Not finished yet but nearly done just need to know if it's decent.
Spider-Man VS The Punisher
A man walking his footsteps sounds like mini explosions as a row of computers with people typing on them. The man stops upon a window looking down to a glass cage with yellow electricity emerging from it.
“He's here, he's taking us all out. We need back up. Noooo.” The man looks at one of the scientists saying “wait for him to get here.” The man cleans up his suit and tightens his tie.
“Ohhh you're getting dressed up just for me. I shoulda brought flowers.” The man looks up where he sees a man in a red and blue webbed suit. “I should have killed you years ago. Well after today you will be.” “We both know that's not going to happen Willy. I'll arrest you and you'll escape, Rinse and repeat, it's always been like that.” The man grinds his teeth and grips his hands. “Unleash him.” the scientist looks at him and then at the computer pressing a button.
“Unleash him Fisk are you cheating on me with another hero.” as he says this a bolt of lightning strikes through the glass levitating in front of him. “You must be Spiderman. I'm electro, the man that's been tasked to kill you.” Spider-Man whispers to himself. “This guy's making my spider sense go crazy. I don't think this will go well.” he coughs then says. “Shouldn't you be at the circus.” Electro looks at Fisk and says “Leave Mister Fisk now.” Fisk and the scientists walk out into an elevator. “Don't disappoint me Max.” The elevator goes up with Spider-Man and Electro looking at each other “So electricity man are we gonna start.” He looks down to his hands where they start to glow brighter with electricity shooting out. BANG electricity shoots out his hand Spider-Man just dodging it. BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG Spider-Man narrowly dodges the bolts. He creates a continuous line of lightning towards Spider-Man. Cracking Peter tries to dodge it but fails on the ground Peter feels his muscles shut down. Electro walks over to him, shocking him again. “Ahhhhhhh.” He stops Spider-Man trying to crawl away BANG “AHHHHHH.” An alarm goes off as sprinklers also go off hitting Electro causing him to grunt.
Spider-Man using this crawls up a wall into a vent leaving the building Spider-Man takes off his mask feeling the rain hit his face. He hears Fisk talking to Electro below. “Is the job done.” “No, he escaped. The sprinklers set off burning my skin.” “You let him escape. I gave you one job and failed me." Electro looks at him sternly saying “Mister Fisk you gave me these powers and you want me to kill Peter I will. You know where he lives, I can go over there and kill him and his family.” “You will do no such thing. He will not try to kill us if we just go after him he won't understand.” Electro nods and walks away with an umbrella.
Spider-Man looks at his web shooters. “Great, they're gonna have to get the train. May's gonna kill me when I get back.”
Brooklyn, New York, 21:32
“PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T DO IT. I HAVE A FAMILY LOOK. PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTHING. WHAT DO YOU WANT MONEY, POWER.” A man shouts breaking down in fear of whoever is trying to kill him. “I want to know why you do it. Why commit crime when there's hundreds of heroes. I think I know why though. They won't kill, they won't just take the godam leap and end you scumbags. So I chose to do it myself.” The man says in a deep voice wrapping a cord around his neck. He picks him up, showing him a fifteen floor drop. “No, no, please don't do this.” He starts to cry as looks at him blankly, throwing off the building with him screaming for about three seconds till the man hears a snap. “Good Riddens.”
Queen's, New York, 9:29 pm
Walking into a house a teenager walks in “Peter where have y- My god what happened to you?” Peter looks at his aunt and says “Some people tried to rob me, it's alright May.” “Did they take anything? Did you call the police.?” “No and no May I'm fine May.” He looks at May. “I'll call the police.” “DON'T. I never saw what they really looked like, you'll just waste their time.” She looks at him saying “From now on you'll be back before it gets dark.” Peter nods “Now Peter time for your cake Happy Eighteenth Peter.” Peter looks at a cake with candles on it. He blows them out “Thanks May I'm just gonna go to my room I've had a ruff day.” May looks at him. “Are you sure you don't want some cake I've made? It's your favourite.” “I'll have some tomorrow really.” Peter walks up to his room turning on the TV playing the daily bugle. “Today Spider-Man failed to capture this so-called Lizard. I think he's just too lazy to put in any work. When the police lose a suspect their back on the streets trying to find him but Spider-Man swip swap swoops his way down and destroys peoples properties.” Peter looks at it in a rage “People would have died if i wasn't there yet I don't get thanked but hated. Why do I do this?” He looks at the picture next to his bed of him and uncle Ben. The time when he didn't worry if Aunt May would see him tomorrow. If she'll be targeted by villains. “Ben would call me stupid for doing something like this. Even more stupid I was responsible for his death. I couldn't just tell him where I was, I just had to storm out. He goes looking for me and ends up getting shot. I'm sorry Ben.”
Manhattan, New York, 06:34
“What will it be?” “Coffee, milk and two sugars.” She turns around and the man looks at his watch as he checks the time. “06:36 still have seven.” “It's ready. Have an amazing day.” he hands her a ten and leaves. He walks to an old burned building. Walking in he goes up five floors and goes towards a sniper pointing out a window. He takes a sip of his coffee checking his watch. “06:42 one minute.” A minute later a limousine drives up to a small building. A man dressed in a white and gold suit walks. “Gotcha.” BANG, a single bullet from the sniper shoots the man in the head obliterating the back of his head. He walks away with screams of people running and people shouting. “It's him, Punisher, he's here.” Pointing their pistols in the air looking where the shot came from.
Queen's, New York, 7:45 am
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BE-. Bang Peter hits his alarm destroying it. “Uhh, great way to start the day.” Peter goes to the bathroom brushing his teeth. He leaves the bathroom getting changed into his new clothes then goes to check on his web shooters. “Thank god for the science lab.” Checking his costume he sees it burnt and destroyed. He messages MJ to ask her to bring his spare costume she's working on. He gets his bag and web shooters going downstairs. “Hey Aunt May I'm off to school.” “Not so fast, I've got some cake for you to take.” Petter goes up to May and takes it. “Thanks May love ya bye.” Peter walks out to the school bus.
On the bus he sits next to his girlfriend Mary Jane. “My god Pete what happened to you. Also you suits in my bag.” Peter looks at her saying “New villain in town calls himself Electro.” “You've got to stop doing this Peter really you're going to kill yourself. How many villains do you have?” Peter looks down and says “Well Theirs the lizard, Shocker, Electro, Fisk, Otto Octavius and sin eater. Don't forget about the small time.” She looks at him saying “God why do I put up with you.” “Because I'm irresistible.” She smirks.
A couple hours later Peter only had two lessons left. Peter in the back of his English class looked at his web shooters making sure they still aren't broken and that he fixed them during science. Peter looks at his phone where he sees a notification from the daily bugle saying that sandman is robbing a bank. “Can I go to the bathroom?” Peter shouts. “Sure Mister Parker uh just take the pass.” Peter takes it and leaves. He goes to the janitor's closet putting on his Spidey suit and web shooters jumping out of the window. He looks at his phone while swinging. “Sometimes I wish I had a GPS in my suit instead of needing to use Oscorpe maps.” He swings wondering why sandman is robbing a bank. “He's stupid but not this stupid to rob a bank, especially during the day.” He swings across Queensboro into Manhattan.
When he arrives the swat team surrounds the area with Captain Stacey on standby. Spider-Man drops down in front of him. “Hey.” Looking up Captain Stacey talks to Spider-Man. “Spider-Man good thing you're here we need your help. Sandman has taken over the bank and he has three hostages.” Spider-Man looks at him saying. “Guess you can say things are getting out of sand.” “Sure just when you go in don't destroy much will you.” “I won't captain you know me, just get your officer's to sand back.” Spider-Man does finger guns at Captain Stacey swinging in. “Everyone shut up. I'm gonna pay it off with this score.” Spider-Man slowly swings down “It's ironic that you're named Flint. You know because flint and steel create fire and fire turns you into glass.” “WHAT.” Spider-Man sighs as he launches a kick towards him. He kicks him with Spider-Man going straight through him as this happens he webs his feet and pulls causing him to fall. He goes to punch sandman but punches him through the glass into a police car. CRASH, the police start firing at him but they do nothing. “SPIDER-MAN GET UP.” Captain Stacey shouts at spider-man. Spider-man jumps in slingshotting himself into sandman. He goes straight through him knocking sandman back as well. “Stop this Flint, think of all the good you've done.” He jumps onto the wall looking at a fire hydrant. “Like you've no that won't cut it. Ok you haven't done anything good but that doesn't mean I have to kick your ass again.” Sandman gets up. “You think you can kick my ass again. Not happening.” Spider-Man sighs. “Ok.” Spider-Man jumps down and grabs the fire hydrant and pulls. CRACK, the fire hydrant breaks splashing water all over sandman. “I told you Flint, I always win.” Flint starts to turn into a pile of wet sand. Spider-Man webs the hydrant to stop the water then walks over to Flint. Barely able to keep your normal form. “Screw you.” Spider-Man looks over at the captain. “He's all your captain enjoy.” Spider-Man jumps onto the side of a swat van. “Where do you go when you finish?” “School, besides I'm only missing one class.” Peter says this jumping and swinging away. “About ten minutes getting there. HEY I'M SWINGING HERE. Five minutes there and ten back is enough to miss english.”
Last lesson goes pretty boring for Peter. He's thinking about the lizard and how he escaped yesterday.
Bronx, New York, 15:45
“Nah he'll be here soon. The boss says after today's shipment the police are going to leave the Bronx alone.” An unknown man, clearly a gangster in a suit, is talking to another man in a suit. “Yeah, isn't he worried, though I mean what happened yesterday? You know Freddy.” One of them says “Nah, his new guy almost killed Spider-Man yesterday. He was talking about how he was crawling to escape only got away because of the sprinklers.”
BANG, BANG, The Punisher walks into a restaurant with seven men in suits in it. “HEY WHO LET THIS GUY IN.” The Punisher grabs his M4 and start to spray into a crowd killing three of them. Two of them pull out micro uzi's shooting at him. The Punisher grabs a grenade and throws it at the bar. BANG, The grenade goes and kills the two of them. The other two put their hands up and surrendered. Frank drops his AR. BANG, BANG, He shoots them with his pistol. He walks upstairs where five line a wall of AK's. The Punisher pulls out a stun grenade throwing it at them. BANG, they all drop their guns blind and staggering The Punisher walks in picking up one of their guns firing on them all. He walks to a door with the dead piled up next to it. He kicks it open to see a man in a suit. “I wondered how long it would take for you to find me, Frank. Now I have some you want and in return you'll let me go, unde-.” BANG, “No deal.” Frank starts to pack a duffel bag with money. Once he's done he lights the office on fire and leaves.
He walks to a van getting into the driver's seat. He drives for about thirty minutes to a small house. Walking in he puts the money in the pantree where about fifteen of the same bags are. He puts on the TV playing the news and works on making bullets. “Spider-Man today was responsible for the destruction of one bank. One I go to, when i wanted to go there today I realised I COULDN'T BECAUSE SPIDER-MAN HELPED SANDMAN DESTROY IT AND WHEN THE COPS SHOWED UP HE THREW HIM UNDER AND PRETENDED TO BE THE HERO. Now why do I have to pay for it? Why doesn't he? We know who Captain America is and he destroys a bank because he's civilised and not a maniac.” Frank looks at the TV turning it off and continues working.
Manhattan, New York, 4:21
“PARKER, PARKER, these photos are blurry I'll give you fifty.” Peter looks at him “Mister Jamerson I need a hundred and twenty.” “I need better pictures.” A man walks in “We need pictures Jonah.” He looks at Peter. “Ok one twenty.” He sighs a check giving it to Peter.
Peter leaves and goes to the woman working at the desk in front. “Hey Betty.” Peter gives Betty the check to Betty who gives him the money. “Thanks.” Peter leaves the daily bugle checking phone. He sees that he's missed a call from Captain Stacey. He calls him. “ you at the station up town.” “Ok but which one?” He runs into the alley next to the bugle changing into his costume swinging away. “So which one.” “You won't miss it kid really.” The call ends. “Ok, quite weird but he didn't even say why he needed me.” It takes him about thirty seconds to realise what he's about. In the distance he sees a giant ball of electricity. “Oh no.”
“Where is it?” CRACK, BANG, Electro kills three police officers. Captain Stacey tells all the police officer's to get into the building. “YOU CAN'T HIDE.” Spider-Man swings down checking the pulse of one of the dead police officers. “no. SURRENDER NOW.” Electro flies in front of him. “Or what. At least I'll get to kill you now. Peter.” Peter feels nervous looking around and Captain Stacey shouts for him to get in. “STAY INSIDE CAPTAIN.” The captain goes to one of his men. “Is it ready?” “yeah” Electro shoots electricity at spider-man. BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG. Spider-Man webs a man hole throwing it at him. Electro catches it, Spider-Man using this moment slingshots himself punching Electro multiple times. “I'M DONE PLAYING. YOU KILLED COPS I'M NOT GOING EASY.” Electro smirks at Peter creating an emp knocking Peter down. Electro drops to the ground, shocking him. “AHHHHHHH. BANG, AHHHHHHHH. BANG, AHHHHHHHH.” Electro walks up to Spider-Man who is crawling away. “Poor little Peter Parker. Once I'm done with you I'll deal with the ones you love. Rest in piece Peter Parker.” Electro charges his hands then. BANG.
Manhattan, New York, 16:23
Punisher loads his sniper talking to himself. “Really, they would kill me immediately. At least I'll kill this freak.” He toggles with the scope. “SURRENDER NOW.” “He won't do that kid” he waits for a clear shot. “YOU KILLED COPS I'M NOT GOING EASY.” he waits for his moment. Bang “AHHHHHHH.” Electros hands start to charge he lifts them. “bang.” BANG. A single bullet goes through the chest of Electro. Frank picks up his sniper and walks downstairs.
Walking down he sees Electro holding his chest on the ground and Spider-Man next to him barely alive. The Punisher walks up to Electro with a knife. “No please d-dont do this.” He gets close to Electro as tries to crawl away. The Punisher grabs him and turns him around. Fear in Electros eye's “Once I'm done with you I'll deal with your loved one's.” “No please.” The Punisher stabs him in the throat, killing him. “You know kid stay away from fisk for the next couple of days you understand. Deal with that giant lizard terrorising the city. Got me Parker.” Peter just looks as he starts to lose consciousness. “Good.” Gorge Stacey and his men leave the building telling The Punisher to surrender. He walks away as no one dares goes to arrest him. Gorge gets his men to help Peter.
Manhattan, New York, 7:32 pm
“You've got to take it easy kid. The doctors said you could have died.” Peter listens to Captain Stacey saying. “I know but with this guy out there, bloods gonna spill in the streets.” The Captain sighs. “So what are you going to do.” Peter coughs “I'm going to try and find the lizard first.” “Stay safe kid.” Peter jumps of the empire state building swinging through the city calling MJ to tell May he's staying at hers tonight.
Thirty minutes Later Peter hears on the police radio that a giant lizard is destroying Oscorpe. Swinging over he feels the stitches in him starting to rip.
When he arrives he sees a fire and a chunk of the side of the building gone. He swings in where fire and dead security guards are. “W-who is he?.” He hears a continuous clicking sound. “There aren't any alien space hunters down there, ha ha.” He laughs nervously. Suddenly a human sized lizard runs towards him trying to eat him. He dodges jumping on a wall “Hey I'm from the zoo, they said a lizard needed to be put down. That doesn't make sense. I don't kill. Hey no bitey.” He sees on the lab coat he's wearing it says Dr Connors. Still dodging “Connor's wait Curt Connors how did you. AHHH.” The Lizard scratches Spider-Man across the chest leaving a claw mark. Spider-Man looks up and sees him jumping to bite him. Spider-Man cartwheels backwards into a jump webbing his head and face planting him. “If you chill out I'll give you a box of insects to eat.” The Lizard gets up. “AHHHHHHHH.” Spider-Man looks at him. “Uh I don't know what to say to that. Raw maybe." As Spider-Man gets ready to attack, the Lizard's left arm starts to turn grey. It looks at it and runs away. Spider-Man swings after him through the streets of Manhattan “YOU MIGHT UGLY BUT I'M FINE WITH IT YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUN.” As he swings the lizard throws a hotdog stand at him. He webs it to a wall and keeps swinging. “SERIOUSLY A HOTDOG STAND IF YOU DON'T STOP I'LL TURN YOU INTO A LIZARD DOG. WELL I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY.” The lizard goes into an alley into a sewer. Spider-Man follows him slingshotting himself in shouting. “YEAAAAH.”
Inside of the sewers Peter looks around and sees only one way forwards. He crawls ol the walls seeIng the destruction Connor's did. “UH MISTER CONNOR'S, CURT, LIZARD, ANYONE. AM I JUST TALKING TO MYSELF, YES, why did I shout that.” He keeps crawling till he hears shouting. “PLEASE I DIDN'T HAVE CONTROL PLEASE DON'T DO THIS.”
Manhattan, Sewers, New York, 19:28
“Where is this freak? This vermin to society.” The Punisher walks through the sewers trying to find the rat killing innocent people. “HISSSS.” He hears a hiss and feels something watching him. “SHOW YOURSELF YOU FREAK OF NATURE.” A black figure crawls out from the shadow. “Tries to hurt me, hurt Edward. AHHHH.” He hisses and screams at him. He goes to attack him but The Punisher unloads bullets from his M4. Vermin shouts in pain “AHHHHHHHH.” Frank slowly followed him. “YOU CAN'T RUN VERMIN. I'LL KILL YOU MATTER WHAT. I'LL DO WHATEVER, YOU'RE COWARD THAT PREY ON THE WEAK.” “Vermin doesn't prey on the weak. I DON'T HAVE CONTROL, AHHHH. Vermin needs to eat, Edward needs to live.” he scurries away. After a minute of walking he arrived in a circular area where Vermin threw him in. “AHHHHH. Vermin will kill you now.” Frank picks his M4 up again, shooting him. He screams crawling up the wall. The Punisher pulls the trigger when vermin is above it and doesn't do anything. He checks the mag to see it's empty. Vermin drops down Scratching Frank across the face. He pulls out his pistol shooting him in the eye. “AHHHHHH, AHHHHH.” Frank goes up and shoots him on the head, killing him.
He hears a scream further down. Going down the tunnel he sees lab equipment and a lizard transforming into a person. “The Lizard, perfect timing.” Limping, he goes over to The Lizard waiting for him to transform. “AHHHHH, AHHHHHHHHH, HELP PLEASE, AHHHHHHH.” Frank just stands there till he transforms. He pulls his pistol out and points it at Connor's. “You're the lizard. What's your name? WHAT YOUR NAME?” “Connor's. Dr Curtis Connors.” Frank starts to pull the triggers. “PLEASE I DIDN'T HAVE CONTROL PLEASE DON'T DO THIS.”
Peter drops down in front of him webbing his pistol. “We don't kill people, understand.” The Punisher grits his teeth “Back off kid really.” “So you can kill him. Like you did Electro. You told me you were going against Fisk, why are you going for The Lizard.” The Punisher smirks at Peter, making nervous. “I wasn't here for him. It's just a coincidence.” Peter stands there wondering what's next. The Punisher runs towards him Peter jumps over him kicking him in the back. The Punisher hits his head knocking him to the ground Peter uses this to web him up.
“Ok we need to get outta here understand.” Connor's nods and starts to pack his stuff. “I won't kill you kid.” Peter looks at him. “Good because neither will I.” “I'm ready Spider-Man.” Curt says to Peter “Alright let's get outta here.” Peter swings Curt Connors out of the sewers
Manhattan, New York, 8:53 pm
“Ok you need a cure. Uhh, I've got it. I'll take you to the Baxter building. Reed can help you.” Connors thinks. “What if he finds me?” Peter sighs. “It's probably got more security than the raft and it's got four of the best heroes in the world in there.” Connors agrees and Peter swings him there.
When he gets there they walk in. Peter shouts. “REED YOU HERE. REED RICHARDS.” “Peter.” They turn around to see Sue. “Hey Miss Richard's I need your help.” She looks at Peter then at Connor's “What's wrong Peter are you in trouble.” Peter looks at her then Connors. “Not me. Have you ever heard of The Punisher?” She looks confused. “Uhh no why.” “He's trying to kill him. He needs a secure place to stay. And he needs a cure to stop him from turning into a lizard.” She looks. “What about you? Will he kill you?” He sighs “No he won't. He just wants to kill villains.” She looks at Connors saying “Reed is out but he'll be back soon he can make you a cure. Be safe Peter this stuff doesn't end well.” Connor's looks at Peter “Thanks Parker I would never expect you to be a superhero. Miss Richards, can you get my family?”
Peter leaves, going to the top of the Baxter building for some peace. “I'm too tired. I just want to go home but I need to find Fisk.” He checks the wound Connor's left. “I'm losing too much blood. My costume is destroyed and I helped the guy escape death. How am I going to explain this to May my wounds? I can't believe it. First day as an adult and I might not live to see the second. Uncle Ben must think I'm stupid.” He shakes his head. “I've got to go to Fisk tower and warn him.” Peter swings to Fisk tower.
Manhattan, New York, 9:01pm
Spider-Man arrives feeling light headed. He swings up to the office where Fisk and his men are sitting. He opens the door, his men immediately pointing their guns at him. “DROP YOU WEAPONS.” Fisk tells his men. Reluctantly they do Peter Limping towards him. “I need to warn you. A guy, a guy is uh is uh going to kill you.” His voice started to slur and he was barely able to keep his eyes open.” Fisk walks towards him. “You two get the medics now.” Peter falls unconscious.
Waking up Peter wonder's where he is looking around and he sees medical equipment. He gets up and walks through a pair of doors into a room full of men and Fisk working at a desk. “You're awake. You've been out for nine hours.” Peter realises that his face is exposed and Fisk notices this. “We all know who you are, Parker.” Peter walks up to him. “Why did you save me? You're goon tried to kill me yesterday.” Fisk calmly got up saying. “Yesterday you came to warn me. I knew why because of the Punisher. When you came here you were close to death. I saved you because. I need you to defeat the Punisher. I've asked every mercenary in this city and it's the same answer. No before Punisher was a myth but now after the men he's killed. The only one who can defeat him is you.” Peter looks at him. “Who's to say I'll stop him.” “Because yesterday you came here to warn me. The only one who wants me dead that can do anything is him.” Peter looks at him. “Where's my stuff.” Fisk clicks his Fingers and one of his men comes over to Peter giving him his phone, suit and web shooters. Putting them on Peter goes to the window telling Fisk. “Thanks Fisk. You really should leave the city.” Peter swings away.
Queen's New York, 6:09 pm
Peter swings through Queens arriving at his girlfriend's house. He goes to her window knocking on it. She wakes up opening it. When Peter enters he takes off his mask. “I can't do it anymore Peter last night you never showed up. I thought you were dead. This Electro almost killed you and the lizard. Peter I ju- AHH.” She screams seeing Peter's face covered in stitches. “I'm not that ugly.” Peter jokes but MJ says. “What happened yesterday.” Peter sits down “It's a long story.”
Manhattan, New York, Sewers, Time Unknown
“DOWN HERE, THERE'S A LAB.” Two police officers walk down the sewers seeing a lab. They both walk into Connor's lab looking around. “What the hey Chris, what is this place? Chris.” Click the police officer feels a gun to the back of his head. “I'm going to take your gun and handcuffs. And Chris is alright just incapacitated.” Frank takes the cop's gun and handcuffs him to a metal pole.
Leaving the sewers Frank feels the cold air on his face. Checking his watch he realises it is broken. He goes to his van and drives off to his house.
When he gets inside he goes to the kitchen checking the clock. “Wasn't down there for long.” He puts on the TV while he makes shotgun shells. “Breaking news this morning we have word that Spider-Man and the Lizard destroyed Oscorpe hours ago, fleeing in the sewers. They also found the cannibal serial killer known as Vermin dead. They say it's a man dressed in black wearing a white skull on his chest. Now I don't condone murder but I want to personally thank this heroe for dealing with someone Spider-Man probably thinks isn't worth his time.” Punisher looks at the TV and at his shotgun loading. “That's all for now J, Jonah, Jamerson signing off.”
Frank goes into his pantree grabbing a bag of cash. He looks in it seeing about hundred and fifty grand. He takes it to his van with him driving off.
Manhattan, New York, 04:41
Frank walks into a small café and enters. “Mister Castle, quite a busy night was it.” Frank walks up giving him the bag of money. “Do you have the thing?” the man clears his throat. “Yes, your coffee is ready. Hot, two sugars and no milk. That'll be one dollar fifty cents.” Frank looks at the bag and at the device he's buying. He picks it up and leaves. “Keep the change.”

