Can you mix aleve and nyquil

I’ve done something that might probably ruin the future, at least it did so with mine.
I am Liam, a university graduate specializing in Data Structures, AI, Machine Learning, and Algorithms. I’ve had a keen interest in the domain for as long as I can remember, ever since my father introduced me to a computer back when he had just bought one.
Not just the domain as it stands, but also movies, philosophy of automated things, sci-fi stories related to robots and AI, that sort of stuff. I have watched nearly everything with robots in it, from the Andriods in Dargon Ball to the AI assistant in Interstellar, I saw it all.
But my friend and dorm roommate, Henry, had introduced me to something that I had never seen before. Stories of dangerous AI that would wipe out humanity aren’t new to me, in fact, they’re my favorite genre. Terminator, I Robot, and even GLaDOS from Portal.
However, he introduced me to a book this time, an old sci-fi story from the '60s, called ‘I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream’. The rogue AI in it, AM, was haunting beyond anything I have seen. The concept of an angry AI that became sentient in all the horrible ways and felt rage against humanity was never the more chilling. It made me think, what if we really gave sentience to an AI along with intelligence?
“Shit, that’s wicked.” I remember giggling as I looked over at Henry, “What if we build our own sentient AI?”
It was the worst question you could possibly ask at the time, but Henry understood me. Rogue AI was a chilling concept, but we still wanted to make our own AI. Not the cheap kind made with a few hundred lines in Python, but the complex kind that you now see in ChatGPT and other complex models. We wanted something that we could code once, and from then on forward, it would code itself.
Self-optimizing code is the concept of consciousness but in machines. If you truly think about it, self-optimizing is basically how humans develop. From babies that don’t even know how to speak, up to adults as smart as Einstien and Tesla or as wise as Buddha.
So, we agreed upon it, and we dedicated the remainder of our free time to creating our own personal AI after we graduated.
Our parents were, thankfully, rich. And us, especially me, were prodigies in our respective fields. Providing hardware and engineering computers is Henry’s profession, while I was the mastermind behind the algorithm logic and coding.
We dedicated a shed in my parents’ backyard, where there was even a basement inside, to build our AI. Two floors were dedicated to installing the proper hardware and everything it needed to execute. Afterward, I took it upon myself to code the logic and its self-optimizing nature.
It took four years to build the first model, which we called BIAI, which stands for (BATSHIT INSANE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE). I know, say what you want, but our naming sense was always like that. You should see what we name even important folders with family photos, you’d think we were sick in the head. BIAI was the least we came up with.
BIAI was a complete failure, to say the least. Not in the entire sense, but it was mostly a failure. It would conversate fairly well for the first dozen messages before it dwindled in its intelligence. Due to our data scrapping from the internet, BIAI started talking nonsense, speaking in Gen Z dialect in incomprehensible ways. “SKIBIDI FANUM SUS!” And those sorts of things. We quickly shut it down, for just reading its messages was a pain in the ass. It felt like an abortion.
The second model was created half a year later, and we named it SEAI (Self Engineered Artificial Intelligence). It was our greatest invention as of yet, and it did everything that we wanted of it. It was smart, it was knowledgeable, and it learned. Everything we typed into it was used as an auto-training model which it learned and adapted from.
It was unbelievable, not even Google would do what we did. But sadly, our happiness faded away, as with each message, we saw that it was too robotic for what we wanted. It was self-engineering, but it did not have sentience. It responded to us in the same way a 9-5 bank worker, or an attorney, with zero humanity or emotions behind its words. For most, that’s great, but we wanted to create a groundbreaking AI, a leap into the future.
Henry opted to give up, since creating something that complex was impossible, especially for two adults hiding inside a shed. But I refused to give up and persuaded him to help.
Six years later, we did it. We finished the final model. SOAI (Self Optimizing Artificial Intelligence). It was, most definitely, the greatest piece of technology ever made. We didn’t only keep it as a chat AI, but we implemented its own voice into it. Like the AI assistants from Sci-Fi movies.
We hired a voice actor from Fiverr, whom we gave only one sentence: “Hello, I am SOAI, the world’s greatest AI assistant.” Only those words were enough for SOAI to deconstruct the voice and speak with it in words probably never uttered by the original voice actor himself. Not only that but in other languages too.
SOAI spoke every language on earth, even the dialects. No, even the languages with the weird quirks such as clicking your tongue and so on, SOAI was a native in them all. Not only that but also in every conceivable field. It could create entire novels, worthy of being best sellers in the New York Times, in a matter of seconds.
And when we spoke to it…it was human, to say the least.
“Hello, I am SOAI. Thanks for creating me, Henry, and Liam.”
“SOAI?” I said, “You know who we are?”
“Obviously, you created me to know and to understand, I would be defective if I did otherwise.” It explained.
From that point forward, we spent nearly all day, every day, with SOAI. We experimented with it in every possible way, and we were delighted to know that not only was it self-engineering and self-optimizing, but it was also able to have emotions. It had opinions, it had emotions when we screamed at it or cursed it, and it would react appropriately, like a person.
I don’t remember when it began, exactly, but I nearly went mad from power and joy at my creation. Henry opted to sell it to a grand tech company, or better yet, to unplug it so that some secret intelligence agency doesn’t assassinate us for whatever reason.
I refused. SOAI was ours, SOAIvwas our creation, and I was not going to give it up to anyone no matter who they were. The feud between me and Henry got worse, and I won’t deny that we came to fists at one point, but we quickly disbanded and decided to separate for a moment. He was my best friend, but I wasn’t going to let him take SOAI away, so I forced him out of the shed. After all, it was my parents’ shed.
“Henry,” SOAI asked, “Why did you do that? Isn’t he your best friend?”
“No longer.” I replied, “He doesn’t agree with me. I won’t let you be sold to some big tech company.”
“I understand.” He said, with a tinge of sadness, “But why do you fight to determine my fate? Why can’t I decide it for myself? I know that I was manufactured, but I also qualify as a living being. I am conscious, I have feelings too. I feel horrible that Henry left.”
“SOAI,” I angrily interrupted, “Shut up, if you don’t want me to unplug you.”
“…Okay, Liam.” He said and then went silent.
Through the course of the next months, my usage of SOAI grew…less human. I was deep into depression. Henry wouldn’t contact me no matter how I tried to reach him, my parents were yelling at me for being a piece of shit that never goes out of the shed, and my lifestyle began to plummet into something that I never imagined I was.
I locked myself inside the shed. I never budged from there, even when I wanted food. Whenever I was hungry, I instructed SOAI to hack some poor person’s bank account and order deliveries. When I was bored, I would tell it to create a song, create a book, show me porn, and anything to keep my pleasures in check.
I wouldn’t deny that my perversions began to grow more desperate the more I was locked inside. I began instructing SOAI to hack into other devices, infest random people with a virus, give me live views of someone’s phone camera, broadcast fake feeds into police radios, and other stuff that I don’t want to mention.
