Low cost dog grooming near me

Hi there, for those who may have seen me floating around here, I'm a cat and dog groomer here in the capital region, and I just wanted to let those in the area know that I am accepting new clients if they're looking for a local dog groomer :)
While I am open to taking most dogs, please know I have a preference for small-large dogs ( not extra large though because I'm kinda small ) or dogs that don't have bite histories/aggression issues as I work at a boarding/daycare facility and need to keep everyone's safety in mind!
I currently work at Shawna's Dogs in Glenmont. I have been a certified professional dog groomer for about three years now, and have graduated top of my class when I was in training, as well as studying under three groomers of 10+ years, so I've been very fortunate to build up my skills! I am very well versed with dogs and have experience in grooming and showing.
If you're interested, here is a link to some of my previous grooms so you can get a feel for my style. If you're interested, please reach out to Shawna's Dogs and ask to book with me and we can put you in the queue! :) Thanks for supporting a local college student trying to get by.

Hey, my name is Cory. That's my real name. I don't care I give it out like most OPs. I've been doxxed before. I know the rigamarole. This saga isn't about that. This is about some shitty neighbors who are neckbeards/incels/niceguys or whatever the difference is nowadays and how I learnt from them about making obsessive chicks ghost me. It's about how I ascertained the ability to repulse even legbeards.
Now, for our cast. I am obviously Cory, a guy in his late 20s who lives with his grandmother because he has a neurodegenerative disorder like his grandfather, or his grandmother's late ex-husband. My family doesn't want me living alone because I could die in my sleep and I want to take care of my grandmother. Win-win?
Bert is our first neckbeard. I don't know why I'm calling him Bert, but I need a name. Our second neckbeard is Ernie just because it fits well with Bert some reason. Lastly, our legbeard will be named Kelly because, again, need a name.
So let's dive into things.
One evening, being the light sleeper that I am, I was awoken to the sounds of screaming. I checked the clock. It was only 8PM. I downstairs and talked to my grandma and she said she didn't hear anything. She was awake the whole time, so I presumed the screaming was just me making things up. Turns out the elderly widow living caddycorner to us passed away. We found out two days later.
Weeks went by and her family sold the house. The buyer rented it out. They rented it out to none other than Bert and Ernie, who seemed around my age. Bert and Ernie were quiet at first, making as much nose as anyone does settling in. Then I noticed the oddities. When I'm off work I usually go out for frequent cigarette breaks. I usually during the day and stay up late.
On one of my 2AM smoke breaks I spotted the duo with their guns getting into their rusty Ford truck. Odd, I thought, but I wasn't too shocked as we live near the woods. This happened at least once a week, but I payed it no scrutiny other than rubbernecking.
One day after a trip, I'd come home with something special. It was a Russian Mosin Nagant in pristine condition - something that was made in WW2, never entered the hands of a commie, and probably just sat in some old dude's safe after coming to the US. The neighbor across the street is into guns so I figured I would show him before I wiped it down.
This is important to note: my neighbor are friends. We have a relationship where he teaches me car stuff and helps me with car problems for cheap. I help him with gun stuff and get him sub-MSRP guns in return (all legally, of course). When I was showing him my gun, in come Bert and Ernie from next door to him.
All of a sudden, my friend's dog start barking. They did not like Bert and Ernie. His dogs LOVED everyone in the neighborhood.
Bert: "Nice garbage rod."
I do believe he was being sarcastic as Mosins are often called garbage rods.
Bert: "Do you have any other guns?"
Ernie: "I just got an AK-47!"
Me: "Oh, what kind?"
Ernie: "It's a RAS-47. That thing is a fucking beast! Holy shit."
For those of you who aren't in the know, a RAS-47 is not an AK-47. It's based off the AKM and is one of the worst civilian AK pattern rifles on the market. It has a weak, cast metal trunnion and they are prone to shatter. Anyway...
Me: "Anyway, I gotta get this inside."
I gesture for.my neighbor to hand me the gun back. He gets the jist.
Neighbor: "Yeah, I gotta get back to work. Let me know when you can take a look at that pistol."
Me: "Will do."
I wave and go inside, ignoring what Bert and Ernie say.
That very night, I'm approached by Bert while I'm smoking. I was on my meds, and if you don't know how neurosuppressants feel imagine having all the vertigo and discombobulation of being drunk, but none of the euphoria. I was smoking because it helps me sleep.
I WANTED TO GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP.
Now, I was on these meds so this conversation doesn't stick as well to my memory.
Bert: "Hey, man, you remember me from earlier."
Me: "Hm... yeah?"
Bert: "Is it cool if I bum a cig? I'll pay you."
He did have a dollar in his hand, but I halted him. I handed him a smoke.
Me: "Pay it forward."
Bert: "So you like guns? So do me and my roommate."
Me: "Yeah, I used to be an arms dealer and have degrees to train people and am a bit of an armorer and... I'm sorry if I make no sense. I'm medicated like an old man right now."
Bert: "You think you can get us automatic weapons?"
Me: "No. Even when I was I couldn't. An arms dealer. I don't think the site had them. Davidson's..."
Bert: "That's gay. Fucking ATF being J*wed as fuck."
Me: "Yeah... go to a gun store if you want something ordered. What's your favorite piece?"
Bert: "Probably my AR. I built it myself!"
He then proceeded to pull out his phone and show me a picture of an AR-15 with an anime girl on it. I think it was Rem from Re:Zero. It was at least some blue-haired waifu broad.
Bert: "How about you?"
Me: "Probably my AK. I fixed her up myself to be more accurate than most semis out-of-the-box."
I showed him a picture of my gun. It was a refurbished WASR-10, a Romanian AK, with a new muzzle and furniture. Everything else - mechanical and cosmetic - was fixed by me. I like to brag about fixing up a hunk of rust. Let me have this. I turned $400 into $1600!
Bert: "Heh, good luck hitting anything with that."
Me: "I've went through training with that thing and passed."
Bert: "Well, then where'd you get your training from?"
By this point, I was done smoking my first. I'd just lit another cigarette because I was intrigued. Even when medicated I was attracted to metaphorical fires in the parking lots of hell.
Me: "It's from [Company Name]. They're ex-SWAT, train SWAT, and have something to do with the American College of Surgeons."
Bert: "Can you train us?"
Me: "For money. I'm always down to go shooting."
Bert: "What do we need?"
Me: "I dunno guy... I'll remember in the morning. Good night."
I was seriously slurring my speech now. I pinched the cherry off my cigarette and shood Bert away from me.
I went inside and slept peacefully.
I know this part is all exposition, but soon we'll get into the meat of the story. That comes up next - when I go shooting with the neckbeards and meet the legbeard.

Hi, my name is Artur and I am starting my own small business. Selling hoodies with printings on it. Can someone suggest me some Ads platform that are free or low cost since I don't have much money? I am currently on shopify and if someone want to check my site out i would be rly happy. I need to grow my business so one day I can make it bigger. Much tnx Allhoodieshop.myshopify.com

The vet I went to for years went out of business, I have three dogs, so looking to save money. I got my golden retriever annual vaccinations at the humane society vaccine clinic. It was quick and cost me $45, compared to spending $150 at my old vet in past years.

I have a scenario for you all. Trying to figure out if it was a bug or just a weird encounter.
Played an HF match. I spawn in front of a rock (fun!). I have to steer weirdly to avoid said rock, but manage to get a few shots off at my opponent; I may have hit him once (max) and I think I actually missed all 3 of my shots. He took about 4-5 shots at me and hit me once.
I repair, anchor turn and go back at him. We end up side by side. I hit him with about 6-7 consecutive hits. He then gets off a shot and immediately 1-balls me (which puts a crack in the mast but no other damage). To my surprise, when I come back from the ferry, he has sunk and I win the match.
He was a Grade 4 Reaper. I find the birds circling above and go there, but the only thing there is the flag. No barrels. No loot. Nothing else.
I realize if a player literally has no supplies, there won't be a barrel spawn, but the odds seem pretty low. He was Reaper 4, so he's played the game enough to have some basic sense. I also know factually that he fired at least 5 shots at me, so he had some supplies (albeit they may have been in his pockets).
I sunk him right next to an island (Rum Runner maybe?).
Is this a known bug with barrel spawns near islands or is it possible that a player just managed to literally deplete all their supplies, including signal flares, while still managing to get to Reaper 4 presumably from only HF?

There's been a lot of talk recently, especially in the United States, surrounding the somewhat nebulous concept of ESG, and its place within free market capitalism. Right-wing detractors of ESG appear to claim that it distorts a capitalist market and paves the way to socialism - or at least to government regulation on the basis of ideological priorities.
I'm a socialist myself and have also invested into ESG funds (although I wish to ultimately discard it via collective action, I engage in capitalism on an individual level while it's the system that exists). I chose to do so as I believe that as we experience increasing crises related to the climate, social grievances, and unchecked corporate power, means that a fund with high ESG rating will likely be more profitable and sustainable as a long-term investment while capitalism still exists. The funds I am invested in outperformed their non-ESG counterparts at that particular financial institution, and claim to be about 35% more resilient to disruptions in the market that are related to climate, social or corruption issues.
One of the main narratives (and most contestable, though that's a subject for another post) of capitalism is that what is most profitable reflects what is most efficient. So clearly, if ESG is just as profitable than its equivalent funds, if not more, then it's not distorting the market metric of optimising efficiency at all (and hey, even if it weren't reflected on the market, clearly high-ESG companies would be more environmentally efficient and sustainable anyway). How is it supposedly mitigating the efficiency benefits of free market capitalism, as conservatives claim? Wouldn't the truly free market position be to accept and cheer ESG as it comes to beat non-ESG fair and square? Why do you think the WEF - an organisation of capitalists trying (likely in vain) to salvage capitalism without it destroying the world - started advocating ESG in the first place?
Sometimes the American right will instead claim that the issue with ESG is that it's a gateway to government intervention in the free market. As I know of, no government has yet regulated any private business on the basis of its ESG score; as we've just discussed, it doesn't need to! You can still invest in non-ESG funds and companies with low ESG ratings, and the data used to calculate a publicly traded company's ESG score would assumedly be publicly available anyway, even if it weren't compiled into an ESG figure. So what is distorting or authoritarian about it? Where's the government overreach? The most charitable interpretation I can think of would be that this claim is a slippery slope fallacy.
Look, don't get me wrong: I don't think ESG is going to save us all and I do take issue with it. Perhaps ESG investing is marginally better on the "not killing us" front than non-ESG front, but I do not trust market mechanisms to represent collective interest by reducing complex nuances of demand and priority to a crude numerical representation. And that's in large part what ESG is, reducing lots of complex factors into one rating score - so I don't think ESG scores are all we need to appropriately consider environmental or social factors in an economy. But at least considering ESG scores as well as the monetary returns, would be working with two reductive numerical representations instead of just one. In my opinion, ESG is nowhere near enough to rehabilitate capitalism or sustainably climate-proof it.
In fact, I'd wager that it's precisely adding in that second variable that is the reason for the backlash. Big oil and coal have so much money and economic power that they can manipulate the monetary variable to their advantage and condition market fetishes, but adding in a second value to consider exposes them to the truth that such companies are not actually efficient for humanity or the planet at all in the long run. If people see that, and opt for funds with a high ESG rating, fossil fuel and friends' bubble might finally start to burst.
In conclusion, it seems far more likely that the real conspiracy here is not ESG, but rather the fossil fuel industry and other polluters desperately paying off rightist politicians and pundits to denigrate it. That way, they retain an investor base among conservative ideologues, even once people start to realise ESG to be the obviously correct decision for their personal finances. The only reason for the right to fearmonger so much about ESG would be if they literally want to increase the chances of seeing the planet burn - or at least all of the oil on the planet anyway.
Change my mind.

My girlfriend got her pitbull a month before we starting dating. We moved in together soon after and she started working long hours far away from home, leaving me with the dog.
I didn't like him at first, but I began to HATE him after just a few months of living with him. It's been almost 1.5 years now and she rehomed him over the weekend.
That dog was the worst thing about my day every day. He was horrible and my girlfriend didn't even like him anymore. She only kept him because she felt bad putting him back into a shelter and was hoping to find some poor unfortunate soul to take him off our hands. Obviously no one wanted a 3 year old pitbull so it took nearly 2 years but it finally happened and he's finally gone.
I can work from home in peace now. No whining all day, no horrible smells from him shitting in his crate, no fear my cats will be killed, and no more barking all day.

