Does lichen sclerosus smell like fish

Mostly venting- but feedback would help
I’ve experienced GAD for about a decade now. Ive been on Buspar for a number of years, and while it helps with the daily anxiety of being a person, it doesn’t help with things like having to take the subway, or the dentist, so i use Ativan as needed. Due to how stupid our health care system is i had to start with a new office/set of providers. I loved the first doctor i was placed with he had no issue with how i was medicated and no problem filling my scripts. after about 3 visits with him i got a call the he had resigned and i would be placed with a different doctor within the office. Bummer but these things happen. Doctor #2 immediately had issue with my treatment plan and said i should be on an SSRI and no Ativan. I explained that i use it very infrequently, sometimes going months with out needing any, but she was not hearing this and said i should try Prozac. I’ve been very resistant to SSRi’s since an old GP prescribed me Paxil and the first dose sent me to the hospital. I had to convince her to start me on a lower dose the normal, but i was willing to try cause maybe it could make my life better. I took 10 Mg of Prozac for a month and had a horrible tremor, shaky legs, no appetite and feeling like i was communicating badly with everyone around me. The feed back from friends was that “i was upsettingly calm”. At my follow up appointment the doc said this wasn’t good and that i should try something else. She prescribed Pristiq and said to stop Prozac that day and start Pristiq tomorrow. This sounded wild to me considering the side effects i was having. 15 minutes into my 30 minute telemedicine visit she said she needed to cut my appointment short because she had to go to the bathroom. Not that an emergency had come up. Something about the way she was prescribing and cutting my appointment short really rubbed me the wrong way and i asked to see someone else. I was now on to my 3rd doctor at the same place. This new one also did not like my Buspar /Ativan as needed method and we should try some other SSRI’s at low dose. Again, i knew that this kind of thing is trial and error, and maybe it could make my life better so we tried Zoloft. I broke a 25mg tablet in half for a month and i still had a tremor, stomach issues, very jittery, and got lots of feed back that i was kind of being a bitch at work. We moved on to Lexapro-5mg. My coordination s was so off. I would run into things i had just been looking at. I fell down the last few stairs of flight of stairs because i was so dizzy. Abilify 5mg- everything smells rotten and food sucks. Vomiting, restlessness, uncomfortable, could not stay in a chair. I spent a lot of money on things like lotto scratchers. Effexor 37.5 mg- This one was the worst. I would start getting the “rushes” around 4am and would have to get up and do something. So no sleep, increased anxiety, spending hours at the gym and going on long walks to burn off energy. I lasted 8 days on it. The doctor seems to finally be coming around to the fact that i am a very sensitive flower and that these meds don’t really work for me. We are upping the buspar but she it still being very strict about my ativan use (which increased greatly during the abilify/effoxor switch. Im off effexor for 10 days now. Still not sleeping well, but my anxiety does seem to be getting better. I feel like over all shit, but it does seem to be getting better. TL:DR Ive been on 5 different Psych meds in the last 6-7 months, all with horrendous effects Should I see my GP for blood work? I don’t even know what to look for, but maybe something else is up? Is this normal for trying to figure out anxiety? Should I be looking for a new cente doctor?

Hello hi !!!! ^{__^} no stupid questions right? Please be kind I’m kinda uneducated on this subject..
Recently me and my husband got a new home. The area is very nice and so is the house, only thing sketchy is the house across from ours.. we have a decent sized yard so we’re not superrrr close. We just assumed respectfully it was a poorer family, not judging. Well since we’ve moved in .. these neighbors have been quite odd. They have a very loud car, they leave their house and come back 20+ times day, have a steal barricade around their house, have recently put barbed wire around their entire yard. Will do donuts in their yard with the door open and screaming?? Every time we are in our yard it is like that intently watch us until we go inside. Also Since moving in our other kind neighbors told us horror stories they’ve had with those people. Once the guy followed one neighbor in his truck for several blocks, wide eyed and flipping him off.. my Hispanic neighbor said they had an altercation and they’ll hear them firing guns at 3 AM. Another neighbor told me that a black gentleman lived here before us and was having a housewarming party and the neighbor pulled up calling them all a bunch of … hardR.. and the police got involved.
Now here’s why I suspect meth, I do know for a fact they’re cooking something. Every night or two there is so much smoke from their yard at midnight and it’s like they’re lighting a fire to cover up another smell. It smells like burning rubber and burnt electrical tape. Its fucking horrendous. at night I don’t even want to sit outside. My father in law stayed over one night and said the smell reminded him of one of his buddies who’d cook back in the day.
Now my question, does this seem like they’re cooking ? If so can you get secondhand high from it?

Hello I am a 25 year old Female. 5ft tall and 107pounds. Stopping taking birth control 2 years ago and have been focusing on regulating my hormones and period naturally. I eat a generally healthy diet with veggies and protein with occasional sweet treats or snacks, and usually have 1 or 2 drinks on one weekend day. Everyday I take Fish oil, B6, tummeric, fiber, L-Tyrosine, and a probiotic. Magnesium glycinate at night before bed. Looking for some insight because my doctors are useless.
3 months ago my Curology dermatologist prescribed me 25mg spirinolactone to help with hormonal acne, a few weeks ago they upped it to 75mg because it wasn’t working. But within the last month I did some reading because my period has been irregularly light, and learned that spirinolactone can cause that so I stopped it on Memorial Day because a regular period is more important to me.
That night around 1am I woke up to go pee, noticed that my usual super heavy period flow finally came, which wasn’t too strange since I’m used to it and it just hasn’t come this month because of the medicine, I assumed. I didn’t think much of it and went back to get into bed but then suddenly got dizzy and passed out backwards. Woke up with my fiancé shaking me awake, right when I wake up I run to the bathroom and had diarrhea, nausea, extreme sweating, and terrible extreme cramping. Couldn’t even get off the toilet to go the hospital. After this all stopped I started to have a panic attack, fiancé put me in a cold shower and I finally calmed down and went to bed after an hour or so.
Last week I went to the OBGYN and she added it up to me quitting spirinolactone caused a sudden blood pressure change since it’s a blood pressure medicine, and said the sudden loss of so much period blood was just a perfect storm for me to faint. She ordered me blood tests and everything was normal. Every time I get my blood tested it’s always “normal”. I also went to a real dermatologist in person and said I don’t want to be on any medications anymore because this shit always happens. She gave me some topical cream so as of now I am on no medication.
I also have taken 3 pregnancy tests in the past week and all are negative.
But in the last week I have felt dizzy and faint two times. On Wednesday of this current week I went on my usual run and got home and felt so dizzy, almost empty inside of my body and just overall not good. I laid on the couch and ate a snack and it helped a bit. This day the only unusual thing I had was a Starbucks drink and caffeine does make me feel anxious.
Then today Friday, I worked, went to the gym on my lunch, took a shower ate lunch and finished my work day. After work my fiancé and I made a cocktail and afterwards I felt so dizzy, had a back cramp, started sweating, felt like I was gonna pass out.
I don’t know what to do or what doctor to see since they all say I’m healthy and normal. The stress of wondering when I might pass out next is ruining everything. Help!

One of my dogs is a mess. His name is Chico. If he was human, he’d be ADHD. Super sweet but also kind of aggressive, very expressive, and easily excitable. He’s also 60lbs. When I tell folks he’s four, they respond that he still looks and acts like a pup.
I completely agree.
So any way, he does this dance when he wants to eat. I had already fed him, he’d been out, and I wasn’t falling for it. It was my turn to eat and I had a gyro sammie waiting for me up the street. So I ignored him. Went, got food, and came home 10 mins later to a giant soft serve ice cream dump slowly melting on my rug. I don’t have a big apartment so the smell hit me right in the face when I walked in. Poor Chico is looking at me all sad. Of course now I’m apologizing to my dog and taking them both out as the liquid poo sets in. I have one of those thick woven rugs, but I have to get them out. My gyro sandwich is on the counter, mind you. When I get back, I clean it up which was not an easy task. I was out of paper towels so I used a combination of poop bags, old dish towels that were gross anyway, and toilet paper. I think I got it all. Any way, I feel like I would want some to take a shower after cleaning shit before they served me food, so I’m going to do the same. You know, self care.
Any way. TLDR, my dog pooped on my rug.

Hey everyone!
I'm 22, a recent grad working remotely in the legal industry on the tech side making 110k gross, unknown annual bonus. No debt, received a full-ride and then some from scholarships, and completed three bachelor's degrees: CS, Mathematics, and Economics.
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After deducting all benefits and maximum Roth IRA and 401(k) contributions (5% match), I'm left with roughly $4100/month. ($34,500 in retirement)
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My monthly expenses, including rent, util, groceries, gas, etc. are about $1500, so I have $2600 remaining to save further, invest, or otherwise spend every month. I know that's cheap, but I'm happy with the location and quality of my apartment.
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My 401(k) doesn't activate for 6 months, so I'll use this time to bolster my emergency fund, currently using Wealthfront at 4.55%.
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I have some saving goals:

• Vehicle: <20k used Tacoma or 4runner, whenever my car bites the dust. I drive a 7th gen Accord with 240k miles, and I do all minor repairs myself.
• Home: $? if I can ever decide where to live and rates are good. A garage and backyard would be amazing.

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I'm needing advice on how much I should spend on wants. I really enjoy the premise of independence from working in my 30s, but I don't plan to retire then. I find purpose in my position and it's manageable. The desire to reach financial independence ASAP is still strong. I'm an easy person to please. I enjoy hobbies like gardening, archery, fishing, playing instruments, and video games, so I feel that I would be a good candidate for an aggressive saving plan. I also don't plan to have children (I already had a vasectomy... really don't want kids, period). I could spend $1000 a month on expenditures for myself and save over 50k/yr, which seems like a ton of money to me.
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Finally, would you suggest reorganizing my investments? Would it make sense to put a percentage of money into a regular investment portfolio rather than a retirement account? I know 401(k) can be accessed early, but is the penalty too much for someone wanting to withdraw during their forties? Also, I would consider myself somewhat risk-averse, but rational about market decisions.
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In short, am I making any significant miscalculations, and does anyone with more time devoted to FI/RE have any advice that I'm missing? This is the greatest logistical change in my life, and I just want to get everything right. I appreciate your time.

I told my mom as a toddler that I was her mom. If I reincarnated from my grandmother that'd only a year or less between her death and my birth. From what I heard reincarnation usually does not happen so fast. Is there a reason people tend to reincarnate with many years in-between? To rest? I always feel spiritually, mentally, and physically exhausted. I felt old even as a child. I almost always feel burnt out, no matter how healthy I treat my body and mind. I also have autism so even all stimuli (lights, sounds, smells, temperature changes) are exhausting. Reincarnating again sounds like a cruel punishment. I want to finish everything in this life so I don't have to reincarnate again. Or at least get to rest for a thousand years. I don't feel like life is interesting or exciting, even if it's a good life. I don't care for improving my life, only others. I don't crave or want for anything. People have tried to win me over with money but I don't want material possessions. I just want for the world to be harmonious but it's something I'll never see. It would be nice to at least bond with people but people seem so disconnected nowadays. Some people find the motivation to live life more fully through their fear of death but I am not afraid of death. This world feels like there's always more work to do but all the work feels insignificant and no one wants to do it. It's hard to not feel like I'm stuck on a planet with a bunch of violent, selfish, and depressed children...

