Can you take sulfamethoxazole and amoxicillin together

Hello, first-time poster here but long-time reader of this community. (Also, posted this to the Tarot community. Hopefully, doing this isn't considered spam. Just excited to share.)
I am a 40-year student of Tarot and a college professor in videogame development and animation. I have created a free, multi-user virtual reality experience called Tarot Workshop for collaborating on Tarot readings and general Tarot education/discussion.
I came up with this idea after I had a remote reading done over Zoom and couldn't see the full spread and was never sent a complete and clear picture of the full spread--something that happens naturally in an in-person reading. The end goal of the virtual reality app is to make remote reading a better experience.
Currently, the in-headset experience is basic. You can draw cards in 3D, add them to a 3D spread, and show and hide card meanings in a shared space where you and another person can chat via 3D avatars. Upcoming features are to customize card meanings/images and save/ load spreads. These new features require more development, so I'd like to gauge interest and see if folks would find something like this useful before adding more features. I want to create a free and useful resource for the Tarot community, and your genuine feedback on how useful this tool is before publishing it to a wider audience is important.
So, if this sounds interesting, you have a VR headset and a fast internet connection, and you would like to take it for a spin, please PM for the password/link to the application and instructions on connecting.
Note, at the moment, the app requires a Windows PC tethered to a headset such as a Meta Quest.

I've (23,F) been dating my bf(35,M) for almost a year and friends with the flatmate (21,M) for almost four. Living together for 2 years.
My boyfriend used to stay 2-3 nights but would drop by almost every night for 10-20 mins to hug me, kiss me and then leave. My flatmate and boyfriend got to know each other during this past year and they normally get along well. We even went on a vacation as a trio, just a month ago.
So around 3 months ago my flatmate voiced some issues about my boyfriend staying so often. I said it's okay, i can do 2 nights instead. Mind you, those nights start after 11 as we both work and end before 4-5 p.m. the next day. I didn't create any problems, i even told him it's good he said this, maybe it would become the reason he takes me out on more dates as he wouldn't be seeing me as often. So the flatmate then said, "i also don't like him dropping by. Even if it's for five minutes, i feel like i see him everyday and i feel like this isn't my house when i see a third person so often."
I said okay. No more hugs at the doorstep. I was honestly disappointed but i knew i had to comply in order to keep my peace at home.
Still the situation affected my own peace. I no longer had a home where i could just casually call my boyfriend to, even if it's for ten minutes. We had a strict schedule. One day, he couldn't come so we postponed to next day without letting the apartment manager ahem sorry, the flatmate know. But it was still 2 days within the same week, not three. Not at all to my surprise, the flatmate again told me how bothered he was that he wasn't informed. All i did was say sorry and promise I'll inform him next time there's a change.
Fast forward to last week, boyfriend and i were out of town for some important stuff but then we realized our day trip was going to take longer he had to go back home as he had work. Before he left, he had parked his motorcycle in front of my apartment building (he lives too far away and it was way more convenient to do so, for retrieving it later). Then he knocked on my door to ask whoever was at home to hand him his helmet, which we had left in my bedroom. The person (whoever opened the door) ended up telling him they don't know where it is, so he went to my room to get it. While he was there, he noticed that the cats were hungry and their litterbox was stinky, so he took care of that too and left immediately after. In summary, i was having a very hard time out of town and he was retrieving his helmet and helping me out however he could, as he should.
And tonight we came back home extremely tired. We both have not slept a decent night's sleep for the past 5 days. He has pulled 3 all-nighters and i, 2. I told him to come rest a bit in the kitchen and then he could leave. We spent half an hour in the kitchen, chatted to my flatmate and our friend who has been staying with us. And then bf left. I was then immediately asked this question: "How did your boyfriend enter the apartment that day?"
I was confused because i remember him mentioning that one of those two had opened the door for him. I said "I'm not sure". The flatmate said "well i did not open the door. Then the other friend said "neither did i.. actually, i just don't remember opening the door".
I called bf to confirm. He said it was the other friend who opened the door. I hung up the phone and told them that. The friend just replied "i... Don't remember. I'm not sure".
I was still confused by this question. My boyfriend doesn't have a key. So it must be one of those two who opened the door for him. And what kind of a question is that? Why would you even ask that? All i knew was that the room was becoming very tense.
I asked "what's wrong?" To which the flatmate replied, "We both did not open the door. He came inside somehow. Did he have your keys?"
I explained over and over that i had given my keys to the friend before leaving, and i have never given the bf any keys. We only have two, one is always on the flatmate and other one is mine. I genuinely thought they were joking so i attempted to break the ice by saying "well looks like bf is secretly a ghost!". The attempt did not work, they were both dead serious.
Then i asked "are you implying that my boyfriend got another key made behind my back?" They said "why not". I mean respectfully sir, you shouldn't be going on vacations with the people who you believe have the potential to break into your home and commit a literal crime. What i mean is, these people both know my boyfriend very well, and they know he's not that kind of person.
Well after this they both looked at me like i was hiding things. They said "well we don't know who opened the door" to which i replied "well that is a you problem, you probably should know whether you've opened a door or not".
The flatmate also added that he was again bothered that noone let him know the boyfriend was coming. And the fact that he was here when i wasn't. I mean... He was just taking back his helmet and cleaning cat litter for heaven's sake. Not like he sat in front of tv with a beer. And it was early morning, he had not slept for two days straight, just come back from a 7 hour trip, and just wanted to take his helmet so that he could go to work. He couldn't let me know because i was sleeping, 7 hours away from him.
I've lived with actually toxic situations before, but for this one i don't know what to think. Am i even slightly right? Or am i fucked? Should i move? How can i approach this situation? Someone please give me some advice, right now I'm very much sleep deprived and can't think but i feel like this kind of accusation should probably make me angry.
TL&DR: i was out of town, my flatmate and another friend were home. My boyfriend stopped by for something and the other friend opened the door. Now that friend says she doesn't remember whether she opened the door or not, and they accuse me of giving my boyfriend a spare key (or him making another key for himself)

Hello dentist, let me say first please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors as English is not my native language. This is my first time posting to Reddit but I’m really at a loss. I’d like to share my story with you and perhaps receive advice from you. I’m an experienced dental technician with a lot of knowledge in restorations on natural teeth and implants. I came to the Netherlands as a refugee and had to restart my life and even went back to school to study dental technician for a second time as my degree wasn’t excepted in Europe just because I love my profession and for ten years I did my best learning the language and work culture and I worked for different labs (big chains and small independent labs) with one dream in mind which is to finally to start my own lab and with a lot of work I was able to do it a month ago and I know these things take time, but I just can’t seem to approach any dentists for a potential partnership and I’m trying my best with what I know to do emails and calling and still nothing works when I receive an answer it’s a NO and most of the time I don’t receive a reaction and I’m simply at a loss so I thought maybe I can receive an advice form you on approaching methods and what do you want to see from a potential partner lab as maybe there is something I’m missing because of the different approaching cultures. I’m sorry for this post being so long but I would really appreciate your advice.