Tyler
A solid half hour of hugs, kisses, handshakes, back slaps, well wishes, greetings from new inlaws and long time customers of the shop alike, and the occasional cheek pinch by one of his new auntie in laws for good measure ensued.
Finally the ebbing of the great tide of very happy people sees the Sarkin clan installed in one of the large booths that dominate the corners and walls of the room.
Set up with a two piece table with the centerpiece able to spin to allow people to share dishes easier, and to allow waitresses to gently send food to customers in the corner without any form of issue around a circular table. Miu'Kin's mother, Kamei'Kin, had pulled out all the stops and laid out a veritable feast in front of the new members of her family, clearly eager to celebrate her youngest daughter's success by the preferred method of the Kin clan... food.
Dino ribs that would do Fred Flintstone proud, delectable looking steaks of some local critter that were just right in terms of being juicy and lean. Cuts of rich white and red fish fresh off the grill or served raw. Fresh steamed crustaceans and shellfish. Whole game birds of sizes ranging from 'chicken' up to a glossy fried bird with beautiful crispy skin that resembled and tasted like pure dark meat turkey but was around the size of an ostrich.
That last one was something that Tyler had immediately texted Jerry about as soon as he had his first bite. Not just because it was a good opportunity for his boss and friend's business... but also because he wanted to be able to butter fry one of these monsters and eat it himself whenever he pleased too!
With all that meat in front of them it was easy to miss the various sides. Mostly small types of rough vegetables, the turtle rice or a few other little things that packed a serious punch flavor wise by Galactic standards, or served as a form of cleanser, like ginger almost. All served with ample Apuk style sauces ranging from something not too far off from BBQ sauce to more of the berry jam that had been in the pastry they'd enjoyed earlier at Caring Conquests. The main flavoring on offer was of course one of the Apuk's favorite animal based foodstuffs... butter.
Apuk used enough butter to make Paula Dean an honorary noble, if not a saint in one of the Apuk's native religions. They cooked in it, put it on food in various formats ranging from butter based sauces to slightly less complicated offerings. For example, lightly herbed butter was a favorite for many Apuk to put on meat. The herb and butter mixture was considered strong stuff by the Apuk and was just flavorful enough that a human could enjoy it without needing to supplement any further flavor... except maybe a pinch of salt like most galactic cuisine.
Cassie, normally so prim and proper was apparently hungry enough that she'd gone slightly feral, and was forcing herself to not automatically hood her wings over her food like a great bird of prey as she tore at one of the dinosaur ribs, proclaiming it to be absolutely delicious before cracking the bone and eating the marrow and moving on to the next rib in the rack.
For Tyler's part while the sheer volume of meat was awe inspiring, he felt himself craving a decent amount of vegetables, or at least a bowl of plain white rice to cut all the richness with as the meal went on. In fact the more he thought about that, the more appealing layering some of this mountain of carnivorous delights onto a bowl of freshly steamed white rice became.
The sheer mix of delectable flavors that would soak into the rice as he worked his way through the meat alone seemed designed to tantalize his taste buds. Thankfully the Apuk grain the troops on the Tear generally called Turtle rice was a somewhat close enough substitute. It got the job done any way, even if it lacked the delicate flavor of true white rice.
Miu'Kin, for her part, was having a grand time despite her initial familial misgivings. She was seated to Tyler's right, teaching her new husband about Apuk family style cuisine both for her family specifically and for the capital region.
There were commonalities compared to Nara's home province, and as the capital you could generally get anything from anywhere on the planet if you wanted it, but the Kin mainstay was Northern cuisine which tended towards more intense flavors.
The North also had a unique dish in a strong broth that was served cool, and either drunk as a beverage or a very strong tea, or eaten with noodles in a style that strongly reminded Tyler of soba. It was considered essential for cooling off when you were out working near an active volcano in the specific parts of the North the Kins hailed from.
There was of course hot noodle dishes too, Apuk spicy noodles was a dish that had eagerly been adopted by humans aboard the Tear after Jerry had learned about them on a date with Masha, though Nara pointed out that the way it was served on the Tear was distinctly non-traditional to a horrified Kamei'Kin.
"Well that just won't do at all! I'll be sure to send a cookbook along with you when you head back up to orbit. I know you humans can take a lot but there's no reason to not get it right. Besides, if I manage to open up a dialogue with this Chief Noitaka of yours, I bet I can get some tips on doing things in a more human style. This dashi stock you talked about sounds very similar to some concepts in Apuk cuisine already and I just bet I could replicate it... without the massive amount of sodium chloride and other poisons you seem to ingest. An Apuk grade human hot sauce also seems like it has a lot of potential too! Oh this will be all sorts of fun! Especially if I can actually get my hands on some human style meat."
Tyler nods, smiling at his newest mother in law. "I don't see why not ma'am-"
Kamei'Kin holds up a hand. "Hold it right there. I love that you're so polite, sweet ember but really I can't have my son in law, or any of my daughters in law calling me ma'am! You just call me Kamei'Kin or "Momma" like my little flame over here."
Miu'Kin wilts slightly, clearly wishing her species still had a shell so she could hide in it for a moment, only to brighten up a touch when Tyler gives her thigh a reassuring squeeze under the table. He could appreciate how it could feel having a parent who was such a... bombastic personality to say the least.
Kamei'Kin settles back in the booth a bit. "So, let's get down to the brass tacks I suppose, how long till you leave? I always figured Miu would leave Serbow at some point but goddess's shell it does seem like it's come up faster than I'd expected."
Tyler shrugs. "Well we don't rightly know, we were making port call for at least two weeks, and we're a literal day into the first week practically speaking, but now the Skipper's marrying an Imperial Princess so gods only know how long that's gonna take to shake out completely. There's some sort of business the Skipper needs to attend to in Nodawk city in the Tier barony too, so that'll eat some time up, I mean the list goes on. I'm sure the Captain and the diplomats will find plenty for us to do to make the stop over worth the time. Can't just have everyone on liberty the whole time after all. Though from what we just saw at Caring Conquests one of the major activities will be moving the personal effects of new Apuk spouses up to the Tier from Serbow."
Kamei'Kin slaps her knee and lets out a bark of laughter. "Don't I believe it too! Hah! Goodness it's been awhile since we found a species that had menfolk who were downright eager for Apuk brides. Normally ladies like us and the Cannidor can have a hard time reeling in mates from the more delicate species. Dating only Apex species limits the dating pool quite a bit, to the point that you may as well marry into your own species. Apuk in general tend to stick to our own space and prefer our own culture... similar again to the Cannidor. So we end up marrying within our own species more often than not."
Tyler nods. "Then along comes my species, and the biggest debate in the barracks among our Marines and sailors is if Apuk or Cannidor make for the best possible bride for a human. With strong camps arguing for the Horchka and Seramali, but that's a demographic bias as much as anything. We have a lot of men happily married to Seramali and Horchka gals, myself included. Undaunted wide, the Apuk and Cannidor have very strong fan clubs among humans."
"Considering you've got two Apuk brides, two Seramali and this beauty of a Rabbis to my left I think I can guess where you fall in that debate."
"Heh. Guilty as charged. Cannidor can be a bit... much for me. I enjoyed meeting the Crimsonhewers at our last port call, and I've met some of their girls who have shipped aboard the Tear now, but honestly, even married and allegedly a bit calmer they're just... a lot. Apuk have big personalities but tend to compensate by being proper ladies too. That said I've met a lot of wonderful alien women from all sorts of species now and while I understand the debate as just something stupid to kill time, I don't think there's a definitive species that produces the best wives for humanity as a whole. It's a silly concept inherently. I'm sure there's a guy out there who's got a perfect match in just about any species. Hell one of my buddies has built himself a family of primarily Arachne women... and frankly, while his wives are lovely for the most part, they creep me the fuck out to the point that I have trouble being in the same room as them. I've never been a big fan of spiders."
The Apuk matriarch considers that for a moment and nods. "Hmmm, fair enough, there's always going to be one species or another that someone just can't process or understand for whatever reason. I don't understand the Slohb at all. Or the type of man who'd seek out a Vulba or Charbis hive as his family. Or other peoples with what we might consider more extreme lifestyles... and I know the Apuk's lifestyle, especially here on Serbow where things are still a bit more... traditional, than the colonies, you could say, is considered extreme in it's own way.”
"Kidnapping as a method of courtship can certainly leave that impression on people." Cassie notes primly, gently dabbing her mouth with a linen napkin to clean off any errant sauce or meat.
"Oh psh." Kamei'Kin waves Cassie off a bit with a laugh. "It's not that common!" She stops and considers for a second. "Well. It is more socially accepted, so fair enough. Ah you lot are fun though! I'm glad Miu'Kin got settled into such a wonderful family. Make sure you folks stop by on the regular while you're still on Serbow alright? Food's on me!"
The Sarkins exchange some looks and Tyler turns to face his new mother in law more directly.
"With food like this on offer, you can consider that a promise Kamei'Kin. I'll see about sending some of the boys your way too. Humans appreciate a good meal and I do try to help family out where I can."
"Well hell, always happy to have new customers! I'll make sure anyone from that ship gets treated proper. It's just not right to let visitors to Serbow escape without a little Apuk home style hospitality in their lives!"
Cassie rips a chunk off another rib. "On that, I think we can all certainly agree!"
First Last

