Sorry If this isn't the right place for this conversation, but I would like to have a talk about my endocrinologist appointments and get your thoughts on it.
I have hypothyroidism and PCOS with insuline resistance which is why I decided to go to an endocrinologist, I've had three appointments like an initial one and two follow ups; on the first one everything went ok and she was like "the goal isn't to lose weight blablabla", which I appreciated, and she just tweaked my dosage of levotiroxine and metformine (also my gynecologist gave me metformine to take like half an hour or something before breakfast and it kinda bothered my stomach badly so she recommended me to take it with meals) and recommended like exercise and healthy eating. Then on the first follow up which was after I had blood work done she was like "you do have a lot of insuline resistance" and she gave me semaglutide, now I didn't know it was the same as ozenpic that everyone talks about, but it was on daily injections and it was very expensive and she recommended more strength exercise (I've always been more of a cardio girly), and she also told me that I was a good candidate for weight lose surgery (like gastric bypass or something like that) which surprised me because we had talked about weight lose not being a main goal but I just nodded along, she told me the semaglutide could have some side effects like vomits, nausea, diarrhea.. and to text her any issue to tweak dosage, funnily my issue was constipation which I think is weirder as a side effect, and when I texted her she just told me to eat more fiber. I was using the injections for a bit under 3 months until I couldn't get it anymore because there wasn't any in the market, so she changed it to semaglutide pills, which I've been taking since, I like them more because they are cheaper but also because I was DONE with injections that was just unsustainable for my emotional well being lol. Now on the third appointment the doctor said some stuff that I didn't like, 1) she insisted on the weight lose surgery and was like you can start saving, this time I told her I wasn't interested (I just have heard a lot of times where it doesn't work and I don't think I would like to take those risks) and I hope she doesn't bring it up again next time; 2) she said something like "you are lucky you are tall or you would be worst" meaning like I'm not fatter because I'm tall, like I weigh more but like I'm tall is sort of ok but if I was small it wouldn't be ok, which I mean sure but it rubbed me the wrong way because maybe if I was smaller in height I would be as fat but I'd weight less because I'd be smaller, it's in my opinion just a weird thing to say and it gave me 🚩, like what was the point. 3) I feel like I wasn't properly explained about what the semaglutide was for in any of the two appointments, so I was under the impression it was to manage the insuline resistance since she changed the metformine for it, but I gathered by what she said on the second appointment that it had to do with managing the amount I eat, but we never actually discussed portions or anything so she didn't know how much I ate (I did tell her like I got a big bag of chips for like NYE and that we barely ate it on the day so we had just ate it through the following weeks from time to time so maybe it was based on that, like to avoid chips cravings lol), also she did tell me on my last appointment that the pills weren't like approved as a weight lose drug yet but that they probably will soon because it was the same as the injections, idk maybe is one of those case where it is for the insuline resistance but if you lose weight then even better or idk.
I don't dislike the doctor, but I would like to know your thoughts on it and if you've had similar experiences. And sorry if this was too long and poorly written!

Episode 1: "I Am Oliver Jonas Queen"
The episode begins with a shot of the city of Star City at night, where we see a figure with a green hood walking around the rooftops of buildings. Suddenly, there is an explosion in the distance and the figure jumps into action. This is revealed to be Oliver Queen, the Specter, who has returned to the world of the living to fight crime in his city once again.
We then see a flashback to Oliver's death, where he is visited by the Specter and given the choice to return to his former life and fight crime once again. He chooses to do so, and is returned to the living world with all of his skills and abilities intact.
Oliver returns to his old headquarters, where he discovers all of his equipment and the Arrow suit have been stolen. He sets out to track down the thief and recover his gear, but runs into trouble when his family and friends don't believe it's really him. They believe he's an imposter and try to stop him from getting into fights with criminals.
Meanwhile, a new villain known as Eclipse appears on the scene, dressed in all black and armed with a bow and arrow. Eclipse has an army of henchmen and is causing chaos in the city, and it's up to Oliver to stop him.
Oliver manages to track down the thief who stole his equipment and gets his gear back, but the thief says that he sold the Arrow suit to Eclipse. Oliver dons his suit and goes after Eclipse, but is unable to capture him. Eclipse escapes and taunts Oliver, saying that he's too weak to stop him.
The episode ends with Eclipse revealing his true identity as a former student of Oliver's named Robert Baxter. He tells Oliver that he has been planning his revenge for years and that he won't stop until Oliver is dead.

Background:

Wanted to provide this set of nine cards I threw together for our DND campaign. My players will be entering a city tomorrow and one of the shops is called: Curio Curiosity Shoppe.
I have the rest of the shops, encounters and everything mapped out. The players are level 1 and it felt like the deck of many things and some of the other decks that have been homebrewed and posted seemed a little too strong for the party this early on. Additionally, a majority of the players are new to DND. I wanted to make a small deck of cards that would allow them to ease into things like the deck of many things with out the overwhelming benefits/withdrawals early on. Feel free to use.

