Yellow puss crust red bump scalp

The garage door shut with a groan behind us, closing us in the gloom of the single bulb hanging over the car.
Mother took a drag off her cigarette and sighed as she exhaled, the smoke filled the cabin of the Ford and stung my eyes.
“You really disappointed me today, Julianne," she tapped her cigarette in the ashtray below the dash, "you embarrassed me in front of the other mothers at the Ice Cream Social, shoveling down seconds and thirds like a pig. I thought I raised you better than that.”
She took another drag, daintily holding the cigarette between her perfectly manicured fingers.
“I'm going to have to tell your brother about this," she continued, “he'll have to come up with a punishment fit for a pig."
I felt my stomach drop. My kid brother, Thomas, was only six, but could be exceptionally cruel. Mother seemed to encourage him and was deferring to him more and more frequently for how the house was run, especially concerning my upbringing.
"Mother, please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'm sorry I was a pig and ate so much ice cream. I promise I won't do it again, I'll never eat any ice cream again," I was pleading with stone, unyielding.
“Hush your mouth. Go to your room and wait for Thomas," she put out the cigarette and got out of the car, I had no choice but to follow.
It felt like walking to the gallows as I stepped inside the house and headed towards the stairs to go to my room. Thomas had grown fond recently of physical punishment, he obviously delighted in Mother whipping me with a belt or, recently, Mother had allowed him to start beating me with a wooden spoon. He would squeal and giggle like a normal child watching bubbles in the wind while I screamed. I was dreading whatever was going to happen tonight, I chastised myself for eating that ice cream, I should have known she would show up. My sins were always laid bare.
Down the hall, I could hear Thomas watching television in the den. I only got to watch TV for half an hour on Saturday morning and new episodes of Happy Days with Mother and Thomas. Thomas got to watch all the TV he wanted. He could listen to the radio and turntable as much as he wanted, as loud as he wanted. Thomas had an entire room just for his toys.
I entered my bedroom, it was a space I occupied, but it didn't feel like mine. Mother kept it spartan, white walls and white bedspread. A crucifix over the bed and a painting of Jesus over the door. I had my desk and chair and a dresser with some of the porcelain dolls Daddy gave me before he died that Mother let me keep. That was it.
I placed my book bag down and sat on my bed, waiting for Thomas. It was a while, sitting there with nothing but my own thoughts and staring at the open door. I felt humiliated, I was almost thirteen and my entire life was dictated by my brother. Mother kept the house in constant lockdown to keep Thomas a secret. No outsiders were allowed in. I couldn't have friends because she was afraid I would mention him or sneak a friend in to gawk at my brother and tease him for being different.
I would never make fun of him, I was terrified of him. Terrified of what he was and what he was becoming.
Eventually I heard his heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and I felt my heart start beating faster and my palms began to sweat. I kneaded my skirt in my hands, trying to calm myself and dry my palms. His slow arrhythmic footsteps came down the hall and I watched him as he entered the room.
I couldn't help but internally recoil at his appearance, even though I'd known him since he was born, I could never adjust to how unnatural he appeared. Thomas had been born at home and had never seen a doctor, but he was obviously unwell.
He was six years old and was barely over two feet tall, but very squat and wide. His skin was thick and gray, the whites of his beady eyes were yellow and his hair was wispy and white like an old man's, spreading out like a halo around his gargoyle face. A slight odor of decomposition hung about him, it reminded me faintly of garbage cans on a hot summer day. I hated when Mother made me help him with a bath, his skin felt like old brittle leather that flaked onto my clothes in gray flecks. His body was dense like concrete, I could barely lift him into the tub. Picking him up forced his hair into my face where that smell of rot would fill my nose, causing me to gag, silently, so as not to offend him and draw any ire from him or Mother.
Today, Thomas was wearing bib overalls with a red and green striped sweater underneath, reminding me of a grotesque doll.
“Mama says you acted like a piggy today at the ice cream social,” he spoke up to me in his unsettlingly high pitched, yet raspy voice, like a child that smoked as much as Mother, "you need to come down for dinner right now for your punishment for embarrassing Mama."
He turned and walked back down the stairs and I had no choice but to follow his toddling form downstairs to the dining table. We entered the kitchen and the table was placed with two settings. Mother was already seated and Thomas clambered up into his booster seat at his normal spot next to Mother. She took a drag off her cigarette and motioned vaguely to the floor without even looking at me.
Neatly situated on the linoleum was my dinner, not on a plate, but directly on the floor. A pork chop, scoop of mashed potatoes, and a small pile of peas. No utensils, either.
Thomas giggled with glee upon seeing my face.
“You have Mama's permission now to eat like a piggy, now. No hands! Piggies just use their face!” He stood up in his chair and reached out for Mother’s ash tray and flung it out over my meal, peppering my dinner with cigarette ash and butts.
"Oops! Piggies don't mind trash though, do they, Mama?” he giggled and the sound filled me with rage.
"No, they don't,” Mother replied coolly while maneuvering her ashtray back in place and carefully putting out her cigarette before saying prayer.
As angry as I was, I got down on my hands and knees and did my best at eating what I could without using my hands. I knew if I refused, it would be far worse. The whole meal, Thomas made pig noises and would reach down and poke me with his fork, making comments about what a fat piggy I was and how he wished he could roast and eat me. I doubted Mother would even object if he actually did kill me and eat me.
Gagging my way through another bite of ashy pork chop, I felt a warm splat over my head and heard Thomas giggling. I reached up and felt he had dumped mashed potatoes into my hair.
Choking down tears, I asked Mother if I could clean the floor and bathe. She rolled her eyes and excused me to clear the table for them as well while she changed Thomas into his pajamas. Picking him up, she walked out of the room and Thomas stuck his putrid little purple tongue out at me before they made it out the kitchen door.
I silently cried while I cleared the table and washed the dinner dishes. Tears splashed down as I mopped up the mess from my food on the floor. I hated how awful Thomas was. I hated how they treated me. Ever since Daddy died and Thomas showed up, I was their punching bag. I missed Daddy so much.
Mother was kinder then, too. She was still severe, but Dad kept her tempered. After he died, there was a change that came over her. I was only six, so I didn't remember her too much from before, but I did remember her gushing on and on when she was pregnant with Thomas. How the baby was a gift from Our Heavenly Father, that it was going to complete our broken family.
My sixth birthday happened right after Daddy died and I remember sitting on the patio crying while the house was full of people after the funeral, normally he would have gotten me a new doll and a chocolate bar, instead I was forgotten. No doll. No chocolate. Just funeral potatoes and a house full of cigarette smoke from the adults.
Nobody remembered. The closest thing I got was my dad's sister, Aunt Judy, sitting next to me on the patio step for a few minutes of comfortable silence before giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. I don't think she knew her brother was memorialized on my birthday. Next year, Thomas was born the day before my birthday, so it was completely eclipsed as Mother had just birthed her new love into the world…
I stopped mid mop as a lightbulb finally went off. I had never put much thought into the dates before.
Thomas was born a full year after Daddy died. He couldn't be his dad. Who was Thomas’ actual father?
Washing mashed potatoes out of my hair that evening, I ran over and over the timeline. No matter how I parsed it out, Thomas was only my half brother. Going to bed that night, I kept myself awake, going over and over again to make sure. I couldn't remember any men being around at that time, but that didn't mean much. Adults can easily hide things from children. Tension began throbbing through my head and I felt queasy. Mother had always known all of my secrets, able to sniff them out like a bloodhound out or using Thomas to spy. Now I had one of Mother's secrets and I didn't know what to do with it.
First I wanted to confirm it, but it would mean snooping, which was difficult in a house that was rarely left empty. I would have to try finding Mother's calendar book or journal to see if she mentioned any dates or men.
But when could I attempt such a daring maneuver? Thomas hardly left the house. As proud as Mother was of him, she was very cognizant and protective of his differences and didn't want to draw attention to herself or Thomas like that. Mother herself had few social engagements throughout the week and mostly stayed home to watch her golden child.
I finally decided I would take the risk and fake sick on Tuesday, grocery day, so I could stay home from school while she went shopping. All Thomas did all day was watch TV downstairs, so that should give me about an hour to look through her room for clues. I decided to tuck my head down, try to behave as best as I could to avoid their wrath, and wait for Tuesday.
That weekend limped along agonizingly slow. Thomas was in a fine mood and was constantly seeking out a reason to poke me, punch me, slap me… he'd laugh while calling me a piggy with his off-putting wide mouth. I tried to mostly stay in my room and it seemed like neither of them cared.
School on Monday was a relief, but my anxiety ramped up. The consequences would be dire if Mother caught on that I was faking sick to stay home. I didn't even want to imagine how off the leash she'd let my half-brother become in his punishment for that level of insubordination.
I stayed up all night, my stomach was in knots, but I was committed to my plan. Throughout the night, I screamed as hard as I could into my pillow. Screamed until my throat was raw and I could barely talk. It felt cathartic in a way. When it was close to school time, I put on my heaviest flannel pajamas and began doing jumping jacks until my face was flushed and my scalp was soaked with sweat.
Looking in the bathroom mirror before heading down to talk to Mother, I thought I looked pretty convincing, my skin was flushed and sweaty, my eyes had circles under them from lack of sleep, and my voice croaked like a frog.
Heading downstairs, Mother was already feeding Thomas breakfast. I hesitantly stepped into the kitchen and stood there awkwardly for a second, pawing with my pajamas to keep my nerves steady until she noticed my presence and looked up.
“Why aren't you dressed, Julianne?"
"I don't feel well. My throat hurts and my tummy hurts.” My voice graveled out more than I was expecting, I really had hurt my throat.
She strode over to me and placed a cool hand on my sweaty brow.
"You do feel warm. Take an aspirin from the medicine cabinet and go lay back down. I'll check on you later," with that she turned back and walked over to Thomas, who was frozen in place, glaring at me over a forkful of scrambled eggs. The sharp glint of malice in his beady eyes made me shiver before I shuffled out of the kitchen.
I laid in bed, trying my best to look miserable until I eventually heard the faint sound of the television playing in the den as Thomas settled in for his normal daytime routine and the garage door opened as Mother headed to the grocery store. I bounded out of bed and watched the car back out of our driveway and head up the street.
My heart began to pound as I tiptoed down the hall to Mother's bedroom, a place I rarely even caught a glimpse of, let alone entered. I very slowly opened the door, taking great care to not make any noise to alert Thomas downstairs that I was out of bed.
Creeping into the butter yellow room, I could feel my heartbeat pounding in my skull, this was the naughtiest thing I had ever done by far. I stepped onto the rug to help disguise my footsteps and slowly made my way past the brass bed and towards her desk. My hands shook as I opened the top drawer, I pawed through rapidly and found nothing. I checked the next drawer down and again found nothing of interest, just stationary and envelopes.
Finally, the bottom drawer was what I was looking for, a stack of journals from the past decade. I flipped through, trying to find entries relevant to when Daddy died and who Mother slept with afterwards.
I've never fully recovered from what I read.
July 6, 1968
Edgar died today. Car accident. I cannot believe this is real. My light, my life, my anchor... Dr. Benson gave me a sedative at the hospital and I feel so tired. So very, very tired. Why has my Lord forsaken me so?
July 9, 1968
I feel like I am in a very bad dream, I feel numb and disconnected. All the consolation and pity from everyone makes me feel sick. After the memorial, it took everything in me to not break dishes and to scream at everyone to get out of my house. Julianne was moping about crying and I wanted to throw her out, too.
