Pain in right arm and numbness in toes

25M, 125lbs, 5’9, moderately active, don’t smoke/drink, 2-4 cups of coffee daily Medications: Flovent, abuterol, Allegra most days, Benadryl occasionally Medical HX: silent asthma (for dust allergies), reguka, allergies (mostly dust mites for severe symptoms), Fam history: DAD- psoriasis, acid reflux Mom- Idiopathic ventricular arrhythmia (went into cardiac arrest once), small stroke from unknown cause (heart healthy, potentially the irregular contractions)
Okay, so I went to an urgent care because I was having asthma problems and ran out of my rescue inhaler, and I have to wait till mid June for my allergy appointment. I also noticed my right lymph node was swollen and frankly it might be considered “hard” lol. Anyways I had my medicine but I started getting chest pain while breathing in and hiccuping. I went back for that in the last week, and it had been 2-3 weeks since my last appointment at least. The last doctor told me I probably just had a viral infection, but when I went back this time the lymph node softer but still pretty swollen and firm. My left lymph node was bigger before my last appointment but it went down and it’s still down. Now the doctor gave me medicine for heartburn and I think that’s what it is, after the feeling has moved a couple days and it’s always cured by drinking water and gets worse when doing things that make acid reflux worse. My problem is that it has been nearly 3/4 of the time burning, and even after taking a PPI it still burns some while laying on my back (I tried differently). I have a doctors appointment in a week, but I was concerned due to the persistence and how often the reflux has been happening. It’s pretty painful but not like unbearable. I wanted to know what level of consistency or severity should I just go to the ER for? I don’t want to wait until I’m bleeding out honestly. I searched it up some and it seems like I definitely need to get help, but I’m not sure whether to wait for doctor or just go to ER now. The weird part is the pain started 3 days ago and I’d never had it that bad or for that long before. Idk why all of a sudden it’s long and persistent. I didn’t think it happened that way for my family, and I was concerned that the frequency might cause serious damage if it doesn’t have time to heal or rest. Can someone help me get an idea of when I should go to he ER? The urgent care already did what they could, but they weren’t sure if acid reflux was the problem. Should I go back there in the meantime?
I’ve also been having episodic allergy and immune problems. Achy and stuff fingers in morning, dry mouth in morning, red spots on knuckles, stomach ache/slowing of stomach, stuffy nose, loss of smell, occasionally skin burn feeling, and asthma. The thing is usually those things were correlated with the amount of dust allergens I had in my apartment, but now they seem to be just happening. The asthma is relatively controlled now but I was using my inhaler a few times a day a week or two ago. But usually the asthma happens first and then other symptoms come on. This feels like the inflammation is just doing separate from the dust allergens. Also I’ve gotten those falling asleep jerks that wake me before I completely sleep, and I believe sometimes they make me move and sometimes I don’t move that much but I feel like I did. Recently my prostate has also been twitching during those and sometimes before being partially asleep, and it’s hard to pee so I thin t might be swollen. I’ll feel an urge to bee but then I have to push super hard to get it out. Then sometimes I just have to pee super duper fast. You can Dm me for advice too, I just really don’t want to have anything happen to me. I personally wouldn’t care that much, but I just couldn’t imagine leaving my partner alone. So I just want to take it seriously, I could never imagine leaving my partner behind. That woulf be one of the most painful things I could ever ezpwrience.

Sorry if this was posted right as it happened, please feel free to direct link to an ongoing conversation I may have missed.
Do we think with the schedule change to marijuana, we finally might be able to start having better research on it? Does anyone know of any groups or companies looking to study interactions with other meds, pain relief compared to opioids, pregnancy use for nausea relief/impacts upon breastfeeding, long term cognitive or mental health impacts? I know there’s momentum in studying the effects of ketamine and mushrooms for ptsd and mental health; wondering if this will follow the trend or not.

Deak's arm was still pretty sore, and he thought about asking if they could stop in the next town. Even if Dad said no to seeing a doctor, they might stop at a convenience store and he could maybe sneak a little bottle of pain pills in among the pile of sweets Mom would film him buying. Even better if he found one of those gel packs that you could use hot or cold and convinced Mom they needed it for when Dan or Dally or Davie got a bump or bruise. It wasn't medicine, really, so she'd probably go for it.
But all of that would mean bringing up stopping, and while Mom might go for it, Dad never would. Dad only stopped when God moved him to, or when they needed to fuel up.
Sometimes, Deak thought about sneaking out at night and figuring a way to siphon the main tank empty, just to strand them somewhere and show Dad what was what. Sometimes...
Sometimes Deak wanted to stay some place a while.
This whole trip was probably a bad idea. Mike tried not to look up from his phone unless he had to, but his sister kept trying to draw his attention to cool stuff she saw outside the window, and sometimes her husband...
Gawd, it was weird to think of that thing as a guy.
Still, his parents had decided he needed to spend the next year living in bum-fuck nowhere with Uncle Ken, and his sister and the thing were driving this way anyhow to check out some shitty little town they wanted to move to, so he ended up sent along.
"It'll be like a family vacation again!" Jenna had said, and Mike nodded along like it was all good.
Sure, it was basically a vacation for her and the freak. For Mike, it was just an inevitable trek to be warehoused for a year so his parents could work on their shitty marriage. He was barely even getting to bring any of his stuff, since he'd be going home next summer, and that sucked. At least he had his computers and guitars, and two portable game systems, plus of course all his clothes; still, he already missed his room and all the things left behind in it.
The only thing he wouldn't miss about home was his parents. All their stupid bullshit was annoying, with the arguing over petty shit. Oh, and the way they treated him like a toddler. Sure, he forgot stuff or did dumb shit sometimes; everyone did. That was no reason to treat him like a drooling loser.
Maybe this trip was a good thing after all.
Table of Contents

How did xyz mobile expose my social and dl number in 2022 before I became xyz mobile customer?
Why is ABC mobile admitting the data breach that I told them they just had an attorney call me and gas light me?
Did the state think I'm the one that wanted my company to loose everything and I wanted to loose my veteran protections?
How do you steal a corporation from your spouse and blame him for giving up and then call them lazy for getting tired after all their efforts are being taken away?
If you whip a Mule and then walk behind him with a whip who's fault is it when you get kicked the jackasses?
My exes all hated me and they are trying to help me realized something and now that everyone else hates me I'm beginning to realize they will say I did this to myself and it's all my fault. Well there right anything that was done that didn't need to be done or that could have been done to actual help and does it even matter because I allowed it if I was trusting of someone I shouldn't have trust then the fault is mine for being a poor judge of charater so who's fault is the lies?
How do you listen to lies and continue to trust when you know you will be blamed either way?
Is it wrong to lie to a liar or is it wrong to lie after having been truthful because your are being lied to and of so where does it all lead?
Is it truly best to owned it and be honest and if it is then what do you do when you did own it and that actions is used to hold you down?
If being around supportive loved ones would have helped I think maybe isolating me was pretty hurtful but I the one to blame I sure I isolated myself as most men do so is that my fault?
If someone loves you and they are not involved in the effort to do something and you call them after months or years and they are mad at you for the thing you are doing how do they know and how are they mad and how are you supposed to believe anything they say?
If you marry someone and you love them but you also know they need a green card is it illegal? If they leave you immediately after getting the green card was it your fault?
What does anyone of this have to do with my problems now and why does the therapist always ask about my mother?
At what age is it appropriate to still spank your kids in the face and is that just a texas thing? Do we need better laws or less laws and fewer taxes?
Is there anyway to make people truly equal that doesn't involve taken away what they have?
If we are born equal but we all come into this world naked and afraid why does everyone save for their death?
When it's always your fault why do you care?
What is unconditional love if humans are conditional by nature are they capable of loving unconditionally and is unconditional love given unconditionally at the time it was given any less unconditional when it is taken away?
Can love be given or taken? If love is an act not an object why is it objectified and ransomed?
What is love?
Is it love?
Why are four letter words so evil?
Lazy shit hate love fear pain fuck fame fine dude cool turd sure
Maybe money power
Rough draft don't judge....

Avid AR15 builder here, but have never done an SBR or pistol build. Planning on a PDW build and had some questions. I am following Michigan laws with a CPL. This will be a front seat gun (no it is not overboard, I live two miles from east Flint). 1. Is there a more stable rifle round than 300 Blackout for a short barrel? 2. I want full Ambidextrous capabilities (car ambush defense gun). Advice for the lower is wide open. 3. Struggling with charging handle issues. A rear (standard) charging handle gives me ambi options but requires more physical room (eldows and arms) to charge in a vehicle. With that being said, should I scrap ambi options with the rear charging handle and go with a left hand side charger (because charging a right handed gun with your left hand makes sense)?

