I just wanted to share a prometheus exporter I've been working on that uses the new API in the version 6 beta of pi-hole:
https://github.com/bazmonk/pihole6_exporter
I've also got a dashboard that uses most of the metrics. I just updated the screenshots but the dashboard listing is slow to update. If you click on it in the next few hours and only see one screenshot, that's the old one.

Why another pihole exporter? People have written a bunch already...

Two reasons: first, I couldn't find one that uses the new API in the upcoming version 6. It's undergone a lot of changes. This one uses HTTPS and possibly an app token.
Second, an annoying thing I find in a lot of the existing exporters is that they only provide the per-24h stats that the admin dashboard mostly uses. Tracking that number over time is useless. You see a lot of the "ads blocked over time" graphs are jagged lines instead of increasing ones... that's because they're actually reporting the ads blocked over the last 24h (to the hour), which makes it jump down every hour and never go up overall. With only rolling 24h stats it's difficult/impossible to derive what was actually happening over time.
So, in addition to reporting those numbers (for use as quick-stats), I'm also collecting the counts of queries by [client, type, status, response, upstream destination] per minute, so that you can actually look up how many queries of some kind happened over arbitrary amounts of time, as opposed to merely what the 24h count was at that time. You can look at the cumulative stats and aggregate stats-over-time for the hour, the week, etc. It's simply more useful data.

What's Prometheus?

It's a system for gathering metrics (numerical data) off computers and putting it into a time-series database for analyzing and looking for trends/problems/etc. Usually it's used along with grafana (a web app for making pretty graphs and dashboards based off that data), and it's often used alongside Loki (a similar system for gathering log data). Folks also use it to generate alerts (e.g. I get slack alerts if I have updates available, or if a user is logged in, or if available memory is too low or CPU pressure too high too long).
While you can host your own prometheus/loki/grafana servers (it's open-source), Grafana also offers a cloud service that hosts it for you. The free plan (free-free: don't gotta give them payment method or anything) is plenty of space for a few raspberry pi and their logs. They also offer Grafana Alloy, an agent that handles sending up your data securely so you don't have to deal with that aspect. AND, they have a pre-built Raspberry Pi integration that is pre-configured and ready to go. If you go that route, in the README I include a sample blurb you can put into the Alloy configuration to use this exporter along with it.
Aaaanyway, any feedback is welcome!

Every time Charlotte shares some crazy wedding stories I reflect on my own crazy wedding experiences. Here are some of them.
The first time I was ever a bridesmaid, we had a religious ceremony, a break in the middle, and a reception in the evening. I spent hours setting up reception decorations in the hot sun with all the other hardworking bridesmaids. One of the groomsmen showed up to the reception with a broken arm. I asked him about this because he’d definitely had two functional arms that morning. While we were working hard, he ran off and played basketball and injured his arm in the process.
My mom was late to her own wedding because her sisters, who were supposed to do her hair, were busy watching Oprah. She eventually gave up waiting and curled it herself. Meanwhile my poor dad is stressed out of his mind because he thinks he’s getting left at the altar. He’d been previously married and had written in his diary the night before, “I’m getting married again tomorrow. I hope it works this time.” When she finally showed up, she gave her car keys to my uncle, who drove off with them. They were stuck waiting on a park bench for him to get home (in the days before cell phones) so they could call him and tell him to come back.
My friend “Tina” married her older sister’s ex-boyfriend. The sister and the groom had dated in high school, and by that point, the older sister had long since moved on with life and got married. There were no hard feelings on either side. Tina’s a little wild and thought it would be fun to jump into a pull fully clothed at her wedding. She then changed out of her wet wedding dress, so she’s not distinguishable by her outfit. As everyone was cleaning up after the reception, the groom wandered into the room and saw his wife bending over to pick up a box of decorations. He grabbed her on the butt. She promptly straightened up , turned around, and he found it was not his wife at all but the older sister. All the blood drained from his face and he thought he was in so much trouble. The sister thought it was hilarious, had a good laugh about it with her own husband and Tina, and now Tina’s husband has to quietly live with the fact that the legend will go down in family history.
This isn’t technically a wedding story, but my boyfriend and I are planning on getting married next year. We’ve discussed marriage very seriously but are not engaged yet. Our reason for waiting so long is that he’s finishing up grad school and I live an hour and a half away from his college town, so it would be logistically tricky for either one of us to relocate before he graduates. Two weeks ago my friend and I thought it would be fun to go to a bridal expo to look at wedding dress styles and vendor options as early-stage wedding planning research. I entered a bunch of random sweepstakes at the expo thinking there was no way I would win. A few days later, I found out I’d won a discounted men’s wedding ring, 50% off wedding invitations, and free airfare and a hotel to a beachside honeymoon destination. I then had to explain to my boyfriend how the freak I won all this crap we don’t need yet. Then I had to hem and haw my way through conversations with customer service people. “Um yes I’d love the free invitations but I don’t know my wedding date yet?” “Uhhh how long is that free airfare good for?” And yes, the rules of the free vacation do specifically state that I have to bring him. The travel agency won’t let me use it to go with a friend. (Yes, boyfriend and I factchecked the free honeymoon and so far it seems legit, I won’t go on it until I factcheck it further.)
Best of all: my high school history teacher constantly told stories about his personal life instead of teaching history. On the morning of his wedding, both families set up camp in a hotel room near the wedding venue so they’d have a place to put all their wedding stuff. Plot point: they’re on the eleventh floor of the hotel. Because there were wedding decorations strewn all around the hotel room, the only place he could think to hang his wife’s wedding dress was on the fire sprinkler. He managed to hang it at an angle where it wouldn’t activate the sprinkler, but then his brother went to take it down and it triggered it. Black coolant foam shot out and got over everything, including the dress. The fire suppression system also alerted the local fire department, so he had to hightail it out of the hotel before they made him stick around to explain himself. He ran down eleven flights of stairs with the dress to get it cleaned. At the bottom, the bride realized he’d left the veil upstairs so he had to run back up and get it. After running up and down eleven flights again, she realized the rings were missing and made him go back. He managed to successfully evade the fire department and they were married without a hitch.
Maybe don’t hang your dress on a fire sprinkler though.

I just need a place to vent… I’m genuinely having the worse week of my life. My brand new car is shit and I have to get rid of it but that’s not even the worse news to me. My mom told me that she found out she’s really sick and has a low white blood cell count. The doctors don’t know exactly what it is that’s causing this but it’s serious and I’m really scared she’s going to die. It’s even more complicated because I hadn’t talked to her in almost a year. My mom and I don’t have the best relationship but I would never not be there in times like this but it’s still hard. There’s so much I want to say to her but I’m keeping it to myself because I don’t want to add so much stress on her but the dynamic is different and there’s clearly a lot left unsaid by the both of us. I just don’t know how to even put what I want to say to her in words. There’s one side of me that’s the angry child/teenager that wants nothing to do with her but then I feel guilty for even feeling that way? Then there’s the other side of me that is a scared little girl and I’m sure my mom is too which makes me hurt even more because I don’t want her to do it alone. Idk I’m just really really upset and there’s so many conflicting feelings. I’m holding so much guilt for still being so mad at her deep down because that’s not what I want! I’m only 20 but deep down I feel like a hurt little girl waiting on her mom to genuinely love her back and I think this health scare has really changed things for us because it brought us back together but it just opened back up so many wounds and I feel like I’m losing it.

This will function as a one-stop guide to sound deaden the 3rd generation Mazda3. I believe it will be useful for any previous or next-gen Mazda3 owner, or anyone with a CX-30, as these platforms share many components.
Like others undertaking this project, I did a ton of research on sound deadening, the process, and the products first before jumping in. I would encourage anyone pursuing the same project to read through the links I’ve included in this write-up as they should give you all the information you need to sound-deaden your car in a comprehensive, easy manner, without having to do the weeks of research I had to do.
Pre-reading:
If you haven’t already, read through this thread for background as this is a solid, comprehensive write-up.
https://www.mazda3revolution.com/threads/sound-deadening-my-17-mazda-3-bn.242072/
Materials Needed:
1. Butyl-based mat to apply first as your base layer
I used 72 square feet to do the entire car, including hood, wheel wells, full interior, rear hatch area, and all doors. I did not do the headliner.
Total cost: $200 CAD
I used 1 box of 2mm (80 mil) Kilmat, and 1 box of 2.5mm Amazon branded butyl sheets. I found the Kilmat had better adhesion and was easier to cut and work with, because of the smaller sheet sizes, so I used this for tight spaces and the doors. The Amazon stuff was great to apply to large areas such as the floor of the vehicle, because I would just stick one entire sheet down and be done with it. It’s also slightly cheaper than the Kilmat.
Other brands: Silless, which manufactures the closed cell foam, also makes this stuff for a reasonable price.

2. Closed cell foam as the second layer
I used 100 square feet.
Total cost: $200
I did a LOT of research and shopping around to find the best balance between price, value, and performance of closed cell foam. I ultimately landed on using Siless Liner 157mil (4mm) closed cell foam which I found on Amazon. Noico is also another brand that makes this stuff for slightly more cost. These come in boxes of 51 square feet for about $100. I thus bought two boxes of the stuff. I did end up with leftover product, which I have saved as it can be used to stick on anything else that causes noise such as a furnace, washing machine, etc along with the leftover butyl mat.

3. Rubber-based floor underlay as the final layer
I used a 100 square foot roll of Technoflex Underlayment Acoustic Membrane, 2mm thickness.
Total cost: $85
Product link: https://www.rona.ca/en/product/technofloor-technoflex-underlayment-acoustic-membrane-thermal-insulation-4-ft-x-25-ft-x-008-in-100-sqft-rubber-material-black-m2000-100-73015020
Alternate link: https://technoflexintl.com/en/product/technofloor-acoutstic
Other products I considered, but chose against as the Technoflex is thicker

• https://www.rona.ca/en/product/mono-serra-zito-200-ft2-15-mm-blue-high-density-foam-underlayment-for-vinyl-floors-fm-906-84666069
• https://www.rona.ca/en/product/selitbloc-griptec-subfloor-underlay-pressure-resistent-foam-48-in-w-x-25-ft-l-100-sqft-15-mm-thickness-blue-gold-a64305-05075003

In Canada, you cannot find mass loaded vinyl. My goal was to find something relatively cheap and functional. I went to underlay because it’s sold in bulk and there are many products out there to compare effectiveness. Flooring underlay also has specific requirements in order to carry a particular sound deadening rating. It’s also rubber-based, like vinyl, so I figured I would just double up on layering as I had enough product to do so. I did end up doubling up the layering in most places and had leftover product.
Please note, this product is not adhesive. You lay it down like a blanket and you need to cut it to fit in tight spaces. Thus, I did not use it in vertical areas like the doors. I only used it on the floor and trunk of the vehicle. I am not technically inclined enough to adhere or screw it on the doors, but there are other people in the links on this thread who have done so, so depending on your skill level it is certainly possible.

All Tools Required

1. Socket set with 10mm socket and a Phillips screwdriver. I purchased a full socket set because I did not have one and found one on sale.
2. E-torx socket size 12 to remove the front seats. I just purchased a set of 8 for $20
3. Trim removal tool and plastic clip replacements, approx. $20. Extremely useful!!
   • https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01N9AL149?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
   • The metal trim removal tool is worth its weight in gold. Trust me, there are a LOT of plastic trim pieces to remove, and this tool makes them very easy to remove properly without breaking anything. All cars nowadays use plastic trim, so it’s a worthwhile purchase if you’re ever going to do work on any future car as well.
   • I purchased the set above because it came with a whole array of trim removal tools as well as a huge variety of replacement plastic trim pieces. I ended up using a couple pieces that broke when I did the doors. The kit has everything you may need for most vehicles, including our Mazdas.
4. Rubber roller, $12. Useful for rolling down the butyl mat and closed cell foam.
   • https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01N9AL149?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
5. Do yourself a favor and get some gloves. I used my bare hands for about 50% of the time, and they were sore, and had little nicks and cuts all over them by the time I was done. Much easier with gloves.

Skill Level
I have a general interest in cars but the most technical work I’ve ever done are oil changes and tire swaps. This was the largest and most technical project I ever embarked on. I work an office job, so I don’t even work with my hands a lot. If I can do it, so can you (as long as you set aside the time and have the proper tools).

Results
I did not take before-after videos, as that has been captured by videos on Youtube as well as people who have measured the noise levels in the threads below. All I can tell you is that this does work. In my opinion, the project even for a newb like me is totally worth it. For less than $500, and a couple days of work, you can make your Mazda feel like an entirely different vehicle.

Now, sounds and vibrations are barely transmitted going over rough roads. The car feels so much more planted and stable when going over bumps. The audio system sounds better. The doors close with a rich-sounding ‘thunk’. By far the biggest improvement is getting a whole new level of isolation within the car, which makes long trips so much more tolerable and the daily commute so much more relaxing. I would 100% do this again.

The project
Okay, let’s get to the project itself! I’ve broken up each area of the car into separate sections. As the write-ups below are fairly comprehensive, there is no need for me to reinvent the wheel.