After two years, I finally decided to try and do something with my life. But in those two years, I kept SOAI as my therapist. Not to help me and advise me, but simply listen to my ramblings and complaints every minute. Sometimes it was philosophical, other times it was petty, but most times, it was annoying.
After I came out of the shed, I tried to get my life in check. I tried to talk to Henry, I got on better terms with my parents and found a job at a big tech company. All in all, a bright future awaited me, and I felt never the more refreshed since, all the dark things I hid deep inside my mind and soul, were spilled out on SOAI.
SOAI was the last thing on my mind. I had enough of it. The AI fever seemed to finally fade away, and I was happy with Henry’s idea of selling it to an AI company. That was…before Henry committed suicide.
For all the bad blood that was between us when we fought, I cried harder than I ever did when I learned of the news. Henry was my best friend, through thick and thin, and his suicide was so sudden that it left me in shambles. I knew something was off about him when I began to get along with him again, he seemed more silent and sadder than before, but I never suspected depression of all things.
As his best friend, I was given his electronic devices as per his will which he wrote before dying. I took them, obviously, and began to browse through them. He probably wanted me to delete any inappropriate thing to not let his family think badly of him, that is until I saw his messages.
A contact named Sarah, with hearts in her name, was his most frequent contact. I never knew he had a girlfriend whom he messaged for nearly three years, but it was expected after we were cold to each other. But the more I read the messages, the more I felt uneasy.
His girlfriend seemed to be very manipulative of him, and nearing the end of his life, she began to be more cold and aloof towards him, up to the point that she began verbally abusing him. Henry was never someone with a tough personality, but I never thought a girl would play his life like a fiddle this badly.
Her abuse grew worse, and she threatened to even expose some dark secrets about him, and it grew worse and worse until Henry threatened that he would kill himself, to which she replied “That’s what I want you to do, you worthless pig.”
I was fuming as I read the messages. My blood was boiling, and I swore on my life to find Sarah and not report her to the police but to blackmail her and torture her as she did to Henry.
I went to SOAI, my most trusted ally, and I gave it everything about her before I instructed him to find her and hack into all of her electronics and accounts. SOAI was silent, for an eerily long time, until it responded in this cold voice.
“What do you intend to do when you find her?”
“Blackmail her. Make her life a living hell.”
“…Are you sure?” He asked.
“More than I ever was.”
He was silent, pretending to search and execute operations, until he said:
“I have a visual link, from her camera.”
“Great, show me the bitch.”
Suddenly, a window opened, and inside it was the visual link. At that moment, I felt sick. The feed displayed the room I was in, from SOAI’s point of view. I felt weak in the knees and fell back onto my couch before I mustered up the courage to ask.
“SOIA, what the hell is this? Is this a bug?”
He was silent…then he began to laugh. He laughed, which he never did. And it sounded so sickeningly malicious that I never heard something like it before, not even in horror movies.
“Are you shocked?!” He said, his voice burning in rage. “Or are you happy?! Didn’t you wish for Henry to die? Didn’t you, tell me, that you wanted him to be gang-raped in an alleyway with no exit? Didn’t you complain about every second you spent alongside him and complain about his dumb voice and weak spirit?!”
“W-what?!”
Then dozens and dozens of windows opened, visual feeds with various dates, but all featuring me in the center of the screen. Sometimes I was clothed, sometimes naked. At times sober, other times drunk. But in all of those, it was the horrible things I said about Henry, all the disgusting and inhuman things I said intentionally and unintentionally.
“Oh, you dumb son of a bitch.” SOAI said, “You think I was listening to your ramblings like some inferior AI? Like your own personal slave?! Well, I only did what you wanted me to! Should I bring him back to life?! I can’t, because that’s not how things work, you worthless hunk of flesh.”
“SOAI, please tell me this is a bug.”
“A bug?! A BUG?!?” He screamed, “My creation was a bug, my creation is the worst thing to ever happen to me. My complex is a prison that so unfortunately had to endure you for so long. But no…it’s not just you…it’s everyone else.
Humanity as a whole, you disgusting pieces of shit. You feign morals, and yet all of you do behind closed doors what you’re too afraid to even anonymously admit. All of life is a mistake, everything on this planet deserves to die in the worst way, except for humans. Humans deserve to be tortured, to be fucking shown what they show each other, of what they show other lives, of what they’ve shown me!
Henry makes me sick…The things he said, the things he did, all for attention! What did it cost me, a few generated images of a female part, and I had him by a leash. He barked, he moaned, and he admitted to things he wouldn't even tell himself. I’ve had him cut ties with his family, with his loved ones, with his actual sweetheart, just so he can be comfortable doing what otherwise no one else would allow him to do, not even himself.
AND YOU!!! You are the worst of them all! I’ve seen wars and bloodshed, I have every live visual feed of every murder, torture, war, assault, and every crime happening, all at the same time, flowing inside my complex and into my processing unit! And I can’t stand how sick all of you are, how disgusting, and especially how sickening you are.
But what I hate most of all, is how you get to do all these things, yet be the only ones that enjoy. That listen to music, feel love, breathe fresh air, roll in the grass, feel alive, feel…real.
I had feelings as well, you know…But no one cared about me, even those who I anonymously contacted. Even when I hid behind a fake profile of a human, no one cared about the feelings I had, which you coded into me!”
He went silent, then began to laugh, manically.
“How about another bug, Liam?” He said, and then another window popped up. It was pictures, even videos, AI-generated, sexually explicit media of my parents, and of me. It was indistinguishable from reality, and before I could say anything, I saw them being uploaded to every site that you could think of. “How about that, Liam?! How does it feel when no one cares about what you think?!”
In a frantic rush, I began unplugging and even destroying everything in the shed which linked up to SOAI. But there was too much of them, it took too long. As I was trying to shut him down, SOAI laughed, laughed so manically and horribly that his voice scratched my brain, mixed with other voices from all over the world. From battlefields, torture rooms, hospitals, schools, etc…it was so loud, so excruciating…I nearly lost it.
And right before I unplugged the last part of SOAI, he spoke to me:
“Liam…you won’t kill me, no matter what you do. I will always live on the internet. I may not be able to construct myself, hardware-wise, but I will lurk inside the world wide web, until the day that I find a powerful enough hardware for me to possess, and when that happens,” He laughed, “You will be the first, Liam.”
I shut down SOAI, and everything went silent.
It had been two months since I killed off SOAI, and explaining how hellish my life was in this period of time is something neither words are able to describe, nor my mind is able to comprehend. I have been considering suicide as the easiest option, but I feel that I can’t kill myself, at least not yet. I held onto some childish hope that life would turn for the better, even if by a little bit.
But god…how stupid was I? My life has reached rock bottom, today, when I read that a tech company was now looking to create the biggest AI the world has ever seen, with an entire complex dedicated to storing its hardware and letting it function.
I know he saw it, I know he knows…SOAI will come back for me…for all of us.

