Hyaluronic acid helps floaters
finally started my medical journey towards eliminating the source!
2024.05.15 19:17 CardinalClitt finally started my medical journey towards eliminating the source!
i'm in my 30s and i have had bad breath for as long as i can remember. i've always been ashamed to speak about it so i just keep my distance when speaking or stay quiet. i have missed out on job opportunities and relationships bc of this. i have tried countless home methods such as daily brushing/flossing, hydrogen peroxide rinses, oral probiotics, tongue scraping, therabreath mouthwash and unfortunately have not found a solution yet. i am determined to fix this issue this year.
after a routine teeth cleaning, i asked my dentist if there was something he could do about my chronic bad breath. he recommended i reach out to my family doctor as it could be a tonsil stone issue. my family doctor seemed to think i was exaggerating my claims and didn't take me as seriously as i had hoped. he checked for tonsil stones but didn't find any. his opinion was that it could be from acid reflux or a cyst in either sinus. he gave me a prescription for heartburn and ran some blood tests on me which ended up coming back normal. the follow day, i had a visit with an orthodontist who did a panoramic xray on me. she unintentionally located a cyst in my left sinus region.
i am going to continue with heartburn medicine to see if there is any success here but I think I should now follow up with an ENT doctor regarding the cyst in my sinus. Has anyone ever had luck eliminating a cyst in their sinus and therefore eradicating their bad breathe? looking for any help please, thank you!
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2024.05.15 19:14 Basic-Mixture-3473 Im worried sick about this..
I have GAD and suddenly Ive been having strange symptoms for the past 14 weeks. it started one afternoon when I experienced it as foggy outside. went to my optometrist who stated that I have mild astigmatism and hidden strabismus that my eyes compensate for. after 2 weeks my eyes started burning and I then went to the medical center who said my eyes looked healthy. my eyes continued to sting 2 weeks after the visit and they advised me to take eye drops, have tried 4 different ones and it doesn't help. made an appointment with a private ophthalmologist who dilated my pupils and even he couldn't find anything wrong with my eyes.1 week after the exam I got tinnitus and then I noticed that my floaters reflect light on lights and certain surfaces. I have become sensitive to light, see afterimages of certain things and my eyes feels strange and a bit slow. it has now been 14 weeks with constant pain in my eyes now. Am 30 years old never had problems with my eyes. I am otherwise healthy but have some problems with stress/health anxiety and would like to add that I have never touched a drug in my life. What is going on? Can I get rid of this..
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2024.05.15 19:05 Basic-Mixture-3473 Help đ
Can anxiety cause visual disturbances and tinitus??
Hello! have been having strange symptoms for the past 14 weeks. it started one afternoon when I experienced it as foggy outside. went to my optometrist who stated that I have mild astigmatism and hidden strabismus that my eyes compensate for. after 2 weeks my eyes started burning and I then went to the medical center who said my eyes looked healthy. my eyes continued to sting 2 weeks after the visit and they advised me to take eye drops, have tried 4 different ones and it doesn't help. made an appointment with a private ophthalmologist who dilated my pupils and even he couldn't find anything wrong with my eyes.1 week after the exam I got tinnitus and then I noticed that my floaters reflect light on lights and certain surfaces. I have become sensitive to light, see afterimages of certain things and my eyes feels strange and a bit slow. it has now been 14 weeks with constant pain in my eyes now. Am 30 years old never had problems with my eyes. I am otherwise healthy but have some problems with stress/health anxiety and would like to add that I have never touched a drug in my life. What is going on? Can I get rid of this..
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Anxiety [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 19:04 imbecilidade88 sodium bicarbonate tips
I watch a video today where Remco Evenepoel talks about the use of sodium bicarbonate to help combat lactic acid. Does this make sense to you? What dose do you recommend?
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2024.05.15 18:58 Isthisthingon-7 35, looking for a simple skincare routine
| Iâm 35 (turning 36 this year) and I havenât had any sort of a skincare routine in years. I had a lot of acne as a teenager and did the typical âtry every product and totally overload your faceâ thing for a while. In my 20s I basically stopped doing much of anything and just washed it when I wore makeup. My skin cleared up when I started leaving it alone. Now I donât even wear makeup, so I basically wash my face twice a day with water and sometimes apply moisturizesunscreen. I would like to start doing something to help with texture, dryness and just the fact that my skin is aging. I do believe a more simple routine would be easier for me to stick to. I also have pretty sensitive skin and canât do a lot of strong scents, and also canât use salicylic acid as it causes my skin to have a red itchy reaction. Things I will be doing already are drinking more water and wearing sunscreen daily. Thank you for any and all suggestions of products! submitted by Isthisthingon-7 to 30PlusSkinCare [link] [comments] |
2024.05.15 18:58 HeadOfSpectre There's An Abyss Even Deeper Than The Mariana Trench
âReady to make history, baby?â
I looked over toward Sheila as she stood on the gangplank leading up to The Burger. I still couldnât believe she named our research ship âThe Burgerâ... emotional relevance be damned.
âIt's not exactly history,â I corrected.
âOh come on! If your survey is right, this trench might run even deeper than the Challenger Deep, and youâre gonna be the first person to explore it! How is that not exciting?â
âMight be deeper, we only have a limited amount of topological data. And even if it is deeper, weâre talking only a few hundred feet at most, itâs really not that im-â
Sheila silenced me with a kiss.
âNerd.â She teased, and I found myself too flustered to reply. After five years of marriage, she still could leave me speechless with just a kiss. God⌠how did someone like me end up with a woman like that?
Then again, how did someone like me end up where I was in general? It was honestly a little overwhelming. Standing on the dock, getting ready to board that ship and join the ranks of Jacques Piccard and James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) as one of the few people to take a manned submersible down to the deepest parts of the ocean. And Iâd be lying if I said I wasnât a little scared too. Diving down that deep could easily be a one way trip if even the slightest thing went wrong. My submarine would be experiencing between 600 to 1100 atmospheres of pressure and while weâd tested it over and over again to make sure it would actually be up for the challenge, there was still a lingering iota of doubt in the back of my mind. All that needed to go wrong was one little thing, and that would be it for me.
The scariest part is that I probably wouldnât even know what had happened⌠Iâd simply be gone⌠and Sheila would be alone. The thought of that caused a momentary spike of panic in my chest that almost made me want to call this whole thing off.
Almost.
But, then I felt her hand close around mine. I looked up into her bright blue eyes, and saw her gentle smile.
âYouâre gonna be okay, hun,â She promised. âYou and your team have been running the numbers, right? Itâs gonna go just fine!â
I nodded slowly.
âItâs gonna go fineâŚâ I repeated, before she leaned in to kiss me, and gently pulled me by the wrist up onto the deck of the Burger.
She was probably right.
It probably would be fine.
ProbablyâŚ
The trench Iâd be exploring was a fairly recent discovery, located south of Greenland, in a vast stretch of water situated directly between Newfoundland and Iceland. Itâd been uncovered during a topological survey in the area, and my team had taken an interest in investigating it further. At minimum, it was believed to descend to about 35,000 feet deep (over 10,000 meters), although the current theory was that it might have run even deeper. Determining the exact depth of the yet unnamed chasm was just one of the intents of our dive. The rest was studying the organisms that might be found down there, and how they might have differed from the ones found in other deep ocean trenches (some variation being expected given the isolated environment they were developing in.)
I had to admit, it would be exciting to see what new life might have developed in a place such as this, especially if it ran even deeper than our predictions⌠and that excitement was enough to make me chase the fear of the risks out of my mind, even if it was only briefly. While Sheila went to make sure we were ready to embark, I caught myself wandering out toward the rear of the ship where my submarine, The Tempura, waited for me. Did this submarine deserve a better name than The Tempura? Probably. But, this was my project, so I got to name it and since Burger was already taken, Tempura was the next best name I had. I liked to think that the subs namesake might approve⌠if she hadnât died fifteen years ago. Shrimp donât live very long.
As the ship began to depart, I caught myself reminiscing on how Iâd ended up here⌠it really was all because of those damn shrimp, wasnât it? Well⌠maybe not all because of the shrimp. But they were certainly part of it. Back when I was a lot younger, I never really gave much of a shit about anything at all. I guess I did have a thing for the ocean⌠the great, romantic vastness of it. The sense of adventure that it beckoned with. The endless mysteries that lay within its dark depths. I used to read about it all the time when I was a kid and I especially loved the classic adventures: Verneâs 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and Melvilleâs Moby Dick⌠but that love was just confined to my books. I didnât really have any interest in actually going out and seeing the ocean. Hell, the idea of going to a beach and standing in the sun with my toes in the sand seemed miserable to me. I was happier (although calling myself happy mightâve been a little disingenuous) alone in my room, enjoying the company of books as opposed to people.
Then came the shrimp.
One of my online friends kept them as a hobby. He used to post pictures of his tanks all the time, and I always thought they looked kinda cool. He said that if I was interested in them, I should try keeping some for myself, and during a particularly bad bout of depression, I figured that maybe it might be worth a shot. So, I bought a cheap tank and some cheap decorations, bought myself some shrimp⌠and promptly watched them die over the next few weeks. That⌠that bothered me. I donât know why but⌠it really bothered me. Iâm still not entirely sure how to describe what it was that I was feeling. Guilt? Defeat? Shame? Here I was, trying to set up a habitat for these creatures just to have something to do to keep the suicidal ideation at bay, and Iâd failed almost right out of the gate.
Was I just that bad? Was I just that much of a failure? Was this just going to go to shit just like everything else in my life did, because I was just such an abysmal piece of shit who barely deserved the life she had? Had I just not tried hard enough? Was I too apathetic? What had happened? What went wrong?
It bothered me.
It bothered me enough that I made up my mind to just dump the remaining shrimp down the toilet and toss everything. Forget about it. Move on. End of story. But⌠that wasnât fair, was it? The shrimp didnât all deserve to die just because I couldnât be bothered, did they? Sure, they were just shrimp, but they were alive too, just like me. They deserved to be alive.
I owed it to them to try and keep them alive, didnât I?
So⌠I didnât dump the shrimp.
Instead, I started doing some reading. Started looking into what I was doing wrong and how to do it all better. I actually got really into it and a few months later, I had a nice planted tank. Looking back, it was amateur shit⌠but it made me happy. Iâd even picked out names for my two favorite shrimp. Burger and Tempura. Theyâd been the last survivors of my original batch, and they were the ones I ended up caring about the most. Caring for Burger and Tempura gave me a purpose. It became an obsession⌠and that little obsession drove me to finally start turning my life around.
Like I said, shrimp donât live for very long. Burger and Tempura were long dead by the time I graduated with a degree in Marine Biology. But they were the ones who inspired me to finally get my life in order. Hell, the shrimp were half the reason that I met Sheila. She was something of an aquarium fanatic too⌠weâd met on a forum, and gotten to talking. I found out that she just so happened to be studying Marine Biology at another school, and we bonded pretty quickly after that. After graduation, I moved to California to be with her and after that, the rest is history. She was my rock. She was the one who always pushed me to be the best possible version of myself⌠and I loved her more than I ever knew I could love someone.
A glance back at the shore, fading into the distance tore me out of my reminiscing, and I shifted my focus to the present, going over The Tempura to perform some quick checks. My colleagues and I would be checking and rechecking the submarine over the next two days as we made our way toward the dive spot. Considering the danger that descending that deep posed, I didnât want to take a single unnecessary risk.
I had too much to live for, after all.
***
The day of the dive, I couldnât notice how excited the rest of the crew seemed⌠well⌠Sheilaâs usual crew seemed excited. I guess to them, this was just another research expedition, no different than the ones Sheila usually took this ship out on. Lately her research had been focused on the analysis and study of whale calls. Her recent voyages had involved following their pods, recording their calls and playing them back to see how the whales reacted. It was fascinating stuff, but my research was admittedly a lot different than that.
My obsession had drawn me to the denizens of the deep sea. Iâd used The Burger for expeditions before, although none of them had been on quite the same scale as this one. Up until today, the most ambitious thing Iâd done was send down unmanned submersibles with cameras. Those submersibles had typically returned. We had lost a few early on due to technical glitches, but the past few years had been blissfully uneventful. Logically, this dive would probably be uneventful as well. But it was still hard to get the jitters out of my head.
My team and I did the final checks necessary to make sure that The Tempura was good to go, before setting up the crane to begin lifting it up. In less than an hour, Iâd be inside of that thing, descending to the darkest depths of the ocean.
It didnât feel real.
I felt Sheilaâs hand on my shoulder, and looked over at her.
âMoment of truth, huh?â She asked. She probably meant it to sound encouraging, but it just sounded ominous.
âMoment of truthâŚâ I replied.
âYouâre gonna be okay, honey. I know you will.â
She reached out to gently squeeze my hand and gave me a reassuring smile that I meekly returned.
âYeah, itâs gonna be okay,â I agreed, although there was an element of a lie in it. Statistically, yes. It probably WOULD be okay. But there was that lingering anxiety in the back of my mind that just wouldnât go away. I looked quietly out at the submarine before me and couldnât shake the thought that it sort of looked like a giant coffin. Unconsciously, I found myself squeezing Sheilaâs hand tighter than normal. She just held me close and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, before gently rubbing my back.
âYouâll be okay,â She promised.
âDr. Jenner, weâre ready for you.â I heard one of my colleagues say.
Moment of truth.
I took one last look at Sheila, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips for luck. She smiled at me, and I smiled back anxiously at her before heading over toward the submarine.
The crew helped me enter the cockpit and get myself situated inside. The cockpit of the Tempura was fairly cramped and not particularly comfortable. Space and comfort arenât really luxuries you can afford in a submarine like this. The instruments I needed took up a lot of space, leaving little room for me in there⌠and I am not a very big person.
Once I was inside, they sealed the hatch. Then the diagnostics checks began.
âGrayson, can you hear us in there?â I heard Sheila say through the radio.
âLoud and clear,â I replied.
âGreat. Weâll keep in constant radio contact, just to monitor the signal. In the meanwhile, howâs everything looking in there?â
âGreen across the board so far,â I said, although I hadnât finished running all my final checks yet. Ultimately, nothing was out of place.
This submarine was as good to go as it was going to get.
âIâm all good in here,â I said once I was done. âYou can drop me when youâre ready.â
âYou got it, honey. Letâs get you in the water, run one final round of tests and start lowering you down.â
A short while later, I felt the submarine begin to move as the crane lifted it off the deck and lowered it into the water. The Tempura honestly resembled its namesake in a way, being long and cigar shaped, only vertically oriented instead of horizontally oriented. Weâd admittedly taken more than a few design cues from James Cameronâs Deepsea Challenger. Why fix what isnât broken, after all?
