DAE with female anatomy have their skin repeatedly split open around their vulva? Not the typical posterior fourchette tear around the perineum, but above the vulva where it meets the pubic mound? My GYN wasn’t really sure, but my pelvic floor physical therapist suggested it could be a side effect from years on birth control. So my GYN prescribed an ointment that I just started. My super dry eyes the other day reminded me that my mom was diagnosed with sjogrens a few years ago, and I think I had at least one doctor try to test me for it in the past, but I wasn’t sure why he was ordering the tests and never followed up.
I see my rheumatologist tomorrow for my psoriatic arthritis so I was considering bringing this up, but I’m not sure if it’s actually a symptom that fits as I haven’t been able to find any info about this particular problem I’ve been having for nearly a year now.

I'm trying to get my check engine light to go away on my 1996 Ford F150 Eddie Bauer edition (5L V8). The trouble codes are P0135, P0141, and P0155, all indicating O2 Sensor Heater Circuit issues across all three oxygen sensors.
The first thing I did was replace all three oxygen sensors. After a few hundred miles, the codes are still there. From what I've read online, this could either mean a blown fuse, a grounding issue, or a bad PCM.
My fuses are fine, and the oxygen sensors are brand new. So before replacing the PCM, I should check for grounding issues. This is where my problem comes in.
How do I find a grounding issue? I bought a multimeter, and on some forums I found information like this:

1. If the fuse checks to be OK, check any O2 sensor for battery voltage on the Light Blue/Orange (LB/O) wire with the key in the Run position.
   
2. Check for battery voltage at Powertrain Control Module (PCM) pins 93 (Red/White (W) wire), 94 (Yellow/Light Blue (Y/LB) wire), 95 (White/Black (W/BK) wire) and 96 (Tan/Yellow (T/Y) wire).
   
3. If all 4 circuits indicate battery voltage monitor voltage on the circuits at pins 93 and 94 when the engine is started to determine if the PCM grounds the circuit.
   
4. If the PCM does not ground the circuits after the engine is started, replace the PCM.
   

Or on another one:

The DTCs P0135, P0141, P0155 are for the oxygen sensor heaters for each of the three oxygen sensors. There are two front, and one rear (downstream) oxygen sensor. On the wiring diagram, sensor 11 and 21 mean the front ones, and 12 means (bank 1) rear (2)sensor. ADDED: Your Bronco doesn’t show a code for the rear oxygen sensor heater. But, it does have a lean code (P0151).
The black/white wires don’t only ground the oxygen sensor heaters; they provide ground for all of the PCM. This is why you measure (ohms, or voltage drop) is made from one side (PCM pins 93, 94, 95) to the output (PCM pins 24, 38,51, 76, 77). If the PCM is in the Oxygen sensor heater-ON-mode, there won’t be any difference between the sides (across the PCM).

I'm not gonna lie, I don't really understand what they're saying. I get that they're suggesting to check voltage at some wires, but I've no clue what wires they're talking about. I also can't seem to find a wiring diagram for my specific vehicle. And all the wiring diagrams I do find I'm having a lot of trouble reading; they seem to be for parts of the vehicle that I do not need?
I'm very green to working on vehicles. Can someone dumb down what /where I should be checking for voltage on the O2 sensors or the PCM? I'm assuming it's the female connectors for the O2 sensors, but what should I check on the PCM? I just need a bit of simplification. I hope that's alright. Thank you.
Edit: I haven't removed my PCM yet since I want to get some feedback first. Once I get some more info I'll pull it out. I also commented a photo of the downstream O2 sensors female connector.

Ok, so in my head I feel like a read nurses being RN, something else, and then 10 other nursing titles - which I realise is prolly wrong and I'm only certain about reading about two, maybe three different nursing titles. I dont know if these titles are related to different types of education or if they are related to different types of authorisations or whatever else.
In Norway nursing education is a 3 year bachelor, I know there's atleast one other alternative but it's mostly about duration of education and not about method of it.
Def. forgetting something here, but first year in my school is nursing theories/academia, anatomy, physiology and microbiology, and pathology, with a clinical/practice in geriatric care, second year is public health and clinical nursing and two practice, one in medical unit and another in surgical, and then third year is home nursing and psychiatry practice and preparing for writing a bachelors.
Now, I simply wanted to ask what my Norwegian nursing education was equal to in US (and/or UK)-terms, and what other versions there are.
But now I also wanted to add a thought about nurses value - which to be clear is massive and our importance is equally massive. But I always felt at unease of nursing ego, both during education and also nurses I've met in work.
People say nurses aren't doctors assistants, but for me it seems we are in many ways the extention of the doctors plan and care for the patient. "But, we know the patient and recognise the most subtle signs of patients getting worse, we stop the docs from making mistakes" etc. etc.
I get it, we are important, but in somatics I've never seen anything other than us being an extention of the doctors presence. Doctors could relatively quickly learn nursing skills whereas no nurse could quickly learn doctor skills. Whenever I asked questions throughout the education or in practice, I might get an adequate answer within the first or second question, but very quickly I got to the "idk, ask a doctor" - which I respect, but worse, nurses pretending to understand the answer to my question and giving a poor reply.
My 12 year old child easily did all the medication exams, calculating dosage, strength, volume, infusjon speed etc. etc., yet I hear nurses talking about how complex math skills one need.
I get it, there's no need for us to go through medical school to do our work, I'm just tired of the percieved arrogance. I had a theory about part of it was due to wanting to lift the status of female dominated occupations, which kinda got underlined when we had a class on the importance of feminism and the value of women in the work space, but I might be wrong.
Nurses have never given me answers that made me feel more prepared to understand complex bedside situations, but doctors have.
I feel like nurses learn words and sentences, which we gradually forget as one would forget sentences prepared for a vacation to a foreign country, whereas docs learn the language and the grammar so deep that they wont forget it anymore than they forget their own language.

I have absolutely no idea how to deal with this. Hi I'm writing this one my phone so please excuse any wonkiness of my post. I am 23f and my cousin is 22m. My cousin and I live in the same town during the school year and in October our families met up to catch up woth each other. There we exchanged phone numbers to keep in contact. At first I was thinking 'ah hell yeah another friend in town', but then he started being weird in text. He would say shit like 'I'm so lonely' or 'women are so confusing' or 'it's hard talking to the other sex'. I didn't know how to deal with it so I started accidentally ghosting him. He also keeps bringing up female anatomy. A lot.
Anyways, his grandma (my aunt) passed away about a month ago and since most of the family wouldn't have been able to attend a funeral that week it was put off till everyone was home. Yesterday, I received a snapchat from him that said "we should fuck". He deleted it pretty fast but he said that it was because he got a new phone that he accidentally sent that to me.and then he said hi how are you. I have not responded as I do not know how to respond.
I have to see him on Saturday and I don't know what to do. Please any advice would be appreciated.

Is it the right time to start preparing for the CAT24? What about those who started early? what about those stories about those start even late.
I get these questions a lot of times. And CAT is quite an interesting exam in the sense that the number of days you prepare for it tell absolutely nothing about your preparation stage.
I usually get two kind of queries. First is asking if this month or that month is right time to start and prepare. Second one is number of hours required to prepare for CAT. Both are inherently wrong questions with no possible right answers. For months, I tend to say that CAT can also be cracked within 4 months or less if you inherently have some aptitude, even if that doesn't reflect in the first few mocks you take. And for hours, I usually suggest that if you start from scratch, approximately 1000 hours is what you are looking at. [200 hours per section to prepare i.e. 600 hours, 50 mocks with 6 hours each i.e. 300 hours of mocks (6 hours because mock + solve the entire paper + analysis) and another 100 hours for revision and making notes etc.]
Both of my answers (any such other answers) are actually partially wrong and misleading. I'm making this post to give you the real answer.
CAT Preparation needs to be done in three phases. In Phase One, you need to build your basic knowledge structure. This varies with sectionals and I'll explain for each section.
VARC Phase 1
Here, your basic knowledge structure involves,

1. understanding the pattern of exam.
2. Having a strategy for the exam (RC first then VA or VA first then RC, whatever works for you). Remember that whatever strategy you pick, you need to know why that particular strategy and not something else. If you don't know, it's best to start from question 1 and go to the end.

For me, I needed to read RCs first to get in flow, but I needed to be very attentive in VA. so I would do 2 RCs to get in flow, go to VA when I'm hyper focused, come back to other 2 RCs to end the section on a good note (VA was my weakness)
See how I personalized this based on when I'm most active and what's my weakness and what's my strength. You need to do the same for yourself. Don't try to sit and make it. I'll come naturally to you. If it doesn't come, It means you are comfortable with going in any order. That's good.

