Third person POV:
It was a calm day in the Menumen empire. Lya was sitting on her throne and tending to the issues of her empire. Her seers had warned her of a possible slave rebellion that might take place in about a century. She obviously couldn't let something like that happen.
Lya turned her attention to her minister of human resources.
"Hear my decree, from this day onwards all slves shall-„
A guard burst into the room and fell to his knees in front of her.
"Yes?“
Lya inquired.
"Your majesty! There is a destroyer rampaging through the south eastern regions!“
"I see...I shall attend to this myself. Execute this guard, he has conducted himself improperly.“
Despite her words, a wide smile fell on the guards face.
"Thank you, your majesty! It is an honor!“
Lya rose from her throne and walked past the man, unimpressed by his devotion, paying him no further mind.
Meanwhile, in another part of the castle:
No sound was heard, as Delorem's many tentacles ripped apart the floor of the lower guards barrack's bathroom, the silence spell working as intended.
With a wave of their hand, Delorem dispelled the magic and rose from the hole, with Whisper following right behind him.
Mars POV:
I was in my cell.
“It’s been… how long has it been? I don’t remember…”
Im severely bruised and injured. My tail is limp, jagged, bent in multiple places, and dragging across the floor. There seems to be no magic coming out from me, around my neck is some sort of collar. I’m heavily bruised, malnourished, and frail looking. I look half dead.
Thirteen seconds…
7 seconds
5
4
3
2-
Before I could finish, the sounds of a guard walking past the cell could be heard, his loud but bored sounds of his patrol echoing out.
I whisper to myself
"I have 49 seconds.“
I attempt to crank up my perception, but halts just when it gets to the end of the hall. All this torture was starting to affect me. I gather the ambient fire mana into my fingertips, and make a small burning blade aura out of it. I begin cutting the bars…
30 seconds…
I make it through the first bar, two more to go.
25 seconds left…
I manage to saw through the other bars, and gathering whatever remains of the ambient mana, I cast a small illusion, covering up the bars and making it look like im sitting inside. I limp away, down the hall.
Damn stupid maze. 15 seconds…
”when I was first brought here, I attempted to remember the paths with my sense, but the pain made it quite hard to remember much of anything. Now I can’t see very far…”
I found a corner I know the guard won’t check. I’m out of breath. My body feeling weak and heavy.
Not… yet… I'm… almost… there…
I walk down the path I choose in the dungeon. Making turns wherever I saw fit. I didn’t seem to have a destination in mind. I was going in blind
I… … need… … to… … hold… … ou-
finally, at a four way intersection, I collapse to the ground of exhaustion. Alone. I’m far away from where the guards frequent.
I’ve fallen completely unconscious.
Third Person POV:
Thud
Yet another guard fell to the ground, his heart pierced by one of Delorem’s blade tipped tentacles.
Thud
The guard at the other end of the archway the two guards had been stationed at fell as well, his throat pierced by his own shadow at Whisper’s command.
Delorem waved their hand, dispelling yet another silence spell. They turned to Whisper.
„There are more guards stationed in this area then there used to be…I guess it makes sense she would have changed things at least once after 3000 years…"
"That is some very old intel Delorem. I am surprised the whole structure has not changed since then. I sense one around the corner and several above and below us.“
Whisper replied.
„My mother has a tendency to stagnate. She hasn’t even changed her- Do you feel that?“
"I feel many presences. Which one are you referring to?“
„Below us, the unconscious one. I think that’s Mars!“
"I will cover you if you want to head on in for retrieval.“
„Thank you. Take care of any guards that show up.“
For a moment, Delorem’s eyes were lit up by a dense array of golden runes, as silence fell over the area once more.
Delorem’s tentacles shot forwards, dairying into the ground as if it was made from styrofoam, throwing away pieces of debris as Delorem dug through the ground..
Then, a stone was flung too far, landing beyond the silence spell’s influence, the sound of its impact loudly echoing throughout the previously quiet halls of the castle.
„Shit.“
Delorem soundlessly mouthed.
"A patrol is coming to inspect. I will intercept.“
Whisper telepathically informed Delorem as she rushed off. Delorem simply replied with a feeling of approval as they continued to tear through the floor.
Soon screams rang out from the other side of the hall. None of the guards stood a chance.
Finally Delorem broke through the floor, allowing themself to fall into the newly made hole, Whisper following them seconds later.
Delorem landed on the floor, just a few meters in front of the unconscious Mars.
„That’s him! He must have made it out of his cell somehow.“
Whisper reached out telepathically: "Guards are down. What is happening on your end?“
„I found him. Let’s get out of this cursed place.“
Delorem rose from the floor and floated back up through the hole.
„Alright, we should have some time until-„
Suddenly, the sound of hundreds of trumpets could be heard, a fanfare to announce the arrival of someone of high status. The empress had returned.
„RUN!“
…
A few minutes later, Lyadria Menumen stood at the hole in the floor of her castle, the man who had brought her the news of her captives escape lying on the ground next to her, his head completely liquified.
Yet, on Lya’s face, there was not a hint of anger, only a sadistic smile.
/uw big thanks to everyone who took part!