"I said to call them now, yeah! Fennel's really hur- I said stop her! WAIT!" "Hey, we've got our own here to look after, screw this shit, this job is fuckin' hexed, man!" "Back to the van, anyone who can make it!" "Get downstairs, fast!" One of the few leaders among the mob soldiers and scum present had tried to maintain order, but their boss had not stopped trying to get free and reach Kari's body. She'd almost made it, but they caught up and managed to hold her back. "BOSS! Boss, Fez is almost here, we can still tie her up and get outta here, just wait a little while!" Her snarling growl rose to higher pitch as she tried to tug free, spittle flicking from her muzzle in a mad rage, clutching at the socket she used to see out of. The stinging, horrible stinging had lit her entire skull up with a fury-painted hunger to reach Kari's prone body. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY! If she's still alive... haaa, god... if she's alive somehow, we pig stick her until she's coughin' up chunks of her FUCKIN' heart, then we saw off the head... aaah, and get the fuck out of here! FUCK the reward, she... aaagh god.. let me go, I can DO THIS! S-sstop..." The remaining men tried to calm her down and help somehow, blood running freely from the heavy scratches and gouges inflicted. Kari's still body seemed to still be breathing a little and Fennel pulled her buck knife out, still breathless with anger as she stepped close on shaky legs. "Pity... guess I gotta unzip you a bit, wake you up so you can watch this... just take ONE of your eyes real slow and make sure you stay awake, THEN we... then we put out the other one, slice off your limbs and just... haaa.. just let the steets chew on your for a while." A clatter drew their attentions away from the prone woman, a corner of the unfinished lobby looking darker than it should. "Whoever's there, fuck off or die- in fact, no, just shoot this fucker." Said the leader goon, and the others pulled their pistols and fired into the corner until they needed reloading. In this moment, they caught sight of a pair of white eyes look out at them from the inky shadows, and then, a deep rattling voice with a single word as a being of pure midnight stepped closer, holding its arms up. "Burn." All at one, flames of alabaster like blank shapes in reality leapt up all over the place, shocking the assembled criminals and raising the heat to oven intensity. "Oh no! NO!" and more shots were taken, to no avail as they trailed off widely, the entity speaking in a terrible volume. "BEHOLD, ITHOTU, RUIN OF ALEXANDRIA, SON OF THE SCOURGE OF EDEN. ALL WILL BE CONSUMED AND GODS WORK SHALL BE ASHES!" it roared and released a blood-shattering howl, floating forward as the colorless flames leapt up higher. "RUN! grab the boss and run, hurry!" "NO! I have to kill her not... she.." Fennel's remaining vision swam suddenly and she tipped forward, almost falling facedown into the white blaze wreathing the unconscious assassin. From nowhere, Fez had appeared and had caught her body to hold her back, pointing to their rear to indicate an escape route. He managed to pick her up and fireman-carry her bloody body out, all while she tried to wake up, climb off the man she loved, and leap knife-first onto the snow leopard so that shadowed demon could drag them both down to Hell. They were out into the two escape trucks and the wolf's car, all which promptly took off towards the north to find the safehouse. The black being wreathed in flames stepped closer, peeking out of the window hole for a moment before turning and absorbing all the fire into its body with a long exhale of effort and collapse of its own onto hand and knees. Shape and coloration returned to its form; hooded jacket and denim pants with weathered shoes. "Good grief, that was close...", it said as it pulled the hood it wore back to reveal the mask-like pattern and bright yellow eyes of Tom Blackberry. Before anything else, he hurried over to Kari's body and looked over it with his mage sight, his grimace looking worse as he marked trouble spots. "What the hell are you made of, Tracy?" he thought aloud, checking problem areas thoroughly before even thinking of moving her. It was when he saw below her rib cage that he saw it, the seperation and wicked angle it held. "Oh no... oh shit.. Uhh... I gotta get you out of here and fast." he muttered and crouched low to get his arms under her. She wasn't heavy, but it was still a body and Tom grunted with effort before getting her up into his arms without too much jostling, marching out to a featureless parking area with nothing but trees and the fencing surrounding that. The raccoon knew that the police or worse would be here any minute, any second. Tom carefully laid her back down and climbed inside his mind to enact a strong and complex magic. "Dammit, only one thing for it... sorry, Tracy, you can kill me later for this." he said as he suffused magic to his fingertip, a sparkling blue energy gathering there, cupping her head with the other. He exhaled and closed his eyes, concentrating on the visual in his head, the memory of spotting her earlier, where she'd possibly looked and, most importantly, came from. Dream-fasting was not a dangerous magic, but required focus, and Tom often lacked this when times were dire. He inhaled sharply and touched her temple, closing his eyes to see more than anyone could.
A tidal wave of memories seized his body all at once and tumbled him violently thru a riptide of dizzying emotions. There were houses, stairwells, people, adults, groups of other children, physical trauma, firework emotions exploding wild across Tom's mind as it struggled to reach the surface. He felt elation, thrills, bitter regrets, passionate excitement from many kinds of first times, sadness at many things, outward and inwards. The positivity brought his own mind clarity enough to further his dive to memories more recent, but he found himself off the weightless crash of water and was now standing in a warehouse, looking around and smelling. A distant lit panel seemed to hold something he was thinking about needing, and he moved to hurry, only to encounter a slick surface and fall onto his back. He got up fast, blinking on his mage sight, only to gasp and take in the whole room. Blood, dead people, knives, guns, bullets and casings, all of them heaped into a humanoid shape sitting with in an easy repose, the head veiled in shadows or stains, impossible to tell. Tom ran for it as fast as he could, looking ahead now to see an old house his mind refused to recognize no matter how he tried. They were in there, he had to save them, he knew it. The massive corpse golem began reaching for him, emitting a low hollow scream that was growing louder. Tom was much shorter now, but he reached the Door, stumbling into the hallway that led to his main garden. A giant hand tore thru the unseen ceiling and groped madly for him. He cried out and crawled out of the way, running towards his own room as the howling sound grew so loud, it began to hurt.. the door wouldn't open! He slammed into it again and again, still in the form of a little raccoon boy, tears filling his eyes as the hand barreled towards him, and then CLICK! it opened, and he dove inside to land face first onto cold earth and grass, amidst tall trees now. He turned and saw the hand of the slain and the half-built apartment complex, and two people in the distance, one looking right at him--
Tom's eyes slowly stopped shining sky-blue and slowly eased back to yellow. He had fallen asleep sitting up, and felt the dried tears at his cheeks. He turned to look at the unconscious snow leopard. "Sky and stars... just who are you, Kari?" he said, the memories fresh as yesterday in his mind. It would wear off within a day, but he had bigger things to worry about. A quick frisking of her person found the car keys and, even better, her phone. The raccoon hesitated for a moment before turning it on and sighed in relief. No lock, plenty of power, and a 5G connection of all things. He pocketed these things, and lifted Kari up now, his mind and senses still shaking off the somatic connection of the magic. He closed one eye and concentrated on two things: his own appearance, and the direction he'd seen, only backwards. The car was quickly located and the feline woman was carefully laid across the seats. After some tight securing over her body with the seatbelts, he climbed in, adjusted the seat, and started the Harper up, trying to calmly set things up with the phone. He cleared his throat and licked at dry lips before hitting the Tekster icon. "Ok, Tekster, go home." No response, so Tom waited and tried again. "Tekster, home." he said emphatically. Still no reaction, and the panic was prickling at the back of his throat now. "Tekster, navigate home! Tekster, respond." Silence, the kind that crushes the will to live, but he calmed down and looked closer. It was the right icon, the mic was showing a wavelength. "Tekster." The wavelength wiggled mutely and Tom furrowed his brow. "Hold on, I didn't... oh WAIT a second!" he barked, going to the small top menu. It was set on silent, and he changed it to full volume while setting his own impatient growl even higher. "You are certifiable, you know that?" the raccoon shouted at the knocked-out assassin in the back seat, "You're CERTIFIABLE! TEKSTER, TAKE ME HOME, FOR FUCKS SAKE." [Okay, finding directions for.. Nome.. Alaska, Twin Lakes. Would you like me to--] The angered yelling and hollering was muted by the windows, but still fairly audible to the indifferent would outside of car as it pulled off down the access road and towards the marked destination. It was almost an hour later that he'd managed the six mile trip into the forest and up the special path, somehow managing to find her house, park the car, and begin to carefully extract her. Her breath wasn't coming as fast now, and Tom laid a palm gently to her chest. The pulse was faint, far apart, and lessening. Fear chased adrenaline thru his body, and the limp woman now seemed nearly weightless in his grasp "We gotta get you upstairs, get these wounds looked at!" he said aloud, not caring if she woke now, "Stay with me, Kari, you're almost home safe!" And, with one firm push against the opened door, they were inside and he was heading upstairs one foot at a time, nearly cratering the floor with each heavy efforted step.
Time seemed to creep by in her mind, an anaesthetic tiptoe of seconds into minutes into hours, and incremental moments beyond. She had been dreaming off and on about things; flying, swimming, feeling like she was stoned, or when the time she got lost when the house was being negotiated on... fleeting visuals of her parents. It was a strange world she was occupying, pieces of everything she'd known, all while her body felt stiff and itchy as she moved. It was sometime around remembering her school that she became aware of the effervescent sound of an electric guitar playing somewhere. She went peeked into Gulliman's classroom, only to find it wasn't there anymore, replaced instead by long, comforting fields of tall grass, its color that relaxing darker shade of green. She walked out into it, feeling as though strands of her were being snagged on the vegetation and drifting out of her, pleasantly pulling away who she was to replace it with the snow leopard as she currently felt. Her clothes and pelt peeled away, leaving a skinless nightmare of a living visual of the bodily systems to come up next to the source of the shapeless music. Tom turned at looked her up and down, grinning a little as he kept playing "Hm, nice gastrocnemiusi, good tone." he said. "Well, of course they are, I don't do lunges for nothing." she replied, looking at her own hands for a bit, and the curious motion of the muscles and bones and ligaments. Each pulse of her heart was tangible all over her body. "Am I dead?" Kari asked after a moment. Tom shook his head, switching to block chords. "No, you are asleep, but when you wake up, it'll all come back to you." Kari sat down, looking over the grass peacefully for a minute or so, but she suddenly got back and started looking around. "Wait a minute, I got knocked out! I fell-- the fight! I have to wake up." "And you will, right after you promise me something." She silently looked him over for a moment. "Promise what? I have to go, they're... I THINK THEY'RE IN MY HOUSE!" she shouted, checking her body for a weapon. "Oh shit, I-- KARI JUST PROMISE YOU WO-Ohhhh!" She had already vanished, and the dream began to fade all at once. Tom rubbed his face with a tired sigh, feeling himself melting back into reality beyond. "She's gonna be mad." he said plainly, leaving the place behind for now.
Her eyes snapped open and she felt like three people were sitting on her. Sight rapidly adjusted to the semi-darkness of the room, only lit from the banker's lamp on her desk, and she looked around to only see the raccoon, waving placidly at her and sitting in her chair. "What's happening? How did I get here, why can I barely move, was it a stun gun or something? I hit the ground and blacked out, what happened to- mnnhh?!" Tom had pressed a finger to her lips with a soft shushing sound in an attempt to ease her nerves, but she locked eyes on his and let out a guttural growl. "I will bite it OFF." "Okay! Right, sorry, that was to calm you down, just a bit to recollect, is it working?" "Nooo!" she fired back incredulously, still trying to move. Kari paused suddenly and checked under her sheet to notice only the barest details her body could offer, and her temper redlined again. "OHHH, you are DEAD MEAT, asshole! C'mere, get... I swear, you'll- nggh!" the assassin tried again and again to move more than her hands and head, but it was like her limbs and torso weighed a ton each; she could barely flex her fingers to make a fist, though she dearly wished to use one and then some. "Look, you, I'm gonna work up the strength to get back up and vivisectify you, so before that happens, you'd better start explaining, it will make an exquisite epitaph, I'm sure." The bloodlust coming off her was nearly suffocating and Tom cleared his throat a bit to bide time on where to start. Finally, he exhaled and tried to sum up. "Without getting too into it, I can use magic." he said in plain tones. Kari sneered, laying her head back down. "Great, I've been immobilized by a hippie." "No no, I mean it, here-", and Tom snapped his fingers to produce a single ball of flame as big as a cherry and in the flickering shape of a teardrop. Kari's eyes widened, then began to scan his arm. "Alright, I seen this bit before, where's the fuel line and the mechanism." "Kari, it's the real deal, I could make one much bigger, but this room of yours is... well, it's a mess!" He wasn't wrong. She strained again and again, trying to sit up, but Tom talked her down. "Easy there, you're gonna have to stay in bed for another nite or so." "Anoth-- what? When was that battle, how long has it been." "About a day and a half. I've been healing your body after it was rather grievously brutalized in that fight." Her head started to swim at all the details and updates, but one fact poked out in her mind. "...how did you learn my real name." she demanded, rather than asked. Tom held up his left hand, the aura of dark blue magic covering it in backlit neon indigo. "Do you remember when you passed out from the impact?" "I'm starting to, yeah. I went down rough and must've rang my bell pretty hard to get taken out of the fight." Tom got up to move around the room. "Well, in addition to probing gently into your memories to find your keys and home, I was awash in many other memories, and that was the name people called you." The more she heard, the less it made sense. She tried to give the right questions a press, experiencing her own brain whirlwind. "We'll leave the trust issue for later, when I can make sure of it physically, but why not just shake me awake, it's not hard." Tom closed his eyes, opening them again to reveal the yellow shafts of light from his mage-sight, getting an honest gasp of surprise from her. "Sorry, I'll just-" Blink. "-turn those off. I have special sight that allows me to see many things, including thru flesh." "But not clothes?" she asked, her ear flicking angrily. "... well, I can, okay? I'd never think of abusing that side of the power." "Heaven forbid." she grunted, losing a bit of the anger, but still irritated and deeply confused, "So, why the eyes?" "You looked like someone ran you over with a bus and there was this big tear in your clothes anyways, I saw the body armor." Her mind went back to the question. "And this has to do with you not wanting to jostle me to wake me up HOW?" she asked in mild sarcasm. "I was getting to that," he replied, lacing his fingers and leaning elbows on his knees with another exhale, "See... in order to apply my healing magic, I've had to learn baseline understanding of some bodily systems- cardiovascular, muscle, skeletal, basic shit." Kari was watching him with more attention now, still unbelieving about magic really existing. "Go on." she said, since he was seeming hesitant. "Well, 4th lumbar had pretty much nearly separated in the impact, along with hairline fracturing along the 6th and 7th. Kari, you couldn't move or feel anything I'd have done to wake you up because *you couldn't move or feel anything,* at least below your neck." The air went very still for the moment, the snow leopard staring at the fan above slowly rotating. Part of her training had involved electroshock doses to make the most of a partially paralyzed situation, but that sensation was different from when she'd fallen. She'd felt encased, latent motion in her muscles instantly become zero, a wide-awake bodily slumber. It sank in slowly at first, then pushed in hard all the way. She had been paralyzed, from the neck down, almost a brain in a jar. She would've been taken by those gangers by now, buried under horrible experiences before facing execution by the Bear himself. She felt a touch of hyperventilation coming on, but managed to calm her pulse and breathing. "So, that is what you are trying to fix in me, with your healing magic?" she asked finally. Tom nodded, looking up from staring at the floor for a while. "I mean, it's practically all done, and it was careful, gradual, continous work, almost six hours of it total, with two and half being near-continuous." He didn't mean to yawn here, but he did. "Luckily, your skull was fine, just had a contusion from where you thwacked it. See, neuro damage is wh-" "I'm sorry to cut you off, but you said your name was Hugo when we first met, that can't have been your real name." Tom's ears wiggled a little in confusion, then shrugged with a smile. "Well, I could say the same for you, Tracy. No, my name's Tom, Tom Blackberry, but my middle name IS Hugo." "Tom, there's a wastepaper basket by my desk," she began, scooching up into a sitting position slowly, miraculously to the biomancers eyes, "Take the bag out of it, put in the one below it, and bring it here quickly.. I'm going to be sick." He darted over to follow these instructions fast, and was back in record time with the lined bucket. "Here, think you can hold this yourself?" he inquired encouragingly. Kari knit her brow for a moment and began to lift her arms, both feeling like they were weighed down with 50 lbs. of unmixed concrete. They slowly raised, zombie-like, and accepted the container just in time as her breathing hitched and she vomited raggedly into it, pausing a moment before heaving again and laying back limply, handing it back to him slowly. "Okay... okay, I think that's got it, I don't feel sick anymore." She went on to ask for a water bottle on her desk to gargle and rinse her mouth out before deflating completely. "That's all I've got, sorry." "Hey, no no, you've made remarkable time in recuperating. I can keep healing you a little more tonite, once I get this removed." and he carefully held up the basket. "Downstairs, kitchen, under the counter by the fridge," the snow leopard instructed, "And bring up a can of Purple Burpler with you, my stomach is doing flip-flops." "Sure thing, be right back." These instructions were followed too, and he brought two sodas instead, backing into the room. "Here, hope you don't mind-- ooh." Kari was completely passed out, snoring lightly with her head turned at an odd angle. The raccoon grinned a little and went to get her situated, then took a seat in the office chair to keep a vigil on her, just in case. It was almost 4 by the time he finally fell asleep, and when this happened, Kari's eye flashed open and she nimbly, silently got out of the bed and tiptoed carefully to a second backpack she had hidden. "I hope he isn't mad about this." she wished quietly, pulling a roll of Kong Tape and glancing at him over her shoulder, "But if he's seen my memories, then he knows I can't take chances."
​
end of chapter 2.