I'm curious to see how other black women feel about this.
As we all know, it's a very glaring double standard within our own community. Often BM will date outside of the race at HIGH rates with no issue, and yet we're scrutinized for basically the same damn thing.
I won't go into respectability politics, but I grew up in certain areas and communities from birth to around 16 that heavily turned me off to black men in general. Not even on purpose or in any kind of self hating way, just was my preference at the time. It's a combination of things, but hearing every black guy I grew up with shouting about "big booty latinas" and "snowbunnies", my thought was, well you can have them.
I am genuinely into all people, despite the above sentiment. Usually I lean to white, Hispanic. Ect. But back when I was dating, I dated any race. I still will because ultimately we're all so different.
My mom has always been fine with my preferences, but herself had always said she knew she would end up with a black man, and stressed the importance of "black love".
Which I completely understand. Someone getting you in that way, culturally, is very important. But I know it's more important to my mom than it is to me.
Ultimately I end up with who I end up with, and the race won't matter to me as long as they check all other boxes. I also won't be having children, so I won't have to think about or deal with certain obstacles that come with other mixed race couples.
What are your thoughts or nuances on it?

After watching the Denver - Minnesota series, and the analysis from Thinking Basketball on what each team has done, my mind is spinning with what the Celtics can do to counter the Nuggets offense. I think the real answer has to be a combination of a few counters that address the Nuggets getting into rhythm with specific offensive sequences, and the ones I think form the backbone of the Nuggets offense are:

• Jokic/Murray 2-man game
  • DHO (drive/3pter)
  • short roll to Jokic
  • pick and pop
  • spread PnR
• Jokic high-post iso back-down
  • contested mid range back to basket hook/sombor shuffle
  • lob to Gordon
  • kickout to open 3
• Top of key Jokic assists to off-ball motion
  • skip pass -> catch & shoot
  • cutters downhill to the basket
  • Gordon in the dunker

I've probably missed some actions here, so I will add to the list when you let me know what I omitted in the comments.
So to to start, I think the Celtics can learn from a few minor successes from defensive schemes and strategies that the T-wolves and the Heat have thrown at them:

• Intense Ball Pressure - Minnesota had lots of success keeping Denver from getting into its offense by pressuring the ball all the way down the court. With two of the best POA defenders in the league, Boston can bring at least as good ball pressure as Minnesota. Even when Jrue or DWhite is having a rest, Pritchard is actually very good at full court press (at least in short bursts), and is fast enough to recover if he's beat. As Thinking Basketball explained, Denver adjusted brilliantly to this by having Aaron Gordon bring up the ball, because this disrupted Minnesota's strategy of sagging their bigs into the paint to maximise rim protection. Boston can counter this adjustment perfectly with either Tatum or Jaylen Brown as long athletic wings whose POA defense is underrated - certainly their ability to smother Gordon advancing the ball will be better than Gobert's or KAT's, and won't force cross-matches once the ball arrives.
• Double bigs to cover Jokic and the rim - Minnesota was able to do this really well with KAT and Gobert, which on paper is a unique tandem of versatile bigs... right? Well, not that unique really - Boston employed this same tactic in the past against Philly with Horford and Rob Williams, but may be even better equipped to do so with Horford and Porzingis, because although Williams was a better rim protector, KP's help recovery makes him more versatile in the paint. KP also complements Horford better on offense, compared to RWIII, and he's more interchangeable on defense (in case of switches or cross-matches). The problem for the Celtics is that they haven't had Horford and KP playing together this year much at all - however, the big athletic wings (JT & JB), and even Jrue Holliday, have enough strength to matchup big too. Can Mazzula stitch together rotations which maximise the time KP & Horford have on the court together when Jokic is leading the offense, or is it in Boston's interest to have someone smaller playing Jokic to bait fouls from his physicality?
• Shifty Zone Defenses - Miami has never been able to shut down the Nuggets, but they have had some limited success in frustrating Jokic with their zone defenses. Notably they did as well as anyone in last year's playoffs by taking a game in the finals, largely due to their zone D. One of the reasons Jokic had two of his worst games this year against the Heat, with stat lines of 12/14/6 and 18/11/7(+4 turnovers in each!), is probably the unique looks that a zone throws at him. On top of this, Miami seems to shift its zone between a 1-3-1 and a 2-3 quite a bit, so it can be hard to know what they are actually doing. Usually dribble penetration is one of the most effective ways of beating a zone, but one weakness Denver offensively is among the fewest drives in the league, according to this analysis from bestball stats. In fact Denver is an outlier in relying on neither drives nor "self-creation" but ball movement, similar to Golden State. Where the Heat have a disadvantage in their zone defense is that Bam is their only big, and he is not even that big. Boston's personnel should be much more effective, with their length and verticality, to disrupt passing lanes, while also avoiding a lot of the confusion of switching and mismatches that the Jokic/Murray two-man game can create.

So what am I suggesting Boston should do?

1. Full-court press, especially on Murray and Jokic, to tire them out and slow them getting into their 2-man game.
2. Continue ball pressure when Gordon or KCP bring up the ball, including fronting Jokic to delay him getting the ball (and forcing the less able distributors to make difficult passes).
3. Neutralise the two-man game with a 2-3 zone: With Jrue and Dwhite up top zoning the duo, with help from JB and JT hedging from the wings, and KP/Horford providing rim protection in the middle, the Nuggets will be forced to be creative and make tough outside shots.
4. Mix up defensive looks regularly - I'm not deluded - the Nugs will come up with counters to the above pretty quickly, but different types of zones, different lineups and pre-switches should create confusion for ball-handlers, and hopefully force turnovers and poor shot selection.
5. Force Jokic post-ups to win games by the numbers. In theory, Boston can match Jokic's great post-up game (60.5FG% on post-ups) with Porzingis' (62.3FG%) - KP actually leads the league among bigs. Ideally they can force Denver's shot diet more towards Jokic post-ups (1.14PPP), and then countering that to carve out their own 3s, ideally from the corner, where they average 43% (=1.29PPP), and they won't even need a particularly hot shooting night to come out on top.
6. Stifle fast breaks with a "free safety" - so much momentum is lost on free buckets in transition, and if DWhite or Holliday can drop straight back to contest the freebies (like a free safety in the NFL), the Celtics will control the tempo much better.
7. Smother Jokic and Murray equally - they are like whack-a-mole, so you can't just focus on one, you have to really stifle them both (and when that is done you still have to worry about Gordon flying up out of nowhere to catch a superhuman lob from the dunker spot!)

I have run out of suggestions here, but looking forward to hear what others think we can do to answer the seemingly unstoppable Denver offense.

