Clear acrylic cup with straw

Would love some input from anyone who is further along/finished with their clear correct journey:

1. Do you actually wear your trays 22 hours per day? I have noticed that for eating/drinking/cleaning alone, I end up leaving it out longer than that
2. I am someone who always has an iced coffee or other drink nearby while I’m working, but I can’t take my trays in and out every time I take a sip - Would drinking through a straw solve this problem?
3. Will the whistle/lisp go away?
4. My mouth is watering way more since I got my first tray, does this subside over time?
5. My teeth already moved a wee bit and it’s giving me a small identity crisis. How have you adjusted to having a new smile?

Just to give a bit of a background my dad (43M) has always struggled with mental health and substance abuse, alcohol being the main one, I wouldn't go so far as to say an addict technically but heavily dependent when using it.
My childhood was always a bit sketchy, we got on majority of the time but to say he is an entirely different person when drinking is an understatement. He for whatever reason is unable to communicate without alcohol so as you can imagine every possible feeling he has comes out in a terrible way. Not going to get into whole relationship just things that resonate:
The main start of issues was when he was with his ex partner, she quite clearly hated children. There was a lot of forced cold showers in middle of the night if I woke up upset, hitting just because I was being a child (probably around 6 at this point?), taking away all my toys and locking me in my room with just bits of paper. He never did anything to prevent, which always really resonates with me and when I said to him about violent part years later he turned and said not true...
When on holiday, myself (8F) and my cousin (6F) were trying to sleep and was probably around midnight and everyone in the family were rowdy as drinking. I jokingly shouted shut up so me and my cousin laughed. Next thing you know dad is yelling 'the f*** did you say' stormed in and grabbed me out of bed and pinned me against the wall. When I screamed for help my aunty came in and took her daughter out and left. I pinched and scratched for him to get off and he still has scars on his arm to this day from this incident. When he eventually left, the whole family went on about how I deserved it. Later in the evening he came into my room and said that I ruin everything in his life and how he wished I wasn't born. He had to get pulled out by his brother away from me. Everyone said that he wouldn't even remember in the morning, but he stuck by it...
In getting a new relationship he went back to alcohol and became another different person throwing plates threatening my step mum saying he would k**l her I had to intervene at young ages to take the brunt of it as didn't want to see these things happening. Many times I would have to hold my young brother whilst he cried himself to sleep whilst there was screaming and arguing downstairs.
Another holiday kick off ensued a few years later when he was threatening my step mum again so I intervened and got pulled away by her and my dad got pulled away by his mum. When finally over I went outside to calm down and heard in the adjacent apartment everyone saying I was a manipulator and turn the family against each other all the time.
When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter after a few months of her being born I got told that the whole family were saying how they didn't know I was going to be a parent and thought I wouldn't cope (love a confidence boost).
I started keeping a distance and when last I went to see them all they made me feel extremely uncomfortable again, referring to me as thunder thighs, laughing at my expense, barely talking to me letting their daughter hit my child and barge her out the way. The final straw was when my brother was play fighting with me and he somehow annoyed my dad and grabbed him by the hair and picked him up we shortly left and kept communication to a minimum.
I have recently heard from him, first message was 'I don't know what I've done to be treated this way but you need to start acknowledging us as part of your life' and when I ignored that as I am not retaliating to that. I got 'you can blame me for a lot growing up but I did my best for you and you were always my first thought of whenever I made a decision. I don't know why you are ghosting me but I still want to be a part of yours and your daughter's life. How can I make it better?' I don't know what to say / do I feel like I am in the wrong in ignoring but we live nearby and I am terrified to run into them all... Help!

Just to give a bit of a background my dad (43M) has always struggled with mental health and substance abuse, alcohol being the main one, I wouldn't go so far as to say an addict technically but heavily dependent when using it.
My childhood was always a bit sketchy, we got on majority of the time but to say he is an entirely different person when drinking is an understatement. He for whatever reason is unable to communicate without alcohol so as you can imagine every possible feeling he has comes out in a terrible way. Not going to get into whole relationship just things that resonate:
The main start of issues was when he was with his ex partner, she quite clearly hated children. There was a lot of forced cold showers in middle of the night if I woke up upset, hitting just because I was being a child (probably around 6 at this point?), taking away all my toys and locking me in my room with just bits of paper. He never did anything to prevent, which always really resonates with me and when I said to him about violent part years later he turned and said not true...
When on holiday, myself (8F) and my cousin (6F) were trying to sleep and was probably around midnight and everyone in the family were rowdy as drinking. I jokingly shouted shut up so me and my cousin laughed. Next thing you know dad is yelling 'the f*** did you say' stormed in and grabbed me out of bed and pinned me against the wall. When I screamed for help my aunty came in and took her daughter out and left. I pinched and scratched for him to get off and he still has scars on his arm to this day from this incident. When he eventually left, the whole family went on about how I deserved it. Later in the evening he came into my room and said that I ruin everything in his life and how he wished I wasn't born. He had to get pulled out by his brother away from me. Everyone said that he wouldn't even remember in the morning, but he stuck by it...
In getting a new relationship he went back to alcohol and became another different person throwing plates threatening my step mum saying he would k**l her I had to intervene at young ages to take the brunt of it as didn't want to see these things happening. Many times I would have to hold my young brother whilst he cried himself to sleep whilst there was screaming and arguing downstairs.
Another holiday kick off ensued a few years later when he was threatening my step mum again so I intervened and got pulled away by her and my dad got pulled away by his mum. When finally over I went outside to calm down and heard in the adjacent apartment everyone saying I was a manipulator and turn the family against each other all the time.
When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter after a few months of her being born I got told that the whole family were saying how they didn't know I was going to be a parent and thought I wouldn't cope (love a confidence boost).
I started keeping a distance and when last I went to see them all they made me feel extremely uncomfortable again, referring to me as thunder thighs, laughing at my expense, barely talking to me letting their daughter hit my child and barge her out the way. The final straw was when my brother was play fighting with me and he somehow annoyed my dad and grabbed him by the hair and picked him up we shortly left and kept communication to a minimum.
I have recently heard from him, first message was 'I don't know what I've done to be treated this way but you need to start acknowledging us as part of your life' and when I ignored that as I am not retaliating to that. I got 'you can blame me for a lot growing up but I did my best for you and you were always my first thought of whenever I made a decision. I don't know why you are ghosting me but I still want to be a part of yours and your daughter's life. How can I make it better?' I don't know what to say / do I feel like I am in the wrong in ignoring but we live nearby and I am terrified to run into them all... Help!

I am a 32 year old female. Mother of two young kids. I have been shedding more than the normal amount of hair for almost two years now. It's been alarming. I have spent the last two years trying to figure out reasons why?? (postpartum hair loss, stress, nutrition, bad habits, genetics, alcohol, weed). After making many changes, quitting the weed and alcohol, taking different supplements (beef liver, vitamins), changing my lifestyle and habits- I have ruled out every one of these reasons being THE reason why I have been losing my hair over time.
To describe my hair loss, basically every time I run my fingers through my hair, at least 2-4 hairs come out. EVERY TIME. And when I shower, I will always have a nice handful of hair that sheds. No particular pattern of hair loss, it just sheds from any place on my head. I am at a point where I have lost so much hair volume that the idea of going any more bald consumes me and stresses me out.
I am not religious, but I am a spiritual person. I believe in past lives, I believe that I have a team of spirit guides and angels that help me along my journey here on earth. I believe there are spiritual meanings behind the illnesses we undergo in our bodies. I also incorporate the knowledge of Ayurveda into my life and have been doing so for years. Ayurvedic daily habits, herbs ect. Although after having children and from life getting so busy, these habits and usage of herbs dwindled down a lot and are not as strong as they once were.
Today I consulted with a spiritual intuitive that I have used in the past, a few years ago. I wanted to have a consult with my spirit guides/healers/my team to see what they had to say about what is going on with my health and my hair loss. This was kind of a last resort kind of thing I suppose, after trying to figure it out the logical way myself for months.
I decided I would share what they had to say here on reddit, simply because I myself have spent much time on reddit trying to read other peoples stories about hair loss (and many were unsuccessful). Maybe my own story could provide help to someone else out there.
To keep it short and simple, my healers said that the problem was not nutritional, and I was not experiencing deficiency. The energy in my body has been shifting, bringing in more light. This healing/clearing/releasing has also thrown off my glands and endocrine system, and that these organs simply needed time to readjust. I will say that after 2020 COVID time, I went through so many spiritual awakenings that were extremely overwhelming to endure (spiritually and mentally, although no physical side effects.) It wasn't until fall 2022 that my hair loss began. And my guides said that my timing of this physical change was sort of chosen for whatever personal reason I'm not exactly aware of.
Their suggestions for me and my hair loss:

1. Tulsi tea, every day. To settle and balance my system. (I drink coffee daily and always wondered if this was a problem or contributor for hair loss and they said as long as it is just a cup a day to get me going that was fine. Don't make it an all-day thing). I did find an unused bottle I bought a while back, so I'll start taking these tablets but will also buy the tea bags to drink daily.
2. My internal stress and tension may "feel normal" since I do work a ton and raise children, and adding on too many suggestions would basically stress me out trying to find time for them. EXA- trying to find time every day to sit down and meditate uninterrupted. But they did say that it is important for me to at least take moments in the day to just stop periodically, take a breath, and just reset. Close my eyes. Breathe. Find small moments to just manage this inner tension.
3. Triphala daily (I actually already do this, kind of..not daily though) triphala is best taken at night. I am taking two tablets.
4. Ashwaghanda daily. I can't find my big bag of powder I once had. I may just order some tablets for convenience. I will use my intuition on how much to take and at what time, but will do every day.

They said that in three weeks I will notice my results. I will come back in three weeks to update.
I used to read a lot of people saying that they started getting hair loss after having COVID. I mean, I know so many people who got COVID and never lost hair. What it maybe there are other people who are just going through some sort of spiritual awakening and hair loss is also just some sort of side effect from it. I feel like a lot of people "woke up" during covid because of so many ridiculous things happening in the world making people start to question things they used to believe? Just a thought I wanted to share.
I love my guides, my healers, my team, whoever they are. I know they are there because my life always feels so divine. By divine, I mean that I know there is always something more going on behind the scenes. There are too many "coincidences" that can't just be a coincidence. So many synchronicities I have. Seeing my angel numbers is one of them, and a daily thing that no longer raises my attention because I'm so used to it. (I see 444, 1144, etc daily on clocks, cars, phones, anywhere.) Right after my session today I got on the road and the car in front of me had 444 on their plate. I do feel some upliftment from my session and am grateful and excited to see what unfolds.