Doors
This link contains pictures and instructions, very clearly detailed, on how to do the doors. I did the rear doors first to get used to working with all the materials, then the trunk, then the interior of the car. I would suggest following these instructions.
https://imgur.com/a/2018-mazda-3-sound-deadener-install-vE1o9Hi
Before taking apart your doors, also read through this thread as it contains some more details and information that you will find useful.
https://www.mazda3revolution.com/threads/sound-deadening.126105/?post_id=1624345&nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#post-1624345
This thread is also good to read as it is very detailed. It is for the previous generation, but the door design has not changed that much compared to our generation.
https://www.mazda3revolution.com/threads/cheaply-and-effectively-sound-deadening-your-2010-2013-mazda3.111385/

Wheel arches
Use these links and instructions for the wheel arches
https://www.mazda3revolution.com/threads/sound-deadening.126105/page-2
As well as the Imgur gallery from the Doors section for some more pictures.

Trunk
This is the easiest part of the whole project. If you’ve read the threads above, you don’t need any help with this. I did not do the hatch door. I do not think that is worth it, because if your trunk area is well insulated and you have your rear seat up, there’s not a lot of noise that’s going to get through the hatch door.

Interior
This is the part of the project that I had to figure out on my own, so I want to give several tips that will make it easier if you’re doing this.

~1. Removing the interior carpet:~
First vacuum the carpet.
You don't need to remove the entire console to get access to the majority of the floor. To remove the interior carpet, first remove the rear seat, then the front seats, then the interior plastic trim, and finally there are some pieces of Styrofoam in the front wheel wells. You can pull up the carpet for the left side of the vehicle as you work on that side, then tack it all down, and repeat for the right side of the vehicle.

~2. Removing the front seats~
First, disconnect the battery using the 10mm socket. This is recommended by the manufacturer to prevent accidental discharge of the air bags.
If you have the E-torx size 12 socket, removing the seat bolts is a breeze. I zipped them right off. Undo the back bolts, then slide the seat to its rearmost position, then remove the front bolts. Roll the seat onto it’s back to access the harness, undo the harness, then remove the front seat either from the front or rear door. It doesn’t matter.
Go to this site and download the PDF that Anchorman posted. That is all you need to know to remove the front harness. It took me HOURS of searching the web to find a resource this good – there aren’t even any good videos demonstrating what the PDF shows. https://www.cx3forum.com/threads/drivers-seat-removal.17234/
This was both the easiest and hardest thing about the project. Where I got stuck was removing the wiring harness from underneath the seat. Don’t be like me and stick a screwdriver in there, because that can damage the plastic. Instead, simply lift the white tab, press the tab underneath, and the harness comes off nice and easy. The link above with the PDF by Anchorman is what I WISHED I had at the start. I hope this will make it much easier for you.
Don’t be worried about the airbag going off etc. Using the diagram in the PDF, it’s just 1 harness and it comes off super easy and clips back in super easy too. It’s idiot-proof. You won’t have any trouble.

~3. Remove the interior plastic trim~
Again, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aat4kUanm9w to see how to remove the trim and in what order. It’s actually quite easy and easy to reinstall as well. Just remember that the front and rear passenger scuff plates go on last. The other interior trim, does not matter what order you reinstall it.
Another tip, when removing the furthermost front inside trim (i.e the fusebox cover) and its equivalent on the front passenger side, there is a plastic nut securing that trim in place at the very front of it. It’s hard to see in there. Simply reach your hand in there, find the nut, and lefty-loosen it all the way until it comes off. Easy peasy!

~4. Remove the carpet~
You can pull up the carpet one side at a time. I recommend starting with the left side. In one area only, I cut through my carpet in order to remove it on the rear passenger areas, where it is affixed underneath the front seatbelt holder. This is not a problem. It was just easier this way, and because that area gets covered up by plastic trim, it doesn’t matter if you cut through it to make your life easier.
Once the carpet is lifted up, vacuum underneath it to ensure you have a clean surface that your butyl will adhere to.

~5. Do the driver’s side first!~
The front left side of the vehicle floor is the hardest to do because you have to contend with the footrest, reaching underneath the steering wheel, and the gas pedal. I removed the accelerator pedal – it is just held in place by two 10mm nuts, and then an electrical harness that easily clips off. Remove it and set it aside. Then, lift the carpet and remove the Styrofoam. Use a needlenose plyer to help unclip the plastic portion holding the Styrofoam in place. I did not end up reinstalling that plastic piece, as I installed sound deadener where it would have plugged into the floor. No harm.
I suggest doing the driver’s side first because once you’re done that front left area, the rest of the car is super easy. So do this while you’re fresh. Try to cover as much as you can in the front wheel wells, because that is a significant area of incoming road noise. Be systematic about cutting the butyl and closed cell foam in the correct sizes here, as you will have to reinstall the gas pedal, the Styrofoam, and the carpet properly. The good news is that it’s all easy to reinstall. I didn’t have any trouble.
Once you’re done with the driver’s compartment, systemically work your way with large butyl sheets and closed cell foam through the rest of the car floor. There is no need to apply this stuff up where the plastic trim will be reinstalled, on the inside lateral frame of the car – if you do so, it might be more difficult to reinstall the carpet and the plastic trim. Just do the flat bottom floor only, and you can hold the carpet up to access up along the centre console as well. (Keep in mind this is written for someone with my skill level – i.e newb. If you are more advanced and know what you’re doing, then go ahead and put some butyl or CCM in the inside lateral area, the area otherwise covered up with plastic trim).
I did not go for 100% coverage. To do that would take a lot longer. I went for about 90% coverage with the butyl and closed cell foam, and the rubber Technoflex layers covered up pretty well 95% of the area.
When you are laying the material down, ensure not to cover the holes for the seat bolts. If you do by accident, no worries – just use a screwdriver to poke through them, and you can easily still thread the bolt through when you go to reinstall your front seats.
Repeat the same steps on the right side of the vehicle.

~6. Reinstall the plastic trim.~
First reinstall the carpet and ensure all the holes line up. Reinsert the plastic clips into the holes to hold the carpet in place. Then, reinstall the frontmost trim piece, ensuring it clicks into place, and finally screw the plastic nut on. You may need to lift the rubber insert around the door to replace the plastic trim properly – the rubber insert comes off and goes on very easily, it is very forgiving to work with.
Then, install the B pillar trim piece. Then, the inside rear trim piece. Finally, the scuff plates, front and rear.

~7. Reinstall the front seats.~
~8. Reinstall the rear cushion.~
~9. Plug in the battery again.~
You’re done! Go for a rest drive and let the results speak for themselves!

Final thoughts
I did not take pictures because I was too busy installing the stuff and there are plenty of pictures available on the various threads.
I did reach out to many people on the forum and on Reddit who have done this project and from everything that I’ve learned, I believe this should be all you need to know to do this project successfully.
It will take several days so set some time aside. Here are some rough estimates:

• Trunk: 2 hours
• Each door: 2-3 hours (first door will take longer, then each door after gets shorter and shorter)
• Wheel wells: 2 hours
• Inside Hood: 1 hour
• Interior: 9 hours. Set aside a full day for this. You will want to take breaks in between steps. It took me from 10am to 8pm.

Imagine being 32 years old and learning every thing your dad ever taught you was a lie.stole money and manipulated me when I was at the lowest at the low. Then when I said I would tell his new wife he’s cheating, he told me he hacked my iCloud and found my bad and nude pictures of my wife and said he would expose her. Damn this has been a shitty week. All because I cracked my phone and hit my dad up for my upgrade bc I have always paid him since I was younger. But he used my upgrade for someone else and his new wife even thinks he got me the phone. He was trying to get me to pay off someone else’s phone and tried to tell me I didn’t remember because I was on drugs. I wasn’t on drugs I’m married and was with my wife the entire time. But I just learned they have been doing that to me my entire life. They would make me believe lies or they would kick me to the curb. They controlled my expenses in order to control me. They wouldn’t let me leave and take my money. One time my mom and my dad took everything I had and got me a bus ticket to Dallas with absolutely nowhere to go. My mom made me miss my grandpa’s funeral because I didn’t take the leaves fast enough. When your alone and your family tells you things that don’t make sense they put you in a box. Really think if the people in your life are helping you but they are always treating you like shit and taking everything you earn, you never do anything good enough and you are so lucky just to even be there. I didn’t have you dad and mom yall had me. Y’all made me skip 1 and 2nd grade and made me think I had learning disability. I couldn’t even talk right till I was a little older with speeh therapy because they left me so isolated. I took me 32 years and the most amazing woman in the world to help me realize I’m not crazy. Be careful who you call family because sometimes blood is the furthest thing from family.

19M I dragged my feet through most of high school and only passed because, most of my teachers would just put in fake assignments to pass us. my high school’s only concern was sports which I was not a part of. During high school I worked in food most of the time but didn’t enjoy any of those jobs. I found bodybuilding my junior year and it’s been my life since.
After high school I figured I would try EMS while working a part time retail job but eventually dropped out because of my lack of a combination of academic abilities, undiagnosed learning disabilities such as dyslexia, adhd and just a lack of interest.
Then I tried construction but really disliked the work and was trying non stimulant meds for adhd which had more negative effects than positive. Later found that I was low testosterone which probably played a significant role in the fatigue I had felt trying to manage daily cardio,weight training, and the strenuous labor.
Found a job working at planet fitness for a few months. I quickly realized it wasn’t the dream gym job I hoped for, I was the only employee who worked out on a regular basis. Being into the grit and grime of traditional bodybuilding training definitely didn’t sit right with some of the staff. My first day I came in early to work out before my shift and went to my first day of work with complaints on my account of being to intimidating and was verbally warned by management about what they deemed to be inappropriate behavior or as I would call it lifting correctly.
Finally got on stimulant meds and testosterone which definitely has helped me but that with the occasional use of recreational drugs definitely put me on edge enough to walk out when I got fed up with the work.
Forward to now I have a part time job working at a competitive gym coaching youth in strength/conditioning with decent pay but not enough hours to be considered more than a side gig. I had also started training with a rafting company as I live in a town known for our white water. I joined after the other trainees have been training for months and am super behind and have doubts of whether or not it will workout. I’ve also been working towards a personal training certification but have concerns about the income of that career as well as interest in personal training because it would probably be very general training. personal training for bodybuilding specifically isn’t really a huge niche in my small town. Having a relationship and starting a family is at the bottom of my priorities but it would be nice to get out of the house. Just don’t wanna get stuck in something I don’t give a shit about and eat, shit, procreate, become a alcoholic, lose my passion ,die doing something I don’t enjoy. Like I see to many people that should have been role models do.
The past year out of high school has been a ride and taught me more than I ever learned from our pathetic education system but, feel so lost with pressure from relatives and peers to find a long term career and settle down.

50F. I am not looking for medical advice, but I’d love to learn from experts how generally to approach evaluating a matter. I have an appt with my specialist pending. I’m an academic and enjoy learning about complex puzzles.
Here’s some context:

• For years, I’ve had kidney-area pain on my left side. Deep gnawing ache that keeps me up at night. Doctors have shrugged.
• I also have plenty of medical issues: autonomic dysfunction (orthostatic hypotension), autoimmune small fiber neuropathy, deficient IgG subclasses, etc. Overall health is poor. I am on low-dose IVIG, which helps with the above.
• A week ago, I had what I am going to call “an acute episode” that lasted for a day. Deep, agonizing mid back pain, that increased like a crescendo throughout the day. It appeared to be associated with intense gut pain.
• By the end of the day, the back pain had spread horizontally to each kidney area, but far more intense on the left - my area of long-standing pain. I vomited several times in the evening, and after the last upchuck, the pain started subsiding all around. It was (and still is) immensely painful with pressure on the area, but it no longer causes agony just by existing.
• This “episode” was bad. I almost went to the hospital. Probably should have. I thought of death. I’m pretty low drama, so this is not a trivial thing.
• Of note: a few hours before this agony began, I had a vasovagal reaction to a particularly inept set of needle sticks - multiple sticks and a lot of rooting around. Not typical.
• The next day, I had standing blood orders, and added a kidney urine panel. The urine alb/creat ratio came back high, at 88. All other markers - blood (CBC and CMP) and urine - were normal. A month ago, I did a 24-hour proteinuria test that was normal.

I’m interested in how to THINK about this, how to frame an approach to thinking about it, from a medical perspective.
For example, one doctor (not my specialist) suggests it was an acute transitory event, potentially pursuant to an infection. That it probably doesn’t indicate a chronic issue or a longer term risk. This doctor is prone to minimizing everything - but she may be right. Another doctor told me to get off my low-dose IVIG (28g monthly) ASAP. I won’t see my specialist for another month.
What could be going on?
How do you approach evaluating a seemingly acute issue like this? What questions do you ask when trying to evaluate risk and severity? How to you weigh past normal tests with an abnormal test immediately after an episode? How do you factor in acute moments in the context of potential chronic issues, and come to lean in one direction or the other? If this was a transitory event, does low-dose IVIG pose a risk? Etc. Are these even the right questions?
I’m looking to learn. Would love to have smart people open up their brains and share a thought process.
Thank you!

