12 vac heating pad ebay

Hello! I got to do the fincap for XCOM, War of the Conspiracy by u/LickMyliver, I'm still somewhat of a newish writer, having been only writing for my series and this will be the first time I ever do something else, and hopefully, you can like this!
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Memory Transcription: Slanek, Venlil Space Corps Pilot
Date [Standardized Human time]: August 21, 2136
​
The first predators to appear on a Venlil broadcast were concealed by a vac suit, and did not speak a word. The watching world had just crawled from our bunkers, only to find our leaders linking arms with predators. The immediate closure of the borders was the sole thing that prevented a mass exodus, and word from getting back to the Federation. There was a great deal of skepticism from the public, as Governor Tarva proclaimed that these beasts were peaceful. We were all waiting for them to throw their lot in with the Arxur and prove her wrong.
Instead, they pledged military aid days later, and showered Venlil Prime with food donations. Our citizens slowly warmed to the new predators, touched by their outpouring of generosity. The sum of their good works quieted the voices calling for their extinction, for the most part. The Terran astronauts were relentless too, on a television tour espousing peace. Their behavior reflected well on their species as a whole. Speh, even I started to take a liking to Noah, he seems fine enough even if they are a predator.
But at the end of the day, few wanted to meet a predator in the flesh. As they took to the stars, the scientific communities of two worlds worked to smooth over our first interactions. We found ourselves inundated by Terran entertainment, granting us a peek behind their bestial exterior. The first literature Earth shared with us was Frankenstein, which I’m pretty sure was a thinly veiled analogy, like could they at least make it less obvious what was the intended message, though some people I knew didn't even get the message through.
Nevertheless, how do you convince the world that you’re not a monster, when they decide with a single glance?
The scientists decided it would make a difference mentally for us to bond, and to see them as people. A program was launched to talk to a human via text chat, no videos or images. Their appearance was the stuff of nightmares, so it was easier to start without that in mind.
Out of morbid curiosity, and perhaps some pity for Frankenstein’s wretch, I had volunteered. The human I spoke to was named Marcel. He was a psi-operative, whatever that was, he is something like a foot soldier as he explained to me, he also has a dry sense of humor, a passion for environmental causes, and a philosophical mind. Against the odds, I liked him, we became inseparable. I confided my deepest thoughts and learned a great deal about Terran's life in return.
And now I'm here in a space station to meet one in the flesh, the final part of this whole experiment about to meet a predator. I think most people here are either the bravest Venlils out there or predator-diseased, even though I'm neither of those two types. Speh I'm trying to calm myself down, but something inside me just doesn't want to.
Then I heard a ping from my phone, maybe Marcel already arrived?
I take my holophone and take a glance at my messages, yeah I was right it was Marcel
Hey just arrived here, god that was some of the longest hours in my life the message read.
It will be worth it dude, trust me! I texted back at him.
Yeah, I know, though Slanek can you recommend anything to me so I don't scare you accidentally? He texted back
Knock first when coming to our room and open it slowly please I texted back at him immediately
Alright then, I would not like to scare you accidentally dude, I heard that you guys were very skittish, but honestly, I don't see it when talking with you here, and honestly, who could be scared of my beautiful face Slanek?
You might not end up as scary Marcel, but you're still gonna look ugly I texted back at him
The people say otherwise, well anyway see ya there dude, won't be long till I get there.
Yeah yeah whatever your mom doesn't count as the people, well see ya here I texted at him turning my phone off, dropping it in the bed, and throwing myself on the bed.
I know he isn't going to hurt me, so why am I still extremely stressed?
Stars I have been over this a million times, yeah they are predators but they're friendly, they are not like the Arxur.
Right?
What if he is putting up an act to just eat me when I'm alone in this room?
Every single passing second more and more thoughts started to cross my mind, some reassuring me that everything was going to be fine, while most were just screaming, saying to me that he was going to kill me.
Thank the stars he isn't coming yet, maybe I can calm myself by the time he arrives, I still have tim-
My thoughts stopped the moment I heard several knocks on the door, speh he is here.
“Slanek, you here?” I hear from the other side of the room, with other knocks following it
.”Uhhh yeah” I could barely say to him, as my body tenses up and started to build up stress waiting for him to open the door.
“Alright buddy I'm coming in, i'm going to open the door slowly so you not freak out alright?” he states as the door starts to open slowly, oh solaglick.
As the door finally opens fully, I see him finally and BY THE STARS HE IS UGLY AND PREDATORY, LOOK AT THOSE EYES JUST STARING DEEP INTO MY SOUL READY TO FEAST UPON ME AS THE OTHER PREDATORS ARE DOING SO TO THEIR POOR EXCHANGE PARTNERS, I SHOULD HAD NEVER COME HERE, I GOT ONE CHANCE FOR HIM NOT TO EAT ME.
“Hey, hey buddy wait relax it's me” I'M NOT GOING TO FALL FOR YOU PREDATORY TRICKS YOU SCUM
“I'm not scummy” DID I SAY THAT OUT LOUD? SPEH GOTTA START RUNNING TO HIM MAYBE I CAN KNOCK HIM DOWN
A part of me just rushes at him with the intent of knocking him do-
[Memory transcription interrupted - mind altered] [continuing to next point of conscious] [12 minutes]
I WILL-
wait a second
I get up and look around me, I'm in my bed, oh thank the stars it was all a dream, but speh im still in the exchange program station, maybe I can still get out of here if I-
As I look around more I spot him just beside my bed, I quickly look away from him, oh stars he waited until I woke up
“Easy there buddy I mi- I mean you slipped when you were rushing at me, there's nothing to fear Slanek alright, I'm still the same Marcel you chatted with, though you didn't have to call me ugly”
I still locked down not wanting to see him again and get scared again.
“How about I turn around so you aren't scared anymore?”
“Uh yeah please do that”
I then hear he move his chair around facing backward with him as well, stars he is ugly by just looking at him backward
“But you are ugly Marcel, look at that terrible tuft of hair you have on your head, what even is that, did you make your barber angry at you or what?”
He just laughs at this remark
“No, this is called a hairstyle, which the people quite like, especially my fiance,” he says now looking backward, so as not to scare me again.
Uhu, the people being his mom that's for sure
“Hey, there are other people apart from my mom that like this hairstyle“ he says to me, what is with me, why the speh am I saying everything out loud?
“Beats me” Marcel says
It seems like you can read my mind, Marcel, heh people can't read minds that are just mere fiction.
“Yeah” wait a second, are you reading my thoughts
“No”
….
….
Holy speh a predator can read my mind
“I wasn't speaking at all, the speh you are on about, how can you do that?”
He then turns around his chair to face me directly, this time I'm not afraid, my curiosity on this is preventing my fair from overtaking me, speh he still looks ugly.
“Uhh, I was supposed to explain this to you later, because apparently you guys haven't discovered this yet and it was fiction for you guys some months ago, do you have any idea of Psionic powers?”
“Uhh yeah, there were some shows that I watched as a kid that had people having those kinds of powers, but how the speh are you even capable of that?”
He doesn't respond to me immediately, just thinking about it for a second there.
“I can explain that later it's a little complicated but right now, but I can read your thoughts”
Speh you get out of my head Marcel.