I love my MIL, really. I think she is an amazing person and she is super sweet. I never had any issues with her…UNTIL I had my daughter. My MIL loves babies(like she is obsessed with them) we have to tell her not to ask random strangers in public if she can hold their babies. Because of this, I knew that we were going to have quite a time once baby girl was born, but sometimes it is so much more exhausting than I anticipated. First of all- I had a terrible time breastfeeding. My daughter wasn’t gaining any weight(and was actually dropping at an alarming rate) due to my milk supply not keeping up with what she needed. I tried EVERYTHING to up my supply, and spent so much money on my breastfeeding journey, but ultimately we had to turn to supplementing with formula. Eventually a medicine I had to take dropped down the amount that I was able to make so I was making almost nothing. Due the strain in my mental health, I decided to end my breastfeeding journey when my daughter was about 4 months old. My MIL very much believes that formula is terrible and likes to tell me that “nobody has to supplement with formula. You just need to try harder” it’s hard to hear because I absolutely was planning on breastfeeding my daughter until she was a year old. I know she still doesn’t mean anything bad when she says this, so I let the formula comments slide. Here’s where things get messy…my husband doesn’t want to believe that his mom would ever go against our parenting requests, so he always asks her to watch our daughter and tells me that I should go over there more to visit since my MIL wants to see the baby. I am fine going over to visit some, but she always tells me “no” when I ask for MY DAUGHTER back. She also does this thing where she will put her hand under my 4month old baby’s feet to show that she likes to push her legs against her hand and “stand”. This would be okay if she didn’t move away her other hand and basically stop holding her! We’ve told her multiple times that we don’t like that and asked her to stop and she just gets offended and says “she is fine. I know how to care for a baby” the other day she literally did it at the top of the stairs-so I just walked over and took my daughter away from her. She has also given my daughter water to drink after I told her not to, made her formula with well water after I told her to use the water I bring, and given her a blanket to sleep with after I told her SEVERAL times not to, used baby powder on her, and just generally will take the baby straight out of my arms when I try to soothe her without asking because “she wants her grandma” Again, I know she doesn’t mean poorly(she has Alzheimer’s) but I just wish my husband would better understand why I don’t want his mom watching her alone..

Temp post -
You all are aware how the job market is right now. Anyone getting interviews is viewed as “damn bruh you getting calls”. I am not a networking person or neither am I aware of the worst of worst situations outside. I do read here and there on Reddit & have few friends, that’s all.
So my roommate asked me if I’m getting interviews I said yes I have two this week. Mind you I applied 20+ jobs per day and end up with 2 getting picked. Which is average I felt in my opinion and said yeah 2. She kept looking into my books while I’m studying lurking around watching what I read & behaving shady etc. It felt very weird. I completed all the rounds in the interview, got rejected and since then she kept asking for my resume mentioning how she wants to change her resume, asking what certificates I have what I do and what projects I have etc. she tries to be nice one day and asks for favours on day 2. Every time she asks me what happened with x y z, I share everything and she points out how exact same thing happened with her to get more info. Like what 🤷🏻‍♀️
Few days I feel bad for her, I do help but sometimes I feel she is just trying to milk information. How are you guys? Am I turning negative in this job market or is this how it is?