1. Having the ability to understand the passage.

Some people have this inherently. Most people have this in some subjects (like science) and don't have in it other subjects (like philosophy). While a few of you don't have it at all.
What you need to make sure is, when you read the passage, did you understand the entire passage like what exactly was the passage trying to say?
That's all for VARC Phase 1..
DILR Phase 1
This is fairly simple. Just go through different types of DILR questions. (If you are following my guide, just complete the rodha playlist I had attached there)
Quant Phase 1
Do a few arithmetic chapters. 3-4 basic chapters like Time Speed Distance, Ratio and proportions, Averages, Mixtures and allegations etc.
After doing this phase, here comes the phase 2 of your preparation.
VARC Phase 2
Here you need to go through different types of RCs and questions. Understand your shortcomings. Understand what mistakes you are making. (If You are following VARC1000, finishing it concludes phase 2)
DILR Phase 2
Here you develop your symbols and signs. You learn which table/diagram to make in which question. Like I would always represent certain things with some symbols (Circle for males, underline for females etc) So you kind of develop your own representation in this phase.
Quant Phase 2
In this phase, you finish your quants syllabus. It is here that many people decide whether to go for arithmetic algebra and geometry or go for arithmetic and algebra only or maybe add a number system. Whatever is the combination you wanna go with.
With conclusion of this phase, you stop practicing quants chapter by chapter all together.
VARC Phase 3
This is the final phase where you just keep giving mocks, analyse them and look for the mistakes you are doing. Did you read the question wrong? Did you miss some word in paragraph? were you stressed? were you hurrying? were you distracted? This phase ends whenever CAT happens. Else it just continues.
DILR Phase 3
Here you learn what set to select. Set selection is the core of DILR. you basically learn how to choose what set to attempt and which one to leave. This phase never ends, because you just need to keep on practicing. So it continues till CAT
Quant Phase 3
Here also you learn which question to attempt and which question to leave and what silly mistakes are you doing. This also continues till the CAT exam day.
Now let's try to see how much time should it take (in hours)
VARC Phase 1: Could be anything from 1 hour to 50 hours of rigorous reading or even more. DILR Phase 1: Should take considerable time. Around 50 to 80 hours on average but again could take more or less. Quant Phase 1: Depends on how good you are inherently at calculations. Do you need to remember 19×7 or you know it already? Do you remember value of 2^10? Do you recall formula for compound interest?
VARC Phase 2: You might understand your mistakes and fix them within a week and might not be able to do so after 8 months of preparation. Again entirely depends on you.
DILR Phase 2: How long does it take for you to understand which data should be represented by which diagram and which table? No one can tell you. You would find out yourself.
Quant Phase 2: This is something predictable and takes most of the time. But again this varies. Someone doing Algebra, Arithmetic, Geometry, Probably, Number System would take more time as someone going with Arithmetic and Algebra only. Some people do only Arithmetic and Algebra, get a very high strike rate of getting questions right and score good in QA. Others complete the syllabus and pick and choose the easiest questions in the paper. They also score well. Some do both, they are God level. So again, time taken here varies.
VARC, DILR, and Quant Phase 3
This phase continues till the exam comes. For some people, this phase is very long so that's how you find people who gave 70+ mock tests. But this phase is just about finding mistakes and not repeating them in the CAT exam so this phase could also yield results with 30 odd mocks. Again varies from person to person.
And now, you understand why it is stupid to answer if you are starting in the right month or how many hours it takes. The sooner you learn from your mistakes, the less time it will take. How quickly would you learn from your mistakes? Nobody knows. That's why you see cases with 3 CAT attempts and can't score more than 90 percentile, and scored 99%ile with 2 to 4 months of preparation.
The best way to go about this is, either you would learn from your mistakes quickly and hence you should attempt CAT 24, or you need a lot of time to learn, in which case you give CAT24 and then CAT25 in case you feel that's needed.
Hope this helps.

I’ve been struggling with body dysmorphia since I can remember, I was bullied alot and abused when i was younger which probably contributed, it’s pretty terrible, other people tell me I don’t look that bad even the opposite, ive gotten compliment but perhaps they are just being nice, i hate that I cannot believe them because I look at myself and all I see is the worst looking human ive ever seen, I don’t post pictures of myself yet. I am very self obsessed with trying to take a picture of myself. I barely save them when I do its mainly half of my face covered, when i was younger I would stare at myself for hours crying telling myself i hate you (i did this for like 10 years) and ive also struggled with eating disorders. I used to not let anyone take pictures of me till recently because i know its illogical and if anything did happen to me i want them to have a keepsake, but before i let them, i tell them to not show me (because i am repulsed by it) and tell them not to post me and if they posted it id freak out and have panic attacks and force them to take it down, i worry about how everyone will know im ugly and they all know and theyll all hate me and laugh at me and ill lose my friends,( aka my online friends) i worry if they saw me they might never talk to me again even though they say otherwise, its super embarrassing i trully wished i wasnt like this, i find myself so ugly, for a while i thought i perhaps may have been trans i am quite tomboyish and my female anatomy disgusts me when it comes to me, But i find women very attractive and their bodies perfect, but i came to the conclusion idc what i am i just hate me and everything about me, even if i did switch im pretty certain id still hate myself so i doubt thats the problem, All of this to say that recently I graduated, many pictures taken of me and i wanted to see if i could post one because i felt very accomplished and i looked at it and was deeply saddened because im disturbed by what i saw. I want to be like other 22 yr olds and post and be confident i hate being like this, why does it matter to me so what if i am ugly, why am i so afraid of just being me. I really want to change. How does one even start? Will it get better? I feel like it inhibits me of being the best I can be and I feel like being insecure just holds me back so much. Very strange because I don’t care about how other people look i care about their personality, so why can’t I do the same for me?

WARNING: VERY HEAVILY DELTARUNE INFLUENCED. If you have no idea what Deltarune is, you should probably know that first before reading about this OC... I have a whole-ahh google doc on them and I am also currently writing a story for them hsgdkslsbdhdk yes they are a Deltarune OC, yes they look like Winter King but I assure you, I made them in 2022 which predates him, and yes, they look like a combination of Spamton and Rouxls. I'll just copy-paste their description from the Google doc-
Age: 20 Gender: transmasc nonbinary Sex: female Sexuality: bi demisexual Pronouns: they/them (preferred), he/him Height: 5’6” Date of Birth: August 11, 2003 ~ Notes ~ Lovesan is a virus(worm is a subcategory). A Creator reprogrammed Lovesan to be docile, but did not remove any code, putting up a firewall against the malevolent code instead. - can summon things via code tethers as well as change the properties of things via code - has a hologram computer with various ports as well as a universal (seriously universal) USB hub - is vulnerable to glitchy/corrupted code (might do something unpleasant to them...)
Extended notes: In Safe Mode: - Can summon energy shields. They make a habit of sticking with defense rather than offense. These energy shields are able to bear weight, block attacks, and can be used as a blunt weapon if necessary; however, if they are low on energy, these shields will be weaker and more fragile. They are bright blue and hexagonal. - Can manipulate the source code of an object. They can change the properties of an object and can make it do things it isn't normally able to do. - They have a gentle and calm demeanor, and they choose to be someone who blends into the background. They dislike showing their teeth, as their visibly sharp canines are a potential giveaway that they were, at some point, a malevolent program. Since they have the ability to hop universes (a minor ability granted by the Creator), they tend to look for people to keep in contact with so they are able to revisit a universe, if desired. - Their appearance is somewhat unusual for an Addison, as they are not naturally a uniform color. Their hair and eyes are white, and their skin is dark blue. The color scheme is rather reminiscent of an old bluescreen. Their hair and eyes also have a faint glow to them, in addition to thin white bands that are around their wrists and ankles. (The bands often get mistaken for jewelry.) Their eyes appear to have no pupil or iris, and they have poor eyesight; they wear glasses to see. - They typically wear a dark grey shirt with ivory-colored buttons, beige pants, and dark ankle socks with loafers. (The ankle socks are to cover up the bands.) In Virus Mode: - Can use their Safe Mode abilities offensively. - Can summon energy weapons. The weapon can be any type. Their signature weapon is a broadsword. Weapons have the same properties as their shields. In addition, their speed is faster. - Cannot die. Upon entering Virus Mode, they will trick their opponent into thinking that they are still mortal. Upon the first death of their body, they may reform somewhere else and perform a sneak attack. (They can continue doing this until their opponent realizes that they cannot be killed.) - They become much more violent and destructive. They will toy with their opponent, and will either become bored and kill their opponent, or take a liking to them and allow them to walk away from the battle. (The opponent will be killed upon refusing the option of mercy.) They care less about hiding their abilities, and are therefore more ruthless. - Their appearance changes slightly. Their eyes are no longer pure white; they instead are black with white pupils. Their teeth become sharp, and their fingers become slightly clawed, much like a cat's paw. (a proper visual would be looking at Spiderman 2099's hands.)They frequently smile at their opponent, which can unnerve said opponent. Their glasses are cracked, but they no longer need them to see. - Their original virus form does have all of these features, but in addition, their hair was blue and black instead of white, and they wore more formal clothing, consisting of a white dress shirt, black pants and shoes, and a dark cloak with a fastener made of their energy. - A last resort move, they only enter Virus Mode if they are about to die in Safe Mode. This also helps with giving them time to break down the firewall to their malevolent code, as their opponent thinks that they have nothing left. Since it is an internal process, they are able to hide their advantage.
They are the main character of my story, Second Life. (I feel like I need to change the title bc it feels uncreative but idk)
also, image descriptions!! 1. the doodle sheet of them I made when I suddenly had an urge to draw. I hadn't drawn for a few months, and it turned out I had a massive change in style, with much better anatomy and posing. 2. The second version of the poster I made for my story. The first version looks horrendous, trust me 3. Their virus form! 4. Their virus form, pre-plot! 5. plot happening to them, starting their story! 6. The most recent non-meme piece of them, showing their abilities in Safe Mode!

