If anyone could give advice or experiences, it would be really helpful. I don’t even know what to do anymore. For context I’m f24
I haven’t been able to keep any food down for the last 4 months. At the beginning I made diet changes but still no improvements. Went to the ER for fluids and they did a CT, bloodwork, and urine analysis all came back normal. Put me on pantoprazole and sucralfate. The pantoprazole helped with my acids reflux but, other than that, no improvements with my nausea or vomiting.
The GI did a lower abdominal Xray to check for bowel obstructions, which was normal. The EGD (endoscopy) showed mild GERD and some inflammation in the stomach, otherwise normal. Biopsies from the endoscopy to check for H Pylori and celiac disease came back normal. Gastric emptying study came back normal. Upper GI study or barium swallow study came back normal.
I’ve lost about 45 lbs in the last 3 months. Im nauseous everyday and vomiting everything I eat. I can’t exercise let alone walk up the stairs w/o getting tired. I get chest pain after I vomit, feel like something is stuck in my throat, quickly feel full after eating a few bites, bad acid reflux, upper abdominal pain, high heart rate, and have trouble breathing.
I don’t know what to do anymore. I dont understand how I can have all these symptoms and all these tests are coming back normal. I don’t even know how to proceed at this point. Is a HH still a possibility or should I go a different direction? Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?

Patterson shifted in their sleep, the cot in the back of the van creaking as they sought a comfortable position. Shia looked back in concern as they gave a whimper. And then another.
With a sharp intake of breath, Patterson woke, one arm flailing to escape the blanket. They looked around, their soft brown eyes wide, taking deep breaths as they brought themselves back to the here and now.
In the apartment. Across from a large, empty, rundown building. Another stakeout, a long one this time, information gathering rather than taking action. It meant downtime, time to think, time to dream. Time to remember.
Losing the witch again had triggered a flood that Patterson had long been holding back. There had been no sign of her since, and the captive they'd taken was unable to tell them anything about her whereabouts, as he had only ever seen her as a projection. As far as Patterson was concerned, the other information he was spouting in hopes of making a deal could be dealt with by someone else. And yet, here they were, following up a lead from the guy.
A slavers market was apparently going to take place here. People with powers, or gifts, or some sort, captured by any number of schemes - from fake refugee transport to catfishing, vulnerable people of all kinds were sold to the highest bidder, to do with as they pleased. And while the exact date and location remained unspecified until the market was actually on, buyers were put on alert, and help - including their recent captive - was hired for setup.
Patterson sat up, and pulled the hair tie off their wrist, pulling back their long auburn tresses into a loose ponytail and sliding into their chair beside Shia, who took one glance at their pale, drawn face, and looked back at the monitors.
"Hey," Patterson said, eventually.
"Hey," Shia returned. "Nothing new to report."
"Yeah. We figured it wouldn't be today, looks like we were right."
"My money's still on the day after tomorrow."
"You might be right, actually. They need some setup to run an operation like this and we've seen nothing."
Patterson sat back and sighed.
"You had another nightmare."
"I know."
"You want to talk about it yet? If you refuse to see the therapist the Chief keeps offering, you can at least talk to me."
"That would involve knowing where the hell to begin…"
"Tell me about the witch."
"Justinia...I can't start with her, that'd be bringing you in halfway through the story. But...I can start a bit earlier. Back to when I was human. It's a long one, but I'll try to cut out the boring bits and the gruesome bits for you."
Shia shifted, getting comfortable in her seat, "I'm listening."
"I was turned when I was 27, but that was a lot of years ago. It was 1839, and I was just the youngest child of a blacksmith. My older brother and sister were going to inherit the forge and the business, and they were already 13 and 16, and working towards that when, surprise! I showed up. I wasn't expected, and I wasn't wanted, and when it became clear that I wasn't like other people, I was cast out of the family. Soot was drawn across my brow, my parents spat at my feet, and I was given a small bundle with a change of clothes, some bread and cheese and a flask of water, and told never to darken their door again.
"So I left the township and I travelled across the country. I ate berries, stolen bread, even grass when I was starved enough. I slept in fields, empty barns, in the shelter of trees. I occasionally found work, as a serving boy or messenger, but I always had to move on. I refused to state my gender, or dress as one or the other consistently. I had to be me, you know? All I had was my sense of self, I couldn't bear to conceal it, not for any reason - even my own best interests. So. The whispers would start. Or some boy or girl would get a crush. Something would start it up, and I'd leave in the night carrying whatever I could scrounge, and be long gone by the time anyone noticed.
"I did this until I was about 20. I was hardened by then. I thought nothing and nobody could touch me.
"One day, walking down one of the lanes. a carriage stopped by me and the passenger invited me aboard. I accepted the ride, and quickly found out three things. One: the passenger was like me. Two: they had been looking for me since one of their people had seen me a while back and found out everything they could. And three: they had a job they wished to offer me.
"When I say the passenger was like me, I mean they dressed like I would if I had only had the money. On the day we met, they wore a flowing skirt and jacket with tails, heeled boots and a corset, makeup and jewellery. To me, they looked like a dream. I fell in love instantly - so quickly that I asked no questions about the spy, the job, the blackout curtains over the windows, their pale face beneath the blush, or the thick red liquid they poured for themselves, whilst offering me simple tea.
"They called themselves Liliane. No title or surname, just...Liliane. I travelled with them for two days, staying in fine hotels, dining on food so rich it made my stomach hurt, sleeping in beds so soft I would panic on waking, wondering if I'd died and lay on a cloud. They treated me kindly, and told me that I would be taken to a tailor, to be clothed exactly as I desired. They told me I was not only not alone, but ought to be revered, as through all the hardships and closed mindedness, I'd never allowed anything or anyone to change or challenge who I was. They treated me as if I were special, and for the very first time, I felt like I...was normal. More than normal, perhaps even...superior.
"Their home was an old house, refurbished to be modern, containing 3 wings full of rooms, art, and people. It was miles from anywhere else - my new patron explained that they enjoyed the privacy. I saw that many of the people there, both guests and staff, were, if not quite the same as me, clearly not the same as everyone else, either. Though I wouldn't have the right words to describe it all for some time to come, I realised that this was a haven for people of all genders and sexualities, all races and differences. Any who were prejudiced against, or unable to be their true selves, elsewhere, were welcome here. It was like a dream.
"And still I failed to notice the signs. Until I walked into my patron's room one day. My job varied wildly, but mostly I was there to attend to them as they required. This day, an urgent message had arrived, demanding that it be looked at immediately. I obeyed, knocked, thought I heard an invitation to enter, and did so. I found Liliane naked, in bed with one of the other guests. That itself wasn't unusual, but this? She was drinking blood directly from their wrist.
"She looked up at me, and for the first time I saw her vampire face. Grey and veined, mouth wide and fanged, eyes glowing coals beneath an overhung brow. I know now that every vampire, over a number of years, can form their vampire face how they choose, and if they don't, it will remain essentially the same as their human face, with some minor changes to accommodate the extra teeth. To be truthful, that knowledge makes this worse. I know now that she chose that look. Back then, it was simply the most horrifying thing I'd ever seen.
"I'd heard about vampires, and other extranatural creatures, of course, but like most humans who haven't met one in person, I dismissed them as simple tales. I took in that face, the act I'd interrupted, I realised the tales were true, and in an instant, I knew what to do.
"I took a step forward, even as Liliane and her guest hurried to clean themselves up. 'Make me like you', I whispered. Pleaded, really. The sudden, desperate need to be like her threw everything else into a pale shadow. This was it. This was what I was destined for.
"So when she dismissed her guest, sat me down, and gently told me no, I was stunned. I begged, on my knees, to be changed, but she told me no, and threatened to eject me from her house if I told anyone else, or refused to drop the subject. I asked her why, and she shook her head, said I didn't know what it was I asked for. She would wish immortality, and dependence on blood, upon nobody.
"After that, my job became less about attending to her, and more about attending to her guests. I obeyed, silently hoping she would relent, or provide me an opportunity to ask again, to show her I was serious. But she put me further and further away from her.
"So I made a new plan. I studied the guests until I was certain I had found a vampire with loose enough morals to change me, and as I attended him one evening, I asked if he were, indeed, a vampire. He told me he was, showed me his fangs in a handsome, pointed face, as pale as moonlight. I asked him to turn me, and he told me he would, but that I must first leave with him on the morrow because Liliane would never forgive him, or me. His name was Celius, and we ran away together that night. We travelled over the weekend to his cottage in the northern mountains, and the night we arrived, he stripped us both bare, and gave me my first taste of sex. It was the most wonderful thing I had ever experienced, and in the afterglow, he stroked my hair and pulled me close, draining my blood, before giving me his.
"I slept the Sleep, and awoke a vampire, still in his bed, with him naked next to me, crooning softly. He fed me blood from a flask, then another, until I was sated, assuring me it was animal blood, that no human need ever die for me to eat - though many would volunteer themselves as a meal. He told me the secrets of our kind, and he took me to places of pleasure I had never imagined before. I thought myself in heaven.
"Then I met her. Justinia. A week after my change she came to visit, wanting to meet Celius' new pet, as she called me. It was clear she was jealous - an ex lover, of course, not pleased to be sharing the man she thought of as her own. But I sat back and smiled, trusting in my new love to protect me, and assuming, foolishly, that he had the same ideas about he and I, as I did.
"I was wrong. He and the witch, despite her jealousy, had been looking for a person like me. Gullible. Blind. Foolish. They drugged my blood and the next time I woke, it was in a basement laboratory.
"You ask about my nightmares. That's where they come from. You see, both of them wanted to know what made a vampire tick. How are we immortal? How does our body change to use blood as our sustenance? How do we do the various and varied magics we learn over time, and what dictates who learns what? How far can one be hurt and still recover? And so on. It was torture disguised as research, and I'll never describe those days to anyone. But I escaped. I barely remember how, just that one day they were careless, they didn't lock everything back up properly when they left me for the night, and I worked my way out and ran.
"They thought I'd forget. They thought I drank the blood they gave me, with its forgetting spell. But I could sense the spell and I starved, pouring it away rather than drink it. So I remembered. Everything. I don't know how much longer I could have resisted, and I don't know how I kept going that night. By dawn, I was close enough to a farm that I could hide in their barn. I buried myself in the hayloft and slept. When I woke that night, I found a new power was developing. I called, and rats came. They offered themselves to me as food, and I drank it directly through their filthy, flea-ridden fur.
"I called again when I felt stronger, and the farm cat came. It was big and strong, well groomed and fed. It offered itself to me, but I told it to run home. I wouldn't take someone's love from them, animal or otherwise. With the strength from the rats, I made it to the woods, and called wild animals, who again offered themselves to me. Those I drank, as it did no more harm than if I'd hunted them for their meat.
"It was a long time before I felt myself secure enough to do anything but run and hide. I don't know how they reacted to my disappearance, but I swore I would hunt them one day and ensure they couldn't harm anyone else. I got him some years back, before I became a Lawkeeper. I won't tell you what I did to him, you might feel the need to arrest me," Patterson gave her a tired smile. "But that's why the witch is so important. That's why the nightmares. That's why...so many things."
Shia reached out and squeezed Patterson’s hand in hers.
They squeezed back for a moment, then let go.
"Thank you for telling me. We'll get her, Pat. I swear to you we will."
Patterson nodded, and turned back to the screens, "Why don't you get some sleep. I wouldn't mind some quiet time, after sharing that."
"Sounds good to me," Shia stood, stretched, and carefully arranged herself on the cot, staring at the ceiling. She was glad they'd finally opened up, but that was way worse than she'd been expecting. Fucking witch. She wouldn't be out there much longer, Shia swore that to herself. They'd find her. Soon. And she would be lucky to make it as far as an arrest, if Shia had anything to say about it.

Hi all! About 6 or 7 years ago I had to go to the ER for horrible stomach pain. I had a weekend of eating lots of chocolate and fatty foods and drinking wine. I was diagnosed with gastritis. I haven't had horrible stomach pain since then, but I'm having another symptom.
I'm having right upper quadrant pain, it's to the far right of my stomach like in my ribs. It's like this annoying, gnawing, throbbing ache. Sometimes it goes away after I go number two, and sometimes, like right now it feels like I'm in a flare-up or something. I've had an ultrasound done and they didn't find anything. I would say I'm a pretty gassy person and have had issues with my stomach since I was a kid.
I'm generally pretty healthy but I do eat a lot of fiber if that has anything to do with it. I do like my wine as well, I'm trying to cut back. Any help or general information that can help me figure out if this is another form of gastritis would be amazing.

I (26M) started getting sick, consistently, since around February or March. I don’t really know what to do anymore or how to make it stop.
I’ve gotten blood work and some testing done. There isn’t anything medically wrong with me. But damn. I can’t get any better and don’t see much light at the end of the tunnel.
Don’t really care much to make a throwaway at this point so hopefully I’m not recognized. I worked a social work job for a couple of months that destroyed me emotionally and mentally, and I took a few weeks off from working to recover. That was in October, and since then I haven’t been consistently healthy enough to be comfortable getting a job. Money and time is running out.
I’ll get horrible migraines that completely kill my appetite and upset my stomach. Sometimes I throw up, sometimes I don’t, but It’ll begin episodes where I can’t eat for days at a time. I’ll be dizzy, trapped in bed rocking back and forth, before always feeling a little better at night.
Two weeks ago from last Friday I got covid (my first case I’ve tested positive for) and I haven’t been better since then. I guess it triggered the issues but now they won’t go away after weeks.
I’ve cried a lot. I can’t be social, or clean the house or mow the lawn or muster the energy and focus to get a job. I’ve lost a lot of weight. If I’m not better within a few days I know I’ll have to cancel going to one of my best friend’s bachelor weekends. And I hate myself for it.
I just wanna be hungry again. I wanna have consistent appetite, no headaches, have some energy to get back in shape and start working again. But this is so unexplainable frustrating and I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. CIA will not turn off the Havana Syndrome gun.
I don’t really use Reddit anymore, so I’m not sure what brought me back to make this post. Maybe just venting. Maybe hoping for advice or just to hear someone in a similar spot. All I know is that I’ve never been suicidal, but I’ve thought a LOT recently, when I’m feeling my worst, about a “do not exist button.” And man am I much less afraid to press it than I EVER have been. That scares me.
No idea if this is what this sub is for. Peace and blessings.