“I literally can't Slanek, Venlil brains are a radio and people like me pick up every single frequency at the same time, I'm actively trying to block out other Venlil thoughts right now, for example, the Venlil in the room left of us crashed into the wall when seeing their exchange partner, and the one in the right side, well he is another story, goddam he is just like a teenager falling in love,” He says as his face looks more dumbfounded, then after saying that about my neighbor on the other side his face goes red, stars what was on that Venlils head to make Marcel get so red?
“I'll tell ya later if you so interested Slanek” Can for one second you ignore my thoughts
“I just told you I can't it doesn't work like that” Uhuh.
“Huh, hey wait a second what about with me when I got all freaked out and rushed to you I didn't crash or anything, The last thing I remember was almost crashing into you,” I asked him, yeah it was pretty weird I remember not crashing just blacking out and then waking up in the bed, with Marcel probably taking me there
“Uhh that's because I stopped you I er…. controlled your mind Slanek”
My ears and tail dropped, YOU WHAT
“That's my other power, I can control people's brain, what happened was more on instinct I didn't do it on purpose and won't do it again to anyone else, I still have to practice some self-control, don't want to happen again”
“Wait, wait, wait YOU CONTROLLED MY MIND?”
“Yeah and I'm so sorry Slanek, I promise you it won't happen again, though it was very easy for some reason” I disregarded what Marcel said with my brain going overloaded thinking of kids' shows I used to watch, maybe I can be a [superhero] too!
“Never mind that, I have another question for you, can humans only do this?”
“Kinda? it's mostly humans and Sectoids that can do it but with enough practice, one can learn it too, I don't know if the Venlil can also do this, but there may be a possibility you can learn this too” So you're telling me there's a chance?
My ears and tail perk up at this as excitement starts to fill my body
“I CAN LEARN THAT STUFF!?!?” Suddenly all fear in my body left as I rushed at Marcel, getting out of bed and getting on my knees, with him giving me a confused look.
“Teach me the ways Marcel, I wanna have powers too,” I said as I was in front of Marcel with him giving me an even more confused look than prior.
“Well shit, should have hidden this for later” he said to me.
Too late Marcel you ugly ape, teach meeeeeeeeee.
“Fuck you, I am going to see what I can do,” he told me with what can I tell was a mildly angry tone, nevertheless I got my way.
“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES” I screamed out loud, with happiness filling me, honestly I think I'm not scared of Marcel anymore, even if they are more powerful than me, but learning powers would be cool!
Also Marcel get out of my head.
“how many times do I have to tell you I literally can´t”

I bought tekken about a month ago, and it is my very first Tekken I played seriously. Picked up Asuka while practicing Reina on the side (mainly because I struggle on electrics). I could say I improved a bit, going from doing one electric every 40 ones to doing one 50% of times on training mode. Of course in the heat of the battle it's a way lower ratio than this.
I am not asking for how to do it better, I know the solution is just to grind on training. But I'm curious, for my fellow Mashima pad players, how was your experience on improving on electrics and wavedashing? How did ranked matches go at first and how did it improve? Both for Tekken 8 or the previous titles.

Heya everyone! Been a few since ive posted on here. Looking to trade or possibly sell. I'll look through binders or just about anything. I'm mostly looking to trade for stuff I'm missing in my WOTC sets or any ereaders. Pricing based off tcg player or ebay recently sold comps.
Binder
WOTC & Ereaders stuff
Also, I make custom cases for just about any At Art. I'm selling them at $12 each. Add $4 for shipping. I'll cover shipping costs if purchasing multiple. It includes the case, perfect fit card sleeve, and a perfect fit case sleeve.
Here are a few of them
I have plenty more not pictured, so just holler if you have any requests!

So I know that the utility companies are Dominion Energy for gas and Cleveland Illuminating (First Energy) for electricity.
And with deregulations, we have third party subscription plans to get energy from those two utility companies.
What's your experience with AEP, Santanna, etc 12-months plan? Our lease is for 24 months so we might go with 24-mo gas plan and 12-mo electricity plan.
We have gas heating, water heater and stove, and ofc electricity for AC and everything else.
EDIT: for Cleveland 441xx.

Hi i am using hp pavilion g4,,8gb ram(ddr3),2130M,,500gb hdd ,atlas os, intel hd 3000
I used to play farcry 3 on it and it ran pretty well (30+ ish fps) it was playable..
But due to some reasons my laptop fan got broken and now whenever i try to play it, it lags a lot(is unplayable)
Is there any way to get my fps back
I dont care about overheating!
Edit:- It wont heat too much i am using a cooling pad

So I’m 2 weeks on T, and I started bleeding a week and 2 days ago. For context: I have PCOS so abnormal cycles ARE my normal. The first week-ish was pretty chill, relatively light flow for me but then the last 3 days have been nearly unbearable cramps, super heavy flow, and passing a lot of clots/uterine wall lining and generally I just feel like death unless I’m in a hot bath or under my heated blanket. This is the most painful period I’ve had in years, is this normal for those of us with PCOS on T? Or even just for the first period since starting in general? I’ll also gladly take suggestions that aren’t, heating pad and ibuprofen or midol because I can’t afford to miss work over period pain

Hey everyone,
I’m an Australian based seller who started 3.5 weeks ago. I figured I’d share some of my stats. There’s a lot of information on established sellers but not so much on the beginning stages of a new store. So I’ve answered a bunch of random questions I’d find interesting if someone else shared.
I have a basic store subscription.
Total duration: 3.5 weeks
Sales: 20
Gross sales: $1200~
Total listings active now: 255
Net profit % after shipping, cost of goods, fees, ad fee (everything promoted at 2%), store subscription, fuel for my car to source: over 55%
Spent on inventory: $200~
Spent on bulk shipping supplies: $100~ (hundreds of padded mailers and other shipping things)
First sale: Empty iPhone box for $19.99
Best sale: $5.50ish toilet seat sold for $170 (got a lot of 11 for $60, bumped my inventory spend up a lot but well worth it), 1 made me $120 profit and I have 10 more to sell
Fastest sale: toilet seat sold in 5 hours
Returns: 1, customer stated due to being broken in the mail but upon receiving it back it was covered in oil and clearly used, still refunded anyway. Such a shame, item was picked up for $4 and sold for $119.99. Not going to lie: I was/ am annoyed at the audacity of some people but it’s the cost of doing business so trying not to sweat the small stuff.
Cancelled orders: 1, magazine bundle sold on offer 25% off, buyer wanted it shipped to a different address, I advised of the rules, buyer ignored messages and demanded I send it to the new address, I cancelled and relisted, buyer never purchased again with correct address.
International sales: 1 to Vegas in the US
Feedback: Received 5 positive feedback, currently 100% positive
Stock sourcing: A lot of thift shops 3 for $1 DVD & book section, lots of free books from Facebook marketplace, a few purchases from Facebook marketplace too (magazines, toilet seats), tip shop, retail arbitrage from an online beauty store (picked up brand new in box hair dryers for $5 each delivered)
Longest time between sales: 3-4 days
Most sales in a day: 2 (3 if you count an offer that was accepted and paid for on another day)
Total store value: $15,000+ for 255 listings (need to double check on the desktop site, 50 listings ago it was at $12k)
All of my items are free domestic shipping.
I do all of my listing, photography, etc from my phone which is an iPhone 12 mini. Everything done on the ebay app.
I use my ikea desk to photograph as it has a matte white, easy to clean finish. I did cover a box with a white disposable plastic tablecloth so I’m no longer restricted to top down photos.
I don’t restrict myself to one category only as I enjoy learning about everything from tools to fine bone china. So far it’s paying off.
