For some background, this was an ex that I was in a relationship with for 1.5 years as a college student and who I broke up with amidst massive struggles in our relationship, a mutual deteriorating of mental health, troubles with our friends, etc. In the time between then and now, I had been in an abusive relationship for about 3 years, starting 9 months or so after and ending a few months prior to now. I’ve wanted to apologize to her for years since the break up, but being in a new relationship and under the advice of a friend that breaking no contact with my ex would just fuck with her healing and be unfair of me, so I never did.
I’ve done a lot of growing, maturing, and coming to understand how people ought to be treated properly in relationships, and I’ve come to realize that I was the problem in our relationship. I was a stupid, immature, selfish, shallow, and subpar partner, and it was my first serious relationship. She is not fully exempt of blame for ways that she treated me poorly, but I do realize that much of the problems we faced would never have happened if I was the person I am now during the relationship. I do regret ending it, and I was misguided by friends who did not have my best interests in mind, but I needed to grow to realize what I had done wrong and to be a better person for myself and for others around me.
I carry a massive amount of guilt from what I did and how I carried myself as a person in that time, and I carry a massive amount of guilt for how it all ended. I became very distant and disconnected from the relationship towards the end and I reacted to her justifiable anger post-breakup unfairly - our last conversation haunts me, with the idea of the last time we ever spoke being so angry and hurtful on both sides never sitting right with me. So to say that this isn’t partially driven by my own guilt would be a lie, but I’m not looking for absolution or forgiveness, I’m looking to make things right by her and to maybe give her some closure or peace that she never got.
I don’t know where her head is at towards us and that’s what scares me. For all I know she may hate me until the day she dies and reaching out to apologize may just reopen old wounds and make things worse for her, which is the last thing I want. Maybe she’ll laugh at me and think I’m pathetic for apologizing this far out and not even respond. Maybe she’d be grateful to hear it. I don’t care. I’m not going to say that guilt isn’t a motivating factor, but I mainly just want to try and leave things a little more right between us. My biggest fear is just that an apology would actually help her, and she would never get it because of my own anxiety or fear over not knowing what the best course is here.
Am I doing this to get back with her? No. She moved to Chicago for grad school and I live in Detroit, and though it isn’t like I’m not frequently in Chicago seeing family anyways there’s a good chance that I’ll be leaving the country end of this year for work. But I do think that part of me continued to love her after our time together had ended, even until now. If reconnecting in some way, any way shape or form, were in the cards, I would welcome it happily. But I doubt it, and that is not why I’m seeking to apologize.
I just need to know if apologizing would
1) make a bigger ass of myself than is worth the anguish of trying it and 2) hurt her more than it may help her.
What would you do? Would you accept an apology from an ex from that long ago if the relationship happened and ended so poorly?

TW: Pregnancy
Longtime lurker, first time poster. Apologies for the length but this is a complicated story. I had an ER in 2013 at the age of 30, prior to an allogenic stem cell transplant for leukemia. I got 8 eggs (6 mature) that were frozen. A few months after the transplant I had not gotten my period, so my gyno put me on BC as a form of HRT, assuming that I had been put into premature menopause due to the chemotherapy. I was later diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2018 and went through another round of chemotherapy. Free of disease since. All this time, I had not gotten a period and remained on BC. After 7 year, out of nowhere I got a period in March 2020 and continued to have a monthly cycle (still on the BC). In 2022, my husband and I consulted with REI, planning to fertilize and transfer the frozen eggs. We did all the preliminary testing and were ready to go with my next cycle in 2/2023 when I get a call to tell me that they had missed that I was sensitizes for the D antigen and had antibodies. The plan shifted to have a PGT-M probe created to possibly select an Rh- embryo. My husband’s blood type is A+. I was born with B+ blood but after SCT, my Blood type is O-. Everyone initially assumed I was sensitized due to the SCT, but review of my medical records showed that I had been sensitive prior to the SCT. Turns out I have an inherited D variant so while a normal B+ blood type would not create D antibodies, mine did, which would likely result in the antibodies attacking the red blood cells of any Rh+ fetus I carried. The problem was that due to the SCT, Cooper Genomic could not get sufficient isolated DNA from me to create the probe. Ultimately, we were only able to because Dana Farber, where I have my SCT, had my frozen retained DNA from 2013 that could be used. Thank god I consented to allow them to use my DNA for research. But all of this took forever, and the probe wasn’t ready until 2/2024.
On 4/12/2024 we moved forward to fertilize. 6 out of 8 survived the thaw, 3 fertilized and none made it to blast. I always knew that could happen, but I am so angry that every medical professional involved made it seem like only a minute possibility and that no one ever even mentioned that it might be a good idea to see if we could get any additional eggs first seeing as how I was 40+ and been through chemo. I am angry that my gyno just assumed I was infertile and never investigated at all. I am angry at myself for only now being informed enough to know that I could have done more and now it might be too later. We are moving forward with egg retrieval and are just waiting on insurance clearance. When they last checked my AMH in 10/2022 it was 0.2. Last FSH in 4/2023 was 4.28 but prior to that on 9/2022 it was 30. No idea what my AFC is yet but assume low.
Not sure if I am looking for advise or just ranting but I knew that those in this group could empathize. With all I have been through medically I have never been one to feel “why me” or “life’s not fair” but this has really taken me down in a way I have never experienced.
Ironically, during all this I spontaneously got pregnant in 9/2023 but we ended up having to TFMR around 13 weeks to due chromosomal abnormalities. It took 12 weeks afterwards, but my period did come back.

The beginning of this year I added short term disability to my benefits because my job was only giving me 5 days paid off for maternity leave. I have a physically demanding job and was having a c section. I submitted the required paperwork and it was approved and paid out. Now they are saying that the claim was processed under the incorrect policy, the policy it was processed under did not have a pre-existing provision under it. They are asking for me to sign a release form to get my medical information to show that I was treated for my pregnancy prior so that it will be a pre existing condition and it will be considered an overpayment.
What options do I have? I have used the payments for my mortgage and bills.
Since it was a mistake on their part and already paid out do I need to pay it back?

Hello, my name is Violent Destruction, and I'm looking for a world prog, hardcore or week 1 group for 7.0 Savage and beyond. I am an omni tank player who is flexible and comfortable on all four tanks and who has a strong understanding of all roles within the game. I was in a long-standing raid group of 5 years forming at the end of Stormblood through TOP, with our best placements according to fflogs progress being Asphodelos World 9th and Abyssos World 13th.
Group Expectations:
Previous world prog or hardcore experience
Consistent attendance and positive mindset towards static raid days. I want to raid with people who enjoy playing the game and have fun during progression and normal raid days.
Capable 9ths and Splits Clears
Ability to stream raid I can mute coms if requested.
What you can expect of me:
Consistency with movement, positioning, rotation, optimization, party list monitoring, and execution.
Ability to raid long hours: I have multiple experiences running 16+ hours a day and set my sleep schedule 2 weeks prior to our prog schedule to acclimate myself to the time we will be raiding.
Motivated to improve, receptive to criticism, and self-critical.
I can do backup callouts if needed.
(Optional) Speeds: I do have an interest in Speeds, but it is not required. Some notable group speed All Star rankings Alphascape World 10th, Edens Gate World 11th, and Edens Promise World 10th. Rank 3 speed UCOB Stormblood, rank 1 speed UWU Stormblood, and rank 1 speed TEA Shadowbringers. I haven't done speeds during Endwalker as my previous long-standing raid group was no longer interested in doing them. The majority of my logs for this expansion are weekly clears.
FFLOGS Main: https://www.fflogs.com/charactena/sargatanas/violent%20destruction
Raid Progress: https://tomestone.gg/characte15630676/violent-destruction/progress
Contact: Send a friend request or message request on discord at violentdestruction

