(Hey everyone! Finally out of the shadow realm! Im reposting chapter five here, 6 is still percolating away in my head, but in the mean time, enjoy! Comments are appreciated!)
4-LOM rolled up to the holotable, the aging shipbuilder looking over the various fleet and division commanders.
4-LOM was an old Mk1 astro robot, his main body was a sphere, with four mechanical arms extending from his body, two large and bulky, and the other two smaller, more nimble and accurate, more dexterous, with a cylindrical lower body leading down to his treads, which were angular, tank like in shape, designed for heavy lifting. His head was flat, with a duo of square optics, a set of welding shields flipped up, ready to flip down when and where needed. His backpack was open, with tools sticking out, ready to be grabbed and used.
Looking around, he noted that the Saurians had their Admiral, a middle age Rox, their massive, tyrannasauric form still managing to tower over most of the others, even in holo, while Serano stood next to him. Nearby, Hota sat, nursing a coffee, rubbing his head, while one of the chief science officers hologram glanced at him nervously.
Another door entered, and a Mk12 frame entered, standing at the table. At first glance, the frame looked pristine, but 4-LOM wasn't fooled. He wasn't a shipwright for nothing, and he could see the pitting under the paint where plasma weaponry had uselessly splashed off, taking with it little layers of metal with it. Despite how new the frame looked, it was clear it had seen some action, recently as well, judging by the fresh coat of paint.
More holograms of fleet officials, and the bridges, or representations of their ships, flickered in above their shoulders. Serano looked like he had an old sailing ship floated there idly, a representation of the Enterprise. Some had wasps, while one captain had a cartoonish Barbus fish, with an old style white sailors cap and a belt of dynamite.
And then a small black hole flickered into view in front of his faceplate, making him roll back with a start. Getting a good look at the now pulsing black hole, he seemed to frown, one of his welding shields rising higher to simulate a eyebrow raise….. "Horizon? Is that you, little lass?" He said, with a thick, Scottish accent as his other shield rose up to join the other in shock.
The holographic black hole bobbed up and down in the air, two arms extending out from its corona and spun, as if to represent it, no, her, spinning in happiness. For a moment, 4-LOM was silent, before he began laughing, reaching up, even as his servo passed through the holo. "Ach, what I wouldn't give ta be in the Link with ye, lassie! I'm glad ye survived." He said, as the little ever hungry representation of the ship spun around him, before it shot off, floating near the Mk12, who looked at it.
The 12s head tilted more, as it listening to what the ship was saying, while 4-LOM felt a bit of possessiveness flair. Horizon was one of HIS creations, his and his wife's. Their ships were like children for them. Rolling over, he mentally began preparing a bit of what his wife would call the shovel talk, something they used to do with Captains that took on their vessels……
"Did you need something, Grandfather?" The machine said, domed head snapping to his, taking the wind out of his sails, and stare blankly at the taller, thinner machine.
Behind him, he heard Serano chuckle behind him, even as the Rox raised an eyeridge, while the Saline sat his mug down and placed his head in his hands.
"Grandfather- oh. I see…." He said, gaze turning flat as he gave a glare at Horizon. "I see the little gremlin is still able to make me short a fuse or two. Void knows Maria's hair turned white before she had to move bodies due to someone's antics." The little black hole pulsed sharply, as if squawking. "Would have appreciated a warning she made herself a captain…. Lassie, ye best be teaching him self preservation instincts." Catching the snort from the Rox and the sigh from Serano.
Slowly, his head turned around to face the two, one shield twitching, and finally saw Hota looking up with a flat look. "Too late on that one. I'll pass you the after action report later, AFTER the meeting." Serano said, hiding a smile. "If you want a first hand account, ask Hota. From what I understand, he had a front row seat for the Chaos the two caused."
She wasn't a little ship anymore, she wasnt- ah kriff it all. She was still his little lass. He'll talk with her later…preferably with Maria there…..after he grabbed his wrench and had a….. talk….. with whoever was their crew.
/------------------/
All the admirals and fleet commanders were soon in place, Asimov standing to the side, near the Admiral Serano, Horizons representation floating next to his head as his own panned about, looking at the assembled species. Several robotic ones, not Astro Robot series, called Glinch, looked at him curiously, while he picked out several different….Saurians, a few Roxes, several Trikes.
Several were pale, white skinned humans, bald, be they male or female. Clones, like himself, but with organic bodies, accompanied by nat-born humans, and several more advanced Astro Robot series units, these ones looking everything from near human, to large and bulky, armed with cannons, inbuilt missile launchers on their upper arms, and massive treads, or slimmer, almost skeletal ones with modules that could be swapped out at a moments notice.
"I appreciate ye all for coming on such short notice" 4-LOMs voice said, cutting over the gentle hubbub of the side conversations. "I had hoped that we wouldn't be facing them again, but here we are." The robot said as one of his smaller limbs tapes a command into the console, pulling up images of Everwatch stations current…condition. "Those of yeh from Federation space are more familar of the old stories, battle videos and the like. The Demons, as the Human Federation calls them, have been returned. It's only thanks to the work of Representative Hota that we have this information….. and had stumbled across an old Ace that had woken back up in time for this chaos." 4-LOM said, nodding to the Saline, getting the attention of his compatriots, who he shook his head to.
"Our opponents are equipped with biotech vessels, and are known for appropriating technology to forcibly integrate it with their own. Which means keep an eye out for a worse hodgepodge of weapons than a pirate vessel after its crew hits a pound of Spice and then gets drunk at a star port." 4-LOM said dryly, as various, old, images of the vessels and a few of the newer ones. "That being said, expect the sheer firepower jammed onto each of these ships to be on the higherside. However, they need long recharge periods, likely due to whatever power source used overloading, or the capacitor banks running dry and needing to recharge. Don't be fooled, they do have some form of biological armament, acid spitters, spike launchers, the works." He said, as images flicked up organic turrets, tentacles, and what looked like maws.
"As of right now, several of our larger vessels are being inspected and repaired, resupplied, and upgraded as needed. Several older vessels are being pulled out of mothball for the same reason. All civilian vessels are being drafted for emergency roles, receiving refit with hardware that will allow them to fight in a pinch, though their primary objective will be escorting transport ships and acting as emergency evacuation ships. We won't be expecting them to fight, but we need every ship we can get."
An image flickered into view of what amounted to the humans old museum of warships and deep space vessels, revealing it to be a hive of activity. Many other races had laughed at humanity for keeping their old vessels, rather than scrapping them, but now, now there was a reason why humanity had.
"Patrol fleets are to be at least one Saline Sensor ship, two to three Buckler class Trike Shield Bearers, one Rox Artillery ship, one Vohle capable human vessel, Two human PT ships, and three Raptor Swift claws." 4-LOM said, "these things aren't to be taken lightly. Sensors pick them up, call it in and engage. Stall for time if needed for reinforcements to arrive. Intercept fleets are to consist of five Trike Aegis class Shield Bearers, six Swift claws, one Rox supercarrier, three Rox artillery ships, two Saline Auxiliary ships, one Saline Medical cruiser, one Human Vohle Super-carrier, eight human PT ships, two Human Iowa class destroyers." The elderly bot belted out, making several Captains and admirals wince. Those weren't lightweight ships. The 'patrol' fleet could have been considered a planetary invasion force.
Before anyone could make any arguments or questions as to why the fleets were set to the Human classic of 'Maximum Overkill', and before any more ridiculous fleet deployments could be called out, a slightly panicking human sprinted into the room. "Sir! Confirmed hostile assault on Tisan-4" the human said, breathing heavily. "The Demons made planet fall, looks like a small invasion force that had left before the incursion field went up."
4-LOM stared….and then sighed. "Well, Caliburn had been itching for a fight." He sighed and placed a servo over his optics.
/-----------------------------------/
WARNING: Hostiles detected. Match confirmed; species D-65.
Threat level:Apollyon. Combat systems:unlocked.
That was what appeared on the Colony Managers terminal as alarms screamed across the Colony, alerts screaming on PADDs, sirens spinning as bunkers opened up.
An aging Wargen bared his teeth as he rapidly tapped at his terminal, as the younger human clone stood grimly at her manager's terminal.
"Civilians are filling out the bunkers, tunneling charges are set and ready to clear escape routes." The elderly, wolf like Wargen said, his muzzle splitting into four as he spoke, one part vertical, the other horizontally. "Colonial militia are manning hard points and connecting to systems now."
"Understood." The Colony manager said and let out a long breath, before opening the PA system. "All hands, brace for Activation procedure. I repeat, all hands, brace for activation procedure." She said, before securing herself in on one of the chairs, even as the commander buckled himself in across from her, even as terminals all around them flickered and the building shuddered and shook, new lights came online all over.
"And the other races call our alliance insane for building the bunkers" The Wargen muttered under his breath as the command room became a flurry of activity, sensor teams working together in an attempt to get data on their opponents. "Our people are safe. That's what matters, commander." The clone said softly, looking at her long time friend, even as the hidden defense system of the Colony woke up.
/------------/
Outside, the demonic army approached, on a slow, steady March, disgruntled at the lack of organics they had found to use. They needed biomass to fuel their war machine, to create their bases, their armies, their ships. And while they didn't care much about the sheer number of ships they lost during planet fall thanks to the orbital defenses, they needed to deal with the local defense computers. There had to be a way to broadcast an all clear signal and allow their other ships past.
Before them sat a large, fortified structure, looked like a massive cathedral, really. The irony was not lost on them as ports on the castle-like structure opened up, and began spitting metallic shells at them, exploding after punching through their infantry, leaving craters behind, destroying more of their forces.
The ground shook as their massive siege beast began forming from the splattered biomass, like some strange, oozing horror, slowly forming into a quadropodic creature.
The beast was mostly just a giant mouth in legs, with a long, worm like body lined with eyes, teeth, spikes, and tendrils, flinging said teeth at the structure.
Warlord Gistle ground his teeth as he stared at the cathedral as it held its own, his forces decimated by the attempted rain of metal. Said rain changed to one of scalding plasma as the castle changed tactics to try and burn the bodies to prevent them from forming additional, stronger units.
"Battle lord." Hissed one of the smaller battle chiefs said, as they stepped up next to Gistle. "The Seekers have not located where the miserable Frails have hidden themselves. Our efforts would be best put to entering the fortress ahead." The chief said, pointing at the massive fortress as the siege beast brushed off the weapons fire.
"No need, we will be inside soon en-" Came the guttural voice of the Warlord, before it was interrupted by a computerized voice, echoing out.
"THREAT ASSESSED. ASSUMING COMBAT MODE."
There was a rumble, everyone grabbing onto the stablest thing around them as the ground tore apart, the siege beast stumbling back, as the building tore up its own foundations as steam hissed out, and part of the building lifted up, and then slammed into the ground, and then the other side, slowly pulling itself up….and up…and up……
The structure wasn't a structure. Not any more. Towering over them, looking like a massive hunchback stood the cathedral, it's towers opening, revealing to be cowling around massive artillery cannons. It's arms, once covered with flat pillars, opened up to reveal a set rotating barrels, slowly spinning up, and a bulky duo of MAC batteries on the other arm. Sticking off the side of its upper arms were smaller hardpoints, each turret armed with four barrels, small and accurate, sniping ground units with horrifying accuracy, the soft metal shells ripping away to reveal their incendiary cargo held within steel mesh, allowing the coilguns to spit them out rapidly.