I had a bad feeling from the very beginning of my pregnancy but it was my first so I was naive. I found out I was pregnant very early, I was testing but the tests were pretty light. Eventually after a week they started to darken and and that week I started spotting. I went to the ER they saw nothing in my uterus but said maybe it was early. Tested hcg and doubled (but I thought it was low). I went to the Ob and I told her my concerns she said she thinks the spotting was from a hemorrhagic corpus luteal cyst that was seen in the ultrasound (but I had these before and never spotted?). Anyways she makes me feel very at ease and does’t even say to continue to test my hcg. Says we will do another US in 2 weeks.
A week later I got anxious again so I went to a private US place. Because at this point I was 6 weeks and SOMETHING should be seen right? The tech sees nothing, only some bleeding. Tells me maybe it’s too early (IK they can’t give medical advice e) it’s ok, my OB appt is exactly a week from then.
I wait anxiously for my appt. Funny, I even posted about it in another reddit group and someone warned me it would probably be ectopic. I thought about it but up until that point I felt fine so I didn’t want to stress myself out without “evidence” (more pain, more bleeding, wanted to wait until my appt)
Well the night before my ob appt I get the feeling like I had trapped gas. Hurt so bad I fell to the floor sweating and unable to move, my body felt stiff. Went to the ER, ruptured ectopic. I was in such a state of shock and pain I could not even react when they told me that. Actually I did cry like a yelp and it sent shooting pains through my whole body so I had to stop. I had the surgery and lost a tube.
It’s been three weeks. Now I feel so angry and guilty that I was so naive and didn’t advocate more for myself in the beginning. I had the feeling all along Maybe I would still have my other tube. I am feeling like I am in a state of functional depression, I look ok on the outside I can smile I can laugh I can get things done but when I am alone or at night I feel so sad and empty. I even had a therapy session (and have been in therapy before) with someone who specializes in child loss and it didn’t even help. She kept asking me what do I want to get out of this. And told me to be more grateful for the things I do have.
Not to go on and on even more but I have always been an introverted, deep feeler, day dreamer. So this experience is really torture to me. Anyways thanks for listening. It always helps me to share experiences with others going through something similar iar because no one seems to understand.

I adopted a 2 year old stray cat a few weeks ago and 90% of the time he’s an absolute sweetheart, very chill and cuddly. I make sure to play with him twice a day for about 15-20 minutes each, but he occasionally still tries to bite/swat while we’re cuddling or when I’m walking around the apartment. I know he’s a cat and just being playful but I really want to train this out of him, I don’t want him biting/scratching any guests or thinking that aggression is the way to ask to play.
When we’re cuddling I can usually sense when he’s starting to get worked up and I stop petting or grab a toy before he starts biting, but sometimes he does bite and then I have to walk away from him. Or I’ll just be walking and all of a sudden a pair of tiny jaws are clamping down on my leg or he pounces and wraps his paws around my leg. It’s cute and all and the bites are never painful but he’s scratched my legs up quite a bit lol.
I try to go into my room and close the door for 10 minutes after each bite so he knows that’s not how we play, and if he’s scratching/meowing at the door I wait to come out until a few minutes of no scratching. I play with him using a laser toy or wand toy, he doesn’t seem to take to toys he has to play with by himself lol.
I don’t want him to feel bored or understimulated but I can’t get up to play every time he wants to, and I also don’t want him to think biting in the middle of us relaxing is the right way to get me to play. My instinct when he does that is to start playing, but I don’t want to reinforce it so I ignore him and then I feel bad. He literally just walked up and nipped my leg as I was sitting writing this post and I just played with him for 30 mins!
I think I’m taking the right steps and it just takes time, especially with a stray adult cat, but if anyone has any advice to reduce this behavior I’d appreciate it!

Hello! I'm about to jump back into the query trenches and thought I'd see what you fine folks had to say about the query letter. It's my first time querying horror and came across the term "light horror" which I think fits my story. It's not overly gory but it's essentially a haunted house story. If that's not the right term, please let me know. Either way, thanks for looking it over! I included the first 300 words below as well because why the hell not.
Dear Agent,
I'm seeking representation for my adult fiction novel CENTER VALLEY. I read on your [agency] bio of your interest in [something] and thought it would be a good fit for your list.
CENTER VALLEY is a light horror novel complete at 75,000 words. It will interest fans of HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE by Grady Hendrix and THE SEPTEMBER HOUSE by Carissa Orlando.
Ben Baker never thought flipping a house would lead to a maniac attacking his family with a hammer.
He inherited his father’s hardware store and has been doing everything he can to keep it open, including dipping into his family’s savings account. His wife Hannah trusts him with the family finances until she gets into a car accident and finds out there’s not nearly as much in the bank as she thought.
Ben’s brother Hank offers a way to make some quick money—buy a foreclosed house on the outskirts of town and flip it themselves. With no other idea of how to replace the money, Ben reluctantly agrees.
But when they finally get into the house, they find something in the attic that neither can explain. A house—complete with windows, a roof, and a bathroom—sits behind a makeshift wall of thin plywood. Hank is curious but Ben is immediately unsettled, and neither can say exactly why.
Soon, Ben sees shadows move in ways they shouldn’t, hears strange noises from the attic, and realizes that they have a lot more to worry about than simply finishing the remodel within their budget when the strange occurrences follow him home.
[bio]
Thanks,
[me]
First 300 words:
I would’ve hugged my daughter a little tighter if I had known a madman would attack her with a hammer before her next birthday. But of course, there was no way for me to know so instead I just threw my empty beer bottle at Hank’s kneecap.
“Ah jeez look at that,” I said. This was one of our dad’s top moves. The other was to simply drop the empty bottle between his feet—he could be standing in the kitchen right next to Mom, it didn’t matter—and stare you in the eyes with this dumb grin on his face.
Hank just laughed and reached into the cooler on the opposite side of his lawn chair. Birthday parties are incredibly easy when your brother has a daughter the same age as yours. He pulled out another High Life and threw it back to me. April 26th was a tough birthday in middle Wisconsin. Depending on the year, you could get a nice spring-like day or a snowstorm. We lucked out this year.
“Why didn’t you get the big one?” Hank said, nodding to the bounce house that filled up more than half of my backyard.
“He didn’t want to pay for the semi to deliver it,” said Hannah. My wife of nine years. She was only five feet tall but goddamn she was a giant to me. Have you ever been afraid of a person you could throw through a window with one arm? That was her. Worthless on moving day but you didn’t want to see her get angry. I used to joke that she had an amplifier in her ribcage. The decibel level she could reach was freakish and downright terrifying, especially if you didn’t see it coming. She once stopped a dog fight just by screaming as loud as she could.

My MIL ghosted me when my ex and I separated. This was five years ago, but Mother's Day is always hard. She told me that she loved me like a daughter for over a decade, but as soon as he told her we were separating she cut me off without a word and never spoke to me again. I pathetically reached out on every special occasion for over a year afterward and she never yielded. It was incredibly painful at the time and it still hurts a lot when I think about it.
It took me a long time to realize that it wasn't me. She had cut off other people in her life, her own brother even, and I know that she blamed me for the fact that we had moved out of state, even though it was for his job. She and I had also originally bonded over cooking, but when I had to lose weight and my relationship with food changed, she took it personally. She is a social worker, and has a very warm and empathetic demeanor, but has very rigid expectations in some ways.
The hardest part is not being sure. Was she always lying when she said she loved me, or was there a time it was real? How long was she waiting for us to split so she could be rid of me? How many times was she thinking "I hate this bitch" while wearing a sympathetic mask? At what point was she wishing I was gone, while I was thinking we had a good relationship? Did I ever really know who she was?
My divorce was amicable, and my ex and I are friendly, to the point that he has asked a couple of times over the years if reconciliation is a possibility. Each time he brought it up, my gut response was "BUT WHAT ABOUT YOUR MOM???" Her choice to cut me off didn't just affect my relationship with her, it undermined my confidence in all of my connections with people. For a while I was so paranoid that I panicked if my own mom didn't pick up the phone (does she hate me too?!). I was on a date recently with a guy who said "My mom would love you" and it stabbed me right in the heart. Would she? Or would she just pretend, for years, until the day she could deliver a massive f-you to the ovaries?
Prior to my divorce, I would have said that I was lucky to have her as my MIL, but she ultimately caused me more pain than anyone else I have known in my life.
Thanks for listening

