So since January I started experiencing awful visual issues, I had an MRI, CT & blood work & all came back clear, since then I started developing twitching after taking amitriptyline and I just assumed it was a withdrawal or simply BFS. In 2/3 months I have had muscle atrophy in my back, thighs, calves and I’m certain my tongue has became weaker and so has my neck - I have no swallowing issues but my swallowing feels odd and my speech perceived by myself feels slow and not right at all.
I have seen countless neurologists in this time and they have all sent me back with a clean bill of health even though I have had 1 EMG which showed ‘chronic neuropathic changes mainly distantly’ and therefore a Neuromusculur neurologist diagnosed me with bfs & anxiety.
I know for a fact I have probably one of the worst progressive types of ALS you could get especially at such a young age - the atrophy was noticed by an NHS doctor who has sent me for another EMG in 3 months? But I have a private EMG on the 16th of this month. I’m absolutely terrified I have no understanding to how this could of happened, if all started after I took some mirtazapine to help with insomnia and I believe this has triggered something although there is 0 literature of this ever occurring and that’s why I can’t believe this happening to me.
I’m here to see reassurance even though I’m certain I’m dying and loosing everything so rapidly - I believe I have JALS or bulbar onset due to the changes in my face & throat etc… the one thing I can’t understand is how multiple parts of my body seem to be loosing muscle at the same time, I have read that ALS starts in one and moves up to the next etc but for me it seems like it’s everywhere.
I don’t know to be honest I don’t really know I didn’t want to post this at all but I just maybe might find someone on here that is experiencing disgusting symptoms, had a bag EMG and still came out the other side. I don’t believe I will, my family & girlfriend currently think I’m completely fine due to the reassurance from all the doctors and even the Neurologist who read the EMG still diagnosed me with BFS?
The EMG was on 2nd of April and at that point I knew my legs were smaller but it wasn’t extremely extremely noticeable - the EMG had no active neuropathic changes as PSW and FIBS were normal, it was just + AMP, + DUR and - INT PAT with seen fasiculations.
Overall I’m lost and i know it’s known that vision isn’t affected by ALS but I read reports and I legit match the symptoms such as reduced eye tracking, impaired VOR. I just feel like the most unlucky person on this planet like how can I have all these visual symptoms and horrible physical symptoms at such a young age just after taking some anti depressants to helps with insomnia.
I really need some support guys and I want to truly believe I’ll be okay but as of right now nothing can sway my mind and I’m dreading the 16th for what it will show, I’m going to honestly just walk in and say ‘I believe I have bulbar onset als just please start on my face and work your way down’
I just can’t believe that I’m completely fine when everything in my body is changing and has changed so quickly. I can still ride my bike, I can still run, walk fine and do any activity I want. (Other than football probably because of my vision) but I can’t do them well. I used to be able to run 5k without any aches in my body but now my feet hurt and so do my legs and I’m just a complete mess.
Much love and I hope people on this forum can comfort me with reassurance :(

Before that happens i had a worse sore throat/strep throat every morning.
Sneezing a lot everyday and runny nose everyday and itchy nose,eyes,ears
heart palpitations
heart racing whenever i do some chores

Hello again everybody!
Before we get started on today's post the current voting for Carbink currently has Abstaining votes with a bit of a lead over the next highest amount of votes (which is C tier). There is still time to vote however, if you haven't voted on that one yet you can find a link to the post in the comments on the post linked below or by sorting the SubReddit by the Tiering/Voting tag!
Unless something changes however it looks like Carbink will likely go back on to the radar list for a future vote. Like with all previous votes I'll continue to check the numbers and if anything changes I'll update it on tomorrow's post.
(Please note that this voting/tiering is centered around Classic mode as after a certain point in Endless only about 5 Pokemon and 2 abilities are truly viable.)
So current tiers are:
S tier - Garganacl, Cloyster, Skeledirge, Gholdengo, Tinkaton
A tier - Gyarados/Mega, VenusauMega/Dyna, Aegislash, Corviknight/Dyna, Excadrill, GardevoiMega, Toxapex
B tier - Kanto-Persian/Dynamax Kanto-Meowth, Weavile, Starmie, Rhyperior, Quagsire, Mamoswine
C tier - Linoone
F tier - Dustox
With that being said let's get to today's vote!
Today is day 27 of tier voting and today we'll be talking about the funky rock 'n' roll lizard from Generation 8 that was the signature Pokemon of the gym leader who was part of a band and said no words during his solo lol. Toxtricity is fairly popular and well-known for its signature ability which synergizes very well with its moveset. Toxtricity has an interesting and unique typing that only it and its pre-evolution have claim to. While it does have a 4x weakness to Ground both of its types are strong types offensively and give it immunity to 2 status conditions which means it certainly can find ways to fit onto a team. It has a pretty solid stat spread in its base form and it also has the benefit of most of its strongest moves being spread moves making it a strong choice for double battles. This game gives it several gifts including a very good passive to go along with one of its strongest moves, as well as some really good egg moves that synergize with its signature ability even further and a super good stat spread for its Dynamax form.
(Please note that Pokemon with Mega/Dynamax evolutions will be tiered as one Pokemon and not tiered separately for their Mega/Dynamax form. Different variants such as Alolan Persian vs. Kanto Persian will be tiered separately however.)
(Also here is the post with rules for voting/tiering posts and a little more explanation about them in general: https://www.reddit.com/pokerogue/s/0LNZhPPzR9 Links to past votes can all be found here as well in comments added to the OP with each new vote)
And here is a quick reminder of what each tier generally means:
S tier: Top tier, can make or break your entire run, essentially the cream of the crop
A tier: really strong but not quite top tier, maybe slightly outclassed or has a slight weakness holding it back
B tier: solid choices that can make it to your endgame team, might be reliant on team composition to truly function well or might just be outclassed as well
C tier: usually early-mid game Mons, ones you don't really want to take to end game if you can avoid it, usually pretty decently glaring weakness but something redeeming enough to keep from F tier
F tier: no reason to use in end game unless you're doing it for a meme/joke
Abstain/No Opinion: this will be a voting option mostly just in case someone accidentally votes and then can't remove their vote (I've noticed that happens on Reddit sometimes) or for Pokemon people haven't unlocked/used to their full potential yet. If Abstaining votes outvote each individual tier then the Pokemon will be tabled for the time being and another vote will open up for it later (can mostly see this happening with Legendaries).
(Data in parentheses is for the Dynamax form)
[Also worth noting Toxtricity base form has 2 different forms it evolves into based on its nature. The only difference between these forms is its secondary ability and one of the moves it learns by level-up though, so I will put these brackets around the 2 moves and abilities. Both forms have the same Dynamax form]
*
Toxtricity (Dynamax)
Type: Electric/Poison
Mega: No
Dynamax: Yes
Starter cost {Toxel}: 3
Possible Egg moves: Nasty Plot, Baneful Bunker, Sparkling Aria, Torch Song
Abilities: Punk Rock or [Plus or Minus]
Hidden Ability: Technician
Passive Ability: Galvanize - Turns this Pokemon's Normal-type attacks into Electric-type attacks and boosts the power of Electric type attacks by 20%
Evolution: Toxel evolves into either Amped form or Low-Key form Toxtricity at level 30 depending on its nature. Toxtricity can Dynamax with Dynamax bracelet and Max Mushrooms
Base stats:
HP - 75 (95)
Attack - 98 (118)
Defense - 70 (80)
Sp. Attack - 114 (144)
Sp. Defense - 70 (80)
Speed - 75 (85)
Learnset by level up: Acid, Acid Spray, Belch, Flail, Growl, Leer, Noble Roar, Nuzzle, Tearful Look, Thunder Shock, Charge, Shock Wave, Scary Face, Taunt, Screech, Swagger, Discharge, Poison Jab, Overdrive, Boomburst, Spark, [Shift Gear or Magnetic Flux]
Notable TMs: Protect, Metal Sound, Thief, Trailblaze, Charge Beam, Facade, Swift, Hex, Snarl, Stored Power, Venoshock, Volt Switch, Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Brick Break, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Rest, Sleep Talk, Drain Punch, Thunder Wave, Toxic Spikes, Eerie Impulse, Gunk Shot, Hyper Voice, Thunderbolt, Wild Charge, Sludge Bomb, Thunder, Power-Up Punch, Screech, Sludge Wave, Throat Chop
*
Tomorrow's vote: GengaMega GengaDynamax Gengar!
Pokemon on the radar for voting very soon: Aggron/Mega, Comfey, Crobat, Ferrothorn, Gliscor, Delphox, Roserade, Vileplume, Minior, Hitmonchan, Bibarel, Whimsicott, Chandelure, Archaludon/Dynamax Duraludon, Alakazam/Mega, Infernape, Flamigo, Volcarona, Alolan-Decidueye, Barbaracle, Butterfree/Dyna, Beedrill/Mega, Mawile/Mega, Drednaw/Dyna, Annihilape, Cramorant, Aerodactyl/Mega, Glimmora, Heatran, Tapu Koko, Dialga/Primal, Galarian-Zapdos, Regieleki, Regidrago, Zacian, Zamazenta, Rayquaza/Mega, Latias/Mega, Latios/Mega, Ho-Oh, Volcanion, Cinccino, Snorlax/Dyna, Wishiwashi
(Other requests will be added to this list and this list is not necessarily in order)
Happy voting!
View Poll