The head section looked like a sphere with three optics in a triangular formation, around a cannon that locked onto the siegebeast and whined, arcing brightly, before it fired, a bright flash seen as the cannon went off, it's round leaving behind a trail of fire as it raced through the air, punching through the beast, making it howl, and began trying to heal the injury that pierced it, ripping open a hole below it.
It's bipedal legs were thick, armored, and just as equally armed, it's lower legs armed with rotary cannons that spun, the lower pair foring a heavy stream of plasma, one barrel firing and then cooling as it spun, the others keeping the pace up, while above them, physical artillery was spat out, helping pierce armor for the plasma to scorch and burn to uselessness. More cannons sat on the sides and back of its legs in, taking aim at the surrounding armies, making sure to add on their screeches of rage.
Hanging off the underside of the platform that held the Cathederal sat more turrets, each swiveling around and adding to the chaos, their mini MAC armament chattering as they fired, picked a new target and fired again. On the top of the platform were AA cannons, taking aim and firing into the air, altering the timing of their rounds so that they acted as impromptu artillery, while more cannons, on four turrets, covered the monstrosities back, preventing them from sneaking up behind it, as if the cannons on the back of its legs weren't enough to cover it.
"TARGET ACQUIRED."
Warlord Gistle hissed in shock. The Frails had been LIVING in a Siege beast of their own!? Hidden partially underground, deceiving them to make it seem as if it was nothing more than a fortification!?
"Have all expendable units merge with our Siege beast, NOW! if the frails continue to pick our forces off one by one, they will never be able to reinforce our beast after they fall!" Gistle roared, even as around him the battle chiefs barked out the orders……..
/-------------/
The massive machine stared down at the hostile forces as they turned into a thick, biological slurry, short of the Demons themselves, and oozed towards the horror before it.
The monster seemed to absorb the substance on contact, growing larger and larger with each passing moment, howling and hissing.
He could feel his crew cursing in their heads, humans and otherwise, lighting the slurry up with plasmafire, burning some of it, but not enough. Caliburn agreed with them, as his Plasma getting cannon spun up, the five barrels glowing brightly, the heatsinks by the ends of the barrel glowing as the machine poured plasmafire from the barrels, searing into the beasts body, burning it up as it grew, stunting its growth heavily, and forcing it to consume more biomass to make heavy, chitenous armor, layers burning away under the assault.
Caliburn could feel the dust coming off as his gears spun, and he stepped forward, swinging the glowing arm as it cooled down, making the horror screech as he spun his upper body to add to the force of the blow, digging the glowing heating into the beast's face and knocking it back, buying time for his crew to deal with the horrific slurry around them, which still tried to fuse with the horror, chasing after it with a single minded determination.
As his upper body slowed down and he was facing forward again, he saw the beast setting up, snarling. His other arm came up, and he could feel his capacitors burning as he began firing his MAC arm at it, the massive, vehicle sized slugs punching into the beast, knocking it back farther, punching holes in the chitin it tried to grow as armor, making it hiss and move rapidly, trying to put distance between itself and the machine.
Unfortunately, the beast had the advantage in land speed, as it had four legs, while Caliburn only had two and lumbered slowly forward, his aging systems relishing the taste of combat after so long. And now he had far better weapons then a simple crane arm, like he had last time he fought a creature like this.
Because the beast had put distance between itself and him, it managed to absorb the last of the biomass, and began bounding forward, it's maw open, teeth spinning like some sort of Cuisinart….
A target he couldn't miss. His head cannon barked again, not as powerful as last time, but this time, he wasn't trying to rip it apart from the inside. The shell detonated on contact with the teeth, shredding them, tearing into the soft flesh within, making the beast howl and close its maw, it's chitin armor weathering the plasma splashing off, hardened to withstand the smaller weapons fire his crew spat at the creature.
His arms pulled their shrouding back around them, as he drew back and swung, hard, again using his body spinning to his advantage, striking the beast, the heavy weight of the heatsink and the weapon itself burying the shroud covered arm inside, the end opening up. Unfortunately, thanks to the partial shrouding, he wouldn't be able to spin his cannon, but all he needed was one shot inside it, and let it fly, ripping his arm out as it howled, smoke billowing from its new hole it tried rapidly to heal.
The tendrils it had tried to dig into his arm burned away as he kicked it up from below and began unloading both arms, fully unshrouded, the heat coming off both of them making steam hiss up into the air, as the beast took a heavy slug and then a plasma bolt, one after the other, deep into its stomach, sending it onto its back.
Loud popping sounds were heard as its limbs reoriented, allowing its former belly to become its back, the holes sealing slowly as it circled the walking cathedral, even as Caliburn scanned it, his upper body following its every movement. His command crew were breaking down every schematic and scan he gave them, working hard to figure out a way to kill the horror.
In the mean time, Caliburn and his crews would do their damndest to stall the beast and continue on their current plan. Burn it down, slowly.
He could feel his crews tracking the retreating demon forces, listening to the mental chatter within him as the artillery crews happily worked together to figure out their path, searching for the enemy command position, even as sensor crews watched as the rapidly approaching flood of biomass and machinery charged for them, some of the artillery crews already letting loose N-4 shells, the 'super-napalm', as the crews nicknamed them, impacting and exploding, burning into the biomass, unquenchable, even as the biomass attempted and failed to smother the burning substance, only serving to make it worse, melting the weaponry it carried with it.
The only reason why the crews could get away with it was because the biomass wasn't near the Bunkers exits or near infrastructure. Or Burnable items.
Command soon had a viable target, a sort of brain mass it had, separated throughout its body in a vain attempt to make sure it could still operate when a few of them were destroyed.
Several had been burned away by the plasma bolt going off inside of it, but many more remained, and it was attempting to make more/replace the burned away ones. They needed to eliminate the command signal….
Jubilation and grim satisfaction bloomed in his sensor and artillery crews, as he felt the mad scramble for bunker busting shells, before they were let loose into the air. Even as he blocked a tail strike from the beast and managed to crush its head under one foot, letting his landing engines ignite for the first time in decades to burn the creature more, his crews targeted the command bunker, shelling it with deadly accuracy, smoke rising from the hill they were tucked away behind in the distance, making Caliburn burn with satisfaction and praise for his crew.
/---------------------/
Gistle ran as fast as his hooves could move him, teeth barred as he snarled.
Around him, their command temple shook and shuddered, veins bursting, cables arcing wildly as the biomass contracted involuntarily or simply sagged, turning to biomass.
"Warlord, they are heavily shelling our position, we won't be able to retreat at this rate!" Hissed one of the Battle Chiefs at his side, hissing in fear, even as he snarled at the Pitiful, compared to him, creature. "We won't be taking everyone, only the essentials. The Everlasting King must be notified of this development. King be damned, the frails took the time to prepare for our arrival again." He growled as he came out to a hanger area, and ran into a small, fast ship, even as the others ran into larger, bulkier, slower ships.
Soon, the chitin that served as the door opened, and they shot out, erratically flying, trying to avoid the artillery shells, and now AA fire joining the fray.
He kept close to his compatriots, using them as a living shield as he twisted the small vessel around, smirking as he dodged the fire while they took it..
They were almost to space, soon, they could tear a Gate and get the fleet-
Reality tore open above him as a massive ring shaped vessel pushed itself into real space, disgorging hundreds of smaller vessels, bearing down on their positions, others engaging the floating fleet around them with aggressive assault runs, the sudden appearance in the system allowing them to have the element of surprise.
Weapons fire began filling the space around f them, tearing at their vessels faster then they could repair them as little, frail vessels zipped in and out of line of fire faster then they could shoot, track, or react, unloading slugs, plasma, torpedoes in a flurry of activity before diving away, allowing their munitions to wreak havoc amongst them.
Already, the larger vessels were disabled before Gistle managed to sacrifice one, smirking as it warped, it's biomass fueling the Gate, as he flew through, hoping he was in friendlier territories, unaware of a sensor torpedo flying in behind him.
/------------------------/
Down below, on the surface, Caliburn flung back his opponent again, arms blazing as he shelled it.
It was bigger then it had been, managing to absorb the biomass from the surviving landing ships and the remains of the command center they shelled out. It's armor was thicker, and was flinging out dozens, hundreds of calcium spikes, spitting its unknown energy weapons, only to splash off his shields, for the energy weapons, and his ar.or foe the calcium spikes, even as his weapons screeched.
The beast had holes all over its chitenous armor, from his shells punching in, or his artillery crews shelling the beast, his plasma following close behind as he sought to burn the creature out from the inside, going so far as to ram his plasma cannon inside and unload it, the rotating barrels helping tear it up from the inside as the heat sinks burned it.
Ships began dropping down from above, doing strafing runs, dropping smaller caliber explosives, distracting the beast as he tore another hole in it by spinning his upper body, one shrouded cannon arm striking the beast and ripping in, just as a gunship fired a Cleaner into it, just before it healed.
A burning flash of light, a horrific scream from the beast as it howled, body jerking as the explosive did its job…. Before it swung down, still alive, though just barely, it's armor shattering rather then buckling on the next strike from Caliburn, a facsimile of a uppercut, before the barrels let loose again, even as the plasma cannon dumped bolt after bolt into its lower body, searching for, burning the neural clusters as he found them.
The beast wrenched itself away from his grasp, snarling as it looked at him, the beast snarling as it tried to heal from the most recent injuries.
Caliburn felt his crew snarling back, his cannons swiveling around as they gave their response in munitions as he lumbered forward, the ground shaking from his steps and the escape ships erupting out of the ground around them, his rotary cannon screaming as it fired, the MAC on the other arm barking as he hit it again and again as it charged forward.
The beast no longer cared for its injuries, all it cared was to take the metal monster before it down, spitting acid out of it as it tried, and failed, to blind the machine, even as said machine swung its smoldering plasma cannon up and brought down the burning barrels down on its head, smashing it into the ground, pinning it there as it's crew continued shelling it out ruthlessly.
Caliburn refused to let the beast survive, he refused to let the thing get to the civilians. His crew snarled their agreement as the beast tore the pinned head off its body, even as it burned away to nothing, and tried to charge again, blindly, only to smash against the MAC arm and receive a pair of heavy slugs to the neck stump for its troubles, sending it somersaulting back, trying to reform its head.
It was much, much smaller now, now matching Caliburns size, due to all the biomass loss, it's head reforming as it snarled.
Caliburn seemed to roll his pauldrons and twitched his MAC, as if saying 'come at me'. The beast howled and charged forward, razor sharp tentacles erupting from its sides, whipping about wildly, only for turret crews to blast the tentacles off at the base, and for his artillery crews to shell it down from above, flattening it into the ground again with explosive shells.
Again, the beast began pulling itself out of the ground, only for another strafing run from aircraft , this time dropping standard napalm canisters onto the beast, making it howl as it healed around the canisters, and began burning from within.
It thrashed and writhed, tail and body whipping about, even as Caliburn kept firing, not letting up, shells puncturing the chitin bubble it was trying to form around the napalm to contain it, keeping it burning into the beasts body.
At last, the beast tried to fling itself at Caliburn, thinking that it could at least burn out the mechanical monster with it, only for Caliburn to swing and strike it, flinging it away again, the beasts body unable to get back up, and laid there, slowly burning away at last……………