Link for all the chapters available for free here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road
Having said his piece, Rene had expected the woman to accept her role as a prisoner of the Fleet. But no sooner had he taken his knee of her back than she was at him again, rolling over and cursing as she tried to spit him on her claws. Training kicked in and Rene applied the wrestling component of his hand-to-hand combat course. He secured underhooks with his arms, locking them together with his hands and hugging her tight from behind. Zildiz bucked and twisted around in a futile attempt to make room for her blades, even managing to get one of her knees beneath her and push off the ground. Rene allowed her to gain her feet, cunningly using the opening to slip the loop of his encircling arms around her waist. Now in complete control of her center of gravity, Rene swung his leg out and arched his back, heaving her up and over like a sack of turnips in a textbook suplex. A fraction of a second before he smashed the top of her skull into the hard ground, he remembered that he was supposed to keep prisoners alive and preferably not in a vegetative state, and so he cushioned the fall with his own body, falling on his side to increase surface area and dissipate the force.
Zildiz was caught totally by surprise. Unlike Rene she had neglected to tuck in her chin before the moment of impact, a vital detail which was one of the first things a recruit was taught to do on the mats.
“Oof!” she said as all the breath slammed out of her by the throw. Rene felt her body go limp as her dazed senses tried to adjust to the violent change of orientation. He took advantage of this moment of weakness and looped his legs around her body, locking his ankles together to form a full body triangle. His left forearm punched up and took her neck in a rear naked choke, a suffocating vise formed by the insides of his elbow crushing her windpipe and carotid arteries.
“I warned you,” he told her. His choking hand grabbed the inside of his other elbow, right forearm sneaking behind her neck and under his armpit, tightening the garrote even further.
“Had enough?”
“Hrrnnkk…” Zildiz choked. She lifted an arm and slid back the blade until it was the length of a finger, deliberately giving Rene the universal gesture to go and fornicate with himself, before sheathing the claw entirely and aiming her fist at him over her shoulder.
Rene ducked as the blade shot out again, only just avoiding it going through his eye socket and into his brain. As it was, it only nicked his temple, sending warm lines of blood trickling down his visor. Rene hugged her even tighter, constricting the chokehold until he heard her breathing reduced to an agonized wheeze. He throttled her until she stopped moving, her struggles weakening until she went completely lax. Then he held the choke for exactly three seconds longer, counting carefully to avoid giving her lasting brain damage. He let go and was relieved to hear her snoring faintly. Gently rolling her onto her back so she didn’t suffocate in the dirt, Rene cast about for a means to secure his prisoner. He had only a few seconds before she regained consciousness. Quickly he cut some vines from the surrounding trees and knotted them into a crude rope. He flipped her back over again and tied her hands at the wrists and elbows. He had no illusions that it would hold her for long. He tied her wings together at their bases for good measure. She had two sets of them, but the larger pair was missing one of its partners that had been torn off at the socket to reveal a gaping wound. They were wondrously tough membranes considering how thin and flexible they were, as sturdy as ultrapod leather. Rene looked over his work and loosened it a bit so as not to cut off the circulation in her arms. It wasn’t bad for something done on the fly. Then again, he’d been playing this whole thing by ear ever since the ambush that had cut his unit to pieces. Ye gods, but that whole experience felt like a lifetime ago. He had not expected to ever use that component of his hand-to-hand training designed for fighting human opponents. Of course, he’d helped put down a fair share of civil unrest in his time, but even during the worst of the food riots in Mound Ulysses he’d never so much as given a person a light shove. The civilians knew better than to antagonize a battalion of the Fleet’s finest over something as routine and reoccurring as a government rationing in the face of crop failure.
He felt quite bad about having to roughhouse the woman, that is, until she sat up awake and glowered hatefully at him, coughing and retching.
“Don’t,” he pleaded with her in exasperation as she gave him the old stink eye, “I don’t want to fight you again.”
“Why?” she spat defiantly, “Afraid you’d lose?”
“Uh huh,” Rene grunted, amused and even a little impressed by her spunk. She couldn’t have weighed more than sixty kilos soaking wet and was at least half a foot shorter than him even with that exomorph of hers, but this woman was all fight and no quit. She would have to be, living on the surface world and facing these abominations day after day. Rene looked at the dismembered corpses of the black-furred devils and had a sudden jolt of inspiration. As Zildiz tested the strength of her restraints Rene went over to the monster he had chopped to bits and poked the misshapen hump on its back, which had excreted thick ribbons of silk at the moment of death. Feeling more than a little squeamish, Rene pulled on the threads of silk. He had only meant to collect two or three meters of the material, but more and more of the stuff kept unwinding out its glands like a handkerchief from a magician’s pocket. Eventually his hands became enmeshed in the horrid stuff and he had to struggle like the dickens to unstick himself and scrape it off onto a bush where it stuck like a lumpy hammock. Remembering how his enemy had plugged the stab wound in its gut, Rene snapped off a twig and curled it into the white mess like those vendors at the fairs did with candy cloud treats, ending up with a spool of silk. He applied it to the cut on his temple by winding it around his head like a bandage, and was gratified when it stopped the bleeding almost immediately. He heard the rustle of dead leaves and turned around to find Zildiz furtively attempting to sidle away from him.
“Don’t even try it,” he told her, “Or I’ll run you down and knock you senseless. I’m taking you back to civilization. The Fleet needs to know what it’s up against out here, and you’re a veritable trove of information.”
Zildiz squatted back down and stared at him, simmering with resentment. Rene shook his head and continued his work, moving on to the monster that had been the first to die at the woman’s hands. Cutting open its hump, Rene was rewarded with a dense lump of thread still packed inside its spinneret. He took another twig and spooled it in, then wrapped the bundle of silk in a large leaf.
A leg twitched of its own accord. Rene nearly dropped the bundle as he sprang back, sword upraised. The devil’s limbs began doing a tap dance and Rene relaxed a bit, recognizing it as the onset of rigor mortis. The side of its face was split open and hanging loosely by a strap of flesh. Struck by a nagging suspicion, Rene stooped down and peeled off the segments of its head, holding the edge of his sword against its neck to decapitate it in the event that it proved too lively for his liking.
The musculature and armor tore away just like it had with Zildiz’s helm, and for the second time that night he found himself staring into the face of another living human being. Only this time it was a man whose face was utterly disfigured, a perversion of the basic form. In the place of his lower jaw were fingerlike protrusions of gummy tissue and exposed nerve endings. His nose cartilage was likewise missing, leaving only a pair of holes dribbling with snot. The man blinked, and glassy eyes with almost no whites at their edges fixed Rene in their gaze.
“Kill…me…” the man whispered.
Rene began to shake uncontrollably, wiping a trembling hand across his mouth as he was forced to consider the carnage he’d just wrought in a new and horrifying light. These weren’t three dead monsters littering the jungle floor; these were three dead men, and some of them he had killed himself.
“Kill me!” the man begged him. He was young, barely Rene’s age, his smooth skin untroubled by the wrinkles of age and worry. He had clear brown pupils and dark, expressive brows. If it weren’t for all the rest of him, Rene might’ve mistaken him for a fresh-faced recruit at the academy, or a paperboy climbing up the terraced apartments of inner hive to deliver news of the Fleet’s latest victory.
On unsteady legs Rene staggered back to Zildiz’s side and away from the awful truth he had uncovered.
“Something the matter?” Zildiz asked in a gleeful tone, “Feeling a little worse for wear, are we?”
“Shut it,” Rene said distantly. He dragged Zildiz to her feet and began winding the silk around her wrists, layering them over thick and tying them off with a simple knot. He kept the vines on her for added insurance and told her to start walking.
“Where to?” she demanded.
“I’m not feeding you to my children, if that’s what you’re asking,” he muttered, “I don’t have any to begin with, and even if I did, I sure as hell wouldn’t raise them to be cannibals.”
Zildiz didn’t move, so Rene grabbed her and frog marched her away. He had no real destination in mind—he just had to get away from this place and the bodies he’d made. Zildiz rounded on Rene, saying:
“Aren’t you going to deal with him? I only severed his neural connection to paralyze his exomorph. He’s still very much alive.”
“No!” Rene yelled, “That’s not how I—how people do things. Almighty ancestors, is that so hard for you to grasp?”
“Yes,” Zildiz replied quite candidly.
“He’s a living, breathing human being. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but those are pretty rare on Arachnea and worth keeping around.”
“No. He is a Leaper. After extracting your gilt helix, he and his packmates would devoured you right then and there.”
“That’s why you saved me, isn’t it? So they couldn’t obtain this shiny helix thing?”
Zildiz ignored his question, continuing:
“If you leave him here, at best he will die of exposure. At worst, his tribe will come looking for him, and if they find him, they will run us down and kill us anyway.”
Rene bit his lip. She spoke the truth and they both knew it. But after all this world had already taken from him, there remained one thing which he refused to part with. And Rene knew that if he gave in now and took the expedient option—the sensible option—he would be surrendering it forever.
“Sorry,” he said finally, “That’s against the rules.”
He dragged Zildiz over to the Leaper and spoke to him, saying:
“I won’t kill you. I’m not about to eat you either, so you can stop begging for a quick death. As long as you tell me what I want to know, we’ll leave you here and go our separate ways. I might even patch your wounds if you’re cooperative. Does that strike you as a fair bargain?”
The Leaper met this pronouncement with a look of utter perplexity that mirrored the one on Zildiz’s face.
“I’ll take that silence as a yes,” Rene said impatiently, “You’ll begin by telling me your name.”
“Kryptusshh,” the Leaper said slowly, as if not daring to hope.
“Very good. Are there any more of your people out there, Kryptus?”
“Why sshhould I trusht you? I would only be dooming more of my kindred, and there issh no certainty you would not kill me afterwardssh.”
“It’s a chance you have to take,” Rene shrugged, “Either that, or I’ll let this woman do as she pleases with you. And just between you and me,” he said in a loud stage whisper, “She doesn’t seem all that fond of your sort.”
Zildiz and Kryptus locked eyes with each other. Rene could almost feel the waves of hatred coming off her as she bristled, every tendon in her body tensing expectantly. Kryptus must have seen something he didn’t like, for he looked away and said:
“I am a warrior of the Weeping Vipersh. We are roughly eleven hundred sshtrong. One tenth of that number are bravesshh like me.”
“He lies,” Zildiz said, baring her teeth in a snarl, “That is less than half their true strength. He does not count the adolescents and the old loom-mothers, who are the deadliest of their kind.”
“Three hundred, then, if they are consshidered,” Kryptman quickly admitted, “Your pardon, merciful one.”
“I’ll excuse your forgetfulness just this once,” Rene warned, “But your memory better not fail you again.”
He questioned the Leaper closely. Kryptus claimed that only he and his pack had seen the safety pod’s crash landing, and that they had told no one else as they wished to claim the great prize all for themselves. The Weeping Vipers were the largest tribe in the rainforest and were always looking for an advantage over their numerous and belligerent neighbors. Apparently Kryptus had hoped to gain a modicum of the Divine Engine’s power by extracting something called a ‘gilt helix’ from Rene’s blood.
“Jussht one sample would have shatishfied uss,” Kryptus swore, “Then we would have taken you back to the Loom alive.”
“I’m sure nothing would’ve pleased you better,” Rene said wryly, all too cognizant of Zildiz’s earlier assumption that he planned to feed her to the Fleet’s youth.
Rene learned from Kryptus that the Divine Engine had ignited a blazing wildfire that was swiftly spreading north and west. The tribes would likely have noticed it by now, and would all be sending braves in a joint effort to douse the flames. For some reason all the Leapers felt collectively responsible for the wellbeing of the region, and could not allow it to come to harm for fear of dire repercussions.
“Last question. Is anyone going to come looking for you?”
“Not till the morning.”
“Good!” said Zildiz, breaking out of Rene’s grip and aiming a vicious kick at the side of the Leaper’s head. Rene barely caught her and yanked her back, shouting:
“Blood and thunder, woman! Is there nothing you won’t do to piss me off?”
“Are you insane? You cannot possibly mean to leave him alive!” the Gallivant hissed.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Now come here!”
Rene took her by the elbow and pulled her forward, leaving Kryptus where he lay.
“You promished you would tend to my woundssh!” the Leaper cried after them.
“Don’t push your luck!” Rene said over his shoulder, “Anyone who follows us will meet the same end as your friends.”
He and his prisoner went tramping off into the night, Zildiz raging at him all the while.
“Fool! We will both come to regret that decision!”
“You’re probably right,” Rene had to agree.
“Then why did you do it?”
“For the same reason I’m letting you strut around and screech into my ear. What can I say? I’m a conversationalist.”
Link for all the chapters available for free here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road