If I hadn't seen my dear Edgar's body in the hospital and held his urn in my own hands, I wouldn't believe he was really gone. I still don't entirely believe it.
I have prayed to God every night asking him to show me why he took my husband from me and I have gotten no answer.
I skimmed over the next few months, as it was more or less similar sentiments repeated night after night. I finally got to an entry that caught my eye.
September 17, 1968
My battle with my faith has been fraught the past few months, but Hallelujah! I feel I can see the Lord again in all his glory and might, for he has given me a way to reconnect to my Edgar!
I was thinking about the night Julianne was born, right in this very home, it was a difficult birth and she struggled to breathe at first. Ingrid, my midwife, made a comment to me that if the baby had failed to wake up on her own, that Ingrid had ways to make sure she would have made it.
I remember asking if it was a medical methodology and she made it clear to me that in certain circumstances, it was a mystical property she used to bring the air of life into a struggling baby's lungs. She gently alluded to being a practicing member of the dark arts. At the time, I felt quite scandalized to have someone like that in my God fearing home. Now I see her as the answer to my prayers! My angel!
On a whim, I called her and asked if she still practiced such techniques. She hesitantly confirmed that she did. I asked, if she could turn breath into the lungs of a child without, could she turn breath into a child that did not exist? Could she magick into existence another child of my beloved Edgar? She told me she had to do some research and she'd be back in touch.
Ingrid just called back after a few hours and said there was a spell she found, but it was dangerous and might have unpleasant results. I said, yes, of course! I trust my Lord and I believe he sent this woman of blessed magick to me for this purpose.
She says we will have to do it soon, in a few days during the new moon. She has a potion to brew, but it is happening! Praise God!
September 23, 1968
The ceremony was last night, and Ingrid believes it was a success, but we will have to wait. It did not take long, only an hour or two. Ingrid lit my bedroom with many beeswax candles and she had me drink a thick and bitter tea that caused me to become quite relaxed and foggy.
From my inner thigh, she cut me and collected my blood in a chalice, with which she mixed quite a lot of Edgar's ashes and other ingredients which I could not glean from my supine position and groggy wits. Ingrid began to chant, calling upon a higher power, as I pleaded with my Lord to let this work. To give me any piece of my Edgar back. She came to the bed and worked the paste between my legs into my womanly chamber, which was very uncomfortable, but manageable with the numbing effects of the tea.
She continued to sit with me and chant, her hand placed over my womb, until she decided at which time it was complete. She left and I fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up this morning, I felt quite uncomfortable, my body ached and when I used the restroom, a yellow fluid like pus poured out of me, but no sign of any ashes or blood, which gives me hope it was absorbed into my womb.
November 3, 1968
Praise be to our Lord, Ingrid just confirmed for me that I am with child, I had been hoping so, I had not gotten my cycle in October, but I wasn't sure if that was because of the discharge like pus that was still coming. She told me that was common with this spell and a side effect that would stop after the baby came.
I feel like I am floating on air, for the first time since Edgar left, I feel-
I suddenly became very aware of the feeling of eyes on the back of my head. I had become too engrossed in what was written before me and I had lost track of my surroundings. Very slowly, I turned around and my heart began pounding again as I saw Thomas standing in the doorway holding his wooden spoon in one hand. How had I not heard him?
He pointed at me with his empty hand and screamed, just a pure guttural screech from somewhere deep inside his disgusting little body. He charged at me from across the room, his horrible feet thumping solidly along the rug. He began beating my legs ruthlessly with the spoon, causing my legs to buckle. I crashed down to my knees in front of him, and he began lashing at my face, pulling my hair with one hand while wailing away at my head with the spoon.
I had dropped the journal I was holding and was desperately trying to get a hand on the spoon or push him away. All I could hear was him screaming. My arms flailed and I reached around on Mother's desk and grabbed onto the first thing I found and sank it into Thomas’ neck.
The end of Mother's gold letter opener protruded under his jaw. He went silent and he looked at me with utter shock. He dropped the spoon and collapsed on the ground, clutching at his neck as his thick black blood oozed out from his wound, letting out a stupendous odor of rot that filled the room. He didn't really say anything or make any noise. He just twitched for a moment and I saw his eyes glaze over.
In shock, I stood over his little body for a moment and I watched as he seemed to mummify in just a few minutes, like an ash person from Pompeii dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. Even his blood that looked like shiny oil a second ago became like potting soil on Mother's rug. Reaching out to touch his hand, it crumbled away like sand.
Panic ran through me like a rabbit caught in a snare. Not knowing what to do, I ran. I ran down the hall, changed my clothes, put an extra change of clothes in my backpack and the last doll Daddy had ever given me and I ran. Mother would absolutely never forgive me and I was genuinely afraid she would kill me in retaliation for taking her beloved Thomas away from her. Her precious gift from God. My feet flew over the pavement and took me away from that house.
I called my Aunt Judy from a payphone outside the five & dime, and told her Mother had kicked me out and asked if I could stay with her. She had always had a strained relationship with my mother and it didn't take much convincing that she had kicked out her “only” child. Only Mother, Ingrid, and I ever knew about Thomas.
She gave me a home and took care of me. She never beat me or humiliated me. Even with her love, I was far from okay. For years I would close my eyes and hear Thomas scream, then the sudden silence. I'd see him fumbling at his neck and turning to ash. But I would also remember all the ways he would hurt me and how bad he was becoming. I could never talk to anyone about it, especially not the silent relief I felt I refused to admit to myself. Over time, however, Thomas' screams became a whisper and his silence faded into dust in my mind.
I moved on with my life. I went to college and became a photojournalist, getting to travel the world and watch history unfold. By choice, I never married, but was quite blessed with many beautiful friendships for companionship over the decades. I found balance in my life and a sense of happiness, if not peace. I never could quite stomach mashed potatoes again, though, they always taste ashy to me.
Mother never made any attempts to reach out to me or find me, at least that I'm aware of. Ten years ago, I was contacted by a hospital and they said my mother had been admitted earlier after falling and was about to pass, so she must have kept some tabs on me to know my phone number for her emergency contacts. Apparently she had collapsed in the driveway and a neighbor called an ambulance. I got there and her only words to me were, “take care of him," as she placed a locket in my hand. I opened the locket, Jesus was on one side, Thomas on the other. I didn't say anything to her, just held her frail old hand with nicotine stained nails until she passed in the night. My mother was gone and I felt nothing except a vague sense of relief.
When I got to her house, it was like a time capsule. Other than a newer television, it was just like it was when I'd fled so many years ago. The smell of tobacco smoke hung like incense in the air. It felt oppressive, like a tomb.
I wandered the house in a bit of a daze. The one place I didn't want to go was upstairs. I didn't want to see my old room, or Thomas' room, or Mother's. Putting it off, I went to fix myself some supper, realizing I hadn't eaten in almost a day. I took a pause when I opened the fridge and saw a baby bottle on a shelf. Silently praying she had been babysitting for a neighbor, I fixed myself some toast with sardines and sat eating in the den watching TV. It had been almost forty years and it still felt rebellious not eating at the table and watching TV without permission.
My eyes grew heavy and I finally mustered up the gumption to head upstairs to go to bed. The stairs creaked in a familiar way under my feet and I was taken back to the feeling of dread hearing either Mother or Thomas climbing up. My old room was at the top of the stairs, I saw the door was nailed shut and had rambling quotes about Judas copied from the Bible in my mother's handwriting taped to the door. I sighed gently and turned from the door to head down the hallway, deciding Mother's room was probably the best place to sleep.
I passed by Thomas’ toy room and I heard a murmur from the room. I stopped, curiosity got the best of me and I entered. In Thomas' old toy room was a crib with joyful clown sheets. Dread swelled up inside me as I heard more murmurs and saw the sheets move. Approaching slowly, I peaked under the sheet and gasped.
Tucked inside was what looked like a baby gargoyle, gray and papery looking. Pus leaked out of its milky, bulbous eyes. I pulled back the blanket and saw it had no legs and its arms bent back, like wings on a bird. It was wearing just a cloth diaper, overflowing with tarry looking stool that took my breath away with its pungency, it smelled like Thomas’ blood, but somehow worse. My heart broke for this poor creature, Lord only knows how many years it has been in this crib suffering from its unholy existence.
So this is who Mother had wanted me to take care of…
Not knowing what else to do, I gently scooped him up. Like Thomas, he was shockingly heavy for how small his body was. Placing him on the changing table, I cleaned him and rewrapped his bottom in a clean diaper cloth. It was difficult, he fussed tremendously, crying and flopping around as much as his flipper-like arms would allow. I tried wiping off his oozing eyes and he snapped his mouth, which I saw was full of disturbingly square yellow teeth, trying to bite me. I carried him to the kitchen and rocked him while I heated up his bottle and he became furious with me, almost barking like a dog when my hand would get near his face.
He settled a bit as he fed, but he would still sometimes suddenly spit out the bottle and attempt to bite me. I laid him back in his crib, this abomination in a clown sheet, and I walked down the hall to Mother's room letting out a long sigh.
Combing through my mother's journals in the early hours of the morning, it looked like she tried the ceremony again shortly after Thomas died, but she either lacked Ingrid’s help or didn't have enough of my father's ashes left. Something went terribly wrong. She was vaguer than she had been about Thomas’ conception, but I suspect she had used some of Thomas' remains. The resulting birth she named Isaac.
Mother's journals told a sad tale of her and Isaac's suffering. She never mentioned me, but lamented the loss of Thomas and Dad relentlessly. She was hyper protective of Isaac, as that was all she had left. If her world had been small before, it became microscopic after he entered her life, requiring nearly constant care. According to Mother, he was blind and colicky, sometimes going years at a time without sleeping through the night. She had breast fed him for years, but she had to stop after he grew teeth and began biting her intentionally and feeding on her blood.
I spent a lot of time over the next few days pondering what to do. I had to get her estate in order, she had left me the house, in an obvious attempt to get me to continue caretaking for Isaac, but I didn't want it. I had my own cozy home an hour away from here, filled with happy memories and my possessions acquired traveling the world. Mother's home had a heavy energy I couldn't shake. Her and Thomas were both gone, but the memories of the scoldings and beatings hung in every corner, like cobwebs that would never sweep away.
So, I fed Isaac and kept him clean and tried to keep him company, although he seemed to hate me passionately. I took care of him, all the while thinking about what I was going to do. After a week, I felt resolute in what had to be done.
Gathering up all of Mother's journals in a tote, I made my way to Isaac and picked him up and carried everything to the living room.
The ancient logs in the fireplace meant for display ignited instantly. One by one, I fed the journals into the fire, burning away years of my mother's consuming sorrow. Isaac fussed and moaned next to me the entire time. When the last pages shimmered away into lacy ash, I took a throw pillow off the couch and gently cradled Isaac in my other arm. It didn't take long before he stopped struggling and I felt his little body relax after decades of suffering.
I gently wrapped up a bundle in a clown sheet and placed it in the fire. It burned furiously, like the paper in my mother's journals, and was soon gone. Nothing but ashes and embers.
“Don't worry, Mother,” I said purely for my own sake, "I took care of Isaac for you."
And finally, I felt at peace.

