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?

Buying property in Dubai's secondary market can be a rewarding investment, but it requires careful planning and understanding of the local real estate laws and market conditions. This guide provides a step-by-step approach for both international buyers and residents, outlining the necessary requirements, procedures, and tips for a successful transaction.
1. Requirements and Alternatives for International Buyers Requirements: - Eligibility: International buyers can purchase property in designated freehold areas. - Documentation: Passport copies, entry visa, and proof of address in the home country. - Emirates ID: Not mandatory for non-residents but can simplify the process.
Alternatives Without a Bank Account: - Local Payment Solutions: Use reputed real-estate agencies who provide the manager's cheque on your behalf on agreed terms and services (an agreement is signed between both the parties to secure their interests)
2. Requirements for Residents Cash Buyers: - Proof of Funds: Bank statements or financial certificates (Not required in case of transactions below 10 Million AED). - Identification: Emirates ID and passport copy.
Mortgage Buyers: - Pre-Approval: From a local bank, indicating the loan amount. - Income Proof: Salary certificates and bank statements. - Credit History: Evaluation by the bank. - Down Payment: Typically 25-30% of the property value should be paid by the buyer himself including the other costs such as 4% DLD (Dubai land department) registration fee & 2% Agency fee.
** 3. Deciding on Cash or Mortgage** Factors to Consider: - Cash in Hand: If you have enough liquidity, cash purchases avoid interest payments and simplify the process. - Pre-Approval: Mortgage buyers should secure pre-approval to understand their budget limits. - Market Conditions: Interest rates and property price trends can influence the decision. - Investment Goals: Long-term vs. short-term investment strategies.
4. Hiring a Specialized Agent Finding the Right Agent: - Experience: Look for agents with a track record in the desired community. - Credentials: Ensure the agent is RERA certified (Real Estate Regulatory Authority). - Referrals and Reviews: Check online reviews and get recommendations.
Agent’s Role and Responsibilities: - Market Analysis: Provide insights into market trends and property values. - Property Search: Identify properties that match your criteria. - Viewings: Arrange and accompany you to property viewings. - Legalities: Assist with legal paperwork and ensure compliance with Dubai Land Department (DLD) regulations. - Negotiations: Negotiate on your behalf to get the best price.
5. Forms Utilized at Different Stages - Form A: Agency agreement between seller and agent. - Form B: Agency agreement between buyer and agent. - Form F (Contract F): Sales contract between buyer and seller, outlining the terms and conditions of the sale (also referred to as MOU). - Form I: Agreement between mortgage broker and buyer (if applicable).
6. Presenting an Offer and Negotiations - Initial Offer: Your agent presents your offer to the seller. - Negotiations: Counteroffers may follow until a mutual agreement is reached. - Acceptance: Both parties sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), also known as Form F.
7. Signing of Form F Contents of Form F: - Buyer and Seller Details: Names, contact information, and identification numbers. - Property Details: Address, plot number, and description. - Price and Payment Terms: Agreed price and payment schedule. - Conditions: Any conditions or contingencies (e.g., inspection, financing).
8. Registration and Other Aspects Final Steps: - NOC from Developer: Required for property transfer should be provided by the seller. - Transfer of Ownership: Conducted at the DLD or a registered trustee office. - Title Deed: Issued in the buyer’s name once the transaction is complete. - Utility Connections: Transfer utility services to your name.
Additional Tips: - Due Diligence: Research the developer’s reputation and the property’s history. - Market Comparisons: Compare prices of similar properties to gauge the right price. - Legal Advice: Consider hiring a legal advisor to review contracts and ensure your interests are protected ( not required in most cases as the forms utilised in different stages are a standard format by the DLD which is simplified for the easy understanding of both buyer & seller).
Buying a property in Dubai's secondary market involves several steps, but with the right preparation and professional assistance, it can be a smooth and rewarding process. Whether you’re an international buyer or a resident, understanding the requirements, choosing the right financing option, and working with a specialized agent are key to a successful investment.
(Please advise if any details are missing or incorrect & I will rectify them if they are correct)

