My brother has always been annoying and i thought that that was just his attitude until i started to see a pattern that could possibly be NPD? He always praises himself (literally everyday) and i used to think it was a joke until he kept doing it and now even my mom is annoyed and concerned. He also keeps taking of his shirt and flexes in front of the mirror (not in private by way so it’s kinda off putting). He keeps saying he could be a model and that people who know or pass by him are very lucky because they get to see his face.. Aside from that he has no empathy or compassion. He never thinks about other people but himself and he’s ungrateful especially to my mom who is the perfect mom by the way (at least for me). He’s a bit gross too and has a lot of bad habits. He’s lazy and doesn’t do chores unless forced but he does it with a lot of negative comments. If we try to tell him he’ll just get mad and try to bring up one of our flaws. He has a lot of arguments with my mom and he never wants to lose so he says whatever he can until my mom gets tired. He’s always trying to justify everything he does even though it’s crystal clear that he’s in the wrong. No humility. No self-awareness. My mom is always the one to give in even though she’s the mom. It’s like he has no respect for her. He also gets mad easily like when you ask him to do something. That’s why i barely talk to him but he’s only nice when he needs something from me. My mom also doesn’t want to talk to him much and mostly asks me to help her with things. Aside from those, he’s also a bit homophobic and misogynistic. He used to say the N word a lot for fun but thankfully stopped. He keeps telling me that men are superior and that I’m below him. I keep thinking that maybe he’s doing all this to make himself feel better since he thinks my parents like me more (i don’t think this btw im just much closer with my mom than my brother and my dad also likes me because i don’t talk back)—but to be fair, how could they like him with that attitude? and i have more accomplishments than him. He doesn’t have any awards or anything and i do. And i don’t even brag about it. So instead of feeling bad, he praises himself a lot and tries to make me feel bad. He thinks he’s so smart just because he’s good in writing and reads but his grades aren’t even the best. When i’m sad or if i cry, he won’t care and call me emotional and dramatic as opposed to him being mad all the time. No empathy whatsoever. I sometimes wish i had like a younger sibling i could play with instead or an older sister who could take my pics and talk about girl stuff with bc i cannot get along with my brother no matter how hard i try. Maybe he’s going through something, maybe he has insecurity problems but that doesn’t make it okay to be a literal burden in the family. I kind of gave up already but my mom hasn’t (since ofc she’s the mom). My mom still tries to talk nice abt him to others while my dad kind of enables his pridefulness (since my dad is also prideful in a way—not in looks or skill but in money). But that’s a different issue.
Thoughts? Advices? I’d appreciate some insight :)