So this is what happened but years ago me and my ex boyfriend made me a steam account which he already had one but I had gotten my first pc so I needed an account. We made it together and he had originally put it under his email for the time just to get it set up. He has not used the account being he his own and it was made for me and over the years I have spent hundreds of dollars on there buying games, skins and everything. All the transactions are to my bank account. We also changed everything over to my email phone number etc.). Now a year after we broke up I am not able to get back into the account. My bank card is still on there. He is doing this maliciously being that everyone on my friends list can see how he has changed my steam name to “karma” and keeps changing it to different taunting names. He somehow got in and got everything changed back to his original email and I put a ticket in with steam sending them email screenshots of my bought purchases but they got back saying that I am not the owner basically. Is there anyone who has had anything similar happen or what I can do from here? Is there anything else I can send them as proof?

Does anyone know if these exist? I've found several safety bracelets that will call 911 and emergency contacts, and alert them to the location. Those are for real emergencies. But I'm looking for a bracelet with a discreet button that a kid can touch when they just want their caregiver to come find them. Like if they're with a grandparent that is making them uncomfortable, and I'm in a different room in the house, and nothing really dangerous is happening but maybe they're pressuring my kid to perform a song on the piano and my kid doesn't feel up for it. I want my kid to have a button that will link to a matching bracelet that I'm wearing, or send a text to my phone, and then I can go in and check on them. The other people in the room wouldn't even need to know that my kid wants me.
Of course I also plan to teach my kids to confidently call for help or tell people "no." But if I have a highly sensitive kid who just needs my presence in the room, and doesn't necessarily need to be rescued from a really bad situation, I would love an option to have them alert me quietly from a distance.
If this isn't on the market yet it should be!

All I wanted to do today was spend some time in the company of a friend or fellow human being. A mix of chatting, listening to music or perhaps binge watch a series. It would be great in person but online would also be fine as we could have streamed the series.
One friend is not feeling well, so that is a no can do.
I check the 3 contacts on my phone. Great, one of them must have changed their number. One is not responding to text messages. The other did reply to my suggestion with just "Nah, cba." (Can't Be Arsed) I insist that you do not try to think of an excuse to let me down gently.
The next option use Reddit to find someone, what a joke as no one is interested in any form of contact with a male my age.
The final option is Discord and one of the servers set up for like minded people looking to make friends. Some of the servers have sections specifically for meeting others and enjoying music or series together with another person or small group.
I started trying at 10 am and it is now very nearly 3 pm. In those 5 hours I have not found a friend or a human being that is interested in chatting, music, watching a series or any combination of the three.
Is it just bad luck? Is it just bad timing? Is it too shorter notice? or perhaps it is just me?
I.
GIVE.
UP.

