So it feels like every woman I know has this or has gone through this, but I am having really bad early satiety, distention, pain/pressure mostly under my left ribs, reflux, and frequent burping. My doctor put me on omeprazole which is helping with the reflux and is supposed to help with the bloating too but it isn't really. And now I'm just really curious about why I'm having upper GI bloating at all and why a PPI would help. I guess the distention is from gas because I'm burping so much but where is it coming from? I'm not having gas pains or passing gas in my lower GI, or having diarrhea or constipation. I don't think I'm swallowing extra air. Why will lowering the stomach acid decrease the gas in my stomach? Is the early satiety because there's gas taking up space in my stomach?
I was trying low fodmap for this for a while and it didn't seem to help much, but I also was having trouble adhering to it perfectly. But I am also wondering if it even makes sense because the idea is that fermentable sugars cause bacteria in the gut to produce a bunch of gas and lead to digestive problems - but in that case wouldn't I also expect lower GI symptoms? Does that logic make sense, or could there be something going on in the lower GI that is affecting my upper GI?
Lastly, this all started around the time I started an SSRI and has gotten progressively worse over the last few months. This led me to think that the dyspepsia could possibly be a side effect. My doctor is telling me that SSRIs don't cause dyspepsia and I'm just having anxiety and told me to double my omeprazole and my SSRI. My gut is telling me (no pun intended) this is not good advice and I don't like that she is not considering any other possibilities. I'm also extremely drug sensitive and it was incredibly hard for me to adjust to the current dose I'm on, and I'm already having other bothersome side effects to the SSRI. I also don't really get why the dyspepsia would keep getting worse as the anxiety has significantly improved. I tried to ask for some nutritional advice because I'm worried I'm not getting enough calories, let alone fiber, protein, etc. and was told "maybe this is a fun excuse to eat some calorie dense foods." So I honestly have no idea what to do right now. I feel like this isn't the right forum to ask for advice about what meds to take, but like, I'm not being crazy right? My doctor should be giving me better guidance than this right? And does anyone have advice on what I should be eating so that I can keep functioning at work, etc.?

I have not been diagnosed with ADHD but more and more things are leading me to believe I might have it. The problem is, I feel like if I tried to seek any medical testing or bring this thought up to anyone I know, no one would believe me. I make A's in all my classes which is what my friend brings up all the time, and the fact that I study for hours. I study for so long because I'm always zoning out and thinking of other things even if I'm physically writing down notes for a class that has nothing to do with what's going on in my mind. I spend lots of time re-writing stuff and looking over things but I feel like I can't get any actual thinking done. My mind just won't let me think without daydreaming about something.
Basically, I study for so long because I am extremely inefficient. It also doesn't help that I barely take any thing out of my classes because I'm always zoning out in there too. It's not that I don't listen but nothing registers in my brain. I can look someone dead in the eyes for 2 minutes and hear everything they say, and then leave not knowing what they just talked about. What's frustrating is that I actually enjoy what I'm going to school for and WANT to learn as much as I can about the subject, but even that isn't enough to be mentally present in class.
The only time I feel truly focused or at least able to focus on only one thing is when I take caffeine. I try to limit it for extreme circumstances so it remains effective and I don't build a tolerance. The difference is night and day however. This is how I've been in school my entire life.
Basically, I'm just asking if I'm experiencing typical things or not, and if anyone relates to any of this.

Looking for help on building a PC that is able to run games such as Overwatch, Valorant, Apex Legends, and similar others at high video/graphic settings with smooth gameplay. I also do gaming video editing in Adobe After Effects, Premier, and Davinci Resolve (some work in Blender also). The timeline always consists of many overlays and effects layered; therefore I need a PC that can playback and render these types of videos smoothly.
Bonus: The build being capable to stream the games I play or me conducting my video editing work (smoothly for both, preferably the former rather than latter).
NOTE: I already have a Samsung 870 Evo 1TB SSD that I can use for the build. Build around this if possible.
Thank you!

Platform(s): PC
Genre: Top-down Zoo Simulator game, but like a 3/4ths angle?
Estimated year of release: 2010-2016
Graphics/art style: The UI had a blue background, and the animals, People, and plants were fairly realistic, if not simplified since you never really had to see them up close. Typical cheap 3D Graphics for the time. There wasn't a lot of Shading on objects, the colors were fairly flat.
Notable characters: I believe the tutorial was told to you by a woman in a ponytail, either blonde or brunette. She and maybe a Male partner would give you daily quests? But other than that there wasn't any real people. The male either had black hair, or he was old and gray, and they both were wearing typical zookeeper attire. The Woman's name might start with a K.
Notable gameplay mechanics: It was a Zoo Simulator, and you would play each day out, with a dark 'dusk' period before you would open for the day and you would use that extra time to take care of animals and build things without people in the way, though you could still do that even during the day. You could pay for advertisements on Newspaper, Television, and Radio to get more visitors the next day. You weren't able to Remove fences, nor would the fences break over time. You would have to check the animals health, because they would get sick. The Tutorial would always start with you Building an enclosure for an African Buffalo. Sometimes you were given an animal from the wild who was sick and you would have a few days to take care of them before they were sent back to the wild, Or you kept them and the time limit was just to make sure you had a habitat ready for them. Also they would be super sick when they arrived and wouldn't be happy.
Other details: The App Icon was a panda, just like a model of the whole body in the Top-down 3/4ths perspective. When I got the game, it came in a box set with other Simulator game discs. One of them was a forest ranger game, which was 1st person pov, and there were no other humans and it creeped me out, walking in the woods with no real map or anything. There were a total of 5 or 6 other games that came with, but the zoo was my favorite, and I only remember the forest one because it scared me. I believe one of them was a Carnival Simulator. The title of the game starts with 'My' or 'Your' like 'My/Your Zoo World' or 'My/Your Zoo Simulator'. I remember the animals getting sick all the time, and I'd have to check my animals every two hours in game time. you were able to see how far the food/waterestroom/gift stalls were able to reach, like their zone od effectiveness. You could click on a person and they would have a name and you could see their thoughts about whatever they were looking at. There were research centers for discovering animals and a research center to "level up" your animals, to make them less likely to get sick/more fertile to help with engagement animals
It isn't Zoo Tycoon, Empires, Paradise, My Free Zoo, or Zoo Planet, I've already looked at them and they aren't it.

just wanted to share my experience and get some advice or suggestions, open to any especially if someone has also experienced the same thing. Anxiety and stress is genetic throughout my family but just up til about recently I have experienced my first severe panic attack. About a week ago I was having fun feeling relaxed and decided to take a hit of a weed pen that my friend had gotten from a vape store. I usually never smoke weed nor like it because it has always given me an experience of panic and paranoia that i did not enjoy. I then decided to take a few hits and nothing happened and i did not feel it or any effects off of it so i took one more hit of it and after about 20-30 mins i had gotten up out of bed and this big sorta rush feeling came right over me and i instantly freaked out and could feel my heart beating out of my chest. i had to lay down with my face in a blanket just to feel somewhat okay. eventually it had whore off... next day i wake up completely fine then after a few hours i feel that terrible feeling again come up over me and it sorta felt like i was high again so i started freaking out and my heart began to race. I took some benadryl seemed to subside the horrible feelings. next day I woke up with symptoms of depersonalization/ derealization. this is what i would say i usually experience while "high" but this was actually the worst I have ever felt. I had to run outside and sit down, i started bawling and my heart felt like it was beating uncontrollably. I looked around and it felt like I was all alone stuck in a dream like I wasn't even real. Since then it has been a couple of days with my symptoms decreasing slowly. every now and then i feel scared and have the fear of the feeling coming back and my heart racing. I do wake up sometimes in the middle of the night with my heart racing with difficulty of breathing. I have mostly been taking benadryl and vitamin D to help. I am trying to stay away from medications. but What seems to be really worrying me is my lack of concentration and control. I always feel drowsy and can't seem to concentrate and have a hard time with remembering things. I think the cause of the anxiety and fear was the cannabis pen. i am just looking for ways to relax my mind, and i am always stuck on the thought if im forever going to feel like this. before this incident i have never experienced things like this before, im not sure if i am only having anxiety because of my experience with the weed or it had actually opened me up to anxiety if that makes sense. only worry now seems to be getting my concentration back and feeling like i am a real person again and enjoying things like how i used to, has anyone else who has smoked or has anxiety experienced this? im wondering if the depersonalization is just from the weed or the anxiety itself and if it will be long term or subside. slowly tho the days have been getting better with little to none mini panic attacks