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

So, it's been a few weeks since things went down. Please check my profile for the prior post for background info. Last time I tried to insert a link to a prior post, it didn't show up.
Onto the story...
Jess is in a lot of trouble. 2 weeks ago, the cops and CPS showed up because of my report and made her call her ex Keith to come pick up the boys and take them to a facility for forensic interviews. The boys have been staying with Keith since this happened, and apparently, Jess has only seen the boys for a half hour in the last 2 weeks, even though Keith hasn't tried to keep her from seeing them.
Two days ago they had a hearing with FOC about custody because CPS had Keith file an ex parte for emergency temporary custody. Keith asked me to be there, so I went and sat in the middle behind/between their tables. I was there primarily for the boys. I wasn't called to speak, which is fine.
The referee asked what Keith's offer was, and he stated that he was fine with everything going back to normal, so long as Erik was gone. He would have to be removed from the house permanently and have no contact with the boys, and Jess would be able to have the boys back. Jess did not agree to this, which floored everyone in the room.
Jess's counter offer was for the boys to go stay with a family friend of hers, that Keith knows and trusts as well, and she would visit them during the week and they would go to Keith on the weekends. She had a 6 page write-up about why she didn't want the boys with Keith full-time. The referee flat out told her that she wasn't going to be allowed to read that.
So, an evidentiary hearing has been called. In the meantime, Jess is to have visitations with the boys on Saturdays from noon to 8pm. The referee was extremely exasperated with Jess during the whole hearing, so I'm surprised she granted that much.
Jess admitted in open court that Erik has CP on his phone, but tried to downplay it saying that it's all animated and not real kids. She said they were told that since he cooperated and handed over his electronics, that they weren't looking at him for charges. Being a cop's daughter, I know that's the bullshit they tell people to keep them from running.
All of us were just sitting there stunned at how absolutely unhinged she sounds. The referee even buried her head on her hands several times during the hearing because she just couldn't believe what was coming out of Jess's mouth. I feel like I don't know who she is anymore.
After things wrapped up, Keith and his girlfriend Maddie invited me out to lunch to calm down. The plan after that was for me to go back to their place to see the boys. On our way to the restaurant, Keith called the CPS worker to give her an update on the hearing, but he had to leave a message.
While we were eating, the CPS worker called back and he told her what the ruling was. As soon as she heard that Jess was getting visitations, she immediately said, "No. She is not allowed to be around the boys unsupervised. I will be contacting the court to get that ruling changed." The only explanation she gave was that she has evidence from the cops that necessitated that decision.
Again, all of us are floored. Keith and Maddie think that the cops may think that Jess is a flight risk. But I think it has more to do with the relationship that Jess and Erik got into with a girl I'll call Lani and her boyfriend Tanner.
Lani is the daughter of one of their mutual friends, Kenny. For whatever reason, Lani was living with Kenny's parents in a different state until recently. I was told that she was 17, but I don't think that's true. She always seemed and looked much younger than that.
Lani had been assaulted by a group of guys recently before coming back here. I don't know where she met Tanner, but he's in his 20's so obviously her grandparents don't approve. I also suspect that Tanner may be schizophrenic or at least suffer from severe delusions.
Jess and Erik took them in. Erik made no bones about wanting to be intimate with Lani, and I warned Jess that it wasn't a good idea because of her age and trauma. Apparently this happened anyway, and Jess was involved (I suspected but had no real evidence, so this wasn't in my report). Lani has a baby girl now that her grandparents have custody of.
Tanner is convinced that it's his kid, but I don't think so. I think it's Erik's and that's why the grandparents are holding off on paternity testing for Tanner.
I don't know who told the cops and CPS, but Keith informed me that Lani is cooperating with the authorities. This means that they are looking at Jess for possible SA, which would explain why CPS doesn't want her around her boys unsupervised.
At this point, she doesn't know that the order is being changed. CPS said not to tell her. They are going to speak to her about it.
I feel like I opened a huge can of maggots by reporting. It just keeps getting worse, and more things keep coming out about what Erik has done and manipulated Jess into doing. It's like one of those true-life documentaries you watch about serial killers that make you wonder why humans are like that, and how they get away with it for so long. And how the people around them can rationalize their behaviors.
I'm sorry this update isn't a good one. I wish it was. I don't know what to do anymore besides help Keith and Maddie. I love Jess, but I can't side with her. Those boys are in danger with her and she won't see it. She won't even choose them over Erik. The whole thing just makes me cry.