It's been a couple days since my last post because it took me so long to get everything down that happened just between the time I woke up and lunch on Saturday. I'd like to tell you that the rest of the weekend went by with less going on but that's just not so. Oh, and since it's Friday I can tell you that things just keep getting stranger, but I'm not going to jump ahead. Here's the first half of Saturday, I'm working on the second half.
Saturday Morning
I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing and immediately noticed that the sun was high enough that light was pouring through my windows. Since I normally wake up before the sun rises, I was a little disoriented as I grabbed my phone and fumbled to answer it.
It was Emily, letting me know she’d be at my apartment in 30 minutes and asking if I wanted her to pick anything up. I told her I was fine but that if she wanted anything other than black coffee, she should stop on the way, I’d pay her back. She thanked me, said she’d swing by the grocery store on the way, and hung up.
I looked at my phone and saw it was around 7:45. I ran the dogs downstairs quickly so they could do their business. The first thing I noticed was that Craig was gone, but his replacement was standing by the door. I realized that having a guard outside my door was going to be too obvious and made a mental note to talk to John about how to handle the security more discreetly.
Running back upstairs, I quickly showered and got dressed. Dropping a pod in the coffee maker, I scrolled through my missed calls while the cup filled. Emily was going to have her hands full if things kept up at this pace. I noticed that the calls continued until almost 2 am and that several were from my oldest brother (half-brother), including the last one.
Just a little before 8:30, I heard a knock on the door. I assumed it was Emily but was surprised to see the security guy standing there. “Good morning, sir. There is a young lady downstairs who says she’s related to you and supposed to be here. I asked her to wait for a moment while I confirmed. I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’m afraid you didn’t answer when I called, and we don’t have a calendar for you or a list of approved guests.”
I hadn’t even thought about security when I told Emily to come by. “That’s totally my fault. I’m not used to this at all yet. That’s my niece Emily. She’ll be working for me over the summer. Please make sure I get your number before you leave so I can put it in my phone. You can go ahead and send her up.”
“No problem, sir. I’ll do so right away.” He turned and went back downstairs. I left the door open, and a moment later Emily walked in looking confused.
“Ummm, Alex, who was that?”
I took the grocery bags from Emily and put them on the counter. Grabbing another mug from the cabinet, I made a second cup of coffee and told Emily to fix it any way she wanted. She pulled out the cream and sugar along with a box of pastries. I realized I was hungrier than I thought and grabbed one as I answered.
“That was our security. They’ll be here for at least the immediate future or until things settle down. They know who you are now and that you’re working for me for the summer.”
Emily seemed to accept that and finished fixing her coffee before grabbing a pastry of her own.
I explained that I was going to be meeting Mark for breakfast but that Sam was going to stop by and keep her company this morning while she was getting settled in and that I’d be back right after we were done.
I handed her my phone and gave her the passcode. I told her I wanted her to go through all the calls and write down the numbers and how many times each had called. If there wasn’t a contact or caller ID with it, then to reverse search the number and see if any of them came up. I also told her to go through all the voicemails and write down who called and what their message was.
I asked her to delete the ones that were just “call me back” messages but save the rest in case I needed to listen to them. After we finished our coffee and pastries, I helped her gather her stuff and the pastries so we could head downstairs to the office.
John was already there to relieve the other guy and recognized Emily from yesterday, and I could tell she remembered him too. He smiled at her, and she offered up a pastry. He thanked her but declined and asked if I had a schedule for the day yet. I explained I’d be meeting the Chief of Police in about 30 minutes and then returning to the office.
He said he’d like to get about 30 minutes of my time at some point to discuss some security plans, and I promised we’d sit down before lunch.
Unlocking the office, I took Emily’s bag and the groceries from her before asking her to run back upstairs and grab Charlie and Cooper so they wouldn’t be sitting alone while we were in the office. We set up in the conference room, I realized we’d probably need to get some more office furniture soon. She walked back in with the dogs a second later, they were clearly thrilled to be out of the apartment.
I explained we’d be ordering more furniture and a computer for her shortly. My office was clean, organized (mostly), and functional but pretty basic. I only had my desk, some chairs in the foyer for people waiting to meet, and a conference room for larger meetings, closings, etc.
Emily would have to work in the conference room until we could set up another office for her. There were two other vacant offices and a break room. It had been way more space than I needed before, but now I imagined that would change. Just as I was starting to worry about having enough room for a foundation, assistant, etc., I remembered that the entire building was mine, not just the office I was “renting”, I still couldn’t wrap my head around it.
Setting her up with the laptop, I told her where the office supplies were and promised I’d be back shortly, but that I’d be leaving my phone with her, so I wouldn’t be reachable. Then I remembered John and realized she could get hold of him if there was an emergency.
John was in the foyer, and I got his cell number and passed it on to her. I was getting ready to leave when she looked embarrassed for a second and started to speak but then stopped herself. I asked her what was up, and she hesitated before asking quietly if I was going to see if maybe her mom could get out of jail today.
CRAP, I had completely forgotten about Debbie. I told her to hold on one second and grabbed my phone. I had about 10 minutes to get to Carol’s and needed to talk to Dad first. Fortunately, he answered when I called and sounded a lot less stressed than he did yesterday.
“Hey Dad, good morning. Have you got just a minute? We need to talk about Debbie.”
I could almost hear his eyes roll through the phone. “Sure, I guess we need to get her out. Do you want me to handle it?” he asked. I sighed with relief. I was afraid he was going to dig his heels in and want her to stay in jail for the weekend. “No, Dad, I’m meeting Mark in 5 minutes. I should be able to take care of it. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m sorry to cut this short, but I’ve got to hustle to not be late.”
“No problem, son. I’ll be having a conversation with her as soon as she gets out. Tell Mark I said hi.”
I rushed the phone back to Emily and told her I’d work on getting her mom out. She looked relieved as I hurried out the door. Carol’s was only a couple of streets up, but it got packed on the weekend. It had been in that location for almost 70 years, with the third generation now behind the counter and the fourth getting ready to be.
I got there right at 9, and the line was around the block with peppily dressed weekenders waiting to eat, staring at their phones and ignoring their families waiting right next to them. Mark was already inside at his usual table (being chief had its privileges), but even if Mark hadn’t been sitting in his usual booth, he would have been easy to spot. At nearly 6’ 4” and built like an Abram’s tank, he was sure to stand out in any crowd.
Grabbing a seat, I let out a big sigh and relaxed. Mark quirked an eyebrow at me and said, “What’s up with you? I’ve never seen you look so tense.”
“How long have we got, Mark?” I asked with a wry chuckle.
Mark looked a little concerned and said, “All day and night if we need it, spill it.”
“Ok, but before we get into it, I need to ask you a professional question. We’re not going to press charges against Debbie. The night in jail should have been the wake-up call she needed, and if not, my dad’s going to deliver one when he sees her. Are you planning on charging her?”
Mark didn’t even answer; he just picked up his phone and called his duty desk. “Hey Steven, go ahead and cut Debbie Walker loose on my say. Put the papers on my desk, and I’ll sign off when I come back in. Make sure she knows she might still face charges from the DA and that she’d be wise to stay in town.”… “Nope, that’s it, thanks – I’ll stop in on my way home. Hope it’s a quiet today. See ya’.”
“There, one problem off your plate?”
I grinned. “Thanks, Mark. I don’t know if the problem is off my plate, but I know she’s out of your jail and that’s a start. Let’s get our order in, and then I’ve got the story of a lifetime for you.”
For the next 10 minutes, I gave Mark a 30,000-foot view of what had happened yesterday. He sat there quietly listening, only occasionally asking a question. When I got into the numbers, he stopped me and asked me to repeat myself.
I told him how surreal it was and that none of this had really sunk in yet. I mentioned Michael and Debbie getting turned away from the meeting by the security that JA had lined up and told him that the firm had insisted they keep security on me until things cooled down.
Mark nodded and asked if I had let them do that. I said I had reluctantly agreed, and Mark asked if they were here now. I pointed John out; he was standing outside the door and said that JA told me he’s a deputy from a nearby county. Mark’s eyes narrowed, and I saw him nod slightly. I asked him if he knew John.
“Oh yeah, I know him, and while I guess technically he is a deputy of sorts, he runs one of the top private security firms within 300 miles. He’s as good as you can get.” I asked how he knew him, and Mark simply said, “We served together,” and left it at that. “If he’s out here personally, then someone he respects, or someone important, must have asked him to handle your detail.”
“I’m supposed to talk to him when we get done here. He wants to discuss the security plan, but I’m not sure I’d call one guy a detail.”
“Do you mind if I join you?” asked Mark. “I’d like to know what he’s thinking and be ready to brief my officers if necessary.”
“Uh, sure…. Thank you.” I was aware that security was a concern; in addition to the family issues, there was a risk (even if it was small) of kidnapping, blackmail, increased potential for robbery, etc., but I was surprised that JA hadn’t been more direct about who he’d hired. Maybe he had more concerns than he wanted to share.
Breakfast came out right about then, delivered by Sandy, a pretty girl in her early thirties that I’d known most of my life. She was a few years younger than me with a bright smile and a positive energy that made people light up when they saw her. After college, she’d gone to work for one of the largest restaurant operators in the U.S. She’d spent nearly ten years there before leaving as a regional director to return home last year. Her grandparents had started Carol’s, and today Sandy and her cousin ran it. The rumor mill was that they had plans to expand, and that’s what had brought her home.
“Morning Chief… Hey Alex,” she said as she put the plates down. She paused for a moment before she put her hand on my shoulder and said, “Alex, I’m so sorry about Joe. He came in here almost every day. I loved spending time talking to him – when I was working here in high school, he’d tell stories about the old downtown and loved to remind me that he was one of the first people through the door back when my grandparents first opened. I remember mentioning him to my grandmother back then, and she laughed and started talking about him and those dogs. You know no one ever had the heart to tell him he shouldn’t bring them in with him. I hope you’ll bring Charlie by to see me soon. I miss his big head.”
I promised I’d bring him by this week. She refilled our coffees and was walking away when she turned back and said, “I’ll look forward to seeing him, and you!”
Mark laughed behind his coffee cup and took it as an opportunity to give me a hard time. “Watch out, buddy… that girl might have eyes for you!” I protested, but I was wondering what she had meant by that too. Not that it matters, I’m committed to finding out if Sam and I are right for one another. We have a lot of history, but each of us has changed a lot in the last 18 years, and even though we’re both excited about reconnecting, I don’t think either of us is ready to rush into anything.
I filled Mark in on my date with Sam last night and her reaction to the news, which I’d best describe as “cautiously supportive,” and told him she might be at the office right now sitting with Emily, who was going to be working with me for the summer.
We talked a bit more about what Joe had done. He had some questions about the land and asked if I knew which properties were involved. I told him what I knew, which was still pretty limited at that point (I don’t know a lot more now; there’s a lot to take in).
At about that time, Mark’s phone rang. He answered it and got serious real fast as he listened. “Ok, I understand. I’m with Alex right now. Call JA and tell him what happened. Alex and I will head out there in a bit.”
“Finish up, buddy – there’s no rush, but it looks like there was trouble at your uncle’s place again early this morning. This time, the security guard got hurt. He’s just banged up, maybe a concussion. I’ve got officers on-site, and the sheriff is sending over a detective. Whoever did it got scared off before he got into the house.”
We finished eating, and I grabbed the check before Mark could. He told me he’d let me get this one since my family was causing him so much trouble but not to get used to it. Paying at the register, I turned to leave and caught Sandy looking at me. When she saw me catch her, she just smiled and waved. Caught off guard, I waved back.
On the way out, we stopped, and John and Mark shook hands and smiled. “Mark, good to see you doing well! I heard you’d made Chief and figured there was no way we were going to pry you away after that!” It looks like Mark was holding out a little too.
“Yep, the Valley is home. I don’t like the idea of uprooting. It looks like you might be here for a while too; things aren’t calming down just yet. Alex and I have to head out to his uncle’s place. Someone attacked the security guard last night but ran off before going in. You’re welcome to ride with us unless you want to follow.”
John took the information in calmly and nodded. “I’ll follow behind you. I’m sure Alex will be fine riding with the chief of police, and of course, one of the best…”
Mark cut him off. “That’s enough of that; let’s just roll.”
I told Mark I needed to borrow his phone and called my cell. “Emily, hey it’s Alex. How is it going there?” Emily said that she’d gone through all the voicemails and that there were a few I definitely needed to hear. She sounded shaken up but said that Sam was also there. I asked her to hand the phone to Sam. Once she was on, I explained that we were on our way to Joe’s place and told her there had been an incident. “You’ve got to be kidding me. What the hell is going on?” I could hear the aggravation in her voice.
I explained I’d be back as soon as I could but that I had to go check out Joe’s place, and if she needed me, she should call Mark’s cell. She told me to be safe and said she’d stay with Emily until we got back. I made one other quick call to the Verizon store near my office to add 2 lines to my account. One for Emily and a new one for me. Emily’s phone was on her father’s plan, and I didn’t want them to see her calls and texts. I asked them to get them ready quickly, and that I’d be by in the next hour to pick them up.
Handing the phone back to Mark, I noticed how serious he was looking. “Alex, this is serious. I’m not sure that this is related to the will, but I wouldn’t bet against it. You need to have a very real conversation with John. I’m probably going to agree with his security recommendations. This is about more than just your security; it’s also about the people around you.”
I sat quietly for a moment. “I got you. When we get back, we’ll all sit down, and you guys can tell me what you want to do. You have my full support.” I paused, “Mark, I’m really sorry about this. I’m sorry you’re spending your Saturday doing this. I’m sorry your officers had to deal with Debbie, and I’m sorry someone got hurt.” Mark’s face softened as much as it could. “Even if this wasn’t my job, you’re my closest friend, and I’m not letting anything happen to you. Let’s just make sure no one else gets hurt either.”
We pulled up to Joe’s place, and the EMT was still there along with the police and sheriff’s deputies. The security guard was sitting on the back of the ambulance, holding a cold pack on the back of his head and speaking with the police. Mark jumped out of the car and went over to their huddle.
I hung back and went to speak to John. “You and Mark and I can work on detailing how to handle security when we get back to my office. I realize this may be unrelated to the will, but I also know it’s not worth taking risks while we figure things out.”
John nodded. “It’s highly unlikely that it’s unrelated, Alex. I’m not a big believer in coincidence.” We moved toward the ambulance where everyone was gathered. As we got closer, Mark stepped toward us as they continued talking to the guard.
“Evidently, the guard had left his car to check the perimeter when he stumbled onto the intruder trying to jimmy the lock on the back door of the house. He was more surprised than the burglar, who spun around and dropped him before he could even say anything.
“When he came to, the burglar was gone. He followed his tracks to where he parked, but there was no sign. We do have footage from the 360-degree camera on his security vehicle, and we’re hoping to get a good look at the car as soon as they upload a copy to us. We’ve gotten his statement and a rough description of the suspect. They’re going to take him for a CT scan as a precaution, but he appears to be fine other than a nasty cut on his head.”
John interrupted, “Before he leaves, can I ask him a couple of questions?”
Mark agreed and walked him over to the ambulance while I turned to walk the property. I didn’t see anything damaged other than a terra cotta pot on the back porch that had likely been used to knock out the guard, but I still wanted to check the garage.
When I got there, I knew there was a problem. Years of living there made it obvious that something had happened. The door was closed, but I could see that the lock was broken. Using my foot to push it open further, I walked inside, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the filtered light.
The Jag had been searched, with the contents of the glove box thrown around carelessly. The trunk was open, and the tool kit and spare tire had been dumped on the ground. The same was true for Joe’s truck.
Heading upstairs, I saw that my old room had been ransacked as well. My uncle hadn’t really touched anything after I moved out. I recognized a few personal belongings that hadn’t just been tossed on the ground; they’d been utterly destroyed.
I went back downstairs and straight to Mark and John. I told them what I’d found and mentioned how some of my personal belongings had been specifically destroyed. John was standing nearby and exchanged looks with Mark, who said, “This was personal. We’re going to treat this as another issue related to the will. That means this was probably someone in the family; anyone else wouldn’t have known to destroy your things.”
John nodded. “I’ll contact my operations team to bring in additional personnel. I’m going to have someone on your office and home 24/7 as well as someone with you. We’ll also be installing cameras at both properties. Do you have access to the entire building?”
“No, just my offices and apartment, but the building evidently belongs to his estate, and I guess to me. I’ll contact JA and see if he has keys.”
“Ok, I think the security guards should be fine for this property. The guard said there were replacements on the way. Incidentally, JA had already told me that whatever I deemed necessary to keep you safe would be paid for by the estate until it settles. We can discuss longer-term planning after that.” I appreciated John’s reassurances about the cost. I lived comfortably but didn’t have the money to pay for all this security.
Something else occurred to me. “Guys, something else about this is bothering me. Whoever was here was looking for something and obviously didn’t find it since they were trying to get into the house when they got interrupted.” I paused, then continued, “I don’t think it’s valuables or another copy of the will. They searched glove boxes, trunks, and my old room. I don’t know what they’re after, but it must be important.”
“We probably won’t figure that out until we catch whoever it is,” Mark said. “Do you want to go into Joe’s place now?”
“I guess I should do a quick walk-through, but I really need to get back to Emily and Sam.” Unlocking the door to the house, I did a quick scan. I could see glass on the floor from Aunt Debbie’s “visit,” and in the den, I could see the hammer marks on the safe (seriously???).
I told John that I’d probably be moving out here soon and that he might as well start taking a look at security measures for this place as well. I asked Mark when I could get back the things Debbie had gathered up (they were in evidence), and he said as soon as the DA confirmed that they weren’t planning on charging her, they’d release them and I could pick them up for JA.
I didn’t see anything else out of place, so I locked up the house, and we were getting ready to go when two additional cars from the guard’s agency pulled up. John stepped over to speak with them while Mark told his officers and the deputies we were leaving but that he’d check in later.
We pulled out just as the ambulance was taking the guard to the hospital for evaluation. When we hit town, I got Mark to stop so I could run in and grab the phones before we went back to my office. They had them sitting on the counter waiting for me, so I was in and out.
At this point, it was getting close to noon, and breakfast seemed like it was hours ago. We pulled up at the office and went inside to find Sam and Emily sitting at the conference room table laughing. When they saw us come through the door, they both jumped up and started asking questions. After a brief recap of what had happened that morning, I handed Emily her work phone, gave everyone my new number, and asked them to keep it private.
Emily said she’d listened to all the messages on my old phone and that there were a few I needed to hear but a couple that really worried her. Mark asked her to play them for us.
The first one was from my cousin David: “You’re a damn asshole, Alex. Kissing up to that old man so the rest of us don’t get shit. I’m going to kick your ass next time I see you! This isn’t over.”
David’s a hothead, but I really wasn’t concerned about his threats, although both Mark and John were taking notes.
The next one was more of a concern though. It was my half-brother Michael, the one that had shown up late for the meeting. He’d been raised by his mother and hadn’t spent much time with our father growing up, or any of us. He was over 20 years older than me and had been in and out of trouble his whole life. I always had the feeling he blamed us for his relationship with Dad. He’d left the message late on Friday night.
“I’m done getting screwed by this family. I’m just as much a Russell as the rest of you bastards. You took what was rightly mine, but you’re not going to take everything. I know there’s more, and I’m going to get it. If you get in my way, I promise it will be the last thing you ever do.”
Mark and John exchanged looks, and I knew they were taking this call seriously. Emily was going through the rest of the messages; some were from clients, some were from family telling me that they knew how much I meant to Joe and him to me, and that they were happy for me. My Aunt Patricia called almost a dozen times, begging me to call her.
There were a few other callers that I suspect had heard the rumors, but I had no idea who they were and would figure out how to handle them later.
As Emily was wrapping up, Mark’s phone rang. He answered and listened for a minute. “Ok, listen, just a hunch, but run Michael Russell’s name and see what cars are registered to him. I’ll hold.” After a moment, he said, “Yep – it was a good hunch. Put out a BOLO and tell the Sheriff’s office we’re going to want to have a talk with him. Call me if you find him.”
Getting off the phone, Mark shared that, “We’ve got footage of a car leaving the area right around the time the guard was attacked. There was a partial plate visible from one of the camera angles on the guard’s car. I had them run Michael’s DMV records, and they came back with a match. We’ll pick him up as soon as we see him. If we can connect him with the attack, he’ll be facing charges.”
Looking over at me, he said, “Alex, I don’t have to tell you this isn’t like the situation with Debbie. If Michael attacked that guard he’s going to be prosecuted.”
Emily’s face fell, and she looked down as if she wanted to hide. Mark saw her reaction, and realized that he’d forgotten Debbie was Emily’s mom. “Sweetie, I’m sorry, your mom just made a silly mistake. I don’t know if you’ve talked to your dad yet, but he’s probably already picked her up. Either way, it has nothing to do with you. You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about.”
I had forgotten to tell Emily that Debbie was being released, and her face immediately lit up. “No, I didn’t hear from Dad. We’re not really talking right now, but I’ll call Mom in a bit!” she said excitedly.
This whole time Sam had been sitting quietly, taking it all in. I had no idea what she was thinking and frankly wasn't sure I wanted to know.
I hadn’t even had lunch yet, and I’d gotten Aunt Debbie out of jail, a guard had been attacked at my uncle’s house, my brother was a suspect in a serious assault, and for some reason, Emily’s father wasn’t speaking to her.
Add to that, I have no idea what Michael is talking about or what he’s looking for. I'll have to tell you more about him soon.
There were obviously a lot more issues in the family than I ever knew. I was going to have to start figuring things out, and fast.