I noticed a slight bump on my gum last night but tonight it has exploded in pain, yellow and red. I started having a panic attack because I’m scared of dying from a tooth infection. The abscess is above a tooth I had a root canal on last month. Do I go to the ER? Wait until morning? Can I die from this?

This doesn’t go for everyone or anyone but for some reason I went to a party where I drank a shit ton got smashed and had a few bumps of ketamine and the next day for some unknown reason I was seb derm free there was no irritation no redness and my scalp was clear. But then after another 5 days that went by it came back but it wasn’t as bad.

41F, 6'2", 185 lb. History of plaque psoriasis mainly on scalp, but also had it on my ears, eyelids, wrist and finger. Also B12 deficiency and have been low on vitamin D a few times in the past. Taking hydroxocobalamin shots for the B12. No other medication. Generally healthy otherwise.
(Just adding the following part since i think it could be connected but it might just be coincidental.) When I was about 6 I had a bad case of strep, and about a week later my back burst out in hundreds of itchy, crusty bumps. Docs were stumped so I never got diagnosed, it went away on it's own after a while. (Thinking back i am wondering if that was Guttate Psoriasis.) Shortly after that 2 fingers got red and painful and blew up like balloons. (thinking possibly PsA) Docs were still stumped so no diagnosis. This went away on its own too. No other issues for years, until the scalp psoriasis started at 36.
Anyway, about 3 weeks ago I had a sore throat. Nothing bad so I didn't go see a doc. I did test for Covid 3 times but was negative on all. Last week I got a spot on my stomach that I figured was psoriasis. It was small so no big deal, it happens. Now since the last 3 days I am starting to get more spots and am wondering if this might be Guttate Psoriasis. They are on my stomach, sides and breasts. I also have a few bumps on my arm but they are still very small so those might be something else.
Thoughts? I will add a picture in the comments. Thank you for your time!

Ahoy Hoy,
More new stuff, well below Discogs. Still digging through a large buy and trying to make some floor space. Bunch of random test pressings that have yet to hit Discogs in this bunch. Included pics of those where appropriate.
Everything ships from Boston and is a flat $5 to CONUS no matter how much you order. All vinyl is visually graded (media/sleeve) unless otherwise noted. Next mail run happens Tuesday, May 14th. If you're interested in anything, please contact me via CHAT ONLY, please. No rainchecks, holds, etc.
Bad Brains I Against I (VG+/VG+) A faint paper scuff but nothing that affects play. $30
Syd Barrett Barrett (2014 Reissue) (VG+/VG+) Vinyl and sleeve are very clean. $21
Syd Barrett Madcap Laughs (2014 Reissue) (VG+/VG+) Grading the vinyl conservatively. It's very clean. Sleeve is sharp but there's a small (half-inch) seam split developing on the top. $19
David Bowie David Bowie (40th Anniversary Edition) (VG+/VG+) Vinyl is very clean. Jacket has minimal shelfwear. $18
British Sea Power Open Season (2LP, 15th Anniversary Edition) (NM/VG+) Vinyl is near pristine. Jacket is sharp. Bottom of sleeve has some light shelfwear. #1160. $35
Czarface Dog Days Of Tomorrow (Comic w/7") (NM/VG+) Vinyl is very near pristine. Stored in the original poly bag. Comic has a small corner bump on the bottom right. $40
Czarface Double Dose Of Danger (Yellow, Test Pressing) (VG+/VG+) So, this is a test-pressing of a yellow-vinyl version of Double Dose Of Danger that, if memory serves, never actually ended up coming out (think there were QC issues). I haven't listened to it all the way through, so there may very well be issues but it's a unique piece. Pics here. $150
Dinosaur Jr. You're Living All Over Me (Green) (VG+/VG+) Vinyl is very clean with perhaps a faint cosmetic paper scuff from the inner. Sleeve has minimal shelfwear. $40
Kenny Dorham Afro-Cuban (2014 Reissue) (VG+/VG+) Vinyl is very clean. Jacket has a seam split developing on the top and a dinged bottom corner. $14
Father John Misty Play Me (Promo Flexi) (NM/Generic) Unplayed copy with minimal shelfwear. $20
Marvin Gaye What's Going On (Yellow) (VG+/VG+) So, the playing surface is near pristine and could be graded NM. The edge of the platter, however, has one uneven and wavy spot. It doesn't affect play and is purely cosmetic. $25
Ghost Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic (Flexi Picture Disc) (VG+/No Cover) Flexi is very clean. $8
Goldfrapp Felt Mountain (Gold) (VG+/VG+) Grading conservatively. Vinyl is very clean and jacket is stored in shrink. $16
Howlin' Wolf Message To The Young (VG+/VG+) Perhaps a faint paper scuff from the inner that doesn't affect play. Jacket is sharp. $20
Mason Jennings Mason Jennings (M/VG+) Factory-sealed copy. It looks like this one has a very small (max half an inch) seam split on the top spine. $10
Mason Jennings Use Your Voice (M/VG+) Factory-sealed copy. Small seam split developing across top spine. $10
**Take both Mason Jennings for $20 shipped.*\*
Jesus & Mary Chain Psychocandy (Red & Black) (VG+/VG+) A couple of faint cosmetic paperscuffs from the inner but nothing that affects play. $30
Joy Division Closer (180G, 2007 Reissue) (VG+/VG+) Grading conservatively. Vinyl is very clean and jacket has minimal shelfwear. $15
Peter Laughner Peter Laughner (4LP Box) (M/VG+) Factory-sealed copy. It's possible that this is the set including the 7" (no way to tell from the exterior) but it is most likely this version without the bonus 7"). Box has minimal shelfwear. $65
Augustus Pablo King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown (Lavender) (VG+/VG+) Grading conservatively. Vinyl has been played once (original owner) and the sleeve is very clean with just a tiny corner ding on the bottom left. This version actually sounds pretty okay but I just happened into a beautiful early press, so this one is up for grabs. $18
Rolling Stones Beggar's Banquet (Anniversary Edition, 2LP w/Flexi) (VG+/VG+) Vinyl has a few faint paper scuffs but they're cosmetic and don't affect play. Outer slip sleeve has a bit of corner dinging. $21
Rolling Stones Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass) (RSD Reissue) (M/NM) Factory-sealed copy. $20
Rolling Stones Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (RSD Reissue) (VG+/VG+) Grading conservatively. Vinyl is closer to NM and sleeve is sharp. Includes original poly bag with hype stickers (and residue from a sticker that used to sit on the bag over the barcode). $15
Secret Sisters Mind, Man, Medicine (Test Pressing) (VG+/Generic) Pic here. $30
Ty Segall Emotional Mugger (VG+/VG+) A couple of faint paper scuffs but nothing that affects play. Sleeve is very clean. $12
Ty Segall First Taste (VG+/VG+) Vinyl is very clean save for a faint cosmetic paper scuff that doesn't affect play. Grading the sleeve conservatively but there's a bit of wear along the bottom spine, a little ding near the bottom of the right front flap, and a thin line/scuff running from top to bottom of the front cover to the left of the flap. $8
**Take both Ty Segall for $20 shipped.*\*
Sylvan Esso No Rules Sandy (Test Pressing) (VG+/Generic) Pic here. $30
Traffic Heaven Is In Your Mind (VG+/VG+) A paper scuff but nothing that affects play. Sleeve is sharp with just a small crease near the bottom spine. $20
Various Turkish Freakout 2 (Psych-Folk 1970-1978) w/7" (VG+/VG+) The vinyl is very clean (7" included). The jacket is largely sharp but there are a couple of small corner dings (bottom right has the worst of it and it's a small crumple on the edge). $40
Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground & Nico (Yellow & Black Split) (VG+/VG+) Vinyl is very clean. Jacket is stored in the original poly with hype sticker. Looks like there's a bit of ringwear developing on the back of the sleeve. $55
Yo La Tengo This Stupid World (Test Pressing) (NM/Generic) Unplayed test pressing of YLT's last one. Pics here. $40
Thom Yorke Anima (Orange) (VG+/VG+) Grading conservatively. Vinyl and sleeve are closer to NM. $25

Hello!
38F, 166cm, occassional smoker, social drinker once in a while, PCOS, Hypothyroidism, depression/anxiety. Taking metformin, spironolactone, euthyrox and cipralex.
2-3 times a year I will get a little bump on my lip, like a blister. It will just appear without warning usually, after a day or 2 it will open and then hurt until it is gone a day or 2 later.
I have suspected maybe it is HSV-1 but when looking it up, I don't have any of the symptoms described for cold sores.
There is no tingling, burning, etc. sensation beforehand. It will just be a little clear bump that gets a bit bigger but it is unnoticable for others. There are no color changes, no redness, no yellowness etc. When it opens it also doesn't ooze any liquid but will just be open, a bit sore, and heal.
I have also looked up pictures about it and it does not look like what I can find about cold sores anywhere at all, and it is exclusively only 1 blister I get and not a cluster.
When I have one, I of course dont kiss, drink from same glass/anything else getting in contact with my mouth. I had a partner for over 16 years and he never had anything like it, so I seem to also not have passed on anything.
I had gotten tested for STDS recently and herpes was also negative.
Is there anything else it could be? It really doesn't trouble me much, it's just annoying and it happens really rarely.
Thanks!