"You did WHAT?!" The half-completed apartment building was a dangerous ribcage affair of a building, wind easily guiding itself thru it at higher floors, of which there were four total. The entrance office was enclosed and hard to notice, so they'd parked in the nearby crew lot and walked before talking business, which Fennel was already regretting. "Hey, it's a fullproof way to do this stuff without attracting attention, like you said." Her contact with the Syracuse Runners was this wiry albino fox, red eyes and piercings adding to the shock of his white pelt and various tattoos, like the tiger stripes on his burly arms. Fennel thought an 80s action movie was missing an antagonist somewhere, but that was the point of this whole venture; to maintain attention. "She'll come here, we beat her near to death in the ensuing ambush, then we split that reward money fifty-fifty, it's easy as that." "Yeah? Well, genius, what if she decides to just show up now?" He held up a finger as his phone suddenly beeped a phone call, which he answered with a hands-free. "Talk to me... uh huh, did you pay him? Alright cool, once you get the go-ahead from D&D, tell 'em to sit tight at their hotel room until I call 'em, then we can get everyone paid and leave town, alright? Okay, good, set up at the look-out spot once you're here, we'll be waiting. Right, see ya." He hung up the phone and gestured purposefully with both arms. "You see? Everything's coming up roses, all we gotta do now is take her down." "WITHOUT killing her." Fennel said firmly, crossing her arms. "Without killing her, yeah sure." and the gang leader turned to meet his men outside. Fennel's bodyguards came down from upstairs, putting their suit jackets back on. "We checked it out, the real party's ready to go and the last of the extra team is about 10 minutes from here." "Alright, good, some news I can count on. Has Fez sent any further information?" One of them nodded. "Yeah, apparently this red-haired cat was talking with some striper earlier, our guy on the streets saw them and figured to call it in, he said they seemed on complete speaking terms." Fennel's eyes narrowed. "Could be a possible proxy or old partner, do we got any further leads on this guy?" "Only that he's the only northern raccoon the guy's seen in town recently, should make finding him a cinch." The wolf nodded, heading onwards with her entourage in tow. "Alright, that simplifies things; you guys see him at any time before we head home, you pull him off the streets, take him into the woods and slice him, and not a trace left behind, capisce?" "You got it boss, this chick's gonna be our main concern until we break her down, then we just find this dude and ice him." "Right, Moe? Starting to like working out here after all, how 'bout that?" They chuckled maliciously and left the skeletal building, but from up on a pile of particle-board slabs, Tom's head poked out a little and he let out a huge breath, his eyes darting wildly all over the place in mind-crushing trepidation. A step went awry and he fell to land on two feet, skidding backwards a bit to crash into a stack of pallets. Fear stung his mind again as he got up quickly and headed up his escape path, making it to the trees and falling breathless behind a wide-trunked spruce, trying to calm his mind. He'd taken a detour through the woods, but there was still a good 300 paces between the route and the gas station next to the Door. "Fuck... holy fuck, they're gonna kill me... shit, this--" He sat in that one spot for a long time, feeling a terror in his chest even as he somehow fell asleep with thoughts of losing it all ringing in his mind.
Shank of night was approaching, and Karilara Sunkiller was readying herself for a real fight, one that she intended to survive. The point she'd been trained for, and trained in her own time for, was maximum movement, keep the vitals out of the fight, and shoot first. She'd gotten into her old worn-in black jeans and tank top, which she further covered with custom combat armor, meant to maintain ease of movement while covering a few more than the standard weak spots. She frowned a bit while inspecting the plates and weave, wishing she had a better alternative. Still, these fools had called her out, and leaving the engagement area wide open was a mistake... a slightly obvious mistake, but maybe that was for the best. She unrolled an old weapons satchel and began to equip the blades. Throwing knives, a folding dagger she hid at the base of her tail, and then, a hunting knife with a dark crimson hue to the blade. She unsheated it and took a look over the finished sheen of it, putting the pommel to her eye to check the tang and tip, taking some copypaper and deftly slicing it in two with nary a hiss. It had been quenched and treated in special oils to allow a dangerous level of swiftness to its edge, and it was Kari's singular trophy she retained from her days as Death's Eyes. The scarlet color of the weapon shone blood red across her face from the light in her bathroom. The weapon went back into its sheath and the whole bargain was belted to her waist, along with her trusty K90 ten-mil pistol, taken apart and prepared for the occasion earlier. It wasn't the strongest pistol she owned, but the point was to wound and finish up close; if anything, she rarely used the weapon except for a few bad jobs and her escape from DEN. The monitor of her computer had an online map of the area in question, and the ingress/egress routes drawn in dry-erase marker, one of them leading off the road and into the wooded area. It was all in her mind now, and it was time to go. Kari took a while yet to braid her hair into a short bun at the back. Her armor and pride rode on keeping her back away from the enemy at all times, so she worried little about someone grabbing it. With one final tightening of straps and stares into the mirror, Karilara Sunkiller went to leave her room, looking over it for a moment, then headed downstairs and out to her car, leaving the darkened home behind as she crawled inside herself to unlock the chains of a killer that rested patiently there.
There wasn't much to describe of the surrounding area besides the road leading to the attack site. The evening sky was overcast and lent a spooky muted tone to anything he could see. Larry, the look-out spot was in a perfect spot with a long view down the main road, which would give him ample time to call it in, get back to the others, or just hit the dirt and remain quiet while the others got the work done. Equal shares, that's what their leader had said, so this would be easy. Any second now, the binoculars, the road, and his awareness would lead to a huge payout and easy street for the rest of the year, if not, more. Sure enough, a car's lights topped the small rise before heading into the slight downgrade before rising back up into view, only the car pulled off to the right and vanished. Larry blinked, checking the road again; there wasn't any other way to the site than this, maybe he was seeing things? Larry hastily returned to his watch, waiting quietly, breath fogging in slow sequence, his weapon loaded and phone fully charged, he was ready. A blade gently touched under his chin and throat, making him lock up completely. "How many." said a voice, not asking a question. "Fuck you." The blade slid faster than he could call out with a smooth, silent metallic ring in the air and a puff of red mist, the thicker liquid behind drooling from the thin slice across his throat, deep enough to sever vocals, and so wickedly fast. Larry was gone a second after he hit the ground and laid still. Kari wiped the blood off on his coat and hurried to the site down the way.
Tom gasped wildly, his memories tangled at the ankles in dreams before reality. It all came back to him, the site, the run back, the conversation at the site, the orders to find and kill him. He almost got up and ran in a random direction, better judgement holding him in place to plan first. The gradual bones of the building were still nearby, a couple hours had passed, and from a careful peek around the tree and immediate area, he could see the cars hidden behind the portable offices for the project site. Lights were on in the first floor area, the gangers from before were visible, but just as he leaned closer, he noticed some movement on the top floor. His ears turned and listened carefully... definitely voices and movement up there. Further movement caught his eye suddenly, from on top of the portables. A dark monster of some kind was crawling across the aluminum roof, but it took on a more real shape when the red hair and tail were spotted. "You've gotta be shitting me..." he whispered, watching Kari move like a spider, hopping off silently to move around to the sides and disappear thru a small doorway in the wall there. Somewhere between panic and preservation, perverse interest was beginning to mount and urge him on towards what might be something crazy. With his heart pumping a little faster, he hurried from the woods and across to a vantage point. He almost shouted in surprise at someone staring right at him in the window he looked into, only to recognize his reflection as he ducked back down in the throes of a micro-coronary. 'A clean window... I'd only ever heard stories.' he thought, wondering for the 33rd time if this was a good idea, only to hear a voice above him. "I'm just opening it to let the breeze in here." "Just get back over here, something doesn't feel right." Tom sank lower, his shoulders somewhere behind his ankles as he held still. Movement was heard now, up the stairs to the balcony overlooking the office. The raccoon slowly stood up to try and have a look around the office area. They were silent, looking around, guns drawn... there was a squawk, a noise, like when you bump into someone, heard from up high, then near-silent taps. Blood was on the air. "Jack! What's up there, dude, hey!" called their leader, with seven of his men closing ranks. A bouncing thud was heard and something had fallen into the first floor. One of them produced a flashlight and pointed it towards the sound. It was a severed head. Sounds of terror and surprise followed, clicking of hammers, more flashlights now. Tom felt his mouth go warm and wet, portending vomit, but he held in check, looking around for the red-haired woman... something hit the ground heavily to their right and the bullets went chasing after it, the biomancers eyes growing wider as he saw it happen. The headless body had gone in one direction, Kari went the other, landing at their backs now as they turned to shoot, and she attacked. Her movements were continuous, impactful, touch-and-go, almost a dancer's grace. A knife flashed in the dark, and arms went around where it sailed past before their owner fell to their knees and collapsed. Two or three entanglements got more of the group injured or killed outright, one especially for certain as she held him as a bullet shield as a volley of blasts went her way. Gunfire erupted again, chasing the blue-eyed shadow aside, a gagging sound following from the attacker feeling a thin metal needle go into their open mouth. The attacker drew her own gun and fired twice, two shots blowing a splatter of red against the wall. There was only one left now, and barely 23 seconds had passed. "Oh FUCK this!" the fox grunted, laying down more bullets rapidly to force Kari back behind cover as he ran up the unfinished access stairs which lacked walls. The snow leopard wiped her blade off on the sleeve of one of the dead men, exhaling for a moment to assess her body quickly. In the confusion, she'd actually been attacked a few times, but seemed unhurt. She got a thumb under her sweater and lifted it, making Tom feel like looking another direction, only to see one bullet had struck home on the armor. As adrenaline ebbed, he could actually see she was breathing a bit labored; the flattened bullet was low and to the left, definitely struck a rib. Kari dug the slug loose with her knife and sheathed it, hurrying to the stairs to finish the job, leaving Tom to consider how to follow for a bit. That was when he heard the shout of 'NOW!' and football-arena lights erupt from the third floor landing. "That can't be good!" he said under his breath, moving into the atrium gingerly to try and see up above. There were probably 14 of them, all too big and almost arm to large arm. Kari began marking off targets in her mind, but it would be a terrible squeeze. It would hurt, and she was fine with that, it would really hurt, and she was fine with that... but capture was tantamount to death, so that she was not fine with, and would prevent at all costs. The hallway 'ledge' might be her only shot, but two stories down without a minute to prepare could cause a broken leg or arm. Many variables, all of them pointing to a grim conclusion. No capture. "She's cut off, get her!" someone shouted, and they came at her and she came at them. A haymaker greeted her first, dodged, a second attack stopped in a spray of blood as she clawed at the exposed side, aiming a hard kick up at the third, but three more were already upon her. Kari raked out and hissed, putting her foot hard into the side of an exposed knee to extend in sideways. The owner shrieked in pain, but Kari felt two blows, and another begin hitting home, so she dove through the opening and tried to get clear from the four behind them. Another fist cut across her face, all the shouting and yelling from her and them was gathering into a fever pitch, she was throwing fists and kicks, but could barely see from the mob striking at her from all directions. Someone pulled her back, and the racket was muffled by bodies as she was kicked at from the left and right, her arms crossed over her face and chest to guard. One hand closed around something, a brick, and she managed to hold it hard and punch its dense weight into what shins she could, managing to make enough room to get back up and go on the attack again, putting two of them down hard with savage brick-slams to the head. Suddenly, an explosion went off behind her and she went down to barely stop on one knee: her back stung like it had been ripped off and replaced again, she'd been shot and it went thru the armor just behind her right shoulder. Winded and wounded, she collapsed to the floor, motionless, hair hanging from the tight braids. The assembled attackers stayed around her, out of breath and some clutching at hard injuries. "Fuck... aaahh-- fuck, the bleeding won't stop.." "Did we get her? Someone make sure she's still breathing." "Hold still, man, I think your skin is flapping off." "AAAAHH! DON'T TOUCH IT!" "Moe! Hey, someone get the med kit, he's not breathing!" The damage sustained from the attacks were enough to hopefully repair, but Kari was facedown and feeling her body alive with pain, wisely trying to breathe shallow to appear harmless. Hands suddenly grasped her from behind and hauled her around on her knees, bent before the doorway as her breathing came in low, labored gasps. It hadn't gone well, and there could be more in reserve. What the feline wasn't expecting to see was Fennel, who had flipped her off only two days ago now, stepping out of the shadowed doorway to close the distance. A zip-tie closed at Kari's wrists and her odds shrank significantly. Fennel put a finger under the snow leopards chin to meet her face-to-face. "Hey, bitch, guess you've been having a pretty nice fuckin' time of it, yeah?" Heavy breathing only responded, Kari's face contorted in anger. "Well, don't expect us to lose any sleep over those guys you killed or anyone in your career, no... we're here because one specific job." Kari felt inwardly lucky; this Fennel woman seemed to have a need to talk, a perfect way to buy time. It was a long time ago, but she had ways of escaping zip-ties. "You're gonna have to refresh my memory here, sweetheart," she managed, coughing only once, "I've killed a lot of people." Fennel's eyes narrowed and she began to pace, Kari barely resisting rolling her eyes at this move. "2005, it was," said the wolf, "an old villa house in a secluded area of Campigliano, the home of a very important old man, one Allesandro Gabriele Russo." Kari thought for a moment, her ears pointing up as she pretended to vaguely remember "Oh, him! Head of a rogue crime syndicate that was attempting to muscle in on the Cosa Nostra operations setting up in Salerno. Yeah, entire crew found dead on the scene, and apparent leader stabbed once and left burning in a hearth like the old trash bag he was, THAT Allesandro Gabriele Russo?" Fennel looked beyond enraged, and decided to let a hard kick to Kari's nose provide the rebuttal. Her face exploded in cold pain, she felt something crunch in her nose and she bent forward, nearly falling onto the poured concrete to cough again, blood pouring from her onto the floor. She laughed somehow and leaned back as she sat up, feeling her options shrinking and somehow, not minding so much, or so it appeared and sounded. "Ha ha, heh.. kffh hnhh... oh wow, I haven't been beaten like this since prom night. Look, if you're gonna kill me or take me back to them for the reward, let's hurry it up already, can we?" Composure managed to return to the wolf woman's attitude and she came closer again to hunker down with a psychotic glint in her eye. "Oh, it'd be easy and a better use of time, no doubt. But you see, you killed my great grandfather, ruined my family's wealth in the subsequent criminal charges and all, and broke my father's heart... so no, we're not going anywhere." She had cupped Kari's cheek here before patting it gently and getting up again. "You gotta understand two things I got to work with here: one, the contact from DEN just said alive, not necessarily intact, and two, when I put the word out for people interested in this gig, I made sure to find some scum, I mean real monsters here, the kind of people that can't be trusted with pictures of a playground." There was sinister chuckles and calls from behind Kari and she began to feel a sting of actual worry, trying to hurry up with her wrists. "Once these disgusting reprobates are done holding you down and violating your fucking brain to pieces, we're gonna take some of these here medical tools and cut you down to size by numbers. We even brought a doctor to make sure you're alive when we toss what's left at the feet of this Bear guy." 'Come on, hands...' Kari thought wildly, almost stuck in the zip-ties now. Fennel smiled viciously, her back teeth exposed in the killers grin. "Gotta admit, this'll be fun to watch. Alright, you sick fucks, she's all yours." As a foot was pressed to her shoulder, Kari opted to make a quiet, scared noise all of a sudden. The others were still coming closer, but Fennel held up a palm and they stopped. "What?" said Fennel. Kari shook and trembled, feeling the terrible visions the imagination produced of her damnable fate. "Oh god, it's the end... let me just say something fast." The wolf huffed a bark of laughter and crouched close, shaking her head. "Always such badasses until you clip those wings... what is it, bitch?" "The... oh god-" and she whined a little, her head hung and trying to breathe, "Just remember this next time you have to kill someone, please!" "What about it, cunt?" Kari's palm slid up the other and relocated into place, and she smiled a skull-like grin.
"Just kill them."
All at once, she sprung out onto Fennel's torso like a cobra, her free hands scratching and raking at whatever she could reach, the wolf's going berserk as she shouted in pain while clawing and kicking at the serpentine assailant. The others recovered from the stunning instant and moved to attack her, but faltered as Fennel's screams became a wild shriek of agony, rising in pitch as Kari's head pulled back, one blood-soaked paw holding her down. Clamped in her sharp teeth, at the end of a long, stretched line of viscera and optic nerve, was a dark brown eyeball, coming free with a snap. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHAAAAAAA!!" Kari looked coldly into Fennel's shocked face as the moment froze in aghast eternity, her jaws holding the little fleshy ball up before smiling again and chomping it with a wet splatter and taking off to run to the stairs to the third floor. The goons were coming, she had to hurry. Clamored voices from below; they'd cut off the stairwell. Kari lungs were working like bellows as she gained distance down a 3rd story hall. With a little luck, the scaffolding could be a way down, if she had one good jump in her. It was on the left side of the building, she was almost there as the footsteps neared from behind, but the incomplete walls vanished fast and the jump was before her. 'Jump, take the landing, roll with the impact.' she hurriedly thought before turning to get a sprinting start back. As she turned, it all happened in slow motion. The loading mechanism advanced a shell into the barrel, and the quiet clicking of the trigger pull barely registered before there was an explosion and an impact that knocked wind and mind from her. She flew backwards so suddenly, the snow leopard might've seen her own tail. She tried to turn in mid air, but only glanced her arm across an unseen fixed pipe. It was definitely broken, and the pain threatened to blur out her senses. She turned more now and felt a dull explosion at her back this time, and the limit was reached. Her autonomic system seemed to have shut her down for reboot, and when she fell with a thwack to the poured cement below, she barely felt anything. One weak attempt at rising proved nothing and the lights went out all at once, leaving her at the worlds' mercy.

I figured I'd share my story.
As you can see from the title, I'm the son of a retired Ford worker. My dad worked 38 years and worked hard and did well. Throughout my lifetime we were always very appreciative and pleased with the Ford a plan for employees and z plan for retirees.
But this year is different, I normally drive all my cars into the ground and I'm finally at that point. My dad passed away but my stepmom is still with us, although has dementia. Came to learn that my step brother who has power of attorney is able to obtain a pin for me to use the Ford z plan.
So in the meantime I go to my trusted Ford dealership (have been amazing with service) and I'm quoted a price for a mid-tier Ford explorer. But the salesman keeps giving me this really weird kurt response every time I ask about the hybrids, and that they are flat out unavailable.
Ultimately, the z-plan discount tops out at a markdown of $2,500 from what the dealer pays for the vehicle. It's in the contractual agreement that's there is no haggling when a discount plan is applied. And this is where things start to go downhill and I'm not exactly pleased with the reviews I'm seeing for the explorer.
So for s***'s and giggles I build a Toyota Highlander to match my desired Explorer specification on the website and I'm really shocked at the price. It's exactly the same as the Explorer after the discount.
I may be loyal to Ford because of the benefits I've been able to reap from my dad's long employment with them. But my father didn't raise a moron either. If the cost is the same between the two and one product is clearly better in quality, I know what the right decision is.
The experience at the popular and outspoken Toyota dealership in my area was great! I ended up dealing with the owner of the dealership initially and totally by chance. We talked and laughed and I shared my stories I mentioned above and he was glad to accommodate.
Throughout this experience, I came to learn that the availability for a new order hybrid is on a little bit of a backorder because of supply issues. So be it, I decide not to get a hybrid now. But the explanation I received at the Toyota dealership totally makes sense for the matter with Ford as well being a supply issue impacting all manufacturers. But the sales guy at Ford gave me no information and kept cutting the conversation short. I really appreciate how they treated me like an intelligent person at the Toyota dealership and not talking down to me.
So I explained my situation and there wasn't a great urgency for the Highlander to come in my current car 2011 Fusion runs exceptionally well but suffers from the common well known problem of having a glass jaw (front bumper always gets ripped to shreds because of its low profile).
So as soon as they found something that fits my needs they would let me know after having made a deposit.
In the meantime, I shared this experience with some of my friends who were just as shocked that I didn't by default get a Ford. One even tried arguing with me that the higher price in the explorer was because " well it's just bigger in size than the Highlander". Politely, I said oh that probably explains it. But I did my due diligence later. The difference in storage area with all three rows up, two rows up, and one row up I don't think ever resulted in more than two cubic feet of a difference. I'm sorry. No I'm not paying $2,000 more for two more cubic feet of space in the back in exchange for an SUV that is hard pressed to last past 150,000 mi and not suffer from something crazy like an internal coolant leak that has an engine recall (example: my 2018 Ford Edge).
So now I wait for my Highlander XLE 2.4L AWD in any color that is not black or green, 4 captains chairs, with any softex interior that's not black and upgraded 12" screen.
Now on to the important question. How long do I have to wait?!?!?