Hey everyone! I was able to go sample some fragrances today and I thought I'd leave a review of the four I tried (I smelled way more but only tried these four on skin. I'll be revisiting some of the others another time).
NEST WISTERIA BLUE
I was so excited about this one. It smells fresh and aquatic to me. I know some don't like this as a descriptor but there was something about it that reminded me of soap my grandmother used, which is stereotypical grandma soap. I think it's the jasmine. It was just slightly too much for me at the beginning. The dry down was better but there's something about it that I just don't love. I'd wear it if I received it as a gift or something (on a rainy spring day) but I don't think I'll be purchasing this one for myself. I don't love incredibly strong fragrances and in that sense, this one was perfect. I didn't have rub my nose in it to smell it but I don't think anyone would smell it unless they were arms length away or so. I didn't time exactly how long it stayed on but I'd say I probably got at least four hours of decent scent out of it. I can faintly smell it still about 8-9 hours later.
NEST GOLDEN NECTAR
I wasn't sure I'd like this one from other descriptions I'd heard but once I sprayed it on the test strip, I had to try it on me. And if I had been able to smell it on me for longer, I might have bought it. Unfortunately it seemed to just disappear on my skin. It smelled like a wonderfully grown up vanilla like fragrance to me. At one point I was getting a bit of slight spice? It was so nice and warm but not suffocating. And then it was gone. 😭
7 VIRTUES COCONUT SUN
I was most excited about this one. I have been wanting to try this fragrance since it came out. I nearly blind bought a travel size. It starts off very citrusy to me. And the citrus just seems to linger for way too long. It's sharp and just distracting from the rest of the fragrance. It does eventually dissipate and I really do like the dry down. It reminds me of a lighter version of Sunkissed Hibiscus, which I like. I think I prefer the lighter dry down of this one. But because of the citrus opening and the fact that I already have a small SH, I passed on this one too.
Now for the winner of this trip...
KAYALI YUM PISTACHIO GELATO
I have heard/read SO MANY conflicting reviews on this one that I honestly didn't know what to expect. I did get the citrus opening but it was lighter and much shorter than Coconut Sun. And then it just settles into this fresh, gourmand scent. I do get where some people would be disappointed based on the name. I definitely get more marshmallow/whipped cream/cotton candy than anything else. That's not to say I don't get the rest at all because I definitely do and I think that's what gives it the gourmand feeling. But instead of smelling creamy or heavier, I get pistachio/rum/hazelnut flavored cotton candy. All those gourmand scents but whispy and light. And honestly I feel like this is exactly what I like in a fragrance. It's got the sweet and gourmand but I don't feel like I'm drowning in it. I did end up buying this one and I'm so glad because I was sniffing the spot I sprayed ALL DAY.

( IDK how to reddit good, lots of good comments on my first post in /HomeImprovement this is really a safety psa Post link https://www.reddit.com/HomeImprovement/comments/145k3b7/how_we_almost_died_and_or_lost_our_house_aka_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button )
Hi all, just a quick preface, I'm only posting this incase someone else tries to search for this because I was at it for hours and it might save someone's life. I'm so glad we were home and it didn't happen in the middle of the night. I feel like writing it like a story so I'm gonna. Tldr at bottom.
This morning I was up early as I've been for the last few days, my cat just got spayed so I've been sleeping in little spurts with her as much as possible.
It was around 8am or so at this point after sitting with her in the living room just zoning out on my phone killing time with my cat and wife napping beside me when out of nowhere I get hit with a smell, hard.
Kinda hammy. Kinda like a ham that's just about to go bad or just turned bad. It filled the entire house. It was serious. Filled the house in a matter of minutes. I jokingly said to my cat "Are you smelly? Do your farts smell like old ham or something?" She replied "meow" as she usually does as she's quite vocal. This discussion woke my wife who I asked, "Do you smell some old ham or something?"
Before she can even open her eyes the smell intensifies. It's now so strong it's making me feel a bit nauseous."Yeah what is that" she says popping up pretty quickly looking puzzled or disgusted. "It literally just came out of nowhere and it's getting waaay worse by, like, the minute." I responded.
So we open the door and screen door window quickly, place a fan in front of it. By this point it's making me feel worse, my mouths watering a slight amount like I'm going to vomit if it gets much worse.
We are both running around the house trying to figure out where the hell this smell is coming from. She mentions it has a slight paint thinner-esque smell to it but I didn't really smell anything but overwhelming old ham.
We had our HVAC system checked out a few weeks ago and found out it was leaking coolant and after googling weird smells in the house with no results about ham she found the coolant can smell like paint thinner among other things however ham was not on the list so I call the guy who did the HVAC work anyway just to see what he thought.
He basically said it should be odorless and would stop by anyway Monday as he was visiting family and took the day and weekend to do so. So we start googling like crazy. Not finding anything but click bait articles about the usual bad house smells, you know dead animals in the vents, gas leaks, sewage fumes, fishy-smelling electrical fires and the usual stuff. I tried every key word I could think of to get different results.
Dead animals don't bother me, my stomachs pretty strong when it comes to that, didn't smell fishy, if it was sewage I figured I'd be blowing chunks as I'm pretty sensitive to the smell because of something gross that happened to me when I was young and it just didn't smell like sewage. We don't have gas so it wasn't that.
At this point I have no idea and I feel pretty awful so I decide to step out back and me and the wife basically both had the same idea at the same time to call the non-emergency fire department to as she's feeling weird too. They come out and have a gas and co2 meter thing that I'm sure checks for other stuff too with nothing showing up. They smell it too and I ask since they just got here if they smell it from the vent when I turn the AC on. Figured maybe a fresh nose in the place would be able to point it out if it did.
Nope the place smells less hammy to me almost as soon as the vents start to push air. They look around a bit more and have no idea what it could be or where it's coming from. At this point I'm stumped, they leave and it's back to Google. Finding almost nothing even close to what I have going on I decide to go underneath the house ( it's a trailer or mobile home ) and make sure nothing died under there or if I can even smell anything under there at all.
There was a couple cat poops from before we sealed up the side right I assume but no smell, nothing. At this point I'm clueless and not sure what to do or who to call but the smell is coming and going in waves now. Super strong to almost gone every 20 minutes or so except for one little spot in the kitchen it seemed to persist a bit. I'm checking everything I can at this point and it's just about 4pm.
I call the sewage company, maintenence comes to check the line and whatever. He comes in to see if he smells it and thinks it's sewage and after a bit he's not too sure. He recommends getting someone to check my air vents for something dead or left behind like a rodent or his meal and also to pour some water down the drains we haven't been using to make sure the traps are full and keeping sewage smell and fumes out just to be safe. I gladly take any advice I hear and have read so far and he leaves.
I start calling HVAC companies who are telling me they don't do dead animal removal in vents, and to call a pest removal company. What? Okay. So I call a pest company who tells me to call an HVAC company... who tells me to call pest control... who tells me to call animal control.. who tells me to call an HVAC company. I am still not sure who to call if you can't get into the vents easily and need them checked but it seems to be a different branch or kind of animal control but they're not answering.
I basically rip apart the kitchen, moving furniture, checking all the cupboards, the fridge, the dry food and anything I see. What about the water i left in the instant pot? No. Nothing. Anywhere. Just hammyness. The vents? Sure smells like fresh air.
I'm getting no where. It's almost 5:30 at this point, everything is closing or closed besides 24 hour places who are going to charge me an arm or two tonight and I have no clue about the weekend. I sadly sit down on the couch after I mess with the thermostat just trying to see if I can make it any better.
My wife steps outside because this wave is smacking her hard. At this point I had smelled a slightly chemical smell mixed in with the harsh hammyness a couple times but I don't recognize it at all. I'm thinking of dropping out the air duct myself, moving the fridge to check behind it. Everything. I get up to join her outside and that's when it happens.
ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzZzzZZZAP POP. It comes from the kitchen and instantly I know what it is. I look at my wife and say "of course, ham!" She's confused and asks "Ham? What was that noise" as I'm running toward the kitchen.
It was the vent light on the oven hood. You know the thing with a vent that probably has bacon grease and other food oils up in there. There's smoke and it smells HAMMY. I run to the breaker box and kill the power and we grab fire extinguishers. Luckily no fire. But we almost left the house to go to my mom's or a hotel until we could get it looked at several times but something kept telling me not to leave. And I'm really glad we didn't.
TL;DR house started to smell like almost bad ham and paint thinner or some kind of chemicals possibly sewage in a matter of minutes, turns out range hood was trying to start an electrical fire.
Moral of the story is if you smell slightly bad food and chemicals, flip the breaker and see if it goes away. Might just be about to have a serious problem.

TLDR: Why would Jay be willing to take such a hit to his "legacy"? what unknown unknown is he and his slime balls keeping from us? WCC
Long time listener first time caller here. With so many great things and story lines happening in the game of golf over the past two and half three years it's a shame Jay had to clousterfuuken it all up. He and he alone allowed for this all to happen and to get to the point it's gotten to. He such a narcissistic sociopath that it's hard not to think that he thinks he's crushing it like 400y drives! I mean Rory said in his presser that Jay now runs golf... WTF How can he be the cause and the solution?? His admission of hypocrisy and Webster like display of such leads me to wonder why would he be willing to castrate himself like that? CEO of world golf could be one, money/power. I've heard convenient truth thrown around and wasn't it convenient for a Tuesday 10 am in Canada with a memo containing a monster 'red herring' in the way of the tax exempt status in the first paragraph?!?! Congress is actively talking about this and I can't help but think that plays perfectly into what/why/where/when and most importantly how this was announced??? I mean [Claude Harmon III calling it all the Truman Show ] https://golfweek.usatoday.com/lists/liv-golf-brooks-koepka-coach-blasts-media/ was a lights on moment for me and the timing of this seems to perpetuate that thought. Jay and his quack out friend with whom should also be dunne must be singing Dixie right now with the pied pippers flute. I mean come on how dumb do you think we as fans of golf are? If nothing more I hope this post opens up some eyes to the truth. As to the PGeeJay Tour's (that's my vote for the new name) force feeding me the value of "legacy" is yet another wonderful example of hypocrisy and I think ultimately will be Jaay's legacy to the game. To me legacy is built on tradition (see ANGC ask for Jim) where you look back fondly with admiration on the hard work put in by those who came before you. Not always but generally through hard work or some form of merit, one might get to join that tradition and still then a "legacy" is not guaranteed. Realizing no one person or thing is bigger than the foundation that was laid before you invokes a sense of integrity and accountability in that in order to not only maintain the tradition but to leave it better than you found it. That is legacy. It's actions steming from a place of good with good purpose and well intent. So for Jay to say and continue to talk about the tradition is the vomit leaving his soul
Oh wait there's more since I'm here and will probably never post again I would like publicly shame Jay for what he allowed to happen under his "watch" and the most egregious of which is what he did to our favorite uncle Phil. Here a question for you "Who is the oldest major winner and when/where how old?" You mean to tell me It's not Jack at Augusta in '86 at a spry 46? What do you mean?? Phil didn't even get to defend his title and with Jay's hard on for legacy you'd think what Phil did was incredible like awe inspiring especially now that brooks has 5 and likely 2 more coming this year (every now and again I get a whiff of a Brooks slam). It's Phil!! why am I suppose to hate him again Jay? I keep forgetting?? Every year the open loves to remind us of Turnberry and Watson's eluding Father time yet Phil actually does it and instead of giving him (what we can now only speculate what would have been) the sweetest victory lap of all time we get crickets not to mention he doesn't even get the chance to defend. Horrible... The world however is horrible see "Brandon in Shambles" he'll fill you in on why you should care. I guess I don't because I just want to watch golf and cheer for people I like. Ok which brings me to my question and that is with the DOJ investigation and senator talking about 501(c) tax exempt status and how Norman is now apparently "getting what he deserves bc he's a dick and blah blah blah" how is everyone ok with this decently tacky smokescreen? For real how? And why is he willing to take this on the chin? And why now after all the lies and forced narrative? As rumsfeld said what unknown unknown's does Jay possess? Is it having all that power? Could it be just to screw over Norman and 54 golf(LIV)?? Because Jay's "legacy" is in one of those port-o-potties after a hard rain at a hot and humid US Open, you know the one I'm taking about. The mini city right by the main entrance conveniently placed in high traffic area, a merch tent with in view. Where you open the door and you see sheet everywhere and the smell hits you like when you found out about this merger just stuns you, go ahead close your eyes and take a deep breath... That's who's running the show?!
I personally want nothing to do with his new tour so long as he has any part in it... bc Phil was right and long before I realized Phil (at that time I was still believing the Jay invoked PGA Tour narrative that Phil was evil now how associating with him was reputation suicide) was right I always kept coming back to why in the world would Phil of all people be doing this?? I'll never forgive Jay for making me feel that way and that's why he needs to hit the dusty trail and head off into the sunset never to be seen or heard from again.
and I just needed somewhere to get all of this out and whew deep breath I feel better... Thanks Redditeers
I'll take my answer off air as the theme song to [CHiPs] https://youtu.be/GdyAFItCp9o plays me out