Round 1, Pick 32 - Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina:
NFL: Legette, who had a terrific final season at South Carolina, is physical and a big-time vertical threat. This addition should be a big part of Bryce Young’s development in Year 2.
CBS Sports: B+. They have to get weapons for Bryce Young, so landing him makes sense. He is a player who plays physical and runs better than you think. He’s only done it for one year.
ESPN: Coach Dave Canales said it best: Legette brings versatility. The Panthers absolutely fell in love with Legette's ability to make plays all over the field, from catching passes to jet sweeps to kick returns. That versatility at a skill position is something Bryce Young didn't have last season, so this adds a unique weapon to take pressure off the second-year quarterback. He is also big (6-foot-1, 221 pounds) and fast (4.39 40), unlike any other Carolina receiver. He's a perfect fit for what Canales wants to create with the pass and run games.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Can’t believe he is about to fulfill his dream of being picked in the 2nd round.
Round 2, Pick 46 - Jonathon Brooks, RB, Texas:
NFL: Had Brooks not suffered a torn ACL in November, he might have been a first-round pick. He's a shifty, speedy back who can hit the hole and go, and he should be Carolina's starter before long. I thought they might go center here, but Brooks makes sense for a team that lacked offensive juice.
CBS Sports: B-. Fun, three-down RB without much mileage on his legs. Can win between the tackle or on the perimeter and has feature back size. Elusive but not ridiculously in that regard. Fills a need but maybe a touch early. May not be 100% by September.
ESPN: As much as Canales has said he's excited about backs Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders, he obviously believed the running game needed an upgrade. You don't take a back in the second round unless you plan to use him, although Brooks may need time to fully recover from ACL surgery that caused him to miss the final three games last season. He's a playmaker who has a nose for the end zone (10 touchdowns on 187 carries last season), and general manager Dan Morgan said he was looking for guys who can score.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Mixes the milk and cereal in his mouth, one bite and drink at a time.
Round 3, Pick 72 - Trevin Wallace, LB, Kentucky:
NFL: A late addition to my top 100 prospects list, Wallace is a top-tier athlete who finally seemed to find his groove last season -- on special teams but especially on defense. He's capable of covering tight ends and running backs and should impact all four downs, but Wallace is young and could use a redshirt year before he's ready to be featured on defense.
CBS Sports: C. Stocky, springy off-ball LB with speed to the football but one of the least-effective block-defeaters/avoiders I’ve scouted at the position. Not around the football much in coverage but fluid zone drops and has the athleticism to run with TEs. Very good tackler. Just unique strengths/weaknesses.
ESPN: Morgan entered the draft looking for "dawg mentality'' and he got that in Wallace. "Dawg mentality means you don't care if you go hurt somebody,'' Wallace said. "You don't go in there soft. I want you to be scared of me.'' Wallace isn't necessarily a long-term replacement for 30-year-old Shaq Thompson, but his ability to cover the field side-to-side and with speed gives him the potential to do that. Give him a year or so behind Thompson and Josey Jewell and he could prove to be a Day 2 steal.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Enjoys going to the park to make faces at little kids, making them cry.
Round 4, Pick 101 - Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE, Texas:
NFL: Sanders is a fascinating athlete who remains in the developmental stage. He's not a quality blocker yet but has some untapped receiving skill. This is a worthy risk by general manager Dan Morgan and Co. as their hunt for playmakers continues.
CBS Sports: B. Big recruit who produced at Texas and is a smooth mover. Good, not amazing YAC and not a pure speed type. Minimal blocking chops. Reasonable weapon for Bryce Young but lacks burst so will have to get schemed up to get most of his catches in the NFL.
ESPN: Definitely an upgrade at a position that quarterback Young could have used some help from during his rookie season. Canales has spoken highly of Tommy Tremble, but he's not the dynamic pass-catching tight end that Sanders can become. Sanders had 99 receptions in three seasons, tops for a tight end in Texas history. He could pose problems for defenses, like Greg Olsen did during the development of quarterback Cam Newton. This was a no-brainer at this point.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Insists he can distinguish between 50 shades of beige.
Round 5, Pick 157 - Chau Smith-Wade, CB, Washington State:
NFL: Smith-Wade opened eyes with a solid week at the Senior Bowl, consistently showing up around the ball and disrupting passes. His length almost certainly makes him a nickel only on defense, but there's some potential here if CSW develops.
CBS Sports: B+. Agitating CB who played outside but will have a home in the slot in the NFL. Plays more athletically than his testing. Lightning quick feet. Because of his smaller size, he tends to opt for diving tackle attempts more than wrapping up. Speed is a concern but could be masked inside. Up for any challenge.
ESPN: A definite need for depth at a position where injuries have hurt the past few years. Smith-Wade will be a backup and special teamer at best this season. He offers speed (4.54 40) and nose for the football that GM Dan Morgan wants. He's coming off a soft-tissue injury that forced him to miss the final five games and is more of a project at this point. Nickel, where he had two interceptions in the Senior Bowl, may be his future in the NFL.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Thinks being a scrum master sounds kinda cool.
Round 6, Pick 200 - Jaden Crumedy, DT, Mississippi State:
NFL: Being 300-plus pounds and running a sub-5.0 40-yard dash gets you drafted. Crumedy doesn't have sterling production, but his maturity and experience should give him an edge in a fight for a roster spot in Carolina.
CBS Sports: C+. Older, very experienced interior rusher who won from multiple alignments in the SEC and has smooth athletic traits. Production never matched how fluid he is as an athlete and his hands. Needs to have a pass-rush plan more often. Has long stretches of invisibility. Plays hard every snap.
ESPN: This is totally a depth move. His ability to push the pocket is what Carolina will look for out of him in its 3-4 scheme. He likely won't be a threat to start, but he has the flexibility and size (6-4, 301) to play inside or out. Depth behind a solid starting three is key here.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Once put together a 50,000 piece puzzle. It was a picture of a cloud.
Round 7, Pick 240 - Michael Barrett, LB, Michigan:
NFL: Punishing hitter in a sawed-off frame. Barrett's poor length will be tough to overcome, but his forceful play style is inspiring.
CBS Sports: C+. Has a nice blend of traits - - power, burst, coverage skill - - but not always the quickest to read where the ball is going. Quicker than fast and needs to get better beating or avoiding blockers on the way to the football.
ESPN: Barrett is undersized at 5-11, 233 pounds, but he has a nose for the football and brings a physicality to the game that makes up for his lack of size. Barrett should get a chance to contribute immediately, at least on special teams.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Nursed a baby goat back to health after he hit it with a car.

Hello, I'm new to reddit, but decided to post this on a throwaway anyway just in case my boyfriend finds this post. I am neuro-divergent(diagnosed ADHD and I might have autism. I am seeing a doctor for that for a diagnosis) I feel like it has an effect on how I process this so I felt like I should mention it. I'm not really sure how to put this so I'm going to try and be as clear as I can, please excuse my grammar. English is my second language.
I(Female, almost 30) and my boyfriend(Male, a bit over 30) have been together for 2 years. He is the best, most understanding and most loving person I've ever met. He has shown me support in so many different ways and has helped accept myself as who I am.
The thing I have a problem with, is his ex. They broke up almost a year before he and I even me. She tried to remain in contact and he did his best to not have anything to do with her. It wasn't always possible, because they shared a friend group. I am now friends with his friends as well and I have met her, but I don't really know her. I do know that some people in the friend group don't really like her, because she seems very shallow and self-absorbed. Their relationship was long distance and they broke up because she cheated on him twice. The first time she cheated was with her "ex". She apparently never broke up with him after all and she was was just two timing them and lied to everyone in the friend group. The second time she found someone new closer to where she lives and after ignoring my boyfriend for a while she told him that she has someone else. The only reason he even took her back was because someone close to her had died and he felt obligated to help her. He doesn't have any feelings towards her anymore and I can see that. I am not jealous of them at all and even when she was still part of the friend group, I didn't feel threatened because of her. She did contact him this year apologizing for everything(before she was just denying that she ever cheated on him), saying that she never meant for any of it to happen and blahblahblah. He told her that he does not want anything to do with her. She tried to play the victim but no one really went along with it and she disappeared from the friend group.
My issue is the extremely strong anger I feel towards her. When I heard about it for the first time, I felt this massive ball of strong emotions and I wanted to call her every name in the book. I didn't contact her as I felt it wasn't my place to say anything and it was some time ago. I did draft a message that was never meant to be sent and I showed it to him. I did tell him about my feelings towards her and he did understand, though he said he doesn't really care about her or the situation anymore. I just sometimes feel like I can't let go of the anger and pain I feel. I know he was hurting back then and he had to go through it all alone, since he didn't feel like he could tell our friend group. It just hurts me and makes me want to cry sometimes if I happen to remember it. It even keeps me up at night sometimes(this isn't common though). I just hate her so much for what she did. Like, HOW could she do that to him???? How can I process these emotions?
I've always had a strong reaction to cheating in a relationship. It's a hard thing for me to handle even when it's in a movie or something. I feel like the feeling is even stronger now because of the fact that I care so much about him and I don't even want to think about him hurting. I don't even know how to bring this up with him even though I know I probably should. It just feels like it's too late to say anything about this. He told me about her over a year ago and I feel awkward bringing it up now.
Thank you for reading... Any help/support/anything is welcome. I just felt like I wanted to get this out and not hold it inside me anymore.