My son is 7 mo ths old and I think he is sick for the first time. He has a super stuffy/runny nose and is having trouble sleeping comfortably. What do we do? Please give me all your tips and tricks!!! What things can I do to help him be more comfortable? I'm so afraid to use the suction thing on his nose 💀

Sorry, big vent incoming. Just want to get it out somewhere.
Our house got the stomach bug last week. My daughter picked it up at a local mom get together (why do you go to those if you are/were just sick??? UGH) So it was 5 days of me, my husband and my toddler girl being sick with all the gross stuff. Luckily my husband and I got over the stomach things, but the diarrhea is lingering in my toddler (to my understanding this is relatively normal, but it still makes me anxious).
I hated those 5 days. I felt like crap, I felt bad for my sweet husband who felt like even worse crap and I still feel so bad for my little baby girl who is still dealing with stuff.
And just when my gut started feeling better I picked up a sore throat which luckily wasn’t strep, doc thought it was just something viral, but that quickly turned into laryngitis and now I’ve lost my voice and my nose is starting to get stuffed and I’m worried I have a sinus infection coming on. And oh yeah I’m 20 weeks pregnant 😭 (don’t worry I’ve been in touch with my medical provider this whole time and baby isn’t in any danger, it’s just a little icing on this cake of discomfort). And I’m only three days into this nose/throat thing, and it could easily last another week.
I just hate losing more sleep than I already am due to not being able to breathe + throat pain. I hate that I can’t communicate with my daughter or my husband. I hate not being able to swallow without pain. I hate that I feel like crap.
I realize I have a LOT to be thankful for, I just want to be back to my normal so I can be a happiebetter mom and wife.
So yeah, being sick with a sick toddler is definitely top 3 least favorite part about parenthood. It might take spot number one but I’m saving that for something worse that may come along 🙃

I was with a guy until december, which was our last contact. Did not interact in any way with another man until about last month. He eventually got sick about a week and a half after we first kissed. He says he knows his body and he never “gets sick like this”. He has a spot in his throat which lead him to believe it was mono, but tested negative. He now things it could be chlamydia? The issue is, I have not had any symptoms other than a sore throat for 2 days, and then a few weeks later, a cough and stuffy nose. I get sick very often as I suspect I have had something wrong with my immune system my whole life. Is chlamydia even likely in this case? I only did oral with the guy in December, and have only kissed the current guy.

Claritin, Xyzal, Allegra, Zyrtec, Benadryl, etc etc etc. None of it works for me. Seasonal allergies are killing me. Itchy eyes, runny and stuffy nose. Is there anything prescription strength that might help???

I received unprotected oral sex 8 days ago. No symptoms down there. I’m currently going through allergies runny nose, sneezing, and slight sore throat (was worse yesterday then today). I tested on Friday urine and blood (5 days after) and just got my results all saying negative. Did I test too early or should I be in the clear.

So I’ve been sick now for a week and a half . Started out with a itchy throat and dry cough then hot flashes and chills and really bad fatigue then came the bad coughing with phlegm & stuffy nose can’t smell or taste . My mental health is getting bad due to this viral infection . Thought I was getting better then the next hour I noticed I’m still sick feeling and really brings me down . Makes me feel like not my self? . Anyone here been experiencing this? Cause like damn .

