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You know what? Sometimes life is just not fair.
 Throughout my entire life, I have been told constantly when I was younger as long as you work hard, you'll eventually get to where you want to be.
 From my experience, I believe that is almost no longer the case. Keyword: Almost. 
You need to be smart with where you put in your effort. And what's very unfortunate is if something like a job or a career prospect appears good, it won't guarantee that it'll be the same months or years later. 
 You can work so well and so hard in any given profession, and the next thing you know, you could be laid off.
You can work so well and so hard in any given profession, and the next thing you know, your friends and family only reach out to you only for your profession. Won't even bother talking to you about anything else.
You can work so hard to keep in touch with the people you think are really cool to be around, and it turns out you were wrong on who you thought are cool because they did not reciprocate nor even give you any attempt to message you back.
You can work so hard to keep or maintain a relationship and you're let go. When you ask for feedback, it is nothing you ever did wrong. You took care of them well. They admit they are even happy with the way you treat them. But ultimately, they're no longer romantically attracted to you like that and they have someone else in mind. You know what? It is what it is.
 Since this is officially the first entry I've written in 2026 and the intention to actually finish this entry (I failed to do so on a previous entry I posted earlier in #general-chat), I'll only go over some of the important aspects I've experienced and written in previous entries that are important. They're not required to go back and read them. Because I will actually update where I currently feel and stand now.
 [The Era of Burnout] 
 I only realized the burnout became real when my usual yearly vacation came up in July and spent three weeks off. And I was pretty outgoing being on my own server VC often. Even celebrated my birthday on VRC. But after that, I stopped getting on VRC and went straight to gaming more. I caught up with Warframe on the main story and even got to MR25. 
 That was the first sign right there, that I didn't have much of a desire to social virtually as much.
 The second sign came to be when I did get back to work, I immediately kept working 12 hour shifts, almost every single time to no fail. Worked 8 days in a row as a matter of fact before I ended up getting sick over the weekend and not show up until the next Friday. More 12 hour shifts for that shift and then next week, more 12 hour shifts.
 The third sign is when I scrolled over my DMs, I see that about more than half of the messages that are initiated towards me is strictly for tech support or avatar help. Nothing more. 
 This was when I got very frustrated and end up imploding internally. 
 Now these days, I feel no emotion. And yes, I will call out my workplace because you guys are responsible for this.
 I only focus on the objectives at work. I snap at people who get in my way of completing my job. And then I go home and lay there. To my boss's credit, he attempts to once in a while get another person to help. But that comes at a cost of being behind on his tasks, which is honestly not fair. I have advocated to hire another person with the amount of assemblers you're hiring on. These add-ons come in typically around mid-November and just about every single one of them have slowed me down from doing my work more than it has helped me. So I got aggravated over this concept and told them to actually hire competent help or don't hire at all. I was extremely frustrated by all that.
 With work now fully aware that I mean business and I work extremely efficient and quick, I don't entertain idle talk as much anymore between co-workers. Because the reality is: You have 4 to 8 damn assemblers stacked up against ONE TEST TECHNICIAN. I've verbally expressed my frustration that if this was any other person working this position, they will immediately put in their two weeks notice and leave. Because those odds are bullshit. That's going to burnout the average person in a month. The only difference is it took me 5 years working there to finally start feeling the major effects of burnout. 
 My boss makes our conversations brief because he knows how busy he is and he knows how disgruntled and pissed off I am with this company. I casually retort to, "I guess I have to do overtime yet again just to fix this mess huh?" and sometimes he can't really comment on that because he damn knows I'm in the right when I say this. 
 My lead makes our conversations brief because he also knows how busy I am. He sympathizes with the situation I deal with and repeatedly tells me, "It shouldn't have to be this way where you work constant overtime". I simply tell him, "I know... I know...".