"Vraylar, Unrelenting Force, Fell Specter, Decimator of History" wow someone was going full titles outside my door, that hadn't happened in, hmm I think it's been about three centuries, hell I thought the world had forgotten me, clearly I didn't live up to that last one properly.
"We of the united world alliance beseech an audience with you."
I could always just ignore them, maybe they'd go away. I could check on them with some form of magic but that'd take time. Honestly it was hilarious no one ever figured out how weak I really was. Just because you can decimate an army it doesn't really mean much if it takes days of preparation, or it wouldn't if they weren't all so damned afraid of me. I honestly couldn't do many of the minor quick spells because they tended to be unreliable.
I looked at the door to my peaceful little home out in the country. I had specifically chosen to live way out here to avoid attention. A momentary bit of nostalgia for when I lived in a fortress that intimidated everyone and kept them from even approaching. Oh well nothing to be done about it now. I stepped outside and was surprised, six people, a vampire hiding under an umbrella, two humans, no upon closer inspection a human and one of the fair folk in human guise, a shifter in his mid form black fur bristling, claws jutting from his hands and only standing partially upright as if ready to drop to all fours at a moment, a merfolk in their human guise, gills and scales still apparent but at least capable of walking on land, and one of my own kind a pureblood mage his veins glowing with the mana that infused his very being.
I gave a slight bow and a smile. "Now, what can I do for" a pause as I tried to recall what they'd said. "the united world alliance. I don't suppose you simply came to say hello, if you did it'd surely have been preferable to one of your party to wait until at least dusk."
The vampire stepped forward, his pale skin much more clearly visible, the umbrella twirling as he bared his fangs in what I assumed was a smile. "Vraylar, if I may call you that, you are correct this is not a simple meet and greet."
I shrugged "It is my name and titles stopped having meaning a few, was it decades ago that you united?"
That got a raised eyebrow and a chuckle from the fae who shifted for a moment revealing her wings as she whispered "You owe me."
I couldn't place which of them she was talking to but it wasn't particularly relevant. The mage stepped forward glaring at me and begginning to shift his fingers subtlely. Nope can't have that, I reached out and grabbed his hands in a death grip.
"If you want these unbroken you will keep them still." He glared at me but nodded his acquiesence. I could see the other's muscles were tensed, they still feared me, good that'd keep things a bit more civil. I let go of his hands and looked around at the party assembled for a moment and stepped back from my doorway waving my hand towards the interior.
"Uncivilized of me to keep you all on my doorstep, I apologize please enter freely and know that the rules of hospitality are strictly adhered to in this household." A smirk from me and most were hesitant to enter but the vampire seemed to be more then pleased to be invited in and out of the sun. His unflinching entry apparently brought the rest of them tagging along.
I led them through the foyer to the living room and asked if any would like anything. I saw the merfolk glancing towards the kitchen and nodded before walking off into the kitchen, I decided I'd play it up a bit tonight as soon as I was out of sight I collected a glass of salt water, made a bloody mary with a couple drops of my blood for extra kick and flavor, some milk with just a touch of honey in it, a glass of wine that I'd been saving for a few, well a while anyhow, I hadn't been able to peg the shifter so I poured a second glass of wine, and finally a vial of undiluted mana. Satisfied that each guest would have something worthy of a dignitary I brought all out and set each in front of them.
The vampire and shifter immediately grinned at their glasses, the merfolk was already downing his. The fae simply picked hers up and stirred it with a finger while the human and mage glared suspiciously. As I finished serving I realized I had brought nothing out to drink myself. Oh well, a good host prioritizes their guests. I sat in my favorite chair looking at the motley crew assembled before me allowing them time to decide on their words.
A sigh of contentment from the vampire. "A deliciously made drink, I'd swear you've entertained my kind before. Apologies I realize now none of us have properly introduced ourselves. I am Solemn, Triad of the" I grinned and finished his sentence "of the court of vipers." He looked a bit shocked then nodded "Just so, I suppose you aren't as much a hermit as we thought if you know me."
I shrugged then "I keep apprised." pointed at each in turn "Mab of the Fae 3rd of her name." a slight gasp from the queen who was often thought eternal. "Ferrithir of Tribe Noctis." The shifter simply gave a stoic nod. "Sal" The human shrugged. "Apologies on my poor pronunciation, Qqurnr of the 4th Sea" The merfolk gave a dismissive wave. "and unfortunately your sixth is actually unknown to me, perhaps his skills outstrip mine."
The mage nodded, he still hadn't touched the mana I'd offered. "I am Vraylar of the Arbitration Council." I had to choke back a laugh at that, unfortunately it quickly became a coughing fit that doubled me over. Normally I wouldn't comment on someones name but I couldn't help myself in this case.
"Ok is that your given or chosen name, I just have to know whether your parents were some random groupies or what the hell led to that?"
His eyes narrowed to slits "It is the name I was granted on my ascendancy to the council, they felt it had been long enough since it was used and were certain you were dead."
I nodded, of course bunch of stuffed shirts who oversaw the 'appropriate use of magic' wanted me further forgotten then I had already tried to make myself so wanted someone to take my name and turn it into something new. Once I was collected I nodded.
"Well as your claim is more proper then mine and I'd rather avoid confusion, I shall refer to you as Vraylar, and this assemblage may refer to me as Vray if that is not too objectionable."
The human who had just begun to sip his wine seemed to breathe it in as he began coughing for a few moments. Mab looked over at him and sighed. "If I am not mistaken one is supposed to drink wine, not inhale it."
Vraylar nodded "Just so, Sal please do be careful, I wouldn't want any of us unconcious on our hosts floor." He then turned towards me. "Now with proper introductions and niceties out of the way perhaps we could turn to our actual business. You Vray," his mouth twisted as if he were speaking a foreign language he had just learned at the name "are a threat to the peace of this world, your very existance is an intolerable danger that can not be abided. That said, all here have been briefed on your previous actions and abilities, despite your best efforts some memories and records did survive."
My shoulders slumped and I slid my hands behind my back to hide my fingers twitching. "I suppose by those words this august assemblage is not a dimplomatic party then and is instead the assasination squad sent to 'handle' me."
A unified shout of "NO!" from all but the mage had me leaning back, then forward with an eyebrow raised. "Alright I'll bite, what does this group then do with 'an intolerable danger that can not be abided.' As I know in my halcion days there was only one correct answer to such."
Solemn stood then and spoke seeming to choose his words extremely carefully, his glass now only a quarter full but cradled lovingly in his hands. "What my fine compatriot is Attempting, albeit poorly to communicate, is we can not leave you unchecked and unobserved. However I doubt we could force you to move if we tried." I simply grinned and gave a sharp nod. "As our goal is to maintain peace, invoking the ire of the Fell Specter is clearly a foolish thing to do. Instead we have come up with a proposal, one we hope you will find sufficiently beneficial to all parties." He sat down then and Ferrithir leaned forward some and bared his teeth a bit.
"My tribe remembers your cruelty, your destruction. They remember the menace who threatened to destroy the world." Oh god the destroy the world shit again. I raised my hand and he paused.
"Alright, I need to clarify I was Never going to destroy the world, I live on it and all my stuff is stored here, I Might have tried to take it over once or twice, but was never going to destroy it." well not intentionally anyways but they didn't need to know that.
Ferrithir shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Regardless what my people remember most is your Power, such displays are highly valued by the tribes and had you been born one of us you would likely have been Shaman Chief. We still see value in that to this day." As he sat back and closed his eyes Mab stood up, setting her now empty glass upon the table.
"The fair folk do not respect power alone, nor power for powers sake. We however do recognize finesse, strategy, and forethought as virtues often lacking in the other species." A hiss from the vamp and a growl from the shifter ignored as she continued. "During your time in the spotlight of history you displayed these to great effect, our younglings idolize other species and see the old ways as foolish we can not reach them through normal means."
Ok this was getting Very weird, I thought I saw where this was going and simply hoped I was wrong.
As Mab sat down Sal set his still largely full wine glass down on the coffee table in front of him and leaned forward. "Humans are short lived, we have done what we can to extend that, we have trusted our allies to protect us, but recently things have changed. Once mana was the purview exclusive to your kind." I nodded "However intermingling of species has altered the world significantly, there are those who can draw mana amongst all species now. Humans are impulsive and quick to act, likely due to that shorter life span."
He then nodded to Qqurnr who shook his head as he looked to me. "As my compatriot has said the tides of life are changing, even my people are seeing a shift, our young are taught to embrace all that they are, to flow as the tides do and not to question why or how to simply do. In the past this was fine for we were isolated by the waters, protected by the storms, and peace amongst ourselves was easy to maintain. The changes now though are beyond such and require a new way of thinking."
Vraylar then stood and began moving his fingers once more, in the blink of an eye Solemn was holding one hand and Ferrithir the other. "He warned you about this" Ferrithir growled.
Solemn nodded "If you wish to show him something through your craft you had best explain your intent First."
Vraylar sighed "Of course, it is force of habit." He then turns to me, "Vray, if you would grant me permission I would show you the future the council seers have foreseen, through a few simple illusions."
I considered for a moment and then folded my hands over each other while flexing my middle fingers in the gestures I was taught to prep a counterspell before nodding. He looked over and I saw a slight tightening of his lips. Once my approval was met his hands were released though the two stayed within arms reach.
I watched the familiar gestures, he was definitely crafting an illusion, but of what kind only a true master of mindshift could know. As he finished the gestures his words not even spoken simply mouthed a swirl in the air looking like a heat shimmer at first then solidifying into a proper image, but split in half oddly enough, myself staring out from the center, the split showing a half of me smiling as I watched various children of different races contort their hands, speaking loud words that seemed truly unnatural to many of them. The me on the other half though stood in my old armor, god I hadn't donned that thing in forever, I'm not even sure where I stored it. Overseeing a chain gang worth of slaves toiling at gathering rocks and laughing cruelly. I watched these images for a few minutes, then the cruel me waved at the image and rather then fading normally it burst and knocked all the furniture and the guests over. I rolled to my feet, as I heard Vraylar scream, "How the fuck do you do that you utter Asshole?!" his hands begin twitching even as he was lying on the floor, this time in a spell that was definitely a threat. "Move another finger and I kill Everyone in this Room!" He froze and his compatriots took the hesitant moment to fully dogpile onto him and pin him completely, hands arms, even his legs held down.
I looked around my room and lifted a single chair and sat back down. "Alright first of all, I didn't do that A future me did, nothing I can do about what myself in one possible future does, he probably had his reasons. Secondly assuming I got the gist of your speeches and that little glimpse, you have all lost your damn minds. You want ME, Vraylar, Unrelenting Force, Fell Specter, Decimator of History, Cruelest of Tyrants, Asshole Extraordinaire, Bane of all that is Good, Most hated of Mages." Yeah they'd cut off the insulting titles, but they seemed appropriate reminders now. "To TEACH CHILDREN?!"
Everyone stayed frozen for a few minutes and after a bit I waved at them. "I do believe Vraylar has calmed enough to not do anything foolish, correct?" I gave him an icy glare.
They slowly let him go and then tipped furniture back upright for themselves to sit back down, sadly those with drink left had them wasted, aside from the vial of mana which I'd made sure was insanely durable and my guest hadn't even uncapped. Once everyone was settled though Vraylar remained standing they looked at me, I could see the fear in their eyes.
This time Sal was the first to speak. "Well yes, despite your past you are known as one of the best mages to ever walk the earth, some might balk and it wouldn't be large groups. Likely only one from each race, those showing an abundance of talent, skill, or power selected specifically to train under you. They would be under your care, you would have full authority, within reason over their education and oversight. You would act as both teacher and guardian with pre set times for their parents or legal guardians to visit. An occassional surprise inspection from one of us to check in and ask how they feel things are going. In exchange you would largely be allowed to continue your life as it has been. You would also be given a larger home to accomodate this, placed in any area you felt appropriate so long as it was far enough from a populated area. All expenses for you and the children would be directly covered, requests to be passed along as needed."
I wanted to tell them they were all deranged, I wanted to ignore the request, hell I wanted to spend the next week working on a time warp to get me back so I could ignore the call at the door. However most of all, I wanted the version of me from that brighter future. I have many titles, I have many descriptions, but none of them have Ever, not even in my own mind referred to me as "happy". That version, with the genuine smile, the caring and pride in his eyes. As I thought about it I realized his hand had been twitching too, was he holding back the other's counterspell, could that even be possible. I knew the gestures and the spells, but my power was raw and excessive. A river can be dammed and controlled, the ocean can not.
I looked at each of them in turn. "I will need one last caveat. I have full discretion to refuse a student and ask for a replacement. I also will maintain some of my key secrets, none of them will ever know Everything I know. If you all find that acceptable, then I accept this plan and position."
They took a few minutes of discussion not bothering to hide any of it from me. There were concerns of favoritism towards a race but the fact I had included a replacement seemed to address that. There was some talk about how if they didn't know all I did then it'd be a waste of time, cooler heads pointed out that even a fraction of my knowledge and power was above what many could teach.
Vraylar stepped away as they finished. "We are all agreed, the contract is set, of course you can't expect anyone here to be simply taken at their word, you towards us or we towards you." I nodded and started the gestures, he then looked down at my hands. "If you don't object I'd prefer to be the one binding this." I shrugged "suit yourself" and let my hands lie still. After a few moments all hands glowed and were placed on the coffee table, threads of light each a different color snaking out from them and meeting in the center, tying into first a knot, then a tangle, then another knot, until it formed into such a mess of colors that you likely couldn't even pick one out from another.
I grinned, none of us could break this word now, our contract was bound to our souls and the one who broke it would die a rather horrible death. I'd seen it once, it turns out that you Can turn someone inside out and keep them alive long enough to show them their heart.
"I shall have plans drawn up and a place picked out within the month, hopefully that will give you all time to select some candidates."