N was flying while carrying Uzi and Doll with him follow V in the distance.
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N: V, wait for us.
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She didn't seem to pay attention to them and kept moving forward.
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Uzi: What the hell is wrong with you 2? When my dad said that Thad was heading to the dead body area, you guys just, what was that all about?
N: Me, we… it's complicated.
Uzi: Don't tell me it's complicated! You're going to tell me everything you know about that thing NOW.
​
N hesitated for a few seconds, but Uzi looked at him annoyed, clearly not willing to listen to an excuse, to which she had to give up.
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N: It's okay, but, you should know that I don't have all the details, it was V and J who knew the most about this, I… she just followed her orders.
Uzi: Fine, fine, but start talking already.
N: Okay… tell me, how much do you know about us when we got here?
Uzi: Outside of the fact that they came here killing everyone?
N: Well... let's say it wasn't that way, oh at least not as they told you.
Uzi: What do you mean?
​
In retrospect
A ship arrives and lands on Copper-9, some drones came out of it, but they weren't teardown drones, as they were wearing JCJenson uniforms.
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N: When the core incident happened, they first sent an investigation team to find out what happened.
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The group of “investigative drones” walked around the site examining the bodies of other wrecked drones on the ground.
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Drone Researcher 1: Commando, you guys get to see this, it's a fucking massacre.
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Suddenly a metallic noise is heard coming from a mound of bodies piled to one side. The drones look at each other suspiciously and approach cautiously. While one of them speaks.
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Drone Investigator 2: Who's there?
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N: These drones had no means of defense.
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The leader of the group approaches one of the bodies and touches it, nothing happens.
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N: They didn't have a chance.
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A cable shoots out of the mound and through the leader's head.
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Drone Investigator 3: Wow, what the hell?!
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What looks like a clawed hand emerges from the mound and grabs the body, then a partially formed mechanical creature rises up, legless and missing an arm, but his appearance is intimidating enough that the drones know he caused it all. this, especially when he starts laughing.
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End of hindsight
Uzi: So, that thing was the one that slaughtered the drones and not you?
N: Uh… 50/50.
​
Uzi looked seriously at N.
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Uzi: We're not for N games.
N: Sorry, just me-
Uzi: That doesn't matter now, if what you say is true and then they sent you guys to take over.
V: No
​
V realized that her partner had opened her mouth, so she decided that if they were to know the truth she should tell it herself.
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Uzi: What did you mean by that?
V: That after that, "Incident", combat drones were sent to eliminate that thing.
Uzi: Drones what?
V: Basically soldier drones, with weapons and the whole thing.
Uzi: And what happened?
V: We could barely hold that thing back, what do you think happened to them?
​
Uzi swallowed at that.
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Doll: Если компания хочет убить эту штуку, почему они не послали вас с самого начала?
V: Because we didn't exist at that time, or at least not as such.
N: what do you mean?
​
V hesitated a few seconds before answering.
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V: According to J, we are an… update that the combat drones should have received, but they gave it to us because they had unwanted behavior changes.
Uzi: Define, “unwanted behaviors”.
V: Well, they became extremely irritable, hyper active and started killing everything that moved.
Uzi: How are you?
​
V looked annoyed at Uzi.
​
V: Believe me, they were much worse, but as she said, in short they went crazy, so the company ordered us to take care of them.
Uzi: They sacrificed them.
V: It's a way of saying it, but yes.
Uzi: N, why didn't you mention that?
N: Because, honestly I didn't remember them, I mean, from what V says I think he's referring to team 23 and J didn't let me help much.
Uzi: Anyway, I think- wait you said 23.
V: yes
Uzi: You mean-
V: 23 teams were sent to put an end to that thing and none of them succeeded, we are team 24.
​
There was an awkward silence, Uzi trying to process the information she had just received, knowing that 23 groups of company-armed drones had been destroyed by that thing… it was terrifying.
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Uzi: And you say that only you could face it?
V: Well, not exactly, that bastard destroyed my head and it took me a while to regenerate, when I woke up N told me that J had killed him, something that by the way turned out NOT TO BE TRUE.
​
N laughed nervously at V's comments.
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N: In my defense J said that he had done it.
V: Anyway, when I got there his body was lying in the snow without moving, it was very big and they had given us the order to eliminate all the drones in the area to make sure that it hadn't escaped infecting someone, we needed to stock up on oil and we couldn't leave it out in the open, just like that, so what and...
Uzi: So what?
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V and N didn't respond, Uzi didn't understand the reason for this, until he realized with horror what they were referring to.
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Uzi: You buried him-
Doll: На горе трупов.
​
He said coming to the same conclusion as Uzi
​
Uzi: But why didn't they destroy it?
V: J didn't want to and said we needed to keep it, company orders.
Uzi: You can't be serious.
V: Ok, looking back maybe it wasn't the best idea, but she was the boss at the time, okay?
Uzi: I know, but why the hell would the company want to keep the thing that killed so many of their drones, it doesn't make sense, they'd just be wasting resources.
Doll: Я тут о чем-то подумал, она говорит, что "Джей" убила эту штуку, но явно это было не так, но и она не мо гла притворяться, что это сделала, так как ее тело не имеет сознания, а vdrug-
Uzi: J was infected all this time.
​
Uzi noticed that Doll looked at her annoyed for interrupting her.
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Uzi: Hey, you did the same.
V: I doubt J was infected, I mean, that thing tried to turn us into its "minions" several times, even with J, but never succeeded.
N: That is true.
Uzi: But, what if she wasn't infected as such, but she, she "contained" it.
N: What do you mean?
Uzi: Think about it, J was absurdly loyal to the company, and they wanted this thing alive, but clearly couldn't kill it, what if J managed to transfer that monster's consciousness into hers and she contained it.
​
There was silence again.
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Uzi: But, when I killed her, the program took over, the Absolute Fixer was supposed to regenerate J, but instead she just grew and grew, what if she wasn't killing for the sake of killing.
N: I don't understand, what does the program have to do with that thing?
Doll: Во время занятия профессор сказал, что чем больше и сложнее машина, тем больше вычислительной мо щности требуется для ее правильной работы.
Uzi: Right, maybe the fixer was trying to keep him contained, but… when we killed him, we-
V: They released that thing.
​
V looked annoyed at N and Uzi, the latter lowered her head as she realized that the monster that had taken Thad and many others had been released by her, first attracting the murder drones to the colony and now releasing an immortal monster that He only seeks to kill. It was in situations like this that she wondered… what would have happened if she had never left the colony that day? I don't notice her concern and try to cheer her up.
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N: Uzi, it's not your fault, well technically yes, but the point is that we've all made mistakes, right girls?
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V was not interested in answering and Doll just looked away from her.
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N: Uzi you don't-
V: Oh that's not true!
​
Quickly V decade, N did not understand until, under her sight, there were hundreds and hundreds of those "zombie minions" around the place, most walking aimlessly, while others pulled out the piled bodies and took them away.
N quickly descended with the girls and stood next to V.
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N: V, now what?
V: Silence, I try to think.
Uzi: I thought you'd jump right in and kill them all.
V (annoyed): I don't know if you noticed, but those things aren't easy to kill.
Doll: Так что, мы просто спрячемся здесь?
V: No, but, hey, Violet.
Uzi: Don't call me that.
V: Ok, “Uvi” or whatever your name is, can't your weapon shoot a super laser like J?
​
Uzi looked annoyed at V
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Uzi: First, my name is Uzi and second, no, the energy core wears out very quickly and I used it to kill that other thing.
V: Ugh, great, and your Russian girl?
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Doll looked annoyed at vi and manifested a knife pointed at her.
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V (growling): Seriously none of you think of anything! I guess that's how J must have felt with us.
Uzi: Oh I'm sorry if, you know, we tried to process everything that just happened.
N: Hey girls
V: Oh yes, of course, now you start to think about that, right?!
N: Girls
Uzi: Maybe we could deal with this more calmly if, you know, THEY DIDN'T KILL SO MANY OF US!
V: Do you really blame me? When were you the one who released that thing?!
Uzi: Hey, it was the Absolute Solver who broke my weapon and destroyed himself.
V: I remind you that you killed J and he became that thing because of you.
N: Girls
V (points to N): And if you hadn't sided with him, we would have finished all this, and we'd go home.
​
Tired of nobody listening to him, N screamed.
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N: YOU COULD HEAR ME FOR JUST 5 SECONDS!
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There was an awkward silence, mostly because N wasn't the type to, well, yell for attention.
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Uzi: Hey, we're waiting for you, what's up?
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N pointed to the side, when they turned around they saw a large number of those "zombies" staring at them.
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V: oh
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The creatures began to laugh and ran towards them.
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V: Oh you have to be kidding.
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V quickly launched herself at the "zombies" cutting a group of them in half, but as expected, this didn't stop you and they began to crawl towards her. N fired several energy shots from her arm.
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N: Uzi, I think we could use a little help.
Uzi: I don't know if you noticed, but I need a power core for my weapon to work.
N: But you don't have those claws and-?
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Uzi looked annoyed at N not wanting to bring it up at that moment.
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N: O-okay
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N pierced the torso of one of the zombies and ripped out its energy core which he delivered to Uzi. He quickly attached it to his gun and began shooting at the creatures that kept coming.
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Uzi: This is much better.
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He quickly smashed the heads of several of them, to ensure that the bastards could not rise again. While this was happening, Doll was eliminating multiple zombies that were trying to get to her, but either she sent them flying using her powers, or she crushed them with said strange symbol that she summoned. V for her part cut and shredded all the zombies she found, if she were around another time she would possibly drink her oil, but she was more focused on finding Thad and preventing him from finding the body of that thing that in that.
As she ripped the head off of a zombie drone, she heard what seemed to be the sound of... an engine?, when she turned her head a gray blur hit her. When he fell to the ground, he saw what appeared to be a wrecked takedown drone, barely standing, with wires sticking out of its body and its wings spread, but unlike them, its clothing was more… “formal”, it was covered. of oil, but even so the symbol of the company and the number 23 on his chest were distinguishable, he was one of the members of team 23 sent to deal with that thing, who had to be sacrificed as they became unstable.
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V: Ugh, what I was missing.
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The creature laughed and jumped towards her, its claws collided with V's who tried to defend himself from the zombie that did not stop laughing, N attacked him from behind, but surprisingly, his broken wings bent towards him causing a deep cut on his neck. chest. N stepped back somewhat in pain, then pointed her cannon arm at him, but noticed that V was in the middle.
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N: V move.
V: Do you think I can? Just shoot him!
N: But-
V: Just do it!
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N was forced to fire, creating a large cloud of smoke as the shot hit, she approached and found V badly damaged, having lost a leg and an arm.
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N: are you okay?
V: This is nothing.
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Suddenly the winged zombie pounced on N, a large part of her body was missing, only her torso and one arm remaining.
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N: Ah, take it from me.
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What could be described as a ninja star flew out and impaled the zombie's head, spinning inside and ripping him apart internally, the beast convulsing before falling dead to the ground. N looked in the direction of his savior seeing that it was Doll, Uzi was shooting at the other zombies that were advancing towards them trying to make them go back.
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Uzi: Not to put pressure on them, but these things keep coming, how many of us did they kill?
V: In our defense, that thing did 70% of the job.
​
V, having partially regenerated, prepared to jump into the approaching zombie army, but stopped when she heard laughter and growls from another direction, she and N turned in that direction and saw multiple eyes in the blizzard staring at them, V between the hills. her eyes to see straight, only to be caught off guard when the rest of the now zombie team 23 flew in her direction. Team 23 unlike the team of N, V and J, this was made up of 12 prototype disassembly drones, if killing one cost them anything, this was going to take longer, they flew over them as if they were vultures, they then charged into the group in an attempt to finish them off.
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V: Ugh, it had to be these guys.
N: Do you know them?
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V cut two to one who flew at her and fired multiple rounds at her head to make sure he didn't get back up.
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V: We killed them, you don't remember, no wait, J left you out of that.
N: That when she was her?
Uzi: Look, I'd love to know the context of all this, but we could focus on that later!
​
Uzi blocked the claws of one of those things with his weapon, he held her and tried to snatch it away to leave her defenseless, because she pressed the trigger, the weapon began to shoot in all directions, accidentally hitting both the zombie drones and V and N.
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N: Ouch.
V: Be careful idiot!
Uzi: Do you think I can control it?!
​
One of the shots went to Doll, who covered herself waiting for the impact, but there was none, when she opened her eyes she saw that she had managed to stop the energy projectile in midair, she didn't have time to process this when one of those things struck her. stabbing him in the chest, she screamed in pain, but she wasn't going to sit idly by, so she redirected the projectile's course and launched it at the flying drone. Although she didn't hit the target, if she smashed her arms, she clearly didn't take it well and she lunged at Doll, who manifested several knives and threw them at her head to kill him once and for all.
On the other hand, V had to deal with 3 of those things, as if he didn't have enough problems. She turned her hand into a kind of harpoon and threw it at one of them, the harpoon stuck in the chest of the winged zombie and threw it at a group of common zombies that were approaching, the other two jumped towards her, she barely managed to stop. the first, but not the second, who bit his left arm. V grunted in pain before yelling at her partner.
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V: M!
N: I'm-
V: Help!
N: oh
​
He quickly destroyed the drone that was attacking him and flew towards V, taking the drone that was directly attacking her by surprise and threw it at another one that was flying towards them, smashing them in the air, V turned his free hand into a sword and attacked the drone that was attacking him. It bit the arm, but it was faster and ripped it off, she screamed, but in anger and changed her sword for a machine gun with which she shot at the creature, destroying it.
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V: Thanks, uh…
N:N
V: Yes, that.
​
Back with Uzi, she was trying to free her weapon from the grasp of the flying drone, who refused to let go.
​
Uzi: Oh come on, let it go.
​
Uzi kicked at the creature, but it had no effect, instead it hit him back, Uzi fell and the monster threw the weapon aside, she tried to move away, but he lunged at her, digging his claws into the snow and it opened its mouth, showing its sharp teeth and wires that dangled from its mouth. When the zombie was going to "bite" it, almost as if he did it out of instinct, Uzi attacked the creature, thrusting his fist into its mouth, then his hand turned into a claw and opened it, smashing its head, the monster fell dead. On top of her, Uzi pushed the body to the side and looked at her claw, covered in oil... and felt the need to taste it, lost in her thoughts it felt like time froze, until she heard Doll scream, she quickly regained her composure and returned his claw to normal. Doll was desperately trying to get rid of the tide of reanimated bodies that were trying to reach her, although she could easily just destroy them using her powers, it turned out that the damage caused by that "spider" in the colony somewhat interfered with her, so she was it was making it difficult to use them correctly. Quickly a flurry of energy shots tore most of them apart and they gave him time to get away from them. V flew into the air attracting the remaining flying zombies who started flying after her. N tried to follow them, but she saw that Uzi and Doll were being surrounded, she looked at V being surrounded in the air by those things, but Uzi was also in trouble. N had to decide whether to help Uzi or help V.
Uzi and Doll were trying to push back the zombies that were crawling towards them, Uzi's gun would run out of power at this point and Doll's powers would keep failing.
​
Uzi: Ugh, because they just don't die.
​
She kicked one that was nearby while the others kept getting closer. One who was supposedly dead behind Uzi, got up and grabbed her from behind, she tried to fight, but accidentally dropped her weapon, fed up with this, her hands turned into claws and she impaled the drone's head, then threw it to the ground and began to crush it over and over and over again until it was simply nothing but scrap.
She gasped at the incessant urge to kill, for doing so... felt good, felt VERY good, she looked at her claws again, with oil dripping from them, she again felt the need to taste it, but quickly came back to her senses when more of those zombies approached her, a wide smile broke out on her face while that strange symbol flashed on her visor, she didn't bother to retrieve her weapon, because she already had others.
As this was happening, a white eye under a mound of corpses watched the group fight their minions.
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​
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01000001 01000100 01000100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010110 01000001 01010010 01001001 01000001 01000010 01001100 01000101 01010011 11100010 10000000 10100110
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01010010 01000101 01001100 01000101 01000001 01010011 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010011 01010101 01000010 01001010 01000101 01000011 01010100
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​
Returning to our group, Uzi ripped and shredded the zombie drones that pounced on him, this while N and V took care of the last 2 remaining flying zombies.
​
V: huh, L?
N: It's N
V: Whatever, don't you think you should tell your girlfriend to calm down a bit?
N: what?! No, she's not-
​
No sooner had she noticed the small mountain of bodies that Uzi had created, she found herself hitting while she was laughing uncontrollably at a zombie that had stopped moving a long time ago.
​
N: Oh… that.
​
N managed to decapitate the flying zombie that was attacking him, then he approached Uzi, Doll was on one side watching, she didn't dare to approach her crazed companion.
​
N: Uh, Uzi?
​
Uzi ripped the head off one of the zombies and used it to hit the limp body of another that was next to it.
​
Doll: Я не думаю, что это хорошая идея, чтобы привлечь его внимание her?
N Uzi?
​
Uzi turned around, about to drink the oil from the head she was holding, until N caught her attention and she came to her senses.
​
Uzi: No?
N: what are you doing?
Uzi: I…
​
She quickly tossed her head to the side and climbed down the small hill of corpses that she had made.
​
Uzi: she was just in charge of cleaning the place.
N: Umm… And that was necessary?
​
N pointed to the mound of corpses that Uzi made.
​
Uzi: Oh, that, it's just… let's change the subject.
V: yes
​
V approached holding the head of the zombie that was attacking her, then smashed it to make sure the bastard stayed dead.
​
V: How to find your "little friend" and put an end to all this at once.
Uzi: Look, I want to end all of this too, but you don't think there's any alternative other than, you know, killing him.
V: NO
Doll: Ненавижу это признавать, но он прав.
​
Uzi looked at Doll confused considering that she tried to kill V just a few hours ago.
​
Doll: But that doesn't mean I like him.
​
V looked at Doll who looked at her annoyed, she rolled her eyes and turned her attention to N.
​
V: Well, I think he is already
​
V was interrupted when a kind of mechanical roar was heard in the distance.
​
V: DAMN IT, NOW WHAT!
​
And she was already fed up with these zombies, they simply did not stop coming, or so she thought, since there were practically none alive, but in the distance she could see a light moving erratically and quickly.
​