 But throughout all this, I do my best to be courteous and inform them key updates required by the company on where we stand with our products and what requires attention. After all, I am obliged and contracted to deliver products and quality. That has never changed with me, but what has changed with me is that I'm tryharding like I am Challenger position in a ranked League of Legends match and I will complain and bitch if anything is remotely behind. 
 I even work and stay later on my own initiative since July 2026. Because I am more than aware what happens if I even miss a few hours of work. Things will be behind. This is what I wish Management would see.
 ... Because the solution is obviously not to take another person and have them be behind on their work to help me out. Legitimately hire another person, or you'd might as well keep letting me work 60 hours a week as my new average like it has been ever since I got back from vacation. 
 AND MAKE SURE TO ACTUALLY GET YOUR SHIPPING DATES RIGHT. I CAN CARE LESS WHO MESSED UP, BUT YOU ARE AFFECTING NOT JUST MYSELF, BUT EVERYONE FROM PRODUCTION AND SHIPPING ON THIS AND HAVING TO BEG AND ASK FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO WORK OVERTIME. 
 THIS IS SERIOUSLY MESSED UP ON YOU GUYS AND YOU NEED TO TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY AS A WHOLE BECAUSE OF THIS MESS. 
 [The Forbidden Words - Previous Entries]
 These two are the words I feared the most, and at a certain point I was not afraid of them after writing those entries.
 In the "Dreaded F-Word" and "Dreaded L-Word", they are "Friend" and "Love".
 I initially feared those words due to rejection. But that was quite a short-sighted and kneejerk reaction. Because I realized I've been used to being told "No" many times and I can respect people's decisions in that regard since by default my expectations are always low. 
 What really surfaced were all the times I've seen people who appeared to be really nice to be around and either get ignored by them, or have a nasty surprise plot twist that they actually despised every single being of my fiber. But they just hid it until a month or more and even though I upheld the communication standard on my end, they admit they did not. Which really irritated me and it made me feel like I wasted my time. 
 But otherwise, the majority of the people I met were clear with their communication and said their "No" early on. Even went to great detail of what their intentions were. I respect those people, and I wish them the best even though we no longer talk. I actually respect those people more than most (keyword: most, not everyone) of the people who keep in touch with me often.
 That still surmounts to a lot of micro-rejections in general. Those "so close" moments over the course of months but panned out to nothing. Honestly, that's life. I respect people who are firm on their choices and it's my responsibility to say to myself, "Hey they gave you permission to move on, so let's just take that and invest that time back to myself and do what I personally want to do. With nobody else's input."
 [The Mood Chart recorded on my iPhone Logs - What do the numbers mean???]
 Yes, I will shoehorn math into this. Back to school lmao.
 In my own study regarding logging every entry daily on how I've been feeling...
 In 2025 I basically had this:
Positive: 51%
Neutral: 40%
Negative: 9% 
 If I do the "Happy Crit" formula and use this:
 Positive Entries - (Neutral + Negative Entries) = Net Crit Vibes
51 - (40 + 9) = Net Crit Vibes
51 - 49 = Net Crit Vibes
+2 = Net Positive Crit Vibes~
 I have had actually been 2% more often in a positive mood. 
 In 2025, I have been burning out of work, but also putting all of my remaining energy to try and be out there to meet people. And generally speaking? The community was my clutch. Not just people on the VC, more so on meeting new people, new strangers, and just being pleasantly surprised by the outcome when that person actually wants to see me again when I expected more encounters to just not pan out anywhere.
 In comparison to the August 2026 (and the previous 365 days prior):
 Neutral: 48% 
Positive: 40%
Negative: 12% 
 40 - (48 + 12) = Net Crit Vibes
40 - 60 = Net Crit Vibes 
-20 = NET LOSS CRIT VIBES
 Think of it this way. I went from a "Positive 2" to a "Zero", then to a "Negative 20".
 I actually have been more miserable overall with my mood by -22% and the number one neutral mood was due to "Work", and the number one Negative Mood was actually a tie between "Work" and "Everything Else" - with the Everything Else being people who I got close to who ended up hurting me significantly or had malicious intentions.