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In a rare moment, Sorore was actually having a nice dream, a normal one, one could even say. She was back home, in that moderately seized house in Erratz, laying on her mother’s lap. She could even hear the gentle sound that the needle made as it went in and out of the cloth. It was peaceful, pleasant, surrounded by familiar sound and smells, though her sight was blurry and confused.
It was not to last, as the sound of rushing water overtook all else, until she was forced awake by its unrelenting pace. When she sat up, rubbing her eyes in the broad bed, she released that it wasn’t the sound of water, nor was it relegated to her dreams. There was a commotion outside people talking in hushed but harsh tones.
Neither Lillian, nor Aya were within the room, and she wondered if they were having an argument. That wouldn’t be good - she’d watched them have the spat earlier, and that dispute didn’t need much worsening. Sorore crept to the door to the outer hallway - she loved how they slid to create whole new rooms. It was something she’d have to think about more she decided as she pulled it open and realised several things at once.
One, there were a whole lot of armoured figures in the hallway, at least four, maybe half a dozen. Two, the balcony door was open, and Lillian was currently arguing with one of them, Aya standing by looking like a mining explosive had gone off right next to her. Three, her brother and Niche had just emerged out of the room beside, and Niche was about to draw his sword at the sudden intrusion.
For a moment, she panicked, her mind going completely blank. Her mind raced with visions of bloody aftermath, and a chase through the city, back to the dinner she’d had with all those nice people.
“Oh, hello!” she blurted, drawing the surprised stares of several of the men, “who might you be?”
There was an instant of shocked silence between all parties.
“Nobody do anything!” called the man who was out on the porch, “We are representatives of the sand-shell legion, on behalf of the matriarch of the Eisen. We have come to retrieve her granddaughter.”
Niche lowered his hand from his sword belt, but Sorore could tell that he was ready to fight on a moment’s provocation. She also noticed that Kieren, in the same gown she’d worn to the square was standing in the stairwell. The woman looked so nervous Sorore thought she might fall over and down the stairs.
“Let’s move to a less cramped area,” said the captain, in a tone that brook no argument.
Eventually, it was sussed out, though not without considerable resistance on part of the paladins, that they were to meet in the great hall. As they sat, they were brought simple drinks of milk and honey, flavoured with something else that Sorore could not quite place. The two paladins looked like pacing cats, constrained on their chairs, arms crossed and eyes hard.
“Under no circumstances can we give one of ours into you custody,” said Lillian, locked in a match with the captain.
“Within the city, you are under the authority of the guard, no matter who you are. If the matriach has sent for this girl, then we have our orders.”
“As do we, captain,” said Niche, “to protect and guide each of these young women and… man, unto the holy lands of Angorrah.”
One of the guards flanking the captain whispered something in his ear.
“She’s not going to like it,” the captain said, then heard something else.
“Very well. Bloodshed before the Festival would be unwise. We have enough of that already. Right then, one of you paladins, assuming you are who you say you are, shall come with us and the lady to be received by the Eisen. I cannot say it’s likely you will have a happy reception. They will expect you to come unarmed.”
The paladins were bristling at the implied threat, and several hands were already dangerously close to their sword belts. Sorore gripped the mug that she was being offered, before Aya sat up and proclaimed to the group.
“Leave two of your men with us, then,” she said.
The captain’s eyes furrowed.
“I don’t wish to second guess you, my lady,” he said, “but why would I do that?”
“Trust,” Aya said, with a side long look at Lillian, “simple. If you leave your men with us, you can’t simply waltz off with me and my friend. Plus, it gives us men who know, and can quickly get around the city, so they can find you whenever they need to.”
The captain considered, and nodded.
“Very well my lady. Two men will be left for the disposal of your party members. But you shall have to come with us, immediately.”
“Me as well,” said Lillian.
“As you wish,” he said, “but you must disarm yourself. That is non-negotiable.”
Lillian was fuming, but unbuckled her belt and handed her armaments to Niche. The legionaries surrounded them, and departed with them out the front of the pyramid. They were left in front of the roaring fire, Kieren sitting beside them holding a considerably more full glass of the amber coloured alcohol.
“You said that this-” Niche began, his face reddened, “you sold us out!”
“Sold you out?” said Kieren incuriously as she swirled the glass around, “sold you out?”
The woman slammed down the glass on one of the nearby table, somehow not breaking it in the process.
“Maybe, you should of told us that you had the granddaughter of Aystara godsdamned Eisen in your retinue? No, forgot that little detail?”
“Okay, can we get this over with?” said Frare, picking at his nails.
“What?” said both the paladin and the trader, staring at the temerity of the youth.
“Blah, blah, we’ve all kept things from eachother,” he said, “so let’s all move on. Who is this ‘Aystara’? Why is she important?”
While Niche gaped at the casual ease from which Frare dismissed the turbulence, the trader seemed to settle.
“Only one of the two most powerful people in the city, young man,” she said, downing a shot from the glass, “between her and Edmund Poutash, it’d be easier to list what they don’t own. The docks, the schools, the farms… if you want an import or export licence? You go through her. You want to own a ship bigger than a rinky-dink fishing boat? You go through her or Potash.”
She finished the glass, and reached for the decanter, and stopped herself.
“And you waltz into the city, and conveniently forget to mention that you have her granddaughter, who hasn’t been in the city ever, if I remember correctly. To say she’d be furious that you didn’t bring the young lady before her immediately would be an understatement. And worse, you dragged us into it.”
“She must be awfully mean - you had nothing to do with us. You just hosted it.”
The woman blinked at the boldfaced remark, and Sorore delivered a good kick to his shins to drive the point home.
“No, no,” she ultimately said, “no I don’t think she’ll do anything to our family, if she believes us. She’s not unreasonable. At least, so I’ve heard. I’ve only met her once, and that was for a brief time. As for what she’ll do to you...”
She gave a pointed look at Niche.
“You tried to hid her granddaughter from her, maybe unintentionally, maybe not. If I were a betting woman, which I’m not, I would say that means trouble. If you want my advice-”
“I don’t,” said Niche, crinkling his noise.
“Don’t be stupid,” said Frare, before he howled at another kick.
Sorore’s face was burning with indignation and embarrassment. This was all too much.
“If you want my advice,” Kieren pressed on, “you’d go find and talk to your commander immediately. I could fetch for him if you wish - I know where Amicio’s home is.”
Niche, through narrowed eyes and clenched teeth, acquiesced.
“Good, now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some letters to send,” she said, “of course, though this has earned you no small amount of displeasure from certain peoples, we’ve been instructed to provide you with house and board for as long as it takes to sort this out. You are still welcome guests and you will be treated as such.”
The tepid truce struck, the children were sent back up to their rooms. Sorore tried to sleep, and managed no more than half an hour before she was woken by her brother.
“The commander’s here,” he said, “he wants to talk to us.”
The commander, looking very tired, but light of step than Sorore had ever seen him, waited by the fire. He was talking with Kieren and the two remaining legionarries in the fast-paced trading tongue of the city, but stopped when he saw the girl come downstairs.
“My lady,” he said, “it seems there’s been a huge misunderstanding.”
She realized that it was his manner of dress which was throwing her off. Instead of his usual worn and thoroughly practical travelling clothes, he wore the long flowing silks of orange and cream. It suited him, matching his calm personality.
“What misunderstanding?” she said.
“Well, we had no idea that our own Aya was the granddaughter of Aystara Eisen herself. I was surprised as anyone. Of course, I knew she was an Eisen, from her mother.”
He looked at Kieren, who looked like she was about to fall asleep.
“But I never imagined that she was a direct descendent of the main house. I thought she was part of the branch, not necessary to cause any fuss, especially during the preparation of the festival. Ah!”
He slapped his head to indicate his shock at the realisation.
“What a terrible mistake I’ve made,” he said, patting the woman’s arm, “this is all on my horrendous lack of judgement. Here’s what’s going to happen, one of these gentlemen and trader Amicio will be vouching for me at the gate. I’m going to the Eisen estate and having a friendly chat with the matriarch, to clear up this misunderstanding.”
Sorore felt at last some suggestion that someone around the city knew what was happening and what they were going to do.
“Here’s what I need you and your brother to do,” Naia said, “I want you to wait and enjoy the hospitality of the madame of the house.”
The term seemed to flatter Kieren, who flushed at the complement. Or that might’ve been the drink, Sorore wasn’t entirely sure.
“Niche, you take care of them. I expect that I might be at the estate for the rest of the night, and possibly onto next afternoon. Things are always so chaotic around the Festival. There’s no reason for you not to attend the festival opening tomorrow, if you can.”
“You want us to attend a festival?” said Niche in disbelief, “right now?”
“Well, not right now, it hasn’t started yet,” said the commander, “but, if Kieren would graciouslly agree to take you as guest of honour, you’d have excellent seats. If that’s not too much to ask, especially after our little debacle.”
Kieren nodded, and affirmed that she wouldn’t mind at all, if the matter was going to be soon cleared up. Sorore was now certain that it wasn’t just alcohol.
“Great. You’re all taken care of, now I’d better explain myself. If you wouldn’t mind,” he said, pointing to the quarter full glass, which Kieren handed to him. The commander downed it all in one, rolled his shoulders, and smiled.
“Don’t worry. It’ll all work out in the end,” he said, “in fact, I would say to enjoy yourselves, as much as you can. And best go back to bed, unless you want to be sleeping during the festival, which, I assure you from experience, you do not.”
Before they could say anything, the commander had swept by them, vanishing out of the front of the pyramid.
“You should heed him,” said Kieren, picking up the decanter and the glass and moving towards the kitchens, “if you’re stuck here for the time being, you might as well enjoy it And that starts with getting good sleep.”
“Last time you said that, we woke up to armed guards,” Niche said flatly.
“Well, I assure you, I’m not boring enough to do that a second time. It would be assassin’s from across the streets, who approach over the rooftops.”
“Do they actually exist?” asked Frare, suddenly excited.
“Oh, I’m sure,” said Kieren as she stowed away her drinking equipment, “but not tonight. Go get some sleep sir paladin, and you two young ones as well. You’ll need it.”
Sorore was cajoled up the steps, Frare coming up after her. Niche seemed placated enough for the time being, though he was clearly unhappy with the outcome. The pleasant dreams neglected to revisit for a second time, but at least the sleep was uninterrupted. When Soroe next awoke, it was a young handmadein, pulling open the screen doors.
“Good morning, my lady,” she said, “how did you sleep?”
“I- well enough, I suppose,” she said, stretching and yawning, before quickly covering her mouth.
The maid had the presence of mind not to notice as she revealed the bright sunlight streaming through the open balcony.
“It must almost be midday!” Sorore exclaimed, leaping out of the bed as she tried to straighten herself.
The maid chuckled as she finished opening up the room.
“Not to fear, my lady,” she said, “it’s customary to sleep into the early afternoon. The Festival does not start until just before sunset, afterall. In fact, you might be earlier than many of the household.”
“Oh,” Soroe said, feeling rather foolish, “Um. Well, I guess I’ll get dressed.”
“Of course. I’ve left out some clothes for you. Madame Kieren suggested that you try clothes from our city. I hope you’ll love them. Do you bathe?”
Sorore wrinkled her nose at the prospect. What kind of question was that?
“Of course I do,” she said.
“Well, there’s a place to bath at the bottom of the pyramid. If you wish to bath alone, you should go now - I’ll bring you clothes for you to change at the waterfront.”
“You bathe together here?” Sorore said
“In the mornings and evenings,” she said, “we do not bring water up into the house if we cannot avoid it. To the stone goes the sea, and to the home goes the sky.”
She looked around, then leaned in with a smile.
“Also, water is very troublesome to carry up all those flights.”
“So just come down to the waterfront?” she said, gathering up what spare things she needed.
“Just follow me, my lady,” said the handmaiden, picking up a pile of clothes and leading her down the stairs.
They emerged onto an inset pool carved into the pyramid interior. A smooth stone deck, with benches and chairs and stacks of towels, as well as several large paper screens, presumably for changing. Sorore was glad to see they were alone, at least for the time being.
At the handmaid, Kiroe’s, direction, she stripped down naked and plunged into the pool. The water was a perfect temperature - cold enough to dispel the last of the grogginess, warm enough to be pleasant to float in. She swam around for a bit, constrained by the relatively small volume, while Kiroe prepared her outfit on the deck.
“Do you mind if I join you?” came a voice from the other end.
Kieren slipped out of a thin morning dress and stepped into the water. Sorore swam over and came to stand beside her.
“Is there any news? About Aya and the commander?” she said, a little too quickly.
Kieren, who’d been sinking into the water with a sigh of contentment, opened one eye.
“Straight to business? Perhaps you are better suited to the city than I thought.”
Sorore tried to smile, but her concern was betrayed, judging by the woman’s softening of expression.
“My knowledge is limited. My uncle is serving as our representative for now. Sounds like your commander was at least allowed to make his case to the Eisen. He made note of one other companion of yours.”
“Oh? Who?” she said, pushing out into the pool, feeling the water surge over her shoulders.
“A man in black clothes,” she said, “who hides his face behind a mask. He was there for the meeting.”
“The mage?” said Sorore, before considering that she maybe shouldn’t have mentioned it.
“A mage?” said Kieren, before submerging herself in the water.
She tossed her hair back as she came back up, spraying water in a neat arc.
“Well, that explains his odd demeanour,” she said, “now, regrettably, that’s all the time I have today for bathing. I will see you at the festival.”
“Hello cousin! May I join- oh,” came a voice from the steps leading out.
It was Ivers, dressed in nothing but a loose robe, which was already half-way off his body, sculpted with muscle from hauling rope and tackle. Sorore stifled a gasp and turned away, trying not to redden.
“I can come back later,” he offered.
“Do you mind?” Kieren said to Sorore, “if you do, it’d be best to finish soon and let others bathe.”
“No, no,” she said, waving her host away.
Kiero had warned her, after all. It would be best to become accustomed to the strange ways of this beautiful city. Besides, it’s not like she hadn’t bathed before in the company of men her age back home. She cursed herself for being so self-conscious, and forced herself to turn around.
“Are you sure? I can leave if you want, it’s not-” Ivers began.
“No, it’s fine. It’s fine,” Sorore said, smiling at him, “it’d be good to have companionship.”
“Well, then, Ivers, I trust you’ll behave yourself,” said Kieren rising from the water.
“Of course, cousin,” Ivers said, casting his eyes to the floor.
Sorore tried not to take a wicked pleasure at the blush that crept across his dark complexion.
“Oh, one more thing,” whispered her host, bending over to the girl, “it’s considered polite to not look when they’re outside the water.”
Kieren laughed at Sorore’s own furious blush as she made for one of the poolside changing screens.
[←Chapter 63] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 65→]