Uzi: What is that?
V: Ugh, I'll take care of it.
​
V opened his wings and flew into the blizzard which had increased, a few seconds passed without anything happening, until shots and sounds of clashing blades were heard, then V flew out and crashed into Doll.
​
N: V!
​
N rushed to help her partner while Uzi aimed his gun and fired at the approaching dim light, but missed as she was zic-zac.
​
Uzi: What the hell?
​
Suddenly, the creature jumped towards her, managing to ram her, the beast raised her claw to pierce it, but Uzi stopped it in time with his own, it was at that moment that she was able to see it more closely. He was moderately taller and bulkier than a common drone, he had a red jacket that was torn and covered in oil, his arms and legs were more robotic and coarse, in addition to having claws on both his hands and feet, his helmet was cracked and at the same time Like other zombies, it seemed that its jaw was attached to its head by cables, in addition to having a single glowing white eye in the middle of its visor.
​
Uzi: T-Thad?
​
A shot of energy hit the creature freeing Uzi, but this had not finished with it, as it was clearly more resistant than the others, the beast quickly recomposed itself and ran on all fours towards en, who fired again.
​
Uzi: No, wait.
​
N fired, but the zombie hunter dodged and jumped on him, digging his claws into his torso, N screamed in pain as the hunter violently withdrew his claws ripping into his chest and digging them into his face . Doll decided not to be left behind and materialized several knives around her and threw them at the creature. She, however, did not even bother to protect herself, since most of the knives could not go through his body and only one hit his head, but he simply took it from his face and threw it abruptly to the ground. He then began to approach her while chuckling slightly as Doll backed away, she tried to summon one of those weird symbols like when they were in the colony, but it just kept failing without interacting with the physical world. Luckily for her, V managed to wake up and lunged at the thing, using her swords to block the attack from her claws and trying to cut it.
​
V: I should have killed you when I had the chance!
​
He simply laughed, irritated by this, she managed to stab him into her chest with her sword, then spread her wings and began to soar with him.
​
N: W, wait!
​
V continues to rise as she punched the monster in the face.
​
V (hitting him): Let's see, if you keep laughing at this.
​
The creature continued laughing at her, V angrily tried to hit him to smash his head, but he caught her arm with her mouth and ripped it off causing her to scream in pain.
​
V: Ah, damn son of-!
​
But she couldn't finish when the enhanced zombie opened her mouth and several wires came out of it, digging into her head.
​
V: No
​
His visor glitched and a message appeared on it.
​
“THE SYSTEM HAS DETECTED HOSTILE COMPUTER AGENTS, PROCEEDING TO AN EMERGENCY RESET”
​
Then her body was inert beginning to fall at high speed. Below, Doll, N and Uzi looked expectantly when they noticed how they began to descend at high speed.
​
Uzi: Uh… that doesn't look good.
N: V!
​
N opened his wings and tried to reach them, but they crashed into the ground, generating a large cloud of dust and snow that covered the place. After a few seconds of waiting, the light from the creature's eye and its laughter became present and showed itself above. from V's body which cushioned the fall, N launched against the beast which responded in the same way, digging its claws into the torso, then opened them throwing large amounts of oil and took N's head and smashed it against the ground , only to then crush it with the claw of his foot, then he slowly turned his head and laughed when he saw the two remaining girls, to later launch himself on Doll.
​
Uzi: Ugh, dammit.
​
She tried to shoot, only to realize that she couldn't pull the trigger, it was as if her body refused to do it, while the zombie attacked Doll who threw knives at it to stop it but just like before, it was useless, because which using all his concentration, he managed to stop him by placing that strange holographic symbol on his limbs, although he could easily tear him to pieces at that moment, due to the failure of his powers, the most he could do was stop him, but that was enough, because Uzi could take care of the rest.
​
Doll: Давай, поторопись и сNESи ему голову.
​
Uzi raised her gun and aimed at the head of the zombie that was struggling to get free... but for some reason she couldn't pull the trigger, she tried to, but she couldn't, because in that monster she still saw her old friend her.
​
Doll: Узи, чего ты ждешь, я не могу-
​
The creature broke free of those holographic restraints causing a small burst of energy that sent Doll flying and knocked her unconscious. Then she directed her gaze to Uzi who still couldn't shoot him, he began to walk towards her while Uzi backed away out of fear.
​
Uzi: Thad
​
The creature began to laugh slowly as it extended its claws.
​
Uzi: I-I know you're there… please don't make me do this.
​
He did not stop his advance, in turn N recovered consciousness after regenerating seeing how that thing approached his friend.
​
N: Ozi!
​
Uzi finally using all his willpower managed to pull the trigger... but nothing happened. It turns out that he spent all of the weapon's energy on the zombie army from before. When he looked up he saw the zombie standing in front of her, staring at her with his only eye.
​
Uzi: Thad, I-
​
Uzi stopped as he felt the blades of the being's claws pierce his body, then the creature picked him up while roaring and split him horizontally in two, throwing his remains roughly in different directions, with the top falling to the side of the mound of bodies. that she had formed earlier and a few surviving zombies that were creeping towards her.
​
N: UZI!
​
N got up when he saw his friend being violently murdered and pounced on the monster that he had begun to laugh uncontrollably. He blocked the attack of his claws with his own and tried to subdue him, but N was too angry, and when that happens, he stops being the cute boy of the group, his visor showed an X instead of his eyes and he started to smile, then he held the creature's hands tightly and placed his foot on his chest, then he began to pull while it tried to free himself from his grip, but it was too late, N ripped off the zombie's arms and then dug his claws into his torso, beginning to destroying it while ripping out its insides even using his mouth, then he began to repeatedly hit its head with his hands and didn't stop until only shattered scrap was left. Despite this he didn't stop until he heard V's voice.
​
V: No?
​
N stopped his attack upon hearing that V finally remembered his name. Then they both looked at each other in awkward silence. To say that she was surprised was an understatement, J always said how N was a burden and a dead weight, so V's vision of him was not a big deal, but he never thought that his clumsy partner could "explode" like that. shape.
​
V (thinking): I wonder what J would have said if she saw you now?
N: I-
V: Look that doesn't matter now, that thing isn't really dead, now we just have to get rid of its body and all this hell will be over.
Doll: What kind of thing?
​
Doll said with her arms crossed, although she had been willing to help them finish this thing off, what would they do next? N and V were still Killer Drones, their purpose was to kill the worker drones, they would return to the colony and kill to all.
​
V (annoyed): What are you insinuating?
Doll: Что они собираются делать, когда закончат с этой штукой?
V: Look whatever your name is, I still haven't forgotten that you tried to kill me, so I would suggest you watch your words.
​
They both looked at each other with mutual contempt, while N was silent thinking about Uzi. But they all stopped when they heard a strange sound, like metal and plastic breaking. The three of them turned slowly in the direction of the creature and saw how it was getting up, despite its damaged state multiple cables were coming out of its body, and connected to the arms and various remains of other zombies scattered around the place and the remains of the shattered head, the wires from the head reached out and grabbed the head of the flying drone that N had decapitated earlier, then attached it to his body, for a few seconds there was silence, but it was broken by the laughter of that monster whose eye lit up in your viewer.
​
V: Why can't you just fucking die?!
Doll(scared): Ч-что это за монстр на самом деле?
​
N did not hesitate and launched himself again at Uzi's killer, but he had to avoid it as the zombie doubled his body and multiple cables with pieces of sharp metal extended from the large hole in his torso thanks to N. Then he rejoined and ran on all fours towards V and Doll, V changed his claws for weapons and started shooting, while Doll threw whatever she had, knives, throwing stars or pieces of zombie drones at him. But nothing seemed to stop him, V tried to sting him with the stinger of his tail, managing to infect his arm with the acid nanobots, but this did not seem to matter to him, even when it began to corrode and separate from his body. He countered by stabbing V into his arm and again ripping him from his body.
​
V: Not again!
​
The zombie was going to impale his head with his claws, but a holographic symbol of Doll around his wrist stopped him. N then charged and pinned him before throwing himself against a wall to pin him down.
​
N: V shoot!
​
V, unlike Uzi, did not hesitate and began to shoot at point blank range at both of them, the shots slightly damaged N but the same could not be said of the creature, that although its body could resist the shots, its head could not and it was being damaged. So to get rid of it, I grabbed the stinger from N's tail and cut it before digging into the head, causing it to remain inert on the ground, although the disassembly drones could resist the effect of their own nanobots, or at least of In a way that wasn't lethal, that didn't mean they couldn't hurt them. After breaking free, he ran again like a wild animal towards the two girls while they shot at him. V exchanged his amra for a sword while he attacked the monster.
​
V: JUST DIE!
​
He held the swords and using absurd force split them in two, V changed his weapon again, this time into normal claws. Then he tried to attack it with his claw, but the zombie opened its mouth and several cables came out like tentacles trying to catch it, V quickly moved away and avoided being touched, although he had tried to maintain his serious attitude throughout this time, the truth it's that there was something that worried her, and a lot, her arm, it didn't regenerate, well, it did, but VERY slowly. Because? Why wasn't her regeneration system repairing her at the same speed as before? What was that feeling in his chest? Was it fear?
V moved further away from the creature fearing for her life, whatever she did to him had triggered that survival instinct she apparently lacked, apparently a side effect of slowing her regeneration.
Doll looked annoyed at V when she saw that she was alone against this monster, who began to approach her in a threatening way while she laughed. She manifested various knives, saws, ninja stars and anything she could use as a weapon, then began to throw it at him as he began to run against her, unlike before if it had a greater effect, as the objects managed to go through his body and leave him still. more, but he kept advancing, even his cables quickly assimilated several of the objects that were thrown at him in his own body. Doll, on the other hand, was exhausted, using her powers so often and relentlessly was draining almost all of her energy, not to mention that they were not working properly, since several of the objects that she was throwing at her were vanishing in the air. So using what little energy she had left, she manifested various symbols on different parts of the zombie's body and turned them around several times, a horrible sound of metal and artificial organs breaking was heard as the creature's body fell to the inert ground. . Doll breathed heavily feeling her microprocessors boiling from overexertion, sure that now the damned should be dead...
I think by now you should get the idea that this is almost impossible, as her broken body began to rise again, twisting the broken joints and bending to stay upright. Then she began to walk on all fours towards her, she was helpless, too tired to do anything, she was about to close her eyes waiting for death when several shots attracted the creature. N and V started shooting at the monster in order to kill it once and for all, but without success. N had already regenerated and V had decided to attack again because she didn't know that this thing would inevitably kill them, but at least she wouldn't die hiding like a rat. Another confrontation with an obvious result was about to take place, but the zombie stopped and looked in another direction. The group of three looked confused in the same direction and noticed something, in the small mound of bodies from before, several of the zombies' bodies were torn apart and open, as if a wild animal had devoured them, since said animal was on its back. , over a corpse and what could be described as two wings made of... meat?, the creature slowly turned around and showed itself as Uzi, but in the middle of her visor was that strange symbol and her mouth had several sharp teeth, she started laughing when she flew at high speed against her old friend managing to ram him and causing them to crash against the wall causing a cloud of smoke, when this dissipated his new appearance could be better appreciated, his body looked slightly different, but his legs were now more similar to V's, in addition to possessing a tail with yellow acid on it, but the most prominent thing was clearly its wings that seemed to be made of meat. Uzi laughed and attacked the zombie Thad who could barely defend himself due to only having one arm, several cables came out of the zombie's mouth and tried to hold Uzi, but she countered with her tail which he bit and smashed, causing the acid to melt his wires and part of his jaw. As these two killed each other, V, N, and Doll looked away from the conflict.
​
V: Since when-?
N: We shouldn't help.
Doll: Я не думаю, что это хорошая идея?
​
Uzi pinned Thad slammed him repeatedly into the ground as he laughed uncontrollably, then without giving him a chance to defend himself plunged his claw into the hole in his chest and violently ripped out what could only be described as his heart. Whereupon the creature wailed in apparent pain, and its single eye went black. Uzi laughed as she dripped the oil onto her face.
​
V (pointing her arm at her weapon): Great now we have to deal with her.
Doll: Я думаю, мы не должны привлекать его внимание her-
N: Uzi you did amazing!
​
Uzi turned to look at them abruptly and smiled when he saw new prey, he put aside the artificial heart and began to approach them while she slightly tilted her head, as if they were analyzing them.
​
V: Goodbye to the surprise factor, idiot.
N: But, she-
​
Uzi's laughter began to increase as she approached them menacingly, so they "instinctively" began to back away. Uzi extended her claws ready to pounce on the poor defenseless group, as Doll could barely stand upright, V was missing an arm and his wounds were still not fully healed, N was the only one fit to fight, but it's not that the be willing to harm Uzi.
Just when she was about to pounce on them, suddenly the creature's arm grabbed her neck and pulled her close to him, showing that his "heart" had been reconnected by the cables that were reattached to his body. .
​
V: Oh you can't be serious!
N: Uzi!
​
N tried to go help her, but it was too late, the zombie opened her mouth and several new cables came out and stuck in Uzi's head. She struggled for a few seconds before going limp, N looked worried, but then the creature began to convulse violently, releasing Uzi.
​
01010011 01000101 01000011 01010101 01010010 01001001 01010100 01011001 00100000 01000010 01010010 01000101 01000001 01000011 01001000 00100000 01000100 01000101 01010100 01000101 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100
01010101 01001110 01001011 01001110 01001111 01010111 01001110 00100000 01001000 01001111 01010011 01010100 01001001 01001100 01000101 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001111 01000111 01010010 01000001 01001101 00100000 01000010 01010010 01000101 01000001 01001011 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010100 01001000 01010010 01001111 01010101 01000111 01001000 00100000 01000100 01000101 01000110 01000101 01001110 01010011 01000101 01010011
01010000 01010010 01001111 01000111 01010010 01000001 01001101 00100000 01001001 01001110 01000110 01000101 01000011 01010100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01000100 01000001 01010100 01000001 00100000 01001110 01010101 01010010 01001111 01001110 01000001 01001100 00100000 01001110 01000101 01010100 01010111 01001111 01010010 01001011
01000011 01001111 01010010 01010010 01010101 01010000 01010100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010011 01011001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01001101 01010011
01010000 01000101 01010010 01000110 01001111 01010010 01001101 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01000101 01001101 01000101 01010010 01000111 01000101 01001110 01000011 01011001 00100000 01010011 01001000 01010101 01010100 01000100 01001111 01010111 01001110
​
The creature's body went rigid and then fell limp to the ground, this time truly dead.
​
V:…what the hell just happened?!
N: Ozi!
N quickly approached Uzi who was unconscious on the ground, he lifted her up and tried to make her react. On her visor could be seen a constantly rotating charge symbol.
​
N: Come on Uzi, she reacts.
​
N tried to see if she could do anything, but it's not like he really knew how to fix her, especially given the change in her body. But luckily for him, her visor came on and Uzi started to react, this time without that strange symbol on her face.
​
Uzi: Ugh, my head, what happened.
N: uzi
​
N hug Uzi happily.
​
Uzi: N… I… can't… breathe.
N: Oh, sorry.
Uzi: *gasp* Thanks, I felt like, wait-
​
It was at that moment that Uzi felt something strange in his back and her legs, when he turned to look, to say that she was surprised was an understatement.
​
Uzi: WHAT?! WHEN?! AS?!
​
Uzi looked in shock at her wings and legs, as well as her tail whose stinger was broken. But I also notice something, Thad's body lying on the ground, rapidly closing in on him.
​
Uzi: Oh Thad.
N: are you okay?
Uzi: Yes, only…
​
I look sadly at the body of her former friend.
​
N: Don't worry, it was for the best.
​
At that moment V coughed to get her attention.
​
V: I don't want to ruin her “moment”. But I think we should find a way to kill this thing.
Doll: Разве она не мерт-
V: Don't say it!
N: Say what?
V: That damn thing is dead because it surely isn't!
​
As if it was a response from fate, a strong earthquake started at that moment.
​
Uzi: Wow, what's going on?
​
She suddenly came to a stop... only for moments later what could be described as several giant tentacles made of wires to emerge from the ground towering over the group who were in a visible state of shock.
​
V:… How I hate myself.
Doll: Я тоже ненавижу тебя.
Uzi: FOR ROBOT-CHRIST WHAT THE HELL!
N(in a panic): This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening.
​
Then one of the tentacles began to descend dangerously in the direction of the group that quickly began to flee.
​
Uzi: Watch out!
​
The tentacle crashed into the ground digging into it, although it missed by a considerable distance, the ground began to crack, creating a crack that began to widen more and more.
​
Uzi: wow
​
Uzi lost her balance due to his new legs and fell into the void, not that she's used to how to use them.
​
N: Uzi!
​
N quickly launched after her spreading her wings. V and Doll tried to escape, but it was useless, because the ground began to collapse and Doll was about to fall, but she managed to hold on to V, who tried to get her off of her.
​
V: Get off me!
​
V struggled with Doll, completely forgetting that the damn floor was opening up, which is why she didn't notice when a large piece of rock collided with them and made them fall into the void. The crack began to widen as it swallowed various debris, zombie remains… and Thad's body. While a certain artificial life construct was beginning to see its priorities.
​
01010000 01000001 01010010 01010100 01001001 01000001 01001100 00100000 01000100 01000001 01010100 01000001 01000010 01000001 01010011 01000101 00100000 01000011 01001111 01010010 01010010 01010101 01010000 01010100 01001001 01001111 01001110
01001111 01010101 01010100 01010011 01010100 01000001 01001110 01000100 01000101 01000100 00100000 01000100 01000101 01000110 01000101 01001110 01010011 01000101 00100000 01010011 01011001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01001101 01010011
​
01000100 01001111 01001110 00100111 01010100 00100000 01010101 01001110 01000100 01000101 01010010 01010011 01010100 01000001 01001110 01000100
​
01010010 01000101 00101101 01000101 01010110 01000001 01001100 01010101 01000001 01010100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001001 01001111 01010010 01001001 01010100 01001001 01000101 01010011
​
00101101 01000101 01010011 01000011 01000001 01010000 01000101 00100000 01000110 01010010 01001111 01001101 00100000 01001100 01001111 01000011 01001011 01000100 01001111 01010111 01001110 00100000 01011011 01000001 01000011 01001000 01001001 01000101 01010110 01000101 01000100 01011101
00101101 01010010 01000101 01001101 01001111 01010110 01000001 01001100 00100000 01001111 01000110 00100000 01001111 01010010 01000111 01000001 01001110 01001001 01000011 00100000 01001100 01001001 01000110 01000101 00100000 01000110 01001111 01010010 01001101 01010011 00100000 01011011 01000001 01000011 01001000 01001001 01000101 01010110 01000101 01000100 01011101
00101101 01010011 01010101 01010010 01010110 01001001 01010110 01000001 01001100 00100000 01011011 01001001 01001110 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001111 01000011 01000101 01010011 01010011 01011101
00101101 01001000 01001111 01010011 01010100 01001001 01001100 01000101 00100000 01000110 01001111 01010010 01000011 01000101 00100000 01010010 01000101 01001101 01001111 01010110 01000001 01001100 00100000 11100010 10000000 10011100 01001010 01000011 01001010 01100101 01101110 01110011 01101111 01101110 11100010 10000000 10011101 00100000 01011011 01001111 01001110 00100000 01010011 01010100 01000001 01001110 01000100 01000010 01011001 01011101
00101101 01010000 01010010 01001111 01010100 01000101 01000011 01010100 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 00100000 01000101 01010110 01000101 01010010 01011001 01010100 01001000 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01011011 01001101 01000001 01011000 01001001 01001101 01010101 01001101 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001001 01001111 01010010 01001001 01010100 01011001 01011101
​
01000001 01010011 01010011 01000101 01010011 01010011 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01010011 01001001 01010100 01010101 01000001 01010100 01001001 01001111 01001110
​
11100010 10000000 10100110
​
01010011 01010100 01000001 01010010 01010100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01000001 01010000 01001111 01001100 01001100 01011001 01001111 01001110 00100000 01010000 01010010 01001111 01010100 01001111 01000011 01001111 01001100
----------------
YES, it was expected that episode 4 would be split into two parts due to how long it is, but I'm still glad to be able to release this before episode 5 of the series comes out as I don't want to see it and then have to change several things at the last minute, so the next part will be the last... of course if I don't overexplain it by mistake, XD.
​
Pdta: If you notice grammar errors or some misspelled words, it's because I don't speak English, use google translator to translate this, so some things may not be understood correctly.