My 10 year old black kitty, Gizmo, is going to pass sometime this upcoming week. We took him to the vet because he couldn’t drink, eat dry food, drooling, and had a limp. They did blood work and it turns out his kidneys are failing. His chemistry panel for his kidney function were literally off the chart, their instrument wouldn’t even read high enough to give the exact number. The vet said there wouldn’t have been any earlier signs (he had yearly check ups) and even if we caught it earlier, there wouldn’t have been anything anyone could have done to prevent this outcome. The vet said that for Gizmos best interest, a week would be the longest he has. So, he is home now. My husband and I have decided that sometime early this coming week, a vet is going to come to our home and I’m going to hold gizmo on my lap at my computer chair (his favorite spot is in my lap while I’m gaming or just at my computer) and he will be put to sleep in my arms. After he has passed, my other kitty, Yoshi, will be brought in so he can smell his big brother, so he knows why gizmo won’t be home anymore. They will give me a lock of gizmo’s hair, a clay paw print, and his ashes.
I am absolutely beside myself. I cannot cope with this. He is my shadow, my light, my sun. He follows me everywhere, he even comes into the bathroom when I blow dry my hair despite how loud it is, because he knows I have a free hand to pet him and give him attention. I sing to him and replace certain words with his name “You are my sun shine, my only sun shine…. Please don’t take my Gizmo away” and he looks up at me while I sing with so much love that I cannot even comprehend it. Now, I’m going to lose the brightest light in my life. I have always told my husband that I won’t know what to do when gizmo is gone, even the thought of my life and my home without him would bring me to tears. When I’m having a bad day at work I just think “yeah, working at the lab sucks, but atleast I have my gizmo at home waiting for me”
I know many people don’t get the chance to have time left with their pet before they pass and that the chance I am being given is not something to take for granted, but I feel like he isn’t even there anymore, like he is a shell of his former self. I look at him and it feels like my heart shatters in my chest and I can only wail and beg anyone listening to make this different. Please don’t take him from me.
Yes, I have my Yoshi, but Gizmo was my first cat as an adult. He has been my side kick through the worst times of my life. He trots around the house, following me, loving me unconditionally, meowing incessantly in the best of ways. He comes and sleeps next to my head or chest every night, as soon as I turn off my bedside lamp he comes over to me and I pet him to sleep while I also fall asleep. Yoshi is not this way, and that’s okay, I love him all the same. Yoshi is more independent, and everything is on his terms and I love that about him, but that’s where Gizmo is his opposite and Gizmo’s balance. Everything will be unbalanced and there will be a gaping hole left.
My husband is out buying groceries, care items for us, some special food and treats for the kitties, and medicine for the week. I’m taking a week off work and have also spoken to a grief counselor for next week and my psychiatrist about sleep medication.
I don’t know what to do now. It feels like all of my nerve endings are shot and that there are bugs skittering around inside my chest and stomach. I am currently working full time as an analytical chemist and also going to university full time, finals are about to start and work is far too reliant on me. I feel so overwhelmed and like I’m about to explode. I also feel like I’m over reacting because he is just a cat, but I also see him as a member of my family. I have been through so, so much and I’m not even 30 yet until October. Who keeps taking from me and why won’t they stop taking. I feel like I’ve been shattered, pieces taken, and all that’s left are sharp edges despite how full my heart feels, filled with so much love and so much hurt and loss. My dad took his life in 2017 and I keep thinking “I get it now”, which is when I decided I needed to speak with a counselor.
I’m sorry for this rant, there’s a lot here. I really just need to talk about this and relate to someone. I feel crazy with grief.

Evening arrived sooner than expected, and Gensokyo began to settle down for the day along with the sun. Not everyone though, as Hakurei Shrine still had some company who came over for a small banquet. Not a big feast like many times before; rather a small get together consisting of a handful of people.
Drinks were poured from bottles dark and light, filling up cups that soon filled the mouths with sweet bitter flavor of alcohol. Reimu hosted the event as usual, with Marisa being there as always, and Rin playing a nice song to fill the air. Among other guests included Yukari who sat idly with her cup, Remilia who once again brought a wine with a foreign name, Alice who felt like coming to check on the fixed doll, Youmu who came by her lonesome, and Suika having recovered after a long day’s rest now drinking sake while dressed in some of Reimu’s clothing as her usual outfit was torn last night.
“So, get this.” Suika placed her cup down for a moment, “This one time, Minako and I were moving through the woods, trying to find a red stag beetle after eyeing one the day before. We checked the same area we found it previously, searching the trees, and beneath boulders. And then we spotted something red in the distance and thought it was our little insect fellow. But it turned out to be a snake, a red snake, with yellow stripes. Next thing we knew it jumped at us and bit Minako on the arm!” She grabbed her own arm to visualize a snake biting.
“EEK!” Youmu jumped from hearing Suika’s story and clung onto Alice. “Youmu! You’re making me spill my drink!” Alice expressed her distress trying to pry the swordswoman off her, using her dolls to assist her.
“Despite being bitten by a venomous snake, Minako grabbed the fiend by its neck, threw it over the trees, and proceeded to suck the venom out of her system using her mouth before we continued along finding that bug. I tell you, she makes some of the oni I’ve known look average in resilience compared to her. Hahaha~”
The story was indeed impressive, everyone around got to hear more about the previous shrine maiden, especially Reimu. The only other form of information she was ever able to acquire about her late mother was through the Gensokyo Chronicles, a collection of historical records kept by the Heida Clan in the village, even then it barely told much of her late mother; describing her as a ‘ruthless woman who gets the job done, known to perform youkai exterminations with only her fists and sheer intimidation, having fallen after saving the human village from beasts of hellflame.’
“Huh, even I never knew that about her. Reminds me of Reimu whenever she tries to persuade visitors out of extra donations.” Marisa said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Reimu turned to look at Marisa with a small glare.
“I-I’m just saying the stubborn will to survive runs in the family.” Marisa stuttered a little, hoping not to anger Reimu. Reimu glared for a second longer before giving her friend a smirk.
“I’m just messing with you.” She said. She turned back and noticed Remilia now sitting next to her with a bottle of wine in her hands.
“Reimu, have you ever tried this kind of merlot wine? It’s supposed to not be as bitter as other wines I’ve brought before while still retaining that richness in flavor.” Remilia offered in her usual charismatic tone.
“Eh? More wine? I don’t know, I think it’s best for me to cut back after having drunk so much from previous events.” Reimu said, though Remilia wasn’t deterred.
“Nonsense! I’ve seen you guzzle down barrels worth before, a glass or two will be mere drops in a lake! It’ll only be a little bit.” Remilia offered again, to which Reimu became a bit more compelled, staring at the liquid’s color nestled in the bottle. Marisa got worried again knowing Remilia’s intent and considered interfering when Suika came over and placed a hand on the vampire’s shoulder.
“Hey now. If you’re going to offer someone a drink, you yourself should be willing to drink also.” Suika said.
“Eh?” Remilia wasn’t expecting to hear that, and her composure dropped a bit.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. You seem like someone who can handle their alcohol like no other. How about you and I have a drinking competition?”
“A competition? I think I’ll have to-”
“Oh yeah, great idea Remilia.” Marisa spoke up with an encouraging tone. “I mean, a noble lady like you wouldn’t lose in a battle of endurance. Not unless you’re giving up, which if I recall correctly, is something people where you’re from are known for.”
Remilia felt the jab coming at her sense of pride, and refused to allow the magician to be right. She took Suika’s proposition and right away the two were sitting by the table in the shrine with cups in their hands and bottles ready to be poured by Youmu and Rin respectively. As soon as Yukari gave the signal to start the two servers poured the first of soon-to-be many glasses of booze. Remilia and Suika drank them like they were nothing, and then the refills came. One after the other the two chugged down the drinks, however Remilia slowly grew behind, finding it hard to continue drinking as the alcohol began to affect her mind and her stomach. She glanced at Suika and saw how she was still drinking like it was nothing, and she refused to fall behind even more so she amped herself up to drink even more.
Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen. By now two dozen bottles were emptied, and Suika, though much more drunk, was still drinking her worth just fine. Remilia however was wasted. Her face was redder than a ripe tomato, her speech nothing but garbled sounds. Still she tried to force another cup down her gullet, but when the cup reached her lips, she dropped it and her head collapsed on the table.
“And she’s down. We have a winner.” Marisa announced. Suika finished her last cup and patted her stomach with satisfaction. Everyone around gathered to congratulate her, including Reimu, leaving no one to pity the poor vampire rendered useless from intoxication.
“Sa…Sakuya.” Remilia spoke in a shaky voice.
“Yes milady?” Sakuya appeared from nowhere right by her mistress’ side.
“Take me home.”
After Remilia was taken home, the party eventually died down. People started to leave one by one, while those who live in the shrine called it a night. Reimu, who had a bit much to drink earlier, needed to be taken to bed by Rin who helped the shrine maiden to her room. The only other people who were still up for the night were Yukari and Suika, gazing up at the stars above while catching up with one another after so long.
“So, how’s your shikigami been?” Suika asked Yukari.
“You mean Ran? She’s been well. She’s a lot stronger and more organized than when she was younger, though she still disobeys my commands and takes matters into her own hands often.” Yukari sighed at the end.
“Heh, guess some things about those you know never change…except for us.” Suika said. Yukari got curious about the last part. “What do you mean?”
“Well it’s funny to think sometimes. We lived for so long, met so many people, experienced so many things, and yet we’re still able to act like tomorrow will be different from today. Who we were a hundred years ago is much different compared to who we are today.”
“Hm…I wouldn’t say you’re wrong, but can’t say you’re right either.” Yukari said. “I don’t think I’ve changed much over the past century.”
“I guess not, you’re still the same person I’ve met so long ago.” Suika took a small sip of her gourd, then looked down at the Mimi doll in her hand. “I wonder what kind of person Minako became? Did she still have that sense of vigor I’ve known her for?”
“Not quite.” Yukari said. “After inheriting the position of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, she became a lot more composed and elegant. And after having Reimu, she settled down much more. Sure, she retained much of her strength and constitution when it came to her duties, but at home, she was a loving mother first and foremost.”
Suika smiled hearing that, but it was also a sad smile. “I still wish I could see her. If only I didn’t wait too long.”
“I’m sure she would’ve liked to see you too.” Yukari said. “If she was here right now, she would probably question why you’re wearing her daughter’s clothes.”
Suika looked at what she was wearing, “Oh right. Well, maybe I’ll tell her I’m interested in being a shrine maiden. Hand me a gohei, an orb, and call me Miko Miko Suika and I’m set to beat up youkai and gather donations.”
Her words made both her and Yukari laugh, long and hard. They both calmed down after ten seconds of laughing.
“Ah...Y’know, Minako’s not the only person I had hoped to see here.” Suika said.
“Really? Who else did you want to see?” Yukari asked.
“Just an old friend. I haven’t seen her since she took up a life of hermitude and moved to youkai mountain. Wonder if she’s still there?”
“Oh.” Yukari quickly put together the puzzle. “Well, I’m sorry to say but you probably won’t be seeing her for a while.”
“Huh? Why’s that?” Suika looked at Yukari with visible confusion. “Did something happen to her?”
“Well nothing too bad. Let’s just say she’s on a long vacation.”
—
The streets of Paris were bright. The eiffel tower stood mighty as people from all around walked in light summer clothing, simple yet extravagant. Stores selling perfume and fragrances casted mixtures of scents that brought wonder to the noses of people who walked past. Cafes and bakeries executed a similar feat, but the difference was they sold delicious bread and sweets that prompted people close by to come in for a bite.
Sitting by a patio table of one such place, a woman with pink hair wearing a white blouse and green skirt, wearing a big summer hat to help block out the sun, was enjoying some nice macarons. Each bite was filled with a sweet crisp flavor, filling her mouth with a sensation she could never get tired of. Mid-way through her plate however, some thoughts came to her mind.
She thought of Gensokyo for a moment. It has been a few years already since she last left home and everything behind. She would be lying if she said she didn’t miss being back there and all its inhabitants. Thoughts of the various people she got to know over the years ascended up to the surface of her mind. There were the sages, primarily Yukari and Genjii, she wonders how they’re both doing. There were her pets, she hopes they’re doing well but also knows they can live independently. There was Marisa, she believes she’s well and continues to live a well-earned life. There were friends from before, when she used to live deep below the ground, and how long since then. Then there was Reimu, she thinks about her almost everyday, she hopes she’s alright, she hopes she’s doing great, she hopes she could at the very least remember her and all the times they spent together, though she also knows it’s unlikely she remembers.
“Excuse me manquer.” A voice caught Kasen off-guard for a moment, she looked up and saw a server looking at her with slight concern. “Is everything alright? You seem disturbed about something.”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Kasen said, speaking in their language. “I was thinking of home, that’s all.”
“Ah, I see. You’re from Japan, correct?”
“Uh, that’s right.”
“Oh wow, that’s pretty far from here. I have never been to Japan before, but I hope someday I will. Are you perhaps thinking of returning home soon?”
Kasen paused for a second, looking away slightly before turning back with an assured smile. “No, I don’t have any reason to yet.”
“Ah, I see. Well, would you like anything else before I go?” The server asked.
Kasen thought for a moment, looking down at her empty plate of macarons. She had been eating them the whole time she was thinking of home.
“I think I’ll take some more macarons…Oh, and throw in some cookies too.” Kasen decided.
The server then left, leaving Kasen to wait. While she did she looked back on the street, resting her chin on her hand with a smile.