RK was late to the livestream. Makes comment about remembering how to do it. Here are the main points.
TLDR; RK was back on live stream. His position is still the same. Believes in the management. We are in phase 2. Believe in the team. Do your own DD.
RK confirms it is him on his accounts. It's about trusting management. We are in phase 2. RK believes RC can do it, he seems like he might be able to do it. It is a feeling. Reserve the right to change your mind. Do your own DD.
You have a company so many people want it to work, RK included. You have to manage it the right way. RK feels RC is.
The question is what is the plan. We've seen enough to know they are stratagizing and planning.
Legacy, stabilize, transformation....what could GS turn into?
The bet is that RC is not a doofus.
3 years is not too bad. 5 to 10 maybe ahhhh..moving into pet rock business.
There's uncertainty for sure. There's an idea and team and do they have the right things to pull it off?
It's an ongoing discussion. Don't follow what I do.
When dealing with these risky opportunities so be careful. Factor that into your analysis. So it becomes betting on the team. Let's see what happens from here. With a significant amount of capital, let's see what happens.
Let's discuss this. 1st part worked out, so let's see. A reminder, let's see where it goes from here.
Shows beer glass
Pulling up something...do I show..it's frize....can I show a portfolio review...chat??? YouTube rules....frozen...it's halted....or is my screen frozen?
These are my positions. The only ones. Similar to last time.
My aggressive style is not for everyone. You can lose it all.
Did u see some of the headlines this week? Whoo.
A few postings of the dark knight...everyone loses their mind...it's okay, chill, it's okay. Doing my best to navigate that.
600K holy whoa.
Unhalted.
Is it? I think it's halted again.
I'm going to show it.
What else...comments about chat.
Still halted.
Celtics talk
Halts are 5 mins. Okay. Traditional stream would be shooting the sh@t and stuff. Movies...let's go...lol.
Just random things. I hope y'all loved those memes. Which is also embarrassing. I hope you liked them. It's fun. He is trying to learn.
Ooo unsalted. I'm going to do it.
We got it.
Shows positions....(it's hard to read on my screen)
Hw checks Etrade for his position...he jokes about robot hacker deleting something in script...he was just messing.
Halted again.
It's going down. Very risky. Be aware of risk. They are volatile. I get things wrong. I have in the past. I get a feeling, I act on it. I like the feeling that it will work out for the long term, but who knows.
Can I analyze the chart?
Showing uno cards Reverse, red stop Wild card
Analyzing chart. Bullish pendant shape.
Eight ball. Sips beer.
Tabling it, not sure of good question. Not sure if eight ball constitutes advice. No, do it now, okay.....
.my note..........a lot of covering his ass....that's not advice...we don't know....
He is going to wait.
Eject button, it might be time.... Am I okay...I dunno...I'm clearly kukoo, that's apparent...we are off together
Think for now we will end the stream. Price goes down. $27.65. Halted. We are going to end now. 1 final cheers. Thanks for coming.
I have a lot of respect for streamers. ...
Cheers to you all. Thank you for popping in. Fun to hang out. Share thoughts and hang out. Cheers. Cheers.
Drinks beer.
What's your drinking strategy baby? I dunno. (Cup statement)
How to end it? Cheers....