I finally got around to trying a few high end fragrances like Roja Dove summer sampler and Xerjoff Torino 21 and 40 knots and I expected them to smell a lot less like cheap mall designer perfumes. Don’t get me wrong, the composition is still overall better in some high end fragrances, but are there ingredients that just reek of synthetic aromas? If so, does anyone have a short list of them so I can avoid them in the future?
For example, Jo Malone lime basil mandarin, Hermés voyage, many creed fragrances (VIW, GIT, spice and wood), and Xerjoff nio don’t give me that same smell/reaction. There are certain chemicals that just smell cheap to me and I’m wondering if it’s well known which ones smell like this without me ordering a fragrance aroma chemical start set and smelling them all individually. Thanks!

I offered “as-is where-is” & pretty sure that’s what got me where I’m at. Appraisal & inspection went fine. Also, sorry this is stupidly dumb long…
TLDR: what would you do first?
Move your stuff in, stick everything in garage, storage room & hardwood floor rooms & then do carpet cleaning & painting (saves $300 on storage charges POD & local small unit). But eat the extra charges of paint, carpet cleaner, supplies. But we’re saving that $300 which can go towards carpet & paint.
OR
Leave the stuff in storage while we carpet clean & paint. Pay the $400 storage fees. And pay for carpet cleaning & paint in addition to storage fees.
(I personally feel like one of them is the OBVIOUS choice but we’re arguing about it) ———————————————————
Why are we at ends here?
So, the condo had a dog in it. Not a big deal, most of first floor is hardwood, 3 rooms are carpeted (all 3 bedrooms - 2 downstairs, 1 upstairs).
The house smells like dog. Not like wet dog or anything, just dog. (We don’t currently have pets & it’s not like dog-pee smell or anything, just a dog lived there… and ate a lot of door jambs, lol).
Now, we’re between places (living at sister in laws for little over a month now). So all of our stuff is in a POD storage thing at the POD location, so I’m paying $350/mo for storage there, and I’m paying $50/mo for a small storage unit that’s local so we’re not crowding sister in law.
Husband & I can’t decide what to do first. Well, I can but he disagrees.
My choice :
The storage & POD will get charged on 6/20. We’re closing 6/15. So, if all goes according to plan, next weekend I can get the pod delivered 6/16 or 6/17 and stuff out of storage unit & save $300 total (it costs $100 total to drop off/pick up the pod - so $400 saving minus $100 = $300 in case you cared about math….). We have a garage & a large storage unit on ground floor. Our condo is on 3&4th floor. I’d rather not move stuff into the garage and storage room just cause I don’t want to move this shit again. I said, we can move our stuff in - we have good furniture but not nearly enough to fill the place like we did in our rental. We’re getting almost 1,000 more Sq ft. So there’s plenty of space to maneuver around furniture & get these things done with our stuff in.
His choice :
Husband wants to immediately Stanley steamer the carpets & paint. Which would delay the POD & storage unit, AND add the additional costs of carpet cleaner & paint (… and supplies). So that’s $400 + carpet cleaning + paint = $$$ - he doesn’t care. Oh, and somewhere in there he wants to rent a moving van for our stuff up here and move it down there…. (Even though we have 2 decent sized SUVs that we used to move in with his sister with our necessities)
I know he wants to just get in there. But again, carpet cleaning can take 1-2 days (pre-treat, shampoo, go over it again, drying). Painting can take…. God knows how long sometimes & the walls are already beige / tan so I don’t see why we need to paint a basic color except to just get rid of dog smell but we’ll be painting it again when we decide where’s what going and the sort. We have a 9 year old, who I know is super excited to pick out her paint colors & we’ll have 3 bedrooms, 2 staircases, 3 bathrooms & the normal rooms. Sooo a lot of painting. Husband had an accident few years back & between cleaning carpets & painting & moving furniture again, he’s going to be a total asshole in pain.
I was hoping to get 1-2 guys to help move the big stuff to avoid husband having a pain-episode especially since it’s 3&4 floors up.
I know he isn’t thinking logically about the time line or money or pain or the fact that we will only be 1.5hrs away from where we are now, so it’s not a huge rush to get our stuff out of his sisters basement. He wants to get in there ASAP but also delay getting in there to get rid of the dog smell.
My compromise was the following : - deliver the pod on 6/16 or 6/17. - spend 6/16 putting baking soda (or the weird carpet smelly stuff?) on the carpets, leave it & vacuum hours later. - rent a carpet cleaner & shampoo carpets 6/17, since no carpet is on way in/out, we can move stuff in to the hard floor rooms while carpet dries. - after carpets dry, we can move all the furniture to carpeted rooms & polish up the beautiful hardwood floors. - spray the walls with a vinegar spray & clean to get rid of the surface area dog smell - painting can happen later when we figure out where everything is going.
Now, the last kick is - we aren’t married, we’ve just been together for so long it’s basically married at this point. He’s now being a butt because he’s technically my dependent and I am the one actually buying the condo & it’s all in my name & all the money we have is from me working. So it’s “my” money even though I don’t see it that way but he does (& he loves spending money, which is fine - within reason - and he buys basically whatever he wants whenever as the bank is originally his but now joint. I do have 2 other accounts he is not on but since I handle finances & bills, I keep separate accounts to make my life easier. When he’s spending too much - he never looks at the account - I simply tell him to stop buying stuff. Now, he shops because I HATE to, & I also just hate spending money, lol) - we totally do not have a gender norm family. I work (going to be fully remote now) so I also need a work station set up before 6/20 plus the utilities set up. He cooks & does most childcare.
Is my compromise not fair? Any one have any other ideas? I don’t want to steamroll what he wants but he’s also very rash with his decisions & even though I have plenty of PTO (unlimited even), I’d like to be able to have a smooth transition from hybrid to fully remote.
Also, we’re not rich or anything, so I don’t want to spend tons of money after that down payment.
Help! Am I missing common sense somewhere?

TLDR: Why would Jay be willing to take such a hit to his "legacy"? what unknown unknown is he and his slime balls keeping from us? WCC
Long time listener first time caller here. With so many great things and story lines happening in the game of golf over the past two and half three years it's a shame Jay had to clousterfuuken it all up. He and he alone allowed for this all to happen and to get to the point it's gotten to. He such a narcissistic sociopath that it's hard not to think that he thinks he's crushing it like 400y drives! I mean Rory said in his presser that Jay now runs golf... WTF How can he be the cause and the solution?? His admission of hypocrisy and Webster like display of such leads me to wonder why would he be willing to castrate himself like that? CEO of world golf could be one, money/power. I've heard convenient truth thrown around and wasn't it convenient for a Tuesday 10 am in Canada with a memo containing a monster 'red herring' in the way of the tax exempt status in the first paragraph?!?! Congress is actively talking about this and I can't help but think that plays perfectly into what/why/where/when and most importantly how this was announced??? I mean Claude Harmon III calling it all the Truman Show was a lights on moment for me and the timing of this seems to perpetuate that thought. Jay and his quack out friend with whom should also be dunne must be singing Dixie right now with the pied pippers flute. I mean come on how dumb do you think we as fans of golf are? If nothing more I hope this post opens up some eyes to the truth. As to the PGeeJay Tour's (that's my vote for the new name) force feeding me the value of "legacy" is yet another wonderful example of hypocrisy and I think ultimately will be Jaay's legacy to the game. To me legacy is built on tradition (see ANGC ask for Jim) where you look back fondly with admiration on the hard work put in by those who came before you. Not always but generally through hard work or some form of merit, one might get to join that tradition and still then a "legacy" is not guaranteed. Realizing no one person or thing is bigger than the foundation that was laid before you invokes a sense of integrity and accountability in that in order to not only maintain the tradition but to leave it better than you found it. That is legacy. It's actions steming from a place of good with good purpose and well intent. So for Jay to say and continue to talk about the tradition is the vomit leaving his soul
Oh wait there's more since I'm here and will probably never post again I would like publicly shame Jay for what he allowed to happen under his "watch" and the most egregious of which is what he did to our favorite uncle Phil. Here a question for you "Who is the oldest major winner and when/where how old?" You mean to tell me It's not Jack at Augusta in '86 at a spry 46? What do you mean?? Phil didn't even get to defend his title and with Jay's hard on for legacy you'd think what Phil did was incredible like awe inspiring especially now that brooks has 5 and likely 2 more coming this year (every now and again I get a whiff of a Brooks slam). It's Phil!! why am I suppose to hate him again Jay? I keep forgetting?? Every year the open loves to remind us of Turnberry and Watson's eluding Father time yet Phil actually does it and instead of giving him (what we can now only speculate what would have been) the sweetest victory lap of all time we get crickets not to mention he doesn't even get the chance to defend. Horrible... The world however is horrible see "Brandon in Shambles" he'll fill you in on why you should care. I guess I don't because I just want to watch golf and cheer for people I like. Ok which brings me to my question and that is with the DOJ investigation and senator talking about 501(c) tax exempt status and how Norman is now apparently "getting what he deserves bc he's a dick and blah blah blah" how is everyone ok with this decently tacky smokescreen? For real how? And why is he willing to take this on the chin? And why now after all the lies and forced narrative? As rumsfeld said what unknown unknown's does Jay possess? Is it having all that power? Could it be just to screw over Norman and 54 golf(LIV)?? Because Jay's "legacy" is in one of those port-o-potties after a hard rain at a hot and humid US Open, you know the one I'm taking about. The mini city right by the main entrance conveniently placed in high traffic area, a merch tent with in view. Where you open the door and you see sheet everywhere and the smell hits you like when you found out about this merger just stuns you, go ahead close your eyes and take a deep breath... That's who's running the show?!
I personally want nothing to do with his new tour so long as he has any part in it... bc Phil was right and long before I realized Phil (at that time I was still believing the Jay invoked PGA Tour narrative that Phil was evil now how associating with him was reputation suicide) was right I always kept coming back to why in the world would Phil of all people be doing this?? I'll never forgive Jay for making me feel that way and that's why he needs to hit the dusty trail and head off into the sunset never to be seen or heard from again.
and I just needed somewhere to get all of this out and whew deep breath I feel better... Thanks Redditeers
I'll take my answer off air as the theme song to CHiPs plays me out

