Itch and rash back elbows

Back home, I used "Paul mitchell's Tea Tree Shampoo" for my greasy/flaky hair, so I've been looking for bottles with the kanji for "tea", "organinc", or "natural" on them and I've gone through several different brands in the past 2 months that I've been in Japan; I'm here on a student visa for the next year.
They're not terrible shampoos, they just don't work as well as I need them to, or on the flip side (mainly the ones labeled to be specifically for flakes and dandruff) they work WAY too well and give my scalp a pretty annoying rash.
Secondly and less importantly, I can't find a good aftershave that gives me that slight burn/cooling feeling. By asking the occasional passing employee, I've found "aftershave" that feels more like a lotion with seemingly no effect and still leaves my face with discomfort after a close shave.
Thank you in advance!

My partner recently got these bites (first pic, back of arm) which seemed to appear after our trip to a state park. The second pic (back near underarm) however seemed to appear after she was in a pool teaching our dog how to dock dive. We thought maybe it was a rash from her bra getting wet? I’m concerned it may be bed bug bites because of the way they look and the fact that she has found a few more bites in other areas of her body. These are the only two areas that they’re a big cluster like this though. The others have one or two bites near each other. Thank you in advance!

Hey everyone,
I’m a 33-year-old vocalist based in Fullerton, but I’m willing to travel to Long Beach and the surrounding areas to make this happen. I’m on the lookout for dedicated musicians to join me in forming a hardcore band. Specifically, I’m in need of a drummer, bassist, and 1-2 guitarists.
My Influences:
Here are some of the bands that inspire me: Kublai Khan, Knocked Loose, Turnstile, Parkway Drive, For the Fallen Dreams, Fit For a King, Gideon, Wage War, Being As An Ocean, Bad Omens, Spiritbox, After the Burial, The Ghost Inside, Thy Art Is Murder, Alexisonfire, Whitechapel, Upon a Burning Body, Counterparts, Vanna, Bury Tomorrow, Heart of a Coward, Terror, In Hearts Wake, Northlane, Dragged Under, As Blood Runs Black, Deftones, Currents, Thrown, Gojira, Alpha Wolf, Beartooth, Harms Way, Bodysnatcher, Make Them Suffer, August Burns Red, Stick To Your Guns, Lion Heart, Body Count, Stray From The Path, Cannibal Corpse, Downswing, Spite, and many more.
A Bit About Me:
•Band Experience: I’ve been in a band before, but it’s been about 5 years and I’m itching to get back into it.
•Identity: I’m a trans male, so it’s essential that you’re queer-friendly and left-leaning politically.
•Lifestyle: 420 friendly and I drink occasionally, but no hard drug use.
•Equipment: I have a mic and some other gear. Currently looking to buy a PA and aiming to rent a lockout/practice space.
What I Need from You:
•Dedication: A passion for hardcore music and commitment to the band.
•Gear: You must own your gear or have a reliable way to borrow some.
•Transportation: It’s okay if you don’t have your own ride—I can help with transport from time to time.
If this sounds like something you’re interested in, let’s connect and create some powerful music together! Hit me up if you’re ready to bring some serious energy to the scene.
Rock on,
Dröfn "Thor" Grimm Grimm.drofn@outlook.com

Hi lads
Working in Tesco part time for the last year to help fund a college degree, I'm really having trouble with 1 particular manager with a potential (another) disiplinary case coming up tomorrow
When I was on probation (September 23) I was written up for "stealing" food. I was taking cookies that were reduced and about to be binned, moving them to the colleague shop and printing a sticker to take them home, I thought this was allowed. The manager, (who I only copped later was watching me on cams, she's notorious for doing it) WA s telling me it was banned, and I broke in the pressure and told her who told me how i got knowledge of doing this, without thinking it was wrong in the first place.
Since then she's been over me like a rash whenever she's on duty, demanding work be done quicker or (the closest I can pin to harassment) not believing I've work done, marching me over to produce where the bananas were restocked, followed by a false smile and an "apologies". When I'm closing fresh foods I'm demanded to go through every line of waste, damage and foodcloud even though I know she's not doing it with others.
There used to be plastic covers covering the muffins, pastries, scones etc. But in the last month or so they've stopped doing it, she ate the head off me for attempting to leave reduction stickers on the pastries (with gloves on) in the past, when i ask some other of the more senior fresh lads there (in hindsight i know he does it this way because she's probably just signing his sheet) he tells me he doesn't reduce the pastries at all as it would take too long. I did the same today and she went on the warpath. Demanding who told me this (making me throw someone under the bus) and telling me I've compromised the waste sheet and the floodcloud value on the waste sheets ( I don't think I have at all, 99% sure the sheets take the original value and not the manual reduction value)
I'm back in at 9 tomorrow and I imagine she's going to drag me in for another written warning,
I'm just wondering what recourse I have?
This all feels just so feckin unfair but I become a bumbling mess when I'm dragged into the managers room for a chewing out and written up. Any or all help appreciated.

I’ve been having extreme joint pain, muscle weakness, fatigue, along with rashes for the past few weeks. Recently got bloodwork back and tested high/positive for parvo and igG 41, as well as being equivocal for a couple of other things but wasn’t flagged. Is this weird? Or are these two things that typically coincide?