Im nearing 1 month into toxic mold exposure. Cleaned up some throw up with a towel and forgot it in the hamper (i know). When doing laundry mold powder (?) got in the from unsticking the towel.
For the first two weeks i was sleeping in the same room with no air purifier. I started to develop worse symptoms, such as tight chest, delusion, issues remembering words, body twitches, abdomen aches, and so on. In the thick of it I had horrible insomnia.
Last week, I made the mistake of washing a contaminated pillow with the rest of my bedspread, being uneducated on how to "clean mold." That completely ruined me. Horrible body aches, tight chest, and most of the things in that room cause my symptoms to flare up as well. Im not yet able to move out, but I have since moved to a different room in the same house, albeit on a different floor. I didn't take anything from the room with me except a desk that ive wiped down.
Although, since the contamination of my pillows and bedspread, I've been experiencing what seems to be an all day, never ending headache. Often times this is my only noticeable symptom. Even when I leave the house, the back of my head still pulses with pain. I am only able to find relief when I wash my hair with cold water, even if for a few minutes. Sometimes it goes away, then returning when I come into contact with contaminated clothing. I have dreadlocks, which are highly porous, which is why I fear that I have mycotoxins secured in the kinks of my hair. I notice that when i dry my hair, the fingers I'm using get stiff and hurt a bit. Hair touching my body also tends to cause a burning sensation.
Headaches, above all are my biggest concern with mold toxicity because of the inflammation in the brain it may cause. Am I correct to think that I have mycotoxins lodged in my hair, and how would I go about resolving this?

After months of my practitioners barely giving me enough medicine to keep the yeast at bay following multiple rounds of powerful antibiotics. They said I qualified for the appointment based on the duration of my symptoms and the yeast not responding to traditional care. I have tested negative for STIs, autoimmune disorders, and multiple scans of my body have revealed absolutely nothing. Most of my tests have returned negative for yeast despite obvious yeast as witnessed by myself and several doctors.
My symptoms
Oral thrush mostly on tongue Burning tongue Sore throat Sore glands
Anal itching and discomfort Red yeast rashes Pain
Vaginal thrush Constant tingling and itching sensation across entire vaginal area
Severe low back and pelvic pain Occurs randomly Shoots down legs Hard to tell if nerve or muscular Started at same time as yeast
Symptoms flare with alcohol and sugar and with sweating
Has anyone gone to ID and had a successful encounter? I feel like this yeast is slowly killing me.

Hey guys, I'm an LMT but honestly don't have a lot of experience with car crash cases. My girlfriend was hit tonight on her way to work, and is now saying her low back is starting to feel sore. She'll be going to urgent care tomorrow, mostly for insurances purposes, but what is the protocol for massage in this case? If I remember correctly, isn't there a certain amount of time I should wait before working on her? Any advice is appreciated.