This is my incomplete SVTFOE the movie script. Until my friend thomasmfd convince me to scrap it here’s my incomplete SVTFOE the movie script.
Star Vs. The Forces of Evil the forces of evil the movie The film with a song called Empire of the Sun Walking on a dream while the camera pans down on a mural with the credits rolling by and hits the floor showing a Blue man with a blue sword wearing a Space helmet and a orange Tee shirt with black spots all over his shirt. Who is protecting the Empress of the Sun Hestia look who has Red hair and Red eyes and wears a White Kimono with red spots. Just then a group of people wearing brown robes and white masks are led by a bald creepy dude with a Scar on his right eye. He approaches the throne and begins to speak.
The creepy dude My majesty My name is Bob and my group are a bunch of nomads who travel from World to world gathering intel and giving them to each kingdom and we heard rumors about Cataclysm prison weakening. And we would like to have your Sword Empress of the sun. So we can use it to defeat Cataclysm.
Bob walks up the steps before Cutie's sword hangs by his neck stopping him.
Bob What’s the meaning of this guard!?
Cutiesaurs: The name is Cutiesaurs or Cutie for short. Bob Okay Cutie. Why did you stop me!?
Cutiesaurs Because I don’t trust you. Besides, Shady people are always up to no good.
Bob It’s for your own protection so let me through. Besides it is rumored that The Sun Sword is the only sword left.
Cutiesaurs I don’t Care the Gods hid those swords for protection from thieves like you, including the Fable Mew sword. Besides, it appears you want to use the empress sword to find the other swords.
Bob Well you two figure out my plan already so I guess I have no option but to take it from force.
Just then Bob uses his magic spell to pull out his sword and he and his minions begin to attack. Cutie and Molly try to fight back but it is too much for them and get captured and Bob’s minions capture Hestia as Bob grabs the sword and glances at it.
Bob This Sword is a decoy. (Bob then shatters it with his magic) Minions drag Cutie to the Castle dungeon while carry Hestia to that special place)
Cutie struggles against the minions' control while they drag him to the dungeon. Cut to five years later and we see Cutie shirtless hung up in the dungeon walls shirtless wearing only his pants and a piece of cloth covering his head except his eyes. Then Bob and his cultist.
Bob Well Cutie it’s been five years and still you won’t tell us where the Real Empress sword is!
Cutiesaur
Like I said for the last five years I don’t know.
Bob Well Cutie. I don’t need you anymore. Not since I detected the Sword of Mew and we’ve set up a trap for the holder of the sword. So Now I will give you this radio to keep you comfortable. I’ve got a queen to catch.
Bob Leaves the dungeon and enters a room which is in some blackish glow surrounded with red hue. At the floor is a star shape enclosed by a circle on the floor. There Bob stands at the edge and raises his hands which then begin to be turning a metallic silver. He begins to wave his hands and a Star shape pattern begins to have a pinkish water swirling around it then when it clears out we see Star Butterfly at the center of the Star pattern.
Bob Hello Princess My name is Bob and you have something that we need. (Bob then materializes some mask’s then drops them on the ground where mud surrounds the mask’s then the mud raises the Mask which then forms into humanoid shape).
Star Butterfly I’m sorry but this Wand isn’t yours to keep.
Star Shoots a Rainbow energy beam at Bob but he blocks it with nothing but his bare Metallic hands.
Bob I’m impressed that the sword has a few tricks up his sleeves. But I’ve had a few tricks up my sleeves myself.
Bob then shoots a sliver beam at Star and pulls out a golden butterfly from her chest and places it into a jar.
Bob I’ve taken your powers. If you want them back, give me your wand. What do you say Star?
Star Butterfly I say Narwhal blast. A large Narwhal appears and slides down destroying many of Bob's minions and then pinning Bob to a wall. She then runs away from the room.
Bob After her she must not escape with that sword.
Star flees Bob’s goons and hides in the dungeon where she begins to hear the song Always look on the bright side of light she follows the sound to a cell where she see’s Cutie hanging from the wall.
Cutiesaurs Hi there little girl, what brings you to this dank little dungeon?
Star Butterfly I’m hiding from a man and his goons who want my wand.
Cutiesaurs Oh Bob yea he wants that wand since it’s the Sword of Mew.
Star Butterfly The Sword of Mew?
Cutiesaurs Let me get out of these chains and find my helmet and shirt and find a safe place before I can explain everything
Cutiesaurus tries to break his chains but with no success.
Star Butterfly Need help?
Cutiesaurs Yeah sure just blast those chain’s
Star uses her wand to blast the chain off of Cutie
Cutiesaurs Thank you… Um I haven’t gotten your name.
Star Butterfly It’s Star Star Butterfly.
Cutiesaurs Why thank you Star. I’m Cutiesaur’s but people call me Cutie for short and I’m the royal guard of the Empress or was before Bob and his golem army took me and put me in this dungeon. Now where is my shirt? Cutie searches everywhere for his shirt until Star shows him his shirt and grabs it and puts it back on.
Cutiesaurs Thanks Star. Now I need my Helmet.
Star Butterfly Why?
Cutiesaurs Because it protects people. Because I was born with a face that is so handsome that it melts people's faces. You wouldn’t want to see people's faces melting. It's nasty.
Star Butterfly Eww. But anyway I think I saw it over there at the bench.
Star points to a bench where we see Cutie Helmet. He then grabs it and puts it on.
Cutiesaus Thanks Star Now we need a plan.
Star Butterfly Um would that involve these guys.
Star points to a group of humanoid creatures wearing black cloaks with hoodies and pale white masks.
Cutiesaurs Looks like the plan is to fight. (He pulls out his blue sword) It’s a good thing this sword is bound to me and no one else.
Star Butterfly I would like to help but that Wizard Bob just stole all my powers.
Cutiesaurs Except for the Sword of Mew
Star Butterfly I keep hearing that my Wand is a sword. How is this possible?
Cutiesaurs You must focus, be one with the wand and think of a burning blade.
Star focuses on it and her wand turns into a burning blade with rainbow fire. She then uses it to defeat Bob's minions.
Star Butterfly Wow this is incredible I didn’t know my wand could do that! How did you know!?
Cutiesaurs It’s a long story but we need a hiding spot and I know one. Follow me.
Cutie drags Star to a long forgotten cellar.
Star Butterfly Wow you sure know your way around the castle.
Cutiesaurs I like to walk around the castle patrolling it in my spare time and also reading books. Which is why I know that wand is a sword that is a key to one of the locks. Of a prison
Star Butterfly What Locks?
Cutiesaurs Let me explain. Long ago before you before me before the kingdom of Mewni before time. Three gods and three goddesses appear. They created the rift then they created time then they created the universe then gave life to them. They taught each creature in the multiverse how to care and love and respect one another. However for order there must be chaos and chaos took the form of Cataclysm. He corrupted everything the gods and goddess did, undoing their work. So they fought back; the battle lasted a thousand year with the records of the events being lost though a few survived. After Cataclysm was weakened the Gods and Goddess locked him up in a prison out of space and out of time. With their own swords. They then gave the six swords to six universe’s. The Sword of Retro, The Sword of the sea, the Sword of sweets, The Sword of reality, The Sword of the sun, finally the Sword of Mewni. They form the kingdoms around the swords. But sadly over time the kingdoms lost knowledge of their past and swords. Except for two. The Kingdom of the Sun saved knowledge of the past and the kingdom of Mewni kept their sword safe. Which is why that wand you have is important; it's the last known sword that prevents the unleashing of Cataclysm.
Star Butterfly Wow I didn’t know my wand was a sword. But it still doesn’t explain how Bob managed to steal my butterfly forum. With some strange magic power.
Cutiesaurs It’s called forum splitting.
Star Butterfly What?
Cutiesaurs Forum splitting it’s a spelical spell that splits someone with transformations and turns their transformation as a spirit. We used it to cure someone from their Werewolf forum.
Star Butterfly Oh. Because my butterfly forum is important to me.
Cutiesaurs I’m sure it is Star.
Cutiesaurus begins to leave Star behind.
Star Butterfly Where are you going Cutie?
Cutiesaurs To find my Empress.
Star Butterfly Don’t you mean queen.
Cutiesaurs They both mean the same thing.
Star Butterfly Okay you’ll do that while I find some help.
Star pulls up her scissors but when she tries to use them they begin to crack and then turn to dust.
Cutiesaurs By the way, scissors are useless in the kingdom of the sun.
Star Butterfly (talking to herself) Great, I can’t get to Mewni or Earth now. Those scissors are my only escape. But maybe Cutie knows another way.
Star races to Cutie
Star Butterfly Hey Cutie I was thinking we can team up to take down Bob.
Cutiesaurs I prefer to work by myself. But thanks for the advice.
Star Butterfly (with her puppy dog eyes) Please!
Cutiesaurs (staring blankly) Your puppy dog eyes have no effect on me. Now would you excuse me? I got a queen to save.
A Cutie walks away Star Butterfly gets a idea
Star Butterfly You said Bob is looking for the six magical swords.
Cutiesaurs And What are you getting at?
Star Butterfly Well we can do what I forget.
Cutiesaurs A barter?
Star Butterfly Yea a barter.
Cutiesaurs By getting the four other swords by doing a trade for the empress then we use our might together to defeat Bob and kill two birds with one stone! I’m such a genius.
Star Butterfly Yes you are so how are you planning on getting to the realms?
Cutiesaurs I have a ship. In an old hanger.
Star Butterfly But how do we get there?
Cutiesaurs Well I know the secret paths around this old castle.
Cutie pulls an old touch handle but discovers it’s the wrong one and then pulls the right one. Which reveals a path which Cutie enters and Star follows behind. It leads to a rusty hanger with a giant shiny red space ship with jet engine thrusters and a jet pilot cockpit.
Cutiesaurs Behold the Gummi ship the most advanced ship in the kingdom, well the only one since all are now scrap. It took me 13 yea… (Notice Star biting the ship) Star what are you doing!?
Star Butterfly You said it’s a Gummi ship and I thought it was made out of gummi’s.
Cutiesaurs I called it the Gummi ship because it looks like it’s made out of gummi. Not made of Gummi.
Star Butterfly Oh. But how would this old thing get us where we are going?
Cutiesaurs Well it takes us to the rift.
Star Butterfly The Rift!? What’s that?
Cutiesaurs It’s like a highway. Star Butterfly What’s that?
Cutiesaurs (I might be too smart for her) It’s where a group of car’s go very fast like a road.
Star Butterfly Oh like a shortcut?
Cutiesaurs (sarcastly) Yes, much like a shortcut. (sarcasm ends) Anyway The rift used to be how one person got from one realm to the other. It was the world that was between realms. However with the invention of technologies and how certain realms like our Kingdom of the sun here isolated themselves. The Rift was no longer used and ships were turned to scrap. Well before I came along and fixed this baby up. Let’s go inside and take a tour and start this baby up.
Cutie and Star enter’s the Gummi ship
Cutiesaurs This ship has everything we need for our trip. It has bed’s and a guest bed for passengers. (in case it was an overnight trip.) A dining room, A kitchen for cooking food, A fireplace. A bookshelf with books throughout the realms is my favorite and finally the cockpit with an autopilot so the captain can do other things and it has a comfy seat with cup holders. It has everything to make you feel right at home. Any questions?
Star Butterfly Yea where is the kitchen sink?
Cutiesaurus then bang his head on the controls
Cutiesaurs I knew I forgot something. I guess I add this on stuff to add to the ship along with weapons. So let’s start this ship up.
Star Butterfly By pressing the big red button. (Star looks for the big red button) where’s the big red button?
Cutiesaurs Yea I did not add one since I don’t want people to be tempted by pushing a big red button. And besides, I don't want to discard myself when I start up the ship. And besides that’s not how you start the ship. (Pulls out the keys) This is how you start the ship
Cutie inserts the keys while the hangar doors open and the ship hovers for a bit before bursting into speed and opening a hole to the rift. But not before Bob and his minions race to the hanger seeing them fly away. The camera fades while Bob quietly makes a grin on his face. The screen then pans to the Gummi ship flying across the rift. Inside Star and Cutie figured out what to do next.
Star Butterfly So um Cutie do you know where the swords are?
Cutiesaurs Well legends say that one of the Swords will reveal the next sword. And since your sword is the only known one I think we’ll start there.
Cutie leads Star to the Bottom of the ship
Cutiesarus This is the map room. Well the only one that functions since this is the only ship that can travel across the rift. Since I have that ship I will navigate our course to where the next sword is.
Star Butterfly How are you gonna to do that? Since you have the knowledge and I have magic.
Cutiesaurs Correct Star but I have an idea. If you cast magic on your wand then it should act like a beacon. That only the swords will hear pinpointing its location. Thus selecting the location and flying to grab it. Any questions?
Star Butterfly Yes, one. I didn’t know Bacon could do that.
Cutiesaurs (Talking to himself) Sometimes I wonder if my kind is too advanced for people who look like they didn’t pass the middle ages.
Cutiesaurs No it’s not. After this read my books. Just use your magic
Star Butterfly I’m gonna create puppies that shoot laser beams.
Cutiesaurs I was thinking of dynamite with a laser beam but your idea sounds fair enough. (Though I must give someone a box of puppies when we land. Because one puppy is enough for me to handle for me right now.