4 years. It took 4 years to get to this point. But finally, Suraxis had managed to advance far enough in his magical studies to put his focus in a more specified field. With his history of being an adventurer, his decision to become a combat mage was a surprise to nobody. His grades, exploits and findings within his studies had given him ample opportunity to go into whatever field the mid 20 year old wanted to. His decision had been clear from the point he set foot into the academy.
While he was an incredible mage, he still had to rely on others to keep him out of harm's way whilst he was reciting the chants and gathering the aether necessary to fire off his spells. This had to change. He wanted to be independent from mercenaries and other adventurers. With that in mind and the potential for far faster travel opening up at the same time Suraxis would become a dragon rider. His studies already delved into magics not entirely supported by modern magistrates and mages, but summoning was a type of magic most deemed too dangerous to ever attempt.
His deep understanding of magic and history of dragon riders in his family had bolstered his confidence in his success in the field far beyond any doubts or fears that might set in. The fact that an ancestor of his had been a dragon rider herself and mated with the dragon she had summoned made the prospect even more likely to succeed. The dragon blood in his veins, however diluted it might be with the many generations between them, would make bonding with a dragon far easier.
The tests had been taken, the precautions considered. It was finally time for Suraxis to summon his new companion. After all, there was more adventure to be had.
Heya! The name's Dome, I'm 23 and from Germany. I've recently had this idea stuck in my head and am now looking for somebody to help me bring it to life!
I'm specifically looking for someone to write the dragon being summoned. What kind of dragon, what she looks like and everything else is your choice! Can she shapeshift to a humanoid form? Is she overly proud of the luster of her scales? Does she hope to build a massive hoard alongside this powerful mage? Lets find out together! While I am not planning on playing an evil character, I would be down for a dragon that potentially has more sinister plans. Could definitely he a fun dynamic!
I am looking to RP on Discord as it makes organization a lot easier. I write in 3rd person and generally get between 3-5 paragraphs in, depending on the prior answer. I'm looking for someone to match that length. I don't care too much about your age, just that you are above 18 as I do not want to interact with minors. This is supposed to be an adventure RP with the potential of romance if wanted.
I hope to hear from you! Just shoot me a DM here and we can get to talking!

Ethan was very surprised about the gold-buying aspect of Modern WoW but the 'Classic' version of the game that was re-released in 2019 is on a new level.
Some quick background: The "WoW Token" was added in 2015 with heavy criticism as it allowed players to pay real money in exchange for gold, or gold in exchange for a 30 day subscription. This came after Activision acquired Blizzard 7 years prior, with every expansion released post-acquisition having lower and lower subscription numbers. The consensus in the community is Activision gutted the Customer Service and Moderation teams so illegal gold-buying was rampant and the WoW Token was just a way to make more money at the expense of the game instead of actually fixing the problem of gold buying.
When 'Classic' came out everything was great for a while until the end-game scene really started going. Rare herbs that were used for flasks (powerful raid consumable) were camped by bots so it was basically impossible to get one, and if you did the bots would fraudulently mass report your character for a 2-week ban. This lasted through the duration of Classic until the first expansion was released.
In addition to this, the Devilsaur Leather crafting reagent was locked down by the "Devilsaur Mafia" for a time, this consisted of 4 Massive Guilds and a few "Mercenaries" that would collude cross-faction to lock down the market and supply in the only zone you could get the leather from.
Some groups started doing 'GDKP' raids, in which when a piece of gear drops players get to bid gold for the item and whoever pays the most gets it. At the end of the raid the gold pot gets distributed to the raid (usually with an organizer cut of 10-20% to whoever made the raid, and an extra % or two for tanks). This system is pretty fair in that if you show up to a raid and don't get any gear you make money that you can spend towards your next gear piece regardless to what group you play with, however with rampant illegal gold buying it quickly became an unbalanced system where those who bought a lot of gold would have first pick at any items they want and competing non-gold buyers would only get the leftovers. This also really inflated the economy to the point where I had to GDKP on a second character to afford raid consumables to play with my guild that didn't GDKP as I didn't want to buy gold.
With GDKPs came GDKP scammers, guys who would make a raid and log off with the pot before distributing so they could sell the gold. When you consider classic raids were 40 people, this was often a LOT of gold. In response to this Discord servers were formed per server to have approved GDKP runs that reduced the number of scams significantly.
These servers became a hub for everyone on the server where player chatting, guild recruitment, and guild master collaboration could take place. These servers also often had a court system with judges and juries, if you were taken to court you had a chance to defend yourself and the judges would make a verdict. The judges had the power to place you on the Blacklist or Brownlist. If you were on the Blacklist it was basically over for your character, guilds would not recruit you and GDKPs would not roster you. The brownlist was more of a warning and would definitely make your life more difficult. There were even addons you could install that would filter out anyone on these lists so you couldn't even see them chat in-game.
When the first expansion re-release was announced (The Burning Crusade), there was significant amount of pushback against the 'deluxe edition' that came with a free mount and a level 58 boost, this was the first time in Classic that you could pay real money for an in game 'advantage' without violating the Terms of Service. The pushback was in general out of fear of the WoW Token and other micro-transactions coming that would negatively impact the game even more. There was a decent amount of bullying of those who bought the deluxe edition, a script went around that would make your character automatically /spit on a player using the deluxe edition mount whenever you were in range. In response to this, Blizzard changed the emote so it couldn't be directed. To this day in classic you can /moon other players but if you /spit you just spit on the ground.
With the announcement of the second expansion (Wrath of the Lich King), a similar deluxe edition was sold with a level 70 boost and significantly less pushback, as many of the content creators/community members behind the outrage had either quit or tired of complaining and sure enough the WoW token was added before the end of this expansion.
That's all the community drama I could recall so far, but the next expansion (Cataclysm) comes out this upcoming Monday so it'll be interesting to see what happens next.
Bonus - Guild recruiting in classic wow:
There's a website called warcraftlogs that you can upload the combat logs of your fights to and it will analyze your damage and give you a 'parse' (0-100, 0 is the least damage done to a boss in the world and 100 is most). When recruiting we'd use that as an indicator, personally I wouldn't take anyone lower than 95th-99th percentile depending on the content but my guild was a little more intense than most.

For some background, this was an ex that I was in a relationship with for 1.5 years as a college student and who I broke up with amidst massive struggles in our relationship, a mutual deteriorating of mental health, troubles with our friends, etc. In the time between then and now, I had been in an abusive relationship for about 3 years, starting 9 months or so after and ending a few months prior to now. I’ve wanted to apologize to her for years since the break up, but being in a new relationship and under the advice of a friend that breaking no contact with my ex would just fuck with her healing and be unfair of me, so I never did.
I’ve done a lot of growing, maturing, and coming to understand how people ought to be treated properly in relationships, and I’ve come to realize that I was the problem in our relationship. I was a stupid, immature, selfish, shallow, and subpar partner, and it was my first serious relationship. She is not fully exempt of blame for ways that she treated me poorly, but I do realize that much of the problems we faced would never have happened if I was the person I am now during the relationship. I do regret ending it, and I was misguided by friends who did not have my best interests in mind, but I needed to grow to realize what I had done wrong and to be a better person for myself and for others around me.
I carry a massive amount of guilt from what I did and how I carried myself as a person in that time, and I carry a massive amount of guilt for how it all ended. I became very distant and disconnected from the relationship towards the end and I reacted to her justifiable anger post-breakup unfairly - our last conversation haunts me, with the idea of the last time we ever spoke being so angry and hurtful on both sides never sitting right with me. So to say that this isn’t partially driven by my own guilt would be a lie, but I’m not looking for absolution or forgiveness, I’m looking to make things right by her and to maybe give her some closure or peace that she never got.
I don’t know where her head is at towards us and that’s what scares me. For all I know she may hate me until the day she dies and reaching out to apologize may just reopen old wounds and make things worse for her, which is the last thing I want. Maybe she’ll laugh at me and think I’m pathetic for apologizing this far out and not even respond. Maybe she’d be grateful to hear it. I don’t care. I’m not going to say that guilt isn’t a motivating factor, but I mainly just want to try and leave things a little more right between us. My biggest fear is just that an apology would actually help her, and she would never get it because of my own anxiety or fear over not knowing what the best course is here.
Am I doing this to get back with her? No. She moved to Chicago for grad school and I live in Detroit, and though it isn’t like I’m not frequently in Chicago seeing family anyways there’s a good chance that I’ll be leaving the country end of this year for work. But I do think that part of me continued to love her after our time together had ended, even until now. If reconnecting in some way, any way shape or form, were in the cards, I would welcome it happily. But I doubt it, and that is not why I’m seeking to apologize.
I just need to know if apologizing would
1) make a bigger ass of myself than is worth the anguish of trying it and 2) hurt her more than it may help her.
What would you do? Would you accept an apology from an ex from that long ago if the relationship happened and ended so poorly?

I’m looking to get on a a Pump (Omnipod 5) and CGM combo.
I’ll likely be taking a new job next month and while I’m lucky I won’t have a gap in my insurance, it will be changing.
Anyone have experience with how much of a hassle it is to swap insurances? I’m sure I’ll need to require prior auth for a pump/cgm - I’m basically just seeing if I should just wait to get a script for them once I get a new job or if im ok to get them now.