The Shop:

• A quirky establishment that specializes in rare and unique items, including trinkets, oddities, and mystical relics, appealing to collectors and eccentric adventurers.
• Madam Astrid Shadowbrook: A quirky and enigmatic tiefling proprietor with an array of strange and mystical items. She is known for her cackling laughter and penchant for collecting oddities from far-flung lands, making her shop an intriguing place for adventurers seeking unique treasures. She can tell your fortune for no coin.

The Deck:

• A set of 30 cards created by an entity unknown. Throughout the years cards have been lost or destroyed leaving 9 remaining. The deck is imbued with great magics glowing when a card is drawn. Astrid acquired this deck in a deal with a powerful Arch Mage and previous leader of the Wizard's Academy. While the origins of this deck are unknown, the academy has been seeking a way to bring it back into their possession.

The Cards:

Draw a card and roll 1d4 for effect. Once a card is pulled or flipped the player may not receive that card again.
The Mother You feel a warm embrace:

• Add 1d4+1 additional health healed on you or a near by ally at an point (2 uses).
• Add 1d4+1 to your next 2 strength and constitution saving throws.
• A sense of protection and guidance from a maternal entity.
• The ability to communicate with animals or nature spirits.

The Lovers You have formed a life long bond:

• A bond is formed between the player and an NPC or party member, granting +1 to help actions when assisting each other.
• The player gains insight into the motivations and desires of an important NPC(s), aiding in social interactions.
• 1d4+1 boost to charisma and attractiveness, making interactions with romantic interests more successful (2 uses).
• The player gains knowledge of a hidden love affair or romantic intrigue within the campaign world.

The Pride You feel a strong sense of self worth and confidence:

• 1d4+1 Temporary increase in strength checks and attack rolls.
• Your next persuasion roll with an authority figure has disadvantage (stacking).
• You will be challenged to a one-on-one duel by a formidable opponent. Fame or reticule awaits.
• The player attracts the attention of a powerful and egotistical NPC, who may become an ally or rival.

The Fall You have a sinking feeling in your gut:

• A sudden loss of 1 to wisdom, intelligence, or charisma (which ever is highest) requiring the player to find a way to regain them.
• A betrayal or deception by a trusted ally, be it player, or NPC leading to a significant setback.
• Your legs feel week -1 to dexterity saving throws and -5 walking speed for 2 long rests.
• An NPC or Ally will humble you. be it in battle, politics, negotiations or haggling.

The Wizard Arcane power envelopes the room:

• +1 additional level 1 spell slot. Good for 2 uses.
• The Wizard Academy senses the arcane energy and will be searching for you.
• You gain advantage on your next 2 arcane checks.
• You encounter with a wise and knowledgeable magical being who imparts secret knowledge or assists you with a quest.

The Hunter The smell of pine and dirt fills the air. Coyotes howl in the distance while a cold breeze flows through your hair:

• +1 to animal handling and survival, making the player an expert hunter and scout for a short time.
• Some one or something will begin hunting you and your party.
• +2 to stealth rolls in woodland environments, goes away after entering an urban area or dungeon.
• You gain a contract to hunt down a legendary creature.

The Teacher: The smell of fresh books can be smelt:

• Gain proficiency with a single skill until your next meditation or short rest.
• You can assist an ally with their next 2 intelligence or wisdom checks.
• You will soon encounter either wise sages or ancient texts that offer insights and solutions to current challenges.
• The player gains an apprentice or follower who looks up to them and aids them in various ways. The apprentice is prone to losing things and making mistakes. Kindness can be costly.

The Warrior: A sense of honor and strength washes over you:

• +1 to hit dice +2 to damage dice for the next 3 attacks.
• +2 bonus to AC against the next 3 attacks.
• You become the focus of a military general or company. They believe you are their enemy and seek you out.
• You will soon be challenged to a series of gladiatorial battles to prove their strength and valor.