I started a z pack yesterday around 12pm for a sinus infection/ear pain. I took it with a full meal to ensure it didn’t hurt my stomach. Took the second dose (third pill) around the same time today. My appetite has been pretty normal since I started but I’ve been randomly getting really nauseous. I have three more doses and it’s not like the nausea is unbearable, I was able to go to work today and I was fine I just felt random waves of nausea. And I did use the bathroom a few times due to my stomach feeling uneasy but like I said I haven’t vomited or had diarrhea. I slept around 7 and a half hours last night and felt a lot more tired and weak all day. Is nausea and overall weakness a normal side effect?

So, a few years back, I decided to give the role a try, and I didn't really enjoy it. I immediately switched back over to software development. Unfortunately, my company had a reorg about a year in, during the pandemic, where they placed me on a team where my title was a software engineer, but it was an SRE job in disguise. I repeatedly had talks with my manager about wanting to develop more. Still, whenever any work of that nature came up, they only gave it to the new hires or the extremely senior engineers. This went on for about a year. I switched teams again, but alas, it was another "DevOps-only" software development role, despite them telling me that this is not what they were hiring for. There was no code development in sight, not for at least a couple of years apparently. I felt a little lied to by the company as a whole (but really it was just the org) at this point, so I did something stupid. A FAANG company reached out and wanted to recruit me for an SRE role on their team. I was honest with them, but I moved forward with the role under the assumption that the role may be a little better at a bigger company. I was wrong, it was worse. I switched back to software development there, and I was finally settled. I was so happy, but of course, in 5 months, my entire team was laid off. Having never been unemployed before, I may have freaked out a bit. I applied everywhere - to everything. I did not realize that we had to take the first job that offered us a role. Again, here I am in another SRE job. This time, I decided to remove everything SRE-related from my resume - every single thing. I'm trying to make it look like I have no experience with DevOps, cloud, or automation. But now, I can't get interviews at all. The last few recruiters actually turned out to be spam and were flagged by my inbox as scammers. So, I'm a bit stuck right now. I just want to create things, and while I can do the other work, I don't want it to be the primary part of my role. I can sense my development skills getting rusty, so I'm trying to work on personal projects to keep things up to date, but wow it is beginning to be tiring. Is there any way I can truly resolve this? I really want to get it right this time around.