The JLab JBuds Lux Headphones Are All around De’ Lux. If you want Over the ear headphones with Premium features that won't break the bank look no further. As far as Features go they are packed The Lux Supports ANC up to 25 db as well as passthrough Audio, Spacial Audio for that surround sound like experience on your phone Nintendo Switch or computer, Google Fast pair is supported so you can Save Pairing across devices as well as connect your headphones quickly with a image of the headset saved in your android or chromebook, on top of that you can Use Google Find My to find where you last left your headphones, they support Bluetooth Multi-Point for Seamless switching between two devices, Cloud Foam Ear Cups for comfortable wearing, and they fold up for throwing in your bag, You get multiple EQs and custom EQ available via the app. Movie Mode for lower latency Movie viewing or Gameplay. All of the settings are available via button combinations and many features even work over the USB wired connection Via Type C cable included. The app can Update firmware, highly recommended as JLab does update their headphones with significant fixes. They also have Up to 70 Hours of battery life. As of Writing this review I've used the headphones for over 10 hours and haven't charged them since day one. They are still at 90% battery, simply incredible!
The Sound Quality is pretty impressive 40mm Drivers that deliver crisp clear audio with deep bass that isn't too pressure inducing, Smooth mids and detailed highs that aren't sharp or harsh to listen to. Surround sound in gameplay sounds fantastic and accurate, as well as carrying every detail form my game over Bluetooth 5.3 (some latency) or wired USB connection for perfect digital audio with no latency. In my experience I was very impressed and felt I was “Rocking Out” in every situation. I used Audio passthrough when I needed to hear people around me when playing a game or watching Star Wars on my tablet. I used ANC when at the coffee shop writing this review to block out unwanted noise and just get in the ZONE. At home I just turned ANC off. What's nice is the ANC and passthrough work when wired via USB as well.
When compared to the JLab Epic Lab Edition Earbuds you aren't getting HiFi LDAC Bluetooth Audio but most people without Audiophile level FLAC Audio won't know the Difference and don't need that feature, or can just use Wired USB connection. The Larger Drivers and over the ear comforts, Usb Audio and large sound provide a different experience, at a different Price point. For 80$ or on sale for 63$ at time of this Review they offer incredible value, for comparison the Jlab Epic Lab Edition is 200$. They also fall under Jlabs JBuds Series not the Epic Series.
One issue I ran into when doing the testing for this review Was using the headphones USB wired connected to my Chromebook tablet I could not adjust the volume, (not a problem on other devices) The the volume was either 100% or 0% When I talk to JLab about this they said that they were reported to their engineers and will look into it hopefully fix it via firmware update.
One other thing to note is that the microphone audio while really decent for hearing me in phone calls or conversation and blocking out background noise will not carry your voice to the same quality level as a professional dedicated microphone but that's true of all wireless devices. Everyone I talk to is able to hear me clearly even in loud environments and I had no problems carrying on my conversation.
I hope you enjoyed this review of the JLab JBuds Lux ANC Headphones. Lab provided the headphones for review but I was not compensated for my opinion, everything in the review was my honest opinion based on real world usage and testing. Give JLab a chance for yourself and Start Experiencing Audio as it was meant to Sound De’Lux.
Over my years of using JLab products I can tell you that they use the products themselves and actually care about the quality they deliver. Hope you all have a great day, leave a comment down below letting me know what you think of the JLab Lux. Stay Solid and Stay Safe.

I don’t know how to say this. This person “Soc” (16NB) who I (16F) have been friends with for years came out as non binary and few years ago. I have always supported her ever since she came out. She uses multiple pronouns, including neopronouns, and has an alt aesthetic. She used to wear grunge style fashion, fishnet tights, graphic tees, demonia boots, chains and belts, etc. She dyed her hair crazy colors and even wore cosplay like wigs. She also wore exaggerated winged eyeliner, neon eyeshadow, black lipstick, and bright blush on her nose.
A few months ago, she started gradually changing her style. She started wearing preppy, girly outfits, just like I did, even copying my exact outfits from my instagram posts. She also got a curly blonde wig that matches my natural hair. When I straightened my hair, she dyed her actual hair blonde and straightened it as well. She started wearing less makeup, and started giving herself fake freckles, just like I naturally have.
It wasn’t just the visual changes. She began copying my interests in music, movies, books, and tv shows, even though she used to hate anything that was considered mainstream. At first I was excited to have something in common with her, but when I tried to discuss my interests with her it became clear she had no idea what I was talking about and was forcing herself to have the same interests as me.
She started imitating my New York accent too, despite living in Florida her entire life. She also joined the same extracurriculars as me (photography, gymnastics, guitar, school newspaper) despite neither enjoying nor being good at them. She started saying she had a crush on a guy I used to like, despite previously saying he wasn’t even attractive. She began mimicking my speech patterns and my texting style and my social media posts. All these little things that don’t seem noteworthy individually.
The last straw was when she decided to change her name to Emelia, which was extremely close to my name, Amelie. I had enough and told how her creepy she was acting, and she said I was too basic to copy, and she was just exploring her identity and I shouldn’t be so controlling over her life. We got into this huge fight and I told her to stop copying my personality and get one of her own.
Things were really awkward between us for a few days. But because we both share the same friend group, it was kinda hard to avoid each other. The rest of our friends encouraged me to be nicer to her, which she must have interpreted as me giving her permission to basically steal my identity. Then one day, Soc came up to me and told me the truth about why she was copying me.
Soc identifies as me.
She claims to have this condition called dissociative identity disorder. I knew she had a very rough childhood. She was sexually abused by multiple different people as a child. Her mom and stepdad were drug addicts who regularly physically abused her. This abuse only escalated when they found out she was trans. She was constantly staying over at my house just so that she wouldn’t have to face her parents. She was extremely suicidal during this time, and eventually her family situation got so bad that she ended up in the foster care system. I did everything I could to support her and be a good friend. And I guess she sort of latched on to me.
She says that her disorder means she has multiple separate identities as a coping mechanism. One of which is based on me. She said she had spent her entire life being bullied for being different and she just wanted to be like everyone else. And I was her idea of a normal teenager girl. She said that by ‘becoming’ me, she could pretend she was normal too.
I don’t know what to think. This feels like something out of a horror movie. Of course I feel awful about what happened to her but so many people have been through trauma so it's not an excuse for her actions. She can’t just steal my fucking identity. She treats me like a fictional character and not a real person. It’s like she thinks I’m so basic that she can just become me, completely disregarding the fact that I’m a living breathing person with an inner life and I have my own thoughts and fears and aspirations and I’m so much more complex than this cliche teenage girl archetype she thinks I am. I told her she was fucking insane to identify as another actual living human being and she told me I was being ableist. I don’t know what to do. So I just have to live my life as normal knowing that my best friend is mentally ill to the point where she genuinely believes that she is me? Fuck my life.

I am NOT the Original Poster. That is u/QuietSatisfaction314. He posted in AITAH
Thanks to u/Direct-Caterpillar77 and u/BakingGiraffeBakes for the rec!
Mood Spoiler: better but still ad
Original Post: May 19, 2024
So I’m 18M and I have a half brother who is the same age as me. We’ll call him Cameron. Our dad got two women pregnant around the same time. I’m older by 6 months. My dad chose Cameron’s mom over mine and they’re married now. Cameron is his parents’ only child.
Anyway so I’ve always felt like I was just a backup son for my dad. I know he does love me, but not as much as Cameron. I live an hour and a half away from him but he would always make the drive to come see me when I was younger and still does to this day. If I ever need anything he’ll make sure I get it. He took me on trips all the time with just me and him. But still I felt like an outsider. He would constantly put me second to Cameron. If we both had sports games on the same day he would always go to Cameron’s with his wife. Once when I had an award ceremony he couldn’t come because Cameron was sick (it was just a cold btw). When I wanted him to teach me how to drive he said he couldn’t because he promised Cameron he would teach him first but that he’d help me after Cameron got his license. I could list off a bunch of other examples. My dad would show up to my stuff but if Cameron had something going on at the same time he wouldn’t come.
Cameron and I aren’t friends. We get along fine if we’re together but neither of us is going out of the way to talk to the other. I think he’s spoiled and obviously our dad’s favorite. Our dad and his mom did him no favors because his grades are bad and his life has no direction. He didn’t apply to any colleges and he won’t even get a part time job.
We’re both graduating high school this year. His school district released their graduation schedule after mine and of course our graduations are on the same day at the same time. We live an hour and a half apart so obviously our dad can’t make it to both. He’s known my graduation date for weeks before Cameron learned his. We already had plans for him to come and spend the day here. But I knew as soon as I saw that schedule he was gonna flake. At first he said he wasn’t sure what he was gonna do. He’s been avoiding the topic for weeks but our graduations are on the 29th so he has to decide now.
Well yesterday he took me to dinner. He told me that he was going to go to Cameron’s graduation. He said it was because Cameron’s grandparents weren’t gonna be able to make it and Cameron would only have his mom while I have my mom, stepdad, siblings, and grandparents all coming to mine. I’m not an idiot. It was just an excuse that I knew would be coming. He tried to soften the blow by promising me he’d make up for it by taking me on a graduation trip anywhere I wanted to go. Even though he had already promised me that months ago. He’s taking his wife and Cameron on a family trip to Hawaii in June. It’s supposed to be Cameron’s graduation trip but he promised he and I would have our own trip. Now all of a sudden that trip is supposed to also be a makeup for missing my graduation.
So I told him okay, I want to go to this one weekend event that is on the same week he’s going to Hawaii. He told me he can’t because that’s when they’re going to Hawaii. I didn’t actually wanna go to this event, I was just proving a point. I told him to postpone his Hawaii trip so he can take me to the event. He said he can’t because everything is already paid for and non-refundable. I told him that he’s missing my high school graduation. The least he can do is make me the priority when it comes to the graduation trips. He said I’d have to pick a different weekend. I told him he doesn’t actually care about making it up to me. He’s only okay with what I want so long as it doesn’t interfere with his real family. He denied it and told me to try to understand the position he’s in.
I told him straight up that he always chooses Cameron over me. For once I want to be the first choice. So I said I’ll have a ticket ready for him but that if he doesn’t come I’ll know where I stand in his life. I don’t care about a makeup trip. Either he shows up and we still have a relationship or I’m just done with him. He told me that I was being unreasonable and maybe I am, but I’m still standing my ground. I already know he’s not going to come, even after my ultimatum. So am I the asshole for throwing away our entire relationship over this?
Relevant Comments:
Commenter (downvoted): While I don’t think you are an AH, I do think you are being 18, young and self-centered. Your dad has a wife he needs to prioritize in order to have a peaceful and happy home. His wife would be really pissed if she had to go to graduation alone because her husband is at a graduation with his ex-lover. It sounds like your dad loves you. I suspect your life would be less rewarding with him shut out.

OOP: I guarantee you that she wouldn’t be there alone. My dad is the kind of person who will tell the most obvious lies and really think they sound believable. Cameron’s grandparents will be there. One of his aunts who is super family oriented will be there, I’m sure. My dad was just lying to try to make his decision more understandable.

Commenter: There's a middle ground where you just stop making any effort yourself and let the relationship wither. I've done this with a couple friends when I realized I was the only one putting effort in. Eventually there was a conversation where they lamented about how we've lost touch and wonder what happened. And the answer I gave was, "I stopped calling you."
The one about teaching you to drive was the one that stuck out to me since you're 6 months older and naturally will get your DL first, but he made you wait. That's the one to throw in his face, if you're looking for one, there's no plausible excuse.

OOP: That was one incident that really pissed me off. A few weeks after he told me that I had to wait on learning he wanted to pick me up to spend the weekend at his house. I told him no because my stepdad was gonna give me driving lessons that weekend. All of a sudden my dad acted like he was planning on surprising me with lessons if I came. He really thinks I’m that stupid that I can’t tell when he’s making things up on the spot.
And when he did give me a lesson he brought Cameron, who he could teach literally any other day of the week, with us so he could practice being behind the wheel too. I had my stepdad give me the rest of my lessons and take me to my driving test after that.

Commenter: NTA. I am a petty B. If I were you I would take plenty photos with step dad and post them on social media, with a caption: couldn’t ask for a better family.

OOP: Maybe I will. My dad gets weirdly jealous and mad when I do anything with my stepdad. But my stepdad is the one who’s never made me feel less than my little brother and sister (his kids with my mom).

Commenter: I think you need to drop the step and call him dad.