Sorry to moan but this is the only place I can think to say how I feel.
I'm 32, still live in my parents house, I haven't been diagnosed yet but I just know I have adhd I'm currently on a waiting list.
Feeling really low today, my life just constantly feels like it's going no where and I'm beginning to think I maybe need to accept the fact that this is my life, living in my parents house and never meeting anyone to create a life with.
I've had so many jobs over the years, I've done university and a few other courses but my life still remains the same, I feel everyone else just cracks on with life and mine doesn't move.
I have no clear goal in life, one minute I decide on one thing then literally the next minute I decided I want to do something completely different with my life.
This way of thinking has kept me stuck my whole life. And then I over think to the point where I don't even know what the point of life is?
I'm sick of seeing these four walls of my bedroom, I feel like a failure, sometimes I just want to move abroad but then that's out of impuse and I don't know what I would do there and how i would cope, I'm not good with organising money and I feel I would get lonely.
I don't understand why life has been so difficult for me.
I've been currently trying to find somewhere to rent but keep getting turned down because I have a dog. Just feel so lost and pathetic right now, I can't see my life ever changing.
I'm trying to set .y own website up to write blogs and upload videos to but even that I can't do, I find setting a website up so confusing and don't how to do it, I started it like a month ago and haven't looked at it since.
Thanks for who ever read this.

After years of listening to ReddX, I've decided to throw my story out there for the internet cringe-connoisseurs to feast upon. Cast lists aren't necessary, TLDR is at the end. Let's just get this show on the road.
Tinder is hell. That hasn't stopped me from bludgeoning myself against the towering wall of losers that people swear Prince Charming is hiding among. I do realize that Tinder probably isn't the ideal place to find a real relationship, but I remain optimistic for a reason that I can't fully explain. Maybe it's just for a lack of anything better to do. Perhaps it's fear of dying alone. The people and experiences have ranged from lackluster to outright horrifying, and to start this series off... I will chronicle one of the deepest mental scars for the edu-tainment of any and all internet strangers. Given hindsight, the signs were all there... I should've bailed, but I tried to power through. And I came away with a true tale of terror.
It all started with the swipe, as these things often do. The profile was fairly non-descript as I recall. A bio that was clearly copy/pasted from Tinder and 3 or 4 photos that made it seem like he was someone who knew how to have some fun. He was smiling despite his teeth looking a bit worse for the wear. He was a bit chunky but seemed comfortable with himself. Those are both things that go a very long way for me. I didn't give the swipe very much thought beyond that, but we did match and he slid directly into the messages. His first message was a play on my first name. He said he wanted to wake up to the crack of Dawn or something like that. Not the first time I've heard it. Won't be the last. He might be a fuckboy, but maybe he was just taking a risk to break the ice... I wanted answers, so I decided to dig in and see what he was really all about.
He introduced himself as Dean. The conversation was largely uninteresting, until I mentioned that I'm a baker for work. This led into a long diatribe about how he was a trad alpha male that was looking for a woman who was worth the effort to take care of. He claimed that I'd be a great mother because of my ability to cook, and then went on to describe how cute our kids would look. I stopped responding and let him continue to spin his wheels for a while. He did continue on for much longer than would normally be socially acceptable, but I thought maybe he was just nervous. Eventually he caught the hint that I was starting to disengage completely. Honestly? I should've followed through with the ghosting. But he showed contrition and apologized, so I let the interaction continue.
He managed to keep his human-mask firmly affixed after the almost-ghosting. He was remarkably good at acting like a genuine person. We talked about our life and experiences for around a full month before deciding that we probably should meet up at some point. During that month he wasn't pushy or weird. Dean had taken the unspoken hint and remained on his best behavior. Once a possible date was agreed on, he jumped at the chance to take the lead in deciding where we were going, but then mentioned that he didn't have a car and needed to be picked up. I sighed. It may be that trad alpha males have better things to do than driving a car. They have people for that sort of thing. Barefoot, pregnant people. When he decides to let her out of the kitchen, that is. Obviously that's all hyperbole. I think.
So yes. I should've run. I know I should've run... but remember what I said about hindsight? Stupid me agreed to pick him up. I asked where we were going and he insisted that I was in for a surprise because we were headed to his favorite restaurant. I shrugged and decided to go with the flow. I spent a good few hours getting ready on the day of our date. I wasn't particularly eager to impress Dean, but it had been a little while since I was able to have a night out on the town and I decided to make the most of it. I showed up about 15 minutes early to the date, which is something that I do often. I take that time to decompress and relax and maybe even second-guess myself... Lord how I wish I would've second-guessed myself a little bit harder on this day.
The 15 minutes flies by, and I finally decided to roll up in front of the ramshackle house that he occupies. It looked like a flop-house. The yard was dead where it wasn't completely overgrown, the roof was missing more tiles than not, and there was a curious amount of children's toys strewn around. Dean hadn't mentioned any kids. Regardless of the red-flag parade that was marching before my eyes, I figured that I was already here. I might as well give the guy a chance. So I leaned on the horn to summon Dean. There was no response. Maybe I have the wrong house? Maybe I've been catfished? Maybe I should just go home? ...Yes, I should've just gone home. I didn't though. Instead, I got out of the car to go knock on the peeling paint of that front door, while saying a small prayer that I wasn't kidnapped and sold off into white slavery.
As I slowly crept up the cracked walkway, the weeds reached up from every crevice. They were trying to hold me back from that door, but I persisted in my quest for dating mediocrity. I could hear the screams of children inside. Were they the ghosts of the future I was dooming myself to? Feasibly. Regardless, I reached the door and knocked. A large Armenian woman answered the door. She was built like a refrigerator and about the hairiest woman you can imagine. She raised her upper lip in a sneer, her mustache bunching up enough to tickle the frontal cortex of any lesser being.
"Barev?" she grunted, a few decibels too loud. Our town has a large Armenian population, so I knew that meant hello.
"Hello ma'am. I'm looking for Dean. We're supposed to go on a date tonight." I meekly explained.
She grunted again, spun on her heels and bellowed something that I won't even try to decipher. Presumably she was calling Dean. I wasn't aware that he lived with his parents. As mama legbeard disappeared into the house, she had left the door open. I realized that a small crowd had gathered near the doorway. At least 5 dead-eyed children drinking a dark-colored liquid from bottles that they were clearly too old for were muttering amongst themselves. I waved a greeting but they only retreated further into the darkness of the hovel. I wasn't sure what to do at this point, so I closed the door and walked back to my car.
Part of me wanted to gun it down the street and make a break for it, seeking the comfort of my own relative normalcy... But I didn't. I sat and waited. I doomscrolled on my phone for around 30 minutes before debating if I should knock again. I didn't want to knock. So I leaned on the horn instead. I was giving him 5 more minutes. If he wasn't here at that point, I'd take myself out for a nice meal. That probably would've been the more enjoyable option anyways.
Five minutes passed, and I turned the key in the ignition. What a waste of time, what a bunch of bullshit. I shifted the car into gear, cranked the wheel to pull off of the sidewalk when suddenly... Dean flung the front door open and waddled toward my vehicle. I didn't feel any relief at this. He was at least 50 pounds heavier than he was in his Tinder photos. If it looked like he put any effort into actually getting ready, I might be more understanding about the situation, but it looked like this dude had just rocked up out of bed. It wasn't just his hair that was disheveled. He wore striped pajama pants, stained and threadbare My Hero Academia t-shirt, and the rattiest pair of slip-on Vans I've ever seen.
Again, should've hit the gas. Should've driven myself right into a telephone pole. Any EMT that came to pick me up would be a better alternative, even if our date was just to the emergency room. Instead I stared in shock as this pigman wandered towards my vehicle and let himself in. The car lurched to the passenger side as he plopped down, clearly out of breath from the short trip down his walkway. His heavy breathing carried distinct notes of halitosis, and that fetid breath only combined with the scent of unwashed rotting ballsack as the air he displaced from the seat started swimming around the car. I was speechless. This was not the date that I had signed up for. My stare continued as Dean began his rambling introduction.
"Hey Dawn! Sorry to make you wait. I had a pretty crazy night last night with my gaming crew. I set an alarm for our date, but I usually don't wake up until my mom starts yelling at me. It's good to make a woman wait anyways. They do it to us, so why shouldn't guys do it right back?" he chortled.
Words were still unable to escape my lips. Instead, the only sound that came out was similar to that girl from The Grudge. Seeing that I wasn't going to engage with that, Dean shifted topics.
"Oh, my bad. I probably shouldn't reveal all of my dating secrets. Tonight I will reveal a big one to you though..." he paused pointedly, and I shifted my eyes to stare at the steering wheel instead. He continued "The big secret is the place I take all the girls on our first date. It's my favorite seafood restaurant!"
I didn't really want to eat seafood. I didn't really want to be seen with Dean or even to continue existing near him in any capacity... But sometimes the social contract twists your arm about this kind of thing, particularly if you're a woman who was raised to behave a certain way. All I had to say was "Get the hell out of my car, you absolute wreck of a human being." It could've all been over if I said that. But I didn't. Instead I asked him to put on his seatbelt. He whined, saying that seatbelts were "for little beta bitches." But I refused to be ticketed over an ego so fragile that a seatbelt could bruise it. I told him he could buckle it or get out. Unfortunately, he did decide to buckle up... And the cringe-train rolled onward.
Dean barked out instructions while regaling me with all types of insider knowledge about "what women actually want, and how they don't know what they want, and how it takes a strong man to lead them to water and force them to drink. For their own good, you see?" All I could manage was a series of disinterested "oh" and "okay" and "jesus christ". He did not get the hint. I wanted to just melt away. Why was I in this situation? Why was I letting it continue? How could someone seem so normal and even perceptive online and then reveal themselves as a complete mess in person
I should've questioned him but didn't have much to add to his monologue, since my own inner-thoughts were spiraling out of control... and I couldn't get a word in edgewise anyways. Maybe he could turn it around and we'd have a nice conversation when we got to the restaurant. He's probably just looking for someone to help him become the best version of himself. If this didn't go well, I told myself a thousand times that I'd never find myself in another situation like this again... Isn't it funny how we lie to ourselves?
Anyways, eventually Dean screeched for me to stop and find a place to park. I complied. I didn't have the energy to argue. It might be because of the lack of oxygen. Throughout this 10 minute trip my car had become inundated with Dean's stench. Imagine rotten sour cream wrapped in a piece of moldy Havarti cheese, sprinkled with sweat from a mountain troll. Little did I know, that wasn't the worst of the night though. Not by a long shot.
Finally snapping out of my daze, I looked around to see the secret seafood restaurant that had only been talked about in hushed whispers. I'll give you a moment to guess for yourself what the place was. Not some well-kept secret as he had implied. It wasn't a quaint hole-in-the-wall, it wasn't even a Red fucking Lobster. We had just pulled up into the parking lot... of a Long John Silver's. Have you ever been to a Long John Silver's? Maybe. Have you ever been to a Long John Silver's by choice? Ew. It's fastfood seafood and it is just... The worst "food" that you could possibly put into your mouth. This can't be real life. We have just lost cabin pressure. We are headed directly into freefall. Finally I found my voice. "What the fuck is this?"
Dean unabashedly said "Long John Silver's, duh. It's the best seafood in town by a long shot, the pricing is also pretty good so you can eat as much as you want." He continued barreling through, extolling the virtues of Long John Silver's as I reluctantly followed him inside. He didn't bother holding the door open. It isn't necessary, but it can be a nice gesture. Instead he bounced up to the counter and started rattling off his order to the worker drone stationed at the register. It was a long order. He ordered enough to feed 5 or 6 people. I thought maybe he was ordering for both of us, until he turned and asked "Did you want anything?" I choked out a number representing one of their combo meals, and tried to hand him $10.
He made a great show of refusing the ten dollars, proclaiming that a lady should never have to pay for her own meal. The worker drone stared on, looking about as vacant as I felt. I think Dean expected the restaurant to start clapping at his chivalrous gesture. Instead the drone went back to scrolling on his phone, and I found a place to sit. When Dean flopped into the seat next to me, I asked if he could please sit across from me instead. He ignored that request, extending a flabby arm across my shoulders, rubbing his putrid armpit on the shoulder of a blouse that I really liked, but later had to burn...
"It's a first date. We should get close, y'know. Get to know each other?" he drawled.
"Go and sit over there Dean, or I'm leaving." I finally insisted. "I have no idea how the date got this far. You don't even look like your picture!"
His ego was hurt now. He rambled on about how "the picture was actually him, he just Photoshopped it a little, and girls do it too. Why do these bitches on dating apps have to be so shallow? Probably just looking for a Chad to take them home and rearrange their guts. Women should be submissive and that means not being choosy. They should feel honored that any man would deign to take them on as a responsibility."
Eventually, all I heard was a high-pitched whining in my ears as I had a Vietnam flashback to all the niceguys and neckbeards that I had run across in high-school. It was the same speech they all seem to end up giving, verbatim. I sat with my head in my hands and he didn't stop this auditory assault until our number was called. He fetched his food, came back to the table, made another trip, and then a third... Until finally he flopped down across from me and said "Yours is still up there, if you want it."
I was ready to boil. "I don't want it Dean. I wanted to have a nice date, but instead I ended up at a fucking Long John Silver's with a big FAT fucking catfish." I expected him to come right back at me with all the rage and fury of an incel scorned, but instead he just walked up to the counter. Brought the tray back, and began to ravage the meal that I had ordered. It sounded like rhinoceros crap being sucked down a bathtub plug hole that had been severely clogged with pubic hair that had been matted together by decades of cum spent on myriad anime waifus. I covered my ears. I fumed. I wanted to cry, but I would not allow this creature to break my will.
I hadn't said more than 20 words during this entire date, and I wasn't about to start talking now. Besides, Dean seemed perfectly happy to just hoover up every speck of greasy fried seafood in relative silence. All I could do was sit and glare. My stare had turned into a glare, and there is a subtle difference... But I don't think Dean was equipped enough to detect that shift. For minutes on end I simply watched the spectacle unfolding before me. He chomped and glorped and gobbled until he had decimated everything that lay before him. Then he sat back and unbuckled his belt while patting his engorged stomach. Disgusting.
"Seems like you really enjoyed that." I said sarcastically as I got up and started heading to the car. He jiggled after me outside like a very overfed and very stupid puppy. Again, I said nothing. I got in and started the car. Right as I was going to peel out and let him walk off that greasy feast he had consumed, Dean wrenched the door open and buttslammed into the seat. As he did, he let out a rather large fart and started giggling like a child. "Good thing I didn't let that one rip in the restaurant!" he chuckled. I was not amused. Yeah. Just let it rip in my fucking car instead you abomination. My patience had been stretched to its breaking point, but I didn't say so. I was simply ready to get this dumpster fire over with. Surely the worst of our interaction was over now, right? We could just part ways and never speak again, right? I never expected that my poor car would be left with one more souvenir that fateful night. Something far more disgusting than Dean's stench.
We pulled out and bounced down the road. The windows were promptly rolled down, which I suppose Dean took as an invitation to continue his butt-orchestra. He'd fart and laugh every couple of minutes. I can't begin to fathom the reason. Either he's given up like I have, or he's trying to rebuild bridges in the worst way possible... Either way, I sped down the streets. Freedom was calling my name and I wanted to get this guy out of my car so I could disinfect, sanitize, deodorize, and cleanse not just my car... But myself as well.
We were in the home stretch. Another minute or two and we'd be rid of each other. Then I noticed that Dean had gotten very quiet. His face turning a strange shade of green. I thought he was going to throw up, but it was even worse than that. As we headed down his street, I hit a speedbump. The jolt must have stirred something in Dean, because he let out another fart... This one sounded different than the others however... It was low and wet. It sounded like a choked blast from a tuba that had been stuffed to the brim with congealed mayonnaise.
Dean did not chuckle like before. Instead, his face shifted from green to a blushing red. I slowly looked over at him and the smell hit me. Rancid greasy sick people poop. The kind of poop that comes out of a sick and dying person right before they kick the bucket... My eyes widened as realization dawned on me. I started to scream all of the frustration that had built up over the night right into Dean's stupid fat face. What I said wasn't really words, it was pure emotion. A screech of incredulity, pain, confusion, and of course the disappointment that I'm sure his mother felt every single day of her life.
We were still down the street from his house. Maybe another 50 yards away... But instead I mashed the brakes and continued slamming him with a nonsensical torrent of emotion. Dean wasn't going to sit around for that. He fumbled with the door, let himself out of the car, leaned back in to tell me he had a lovely time before I gave him one more resounding, hate-fueled "FUCK OFF!" And so he did. I watched him waddle his way back home, the greasy brown stain on the back of his pants only growing with each step. I looked down at the passenger seat. It would never be the same again. I hate to go into any more disgusting detail, but suffice it to say... There was splashback. The diarrhea fountain had stained not just the bucket, but it had spurted up the back of the seat as well.
I cried. Sitting there in that disgusting car, I had a long ugly cry with the windows still fully down. I considered approaching Dean's mother for money to get my car reupholstered, but given the state of the house? I'm not sure she had much to give on behalf of her son, even if by some miracle she was willing to do so... No. This was my problem to deal with now. I finished crying. I drove home. I spent weeks having to stare at that stain, but eventually I was able to buy a completely "new" seat from the junkyard. No more ghost-Dean sitting passenger and laughing at his own honking asshole.
I'm still amazed at how this specimen managed to lure me into a date. While I was far too passive, I'm going to mark that down as inexperience. I'd be much more bold in the future. I did tell myself that I'd never get on Tinder again after this experience. It's by far the worst interaction that I've had with another human being. Ever. But eventually the allure of online dating called me back, and I do have even more stories to tell... But those are tales for another day... Thanks to ReddX if he reads this. Please subscribe to him on YouTube if ya haven't. I'll see you again next time my little Tinderlings.
-Dawn
TL;DR After a terrible date, trad alpha male Tinder guy pooped in my car.