Captains, work has begun to repurpose a quarter of both of our hothouses to the production of alcohol. While our food and medical crop output will be lowered, this will help to end the rationing down at the public house. It'll take a day or so to resow the areas, grow the plants, and start processing them, but soon enough our citizens will have access to drinks again after their difficult workdays.
​
Stat Chart:

Healthcare: 3/5 (Average) Capacity: 28 Treating: 27 (Sick 10, Injured 12, Gravely Ill 5) Healed per Day: 21 Untreated: 0	Carehouse Capacity: 15/15 Treating: 10 Engineers (Amputees), 5 Workers (Amputees)	Hope: 5/9 (Optimistic)	Discontent: 5/7 (Resentful)
Raw Materials: 145 +82/Day +10% Hope Bonus +40% Extended Shifts	Coal Production: +647/Day +40% Extended Shifts +15% Foreman Bonus on two mines Coal Usage: 435/Day Coal: 2703	Ration Production: 39/day Ration Consumption: 28/day Rations: 674 Estimated Days of Rations: 24	Steam Cores: 1
Natural Temperature: Freezing (-25°C)	Home Temperature: Citizens Living in Warm (+10°C) Housing: 336	Work Temperature: Sufficiently heated workplaces: 10 Insufficiently heated workplaces: 12	Fatigue: 2/7 (Tired)
Population: (368 Citizens) (136 Workers) (32 Guards) (63 Engineers) (32 Medical Personnel) (32 Administrators) (14 Scouts) (59 Children)	Coal Mine Safety: 3/5 (Hazardous) -1 Base Safety -3 Toxic Fumes +1 Air Shafts +1 Ventilation Plant	Scouts: Unit #01 - 4 Unit #02 - 5 Polaris Scouts - 5	Guards: 0/32 Guard Posts - 30 Guard Booth - 2
Workers: 11/136 Coal Miners - 45 Steel Workers - 5 Lumberers - 15 Gardeners - 30 Amputees - 5 Hunters - 15 Prostitutes - 5 Cookhouse Amputees - 5	Engineers: 1/63 Researchers - 5 Amputees - 12 Gardeners - 10 Lumberers - 15 Steel Workers - 10 Foremen - 3 Generator Maintenance - 10	Medical Personnel: 9/32 Medical Cabins - 20 Care house - 2 Arrested - 1	Administrators: 7/32 Public House - 5 Guard Office - 6 Child Shelter - 4 Department of Information - 10

Now Captains, we're presented with a great opportunity to properly develop our telegraph system! The foundation has already been constructed, setting up the necessary equipment in the Department of Information and laying cables in all of the city's roads. Now, we're able to start installing telegraphs in various buildings around Frostantinople. Being able to communicate from anywhere in the city will prove a significant boon, but our construction crew is only so big. As such, you'll have to decide on what group of buildings to equip first. Over time, this will create one interconnected network, but it'll be an ongoing project. For now, some of the best candidates of building types have been suggested, along with the perceived benefits the project will have. All of these choices will improve as the network grows, and more buildings have lines of communication. Read through the choices and their effects, and when you're ready, cast your vote.
​
Equip Citizen's Homes More of a luxury than the other choices, but one our people will surely appreciate. Being able to communicate and coordinate with other citizens from the comfort of you own home? What will they think of next? Our citizen's homes will be connected to the Telegraph Network. This luxury will help to reduce discontent.
Equip Guard Buildings We've had several run-ins with revolutionary organizations, and criminals in general. Giving our guards lines of communication will allow them to quickly respond to reported crimes. Our Guard Headquarters and Guard Stations will be connected to the Telegraph Network. This utility will result in better responses to crimes and events regarding civil unrest.
Equip Production Workplaces While we try to promote safety where possible, accidents happen, and when they do they tend to be particularly bad. A telegraph won't make workplaces safer, but it'll allow far quicker responses in the event of an emergency. Our Sawmills, Steelworks, and Coal Mines will be connected to the Telegraph Network. This utility will result in better responses to workplace accidents.
Equip Medical Cabins Our healthcare system is vital to the city's survival. Contacting our medics and making sure they're ready to receive sick or injured citizens slightly faster may not seem like much, but in life or death scenarios, every second counts. Our Medical Cabins will be connected to the Telegraph Network This utility will result in better responses to medical emergencies.
View Poll

