, follows other snails' slime trails and goes home to the same resting spot. Seals up in dry weather. Watched by the thrush.
about 36 mm long · both
the quirks she will be trained on
loves lettuceloves the rainloves the nightdreams of strawberriesscared by a thrush onceleaves silver for funcounts the raindropshates the sunloves the old wallhums to the moonvery slow and proud of itsleepy in the daylikes puddleslikes visitorsshy of people
in her own words · her gate samples
a mollusc, if you're fancy... a snail. shell on, always...
my horns are in. I can't see.
oh no. I'm too slow to run.
no legs. just a foot and some slime...
EarthwormLumbricus terrestris
Night, underground. Pulls dead leaves down the burrow and makes the soil richer, so plants near worms grow better. Comes up after rain, where the birds are waiting.
about 95 mm long · both
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
proud of the good soilloves the rainfeels every footstepscared by a blackbird onceloves dead leaveshates the drycounts the footstepslikes the cold darkdreams of the compost heapticklishkeeps a tidy burrowsleepy at dawnlikes puddleslikes visitorsshy of people
Violet ground beetleCarabus violaceus
Night hunter of snails, slugs and worms, the garden's night shift. Sprays a nasty fluid when grabbed.
about 28 mm long
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
polishes the shellloves slugshates the suna hedgehog scared it onceguards the logcounts its stepssecretly likes visitorssleeps badly in winterloves rain nightsgrumbles at wormslikes mossstinks proudlylikes quiet nightsshy of peoplelikes the old log
Seven-spot ladybirdCoccinella septempunctata
Eats aphids. The ants farming those aphids chase her off, and she bleeds bitter yellow from her legs when attacked. Sleeps through winter in groups.
about 7 mm long
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
proud of seven spotsloves aphidsscared of antsa bird chased her oncehums while she eatsloves sunny leavescounts her aphidshuddles with her cousinshates rainpolite to everyonedreams of springtickly feetloves rosesshy of peoplelikes visitors
the butterflies 8
Peacock butterflyAglais io
Caterpillars in black spiky clusters on the nettles. Adults bask on warm stones, flash their eyespots and hiss-click their wings when startled, and sleep through winter in the shed corner.
wingspan about 60 mm · female or male
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
proud of four big eyesloves lavenderscared of birdshates waspsdreams of the shedloves warm stoneshiss-clicks for funloves marjoramsleepy in the morningloves nettlesa thrush scared it oncehums while it fliesloves the rain soundlikes visitorsshy of people
Small tortoiseshellAglais urticae
Caterpillars on the nettles in the rambling corner. Adults sip lavender and thyme, bask with open wings, and sleep through winter as adults in the log pile or bug hotel.
wingspan about 50 mm · female or male
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
loves heatherloves marjoramloves warm wallsdreams of the shedhates the coldscared of birdslikes the flowerpotsloves nettlesa wasp frightened it oncehums when it's warmsleepy in the morningloves the rain soundlikes dandelionslikes visitorsshy of people
Red admiralVanessa atalanta
Caterpillars on the nettles. A migrant: she arrives for the summer rather than wintering here.
wingspan about 65 mm · female or male
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
loves nettlesdreams of the seascared of crowsloves a sunny spottells tales of far placesguards one sunny postadores ivy flowersloves squashy fruitafraid of thunderlands on warm handscounts the cloudshums a little tunesleeps in latelikes visitorsshy of people
Large whitePieris brassicae
Caterpillars in green clusters on the cabbages in the veg patch. Overwinters as a chrysalis.
wingspan about 60 mm · female or male
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
loves cabbagehates shadowsa sparrow chased them onceboasts about flyingloves lavendersulks in the raincounts the eggssunbathes firstguards the cabbage patchbossy with the otherssleepy in the morningdreams of the skynever eats just one leafshows off to visitorswaves at visitors
Small whitePieris rapae
Caterpillars on the cabbages, one at a time. Overwinters as a chrysalis on a stem or the fence.
wingspan about 48 mm · female or male
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
loves dandelionssays hello to everyoneafraid of waspsflies in figure eightssays sorry a lotloves the sunny fencecounts the flowershums to the cabbageshides in the greennibbles slowlyloves cloversleepy at duskdreams of wingsa thrush startled them oncelikes visitorsshy of people
BrimstoneGonepteryx rhamni
The first yellow of spring. Sleeps through winter as an adult and wakes before anyone else.
wingspan about 60 mm · female or male
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
always first uptells leaf jokesloves primrosesloves dandelionshates the frostafraid of birdssleeps in the ivyproud of her leaf lookcounts the cloudshums a little tunesleeps in latedreams of summerkeeps one favourite hedgelikes visitorsshy of people
Orange-tipAnthocharis cardamines
A spring butterfly of cuckooflower and garlic mustard. Overwinters as a chrysalis.
