Hello everyone, I want to talk about something that's been bothering me. For weeks now, I've had a feeling of hoarseness in my throat and as if there's constantly some mucus in my throat that I want to cough away. I've asked my friend if I sound hoarse, but he says no. Additionally, I've been experiencing chest and shoulder pains that aren't constant but come and go. However, the worst symptom I have is the feeling as if there's something in my throat or lungs, causing me to struggle to breathe. It feels like it's constantly there, sometimes less so, but otherwise persistent. I'm so afraid it might be lung cancer. I'm 22 and a non-smoker. It's weighing heavily on me. I'm soon moving in with my boyfriend, and I'm terrified it might be something serious, and I'll have to leave him with all the responsibility because I'm dying. Could it just be my anxiety? I know I shouldn't make remote diagnoses, but my doctors say I have hyperventilation syndrome, but I want clear answers and evidence.
Should I just go to the emergency?
Thanks for the responses.

Age: 26 months Height: 34” Weight: 37 lbs Duration: 3 days
My daughter was diagnosed with strep yesterday and prescribed amoxicillin. She has had a low fever, sore throat, runny nose, cough and poor sleep the last few days.
The problem is that it is nearly impossible to get her to take medicine - it is actually impressive how well she manages to spit it out. I know complications can be severe with strep so I am stressing about how I can get the medicine in her; however, when I google it I have read that kids under 3 rarely need to be treated for strep. So my question: if I am not able to get her to take this medicine, will she likely clear the infection on her own? Or is it just as important to treat with antibiotics as it would be in an older child or adult?

Could this be causing my tinnitus and headaches as well as a sore throat?

Hello, I would like to describe my current health issue to you, including my hypotheses about what might be causing it. I would like to hear your opinions on what it might be and how I should proceed. Keep in mind that I am already undergoing medical consultations and will have more, but so far, I have not reached a conclusion, so I would like as many opinions as possible.
If you need more information, feel free to ask.
For about two years, I have been experiencing facial pain and throat inflammation. I have never had these issues before. They started occurring after I had COVID-19, and I'm not sure if this is coincidental or a consequence of the virus. Initially, these pains were infrequent and mild, but in the past few months, they have become much more frequent and intense, significantly affecting my productivity, energy, and concentration. The pain is mostly noticeable upon waking, but sometimes it persists throughout the day. When the pain is less intense, it almost completely disappears after breakfast or lunch. However, when it is more severe, it doesn't go away at all, forcing me to rest in bed. Sometimes, even taking Tylenol does not relieve the pain.
The facial pain is located under my cheekbones, along my jaw, behind my eyes, and when it's very intense, at the center of my head just above my nose. The pain is continuous on both sides of my face and does not worsen with touch.
As for my throat, it feels like there's a constant lump at the lower part, as if it were scratched. It hurts continuously, not just when I swallow.
These pains occur year-round, regardless of the season.
Regarding medical checks and existing conditions, here are the details:

• I’ve had an eye exam, and there has been no deterioration beyond my existing myopia and astigmatism.
  
• I’ve been checked and do not have sinusitis.
  
• X-rays have shown no issues with my cervical spine.
  
• I likely clench my teeth at night and should be using a mouthguard.
  
• I need to have my wisdom teeth removed (I’ve only had one extracted so far) because they have not fully emerged and are pushing against the other teeth.
  
• I am allergic to dust mites.
  
• I have L4-S1 discopathy.
  
• Blood tests for thyroid issues showed no problems.
  
• I am currently on a treatment of Nicetile 500mg (L-acetylcarnitine HCl) under the assumption it might address nerve inflammation post-COVID, but there have been no changes after 15 days.
  

These issues also cause poor sleep quality. Despite sleeping for 7-8 hours, I wake up feeling tired and as if I need more rest, even if I did not exert myself physically or mentally the previous day.
From the beginning of May onwards, I experienced two weeks where every day I had a sore throat, headaches, and excessive tiredness, despite having taken antihistamines and cortisone spray for more than 20 days in April. I had a flu in early May and felt very ill; all symptoms (sore throat, cold, headache) were amplified and kept me in bed for several days, as if I had COVID. Even after the flu passed, I continued to experience throat lumps and headaches, along with excessive tiredness that rest did not alleviate.
I maintain a fairly balanced diet and engage in regular physical activity. I am physically at a normal weight.
My hypotheses:

• Depression/anxiety
  
• Sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia, or hypersomnia
  
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
  
• Long COVID
  
• Symptoms of a dust mite allergy
  
• Dental malocclusion and teeth grinding at night
  

Thank you to anyone who provides suggestions.

Hello, I would like to describe my current health issue to you, including my hypotheses about what might be causing it. I would like to hear your opinions on what it might be and how I should proceed. Keep in mind that I am already undergoing medical consultations and will have more, but so far, I have not reached a conclusion, so I would like as many opinions as possible.
If you need more information, feel free to ask.
For about two years, I have been experiencing facial pain and throat inflammation. I have never had these issues before. They started occurring after I had COVID-19, and I'm not sure if this is coincidental or a consequence of the virus. Initially, these pains were infrequent and mild, but in the past few months, they have become much more frequent and intense, significantly affecting my productivity, energy, and concentration. The pain is mostly noticeable upon waking, but sometimes it persists throughout the day. When the pain is less intense, it almost completely disappears after breakfast or lunch. However, when it is more severe, it doesn't go away at all, forcing me to rest in bed. Sometimes, even taking Tylenol does not relieve the pain.
The facial pain is located under my cheekbones, along my jaw, behind my eyes, and when it's very intense, at the center of my head just above my nose. The pain is continuous on both sides of my face and does not worsen with touch.
As for my throat, it feels like there's a constant lump at the lower part, as if it were scratched. It hurts continuously, not just when I swallow.
These pains occur year-round, regardless of the season.
Regarding medical checks and existing conditions, here are the details:

• I’ve had an eye exam, and there has been no deterioration beyond my existing myopia and astigmatism.
  
• I’ve been checked and do not have sinusitis.
  
• X-rays have shown no issues with my cervical spine.
  
• I likely clench my teeth at night and should be using a mouthguard.
  
• I need to have my wisdom teeth removed (I’ve only had one extracted so far) because they have not fully emerged and are pushing against the other teeth.
  
• I am allergic to dust mites.
  
• I have L4-S1 discopathy.
  
• Blood tests for thyroid issues showed no problems.
  
• I am currently on a treatment of Nicetile 500mg (L-acetylcarnitine HCl) under the assumption it might address nerve inflammation post-COVID, but there have been no changes after 15 days.
  

These issues also cause poor sleep quality. Despite sleeping for 7-8 hours, I wake up feeling tired and as if I need more rest, even if I did not exert myself physically or mentally the previous day.
From the beginning of May onwards, I experienced two weeks where every day I had a sore throat, headaches, and excessive tiredness, despite having taken antihistamines and cortisone spray for more than 20 days in April. I had a flu in early May and felt very ill; all symptoms (sore throat, cold, headache) were amplified and kept me in bed for several days, as if I had COVID. Even after the flu passed, I continued to experience throat lumps and headaches, along with excessive tiredness that rest did not alleviate.
I maintain a fairly balanced diet and engage in regular physical activity. I am physically at a normal weight.
My hypotheses:

• Depression/anxiety
  
• Sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia, or hypersomnia
  
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
  
• Long COVID
  
• Symptoms of a dust mite allergy
  
• Dental malocclusion and teeth grinding at night
  

Thank you to anyone who provides suggestions.