Hey guys. My anxiety if through the roof right now and I’d appreciate any info. Sorry if its a long read.
Im 29M. Asthmatic. In decent health I would have to say. Run abit, do abit of combat sports casually few times a week, working in construction.
I had my annual with my doctor and she sent me to do a bunch of tests. I had mentioned during my annual that I felt like my asthma was worst specially when I was sick. Better overall but weird symptoms when sick.
I had also mentioned I had an issue where sometimes I would swallow food and it would feel stuck and painful but not a choking sensation. Only times it had happened to me was rice or chicken. Its been going on for a little less than a year and I believe it happened mostly when I went through a phase of drinking alot less liquids during my day with a pretty bad diet. Its happened like 2/3 times in the past like 2 months I believe. I was talking when eatting and had a cold I guess making it worst?
She sent me on a test where they inspected my throat with a camera in my nose. They then sent me to fo a barium swallow test. My doctor called me back sounding kind of different, less a happy vibe, asking me if I had a moment to talk. She asked me if I ever had any damage or was hospitalized for esophagus related issues. She mentioned the word scal AND bump multiple times. She said she would arange a gastroscopie and they would most most likely want to do a endoscopy too. She also said she thinks this can be affecting my asthma. She said she also noticed acid reflux on the results
Its been a week I have no news from anyone. Im pretty stressed out for this. I dont know why but I am very scared for the worst. Every little thing is stressing me out.
I also have had also feel bad for waiting almost a year to mention the problem to my doctor. I figured it was happening rarely, then when it was more frequent I was abit concerned. But then it really reduced when I drank more water and abit of time passed so I decided to wait for annual.
I am also wondering, last year around that time I had a pretty bad food poisoning. I puked alot and had insanely tense upper chest pain for days with sore throat. Could that have caused damage to my esophagus?

Hey all
About two weeks ago my right ear started ringing and it hasn’t stopped. At first it was quiet enough that I was just annoyed and could still manage day to day activities. I assumed it would go away on its own.
Last week it became intolerable. It is extremely loud, it hurts, and my throat is sore. Obviously this now seems like a sinus issue. I took a COVID test, no covid. I went to urgent care on Saturday and the doctor told me my eardrums look healthy. She told me to start taking full-strength sudafed (pseudoephedrine decongestant), and if it didn’t help she referred me to an ear nose throat specialist.
The sudafed has not helped, and when I called the specialist, I discovered they do not accept my insurance (I’m in the United States). I have made a new appointment with my primary care physician on Wednesday with the hope that she will refer me to a specialist that does take my insurance.
But this feels bad, guys. My ear is shrieking, it hurts, and I can feel the pressure in my head now. I haven’t gone to work in three days because of this. So here are my questions:

1. Any ideas what could be causing this?
2. Should I wait it out and jump through all the hoops to find an in-network specialist? Or does this sound serious enough that I should see someone right away, medical debt be damned?

Thank you.

Went to the vet recently for stitches and they sprayed something on her to stop her from licking the wound I think? But when she got home it STUNK soo bad and was making me and my partner cough/choke (when I say choke I just mean I have to like intensely clear my throat) and gave us a runny/stuffy nose for hours and hours. I actually just opened her carrier today that had some fabric in it that ig still had the spray and it immediately made me start coughing. I left the room and my nose is runny😭
Any ideas on what this spray could have been?? It's insanee how much it's affecting me lol. I can ask the vet next week when I go but I am impatient haha

Maybe about two years before covid hit (either 2018 or 2017), I started experiecing a chronic cough. It was pretty bad at the time,

• It happened every day, some days worse than others, always dry
  
• It didn't show up at any particular time, usually throughout the entire day however for the first time ever last week it stopped me from sleeping- I kept coughing while sleeping which kept waking me up. This has never happened before until then, and hasn't happened since then.
  

I went to the doctor back in 2018 to figure out what was wrong, at the time they just concluded that it was allergies, which was strange. I knew I have bad seasonal allergies, but a cough has never been a symptom of mine. It's usually always sneezing and a runny nose, or itching. Why would a cough suddenly appear?
For years I pushed this off as just allergies until around 2021. I still felt like it wasn't allergies and the current medicine I was using wasn't helping. I went through extensive testing at the time from some of the top specialists in NYC. I got a chest x-ray which came back negative, there were no issues. I also had a pulmonary function test then at the time which actually came up strange to the doctors. I was told my breathing was irregular and that was it. I also had a blood test which didn't show anything at the time other than I had anemia (which was also unexplained. I used to always think it was an iron defeciency, but my doctor told me my iron levels seemed to be normal but I still was anemic)
We tried a bunch of different inhalers, none of which worked including:

• The famous blue asthma inhaler (did nothing for me)
  
• Ellipta (the inhaler with the top that flips up, didn't really do anything)
  
• Symbicort (didn't fix the cough, but I remember at the time it helped me breath a lot better)
  

We ended up running into a dead end again and they sent me to an allergy specialist who concluded the obvious, that I had allergies. Again my cough was just written off as allergies. and I was given a perscription allergy pill (cetrizine) which of course helped my allergies but the cough was still there. I trusted this judgement for years even though the cough never disappeared.
Which brings us to last month-
My cough only rarely appears these days, I don't take allergy medicine, and surprisingly even though it is still a reoccuring symptom, it's not the main symptom anymore. Now as of last week I've been expericing really bad moments where I can't breathe. I used to have these moments last year and I just thought I was having a panic attack without panicking (no my life isn't stressful at all), now suddenly they've become a LOT more frequent and noticeable which ended up worrying me. Now my breath feels like it's only at 70-80% what it used to be, my chest started hurting a lot more (stinging feeling in the center and the heart area, and occasionally burns. This has happened every day almost since around this time last month.
This prompted me to go to a local doctor who ran a chest xray, which showed up normal, no dark spots etc, and a simple lung function test. The doctor noticed from the PFT that my breathing was off and there were slight signs of inflamation. The doctor concluded that it was bronchitis, which also made sense. I was perscribed Serentide which really helped a lot with my breathing although it didn't stop random flare ups where I couldn't breathe which happened after I ate and laid down.
My breathing was fixed but the random flare ups worried me still so I wanted to go to a doctor to see how I could manage them. Since I'm in a new country now, I went to another doctor, showed them my results from the previous tests, and for some reason, had another chest x-ray. They told me that it didn't really look like bronchitis and everything was relatively normal. At first they thought it could have been asthma, but I told them asthma treatment didn't really work for me so they also decided to test out allergy treatment. It has been about a few days since they've perscribed Singulair and they told me to stop using the inhaler I was given.
Currently I feel like my breathing has slightly gotten slightly worse since dropping the inhaler and the flare ups haven't stopped, but maybe the effects haven't set in yet.
What are my next steps? What tests should I get? Does anyone have any idea what possibly could be wrong? I don't want to push this off as just allergies again and then have an even worse symtpom years ago because the allergy diagnosis was wrong.
Tl;dr symptoms:

• Chronic cough that has gotten a little bit better
  
• breathlessness/shortness of breath at usually after eating and laying down when I feel bloated, but also appears at random times (not really the same as being out of breath from exercising, and I also don't experience it after doing physical tasks such as walking up a large flight of stairs)
  
• Chest pains (sharp stinging in the center and heart area, and slight burning)
  

Additional symptoms that may or may not have anything to do with my condition:

• When I woke up, I felt like there was something stuck in my throat and I had to burp a lot. Also my throat hurts every time I yawn currently. (I put my symptoms into ChatGPT and it told me these were symptoms of either GERD or Throat Cancer? I don't know much about GERD but it also sounds believable)
  
• For the last two weeks my voice was hoarse, but that could have been due to the inhaler. Now that I'm not taking the inhaler this symptom is gone
  

Notes:

• I do not smoke, but I used to hang out around smokers (not anymore)
  
• Age 27M
  
• I have sleep apnea which could be genetic since it's in the family
  
• I used to be an unhealthy eater until recently, however I am not extremely overweight, and I have been eating healthy for the past two months
  
• Height: 178 cm
  
• Weight: 73 kg
  
• Currently in Bangkok but I'm American for resources if you have any.
  

PART 3

Max woke in the night to a plinking sound. He had fallen asleep crying over Scat, treat bag and collar on the table in full view. His eyes were blurry and sore, his nose was runny and sore and the nature channel was his distraction. Ruth was letting off a lovely glow and it warmed him to think of Scat so lovingly curled around her, day in and day out. He let out an almost-sob. He didn’t want to give her back. Didn’t want to wake up.
Eventually Max pried one eye open and surveyed the room. TV still on, duvet still over him, the floor wasn’t wet and the ceiling wasn’t leaking, so where was the…
Plink.
Ruth.
Max sighed and rolled over, the duvet making a break for the floor before being dejectedly scooped up again and deposited back across his lap. The small cloud of Scat’s fur wafted off the floorboards and turned Max’s heart. He contemplated going back to the escape of sleep, but finally sat and rubbed his eyes, held his aching head in his hands for a moment and, dropping his hands and lolling his head back, Ruth came into focus. The central glass disc that she had made like a rosette for herself had grown, bloated out. It looked a bit like a tortoise shell, glittery and iridescent and very Ruth, except now, it had…
“Diamonds!” Max yelped, miraculously fully awake.
There, underneath the bulbous disc was a tiny pile of painfully perfect diamonds, so exuberant in colour they seemed almost alive. He could see clean through the pile itself each one was so clear, with a miniature rainbow refracted inside. They were scattered across the table and he realised they were dropping from all over the glass tubes, the largest ones plinking from the central disc.
“Holy cow! What the hell, Ruth! This is amazing! I mean, how did you do that?”
Ruth plinked another diamond from the disc, meanwhile the bobbing gyroscopic mass that had accumulated in the disc decided to bob itself towards Max and answer him with a spiral of flashes and disco lights.
“You really are a crazy, crazy little thing, you know that?” he asked, picking up a diamond and examining it against Ruth’s emitted light show. He threw his t-shirt across the table top and spread the diamonds out on it. There must have been fifteen of them, simply perfect and all different shapes to each other, irregular and yet symmetrical.
Max collapsed into the dining chair next to the table.
Why did they happen today? Why now of all days? It had been nearly a week since he was entrusted with Ruth and she seemed pretty stable up till yesterday. She had grown that diamond factory bulge that reminded him of a tortoise, yes, but now it almost looked like an expensive, old-fashioned sweet dispenser that you get in the bowling alley or in the shopping centres in posh areas. The kind they stuck between the raised beds of fake forest-looking plants in the food court, the kind that were there to tempt the kids after their unfulfilling and unappreciated fast-food dine-outs but used all your pocket money for one jaw-breaker.
Max tried to backtrack. What had he done differently? If he could figure it out, maybe he could persuade Ruth to make more diamonds… his friend would never have to know, he could get Scat a little headstone, and if he could figure out how it worked he could reverse it so there wouldn’t even be any evidence. No, his friend would surely know. Max could save a few diamonds and give them to him and say she just started… have to work out the details later. First things first.
“So, Ruth. Why are you giving me these little nuggets of joy, huh? What did I do to warrant this spectacle?” He talked to Ruth, but she didn’t respond. No movement, just the usual swirling around. Max watched the glass disc closely through his puffy eyes but couldn’t see where the diamonds fell from, nor anything that would suggest a factory line of compressed carbon was in progress. She seemed to be slowing down.
Max pressed his brows together, then slowly lifted the fern up onto the table again. This was the only thing different. The bamboo was outside and Scat was…
A wave of horror flooded over Max. He launched himself out of his chair and sprinted to the window and, ripping back the voile, he saw the bamboo had grown six feet over night. He knew it grew fast from watching that documentary about tropical rainforests but this was a stretch too far. Much too far. That damned thing hadn’t grown in years…
“Ruth,” he said turning to her, “what did you do?”

For the next few hours, Max observed Ruth from across the room. The discovery channel was on in the background, as always. Ruth didn’t seem to do much without it these days but for a hunk of glittery glass and brass Max supposed not much was interesting unless it moved or had nothing whatsoever to do with man-made things. Suited him just fine. Who needs politics anyway?
Apparently, Ruth had taken it upon herself to make the fern shrivel up and increase her diamond production, much to Max’s exuberant happiness and overwhelming horror. He shoved the sofa to the far end of the room and started putting all his household plants in the spaces between the table and himself. The kitchen herbs went first.
He had taken one of the diamonds down to the swanky precious stone and metal specialist at the posh end of town (his name was Horace, apparently,) and had it valued. He took extreme pleasure in watching the man’s face freeze in wonder at the rock placed before him. I’ve never seen such a stone, Horace said. Never seen such a clear, colourful, perfect stone in my life, Horace said. It’s phenomenal, Horace said. Where did you get it, Horace asked. I inherited it, Max lied. It’s worth a fortune, Horace said. Thank you, I’ll have it back now, Max said. He made sure to stop by the garden centre on his way home.