OOP: We have kind of an odd relationship. I call him by his name when it’s just me and him but in front of my siblings I’ll refer to him as dad. Not directly calling him that but I’ll say like, “Go ask dad if you can come to the store with me.” It was just easier when my siblings were younger and I didn’t wanna confuse them. Now they’re older and they know that I have a different dad than them but it’s just a habit I still have I guess. Sometimes I wish he was my bio dad but idk if we’ll ever have a super close fatheson relationship.

Commenter: I would ask him why does he even pretend to love you? Truly his wife is your step mother and Cameron is your step brother why does he not also take you on the family trip since you are family or are you not invited because your not family to him just a responsibility

OOP: He does love me. Trust me. I have no problem calling out my dad’s many shortcomings, but not loving me isn’t one of them. The problem is he loves Cameron a lot more. There’s not a single doubt in my mind that he’d give up his life to save mine if he had to. But if he had to choose between saving me or Cameron? I might as well just start calling my family to say my goodbyes.
About the trip: I wouldn’t go even if he did invite me. Cameron and I can tolerate each other well enough but I don’t wanna spend a whole week with him and I’m sure the feeling is mutual. And my dad’s wife likes to pretend I don’t exist. If my dad told her about the ultimatum I gave I’m sure she was celebrating in her head that she won’t have me at her house or have to deal with my dad traveling to visit me anymore.

Commenter: Definitely don’t invite him to your college graduation. Even if it’s clear that you would be the only son he will get to watch. Cameron will probably get promoted to head cashier somewhere and he will have to go to that ceremony or he will get another cold. Good luck. Celebrate with your real family. Don’t let him ruin your day. NTA Stand your ground.

OOP: Head cashier? You have more faith in Cameron than I do. He has no interest in college, trade school, or a part time job. His current plan is to take a few years off and his parents are apparently in support of that. So if he sticks to his timeline my dad won’t be able to come to my college graduation because they’re going out to dinner in celebration of Cameron filling out a job application.

Update Post: May 31, 2024 (12 days later)
Some people wanted an update to my post. My graduation was on Wednesday. Surprising everyone, especially me, my dad actually chose me and my graduation. Not at first but he did come.
So what happened after I gave him the ultimatum was he kept trying to talk to me as if nothing was wrong. He was asking me to spend time with him a lot and asking when I was free. Basically either feeling guilty or trying to compensate for choosing Cameron. I never met with him. Cameron messaged me to tell me to stop being an asshole and to get over it cause apparently our dad was stressed out over the whole thing. I just blocked Cameron and moved on.
On the day of my graduation my dad told me he was coming down to spend the day with me before he had to go home to go to Cameron’s graduation. At first I told him not to bother cause there’s point in showing up here if you’re just gonna leave before the actual ceremony but he ended up coming anyway. We had a small get together at my house with my mom’s side of the family. My dad was there acting as if nothing was wrong. It was annoying. I refused to take pictures with him because I told him I’m taking pictures at my graduation. If you want pictures with me you can show up.
A few hours before the ceremony he said he had to head out. I said goodbye forever and he pulled me aside to talk. He was trying to justify his decision again. I told him I was serious about what I said. I will not talk to him ever again. I made it clear that this isn’t something I’m gonna be mad about for a bit and then get over. I’m not gonna call him crying in a few years saying I’m sorry. He asked why I was being like this and I just let it all out.
I told him I’m sick and tired of being second place all the time. My entire life I’ve been told that he can’t show up for me because Cameron needs him or he promised Cameron first. Yet the one time I had my graduation date set and planned first he still cancels on me for Cameron. I asked him to give me one good reason why he has to go to Cameron’s graduation over mine, specifically. No “This is a tough situation,” “I can’t be in two places at once,” etc. He said because if he doesn’t go to Cameron’s graduation he has to deal with a pissed off wife and his entire home life will be tense. I asked him why can’t his wife and Cameron ever be the ones he apologizes to and asks to “try to understand?” Why do I always have to be purposely handed the short straw? He didn’t have an answer.
I told him I hope Cameron gets his life together because right now he’s on a nosedive trajectory that ends with him still living at home rent free in his 30’s with a girlfriend he can’t afford to give a ring to, let alone a wedding, and three kids who are being raised by my dad’s wife. I didn’t care anymore at that point. It’s true. Cameron’s a loser. And I told my dad good luck cause he’s the one that’s taking care of you when you’re old. I’m out. I guarantee Cameron takes their money and puts his parents in the absolute cheapest nursing home he can find. They failed him by spoiling him and treating him like he’s perpetually 5 years old.
Dad still ended up leaving anyway. I refused to hug him and told him I’m done with him. That kinda ruined my mood but once I got to school and started hanging with my friends I decided to let it go. I wanted to enjoy my grad night and just forget all the bullshit. After the ceremony I was shocked to see my dad walking towards me. I was positive he was going to Cameron’s graduation. Like gun to my head, get this answer right or you die... well I guess I’d be dead cause I was 100% sure he’d choose Cameron. He already did but I guess he turned around and came back. So he hugged me and told me that he’s sorry for everything and how he’s treated me and that he does love me just as much as Cameron even if he’s been bad at showing it. I don’t really believe that last part but he showed up so that’s what I’m focusing on.
Cameron was pissed of course and messaged me from a different number to bitch at me. He was calling me a crybaby and selfish. Saying Dad only went to my graduation because I threw a fit. He doesn’t understand that it wasn’t me having a tantrum. It was a last straw situation for me. I just sent him a picture of me and our dad at my graduation and told him to get over it. Then I blocked that number too. Fuck him. I’m glad he knows what it’s like to be second choice just once. I’m sure our dad is already bending over backwards to make it up to Cameron anyway so he’ll live. Our joint graduation party is gonna be awkward but hopefully we’ll just keep our distance from each other.
Oh and don’t worry, I’m not delusional. I know my dad is just gonna go back to his same old routine. And now if I ever bring up his unfairness again he’ll always be able to throw in my face that he came to my graduation over Cameron’s. It’ll probably be his trump card. Ngl it did feel good to have everyone shit on my dad with me in my last post cause I was pissed off at him when I posted. I know that he does love me though. Still, I think I’m gonna take some advice I got in that post. I’m not cutting my dad off but I’m gonna stop trying. I have a lifetime of him awarding me the silver medal no matter how well I do and I’m tired of it. Cameron can be his favorite son uncontested from now on. I’m just gonna live my life and keep my dad at an arm’s length. I’m not gonna try to force him to prove his love for me anymore.
Relevant Comments:
Commenter: Info: Who was your dad dating first?
Because if he was dating his wife and he cheated with your mom, it would explain so much. She probably holds the fact that she forgave him over his head all the time to push him to prioritise her kid.

OOP: I’ve never asked my dad but my mom told me her side years ago. She said they broke up right before she found out she was pregnant. But she didn’t tell him she was pregnant until she was a few months along. I guess to make sure she didn’t miscarry I think is what she said. She told my dad but he was already with Cameron’s mom by then. I don’t think there was any cheating but they probably wouldn’t tell me even if there was.

Commenter: If I were you as long as it’s Cameron that takes care of him in his old age, then let him. He’s probably gonna go home and but Cameron a car as a graduation present to make it up to him.

OOP: He already bought Cameron a brand new car for his 16th birthday when I got a used one for mine, but you’re right in that he’s definitely gonna use his money to earn Cameron’s forgiveness. Probably for his wife’s forgiveness too.

Several commenters express how proud they are of OOP for telling his dad everything he did:

I honestly thought that was the last conversation I was gonna have with him so I didn’t really have anything to lose at that point. I figured I might as well say what I really wanna say instead of holding back again.

Editor's note: Marked as concluded because the graduation is over. We may still get updates on the relationship, but the original posts are concluded.

Comfort: The headphones are VERY comfy. The headband is easily the best I’ve tried out of many other headphones which also is helped by the lightness of them. The ear cups are big enough to enclose your whole ear, which is something I was worried about after seeing the pictures as I thought they’d be similar to the Sonys that don’t fit my ears entirely in. Only gripe is I wish they were a soft material like the AirPods as ‘leather’ can get sweaty after long periods, BUT because these can be removed via the magnets, I hope someone makes a soft material alternative that fits on. 9/10
Design: Just look nice init. 10/10
Battery: Not drained them enough to judge but after a few hours listening have only gone down to 95% so so far, so good! 9/10
Features: Atmos is a massive thing for me now, because since listening to music through my Sonos setup with Atmos enabled, no music sounds as good, so I was holding out for Sonos to release a pair instead of paying the £500 for the AirPod Max’s. The Atmos works fantastically, and you can really hear all the different effects and sounds going around your head in certain songs. The TV Audio swap is also fantastic. It works so smoothly, completely seamlessly, and really is so useful for if you want to watch a movie late night and not wake up your household. Granted it will not, and will never sound as good as your proper surround system, obviously, but it’s still very effective how the Atmos works, and how well synced the audio is. The ANC is also some of the best I’ve experienced. Seriously blocks out a lot of the outside world so is really great when watching movies too as you’re completely closed off from the world. Another small positive is the physical buttons. I HATE swipe and touch sensitive headphones like the Momentum 4’s (2nd best headphones I’ve owned tbf), so to have physical buttons is worth the price alone. The transparency mode is also very effective and is only beaten by the AirPod Pro Gen 2’s. 10/10
SOUND: They sound phenomenal. Without any EQ’ing they sound like classic Sonos speakers, bass that’s tight and controlled and not overpowering, highs that aren’t harsh at all, and mids that are the best I’ve heard from any headphones. Those all together create a GREAT sound, the best ‘out of the box’ sound of any headphones, but EQ’ing in the sonos app can really make the bass hit hard without becoming distorted however I prefer the more balanced sound. As I’ve already covered regarding movie sound, it’s very good, just won’t beat your speakers sound obviously. The sound profile compliments every genre, bar maybe Rap as bass doesn’t THUMP, but the vocals sound clear so in some way rap works as long as you don’t want rumbling bass. When there’s multiple instruments, you can really hear the separation between each one, however when vocals are also there with LOTS of instruments the sound can feel ‘overcrowded’, but there’s VERY few songs that have this effect. 9.5/10
Price: You get the features of the £100 more expensive AirPod Max. The ANC of Bose. The sound quality and ‘profile’ similar to Sennheisers (my personal favourite). And Bass that is more controlled (depending on preference) than the Sonys. They’re expensive, but they definitely aren’t overpriced, especially if you have the 15% discount. 9/10
Overall 9.5/10
Conclusion:
If you have the Sony, Bose or Sennheisers, I’d recommend upgrading to these as they are DEFINITELY an upgrade. If you have the AirPod Max, I wouldn’t say it’s worth going through the hassle of selling and buying these as they’re VERY similar so probably won’t notice the difference as much in terms of sound quality etc (Atmos for example).
Overall I love them and am very happy sonos finally produced a headphone that imo has absolutely lived up to the hype.

Are twitch streamers really your friends?
Hey looking for some advice.
My ex husband got seriously into twitch because of depression which he is still in but it ruined our lives and broke us up. It started with him just following people then constant subscriptions and gifts to the ones who acted like his friends and messaged him on discord to the point we ended up in thousands of debt.
I then had to kick him out so we could clear the debt seperately but then he started and emotional affair (they actually call it a full blown love relationship) with a streamer he supported over 3000 miles away. When this started he went from being depressed to emotionally abusive and perverted. I eventually found out and he tried to gaslight me into a "poly" (she knew he was married with kids and i got pregnant 3 months into their affair) relationship because i was pregnant and in a really vulnerable place. I ended up having to terminate alone, due to it being too dangerous health wise to continue, as his "gf" spammed his phone out of jealousy and posted nasty passive aggressive stuff online. That was the final straw and i left him. We spent several months apart while he dived deeper and deeper into depression and more debt via twitch. Eventually i involved his family and they got him on meds. When that happened he started to go back to normal and we even started to try again until i found out he hadnt left his twitch gf and went off his meds for her and is now in danger of losing his job and has lost all of his real friends but shutting everyone out for online relationships.
Is there any advice you can give me on how to break his addiction to twitch and the people on it as hes so stuck in this life he cant see how unhealthy and destructive it is and that its an addiction. I dont have a problem with any streamers that are his actual friends anf not just using him for the donations and subs but i dunno how to break him out of this as all he does is eat, sleep, work (hes on thin ice as hes even on twitch at work) and stay up all night playing games with his "gf" and watching twitch streams.
I dunno how to help him when hes so adducted he cant see that the onlything hes using as a comfort blanket fir his depression is the thing thats ruined his life and mine.