Chapter 4
Aria's heart hammered against her ribs as the cultists closed in, their blades thirsting for her blood. The avatar's crimson eyes bored into her, stripping away her defenses, her will, until she felt like a fly caught in the web of some abyssal spider.
But even as terror threatened to overwhelm her, Aria's gaze darted desperately around the chamber, seeking some means of escape. There! A narrow alcove, half-hidden behind a drape of moth-eaten velvet. If she could just reach it...
Summoning every shred of courage, Aria lunged forward, ducking beneath the grasping hands of the nearest cultist. She wove between the shadows, her cloak billowing behind her like the wings of a desperate bird. The cultists howled in outrage, their footsteps pounding after her, but Aria did not dare look back.
She flung herself into the alcove, pressing her back against the dank stone. The cultists raced past, their cries echoing in the vaulted chamber. Aria held her breath, not daring to move, hardly daring to think.
But then a hand clamped down on her shoulder, and Aria nearly screamed. She whirled, her heart in her throat... and found herself staring into a familiar face. Liam.
"What in the hells are you doing here?" Liam hissed, his eyes wild beneath his hood.
"I could ask you the same thing!" Aria shot back, her fear boiling over into anger. "Liam, this is madness. These people, this... this thing they worship... can't you see it's evil?"
Liam's gaze flickered, and for a moment, Aria glimpsed a profound terror in their depths. "You don't understand," he whispered. "The Crimson Abyss... Khor'zul... he sees into the very heart of you. He knows your darkest desires, your deepest shames. And he promises to fulfill them, to elevate you. All you have to do is give yourself to him, utterly."
Aria shook her head, horror and revulsion knotting in her gut. "Listen to yourself! This isn't you, Liam. You're not some... some thrall to a bloodthirsty god. You're my friend. And I'm going to get you out of here, away from these... these monsters."
But even as the words left her lips, Aria knew it was futile. The look in Liam's eyes, that fevered, fanatic light... it was the gaze of a man possessed, body and soul. The friend she had known, the bright, vital boy she had grown up with... he was gone, devoured by the insatiable hunger of the Crimson Abyss.
Liam's grip on her shoulder tightened, his nails biting into her flesh even through her cloak. "I can't let you leave," he said, his voice quavering. "You've seen too much. Khor'zul demands a price for your trespass. You must be... consecrated. Anointed in blood and shadow."
Aria wrenched away from him, bile rising in her throat. "No. I won't let you drag me into this nightmare. I'm leaving, Liam. And if there's any shred of sanity left in you, you'll come with me."
She turned to go, but Liam's hand shot out, seizing her wrist in an iron grip. "I can't let you—"
But his words choked off as Aria drove her elbow hard into his solar plexus. Liam doubled over, wheezing, his grip slackening. Aria did not hesitate. She bolted, plunging back into the main chamber—
And found herself face to face with the avatar of Khor'zul. The towering figure loomed over her, robes reeking of blood and shadows. Those crimson eyes flayed Aria to her very soul, and she felt her will, her very identity, beginning to unravel like a skein of mouldering yarn.
"Foolish girl," the avatar hissed. "Did you think you could escape the gaze of the Blood God? All who look upon his Crimson Majesty are forever marked, forever... his."
The avatar's skeletal hand shot out, faster than thought, faster than fear. Aria tried to twist away, but she was a minnow caught in the jaws of a shark. Those fingers, cold as the grave and strong as iron, closed around her throat, lifted her off her feet as easily as a child's doll...
Aria kicked and thrashed, black spots exploding across her vision. She clawed at the avatar's wrist, but it was like gouging at marble. Her lungs screamed for air, and she could feel her pulse slowing, her struggles weakening.
Through the closing tunnel of her darkening sight, Aria saw the obsidian blade rising in the avatar's other hand. The edge glinted like the blood-drenched fang of some eldritch beast. It hung suspended for a moment that stretched into eternity... and then, almost gently, the avatar lowered the tip to the skin of Aria's chest, directly over her thundering heart.
A shock of cold, so intense it burned, radiated from the point where the cursed blade touched her flesh. Aria convulsed, her mouth opening in a silent scream. The shadows seemed to coalesce around them, thickening into a cloying, syrupy miasma that poured into Aria's nostrils, her lungs, her pores.
"Now," the avatar intoned, their voice resonating from the very walls, the very foundations of the earth, "you shall be consecrated in the Blood of the Abyss. You shall bear the Mark of Khor'zul, and through the Curse of Crimson, you shall be irrevocably bound to Him."
The blade pressed forward, parting skin, drawing forth a beading of blood black in the guttering torchlight. And as the first drop welled and fell to anoint the stones, Aria felt something within her shatter, a wall crumbling, a floodgate opening to allow the eldritch tides of Khor'zul to come pouring in...
She was drowning, she was burning, she was being flensed and flayed and filled, the blood of the Crimson Abyss replacing her own, the tenebrous thoughts of the Blood God entwining with the fibers of her being. The Curse etched itself into her marrow, her mind, her soul, branding her irrevocably as Khor'zul's own.
When the avatar released her, Aria crumpled to the floor, shuddering, retching bile and shadows. She lifted her shaking hands and saw, to her uncomprehending horror, that her veins pulsed with a bloody, eldritch light. The Mark of the Maw burned on the skin over her heart, pulsing in time with the slowing thunder of her pulse.
"Rise, Aria Vorn, Chosen of the Crimson Abyss," the avatar commanded. "Rise and take your place among the faithful. For you belong now, body and soul, to Khor'zul... and His Hunger shall be sated."
And though every fiber of her being screamed in silent horror and negation, Aria felt her blood-soaked body rise, an awful sense of purpose, of dark exultation, flooding her hollowed mind and heart...
For she was Chosen, anointed and awash in the blood-tides of her God's glorious purpose.
And that purpose would drown the world.