Basically asking here for whether there's hope (or inspiring stories out there) of other eco nerds who found themselves in an office job that managed to transition back to field for at least part of the time?
TLDR; don't have much field experience in surveys but in field restoration. Physical limitations mean I can no longer do habitat restoration full-time. Have a project coordinator desk job in habitat restoration that I love except for the need to be stuck to a screen nearly all day with lots of administrative bs+ not really any outside time. Looking for stories, advice, thoughts.
Background: I've got an unconventional academic background, in that my undergrad was crim and psych with some bio thrown in, and I have an environmental studies masters that really helped me get footing in the field. I've never worked outdoors full-time doing survey work; I did work in landscape maintenance mostly municipally for parks for ~7 years prior to jumping in and doing analysis and species at risk policy work in-office. I found my dream job of doing habitat restoration in the field and then... injured my back and hip. Probably wouldn't have left the job otherwise but I have bills to pay, so I hopped to government species at risk policy and then, in the last year, made the jump over to fully remote project coordination with a well-respected Canadian eNGO doing habitat restoration in partnership with municipalities, conservation authorities (Ontario), orgs and others.
I am so grateful for my job right now as it's way better than the government hop; great team, remote environment, I fully believe in our work and it has actual results to show for it. I get to talk with people about pollinator planting (nerding out about this is great) and get to help make tangible impacts in my province. It's also a fairly long contract as far as this field goes (until Q3 2026) so I have that stability there.
That being said, I miss the field so much some days I actually cry lol. I'm not kidding myself thinking I'll be able to go back to full-time restoration and all the (almost literally) back-breaking work, but I really want something more than working with partners who get to do the fun projects. For context, I'm late 20s soon to be 30 (next year) which will bump me out of any positions that use the Canada Summer Jobs funding, which here is... a lot. And these would be the kinds of positions that might be more likely to take me on, somebody who has restoration and native plant info but not necessarily professional survey work in-field. In my current position most of the time when I'm out of office it's to go to outreach events, give talks, or (hopefully soon) visit partner sites to see what's there, provide feedback on methods, and get some pics for outreach. Again that's fun, but the administrative duties of my project coordinator role cause me so much anxiety some days, especially when I have to just be tied to my computer for long stretches of time. As somebody who worked for many years full-time outside, I hate it. So much. Which I'm sure many of you can relate to.
I'm not looking to jump ship from my current position any time soon, so I've been connecting with local groups about doing pollinator restoration and also doing some survey work with a local land trust to bump up field skills as a volunteer. That being said, I might go bonkers if my position after this one is also so largely computer-based (full time). I feel that my lack of field experience has hampered me with job applications in the past, but now I also have a physical limitation that wouldn't allow me to do habitat restoration as field crew, which is one way to get in with an org and move up. I've toyed with the idea of starting a native plant nursery, but that would require having land (we are renters here) and also upskilling a bit in my seed starting and rearing. I've thought about providing design services for native planting, but don't feel like I have enough knowledge or experience to do so. I've thought about parks since I've done interpretive hikes before and do community outreach, but don't see a whole lot around here (although I might look for seasonal positions once my current contract is up). I'm currently rooted where I'm located (in central Ontario) but it's a town that has our provincial government hubs for natural resource and environmental ministries, so there should be prospects, in theory.
Rambling over; any feel-good stories that got you away from the desk, at least for a time?

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!