Maybe someone remembers my posts. The situation is like this: I (25 demigirl) and she (21 f) were in a situationship. She has a homophobic mum who influences her decisions a lot. We were not really platonic, but she didn't want to commit, gave me various reasons for it - that if we get together given my record with previous relationships we're gonna break up and lose the friendship. Besides, I said I loved her, she said she is infatuated with me. She has no context, never having been in love or in a relationship, and she's been really sweet to me, but she has no courage and probably her feelings are not as strong as mine.
Yesterday she said her main problem with dating me is that we are both girls (or at least both afab and fem presenting). Honestly my reaction was like, I moved away from her and said "cringe" out loud. I get that she has problems with what people may say but I'm looking for someone who is not afraid to be with me.
Besides, she had been dropping hints but yesterday I fully realised we may only live in the same city or even region for a year. Then she may go to another country for a year and the live in the same country but in a region pretty remote from mine. I said if we had been in a relationship I would have considered leaving my friends and family and going to leave with her, she said she doubted if she would do the same even if we got together.
We talked about some heavy stuff but were cuddling and stuff, pretty lovey dovey.
But I think for me the fact that our relationship has a probable deadline was the last straw. I talked with my sister this morning and she advised me to break it off. And I admit the way I did it was shitty, because I did it over text, but I didn't plan it, I just expressed my doubts to my crush and we talked and decided to break it off. She cried and said this means I didn't really love her, and that when things don't go my way, I don't offer her support. Like ??? I still wanna be friends, I just need distance, not being in a situation I'm unhappy in doesn't mean I don't support and love her. To be clear, I said to her that I want to think, see how things are when we're distancing, how that would hurt and talk to my therapist, and till then we should distance ourselves. But after how she reacted... I don't think I will continue with being in a situationship with her. She was also hurt that the way I acted yesterday, telling her I loved her, cuddling and kissing, expressing jealousy, was different than the way I acted today, asking to break off things. That's fair, but I also mentioned yesterday that I've been overthinking and being sad over our relationship recently. Also she said that if I decided I wanted a commited relationship with someone else, she would support me, knowing it would mean I would distance myself from her. And I get that she's upset, but I'm not getting that promised support.
I'm sad and angry, part of me regrets breaking things off. What do y'all think? Should I try to salvage the relationship as something more than being friends? Thanks for everyone who sticks it out till the end of this long post.

Are twitch streamers really your friends?
Hey looking for some advice.
My ex husband got seriously into twitch because of depression which he is still in but it ruined our lives and broke us up. It started with him just following people then constant subscriptions and gifts to the ones who acted like his friends and messaged him on discord to the point we ended up in thousands of debt.
I then had to kick him out so we could clear the debt seperately but then he started and emotional affair (they actually call it a full blown love relationship) with a streamer he supported over 3000 miles away. When this started he went from being depressed to emotionally abusive and perverted. I eventually found out and he tried to gaslight me into a "poly" (she knew he was married with kids and i got pregnant 3 months into their affair) relationship because i was pregnant and in a really vulnerable place. I ended up having to terminate alone, due to it being too dangerous health wise to continue, as his "gf" spammed his phone out of jealousy and posted nasty passive aggressive stuff online. That was the final straw and i left him. We spent several months apart while he dived deeper and deeper into depression and more debt via twitch. Eventually i involved his family and they got him on meds. When that happened he started to go back to normal and we even started to try again until i found out he hadnt left his twitch gf and went off his meds for her and is now in danger of losing his job and has lost all of his real friends but shutting everyone out for online relationships.
Is there any advice you can give me on how to break his addiction to twitch and the people on it as hes so stuck in this life he cant see how unhealthy and destructive it is and that its an addiction. I dont have a problem with any streamers that are his actual friends and not just using him for the donations and subs but i dunno how to break him out of this as all he does is eat, sleep, work (hes on thin ice as hes even on twitch at work) and stay up all night playing games with his "gf" and watching twitch streams.
So im wondering are these people possibly really his friends and to leave him be or not?
Sorry i dont mean to bash your community i see a lot of good in it, just not in these circumstances.

[Part 1] [Part 2]
Admiral Pyraxis drummed his talons on his desk. A rhythmic sound, which he found quite comforting. Arranged on his desk stood various fine wines he had procured by means of ordering mass confiscation of alcohol from the Humans.
“Sir, are you sure the local drink isn’t affecting your judgement?”
And that was the sound of Pyraxis’s greatest headache - his incessant subordinate, Krystak, who was only one rank lower than him and undoubtedly waiting for the perfect opportunity to usurp Pyraxis.
“No, Krystak, I am quite unaffected by these beverages,” he lied, “also - you’re out of line speaking to me like that.”
Krystak bowed his head in apology. Taking a glug from a bottle gripped in his right hand, he gestured for Krystak to begin his debrief.
“Well, we have seen a 6.2% increase in attacks since last month. Of those, most have been unsuccessful, but we took approximately 17,800 fatalities this month, which is an 8% increase from last month. Efforts to locate major concentrations of exiled army units have failed, however, we succeeded in raiding weapons caches on all settled continents. Counter intelligence is working diligently to root out urban resistance, but rural resistance is unfortunately going to take a lot longer than predicted to eradicate.”
“We also managed to get some industrial and mining operations going without them being immediately blown up, which is good progress.”
Pyraxis took another long gulp of wine, before standing up, “I need you to get this damned planet under control! Is that clear? Because in five local cycles, the colonisation fleet will arrive. If they get here and it’s still a warzone, we will both be replaced. I don’t care how many people you have to kill to do it. Exterminate even more if you have to. Understood?”
Krystak opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it and nodded.
“Dismissed.”
He saluted, then marched out of Pyraxis’s office.
“Fucking Humans,” he muttered to himself. At least they had some decent swear words. Staring out the window at Earth, he downed the rest of his bottle, and passed out.

“I feel I have to tell you that what you are about to embark on is a suicide mission. Not one of you is expected to come back alive. If that isn’t your cup of tea, there is no shame in backing out now.” A few people in the back surreptitiously left the hall everyone had gathered in.
After a moment, the speaker - one general Mathews - resumed his briefing.
“This attack is one of many coordinated strikes which will - if successful - cripple the enemy’s ability to fight, and may just win us the war. Of those of you gathered here, most will partake in the main attack. The target is located on the Isle of Man - specifically, the old RAF base Jurby. It has been converted into a base of operations. All you need to know is that another, smaller force, will infiltrate the base. In order to complete their objective, you will need to divert as many troops away from the north of the base as possible.”
“Jurby has been turned into a fortress - our intel says there are at least five thousand Salvad troops on the island, and of those, one thousand are located within or near Jurby. Your goal is not to beat them, but distract them. You will be granted heavy weapons - in fact, everything we have at our disposal is going into this attack.”
Robert stood in the back, leaning against the wall, observing the reactions of the men around him.
“You will have the aid of local resistance forces, but they are not to be relied upon for anything other than intel - they are not combat troops. You will deploy under the cover of night. Our numbers should double when we reach the rendezvous point at Kidsdale prior to departure - we’re calling in everyone for this. The Salvads don’t have a seaborne navy, which is important for us, since you will be landing by boat.”
This had an interesting reception - mostly of shock, a bit of scorn. Once the chatter had died down, the general continued.
“We have commandeered numerous small civilian boats. There should be enough to carry everyone over to the Island. You will land on the west coast, south of Jurby. From there, Alpha team under Johnson will advance north to Jurby, where you will attack with everything you’ve got. Use the element of surprise, draw the enemy out. Beta team under Simmons will advance to St. Judes to cut off enemy land reinforcements. Charlie team under Smith will protect your rear from attack. There can be no radio chatter on the way over - we really need the element of surprise. Once they know you’re there, try to limit comms since we have no idea if they can decrypt our signals.”
“Hold out for as long as possible. The attack is scheduled to begin at 2400 hours two days from now. Gather your equipment, and prepare for a long march to the rendezvous. I will follow you up to that point. Questions?”
Robert lost interest at that point. He shook the ache out of his legs and walked through to the gathering spot for the infiltration team. He knew a few faces. A couple of Royal Marines were present, and some exiles from mainland europe. There were eight of them total, although apparently their team was thirty strong.
Where the rest of this little suicide squad was, he had no idea.

Robert decided he really didn’t like whoever had come up with this part of the plan. They were not going with the main force, but were instead going to a different rendezvous to board a submarine. They would then ride this submarine to the Isle of Man. It would be 2 AM when they disembarked three kilometres north of Jurby. This would give the main attackers two hours to draw away the majority of the guards.
Robert did not like submarines. They would be boarding HMS Anson at HMNB Clyde. The reason this base hadn’t been destroyed by the Salvads was because out of sheer luck it was empty during the landings. They would have to be there at exactly the right time, as the sub would only wait for twenty minutes maximum, before leaving to do the mission without them.
The journey would be about eleven hours. That meant eleven hours cramped inside a submarine, underwater. Because of course they would be submerged for the whole journey. It only made sense, after all.
This was going to suck.

Admiral Pyraxis was in an irritable mood. He’d had to learn the meaning of another Earth word: drunk. Then he had to learn the meaning of hangover. Then he spent more time than necessary examining the capacities of his own liver.
He knew he was letting the drink get to him. But he was too stressed, and needed a way to relax. He was still somewhat sure that it wasn’t affecting his decision making that much.
Picking up his communicator from the floor, he punched in a code, then held it up to his head.
“Report on the project.”
“Understood. I’m coming down to inspect it.”
Putting in a different code, he once again spoke into the device, “Prepare my shuttle for departure. Destination is Immunisation Facility 3.”

Robert decided if he survived this, he would never ride a submarine again. The boarding had gone like clockwork. He now had half a day to become acquainted with the rest of the team.
One guy stood out - he was wearing a gas mask and spoke with a muffled accent. Perhaps German?
“Guten Tag, Gentlemen. My name is Corporal Müller, but you may call me Tobias - I am in charge of this operation. We will split into three teams. In the hold are three backpacks - these have the bioweapon. I would be very careful not to drop them. The strongest guy in each squad will carry one. There are three main silos. Deploy the weapon, then get out. Any questions?”
Robert raised his hand, “Yeah, what's with the mask?”
“I wear this because I am hideously deformed! Ja, I was in France, and received a large dose of radiation from the…erm…fireworks. I have about five days until I suffer critical organ failure, so I figured I would go out on my own terms - in glorious combat!”
“Oh. Right.”
“I nearly forgot! Here, you all need to take a cyanide pill with you. We cannot risk anyone being captured,” he said, taking out a tray from behind him and enthusiastically offering the pills up to everyone.
Well, that's just wonderful. Robert took one and put it in his jacket pocket.
Robert acquainted himself with the rest of the team, and found somewhere to lie down. He knew it was going to be an arduous journey.