I’m not sure if anyone will reply to this but I just wanted to get it out. I would appreciate confirmation that they do sound like narcs!
Growing up my sister (40) and I (42) were extremely close. It wasn’t until we had a falling out about ten years ago that I started to realize she’s the GC of my dad and has become a narc too. When we were kids we both had to be perfect. I wasn’t good at that so I chose to rebel and was constantly punished for it but I thought it was my fault for a long time. My sis did all the right things, so my parents have financially supported her basically her whole life. I got out when I turned 18 and struggled financially a lot over the years. My parents paid for her to go to a private college and she had a credit card they paid off on full every month until she was 27 or 28. She likes to shop at stores like Anthropologie and Whole Foods. My mom used to complain to me that my sister spent $500 at Whole Foods in one month when I was struggling to afford rent and food and they wouldn’t help me at all. She didn’t have a lot of expenses because her boyfriend at the time paid all the bills.
Through all that, I never blamed my sister just my parents. We were very close. We would talk on the phone for hours. I thought she was my best friend. We would fight, but I thought it was because siblings fight. Our first big falling out, I flew to her state to drive her 11 hours back to our parents’ house because she wanted a break from her boyfriend and had an injury that made it hard to drive. On the drive back, she criticized me nonstop. She would say, speed up! Slow down! Don’t change lanes so fast. We spent the night halfway and the next morning I went to get breakfast while she took a bath. We had a huge fight because even though I had confirmed 3x she wanted an egg McMuffin I didn’t read her mind and know she meant an egg biscuit when she said McMuffin. By the end of that trip we weren’t speaking and didn’t for a year.
I started to realize she always had to come first, before any of my partners. I thought that was normal/healthy for her to be number 1. If she was upset about something I would indulge her and be upset with my partner if they protested. I’d drop whatever I was doing to talk to her on the phone for 3 hours about whatever drama she was in. After another big falling out, we hadn’t talked in about 3 years but she reconciled with me when she got engaged. I see now it’s only because she wanted the whole family to be in her wedding photos. Her wedding was a nightmare. It was a destination wedding and she would order me to tell her fiancés family members things she didn’t want to like, go tell them they have to go outside if they’re going to be that loud. Her actual ceremony she kept everyone waiting like 45 min because she and her fiancé were doing shots with friends.
She quickly separated from her husband and it was of course all his fault. She accused him of trying to kill her but it was always sketchy. Like it was Mother’s Day and we were out for lunch with my mother and my sister called her screaming that he was trying to hit her with the car. Wouldn’t you call 911 not your mother across the country..? Then she came to live with my parents. She took over 2 bedrooms at my parents’ 3 bedroom house and yelled at them if they bothered her to ask things like would you like to eat dinner with us? She smashed their things when she was enraged. I’m honestly surprised she didn’t hit them. To get rid of her, my parents bought her a house in another state.
During that time, I saw what happened if I didn’t put her first and agree with everything she said. She told me the story of the other time her husband supposedly tried to kill her. They were having a big fight and she started having an asthma attack. He left the room to look for her inhaler and this was her interpretation, he was going to let me die. When I didn’t agree with her that he was trying to kill her, she suddenly stopped having anything to do with me. She wouldn’t acknowledge my presence, if I entered a room she would leave She wouldn’t respond to me if I spoke to her. We literally had a dinner in a restaurant with family where she wouldn’t acknowledge I existed. Of course it’s my fault the whole family can’t be together at the holidays not hers.
That’s the time period I realized my dad is a narc and he sees her an extension of him. Growing up he loved to brag about her accomplishments. She went to the expensive private college because he thought it was the most prestigious college in the area. He still tells people she went there and she’s 40. He made all her choices about what to do after college and grad school. My entire life, he’s never had one friend. My mom said she stopped inviting people over because he would just get up and leave the room without a word and it embarrassed her. His “friends” are important people he acts like he knows, like the surgeon who did a procedure on him but he acts like he knows well. He tells stories about congresspeople he met twice remembering him. When we moved to the house I grew up in, he liked it because it had been built by an orthodontist and he thought that would convey money and status. He thinks proximity to important people makes him seem important to others. He would be friendly and charming when we were around other people, like at church, but at home he just criticized my mom and kept to himself. He would tell my sister and I things like we were going to get a pool or go on an expensive vacation, things I realized later we couldn’t afford, and then blame my mom for us not doing them.
Anyway. If you read all of this, thank you! I really feel like they’re both narcs but I’d love feedback on that.

Hello all.
I received two emails this morning, exactly one minute apart. One was regarding my PayPal credit, the other regarding my Amazon prime credit. Both are synchrony bank.
The email called me by name, looked legit and was saying it was confirming my phone number change. There was a link to click of it was not me that did it. I clicked the link and it directed me to my regular login screen with my phone I use to log in with already auto filled, asking for password to log in and confirm.
So, I went directly to my apps and then directly to the websites, looked over all info and everything is exactly as it should be.
Wondering if this is a scam, a glitch or if anyone else has seen this before.
Beware of these, they looked real but were obviously not correct. Just looking for discussion, hoping someone knows about this and putting word out.

So if you’re bothered to read all this thank you. If not I get it lol. After some prompting from multiple people, I’ve been thinking about if I have adhd and just wanted to know if these are possible symptoms.
So when I go to sleep at night I make up a fantasy life in my head but sometimes the fantasy life reminds me of a memory and then I get so hooked on the memory that I can’t sleep(often cringing at myself) and then I think about another memory and another until my mind keeps jumping in between many moments in my life and I’m left wide awake at 5 in the morning
often when I watch tv I also have to do something else as well like when I’m watching on my own I’m often on my phone which I feel is pretty normal but when I watch something with for example my bf I often am also doing something else at once like fixing something up in my room that caught my attention or messing with something that’s Im curious about. I didn’t realize until he brought it up and asked why I never sat still while watching stuff with him. After he brought it up, I tried to sit still but ultimately I’d end up fiddling with something again.
idk if there’s a reason for this or if it’s just me but I feel as though I can’t make lasting friendships. For example throughout my primary school/high school life I’ve been changing friend groups every few years. Its either because I’m really bad at reaching out to others and so I’m left out a lot of the times or because I feel like I’m unwanted or intruding. (I may also have anxiety lol) when I graduated from high school I immediately knew who I would be keeping in touch with(like 3 friends) and who I wouldn’t be. I know I should feel bad for doing that but for some reason I still did it???
Also the reaching out to other thing has been a really big problem my whole life and I’ve been working on it but still not great. I also used to be terrible at texting back because I would see the message, think of a reply then something would distract and I would end up not replying. (I have actually gotten better at this though)
I hate using the treadmill or elliptical at the gym. It’s just so boring. The only way I can get through it is if I watch YouTube. Although I do like using weights, the repetition and counting bores me so I’ve made my own 40 seconds circuit where I change activity every 40 seconds to keep it interesting.

