#because I'm generally that person who can talk straight through a meltdown

[autisticchangeling]

Me when I'm having symptoms: these are definitely real physical symptoms that I am experiencing and which are abnormal. They're definitely not mental health related, I feel calm though disturbed by the unusual symptoms and would like some answers. The fact that they're getting worse over time is concerning to me

Me when I'm not having symptoms: just gonna ignore that lol it's probably nothing

[stachmousworld]

Avenge me tomorrow (Ch.10)

Thanks to everyone who sent me messages and didn't despair to see another chapter. I have already two chapters fully written and I'm onto the 12th one. So, yeah. Sorry for the wait, my medication kind of made me numb and sucked all of my creativity.

Also, I have reached 400 followers! *cry profusely* Thanks so much to everyone who followed me.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9

Préviously: Thea was attacked by Jean during the last test with Hank. Nemesis and Thea mentally travelled to somewhere to Vormir and followed a little girl who carried the soul stone. As she sacrificed herself and dropped it from the mountain, Nemesis seized, then Thea, who couldn't let them suffer in silence.

Words: 2400

TW: blood, mention of self harm

Hank wasn’t okay at all. He rubbed his temples and focused on his breathing.

Inhale. Exhale.

The buzzing noise coming from the machine next to him wasn’t soothing anymore. He felt each second go by and his heart strained to remain calm.

There had been times when he thought he’d give up. Times of uncertainties like this one. It was what the X-Men had to deal with every day. It was what the cape of hero and superhero meant for them. A burden getting heavier every time they fought a villain.

Were they going to make it? Would they able to save everyone? Was it worth it at the end?

Their powers meant a responsibility that none of them had wanted. Other normal civilians expected them to save them and use all their abilities for the good cause, but what about what they wanted. To live a normal life in a world where people would welcome them without judgement. Or at least they’d try to hide it.

Hank shook his head and rubbed his temples.

He dreaded the moment when the newest generation would have to choose too. To stay here with them and become a x-men or go outside, in the real world and hide what they truly were forever.

Many chose to stay. Now more than ever. The mutant representatives in Congress, besides him, had seen how sour the situation was turning. After Sokovia, general Ross has tried to rope the president into signing the Accords. A new way to control mutants and to rate them as animals from what they consider being the most powerful to the least.

There was no doubt that Ross wanted to gather as much intel as he could in order to use them. Like a Pokemon trainer, he’d have all of their personal information and powers in hand ready to single them out and use them as war machines.

“Are you okay?”

Hank repressed a sigh and smiled tiredly at Scott, who looked as exhausted as him.

“I could ask you the same.”

Scott shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. Although he couldn’t see his eyes, Hank could tell he was staring at Jean’s unconscious body.

“You can approach her if you want.”

Scott hesitated. He started moving forward before stopping himself as if there was an invisible wall in front of him. Hank looked at him quizzically.

“Logan told me what happened,” Scott whispered. He averted his eyes and uncrossed his arms.

Hank waited for him to continue.

“Is it true that she tried to kill the girl?”

Hank kept his silence.

“Fuck, Jean…” Scott shook his head and walked closer to her. This time he didn’t stop until he was next to her bed. He sat next to her and held her hand. “Is the girl, okay?”

“Physically, yes.”

“And mentally?”

Hank stood up slowly. He rearranged Xavier’s cover on his body and walked to the door.

“She came here looking for answers and a refuge. All she found was someone who attempted to kill her twice.”

Hank closed the door behind him and walked to Xavier’s personal office. It was by far the most comfortable place in the academy and the closest to the infirmary. He didn’t want to leave to his own quarter and miss if something happened.

He let his legs transport him to the couch near the French windows and he fell on his back. He groaned when his back cracked and tried his usual deep breathing exercise. He inhaled and exhaled trying to let his thought go and find his safe place.

As he was about to find his peace, a familiar fire-like cercle slowly appeared in the middle of the office.

Hank closed his eyes and counted to ten.

“Need some?”

Hank stretched his hand to where Dr. Strange would be and grabbed a box filled with chocolates. His favorites. Made in Swiss with hazelnut and salted caramel.

Hank opened the box and popped a chocolate. He groaned as the sugary flavor burst on his tongue. He also mentally thanked Strange for letting him enjoy his snack before getting to the reason of his visit. If Hank knew anything about Strange, whatever he had to say would be terrible, would demand probably more efforts and involvement than Hank liked and there will be no true gratification. Unless they had to save the world…

He chuckled at the thought.