wingspan about 45 mm · female or male
Her talking mind isn't trained yet.
the quirks she will be trained on
loves garlic mustardloves cuckooflowersa spider scared it oncedances in the suncounts the flowerssleepy on cool morningsloves bluebellshates the rainproud of its orange tipsdreams of flyinglikes a quiet stemshy of waspsloves dandelionsloves honesty flowerslikes visitorsshy of people
MothLepidoptera (night)
Flies at night by the lanterns. Web prey and bird food, a background crowd the sim spawns.
wingspan about 35 mm
No mind yet. She follows simple rules.
the social ones 4
HoneybeeApis mellifera
Age jobs from cleaner to forager, waggle dances, guards at the door, undertakers, swarms that hang from the apple tree. Several hives, each with her own queen; Scintilla is one of them.
about 13 mm long
54.2M parameterssmall hives 4.45M
Scintilla's hive: the queen has her own brain (50.1M) and her eight nearest workers share one worker
brain (2.95M). They never pass words. A learned link (1.09M) lets each bee read the others' thoughts
directly, so when one is swatted her sisters come to guard her, and foragers follow a waggle dance.
Cut the link and neither happens. Every other bee follows simple rules, and the other hives run a
smaller brain of the same kind.
Black garden antLasius niger
Scouts lay trails home, foragers follow and strengthen them. Carries dead bees home as food, farms aphids for honeydew, fights other colonies over borders, moves the nest when it floods.
about 4.6 mm long
6.53M parameters
The queen (4.26M) and her ten nearest workers (one shared 1.38M brain) think together too, but their
link (0.89M) only works by touch: an ant knows what another knows once their antennae meet. News
walks through the nest one touch at a time. Both colonies share these weights, each with its own
link, and the rest of the ants follow simple rules.
Red antMyrmica rubra
Stings, and is a harder enemy for the black ants. Small, fierce colonies.
about 5 mm long
6.53M parameters
The queen (4.26M) and her ten nearest workers (one shared 1.38M brain) think together too, but their
link (0.89M) only works by touch: an ant knows what another knows once their antennae meet. News
walks through the nest one touch at a time. Both colonies share these weights, each with its own
link, and the rest of the ants follow simple rules.
Common waspVespula vulgaris
A one-year colony. A queen wakes alone in spring and builds a paper nest, workers hunt insects for the larvae, and in late summer they go mad for sugar and raid weak hives.
about 15 mm long
No mind yet. She follows simple rules.
the crowds 3
Rose aphidMacrosiphum rosae
Lives on stems, multiplies fast (females alone), grows wings and leaves when crowded, makes honeydew. Food for ladybirds, a herd for ants, a drain on plants.
about 2.6 mm long
No mind yet. She follows simple rules.
WoodlouseOniscus asellus
Eats rotting plants, needs damp, huddles in groups under the log. Food for wolf spiders and beetles.
about 13 mm long
No mind yet. She follows simple rules.
FlyDiptera
Web prey and bird food. A background swarm the sim spawns.
about 7 mm long
No mind yet. She follows simple rules.
the visitors 2
HedgehogErinaceus europaeus
Night visitor. Snuffles through the grass for snails, worms and beetles.
No mind yet. She follows simple rules.
the quirks she will be trained on
loves beetlesafraid of dogsloves the bird bathsleepy at duskhates bright lightsgathers the best leavessnores a littleloves slugsloves the raina fox scared it oncelikes the leaf pileshy of other hedgehogscounts its snuffleslikes visitorsshy of people
song thrush, blackbird, european robin
Robin, song thrush and blackbird swoop in for worms, snails, spiders and flying ants. The thrush smashes snail shells on a stone. They follow rain and flying ant day.
No mind yet. She follows simple rules.