so I've have have so much pain through my head spreading through my arms and back. At first thought it was my carpel tunnel in my left arm but i think that's something different but my blood pressure has been getting very high. My anxiety does raise the blood pressure up but here lately it's been raising it up high and im only 24. I'm getting bad headaches and random pains my head is sensitive all that. ANYWAYSSSSS I am scared to death, i am already i hypocondriac where i obsess over my health and just my thought alone have been raising the BP very high. i have read that ON can cause extremely high blood pressure. I'm wondering if im going to die bc idk how long i have already had it, and last night my bp was the highest its been but i see my doc Monday and I'm scared something is going to happen between that time like a heart attack. ik ON causes stores when it spreads out through the body which the pain has already spread though my body.... is there a cure and will i die... I'm scared bc my blood pressure is high rn and my heart hurts from last night bc of how high it was i think i may have had a mini heart attack without knowing and ut damaged my heart idk why it feels weak n damaged but just need some reassurance also what tests do i need to take to be diagnosed with it and can they do that in the ER

LETS GO WE GOT THE BREAKOUT. KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING BOYS. CLOSE TODAY ABOVE $2 AND TOMORROW WILL BE $10.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS!!!!
KEEP PUMPING WITH THOSE RIGHT ARMS OF YOURS💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽

Hey everyone,
I was recently exposed to hepatitis b back in late January. However, my doctor recently told me that I don't have hepatitis b in my system. I tested negative for HIV as well and came back negative for that too. (I have passed my 90-day mark already and all the blood work was a fourth-generation HIV test).
The system that I am experiencing is as follows:
1: red forehead (when I wake up and when press my skin together.) 2: pinkish eyes 3: abnormal burning sensation 4: lower back pain 5: nerve damage underneath my right pec 6: toe pain on both feet (when I wear sneakers) 7: Skin infection 8: abnormal burning sensation on my left hip. 9: inflammation in my throat
If I could receive help with what this can be, that would be much appreciated. Thank you

I was happily plugging away with ledger-cli for all of my deposit accounts, and everything was going really great. Then I started on my brokerage and retirement accounts and I'm in a bit my head. I'd appreciate a head-check here.
I am entering my opening balances (I'm starting with 2023) by recording entries in the format:

2022/12/31 * Assets:Roth IRA Assets:Roth IRA 642.42345 FOOBAR @ $8.17 Equity:Opening Balances 

I have a prices-db file with:

P 2022-12-30 00:00:00 FOOBAR $8.17 P 2023-01-31 00:00:00 FOOBAR $9.41 

The account is configured to reinvest dividends, which I am recording like this:

2023/01/27 * FOOBAR Dividend Assets:Roth IRA $160.61 Income:Dividend 2023/01/27 * FOOBAR Reinvest Assets:Roth IRA $-160.61 Assets:Roth IRA 17.10728 FOOBAR @ $9.388400728 

I'm exploring balance reports and want to make sure I'm doing this right:
When I run ledger bal -e 2023/02/01 two additional rows appear at the bottom of the output:

-------------------- $-160.61 17.10728 FOOBAR 

I more or less understand this. The negative balance is from Income:Dividend, and the positive balance is the change in value for the Assets:Roth IRA account. These two offset, but because they are different commodities, an exchange rate must be applied. This view is useful for comparing to account statements that show my positions. I can cross-reference the number of shares held to ensure I have everything correct.
When I run ledger bal -e 2023/02/01 --exchange '$' one additional row appears at the bottom of the output:

-------------------- $0.37 

This has to be due to the change in value of FOOBAR, but how do I know? Is there a way to tell ledger to enumerate the commodities associated with the change in value? I don't hold a ton of securities, but there are enough that I'd like to be able to break this out.
Lastly, I run ledger bal -e 2023/02/01 --exchange '$' --basis to compare the commodities in dollars at their cost basis so that I can be confident that everything balances. My accounts balance to zero as expected.
My plan is to update my prices-db file with entries at the end of each month. I don't need to track my portfolio daily, as I'm not trading. I would like to be able to generate monthly balance sheet reports though. Eventually I plan to compile these into trailing 12-month trended balance sheet reports.
Is this a sane approach? Am I setting myself up for pain? Part of me tells me I should just be recording account balances in $ based on quarterly statements, and not even bother with separate commodities. I lose monthly granularity this way though, which would be a bummer.

Title. Had it for 4 or 5 years and feels like sleeping on a pizza stone. I wake up with my arm asleep and shoulder pain constantly as a side sleeper and have trouble getting to sleep with the heat.
Getting a tall Caspar pillow to try to elevate neck and head a little to relieve some of the pressure but considering getting a latex topper for softness and cooling.
Problem is that I don't want to negatively impact her sleep so would a medium or soft topper re aggrivate her back issues and/or make it too cold for her?
Is there a good option for a split topper to make my side softecooler without affecting her side too much?
Would prefer not buying a brand new mattress since she likes this one so much, but getting to sleep and dealing with the pain in the morning has been difficult for me.

Hey there! I'm just your average video game loving dude with a four-legged son (His name is Moon.) who wants nothing more than to share his time with someone amazing. Sorry if you're allergic to, or don't like cats. But if you do like cats, that's definitely a plus!
Also feel like I need to put it out there that I am not the greatest conversationalist and far more of an introvert. So if I seem like I'm "dry" as some people put it, it's because I may have run out of things to ask, and it is not your fault. It also doesn't mean I'm uninterested. It's been years since I've really been a part of the dating scene and I really dip my toes in to try again because I want to find that special someone who can help me fix that. Someone I can really bounce ideas off of and really get a vibe going.
So a bit about me I suppose:

• I'm 6'0", average/chubby build, short dark brown hair, and brown eyes.
• My ethnicity is Black, Native American, and Puerto Rican. Mostly Black and Native American.
• I game a lot in my spare time. I've got a huge variety when it comes to my taste in video games too. Gaming is a part of my life so I do appreciate my time to myself. But I'll never neglect anyone over it.
• My taste in music is very indiscriminate, so I'm ALWAYS down to listen to new things.
• I'm an introvert. But I'm a great listener and give pretty good advice sometimes. I'm kind of blunt though so it's not for everyone.
• I'm very into cuddling. I feel like physical touch is an awesome way to show someone how you feel about them.
• If I sound nonchalant, please don't take it to heart. I'm not good with expressing my thoughts/emotions in words. It's actually pretty hard for me to figure out how to even write this haha.
• I guess adding to the above fact, I'm not very outwardly emotional. For a lot of people, it kind of makes me hard to read and I can understand how that can be kind of frustrating. It stems from some things that have happened in my life. I can go into my detail, if you care to know, of course.
• I'm not the most well-off person in the world, but I am doing my best to live comfortably. That being said, if you live very far away it may be a while before we meet in person unless you take the first step. Just a heads up! However, if you live in Michigan that makes things 100 times easier for both of us.

What am I looking for? Nothing oddly specific. In fact, be yourself. I'm attracted to diverse personalities, and people who are both unlike me, or very like me. Sometimes being able to relate is a blessing or a curse. Depends on what we take from it, I guess. You don't gotta be a 10 in the beauty department, or even a perfect being. I, myself, am not perfect. In fact, come at me with all your imperfections, I bet you I could find something to love about you.
I have a high sex drive, and most people honestly wouldn't even know it. Am I looking for sex? Nah, not looking for it. But I do love it. I love the idea of pleasing the woman that I'm with. You realize things about each other physically that, at the end of it, you come to enjoy about them. If I'm able to physically show you how much I appreciate your existence through sex, then sure. I've got a high sex drive but, I understand not everyone's down for that. Not something I can change about myself sadly lol. I'm not someone who talks about sex like that though. If that's what you wanna talk about, you initiate. I'm all about respecting boundaries, and there's plenty more things to talk about outside of it.
I can be very adventurous with the right person. I like to go on dates and be out with the one I care about. I can also be very attentive to the feelings of my SO, and I do my best to listen. I, of course, would just like the same in my partner. Loyalty and Honesty 100%.
If you've read this far, tell me your favorite thing to do to pass the time. Or even your favorite animal.