The front room was a sea of plants. Max waded through them, deciding that a walkway to the door would be a vital escape route that shouldn’t be compromised, in case Ruth decided she had been on her vegetarian stint for long enough. Max had toyed with the idea of getting a fish tank or some other living creature to put next to her as a safeguard but he promptly remembered Scat and nearly broke down on the shop floor in front of the display tanks. Besides, the plants were working! There was already a multitude of stacks of plastic pots and trays next to the front door ready for recycling, and all the withered remains of whatever the pots had housed was scattered along the borders amongst the dog daisies and tulips. Ruth was putting out a considerable amount of stonage these days. Max bought an old bank safe online. It was currently sat in the hallway because that’s as far in as the two couriers could lift the thing, and there was no way on god’s green earth that Max was going to let them into the front room and risk them getting curious. The safe was only waist-high and wasn’t too ugly, so the hallway it was.
Max carefully spun the dial clockwise, anti-clockwise, clockwise again, on and on, muttering under his breath as he read from the bit of paper he guiltily kept in his pocket alongside his friend’s contact details. He used his whole bodyweight to wrench open the door and deposit the load of diamonds in a mason jar, nestled it in next to its siblings that were already full and stacked up there. He had set up a system of small tubs under the hotspots for diamonds drops and his favourite whiskey glass under the place where the large diamonds fell. He emptied them regularly, always aware that someone might knock on the door, he might need to pee or Scat might need to go outside (no, poor thing, he was there already). His kitchen was full of boxes of new mason jars and his lounge was full of plants, like some weird meth lab. A thrill of fear swept down Max’s back and up through his throat looking at all those jars, heavy with precious stones. He knew the smallest one alone would make him a disgustingly wealthy man. Horace had confirmed it.
Two days later, and there was no more space in the safe. Nowhere else to put those little rocks. Max decided to give Ruth a break, let her rest while he decided what to do next. He couldn’t have a house full of safes, his friend would already think it was weird that the one in the hallway appeared out of nowhere. Max put a coffee table over it, covered it with a tablecloth and some old bank statements, throwing on a phone charger for authenticity.
He had taken to talking to Ruth while the documentaries were on, she seemed to like that. He had been taking daily trips to the garden centre and leaving with a fully loaded car, right up until they looked at him suspiciously (he was a renowned leave-it-to-the-bugs kind of gardener; after years of failed attempts at keeping his plants alive and fruitless efforts of the garden centre employees to dispense advice he could keep to), so he started frequenting other nurseries as well.
Today, he was going to figure out how Ruth did it. He had to know. In his mind it was the equivalent of finding out how the Egyptians built the pyramids (because it obviously wasn’t aliens,) and the fact that even his friend didn’t know what this thing could do was something altogether more impressive! He may well have created it, but it was Max who had realised Ruth’s full potential, it was Max who had figured out the process, it was Max who had discovered the balance of life and death. Nobody could take that from him. But to really put the boot in, he wanted to know how.
“Come on, Ruthy, tell me how you do it. Let me see you do it, just once.” Max waited for a response. There was none. Then…
Plink.
He had seen! He knew now! Ha!
“Yes! That’s it! That’s the ticket! I knew it, old gal, this is going to be such an epic day! I can’t wait to see their faces, suck on THAT!”
Max jumped, air-punched and whirled around the front room, ecstatic in his discovery. Never again would they look down on him! Never again would they look at him like he was an idiot because he couldn’t get the printer to print on both sides of the paper, they wouldn’t reject him, the girls would think he was funny, he was going to be filthy rich, he could save the world! He, Max, was all powerful.
Oh yes. That’s what I’m talking about.

So I'd been trying to figure out whether this was from allergies or something else for a bit, but I now believe it's definitely the allergies.
I've noticed this spring that when my allegies are acting up I get this really weird type of weakness/tiredness in my body. But it's not the same as typical fatigue I might get from being sick or something like that. It doesn't necessarily make me feel like I want to sleep (although, at times that's been a separate allergy symptom for me).
The way I'd describe it is just like the core of my arms feel weak and a little wiggly/wobbly, if that makes sense. Almost like just a little bit of the blood's drained out of my body or something 😬 And to a lesser extent I feel it in my legs and the rest of my body too. My body doesn't feel heavy and tired, or necessarily like I want to lay down and sleep - it's just this uncomfortable odd weakness, and at times I do lay down because of it, but it's just to try to get the uncomfortable feeling to go away. Especially because a lot of the time it comes with just this slight kind of...maybe lightheaded feeling? Just not feeling quite right
I'd just been uncertain because a few days, I've gotten this feeling even when I don't have many other allergy symptoms. But a lot of the time it does pop up when I'm also having some sniffliness, sore throat, etc. And after having not felt it for a while, yesterday I spent a lot of time outside, and sure enough today I woke up with a sore throat, stuffy sniffliness, and that weird feeling.

So I have a job volunteering at a community centre, a lot of older people come and participate in activities and a few of the volunteers I work with are older people too, so I currently live at home with my parents and brother, my brother has came down with a sore throat and stuffed up nose and headache, I have no symptoms I am a little worried about going in to volunteer work tomorrow, should I ring in sick or would it be fine to go in?

Google wasn't definitive so checking here instead. At least from experience, if I sleep with a runny nose, I'm sure to get a sore throat but I can't say for sure if it is cause and effect or was I already destined to have a sore throat anyway. I would have thought the throat lining is already prepared for harsher liquids passing through so is post nasal drip that more harsher? If so why? Is it due to pH or bacteria/virus or other content? Thank you!

Ok maybe a stupid question. But I never dealt with this as a kid. I have a middle schooler. He had sniffles in late April for two days while I was knocked out with what I thought was a horrible cold that I still have a wheezing burning throat and cough from. Husband unaffected. Now kid has very runny nose and mucusy cough and fatigue again. Husband has nothing. I have my lingering mild post nasal drip, sneezing, and my burning throat and cough has peaks and valleys throughout the day. I’m trying to understand if this really could just be allergies. Mold tree and grass are all high right now. But this seems extreme. We had Covid in February but tested negative in April.