People who have been diagnosed with PFPS: How bad would you consider the pain you experienced (either current or past). Also what did the pain feel like and was it localized or spread out? What activities did you feel pain while doing? How long has the pain lasted and has it got any better?
I was diagnosed with PFPS by an ortho and PT, but the pain I am in is intense and long lasting (going on 6 months now). For reference, I got my wisdom teeth out in November and did not take any pain medicine past the first two days. Whereas, today, six months after the onset of pain, I have taken an 800 mg ibuprofen pill, that is leftover from the wisdom teeth procedure, and my knees have been in agony all day. I have tried icy-hot, acupuncture, ice and heat therapy, CBT oil- none of these give me much relief. The pain and lack of normal knee function effects almost every daily activity, such as just walking around the house, laying in bed, or sitting in a chair at school and word. They feel stiff and unstable at times, but mainly just vulnerable and painful. I have tried a week of complete rest, and a week of just light walking, none of which seems to make a difference. I have not run or done anything intense in six months and I have done three-four months of PT. I feel hopeless that this will never go away and I will be limited in activity and experience pain, for the rest of my life. I used to do a variety of exercises; running, incline walking, strength training, long walks, hikes, biking, now I can barely walk through a store without intense concentration of movements and mechanic, plus pain. THIS SUCKS!
With all this being said, I am just skeptical that I even have PFPS. I feel like if this were the true problem, I would be feeling significantly better by now after not doing high-impact activities and doing PT. For PT exercises, I focus on hip, quad, glute, calf, and core strength as well as hamstring and quad flexibility. I also feel that the pain would be more sporadic and achy rather than isolated and sharp. It felt like a part of my knee was overlapping with my tibia bone, excruciating! The pain started very isolated in my medial knee, on the lower quadrant of the knee cap and radiates down to my tibia (near my pes anserine). It hurts specifically to straighten my leg and flex my quad as well as lean down and touch my toes. These movements aggravate that area for multiple days afterwards. However, a couple months later, it started to also become spread through my knee cap and was incredibly achy rather than sharp. This is associated with sitting down for long periods of times but also happens after walking extended distances and times. I think this is more where the PFPS comes into play, but is it possible that a previous issue triggered PFPS due to inflammation/mechanical alterations? I am inclined to think that I have a medial meniscus tear or mcl injury, medial plica syndrome, or even pes aserine bursitis which has triggered PFPS/chondromalacia. If anyone has similar experiences, how do I get a doctor to go down this route with me?
Also, walking movement feels so unnatural, like the lifting motion and landing impact, due to the feeling of unstability and stiffness. I find it hard to even envision my knees going back to normal and being able to move like I did before, like the human body is meant to, at least without intense concentration and precaution.
Do any of these symptoms sound similar to any of your situations, if so, what was the diagnosis and treatment plan? I am really looking for any help or hope that I can get. I feel like my quality of life has gone down the drain in the past six months. I have remained optimistic and hopeful since December, but this has quickly diminished as of late because none of the time, effort, or money I have dedicated to fixing the problem has improved the situation. I am becoming anxious and depressed that it will never get better and this will be my new reality (I just turned 21)! I am sorry for the essay long post, but Im very hopeful someone on this sub will be able to provide some tips, tricks, or insight. Thank you everyone and good luck with your knee injury journey!

Ok question time. So I was injured at work a slip and fall in the bathroom. I do have previous neck surgery 4 fused disks. I injured my neck and lower back. I had an mri the day before the accident on my neck for my regular doctor. Which showed NO disk protrusions or anything. Initially they sent me to er. Then when I required further treatment denied me stating previous injury and they said my fall never occurred when it did. They had me do a deposition where both my lawyer and theirs said I was amazing in my deposition no stuttering no missteps no uh huhs etc lol. They still denied me. I got mri of my neck 4 months after the accident now and it shows two herniated disks. I'm attempting to get an mri of my lower back which when it happens will make 6 months since accident. My questions are when the lower back mri comes in and shows most likely more disk herniations since it's been so long and a disk hernia usually heals in less then 3 months and they deny me will a judge rule in my favor? And what if my lower back heals by the time I get the lower back mri done would a judge still accept it? And will insurance still get me treatment for the injuries present? And will it reduce my settlement amount if approved?

hii! so..i've always very occasionally had one or two small pimples pop up near the sides/undersides of my breasts. whatever, not a big deal. but lately it's been more like 3-6 AT A TIME. i work a job where i move a lot, so i sweat quite a bit. i also got a birth control implant last year. i'm pretty sure it's a cross between the sweating and my hormones but it's so embarrasing..help?
i recently started using lume to see if it helps. i also get quite a bit of acne popping up now on my upper back under my neck.