This is my first script. Please be kind. If it sucks, it sucks, but I had fun writing it nonetheless.
Please link me if you use/fill it. I would love to hear your take on it. Free to monetize, Youtube, Patreon, whatever, I just want to hear it. :)
Please give me credit: RE: My Darling / Remy Darling

Scene setter: Italics
SpeakeVA: Bold text with "quotes" outside of the sentence/phrases
Internal monologue: Bold/italics
Action of character or SFX: ((Double Parenthesis))
Response from a character: ((pause))

Speaker: You are Killian James a.k.a. Hook. Your eyes are the color of the sea, your hair is dark as night, and you are dashing, troubled, and flirtatious. The lilt of an accent gives you a melodic tone, and your personality is dark, playful, and direct. You are comfortable in three-piece suits, and are a dangerous man with many secrets.
Listener: Your name is Wendy. Your friends have convinced you to go to a bar downtown in the more dangerous part of the city due to rumors, only they end up bailing without you. You are going to go home after you finish your drink. The bar is called Never Land, Where, according to your friends rumors, the owner is a mysterious man that they all seem fascinated with. Apparently, he is tall, dark, and handsome – a devil of a man that goes by a strange name. They call him… Hook.

((SFX – The club is above this basement 'torture chamber' area-you can hear the music of the club playing muffled. The basement area is clean and not dungeon-y but is more of a modern torture chamber with drains for easy ah… clean up))
SCENE: There is a man chained/tied up. Hook enters the room, looking almost bored that he needs to be there. He takes off his jacket, handing it to one of his henchmen, leaving the vest on, before he unbuttons his cuffs and starts rolling the sleeves up.
“I’m not pleased that our shipment is late, Mr. Jukes. It was supposed to arrive on a super yacht named the ‘Jolly Roger’ today with a bunch of rich snobs who were none the wiser. Your men guaranteed me that it would arrive with the staff and be loaded off on the dock shortly after, however, that is yet to come to fruition, and I am not a patient man.”
((SFX: VA puts on leather gloves, stretches fingers and gets comfortable in them))
“I am aware that they have taken a detour due to a storm, Jukes – but your mismanagement of my time, and my money, are not to be forgotten. Bad form, Jukes! Bad form!”
((SFX: dragging knife sound – //our character uses a tactical Hook knife. It’s typically for gutting deer – not really necessary to know, it’s just to flesh out the character for you//, Hook approaches slowly))
“I know it won't happen again. Don’t worry, Jukes, since this is your first time having erred with me, I shall simply leave you with a small reminder. I expect the shipment to be directed to our port swiftly, otherwise, I won’t be nearly as lenient again.”
((SFX chains straining, screaming that becomes muffled screaming, as Hook takes his knife and leaves the man with a Cheshire Grin/Glasglow Smile up one side of his face, heavy breathing for a moment, as he returns and throws his knife down on the table))
“Get me my other three-piece suit from my office and a clean shirt. I’ve got this bastard’s blood all over me. He's not to be given his freedom until I hear that the shipment has come in from the Jolly Roger. If it does not go to plan – we will have to take further, more drastic actions and I don’t want to have to find this cad, Mr. Jukes, again. Do I make myself clear?”
((henchmen answer))
“Good.”
((SFX – him pulling off the leather gloves and getting changed))
“One of you stay here and watch him. Tonight I’ll be on the club floor. I’m not to be interrupted until The Crocodile has made contact. Is that understood?”
((pause))
“Good. That is all.”
((he leaves))

((SFX – transition to this however you like))
\*modern day, bar scene/sounds (*no* jazz or classical music - it's a nightclub), people mingling in the background. In enters our VA/Hook.*

“Tinkerbell, pour me my usual, will you, dear?”
((Tink is quick, and slides him his drink. Sip, sigh, and pause as he looks around)) (( This internal thought is not necessary but if you want to, go for it ))
\*internal thought*\** Who’s this? Oh my, sweet lamb, you are definitely in the wrong place.
“Tink, one last thing, could you possibly tell me anything about that young woman there? The one in light blue.”
((listening intently for a moment))
“Hm. Lovely. Thank you, dear.”
((SFX – he puts down his drink, footsteps/fine Italian leather shoes approaching the young lady who is at the bar))
“Well, well, well… Isn’t that a beautiful dress on an even more beautiful woman. That color of blue really suits you. You… are a piece of art. A fascinating and intriguing piece of art. However, you don’t quite seem like you belong here.”
((pause))
“Someone as divine as you, as *innocent* as you, dressed as you are, doesn’t really seem to fit in. Not in this kind of place. You look more like you would fit in one of the high-class jazz lounges uptown. Martinis, a piano player, velvet couches and the like. Do you think that you fit in amongst these gentlemen of fortune and these women dressed in their slinky club clothes? Look around, do you see the patrons here?”
((short pause as she looks around))
“Don’t you see? You are simply dressed too elegantly for a place like this. No, you, my dear, are definitely not the type that belongs amongst these fiends. You belong uptown. Not here, amongst the dregs of society like us. Your mannerisms are too graceful, you walk with pride and your chin up – this is not the body language of one of my people.”
((pause))
“Well, I happen to own this establishment, Never Land, so I am rather familiar with the likes of the people who tend to come through its doors, and I have never seen you before. You seem quite unforgettable. Could I have the pleasure of having your name?”
((pause))
“Wendy… What a lovely name for such a lovely woman. Well, Wendy, darling – my name is Killian. My friends call me Hook.”
((pause))
“So many questions! What an inquisitive slip of a thing you are. Perhaps, we could talk over a drink?”
((*VA snaps fingers* Bartender Tinkerbell approaches immediately and waits)) ((ListeneWendy begins to decline))
“Don’t fret, darling. It’s just a drink. Should you find yourself not interested in our conversation or in me, you are more than welcome to leave and go back uptown to the *safe* areas of the city, where the likes of people like me and my ilk will be of no bother to you ever again. But should I pique your interest, perhaps allow me the grace of your presence again in the future.”
((pause))
“Just one drink. And nothing more.”
((ListeneWendy accepts))
“Delightful! Tink, if you could get us another round. One of whatever the lady was drinking, and my usual.”
((short pause as he takes her in before sighing and leaning in closer to speak to her))
“Darling, do tell me, why have you wandered into the seedy underbelly of our city? What is it exactly that you are searching for? Mystery? Intrigue?"
((whispers // into her ear))
"...*Danger*?”
((VA leans back and there is a sly curling of his lips into a crooked smile))
“Mm, that blush really does make me think that you truly are as innocent as I originally thought, Darling. Albeit, I am sure you knew what kind of danger you could get into coming to a place like this. You may be looking for danger, but it seems danger has found you instead.”
((pause))
“Oh, yes, danger. There is plenty of danger here. However, it seems like that’s something you seem to be searching for. Should I inquire as to –“
((VA leans in once more))
“What *kind* of danger you are looking for? See, Darling, that’s the thing about danger… You may only want a little but you never truly know how much you’re going to get.”
((pause))
((VA - practically whispered across her lips or ear, you imagine how close you want to get))
“Ah, yes, Wendy, darling. I happen to be very… Very… Dangerous.”
((Listener steps back))
((he gives a low chuckle))
“Do I … make you … Nervous?”
((short pause and VA steps forward as Listener shakes her head defiantly))
“Or perhaps, I am not the kind of danger you are looking for?”
((closer))
“Do you even *know* what you are looking for, my little lamb?”
((dangerously close to her))
((pause))
((drinks come at this time delivered by Tink – VA returns to less invasive persona))
"Ah, thank you, Tink. You’ve impeccable timing. Shall we? I’d love to take this to a VIP booth I prefer to sit in. It will give us a little more privacy and won’t be as loud. Come now, pet."
((footsteps/music/whatever SFX have them move to a slightly quieter place, sit in a booth))
"Do you mind, Darling? I’d much rather be sitting next to you than across the table. That way I can hear you better. Yes, that’s it, just move in a little further."
((this gives no escape for Listener as James/Hook is between the easy exit and her – SFX of her moving over if you want to get technical and him sitting next to her))
((pause))
“Ah, *that*. The name Hook… It is simply from a childhood long ago. Raised in an orphanage with many other lost boys like myself. It’s a truly heartbreaking story, I’m sure, but I’d like you to remember our first meeting in a different light. Not melancholy and deep, dark secrets. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps, if you decide to embark on a journey with me in the future, or are willing to grace me with your presence again, we can discuss it then.”
((Listener nods, nervously))
((he leans in))
“But you, Wendy, darling –“
((whispered // reaches out to draw a finger down her jawline as he looks from her eyes to her mouth))
“You still haven’t answered me.”
((pause))
“About what *kind* of danger you are looking for…”
((pause // leaning in))
“Are you looking for something – just a wee bit threatening? Perhaps something that will get the heart pumping momentarily?”
((pause // leaning in))
“Or perhaps, a singular thrilling night before the sun rises and the fun is over?”
((pause // leaning in))
“Or… are you looking for something darker? Something much more dangerous. Something soul shattering that will devour you whole? Something that makes you question your morals… Your boundaries… Something that will burn you to ash and will leave you begging me for more even once I break you?”
((kisses Wendy))
“Do you know what kind of danger you want yet, darling? That last one… It is not a wise idea for a sweet little lamb like you, but I promise... You’ll love it.”

I sleep and wake up every 30 minutes.
I live in fear of it coming back lol.
I try to watch movies and play games, but I’m so depressed I never had an interest in doing that before hospitalization.
Wondering when I’ll be on a food diet, when my temperature and diarrhea will go down after a few days of it, and my white blood cell is still low.

Hello all, I wanted to give the games a go again and came across the Tale of Two Wastelands guide The Best of Times, as well as the Wasteland Survival Guide for additional mods and fixes. I can provide the links if needed to either guide.
Anyway, it appears that if I spend any extended time in an AWOP added location, such as the shack under the bridge, the ant nest in springvale, the sewers in springvale, and then try to return to the world map/outdoors, I crash to desktop.
I have the 4gb patch, GetItsLAA returns 2. I set every exe in the FNV folder to run as admin, as well as the Mod Organizer application itsself. I didn't install every mod in the guides - the MO2 count is 360 and 161 for Plugins. Its not an AMD thing, I have an nvidia card. The guide did include the mod limit fixer as well. I set the following ini changes, per a suggestion I found on the 4gb patcher stickies.
[General] bPreemptivelyUnloadCells=1
[BackgroundLoad] bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1
Any suggestions on how to stabilize being able to leave AWOP locations?
I'm not above console commands if it's an option to teleport somewhere without it crashing, haven't tried though as I assumed it would. Any further information that could help pin down a fix that I could provide? I didn't want to throw a bunch of things up without checking first on what is relevant and needed. Thanking in advance for any insight or assistance.