Hello, I am a 25 yr old male, and I am seeking advice regarding my spouse 23yr female. We’ve been together 4 years, and have twins 6 month old female. We have had ups and downs in our relationship from almost being done to back together to on the verge of, to where we are today. Fast forward… my wife had a rough pregnancy and almost lost her life due to a serious vaginal tear. Albeit she gave birth to our two beautiful baby girl twins. Our newborn phase was hell… constant waking and feeding,one colic baby and isolation due to the babies not co-sleeping in our bedroom. Obviously no intercourse or time to do bonding, we would only watch tv together content we both found interesting. I stayed home for a full month from work to help her recover from her injuries. Doing all the cooking, cleaning, I would even sacrifice my sleep to let her sleep, to recover and I would handle both babies. As the months grew by to around 3 months for our babies I started noticing weird behaviors of her, closing doors, long bathroom breaks, face down phone. Very private and picky and choosy of when she would be on her phone while being around me. Or always on the phone typing and swiping. On top of coming home from work and her staying at home I wouldn’t feel ever welcomed or well received. A kiss or a hug was asking a lot, or would give body language that it is unwelcomed. Due to this behavior my instant reactions plus a gut feeling told me there’s someone else having her time, her feelings, and although I did not prove it maybe sexual activity. The lone times we did have intercourse after 60 or more days she would say it’s not the same. Shortly after she told me she had depression and did not know if I fitted in her life anymore claimed she was confused and felt I fail to give her more help with our kids, she spiraled and started drinking almost every day and full blown lack of communication for a week or so. Due to my instincts I was so in shambles that I did my own snooping and investigating the best I could that was. I went through a full month of constant phone records through my carrier and found constant daily calls, FaceTime calls, ranging from 2 minutes to about 2.5 hrs. Plus constant Snapchat notifications, blurred out names of those notifications. Phone Numbers I had never seen before. All at times that she claimed she was up and feeding our girls yet somehow it would be around the same time I leave for work. And calls would stop with this person if I called her or a significant other would call her, then continue either right away or a few hours later, it explained the lack of updates/texts and claims of tiredness even though she would be on the phone instead of sleeping, and before I would come home from work again, calls before I walk through the door. Or on my drive home. After days of terrible feelings and dreams and suspicions, lack of interest, aplus what I found I had enough and confronted her. Let’s just say she did not take it lightly whatsoever. She called me controlling, a crazy, invasion of privacy, I hate you etc… in between the name calling and the proof I hit her with she wanted to separate once again… she changed her passwords to her phone she claimed we were done and I did not understand her and why she did what she did. She claimed it was just a vent session/sessions. Of her daily life and troubles with the babies and my need to feel loved and important. Talk about what their lives are like. She claimed it was all too much and me not accepting what she did and why she hid it or didn’t tell me of anything and accept it was just her trying to be “friends” with a male. I don’t believe in male friends and I have trust issues because of a similar situation in my previous relationship, plus I’ve seen and been through a lot to know better and not trust people. (Rough childhood). So I told her to go with the individual and we would be done. Since she wouldn’t give me reassurance or let me look for myself if the chatting stopped. She came around and apologized the day after because she didn’t accept she cheated by faith and confiding in others but didn’t want to split up. I accepted her apology for the fact I love and care for this person, and felt like she is the one for me. Plus her being the mother to our babies, a good mom at that. I always remind her and be nice to her tell her thank you for everything possible to give thanks about. Point being the calls stopped she said she blocked the person and she seemed normal after that, sex was back, love and attention plus us bonding a bit more going on a few dates. Fast forward to today, I’ve been noticing similar behaviors, cold, distant, always needing and asking for space, short answers or uninterested, she says she’s depressed again, it’s gotten to the point where I don’t feel loved and wanted and valued in the relationship. I know her life is rough and I know it’s hard but it’s hard on me too. Provide for us, career choices, my own family troubles, all the while trying to be the best husband and father to my family. I have no time to myself I sacrifice it all to be with my daughters and help her so she doesn’t say I don’t do anything when I’m home or off on the weekends. My job sometimes has the freedom to leave early I work usually 10 hrs a day. Sometimes to be nice or the fact that I long some sort of signal or hope I leave early to help or to have intimacy. I try to do any little deed or gesture for her. Our love languages are different I’m more touchy and she’s more gestures. I’ve brought this up to her and she claims she can’t do it as much as she wants to for me it feels unnatural. I don’t ask for much, a simple touch of the hand, a random hug, a thank you here and there, something. Sex would be great but I’ve gotten tired and scared to initiate because it’ll seem like a favor and unwanted. Although I ask if I satisfy her, she replies yes and I feel I do based on vibe but nonetheless. I wish it could be more, I wish she would take my love language and concerns for her behaviors and mental health seriously and not just always want space and being left alone and not talked to, wanting to go out to concerts etc… just pushed aside because I care too much for her, or want her to be better as a person and a partner too. Because she’s a good mom. Blamed for the way she feels or acts only towards me. And name call and guilt trip me. If you made it this far I appreciate all input. Good or bad. So am I the asshole? For asking for changes from her same way she asked me years back to be less needy and care less, be less jealous, and work on some anger that would arise at times. I’m finally putting my needs up there and I wanna be her partner and confidant, but she seems to indicate it won’t be like how it used to be anymore. And not just the honey moon phase part. Show me some sort of signs a taste of what I look for from my partner. Because a lot is being expected and needed of me. And still somehow it’s not enough and when I ask for something it’s an issue and an attack and uses depression and every day stresses as her reasoning. I’ve brought it to her attention I told her if she doesn’t want to change or help her partner out like I feel I do unconditionally I want to separate. Because I value myself and what I bring to anyone special in my life. And after my last relationship due to a similar lack of this and similar situations. And if it’s not reciprocating it gets tiring and hurtful. She rather split up. Please advise me