No one went to the X-Men to save the world.

Nope.

The Avengers maybe, but never the X-Men. They were relegated to earthly threats. And by earthly he meant the US, and if Ross had his way they’d be already on a leash as he’d send them overseas intruding into countries they had no business to be in and to spy on foreign government secrets.

“Lay it on me, Doc.” He said followed by a deep sigh.

When Strange left him, Hank fell easily asleep. A deep, perturbated sleep where a huge serpent roamed the universe, eating each and every single planets and stars until it got to the Earth.

Hank stood still, petrified. The dream repeated itself on a loop. It didn’t matter how many times he tried to escape, fight back…everything felt so real and vivid. He could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin, the fear bubbling in him ready to burst and the tension in his muscles as the invincible threat arrived. How could they defend their planet against this behemoth of a being?

No matter how many times he tried to control these dreams. Death. Destruction. Pain. All of these awaited them.

Unless…his last dream shifted into something new. Hank hoped it was something different. He only needed a hint of hope and he’d hold on tight. As tight as he could until the end. Because if there were a way for the Earth to be saved. He’d do anything.

Although Strange had sounded skeptical about any positive outcome, Hanks last dream anchored him.

The serpent hovered in front of the Earth mouth wide open. As it was to eat the planet, a feminine body appeared in a flash in front of him. Them. Anyone there to witness humanity’s doom.

The light surrounding her dimmed enough for Hank to recognize her. As he breathed out her name, the serpent stroke.

Thea, eyes stuck on Hank, raised one arm toward the serpent and batted it away. Just like that. As it was a mere insect. Its disappearance was sudden and without any commotion. Hank could hear screams of joy around him, but he didn’t care. All of his attention was on Thea.

She dropped her arm down, interlaced her fingers together and breathed into her two intertwined hands.

Hank swore he could hear her breath from within him. He felt the warm breath on his skin and his lungs something warm and delicious expanded in his chest. Hank felt tears coming down his cheeks. He let them roll as long as the felicity he felt could travel through him forever.

When he woke up, there were a few dried tears on his face and he wore a smile he didn’t remember having. First thing after checking on Jean and Xavier, Hank went to Thea’s room only to see her already awake. He stood at the door, feeling awkward. The dream contrary to his usual ones didn’t fade away as soon as his wake up and he felt a bit bad.

Thea was here for guidance, not for him to put all of his hope. He watched unsure as she examined her hands thoroughly. Like she’d never seen them before. Thea rose her hands in front of her face and turned them, eyes staring at each digit, intrigued.

The longer he watched her, the more he felt like an intruder. He stopped himself from fidgeting and put his hands in his pockets.

Then, Hank cleared his throat.

He didn’t expect Thea’s violent reaction. She jumped out of the bed and fell on the floor. Hank ran by her side only to be met by a strange scene. Thea was now staring at her legs like she didn’t know she had some before. She approached slowly her hand to her thigh and caressed her skin softly. The hand barely met her thigh that she flinched away.

“Thea?” Hank asked, worried. He watched her face carefully. The lack of oxygen in her brain may have cause amnesia. Something that didn’t appear in his thorough test. He cussed at himself. He should have seen it come. No one could live through that much trauma in one day and achieve a 100% recover.

Thea was still prone on the floor. She didn’t reply nor acknowledged his presence. Hank reached her slowly, trying not to make her jump and waved his hand in front of her eyes. The reaction was immediate. Thea looked at him quickly and stared at him, confused. Almost as confused as he was feeling. Only, she didn’t seem to recognize him at all.

“Thea? Do you know who I am?”

She looked at his lips, eyebrows furrowed. She opened her mouth to talk, which had Hank already sighing in relief. A small sound barely escaped her mouth before she pressed both of her hands on her mouth. Her entire face morphed from confusion to shock. She leaped to her feet. Or at least tried to. She seemed like a baby doe trying to walk for the first time. She wasn’t stable on her feet nor looked as if she understood the simple concept of walking.

Hank raised his arm to help her in case she fell but she managed to go to the bathroom alone. She stopped dead in her track in front of the mirror. She was half-way in the bathroom, standing still.

Hank stayed near her in case…in case…he didn’t know. She could have a meltdown, fall and hit her head on the floor or…

Hank pressed one of his hands on his chest and coached himself to breath deeply. Now wasn’t the moment for a panic attack. He could do it.