Hey there! I'm just your average video game loving dude with a four-legged son (His name is Moon.) who wants nothing more than to share his time with someone amazing. Sorry if you're allergic to, or don't like cats. But if you do like cats, that's definitely a plus!
Also feel like I need to put it out there that I am not the greatest conversationalist and far more of an introvert. So if I seem like I'm "dry" as some people put it, it's because I may have run out of things to ask, and it is not your fault. It also doesn't mean I'm uninterested. It's been years since I've really been a part of the dating scene and I really dip my toes in to try again because I want to find that special someone who can help me fix that. Someone I can really bounce ideas off of and really get a vibe going.
So a bit about me I suppose:

• I'm 6'0", average/chubby build, short dark brown hair, and brown eyes.
• My ethnicity is Black, Native American, and Puerto Rican. Mostly Black and Native American.
• I game a lot in my spare time. I've got a huge variety when it comes to my taste in video games too. Gaming is a part of my life so I do appreciate my time to myself. But I'll never neglect anyone over it.
• My taste in music is very indiscriminate, so I'm ALWAYS down to listen to new things.
• I'm an introvert. But I'm a great listener and give pretty good advice sometimes. I'm kind of blunt though so it's not for everyone.
• I'm very into cuddling. I feel like physical touch is an awesome way to show someone how you feel about them.
• If I sound nonchalant, please don't take it to heart. I'm not good with expressing my thoughts/emotions in words. It's actually pretty hard for me to figure out how to even write this haha.
• I guess adding to the above fact, I'm not very outwardly emotional. For a lot of people, it kind of makes me hard to read and I can understand how that can be kind of frustrating. It stems from some things that have happened in my life. I can go into my detail, if you care to know, of course.
• I'm not the most well-off person in the world, but I am doing my best to live comfortably. That being said, if you live very far away it may be a while before we meet in person unless you take the first step. Just a heads up! However, if you live in Michigan that makes things 100 times easier for both of us.

What am I looking for? Nothing oddly specific. In fact, be yourself. I'm attracted to diverse personalities, and people who are both unlike me, or very like me. Sometimes being able to relate is a blessing or a curse. Depends on what we take from it, I guess. You don't gotta be a 10 in the beauty department, or even a perfect being. I, myself, am not perfect. In fact, come at me with all your imperfections, I bet you I could find something to love about you.
I have a high sex drive, and most people honestly wouldn't even know it. Am I looking for sex? Nah, not looking for it. But I do love it. I love the idea of pleasing the woman that I'm with. You realize things about each other physically that, at the end of it, you come to enjoy about them. If I'm able to physically show you how much I appreciate your existence through sex, then sure. I've got a high sex drive but, I understand not everyone's down for that. Not something I can change about myself sadly lol. I'm not someone who talks about sex like that though. If that's what you wanna talk about, you initiate. I'm all about respecting boundaries, and there's plenty more things to talk about outside of it.
I can be very adventurous with the right person. I like to go on dates and be out with the one I care about. I can also be very attentive to the feelings of my SO, and I do my best to listen. I, of course, would just like the same in my partner. Loyalty and Honesty 100%.
If you've read this far, tell me your favorite thing to do to pass the time. Or even your favorite animal.

multiple content warnings, i’m sorry, this will be long, this isn’t even everything and it’s a damn book i am 19. i was 11 when i had to grow up. my parents decided to divorce after months of fighting, letting us know a week before my 12th birthday. you know, the classic divorce story. my dad moved out and my mom started dating people. it moved so fast. we moved to a different area, even though we had just moved into a new house a year earlier, leaving my childhood hometown behind. my mom was trying to pursue school so we were living on student aid and stamps. (i have 3 siblings, so there were 5 of us) i started middle school in that area and was doing pretty well off. then my mom got pretty serious with someone i’m going to call SOB, he doesn’t deserve a name. my mom and SOB were dating for two months before that thing proposed to my mom. we met him once before he was labeled our step dad. my mom sat us down and told us we’d be moving to idaho to be closer to her family. come to find out, the whole reason for going there was because SOB is an ex convict and he couldn’t leave idaho because that’s were his parole was.
we were told at the time that he was framed for kidnapping and he had a whole story crafted to back it up. being a kid and needing my mom, i didn’t ask or dig about it. so we moved to idaho. i started school there and immediately got death threats. i got called a hoe relentlessly for seemingly being pretty. eventually things calmed down and i had friends, but that place was tiny and once people have formed an opinion of you, there’s no changing it, so it was hard to get around.
SOB was awful to my younger brother. we’ll call this brother zayn. zayn has bad adhd and has always struggled with school. he’s one of the smartest people i know, but getting assignments in is not his forte. so as a result he’s never had the highest grades. SOB hated the fact that my brother wasn’t doing great and would literally stand there and scream at him to get his work done. there was one time that i was in my room and i started to hear my brother screaming so immediately i’m upstairs to help him, SOB was literally chasing my brother around our house with a damn bat screaming at him like a demon was coming out. i yelled at him to leave my brother alone and things just got darker after that. me and my brother were scum to him and he ran our house like the hunger games. my other little brother and my older sister were prized jewels, they got everything they wanted and more, and SOB would rub it in our faces. he even gave my dog away, i went days worrying about her and looking because i thought she had ran away, to find out that some other person had my dog now and i wouldn’t ever get her back.
fasting forward a little, SOB violated his parole by going on a trip that wasn’t fully approved and got put back in jail right before christmas. my mom completely threw herself into trying to get him out. me and my sister noticed that my mom hadn’t gotten a single thing to be santa for my brothers, so we scraped up the money we had to get gifts so my brothers wouldn’t lose their christmas spirit seeing that santa didn’t come when things were already so bad as it was. i love that i was able to do this for them, the smiles on their faces, i will never forget that christmas.
after a long time of having a very absent mother, she was able to get SOB out of jail. he came back even worse of a monster then when he left. he sexually assaulted my mom, committed all kinds of fraud, basically stole all of my papa’s retirement money, the list goes on. my mom decided she wanted a divorce and when he found out, he went crazy. he locked all of us out of our house and threw our things on the lawn. it rained, i lost so many things, a one of a kind paper mache venitian mask i had gotten on a trip with my dad to italy included.
it’s 2020 by now and we went on a trip to Texas, to meet the person my dad was dating. on the trip, I very much learned that she was not for my dad. but, all reasoning was in vain. my dad proposed, and we had literally just met her. so that was that my dad was engaged now and focused on trying to move them out to him and getting a new house. my mom decided at that time that she wanted to move too so we had a choice, move to my dads and go back to the area i grew up in, or go with my mom to another ranch town in idaho. i chose my dads. my brothers came with, but my sister stayed with my grandparents where we lived in idaho so she could graduate.
things were fine for a bit. my mom was dating a lot and even got engaged. then she told us about this other guy she had been seeing, who had given her a 500 mile ride home from somewhere. immediately suspicious, especially because she wouldn’t drop a name. come to find out other guy was SOB. SOB proposes to her again and she’s got two engagement rings from two different people. everyone was like, what the actual shit are you doing. my mom was in a very cooky state of mind, broke things off with the other guy, and stayed with SOB. there was a weekend in september that my cousin had something going on so my extended family and everything was all there and we decided there needed to be some kind of intervention. to keep things short, it didn’t go well. my mom ended up leaving and she told me and my sister that she didn’t want to be our mom anymore. found out through facebook a couple days later that my mom and SOB were married.
then came the everlasting fun of a custody battle. my step mom had gotten into my dads head saying he needed to take full custody. now i wasn’t the biggest fan of my mom at the time, but that didn’t mean i never wanted to see her. my parents hated each other. there were a few times in exchanges that the cops ended up being called.
for a while my dad had pretty bad anger issues. low blood sugar, overstimulation, bad smells, anything could set him off. i just so happened to have a very large target on my back so i got the brunt of everything. i wouldn’t let him yell at my brothers and this resulted in me getting the lashings, but i would do it all again if that meant protecting my brothers. he wasn’t angry all the time, there were a lot of good days, but it was definitely pretty tortuous for a while. a lot of the problem, which i knew would happen to begin with, was my step mom. she is one of the laziest people i’ve ever known, which is the complete opposite of my dad. my dad likes to do things, he’s always active. so he was frustrated because he would want to do things with his wife there, and she would almost always refuse, so she could have a quiet day in bed. my step mom had also convinced herself that i was stealing from her. she ransacked my room multiple times, to no avail. she took my car keys ‘until she could prove i was taking things from her’ and i only got them back because they were sick of giving me rides places. she actually ended up stealing some of my things trying to claim they were hers, so she hid them and i haven’t seen them since.
so yeah i got yelled at a lot, accused of being a thief, and my relationship with my mom was shit + the joys of high school. i have been doing musical theater my whole life. when i first got to my new high school i was so excited because, although i wasn’t able to audition for the productions companies that year, the teacher told me i was a shoe in for the next year. she ended up leaving and we got a new teacher, if you can even call her that. so it’s my junior year, the first year with her, and it wasn’t bad, i got some good parts and did really well. i ended up getting nominated for an award for one of my performances and it was at this time, i don’t know what happened, but she did not like me anymore. she told me that she accepted the nomination for me, but i found out not too long later that she never accepted it and i was in favor to win so the judges were very puzzled by it. she accepted my friends nominations and kinda rubbed it in my face that i never got anything back. like’ awe are you sad because you didn’t hear anything from the judges? well so and so over here did😈’
the summer after that year i cut my hair pretty short. i wouldn’t say i’m not ‘girly’ but i definitely have a more masculine ‘bro’ persona comparatively. so now it’s my senior year, it matters a lot more at this point to try for good parts because it’s my last run. to keep it simple, my teacher wouldn’t cast me because i was too masculine, not even as a guy ?? idk make it make sense. i got one part my entire senior year, and i know it’s not because i’m bad. but i wrote and produced my own show that ended up being 100x the quality of the shows she produced, so i did get redemption. long story short, it really sucks to watch the peers your just as good as continue to succeed, while you get kicked out of the room for being distracting when you haven’t said a word. the reason they didn’t like me ? i’m good at improv, i kid you not i was told i was too creative and it bothered them. i know my presence scared the teachers there because i’m not a classic conformist theater kid that does anything and everything the teacher says.
anyways, so after years of trying to rekindle a relationship with my mom, fighting with an ass teacher and getting yelled at almost daily, a lot of worth questioning, and a flurry of weed later, i graduated.
both of my brothers in this time attempted to end their lives and were in facilities for a bit. i decided at that time to move in with my mom to hopefully help our relationship. it did a lot. me and my mom are best friends now. but it hasn’t been because of nothing. SOB had become the most controlling narcissistic asshole and my mom was just acting having any feelings for him so he wouldn’t take everything away from her. he monitored everything my mom did. he hit my mom in an intimate moment, and almost beat zayn, but i covered him and ended up slicing my arm open on our fireplace, once again i would do this 100 times over to protect my brother. i decided i wanted to dig everything up on him that i could. what i found was mortifying. i won’t go into too much detail, but there were a lot of charges, multiple of them being SA of a child. i vowed at that moment that i would do anything it takes to get him back behind bars. he’s actively on the offender list and he works across the street from a preschool, not on my fukin watch ass hat.
i will never forget the true terror on my moms face that that man caused. it got to the point where my mom would get really scared if she started crying because she knew he’d freak out at her if he noticed. i came back to my locked room, that i have the only key to, with holes in my walls in weird places, and in my bathroom too. a couple days before, my brother found a camera in his room, so i knew what it was and that SOB was spying on me. i taped them all up and came to stay at my bfs house and have been here since. after months of his treacherous cycle my mom had enough and left to a safe house, she’s there now. the divorce is going though but from some reason the stupid system denied my mom a protective order against him. he has full access to our house and things right now, and he’s trying to make 90,000 so he can baile his way out of the insurance fraud case against him that could get him back in jail in june. i’m so worried he’s selling my things because he so would. everything i have left is in that house and it’s all at his whim now.
when i moved in with my mom, i started a job at a fancy high end restaurant because i knew it would be good money. i’ve had problems with this my entire life, but ever since starting my job there, i have experienced countless creeps who have sexualized me in more ways then i thought possible. it’s made me feel so worthless. it’s people i work with and people who come in. drunk guys from the bar are the worst, and they’re all filthy rich so they don’t care about a thing in the world. i need to quit but i don’t know where else to go
my dad has now decided as of like two weeks ago, that he will be moving to florida. i never anticipated him moving across the country and leaving the last place i could call home. he also started therapy a couple months ago and his anger issues are pretty much nonexistent at this point. so i got my dad back but now he’s leaving again. i always hoped that as i got older, my family would always be pretty close, close enough that i could seem them once a week if i wanted. it’s really killing me because i was so close to that, to getting my family back. my sister has been in france the last couple years and she’s coming back in a couple weeks. my dad will be moving almost immediately after. we finally got to a point where my mom is free, my dad is happy, we’re all healing, and now my family will be broken up more then ever before by distance. my parents don’t hate each other anymore, my sister is coming home, we would all be able to spend time together again, never more.
so i’m at this point now, where i’ve been fighting for my family, taking every hit with hope in my heart for something i was so close to having, for 7 years i’ve been hoping. and just like that, the light at the end of this very long, cold and dark tunnel fades, and i’m left once again, in the cold dark nothingness that is hoping for a better day, that will never come.
so i’m left questioning, is overcoming another mountain worth it if there’s a whole range of painful climbing ahead of me? i’m so tired, my whole body hurts every day, my mind and soul are toiled with the pain of my lifetime, everyone in my family is moving on with their own paths and it’s only a matter of time before i’m only hearing from them every once in a while. i don’t want to do life, the world is so messed up right now and i don’t see it getting better. there’s too much pain and i can’t handle it. nothing seems worth hoping let alone living for anymore. i bid you adieu and wish you all the best 💗