Lol, I thought this would be funny to write about as a first silly little post as it is the most interesting thing in my life. (Don’t mind any typos)
First of all, to anyone who wants to tell me to stop or get over it or give me any valid reasonable and rational advice,I will not listen so don’t bother.
As these stories go, I 15(f) in love with English teacher 26(f). I’m obsessed with her, and have been for almost msot 2 years, it would have been longer if she had come into my life sooner.
I’m not a love at first sight person, so it took a while for it to come about. And iv always had problems with getting violently obsessed with things, I believe it’s some kind of coping mechanism, you know? If I don’t have something to live for then I fall in love with something, subconsciously of course. First it was cartoon characters then celebrity’s and the for the first time a real person who I know in real life! (Except she’s my teacher and she’s 26) but also the first woman iv ever fallen for (iv always known Im pan so it wasn’t a shock really). I think another HUGE reason I love her is because I don’t have a mother, she was abusive, druggy, alcoholic yadi-yadi-yada, and so I don’t live with her and I don’t like her and she isn’t there for me, and so I meet a kind female adult who I look up to? Obviously I get attached and I see her as a mother figure. I really do, I want to be just like her, I want to make her proud, I seek her validation, i want to fuck her. You know, regular motherly things!
The first day I met her, first day of year 10. From the second she walked into the class I felt her energy and her vibes and I had that feeling where you instantly like someone and want to be friends with them and think they are super cool. Now, she is not hot, like Obviously to me me right now in this moment she’s the most beautiful and pretty person iv ever seen she’s so cute and hot and all that, but Obviously that’s because I’m obsessed with her everything about her is great, but she’s the kind of ugly that when she first walked into the class people snickered.
She has a rash on her chin, a noticeable moustache, she looks at least 30 despite being much younger, her eyes are creepy looking and small, her skin is really red and dry and way too textured, she does weird ugly facial expressions, she has a big nose, her hair is never brushed and always greasy, she has really small eyelashes blah blah blah.. (she obviously has some really nice features as well, but I’m trying to prove i don’t like her for her looks)
Now In her defence I think they were laughing because she has the hugest ass iv seen in my entire life, not cuz of her face. (She wears really tight leggings everyday) But, she is overweight and a lot of people bring her down cuz of it but that has nothing to do with any of it for me obviously, and I obviously didn’t laugh when she walked in.
The point is, I instantly liked her and her personality, she has that school mum vibe, she’s witty she’s confident she’s loud, she’s funny, she’s so weird (like she does and says the weirdest stuff, she’ll start dancing out of no where with no warning, she shortens words all the time and then says them three times like: “fab fab fab” she has just the weirdest tendencies and mannerisms it’s insane), shes always so exited and jolly, she’s like a ball of sunshine yet at the same time she’s so sassy and passive aggressive, when I’m older I wanna be just like her you know!
And that’s how I felt for a long time, I would just enjoy her lessons because of the energy and vibes she’d bring! She makes everything so much fun just by being there, she’s also a drama teacher so she’s great at getting a crowd going and stuff. But it seemed no one else liked her, they either fat shamed her, or said she was a bitch, or found her annoying.
They aren’t wrong she is all of those things, but she’s only a bitch to you if you don’t respect her and then she’s passive aggressive and makes your time in her class hell, and as her favourite student who kissed her ass everyday it was fun for me to watch people get roasted by her and never have to worry about it. She is annoying to a lot of people because she hypes everyone up, and she’s loud and obnoxious and confident, she laughs at her own jokes and she’s giggly and she does stupid accents, she’s the walking talking definition of “QUIRKY” and so 15 year olds find her incredibly cringey and jarring. But as an immature individual my self I found her energy like something I have never seen anyone have so i from the first day thought she was my favourite teacher ever!
I often take the role of like comic relief when it comes to my friends so I often make the joke myself, and once I felt this admiration for my English teacher, and this giddy happy feeling in me when I saw her, I thought it would be a great idea to pretend/ hint to having a crush on her to my friends as a joke so they can make fun of me. It was small things like “oh my english teacher! … oh.. I liiiiikkkee herrrrrrrr~!” Id day when people mention her, no one caught onto the joke for a couple months until one day, after a holiday I had dyed my hair and she walked past me and she complimented it, I thanked her and INSTANTLY MY HEART WAS POUNDING AND I GOT ALL GIGGLING, my friend was next to me and found it funny obviously. And then the more I went to her lessons I couldn’t stop getting all sweaty and nervous around her, and every time she’d do something cute, like squeal when she’s frustrated and make weird noises or do a fake accent, or tell a joke I’d feel so unbelievably happy, and I couldn’t stop talking and thinking about her, but Eveytime I’d think about her or look at her id get a huge ick of like.. but ewww she’s so not hot! I can NOT be in love with THAT.
By summer I was still feeling this Same way, one day she wore a dress and like the dopey idiot she is, she lifted her leg and from where I sat I saw her panties. I WAS DISGUSTED, and looked away. And then looked back.. but then looked away.. and then looked back.. and then looked away.. (and did it a couple more times) but I felt sick in my stomach the whole time! It was not a hot thing at the time.
Then the year ends and it’s the summer holiday, (now up until this point I was quite caught up with my David walliams obsession. yes the 56 year old.. and so I didn’t really care about her all that much. On the first day back, before school started I went to a birthday party and I saw her walking outside of the school, when I saw her my heat was beating so fast, i hadn’t seen her in 6 weeks and I was not expecting to see her then, I said hi to her and i couldn’t stop thinking about that moment so intensely, and every thought I had about her being ugly didn’t matter to me, it’s not like I forgot about it, I know what she looks like, but I just think everything about her is so beautiful, it’s part of her and so its perfect.
That feeling got worse and worse as the year went by, every time i see her I shake, i sweat, I have panic attack like symptoms, but I feel so happy, like manic, I am overwhelmed, I want to punch things, I want to scream.
Then we get to the part where to silence this obsession I did regrettable and wierd things that she will never know about, some of the despicable things iv done in “the name of love” for her include:
Eating her hair Licking her spit of the table Kissing her chair when she leaves the room Following her around school Drawing her Writing poems about her Writing songs about her Making edits of her Taking photos of her Recording her voice when she talks to me Stealing her trash Licking her pens Making AI chat bots with her personality Making a bingo game about her (that one is just funny, and all my friends played it too, during her lessons lol)
And many other things I won’t mention. Obviously I’m not proud of any of this, and I didn’t really need to do it, some of it I did “as a joke” for my friends, some of them I did just because I could.. but the recording her voice one is essential! Anytime we’d have a heart felt convo I’d record it so I can listen to it if I ever loose the will to live (surprisingly frequently).
Now our relationship as student and teacher was/is very good.
We’ve had some lovely moments, she told me she cared about me outside of the classroom.
A personal favourite of mine: One time she was marking my work and it was just us in the classroom and I rested my head on her shoulder as she was going through it with me, and she looked down at me and she smiled and then we stayed like that for ages while she marked my work.
All my friends said I was delusional and that she probably hates me, but she has a huge ego and i believe she likes to keep me around to give it a boost every now and then.
I wore a matching outfit with her once (on accident) and she was very happy about it
Anytime I’d ask her what I can do to improve my grade she’s say to me “oh no! But you’re doing really well! I thought you did great!”
She’d never get mad at me or shout at me for anything, if we are doing a one between two activity she’d give me the only extra sheet in the class
I asked her to sit at the front to her because I “concentrate better at the front” (i only asked cuz i wanted to sit closer to her) she gave me a sly smirk and then the next lesson she moved me to the back of the class, and also moved her self to the back of the class.
We took a selfie together and the whole time she was giggling, I gave her a Christmas card, she lets me follow her around the school, she gave my friends dirty looks when they were being mean to me
I sent her stupid emails of pictures of capybaras (it was an inside joke between us) and she responded with a way to enthusiastic response for such a simple image lol!
I sand “you belong with me” by TS and she stood in the crown and when it got to the “you belong with me” bit I pointed at her and she pointed back! Singing the words back to me
Oh, and let us not forget the amount of eye contact. I never look people in the eye, one of my first exes I barely ever looked into their eyes all the time I knew them, I just suck at eye contact. Until I met her, since I’m so insecure about her forgetting me or loosing me or something I often stare at her when she’s teaching to make sure that she doesn’t forget me. And some how in the last couple of months she stares at me as well.
Anytime she tells a joke she looks straight at me to see how I respond (always with giggles even when it’s the lamest thing iv ever heard. It’s often not funny at all.) and the entire time shes teaching the lessons I will stare at her. IN HER EYES. Like, I’ll often smile calmly, but if she hasn’t looked at me in like 4 minutes then I’ll stare deeper, but she usually looks into my eyes and hold it for a while sometimes she’ll even smile at me and then stutter and forget what she’s saying before looking away and continuing. She’ll stare deeply into my eyes, throughout the lesson, and I also always catch her looking at me first.
Once she was helping me with my work, she got really close to me, and she stared into my eyes and then I see her getting small glances at my lips (with this one I may be a little delusional) she leaned in and she kept getting confused. Like, she yaps a lot, and a lot very loudly. So it was odd for her to be standing there her arm touching mine talking to me and being like “…. Um-.. heh-.. where was i..” and she flicks through my paper and then looks back at me and goes silent and then swallows and then looks down and then flips through it again and then says something small and short followed by more silence.
I also have a theory shes on drugs, for many reasons but one time I needed her to take a photo of my book, and she was acting so weird, tired but like really like dizzy and loopy and breathless. And she went to take a photo of my book, and got behind me and she leaned into my book, and I felt her heavy loud breath on my neck as her stray hairs were tickling the side of my face and her shoulder was touching my back, she she just stood there and stared at my book for ages until i was like “um so.. you can.. take a photo or something..” and then she slowly did it hahahaha!
Obviously it’s now exam time and so school is basically over and I have no more lessons, so I didn’t go into depth about how much she means to me as a person but to sum it up into one sentence; I would want to seriously kill my self with out her in my life.
And so the thing I had been fearing for so long, the last English lesson, the last time seeing my dear beloved. Well obviously it’s life or death so I have to tell her how I feel and get her to stay in contact with me.
The last lesson ends I go up to her after a morning of: pissing my self, shitting my self, throwing up in my mouth, constantly putting on perfume, checking my hair and chewing the mintiest of gums. And I start my speech, I won’t go into it but I told her how I felt about her (minus the being in love bit I played it off as platonic duh, im not fully stupid).
I told her that she means so much to me, and she’s (one of) my favourite people in the world (that’s a white lie she’s my only favourite) I can’t go on with out her, I need her, iv felt this way since the first lesson, your so fun, you mean so much to me! I cant loose you, I don’t know what I would do with out you!!!!
I cried in her arms as she hugged me! And i didnt even need to ask she suggested we could stay in contact, in-fact all i had said was “I’ll miss you so much :(“ and she already suggested we stay in contact, but Obviosuly I still did the whole speech cuz at some point she needed to know. Her response was basically that she already knew, but she was very pleased to hear it, and everything is going to be perfectly okay.
She said we can stay in contact (through email, cuz apparently there is a “legal thing unfortunately” stopping her from giving me her number (yes I did ask for her number, but in a total no homo way.)
She said I can talk to her anytime about anything as much as I like, and that’s good enough for me!
I also gave her a drawing I did of her and me together which was cute, her response to that was “oh very cool! she walks over. she takes it in her hands, very excited to see it. This really throws her confidence off, she’s really not expecting this. OH THIS IS AMAIZING! her voice cracks THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! this is lovely! thank you, this is soo good! oh-muh-gud it’s SO good! oww I love it! thank you.. I’m wearing the same top as well, how fun~.. HOW FUN!!!! how fun!! … she takes it and puts it in her bag i will prop this up, on my desk! wicked wicked awesome!” (I recorded her reaction so that’s how you know it’s word for word)
In conclusion, im creepily obsessed and its a problem, but I don’t really regret anything cuz it’s all gotten me to this point where I can talk to her when ever I want and that’s all I could ever ask her. Yes I want to fuck her, but that’s not important to me I just need her in my life, she’s my world she’s my reason of living, and I’m so happy things are this way! I’m doing my exams now so I get to see her everyday when I come into school (by see her I mean wait outside the staff room so I can catch a glimpse of her knee). I’m also glad I’m not in her lessons anymore cuz I’d always get so twitchy around her, anytime she’d be near me and I’d be trying my best not to lunge at her, when I see her my mouth waters I just wanna grab her and kiss her all over! Eeek! She’s adorableeeee!
I love herrrrr ❤️❤️❤️