The Calamity:
Ţ̴̯̤͖̝̦͙̠͇͓̯̯̹̘͋̐̔͋́̈́̏̍͛̑̚͜ẖ̷̨̨̛̲͓̠̮̞̙͎̬̒͛̍̕ẽ̵̡̛̘͒́ͅs̴̤̮͖̯̱̲̯̥̭̈́͌ë̴̛̠̫͕́̽́́̐̋͊͝͝ ̵̡͔̮̺̭̘͎͙̩̫̖̀͋͂̉̈́̏̿w̷̢̨̹̘̭͎̲͔̘̫̆̀̅̂ǫ̸̲̼͔̭͇̜̞̯̪͚̼͕̣̏͋̾͌̏͗̈́̽͘ͅř̴̡̰̤̗̝̝͚̠̼̩̈̊͊̊̀̈́̈͘̕̚ḑ̶͔̜̯̹̦̹̼͔̼̹̇͑̽̿͗̿͗͛̀̇̍̀̽͜ș̶̨̹̯̰̙̤͙͚̲̟̠͇̱͙̓͑͆͋̏̚͠ ̸̨̘̈́̐̊͌͝ȧ̴͚̣̤̱͚̞̣̞̦̮̘͛̓̅͐̂̃̀́͛̚͝ͅr̴̮͈̭͚̘̠͔͚͈͛͗͆͑̈́̔͗̏͜ͅe̵̖̰̹͐͐̓̏͛̐͗̍̏̊̽͊̍ ̸̡͚̰̳̩̦͖̗̓̌̄̄ụ̸͔̼̭̣͕͙̪͔̽͒̓̄́̏͐̊̀̓͝͠ṉ̸̞̦͑̾̋̅́͊̕͝k̷̫̬̩̯̲̖̏̿͗̍̇nó̷̘̻ẇ̷̡͚̯̭͎̤̙͚̣̽́̿̑̈́̎͗̈́̍͠ͅn̸̡͚̤̭͚̹͎̮͔̱̣̦̼̉̊͌̐̽͋̒͘͘
​

• A catastrophic event occurs in the campaign world, affecting the player's surroundings.
• The player gains the ability to manipulate natural disasters or harness chaotic energy for 3 days. These abilities have the possibility to backfire (DC 13).
• Player has an encounter with a malevolent entity or ancient curse that bring will bring destruction and chaos.
• The player is tasked with averting an impending catastrophe, becoming a hero or savior in the process.

Image Generation: Stable Diffusion - Prompt: absurdres, best quality, ultra detailed, detailed background,(art nouveau:1.5), (zentangle:1.3),1girl,crimson
Negative prompt: SimpleNegative, (worst quality, low quality:1.4),[:(badhandv4:1.5):0.7] ,(bad-hands-5:1.2)

• Steps: 30
• Sampler: DPM++ SDE Karras
• CFG scale: 9
• Seed: 1341287207
• Size: 768x1024
• Model hash: ec7cbe03c5
• Model: ttkSuperSpirit
• Clip skip: 2
• Version: v1.2.1

The image has the cards set on a standard paper size and should be roughly the size of standard playing cards. Hope this is helpful, happy adventures.