One week ago, on May 9th, I released a demo on Steam. I'm an indie dev, so there was no major marketing blast associated with it. At that time, the game had ~1200 wishlists, and a small but active fanbase on Discord.
 
Demo Content
The game is a hybrid action RPG and bullet hell. The demo features three characters and one main infinitely-generated area with 3 bosses. It also includes a sort of prototype infinite scaling endgame for players who have gotten through all of the existing demo content.
The demo focuses heavily on loot. Players find randomly generated items with up to 6 modifiers from a pool of potentially hundreds of mods, and can craft those items with really wacky crafting tools in order to gain exponential increases in power. The demo also features 9 skill trees, although these are somewhat reduced in scope compared to the full version.
 
Visibility
Near-immediate visibility on Steam was the most surprising aspect. Within a few hours, impressions skyrocketed from ~1,000 per day to ~15,000 per day. According to Steam's internal analytics, more than 70% of this was due to the Free Demos Hub: https://store.steampowered.com/demos/
Investigating further, the game had hit the top of the "New and Trending" section on this page pretty quickly. Day one downloads were in the thousands, which may have helped.
The remaining 30% came mostly from two Reddit posts. One on games, and one on /incremental_games. The former was eventually deleted by the moderators after 20 hours, as it was in violation of the 10% self-promotion rule. I suspect they're very strict and counted my self-posts in my own subreddit for the game.
I'm honestly not sure if the high visibility on the Steam Demo Hub was luck or if I had selected my capsule and game title well. Valve is pretty opaque with regards to how their algorithm works.
Visibility slowly tapered off with time. The effect of the Demo placement completely wore off by May 13th, and Impressions reduced to around ~2,000 per day. I expect this to slowly continue to drop off as well.
 
Player Stats and Retention
Daily active users peaked around 120, and has slowly fallen off to around 60. Active player counts peaked at 15, and have fallen off to ~4-7 depending on the hour.
Western Europe's peak hours appear to be the game's peak hours, with US peak forming a secondary peak. The game is only available in English currently, so it's not surprising that the peak hours matched this.
Median playtime is holding steady at around 17 minutes, which I suspect is pretty decent. About 15% of players bounce in a minute of opening the game, which tells me there's some work to do on the new player experience still. 20% of players spend over an hour on their first session though, which is a good sign.
There were some major outliers in total playtime as well. A few players, who I'll talk about below, logged over 20 hours in just 3 days. Many others logged at least 10 hours in the same window, indicating to me that there's aspects of this game that absolutely hook certain players.
 
Wishlists
I can't decide whether to be excited or disappointed here. The game gained around 300 wishlists, topping out just around 1500. Percentage-wise this is a substantial increase in 3 days, but it's also nowhere near enough to enter Next Fest any time soon.
Daily wishlist gain spiked at around 60 at demo launch, and has slowly petered off into 10 or so per day. I expect this to continue to decline without further intervention from me.
 
Community and Bugfixing
I have a Discord server for the game's community, which grew from around 60 users to 75 or so. Nothing too amazing, but the "super fan" count increased as well. Prior to launch I had a few power users with hundreds of hours in the game who eagerly playtested, and a few others have now joined that community.
These users are pretty aggressive bug reporters too! While the core game tends to work very well, once players start scaling into the 20+ hour range some unexpected interactions tend to occur with the large complex item modifier pool, the crafting, and the skill trees. These fans are invaluable for finding interactions here that are unexpected. I truly believe some of them know more about the second-order effects of items and skills than I do at this point.
These players also helped with improving game performance. While it performs very well for the core demo vertical slice, very late endgame players can find themselves slaughtering hundreds of enemies per second with complex interactions triggering an obscene number of second-order effects per second. This performance has been substantially improved, and I'm tempted to write a separate blog post about my discoveries there at some point.
Fortunately there were no major showstopper bugs for the core gameplay. This is likely due to running a playtest prior. I strongly recommend everyone take advantage of the Steam Playtest feature prior to a release.
 
Next Steps
This is the hard part. The demo launch was somewhat bittersweet. Gaining more super fans was a great experience, and +25% wishlists is nothing to sneeze at. Still, I'm left with the concern that I'm not going to be able to push the game to the 7-10k wishlist threshold for a decent launch. Next Fest might gain an extra thousand or two, but there's still a lot of ground to gain before that's viable.
Things I've tried or am trying:

• Reddit ads - I ran a low cost campaign for a few days ($60/day). It actually drove a decent amount of traffic and has helped keep game placement from falling too far. It may help a bit with the intangibles surrounding the Steam algorithm, but it's definitely not going to deliver a direct return on investment. I likely won't continue for now.
  
• Streamer outreach - I located around 30 streamers in the relevant genres and sent them the standard press kit + pitch combo that's frequently recommend. Only 1 replied, and it was a talent agent for a streamer with a few hundred daily viewers asking for thousands of USD. Definitely not worth paying that at this time. I'll continue to try to refine this approach, but was disheartened by the fact that even small streamers these days seem to have talent agencies as their contact info.
  
• Steam's Endless Replayability Fest - I had high hopes for this, considering that game festivals are frequently recommended as the best way to market indie games. My experience was pretty lackluster. Demos are placed so deep into the festival UI that there's almost no organic traffic. I was showing up on the first, and sometimes second, page of the "Most Downloaded Demos" section, but that was delivering absolute peanuts in terms of impressions. For this festival at least, I think you wanted to have an already-released game. I've applied to a bunch of other festivals anyways, maybe it'll help!
  

 
Summary
Launching a demo was a fun, but somewhat nerve-wracking experience. I learned a lot, but am still left in the same position I was before, and am unsure if the game is truly viable or not. I'm always interested in hearing advice from the community as well, if anyone has anything to share!
Game link, in case you want to share or compare experiences: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2052160/Dont_Die_Collect_Loot/