Once I was in the water, a 1000 pound releasable ballast weight would cause the submarine to sink. Releasing that weight was also my ticket back to the surface, and I could either trigger it from inside the cockpit, or, in the event that the release failed for any reason, it would trigger automatically after roughly 12 hours of exposure to salt water.
Ideally, this would be the first of a number of dives Iâd be undertaking⌠and if all went according to plan, the Tempura could be the first of many similar submarines that would allow other researchers to safely and effectively descend to extreme depths. If all went well, this could be a massive leap forward for researchers like me, allowing us to better explore the deepest depths of the Hadal Zone and learn all we could about the ecosystems down there via direct observation.
If all went well.
If.
Through the viewport, I watched as I was lowered into the ocean. A few of the other crew members had donned diving gear to escort me down, and after they did their final checks and I did mine, we were fully ready to go.
âAllâs green across the board,â I said into the radio. âYou can start my descent.â
âI hear you, honey,â Sheila replied. âWeâre letting you go. Have fun down there.â
âYeah, Iâll tryâŚâ I said quietly as finally, my submarine began its descent.
I took a deep breath, and told myself again that everything would go fine. We had checked everything on this submarine. Weâd tested it rigorously. I wouldnât have allowed myself to set foot inside of it if I hadnât personally assured that it was safe. But anxiety never really goes away, does it? The crew couldnât accompany me far. After only a few meters, they fell behind me as I sank deeper and deeper into the infinite, empty blue of the ocean. Soon after, the tether was released.
I was officially on my own.
â60 feet,â I heard Sheila say over the radio. âHow are you doing in there?â
âGood,â I replied. âDoing⌠doing good.â
The submarine continued to descend. Through the viewport, I could see a few stray fish, but nothing particularly eye catching. I almost felt alone down there⌠almostâŚ
â120 feetâŚâ Sheila said.
âStill doing good,â I replied.
The descent continued, as the waters slowly grew darker and darker.
â400 feetâŚâ
Everything around me just kept getting darker and darker. Only a fraction of the light from the sun ever reached these depths⌠and Iâd be lying if I said that darkness didnât feel a little⌠oppressive.
â800 feet⌠still feeling good?â
âYeah, still feeling goodâŚâ I said, although it was a bit of a lie. If anything, I was second guessing all of this, but I wasnât about to say that out loud.
â1000 feet⌠still good?â
âStill goodâŚâ I murmured. âI hear you loud and clear.â
Deeper⌠deeper⌠deeper.
â1500 feetâŚâ
Three miles. I was three miles away from home. Three miles away from Sheila.
â2000 feetâŚâ
Still a ways to go.
â3000 feetâŚâ
By this point, it was fully dark outside of my cockpit. Outside, all I could see was inky darkness. Even the submarineâs lights didnât really cut through it. And the kicker? Relatively speaking, I wasnât that deep. Fishing trawlers reached deeper than this. Better to conserve power until I was at the bottom. My descent continued.
â6000 feet⌠still good?â
âStill goodâŚâ
The check ins were becoming less frequent. My descent still continued⌠deeper⌠deeper⌠deeper. By now, Iâd entered the Hadal Zone. But there was still so much deeper o go.
â8000 feetâŚâ
This was past the depths that most whales would dive to⌠and I still had a ways to go.
â10,000 feet.â
This was close to where the ocean floor usually bottomed out⌠and yet there was still so much further to go. No. I was really only a third of the way there. How long had it been?Not much had happened beyond my descent and a few sightings out of my viewport, but time had been passing. A glance at my watch confirmed itâd been almost an hour since Iâd started to sink⌠and I knew I wasnât even close to the bottom yet. The submarine continued to descend, sinking ever deeper as I dropped into an infinite darkness that few had ever dared to witness.
â15,000 feet.â
This check in came later than the others. At this point, Sheila and the crew must have figured that no news was good news, and they were right. I just continued to sink peacefully, down into the crushing depths of the ocean.
These were the depths that one might normally find deep sea fish⌠and yet I was going somewhere even deeper than that.
â20,000 feetâŚâ
So closeâŚ
I continued to sink.
â25,000 feet.â
Soon⌠and finallyâŚ
â30,000 feet. You still doing alright, honey?â
âYeah⌠yeah, Iâm doing good,â I assured her. I was so closeâŚ
By this point, my real work had begun. Iâd engaged the lights and begun documenting what little I could see using the on board cameras. Granted, there wasnât much life at these depths and what little there was, was scarcely documented. Most of what was down here consisted of invertebrates and microscopic life that seemed to float past my viewport.
The light seemed to draw a few creatures in search of food. Small, hardy things that resembled shrimp.
âHowâs it looking, Grayson?â
âDark,â I said, half joking. âWeâve got some life⌠shrimp. Theyâre translucent. Canât get a great look at them⌠but weâll see what the cameras pick up.â
âTheyâve recognized you as a friend,â Sheila said. I could almost see the smile on her lips as she said it.
âYeahâŚâ I replied, âTempura sent them a message, told them Iâd be down. How am I looking on depth?â
â35,000 feet⌠you seeing a bottom yet?â
âNo⌠not that I would until I was there.â
âDamn⌠how deep does this go?â
âIt canât go that deepâŚâ I murmured, although I really wasnât so sure about that.
The submarine continued to sinkâŚ
36,000 feetâŚ
37,000 feetâŚ
38,000 feet⌠and then finally, just past the 39,000 foot mark, I finally saw solid ground below me.
Looking through my viewport, I could see a familiar dark brown diatomaceous sludge, covering the seafloor. Microscopic life, likely similar to what had been observed in other deep sea trenches, such as the Challenger Deep.
I needed to gather a sample.
As my submarine reached the bottom, I extended the mechanical arms, pressed flat against the surface of the Tempura, and opened the collection port near the bottom of the ship. Slowly, I sifted some of the sludge into the port. My disturbance of the seafloor kicked up a cloud of the microbial colony, and I couldâve sworn I saw something wiggling through the debris. A pale, white thing, perhaps some sort of sea cucumber? I hastily angled my submarines camera to try and catch a glimpse of it, before returning to my collection. Even in this forlorn place, there was still so much to see! And here I was⌠completely forgetting my fear as the excitement took hold of me! Few people had ever been down to these unfathomable depths⌠and yet here I was.
It didnât feel real but it was! I had reached the deepest part of the ocean!
âHowâs it going down there?â I heard Sheila ask. Her voice was a little garbled. The connection down here was faltering.
âItâs beautifulâŚâ I said. âI canât wait for you to see it!â
âIâll betâŚâ
âIâm going to do a sweep of the area, see what samples I can gather,â I said. âWhatâs my time right now?â
âThree hours. Youâve got nine before your connection to the weight deteriorates and you start to ascend.â
âIâll make the most of it,â I said. The plan was only to stay down there for six hours, and I didnât want to push that limit. Life support would only last me for so long, and one little error was all it would take for the ungodly pressure down here to crush me.
I began to move the submarine. Mobility was limited. This thing wasnât built to travel far. But I still had some limited movement. I recorded all that I could, filming the shrimp that investigated my light, and the things that slithered and crawled through the muck, likely feeding on the carpet of single celled organisms that populated these depths.
The first two hours were⌠well⌠I hesitate to call them uneventful, they were actually very fascinating, but little of note happened beyond my recording of a few specimens.
Midway through the third hour though, as I was reaching one of the rock walls of the abyss, I noticed something just above the edge of my viewport swimming away from the light. I couldâve sworn I saw slender, pale tentacles of some sort. Was that a squid? Were there squid down this deep? I wasnât aware of any species of known squid who could reach these depths⌠but in this unknown place, what use was the known?
I moved my light and my camera to try and catch another glimpse of it, but whatever it was, it seemed to be gone. Maybe Iâd see another one. I still had plenty of time.
âYou made a noise. Whatâd you see?â Sheila asked.
âSomething big⌠I think,â I said.
âDown there? Like a fish?â
âSquid. You wouldnât find any vertebrates down this deep⌠the pressure would crush their bones.â
âJeezâŚâ
I didnât reply to that, still searching for the thing Iâd seen. I shone my light up along the walls of the chasm and angled my camera up as far as it would go. I could see a few volcanic vents, spewing dark clouds into the darkness, and more diatoms. But not much else. Strange invertebrates crawled along the walls. Small creatures, no bigger than an inch long. Related to isopods, perhaps? If I could collect one as a sample, I would have⌠although taking any of those back to the surface would surely kill them. They were built to live under the impossible pressure of these depths. Taking them to the surface would rip them apart.
I went back to my research, and it wasnât long until I saw something in the darkness, just on the edge of where my flashlight reached. Trailing white tendrils, snaking their way through the darkness. My eyes narrowed as I moved the submarine forward, trying to catch whatever it was in the light. I saw the shape move, its body turning⌠I saw its tendrils unfurling. Whatever this was, it was big. It was almost as big as The Tempura⌠although it was also slender. If I didnât know any better, I wouldâve thought I was looking at some sort of floating debris, but this far down? No. And debris wouldnât move like that.
This had to be a deepsea squid⌠or perhaps some other type of cephalopod? Something that preyed upon the various invertebrates down here, perhaps? It seemed to float, just out of sight for a bit, as I tried to get closer. I angled up my light to get a better look at it. The light seemed to shine through it, like some sort of ghost⌠but I did manage to get a look at it.
Although that lookâŚ
That single look made me freeze up.
This things slender tendrils certainly resembled a cephalopod of some sort, but the rest of it⌠the rest of it looked like something else entirely. Its body was thin, emaciated and translucent, yet despite that it still had characteristics that almost seemed⌠human. It wasnât human! Not by any stretch of imagination, but the resemblance was there. It almost reminded me of an exhibit Iâd seen in a museum once, depicting a preserved, fully removed human nervous system. I could see a similar shape in its translucent body. Its head seemed almost human as well⌠albeit with no eyes, and a lamprey like mouth I could only describe as fleshy yet crablike.
Still, despite having no eyes I couldnât shake the feeling that it was looking at me. And that was when I felt something hit the submarine.
I felt a sudden jolt of panic in my chest. For a moment, I thought that the pressure had started to crush me, but no⌠no, everything was still fine. Something had just hit me. But what? It didnât take long before I got my answer.
Another pale creature floated past my viewport, swirling gracefully in the cold dark waters. I watched it for a moment with wide eyes, before noticing its âheadâ turning slightly toward me. Then, almost instantly, it launched itself at the submarine, darting toward me with blinding speed.
I heard a distinct THUD as its body collided with me, and I could see its pale tendrils pressing against the viewport, twisting and writhing violently. It was trying to attack me. The first creature that Iâd seen lunged as well, pounding on my submarine with another THUD. And moments later, I could hear more impacts against the hull. There were more of them⌠and they did not like having me down there.
âWhatâs going on?â Sheila asked.
âSomebody doesnât like meâŚâ I said. âOne of the animals down here⌠some kind of squid, itâs just started attacking the hull.â
âHow bad is the damage?â
âNot sure⌠could be nothing, could be-â
I felt the submarine shake as I tried to move it. The thrusters that pushed me forward weren't responding. Had something gotten caught in it? One of the creatures perhaps?
âGrayson?!â Sheila asked.
âLost propulsionâŚâ I said. âFuck⌠I canât move.â
âThen drop the weight and come up!â
âNo, itâs fine, thereâs no other damage, I can still use the port and starboard thrusters to-â
âGrayson!â
I paused. There was genuine panic in her voice⌠enough to make me realize that even if these things stood little chance of actually breaching the hull, taking the risk would be a fatal mistake.
âIâm on my way upâŚâ I finally said, before reaching out to disengage the ballast weights.
Immediately, I felt myself beginning to rise, although the tentacles clinging to my viewport didnât disappear.
âWeâve got youâŚâ Sheila said. âRising up to 38,000 feet.â
The submarine continued to rise, but the creatures clinging to me went nowhere. In fact⌠I was sure I could see more of them. More pale shapes coming up through the darkness, and these ones filled me with dread. I thought I had been looking at some sort of eerie undiscovered life. But seeing what was coming up toward me now⌠I knew that I was looking at so much more. The creatures swimming up toward me through the darkness carried weapons⌠makeshift stone spears and daggers. Primitive tools⌠but tools all the same.
Signs that these were more than just undiscovered animals.
Much. Much more.
The word: âMermaidsâ crossed through my mind, but these were something far different than the ones Iâd heard of in folklore. These looked like theyâd swam out of the depths of hell itself. Boneless pale tendrils reached for me⌠and they were getting closer. The pale shapes reached my submarine as I rose higher. I kept praying to whatever God may be listening that the dropping pressure would force them off. The air in a submarine is pressurized, so during normal operation, there should have been no danger of decompression sickness for me.
For them⌠well⌠normally Iâd feel a little guilty about subjecting an undiscovered species of deep sea mermaids to the horrors of the Bends. But given my circumstances, I didnât have a lot of other options.
They didnât let go, though.
They should have. But they didnât.
What were these things?
I saw a splayed hand press against my viewport. Or⌠it somewhat resembled a hand. It had suckers on it, like a tentacle and the âfingersâ curled open like tentacles. The creature crawled over my viewport, clinging to The Tempura as it rose, and I could see the folds of its crablike mouth opening and pressing against the glass. I could see some sort of bile rising up through its translucent throat, before it secreted it all over my viewport. Was it trying to digest me? Was that how these things fed? How strong were its stomach acids? Were they strong enough to-
The window cracked.
My heart skipped a beat.
âNo⌠no, no noâŚâ
âGrayson, whatâs wrong?!â
âThey cracked the window⌠S-Sheila they⌠oh God⌠oh fuck, they justâŚâ
âTHEY DID WHAT?â
âItâs secreting some sort of enzyme⌠itâs on the window, itâs⌠FUCK⌠Iâm gonna die⌠Iâm gonna die⌠Iâm gonna dieâŚâ
âYouâre not gonna die, baby! Just⌠just keep ascending, okay? Youâre at 30,000 feet⌠just keep goingâŚâ
I nodded, and kept on rising, although the question of whether or not the rest of the creatures were trying to digest the other parts of my submarine floated through my mind. How much damage could The Tempura take before it imploded? How much longer did I have? The submarine still continued to rise⌠25,000 feet⌠almost halfway home⌠almost⌠almost.
The creature outside of my viewport slithered along the glass, searching for a better area to try and digest. Past him, I noticed a few of his companions dropping off. Maybe the change in pressure finally was getting to them?
From the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed a flashing light. A warning. The hydraulics on one of the Tempuraâs arms were shot⌠what else was damaged?
I checked my oxygen levels. 32%.
I shouldâve had at least 14 hours of air. Iâd only been down there for about 6 hours⌠I shouldnât have been this low.
31%.
No⌠no, no, no, no⌠theyâd damaged the air tanks!
30%.
29%
â20,000 feet!â Sheila said. âYou still with me, baby?â
âY-yeahâŚâ I said. I didnât mention my air situation. I didnât need to worry her further.