My goals for June: hit the next postage band so I save an extra 20% on shipping, have at least 500 items listed, 30 sales, source larger amounts of stock and build relationships with people who can help facilitate that
If there’s anything else you want to know, I am an open book.

Jack walked into the ship’s medical bay with his hands across his stomach, feeling like the damned thing was doing an entire circus’ worth of acrobatics, and a decided look of discomfort on his otherwise handsome face. The Jal’kek doctor, who looked a bit like a mythical Naga with a serpentine lower body and humanoid upper body covered in fine scales, must have thought Jack was pissed or something because he recoiled in terror briefly before composing himself and straightening.
“How can I help you,” he asked Jack smoothly, trying to hide his initial discomfort.
Jack didn’t hold it against him. Despite First Contact happening almost 25 years ago, he knew most species in the galaxy regarded humans with more than a little trepidation. Apart from Terra being classified as a “Deathworld,” humanity had made a name for itself in what was called, by humans, the First Contact War and by the rest of the galaxy as the Terran/Tal’check War. The Tal’check were an aggressive species and were only kept in check by the Galactic Federation, a group of 50 or so worlds determined to stop the Tal’check before they conquered the entire galaxy. Then Humanity stepped onto the stage.
Humans had been trying for decades to unlock the secrets of FTL travel but their lack of it didn’t keep them down. Luna was settled first, followed by Mars (mostly terraforming crews), then Venus and several of the larger asteroids that didn’t have high amounts of valuable minerals. There were teasing issues, as always happens with humans, but they were quickly solved diplomatically with the help of a rather forceful diplomat. The Terran Alliance was thus born. Eventually Terran scientists created the first successful warp drive and made contact with the Federation, which had grown to encompass almost a hundred worlds. First Contact with the Federation went surprisingly well despite the inherent terror most of the Federation species felt at encountering a predator species. First Contact with the Tal’check however, did not. The Tal’check hated humanity from the very first, for reasons no one could adequately explain, even the Tal’check, who set out to conquer Terra almost immediately.
Humanity fought back, naturally, and while their ships weren’t as sophisticated as the Tal’check ships, their captains were adaptable, innovative, and had far better training than their counterparts. The Tal’check, and the Federation for that matter, were used to fighting in a far more formal manner and their officers were exclusively from their society’s nobility rather than promoting those who were most capable.
The Battle of Jupiter was the war’s grand opening and the battle fleet the Tal’check had sent to conquer Terra was swiftly defeated with acceptable losses to the Terran Alliance. Most of the enemy ships were destroyed but more than a few were captured and while some were sent to the tech geeks, who were salivating at the chance to study them, most were retrofitted for human use and turned against their builders. The Federation offered assistance at first, which humanity gladly accepted, but after witnessing humanity’s ferocity and determination in battle, which the Federation ambassadors called insanity, they eventually withdrew their support. The human ambassador had just shrugged, told them that humanity didn’t really need their assistance anymore and went on to discuss a new trade deal as though nothing had happened. This disconcerted the Federation ambassadors a lot. They were disconcerted even more when, after just over a year of fighting, humanity conquered the Tal’check Empire in its entirety.
Rather than exterminate the whole race as the Federation had feared, humanity integrated them into its own alliance and now controlled a vast swath of territory and a military that dwarfed even the Federation. Not only that, but they had gained a reputation as fierce, if insane fighters.
Jack himself was about 6’ 2” with piercing green eyes, shockingly red hair cut in the traditional military manner and, unusually for a ginger, nicely tanned skin. The rolled-up sleeves of his uniform jacket were stretched tight over his biceps and looked as though they might rip with the slightest movement of his arms. He knew he intimidated most people, and most aliens found any human intimidating, so he paid the doctor’s reaction no mind.
“I was actually looking for Dr. Rodriguez,” Jack replied, referring to the human doctor who was part of his squad and had come on board with them when they had agreed to be security for this trip.
The Doctor, whose name was Chal, Jack remembered, looked a little disappointed, but then brightened.
“I’m afraid she went to get something to eat, but if it’s nothing too serious I’m sure I can handle it. I’ve been brushing up on human anatomy,” he said proudly.
Jack hesitated for a moment. Doctor Chal had sounded confident, but Jack had taken it about as well as someone saying they knew how to perform open heart surgery after watching a YouTube video. It didn’t exactly fill him with confidence to put it mildly. His stomach gave another flip and he grimaced.
“Ok,” he said at last and shuffled over to lay on one of the biobeds, whose monitors lit up and began to display his vitals as soon as he was settled.
Doctor Chal eagerly slithered over, a little too eagerly if you’d asked Jack, and pulled out a hand scanner. As he ran the scanner up and down Jack’s body, he glanced at the vitals monitors.
“Your vitals look good for the most part,” Doctor Chal said. “Heart rate and blood pressure are a little elevated, but I’m given to understand that that is normal for humans under these conditions.”
“Great, doc,” Jack said dryly. He knew Chal was trying to be reassuring but he was failing miserably and didn’t seem to recognize it.
After a few more passes with the scanner, Chal looked at the screen with a puzzled expression.
“Hmmm,” Chal said consideringly.
Like most humans, Jack really hated when most doctors did that.
“What,” Jack asked trying not to let his alarm show. “What’s hmmm?”
Chal seemed not to hear him for a minute before he replied in what Jack was sure he thought was a reassuring tone. Jack was anything but reassured. “Tell me, what was the last thing you ate?”
“A roast beef sandwich and a bag of potato chips?” Jack said, more like asked, confused.
“Is that a fairly normal meal for you?”
“Fairly normal, yeah. What’s wrong doc?”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Chal said, patting him somewhat awkwardly on the head like Jack was some kind of pet. “I’m just going to go run these results through the computer really quick. I’m not entirely sure this scanner was properly calibrated for humans.”
He slithered away into his office before Jack could do more than blink stupidly at him. Jack felt like he’d been hit over the head with a hammer.
A few minutes later he heard, “Doctor Rodriguez please report to sick bay, Doctor Rodriguez, please report to sick bay,” come from outside. It was somewhat muffled by the closed sick bay doors, but it was distinct. Jack tried to breathe slowly as his mind raced with ever more terrible predictions of what was wrong with him.
An interminable amount of time later, the doors to sick bay wooshed open and the tall form of Doctor Rodriguez strolled into the room. She had long black hair, beautiful brown eyes that usually sparkled with humor when off duty, and curves in all the right places. Her skin was that amazing bronze color everyone of South American descent seemed to possess and while her chest wasn’t huge, Jack knew his sister would be jealous of it. If he swung that way, Jack would probably try to hit on her and be shot down as viciously as she shot down everyone on the team who had tried. The veterans on the squad knew better.
She glanced at him lying on the biobed and stopped, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Stevenson,” she said knowingly, her voice like ice. She walked over to the biobed as she kept talking and stopped beside it. “I should have known. What did you do this time?”
“I have no idea.”
She gave him a look that said, just how stupid do you think I am?
“Scout’s honor,” he said innocently, holding up three fingers.
She huffed in amusement. “Like you were ever a scout.”
“Doctor Rodriguez,” Doctor Chal said leaning out of his office door. When she looked up at him, he continued. “Could I speak to you for a moment?”
She frowned but nodded and patted Jack on the shoulder before going into the office. Jack hadn’t even had time to say that he had, in fact, been a scout, if briefly.