I just hope that people see this post, that they might start spreading the news before it’s too late. Something big is coming, something ancient, something older than any of us could have ever imagined. It might be too late. I don’t know what will become of me, of the people I love that I might never see again, by the time you are reading this. But I implore you to listen and take this story seriously, because it could save your life. Or not. I don’t know yet how deep this goes. If it’s true, if what I think is true…God help us. Nothing can save us now.
I’ll start at the beginning, because you need to understand how long this has been happening, and the implications of what is possible now that it’s getting worse. Over winter break, I went to visit my friend from high school, Jackson, in Vermont. He goes to Bennington College, studies Social Sciences with a minor in Linguistics. Smart guy. He used to write my papers for me in English class, and I would pay him back in six packs. That’s always how it was: him, studious and put together, and me itching to get outside. I was constantly on the move, biking through the forests behind my house, trail-running, building a treehouse for my little brothers, you name it. I wanted to get my hands dirty, get into nature. I guess that’s why I opted out of college, and went for camp counselor positions and summer gigs until I secured a conservation job with a park near home. Nature is important to me, and I want to do my part as the generation that has a responsibility to heal the world.
The outside was what called me to Bennington, aside from the fact that I missed my best buddy. I don’t remember when it was first brought to my attention, but I became aware of murmurings of Bennington’s rocky past online about a few months before I was set to visit Jackson. Being an experienced outdoorsman, I wasn’t afraid; on the contrary, I was rather excited to get out there and prove my worth to Jackson and his college buddies, who were far less athletic than I am. Looking back, I’m kicking myself for being so cocky. I can’t believe I ever thought of my best friend in that way.
From what I could see on the internet, Bennington College’s history was a long and often sinister one. There were videos about people vanishing into thin air: a girl wearing a red parka went for a hike alone and was never found, an experienced man leading an outdoor expedition disappeared in the woods, a woman fell into a stream, doubled back to the campsite to change her clothes, but never made it to the site, a man on a bus disappeared from the vehicle at a stop but left all of his luggage, a teenage boy was waiting in his mother’s truck and when she came back, he was mysteriously gone…I wish I could say these stories deterred me from poking my head somewhere where it didn’t belong.
Instead, I only grew more curious. What was going on in this so-called “Bennington Triangle?” I was in a unique position to investigate this phenomenon for myself. Many people hear about strange occurrences and the intrigue piques their interest, but they never have the chance to see it for themselves. But I could. I knew I could hold my own out in the wilderness—it was literally my job! Besides, I was a strong, slightly stubborn young man, built steadily, and I could protect myself well. What could possibly happen to me out in those woods, much less to a group of young college-aged men? The people who went missing most likely made one fatal mistake that cost them their lives, or maybe it was all just a big coincidence. Either way, I was about to find out for myself.
It was halfway through December when I left to meet up with Jackson. I got there on the last day of classes, and Jackson told me he would be busy until later in the day. I assumed he was cramming for a final, and I told him it was no big deal, I would meet up with him and maybe meet some of his buddies later. Besides, I had some plans of my own.
The most famous missing persons case in Bennington went cold, and is still unsolved to this day. The case is a tragic one, and I didn’t want to be insensitive by going around asking for information or throwing around names. Everything I needed, I found online. Paula Welden was the name of the girl in the red parka that went missing. Allegedly, she left campus one day to go on a hike by herself. She left the campus around 3pm and hitchhiked to an entrance to the Long Trail, a trail that runs for almost 300 miles from Massachusetts all the way to the Canadian Border. She wasn’t dressed to be outside for long, but as the story goes, she never made it back from the trail.
There was one sighting of her, however, that particularly interested me. A man reported that he had seen her running around, rather erratically, in the bottom of a gravel pit near the entrance to campus, and I wanted to see if there was anything left of the pit. Because I’m experienced with many different kinds of natural phenomena, I initially wondered if there wasn’t a natural explanation for her distressed behavior. I thought maybe there might be an insect nest or an infestation of small animals at the bottom of the pit that she might have disturbed, so I decided to check it out in my free time.
After the RA checked me in and I tossed my luggage into Jackson’s dorm, I packed a small backpack with essentials: water, sunscreen, energy bars, mini first aid kit, some rope, a utility tool, a flashlight, and a lightweight jacket. Then I headed out towards the pit.
The first thing I noticed was how much smaller the pit seemed. According to the eyewitness description of the incident, Paula was running up and down the side of a deep gravel pit, but what lay in front of me now was something much more shallow. I walked down into the center of what was left of the pit, but I could easily see over the edges. The small, dark fragments of rock crunched and ground together under my hiking boots, and the slowly sinking midday sun bounced off of the remnants of white snow around me. It was an unusually sunny day for winter, and the snow was, curiously, letting up for my visit. But the good luck for me ran out here—there seemed to be nothing to investigate at this location. My hopes of finding any evidence of insect or pest infestation that could have disturbed the girl were dashed, maybe buried several feet underground.
I lingered awhile, kicking at the bits of gravel in the small pit. I watched the small rocks scatter over the rest of the gravel, hitting up against the edge of the pit and rolling back down a few inches. I turned to go, but stopped. Maybe it was a trick of my eye, the sun reflecting harshly off of the snow and glinting in my sunglasses, causing me to not see clearly. I walked to the edge of the pit and kicked some more gravel at the side. The small rocks skipped across the uneven surface of the gravel pile, and scattered up the edge of the pit, farther than gravity should allow them to travel. I kicked more, and it happened again. My heart started beating faster.
I crouched down and picked up a small stone. I rolled it gently across the gravel, softly enough that it started to slow when it reached the incline of the side of the pit. I watched, astounded, as the rock slowly rolled uphill about a foot before coming to a stop. I gave a shout of excitement and jumped to my feet.