I know it’s a long shot making a post when it comes to health issues. Before I say anything I am not a doctor, a med student, or practicing medicine in anyway. However, Ethan and I are on the same antidepressant Lexapro (also known as Escitalopram) and ever since I started taking it a year ago, I have been having some adverse effects.
I am currently on 20mg of Lexapro since June/July 2023. Since I have been on Lexapro it has tremendously helped my anxiety and depression but I am curious if it has caused me to experience long term diarrhea, stomach cramps and bloating. I spoke to my doctor about it a few months ago not even considering it could be my medication and they suggested I most likely have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).
For the last few months since seeing my doctor I have been searching for answers to my stomach issues - considering things like colitis, chron’s, even cancer. However I do not have blood in my stool and most of these conditions include having blood in your stool.
I came across a few articles about SSRI’s (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and gastrointestinal issues and found that Lexapro along with Setraline have shown to be the least tolerated antidepressant on the GI often causing nausea, diarrhea, indigestion etc.
I am wondering if maybe Ethan and I are experiencing similar things and that it could be due to the side effects of our medication. Maybe someone else out there on Lexapro is also experiencing the same issues.
Peace and Love to the family

TLDR: My PSP for Barbri assigned 6.6 hours a day. Today is day 1 and I only completed 3 hours even though I actively studied for 12 hours today. How in the world am I going to get back and stay on track??
I. Am. Panicking. I graduated Friday and started studying for the Bar today. I am using Barbri and I have set up my PSP to study Monday - Saturday and have Sundays off. I also included 5 days in early June that I cannot avoid missing some study time. I marked them as days off even though I will still have a few hours each day. I chose today (5/13/24) as my start day to help accommodate for the 5 days in June as well, most of my classmates are starting on the 20th.
My plan was to start at 8 am everyday, one hour break for lunch, be done with Barbri by 4 pm and do some spaced repetition/practice questions until 6 pm. I burn out so easy and I really need to figure out how to get through this lectures. It took me 12 hours to complete 3 hours of assignments on Barbri today. I'm assuming I'm behind and my 6.6 hours is going to go up?
Today I only got through the intro videos and then only about 1.5 hours of lectures and it took me an hour to read through the 30 minute overview. I watch the videos on 1.5 speed and take notes. I pause when I need to and use the CMR and overview to guide my notetaking. Hand writing notes and then typing them into an outline and quizlet flashcards has always been very effective for me, but I'm wondering if that's just going to be too time consuming. It's day one and I spent 4 hours more than I intended to spend and ended up 3 hours short on my Barbri assignments.
Hope this didn't sound to whiny or dramatic. I just really thought I had a game plan and after lunch things started to go really slow. I am using Barbri because my school has a contract with them so it was paid for by the time I graduated. Not new to reddit, but never posted before.

Hey everyone, I just recently reinstalled and I feel pretty lost on various parts of the game, so I'm hoping you guys might be able to help answer some of my questions/guide me in the right direction. Just a bit of backstory for where my account is at currently before getting into some of my questions:

• Played when the game launched in the US and created a Deathblade character. Got this Deathblade to level 39, then "quit" due to irl stuff limiting my time to play.
• Reinstalled around the time Artist came out and created a new Artist character. Got this Artist to around the same level as my Deathblade before "quitting" again due to irl stuff limiting my time to play.
• Reinstalled once again a few days ago and I just got my Artist to level 50; my Deathblade is still sitting at level 39.

As you can see, although I'm a "returning" player, I never made it very far into the game, so many of the core concepts are still quite foreign to me. Also, I am strictly F2P, so please do take that into consideration for your responses. Thanks in advance :)
Since I have a bunch of questions across various parts of the game, I've broken them into hopefully more legible sections:

Story/Location/General

• I have made it to Arthetine with my Artist, what do I do now at level 50? Do I just keep continuing to do all the quests that appear around me? When do the various dungeons and fights I've seen so much about start for me?
• I didn't explore all of Anikka before coming to Arthetine (there is still a gray area on the map, Prisma Valley). Should I go back and unlock triports and whatnot before continuing? The quests themselves never took me there, so just not sure.
• Should I catch my Deathblade up to where my Artist is at before continuing to progress? I actually really like the combat of both characters and I'm not too sure which I want to "main" as a result. Do I need to pick 1 to main? Will it really gimp my ability to do content if I try to progress both characters as much as possible?
• Is PvP dead? I remember liking that a lot when I first started out, but recently when I've tried to queue up, matches couldn't be found. Not that there was an error or anything, just the timer would continue going for a long time.
• Does a character's level go beyond 50?

Gear

• General
  • Does gear degrade?
• Dismantling
  • As I've been leveling up, I would equip the highest item level gear in each slot and dismantle everything else, including gear at the same item level I have equipped. Should I continue doing this? It has left me with 1 of each item I have equipped - will I ever need say multiple weapons or armor pieces to swap out depending on the content I'm doing? It has also left me with a lot of useful and broken gear powders. What do I do with these?
• Stones
  • I have a bunch of stones in both my characters' inventories. What are these and what do I do with all these? Somehow, I also have an ability stone equipped on my Deathblade in addition to the other stones in my inventory, but I don't remember how or why I did that. The equipped one also seems to make my Deathblade's movement slower, what gives? Do they all give some sort of negative effect? Should I also try to equip a stone on my Artist? Is there a strategy for maximizing positive effects while reducing negative effects?
• Engravings
  • I have a bunch of engraving recipes and engraving recipe selection chests/pouches. What are these and what do I do with all these? I'm assuming they combine in some way to create the 2 empty engraving item slots when opening my character profile, but just wanted someone to hopefully walk me through these as well. Do these also have negative effects like stones? If so, is there a strategy for maximizing positive effects while reducing negative effects?
• Skill Rune Effects
  • I have some items like "Focus" and "Bleed" that I've got no clue what they do or what I should be doing with them. Is this another system that could/should be walked through for me?
• Bracelet
  • I don't have items/packs/chests or anything that seemingly would fit into the Bracelet item slot for either character. Where do bracelets come from? Is this another system that could/should be walked through for me?
• Honing/Upgrading
  • I have heard these terms thrown around before, but again, I just don't know what they entail. Am I at this point in the game yet?
• Item Level
  • My Artist's equipped item level is 230.83 and my Deathblade's is 182.50. I've seen people talking about item levels more than 1k greater than even what I've got combined between both characters lol. Am I on the right track here? Should I expect my equipped item level to shoot up soon?

Cards

• I get that equipping multiple cards of the same set grants different effects, but how does it work across the roster - can I equip the exact same cards on both my Deathblade and my Artist?
• When I use cards, it asks me to confirm and says I have x spots remaining in my card catalog, where x continually decrements each time. Is this something I should be worried about? Do I need to be strategic about which cards to add to the catalog as to optimize the amount of space it has available?
  • If not, I have some card packs, should I just use/consume those ASAP?
• Are book effects separate and in addition to effects granted from equipping cards of the same set?
• What are/how to do enhancements?

Stronghold/resource gathering

• I've seen various ores, wood, and other items to gather across the world as I've been leveling up - am I meant to be gathering these? I think it was a requirement for 1 of the earlier quests, but it's been so long I don't remember the point of it, and I don't think I've gathered anything outside of those quest(s). What is the point of gathering these resources?
• I don't get the Stronghold at all. I had to create/visit one with my Deathblade way back when, but I really don't recall what it's all about, what to do, etc. I don't believe I was required to create/visit one when I created my Artist. Is it shared across the roster? What is the point?

Chests/Auras/PowerPass

• I have a lot of different chests and whatnot in both characters' inventories, the universal storage, my mailbox, and wherever else things are sent to lol I don't even know. I have a wide variety of different things (rapport chests, battle item chests, card packs, etc.). In general, what is the strategy for these, what should I be using/consuming right away, what should I be saving?
• There are some other chests and items that I don't even know what they give me. I remember Crystalline Aura and Elgacia PowerPass off the top of my head, but when I can next login, I will be sure to edit this to ask what the others do as well.
  • As far as I'm aware, Elgacia PowerPass is the only thing I have with a time limit left to claim it. What does this do? What character should I claim it on, if any?

Am I missing anything else? I'm sure I will have more questions as well; these are really the biggest things that have been on my mind. If anything else does come up, I will be sure to edit this to clearly include those changes as well.
I know this is a lot already, thanks in advance for any help/guidance, I do very much appreciate it!