A few minutes later, Doctor Rodriguez came back out and stood beside his biobed. She was rubbing her forehead, which did nothing to help Jack’s nerves. He knew she thought him a bit of a clutz with the number of times she’d had to patch up his minor, and not so minor, wounds. Most of which were self-inflicted.
“OK Stevenson,” she said putting her hands on her hips. “Just what the hell was on that sandwich?”
Jack was taken aback and slightly confused by her question. “Ummm, mayo, two slices of roast beef, provolone cheese, and some mustard. Why?”
“And the chips,” she asked, ignoring his question.
“Sour cream and onion.”
She stood there for a minute thinking, then sighed. “Somehow, you’ve picked up some kind of parasite. The readings are a bit off, so Doctor Chal is still going through them, but it looks like we may have to do surgery to remove it.”
Jack sighed and fell back onto his pillow. “Great,” he said dry as dust.
“You’re telling me,” Rodriguez replied. “It seems…”
Before she could continue, Doctor Chal slithered up next to her, a strange look on his face.
“What is it doc?” Jack asked his concern rising again.
“Is there some kind of complication?” Rodriguez asked in a defeated sort of way. Her face conveyed that she wouldn’t be surprised considering the patient.
“Some kind, yes,” Chal replied nervously. “I’m really not sure how to…put this. Normally it would be good news, but…”
When he didn’t seem inclined to continue, even with both humans staring at him expectantly, Doctor Rodriguez exclaimed, “Spit it out already!”
The doctor looked at Jack and tried to smile.
“Congratulations PFC! You’re pregnant!” he said in a jovial tone.
In the stunned silence that followed, a pin was heard hitting the floor somewhere.
…
It was chaos in sick bay for a while after that. Jack contacted his husband, who was also on the squad, and he came bursting into sick bay demanding answers as he rushed up to Jack on the biobed and grabbed his hand. Regulations being what they were, the ship’s captain and Jack’s CO were also summoned to sick bay. Other crew members had heard that something was going on and a few of them came to sick bay to see what all the fuss was about. They were quickly kicked out. Rumors started among the crew ranging from the dangerous to the idiotic as rumors so often do. It was only when everyone was assembled and Doctor Rodriguez had explained what was going on that silence fell again, if only briefly.
“WHAT?!” Roger yelped, his voice a little higher than he would have liked under normal circumstances. These were decidedly not normal circumstances.
“How,” several voices asked at the same time including Captain Finnegan, Jack’s CO. Captain Finnegan had seen a lot in her time in the Terran Alliance Space Navy, but this was a first for her. She kept her red hair cut short enough that the natural curls wouldn’t show, and she was the kind of pale that burned in the barest amount of sunlight but never tanned. Her green eyes were normally stern with just a hint of mischief, but all they showed now was confusion. And probably more than a little humor. It might have been a serious situation, and one of her soldiers may be in serious trouble, but she couldn’t help but find a little humor in it. Hell, if Doctor Rodriguez was any indication, she wasn’t the only one to see the humor in it, but they were both hiding it well. Some of the junior officers weren’t doing such a good job and she saw PFC Stevenson shoot a couple of them glares every now and then. She suspected Specialist Singh was recording the whole scenario on his implants, but she couldn’t be sure. She wasn’t even sure what he was doing there, but no one had told him to leave, or seemed to know when he’d even entered the room, so she didn’t give it much thought.
“I am unsure as to the how,” Doctor Chal replied looking up from a pad, and trying not to appear nervous in front of so many agitated humans. “From my studies, I understand human males are not the ones to carry the children in your species, yes?”
“That’s correct,” Doctor Rodriguez replied. “Human females, such as myself and Captain Finnegan, are typically the ones to carry and birth our young. Males don’t have the anatomy to give birth.”
Captain Finnegan shuddered at the thought of having kids. She was career military through and through. While she wasn’t opposed to the occasional romp while on leave, she preferred children be kept as far away from her as possible. On the other side of the galaxy perhaps. Or even better, in a different galaxy altogether. If they had to be near her, she preferred that they be poached and served on toast with a side of bacon.
Doctor Chal nodded in understanding. “As I said, I am unsure how this happened, but I have a theory.”
“Which is,” Rodriguez asked when Chal’s pause went on a tad too long for her liking.
“The scans reveal that the…fetus has half human, half Glorn DNA,” Chal said slowly. “I don’t know how much you know about the Glorn, but their home world has high levels of various acids. As a result, their reproductive systems involve acid, specifically hydrochloric acid…”
“The same kind of acid as human stomach acid,” Rodriguez asked somewhat incredulously.
“Exactly. In fact, the human digestive system is surprisingly similar to the Glorn reproductive system.”
“Similar how,” Jack asked, curious despite himself. Rodriguez seemed fascinated as well.
“Well…” Chal began. “A Glorn’s womb is built much like your stomachs, very similar in fact. Now that I think about it, their similarities would be a great subject for a study on…”
“Doctor,” Rodriguez exclaimed, throwing her hands up and looking at the ceiling in exasperation. Chal recoiled in terror reflexively before he composed himself. She put her hands on her hips and looked directly at Chal. “We can discuss a paper on cross-species similarities later. How about we get back on track?”
“Right,” Chal said, chastened. “The Glorn are a single sex species and only produce their sex cells when they go into heat once a month, which is actually about two human months. During reproduction, the…receptive Glorn takes the other’s penis into their mouth and…um…stimulates it to release. A valve in the throat ensures that the ejaculate enters the reproductive system instead of the digestive. The sex cells, which are closer to human egg cells than sperm, take in DNA from the cells of the throat as they pass through and the fertilized embryo, or sometimes embryos, then settle in the womb. The acids in the womb bring in nutrients from the stomach, which get absorbed through the protective layers the embryo develops. After gestation, birth proceeds much as it does for humans.”
Doctor Chal finished his speech and looked around at the humans with a somewhat satisfied expression on his face. It quickly turned into worry as he looked at the stunned humans around him.
“Are…are you saying,” Specialist Singh asked, clearly trying to hold back laughter. “Are you saying that the Glorn reproduce via blowjob?”
As the non-humans in the room consulted their implants to figure out what he meant, some of the humans guffawed, some laughed outright, and a few coughed trying to hide their laughter. Captain Finnegan coughed into her hand a couple times, getting her own laughter under control. She couldn’t help the smile on her face though. As she looked at the biobed, she saw PFC Stevenson looking a little green. His husband, Corporal Huxley, looked like he could shit a brick. The two seemed to have a quick conversation through their implants while everyone around them tried to gather themselves.
“It’s a damn good thing humans don’t reproduce that way,” Rodriguez mutters to herself. “Gay men alone would make the population growth unsustainable, even with all the habitable planets in the galaxy.”
Captain Finnegan coughs into her hand again.
“If I understand your terminology correctly,” Doctor Chal says after a moment. “Then yes. Fortunately, there is only one Glorn aboard the ship at the moment, Weapons-master Krulmash, so the identity of the…other father, isn’t in question.”
“BUT I DIDN’T SUCK HIM OFF!” Jack yelled. “I’ve never even talked to him!”
He sounded near tears as he stared into Rodger’s eyes, begging him to believe him. Rodger stared back; expression unreadable. Everyone went quiet as they waited with bated breath. Finally, Rodger let out a sigh and kissed Jack on the forehead.
“I believe you,” he whispered to Jack. “It’s ok baby. We’ll figure this out.”
Jack let out a sob and curled into Rodger’s arms, crying in relief.