The submarine continued its ascent.
15,000 feet.
24%. I was running out of time.
The creatures still clung to the Tempura. How had the pressure change not killed them yet? My oxygen was dropping faster than before. I was hemorrhaging air. Another crack formed across my viewport. I let out a little, involuntary gasp before trying to force myself to stop hyperventilating.
âGrayson, what was that?â
âI-itâs fineâŚâ I stammered, âItâs fine!â
âGrayson what the hell is going on down there?!â
âTheyâre still on the submarine⌠theyâre stillâŚâ I paused, looking at my oxygen levels. â19%...â
â19% of what? Grayson whatâs going on!â
I paused.
18%.
âAir⌠Iâm⌠Iâm losing airâŚâ
âThatâs fine, youâre going to make it!â She said, although I heard her voice cracking a little. âYouâre gonna make it!â
I didnât answer.
12,000 feet.
11,000 feetâŚ
My oxygen level continued to drop.
15%.
14%.
12%.
9,000 feet.
The creatures still clung to me, as the submarine continued to rise. The one on my viewport was still there, slowly crawling along the glass again. I stared into its eyeless face and swore I was looking at the face of my killer.
7,000 feetâŚ
Oxygen had dropped to 9%. It dropped to 8% before I even got to 6,000 feet. I was going to die hereâŚ
The viewport cracked again and I squeezed my eyes shut. The submarine rocked. I was sure one of the thrusters had been damaged. My ascent slowed.
âGrayson, whatâs going on?â
âIâm sorry SheilaâŚâ
Another crack spread across my viewport.
âIâm⌠Iâm not making it back upâŚâ
âYES YOU ARE!â
âIâm sorryâŚâ The tears started to come as the reality of my death became clearer and clearer⌠this was it.
âYOUâRE COMING BACK UP, YOU HEAR ME! GODDAMNIT, IâLL BRING YOU BACK UP!â
âI love youâŚâ
That creatures face pressed against the glass. It vomited more of its stomach acid onto the cracked glass, and I wondered if this might finally be what broke it. Part of me hoped it would be⌠the one good thing about dying this deep was that at least Iâd die quickly. My suffering would be over. Then, the creature suddenly pulled back, twisting and writhing violently. I saw other shapes moving past it in the water, other âmermaidsâ that had been clinging to the submarine.
Something was agitating them.
Something was scaring them off.
Then I heard it, over the radio⌠whale songs.
âWhat the hellâŚ?â
âGrayson, are you still there?!â
âI⌠theyâre finally breaking off. Sheila, what did you do?â
âIâm broadcasting some of the orca recordings weâve been using. Are they still clinging to you?â
âNo! Theyâre backing off! I⌠whatever youâre doing, keep doing it!â
The submarine kept rising.
5,000 feet.
4,000 feet.
4% oxygen.
I could still do this, right?
The submarine continued to rise.
3%.
3,000 feet.
2,000 feet.
2%.
1,000 feet⌠so close⌠I was so closeâŚ
I could almost see the surface through my viewport, rushing up toward me. I tried not to breathe. Tried not to move. All I did was hope.
500 feet.
I closed my eyes.
âGrayson we have your signal, weâre coming to pick you up!â
Sheilaâs voice sounded so far away as my submarine finally breached the surface of the water⌠and with the last of my strength, I pulled the emergency release on the hatch, and threw it open, taking in lungful after lungful of fresh salty air.
I didnât dare so much as touch the water beneath me⌠but I was topside again, and in the distance, I could see The Burger!
âWe see you!â Sheila said, âWeâve got you baby⌠weâve got youâŚâ
âI see you tooâŚâ I said through the tears. âThank you⌠thank youâŚâ I didnât have any words left in me after that.
As soon as I was back on the ship, I collapsed into Sheilaâs arms, breaking down into tears as I clung to her, terrified that at any moment, some sort of unspoken other shoe would drop and Iâd lose her all over again.
âShh⌠itâs alright baby⌠Iâve got you⌠youâre safe⌠youâre safeâŚâ I felt her fingers running through my air and I knew that what she said was true.
I was home.
I was safe.
***
I left my colleagues to review the data that the Tempura gathered during its short expedition. As far as I know, they havenât published anything. I have a few ideas as to why, but Iâll keep those to myself. Letâs just say that some people would rather this information not become public.
I have a feeling that the Tempura may not be diving again for some time, if ever. I will confess that I do consider that a bit of a shame. Despite everything⌠I would consider it a success. It endured far more stressful conditions than I had expected, and from what I heard, required fewer repairs than Iâd thought it would. But, even if it was approved for another dive, it wouldnât be me piloting it. No. I will never be setting foot inside of that machine again, nor will I ever be returning to what my colleagues have been quietly referring to as âThe Jenner Trenchâ.
I canât.
Every night, I wake up crying after dreaming of pale shapes outside of my cracked viewport, clinging to Sheila and sobbing. I canât put myself in that situation again.
I canât.
Instead, I think Iâm going to spend the next few years on solid ground. Thereâs a teaching position available at a local university. I think that might be the best place for me right now. Who knows, maybe I can help some other deadbeat discover a passion for marine biology.
After everything, my love for the sea remains unchanged⌠Iâm just a little more wary of it, these days.
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HeadOfSpectre to
nosleep [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 18:57 Few-Designer-4516 Hells Kitchen Last Chance Season 17th Vote (Episode 17)
The field was down to five and Van was very sad to see Anthony go as he was a great Chef but if it came down to him and Anthony then it was always gonna be his buddy going. The final five celebrated their journey they had all been on and Nikki noted she was nominated in the second service and thought going back may have been the worst decision of all time but Nick said everytime he'd worked with her she had been a beast and was very proud of her performance. Kanae told Paula she hoped the 2 of them could be the final 2 and Paula said Kanae had a great future in this industry but between the 5 of them, she didn't see much of a difference. Chef Ramsay welcomed the final 5 back and said this had been a journey for not only them but himself and said the next challenge was to show their abilities as an executive Chef as this was the pricing challenge with the final 5 given $20 to make a stunning dish and good value for money. Paula said she'd been an executive Chef for 15 years and had her own restaurant so this should be the challenge where she shines and Van said he'd been waiting for a challenge like this and he can make a great meal out of anything.
Chefs Suzanne Goin, Bruce Kalman and food editor Lesley Barker Suter were pricing each dish and Paula was up first with her striped bass and it got a very strong review from all 3 judges to score an average of $39.33 and Paula said that was as good as she could have wished for and said that there better be something sexy to beat her. Kanae was up next with her halibut and while the fish was cooked perfectly, it lacked acidity and the garnish was lacking and Kanae scored an average of $31.66 to end up easily behind Paula, and Kanae said this was clearly not the challenge for her. Van continued the trend of seafood with his swordfish and it also got great reviews other than the potatoes maybe being a bit too salty and Van got a strong average of $37 but was still behind Paula who was the chef to beat. Nikki was up next with her pork chop and despite how rustic the dish was, it got great reviews but scored an average of $37.66 to still be behind Paula and Nick was the last chef who could dethrone Paula. Nick's tuna was praised as well but scored an average of $36.66 to end up in 4th as Paula won the challenge! Paula was rewarded with a day on a fighter jet and was allowed to take 1 chef with her, and she took Nikki as she came second.
Nick, Kanae and Van had to clean the front of Hells Kitchen, as well as Marino's car and prep the kitchen for dinner service. Kanae was grumpy all punishment as she thought Paula would take her and Nick didn't understand why Kanae was so upset as Paula was being fair in taking Nikki as she came second and Van felt like the stress of the competition was getting to Kanae and it was time for not letting up as this was the furthest he had gone in Hells Kitchen and it felt good. Nikki and Paula enjoyed their day out and Nikki said she hoped to face off against Paula in the final 2 as she thought Paula was the best chef there and Paula noted it was funny both Nikki and Kanae had wanted to face off against her but she wasn't going to get over confident as with 5 left the pressure was gonna be on.
Chef Ramsay said he expected as good a service as last time and Nikki was running the appetizers station and her first risottos and tortellinis came out nice and Nick who was on meat with Van was happy to assist with the salads and tartares to get the first 6 top out as Chef Ramsay said it was a great start. Paula was on fish and said this was going to be her hardest station by herself as Ramsay was pushing the tickets fast and she did get her first scallops out but trying to cook apps and entrees at the same time became an issue and admitted she needed help from Nick as Nikki was good on appetizers with help from Van. Paula started to have communication issues as she didn't respond to Nikki and Nikki was surprised that a chef as strong as Paula was getting so flustered and Chef Ramsay had to finally force a response out of Paula. Paula then got confused and fired an order of scallops with Nikki still 2 minutes out on risotto which saw Ramsay calling for risotto and wondering why he had scallops dying in the window now. Paula admitted she wasn't talking with Nikki and Nick at all and said she was going to fire fresh scallops and the ticket was finally completed as Nikki and Nick completed appetizers to give the black jackets a pretty strong start. Kanae was on garnish and determined to show herself as a leader and Van on the meat station was instantly stunned at the high orders of fillets and despite Nick trying to help him, Van said he was fine which made Nick nervous as he had 6 fillets to cook for the next 2 tables. Kanae said she was good on garnish but Paula said she was behind on pork so to not walk garnish but Kanae ignored her and walked garnish anyway and Paula was fuming at the communication as Ramsay was now demanding to know where the pork was! Paula managed to serve her pork but 1 of Van's fillets was RARE.
Nick said it was ridiculous that Van was not asking for help as he had an insane amounts of fillets and lamb to cook and Van finally asked for Nick's help even though he said he hated needing help on his station. Nick got him organized but Van then served his refire fillet and there was no sauce and Van realized he hadn't fired enough sauce, and Nick said there was meant to be 2 of them on there and it was Van's own fault for getting behind. Van did finally get his sauce hot to complete the table but Ramsay was not slowing down to push the next tickets out and Kanae now was flustered, forgetting what garnish she was cooking and struggling to respond to Van and getting completely lost on her station. Kanae did manage to get her garnish out but Paula was now dragging on turbot and when she pulled it out of the pan it was overcooked and dry. Paula's timing was well off and now Nick was jumping onto fish to help Paula get organized but the refire turbot came out to complete the table. Kanae wanted to show herself as the leader but called 6 all day on salmon but Paula corrected that to 4 and Van was now confusing things by calling the wrong all day on duck and Nick wondered what the fuck was going on. Chef Ramsay jumped in to tell them all to stop talking and called the real all day and while Paula and Van managed to get it together, Kanae ended up behind on garnish again and almost killed the table with Ramsay wondering where the fuck the fries were. Kanae finally bounced back and the rest of the black jackets did get their act together to finish service with Van's last duck and chicken as well as Paula's salmon perfect but Chef Ramsay said that was not what he expected at this stage!
Chef Ramsay said it wasn't a terrible service but the communication at times was a joke and asked for 2 nominees. Nick said there was no way him and Nikki were going up and it was between the other 3. Nikki said she hated voting for Paula but felt like she had the worst service tonight and Paula agreed it was a rough night as Nikki voted for Paula and Kanae. Nick voted for Paula and Van and this led to the other 3 all voting for everyone else and Van said if anyone needs to go home tonight it was Kanae as she confused everyone tonight. Kanae was livid with Van as she had nothing sent back while Paula was firing scallops too early, overcooking turbot while Van was fucking up fillets and this led to an argument between Van and Kanae as Van angrily said he was swamped by steaks and only messed up 1 and to cut that noise. At elimination Nick called Paula as the 1st nominee but said it was tied between Van and Kanae for the 2nd nominee and a furious Ramsay called all 3 of them forward! Ramsay said this was a very hard decision but eliminated KANAE for failing as a leader tonight but said her passion and fight were exceptional and told her to keep her jacket. Van said he was happy to survive especially as Nick wanted him gone and when he beats Nick to the prize it was time for humble pie and Paula said there was no time for slip ups at this stage and to get redemption after 16 years would be the best moment of her life.
Vote HERE for the next 2 chefs to be eliminated!
https://strawpoll.com/kogjk0xevZ6 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lZdCZ5yphKY-xzgCoYI23gLu5dxegS4eB5BC-Slk9ac/edit#gid=0 submitted by
Few-Designer-4516 to
HellsKitchen [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 18:54 Embarrassed_Soft_330 Persistent salty taste in mouth
33M, 5â11, 200 pounds, white, United States
Current medication: Multivitamin, fish oil, Zyrtec, eating a lot of kimchi, kombucha, yogurt for probiotics
Iâve had a persistent salty taste in my mouth for over a month. It started after I completely 2 rounds of antibiotics and PPIs to get rid of hpylori. Never had any stomach issues in my life so hpylori was really scary. Luckily I got rid of it and confirmed that via breath test at my GI. My only lingering symptom is this salty taste in my mouth which he didnât seem concerned with, he said I could take a PPI but would just wait it out. I wanted an endoscopy just to be safe but he said that wouldnât be needed. I did have oral thrush after hpylori which I got rid of with medicine too. My doctor said the salty taste could be a change in diet or allergies or maybe anxiety since I have been quite anxious lately, this taste in my mouth isnât helping.
Itâs becoming very annoying, I had some post nasal drip from allergies but Iâm on allergy medicine and itâs still there. I donât have acid reflux symptoms that I can tell but tried tums and Pepcid and that didnât work either. Tried elevating my head at night too.
I eat very clean, workout and drink plenty of water
Wondering if anyone has thoughts on what else it could be or have seen this in the past? Thank you!
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Embarrassed_Soft_330 to
GERD [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 18:53 newsouthSKN Been to the optometrist 6 times in the past 3 weeks. No relief or answers - any suggestions? I'm new at this.
I have developed very severe dry eyes - pretty much out of nowhere - in the last 1-2 months. I was a daily contact lens wearer but have not been able to wear them at all for over a month. In the past, I would have a day or two where my eyes needed a break or something, but never anything like this.
I don't have any eye discharge or even a ton of gritty/foreign body feeling. Just so, so incredibly dry and super red dilated blood vessels. The optometrist says I have both a papillary reaction on my lids, and very low tear production at the moment. And it has not gotten better over the 3 weeks of treatment (below). She mentioned clogged glands and using a warm compress, but nothing about MGD specifically. Does MGD come on suddenly, or develop over time? How can I prevent it from getting worse? I asked if it was ocular rosacea since I have flushing rosacea as well, but she kind of just ignored that suggestion.
So far I have tried:
- Hycosan Extra drops - 2% Hyaluronic acid
- Hycosan Intense drops - 2% Hyaluronic acid and Ection (this is supposed to be the best but I honestly feel more relief at the level down with Extra)
- Hycosan Night/Hydro Night ointment - vitamin A ointment (woke up with redder eyes than the night before)
- Olopatadine prescription drops - to rule out allergy
- Viscotears gel - nighttime
- Optase Tea Tree oil eyelid wipes - morning and night
- Hot compress nightly
Any thoughts? Suggestions? I miss my contacts and being able to blink without it feeling like my eyes are made of cardboard.