I almost just did it. Was testing the jump rope to see if it would hold and nearly passed out. I think it will work. I’ve already tried twice with a belt and it failed both times. Now my neck is red and my parents may ask questions tomorrow. I just have no idea how to get the suicidal thoughts out of my head.The only thing stopping me is believing/knowing I will regret it as soon as it’s done. My soul will be annoyed with me and I’ll be doomed to come back here like life is just a cosmic video game. So often, I make a decision/do or say something, then instantly regret it. How do I stop feeling this way?

Hi, I am having a nexplanon in January, since then I had no period until the early of May, I started on having a bad boobs sore, bloated ,cramps and back/legs pain I was terrified that I would be pregnant but thankfully it was not that. Then I had a period, it was only 3-4 days then stop for week and now it started again with the heavy flow. I gained some weight too not too sure it is about the side effect. Anyone experienced the same?

I've had cardiophobia & heat anxiety since the ptsd situation I had that started at age 17. Now 31. I missed most of my 20s on doing things because they both scared me so much that I missed trips, parties, dates, intimacy, working out or Exercising fully. My body always braces to catch something. I got insomnia during pandemic, which then caused me to sit down a lot most days for years. Now I have a lower back disc thats bad, my neck has bad instability, I have costochondritis, and always am hyper aware of my bodily sensations, that I'm never able to enjoy anything. I swear I've been to the ER at least 100 times between then and now. Like this madness never stops. I've been in therapy for many years, group therapy recently, and seen way too many doctors & tests done. I don't do caffeine, smoke, or drink either.

(I posted this a few days ago but I'm looking for some more opinions in light of things I left out of my last post)
Let me give some quick background.
So I've been seriously lifting for about two years and I've made a lot of progress. 5'7, went from around 115 to 160 lbs at the beginning of the day. I'm on my second bulk so far, but, despite eating all my macros and a calorie surplus, I've been seeing declining performance for weeks now. I don't feel much stronger than when I started bulking, and I've had to cut my 75-90 minute workouts (6 days a week) short quite often in recent times before my muscles will tire, forcing me to quit before I'm satisfied with the work I've done.
I decided to take a week off last week, but coming into this week, not only have I been able to do even less work and have had to cut the workouts even shorter, but both today's and yesterday's workouts have caused aches and pains in my chest and shoulder respectively (Monday is chest and tricepts, Tuesday is biceps and back). My pecs are super sensitive to any movement and feel sore, and my shoulder feels like it's having growing pains (aching pain).
I've also been taking muscle relaxants (magnesium citrate) for about 2 months for the sake of my digestion. Could this sustained ingestion of muscle relaxants harm my performance?
What's the cause of this pain, and more broadly the workout problems I've been having? Overtraining? Plateauing? What's the solution.

I was having jaw pain super dull it’s something that has came and gone, pressing on it felt like a sore muscle but nothing too bad. I started massaging it &’ BOOM the pain went away. Instantly my mind went to fear. Fear that “what if I had an abscess” “what if I just gave myself sepsis” omg my heart rate was boosting instantly and then the panic kicked in my chest &’ i got up so quickly my heart started pounding even felt on the back of my head.
Not going to lie I almost health anxiety spiraled. Also I’m still super scared but I’m trying really hard to focus on my breathing.😭

Hello, 4 weeks back had hooked up with a lady. Had unprotected penetration for few seconds. Came back to my senses and wore a condom and carried on.
Last week noticed a boil on my penis shaft. I should have left it alone. I tried to pop it out . Also , foolish of me to apply undiluted Dettol on it. This led to skin irritation and caused burn like sacrs near the area. Now it has dried out but still have bumpy scars .
https://ibb.co/cFsGLb8
https://ibb.co/pXsVn0x
Could this still be a STI or something. Had no other symptoms like blisters, cold sores ,fever, discharge or painful urination.