FIRST CHAPTER
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
This product is a fanfic of the Sexy Space Babes/Between Worlds product of u/Bluefishcake and one I highly suggest you read. It was created with permission, but give the OG works some love.
Imgr gallery of Comissioned and Fan Artworks
I'm Back Bitches! Again!
//////////
Junior Systems Engineer First Class Che’keero knelt before a semi-sparking control panel and sighed. She, and a large band of her fellow Engineers with Marine support, had boarded the pirate frigate with the singular goal of ensuring that the pirates didn’t scuttle their floating hulk and doom the slaves aboard to a, if they were lucky, a swift death in space.
The problem, of course, came with the pirate’s maintenance schedules and decisions to forgo certain… safety measures when it came to repair.
Like the panel before her. Usually a perfectly functional control system for the reverse-magnetic bulkhead doors that ensured void seals in power outages, some pirate at some point in their dumb, dumb life decided to fix the panel blowing a fuse… by ripping the fuse out and replacing it with a high density power cable. Which meant the entire thing was one massive shock hazard and actively sparking as the reactors deep in the ship flickered and surged due to damage.
Che’keero swore as an arc of electricity flashed towards her face after a tool that was not supposed to be magnetized, cheap dick WaDepth requisitions, caught a magnetic field, fusing the entire system shut and turning the formerly barely functional control system into nothing but pretty, decorative wiring and cheap solder. She punched the now utterly unfunctional control box and toggled on her radio. “Three-Two to Three-Lead, this door’s fried. You’ll need to bring in the cutters if we want to get to the rest of the ship. Might as well also bring in an inflatable airlock, I’m not liking how some of the metal strain sensors are flashing at me.”
A semi-synthetic voice replied back to Che’keero, “Three-Lead copies. I’ll be over there shortly with the stuff. Double check those sensors, I’m not getting the same readings, so let’s make sure something isn’t blocking errors from reaching me.”
“Copy that Three-Lead, Three-Two ou-” Something tapped against the back of her helmet and Junior Systems Engineer First Class Che’keero mentally swore.
“Now, now, lassie, how about you sit right there and don’t move.” A nasally, unfamiliar voice called out to her while tapping what a camera she set up to watch her back revealed to be a laser pistol to Che’keero’s helmet. “I think that you’re going to be our new best friend and way off this dead end ship.”
Che’keero paused, letting the situation settle in her mind, “Wait, what? Are… are you taking me hostage?”
“Yes!” The pirate replied.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you taking me hostage? This won’t work, none of the shuttles are jump capable and if you try anything, you’ll just end up jumped by marines. They specifically train to deal with pirates taking their engineers hostage. If you want to survive, you should just surrender and take the penal colony when it’s offered.” Che’keero mentioned, shrugging and continuing her inspection of the door.
The pirate seemed baffled at the sheer nonchalance of this response, the pistol slowly falling to merely point at her upper back instead of her head, “You… you really aren’t taking this seriously. I’m a pirate! I’ve killed people! I’ve killed boys, and you’re just sitting there like this doesn’t mean anything!”
“I mean… I wouldn’t say that.” Che’keero replied.
“THEN WHAT DO YOU MEAN!” The pirate screamed, the pistol moving away from Che’keero’s body by a fraction of an inch during an angry gesture.
It was at that point, a ceramic alloyed, carbon steel blade punched clean through the back of the pirate’s suit, slicing through their central nervous system and striking with enough force to shatter the faceplate of said pirate’s helmet on the way out. Muscles twitching, the laser pistol fired off randomly, missing Che’keero and slagging a chunk of bulkhead.
“I’m just buying time,” Che’keero replied cheekily.
“You really need to remember to check your cameras,” The semi-synthetic voice of Ventures Forth Bravely Into Great Unknowns commented as the ex-pirate fell to the ground and blue blood dripped from the long blade sprouting from her right arm and a toolbox hanging from her left hand. “This isn’t the first time you have been flanked, and this one wasn’t during training.”
“Look, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Che’keero replied a bit testily.
“I’m sorry…” Ventures Forth prodded.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am.”
“Much better. Right, now what do we see in this- yeah you were right on it being fried.” Ventures Forth gently shoved the Junior Systems Engineer aside and took her place at the control panel. “Do a sweep of the strain systems. I don’t want this section of the ship breaking apart. Feel free to call up our hull patches. We’ve got plenty to share and this might have to be a lifeboat.”
“Aye, ma’am aye,” Che’keero replied with a crisp salute before rushing off to her duty.
Deeper inside the ship, Ventures Forth could hear laser fire, clashing of metal on metal, and cries for help.
The pirate ship was doomed, it was shattered and broken, but it was not destroyed. Not yet. \
And if she had her way, Ventures Forth Bravely Into Great Unknowns would keep it that way.
//////////
Roshal stood still as her steward continued to clean the dark blue and rapidly congealing blood off her armored form. “Comms,” She called out, “Do we have any contact with the shuttle we sent to the station?”
“Negative, ma’am.” The comm officer replied. She wasn’t the same one that was present when Roshal left to fend off the boarders. At the unspoken question, the woman continued “Communication’s Mate Second Class Lev’tal, ma’am. My superior got a concussion when the pirate ship rocked our ship during boarding. Strap snapped, prior damage. I took over.”
Roshal nodded approvingly, “Good initiative. Send a message to the station, see if we can’t rai-”
“Ma’am! Contact!” One of her sensor techs called out, “Belay that, two contacts. First contact, nav point 782 spinward, possible bogey, cruiser weight. Unknown movements. Second contact, nav point 102 coreward, aerospace assets inbound. Small flight. Hard to determine numbers due to damage. No less than two, no more than five.”
“Focus on getting a hard contact on that possible cruiser. Weapons, what is the status of our anti-aerospace.” Roshal demanded, holding her sword arm out for the steward to scrub at a particularly clotted chunk of blood splattered over her wrist.
The weapons officer shook her head, “If we’re lucky, then we’ve got 20% coverage on half our sides. If we’re very lucky, I might be able to bump that number up to 35%. Not going to quote doctrine, but that’s not nearly enough to fend off a flight of Aerospace assets on a strike run, and that’s assuming they don’t hit us on an unprotected flank.”
Roshal nodded once more, “Sound general quarters and get weapons and tactical back online. Tell the damage control parties to not be distracted and focus on critical systems first. Engine room, report. Can you give me maneuvering thrust?”
The nearby ship phone chimed in with a staticy hiss, “Negative, ma’am. The shot we made with the spinal mount tripped breakers up and down the reactor room. This isn’t an engine problem, we need to make sure our reactor doesn’t blow up when we siphon power. Before you ask, emergency power is still flowing and none of their circuits tripped, but that means we’re down to life support, basic systems, and dockyard thrusters. It will take at least 20 to get the reactor in a safe state. If you want 10, send the chaplain down so we have someone praying for good luck. The fact most of our structural engineers are doing an EVA boarding to ensure the pirate ship next to us doesn’t go critical and render the entire exercise moot isn’t helping matters at all.” The engine room replied Roshal bit down a bit of annoyance at the snark, but engineers were always a finicky sort with authority. They were the first to remind uptight officers that while the Captain’s word may be iron law, it was their work that truly moved the ship.
“Confirmed, engine room.” Roshal instead replied. “Chaplains will be arriving shortly. Do what you can and inform me when you’re three minutes out from full power.”
The engine room didn’t even bother replying, just sending over the affirmative light as they got to work. Roshal approved of that. Sometimes, you just had to insult someone in order to get it working right.
“Captain, we have confirmation on contact. He’s an Alliance Karcharidon class Heavy Cruiser on intercept course. Energy readings are spiking… they’re charging their guns, ma’am!”
“Issue a hostile challenge and give me a firing solution with any gun still functional.”
“No response, ma’am. Hostile Karcharidon is increasing speed. Hard contact in 15 minutes.”
Roshal snarled, emotion breaking through her mask. “Of course, the pirates had one more vessel. Helm, fire our maneuvering thrusters, use the pirate hulk as cover. Weapons, get whoever’s left of our Interceptor flight to engage the enemy. Comms, get me in contact with the merchant fleet, tell them to evacuate. We’ll provide cover.”
“Aye ma’am.” The Communications Mate Second Class said with a shiver in her voice. “Sending-”
“Update on Aerospace assets!” Her sensor tech called out.
“Deliver!” Roshal demanded, cutting off the comms officer with a slice of her hand.
“Weapons fire. Definitely less than four contacts. Seems to be two grou- negative, only two contacts remaining- weaponsfire- one contac- IFF received, oh goddesses, IT’S RUNOFF THREE! FRIENDLY AEROSPACE INBOUND!”
//////////
Milk gripped her crash harness hard as Cookie slammed the Interceptor’s fusion torch clean past its safe thrust marker and into the red as g forces crushed her chest. “Last target down.” She reported after Cookie’s final laser burst hit something critical inside the final Aerospace fighter’s frame. “That’s 20 for 20. All enemy bogeys down. All standard munitions are in the black. Static drive is 48%, dump core ejected. All we’ve got left is our ASM and front laser.”
Cookie flashed back an affirmative signal.
“We going for that cruiser?”
Another affirmative.
“Well, I’m braced and ready on the release. Ready.”
“Ready.” Cookie spoke, his voice horse.
It’s funny what people think when their lives are on the line. Because charging towards a fresh enemy Heavy Cruiser, nothing but a single anti-shipping missile worth a damn, no allied support but the faint glimmer in IFF screens of their fellow flight doing the same… all Aoibhinn McDermott could think of was a poem she had read at least a decade ago or more at the Naval Academy.
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the Valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
//////////
Ventures Forth Bravely Into Great Unknowns could do nothing but furiously swear as the basic sensor system her engineering team had restored on the thoroughly ventilated secondary command bridge of the pirate hulk revealed an enemy Heavy Cruiser bearing down upon their homeship.
“Weapons are trashed. We cored their reactor, anyway.” One of the tangential engineers reported, “Other teams are calling in. Things are worse where they are. We’ve found the slaves, though, luckily it was one of the few airtight bays. Also, have some more captives, but that really doesn’t matter right now.”
“No shit.” Ventures Forth replied, “Can we do anything?”
The engineer looked back to her, visor depolarizing so the Gearschilde can look into the black and yellow eyes of her Shil coworker.
“Pray.” The woman replied simply.
Ventures Forth Bravely Into Great Unknowns did just that.
//////////
Low chanting filled the engine bay as a small group of priests stood around the engine praying to whichever god that would listen to allow them one more shot. One more fight.
Around them, black handed engineers scurried, ripping out blown fuses and replacing them with soldered in high strength wire. A final measure of desperation. Sparks flew as engineers swore and chaplains prayed, power still remaining in circuits needing to be bled out before bypasses could be installed, turning every bit of solder and every ripped out fuse into a deadly gamble.
Already, someone was lying on the ground, no longer twitching.
They didn’t have time to check on their fallen comrade, the work was too important.
A clock ticked down. Four minutes elapsed.
//////////
Lieutenant Commander Cenywyn swore as she watched Runoff 2 die.
Their single Interceptor had mistimed a maneuver and had been caught dead in the middle of an Anti-Aerospace array, shredded in an instant. The only consolation she could take was that, seeing as the first shot went clean through the cockpit, they didn’t even notice they died.
“Runoff 4, stay in formation.” She ordered over the radio, “We’ll lead you in for the run.”
“Yes ma’am.” The hesitant voice of Junior Flight Lieutenant Griogill replied. She swallowed, “We’re- we’re ready when you are.”
“No fear, Lieutenant,” Cenywyn called back to the child she was leading to her death. “We’re pilots in the Imperial Patrol. We do our duty. No fear.”
A clock ticked down. Six minutes elapsed.
//////////
“Talk to me!” The last remaining senior engineer in the reactor bay called out to anyone who was able to reply.
Someone, she didn’t even bother looking to see who, called back “We’ve bypassed 60% of the fuses. Should be able to give ourselves a burst of combat power. No more than 10 minutes of it before the entire system overheats and we either die, or the reactor shuts off.”
“Any chance we can get more than 10 minutes?”
“Not before that Heavy Cruiser delivers us straight to the stars.”
“Fuck it, good enough.” She slammed her fist on the ship phone’s dialing button resting near the console the engineer had just ripped the last safety override out of. “Captain. We’ve got your power. You give us the word, and we’ll give you ten minutes.”
//////////
Roshal breathed in, breathed out, and nodded. 10 minutes of combat power before the entire ship shut down into uselessness. She’d done more with less. She couldn’t remember when, but she had. Luckily, this was a Patrol Carrier instead of a standard ship, so it was more than capable of combat maneuvers with nothing but RCS thrusters. That should give her some time.
Movement, movement was going to be the key.
“Comms, tell the engineering crews on the hulk that they are ordered to figure out anything that could draw the attention of the Heavy Cruiser,” She began, “Systems, break our mooring lines. We’re going to have to split from the hulk. Helm, prepare for maneuvers. RCS only. We are going to have to do this carefully. Engineroom, prepare for power activation, but hold until my command.”
This needs to be perfect, Roshal thought, A single mistimed action ruins it all.
A clock ticked down. Ten minutes elapsed. The Karcharidon had entered maximum weapon’s range.
//////////
He of Slender Tail shivered where he stood. The secondary command bridge was silent as Roshal began giving orders to fight. This was… this was insane.
They were in a ruined ship with nothing but a merchant fleet beginning to flee and a three thirds dead pirate hulk on their side against a fresh Karcharidon class Heavy Cruiser.
They couldn’t win.
This was suicide.
They would die here.
\ So why didn’t He of Slender Tail feel afraid?
He stood at his post, a secondary bridge console where he would relay orders to other departments, freeing up the other Watchkeeper to collate those orders, there was nothing he could do to help win this impossible battle, and yet…
And yet he felt heat blossoming inside his chest with every single order delivered.
“Mooring teamsss, you are to cut your linesss immediately.” He relayed to a crew of Shil scurrying around the ruined bulkheads, “Damage control, prepare for electrical firesss and arcsss.” He commanded, switching between teams instantly.
He didn’t feel fear. He could see his Watchkeeper shiver every time the sensors reported the enemy contact was still closing, but he didn’t feel the same.
What he felt… was indignation.
How dare this pirate scum threaten his vessel, his crew. How dare they ambush this valiant ship after they had fought so hard to win. How dare they.
He let his fangs fold out as he spat the next order, “Anti-Aerossspace teamsss, prepare your batteriesss for grouped fire. Gunnery calculationsss are on their way.”
How dare they stand up to him.
A clock ticked down. 12 minutes elapsed. Weapons fire.
//////////
Roshal swayed slightly as she could feel the ship beneath her feet move. Movement is life in naval warfare, movement is death. “Right RCS fire, bring us clear of the hulk. Bow thrusters, up twenty.”
“Aye, ma’am, aye, right standard and bow up twenty.” The Helmswoman replied.
“Confirmed. Next maneuver, give us rear thrust-”
“Torpedo!” The sensor operator called out in a shrill voice, “Two marks on intercept course! Range, twelve K and closing fast!”
“Decorum!” Roshal snapped at the panicking sensor technician. “Comms, order Runoff flight to divert and intercept those torpedoes. Rear RCS to full, give us momentum.”
Roshal turned away from the bridge as affirmations were shouted, and the ship began to move, “Engineering, prepare to activate combat power on my mark and prepare for hard maneuvers. Mark in five.”
//////////
Griogill swallowed bile and tried not to feel too thankful that the enemy vessel had fired torpedoes at their home ship. Being diverted from an attack run had a much higher chance of survival than striking through an AA bubble.
“Runoff 4 engaging far torpedo. Moving in for intercept. Bre’kas, give me lock.”
Griogill’s backseater muttered something, and a target lock appeared on the far torpedo as Runoff 1, their previous Drill Sergeants, dashed by in a hard burn and blazed away at their own target.
“Right. We can do this. We can do this. No fear.” The rookie muttered as the sight of her friends in Runoff 3 being turned to vapor echoed in her mind. “I can do this.”
The target locked. She fired. The torpedo detonated.
A clock ticked down.
//////////
“Mark in four.”
//////////
The Heavy Cruiser loomed closer as the comparatively tiny Patrol Carrier spat its defiance in the form of two Interceptors dancing between the stars.
As a pair of torpedoes detonated, four more were launched, the anti-shipping weapons built for this specific purpose. Destroying disabled vessels.
And so the last two remaining Interceptors on CAP dove into the fray, risking themselves against an ever approaching AA bubble in order to save their ship.
A clock ticked down.
//////////
“Mark in three.”
//////////
All Cookie could do was stare and push his meager aerospace fighter further on its nuclear thrusters as shimmering dots of torpedoes lanced out from the Heavy Cruiser attacking his new home.
He pushed his hand forward and felt the throttle once more push back against him, the lever pushed all the way past safe thrust and into the further setting on his console.
The Interceptor was fast. It didn’t feel fast enough.
And so he spoke the words he spoke once before, back when he’d had to listen to his backseater’s screams of pain and the rush of wind after shrapnel pierced his fuselage, and the hospital was so, so far away.
Father, I pray that you will not hide your face from me. Whenever I pray, Lord please hear me and answer me speedily in Jesus' name. God, I pray that you will grant me speed through your help.
A clock ticked down.
//////////
“Mark in two.”
//////////
The Heavy Cruiser shifted, engine flaring and it began to close the range. A single disabled ship on emergency RCS thrusters and a pair of Aerospace fighters was nothing it would have to deal with.
It fired a third spread of torpedoes.
A clock ticked down.
//////////
They took the bait. Roshal thought with a vicious grin.
“Mark in one.” She paused, “Execute.”
In an instant, power flowed through the ship, emergency lights flickered off as the burning red boarding lights returned their fiery glow. The entire ship shook as the main thruster came back online, and capacitors began to charge for maneuvers.
“Hard burn, full thrusters, right, on my mark.” Roshal watched as the Heavy Cruiser began to react to her movements, the enemy ship was alive, you needed to roll to broadsides to begin bombardment, come on come on…
Roshal watched as a torpedo flickered out of existence, Runoff 4 gaining another kill.
Come on, dammit, you don’t get put in charge of a Heavy Cruiser without- THERE!
The Heavy Cruiser flinched, turning her bow away from the no longer stricken vessel, preparing for broadside.
The Captain’s grin showed more teeth than smile. “Execute! Full right thrust!”
“Full right thrust! Aye ma’am aye!” Her helmswoman called out as maneuvering thrusters dead cold roared to life and physically threw the vessel to the side, causing everyone not strapped in on the bridge to rock as a barrage of fire flew past their former location, manual targeting systems in play since the automatic systems would still be getting warmed up.
“Full thrust forward, prepare to divert all power to secondary weapons. Weapons, give me a firing solution.” Roshal commanded, hand raised and pointed at the enemy’s display as if she were commanding from a tall ship.
A chant of “Aye ma’am aye” flowed out across the bridge as the weaponsmistress was silent before calling out. “Port side is up to 45% secondary fires and 32% point defense. That’ll be our best bet.”
Roshal nodded. “Make it so. Target their main weapons. Helm, get us that facing.”
“Ma’am. We’re getting a call from Runoff 3. They are entering the AO and are asking for a target.”
Roshal smiled, “Weapons, shift target. Aim for the anti-aerospace systems. Let’s give Runoff 3 the opening they need.”
A clock ticked down.
//////////
“Cookie, we’ve got a targeting path.” Milk called forward. “Putting it up on your HUD.”
“One second… I’ve got it. Moving to comply. Did the Captain give us a plan?” her front seater replied, causing her stomach to do funny things as the Aerospace Fighter maneuvered while under high thrust.
“Something like that. She asked for a munitions report and specifically about our anti-shipping weapon.”
Cookie paused.
“Ah.” He finally said.
“Yeah.” She replied.
“Well, let’s hope they’re able to open us up to a window of opportunity. Or this will be a short charge.”
“Not our place to question why.”
“Just our place to do and die.”
Time to target… three minutes.
Into the valley of Death, rode the six hundred.
A clock ticked down.
//////////
Two vessels, three Aerospace fighters, one chance.
Six minutes of power remained. All actors took their places on the stage.
One hundred kilometers, close enough to check the weld quality of hull seams, the two ships danced across from each other. Maneuvering.
Five minutes of power remained.
The Karcharidon Heavy Cruiser rolled itself trying to keep the vulnerable top deck away from the Patrol Carrier’s presumably still working main gun as Roshal’s vessel jumped to the side. Thrusters roared.
Four minutes of power remained.
Runoff 1 and 4 shot towards their formerly separated comrade, forming up behind them in a wedge. The trio climbed towards the sun as their captain continued to chase and harass the Karcharidon.
Three minutes of power remained.
Roshal spoke. The lances of her vessel fired. Laser blasts carved across the hull of the enemy ship as it rolled.
The rolling ceased. A helmswoman swore as a full broadside caught the Patrol Carrier in the flank. The port hangar pod was ruined, armor shattered and all inside exposed to hard vacuum. Those who could scream died the fastest. The Interceptors had their opening.
Two minutes of power remained.
Silent wings swept through vacuum as three Interceptors began their dive, their formerly speedy arrowhead shape giving way to an inverted t as their wings swept out for stability, the ASF dove and dove and dove.
Five Kilometers away.
The range was too wide. They had one shot. It had to be perfect.
One minute of power remained.
The Into Harm’s Way spat its defiance into the world, limited power drained to give her pilots a seconds more of time.
30 seconds of power remained.
Three Kilometers.
Hard Lock! Milk shouted from the back seat of Runoff 3. Cookie was silent. The range was still too wide.
15 seconds of power remained.
Two Kilometers.
The Karcharidon seemingly began to roll before the Patrol Carrier once more fired, its last remaining weapons spouting their defiance against the world. Deep in engineering, systems began to blow, wires that replaced fuses sparked power and delicate circuit boards shorted out into useless scrap.
The lights went out.
No power remained.
Roshal, in her head, began to count down as lances of light began to sweep across her ship. Damage control did what they could, but the beams began to cut like an overly enthusiastic shipbreaker.
Five.
One Kilometer.
Four.
Cookie’s thumb depressed the firing stud as the Interceptor screamed at him.
Three.
The ASF launched its deadly payload.
Two.
Three Interceptors pulled back hard on their sticks to avoid colliding with the deck.
One.
The thruster of the anti-shipping missile roared as it rocketed the point blank aerospace distance to target.
Impact.
The armor piercing tip of the missile punched into the upper deck plating of the Heavy Cruiser, classified alloys allowing it to pierce into the armored plating just enough to allow the shaped charge to open up a hole as momentum kept the weapon moving.
Within the frame of a single second, the warhead of the missile had entered the ship and, before the alarms even had time to sound, detonated.
A new sun appeared in the void for a split second as a plasma-fusion warhead detonated inside the Karcharidon heavy cruiser’s hull.
//////////
Roshal allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief inside her head as the emergency power lights flickered overhead and the gravity ever so slightly lightened. What was left of their sensor arrays showed the enemy vessel powering down. “Engineering. Good work, your 10 minutes were just what she needed.” She called out, picking up the ship phone.
There was no answer from engineering.
She signed externally before pointing at one of the marines guarding the bridge, “Find a crewmate in a void suit. I have need of runners.” The marine clasped a fist to her chest before leaving to execute her captain’s commands. “Comms, do we have any contact with the engineering teams on the pirate hulk?”
The Comms officer held up a hand, Roshal waited, “No, ma’am. We aren’t getting- wait. We’ve got visual on flashing lights from the hull. Apparently, something shorted, so they’re having to rebuild broadcast arrays. They can receive just fine, though.”
“Good, once we can maneuver, bring us broadside of them. What’s the status of the merchant fleet?”
Navigation spoke up now, “Still heading for the Jump Point. Should we send the recall order?”
“Not yet, we are still unsure if the area is safe. If we have any sensors remaining, begin sca-”
The mentioned sensor technician interrupted Captain Roshal, “Ma’am, new contact, signature unknown. Just jumped in from outside the starlane!”
“Give me details. Course, range, and speed?” She demanded.
“Signal confused, can’t get a lock!” Navigation called out, “Can’t tell if confusion’s from them or us.”
Not another one… Roshal sighed, “All forces prepa-”
“Ma’am, we’re being hailed.” Communications called out.
“On squawk.”
“This is Captain Al’yosha Cal’rada of Her Imperial Majesty’s Ship Spear of the Knyaginya, responding to Merchant vessel distress calls. Imperial Patrol Carrier, are you in need of assistance at this time?”
Roshal recognized the voice. A junior officer from her days in the Navy and a fellow Sevastutavan. The memory of the fresh faced girl when she’d joined her as an Ensign straight of the Naval Academy flashed before her eyes. “Captain Cal’rada. Your timing is impeccable as always.”
“Admiral?” Roshal could hear the shock in her old protege’s voice.
“That’s Captain, now, Al’yosha. I require your aid in ensuring the disabled vessel still glowing from an ASM strike remains disabled along with Search and Rescue teams for our sister Carrier.
“Whatever you want, you’ll have it, Admiral_… Helm! All ahead flank and plot course to intercept. Launch gunships and prepare to deploy Bluejackets. We’ll test our _Orcas’ teeth today!”
The line cut out a moment later than it should have, and Roshal nodded in approval.
“Captain, I still don’t have a read on new contact. What is it?” Sensors asked.
“A Drep’na inspired vision, come to life.” Roshal watched, feeling an odd sort of parental pride as Al’yosha’s experimental warship began closing the distance towards the Karcharidon at breakneck speeds. “A swift sailing vessel and ten carriage guns…” Roshal murmured the line from an old Vaasconian poem from the ancient Age of Sail. She had heard Cal’rada had succeeded in petitioning the Navy to build her dream-ship, burning every favor and passing out favors to any and everyone to see the program through. Now, there she was, standing on the bridge bearing down on a ship twice her size, but if the rumors were true, only half her guns.
“Ma’am, contact is still not resolving, but IFF confirms Imperial Navy designation. An Akula Class Attack Transport. I’ve… I’ve never even heard of this class.”
“Perhaps we shall hear of them more in the future. Fortune favors the active.”
“Contact is disgorging multiple signals, moving at speeds consistent with aerospace assets.”
“That is our signal we may disengage. Comms, inform the merchant fleet that the area is secure and to begin refueling procedures. Helm, get us alongside the pirate hulk, we have people to recover. Marine, get me a runner to the MP’s, we shall need the port hangar prepared for an old tradition the Navy has regarding pirate prisoners…” Roshal commanded. The fight was over, it was time to begin the cleanup.
//////////
So… that took a while. Sorry about that.
Turns out when a combination of writer’s block, decision paralysis and LIFE hits you over the head, it becomes a touch difficult to get your shit together long enough to write something down.
On the plus side, we are out of the “unplanned bits” and right back into the parts I have brainstormed, so I won’t be staring at a screen trying to think how to make things connect as much anymore. On the other hand, that means we are now entering the epilogue of book 1 of Top Lasgun.
Don’t worry, the story isn’t ending, I’ve got “three” books plotted out in my head, so we’ll see how that shakes out, but for the most part, this is where I start wrapping up plot threads, laying down threads for what comes next, and all that other good stuff.
So yeah, next chapter is going to involve everyone wrapping up what happened here, some fun little Military Justice, and potentially a bunch of plot. Also, I’m planning on starting a “rewrite”/edited version of this to go up on AO3, so keep an eye out for that. Early installment weirdness is a bitch and I’m not proud of what the older stuff looked like.
Well, I hope you have a wonderful morning, afternoon or evening whenever you read this and I will see you next chapter.
[NEXT CHAPTER]