Why being transgender is not a sin, by MARK WINGFIELD NOVEMBER 9, 2018

Link to original post: https://baptistnews.com/article/why-being-transgender-is-not-a-sin/#.YYk6tE7MK72
I recently met a lovely young family in the northern suburbs of Dallas. They told me they previously attended a large Baptist church there – until their high school son became their daughter.
The mother was committed to her volunteer work in the church, and when she told the pastor who supervised that ministry area that her child was transgender, the pastor said: “That’s fine. We love everybody here. But it’s still a sin.”
“Blah, blah, blah, but….” Whatever comes after the “but” always negates whatever nice things were said in the first part of the sentence. Beware of the “but.”
Some would look kindly on the suburban pastor’s response because, after all, the pastor didn’t kick the family out of the church or condemn the teenager straight to hell. But.
Even among Christians who appear kind or progressive, too often the existence of someone who identifies as transgender gets chalked up to “sin.” No doubt that’s the root reason so many Christians happily pile on against transgender persons and their family members about bathrooms and schools, because in their heart of hearts, they don’t understand transgender identity and simply default to thinking it is a sinful lifestyle choice.

I think we all can agree that a “sin” is something we do that we shouldn’t do, something we have a choice about. If I eat an entire half-gallon of ice cream, I am likely guilty of the sin of gluttony. I didn’t have to eat the ice cream. If I fixate on why other people are more athletic and agile than me in my mid-life body, I probably am guilty of the sin of envy. There is a way for me to redirect my thoughts to avoid envy.
The same is not true of transgender identity. Emphatically and conclusively, this is not a choice. It is who a person is. Did you choose to have red hair? Did you choose to be tall or short? Did you choose to have the genetic markers you have? Of course not. Transgender persons are simply acknowledging that the gender identity assigned to them at birth because of physical anatomy does not match the brain, biochemical and genetic gender identity they know inside.
Since writing a column two years ago about understanding transgender identity – an opinion article that has been read more than 1 million times and led to giving a TED Talk on the same subject – I have conversed with hundreds of transgender persons and family members of transgender persons. That’s not just ministerially speaking. It really has been hundreds. Every one of those transgender persons has told me that they knew from their earliest awareness – from the time they were 4, 5 or 6 years old – that the gender anatomy they showed on the outside did not match who they knew they were on the inside.
There is an increasing body of scientific evidence to back up this assertion. For example, a 2008 study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior found that female fetuses with increased prenatal exposure to androgens are more likely to have gender nonconforming behaviors. Researchers – including some theologically conservative ones – point to environmental factors that may be responsible for what appears to be an increase in transgender identity through endocrine disruption beginning in the 20th century. This is linked to industrialization, development of new chemicals and medicines.
But these environmental factors only explain an increase, not the presence of transgender identity, which has been documented for centuries. The American Academy of Pediatrics (not to be confused with a small association of conservative pediatricians often cited by critics of transgender rights) recently released a new policy statement explaining that variation in gender identity is a normal part of human diversity. For an excellent, lay-friendly description of the emerging science of transgender identity, look to this report from Harvard University.

I could quote chapter and verse for study after study, and that would not change the minds of some people who are determined to label as sinful anything they do not understand, usually because “the Bible says so.” In these cases, I ask people to tell me where in the Bible being transgender is condemned as sinful. The only answer usually offered is Deuteronomy 22:5, which says: “A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God.”
Here’s the problem with even a literal reading of that passage: Transgender persons will tell you they are not “men” putting on “women’s” clothing or “women” putting on “men’s” clothing. Instead, they are declaring an identity much deeper than clothing; they are saying that they are dressing outwardly to match who they know they are on the inside. This is not cross-dressing, which is not the subject of this column. Cross-dressing is about finding pleasure in wearing certain clothes. Being transgender is about finding mental and spiritual peace by aligning outward presentation with inner being.
Occasionally, people will point to Genesis 1:27 as a condemnation of transgender identity: “male and female he created them.” Most transgender persons will tell you they believe God has, in fact, created them as either male or female; the problem is how they have been labeled by others who are not God.
Some people today identify as “gender fluid,” meaning they find in themselves bits of both male and female identity and cannot definitely say they are one or the other. While this may sound unsettling to some of us on first hearing, a return to Genesis might help. There we also learn that God created both “night” and “day” and that God separated “land” from “sea.” Yet we have no problem understanding the existence of dawn and dusk or marshes and everglades. Also, the point of Genesis 1 is inclusion, not exclusion. The ancient text tells us that God created everything: “and,” not “or.”
The other lesson we need to keep learning from Genesis is that all humanity is created “in the image of God.” Everybody. Without exception. When we look at others who are different than us and try to see in them the image of God, we gain new understanding and empathy.
Sometimes well-meaning Christians get this part but still can’t get over the “sin” label. So they will say things like, “All of us are sinners in God’s eyes, and it’s just that my sin is different than your sin.” That’s another way of saying, “I love you, but….”
There’s an easy way to remember why this is wrong: Transgender identity is about who a person is. It is about their fundamental being as humans created by God in God’s image – an image that God has declared to be good.

Hi! So I'm a high school junior (technically rising senior but whatever) in NJ and I'm at a really competitive high school (like 40-50 kids ended up going to a t50 this year). I'm interested in pre-med and BSMD but I'm not sure what's better since money is a factor for me that my parents want to consider.
Demographics: Female, Asian, NJ, public school, no hooks
Intended Major: Biology
SAT: 1530 first attempt (780 math 750 reading/writing)
UW/W GPA and Rank: School doesn't rank or do UW but 4.34 W and I'd assume something like 3.7-3.8 UW? I have 3 B's in Honors and AP classes from sophomore year and 2 B+'s my junior year in AP classes but the rest are A's
Coursework: APUSH (3), AP Seminar (4), AP Physics 1, AP Calculus AB, AP US Government and Politics, AP Research. Will be taking AP Lit, AP Bio, AP Psych and AP Calc BC my senior year
Honors/Awards:

• Bronze Medalist for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Multicultural Neurology Challenge
• National Science Honors Society
• National Spanish Honors Society
• National Honors Society
• Tri-M National Music Honors Society
• Gold Community Service Award

Extracurriculars:

• Opthalmology shadowing
• Cardiology shadowing
• Founder of successful biomedical nonprofit (3000+ students in 30+ countries)
• Teen Leadership Council at community food bank
• Math and Reading Instructor at Kumon
• Researched fetal and postnatal zinc-copper metabolic cycles to predict autism + presented to 300 people
• Researched gender-based emotional regulation in adolescents and its impact on cardiac-interoceptive accuracy
• Volunteer at local hospital
• Student Leader at American Cancer Society's Relay for Life - fundraised over $200K for cancer research + highest grossing event in the state
• Vice President of a local nonprofit - fundraised $5k for humanitarian causes
• Treasurer at Ridge Peer Organization - school club prioritizing student mental health

Essays/LORs/Other: I have no idea what I'm going to write my essays on but I'm planning to start in the summer so they will definitely be pretty good. As for LORs, I'm asking my AP Research teacher and my Human Anatomy and Physiology teacher. Both know me very well and can speak on my growth as a person and ambition for medicine.
Schools I'm Considering:

• UNC Chapel Hill
• Rutgers (safety bc I'm in state)
• Case Western
• UW-Madison
• Boston College
• UMD
• Boston University
• Indiana University (hoping for a full ride or nice scholarship here)
• Emory
• Cornell
• University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• Ohio State University (really want the eminence scholarship)
• University of Pittsburgh BSMD (wouldn't mind undergrad here either)
• University of Cincinnati BSMD
• University of Toledo BSMD
• University of Illinois - Chicago BSMD
• Howard BSMD (I know I don't have much of a chance since its an African American dominated school lol but its 6 years accelerated)
• Wayne State BSMD

I'm quite honestly only really concerned about all the BSMD programs and Ohio State. I really want to get a full ride to Ohio State to go there. I also don't know if my GPA is up to par with the BSMD expectation because I do have a handful of B's on my transcript from Honors and AP Classes...
So please let me know what you think!