I’ve had strep b infection since summer 2021. I believe it was triggered from having a low immune system due to blood cancer. It’s so bad I get these sore like bumps, dryness, red rashes, itching, discharge, and even caused a painful cyst that won’t go away on my bikini line. And yes I’ve seen many drs and done many tested everything and it’s 100% all from strep B. I’m also 100% virgin of literally everything. I’ve been on just about every type of antibiotic oral and cream. I’ve tried boric acid and vaginal probiotics. I’ve tried natural things like vitamin C immune, boosting powder mixed with cranberry juice, raw garlic, aloe, vera, celery, juice, probiotics, etc. celery, juice. The natural stuff started to help for a little bit, but then I had to cut back on some of it because it was just wrecking my stomach. Looking for advice because drs have just given up on me. thanks

I went pretty much full circle lately, from KZ Castor Bass to Sennheiser 660S, to find what's up actually, about my tastes. I usually buy a pair of headphones I deem good every 5 years or so but got an itch this time, needless to say my brain got re-calibrated.
Among all this stuff (4 headphones and 3 IEM's) I keep coming back to the Zero:2, this one is magic to me. But no tip rolling will make my ear endure IEM's for more than one hour. Also I feel the Zero could use a bit more "composure" and "technicality" on some songs (metal mostly). It's cheap I know, but I'm willing to throw more money at that tuning.
So I'm looking for headphones with similar qualities:

• A fair and well controlled amount of bass and sub-bass. I'm not the basshead I thought I was, but still need decent sub bass (looking at you 660s) and a sharp and visceral rumbling that doesn't spill one bit in the middle (looking at you Zeus Elite).
• Probably not a planar. I expected a lot from the Artti t10 looking at its strikingly similar curve, but what it gives in clarity and technicality it takes back in the "mojo/life of the party" department.
• The overall same wizardry happening at higher frequencies. I have trouble pinpointing what's done right here, because every EQ tweak just makes thing proportionally worse. It's just perfect I guess.

I very much intent to go back to my single headphone policy for years, so I guess I may consider going as far as 1000$ for a truly wise choice this time.
PS: flair states open backs but I'm willing to try quality closed ones, I just don't know much about them.
Thanks a lot for your help !

I always knew I was different. I was always fascinated with death and the macabre. I remember when I was younger I would perform experiments on animals and insects. I would maim animals then starve them for a few days before putting them in pits to fight for their survival. Although the winners usually met a grizzly end just the same. I was often distracted when talking to people wondering how they would look like in their final moments.
When I was eleven my parents took me on a road trip holiday. They packed the car up and we set off across the country, the idea was we would visit several of the states and see the lesser known treasures that they held. I’d fallen asleep in the back of the car. I was woken by sound of horns and metal crunching into metal. Glass exploded all around me and the smell of gasoline and other oils filled my nostrils. My dad and the other driver were killed instantly. My mum held on a bit longer probably scared to leave me alone. We were on a country road and it was a time before mobile phones. I was alone with the dead and dying and other than a few bumps I was in good shape. I sat in the back of that car surrounded by destruction and listened as my mother took her final breaths. The strangest thing was I wasn’t afraid, I wasn’t sad or angry, I had no emotion for the events that had made me an orphan, but as I sat listening to my mother gurgle and gasp I could feel my cock getting harder. Slowly I began to stroke myself to the sounds of my mother dying. I don’t know if it was prepubescence but I didn’t finish it just felt good.
I’m not sure how long I sat in the car for before I decided to get out and look at the other bodies. The man driving the other car had veered into our lane and hit us head on. The sudden impact had ejected him from his seat, his face was half sticking through the glass, I could see white from his skull in places as his face had essentially been peeled back. I looked back at my parents who sat in their metallic coffin crumpled around them. By the time the police arrived it was dark. After the accident I was awarded some money by the state and sent to live with my aunt until I matured enough to collect it.
I continued with my fascination of death using animals and bugs but I had also found a new thrill, car wrecks. I bought a scanner radio so I could listen for any accidents local enough that I could ride to them. But they didn’t hold the same excitement as being there when they happened. Being alone with the person as their life ebbed away was something very special. It wasn’t long before I started trying to stage accidents. I would place things in the road trying to cause vehicles to swerve or have a blow out in the hopes that they would crash in front of me but they never did.
I wouldn’t say I have an endless pot of money but I have enough that I don’t need to work yet can still afford to buy certain things and not worry. I bought an old wreck, fixed it up and modified it so I could take the impact of a head on smash, then I would cruise dark roads looking to fulfil my needs. There’s something mystical about those last few moments when a person passes, the air feels colder yet more alive, electrical almost, it’s hard to explain unless you feel it for yourself. I suppose it’s like when the air is charged right before a lightning strike. You can taste it in the air, its smell hangs heavy around you.
I witnessed many people passing, I had to help one or two but that’s not the same, it’s exhilarating don’t get me wrong being the direct cause as their life slips away, but it’s not the same, it takes away the focus. This was my drug, my ecstasy, it was all I could think about day and night. The trouble with highs is you’re always chasing them and at some point catching them isn’t enough. They become stagnant. Now the itch required a different way to scratch. I tried many different things including torturing one guy who seemed pretty unscathed from the accident, maybe he’d fell asleep. I even had sex with a woman as she passed but nothing scratched that itch I needed more, I needed….. something.
It happened by mistake, a happy little accident. I hit the car as I usually did , but this time it ignited! A spark from underneath just lit it up. The driver was unconscious but the passenger oh! how she screamed. I had found the backscratcher to my itch. I started keeping gasoline and matches in my car so I could finish it by flame every time. I think I had done three or four when I saw her. She was naked and she was dancing but there was no denying the image in the flames were my mother in all her glory beckoning for me to come and dance with her. We could be together again as a family if I just took her hand. I sat and I watched her dancing in the flames longing to be with her again but fearing the pain of her touch. For now my itch is forgotten, I have a new desire, I want NO! I need to see her again. I need to see her dancing. That’s where you come in. You are going to help me get back to her. Through you her vision can be released. It’s ok if you scream, it can be the song to which she dances.