I will need to have a planned c section because of medical reasons and I absolutely don't want the baby to come out any earlier than the scheduled date (which probably will be around week 39). That being said, I am just so fucking done. I'm done. I can't say I'm super uncomfortable. I gained 8 kgs overall but I feel every gram of it in my pelvis. I don't feel anything particularly painful except my stomach hurts as fuck every time after I eat and overall my digestive system doesn't like this whole 3 trimester things. I don't have insomnia but some nights I can barely sleep because every position is somehow more uncomfortable than the previous one.
I know my life will get so much harder once the baby is out. I know I'm gonna miss the solitude and the quiet I now have (I'm doing it solo). But ever since the belly reached a certain size that doesn't allow me to breathe properly while lying down I just feel sooooo done!
Also I still cannot believe I have a whole ass baby inside me. I am terrified of this reality but at the same time can't wait to see and hold my baby. I waited so long to have her. So many years. I thought I will never be a mom. And being heavily pregnant somehow doesn't feel like being a mom yet. I want this baby to be "real", if it makes sense.

Race information

* **What?** Brisbane Marathon
* **When?** 2nd June, 2024
* **How far?** 42.2km
* **Where?** Brisbane, QLD
* **Strava activity:** https://www.strava.com/activities/11551812170
* **Finish time:** 4:02 Officially

Goals

Goal Description Completed?
-------------------------------
A Finish *Yes*
B 3:45 *No*
C 3:30 *No*

Splits

Kilometer Time
------------
1 5:19
2 5:31
3 5:13
4 5:27
5 5:23
6 5:17
7 5:11
8 5:09
9 5:18
10 5:14
11 4:51
12 5:01
13 5:07
14 5:03
15 5:07
16 4:57
17 5:21
18 5:17
19 5:15
20 5:15
21 5:13
22 5:12
23 5:27
24 5:19
25 5:25
26 5:18
27 5:21
28 5:32
29 5:14
30 5:30
31 5:48
32 5:33
33 5:41
34 6:19
35 6:20
36 7:09
37 5:57
38 6:31
39 7:00
40 6:26
41 7:02
42 6:06
43 5:40

Training

I'd been following Sage Canaday's Higher Running beginneintermediate training program for the past 16 weeks, before that I did about 6 months of base building - this being the most I'd ever run, and off the back of a few relatively sedentary years. The training went pretty well, I began figuring out how HR zones work and linking them to expected times, the weekly mileage ramped up slowly and was tolerated fairly well. Once mileage hit 65+ kms per week (40mi) I noticed a few niggling injuries beginning to appear, but these were handled pretty well with self-massage, and starting ATG strength training for my knees and calves. The biggest run in this training block was a 3hr effort, with 8kms at marathon goal pace (5:01/km, 8:04/mi), the last 2kms of that marathon pace effort being up a very steep incline. I arrived home after that run with very sore feet, and consequently the volume in the next week suffered. Due to a busy schedule, I missed some key runs, especially long runs and a few threshold sessions that I feel negatively impacted my race-day performance.
About a week out from the race, I started to feel a bit sick, but put it out of my mind and pushed through training, which was a bad idea, as that sickness continued to get worse the week of the race, only allowing 11kms total to be run that week, and keeping me couch-bound and off work for a few days. I rocked up to the race feeling average at best, and in retrospect I probably had a little bit of COVID due to my symptoms.
My nutrition was up-and-down the whole training cycle, trying to figure out what worked for me and how much to eat, leading to weeks of overeating, and some weeks of undereating.

Pre-race

I began carb-loading the day before the marathon, however last-minute preparations got in the way of consistent food throughout the day, and I really only started eating a decent amount around lunchtime, or about 16 hours out from the race. My diet changed significantly to achieve this, and I woke up feeling deflated and drowsy the morning of the race.
Immediately pre-race, I warmed up for about 400m, and did some static stretching and dynamic movements. At this point, I noticed my HR was significantly higher than it should have been, which would be a sign of things to come.

Race

I started the race at a pace I was fairly happy with, however my HR was 10-20BPM higher than it usually is at those efforts, which I put down to nerves and figured it would eventually even out. By 20mins in, I realised this probably wasn't going to happen, and ended up running all of the uphill sections at threshold effort (but far below threshold pace), but figured I'd just tough it through and keep going. How bad could it get?
By the 10km mark I was feeling good, starting to smash uphills and felt nice and cruisy at almost marathon-pace along the flats. I was overtaking people and running strong, found my stride, and focused on maintaining good leg turnover and running tall. By the time I'd hit K 18, I wasn't feeling amazing, had a brief bout of light-headedness and slowed my pace slightly and tried to relax as much as possible. That passed, and I finished the first half of the race feeling strong.
As I turned around for lap 2, the first hill out of the city was feeling ok, but the enormity of how much race I had left and how I was feeling was beginning to dawn on me. I accidentally consumed some of the provided electrolyte drink instead of water, and about 5 minutes after that my guts started having a very bad time. I never got rid of this, and the stomach cramps stuck with me until the end of the race. Continued at the same effort through all the big hills, and hit K 24 feeling pretty decent. I'd been fuelling properly the whole time, aiming for 90g carbs/hour and about 1000ml of water in the same time, plus I'd been using my salt tabs, however K 25 was harder, 26 even harder, and so on and so forth. My left hamstring started to cramp up bad, and I had to alter my running form to prevent this from being any more of an issue than it already was. By 30kms in, I knew I was done for, knew I'd blown it on any of my goals by going out too hard, and realised that my lot in life for the next hour or so was to suffer. So be it. I spent about 8 minutes total having a walk, trying to clear the lactate out of my system and find a second wind, but it never came. Finally crossing that finish line well short of my goal was one of the best feelings I've had. Very happy to have finished the race.

Post-race

The missus and her family came to support me, gave me a whole bunch of fruit and sports drinks but I wanted none of, just feeling absolutely burned out. But was very thankful to have people there to hobble back to the car with, and spent the remainder of the day resting pretty hard.

What's Next?

I learned a lot this marathon, and I'm glad to have the experience of the next on on-board to be much better prepared for my next one. My biggest and most unexpected lesson? Don't run a marathon as a 90kg man in Altra Escalante Racers. They might do it for people without any weight, but man oh man were my legs and feet absolutely stinging! Going out to invest in some better running shoes immediately, and very keen to put all my lessons learned into my next marathon. Pfitz 18/55 is the plan I'm going to try next, after a few weeks of very light walking and running, and catching up with all the mates I haven't seen for the last 16 weeks because of my training.
If anyone has anything to add, or some tips for me, I'm all ears.
Cheers!

Diet: - Remove carbs. The only carbs I get are <5% from veggies and fruits. For me, the best veg/ fruits are zucchini, cucumber, mushrooms, and blueberries. - Getting a juicer allows you to unlock the diverse nutrition profile from produce that would otherwise be impossible because of the fiber - the best are cabbage + celery + ginger (which will also massively help against gastritis, h pylori, and other bad bacteria). I drink half a mug, 20 mins before each meal. Lmk if I should add something else to the mix. If you can't get a juicer, "Ginger Aid" tea is pretty good. - The base of my diet is around salmon, chicken, and eggs. These contain so many essential nutrients. If I could tolerate red meat I would add a bit of that too. - Since I struggled with maintaining weight and lacking calcium, the solution was a bit of olive oil per meal, cabot lactose free cheese, and the very occasional treat of peanut butter. - Add herbs, preferably fresh, like basil, oregano, thyme. - Adequately salt your meals. It's an often overlooked electrolyte when you suddenly transition from your pre SIBO diet which for many people contains a lot of salt, to your restricted diet. The body needs more salt than you think to continue functioning well. And it tastes better that way too! - when testing your tolerance for foods that should be ok but somehow aren't, your mind could be playing tricks on you. So try to distract yourself after eating them, ignore any signs of early symptoms, and only decide that you can't tolerate it after repeated brutal, real, symptoms. And bring the food up with dietician/gastro to discuss why it isn't tolerated. - supplements that noticeably helped (all preferably in pure powder form): DGL (whatever it touches, starts secreting more mucus/digestive juice), magnesium oxide (gentle laxitive + reduced muscle cramping), a quality multivitamin. I have a prescription for Motegrity, otherwise use your choice of MotilityPro.
Behavior tips: - Chew a lot, eat slowly, and drink minimally while eating (don't drink nothing though, you need some water for certain chemical reactions in digestion to take place) - these all allow your mouth, saliva, and stomach to do more of the digestion before the food reaches the bacteria. - Walk around/outside after every meal. If you can't do that, at least be upright and shift your weight around. - Pee more often - each to time you do, you release stress, and the muscles in your bowels too, and that helps with motility. - Be mindful of your posture. But don't be rigidly upright all the time either. Catch yourself when you're too slouched, because this decreases motility and mood subconsciously. Best is to adjust posture/get up frequently. Helps move bowels, lets out air, and forces you to be more active.

Haven't been suffering from bouts of acid reflux for some time and I'm really grateful for it. I've just went on holiday today, which required a 7h flight (and I have another 7h flight tmr). So right now, my stomach is acting up again probably due to stress or anxiety from visiting a new country or whatever. It's not the typical reflux I have so I'm pretty annoyed as I don't know what it is. I'm feeling hungry (as in I can feel hunger pangs in my stomach starting from when I woke up), but I don't feel like eating at all. Anything I think of makes me feel worse. But after forcing myself to eat, the hunger pangs got better. This occurred constantly throughout the whole day up until night (now) where I'm struggling to eat although my body is asking for food.
TL;DR: I'm annoyed and upset that GERD still managed to throw me off even after a few years of dealing with it.

i finally went to the doctors after 4 years of struggling with bad breath. hopefully i get my answers after the results and also my dentist appointment! if anyone has similar symptoms to me did your doctor help you find any answers or permanent solution to your bad breath? my symptoms are • room and car filling bad breath. smells like feces or like a fart when i speak or even when i just breathe with my mouth closed. • acid reflux (not all the time but when i eat certain food) • stomach pain on the left side almost every day • mucus in the back of throat every day 24/7 • indigestion (im not totally sure if i have this but i can feel my food in my chest sometimes and when i would brush my teeth i would gag and throw up undisgested food so easily like it was just sitting down my throat.)

20M 186cm 64kg white
It all started 3 weeks ago when after any meal i got crazy full like even after small meal, so i just stopped eating alot due to fear of feeling like that. I was nauseous and full but i have emetophobia and very bad anxiety. Then the fear of food started, whenever i tried to eat my ribs would shrink and hurt in a weird way so i ate very little for 2 weeks. Now it's still the same, if i eat a meal i get crazy full after about 30 min and then the fullness lasts 4-5 hours and then goes into hunger in a second. But my stomach no mater if full or empty it wants to RUMBLE like when you are hungry but it can't. It hurts and i am scared i am gonna vomit. My ribs also feel tingly around the stomach and i get random waves of nausea during the day. I am so done with my life i can't anymore.