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Chapter 168 – The moment to live and the moment to die
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„Jumping!“ an Ensign announced loudly as the Sun's view-windows very briefly flickered into a dark black only to go back to a full view of the ongoing battle basically instantly, having barely shifted the ship's position at incomprehensible speed. „Shot clear of allied ships.“
Vice-Admiral Kazadi tapped his finger on one of the armrests of the Commander's seat that still felt anything but comfortable for him to sit in as the tight grid of flashing lights reflected in his eyes within the twilight of the bridge.
“Fire,” he then ordered. Not even a blink later, a burst of colorful light broke into his view from the side of his very own ship, lighting up the entirety of the bridge even through the automatically tinting windows that absorbed a lot of the harmful light so the crew wouldn't flashbang themselves with each shot.
The relativity canon fire tore through the enemy ship at an almost literal instant with any travel time barely being conceivable to a mortal mind. In a large unload of energy that left almost the entire stern-side of the zodiatos ship as a molten mass of dispersing slag, the main propulsion was taken out. Simultaneously, the two accompanying cruisers had also taken their shots; with the 'Civil' taking out the engine of one more enemy vessel while the 'of the roses' had instead used its shot to disperse one of the enemy projectiles in order to buy their own hunter ships more freedom of movement. Those huge ones didn't go down easy from one of the hunters' smaller shots, so using one of the large canons to dispatch it took some of the heat off them.
Meanwhile, smaller targets on the enemy vessels, such as their own canons, were gradually taken out by said hunters, whose own fire – while able to be quite destructive if intended no doubt – could be used in a far more precise manner. With more and more of their canons failing, the protective volleys the coreworld terrorists could fire to hide themselves away also became less and less effective.
“Send the fallback-beacon,” Kazadi then ordered, since close quarter attacks became less and less necessary.
It seemed that the zodiatos had a hard time adjusting to the combat style of the human unkindnesses, however that didn't mean they should take any unnecessary risks. Even if a pilot could've been able to avoid all enemy attacks in a perfect world, he knew that his pilots were only human.
Casualties of their own had been comparatively minimal so far, however as if to prove him right about his thoughts, he could see on his surveillance screen how, just in that moment, one of their ships was taken out by an enemy craft.
He grimaced to himself and let out a mild sigh. One more family who would never see one of their own again...
It took a moment before all the ships were reached by the beacon. Due to the nature of their own combat strategies, as well as the particular nature of hyperspace, it was entirely impossible to effectively contact any of their ships directly while they were out in the battle. Therefore, the order to fall back had to be broadcast as a general signal, that each of the pilots could individually pick up as soon as they would keep still for long enough so that it could reach them.
By now, the battle was already won. None of the zodiatos' weapons were able to match the relativity canons in effective range and without the larger ships to back them up, their small hunters wouldn't be able to launch an offensive – shields or not. They could just stay back and fire until surrender now. As the signal was picked up, one of their ships after another disappeared in one last flash of hyperspace as they joined back up with the larger vessels in an enclosing formation.
“Prepare for the retrieval of some of those projectiles,” the Vice-Admiral then ordered as he hoped they would be able to track some of those spent shots their enemies had fired. They would have to figure out what kind of tech that was.
In such a small-scale conflict, it was more than manageable to face it. However, it could offer some difficulties in larger fleets – especially since they didn't know how far this kind of tech could possible be expanded and refined. It was quite possible this was just some form of prototype.
While that order was followed, one of his Lieutenants suddenly spoke up.
“Sir, we have an incoming transmission from the planet. Civilian. Not encrypted, but they seemingly had an access code,” they related quickly.
“Is the earlier interference cleared up?” he immediately asked back, to which the answer was positive. “Put it through then,” he immediately ordered as soon as he heard that.
He rubbed one of his tight braids between his fingers as he waited for contact to be established. Once the line was clear, things remained quiet for a moment.
“What are we best at?” he then asked the silent line, his chest tightening ever so slightly, even if he didn't have to wait long for a reply.
“Topping from the bottom,” a very familiar voice replied from the other end, sounding incredibly strained but most certainly alive.
The code phrase was an old in-joke about something that had been said back during humanity's first contact with the tonamstrosites due to a slightly choppy translation. However, it more than sufficed here to tell Kazadi that the person on the other side of the line was not only genuine, but also not in any immediate distress – at least none that was brought onto her by someone else.
“Good to hear your voice Ma'am,” he greeted the Admiral after taking a brief moment to allow his heart to settle.
“The pleasure is all mine, Celestin,” Admiral Krieger replied in between heavy breaths that sounded like a combination between being ready to collapse and absolutely willing to tear anyone's throat out at a moment's notice. “Excuse me for the unorthodox contact, my own means of communication have all been destroyed. Update me.”
A brief smile played on the Vice-Admiral's lips.
“No problem, Ma'am. Things are under control up here, but multiple allied coluyvoree ships were destroyed and we suffered some casualties of our own which I will take full responsibility for,” he quickly complied. “By now, the enemy crafts have been largely disabled and our fighters are falling back. What's the situation on your end?”
There was a bit of a grunt from the other side of the line that seemed unrelated to the ongoing conversation.
“I'm sure you did everything by the books,” Krieger then replied a moment later. “Down here the situation is precarious but momentarily under control. We have an unconfirmed number of casualties after an attack with an unknown weapon. All squads are either KIA or unresponsive. We took down six enemy combatants but can't confirm if there's more. I'm going to need clean up, rescue teams, as well as pickup for me and two large offworlders asap.”
Celestin nodded.
“We're in a stable position, so we'll jump teams down right away. Hold out just a minute more,” he assured her while already signing in the necessary order to the troops they had on standby. “How bad are your injuries?”
There was another groan of pain from Krieger's side.
“Crushed cranberries,” she replied after a long moment that sounded like she needed to catch her breath.
“Copy that,” Kazadi replied with a grimace. “Sending muti-team with the evac.”
“Copy that,” Krieger confirmed. “Krieger out.”
With that, the call was hung up. On his screen, Celestin could see how the preparations for dispatch of the requested teams was already well underway. Jumping towards a planet at FTL was generally discouraged by the Galactic Community. However, this was an emergency. They couldn't wait for normal re-entry.
After watching the reported progress for just a moment, his eyes returned to the ongoing battle. He watched the enemy ships as they hovered dead in space, unable to maneuver.
They seemed to have recalled their own fighters back in order to form some sort of protective wall around the 'mother ships' with their own small shields. Obviously it wouldn't be very effective, so it seemed like needless cruelty to make their own soldiers get in the way of the incoming fire. Something within Kazadi told the Vice-Admiral they weren't going to stand down.
“Sir, we're getting some strange hyperspace-readings,” his Lieutenant suddenly announced, making him look up.
“Weapon-grade?” he immediately asked, knowing they had less than a moment to react if it was. However, he also figured there would've been more urgency to their voice had it been so.
“No, Sir. Travel-grade,” the Lieutenant quickly replied. “However the readings are unusual. It seems like they are creating a stretch solely around themselves.”
Kazadi's lips shifted a bit as he took that in and he briefly ran a hand over his mouth in thought. “Prepare to collapse,” he ordered. “Maybe they will attempt some sort of running start. We can't let them get away.”
Right then, the light of what was happening had not yet caught up to the spacial distortion that their sensors were detecting, meaning the ships still looked perfectly normal – if damaged – when he looked at them. However, they were planning something. And that made them appear all the more ominous.
His mind quickly went through their own protocols. The U.H.S.D.F. employed hyperspace in nearly all its possible facets in their tactics. If it was even close to sensible, they would have something that was akin to the maneuver their foes were attempting to execute right now.
A bubble of hyperspace solely around their ships...a dodge? Hardly, there was nothing to dodge like that. An attempt to hide away? No, they knew human ships could collapse hyperspace from the outside easily.
Before him, the windows of the ship once again automatically dimmed, protecting the crew's eyes as the colorful light of the created hyperspace-bubble finally reached them.
“Hyperspace collapsed!” the Lieutenant then suddenly announced, causing Kazadi to blink in surprise as his eyes shot up to his screen. He hadn't given any order to collapse it yet. But indeed, it was gone. For a moment, he thought that the stress had caused his officer to use the wrong term in haste, however no, they had been completely right. It had not been dispersed in a controlled manner. It had collapsed.
In a mild 'thud', the Vice-Admiral's fist descended on the armrest, hand firmly clenched into a fist.
“Those cowardly ba-” he began to growl but then bit his tongue and released a low, almost grunting exhale while his fist quivered from momentarily clenching tighter. “Prepare to search for survivors,” he instead said in a much more controlled manner a moment later. “Preserve lives.”
“Yessir,” multiple of his officers echoed back as he looked out of the window, where he could still see the ghostly afterimage of the hyperspace bubble linger for a bit longer. It was always a strange feeling, seeing someone in the distance who was already dead...
–
With her view darkened and her goggles momentarily pulled off her eyes, Shida stared at the glowing bubble of impossible colors. Her sensors had already told her what was about to happen at any moment now, however her eyes still heavily constricted as they finally witnessed what unfolded themselves.
In what could be described as nothing else than a 'snap' , the light of the hyperspace-stretch instantly condensed down into its original size as the universe all at once remembered that the laws of physics were a thing that existed and brutally forced space to conform to them once again – no matter what may have been in between it and its original form.
Anything within the strange, round stretch was mercilessly ripped along with the convulsion, forcing all the injected warships and fighters into the single, small point that the stretch had been generated from. Though not even a faction of a second later, it all exploded outwards again as the megatons of mass realized that they could not all exist in the same place at once, since the energy of the event was not quite potent enough to press it all into a neutron star or singularity.
No longer recognizable blotches of undefined, white-hot matter were instantly scattered in all directions like some sort of micro-supernova that accentuated the sometimes still burning nano-stars that the earlier battle had created from the opposing fighters.
It was almost pretty...but still, Shida couldn't help but let her ears hang as she wondered how many of the enemy combatants had known about the decision to end things this way. Had any of them even been asked?
Even if it was the far more disturbing answer in a way, Shida almost hoped that this had actually been one mutual suicide-pact instead of the decision of one single commander to choose death over dishonor. Especially while sitting in a ship that was technically under the command of someone else herself, that was certainly the less immediately petrifying option – even if it would probably spell far worse things in the long run.
As she said there, the 'shockwave' of the collapsing hyperspace suddenly hit her, spreading out through space even without any medium to carry it and rocking her ship gently while also penetrating all throughout her body. Of course the earlier relativity fire had already caused similar ripples and she was therefore quite used to the feeling, however these ones sure felt a bit more severe than those of the U.H.S.D.F.'s own canons. It was like she felt her own body distort while also remaining perfectly in palace – almost like she was a stiff container full of water that someone had given a heavy smack from the side, riling up the liquid without it actually having any place to plash to.
According to everything they knew, this phenomenon felt incredibly odd but was entirely harmless to living beings – which was instinctively very hard to believe when one felt it on their own body.
However, her dwelling thoughts were, perhaps luckily, interrupted as she – or more precisely one of her scanners - picked up on a peculiar signature that one of the scattered debris pieces was sending out.
Well, it was 'peculiar' to her that there was a signal at all at first, however then she quickly realized what it actually was. This particular signal was hammered into any pilot's head six ways to Sunday, and so she reacted relatively quickly when she glanced at the grid and realized that she was the closest ship to it. Firing up her engines, she turned her ship on the spot in a slight drift before activating her generator and making a jump right behind the flying object.
Once there, she allowed her computer to take aim for a second before firing out a harpoon that quickly struck the flying debris and latched her ship onto it through a long cable, allowing her to pull the thing along with her after slowly using her backwards thrusters to disperse its speed little by little. Pressing the indicator of her communication, she then spoke up.
“Scratches to Sun,” she announced. “I just recovered a black box. Permission to return for inspection?”
The black boxes of modern ships truly were among the most ridiculous pieces of tech out there, in Shida's humble opinion. Built to withstand almost everything that would likely take a ship out through a combination of brilliant engineering and extremely flexible material that only worked in its indented manner on very small scales. Well, very small compared to the ships they were built into. The things were about half the size of Shida in the end. For many years, armies of scientists had attempted their very best to make this same sort of defense useful in ways that could maybe be used to protect actual people from catastrophic events – but to no avail so far. For now, the only thing those little marvels could allow to survive even something as ludicrous as hyperspace collapsing was information.
“Permission granted, Lieutenant-Commander,” the answer came almost immediately. “Return to hangar three.”
“Copy,” Shida replied. “Scratches out.”
With that, she moved her ship around and prepared for her jump back to the Sun. Hopefully this thing would give them some answers on what exactly this whole thing was meant to accomplish...
–
Far away in another part of the galaxy, a pair of mildly glowing red eyes was laser-focused on a large screen that was just one of many that had merged all over Nedstaniot-Station to broadcast the breaking news to anyone willing to lift their eyes at a slight angle to look at them.
An attack on a coreworld. And not just any coreworld. Gewelitten itself. Something like this hadn't happened in...well, Curi didn't even know how long.
Details seemed to still be incredibly fuzzy as the battle so close to the coluyvoree homeworld had either just happened or was still happening at the moment of the broadcast, however what few details were known were already repeated on end in an endless scroll of text that was meant to catch as many people up to speed as was at all possible through the medium of television. Obviously the same emerging details could already be looked up on the net as well to find them in a more digestible format than the endlessly moving text next to the not exactly top quality footage of the occurring conflict.
However, despite the speed with which it went by, Curi had no problem following the scroll as they stared at the screen intensely.
“Attack was unannounced. Multiple Gewelitten fleet ships destroyed. Official sources confirm: Humanity NOT the aggressor. Attacking ships presumed to be of zodiatos origin. Unknown weapon technology deployed during the attack. U.H.S.D.F. ships engaged in combat after aggression. Myiat delegation ship confirmed unharmed. Attack on government facility on planet simultaneous to spacial attack. Councilman-Candidate Aldwin confirmed unharmed. Status of U.H.S.D.F. General Krieger unknown. Status of Gewelitten Governor H. Cierrophai unknown. Status of Acting-Councilman Afuéhner unknown. Allied coreworld defense fleets activated and inbound. General alert level raised to 8. Hyperspace-travel shut down around the system.”
“Mother, oh no...” Mueen said with absolute shock in his eyes, both of his hands clasped over this mouth as his wide pupils quivered in fear from what they witnessed.
Curi could understand his worry. Though Moar had supposedly been with James, so she would probably be fine. The cyborg was certainly more than just a little relieved that James was already confirmed to be safe. Though the idea that Admiral Krieger's situation was unknown was more than just a little disconcerting.
Though despite the supposed lack of their commanding officer, it seemed like the humans had decisively won out in the battle outside of the coreworld's atmosphere; unknown technology or not.
Given the sub-par footage that some drone was likely recording from quite far away from the actual conflict, it was very hard to tell just what sort of weapon the unknown but presumed to be zodiatos attackers had unleashed there. It looked like some sort of emanating energy that destroyed what it came into contact with but also interacted with it as if it had a physical presence.
Curi had never seen anything remotely like it before – not even in their wildest theories – and their mind immediately wanted to go wild with speculations and ideas about how such a thing might work now that they knew for a fact that it was possible from seeing it with their own eyes.
However, the cyborg pulled themselves together and successfully forced the briefly almost overwhelming desire to focus on nothing else down as they shifted their gaze slightly away from the screen to look over at their other currently nearby company.
Then again, as much as they knew they couldn't let their guard down around him, Reprig's eyes were just as immovably attached to the large screen as Mueen's were as he witnessed the unfolding battle with quivering horror.
His trunk was wiggling wildly in his face and one of his hands nervously scratched over the plate of the table they were all sitting and standing at and on, right next to a piece of paper with a hastily drawn sketch of a spring-like mechanical leg that was inspired by what humans called 'running blades'. The Warrant Officer's weapon also laid on the table, pushed a but further away from his hand so he wouldn't be able to easily reach it.
Though despite his focus, Curi couldn't quite help but speak up after a moment of watching him. “A coreworld attacking another coreworld,” they said to the man, who they knew either had to know far more than they did about this – or would be far more invested in it unfolding. “This is unprecedented.”
Reprig seemed to notice that they were talking to him, however he still remained silent and stared a good few moments longer before finally pulling his gaze away from the screen.
As his eyes met theirs, he looked a bit sick. It almost reminded the cyborg of one of the first interactions they had with the man, back when they nudged him slightly to hand his spy-device back to him after he tried to hide it in James' cabin. Though this time, the cyborg was quite sure that they were not the reason why the man seemed like most of his blood was currently rushing into his stomach.
Could he actually be shocked about what was happening? Was this not part of the plan?
“Unprecedented doesn't even come close to describing it...” he mumbled and couldn't hold the cyborg's gaze for long, looking down to the table's plate instead. “And these aren't just any coreworlds. Osontjar and Gewelitten have been allied for an unimaginably long time. The thought that they would even think of attacking each other...what sort of madness could've caused something like this?”
Curi was the first to admit to themselves that they were far from the best at reading people. If someone with even a modicum of skill in acting wanted to make them believe something untrue about the person they were talking to, they would never deny that there was a good chance of that person succeeding.
Still, Reprig's reaction felt...genuine to them. As if he had actually never expected something like this to happen. Not in a million years.
Maybe it was just skillful acting. And Curi knew that they should have been suspicious like that. However, despite everything he had done, they couldn't quite bring themselves to suspect that he was lying at that moment.
“I know it is unlikely you will give me an honest answer, but-” Curi began to say, however Reprig was more than able to anticipate what they were going to ask and replied long before they were finished.
“No. No. Never,” the sipusserleng said, shaking his head heavily and standing his trunk up while making a denying gesture with his hand that was so brash that he actually knocked his crutch off the small outcrop in the table it had been laid down on. “This must be some absolutely deranged people, no two ways about it. To attack a coreword...”
Curi noticed Reprig's gaze briefly twitching down, his eyes jumping onto the personal assistant strapped to his lower arm as if he suddenly got the urge to use it for something.
Curi suspected he likely wanted to call someone; question them to make extra sure that they had, in fact, nothing to do with this. Though the sipusserleng suppressed the urge and pulled his eyes away, bringing them back up to the screen.
Just at that moment, the implosion of collapsing hyperspace suddenly lit up the footage moments before the glowing remnants of what once had been the zodiatos ships were scattered across the star-system.
Mueen mumbled something in his home's language as his eyes remained affixed to the screen. Curi couldn't even begin to guess what he was saying. However, his voice sounded pleading.
“Suicide instead of surrender?” Reprig meanwhile mouthed breathlessly as his nervous tick of excessively licking his trunk began to show.
Although he had often been otherwise employed in recent times, Curi could see it in the man's eyes that he was still, in a way, military at heart. He knew the general values and doctrines that were conveyed to the soldiers of the Communal Military, both inside and out. And the idea of someone choosing death like this...it seemed to rock him to his very core.
Slowly, he turned his gaze over to Curi. His eyes were almost pleading with the cyborg, even if they seemed to already know that his next question would be asked in vain.
“Could it maybe have been the humans and their-” he began, but this time, it was Curi's term to cut him off after anticipating what was coming.
“While humans very much employ the collapsing of hyperspace as a tactic in war, the process is not invisible – or even subtle. Had the human ships caused that collapse, it would've been noticeable,” they explained succinctly. “It could've still been a mere unexpected failure of the hyperspace generation, of course. However, with the rarity of such events, the timing seems...unlikely.”
“They weren't even trying to generate a real stretch...” Reprig concurred dejectedly and left his head hanging, his trunk also sinking down limply. “I can't even imagine- Well...I hope they will at least find peace now, away from the madness.”
Curi paused for a long moment, staring at the Warrant Officer some more. Admittedly, the cyborg was a bit confounded at something. They knew for a fact the man had put his own life on the line for his orders, with a very real chance that they would lead to his death, more than just once. And yet the idea of being ordered to die seemed to disturb him. They couldn't quite figure out the difference that led to the results in reaction being so incredibly different, however it was still very clear that there was one.
And it seemed to hit the man hard.
Self-admittedly, Curi didn't exactly pity the man. They didn't quite have the capacity to. They knew about so many horrible things he had done that simply seeing him distressed was far from enough to stir such deep empathy for him within them.
Yet still, they weren't left entirely cold by it either – and if it was only because he seemed to be affected by these events in the ways a, for a lack of a better term, 'normal person' would be. He was shocked at the sudden, seemingly senseless violence, and concerned about the people involved.
Granted, it was likely only because they were people he considered worth being concerned about, yet still, the reaction was so...'normal', in a way they didn't quite expect from someone with such a capability for unceremonious acts of cruelty and violence. Even this person who had tried to kill them, or at least had been entirely comfortable with them getting killed, was capable of such a reaction.
And Curi...wasn't sure if that made things better or worse, if they were being honest.
It felt better because there was the capability for empathy there, however...it felt worse because they felt how they had been and likely still were willingly denied said empathy.
He could have cared...he just didn't want to.
Curi shook their body heavily, causing mild sounds from the engines running their legs' movements from the sudden force as they tried to shoo away emotions that they really didn't want to be feeling at that exact moment.
The thing that mostly kept them from following up on some of their uncomfortably aggressive thoughts at that moment was the fact that Mueen was still with them, the worry for his mother written across his features like a deep engraving in a metal plaque. He did not need anything like that around him right now, that much was clear.
Slowly, they moved over to him and reached up one of their long legs to run it along his arm while he still covered parts of his large face with both hands.
“She will be alright,” Curi then assured the dark-furred rafulite, switching from their usual voice box to their more “melodic” one to put on a gentle, calming tone. “She is stronger than she seems.”
Inhaling deeply as his nostrils flared, Mueen closed his dark eyes and swallowed heavily, taking his gaze off the large screen for the first time in many minutes while slowly hanging his head down.
“Yeah,” he said, seeming to force hopefulness into his tone. “Yes, she'll be fine. She made it his far. This won't get to her.”
Curi nodded with their entire body and continued to run the tip of their leg along his arm.
“She will be,” they repeated, both to the man and themselves as their own eyes moved upwards, their gaze falling back on the battlefield riddled with burning remnants of matter. “I'm sure of it.”
–
Never in his life had James felt so drunk and so sober at the same time. His mind was entirely clear, running a light-year a minute as it desperately tried to simultaneously process all the admittedly little information that he had in his current situation AND to not absolutely freak out while doing so somehow – a task he was ludicrously failing at. And it did NOT help that his body could barely keep itself on his own two feet.
He had avoided completely fainting by a hair earlier after reminding himself that, instead of being terrified for Shida's life, it would be much more fair towards her to simply focus on trusting in her skills to carry her through. However, that was barely a little patch on an enormous crack in his facade as he couldn't help but go over and over and over the fact of how much worse the situation that she needed to jump into here had been for her simply because it was his damn birthday and they wanted to indulge over it. He should've stopped that, but noooo, he just had to go and let himself be swayed so damn easily, as if he was still that little boy following Koko around whenever she visited the compound to try and get some attention.
Of course, a quiet voice in the back of his head tried to politely remind him that Shida had, in fact, not only taken part in the festivities as well but also encouraged him to do so, however it was easily overpowered by the screaming rest of his mind.
He briefly glanced over at the only somewhat conscious Commander. When she said that they should match each other's drinks, that should've been the moment he stopped. She was like half his weight, what the hell was he thinking?
His mechanical hand shot up, heavily gripping a fist full of hair as he tried to force himself to focus. What's done is done. There's no changing it. He should focus on anything else right now.
Though as he painfully pulled on his hair like that, his eyes suddenly went wide as he noticed something. Or, more precisely, didn't notice something.
When had the alarm stopped? Just now? Or had it been out and he just hadn't noticed?
Letting go of his hair, he lifted his face and looked around. If the alarm was over, then that meant...
The uncoordinated movement of soldiers reaching for their phones and radios with different speeds went through the room, and after brief confirmation, the uniformed forces began to move, having seemingly gotten new orders other than guarding the safe-rooms. Apparently, the threat was over.
James quickly fumbled for his own phone, his barely coordinated hands struggling extremely with the simple task of trying to call one of his contacts – much to the frustration of his already cleared mind. His finger trembled as he swiped it across the screen, trying to get it to the right damn place to make a simple god-damn call.
However, he froze in the motion at a quiet sound that was immediately followed by a sudden stir behind him as multiple people seemed to move quickly. And after just a second, James was among them as well.
Nearly tripping over his feet, he damn near threw himself onto the sickbed that didn't stand too far away from him, his phone momentarily forgotten and eyes wide open as they stared over at an endlessly familiar dark face, that however had life in it for the first time in what felt like an eternity at that moment.
Slowly and twitchy, Nia's eyes fluttered open as she let out quiet groans while mildly stirring in place while her doctors and nurses hurried around her and quickly began to take her vitals.
After flinching heavily as a flashlight was quite suddenly shone into her eyes to test her photopupillary reflex, she began to move even more. Meanwhile, James and Tuya were basically pressed shoulder to shoulder close to the foot of her bed, the only thing keeping them from dashing right up to her face being just enough awareness to not get in the doctor's way.
Still, although her movements were very slow, stiff, and groggy, Nia eventually lifted up her head, looking around with still somewhat hazy and half-closed eyes. But that didn't stop her from smiling when her gaze fell onto the two who so nervously stood at her bedside there.
“Hey,” she said in a quiet, croaky, but still very much cheerful voice as her unkempt hair fell down both sides of her face.
Though James didn't see much more than that, because just about at that moment, his vision was entirely taking away by welling-up waters sweeping him along.