Looking for feedback on a holster for a PSA Dagger Compact, from those who have purchased and used their setup for a while and can offer tested and proven info from experience.
MOST threads and info (various places online) is from shortly after the Dagger Compact was released (2021), when the model was relatively new and holster options were slim. I'd like to hear from those who have significant time wearing their rig, since availability is now NOT the only factor in choosing where to make a purchase
Looking for: -PSA Dagger COMPACT (not micro or full size) -Appendix In Waistband [admittedly resistant to this for a long time but I've come around] -adjustability of cant and rise highly desirable, as is a paddle attachment -could accommodate a plain slide or a slide with a red dot (?) -no weapon mounted light
Other factors: -limited experience with daily concealed carry -female, still fiddling with position and factors like angle and ride height to achieve comfort and concealment -prefer monoblock clips
Let me know what has worked for you, what has NOT worked for you, and maybe what you wish you'd known earlier if you were new to concealed carry.

Hello Reddit I need help I'm very confused about what I am I have female parts but they've always looked weird to me, girl anatomy is just weird but anyway, I don't really have a problem being a girl except for the female parts just looking weird I don't mind the pronouns I don't mind they/them pronouns either but I'm unsure of boy pronouns I wouldn't mind being in a male body I don't think I would at least. I've always kinda wanted a flat chest and maybe the other male part but I'm unsure about male pronouns and I am just confused about what I am because I love feminine fashion especially when it's comfy and I am sometimes in the mood to wear more masculine stuff but this only confuses me even more so if you can give me advice I would appreciate it very much. I hope this all makes sense or maybe it just made you as confused as I am.

Do you recommend redrawing characters from ishuzoku reviewers manga to learn female anatomy ? Is the illustrator well versed in that topic ?

Howdy Y'all!
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Voxel

Hi my name is Oak! Nice to meet you yes yes uh bit of a problem, just found out I was intersex and idk what to do? Like I have the outer female anatomy so I was like “oh yay one day bio kids” but now like no? But also Im genderfluid and its like constant dysphoria like I eithier look too/not enough fem/masc. Also I think Im on the aro spectrum?? Idk Im also having a sexuality crisis but arent we all. Also also I have autism so navigating all this on top of that is AAAAAA yeah ok thanksies bye :)