It’s that time of year again! Love is in the air along with all the plant jizz, and I am looking for the someone who is willing to venture out into this yellow, dusty mess with me, and then come home and just take a nap before our sinuses close up in anger and we cough ourselves to sleep. I am looking for someone to vent my mundane troubles too, someone that I know would be there to help with whatever may come up, and someone that I can laugh with, someone to cry with, someone that would just run with a crazy idea without hesitation.
Enough about me! Let’s talk about what you may be looking for! Are you looking for that special someone? You know, the one that laugh with on a daily basis. The one that you can have an entire conversation with using nothing but funny pictures? Are you looking for the creepy and the kooky? What about the mysterious and spooky? Would that someone be a person with a mohawk that is forever changing colors? How about a neatly trimmed beard that smells of sandalwood? What about the smell of Old Spice? Would that person also happen to have a few piercings and tattoos? Do you like the twang of a Southern accent? What if that accent was happen to be from a guy who is open minded? Do you enjoy a quick wit? How about being fluent in smartassary? How about a guy that is taking care of way too many fish? How about a guy who is starting to find grey hairs in his beard and is embracing the chance to become a silver fox?
Would you like for that person to be able to build a computer and change your oil all in the same day? How about having your tires rotated, breaks changed? I can even do headlights and air filters! Does the thought of helping turtles cross a busy road and helping tiny tadpoles stay safe with a pool of water during the summer tickle your fancy? Would you like to come home and have a pot roast and chocolate cake waiting for you? How about coming home to that random piece of IKEA furniture fully assembled? What about someone who would help while you built the IKEA? Does the idea of a guy who has reached the level of old that he enjoys puzzles intrigue you? How about if he has a love for cats that like to sit on said unfinished puzzles? Are you looking for a guy who can change your oil, replace your brakes, and cook you dinner in the same day? How about a guy who is good with his hands and knows it? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the nerdy home maker package is for you! Who doesn’t want help around the house, basic maintaince taken care of, and some good dick?
Do you have an endless supply of DIY ideas? Well look no further because I do too! Ever wanted a stylish bat house or raised garden bed? I have made both! Would you want a greenhouse? I have plenty of ideas for that! Do you like watching a guy get dirty restoring canoes or building trailers? Do you have a Mad Max fantasy you want to live out? Do you want a house straight from the shire? I have the skills and the 3d printers to make you swoon with possibilities! If you answered yes to any of these questions, the glistening geek package is for you! What’s not to love about watching someone you like getting sweaty while watching your ideas come to life?
For a limited time, if you pick both packages, I will add in the nerdy outdoorsman package for no extra charge! Want to stay in one weekend and marathon Doctor Who, Star Trek, or Futurama? Do you want to play Don’t Starve Together, DnD, or Civ 6? How about Nerf gun fight, or a game of Mario for bragging rights? Feel like staying up late bundled under a load of blankets watching B movies or playing all manor of video, board, or card games? Feel like getting outdoors instead? I can offer spontaneous adventures that may include wondering aimlessly, hiking, and floating blissfully down a river which singing the PACMAN theme song! Random acts of hilarity that could include striking poses and quoting pop culture references! Are you more of a night owl? I can offer you a view of the stars with my telescope!
How about it? Wanna get itchy eyes and a runny nose with me?

Hello, does anyone know anything about landscaping/weed killer chemistry? Our landscapers sprayed Roundup with a surfactant (LI700) on our pavers and the smell has never went away. It was over a month ago. Our dogs fur smells like it, now our dryer smells like it, our hair and clothes even smell like it if we go outside. The smell is hard to describe, it’s like sweaty, metallic, grassy and even almost ammonia-like. Does anyone know what this is; and if the glyphosate exposure is harmful? Will the glyphosate break down on our patio if there is no soil? Thanks.

Hello, does anyone know anything about landscaping/weed killer chemistry? Our landscapers sprayed Roundup with a surfactant (LI700) on our pavers and the smell has never went away. It was over a month ago. Our dogs fur smells like it, now our dryer smells like it, our hair and clothes even smell like it if we go outside. The smell is hard to describe, it’s like sweaty, metallic, grassy and even almost ammonia-like. Does anyone know what this is; and if the glyphosate exposure is harmful? Will the glyphosate break down on our patio if there is no soil? Thanks.

I hate to fish but I am so buried with depression that I need support… Almost two years ago, my dog died in an accident and that was the beginning of the end. That grief was like nothing else and something I still live with. My husband worked out of town. I worked full time, was in school full time and took care of our son. I finally completed my bachelors. Two weeks later my father was put on suicide watch and moved in with me after. Two weeks from that my husband came home for a few days and was being different. I went through his phone. Long story short I was getting an STD test and a consultation by Monday. Since he was the bread winner and I was now single I couldn’t pursue the job I had wanted because of pay. I immediately started my teaching certification and I just officially passed my exam. Finances are still right since my contract wont begin until august. I feel like I have been surviving for so long. I barely make it paycheck to paycheck. I’m constantly over or under stimulated. I just feel stuck in a life I didn’t want… My son gave me so much purpose. I knew this was good but also something to keep in check because that is unfair to him for me to be so dependent…lately…I feel like such a shit mom and now I’m really losing it and I just really don’t want to be here sometimes. Stronger recently than ever before. My son…is stubborn…strong willed? But the thing is he doesn’t give shit to anyone like he gives it to me. I can’t do anything fun and nice without him (I’m sorry to say it) ruining it. He’s awful with transitions. His screams and cries could burst an ear drum. Like he is just such a brat. I feel like nothing is easy for me with him and i’m like…is it me? On the flip side I also know I do everything like I care so much that I know i’m a “good” mom but just his attitude with me and like he’s almost 3.5 and I can’t get him potty trained. He doesn’t show interest in doing things on his own. Like if I try to get him to dress himself or trace/write letters or whatever. Like run of the mill shit that the internet says 3 years olds can do. Mine is just hit or miss on some or at least with me he is!!!! Why…what do I need to do or understand. I need my relationship with my son to be…more tolerable and survivable…he’s so picky and I don’t know if he isn’t getting the right nutrients or enough. Some days he does watch more than an hour is screens and some days I’m just so tired I give up and I feel like a pussy so he knows he can walk all over me or that my inconsistency is damaging. I love him. I don’t want to fuck him up and that’s what I feel like I’m doing. And I don’t want to feel like I need to escape my own life.
Ugh I’m sorry. I’m just in a really bad spot emotionally and mentally.

I have had a rough 9 months. It started with a BV infection. I took medication but still felt itchy and had issues with painful sex. I went back to the doctor and they said I didn’t have BV but what looked like a yeast infection. I took meds for that but the itchiness and pain didn’t go away.
A few doctor visits later and several months and the OBGYN says I have herpes. I tell her that I can’t have herpes. I’ve had the same partner for 2 years and he doesn’t have it. She asks if he has a cold sore and I say that he gets one every once in a while in his mouth. She does a swab, which comes back negative and recommends a blood test. My blood test comes back positive with herpes type 1 - cold sore strain. So for the last few months I’ve taken herpes meds, but I still have this itching problem.
Finally a doctor tells me I should get a vulvar biopsy done. Let me tell you, this hurt like a SOB. I needed more anesthesia than they thought I would and I ended up with a couple of stitches.
Final diagnosis: I have lichen sclerosis. It’s when you get thin white patches of skin usually in the genital area. It can crack and bleed and make it so that sex is very painful, even with lube. It usually only affects prepubescent girls and post menopausal women, but I’m in my 30’s. The good news is that it’s treatable with an ointment.
I dealt with this for months and had no idea what was wrong. I just knew that I was having an issue that would not go away. I had to continuously advocate for myself and tell the doctor that I was still having issues. I cried some nights from the pain and just not knowing what was wrong. I made this post in case anyone else is going through this and doesn’t know what’s wrong. Remember to always advocate for yourself and don’t give up.