What's your favourite drink to make that isn't just tea alone? I've had chamomile tea with honey my whole life and it's one of my favourite drinks, but I feel that isn't a rare combination. However, I recently watched a YT video where the person made a cup of tea and called it "Golden Milk" which was gingetumeric tea with half & half cream and honey. I tried it today and it was fantastic! Then I thought, wonder what else is out there that I haven't tried yet? Figured this place would be a great place for me to start, so let me know what your favourite speciality/mixed drink is so I can try more tea-based drinks out.

Session 0: https://www.reddit.com/DeltaGreenRPG/comments/1d0l92x/impossible_landscapes_session_0/
(Okay, these will be long. Five players, lmao. Hadn't quite accounted for that)
Operation ALICE, New York, 1995
The Roster (Player/Character)
Lea (she/her): Jules Gradkowska - Agent MIRANDA. Journalist - research and human intelligence.
Iain (he/him): Ralph Bevis - Agent MILHOUSE. Academic - history and occult specialist.
Quinn (he/him): Richard Delapore - Agent MAVERICK. FBI Special Agent - criminal and forensic expert and the official 'face' of the investigation.
Phil (he/him): Jean Duvall - Agent MAIN. US Navy Master Chief Petty Officer - operational security specialist.
Duncan (he/him): Jake Little - Agent MALATESTA. Civilian contractor - computer and electronic specialist with a side line in hacking.
Rob_sothoth (he/him) - Handler. The arbiter of the world: the good, the bad and that which cannot and should not be named.
Background: The Agents of M-Cell are tasked with investigating the apartment of Abigail Wright. Missing since June, Delta Green has reason to suspect para-natural involvement. Their orders are simple: catalogue the apartment and remove anything deemed suspect for destruction.
Despite heavy changes made, full spoiler warning for Impossible Landscapes.

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Session 1 "The Apartment" (May 24th, 2024)
New York: Tuesday, August 8th, 1995
1:45pm - 3:32pm, EST
Entering the lobby of the Macallistar building in Kips Bay, NYC, the Agents first make a sweep of Abigail's mailbox. Agent MARCUS (M-Cell Case Officer) provided them with a complete set of keys, not to be copied. The mailbox is stuffed full with bills, junk mail, catalogues and offers; mail still being delivered by people who have no idea Abigail is missing. MAVERICK gathers it in a bag and they make their way to Abigail's apartment (Ground floor).
The Macallistar echoes an earlier age. Faded purple carpeting and design from the turn of the century. Opposite Abigail's front door is an old-fashioned telephone nook, complete with bench and curtain for comfort and privacy when phone-lines in individual apartment was an expense few could afford.
M-Cell enters the apartment, finding it somewhere between a hoarder's dream and crime-scene technician's nightmare. The small hallway leads to a living-room (the apartment's largest space), an adjoining bedroom and a kitchen and bathroom opposite each other. Aside from the hallway, on first inspection the only other uncluttered space is the kitchen, which doesn't really look as if it's been used much. MAVERICK ear-marks that as something he wants to check himself as the team begin taking stock.
The NYPD has left a box with copies of their files, including a list of tenants they interviewed, many, many evidence collection bags and a box of latex gloves.
The apartment is filled with various items, with almost no floor visible beneath the collection. CDs and CD cases are stuck or glued to the wall, along with mannequin parts, sketches and assorted pieces that might be ceramic or plastic arranged in odd patterns without reason or rhyme. Stacks of phone books, stretches of dyed fabrics stitched together, an antique claw-footed lamp. Bags, bundles of pictures (drawings and photographs) of seeming nonsense. No furniture is immediately visible in the chaotic mess.
MAIN finds the same result in the bedroom as the first Search rolls are called for. Something catches his eye in the anarchy of the bedroom.
MALATESTA begins sorting through the pile of mail. MILHOUSE at first begins helping, but seeing the scale of the cataloguing, volunteers to make a coffee and food run. MIRANDA begins photographing, while MAVERICK gloves up and asks for things to be passed to him such as brushes, anything with a handle really or something more likely to have fingerprints on it. He wants to see if he can grab a set of Abigail's prints, if that's possible.
It doesn't take MALATESTA long to work out Abigail stopped paying her rent and bills in or around March before disappearing in June. Money was coming in up to a certain point, apparently from a showing Abigail had at the Mercury Gallery in Greenwich Village in November the previous year. There's even a letter from the gallery owner asking about another possible showing; from the way it's written, it might not have been the first time he spoke to Abigail before she vanished. Then, the only money coming in appears to be from her father, though she doesn't appear to have used it to cover the rent. He also gets the building management company, Art Life and their address.
As the Agents work, with MAIN carefully picking his way through the bedroom towards whatever caught his eye and MAVERICK uncovers a battery-powered hi-fi under all the trash, MILHOUSE returns from his coffee run and bumps into someone else entering the Macallistar at the same time he is. After an awkward hesitation on the threshold, MILHOUSE spends a little chatting to Lewis Post, one of Abigail's neighbours. MILHOUSE passes a HUMINT roll and I ruled that having spent most of his time in academics and his fellow PhDs, he can spot signs of some kind of social anxiety. I felt that was a fair get for a good success.
Lewis is hesitant but forthcoming as MILHOUSE works that high charisma score, knowing what to say to diffuse any potential tension. As far as Lewis knows, he is FBI of some kind after all.
MILHOUSE: "Did she ever mention a boyfriend? Girlfriend?"
Lewis: "Our relationship wasn't really like that. We had coffee sometimes. Talked about art. The process." He thinks. "She might have mentioned someone, but not a name, only what they did. A salesman, but I couldn't tell you what they sold."
MILHOUSE: "Talk about anything else?"
Lewis begins heading upstairs "She mentioned moving, but not before she was ready."
Back in the apartment, MAIN voices what others were thinking. "Where was she staying?" No bed, no signs of habitation except for the assorted hoard of crap. MAIN finds a hand grenade nestled in some papers and art supplies near the bedroom's walk-in closet.
In the living room, MAVERICK finds a single cassette tape in the uncovered hi-fi and flips it on, finding the batteries still live. Everyone hears MAVERICK's conversation with his significant other, Natalie from the previous evening. MAVERICK realises it's cut up and out of order, rewinds it and then flips it over. He thinks the entire conversation has been split between A & B sides of the tape.
MALATESTA and MAVERICK both consider phone-tapping, but MAIN, grenade temporarily forgotten, asks how it ended up here?
SAN check for MAVERICK. Pocketing the cassette tape, MAVERICK closes down a bit and prepares to go over the kitchen with a fine tooth comb; perhaps this is how he copes?
Before MAIN can mention the grenade he's worried about, MIRANDA, MALATESTA, MILHOUSE & MAVERICK notice something on the wall behind where the hi-fi was previously buried under junk. Fixed to the wall, maybe with some kind of glue is a piece of brown packing-paper with some kind of symbol drawn on it. Everyone focuses on it.

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3:41pm to 5:22pm, EST
MALATESTA: "That certainly looks like what we're supposed to be worried about."
MIRANDA snaps a polaroid. MILHOUSE tries to examine it, but his Occult check can only give him the vague thought it's connected to demonology, but little else beyond that. MAVERICK is cautious, but more concerned about getting to work on the unusually spotless kitchen.
Carefully, MIRANDA removes it and a blaring sounds like something between a horn blast and explosion almost deafens the Agents. It seems to come from everywhere and nowhere, from right next to them and outside at the same time.
Everyone passes a CONx5 check and the subsequent SAN check. Through the living room's window, MIRANDA, MILHOUSE and MAIN see a yellow-cab in the street outside. The cabbie appears to have leaned on the horn as someone crosses the street. They appear heavily dressed for summer, possibly homeless.
Is that a snake draped across their shoulders?
MIRANDA takes a polaroid while MILHOUSE and MAIN head outside to investigate. The picture reveals in sharp clarity, the cabbie staring down the barrel as she snapped the shot directly at her. MAVERICK gets to work in the kitchen and MALATESTA picks over things in the living room and bedroom respectively.
Search rolls for those in the apartment.
Outside, the cab has turned the corner and the pedestrian has carried on, though MAIN and MILHOUSE are able to work out where they went. MILHOUSE heads to cut off the other side of the alley, while MAIN approaches from behind, getting the pedestrian's attention. It's the height of summer in NYC, the air reeks of gasoline, rotting garbage and baking, soiled concrete and asphalt.
MAIN finds a nondescript, seemingly homeless man by the state of his clothes, but with a python draped over his shoulders. MAIN strikes up conversation, lighting a Gitane cigarette and pointing to the snake. From the other end of the alley, MILHOUSE makes his way towards the pair.
MAIN fails an alertness check.
Is this guy sweating? It's hot and he's bundled up like it's winter. Is he sweating? Why isn't he sweating?
Back in the apartment, MAVERICK tests the kitchen for blood and body fluids, breaking out the spray bottle and UV light. There's no cutlery, glassware or dishware anywhere in the room, but as he's lifting what could be a print, finds a mechanical diagram drawn on a napkin taped above the inside of an otherwise empty drawer. MALATESTA & MIRANDA continue their search of the living and bedroom, with MALATESTA finding a card printed with the following:
"For a good time Call D - 999-202-9989"
On the reverse are a series of what appear to be street corner addresses in Brooklyn. Could be a sex-line, could be a way to see Red Band underground film screenings, could be something online related. MALATESTA drifts between a few circles and he pockets it out of curiosity. When MIRANDA locates the grenade in the bedroom, she is careful to give it a wide berth and locates what MAIN missed: a backpack radio in the bedroom's walk-in closet. She calls MALATESTA over.
Back in the alleyway, MILHOUSE rolls under 10% and passes his disguise check. Dressed casually and a college athlete to boot, he fits the general chad look in his New York Knicks shirt despite his academic leanings. Being loud and obnoxious like he's drunk, he barrels into the homeless guy with the snake who stonewalled MAIN.
Instead he hits MAIN as the man with the snake is there and gone in the space between blinks. One moment MAIN is looking at him and then MILHOUSE knocks him flat on his ass. Like a film edit. Just gone. MAIN crit fails his SAN check and takes 4 SAN loss without projecting. Instead, as he scrambles up begins kicking over trash cans and searching the alley while MILHOUSE tries to calm him down and get a handle on things.
As MILHOUSE is talking MAIN out of tearing the alley apart, MIRANDA and MALATESTA check out the radio. As it comes to life, they listen and hear the following:
"Exeter. India. One. Thirteen. Sierra. Twenty. Twenty. Forty-nine."
MAVERICK meanwhile, finding the kitchen bare oddly finds the refrigerator stocked. There isn't much inside, some milk unopened and a pack of cheese and deli meat. Expiration is months ago, but through the plastic and glass of the bottle it looks fresh. Curious, he opens the milk and finds it smells as fresh as the day it was bought. Months ago.
Passes his SAN check. Given what he heard on the tape, it's not the strangest thing today.
MAIN and MILHOUSE detour to grab some more coffees, more to calm MAIN down and give him a (successful CHAx5 check) to flirt with the coffeeshop waitress. On their return, MAIN heads into the bedroom, pulls the pin on the grenade and activates the firing lever.
Nothing happens. His "hunch" was correct. Despite failing to properly identify it, something about the shape of it didn't match modern ordnance. Like the radio, it's vintage and either deactivated or else rendered inert by time and age.
I gave MAIN a SAN point back, because why not?
As things begin winding down, MILHOUSE and MAVERICK puzzle over the weird fridge, with MILHOUSE sacrificing his green tea and MAVERICK a donut to see how "fresh" they are come morning between the fridge and not.

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After 6pm, EST
Between them, M-Cell take the rest of the evening to take care of home-scenes or any unfinished business they can get done with their resources at hand. They also divide the Operational evidence from the Case evidence, with MIRANDA taking the symbol, MALATESTA the backpack radio & phone number, MAVERICK the cassette tape (for obvious reasons) and MAIN the mechanical sketch on the napkin.
MIRANDA and MILHOUSE, using the former's academic credentials both stay on the case, with MIRANDA leaving her photos from the park to develop in her bathroom. While she fails her roll, she does help MILHOUSE identify the demon the symbol refers to and book-related lead. She hits up a criminal contact named Hugo to put out feelers for weird items she may be interested in. He agrees for a fee, which she negotiates in her favour.
Returning to her apartment, MIRANDA finds her photos of the dancing clown and watching crowd have developed. In every photograph, the clown is turned away from her, but the faces in the crowd are looking at her. That's not how she remembers it. Fails a SAN check. Projects on to her editor, knowing she's going to be taking a "personal day" tomorrow, and this after she agreed to go to the grill.
This will have consequences.
MAIN, unnerved by the day's events, not the least of which was being knocked on his ass by a fitter, younger man, heads out. He returns to the coffeeshop he and MILHOUSE visited and takes the waitress he hit on out on a date. After a romantic interlude, MAIN has a new bond. Her name's Marsha, she's 27 and very nice.
Breaking Operational Security, MAVERICK asks MALATESTA to come back to his apartment and check for possible surveillance. Despite suffering comparatively little SAN loss overall, MAVERICK is letting the day's events impact his behaviour.
It's trivially easy for MALATESTA to confirm there are no bugs in place, which really does narrow the options for how the conversation could have been recorded. Thankful, he asks MALATESTA to keep this to himself for now, to which the grunge-kid agrees. MAVERICK drops MALATESTA near his home and leaves, putting the tape in the player of his car as he pulls away.
MALATESTA lives near the Village and diverts to check out the Mercury Gallery. Though closed, it seems legit and he makes a note of it for later. Back at home, he breaks open the backpack radio and examines it. The battery is not connected to the radio itself, the wires having been stripped out, yet he and MIRANDA both heard a voice on the end of its phone-mic. He passes his SAN check and finds in place of one of the transistors a small, black stone which does not feel like stone at all and feels like it's body temperature. MALATESTA leaves it on his desk, covered in a cloth.
Alone in his apartment, MAVERICK watches his phone. The time comes and he does not call Natalie. A moment later, his phone rings.
Alone in the apartment, MAVERICK does not answer.