Hi, so I have two questions about what I think is my allergy. I say think because no doctor ever felt the need to test it. My mom always told me I am allergic to bites from horseflies. I am from Northern Europe where you can encounter them if you spend time in nature. If I get bit the bite swells up to about 10 cm in diameters and becomes red with tight skin. This is if it is on a spot with a lot of area. Once got bitten on my eyebrow and it swelled so I could not see for three days on that eye. Another time I got bitten 10-15 times on my face and neck (one got inside the mosquito net while camping) and I passed out the next day at the ER. I have always just taken some zyrtec/cetirizine whenever I am in nature and it has helped for the swelling. I never reacted this hard to normal mosquitos back home, just horseflies.
Current issue: I am living in China, where I have not seen horseflies, but there are a lot of mosquitoes. And lucky me, they think I'm delicious. I swell up like I used to do with horseflies back home. Over the last week the temp has been going up and I've been bit alot. 10 times below my knee on one of my legs and it is now almost completely red. It hurts and my skin hurts when I move because the swelling makes it so tight. I do not scratch apart from when I am asleep and have no control.
2 questions: Does it makes sense that I am allergic to Chinese mosquitoes the same way I am European horseflies? Do they have similar stuff in their spit maybe?
And is there anything stronger than cetirizine I can take to make me react less?

Hi all! My little old lady Shelly is on prednisone cream which goes in her ear pinna, and I recently was unable to get her refill for about a week. She’s on it because when she’s not, she itches or chews her fur off in one area or another and makes sores sores (she once had a bald tummy). This time, she’s really gone after her ears and has the worst dermatitis yet; they’re hot and inflamed, and clearly extremely itchy and sensitive. She’s been back on her meds for a few days, but until it kicks in she continues to itch. I made a vet appointment for Monday, but in the meantime I was wondering if anyone has advice for something soothing to put on her ears/eyebrow she scratched off. We think she does this because of allergies, but haven’t been able to figure out to what in her 18 years. I feel bad looking at her all droopy-eared!

So I’ve been officially diagnosed with cervical dystonia but I think I have a more general type of task-specific and irritation based dystonia that mainly affects the nasopharynx to larynx zone (was just the larynx 10 years ago), causing my inhaling to feel very stiff. It seems to get triggered by burps, gas fumes from stomach and has now (3-4 years later), has almost gotten chronic. What’s interesting is sensory stuff like eating, excessive burping, going out on a windy day, or accidentally twisting my leg can switch off the stiffness. If I start mouth breathing for a while and then go back to nose breathing, it’s very clear for like a minute. I’ve done all sorts of testing for stuff like allergies and food intolerances already.

First time poster here so go easy on me :) 33M. Gay. 5 years of talk therapy under my belt before the dam broke.
About 9-10 months ago while meditating I hit what felt like an intense energy. This was during an incredibly stressful period of time for me when a bunch of major life events came to a head. The sensation would make my body vibrate but I felt safe enough to allow it rise. Easiest way to describe it was like leaning into a big ball of strong, tense energy. After a few weeks of “inhabiting” it I started crying daily. Huuuuuuge cries. I’m talking devastation/ catharsis. It freaked me out the first few times but felt amazing afterwards. My more traditional anxiety symptoms also vanished and haven’t returned as of yet. The chest tightness, nervous sweating, ruminating all seemed to be swept away and replaced by this new all consuming grief/anger bodily sensation. The next phase was weird. I developed insane fatigue and something like agoraphobia and just didn’t want to travel. I was fine leaving the house and doing normal things like buying groceries, but I couldn’t go more than like 30mins from home because I had this idea I needed to be close to my bed because it was my safe place. I also didn’t want to commit to meeting up with people/ needed to know I could exit at any point. The crying continued but in a controlled way, I could also start to schedule it. The agoraphobia lifted after about 2 months and the fatigue started to come and go. I’m still slightly spooked by the agoraphobia and think I worry it will come back.
Cut to now. I can do things again, like meet friends or get on a plane. But I still feel super fragile. Sometimes the exhaustion rolls back in and I just need to nap. I still cry, not as much though. I also yawn like 100 times a day lol. I’m talking huge, mouth locks open as far as it can yawns. They feel great. Also smells. Literally every smell triggers a memory from childhood. I can get a whiff of something and I’m taken back to my school classroom, a birthday present, Christmas 1997, all sorts of places. None of them feel threatening, but they all feel kind of sad.
Where I’m at now is a sort of healing frustration. I’ve given the process all my time and energy and although I can resume most activities, I don’t really enjoy any of them. I feel like I have to force myself to make use of time I’m not crying or resting.
I also feel like I have way too much new information about myself and what I want from life, but I’m unable to go after it. It’s like a yearning to join the party I’ve just found out is being held…but an inability to muster the energy to dress up and show up for it. There’s also the grief of having missed so much of it.
My question, then, is what symptoms of processing and healing signalled you clicking into a new, more stable everyday routine? What were the signs before you started feeling excitement about doing things again, feeling less consumed by all your new insights? Where am I atm in relation to your own journeys?
Oh PS - a bonus question for anyone who experienced similar. The only activity I physically cannot do, after almost 9 months, is work at a computer comfortably. Soon as I look at the screen my whole body tenses up or I space out. I’ve been able to work part time but I have to kind of jump in and out of screen time. 20mins on the PC is the most I can manage without having my neck and shoulders start locking up. I also feel a huge rage in me I can’t seem to access. This literally only happens when I open a computer lol.
Big love to you all.