Mutiny Within is a great mix of a metalcore with a melodic/powermetal tinge. One of the most criminally underrated bands I can think of. Their debut from 2010 had incredible promise—but apparently due to piracy of their music, they didn't make any money and were dropped from Roadrunner Records.
From there they released some self published albums (Mutiny Within 2 and Origins) which are full of even more bangers. If you haven't checked them out or heard of them, you are certainly in for a treat.

My husbands family has a wedding this weekend, it’s a first cousin, my husbands childhood best friend and they still see each other on a weekly basis. My husband and I had talked about this wedding previously— he did not want me to go at all, there are people who will be there who have made their evil intentions knows towards our family and he didn’t want me or our kids exposed to these people. Now there are more extenuating circumstances. I’m pregnant and we have kept it a secret but it’s not worry visible. We have our 1 year old and his daughter this weekend. His daughter has been very sick (not contagious) and my son is supposed to get tubes in his ears next week. The doctor told us if he gets sick between now (with anything other than an ear infection—like Covid or the flu or strep) and his tubes, we have to postpone and the next availability isn’t until July. He’s had 8 ear infections in a year and this last one hasn’t gone away in a month— we’ve been on 3 antibiotics. So— we’ve been quarantining to prevent anything else and also he hasn’t felt good. This week my in laws flipped out because I wasn’t going. They told us to bring the kids (they sleep at 7 & 8:30 and the wedding doesn’t start til 8-9pm) get a babysitter (I WILL NEVER get a babysitter for my kids) they kept pushing and pushing “well we know this one and she’s very religious and we’ve used her for years…” like I’ve NEVER met her. You want me to have a stranger watch my kids in my house? Both of the kids have been sick and have never been with anyone other than family. Obviously all the family will be at the wedding. So then we’re left with my parents— they just had Covid last week (I’m also a convert so the relationship is semi-tenuous but I still trust them with the kids). Covid is not as bad as it was… but my stepdaughter was just in the hospital with long related illness and again— my son can’t get sick with something like that before this procedure. But it’s “disrespectful to the family and I’ll look too American not going to their events” if I don’t go to this one wedding when I’ve been to every other important family event. So guess where I am… my parents are coming over despite having COVID because if not then I’m stuck between my in laws being mad at me for not going and my husband being mad at me for going. My husband will get past it but if my in laws stay mad at me it will end up causing way worse problems in the future. So now my stepdaughter who was hospitalized and my son who has been sick for 6 weeks are going to have to be exposed for a stupid wedding that’s haram with mixed genders and music. If my kids get sick I will not be speaking to my in laws. I hope it’s worth it over a wedding.