FINANCIALS

Period: FY/2024
Filling Date: 2024-05-15
REVENUE:
Revenue: $1.13B
Gross Profit: $601.90M (53.48%)
Result: $373.10M (ebitda)
EPS: $4.21
Outstanding Shares: 49.76M
BALANCE:
Cash: 46.47M
Debt: 1.14B
FINANCIAL EVALUATION/SCORE:
Financial Score - Altman: 2.50
Financial Score - Piotroski: 7.00
Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc's price movement correlates with the following stocks:
Ticker Correlation --- --- BPMP 0.94 VR 0.93 ETJ 0.929 FRTY 0.922 HWM 0.92 MUFG 0.919 NVO 0.919 HII 0.918 PHD 0.917 HT-PE 0.917
Summary Of Last Earnings call:
In the Q4 2024 Earnings Conference Call for Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc, issues related to supply chain constraints affecting revenue growth were emphasized. The company experienced disruptions in the Eye Care category due to maintenance and quality upgrades by suppliers. These disruptions led to a lower-than-expected sales performance in Q4. The company expects supply challenges to continue into the first half of fiscal 2025 before recovering in the second half. Strategic initiatives, such as partnering with multiple suppliers and internal production, are being implemented to address supply chain continuity. Despite the challenges, the company remains committed to its long-term brand-building strategy and capital deployment opportunities. Additionally, the company plans to focus on M&A, share repurchases, and deleveraging to enhance shareholder value. Although a $300 million share repurchase program was approved, no share repurchases are expected in fiscal 2025, with a focus on debt reduction. The company anticipates revenue growth of approximately 1% in fiscal 2025, with a slight FX headwind. The company's overall cash flow generation and leverage reduction position it well for future capital allocation decisions.
Company Description:
Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells over-the-counter (OTC) health and personal care products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, North American OTC Healthcare and International OTC Healthcare. It offers BC/Goody's analgesic powders, Boudreaux's Butt Paste baby ointments, Chloraseptic sore throat liquids and lozenges, Clear Eyes for eye redness relief, Compound W wart removals, DenTek for PEG oral care, Debrox ear wax removals, and Dramamine for motion sickness relief. The company also provides Fleet adult enemas/suppositories, Gaviscon upset stomach remedies, Luden's cough drops, Monistat vaginal anti-fungal, Nix lice/parasite treatments, Summer's Eve feminine hygiene, TheraTears dry eye relief, Fess nasal saline spray and washes, and Hydralyte for oral rehydration products. It sells its products through mass merchandisers; and drug, food, dollar, convenience, and club stores, as well as e-commerce channels. The company was formerly known as Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc. in August 2018. Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Tarrytown, New York.
Full fundamentals fundamentals for PBH here.

Hello, I would like to describe my current health issue to you, including my hypotheses about what might be causing it. I would like to hear your opinions on what it might be and how I should proceed. Keep in mind that I am already undergoing medical consultations and will have more, but so far, I have not reached a conclusion, so I would like as many opinions as possible.
If you need more information, feel free to ask.
For about two years, I have been experiencing facial pain and throat inflammation. I have never had these issues before. They started occurring after I had COVID-19, and I'm not sure if this is coincidental or a consequence of the virus. Initially, these pains were infrequent and mild, but in the past few months, they have become much more frequent and intense, significantly affecting my productivity, energy, and concentration. The pain is mostly noticeable upon waking, but sometimes it persists throughout the day. When the pain is less intense, it almost completely disappears after breakfast or lunch. However, when it is more severe, it doesn't go away at all, forcing me to rest in bed. Sometimes, even taking Tylenol does not relieve the pain.
The facial pain is located under my cheekbones, along my jaw, behind my eyes, and when it's very intense, at the center of my head just above my nose. The pain is continuous on both sides of my face and does not worsen with touch.
As for my throat, it feels like there's a constant lump at the lower part, as if it were scratched. It hurts continuously, not just when I swallow.
These pains occur year-round, regardless of the season.
Regarding medical checks and existing conditions, here are the details:

• I’ve had an eye exam, and there has been no deterioration beyond my existing myopia and astigmatism.
  
• I’ve been checked and do not have sinusitis.
  
• X-rays have shown no issues with my cervical spine.
  
• I likely clench my teeth at night and should be using a mouthguard.
  
• I need to have my wisdom teeth removed (I’ve only had one extracted so far) because they have not fully emerged and are pushing against the other teeth.
  
• I am allergic to dust mites.
  
• I have L4-S1 discopathy.
  
• Blood tests for thyroid issues showed no problems.
  
• I am currently on a treatment of Nicetile 500mg (L-acetylcarnitine HCl) under the assumption it might address nerve inflammation post-COVID, but there have been no changes after 15 days.
  

These issues also cause poor sleep quality. Despite sleeping for 7-8 hours, I wake up feeling tired and as if I need more rest, even if I did not exert myself physically or mentally the previous day.
From the beginning of May onwards, I experienced two weeks where every day I had a sore throat, headaches, and excessive tiredness, despite having taken antihistamines and cortisone spray for more than 20 days in April. I had a flu in early May and felt very ill; all symptoms (sore throat, cold, headache) were amplified and kept me in bed for several days, as if I had COVID. Even after the flu passed, I continued to experience throat lumps and headaches, along with excessive tiredness that rest did not alleviate.
I maintain a fairly balanced diet and engage in regular physical activity. I am physically at a normal weight.
My hypotheses:

• Depression/anxiety
  
• Sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia, or hypersomnia
  
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
  
• Long COVID
  
• Symptoms of a dust mite allergy
  
• Dental malocclusion and teeth grinding at night
  

Thank you to anyone who provides suggestions.

For the last 4 days I’ve been experiencing a variety of different symptoms. At first it was bearable but it’s getting worse. What started as just an on and off stuffy nose and sore throat is now a lot worse. It’s accompanied by diarrhea and stomach cramps pretty much any time I eat anything no matter what it is, bouts of nausea, sometimes intense headaches that last for hours and an almost total lack of appetite.
I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, it might just be nothing. However I know the stomach issues are going to be a problem. I can’t keep running in and out of the bathroom during my shift.
Other people call out all the time and it’s OK for them. We are severely understaffed so according to the other coworkers, they would probably do anything to keep me around. All the same this is a new job and I’ve only been working here since April 27 and I don’t want to get fired or make a bad impression. I haven’t been absent once, but there was one time about a week ago I had a really nasty migraine and had to clock out a little early. I don’t want to make the impression of being unreliable.
I really worry about the financial consequences of missing a day. Today’s been a bit of an expensive month because I had to stay in a motel a few days because my roommates had a bunch of people over. Due to them holding back my paycheck for the first couple of weeks, I have not received my first paycheck from my job yet. It should be here on the 18th.
Should I risk calling in sick or tough it out?

Hi all
Long-time Altra runner here (Torin, Lone Peak, Paradigm, Rivera, Vanish Carbon, etc).
I recently bought the Vanish Carbon 2 for an upcoming marathon, the idea is to wear them a couple of times, make sure they're OK, and then use them on race day.
But as several reviewers have pointed out, the heel tab is causing the worst friction blisters I've ever had on my Achilles, on both legs. Imagine bleeding from there after an 8k interval session...
Clearly I cannot wear them like this, though I can tell that the plate and foam are exactly what I was after.
Has anyone here simply slit, cut or otherwise modded the heel tab to make it more bearable? Photos and feedback would be welcome, before I take my razor blade to those brand-new shoes.
Thanks in advance

[First] [Previous] [Next]
I was at a disadvantage before, looking around in unknown territory, but here? This is my house. My country. My library! I have walked around these halls so many times that I have a pretty good mental map of where everything is. Considering the most requested academic tomes are under the protection of the Librarian, I go investigate the shelves on the first floor, where you find mostly reference books.