This is more or less what my sewage pump looks like: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71ACm4BohjL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
The length on the line on my float switch seemed a little long, and was letting the water get a bit higher than I wanted before kicking on.
I unclamped and took a little slack out. Put it back in and tested and the water level kicked on at more or less the same time as last time.
Im wondering if its because the cord is thick and stiff and isnt bending enough to kick it on before.
How do I determine the correct length of cord, and can you make it too short (like I fear I did).
Hoping maybe I can bend the cord and loosen it up a bit instead of having to take it out of the shit pit again.
Thanks.

I know a lot of producers have talked about unsolicited feedback in the past but this post isn't about that. It's about feedback for various projects and feedback that gets requested and given. This also applies equally to original production in many cases.
A good number of mashup producers do not tend to master or don't apply limiters on tracks, or just make them softer compared to commercial levels. When albums get mastered, loudness will usually be adjusted through various plugins (EQ, multiband compressors, limiters, clippers, etc.) to shape masters so that one track is not significantly louder or softer than another especially back-to-back and groups of tracks follow a certain sound.
What this means is that once your softer mashup of -14 or -15 LUFS or softer is amplified to commercial levels in the -7 to -11 LUFS range or more depending on genre and how the overall track should sound given peaks and valleys with softer and louder parts (LUFS stands for loudness units full scale, look that up), small issues may stand out like thorns when amplified. Bottom line: Don't take the small or big issues personally; we're all human, we all miss things, and we can all improve. You may learn something new!
Think of it like how you ask to proofread writing to check for spelling or grammar and have it work for the audience.
All this to say, feedback I give or others give based on small details may come across as nit-picks at first. Don't completely discount them. You never know who will want to play your tracks, and this could range from personal playlists all the way up to DJ gigs and big festival stages.
In the case of a club DJ or performances on festival stages, volumes will be significantly louder than what you may have worked with when you created the track. I've given the restaurant food analogy before but I'll give it again: If something clearly doesn't taste good, people won't usually know why. But an experienced chef who knows how the ingredients interact sure will.
Just something to think about as you improve on mashup production and production in general.
Here are some issues below that experienced mashup producers could point out. Note that a lot of the "don't do this" stuff is really code for "don't do this unless you really know you're doing and it sounds good":

Big issues

• Out of key (OOK): This refers to wrong key signature (e.g. mixing A Minor with B Minor), not blue notes from modes or short moments of modulation. Key rule of thumb: If you're going to use key databases, verify by ear. Tunebat is the least accurate. If you must do so, use a reliable key database like the ones in this post. DJ software can work, but some automatic key detection performs better than others and are far from perfect. Above all, databases are not perfect and some will be far from it, so ears will be the final judge of whether a pairing sounds good.
• Out of tempo/time (OOT): this usually refers to wrong tempo (e.g. mixing a 116 BPM track with a 118 BPM track) or not constant tempo and going out of time. Key rule of thumb: Sync your tracks and if you need to use any form of warping (see Ableton), be prepared to do so.
• Incorrect/bad beat alignment: This is more for when a vocal or element is offbeat enough that it really sticks out as a trainwreck when mixed together
• Wrong beat/out of structure/off structure: This is when a vocal or other element is placed on a beat that doesn't make sense for what it's combined with (e.g. placing the first word of a vocal over an instrumental on beat 2 when it was meant for beat 1). Mileage will vary, sometimes the vocal beat placement only makes sense for the original song and makes less sense on others.
• Distortion from going in the red: This is when the overall mix or elements sound distorted because the volume of each track channel is too loud and either alone or combined goes well above 0 dBFS (a.k.a. into the red). Key rule of thumb: Start your track volumes at -6 dB (not 0 dB) and then adjust to taste. Don't go into the red unless you absolutely know what you're doing.
• Elements way too soft or loud: This is more along the lines of not being able to hear the added vocals or elements at all or they're too loud that you can't hear the other elements in the mix.
• Big mood mismatch: This tends to be less egregious, but if sources don't cooperate at all to a point of completely ruining the vibe, the mashup could stick out like a sore thumb from the start. Mileage will vary, and sometimes your audience would appreciate this especially with genre clashes even to the point of creating memes. But it depends on what you're going for, and sometimes you want consistency for certain albums and groups of tracks.