This is in response to a couple of posts from the past week regarding generative AI but long and late enough I figured a separate post makes sense.
I'm a songwritemusic producer who has been pretty deeply involved in these conversations for the past year. Below are insights I've gleaned. You can also join me at artistsresist.org where you will find my more or less monthly articles on generative AI and techsploitation. You can subscribe for free or (if you’re able to and want to support this work) support Artists Resisting Exploitation (ARE) at various tiers.
That said, we don’t actually need a single leader. The scope and reach of Big Tech is so great that no single person can seriously take this issue on and win. Moreover, elected officials like Senator Chuck Schumer have too much of a vested interest in our failure (including too many personal ties to Big Tech). Therefore, despite the fact that most people think stealing from artists to train generative AI on copyrighted work is wrong, the government continues to delay real regulation and to cater to Silicon Valley and Wall Street (fintech).
What’s working, nonetheless, are the efforts of and solidarity between many artists, including visual artists affiliated with the Concept Art Association and Create Don’t Scrape, writers with the Authors Guild, well-known musicians with the Artists Right Alliance, the Recording Academy, the Human Artistry Campaign, and (I like to think) the very grassroots work of Artists Resisting Exploitation (ARE). All of these groups fight for artists’ copyrights.
Note that there are groups like Fight for the Future (which is affiliated with Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW)), which are actively anti-copyrights but not always upfront about this. (Creative Commons and Electronic Frontier Foundation are also anti-copyrights and have aligned with Big Tech corporations’ “fair use” defense of scraping copyrighted work to train generative AI models.) However, for self-serving reasons, these anti-copyrights organizations are the groups academia (full of pro-scraping, Big Tech-funded researchers), the government, and tech policy groups and think tanks often turn to for “artists’ perspectives.”
In general, I suggest avoiding AI bros and focusing on uniting with likeminded artists. I think this is a better use of time and has more of an impact than attempting to convince those who put profits over people, including those who are paid to promote generative AI, invested in generative AI stocks, or employed by exploitative gen AI companies, to do what is right.
I firmly believe that if the vast majority of artists, who tend to care about protecting copyrights, band together, we can and will get through this. Popular generative AI models could not exist without us. In essence, these corporations and their users are dependent on us. But oppressors have historically (and possibly as a defense mechanism) long disrespected and despised those they’ve exploited. This is no different. Still, they only win if we give them our power by being complacent. I personally love art and artists too much to stand by while something that is so precious to my existence and to that of humanity is grossly devalued. No art form that can be digitized, however unique or innovative, is safe. Groundbreaking work that an artist has devoted years to creating can be pilfered, increasingly, in a matter of minutes.
We need solidarity between artists of all disciplines. For musicians, this means not using AI models that were created by exploiting visual artists (for example, for album art), writers, voice actors, etc. Fairly Trained has ethically created alternatives, and we should use those if we use gen AI at all. We also need to consider ways we, like visual artists, can poison models by supporting the development of tools similar to Glaze and Nightshade.
In the short term, we must speak up on social media, leave comments on articles and videos, and (most importantly) contact elected officials. In-person advocacy is especially effective. You can find your state arts advocacy group and get involved by meeting with or, if that’s not possible, calling or emailing your local and state elected officials. For Californians, these would be Californians for the Arts and its lobbying arm California Arts Advocates. In April, ARE joined other arts groups in meeting with the offices of seven elected officials in Sacramento. Remember, elected officials want to be re-elected.
Californians for the Arts’ and California Art Advocates’ rallying cry this year is #ArtWorkIsRealWork. Spread the word and post this everywhere, please. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make a living from work that you love and that you have devoted years to studying. Moreover, the fact that AI companies need and profit from your work is evidence of its value. There is something wrong with seeking to profit from another human being’s nonconsensual, unpaid, and (therefore) coerced labor.
Again, although there are advocacy groups, this is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Fighting Big Tech corporations that have seemingly unlimited wealth to throw at corrupt government officials all over the world—much of it, ironically, gleaned through exploiting artists—is exhausting extra work nobody asked for. They hope we will tire of it and give up. Those at the forefront of this struggle need to know that there are others who can take the baton when we need a break. I think I can safely say nearly all artists doing advocacy work on this issue would rather be making art. But we see a world in which that will be, increasingly, difficult as our works are stolen to line the pockets of the wealthy and then used against us to force us out of creative industries. So, if you love your art and art, in general, please do your part.