“If you did not willingly preform this act with Weapons-master Krulmash, then we must find out how this happened.”
“I have sent a quiet summons to the Weapons-master to report here at once,” came the captain’s watery sounding voice. The captain was a Mabon, an amphibious species that looked a bit like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. “He’s on his way.”
“What’s the gestation rate for a Glorn,” Doctor Rodriguez asked.
“Typically, only about six human hours,” Doctor Chal replied. “The human DNA has slowed things significantly,” he added hastily at seeing her look of alarm. “We have another three hours or so before we need to operate. If necessary, we can remove the fetus in two hours and place it in an incubation chamber.”
“We can’t just cut into his stomach,” Doctor Rodriguez said. “Doing a C-section on a woman is one thing but this…”
“I’ve already considered that,” Doctor Chal replied calmly. “Which is why I sent for Engineer Veela.” He waved over a tall creature with four arms that vaguely resembled a stick covered in brown fur. It’s four eyes gleamed with mirth and Doctor Rodriguez noticed a toolbelt slung around where the creature’s waist might be if it had one she could discern.
“I’ve gotta admit,” it said in a high-pitched voice. “You doctors sure know how to put on a good show. My nest-mates will find this whole thing hysterical!”
“I’m sure they will,” Doctor Chal said genially before Doctor Rodriguez could reply. “Engineer, is it possible to use the sick bay transporter to transport something out of a living body?”
Doctor Rodriguez gave Doctor Chal a sharp look. “You want to use the sick bay transporter to teleport the baby out of Stevenson? Is that even safe?”
“Oh sure,” the engineer said with far more ease than Doctor Rodriguez was comfortable with. “If I can get the sensors tuned correctly it should be safe enough.”
“If? Should be?” Doctor Rodriguez exclaimed, her eyes bulging. “There are two lives at stake here. “If” isn’t good enough.”
“Relax doc,” the engineer said holding up one hand to forestall anymore of Doctor Rodriguez’s tirade. It used another hand to pull what looked suspiciously like a wrench out of its toolbelt. “I’ve got this.”
Without another word, the engineer walked over to a console and began removing a panel from its side.
Before Doctor Rodriguez could say anything, the sick bay doors wooshed open again and in walked a creature that looked vaguely human but had giant bat like ears sticking out to the sides of its head. Its skin was a dark brown color and bulged here and there with muscle. The Glorn Weapons-master towered over most of the others in the room. Only Corporal Huxley stood as tall as Kurlmash and he glared at the Glorn as it stepped into the room.
Kurlmash ignored him, walked up to the captain, saluted and said, “Weapons-master Kurlmash reporting as ordered sir.”
The captain returned the salute and opened his mouth to speak, but the Corporal beat him to it.
“What the FUCK have you done to my husband, you bastard,” Corporal Huxley yelled at him.
“I…I don’t understand,” he replied taking a step back in shock.
“It seems Weapons-master,” the captain replied calmly. “That you have somehow impregnated young, PFC Stevenson here. We are all keen to know how this has happened. Especially since the PFC claims that you two have not been…intimate.”
“We haven’t,” Kurlmash said in surprise. “Pregnant? Are you sure? Are you sure it’s mine?”
His last question was almost hopeful, and the Corporal’s shoulders eased a bit.
“The DNA scans are rather conclusive,” Doctor Chal answered. “If you two have not been intimate then we must figure out how this happened.”
“You said that Glorn only produce sex cells during their heat cycles,” Doctor Rodriguez asked Doctor Chal who nodded in assent. She turned to Kurlmash. “Which means you either just went through a heat cycle or are in one right know.”
“It ended yesterday,” he said nodding. “Doctor Chal was storing my seed for me so my mate could use it to become pregnant upon our return to base.”
“You missed your last appointment, as I recall,” Doctor Chal said.
“I overheard one of the engineers talking about a problem with a freezer. I thought he was talking about the sick bay freezers. I was going to call you about it until I found the container you were using,” Kurlmash replied sounding puzzled.
Both doctors looked at each other in bewilderment. Doctor Chal slithered over to a wall and opened a door, taking out a plastic cylindrical container that had a cone shaped opening at the top. The clear plastic showed the yellow contents of the container clearly.
“There was no issue with the sick bay freezers,” Doctor Chal said. “I’ve had it here the whole time.”
“May I see that,” Doctor Rodriguez asked, a look of puzzled curiosity on her face as she held out her hand. Doctor Chal handed it over and Rodriguez inspected it carefully. To everyone’s shock, she opened the lid and took a sniff. “Smells like…” she began and then stopped, a look of dawning horror washing over her face. She quickly replaced the lid before turning to Stevenson who was watching her warily, one of Rodger’s arms over his shoulders.
“You said you put mustard on your sandwich,” she asked him. He just nodded. “Did it happen to be in something that looked like this?” She held up the container.
All the humans in the room stared at the little container, the very familiar looking container. They had all seen one just like it before, had all used one, sometimes two before. The container in Doctor Rodriguez’s hand looked very much like a plastic ketchup, or in this case, mustard container one might find in any human restaurant.
“Dude,” Jack yelled at the top of his voice. “You jerked off into my mustard?!”
Once again, the non-humans in the room consulted their implants while the humans variously tried to stifle their laughter or not throw up.
“I…I don’t…What is mustard,” Kurlmash asks helplessly.
“It’s…” Rodriguez starts.
“Not fucking important,” Jack exclaims. “You went into my fucking food and jerked off into it! You…you impregnated me! Against my will! Without my knowledge! You violated me! I should wring your fucking neck!”
He tried getting up from the biobed, the look on his face downright murderous, but Rodger held him down, surprise clear on his face.
“Baby. Baby look at me,” he said, his voice calm. When Jack looked at him, Rodger smiled. “It’s ok. I’m right here. Everything will be ok.”
They stared at each other for a minute before Jack broke down again crying and Rodger wrapped his arms around him.
“What is wrong with him,” Captain Finnegan muttered to herself.
“Pregnant,” Doctor Rodriguez whispered to her.
Captain Finnegan jumped and looked at the doctor. When had she gotten so close? Then she turned back to look at Jack and noticed his swollen stomach. Right. The man was pregnant. That was going to take some getting used to.
“Is this normal for pregnant humans,” Kurlmash asked Doctor Rodriguez who nodded.
“Pretty normal, yeah,” she replied thoughtfully. “For human women anyway. Human men don’t normally get pregnant.”
“Ah. I see. So, the death threats are because he’s male?”
“HA! No. Human females will issue death threats too. Usually during labor, along with threatening to cut off the male reproductive organs if they ever come near them again. Fairly standard.”
“I see,” Kurlmash said looking worried.
“What? Pregnant Glorn don’t have mood swings or make threats?”
“No, they have mood swings, as you call them, but I’ve never heard of one making such threats before.”
“Probably because they don’t spend nine months carrying the kid only to be put through agony, sometimes for days, just to give birth,” Captain Finnegan snorted.
“Nine months? Days?” Kurlmash looked even more worried now and he glanced at the biobed.
“Don’t worry,” Doctor Rodriguez told him. “This pregnancy may be a little slower than what you’re used to, but this baby will be here by the end of the day.” She frowned. “Or not.”
She walked up to the biobed and placed a gentle hand on Jack’s shoulder. He looked up at her, his eyes wet and red.
“I’m sorry,” she said kindly. “But no one has asked...and…well…do you even want this baby? It’s not too late to abort.”