So umm on my scalp I have been getting a shit ton of burning so I’ve been looking at it naturally as one does when the scalp burns. And I have I would say smaller than a penny sized red dots they don’t seem to be focused on the follicle they just are randomly on scalp(not a lot of bumps clustered just one by itself in a spot and another in another spot) And I don’t know what’s happening wherever they go it burns like fire then patches of hair fall out. I was like well maybe I should just be calm it’s my stress …alas they still are there. I can post photos. I cannot tell but they do seem to go to one spot to the next. I can’t even shower right now. It burns that much. I even tried cold water. I can’t understand what’s going on. Are these like hives?
If I should see a dermatologist you can say so. (I already think I should go truly)

I am having every symptoms of both. It started with lip swelling and tiny bumps all over my them that crusted and went away after a few days along with gum swelling. After those came out I had a severe headache severe fatigue.. throat pain ear pain that went down to my neck. Throbbing lymph nodes. My jaw pain has been horrible. I see a faint white oval patch on my tongue. And some very faint white lines all over upper lip gums.
Then vaginal itching started I see some red areas with raised bumps down there. I’ve noticed over the past few weeks some white spots all over my gums under or over my teeth. Now I have one single itchy spot near my hand injury. It does flair when I eat spicy food and seems to have created cheilitis on my top lips. I have a purple spot on bother upper side of my lips that have opened into a painful sore after using a spoon 😫 every symptom started mid march. I’ve gone to 3 dentist in a 2 day span during my last lip flair even showed them my gums. Said nothing…. I have gone to the OBGYN TWICE for a vaginal exam. Nothing. Went to the primary 3 times… no care and barely looked at my mouth and lips. A dermatologist, And walk in clinics twice. All since march. I’ve showed them everything. I’ve showed them pictures I’ve explained every timeline and they say oh oral herpes here’s some antivirals even though the swab was negative. I’m exhausted I feel like my own dr who’s doing an investigation on myself because so far they all push me away. SOMETHINGS going on with me all these symptoms all these changes. I finally believe it’s all my symptoms wholeheartedly I have OLP/LP/ AND VLP.
I’m definitely calling my primary with my concerns and more info and I hope she takes me seriously. I need help who do I see for this. A primary? A dentist? The obgyn? An ENT? What do I do and how do I find out what’s causing my body to do this. I’m broken right now I’m lost. Will anyone share their stories? It doesn’t seem like many people have this on here. I just feel like my whole world is changing just because of these symptoms.

4 year old
Female
3’ 5”
38lbs
My daughter had strep through March 12th and long story short must have had a very strong strand because she needed 4 different antibiotics and finally swabbed negative May 10th. She did not miss any doses. She is having some lingering symptoms that concern me, her doctor didn’t seem worried about rheumatic fever, but since her strep lasted so long and from these symptoms, I’m a nervous mother. Minor lingering symptoms- Complains of being tired but isn’t acting drowsy, occasional tummy aches, loose bowels, itchy/sore elbow joint, a bit more grumpy but she’s 4 and has been on an antibiotic for a very long time so I could see that causing the grumpiness, Red raised bump base of scalp that is itchy- doctor said it could be caused by the antibiotics and to watch it/ use antibiotic ointment Today I felt a small pea sized hard bump near the base of her scalp also- but not visible. The bump, tiredness, and the sore elbow are what I am most concerned about. I could use some guidance- should I give her some more time to recoup after the antibiotics or contact her doctor again? Thank you so much!!

Hi all! I got my eyebrow pierced around February of 2023 so it's been about a little over a year. It healed up fine until a small bump appeared mid January. I didn't think too much of it, then I would have a puss filled bump or a red bump throughout the past few months. The jewelry is surgical steel and it doesn't hurt when I touch it. I don't want to take it out but obviously I will if it's rejecting. Let me know please!

I’ve only had the game for like a little more than week or so now, but I’ve played a lot, every day, and sometimes playing as victim is really fun and rewarding and intense… but I’ve kind of started believing all my escapes are just luck-based so far.
These things just seem unfair:
-I can’t look behind me / move the camera while I do objective stuff (picking locks, opening stuff, etc.) I’m stuck looking forward. That feels really, really bad. I know the screen gets gradually more yellow the closer a family member gets to me, but there’s no way to tell if they’ve already spotted you, while you’re right out in the open, trying to pick a lock for a good few seconds. How am I supposed to plan my plays if I can’t look around me during the most important part of the game as Victim?
-Chickens always seem to alert the family / glow red even when it’s not even my fault. I’ll crouch and turn the corner as slowly as possible, or climb over that barrier thing, but then I land or fall down right next to a chicken (with no way to have known they were there OR with no way to have gone around them to get where I needed to go) and they just… always get alerted. Do they never NOT go off? Because I try to play stealthily but they don’t care, they still go off.
-Stealth in general seems kind of useless and I keep reading that rushing through the game and just dodging the family with crawl spaces and stuff until you lose them is the best way to play. And by using only the minimum amount of stealth required to survive. That seems bonkers to me, and like the complete opposite of how the game wants you play. But I kind of get it because grass never seems to hide me in the long run, and the family can just 1.) romp through all the grass and shadows until they bump into me and then attack, 2.) use family sense and hear my random voice lines that I have no control over, or 3.) just keep patrolling that area and still spot me as long as they’re looking back towards the area, during the moment I try to maneuver away.
I swear I do better when I just say “screw it, I’ll open this real quick and make the noise, and hope they’re not close and just try my best if they are.”
-Also, random teammates seem like they can just ruin every game whenever they want. I recognize that this the case with all of these online multiplayer game but it really, really makes me wish this game had a good solo offline mode. Hopefully someday

Eris

Golden yellow apples, spiced amber, tonka flower, sandalwood, cocoa, & vetiver. ('Journey Through the Solar System' 2024 monthly series)
Very delicious and juicy apple scent! It’s fun and creative. It’s sweet and a little spicy. The addition of the cocoa and vetiver make it interesting. I see it as a fall scent but for spring/summer if that makes sense? I enjoy it but wouldn’t FS just based on personal preference. The longevity and silage was low. - 3/5
Pluto 💫
Gunpowder, raspberries, black peony, saffron, opopanax, & redwood musk. ('Journey Through the Solar System' 2024 monthly series)
Note: astronauts have described the smell of space as “gunpowder & raspberries”
I’ve been a Star Trek fan from a young age and am just fascinated with space in general. And I love atmospherics. So when I saw this it was a no-brainer to add it to my cart. I really like it. I totally feel like this is what space smells like now 😂 The gunpowder and raspberries take centre stage in this one. The way the raspberries are incorporated is creative…like smokey almost. Or like they’ve been freeze dried. It’s actually very wearable I found, even on a hot day. The longevity and silage were medium-low. The other notes probably help achieve that. 4/5

Neptune

Clary sage, narcotic jasmine, ambergris, artemisia, palo santo smoke, & a hint of cannabis. ('Journey Through the Solar System' 2024 monthly series)
I did see my one and only death note in there (Jasmine, my skin amps it like crazy too, it’s not fair 🥲)…but the other notes I love, so I figured I’d be safe. I’m not too sure what to make of this one, I like it but I also don’t. I enjoy the dry down a lot better than the initial application (spicy, herbal jasmine —> slightly smokey, herbal). I’ll return to it after it rests for awhile and see if it changes for me! - 2/5

Helen 🍅 🌱

Honeysuckle, tomato vines, rosewater, geranium, vetiver & green musk. (Edmund Dulac 2024 Collection) -
Sharp, tart, and sweet. If the smell of this perfume was a colour, it would be GREEN. I really like it and find it interesting, but I don’t think I would full size based on personal preference. I could see others really loving it though! - 3/5
Ballad
Frankincense, pink pepper, tea rose, sandalwood, white patchouli, garden soil, & musk. (Edmund Dulac 2024 Collection)
I feel like this is a very classy scent. It has an interesting contrast of warmth and coolness. It comes across as a musky floral. It has med-low silage. 3/5

Casati 🥀

Honeyed osmanthus, long-stem red roses, oud, pine bark, & sandalwood musk. (Edmund Dulac 2024 Collection)
I had a feeling I’d like this since it has a couple of the same notes as PULP’s Bewitching Amber, one of my all time favourite perfumes. This smells just like my favourite English rose incense, I know there isn’t incense in the notes, but that’s what it comes off as. I LOVE IT. This was my husband’s favourite out of the bunch. The scent had great longevity and even stayed on my wrist after washing some dishes. Have to FS, been searching for a rose scent for awhile now. - 5/5
Vaniglia Presto
Early morning spring greenery & sweet vanilla bean. (Vanilla Concerto 2024 Collection)
Sweet vanilla + walking through an unkempt wildflower field just after dawn. I really like it but based on personal preference I wouldn’t full size. It’s quite delicious though and comforting. With a vanilla body lotion I imagine it would be top tier 👀 - 4/5

Vaniglia Grave ⛪️ 🕯

Liturgical incense & smoked vanilla. (Vanilla Concerto 2024 Collection)
I am unbelievably excited about this one!! I am positively obsessed. It’s a very accurate representation of church incense which is one of my favourite smells ever. The smoked vanilla provides a really nice base and rounds it out. Longevity and strength were great as well. I will be full sizing this one for sure. - 5/5
Pi Day 2024 🥧 🍋
Lemon custard, rosewater meringue, buttery pie crust, & radiant solar musk. (vegan)
It’s like a tangy lemon pie…but FRESH. Its really creative. This one lasted through most of my workday, and I’m in construction 😂 I’m going to cherish my bottle since it was a one-time release. - 5/5
Enchanted Orchard 🌸🍈🍎
Pink apples, sugared raspberries, sparkling prosecco, lychee, white lily, magnolia, & sandalwood musk. (April 2024 release)
As a fruit scent, I do really like this. It’s very well blended and yummy. Like drinking a delicious summer beverage. I have to be real, it smells like a bit like herbal essences shampoo but in the best possible way. Very sparkling and girly scent! - 3/5

Good afternoon! I got my helix pierced 2 weeks ago with a captive bead hoop not realizing you’re not supposed to, I thought it would just be easier to clean than a stud and get caught in my hair less. The piercing seems to be healing fine, very minimal crusting, no swelling or redness, and is only painful if I accidentally hit it. But I’ve been reading horror stories of hoops preventing the helix from ever healing or people developing permanent bumps, and was wondering if I should change it to a stud? Or if I should leave it alone for now since it seems fine.