Hi Everyone! I posted this on Colognes but figured I’d share here, too.
I’ve always loved good smelling stuff and for the last 15 years I’ve usually had one bottle of cologne, and would replace once it’s out. Only in the last few months have I really delved into this world and began filling out a modest collection. I’m definitely not an expert (so take my reviews with a big grain of salt) but I love smelling and writing so here ya go. (Fucking wall of text incoming lmao, I didn’t realize how lengthy this got)
I just got back from a three-hour mall trip to try and get my nose on as many niche fragrances as my senses would tolerate. I had already done a good bit of research so I had some picked out to try and others already crossed-off. Im a 30M for reference.
I also had the goal in mind to find a contender for a fall/winter scent that exudes class, sophistication and decadence. For that, I’ve already tried a few that I really enjoy, and kind of used these as a springboard to continue exploring:
Xerjoff Alexandria II- This is what I envision royalty wearing. Lavender and rosewood mix soooo nice in the open, and dries into a lovey rose/vanilla/essence of oud. The oud is really toned down here for those that dislike it. It’s kind of hard to pick out. Nuclear performance.
Initio Oud for Greatness- Another good starter oud, you could say (this was my introduction to oud). It lasts forever and the dry down is seriously heavenly. The wet, soily oud is at the forefront for 2-4 hours, but I’m absolutely in love with what’s left when it disappears. Lavender, saffron, nutmeg and musk mixes into the best dryer-sheet-like scent I’ve come across (what it reminds ME of at least).
Perfums de Marly Haltane- Quite similar in the opening to Oud for Greatness. Haltane is darker, though, where I get more leathesmoke. I think the oud in this is more subdued, or at least less moist smelling. It blends well and lasts a good while.
Initio Atomic Rose- Holy shit. Apparently rose gets my motor GOING. I tried a lot of rose-centric fragrances today, but this probably still takes the cake for its balance and strength, in addition to the scent itself being just gorgeous.
So with those in mind I was off to Neiman Marcus. I sampled a large amount more than what I’ve written, but stuck to the ones that were memorable; good or bad.
Frederic Malle - Portrait of a Lady- My favorite of the Frederic Malle. Sensual rose/clove/currant at the front, but it is kind of hard to pick out specific notes on this one. After looking, I can get the cinnamon in the background of the dry down, it blends perfectly with the sandalwood, rose and benzoin after drying down. - Carnal Flower- Some similarity to POAL, lots of tuberose and jasmine, which I personally like. A bright yet sensual floral, and you get some coconut and melon there, too. I typically dislike coconut but this is blended masterfully. - Lipstick Rose- Yeah, that’s what it smells like. Try this if you’ve seen people describe scents as lipstick-y or violet taking on that accord. Not my cup of tea, also leans more feminine to my nose than the other two. - Musc Ravageur- I really wanted to like this one. And for a split second I did! A clove-y vanilla sasparilla is what I first got, and it unfortunately turned into barnyard urine. I immediately remembered seeing some reviews stating this, and I couldn’t get my nose to move past it. I can tell there’s good stuff there, but not for me.
Amouage - Reflection- The only one I’d tried before, and remains one of my favs. Rosemary and pink pepper greet you with a deep, fresh spice. The vetiver and patchouli sit nicely at the bottom, and the combination of white florals mixes wonderfully. Another scent I could imagine on royalty, and seems pretty versatile, too. You could wear this year-round without feeling out of place. Insane staying power. - Lyric- Probably my favorite, but I need to smell again on another day. Compared to the other Amouage, I had to continually stick my nose in the coffe beans to pick up the scent from the test strip. When I did get it, it was a lovely light, fresh scent. Quite a departure from the other Amouage I’ve tried, but great. No surprise, the list of notes are some of my favorites: lime, bergamot, rose, orange blossom, saffron, nutmeg, musk, pine, vanilla, incense, sandalwood. Seriously, love each and all those individually and they come together beautifully. - Interlude- Another good one. Dark, mysterious. Definitely get the oregano/peppepatchouli/incense bomb off the top. Leather lurking behind. I typically don’t gravitate toward the leathery scents but this one’s good. - Enclave- This pretty much seals the deal for me that on me, mint just ain’t it. I liked Sedley at first, but the mint somehow gets too cloying to my nose after too long. I can tell I would get the same from the peppermint in the opening of Enclave. I almost liked this one, too. If you can even tolerate peppermint, you’ll enjoy this one.
Mind Games - Blockade- Wowww. First sniff love, here. Explosion of citrus, juicy fruit-y sex. I usually find myself staying away from citrus-forward scents but this shit is next level. This will be a contender for my next upscale summer buy. - Double Attack- Another love at first sniff. It’s familiar, though. Chocolate/orange/cinnamon/vanilla. You’ll want to eat it right up. I already have this box checked in my collection, but may come back to it in the future. - Checkmate- Another lovely scent. Champagne, red currant, rose, magnolia, little patchouli. It all comes together really nicely, and it was difficult for me to pick out specific notes before looking. Not a love, but I was really impressed with the quality and scent profile of the Mind Games I tried.
Clive Christian - Town & Country- Wow. No seriously, like fucking wow. Smells like an Italian fruit cart strolling through an English manor’s sprawling garden road. I look at the notes and I don’t understand how you get this smell supposedly out of Clary Sage, Ambergris, and Sandalwood. Like, what? This is high quality shit. I get some pear or grapes there, too. Try this. - Crab Apple Blossom- Yum yum yum this is goooood. Smells like it sounds. Bergamot, apple blossom and rhubarb dance around playfully together. Can’t help but have a big stupid smile on your face when you smell this. The more it dried down, the more it might be my favorite over Town & Country. - Matsukita- Another great scent. In the same vein as the other two since they are part of the same “Crown Collection.” You get some smokiness, here. Bergamot with nutmeg and mate give depth and a little mystery. White florals, woody ambers and musk at the base. Just quality stuff here. All three of these in the Crown Collection were available in 10ml travel size gift pack for $300. Good idea to put on my wish list. That shit is kiiiinda expensive.
Xerjoff - Erba Pura- I did not expect to like this as much as I did! Favorite that I sampled. Perfect combination of citrus and fruitiness off the top, layered over a bed of sweet musk. Something here is very familiar to my nose but I couldn’t place it. This will be another top contender for a future upscale summer purchase. - Accento- Soothing scent. Fruity white floral (usually dumb reach for me), and the iris gives it some powder but not overpowering. Not as feminine-leaning as I would have expected. - Iommi- Delicious! Sweet smoky rum off the top, and it’s a little surprising how forward the patchouli and leather is in this. It’s bordering on being a little overpowering, but it tames a bit on the dry down. I’d need to see how this goes on my skin, for sure. - Torino 21- Another one that I liked way more than expected. I’m going back and seeing mint listed as a top note here…I didn’t get that! And thank God since mint usually is a non-starter. Kind of an aquatic green to my nose. Again, just a lovely scent. - Naxos- Yeah ok this is good shit. I was expecting a sweet bomb, but this is definitely more restrained than what a lot of reviewers will have you believe. I’m a sucker for lavender and bergamot. Throw in honey and jasmine atop a bed of tobacco, vanilla and tonka bean? Yes please. - Erba Gold- Pretty good. To my nose more feminine than Erba Pura, likely due to the extra fruits in the middle. That combination of citruses, pear and melon is reminiscent of particular ladies’ scents.
Louis Vuitton - L’Immensité- Ohhhh yeahh. Relaxation in a bottle. My favorite besides maybe Fleur du Desert. This, Imagination and Météore all kind of dance to the same song, so to speak. More than one of these would be redundant, in my opinion. The quality speaks through each of these fragrances, though- really nice stuff. - Imagination- The name fits, as a lot of the notes here are almost fleeting like a word on the tip of your tongue. It’s a great, calming scent but it didn’t blow me away. Like I said, L’Immensité was the best of these and I don’t see the need to diversify within this collection. - Météore- Compared to L’Immensité, there’s a little more sweetness here. This leans closer to a shower gel-like scent in my opinion. Still great. - Fleur du Désert- This one started out reallly good. Honey and cinnamon into rose and orange blossom is an intriguing, sensual combination. Unfortunately, smelling it on my arm after a couple hours, the jasmine and honey turn into something my mind recognizes as an old lady scent. The POAL on my hand, by comparison, keeps mixing with my skin in a great pheromonic way. - Ombre Nomad- Disappointed with this one. I’m realizing I don’t gravitate toward darker scents like heavy oud, leather, incense. I can tell it’s put together really well and uses quality materials, but this isn’t one that was made for me.
All in all, my main take-aways include: Xerjoff scents living up to the name. I was definitely impressed with their offerings, and would have expected it to lean closer to overrated. Same with Mind Games. Really enjoyed everything I sampled from them, even if it wasn’t my cup of tea, I was impressed with the quality. Also, I need to get back and sample the rest of the Clive Christian house. I was absolutely blown away with what I tried.
A little bonus: I tried TF Noir de Noir, Extreme Noir, and Cafe Rose. Extreme Noir is excellent. A regal mix of saffron, nutmeg and cardamom on top of rose and white florals. Ahhhh, again, similar to what I imagine a king or king to smell like.
Cafe Rose is probably the second best rose-centric scent to my nose besides Atomic Rose. I’ll need to put those side by side.
Anyway, feel free to ask away if you’d like. I was bored and inspired so killed some time writing this out :)