Jack stared at her in shock, though she didn’t think it was for the suggestion. She thought it was more because he hadn’t thought of it either.
“I could do that, couldn’t I?”
Doctor Rodriguez shrugged. “Your body, your choice. That’s Terran Alliance law.”
Jack looked to his husband. “What do you think?”
“What are the risks,” Corporal Huxley asked her.
“At a guess, because this an entirely new situation and we have zero idea about anything, I’d say probably the same as the pregnancy itself. I’ve been watching his vitals and as the pregnancy develops, more and more strain is being put onto Jack’s body. A body that was not designed for it. I think he may be able to carry the baby to term, but that’s just a guess. Any pregnancy has its risks, and this is a whole new type of crazy. I have no idea what could happen.”
Rodger looked back at Jack. “Your choice my love. I’ll support your decision; unless it looks like I’ll lose you. I won’t do that. I love you too much, searched for you for too long, to risk losing you.”
“I love you too,” Jack said and the two kissed. And kissed. And kept kissing. Just when things were about to turn awkward, Doctor Rodriguez cleared her throat and the two separated, breathing hard.
“So, does that mean you’re keeping the baby,” Doctor Rodriguez asked.
“Please,” Weapons-master Kurlmash said, and they all turned to face him. He wrung his hands and stared at Jack with a longing look. “I realize I have no right to ask this of you, given the…less than ideal circumstances, but please. My mate and I have been trying to have a child for a long time and, I would really like to start a family.”
“Are you sure they’d be ok with a half human child?” Corporal Huxley asked seriously.
“It…will take some explaining,” Kurlmash admitted. “And probably some time to get used to the idea, but I’m sure the four of us can make it work.”
He stared at them hopefully and eventually Jack nodded.
“Alright doc. Looks like we’re having a baby. But if it looks like I might…ya know…die? Well, don’t let that happen. Dying in combat is one thing. Dying in childbirth? My mother would never let me hear the end of it.”
Rodger snorted. “She may not let you hear the end of it anyway. Not to mention your dad…”
“Please don’t,” Jack said with a groan. “Don’t suppose there’s any way we can just…not tell them?”
Rodger gave him a look and he groaned again. “You’re right.”
“I’m afraid it gets worse, PFC,” Captain Finnegan said with a slight wince. “I’m going to need to file a report with Alliance command. To apprise them of the situation. Alliance medical is probably going to want to know too.”
It was Doctor Rodriguez’s turn to groan. “Fuck! They are going to want to know. Every. Single. Detail. I’m going to be in meetings about this for years!”
She glared at the three prospective parents. “The three of you are officially on my shit list,” she said before angrily turning to talk to Doctor Chal. “We’d better make sure this goes smoothly. The less I have to put into this report the better. I hate paperwork!”

I am 35 years old. I have had 2 open laminectomies and discetomies. One in 2017 on L5 and S1 and another in 2022 on L5 for reherniation.
When I had my MRI for the first surgery I was told that I have DDD from L3-S1
Recently, like for the whole last week I have what I believe is a pinched nerve in my shoulder which I would imagine is around C6-C7. The pain starts at my shoulder and it’s definitely more of a nerve pain pinch. (same pain I would get in my leg when I was herniated) There’s a spot of pinching around my elbow, some of my forearm and right between my pointer and middle finger. My pointer finger was essentially burning but only at the finger tip but now from the wrist down is more tingly. No significant weakness but definitely noticeable to me.
It definitely gets worse more so based on position of my back when I’m sitting and when I’m laying more so on the position of my arm. I have to get in a pretty weird position for the pinching to subside, so I’m constantly stirring about. Sleeping is really difficult and around the clock Tylenol and ibprophen and even torodol oral isn’t really touching it. I get the most relief with heat. Which was the same with my old herniations.
Moving my arms doesn’t hurt so much unless I’m binging my hand up to my face. I can flex and extend and raise above my head with out much discomfort.
My question is since I have a history of herniations in the lower spine, what are the odds and how easy is it for me to do it in the upper. And what are the odds that I have DDD up there as well. It’s been about a week and it’s not lightening up at all, I think I’ve just been baring but it sucks having to just be attached to a hearing pad all day.

I have the iPad Pro M1 12.9”. Because of my astigmatism I find the blooming pretty apparent and distracting when there is white text on black, or when watching a dark scene.
I am trying to reduce my blue light exposure. As most of my work is done on computers.
Edit: I am not thinking of upgrading my iPad, I am just curious.
Also, yes I do wear my glasses. But I have to take them off when I am lying on my side for instance.

Apologies for the text dump, but I've been actively trying to share more about the process that goes into my music making/playing so that I can discuss it and learn with/from others. There have been two occasions recently where I performed electronic music in front of an audience, which is a new thing for me and wanted to make the most of it by discussing it online.
The setup involved Ableton Live running on a MacBook, passing out to an audio interface for the PA. Live is being controlled with a Launchpad Pro MK3 and Launch Control XL. At the risk of self promotion, you can find a video I made of a performance at home here if curious.
Essentially the 4 songs from my EP are laid out in group tracks which I can control with filters using faders on the Launch Control XL. There are then a few more filters set of for drums, breaks and FX. Additional rotary controls are available for Filters and FX of certain parts.
The Launchpad is used to trigger clips in Live as well as the various custom layouts which let me do things like trigger notes, samples, and FX - this is where I had the most fun. Being able to do things like Beat Repeat and throw samples on top of the track gave me real creative control and I'd like to try this more in a composition content. Would be happy to discuss this more if anyone has a similar setup. The clips are laid out horizontally for the instrument, and then clips from each track moving vertically form what felt like a large number of Scenes (21 total)
Anyway, I played through this set at work but the real fun came when I approached a local Jazz night, who were doing a Synthwave theme, about doing my set in the interval. Instead, they invited me on stage with them to play alongside them - albeit with only a few days notice and no practice run. So, I settled on just one track meaning I could focus on one key signature. This is where the new Scale feature in Live 12 came into its own as it allowed me to quickly transpose my clips from the other tracks to the appropriate key. Some more adjustments were made - gone were the grouped tracks per song and instead I laid out Leads/Pads/Arps/etc on group tracks to. I cut the whole thing down to 12 Scenes which was still probably too much. Shout out to the Post Filter setting in Redux for a great way to crunch your breaks up in real time.
I headed out and we got my sound running through the desk. A few hours later I was called up to stage. It then dawned on my the drummer would have no way of knowing when I started so I quickly prepped a quick clip of kicks on every beat that I faded in gently at the start. I couldn't communicate I was doing this so I just hoped for the best once we got going. The band leader introduced me and said "I don't know what chords we're playing or anything", so I shouted back "We're in E Minor" and off we went. I come from playing drums so I'm pretty amazed I was able to call that out with any conviction, but that's technology for you. Future setups could involve taking some audio from the band to help set the tempo in real time, though I imagine this ruins any kind of synced effects like Delays.
I was pretty blown away with how good it sounded, for me the highlight was hearing a piece of my music come to life and change through the playing of (5) other musicians. We even managed to keep in time and find a natural end point - my tip for this is to have a couple of outs if you need it, beat repeats and filters are great for getting more/less mileage from a Scene as needed.
I think there will be an opportunity to play with them again but I think I might have already hit the end of the road with the live music scene round here, it seems like setups like this a kinda of a niche thing that's hard to sell to a venue. Does anyone have any tips with finding more gigs when playing this kind of setup? Do I need to learn to DJ to make more of a night's worth entertainment?