So I've been in the Victoria area for about 6 years, and unfortunately due to most of previous friends graduating and me becoming bed/house bound about a year and a half ago from illness, my social life has plummeted down the toilet lol. Thankfully I have started to have some bits of independence, and can occasionally leave my house unassisted. Although I can't do anything too demanding, and I can't stay out too long. I'm really itching to get back involved in the community but can't really find anything that is "sick person friendly".
I've checked volunteer victoria, and most of the listings seem to require more then I could commit to (i.e. standing for long periods or 3+ hour time commitments). I am social, very tech literature, a quick learner and have many years of higher education under my belt, I just hope to find someplace/people that could work with the unreliability that can come will chronic illnesses.
I'm also super flexible in the type of volunteering/group it doesn't need to have anything to do with illness, just something to connect with the community would be great. :)

Last time I had surgery, they placed one on the back of my hand and on the side of my wrist, and it was so painful. I think I’m honestly more scared about that than the surgery itself lol. Can they just place the IV near your elbow? I can typically tolerate those sticks better

This is one of the wildest things I've experienced running CoS, so I wanted to share.
My version of Barovia incorporates some elements of old school Ravenloft, including more substantial alterations to magic. In older editions, creatures summoned to Barovia were trapped there, unable to return to their home plane of existence even after the summoning spell ended.
Earlier in the campaign, my players had hidden from the werewolf pack in VR's Tower. When the werewolves attempted to break in, they triggered the tower's defense mechanisms, conjuring a young blue dragon, which chased them away. Due to my alterations to summoning, the dragon didn't disappear after a minute but instead stuck around, furious at being trapped in this strange land.
My players met the dragon again when they returned to the tower to rest for the night. By then she had converted it into her makeshift lair and was none too pleased at being awoken. Luckily, some fast talk from my warlock convinced her not to attack them right away. She told them her name was Ven'zentilax and that she had been rudely transported to this miserable land while hunting a pod of dolphins near her coastal cave. She'd spent the past few days flying around the edge of the valley, trying without luck to find a break in the impenetrable barrier of fog.
Ven'zentilax told the party they must serve her if they wanted to live, referring to them as her minions. Her goal was to find the wizard who had brought her here and force him (painfully) to return her to her home. Hearing this, the warlock made a very risky move. He lied to the dragon, telling her that the tower belonged to Victor Vallakovich, who was last seen headed in the direction of an old windmill. A very high Deception check convinced the dragon to raid the windmill in the morning.
My players had fought the hags once before and barely escaped with their lives. The hags had nightmare haunted them repeatedly as punishment, so they were absolutely itching for revenge. The next day the dragon forced marched the party to the windmill, insulting them the whole time for being so slow. When they arrived, she demanded that the hags evacuate so that her "minions" could search for the renegade wizard. The hags pretended to comply only to buy themselves time to summon dretches from their barrel. They had already fashioned three brooms of animated attack to bolster their defenses, anticipating that the party would come back for them.
The battle that followed was incredibly brutal, even with a dragon and Muriel on the party's side. I used Dragna Carta's two phase statblock for the hags, and that combined with them hiding in the windmill and taking pot shots at the party (while using the brooms and dretches as cannon fodder) made for a very tough fight. At one point, Morgantha threatened to go ethereal and haunt them all over again until they died, but Muriel managed to wrestle her heartstone out of her hands.
A final breath weapon attack from the dragon obliterated all three hags, and the party enjoyed a well-deserved victory. While resting, they found a winery gem (in my version, the hags had stolen the third gem and used it to grow fruit orchards for their pies). The dragon, seeing this bright shiny gem, demanded it as tribute, and the party reluctantly handed it over while hatching a plan to steal it back. They fed the dragon three whole dream pies, hoping to put her to sleep, but she made all her saves. So instead they waited for her to fall asleep naturally, then had the rogue steal the gem in the middle of the night. Two successful checks later (one for stealth and one for sleight of hand) and they were on their way, sneaking off in the middle of the night with gem in hand.
So my players are about to have an angry dragon breathing down their necks as they make a mad dash for the winery. Fun times!