The seconds stretched to minutes. Thea was frozen, staring at her reflection straight at her reflection, hands balled next to her body, and Hank was on the verge of giving up and leading her back to her room. He walked closer to her. Thea surged forward, closer to the mirror and grabbed her hair pulling it tightly. She grumbled unintelligently. She touched, patted her cheeks, lips, eyelashes, making Hank cringe.

He rushed to her side and restrained her hands. As soon as he touched her, she went limp. He took a second to take his breath and pulled her closer.

Then everything went to shit. It all happened in a blur. Thea shrieked pushing Hank away. She used Hank momentary lack of reaction to get to the cabinet underneath the sink and grabbed a pair of scissors. She barely considered the tool before raising it to her neck.

“No! Wait!” He let out, unable to move.

She didn’t spare him a look and started slicing her neck. A small rivulet of blood traveled on her dark skin.

Hank made a move to stop her. A blue blur appeared next to Thea and teleported her. Hank swirled around when he heard Diablo reappearing behind him.

“Hank! Help me! I can’t restrain her alone.” He grunted under the effort. Diablo was kneeling on the bed and pining Thea by the hands, letting her legs totally free to jerk him away.

Hank didn’t move. He wasn’t sure he could.

“Fuck! What’s happening here?” Logan said as he ran into the room. He didn’t stop to take in the scene and went directly to help Diablo.

They restrained her in a matter of minutes.

Logan and Diablo discussed together over what to do while. Or that’s what Hank thought they discussed about. All he could hear was his heart and Thea’s shrieks. Everything else felt blur. He didn’t even dare move in case he’d faint or worse, have a meltdown in the middle of the room.

He didn’t even notice that Diablo and Logan led him outside the room and back to Xavier’s office. The silence in the corridor was deafening. He could still hear Thea’s scream and could still see her blood on her skin.

“Here? Drink this?” Hank grabbed the glass from Logan and drank everything in one go. The bitterness of the alcohol didn’t made him flinch. He barely could taste the liquid on his tongue, let alone feel its effect.

“I’ll…I’ll check on Xavier and Jean,” Diablo said quickly.

“Tell Hel’ and Malicia to check up on Thea.”

“B-both?”

“Hel’ is the best when it comes to healing and combat, so she’ll be able to restrain Thea in case anything goes south. And Malicia would be able to take Thea’s powers, were they to manifest. Last thing we want is a powerful and traumatized enhanced running around.”

“But what…” Diablo swallowed. “Wha-what about their “animosity”?”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “animosity?”

“It has come to my attention that they had a lover spat and none of them wanted to work together. It never ends well.”

Logan raised his eyes to the ceiling. “I fucking hate these kids,” he muttered, then louder. “I don’t care Diablo. Tell them their asses are on the line and since Xavier and Jean are out, I’m the director here.”

Diablo nodded quickly. “Do I have to use your words specifically or…”

Logan growled, making Diablo squealed and disappear.

“Should have stayed in my forest.” He muttered to himself. “Lover spat, my ass. They love to fight as much as they love to make up…’ve to burn my eyes to forget…”

Logan shuddered and grimaced. “Argh, I think I need it more.” He said, taking a sip on from the bottle of rum. “This place is at that of becoming a brothel. I’m not paid enough.”

Hank huffed in agreement. The sound brought Logan’s attention to him. He crouched in front of the couch where they sat Hank down and peered into his eyes for a few seconds before nodding.

“Whenever you’re ready…” Logan muttered as he sat down on the floor and leaned back on his elbows, legs crossed.

Hank’s brain raked everything that happened for the past few hours and decided to start with Strange. It was the easiest that way.

When he opened his mouth, the sun was already high in the sky, Logan was now laying on the rug, awake, as if it was normal, and the screams were now faded in his mind.

“Dr. Strange came to see me today…”

Tags: @thedarkplume @jojodojo02 @the-weird-kid-on-the-block @kaileshay @jenahbell @allthingsuniquelybeautiful

​  @cobym @byb51097 @putinovertime @victoriastefanie04 @readermia @athickgirlsblog @simply-heaven @drsoundcloud @imkindanuts @t-bag2 @gigitheclown @candyloid @ravynnn-12 @deepmuffinspymaker @putinovertime

[awkwardshanandagins]

Costco+Lupron=One Very Stabby Shanda

You read that right, STABBY. As in I'm on the brink of stabbing someone or something.  Anyone else ever feel this way? Oh..no?  Are you telling me it's not normal to feel like stabbing someone?  Well, shit, I've been feeling stabby so hard since about 5:00 p.m. yesterday, just in time for my husband to get home.  Lucky him!  I got my sixth and final Lupron injection yesterday and this one stays in my system for three months as opposed to the one month injections I've been getting.  I don't know if you're supposed to feel much of a difference between the two but dear Lord this one has been a doozy!  I have had to try way harder than one should ever have to try to not elbow someone in the face today.  That should just be easy, right?  We don't elbow people in the face, it's not socially acceptable, therefore we do not have to consciously make an effort not to do so, we just don't do it.  Not me.  Not today.  I've had to make a very conscious decision not to elbow several stupid faces.  They're lucky I have some self-control.