Hi everyone, I've been diagnosed with GHSV-2 for about 4 months now (F24). I've only had 2 outbreaks so far, but 2 days ago I noticed what looked like a rash on my knuckle. I originally thought it was a bug bite because it was itchy, but I gradually started to see more bumps appear in a cluster. Yesterday it got much worse and very painful and the bumps now look like yellow blisters. This morning it's even more painful and itchy and I also have a red line going from the blisters down to my wrist now, which is also painful. Could this be Herpetic whitlow? After doing some research it seems like most cases occur closer to the fingernail though?
https://ibb.co/4spjfmb https://ibb.co/H7Wx1V7 https://ibb.co/DVYnQpW https://ibb.co/q9wZbV6

I felt that something was off with the potency of these when I read so I decided to colour code and write down what I saw. The list is ONLY of the unique exotics each class can combine. Purely opinion. Image link below, I'm bad at this.
https://imgur.com/a/VBJ5Ws6
Cyan = Class abilities
Yellow = ability/super regen
Red = Punch buff
Green = Weapon buff
Purple = Grenade enhancement
Each class gets 10 exotic effects some of these are 2 different effects in one which are scored as 0.5 of an effect.
Warlocks:

• 2 melees
• 0.5 for grenades
• 3 class ability
• 3.5 for regeneration
• 1 for misc (threadlings)

6.5 of their selection can be chalked down to regeneration and casting rifts. Only 1 of them has a verb attached to it that being devour. Nothing changes the way you use weapons and VERY little dedicated towards magical grenade effects. Overall it doesn't feel like it'll enhance or alter the way you play the game especially for pvp. Nothing here would be the "cornerstone of a build" in a way that Briar Binds changes your game play loops and provides new mechanics to synergise with, it's all "nice to have, but meh if not".
Titans:

• 2 melee
• 1 grenades
• 4 class ability
• 0.5 regeneration
• 1.5 weapon buff
• 1 misc (burst of healing)

Titans are VERY heavy on their barricade for their effects (4/10), resilience will be super important to use any of these. Low on regeneration effects but it appears they specialize in AEO explosions and debuffs. They have 4 verbs (jolt, scorch, restoration and slow) also surprising that they have accessible healing effects, one of which could be a pick in pvp. Weapon enhancement really is very minimal, it's swords and post super effects. Both punching effects look like the same thing, (do punch for aeo). Handy to have 2 grenades however. Titan is a mixed bag of mid effects, getting team heals for elemental kills in pvp though could be something to watch.
Hunters:

• 2 melees
• 2 grenades
• 2 class ability
• 3 weapons
• 1 regeneration

Has usable options for gun play, class ability procs, grenades AND melees, ESPECIALLY for pvp. For example hitting with a grenade can grant a full overshield (woven mail) and a damage buff (foetracer). Effectively healing and empowerment without being stuck on a spot and without any pesky "get a kill" proc conditions. Volatile rounds is great to have for pve, galanor is pretty meh, has the strongest single target melee if proc'd (I presume, Titan is aoe), always handy to have a health bump mid engagement and duskfield zoning is niche when you look at the other effects you're giving up. Overall I'd say most are useful and some of them are even powerful depending on the values granted.

Hello, so for months now I've been having extreme itchiness on my scalp, behind my ears, and inside my ears. I've tried moisture and dandruff shampoo. I've tried not washing my scalp for a few days, and NOTHING is giving me relief. The flakes are small and white and seem to fall off my scalp even without itching. There's no yellow or scabbing but I do noticed some red in some spots. I can't sleep some nights because of how itchy it is...

Two and a half thousand years ago, a small trading town existed on a small island off the coast of Valencia, Spain, just a quarter of the way to the Balearic Islands. It was a peaceful and bright society. However, one day, panic was set about when the town's chief scientist, who mostly spent his life in obscurity, made a harrowing statement.
"There are two beasts beneath the earth, at war with each other. Eventually, at the culmination of the war, their movement will reach this town. The turmoil of the two beasts will sink much of the island, except this very town, to the bottom of the sea. However, only the knowledge and wisdom of man will determine whether this town will suffer the same fate."
Indeed, about four hundred years later, the island was sunk beneath the waves. The shallowest parts of the island were, as prophesied, part of the small town, only two meters beneath sea level. The island and its town were mostly forgotten until a team of archeologists, in the 1970s, discovered the anthropogenic-marked sandbar. Most of the remaining material beneath the shallow waters was of little historical value, so society didn't mind when a hotel company bought the land and decided to build a modern hotel resort on top of the sandbank on the turn of the millennium.
Isle Tarshish opened to the public on 7 April, 2005. It was an exclusive but hugely successful attraction, with 50 rooms, an infinity pool, a spa and sauna room, two restaurants, an art gallery, and even a TV station, all surrounding a central waterway going from the west side to the north side. Various walkways and bridges allowed the guests to go from one place to the other. There was even a conference room on a smaller island north of the main hotel island and a more exquisite suite on the west, and beautiful sculptures on the east. But despite its glory, it was not destined to be forever.
On the 13th of May, 2022, geologist Anna Hernandez discovered a previously unknown magma plume directly between Valencia and the Balearic Islands. Formed by the subduction of the African Plate's oceanic crust beneath the Eurasian Plate, it was made of melted, ferrous rock. And it was rising. A danger to Isle Tarshish seemed unlikely—at first. However, a week later, an earthquake of Richter magnitude 2 occurred. Its epicenter was to the west of the previously-detected plume's geometric center—it seemed to have moved towards Isle Tarshish. Three days after that, a slightly stronger earthquake occurred. And it was even closer.
Hernandez realized that Isle Tarshish may become the epicenter of this newborn battle between the forces of the Earth. She believed early warnings were key to survival and the salvation of lives. On the 25th of May, she visited the island with a mission: to meet with Isle Tarshish's General Manager and tell them of the possible geological threat. It was a two-hour boat ride, which made her feel seasick.
"Could you please make this boat rock a little faster?"
"I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do. The waves are like this, and we just have to embrace them."
When she arrived at the resort, she was in shock. It was a sunny day. People were playing around, walking with their families around the buildings, swimming in the sea, or bathing in the heat after some time in a presumably colder country. The infinity pool was on the other side of the direction of arrival. The shock and allure of such a place cured Hernandez's seasickness, but she was concerned about the future of the island. Concerned that one day, as they had fun in the sun, a disaster, one as vicious as a fire-breathing dragon, could come up from beneath and destroy them.
After going on the resort's main pier, she went to the reception. She was guided to the hotel's management office. The general manager was an uptight, estute man named Santiago Galante.
"Hola!"
"Hello. I'm Anna Hernandez."
"So what brings you here today?"
"Well, you see, I'm a geologist..."
Hernandez twitched anxiously as she thought desperately of what she had to say, and how to word it effectively.
"So you're a geologist?"
"Yes, and I have just discovered a possible threat to this island. I have discovered a new magma plume, just fifty kilometers beneath the surface directly between Valencia and Ibiza. It seems to be rising at a rate of two kilometers per day."
"Yeah, and what does that mean?"
"Assuming this rate stays constant, the magma will hit the ocean's surface just before the end of June... causing a volcanic eruption. Which is interesting because the whole region of Spain has never seen a volcanic eruption in years, except the Canary Islands. But again, that's concerning, for obvious reasons."
Again, the room was as silent as a snake, for a second.
"Where will the eruption occur?"
"We don't know... but there have been earthquakes increasing steadily in magnitude... and the epicenters have moved between close to Ibiza... right to where we are."
"Oh."
After a few seconds of silence, Galante spoke his mouth. His secretary, Gaspar de Arroyo, started to chime in.
"You know, yesterday, we had a pastor at the United Pentecostal Church of Spain just leave, but he left us with a blessing."
"Yeah, and what did he say?"
"He said Isle Tarshish will flourish for years to come and even until the Second Coming of Christ."
"Did he?"
"Yeah. He said people would scoff at his claim, but he said that, in the end, even when cities like London and Los Angeles fall, Isle Tarshish will stand ground."
"Scientifically speaking, that's nonsense."
"Remember, this used to be part of an island that was mostly above water, but which has mostly sunk. I am literally providing evidence right before your very eyes that this resort might be right in the firing line of a forming volcano."
"Who are you to question the servant of the Lord?"
"I'm a scientist. I make claims based on things we can observe with our five senses. I have more credibility over some charlatan who's probably out for people's money."
At that moment, de Arroyo spoke.
"You know, my son has seizures, but when we visited that pastor in the past, his seizures disappeared like magic!"
"You know childhood seizures can stop manually?"
"Yeah, basing that from the little you know, miss. Now please quit bothering me and my boss with all this volcano talk."
"I agree with him," Galante said. "I'm sorry to say this, but you've offended us with questioning the pastor who blessed us. We place our trust in him, and not in some scientist who probably doesn't go by faith. So please, enjoy yourselves here, and don't shove your nonsense down other people's throats."
Hernandez left the resort, dismayed. She felt saddened seeing the souls having fun on the resort as she left on the boat. She also felt sickened thinking of them and the possibility of them having heard that megapastor. First he scammed them from their money—and now, worst case scenario, he might take all of their lives.
On the first day of June, the people at Isle Tarshish woke up to a tremor that shook their cups and rocked their pools. An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 on the Richter scale. Hernandez woke up to it too, thanks to an alert. And, as expected, the earthquake's epicenter was even closer to the island.
While searching for TV channels, Hernandez stumbled across it. The pentecostal megapastor about whom Galante had spoke. And, during the few seconds in which he spoke, he mentioned the recent earthquakes off Valencia. He said they would stop. They didn't.
The more the earthquakes occurred, the more Hernandez felt sick listening to him. He looked like a wolf in sheep's clothing.
By 10 June, the earthquakes were nearly of Richter magnitude 5. Hernandez knew the probability of her worst fears coming true—a volcanic eruption directly at Isle Tarshish—were increasing rapidly as the earthquake depths decreased while their magnitudes increased. Magma was rapidly approaching the surface.
And Isle Tarshish was not safe.
Yet, she heard Galante and de Arroyo telling the guests at their doomed paradise that everything would go fine, all based on the crap talk from some charlatan the month before. Enraged, she sent them an angry voice mail, but they wouldn't listen. Isle Tarshish was not evacuated. However, it was not long before the guests began to rebel. A few days later, there were leaks in their pipes. One of the spa pools had turned yellow with unfamiliar minerals. And cracks had formed on the ground. The conference room had no power. Many of them wanted to leave—but Galante and de Arroyo decided they had enough. Proclaiming the Isle as their "promised land" sheltered from outside demonic activity, they ordered the guests to stay there and those in charge of the boats to not take them back to the mainland.
And then it happened. 22 June, 2022.
All the guests stranded on the island were jolted awake by a 5 magnitude earthquake, at around 7 AM. From her office in Valencia City, Hernandez saw that the earthquake's epicenter was right below the Isle, at a depth of only 50 meters. The endgame had come.
By now, the whole resort was out of power. The guests began to panic. At 8:30, Galante ordered Erasmo Cifuentes, the Isle's chief electrician, to investigate. He, along with another fellow electrician, entered the power management room. Closing the thick door behind him, Cifuentes was aghast when he saw a massive crack on the room's rocky, haggard floor. It was a very large crack, about 10 centimeters wide at most.
"What do you think lies at the bottom?" his friend asked.
"I have no—"
Just then, another tremor occurred. Cifuentes and his friend bolted straight for the heavy door—but it did not bulge. The earthquake had sealed it shut.
A few seconds later, the earthquake ended. However, temperatures in the room began to rise. Scared, Cifuentes went over to massive crack he saw earlier. However, the last thing he saw was what lay on the bottom.
A red, rising, and viciously glowing substance.
It was rising directly towards him.
As it inched closer, he could see hot streaks of yellow on its surface, and hot, smelly, rising bubbles. That's when he realized what it was—and the sinister realization that it was too late.
Lava.