All this confidence I managed to build up disappears the instant I notice there’s a group of students in the lodges to the side of the hall, just minding their own business. My throat dries up, my knees shake a little bit.

Saints damn it, why aren’t you all on vacation!?

And they are sitting right on my way, between me and the shelves. I am sure the symbol has to be on the shelves…

“Time to turn tail and run, like always.”

“You can do it. Take a deep breath, look straight onwards and walk!”

Taking her advice, I do my best to not look at ANYTHING and just go straight as an ant to the shelves.

“Wait. What if any of them say hi? Oh no. Uhm. Take a quick look! But make it super, super quick!”

Damn it.

My eyes slowly turn to the left as I am walking. Are they looking at me? Did they look at me? WILL they look at me? They don’t seem to even notice me. Should I call for their attention? Should I say hi? I don’t even know them, that would be weird. But what if I do know them and I just don’t remember? There’s lots of law students around, maybe they are law students? I can’t see their books from this distance, maybe I need glasses. Would glasses make me look unassuming? I wish people didn’t look at me…

Eventually I reach the shelves without exchanging a single word with these people. I really, really hope I didn’t look like a nervous wreck while walking by, but I guess there isn’t much I can do about that now, can I? Ugh, I can barely focus as I start looking on the shelf itself, trying to find anything out of the ordinary…

“You’re nervous when there’s a lot of people, and you’re nervous when there’s few people. What will it take for you to be happy about something, huh!? Tiresome bitch…”

I sigh loudly. I left my S.O.S. at home, so I can’t really get rid of these voices tonight… I’ll have to brave them.

“It will be a hard time… but you can do it.”

Taking a deep breath, I continue trying to focus on finding that damn ‘golden symbol’ around the shelves, even taking out a few suspiciously out of place books, just to check if the symbol could be carved on the back of the shelf or something…

Nothing.

I spend a good long hour checking each shelf on the first floor as methodically as my body allows… before I know it, I have given up on everything and am sitting on a bean couch at the main hall, letting my eyes close slowly…

… When I open them again, I practically jump out of my chair.

Did I just fall asleep!?

“Oh boy.”

I pick up my phone to check… It's 2 in the morning.

“Oh boy! Who could have guessed things would go wrong, huh?”

I can still feel the sleepiness in my limbs, my eyelids feel so heavy. Saints, help your poor servant!

The lights feel so vibrant here, so annoying and white. I can practically hear them buzz… but then, I notice something else. The smell of decent coffee, recently brewed. I look around, quickly finding the librarian at her desk, serving cups of coffee to the group I saw… I think of going over and taking one but that would probably imply conversation. And I am not ready for conversation! I—

“Oi! You finally woke up!” The librarian catches me instantly with a knowing smirk. “Want a cuppa?”

I freeze. For a moment I think: ‘hey, let’s pretend I didn’t hear her!’, but I don’t have my headphones on and I made eye contact. I am trapped, TRAPPED.

“M-Mhm.” I manage to whimper, nodding my head quickly.

“Then come over, don’t be shy. We’re all night owls here.”

There is a sense of community there that’s quite alluring, but the curious looks of that group of students really feel like cold daggers on my chest. Still, I gather all my courage and robotically walk over to the group, taking a styrofoam cup, and then watching the woman fill it up slowly with coffee as black as my soul. Just like I like it… just with a hint of sugar, though.

“So you finally came around again. I was wondering what happened to you.” The old lady looked at me, knowingly.

“You… you recognize me?” I can’t help but feel a mixture of happiness and abject horror mounting on my back.

“My child, I recognize every single person who comes to my library! I know them all, believe it or not! Including these rascals over here.”

The others laughed. I just looked at my coffee while mixing a teaspoon of sugar in it. She’s probably joking, right? I mean… there’s no way she actually memorizes every visitor, right?

“Maybe she’s a witch.”

Knowing what I know now? I wouldn’t be surprised. I just take a sip of my coffee.

“You’re not here to study for the special tests, are you?” The lady again read me like a saints’ damned book. “You’re looking for something special.”

“It’s nothing that ominous.” I quickly cover. “I am just looking for a particular book, but I am not sure where I could find it in the library.”

“Why not ask for help? I am right here, precisely for that!” The Librarian puffed up her chest. “If I don’t get anything to do, I get bored.”

“Ah, well, you see…” I start getting nervous again. I can’t just tell her the truth! What if I slip and this woman turns out to be a cloak testing me? Or worse, a sleeper! I am quite sure the whole ‘Secret of magic’ is a very serious matter! I could get her and myself in a big pickle!

The woman seems to notice my distress… and instead of trying to reassure me, the damn crone just goes and says:

“Is it poooorn you’re after, boy?~”

Saints help me.

The others are laughing and looking at me all smiley, why!? Why must this lady put me in a situation like this!?

“T-There’s the internet for stuff like that!” I blurt without thinking. “I mean! Ah! Damn it!”

More laughs. At this point my face must be lighting up red and radiating hotter than active uranium.

“I. Can’t. It’s a symbol!”

“A symbol?” One of the other students tilted his head with curiosity. “What kind of symbol? Are we talking chemical or arcane?”

“Nerd spotted. You’re among comrades here, breathe easy.”

It’s hard to breathe easy when people are actively laughing at me, saints damn it!

“It… symbolizes gold.” I finally relented. “I am not sure which one of the many, many interpretations it could be. I thought of the alchemical symbol for gold, or a Sun, who knows…”

“That’s a little vague.” The student said, frowning a little bit and rubbing the back of his neck. “The symbol is in the book? Like, on the cover?”

What am I even supposed to answer to that!?

“I. Think?”

“Well.” The Librarian recovers the reigns of the conversation with a grin. “If that thing you are looking for isn’t here? It may be a literature tome. You know, on the second floor.”

“Y-Yeah…” I sigh. This whole conversation has just been so stressful.

“Well! It could be the Golden Ratio!” One of the girls says. “You know the Golden Ratio?”

“Isn’t that the whole shell inside a rectangle thing?” I blink.

“Yeah! They use the helenian letter ‘phi’ to represent it.”

The girl is nice enough to draw it for me…

Phi
I stare at the symbol on the paper for a moment. That’s… actually useful. And it does make sense! It could be this! Suddenly inspired, I stand right up and finish what’s left from my coffee in one gulp, not even caring that it burns my damn throat as I do so.

“Okay, this works. Thank you!” Without even feeling the anxiety attack me again, I bow my head and turn around to go right for the stairs!


When Tav had turned around and moved out, the Leader of the Coven looked at her young apprentice with a frown, shaking her finger slowly at the girl.

“You shouldn’t be so obvious with your hints, young girl.” The woman shook her head softly. “We could have had fun with her for at least another hour!”