Smaller issues

• Fifth traps/not picking the right keys to use: This is a specific version of another problem I'll touch on, but this happens when you mix keys fifths or fourths away (e.g. F Major and C Major) and the chord progressions don't cooperate. What makes this a trap is that the pairing might appear to sound good at first glance, but when you look back at what you made, you probably could have made a better sounding pairing if you had just picked sources in key, relative key (e.g. A Minor and C Major), or parallel to the mode type (i.e. A Minor with A Dorian since Dorian is a minor mode). This Berklee Online article is a really good starting point to modes. With modes, mileage will vary.
• Out of progression/blue notes: This can happen when there are short moments where the element clashes on top of other elements (e.g. modes or short moments of different modulation). Sometimes the tracks may not be compatible, but other times it's just a part with notes outside the scale. This can be fixed by doing small note changes, but be careful not to make it too obvious, otherwise it might sound like you're forcing the pairing to work. It may also follow the same theme as fifth traps, where you could have made a better sounding pairing if you had just picked sources in key, relative key (e.g. A Minor and C Major), or parallel to the mode type (i.e. A Minor with A Dorian since Dorian is a minor mode). This Berklee Online article is a really good starting point to modes. With modes, mileage will vary.
• Low quality sources: This happens with YouTube or other rips where the elements are lower quality due to a lower frequency cutoff (YouTube is usually 15.5 kHz for AAC, other platforms may be 15-16 kHz for 128 kbps MP3, etc.). Bottom line: Get the highest quality sources you can, and use Spek or another spectrum analysis software to check rips or record pool sources. Your ears and processing algorithms will thank you. Again, you never know who will listen to or play out your track, could even be a big sound system.
• Stem separation artifacts: This can take several different forms, but can happen when either the invert or stem separation algorithm being used adds noise or other unwanted high end artifacts like high hats that once amplified, will absolutely stand out in a mix. This also includes artifacts from stem separation algorithms like Utagoe which make vocals sound like they're underwater at default settings. Key rule of thumb: Remember that the instrumental and original could be mixed and mastered differently depending on the production environment and how masters spread. If an invert makes a vocal stand out more but just needs extra cleaning, don't be afraid to combine the invert technique (original + instrumental) with stem separation. When using multiple stem separation techniques or using different sources (like remix + remix instrumental), think about how they sound on parts of the instrumental and consider picking the best extraction for a given part; remember that this includes using the original song (this is called comping in the production world). If there are parts of vocals intended to be silent and there are artifacts, don't be afraid to replace the reverb + delay with your own. Keep up to date with stem separation algorithms by keeping up with developments on the Audio Separation Discord server: https://discord.gg/wY3AAaTvHT
• Weird time-stretch and pitch-shift artifacts: This can happen when using a lower quality time-stretch or a time-stretch that can destroy transients/drum hits (Audacity or Elastique Efficient on vocals, older Elastique Pro on full instrumentals) or pitching too much and/or with too much/little formant preserve. The best way to reduce these effects on instrumental is to think about combining stem separation with ways to improve quality (pitch everything BUT the drums unless tonal, experiment with different time stretch methods on different elements, etc.). For too much pitch or formant preserve, either pick sources that are closer in key (+/- 2 semitones is a good rule of thumb) and try to control the amount of formant preservation and/or envelope (in Ableton) to make the vocals sound more natural. Formant preserve is usually a good idea for pitched vocals, but can sound bad for pitched instrumentals especially drums depending on the track.
• Pops or clicks while editing: This tends to happen when elements like vocals are cut off when not at zero volume. Key rule of thumb: Edit to zero crossing and/or use fades to cut off regions or when combining different regions together.