As I stood up straight I nearly fell back down. In an instant, my hearing seemed to go and I felt an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. I spun around, thinking someone must be behind me, messing with me, but the sensation of closeness stayed pressing at my back. I spun around again, searching for an explanation. My head was fuzzy. I heard my footsteps, overwhelmingly loud, and I couldn’t hear anything else, almost as if my range of hearing was limited to my immediate surroundings. Like I was trapped in the pit. As soon as those words flashed through my head, the claustrophobia overwhelmed me, pushing up against the very air around my body. The silence built up inside my ears until all I could hear was my muffled footsteps, my desperate breathing, and the blood rushing faster and faster through my body.
I lunged for the edge, clambering up the side as fast as I could. Instantly upon passing over the edge the sounds of the late afternoon bore down on my ears. I stumbled and covered my ears, the chirping of the birds and rustling leaves almost too loud for me to bear.
It’s not that I was scared. Obviously, I was a little shaken up. As I hastened back towards Jackson’s dorm, I tried to rationalize what had just happened to me. Maybe I hadn’t drank enough water and I simply became dizzy. Maybe it was altitude sickness. Maybe a strange bug had bitten me and I temporarily lost my bearings. Nothing quite made sense. I tried to push it from my mind and focus on having a good first day, because soon I would be meeting Jackson’s college buddies.
When I got back to the dorm, Jackson was waiting for me. Fresh from the shower, his hair was damp and he was putting on a clean t-shirt. Pulling me into a hug, he expressed his excitement over my visit, asked me about my flight, what I thought about the campus—all the preliminary niceties. Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even if he noticed, he didn’t pry and try to ask me about my slightly shaking hands, my pale face, or the vague disconnectedness with which I answered his questions.
That night eased my worries slightly. I ended up meeting Jackson’s group of friends and, together, we ventured into downtown Bennington. We hit a few bars and chilled at some of the many breweries in town. Live music, good company, and many, many beers did wonders on my nerves. By the end of the night, I had completely forgotten all about my encounter in the gravel pit. Jackson’s friends were nice guys, and I was too busy feeling proud about my best friend coming out of his shell in college. When he left, I had my doubts, but it was crystal clear that Jackson was really coming into himself at this school.
The festivities continued for the next few days: the guys were stoked to be done with their final exams and excited to connect with Jackson’s old friend, so we spent our time drinking and hanging out, bumping music and generally having a blast. It was almost enough for me to forget about one of the very reasons I was excited to be in Bennington in the first place.
It’s been a few days since that incident. I had even almost started to feel better about the whole thing. Maybe it was a mistake to poke around in old history, and maybe I should just focus on living my own life and fulfilling my own passions, working to heal nature as best as I can. But now Jackson and his friends want to go on a hike, and I’m starting to feel that same claustrophobia creeping back in. What the hell is out there, and why do I feel like I shouldn’t be messing with it?
Jackson chose the hike, not me. It was like him; he was the researcher, he was the one who looked at details, so he suggested we hike on the Long Trail. It intersected with the Appalachian Trail, and maybe I wasn’t paying attention when Jackson explained this to me, because it didn’t raise any alarms about the missing persons cases. Paula Welden went missing on the Long Trail, sure—but she wasn’t with a group of capable college guys like I was.
We packed some backpacks, crushed a beer or two for celebratory sakes, and set off on the trail. I let myself feel excited as we stomped through the trees, Jackson and his friends decked out in their matching red Bennington shirts from graduation. The hike was long. It was tedious. I don’t know when I first started noticing the weird aspects around us until about an hour in. The others didn’t pay any mind to these things, but I saw them: leaves drifting in the air with no breeze, snowflakes trapped in patches of sunlight, floating but unmoving, and that tree. It was a towering douglas fir, half-dead and reaching for the afternoon sun with bare branches. Each time I looked over my shoulder to check for hikers behind us or glanced ahead to see what awaited us, it was there. At first I assumed my eyes were playing tricks on me. After all, we had been hiking for a few hours.
Only when we stopped for a breather and Jackson pointed at a nearby stream did the weird things become too much for me. We were hiking on an incline, and we were exhausted, but when Jackson knelt beside this stream, it was flowing uphill. By then I was a little panicked. I freaked out, telling them that we needed to head back. Who cares if we hadn’t reached the halfway point yet? Was there even a halfway point? It felt like we had been walking for miles!
One of Jackson’s buddies opened up a map of the trail on his phone, and it was blank. He had service and bars, but the map was just…gone. Shocked with sudden fear, we immediately turned and headed back down the path. The sky darkened within minutes of us retracing our steps. Somehow, night was falling, despite us beginning the hike only a few hours prior. I tried to point it out, pulling Jackson aside when we slowed our pace to pass around a bottle of water. But Jackson was terrified and unfocused, and when I asked him what was wrong, we realized that one member of our five-person group was missing. How had we not noticed?
So, we made a U-turn and headed back up the mountain. Twenty minutes later, we found his torn university shirt. I turned the red fabric over in my hands, panicked and bewildered. When I looked up to scan our surroundings, I saw that same Douglas fir directly to my left. I was shocked, and the rest of the group must have noticed. We looked at each other and saw the panic rising on our faces. What the hell was happening?
I only had one goal at this point: we had to get down the mountain to call for help.
We decided to do our best to follow the trail on the way we came up, but only once daylight broke; it was difficult to make out the trail in the dark cover of the night, so I insisted it would be too dangerous. Someone could fall and get seriously injured, we could all get separated in the dark, or worse. So we did our best to hunker down and build a makeshift shelter to wait out the night, but it wasn’t easy. I can only describe the sounds we heard as otherworldly. Despite the lack of animals in the woods, nature seemed to be alive around us. The clicking of bugs kept me wide awake, but the noises were louder and deeper than I had ever heard. The baying of giant wolves, so close I imagined them coming up directly behind us. The snuffling of something in the underbrush, but from a cavernous creature larger than any moose could ever be.
Where had these animals been in the daytime? Why did it feel like they were surrounding us now?
I don’t know how I ever fell asleep, but when I awoke in the morning, the sun was beating down on us. From the sheen of sweat on my forehead to the dreadful pit in my stomach, I could tell something was horribly wrong.