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Post-Mortem
We ended up playing for a touch longer than I intended, but I knew that would happen by the time the cab sounded its horn. Despite some tiredness and some drinking, we ended up with a really strong session in retrospect, which has set the overall tone of the campaign for me as GM going forward. Between the five players, two have been through one Delta Green campaign, one has experience with Pulp Cthulhu and two have varying levels of exposure. They all roleplayed the f##k out of their characters and while I was worried about just how weird I wanted things to get out the gate, it feels like the balance is correct and I've given enough avenues for further investigation they may want to pursue.
I got a far better sense, as did the players, as to what drives and motivates their characters and how they cope or don't cope with Delta Green work.
MILHOUSE is definitely setting himself up as the curious academic, Iain playing his interest as forever drawn towards what's there "to discover," he said in character. Perhaps a fool and his sanity are easily parted?
MAVERICK is the "all-American", Agent Cooper adjacent FBI Agent who butts up against the para-natural and is seemingly rocked by it, revealing a complicated and perhaps conflicted depth. In his previous operation with MIRANDA, MAVERICK killed one person, but something about this has gotten under his skin. I wonder what Natalie thinks about their missed call?
A hacker by trade, MALATESTA likes a puzzle as much as he does not like the "weird shit." He talks a good talk when it's about something he knows, but is much too shy to chat up his co-worker. He and MAVERICK had some friction in Session 0 when MAVERICK wanted to call him Mal, to which the younger man pushed back against. Yet, he now knows where MAVERICK lives. Maybe he can learn more? What will he do with that? Does he even want to?
As much as MILHOUSE, MIRANDA is likewise driven by curiosity and a need to know, but first and foremost to keep herself safe. She and him are not the same. There's a scar above her hip from a knife, and it still twinges from time to time. She's also the first to directly or indirectly involve a Bond in the investigation. I wonder what Hugo will or won't find? I wonder what those photos mean. MIRANDA wondered aloud whether the crowd or the clown was the "entity." What does that mean?
Despite being built like Jack Reacher (albeit in a sailor suit), MAIN projects a tough air but is clearly a man at the crossroads. He turns 40 before 1995 ends; middle age. When hit with a problem or something he can't otherwise work out, his behaviour swings from one extreme to the other. To date, he's coped with the case by: lashing out at trash cans in an alley. Chatting up a waitress and forming a romantic bond with her. Pulling the pin on a grenade he "thought" could be fake. It's day one. I'm here for it.
Our next session is scheduled for June 7th, 2024.
Until then, be seeing you.

Hey guys, I just wanted to share my story with insomnia and medication to help me sleep.
TL;DR The following is my back story. If not interested school down to "Here is when things started to improve over the last few weeks:"
""Backstory, it's lengthy:** My insomnia started when I was around 23 years old. I used to be able to sleep well with 25mg of quetiapine but I noticed I had to keep going up to even get tired from the meds. I am 28 now so it feels like years of my life has been negatively impacted from my chronic sleep issues. The only times I was able to get relief in between is when I was able to get benzodiazepines and zoplocone temporarily from a psychiatrist several years ago who ended up moving away. I went years without a psychiatrist until I finally got one in May of 2022. From age 23-25 I ended up down a slippery slope with alcohol consumption in the evening as I was able to feel relaxed and sleep. As time went on the alcohol use increased, I ended up binge drinking almost daily after work every day so I could literally get to the point of passing out just to sleep. Over time the alcohol had a negative impact on my sleep too because it does actually cause sleep issues in itself. I have been sober from alcohol after my 26th birthday. Even though the sleep issues were still prevalent it definitely improved my mental health and improved some of my anxiety issues leaving that poison behind.
Even if I wasn't able to sleep for almost 2 days, my insomnia would be so bad that taking upwards of 300mg of quetiapine just wasn't working. I know they recommend lower doses 25-50mg for sleep issues but that dose just stopped taking effect. I would be physically sedated but still unable to sleep on 300 mg and when I was at my lowest I was taking even more. Not even considering how a significant increase of dosage quickly could be dangerous.
On that high dose of quetiapine I was struggling to walk and barely stand up to try and get snacks from the quetiapine induced munching. I would lay in bed shoving shoving potato chips in my face day and night. Couldn't watch tv. Couldn't scroll on my phone. Couldn't think happy thoughts I would lay there crying in so much discomfort. Couldn't go outside for a walk to try and tire myself out. My life was slipping away from me.
It would make me totally dysfunctional onwards to the next day and I felt like I was in hell laying in bed not able to get comfortable, then moving to the couch to see if it would help and back to the bed again. For a while I believe it was even causing symptoms of restless leg syndrome. It was a nightmare and caused me complete mental turmoil where I was feeling hopeless, depressed and even faced suicidal thoughts.
There were times where I was incapable of caring for my dog which broke my heart. I was even unable to care for myself but my dog took precedence. Sometimes I was so unable to function I would only be able to take her out to use the bathroom only once to twice a day at my lowest during my depressive episodes from my sleep deprivation and I had no help or support to care for her so I had to send her home with my parents so she could be properly looked after.
I was starting to struggle academically while trying to get my degree as I couldn't attend class, complete assignments, study for tests and unable to perform well during exams because my brain was drawing blanks memorizing content I had a handle on the day prior. School got so bad that I couldn't even make sense of the content or follow instructions. I would cry in frustration and just break down because I couldn't even read properly, I would re read paragraphs over and over which felt like I was trying to understand a foreign language. My grades took a plunge and I was put on academic probation so if I dropped to an average below 60 I would be required to discontinue from my program.
I had also dumped a significant amount of money in natural and herbal sleep remedies from naturopath stores. Teas, tinctures, capsules, topicals, essential oils, melatonin, I tryptophan, gaba, magnesium, st johns wart, valerian root, 5-htp, Epsom salt baths, bedtime yoga, sleep podcasts, binerial and sleep music, meditation, exercise, reading, no screen time, warm milk, weighted blankets, even the comfort of having my partner next to me in bed when we could spend time together on weekends offered no benefit.
This horror of insomnia impacted me so significantly that I failed 3 classes and am currently on a year leave from school so I can get my mental health back to baseline.
My psychiatrist also tried me on clonidine, respiradone and mirtazapine to which had no impact on my ability to sleep and caused even more negative side effects, heck my friend even gave me her olanzapine to try and one time I even found a trazedone to try out of despiration and to no avail I felt like I exhausted all options.
The clonidine took all my strength I was basically crawling to try and go up the stairs in my apartment and my vision would go almost completely white, ears would ring, my legs and feet would go purple and I felt like I was going to die. They lower your blood pressure and I was taking more of the reccomended dose because I thought the more I took the better it would work because at one point it was helping me sleep on .3 mg. That didn't last.
My psych also increased my lamotrigine to 200mg before bed to see if that would aid in my sleep issues. My citalipram which is taken in the morning is maxed out at 40mg. 200mg of the lamotrigine provided no change and my mood was stable at 100mg so I went back down to my normal dose and discontinued the 200mg.
However, after the unsuccessful trials with those meds he was adement on pushing and pushing with the quetapine and had me taking a combination of quick and extended release.
I asked for Ativan or zoplicone because I had been on it before for insomnia and panic attacks from a my family doctor in the past but my psychiatrist wouldn't budge and did not want me on benzos. I was feeling hopeless. I used those medications only when absolutely necessary in the past and I found if I was able to get a couple nights of good rest with those, I could benefit from having a normal active day which ultimately left me in a better sleep routine because even just a couple days of good rest was able to reset me for a while until the insomnia started up again.
I opted to speak to smother family doctor because I had to take a plane so I asked for Ativan again as I have an extreme fear of flying so he prescribed me 4 .5 mg of sublingual Ativan and wrote on my file to never prescribe them to me again. Like what?? I don't even drink alcohol anymore or use drugs, not even weed and no previous benzo abuse.
I even reached out to another physician to ask for sleeping meds and a second opinion to which he told me he doesn't want to trump a psychiatrists advice, and I should be lucky to even have a psychiatrist. So there was no hope there.
Here is when things started to improve over the last few weeks:
I take dextrogen for ADHD (I've only been on it for about 6 months so it could have been an antagonist to the insomnia but since it has gone on prior to stimulants I don't think it's fully to blame thus far) and one day my pharmacy was out of genetic so they gave me name brand. I noticed that my side affects were almost completely relieved after switching. They were way easier on my guts and I wasn't having profuse diariah all day as I would with the generic, my appetite was stable and I had less feelings of agitation and nervousness and I did notice when it wore off it was a clean transition and I was even feeling sleepy and could nap if I was able to when on them so I asked them to permanently switch me to name brand.
They ended up making ALL my meds name brand (citalipram, lamotrigine, dextrogen and quetiapine). So I tried 150 mg of the name brand quetiapine one night and it worked like a charm! I was able to fall asleep effortlessly and had a solid sound sleep without waking in the night. Also did not experience the lingering sedation and lethargy the morning after as I would with the generic quetapine. Surprisingly the intense urge to snack also improved because I simply slept after taking It, not half dead and mindlessly munching all night.
I'm not sure if it is a placebo or perhaps whatever was causing my prolonged bout of insomnia is temporarily lifted, but I just wanted to share my experience so if anyone is in the same boat with quetapine and the inability to fall asleep even after taking it! It has literally saved my life and I feel like I'm human again. It's only been a few weeks but I feel great.
I'm also curious if anyone has the same experience so maybe it's not a placebo after all!
Maybe generic or name brand both don't work for your insomnia, but I feel like with the right medication there is hope. I'm also curious if anyone has tried other alternatives for their insomnia and which medication is working for them.

I’m 11 days PP after emergency c-section complicated by severe preeclampsia. I gained a total of 70lbs. I had lost 20pounds prior to pregnancy. I was very very swollen throughout the pregnancy ALL OVER. So far, I’m still 44 lbs up and my weight has stayed the same for the last 5-6 days. I’m not expecting to lose the weight overnight but, why is the scale not moving at all? I’m watching what I’m eating and am quite healthy with food habits. I have not been able to exercise as I am still recovering from urgery and am not cleared yet. Is it normal to plateau like this so early? I am unable to breastfeed as I’ve had a reduction and unfortunately milk production is not sufficient.
Yes I know this shouldnt be my priority. I battled EDs and body dysmorophia my whole life. Pregnancy really took a toll in this regard. I’m just trying to be myself again.

Hi everyone! This is my first post. I am hoping all you redditors could help me out.
A few years ago me and my friend were watching try not to laugh videos on YouTube.
One was a blonde haired teen locked out on his porch during a thunderstorm. He had an eyepatch on and a glass of milk and then at the end shrek runs up the porch. At the time me and my friend nearly choked laughing and have talked about it regularly since but have never been able to find it again.
Does anyone know the video and can link it? Thank you so much!