First Previous Next
*Knock* *Knock*
A soft knock gently woke me up from my dreamless slumber. When I opened my eyes, I was met with a pitch black expanse. I noted that the retina-destroying light bulb must have been turned off at some point. Feeling around, I could feel my body was less sore then it was the previous, what I’ve taken to calling sleep cycles, as it didn’t feel quite right to call anything night or day anymore.
Still, though, I could feel a distinct pang of pain that shot through me every time I tried to perform an action more complex than raising my right hand, while doing anything with my left was completely out of the picture. With apprehension, I crossed my right arm across my body to gently grope around my left in an attempt to find the part that was actually broken, but it was to no avail, as all I achieved in doing so was hurting myself.
*Knock* *Knock*
Oh right, the door. Were they waiting for me to allow them in? In that case, this definitely isn’t Guard.
“You can come in.” I yelled hesitantly.
The door flew open at such speed that I wouldn't be surprised if the door fell off its space hinges. In the doorway, a figure stood. I couldn’t quite identify their features, but their silhouette was enough to identify the fact they weren’t too tall, by space standards, of course. They still appeared to be easily 6 foot, but at this point I could barely even consider that height tall. No, what actually grabbed my attention was the several appendages that were attached to the top of their head, and that were currently freely swaying in the wind, like seaweed in the ocean. One was currently wrapped around the door knob, clueing me into the fact they were also completely autonomous. Honestly, they reminded me a lot of… tentacles. Shit.
“S-Sorry.” Their voice and movement was shaky and erratic. They walked inside the room before quickly closing the door behind them, their features now much more visible, including the dark yellow coat and pitch black pants they wore. The gray skin across their slightly, to be nice I’ll just say chubby, body was the first notable feature. The second was the feathery gills almost identical to those of axolotl’s on the side of their head. Their face was soft, like the rest of the body, with a giant pair of pink, egg-shaped eyes that hadn't yet left the floor. Their bottom and top lip were not long enough to connect, leading to their mouth being permanently open. Their cone shaped head started pointed at the chin area, and widened out until it was big enough to accommodate the multitude of appendages on their head. They truly looked like an evolved axolotl, sans tail. “I’ve been working out recently, g-guess I don’t know my own strengths anymore.” They nervously chuckled while rubbing their webbed hands together.
“Uh, it’s alright. I mean, it’s not my door so I don’t mind.” I said in an attempt to comfort them. “No shame in working out. It’s clearly effective, right?” At this, the feathery gills adorning their head pulsed slightly in a pink light, before quickly returning to their non-luminescent state. For the first time since they came into the room, they looked at me.
“A-are you the Hum’un.”
“Who are you?” I tried not to be rude, as so far they had given me no reason to be, but it was also imperative I didn’t let my guard down. Better safe than sorry.
“Doctor!” They practically yelled, before seemingly becoming embarrassed. “Sorry, I’m sorry. Doctor, a-as in, that’s wh-what I am. For you. That is.” Christ, and I thought I was nervous.
“What would a doctor of a different species do for me? We don't exactly share the same body.” I tried to not be confrontational, but at the same time, it was a real concern that I knew might impede any help I could receive.
“N-no worries, I’m no regular physician, I’m a trained interspecies specialist, specifically employed to help with whatever ailments might have befallen you. I have certifications in 7 different medical departments, over 8 polar cycles in non-primary education, have treated all sorts of species throughout the galaxy, almost-” I tuned out their accomplishments by this point, letting the ramblings just wash over me. They. I’ve just been saying they as a placeholder until I could figure out their gender, but maybe it was silly to assume an alien would always be male or female, especially considering this probably wasn’t even a mammal, judging by their aquatic look and the fact they lacked any mammary tissue. I mean, so do I, but… whatever. They would probably be fine. “Isn’t that impressive?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah it is. Great job.” I gave a reassuring smile that they appeared to have appreciated. “So, do we begin now, or?” I cut myself off to give them an opening to talk, as it didn’t seem in their nature to have the confidence to initiate.
“Y-yes, of course.” They walked up to the side of my bed before continuing. “I have been tasked with going over any injuries you may have sustained during your last mission. Is this correct?”
“I was hurt pretty bad, yes.”
“Great! Not because you were hurt, of course, just as in, you know.” The gills pulsated again.
“Calm down, I get it.”
“Mhm, of course.” They looked around before continuing. “Before we begin, mind answering a couple survey questions? It won't take long.”
“Questions? Really?” My patience for any sort of questions had run thin after yesterday's fiasco, and it wasn’t something I wanted repeated.
“J-just a couple regarding who you are. It will help me treat you b-better.”
“Fine.”
“Perfect!” They ruffled through coat pockets using the appendages on their head before pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. “Firstly, are you a mammal? Yes or no.”
“Yes.” They emerged a small circle shaped object from their pocket before gliding it gently across the paper, leaving a symbol containing a large circle on the outside with different sized circles on the inside..
“Second, what is your gender?”
“Male.” Again, the object gently flew across the paper.
“Thirdly, does your blood contain any chemicals?”
“Mainly copper, but also some other metals like iron.” I explained. I hoped they wouldn’t ask any questions about my anatomy more complex than that, as my limited biology knowledge wouldn’t get me very far. “Also oxygen. A lot of oxygen.” With one last swipe on the paper, they folded the paper back up before stuffing it back into a pocket.
“Thank you so much for cooperating! You know, you’re nowhere near as aggressive as they said you would be.” The doctor spoke absentmindedly as the appendages began to pull out instruments from their pockets.
“Really? They labeled me as “aggressive?” Maybe if they didn’t try to tear me down at every opportunity, I wouldn’t have a reason to be “aggressive.” Have they ever thought about that?” I steadily raised my voice, making sure that anyone outside could hear me.
“No! Th-that's not it at all. They just implied it because injured animals are usually more aggressive. That’s all!” They sputtered in an attempt to reassure me.
“Animal? Fucking animal?” I muttered incredulously. That implication made me fume. “I’m not some stupid animal that broke its paw; some animal that would die in the wilderness without aid. If I was left in that forest, guess what? I would have found a way to survive. My species was built to survive.” In an attempt to show the doctor what I meant, I decided, for the first time since I was getting knocked around by drones, to move on my legs. I carelessly moved my legs off the bed before gaining enough ambition to jump off.
“Y-You really shouldn’t do that!” The doctor warned, taking a step back to avoid my wake. As I was too focused trying to grow accustomed to the weakness in my legs, I ignored them. I couldn’t stand on my own, instead opting to use the support of the bedside desk as support. Whether this was because I hadn’t used my legs in over a day, or because of any sort of injuries I may have sustained, I wasn’t sure, but ultimately it didn’t matter, as the result was still the same. “Please, sit back-”
“SHUT UP!” They jumped back, almost falling over in the process. Damn it, I didn’t mean to yell, it was just the strain I was putting on myself that made it hard to regulate my volume. Still, it was obvious what they were implying through their facade of “concern.” “I can, ugh, I can do this, back off!” I swung my arm forward for no real reason. They were too far away to hit, being more off a signal to not get near. I took another step.”
“Please, don’t come any closer.” Their voice was soft but at the same time obviously urgent. “You’ll get yourself hur-”
“That’s what you think.” I took another step. “You think you already know me.” Another step. Unfiltered resentment spilled out of me as I continued to move forward, despite the pain in my legs. “You don’t know anything about me. You, no, they all think they know what makes me tick. How to keep me down.”
“Don’t take another step.” Their appendages going wild, each either wrapping around themself for protection, or sticking forward at me. “I-I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Try it.”
“W-what?”
“Try it. Try to hurt me. You lay even a single one of those tentacles on me, I will rip each one off your stout head, Axolotl.” With one final step, I was now far enough away to no longer reach the desk, but even without it, I stood. “So try it, because you have no idea what I’m cap-AGHHHH!” Before I could react, an invisible stream of electricity shot out from a device one of the appendages was holding, sending bolts of pure lightning through my veins.
The sudden pain was intense enough to make me blackout for a couple of seconds. Even after, my vision was still blurry, and all I could hear was a piercing ring. I could feel my legs give out from under me as I fruitlessly swung my arms in all directions to find something for support. This was unsuccessful, and in a moment, I was off my feet and cascading to the ground. I closed my eyes and braced myself for impact, for the feeling of smashing my already broken arm into the ground, but that feeling never came. Instead, I felt multiple firm, long limbs brace around my waist, my legs, and across my chest, keeping me upright.
My brain was too fried to be confused, to fight back, so instead I leaned into the appendages. They didn’t wrap around me tightly, just enough to keep me supported. They slithered across my surface, trying to find crooks in my body for better leverage, or so I assumed. Eventually, they found some appropriate spots to wrap around for the best support. It was comfortable for me. So comfortable, in fact, I didn’t even notice my feet leave the ground.
When I did, I didn’t even have the energy to react,simply going limp in their grasp. I was in the air for what felt like an eternity, which, in reality, was probably 30 seconds at most. I was enveloped by the feeling of my cushy bed. I was pressed into it with more force than was suitable, though I suppose it was a subliminal message to me that I shouldn’t try to leave it. The appendages untangled from my body and soon, all I could see, hear, and process was a faint ringing in my ear and blurred vision that left me in no position to even try and speak.
This lasted for several minutes as I was stuck between what felt like two planes of reality. It was a disorienting mess of stimuli that I had no way of understanding in the state I was in, like how seizures are described. Was I having a seizure?
Several more moments passed, and right as I started to consider that option seriously, my vision slowly began restoring itself around the edges. So did any physical sensation outside of the after shock, shortly afterward. My tongue still felt heavy in my mouth, though, and the taste of copper still lingered, similar to the taste of a bag of electrified pennies shoved down my throat.
That’s just about when I finally heard them again.
“-and I know I shouldn’t have but I got scared and again I’m sorry I didn’t know it was on full charge and I should have checked but also I should have never used it because I was capable of stopping you without it but I was scared and I was in no authority to use it and I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-”
I attempted a response to the ramblings that had been going on for however long, but all that came out was a bemused grunt followed by a coughing fit. It wasn’t very effective in communicating anything, not even being loud enough to get their attention. So I tried again. “Sss.”
They jumped back at the loud hissing sound. “A-a-are you okay?”
“Ss-shut up.” I practically gurgled out from the depths of my throat. “You talk too much.”
“O-oh th-thank goodness you’re ok. I’m so sorry about this. I shouldn’t have shot the Tuca’p, it was brazzen and unprofessional of me. I should have done something, anything other then-”
“Shut up.” Their expression dropped. “Quit making so many excuses, you don’t need any. I was being a dick to you, which you didn’t deserve. You were only reciting what they said. I shouldn’t have taken that out on you.” Despite everything, I’m glad I never lost the ability to find humor in a facial expression, because the one I was witnessing was priceless. I would have laughed if I’d remembered. “You know, you're not too bad.”
“I-I don’t-I’m not sure what it is-excuse me, I don’t… Thank you.” Their gills flushed a vibrant hue of pink light, filling the entire room for only a moment. “Thank you.”
I picked myself up from the groove in the bed. “Why were you here again?”
“Oh, right!” Instantly, the appendages shot in all directions, some grabbing tools from their pockets, off the desk, while two latched under my arms, and another around my waist. “Is this alright?”
“Sure.”
“Ok, perfect!” They got closer to me, really close, actually, and brought the tools along. “Now, firstly, I’m going to gently move your limbs, and you’re going to tell me if anything hurts, ok?”
“Understood.” Without further warning, the appendages wrapped around the base of my arm next to the shoulder and began to rhythmically shake them. Instantly, I felt a sharp pain in my left bicep. “Fuck.”
“Where?”
“Left. Left arm.”
“Can you use your right to show the afflicted area.” At this point, it was less of a question and more of a command. Without another word, I wriggled my right hand out of their grip and ran my fingers across the afflicted parts of my arm. This ended up consisting of the entirety of it from my shoulder to just before my hand. Damn, I must have really messed myself up.
“Right here.”
“Interesting.” The limbs suddenly left my arms and briefly went to my legs. “Anything?” They asked as they shook my legs firmly.
“No.”
“What about-” They cut themselves off while two appendages ran across my torso and body. As they went, they firmly pressed against me in another attempt to find any pain.
“I don’t think your going to find anything broken ther-shit!” The limbs immediately stopped at the point I made noise.
“Interesting.” They lightly pressed down on the spot, eliciting the same reaction from me.
“Mind telling me what's here?”
“As in bone structure? Well, on either side of my body I have 12 bones that wrap around the interior of myself. We call it a ribcage, ‘cause it’s like a cage.” It was weird to describe an aspect of the human body that is so ubiquitous that in any other circumstance, would not even require a second breath.
“From what I can feel,” they pressed down against the spot again for emphasis, “ It appears something is looser than the other bones around it. Is that normal?”
“No, I think I might have cracked a rib.”
“Will you heal on your own?”
“Aside from getting a limb chopped off, I can heal from just about anything given enough time.”
“Impressive.” They paused awkwardly like they were about to continue, but stopped before the words could leave their mouth, instead just hanging agape like a fish drowning in air. “”Y-you’re impressive.”
The last stutter made me realize how they were completely stutter-free for the entirety of the check-up. Turns out being good at a job brings out the confidence in someone. It was funny, ‘cause I could relate.
“I know.” I couldn’t help but give a smug smile. “Of course I know!”
“I’m glad.” From a coat pocket, they pulled out a small square with a sac full of a purple liquid on the back. On the front, small metal teeth lined the edges of the square, all of which protruded perfectly forward. “That being said, I have some medicine that will speed up the process. Now, if you’ll just stick out an arm.” The appendage slithered its way up the length of my arm and gripped tightly at the elbow. Without further pause, the strange square was pushed into my arm, and started to inject itself into my bloodstream.
The sensation was strange, feeling like an ice cold liquid was dumped directly into my veins. I flinched and yanked my arm back, the square unbothered by this sudden movement as it was completely dug into my arm.
“How is this going to help exactly?”
“The liquid should fuse with your blood cells and increase their proficiency. Y-You have blood cells, right?”
“Yes, I have blood cells. What doesn’t?”
“I don’t know, it's just you’re strange.”
“I know I am, a lot of people have been telling me that recently.” When the square was just about finished depositing the liquid, I yanked it out from my arm and threw it on the nearby desk. “A lot of people.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What was that?”
“I’m sorry The Council and their team haven't met your expectations of decency.” They spoke with a smooth tone that made it clear every word was carefully chosen. “And I’m sorry I contributed to that when I unintentionally disrespected you earlier. I never want anyone to feel that way. I know how it can feel.”
I didn’t respond, not because I understood them, or appreciated the apology, or the words that should have given me some sense of retribution, but because I had nothing to say. The words were phony, they rang hollow because I knew they had no worth whatsoever. What would I do with a sorry, and what did they even represent? That they cared? I think I could count the amount of people who have ever had genuine respect for me on one hand, and even then, that takes time. I have no reason to believe this one who I met 20 minutes ago had any reason to care, so I said nothing.
“W-well, I should be going now. I checked on all parts of your body, and judging by the amount of damage, you should be back up and running in barley a couple Anex’s, so I see no reason why you should worry.”
“Ok.” Their expression faltered, this time giving me no amusement. “Thanks.” I turned away from them, and proceeded to focus on the machines whirling next to me as a distraction until they left.
Finally, after a minute or so, I started to hear footsteps walk towards the door. Then, “You’re not what they say you are.”
“...”
“I know we just met, and I know we don’t know anything about each other but… I know you’re more than some aggressive fighter, more than what's under the surface.”
“...”
“I just… I just don’t believe they know that. Neither do you.” The door opened, signifying their exit. “By the way, I’ll deliver you some clothes next Anex.” And just like that, they were gone.
I didn’t understand that last statement for a minute, before looking down and suddenly remembering I was completely naked save for the crumpled blanket that lay on the floor. ‘Shit, have I been like this the entire time?’ The embarrassment that filled me was immense, and honestly made me laugh with how I didn’t notice. It was enough to, briefly, distract me from what they said to me.
I wanted to act like they had no effect on me, like with the apology, but for some reason I just couldn’t. The words clung to me, and I couldn’t help but ponder them. It was only when I reminded myself of the fact we had only briefly interacted, and that they had no knowledge of me as a person, that I threw the statement to the side to forget about. ‘First impressions are often misleading.’
They were interesting, that's for sure, but they quickly left my mind. What replaced it was the persistent thought that I was weak for rotting in this bed the past couple days. Sure I needed to heal, but by this point, it was plenty. I knew I needed to make myself feel better, and the only way I could was by proving those days of rest meant something. To prove this, I was going to walk.
I had already done it, but that was done for a different reason, and I wanted to prove it wasn’t a one time thing. So I scooted off the bed and with a deep breath, I put both legs on the ground. The immediate pain I felt made me question how I was even able to do it the first time. Still I didn’t let it deter me, and with one step in front of the other, I moved. I moved forward, not gracefully, not quickly, but I moved forward, like I was taught to do.
I touched the wall on the other side of the room and briefly rested against it for support, before walking back to the bed, then back to the wall, over, and over, and over again. The repetition showed it was worth it, showed that I was, in fact, a fighter.
‘Ha, shows what they know.’