The biggest risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease is carrying an APOE E4 allele. For several decades, Alzheimer’s research has focused on preventing the buildup of amyloid-beta plaque in the brain. While amyloid-beta plaque clearly plays a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, the drugs developed to block amyloid-beta haven’t helped much with Alzheimer’s symptoms. At best, they may slow the progression of the disease.
Recently, two large studies of the interaction of APOE E4 with other genetic variants have shed light on how changes in the blood vessels and the blood-brain barrier are important for the buildup of amyloid-beta plaques.[ref][ref]
Both genetic studies found that variants that reduce fibronectin significantly decreased the risk of Alzheimer’s in people with APOE E4 genotypes. The variants identified were not very common (around 1-2% of the population).
Individuals with the APOE E4 allele don’t break down amyloid-beta quite as well as normal for clearance from the brain. Fibronectin interacts with and binds to many different particles, including amyloid-beta. The excess fibronectin in the BBB is believed to “negatively regulate amyloid beta clearance”.[ref]
Essentially, fibronectin in the blood-brain barrier is binding with amyloid-beta. Normally, a lot of the amyloid-beta is cleared out of the brain and circulates in the bloodstream in a soluble form.
Reducing omega-6 oils: Studies show that omega-6 fatty acids increase fibronectin levels.[ref]
“Vegetable oils” such as canola, corn, soybean, sunflower, and safflower oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids. Most fried foods, sauces, and processed foods are very high in omega-6 fatty acids. Meat from animals that are fed a lot of omega-6 fats, such as chickens and pigs, can also be high in omega-6.
One of the biggest changes in our eating habits over the past 70 years is the huge increase in omega-6 fatty acids.
Many prior studies have also made the connection between omega-6 fatty acids and increased risk of Alzheimer’s in animals and in cell studies, but the published research on humans has been a lot more ambiguous.[ref][ref][ref]
Omega-3 fatty acids, such as DHA and EPA from fish and seafood, do not increase fibronectin levels.[ref] One study found that fibronectin decreased when omega-3 was increased in the diet.[ref]
Click here to read my full article on fibronectin, including how to use your 23andMe or Ancestry genetic raw data to see if you carry any fibronectin related variants.