It was a Monday like every other. I was at the office entering expenses accounts into a spreadsheet. This week was different, I thought to myself as I looked at my calendar, Wednesday circled with the word "vacation" written within the box. As I daydreamed of spending time in my hometown with old friends and family, some of them, I hadn't seen since the accident. I was snapped out of my mind wandering when I heard the sound of my smartwatch alarm. A reminder to take my medicine. I opened my messenger bag and reached in to grab my bottle. I gave it a shake and heard the deafening sound of an empty bottle. I'm supposed to take two a day. I popped open the bottle and inside was a note, I unfolded the paper and it read: "remember to order meds."
When break time came around, I called my doctor's office to order more medicine: "Hello, good afternoon. Yes, my name is Brian Weber. Yes, I need to get a refill on my medication." I looked down at my empty bottle and read the label to the nurse. "Aripiprazole?" I answered. "Yes... Wednesday night? No, I won't be in town. Send it to 101 N. Carrie King Lane, Portland, Maine... Thank you, have a great day." I figured I could handle a couple of days without my medicine. I spent the rest of my lunch break watching videos about one of my favorite subjects, cryptids and mythology.
Tuesday came and went as normal aside from a terrible migraine I couldn't shake, I went to bed as soon as I got home. When Wednesday had finally come, I woke up to the smell of coffee brewing. I walked downstairs to see my wife, Laura, cooking breakfast. "Good morning, my love." She said, turning away from the stove. I stood there confused for a moment, and then I finally responded, "Good morning, bags already packed?" I asked as I walked to her and gave her a kiss. "Packed and in the car already." She answered as she scraped eggs from the pan onto a plate. I walked over to our six-month-old son, Nathan, who was sitting in his high chair and gave him a kiss on his head. "Morning, buddy." I said, and then I sat down to eat breakfast. We conversed about the route we were going to take, and I checked the weather and saw there was going to be snowfall at the halfway point. We packed up the car and headed out on our eight and a half hour journey to my hometown.
The start of the road trip was filled with eating some snacks, singing along to some music and just general chatting. We watched as the busy city highway turned to forest roads as Nathan babbled to himself and played with some toys. At the halfway point, the road began to disappear under the patches of snow and ice as Laura pointed out the snowy trees to Nathan. "Look at the snow in the trees, Nate." She said as he looked out the window and gave a giggle. He'd seen snow in the city, but this was his first time seeing a snowy forest. As we were driving down the forest road, I realized the car began to slow down. I tried pumping the gas pedal, but there was no increase in speed. Then the car came to a stop. "What's wrong, Brian? " Laura asked, concerned. "I'm not sure." I said as I turned off the car. I grabbed my gloves and zipped my jacket up to my throat. The cold air bit at my face and ears as I stepped around the front of the car. I lifted the hood of the car and I looked at the steam come off of the engine and components. I tried various cables and hoses, but nothing seemed loose. I shut the hood and stepped back into the car. "What's wrong? " Laura asked. "I think the engine might have overheated. Maybe we can let it cool off for thirty minutes and try again?" I said, trying to remain confident in front of my family. I didn't know anything about cars. I tried looking up what might be going on with my vehicle, but I had no signal. Nathan began crying, Laura unbuckled him from his car seat and checked on him. He didn't need a new diaper, so he must have been hungry. Laura unzipped her jacket and attempted to breast-feed him. "Sorry, Nate, but mommy doesn't have much milk for you." She said as she pulled him away and zipped her jacket back up.
Thirty minutes passed by, and I decided enough time had passed for the engine to cool. I turned the key, but it didn't start. I waited a few minutes and I tried again... nothing. I looked at Laura, who looked at me panicked. "This is a normal route to take, someone should drive by soon, and we should be able to get help." I reassured her. We had only packed a few snacks for the trip, but not enough food and water to last us a long time. No help came, no cars came, and no calls could be made out or received. As day turned to night, the car became colder and colder as the cold winter air crept its way into our vehicle. I looked out into the dark forest and I could see glowing eyes in the woods and I could hear the sound of wolves nearby barking and howling. Three days had passed, Laura and I were weak from not eating. We occasionally would open the car door to gather snow off the ground to eat it, to attempt to stay hydrated. Eventually, Nathan's constant cries shrank to a dull whine and eventual silence. I reached back to the baby seat where he sat under some blankets and felt for him. He was cold to the touch, Nathan had died. I'm not sure whether it was due to starvation or exposure, but he was gone. I leaned back forward, putting my head against the steering wheel and sobbed uncomfortably. The tears stung as they ran down my frozen face. As if fate couldn't be cruel enough, Laura tapped me on the shoulder and weakly pointed. Outside the car were those same wolves, now circling the car as if death itself had informed them of my son's passing. They couldn't get to us as long as we stayed in the car, but one thing was for sure, we weren't going to be able to gather any more ice. I had never felt so much despair in my life. I almost didn't want to be rescued at that point, I felt I just wanted to die and join my son in the afterlife. I laid my head down on the steering wheel and fell asleep.
I woke up the next morning to find Laura and Nathan's body gone from the car. I had noticed the wolves were gone as well. Perhaps she went to bury Nathan, though I'm not sure how she had the strength to do so. I dragged myself out of the car and grabbed the knife I kept under my seat for defense. I could see in the woods the flickers of light from a fire and I began to walk towards it. As I approached I could smell the intoxicating aroma of cooking meat, I could see Laura crouched at the fire ravenously eating away. She turned and looked at me and smiled as if to beckon me to join her. My mouth watering and my stomach in pain from not eating for three days I approached. I had stopped halfway when I stepped on some sort of soft cloth in the snow. I looked down and what I saw to my horror could only be confirmed when I looked at the shape of the meat that Laura had over the fire. It was the familiar shape of my son, my baby boy. I felt a menagerie of emotions wash over me, from disgust to horror, but the one that stood out to me at that moment was rage. I don't know where this strength came from, but in that moment of blind hatred, I plunged the knife into Laura's neck. She fell over gasping to scream in pain as her warm blood melted the snow by her. It only took seconds, but it felt like minutes as I stood there and watched her die. I walked back to my car and sat in the driver's seat. I grabbed a blanket from the back seat and just passed out. I don't know how many hours had passed but,
I had awoken to the sound of a scream. I stepped out of the car and tried to pinpoint where the screams were coming from. Was Laura somehow still alive? I thought to myself. Guilt filled my heart as I began to run into the woods towards Laura. I came to a clearing, but Laura was nowhere to be found. I heard some footsteps in the snow nearby, and I decided to pursue it. What I found behind those trees was not my wife, but a creature. It was tall and emaciated with gray skin and yellow eyes. It had a wide mouth filled with jagged teeth and no hair. It turned to me and let out a loud inhuman scream. Its breath was hot and smelled of both rot and death. I didn't bring my knife with me to defend myself, not that it would do me any good. I knew what this thing was and who it used to be. I turned and ran as fast as I could back to the car. I could feel its pursuit on my heels and then the feeling of hot iron piercing my side. I was lucky I had left my car door open, I leaped in and closed the door behind me as the creature slammed into the side of my car nearly shattering the window. I grabbed my side and it felt wet, my hand now covered red with my own blood. The creature looked at me through the cracked window, just accusing me with its accursed stare. I knew my time was coming to an end soon. The creature looked at me and opened its mouth and said with a deep monstrous voice, "Sir, are you okay?"
I looked up at a man in a forest ranger's uniform shining his flashlight into my eyes. I looked around and didn't see any monster. I looked at my hand, there was no blood. I looked in the back, there was no baby seat. "Sir, are you okay?" He asked again. I looked at the time on my dashboard, it had only been a few hours since I came to a stop. "Sir, are you traveling with company or alone?" He asked, his voice slightly muffled through the glass. I paused for a moment and looked back at the officer and rolled down my window. "Alone." I said. "Is there something wrong with your vehicle?" The ranger asked. I reached down to turn the key to my vehicle. It turned over without an issue. "Doesn't seem to be." I answered. The ranger looked me up and down and then said, "Be on your way then, you have a safe journey, sir." I nodded and rolled up my window and began to drive away.

It was a Monday like every other. I was at the office entering expenses accounts into a spreadsheet. This week was different, I thought to myself as I looked at my calendar, Wednesday circled with the word "vacation" written within the box. As I daydreamed of spending time in my hometown with old friends and family, some of them, I hadn't seen since the accident. I was snapped out of my mind wandering when I heard the sound of my smartwatch alarm. A reminder to take my medicine. I opened my messenger bag and reached in to grab my bottle. I gave it a shake and heard the deafening sound of an empty bottle. I'm supposed to take two a day. I popped open the bottle and inside was a note, I unfolded the paper and it read: "remember to order meds."
When break time came around, I called my doctor's office to order more medicine: "Hello, good afternoon. Yes, my name is Brian Weber. Yes, I need to get a refill on my medication." I looked down at my empty bottle and read the label to the nurse. "Aripiprazole?" I answered. "Yes... Wednesday night? No, I won't be in town. Send it to 101 N. Carrie King Lane, Portland, Maine... Thank you, have a great day." I figured I could handle a couple of days without my medicine. I spent the rest of my lunch break watching videos about one of my favorite subjects, cryptids and mythology.
Tuesday came and went as normal aside from a terrible migraine I couldn't shake, I went to bed as soon as I got home. When Wednesday had finally come, I woke up to the smell of coffee brewing. I walked downstairs to see my wife, Laura, cooking breakfast. "Good morning, my love." She said, turning away from the stove. I stood there confused for a moment, and then I finally responded, "Good morning, bags already packed?" I asked as I walked to her and gave her a kiss. "Packed and in the car already." She answered as she scraped eggs from the pan onto a plate. I walked over to our six-month-old son, Nathan, who was sitting in his high chair and gave him a kiss on his head. "Morning, buddy." I said, and then I sat down to eat breakfast. We conversed about the route we were going to take, and I checked the weather and saw there was going to be snowfall at the halfway point. We packed up the car and headed out on our eight and a half hour journey to my hometown.
The start of the road trip was filled with eating some snacks, singing along to some music and just general chatting. We watched as the busy city highway turned to forest roads as Nathan babbled to himself and played with some toys. At the halfway point, the road began to disappear under the patches of snow and ice as Laura pointed out the snowy trees to Nathan. "Look at the snow in the trees, Nate." She said as he looked out the window and gave a giggle. He'd seen snow in the city, but this was his first time seeing a snowy forest. As we were driving down the forest road, I realized the car began to slow down. I tried pumping the gas pedal, but there was no increase in speed. Then the car came to a stop. "What's wrong, Brian? " Laura asked, concerned. "I'm not sure." I said as I turned off the car. I grabbed my gloves and zipped my jacket up to my throat. The cold air bit at my face and ears as I stepped around the front of the car. I lifted the hood of the car and I looked at the steam come off of the engine and components. I tried various cables and hoses, but nothing seemed loose. I shut the hood and stepped back into the car. "What's wrong? " Laura asked. "I think the engine might have overheated. Maybe we can let it cool off for thirty minutes and try again?" I said, trying to remain confident in front of my family. I didn't know anything about cars. I tried looking up what might be going on with my vehicle, but I had no signal. Nathan began crying, Laura unbuckled him from his car seat and checked on him. He didn't need a new diaper, so he must have been hungry. Laura unzipped her jacket and attempted to breast-feed him. "Sorry, Nate, but mommy doesn't have much milk for you." She said as she pulled him away and zipped her jacket back up.
Thirty minutes passed by, and I decided enough time had passed for the engine to cool. I turned the key, but it didn't start. I waited a few minutes and I tried again... nothing. I looked at Laura, who looked at me panicked. "This is a normal route to take, someone should drive by soon, and we should be able to get help." I reassured her. We had only packed a few snacks for the trip, but not enough food and water to last us a long time. No help came, no cars came, and no calls could be made out or received. As day turned to night, the car became colder and colder as the cold winter air crept its way into our vehicle. I looked out into the dark forest and I could see glowing eyes in the woods and I could hear the sound of wolves nearby barking and howling. Three days had passed, Laura and I were weak from not eating. We occasionally would open the car door to gather snow off the ground to eat it, to attempt to stay hydrated. Eventually, Nathan's constant cries shrank to a dull whine and eventual silence. I reached back to the baby seat where he sat under some blankets and felt for him. He was cold to the touch, Nathan had died. I'm not sure whether it was due to starvation or exposure, but he was gone. I leaned back forward, putting my head against the steering wheel and sobbed uncomfortably. The tears stung as they ran down my frozen face. As if fate couldn't be cruel enough, Laura tapped me on the shoulder and weakly pointed. Outside the car were those same wolves, now circling the car as if death itself had informed them of my son's passing. They couldn't get to us as long as we stayed in the car, but one thing was for sure, we weren't going to be able to gather any more ice. I had never felt so much despair in my life. I almost didn't want to be rescued at that point, I felt I just wanted to die and join my son in the afterlife. I laid my head down on the steering wheel and fell asleep.
I woke up the next morning to find Laura and Nathan's body gone from the car. I had noticed the wolves were gone as well. Perhaps she went to bury Nathan, though I'm not sure how she had the strength to do so. I dragged myself out of the car and grabbed the knife I kept under my seat for defense. I could see in the woods the flickers of light from a fire and I began to walk towards it. As I approached I could smell the intoxicating aroma of cooking meat, I could see Laura crouched at the fire ravenously eating away. She turned and looked at me and smiled as if to beckon me to join her. My mouth watering and my stomach in pain from not eating for three days I approached. I had stopped halfway when I stepped on some sort of soft cloth in the snow. I looked down and what I saw to my horror could only be confirmed when I looked at the shape of the meat that Laura had over the fire. It was the familiar shape of my son, my baby boy. I felt a menagerie of emotions wash over me, from disgust to horror, but the one that stood out to me at that moment was rage. I don't know where this strength came from, but in that moment of blind hatred, I plunged the knife into Laura's neck. She fell over gasping to scream in pain as her warm blood melted the snow by her. It only took seconds, but it felt like minutes as I stood there and watched her die. I walked back to my car and sat in the driver's seat. I grabbed a blanket from the back seat and just passed out. I don't know how many hours had passed but,
I had awoken to the sound of a scream. I stepped out of the car and tried to pinpoint where the screams were coming from. Was Laura somehow still alive? I thought to myself. Guilt filled my heart as I began to run into the woods towards Laura. I came to a clearing, but Laura was nowhere to be found. I heard some footsteps in the snow nearby, and I decided to pursue it. What I found behind those trees was not my wife, but a creature. It was tall and emaciated with gray skin and yellow eyes. It had a wide mouth filled with jagged teeth and no hair. It turned to me and let out a loud inhuman scream. Its breath was hot and smelled of both rot and death. I didn't bring my knife with me to defend myself, not that it would do me any good. I knew what this thing was and who it used to be. I turned and ran as fast as I could back to the car. I could feel its pursuit on my heels and then the feeling of hot iron piercing my side. I was lucky I had left my car door open, I leaped in and closed the door behind me as the creature slammed into the side of my car nearly shattering the window. I grabbed my side and it felt wet, my hand now covered red with my own blood. The creature ripped the door open of my car and pulled me from my seat. It cradled me in its arms as I felt blood running down my face. It looked at me and with a deep monstrous voice it said: "You're going to be alright."
I looked up to see flashing lights and a paramedic at my open door. I looked around feeling dazed and in pain. There was no monster. I looked in the back of the car, there was no baby seat. "You're going to be okay." The paramedic had said again. "You've been in a bad car accident." He said. I looked around and saw that I was on a forest road, I had crashed into a tree. Beyond my broken windshield was the corpes of a deer. As I began to recall events leading up to the crash, the paramedic spoke to me again: "Can you tell me where you were heading?" I sat there dazed, I remembered, I was heading to my hometown for the holidays to visit my family. "Home." I said. "Were you traveling with company or alone? " he had asked. I thought for a moment recalling my vivid dream. I looked at the paramedic with a look that can only be described as a deep sadness, "alone."

I don't understand. I've been eating nothing of dairy or eggs or meat since last Wednesday, but I have terrible gas and bloating. I thought I'd feel better with more vegetables, fruits, tofu, soy milk, etc. My coworker says it'll be an adjustment period and that it'll be this way temporarily. Is this true? It's unpleasant. I don't want to quit, but if it's like this the whole time I don't know that I'll stick with it, but I feel I have an ethical obligation to do my best to be vegan with all I've read, watched, pondered, etc. over the years.