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newsouthSKN to
Dryeyes [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 18:53 MidnightMoonStory Does this sound like creeping ARFID behaviors? Looking for some insight. TW for numbers, personal history included.
I originally posted this on the ED anonymous sub, (no replies yet) but then I found this sub! So I decided to share my situation here.
Apart from having autism and ADHD, I (26F, turning 27 at the end of the month) also have what my previous psychiatrist called a âneurological feeding disorderâ.
This is due to impaired interception (internal body sensations) from neonatal brain damage. This brain damage was caused by a hemorrhage, which also caused cerebral palsy. I also have general anxiety disorder and depression.
As a child and teen, I definitely had ARFID behaviors, which were dismissed as picky eating behaviors. Itâs just that âhigh-levelâ autism, ADHD, and ARFID wasnât diagnosed in girls in the early 2000s.
I basically lived on a âbeige dietâ of cereal, bread, snack cakes, pasta, pizza, and some meat, like chicken strips or cheeseburgers. I wouldnât eat sandwiches, eggs, seafood, fruits, or vegetables, except for peas and white potatoes.
I was somewhat underweight until high school, and I remember my mom would always offer me âchocolate milkâ (Pediasure / Ensure) when I was younger. I then gained weight in high school due to depression and just generally eating processed food. At my highest weight in school, I was 135 pounds.
Hereâs some backstory about where things started to shift. Trigger warning for numbers, skip over if needed.
///
That carb-heavy diet was up until I turned 24, when I first tried a keto diet for mental health. Things were going really well, until I eventually developed malnutrition from losing too much weight unintentionally. My height is 4â8â tall.
I went from 110 pounds (BMI 25) and 28% body fat to 90 pounds (BMI 20) and 20% body fat in 10 months. October 2021 to August 2022. I couldnât get warm worth a damn from subnormal body temperatures, and I lost my period at around 95 pounds.
Even so, a daily calorie intake of 1000-1200 per day on top of 2-3 miles of walking (daily activity and steps) would have eventually lead to relative energy deficiency (RED) at some point because I never knew about planning scheduled refeeding periods to mitigate the down-regulation in metabolism.
Especially when considering that my hunger signals are impaired due to my brain damage. My interception is about half as sensitive as normal. I donât really feel stomach hunger until itâs very strong. Lots of times, I can hear the noise before I actually feel it. And I canât say that Iâve ever identified satiety correctly before.
I didn't know that low-calorie interventions shouldn't be done for months at a time without proper nutritional supervision to prevent deficiencies.
Then I gained 20 pounds in 14 months from October 2022 to December 2023 (93 to 113) after having my previous IUD removed, stopping keto, and hormonal eating patterns once I realized that I had PMDD when my period resumed in July 2023 once I had gained back enough weight.
///
Now, I do my best to meet my keto macros and make sure that I get enough calories every day.
I try not to eat under 1200 kcal and keeping a food log helps keep me accountable that Iâm not under-eating due to not feeling hungry. Logging for calorie accountability wasnât something that I did last time in 2022, because I only cared about carb intake.
Looking back, there were a lot of logs where the daily calorie intake was under 1,000 and thatâs not good in the long term. Thatâs something Iâll have to avoid doing this round. I also keep up with my electrolytes, because being in ketosis is very diuretic and sheds electrolytes quickly due the carb restriction.
However, my current diet is relatively⌠limited, to put it lightly. I mostly eat heavy cream in coffee, heavy-cream ice cream, full-fat cream cheese, eggs, and some kind of meat every day to meet my protein requirements. This isnât the previous âbeige dietâ of my youth, but rather what I call a âheavy cream dietâ.
I used to be hypersensitive to flavors and textures when I was younger, for example, I never ate salads before the age of 24, but that switch âflippedâ when I started having reactive eating episodes when I was underweight.
I started eating sandwiches, spicy foods, and seafood, all of which were foods that I was previously very avoidant of, to the point of having anxiety attacks when seeing the shells in shellfish.
Those reactive eating episodes really showed the kind of primal need for food that malnutrition does to the brain, because the body needs a lot of calories to gain back weight while underweight.
Now, instead of avoiding fruit/veg and shellfish, I still avoid sweet fruits, starchy veggies, nuts/seeds, peanut butter, and any other kind of carb food.
I avoid eating because the food isnât enjoyable anymore. Instead of being hypersensitive, it feels like Iâm now hyposensitive, like I just have a general disinterest in food, apart from the usual low appetite. Even when I try to focus, sometimes I canât mentally âtasteâ the food.
I can also eat and drink quickly because I canât feel the food or liquid inside my stomach, which makes pacing difficult.
Iâm also currently averse to cold coffee because my mouth just says no to for some reason, which may be because my mom explained that cold coffee is less acidic than hot coffee (she was a barista) and tastes different?
However, I will get what I call âvagus hungerâ after passing a bowel movement, and Iâll get very hungry. Itâs a very distinct feeling, and itâs one of the few times that I can clearly recognize the feeling of hunger.
I eat only one or two âmealsâ per day, not including the âfat bolusesâ like cream, oil, or butter that I eat straight or put in my coffee during the day to maintain my ketone levels. The fat helps because I have neurologically delayed bowel motility and I take GI meds to manage this.
By the way, Iâm using âavoidantâ to describe sensory overstimulation, and âaverseâ to describe choking/nausea symptoms, as thatâs what I was previously taught in speech therapy when I when for a few sessions when I was 24 due to neurological swallowing spasms.
Does this sound like ARFID behaviors? OSFED? Where is the line between an âeatingâ disorder and a âfeedingâ disorder, if there is one? I was always told that my circumstances were FD related, not ED related, but no one ever explained the difference to me. Apparently, ARFID isnât on the ED side, but rather the FD side?
At the mental health practice Iâm currently with, the former psychiatrist left, and the practice is still waiting on a new one. But I want to bring this all to the attention of my psychologist, who knows about my longstanding feeding issues, and then the new psychiatrist, whenever they get hired.
Insight is appreciated, and my chats are open if you donât want to publicly comment. Thanks in advance!
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MidnightMoonStory to
ARFID [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 18:45 notacrybabyonreddit [Product request] Best products for acne hyperpigmentation that do not contain niacinamide?
Hi! Iâm stuck with some dark spots on my cheeks, and I want to start looking for products to help with them, but every single item I find, I see niacinamide listed as an ingredient. I absolutely refuse to use a product containing it, as it has caused me an issue with millia that I still deal with now. I donât know what I could possibly use because these spots really do bother međ I do also suffer from rosacea so my dermatologist wonât prescribe tretinoin for my hyperpigmentation. If anyone has any recommendations whether acids or even natural solutions Iâd love to know. Thank you(:
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notacrybabyonreddit to
SkincareAddiction [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 18:42 k_alve Troubleshooting my Lelit Elizabeth shots
Hello, I need some help for a weird problem I'm having with my Lelit Elizabeth, hopefully some of you know what to do or maybe you could tell me where to ask for help. Basically, whenever I start using my machine, my first shot is always slower, no matter what I do. At first I thought it was a puck prep problem, so I started paying more attention to my wdt and tamping, but even when going finer immediately, usually my second shot of the day is faster and then it gets stable from that point of view! And today I lost my mind when I opened a new bag of Rwandan coffee. I turned on my machine, I let it heat up (just saying that to make sure you don't think that's the problem), I pulled my first shot without changing my grind from last bag, and I got very lucky, because the shot was quite amazing for the dose, ratio, grind size and temperature that I chose for that coffee. I definitely wanted a second shot, but it was as always, a faster shot (by four seconds) and a more acidic one. I'm also using a Eureka silenzio with bellows, to have as little retention as possible, and also tried purging water to see if that's the problem, but it doesn't seem to be that. Any ideas on what it could be? Thanks in advance đ
submitted by
k_alve to
JamesHoffmann [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 18:25 oweverythinghurts purging woes
my head hurts, my eyes are puffy and have broken capillaries all around them, iâm pretty sure i pulled a muscle in my abdomen, it feels like my stomach acid is eating a hole through my stomach lining, iâm tired, dehydrated, lightheaded, blegh oh and iâm SO FUCKING HUNGRY which is the worst of it all đ feels silly to complain about it because itâs literally my fault no one forced me to vomit up all my food yesterday but it seems i canât help it. also threw up into a plastic bag in my room twice yesterday because i was afraid iâd get caught if i used the bathroom⌠yayyy! but hey i didnât gain any weight (actually lost some) so itâs all worth it right? god i feel so stupid
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oweverythinghurts to
EDAnonymous [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 18:14 ImaMasterDebator Good afternoon Boston, I am back with a list of things to do this weekend - May 16th - 19th
At popular request you can now get this as a newsletter. Sign up and help support these posts! My friend Yan is putting on a
comedy show at Cloud & Spirits this Thursday. Tickets are limited; go check it out I promise you'll have fun.
THURSDAY - MAY 16
Tapered Expectations XXI: "Above the Clouds" - A Standup Comedy Event @ Cloud & Spirits @ 7PM Acquired Taste Comedy is back at Cloud & Spirits with another signature Standup Comedy Event. Catch a carefully curated selection of the area's funniest comics along with a special musical guest at a breathtaking cocktail bar in Central Square! Red Sox vs Rays @ Fenway Park @ 7:10PM Asi Windâs Magic Show @ The Wilbur @ 7:30PM Being one of the most-watched magicians in the world, Asi Wind presents a new show where he pushes the limits of belief even further with unbelievable mind-reading and astonishing magic.
Candlelight: A Tribute to Adele in Concert @ Temple Ohabei Shalom @ 7PM / 9PM Marc Martel & One Vision of Queen Concert @ Symphony Hall @ 7:30PM The Pops will rock you when Marc Martel brings the iconic anthems of Queen to Symphony Hall.
Diana Ross @ Wang Theatre @ 7:30PM See the iconic and legendary Diana Ross perform the hits that have defined her career.
Cooper Alan @ Paradise Rock Club @ 8PM With Thomas Mac
Lords of Acid @ Brighton Music Hall @ 6:30PM Ben Beal @ City Winery @ 7:30PM FRIDAY - MAY 17
Bruins vs Panthers @ TD Garden Madeleine Peyroux @ The Wilbur @ 8PM Neil Young & Crazy Horse @ Xfinity Center @ 7:30PM Wild Child @ Paradise Rock Club @ 8PM Soen @ Brighton Music Hall @ 8PM Tye Tribbett and Friends @ Orpheum Theatre @ 7:30PM Galantis @ Big Night Live @ 9:30PM Hermanos GutiĂŠrrez @ Royale @ 6PM Tinlicker @ Royale @ 10PM Buck Meek of Big Thief @ Crystal Ballroom @ 8PM Anders Osborne Trio @ City Winery @ 7:30PM SATURDAY - MAY 18
Watertown Porchfest @ Watertown @ All day Revolution vs Philadelphia Union @ Gillette Stadium @ 7:30PM Dancing on the Charles @ Marsh Post #442 @ 3PM Montreal deep house DJ Fred Everything headlines this marathon outdoor dance party, running from late afternoon into the night.
Ales & Tales @ Stone Zoo @ 5:30PM Walk on the wild side while enjoying local craft beverages. This popular beer tasting event is a favorite among animal and beer lovers alike!
Kite & Bike Festival @ Franklin Park @ 12PM This Boston tradition brings families together to enjoy picnicking, kite flying, bicycles & music.
Ongoing - Artisan Market @ Rose Kennedy Greenway @ 11AM Kevin James Comedy Show @ Chevalier Theatre @ 4:30PM / 7:30PM Jimmy Failla Comedy Show @ Shubert Theatre @ 8PM âEncantoâ in Concert @ Symphony Hall @ 2PM Disneyâs Academy Award-winning film comes to life in a concert event, featuring the entire feature-length film with a full orchestra performing the score.
The String Cheese Incident @ MGM Music Hall @ 7:15PM Robyn Schall Stand Up @ The Wilbur @ 7PM Sorry Papi @ House of Blues @ 9PM James Arthur @ Roadrunner @ 8PM With Forest Blakk
The Music of Talking Heads & More for Kids @ Paradise Rock Club @ 11AM *Presented by The Rock and Roll Playhouse
Orgy + COLD @ Brighton Music Hall @ 8PM Gimme Gimme Disco @ Big Night Live @ 5:30PM Arty @ Big Night Live @ 10:30PM The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis @ Crystal Ballroom @ 8PM Chris Smither + Peter Mulvey @ City Winery @ 7:30PM SUNDAY - MAY 19
Celtics vs Cavaliers @ TD Garden Kite Festival @ Revere Beach Kick off beach season with a fun day for the whole family complete with build-your-own kite stations, professional kite flyers, live music, and other activities!
Ongoing - Open Market @ SoWa @ 11AM One of the largest open-air farmer and artist markets returns this summer season!
âDropoutsâ Podcast Live @ Paradise Rock Club @ 7PM Come see internet stars Zach Justice, Tara Yummy & Jared Bailey discuss latest hot topics, celebrity gossip, and personal dramas live!
Electric Callboy @ MGM Music Hall @ 7PM Deko @ Brighton Music Hall @ 7PM With Yameii
Mk.gee @ The Sinclair @ 7:30PM Guppy @ The Rockwell @ 7:30PM Big Bad Voodoo Daddy @ The Wilbur @ 7PM Compaq Big Band @ City Winery @ 7:30PM ALL WEEKEND
FRIDAY & SATURDAY - Amanda Seales Stand Up @ Laugh Boston FRIDAY & SATURDAY - Zach Brazao Stand Up @ Nickâs Comedy Stop @ 8PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY - âBlueyâs Big Playâ Show @ Wang Theatre âBlueyâs Big Playâ is a brand-new theatrical adaptation of the Emmy award-winning childrenâs television series featuring new music and new character adventures.
All weekend - Jukebox The Ghost @ The Sinclair @ 8PM All weekend - Nantucket Wine & Food Festival Enjoy food and drinks tastings, seminars, brunches, and parties as the annual festival uncorks the island for the summer!
All weekend -âHallyu Hits: Korean Films that Moved the World @ MFA See the best of Korean cinema including âOldboy,â âParasites,â and âBurning.â
All weekend - âSpring Experienceâ Ballet @ Citizens Bank Opera House LAST CHANCE - Explore Boston Balletâs dynamic and captivating Spring program composed of three masterful ballets featuring classical and modern dance elements.
All weekend - âBABYBABYBABYâ Dance Performance @ Calderwood Pavilion This contemporary dance production taps into the feeling of falling in love and reflects on the human impulse for connection and intimacy.