Cover Art <<Previous Start Next >>
Once her friends caught up with her, Kazue spent the rest of the afternoon with them in the library, taking some time to pull Gako and Tia aside to thank them for their thoughtfulness in trying to include her in their forming group, then gave each of them a ‘thank you’ kiss, which was the sort of kiss she’d been making sure Mordecai and Moriko were OK with as a one-time event.
After that, she escorted them through the fifth floor where the cavern had been opened up and laganthros were designing and laying out ideas for mushroom-based buildings. Most of the group loved the idea, though one of them had to admit she was a little put off by mushrooms and other fungi. Still, they all had their own ideas for quests and challenges, and Kazue was happy to note them all down.
By the time they got to the central room, the other group was long since occupied, so the party that followed involved seven young kitsune women entertaining themselves by harmlessly flirting with one ancient dungeon core. Wise and experienced he might be, but Mordecai was at a disadvantage here and gracefully conceded to any defeats in the verbal sparring. The flirting only went so far of course, and Kazue was the only one allowed to seat herself in his lap, but all were entertained until it was time to get the now thoroughly inebriated shrine maidens off to their room for the night.
The two cores then spent the rest of the night and well into the next morning finishing up their plans for the fifth floor. When their guests had all recovered and had a chance to eat, they were presented with their prizes, starting with all of them being presented with the now standard reward of the enchanted honey potions.
The shrine maidens had already collected some herbs, a few pretty but low-value gems, and various scrolls as well as a starter spellbook that had been thoroughly claimed. For the group as a whole Kazue presented shrine maiden outfits embroidered with themes of dragons, foxes, and rabbits, and enchanted with some simple comfort and mild environmental protection enchantments. These would be gifted to all Azeria clan shrine maidens who made it through the dungeon, though that was going to be a more difficult task over time. They were also granted some individual items: an internally expanded bag, a hat that can alter one’s appearance through illusions, a cloak that would help one blend into shadows if they were trying to hide, boots to make one more agile and give an occasional burst of speed, and a scarf enchanted to enhance dance performances with minor illusions. The one who had her shiny spellbook already had a special gift of her own.
For the warrior party Mordecai started with the shield maidens, gifting them with reinforced shields backed by runes to increase their sturdiness. Their old shields had been rather badly damaged in the earlier fights, and they had already picked up some cold iron and silvered swords on the third floor. The spear maiden was presented with a longspear made of rowan and tipped with a mithral head. The rune it bore would allow it to pierce even creatures not entirely on this plane, This mostly meant undead of various sorts, but there were other sorts of phantasmal creatures that had limited physical presence.
The huntress accepted the gift of a long-barreled gun after trying it out. Mordecai had modified the design of the pistol for a longer, longer gun based on descriptions and a little bit of experimentation, though he wasn’t sure if this was similar to the ‘muskets’ others had discussed. It couldn’t fire as fast as her bow and it had some other trade-offs that would make it a situational weapon for her, but new options were always good.
The mage was happy with her collection of scrolls and was intending to copy them to her spellbook when she had a chance, so the final presentation was a staff for the priest. While not quite as enthusiastic a number as what Kazue’s mother had gotten, it gave him an additional selection of healing and curative spells at his command each day.
Once everyone had said their goodbyes and departed, the two of them turned their attention back toward Moriko, who was getting ready for her royal dinner.
.
Moriko was feeling much better than she had the other day when she first went to visit mistress Ula. The visit with the princesses had helped allay her fears about the court, though they had let her know that court could be that bad, which was part of the point of having her come to a private dinner first, to establish that Moriko did have allies. No matter how noble the ancestry or enlightened a nobility, there was always someone who craved more power and felt threatened by newcomers.
Those who had risen to a basic lordship by being Marked were more insulated both by the nature of the favor they bore and by the fact that they tended to not be very political. Moriko was a more complicated situation, and thus inherently political if for no other reason that someone would insist on seeing her that way.
But that wasn’t anything she was going to have to deal with tonight. So for the moment she focused on getting ready, which included posing and moving under Ula’s directions once more as the woman made sure the dress fit properly.
Moriko had thought that the dress was what was going to make her most self-conscious this evening. She hadn’t accounted for the foundational garments that the princesses had insisted upon. It wasn’t like they were going to check or anything, but Moriko was convinced they would somehow know if she didn’t follow instructions in this matter. A fancy dress required that every layer be just as special.
And it wasn’t like Moriko wore dowdy undergarments or anything, but these felt like being naked would actually be more modest. And knowing how to pick such items out was not a skill she had expected of proper princesses. Though a couple of them were married…
Well, she’d at least be able to put them to good use when she got home. The thought made her smirk, partly because of the realization that the default of ‘home’ really had shifted in her head. It was nice, and that was a thought she shared with her husband and wife as she felt their presences focus on her. They were always in the back of her mind somewhere, but it was nice feeling them pay more attention to her. “Guests are gone I take it?”
The affirmation came with some images showing Moriko all the prizes that had been won, and she couldn’t help but smile more at Kazue’s excitement. Ula eyed her then snorted. “If I didn’t already know you were a newlywed, that smile would give it away. I can’t decide if the ability to hear a man’s thoughts would be more of a blessing or a curse, but you sure seem happy about it.”
Moriko found herself blushing, which caught her off guard. How did these women make her feel so damn young? It was like she was a teenager again. Mordecai whispered into her mind “That’s called being in love dear.”
To be fair, she hadn’t been actually in love before, however much she loved many of the people in her life. Still, she felt that his reply deserved a toothless mental growl, then she turned her attention back to getting ready. There wasn’t much to do at this point really, but it was hard not to fuss. At least some of her accessories could double as fidgets. Carrying a handbag was weird though.
Finally, the carriage arrived to take her off to the castle, and she got to sit back and take in the view of the city center. The center of the city was built upon a large, gradual hill, topped by the royal castle. Surrounding that were various other estates, some of them belonging to the royal family, some to other nobility.
It was here that the mix of various styles of architecture was thrown into starkest contrast. With what she now knew, it was clear that there was technically a ‘native’ style and an ‘introduced’ style. The history from before Kuiccihan had been founded had always been a little vague, but that two or more cultures had been thrown together was clear, no doubt the result of the heroes and armies that had responded to the emergency resulting from Mordecai’s actions. And the center of the city had been built when things were less harmonious, recovering from a thousand years of nothing bigger than a city-state being stable.
It was a somewhat depressing image, but also hopeful. They’d managed to come together eventually after all. She dwelled on those thoughts until the carriage finally reached the entrance she’d be using before being brought to the main hall. The Seneschal and a couple of maids still had to decorate her properly with the royal jewelry that had been selected for her.
This brought up a piece of advice that had come from Mordecai, not the princesses, and Moriko could see why they didn’t mention it. She should make sure to verbally appreciate all of the jewelry, but praise the piece that she liked the most a little more. As a first-time diplomatic guest in good favor, there was a strong chance that the king and queen would choose to gift her with one piece of what she was currently being bedecked with. Of course, choosing a single item was going to be difficult, they were all dazzling, and she was somewhat reluctant to accept any gift of that sort, they all had to be expensive and have some history associated with them. She didn’t need any guidance to tell her that while initial resistance was expected, she wasn’t actually supposed to refuse.
When the seneschal was satisfied, she was escorted to the entrance of the main hall, where she was to wait a moment to be properly introduced.
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You opened the front door and welcomed me in with open arms
I collapsed into them and wept tears of joy
You hung your coat on the broken rack
I took off my shoes so as not to get your house dirty
You made me dinner
I ate it with glee
You refilled my cup
I drank every last drop
You washed the dishes
I placed them back into the drawers
You tucked me into bed with you and kissed me goodnight
I saw thy absence of Hell
You sheathed me in your armour of serenity
I slid inside deeper ever
You awoke me in the morning
I shed tears of relief
You touched me like no one else did
I moulded into it and abstained to let go
You ravished me and disposed of the poison
I kissed you deeply
You returned it and soothed me post aftermath
I always salivated for more
You actually kept me around
I piggybacked off the euphoria
You were too pure to see the cracks
I did my best to conceal the growth
You wondered why I behaved so strangely
I wasn’t sure of thy cause either
You became less enthusiastic
I desperately connected my lips to yours
You returned it with endurance
I noticed the grimace of pity
You bore the eyes of a wrinkled page
I tried to smooth you out
You opened the front door and disinvited me out with folded arms
I collapsed onto the porch and wept tears of tribulation
You shrugged on your coat and kicked down the broken rack
I slipped on my shoes so as not to step on shattered glass
You peered at me like I was delusional
I gripped the blade in my hands and sobbed with culpability
You spilled words of coercion and radiated apprehension
I singe my throat with epiphanies
You lack understanding
I run my mouth with amends
You despair with offers of discussion
I bite my tongue with farewells
You reach out
I end the world around me in the blink of an eye
You don’t say anything that will reach my deaf ears
I apologise, my love