I have uploaded gameplay from my fresh experience with the game here if you want to see how it looks / plays. My first impressions are shared below:
Based on my limited time with it, I recommend playing Dead Hook on PSVR2, but you should read further to decide if this will be right for you.
It is a roguelite FPS that has the feel of a game like Doom Eternal or Unreal Tournament, and for VR comfort concerns, you should know it is at its best when you are making use of the main gameplay mechanic of the grapple hooks to fling you around the battle arena rooms that have high verticality.
The game has much better story / exposition than typical roguelite where you play as Adam Stone that has some kind of personal relationship with disembodied Grace who wants to return to being corporeal again and is generally suggestive (3:20) & affectionate (21:04) towards Adam referencing their past relationship. Your (Adam's) character got damaged (including vocal-cords, so not voiced) due to malfunction while traveling through space to planet Resaract on the quest to get Mythical Stone of Immortality that will help Grace become corporeal (0:57), so there is a third voiced character in game named Raven who is an AI companion that represents the ship and provides guidance / training and part of the overall storytelling along with Grace.
The gameplay mechanics covered in tutorial (3:20) involve dual wielding variety of possible shooting weapons, EXO suit powers like Flames, Freeze and Gust that can be shot from arms (think Iron Man), use of the Dead Hook to fling yourself around with either hand (think Batman grapple more than Spider-Man web swing), melee combat using fists or even grabbing and tearing weakened enemies apart, special power of dual swords that can do massive damage, and ability to extend chainsaw blade (Ripper) that can be used to rip enemies apart (think Doom Eternal). You kickstart the chainsaw by putting string in your right-hand from your other hand to rev the motor. The game also lets you run rapidly in whatever direction you are moving with Left Control stick by moving your hands physically in running motion. You are also able to grab onto surfaces to vault yourself up and over.
As a roguelite, between runs, you can spend time on the ship check out target practice using available weapons (Earth & Ancient) or buffs (22:09), available bounties to complete on runs that will give you extra rewards (22:53), applying permanent upgrades to your EXO suit at the crafting station (23:07) and bestiary database (24:46) that lets you learn more or select opponents for target practice.
During each run (25:55), you move from procedurally generated arena rooms to next room always moving forward. Between each such room, you often have a choice of which door to choose next with some information given about what to expect in next room. Whenever you clear a room you will get weapon or buff options before proceeding to next room. You can also reach safe rooms (36:08) that won't have any enemies and instead allow you to bank / use money before proceeding. The goal is to keep proceeding as far as you can and the exposition through Grace / Raven will continue both during gameplay and after you complete / start new runs (including failures).
The game is made on Unity Engine but before Gaze Foveated Rendering became available option for developers for PSVR2. That said, the graphics of this game are generally crisp and clear except for text displays that can be blurry until you get closer. Interesting the gameplay capture recording shows all HUD elements in stable positions and relatively clear while in-headset these elements move around and not as clear (too small / far). The performance of the game is rock solid, possibly 90-120 fps. While I recognize that Gaze Foveated Rendering could possibly make the game sharper and ensure no text is blurry even at distance, I really don't have any significant critique for how the game looks because of how fast moving and good it looks in motion while not inducing any VR discomfort for me despite the wild movement.
The sound in the game has strange moments where the volume either increases (1:44 & 13:30) or decreases when the settings for that haven't been modified, but fortunately the game provides settings for Audio that helps you adjust it more to your liking. I don't know if the increases are from creative choices or technical glitches, but once I adjusted them to levels that suit me more, it became more stable.
The game is making use of resistive triggers and controller haptic feedback is also being used in variety of scenarios but perhaps not 100% of the use-cases where I think it should (or maybe the strength of the haptics in some scenarios aren't prominent enough). It is not using headset haptics when you are taking damage which I think is the biggest area of possible improvement as the red-light visual indicator that displays on left / right side of your display isn't a strong indicator of taking damage as I think headset haptics could provide.
The game does not provide many options for VR comfort, but defaults to Snap Turns which can be changed to Smooth Turns with 4 different turn speed options. It does not provide any option for teleport or vignette / tunneling / blinders.
The game features Platinum and any trophies that expect count of x have progression. Good emphasis on skill / challenge trophies where many will unlock through natural play and nothing that looks like would be frustrating / luck based.
This game is fun, but if you can't handle the VR speed / verticality or presence of some blurry text that isn't essential to read, it might not be for you.

The next morning, Himiko was awakened by a delighted scream. She shot up in her bed and saw Tenko dancing around the room.
"Nyeh...Tenko? W-What's going on?" Himiko asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.
"La-la-la-la-la-laaaaaa!!" Tenko sang. Then, she stopped at Himiko's bed and gripped Himiko's shoulders like a crazy person. "Himiko! I ate your Snoozydoodles right before bed, like you told me to, and I just had the most amazing dream!!"
"What was it about?" Himiko asked.
"There were no degenerate males in the world! And all the girls made me their queen!" Tenko sighed. "It was perfect utopia! A utopia...for girls! The sky was pastel pink! The clouds were extra puffy and white! The ocean was also pink and glittery, and all the food we ate was pink, like strawberry cake, strawberry ice cream, strawberry cupcakes, and strawberry milk! And girls of every shape, size, and color were everywhere! Not a degenerate male in sight!"
"Nyeh...a dream filled with just girls sounds like a nightmare," Himiko muttered. "Most problems I had with bullying was from catty, popular girls."
"W-What?! There's no way that's true, Himiko!" Tenko cried. "Maybe they were males in disguise!"
"No, I don't think so," Himiko shook her head. "Plus, a world with just girls is going to lead to extinction."
"Not in my dream!" Tenko exclaimed happily. "Girls were born from 'Girl Flowers!'"
"Nyeeeh...girl flowers? " Himiko asked, raising a brow.
"Yeah! You plant a pink seed into the ground, and when it grows, the petals open up and reveal a beautiful baby girl inside!" Tenko gushed. "It was so amazing! Girls, girls, girls everywhere!" Himiko wrinkled her nose.
"I bet it smelled like fish in that world," she muttered.
"Fish?! Why would it smell like-...oh! Hahahaha!" Tenko said. "No, no, Himiko! We didn't have to deal with that because there was need for it! All the girls came from 'Girl Flowers,' remember?"
"Oh...I guess that's true," Himiko replied, shaking her head at the absurdity. Suddenly, there was a knock at their door. Tenko went over to open it. Standing on the other side were Tsumugi, Angie, Maki, Miu, Gonta, Ryoma, and Kaito.
"Hey! What are you all doing here?!" Tenko demanded. "Especially you degenerates!" Ignoring Tenko, they all rushed right in and crowded around Himiko's bed. Himiko nervously pulled her blanket up to her face.
"Nyeh...c-can I help you guys?" she whimpered.
"I had the most wonderful dream because of your cookies, Himiko!" Angie chirped. "Everyone in the whole wide world became a follower of Atua, and was welcomed into his kingdom!"
"I had a dream that I finally went to space!" Kaito exclaimed. "And I became the world's best astronaut for discovering a lot of alien civilizations! Everyone voted for me to be president of Earth!"
"There's no way such a title exists," Maki said, shaking her head.
"Well, maybe not in real life, but that's how it was in my dream!" Kaito said. "But, anyways, what was your dream about, Maki Roll?" Everyone turned to Maki, curious to what kind of dream she had. She blushed.
"I'd...rather not talk about it," she grumbled. "It's too dumb."
"Just tell us already, Judge Moody!" Miu spat impatiently. Maki glared at her, then sighed.
"Fine..." she said. "I had a dream where I wasn't an orphan, and I had real, actual parents who loved me. And I was happy and nice to everyone, and I didn't have to worry about being an assassin and stealing peoples' lives." Everyone stared in stunned silence at her. Maki sighed gloomily. "See? I told you it was dumb."
"Geez, that's not dumb at all," Ryoma said. "Sounds similar to my dream, though, I would agree if you had said that wishing for it to happen would be dumb."
"What do you mean, Ryoma?" asked Tsumugi.
"It's pointless to dream or wish for something that will never come true," Ryoma explained. "Even though my dream was...surprisingly delightful, it also felt like a punch in the gut. Hmph...I don't know whether to call that dream a blessing, or a curse."
"What was your dream about?" Kaito asked.
"Well, I'll tell you, but it is depressing," Ryoma warned. "My girlfriend hadn't been killed, and I was back home with her and my cat. And I didn't even play tennis, I wasn't even an Ultimate student. I was a regular guy."
"That doesn't sound depressing at all!" Kaito said.
"But, the fact that it'll never come true is what makes it depressing," Ryoma said. "That's why I say, dreams like that are pointless. It's better to forget about the past and move on with your life"
"Bullshit!" Kaito exclaimed. "C'mon, man, stop whining about how depressing your life is! You say that wishing for the impossible is dumb and it was all in the past, or whatever, so why the hell are you still depressed? If you truly believed that you should move on, you should stop worryin' about the past and look to the future with bright hopes! That goes for you, too, Maki!"
"What? Why me?" Maki asked.
"It's true that you can't change the past, and maybe wishing for it to change is dumb," Kaito explained. "But, if you're still depressed about what happened in the past, it means you can't let go of what happened! You're not moving on! Moving on is accepting what happened, and doing whatever you can to make your life better! Instead of wishing to undo the past, wish for a brighter future! That goes for all of you!" The room fell silent as they stared at Kaito.
"So, anyway, my dream was about me actually becoming the characters that I cosplay!" Tsumugi said, breaking the silence.
"Hey! Don't just ignore my inspirational speech!" Kaito exclaimed angrily.
"It really wasn't all that inspiring," Tsumugi said, haughtily waving him off.
"Seriously! Nobody asked for your opinion, Mahatma Ghandeez Nuts!" Miu said to Kaito.
"W-What?! " Kaito exclaimed.
"Ha! In my dream, I was the world's best inventor!" Miu said grandly. "With my inventions, I was able to rid the world of starvation, war, violence, famine, and all that other bad shit! And everyone loved me! All the guys on the planet wanted to bang me, and my boobs grew a size bigger!"
"Um...can you not share your dreams?" Tsumugi said. "I feel like every time you speak, I want to do unspeakably horrible things to you."
"Shut the hell up, you four-eyed, lamebrain otaku! " Miu spat. "You're just jealous because you have two deflated balloons for chest!"
"Um...can Gonta share dream, now?" Gonta asked.
"Yes, Gonta, go ahead," Tsumugi replied, eager to not have to listen to Miu anymore.
"Gonta was king of bugs!" Gonta replied. "Everyone in world loved bugs, and loved King Gonta!"
"Tuh...that dream sounds stupid as shit!" Miu scoffed.
"Oh! G-Gonta sorry..." Gonta apologized with a hurt expression.
"You don't have to apologize to her, Gonta," Tsumugi said, glaring at Miu.
"You want someone to apologize to, apologize to all of us for wastin' our time!" Miu spat to Gonta.
"Hey! Cut it out, Miu! Stop yellin' at him!" Kaito yelled.
"Don't tell me what to do, Luke Skyfucker!" Miu shouted back.
"Stop callin' me names!" Kaito yelled back.
"H-Hey! Why everyone fighting?" Gonta asked. "Gonta not mean to start fight!"
"Leave it up to a degenerate male to start a fight!" Tenko growled, glaring at Gonta.
"If you guys don't stop fighting, Atua will unleash his holy wrath upon you all," Angie warned with a creepy grin.
"Nobody asked you, you kooky cult bitch!" Miu said, swatting at Angie. "All y'all are just jealous because my dream was better that yours!"
"Excuse me?!" Tsumugi cried.
"Yeah! Obviously mine was the best one!" Kaito exclaimed.
"You're plainly wrong! Mine was the best one!" Tsumugi said.
"No, it was mine!" Tenko shouted.
"Nuh-uuuhhhh...it was mi-iiiine," Angie said cheerfully.
"Um...Gonta thinks Gonta's was pretty good," Gonta said diplomatically.
"Sheesh...I can't believe everyone is getting so worked up over this," Ryoma said.
"Seriously. It's stupid to be fighting over something like this," Maki agreed.
"Well, I don't think it's stupid at all!" Tsumugi said.
"Yeah! In fact, I want another dream!" Miu said. Everyone turned to Himiko, who had been staring at them in horrified silence. "You better whip us up some more cookies, ya little midget, or else!"
"Well, um...you'll have to wait next weekend," Himiko replied in a small voice.
"I ain't waitin' that long!" Miu spat. "So, chop, chop! Get to makin' those damn cookies right now!"
"Nyeh, but...what about school?" Himiko asked.
"Himiko's right, we need to get ready for school," Maki said. But...I think I'd also like more of the cookies." Everyone turned to her in surprise.
"Wait...really, Maki?" Tsumugi asked.
"It was...a really good-tasting cookie...that's all," Maki mumbled, fiddling with one of her pigtails.
"Or is it because you liked your dream?" Angie teased. Maki frowned at her.
"Shut up," she said.
"I...agree with Maki," Ryoma said. "I want to see if I would have a different dream. One that's more...sensible."
"A dream that's...sensible? " Tsumugi repeated.
"Yeah...one that keeps me away from my past," Ryoma explained. "Do you think you can do that for me, Himiko?"
"Nyeh...okay," Himiko said. She knew exactly how to do just that.
Part Twelve
"What was all that ruckus about earlier, Monkey Buns?" Kokichi asked as he and Himiko walked together to school.
"Nyeh...just as I was hoping, my Snoozydoodles gave everyone dreams," Himiko replied. "But, when everyone that I gave them to was talking about their dreams, things got a little out of hand."
"Was that the effect of the magic?" Kokichi asked.
"Well, no...that was because Miu was being her usual, annoying self, and then Tsumugi said something, then Miu snapped back at her, then everything sorta erupted into chaos," Himiko explained.
"Didn't you say a while ago that the dream powder can be addictive?" Kokichi asked. Himiko sighed.
"Yeah...even small doses of the dream powder might cause someone to be addicted," she said. "But, it works really well, and that's why I wanted to put it in my cookies."
"Hmm...I hope you know what you're doing, Himiko," Kokichi said.
"Well...I have another idea where the dream powder might be not as addictive...but the effects will be just as good?" Himiko said with a bit of uncertainty. Then, she blushed. "I...used this method to dream about you before we started dating." Kokichi raised his eyebrows at her.
"Really?!" he exclaimed, grinning.
"Yeah...I had to steal your hair while you were asleep to do it, though," Himiko said quietly.
"Yeah, that's not creepy at all," Kokichi teased, wrapping his arm around Himiko's waist, and giving her a kiss on the cheek. A mischievous grin crossed his lips. "I wanna know what this other method is."
***
Friday night had arrived. Kokichi was with Himiko in her secret magic room. She was flipping through the spellbook titled, "Inside the Magical Mind." Himiko showed Kokichi the chapter "Build the Perfect Dream," specifically, the romance section.
"Nyeh...these are potions I used to have dreams about you," she explained to him, and pointed to the different dreams. "This is the 'sweet love dream' potion, the 'spicy love dream' potion, and the 'hot and steamy love dream' potion." Kokichi read the description of each dream, his impish grin growing larger across his face as he read.
"So, you drank all of those potions?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"Well, one night, I drank the first one, then the next night, I drank the second," Himiko said. "I secretly gave the last one to Miu, because I was too scared to drink it myself."
"Ugh! You gave it to Miu?! " Kokichi exclaimed in disgust.