“I didn’t feel like being cruel today.” The apprentice said with a sleepy grin, while some of the others ruffled her hair and called her a ‘softie’. “The Bastard needs a way to learn! And it would be sad to see the Overseer waiting for another night…”


I rush past the empty reception desk on the second floor, joging without even caring about the ‘No Running’ rule as I go head first into the wooden shelves of the literature section. And it doesn’t even take me that many attempts to finally see something: a symbol carved on the wooden side of one of the shelves.

Phi. Lower case. Small enough to not be disruptive, but big enough to be noticeable.

My eyes widen, and I immediately approach the symbol with awe invading my body. I don’t even dare to touch it at first, that’s how big my excitement is! Whatever does this mean!? Is this whole building the Elysium? Or just the second floor? Isn’t this place way too public for what they mean to do?

Finally giving up on trying to be cautious, I just touch the symbol. For a moment nothing happens, and I feel the panic starting to take over again.

“Trust the process, maybe it takes a moment!”

I keep my finger pressed on the carved symbol for a moment, taking slow, deep breaths as I try to keep myself from going into a saints damned anxiety attack. But then, something does happen. Octarine, that strange colour, starts filtering from my very veins and into the symbol, filling in the carving before flowing on the air like a river of vibrant purple-green. It advances in front of my eyes, dancing and spiraling before flowing deeper into the library.

“What…?”

“What are you waiting for!?”

“Follow it!”

I don’t have to tell myself twice! My legs don’t have the energy to keep running, but the colour is not flowing super fast, so I can just walk behind it until it reaches an empty wall on the deepest side of the second floor. I put my hand against it and push slightly, this time trying to cause the flow myself! My excitement knows no bounds when the colours flow from my forearm to my palm, and then spread on the wall like vines growing in all directions.

“Idiot! What if someone can see you!?”

Biting my lower lip, I quickly turn around. No one followed me, good! I can focus again on the wall, or in this case the lack of it: where there was a wall now there’s an entrance, a black hole just waiting for me to jump in. With a sigh, I decide to ignore my anxieties and just go into the darkness, being quickly surrounded by it as the wall quickly appears again behind me.

It takes a moment for my eyes to get used to the room, but when they do the way is clear: a spiral stairway going up.

“More stairs… why do people here love their stairs!?”

With a frustrated grumble, I take a step on the stairs, only for them to start moving on their own. Huh. Now that’s convenient! I just let them take me higher and higher, without even questioning how they move without mechanisms or electricity. Magic is just Like That™.

It doesn’t take long until the light hits me: a faint, gentle blue light, like a beautiful night sky. My observation proves right on the money, for what I find on top of the stairway is a tremendous planetarium: a dome of darkness with distant white lights showing the spectacle of the stars right above us.

There are some tables and chairs around, some bookshelves too… and sitting on one of them, was the specter of someone I know. The figure of a certain book vendor.

Miss Pelafina gently brushed some of her dyed black hair behind her ear to look at me with a mocking grin.

“Took you long enough, didn’t it? Kid.”

I’ve (23M) been on 4 dates with a girl (23F). They’ve gone well, we like each other (from what I can tell). We are both looking for something along the lines of a summer fling since we are both moving to different cities come august. The issue is she’s a terrible planner and is somewhat flaky, and she told me this upfront on our first date.
For our fourth date, I had initially asked her if she wanted to do something Sunday; she said she was too tired, but maybe Monday. I texted her Monday, she said she can’t, but said tomorrow (tuesday) or another night this week. This bothered me so I told her I was leaving the ball in her court and told her to text me when she had some time. She responded to me immediately and said “let’s do something tomorrow, we can get sushi and some wine”. We agreed on 7ish Tuesday night for this.
Come Tuesday at 7, she’s not ready, and says she has a headache. At this point I’m totally ready for her to flake and I was ready to end things, but she ended up making her way to my apartment by 7:45. I told her straight up that telling someone you don’t feel well before a date is kind of rude and makes me feel like I’m forcing her to be here; she told me I was reading too much into it and that she wouldn’t come to see me if she didn’t want to. We had a nice night, drank some wine, had sex (for the first time) and hung out for a few hours, she went home around 11:30.
Before she left, I told her that I didn’t want to keep initiating dates because it makes me second guess myself and if she actually wants to see me. She protested this heavily by saying that she’s genuinely very bad at reaching out to initiate plans, because it’s an insecurity; not only with guys she likes but platonic friendships as well. I essentially told her I can sympathize with that but after 4 dates I expect some level of effort to initiate dates to be put in on both sides. We talked about it for a bit and when she left she said something like “I am going to ask you to hang out, but give me some time and try not to overthink it too much”. She had told me she was going to text me about possibly doing something over the weekend.
Since then I haven’t really heard from her. My question is: since she was very clear and upfront about not being good at initiating dates… is that an excuse? Should I continue to reach out first? In principle I would say no, and let her reach out to me, because if she wanted to she would, but she was very clear in saying that she’s not good at doing that and would prefer I reach out to initiate. At this point I would like to continue seeing her but I also don’t want to feel like a fool by going back on my word. To complicate things, we just had sex for the first time and I do not want her to feel like I am pulling back just because we had sex. I’m definitely going to give her a few days to reach out, but if the weekend comes and I haven’t heard anything, should I just end it? Or ask her to do something? I would appreciate any advice from people who also have a hard time initiating plans in the early stages because of insecurity.

Hey all, I've had a colonoscopy and endoscopy 2 weeks ago now they said it was clear apart from a 2cm hiatus hernia in my esophagus which is keeping the flap open or something like that.
Today I woke up vomiting, bringing up blood and diarrhoea, in a lot of pain through my body, headaches, very tired, every time I eat I feel more rough. Been having these symptoms since I was 18 I'm now 31, I also find I have blood in my still and black stools.
Waiting to hear from the GI but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas what they would put this down as or if they will put it down as anything. I do believe I have an underlying condition.