Hello! I am not new to MM, I did it when his first books came out for about 3 years- had great results. Then..last 3 or so years, although I ate "healthy"... I was not doing MM protocol. Recently, I had a very stressful few months and ended up in the ER with swallowing pain, gut pain and extreme anxiety and fatigue (also I'm going through peri-menopause. Fun times.) Had CT scan, x ray, blood tests, they could find nothing wrong with me. One nurse thought vagus nerve. That's when I realized...I had some sort of Herpes/ Shingles issue. I had experienced a few days of skin pain where you would see a rash, but no rash. That has gone away and I've been back on MM protocol for about 2 weeks now. My anxiety and gut pain is gone. SUPER THANKFUL, but the swallowing pain is still there and subsequent tight muscles around my shouldemid back, also better but I know those muscles are protecting the damaged nerve. My stress really brought everything on and the virus damaged my vagus nerve, evidently, and I know I have a long haul of healing in front of me. I am doing the Herpes and Shingles supplement and diet protocol from his latest two books and my diet is fully onboard except I do work a lot and need 4 oz of salmon or chicken in afternoon or evening to keep me a bit more grounded. Just curious if anyone else has had similar issues, how long it took you to heal and what you feel really helped you the most. I think the Lysine is really helping, and the Vit. C and the Heavy Metal Detox Smoothie- but I'm doing a lot of the other sups too. THX!

Have a sunburn on my chest and back that is not even close to my worst burn ever. But today has been hell. The itching started this afternoon and it’s literally made me scream like I’m on the verge of a fiery death. It’s starting to calm down a bit now but holy hell I’ve been immobile for four hours. The sun always wins.

https://youtu.be/S0OGd6cFyds?si=qbbikPlbIWWhoEg1
First shot at it in a long time. Got my hands on a copy of Bryce 3D and messing around with it gave me the itch to get back to producing. Hope y'all enjoy

Im a 28 Year old male whos been suffering with golfers elbow for 10 months. I dont remember exactly when i caused it. I just remember coming into work one week moaning about my elbow, thinking it will be better in a week, except it never did.
I have been to my local doctors on a few occasions, and they told me i've got "golfers elbow" they gave me some excersises to do, and i've also had a few weeks off at given times.
Around the time of injury I used to work out 6 nights a week at home. I had been doing this for about a year prior to injury with no problems. Over the last 10 months working out at home has been kept at a minimum, with some months no work outs at all.
I work on an army base moving things, fixing things and dumping things. So its possible work could have been the cause, however as mentioned I dont recall there ever being an event of lifting somthing to heavy and feeling pain in my elbow. Due to the nature of this kind of work and my elbow, work is now stressful, with my elbow being in the back of my mind most days.
In regards to my pain levels, i wouldnt say they are that high, with my elbow maxing out at around a 6/10. Im more concernded about doing more damage / prolonging recovery then the pain.
I get little to no pain when gripping. Rarly get pain when twisting my forearm. Most of my pain occurs when picking things up or a bicep curl motion with weight. I can get a dull ache at times, but primarily its the lifting which is the problem.
If i push both my palms together and push slightly, I can feel pain and I use this a reference point on how my elbow is doing on that day.
The past few months, I have been doing wrist curls, and wrist twists as seen on Stevens instagram posts. I think i've made progress, but honestly its hard to tell. i wouldnt say im in any less pain, but perhaps im having more "good days" with it.
Speaking of good days, one day I think its almost better, and the next I feel back to square one again. This has been a head fuck, as i feel im just going around in circles.
I hope i've given enough info on the matter, honestly i feel backed into a corner with not really knowing what to do. I've always been an active person and never had any joint issues before.

Normally (at least from what I've read) the general trend in fanfiction when using this premise is to represent the Potter family dynamic as: James/Sirius are the fun/laid back/permissive and sometimes even irresponsible father and godfather while Lily is represented as the strict mother who must put order.
But I don't really agree with this, and I think that in reality they would BOTH be fun/relaxed parents and Harry and any siblings he had would be the center of their world but they would also always be looking out for Harry's safety and well-being and therefore I don't think which encouraged him to do many reckless things as is often portrayed in fanfic regarding James and Sirius
I believe this mainly because of Lily's letter

Dear Padfoot, Thank you, thank you, for Harry’s birthday present! It was his favorite by far. One year old and already zooming along on a toy broomstick, he looked so pleased with himself. I’m enclosing a picture so you can see. You know it only rises about two feet o↵ the ground but he nearly killed the cat and he smashed a horrible vase Petunia sent me for Christmas (no complaints there). Of course James thought it was so funny, says he’s going to be a great Quidditch player, but we’ve had to pack away all the ornaments and make sure we don’t take our eyes off him when he gets going.

And the photo

At last, lying facedown on the floor, he spotted what looked like a torn piece of paper under the chest of drawers. When he pulled it out, it proved to be most of the photograph that Lily had described in her letter. A black-haired baby was zooming in and out of the picture on a tiny broom, roaring with laughter, and a pair of legs that must have belonged to James was chasing after him.

It seems like the paternal instincts of both of them came out strongly when Harry was born and that translated into loving him and protecting him to the limit (which is confirmed by their sacrifices) and that is why I think they pampered him a lot but I don't think anyone wants to talk to him about James' bully phase (because I don't know any parents who like to remember those phases of their life), they would probably tell him about the more harmless parts, like exploring the castle to create. the marauder's map and escape to Hogsmeade through the secret passages, but for anyone more extreme or dangerous than that, I think they would take Sirius' attitude in canon.