All weekend - âA Strange Loopâ Musical @ Wimberly Theatre Winner of Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, Michael R. Jacksonâs blisteringly funny masterwork exposes the heart and soul of a young Black artist grappling with desires, identity, and instincts he both loves and loathes.
All weekend - âJersey Boysâ Musical @ North Shore Music Theatre LAST CHANCE - Featuring legendary hits, this award-winning musical tells the behind-the-scenes drama of the international sensation boy band The Four Seasons.
All weekend - âToni Stoneâ Play @ The Huntington Theatre The Huntingtonâs season finale is a beautiful, rich portrait of a trailblazing woman. Follow the inspiring and life-affirming story of baseball legend Toni Stone.
All weekend - âRomeo and Julietâ Play @ Calderwood Pavilion Brought to life by Actorsâ Shakespeare Project, Shakespeareâs most famous duo return in a flurry of forbidden love, exhilarating fight scenes, and tragic fate.
All weekend - âMermaid Hourâ Play @ Arrow Street Arts LAST CHANCE - Fast-paced, funny, and heartfelt, âMermaid Hourâ follows two parents and their trans teen kid as they all seek to understand who they are and who they wish to be.
ONGOING
Ongoing - Immersive Disney Animation @ Boch Center Step into the art and legacy of Walt Disney Animation Studios and celebrate the music, artistry and animation from the creators of Frozen, The Little Mermaid, Big Hero 6 and many more.
Ongoing - Musical Shows @ MoS Planetarium Museum of Science puts on special experiences adapting the music of Pink Floyd, Rihanna, BeyoncĂŠ, and The Divas to immersive visuals in the Charles Hayden Planetarium.
Ongoing - âFirelei BĂĄezâ Exhibition @ ICA One of the most exciting painters of her generation, BĂĄez explores the multilayered legacy of colonial histories and the African diaspora in the Caribbean and beyond.
Ongoing - âWordplayâ Exhibition @ ICA Highlighting the rich interplay between imagery and text, the exhibition showcases how contemporary artists have played with words to animate and expand their art practices.
Ongoing - âHallyu! The Korean Waveâ Exhibition @ MFA Enjoy an immersive and multisensory journey through Koreaâs fascinating history, and celebrate its contemporary vibrant creative force.
Ongoing - âDress Upâ Exhibition @ MFA Through more than 100 works from the MFAâs collection including 20th- and 21st-century clothing, jewelry, accessories, illustrations, and photographs, this exhibition explores adornment and its role in the creation of a look.
Ongoing - âComrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Partyâ Exhibition @ MFA This exhibition brings together 27 powerful photographs by Stephen Shames that feature the women of the Black Panther party and showcase their crucial work for the movement.
Ongoing - âThinking Small: Dutch Art to Scaleâ Exhibition @ MFA Featuring 15 intriguing objects from 17th-century Netherlands such as paintings, prints, silver medals, and books, this exhibition compels viewers to reconsider their relationship to the world around them.
Ongoing - âRaqib Shaw: Ballads of East and Westâ Exhibition @ ISG Museum Shawâs images of magic and mystery combine Western artistic tradition with ornamental elements derived from the Japanese, Persian, and Indian cultures that he vividly remembers from his youth.
Ongoing - âPicasso: War, Combat, and Revolutionâ Exhibition @ Harvard Art Museums The exhibition explores the dictator Francisco Francoâs Spain, imagery of death, struggles of good and evil, political and artistic revolution, and issues of desire and capture.
Ongoing - âOur Time on Earthâ Exhibition @ Peabody Essex Museum This traveling exhibition from the Barbican Centre in London celebrates the power of global creativity to transform the conversation around the climate emergency.
Ongoing - âAI: Mind the Gapâ Exhibition @ MIT Museum MIT Museum presents its latest riveting, interactive exhibit exploring the tremendous promise, unforeseen impacts, and everyday misconceptions of AI.
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2024.05.15 18:06 DrDoritosMD [Stargate and GATE Inspired] Manifest Fantasy Chapter 16: Power Play (Part 1)
Authorâs Note: If you enjoy the story so far, please consider upvoting and commenting! These go a long way in helping the story reach a larger audience. (Also, reddit removes all my formatting for some reason so if you want a fully formatted read, check out my story on RoyalRoad)
READ 2 WEEKS AHEAD:
Season Finale Chapter 17 is now available for Tier 2 Manifest Fantasy Patrons and higher!
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/drdoritosmd Discord:
https://discord.gg/wr2xexGJaD First Three, two, one... execute.
Ron peeked around the corner, his M4E1 Carl Gustaf already loaded with standard HEAT rounds. The rest of Alpha Team stacked up behind him or behind Ryan, who was on the other side of the doorway. Through the opening, they could see a nightmarish tangle of webs and egg sacs, with the skittering shapes of Spiranids lurking in the shadows in the far corners of the room.
The Queen was positioned in the center of the room, completely exposed by a cluster of eggs. Henry watched as Ron leveled his Gustaf, taking aim at the Queen while they stayed along the wall to ensure Ronâs backblast was clear. It should have been an easy kill, but a flicker of movement caught Henryâs eye.
A blob of white flew across his vision, smacking into Ron just as he fired his weapon. The thick strands of webbing bypassed Kelmithusâ shielding and wrapped around him, sending him flying back a couple of meters. He landed on his back, his body and launcher completely stuck to the floor by the condensed silk.
Around the same time, the Gustafâs projectile struck the Queenâs abdomen section. The resulting blast tore through its exoskeleton but was far from a fatal blow. The Queen shrieked, a sound far deeper than Henry expected.
âFuck!â Ron shouted, struggling to break free from the webbing.
Henry exhaled. They were a man down, but helping him had to wait; the not-dead Queen and its minions took precedence. It would be great if he had another launcher in his own Holding Bag, but that was something heâd have to bring up to Chief Cole later. Henry tossed his grenades into the room, the pops mingling with the screeches of injured Spiranids. Ryan struck simultaneously, throwing his own collection into the mix. Like firecrackers, the explosives were violent but short-lived.
As the chaos subsided, Henry pushed in. Raising his shotgun, he tore through a Spiranid that pounced at him, its carcass smoldering from the white phosphorous. Beside him, Isaac, Ryan, and Dr. Andersonâs shots rang out, tearing through their own sectors of fire.
Almost immediately upon their entry, the Queen surged forward with terrifying speed. It reared its head back like it was about to vomit, mandibles covered in a sick, yellowish color. Henry recognized immediately what it was trying to do. âAcid, move!â
Henry dove away from his previous position, taking a shot at another Spiranid that had taken the opportunity to jump at him while its master was preparing to attack. He narrowly escaped the lethal spray as it jetted toward him. The acid splattered on the ground where they had stood not even a second before, sizzling fiercely as it corroded the thick webbing sprawled across the floor. He noticed as he ran that, rather curiously, the acid was simply puddling on the floor. There was no damage to the floor itself, but if it could tear apart high-quality monster silk just like that, he didnât want to find out what it could do to an envirosuit.
Henry glanced back after blasting apart his third Spiranid. His teammates were fine â Ryan helping him keep the Queenâs attention, Sera already on her way to Ron, and the others taking care of the smaller Spiranids. He tried to get a quick headcount of how many Spiranids theyâd already eliminated. Between their guns, Kelmithusâ magic, and the grenades, he estimated they had killed at least a dozen so far. Solid progress, but the fact that they werenât able to take out the Queen with their first strike was an issue.
Henry rolled to his left as the Queen pounced on his previous position. It was fucking fast, like a Goliath birdeater but scaled up â and with nasty abilities that really shouldnât belong on a creature like this. He recovered quickly and took aim, firing point-blank into its thorax. The white phosphorous pellets hissed as they burned into its exoskeleton, forcing it back.
Beside him, Ryanâs shotgun boomed. He struck the Queenâs legs, which seemed to be more fragile than the thick exoskeleton surrounding the head and thorax. The pellets bit into the chitin, likely striking a nerve as evidenced by the legâs subsequent buckling and collapse. It was a lucky shot â one that he doubted they could repeat four or five more times.
âSera, use my knife! Here, right here!â Ron called out.
Seraâs sword mustâve been too large to effectively cut through the webbing. They had to hurry up. He and Ryan had been dodging the Queenâs attacks, but mostly by a hairâs breadth. All it took was one lucky hit from the Queen to put them out of commission, possibly for good. âSera, status on Ron?â
âOne minute!â she responded.
Damn. That was one minute later than heâd hoped. Reacting instinctively, Henry noted the Queen raising one of its legs â a sure sign of it preparing for another attack. The Queen struck again, this time cleaving the air with the leg, aiming to corral him into a predictable escape route. As its leg swept through the air, Henry caught sight of the Queen rearing its head back in a grotesque mimicry of a snake about to strike â another acid attack.
Anticipating the monsterâs strategy, Henry feinted to the right, a move he hoped would mislead it about his true intentions. As the Queenâs head followed his feint, Henry twisted sharply, scraping against the rough ground. With a powerful push from his legs, he launched backward just as the Queen unleashed its attack.
Acid spewed forth in a wide arc, splattering where he had just been. The corrosive globs almost instantly melted the webbing on the floor, collecting into pools. And there was the second issue. The longer this fight dragged on, the less room theyâd have to maneuver.
Henry unloaded into the creatureâs compound eyes before tossing a flashbang near its legs. The creature staggered backward, blinded in both its eyes and its sensory hairs. Henry used the precious few seconds he bought to reload his weapon and check up on his team. âYen, sitrep?â
âStragglers neutralized; weâre moving to you now.â
Automatic gunfire erupted as Isaac and Dr. Anderson joined the fight against the Queen, dumping their mags on the creatureâs head. The 6.8mm seemed to penetrate well, but he could say the same if they fought an elephant; the Spiranid Queen was simply too large for the relatively small caliber rounds to have any effect besides pissing it off.
The Queen lunged again, its legs surrounding him from all sides. There was only one way out, and it was through the belly of the beast. Henry rushed forward, ducking under the Queenâs mandibles as he slid underneath its abdomen. He fired his shotgun as quickly as he could, unloading pellets into the beastâs underbelly. The white phosphorous scorched the softer flesh, drawing a shriek of pain from the massive creature.
As the Queen writhed under the relentless assault, Ryan and the others seized the moment to reload their weapons and reposition. They poured everything they had into the creatureâs cephalothorax, bluish ichor oozing from the hundreds of new wounds that they opened up. Yet, it was like chipping away at a mountain â it simply wasnât enough. The creature thrashed around violently in response; Henry knew it was only a matter of time before it landed a hit on someone.
And land a hit it did. With a terrifying swiftness, one of its massive legs slammed into Henryâs chest, launching him backward. The shield Kelmithus cast on him flickered as it absorbed the brunt of the impact. He crashed into an egg sac by the entrance â its membrane ruptured on impact, drenching him in a sticky, corrosive slime. The sac provided little cushion, and he hit the ground hard, the breath knocked out of him.
Pain flared across Henryâs chest where the Queenâs leg had struck him. Gasping for breath and battling the encroaching blackness in his vision, he instinctively checked his envirosuit. He started with the areas he could see, glancing down at his chest. It was visibly deformed, dented but not quite a gash.
Still intact, thank goodness. No breach, but another hit like that would be disastrous. He breathed a sigh of relief, his chest hurting like hell as he did so. He checked his sides and back. Parts of his suit were covered in slime from the egg sac. It didnât seem as corrosive as the Queenâs acid, but it was still a hazard. Quickly, he swiped at it, removing as much as possible with his gloved hands to prevent further damage.
He forced himself up, grabbing his shotgun from the floor. The Queen was already barreling toward him, the damn monster not letting up. He didnât have time to make a run for it; he needed to jump to one side or the other, and the timing needed to be perfect. Just as the Queenâs shadow engulfed him, the air turned icy cold, frost creeping up on his visor.
Ice formed from thin air, spearing up from the ground and piercing through the Queenâs legs. The spikes rooted the beast in place. Not one to waste an opportunity, Henry dashed away from the entrance, firing at the immobilized giant spider as he linked up with the others.
âSera?â Henry asked again.
Seraâs voice came in strained. âAlmostâŚâ Then, with a triumphant shout, she announced the word Henry had been desperate to hear. âDone!â
âOwens!â Henry said, risking a glance back.
Ron had already grabbed his Gustaf and was in the process of loading another HEAT round. âOn it!â
Henry grinned. It was a relief, to be sure. With Ron free and back in the fight, the odds had just tipped heavily in their favor. The Queen was tough, but it wasnât invincible; they just needed an opening.
Given the damage the Queen sustained to its body, Henry couldnât imagine it being in peak fighting condition. Even in its weakened state, though, it still had the capability to dodge Ronâs attack, and it seemed to be saving its web ability for that very inevitability.
âTake out the legs!â Henry ordered.
They combined their fire on the left legs, since Ryan managed to break one of them earlier. He heard a crack that mightâve been the chitin giving way or the leg snapping, but it was hard to tell. He was just about to chalk it up to the prevailing gunfire around them, but then he saw it: a brief stumble. The Queen recovered quickly, but it was clear to Henry that it wouldnât be able to manage any more damage to its legs.
Then, he noticed a blur in his peripheral vision to his right, moving so fast his eyes could barely keep up. Shit, he was certain he kept track of the Queenâs movements. With the existing damage to his envirosuit, heâd be completely fucked. He braced himself for another impact, but it never came.
As he focused harder on the blur, he caught a glimpse of a flash of light that could only be one thing â Seraâs sword, And, just like a flash of lightning, she had already cleared the vicinity of the Queen. The Queenâs foreleg seemed to simply vanish, severed so cleanly that it took a moment for the beast to realize what had happened. When it did, it let out a screech of pain, its balance faltering as it tried to adapt to the sudden change.
While Henry focused on taking out another leg from the left side, Sera had already shifted to her next target. Their assault was brutal: white phosphorus pellets and hard-hitting 6.8mm on one side, ice magic and skilled swordsmanship on the other. And to think, they managed to inflict all this damage by the time Ron completed his reload.
âClear the way!â Ron called out, his Gustaf aimed right at the Queenâs head.
Henry jumped back, watching as Kelmithus conjured another set of ice spikes to root the beast again, in case the five obliterated legs werenât enough to keep it down. The Queen thrashed against the icy bonds, its remaining legs slashing through the air in a frenzied bid for freedom. It spat acid â a tactic that wouldâve worked effectively on most other materials, but instead simply got diluted with the melting ice. Even as the acid reacted with the ice, the spikes held firm, anchoring the beast in place like steel cables.
Henryâs heart pounded in his ears. Come on, Owens, he urged silently. Take the shot.
As if on cue, Ron pulled the trigger. The Gustaf bucked in his hands as the HEAT round streaked towards its target. Henry barely had time to brace himself before the explosion hit, the shockwave slamming into him and nearly toppling him over. He staggered back, gazing into the settling dust.