I do feel quite hungry and my mouth is longing for the taste of water. I haven't talked to anyone all day, and I haven't gone downstairs. All I've been doing is alternating between attending classes (I'm homeschooled) and crying / coping in bed.
My situation has gotten much worse these past few weeks. This is the 6th day in a row where I've cried. Otherwise, I could probably count the amount times I've cried in the past 4 years on my two hands.
On the other hand, I started dating a really sweet girl. I've known her for a while now prior to developing romantic feelings for her, and I'm really glad to have her in life.
"Why are you starving yourself then?", you might ask. I think she deserves better. I'm short, ugly skinny, lagging behind in school, etc. I'm practicing hard to get into career with a marginal chance of me making any sort of money or obtaining any form of success. I live on the other side of the country from her, meaning I can't be there for her properly when she needs someone to comfort her or to have a shoulder to cry on. I can't keep doing this to her. She deserves someone better, who can actually provide for her and be there for her when she needs it.
Although regardless of my flaws, she still accepts me for who I am. She tries her best to console me and to help me erase the self-deprecating thoughts circling in my head, the voices telling me that I don't matter and that I should die. I feel guilty, stupid, and like a burden everytime I vent to her and I make her listen to me and expend effort to go that far for me. I love her so much for caring to that extent, and I'm forever thankful. But I think she deserves someone who's mentally stable and doesn't drift in and out of being suicidal every couple days.
When we go to college, we'll probably both leave the country and to different ones at that. She would be a young woman in her 20s. She's pretty, and a wonderful girl too. So many people would be after her. I don't want to rob her of her prime years.
I don't have access to firearms, rope, and we don't we have strong medication in the house. It's either I deprive myself of the things necessary for my body to continue functioning, or I stab myself with a knife.
It's 10pm here now. I might be going to sleep in a few hours. Supposedly, death kicks in after 3 days of no water. It's already been 1 day. Maybe I won't wake up, and that's probably for the better. I think my partner and the other people around me would be much better off when I'm gone.
I hope that when I finally croak, no burial or memorial services are held for me. Then again, hardly anyone would be willing / able to go, just for me. I just want my organs donated if anyone can make use of them, and the rest to be cremated. Then the ashes thrown away in some corner to be forgotten.
Chantal, if you're reading this, I love you. You mean the world to me.