My girlfriend and I have been together for over 2 years and living together for about 8 months. We openly talk about our futures and goals both together and as individuals. Our communication is good in general, our sex life is good, and our day to day is fun and fulfilling. I truly feel a mutual companionship that we've created.
My question stems from how I am treated sometimes by her. She can unexpectedly be very rude and insulting to me. Sometimes when she is attempting to joke, and other times it feels out of no where. They usually aren't direct insults or name calling as in "you're an idiot" but often backhanded comments and unnecessary corrections. Some examples;

• Me: "It's strawberry season, right?" Her: "You REALLY think strawberries are harvested now?". This seems trivial but to me it feels like too extreme of an escalation based on the conversation or incorrection, and is combined with an insulting tone.
• Whenever I discuss directions around the city she almost always corrects me in some way. Usually not in a forgiving tone either. The tone is often very rude and to me feels like it's somehow so unthinkable that I'd use a different highway or turn on a different block to get ultimately and accurately to the same destination. This has gotten to the point I feel like I'm on eggshells whenever directions come up and I sometimes choose not to discuss them with her.

In a more general sense I feel like I get corrected a lot on things that I say around her. We also do tease about things too, so it's not always insulting and can be playful. But it does get insulting with some regularity.
The way I usually address it is by not addressing it. Every now and then I do take a step back and say something like, "hey, that's really rude" or "That's really an escalation from how we're talking". But more often I act visibly frustrated/annoyed and don't dwell too much on it. Sometimes the conversation ends and we have some silence. I usually stew on it in my mind for a bit until I get over it or forget about it. I'm concerned I'm being too avoidant and forgiving.
The only times I've noticed I really snap back and directly address being frustrated is when she does it to me infront of other people. She corrected me on a comment I made infront of my family (which didn't need to be corrected) and I got very angry very quickly and cut her off and looking directly at her by saying "No. That is not what I was saying. Like I was saying before..." This really embarrassed me because it felt like I was scolding my partner infront of my family and made it seem like we weren't a 'team'. It felt like I was being insulted infront of my family, and vice versa I was insulting my partner infront of them. This situation really didn't evolve into anything between us or her relationship with my family, but I'm still frustrated it happened and I felt like I needed to snap like that.
I think I initially started doing this both because I don't enjoy major conflict and also her family tend to rib each other and joke with minor harmless insults. We are both youngest siblings so I initially thought I understood and could relate to it more. But after getting to know her family deeper, this feels very different, and I sense there's a higher level of respect she is showing her family members versus when it's directed at me. It feels like it's a reflex coming from a place of insecurity and need for control, but I'm not a psychologist/therapist. I know that it makes me feel unsupported, small, and like I'm being kicked while I'm down. I've gotten to the point where my patience with this treatment is at it's end and I'd like to address this more directly and course correct the respect I feel in this relationship.
Today, these feelings climaxed in a situation with the cats. My girlfriend had two cats before we started dating. I've developed a relationship with them, but I'm not really a cat person. They are very sweet and I like them, but I also have frustrations that my partner doesn't share. Specifically I do not like how they eat our food. One specifically is always on the counter trying to eat food off our plates, licking utensils and food while it's being prepped/cooked. She lets them lick the milk left in her cereal bowl when she's done and also eat off her spoon while she's eating ice cream or other food. This really irks me and grosses me out. After talking about it, we had come to an understanding that we don't let them eat out of communal food and if they are licking spoons or utensils those utensils get cleaned before touching communal food again (i.e. spoon in ice cream pint, spatula being used to cook).
While making breakfast this morning the one cat kept getting on the counter and trying to eat my food. I did my best to remove the cat from the kitchen, keep an eye on my food, but the cat literally would just walk immediately back into the kitchen and try to get at my food the second I turn my back. I was visibly getting annoyed by it and talking with my girlfriend about it while not being mean to the cat because honestly it wouldn't understand, all it wanted was the tasty food which I get. After getting through cooking my food (and washing a spatula once already because the cat snuck by me and got a few licks in before I noticed) my girlfriend came into the kitchen and started making a bowl of ice cream. As she was doing it, I saw the cat get up on the counter and slowly move closer and closer. I said "hey watch out, she's coming to get the ice cream", "hey [girlfriend's name], wait, she's licking the lid", "can you stop her please!". This was met with my girlfriend getting very annoyed saying she knows give her a second as she worked on her ice cream scoop, and then finally as the cat just straight up started licking the ice cream in the pint snapped at me saying she was working on it and to get off her back. I pressed the issue and said you still let her get in the ice cream, and my girlfriend took the ice cream pint and threw it at me and stormed out of the kitchen. This shocked me. I immediately followed her out of the room and said that was unacceptable and to show me more respect than throwing ice cream at me. As quickly as she snapped she immediately started crying and apologizing. I frankly didn't care, I was still just in shock how quickly it escalated and that she'd throw the ice cream pint and storm off like a child. We weren't arguing or anything before, and it had been a very cuddly nice morning.
We fully talked about it after a bit. I said very clearly that was unacceptable and that I want to feel like I am being treated respectfully. I very firmly stated that I will not tolerate being treated that way again and what the hell is going on. She was mainly crying and apologizing and said she doesn't know, and that something is wrong with her, and she doesn't understand why she's like this and that she'll work on it.
I don't at all feel satisfied with that being a conclusion. It feels like this is par for the course at this point, and "what's wrong with her" won't get addressed. To be clear, I don't think something is "wrong" with her more so I feel like it's becoming normalized to treat me this way. She sees a therapist once a week and is not diagnosed with any mood disorders or things of that nature, so when I say "wrong with her" I'm speaking in a general sense and not about something psychological. She gets defensive, snaps, and can be a jerk but frankly so can I. I don't want to sit and wait hoping she's going to resolve "something wrong with her", but want to directly address it and talk through it.
Reddit, what's a next step we can take to keep working on this other than just repeating the conversation we already had? Is there a way to talk about it or path to take you'd recommend?
TLDR: My girlfriend can really be rude and insulting towards me at times. I've let it go on for a while without addressing it. This has culminated to a point in which I am very frustrated and hurt by this treatment. How do I open communication and have constructive conversations with her without listing tons of past transgressions or giving ultimatums.

I think this is something most would agree upon, But the amount of similarities these two share that Pac and Big shared in the 90s is.. almost disturblying similar in my opinion.

• They died very close in age to each other ( X was 20 & Juice was 21, while Pac was 25 & Biggie was 24)
• Their deaths were very close in time to each other (Juice died 1 year and 6 months after X, Biggie died 6 months after Pac)
• They were all rappers.
• They all the same skin color (black)
• All made music in the United States primarily
• Careers lasted less then a decade
• One had way more legal issues going on compared to the other (X was Pac in this case and Juice was Biggie)
• The one who was older was in the spotlight long before the other (X was Pac in this case again while Juice was biggie)
• All their albums released when they were alive (excluding 2Pacalypse Now by 2Pac) have been certified platinum.
• One guy of the duo had their music unfortunately milked the hell out of after their death. (X was Pac in this case again while Juice was biggie)
• Were icons of their respected genres when they died. (X and Juice to Soundcloud rap and Pac and Biggie to Gangsta rap)
• One had children while the other at least to our knowledge didn't. (X was Biggie in this case while Juice was Pac)
• And finally, One duo had 2 partners during their life while the other had 1 partner and 1 spouse. (X and Juice had two partners while Pac and Biggie were what I stated above.)

Really the only significant differences I found was that Pac and Biggie had the same causes of death while Juice died of an overdose and X died in a shooting, and Pac and Biggie were close friends.. turned enemies while X and Juice were always on good terms and never met in person, as X barley knew about Juice since he started blowing up around the time he died.
If you ask me however, I think X shared more similarities with Pac and Juice shared more similarities with Biggie. X's body build was slim and muscular like Pac, and Juice's was more overweight like Biggie and (no insult to Juice or Biggie they were smart too) I honestly think X was more intelligent and ahead of his time like Pac was. Just watch X's Instagram lives and particularly this one video of him talking about astro projection https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xDHFHRLU9o
If y'all could find more similarities and differences between these two that would be appreciated.

I am a 30 year old man with a 28 year old fiance. I have two kids, a 28 month old boy and a 13 month old girl. My fiancé (we will call her Becca) has had a strained, on and off relationship with her mom. Nothing abusive, her mom has been more like a “girlfriend” to my fiance rather than a mother her whole life. Becca has said that most of her mom’s boyfriends have been jerks at best, weirdos at worst.
This brings me to the past couple of months. Becca’s mom brings her boyfriend down, and we will call him Steve. Steve is a tall, heavyset corrections officer from GA. He has a lot of the “southern charm”, from his love of chewing tobacco and sweet tea, to an accent that makes him sound almost like Goofy from Micky Mouse.
The first time I meet him, several months ago, he’s talking in my living room about a Cards Against Humanity game he played a night or two prior. He was playing with Becca’s mother, Becca’s 17 yr old brother Joey, and Joey’s 15 yr old girlfriend. He references this card he played, that said “Tinker Bells Tiny Tits”, and he says it like two or three times throughout the convo. I just met this guy and he’s talking like this about a game he played with two teens. Okay, weird. He also likes to have my son on his lap to watch Mickey on his phone with my son. This I really don’t like, but the guy is sitting next to my mother in law so what am I going to say? There were a few other reddish flags that I can’t remember right here but this was the oddest to me.
Fast forward a few months. Steve surprises Becca’s mom and brings them down to FL where we live to surprise Becca for her birthday. Steve and Becca’s mom buy my kids all these cute Disney clothes, crayons, coloring books, etc. He is also telling my fiance and myself about these live Disney shows they have going on that they want to take my kids too. He just seems overly friendly, especially to my little boy. Always wanting to hold him, give him high fives, sit in his lap, run his hand through his hair, buying him snacks and drinks. At one point, my fiance gets ticked because Steve says my daughters breath smells like milk, and my fiance is wondering why the hell is your face so close to our daughters mouth?
Come to find out, the guy was married before and for some reason he and his wife wanted kids but could never have them. The dude has ALWAYS wanted kids. So I guess with my two cute kiddos and him dating my mother in law, he feels like he’s already settled into the grandpa role. But I hardly know the guy, he’s off putting physically, and he’s making me wonder about his interactions with my kids. This all comes to a head in the next paragraph.
My fiancés little brother is graduating high school. Mother in law and Steve are coming down to watch the graduation. I’m not too happy about it but whatever. At one point, he is saying bye to my kids in my living room, he picks up my son and kisses him on the cheek goodbye, then kisses him several more times behind the ear. Oh hell no. Unfortunately, mother in law, mother in laws mother, my fiance, and several others are over so I’m left just stewing while they all go to the graduation.
The next day, I straight up tell mother in law “i don’t know how to have this conversation, so I’m just going to rip it off like a bandage. I don’t want your boyfriend kissing my kids or having them in his lap. That is reserved for blood relatives only.” Which I think is extremely reasonable. Her mom says “you have no idea what kind of issues this is going to cause me.” Uhhhhh, the fuck??
“How is this going to create issues? I don’t feel comfortable with him doing this, and the only non blood relative I’m okay with doing it is my father’s wife who I have known for 15 years.”
She claps back with “well, how are you ever going to get to know Steve? We live in a different state and never get to see the babies”
At this point, I’m a little confused, because it’s my kids and it’s not an unreasonable request. Steve then knocks on my front door, interrupting the convo with my mother in law and myself. Awwwwkwwward. MIL starts to leave, and my fiance is wondering what the hell just happened since it appeared I was arguing with her mom. I told her what happened, and I said this was enough and went outside. I walked up to his truck window and said “hey man, I need to talk”
MIL interrupts me and says “i was going to talk to him” and I say it’s okay, I can do it. All I say was “Steve, I’m not okay with you kissing my kids. That’s reserved for blood relatives only and it makes me and my fiance uncomfortable.” I said this in a calm manner. All he said was “okay, I understand” and they leave.
Super long story short, the next day we are having the celebration dinner for younger brothers graduation at a restaurant. MIL and Steve pay for my kids, myself, and fiancée, say goodbye, and then leave for GA a night early, not saying a proper goodbye to my fiancee. MIL calls Becca the next day and says Steve now feels uncomfortable, he feels like he’s a p*** or he feels like he’s being accused of being a p### (don’t know the exact phrasing here).
I’m at the point where I’m like tough fucking luck. Dont kiss kids, and you won’t feel like a p###!! But I’m wondering like, did I go too far? Maybe all this is innocent behavior, but I’d rather hurt a somewhat strangers feelings than potentially have my kids mistreated or abused. On the other hand, maybe I am overreacting and being unfair to this guy because of his appearance, career, and his kind of dumb persona?
I don’t know how to proceed. He feels like a p###… okay… so what’s next? Steve just asked MIL to marry and she said yes, so I am now stuck with this guy as a freaking step father in law, but I really don’t even want him to see these kids again. However, MIL is on disability and can’t really get down here to see the kids without Steve (again, not my problem, but this affects my fiancee quite a bit).
Am I overreacting? Am I the asshole? All typed on mobile so ignore typos or weird misspellings.