I have a house in Eastern MA that I’m looking to put heat in the basement of and I’d like some advice. The living spaces on the main floors are all heated by two multi zone ductless systems (48kBTU total) that do quite well for the space in our climate. I also have a center chimney with a large wood stove (55kBTU) that heats the whole house well when it is on. As this house was formerly heated with electric baseboard, theres no boiler in the basement and as a result, there is no source of heat down there and it gets down into the high 40’s mid winter. The basement is half finished, and I’d like to add some heating to help keep it warmer and make the space nicer overall. There is an open second flue on the chimney that I could use as exhaust, but it’s in the finished room.
Ideas so far: A: Add a third ductless system, maybe just a single 12k standalone. This would be pretty cost effective as I could DIY. I’m likely going to do solar in the somewhat near future, so more electric use isn’t bad. The downside of this, is I’m hugely reliant on electricity for heat, and I don’t have a whole house generator. I’d like something that could provide some baseline heating load if there happened to be a multi day power outage and I wasn’t around to keep the wood stove going.
B: Install another wood burning stove down there. This would be great in concept, but it’s not the most convenient place to carry wood down to, and I don’t necessarily want to maintain two fires all winter. It also isn’t very kid-friendly, as the finished side of the basement is a rec room type space.
C: Instal a propane fired heater of some kind down there. This is my favorite idea so far, but I don’t know which type of product would be best. I already have a propane bottle for my stove, so I could easily add a second load. I like the concept of a fossil fuel heat source that doesn’t require electricity, though I know some of the products do need power to run fans. I’m familiar with the direct vent style wall mounted heaters, but I don’t know if those could be set up to vent out of a flue on a masonry chimney instead. The basement is totally below grade and there is very little space high on the wall for a wall vent. (No real rim joist to punch through with something larger than a couple inches).
So that being said, my main question is what would be the best propane heater technology to use in a basement to supply the space with reliable and efficient heat? Should I just do another ductless system and get a generator to ease my mind? I do already have a 30A transfer switch installed but I don’t have a generator and I know 30A isn’t really enough to feed multiple ductless systems

and that span of 90 days feels simultaneously like a blink of an eye and the length of an eternity. I watched my mom exit this realm after a 15-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
The last 4 months of her life were intense. I don’t live in the same town as my parents, so I was traveling every week. As each week passed, the journey became more daunting- her condition was rapidly deteriorating. My dad, my grandparents, my partner and I were all there consistently. It might take a village to raise a child but it also takes a village to help someone transition into death. My aunt and uncle made the 10-hour journey twice during her last two months. We were there for her and we cared for her and we fought with her, the whole time. She wasn’t alone, although she may have felt it. She didn’t share her feelings much.
Now some time has passed and the lasting and permanent effects of this death on my father and I are showing…
I still visit, every other week. I spend my days off here, which, consequently, are my dad’s work days. But we watch television in the evening and we talk about mom. He tells me that he doesn’t have much will to live and with our ever-present hereditary cancers, he believes that cancer will be his way of death also. He tells me that if it comes to that, he won’t fight hard, if at all. That if cancer doesn’t come, he hopes he doesn’t live a long time because he can’t handle this constant level of grief and loneliness.
How am I supposed to handle this? While I’m navigating my own complex and difficult life, I now have these thoughts to sit with. It feels unfair for him to lay that out for me, it feels like he’s telling me our relationship and seeing my life through isn’t important enough for him to stay alive for. How do I convince him to find reasons to still live? He needs to learn ways to live for himself, and if that’s not already engrained, how does someone begin to do that? He’s been to therapy a few times since she passed (I haven’t, but need to). He’s on antidepressants. I know it’s still so soon after her passing, his and my feelings will change as time goes…but what if he doesn’t adjust?
I am 31f, my dad 51. I feel like we’re both too young for this much grief.

Thank you for taking the feedback well and asking for some clarification!
That is generally my impression from the pictures, of someone who's a bit of the way into chemo (pale/wan skin, thin hair, somewhat gaunt appearance). None of them in isolation are all that bad, but there's something about the way they all come together.
Perhaps if one of them improved, the rest wouldn't be amplified so much. I'd suggest starting with the hair. Save up and splurge a bit on a stylist. Tell them your goals - that you're coming to them to help you design a look and haircare plan to give your hair volume and compliment your regular appearance (wear typical clothes and makeup). Take all-around pictures of the cut immediately after, and then use those pics to guide your regular hairdresser.
My read on your paragraph is that you're in a bit of denial and reaching to justify how people treat you. Most people are about their appearance.
It's extremely well established that people treat attractive people better.
Yes, you're right, the extremely unattractive/frail/etc, but it comes from a different driver in the mind.
In between the two extremes, there's an uncanny valley type effect. Someone moderately ugly will be treated worse than someone extremely ugly.
Maybe it is something in your demeanor, speech, whatever. If you want to do a video call, I can give you feedback on that.

I copied and pasted what a random said to me on a reply I made in ask women about being treated badly by ppl and he said it was bc of my looks when I wasn't even the poster I curiously asked how and this is what he said
Thank you for taking the feedback well and asking for some clarification!
That is generally my impression from the pictures, of someone who's a bit of the way into chemo (pale/wan skin, thin hair, somewhat gaunt appearance). None of them in isolation are all that bad, but there's something about the way they all come together.
Perhaps if one of them improved, the rest wouldn't be amplified so much. I'd suggest starting with the hair. Save up and splurge a bit on a stylist. Tell them your goals - that you're coming to them to help you design a look and haircare plan to give your hair volume and compliment your regular appearance (wear typical clothes and makeup). Take all-around pictures of the cut immediately after, and then use those pics to guide your regular hairdresser.
My read on your paragraph is that you're in a bit of denial and reaching to justify how people treat you. Most people are about their appearance.
It's extremely well established that people treat attractive people better.
Yes, you're right, the extremely unattractive/frail/etc, but it comes from a different driver in the mind.
In between the two extremes, there's an uncanny valley type effect. Someone moderately ugly will be treated worse than someone extremely ugly.
Maybe it is something in your demeanor, speech, whatever. If you want to do a video call, I can give you feedback on that.

Sorry this is so long but i’ve wanted to vent about this for some time. I guess i’ll start with some background info. when i was 20 i was living with my bf for 2 years but started to sleep at my parents house some nights because i was dealing with bad depression. my mom was always my main support system and i wanted to be around her more. i told my parents i was thinking about checking myself back into the psych ward (i’m diagnosed as bipolar) so i can get help bc i was having Sui**dal thoughts again. My dad told me he would just buy me a puppy for emotional support because he didn’t want to see me go back to the hospital after what i had went through there previously.
The dog was technically mine, i mean he bought her for me / thought she would make my mental health better. But when i ended up fully living with my bf again she stood with my parents & pretty much became their dog. I didn’t really care bc me & my bf ended up getting a dog of our own shortly after this.
That was 5 years ago. Last year my parents bought a house after they retired & obviously brought the dog with them. I want to point out that my dad has ALWAYS suffered with anxiety.. he’s actually currently in therapy and has been for a while. He has a psychiatrist & he used to be on antidepressants but now he’s only on medication for his anxiety as his depression has gotten better than it was before. I think he was happier with the quality of his life after the move.
The problem is he cannot leave the house or go ANYWHERE without bringing the dog with him. And he will NEVER leave her home alone EVER. Not even for five minutes. My mom doesn’t drive so whenever they run errands they run them together in my dads car. This dog goes to the grocery store with them .. she goes on dates with them ( they don’t eat out anywhere unless they are allowed to bring the door / only if the place has outdoor seating ) They bring her to Walmart, Doctors appointments ( my mom will usually wait in the car with the dog while my dad goes to his appointment if he wants my mom to come with him) The only time he’s not with the dog is if he takes a drive / runs an errand alone then he will leave her in the house with my mom. But since they moved, they have never both gone out on any sort of date alone without having the dog with them.
My mom really wanted to do this outdoor activity with him recently but he said they couldn’t go because the place didn’t allow dogs, so she went alone. A couple months ago their neighbors invited over them for a dinner party at their house which is literally 1 house over. My mom told my dad that she really would like if they leave the dog home alone because she wants to spend time with him & other people without having the dog with them.
They get to the neighbors house… 15 mins pass and my dad says he is going back home to check on the dog. Now idk how true this is what he told my mom. Apparentky when he got back home the dog pooped and peed everywhere in the house (like nervous poops i guess) & was crying and in so much distraught when he got back. He goes back to the neighbors house since it’s a couple feet away… makes an announcement to everyone that the dog “isn’t doing too good” & says he’s gonna go back home to be with her 🤦‍♀️
My mom was enjoying herself and didn’t want to leave so she told him to just go home but that she was going to stay for the dinner party. He went back home.
Another thing that happened which i feel like is really weird is that i feel like he’s trying to replace the dog with me. I haven’t lived with my parents in years & they live in a whole different state now. When i was a little girl i had this childrens plate that i ate breakfast on. Everyone in the house knew it as my plate. I also had a bowl with my name on the inside of it. Before i moved out of their apartment i left my blanket over there that i would sleep with every night as an adult. I never felt the need to bring it to my bfs house so i just left it there.
The first time i visited them i went in their cabinet while my food was cooking & i saw my child plate and thought it would be funny if i ate on it. I went to put my food on it & my dad screamed at me & said it was the dogs plate that she eats on & that i can’t use it because it’s her plate now. I thought he was joking but he wasn’t. He home cooks every meal for her & also feeds her by hand out the plate.. on both that plate and the bowl with my name on it. My parents have 2 couches. I noticed one of the couch had my blanket on it from their last apartment, & my dog was sitting on that couch. I wanted to sit with her while we watched a movie & so i grabbed the blanket and put it over me. My dad yelled at me & told me that’s her blanket & not to use it. At that point i literally looked at him and said “ it’s a blanket … and it’s a HUGE blanket why can’t i use it ??? she can still lay down with me” Then he was just like okay whatever & my mom also said it wasn’t a big deal …
I went to visit my parents over the weekend and my mom privately expressed to me that she wishes they could just go places without the dog. She said she really doesn’t want to bring the dog out with them every single time they have to run an errand. Sometimes she just wants alone time with my dad without having to worry about it they can bring the dog somewhere or not. I told her that they don’t need to bring the dog everywhere with them. She’ll be fine if they leave her alone, she’s not a puppy anymore. She said she knows this but that my dad doesn’t believe that she will be fine if she’s left home alone. She also feels like he needs the dog to be with him at all time because of HIS anxiety, not the dogs. I feel like my dad is the reason my dog has anxiety because she’s never left alone. & tbh even though physically she would be okay if they left her home alone mentally she prob would freak out since he will never put her in that situation. She’s brought this up to my dad and she said he doesn’t listen. He believes if they can bring the dog everywhere with them that there’s no reason to leave her home alone.
I just feel like something is really wrong mentally with my dad because of all of this. I think his anxiety is definitely a major factor to why he feels this way. But he also doesn’t realize that it’s effecting my mom negatively. I told her that she needs to really tell him this is becoming an issue but i think she’s scared to because he’s been dismissive about it before & gets upset with her when she brings it up. He’s in therapy.. but obviously this is never a topic of conversation that he can heal from because he doesn’t see an issue with it & isn’t going to bring it up to his therapist. If i said something to him i think i would seriously offend him & he would probably say that i have no right to say anything about his relationship with the dog because i don’t live under their roof.
Why is he like this? Do you think he needs the dog or believes the dog needs him? Will he ever change? Will my parents marriage eventually crumble because of this?
TL;DR - My dad has an unhealthy obsession with his dog & it’s starting to effect my mom. He can’t leave the house without her or do anything outdoors with my mom without bringing the dog. He has only left her home alone once in the 6 years they’ve had the dog. He thinks his behavior is normal & I’m trying to figure out why he is this way.