Tbh, I am not sure where to begin.. sorry for the long post
I (F34) am currently a graduate student earning graduate degree. So my income isn't as great as my SO (M35). My SO income is about 2.5 fold of what mine is and we are comfortable. We own a three unit house, rent two of them out, while we stay in one of the unit. Each unit is about 1000 sqft, with a large fenced in backyard.
We have quite a few animals (cats and dogs). My SO is in charge of the dogs while I am in charge of taking care of the cats. Not sure if it's relevant.
We have been together for 9 years and married for 6. We have had plenty of arguments of my SO not doing their fair share of chores because of their inherited diseases (EDS which cause osteoarthritis because they had to go through two knee surgery and one shoulder surgery) as we grew older it gets harder for my SO to move so, after MANY MANY arguments we decided on hiring cleaning services. It started this year.
In the meantime, while the chores responsibilities are kind of out of the way, I am getting tired of requesting my SO to put things back where they got it from. These happened a few times. My SO would often NOT SEE something, then ASK where it is before even searching for it. They they would, pretend to SEARCH for it while taking everything out (just looked) and decided the needed items weren't there. I am getting very fedup of this behavior. I feel like this is a child-like behavior that should be corrected. But alas, my SO is an adult and you can't change an adult.
Then it dawned me :

1. I have been doing the groceries. My SO does grocery too but only when they needed something for themselves (for example, chocolate milk), then will they go to the store.
   
   1. I cook 2-3 times a week, I cook a big batch and store it. My SO is in charge of cleaning. However, my SO would leave the cleaning to the very last minute when we have the sink so full that we can not put anything in for my SO to load the dishwasher. I have noted multiple times I do not like the sink to be dirty. I always want it cleaned, but of course it falls to deaf ears.
2. I am in charge to look for the cleaning services, I am the person in charge searching for ppl to mow the lawn, I was in charge of finding handyman to fix the problems our tenants are having. Sometimes I am in charge of finding someone for snow removal.
   
3. I am in charge of cleaning the cat litter, while my SO is in charge of clearing the backyard with dog poops. My SO typically lets the dogs out twice a day about 5 min each time. At the beginning, my SO NEVER cleaned the backyard of the dog poop because "it nourishes" the grass. (And also whenever they want to clean the back yard they are in a lot of pain from the osteoarthritis). After multiple arguments (maybe about 2 years every other month) they started to clean more often. Maybe 1-2 times a month now.
   
4. My SO is in charge of filling up water for the animals (only filling), hardly washing it until I point it out or I did it myself. Then my SO would be "I was about to clean it today".
   
5. My SO is also in charge of taking out the trash weekly. Which is one thing they do amazingly!
   
6. I deal with the finances, I make sure all bills are paid on time, credit card paid off monthly. We are definitely living comfortably.
   
7. I am in charge of dealing with the tenants so I requested my SO to be in charge of looking for handyman or contractors to fix up the house... But recently it proves to be a failure. There was a leak in the house and I asked my SO to make a call to the person who did our roof. Typically when I request, I do expect it to get done within 24 hours.... After a few days my SO made that call, but no one answered. My SO stopped trying........ Didn't even bother following up anymore. I requested my SO to call again... After almost a week... This is not a one time incident. Everytime a contractor or handyman did not reply my SO completely shuts down and does not want to follow up. When I asked why dont they follow up, I was met with "They didn't answer my phone the last time I called". I don't think following up once a day was too bad, considering we paid $20k for the roof to get it fix couple years back. Anyway, they came once and said needed a ladder, but never told us when they would come back. That was 5 days ago... I am not going to make a call to the contractor because I feel like this is what needed to be done personally.
   

So my question is am I overreacting for my SO lack of wanting to search for stuff and then refusing to put away stuff the way my SO took it out? Not following up with stuff they should be following up, like contractors? I often tell my SO "you never do things" but that isn't true (that is one problem statement I have to fix). My SO does some stuff, but it is often not enough, or things are done HALFWAY... But they would always reply "I do stuff you don't acknowledge, you only acknowledge stuff when I don't do it"
Am I overreacting for wanting to get out of this relationship? I don't even want kids with this person considering they have many health problems not to mention all these personalities crash we have here. I personally think if they cannot act like a adequate adult they should not have kids.
I feel so sick just thinking about this problem. I am so sick with living with someone who just doesn't care. I tried so hard to let things go, and tell myself this is who my SO is and there is no use trying to change a person, especially someone who's growing older and grumpier by the year (due to their pain I assumed). What do I do?? Should I recommend couples therapy? What good would that do, if my SO level of cleanliness/tidiness vs mine are so different? I let go while letting my SO tendencies run free?

I feel like I am completely... alien to those around me.
I have little clue on how to communicate well, I can't speak well, I seldom have, despite the fact that I work in a high up position that involves me communicating a lot. Thankfully, I can write emails.
I have few friends, and what few I do, I feel so distant from, whether intentionally or unintentionally. They all feel so strange, and so distant and cold, I try my hardest to maintain contact and maintain peace with all around me, yet I feel it is all in vain.
I don't even know how to make new friends, even after all that. It feels like a fizzled firework, I make and establish contact, it sparks, it launches, it goes well, and suddenly... it fizzles. They leave, they go, they ghost, they disappear, I don't even see the slightest bit of effort in return.
The one friend who I feel even close to has just spiraled into something he never was, yet how close he was/is to me, and how alike we are and how we are almost completely identical, he has gone and changed so much.
I can't even tell if I hate or love myself because I have masked myself so much, I have become unrecognizable, a complete shadow of my former self, whether for better or for worse, it has happened. I feel successful, but I don't feel alive, complete, no matter how many goals or achievements I attain. I have made absolute history within my company, and even though I know I do so well, I still feel I am lagging behind.
Maybe I am just tired, or lonely, or feel isolated, but I simply have for so, so long.
In truth, I have no clue why I am writing this. I have just had this itch, this urge to get this out, here specifically. If you have comfort in this rant, I applaud you, or rather, I sympathize with you. If anyone reads this wholly, I cannot thank you enough.
​
Thank you in advance.