When I scrambled to my feet and glanced around the area, I realized that only Jackson and I remained at our site. It was us, the clothes on our backs, and the demure amount of leftover supplies in our pockets: keys, gum wrappers, half-eaten power bars, and anything else that was ultimately unhelpful. We had been stranded on the forest floor, us against nature, as if something had swooped in from above and whisked Jackson’s friends under the pitch-black cover of the night.
I frantically took in our surroundings, peering into the bushes and pushing through thorny shrubbery. There were no tracks, no drag marks. Not even broken branches. I told Jackson we had to get out of there, and fast. I knew we needed to find the closest trailhead and book it down the mountain. Jackson ran so fast he nearly chipped a tooth on a steep hill. He was trying to keep up with me since I was faster by a long shot. All that sports stuff in high school paid off in the moment, so I almost felt bad leaving him in the dust. I called back over my shoulder to him every minute or so, making sure he was there.
He stuck with me for the most part. His t-shirt got torn by overhanging branches at one point, leaving a nasty scrape almost as red as the decimated fabric. I found myself struggling to remember if he was wearing that shirt to begin with, back when we started.
Then I decided I was losing it. It was like a fight against nature, Jackson and me against the blaring sun and sloping trail. Eventually, Jackson starts glaring menacingly at the passing scenery, cursing loudly and deliriously at everything surrounding us.
When we stumbled upon a trail marker, we barely had enough energy to celebrate. While we caught our breath, I tried to calm Jackson down. Something told me that cursing out Mother Nature wasn’t the best idea right now. Whatever was sicking the elements on us wouldn’t appreciate the nasty things he was saying about them. But he was terrified, and nothing I said could slap any reason into him. I had to lead us to safety, get us out of here.
Suddenly, I heard a sound in the distance. But unlike everything else we had heard so far, this one was man made. Jackson heard it too, and started yelling about a helicopter. He made a break off to the left, towards the sound, and I bolted after him. Somehow, he burst out into a tiny clearing.
Ripping off his red Bennington shirt, he started calling out and waving it in the air like a rescue flag. He jumped and shouted, but as the helicopter got closer, the unbelievable happened. The clearing started shrinking, tree branches reaching from either side to close the gap and obscure us from the view of the pilot. Jackson screamed in fury, cursing the forest like never before.
Then the chopper must have been lowering down towards the treelike because the wind picked up, blowing in circles around us like the blades were inches from our heads, faster and faster, more violent by the second.
The brush beneath our feet blew up in the air along with the topsoil and dead leaves, obscuring our vision. We could hear each other gasping for breath, trying to keep the debris out of our eyes and coughing. I flung my arms out into the space around me, calling for my best friend and reaching out for his hands. But then I felt something shift. The decaying leaves around me smelled stronger. The wind became more vicious. The earth trembled beneath my feet, and I thought I felt something looming above me, breathing down my neck but also looking straight into my unseeing eyes.
Then it clicked. Jackson's red shirt, the gravel pit, Paula's erratic behavior, the other missing hikers...something was picking these people off, luring them deeper into the woods where they were sure to never be seen again. Did the color red cause whatever it was to literally see red, like a sick, twisted joke? Like a giant bull in front of a matador? What kind of creature could it be? Such a stealthy hunter, a commanding presence that made man tremble at the sensation of its mere aura...I couldn't even think about it without snapping my mind.
Before the flurry of leaves and moist earth settled back onto the ground, I knew Jackson was gone. I knew the chopper hadn’t seen us and that I was on my own now. I tried not to panic as I felt like every hidden eye in the forest was staring me down, sizing me up. I took off blindly, but where to, I didn’t know. After what seemed like hours of desperately sprinting, I saw a pile of rocks in the distance. Shelter, I thought, and decided to rest there for a minute to get my wits back about me.
Then I had an idea. With what little juice I had in my phone and whatever cell service luck would afford me, I knew I had to send out a warning. For some reason, I didn’t think about myself. I didn’t think about dying, disappearing, or whatever had happened to my friends. If the nature around me would be the thing to end my life, so be it. I had decided to dedicate my life to nature long ago: to save it from my fellow man, to preserve its beauty, and to keep it out of the wrong hands, the people that wanted to use its power for evil and to bring about the harm of those around them. I know it sounds ridiculous to be thinking about when my life was at stake, but I knew it was what I needed to do.
From my makeshift hiding spot in the rocks, I began furiously typing my story with what little battery I had left on my phone. When my hands started cramping, I used the voice option. I didn’t care. I just had to get my story out there.
For an hour , I’d been trying to put it all down in words. I couldn't believe my luck, that my battery hadn’t run out yet.
I had almost gone to the end when I felt the same creeping silence begin to close in on me. It was as if the forest was falling silent around me, and that silence was racing in on all sides, but it was different from when I was in the gravel pit. There was more to the sensation this time, not just the sinking, breathless feeling and the loss of hearing.
Somewhere deep within the forest, but at the same time, only miles away, I heard an awful rumbling sound, something I’ve never heard before. Nothing like the helicopter, not even the giant animals I was convinced I had heard in the night. I can't even think of a word to describe it, but it filled me with a frantic kind of dread that I’ve never felt before. I feel it in the ground. My entire body wants to run as fast as I can, but it’s like I’m glued to the ground. I taste metal in my mouth like maybe I bit my cheek or the dirt from the wind or I bit on a rock, I spit and I can’t get it out. I’m going to open an app and copy and paste it so people can know while I still can type I’m shaking so hard they have to know.
And the smell I’m smelling it’s like fruit that’s gone ripe, but it keeps getting more ripe, a sickly sweetness that keeps building mixed with the smell of the richest earth imaginable.
This is happening now, I’m smelling this now and It’s it’s like I’m trapped under the shadow of some thing bigger something that’s taking the shadow away from the trees and I can’t see the shadow of the trees anymore and the ground around me is trembling. It’s like I can hear the trees calling out to whatever it is, that’s walking towards me or flying I can’t tell, everything is stretching and growing out towards me. No behind me above me something is coming. I’m I feel better right I feel better than I have in days or however long I’ve been out here I’m not thirsty anymore. I’m not hungry anymore. I feel fuller stronger smarter. My mind is overloading. I’m thinking of 1 million things like I don’t know if I can speak anymore it’s like, it’s like I’m fruit like I’m a ripening on the vine and this giant wings beating above me and the smell is too much I