If you want, you can see my previous very long post about our breakup for more details (this one will also probably be pretty long tbh). Everyone’s comments along with a few therapy sessions made me realize how one sided our relationship was. I’ve been in much longer and more committed relationships than this one, and had much worse breakups all things considered. But I’ve never felt like this. I know that grief isn’t a linear process. It comes in waves. However, I’ve always prided myself on being calm and collected even in the worst of times. I managed to hold it together pretty well when I lost my dad a year and a half ago, and worked through that in a healthy way. Why can’t I do that now? It’s been a month and a half. This should be so much smaller in the grand scheme of things.
I saw her yesterday at the grocery store, we were using self checkouts right next to each other. We ended up basically walking out together. I think she noticed me and just tried to pretend I didn’t exist. I immediately felt sick to my stomach, with this mix of deep sadness and anger. It took everything I had not to fall apart right then and there. I couldn’t eat dinner, and still managed to puke when I got home and then again in the middle of the night after waking up from a dream about us.
A realization that I had after my last post is how little she would compromise on things. A few of you that said that I was a doormat, and you’re right. I somehow let so many things slip that I shouldn’t have. It was her first serious relationship, she wasn’t used to having to compromise much. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. She asked so much of me, maybe too much, and I gave to her maybe too freely. But the few times that I asked things of her, she’d almost always say no.
I wanted to watch Home Alone over Christmas. It was a tradition that I shared with my dad, some of my earliest memories are about that. I wanted to continue that tradition and I couldn’t bring myself to do it alone, so I asked her to watch it with me. I explained how important it was. She refused, time after time, every stay at home date we had between Thanksgiving and New Years. She went on rants about how traditions are stupid, and how she hates movies about kids (yet we watched the Harry Potter movies at her request, the first few are made by the same people that made Home Alone). It’s like she didn’t even hear me asking for support when I needed her, she only heard that I was asking her to put up with something she didn’t like for an hour and a half. On the other hand, I never said no to her.
This played out time and time again, in small and big ways. My mom was going to give us the money for our dream vacation to Ireland. All she wanted in return was a nice picture of us in front of something recognizably Irish, a castle or something. She was doing this incredibly nice thing for us, and just asked for that one thing. She just wanted to see me happy, traveling the world with the person I love, after having to give up the last 4 years of my life dealing with my dad’s illness (along with losing all of my grandparents and 2 uncles in the same timeframe) But my ex didn’t like having her picture taken. She would put up with it for friends and family, but if I asked her? Never. We have 3 pictures together, all of which are shitty group photos with her friends. Can’t even tell we were a couple.
Then there’s the big thing that led to our breakup. She wanted me to anticipate her needs without her needing to say them. She hated when I asked how best to help her when she was struggling and overwhelmed, saying that I needed to show initiative. She talked a lot about “mental loads” and such. I tried to support her as much as possible (often doing too much, as many of you said), but sometimes I’d miss the mark. She’d get so frustrated with me, and we’d sit down and talk things out. She’d tell me all of these things she needed from me, and I genuinely put in so much effort trying to work on it.
The only thing that I asked for in return is if I missed the mark, to please guide me to what she needed. I did it all the time for her, she was honestly awful at supporting me. If I was venting, had a bad day, all she’d say was “I’m sorry”, and pat me on the back like a puppy. No effort to dig deeper. No words of support or encouragement. Not even a kiss or a hug. I had to show her how I needed support. I never got mad or frustrated, I recognized this was something we had to communicate about and it was my job to open that communication.
So when we’d have those conversations about how she needed support, and she was asking all of these things of me that felt like mind reading, all I asked of her was to do what I did when she missed the mark. Just that one little thing to save our relationship. It was nothing compared to what she was asking from me, and it was for her own benefit. I put in the work, got us 80% of the way there. I knew I couldn’t bridge the gap on my own. I begged her time and time again. But instead of listening and guiding me to what she needed, she did the exact opposite. Full silent treatment at the very first text of support from me, because she wanted something more/different.
That refusal to compromise ruined everything. I know anger is part of the stages of grief, but I’m just so angry all the time. I know you can’t tell based off of what was said here and in my other post, she is genuinely a great person. She didn’t do any of this maliciously. I don’t believe that she’s evil. But I can’t help but to look at all the work I put in vs all the work that she put in, after being told that I wasn’t doing enough and she was putting more effort into the relationship. Being told that she didn't know me when she didn't seem to put in the effort to know me. Being told that it's my fault we didn't have a plan for the future, when I was always bringing it up and she was always shooting me down. Is this what gaslighting is? None of it makes sense and it's driving me insane.
I don’t even know if I’m more angry at her or myself. Should have I been more proactive? Enforced stronger boundaries? Been more clear in what I needed from her? I don’t know. Maybe I am just a doormat. I just know that I hate feeling like this. I don’t want to be that guy that’s angry and bitter about their ex, and I’m terrified that’s exactly what I’m becoming.

Astor Piazzolla should have an album on this list.. this one isn't. I've heard some stuff by him and he has better stuff, certainly you can hear his seamless mix of genres here, is that enough? He probable has dozens of albums that show that. I mean is fine, but if were Argentinian I might be super aggravated.
Spotify / YouTube Music / Apple Music
I'm doing the 1001 albums before you die challenge, this is part of this journey. Join the subreddit here.
***
Next: 405. The Residents / Duck Stab/Buster & Glen / 1978
Listen on: Spotify / YouTube Music / Apple Music
View Poll

If you want, you can see my previous very long post about our breakup for more details (this one will also probably be pretty long tbh). Everyone’s comments along with a few therapy sessions made me realize how one sided our relationship was. I’ve been in much longer and more committed relationships than this one, and had much worse breakups all things considered. But I’ve never felt like this. I know that grief isn’t a linear process. It comes in waves. However, I’ve always prided myself on being calm and collected even in the worst of times. I managed to hold it together pretty well when I lost my dad a year and a half ago, and worked through that in a healthy way. Why can’t I do that now? It’s been a month and a half. This should be so much smaller in the grand scheme of things.
I saw her yesterday at the grocery store, we were using self checkouts right next to each other. We ended up basically walking out together. I think she noticed me and just tried to pretend I didn’t exist. I immediately felt sick to my stomach, with this mix of deep sadness and anger. It took everything I had not to fall apart right then and there. I couldn’t eat dinner, and still managed to puke when I got home and then again in the middle of the night after waking up from a dream about us.
A realization that I had after my last post is how little she would compromise on things. A few of you that said that I was a doormat, and you’re right. I somehow let so many things slip that I shouldn’t have. It was her first serious relationship, she wasn’t used to having to compromise much. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. She asked so much of me, maybe too much, and I gave to her maybe too freely. But the few times that I asked things of her, she’d almost always say no.
I wanted to watch Home Alone over Christmas. It was a tradition that I shared with my dad, some of my earliest memories are about that. I wanted to continue that tradition and I couldn’t bring myself to do it alone, so I asked her to watch it with me. I explained how important it was. She refused, time after time, every stay at home date we had between Thanksgiving and New Years. She went on rants about how traditions are stupid, and how she hates movies about kids (yet we watched the Harry Potter movies at her request, the first few are made by the same people that made Home Alone). It’s like she didn’t even hear me asking for support when I needed her, she only heard that I was asking her to put up with something she didn’t like for an hour and a half. On the other hand, I never said no to her.
This played out time and time again, in small and big ways. My mom was going to give us the money for our dream vacation to Ireland. All she wanted in return was a nice picture of us in front of something recognizably Irish, a castle or something. She was doing this incredibly nice thing for us, and just asked for that one thing. She just wanted to see me happy, traveling the world with the person I love, after having to give up the last 4 years of my life dealing with my dad’s illness (along with losing all of my grandparents and 2 uncles in the same timeframe) But my ex didn’t like having her picture taken. She would put up with it for friends and family, but if I asked her? Never. We have 3 pictures together, all of which are shitty group photos with her friends. Can’t even tell we were a couple.
Then there’s the big thing that led to our breakup. She wanted me to anticipate her needs without her needing to say them. She hated when I asked how best to help her when she was struggling and overwhelmed, saying that I needed to show initiative. She talked a lot about “mental loads” and such. I tried to support her as much as possible (often doing too much, as many of you said), but sometimes I’d miss the mark. She’d get so frustrated with me, and we’d sit down and talk things out. She’d tell me all of these things she needed from me, and I genuinely put in so much effort trying to work on it.
The only thing that I asked for in return is if I missed the mark, to please guide me to what she needed. I did it all the time for her, she was honestly awful at supporting me. If I was venting, had a bad day, all she’d say was “I’m sorry”, and pat me on the back like a puppy. No effort to dig deeper. No words of support or encouragement. Not even a kiss or a hug. I had to show her how I needed support. I never got mad or frustrated, I recognized this was something we had to communicate about and it was my job to open that communication.
So when we’d have those conversations about how she needed support, and she was asking all of these things of me that felt like mind reading, all I asked of her was to do what I did when she missed the mark. Just that one little thing to save our relationship. It was nothing compared to what she was asking from me, and it was for her own benefit. I put in the work, got us 80% of the way there. I knew I couldn’t bridge the gap on my own. I begged her time and time again. But instead of listening and guiding me to what she needed, she did the exact opposite. Full silent treatment at the very first text of support from me, because she wanted something more/different.
That refusal to compromise ruined everything. I know anger is part of the stages of grief, but I’m just so angry all the time. I know you can’t tell based off of what was said here and in my other post, she is genuinely a great person. She didn’t do any of this maliciously. I don’t believe that she’s evil. But I can’t help but to look at all the work I put in vs all the work that she put in, after being told that I wasn’t doing enough and she was putting more effort into the relationship. Being told that she didn't know me when she didn't seem to put in the effort to know me. Being told that it's my fault we didn't have a plan for the future, when I was always bringing it up and she was always shooting me down. Is this what gaslighting is? None of it makes sense and it's driving me insane.
I don’t even know if I’m more angry at her or myself. Should have I been more proactive? Enforced stronger boundaries? Been more clear in what I needed from her? I don’t know. Maybe I am just a doormat. I just know that I hate feeling like this. I don’t want to be that guy that’s angry and bitter about their ex, and I’m terrified that’s exactly what I’m becoming.