"Well...I-I'd feel dirty having the last dream!" Himiko stammered.
"Well, then, why'd you make that potion in the first place?" Kokichi asked.
"Because I was curious!" Himiko said. "But, then my curiosity was replaced by fear and feeling dirty, so I gave it to Miu. It's a good thing I did, too, because..."
"Cuz, why...?" Kokichi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because she was doing very...dirty things with you," Himiko replied. "Yeah...we were having our monthly slumber party, and in the middle of it all, Miu was dreaming and...nyeh...screaming."
"AAAUUUUGGHHHH!!! GROSS!!" Kokichi exclaimed, covering his ears. "I don't wanna do it with her!! "
"Well, she did say that you said that to her in her dream," Himiko said. "But, you only did it to get her to shut up because she kept begging you."
"Ew, I don't care," Kokichi muttered. "There's no excuse to condone bestiality." Himiko sighed and gave Kokichi a playful swat. Kokichi laughed, then eyed her flirtatiously. "Besides, my body only belongs to you...Himiko." Himiko blushed and lowered her head. Every time he said her name like that, it got her heart pumping like crazy. "My body...is your body." Kokichi lifted her chin to turn her head to him. "Mi cuerpo...es su cuerpo, y mi corazón...es su corazón."
"Ohhhh...Kokichiiii...!" Himiko gurgled with delight, biting her lip. She didn't know Spanish, but he made it sound so good. Kokichi leaned in to give her a passionate kiss.
"Okay, that's enough!" he said, stopping the kiss abruptly.
"W-What?! Wait! No! Moooore...!" Himiko pouted, tugging on Kokichi's sleeve. "I want mooore."
"Nuh-uh, Monkey Buns. Tomorrow is another cookie sale, so we can't get distracted right now. We gotta make these cookies like Hiro...baked! " Kokichi said.
"O-kaaaayyy..." Himiko pouted.
"M'kay, so how are gonna do this, HimiCocoa Bean?" Kokichi asked.
"Well...what genre of potion should I make?" Himiko asked. "There's comedy, action-adventure, romance, horror, fantasy, mystery, aaannnd...lots of other stuff."
"Comedy!" Kokichi said. "Everyone needs a good laugh!"
"Nyeh...okay," Himiko said, then turned to the comedy section of the chapter.
"So, you'll just pour whatever potion you make into the cookie batter, right? And mix it up?" Kokichi asked.
"Yup, that's right," Himiko nodded.
"Aaaalrighty, then! Welp, do your thang, babe!" Kokichi said, kissing Himiko's cheek. Himiko giggled and read the comedy section:
~COMEDY:~
Laughter is the best medicine, as they say! So, why not have it in your dreams? After all, there's nothing cuter than someone laughing in their sleep! Whether you're in the mood for some gut-busting, slap-happy humor, wild, crazy humor, or even just simple, laughable jokes, every hilarious dream is welcome in clown town!
Slapstick comedy dream: A dream where tripping, punching, bashing, slapping, falling, and everything in between is considered more funny than horrifying! If you fancy a dream like that, give Slapstick comedy dream a whirl!
Boil water in small cauldron. Once water is boiled, add 1/2 cup of dream powder, 1 tsp of pepper for an extra kick, 1 tsp of cinnamon for an extra bite, 1 tsp of dragon spice for an extra punch, 3 petals of the Laffodil flower, and a 3/4 cup of sunlight for some lighthearted fun. Mix contents until water becomes a different color. Pour contents into a potion bottle. Add sleep powder before consuming. Drink and enjoy!
Fun-loving comedy dream: You can't always watch comedy, you have to experience it, too! If you feel like going on a funny, fun-filled adventure full of laughter, then the fun-loving comedy dream is just what you're looking for!
Boil water in small cauldron. Once water is boiled, add 1/2 cup of dream powder, 3/4 cup of elven sparkles for whimsy, 1 cup of pink polka dot pond water, 1 tsp of sugar, 5 petals of the Laffodil flower, and 3/4 cup of sunlight. Mix contents until water becomes a different color. Pour contents into a potion bottle. Add sleep powder before consuming. Drink and enjoy!
Joker dream: Want a dream with less gut busting, and more on the relaxed side? Then, a Joker dream is prefect the perfect comfort comedy dream for you!
Boil water in small cauldron. Once water is boiled, add 1/2 cup of dream powder, 1 tsp of funny honey, 1 petal of the Laffodil flower, a pinch of jesterly ginseng powder, and 3/4 cup of sunlight. Mix contents until water becomes a different color. Pour contents into a potion bottle. Add sleep powder before consuming. Drink and enjoy!
"Nyeh...which one should I pick?" Himiko asked. Kokichi scanned the page.
"Hmm...why not all of them?" he suggested. "You can make three batches of cookies, and pour the different potions into each one! Actually, it's way more interesting that way, since people will get to randomly choose their comedy dream cookies!"
"I guess you're right," Himiko said. She got to work, whipping up all three potions. "Nyeh...all done!"
"Do you wanna go to D.I.C.E. headquarters and bake them there again?" Kokichi asked.
"Yeah, but...let's take the short way," Himiko said. "I'm already tired from making these potions." Before Kokichi could ask what she meant, Himiko snapped her fingers, and they magically appeared at the abandoned insane asylum serving as D.I.C.E. headquarters.