Please help. I’m so alone and confused. On Friday 6/3 I took a pregnancy test, digital and dye.. both positive, the dye was somewhat faint though, not so much that you had to “try” to see however. I thought this was strange, since I just had my period 5/24-5/27.. I tested negative on 5/24, the first day of my period. However, my period was lighter than normal.. it ended, I had intercourse 5/29, but that’s all.. after I had intercourse, I did have 3 days or so of light spotting. Being confused at how I could be pregnant at this point in my cycle, so shortly after my period, I went to the ER. Within hours of my positive digital and dye test. They did a urine and blood test. Both negative. When I got home I tested again. Feeling crazy. Digital was negative but dye was just as positive as the first I took. The ER told me to test again in a week. AKA yesterday 6/9… I tested every day in between with positives. Faint. And when I tested today, I was still positive. EXTREMELY FAINT however. I’m definitely having pregnancy symptoms. Someone please help. Am I definitely having a miscarriage? Or HAD one? And the hormones just haven’t left my body? Or is there a chance I’m pregnant? I’m thinking not since the test is only getting more faint

Granted this person is a friend I’ve cared about for many years, I’m just at the point where I don’t know what to do anymore. He has alcohol abuse issues and has recently said some horrendous things to me. About every 2 months I get the whole “what do I have to do to make you never speak to me again” and I keep telling him “just tell me and I won’t message you” so then I’ll go a week to a month without speaking like he asked. Then he reaches back out to me asking how I am. We’re fine for a few days, then I turn into his verbal punching bag again.
I HATE that he’s like this to me because when he’s being nice we’re the best of friends. I know he has other issues that he is not medicating for at the moment and I just don’t know how to respond to him anymore.
Tonight I asked him straight up if he’d like to continue to be friends or not and if not, I will respect it. He tells me he does not want to be friends because I “want too much from him”. I replied telling him the only thing I ask of him is to be nice to me and not take out his frustrations and anger about other things at me. He never replied.
He will message me again in either a day, a week or a month. Guaranteed. 100%. It has been this way for a very long time.
What can I say that won’t come off as being a bitch? I’m just tired of the back and forth, the “I hate you” then the “hey how are you” as if nothing has happened, the way I am somehow constantly made the bad guy when it comes to any issue even though I never treat him the way he treats me, etc. We are both in our 30’s and I can’t keep these stupid high school games going. Either be my friend and be civil, or don’t. I would LIKE to remain friends since we go back 18 years but with the way things are right now? I just can’t keep up.