First of all, I want to thank
CodingOnCaffeine
for their post. I cannot comment anymore but it was super helpful. Make sure to check it out as it is very comprehensive. I pretty much submitted everything they mentioned. We applied in NY for a marriage based green card in Sept 2023 (sent to USCIS Chicago lockbox). We got married in August 2023 and had been together for 4 years. I (Beneficiary) came to study to the US from Mexico in 2020 on a student visa and was on OPT STEM when applying. My husband (Petitioner) is an American citizen.
Checking the timeline on USCIS wasn't dependable as it would change from a 4 month wait to 2 months and then 4 again. We would also check this website and we could see who was getting approved and when they had applied. We tried not to check every day as we realized it caused us a lot of anxiety. What ultimately helped us was contacting our Senator and within a month we received the approval notice (no RFE and no interview). We received approval on April 25th '24 and the physical card on May 6th '24 (9 month wait total).
Here's what we included in our package:
1. G-1145 (also included one with each form)
2. I-130 (husband petitioning for me) a)Cover letter b) Check c) 2 Passport photos (husband) Form I-130 Form I-130a a) Copy of Petitioner's (husband) birth certificate b) Copy of P's passport c) Copy Marriage certificate d) Relationship statement f) Third-party affidavits from family/friends (5) g) Copy current joint lease h) Copy previous joint leases i) Evidence of joint checking and savings accounts j) P's investment account's beneficiary k) Copy of joint car insurance l) Copy of Beneficiary's (wife) emergency contact from employer m) Copy of B's individual statement account n) Joint travel documents o) Phone records p) Venmo transactions q) Splitwise transactions r) PPT of photos s) Whatsapp conversations t) Wedding caterer invoice
3. Form I-485 a) Cover letter b) Check (I-485 and biometrics services fee) c) 2 Passport photos (wife) Form I-485 a) Copy of B's (wife) passport and visa b) Copy of expired passport with previous visas c) Copy of B's birth certificate (with official English translation) d) Copy of B's most recent I-94 record and visa entry stamp e) Marriage certificate f) Copy of B's current EAD g) Copy of B's offer letter from current employer h) Copy of B's current and previous I-20 forms Form I-864 a) Copy of P's previous W-2s b) Copy of P's federal taxes (2 years) c) Explanations of P's lack of federal tax returns in 2020 (while a student) d) Copy of P's offer letter from current employer e) Copy of P's pay slips from previous employer f) Copy of P's offer letter from previous employer g) Copy of P's birth certificate as proof of US citizenship h) Copy of first page of P's passport as proof of US citizenship i) Copy of B's pay slips (3 months) j) Copy of B's W-2 k) Copy of B's 1040
4. Form I-765 (employment authorization - just in case green card didn't arrive on time - STEM OPT expiration date was Sept '24) a) Copy of most recent I-94 record and visa entry stamp b) Copy of passport and visa pages c) Copy of F1-OPT STEM EAD card
5. Form I-693 (medical examination and vax record)

• Eva Galstian in NY ($150 if paid in cash)
• DO NOT OPEN ENVELOPE

Make sure to keep a copy of everything and keep it as orderly as possible. From what I've read this helps with the process in general and in case you get a RFE. I read as much as I could online and watched Youtube videos explaining how to fill out each form. I also kept a Google sheet where I could track everything and add helpful links. You need a lot of time to check and re-check everything, get translations notarized, get affidavits, etc. so give yourself plenty of time. As stressful as the whole thing was, I enjoyed going back to our relationship and revisiting old photos and messages. Reading affidavits from our close ones also made me tear up. I do feel like I aged 10 years during the process and had a lot of anxiety so know that you're not alone! I will try to answer questions but I am not a lawyer and did the whole process w/o one, again - just reading online and getting information from USCIS.gov.

Extremely inconvenient and expensive new rules for crossing the border with your dog. Bringing your dog along to Bellingham to stop by a dog park during your gas/taco trip might not be worth the hassle now.

Prior to the rule change, to bring a pet or service dog into the U.S. a simple statement about the dog's travel past was needed to determine eligibility for entrance, to make sure it hadn't been to a country deemed to have a high risk of dog rabies. The rules were not necessarily enforced by border agents, and dog owners may have made many trips without being asked to show paperwork.
Canada is considered free of canine rabies by the CDC.
The new rules have several requirements. One is the dog's age; it must be six months or older.
The dog also must have an International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-compatible microchip implanted in it, and documented.
A free form called a CDC Dog Import Form will need to be filled out; they won't be available until July 15. Once it is available it should be filled out two to 10 days before arriving in the U.S. (though it could be done at the border crossing). The form requires a clear and recent photo of the dog showing its face and body.
Once the form is sent in, a receipt will be sent back. The receipt needs to be printed out and kept with whomever is travelling with the dog.
For dogs arriving from Canada that haven't been to a high-risk country, a few things are needed. Dog owners will also need one of the following forms for each animal, which will likely require a trip to a veterinarian and are only valid for 30 days:
Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form
Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination form
Valid USDA export certificate
Certification of Dog Arriving from DMRVV-free or Low-Risk Country form
A "foreign export certificate" from a country that shows the dog is at least six months old, has an ISO microchip, has been certified by a veterinarian and medical records.
When arriving at the border the dog must be visibly healthy; dogs carrying a disease contagious to humans will be turned back.
On the CDC's website a simple digital tool called "DogBot" is there to help people figure out exactly what is needed for their dog. There's also a checklist Canadian travellers to the U.S. can use to prepare for a border crossing.