So our wedding has had plenty of small dramas we have worked through. Venue was a big one (due to my family), and budget (my family), and guest list (mostly my family yet again). I’ve had to have multiple conversations explaining we wanted a smaller event and as such wouldn’t be inviting the entire extended family (it would easily put us over 100 guest and that’s still if we cut out children completely!) Despite telling my close family this, and giving them a response for if any extended family asked they aren’t happy. (If the family asked I would always give a more polite response of “we are very limited with the number of guest we can invite and regrettably can’t include everyone.” I told my grandma and mom thats what they could use are reasoning as well.)
Well, that brings us to Sunday.. the quick run down is: Mom and grandma drove over to confront me about the wedding guest list again. I started getting frustrated considering we’ve already talked about this multiple times. So I did get kinda snippy and eventually I stopped beating around the bush for the sake of politeness. Mom said I was acting like “a snot” which really made me pissed. For context, If I was ever emotional or opinionated when I was growing up I got told I was being mean. Even if it was me just being upset that plans got cancelled, I was a brat for being upset. Not even temper tantrum upset, just expressing I was disappointed.. I finally just smiled and nodded without doing more than minimal talking cause I knew if I opened my mouth I would either say something mean or start crying. Welp, when mom tried to apologize at the end for calling me that, I finally broke. I think I might of said “I’m just so tired of having to repeatedly say the same thing when if feel like no one cares about what I say or respects me.” I started crying almost immediately though so I’m not sure how much of that was coherent. At that point I just stood up and pretty much stormed off. After the 45 minute confrontation and having had this talk multiple times without being acknowledged, I was just so done I was ready to cancel the wedding.
I was ok changing everything else. I was flexible with food (given that I could still eat it as I have many stomach problems), grandma really wanted a large enough cake for everyone so I adjusted the deserts for her, I cut out decorations I wanted to save cost for changes others wanted, I was willing to add and alter colors, photos, times and nearly everything else. All I wanted was just a small event with food I wouldn’t get sick from. That’s it. And that was too much.
My family has been toxic and manipulative since I was a child and I kept them in my life because it was that or risk homelessness. Now that I am no longer relying on them to survive, I realized how not OK the way they’ve treated has been. I wanted to try to make the relationship work because we can have great moments where we get along and can be close to each other. But I can’t go 3 months without them pushing me to the point of having some sort of breakdown or hurting me to the point I’m considering very not good things. After all this I just realized: You can’t respect my wishes for the one day that’s supposed to be about me, my fiancé and our love. Why do I try so hard to force a relationship and make things work with people that will never give me a sliver of the same courtesy.

I have a yellow lab who is currently 1.5 years old. I adopted him when he was 11months. He came from a situation where he didn’t have any guidance, pooped in the house, and was allowed to pretty much do whatever he wanted. I got him neutered a month after getting him.
So he’s pretty friendly (no aggression toward humans or other domesticated animals), acclimated to pooping and peeing outside near immediately, and doesn’t ever bark which is great.
Now for his issues that I don’t know how to fix. His leash manners are trash. He is constantly pulling full force no matter what, even if he is practically strangling himself. I have tried a harness, collar, and leash around the body like the vet recommended and none of those help but he’s the worst with the harness for sure. I try abruptly stopping to get him to stop tugging and tried using the shock collar my s/o got him and neither help. I try walking him daily but the improvement is negligible.
He also is very anxious or has ADHD, I don’t know which. He is always panting unless he’s drifting off to sleep. He also paces around constantly. Whenever we’re eating dinner he will pace around the room panting non-stop. The dog also never leaves me alone. The dog has to follow me around the house all of the time and tbh it’s incredibly annoying. Whenever I’m sitting he tries to sit on top of me. Whenever I lay he tries to lay on top of me. I don’t mind the dog sitting by me or laying by me or even resting it’s head on me but I swear the dog would wear my skin if it could. I find myself constantly tripping over the dog or he will step on my feet because he has been so clingy. I kennel him at night and he cries a little but even just letting him out to use the bathroom he cries at the door immediately. He cries when I shower.
Whenever he does something bad like chewing up something and I raise my voice he has started submissive peeing. He also pees when he gets too excited. He used to jump on guest or me when I’d get home but he has stopped that because I’d slap his nose.
Truthfully at this point I hate the dog. I feel like I am living in a cell with him and 24/7 I have to hear the never ending panting and can’t get a moment to myself. He has endless energy, constantly steps on my feet, drops heavy toys/bones on my feet, steps on my private parts when I lay down and just is generally very annoying. His tail gets sometimes so excited too that it busts open and bleeds and leaves mark all over the walls and cabinets. It’s become hell and I feel like I have to bend my life around the fuckin dog.
I have noticed I’m starting to feel more aggressive when disciplining and I don’t want to be that way. I have slapped his butt a couple times now recently while walking or when he steps on me and hurts me.
Please provide me with some tricks or training methods to correct his behavior and mine too because I must not be doing the right stuff if he’s acting this way. Please help. I’ve had 1 other dogs prior to him and have never had these issues. If I can answer any questions let me know.

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21 FTM (on testosterone HRT for 7.5 years), 5'4", ~128lbs, white. Located in the USA.
Duration of complaint: ~10 months, give or take. Details below.
Existing medical issues: Crohn's Disease (Severe, onset 2015; in remission), low bone density, cholinergic urticaria, vaginal atrophy, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (ablated/cured 09/2019).
Current medications:

• Stelara 90 mg/mL subcutaneous/8 weeks (for Crohn's)
• Loratadine 40 mg/day and Hydroxyzine 25 mg/as needed (for cholinergic urticaria; anxiety)
• Vagifem 20 mcg/twice weekly (for vaginal atrophy)
• Minoxidil 0.625 mg tablet/day and Finasteride 0.5 mg/day (for hair loss)
• Testosterone Cypionate 80 mg/week (for trans HRT)
• Vitamin D 5000 IU/day (for low bone density. discontinued 05/17/2023)

I do not smoke, take recreational drugs, or drink alcohol.
Main complaint:
I started having some strange symptoms several months ago. The muscle aches and hair loss came first, both of which I wrote off. The sensitivity to cold and unusual menstrual bleeding were next, and these are what caught my attention. I thought they might've been caused by the minoxidil (they started right after I began taking it; I didn't start Finasteride for 3 more months), so I waited 4ish months to see if they'd go away. The bleeding did, but the sensitivity to cold didn't. During that 4 month period, I developed more symptoms (listed/detailed below).
Since it wasn't going away, I decided to contact my GP about it. She said it was unlikely that oral minoxidil caused my symptoms, and that it was more likely my thyroid. I had subclinical hypothyroidism back in May 2020, so she figured it had developed into clinical hypothyroidism and ordered a TSH with free T4 reflex test for me. This made sense to me, especially since my father, maternal grandmother, and maternal great aunt all have hypothyroidism.
My TSH test came back 04/04/23 within the normal range (2.68 uIU/mL). My symptoms had not gone away, so I thought maybe the biotin in my multivitamin had affected the test. My GP ordered another TSH test for 05/15/23, which I got along with lots of other bloodwork for my GI doctor. This TSH test also came back normal, at 2.71 uIU/mL. Here are the [results of all 6 TSH tests I've had to date](https://drive.proton.me/urls/108YE0EC9M#GyvMp1B8n8vc), for reference.
The other blood tests I had done were a CBC ([results, with reference ranges](https://drive.proton.me/urls/1S21SEEC78#563Rw88Bb9Ol)), basic metabolic panel ([results](https://drive.proton.me/urls/7CQTR3ZMMW#RPW1QVFYe44t)) ([results of the mentioned elevated A1C from 2020](https://drive.proton.me/urls/Y5H3DYHWVM#B1DHfQjpCHtI)), vitamin D 25 hydroxy, vitamin B12, creatinine/E-GFR, c-reactive protein, hepatic function panel, ferritin, folate, iron total, and transferrin. My vitamin D level was very high (114 ng/mL; [results](https://drive.proton.me/urls/E13V3RAX28#6PwBuZOG0kJs)) and my calcium near the high end of normal, but all my other labs were normal. I have noticed that my (naturally high) RBC count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit levels have been on a downward trend in the past few months, but am unsure if that matters/means anything ([result trends 2021-now](https://drive.proton.me/urls/QJFQC32CT0#cKRMYIrqM8Zl)).
After seeing my vitamin D level, my GP said that was likely what was causing my symptoms and advised me to stop taking my vitamin D supplement. My GP recommended retesting my vitamin D level in 6 weeks (around 06/28).
I have since stopped taking my supplement and am happy to repeat the test in 6 weeks. Since I stopped taking it, I have noticed two other symptoms that I was having (increased thirst and frequent urination) have gone away. However, I don't think a high vitamin D level explains all of my other symptoms? It seems to me like many of my symptoms match hypothyroidism, but my recent TSH tests have been within the normal range (though higher than my pre-2020 results).
So, I'm hoping to get some opinions as to what might be up with me. Is it likely that high vitamin D really has been causing my symptoms? Is it possible something affected my TSH results? Or is something else entirely causing my symptoms?
Sorry if I've given too much (or too little) info. I tried to be thorough without giving too much irrelevant info. I'm happy to provide any extra info desired, as long as I have it.
I'm including a full list below of the current unexplained symptoms I'm having:

• Hair loss. Onset 9-10 months ago, got progressively worse. I originally wrote it off as normal male pattern baldness.
• Unusual muscle aches (not noticeably due to exercise). Usually, but not always, in the legs. Onset around 10 months ago. No noticeable increase or decrease in frequency since.
• Increased sensitivity to cold/poor circulation in hands and feet. Onset around 6 months ago, shortly after starting low-dose oral Minoxidil. I thought it might be caused by the minoxidil, but my GP said it was unlikely. Change was sudden (just happened one day) and significant.
• Unusual menstrual bleeding. Onset at the same time as the sensitivity to cold. Bled for 2 weeks straight, then stopped. This was unusual because on Testosterone, I only ever have very ocassional + light spotting.
• Increased fatigue. I've had chronic fatigue (cause unknown) for about 9-10 years now, but it's been worse in the past few months.
• Dry skin. Onset 3ish months ago. Has worsened since onset.
• Mild depression. Onset 3-4 months ago.
• Unusual weight/fat gain. Onset 4-5 months ago.
• Constipation. Onset 3-5 months ago.
• Mild brain fog/memory issues. Onset 3-4 months ago.
• Intermittent tingling/numbness in extremities. Onset 11-12 months ago. Most severe 8-9 months ago; has since improved. Was evaluated by a GP for it and told cause was unknown. Labs 08/24/22 showed elevated B6 (205.1 nmol/L; [results](https://drive.proton.me/urls/Z8MTENXD08#Rzx8axSt4fac)) but were otherwise normal.
• Trouble sleeping. Intermittent, onset a few months ago. This is very unusual for me; ever since my chronic fatigue developed when I was 12, I've had no issues sleeping.
• Small black/purple/red spots in mouth. Intermittent, noticed onset 01/2023. [Recent example pic](https://drive.proton.me/urls/MK0FV4YCZ4#UMACM6ix3VIK). When scraped, the [pictured purple spot on my tongue](https://drive.proton.me/urls/4VXTGNCQS8#7UY8TDPsidNu) popped and bled; one of the black spots is also pictured, on my lip.
• Small red spots on body. Intermittent, onset in the past few months. When lanced, this spot on my thigh bled a lot then [bruised](https://drive.proton.me/urls/257X3NE7FC#9bO3AluhHE10); it's been around for about 1.5 months and has a palpable center. It was slightly itchy for the first week. The center has become much less palpable and the spot has shrunken in size overall ([more recent picture](https://drive.proton.me/urls/8RH9YTHA8W#ku0lC7blVPSc)). Other spots like this hang around for only a day or two (semi-recent [example from my cheek](https://drive.proton.me/urls/WMRBPX8W8C#6rXevJ34eNFv)).
• Possible carpal tunnel. Onset late 04/2023. When symptomatic, there's pain and intermittent numbness/tingling in my right wrist at the thumb joint. I have an appointment 06/13 to be seen about it.