• Flanging, phasing, or flamming while editing: Sometimes these effects are on purpose, but oftentimes when crossfading between different parts of an instrumental, both parts of the edit don't align on beat. Flanging and phasing applies for sample level edits (ms or more), flamming for tenths or hundredths of seconds (e.g. 0.05 sec or 0.1 sec). Flamming is a drumming term for when the same part of the drum kit (usually the snare drum) is hit twice with different sticks at close to but not exactly the same time.
• Vocals or other elements end too suddenly in an edit: You may want to get different vocals to interact with each other or edit out of artifacts from vocal stem separation, but the other vocal (or elements) sound like they were cut off. Key rule of thumb: Have a reverb effect handy, and if you're working in a DAW, take advantage of wet/dry automation and combine the reverb with delay afterwards in the effect chain for vocals and other elements so when you crank up the wet the decay helps fade out the element gracefully.
• Vocals or other elements start too suddenly or out of place when connecting them or transitioning: This also considers getting different vocals or other elements to work together or going to a new part, but refers to a new part using vocals or other elements sounding out of place at the beginning of a region in a transition. Key rule of thumb: Watch your crossfades and when you're in a pinch and want to start the next part gracefully, don't be afraid to use reverse reverb or other effect like a riser to introduce a completely new element or different part in a pinch. Reverse reverb is exactly what it sounds: Adding reverb to a short snippet of an element like a cymbal, vocal note, or pad, and then applying reverse on it. Often this is done by choosing a tonal center to transition into, choosing a small snippet to add reverb to, choosing reverb with a long decay time and big space (usually I do a Cathedral reverb), reversing it, and then carefully aligning the reverse reverb so the end of it hits the beginning of the next region. Whew that was a lot! Tutorials will do this much more justice but this is the general idea.
• Vocals too dry or too wet for the instrumental: Usually this depends on the instrumental's genre. For genres like pop or EDM, vocals tend to have some reverb applied to make them shine. For others like alternative and some classic hip-hop, the reverb might be less or no wet or a completely different type. This issue usually refers to too little reverb (too dry) or too much reverb (too wet). Key rule of thumb: Don't forget to have reverb handy. You might need it. Keep your wet low in the middle of a vocal depending on what you're trying to do (think 3-5% wet or - on the low side
• Vocals or other elements slightly too loud or soft: Self-explanatory, this is usually an issue where elements should be the right volume for elements to work well together.
• Vocals or other elements drowned out/don't gel due to hypercompression: This usually happens when using a vocal not from an EDM, hyperpop, hard rock, or other genre where there is hypercompression but no matter how much volume amount you try elements like vocals don't gel and compete for space in the mid range. Two common techniques take the form of adding more compression to a vocal to stand up to an hypercompressed instrumental and/or reducing mid band EQ of the other source (which could come from sidechaining). For the added compression, it tends to be done with either multiple compressors in series (e.g. two compressors using low threshold + high ratio and high threshold + low ratio) or through various guitar distortion plugins on settings meant for vocals (e.g. Camelcrusher with British Clean or certain presets of OTT). Don't be afraid to experiment.
• Master too loud or soft for the genre: This usually takes the form of using limiters and other effects to make certain tracks too loud for the genre intended, or not using anything at all and the track is too soft for the genre/commercial sound. This can come down to taste, but how a track was produced can affect how loud you master. Mileage will vary; listen to how loud tracks are made and emulate your favorites assuming nothing too egregious.
• Stereo issues: This can happen if there are elements out of phase when trying to combine mono and stereo or applying other effects. It's a bit more difficult to diagnose, but one rule of thumb is to test your overall track on different playback systems (from headphones to big speakers and even your phone or small bluetooth speaker which will effectively test mono depending on the device).

Wow that was a lot and I know it's very overwhelming who don't produce a ton. There might be more issues I didn't mention here, so let me know if there's anything else that could be useful.