General Mathews stood dramatically at the head of his force. The wind was strong, but the surf was calm enough to board the boats. It was dark as well. He had requested a red cape for his speech, which was billowing behind him. It would have been a more potent image if it wasn’t so dark. As it was, he could barely see to the end of the crowd gathered before him.
There was no moonlight either - the strike had been carefully planned to take place under heavy cloud coverage. And so far, their luck had held. Standing on top of some crates, with a microphone connected to a meagre sound system, he puffed up his chest.
Tapping the mic, he winced as it squealed. Slapping it a couple more times, he began to speak.
“Before me, I do not see an army. I do not see the best of the best. I do not see heroes; for the heroes died in the first attack. They died on the front lines, charging into certain death. We are the ones who remain. And you ask yourself, what can a couple of thousand men do?”
“Fighting an enemy we cannot beat, with weapons we can’t match and resources we can’t equal, not for a thousand years. What is the point? Madness!”
“We are martyrs. The heroes have fallen long ago. It falls to us to do the dirty work. We are the ones who ask for no thanks and will go forgotten by all; but do not fear! Our actions stand in place of our identities, and they will echo through the annals of history, for today we take the fight to them! Today, we charge into the jaws of death, just like our countrymen, only this time we can win!”
“You heard me right! We can win this war. Our job is simple. Fight, and die. And God willing, our comrades will complete their mission, and sentence the invader to eternity whichever hell they belong in. Today, we die. This is not a battle we can possibly survive, but we will sure as hell fight. Remember those words of Churchill, spoken so many years ago.”
“Feel the defiance of humanity coarse through your veins! Cast your thoughts to the Greeks at Thermopylae, or our forefathers at Rorke’s Drift! Pavlov’s house! Invoke the spirit of Saragarhi! Remember the Guards’ last stand at Westminster, where the road ran slick with Salvad blood!”
“For today, we cast our die for a future we will never see, and children we will never meet! We will not go quietly into that good night! Rage! Rage against the dying of the light!” The men cheered, overpowering the scream of the air and the rage of sea.
“To arms!”
Adrenaline swells in tensed muscles.
“Blood will be spilled!”
The clatter of weapons ringing in ears.
“On this day, our blood will stain the streets!”
They don’t cheer now; they roar.
“The blood of Terra will flow!”
They surge forward to the boats, a force of nature, with the defiance of a cornered beast.
“Rise, defenders of Earth! From every corner of our planet you came, and to the seas you will return! Fear no death, for death is on your side! If this is to be the dying gasp of Humanity, then let it be the greatest last stand in history!”
And as the warriors boarded their craft, general Mathews tossed away the key to his jeep, and slipped into the crowd. Which was impressive, given his rather pompous appearance.

Jacob, an absolute unit of a man - who never seemed far from getting his huge frame stuck in the doorways - yelled down the length of the compartment we were staying in.
“Captain says fifteen minutes to drop site!”
Tobias stood and said, “All right gentlemen, gather your equipment and prepare yourselves - the sea is cold this time of year.” Robert froze. “We’re not landing?” Tobias laughed, then suffered a bout of wet coughs. Recovering, he looked up, “No. The submarine will drop us off as close as possible, and we will have to wade the rest of the way. Maybe swim a little.”
This day just kept getting worse and worse.
Admiral Pyraxis was having yet another argument with Krystak when an aide came with alarming news.
“I’m sorry?”
“It's immunisation site three, sir! They’re reporting an attack on the island!”
Krystak, ever the opportunist, spoke up. “Correct me if I'm wrong, admiral, but is that not the location of project-”
Pyraxis snapped.
“I KNOW, SHUT UP!”
Taking some time to gather his thoughts, he spoke in a more reasonable tone.
“Summon the Zirrack, get them on my shuttle.” The aide looked shocked, “Y-you’re going down there?”
“Yes, now hurry up.”
Pyraxis dismissed Krystak and marched to his shuttle, seething with rage. Obviously, there was no way the Humans could know about what was hidden under the facility. It was probably just a few militants trying to sabotage operations in Europe. However, it pays to be cautious - hence Pyraxis bringing the Zirrack Crimson Brigade, his personal bodyguard.
An elite unit made up of the best Salvad troops, subjected to genetic enhancement and wearing crimson ceremonial armour - which was very much not for show.

Robert waded through the breakers, soaked all up his back with ice-cold water. The whole group panned out, advancing slowly up the beach, rifles at the ready. Robert was using a British army L85A1, along with a Glock 19 as a sidearm. They all had NVGs, although they wouldn’t be massively effective considering advanced Salvad thermal-concealing clothing.
The surf was calm, and distant rumbling of the clouds could be heard. He wished he’d worn thicker socks to protect against the biting cold of the sea. Dead quiet, they ran up the sand and into the grass. The crackling of gunfire could be heard fairly close by.
Jacob glared at a sign. “You can’t seriously expect me to believe that this place is called Cronky Bing,” he whispered. Robert squinted at the sign, and sure enough, it read: Cronk y Bing Nature Reserve.
"At least we're where we need to be," Tobias said. "Now let's get moving."
The team began a careful march through the fields, towards their target at Jurby. Deploying his night vision, Robert could see the silhouette of the Silos to be targeted, a large building that must have been the factory, and some squat structures which were most likely barracks.
The gunfire became louder the closer they got, with erratic explosions keeping Robert on edge. The flash of muzzles and bright light of Salvad plasma weapons became visible, reflecting on the clouds. Advancing to the last hedgerow before the base itself, the team’s sniper and spotter set up, easily disappearing into the bushes thanks to their ghillie suits.
“Okay, everyone split up into your teams. One target for each team. Get in, deploy it, and get out,” Tobias said. “Do not destroy the silos. Best of luck.”
Splitting up, the teams sprinted towards the border fence of the complex. No Salvads were spotted until they were halfway there, but the moment weapons were raised, the sniper took them out in quick succession. Tobias led Robert’s team up the fence, where they cut a hole with bolt cutters and crawled through. Tobias motioned to spread out, while Jacob and a couple of others moved towards their designated silo. They would have to climb the ladder to the access port at the top in order to deploy the payload.
It was just as they reached the ladder that they all heard the hum of engines approaching.

“Where the fuck is the rest of Beta team?” Johnson yelled at Simmons.
“They must have been blown off course-”
Johnson cut him off, “How do you lose half your team? You're needed at full strength!”
“Calm down! They probably just landed further south than intended. I’ll take what men I have and we’ll just have to wait for the rest to catch up.”
Johnson seethed. But eventually, he just growled and ordered his men to move out. They had gathered in the centre of a little town called The Cronk, which lay about three kilometres south of the enemy compound. Alpha team set off at a brisk pace north, while the weakened Beta team moved northeast to cut off the Salvad route of reinforcements at St. Judes - reinforcing Salvad troops would most likely come along the main road from Ramsey on the east coast, where they would meet a nasty surprise.
And Charlie team were ordered to stay right where they were, and protect from an attack in the rear.
Johnson’s force lined the hedgerows facing Jurby. He had dispatched a portion of his force to secure the church sitting on a slight incline, which used to overlook the prison before it was demolished by the Salvads. Johnson checked his watch, then gave the order. Three rocket launchers fired into the base - two hitting guard towers, and the third hitting a barracks and caving in the roof.
Alarms blared, and Salvads rushed out - many without any of their armour - and frantically tried to find out where the attack was coming from. They were met with machine gun fire from the Humans. Johnson grinned as he watched swathes of enemies get mowed down. Hefting a grenade launcher, he began to help blow them to pieces. Gunfire at the church suggested that the squad sent there had encountered resistance.
His eyes bulged when a Salvad in the complex levelled the church with an anti-tank weapon.
That guy didn’t stay alive for long, as the marksmen among Alpha team exacted revenge. Once the shock of their attack began to wear off, deadly accurate return fire began to rain on them, plasma tearing through their superficial cover.
The real battle had started.

Meanwhile, Beta team managed to sneak unnoticed all the way to St Judes, where they laid their trap - landmines, hidden gun emplacements, the whole deal. Kicking in doors, they took up positions in windows and on roofs. Snipers spread out outside the village in the fields, ready to pick off any reinforcements.
It didn't take long for the call for help to reach Ramsey. It took even less time for the armoured response to come driving up the road.

Admiral Pyraxis gazed out his shuttle window at the storm clouds they were headed into. The power of nature on this planet was truly staggering to him. Of course he had seen storms back home, but those were gusts of wind compared to the thunderstorms here on Earth.
He felt the turbulence as his shuttle descended into the clouds, and part of him became nervous, just for a moment. He soon chastised himself; there was nothing to fear down there. So why did his gut tell him otherwise?
The shuttle smoothly landed at the Immunisation facility, where Pyraxis and his guard disembarked, only to be greeted with deafening gunfire far too close for comfort. As they walked away from the ship, it suddenly got hit with several successive blasts, tearing it apart. Pyraxis dove to the ground, shell shocked. Gathering himself, he screamed at the Zirrack, “Half of you, deal with those humans! Kill them all! The rest of you, with me.”
They silently obeyed, moving towards the sound of fighting. Pyraxis stormed into the facility's command centre, enraged. Barging into the control room, he searched for the base commander. Seeing him, the commander saluted, then - rather pointlessly - said “Sir! The base is under attack!”
Pyraxis glared at him. “I know. All the explosions gave it away.”“What should we do?” the commander stammered.
“What should- what are you, stupid? Deploy the garrison!”
The trembling commander blabbered his apology and scurried away.
Turning to the nearest worker, he ordered them to call in all the troops on the island. It was at this point that Pyraxis may have completely snapped. This is because a private burst into the room, and said, “Hostiles have breached the northern border!”
Suffice it to say, Pyraxis was not happy. Once he was done screaming at his subordinates, he ordered the inoculations extracted immediately to prevent their destruction.
Brandishing his pistol, he stormed out of the command centre with his guards. “Find the saboteurs. Prevent them from damaging anything.”

Robert never thought he would see a man physically tear a Salvad apart with his bare hands, but that is precisely what Jacob did. The victim was running towards the sounds of fighting, when Jacob jumped him from the side and went berserk. Robert stared with morbid fascination.
Moving through the compound, they easily overcame the few guards who stumbled upon them in quick fashion. Reaching the silo, Jacob and two other men began the climb up the ladder while the others secured the area.
“Contact, front! Multiple-”
A scream cut through the air as the speaker was blasted apart by plasma fire. Robert dove for cover, catching a glimpse of some red-clothed figures.
“Who the fuck are these clowns?” he yelled to Tobias, who shrugged from behind the crate he was using as cover.
Peaking around the corner of a wall, Robert saw who they were dealing with.
At least five. More?
He fired a burst at one, and swore upon seeing the rounds deflect harmlessly off of their armour. He motioned to Tobias to provide covering fire. Counting down with his fingers, he nodded at Tobias, and sprinted back through the facility. A couple of stray rounds flew near him as he ran. Finally, he saw what he needed.
A dead guard. And importantly, his weapon. It was worth seeing if it would have an effect. Running back to the fight with his newly liberated weapon, he hid at the edge of one of the barracks. From there, Robert saw Tobais loading an RPG. Quickly and efficiently, Tobias readied the weapon, and peaked round the corner.
Firing, he hit one of the red bastards point blank. It was not pretty - burning flesh and scraps of armour flew in all directions. The others did not like that, and began advancing, spraying fire at anything that moved, resulting in another guy’s head getting blown apart. Robert anxiously watched the group climbing the silo - they were about to be spotted. Pressing every button on the Salvad rifle until it seemed to work, he took a deep breath, and fired at the fancy dress fucks (as he had decided to name them). The first few hits did not penetrate their armour, but with several successive hits parts of the plate began to melt. So, it worked. They immediately returned fire, forcing Robert to duck back behind his corner.
He eyed the wall with fear as it began to melt under the pressure of enemy weaponry, and took a few steps back. He could still see the guys scaling the silo. They were just about to reach the top. Just a little further…
One of the Salvads saw them. It aimed its weapon up, and shot the man behind Jacob. He went tumbling down to the ground, the sickening splat of the impact echoing throughout the facility.
Gritting his teeth, Robert once again peeked from his cover to provide covering fire and distract the Salvads. As he ducked once more, a Salvad shot missed his head by a hair’s width, melting through the wall behind him.
He held his breath, watching Jacob pull himself and the payload up the last few rungs of the ladder. Enemy fire began to rain on them.
Come on…come on!
Just as it looked like Jacob would be hit, he pulled himself over the side and out of the enemy line of sight.