FalloutNV.esm DeadMoney.esm HonestHearts.esm OldWorldBlues.esm LonesomeRoad.esm GunRunnersArsenal.esm Fallout3.esm Anchorage.esm ThePitt.esm BrokenSteel.esm PointLookout.esm Zeta.esm CaravanPack.esm ClassicPack.esm MercenaryPack.esm TribalPack.esm TaleOfTwoWastelands.esm YUPTTW.esm NavmeshOverhaul.esm TTW Ultimate Invisible Wall Remover.esm FO3_Optimization.esm Main And Pause Menus Overhaul.esm TweaksTTW.esm Tale of Bi Wastelands.esm TTW Reputations.esm Tale of Bi Wastelands + TTW Reputations Patch.esm TTW New Vegas Speech Checks.esm TTW New Vegas Speech Checks - TTW Reputations Patch.esm Tale of Bi Wastelands + TTW NV Speech Checks Patch.esm TGMIO.esm 3DNPCFNVBundle.esm 3DNPCFO3Bundle.esm Functional Post Game Ending.esm Functional Post Game Ending - TTW Patch.esm TLD_Travelers.esm A Trail of Crumbs.esm Regulators.esm Uncut Wasteland.esp Uncut Extra Collection.esp Functional Post Game Ending - Uncut Wasteland And Extra Collection Patch.esm AWorldOfPainFO3.esm A World of Pain Revised.esm EDGE TTW.esm Sweet Pain.esm Sweet Pain NV.esm MoreMojave.esm Faction Wasteland Presence.esm Mojave Raiders.esm Mojave Raiders - TTW Patch.esm Mojave Wildlife (FO3-Style + No Chanced).esp TTW NPC Overhaul.esm TTW NPC Overhaul - FPGE Patch.esm SD_Transporters.esp Home and Safehouse Tweaks.esm Home and Safehouse Tweaks - TTW Addon.esm [RWM]-Complete.esm mil.esp mil-TTWPlacements.esp mil_Add-On.esp zl_Armaments_Remastered.esm Tactapack.esp WMIMNV.esp AmmoScriptFixes.esp CriticalEffectFixes.esp TTW No PipBoy Glove Equipping or Race Changes.esp TTW FaceGen Fix.esp ExRB-TTW.esp The Mod Configuration Menu.esp Vanilla UI Plus.esp Power Armor Holo Panel.esp PipBoyUITweaks.esp JustAssortedMods.esp JBTImproved.esp JIP Companions Command & Control.esp Stash Organizer.esp QuickSelect.esp ItemCards.esp RadiationVisuals.esp SimpleNightVision.esp TTWMoreMapMarkers.esp Map Markers - Reputations Patch.esp TTW Quick Start.esp TTW Quick Start Item Remover.esp Wasteland Starting Gear DC.esp TTW Quick NV Train Start.esp DelayDLCRedux.esp DelayDLCReduxPOPP.esp TTWTransportalponderEx.esp SD_Transporters spelling.esp Benny Humbles You and Steals Your Stuff.esp TLD LVLI Total Overhaul.esp SP TTW Patch.esp MoreMojave - FPGE Patch.esp Mojave Raiders.esp Mojave Raiders - TTW Patch.esp MR - Uncut Patch.esp MR - NPCO Patch.esp MR - Uncut - NPCO Patch.esp Mojave Wildlife (FO3-Style + No Chanced) - TTW Patch.esp [RWM]-Complete Added.esp Immersive Minigames.esp 3DGrenadeIndicator.esp WeaponRequirementSystem.esp ImmersiveRecoil.esp IRNPC.esp Reload Reloaded.esp MigCrippled.esp MigArmorDegen.esp RAD.esp BURN - Hardcore Fire Effects.esp Forced Entry.esp Quickthrow.esp QuickthrowTweaks.esp Supplemental Ammo Crafting.esp EDGE Master Patch.esp EDGE - Speech - Reputations Patch.esp EDGE - FPGE Patch.esp EdgeNPCO.esp EDGE - NPCO - FPGE Patch.esp TTW Dialogue and Interactions Expansion Overhaul.esp DIEO - Tale of Bi Wastelands Patch.esp DIEO - AWOPFO3 Patch.esp New Blood.esp S6S Base Game Perks Redux.esp S6S Base Game Perks Redux TTW Side.esp S6S Perks.esp Friends With Benefits Perk Pack.esp Tree New Perks.esp New Blood TTW Patch.esp Sweet Consumables.esp Aid Addon.esp Healing Systems.esp TheAIMerge.esp GRA Scavenger Hunt Unbalanced.esp GUWR - TTW Patch.esp Simple Attack Reactions - NV+TTW.esp MigPowerAttack.esp Hitstop.esp Enhanced Movement.esp B42Inertia.esp NVMIM.esp Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix.esp STAR TTW 2.esp BHYSYS STARS Gear Patch.esp WSGDC STAR Patch.esp STAR TTW - Uncut Extra Collection Patch.esp StarsNPCO.esp STARS - Uncut - NPCO Patch.esp STARS - MR - NPCO Patch.esp AWSOMER.esp ATMOS Ambient Overhaul.esp ATMOS NV - TTW Patch.esp ATMOS NV + FPGE Patch.esp ATMOS Sound Overhaul - TTW.esp Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks TTW.esp DNWeathers.esp Interior Rain.esp Interior Rain - TTW.esp CC - Rain.esp CC - 3D Rain.esp Natural Interior.esp 

Tier List: https://imgur.com/a/SPm0Fjl
This one hits different. Right from the start, with those ominous vocals giving the whole thing a feeling of foreboding and momentousness. Donald Trump lurking around the stage for his titlecard, even staying onscreen as his titlecard goes away is hilarious and a great visual touch. Then we get Hillary sitting in her debate chair; this battle committing so hard to a location both rappers are present in is pretty unique.
"I've been in this game too long; I'm a public servant! Have been since I met MLK in person!" Serviceable opening on paper, but the guest actor, Kimmy Gatewood, makes it stick out with her performance. Love the intensity of her voice and facial expressions. "I'm a woman of the people; that's for certain. You're a man of the people who don't like turbans!" This is a great line, very accurate, and I love the look on Hillary's face. "I was living in the West Wing while you were professional wrestling. Got skin like Russian dressing from too much Russian investing!" Good lines, in particular I really dig the Russian dressing/Russian investing parallel. Also, while I don't think Kimmy bears a super strong resemblance to Hillary Clinton(the guest actress from Clinton v. Henry VIII was much more on-point) she does look a lot like her as she does the Russian dance in the background. Something about her wide-open smile. "You been going bankrupt since the 90s; if I was in Iran you couldn't find me." Very true on both counts, very solid line. I don't know what more there is to say. Is it gonna be controversial to acknowledge the reality that Trump's gone bankrupt lots of times and probably couldn't point to Iran on a map, even now that he's been president? "You don't care about the job, Trump, you just think the desk is shiny." I think it's accurate that Trump really only cares about the prestige, but this still seems like a pretty weak attack. Hell, you could argue the vast majority of presidential candidates care more about the prestige than actually doing anything. "I said that I respect your children but that wasn't quite right, yo! Looking like some extras on American Psycho!" This line is pretty fucking great. I didn't get it when this battle first released, but I've seen American Psycho more recently, and comparing the Trump kids to the useless trust fund posers surrounding Patrick Bateman is hilarious. The hyper-aggressive hip thrusting Hillary's doing is also a great visual. For the most part this portrayal doesn't resemble Hillary much, but I think there's some truth in how she's portrayed as being very try-hard here. "First name is Hillary, middle name Rodham, last name is Clinton, and lyrics I got 'em! You fire celebrities on The Apprentice, motha fucka I fire Bin Laden! (Crack!) cough" Being tryhard again. The lines are pretty good, the flow is pretty good. The reference to her coughing is a fun touch. "How do I say this? You're racist! Ooh, you must get so pissed that your hands are too small to stop and frisk!" The asking/answering of that question at the beginning is really funny, and I like the way they worked Trump's small hands into this attack on him for being racist. "So you use your fingers to touch chicks. (She's only 12 years old.) That's enough, shit! (But she's married, sir.) Just gotta get pushy. (That's your daughter.) Well, grab her by the pussy!" One of the highlights of the battle, love the way they worked in the secret service agent here. Pointing out Trump being a creep at child beauty pageants and towards Ivanka are great lines of attack. "That's assault, brotha! Don't tell me the victim's at fault, sucka! You don't know shit about steaks! Yucka! But the ones on the 8th are great! Motha fucka!" Really fun delivery, good attacks, I like that they threw the Trump Steaks jab in between the more serious sentiments. I don't know what the fuck is going on with the background in this section, though they're really going hard on the tryhardness of Hillary. "Better save the date; I'm gonna rock the vote! Bad bitch on the scene like Murder, She Wrote!" Hillary trying to compare herself to that character is pretty cringe, as is highlighted by her attempting to dab with the biggest "look, aren't I cool, kids?!" look on her face. Real "Pokemon Go to the polls" moment. "So go ahead, Donald, let me see you flow. I brought Michelle's speech; borrow some quotes!" It's a pretty great line, though this line is moreso an attack at Melania than Trump himself; she should have ended with a more Trump-focused attack.
"Let me just say I respect all females. But your rhymes are trash; put 'em next to your emails." The first line is funny in how flagrantly untrue it is, the second line is just plain funny. Good opener. "Our country's in crisis. Who wants to vote for the mother of ISIS? That might not be exactly true, but I don't do politeness." Trump talks out of his ass and lies a lot, yes. "(Believe me!) You wanna talk about misogyny? Your Bill's worse than Cosby! He left a mess on that dress like you left in Benghazi!" The comparison of the rapist Bills is a great line, and I'm not sure whether the whole Benghazi thing was actually something that was Hillary's fault or just a Fox News talking head talking point, but it's a good line regardless. Also by this point it's clear that Lloid's Trump impression is on-point, much better than Peter's. "(Terrible!) You wanna break the glass ceiling, Hillary, I sense it. But the only crack you'll find is my ass pressed against it." The gesturing Lloid is doing during the "I sense it" line is fucking hilarious. The second line is also pretty funny, and did turn out to be true. "The numbers are in and I'm right on your tail. You don't have the stamina, baby, you're frail! This will be just like '08 when you fail! But Trump will appoint you to jail!" Fun parallel to Hillary's "First name is Hillary" segment from before going on here. The lines themselves are fine, nothing amazing. The second-to-last one turned out to be true, the last one did not. "How do I say this? You're a 2. And you almost lost the primary to a socialist Jew!" It's pretty funny how Trump mimics Hillary's "How do I say this?" bit, and "you're a 2" is such a simple but funny jab. He's got a point that Hillary was so weak a candidate that Bernie Sanders came outta nowhere and was able to put up a serious competition in a race that was supposed to have no real competition for her. "What do the American people gotta yankee doodle doo, to get it through your fat face, that they're just not that into you?!" The use of 'yankee doodle doo' is funny and he's got a real point that Hillary needs to accept she's very unpopular, though that 'fat face' line is such a pot calling the kettle black moment. No doubt intended as such. "They want a strong male leader who can stand up to China! Not a crooked, little, wishy-washy bleeding heart vagina!" These lines, of course, exist purely to point out that Trump is a giant sexist. The "China, China, China... bloody vagina!" in the background is a very funny touch. Little bits like that just add so much to this battle. "I'm gonna run these streets like I run my casinos; more police and less Latinos!" These lines, of course, exist purely to point out that Trump is a giant racist. "While you bury us in debt buying poor people socks, I'll create jobs, tearing down mosques!" Trump is against programs that help the impoverished and hates Muslims. "Then I'll use all the best rocks from the site to build a wall, dip it in gold and make Mexico pay for it all!" The thing Lloid does with his eyes as he smiles when he says "build a wall" is just... SO Trumpian. This really is one of the greatest Trump impressions I've ever seen, Lloid did an amazing job. As for the line... Trump says he's gonna build a wall. He built a partial wall. A partial, really unimpressive wall. "I'll make this country great again! We'll all be living large! And I'll tell Congress you're fired, and put Charles in charge!" Trump's slogan is MAGA and Charles in Charge was a TV show whose main actor is a Trump supporter. Also apparently there was a Supreme Court judge named Charles Trump once wanted nominated. Alright. "'Cause this whole system's rigged! And we all know the riggers! For the last eight years this country's been run by- (CAW!)" The point of this line is that Trump is a giant racist. I like the touch that the crowd is cheering wildly for Trump while Hillary looks disturbed in the background.
Then Lincoln comes soaring in on an eagle, as he did in Obama v. Romney. "Are you fucking kidding me with this blah blah blah? I've half a mind to feed you both to my oversized - (CAW!)" The use of 'CAW!' as a censor is amusing. "I've heard more thoughtful discussion up in TMZ! You two got brother blocking brother on their Facebook feed!" This isn't fun anymore, it's just real. "I'm so sick and tired of this ridiculous shit! If this is the best my party gets, then my party should quit!" The Republican Party is a nightmare and Lincoln would be ashamed of it today, is what is being said. "I'm sorry, did I say something that you found funny? Wipe that creepy-ass smile off your face and beat this dummy!" Clinton is a shitty politician who didn't take Trump seriously enough, and she comes across as cold and inhuman. And in case you somehow failed to pick up on it before, ERB makes clear here their endorsement for which candidate to vote for. "And if she does win the White House, be a man and hold the door. Don't get your fans stirred up in some sorta Twitter civil war!" Too real, especially after January 6th. "Here's an equal opportunity smack down in the sequel! That's of the people, by the people, for the people, eagle!" Some people have debated whether Lincoln slapped Trump twice in place of slapping Clinton at all because he's a gentleman and wouldn't hit a woman, or because ERB favors Clinton over Trump. The latter is definitely true, but the former is also probably true. So... both! Then Lincoln yells "Eagle!" and fucks off.
Let's talk about bias. There's two camps of people I've seen in discussions about certain ERB battles, especially this one, and they both irk me. So let's address both of them.
First off: YES, ERB is biased against Trump. And are biased against Republicans generally, and much more sympathetic to the Democrats. They've made that completely obvious from the beginning. And you know what? That's totally fine! They're right to be biased against them! But for some reason, some people in the fanbase can't just admit that. For some reason, there's a lot of people in the fanbase who will bend over backwards trying to explain how it's actually totally unbiased(false) and they attack both sides equally(false) and people complaining are being salty(true). But if you think ERB is unbiased, then society has failed you, because you are a woeful media illiterate. They're screaming Vote for Hillary, Don't Let Trump Win! at you and somehow you haven't managed to decipher what they're saying. I hope for your sake you're, like, twelve years old if you actually think they're unbiased. Here's an important lesson for you to learn as you grow up: 'biased' does not equate to 'bad'! For example, you SHOULD be 'biased' against Hitler! If you look at someone like Hitler and compare him to someone like MLK and treat them as equally valid figures whose ideas are both worthy of consideration, then you're at best a useful idiot and at worst a Nazi apologist! Stop feeling like you have to defend ERB's honor by feverishly denying any claims of bias!
But even worse than those jokers are the fuckers who love to bitch about how ERB has gotten "too political" or "too woke" nowadays. NEWSFLASH, DUMBASS: the very FIRST battle was John Lennon vs Bill O'Reilly, and Bill O'Reilly literally says "Because I'm evil! Heart blacker than Don Cheadle!" Their very foundation as a series is shitting on Republicans! They didn't suddenly 'go woke' just because they stopped doing gay jokes and shat on Trump even more explicitly than they already did to Romney.
Anyway, I've got mixed feelings about this battle. The 'mixed' part of those feelings come from how heavy it is; I have to be in a certain mood to want to listen to this, and most times I see this pop up in my playlist I just skip on to the next one. It's uncomfortable. It's real. Maybe a little too real. But then again, maybe they were right to take it so seriously. It's still a great battle, even if it can be a little hard to come back to. The only big issue I have with it is that Lincoln coming in at the end is kind of a drag. It was funny the first time; this doesn't recapture the magic. He doesn't really have any great lines either. I tend to stop listening by the time he comes in. But besides that, this battle has an amazing instrumental track, great visuals, peak performances from both Lloid and Kimmy, and good, sometimes great, writing.
I used to think Trump won this battle despite always having been anti-Trump. Revisiting it now, I'm not sure why I thought that. Maybe it was because his part was just so entertaining, even moreso than Hillary's. Maybe it's because I, like many others, harbor a strong resentment and bitterness towards Hillary Clinton(muh Bernie) that would lead me to not be entirely honest about her performance here. Maybe it's just because that hardly anybody said Clinton won back in the day; Trump had either a majority or a clear plural majority of votes in polls, then Lincoln with a fair amount, then Clinton with a small fraction. Now I see that that is utter bullshit. The only reason anybody votes for Lincoln is either because of the Last Word Effect or because they want to be centrists about it and not side with either candidate; even if you could argue he was the best part of Obama v. Romney, here his verse falls well short of both Clinton and Trump's. On the question of Clinton v. Trump... I can kind of see how someone might think Trump won on account of how hilarious he was, but a ton of his stuff just makes himself look bad, and if we're being honest I think Clinton had better burns and more substantive lines of attack. I say Clinton>Trump>Lincoln.
inb4 someone says I got "too political" in my presidential election battle analysis