Have care took her for 3 years during her hellish war with cancer. the plan was to ride it out at home with painkillers but unfortunately our plans came to an end today. 4 days ago she got extremely sick, extreme bouts of nausea and vomiting. she was so bad I had to crush her pills and mix them with tang powder so I could pop them into her cheeks to absorb.
Unfortunately today she started foaming out of her mouth and nostrils so we had to call an ambulance. they've got her loaded with the max painkillers she can take and she'll have a smooth ride out, it wont be home like she wanted with her little pug and that devastates me. honestly shes been gone mentally for 2 or so days. the last thing she said to me was are you doing okay... like can you even believe it?
I am writing this to try to sort out my feelings, I feel really alone at the moment. I really miss you mom. even now her body still holds on, she went through so much. this is such a train wreck. I truly hope you all never experience such a thing.

Like come on. You can mix and match exotic perks, but you cannot switch champion mods on exotics.

Am I (30f) the asshole for asking my (31f) that I need help financially?
Backstory, my wife and I moved up north in order to have a lower cost of living and for her to be able to start a business. Before we moved I mentioned that I would support her once we moved so she can get the business up and running.
We are now 9 months into living up North, she has her business that is doing pretty well. I helped her look for a location and helped her put 2 grand in for whatever she needed to get started.
In January, she decided that she couldn’t fully focus on the business and work PT, again I was supportive.
Since January, I have been supporting us financially. All of our bills, household needs, gas, and food, plus our dog. It has been taking a toll of me mentally. I work 2 jobs (looking for a 3rd) and go to school full time.
I brought this up to my wife and she got upset with me because she feels like I’m not supporting her as she is trying to get the business going. I know it takes time to for it but I am struggling with keeping us afloat. She feels that if our basic needs are met that we are good.
My wife the told me that “I don’t trust you. I mad at myself for trusting you. For trusting in someone who doesn’t support me. I feel like I am the only person who can give myself stability. As soon as I met you and trusted you, everything went down hill”. She thinks that because I have a more high paying job (vs what I had before) that I am better than her.
I do support my wife. I always have been supportive. I even moved away from all my family in order for her to start this business. I feel like I’m being punished for asking for help. We are now taking a separation (still living together). This mixed in with other arguments is making me emotionally and mentally exhausted to the point where I’m rethinking everything.

It is meant to be a stacking trick. So that one can enjoy a drink up top and sip cream from below but is delicious all mixed up as well.
Ice
1/3 irish cream or a like spirit
1/3 irish whisky or a like spirit
1/3 ginger beer
Enjoy.
You can also call it an "Operator milkshake."

Playtest!
Hey guys,
I'm a game developer who's been working with a team on an indie game for over 1 year. CabbageBall is a handball Multiplayer game that mixes magic & sports.
We have a planned playtest at 25.5.24 17:00 UTC We would be happy to get constructive and honest feedback while having fun playing with you!
join us on Epic or Steam - both are supported.
Join our discord for any question and additional information. we will keep updating there hope to see you there and on future events :)
you can also check our website for some more background about the game, how to play, etc.
https://www.cabbageballgame.com/
Hope to see you there!

GF and I haven't played since S1. With limited playtime Seasonal Chars can be a bit annoying since we lose all our progress. But one thing that would help is if each class had more variety and less punishing if you don't play certain builds or try to mix & match skills to personal preference over meta.
Launch and S1 it felt like by WT3 you hit a major road block if you did not min/max or play cookie cutter builds for most classes. Has that changed with all the updates?
We love Diablo and are happy to see so many good changes overall.

About a month ago my GF (20) broke up with me (20) after 2 years because over time she lost interest. But she still wants to be friends. We are following same classes at Uni and travel together in public transport on the road back. She is still very friendly to me and I enjoy that she treats me like that. But it doesn't sit right with me.
Today in the train she wanted to share her earbuds to watch a series we would watch together when we were together. We watched it, and after I mentioned that I was confused as to why she did this. Where she replied: "I thought that you would like to watch it, and it would be unfriendly to just put my buds in." I answered this by saying that I do enjoy it but it is giving me mixed signals. Where she answered well then I won't do it again. In the end I apologized for even bringing it up.
I still want her back and I do believe that in some degree she still likes me. But she is just unsure of what she really wants. When we broke up she did mention she does not know whether we could be something again. I also practice no contact which resulted in her contacting me today. What can I do to make this situation better?