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.

Can someone please help me type as I am very much confused about my mbti..I did study functions and all but i didnt understand them fully. So can u please ask questions and help me decide my type..
How old are you? What's your gender? Give us a general description of yourself.
19f...a calm laid back person i guess...not the one to get get superexcited or overstressed ...Not interested in politics..
• Is there a medical diagnosis that may impact your mental stability somehow?No
• Describe your upbringing. Did it have any kind of religious or structured influence? How did you respond to it?
Well,yes my parents are both SJ types so it was structured bringing ofcourse..I just respect them for being so hardworking ....I have been the obedient child since childhood i guess ...But i guess its only becoz i have many thoughts similar to my parents....so we do get along very well.
• What do you do as a job or as a career (if you have one)? Do you like it? Why or why not?
I am a student ..so far its gud ....i believe in loving whatever i do instead of doing only what i love.
• If you had to spend an entire weekend by yourself, how would you feel? Would you feel lonely or refreshed?
i cant ...i would feel lonely.
• What kinds of activities do you prefer? Do you like, and are you good at sports? Do you enjoy any other outdoor or indoor activities?
i like all kinds of sports activities..it doesnt matter whether i m gud at it or not as long as it refreshes me ...
• How curious are you? Do you have more ideas then you can execute? What are your curiosities about? What are your ideas about - is it environmental or conceptual, and can you please elaborate?
I guess i m not that curious like maybe 50% like it can vary from topic to topic ...yes i do have ideas nd mostly i do execute them as well........mostly conceptual i guess ...
• Would you enjoy taking on a leadership position? Do you think you would be good at it? What would your leadership style be?
yes I dont mind taking leadership position but i wont be that harsh type pf leader i guess......like i m not sure if people would listen to me lol....i m mostly in favour of treating everyone equally and fairly ...so my leadership style would be working together for benefit of all and treating everyone equally with respect .
• Are you coordinated? Why do you feel as if you are or are not? Do you enjoy working with your hands in some form? Describe your activity?
no i dont think i m...as i usually drop things very easily when i m thinking something i m clumsy i guess......with hand i like playing carrom ,abacus lol ..what more i do wid my hands ? just typing now..i guess m gud at it :)
• Are you artistic? If yes, describe your art? If you are not particular artistic but can appreciate art please likewise describe what forums of art you enjoy. Please explain your answer.
Artistic,ah ,maybe a bit...like i love drawing portraits and sketching ...and i do appreciate art..Art in any form is beautiful.
• What's your opinion about the past, present, and future? How do you deal with them?
Past is something which i do remember but i dont regret as i cant change it.
Present is something which i really like.
Future is something which I stress about ...so i just avoid thinking about it by escaping to present and working there.
• How do you act when others request your help to do something (anything)? If you would decide to help them, why would you do so?
Well ,i rarely accept someone's help in matters which i can do myself..and I decide to help them also only when i see they really need it ...like i think everyone should be given opportunity to first try things instead of forcing to help them ...
• Do you need logical consistency in your life?
I guess thats what life is all about...if there is no logic then wouldnt it be mess?
• How important is efficiency and productivity to you?
It is important but accuracy is more imp as i tend to make lot of mistakes if i m not cautious and do things at fast rate.
• Do you control others, even if indirectly? How and why do you do that?
No i dont like that and i dont like to be controlled as well.
• What are your hobbies? Why do you like them?
I like reading a lot .i love to learn new languages and travel. I am also interested in learning coding.
• What is your learning style? What kind of learning environments do you struggle with most? Why do you like/struggle with these learning styles? Do you prefer classes involving memorization, logic, creativity, or your physical senses?
My learning style is first understanding basics and then going on to harder concepts .I struggle with loud nd distracting environments ..I prefer maths classes the most as i dont need to learn much in it ...
• How good are you at strategizing? Do you easily break up projects into manageable tasks? Or do you have a tendency to wing projects and improvise as you go?
Not that good i guess. But if i m determined to do something then i defintely manage it well.i struggle with perfectionism n procrastination so i just manage to finish them at last moment
• What are your aspirations in life, professionally and personally?
Live and let live.(personally)
You can be good at anything if you work on it.(professionally)
• What are your fears? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you hate? Why?
Fear of losing someone i love.Knowing that everything is meant to end makes me uncomfortable .Knowing that we are just tiny specks in this universe defintely fears me....i guess i hate unfairness ..whenever someone is treated partially,i do get upset ...
• What do the "highs" in your life look ?
when i m doing well academically n healthwise nd just enjoying wid friends n family
• What do the "lows" in your life look like?
Well,i did fail a lot in my academic life like even though i was topper but i couldnt fetch seat in my dream uni for which i m working now to get..... so right now just working on that...
• How attached are you to reality? Do you daydream often, or do you pay attention to what's around you? If you do daydream, are you aware of your surroundings while you do so?
I m ...i dont daydream most times.yes i do pay attention..its not like i am forcing myself to be attentive but i dont know whenever something happens why am i the first one to see it..like if there is a phone vibrating and all are talking then i would be the first one to tell or if light is switched on some other room that no one notices,i would be the one to switch it off..its as if i m hyperaware of my surroundings..i tend to overlook it but i tend to get distracted a lot by anything that happens around me..
• Imagine you are alone in a blank, empty room. There is nothing for you to do and no one to talk to. What do you think about?
I might sleep....i dont think much in alone time as i m mostly thinking lot always so i tend to rest my mind when alone ..i might just watch something on my phone even...
• How long do you take to make an important decision? And do you change your mind once you've made it?
i havent made as such any big decisions till now i guess but i dont take much time in taking decisions .....no i dont change my mind.
• How long do you take to process your emotions? How important are emotions in your life?
i think about them once in while.I tend to think of them when alone otherwise i m just happy go lucky person . Emotions are important as long as as they are helping me achieve my goals but i tend to overlook them when i feel they would hinder my progress.Well i have been told by some that i have emotionally unexpressive face like they cant understand by looking at my face what i m thinking n all .....
• Do you ever catch yourself agreeing with others just to appease them and keep the conversation going? How often? Why?
Yes I do agree a lot ..not to appease them though ...mostly to avoid conflicts (my enneagram is 9w1) Why --- I dont know...maybe i dont like explaining my side a lot .....
• Do you break rules often? Do you think authority should be challenged, or that they know better? If you do break rules, why?
Well,i dont think i broke any big rules as such....,anyone can be wrong and in order for betterment of all if it does require to challenge authority ,i wont mind doing that....Thats it I guess
Thankyou :)
ps-my 16p test result was Infp and michael caloz test result was istp ....