I hear footsteps approach and turn to see Dr. Berie with a plate in his hand. As he sets the plate down on the table with a ‘Bon appetit’, I turn my gaze back to the ceiling and continue trying to decide how many atoms there are in a single ceiling board. A fruitless effort obviously since that would have been a difficult task even for a bonafide genius and I’m not even anything close but it’s a worthy distraction.
“Eat your food, Duke.”
“I’m not hungry. And besides, what’s the point? My life is as good as over anyway so might as well starve to death.”
“Young man, if you do not eat something now, then you can take your chances out there because I will not allow you stay in this house any longer like this.”
When I shoot him a mortified expression, he says matter-of-factly. “Yes now, whose house do you want to come and die inside? Not mine for sure. You haven’t eaten anything in six days and you still don’t want to eat. Well, you don’t have to, I won’t force you to.”
With that, he gets up and claps his hands together like it’s a decided matter. “So, you can just pack everything of yours and leave now. Of course, you have to leave all my protective charms behind when you go out.” He threateningly points toward the window where raindrops pattered on the glass. I instinctively inch away from it on the couch and look at the doctor pleadingly.
“Don’t look at me like that. There are no two ways about it. It is either you eat or you leave. Simple.” I reluctantly sit upright in my chair and begin my meal. It isn’t bad in fact, it’s really good. Roasted yam and roasted vegetables is nothing to sneeze at. Thing is, eating and drinking one thing for two straight months does nothing to improve your impression of that food.
Seeing me eat my food, Dr. Berie nods. “Good choice. You know, I never would have followed through with kicking you out. I’ve grown rather fond of you in the time we’ve spent together. Well, keep your strength up, good night.”
I clear out my plates and lay back down in the chair. I haven’t eaten anything else because Dr. Berie says these are the only foods he can completely rid of water, along with a drink he continuously assures me is freshly squeezed fruit juice – it isn’t like any fruit I’ve ever tasted but… I have to drink it. Not like I can leave here to go get myself something else for the same reason none of my food can have water in them.
You’re probably wondering what problem I could possibly have that would make me put myself under such conditions. Well, it might shock you, but I have a spiritual problem. Now, I know lots of Nigerians say this, but in my case, it’s actually true. My village people are after me. No, seriously, they are!
Here, how about I give you a little backstory and you’ll see just how dead serious I am?
It all started with an innocent visit to my hometown. I don’t ever really go back there but I had to attend my twin sister’s traditional wedding right? If I’d known how it would turn out, I probably would have just mailed them a gift or something.
Anyway, I got there for her wedding and it was a total shutdown. Like, really, I danced and sprayed money on the couple like there was no tomorrow. Took pictures with my brand new phone and just generally showed off. Nigerians in general believe it is unwise to show off in the village but I’ve never been as superstitious as the rest of my nation y’know?
When the party was nearly done, I decided it was time to mingle and probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen caught my eye. She wasn’t dressed spectacularly or anything, but there was no denying how she radiated elegance. It was a surprise she wasn’t already crowded by men trying to ‘shoot their shot’ but I suppose everyone was just turned off by her plain clothes. Were people honestly so shallow nowadays?
“Nice evening isn’t it?” I ventured when I found myself in front of the lady without even realizing how I’d gotten there.
“Not really.” She replied with a smile. “I just cannot stand gatherings like this. Dellia.” She added, motioning to an empty seat beside her.
“Duke. Duke Obaìsàlè. Pleasure to meet you.” I said as I settled into the seat she’d shown me. “Personally, I love weddings.” It was true. As a social animal, a wedding for me was just another opportunity for me to meet people.
“But that’s just it, isn’t it?” She seemed to reply to my thoughts. “We have to mingle with all these people and pretend we like or even know them. Tell you the truth?” she looked around like she thought someone was eavesdropping before using a fan to hide her face. She seemed to pull that fan from thin air (I hadn’t noticed it before.) “I can’t stand any of these people.”
“You know, now that you mention it,” playing along, I looked round and leaned in conspiratorially. “People in general really can be such a pain to be around.”
She gasped and affected a hurt expression. “All people?”
“Well… there are a few – oh, so very few – notable exceptions.”
“Hmm.” With a smile that could start wars, she lifted her glass. “To the exceptions then.”
I returned her smile and lifted a free glass I found on the table. “To the exceptions.”
After the toast, we talked for hours and hours. I honestly don’t remember much of the conversation but you can’t blame me, I was looking into her eyes all through. You wouldn’t be able to pay attention to anything either if you were in my shoes.
Shortly after sunset, Dellia said she had to leave for home. Something about her father needing her help to prepare for guests.
“Are you sure you can’t stay just a little bit longer?” I asked, trying my best to sound like a heartbroken child.
“Aaw… aren’t you just the cutest? Don’t worry darling, we’ll see each other again really, really soon. I’m sure of it. So, chin up, yeah?”
I didn’t reply. Mainly because I knew the chances of meeting her again were slim to none. After all, I never came to the village.
“Seriously, smile for me before I leave.” She asked. I affected my best smile for her.
“That’s more like it. Bye now. Mwah!” She blew a kiss, picked her purse and left the venue heading off into the village beyond. I watched her walk away and it was only after she’d turned a bend and gotten out of view that I realized I hadn’t even gotten her number.
Well, no use now. She was gone, probably forever. It was already dark out. Time to go find the newlyweds before they left for their traditional honeymoon. What the hell was a traditional honeymoon anyway?
I found the couple about to leave for the airport. As soon as my sister saw me, she got down from the car and would have ran to me if her tight gown had allowed her anything beyond a hurried walk.
“Duke! Where have you been, ehn? My husband and I have been looking for you for only God knows how long.”
“I’m fine, baby sis. I no fit loss inside my own village now.” I replied her, switching to pidgin English.
“Which your village? You wey you no dey ever come house. Make I tell you something, this village people no mean betta for you o! Me, I no know why you no go just pack your things dey go house now as us too we dey comot.” She replied me, also using Pidgin English to emphasize her point.
“See Duchess, forget all that village people nonsense. I, Duke Obaìsàlè, do not fear witches. I don’t believe in any of that crap.” I returned to English this time. “Besides, Uncle Jimmy said he wanted us to go meet Bámí together later tonight.”
“NO!” my sister shouted with perhaps a bit too much force. “What do you people want to go to his house for? I don’t trust that man one bit. Just tell them you have work tomorrow or something.”
“I don’t work Saturdays sis. But tell you what? I won’t eat anything at or from his house and from there, I’m going straight to the hotel room so no harm done. Deal?”
Duchess sighed. It was the same sigh she sighed whenever she gave up asking my mother for a favor when we were kids. “Fine. But please promise me you’re not going to eat anything, hug or touch anyone. Please promise me.”
“My superstitious sister!” I teased. “I’m not afraid of witches. I’m not.” She didn’t look convinced. "Yo Ricky!” I addressed her husband who was leaning on the car watching us argue with amusement. “You afraid of witches man?”
“Well, damn man. Uh… pftt” he blew out some air while he thought. “Well, my grandmother was a witch. So… ain’t no reason to be scared of family right?”
“There you have it.” I joked. “The witches are family. I’m good.”
“I’m serious Duke.” She insisted, trying her best not to smile at the jokesters that were the men in her life.
“Okay, okay.” I finally became serious. “Even though I don’t believe in all the superstitious nonsense, I won’t eat or drink or touch anyone until I leave. And for good measure, I’m leaving before daybreak tomorrow morning.”
“Good. Still be careful though, because there is night before daybreak and-“
“Darkness functions best at night.” I chorused it with her.
She’d said that so much, it might as well be her anthem. How I got such a superstitious sister, I’ll never know.
Going with Uncle Jimmy to Bámí’s house was an uneventful, almost boring thing and the visit was looking to be the same until Bámí called for his daughter to bring out refreshments.
“Dellia!!” The elder bellowed into his house. “Where is this girl now? Dellia!”
I didn’t want to get my hopes up even though it was unlikely to be another Dellia. I was proven right when Dellia walked out with plates of food in her hands. My Dellia, not any other. The same one I had met during the traditional wedding. At this point, I was certain she was the one fated for me.
When she set the plates down in front of us, I attempted to initiate a conversation. “Hello Dellia. Remember me?”
No response. She simply walked back into what I assumed was the kitchen since I saw a fire in there. “So you’ve met my daughter ehn?” Bámí asked me. Seems he was her father and I was the visitor she had to prepare for.
“Yes sir, yes. I met her at the traditional wedding earlier today.” I said, trying to look my most respectful and respectable.
“Good, good. That is a very good thing.” Bámí seemed pleased with that development for some reason.
“Yes sir.” I replied while eyeing the food set before me. The bushmeat looked especially delicious but I had promised my sister I wouldn’t eat and so it would be. “I hope you won’t be angry sir, but I’ll be taking my food back to my hotel room with me.”
“No problem at all young man.” Bámí replied. “In fact,” just as he gestured toward the curtain, Dellia appeared there. “my daughter Dellia will take the food to your hotel room with you.”
I leaned in to whisper so only Uncle Jimmy could hear. “Do you think she’ll stay for dessert?”
My uncle knew exactly what I meant. “If I were you, I’d even turn my dessert into the main dish.” He whispered back with a grin. If Bámí or Dellia heard us, they didn’t let on.
Back at the hotel room, I tried initiating another conversation with Dellia. She remained unresponsive. I thought perhaps it was because of the situation we found ourselves in so I tried putting her mind at rest.
“Dellia listen, if it’s about sex, we don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. If it’s your father forcing you, we can just talk. We don’t even have to talk about that, we can talk about anything. Come on now, I really enjoyed our conversation earlier.”
More silence.
“Dellia, say something.” Even more silence. “Toh, if you don’t want to say anything, let’s just go to sleep then.” I said laying on the bed in frustration, facing away from her.
“You say something.”
“What?” I was happy to hear her voice again but her words confused me.
“I said you should say something. But not just anything. I want you to tell me you love me.” She said as she got up and walked toward me while undoing her gown. “Unless that’s a problem?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and the naughtiest of looks in her eyes.
“No problem here, no problem at all.” If this was what it took to get her worked up, I’d play along. Some answers first though. “But can I ask why you refused to speak to me all this while? I thought it might have been something I-“
“Shhh.” She shushed me with a finger to my lips. “Say everything else later. For now…” she punctuated her line with a kiss on my lips. The best kiss I’d ever had. “…just say you love me.”
“Oh my God! I love you Dellia!” I gasped as she broke the kiss and undid my shirt buttons.
After pulling my shirt off, she traced her fingernails across my bare chest. The sensations she gave me were like nothing else. “I love you Dellia, I love your hair, I love your deep, beautiful eyes, I love ev-“
“Seriously Duke, just say you love me. Don’t say anything else, just say you love me. Say you love me seven times.”
“Uh… sure.” I thought I was making it better complimenting different parts of her and the specific number of times kind if weirded me out but whatever she wanted was alright with me.
As she worked her fingers down from my chest to my stomach, I told her I loved her again, by the time her hands got to my belt, I’d said it again. On the third ‘I love you’, she was unbuttoning my trousers and going “Yes, tell me you love me.” Like some sort of high had taken over her.
My trousers were already off by the fourth ‘I love you’ but then something shifted. I couldn’t place my finger on it, but I could tell there was an off vibe in the room. I remembered my sister’s warning. I’d definitely done more than hug Dellia.
“Dellia, stop. Get off me.”
“No, no, no. Don’t stop now, keep going. Keep telling me you love me. Just three more left.”
“I don’t want to Dellia. This isn’t doing it for me, okay?”
“Don’t be silly. Look, I’ll blow you if you just say it three more times.” She motioned to pull down my boxers, I had to stand up, knocking her off me.
“Dellia, why do you need me to say ‘I love you’ seven times?” I was now standing in a corner of the room with my hands over my manhood with Dellia kneeling where she’d fallen on the floor.
“Just say it and you’ll find out. Trust me.” She crawled towards me on the floor with movements so seductive, they should have been illegal. I was starting to consider just going through with it.
“By the way, you have to start over from one now ‘cause you broke the chain.” She winked up at me. When had she gotten across the room? She looked so pretty. What was the worst that would happen? Maybe I should just-
RIINNGG!! RIIIIIIINGG!! My phone interrupted my thoughts. “I-I’ll get that.”
“No. Leave it. Don’t let anyone interrupt us right now okay?”
“It could be important. Let me just-“
“Just shut up and say it!!!” She screamed. My phone and a few other things got knocked clear across the room seemingly by nothing. My phone even embedded itself in the wall. It also stopped ringing which I believe was what she aimed for.
That settled it. This girl was no normal woman and I needed to get lost immediately. She stood up, and pulled me by the chain I wore around my neck, guiding me to the bed.
Seeing an opening, I reached into a reserve of power I didn’t even know I had. I pulled my neck back with enough strength to cut the chain and sprinted out the door only bending to pick up my briefs. I wore them as I ran. I could hear Dellia in the distance calling me back.
I didn’t listen, I ran to the taxi that brought me to the village. Driver always slept in his car. I knocked frantically on the windscreen as I ran up to him.
As soon as the car was unlocked, I got in and locked all the doors.
“Lagos. Take me to Lagos now. Quickly, quickly!”
“But boss, why are you not wearing any clothe?”
“I said drive!!” I yelled at the poor man as loud as I could. “Can you imagine? He’s asking why I’m not wearing clothe. Better face what you’re being paid to do and mind your business.”
“Yes sir, sorry sir.”
On our way out, we met a curious trio. Fat, elderly women. Typical village grandmothers except in that they stood blocking the only way out of the village in the middle of the night.
Driver had to stop in front of them when he saw them. Once he stopped they moved toward the car. I didn’t know what they wanted, and I did not care. I motioned with my hand for driver to move as soon as they’d cleared the way.
As though they knew, they moved to block the way again. This scared me even more since I’d put my hand in a place they couldn’t possibly have seen it.
Turns out, all they wanted was for me to advertise some handmade wooden beads for them back in Lagos. They seemed ominous though. Especially when one of them spoke to me and I could swear she had at least ten voices leaving her mouth at once.
All in all, I’d left the village in one piece and thought I was free, little did I know, the village went back to Lagos with me. And that the hotel would be far from my final encounter with Dellia.
Note:
This is a series based on a movie of the same name which I think had a great concept but terrible execution. I am also aware that I had a series I begun here but did not finish and that is because i haven't worked out some things. But once I do, I'll get back on it.
Next

Height - 189 cm/around 6’2”
80 kg - 176 lbs, 14 years
63 kg - 138 lbs, 16 years
59 kg - 130 lbs, 17 years (present)
I just am unable to gain weight. I don’t know why my stomach doesn’t feels good, my stools aren’t smooth, and I always feel a sense of incomplete evacuation. So I sometimes don't even feel like eating the amount of calories I need to maintain my body weight let alone increase my weight.
I tried incorporating smoothies like banana+milk shake, and high-protein foods such as chicken, egg and so on. But my stomach feels weird (bloating etc) after drinking milk, curd, even normally without banana. I am not sure it is lactose intolerance or anything, because this all started around 14 years of age, where I fell ill and lost my appetite completely, I used to enjoy dairy products a lot before that. There are certain foods which I have stopped eating because my stomach just cannot digest them smoothly like pulses and so on.
I just got diagnosed with jaundice so I don’t have any plan on gaining weight right now. But what should I do after I got cured? Is it because of my diet? Should I go see a gastrologist or something? People around me always try to convince me that it is all inside my mind and I don’t actually have any problem.
Should I just don't give a darn and start eating like a beast no matter how my stomach feel, or my stools are? Is it an imaginary fear? Need to try some experiments and so on?