At this point, you may be thinking I am a very violent person. As much as I talk about it (and yes, sometimes daydream about it), I would NEVER actually do anything to hurt anyone.  I'm a big ol' pussy and I "care" too much about my fellow man or whatever.  But, if there was ever something strong enough to make me actually throat chop someone, it would be this damn Lupron.  This shit is not for the weak!  I know better than to go out in public the first couple days after my injection but I ignored my better judgement, something I do too often.

I decided to run by Costco on my way home from work.  Going to Costco while practically roid-raging on Lupron is a terrible idea.  Going to Costco in general is usually a terrible idea.  I have such a strong love-hate relationship with Costco.  It is literally my favorite store while also being the place I hate most in this world.  It's not so much the store I despise, but the people inside of it.  There seems to be a common theme with me lately, I just really can't stand people.  Anyways, after spending almost a full week laid up on the couch I figured running some errands would be good for me.  I have to do things while I feel most human and today was one of those days, or so I thought.  Hormonally, I don't think it was my wisest decision.

Parking was the first red flag.  This dickhead woman stole my spot and I about had a total meltdown.  A screaming, crying, ramming my car into the back of hers kind of meltdown.  I think she knew how annoyed I was, one because I stared her down real hard and two because she did not get out of the car until I exited mine and walked inside.  Another spot opened up two spots away and at this point a normal person would have let it go but Lupron said "NO! YOU WILL HATE THIS WOMAN FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY.  SHOW HER YOUR HATRED!" I glared through her window as I got out of my car.  I went as slow as possible so I could see how long she'd stay in there.  Part of me was hoping she'd get out but the other part of me, the more rational part of me, was like "why? what would you do if she did get out?"  I'd give her a good ol' fashion scream cry in the face, that's what I'd do!  I always seem to think if I stare at someone long and hard enough, they'll feel my rage burning into the side of their face and they'll know they did something stupid.  Man, I sure showed her!  In reality, she probably had no idea any of this was even happening.

While walking in, I somehow got behind the slowest couple that has ever existed.  They were barely moving but did an excellent job of taking up the entire entry way so there was no way for me to go around.  They continued their slow, sprawled out moseying the whole way in, pointing and stopping at every single item; again making it nearly impossible to pass them.  My hormone fueled rage did not let me give up however.  I got way too close for comfort, did a few NFL approved spin moves and somehow slipped by.  What I don't understand is how at the end of my shopping trip in hell, I ended up behind them again!  They had to have walked in and straight to the check-out lane.  There is no way, with their speed, that they could have made it anywhere else in the store and still ended up in front of me in the short amount of time it took me to sprint around the place.  Damn them.  Damn them real hard.  Slow walkers are literally the worst.

Next, I ended up right in front of a real fun older gentleman.  He turned out to be a super douchebag, but by the end of our interaction I made sure to really give him the look of hate and shame so he knew how annoyed I was.  To start, he about ran me over with his cart.  I was eating a sample as most of us do during our shopping trips to Costco.  Let's be real, it's pretty much a given that at least 75% of us are there during lunch time to indulge on these samples instead of eating a normal lunch.  Anyways, I do what I do best and accidentally dropped it down the front of me.  It had ranch on it and it spilled all over me and splatted on the floor.  Trying to be a decent human being, I bent over to pick it up and this mother-effer was so close behind me that he had to abruptly pull his cart backwards or he would have knocked me straight onto my face.  I let him go around, loudly said "jeeeeeeeeez," picked up my stuff and walked slowly behind him so he could get way ahead.  I was trying to spare his life.  About three aisles down, all of a sudden I can feel a cart right behind me but before I could turn around, someone threw a giant heavy box of something into it making a huge crash which about made me wet myself.  I turned around and it was the same toolbag who nearly booty bumped me onto my damn face.  At this point, I was beyond annoyed, almost to a place of murder, so I decided to follow very closely behind him so he could feel my wrath glaring a hole into the back of his head.  He walked comically fast, which I take as a compliment because I obviously scared him enough for him to practically run away.