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?

Despite his busy schedule, Adam Sinclair has agreed to answer some of our questions. So!
📝 1. In history, you wear formal attire by virtue of your position, but what style do you prefer outside of work? A.: I'm not one of those lucky people who have an innate sense of style (and style is definitely a form of art). That's why I prefer suits, because they are the classics that you don't have to think about. As Donna Tartt wrote: "starched shirts and freshly cleaned suits cover a multitude of sins".
📝 2. Adam, you mocked up a bouquet from Cole, what do you consider the most romantic flowers yourself? A: I wouldn't call it mocking, just a playful, lighthearted jab. The most romantic flowers are those that my woman demands. Even a bouquet of bills (although it's a bit vulgar).
📝 3. What animal would you get yourself, and what animal do you associate yourself with? A.: As weird as it sounds, I associate myself with an orca. A killer whale with high intelligence? Why not. I've never had a pet, either on Gavir or in Europe. I think I would get a Russian Greyhound, incredibly beautiful and elegant dogs (and a bit funny).
📝 4. What is your biggest nightmare? A.: Hmm... the past?
📝 5. Qualities you love/hate in people? A.: I love in people: keen interest in the world, curiosity. I would also add sincerity, i.e. complete absence of any masks. "Hate" - too emotionally colored word. Rather, I don't like: ignorance, naïveté, cruelty, inability to admit their wrongdoing, the desire to "seem rather than be".
📝 6. Have you had any serious relationships? A.: Quite... personal question. Depends on what criteria you put into this concept. I've been in relationships, but they may not last long, and also, to my shame, I've never fully opened up about them. Does that qualify as a "serious relationship"? You decide.
📝 7. Have you ever dreamed of having a brother or sister? A.: No.
📝 8. What is your guilty pleasure? A.: I don't have any of those. Thank you for the interview, but it's time for me to get back to work. I apologize.
🤫 *Adam leaves the room, Taisia walks in. Adam often hums something when he's sure he's alone in a room) but I haven't mentioned it, he'll never admit it himself.
All answers were provided by the author.