You, shmungus, are eating a hamburger on a boat when suddenly, a woman walks up to you. She asks you to help find her child. You told her you would, and she led you to where she last saw her kid. It was the back of the boat. All of a sudden, she pushed you off. You looked for something to grab onto, and you found the anchor. You held on to the chain for dear life. The ship came back to land and you hopped off and swam to shore. People started looking at you strangely. A child walked up to you and asked if you were okay. Offering her hand, the child smiled. You took her hand and she was shining with happiness. Her mom came over and picked her up. The child protested and you heard her say she liked you. You smiled, and sat down on the beach.
Chapter 2: You went to the resturaunt and sat down. A waitress came to your table and you realized that she was the woman who pushed you off the boat. You saw that her name was Kimberly. You decided to order a hamburger and when you finished eating, you exited the resturaunt and called the police. When you explained the situation, they said they'd look into it. Later, you were wandering around the city when you got tired. You had a bit of money. You decide to go to a hotel and rent a room. Later that day, you find out that there is a pool. When you're going down to the pool, you see the girl from the beach and her mom. The girl notices and waves. You wave back. You both go to the pool, and while the girl plays with the other kids, you and her mom begin to talk. You explain that you were walked out on by your wife, who took your son. The woman introduced herself as Kylie, and her daughter's name was Cynthia. The two of you talked about some fun adventures, and you find out that you like her.
Chapter 3: after a few hours of talking, you asked for Kylie's number to stay in touch. To your disbelief, she said yes. You returned to your room, and went to bed. When you woke up, you saw a text message from your son. It says "hey pops. I miss you and am going to a small resturaunt tomorrow. Can we meet?" You went to the resturaunt your son was going to, and you saw him.
Chapter 4: "Hey, champ. How you doing?" You asked. "Good. Finally moved out. Mom desperately wanted to keep me from seeing you but I miss you." Yout son replied "Jeremy, I missed you. Glad you reached out to me." You said. You and Jeremy caught up with eachother. He now has a loving wife who is expecting a baby in 4 months. You smile and look at how much Jeremy's grown. Suddenly, Kylie and Cynthia come in, and notice him. They wave and come to talk. Jeremy flashes you a look, and you shake your head, laughing. The two girls meet Jeremy, and then he goes home to care for his wife. You, Kylie and Cynthia finished eating and walked back to the hotel. It was time for you to be on the move again. You never really had a chance to live somewhere permanently. You accidentally blurted it out and Kylie offered for you to stay at their place. You scratch your neck and smile in embarrasment.
Chapter 5: When the two girls took you to their house, Kylie apologized for it being small. You told her not to be sorry for giving you a place to live. You smile and decide that you are cooking dinner tonight. You went out and bought some groceries, and whipped up some burgers. You, Kylie and Cynthia all dig in. They are joyous with how good it is. It soon became late, and Cynthia was told to get ready for bed. Kylie then asks what led you to wish ashore that day. You decided to tell her that you were pushed off of a boat. Kylie looked at you and you could tell in her gaze that she felt sorry. You told her that she didn't need to be sorry and you were grateful for Cynthia's kindness. You then fell asleep.
Chapter 6: You were having a dream of warmth all around you. No pollution or crime. It was the ideal life. When you woke up, you found Cynthia and Kylie sleeping right next to you. When Kylie woke up, you said good morning and she started apologizing. You said it was okay as long as she slept well. When Cynthia woke up, you decided to make breakfast. Afterwards, you look for a job, and find three to go for. Our of the three choices, you choose to go for welding. After a bit of training and research, you try and get the job, and qualify immediately! You're quite shocked. On your first day of work, you do so well, that the boss wants to promote you! HR doesn't allow it because it's your first day. A week later you get your first pay. You got a good sum of money, and are considering moving out. When you tell Kylie and Cynthia, Cynthia asks you to stay, and Kylie just says it is your choice.
Chapter 7: You decide to stay because of Cynthia asking. You keep making money to help with rent and you look for houses to buy, because the apartment the three of you are staying in is really loud. You find 5 houses. You choose one with two floors, two bedrooms, and three bathrooms. When you, Kylie and Cynthia moved in, you all stared in amazement. It looked magnificent. After exploring and playing around, night rolls around. You claim a bedroom, and Kylie takes the other one. Cynthia asks to go in with you. You tell her that she should accompany Kylie. She nodded and said goodnight, then you slept like a baby.
Chapter 8: The next morning you are working out and Kylie and Cynthia join. You let Cynthia and Kylie join you, and you teach them stuff from when you were a kid learning fighting. You taught them how to punch properly, throw good kicks, and trained their endurance. Weeks go by, and one day, after a workout session, Kylie and Cynthia walk over to you and give you a hug, thanking you for being there and helping them. You hugged them back, smiling. The three of you stood there for three minutes, and when you all let go, everybody smiled. You got a text from Jeremy, and it was a photo of him, his wife, and their first-born son. Beaming with pleasure, you congratulate him and his wife. He then asks if you want to come down.
Chapter 9: When you came to the hospital, you met Jeremy's wife, Amie. She was a sweet girl with a soothing aura. Amie held the baby and you took a look at it. "It's a boy. We named him Drake." Amie said. You picked up the baby gently, and held it in the air. "This baby will be spoiled rotten." You said enthusiastically. Everyone shared a quick laugh. "Mom was here earlier. She never seems to want to meet you." Jeremy said solemnly. "Never mind that Jeremy. You've got your kid and wife to take care of now." You said, hand on Jeremy's back. When you get back home you get a text from a number. It said "hey. If you're alive, head to the alley between the mall and the office building. I know this is the right number, because Jeremy had it on his phone."
Chapter 10 (finale): You go to the alley with a metal pipe and a kitchen knife. A figure in a hood stands at the other end. The figure whipped out a knife of her own and lunged at you. You blocked with the pipe and jabbed the knife out, catching the mask that the silhouette was wearing. The person jumped back, but you went forward again, underhand slashing at the mask. The mask falls and behind it lies your ex-wife's face. She charges at you, screaming. "I should've made sure you were dead when you were on the boat!" She shouted at you. You kicked the knife out of her hands and tried to go for her again, but she pulled out another knife and stabbed you in the shoulder. You wonder if you should pull the knife out and use it. You decide not to pull out the knife. You take your pipe and lunge, but soon you realize that was a mistake. Kimberly (your ex) slashed your left eye and stabbed you with another knife she had hidden. You wobbled forward and she kicked you into the ground. You lay on the ground, staring at Kimberly. She walks toward you, twirling a butterfly knife she lunges, and then something drives into her. Jeremy stands in front of your Kimberly and Kylie and Cynthia drag you back. "Mother or not, I'll hurt you if you hurt someone I love." Jeremy said, glaring. He leapt forward and kicked Kimberly. She dropped the knife and Jeremy picked it up, slashing her tendons so she can't move. "We saw the text." Kylie said. Jeremy knocked Kimberly to the ground and tied her up with a rope and called the police. They came and arrested Kimberly, and you blacked out. (Two years later...) "Honey get up." Kylie said. In the two years after the incident, you and Kylie got married, and were raising Cynthia together. You, Kylie and Cynthia were going to a meeting with Jeremy, Amie and Drake. The six of you asked someone to take a picture, and you put your arm around Kylie and Cynthia, smiling when the camera took the picture. The end.

My gf and i have been together for 15 months, and i would say we're pretty happy together. But she said something to me that's stuck with me for months.
About 8 months ago in October 2022, I was across the country from her for a competition i was an athlete in, which lasted about a week. We called every night in order to keep in touch with each other.
One night on call, i had made a light hearted joke about my looks or something and sarcastically saying how i was the hottest man alive. It's important to note that we both like making really sarcastic jokes and puns and that's always kind of been our love language. Right after i said that though, fully seriously, she says that if she was dating for looks, then she certainly wouldn't be with me.
I initially just laughed it off, but i could tell by her tone that she wasn't joking. I have known her long enough to know when she is and isn't poking fun. A few minutes later i said that it genuinely hurt me because she's known that I've always been very insecure about my looks and my body, and I can't fully remember what she said after that, but i still think about that a lot.
I've told her about this maybe a month ago and i told her how it still hurts, and she says she never meant it and that she was just tired, which is understandable as it was around 11pm, but it still makes me think that's how she genuinely feels and her being tired caused her to accidentally let that slip.
I don't know what to do since i still can't shake this feeling. Any advice or anything i could try to do? All advice and input appreciated.
Tldr: 8 months ago my gf told me that if she wanted to date for looks, she wouldn't be dating me, and i still can't get over it because i feel insecure.

And this has been the absolute worst year of life. I am so unhappy. Friends are urging me to celebrate and not isolate myself. But I just can't.
Our breakup has weighed heavily on me and I am just trying to get by. I don't feel like there is much worth celebrating. The truth of it is that I tried my best. I guess he tried his best to feel a certain way, to see it the way I see it. I wanted us to last so badly. But he just couldn't feel that way about me to WANT to get married. I didn't even want a wedding! Just a court or city hall kind of thing. He just couldn't reassure me that it's on the horizon eventually.. he was always resistant. Not once did I ever feel like he wanted to spend forever with me. Just...... right now, I guess. Maybe the next year or two? Any talks of anything beyond that.. felt like I was backing him into a corner even though I didn't mean to. Felt like exerting my need for a plan was putting too much pressure on him. It's been years.... and we are just to continue dating?
I started to feel bad that my longing for security and purposeful living started to go inwards. What could possibly be so wrong with marrying me? :( He said I make him so happy and loved and he loved me back right? Says I'm amazing, a catch, and appreciates how wonderful I am to him. It pained me that he could be so sweet to me day to day for years.., yet when I bring up longer term commitment.. it's like he shuts down. Like the topic was to be avoided in order to resolve conflict. Like a taboo :(
I tried to love him harder to change his mind. To make him see it could be a good thing! I offered my best side. I was so worn down by the end. I asked if I were to reassure him of his worries (prenup, hysterectomy).. THEN, would he want to get married because the union and value of marriage means so much to me...? I was STILL met with hesitancy. Like a compromise that he didn't want to make. Hearing him continue to reject my idea of marriage, basically drawing up a list of pros and cons (mainly cons)... and reject my values felt lt like I was trying to convince someone to want to be with me, because that's what I wanted.... with him. It just shattered my heart so much. :( So many conversations about it. And my heart broke every time.
So, here I am. Choosing to walk away but with barely enough energy to pull myself back together and heal. I have spent the last couple of years agonizing whether I am being impatient or whether I am asking for too much. Wondering what was so wrong with me that I have to negotiate my way into someone's heart. Wondering if he knew all along it wasn't gonna happen but strung me along anyway so I'd continue to treat him the way I did until I got to this very tired, very beaten down point. I am really trying not to see it that way because if so, then that would just be the worst form of selfishness and betrayal. And what if .. what if he's not opposed to marriage, he's just opposed to marrying ME? god just the thought of that makes me spiral. I can't believe I lost so much of myself trying to make this align.
So I guess happy almost birthday to me? It's sad being here. It's sad grieving the good things the relationship came with, the love I seemed to have, the day to day sweet nothings, how he treated me with affection and how happy I was when we were together. And choosing to walk away because it wasn't ever going to lead to anything more than that. Because at the end of the day, we couldn't see eye to eye on this.
I guess I'm choosing having him absent... Than having him.. yet resistant. I can't be happy either way. And I'm so miserable without him, it's almost as bad as being with him and being rejected over these conversations on a semi-regular basis.
I'm trying my best. I feel depleted of my resources and exhausted that my efforts led to this sadness anyway. :( I really hope I heal. I hope I get through this. I hope I didn't just waste these years. I hope I meet someone who will actually WANT to think about a future or marriage with me :( instead of treating it like a taboo topic to be swept under the rug.., to be covered up by the illusion of 'love' but non commitally.
That's all. Thanks for reading. I don't know what compelled me to post here to be honest, but I just feel so alone in my sadness and I want to believe that's not the case.