I am planning a three-week trip with a friend starting the first weekend of July. I've done some research, but I still am wary of using trains correctly. Generally, people say that the Eurail pass is not cost-efficient, but I'm not so sure in my case and wanted to see if anyone had any ideas.
When planning to get to the rest of the EU from Dublin, I think you usually take a boat to France or the UK and then the Eurostar. With Eurostar tickets being nearly $200, the Eurail tickets of about $215 + another $30-40 for the Eurostar reservation seem much more efficient because I still have the other days on the Eurail, right?
I don't want to have to rely on the Eurail because I know it does not do very well in Italy, which is where we'll be spending most of our time, but it seems like the cheaper tickets for the Eurostar almost make it worth it right away. What am I missing as to why more people don't mention this?
Note: The prices I listed and any other "facts" come from my research, which could be flawed so if anything I said was wrong please let me know so I fix it and edit the post.

"Dick." "Huh? What, are we there?" "We've been here for six hours, man, we just haven't seen the car yet, and you haven't seen shit because you keep falling asleep." "Gimme a break, man, I was driving all night to get here." The two criminals were seated in a non-descript car, parked nearby the entrance to the main parking lot at Mt. Loyal University, charged with the details of a specific vehicle set to arrive at some point. The two were only armed with camera equipment, but it was enough to ID at a distance and that's what they were being paid to do. "Look, if this chick's as dangerous as they say, it'll help to be ready when she shows up. Try some of the coffee, they shouldn't be too cold." Dick looked at the two big cups from the morning hours before they showed up. "Dale, that stuff's probably frozen by now, let's just go get some fresh stuff." "We can't leave, idiot!" barked Dale, fitting of his canine species. They both were dogs, Dale a chihuahua and Dick a St. Bernard, with personalities to match. "Look, I'll go get some at that place down the block, come back here, and we can throw that stuff out." "Well then, go, come on, hurry up and get back, I don't want you sitting on a bench and falling asleep again." "I'm going, don't yell at me, man." Dick replied softly. "I'm NOT YELLING!" Dale yelled as the larger of the two got out of the car with another huge yawn to head off on his mission. The actual task they were seeing to was admittedly a dull one, but Dale liked to be alert at all times, especially when dealing with contract killers. About five minutes later, Dick had returned with two coffees, Dale opening the door for him. "Thanks. They had that hazelnut stuff you like, so I-" "Wait wait wait, hold that thought, I think that's our ticket." said the chihuahua, pointing a finger at the gate. Indeed, a white Oz Harper was pulling in and turning their way to find a spot. Dale squawked 'Hide!' and pulled the seat lock, falling backwards with it quickly. Dick just watched the car go by and head up towards the front of the building. "GOL-332, I think that's our guy, Dale." the larger dog said, slurping at his coffee loudly. The smaller one's head popped up to check before easing his seat back up. "Of course it is, I knew this was the gate to trust." he declared, pulling out a cellphone to speed-dial a number. "What are we gonna do now, D?" "Shh, lemme make this call in peace for a second... hey, it's us, the ones you called for recon? ...yeah, no, we stuck to the timeframe you gave us, the target's been confirmed at that college we parked at." Dick was starting to fall asleep in his seat again, so Dale smacked at him while completing the phonecall. "Gotcha.. yes, gotcha, you won't be needing anything else? Alright then, it was a pleasure doing business with you, and we'll just be on our way once our payment is secu- what??" The voice over the tiny microphone spoke in stern volumes, Dale glaring wide-eyed at the device like he wanted to bite a chunk out of it. He managed to inhale and hold it before responding tightly. "I understand, we will get a room and meet with you after the hit. Thank you very much for this opportunity." He beeped off the phone, calmly unclipped his seat belt, vacated the car, and then began to attack the right side of it in a psychotic frenzy, all manner of expletive spraying as hornets do from a disturbed nest. Dick watched him for a bit as he gradually slowed his raging melee with their car and got back inside of it. "We gotta go shack up in a hotel for the night, we're not getting paid until they kill this chick." "Hey, oh boy, a hotel, that'll have a bed for sure." He began to hand the chihuahua his coffee before giving a bit too much gas and causing a second furious explosion, this time in the car. The badly-secured lid had sluiced open and had went mostly all over Dale, staining his undershirt dark brown. Dick looked at him and raised his eyebrows high enough to expose his eyes at last. "Oh no, I'm real sorry about that, we can get the duffel bag out and take it-" Dale held up his paw. "Dick, shut up and let's just... take it to get washed somewhere, real quick. I like this shirt, this is my lucky shirt." "Okay, Dale." and he started up the car and turned off down the main street, looking like he'd be smacked around and scolded by the smaller man. Dale looked sidelong at him for a bit before looking forward quietly. "You're mad." "Dick, I ain't mad, I'm just cranky." "No, you're mad, you say that when you're mad." "What're you, my freakin' therapist? Get over into that one there and let's get this thing washed and dried, I'm gonna need it to keep from KILLING you, right in the face. "Dale, I'm really sorry." They parked and they got out. "Just finish your coffee, man, I gotta go use the bathroom and change out."
Tom was in a late afternoon haze of beer buzz, boredom, and bitterness. Something about the verbal skirmish with the snow leopard had really got on his nerves, and he still wanted to give her a piece of his mind. There was a bit of time left, and he felt like he could be risking at least one more smoke, so he went out the back door into the loading alley and lit up there, largely free of company for the moment, but it was then that one of the black cars from before slowly pulled into sight ahead, blocking off the alley's exit. "Shit.." he whispered, knowing better than to turn around as the sound of crunching rock on tires signalled he was being boxed in. He circled on the spot casually, eyes swallowing his surroundings to make sure there was no one else around in case he had to attack and escape. The two guys that got out had matching casual wear and a bully's confidence as they came his way. Two more door-shutting sounds behind him now, sending that tingle of adrenaline pre-game thru his body. Taking a deep inhale to martial his guts and nicotine, Tom came to a stop and looked to the guys in front of him as he exhaled, flicking the cigarette away. They were certainly taller up close. "Larry, Curly, good to see you, something I can help you two with?" he asked brazenly, getting two accosted looks in response. "How's he supposed to know that? He knows my name, man, how does he know that?" said the wiry one of the pair. Tom's throat tightened; one of their names actually WAS Larry, apparently. "He's calling us stooges, man, you know?" said the other, more standard-shaped one. "We got a smartass here, don't we?" came a voice from behind, followed by a hard shove that almost sent him onto the ground. "Hey!" Tom barked, stepping back to take all four of them in. They all had a kind of standard goon panache, and one of them had a shoulder holster slightly visible. The only animal folk in their number was a fox, shock-white and wearing the worst air of superiority among them, along with the tattoos and pink-red eyes. Tom made a mental note to attack this one first if he had to, but wisely switched gears. "Look guys, I think we got off on the wrong foot here, see... I'm a traveling salesman, and I got these dynamite blindfolds I'm peddling. You four want to line for a demonstration, I could oblige you a discount too!" he said, winking an eye. One of them chuckled off to the right, but Larry had apparently had enough, pulling an H17 into view, and putting the barrel inbetween Tom's eyes. He swallowed hard, carefully putting his hands up and standing his mental ground. "Yeah, talk that shit now, huh? Think you're all funny, man, I'll put you in the fucking GROUND, I don't give a fuck!" snarled this Larry.The fox put a clawed hand firmly on the guys' arm and caught his eye coldly. "Stow that piece, and calm down before you get us all popped, dig?" he said in a sibilant tone. Larry was still looking at Tom, glaring back at him, but obeyed and hung up the gun. The leader took point now, nodding for the raccoon to lower his arms. "I'll just... keep them up, if it's all the same, mutual trust eh?" said Tom, giving a weak smile. "Fair enough." answered the vulpine boss, "Now, my friend here seems to think you were scoping us earlier." "At the traffic light back there? No no, I just saw these nice Golgo Tundras going thru town, all sleek and white-- thought someone was putting on a concert or something. Honest curiosity, that was it." It wasn't necessarily a lie either. The tall fox looked him over a bit, his sharp eyes looking lower. "Got anything in your pockets?" "...I do." Tom carefully produced his wad of bills from one pocket and a pack of Mazzerucci Royals in the other. He really hoped they wouldn't stick their hand in the jacket pocket, for a few reasons at that. "See, I was just out doing laundry, there's no-- hey, dammit!" Larry had snatched the items up, and Tom moved his hands in protest, only to be frozen solid by the clawed fingers of the one in charge. "Mutual trust, right?" he said, smiling with sharp teeth. The bothered canine grimaced and tried to look helpless while they counted up his stolen cash, wishing he'd had enough magic stored up for a bolt of half-power lightning; they would probably survive, but with scars to remember. A sizable chunk of money was missing when it was handed back, and that was it. Tom looked up at the leader briefly, who was already biting onto one of the cigarettes. "I like Royals, consider it part of the toll here for wastin' our precious time with your peeking." and he felt his own pockets briefly before looking up again, "No lighter?" Tom lit his smokes on his own, so he just shrugged and produced his unfolded pockets. The four of them seemed to have had their fun and left, but the fox stayed a second to lean in close as his men returned to the cars. One particularly sharp claw came to rest gently just above Tom's left eyebrow. "Now, make a healthy choice, and stay the fuck out of sight for a couple days, okay? You and I see each other again, well--" He slowly dragged the sharp point across Tom's forehead, blood dripping down freely, making him wince a bit. "--You're gonna need one of those fancy blindfolds for when we execute you, since you uh... seem to be out of smokes too. Arrivederci, bambino~" he said, parting ways. "Yeah yeah, au revoir, Simone." Tom grunted, waiting until they'd disembarked before he snarled and kicked a nearby paint bucket across the alley like a soccer ball. "What the fuck is your DEAL, Canada?! I thought this was supposed to be a nice place!" he yelled. From somewhere in the barkyards of a nearby neighborhood, someone shouted in response. "I AM TRYING TO WORK OVER HERE!", it said. "SHUT UP!!" growled Tom, wiping at the blood on his face.
The raccoon was sitting in a miserable distemper while the dryer was finishing his clothes. 'I ought to just spin the wheel again and find someplace else, this town is becoming dangerous.' he thought, halfway thru another drink. He stopped suddenly at the sound of the door jingling, hurrying to move one of his towels over the opened can. A pair of dogs came in, talking in low voices, and Tom minded his own business, having had enough of strangers for one week. They seemed to mind their own business, so it was business as usual. One of them disappeared into the bathroom for a bit, coming out wearing a different shirt, and they proceeded to wash a single shirt. Tom had been on the streets for as long as he could remember, and had seen a furtive load of laundry or two, so lacking any other concrete plans, he got up and pretended to go check his clothes while pointing an ear their way. "...told you to keep it down, ya idiot." the smaller one hissed. "You worry too much, Dale, we're just there to drive anyone who needs it to safety after they corner that lady and tie her up." Already, this was sounding bad, but the raccoon kept incognito for the moment. "Yeah, well that's why they're calling in this extra muscle, this snow leopard's supposed to be a real killer born, y'know? Kinda like you and being so slow and clueless." Dick shrugged and lapped at his coffee again. "I'm just as my momma made me, Dale." "Yeah, well thank goodness she died before seeing this life of crime you've somehow clung to, she'd have died of shame otherwise." snapped the chihuahua, loading quarters into the machine. "Oh Dale, don't say that, she's already mad at me up in Heaven as it is." His partner scoffed and closed the hatch. "Look, I only yell because you never had no friends or family to steer you straight growing up, and I've told you, I'm your big brother! I gotta make sure you're learning and growing up better, yeah?" Dick nodded happily. "I love my big brother." Dale's face was a bit pinker at the cheeks, but he avoided eye contact for now. "Yeah, hey, y'know, it's... nice to be appreciated. Now, take a seat, will ya? Bad enough we're missing out on the fun work over at that construction site up the way, now I gotta hope this stain comes out." he muttered as they headed to one of the plastic benches. Tom was left with a great deal of trepidation: had he just made brief enemies with a trained killer somehow, or was any of this even true? He hurried to pound the rest of his beer, almost getting foam out of his nose in the bargain, bagged up his completed laundry, and left the place without a trace. He was halfway to the Door when he saw some day laborers around a truck by the gas station of his plaza. Once the clothing was carefull scooted into a distant, safe dimensional hideaway around the corner, he sauntered over to them, pretending to throw some trash away. "I don't mean to bother you guys, but do you know which way the big construction site is, just down this road here?"
Kari had been sitting in the parking lot of the campus for about ten minutes, watching the fracas of newspeople and police nearby and really feeling cheated of a decent day of schoolwork. The day was shot for sure, with the media frenzy still stirred up by people posting misinformation online, and news crew remaining on the scene for interviews with the friends or close ones of those involved. Kari looked over at her bag, containing the completed assignment, and felt supremely cheated as she started the car and looked over her shoulder. A bedraggled human face looked back immediately and she shouted in surprise. It was only then she realized it was from outside the car. Some drifter, bedraggled and carrying a backpack that was as weatherworn as it could be, was standing in the middle of the parking lot, looking past her car, then back at her. Something about it felt like the right thing to do, so she got out of the car and approached him. The man began to back away, muttering something. "No no, easy, I'm not gonna hurt you or waste your time, I wanted to ask if you'd seen anything weird recently." At first, the guy said nothing and continued mumbling something, but he paused on a dime and turned to her slowly before taking a huge inhale of her presence. The snow leopard stepped back, looking affronted. "Hey, what the hell?!" she snapped, "I just wanted a damn answer." The homeless man locked eyes with her, speaking very plainly. "He will lead you thru the door, and to places beyond here or there, and I will show you the other side! The OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR!" he said in a rising tone before wandering off incoherently, pulling the backpack into his arms and talking placatingly to it in tender whispers. Kari just got back in her car and looked confusingly at her steering wheel, like it would turn into a giant pretzel or something next. 'There's a lot of weirdos in town today, and that can usually mean something's up.' she thought, going from experience, 'The only problem is for who.. and why?" She rolled the window down and closed her eyes, feeling kind of cooped up for some reason "Excuse me?" "AAA!!" Kari's body moved defensively towards the sound, only to find some kid about 6 sandwiched up on himself to avoid the attack. "Hi? sorry there, kiddo, what did you need, are you lost?" she managed, still oddly on edge. "I'm um, here... this, uh, I got my... there's a letter for, here, there's a letter I got to give you. I have to go." he managed, handing a folded paper to her before hurrying back to a small bike and riding away. Kari almost threw it away, eager to put today behind her, but she groaned and unfolded it for reading. "We know who you are, come alone to the location marked at this address at this time only, make this easier on yourself." An address followed and the feline predator smiled with murderous glee, slowly tearing the letter in half. "Know who I am, do they?" she growled, her grin almost too high, "I sure hope they know what I can do." Before she turned the car around to head home, she carefully pocketed the two pieces of paper. "...dammit, why'd I do that."