Jack walked into the ship’s medical bay with his hands across his stomach, feeling like the damned thing was doing an entire circus’ worth of acrobatics, and a decided look of discomfort on his otherwise handsome face. The Jal’kek doctor, who looked a bit like a mythical Naga with a serpentine lower body and humanoid upper body covered in fine scales, must have thought Jack was pissed or something because he recoiled in terror briefly before composing himself and straightening.
“How can I help you,” he asked Jack smoothly, trying to hide his initial discomfort.
Jack didn’t hold it against him. Despite First Contact happening almost 25 years ago, he knew most species in the galaxy regarded humans with more than a little trepidation. Apart from Terra being classified as a “Deathworld,” humanity had made a name for itself in what was called, by humans, the First Contact War and by the rest of the galaxy as the Terran/Tal’check War. The Tal’check were an aggressive species and were only kept in check by the Galactic Federation, a group of 50 or so worlds determined to stop the Tal’check before they conquered the entire galaxy. Then Humanity stepped onto the stage.
Humans had been trying for decades to unlock the secrets of FTL travel but their lack of it didn’t keep them down. Luna was settled first, followed by Mars (mostly terraforming crews), then Venus and several of the larger asteroids that didn’t have high amounts of valuable minerals. There were teasing issues, as always happens with humans, but they were quickly solved diplomatically with the help of a rather forceful diplomat. The Terran Alliance was thus born. Eventually Terran scientists created the first successful warp drive and made contact with the Federation, which had grown to encompass almost a hundred worlds. First Contact with the Federation went surprisingly well despite the inherent terror most of the Federation species felt at encountering a predator species. First Contact with the Tal’check however, did not. The Tal’check hated humanity from the very first, for reasons no one could adequately explain, even the Tal’check, who set out to conquer Terra almost immediately.
Humanity fought back, naturally, and while their ships weren’t as sophisticated as the Tal’check ships, their captains were adaptable, innovative, and had far better training than their counterparts. The Tal’check, and the Federation for that matter, were used to fighting in a far more formal manner and their officers were exclusively from their society’s nobility rather than promoting those who were most capable.
The Battle of Jupiter was the war’s grand opening and the battle fleet the Tal’check had sent to conquer Terra was swiftly defeated with acceptable losses to the Terran Alliance. Most of the enemy ships were destroyed but more than a few were captured and while some were sent to the tech geeks, who were salivating at the chance to study them, most were retrofitted for human use and turned against their builders. The Federation offered assistance at first, which humanity gladly accepted, but after witnessing humanity’s ferocity and determination in battle, which the Federation ambassadors called insanity, they eventually withdrew their support. The human ambassador had just shrugged, told them that humanity didn’t really need their assistance anymore and went on to discuss a new trade deal as though nothing had happened. This disconcerted the Federation ambassadors a lot. They were disconcerted even more when, after just over a year of fighting, humanity conquered the Tal’check Empire in its entirety.
Rather than exterminate the whole race as the Federation had feared, humanity integrated them into its own alliance and now controlled a vast swath of territory and a military that dwarfed even the Federation. Not only that, but they had gained a reputation as fierce, if insane fighters.
Jack himself was about 6’ 2” with piercing green eyes, shockingly red hair cut in the traditional military manner and, unusually for a ginger, nicely tanned skin. The rolled-up sleeves of his uniform jacket were stretched tight over his biceps and looked as though they might rip with the slightest movement of his arms. He knew he intimidated most people, and most aliens found any human intimidating, so he paid the doctor’s reaction no mind.
“I was actually looking for Dr. Rodriguez,” Jack replied, referring to the human doctor who was part of his squad and had come on board with them when they had agreed to be security for this trip.
The Doctor, whose name was Chal, Jack remembered, looked a little disappointed, but then brightened.
“I’m afraid she went to get something to eat, but if it’s nothing too serious I’m sure I can handle it. I’ve been brushing up on human anatomy,” he said proudly.
Jack hesitated for a moment. Doctor Chal had sounded confident, but Jack had taken it about as well as someone saying they knew how to perform open heart surgery after watching a YouTube video. It didn’t exactly fill him with confidence to put it mildly. His stomach gave another flip and he grimaced.
“Ok,” he said at last and shuffled over to lay on one of the biobeds, whose monitors lit up and began to display his vitals as soon as he was settled.
Doctor Chal eagerly slithered over, a little too eagerly if you’d asked Jack, and pulled out a hand scanner. As he ran the scanner up and down Jack’s body, he glanced at the vitals monitors.
“Your vitals look good for the most part,” Doctor Chal said. “Heart rate and blood pressure are a little elevated, but I’m given to understand that that is normal for humans under these conditions.”
“Great, doc,” Jack said dryly. He knew Chal was trying to be reassuring but he was failing miserably and didn’t seem to recognize it.
After a few more passes with the scanner, Chal looked at the screen with a puzzled expression.
“Hmmm,” Chal said consideringly.
Like most humans, Jack really hated when most doctors did that.
“What,” Jack asked trying not to let his alarm show. “What’s hmmm?”
Chal seemed not to hear him for a minute before he replied in what Jack was sure he thought was a reassuring tone. Jack was anything but reassured. “Tell me, what was the last thing you ate?”
“A roast beef sandwich and a bag of potato chips?” Jack said, more like asked, confused.
“Is that a fairly normal meal for you?”
“Fairly normal, yeah. What’s wrong doc?”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Chal said, patting him somewhat awkwardly on the head like Jack was some kind of pet. “I’m just going to go run these results through the computer really quick. I’m not entirely sure this scanner was properly calibrated for humans.”
He slithered away into his office before Jack could do more than blink stupidly at him. Jack felt like he’d been hit over the head with a hammer.
A few minutes later he heard, “Doctor Rodriguez please report to sick bay, Doctor Rodriguez, please report to sick bay,” come from outside. It was somewhat muffled by the closed sick bay doors, but it was distinct. Jack tried to breathe slowly as his mind raced with ever more terrible predictions of what was wrong with him.
An interminable amount of time later, the doors to sick bay wooshed open and the tall form of Doctor Rodriguez strolled into the room. She had long black hair, beautiful brown eyes that usually sparkled with humor when off duty, and curves in all the right places. Her skin was that amazing bronze color everyone of South American descent seemed to possess and while her chest wasn’t huge, Jack knew his sister would be jealous of it. If he swung that way, Jack would probably try to hit on her and be shot down as viciously as she shot down everyone on the team who had tried. The veterans on the squad knew better.
She glanced at him lying on the biobed and stopped, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Stevenson,” she said knowingly, her voice like ice. She walked over to the biobed as she kept talking and stopped beside it. “I should have known. What did you do this time?”
“I have no idea.”
She gave him a look that said, just how stupid do you think I am?
“Scout’s honor,” he said innocently, holding up three fingers.
She huffed in amusement. “Like you were ever a scout.”
“Doctor Rodriguez,” Doctor Chal said leaning out of his office door. When she looked up at him, he continued. “Could I speak to you for a moment?”
She frowned but nodded and patted Jack on the shoulder before going into the office. Jack hadn’t even had time to say that he had, in fact, been a scout, if briefly.
A few minutes later, Doctor Rodriguez came back out and stood beside his biobed. She was rubbing her forehead, which did nothing to help Jack’s nerves. He knew she thought him a bit of a clutz with the number of times she’d had to patch up his minor, and not so minor, wounds. Most of which were self-inflicted.
“OK Stevenson,” she said putting her hands on her hips. “Just what the hell was on that sandwich?”
Jack was taken aback and slightly confused by her question. “Ummm, mayo, two slices of roast beef, provolone cheese, and some mustard. Why?”
“And the chips,” she asked, ignoring his question.
“Sour cream and onion.”
She stood there for a minute thinking, then sighed. “Somehow, you’ve picked up some kind of parasite. The readings are a bit off, so Doctor Chal is still going through them, but it looks like we may have to do surgery to remove it.”
Jack sighed and fell back onto his pillow. “Great,” he said dry as dust.
“You’re telling me,” Rodriguez replied. “It seems…”
Before she could continue, Doctor Chal slithered up next to her, a strange look on his face.
“What is it doc?” Jack asked his concern rising again.
“Is there some kind of complication?” Rodriguez asked in a defeated sort of way. Her face conveyed that she wouldn’t be surprised considering the patient.
“Some kind, yes,” Chal replied nervously. “I’m really not sure how to…put this. Normally it would be good news, but…”
When he didn’t seem inclined to continue, even with both humans staring at him expectantly, Doctor Rodriguez exclaimed, “Spit it out already!”
The doctor looked at Jack and tried to smile.
“Congratulations PFC! You’re pregnant!” he said in a jovial tone.
In the stunned silence that followed, a pin was heard hitting the floor somewhere.
…
It was chaos in sick bay for a while after that. Jack contacted his husband, who was also on the squad, and he came bursting into sick bay demanding answers as he rushed up to Jack on the biobed and grabbed his hand. Regulations being what they were, the ship’s captain and Jack’s CO were also summoned to sick bay. Other crew members had heard that something was going on and a few of them came to sick bay to see what all the fuss was about. They were quickly kicked out. Rumors started among the crew ranging from the dangerous to the idiotic as rumors so often do. It was only when everyone was assembled and Doctor Rodriguez had explained what was going on that silence fell again, if only briefly.
“WHAT?!” Roger yelped, his voice a little higher than he would have liked under normal circumstances. These were decidedly not normal circumstances.
“How,” several voices asked at the same time including Captain Finnegan, Jack’s CO. Captain Finnegan had seen a lot in her time in the Terran Alliance Space Navy, but this was a first for her. She kept her red hair cut short enough that the natural curls wouldn’t show, and she was the kind of pale that burned in the barest amount of sunlight but never tanned. Her green eyes were normally stern with just a hint of mischief, but all they showed now was confusion. And probably more than a little humor. It might have been a serious situation, and one of her soldiers may be in serious trouble, but she couldn’t help but find a little humor in it. Hell, if Doctor Rodriguez was any indication, she wasn’t the only one to see the humor in it, but they were both hiding it well. Some of the junior officers weren’t doing such a good job and she saw PFC Stevenson shoot a couple of them glares every now and then. She suspected Specialist Singh was recording the whole scenario on his implants, but she couldn’t be sure. She wasn’t even sure what he was doing there, but no one had told him to leave, or seemed to know when he’d even entered the room, so she didn’t give it much thought.
“I am unsure as to the how,” Doctor Chal replied looking up from a pad, and trying not to appear nervous in front of so many agitated humans. “From my studies, I understand human males are not the ones to carry the children in your species, yes?”
“That’s correct,” Doctor Rodriguez replied. “Human females, such as myself and Captain Finnegan, are typically the ones to carry and birth our young. Males don’t have the anatomy to give birth.”
Captain Finnegan shuddered at the thought of having kids. She was career military through and through. While she wasn’t opposed to the occasional romp while on leave, she preferred children be kept as far away from her as possible. On the other side of the galaxy perhaps. Or even better, in a different galaxy altogether. If they had to be near her, she preferred that they be poached and served on toast with a side of bacon.
Doctor Chal nodded in understanding. “As I said, I am unsure how this happened, but I have a theory.”
“Which is,” Rodriguez asked when Chal’s pause went on a tad too long for her liking.
“The scans reveal that the…fetus has half human, half Glorn DNA,” Chal said slowly. “I don’t know how much you know about the Glorn, but their home world has high levels of various acids. As a result, their reproductive systems involve acid, specifically hydrochloric acid…”
“The same kind of acid as human stomach acid,” Rodriguez asked somewhat incredulously.
“Exactly. In fact, the human digestive system is surprisingly similar to the Glorn reproductive system.”
“Similar how,” Jack asked, curious despite himself. Rodriguez seemed fascinated as well.
“Well…” Chal began. “A Glorn’s womb is built much like your stomachs, very similar in fact. Now that I think about it, their similarities would be a great subject for a study on…”