somebodys_ornery was removed from /ModSupport

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Link share not working from Youtube- browser (Sh)reddit. Is this a Reddit thing or a youtube thing when it happens?

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I used to have constant problems sharing from youtube to Reddit using the app (probably prior to 8 months ago this used to be a super buggy process).
This morning I'm on the newest version of Reddit in the laptop version and the 'share' button from youtube is not populating anyting in Reddit. I tested it sharing from youtube to twitter, also browser, and that seems to work fine.

El_Damo99 was removed from /ModSupport

• Flair: REMOVED: RULE 1
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I have created a community and it was removed without any prior cautionary mail

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Can anyone tell me the reason why it got removed, and I like to know how to avoid these attacks

I’m posting this again because I didn’t really get any satisfactory answers.
I always got INTP or ISTP on those free tests but I’m not sure.
• How old are you? What's your gender? Give us a general description of yourself.
I am a 27 years old trans man. I have been socially transitioning for nearly 4 years and medically transitioning for 7 months. I’ve uprooted my life in more ways than one and it’s by far been one of the best decisions I’ve made.
• Is there a medical diagnosis that may impact your mental stability somehow?
I have been struggling with depression and anxiety on and off since my adolescence and probably have ADHD or autism as well.
• Describe your upbringing. Did it have any kind of religious or structured influence? How did you respond to it?
I’m an only child. My mum’s always been something of a fire-cracker and has struggled with alcoholism and emotional abuse from her mum. She always had very high expectations of me and she’s probably part of the reason why I have such unreasonable expectations for myself. My dad is a lot more chill even if he doesn’t get me 100 percent of the time. Ultimately, I think they tried their best. My parents aren’t particularly religious but I went to a Catholic school until I was nine. I never really bought into it and it was a relatively chill school but it probably affected me in some way.
• What do you do as a job or as a career (if you have one)? Do you like it? Why or why not?
I honestly haven’t been able to hold down a stable job at all. After getting a pretty useless degree, my jobs have all been crappy and short-lived and I never really figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a writer or an artist but I have a near permanent case of creative burnout. I’m a part-time zookeeping student right now.
• If you had to spend an entire weekend by yourself, how would you feel? Would you feel lonely or refreshed?
It depends. If I’ve had a busy week I’ll welcome the peace and quiet. If things have been quiet I’ll get bored and a bit lonely.
• What kinds of activities do you prefer? Do you like, and are you good at sports? Do you enjoy any other outdoor or indoor activities?
I have a mixture of indoor and outdoor hobbies. I like gaming, especially RPGs, builders, and dumb shooters. I also enjoy card games and board games and I’ve recently started picking up chess. I like watching movies and anime, particularly horror and action. I used to read a lot of fiction but I find myself too distracted these days. If I do read it’s usually nonfiction about a topic I’m interested in or academic works.
In terms of outdoor hobbies, I’m only just opening up to them as I’ve been a particularly notorious shut-in for a lot of my life. I enjoy nature walks, working out, bouldering, gardening, and swimming. I’m not amazing at sports but I wouldn’t say I’m completely useless either. I prefer more solitary activities to team based ones. I have a bit of a competitive streak and exercise helps keep it in check.
• How curious are you? Do you have more ideas then you can execute? What are your curiosities about? What are your ideas about - is it environmental or conceptual, and can you please elaborate?
Very curious. I usually have a couple of ideas on the go but I wouldn’t say I’m overflowing with them. My curiosities are usually about the natural world, video game lore, and new hobbies I may want to take up.
• Would you enjoy taking on a leadership position? Do you think you would be good at it? What would your leadership style be?
I could be an okay leader if no one else was able to take up the position but I would be anxious about the responsibility and expectations others have of me. I’d like to think I’m firm but fair.
• Are you coordinated? Why do you feel as if you are or are not? Do you enjoy working with your hands in some form? Describe your activity?
I’m okay. I can match other people’s movements quite well. I can get a little bit careless and clumsy when I’m distracted or anxious though.