Hey there! I am a 30 year old guy from Upstate New York looking for someone that wants to make an emotional connection.
A bit about me: I'm 6’1". I get height can be a big deal for some women so I think it's best to just put it out there first 😅 I've got black hair, brownish black eyes. Average body, I'm muscular and wanting to start exercising both for health and a little bit for better shape. I like to think I'm fairly attractive but then most of us grew up with a relative always telling us we were not handsome or cute, etc. we can share pictures once we establish some comfort zone. If education is important, I am a college graduate with post-graduation degree as well. Now working as Mechanical engineer.
I have to lead with the fact that I can be pretty sarcastic at times. I also joke and (playfully) tease. I'm pretty easy going/chill and I like to keep things light and fun, but also enjoy getting into the really deep conversations as well. I'm a sucker for the whole good morning and goodnight text thing as well as checking in on those busier days. That doesn’t mean we have to just message good morning and good night for the whole week. Haha. I think most important part of knowing someone via online platform is initial conversations and if you don’t have enough time let me know otherwise that conversation is dead in no time.
I love animals. I've always felt very connected and attached to them and just enjoy interacting with them. While I am more of a dog person pet-wise, cats are still pretty cool in my book. Cats are more complex though I love the mysterious nature.
Anything outdoors is great in my opinion. Just feel like going for a walk? Let's do it. I do kayaking a bit in the summers, fish, hike, go for drives. I have the habit of occasionally stopping and taking pictures of plants and flowers I see around (I'm always down to share!). While sending me message write code - “I4U” so that I know it’s someone who actually read my post. Didn’t write in the end cuz some people might just skip to end. This doesn’t mean that you just send me the code. I am strictly gonna monitor now. I have skimmed through soo many texts and my innocent heart always gives chances, I am gonna try to be little strict this time.
It's not just the outdoors I love. I can also get down with chill days at home binging something on Netflix or playing something on my PC. Let's face it, I'm a bit if a nerd (everyone has something nerd about themselves) and if you like Jurassic park, board games, Any Mafia movies, gaming, etc we will get along great. I'm a sucker for horror movies as well and am always looking for recommendations. I listen to a lot of music. I shouldn’t brag but I listen to english ,german, Spanish, french and Hindi songs. Born and brought up in India. Hence, hindi songs.
A bit about (possibly) you: I'd prefer if you were in some sort of professional environment and ambitious. I'm not extremely picky about things like hair and eye color. Height is also not a big deal. If you're alot smaller than me and worried that it's something you’ll be insecure about, it's not. The big thing for me is personality. I think personality can make us a lot more or a lot less attractive. I want someone that is genuinely kind and sweet, someone that likes to laugh, someone that's not afraid to be goofy.
A final note: I'm a single guy and looking for someone dynamic. Sometimes I can respond immediately and sometimes it takes a minute due to the obvious circumstances. I also don't expect you to respond immediately to every message, I get that we all have lives and can be busy at times. It would be awesome if you are up for a voice chat. And please when responding write something about yourself.
If any if this sounds remotely interesting to you, feel free to reach out via reddit dm or chat!