pt2
Over the next few nights Kay would stay up late looking at guys on hook ups sites. Sometimes she would guide my head down between her legs. I would pull her panties to the side and eat her out until she couldn’t take it anymore and squeeze my head with her legs as she orgasmed.
About a week later she says, “I found him!”
“Oh wow! Can I see?”
“Umm.. I think it would be better if it was a surprise don’t you?”
“Well i am not really sure about that. I think I should have some idea of what we are getting ourselves into.”
“Honey, this has been you fantasy for a while now. Let me do this for you. You trust me right?”
“Yes I do” just as I said it she came over and gave me a kiss on the head.
For the next few nights we had the most amazing sex as we talked about what our threesome would be like. I couldn’t believe I was going to live out this fantasy for real.
——
They started chatting, just a little bit at first but after a while it turned into all the time. Kay would stay up late into the night with the blue glow of the phone lighting up her face. She got so addicted to her phone that sometimes I would find her with mine when hers died. Couldn’t stand being without one.
“He wants some pictures of me” she told me on evening as we were getting ready for bed.
“Ok. I have that nice one of you from the park the other day we could send”
She stating laughing, “no sweetie. He wants to see a bit more than that. Here take my phone and I’ll strip down a bit”
She then headed to the corner of the room and stripped down to bar and panties. Never thought I would be taking picture of my wife in her underwear to send to another guy. “You sure this is a good idea?” I asked
“Yeah. I it will be fine.” She said as she started to strike a sexy pose. “You know at first I couldn’t get behind this threesome idea of yours. But now it’s really turning me on”
Nice, I thought, getting some sex tonight. But once I gave the phone back her attention was right back to messaging the photos of her to the mystery man. “He wants one without the bra”
“Ok well that’s too much, he can wait until we have our night for that.” I said rather sternly.
“Don’t be silly” she didn’t even notice my tone. “Come over here and take it off for me. I have a good angle for a selfie.”
Before I knew it I was over there taking off her bra and she started taking pictures and then her attention was right back to her conversation with him. “Thanks honey” she said as she walked away not even looking at me. As she rounded the corner I swore I heard her giggling. And there I was alone in the bedroom noticing I was hard as a rock. I wondering is it because she is waking around in her underwear or because she is ignoring me?
—
“Holy shit!” is all I hear as I am startled awake in the middle of the night. As I lift my head up a phone is thrusted in my face.
“That is the largest cock I have ever seen” Kay says.
“Huh?” I say rubbing my eyes awake.
“I’m not sure I can handle that. Not when I am used to yours.” She reaches down my pants and starts playing with my dick. “What do you think honey?” I start to get hard as she strokes me “Do you think I can take it?”
“Umm” god this is sexy. Can’t believe we are actually talking about this. “Yeah sweetie” the stroking is getting faster “ I think we will have a good time with the threesome” I say. “I know I will” Kay says staring at the picture.
We start making out heavily and soon our clothes are off. She has me lie down on the bed with my dock pointing to the air. She grabs the picture of his cock on her phone and places next to mine. “Wow” she says. “Didn’t know they could be that different. Did you?”
Too embarrassed to answer and feeling self conscious about my size I just take the opportunity to start going down her. Something I know I am good at. But after a few minutes she wants me inside her. So I climb on top and slide my dick in and start pumping. “Grab a condom first” she says. “Don’t want any surprises”
I jump off run across the room grab a condom and by the time I get back she has rolled over on her stomach and is staring at the picture again. I don’t waste any time though. I hop back on and take her from behind. But as I pump my dick in and out of her as she is staring at another cock is more than I can take and I cum with seconds.
“You done already?!” She says with a bit on disappointment in her tone.
“Sorry,not sure what I got over me. But let me go down on you.”
“No. It fine” she sighs and rolls over and starts chatting on her phone.
The next morning I woke up and she was already out of bed. I found her down stairs not on her phone and I could tell right away she was in a grumpy mood.
“Sorry about last night” I said “it was my fault.”
“Yeah. It’s was. You know I barely felt you after you grabbed the condom last night. It’s just seeing what I have been missing….”
“Wow that stung”
“Come on are you going to sit there and say the two cocks compare to each other. You know I have never asked what’s your measurement anyway?”
“I don’t know”‘I lied.
“Don’t do that. I know you have measured it.”
“It’s four inches, what is his?”
“He has told me it’s 9.5…..You know I am just a little pissed and I need some space. I don’t need you messing this up for me?”
“What does that mean?”
But she had already walked away.
She spent the next few days really angry and I tried my best to fix the situation. Doing all the cooking and cleaning. Keeping up with the laundry. After a while of the silent treatment I think it started working. She started to open back up a bit.
“Are you ok?” I asked.
“You know there is something we need to talk about…”
Ping!
Her phone light up. “But it’s going to have to wait. Sorry” And she got up and walked away.
But her mood did improve after that even though she was always on the phone. She was on it so much that I started to think it was a problem. We could even make it through a meal without going off and taking her attention.
“You have been talking to him for a while now. Don’t you think it’s a bit much?”
“Just trying to get all the details in line.”
“You know maybe this isn’t the best idea anymore”
“No way. Don’t you dare say that. This was your idea. And now that I know what I am missing. There is no going back on this” she said in an angrier tone than I was expecting.
“Well can you at least fill me in on the details of when our threesome is happening?”
“I am not so sure that threesome is the right word anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well after talking to him and seeing what he is bringing I think I am going to need most of the time.”
“Aaaa…”
“You’ll still be there if course.”
“And what you just want me to stand there?”
“I don’t know. It’s just that it looks like he will be able to give me something you can’t “
“Hey”
“Now come on. You saw it.”
“Yeah”
“ and you want me to be happy right”
“Right”
“So this is what I want”
“Ok”
“Great! He is coming over tomorrow”
…

This tale comes from when I was working Night Audit in a busy hotel, on the outskirts of a small city, about 8 years ago.
It’s a sold-out night, I have one room left with one check-in, marked with a late arrival flag so we know the guest is arriving after 2am and late shift have already spoken to the guest. Overbooking off, and our local ring-round also verifies that the area is sold out too. This is going to be a perfect fill so I’m happy and my night porter is cracking on with the rounds.
It’s 2:15am and I’m just about to run the night audit when in walks “Karen”. She states her name, slaps down a credit card and asks to be checked in quickly. Immediately alarm bells are ringing as it’s not the name of the last arrival I have on the list. I ask her the normal questions;
1) Is the reservation booked under another name? 2) Do you have your booking confirmation to hand?
She looks at me as if I’d suddenly grown an extra head, asks if I’m stupid and pushes her credit card further towards me across the desk.
Me: I’m really sorry madam but I don’t have a record of your reservation for tonight and the hotel is sold out. If you don’t have a confirmation number to hand I can’t check you in as I don’t see a verified reservation for you.
Karen: I have a booking, it’s been made months ago and I paid a deposit. I just want to be checked in.
Me: OK. Let me run your card and see if I can find any payments - was this the card you prepaid the booking on?
Karen: rolls her eyes
Me: Runs card. Sorry Madam but I’m not finding any payments associated with this card for previous or upcoming reservations. Are you sure you booking is for this hotel as there are two other hotels of the same brand with similar names in the city.
Karen: I always stay here. The reception manager knows me and takes care of my bookings personally.
Me: Madam, I am the FOM, and I believe this is the first time I am making your acquaintance. And when I pull your information up I’m not seeing any data which means you haven’t had a reservation with us in the past three years. Are you sure you have booked this specific location?
This interaction is continued back and forth for almost 25 minutes and her attitude is nonchalant with the occasional eye rolls, huffs and puffs. She’s texting the entire time. By this time I’ve accessed the chains dreadful central reservations system and searched other local properties res list which are showing she doesn’t have bookings there. The last arrival has also turned up with her kid in tow, and is sat on our lobby sofa watching the entertainment. I’ve already paged my porter to discreetly check-in the waiting guest so not as to antagonise Karen who is scarily quiet, and I’m just waiting for her to explode.
Finally, she slams her entire tiny purse on the counter and exclaims my stupidity. She claims to have paid a 50% deposit, that the reception manager always handles her reservations personally and that I’m a complete and total moron. By this point the other guest comes back down for a smoke and is laughing watching this crazy person just loose her shit. I let her meltdown entirely and when she’s run out of steam I suggest that I can book her a room at the only available hotel in a 20 mile radius however as she doesn’t have a valid booking with me; she would need to pay the rate at the hotel direct and then contact us with her proof of booking and I assured her that she will get a free refund and a comp week booking with spa treatments if she has the proof of reservation, and I’m wrong. Off she eventually toddles to the waiting BMW that’s been idling the entire time she’s been here, I make the reservation for her at the new hotel and write out a brief handover log.
In walks the late arrival guest who’s been smoking and enjoying the free entertainment, she slaps down a brand new 20-pack of Marlboros, winks at me and says looks like you need these, pats me on the arm and heads off to bed.
I was off for the next two days, came back and caught up with the GM; apparently she never arrived at the booked out hotel, didn’t come back to us and no one knows who she is. It still baffles me to this day what her game plan was and where she went…

Raj has ten pairs of red, nine pairs of white and eight pairs of black shoes in a box. If he randomly picks shoes one by one (without replacement) from the box to get a red pair of shoes to wear, what is the maximum number of attempts he has to make? (a) 27 (B)36 (c)44 (d) 45