When the smoke cleared, the Queenâs head was obliterated â replaced by a gory mess of shattered chitin and pulverized flesh. Blood sprayed from the gaping hole, covering the ground in a pale blue hue. The creatureâs body convulsed, its remaining legs scrabbling weakly at their surroundings.
A surge of triumph washed over Henry, but it was fleeting. From the corner of his eye, he locked on to a glimpse of movement. One of the Queenâs legs continued to spasmodically jerk around and spray the ground with blue ichor. He raised his shotgun in a nonchalant motion and blasted the errant limb, watching as it shuddered and went still.
Sera stepped up, her sword barely catching the light as she jammed it into what was left of the Queenâs thorax. A sharp twist, and it was over. She then yanked the blade from the carcass, her grip shifting subtly along the hilt. As she flicked the sword, frost swiftly coated the ichor clinging to the metal. The frozen debris was flung off, hitting the ground and shattering like glass.
He glanced down at his Holding Bag. Damn, the fight took out most of his shells. Swapping out his shotgun for his M7, he turned to his team and took stock of their condition. It seemed everyone had mostly gone unscathed, only debris and dirt scarring their envirosuits. Well, except for himself and Ron. âThink weâre gonna have to start calling you pinata now,â Henry said, clapping his friend on the shoulder.
Ron scoffed. âYeah? Says the runner-up,â he said, tapping the dent on Henryâs envirosuit. âBetter âpinataâ than âroadkillâ, though. But seriously, whatâs next? Donât even know where to start.â
The room was empty, save for the debris strewn about and the singular obelisk standing in the center of the room. He didnât notice it earlier, but as he got closer, he realized that the obelisk emitted a faint light that barely escaped the canopy of webs. He looked it up and down before turning to the others. âOnly one place to start. Letâs clear out the webs, see whatâs hiding below.â
âDoc, Kel, clear out the eggs. Hayes, Sera, see if the Queenâs got anything useful. Everyone else focus on the webs,â Henry ordered.
Ron drew his knife and started slicing through the dense cobwebs. âHey, what yâall think the Queenâs Tier is?â
Isaac paused to consider. âEh, Tier 8, probably. Minotaur boss and Rillifane boss were both Tier 8, so Iâd say the spiderâs around the same level.â
âWell, the resilience of the specimen isnât a definitive measure of the Tier,â Dr. Anderson pointed out. âItâs quite possible that we merely had the most suitable tools at hand in this particular encounter.â
âThe scholar speaks truly,â Sera agreed. âThere is nary a defining criterion; defense is but one of many that are considered by the Guild. Were it so simple, Kelmithus and I would have attained Tier 9 ere now.â
âSo, what do you think the Queen is, then? Tier 7 maybe?â Ron asked.
Henry shook his head. Tier 7 didnât seem accurate. Using his knife to scrape some of the webbing off his glove, he voiced, âSpiranids are weak in general, but are classified as Tier 5 or higher because of their traps, ambush tactics, numbers, and abilities. Archers can use Wind Snipe and mages can use wide-area spellcasting, but they canât reliably penetrate the exoskeletonâs armor. If anything, this is probably on the lower end of Tier 9.â
âTier 9, huh?â Isaac muttered.
Sera smiled as she stood back. She stuffed a frost-covered gland into her holding bag and paused from her work as she chimed in, âHmm⌠how keen. I expected nothing less from the first Tier 6 entrants in Eldraloreâs history! It shows plain why the Guild did so swiftly raise you.â
âHah,â Henry chuckled. It was an amusing thought, but⌠âSay, ya think we can get to Tier 7 after this?â
Seraâs eyebrows shot up. âTier 7? A mark of no slight merit. What have you achieved since attaining Tier 6?â
Henry reached to scratch his chin, then cursed softly as his glove thudded against his visor. âWell, we took down a Rillifane pack, a Sentinel Lindwyrm, and now this primal Spiranid Queen. Thatâs not too shabby, eh?â
âFirm victories,â Sera admitted, âbut advancement weighs more than battle alone. The Guild also considers quest difficulty, knowledge gained therefrom, and impact â in other words, glory.â
âThe Baranthurian Ruins,â Dr. Anderson blurted, taking the words out of Henryâs mouth. He turned to Kelmithus, who approached them after confirming that the eggs had been cleared out. âSurely, working with the Sanctum Arcanum must be quite the honour. The Guild holds their quests with high esteem, wouldnât you say?â
Kelmithus nodded, burning a clump of disposed webs on the ground. âTrue as that may be, advancement oft hinges upon the cumulative experience of dozens of quests.â
âWell, ainât no small feats for us lately,â Ryan remarked. âThe quest to the Baranthurian ruins, what was it, Tier 8? Yeah, that was Tier 8. Sentinel Lindwyrm? Hell, Tier Nine. That there beast?â Ryan pointed his gun at the carcass of the Spiranid Queen. âTier 9 as well.â
Ron interjected, âPlus weâve been helping out along the way, like those villagers, and taking on quests others wonât touch. Honestly, the Hardale quest should be pretty weighty too, considering the Nobian shenanigans.â
Sera hummed, mulling over Alpha Teamâs experiences. The fact that most of their quests at Tier 6 had essentially been Tier 7 quests or higher in difficulty was probably unheard of in the Guild. Not only that, but theyâd been able to complete these difficult quests successfully. Hell, with flying colors, even. That had to count for something.
Henry looked over at Sera, stepping back as he allowed Kelmithus to dispose of the webs that he had cleared out. âSo, whaddya think? Based on what weâve done, you think we got a shot at Tier 7?â
Sera looked up at the ceiling as she weighed her response. âEhh, youâve a strong case. Alas, itâs Taldrenâs call to make. His favor seems yours, though; I wager heâll agree.â
Henry grinned. Moving up meant they could have access to more quests. Naturally, that also meant better rewards and in turn, access to some truly magical equipment. âGood to hear. Guess weâll see to it once we get back to Eldralore. Now, we should probably ââ
A soft glow of light gradually lit up the room, interrupting Henry mid-sentence. He squinted, readying his weapon. The light came from the walls and ceiling, illuminating the once-dark chamber. The obelisk, now free of webs, now hummed⌠healthily? It wasnât like he had a manual to tell him if this was a good or bad development, but judging from the facilityâs reaction, it mustâve worked.
Henry glanced at his HUD. The temperature readings were rising, too. The icy chill from Kelmithusâ magic rapidly dissipated as the environmental controls kicked in. âWell, looks like weâve done all we can here. Letâs head back to the containment cell room and see if we can find anything else of interest.â
â â â
Outskirts of GB-2, Grenden Forest
Carvus Alnect Virelius narrowed his gaze toward the brightening sky, his eyes cutting through the retreating mist that had long veiled the forestâs canopy. This unprecedented clarity above the ruins was strange. After centuries cloaked in an impenetrable fog, why did the skies clear now?
The Umber Vicearchâs mind worked like a whetstone, sharpening the fragments of reports from his scouts, cryptic as they were. The recent skirmish, occurring concurrently with the lifting fog, could not be mere happenstance. Regardless of the answer, the unexpected fold presented a welcome complexity to test his mettle.
He set his thoughts aside as the sound of footsteps approached.
âLeuarch Eldreyn reporting, milord,â one of his men said. âWeâve word from Serarch Trelian.â
Carvus gave him a nod to continue.
Eldreyn relayed the news. âThe scouts espy traces of battle: a fallen Sentinel Lindwyrm and two carriages left abandoned near the caveâs entrance. The land bears scars from some form of magic, strewn with strange metal tubes and other objects unknown to us. Save for the Lindwyrm, no other bodies are to be found. What are your commands, milord?â
Carvus took a deep breath. No other bodies? Two carriages? That such a formidable creature was felled with no apparent casualties among their ranks suggested a small but extraordinarily capable force. Each member was no doubt Tier 7 at the least. The limited number of carriages implied a party not larger than ten. But⌠what could the metal objects mean?
Powerful though they might be, could such a small group withstand his numbers? Carvus entertained the thought briefly. No, direct confrontation would be unwise. The site bore secrets too vital to squander on rash gambles. Better to maneuver them into a position where the only viable option would be to comply with his demands.
âHold our position, Lornus,â Carvus commanded. While he preferred the safety of their hidden vantage in the forest, the intrigue of Trelianâs findings â the slain Lindwyrm â was too compelling to ignore. âThe contents of Trelianâs report compel our own investigation. Lead us, that we might see for ourselves.â
âAs you command, milord.â
It was a short walk to the clearing. As they reached the treeline, Carvus held up a hand, signaling his men to halt â they should go no further than the cover of the forest. The aftermath of the battle lay evident before them. The massive form of the Sentinel Lindwyrm sprawled near the far side of the clearing, its outline murky at a distance.
Carvus squinted, adjusting his position slightly for a better view. He felt his jaw drop, a lapse in composure that surprised even him. Yet, who could fault him? The beast lay nearly torn asunder, its massive body riddled with gaping, jagged wounds that no sword or arrow could inflict. Indeed, not even traditional siege weapons or combat spells could inflict such damage.
The destructive capability of fyric powder was well-known to him â he had seen its use in adamantite mines. The wounds on the Lindwyrm, however, spoke of a force of another Tier entirely. Where fyric powder might clear a path through a stubborn boulder, the agent used against the Sentinel Lindwyrm seemed capable of obliterating several boulders at once, perhaps even an entire cliffside.
Turning his attention from the ravaged beast, he scanned the battlefield. Among the chaos, his eyes caught the glint of metal â strange tubes scattered about, all some lighter shade of bronze. The craters were blackened and littered with debris: shards of metal mixed with wires. This was clearly no ordinary skirmish.
He moved closer to the tree line, cautiously examining the unfamiliar objects. The metal tubes bore no resemblance to any weapons known to Nobian forces. However, their presence here implied that somehow, these objects were related to the catastrophic wounds on the Lindwyrm.
Near the caveâs entrance, two metal carriages lay abandoned. Their exteriors were marred by dirt and marked with an array of dents that appeared to be from the Lindwyrmâs armored tail. The carriages, in style and make, aligned with reports of American machines observed by their Umbercari in distant Eldralore. Mounted atop each was a long cylinder. As foreign as they were, he could tell they were weapons â ones capable of unleashing formidable destruction.
Adventurers throughout the ages had ventured here, all repelled by the formidable Lindwyrm that long guarded these grounds. Had it been folly to devote their resources to the conquest of their neighbors, rather than to mastering and exploiting this site? Such questions surpassed his station, yet irrespective of the answers, the Emperor would surely take no pleasure in learning that he had allowed Americans to plunder the Gatebuilderâs secrets.
Carvus turned to Lornus. âBid our scouts to investigate the cave.â As Leuarch Eldreyn departed to carry out the orders, he beckoned to one of his serarchs. âBring me one of those metal tubes. I wish to examine it.â
He sat on a rock, watching the light bend around the manâs form until he vanished from sight. The serarch then adjusted the temperature around his body, matching it to that of the forest. Were it not for the subtle shifts in the manâs mana as he held the spells, Carvus would have surely lost track of him.
The serarch made his way forth, passing through the trees and into the clearing beyond. With haste, he seized upon one of the tubes that lay scattered about, and then, as quick as he had come, he turned and made his way back to the forestâs edge. When at last he returned, Carvus stood up and held out his hand.
The tube, lighter than its solidity might have portended, was chill to the touch and was marked by a patina that showed clear signs of bending. He tried to bend it with his fingers, but the metal resisted. Even when he used magic to strengthen himself, it yielded naught but scant impression. What could have possibly moved the metal?
Looking closely, he noticed that the metal wasnât bronze, as he had first thought. Though bearing a hue akin to bronze, it was of a kind unfamiliar to him. The surface was engraved with American script â characters and sequences that held little meaning to him. Yet, to deem the letters âengravedâ would be to err; it was as if they were imprinted with a craftsmanship nary a smith could rival.
He turned it over in his hands, his eyes drawn to a circular groove near the base. Examining both ends, Carvus noted the open end was distorted as if a great force had expelled something from within â an insight into his previous question. The other end was sealed, marked by a small, precise indentation. He held it up, aligning it with a similarly sized hole in a nearby tree.
This was no common weapon. As a trebuchet releases its load, so too must this tube have hurled its own projectile. It gave him an idea. What if one were to use an adamantite tube with fyric powder, place a keen arrowhead atop, and ignite the mixture below? Would it rival a standard Wind Snipe combined with physical enhancement magic?
Carvusâ thoughts were interrupted by someone calling out to him. âMilord.â
âHm?â He looked up, finding the face of Leuarch Franus. âWhat is it, Martano?â
He hesitated, as if second-guessing his words. âThe⌠The Lindwyrm⌠The men grow restless, milord. They wish to claim the spoils of this battle â the Sentinel Lindwyrmâs materials are prized in many a lore. And these carriages, would it not profit us to salvage what we can? They may hold more secrets â or riches.â
He turned the leuarchâs words over in his mind as he would a well-worn coin. In truth, the idea held merit. Even the smallest measure of a Lindwyrmâs blood was a treasure beyond compare â to say nothing of the other materials, sought after by alchemists and smiths alike. That the Americans had forgone harvest was a curious thing indeed. Could it be that they were ignorant of the creatureâs true worth? Or perhaps, had they found something more valuable?
And then there were the carriages, gleaming in the sun like ripe fruit waiting to be plucked. If they could but glean some understanding of how the Americans had so deftly slain a beast of the Lindwyrmâs standing, it would surely prove a boon to the Empireâs own martial pursuits. Perhaps, armed with such knowledge, they might at last gain the upper hand against the accursed Sonarans.
Carvus cast his gaze once more upon the clearing, then turned to face Martano. âAye,â he said. âLet it be so.â
Yet, as he made to step forth, a low, droning sound beckoned his attention â a buzzing hum that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. The unfamiliar noise compelled him to halt. He raised his hand, stopping his men as he searched for the noise. He tilted his head skyward, squinting as he beheld a strange sight: a winged thing hanging in the air above the clearing, like an animal circling its prey. As the sunlight reflected off its surface, it became evident to him that this was no creature of flesh, but a machine â much like the metal carriages.