i needed the thumbtacks to hang up a calendar in a different room and the wallspace to hang up a painting made by someone who actually loves me.
i just looked at it for a moment. the van-gogh-like swirls you made of my curly hair. the detail you put into the eyes. the slight frown. it’s honestly pretty beautiful. you’re a very good artist. i’d forgotten that about you.
the drawing doesn’t look a damn thing like me, though, despite your little note in the corner that it was a drawing of my “essence”. my nose is too small, too straight, without the bump in it that used to make me self-conscious but now i quite like. my glasses are the wrong shape entirely. where are my freckles? none of the small subtleties that really make me into me are there.
the painting i replaced it with was done by clumsier hands, to be sure, but much more caring ones. i remember watching her work, the frustration on her face when she couldn’t get the pink of my cheeks exactly perfect with the cheap acrylic primary colors we were provided with, mixing red into yellow into white into blue into even more red into even more yellow. i remember both of us laughing as she stared into my eyes for what must have been three minutes straight, trying to suss out the shape and color. she’d never painted before, not a day in her life, but she did a better job with my essence than you did. but then, she was actually looking.
after i swapped the two out, i considered what to do with your drawing. i thought about tearing it to shreds but instead i folded it neatly and stuck it into the same drawer i keep your old letters in. i’ll throw it all out someday. maybe burn it in the backyard.
nah, i’ll just recycle it. i think you’d like the theatrics of a fire too much. i want to dispose of you how you disposed of me — carelessly.