• Are you artistic? If yes, describe your art? If you are not particular artistic but can appreciate art please likewise describe what forums of art you enjoy. Please explain your answer.
Back when I used to draw, I drew a lot of tattoo designs and illustrations. Like something you’d find on an album cover or a book cover. I also drew many of the creatures and characters I wrote about. I’m have an eye for colour and I am drawn to art-deco and art-nouveau aesthetics.
• What's your opinion about the past, present, and future? How do you deal with them?
The past, while not always easy to revisit due to fuzzy memories or trauma, has led me to this very moment. I try to take every day as it comes and that has helped me a lot. I am nervous for the future as I have few concrete plans and life may throw me a curve ball. But I am also excited to see what has in store for me.
• How do you act when others request your help to do something (anything)? If you would decide to help them, why would you do so?
It depends who’s asking and what they want help with.
• Do you need logical consistency in your life?
Absolutely.
• How important is efficiency and productivity to you?
Efficiency is pretty good. Work smarter, not harder and all that. Productivity less so. I’m just happy when I get things done.
• Do you control others, even if indirectly? How and why do you do that?
Not really. Unless they are negatively impacting me or other people I prefer to leave people to their own devices.
• What are your hobbies? Why do you like them?
Pretty sure I already answered this question.
• What is your learning style? What kind of learning environments do you struggle with most? Why do you like/struggle with these learning styles? Do you prefer classes involving memorization, logic, creativity, or your physical senses?
I’m a visual and hands-on learner. I suck at internalising verbal instruction. I despise overly rigid learning environments so I struggled a lot in school. I enjoy learning at my own pace and by going out and doing things first-hand.
• How good are you at strategizing? Do you easily break up projects into manageable tasks? Or do you have a tendency to wing projects and improvise as you go?
Improvise but I try to make a basic structure that I may or may not deviate from.
• What are your aspirations in life, professionally and personally?
To be the best version of myself I can be and live the most fulfilling and rich life I can.
• What are your fears? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you hate? Why?
My two biggest fears are quite abstract and they are being aimless and being trapped. I’m also mildly agoraphobic and afraid of wasps. I hate wilful ignorance and bigotry, especially when those things actively make the world a worse place for everyone.
• What do the "highs" in your life look like?
I feel alive, happy, and a zest for life. I feel like I’m running on a motor and that I can do anything I want.
• What do the "lows" in your life look like?
When I feel low, I get in a funk and it’s very hard to get out. I literally find it impossible to relax unless someone is there to get me out of my head. If I’m not careful I can get isolated. And that’s when I start to spiral.
• How attached are you to reality? Do you daydream often, or do you pay attention to what's around you? If you do daydream, are you aware of your surroundings while you do so?
Sometimes I let my mind wander, particularly when I’m listening to music. It doesn’t take much to bring me back to reality though.
• Imagine you are alone in a blank, empty room. There is nothing for you to do and no one to talk to. What do you think about?
I’d probably go a bit mad and try to devise an escape plan.
• How long do you take to make an important decision? And do you change your mind once you've made it?
I like to take my time to weigh out the pros and cons. I make stupid decisions when I’m rushed. I may change my mind if circumstances change and it’s not going to inconvenience me too much.
• How long do you take to process your emotions? How important are emotions in your life?
A long time. My emotions are a mess and I barely know what I am feeling half the time. Journaling has helped me make sense of them and processing them to a degree.
• Do you ever catch yourself agreeing with others just to appease them and keep the conversation going? How often? Why?
Not really. I either stay quiet or try to disagree with them in a productive way depending on how bold I’m feeling at the time.
• Do you break rules often? Do you think authority should be challenged, or that they know better? If you do break rules, why?
I follow rules if they are there for a good reason. Like waiting in line. If they’re stupid rules I have less qualms about breaking them.

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 has ~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.