“Fuck! We need support over here!”
Johnson’s men had been repelled and were being forced back in the centre, with their hard-won position at the church’s ruins under threat of encirclement. Casualties were unknown, but high.
“It always sounds better in a speech.” Johnson muttered, “Oh, glory, saving humanity. I don’t see the general out here dying with us-”
Just then, he glanced over at the smouldering church, and saw a ridiculous looking figure, who appeared to be wearing some sort of cape...
“Oh, fuck me.”
He watched, dumbfounded, as general Mathews engaged Salvad troops in hand to hand combat with his bayonet. The fight was obscured by smoke as the general dramatically executed a downed Salvad. If a middle aged man with a bad back and a tendency to favour tea and biscuits over any kind of physical exertion could do that... what was Johnson waiting for?

Beta team was initially successful, destroying or disabling several armoured vehicles as they entered St. Judes in a single file convoy. However, the convoy recovered quickly, deploying their troops and demolishing every building in the town. The vehicles fanned out into the fields, where several more fell to landmines, but the rest were able to provide deadly fire support.
The members of Beta team who had landed too far south caught up only as the fighting began, and found themselves out of position and disorganised, with many fleeing in all directions and any semblance of order evaporating. Having levelled St. Judes, the armoured convoy resumed the drive to Jurby, albeit with significantly more caution.
Beta team radioed all other teams, alerting them of the breakthrough.
Charlie team was effectively holding back Salvad reinforcements in the south, having dug in at the Cronk and Ballaugh. Smith ordered guerrillas further inland to sabotage the Salvad communication array, and succeeded before anyone was the wiser. Salvad armoured columns from Peel lay burning, dotted across the landscape.
This favourable state of affairs only lasted until enemy air support arrived.
It was a slaughter.

“Can we get more men from Charlie team?” Johnson radioed, only to have his spirits sunk as the news came through.
Charlie team had been destroyed by enemy air strikes. Soon after, Simmons radioed to say that Beta team had been smashed, and were retreating.
Johnson’s heart sank. He probably had less than half his own men left, and enemies were closing in on all sides. He sincerely hoped that the mission had been successful.

Jacob yanked open the hatch to the silo, and deployed the payload without further thought, holding his breath as he did so. Tying a rope from his pack to a rail, he repelled down the side of the silo as quickly as possible, immediately taking cover. His comrade was not so lucky, getting shot on his way down. Jacob sprinted to find the others, cursing as a shot grazed his side, sending him sprawling on the ground.

Vice admiral Krystak had a solemn look on his face. Before him were the rest of the Salvad high command, all recalled for an emergency meeting.
“It seems our leader has gotten himself in quite some trouble. We have no communications, and satellite imaging is obscured by the storm. We have no idea the scale of the attack on Immunisation site three, or the status of Admiral Pyraxis. We must consider him compromised. Would you agree?”
Carefully neutral expressions and subtle nods all around.
Perfect.
“In these exceptional circumstances, we must take precautions. It is stipulated that the Vice Admiral must assume the position of Admiral in such circumstances. Agreed?”Careful nods all around. Nobody spoke up.
“As such, does the council agree to grant me the title of Admiral and the powers that come with it, in order to rectify the situation?”
They all looked at each other. Then, one by one, nodded in agreement.
“Then let us make haste. I presume you are all aware of Pyraxis’s little project buried under the facility. The research there must not be discovered by the Humans. As such, I move to allow the retrieval of all usable material from the facility, and to order the subsequent destruction of the facility to prevent a security breach. All in favour?”
The Salvad’s gathered looked weary, but soon crumbled under peer pressure.
All agreed. A rational decision, given the information available. They all knew it was a thinly veiled coup, and none wanted to put a target on themselves.
Krystak, now the Admiral and commander of all Salvad operations in Sol, growled softly as he revelled in his victory.
The foresight of the ambitious is often lacking.

Robert watched as the cargo haulers flew in, barely stopping as they lifted the entire silos, and then flying away at top speed. A few half-hearted pot shots were taken at them to reinforce the notion that the Salvads had foiled the dastardly human plan.
It had been a close thing. They hadn’t expected the Salvads to order an accelerated extraction. Robert now hid inside one of the barracks with a couple of others, including Tobias - who was methodically taping a claymore to his chest.
He stopped what he was doing when he heard a clatter somewhere far off, followed by the sound of footsteps.
Robert held his breath. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he tensed, ready to run.
He could hear their chatter. By the sound of their movements, they had panned out and were searching every nook and cranny.
Gripping his rifle with white knuckles, he waited for the nearest footsteps to near even more, before charging out of cover. Firing his stolen weapon in a continuous burst into the Salvad’s face, forcing him back. The plasma melted the faceplate, and boiled the Salvad inside - evidenced by its' screaming.
Hunched over to avoid the fire of the other Salvads, Robert sprinted to the body and extracted a knife from one of its pockets. The knife had an ornate design, and a thin glowing red rim along the edge. The balance felt completely off.
Diving behind a toppled bunk, Robert tried to make himself as small as possible. A stray enemy shot scorched the side of his abdomen, the intense heat instantly cauterising the wound. A few centimetres to the right, and he would be trying to stop his organs from falling out.
“Fuck!”
A small chunk of flesh had been carved away by the shot, and he screamed as his fried nerve endings made their displeasure known.
“Bitch!”
He half ran, half stumbled through the barracks, crashing through the first doorway he saw. On the other side was a slope, heading down into a lower level. With the sound of fighting, he saw no choice but to go further down. It looked like a laboratory of some sort, with pristine white walls and ceilings. Robert wandered into a vast chamber, where human bodies lay on operating tables in various states of dissection, with more suspended in vats filled with a sickly green liquid. Pausing to take this all in, Robert promptly vomited, and ran in another direction.He was determined to get out of that awful place as soon as possible. Hearing footsteps behind him, he threw himself onto the floor behind a cabinet to hide. Stolen gun at the ready, he strained his ears for any sign of the enemy.He didn’t have to wait long. Striding into the room, three of the red-clothed-pricks fanned out. Sneaking a look, he saw one of them wasn’t wearing a helmet - sign of a comically arrogant superior officer. They were speaking.
The officer sounded angry.
Taking his chance, he peaked his weapon around the cabinet, and nailed one of the soldiers in the head. He crumpled to the floor instantly. The other one, not missing a beat, spun and fired at Robert, forcing him to cower behind the rapidly melting cabinet.
Crawling to the other end, he peaked again, and was able to shoot the soldier’s weapon, disabling it. Unfortunately for Robert, his bad luck once more reared it’s ugly head, and the Salvad rifle stopped working.
Out of charge?
Casting the spent weapon aside, he charged the Red Salvad. *Where's the officer?*All too late, he realised his mistake. As he body-slammed the Salvad, the officer appeared from behind a wall, pistol raised. Robert’s “borrowed” Salvad knife found its way into his grip, and the glowing edge of the blade burrowed through the Salvad’s armour. Robert twisted it into the Salvad’s neck, severing the spine, and shoving the now-deceased body to the ground.
This left him facing off with the officer. Perhaps Robert had seen too many films, as he expected some kind of evil speech. Instead, the officer shot him, and he fell down.
He entered a world of pain, body convulsing on the floor. The once-pristine tiles were rapidly changing colour around him. It felt like some of him was missing. Taking a look at the damage, he wished he hadn’t. His brain sort of stopped working at this point, overwhelmed and high on adrenaline.
Robert fumbled for his Cyanide pill as the Salvad strolled over.
In the corner of his eye, he saw a shape appear at the door in the back. A human, covered with burns and scorched flesh underneath torn uniform. A distinctive gas mask adorned his face. The individual raised a pistol with shaking arms, and fired.
A single bullet hit the Salvad in the neck, spewing a fountain of blood in front of him. The Slavad cried out, and fell flat on his face.
Tobias limped over and kneeled beside Robert.
“Hey, I got you. Look at me. I got you.” he said, panting.
“And here I was, thinking… you were dead, Toby.”
“Heh, I very nearly was. Those freaks had a flamethrower! Here, let me help you up.”
Grunting, Tobias lifted Robert by the arm, supporting his weight. After a bit of rearranging themselves, the two limped their way back into the barracks. Bodies lay strewn everywhere, and the building was on fire and filling with smoke.
Kicking down the door to the outside, they stumbled out into the fresh sea air. The sound of battle could still be heard far off, though they paid it no heed. Stumbling away from the base, the pair made the short journey to the beach.
Robert lay down, and Tobias kneeled beside him. “What time do you think it is?” asked Robert. The Sun was just beginning to rise, with a few rays penetrating the morning sky. The storm had cleared, replaced wth a hesitant blue.
“Not a clue,” Tobias wheezed. The waves were breaking mere metres away from their feet, lapping at the shore and blissfully uncaring of the violence occurring inland.
“Just hold on a little longer. I think we’ll get to see a sunrise, of a sort.” said Robert. His gaze was fixed at a point just above the horizon. From that little point, a speck of light was rapidly growing, heading right for them.
They joined hands, clasping each other in a tight grip.
Here, the man who fought out of spite lay. Next to him, the man who fought out of habit. Both were terrified of dying. Both were now too tired to care. Bleeding and hurting, they finally rested. Their war, at least, was over.
Jacob had died just a few minutes earlier, in the fight in the barracks.
Pyraxis did not die when he was shot in the neck, as the bullet missed his airpipe. He stumbled out a different exit, only to see the sky brighten. Ironically, the killing blow was dealt by his own people. This irony was not lost on him.
The entire island was destroyed, every living thing perishing under orbital bombardment, leaving a crater and no evidence of the deeds done there, heroic or cowardly.
Save for its legacy, in the form of plague the likes of which the Salvad’s had never witnessed.
Author’s note:
I think this may be some of my best work yet. I put a lot of effort into the concepts and -especially- detailing the attack, which I’m quite proud of. It was a bit slower than I wanted getting this one done due to external factors, but I managed it in the end. Given how long it’s ended up, perhaps I should have split it up more, but oh well. I’d like to say thank you to anyone and everyone who took an interest in this little series - the support means a lot to me. If you read this far, thank you.

I use Lose It! frequently, and it helps a ton, but sometimes my ADHD makes it difficult to remember to always track everything, so I find myself adding foods sometimes a few hours after eating them (occasionally when I can't simply scan the UPC, because I'm away). However, I'm also religiously accustomed to weighing my portions on a food scale (typically in grams, ounces, or milliliters). What peeves me is how sometimes even verified foods will list all units except for grams, even though grams are one the primary serving size units for most solid foods.
It's not the end of the world, as I can usually do some math to convert the grams to the "labelled cup or tablespoon" units, but it astounds me that grams as a unit aren't simply a default choice for many foods, especially verified ones.
Just decided to rant this morning.
Tldr; The Lose It! app's verified foods should require grams, ounces, and milliliters as an option for every food to adopt all nutrition labels, at least in the US (not familiar with Europe/UK standards)
EDIT: In the case it wasn't clear, I think the additional standard units should be required in addition to other units. Recently had some Blue Bunny ice cream that measures serving size in grams, but the verified Blue Bunny option in the app only offers ml units, oz, or tablespoons, and a few others.

Good morning everyone and thank you for posting detailed reviews of your surgeries!! I am 1 MPO and am cleared to go bra shopping next week (!!) but got a little too excited and decided to measure myself yesterday.
Before surgery I was a 30JJ in UK (although that was probably a little smaller than my actual size) and my surgery goals were NO under boob touching, SMALL AND SWEET to fit in cute clothes and go braless, etc.
My measurements and the ABTF calculator put me at a 32FF. HUH? I convinced myself not to panic and searched this sub for similar experiences... only to find lots of posts with the exact same measurements and anxieties!! Even better were the comments!!! "I went down a full cup size btwn 6 weeks and 3 months", "I am an F cup and i can go braless", "it's not as big as you think"... you all are SO lovely and I feel so much better and hopeful. Even if there isn't any swelling (which there definitely is!) and my boobs stay at their current size, i am SO MUCH SMALLER than i was pre surgery. I wore a T-shirt with no bra after my shower last night and didn't need to tuck it under my boobs!!!! They're so perky!!!!!! There is light at the end of the tunnel!!
God bless modern medicine and God bless you all for sharing your experiences. Having this sub is truly one of the highlights of my recovery. :')
(side note: someone said the ABTF calculator doesn't even work for post reduction? can someone explain that??)