The pair from nine were instantly laughed at by the carrers and the pairs from 4 and 7 causing Keith and particularly Winnow to embarrassingly walk further on. Keith embarked upon the chariot first before Winnow find Mayfair and Julia both from 12 chatting away with there mentor Harley Davidson victor of the 107th hunger games. WInnow soon befriended julia with the 2 bonding over there ridiculous outfits. Mayfair in particular found there conversation quite amusing before joining in. Harley seemed a little annoyed at his tributes lack of attention to what he was trying to tell his tributes but soon smiled before giving a knowing nod to junnius. However Keith remained rooted to the carriage apparently having his “Tough guy persona” wiped from his face as Silca put it. Junnius smirked before asking Keith if he “wanted to listen now?”
As Keith nodded Winnow soon returned as Frida did some final touch ups with the pair’s outfits. Pluto and Ariana were approached by London and Wyoming both from 6 marveling at the pairs outfits. Wyoming even gigled to herself before London complemented Pluto’s and Ariana’s outfits. He smiled before signing ‘thanks”
The boys soon signed to each other about there lives in there own districts London then asked the pair if they would be interested in a potential alliance, After Pluto looked back at Regina she nodded as Ariana and PLuto accepted this. London smiled before returning his loopy district partner back to there own horse carriage as Pluto and Ariana hopped back on there own carriage as the parade then begun.
After the usual fanfare for the carrers and the total contrast of outfits for the pair from 4 viewres seemed entranced with the pair from 5s garud themed outfits with Nico Anderson commentated that “A for effort at the title.” Pluto regaly waved to many audience members as they signed his name. Ariana looked at him before grinning signing “Sorry for the attuide I didnt mean the way I acted.’ Pluto smiled and nodded before taking her hand as they waved to the audience. Further down the parade line up the pairwere very embarrassed at there outfits with there faces of disgust being posted over future “captiol memes” on Golden 24. Still they did there best efforts in making a second impression as few captial citzens through roses and chocolates at the pair out of pure pity. As the parade came to an end president mcaine did his usual speech about the importance of panem before welcoming nico Anderson to the stage. He congratulated the stylists on a good job before crowning district 2 the title of Anderson fashions best dressed with there stunning stonemason inspired outfits.
The next day without to much fanfare from the night prior all mentors and brought there tributes to the training hall at percisly 10 am per usual. Head master Price gave his usual stern greeting before ‘reminding the tributes” about the consequences of tongfouleraly by turning on his taser as the training staff followed before dismissing the tributes to there own stations.
As per there argeement Ariana Pluto Wyoming and London practiced together mainly staying at the camouflage station for most of the first and second day until being ordered to practice at a different station. However when Ariana refused to a training staff member tasered her in the back before being removed from training for a day. Pluto turned to London before signing “She’s gonna get us killed before we even get into the arena.” London laughed before taking him to the toxilogical station as Wyoming somehow remained hidden in the camfolouage station until the end of the second day. When Apollo was shooing the tributes to the accesors room Wyoming jumped out at him causing Apollo to shreik before peacekeepers soon escorted Wyoming to the asscors room alone as most of the other tributes lauhjed.
As for Keith and Winnow Keith mainly practiced with Sailor from 4 at the trident station. However training staff had to break up a fight after Sailor after he angrily accused Keith of purposley distracting him after he coughed rather loudly after sailor missed his trident has it nearly projectiled back at him. Meanwhile Winow mainly stayed with Mayfair and Julia at the medic station watching Mayfair and Julia explain the basics of sowing a wound and cpr. At the end of the 2 days a rather angry training master price then escorted price to the training hall.
After the strong displays of the carrers and the mediocre displays of the outliers Pluto was welcomed in. As he was permitted an interpreter he signed that ‘he'd show his camouflage skills.” The game makers soon groaned before he also signed he’d “Like the lights off”. Curious sounds of intreigue went through out teh accors box as game maker monty allowed this as the assors room went dark. As his interpreter moved close to him as he begun his “camfoluage experties”. After 5 minutes the lights were turned on many of the assorcs were quiet suprised where the only spots that were seen was his white eyes. He then waved as the assecors appluaded. Ariana was welcomed in next unforeanutly for her knife display went poor as the game makers soon dismissed her,
Later on the line up Keith performed a rather decent sword display with poor accuracy. Winnow on the other hand bored the asscors with the typical toxical quiz.
As evening soon falled in the results were displayed on capital tv. WIth the usual good scores of the carrers Keith scored a 8 Pluto scored a 7 . London a 6 and Slip from 8 also scoring a 6 Winnow and Wyoming from 6 both scoring a 4 and at the bottom of the pack Ariana and Ignatia from 3 scoring a 3.
Regina was somewhat pleased with Pluto score but saractsicaly reminded Ariana that “Better scores more sponsors.” Ariana snarled back saying “Bite me im going to be dead in a few days anyway.” Regina grumbled to herself beofre Francis approached the pair with there uniforms for the interviews.
As Junnius he was pleased with both of his tributes scores awarding them with some captial cake before Frida quickly made her tributes interview outfits for her tributes as Junnius soon quizzed the 2 on “Propper interview edicate.”
Silca MOnty welcomed the excited capital audience regally waving and modeling her tropical dress consisting of real palm tree leaves and the top consisting of a light beige and to top it off Silca hair was dyed a light green making her a real life palm tree. After some comedic banterring session with the front audience members she welcomed in the carrers. After there successful interviews and the rather boring interviews from the pairs from3 and 4 Ariana was welcomed in. She walked dimly into the studious fashiong a silver gown with newly dyed silver hair. Even though this was Silca’s one of few years commentating she had to put on a strong face as she was unable to get any word to her as she was shouting obscenities at the capital and Silca in particular nearly tackled Ariana to the ground after she was shouting obscenities about the Monty family. After peace keepers escorted Ariana out Pluto was welcomed to the stage.
He was adorned in a silver suit with a light brown bountier and his reddish brown hair with her hair also dyed a crisp white. He was also allowed an interpreter she was adorned in a similar dress to Silca to commenterate the games. Pluto’s interview went rather dully at first but he soon “came out his shell’ before signing about how his district partner acted like a “Rotten brat’’ and how he’d “want to get the short holiday” done and over with as soon as possible. The audience was in a mix between jeers and cheers as Silca was pleased with the rather quick interview she then shooed the boy off the stage before continuing on. After the interview of Slip from 8 Winnow was welcomed to the stage. Winnow was adorned with a beige gown with corn themed embleshents littering her hair which had been put up into a bun.
Winnow gracefully chatted with Silca about every topic besides the games a fact that “Greatly surprised” many members of the audience. Even Silca tried her best to get a word in about the games Winnow would only talk louder completely erasing her graceful entrance. Soon the interview host shooed the girl of the stage before Keith was also welcomed in sporting the same scowl as Ariana had shown. He mainly insulted Silca through out his interview leading she and the audience to jeer Keith of the stage. After the easy interviews of the pairs from 10 11 12 and the and the popular interviews from the pair from 14 she happily welcomed her husband to the stage. As rapid cheers followed he kissed his wife before she rather “Akwardly” asked her husband for a hint on the arena. Game maker monty sniggered before surprisingly offering a small hint up. ‘An old game character from the time before spent most of his time on this beach trying to save a damsel in distress.’
Curious sounds of intrigue and shouts of “OOOOOOO” sounded as both husband and wife bowed as the audience cheered on. Back at the apartments both mentors seemed rather furious with there tributes Regina in particular became defeated after stopping an argument Ariana started with pluto.
The next day the tributes were given a breif breakfest before being flown to this years arena. This years arena’s outfits featured a light yellow tank top with a short sleeved over coat and shorts. Regina ultmaitley did not want to vist both of her tributes however Francis opted to vist Ariana which made Regina smile. Beofre Pluto got into his tube Regina smiled before signing “Stay out of trouble”. Pluto laughed before nodding as the pair had shock her hand Regina soon stooped him before saying “Love is the worse enemy of them all.” Pluto had become rather confused before he soon walked into his tube. As for Ariana she made on final attempt to escaping the games but Francis imedtlay swooped in and particularly yanked Ariana in her tube before he ordered peacekeepers to garud her tubes as ariana angrily bashed against her tube.
Unforeanutly for the pair from 9 Junnius did not vist them as Keith and Winnow nodded at each other the pair got dressed in there uniforms before being rose into the humid beachy arena.
This years games took place in Delfino Plaza
To many in the excited members in snow square this years arena was a reference to a very popular game from the time before known as “Super Mario Sunshine”. The corncopuia was below the shine sprite tower featuring mini knives swords and blow guns,. With a handful of foods in the heart of the corncopuia however tributes did not know this but these food items were highly vemnous. Outside the cornocpuia small boats were known to slowly go out to the islands that were connected to the arena. The first island featured a large mansion that featured many non venomous foods however every hour a large electric manta ray would regularly swim through the arena which would cause a near fatal electric shock if a tribute were to touch it. On the second island featured a bustling amusement park with rides that would cause a “Quick death” or “Nausea’ if these rides werent handled with care, Many yellow snapping turtles with green shells were also notted to freguent teh arena which these shells were called as “Koppas’ by SIlca.
Back in the main island featured many palm trees and buildings that also had many market places with more poisonous foods. Finally on top of the arena featured a large volcano that would reagulry pour only small amount of lava and “Unwanted Pests”. Such as many long raccoons with sharp teeth and walking bombs
Day 1
As the tributes rose into this years arena winnow imedtlay flagged down Julia from 12. She smiled dimmly pointed at the pair from 2 Marcus and Hera flagging the pair from 1 and surprisingly the pair from 4 as well. Keith was also flagged down by Mayfair from 12. Apparently realizing that the pairs district partners were friends Keith smirked before pointing at Slip from 8 walling loudly. However with the pair from 5 they were put next to each other as Ariana scowled as Pluto became relived seeing London and Wyoming from 6 giving them a careful nod, And as the gong trialed down to the final 10 seconds ariana begun shouting more verbal taunts resulting in many of the audience members to shout “Shut up”.
As the gong sounded the games finally begun. Surprisingly all 24 tributes barrled into the corncopuia building. Ariana darted in first with Wyoming soon following as London signed at Pluto to run in. He did this before pushing aside Slip from 8 as he was stabbed by Brock from 3 in the heart. Pluto soon grabbed a sword before being crashed into by the boy from 1 holding a dager to his throat. London shoutted out before unforenautly becoming the girl from ones target the 2 fighting very vicosuly . Thankfully for Pluto the boy from 1 was soon bashed into the wall by Arogrio from 11. He then got up before running away with Wyoming soon following him rapidly shouting “Come back there still in the hell bath.” Wyoming soon dashed after before being hit with a sword in the back by Hera from 2. Ariana soon grinned at seeing many of the knives before pocketing nearly every one of them resulting in Silca calling her “Selfish.” London gave a grim stare at Wyoming before grabbing Ariana’s hand running toward PLuto but in a diffrent direction nearly being hit with a knife by the furious girl from 1 who had been unable to save her district partner from Agorio. Keith then was the 14th tribute to dash in alongside Mayfair unforeanutly as the remaing tributes started to scatter Both Sailor and AnaMaria from 4 soon through there knives simtaneisouly into there backs as Julia and Winnow grimly looked on. However to avoid being the carrers next targets they only grabbed 2 knives before running away to the near by gondola as it brought them to island 2.
As the blood bath soon dyed out the 5 blood bath cannons sounded signfing the deaths of the boy from 1 Wyoming from 6 Slip from 8 Keith from 9 and Mayfair from 12. Pluto frantically ran into a near by market grabbing many fruits before running further away to the near by buildings climbing to the top of one curling up into a ball and looking concerningly out. However as Ariana and London soon came toward the building they soon yelped seeing PLuto standing toward the edge griping on for dear life. With a heavy effort London soon gripped onto Pluto’s body however as London successfully yanked Pluto down the 3 sat down in a disorganized heep. Ariana soon laughed before signing Pluto should “Not be such a wimp.”
Pluto snarrled back before tossing some fruit to Ariana. As she walked over and looked like she was about to eat some of it many viewers in snow square laughed hysterically with Silca recounting “She must be dnese.”
Before Ariana was about to eat the mango fruit a knife came whistling into Ariana’s shoulder. She winced as she saw Gerogio and Frida both from 10 hurling many near by koopas at the pair. However this idea soon back fired as the koopa Gerogio was holding chomped his hand he ket out a large yelp as Pluto soon barrled into Ariana removing the knife from her shoukder and throwing it into Frida’s heart, Her cannon soon sounded follwoing by his district partner. Ariana soon shouted “are you crazy!”. Pluto rolled his eyes before smiling as London fist bumped him.
The 3 of them soon surveyed the area nearly being found by the carrers however as London had grew hungry he grabbed a near by pineapple fruit. Beofre slicing it cleanly open. He soon was about to drink the liquids of this pinapple however Pluto angrily slapped London in the face. However as London soon was about to sign why he had just slapped him he brought a rather angry Ariana before dumping the liquid on her hand. As Ariana;s hand soon sweled PLuto signed “Put it in water youll be fine”. Ariana scowled as London laughed before signing back “Thanks.”
Pluto smiled before grinning as 2 sponsor gifts then flew down. Pluto smiled before opening his gift a blow gun with a hand ful of darts with a note attached saying “Keep that brat at an arms length” from R. He smiled dimmly before his eyes turned to a shade of suprise seeing Londons sponsor gift some morphine and an assorment of foods.
Pluto turned to London signing “You do this stuff?”
London nodded dully before saying “I have and still kinda do.”
Pluto dully looked forward before London asked “Something wrong.”
The boys did not say much for the next 10 minutes before Pluto signed “I knew someone who did those in the past.” Londons face whitened before pouring most of the context out as he smiled and nodded “ Pluto smiled however Viewers could see London’s face turned a grim shade of grey as he poured the remaining liquid into a near capsule before muttering to hismelf. Pluto soon tapped him on the shoulderi as the boys giggled seeing Ariana angrily fighting with some of the none violet koopas.
The boys soon helped Arianaout before cleaning her wound on her shoulder. Ariana gruffly walked in the other direction sleeping behind a near by palm tree. As Evening fell on the arena the boys soon rejoined there sleeping ally. With Pluto keeping watch for the night. As for Winnow and Julia they succesfuly ran aout the corncopuia fray hoping on the gondola. As the island arrived at the island they heard a sharp scream as Brock and Ignatia both from 3 went screaming in the opposite direction. As both of the girls looked on in horror as teh pair from 2 went running after them with knives at the ready. As Julia encouraged Winnow to hurry up before both girls screamed as the pair from 4 wet chassing after them.
Winnow soon hoped up toward the ferris wheel ride which had suprsingly been going slow. As she successfully boarded one of them Winnow soon shouted for Julia to hurry up. Foretanutly for the girl from 12 she successfully grabbed on to Winnows hand as the girls soon panted in exhaustion both the pair from 4 soon swore as the pair 2 and the girl from 1 angrily yelled at the pair for letting the outliars get away. However as Sailor shoutted at Marcus in particular for chassing down “The geeky brats” Marcus sighed before snapping Salior’s neck. As his cannon sounded Ana maria shoutted out in horror before she to had her neck snapped cleanly by the girl from 1. As 2 cannons sounded Winnow and Julia clinged on to each other for dear life as the carrers continued to search for them.
As the carrers soon gave up some viewers in snow square cheered as a sponsor gift soon flew in for the pair. Winnow and Julia smiled at the small feast that they were provided as they ate and talked about there own home lives with Winnow in particular being quiet surprised hearing about the recent changes that have happened in districts 12 that theyre mentor Harley Davidson had implemented.
As the girls fell asleep on the feris wheel horn of plently played featuring the 9 fallen tributes leaving 17 remaing.
Day 2
As the early morning sunrise entered the arena game maker monty made a live announcement to the arena. He congratulated the 17 remaining tributes on making it too the second day of the games before announcing that the tributes had 5 minutes to arrive at island 1 or 2 before the volcano woulf eurpt killing anyone in its way. As game maker monty signed off the remaining tributes stampeded to the near by gongdelas. Monica from 8 had been the first casuality to the event as the pair from3 enegerneered the walking bombs as Monica picked one up it exploded leaving nothing left.
Ariana Pluto and London soon darted out of there hiding spot as they imedtlay hopped on the gondola to island 1. However as the 3 painted in exhaustion Ashley and the boy from 7 hoped out at the pair with knives at the ready. Ariana soon shoved Pluto out of the way as she through her kife as it landed in the boy from 7s heart. As his cannon sounded Ashley caught London unspectedly off garud as she then threw her kinfe toward London’s head. Luckily fr London the knife only hit him in the lower adomen. Ariana soon charged into Ashley the 2 girls soon begun a viscous fist fight however as the volcano soon euerpted Ariana then got the upper hand pushing Ashley out of the gondola. As her cannon sounded Pluto imedtlay ran over to Lodon before taking out the knife from his adomen,
As London screamed out Pluto signed to him to “SHH”. However as another cannon sounded the three hid behind one of the walls for the time being. Silca explained to the captial audience that this was Daisy from 11 after she had a run in with the pair from 14 as they chased Daisy up into the volcano area as Hanah soon pushed the girl into the lava. As for the aliance of Winnow and Julia both girls stayed hidden on the ferris wheel as the reaming 3 carrers stayed below watching the ferris wheel intently.
As a suspenseful quiet soon crossed the arena and in snow square Julia gently climbed to the top of the box. As she quietly hoped out Winnow noticed before saying “The death pits down there and were 25ft in the air.”
Julia smiled before saying to “trust her”.
Winnow sighed before grabbing Julia’s hand. However unforeanytly for the girls the ferris wheel creaked rather loudly waking Hera. As she rubbed her eyes in a tired heep she alerted her other carrer allys as they begun hurling many of there weapons at the pair.
Winnow then looked back at Julia before pointing at Arogio from 11 who had about to attack Marcus. The girl from 1 soon noticed Arogio and shoutted in a rather horse tone that “he’d pay for killing her district partner.”