TL;DR: I know service dogs aren't allowed in operating rooms or other sterile environments, and that they might not be allowed in the recovery area if I were too disoriented give my dog commands (e.g., if coming off of general anesthesia). But procedure was done with local anesthesia, and recovery area was non-sterile (friends/family were allowed to wait with me there), but service dog was denied access for "cleanliness/safety" reasons. Is this allowed, and how can I best approach this in the future?
Longer version:
I was at an outpatient surgery center for a relatively minor medical procedure (was in the operating room for less than an hour, and it was done with local anesthetic and no sedation). While I was in the OR, my dog stayed with a friend in the general waiting room. After they brought me out of the OR and into the recovery area, the nurse asked if I had someone with me and said he could bring my friend back. A few minutes later, though, the nurse came back and said service dogs couldn't come to the recovery area and would've needed "prior approval."
For context, the surgery center had me fill out an online pre-op form the week before, and I had indicated that I had a service dog under the "additional accommodations" section. I also mentioned it when a nurse called me to go over pre-op instructions, and I was told that my dog couldn't come into the OR with me (which I obviously knew) but otherwise it was fine.
Even though it was a minor procedure, part of the procedure had flared up POTS symptoms, and I was extremely dizzy/nauseous and very close to passing out while in the recovery area. Having my service dog to do DPT and alert to syncope would've been super helpful. I also have a lot of medical trauma/PTSD, so medical environments are triggering, and my dog is amazing at keeping me grounded. He's very well behaved in those environments, he's well-groomed and clean, and I was oriented enough to give him commands.
My doctor said I'll likely need two more similar procedures within the next few months. So for those future procedures, I'm wondering... 1) Is there something I'm missing as to why my SD wouldn't be allowed in the non-sterile recovery area? I'm open to feedback if I'm missing something. 2) If this should be allowed, how can I best approach this for my next procedures? I didn't bother questioning them this past time, mainly because I have a fear of being "difficult" or "inconvenient", but having my SD there in the future would be really beneficial.
Edit: thank you everyone for the info! Looks like I was wrong in thinking this would be a situation where SD access should be automatically allowed; glad I asked here, instead of just assuming the surgery center was in the wrong. Seems like one of those gray areas with a lot of "it depends" and various factors to consider. I'll make sure to speak more thoroughly with one of the nurses prior to my next procedures, to figure out if this is a case where it would be safe (for myself, nursing staff, other patients, etc.) to have my SD with me, and I won't push it if it's not possible.

I was so excited for this that I ignored the signals. The country of the person that booked the demo was far from my circle of contacts and the email name did not match the name they inputed in the form.
I should have email them asking for further info, prior to our call. But you live and you learn.....

Win 10 Pro, WF G6.0.14, RES extension + old.reddit redirect.
Recently, as many of you probably know, the old.reddit login was removed. There are still ways of accessing a convenient, functional login - for now - But I do not anticipate that they will work forever.
Personally, I use old.reddit because it is more information dense than the alternatives. If possible, I'd love to restore the minimally invasive top-right login prompt.
Currently, I'm making do with this script by flowscript.
Other potential fixes might be a stylesheet. But I'm also here to ask about functionality. Specifically, logging into/logging out of old.reddit doesn't preserve prior location. You'll be thrown to the garbage main page, or sometimes random pages. I know it's not a flaw specific to old.reddit users right now, as associates using new/new-new reddit have experienced it as well.
But I figured I'd ask, just in case. Either way, thanks for the hard work.