35M i was on finasteride (5 years) and then dutasteride (5y). I always had sides but kinda ignored them as they were bearable. but since last year they became unbearable - full blown ED, borderline depressed, blurry vision/severe dry eyes. I quit dut in beginning Nov'22. Doc said that to start noticing a difference, it will take 5-6m. I went on fin from Jan 23 thinking that i will quit it in March. Dut would have washed out by then and fin has a short half-life and will also wash away quickly.
Jan and Feb were okay, but march started becoming intolerable again. So, on Mar end i quit it all. I did some eyelid expression using forceps and decade long dry eyes/blurry vision were gone in a week (still not sure what resolved it). semen quality kept on improving gradually but intermittent ED stayed on. Only around the 1.5 months mark did erections and semen quality improved dramatically. Now at the end of two months I am back to nearly normal. having morning woods, getting random erections thinking about previous night's sex.
Now the interesting part is even after 2 months my hair quality is unchanged. I realize that it is only a matter of time till my hair starts falling out. So i want to take some action. But i still don't understand the root cause of it. Is it because i have high DHT sensivity in my genetelia? or is it that age has caused my T levels to go down which has surfaced the androgen deficiency?
Trichologist suggested checking T level. I did two tests, and they came in at ~400ng/DL and ~550ng/Dl. No doc would prescribe me trt with that level. I want to protect my hair at some cost (I have shaved my head multiple times but I don't look good owing to my irregular head shape) but not at all cost (i am so much better now)
My questions is if anyone of you were having sides from 5AR inhibitor, went on the trt route and continued taking 5AR inhibitor, did your sides go away or become bearable? tbh i am willing to experiment it on myself if i hear some anecdotes where people saw material improvements.

WILDLIFE by nickel
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Story 1- Stone and Grass
Chapter 2- Behaviors
​
Emergency rooms were trained to be ready for any arrivals at any time of the day or night, but the strange cases that were arriving had the nurse practitioners baffled. Three had arrived at a little past 2am, and a further single was arriving presently. The ambulance had pulled away seconds after they'd carefully unloaded their unconscious cargo at the emergency entrance and were wheeling them inside, keeping an eye out for any changes. The lead of the two, a fox named Maxwell Forscythe, was handing over the paperwork for the patient and pre-planning the routes for the trauma center room to park them in.
"Student, male, early 20s, comatose, irregularities in BP and bodily temperature, is that all that could be gleaned on the ride over?" asked the nurse on duty. Maxwell's partner nodded. "We checked him as much as we could without disrobing him, not a scratch, just low core temp and a weakened pulse for someone his age, possible arhythmia maybe?" "No way to be sure 'til he's seen by the staff, and have the cardiologist have a look. Wheel him into Obs G202, it should be open." "Should be, Paul?" asked Maxwell. Paul looked up, half-awake. "It's open, okay? This place is going a little bananas after the previous patients, y'know."He grimaced at him and signaled his partner so they could move the gurney. The ward was a bit of distance, but there was no immediate danger as of yet. His partner, a human woman named Grisholm, was peering closely at the inert body. "See anything?" "Look, I'm not saying we need to check the patient's neck again, but this feels--" "Good grief, Griz, we already looked, he hasn't been sucked off by a vampire." Her face went very pink. "That's not what its called, it's 'drained'! and it can be anywhere, sure, but the neck or the leg, I mean... this is exactly how it goes, unless the person is just ripped to pieces." The fox sighed, using his mag-badge to open the double doors ahead. "Well, I'm pretty sure this guy wasn't ripped to pieces, but vampires, Griz? In Canada?" "The world is a mighty strange place sometimes, and small places are just where shit like this tends to go down. I'm just saying we should keep our eyes open today, that's all." "Just in case our friend here rises in the night to suck someone else off, yeah?" he teased, knowing exactly how to needle his friend. Grisholm was at a lack for words, just making half-syllables in protest as they reached the elevator. "I read that book you lent me, y'know, I see why you like this stuff so much." Grisholm looked deflated until she caught Max's eyes, one of which was winked with a grin. "It's alright, Griz... I do it too." Her friend looked a little placated, helping to push the patient into the lift and pressing the next floor button. "Let's just not rule it out yet, okay? Now, come on, game-face time, the day's already started."
​
Hours later, after an alarm deep in the Deckard Forest Range's only unnatural home had gone off and Kari had finished washing and getting dressed, the message was finally reported over the news, which she was watching on her phone with apt attention, her pupils widened in curiosity while automatically eating her breakfast.
"Hospital authorities are preparing a statement at this time, but have denied these mysterious cases as any sign for panic over unproven conditions, Jeremy?" Jeremy Cole was the on-site reporter, who the feed switched to, the hospital in the background full of activity from police standing watch, to people showing up to mill around as they often do. "That's right, Grace, the only details being released in surety, so far, point to the victims being discovered within our local favorite, Mt. Loyal University. They began arriving as early as 2 this morning, and the scenes have been under careful scrutiny. Whether or not these are scattered cases of extreme fatigue, or the beginnings of another infection sweeping the country is still no one's guess to make. Jeremy Cole, reporting live in Calgary, BCB News." "Thank you, Cole, we intend to keep this story updated as the facts are confirmed. Follow the progress on Flitter at--" Kari backed out of the video feed, thinking on the details that took place in the classroom yesterday, and of her gruff teacher. 'He wouldn't just succumb to weariness just like that, he would've gone to the teacher's lounge and caught a nap like he does,' she thought, getting up to pace a little, 'which means it was a sneak attack, practically untraceable, and enacted on the state of being for-" Her eyes widened again as she came to a stop, putting together some details towards a possible answer. Who was a restless-looking passerby that was headed in the direction of chemicals, many of which can be used to trigger invisible manners of attack? Who was passing the scene of the incident and looking particularly smug about something? Who smelled of sharp ethanol that could've been a fumigation bomb scent? "It was HIM!" she squawked suddenly, looking around as if a timebomb had just begun to countdown, hurrying over to get her shoes and jacket on, along with the standard wallet-phone-keys trifecta being pocketed. If anything, classes would be off or postponed during this weirdness, but she'd call on the drive over just to make sure. 'He's either here to steal some expensive artifacts, or... looking for someone, and either way doesn't look good.' She thought as she got onto the road to town, rolling her window down to catch the fresh, cold air of the morning.
The small lifeform had been moving around through the garden all day before heading towards a number of weird smells nearby. A long soil path led to a burnished wooden door, which the creature easily walked under. Within was a rainbow of enticing scents, and its sensors went wild probing all over the place to find small specks of food to chew up. Gradually, it found its way up to a huge, breathing creature of some kind, heaped in a pile in the corner of the chamber. The climb all over its body was an interesting journey for the intruder, but when it stepped onto an expanse lighter gray, the giant tensed up and awoke, turning its colossal head to slowly open huge eyes like golden boulders. It froze under this monstrous gaze, trying to look uninteresting, but a huge pair of digits picked it up, and its fate was sealed as it waited for the end.
"Hey, no visitors at this hour." said Tom, licking the small beetle off his finger to munch it up and lay back down, trying to let the blessed sleep come back, but he'd looked at his phone and seen the time, too late now. With a long exhale, he got up and began looking for a clean shirt, coming up empty except for the shirt he had on, so the day's errand was clear. "Well, thank god the plants don't have any clothes to take care of, I gotta feed them and see to their good health already." he said brightly, secretly picturing what the main garden would look like with the garden-life all sporting tiny sweaters and hats with a grin. A large knapsack was full of his clothes, the shirt and Jacket from yesterday were on, his shoes were worn, and he was carefully out back into the world, locking the Door behind him with the finesse of a safecracker. He put on some earbuds and began walking towards the main street, knowing he'd seen a laundromat there the day before. It felt like a good day to get something done; the weather was the pleasant side of chilly on the cloudless day, and folks seemed to be out walking the main street. Tom was in a rather good mood, also knowing of the beers in the knapsack to help the early afternoon chore along. And so, there he was 20 minutes later at 24 Laveuse, beginning the large load of laundry and setting back on the plastic seats, moving his tail so he didn't squash it. The place was a little empty and the small fenced area on one side of the parking lot made for good hiding, so he stepped outside to carefully get down to libations to pass the time. Traffic came and went like it usually did, one car taking the nearby right turn kind of harshly but otherwise nothing else of notice. There was a wandering guy with the air of a bum about him, sort of haunting the crossroads, and Tom privately hoped he would carry on before attracting police. Strangely enough, another short parade of cars was going thru the town, looking like a gangsta's funeral procession. Tom stared vacantly until they were gone, and he was starting to wonder just what this town's deal was. It was at this moment that the hands emerged silently from behind and seized his arms tightly, hauling him back with sudden urgency before he could panic properly. "What the fuck?! You wanna... god, wha-?" he barked, only to be hauled back harder into the side alley by the building, and out of sight. "Careful, dammit, there's a beverage here-" The tall can was smacked out of his hand. "Hey! what's your damage, guy?" Tom demanded as he was turned around roughly, only to meet those same blue eyes and red hair from yesterday. "Oh, wait, it's you fro--" Kari got her best threat display face on and poked a claw to the underside of his chin, which managed to inescapably encourage his silence."Now, answers, spill 'em, what were you really up to yesterday?" she now demanded. "I don't know what you're talking about, I was just looking for my friend to return a phone charger." "You didn't say that." "You didn't ask." he replied mildly, averting his gaze in a condescending manner. Kari growled in her throat and tightened her grip on his shoulders. "Watch it, wise-ass. Did you see or hear anything before the disturbance yesterday?" "What disturbance, I was already on my way when people found him." Her face went almost sideways in an accusative scowl. "Don't play dumb, I saw your ass drifting thru that crowd, and you saw me looking at you, captain salute." Tom's face contorted in regret. "You saw that, huh." "Yeah, I did." she grunted before slamming him roughly to the wall and releasing him. Tom looked as angry as he could without looking confrontational; something about her strength and methods did not point to a fight with any outcome but a grievous loss on his side. "Alright," he said, stepping back one step to opt for a cigarette from his fresh pack and turning from her to light it, "So I was near the scene, what else have you got?" Her angered look softened a micrometer and she took a few steps, mostly to get away from the rich smoke. "The guy from yesterday, the unconscious one? He was a good man, good teacher, and now his life might be in danger. You were at least in the hallway over there, did you see or hear anything that'd help out with finding the culprit?" "Help out?" he said, plucking the cig from his lips, "Look, Ms. Conrad, I-" "Conniff." "Whatever! I was just passing thru and it just felt like you got stuck having to deal with the cops, alright? It was rude to snark you, I apologize, I thought you were just in trouble or something. Apart from my friend, there wasn't really anybody on that side of the building that wasn't behind doors." Kari looked him over, trying to get a read on his intentions, and he seemed to notice this with disdain. "What's your deal anyways, apple-polisher, you some sort of local hero or something?" Tom continued, dragging on the smoke while shooting her a look. She frowned this time, an expression without anger that was a different face entirely. "He's a friend of mine, one of the few I have. You would do the same if it was someone you cared about, wouldn't you?" Tom almost answered honestly, but he was too mad to focus on polite truths. "No, I wouldn't, and I don't think you would either." he snapped, "I'm a pragmatist, number one's the only thing I came into this world worried with, and it's the only number I'll need." "Wow, okay, I thought you were just a sneaky guy before, but now I can see you're just an asshole." "And so are you, Ms. Confit, and I can't stand people that pretend to care." "Who's pretending? Frankly, *I* can't stand little shits like you who think their lousy life is free license to take everybody down with them." Tom was really mad now, and was almost considering lighting the fire in this fulminating argument, but he just sneered and flicked his cigarette ahead, stepping bitterly on it as he left. "You don't have anything I need, nor do I have anything you need, we're even. Now leave me alone, will you?" Kari wanted to kick his ass so badly in that fury-soaked moment. "I don't think anyone needs anything you've got, Mr. Blackberry, least of all YOU.. and it's CONNIFF, you son of a bitch!" she snarled at the retreating raccoon. "Actually, I can think of something I need from someone." he said, turning suddenly. "Yeah, and what's that, a chemical shower?" "No, you owe me a beer, kitty cat!" They were easily half a foot from each other now, staring daggers into daggers. The snow leopard spat harshly on the ground and left in a weaponized huff, tail twitching madly behind her. Tom felt the heat in his ears still peaking. "I better not see you again, or it'll be too soon!" he called after her, "And I smell bad because of my dirty laundry I carried, not because- well, I meant to put this shirt in with.. ohhhh, god DAMMIT!" and he kicked at the wall of the building before stomping back to check his clothes. "Bitch..." he muttered, trying to leave the incident behind.