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Without that horrendous bat flapping around and causing a mess for me, I'm now able to focus all of my efforts on bringing down the blinded bear colossus. It is unfortunate that I lost too many owls in the aerial battle, and that Alexa is too exhausted to help out herself, as that means I won't have any reinforcements available from them coming to Jackie’s aid any time soon. That being said, I know just the fish who might be able to make an early return in their stead.
Since they’ve been resting since the start of the battle, Selene and Hecate have been able to recuperate a bit of their mana pools already. Considering that I’m near 100% confident that it doesn’t matter how much the big bear regenerates if it can’t breathe, plus the fact that it doesn’t take too much mana just to hold some water in place, there’s not much reason to keep them benched much longer. Somehow though, I doubt it’s going to be quite that easy to take the bear colossus down. So why don’t we improve the chances of success a bit with all of this free manna I find myself currently swimming in?
Thanks to the sheer quantity of invaders Deepholm is swarming me in, I’ve got more mana to make use of than ever before, and I’d be a fool not to put it to good use. The steep requirement of having to pay 4 times the mana as any of my other scions to upgrade them is hardly an issue at this moment, so I begin the process of pouring my power into my fish. All the while, I keep an eye trained on the battle at hand, waiting for whatever it is the bear will try next. Deepholm scions don’t just meekly turn over and accept their defeat after all.
While I’m only halfway through providing upgrades to my fish scions, my caution is proven entirely warranted as the bear scion bellows its frustration and rage at the top of its lungs. Unable to proceed along a straight path due to Jackie’s constant interference, the colossus hunkers down for a moment in my lake and covers its head with its paws. Then, as soon as its eyes have had a chance to regenerate once more, it peeks out and gets a lock on my location before Jackie inevitably puts more arrows through the freshly grown eyes. This time it hardly pays the attack any mind, reaching down to its flank with those huge claws and ripping free a sizable chunk of its own flesh. With a great heave, the bear scion sent the chunk sailing through the air where it crashed with a meaty splat against the trunk of my tree.
First of all, …gross. Secondly, that bear has surprisingly good aim to be able to nail the part of my tree trunk that is perfectly in line with where my core is. Lastly, heh-heh, I’m in danger. Unable to use its sight, and no longer able to rely on the bat scion for its sonic guidance, the bear has resorted to using smell to guide its way. And what better trail to follow with one’s strong sense of smell than the stench of one’s own blood and viscera? Without a moment of hesitation, the bear scion is back on its feet, and charging forward once more.
This time, there’s truly nothing we can do to stop its advance, the bear’s nose is too big to fully destroy the bear’s sense of smell, even with Jackie’s arrows desperately blasting pieces off of it. With a tremor that I can feel throughout the entire island, the bear scion slams headfirst into the high cliffs, which only serves to daze the beast for but a moment before it starts awkwardly clambering upwards. I curse vehemently, at this rate the colossus will reach my tree before I’m done with upgrading the twins. I can cut it short and make the current upgrade the last one, but it will still take a minute or so for the twins to become accustomed to their strengthened bodies.
It doesn’t take long for the bear’s claws to scramble against the top of the cliffs, digging in for extra purchase, shortly followed thereafter by the beast’s snarling and arrow-riddled cranium. The twins have only just finished absorbing the mana from the latest upgrade, they’re not going to make it in time. It is at that moment that my saviors made their gallant entry into the fray. Cutting a swathe through the remaining army of normal invaders charged not any of my scions, but the brave surviving members of my defensive forces. Having abandoned their defensive chokepoint in the entrance cave, a combined throng of brawler bunnies and leopards led the way as my froglings and flechette-pines provided cover fire. Beside me, I can feel the consternation roll off of Giorno as he tries to keep some semblance of organization in place amidst an attack that he had most certainly not ordered.
Though our tactics have done a great deal in leveling the playing field in the battle between denizens, there are still a lot of enemies left to deal with, and this attack will only open us up to many more unnecessary casualties. Underneath his annoyed countenance however, I do detect a hint of pride in their reckless attempts to buy me more time. An attempt that certainly pays its dividends.
With a series of tremendous leaps, the brawler bunnies and leopard forces bound up to the limbs of the bear scion and begin hacking away at it with sharp claws and stone swords. They scale up the beast, slashing at every joint and every digit along the way. The colossus roars in pain and slips from the cliffside as the tendons in each limb are systematically severed time and time again. But this moment of victory comes at far too steep a cost.
When the bear scion crashes back into the lake, its sheer mass flattens dozens of my brave denizens at a time. From there it thrashes about, crushing some more of my stalwart defenders and sending others flying through the air. Not wasting the opportunity, my denizens lead the enemy scion over to the remnants of the invader army, where both sides become equally devastated by the beast’s angry flailing. I try to call my denizens back, telling them to retreat, that they’d done enough already. When that failed, I resorted to using some of my mana to make it a direct order. Retreat already! The twins are on the way, swimming around the south side of the island as we speak. There’s no need for any more of you to die!
I can feel the mana drain away as the orders take hold, but then I got a unanimous response back through Alexa’s network. Every single one of them started the retreat and then volunteered themselves to be a rearguard to help cover the escape. Even though technically they were following through with my order, not a single denizen so much as turned around or took a single step backward. They were loopholing me! Those damnable, brave, fools were refusing to leave until my scions could arrive. Who the heck taught you bastards to test the limits of the rules and look for ways to bend them in your favor anyhow!?
It took less than a minute for my twins to arrive. But it took even less time for the bear colossus to finish with its rampage. Now the only living combatants faced each other over a lake stained to the same red as the bear scion’s eyes. As a healer, Selene has seen more than her fair share of nasty injuries, as well as plenty of corpses from my previous encounters with Deepholm’s invaders. But even still, all that experience could not have prepared her for the sight of the slaughter before her. All the violent thrashing had thoroughly frothed the water of the lake, but rather than help hide the bodies below with the white foam it only served to accentuate them by clinging to whatever pieces remained above water.
It left my poor fish heartbroken. Disgust and despair raged inside her alongside a powerful wave of guilt at not recovering fast enough to be able to come to their aid in time. I know, sweetie, I know. But those denizens out there? They bought us enough time to stop any more atrocities from happening. They bet everything on you two and Jackie, and now it’s time to make sure we don’t waste a single death. All that anguish and sorrow you’re feeling? I need you to use it. Use it to hone a blade in your heart to turn against those who spread such senseless violence. It’s time to take up the second half of the saint’s job and smite down that walking calamity of a bear. And you’re not alone, Hecate is right beside you along with Jackie, and together, I know you all can do this.
Pep talk done, Hecate gives her sister a loving nuzzle under her chin before turning her hate-filled eyes to the bear scion as well. She isn’t taking kindly to all the desolation wrought by the colossus either, and is especially pissed by how upset it is making her kind-hearted twin. The white crescent moon mark on her forehead glows faintly in response to her roiling emotions, while after a few deep breaths, Selene’s black crescent moon mark does the same, her eyes now steeled in vindictive determination.
As one, they lifted a massive ball of water into the air and slammed it into the bear scion’s face, completely covering it in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, I begin the process of funneling mana into Jackie for her own upgrades. The beast hasn’t shown any magical capacity besides its regeneration, but who knows? Maybe it has something up its sleeve that would save it from the same fate as its companion. Better safe than sorry in this case, no?
Evidently, I was correct to prepare for the backup plan, because rather than struggle against the water bubble encasing its face, the bear colossus calmly slurped the water down. The vast amounts of suction overwhelmed the amount of mana the twins could use to keep the water in place, and so it simply disappeared down the beast’s gullet with a taunting smile that seemed to say, “Thanks for the refreshing drink, I was feeling rather parched”. Not a smidge of magic was used, or needed, to easily trounce my hopes of drowning our problems away. What stood before us surely could not be described as anything but the epitome of relentless brute force, a fact which has now been hammered home rather insultingly by the defeat of my plans through lung power of all things.
With a challenging roar, the bear plowed forward while ignoring the twin’s follow up attacks. Right, plan B it is then. If we can’t suffocate him, then we’ll just have to overwhelm his regeneration with more damage than it can keep up with! In but a moment the bear scion has slammed into my cliffside and begins scaling it once more. This time, Selene and Hecate are there to stop it from making any meaningful progress, their watery slashes biting deep into flesh and disabling limbs long enough for the next attack to land. Where Hecate’s attacks strike necrosis quickly follows, seeping into the flesh until the entire mass falls off to be replaced by newly regenerated meat. Meanwhile, Selen’s strikes shine with the radiant power of her light mana, her slices digging deep through muscles, tendons, and all the way to the bones beneath.
Together they manage to keep the colossus pinned in place to the craggy wall of my island, allowing Jackie all the time she needs to hop around and unleash a torrent of her aether arrows. Rather than strike into the beast herself however, I have her shoot the cliffs themselves where she then sprouts much more massive vines than usual to grasp at the enemy scion and bind it in place. I know that the twins will run out of mana long before I can bleed this invader dry in a battle of attrition, so instead my goal here is to line Jackie up for one big shot to put an end to this colossus once and for all.
Bounding up to the top of the cliff, right over the massive head of the bear, Jackie grows the limbs of her bow out further than even its longbow form, one side planting itself firmly into the stone. With a mighty heave, she stands upon the bow’s limbs and pushes down with all the strength in her legs while hoisting up on the drawstring with her arms. A ballista-sized arrow grows into place, aimed straight down to the skull of the beast below. Through this, Jackie channels the full force of her wind aether. With my hand on her back, I speak softly to into her mind through the bond we share.
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Let’s do this Jackie, together!”
Through my hand I channel even more mana into Jackie than before, really packing it into her as fast as the upgrades can handle. 2 more, then 5, then 10. The power swirls around her like a maelstrom that would have left anybody else gritting their teeth to ride out the storm. But not my Jackie. As much as I pushed the mana into her, she matched me by pulling it into her control right away, weaving it into her aether flawlessly. Around the arrow tip the air began to swirl, faster and faster, like a drill turned up to turbo speeds.
This obviously did not go unnoticed by the bear scion, but it was too late for the behemoth to avoid its fate. Bound up tightly in Jackie’s vines while Selen and Hecate kept its prodigious strength locked away through their continuous onslaught. Their mana has already depleted dangerously low once again, but their combined efforts have bought us all the opportunity we need. All the enemy can do is flounder uselessly in its restraints, glaring balefully at Jackie and its impending doom.
With a boom the arrow disappears from Jackie’s bow, boring a path straight through the entire length of the bear scion and continuing deep into the ground beneath it. Jackei’s wind arrow had accelerated freely without any resistance, twisting the air in front of it out of the way and turning the space in front into a devastating drill. Meanwhile, just behind the shaft, the collapse of the resulting vacuum pushed the arrow along even faster than any projectile has ever flown before in this world.
The twisting motion of the air and the shockwaves from the collapsing vacuum bubble didn’t just serve to speed up the arrow however. Like a delayed reaction after the arrow had already sped through, I watched as a spray of blood exploded from the bear’s body, accompanied by the splash of water beneath its feet. I watched as the beast’s jaw was ripped away to hang loosely by a strip of flesh on the right side of its head. From there the arrow had traveled down into the beast’s shoulder and blazed a path all the way through its chest cavity, the aftershocks ripping the bear’s body apart and leaving its left side barely attached anymore. It looked as if some giant had cleaved its axe down the bear’s side, all the way from the shoulders to the hips.
The scion had managed to avoid an instantly fatal blow by twisting its head as far to the side as possible, but that proved to only postpone the inevitable at this point. With that much damage to the internal organs, it couldn’t hope to recover in time. We’d done it, we’d won!
Joyfully, I turned to Giorno, ready to send some mana down to Kelvin next, but what I saw froze me in my tracks. This whole battle, Giorno had been his usual calm and composed self, issuing orders and cooly commanding our forces. But now, he was trembling with a visual amount of fear, his skin blanched of all color. Thoroughly spooked, I racked my brain for anything I might have missed, but I got my answer sooner than expected.
“Kill it, kill it now! We don’t have any time, finish it before it's too late! It’s going to do something to the bear!”
Dutifully, Jackie and the twins ready their next attacks to hasten the bear scion’s demise, but something Giorno said stuck out to me. Wait, the bear is the subject of his sentence, not the object for some reason. But…, that would have to mean…
With wide eyes, I come to a dreadful realization, I never got a mana notification for the bat scion. No, no! No WAY that bastard survived, right? Feeling the sneaking march of dread closing in on my throat, I check the spot where the bat scion had crashed into my island. There it lay, wings in tatters and its chest caved in from impacting the ground, lying in a pool of its own blood. By all accounts, it appears to be dead. But that’s when I notice something off. The pool of blood is moving.
Right before my eyes, I watch as little bubbles capture air inside, and then get mixed in the blood as it slowly circulates out of the lethal wounds and then back into the bat’s body. It must have kept conscious through the crash and is now using its blood magic to just barely keep itself alive. Would that be all the bat was up to, I would have breathed a sigh of relief. But no, all around the crash were scattered splotches of fresh blood, drawn out into a foreboding set of interlocking symbols when viewed from above. The bat was casting something, using its own life as fuel. With a weak wheeze in place of a laugh, the bat scion spoke for one final time.