I just felt like I needed to make a somewhat happier post here at least once, and this one is dedicated to my Best Friend- and I really don't know how the universe works but it definitely works when you least expect it and when you need it most- as I don't think I've ever really had a best friend before you- and I want to thank you for being my best friend because I know we may not have known each other a year at this point but I feel like I've known you forever and honestly Soulmates can be best friends too because you just get me- and I know I can ramble sometimes and I know I talk a load of shit sometimes and can absolutely imagine craziness for sport but you actually come along for the journey- you've actually joined the journey with me and been crazy and fun with me rather than just nod and go "Mmmhmm" or pretend like your listening only to ask me what the hell I'm harping on about- you actually listened when I needed it and you made me feel seen and at a time when I was most lost you found me and I found you; and without you I have no idea what jungle I'd be lost in but I know I wouldn't be as happy as I am right now to have you in my life.
You saved me bestie and I will never not be grateful for your friendship, I love you so so much and knowing that your my best friend makes me feel so lucky because what are other people with normal besties doing- because surly I got the best bestie! You win the number one bestie award! You are the kindest most caring and understanding person I have ever known, we laugh together, cry together and simp over dilfs together! I don't understand how you hadn't been snaffled from the bestie store before because you are quite simply the best and its ironic that as a writer I cant find the words to express how much I love and appreciate you.
Like I say- it's weird how the universe works but I'm glad it worked in the way it did, I love our crazy adventures we go on, wether we are fighting a nether brain and romancing vampires, wizards and druids in Faerun, sitting in the back seat of an impala watching two crazy dudes killing monsters, watching another crazy dude kill evil superheroes or even when we are in the halls of an Immortal moon hunter who has caught us sneaking around- regardless of where we are or what Shenanigans we are up to- you have made me smile more and laugh more this past (almost) a year than I ever have in my life- so thank you for being my best friend and heres to plenty more adventures to go on <3

(We're both 25 years old) So I've been spending a lot of time with this girl from the US (I am from Europe), may it be through just texting, video-chats, watching movies together and face-timing.
We shared a lot about eachother and I feel like we made a deeper connection throughout the years (probably like 6+ years already).
At first I didn't want to have feelings for her, due to the distance issue. But like a few months ago I've started to really like her on a deeper level and I don't know how to deal with this.
We both basically admitted that we would have dated eachother (that was a while ago), if it weren't for the distance.
We're planning to actually meet up for the first time for a 1 week vacation and I just don't know whether or not I should share my feelings with her, being afraid I would make things awkward.
My idea would be to share it during the trip when the time is right, give her a little gift and confess. But I wonder if it'd be smart to open up beforehand, maybe during a face-time call?
I honestly just want closure so I can embrace or let go of these feelings, but making things weird is a thing that turns me off from this.
I know the distance would suck, but I feel like that would only be a temporary thing, and we would find a way to actually move in together somehow,. We're both adults and have a stable life, so it wouldn't be impossible. I always wanted to check out the US myself and maybe find work there (or vice-versa).
What do you guys think?