I understand how it came to be a thing in the plant hobby, but if you’re thinking of getting one because everyone keeps harping on about ‘X plant needs humidity’, I would encourage you to research additionally into the concept and principles of transpiration and root rot and understanding that what we’re doing is compensating variables to mimic the environment the plant is adapted to. That means a lot advice in this hobby is most likely parroted advice without understanding and also not suitable for your home either. Humidifiers are one of them.
Tropical plants that are endemic to hot places DO do incredibly well in high humidity and I can see why the thought is there that humidifiers help. But they just work so incredibly inefficiently and raise humidity to such a minuscule amount, it doesn’t benefit your plant while also increasing the risk of fungal infections in your plants, spreading mold from the water tanks, potentially rotting the infrastructure in your home over time, damaging your electronics, and if you have also set up power bars and grow lights near your humidifiers, fire hazards.
Some alternative ways that do raise humidity more effectively:

1. Building a greenhouse to keep humidity thriving plants (with fans to stave off mold, etc.)
   
2. or if you want to keep it out in your home i.e. on a table, you can also create a greenhouse effect around the root zone to compensate with different watering/potting media setups like no drainage (IF you’re confident on taking on the slight learning curve)
   

But also if it’s a plant that absolutely needs high humidity to thrive, and it’s too much for me to keep up with, I personally consider the pros and cons. Humidifiers are a cop out that give more of a headache long term in exchange for the illusion of a solution because we don’t always know what we’re doing

just wanted to share my experience and get some advice or suggestions, open to any especially if someone has also experienced the same thing. Anxiety and stress is genetic throughout my family but just up til about recently I have experienced my first severe panic attack. About a week ago I was having fun feeling relaxed and decided to take a hit of a weed pen that my friend had gotten from a vape store. I usually never smoke weed nor like it because it has always given me an experience of panic and paranoia that i did not enjoy. I then decided to take a few hits and nothing happened and i did not feel it or any effects off of it so i took one more hit of it and after about 20-30 mins i had gotten up out of bed and this big sorta rush feeling came right over me and i instantly freaked out and could feel my heart beating out of my chest. i had to lay down with my face in a blanket just to feel somewhat okay. eventually it had whore off... next day i wake up completely fine then after a few hours i feel that terrible feeling again come up over me and it sorta felt like i was high again so i started freaking out and my heart began to race. I took some benadryl seemed to subside the horrible feelings. next day I woke up with symptoms of depersonalization/derealization. this is what i would say i usually experience while "high" but this was actually the worst I have ever felt. I had to run outside and sit down, i started bawling and my heart felt like it was beating uncontrollably. I looked around and it felt like I was all alone stuck in a dream like I wasn't even real. Since then it has been a couple of days with my symptoms decreasing slowly. every now and then i feel scared and have the fear of the feeling coming back and my heart racing. I do wake up sometimes in the middle of the night with my heart racing with difficulty of breathing. I have mostly been taking benadryl and vitamin D to help. I am trying to stay away from medications. but What seems to be really worrying me is my lack of concentration and control. I always feel drowsy and can't seem to concentrate and have a hard time with remembering things. I think the cause of the anxiety and fear was the cannabis pen. i am just looking for ways to relax my mind, and i am always stuck on the thought if im forever going to feel like this. before this incident i have never experienced things like this before, im not sure if i am only having anxiety because of my experience with the weed or it had actually opened me up to anxiety if that makes sense. only worry now seems to be getting my concentration back and feeling like i am a real person again and enjoying things like how i used to, has anyone else who has smoked experienced this?

Introduction

Hello and welcome to another Minion guide! We have seen some very big changes to our boney boys and I wanted to try and help Necromancers new and old have a deeper understanding moving into Season 4. As a forewarning, I would like to state that I am not an absolute authority on all things Minions nor do I know beyond a reasonable doubt that anything posted in this guide is 100% accurate. However, I will try to be as concise and forthcoming as possible with reliable sources and materials.

Minion Changes

• Skirmisher Upgrade 2: No cooldown on the empowered critical strike or damage.
  • Still not worth using over Reapers.
• Reaper Upgrade 1: Special attacks now reduce an active cooldown by 3 seconds.
• Defenders Upgrade 1: Every 6 seconds your Skeletal Defenders taunt nearby enemies.
  • This made thorns warriors viable!
• Defenders Upgrade 2: Now reduce damage by 99%
  • There isn't really a use case for this unless pits is smoking our army and it shouldn't be.
• Shadow Mages: Attacks now Pierce!
  • Something I have wanted for a long time.
• Shadow Mage Upgrade 1: 3%[x] Universal damage multiplier for every Shadow Mage active.
  • Up to 18%[x] with all 6 total Shadow Mages.
• Shadow Mage Upgrade 2: Now fires on every 3rd attack instead of 4th.
  • Amazing dps increase for a mage focused build.
• Bone Mage Upgrade 1: Bone Mages now cast Bone Splinters or Bone Spear every 6th time they attack.
  • Coupled with extra attack temper and extra projectiles tempers this isn't a bad option and opens up some interesting build paths.
  • Abilities cast by your Bone Mages act as if they were cast by the player.
  • Can trigger Lucky Hit Chance, Deathless Visage, Overpower, etc.
• Blood Golem Upgrade 1: 15% Damage Reduction > 30% Damage Reduction.
  • A massive singular source of DR in a now DR limited world.
• Bone Golem Upgrade 1: Now spawns 5 corpses when using the active.
  • Great synergy for builds that need to activate Flesh Eater.
• Bone Golem Upgrade 2: Every 3 seconds upon taking damage your Bone Golem deals 123.2% x [Weapon Damage] and applies vulnerable to surrounding enemies for 4 seconds.
  • Great if you are vulnerable starved as a thorns necromancer. Not much purpose or use outside of this as Iron Golem is better.
• Iron Golem Upgrade 1: Casts a shockwave dealing 154% x [Weapon Damage] after every 2 attacks.
  • The best Golem choice unless the Blood Golem multiplier is needed to one shot bosses after potential nerfs.
• Iron Golem Upgrade 2: Pulled enemies are now also vulnerable.

Minion Skill Damage

Skeletal Warrior

• Skirmisher: 18.2% "30%[x]"
• Defender: 18.2%
• Reaper: 50.4%
• Warrior Count: 5 - 8

Skeletal Mage

• Shadow: 51.6%
• Cold: 51.6%
• Bone: 78%
• Mage Count: 3 - 6

Golem

• Bone: 76.7% (Passive 123.2%)
• Blood: 76.7% (Active: 140%)
• Iron: 76.7% (Active: 200%) [Upgrade 1: 154%]
• Golem Count: 1

Attack Speed

Cap 1

• Andariel's Visage: 15%[+]
• Aspect of Moonrise: 4-20%[+]
• Assault Elixir: 4-20%[+]
• Artillery Shrine: 100%[+]
• Cult Leader "Puppeteer + Magic Nodes": 10%[+]
• Paragon: 5%[+] "Flesh Eater - Culler"
• Attack Speed (Gear): 11-81%[+] "Lowest to Highest roll from one item"
• Minion Attack Speed (Gear): 20%[+] "Possibly Higher with Greater Affix"
• Kalan's Edict: 3%[+] "Per active minion up to 45%[+]"
• Hulking Monstrosity Paragon: 25%[+]
• Bone Golem Sacrifice: 10%[+]

Cap 2

• Rapid Aspect: 15-30%[+] "Basic Only - Does not help minions."
• Aspect of Rathma's Chosen: 50-100%[+]
• Aspect of Frenzied Dead: 30-45%[+]
• Enhanced Reap: 30%[+]
• Accelerating Aspect: 10-25%[+]

Caps Explained
Attack speed has two seperate caps as of testing in season 3. Cap 1 can go up to 100% and Cap 2 can go up to 100%. This means a player can reach a technical total attack speed limit of 200% hard cap. While we do not as of yet know the attacks per second break points from attack speed we are working to decipher its mysteries. Involving minions, what does this mean for you? Cult Leader is supposed to cap at 100% attack speed or a damage bonus of 150%[x]. During the PTR this was bugged and surpassing the cap allowed for additional damage gains. It is "as of yet" unknown if this will be fixed moving into the start of Season 4. If you are only looking to reach the max damage potential of Cult Leader, stop at 100% from either Cap or a mixture of them both. If you are trying to increase your attacks per second, take each cap to 100% for a total of 200%.