“Doctor,” Rodriguez exclaimed, throwing her hands up and looking at the ceiling in exasperation. Chal recoiled in terror reflexively before he composed himself. She put her hands on her hips and looked directly at Chal. “We can discuss a paper on cross-species similarities later. How about we get back on track?”
“Right,” Chal said, chastened. “The Glorn are a single sex species and only produce their sex cells when they go into heat once a month, which is actually about two human months. During reproduction, the…receptive Glorn takes the other’s penis into their mouth and…um…stimulates it to release. A valve in the throat ensures that the ejaculate enters the reproductive system instead of the digestive. The sex cells, which are closer to human egg cells than sperm, take in DNA from the cells of the throat as they pass through and the fertilized embryo, or sometimes embryos, then settle in the womb. The acids in the womb bring in nutrients from the stomach, which get absorbed through the protective layers the embryo develops. After gestation, birth proceeds much as it does for humans.”
Doctor Chal finished his speech and looked around at the humans with a somewhat satisfied expression on his face. It quickly turned into worry as he looked at the stunned humans around him.
“Are…are you saying,” Specialist Singh asked, clearly trying to hold back laughter. “Are you saying that the Glorn reproduce via blowjob?”
As the non-humans in the room consulted their implants to figure out what he meant, some of the humans guffawed, some laughed outright, and a few coughed trying to hide their laughter. Captain Finnegan coughed into her hand a couple times, getting her own laughter under control. She couldn’t help the smile on her face though. As she looked at the biobed, she saw PFC Stevenson looking a little green. His husband, Corporal Huxley, looked like he could shit a brick. The two seemed to have a quick conversation through their implants while everyone around them tried to gather themselves.
“It’s a damn good thing humans don’t reproduce that way,” Rodriguez mutters to herself. “Gay men alone would make the population growth unsustainable, even with all the habitable planets in the galaxy.”
Captain Finnegan coughs into her hand again.
“If I understand your terminology correctly,” Doctor Chal says after a moment. “Then yes. Fortunately, there is only one Glorn aboard the ship at the moment, Weapons-master Krulmash, so the identity of the…other father, isn’t in question.”
“BUT I DIDN’T SUCK HIM OFF!” Jack yelled. “I’ve never even talked to him!”
He sounded near tears as he stared into Rodger’s eyes, begging him to believe him. Rodger stared back; expression unreadable. Everyone went quiet as they waited with bated breath. Finally, Rodger let out a sigh and kissed Jack on the forehead.
“I believe you,” he whispered to Jack. “It’s ok baby. We’ll figure this out.”
Jack let out a sob and curled into Rodger’s arms, crying in relief.
“If you did not willingly preform this act with Weapons-master Krulmash, then we must find out how this happened.”
“I have sent a quiet summons to the Weapons-master to report here at once,” came the captain’s watery sounding voice. The captain was a Mabon, an amphibious species that looked a bit like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. “He’s on his way.”
“What’s the gestation rate for a Glorn,” Doctor Rodriguez asked.
“Typically, only about six human hours,” Doctor Chal replied. “The human DNA has slowed things significantly,” he added hastily at seeing her look of alarm. “We have another three hours or so before we need to operate. If necessary, we can remove the fetus in two hours and place it in an incubation chamber.”
“We can’t just cut into his stomach,” Doctor Rodriguez said. “Doing a C-section on a woman is one thing but this…”
“I’ve already considered that,” Doctor Chal replied calmly. “Which is why I sent for Engineer Veela.” He waved over a tall creature with four arms that vaguely resembled a stick covered in brown fur. It’s four eyes gleamed with mirth and Doctor Rodriguez noticed a toolbelt slung around where the creature’s waist might be if it had one she could discern.
“I’ve gotta admit,” it said in a high-pitched voice. “You doctors sure know how to put on a good show. My nest-mates will find this whole thing hysterical!”
“I’m sure they will,” Doctor Chal said genially before Doctor Rodriguez could reply. “Engineer, is it possible to use the sick bay transporter to transport something out of a living body?”
Doctor Rodriguez gave Doctor Chal a sharp look. “You want to use the sick bay transporter to teleport the baby out of Stevenson? Is that even safe?”
“Oh sure,” the engineer said with far more ease than Doctor Rodriguez was comfortable with. “If I can get the sensors tuned correctly it should be safe enough.”
“If? Should be?” Doctor Rodriguez exclaimed, her eyes bulging. “There are two lives at stake here. “If” isn’t good enough.”
“Relax doc,” the engineer said holding up one hand to forestall anymore of Doctor Rodriguez’s tirade. It used another hand to pull what looked suspiciously like a wrench out of its toolbelt. “I’ve got this.”
Without another word, the engineer walked over to a console and began removing a panel from its side.
Before Doctor Rodriguez could say anything, the sick bay doors wooshed open again and in walked a creature that looked vaguely human but had giant bat like ears sticking out to the sides of its head. Its skin was a dark brown color and bulged here and there with muscle. The Glorn Weapons-master towered over most of the others in the room. Only Corporal Huxley stood as tall as Kurlmash and he glared at the Glorn as it stepped into the room.
Kurlmash ignored him, walked up to the captain, saluted and said, “Weapons-master Kurlmash reporting as ordered sir.”
The captain returned the salute and opened his mouth to speak, but the Corporal beat him to it.
“What the FUCK have you done to my husband, you bastard,” Corporal Huxley yelled at him.
“I…I don’t understand,” he replied taking a step back in shock.
“It seems Weapons-master,” the captain replied calmly. “That you have somehow impregnated young, PFC Stevenson here. We are all keen to know how this has happened. Especially since the PFC claims that you two have not been…intimate.”
“We haven’t,” Kurlmash said in surprise. “Pregnant? Are you sure? Are you sure it’s mine?”
His last question was almost hopeful, and the Corporal’s shoulders eased a bit.
“The DNA scans are rather conclusive,” Doctor Chal answered. “If you two have not been intimate then we must figure out how this happened.”
“You said that Glorn only produce sex cells during their heat cycles,” Doctor Rodriguez asked Doctor Chal who nodded in assent. She turned to Kurlmash. “Which means you either just went through a heat cycle or are in one right know.”
“It ended yesterday,” he said nodding. “Doctor Chal was storing my seed for me so my mate could use it to become pregnant upon our return to base.”
“You missed your last appointment, as I recall,” Doctor Chal said.
“I overheard one of the engineers talking about a problem with a freezer. I thought he was talking about the sick bay freezers. I was going to call you about it until I found the container you were using,” Kurlmash replied sounding puzzled.
Both doctors looked at each other in bewilderment. Doctor Chal slithered over to a wall and opened a door, taking out a plastic cylindrical container that had a cone shaped opening at the top. The clear plastic showed the yellow contents of the container clearly.
“There was no issue with the sick bay freezers,” Doctor Chal said. “I’ve had it here the whole time.”
“May I see that,” Doctor Rodriguez asked, a look of puzzled curiosity on her face as she held out her hand. Doctor Chal handed it over and Rodriguez inspected it carefully. To everyone’s shock, she opened the lid and took a sniff. “Smells like…” she began and then stopped, a look of dawning horror washing over her face. She quickly replaced the lid before turning to Stevenson who was watching her warily, one of Rodger’s arms over his shoulders.
“You said you put mustard on your sandwich,” she asked him. He just nodded. “Did it happen to be in something that looked like this?” She held up the container.
All the humans in the room stared at the little container, the very familiar looking container. They had all seen one just like it before, had all used one, sometimes two before. The container in Doctor Rodriguez’s hand looked very much like a plastic ketchup, or in this case, mustard container one might find in any human restaurant.
“Dude,” Jack yelled at the top of his voice. “You jerked off into my mustard?!”
Once again, the non-humans in the room consulted their implants while the humans variously tried to stifle their laughter or not throw up.
“I…I don’t…What is mustard,” Kurlmash asks helplessly.
“It’s…” Rodriguez starts.
“Not fucking important,” Jack exclaims. “You went into my fucking food and jerked off into it! You…you impregnated me! Against my will! Without my knowledge! You violated me! I should wring your fucking neck!”
He tried getting up from the biobed, the look on his face downright murderous, but Rodger held him down, surprise clear on his face.
“Baby. Baby look at me,” he said, his voice calm. When Jack looked at him, Rodger smiled. “It’s ok. I’m right here. Everything will be ok.”
They stared at each other for a minute before Jack broke down again crying and Rodger wrapped his arms around him.
“What is wrong with him,” Captain Finnegan muttered to herself.
“Pregnant,” Doctor Rodriguez whispered to her.
Captain Finnegan jumped and looked at the doctor. When had she gotten so close? Then she turned back to look at Jack and noticed his swollen stomach. Right. The man was pregnant. That was going to take some getting used to.
“Is this normal for pregnant humans,” Kurlmash asked Doctor Rodriguez who nodded.
“Pretty normal, yeah,” she replied thoughtfully. “For human women anyway. Human men don’t normally get pregnant.”
“Ah. I see. So, the death threats are because he’s male?”
“HA! No. Human females will issue death threats too. Usually during labor, along with threatening to cut off the male reproductive organs if they ever come near them again. Fairly standard.”
“I see,” Kurlmash said looking worried.
“What? Pregnant Glorn don’t have mood swings or make threats?”
“No, they have mood swings, as you call them, but I’ve never heard of one making such threats before.”
“Probably because they don’t spend nine months carrying the kid only to be put through agony, sometimes for days, just to give birth,” Captain Finnegan snorted.
“Nine months? Days?” Kurlmash looked even more worried now and he glanced at the biobed.
“Don’t worry,” Doctor Rodriguez told him. “This pregnancy may be a little slower than what you’re used to, but this baby will be here by the end of the day.” She frowned. “Or not.”
She walked up to the biobed and placed a gentle hand on Jack’s shoulder. He looked up at her, his eyes wet and red.
“I’m sorry,” she said kindly. “But no one has asked...and…well…do you even want this baby? It’s not too late to abort.”
Jack stared at her in shock, though she didn’t think it was for the suggestion. She thought it was more because he hadn’t thought of it either.
“I could do that, couldn’t I?”
Doctor Rodriguez shrugged. “Your body, your choice. That’s Terran Alliance law.”
Jack looked to his husband. “What do you think?”
“What are the risks,” Corporal Huxley asked her.
“At a guess, because this an entirely new situation and we have zero idea about anything, I’d say probably the same as the pregnancy itself. I’ve been watching his vitals and as the pregnancy develops, more and more strain is being put onto Jack’s body. A body that was not designed for it. I think he may be able to carry the baby to term, but that’s just a guess. Any pregnancy has its risks, and this is a whole new type of crazy. I have no idea what could happen.”
Rodger looked back at Jack. “Your choice my love. I’ll support your decision; unless it looks like I’ll lose you. I won’t do that. I love you too much, searched for you for too long, to risk losing you.”
“I love you too,” Jack said and the two kissed. And kissed. And kept kissing. Just when things were about to turn awkward, Doctor Rodriguez cleared her throat and the two separated, breathing hard.
“So, does that mean you’re keeping the baby,” Doctor Rodriguez asked.
“Please,” Weapons-master Kurlmash said, and they all turned to face him. He wrung his hands and stared at Jack with a longing look. “I realize I have no right to ask this of you, given the…less than ideal circumstances, but please. My mate and I have been trying to have a child for a long time and, I would really like to start a family.”
“Are you sure they’d be ok with a half human child?” Corporal Huxley asked seriously.
“It…will take some explaining,” Kurlmash admitted. “And probably some time to get used to the idea, but I’m sure the four of us can make it work.”
He stared at them hopefully and eventually Jack nodded.
“Alright doc. Looks like we’re having a baby. But if it looks like I might…ya know…die? Well, don’t let that happen. Dying in combat is one thing. Dying in childbirth? My mother would never let me hear the end of it.”
Rodger snorted. “She may not let you hear the end of it anyway. Not to mention your dad…”
“Please don’t,” Jack said with a groan. “Don’t suppose there’s any way we can just…not tell them?”
Rodger gave him a look and he groaned again. “You’re right.”
“I’m afraid it gets worse, PFC,” Captain Finnegan said with a slight wince. “I’m going to need to file a report with Alliance command. To apprise them of the situation. Alliance medical is probably going to want to know too.”
It was Doctor Rodriguez’s turn to groan. “Fuck! They are going to want to know. Every. Single. Detail. I’m going to be in meetings about this for years!”
She glared at the three prospective parents. “The three of you are officially on my shit list,” she said before angrily turning to talk to Doctor Chal. “We’d better make sure this goes smoothly. The less I have to put into this report the better. I hate paperwork!”