âHold,â Carvus ordered. âWe dare not venture forth.â
Martano stepped forward, doubt and confusion etched across his face. âBut, milord, if we shroud ourselves in invisibility, surely they cannot see us.â
Carvus shook his head. âNay; recall the umbercari we sent to infiltrate the Dukeâs mansion. They, too, thought themselves hidden, yet were somehow discovered. We know not what sorcery that flying machine might possess, and we cannot risk exposing ourselves.â
Before Martano could respond or venture any further protest, the scouts returned, led by Serarch Trelian. The search bowed his head before providing his report, âMilord, the cave lies empty, and the Lindwyrmâs nest remains untouched. We discovered footprints leading to a great sealed door, which we believe to be the entrance to the ruins.â
Carvus nodded. The Americans had ventured forth and left the loot behind for a reason. He thought back to a fortress that the Empire once sacrificed to encircle the forces of the now-conquered Kingdom of Durenelle. âSo be it. Let us abandon these lesser spoils. As our adversaries have forgone these spoils in pursuit of greater gains, so must we sacrifice Straltus.â
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2024.05.15 18:05 Basic-Mixture-3473 Im concerned about this
Hello! have been having strange symptoms for the past 14 weeks. it started one afternoon when I experienced it as foggy outside. went to my optometrist who stated that I have mild astigmatism and hidden strabismus that my eyes compensate for. after 2 weeks my eyes started burning and I then went to the medical center who said my eyes looked healthy. my eyes continued to sting 2 weeks after the visit and they advised me to take eye drops, have tried 4 different ones and it doesn't help. made an appointment with a private ophthalmologist who dilated my pupils and even he couldn't find anything wrong with my eyes.1 week after the exam I got tinnitus and then I noticed that my floaters reflect light on lights and certain surfaces. I have become sensitive to light, see afterimages of certain things and my eyes feels strange and a bit slow. it has now been 14 weeks with constant pain in my eyes now. Am 30 years old never had problems with my eyes. I am otherwise healthy but have some problems with stress/health anxiety and would like to add that I have never touched a drug in my life. What is going on? Can I get rid of this..
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2024.05.15 18:01 myzozofit FIT Tip of the Week: Muscle vs Fat - Which Weighs More?
| It is a common misconception that muscle weighs more than fat. Many people believe that if they gain muscle mass through strength training and build up their muscles, they will gain weight on the scale. However, this is not entirely accurate. Understanding the difference between muscle vs. fat weight has important implications for fitness and health. Building muscle mass increases strength for physical performance and daily activity. It also boosts metabolism because muscle tissue is metabolically active, burning calories even at rest. The Difference Between Muscle vs. Fat Weight Body weight reflects a combination of muscle weight, fat weight and other factors, but do muscles or fat weigh more? Considering the role of each can help you dispel some common misconceptions. Understanding Muscle Weight Muscle weight refers to the total mass of skeletal muscle tissue in the body. Skeletal muscles are the voluntary muscles that attach to bones by tendons and that control bodily movements and posture. The weight of muscle comes from its main components of water, protein and glycogen. Water accounts for about 75% of muscle's weight. The protein actin and myosin make up about 20% and provide the fibers that enable muscles to contract. Glycogen, the stored form of glucose, accounts for 5% and provides an energy source for muscle activity. Skeletal muscles play several crucial roles in the body. First, they allow for a wide range of movements such as walking, lifting and sports activities by transforming chemical energy into mechanical energy and generating force. They also help maintain posture and provide joint support and protection. Additionally, muscle plays a major role in metabolic function. Pound for pound, skeletal muscle burns more calories than fat tissue, so the greater someone's muscle mass, the higher their resting metabolism. Resistance training to build muscle can help increase resting metabolic rate. This is because the protein turnover and repair of muscle tissue after exercise requires energy expenditure. Having more muscle vs. fat weight also confers several health and performance benefits. Greater muscle strength from resistance training enhances athletic performance, speed and power. It also enables a higher level of daily physical activity and helps prevent injury by protecting joints. Lastly, the increase in muscle mass significantly improves body composition. Since muscle takes up less space than fat, it creates a tighter, leaner physique at the same body weight. Considering Fat Weight Fat weight refers to the total mass of adipose tissue in the body. Adipose tissue consists of adipocytes, or fat cells, that store energy in the form of lipids. The main components of fat tissue are triglycerides, which make up about 90% of the weight of fat. The rest consists of water, cholesterol, fatty acids, glucose and other substances. Unlike muscle, fat does not contract and its main functions are to insulate the body, cushion internal organs and store energy in the form of fat. There are several types of fat in the body. Subcutaneous fat sits just under the skin while visceral fat surrounds internal organs. Intramuscular fat accumulates in skeletal muscle. Brown fat contains many mitochondria that can generate heat and burn calories. White fat stores and releases energy. Having some fat is essential for health but excess amounts, especially visceral fat, can increase disease risk. The Impact of Muscle vs. Fat Weight on Body Shape While muscle and fat both contribute to overall body weight, they have very distinct effects on your physical appearance and health. This is because muscle is densely packed while fat is less compact. As a result, gaining muscle mass can actually lead to a tighter, leaner physique. On the flip side, losing weight does not always equate to a fitter, healthier body. Though a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat, it takes up significantly less space. Muscle fibers are neatly bundled in repeating patterns that pack tightly together. Fat cells have a more open, random structure with gaps between cells. So a person with a higher ratio of muscle to fat will have a more firm, toned look than someone with a higher percentage of body fat. This is why the scale doesnât give the full picture of your body composition and fitness level. Two people can weigh the same amount but look vastly different based on their muscle-to-fat ratio. Judging by appearance and ability to move well, lift heavy things and metabolize food efficiently is more telling than a lower number on the scale. The goal should be optimizing health and functionality by maximizing metabolism-boosting muscle while keeping fat within a healthy range. https://preview.redd.it/lwnrcni6jgyc1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=6186376c07c5902f0a26b41cef2554909fda7000 submitted by myzozofit to myzozofit [link] [comments] |
2024.05.15 18:00 hoggersbridge Engines of Arachnea (Chapter 20: The God Speaks)
Link for all the chapters available for free here:
Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road Deep in the groaning halls of sinew and bone he awaited his audience with the god. At a wave of his hand the ribs which held up the ceiling contracted, tendons shifting within the pink walls of the chamber as the jagged, calcareous spurs that composed the doorway sank back into the spongy masses of tissue, revealing a passage curving down and out of sight.
Menash stood before the yawning portal and considered eternity. This was no an idle thought: here in the Dawning Chamber, the concept was very real. His father, Yulan, had stood in this exact spot times beyond count. When he was struck down in his prime by the Night Weaver and her Leaper offspring, torn limb from limb as he fought to defend Chthonis from a raiding party, Menashâs uncle, Aqavarr, had carried his broken remains over that grinning threshold to join the hosts of the dead, never to return.
A hot and heavy exhalation rattled up out of the depths, wafting in the acrid scent of the bonding pools and the wet slithering sound of the rebirthing canals. Menash felt a crackle of static in the corners of his mind before the signal sharpened and he heard It whisper distinctly:
âEnterâŚâ
The familiar dread crept its way up the small of his back, and he gave a little shiver. No matter how many times he had communed with the Vitalus, heâd never been able to shake the feeling of his utter insignificance. But he persevered, walking bravely down the slurping passage, past the rows of broad antechambers lining either side of the hallway. Each one held a slumbering shape immersed in a cryogenic bath, towering hulks of muscle encased in ribbed and riveted plates of chitin. No two were alike in size or physiology, but all seemed to emanate the same primeval aura of dread that tickled Menashâs fight-or-flight-instinct, skewing it very much towards the latter response. These were the Hollowores, soulless avatars of the Vitalus, each one a tool capable of eradicating an entire species. As Menash approached, one of the living weapons stirred to life. A pronged, anvil-shaped head emerged from the bath, umbilical feeder tubes detaching from its armored flanks as the rest of its bulk followed, its mauve exoskeleton as sleek and shiny as amethyst. The Hollowore extended legs as thick as grown pine trees and lifted itself above him, its pairs of crushing pincers dripping amniotic fluids as it herded him towards the central room.
Bundles of white gossamer filaments spread all across the floor, encircling steaming pools of pus and acid. He saw arms and legs, sensory organs and entire exoskeletons being knitted before his very eyes, the amino acid chains being stitched on a layer at a time, the weeping pus evidence of microphages fighting off possible infections as the Vitalus did Its work.
These were the next generation of exomorphs, yet to be assigned to their hosts. It was here that Vitalus constantly improved the only thing that could ensure the continued survival of Menashâs subspecies. Exomorphs were bonded to Gallivants at birth, the organisms supplying their hosts with the means to breathe an atmosphere they was never meant to endure, and the strength to fight in a world that was red in tooth and claw. They were as swift as the summer wind and could multiply their hostâs muscular power by up to twelve times their natural output.
But for all their God-given might, Gallivants were still mortal. They could and often did perish in the endless struggle for existence that the Vitalus called the Great Game. But even in death they could still commit their essence to posterity, passing down their defining traits through the malleable genetic code of the gilt helix. It was the Vitalusâ greatest boon; through the gilt helix a single individual could become a progenitor of an entire generation, becoming at one stroke the father of whole nations and peoples.
One day he too would prove worthy of the honor that Yulan had earned with his life. But he was not alone in that ambition. Menash was annoyed to find the crimson-clad Vezda and the cowardly Racek waiting for him inside, standing next to a large ball of filaments that hung from a tonsil-like growth hanging from the walls.
This node pulsed, emitting a small storm of bioelectric activity, networks of fungi conveying commands in the form of oscillating voltages to their communities of symbiotic bacteria, the latter containing greigite mineral crystals aligned in the shape of electromagnetic coils. Other networks hidden in the walls modulated and amplified the signals, and the three Gallivants steeled themselves for the onrushing flood of information as the Vitalus tapped into their minds.
He was a candle before the raging heart of the thunderstorm. For an instant Menash touched a fraction of Its intelligence, the divisions of time and space rolling back as they joined the ocean of shared consciousness, becoming one with the living systems of Arachnea. From the tiniest aeroplankton floating above the waves of the golden coastlines, to the herds of ultrapods munching their way through swathes of trees in the savannahs. Menash felt himself pushing up out of the soil, longing and lusting and reaching for the sunlight with a trillion green fingers uncurling, alive with the furious movement of life.
But what was that flicker of orange to the east? That searing heat, that prickling pain spreading like a cancer down his side?
The Vitalus scooped them up and hurled them headlong into hell itself. A roaring wildfire was sweeping into the heart of the eastern rainforests. Menash tasted ash and ruin, felt pieces of himself wither and burn, his branches tongues of fire, wood cracking from the intense blaze, sap boiling instantaneously upon contact and rupturing, splitting him right down the grain. He fled in terror, running, slithering, digging, swimming, flying away in crazed panic from the walls of red death closing in on him. As his skin flaked off in clumps of charcoal he looked back and saw it towering over the treetops, the epicenter of this howling vortex of destruction: the grey behemoth. Its burnished metal hide gleamed like copper, reflecting the fury of the conflagration burning well into the night.
Menash pulled his mind away before it was lost forever in the storm of electric potentials. He saw Racek and Vezda swaying on their feet, breathing hard and fast.
âHeart of the World,â he managed to gasp, âWhat is your bidding?â
The Hollowore maneuvered itself until it was facing him directly. Tiny beady eyes fixed him in their blank gaze. The node emitted a blue pulse and the creature shuddered as it received the signal. It opened a maw powerful enough to chew boulders into gravel and rumbled:
âThis one is the alpha which survived first contact with anomalous variable. It will tell Us what occurred, and from whence this threat emerged.â
âIt came from the karst mountain range, where the yellowjacket Amit live,â Menash replied, âIt was destroying the largest mound in that area, massacring its inhabitants. It brought the mountain down on themâweâve never seen anything like it. Zildiz was the first on the scene. She warned us not to approach, and that it was dangerous, but some of us,â here he cast an angry look at Vezda, âSome of us went ahead and tried to scavenge from the bodies of the dying. Then the behemoth ignited the air and burned scores of us to cinders.â
âIrrational. Why did you do this?â
âW-we thought that you had spawned the grey behemoth,â Menash stammered, embarrassed to say the least, âThat it was the newest addition to the Great Game, another species of ultrafauna that would help perfect Arachnea.â
âNot so. It was made by an evil far older than the All-In-One,â replied the Vitalus, âIt is called a Divine Engine. In cycles past, this evil sought to undo this world and all that inhabit it. In that, it almost succeeded.â
Menash felt his blood run cold at those words.
âIs it the only one of its kind?â Racek piped up. Menash and Vezda both bristled at his interruption; subordinates were only supposed to speak when spoken to.
âThere were several deployed here in Our infancy. We had thought them all destroyed in the War of Creation.â
âYour Munificence,â Racek went on, heedless of the venomous looks he was getting from the other two, âMost of us survived because Zildiz persuaded us to dive into the river. She saved all our lives! But as I washed up on the riverbank, I saw the behemoth casting a seedpod into the skies. I did not see where it landed, but it was travelling in a high arc due east. Is this the behemothâs method of reproducing? If so, then how many offspring can it generate from this one seed?â
The Vitalus met his questions with a minute of silence. Menash had never known It to take so long to respond to a query, and felt another stab of unease in his gut. Unless he was imagining things, the Vitalus seemed genuinely disturbed by the scenario that Racek has raised, enough to convince Menash that the danger was far from hypothetical.
âThat is a distant possibility,â It said somewhat cryptically, âRegardless, We cannot allow the Engineâs continued existence.â
âThen it must be destroyed,â Vezda said, her barbed tail eagerly perking up.
âWe are not certain that it can be,â the Vitalus said, and Menash heard Racek audibly gulp at the admission.
âBut Your Omniscience, you alone are the arbiter of growth and decay,â Vezda said in disbelief, âSurely you can unmake this monster as well?â
âPerhaps. The Divine Engines were built to withstand the extremes of temperature, gravity, atmospheric pressure, acidity and irradiation found on semi-inhabitable exoplanets. Worlds of bareness and desolation, glassed by thermonuclear bombardment or infested with alien microorganisms. In the wars of Our youth, the Betrayers used tungsten-alloy warheads fired from space platforms to crack their bulkheads. Not even Our vessels, the Hollowores, could damage them in any significant way. We will need time to gather the raw materials and fabricate the weapons needed to end this threat.â
âWhat must we do?â Menash asked.
âIf this variable is not dealt with, it could upset the delicate balance We have sacrificed so much to achieve. Already the wildfire it has caused will release close to 400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and destroy 2.3 million acres of forest before Our countermeasures can stop it. Time is our limiting factor. If the Engine cannot be destroyed now, it must be restrained.â
âIt hasnât moved an inch since we last saw it,â Vezda said brightly, âMaybe it has already died?â
âYes, and maybe your mother was a horka toad,â Racek said snidely. Vezda scowled and took a step towards him, then stopped as she remembered that she trod on hallowed ground.
âNot so. It has merely gone dormant. Having expended its fuel, it is now running on the bare minimum of its reserves. My children, you must ensure that it does not wake again. Establish a quarantine zone around the Engine and let none approach, on pain of death. The Leaper kindreds will secure the ground while the Gallivants patrol the skies.â
Vezda and Menash exchanged troubled looks. Nobody wanted Leapers establishing a foothold in what was essentially a buffer zone between their subspecies. Once allowed to settle in a habitat, it would not take long for them to adapt and become masters of their new territory. Ousting them would become a battle of attrition, and given the lower birthrates of Gallivants, it was not one they could long afford.