Hey guys I wrote two versions of the first fight scene of dumb machop isekai and would like your opinions on which you think is more engaging, more interesting, better written, whatever. Let me know.
Obviously there is prior context to the scene missing, but basically our boy is in the middle of the woods when an Abra walks up to him, generates some weird distortion in the air, and makes it clear its time to throw hands. This is our boys first fight of the story.
I tried making the second draft a little less verbose in areas where I felt it was unnecessary, but you let me know if the missing, added, and rearranged detail makes it better or worse, and in what ways. I also added an injury at the start of the fight and made the ending more violent for emphasis. Not injuring the Abra makes the MC seem crazy, risking himself like that to bask. More understandable without an injury to spur his fear in that first draft, but still, I think a more complete incapacitation seems the way to go either way. Feel free to point out grammar mistakes, they are drafts for a reason. The rewrite divergence point begins at the arrows.
Isekai machop vs abra, drafts 1 and 2.
Draft 1:
I didn't know what that distortion was. Maybe it was a landmine, maybe it was a tripwire that would let Abra attack from two angles if I got between it and them. Maybe it was the beginnings of a battlefield coverage move, or a bomb, or an arbitrary marker in 3D space that would help Abra orientate itself, or the anchor by which it was now pushing itself off the ground and levitating with. But another possibility rested at the back of my mind, a possibility with an obvious path to victory, if it were true. I chose that path.
Fighting types were weak to psychic types, I knew this. I also knew that psychic powers were fucking scary. Strong and invisible and without any startup, in theory. In some fictional stories they didn't even need to see you, and they could do things like directly modify your thoughts. If there weren't strict limitations to a power like that then it would just be unreasonably strong, so strong that psychics should have wiped every other species off the face of the planet. The fact they hadn't, I hoped, meant that I still had a chance. I would make decisions based on the assumption I did.
First things first, testing the waters. If this failed, I would run away. That Abra was walking until it saw me, implying flight took some kind of energy. I probably had more endurance than this thing's flight, and more speed than it did in two legs. I could probably escape if the need arose.
I crouched to pick up a hefty rock, a little larger than my hand, and started to run sideways at top speed, circling my opponent from a distance. Its eyes began to glow as it tracked me in place, like it sat on an invisible swivel chair. I tensed in preparation to be struck with sudden pain, either from a killer headache, twisted muscle, or full body hold. Then I saw it, a faint purple haze snaking its way between us, so faint that I certainly only noticed it because of my enhanced senses, fast as a bullet.
→I dropped to my knees and slid beneath it, before I launched myself behind the nearest tree. My chest thrummed with excitement! I can do this! Psychic energy has travel time! It couldn't just bridge gaps in space arbitrarily, and its speed wasn't like a particle of light or something equally ridiculous. This Abra was nothing more than a glorified turret.
I tore off an impressive chunk of wood from the tree, and crushed a handful into smaller chunks with a squeeze. I darted out and shotgunned them at the floating fox. A middle chunk of the wood seemed to waver and slow, apparently colliding midair with whatever attack it had sent my way. The remaining wood shrapnel flew fast enough and in a cone wide enough that the abra simply couldn't dodge, though its attempt revealed its prodigious speed. Holy shit it could fly. It was hit, and though I half expected a skewered fox, all I got was a disorientated psychic. Good enough, I rushed it down myself, bashing rock still in hand.
As I bore down on its position, stuck choosing between a pressured retreat and close quarters combat with me, it chose a third, less risky option. The instant its body distorted, I turned around and hurled the rock with all my might. The moment Abra appeared at the distortion it placed earlier, it was struck by something nearly its own body weight moving at the speed of a musket ball, directly against its forehead.
Abra was launched away at speed, flipping backwards violently. Abra seemed to try and correct its orientation with its levitation powers, but that proved a mistake, because it only served to toss itself sideways into a tree waist first, eliciting a proper yelp. It flipped like a beyblade now, having hardly killed its initial speed. Soon afterwards, its remaining momentum was focused into another tree to the head. Instead of sending it sprawling, it started to finally stabilize in place. Abra began to float slightly higher while its upper body was pushed over its lower, forcefully orienting itself into a sitting position.
It was from this position that Abra was finally able to see the Machop two strides away, eyes opening wide in reaction. I never drop the follow through. By the time I was airborne in my first stride, Abra was floating up fast. By the time I landed, I had already understood its reactionary choice, and leapt. Though it started earlier, I rose faster. I caught its leg in as iron a grip I could muster. My forward momentum and weight shot us out of the sky before I sledgehammered the thing full body into the dirt.
I shot forward and down to grasp its thin neck just tight enough that I could wring it with a bit more force, and held my other fist ready to pummel. Normally this is the part where I would finish it, but instead I grinned and waited. Fucking do something. Its head was bleeding, though far less than I would have expected, as it looked into my eyes with its own, now wide, peepers. Even across the species barrier its sheer terror was palpable.
It was at this point that the littlest bulbasaur appeared above ground, looking at us with its mouth agape. "You won!?"
Draft 2:
I didn't know what that distortion was. Maybe it was a landmine, maybe it was a tripwire that would let Abra attack from two angles if I got between it and them. Maybe it was the beginnings of a battlefield coverage move, or a bomb, or an arbitrary marker in 3D space that would help Abra orientate itself, or the anchor by which it was now pushing itself off the ground and levitating with. But another possibility rested at the back of my mind, a possibility with an obvious path to victory, if it were true. I chose that path.
Fighting types were weak to psychic types, I knew this. I also knew that psychic powers were fucking scary. Strong and invisible and without any startup, in theory. In some fictional stories they didn't even need to see you, and they could do things like directly modify your thoughts. If there weren't strict limitations to a power like that then it would just be unreasonably strong, so strong that psychics should have wiped every other species off the face of the planet. The fact they hadn't, I hoped, meant that I still had a chance. I would make decisions based on the assumption I did.
First things first, testing the waters. If this failed, I would run away. That Abra was walking until it saw me, implying flight took some kind of energy. I probably had more endurance than this thing's flight, and more speed than it did in two legs. I could probably escape if the need arose.
I crouched to pick up a hefty rock, a little larger than my hand, and started to run sideways at top speed, circling my opponent from a distance. Its eyes began to glow as it tracked me in place, like it sat on an invisible swivel chair. I tensed in preparation to be struck with sudden pain, either from a killer headache, twisted muscle, or full body hold. Then I saw it, a faint purple haze snaking its way between us, so faint that I certainly only noticed it because of my enhanced senses, fast as a bullet.
→It didn't work. I failed to dodge it. I should run. Can I run?
On earth, my body was simply more fragile than my will. It's all too easy to push your body to its end. Humans spend more time working around limitations than they do pushing their limits. And every time you find something worth pushing your will to its fullest for, your body will inevitably fail. Because of this, the greatest combatants use only as much as is necessary, push their bodies as far as they are worth pushing and no more. If that isn't enough, they fill the gap with schemes and techniques. If that too, isn't enough, they can simply escue all their limits, use up everything their flesh will give, and die. Put it all on one moment.
Seems most people never found whatever they'd push that hard for, or at least were never put into a situation where they had to fight for it. I was. Some people think their lives have value beyond what those lives can bring to them. Existence is just a net. Every step is a sway through the waters of experience, to capture it, that moment. You only get one. Because the body can't handle more.
It was only now, as my thigh turned into pulp, ripped to the bone, my body screaming at me, that I was possessed of a revelation so strong it rippled through my whole being.
Now, there's no gaps to fill, now, I can push as hard as I want, now, I can experience that moment as many times as my will can reach it.
Half a moment after I was attacked, I bent my remaining leg and catapulted myself behind the nearest tree. By the time I hit its cover I was laughing. By the instant I left it, I was squeezing a massive wood chunk ready to throw. I chucked it hard, a portion of the shrapnel losing its speed and wobbling midair against the Abras follow up attack. The remaining splinters shotgunned forwards and met flesh.
Instead of a skewered fox, I got a disoriented psychic, but that's fine. I was already galloping forward on a leg and its opposite arm. When my enemy recovered, I was already bearing down. My senses were so close to their peak that I realized Abras next move at the same time they made it. When I bore down on it for long enough that it should have started moving, should have several instances beyond enough time to react with at least something panicked, and it had not, I knew what it was about to do.
The fact that it hadn't tried to create distance or panicked told me that its startup was at least fast enough to save them from the rock I was slamming down upon them right now. So I adjusted my muscles, and burned them to plow right through Abra and around again. As the abras form wavered, it disappeared. Then they reappeared at the distortion they placed when this fight began, and was immediately blasted in the skull by the rock I had cannoned behind my swing.
By the time they'd hit two trees trying to correct with levitation, and beybladed through the air thanks to sheer velocity, I was nearly upon them. As they regained control. Their eyes opened in fear. Without their little fallback, they really couldn't run now. They began to float higher, my foot hit the ground, they created distance, I closed it. Though they began earlier, my leap rose faster, I caught their leg in a grip akin to a garbage compactor and a raccoon that just didn't know any better, let my weight and sheer momentum tear us from the sky, and hammered them into solid bark covered root.
I didn't stop now, everyone knows what you do to zoners who get in range. I struck, though the force was great, there was hardly any damage. I struck, the Abras eyes were alight with panic, it helds its hands towards me. I felt what it was about to do, and let the gravity of my acceptance hold my heart and mind steady for the shock of having my kidneys blown out. It didn't come. I struck, and this one was different.
When I hit it with the wood, it seemed little different from taking a push and some dust in the eye, when I hit with my rock, it bled and flew, but nothing more. When I struck once and twice, with the might of ten men, it seemed to take it as the blows of one. Now, its skull cracked audibly, blood vessels burst out to open air as an eye swelled from hidden pressure. I struck, the other side transformed into something more horrible than the first, Abra engulfed air with a staggered rhythm, like a reverse whoopee cushion, the pitch and tone of the intake close to what a child's sobbing would be.
I gathered its wrists in my hands and destroyed them as easily as making a fist. Its discordant gasps were now constant, burbling and choking on its panic. Not a thought in that head. I smiled. I laughed. I flipped my opponent over and sat on its back, relaxed as my hand descended to grace its neck, ready to crush at the slightest provocation.
Before anything else, I saw that runt of a bulbasaur moving from its shelter with trepidation in its step, and purpose in its eyes. When it saw me, the weight left its gaze, it froze, mouth hanging open. "You won?!"