We have been sick over and over again since mid-April. Get better for a few days and then another cold. Washing our hands. Is anyone else going through this? Feels like it is never ending. 😩
esir. Thanks everyone. Just so fed up. Glad I am not alone Yes. Kids are in school. Both immunized for whooping cough. - I double checked last month when we started to get ill. I am going to try the open window idea !!
edit 2 - i have one kid with seasonal allergies - runny nose abd itchy eyes are his m.o. what we have is this is stuffed head, fever, sore throat and full on body aches. one kid now on his 2nd puffer.
edit 3 - thank you again to all everyone who replied and offered advice, empathy and encouragement. ❤️

I'm suicidal but whenever i get a minor illness like sore throat and colds, I feel like dying already and it makes me hate being sick. I shouldn't hate being sick, right? I should be happy. But I really hate colds. I hate how pain feels. I hate not being able to breathe well because of stuffy nose. I hate colds so much. I hate inflammation.

FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800 u/BakeGullible9975 u/Didnotseemecomein and u/medium_jock
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
The plot thickens!
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The Rundi pilot maneuvered his ship around a chunk of space debris, cutting low as he watched the slow and leisurely path of the rocket as it began on its trajectory towards the moon. Radar was almost impossible to use in the deadly debris field these humans called an orbit, so it was up to his eyes to make out any incoming hostiles.
They circled low and then wide around the slow-moving rocket, keeping their distance while also keeping an eye out. It was easy enough, as the drone was covered in cameras and sensors, which allowed them to see from almost every angle. A human might have been better at this, but right now they were the only ones they could trust.
[…]
A green folder rested atop the lectern as the President of the UN gave her halting, and to the chairwoman it seemed, unenthusiastic speech. The humans down below didn't seem to notice, making her wonder if she was simply imagining things, though a part of her said that was not the case.
She had been suspicious of the UN president from the very beginning, the very beginning when she was given power after the first launch of the enterprise, and they had been forced to deal with her during treaty negotiations. At every step there seemed to be some sort of obstacle, something wrong, some reason that the humans could just not accept. It went on behind closed doors and in quiet whispered conversations. But luckily for them, people like Adam Vir and Admiral Kelly had been there to smooth things over between the two factions.
The chairwoman knew better than most, that there were only a few humans in the galaxy holding everything together.
And the last thing she wanted was bad relations, or to go to war with this species. It would be a nightmare.
She shifted in her seat as she listened to the speech. The valley below her still had traces of smoke let off by burning so much fossil fuel at once. She imagined that such a stunt wasn't entirely great for the atmosphere of the planet, though as far as she knew humans tended to run on sustainable clean energy these days.
The Chairwoman stepped down from the little podium and into the back where she could not be seen, leaning in so she could hear the words whispered from her assistant,
"The drones are deployed, and so far we have not met any resistance.”
She nodded slowly,
"Good work, keep an eye out."
[…]
The UN president felt her fingers digging into the soft paper of the green folder. The red one was lying discarded under the lectern, and she was having trouble concentrating, forcing herself to remember that this wasn't over. She glanced into the crowd, expecting to see that strange white face staring up at her from the throng of people, but there was nothing.
Had she seen it as in her imagination, or did she really see an alien face staring back at her?
She glanced upwards, towards where the rocket had vanished, only half paying attention to the practiced words that dribbled from her mouth. She finished her speech and the people below clapped and cheered heartily, though she didn't much feel like clapping with them.
She turned on her heel and walked down to the back of the stage to where her entourage was waiting for her. Admiral Massie was sitting on one end and Admiral Kelly was sitting at the other, the two of them doing their damndest to ignore each other at all costs.
She sat down next to Admiral Massie, arms crossed over her chest as he leaned in to speak with her.
"That didn't exactly go as planned."
He muttered softly.
"It will if your men are ready."
She snapped back, her palms cold and sweaty.
Admiral Massie nodded,
"Of course, they should come out when they reach the densest part of the debris field, that way we can make it look like some unexpected collision."
He glanced towards the lectern,
"So I would keep a hold of that red folder of yours."
On the other set of chairs, Admiral Kelly was giving them a sidelong glance. Everyone knew that she was in Admiral Vir's camp, licking his boots at every opportunity. It would be within their best interest to keep silent when she was around.
The UN president leaned back in her seat,
"You should be on your way, Admiral. We will have time to talk later."
He stood and nodded slowly,
"Of course madame president."
He turned to walk away, catching the eye of Admiral Kelly as he stepped past. The two of them didn't much like each other, though as the head of the OGI (Office of Galactic intelligence) Admiral Massie had enough pull to keep Kelly in her place.
The UN president turned her head away. Not wanting to draw attention to herself.
[…]
Admiral Kelly glanced over at the UN president as Admiral Massie passed by. There was something about those two spending time together that she didn't like. Granted it was more than likely the two of them were having some sweaty, wrinkly liaisons out of hours which she didn't really want to think about, but if that was the case then he could easily be pressing his planetary isolationist views off on her.
Kelly did not think highly of the UN presidency. Right now, it seemed mostly concerned with power and political favors with the people, rather than doing the right thing. Plus, she found the president herself to be superficially charming, but easily manipulated by the wrong people. Fear mongering worked the best on her, which is why she worried about Massie and his effect on her to begin with.
She found herself digging her nails into her palms as she thought about it.
”Please help us.”
Admiral Kelly shot up in her seat looking around as she tried to find the source of the noise, or the voice. She turned in her seat expecting to find someone whispering in her ear, but there was nothing. She pressed at the implant along the side of her neck wondering if someone had called her and she just hadn't noticed?
”Look up.”
Jolted again, lifting her eyes towards the sky and the burning sun. She threw up a hand to block her vision, and as she did, she thought she saw a shape floating there against the backdrop of the sun.
She squinted hard trying to make it out but was having trouble.
”Now look into the crowd.”
She turned her head down, still not sure where the sound could be coming from, but as she looked into the crowd, she saw a strange sight. One of the people was wearing a dark hoodie, and was turned away from the direction which the rest of the crowd was facing. Their hood was pulled low, but ever so subtly, they lifted their head to reveal a porcelain white face, with large dark eyes.