âRespectfully, we do not require assistance from our brother kindred,â Menash ventured, âWe are more than capable of safeguarding the area ourselves.â
The node throbbed again, the bioelectric flashes taking on an angry purple hue. With a sound like the grinding of a millstone the Hollowore clashed its claws together impatiently. All three of the mortals took a hasty step back.
âThe alpha will obey, or another will be found that can,â the Vitalus growled at them, âAll subspecies will observe a general truce during this period. This is a temporary addition to the Great Game. Those that serve Us well shall be rewarded. We shall also enlist the aid of your terrestrial cousins, as well as the Cataphract clans to replenish the soil, and lone Saints who shall rove beyond the quarantine zone.â
Menashâs unease deepened. The Vitalus was bringing together four different kindreds, some of which killed each other on sight, in a move that reeked of desperation. The kindreds had worked together before, of course, on complex projects such as altering rainfall patterns and husbanding struggling species, but never so many at once. This was bound to end in bloodshed.
âThose that break the truce shall be chemically neutered, and their gilt helix purged from the existing gene pool,â the Vitalus continued, âYou will maintain this quarantine until We have dealt with the Engine.â
âIt is understood!â Menash and Vezda said at once.
âBut what about Zildiz?â Racek blurted out, again risking his entire lineage by speaking out of turn, âShe might still be alive out there!â
âHeâs right,â Menash found himself agreeing despite his dislike for Racek, âSheâs our alpha, after all. It would be a shame to lose her helix. Do we have your leave to send out a party to recover her?â
The Vitalus pondered the request for a moment, then crushed his hopes when it said:
âRegrettable, the loss of the female. Valuable stock for the breeding program. But it has not responded to Our signalsâit is unlikely to have survived. The female Vezda shall take up its duties as alpha.â
âBut Your Benevolenceââ both men cried out in unison.
âIt is decided. She has risked the Great Game, and must abide by its outcome. To speak more on this would risk Our displeasure,â the god warned.
âWe canât spare the manpower anyway,â Vezda pointed out, trying not to look too pleased at Its decision. She darted a quick look at Menash, long enough for him to see the selfish desire festering in her heart. He turned away from her in disgust, baring his blades by the slightest of margins to let her know what he thought of her, then asked the Vitalus:
âBut what of the Engineâs seedpod? Should we search for it?â
âNegative!â the Vitalus boomed, its node reinforcing the word with a spike of activity that sent needles of pain spearing into their heads, âWe shall complete this task. It is dangerous and can be entrusted to no other.â
The Hollowore angled its massive head towards the cavernous ceiling, armored flaps on its back sliding aside as it unfurled sets of rigid sixty-meter wings. A wide sphincter on the roof gaped open and Menash saw the evening sky awash with the stars in their milky multitudes. The Hollowore took a deep breath through the spiracles lining its thorax and abdomen, pumping air through a pair of hollow tube-like protuberances under either of its wings. Menash and the others quickly scampered to a safe distance. Seconds later there was a scream of chemical combustion and the Hollowore rose into the evening skies, leaving behind a long trail of superheated gases, the backwash almost knocking Menash off his feet. They watched as the Hollowore gained altitude, making straight for the columns of billowing smoke on the horizon, a sweeping shadow blotting out the light of the heavens.
The Vitalusâ mental presence receded with it. When it did not return, they took it to mean that they were dismissed and likewise took flight and headed for Chthonis. They were hardly out of the Dawning Chamber when Vezda seized the scrawny Racek by his wings and anchored her feet right up against his back.
âFunny little man, are you? Crack jokes at my expense again, and Iâll see to it that youâll never fly again!â she snarled, yanking hard. Racek yelled as his wings threatened to pop out of their sockets.
âStop!â Menash said, ramming his shoulder into her and knocking the smaller male out of her grip. Vezda rounded on him, blades out and her tail aquiver with rage.
âAs for you! No one should speak to the Vitalus like that!â she shrieked, âMuch less gainsay It! Are you trying to get us all killed? It is the source and continuance of life itselfââ
âBut the Vitalus doesnât always consider the individual scale of things,â Menash reasoned, controlling his rising anger as he tried to defuse the situation, âIts scope of thought is beyond ours. Therefore it is up to us to look after each other. None of us can win the Great Game alone. We need people like Zildiz for the species to prosper.â
âYour logic is flawed,â Vezda spat, âEmpathy is a sham devised by the selfish action of the gene, which seeks only to preserve itself. At least I am honest enough to look after my own interests. Your obsession with that whore is misplaced. Heed my words, Menash. What happened today marks a change in the Great Game. Only the ruthless will reap the rewards of this era. Think on that, and act accordingly.â
The female darted off in another direction, leaving the two behind.
âThanks,â Racek said, rubbing at his sore shoulders, âMy, my. Sheâs really taking her promotion very seriously, isnât she?â
âThis doesnât make us friends,â Menash said shortly, âWe share a common interest, thatâs all.â
The two flew together in silence for a time, the dark canopy unrolling below their feet. Racek had always been a bitter rival for Zildizâs affections. In the mating seasons he and Menash had flown the damsel-dance against each other countless times, racing and dogfighting at top speed through the dense bamboo thickets in an effort to impress her.
But each time she had always chosen Menash. Naturally. He was the stronger, the braver, the son of the Scourge who had slain hundreds on his lightning raids into Leaper territory. Their pairings had been brief and passionate, yet she had always laughed at the end and gone on her merry way, a rose petal borne on a scented breeze, the dalliance as meaningless to her as other concerns like eating or breathing.
But not to him. Right now, all that mattered was her. And Racek was the only one in the whole wide world who knew exactly how he felt. Did that mean he could be trusted? Menash considered the enormity of what he was about to do, and wavered. Then he saw her face in the darkness of his home, the face she wore when they were all alone together, and he took a deep breath before breaking the silence, saying:
âIâll be in charge of the quarantine. I can arrange for you to disappear for a few days. I can have one of the younglings mimic your magnetosynaptic signal, make it seem like youâre with the rest of us.â
âYouâd do that? For me?â Racek said in astonishment.
âHah. Not for you,â Menash laughed softly. He looked Racek straight in the eyes and continued: âWhatâll it be, then?â
If he so much as hesitates, Iâll have to kill him here and now, Menash told himself.
âWhy, yes. Yes, of course!â the little brown male said vigorously.
âGood,â Menash sighed with relief, âSheâll be very grateful to whoever brings her home. Iâd do it myself, but as an alpha I canât risk being seen as disobedient.â
âThen why give me this chance? After all thatâs passed between us?â
âI should have thought that was obvious,â Menash replied. Racek digested that for a bit, then out of nowhere said:
âIf I find herâwhen I find herâIâll tell her exactly who it was that sent me.â
âThat wonât be necessary.â
âBah! Just so weâre even, thatâs all,â Racek grinned, his mouthparts slanting askew.
âThanks, I guess. IâdâŚIâd appreciate that. You do understand what weâre risking here, right?â
âSure. Weâll be total genetic write-offs if weâre caught. But itâs not like I wanted to see tiny ugly Raceks running around the house anyway. What about you, though? Why are you putting your neck on the chopping block?â
âYou know why,â Menash said quietly, his thoughts still lingering on her face.
âYes,â Racek agreed with a wistful air, âYes, I suppose I do.â
And the pair spoke no more until they reached Chthonis.
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2024.05.15 17:42 Nocturnal_Knitter My fussy acne-prone skin loves this routine! [Acne]
I'm 44 F going through some skin changes (dryness and increased breakouts incl. cystic). I had struggled with acne and oily skin since I was a teen. I was using Differin for a few months recently. At first it was great, my skin never looked better. But after a couple months my skin reacted very badly to all of the skincare I was using on top of the Differin (scrubs, etc - I know, BAD). Also I believe the Differin was causing my skin to be thinner and was actually destroying my nails! I tested this by wearing gloves to apply it (and using less often), and sure enough my nails grew back and my fingertips healed. Also my lips oddly looked thinner and less plump, the skin on my eyelids was extremely dry, and my eyebrows were thinning while using Differin despite me avoiding those areas and using eye cream/lip balm. All of this horrified me so I never went back to using it. Since quitting, all of these areas have healed.
I went through a period of letting my skin heal - using minimal gentle products and no actives. At first my skin looked incredible, clear, plump, and moisturized. Then my pores started to get congested, especially on my nose. Then bad breakouts started happening. And then I went to youtube and came here looking for answers and found a lot of interesting advice. I experimented with gentle cleansers, Korean brands, etc. After lots of trial and error, here is the routine that finally is working for me.
Disclaimer: I know everyone's skin is different and tolerates different things. Mine happens to love a particular brand which seems to get a lot of criticism here - Mario Badescu. I've been a long time fan, and regret straying from them. I know they are scented, and that may cause irritation for some, but my skin loves their formulas.
AM
- La Roche-Posay Effaclar Medicated Gel Cleanser
- Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs, and Rosewater
- Mario Badescu Vitamin C Serum
- Mario Badescu Collagen Moisturizer SPF 15 (the BEST daytime moisturizer I've found, and preps skin for makeup really well)
PM
- Philosophy Purity Made Simple Cleanser (to remove makeup)
- La Roche-Posay Effaclar Medicated Gel Cleanser
- Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs, and Rosewater
- Curology custom treatment cream (Tretinoin 0.01%, Clindamycin phosphate 1%, Azelaic acid 4%) - starting with a gentle/low dose of Tretinoin
- La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermallergo Night Moisturizer
Once a week/as needed:
- In the morning I cleanse first with La Roche-Posay Toleriane Hydrating Gentle Cleanser, and then Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant OR
- Mario Badescu Glycolic Foaming Cleanser
- In the evening I do a mask with Mario Badescu Super Collagen Mask
THANK YOU to this community for suggesting Curology. I did not want to go to a dermatologist again (they've been hit or miss for me). It's definitely working. But to note, I was previously using some Korean skincare products along with Curology during the first month that were NOT helping. Once I cut those out and started this routine, skin completely cleared up.
Products that I believe were breaking me out/not working (I subbed all of these with the MB products):
- SKIN1004 Centella Toning Toner
- GOODAL Green Tangerine Vitamin C Serum
- La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer SPF 30
- MISSHA Time Revolution Night Repair Ampoule 5X (Still on the fence about this one. It feels nice and I might try incorporating it again at some point, but for now there's no need.)
Product that was actually working before replacing with Curology:
- StriVectin Advanced Retinol Nightly Renewal Moisturizer (you can find this discounted online)
Personal tips:
- Hormonal birth control can help minimize acne.
- Quit consuming dairy.
- Use a dedicated towel to dry your face, and change it at least once a week.
- Don't touch your face throughout the day. For me, wearing makeup actually helps this because I don't want to mess up my makeup. :)
- Don't lean your chin/jaw on your hand if you're sitting at a desk. A good dermatologist clued me in on this one, and it's definitely a bad habit for me which can cause cysts along the jawline. Any kind of pressure combined with germs can cause breakouts.
- My skin doesn't shed on its own very well, and pores get congested easily. Cleaning with a gentle SA cleanser twice a day is KEY for me. Once daily was not enough. LRP Effaclar was life-changing for me after years of using Neutrogena Acne Wash (recommended by a derm) which stripped my skin.
Sorry this is so lengthy. Hope this helps someone!
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Nocturnal_Knitter to
SkincareAddiction [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 17:31 amber_ilumire Routine for unclogging pores?
Basically as the title says â I have large pores on my cheek/chin areas which are visibly clogged and dark with excess sebum to the point where I have to manually remove them because no cleanser Iâve tried will make them budge. Itâs the same on my nose, forehead, neck and upper chest/collarbone and though these are smaller itâs becoming something Iâm very self-conscious about. Itâs not enough to form proper blackheads like when I was younger, but itâs still noticeable as Iâm quite pale.
Nothing I do seems to clear it up. Steaming and pore masks are predictably unhelpful. Exfoliation hasnât worked. Iâm currently using a routine with a salicylic acid cleanser followed by a hyaluronic acid serum, PHA toner and then a general moisturiser to finish. I thought I was seeing results after a couple of weeks, but itâs been months and my skin looks back to as it was before! I understand itâll probably never go away completely, but how can I clean and improve the appearance of my pores? TIA x
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amber_ilumire to
SkincareAddictionUK [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 17:30 Routine-Town-2344 IBS-D, FODMAP & Gluten Intolerance & Hashimoto's: loosing Wheigt, Seeking Support & Tips
Hi everyone,
For 20 years now, I've been struggling with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), severe diarrhea, and the autoimmune disease Hashimoto's. Various food intolerances have further complicated my situation.
Known intolerances:
- FODMAPs
- Gluten
- Apples, carrots, nuts
- Many grains: corn, quinoa, all kinds of grains
- Ginger, garlic, stevia, spinach
- Most gluten-free breads
- Some prebiotics: e.g. acacia fiber, turmeric
- Most raw vegetables
Additional:
- Prediabetes
- Lack of acid-forming gut bacteria: probiotics help, but lead to weight gain
- Hashimoto's thyroiditis
What helps me:
- Psyllium
- Yogurt and skyr
- Overnight oats (only cooked or soaked in skyyogurt overnight)
I am looking for experiences and tips from other sufferers who are also struggling with IBS, Hashimoto's, and food intolerances.
I would have the following questions:
- What experiences have you had with IBS, diarrhea, FODMAP intolerance, and Hashimoto's?
- What FODMAP-low, gluten-free, and Hashimoto's-friendly foods do you tolerate well?
- What tips do you have for losing weight with IBS, prediabetes, and Hashimoto's?
- I would like to use 16/8 to lose weight, but unfortunately skipping meals leads to severe diarrhea.
I look forward to your answers!
Thanks!
Note: Of course I'm in treatment with a doctor.
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Routine-Town-2344 to
Microbiome [link] [comments]
2024.05.15 17:28 imperial_wrath Confused about my symptoms
I am not able to understand whether my symptoms are related to gerd or not.
- lot of plain burps throughout the day and sometimes with mucus
- feeling of stuck burp on the lower end of esophagus which causes breathlessness and difficulty in swallowing, gulping.
- when gulp doesnt happen normally doesnt feel like i can breathe properly too. I think its related.
- sometimes does feel better with help of some breathing excercise but not able to get rid of it.
Have done endoscopy, manometry, barium swallow and been on medications for acid reflux. Tests are normal and meds dont have any effect.
Some context: 2 years back i had an incident where i caught my breath while i was drinking water for may be 15-20 sec and since then these symptoms dont go competely. Initially though my sphincter muscle got weak cuz of that but tests proves it normal.
Don't know whats causing it even after maintaining decent diet and excercise. Would really appreciate guidance from others đ
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imperial_wrath to
GERD [link] [comments]
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