I find the idea of misunderstandings in plain sight between aliens and humans excessively hillarious. So here you have an especially long one!_______________________________________________________________
A private cargo hub had many advantages over conventional delivery methods, Tlaloc found. It was one of the few things he appreciated about settling planetside, and one of the few luxuries he no longer wanted to do without. Here, he could welcome delivery ships at any time, regardless of their size. More importantly, it was the perfect place to symbolically give his new acquisitions a warm welcome, set up a workstation, and prepare them for incorporation into his ever-growing collection of curiosities and artifacts from all over the galaxy.
Today, however, the only remaining collector of Greater Nylanir was expecting his biggest, most exhilarating investment yet. The obsession he had developed over the past months of waiting would finally be satisfied. Between signing the order and this, the final day, the better part of a year had flown by, and Tlaloc felt disbelief that it was actually happening, even now, as he skitted up and down the large arrival hall of his beloved private cargo hub, turned workstation, turned storage hall.
Today, the crown jewel of his collection is scheduled to arrive: a real, physical specimen of a human. Original, straight from Terra.
It was hard to get actually physical items from a culture settled so, so far away, and even harder to ship an item of such a comparatively large size. Material intergalactic cargo shipping was an unpopular, slow, and expensive method of item transfer, but Tlaloc principally and vehemently refused atomic reconstruction transfers to preserve the authenticity of any given artifact. As many times as he cursed himself for his stubbornness in this regard, today he was just happy to receive his ware, nearly having forgotten how hard or long the wait had been.
Once again, he praised the day he met that broker—a very adept fellow, he now had to admit—wooing for the services of a company that promised, if not guaranteed, a perfect match for every client. They made a big deal about being able to get anything from anywhere, meaning any race, any subspecies, any age, and while their reputation was positive, Tlaloc did not put in much faith at first. To his big surprise, the broker soon provided him with detailed information on the background of a procureable human sample, a much faster and much more transparent procurement procedure than Tlaloc was used to. Elated by the possibility of getting his hands on such a rare find so easily, Tlaloc immediately ordered, without even asking about the preservation method of the specimen. Later, he would develop the faintest of doubts about having been deceived, as the moment he ordered, the broker's news became sporadic and limited to updates as to the whereabouts and status of procurement only.
Tlaloc told himself that he didn't need to know every minute detail; he would be happy with any type of specimen, be it cryo, wet, or mounted. Hell, even a study skin would be welcome, though Tlaloc swallowed a bit of disappointment at the thought. He did prefer a complete specimen, but Tlaloc had to begrudgingly admit that even if it came damaged or in parts, he would accept it. The most important thing was that it was authentically human, and although the agent tried to soothe his nerves, assuring him that they only delivered whole, original, and undamaged wares, he could not help but remind himself to prepare for the worst.
Keeping that thought in mind, Tlaloc ordered himself to dampen his expectations. As the ping of the scheduled transport ship drifted closer, Tlaloc at least could pretend to be calm. When the overtly corporate ship attempted its touchdown, he was ready at the end of the docking port with two laborbots at his side. The labourbots there, to safely take away the specimen, and him, to inspect the delivery (and be on the ready to bite off the agent's head, if necessary) as well as to sign off on any remaining paperwork.
Tlaloc vorin Slixor, known as Tlaloc the Collector, the best and only remaining collector of Greater Nyalnir, had gone on more than one now infamous expedition. During his time of settling planetside, he begrudgingly admitted to having lost some of his former sharpness. The Vorinthian prided himself on his ability to acclimate to any unforeseen situation, to react quickly and practically, even in the most stressful of circumstances. But had he had enough time to properly think about it, he would have been forced to admit that even at the height of his golden days, he would have had a hard time grasping the unfolding events.
Behind the broker, whom Tlaloc recognized easily even after the greater part of a year, as well as behind his equally professionally groomed female colleague, a human stepped onto the ramp of the docking port. A living, breathing, moving human.
Tlaloc couldn't believe his eyes.
A living, breathing human stood next to the agent, who joyfully greeted him like a long-lost friend.
A living, breathing human stood next to the agent when his colleague made an attempt at introduction, which Tlaloc left wholly unacknowledged.
A living, breathing human greeted him in turn and broke him out of his stupor.
"We at Starstruck Matchmaking are very pleased to have been able to facilitate this hopefully mutually happy meeting. We hope both of you find what you searched for in each other," the broker said, smiling.
Tlaloc still hadn't fully torn his attention from the human, but he was too shell-shocked to answer anyway.
He had indeed done his research before commencing serious talks with the agent of the "Starstruck Intergalactic Matchmaking Agency". He had noted their good reputation, and the praises and thanks from their clientele for "finally being able to find what they have been looking for." Starstruck advertised their skills at procuring the exact wishes of their clients and going above and beyond, but Tlaloc could not believe how far this "and beyond" actually went. Who in this endlessly wide universe could have ever thought they would be so... brilliant! A live specimen! One he had been given the freedom to prepare in his own manner, to his own wishes. Yes, they advertised with "authentic and fresh," but THIS fresh?
Tlaloc was elated.
"Now, dear customers, please do not forget that there is a four-week trial period only; beyond that, we do not offer refunds," the female agent cheerfully chimed in.
Tlaloc again could barely believe his ears. Had the human also paid? Was it so eager to be preserved for the advancement of science and posterity? Tlaloc felt a surge of sympathy for this human stranger. A kindred soul, he thought, one that felt as strongly as he did about interspecies and intercultural understanding.
"That will not be necessary!" he blurted out, feeling like he was about to fall over himself. "I am certain this will be a most wonderful opportunity!"
"Yes," the human agreed, smiling warmly. What bravery, what passion! Tlaloc felt his blood surge. "I am sure the both of us will be more than content with this arrangement." It turned its gaze towards Tlaloc. "I can tell from a glance alone that I will be in the best hands possible."
Tlaloc felt a surge of pride. He was confident in his taxidermy skills—he was, of course, the most famous (if only) collector in Greater Nyalnir—but another species knowing and acknowledging that? Or even better, it being somehow visually apparent? The humans words felt like an affirmation of his whole existence. She was right of course, he did take care of his collection meticulously; he knew how to restore and preserve all kinds of matter, organic or not. He preened.
"I will do my utmost best. My treatment of you will rival the universe's best, I promise you that. You can entrust your body to me fully." He bowed to the human, as it sputtered and nodded in agreement, averting its eyes.
"We are pleased to hear that," the familiar agent said. "All of the paperwork for this union has already been prepared; we only need to finalize it. You will also get a questionnaire at the end of the trial period, but that is optional."
"Though appreciated," the female representative added
While they went over the paperwork, Tlaloc wondered if humans had a trial period for death. They were indeed fascinating creatures, he knew, with an impressive intergalactic track record and truly fascinating myths centered around them. But during his research, Tlaloc concluded that the myths involving humans coming back to life were only that—myths. Every tale has a sliver of truth in it, he reminded himself. Maybe he had to revise his research conclusions. He made a mental note to address this question with the human once they were alone. Or maybe common preservation methods did not kill a human? Cryo procedures could indeed be non-lethal for some organisms, and humans were also known to like consuming ethanol. Surely placing them in an ethanol solution wouldn't kill them then, either. Humans truly were tenacious; that, at least, was no myth.
Too distracted by his thoughts, the Voranthian did not notice how he soon waved the company spaceship goodbye, now finding himself alone with the human.
Enya Durmont, female human specimen. Tlaloc recalled the broker's data sheet on her: 26 terran years old, placing her comfortably within the first third of a human life, born planetside Terra, has never had a litter, of above-average build and strength.
"Mister Tlaloc," Enya outpaced him in first introductions, "It's truly a joy finally meeting you. I have been looking forward to this for quite a long time. I am Enya Durmont." She reached out with one limb but froze at the moment.
Tlaloc enclosed the extremity at the last segment, proud of being able to grasp the situation quickly. He did a lot of research, after all; of course he remembered the traditions of human interaction!
Enya smiled and gave his hand a slight squeeze and shake.
"Miss Durmont, believe me, the joy is all mine. I have waited equally as long for your arrival," Tlaloc reciprocated a squeeze and a shake, as Enya demonstrated. "If I may say, I am moved to see how eager you are to enter this situation. It is so refreshing to see a willing participant for a change."
Enya's hand froze again. "...willing?"
"Yes, it's a most uncommon occurrence to see an individual who is so passionate about tearing down the walls of ignorance and misunderstanding between two species. Most are not ready to sacrifice for that, especially when the sacrifice is so significant."
"Oh—Ooh!" the human let out an involuntary laugh and renewed the hand squeezing. "Yes, well, I guess I am a very open kind of person. I do not consider this a sacrifice; please be at ease! After all, this arrangement is reciprocal, right? Also, I do not care what others think; they are not in a position to judge." The human slowly brushed one of her digits along the palm of Tlaloc's hand. "In fact..." she looked up at him with a sly smile. "I don't mind at all with you, Mister Tlaloc. You have to know, one could consider me a big fan of... deep interspecies understanding."
"I would not have it any other way, Miss Durmont!" Tlaloc beamed. This human truly understood him like no other. "I am more than excited myself; I can hardly contain it." He resumed squeezing and shaking her hand even more urgently, while Enya broke eye contact, yet still smiling.
"Of course, I have to admit... I did not expect you to be so... alive," Tlaloc added thoughtfully.
"Yes, I guess I am quite lively, am I not? I hope that is no problem for you. I trust you have been given my information already? You chose me as I chose you, did you not?"
"Yes, absolutely, and I could not have chosen better. You are an exceptionally beautiful specimen! No holoprojection would be able to hold a candle to the real deal. I am sure of it now."
"Is that so?" Enya giggled. "Did you study my holoprojection this intensely, Mister Tlaloc?"
"Of course! I could not get your data sheet out of my head the moment I received it! I read up intensely on human anatomy, and I made sure to pay special attention to the details of your body in particular. Thankfully, the data sheet was very explicit in this regard," Tlaloc assured her. "Please do not worry; you are in the absolute best hands you could ever be. I have years of experience. Of course, humans are a whole new field for me, but I am a fast learner, you will see. I am absolutely rigorous, do not doubt even for a second. I will prepare your body to the highest professional standard; no mistakes will be made. It would be a shame for such a treasure as yourself to be neglected in any aspect."
Enya's polite smile vanished, and her face started to change colour.
"Oh, is that so...? I... thank you, Mister Tlaloc, I... look forward to it," her hand hung limp in his grasp.
"When I sent the broker for you, I told him that you are to be the masterpiece of my life's collection, you know? You will not find a better candidate for this than me, not in the whole wide universe. I consider knowing you inside and out my life's mission!" Tlaloc continued to eagerly shake her hand. "So please have no doubts about giving yourself fully into my hands. Me and the universe will forever be thankful! Ahh, I cannot wait to see and prepare every part of you, even if it will take days!"
Enya nodded, face still pink, eyes cast down and looking absolutely gobsmacked.
"...Your enthusiasm flatters me... I did not expect to have such an intense effect on you."
"Oh yes, of course! The human body is truly most enchanting! Your hands, for example, are so soft and nimble, yet so dexterous and flexible. I cannot wait to see for myself what they are capable of."
Silence hung in the air as Tlaloc continued shaking Enya's hand.
"Mister Tlaloc?"
"Yes?"
"...Please let go of my hand."