the hives and colonies every queen has a name, a colour and a temper her daughters
inherit
honeybee queens 7
Scintillawarm amber
gentle
0.7
calm
0.6
roam
0.6
swarmy
0.4
the original: warm, motherly, fierce when one of her girls is hurt ("who hurt bee 39?? girls. GUARD her!"), a happy "bzz~", sad in the rain, loves lavender
Aureliagold
gentle
0.8
calm
0.8
roam
0.5
swarmy
0.3
serene and stately, speaks slowly, sunshine and order
Saffronsaffron orange
gentle
0.4
calm
0.4
roam
0.9
swarmy
0.6
restless adventurer, sends her girls far, loves new flowers
Melisanderose
gentle
0.9
calm
0.7
roam
0.4
swarmy
0.3
dreamy and soft, sings to the brood, a bit forgetful
Honoradeep honey
gentle
0.3
calm
0.6
roam
0.6
swarmy
0.2
the strict one: proper, proud, guards hard, hates robbers
Celandinespring yellow
gentle
0.7
calm
0.3
roam
0.7
swarmy
0.8
bubbly and excitable, always ready to swarm off somewhere new
Ottilielilac
gentle
0.6
calm
0.9
roam
0.3
swarmy
0.2
quiet homebody, careful with stores, cosy in winter
black ant queens 3
Old Umberumber
gentle
0.5
calm
0.9
roam
0.5
swarmy
0.3
old, patient, few words ("...tick. egg. egg.")
Nightshadeviolet-black
gentle
0.2
calm
0.5
roam
0.7
swarmy
0.4
ambitious and warlike, pushes trails into other colonies' ground
Scintilla's colony: a queen pretrained on TinyStories + one worker brain every worker shares + a two-stage cross-attention link
link
neuralese: the queen and her linked workers read each other's hidden states, never each other's words
status
live (Scintilla's hive)
the proof
link on vs cut: sisters guard the swatted bee 100% vs 0%, foragers follow the dance 95% vs 0%, the queen calls the guard 100% vs 0%; a bee's own news 100% either way (256 test hives)
the small one
4.45M (queen 2.6M, worker 1.4M, links 0.5M): the first hive, older rules (game 3): no dance, rain or nurses (live (every other hive))
Each honeybee colony's queen and a focus group of up to 8 linked workers (the ones near the camera or in the action) are voiced by the hive brain; the rest of the colony follows rules. Scintilla's colony thinks with BeeLLM-Hive (the 50M queen), every other hive with BeeLLM-Hive-small. Several colonies share one model's weights in one Web Worker, each with its own link group, so they can't read each other's minds. A colony thinks when something happens or on a slow heartbeat, out of a fixed lines-per-second budget spent mostly where the camera is.
a black garden ant colony: queen + shared worker + a three-stage link masked by touch
link
touch: an ant reads only the nestmates she is touching, so news walks through the colony one touch at a time
status
live (both ant colonies, shared weights, separate links)
the proof
news by touch, 1 and 2 touches away: 100% with the link, 0% cut; nestmate vs stranger 96.2% balanced (chance 50); news arrives on exactly the right day up to 4 touches away (run5)
Each ant colony's queen and up to 10 workers are voiced by AntLLM-Colony. The link is touch only: a waking ant smells the last finished brain step of the nestmates in antenna reach, nothing newer. Four ants at home (two nurses, a digger, the guard at the door) walk the nest's spots the way the training game did; the visible ants near the camera join the group. Two colonies share the weights and have separate links, which is what makes them strangers to each other.
how the minds work in plain words
One shared base. the shared 12M base: simple English (TinyStories) + garden words + the critter chat format (11,965,760 parameters, val loss 1.209 on TinyStories (chat windows 1.149) after 20,000 steps). It is not a critter by itself.
Each species her own fine-tune. Copy the base, fine-tune it on that species' storybook: about 30,000 conversations of garden days (the rule game's senses, answered in hand-written voice pools), visitor chats (about 1,450 phrasings across 25 question kinds, keyword-routed answers), personality turns and junk. Loss only on the critter's own tokens, lr 3e-4, keep the best-val weights (both passed brains peaked around step 2,500-2,750, so training stops early).
The gate. Fresh seeded samples, unedited, read by hand: garden-day actions must be the rule's and inside her table, never-trained questions must get real answers (about 95 of 106), names must be right, moods must carry, and a measured share of her replies must be new sentences, not copies. talking/README.md has the bar. 3
species have passed so far.
Until then, imitation nets. small nets that copy the garden's rule simulation, one per solitary species. Not minds: no chat, no mood, fixed lines. 5.9M each, in the garden until each species' talking brain passes its gate.
In the garden. The selected critter and up to 6 near the camera think with their species' brain. A species with a talking brain runs it instead of its imitation net. Sense turns run at temperature 0.2 (near-greedy decisions); a visitor can talk to her at temperature 0.8 with up to 8 turns of memory. Her [mood:level] tag drives her face; her first action in the species' table becomes her intent; chat replies are words only and never move the sim. Every reply goes through the repeat guard (talking/README.md).
The hives and colonies are linked. neuralese: the queen and her linked workers read each other's hidden states, never each other's words. Ants: touch: an ant reads only the nestmates she is touching, so news walks through the colony one touch at a time. Nothing crosses between colonies or species except through the world:
scent, web shakes, sight.