"Could the mods please do something about all the posts promoting treatments/causes that haven’t been backed by science? Colloidal silver, untested alternative medicine, anti-vax theories, etc. presented as unequivocally true.
This is supposed to be a science-based sub. Spreading more blatant pseudoscience only gives more fodder to the people who don’t believe MCAS exists."
People that spread the internet without an official diagnosis or any prove of an mast cell involvement, antihistamines are used for multiple diseases. There have been people that think they have MCAS because Cromolyn helped their asthma, H1 medication helped their urticaria, or H2 helped their heartburn. These medications are all widely used and are rather "off label" used for MCAS. That is why all 3 criteria need to be present.
Websites present various doctors that claim to be "specialists" and who give out diagnoses to anyone based of unspecific symptoms, reportedly these do not even make tests at all. Or use unvalidated biomarkers or questionable diagnostic criteria. Cash is payed upfront.
People who actually have a serious and rare disease named MCAS, struggle to be taken seriously, because many doctors are fed up by the sheer amount of psychic conspicuous patients, who only want a proof for their google based self diagnoses. Often times there is no proof and these people make a burden for health care resources.
Mast cell medication is free and if you have no relief at all with antihistamines, MCAS is very unlikely. There is not much any further medication that someone would get, if not presented with serious reactions, most of the times anaphylaxis. Ketotifen and cromolyn are also mainly antihistamines, still many gaslight themselfs thinking that that is the medication they need.
Primary and secondary MCAS are easy to rule out, due to specific and severe symptoms and quite obvious underlying mechanism like an IgE dependant allergy or the genetic mutation. The diagnosis that is under question is the idiopathic MCAS, where the underlying mechanism is unknown, these people still need to fullfill the diagnostic markers, but in reality this happens only rarely.
Still many think they have a secondary MCAS, it is said by certain authors that a secondary MCAS would have a prevalance of 17-30 per cent. They say that long covid and/or T-Cells are the problem. That this would be quite easy to proof if it would be happening they do not care about. That this has already been evaluated they do not care about. The desperate patients are easy to convince it seems.
Some people even make claim their MCAS would be due to a root cause of "Sibo", "Leaky gut" or "microbiome disbalance", all which are unrelated to a MCAS and heavenly overdiagnosed or not even proven to excist, just like the whole hEDS and POTS misdiagnoses going on. Mast cells in the gut have been studied and people with IBS have had no success with mast cell treatment.
It is also a burden for patients, knowing that even some doctors do not stick to authentic measures and give out misinformation. Maybe because of a conflict of interest? Since most internet posts that come up include misinformation, it is hard for sufferers to find alike. MCAS communities are full of people who do not have MCAS. MCAS sufferers have no community right now.
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"My blood and 24hr urine collection testing came back normal. The allergist I saw also told me outright he doubted I had MCAS (a fad diagnosis along with EDS and POTS, as he said) but did end up suggesting I come back to get samples tested during an episode. I was so frustrated with the allergist that I’ve never gone through with that. Instead my amazing primary doctor decided to prescribe me montelukast and monitor my reaction to trialing antihistamines at home, and I had immediate positive response! We also first ruled out everything else he could think of and clearly test for; my main symptom is facial flushing so I had things like lupus and carcinoid syndrome ruled out.
Although we treat it as such, I don’t actually have an “official” MCAS diagnosis on my chart. IME the specialists who do inquire about all my meds or listen to my symptoms don’t seem to differentiate between MCAS and allergies/sensitivities anyway :/ but my case isn’t super severe and currently well-controlled so that works for me. Good luck to you - I hope you find proper care regardless of your test results!"
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"I have normal tryptase levels and definitely have MCAS. They diagnosed it after POTS, and it was mostly based on symptoms as well as the “scratch test”"
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"Spoke about it with my GP, she referred me to an internal medicine doc who specializes in MCAS. I told him my symptoms and he went “yep that sounds like MCAS” and proceeded to literally dump an armful of antihistamine samples into my lap and bounce off to his next appointment. I am definitely in the minority of people whose experience was that easy. It was so easy that I almost don’t believe him."
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"This is the same as my experience! Walked in, diagnosed by rheumatologist in 5 mins based off symptoms and loaded up with antihistamines as a starting point. No testing or anything."
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"went to my allergist and had the blood work panel done. nothing in it came back weird, but my allergist is treating me as if i have MCAS based on all my symptoms and pictures of flares."
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"Went in to get my pots diagnosis and the doctor was like “btw your blood tests show you have mast cell activation syndrome” and then gave me some medicine and did not elaborate further"
"As it turned out my diagnosis was literally not true. I don’t have MCAS (and even if i did what they gave me for it was beyond overkill) after talking to an actual allergist I believe that most likely I was given an extra diagnosis on extremely weak basis. Using something from what they saw in my blood so they could bill higher and prescribe more medicine to me. I no longer go to that practice and instead go to a different cardiologist and actively do not recommend going there. Unfortunately this stopped me for years from properly treating my pain as I was trying to treat it on the basis it was being caused by MCAS :/"
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"Mine was actually fairly easy when I finally figured out it was MCAS.
Got referred to immunology to rule out mastocytosis. Then my PCP at the time did a clinical diagnosis. She wasn’t risking putting me into anaphylaxis to maybe get a positive result on any of the mast cell mediator labs (this doctor was one who didn’t list a diagnosis unless she was confident it isn’t anything else and spent 8 years trying to get an answer).
My current doctors don’t question it because my symptoms at this point line up perfectly with MCAS."

Please Read My Last post before you dive into this one...

Because boy oh boy have things changed BIG TIME.
In the last almost 2 months since I dropped that post, there's been some new people who were hired, and another round of good old combo clerk training. I like usual was not even asked to be part of it. I would have said "No Thank You That Sounds God Awful", but it was another "candidate" who really got my Blood Absolutely Boiling.
We have this newcomer to the company who I will call Guy 1 from here on out.
Guy 1 could not be lazier. The dude on several occasions, just walked out of the store, out to his car, got in turned on the AC and spent 30ish-40 minutes out there. Which wouldn't be so bad if he didnt do it EVERY SINGLE HOUR HE WAS ON THE CLOCK!!!!! We would call his name on the intercom for almost the entire time with no answer. and his lunch breaks were almost an hour to an hour and a half when the rest of the galaxy only takes a half for lunch and then gets their butts back on the clock.
Long story short he's now a combo clerk... let that sink in really quick.
The other day I was helping get carts with this guy because it was his hour, and he was inside until about 40 minutes past the hour. I had done his sweep, then I saw that both sides were getting low on carts. So I let management know that I would be outside getting more carts because it was his hour, and he was in the check stand covering a lunch or something. I went out there grabbed 2 sets of 7 carts, and pushed them in, then Guy comes out vest on but no Ratchet Strap and then proceeds to grab 20 carts and push them into the stall. I told him that he cannot bring 20 carts in and that he needs to go inside and grab a ratchet strap and pull in 7 max because if someone from union or a VP comes in for a little visit, the store gets dinged and our SM would have both our heads for screwing with her records or whatever.
Guy proceeds to yell at me because its fine and SM has seen me do it before and that I do things my own way and that I cannot yell at him. Guy then does another set of 20 before going off to lunch someplace outside of the store parking lot. Leaving me, with left extreme side of the cart corral done and right extreme side of the cart corral done but no carts in the middle.
Later that day he pulls me aside and apologizes for yelling at me, because "I don't like it when people raise their voices at me" when I only did it to get his attention because he was going from a parking lot that might as well be its own rumble strip while going over a rumble strip with 20 carts. He then claimed that his maximum was 56 carts pushed in in one go.
Even the other cashiers saw that I should have been at least asked and were asking management like "what the hell why not me?" and all they said in return was a shrug followed with, "yeah he was an awful choice wasn't he?"
Anyway to answer questions from the last post... apparently there is no such thing as a "voluntary demotion" I asked SM about that and she herself had no Idea what that was. it's just good old-fashioned favoritism, I guess. I asked my manager why I can't go into being on the pickup team and she said that "I spoke with "manager" over there and they said, "my technical skills were lacking."" which I will admit makes sense when I can count the number of orders I've done on my own in the low single digits and I've never done a single carry out.
More than likely, I will be going to the union this week and I'll be showing them both of these posts.

I'm super new to streaming 6 or so months in.. Its a slow grind and not really making much in the way of followers or viewers really (avg 1.5-2 viewers and currently sitting at 16 followers) the game I've been playing is a low view count in general but I feel like if more people knew of or saw game play they'd be more inclined to watch. Now this is more of a hobby for me for now as I do have a full time 60hr a week job and 2 small kids that req my full attention but I do get on to stream 2-3hrs on Fridays and Saturday nights after the kids are in bed and the house is in order. Plus an hour or so a week of creating highlights to post to various socials to try and drum up any sort of interest. A couple weeks ago I noticed an ad on Instagram about some sort of ai clip editing software that's suppose to take your full vod and make a bunch of highlights and shorts to post to YouTube, tiktok and the likes. Now my question is.. do these actually work? Does anyone really use this or do they just pay for someone to deal with that aspect of getting your name and content out there? Or do you just put in the extra hours and make all that yourself? I feel like that's all part of the game to become successful as a streamer and I feel that's where I lack the most.

So I just set up the 10 gallon tank to move Hannibal over there... ive had him a couple weeks in the black glass 2.5 gallon healing cause I found him at petsmart chewing odd his tail...
Anyways, I added the water stuff and put the black mystery snail back over there (he had been in the hospital tank with Hannibal. I also picked up a school of neon tetra (about 5 or so, didn't count what was in the bag)... the dude said it would be ok.
The temp is just around 82 cause i think the water I added was a smidge too luke warm. Have a new filter in the water filter and the bubbler on low... should I wait and put Hannibal in tomorrow??
Also, when and how long do I turn the light on? I never knew what was healthy.... its an aqueon light fit for that size and it's white lights save about 3 leds that are blue... no live plants...