 [What does Burnout mean for Me?] 
 The level of Burnout I'm feeling is Extreme and Overwhelmingly Negative to the point I fear it is a decent chance that on a mental level, might of permanently affected me.
 It is to the point where I lost almost all of my emotions, lost my desires, lost my dreams, lost the ability to be attracted to people, lost the cravings to be social towards just about anyone. I almost never initiate DMs anymore either. I almost never initiate being in Voice Calls either. As this will trigger my fight or flight response of assuming people only need me for tech support or avatar help.
 The only silver lining really is, I still desire to have meaningful conversations or find a place to actually relax with that requires new people and new experiences. This definition right here is proof that I'm not Asocial by any means. I'm just extremely selective. 
 [What can you do to help me out?]
 Honestly? Just live your life to the fullest and forget about me. You should be with other people that positively make an impact towards your life.
 I feel that this Burnout situation is something only I can resolve that just requires time to heal. Sometimes you need to let people go if they are too much to handle. You've all done this to your ex-friends, ex-partners or people you no longer wish to associate yourself with. 
 I'm giving you all a fair warning and a choice to leave me alone right now as I no longer can guarantee the same quality and caliber of what I used to be.
 If this is not a solution you're accepting but you can't provide any input in the matter? That's more than fair. Your grievances are valid. I know there are some of you who will refuse to do so even after reading this? You're either a crazy person for sticking around this long, or you're a real one for actually believing in me even when I am at a low point right now.
 Or realistically... I know some of you will bounce back and ask me for more tech help or avatar creation issues or what have you? You know what? Fine, just wait until I recover and you can then come seek me out again like you all usually do. 
 My only request is if the ONLY thing you do is ask me for tech help or avatar creation issues and you have no intention of being friends with me and actually hang out? Then do not call yourself my friend. We are simply acquaintances. I will even tell you as such if you ask me the question, "Are we friends?".
 Now before you send me a message through DMs... 
 If the next message you're about to send is that you're worried about me but don't know what else to say and you've already messaged me that before. Don't message me that again. You're welcome to message me and wish me the best and all that as your final message towards me. 
 Because... I already know most of you feel worried reading this entry. But I have to be absolutely honest here. I did not get the happy ending I was looking for in my entire life I've lived. I fought so hard just to have a small community on my Discord Server.
 Seriously, just go be with your loved ones and other friends instead. 
 As long as you're enjoying your life? That's all that matters to me.
 See you in another lifetime,
 - Crit
 [Current Status] 
 The Phantom Thieves (My Main Server): No Longer in Public Speaking Capacity - Only on Ticket Duty and Staff Chat
Starlight: Full Capacity Moderating and Twitch Stream - I actually enjoy being here
Discord DMs: Unless Staff for Staff Business, or people I view as close (can talk about anything - you'll know if I explicitly told you to DM me anytime), DMs are closed. You'll know if you're not on that list if I don't reply back at all, or I state to you that I'm not in a capacity to message back right now.
 VRChat: I'll actually be more active there as I've had a decent two month on/off hiatus. And a way to catch up with some of the people that are only exclusively on that platform.
Avatar Requests: All postponed. Since no money was taken at all, I have fulfilled my obligation here.
 General Resolutions for any issues against me: Any instances where I've made a mistake, I have corrected them immediately (and prior to writing this) a course of action. After I've ensured all those users were taken care of or resolved with confirmed receipt that they acknowledge and are fine with the solution I've proposed, I have set all those users to "Do Not Initiate Contact" temporarily regardless of status (Ex: Acquaintance, Friends, etc.) until the next time they message me again. Then this "Do Not Initiate Contact" will be lifted and DM contact will be restored as normal. 
 I reserve the rest of my time to do as I please and see fit.
 Edit: Fixed a few typos.