Keep your nose clean and everything will be okay… be careful and don't do anything rash…

I also think that they instilled in him to be a good person, that is: No racism against Muggleborns and I think in general no type of discrimination considering that James was friends with Remus and Peter. A social outcast and someone who definitely doesn't fit the standards for being popular (although perhaps they instill in him a hatred for the dark arts, blood supremacy and anyone who defends those ideas)
And I think overall he could have the best of both, I mean, James' self-confidence but without being arrogant in an unpleasant way and being more charming like Lily, also with the help of both parents being talented wizards, It is likely that his grades could be better because instead of having to do his homework secretly in the sheets at 2 in the morning at his abusive uncles' house, he could do it quietly at home and ask his parents for advice on anything he needed
Obviously, it depends on what scenario we're talking about where they survived to raise harry but in case it's one where voldemort comes back and the order of the phoenix reconvenes, and they meet Molly I'm not sure they would really get along well.
I mention this because I have seen many fans who want to portray Lily as practically a Molly 2.0, but honestly, I see Molly as a much more traditional mother while I don't see Lily that way, so I'm not sure they agree in the way children should be raised and honestly whether they get along or not I think it depends on whether Molly can moderate her opinions and not get too involved in Harry's upbringing
Lily is not a person who reacts well when she feels attacked or hurt.

…I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen – ”She caught her sister's hand and held it tight, even though Petunia tried to pull it away. “Maybe once I’m there – no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!
“I don’t – want – to – go!” said Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of her sister's grasp of her. “You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a – a…”
Her pale eyes roved over the platform, over the cats mewling in their owners' arms, over the owls, fluttering and hooting at each other in cages, over the students, some already in their long black robes, loading trunks onto the scarlet steam engine or else greeting one another with glad cries after a summer apart.
“ – you think I want to be a – a freak?”
Lily's eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away from her.
“I'm not a freak,” said Lily. “That's a horrible thing to say.”
“That's where you're going,” said Petunia with relish. “A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy…weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It’s for our safety.”
Lily glanced toward her parents, who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce.
“You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you.”
Petunia turned scarlet.

or

I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!'
Lily blinked.
'Fine,' she said coolly. 'I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.'

or when she feels that someone is trying to impose something on her

“They don't use Dark Magic, though.” She dropped her voice. ”And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever’s down there – “
Snape’s whole face contorted and he spluttered, “Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends too! “You’re not going to – I won’t let you – ”
"Let me? Let me?"
Lily's bright green eyes were slits. Snape backtracked at eleven.

So I think if Molly goes into her controlling mode and tries to impose some kind of parenting on Harry and his potential siblings I see Lily fully capable of telling her to mind her own business.

I first went to a doctor about an exercise/ stress induced rash I had developed after giving birth. This rash was painful, embarrassing and really bothersome. The doctor wanted to do some testing to rule out autoimmune disorders.
That test came back with a very low positive ANA 1:40, CCP of 26, and rheumatoid factor of 14.
She felt these numbers were too low to indicate any problems. I was also experiencing extreme fatigue, hand and feet swelling, brain fog, severe headaches. This was during a very stressful time in my life- husband was deployed, in school full time, and caring for 2 kids under the age of 5.
I talked to a psychiatrist who put me back on ADHD meds. Between the meds and my husband returning, life got much better. Fatigue cleared up, although I do still occasionally have swelling of hands and feet and headaches. The psychiatrist requested my labs to ensure I was healthy. She was concerned by my ANA, CCP numbers and some symptoms I had.
I saw a dermatologist for the rash and for newly developed Raynaud symptoms. The dermatologist also expressed concern over my lab results and referred me to a rheumatologist.
The rheumatologist looked over my numbers, talked about my symptoms and diagnosed me with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. He prescribed folic acid and methotrexate. I was very wary about all of this because I actually feel a lot better than I did a year ago. I am exercising regularly, and feel like I am in a good place physically. The swelling of hands and feet still happens on occasion. I also experience pain in my wrists, elbows, and neck that will occur for around 2 weeks, clear up, and then reoccur. This pain can be very uncomfortable but isn’t debilitating. Overall I feel like I have a fairly good quality of life.
So I took my first dose of methotrexate and was very tired for about 48 hours. I had no energy and basically laid around all weekend. I was nauseous but did not vomit or have any real GI problems. It just made me feel kind of gross and tired.
I dread the idea of taking this medication every week forever. I feel like it makes me feel worse than the swollen joints and I have not really fully accepted that I was given the correct diagnosis. My numbers are low and from reading others stories, my condition seems to be nowhere near as bad as others.
TL;DR
Mostly I am looking for support. Is there anyone else who had very low numbers and mild symptoms, but received a very quick diagnosis? Did you immediately medicate? How did you cope with the idea of having a lifelong disease, but feeling overall fairly healthy?
Thank you for anyone who took the time to read all of this, I tried not to ramble too much.