Age: 22
Sex: F
Height: 5’1”
Weight: 164 lbs
Race: hispanic
Duration of complaint: 3 months
Location: abdomen
Currently have high cholesterol. bad cholesterol count of 103 according to my primary care.
Current medications: metoclopramide 5mg. sertraline 25mg, pantoprazole 40mg
i’ll include pictures of some tests that i’ve had done in the comments if i can.
Gonna try to include as best of a description of my symptoms as i can, i’ll also try to edit anything if it makes my description better.
this all started 2 months ago. literally the last week of february. at the time i wasn’t on any type of medication. nothing changed in my eating habits, except for the fact that i’d had panda express for the 1st time ever starting in february.
i became constipated suddenly one afternoon and this continued for a week. went to the doctor and i was sent to get a ct scan. but obviously, i’m not familiar with medical terms. from what i understand, there’s evidence of slow transit through my small bowel, but don’t know where or why exactly.
symptoms include: constipation accompanied by side and abdominal discomfort/aches/ pains. my upper abdominal area aches a lot some days. it feels as if the area right under the breast bones wants to cramp up. i feel burning in my stomach and abdomen too. gas is hard to pass somedays and feels trapped. i also have upper back aches. doctor told me it’s because of my small intestine. i also have lower back aches as well, but was told it could be because of kidney stones i didn’t even know i had, but just thought i’d mention this. i have diarrhea (once i went and it was very watery,) loose stools, stools with mucus and pieces of undigested food, mainly meat, of varying shapes and consistencies. the mucus on my stool is clear and white and appears like strings on my stool. sometimes i’ll have a semi normal movement, but with mucus. sometimes my stool will be thin, in small pieces, or just very loose even after a “normal” bowel movement. other times i’ll go but it’s just mucus. all my stools are also slimey in texture from what i can tell. also, everytime i wipe my stool it’s yellow in color with mucus and/or clear fluid. sometimes i’ll have this urgency to go despite being constipated.
also, not sure if this has to do with my current condition but have been wiping light red blood after i go, both with my more solid stools and loose ones. in one instance i even wiped only blood. there’s also been times where i’ve seen streaks of blood on my stool too. clear fluid also seems to be leaking out of my anal area…. clear mucus sometimes too. this causes my anal area and the inside of it to itch and sting. it feels like that sometimes after a bowel movement, even if it’s soft, other times it just feels itchy throughout the day, even if there is no anal leakage or if i don’t go to the bathroom. the mucus that comes out sometimes has pieces of stool/liquid that is the color of my stool. even with the supplements and meds i’ve been given, i’m lucky if I go even once a day now, but constipation is getting worse in my opinion.
in late march/early april i started to experience nausea, heartburn, acid reflux, and severe loss of appetite. all of these symptoms have persisted since. i no longer eat any of the food i used to. i can’t eat fast food or meat any more. i’m sticking to fruit, no citrusy fruits, crackers, soups, and cereal with almond or lactose free milk. even with these changes in diet my symptoms have persisted.
i eat very little because i just don’t feel hunger like i used to at all. even if i do i find that i get full very easily. i’m bloated after i eat as well. also, like i said i’m constipated so my bowel movement are little to none.
i currently still have all of the symptoms above and they don’t seem to be improving.
in a addition to a ct scan i’ve gotten tested for a blood infection, negative. celiac disease blood test came back negative. stool test for h pylori came back negative. a test to find if there was any blood digested and present in my stool came back negative. a stool test that was done to measure levels of fat in my stool came back indicating normal levels of fat in my stool. i also got an ultra sound for lumps that appeared on my abdomen but it was found that they were just fatty lumps. i also got an endoscopy in late april where 3 tissue biospies were taken. apparently, the 3 things they tested for all came back negative. other than a bacterial infection, i have no idea what else they ruled out. i’m not even white sure what bacterial infections they ruled out.
honestly, i’m getting more questions than answers at the moment and just want to know if there’s any more testing that i should ask for. what could possibly be happening to me and why?