Really wanted to get a Happy Baby Carrier Original for our incoming daughter. Been following up on thier website for weeks but all is sold out. Was setup to receive notifications as soon as restock happened. Logged on right away (within 5 minutes) of getting the text and everything was gone.
Was on eBay today and a seller is selling a brand new carrier from the recent restock for $315 plus shipping. These people are gross. The HBC is only $170 brand new. When actual parents need/want the carrier they can't get it for a fair price because scum bag scalpers like this are buying them up and selling them at almost double the value. Really sick and tired of the aggressive greed. Can't buy anything anymore without someone trying to nickel and dime you for it.

Hi there! I'm a 26 year old clean and respectful 6 ft tall blue collar hispanic male looking for FWB/ ANR. I live in Downtown Long Beach but can travel and meet you anywhere you'd like. My kink is that I love to suckle on breasts and eating out my partner. What can I say? I love being a giver, nothing turns me on more than hearing a satisfied woman plead for more. I have a great track record and would love put these words into action. I could do it for hours and treat you to dinner like the gentleman that I am afterwards.
If breast play isn't you're thing that's perfectly okay, I got other talents too. I'm experienced at eating pussy/ ass, kissing, massaging, affirmations, breeding, being dominant/submissive, playing rough or making slow passionate love. I'm fun guy looking for a fun time 😏. Open to all body types and ages. Whether you're jessie's girl or Mrs. Robinson, Big or small, I love them all.
I'm someone that that doesn't mind getting to know each other first so if you're a little shy and if the mood's right we can go further on YOUR terms. I'm all about consent, boundaries and practicing safe sex. Send me a dm if you're interested or tired of being lonely and unsatisfied, maybe I'll be your guy😉

There’s a fascination about you, a motley of strange colors I’ve never seen before. Yellow mostly. I read you a bit like poetry and I am transposed into another era, simpler times somewhere beneath a dogwood tree. I might have known you then. In limbs or verses. You might have been the song of a pair of mockingbirds, or freesias and bluebells from a quiet Spring. You might have been a thousand things, all at once. A sun ray between my fingers, a raindrop on my skin. You might have been lemonade. Something, something I can’t quite wrap my head around because you’re more than pile of bones. You’re an experience. At least you feel that way. A breeze that rushes past and you don’t where it came from or where it’s going, but you felt it. It carried a part of you with it. Or am I just getting carried away? How very tiring it is to be human sometimes. What’d I’d give to be a dervish petal caught in your subtle breeze. You’re full of wonder and enchantment. I haven’t seen you around these parts before.

I'm open to offers. Shipping is $5. Will combine shipping if you buy multiple. I have several more to add but I'm tired of typing for now. I'll add more later.
Bilmuri - Goblin Hours/Letters pinwheel variant (variant 5) - $65
Andrew Jackson Jihad - Only God Can Judge Me 7th press baby blue (limited to 200) - $45
Run The Jewels - Bust No Moves 12' single clear - $20
Underoath - Erase Me deluxe white (unopened) - $30
Underoath - Voyeurist indie gold w/ black (unopened) - $20
Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends red Furnace Fest 1000 (unopened) - $40
Thrice - To Be Everywhere blue w/ rainbow RSD (unopened) - $30
Weezer - Pinkerton VMP blue transparent - $60
ST - Deadpool red/black burst signed by JXL (unopened) - $50
ST - Transformers (original animated movie) LP1 autobot red, LP2 decepticon purple - $50
ST - Luke Cage Mondo black (unopened) - $35

For the people still cutting, aren’t y’all tired of the diet cokes, the diet ginger ale, flavourless Gatorade zero and all this artificial sweetness?! I DEMAND SOMETHING SALTY!
I am looking for a business partner to release these flavour across North America as soon as possible, possibly before the summer ends, I am on Ali Baba as we speak

1) Doner Kebab/ Shawerma flavour: (we will ship this flavour especially for our European friends if needed)

2) Protein style McDonalds Quarter Pounder ( For my keto friends)

3: Rice Paper Chicken Rolls (for my Thai folks living abroad and hogging all the legal steroids from the pharmacies)

4) cottage cheese, ground beef and cheese cakes (Arnold Schwarzenegger inspired; weekend speciality flavour due to the cheesecake)

5) Tuna-fitsch protein shake (a terrifying moment that will forever be solidified in body building history)

6) Kangaroo Patties (Paying homage to Zyzz: target audience is the broccoli heads)

Sry, very hungry, this was actually distracting and took a long time so I forgot about hunger

Two days prior him stonewalling I discussed with him on how I would like more time to hang out since we recently became long distance again until Sept. he said he would but every time we would our calls would only last 30 mins only for him to say “I’m very tired” following multiple yawns since he’s working all day until 6 + his increased dislike of social media since around March. The thing is he’ll play video games with his friends for hours and then talk to me for a little bit basically not prioritizing me after I asked him to.
Moving forward three days ago he promised he’d hang out with me, but instead ended up playing video games with his friends until 1am. I called him a couple times and was ignored. With that I responded with a frustrated response of:
“thanks for keeping the promise. And for ignoring me all day and not bothering to send me a single message on here, Snapchat, Instagram, or msgs after calling you multiple times to just hang out.
You didn’t even bother to update me or say a little” hey hun I’m gonna be busy gonna have to postpone” which I would’ve been bummed but ultimately just fine”
And since that message I’ve been basically ghosted by him. Every social media app I’ll see he’s active on —> call —> no response. More than 20 calls I’ll sadly say.
The next day I stupidly and emotionally immaturely sent him a few dms of me apologizing to him for what I said. But I since have blocked him on msgs so I wouldn’t see any response he would have to them and only to the original text I sent on discord that I pasted above.
We’ve been together for almost 2 years and have been best friends for 4. He’s only done this twice but it was early in our relationship.
What should I do? I don’t really feel like calling/texting him again until he response bc I need to respect myself but I’m at a point where my mental and physical health has been effected by this and I just need to take care of myself. I just need advice.

Female Age:33 Diagnosis: Hypothyroidism, Endometriosis, Anemia Medication: Trintellix 5mg, Levothyroxine 75 mg ( was taking this ) Weight:215
Doctor wont continue my medication…
I was diagnosed around age of 18 with hypothyroidism. I was feeling so exhausted all the time, gained weight and could not loose it. When I got my test results I was put on levothyroxine 75mg for hypothyroidism. Well I switched doctors a few years later and all the sudden she said since my levels are now fine she wont refill my medication. However she was refilling my medicine for a year or so even though my levels were still in normal range. They were Probably in normal range because of taking my medication for almost 10 years. However she still insisted I don’t need it if my levels are normal.
I now switched to seeing a new doctor and explained to him I was on my medication for years but was all the sudden told I cant still take it without an abnormal lab. He also said since labs are within “range” he would just send me to endocrinologist. The last one also didnt even bother with me.
Im just frustrated because I am having symptoms of being tired, weight that wont come off, thin hair etc same thing I was having even before I got put on medicine. Although my levels are within “range”I did notice it’s creeping up slowly every year now almost out of normal range.
It just does not make sense the whole reason I got to a normal range in the first place was because of the medication… which is why they kept me at 75mg of Levothyroxine again for almost 10 years. Now the other doctor stopped me so no other doctor wants to put me back on…
Im thinking of just ordering something from Amazon for thyroid and see if that helps me and just continue getting blood work to make sure it does not go opposite which I highly doubt since being on my medication for years never made me go opposite. Just trying to understand what to do and if it would hurt for me to try something natural ( thyroid medicine they have for example on amazon)

We've known each other for like a few years now but like idk we got close a few months ago and I've been horrible and selfish and I get depressed and just lash out at her and and do drugs to try to make myself feel better and she's always worried I'm gonna overdose and kill myself or like we'll be talking and doing stuff and her girlfriend messages her and then they go do stuff together and I feel like I'm being ditched even though I know that's not the case considering she spends like all day with me like every day and like idk I can't keep it in and I don't think and I make her feel really guilty even though I'm not trying to and I'm coming off as manipulative and toxic and I don't wanna and she's all I have I literally don't have any other friends like all I have is my mom and we've just been arguing non stop constantly for a few weeks now and like I'm terrified I'm gonna push her away also my last ex left me because I'd constantly be too low and depressed and he also said I was being manipulative and toxic and I just do this to everyone around me and I've lost everyone around me I've been through like therapy and stuff and nothing helps... I don't wanna be alone I just wanna stop hurting everyone around me and I'm not sure what to do I think she's like close to her last straw because everything I do now is annoying her like I ask her what she ate and stuff and how her breakfast was and then I get a huge response about how it's so annoying that I'm constantly asking like these stupid details and I think she just thinks I'm too clingy and doesn't wanna say it to me cause she knows it's gonna hurt my feelings... Like idk I don't wanna be this sensitive but I am and it's awful and I'm so happy she's still here and hasn't left like my relationships don't last longer than a month usually because people get sick and tired of me because I get too attached and I can't just leave them alone and give them space my thoughts just overrun me and they're awful and I just think of all the bad stuff that's happened I don't wanna lose her I can't but I'm putting her through so much and I feel so guilty like the best thing I could do is cut contact with her and just be alone until I can't take it anymore and do something dumb and I don't wanna go like that like I can't do this I'll be happy for a few minutes and then I'll get set off by some random thing that just makes me feel a sinking feeling and I'll get mad at everything and start being a bitch and toxic and I just hate this I don't know what to do or how to be better or how to not lose her I can't