“Glory be to the Mountainlord. Blood Arts: Sacrifice.”
Accompanied by the ding of a new notification, I watched in horror as all the blood was forcibly wrested from the bat scion’s fresh corpse, instantly mummifying it into a dried-out husk. Then that mass of brackish liquid moved faster than it had any right to, thin tendrils shooting out from the main body quickly dragging the blob to the edge of the island. Before any of my scions could react, it had already latched onto the dying bear’s head and begun pouring itself forcibly through every orifice it could reach.
Writhing in agony at the black-red liquid shoving itself down its throat, nostrils, and eye sockets, my scions lashed into the bear’s body with as much strength as they could, but to no avail. The wounds would begin closing before their attacks could even finish, and from the bear’s torso sprouted several bloody tentacles which wrapped themselves around the dangling left side, pulling it back into place with a wet squelch. The newfound regeneration didn’t, perhaps couldn’t, stop there however. All over the colossus’s body something churned beneath its hide.
Every single muscle in the behemoth’s body squirmed as it doubled, then tripled in size, in some places rupturing the skin as it struggles to contain the roiling mass of flesh. Muscle fibers sprung from the fur like weeds sprouting out of fertile ground, twitching and flailing about looking for something to connect to, until the beast’s entire form was nothing but a bulging mass of undulating flesh vaguely shaped like a bear. From the monstrosities head, the repaired jaw split open far wider than anything still attached to the skull to allow, revealing row after row of sharp fangs growing into place all the way down its throat.
With an unearthly screech, the monstrosity easily tore itself free of the vines and took a swipe at Jackie with its misshapen foreleg. Nobody must have told Deepholm that inflating your musculature so much is a direct reduction in flexibility however, because the blow was slow and cumbersome, allowing Jackie to easily vault backwards out of reach. But Deepholm didn’t need to care about such silly things like flexibility, or the limits of a physical body, as halfway through the swing a series of cracks could be heard as the bear monstrosity’s muscles broke every single bone in its arm, causing it to suddenly stretch out on just the muscles and ligaments, increasing in speed as the limb turned into an impromptu flesh whip tipped with giant claws.
Caught completely by surprise, Jackie could only try to form a hasty shield of roots with her life aether, but the abomination’s claws sundered it with ease, cleaving through her bow, then her arm, and finally raking across her torso. My girl hit the ground, hard, and didn’t get back up. Meanwhile, the twins were still desperately flinging any kind of attack they could think at the bear horror, all to no avail. This affront to nature had such strong regeneration now that nothing in their repertoire could hope to leave any lasting damage.
With thundering steps, the abomination practically oozed up onto my island, all four legs standing firmly upon my territory for the first time. A few steps brought it close enough to brush up against my trunk, and then it sunk its claws deep into the bark and tore a ginormous chunk of wood free. As easily as tearing apart cardboard, Deepholm’s monstrosity began to dig its way deeper and deeper towards my sanctum, and inevitable destruction. From beside my core, a loud snap rang out as the inspector’s white-knuckle grip finally crushed the handle of her kanabo.
“Damn it all, I can’t just sit here at let this happen! I have to–”
Whatever she was about to say was cut off as she took her first step forward, weapon raised with the intent to join the fray. Instantly she was beset by floating swords made of light on all sides, not even given enough time to swear before they all plunged into her body. With a gasp Lydia fell to the floor, covered in wounds. She’d managed to use her ki to shift the trajectory of enough blades away from her vital organs, but she was still grievously wounded and wouldn’t be doing any fighting any time soon.
In what felt like no time at all, the fleshy abomination had reached the final bit of wood separating me from the outside world. With a psychic scream of determination, Leonardo charged forth, combining his life and kinetic affinities to try and brace that final barrier, but his efforts were carelessly brushed aside as the bear’s claws crashed through anyways, collapsing a pile of splinted timber down upon my peaceful crafter. From above and behind, Alexa had joined the twins in trying to drag the enemy scion back, but with barely a sliver of mana left between the three of them, they were little more than flies buzzing uselessly through the air to it.
Fully exposed to the outside world for the first time since my birth into this world, I was now face to face with the monstrosity as it raised its claws for one final strike. But oddly, all the fear and terror that had frozen me still before was utterly absent. I couldn’t even focus on the looming mountain of death in front of me, nor on the panicked shrieks of my scions as they struggled to the last. Rather, my gaze fell upon the prone form of the very first scion I had designated. My strongest defender, and the most earnest girl you would ever meet. With my focus beside her, I could tell that my brave girl was just barely hanging onto life, but she wouldn’t last long at this rate. Every shaky breath was accompanied by a wave of anguish washing over the bond.
Even without a proper physical form, I knelt beside her and gathered her up into one final embrace. I’m so sorry Jackie. The UI might call you guys scions, but truthfully you have all been a family to me, right from the start. I never had one, back in my previous life, so I know I must have messed up so many times, in so many ways. But even still, I had a blast getting to know each and every one of you, wishing for each day to stretch into infinity so I could enjoy our time together forevermore. But I’ve failed you, I’ve failed you all. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a life full of happier days, and I hope whatever comes in the next life, you can forgive me.
“You’ve been the best daughter I could have ever asked for. I love you.”
Jackie PoV
Everything hurts. My ears won’t stop ringing, and everything around me is moving in super slow motion. Through blurry eyes, I can see my arm lying just out of reach, still clutching my bow tightly, well, half of it anyways. Further away, I can see the blurry shape of the gross thing from Deepholm tearing its way through Mama’s tree. The twins and Alexa were swooping around behind it, but there was no stopping the beast anymore. Pain throbbed through my chest, my heart heavy as it slowly pumped my blood out onto the ground.
I’d failed, again. Right when it mattered most. Some huntress I’d turned out to be. Sure I was able to handle the regular invaders, but against every enemy that ever posed a serious threat, I’d been beaten every time. When I first lost to Miss Lydia, it hadn’t been so bad. Mama told me to learn from it and grow stronger for next time. I’d been useless too against those water birds on the first day. So I trained, and then I trained and I trained and I trained some more. Till the calluses on my paws were bleeding, I practiced every day.
For some reason Mama didn’t like that though, so she forced me to take breaks pretty regularly after that. At first, it felt like she didn’t have faith that my efforts would help with anything, but that feeling faded pretty quickly. She’d always have a bowl of those red fruits she calls strawberries ready for me by her core. Then when I would get settled in beside her and begin munching on the sweet fruit, she would tell me unbelievable stories about the world she remembers from her past life.
Apparently, her old world had jackalopes too, or at least stories of them. Mama says they supposedly had lightning in their veins they could move so fast. Lightning! The big flashes in the sky that make the air go boom. That stuff! The jackalopes from Mama’s world must be really amazing if they could do that. Nervously, I asked her a bit more about it, feeling rather inadequate by comparison, but she ended up talking too much about how technically lightning is in every living creature, but just really really small amounts of it? And something even more confusing about something called eel-ektons that makes it charge based on if they’re in a good mood or not?
Mama does that a lot, going off on tangents about difficult subjects for a long period of time, but even though I couldn’t understand most of it, it is nice just to sit back and listen to her speak. Eventually, she would always notice her rambling, and swap to asking me questions instead. I felt really proud when she asked me so much about my experience training with ki, and later on aether as well. She’d always thank me for my hard work, and for helping her figure out how things work in this world. It made me happy to think that Mama needed me, and that all my efforts were slowly paying off.
And it really felt like I had been improving too! I’d wrangled all the rowdy brawlers into line, and chased off that group of novices. But then that big flying scion came and knocked me out of the fight before I could even tell it was coming. Kelvin was barely a few days old and he had to handle that nasty bat all on his own! And despite all the work I put into developing my aether, I then lost to Miss Lydia again right after that. It felt like I was stuck in place, running as hard as I could but never getting anywhere with it. I did my best to hide it from Mama since she’s so perceptive, but it really hurt.
And now, even after all the faith and strength Mama poured into me, I’d still managed to let her and everybody else down. They’re all going to die, because of me. I’m not sure which is worse at this point, the pain from my injuries or the pain from my failures washing over me. I watched through bleary eyes as the gross bear tore open the deepest part of the tree, and revealed Mama’s core for all the world to see. It’d been a few weeks since our last break together, so when I saw the soft green glow of Mama’s core, it stirred up a weird mix of relief and regret in my heart. I’d missed that comforting glow, but also the only reason I could see it now is because I’d doomed it to oblivion.
Grief filled me up to the brim, and all I could do is wordlessly apologize over and over again.
To my surprise, however, I could feel her presence nearby, and that comforting warmth brushed aside my apologies to fill our bond with light instead. I don’t get it, why is she here? Why is she focusing on me, when the enemy is literally right in front of her core, staring her down? Why is she wasting her time on me when I can barely even move anymore?! And even if I could, we both know I would just let her down some more. So why, why does it feel like I’m back by her side, listening to her tell stories at length, feeling so comfy and secure?
“I……ry….J..ki”
Go on, go! Leave already and focus on someone else, maybe they have a chance to save you, to fix things. Haven’t I failed you enough? I, I can’t do anything but disappoint you. I…I can’t be like the jackalopes from your stories Mama. I’m not good enough for that. I’m sorry.
“..b..en….f…….to me……..t…….ro……sta…”
Despite shoving my weakness, my numerous defeats and doubts to the front and finally showing Mama everything I’d tried to keep hidden from her through the bond, absolutely nothing changed. If anything, the feeling of closeness only increased and that warm feeling wrapped me up even tighter, never wavering for a moment. For a moment, the ringing in my head subsided, but my eyes must still be playing tricks because I thought I could see a bunch of golden sparkles floating in the air around me, forming the vague outline of a person with her arms wrapped around me. The next words came through confidently and clearly, and finally put a name to the feeling I always felt when Mama’s attention was on me.
“I love you.”
…Why? When I’ve already let you down so many times, when you’re about to die because of me…why spend your last moments on this worthless rabbit who couldn’t save anything? The bond held no answers for me, only that same persistent warmth, refusing to relent for so much as a moment. Over in the tree, the bear monster had raised its claw into the air, readying the final strike that would take Mama away for good. A few tears slipped free from my eyes and dropped down to join the blood at my feet. Belatedly, I realized that at some point I must have stood up, but that doesn’t really matter right now.
In fact, standing there, basking in the feeling of being wrapped up in Mama’s love, it felt like a lot of things didn’t matter. My doubts, my fear of not being good enough, and the pain of being proven right. It all felt like wisps of smoke being carried away on the wind. They scattered against the constant reinforcement pouring out from the bond, powerless before it. She’d seen all of my shortcomings, witnessed every downfall, and yet this was always her response. Yellow sparks crackled through my fur, and larger arcs of energy began to flicker back and forth between the branches of the antlers on my head.
Slowly, all the world began to fall away. The ground beneath my feet, the stench of death hanging upon the wind, even the tree itself, along with the slow-motion bear scion bringing its claws down for the kill. There was just me, and there in the distance, the light of Mama’s core, calling me home like a beacon. Under her light, I remembered the simple truth that Mama has always seen and understood so much more than me, guiding me as best she could and celebrating both my success and failures alongside me. For this moment in time, all those complicated and difficult subjects stopped being important. All those times spent hoping I could measure up to the lofty heights she spoke about seemed a silly waste of time. All I had to do was stop trying to become something else. Maybe, just maybe, I was already everything that Mama could see in me, and I just hadn’t realized it yet.
I crouch down low to the ground, those strange sparks increasing in intensity, coiling inside of me like a power I never knew I had. My ears and paws were starting to char black from all the energy flowing through me, but I didn’t feel a thing. After all, none of that mattered. With a mighty leap, I left the feeling of solid earth behind. Wait for me just a little longer, ok Mama? I’m coming to your side.
Blood flash-boiled.
Flesh charred into shattered lumps of charcoal.
Bones fragmented and caved under the tremendous forces at play.
Jackie never got to experience the joy where in this, her latest challenge to a race between herself and the sound carried along through the air, the wind finally lost.
Neither did she get to see how, for the first time in its life, the bear scion’s body was lifted fully up off of the ground and flung to the side like gravity had suddenly reversed its direction.
But perhaps..., someday, there would come a time when she’s relaxing with a bowl of those delectable strawberries once more, and she’ll get to listen to Mama’s voice as she regales her with another one of her wild stories. A story where one little rabbit made all the difference in the world, and through her actions did save the day. Now wouldn’t that be nice?
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Author Notes://
Here it is, the big one! I've had this chapter in mind since before I even started writing this story. In fact, it's what made me say fuck it, I'm gonna try writing it out and see what happens. Sorry again for the long delay on this chapter, I didn't want to split it into anything smaller, so it ended up pretty long. Also, yay! First scion PoV, just like you guys wanted right? xD
I hope you enjoyed reading this part, and I'll see you all again next time for the final conclusion to the Deepholm Arc.