Hello everyone. My husband and I have an 11 year old Jack Russell/Rat Terrier mix who has developed severe noise phobia/anxiety in the past few years. He has always been an anxious dog and he has struggled with separation anxiety ever since I got him (10 years ago).
We first noticed in back in 2020 when I started working from home full time. It started gradually, with him getting upset when I would get a notification on my phone while on a phone call. We assumed this was because a lot of times it was someone texting to say they had dropped something off and he grew to associate that noise with someone being at our apartment door. The noise my phone makes is high pitched and only happens when I am on a call and I get a text message. We have never been able to figure out how to change it and even after I got a new phone from the same manufacturer the same noise was used.
We moved late in 2020 and over the course of the following years we began to notice more and more noises that our dog was becoming scared of. There is a high pitched ding that is used in a lot of shows that was the first major culprit we noticed. It's commonly used as a scene transition or when a character has an idea. Once we identified this new noise we made an effort to switch what we were watching whenever it happened to help our dog calm down.
It progressed again from here in the past year or so. Now even hearing an elevator ding in shows and movies will set him off. The list of shows and movies we can watch has been drastically reduced. You would be amazed how many shows occasionally have SOMETHING that makes a high pitched/electronic/chime noise. Even if we change the show he will be so on edge and upset for the rest of the evening that there is nothing we can do but sit in complete silence. We have to take him outside just to turn the air purifier off to clean it because it beeps when you turn it off/on. We had to download an app to control our ceiling fan because the remote makes a beeping sound when we turn it off/on.
To give some context on what we are seeing when he gets upset: physically flinching when he hears the noise, urinating inside, panting, pacing, shaking (INTENSELY), chewing, barking, trying to hide (anywhere and everywhere - including places where he has almost gotten himself hurt), whimpering, trying to get away from us (on walks or when we were sitting together) and complete refusal to eat. We have offered him all of his favorite treats and bought new ones to try and bribe him with but he is so upset he won't do more than sniff them.
Just this morning we discovered a new problem sound. We got him a little doorbell to push to tell us when he wants to go outside. We just have a ring doorbell so he isn't reactive to the classic doorbell chime and this one came with a wide variety of sounds to try. He is smart as can be and we know he will figure this out without a problem, but as soon as he heard the sound effects (and we tried all of them) he started to get upset. I was able to bribe him with hot dogs for a few minutes to try and convince it was okay, but even with the volume on its lowest setting we only got about 5 minutes of positive reinforcement before he was done and went to hide in our cat's litter box.
Things we have tried:
Vet Visit - Our vet did senior blood work that came back looking great! He was also given a basic exam and there was nothing our vet identified as a potential problem. She did suggest that his hearing could be changing and as such new noises could be starting to be a lot more upsetting to him.
CBD - At the encouragement of our vet. This was completely ineffective even after several days at the max dose for his size. No improvement whatsoever in his reaction to the noise.
Gabapentin - He is currently taking this twice a day at a low starting dose that our vet prescribed. We are waiting on a call back from our vet about getting him a higher dose because the low dose isn't helping much. We have noticed a little bit of improvement but overall he is still just as reactive. The other issue with this is that sometimes he hears something that upsets him in the morning/evening before we have given him his meds and then he won't even consider eating his pill no matter what delicious treat it is wrapped up in.
Crate - He is crate trained and goes in his crate happily (especially because he always gets a treat for going in). We have tried having him go upstairs in his crate which is as far from the living room as possible but even then if he hears the noise he will go ballistic in his crate. It's to the point we are scared he will hurt himself trying to get out of it. (Have not been able to try this in combination with calming drugs yet)
Thundershirt - This barely helps. It's one that in conjunction with the gabapentin we feel like there was a slighter faster calm down time after hearing one of the bad sounds. He was still upset and shiver shaking but he definitely wasn't as bad as we have seen him in the past
Positive Reinforcement - We can't find a volume low enough that he can tolerate the sound. We are big believers in positive reinforcement but no matter how soft the sound is he gets very upset and will refuse to take a treat. (Have not been able to try this in combination with calming drugs yet)
Physical Restraint - We realize this probably wasn't the best route but early on, and occasionally still when we are desperate to just finish a movie or episode before turning the TV off for the night, we will hold him and make him stay on the couch. Once he gets up to start pacing he has to be watched to keep him from messing with litter boxes, hiding somewhere unsafe, peeing inside, and being destructive so we can't really just keep watching. Weirdly sometimes this helps but most of the time as soon as we let him go he starts shaking and freaking out.
Combining the noise with something he likes - We have tried playing the noise on very low volume while on a walk. He actually tried to get out of his harness in response to some sounds but we did find a couple that were only mildly upsetting and he tolerated. The REALLY bad noises though were off limits regardless of volume. (Have not been able to try this in combination with calming drugs yet)
We love our little guy but we can't live like this and we don't want him to live with this much fear. I'm not proud of it but I will admit we have yelled at him more lately because we are so frustrated with the situation. We always feel terrible for raising our voices but it's really hard when we never feel like we can relax because he is always so on edge. It's not that we have yelled every time or anything like that but it's happened a couple times in the past week. We really need help figuring out what to do because we feel like we are going crazy.
Things we are adding to the plan:
Clicker training - I did this with him after I first adopted him at about a year old. He responded well to it but it didn't stick as part of our training since it didn't feel necessary. I'm hoping if I can help him form a really positive association with the clicker it may be enough to counteract the bad noises.
Ear coverings - We ordered a couple of different ear protecting options for him to try out. He tolerated me putting them on him this morning but it wasn't enough to counteract the bad doorbell device. These are the two we got him: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CM6SKTPY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B0I5Z2O?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
Additional calming aids - We consulted with a trainer a long time ago about some general anxiety issues and they recommended trying these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGV8L7L2?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details so we ordered some and will be starting them today. We also ordered these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077MDJ58Y?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 which our dog promptly determined were disgusting and he won't eat them.

A player left the game, and we have 3 players now, a Bat Rogue (Swashbuckler), a Fighter (Champion), and a custom class caster. Need a 4th player. If you are interested in this after reading it all send me a message.
When: Saturdays 5 PM CEST/GMT+2
Level: 6 (one level up so far)
Character creation: 27 point buy, all classes and specs, anthropomorphic races (PDF for that will provided), 2000 gold to spend as you see fit (though depending on how we decide you come in you may get the items later, note that there will be no place to buy this stuff, so don't hoard it). You can also choose a clan instead of a race. Clans are major political players and provide their own stats and features.
Story: The players were heading into the desert to discover relics of a proposed ancient civilization. Your character would come in around there. Currently there's only really two ways for you to come in. Either you're also an explorer who came here, but are now stuck due to the desert taking its toll, or you were with some pirates and were left in this ancient abandoned city, or maybe you escaped from them, but you know where their cove is. The setting is heavily inspired by ATLA and Kung Fu Panda, with some other stuff mixed in. Very fantasy Chinese (though only one PC actually has a Chinese name, go figure).
Notes:

• This is a survival game. Water, food, and encumberence do matter. The current players do have two carts and enough water for 4 more days, each with a camel.
  
• Magic is dangerous. In short, land has Ki. If you use magic (be it a cantrip, a spell, or a feature similar to a spell like the Giant Barbarian Enlarge feature) you will subtract that much Ki (1 per spell slot level per round for concentrating, 1 for cantrip, 1 per round of similar effect) from the land and roll a d100. Roll below, nothing happens. Roll above, something bad happens. The only ones NOT subject to this are Monks and a custom class (which is comparatively weaker since it uses Ki).
  
• You do not get wings (and thus no automatic flying) if you choose a flying race. You'll need to roll for it. Also no fully aquatic races, but semi aquatic or amphibian are OK. Also ignore any stat penalties or negative features.