I had my first ever dyshidrosis flare in Decembejanuary. Never had it before, or any skin condition for that matter. It started on one foot (between toes) and then spread to my other foot, and then spread to my hands. In the end both feet and both hands were covered in tiny blisters that were insanely itchy! It was effecting my sleep badly.
After trying a bunch of creams and going to the doc and nothing working, I tried castor oil and it seemed to work… but now I’m wondering if it was just clearing up anyway? And it’s a coincidence?
I’ve had 2 months of it gone, clear hands and feet.
Until….. 2 weeks ago it started between my toes again on the same toe that it started on initially last time. 😭 Yesterday it spread to my other foot.. was then between all my toes on both feet AND the sides of my feet. This morning I’ve woken up and it’s now on both hands too.. between all fingers.
WHY?! I’ve changed absolutely nothing so it will be impossible to pinpoint why this is suddenly happening to me. The itch is consuming me. My hands and feet look diseased and it’s really embarrassing. My sleep is being affected and I’m getting palpitations due to it.
Totally fed up.

Overnight laat night I felt a sore throat come on and then that's when the random onset symptoms hit me at once which are stuffy nose, congestion, cough, sore throat, chills, body aches, fatigue, headache but no fever.
Also when I blow my nose my snot us yellow.

Think I have something. Sore throat, fatigue, headache, runny nose and 2 small sores on my penis that are a bit sensitive to touch.
No other symptoms.
Where can I get tested and for the cheapest price?
I just went to the Red Cross Health Station No.3, but they only tested me for:
Anti-HCV. (Negative)
Syphilis (non reactive)
HBsAg. (Negative)
Was thinking I had syphilis as I have most symptoms, but negative… need to get tested for everything.. advice?
Also heading to Phuket in about 5-6 days, better places to test there?
Thank you!

Being eaten.
No, I do not mean being on the receiving end as someone goes down on you. Sex seems to be popular in fiction these days, if the shitty Fifty Shades of Grey is any indication, and I sorely, desperately wish what I was about to write was all fiction. Then I could sprinkle some gratuitous sex on it, go to a publisher, and hope that it would sell. Then I would be not risking my job altogether sharing this so that strangers on the Internet would at least know of my suffering in having to watch human beings die brutal, bloody deaths to satisfy a desire even more primal than sex and far less pleasurable.
Yes, I’m talking about eating. And about being literally, bona fide eaten. An incredulous notion in modern society, where we live in concrete houses and walk on asphalt streets. Where the animals we encounter are anywhere between little quacking ducks and crotch-high geese. We live free of our early ancestor’s fear of becoming something else’s food. Crocodile, tiger, lion - pick your customer. It, in most cases, starts with the intense pressure of clamp-strong jaws, driving teeth into parts of your body where teeth should not be stabbing into. Depending on how lucky you are, there will likely be hellish pain lasting anywhere from seconds to minutes (that I am willing to bet feels much longer) before death takes you. What happens to your consciousness after that is a popular debate. What happens to your body is not. You get chewed into a consistency similar to hamburger patties in some cases, swallowed whole in others. Different vehicles to the same destination of an acidic stomach. Your useful parts are broken down into a mushy soup. The rest are ejected from the back end.
A shitty way to go, literally and metaphorically. A living human being, full of emotions and dreams and hope, turned into lifeless steak, soup then shit. At least three out of five young men and women whose last days I will recount below went that way. The other two… well, let’s say that it has been three weeks at this time of writing, and I do not have much hope.
The day started with Matthew dropping several paper files in beige covers on my desk. When I opened it and saw a report complete with pictures of grinning people on the first page, I knew right there and then that it was going to be anything but a normal day at work.
“Missing?” I asked, eyebrows raising. It was the single possibility. Police could have pictures on their desks for all kinds of stuff, but not us rangers. Only then did I notice the tight line Matthew’s lips had pressed into.
“Not like that, no.” He shook his head. “None of them got lost. All five came down here from Sydney, stayed at Winston Ward’s place. That’s Ward’s daughter, Madeleine.” His fingers pressed on the picture of a girl at the top of the page. Hair dyed blue and with the brightest smile of the bunch, I noticed. “She and one other, Cathy, their Indigenous guide, are the two still missing.” Matthew pointed next to the picture below Madeleine. Cathy was dark-skinned and had a hiking stick resting above her shoulder, clearly posing for some sort of promotional photo. “And these three, well…”
I took a quick glance at the other photos. Steve Wilson had the build of a runner, wiry and dressed in a tank top to match. Lisa Mooney, blonde with gold-rimmed glasses. Ashley Lo - his curly dark hair tied back into a ponytail. I knew I would not have to pay extra-close attention to their appearance. Two missing.
“I don’t know, man. Kind of wanted your input on it, too.” Matthew shook his head. “Best you see it for yourself. The police could not decide if it was murder or an animal attack, so they requested us. Found all three of them ripped apart. Caught, well, a suspect, I suppose, on their own cam-”
“You kidding? A suspect and they could not decide if it’s an animal attack or not?”
“I know, Tom, watch it for yourself and tell me I’m not crazy. Hells, they didn’t just have the pictures. Caught the damned killings on film, and still can’t decide if he, it - whatever - is man or animal. I will send the footage over in a bit. Some photos are in there, too. Just don’t puke up your breakfast. I’m seriously thinking of going vegan.”
What the fuck?
I frowned. Matthew could not wait for someone to share his hell, I supposed, and quickly retreated back into his office, leaving me alone with the papers.
Here are the facts.
Winston Ward, your typical real estate rich guy, bought some bushland last year next to our park. His plan was straightforward - setting up lavish air-conditioned bungalows amidst the Australian bush, complete with five-star hotel facilities such as private pools and a fine dining restaurant. A luxury retreat amidst trees and shrubs, letting you enjoy the best of nature and avoiding the worst. No insect stings, soaking rains or blistering heat that the normal campers had to suffer. Just a couple of hours drive from Sydney to boot. All well and good, except for the fact that it came alarmingly close to intruding on national park’s land. So Parks and Wildlife Service took notice and kept a close eye on Ward’s project. So far, even though he has not opened his retreat and nothing illegal had been done, Ward became a popular name among us rangers. Just in case.
I certainly did not expect his name - or his family’s name, rather - to come up this way.
It had been Ashley’s idea. An Ecology graduate, he wanted to make a documentary about Aboriginal people’s way of sustainable living among nature. He got his girlfriend, Madeleine Ward, into it, alongside fellow graduates Steve and Lisa. Madeleine easily secured the filming spot with her father. They hired Cathy as the expert for the film, and the five of them occupied two bungalows. Living in the lap of luxury while trying to promote sustainability. Three cameras were installed. Two security cams for each bungalow, expectedly. The third was a camera trap, the kind used on wildlife trails to capture pictures and videos of animals. Likely intended for fun.
As much as I respect the purpose of their never-finished documentary, I find twenty six-year-old Ashley rather hypocritical, and rather gross given how Madeleine only turned eighteen three months ago. But not to speak ill of the dead, I suppose.
I braced myself as I turned the page for the photos, and failed to stop the dry-heave that came up. Three bodies, gnawed clean of flesh. Strands of dark curly hair on the first mangled head identified it as Ashley’s. The skull was smashed open, its insides, empty where a brain had been licked clean, caked with dried blood. Shattered pieces of his bones were strewn over muddy soil, brown rain water filling in troughs where the marrow that had been sucked out. Steve and Lisa was in roughly a familiar state, and I shivered at how disturbingly clean the bones were. Take away the skull that clearly showed the remains to be human, and it could have been a smokehouse’s dump - filled with finished ribs and chicken wings.
And yet, the final photo proved even more unsettling.
It was a still taken from one of the security cameras. At night, judging from the grey filter. It was still bright enough, however, for me to make out the grassy front of a bungalow. Bushes and shrubs lined the far end. A dark figure loomed over them, casting a long shadow.
I shivered once more.
I had walked into the bushes hundreds, if not thousands, of times. I knew how dense they could be - reaching up to your chests in many places. That figure - standing on two legs with long arms drooping at its side - barely had its knees covered by the shrubs. The photo, even though grainy, was clear enough for me to make out a domed head resting upon a neck so thick the figure might as well be said to lack one. Matching broad shoulders held up that neck, deltoids bulging. The… thing, apparently, had little hair as far as I could see.
I did not notice how hard I had clenched my jaws until a cramp-like pain made me grunt. Matthew could not be fucking with me, could he? I had worked with the guy for years. I called the local police station. The woman on the other end confirmed it. Unless a whole station was in on the prank with Matthew - an idea equally impossible as what I was seeing - it seemed like we had won the reverse lottery of missing and dead people cases.
As much as the Internet likes to make fun of its deadly wildlife, most of Australia has no large land predators. Dingoes are pretty much your average dog. The huge crocs live way too far to the north and sharks do not magically appear in the middle of bushlands. Neither looked like some psychopathic, cannibalistic basketball player wearing a shaved-clean, badly proportioned gorilla suit. The police’s best option was us, I could tell, but as far as me and Matthew went, we were equally clueless.
I shook my head and rubbed my temples - for a moment questioning my sense of reality. That was until an alert jabbed into the screen of my desktop. Matthew’s email.
Here is the footage, Tom. Crazy stuff. I got them to send us a scan of Madeleine’s journal, too. Found where those kids were seen last.
An unholy amount of files came in a link he attached.
The rest of my day was spent going through them all. I still know not what to make of what I saw, and I need time to collect myself before I can write of what I have seen on those tapes.
I need a nap. And dinner. But no meat. I agree with Matthew. As much as I loved a nice scotch fillet, I’m probably going vegan for a while.