Hello, does anyone know anything about landscaping/weed killer chemistry? Our landscapers sprayed Roundup with a surfactant (LI700) on our pavers and the smell has never went away. It was over a month ago. Our dogs fur smells like it, now our dryer smells like it, our hair and clothes even smell like it if we go outside. The smell is hard to describe, it’s like sweaty, metallic, grassy and even almost ammonia-like. Does anyone know what this is; and if the glyphosate exposure is harmful? Will the glyphosate break down on our patio if there is no soil? Thanks.

Maya wakes up out of her vision and snaps forward as her head hurts like someone pounded a sledgehammer on it, and her nose once again started to bleed. Aniya looks back at her sister and sees she is awake and alert.
"Maya! You're okay," Aniya runs to her sister and hugs her.
Bonnie turns her focus from the walkers outside and sees Maya out from who knows what. Bonnie guards the exit in case the walkers comes close, as she looks at Maya, "Aniya keep your voice down we are not exactly out of the woods just yet with the walkers. Glad to you back to the world of the living, Maya."
Maya nods to Bonnie and holds her forehead of the sharp pain still surging through her brain. Aniya then lowers her voice so she doesn't attract the walkers here, "What exactly happened?" Aniya asks.
Maya leans forward and puts her head between her legs to stop the pounding headache, "Had a vision." Maya spoke in a low muffle voice.
"Yeah I know, but what caused you to go down like that? You had visions before and never go down and pass out like what you just did." Aniya puts her arms around her sister's shoulders.
Maya closes her eyes and brings her head up to rest on her knees, as she smears the blood from her nose onto the sleeve of her father's jacket. "I saw a deer."
Bonnie was listening in and turned her head when Maya mentions the word deer. "Deer? We didn't see any deer out there."
Maya eyes her leader, "Because it wasn't a physical one, Bonnie. It was a spirit. A spirit warning me of danger coming." Maya confesses.
Bonnie looks to Maya and doesn't believe, "Maya I think you need to rest, and must have hit your head or something when you collapse."
"I am not crazy and don't need rest and my head is fine. I see things that you can't see." Maya leans back as her head pounded again.
Aniya looks to Bonnie as she shakes her head still not believing Maya. Aniya ignores her and strokes her sister's forearm, "What did you see?"
Maya looks down at her sister and then tells her everything, "Violet, this young woman named Minerva, Louis, a boy I am not familiar with, another boy I've seen once but don't know his name, two other kids, AJ and Clementine on a beach after the boat we seen in the river, and what I am guessing Delta members." Bonnie now suddenly is intrigued and stood at the entrance to the cave as Maya retells her vision. "After when this woman named Minerva throws something I don't know a grenade at Clementine separating Clementine from her group, I look back at the same deer I saw in the forest, and a storm came over the river, flashes of light where I couldn't see, and blood all around in the sand I was standing on, and the sky red. I tried to ask the deer spirit who is going to die, and ask them what they want and who they are when the pain in my forehead started to burn." Maya spoke and hugs her sides.
"Red sky are you sure?" Aniya asks.
Maya nods and closes her eyes and puts her head in her lap again and hugs her knees, and she fits clutches her pant leg. Aniya looks at her sister and squeezes her forearm. "You know when?"
Maya shook her head, not saying anything with her head in her lap holding back tears. Bonnie then comes a little closer to the Lakota sisters, "You saw Clementine in your vision-like thing?"
Maya slowly raises her eyes to look at her leader, "Yes."
"Why was she on the beach, was she responsible for blowing up that boat that Alberto told me about?" Bonnie looks at Maya.
"I don't know I didn't see that far back. My gift is not a wind-up time machine it only gives me visions of what is important for me to know." Maya starting to get angry with Bonnie miss using her gift to serve her interest. "And it is warning me of someone's death on the horizon."
"Whose?" Bonnie asks.
"I don't know whose, but Red sky means death, or many, in my ancestors' teachings. And blood on the sand, from many, is another sign." Maya looks to her leader.
Gargling moans of walkers started to echo through the cave as Bonnie whips around at the entrance and sees at least five entering, "Shit,"
Aniya springs to action and grabs her knife and started to attack a walker. Maya pushes her pain away and takes hold of her father's knife and attacks the walkers to fight for her life. Maya defeats one walker and glances outside as more were filling in from the west. Maya remembers Violet telling her Clementine used walker guts to get past herds. Maya takes her knife and splits open the walker she just killed and covers herself up in walker guts. Aniya looks at her sister after she has slain a walker and asks, "Maya what are you doing?"
"Covering myself in walker guts, you should too if you want to get out of here," Maya said.
"I am not—" Aniya started to protest.
"Aniya, more walkers are filling in from the west and will be here in a matter of minutes. Get your fucking ass over here and put the guts on you!" Maya orders her sister in an urgent tone.
Bonnie slain the last walker and looks outside in the direction where Maya just said and her eyes widen as she is right. Bonnie hisses and grits her teeth, "Fuck," Bonnie takes her knife as well and started to open up the walker she just killed and did the same as Maya is doing. "She's right Aniya."
Maya fully covered in the guts looks at her sister, "Please Aniya, do you trust me?"
Aniya closes her eyes and throws down her knife, "Fine. Make it quick!"
Bonnie looks at the two girls, "I'll cover you two and make sure the walkers don't get too close, hurry Maya."
Maya digs in the dead walker and started to put the guts on her sister. Aniya moans at the smell as she tries to hold back her nausea. Maya manages to cover her sister in the guts and was about to put the dead walker's intestines around her sister when her sister moves away from her sister and vomits behind a rock.
Maya waited until her sister stopped puking and returns to back to her. Maya softly looks at her sister, "Here," she drapes the intestine around her shoulders, and Aniya gasped. "Relax, sis you are fine. Just don't think and you will be fine. Once we get out of these caves and to safety you can take it off you." Maya squeezes her little sister's hand.
"y—yo—you su—re this will work?" Aniya stutters in fear.
"Yes. Covering up in their blood will disguise your scent." Maya assures her.
Bonnie eyes the two teenagers, "Come on we got to go." Maya takes hold of her sister's hands and follows Bonnie out of the caves to someplace safe from the small herd.
.....
Louis follows Violet to her room and he softly knocks on the door. Violet had just plopped on her bed when she heard a knock. She lets go of the necklace Maya made her and goes and opens the door. To her dismay, Louis is at the door, "Louis? What, why are you here?"
Louis looks at her and eyes her suspiciously, "Can I talk to you?"
Violet looks at him and leans up against the door, "Sure, talk away Lou?'
"I mean in your room, privately?" Louis looks down the hallway and then back at Violet.
Violet follows his gaze and then back at him, "No one is around Louis," Violet spoke.
"I know but I feel comfortable talking with you behind closed doors if you don't mind." Louis looks at his best friend.
Violet rolls her eyes and shrugs, "Suit yourself, Lou," Violet moves away from the door and goes to her bed, and sits on it, leaning up against the wall. As Louis closes Violet's door and moves into the interior space. He hasn't set foot in this room since he comforted Violet after learning that Minerva and Sophie were killed by walkers. He still envisions that day of holding Violet in her bed where Violet is sitting now, and hearing her mournful cries until she cried herself to sleep. Louis shakes his head to clear it, and leans up against Violet's dresser and nightstand.
Violet looks at him with her hazel eyes, "Spill Lou? What is so important you need to talk to me behind a closed door?"
Louis took a breath, "Are you secretly sneaking out of Ericson to go meet Maya?"
Violet was caught off guard by that question, and she looked down, not meeting Louis's eyes as she bit her inner cheek. Violet closes her eyes for a moment then looks back at him, "What do you think I am meeting her?"
"Because you have a happy face when coming out of the graveyard, and I know visiting Minerva and Sophie's graves does not make you that happy. Especially after what Minerva did you on that beach." Louis reminded her. "I won't tell Clementine, I swear, I just want to know, so are you?"
Violet sighs and pushes herself off the bed and stands by the bedpost with sunlight shining down on her face. Violet looks up at Louis, "Yes. I've been sneaking out the past several weeks to meet her away from Ericson. And," Violet looks down with a slight glow on her face remembering Maya's sweet face staring back at her, that gets Violet weak in the knees and her heart racing. Violet heaves a sigh and looks at her best friend, "You're not the only Ericson kid around here who is in love. I, I fell in love with Maya."
Violet came out with the truth. She moves to the other side of Louis staring out the window. "I thought I would never find love again after, Minnie. Then fate or destiny happened, collided me with her a few months back. One thing led to another and I let my walls down. Or she came in with a sledgehammer and shattered my walls, as I fell for her. And tell you the truth Louis, I don't think I've ever fallen this hard for someone as I fell for Maya. Not even Minerva hit this deep and you know how crazy I was for her." Violet looks at her friend and brother figure.
Louis gave a little nod, "That I do yes. And I can tell by your face you glow especially when I see you coming in from the graveyard. Also, whatever happened between you and her that day I spot you by Clementine's tree house."
Violet smiles and a slight blush forms on her face remembering her first kiss with Maya, as that kiss felt so magical. She has never been kissed like that in her life. Not even her first kiss with Minerva was that magical and spectacular. When Maya kissed her, she really kissed her. More than just a peck on the lips, it was full-on lip action with some exchanges of tongue contact. Violet shakes her head, and her gaze falls on the hard surface of the dresser, "Please don't tell Clementine, she still has trust issues with her, and I don't blame her. I know she is trying to keep another Raiders situation from happening and I respect that." Violet then raises her gaze to look at Louis's soft brown eyes, "But I know Maya will never ever put me in danger or anyone here. She cares, really cares. And if it wasn't for her sister she has to take care of, I bet she would come and asks Clementine to stay. And we really could use her expertise here in this group. She will be a great asset to Ericson."
Louis looks at his friend and away, "Violet, how can you know? I know you want your girlfriend with you but how do you know she will be a good asset?"
"Well for one she can help Ruby with her medical skills. And you well know, she is an excellent huntress. And..." Violet closes her eyes and breaths out a sigh, as her eyes open to look across the room, "She is good at night watching. She stayed up all night when she and I were stuck up in the tree when the huge horde of walkers came. And she held me all throughout the night as I slept in her lap. She never let me fall." Violet looks at her friend.
Louis was hesitant, "Look Vi, I won't tell Clem of this, but you should tell her yourself what you just told me."
Violet looks away, "She won't listen to me, Louis. I tried that and she won't listen because she has a prejudice against Maya because she happens to be in the same group of people who did her wrong in the past."
Louis looks at his friend, "Can you blame her, Vi? I mean for a while when you first came here, you barely let people get close to you after the fucked up situation yourself what you had to deal with and the same age Clementine was shot at by a shifty person, and then have a group member leave you to die... A lot easier to ask forgiveness than to forget."
Louis looks and sees a new item around Violet's neck as she leans forward on the desk with her head bowed. He knows he is starting to get through, "I know you care for this girl, Vi, hell I wish there was something I could do to get Clementine to see your side and for both you and her to be happy. But I can't change her mind about extending that trust outward. She tried that with Minerva, and look where that went. Clem is still feeling that burn of trust from shifty people, and can't really blame her."
Violet then snaps her head up, "But Maya is not shifty!"
"I know, Violet, I know. From what I have seen when I met her, how she was quick to defend us against Arvo. I can see she has a good heart and knows when one is faulty and has a good sense of judgment. She could have shot me with her arrow if she wanted to, but she didn't." Louis said.
Violet was starting to get angry, "If you know this of her, then why are you standing on the sidelines on this one?"
"I don't like confrontation. You know this." Louis looks at her. "I don't want to fight you on this. That is something you and Clem, need to work on resolving this conflict on your own." Louis steps backward. "But I will be a friend for you if you need it."
Louis sees Violet not meeting his gaze and crossing her arms. Louis then looks at her, "For what it is worth Vi, I think you and Maya are good for one another. You may not see it, but she changed you in some way. In a good way. I haven't seen you light up this way ever. I mean, ever."
Violet looks up at him with a little surprised expression. Then shyly responded, "Thanks." And moves her own hair back behind her ear, like what Maya always does to her when she wants to seriously kiss her. Violet heaves a sigh as she looks up at him, and as he stands in the sunlight. Violet notices something new on his neck. "Lou, ah..what is on your neck?"
Louis looks at her with confusion, "What?"
Violet moves away from the dresser and pulls on Louis's shirt to get a closer look. A teasing smile falls on her face as she bites her lip to keep from laughing, "Oh...hmm...what did you and Clem do last night to let her give you a hickey?"
Louis's eyes were wide, "She did what to me?"
"You have a hickey on your neck Lou, oh...several in fact." Violet peers down Louis's shirt.
"Okay, that's enough. Let me see," Louis batted Violet's arms away and moves towards Violet's desk. Louis stands before a small dusty mirror to see what Violet is looking at. And his face went red as Violet moves to the spare bunk bed by the desk, laughing. Violet giggles a bit more, "What did you do to earn your badges of honor with her Lou?"
Louis tugs his jacket collar closer up on his neck, "nothing." He doesn't want to share his first sexual experience to give Violet any more ammunition for teasing rights.
Violet smirks and raises her eyebrows at him, "Never thought I see the day you out of all people will get to receive a hickey from someone. Especially from Clementine. Marlon sure, and Justin, but you?" Violet points her finger at him.
Louis covers his face now with his jacket, "Well since you are through being pissed...I am going to go fix the traps and walls." Louis hugs his coat closer.
Violet then giggles and teases Louis back from all the crap he pulled with her and Minerva, "Okay, just don't land on Clementine's lips again to create any more of those 'bruises,'" Violet laughs again.
Louis gave her a sneer back, "You are enjoying torturing my soul?"
"Yes after all the shit you done with me in the past on my first romance, yeah. It's payback time, Louis." Violet spoke.
Louis gives her the finger as he exits her room. He has to admit he likes it when Violet teases him back, even though he is embarrassed about it.