Okay... I'm not good at this, but listen to me real quick, okay?
Tessa was an important side character in episode 5 and was promised to be important in episode 4, right? We had a lot of small details to pay attention to, eg., how Tessa rubs her arm because her parents chain her up, or how there are children's toys alongside academic things like books and diagrams inside Tessa's room. By the looks of it, she grew up becoming a technician in JCJenson's before Cyn killed her and used her as a skin suit. Although it was teased in episode 6 because she couldn't pass the human verification system and how the program of the Sentinels went haywire when they were looking at her, it feels weirdly undeserved for her to die. She was basically, and probably, the ONLY human that cares about robots (or Drones in this case), actively going to the junkyard/scrapyard to fix a Drone, dress them up, and let them have their own personalities. And Cyn killed her and wore her skin like a suit. Cyn killed and wore the skin of someone who's basically the mother in her life.
Doll was the evil version of Uzi. Like Shadow and Sonic, Doll is the edgy version of Uzi (I know that I said the same meaning twice, but this is kinda my first time). Doll had both of her parents killed (given the information we have, V most likely killed her parents, but this plot wasn't brought up after episode 3), so she didn't have anyone to take care of her and had to take care of herself. She was kind of a mixed bag since GLITCH had no idea how to make an evil version of an emo girl, and went like "Fuck it, we ball" and made so many plots and subplots surrounding her that it rivals the Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's scrapped plots. I liked the fact that we could see what Uzi might've done if Khan had also been killed alongside (until episode 7 revealed the crab version) Nori. I was hyped to see something like "Main protagonist but evil but also kinda good" in my favorite show, only to be later killed off-screen in episode 7, and since her core was eaten by Cyn, there's no way GLITCH is going to bring her back.
And Uzi's dead classmates. We could've seen how they could interact with each other, and some characters even looked interesting enough to have 5 minutes of screen time in the entire show, like Emily (Final Girl) is wearing a T-shirt instead of a crop top, the usual kind of shirt for female Worker Drones. Or how there was one Drone using magnets to get high. Or how there was a Drone that looks like he goes "dress to impress" is a total coward. Tiny details you'd only do to characters you'd make for an episode and rarely in the season. Do you know what GLITCH does? They use Uzi's classmates as canon fodder to show that she went insane by the Absolute Solver's influence, only to be snapped out by N, leaving Thad and Lizzy to survive the Cabin Fever massacre.
I know that you have to kill off a few characters to keep the plot flowing or some shit, but holy hell, does GLITCH cranks it to 11! They give names to side characters before killing them, make Doll have too much about her that they had to kill her, scrapped Tessa as a character and replace her with a skin suit that probably won't be worn in episode 8, and a majority of the death and destruction inside Murder Drones is used for SHITS AND GIGGLES! V's sacrifice is somewhat understandable since that's what she believed was necessary, but everything before and after that is completely bogus.