I decided to skip the rest of the samples and leave before I lashed out and hurt someone, or most likely myself.  It was obvious I was in no state of mind to be around other human beings so I made a straight shot for the aisle I needed which luckily was right by the check-out.

You know what people drive me the most crazy?  The ones who act like they take precedence over everyone else on this earth.  Luckily, one of them was right in the main aisle trying samples with her child while her cart sat in the middle of the busiest aisle there is.  It was obvious it was in the way as people were lined up to get around it and were taking turns to pass her.  The polite thing would be to move your cart but no, she just stood there shoving her stupid face with quinoa not giving one shit that she was making it difficult for literally every other person there to get around her.  If anyone were to get a punch to the throat today, it would have been her.  I wanted to slap her quinoa out of her hand and high-kick her cart.  Move your shit, lady!

Whoever is in charge of deciding what items go on which shelves is either incredibly smart or terribly evil, or both I guess.  All I wanted was the protein powder I use for my morning shakes.  It is usually always by the vitamins but you know where they moved it?  On the fucking candy aisle!  Good God, why?  I AM A WEAK PERSON, COSTCO!  They know.  They know we are all weak and if they put the healthy crap by the delicious and unhealthy crap, we will buy both.  What a bunch of assholes.  Smart assholes though.

By the time I got up to the checkout lane, my arms were so full of stuff I did not go there for in the first place, that I was walking with an awkward limp, attempting to use one of my legs as a weird third arm to try to keep it all from falling.  I was hot and super sweaty at this point, which I'm sure made me look incredibly sane, and the rage had hit an all-time high.  What's worse than a menopausal woman?  A HOT menopausal woman!  A nice man came to my rescue as he clearly saw they had a liability on their hands with me.  I left as quickly as possible and tried not to look at anyone for fear if they gave me the wrong face, I might throw my box of items right at their head.

This was not even one of my worst trips to Costco.  I usually take Paul with me which honestly just makes it all worse.  He is not good in crowds and has a quick temper at times.  We are quite the pair right now!  One of us usually tries to remain level headed to keep the other one from completely losing their mind and rampaging through the store.  He absolutely loathes Costco so I tend to be the one remaining level headed.  Hard to imagine, I know.  The sample areas are breeding grounds for assholes.  It never fails, every time either he or I walk up to grab one, some jerkoff steps in front of us and grabs the last one.  I will wait patiently but Paul will boil over and have to walk away while cursing quietly.  Actually it's not quiet at all.  He does it so loud it usually draws attention.  I try to quickly corral him out of there while telling him to talk quieter which usually leads to us bickering until one of us walks ahead of the other one and remains five steps in front for the rest of the excursion.  It's obvious there is a marital spat taking place at this point.  Any time you see a woman walking five steps in front of a man, you can guarantee a fight just took place.  I really should just leave him at home.  It never turns out well.  Paul can't help but have an angry scowl on his face the entire time.  My family now calls Paul's angry face his "Costco face."

My next stop was PetSmart.  I should have just gone home but why stop there?  Maybe for the safety of myself and others?  Probably, but I live life dangerously.  There was this bird, or possibly baby pterodactyl, inside PetSmart that screeched non-stop the entire time I was there.  Normally, I would be able to block that out but my Lupron brain would not allow me to and instead made it sound like it was inside my skull.  I asked the cashier if the bird did this all the time and he said yes while looking like he had been seriously considering murder.  I would lose my mind working there with that bird.  That damn thing would "mysteriously" disappear one day.  Whoa, calm down, I wouldn't kill it, I'd obviously just let it go.  Right as I walked out of the parking lot, a car alarm continued the screeching's of that fucking bird.  Again, it usually wouldn't bother me but since it was happening inside my skull, I seriously considered running inside and screaming similar sounds until someone shut the stupid thing off.  Instead, I got in my car and drove my ass home.  I will hide out here until the effects of Satan's saliva wears off and I am a more normal, functioning person.

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am that this will be my last shot!  This stuff is no joke.  It honestly has been both a blessing and a curse.  I truly do think it's made me feel better in many aspects but it has also made me into a complete lunatic.  Seriously, if my marriage can withstand this, it can withstand anything!