Admiral Kelly went very still as she stared at the starborn.
“Not a starborn, a halfbreed. My name is Eris, I am Admiral Vir's... daughter”
Oh... oh, yes she had heard about the starborn hybrid from one of his reports.
"What do you want."
She mouthed quietly.
“We need your help, the UN president is planning to have Admiral Vir Killed, and Admiral Massie is on his way to make the order, please, you have to do something."
Admiral Kelly jolted to her feet, very quickly glancing at the UN president in shock and horror before she was able to capture her emotions. The UN president looked up to her sudden movement, and Admiral Kelly had to fight to keep her face neutral as the woman looked up at her.
"Are you feeling well Admiral?”
She could feel the sweat dripping down her face and the nape of her neck, but she remained as calm as possible as she took a deep breath,
"I... Am suddenly very dizzy. I think it's the heat."
"You should sit down, have someone bring you some water."
The woman said, her voice calm and clear as if she hadn't just ordered the murder of Adam Vir.
"No I... I think I need to walk for a minute and find some shade. You will excuse me?"
The UN president shrugged and turned back to staring at the sky, giving Admiral Kelly time to step forward and hurry after General Massi's retreating figure.
[…]
General Massie stepped into mission control and walked down the blank empty corridors. No one was here, they were all either in the control room or out celebrating the successful launch. It had been a sight to see, two-thousand-year-old technology working for one more time, but personally General Massie saw it as completely obsolete and a useless waste of government capital.
That was something they could have been using to help fortify earth's defense nexus. Out of all the useless things Admiral Vir had supported, at least he had agreed that they needed SOME form of defense against extraterrestrial attack.
General Massie made a face…
Though he wouldn't doubt Admiral Vir would have been totally fine leaving their planet with its pants down in order to let those Xenos fuck them over.
Everyone and their dog knew that Admiral Vir preferred alien cock over his own kind.
The thought made Admiral Massie cringe.
It was a well-kept secret among the UNSC, but the man wasn't nearly as secretive as he liked to think he was. Rumors of his infatuation with the stupid blue beetle alien had reached command almost as soon as it began. The only reason they didn't allow it to leak was that it would make the UNSC look bad to the rest of earth.
And Jupiter how he hated that man.
Stupid, juvenile egotistical xeno fucker!
Today was the day all of that came to an end!
He cut right, just before the doors to mission control and walked down two more hallways, finally opening a small side door into, what might have looked from the outside, like an equipment closet. He stepped over a mop and bucket and sat down at an old console, which he fired up with the flick of a button.
"Flight 1 this is Earth 1 over."
"Roger earth one this if slight one, in position over."
He turned on the screen, giving himself time to look the radar over, as twenty dots appeared on screen. Those were twenty Thunderhawks they had slowly appropriated over the intervening year.
With a place as big as the universe to cover, it was pretty easy to lose a few jets in the shuffle. He could see them now, illuminated as little green dots on his screen, hiding in the debris.
"Flight one this is Earth one, Operation “After Apollo” is go. Now remember boys and girls, make it look like an accident. Over."
*"Roger that Earth one. Over and out."
[…]
"You TRAITOR!"
Admiral Massie spun in his seat, eyes wide and wild as Admiral Kelly stood in the doorway. She could feel her skin growing hot with absolute rage as she stalked forward over the open floor. In one hand she held up the small recording device Conn had handed to her outside the building, and on it held proof of this man's order. On the screen behind him twenty little dots burst to life.
She was too late.
The man slowly got to his feet as Kelly aimed her handgun at him, her grip steady, her aim true.
"Call off your dogs."
She snarled,
Admiral Massie slowly lifted his hands, before slowly leaning forward in his seat towards the intercom button. She stepped forward, watching him intently as he leaned over the console pressing down on the button.
"Flight one this is earth one..."
Her eyes flickered up to the screen waiting to see them pause.
But before she knew what was happening an elbow came up striking her on the hand and causing the gun to spin out of her grip. Admiral Massie turned and tackled her to the floor, his nearly 300 lb body crushing her to the floor.
The wind was knocked out of her and she gasped as he struggled to pin her to the ground.
Her hat had flown off and her bun became undone as he drew back a fist to punch her. She was able to block it with her forearms as he raged and went for her face. The blows rained down on her from above with an onslaught of power she wasn't expecting but should have.
She took another gasping breath, and then with a surge of adrenaline she bucked, throwing him forward where she grabbed one of his arms and bucked again, forcing him to his side and onto his back. Still gripping his arm, she threw herself sideways, throwing her legs over his chest and struggling with his arm to pull it flat.
He kicked and grabbed at her legs with his other hand painfully gripping her calves as his nails dug into her skin and drew blood. The pain was incredible, but she finally got his arm down tucked tight to her chest, her legs across his chest, and then she jerked her hips sharply upward.
Admiral Massie screamed as his elbow snapped backwards.
She let go of him and scrambled towards the console, but at the last moment he grabbed her by the foot and hauled her back to the ground, one arm hanging limp and useless at his side. He clawed at her with one hand, and she rolled onto her back, kicking up at his face with her boot catching him square in the chin.
He staggered back as she crawled to the console and reached to adjust the frequency, ready to call in lunar support.
There was a sharp click behind her, and she froze, turning in her seat to find Admiral Massie standing behind her gun held in his good hand.
Blood leaked from his nose and down onto the front of his uniform, staining the grey fabric red,
"Nice try, Kelly."
[…]
Donovan Red waited, spinning slowly as he watched the progress of the distant rocket. Inside his helmet his breathing was cold and calm as, ranging all around him, his other men and women waited as well. Their ships had been outfitted with proper weapons as they had ridden here in the cargo hold of the Omen. The group of them weren't soldiers or trained fighter pilots, so he didn't imagine this would be easy, but it was going to have to do.
"Red, this is Apollo 11 do you copy?”
"Yeah Cinderella, I copy."
"See anything?"
"Nope not a..."
He paused,
"Wait..."
There was something, something he thought he saw detach itself from another piece of space junk,
"Hold that thought Apollo."
He detached from his own bit of space junk and inched forward.
A thunderhawk? What would one of those be doing here?
It began to accelerate.
He accelerated after it.
Up ahead the rocket was growing larger and larger in his view.
“Thunderhawk has made lock.”
The cool female voice said from his console.
"Oh shit, Admiral r-“