I know this is vague and I know all the issues I have had in my past lead me to this point. But how can a person advance their career now days ?
I graduated with an aa in network admin in 2018 was never able to land an i.t. job so had to take another job back in the psych field doing video editing until 2022. Then applied for over 200 jobs in the next year while taking Coursera cyber security certs. (Which haven't helped me at all) I have forgotten all my skills from college now and work as a cable tech (23.41$ an hour) which I thought again would help me with a networking job... But now I can't remember anything about switches, Mac addresses, vm ware, or setting up active directory. I work in az and am expected to climb in attics and dig doesn't matter if it 105-110 degrees out. I'm very depressed to the point I now see a counselor once a week who honestly hasn't helped much and gives very generic statements. I just want to make 30$ an hour and not risk my life to do it.
I fear going back for a bachelor's degree will told the same lack of experience and no job results. I can't seem to find any jobs that allow you to learn and move up i.t. or otherwise.
I have an offer to sell term life insurance and mutual funds but don't want to exploit friends and family to pay my bills. Does anyone have any career advice? I have had my resume redone 4 times by friends that find people for jobs yet ironically can't find me one.
I did try going to school for nursing but failed by half a point the first semester.. which I'm not proud of just being honest with how I have tried to do better. Maybe I'm just not a very smart person ? Maybe I'm lazy and if so how can I start better habits ?
Am I destined to just be a laborer? Im about to start studying for the a+ but best case there is a help desk job that pays 4-5 dollars less an hour and the work is very tough. But do I just suck it up so I can learn i.t. (I honestly don't even like i.t. I went because I thought it would make me money that I could buy happiness with) I can hardly afford to live in az at $23 and hour but can not seem to land a better opportunity. /Rant

I’ve been on just about everything you can imagine at one point or another. I have had success on some SSRIs when I took them with other medications, but overall I wasn’t really satisfied. As of now I am back on Vyvanse for my ADHD, and realize a lot of my depression (not all) comes from the times when I’m not managing my ADHD symptoms.
A few questions I have:
Has anyone found a good vitamin routine that helps? Maybe for the anxiety and sleep aspects?
For any ladies that experience crappy PMS symptoms and mood swings - does this help or has it seemed to make them worse?
For anyone taking ADHD medication - some days I take my meds later in the day because I work late a few days a week, and early a few days a week. Do you think it’ll be weird always taking Wellbutrin in the morning but sometimes taking my Vyvanse a little later?
And finally - what is the difference in the meds? I have bupropion hcl xl, and I don’t get what the difference is between all of them or which one people tend to like more.
I’m nervous. Starting a new med like this always has that period where it can make you feel super weird, worse, or just gross…but I’m going to try my best to stick it out and see for myself. Mostly just worried because I am doing decently fine right now and I’m scared to get worse or be mad at everything and everyone 😬 Thanks yall!
EDIT: Ok one last thing..my period is starting now and I’m wondering if I should hold off a few days before starting because this already makes me feel bad enough. Or should I just go for it now?

Hey there! I am a 30 year old guy from Upstate New York looking for someone that wants to make an emotional connection, and would like to put efforts into conversations.
A bit about me: I'm 6’1". I get height can be a big deal for some women so I think it's best to just put it out there first 😅 I've got black hair, brownish black eyes. Average body, I'm muscular and wanting to start exercising both for health and a little bit for better shape. I like to think I'm fairly attractive but then most of us grew up with a relative always telling us we were not handsome or cute, etc. we can share pictures once we establish some comfort zone. If education is important, I am a college graduate with post-graduation degree as well. Now working as an engineer.
I have to lead with the fact that I can be pretty sarcastic at times. I also joke and (playfully) tease. I'm pretty easy going/chill and I like to keep things light and fun, but also enjoy getting into the really deep conversations as well. I'm a sucker for the whole good morning and goodnight text thing as well as checking in on those busier days. That doesn’t mean we have to just message good morning and good night for the whole week. Haha. I think most important part of knowing someone via online platform is initial conversations and if you don’t have enough time let me know otherwise that conversation is dead in no time.
I love animals. I've always felt very connected and attached to them and just enjoy interacting with them. While I am more of a dog person pet-wise, cats are still pretty cool in my book. Cats are more complex though I love the mysterious nature.
Anything outdoors is great in my opinion. Just feel like going for a walk? Let's do it. I do kayaking a bit in the summers, fish, hike, go for drives. I have the habit of occasionally stopping and taking pictures of plants and flowers I see around (I'm always down to share!). While sending me message write code - “I3U” so that I know it’s someone who actually read my post. Didn’t write in the end cuz some people might just skip to end. This doesn’t mean that you just send me the code. I am strictly gonna monitor now. I have skimmed through soo many texts and my innocent heart always gives chances, I am gonna try to be little strict this time.
It's not just the outdoors I love. I can also get down with chill days at home binging something on Netflix or playing something on my PC. Let's face it, I'm a bit if a nerd (everyone has something nerd about themselves) and if you like Jurassic park, board games, Any Mafia movies, gaming, etc we will get along great. I'm a sucker for horror movies as well and am always looking for recommendations. I listen to a lot of music. I shouldn’t brag but I listen to english ,german, Spanish, french and Hindi songs. Born and brought up in India. Hence, hindi songs.
A bit about (possibly) you: I'd prefer if you were in some sort of professional environment and ambitious. I'm not extremely picky about things like hair and eye color. Height is also not a big deal. If you're alot smaller than me and worried that it's something you’ll be insecure about, it's not. The big thing for me is personality. I think personality can make us a lot more or a lot less attractive. I want someone that is genuinely kind and sweet, someone that likes to laugh, someone that's not afraid to be goofy.
A final note: I'm a single guy and looking for someone dynamic. Sometimes I can respond immediately and sometimes it takes a minute due to the obvious circumstances. I also don't expect you to respond immediately to every message, I get that we all have lives and can be busy at times. It would be awesome if you are up for a voice chat. And please please when responding write something about yourself.
If any if this sounds remotely interesting to you, feel free to reach out via reddit dm or chat!

My mom came to visit us after three years of marriage (international couple) and finally met my partner in person. The first few days were fine but the last day was awful. All the stuff my partner had worked on in therapy over the past few months went out the window completely. They insulted me in a catty way and told me they wanted a divorce twice in the same day, both in front of my mom. Both times they apologised after but it was INSANE that they did this in front of my mom, whose opinion means so much to me. She now told my family and doesn't feel like I am in a emotionally safe relationship. I moved to a different country to be with my partner so for them to threaten divorce is to uproot and change my whole life in a way that is so intense. International relationships are hard and we have had a difficult time as it is.
My mom and I cried on the last day, not how I wanted her to feel at the end of her trip. She supports and loves my other siblings relationships, but said mine felt like a toxic cycle of fighting and making up. I don't know what to do. My partner cried and apologised, asking for me back and said they would do more therapy and that they didn't mean it. They used to say that and I told them threatening the relationship is abusive when i have nobody in this country and that's a big reason they went to therapy in the first place. The fighting was over trivial sh*t like sharing housework and just little stuff I don't fight people over. Insulting me too. My mom knows i'm very non particulachill and knows I wouldn't ever get worked up about these things. She felt my partner talked down to me and was not pulling their weight in the relationship, which is true and I almost broke up with them before they started making those impactful changes.
Now my mom saw the way they treated me a few months ago before they started to change, and I was so upset in her visit those behaviours came out. When they said they wanted a divorce in front of my mom I almost packed my bags and left. I stayed in the end because they were telling me they are going to do more therapy or anything I need to try to change. They love me and I love them, my mom agrees to seeing their love for me and that it is a dysfunction in how they show it.
I told them I am taking time to decide if I should stay or go. I am married and in love with this person, so nuanced answers would be appreciated. They are a good person, but with bad learned tendencies from their family (which I have witnessed) and are actively trying to change.
On the flip, can I be with someone who would talk down on me and threaten our relationship in front of my family? It seems humiliating in an unforgivable way, or that's how it felt in the moment. I love them very much, but I feel at a crossroads.
Can people change patterns they work hard to change, and do not want in your opinion. And if they can, how long would I need to be patient to wait for those changes. They've been in therapy for a few months and had really made so many changes I asked for until my mom came... which is really really upsetting. We are in our early 20's and I just need advice from other married people. They have manipulative and controlling tendencies- and so does the family. I always call it out, they always apologise.
I know people say "if your partner wants to they will" and they are doing everything I asked, but how they acted especially in front of meeting my mom was nuts. They are in the process of changing. I am in the process of deciding to stay or go.
Mind you, it is a huge life decision as I applied for PR in their home country and paid a lot of money and we are married. My whole life would change drastically if I left, and they are my best friend, partner, and companion. They treat me right 80% of the time, but the other 20% is unacceptable. And they know that. I always tell them.
Drunk rant.