Height - 189 cm/around 6’2”
80 kg - 176 lbs, 14 years
63 kg - 138 lbs, 16 years
59 kg - 130 lbs, 17 years (present)
I just am unable to gain weight. I don’t know why my stomach doesn’t feels good, my stools aren’t smooth, and I always feel a sense of incomplete evacuation. So I sometimes don't even feel like eating the amount of calories I need to maintain my body weight let alone increase my weight.
I tried incorporating smoothies like banana+milk shake, and high-protein foods such as chicken, egg and so on. But my stomach feels weird (bloating etc) after drinking milk, curd, even normally without banana. I am not sure it is lactose intolerance or anything, because this all started around 14 years of age, where I fell ill and lost my appetite completely, I used to enjoy dairy products a lot before that. There are certain foods which I have stopped eating because my stomach just cannot digest them smoothly like pulses and so on.
I just got diagnosed with jaundice so I don’t have any plan on gaining weight right now. But what should I do after I got cured? Is it because of my diet? Should I go see a gastrologist or something? People around me always try to convince me that it is all inside my mind and I don’t actually have any problem.
Should I just don't give a darn and start eating like a beast no matter how my stomach feel, or my stools are? Is it an imaginary fear? Need to try some experiments and so on?

In which this ficnapping first-timer tackles An Introduction to Terran Zoology by u/Still_Performance_39. I'm still a newbie author, so imagine my surprise when I'm handed one of the most popular stories on the sub. One that's received the rare honor of being approved by the fifteenth holy knight of space himself. No pressure I guess lol.
I knew what I wanted to write about, at least. I've been waiting for this series to cover the ocean, so this was the perfect opportunity to do it myself! I had to think hard about what to include; the ocean is a big place after all. See if you can guess the secret (really obvious) theme I went with! Fingers crossed I did this story justice! (Shoutout to Wikipedia btw)
Memory transcription subject: Rysel, Venlil Environmental Researcher
Date [standardized human time]: Idk sometime after Cilany’s broadcast
Brahk, brahk, brahk!
I tore across the campus, sprinting for the Terran Zoology lecture hall as fast as my legs could carry me.
I can’t believe I overslept! Of all days, it had to be today.
Dr. Bernard had teased today’s topic last time. “By now we’ve learned about animals from all over Earth, and through our simulation exercises you’ve seen for yourselves how intricate Terran ecosystems can be.” I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Everybody’s simulated ecosystems had failed catastrophically on their first attempts. It’d taken a herd of paws for everyone to accept how necessary predators were to maintain balance in Earth’s ecosystems.
“With what we’ve learned so far, we are ready to finally tackle one of if not the most complex and vibrant ecosystems on Earth: the coral reef. This lesson even has some direct relevance to us here on Venlil Prime. You might have heard the recent news about those biologists exploring Venlil Prime’s oceans not far from here. Well, the region they’ve been studying shares many things in common with Terran coral reefs. Learning about reefs on Earth could be a useful reference point for uncovering the secrets of your own oceans. I hope to see you all tomorrow!”
I’d been so excited I could barely fall asleep. I’d also completely forgotten that Milam was away visiting family. Why did that matter? Well, without the raucous squawking of her alarm, I’d overslept, and now I was about to be late!
My lungs and legs burned, but I pressed forward. There, the lecture hall’s door was still open! I dashed inside and scrambled to my seat, gasping and wheezing as I tried to still my beating heart. I’d made it.
“Wow, Rysel, you’re right on time. That’s the latest you’ve been yet!”
I glanced to my right and saw Sandi chuckling heartily at my expense.
“I -hrrf- over -hrrf- slept,” I wheezed, “didn’t -huff- want to -huff- miss this -huff- though.”
“Hmph. Rysel, of all Venlil, oversleeping for one of the Doctor’s lessons. Never thought I’d see the day,” Kailo scoffed from my left, snuggled deep into his duvet. I supposed it was technically an insult, but there was no hostility in his tone. I knew what real anger and hostility sounded like from him, and he hadn’t done or said anything like that for some time. No, this was just Kailo being Kailo.
I flicked my tail at him in a friendly greeting. “Good paw to you too, Kailo.”
He huffed and turned away, but I didn’t miss his tail swishing under his seat.
Kailo’s changed so much since our first day. It’s like he’s a different person. Honestly, I sometimes feel like a different person too.
I’d come a long way from being scared of humans and enrolling in the exchange program for money. Now, these classes were the highlight of every paw, and I couldn’t imagine wanting to do anything else.
My reminiscing was cut short by a familiar series of sharp knocks on the doorframe. My tail whirled with glee at the sight of the familiar figure.
“Good morning everyone! How’re we all doing on this very fine paw?” Dr. Bernard greeted us with a beaming smile.
Most of us beeped out a cheery hello in response. I glanced around the room, warm contentment welling in my chest. We were no longer the nervous, skeptical, and borderline hostile class Dr. Bernard had to put up with on the first day. Now, even the shyest participants flicked a friendly greeting in his direction.
“Excellent! I’m always delighted to hear your enthusiasm. Now, just to remind you, today we’ll be taking our first proper look at one of the most beautiful biomes Earth’s oceans have to offer. I always enjoy chatting with you all, but we do have a lot to get through today. Would anyone object if we skipped the banter this time and dive straight into the material?”
Yes, I’m ready! Let’s go!
The rest of the class echoed my sentiment, beeping with varying levels of excitement and curiosity. Bernard smiled as he glanced over everyone, his gaze lingering on me. “I’m happy to see that everyone’s excited for today’s lesson.”
It was at this point that I noticed that in my excitement, I’d jumped out of my seat and lunged onto the table. Sandi was chuckling merrily, and I heard a cough from Kailo underneath his blanket cocoon. Did I say that out loud? I slowly slid back into my seat, my ears blooming hot orange from embarrassment. I knew at this point that Bernard wouldn’t take offense to my outburst, but that didn’t make it any less embarrassing for a grown man to be jumping up and down like a pup.
“Since everyone seems to be on board,” Bernard said, graciously distracting everyone from my faux pas, “let’s dive right into our ocean lesson, shall we?”
His pun was met with scattered beeps and groans, though most of the class let out merry bleats to express their excitement for the lesson. The classroom’s monitor flickered to life, and gasps echoed throughout the room. The image showed a rocky seabed covered with what looked like strangely shaped rocks in a wide array of bright colors. The fish swimming among the rocks, many of them as colorful as their environment, stood out against the deep blue background of the ocean water. Of all the gorgeous pictures of life on Earth I’d seen, none had ever been this vibrant, this full of color. It almost felt like I was looking at an art exhibit.
Wow… this develops naturally_? It’s so pretty! I wonder how the rocks form those bright colors._
“There’s really only one way to start a lecture about coral reefs, and that’s with the animals that give them their name. Coral!”
Bernard changed the screen to a close-up of the weird rocks.
“Now, at first glance, these may just look like a bunch of weird rocks.” Wait, they’re not? “But they are actually colonies of living creatures.”
Confused beeps and whispers broke out in the audience, as people tried to wrap their heads around how the objects on the screen could possibly be animals. My mind went back to our first day, when we classified a bunch of Earth creatures as prey or predator. There had been quite a few aquatic animals, and several of them hadn’t looked anything like animals. Maybe this was something like that?
It seemed my seat neighbors had come to similar conclusions, as both of them looked relatively unfazed by Bernard’s reveal, Milam instead flicking her ear in thought while Kailo leaned forward with intense focus.
“Each of these colorful formations is made up of hundreds of tiny, genetically identical individuals called polyps.”
The screen changed to a close-up shot of what at first glance looked like a fleshy plant that had grown roots into the rock, but the diagram next to it had labels that read things like “tentacle,” “mouth,” and “stomach.” Animal parts, not plant parts.
“This is an individual polyp. They are very small, typically only a few millimeters in diameter and a few centimeters in height. They anchor themselves in one place by secreting an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate from their base. From their anchored spot, they catch and eat any food that drifts by with the tentacles by their mouth. The exoskeleton they make gets left behind, allowing new generations of the colony to build on top of it. Thus, over many generations, the colony can build a skeleton like the ones you saw in the previous photo, up to several meters in size.”
So that was how it worked! It made sense once he explained it. Colonial organisms were an uncommon but familiar concept in the Federation, though they mostly consisted of various small insects. The idea of invertebrates secreting an exoskeleton was also a known concept. This was the first time I’d seen both traits in a single creature, though.
“These skeletons are the structure upon which the reef ecosystem grows, providing shelter for thousands of different species. Even though they occupy less than 0.1% of the world's ocean area, they provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species, making them one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet.”
With the truly staggering variety of species on Earth, 25% was no small number. My ears tilted back in awe at the pictures of the reefs on screen. They were like… underwater cities! Living cities that built themselves and teemed with all kinds of wonderfully fascinating creatures.
Bernard glanced around the room, wearing his “I’m about to ask a question” smile. The question arrived soon after. “Would anyone like to guess what corals’ diet consists of?”
Let’s see… they grab things with their tentacles, but they don’t move, meaning that they have to subsist on whatever floats by. Hmmm, why does that sound familiar…
The images from our first day still floated around in my mind. Wait! That’s it! I raised my paw.
“Yes, Rysel?”
“Is it like the jellyfish from our first day? Snagging small creatures in their tentacles and pulling them into their mouths?”
Bernard grinned widely. “Excellent conclusion, Rysel. You are right, coral polyps do indeed have similar feeding habits to those of jellyfish. Both coral and jellyfish belong to the phylum Cnidaria, so you were correct to draw parallels between the two. Obviously, due to their size, any prey they catch must also be microscopic.”
My tail wagged proudly at his praise. The feeding behaviors of jellyfish had horrified me back then, but now I could take it in stride. The fact that I could even remotely navigate the humans’ complicated classification system gave me even more satisfaction. I glanced around the room. A few classmates seemed a bit uncomfortable at the mention of coral’s predatory nature, but most remained fascinated and engaged. It’d taken months, but we were finally beginning to appreciate predators as something more than monsters, even if they had to be predators that didn’t even look like animals.
“However, while corals do feed with their tentacles, that isn’t actually where most of their energy comes from. You see, most corals have evolved a symbiotic relationship with certain types of algae that live in their tissues, which they acquire from the surrounding environment. The algae produce energy through photosynthesis, which the coral can then use. Algae also aid the coral in calcification for the coral skeleton and waste removal. The algae, in turn, benefit by having a safe place to live, and by consuming the coral’s carbon dioxide and waste products as nutrients. Truly an excellent example of two species coming together for the mutual benefit of one another.”
I knew what symbiosis was, of course. Traditional Federation classes loved to highlight how different prey species united together to benefit one another. It was considered a major part of the innate empathy in prey species that predators lacked. Not only was Bernard showing us a symbiotic relationship involving what would traditionally be considered a predator, but said predator was allied with a plant, of all things!
Was this phenomenon unique to Earth, or was this yet another thing the Federation hid from all of us?
“The coral reef is filled with mutually beneficial relationships like this. Take, for example, one of the most iconic reef creatures, the sea anemone.”
With the push of a button, the screen changed to show a creature that loosely resembled a coral polyp, only bigger, more colorful, and with longer tentacles.
“Now, sea anemones are close relatives of coral, and they share many similarities. They feed in much the same way as coral, snaring prey with their stinging tentacles and drawing it into the mouth. Their diet mainly consists of small fish, crustaceans, and other appropriately sized organisms. Despite its predatory nature, the sea anemone is often considered the poster child of mutualism in the ocean.”
Bernard’s words prompted hushed murmuring throughout the classroom. I was a bit unsettled by the anemone’s predator status, but those feelings were overwhelmed by my sensation of curiosity. What was it about anemones that made their relationships so notable? I just had to know!
I turned my ears to the conversations around me. Some classmates were saying that any mutualistic relationships an anemone could have must be predatory in nature: a union with other predators to hunt and kill more efficiently. Others argued it could be something else, like the coral and algae from before. Someone suggested that the humans were wrong about them, but that notion was quickly shot down.
Everyone’s reactions made me realize just how desensitized we’d all become to “predatory” things. While the term was still uncomfortable, Bernard had, through his lessons, patiently instilled in us the idea that predators were more than wanton bloodlust and violence. There existed predators like that, of course, but with such a broad and diverse class of animals, one would expect some horrible ones due to sheer statistics. Likewise, there would be plenty of good ones.
Sea anemones are predators, yet they’re famous for their mutually beneficial relationships with other lifeforms. If someone said something like that to me months ago, I’d never have believed them. I was so certain that I knew the fundamental mechanisms of ecosystems like the back of my paw. I chuckled to myself. Stars, so much has changed since then.
“First of all, many sea anemones form symbiotic relationships with algae in the same way corals do, benefiting from their photosynthesis while offering shelter and protection in return. But that’s hardly the only relationship they’re known for.”
Bernard changed the screen to a video of an anemone. Bright orange fish with white stripes swam around its tentacles. My heart skipped a beat as one brushed up against the tentacles, but the fish seemed unaffected by the anemone’s venom, much to my relief.
“This right here is one of the most famous symbiotic relationships on Earth: the sea anemone and the clownfish. These small, colorful fish have adapted to the anemone’s stinging tentacles, allowing them to nestle among them. The anemone protects the clownfish from predators, functions as a safe nesting site, and provides food from the leftover scraps of the anemone’s meals. The clownfish, in turn, defend the anemone from its predators, provide nutrients through their excrement, and circulate the water around the anemone, improving its respiration.”
As Bernard talked, the fish on the screen frolicked around their tentacled friend, the adorable sight eliciting pleased mewls from several audience members.
They protect each other, they feed each other, and they play together too! Who knew that two wildly different species could have such a beautiful friendship, even when one of them doesn’t have a brain!
Vlek spoke up, his voice skeptical. “Excuse me Doctor. You said that clownfish feed off of anemones’ meals. They are predators as well, then?”
“One could make that argument,” Bernard replied, “clownfish are omnivorous, and primarily feed on ambient zooplankton, with their diets supplemented by their anemone’s scraps and algae. The microscopic organisms they eat are so abundant that they don’t really need to hunt; they can just munch on whatever happens to drift by.”
“Like their anemone friends!”
“Yes, Rova, like their anemone friends!”
The class seemed to have mixed feelings about the clownfish’s diet. Zooplankton being tiny, simple creatures made it easier, but some still squirmed at the thought. Personally, I didn’t think it took away from how fascinating this duo was. As I’d come to learn with most predators, their diets weren’t what defined them; they were just one of many facets of their nature.
Bernard changed the slide to a photo of a different fish. “While clownfish are the most famous species to form mutualistic relationships with sea anemones, they are hardly the only ones. Take this cardinalfish, for example…”
Bernard went on to highlight several more species with special relationships with sea anemones, each one fascinating in its own way. Fish that laid their eggs among their tentacles. Snails that used them as shelter from predators. Crabs that mounted them on their shells for defense. One type of crab even attached anemones to its claws, using them as living weapons!
Such a simplistic creature, yet it’s evolved a rich network of relationships with so many different species. No wonder Bernard called them iconic.
Kailo fidgeted next to me. Something was obviously bugging him, but he seemed hesitant to speak up.
“Before we move on, does anybody have questions?” Bernard asked smoothly. He probably noticed Kailo’s uncertainty too. He had a teacher’s eye for that sort of thing.
Kailo huffed with determination and raised his paw. “Yes, Kailo?”
“Um, all the animals you’ve talked about so far have been pred– carnivores and omnivores. Where are all the pre– herbivorous fish?”
Bernard grinned. “That’s an excellent question, Kailo. There are herbivorous fish that graze on the algae of the coral, such as the parrotfish and the rabbitfish. That said, true herbivores are relatively uncommon in the ocean. After all, there aren’t many plants around besides algae and seaweed, and a lot of the algae that is there is integrated into the bodies of coral polyps. Thus, thanks to natural selection, most underwater species consume flesh in some form.”
A few months ago Kailo would’ve exploded in anger and denial at that response, but now his ears just tilted in confusion. “But… how can that work?? How can an ecosystem with so many pred– meat eaters sustain any sort of population, let alone the vast numbers you told us?”
Several sets of ears flicked in agreement at Kailo’s question.
“Of course, given what we know about land ecosystems, it makes sense to assume that the base of the food chain would be mostly herbivores. Under the sea, however, plants are much less abundant, so that role is filled by other animals. Some creatures derive nutrition by filtering food from the water or sand, much like a plant would pull sustenance from the air and ground. Many species, especially smaller ones, reproduce frequently and in large quantities, allowing them to sustain significant populations even when predators regularly hunt them. Finally, and this is a good transition into our next section, not all carnivores are predators.”
Wait. Huh? How does that even work? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
“Well, technically they are predators to the microscopic organisms they feed on, but they certainly aren’t predators in the traditional sense.”
A new set of images appeared on the monitor, showing off a handful of small fish and crustaceans.
“Now, as I’m sure you all have noticed, most fish don’t have hands or paws.” My brain conjured an image of a fish with furry Venlil arms. I stifled a whistle at the silly thought.
“This means that they can’t groom themselves. Dead skin, infected tissue, and nasty parasites can just accumulate on their bodies, and there’s nothing they can do about it. What’s a poor fish to do? Well, that’s where these guys come in. These are cleaner fish and cleaner shrimp. They are carnivores whose diet consists of dead or infected skin and parasites from the bodies of bigger fish, like so.”
He switched the screen to two photos: the left showed a fish (the parrotfish he mentioned just now?) floating by some coral with two cleaner fish picking at it. One was nipping at its scales, the other nestled all up in its gills. On the right, a cleaner shrimp mounted the back of a different fish, presumably using its claws to pluck things off its skin.
“These cleaners congregate in areas called cleaning stations, and animals from all over the reef swim to them to get cleaned. The cleaners remove parasites and dead skin from all the hard-to-reach places, like their gills and even inside their mouths!”
The monitor now showed a video, the contents of which elicited several gasps from the audience. The spotty fish in the video had its mouth open, revealing rows of sharp, mean-looking teeth. Side-facing eyes notwithstanding, this was definitely a predator. And a cleaner fish was swimming into its mouth. On purpose. And the predator just let it. We watched for a tense moment, waiting for those jaws to clamp down, but the cleaner swam out of the mouth with no issue, and the predator fish just… left, revealing a surprisingly long body to the camera as it did.
“That was a moray eel, considered an apex predator of the coral reef. Despite that, it allowed that cleaner wrasse to clean its mouth safely, and the wrasse clearly wasn’t concerned about being eaten. Would anyone care to guess why?”
Silence filled the room as everyone thought, until Sandi raised her paw. “Well, the eel wanted to be cleaned, and it couldn’t be cleaned if it ate the cleaner, so it resisted the temptation.”
As usual, Bernard paused to allow us to digest the answer before replying. “You pretty much got it! Even predators like the moray need cleaning, and eating the cleaners is a good way to get refused service from the rest of their kin. One minor correction, though. The average customer is not tempted to eat the cleaners, even when it’s a predator. There are exceptions, of course, but customers generally aren’t hungry when they show up for cleaning, or else they’d be out hunting instead. Moreover, the cleaner’s size makes for a poor meal; hardly worth the cost of being refused service at the cleaning station in the future.”
A chatter of discussion erupted after Bernard finished his explanation. It made sense, but it was still so… odd, to think about. I listened to the scattered conversations around me.
“How could a predator ever not be hungry? Sure, humans aren’t like that, but they’re sapient! An animal couldn’t possibly control…”
“...such a beautiful relationship. To think these cleaners get their food by helping others…”
“...wonder if there are others like them?”
The chatter hadn’t yet died down when the break bell rang.
“Ah, looks like we’ll have to end our conversation here for now,” Bernard chuckled. “Not to worry, though! Part 2 of this presentation will be after lunch, in which I will talk about humanity’s relationship with reefs and highlight some more of the amazing features of reef creatures. See you in a claw!”
Aw come on, you can’t just tease us like that! I have so many questions!
Coral reefs were so cool! I’d always thought the ocean was a dark, scary place where incomprehensible terrors lurked in the depths. Who knew the seas could be so lively, colorful, and fascinating?
I can’t wait to learn more!