He didn't have time to finish his sentence as a small ball-like-silver ship came pelting down from nowhere, blasting the Thunderhawk in the wing with a sharp burst of laser fire. It's wing exploded and it went careening in the opposite direction as the silver ball whizzed past.
"What the fuck!?"
He turned to fly after it, but was stopped.
"Red, this is Wendy, stand down that's a Rundi UAV."
"Rundi? I thought it was the Rundi we were worried about!?”
He called in confusion.
"Yeah, but that thunderhawk had locked in on Apollo 11. It looks like the Rundi are helping."
He grunted and cursed under his breath,
"Boys and girls, if you see a silver ball stand down, those are on our side."
Just then another Thunderhawk shot over his head. He cursed again and pulled himself into a sharp upward turn cutting after the Thunderhawk and locking on. His lock cut off their attempts to shoot down the rocket, and they were forced to dive under as he followed after. He followed, spinning right and left around debris as the Thunderhawk attempted to escape.
It cut upward, just in time for a bright pink jet with graffiti words on the side to shoot out of nowhere.
The Thunderhawk exploded in a cloud of debris as Wendy roared by.
"Good shot, girl!”
He said over his radio.
"Thanks boss. Now let’s give them hell!"
[…]
Admiral Vir floated before the console, knuckles white and unable to do anything. A silent explosion flashed in his vision to the right as quickly as it had begun. Richards and Chavez started with wide eyes and dropped mouths.
"Admiral what the hell is going on!?”
Adam took a deep breath,
"It seems as if we are under attack."
The two of them exchanged glances,
"From who? What the fuck!?!"
Adam turned where he stood to look at the two of them,
"I am sorry I got you two into this mess, but the isolationists have been gunning for me for a few months now, and it seems as if now things have come to a head.”
"What are we going to do!"
"Radio Houston."
Chavez hurried to do as ordered, but when she did, they heard only static,
"Shit... Something is jamming our coms."
Adam took a deep breath,
"Well I guess all we have is Donovan to protect us. Lets' hope they do it right."
[…]
Admiral Massie laughed,
"You're as dumb as you look Kelly."
She stood, slowly wiping blood from her cheek as she turned to look down the barrel of the gun. Her own gun.
She didn't generally tend to agree with Massie, but this time he did have a point. Surprisingly though she was very calm,
"You aren't going to get away with this."
She glanced over to where the little silver recording device lay in the shadows under one of the chairs.
Massie was too amped to notice.
"Doesn't matter. I will have done my duty to my planet and my people, saving them from alien lovers like you and that bastard Vir."
"Whose Idea was this, the President or yours?"
She held her hands out to the side.
"Do you think that dipshit was smart enough to come up with a plan like mine?"
Kelly raised an eyebrow,
"Is it wise to incriminate your friends along with you?"
"That bitch? Heh, I could care less. And if I am going down, she is going down with me. The president may think it was all her idea, but it was mine all along, she was following my orders, whether she believes it or not, and once Adam Vir and YOU are dead, then it doesn't matter what we did, because diplomatic relations will dissolve, and it will be all over."
He lifted the gun to her face,
"Goodbye Kelly."
She remained very still as the shadow fell over him from behind,
"May I say one last thing?”
He paused.
"Turn around."
"Very funny!”
He lifted the gun again and pulled the trigger.
There was a sharp crack and thud as metal hit metal. Kelly flinched and held up her hands, but opened her eye after a moment as no pain came.
Admiral Massie lay on the floor face down.
Kelly reached down quickly to grab her gun, looking up to where Sunny was standing in the doorway holding her pearlescent white spear. Behind her floated the starborn Conn and the hybrid.
She took a deep breath,
"Great timing you three.”
Sunny nodded,
"Anytime."
Admiral Kelly turned and lunged for the comms, switching the frequency to the lunar station only to find she couldn't get through,
"Damn it."
She cursed, turning to look at Sunny and the others,
"I was too late, the ships have already been deployed."
She paused and looked down, grabbing the recording device from off the floor tossing it to the hybrid who caught it with some difficulty,
"Run that to one of the media outlets, convince them it is important and leak it as soon as you can. We don't want her to have time to cover her own ass."
Eris nodded and shot off in the other direction.
Sunny knelt down to help her restrain Admiral Massie.
Just then the sound of feet came thundering up the hall and they looked up to see the Chairwoman of the GA and her assistants skid around a corner. Sunny's eyes narrowed as she crouched low leveling her spear.
"Did you catch him?"
The Chairwoman asked,
"No thanks to you."
Sunny snarled, but the chairwoman waved her off,
"I lost contact with my drones, but they should be out helping to protect Admiral Vir. I am sorry I couldn't do more, but it was all I could do not to show my hand too early."
Admiral Kelly stood slowly,
"You knew about this?"
The charwoman shook her head,
"Not this specifically, but I have been trying to find the source of the assassination attempts on Admiral Vir's life. I've had discreet escorts on him for the past few months while I tried getting in contact with my people in the criminal underworld and I called the hit on him with those pirates, knowing who Captain Kell was, hoping that he could get more information out of the pirates that I could."
Sunny stared at her rage flickering across her face,
"You called a hit on him!"
The charwoman did not seem perturbed,
"Those pirates couldn't have... How do the humans say... Hit their way out of a paper bag. I have been attempting to come in contact with the leader of the anti-alliance for the past few months. I have been trying to convince them I am on their side, and that was part of my ruse, as well as knowing Admiral Vir was captain Kell. During my investigation it became clear that someone within the UN was involved though I couldn't have said who."
"And why should we believe you aren't just covering your own ass?”
The chairwoman hissed,
”Do you really think I want to make an enemy out of the strongest species in the galaxy!? Not on your life! I am not stupid. Besides, I owe Admiral Vir my life. I admit I have done some irreparable things in order to keep the alliance going, but those moves were calculated, and Vir was always protected.”
[…]
One of the silver UAV's exploded and Red had to dodge to the side to avoid the flying debris. He cut right and then left keeping as fast as he could possibly go as he cut up through the chunks of metal and locked onto the back of a Thunderhawk. There was a sharp click and then a silent explosion which he rolled out of the way to avoid. He had sent one of his men off to make contact with earths forces for backup.
They were good, but these men and women were made for combat, and despite their best work only four out of twenty of them had been destroyed, and their numbers were dwindling fast. He cut right before one of the Thunderhawk’s, forcing it to turn away from the rocket and cut down in another direction. He could only imagine the fear of those inside the rocket as they watched helplessly at the fight raging on around them.
He spun down and under, cutting off another Thunderhawk coming in the opposite direction.
There was no way they were going to keep up with this for long.
Their only chance was earths forces reacting quickly.
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.