Hey there! I am a 30 year old guy from Upstate New York looking for someone that wants to make an emotional connection.
A bit about me: I'm 6’1". I get height can be a big deal for some women so I think it's best to just put it out there first 😅 I've got black hair, brownish black eyes. Average body, I'm muscular and wanting to start exercising both for health and a little bit for better shape. I like to think I'm fairly attractive but then most of us grew up with a relative always telling us we were not handsome or cute, etc. we can share pictures once we establish some comfort zone. If education is important, I am a college graduate with post-graduation degree as well. Now working as an engineer.
I have to lead with the fact that I can be pretty sarcastic at times. I also joke and (playfully) tease. I'm pretty easy going/chill and I like to keep things light and fun, but also enjoy getting into the really deep conversations as well. I'm a sucker for the whole good morning and goodnight text thing as well as checking in on those busier days. That doesn’t mean we have to just message good morning and good night for the whole week. Haha. I think most important part of knowing someone via online platform is initial conversations and if you don’t have enough time let me know otherwise that conversation is dead in no time.
I love animals. I've always felt very connected and attached to them and just enjoy interacting with them. While I am more of a dog person pet-wise, cats are still pretty cool in my book. Cats are more complex though I love the mysterious nature.
Anything outdoors is great in my opinion. Just feel like going for a walk? Let's do it. I do kayaking a bit in the summers, fish, hike, go for drives. I have the habit of occasionally stopping and taking pictures of plants and flowers I see around (I'm always down to share!). While sending me message write code - “I2U” so that I know it’s someone who actually read my post. Didn’t write in the end cuz some people might just skip to end. This doesn’t mean that you just send me the code. I am strictly gonna monitor now. I have skimmed through soo many texts and my innocent heart always gives chances, I am gonna try to be little strict this time.
It's not just the outdoors I love. I can also get down with chill days at home binging something on Netflix or playing something on my PC. Let's face it, I'm a bit if a nerd (everyone has something nerd about themselves) and if you like Jurassic park, board games, Any Mafia movies, gaming, etc we will get along great. I'm a sucker for horror movies as well and am always looking for recommendations. I listen to a lot of music. I shouldn’t brag but I listen to english ,german, Spanish, french and Hindi songs. Born and brought up in India. Hence, hindi songs.
A bit about (possibly) you: I'd prefer if you were in some sort of professional environment and ambitious. I'm not extremely picky about things like hair and eye color. Height is also not a big deal. If you're alot smaller than me and worried that it's something you’ll be insecure about, it's not. The big thing for me is personality. I think personality can make us a lot more or a lot less attractive. I want someone that is genuinely kind and sweet, someone that likes to laugh, someone that's not afraid to be goofy.
A final note: I'm a single guy and looking for someone dynamic. Sometimes I can respond immediately and sometimes it takes a minute due to the obvious circumstances. I also don't expect you to respond immediately to every message, I get that we all have lives and can be busy at times. It would be awesome if you are up for a voice chat. And please when responding write something about yourself.
If any if this sounds remotely interesting to you, feel free to reach out via reddit dm or chat!

Please forgive me if I make grammatical error as english is not my native language. My fiancè and I have been engaged for 5 years but we've been together for 13 years.
To be honest I don't know where to start. We have a tumultous relationship before since we've been together since we were 16. Our relationship has always been rocky since I am kind of damage and toxic (I have issues with my parents). I acknowledged that and matured for the better. Its a lot peaceful now and we are happy.
My situation started when my fiancée is telling me the story of how his coworker's fiancée broke their engagement. Which lead to our conversation into me asking why he chose me. We are in a long distance relationship and I'm lost at what to do.
10 years ago he had an affair with a co worker. That said co worker is super rich, beautiful, and I don't think she's a bad person just someone who made a stupid mistake. To be honest I tried to reach out before after I learned about the affair but she blocked me. I took it as she didn't want her peace disturb and maybe its better that way. Im no saint myself and did some horrible things too before.
In the present day. She became his boss and when covid hits my fiancée lost his job. We are not technically in financial struggle with just me working but he has a high paying job. She called him and asking him to work for her on their previous company. She is now married with a kid and very accomplished in life. I encouraged him to accept the job offer and we became a long distance couple once again. I am grateful for the opportunies she gave him as it would help us so much financially to reach our goals faster. She also left the department a month after she hired him. (She can only hire 2 people). I think she did it as a consolation for the both of us and also because he is great at his job too.
Now we are planning to get married in June but I can't. I always back out whenever the date of our marriage is near. Its obvious that she was the perfect choice both of them came from a good family background and was perfect for each other whenever I ask him he cannot give me a proper answer of what happened and whenever I ask him why he chose me he just gave me the answer "its always been you" obviously its not enough and I became fed up and broke things up with him. I think he only settled with me because no matter what he did I stayed.
Am I making the right choice? Am I being too hasty? I dont know what to do.

I need outside perspective/feedback as I cannot afford therapy and feel like it’s hard to get honest feedback from friends or family at times.
We have been together six months. Him (38M) me (34F). Long distance. We connect in so many ways (physically, spiritually, sexually and emotionally). We talk all the time and he has become my best friend. We tell each other we love one another and while we’re long distance he drives to see me every other weekend which I appreciate.
Issue is - he’s going through a divorce. Before anyone gets judgy- please know I’ve seen the divorce papers and the divorce has been filed for close to two years. They are disputing assets so it has gotten messy. I realize I took that risk in getting involved with someone going through a divorce and that is the driving reason as to why I’m asking this question. I don’t want to waste any more of my time.
I’ve met his parents but have not met his children which I prefer until the divorce is finalized. I have spoken to his daughter on the phone so they know about me but we have not met in person.
He’s a great communicator and I really do trust and love him. My worry is that he is not fully healed from his marriage.
I tend to be a chronic over thinker. So I’m having a hard time determining if this is me overthinking things or if I’m noticing red flags that could be an issue later and the last thing I want to do is waste my time or end up hurt. He tells me he’s ready, that he loves me and shows me in many ways that also but there have been some situations that made me question that.
We got in our first major disagreement weeks ago. He booked other plans on our weekend together ( which he said was unintentional) and I was not happy about it. I made it clear when I started this what I needed as far as in person visits. I told him how I felt and he continued to text me over and over saying stuff like “you don’t deserve anything but the best. And after you laid it out. I’m convinced that you deserve better.“ among other things. I did not like his reaction- it was off putting. My best friend came into town the next day and I text him telling him ‘I’m not mad but that I wanted space to enjoy time with my friend and that we can talk after.’ Which he respected and we ended up talking it through after taking space. He apologized and we decided to move forward. It does bother me that it took me needing to take space for him to apologize and see my point of view though.
A week and a half later. I brought up to him that I wanted to discuss what things look like after his divorce is final. Would he be comfortable with me meeting his kids, and where he expected to live (we are long distance). I acknowledge that it wasn’t the best time and he was exhausted from a long day. These are things I feel are the natural next steps in the relationship and things we have briefly discussed before so I don’t see why it turned into an argument. He answered calmly at first but it escalated into him telling me he felt like I was pressuring him. He has mentioned me wanting to get married multiple times (I am in no rush and have never pressured him) and then took the argument to that I ‘only want to have a ring because I’m insecure that I’ve never been married before’ etc etc. This shocked and offended me because I was not discussing marriage - we are nowhere close to that and he is still married and I haven’t even met his children. I did tell I’m that if I was to relocate my son and entire life to his area in the future -I wouldn’t do so without a commitment.
We tried to talk it over for close to 3 hours last night and he ended up hanging up on me twice. This morning he called me a few times and when I finally answered- I told him how it hurt my feelings what was said and him hanging up on me was not okay. He apologized and I accepted but when we got off the phone I could tell he was still mad by how he ended the conversation. I let it be and went back to work thinking we will talk about it later at a better time. Within minutes he text saying ‘ I think we need to take time.’ Which I told him okay if that’s what he wants then so be it. He text me he felt I owed him an apology. I did apologize last night for my approach but didn’t understand the need to apologize again.
It is so difficult to know if I am overreacting and overthinking the situation or if these are indicators that he is not fully moved on from his divorce. He has also mentioned that ‘he has already done marriage’ and the ‘ring means nothing.’ To me it is a commitment to sharing life together and I don’t think it’s wrong of me to want that before up rooting my entire life to move there. It’s also concerning we are both Christian’s and our faith has an emphasis on marriage. Which he replied ‘I’m fine with doing a spiritual wedding with a pastor.’ Almost indicating he does not want a legal marriage (first I’ve heard of this).
It’s beyond confusing because from the start of asked him his thoughts on marriage and I made it clear that while I’m not in a rush- I do want to be married in the future. He ensured me that his divorce did not change his views on marriage and he looks forward to remarrying in the future too. I never put a time stamp on it but apparently he feels pressured by my questioning.
I’ve given him space since he asked. When someone asks for space , gives the purpose and timeline (like I did before) that I can understand. But telling me ‘ I think we need some time.’ Makes me feel like we are talking a break indefinitely and is unfair.
I’m giving him space and have not reached out. He sent me some Instagram videos of random irrelevant stuff and a text saying he missed me already and wants to talk. Only hours after telling me he thought we ‘needed time.’ None of it makes sense and now I feel like I need time to figure out what I want so I have not responded.
Honest opinions- does it seem like I am overthinking this, or that there are some red flags in how he responds?
TL;DR: In a six-month long-distance relationship with a man going through a divorce for two years, experiencing doubts about his readiness to move on. Met his parents but not his kids, leading to concerns about the future. Recent disagreements escalated into arguments about the future of their relationship, with communication breakdowns and differing views on commitment. Feeling confused and unsure if she's overthinking or if there are legitimate red flags.