To those who are considering this medication, please do not let my stories turn you away from it.  The side effects I've had really have not been anything compared to the constant pain and bleeding us girls/women with endometriosis suffer from.  I've heard people have both amazing and terrible experiences with it.  I really urge you to think for yourself on this one and not take others' experiences into account since each one of us reacts so differently to this drug.  If you do decide to take it, good luck and God speed!  I joke.  Seriously though, I am here to listen to you throughout your own Lupron journey if you just need someone to vent to.  It helps having someone to talk to who completely gets it.  If you decide to give Lupron a try, just a word of advice...DON'T GO TO COSTCO!

[autism-asks]

I'm self dx with autism and I suspect my sister is autistic too. I'm the kind of person who doesn't need to talk to their friends and family on a daily basis. I've gone through periods where I saw my friends every day and I hated it. I've gone through periods where I didn't even text my best friend for a week and I was comfortable with it. But my sister is very emotionally dependent, I think because we were emotionally abused by our mom (my sister got the worst of it, I feel). 🐱(1/5)

She needs lots of validation and support from everyone on a frequent basis. She calls me a lot, sometimes several times a day. Frequently about something completely unimportant and boring. Narrating herself grocery shopping. Telling me what she needs to do to file taxes. Asking me if I’m fluent in French. She’s completely oblivious to the fact that I’m uninterested in hearing about taxes and coupons, or that no one would be interested. She’ll call me at work just because she’s on break 🐱(2/5)

from her job and doesn’t even consider at all that I’m working. If she asks if I’m busy and I say no then that means she’s going to talk for 20+ minutes straight. She also needs advice for everything in her life. She’ll ask, “do you have any advice/input?” after talking about the decision for like ten minutes, which is really awkward. I say no almost every time. I feel like she’s using me as her therapist. And whenever I’m trying to tell her something important about my life, she 🐱(3/5)

interrupts me a lot or will tell me to hold on or say she has to call me back. Yet she can talk for ten straight minutes about her life without needing to stop, even if her toddler daughter is screeching next to her. This is all extremely exhausting to me. I hate our conversations. When her name shows up on my phone I immediately feel stressed. While she’s talking at me I start stimming from stress and feeling really upset. I’ve had meltdowns after we hung up. All of this makes me want 🐱(4/5)

to cut her out of my life. I hate having someone be so dependent on me. But I don’t know how to tell her I need space because she got a lot criticism from our mom growing up that even constructive criticism affects her deeply (not that my sister would take it out on me). I just feel really sad for her too. I don’t know what to do. I’ve started ignoring some of her calls just because I can’t handle the 20 minute conversation that I know is about to happen. I don’t want to be her therapist 🐱(5/5)

I’m sorry you’re dealing with that.  Conflicting needs can be a really stressful thing to navigate.

Do you have a therapist?  If so, you could try telling her about how helpful it’s been to you to be able to talk to a therapist and she might decide it’s worth her trying out too.  This way she’d have another source of emotional support and not be leaning on you so heavily without you having had to directly confront her about it.

You could also manage her demand on your time by telling her that you’re busy when you’re taking time to emotionally recharge (the fact that you’re not socializing or doing anything that looks like work doesn’t really mean you’re not busy, and tending to your needs is important too).  Saying “I actually am kind of busy right now but I can call you back tomorrow” lets you get a bit more space when you need it without having to completely ignore her.  If you’re consistent about calling her back when you promise to, that will also help to reassure her and minimize insecurity.

If you’re feeling like you need a few days off from talking to her, you can say something like “Sis, I love you and I want to hear about your life, but I’ve had a stressful week and don’t really have the energy to talk to anyone right now.  Is it okay if I call you back on Friday?”  Again, that way you’ve set a clear expectation for when you will be able to talk, and following through will reassure her.  Hopefully, framing it as you needing space in general rather than space from her won’t come off as criticism.

When you are making time to talk to her, you can also tell her at the beginning that you only have some fixed amount of time.  That way you know from the start that you have an out in 20 minutes, and she isn’t taken by surprise when you say you have to go.

In terms of balancing the conversation a bit more between talking about your things and talking about her things, you could try saying near the beginning of the conversation that you have a few things you want to tell her about, as that might help to manage her expectations.  If you do this and still find that the whole conversation is about her, then the next time you talk you can say, “Oh, I never got to tell you about [this thing]!  Can I do that now?”  Framing it as “I didn’t get to” rather than “you didn’t let me” keeps the tone relatively neutral so it doesn’t come off as a criticism on her.

Good luck and I hope this helps!

-Liz