TW: talks of unaliving.
I am trying to not make this TOO long, and it is going to be kind of long, but here’s some background: my kid’s dad ghosted us when she was about 2yrs old. I spent the next 3 years struggling to raise her on my own. I had little to no support from my family unless I was paying them for babysitting, and BD’s mom wasn’t (mentally/physically) capable of helping me. I didn’t have any friends to lean on, probably mostly because I was afraid to ask. I struggled to afford childcare, groceries, rent, etc.
Well her 5th birthday came around at the end of 2020, and it was the first time I was able to throw her a proper birthday party myself. At the time we were living with my (terrible) parents and my younger brother because we had nowhere else to go. My dad was the only one who helped me decorate, and he barely hung up two streamers before he gave up and left the room.
I never felt as alone as I did that day, and I started panicking and thinking about how the rest of my daughter’s life was going to be. I felt like a failure and I absolutely PLUMMETED into suicidal ideations. I was scared of what I was thinking about and I was terrified that I would snap and end up on the news. IYKWIM.
After the party was over, my sister wanted me to bring my kid over for a sleepover at her house with my niece (she was no contact with our parents so they didn’t come to the party), so I dropped her off and was planning to pick her up after the weekend. But after 2 days, the panicking got worse and the thoughts started to feel like I was ready to act on them. I was communicating my feelings to my sister the whole time because she had already been in therapy for a long time so I felt like I could trust her with it. She begged me to check myself in to a psychiatric hospital, and she said she wasn’t going to let me take my kid home unless I agreed to go because she said she was worried about what would happen. And I could have her back after I got help. But in the moment, I choked. I was so afraid that if I did check in, I would lose my daughter forever. I know I wasn’t in my right mind, and I wasn’t thinking through any of my decisions. If I could go back in time, I would do it. But instead of going to the hospital, I went home and packed up all my things, got on the freeway and just kept driving.
So after a couple of weeks of me leaving, me and my sister were still talking and I obviously wasn’t getting any better because all I did was run away which made things worse. Sister brought up wanting to enroll Audrey in school for next year, and taking her to doctors and things, and she said she wouldn’t be able to do any of that unless she fully adopted my kid. …. The worst part of all of this is that I didn’t do any of my own research. I let her talk me into terminating my rights and signing the adoption agreement. She told me that as long as I was making an effort to “get help” then I could talk to my kid on the phone.
I started therapy. A month goes by, I’m feeling better, but she only let me talk to my kid one time. The adoption took another couple of months after this to finalize. And once it did, sister made another rule that I couldn’t face time/call my kid unless I would also be writing her letters in the mail, and we could only talk every other Thursday. I feel like it’s important to mention that she told me she was worried about losing the bond she had with my kid, and sister told my kid to start calling her mom. And when my kid would have a second where she was alone, she would whisper into the phone that she wanted to come home with me and she would start crying.
We were doing the phone calls every other Thursday … until March. Me and my sister got into a huge fight because of a miscommunication and she cut me off from contacting my kid at all. Blocked me on all social media. Blocked my number. I was devastated and confused.
I haven’t been able to talk to my daughter since then. I tried filling a petition for visitation by myself a couple of months after this happened, but I messed it up. So I thought I would try to just talk to my sister about it because I wanted to see my kid. Don’t know when it happened, but I sent her a message and it finally went thru which obviously meant she unblocked me and she didn’t tell me. I asked about it and she said “yeah I unblocked you”. As if I was supposed to just know she had unblocked me?? But I apologized and started asking about seeing my kid in person. By this time, I had been on medication for several months, I was taking care of myself, I was doing okay. She basically said that I would have to start the whole communication process over again with just writing letters. Then work up to calls then I could see her in person. So I confessed to her (before I realized I messed it up) that I actually already filed the petition in court, but I was trying to see if we could figure it out together without having to do all that.
She got really pissed and said that because I didn’t set an official contact order when the adoption was happening, then I had no right to anything. But this was the first time any kind of contact order anything was ever mentioned to me. MONTHS after everything happened.
It’s been two years since I’ve talked to my daughter. I am still on medication, working, and also in school. I am planning to hire a lawyer after I’m done with school because I’ll have a well paying job, and I would finally be able to afford a great lawyer. In my state, it’s possible to have an adoption reversed if the birth parent can prove that basically they didn’t know what they were doing when this all happened. Has anyone ever done this before? And were you successful?
TLDR; I (29f) let my sister (31f) adopt my daughter 3 years ago when she was 5, and it was the worst mistake of my entire life. I want to hire a lawyer to reverse the adoption, and I’m seeking any advice about what to expect. I also want to know if anyone has ever been successful in doing this?

Yonex Shoes Philippines
https://www.yonex-philippines.com/
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Hi, I was searching online for a pair of badminton shoes for my son. Google searched for his favorite brand which is Yonex, and I stumbled upon this website - https://www.yonex-philippines.com/
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The site looks legit. The interface and process look legit, so I proceeded in selecting and order the preferred shoe.
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I paid and ordered the item last Wednesday 31 May, and today I checked the status of the order but it still says pay success.
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Now I am having doubts if the site is legit.

1. I didn't receive any email confirmation upon payment.
2. All shoes have the same prices.
3. No contact number or email. Just a Contact Form.
4. I dug deep and found these related complaints. Yonex-Philipines.com Review: Order not received - ComplaintsBoard.com

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You might ask why I didn't order from Shoppee or Lazada, which is safer. Nagbabaksyon lang ako sa pinas this month and I'm not used to Shoppe/Lazada online store. Also, limited lang available sa Shoppee/Lazada.
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Still praying that I will receive the item. If not, this site should be brought down. It's the first site that pops up if you google search it.

Any advice or comments on a web-based EHR platform?
EHR starting costs for small solo practice are similar:

• simplepractice 29
• therapy brands (theranest, myclients+) 29
• therapy notes 49
• theraplatform 39
• owlpractice 39

They vary in features such as

• telehealth (video) enabled and
• telehealth features (collaboration, group, waiting room, etc),
• charges (or not) for schedulers/assistants,
• payment support/cost (credit card, insurance billing),
• cost for schedule reminders (per text, per voice call if available, or all inclusive),
• integration features (Google calendar--not sure how it's HIPAA-compliant), and
• HIPAA-compliant messaging (SMS, portal. Some cost extra, per message)

Messaging can be supplemented with iPlum (HIPPA-compliant phone and text). I know therapist-generated messages and replies shouldn't be sent through SMS, but the ability to receive SMS messages into a HIPAA-compliant platform seems useful and prudent.
Not sure whether insurance billing on these platforms includes help with credentialing similar to Alma or Headway.
Also not sure if the video is as reliable and feature-full as Zoom has been. In some cases, video is $15/mo which is similar to Zoom at $15.99 (monthly, discounted for annual).
Other more expensive EHEMR platforms require a quote, which seems not worth the trouble (is it?): Valant EHR, EHR Your Way, Exym, Praxis.

I forgot my password of my google account, I tried to reset it buy after giving the OTP from my phone number, its asking for the OTP sent to the same email i want to recover. can someone help me in thia situation. pls suggest me someone who can do this job.

I’m kinda ashamed I’m even posting about this publicly but I don’t want to talk about it to any of my friends so here we go My boyfriend and I have been together for almost a year. This relationship also has a lot of good aspects but something that really bothers me is how bad this relationship makes me feel when it comes to other girls. Here are a few examples: He bought a puppy and couldn’t keep him, so he gifted him to his ex when they were still together, that means that they’re obviously still in contact but she still loves him and sometimes calls him on facetime for no reason. He has another female friend and sometimes when he’s over at my place and they talk on the phone for an hour straight while I just sit there and he calls her nicknames like baby. She’s in our friend group and I know for sure there’s nothing going on between them, one time he asked me if it made me uncomfortable, I said yes, he immediately stopped, but the fact this happened in the first place makes me feel very disrespected. Another friend got married, she sent him pictures of the wedding and he responded with “you’re the most beautiful bride” and that made me feel so extremely shitty for some reason. He also comments on nearly every woman he sees and rates her looks and what he likes about her, what he finds attractive/doesn’t find attractive and on one hand it doesn’t really bother me and I’m glad he feels comfortable sharing his thoughts but on the other hand a part of me thinks “why can’t you just be happy with what you have” , “why do you even think like that”. I get a lot of male attention and that bothers him a lot to the point where I had to quit my side job as a server because he noticed men would ask for my number a lot which is why I find this behaviour kinda paradoxical He doesn’t hide any of this, he just thinks I’m overreacting but is willing to change a few of these things but I still don’t know what to do because now I just feel like a mess. I think it’s the combination of these situations that makes me feel like this. He often tells me he feels like he’s walking on eggshells with me because everything he says seems to be wrong but I’m at a point where I can’t even tell what’s normal behaviour and what isn’t. I cant tell if I’m just too insecure for this relationship, if it’s just my ego, or if I’m really being disrespected that much. How do I deal with this problem?

Brian Schmetzer

• Coach opens with some reflections at the halfway point of the season. 27 points so far this season, 54 is a number that is expected to put a team into the playoffs. The team has done well, overall. He calls out the current stretch which could be better. The coaches will reflect more next week during the week and their prep for Charlotte.
• Calls out 100 shut outs for Frei. Third in league history. Nico has 200 starts, alongside Brad Evans, Ozzie, Frei. Happy the team is starting and playing more young players.
• At the midway point of the season there is room to grow, but coach is not completely disappointed.
• Onto conversation about the game: First question is about the players feeling like the game is one they could have won if they put their chances away. No, they didn't create enough good chances.
• The right side suffered with Reed & Cody, not the same caliber as the Roldans, but they worked hard and are young.
• Coach calls out Chu for performance given 3 games in a week, and wanting to add polish for final pass.
• Extending Raul's minutes for the next game.
• The game wasn't purposefully conservative offensively, that was just how it played with Portland.
• Asked about the struggles to beat Portland, he discusses how Gio has had his number since started with the club. Coach is circumspect but he wishes the game plan had worked out.
• Asked to pinpoint why we've dropped so many points in the last few weeks, he doesn't really directly answer it. He waxes about it for a bit, but he talks about injuries and that the team will continue to refine their attacking movements.
• Thoughts on Cristian's return to play - Will take it a bit slow with him, called out they didn't have him take headers, etc.
• Regarding Montero's start, hoping for some Cascadia match magic.
• Regarding Cody's performance, the kid sticks up for himself and is passionate which coach appreciates.
• Re: JP - Always good, always influential. He makes everyone better.
• Asked about the need for roster rotation and basically that that it is a feature of MLS.
• Raul's health discussed, and where he is. Coach says the international break is not ideal as they try to keep getting him minutes and fitness.
• Asked for reflection on the CCL finals given the team's win last year. Schmetzer hopes LAFC wins, two MLS champs back to back is good for the league.