I 26 f moved in with my boyfriend 23 m back in February. It is now June and I am having physical symptoms of stress & depression, that’s how bad it got.
He has his older brother 29 & little brother 17 also living here, (I was unaware when I was moving in, he just said they stay “sometimes”) and they sleep on the living room floor. All three of them are nasty!

 They finish a bottle of water, and throw the bottles to the side. There is a collection of juice & soda bottles in the living room. They barely drink water anyways, only if I BUY IT & they decide to help themselves. 

There was no garbage can when I moved in. They would just plastic bags from their store runs or take out food.
They leave crumbs on the kitchen counter. All over the floor. It is like there is absolutely no awareness & no care.
They leave toilet seat up. And sometimes there’s a “dust” left over on the toilet seat from someone dirty & sweaty sitting down.
The little brother will leave food out & hide it. You tell him don’t do it, he smiles and says okay. Later that night, there’s something else left out.
The house has a real heavy smell of funk. It either smells just dirty, or like the little brother’s extremely strong & pungent body odor. & I mean, the WHOLE house. Except the bedroom because I usually make sure the door is closed.
My boyfriend will bite his nails & spit it on the floor, so there’s bitten fingernails on the floor. I have a bad nail biting habit as well, but mine go in the trash!!
The older brother has a body-scrubby thing in the shower and it’s literally black. Why is your body that dirty & why do you not feel the need to wash it out. Just showcase it in everyone’s face in the shower. Once again, I think I’m the only one that is bothered.
I don’t want to keep my toothbrush or loofah in shower anymore. Can’t help but think of the dirty water bouncing off of their bodies (that they don’t properly clean just like their environment) on to my intimate hygienic items.
There is absolutely no consideration for the next person!! Or no shame, embarrassment. Nothing.
I buy a box of little bites from the grocery store (very expensive, like 7$ for 5 bags) & my boyfriend wants to eat 3 bags back to back. He can be very glutton, and I try to express we are on a fixed income with government assistance. He knows this, because he’s the only one working right now! You would think he’d be more mindful of the little money he works so hard for.
Boyfriend is also very inconsistent, just quit his 4th job in a matter of 6 months.
Older brother works multiple jobs & does not contribute shit. Does not even offer to take the garbage out. It’s like he can’t be bothered with nothing pertaining to the household, but this is where he comfortably lays his head. I sarcastically joked to my boyfriend he should just make his older brother a copy of the keys since he always has our set of keys & inconveniences us, & he actually did! Despite claiming it was only temporary.
The other brothers will sneak MY food and drinks in the night. They don’t even ask, just sneak.
I don’t want to eat out of the kitchen. I feel like every surface is contaminated.
I feel like anyone would be upset. I left my 1 bedroom apartment for this. I lived by myself, it was beautiful, nicely decorated, and always smelled great. I am at my wits end with heart pains, fainting spells, & stomach aches as soon as I open my eyes.
And my bf never sees a problem unless I say something, and even then results are very temporary. All of them are very comfortable in dirt. Yuck.
Then, when boyfriend does clean it is not proper. If he sweeps, I have to come sweep behind him & I end up with a bigger pile of dirt than he originally did, thinking he just fully cleaned!
I do little basic things for my sanity, but I refuse to clean up after 3 grown dirty men with horrid cleaning standards.
Sorry for the extremely long post, I am at a breaking point.
AITA for thinking about ending the relationship & finding all of this extremely repulsive?

I 26 f moved in with my boyfriend 23 m back in February. It is now June and I am having physical symptoms of stress & depression, that’s how bad it got.
He has his older brother 29 & little brother 17 also living here, (I was unaware when I was moving in, he just said they stay “sometimes”) and they sleep on the living room floor. All three of them are nasty!

 They finish a bottle of water, and throw the bottles to the side. There is a collection of juice & soda bottles in the living room. They barely drink water anyways, only if I BUY IT & they decide to help themselves. 

There was no garbage can when I moved in. They would just plastic bags from their store runs or take out food.
They leave crumbs on the kitchen counter. All over the floor. It is like there is absolutely no awareness & no care.
They leave toilet seat up. And sometimes there’s a “dust” left over on the toilet seat from someone dirty & sweaty sitting down.
The little brother will leave food out & hide it. You tell him don’t do it, he smiles and says okay. Later that night, there’s something else left out.
The house has a real heavy smell of funk. It either smells just dirty, or like the little brother’s extremely strong & pungent body odor. & I mean, the WHOLE house. Except the bedroom because I usually make sure the door is closed.
My boyfriend will bite his nails & spit it on the floor, so there’s bitten fingernails on the floor. I have a bad nail biting habit as well, but mine go in the trash!!
The older brother has a body-scrubby thing in the shower and it’s literally black. Why is your body that dirty & why do you not feel the need to wash it out. Just showcase it in everyone’s face in the shower. Once again, I think I’m the only one that is bothered.
I don’t want to keep my toothbrush or loofah in shower anymore. Can’t help but think of the dirty water bouncing off of their bodies (that they don’t properly clean just like their environment) on to my intimate hygienic items.
There is absolutely no consideration for the next person!! Or no shame, embarrassment. Nothing.
I buy a box of little bites from the grocery store (very expensive, like 7$ for 5 bags) & my boyfriend wants to eat 3 bags back to back. He can be very glutton, and I try to express we are on a fixed income with government assistance. He knows this, because he’s the only one working right now! You would think he’d be more mindful of the little money he works so hard for.
Boyfriend is also very inconsistent, just quit his 4th job in a matter of 6 months.
Older brother works multiple jobs & does not contribute shit. Does not even offer to take the garbage out. It’s like he can’t be bothered with nothing pertaining to the household, but this is where he comfortably lays his head. I sarcastically joked to my boyfriend he should just make his older brother a copy of the keys since he always has our set of keys & inconveniences us, & he actually did! Despite claiming it was only temporary.
The other brothers will sneak MY food and drinks in the night. They don’t even ask, just sneak.
I don’t want to eat out of the kitchen. I feel like every surface is contaminated.
I feel like anyone would be upset. I left my 1 bedroom apartment for this. I lived by myself, it was beautiful, nicely decorated, and always smelled great. I am at my wits end with heart pains, fainting spells, & stomach aches as soon as I open my eyes.
And my bf never sees a problem unless I say something, and even then results are very temporary. All of them are very comfortable in dirt. Yuck.
Then, when boyfriend does clean it is not proper. If he sweeps, I have to come sweep behind him & I end up with a bigger pile of dirt than he originally did, thinking he just fully cleaned!
I do little basic things for my sanity, but I refuse to clean up after 3 grown dirty men with horrid cleaning standards.
Sorry for the extremely long post, I am at a breaking point.
AITA for thinking about ending the relationship & finding all of this extremely repulsive?
How would you feel?

Finally got back on my medication (dextroamphetamine 15mg) after a year of hell without it. During that time I forgot how suppressed my appetite gets when i’m on my medication. It gets to the point where I don’t want to eat anything but obviously can’t function without food. Currently the only thing I can stomach is the Barbells protein bar or a tortilla with butter. What’s your go-to snack that gives you energy when you take your medicine?

 If there ever was a story worthy of this subreddit, it is this one. I’d like to preface this by saying I have always had a strong stomach. I don’t often get sick, and I can pretty much eat anything without the usual “consequences” people face. So foods like Chinese, Mexican, Italian, etc, do not typically affect me. Last night, I decided I wanted some burritos for dinner. I hadn’t made them in a while and I had time to cook so I figured why not? As I’m throwing them together, my “situationship” texts me asking me to come over. I hurry up and eat, take a quick shower and head over. I get to her place in a few minutes, come in and we start hanging out. The night flies by, we do the usual hooking up, take some shrooms together, smoke a blunt and pass out. All is well…. Until I wake up to the sound of my own ass ripping gas at 2 in the morning. I have never farted around this woman, and I didn’t want to start now, so I (quietly) hopped out of bed and to the bathroom. I flushed the toilet 3 times as I let out another long one. After this, I felt better. I think all is back to being kosher. I go lay down. I’m out cold until 3:48 am… awoken again by the sound of my southern cheeks. This time, a wave of pressure comes with it. It’s game time. I need to make a choice. Go home and deal with this now or attempt to decompress in the bathroom again? I go with the latter. I get into the bathroom, shut the door, flush the toilet and let it go. I swear to you, Reddit, I farted for a solid 40 seconds. It was one, long, loud, continuous line. No matter what I did, I couldn’t stop it. It had to come out. I couldn’t believe that much gas could exist inside me. As soon as it was over, I was hit with the urge to open the floodgates. I knew I couldn’t do it there, there was no way in hell she’d ever have me over again. So, I went back to her room and woke her up to say bye (absolutely shocked she slept through that), gave her a quick kiss and was out the door “sprinting” to my car. I made it home and took care of business. Today, I just got a text from her asking why I left early last night. I told her I was tired and sore, and my dog had to be let out. She FaceTimed me after that and said she thought I was mad at her because I never woke her up for round 2…. So there ya go Reddit. 

TL;DR: the food I had for dinner resulted in a woman thinking I was mad at her.