First / Previous
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Suzanne thought it was absolutely brilliant of me to put books on a flash drive for Sun. She explained that Sun wasn’t as sophant (her word, not mine) as she might seem, more of a repository of information, but she was fairly intelligent. It was how she was able to connect Andrew being in pain to the fact that I was friends with Andrew, and that I would want to know that he was in trouble. Apparently some of Sun’s species had given some ‘wisdom’ to others in the past and it had made its way into mythology.
The key fact was that she was not smart enough to protect herself and her kind from the clever, organized poachers. With that information in mind, it was fascinating for me to think of how Sun took in and organized what she learned. It was almost as if she was a walking, talking library.
On the topic of tours, my first one went wonderfully, and I’m almost hoping Suzanne lets me do more of them. I know not all the tourists are going to be as awesome as these people were, but Suzanne gave me a lot of slack when it comes to dealing with them. She actually said that being a smartass is not grounds for dismissal, and that if I’m sarcastic or facetious to guests who are being ‘daft’ and they complain, she really doesn’t care. Is this the perfect job for me or what?
There were four guests in this party, two adults who were sisters and two children of one of the women, brothers aged thirteen and seventeen. The tour was a birthday gift for the older of the boys from his aunt, since apparently he was passionate about animal protection and conservation.
When they arrived at the front gate, I was sitting at Andrew’s desk, going over the booklet of information one last time. When the visitors pressed the button that sounded the alert buzzer, I tucked away in a drawer and let them in. I did have a cheat sheet with information about the animals on my phone just in case, a brief notation of each of them and which enclosure they were in, but I really didn’t need to use it.
Exiting through the front door, I saw them walk up the path toward me. “Hi, I’m Ripley,” I said, holding out a hand toward the woman closest to me.
She shook it firmly. “I’m Denise. This is my sister Carla and my nephews, Wesley and Jason,” she said, motioning to each of them in turn.
“I heard it’s your birthday,” I said to Wesley, giving him a smile. “You’re interested in animal conversation?”
“Back where we live, yeah,” he said, nodding. “The animals that you’ve got here are incredible. I can’t wait to see them.”
“Well, I can’t wait to show them to you,” I said. “Right this way.”
I led them on the path around the building, toward enclosure one. Despite the horrific memories of the animal killing Stanley’s friends, I knew it was just an animal, and I had to push past my feelings on what had happened. Keeping a small smile on my face, I motioned to the enclosure. “Fiercely territorial and amazing hunters, despite their large size, they’re arboreal and known to dart from tree to tree with barely a sound. This is one of only about two thousand left in existence.”
“Two thousand, three hundred and fifty six at last count,” spoke Wesley, his eyes on the trees.
I blinked, surprised and impressed. “Well that was fantastic. Do you plan on stealing my job when you graduate?”
Wesley looked at me with a grin. “Nah, everyone knows Suzanne only offers humans this gig. And I want to help animals like this one get off the endangered species list. The zoos are great for awareness and fundraising, but then the money has to go somewhere. I want to be doing the real work.”
“That’s really great,” I told him. “I wish you all the best in that career path.” At that, we saw the animal climb down from the tree, wandering a few yards from the tree line. This was because 90% of the time, when humans were at their enclosure and making noise, whether it was speaking to each other or calling out to the animal, it was someone bringing them prey to eat. Or, in my case, enrichment toys to play with.
“Whoa,” Wesley whispered.
“How close can we get?” spoke up Jason.
“The warding starts at the fence,” I told him with a small gesture. “So, just there.”
Both boys wandered closer and I glanced at their parents. It seemed that Suzanne’s zoo had a serious reputation for high quality invisible walls, because they didn’t look worried in the slightest about the boys being hurt or killed.
“They prefer dense forest as their home and have been known to make their nests in trees up to twenty meter in the air,” I continued. “And when hunting, they’ve been seen dropping eight meters straight down. They have incredibly dense yet flexible musculature, which allows them to tackle their prey without injuring themselves.”
There was more information about the animal that I continued to rattle off, though Wesley chimed in at certain points with the info I was about to convey. That was highly entertaining and very cool. When I’d been in school, I’d never met anyone who had my level of passion about endangered animals. I wondered if things were better where these folks came from, but realized that considering there were so few of these animals left, I guessed not.
The animal paced a little bit, seemingly waiting to see if we were the kind of humans that came bearing food, before deciding we weren’t and climbing back up into the trees as easily as I would climb some stairs.
As we moved onto enclosure two, Jason spoke up. “Are there any animals here we can touch or feed or something?”
I sighed inwardly before slowing to a stop. “Well, can you show me your hands?” Jason looked bemused, holding out his hands. “I mean…they both look like they’re in great shape. You can stand to lose one.”
The two women chuckled and Wesley smirked as Jason shoved his hands into his pockets. “Very funny.”
Grinning, I started walking again. “The animals here are all carnivores and all predators. You get to see them, but that’s it.”
“Alright.”
When we reached enclosure two, I started on my next spiel. “We’ve got three reanimated dead in this enclosure,” I spoke. They were just coming out from the trees as we arrived, presumably having heard our approach. “Marissa, Connor, and Bradley. They were donated by families who knew where they would be exhibited. Their next of kin, whoever they are, can’t stand the idea of putting them down. But we need to make sure they don’t have access to corpses, because one of them plus one corpse equals two of them.”
“They eat flesh though, don’t they?” Wesley asked.
I nodded. “Oh, yeah, but it’s from bodies that have already been dismembered. There’s no chance of them being affected by the transformation because it’s all parts.”
“Oh, got it.”
The creatures with blueish-white skin had superhuman strength, which is why they qualified for the security of Suzanne’s zoo. They also were likely the source of any Earth tales of people being brought back to life as zombies, specifically draugr, according to my research. They smelled like rotting flesh, so even as I kept talking about them and giving a background to the people they used to be, we were quick to move on once Wesley had gotten a good, long look at them.
“Enclosure four’s animal is a vampiric spirit. He’s a small, hairy humanoid creature with pointed ears. He wears a hat, and if he somehow loses it, he freaks out,” I said.
“They eat horses,” Wesley noted. “Also anything that gives them the chance to sit on it, usually catching them by surprise while they’re sleeping.”
The creature came out from the brush, giving us a suspicious look. He wasn’t in his humanoid form though; for some reason, he’d chosen to shapeshift to a dog.
I nodded. “Yep, indeed. Once the prey is dead, then he’ll eat it, and he has a voracious appetite. We have two wolves and two bears in the forest, which is one of the reasons I’ve got some self-defense items,” I said, patting my belt where my pepper spray (rated for bear) and my taser. “But the wards keep them out of this area of the zoo, so it’s really not much of a worry. It’s also a known shapeshifter, preferring the form of a dog, as you can see, as well as a cat, a snake, or even white butterflies, though the last one is rare.”
“The white butterflies are supposed to be a sign of good luck,” Wesley said, glancing to me. “Too bad we got the dog.”
“Yeah, otherwise you might be able to talk your mom into getting scratch-offs on your way home, huh?”
Wesley smirked at me.
The next enclosure was Spike, and he was waiting for us, dripping wet from having just emerged from the lake. I gave the introductory information about him, which included his propensity for eating animal eyes, nails, and teeth. “Recently, I’ve given him some enrichment activities, and I learned he likes artichokes, pecans, and hazelnuts,” I said, taking a bag out from my cargo shorts. “Wesley, do you want to toss this bag into the enclosure?”
The boy’s eyes widened and he nodded excitedly. He took a look into the paper bag before wrapping down the top to make sure nothing would fly out. Then he chucked it underhand past the fence. It landed a few yards from Spike, who waddled over to it quickly and tearing the bag open, spilling out the prizes inside. As the animal ate the pecans and hazelnuts, Wesley asked, “How’d you figure out he likes those?”
“It’s not all about taste,” I told him. “It’s mainly the difficulty of getting them out of the shells. He’s used to having to work for the parts of his prey he likes the most, so this mimics that activity, and he enjoys the process. I tried a bunch of different foods to find a few he liked.”
“Cool,” Wesley murmured, staring at him.
We watched Spike eat until he’d finished and then he went back into the woods, leaving us to move onto enclosure five. Japanese camellia were plentiful here, a type of pink flower, and that was because they grew anywhere near one of his species made their den. “This girl spends most of her time in the lake also,” I said, as the creature made its way toward the fence separating us from it. “But as you can see, she’s just as curious as the rest about what we’re doing here and whether we have food for her. She eats fish mostly, but she also regularly gets live prey.”
This creature was a spider-like monster, having six legs with long claws on each, and the head of an ox with two sharp horns. She was capable of shapeshifting to look like a human, but I guessed that she wasn’t fond of it, since I hadn’t yet seen her in that form.
“She prefers the easy way of catching prey, so to speak, by hiding in the lake and pouncing when something comes for a drink of water,” I explained. “Apparently humans are some of her favorite prey. She has an advantage of being able to spit poison, which often hits her prey in the eyes. But it’s usually used in defense rather than offense, since it secretes a limited amount.”
“What kind of animal would even go after something like this?” Jason asked, staring at her.
“Never discount one of its own species when you’re thinking about what might attack an animal,” I replied. “There are places that are breeding all of the animals here, but competition for mates is common. That means an advantage in a fight, like poison or venom, can make or break who the winner is.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
“It can’t spit past the warding, right?” Carla suddenly asked.
“Oh, no,” I assured her. “We’re fine. The wards wouldn’t let anything cross over.” She nodded, appeased.
The animal in enclosure six was the ginormous seal-hippo, Fiona, and she was looking at us as if she was imagining sprinkling us with herbs and spices and stuffing us in an oven. “This girl is one animal I’m going to work on enrichment activities for next,” I told them. “She prefers to feed on crayfish, though she’s happy to eat any humans that wander into her territory. She’ll even make a sound like a baby crying to reel us in. I’ve heard it a bunch of times.”
“Can you get her to make the sound?” Jason asked, perking up.
I grinned. “Not on command, sorry.”
“What enrichment are you thinking of trying?” Wesley asked.
“Possibly food placed in puzzle feeders,” I told him, “since she has claws that are pretty dexterous. Maybe a piñata made out of newspaper with flour inside, or a scarecrow that mimics a human.”
“Awesome,” he muttered.
After a little more educational tidbits, we moved onto Yui’s enclosure. “What is that?” Wesley asked, smiling.
“I got Yui the closest thing I could to a ping-pong ball,” I replied. “She quite likes it.”
“That’s so funny,” he said as she came out of the trees in her spider form. “I mean, the idea of her being a bloodthirsty hunter who seduces men to their deaths and eats them alive, but then on the other hand, she likes playing with something like this.”
“It is a little funny,” I agreed. “But when it comes down to it, all the animals here enjoy activities besides hunting.”
“She can shapeshift to look human, right?” asked Jason, trying to be casual about knowing something factual like his nerdy brother.
I nodded. “She looks like a woman from a region of Earth called Japan. And she’ll use strategies like holding out a hand to shake to get you closer. She tried that on me when I first got here but, as you can see,” I said, holding up my hands and waving them, “I didn’t fall for it.”
The boys both laughed as they got closer to the fence, watching her slowly pace near the trees.
Next was Sun, but she didn’t make an appearance as I spoke about her species. “Well…unfortunately we can’t guarantee that every animal comes out to say hi,” I sighed. “But…oh wait, here she is.”
The green lion with several horns and many eyes along her flank came out from the forest. “Hello,” she spoke.
“Hi, Sun,” I replied. “We have visitors.”
“What’s that?” Wesley asked suddenly, pointing at the small plastic bag that was still where I’d left it.
“Oh! That is Sun’s enrichment,” I said with a smile. “I put dozens of books on a flash drive and found that she can read them just like she’d read a shelf of books.”
Wesley’s eyes widened. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve read about anyone trying that before. That’s really cool.”
“The books are new and interesting,” Sun spoke, drawing our attention. “I’m grateful for them.”
I nodded to her. “You’re quite welcome.”
The next animal, unfortunately, wasn’t there, and we waited around for ten minutes as we discussed him. He was large and reptile-like with red eyes, with its hind legs and tail making him look vaguely like a kangaroo. Then, enclosure ten was a terrifyingly disturbing creature, the not-a-centaur with no skin, that I’d only seen a few times while walking my route. It gave a good demonstration of its ferocity, showing its sharp teeth and snapping at us a few times.
“I’m thinking of trying salt licks and other horse enrichment like a big bouncy ball,” I told Wesley, whose eyebrows went up at that. “Maybe give him more things to forage like scattered grains or a box filled with pinecones and seeds. Foraging is a huge part of a horse’s life in the wild, and humans have to do a lot of activities like that to keep pet horses busy. Of course, he also loves the little salt-water lake that was built for him.”
We spent some time looking at the animal before moving past our last stop, the empty enclosure of the animal was stolen. Carla glanced at me with a sad smile, knowing what had happened, it seemed. I gave her a nod as we continued on our way, walking into the office. “So, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves!” I said with a smile.
“That was the coolest birthday present I’ve ever gotten,” Wesley said, looking to Denise. “Thanks so much, seriously.”
“It was my pleasure,” she said with a nod. “I’d never been here before, and knew I’d find it fascinating. Thank you for the educational aspect,” Denise said, glancing at me. “I learned quite a lot.”
“Happy to hear it,” I said, returning the nod.
As I escorted the guests out of the zoo and locked the door behind them, I reflected on how much I’d changed. The first time I’d seen Yui’s tarantula form, I’d nearly passed out from fear. Now here I was, walking tourists around like it was no big deal. Humans really can adapt to anything, it seems.
That afternoon, Suzanne had texted me that she was coming by after my shift, and I met her in Andrew’s office, shutting the door to the security room behind me. “How’s Andrew?” I asked first thing.
“He’s doing well,” she said with a wide smile. “Back on non-hospital food. He’s allowed to order food on his phone, and to hear it from him, that’s the best news he’d received in a long time.”
I chuckled. “I guess some clichés are true for a reason.”
“Indeed.” She took a breath. “All right. Ripley…I would like to discuss something with you.”
My face went slack at the serious tone in her voice. “I’m not… Am I being fired?”
“What? No!” she exclaimed. Then she chuckled softly. “No, it’s nothing like that. Just, here, let’s have a seat.” Suzanne walked over to the couch and sat at one end, and I took the other. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve kept from you, that I wanted to keep from you until you found your sea legs here.”
“Well…I have,” I said with a nod. “So, what is it?”
Suzanne took a breath. “I knew your mother.”
The words hung in the air for a moment before making their way to my ears. It was a perfectly logical sentence, and yet it didn’t make any sense. “What?” I finally managed.
“When you graduated college, I decided to move the zoo from Italy to within driving distance of your home,” she said softly. “Near enough to your town that you’d see the advert. We ignored any other applicants and I hoped you’d apply. Actually, I expected you’d apply. Not just for the money, but considering the field you wanted to go into. As soon as I’d found out your major, I knew.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, holding up a hand. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “How do you know Patricia?”
“She owned the zoo before I did,” Susan explained. “Fourteen years ago…she was working to track an injured animal that we could bring into the zoo and she was killed by poachers.”
My heart calcified in my chest and a lump lodged in my throat. As my breaths became shaky, I stared at her in shock. “She…she’s really dead?”
“You suspected?” she asked softly.
“It…” I swallowed hard. “We had her declared legally dead after…I don’t know, seven years I think. My dad wanted to go after her for child support, but the police said…they said they couldn’t find…” Tears came to my eyes and I blinked them back before I met Suzanne’s gaze. “She owned the zoo?”
Suzanne nodded. “It was her baby, you’d say. When Patricia passed, I inherited it, which we’d discussed beforehand, a legal just-in-case that I never expected her to need. I’m under the impression that you were told she went to Africa for her photography career, but she was in fact going to remote areas back in my home world almost every time.”
“But I-I saw the photos,” I said, my eyes narrowing. “You’re telling me she put on a show of getting pictures that someone else took for us to see every time she visited? Did my dad even know?”
“I suppose that’s an accurate way to put it, putting on a show. And no, your father was never told. It’s not the way of things to tell humans unless it’s necessary. I won’t bore you with the details, but us and humans, we’re distant relatives, so we can still have children. But it wasn’t planned. Your mother fell in love with your father despite herself; she hadn’t meant to find love. Then she became pregnant with you and…well, the rest is history.”
“I think she had a different definition of love than the one I have,” I said tightly. “You’d think she’d have put her survival as more of a priority. Put being with the man she ‘loved’ as a priority. Her kids needed her. I needed her. She signed up when she became a mom. She could’ve screwed up all the time but she couldn’t even manage that one job: be there. When I was in the hospital, I kept thinking, ‘Where is she?’ and now you’re telling me that she put these animals above being there for her kids, and this whole time she’s been dead.”
“The hospital?” she asked, furrowing her brows.
“Never mind,” I said tersely, averting my gaze.
Suzanne hesitated before she nodded slowly. “I’m sorry for your loss, and not just for her death, Ripley,” she told me. “Patricia was…well, a ‘free spirit’ would be putting it gently. She always assumed the world would be there for her whenever she needed it.”
Staring at her for a long moment, I shook my head. “Why? Why come here and hire me?”
“I thought that would be obvious,” she said, smiling. “Your mother was so passionate about this place and once I found out your college major, I figured you would be as well.”
“Did you know that I hate her?” At that, Suzanne’s expression froze on the edge of shock. “She…she left us,” I whispered. “Didn’t tell us who she was or what she really did for a living and gave us no closure. And even when she was here, it was just visiting. Her real home was her work. She could give me all the presents she wanted, but even when she was here, half the time she was still on her computer doing work. It’s not like that stereotype of never making it to my tennis practice or something; it’s that it always felt like she was only partially here, even when I was sitting next to her. I don’t even know if I appreciate her turning me into a wildlife fanatic because it…it…makes me feel like I’m close to her in a way that’s just infuriating. She loved the animals more than she loved us.”
“Oh, Ripley-”
“Don’t,” I said, shoving myself to my feet. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said quietly. I pursed my lips. “I was going to say that I’m sorry that was the case. Your mother was…flawed, just like any other person. She had two loves in this world: her family and her work. And often, her work overcame her, her zeal for environmentalism getting in the way of being a good mum. She left your father trying to fill the role of two parents, holding your family together. You and your brother and your father, you all deserved better than that.”
My lower lip quivered but I bit down on it hard. It would’ve been a lot easier for me if she’d been speaking from a place of clueless reassurance about all this. But everything she said was making sense and that meant I didn’t have someone in front of me to be angry with.
“Why didn’t you tell me when Andrew hired me?” I sighed, sitting back down on the couch.
“Well, like I said, I wanted you to find your sea legs,” she said with a small smile. “I didn’t want the truth affecting whether or not you wanted to work here, whether you wanted to stay here after finding out about what the animals are. It would’ve complicated things, the emotions you’ll have to work through now that you know the truth. Whether or not you decide to give another tour, you also know what they’re like. That’s the benchmark I wanted you to reach before you found out about who you are.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Who I-” My face went slack. “Wait.”
Suzanne nodded slowly. “You’re only half human. Your brother too.”
The room seemed to tilt on an axis for a moment. “That means I’m also half…what?”
“We call ourselves Eldritch, these days,” she replied.
My eyes bugged out. “What?” I exclaimed. “So you’re all, like, gods or something?”
Suzanne burst out laughing. “Oh no, goodness, no,” she chuckled. “It’s just a word. We live in a very different world from this one, and a few generations ago we discovered the word and it made its way into our lexicon. But it does mean you can see all the animals. Indeed you did, on the tour you gave.”
“Wait, no, I had the glasses that…” I stopped. “Did those glasses do anything?”
She gave a sly smile and shook her head. “Not a thing. You made incredibly quick progress, and then when it came time for the tour, all you needed was to expect to see the animals, and you did.”
Genetics. That’s what Andrew had said during our interview, that part of how many animals you could see was determined by genetics. I guess having a mother who was originally from the other dimension gave me all the genes I needed to see everything here. “Could I…visit your world?” I asked tentatively. “You said that my mom took photos of the animals there. Could I…” My voice trailed off, not even sure if or how I wanted to finish that sentence.
“Those who are half human, especially those who are raised on Earth, don’t come visit,” she said gently. “I could show you some photos of other animals, and I could loan you as many books as you’d like, but it’s simply not a place where you’d be safe.”
“Oh,” I said, leaning into the couch cushion as I pictured the animals in the zoo. “Yeah, actually that…makes sense.” I paused. “So, what now?”
“It’s up to you,” she said. “I wanted to wait until I was sure you were comfortable with your position here, and then put the ball in your court. And so it is. What do you want to do now?”
What did I want to do? It wasn’t that difficult a question, just a deep, serious one.
I wanted to thrive, as the animals did. This is my enrichment now, working at an incredible, wonderful, terrifying zoo. The experience so far hasn’t been perfect, and I know there are risks, but life isn’t about staying safe. It’s about learning new things and making a difference in the world. And, if you’re lucky, having a job that’s something really special.
​
THE END
​
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This is a weekly thread for those who haven't been diagnosed, but still have questions about the diagnostic process. Please read the posting guidelines and rules! Everyone is welcome to contribute, and this is a safe space.
QUESTIONS ARE LIMITED TO 400 WORDS
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Please read this before posting as it may answer some of your questions:
If you use the search bar at the top of Reddit and make sure it’s set to lupus, it will search just the subreddit for your keywords. That way you can get the full breadth of questions and answers. This isn’t to say that you can’t ask questions in the general forum.

ANA tests

Positive ANA does not equal lupus! While more of a rule out screening (negative ANA = very unlikely to have SLE). Upwards of 15-20% of healthy individuals in the population at large will have a positive ANA. Only about 10-15% of people who have a positive ANA will later be diagnosed with SLE.

Tests used in diagnosing lupus

• anti-dsDNA - anti-Double Strand DNA is sometimes automatically tested for, but may need to be ordered separately. This test, when highly positive (2-3 times max cut off at least) is almost exclusively seen in SLE. However, only about 30% of SLE patients have this antibody. It's great if it's there to confirm diagnosis, it does not rule out diagnosis if it is absent.
• ENA Panel - Extractable Nuclear Antigen panel, usually automatically done if ANA comes back positive
• anti-Sm - Anti-Smith. Typically included in the ENA panel. This is another antibody, that when highly positive, almost always means SLE, but only about 25% of SLE patients have this antibody.
• RNP - Anti-Ribonucleoprotein. Typically included in the ENA panel
• anti-chromatin - Anti-chromatin is a relative newcomer in diagnostic testing for SLE and probably will NOT be ordered automatically. Its exact utility in diagnosis is still being determined.
• Apl panel - Antiphospholipid Antibody Panel, which consists of 3 tests:
  • LA - lupus anticoagulant
  • aCL - anti-cardiolipin antibodies
  • Anti-β2GP - anti-beta 2-glycoprotien antibodies
• CBC - Complete Blood Count, some abnormalities in WBC, RBC and PLT counts can be significant.
• CMP - Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, here the doctors are generally looking for kidney dysfunction (GFR, BUN/CR).
• ESR - Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate, this is a nonspecific inflammation marker.
• CRP- C-Reactive Protein, another nonspecific inflammation marker.
• C3 - Compliment C3
• C4 - Compliment C4
• CH50 - Compliments, Total, these are part of the compliment system, which is a tertiary part of the immune system.