Sorry for the long story.
Alright. So some context. I'm a pretty big fan of Aurora 4x. If you don't know, it's an incredibly complex and in-depth 4x strategy game set in space where you can customize your ships down to each individual component (i.e. you can make your own engines/weapons/etc. to stick on your ships). A creator that I'm a fan of is advertising an role-playing series about this, and I'm like "Yeah, I'm in".
It kind of dies on arrival. But then the chosen DM for this invites me to another game which continues the legacy so to say with nobility and space battles. That one takes a pause (not really important to the story) and I get invited to another game. If you've heard of the game Terra Invicta, it's basically that. Aliens are invading Earth and are influencing various nations and it's up to the players in the United Nations to stop them. This is the game that I wish to share.
Now, this game had numerous problems mechanically. Mainly, the UN is given a ton of resources (trillions of dollars and 'resources' to be precise). But everything costs like... $100, or like 10 resources. And we as players are limited to like 4 infantry brigades between all of us. So we kind of have nothing to spend it on. Bad enough on it's own, but it's not really horror just yet.
We ended up starting in 2024. Modern day. Dropped straight into the Invasion of Ukraine in Mariupol to dislodge the Russians from the city (The Russians are, of course, being influenced by the aliens). We skirmish and kick them out. Cool. I'm made into the de-facto commanding officer of the entire UN military. Which sounds impressive, but remember, we're just infantry. (And also, the DM insists that Jeeps are to be considered armored personnel carriers as they have "armor" and carry dudes. More on this classification stuff later)
In comes the bomb. A literal bomb. Russia nukes Kiev. Now, you might be wondering "Oh man, so like does this end up into some kind of world war? Any larger political impact?" no. Nada. Zilch. The entire world just kind of... ignores the situation. I'm here thinking "Uh, that's weird", but I ignore it since the game starts opening up. At the time I was guessing that the DM just wanted to end the tutorial with a literal bang.
Next session. The literal fallout of the nuke. Kiev is gone, quite literally the entire command and government structure of Ukraine just up and vaporizes. So we're left to pick up the pieces. Unfortunately, Ukraine is in literal pieces. Fractured into several parts. Some support the UN. Some support Russia. Others support the fucking Asimov Battalion (which rebrands to the Asimov Division). For those of you who don't know, the Asimov Battalion are pretty closely linked with nazis.
In comes our moral dilemma. Leader of the Asimov Division comes to our base and starts negotiations. DM starts RPing with the leader saying stuff like "The Nazis are the only good thing to have happened to Ukraine. Where was x y and z when this and that happened! Nowhere! The Nazis gave us..." yada yada. In my mind I was thinking "Holy shit what? I guess he's just roleplaying...". Now I've got two "advisors". The medic of the group in charge of humanitarian efforts says the no-brain "Hey. They're fucking Nazis. We shouldn't be working with them" while my de-facto XO is like "Nah, we should help them". Of course, since the DM is basically ham-fisting me to help the literal Nazis with the threat of having to fight a war on both sides by two numerically superior enemies (again, we only have 4 infantry battalions) I basically have to grin and be like "Ok. We'll help you".
So I'm left thinking that this was as wacky as things were going to get. The next two weeks are "normal". I have to do a lot of set-up since the game is really starting to open up. We get to research things, we get a higher unit count, we get more than just goddamn infantry. So of course: I get us some actual armor and whatnot. In comes Mr. Armor expert who writes up the formation template for an armored brigade. Except he didn't follow the templates we were given so I had to tell him multiple times to edit it and everything, during which he insults me. "Alright, kind of weird you're insulting your commanding officer, but fine" I think.
He calls his formation an armored regiment. I called it an armored brigade. He gets pissed off and insists that it be called a regiment as the two are "very different" according to him. I not only pull rank (At this point I am a 3-star general and he is a goddamn colonel) and tell him that I am literally writing our doctrine from scratch and I can call it whatever the hell I want, but I even link him to the US DoD (he is basing stuff off the US army) where it literally says that armor is only called a regiment for historical reasons and thus armored regiments are literally just armored brigades. His response? "Wow, for someone who thinks they know a lot, you sure know nothing".
I am just baffled at the insubordination and I'm debating whether to court marshal his ass when out of left field all of my other junior officers come out of the woodworks to call me a "crybaby" and a "bitch" and all sorts of shit. I talk about this stuff with my friends and they're equally as confused as I am.
It's then that I bother to read through the world events that are going on (keep in mind, that at this point I've been busy with classes and have had to spend literal hours setting up formations, budgets, officer assignments, research, etc. in my off time) with my friends. And oh my god there is a lot to unpack with this.
Event 1: The Scandinavian countries unite and reform the Kalmar Union and do viking stuff.
Event 2: Portugal invades and annexes Brazil.
Event 3: Aliens just vaporize the entire country of Australia.
Event 4: Greece and Turkey unite to form... the Byzantine Empire. A high schooler could come up with something better. And the DM is a grown ass adult living on their own.
You think that was bad? It gets worse.
Event 5: Ireland invades the UK to reclaim Northern Ireland (There is a dude in game who now that I'm looking back, I'm pretty sure supports the IRA)
Event 6: Mexico joins hands with the aliens and invades the US. President Biden orders the military to stand down. In response, the US military starts a coup against Biden and instates... Donald Trump as the new president.
Yes. You read that right. The US military performs a violent coup to instate a president with no election.
It gets better.
The US counterattacks and defeats Mexico. The result? Mexico becomes the 51st state of America. That's right. All of Mexico becomes state 51. Oh, and for shits and giggles the US also invades Canada and makes that state 52. State constitution? Voting? The idea of a territory? Puerto Rico? Nope.
At this point I've realized just what I've gotten myself into. Everything became so clear all of a sudden, all the little flags and stuff clicked in quite possibly the most horrifying way possible. This isn't an RP game, it's a goddamn fan-fiction for Trump with some edgy alt-history bullshit thrown in. My friends obviously advise me to GTFO, but I can't help but do one last thing.
My character, as the leader of the UN military, came to be known as a hero and the father of the Modern UN. So obviously I had to have this guy go out with a bang. I write a manifesto, where I basically say "I've given my all to defend humanity from this extra-terrestrial threat. But upon looking at the state of the war and the things we've done as a species, I cannot help but wonder if these Aliens are the good guys after all?"
My final words to this group of... interesting individuals were an apology to the secretary who will find my brain matter splattered all over the walls as my character deep throats a bullpup sniper rifle (these people hate bullpup guns) but also definitively states that it is an armored brigade, not an armored regiment.
Of course I blocked every single one of these mfs and immediately left any and all channels shared with them. Like even now, two months later, I cannot believe that I managed to find myself embroiled in a group like this.