Was having a convo with a friend about types of food that Reno doesn't have and got to thinking about that question -in general-
What are things/places/services you are surprised don't exist in Reno? Doesn't have to be types of food, can be anything
Seems like at this point we have at least -one- of most things, when I got here no one was doing savory hand pies but now we have a few of those
Used to not have sensory deprivation float tanks but now we have a place
We don't seem to have one of those queer dance nights that alternates around different venues that many cities have
We don't seem to have a nightclub that plays Reggaeton as far as I know
If we have a noise scene here, I am unaware of it - I used to love going to noise shows
What else do we still not have

I begun my journey back when the game was roughly new (or came out I don't remember) all the way in 2012 and I got no farther than Hermit (he was much harder back then), then back near the end of 2021 I begun my journey once again, and I kept going on this journey on and off till I finished sf 2 on February 14th of this year. And on that same day I begun my dive into sf 3, at first it felt too different and I didn't like it nearly as much... But I stuck with it and I'm glad I did, I began to like and eventually even love the game like I did sf 2 and today I finally beat sf3 and completed my journey through this amazing and wonderful series that I now now hold dear to me. (Now I just gotta wait who knows how long till shades releases in the USA).

Typical company employee Tanaka Daichi (38 years old, single) loves games and plays a new type of VRMMO called "One More Free Life Online" under the username "Earth". Inside this free world he chose several skills that are generally regarded as useless. Be it wasting time crafting potions, cooking up pointlessly tasty food, or hunting monsters with some absurd weapon he crafted, he simply enjoys p ... Read Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki - Chapter 90 - MangaPuma. Read more at https://mangapuma.com/toaru-ossan-no-vrmmo-katsudouki/chapter-90

My foster kitten died at the emergency room yesterday. She crashed in a matter of two hours, from ill to critical in a heartbeat. I held her in my lap as I sped to the clinic, barely watching the road to check if she was alive. I knew she was dying. Shortly after we arrived she stopped breathing on her own, she went into cardiac arrest, they did cpr for 10 minutes before I told them they could stop. She tested positive for panleukopenia, something that can be vaccinated against. But, she and her littermates were always too sick to be vaccinated. Her littermates went back to the rescue, because I work in the veterinary field and I can’t risk infecting patients at work. When you came back to me, I could tell how hard the staff had tried to save you, they tried to place catheters in places I had never of. I know they did their best. They brought you back to me in full biohazard garb, wrapped in a dandelion yellow towel. I stoked your fur and held your paws, you had been so patient for your nail trim just days ago. I held you like you loved to be held. I said goodbye, the rescue will lay you to rest. Your sister passed when you were 6 weeks old. I do not believe in an afterlife, but I hope you are together in some way.
I’m sorry my sweet little girl. You were 12 weeks old and only 1.5 pounds. So itty bitty, but you fought so hard. You have brought me immense joy and sorrow. I knew I would never have you forever, but never like this. It was my job to take care of you, to make you big and strong. I dearly miss the way you demanded to be held any time I was in the kitchen. I loved your silent meows before you climbed up my jeans. I learned you loved scrambled eggs and couldn’t stop yourself from running into clear plastic bins. My stupid, sweet, cuddly, curious, gentle, playful little baby. I’m so sorry you suffered, I’m sorry we couldn’t do more.

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i’m relatively new to shrooms. i had my first trip in september 2022 and since i’ve done them a handful of times.
yesterday, i had the strongest and most vibrant trip yet. i did it around midday. the sun was out, the day was beautiful. usually, i pair my trips with weed, but i didn’t this time. it was just me and the shrooms. i didn’t do any deep thinking about life, i just enjoyed the trip. the colors were so bright. when i closed my eyes, i saw a bunch of red and orange color and visuals. i threw the ball for my dog. i watched the squirrels play in the backyard and started tearing up, thinking about how everyone and everything just wants to play. there was one interesting part where i felt like my thoughts were split. there was me but it also felt like the shrooms were there too. i was in control, but also letting the experience of the trip run its course. i had a picnic in my backyard by myself, in my swimsuit, like i would have as a child on summer break. as the trip was winding down, i watched spongebob and laughed and laughed. i really think i connected with my inner child yesterday.
now today, when i close my eyes, i just see the usual darkness. i miss the colors. 😩
long story short, it was a successful trip! it makes me long forward to my next one.

I was so excited to try out the new creature. I pretty much exclusively play single player on Xbox. The day of release, I did a Dino wipe on The Island and spent hours flying around the swamp only to find nothing. So I went to Lost Island, did a Dino wipe and flew around that swamp for several hours. Again, nothing. I did a second dino wipe and spend a couple more hours before giving up. Went back to The Island and lost track of how many hours of nothing but flying around and killing stuff in the swamp (it’s over 10 hours but how much over, I don’t know anymore). Not a single spawn. I’ve had similar issues with gigas in the past, they only consistently spawn on Extinction anymore. When I heard that Rhynios were going to be giga level rare, I got worried this would happen. And turns out I was right. The only thing I can think of that MIGHT fix it is just deleting my Island or Lost Island saves and starting from scratch. But I’ve got years worth of playtime on these maps and don’t want to do that. Is there anything anyone can suggest that might help?

Hi everyone, my apologies if this has been asked before. I see a lot of league pass questions/complaints but nothing on this topic.
I tend to sail the seven seas for sports content but I would rather pay for the WNBA League Pass since it is very affordable and it’s a small way I could support the league. However, I almost only watch games on my phone and from when they had the free games on the app to start the season I noticed a big problem for me: there was no option to switch to landscape (on IOS). I couldn’t figure out any other platform to legally watch the game and I couldn’t get the mobile app out of portrait mode any way I tried. If I could just know that I would be able to watch games in landscape I would definitely pay the $25 but this really is a dealbreaker for me because the image is like half the size in portrait mode. Does anyone else have this issue, or are there other iPhone users that are able to watch in landscape? Thanks so much!

I know Sammies are barkers and all, but my 6 mo old pup is actually pretty quiet when she’s at home with just me around. If I ever show her to a place with other dogs though, like the dog park, she flips a switch and barks nonstop at them begging to play.
Is this just a growing phase? It’s actually kind of funny how my pup is the only one barking while other dogs are quiet as a cucumber. I’m trying to see if she’ll get the cue one day.