Thanks for reading, interested to hear people's thoughts!

So, we need a scenario, where some Skalgans are rescued before the Federation gets too far into their plan.
As discussed on the discord today... shout out to my fellow idea-mongers!
Suppose there is a faction of Farsul, The Hidden Path, that disagrees with the Kolshians' plans for the galaxy, after observing the activity performed on/with the Krakotl.
This faction goes into silent rebellion, and works in secret to preserve all sapient cultures, as they are, by abducting just enough of each to ensure genetic viability and delivering them to a hidden colonies.
And they have been doing this ever since.
Now you have a viable undiscovered source of many of each type of every race, with pre-federation culture intact.
...commence with the hijinks you envision.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:00 PM Mileau is all Mesas, with Slot canyons in between; the mesas all extend above breathable atmosphere.
I made that sht up. No one has ever described the surface of Mileau except me. Hah!*
uktabi (Clear Skies, Foxholes) — 02/29/2024 1:08 PM its canon now mileau has a thin atmosphere and a fast spin. it throws off basically all atmosphere except for what gets trapped in the slot canyons. idk anything that im talking about
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:13 PM THe canyons are 2-3 km wide, and llike 10 km deep; agriculture happens in the canyons that run "east" to "west". Most of the food grows on tree vines that climb up the walls of the canyon; these have trunks bigger than redwoods at the base. WHen you look at Mileau from above, the entire surface looks like a dried lake bed.
uktabi (Clear Skies, Foxholes) — 02/29/2024 1:15 PM if theyre photosynthesis, plant life in canyons would probably have HEAVY bias in evolving to compete for sunlight
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:15 PM hence the growing up the walls.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:16 PM the north south canyons are barren. most of the water lies underground, and it's movement forms huge cave systems at that level.
uktabi (Clear Skies, Foxholes) — 02/29/2024 1:16 PM they'd probably have all sorts of like, choking out competitors. specialized tendrils that try to choke out competitors. evolutionary arms race and all
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:17 PM so, there is also cave ecology going on at a grand scale as well.
uktabi (Clear Skies, Foxholes) — 02/29/2024 1:18 PM hmmm are dossur adapted to low light environments?
The ☴☴° — 02/29/2024 1:18 PM I think that they would have some.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:19 PM Yes. But also... Mileau's star is a very large one, so the habitable ring is 5 times further out; the cycles are 5 years long, and winter is a full year. so they have a long hibernation period every 5 years.
uktabi (Clear Skies, Foxholes) — 02/29/2024 1:20 PM a cave system being a consistent environment despite seasons might help temper that though
The ☴☴° — 02/29/2024 1:20 PM Large stars have exponentially shorter lives, just a warning.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:23 PM It's not like it's Y-Scuti.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:24 PM THey eveolves to remember everything they hear while they "sleep" so, if you were to search the ventilation systems at the School of the flora, you'd find dossur sleeping near every vent by the lecture halls. "They are in the walls" is a true statement.
The ☴☴° — 02/29/2024 1:26 PM They'd better have good taste in poetry. As they drive next generation's minds into predator disease.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:26 PM This is why they've come from stone-age to space age in under 100 years. THey pick up every class, all day long. then they go test out at the end of the semester, CLEP style, and run off with a degree after 8 months. they also record everything, and take the recordings back to Mileau; the next round of sleepers is in a cave containing thousands of Dossur there. It's a knowledge factory.
Mecha Kid (Solar Wind, Spec Ops) — 02/29/2024 1:31 PM Suddenly happy I never defined the surface features of Mileau in Spec Ops Also, concussions are a bitch, right @Julian Skies (Blackriver Cases) ?
Julian Skies (Blackriver Cases) — 02/29/2024 1:33 PM Acroyear's version of the dossur would find like souls in the Consortium
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:34 PM Since Mileau has so little livable space (from the Federation's perspective) the Federation ignores it. Most of the land receiving sunlight is completely dedicated to raising the crops, and the Dossur live in tiny caves drilled into the mesas.
Ben_KenoBEEG (NoA) — 02/29/2024 1:38 PM I just realized, could the Dossur possibly have a planet with over 100 billion people on it, considering their size and how little of a carbon footprint they leave
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:40 PM they've only come up from the stone age in the past 100 years or so... having spent most of that time eliminating the natural predators of Mileau... (which happen to look a Lot like... Krakotl).
"The silver mountain descended from the heavens on pillars of white fire... and death himself rode in it."
dankboy9000 — 02/29/2024 1:43 PM Ah yes, the Man on the Silver Mountain
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:43 PM More like the bird. in any case, the Dossur have harnessed the winds that flow through the canyons as an energy source, and have started building Giant solar farms on the mesa tops, now that they have space technology.
dankboy9000 — 02/29/2024 1:46 PM Arizonacore
Spectralstorm — 02/29/2024 1:59 PM Dossur "re-education" programme where they just yell "predators are bad" over and over while the dossur are hibernating
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 02/29/2024 1:59 PM It's another fic, that's all. The feds don't know that this is how it works. It's part of the Dossur conspiracy. That's why no one has ever seen a Dossur that's not ginger colored. In my head-canon, there are also white ones, brown ones, blond ones, spotted ones, roans, and of course... black ones! and... FLying ones!
The ☴☴° — 02/29/2024 2:08 PM This is why they attacked Mileau.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 6:12 PM I have this image of the Dossur colonizing every park and forested area throughout the federation... ...in secret, of course.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 6:09 PM Have we been told how many colonies there are? I know of at least one, where Veln originated from.
Thirsha (Tight Money) — 11/30/2023 6:10 PM no
Killsode-Slugcat — 11/30/2023 6:26 PM the planetary thoughts Egg has is that there's big oceans on the dayward side that evaporate and then send water back to the nightward side where its then frozen, depositied on glaciers that then progressand melt, creating rivers that feed back into the oceans thus sustaining a full water cycle of course, there's also spots of rain along the way, and if there was a mountain range in the right spot it'd be rained on nearly non-stop on the dayside
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 6:23 PM I also Recall a beach scene from another Fic I read recently, but I don't remember it. It was up near the burning.
Verified Threat to Fish (LiH) — 11/30/2023 6:29 PM Yeah, based on pure physics, the twilight and green likely get a ton of precipitation from the night. The day and burning get few to no rainstorms and are probably sustained by the rivers and desalination of the oceans
Killsode-Slugcat — 11/30/2023 6:29 PM well, not sure if they'd get it from the night god the weather patterns would be alllll over the place @Brick we really need your help on figuring those out.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 6:30 PM I think there's mention of Heavy Monsoon activity due to the wobble.
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:17 PM What was the question
Killsode-Slugcat — 11/30/2023 7:17 PM ah, the weather patterns of VP, and how the hell the atmopshere moves
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:18 PM My god
Killsode-Slugcat — 11/30/2023 7:18 PM since uh, if there's constant wind coming from the sunward side, atmosphere somehow has to get to the sunward side to replace it.
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:18 PM Without geography Uhhhhhhh
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:18 PM Not quite according to the paper I posted earlier the surface flow would come from the night rather than the day
Killsode-Slugcat — 11/30/2023 7:19 PM going with the idea that the water cycle is power by oceans near the sun side the bring water to the night side where its then deposited and flows back to the oceans?