25 Male 5"10 weight 150, white. In the United States. Entire body is affected.
Let me be clear: I don't think I was overdosing technically? I sometimes take aspirin and on that day I woke in pain, so I took some...I felt worse. That day was absolutely miserable; I felt like a walking zombie, the way my body felt was insane, and I had a mix of head and GI symptoms.
I later found out that my symptoms matched up to metabolic acidosis, which aspirin can contribute to. I stopped taking it (I think I had just taken 5 small ones that day, starting from the night before) and I mostly recovered within the span of a few hours. However, it took me a while to realize that it has been weeks since I last felt like my usual self.
So...I do doubt me feeling relatively awful lately is at all related to that, but it's pretty much the only change I can remember and blame.
Here's all the newish symptoms that have persisted:
very aggressive headache that pretty much does not go away. I used to never get headaches.
caffeine and aspirin clearly do not work, in fact they sometimes make me feel worse. They never made me feel bad before.
the oddest one: flushing. I get very warm, face gets red, and it's very uncomfortable. This is 100% new, it wasn't happening months ago, and it seems to happen daily and often for hours.
whole body feels severely tense, almost burning.
painful and odd eye/lid feeling, visibly they do look messed up, sunken, and almost pinched. they also keep on twitching.
heavy fatigue. I normally weight train and work out and while I've never really felt better from it I was able to do it just fine. Now, I'm struggling. I just have energy for work and nothing else. I'm still going on walks, but I am very winded after them.
Medical history:
Meds: Albuterol (getting a new inhaler soon as it doesn't really help), zinc (long-term deficiency), claritin. Insurance greenlit me for nose surgery because a deformity made it very hard to nose breathe; it was a success. I have a jaw deformity as well. Some blood tests in the far past have shown I'm in a state of acidosis and this was before the aspirin thing, but it was probably totally random.
Full disclosure: I have always been a "tired" person, I have just had one good rest in my entire life and it was shocking how different that day felt. However, I've been functioning normally enough - I don't really do anything fun but I can at least work - and right now I'm struggling tbh. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself.
Also, I'm not a chronic aspirin user, I usually use it sparingly at most (every few days) and I took more around the time where I got sick.

I've just ended a 3 year relationship almost two weeks ago. We have communicated but I've been holding strong to my stance that we are just not right for each other. I do believe it was toxic, but I do not think separated we are toxic people. Just tried too hard to make something work that didn't, and in that, we created a toxic environment.
That being said, I've struggled. With the loss of my friend, lover, and companion. I knew it was time when I saw a photo of us and I looked so sickly. Like my soul said, if you won't listen to our signs, then we will affect your body, and so I left him. I swear my body is detoxing. I felt so damn heavy but could not let it go. I couldn't release the negative that I knew I was holding. Then I woke up sick. Head, cold weird thing going on. It's been brutal, but it feels like a detox. I can't explain it, but it's like my energy is restoring as my body rejects what was there. Tons of drainage, coughing, headaches, and minor fever but no signs of actual infection. I know this might sound crazy but I swear it's true. My mind is clearing. My energy is taking out the garbage.
Am I crazy? Has anyone experienced this?

Hi,
24M, 5”11, 178lbs
Been having chronic daily throat clearing cough for nearly 6 years now. Started after a stressful period but never went away. I experience

• Feeling something is stuck in my throat, coughing releases that feeling and throat clearing sometimes too
• Thick saliva and sometimes the feeling of having lots of saliva in my throat (does that make sense!?)
• Sometimes really tiny bits of red when I spit my saliva out (I do it to just to check sometimes) or brown. Also saliva appears “bubbly” often and white (not transparent)
• Heart skipping beat feeling sometimes
• Bits of brown in pleghm sometimes
• Couging up yellow mucous sometimes (not every day)
• Sometimes I get hoarse and have to cough for it to disappear
• Sometimes tickly feeling in chest

Been having all this for nearly 6 years daily. Doesn’t wake me up from sleep and doesn’t get worse lying down. It has fluctuated in severity during the years. Could this be something serious like lung cancer? I would guess it wouldn’t stay the same for so many years right?
I also have this bone hard immovable lump in my supraclavicular area on the right side. I read this being associated with lung malignancy? I discovered that lump 2 years ago and ultrasound didn't show anything (wasn't even a node). Maybe bone malformation? I did an x-ray of my shoulder for something else in 2018 and I didn't hear anything about an extra rib or somethin, wouldn't they mention that or is it maybe a not visible area on shoulder x ray?
What could this be? Blood O2 is good and lungs sound good too according to my GP.