~First~
Harriett The Spy AND HHH/Herbert’s Hundred Harem
They were comparing their stories about the weirder infiltration missions they’d gone on since they last spoke when there’s a knock on the door and it’s quickly opened before either can say anything.
“Sir? Ma’am? Update to the latest mess.” The Angla man says leaning in and holding out a folder. Harriett’s longer reach has her grab it.
“Good man, back to it soldier.” Herbert says as he hops off his chair. By the time the door is closed again he’s at Harriett’s side and standing on his tiptoes to read it over her elbow.
“Well... shit.” Harriett says as she sees the image of a gigantic slohb core with something clearly embedded in and infecting it. She reaches over to the flask and upends it to reveal the slightly larger than a pea piece of blood metal. A moment of compare and she curses again.
“Exactly what I was thinking. Where did she find it? Was it embedded deliberately? Some kind of experiment?” Herbert notes
“Hang on, let me turn the page.” Harriett tells him. “She found it and is reaching out to us because The Undaunted are one of the only powers she knows for a fact cannot be involved.”
“Alright, you just take a break. You got out of an infiltration like ten minutes ago. Have a snack. Relax, I need to prep a response to this.” Herbert says as he heads for the door. She follows.
“I’m no wilting flower. I know that Spire, have some infiltration experience there and friends as well. I can get you through the gang territories on the way down so we can help this poor woman.” Harriett says and Herbert nods.
“Alright then, you’re heading the mission. I’m going to scrape up all the support you need. So, what do you need?” Herbert asks.
“Several Doctors, at least one specializing in Xenobioology with at bare minimum a professional understanding of Slohb physiology. Several troopers that don’t mind cleaning and then standing guard. A transmutation Adept to re-purpose local materials for a sterile operating room to get that thing out of there and with sufficient skill to produce Null on demand finally a lack of interference from Centris authorities.” Harriett lists out and Herbert nods.
“Done, get started on your plan of movement. I’ll get it all ready.” Herbert promises her as they powerwalk through Intelligence and then Herbert dashes away as he calls to to people and barks orders. For the briefest of moments Harriett mentally compares him to a chihuahua but then realizes it falls short as this chihuahua can and will tear chunks out of things many many thousands of times it’s size. There’s a lot of bark yes, but the bite is exponentially worse.
She shakes herself out of the half second long reverie and gets moving again. She needs to draw up plans, review her notes for the area and plan a route all the way to the bottom of a spire, all the way down through nine levels where the gangs in power WILL be stopping the elevators to at least check the occupants and more than a few of them are stupid enough to stick a gun into the face of a soldier.
She normally doesn’t bother with the stupidity and madness of a bottom ten. Generally people that try hiding down there end up being shanked in the back alley by a bouncer after they tried to run out on the bill of whatever oiled up man-thong lounge they had spent half a fucking day in and racking up a bill large enough that Ticanped’s feathers would stand on end.
She had tracked a fucker down there five times in varying different disguises to find that exact scenario had played out. And that’s IF they survived long enough to get to the dickie bar. There was a different way of going around down there. Every square inch was basically gang territory by default, if you walk around like your shit doesn’t stink then you’re going to get it pushed in in the worst possible way.
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There is a silence that stretches through the last conversation. Learning that the games she had played had been loosely based on actual wars had disquieted All Lady a little.
“Look the Wolfenstein games were massive exaggerations from the word go. You know how it is. Get enough time between a tragedy and someone looking to tell a story and you’re soon going to find something like a bunch of psychopaths who can’t fall asleep unless it’s to the screams of the innocent or some mad scientist with an obsession for switching body parts around.” Jurgen says and All Lady lets out a huff of air. “By the way how hard is that to learn?”
“How hard is what?” She asks.
“Well, that sigh. The air came out of your mouth... but you have no throat, no lungs. The part I’m addressing may as well be the tip of your finger or something. How long did it take to learn to mimic air respiration and air movement to that extent?”
“Oh that?” All Lady asks before laughing a little. “Simple enough when you know how to talk, and I was budded off my father knowing how to make those noises. Not what they meant, but that’s what’s childhood’s for.”
“I see, so... all Slohbs are born knowing how to manipulate their bodies, but now why they would want to?”
“Well, we’re born knowing how to keep ourselves alive and move, and smart enough to learn. However finer control is something that comes later. A newly budded little Slohb is adorable but can only make very vague shapes. Very rounded ones too. But there are grand masters of the art, shifters so skilled they can alter their colour and put in so much detail that you have to touch them to tell they’re a slohb, and of course there are even rarer girls who can change their external texture. You need high end scanners to tell they’re not what they say they are.” All Lady says before looking around at the cavern of blue slime that is her being. “Old dreams. Dead on the alter of reality.”
“Says who?” Jurgen asks.
“Common sense?”
“Well, good thing it’s not all that common now isn’t it?” He asks in return and she looks at him oddly. “After all, it’s common sense that a human over nine feet tall is suffering from terrible glandular disorders and lives a miserable life.”
She smirks after a bit.
“Oh do you now? Oh poor baby!” She teases him.
“Oh yes, poor poor oversized me! After all, one can only be larger than six feet tall if they’re sick in some way.” He says and she laughs a touch.
“Jurgen, let her know we’ve already put together a team to come help her. She’ll need to unblock the entrances if we’re going to help.” His Handler says and he pauses and thinks.
“Is something wrong?” All Lady asks.
“Well, you wanted to know if the Undaunted reputation is deserved right?” He asks and she nods. “Well they’ve already put together a team and they’re on their way. They request that you unblock the way in.”
“What kind of team?” She asks.
“Buddy, what kind of team?” Jurgen asks his handler.
“Three doctors, five troopers, two with medical training an Adept and an Agent.”
“Copy that. Miss All Lady we have three doctors, five troopers with two of them medics, an Adept and an Agent inbound.”