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:19 PM Surface flow favors convergence at the hot side ad divergence on the cold side meaning the surface flow overall would be from the cold to the warm but at upper levels it's reversed But this is overall geography, location of oceans, planetary rotation and more would make this much more complex
OmegaMon02 (NoC,TTS,MiM,GE,PoT) — 11/30/2023 7:20 PM Air cools on night, blasts the venlil, warms in the day, travels on top of cold wind, big wind storms deep into the day and night
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:20 PM Were it so easy...
Beyonce what I can think about without a pencil, paper and other things.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:21 PM SO, on Skalga... not much daily rotation.
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:21 PM In terms of tropospheric dynamics I really can't say right now On the other hand If VP is on a tilt That raises a whole set of other issues For example places where the sun sets for half a year and raises for the other half It is not easy to make any educated judgments without having a cannon geography.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:23 PM THere's the whole Paw wobble bit, but I don't think you'd get much variation off of it.
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:24 PM Yeah axis wobble is something on MUCH longer time scales up towards thousands of years iirc
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:24 PM it feels like the axis of the planet points at the Sun for the most part.
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:24 PM Meanwhile a tilted spin axis will cause seasonal sunsets that last different amounts of time beyond certain latitudes The axis of the planet has nothing to do with the sun, at one point it will face away from the sun and half a year later it'll.face towards That's why we get seasons and differential day length on earth
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:25 PM right, but with Skalga being tidally locked...
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:25 PM Nothing to do with it That is a manner of rate of rotation not axial tilt The rate of revolution is equal to the rate of rotation meaning one side faces the star at all times But a tilted axis can cause the area to essentially shift up and down
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:28 PM so depending on the tilt of the access, those parts of Skalga would have day, and night cycles that last for about half the year.
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:28 PM Yup Think of how the solstices work on earth. Provided you're at a latitude that experiences them just, more extreme The further into the light side you go the shorter the "night" lasts
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:30 PM 👍 We were considering what the sizes of the oceans were.
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:30 PM Weather is dictated a lot by geography as well as overall circulation I haven't figured out if there would be a jet or something different
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:31 PM yes, windward and Lee sides of mountain ranges would make a difference. I was thinking heavy monsoon winds.
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:32 PM Yes while the windward side would be very dry the leeward side would experience in my current opinion almost constant rain It really depends on how well heat exchanges But I can't get too deep into this now. Btw this is what I study at university.
Btw this is what I study at uni
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:32 PM Perhaps I got my terminology backwards I am become atmospheric scientist.
Brick — 11/30/2023 7:33 PM Good chat sorry to jet.
Julian Skies (Blackriver Cases) — 11/30/2023 7:35 PM Bahaha, jet!
DankTerminus (SINYL, NOPAW(?)) — 11/30/2023 7:35 PM Hey, being near water is not the same as being IN water.
Verified Threat to Fish (LiH) — 11/30/2023 7:35 PM I mean the planet is like this ☀️ 🟥🟨🟩🟪🟦 (I'm trying my best) cold weather brings rain or snow. So @Brick is right, lots of rain moving from twilight to green. Less in day.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:36 PM depends on what the source of the water is. if there are oceans on the day side, that would provide moisture in the upper levels. where the convection moves in the opposite direction.
DankTerminus (SINYL, NOPAW(?)) — 11/30/2023 7:37 PM oceans have to exist at some point if there's enough water to sustain global-spanning life.
DankTerminus (SINYL, NOPAW(?)) — 11/30/2023 7:38 PM Also, I have a reason for each of the coastal locations. Muller's Bay is found upon illict activities. Stepping Stones basically had no choice but to exist due it being an island chain. Mellowgale is an rare mountainous type of coastal, hence the Greek vibes.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:39 PM the day side may have giant, untapped aquifers. not much written about it, so I don't really know. but I could see the venlil living under ground in the hotter parts.
Verified Threat to Fish (LiH) — 11/30/2023 7:41 PM I can see that a nice portion of the rivers from colder half flow underground. Could sustain lots of people and crops
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:41 PM sort of a Coober Pedy situation. for about the same reasons.
DankTerminus (SINYL, NOPAW(?)) — 11/30/2023 7:42 PM imagine having the Green double in size during the timeskip due to humanity interventing. oof, both good and bad.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:42 PM depends on what kind of geo-engineering is done, if any.
DankTerminus (SINYL, NOPAW(?)) — 11/30/2023 7:43 PM mostly geo-engineering for preventing Sahara-ification.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:43 PM yeah, permaculture water harvesting would definitely be a thing. if they can build a planet encircling maglev, they could build some major pipelines runninlg along the meridians as well.
DankTerminus (SINYL, NOPAW(?)) — 11/30/2023 7:45 PM They DID build an maglev ring, you're right.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:45 PM with the right kind of valves and insulation, they could use antifreeze to act as a giant heat pump.
Verified Threat to Fish (LiH) — 11/30/2023 7:45 PM I bet they have biiiig wells to use for cities or for watering plants.
Animesh — 11/30/2023 7:46 PM Wait. Is the entire venlil prime just The Line (tm) project?
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:48 PM Possibly. I don't know the full particulars on the Line, so can't answer that. but I could see them doing a lot of Al Baydha-like projects. btu again, that is dependent on the landforms, and where the water flows to and from. I mean, BiasMushroom has Frozen Mountain set up as a city in the Nightside, close to the terminator. it you get some form of heat loving trees with deep, deep roots, then it's possible that they might shade areas of the burning enough to be survivable. so that gets back to the questions about where the water bodies are.
Verified Threat to Fish (LiH) — 11/30/2023 7:56 PM I think they could form in the day but dry up in the burning.
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:56 PM yes, but what about under the dayside, where the aquifers may be.
Verified Threat to Fish (LiH) — 11/30/2023 7:57 PM Probably near rivers but could realistically be anywhere I mean, there are aquifers all over earth so really it's hard to disprove any specific location
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:57 PM a lot of it depends on how the water flows, and what geological formations there are. a karst type of situation could lead to lots of caves with chimney windows and underground jungles.
Verified Threat to Fish (LiH) — 11/30/2023 7:58 PM Hell in the southwest US, sandstone cliffs and mountains are aquifers. They are stuffed full of water. Without specific info, it's really up to us to decide. Which is neat!
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 7:59 PM a hard layer of earth over a soft limesone layer, with water flowing, would lead to huge cave systesm. there could be entire, undiscovered biomes like that, possibly housing pre-federation Venlils.
Verified Threat to Fish (LiH) — 11/30/2023 8:03 PM Perhaps. Though I worry for how they'd live
Giant_Acroyear (Dossur?) — 11/30/2023 8:04 PM if there's flowing water, then there's probably fungi, and things eating the fungi. Anyway, I leave the speculations here, for your consideration.
Thirsha (Tight Money) — 11/30/2023 9:08 PM massive cave systems with underground rivers and a lot of life that lives in the dark but due to the presence of predators, venlil are afraid of them and since they are hell to clear out, the exterminators try to keep the predators in the caverns instead only killing them when they wander too close to the settlements.
I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have!

Hi Guys,
Just got a Red One MX. After 15 minutes of idling, the thing just shuts off. At first the fan wasn't working, so I fixed that by replacing the cable. Then I thought it was the sensor overheating so I replaced the thermal pad to improve the heat transfer, still nothing.
Anyone run into an issue like this and know how to fix? Anyone out their mod their Red One to improve cooling? Think it's an overheating problem but it could be something else...