Cristian Roldan

• It felt good to be back. Wishes he had a few chances back but was glad to get on the field.
• Was it being Portland and the intense rivalry match good? Hard for a return with an opponent like that, especially under careful restrictions.
• Asked about the header cautions etc. Talked about instincts and drive, but the caution of coming back from injury is hard.
• Frustrated at their struggles with Portland at home. The team didn't play up to their standards. A tie is fair but unfortunate.
• Asked about the atmosphere, it was amazing. Felt Pre-Covid when they opened the top level.
• Jeremiah repeats his question about the "conservative" offensive of the game and whether it was by design or how it played out. Cristian echoes Schmetz about it being how it played out.
• Coming off the bench, or even just being a leader in the locker room, it's important to be a leader, impart information and help others on the team. He tried to do it even during his weeks while injured.
• Asked what the team needs to do to score, and he calls out runners in the box to get on the end of crosses, taking moments to find the pass and not feel rushed.
• Asked if today's draw is a glass half full, Cristian says no. The team got 4 of 9 possible points at home, and that's not good enough.
• Asked to talk about Frei and his role for the team. He's consistent and brings that leadership from the back. Keeps the team in games when they maybe shouldn't be. Huge credit to him for the 100 clean sheets on his career.
• Gets a question about gun violence and it as an important topic for the country right now. Speaks to it being an important issue for the US. Speaks to gun control regulations being a tough task to do, but at the end of the day they want a safe world. And if their wearing orange helps educate people on it, that's good. [He was wearing an orange polo in the post match interview.]

Stefan Frei

• Thoughts on the result, the team put in a good shift after the week of games. A physically exhausting week. The clean sheet shows the team put in the work.
• Asked about his 100 clean sheets, says it is nice for personal accolades but they play to win trophies. And sure, the more clean sheets he has, the likelier it is they get those trophies, but that's the ultimate goal. Highlights good teammates who contribute to those clean sheets and while it's a stat on the goalkeeper, it's more about the team who lead to it.
• Asked for thoughts on how Portland was thwarting their goal scoring, he jokes that he's kind of far from that to see it, but talks about how both teams fought hard to defend. Talks a bit about the efforts, but would have loved to get more chances.
• About the team's struggles to beat Portland at home and the black mark on the record. Talks about the team's frustration with Portland having had their number. He flags Portland didn't have a midweek game.
• Looking forward to a proper training which they haven't been able to do in a while.
• Compliments Cody Baker's energy and what he brought to the game. He doesn't put himself in positions he doesn't want to be in. Is glad that Cody is doing well, and add depth to that position.
• Asked about the post game chatter on the field, it seemed between Seattle and Portland. Stef clarifies that it was between Portland players when someone took a ball which ended up being offside, and if they had let it go someone else would have had a chance to attack.
• His assessment over the first half of the year, glad they started well to get a cushion but says it has been ups and downs so far this season. Team needs to take care of themselves mentally and work to get back into a rhythm. Grades it as a C+/B-.

All my life I was raised by people who avoid their responsabilities.
Two weeks ago, my beautiful baby dog died abruptly she was only 7. I usually go away one week per month to another city for work (and to maintain mental stability) and leave my dogs with my parents. I know they do not abuse my dogs, I leave them food, they feed them, they sleep inside, enough for one week, I try never to stay away too long. The only reason I am here is because here my dogs have space. In the city I could afford a place for me, but naturally not a house, probably a 1 bedroom and my dogs are not used to that. My dog was sick one week before but by tuesday she seemed to be recovered. Since she was young I thought it was an acute episode and she was recovered, so I went friday evening.
Saturday evening my mother called me saying she had being vomiting. Apparently my mother left after lunch and she was fine but when she came back she saw she was vomiting and called me. From the schedule, I think she first came home, cooked and calmy ate dinner, while my puppy was there suffering, but first things first! The most important is to calmy eat dinner, fuck the dying dog.
Then I asked them to take them to the hospital. I wanted her to stay overnight and would come back next day. My father did not want to because she would leave fur in his car and possibly vomit and also he wanted to rest and maybe he'd have to wait too long in the vet. Eventually they went after being on the phone for 40 minutes teaching them how to put the leash (my father knew he was procrastinating hoping he did not have to go).
During the afternoon, my father and brother were home. They probably saw my dog ill but they didn't bother to call me. If they had called me I would have booked a ticket and come home immediately. They would take her to the vet and when I was home I would be there on time to see her. Even if she died - which maybe she wouldn't because she had gone earlier - I would be there. Instead she agonized an entire afternoon and then died alone in the vet and I did not have the chance to say goodbye.
While crying on the phone with my mother, she said "but you knew she was not well, why did you go?". But then in the same call I asked her "why didn't you call me earlier if you saw she was unwell?" to what she replied yelling "she was well friday evening in satudary in the morning" (she was well but I should know she was unwell? the fuck?). This is because my mother always tries to make me feel guilty for doing anything I like: vacation, going out, she always tries to put me down. Then in another call I was making more questions about that day and crying and she jokingly said "I will make you a drawing when you come back home". And also said "if you're coming here cause problems, you might as well stay there" (I did not come home right after she died I stayed in the city for a while and handled the cremation procedures by phone).
I know it's my fault as well. I will have to live with the fact that I left, that maybe I should have seen the signs, that I was not the best pet owner, I did not have the best housing situation to have pets and I did not deserver her. I know all of that. I never had problems assuming my responsabilities and guilt.
But not my parents, specially my father and brother. They are little saints who are never guilty or responsible of anything. My mother too, but at least she eventually called.
The house where they live was built by my grandparents. They were illiterate and went abroad to a country they hated to get money, stayed there for 20 years, made sacrifices and then came back and built this house. When my father got my mother pregnant of me "by accident" (poor saint is never responsible for anything it's always an accident) they let them live here rent free. They did not pay any bills. They had free childcare (my grandmother took care of me). My grandmother cooked for everyone, my mother could get home and had everything prepared. My grandfather even opened a business so my father would have a job at home!
Then my grandmother died, my grandfather was heatbroken. He still paid everything in the house but my mother wanted to charge him money to cook for him. The business went bankrupt and my father was jobless for like 12 years. He was always bothering my grandfather to give him money. The last time I saw my grandfather in the hospital I went with my father and the last thing he said was "it's ok, the retirement check for this month already came". He was sad when my grandfather died obviously, because now he would not have anyone to care for him.
My grandfather was sick for a while but my mother did not care for him. She instead started caring for one of old neighboors because her daughters were abroad. She did not visit him in the hospital. My grandfather even pressed charges against my mother to a social worker (did not went ahead because then he died).
They never did anything in life, no sacrifices, everything handed to them, and they were never grateful. Then my grandfather died and they inherit this house they never worked for.
They can't even care for the house properly. Parts of the house are degrading because they don't clean it. They don't invest in it. They have a part they're renting to someone for an extremely low rent value because they like the guy. They could charge more and with the money do some work. nop. They put my brother's girlfriend, her mother, her two cats and the dog here, rent free. The cats had to be closed in the room all day because my dogs did not get along, but when I was not here, they made my dog sleep in an outside place we have and let the cats free, the cats ruined some of the couch and wall paper. It's fine I love cats, but it's amazing how for 30 years I lived here, my grandfather for longer (and he owned the place) and that couch was never ruined. These people come and in a matter of months ruin the couch.
Whatever. My father already said the house is going for my brother (he can't do that, by law I am always entitled to some part, but he is too stupid to know that). Once he was sick and my brother was sleeping in the same floor as him, but instead of calling my brother he phoned me. Then I called an ambulance and went to wake up my brother but my father was like "no don't wake him up, he has to wake up early" (I had to work next day but who cares).
My brother has a girlfriend and he already manifested the will of then coming live with her here, potentially eventually have their kids, stay here, rent free. I think when he brought her and her mother here he hoped eventually I would just disappear with my dogs and the mother could stay in my room and he and his girlfriend in the other and everyone would be happy.
Well, too bad. I am planning on laywering up to understand the things I have to do to assure than when they pass away I inherit my part. I do not intend to make it easy for my brother. I always worked hard and I am in a good position now in my life despite all the abuse and despite the fact they never helped me, so fuck him, he can do the same. Every centimer I am entitled to by law, I will fucking get it. And I am also planning to do a will to make sure most my money does not go for any of them if I die before.
My life may not have a lot of meaning now that my baby passed away (still have another dog, so some meaning), but I will fuck these pricks and make them pay, even if that's my only purpose. Every hour of that afternoon they let my dog in agony, they will pay for it 1000x more.