(To be clear, I'm not trying to sell or advertise anything... Writing...)... (also, I am putting this up as discussion because there's no 'share' tag... Feel free to discuss...)
They've been walking for a few days now, and Dagon is looking sick. Draco was walking beside Zorr-EL and they conversed with each other. They reach a forest on the path and a sign brandishing the name 'Mors Valley '. They continued on. After a while of walking, they got tired and rested in a small clearing. As they sat Keith scoped the area. Then he heard it. A low rumbling sound. Then he felt it. The low rumbling sound was traveling through the air, he could feel the vibrations in his spine. Draco noticed it too. "Everyone down!" Keith called out. The guards and Draco and the others got behind some rocks and trees. Out stepped a large drake. It was a Death Eater. The creature walked a few feet toward the group and stopped short of where Draco and Zorr-EL and Dagon were. Draco sat behind the rock silently. Then the drake started gagging. Dagon covered his mouth. The drake kept gagging and hacking, then it regurgitated some slimy bones. The skull rolled in front of Draco. It was a person. Dagon saw it and gagged. Draco rolled her eyes. The drake finished hacking and sniffed around. It stopped and turned around and walked away. Draco sighed in relief. The guards breathed. Keith poked his head out from behind the rock, nothing. Suddenly, the drake burst from beside him, grabbing his leg with its jaws. Keith yelped. The guards tried freeing him from the beast's grasp, some guards started stabbing at it. Finally, it let go of Keith, and he rolled down to the ground holding his leg. "GET THE ROYALS OUT OF HERE!!!!" The commander yelled. Some guards grabbed Draco, Dagon, and Zorr-EL and lead them away from the drake. "WHAT ABOUT KEITH!!" Draco yelled. Some guards grabbed Keith and dragged him from the fight. His leg was wounded and bleeding. He clenched his leg in pain. Zorr-EL took off her belt and made a tourniquet and wrapped his leg with it. Draco watched as the guards fought off the Death Eater. The drake grabbed a guard and bit him, the guard yelled in pain. The drake snapped him in half. The guards kept swinging their swords at it, cutting it in several places. But this just angered the beast. It became irate and slashed at the guards cutting several of them and gashing a few guts out of some. After a while of the guards stabbing the beast, it ran away. The guards helped the fallen and regrouped near Draco and the others. Draco saw all the blood and guts all over the snow. There were a few guards in half. The commander dragged a guard to the group, the guard was bleeding profusely. "We need to get out of here!!" The commander said. Draco agreed. They made their way through the woods dragging fallen soldiers with them. Then suddenly the same Death Eater appeared out of nowhere and snatched up a guard helping his comrade. The guards surrounded Draco and the others, with their swords pointed out. Then two more Death Eaters appeared. "You gotta be kidding!!" Dagon said. The guards clamored around looking for shelter, the commander pointed out a small cave that was low to the ground. They made a run for it as the three drakes snatched up guards and devoured them. They slid into the cave and stood back as the drakes were nowhere to be seen. One guard was crawling towards them. "HELP!! HEEELLLP!!!!" He called out. The commander ran out and dragged him back to the cave. He looked back to see if any other guards were left, then he started to crawl into the cave. Then he stopped. "Aw, shit..." He said quietly. Suddenly he was dragged out of the cave, he rolled onto his back and screamed. A foot with a sickle claw came down on his chest. Then the drake's head came down and ripped his arm off. The commander screamed in agony. The drake swallowed his arm and came down again. Draco and the others watched. The drake closed its jaws around his upper torso and bit down violently, muffled screaming, then a loud crack, and the field fell silent. Other than the drake crunching on what was left of the commander. Draco looked away. The drake finished its meal and sniffed around the cave, after a moment it roared and sauntered off. They lay there for a while to make sure no other Death Eaters were around.

I've been working on this web novel off and on again for a few years now. Basically, Jack Wolfgang the P.I. gets turned into a Lovecraftian horror in space. He builds a café and puts together a team of fighting girls to win a tournament for other eldritch horrors with fighting girl teams. The winner of the tournament is granted a wish, and so Jack would like to wish for his old body back (and whatever wishes the girls have).
I have a few characters in mind and a few worlds to explore, but before I go into detail, I'm wondering if this is the right place to discuss my goofy, wholesome light novel. Yes, wholesome; while the premise is prime for smut, Jack is a product of the 1940s: he's not your average teenage harem protagonist. Jack is misogynistic, but he also offers an old fashioned kind of respect for women. I also want him to grow as a character; he's hurt from his past and needs to face those demons. He needs to learn to trust people again.
Some worlds I want to explore:

• Gothovia: a cyberpunk world reminiscent of Shadowrun but more 80s Goth plus spooky creatures like vampires, werewolves, fishmen, etc. (I've put some work into this one; I want to do a lot of cult classic horror homages like inserting the Tall Man from Phantasm, etc.)
  
• Suburbion: a country on Gothovia looks a lot like the 1980s. The whole society is hyper materialistic.
  
• An Idol Pop/Giant Mecha world where men fight in Mobile Suits with a warrior culture, and women compete in idol competitions. There's fierce conflict between the two because of their extreme differences.
  
• stereotypical litrpg fantasy world. The team will come here at the request of a Catholic Space Elfu to rescue the planet from a "demon invasion;" they all have to adopt RPG characters to enter the world and so take on the planet's primary races and abilities. Jack gets to become a pigman ranger.
  

Characters:

• Roger the Robot: he's Jack's new right... tentacle. He's simple and friendly and goofy. Just a loveable robot. He's got a square head and a square body.
  
• Dana the Wolfgirl: she has an interesting backstory as a soldier in an empire that's now fallen (like Reinhard von Lohengramm's empire in Legend of the Galactic Heroes) and a slave in the eldritch horror fighting circuit. She has sad secrets. She looks like woman with wolf ears and a tail.
  
• Mai - a Suburbian girl who wishes she were Gothovian. So... She's a sad Goth.
  
• Pennello or Penny for short - She's a clown girl from the Mobile Suit/Idol planet. She's very upbeat and naïve. Loyalty is her most prized virtue; she'll never betray her friends or family (I think, probably; haven't gotten to writing anything with her yet).
  
• Catholic Space Elfu - Longsuffering. Stoic. Noble. Quiet. Kind. Puts her faith and her people above all (I think she's going to be a princess, maybe).
  
• David - literally Michelangelo's David. He's a space hermit. He lives on an asteroid and just ponders things because... His backstory is that he's actually an angel, but during the war in Heaven, he fell and bumped his head and forgot who he was. He's searching for the truth through contemplation. He acts as a guide for Jack, helping him unlock and develop his new psychic powers.
  

These are some of the ideas I have. I've written and rewritten a lot. If anyone is interested in discussing the project, I'll post the first chapter for everyone to read.
Honestly, I've just lost my confidence as a writer. I have one completed novel that a few strangers have read and really liked, but that's it (it's literary fiction, so it wouldn't be very popular to begin with; it was a work of passion).
I started this project because I wanted to write something dumb and goofy to practice as a writer, but I've spent so long on it and accomplished/learned so little. I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I just need some friends.
If you made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read my post. It's longer than I meant for it to be, but I guess I really care about this project. I want Jack to beat his demons. Maybe if he can get a few wins under his belt, I can too.

I had itching and some cuts down there so I went to an urgent care to get tested for all STDS. The doctor said it did not look like herpes but it felt like it because I could not eat and was extremely tired. I I tested positive for ghsv1 from a blood test. I became extremely depressed and I feel like I’ve had more outbreaks they feel like hemorrhoids. Anyways I got tested for antibodies to see if it was new or if I’d have it for awhile. I tested negative for antibodies 2 months after the night I got it. I then went to my doctor and got retested for the virus not with an antibody test just the regular blood test I had originally I assume. My doctor said I tested negative for both HSV but the test may not detect the virus at a low level. This is good news to me but I don’t know what to believe or what is real or not. What should I do next? Any know what this means? Or what I can do to actually confirm if I have it…

Hello all,
I got out of the military almost 2 years ago, Sept makes it 2 years. I got my initial rating at 60%, since then I've applied for increase on my DDD, headaches and a new claim for tinnitus and decreased hearing All denied.
This is what I currently have
cervical strain with DDD 10% Service Connected lumbosacral strain 40% Service Connected knee strain, right 10% Service Connected hip strain, right with limited abduction 10% Service Connected headache 0% Service Connected
WHAT I'M TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH
While I was in I attempted to do a sleep study, I was getting the run around with this sleep professional lady and she kept trying to get me to try new sleeping apps ect all meaningless unproductive items. I already ate good, went to the gym daily, just cannot sleep at night and am always tired. Eventually after pleading with her to do a damn sleep study with me I gave up and stopped going to see her. Well that was about 3 years ago, fast forward to today I have been diagnosed with low testosterone deficiency, I'm going to have to be on TRT the rest of my life not knowing what the cost will be after insurance. How can I file this new claim, I am planning on having the urologist write a NEXUS letter to support the claim that I started feeling this way while I was in. It has caused me to be depressed, angry at random times, always fatigued, and body in constant pain. I always thought how I felt was normal. Until I got my blood work done. How would I claim this as a new claim what do I add, what words should I use because I'm well aware the VA is verify particular on how you translate everything to them. Any help is appreciated. I've already reached out to a VSO, just trying to do as much as I can