Arogio laughed and taunted the girl to try as the carrers soon changed there target to the boy from 11 allowing bith girls to make a mad dash to gongdela 1 with out the carrers noticing. Silca later recounted that “This year may be the werdist year in history.”
As Arogio’s cannon sounded the 2 outliar girls soon jumped off the ferris wheel only having a scraped knee between the both of them. After a short gomgdela ride they had arrived at the island. Due to it being noon and the captial being pleased with the amount of bloodshed teh tributes were allowed to have a rest “For now.”
Julia in particular was rather exhausted for the mormings events so the girls rested in the mansions first floor. The girls kept each other from boredoom by playing a popular childrens game called “Eye spy.” With most of there objects they wanted the other to look for being rather impoosible to find leaving both the girls laughing. However this laughter turned to horror as the manta ray soon mad her hourly appearnce as one cannon sounded.
After the run in the aliance of Ariana Pluto and London with the pair from 7 they imedtlay ran into the mansion and hid hwoever they triggered the next arena event.
As teh 3 went screaming they fell down into a casino room. However the three of them did not what was happening a ghostly voice soon eerily said. “Score 7777 and you’ll be free failure to do so one of you will be dead.”
As many casino machines popped up. PLuto imedtlay grabbed onto his blow gun and darts as London weakly rested on the ground as Ariana went to the near by cassino machine. As London begun to bleed out more Pluto screamed before trying to apply pressure on his friends wound however as London weakly grabbed onto Pluto before screamingas Ariana stabbed London in throat. Pluto screamed out before grabbing his blow gun and huffing 2 darts out. She soon signed and shouted that London would of been “Dead anyway.”
However Pluto then huffed into his blow gun as a dart when whistling into Ariana’s arm. She sighed before getting the 7777 number on the near by machine. As the ghost like figure nodded Ariana grinned before rather vindectively signing “You’’ll be London soon”. As the pair from 5 begun battling many citzens in the captial were shoutting at Pluto to win this “Fight” but unfroeanutly for him Ariana manged to steal the blow gun before pointing it over Pluto’s neck.
As Ariana held the blow gun to Pluto's neck, the tension in the room escalated. The citizens in the Capitol watched intently, their excitement palpable. Pluto's eyes darted around, searching for any possible escape route, but he found himself cornered with nowhere to go.
Suddenly, a loud alarm blared through the casino room, signaling the end of the event. The ghostly voice echoed once again, announcing that time was up and the game was over. Ariana hesitated for a moment, torn between her desire to eliminate Pluto and getting hell out of the casino.
Ariana then sighed in angry huff before helping PLuto up signing “Stop for now.”
However Pluto did not listen and continued teh fight as he held his knife to Ariana’s throat. Hwoever Ariana got the upper hand again as she then huffed into blow gun behind her as an dart flew into Plutos nose. He screamed out in pain before Ariana then blew another dart as it landed in Pluto’s heart.
His cannon sounded as many jeers sounded in snow square with Silca rolling her eyes saying “the girl will never change.”
The ghost soon pushered her back into the manison as Ariana returned to the dock of the island resting in a tired heep.
She then noticed Julia and Winnow making there way back to the main island. Another cannon sounded un the late evening signfing the death of Victente from 14 after he was betrayed by his own ally Hannah.
Julia kept watch as Winnow slept with Horn of plenty playing at midnight featuring the fallen tributes. Pluto from 5 London from 6 the pair from 7 monica from 8 the pair from 11 and Vicente from 14 leaving 8 tributes remaing.
Day 3
Ariana and Winnow awoke rather early making them the first 2 tributes to awake. Ariana in particular spent most of her time traversing the mansion becoming bored as she then tried to re enter the gambling room but she soon given blast area as she tried to open the shut door. She stood around in huff before quietly before rather suprisngly falling bacj to sleep in plain sight. As for the girls Julia smirked as Winnow had appeard to be talking in her sleep.
As she gently placed her hand through WInnow hair she woke up. Julia appokigezed before Winnow saying to “not worry.” As Julia’s face turned bright red Winnow laugehd As a some sponor gifts flew down for the pair they soon fell onto each other in amusment as 3 cannons osunded. This was proven to be the pair from 3. They were ambushed by teh carrers with Ignatia being able to throw a near by raccon at the girl from1 however. As the girls cannon sound the pair from 3 were then taken down by the pair from 2.
The girls soon opted to not move from there location as they rested in each others arms for the remainder of the day, Ariana on the other hand awoke from round 2 of her slumber before notcing one of the near by Koppas wandering near by. She then killed it as she then found a near bomb. After succesfuly diffused it she heard another cannon sound.
This was Marcus from 2 after Hera from 2 betrayed him on the second island while they were running as one of the near by rides when whistling into pair. Hera got to higher ground as she then pushed Marcus off the ride they were on resulting in a rather painful death for the boy from 2.
As Ariana returned to the corncopuia silca sighed in sacrastic manner saying she’d did not want to know what was going through the girls mind.
At midnight the fallen were shown dispkaying the portaits of the girl from 1 Marcus from 2 and both of the tributes from 3 leaving 4 tributes remaing. Hera from 2 Ariana from 5 Winnow from 9 and Julia from 12 remaing.
Day 4
In the early morning one cannon sounded. This was shown to the captial audience to be Hera from 2 after she fell into the shell trap set by Ariana from 5.
Game maker monty congratulated the final 3 tributes on making it to the finally before telling them they had 5 minutes to return to the coroncoupia towere before having there tracker denoated. As Julia and WInnow made there journey to the tower Winnow looked into Julia’s eyes as the gongdela arrived at the main island both of the girls took caution as they saw the sprite shine very brightly. Soon a voice was heard saying “Come closer.” Julia made the rather stupid desscion as she steeped on one of teh many shells that were put up in the corncopuia. Many of her supporters in snow square shoutted at her to walk back it was to late as she soon blasted into the air before landing rather on her back. Ariana laughed before huffing into her blow gun as an arrow flew into the barley conocius Julia’s throat. Her cannon sounded as WInnow looked on in horor.
She grinned saying “You look like you havent been (Alive enough).” Ariana barked out in laughter saying that “this was the time where she could be free from the pure horror room.”
WInnow imedtlay grabbed onto her remaing knife before dogding ,any of the darts ariana was blowing at her. However Ariana soon tackled Winnow to ground before a brutal fust fight took place. Many viewrs in snow square were shoutting at Winnow to get up. Rather surprisingly Ariana suddenly stopped. She looked up at Ariana before laughing horsely before throwing the turtle’s at Winnow.
Winnow sighed and then screamed “Stop throwing your toys at me there explodable.”
Ariana laughed before soon catching her breath in exhaustion shouting at her to come out.
As Winnow was no where to be found viewers in the captial sighed disparingly as many thought she had been exploded. But rather suprsingly Winnow had been right been Ariana before saying “Suprise”.
Ariana yelped as Winnow then hurled her knife into Ariana’s brain. Her cannon sounded imedtlay as Winnow smiled saying “Seeya physco.” As respectable appluse soundded game make rmonty crowned Winnow Fraiser of District 9 to be the victor of the 113th hunger games Winnow smiled before taking the peacekeepers hands as she was escorted out of the arena.
Winnow was delcared to have no major injuries in the arena before being brought to her victors interview with Silca Monty. Silca was adorned in a formal gown which resmbled a chinesse princess. A land that would be captured by the captial. Please see story 138 true history’s begings.
Winnow was also welcomed on with respctable appluse fashioning a heige gown with golden spirtes resmebling the corcnoupia littering the dress. Unforeanutly Winnow had been rather quiet during her victors interview leaving a rather uncomfortable silence within the studios however. Silca managed to gear the interview to a less depressing point by talking about Winnow’s time in the arena.
After going over her time in the arena Silca reavled her victors nickname to be teh sunshine shadow.
Winnow smilled saying she’d “take it.”

She then waved as the audience cheered respectively as Silca welcomed her husband Cyrus to the stage.
Many cheers soon sounded as game maker monty regarly waved at the audience before kissing his wife. She then turned on a complamtion of his past 5 years of game making. Even showing a video of Quintin Mahoney Herminia Gold Ezra Montario Amanda mils Belle Figoura and even Winnow congratulating him on a succesful 6 years of game making. Cyrus smiled before bowing as the capital crowd cheered on as Silca ended the interview there.
Winnow returned home to district 9 the follwoing day, She alledly refused to stay for even party many genrous captial lights had offered to her. However she would return once year to the captial for her suty as an mentor. However she was adorned as hero throught district 9 as she moved into the victors village with her mother and grandmother.
When she became an adult she married a baker named Donmic Tanzi as the pair married and had two kids unforeanutly one of them would be chosen for a later games. She was known to be not to much of an helpful mentor but liked when her tributes “Actually shown the strength she approved of” Leading to have some what of an better track record in the games.
And that is the end of story 113 I hope you all enjoyed . This was one of my longer tales but one of my favorites to write. But yep after 114th games the european chrocnicle files will be out. As this shows what happens with Panems eueropean allies;. So i hope you all have a wonderful morning noon or night or what ever time it is for you and as we always say. Panem today panem tomrow panem forever.

I have been struggling with dandruff that sticks to my strands. I have fairly clean hair, typically dry. It only gets overly oily if I go several days without washing it. Which doesn't happen often. At first, I thought it was lice and it freaked me out but it's just dandruff. I have had my head checked a few times because I get paranoid (yes, I am aware that it is irrational lol) I also have been getting random sores every now and then on my scalp. Sometimes its just scalps, other times its little pus filled bumps. My scalp does stay relatively itchy, unfortunately. It doesn't seem like flaky dandruff, it's not yellow, it doesn't come off in chunks or anything like that. I don't have any big build up spots or anything either. Just itchy scalp and stick dandruff at the roots.
At this point, I don't know what to do. I have tried several shampoos. I keep my hair clean. I don't use too many products. I use a tea tree shampoo once to twice a week and a moisturizering shampoo the rest of the time.
My doctor has said it's not severe enough for a prescription.

I’ve been getting my lashes done since Aug 2020 and never had any sort of reaction till one time I was stupid and slightly opened my right eye… burning ensues of course. Ever since I’ve been getting reactions on and off and I’ve changed a couple lash techs. Most recently I have gone to 1 lash tech for the first time in 6 months since taking them off and I had a reaction of all the usuals… swollen eyes, yellow greenish crust, red eyes as soon as I opened my eyes but also with her she did a horrible job with the extensions. Fast forward to a week later I find someone new and have been the last 2 times to this new person and have had NO reaction!! So, I’ve gone a 3rd time to her now and this last appt I could feel a little bit seep through my eye because it was burning and I come home and reaction of the usuals. Now, I’m wondering if this was a result of irritation or am I allergic??
FYI, it’s been 2 days since and my eyes are back to normal. Usual case for every reaction I’ve had