“An Agent?”
“Highly skilled, highly informed and often deployed in the field. Our Agents are stealth operatives mostly. If one’s deployed, then they’re likely trying to get the team to you with as little fuss as possible. So nothing wrong happens.”
“And they’re coming now? But I haven’t actually asked for any help!” She protests and he shrugs.
“You clearly need it. Not to mention I heard my handler curse under his breath when we saw whatever it is that’s in your core. No doubt it’s something concerning.”
“What was the first hint? That it embedded itself into me despite my merely examining it or that it’s caused me to bud thousands of times without ever successfully splitting?”
“Wait, that thing embedded itself into you?”
“I... I said too much.”
“Ma’am whatever that thing is, it has my handler so worried he’s not volunteering the information at the first opportunity. Normally getting him to shut up is the trick, right now though? Dead silence.”
“We can’t risk this information being intercepted.” His Handler states.
“And now he says it’s so dangerous he won’t risk it being intercepted. So whatever happened to you is understood well enough by my people that we’re basically scared of it and scrambling to do something about it right away. The more we know, the better we can help you.” Jurgen says and she stares at him before everything quivers.
“It... it was seven years ago.” She says. “I was just exploring the bottom ten. Being... well... being who I was then. I was basically slinging myself around along the ceiling. I can move in ways you solids can’t. Stretch out, grab some thing or suction up against it. Really easy, fast and fun. Then I bumped into something, something hidden. It seemed so harmless at first. A little dead drop place, whatever, take a look into it. If it’s bad report it to someone, but leave it alone otherwise.”
“It didn’t work like that though, did it?” Jurgen asks.
“No... it was... strange. It looked like a circuit board but made of the strange metal. A bit of my gel ended up on one of the circuits as I was putting it back and... it wouldn’t let go. Then it pulled and before I could sever that bit... it was in me and I fell. The impact knocked me out cold and I don’t know. It may have killed me. I woke up with two extra bumps, one of them badly damaged and with the metal inside.”
“... Do you think that...”
“That I might not be me?” She asks. “Sometimes. It was I...”
The gel starts to shift before moving in a smooth flow. “I am in control. I am the master of my fate. I am all. All is me. I am the lady that is all.”
“The All Lady.” Jurgen finishes for her and she nods.
“Yes. I... even now I am budding far too fast, and the bud is not going to break away. This is unnatural, wrong and vile. It needs to stop.” She says.
“Tell her help is on the way. They’re at level fifty and closing fast.”
“Help is coming, level fifty and closing the distance.” Jurgen promises.
“Okay, okay... this is faster than I expected. Or wanted, but it needs to happen it... what is this going to cost me?” She asks.
“Just uncover the entrances. I highly doubt anyone will want anything more. You’ve been through enough.” Jurgen says and after a moment he can hear things in the distance.
“Your teammates are reporting that the path out is clear now.” His Handler says.
“Alright then. Ready to go out and meet the doctors?” Jurgen asks reaching out his hand and after a short while a gel hand finds it’s way to his.
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The elevator stops prematurely and is forced open from the other side.
“Well hello there now what are you little fish...” A snict woman begins to monologue as she forces the elevator door open and stops as she finds herself staring down a dozen high powered weapons. Harriett reaches a hand out and pushes her back and out of the way of the door before pressing the closed door button.
“We’re about to get another of those aren’t we ma’am?”
“Every fucking level down. The bottom ten of Xiona are a textbook no-man’s land and the reason for level one being off limits is who we’re out to help.”
“This job sometimes...” One of the Doctors notes.
“The hell did you expect?”
“Not an emergency surgery of an alien blob monster in the middle of gang territory.” The Doctor replies.
“Well jokes on you, you came from Earth to keep soldiers alive and study aliens. Well here’s an exotic alien metal, poisoning an alien woman. Let’s work with it.” Harriett states.
“I understand, I just don’t like it.” The Doctor replies.
“Why the hell were you placed on this team?”
“Because Doctor Gin here has point blank pulled of borderline miracles in the past. He just likes to complain.” Another Doctor says and Gin turns to give him the stink eye.
“Of course I’m complaining! Do you have any idea what can go wrong? I do! It’s horrifying! Not only is this a Slohb, a species with one of the most dense physical forms there are once you move past the falseness that is the gel they control. But not only that, this is a Slohb that has been poisoned by the item we’re extracting and may have created chemical or Axiom imbalances in her system that could kill her when the substance is removed! Going cold turkey on anything hurts for a reason people! To say nothing of the fact that the surgery chamber is going to be improvised and in the middle of potentially hostile territory and the patient is enormous to such a degree that she is potentially the biggest member of her species to ever exist! And in addition we are...”
“We get it.”
“Oh no, this last point is the most important. Because we are going to be operating under the effects of Null. Which while harmless to the vast, vast majority of this group, will still have effects on you Agent and on the Titan that the patient is bonding with. And that’s not even touching on the fact that Slohbs, which I remind you, is the species of the patient. That Slohbs have one of the fastest kill times in Null at three and a half minutes at absolute maximum! Meaning we have two hundred and ten seconds AT MOST to save this poor woman’s life without taking it ourselves! More likely we will only have a hundred and twenty to keep her in the safe zone, TWO MINUTES TO OPERATE!” He rants before huffing a bit and then slicking his hair back again. “So as you can imagine, I’m a little stressed.”
“Backing out?”
“Of course not. I don’t trust anyone else to do this right the first time. I’m just making sure you’re aware that no matter how easy I make this look that it is in fact, very very hard.” Doctor Gin says as he squares his shoulders and steels his expression. He along with everyone else then pull out their weapons as the elevator is stopped early again and this time there’s not even a monologue as the Horchka gang that opened the door simply raise their eyebrows, and then one reaches in to press the door closed button to send them on their way.
~First~ Last