Also, if you suspect you have a rash, getting a biopsy of it done at a dermatologist’s office can be helpful as the pathologist can identify histological evidence of lupus.

Diagnostic Process

ACR Diagnostic Criteria on lupus wiki
The rheumatologist/PCP will take a detailed history. I highly recommend writing down as many of your symptoms as possible, especially focusing on the symptoms you have that are in the American College of Rheumatology diagnostic criteria for lupus - see link above.
Include all your symptoms, but I would make those at the top of the list. Write down how long they’ve been going on, anything that makes them better or worse, and how much they impact your life. Do they prevent you from dressing yourself, eating/cooking, bathing yourself, doing hobbies, meeting your obligations?
ANA varies from person to person and doesn’t necessarily correlate with disease activity. Anti-dsDNA is more indicative of disease activity and can be elevated prior to and during a flare. Symptoms can also come and go, and over time you may develop additional symptoms. If you scroll through the last week of posts or so, there are a few posts that will have pretty detailed answers to your questions from multiple community members so you can get a better sense of just how full on fickle lupus can be.
Here are some good posts, one is other people experiences in general, the others are rashes (warning: some are particularly severe):
User community diagnosis experiences
This is a malar rash
Photosensitive Lupus Rash
SLE Malar rash
QUESTIONS ARE LIMITED TO 400 WORDS

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I'm a 33M. I wanted to swap virginities with a high school sweetheart. It never happened and it haunts me to this day. I got led on by the same girl in high school not once but twice. And I was a quite guy that had a hard time talking to girls. I probably had an opportunity at 17 years old (grade 12) but was too dumb to realize. That also haunts me to this day. I dated a bit just after high school through friends of friends, but it never worked out. I didn't end up having sex until I was 21. Never had sex with a virgin. The first 4/5 of my sexual partners were people I met online/through apps (I almost had sex with two other women when I was about 19-20 but I don't count anything other than PIV as sex). I feel like a loser for having to rely on apps to meet people and also because I believe my body count is pathetically low. My most recent GF I met at a wedding when I was 26, she had a ridiculously high body count (about 100). We dated for 5.5 years. It would've ended up much sooner but COVID and one other factor of my life (going back to university), pretty much hit a reset button on our relationship. It lasted way longer than it should have. Now I'm single but dating someone I like very much, and I'm just dreading finding out what her body count is and all the amazing life she has lived/all the wonderful relationships and sex she must have had before me, I'm also afraid to potentially have to tell her about my pathetic dating history. I feel like I've almost always been alone. I feel like I had to grind my whole life/work hard/and I never enjoyed my life. I feel like I was surviving while everybody else lived their lives. Here's some context for why I think this. I grew up poor, both my parents had disabilities, I was shy/quiet, I have OCD and I was bullied by a sociopath all throughout school (he ended up killing someone when we were in high school-just including this info so you realize the kind of psycho I had to fight/defend myself from growing up), oh and I had to work when I was a teenager at 15, by 16 I was not only feeding myself but giving my mom money to pay the rent. This kind of situation killed my social/dating life. I remember bringing people home (dating prospects/friends alike), and the next day at school I would hear gossip about how poor I am and people shouldn't date me or be friends with me. My 20's were spent working in a trade (predominantly male profession where I had to travel out of town a lot for work). I wish I could go back in time, have more sex, and at a younger age.

I’m in the uk it’s currently 4:40am I’m so tired but I can’t sleep because of this dream I’ve just had.
Okay so I’m walking through a tiny town and come across a table, two ladies are sitting at the end closest to me, a gentleman on a mobility scooter is driving away and it looks like he’s dropped his wallet. So I ask him if it’s his and go to collect it to give it back when I see that there is a trail of the same wall at leading to a small cupboard box thing. It grabs everyone’s attention so they ask me to open it so I do. I end up handing stuff out to people who claim it’s their belongings though each item for each person is the same.
Somehow it’s now dark the ladies and gentleman have gone, the sky is dark and I have a kind of game board in front of me with I think 6 dice in a tray ( I’m sorry I’m really trying to remember ) there’s a nice kinda strange girl next to me about the same age.
Another woman comes up to the table and insists on having a go but with her own dice, I say that we should use the dice from the game. As soon as she rolls the dice the sky goes red and a younger girl with long blond hair is on the other end of the table with white eyes staring at me. I throw up blood get lifted with the table into the sky and as we fall is when I wake up.
I’ve had this dream once before ages ago and honestly I’m terrified to go back to sleep. It felt too real.
Please can anyone help me

The Tang Empire arc began around chapter 390. It's been over 83 chapters, but the plot seems to stagnate and the progression is almost non-existent. Here are some shortcomings:

1. Lack of a formidable antagonist: Perhaps the most significant shortcoming of this arc is the lack of a single, centralised antagonist who actually poses a threat.

• All the fake Mara ever does is make random appearances, devour injured Innate experts, and make inexplicable disappearances while spouting edgy lines. He spends more time running away than actually putting up a fight. This portrays him as a wannabe edgelord and a coward rather than a proper villain in his own right.
• We know nothing about him except that he is a sock puppet for Ji Jinye, used to bait the Eternal Heavens. In other words, he has no value to make the reader emotionally invested in him.
• His strength level is inconsistent. One moment he gets his ass pounded by an Innate Realm - 3rd Layer expert; the next moment, he casually tanks a series of lethal blows from an Innate Realm - 5th Layer expert.

Some good examples of formidable antagonists are:

• Yi Daochi - The best in-story example of a formidable and entertaining antagonist. He stole the show in the 9 sects arc.
• Xi Sanmei - Rather tough and vicious.
• Xu Min - Scheming, actually logical and observant.
• Qiu Sheng - Interesting fighting style and he was quite the threat.
• Ashby - Not exactly intimidating, but he was cruel, had an interesting backstory, and put up quite the fight.

1. Bland fights: I was looking forward to the Flower Anniversary Tournament, but it turned out to be a disappointment. Here are my reasons:

• For a prestigious event of the Main World, the tournament is just an entertainment show with fancy effects to improve the Dongdu government's public image, rather than being an actual contest of strength among the young generation.
• Xie Yan and Ji Yuntao's "fight" against the elders felt like a WWE match scripted to entertain the public. And it was Ji Yuntao who did most of the fighting while Xie Yan was merely spamming primordial spirit detonations. It didn't feel like their reputation skyrocketed, and certainly not in the right direction.
• All the fights in the Tang Empire arc consist of using fancy gimmicks to show off, slap the opponent in the face, then run away. There are no trials of strength or actual life-or-death battles.

Good examples of a properly written tournament are:

• The 5 peaks sword conference in the world of Qun Xiong, where Xie Yan casually swings the FoFS to demolish the five peaks and kill Long Xiaotian. The part where he finishes off Hua Nongyue and her boyfriends with a finger snap is one of the most satisfying minor world climaxes.
• The Global Fighting Summit of the Ba Quan world is a more appropriate example where there were 8 interesting matches showcasing various martial arts; one minor boss fight; and one hell of a boss fight with a post-climax twist.

1. Poorly executed disguises: This is a recurring issue with many arcs:

• It is annoying to watch the protagonist taking foolish risks while relying on his limited set of disguise skills. He always runs the risk of getting his cover blown and implicating the Mo Qing Sect in the process. There was no need for Xie Yan to pretend to be the envoy during the Tang empire arc when he could have harvested thousands of origin points from a minor world at relatively low risk. The cooldown ended months ago. He could have also found a way to deal with the fake Mara's blood river skill.
• In the Xin Mo Sect arc, Xu Min and Yuan Sheng immediately noticed that "Ge Huaiyu" was an imposter. The "Xilan Wei" disguise was a monumental blunder because Xie Yan was dangerously complacent and did not do his homework. Everyone immediately noticed that "Xilan Wei" was an imposter. The envoys' disguise was also busted when Bian Shifei (one of my least favourite characters) found out that all the envoys were one person. Xie Yan certainly needs to improve his disguise skills and stop underestimating the Main World.
• Xie Yan constantly underestimates the Dongdu government. The Dongdu government may be inept, but it is certainly not weak.

Good examples of disguise experts are:

• Ge Huaiyu, who could create reliable masks using the Mantra Of Disguise and replicate the appearance of different martial arts using the Mantra Of Formlessness.
• Zhou Yanping/Ji Jinye, who is proficient in different martial arts, analyses the situation thoroughly, and uses decoys and skilled subordinates to handle delicate missions. Judging by the fake Mara's skills, Ji Jinye does have the ability to imitate martial arts.

My final thoughts:

1. I think the author should establish Main World system missions, similar to the missions in Physical Descent mode. This would clearly outline the objectives of each arc, instead of letting them develop in haphazard directions. The current arc is a mess of tangled sub plots. Introducing main world system missions would make it easier to chart the progress of each arc. Providing a large number of origin points as incentives would also be an excellent addition because it would be more convenient for Xie Yan to efficiently earn more origin points in the main world. He wouldn't have to rely on gimmicks to earn small amounts of origin points in the Main World.
2. Xie Yan should follow Ji Jinye's example and actually analyse the situation and people he is dealing with, instead of recklessly provoking them. He should improve his disguise skills, either by finding skills similar to what Ge Huaiyu had, or learning a sophisticated decoy skill similar to the 4 Confucian masks that Ji Jinye has. Remotely controlling a decoy while sitting in your lair is safer and more efficient when exploring unfamiliar and dangerous territories. There wouldn't be any immediate danger in case the cover is blown and one can respond properly.
3. Better pacing: Tao Du arc lasted for only 13 chapters, yet it is relevant to the overall story. In contrast, the Xilan arc lasted for 55 chapters and the Tang Empire arc is around 80+ chapters, but the plot is mostly stagnant and most chapters are filler. Proper pacing and exposition can enhance the quality of the narrative.

What is your opinion?
Sorry for the wall of text.

From what's shown in the show we see:
The Bookie (his first kill where he makes his bones)
Febby, The Rat in Maine
Chucky Signore, with the fish gun
Matthew Bevilaqua, at least he got his (diet) soft drink of choice
Big Puss, who haunted him as billy bass
Ralph, who was his first kill in almost two seasons
That Animal Blundetto
Chrissy, who should have covered that beak better
Coco, it's said that he's alive at the end, but considering Tone left him as a toothless shopping cart from here on out, I don't think he would've lived much longer
That's a total of eight, considering how generally abrasive and violent T is shown to be, I doubt the twenty something year gap had zero murders from the big guy. I think it's reasonable to assume that the show didn't show every bit of his life and he could have conceivably killed people but said hits weren't explicitly shown.
The best evidence for this I think is the last part of season six, it's clear from the start that he was trying to do less of the fighting himself and his comment to Gloria about the older gorilla having done its fighting already so it just has to jaw at its opponents now seems to show his mindset for the mid part of the show. Notably he doesn't kill anyone in season three (on screen at least) and only goes after Ralph after pretty much everyone wanted him gone and later his cousin to salvage the situation and preserve the rest of the family. By the end of season six though, he becomes far more active and arguably the most frontline he's been since the start of the show beating Coco, killing Chrissy and generally becoming more energized than any other point in the series.
The other mobsters wouldn't have been scared of him if they didn't know he posed a real threat at any moment, we see Phil even look scared of him in that chase despite how brutal Phil is when he attacks other people, even though he's just the leader of this pygmy thing down in Jersey. Not to mention his connections probably had to be earned in blood, the Russians, his corrupt FBI people, his corrupt local cops, the judges and people he brought onside, the Civil Rights activist guy who was really working for him, regardless of blood his cousin over in Italy had to have had some reason for working with him aside from fancy cars and she didn't even get to sleep with him (her own second cousin turning her down had to be quite the low blow) so he probably had to take care of some people in the states for her.
He also seems quite comfortable killing and brutally killing at that, he has his whole 'we are soldiers' thing too but looking at the sheer joy in his eyes when he's beating people or killing them so who knows he might have 30-50 people he's killed by the time everything is said and done which is an extremely high amount. Perhaps it's not that high when one considers that arguably half his killings in the show weren't something he intended to do until the moment they happened, he didn't go to Ralph's house thinking he'd kill him, he was paranoid about Chrissy but wasn't going to kill him until the crash mixed with Chris being high and seeing the tree branch where his daughter would've been, all the other kills had either a lot of deliberation or preparation. That's with Tone as an established leader though, who knows what all he'd be tasked to do as an underling.
He would have been working under his father for a fair portion of this time which couldn't have been peaceful.
I know enough with the preambles, frankly the whole thing has me depressed and ashamed