- Night mode: true - RES Version: 5.24.6 - Browser: Firefox - Browser Version: 115 - Cookies Enabled: true - Reddit beta: false 

When parents stop me in public to wonder how their child might grow up to be a metaphysical weather reporter, I offer the same tip – have them begin writing at an early age and prepare to keep writing until they achieve a state of spiritual enlightenment. If all goes as planned, the kid will be asked to trod a road less traveled – or better still, one not traveled at all, less a road than a shot in the dark, after which their lives will be a complete and utter nightmare until they take their final breath, no matter how they behaved prior to enlightenment, no matter how they act after. They will suffer in ways literally unimaginable, which will make their suffering and sense of loss self-encrypted – the worst suffering is one other humans can never comprehend, nor will they seek to understand. When they die, suffering will deliver the eulogy about what life meant.
I know the parents want more than that – a helping hand, a leg up on the competition – so I try to oblige. Here’s a tip – many years into this, your son or daughter will notice that the loop-like phase of the hyperform, characterized by repetition and an economy of human attention – will seem persistently to backslide. They will seem to be on the edge of transformation – having, for instance, ceased attacking the body or promoting the war life – but then the next day or only a few moments later, they will return to the troublesome, irksome, delusional behavior of before, like there was nothing to learn and nothing to lose. Those hyperreal loops will seem like they’re finally, at last, seeing the light, but then something changes, ambiguity appears, and in no time, one’s whole relationship to the hyperreal will revert to the suffering it knew, suffer some more.
This loop-oriented behavior – phenomenologies of cruelty trying to find relief, always seeming to fail – will create new opportunities for epic discontent for the budding metaphysical weather reporter on the receiving end of such treatment. To soften the torment, I find it helpful to notice that the loops-that-never-learn are not trying to be cruel or obstinate. Rather, they have settled into a motif of using the phenomenology of torment to grow through, and when they get to the point of achieving that growth, they transform into something new, even as new loops resume the performance of the phenomenology of torment. The image, then, is not of loops that don’t learn but of a cascade of loops in a state of transformation, with the old loops quietly evolving into new forms, moving on, and new loops arriving from somewhere else to take their place.
You can see how easy it would be to develop the wrong impression about loops and their will to cause harm. Loops cause harm – this is my theory – because that is the way they are likely to be noticed, and being noticed is what some loops seek in order to transform. At this point in the friendly interaction, the parents of all those prospective metaphysical weather reporters might be writing things down, so I define a few terms for them. Loops are recurring phenomena that tend to be noticed, sometimes proliferate in a lived environment, other times congregate around an individual. They can be mathematically modeled. They appear in the mind, in the body, as an observation seemingly of the outer world. To comprehend how loops are probabilistic forms of life, one must see them as nonmaterial, assign their existence to a kind of environmental will.
Loops are fields of potential adapting to a rocky-bodied planetoid and its geologic paradigm – human sentience is crucial to the way this adaptation unfolds. In a sense, they are aspects of the contact experience, in which natural qualities like individuation, sequence, the behavior of mass and energy, their relation to causality, the adjacency of human agency to it all – these qualities of life on earth are what the loops are trying to engage with. In other ways, the loops appear to be a part of earth-bound naturalism with their own evolutionary history and relation to human evolution. Picture the lights of marine species winking on and off in the midnight and abyssal zones of the ocean – loops may seem like very simple phenomena, but they are related to more complex forms that are difficult to understand, not least because they relate to time differently.
Yes, your little mister or miss back at home, watching videos and losing teeth, might want to be a metaphysical weather reporter for the kicks – all those freaky forms doing freaky things – but when sober analysis returns, we must remind ourselves that every observation of the hyperreal is going on both out there and in here – points to skull, stomach, genitals. Having a probabilistic form that exists outside of time interacting with one’s sense of consciousness based on knowing observations is not for the faint of heart. To be a metaphysical weather reporter is to court the unknown in ways that might confer not a single personal advantage, save for the benefits to the human project, its capacity for sustainability crossed with a timewise desire to know itself. Do I see this as true? Would I be a metaphysical weather reporter if I thought otherwise? Good day.
Afterthought: In summary, loops that seem to backslide into prior maladaptive behaviors may instead be other aspects of the hyperreal trying to use the same phenomenological pathways to seek transformation as the loops that came before. Knowing this, incorporating this into one’s observations, can make a substantial difference to one’s overall efficacy in both the real and the hyperreal characteristics of lived experience. To the extent that metaphysical weather reporters are like bridge conditions between worlds, like the corpus callosum between hemispheres of a singular mind, the way we conceive of loops is crucial to the whole.

I am a Training Manager for a family of companies (3 companies total) and have 2 Training Coordinators who report to me.
Currently we are handling: - Communication with new hires prior to day one on what to expect - Assisting with onboarding paperwork - Completing Part 2 of their I-9 forms - Facilitating orientation - Facilitating classroom training for the first 1-2 weeks for all departments - Designing & updating all training content - Creating & maintaining a knowledge base - Working with managers to schedule shadow sessions, their meet and greets, and the hand-off process - Coaching trainees if they have issues with attendance, professionalism, and/or performance during the training period - Maintaining a training tracking database (in Excel) - Manually tracking new hire retention %s & other training stats - Other side projects like videos if asked
The problem is that my company is continuing to grow and adding a bunch of supervisor roles (which I see as a red flag). My training coordinators spend 40 hours a week facilitating training (something I was doing before they were hired 6 months ago because of my maternity leave that just ended) and are rarely able to help with any training content development. We usually find out about process changes in the middle of a training class when someone randomly says, “we don’t do it that way anymore.”
We have one HR Manager who is newer to the company and she reports to our CFO. I report to our COO. My boss (COO) does not have clear expectations for my team. He just wants training to happen and not hear complaints from other managers.
I’m nervous because we have a CRM change happening later this year. I’ve gone through those with other companies and it’s always a hot mess.
I don’t know how to advocate for my team or what I should be asking for. Additional bodies? A LMS? More stuff to be pushed onto HR’s plate? Any insight would be helpful!
Also sorry if there are formatting issues as I’m posting this on mobile.

Hey y’all. i’m going to the GCC in San Francisco, and they put through the prior auth to my insurance (Aetna) and I just saw when checking today that they did a partial approval. I assume they approved the breast reduction code, but not the “Excision Excessive Skin & Subq Tissue” (code 15839) part. Anyone have any advice on this or any experience? Especially with the GCC and Aetna.

Fairly self explanatory. I was caught doing 79 mph on a dual carriage way. I've filled in the form that was sent to me and posted it to address on the letter. Just wondering what happens next? Will I be asked to go to court? What are my chances of being accepted on the speed awareness course?
I have no prior driving convictions.

If there was a news outlet that publicly shamed electronics companies for their products when that company started engaging in bad business practices with their consumers, it would start as a game of wack-a-mole. Assume that outlet had enough influence to at least temporarily change a company's business practices with relatively high effectiveness.
The factor for sale is desirability and desirability is reduced but not defined by public status with this news outlet if they recieve a public shaming.
At some theoretical point, if too many companies recieve a public shaming in a given category of electronics, the shaming no longer has an impact on sales if their production methods are too large/complex for new companies to engage in competition. Additionally, these companies have some ability to absorb, eliminate their new competition.
The possibility exists of an ad-hoc union of the electronics companies standing by intentionally poor business practices with similiar bad consumer practices agreed upon by competing electronics companies so that the the news outlet can no longer criticize any company among the mutually competitive electronics companies and those bad practices result in increased profits.
This possibility is considered the least desirable outcome.
This outcome, if it came to pass, would cause the outlet to become self aware that they are part of the dillemma and when they ask themselves, what they could have done differently, they are going to realize that the ad-hoc union of electronics companes had to become self aware first and before forming.
"We can't be considered comparatively bad if we are all bad."
The outlet, assuming their goals match the will of the consumer, will then question whether or not 100 percent coverage of bad consumer practices was what led to the formation of the ad-hoc union or whether spotty coverage, or less influence over consumers would have prevented these companies from being self aware and forming an ad-hoc union.
The question then becomes, an attempt at quantifying what reduced coverage or less influence in the marketplace looks like in order to prevent a self aware ad-hoc union.
Since the reporting of bad consumer practices represents the ethos of the news outlet, they would be going against their own ethics by not publicly shaming companies for bad practice. It would in effect become a lie by omission since the implication becomes they cover the whole market, adding desirability to a company's product since they would stand out as a company not worthy of public shaming.
If the outlet becomes aware of this possibility prior to the formation of an ad-hoc union, and with enough time to act, the question then becomes "how unethically ineffective do we have to become in order to be as ethical and effective as possible?"
That is the dillemma.
I'm experiencing my own dillemma posting this, I'm open to deleting it if a case is made. I'm actually unwilling to state the nature of my dillemma. If you wanna guess, message me.