Stat Inheritance

This one is rather easy now. Minions receive 100% of the Necromancers stats! Gone are the bygone days of calculating 30% of a given stat!

Lucky Hit Chance

Minions have no Lucky Hit Chance. Any effect that they do trigger that says it is a Lucky Hit is in fact an "bug?" interaction of that skill or ability procing off of direct damage.

Aspects

Almost all Aspects on gear are working as intended with the exception of a select few. I will try to get confirmation about these and update as new information is available.

• Aspect of the Damned: Not working as of Season 3 / PTR. "Possibly fixed at season start."
• Conceited Aspect: Not working as of Season 3 / PTR. "Probably Intended, Minions don't get barriers"
• Aspect of Grasping Veins: Critical Chance working, Critical Strike Damage not working. "Possibly fixed at season start."
• Edgemaster's Aspect: Not working as of Season 3 / PTR. "Probably Intended"

Skills / Paragon / Glyphs

Some skills, paragon, and glyphs are less useful now that our Minions gain 100% of our stats. Season 4 testing is required to determine base values for Armor, Resistance, and Base Life values of each minion type. So far it is only known that each minion has its own separate base life value. "Tested by Seetod and Bactyrael hitting each other's minions for a long time." With this in mind, you may or may not need the added bonuses from the following. (See Bone Golem Note Thorns Users!)

• Skill - Death's Defense: 4-12%[+] Armor and 8-24%[+] All Resistance to Minions. "With the new Armor cap of 9230 and resistances usually being over capped, this seems worthless for us now." (See Bone Golem Note!)
• Glyph - Mage: 35%[+] All Resistance to Minions. "184%[+] Mage damage is worth it in some contexts over another multiplier."
• Glyph - Warrior: 30%[+] Armor to Minions. "Basically never worth taking in any context" (See Bone Golem Note!)
• Paragon Nodes- Minion Armor: Requires testing but it is assumed Minions will receive the new cap of 9230 and no long need these paragon nodes. (See Bone Golem Note!)
• Paragon Nodes - Minion All Resistance: Requires testing but it is assumed Minions will receive our Resistances at 100% value and as such be capped.

Damage, Attack Speed, Maximum Life, and Damage Reduction all seem like worthwhile investments and will most likely be required to push into higher levels of the Pit. A lot of this section is unknown territory and in an attempt to not steer you down the wrong path, I would suggest testing your own mileage from these investments. I will do my best to update this segment as new information becomes available.

Suggestions / Notes / Opinions

• Bone "Thorns from Armor" Golem: Armor increases from Death's Defense, Paragon, and Glyphs, (with the Exception of Total Armor%[+] while golem is active from Hulking Monstrosity) all seem to increase the Armor and in effect thorns that the bone golem receives. Further testing is required when Season 4 launches to confirm this.
• Minions Inherit Thorns: Whether we are taking the generic, warriors, mages, or golem temper from the Thorns Army temper manual. It is assumed but not yet confirmed that this is an additive bucket that increases the total thorns from the player to Minion/s. I did not get the manual during the PTR to test so I will update this section if needed when S4 begins. Thorns the Golem gains from Armor should be separate from the value this bonus gives.
• Kalan's Edict: As you can see from the Attack Speed segment, It is almost never in our best interest to take this Keystone. Blighted Aspect along with Gloom, Terror, Shadowblight, and Apothic Aspect are all net damage boons to almost every Minion build. I personally believe it should be changed to provide unique functionality such as a Mendeln type effect or act as an actual keystone instead of a stat stick. My Suggestion "easy solution" to the developers would be to make this give 7%[+] Attack Speed per active minion for a total of 105%[+] at 15 minions which is the most we are able to have out at one time. This would allow us to ignore attack speed rolls on gear and max out Cap 1 at 100% from our army.
• Aspect of Frenzied Dead: Great aspect, super nice being able to buff up Cap 2. Please make it 50%[+] instead of 45%[+]. You have made it so we can't reach the 100% cap 2 breakpoint by 10% while using a two hander and stop us from reaching 100% by putting this aspect on an amulet for 70%[+] and Enhanced Reap for the remaining 30%[+]. Overall this is really a quality of life change I would like to see addressed. Outside of this we are required to fill that remaining 2-10%[+] with Accelerating Aspect or Rathma's Chosen. Which is a serious over investment in stats.
• Unyielding Commander's Aspect: It is getting harder and harder to justify taking AotD or this aspect. Minions are incredibly resilient with 100% of our stats and there are plenty of instances where bone storm provides more value. I think it isn't as much a fault with this Aspect as with Army of the Dead being the worst ultimate for our class and one of the worst in the game.
• Skirmishers: They don't really have a place in a build path for us as of right now. Perhaps a crit variant will come along that competes with reapers far superior skill damage and utility? They are currently good to stack Kalan's or would be good in a Shadowblight Minion hybrid build if reapers didn't trigger more procs with their AOE and special attacks. My suggestion to the developers is to simply increase their base skill damage to either be equal to Reapers at 50% or greater than this. They should also have access to Area of Effect damage. Minions can not focus fire a target, so it feels redundant to willing choose a single target only variation when AoE choices exist.
• Bone Mages: The novelty of them killing themselves has been lost on me after a beta and 3 seasons. And because Bone Spear / Splinters deals substantially less damage than Shadow Mages, they are an inferior option. We will have to see how the meta evolves over time. Currently I wish they would remove the Emo factor.
• Ring of Mendeln: There just isn't a feasible way to scale this super well. With mages and even warriors able to hit higher numbers, it will take a serious nerf to bring this back up as a viable option.
• Deathspeaker's Pendant: Blood in general is in a bad place this season. I probably wouldn't use this but it is one of our most creative uniques. Haven't seen the damage potential but I think other amulet options or stats on an amulet will replace the want to run this. I think this should be turned into a unique focus so that it can pair well with running doombringer. And we won't be fighting between banished lord's and this.
• Mage Glyph: The Mage Glyph is now not worth taking over any other multiplier with additive damage attached such as the Amplify or Control Glyph. Previously it was one of the only ways to get additive damage for our mages at 100% value besides vulnerable damage. Now that we have 100% scaling, it is an inferior option. Once again I suggest taking the Amplify or Control Glyph for Additive Damage%[+] and a 10%[x] multiplier over this glyph. I would also like to note that minions are now resistance capped at the same time we are, we do not need the 35%[+] Minion All Resistance from the Glyph. My suggestion to the development team would be to change the bonus to a multiplier such as was done with the Golem Glyph.
• Warrior Glyph: Just like the Mage Glyph the Warrior Glyph is in the same boat of providing too little stats for too little pay off in comparison to the Essence or Exploit glyph. And just as before we no longer need the 30%[+] Minion Armor. My suggestion to the development team would be to change the bonus to a multiplier such as was done with the Golem Glyph.

Builds

Minion Leveling (1 - 100) - Seetod

• https://maxroll.gg/d4/plannema6ms0xb#1

Shadow Summoner (Endgame) - Seetod

• https://maxroll.gg/d4/plannet46pg0wv#5

Thorn Golem (Endgame) - Bactyrael

• https://maxroll.gg/d4/planne89930wc4#1
• After each Taunt, use Corpse Tendril and Corpse Explosion to enable multipliers.

Credits / Special Thanks

• GMS Seetod: Skill Damage, Aspects, Attack Speed Caps, Bug Finding, Putting up with me.
• GMS Team: A group of awesome players who are helping make Diablo 4 as great of an ARPG as we want it to become!
• MacroBioBoi: Shout out to our Boi for all of his hard work and communication with the development team. A lot of what we do would mean nothing without a voice and awareness. Thank you!
• Sanctuary Discord: A lot of awesome people who challenge us to find and improve our metrics of testing and approach issues from a new light.
• Bactyrael: Hey that's me! Thank you for reading this far.

Conclusion

If you would like to have your build added to the Builds section or have a specific build you want to see, please DM me. If you have any questions regarding Minions, I will try to do my best to address it. Happy hunting and good luck in Season 4!