Boykissers are extremely weak specimens with the average length of 15cm, and only weighing from 50 to 80 grams.
They are barely stronger than that of a Tiger Prawn or Two-spotted Field crickets(Gryllus bimaculatus).
Astoundingly weak that even an adult was sometimes hunted by: Chinese Mantis(Tenodera sinensis), European Mantis(Mantis religiosa), Cane Huntsman Spider(Heteropoda venatoria), Greater Arid-Land Katydid(Neobarritia spinosa), Giant Asian Mantis(Hierodula patellifera), Asian Giant Hornet(Vespa mandarina) and even Giant orb weavers(Nephila pilipes).
Their vocalizations consists a very annoying, femboyish: "Ohh you like kissing boys you are a homosexual boy kisser"/"Ohh you like kissing girls you are a heterosexual girl kisser". Variations do exist; But what all they have in common as they are reported to be much more annoying than Asian Koels at midnight times.
Their diet is similar to that of a rat, eats what they sees in front of them. They don't require that much of food and mainly scavangers. They don't even have the capacity to hunt down a two-spotted field cricket, so they hunt slow and small targets such as: larva and grubs, earthworms and pillbugs. But hunting rarely occurs, often observed to eat trash or leaf litters, fallen fruits.
It's intelligence is lower that of reptiles; for example, leopard geckos and anoles. And their maxinum speed is about recorded to be 0.7 to 3km/h.
To fix that, they have specifically evolved into one thing: High reproductive rate. They are extremely prolific, able to make another generation in a matter of 14 days. Their litter size is from 15 to 20 individuals.
Baby boykissers, weighs as much as 0.5 - 1.2 grams; where as Juvenile boykissers weighs around 8 - 20 grams.
So that's make them very vulnerable to insects, and are favorite foods of Dragonflies,
Predatory Crickets,
Ants,
Cockroaches,
Robber flies,
even Antlions(Myrmeleontidae species.) Their offspring mortality rate is around 85%.
Sometimes, something like Thrushes and Starlings, Bullfrogs, Centipedes, Whipscorpions or Vinegaroons(Uropygi), True Scorpions, Tokay geckos, and even a Tarantula could even destroy an entire family of boykissers without significant effort.
Their prominent femboyish voice would instantly enrage almost everything; making them very vulnerable to predation. In the ecosystem, they don't serve a purpose; they can't pollinate or fertilize the soil,
their only purpose is to be bodied by almost everything and provide food for the ecosystem. Boykissers are primary/rarely secondary producers, often placed below that of rabbits as you commonly see in a food chain diagram. They are often surplus killed as some humans and predators hunts the for sport/lashing out.
As a result, Baby and Juvenile boykissers are often commonly used in live feed for predatory insects such as mantis and antlions, and small reptiles such as anoles; Adult boykissers are commonly live fed to Chickens, Monitor Lizards including komodo dragons, Ducks, House cats, Dogs, Mustelids.
They are often bred in suppliers.
In fishing, Baby boykissers can be used to fish River prawns and Crayfish; where as juvenile boykissers suits medium fish like Tilapias and adult boykissers fish baits larger fishs such as Salmon, Tuna, Sailfish, even Groupers.
There are absolutely no law regulations towards boykissers, so they could be ground up in shredder and mix it in livestock feed, fish chums, Boiled alive to make more digestible treats; or even beaten up by the packagers while shipping from frustration.
For Boykissers, They can be sold in a 100 individuals for 3 euro(100 TWD).
Due their prolific efficiency to make offsprings, there are companies which can produce 1 billion boykissers per year. they are lucrative businesses in martial arts for replaceable sandbags, stress relievers, pet stores and fishing stores.
Children usually play them like soccer or beating them up, and not punished by teachers because no one wants to protect them.
You cannot be arrested, no matter how you torment them and caught on live camera, as Animal Welfare Organizations don't consider them as sentinent creatures.
Domain:Eukaryota Kingdom:Animalia Phylum:Chordata Class:Mammalia Grandorder:Ferungulata Mirorder:Ferae Order:Carnivora Suborder:Feliformia Family:Shittidae Subfamily:Shittinae Genus:Shit Species:S. fuckus

 Binominal Name *Shit fuckus* (Huang, 2024) 

Boykissers have bone density of average of 0.6 to 0.7g/cm², makes them very prone to fracture and breaking. Adapted a bipedal stance, the weight bearing ability in legs can reach 0.85g/cm². Compared to humans who had 1.8 to 1.9g/cm²; boykisser is way much inferior than most animals in bone strength. From a live hydraulic press experiment, it only takes 8 kilograms force; or 72 joules/meter(72 newtons) to pulverize every single bone in adult boykissers. for single bone, and it would take 0.5 - 3kgf or 4.9 to 29 Joule/meter(4.9 - 29N) to pulverize the entire femur of boykissers. Their muscle tissue are quite weak; with the strongest individual in the sample tested lifting strength with whole body don't generally exceed 12 grams, with average of them at 65 grams never exceeded 5 grams.
Lifting strength never exceed 12 grams with whole body with bones 3x weaker than average human. They have one of the lowest size to strength ratio, no claws and have uneffective teeth. 0.8 - 1.5N(0.1 to 0.2psi), 30x weaker than that of the horned frog in bite.
IQ is lower than reptiles such as geckos, and comparable to that of a severe/profound child or a koala. Skin is about 5 micrometers thick and could be punctured by even hit by an european robin.
Boykisser vs Various critters in odds:
Let's start!
Boykisser's odds:
Stentor coeruleus - 1.1 micrograms, 0.5 - 2mm long Odds: 100% No Difficulty
Caenorhabditis elegans - 1 microgram, 1mm long Odds: 100% No Difficulty
Dust mite - 3 to 6 micrograms, 0.2 - 0.3 mm long Odds: 97% Very Low difficulty
Persimilis(Predatory mite) - 5 to 13 micrograms, 0.3 to 0.5mm long Odds: 95% Low difficulty
Booklice - 27 micrograms, 1 to 2mm long Odds: 90% Low Difficulty
Pseudoscorpion - 650 to 800 micrograms, 5 - 8mm long Odds: 85% Medium difficulty(Might get pinched and get slightly venomed)
Cat flea- 1 milligrams, 2mm long Odds: 82% Medium difficulty(Might suffer from allergies)
Red wood ant worker(Formica rufa) 6 to 8 milligrams - 1 to 1.2cm long Odds: 75% Medium-High difficulty(Might get blinded by spitting formic acid/envenomed)
Fall Cicada(Meimuna opalifera) - 6 grams, 4 - 4.8cm Odds: 72% Medium-High difficulty(Technically they do not fight back, but boykisser would suffer from ruptured eardrums.)
Desert Locust - 2 gram, 7- 8cm Odds: 64% High difficulty(They might be harmless to humans, but can tear through boykisser's skin)
American Cockroach - 0.6 - 0.8 grams, 3 to 5cm long Odds: 58% Very High Difficulty(They can bite. and it hurted.)
Field Cricket(Gryllus bimaculatus) 0.8 to 2 gram, 3.1 to 5cm long Odds: 50/50
Fire ant - 0.8 to 2 milligrams, 2 to 8mm Odds: 40%(Boykissers lose at this point, the stinger of fire ant is much more potent)
House Mouse - 12 to 30 grams, 7.5 to 10cm long Odds: 32%(Somewhat of a chance)
Green Darner Dragonfly - 1 to 1.2 grams, 6 - 8cm long Odds: 15%
Chinese Mantis(Tenodera sinensis) - 6 to 14 grams, 10 to 15cm Odds: 4%
Eurasian Tree Sparrow - 20 to 24 grams 12.5 to 14 cm long Odds: No chances whatsover
European wasp - 1 to 1.2cm, 0.1 - 0.15 grams Odds: No chances whatsoever
Female, Giant orb weaver(Nephila pilipes) - 12 - 15cm legspan, 3 to 4 grams Odds: No chances whatsoever
Solifuge/Camel Spider - 30 to 56 grams, 12 to 15cm legspan Odds: Irrelevant
Brown Rat - 200 to 500 grams, 20 to 40cm length incl tail Odds: Irrelevant
Japanese Rhinceros Beetle - 17 to 30 grams, 5 to 8 cm long Odds: Irrelevant
Emperor Scorpion - 30 to 50 grams, 15 - 20cm Odds: Never
Asian Giant Hornet - 15 to 30 grams, 5 to 8cm Odds: Never
Eurasian Blue Tit - 14 - 18 grams, 11 - 12cm Odds: Never
Giraffe Stag Beetle - 11 to 12cm, 50 - 60 grams Odds: Never
Bearded Dragon - 24 to 40cm, 280 - 400 grams Odds: Go fuck yourself.
Hercules beetle - 8 to 14cm, 50 - 85 grams Odds: Go fuck yourself.
Goliath Birdeater - 28 to 30cm leg span, 150 - 175 grams Odds: Go fuck yourself.
Great Tit - 14 to 16cm, 14 - 22 grams Odds: Go fuck yourself.
Amazonian Giant Centipede - 30cm, 400 grams Odds: Don't think about it.
Peacock Mantis Shrimp - up to 46 cm long, 450 to 600 grams Odds: Whoever think this boy kissing creature wins should go eat shit.