I wanted to do my part to raise awareness of veganism, so I made twelve vegan rap videos. Each song covers a different food or animal (cheese, milk, butter, eggs, cows, chickens, turkeys, honey, shellfish, pigs, sheep, and fish). I hope that this music will convert some non-vegans, and entertain those of us who are already vegan. Thanks for watching! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZuY7eQdy7VECfsR9KObZcBZTUOHxM0rf

I know the whole tide is currently on shubhi sympathy train but tbh she is just milking the victim card tbh at this point. I dont like harsh from week 1, and he seems to immature but at the same time they had no commitment. They were just talking for few days and were talking to play splitsvilla together. If she did not get selected and he and rushali partnered up, and they developed feelings, had great compatibility, they are supposed to honor what?! Its not one of those situatuon where you honor your besties. And harsh and rushali might have wanted to sort it after coming out with her but shubhi is not even bff with rushali, she herself put in her story, but as soon as she entered she was like rushali is my bff, my family, while I actually haven't seem them hanging out one time. They are roommates for 8 months. I would never date my friend's ex or but if its like a casual talking flirting situation a guy was in with my roommates, currently and later someone meets under different circumstances, and both develop feelings, I dont see that was such a big deal of "backstabbing". I feel like Harsh definitely is a douche and I dont like him but at the same time just because I don't like him doesn't discount the fact that here sth very insignificant is being blown out of proportion. Tbh the way shubhi is saying the things I had to go through, like in that sense to everyone would be responsible for the person they have flierted with. And in shubhis life she was saying pyaar 10 me nehi hota but dude you are claiming you went through so much over "the guy you talked with for potentially pair up together in splitvilla, you were in love?! And why the eff its always women recieving hate?! Last year, Tara situation, sakshi was the villain. This year it rushali apparently she cheated on her flatematr?! And tbh all these fuss about these roadies kids about exposing others for knowing outside of the show, as if the roadies kid dont enter Splits and always know other roadies from outside and pair up to play?! Why is it such a big deal if non-roadies do the same! Tbh I feel bad for rushali because she is getting all the hate, yet she has done a stupid stuff associating wity harsh. And damn she shouldn't date that clown anyway, but all this criticism should be majorly towards harsh. All the fake exposes, as if we dont know all it that they are mostly just playing camera. I feel like harsh is massive idiot clown he is, but Shubhi is no saint. She was literally sharing stories hyping her by putting down Rushali or comparing them last weekend, but rushali has not put anything like that. I honestly don't know if harshali is sth that would last or not, and I would be happy for Rushali if it isn't. But I really don't think the massive amount betrayal shubhi is making it to be and then doing all these lives and sharing stories and then saying hate mil rahi mujhe support mil rahi, and then also putting story don't give anyone hate... all really unnecessary! The show is done 3 months back and the opposite party is already getting hate and your are getting hype. And watching a show and not liking someone is okay, criticism is okay and you are already getting audience sympathy even though I don't think it was as much of an betrayal, cause she was also expecting to break rushali harsh bond, let's say if harsh and rushali did not start "love connection" and harsh dropped rushali cause now shubhi is here, how would that be fair?! Tbh I dont think the way this situation is getting blown out of proportion cause even I myself don't really ship harshali, and specially harsh. But this is some next level victim card playing and that's just how I see this situation.

Hi all! I am 25F and have exposure to newborns and young children from nannying a lot in my teenage years, but never my own families. I noticed a behavior from my sister’s MIL that made me feel sick despite it not looking blatantly wrong. I don’t know much about this, but it weirded me out enough to lose sleep over it. Coworkers are agreeing it is strange as well. My sister recently had her firstborn and he is now 2 weeks old. First baby for our family. My sister is superhuman and despite our pleadings, she hosted a lovely Memorial Day celebration yesterday. Everybody pitched in and Mama even got to take a quick nap. Anyways, I noticed that MIL does this weird pacifier tease with Baby. For context, Baby is struggling to latch w/ breast feeding so my sister has been pumping and putting her breast milk in bottles since he’s been taking the bottle better. She still wants to nurse, though, and is seeing a specialist (my sister has a career in medicine). The MIL repeatedly kept inserting and removing the pacifier from Babies mouth, and also would gently wipe/rub the nipple part of the paci on his bottom lip before continuing the slow repeated insertion and removal of pacifier in his mouth. It was gross feeling to observe. Mama was in room but had her back turned. I felt weird watching but was watching her bc she has problems with boundaries, is emotionally incestuous with her son (father of Baby and my sister’s husband), and repeatedly called her grandson “her and [son’s] baby” while pointing at my sisters pregnant belly throughout her pregnancy (like she was a freaking incubator). I was watching her because she kissed the back of his head, and my sister is very against kissing Baby in the face (and for good reason). I don’t know whether to tell my sister and if so, how, without scaring her or causing her to go Mama Bear since they do not have the best relationship.

I've gone down the rabbit hole on the New York Times online archive and it's amazing how little is there before the big "expose" in 2017. There are ZERO articles relating to some of the most widely reported UFO stories like Kenneth Arnold's Mount Ranier sighting. The first reference to the Roswell crash is a 1987 article is a culture piece about people's interest in UFOs.
Below is a long article from 1979 that could have been written today. The same misinformation from the government, the same promise to make a more scientific study (while promising that that study had not already been taking place....)

U.F.O. FILES: THE UNTOLD STORY

By Patrick Huyghe

• Oct. 14, 1979

Patrick Huyghe is a freelance writer in New York.
The Defense Department message bears the classification CONFIDENTIAL. “Subject: Suspicious Unknown Air Activity.” Dated Nov. 11, 1975, it reads:
“Since 28 Oct 75 numerous reports of suspicious objects have been received at the NORAD COC [North American Air Defense Combat Operations Center]. Reliable military personnel at Loring AFB [Air Force Base], Maine, Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan, Malmstrom AFB, [Montana], Minot AFB, [North Dakota], and Canadian Forces Station, Falconbridge, Ontario, Canada, have visually sighted suspicious objects.
“Objects at Loring and Wurtsmith were characterized to be helicopters. Missile site personnel, security alert teams and Air Defense personnel at Malmstrom Montana reported object which sounded like a jet aircraft. FAA advised ‘There were no jet aircraft in the vicinity.’ Malmstrom search and height finder radars carried the object between 9,000 ft and 15,600 ft at a speed of seven knots. ... F‐106s scrambled from Malmstrom could not make contact due to darkness and low altitude. Site personnel reported the objects as low as 200 ft and said that as the interceptors approached the lights went out. After the interceptors had passed the lights came on again. One hour after the F‐106s returned to base, missile site personnel reported the object increased to a high speed, raised in altitude and could not be discerned from the stars....
“I have expressed my concern to SAFOI [Air Force Information Office] that we come up soonest with a proposed answer to queries from the press to prevent overreaction by the public to reports by the media that may be blown out of proportion. To date efforts by Air Guard helicopters, SAC [Strategic Air Command] helicopters and NORAD F‐106s have failed to produce positive ID.”
Though officials have long denied that they take ‘flying saucers’ seriously, declassified documents now reveal extensive Government concern over the phenomenon.
Numerous daily updates kept the Joint Chiefs of Staff informed of these incursions by U.F.O.'s in the fall of 1975. Representatives of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency as well as a handful of other Government desks received copies of the National Military Command Center's reports on the incidents. One report said that an unidentified object “demonstrated a clear intent in the weapons storage area.” Though Air Force records show that the C.I.A. was notified several times of these penetrations over nuclear missile and bomber bases, the agency has acknowledged only one such notification. Subsequent investigations by the Air Force into the sightings at Loring Air Force Base, Maine, where the remarkable series of events began, did not reveal a cause for the sightings.
Despite official pronouncements for decades that U.F.O.'s were nothing more than misidentified aerial objects and as such were no cause for alarm, recently declassified U.F.O. records from the C.I.A., the F.B.I. and other Federal agencies indicate that, ever since U.F.O.'s made their appearance in our skies in the 1940's, the phenomenon has aroused much serious behind‐the‐scenes concern in official circles. Details of the intelligence community's protracted obsession with the subject of U.F.O.'s have emerged over the past few years with the release of long‐withheld Government records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Though these papers fail to resolve the U.F.O. enigma, they do manage to dispel many popular notions about the U.F.O. controversy, as well as give substance to a number of others. Official records now available appear to put to rest doubts that the Government knew more about U.F.O.'s than it has claimed over the past 32 years. From the start, it has been convinced that most U.F.O. sightings could be explained in terms of misidentified balloons, cloud formations, airplanes, ball lightning, meteors and other natural phenomena.
But the papers also show that the Government remains perplexed about the nagging residue of unexplained U.F.O. sightings, which amount to approximately 10 percent of all U.F.O. sightings reported. Do they pose a threat to national security? Are they just a funny‐looking cover for an airborne Soviet presence? Even the possibility that these unknowns could be evidence of extraterrestrial visitations has been given serious attention in Government circles. While official interest in U.F.O.'s has long been thought to be strictly the concern of the Air Force, the bulk of whose records has been open to public view for nearly a decade, the recently released papers on U.F.O.'s indicate otherwise. The Departments of the Army, Navy, State and Defense, and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the F.B.I., the C.I.A. and even the Atomic Energy Commission produced U.F.O. records over the years. Many of these agencies still do, and many of their documents remain classified. But it is the C.I.A. that appears to have played the key role in the controversy, and may even be responsible for the Government's conduct in U.F.O. investigations throughout the
U.F.O's have been the province of the nation's intelligence community ever since the beginning of the cold war, when the notion took hold that some flying saucers might actually represent a secret, technologically advanced, foreign weapons system. “Every time we were concerned,” recalls Herbert Scoville Jr., a former chief of the C.I.A.'s Office of Scientific Intelligence, “it was because we wanted to know: Did the Russians do it?”
As the cold war gave rise to the fears of the McCarthy era, official concern over U.F.O.'s even led to the surveillance of several private U.F.O. organizations (as many of their members have long insisted) and to the scrutiny of dozens of individuals suspected of subversive U.F.O. activities.
Perhaps most telling of all, the Government documents on U.F.O.'s reveal that despite official denials to the contrary, Federal agencies continue to monitor the phenomenon to this day.
The monumental task of unearthing the newest batch of records on U.F.O.'s from a bureaucracy that has for years denied their existence can be traced to the efforts of a handful of inquisitive individuals who, armed with the Freedom of Information Act, set off in the mid‐70's on a paper chase of U.S. Government documents on U.F.O.'s. They include Bruce S. Maccabee, a Silver Spring, Md., physicist working for the Navy, who has managed to obtain the release of more than 1,200 pages of documents on U.F.O.'s from the F.B.I.; W. Todd Zechel of Prairie du Sac, Wis.; Robert Todd of Ardmore, Pa.; Larry W. Bryant of Arlington, Va.; and Brad C. Sparks, a student la astrophysics at Berkeley whose five‐year pursuit of the C.I.A.'s U.F.O. file eventually provided the foundation for a 3round‐breaking Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by Ground Saucer Watch (G.S.W.), an Arizona‐based U.F.O.
At the request of G.S.W. director William H. Spaulding, Peter Gersten, an attorney in the New York firm of Rothblatt, Rothblatt & Seijas, filed a civil action against the C.I.A. in December 1977 demanding all U.F.O. records in the agency's possession. The suit seemed to have achieved its goal when late last year the agency released about 900 documents — nearly 900 pages of memos, reports and correspondence that attest to the agency's long involvement in U.F.O. matters. But the civil action has not seen its final day in court.
By Gersten's account, the agency has arbitrarily withheld documents, made deletions without merit, and failed to conduct a proper search for U.F.O. materials. The agency's current actions, he says, perpetuate its 30‐year policy of deliberate deception and dishonesty about U.F.O.'s. “What has been released to us seems to have been rather carefully selected,” says Gersten. “We suspect that the agency is withholding at least 200 more documents than the 57 they have admitted they are keeping from us to protect intelligence sources.” Victor Marchetti, a former executive assistant to the agency's deputy director, agrees with Gersten. The entire exercise, Marchetti wrote recently in a magazine article, “has the same aroma of the agency's previous messy efforts to hide its involvement in drugs and mind‐control operations, both prime examples of a successful intelligence cover‐up.”
The first sighting to be labeled a “flying saucer” by the press occurred on June 24, 1947, when an Idaho businessman flying his plane near Mount Rainier observed nine disc‐shaped objects making undulating motions “like a saucer skipping over water.” As early as World War II, Allied bomber pilots had told of “balls of light” that followed their flights over Japan and Germany. A U.S. Eighth Army investigation concluded that the of “mass hallucination.”
These and other incidents were reported in a 1973 book by David Michael Jacobs, “The UFO Controversy in America,” which until the recent release of Government documents was the most comprehensive reconstruction of the Government's U.F.O. involvement. When Scandinavians reported cigar‐shaped objects in 1946, U.S. Army intelligence suspected that the Russians had developed a secret weapon with the help of German scientists from Peenemiinde. The C.I.A., then known as the Central Intelligence Group, secretly began keeping tabs on the subject. When the unknown objects returned to the skies, this time over the United States in the summer of 1947, the Army Air Force set out to determine what the objects were. Within weeks, Brig. Gen. George F. Schulgen of Army Air Corps Intelligence requested the F.B.I.'s assistance “in locating and questioning the individuals who first sighted the so‐called flying discs....” Undoubtedly swayed by flaring cold‐war tensions, Schulgen feared that “the first reported sightings might have been by individuals of Communist sympathies with the view to causing hysteria and fear of a secret Russian weapon.” J. Edgar Hoover agreed to coopreau have “full access to discs recovered.” The Air Force's behind‐thescenes interest contrasted sharply with its public stance that the objects were products of misidentifications and imaginative populace. A security lid was imposed on the subject in July 1947, hiding potentially “embarrassing situation” the following month, when both the Air Force and the F.B.I. began suspecting they might actually be investigating our own secret weapons. High‐level reassurances were obtained that this was not so.
By the end of the summer, the F.B.I. had “failed to reveal any indication of subversive individuals being involved in any of the reported sightings.” A RESTRICTED Army letter that found its way to Hoover's desk said that the bureau's services actually had been enlisted to relieve the Air Forces “of the task of tracking down all the many instances which turned out to be ashcan covers, toilet seats and whatnot.” Incensed, Hoover moved quickly to discontinue the bureau's U.F.O. investigations.
In September of that year, the Commanding General of the Army Air Force received letter from the Army Chief of Staff Lieut. Gen. Nathan F. Twining, saying that “the phenomenon reported is of something real and not visionary or fictitious,” that the objects appeared to be disc‐shaped, “as large as man‐made aircraft,” and “controlled either manually, automatically or remotely.” At Twining's request, project “Sign” was established.
“Sign” failed to find any evidence that the objects were Soviet secret weapons and before long submitted an unofficial “Estimate of the Situation,” classified TOP SECRET, which indicated that U.F.O.'s were of interplanetary origin. The estimate eventually reached Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, who rejected it for lack of proof. “Sign's” inconclusive final report remained classified for the next 12 years.
After “Sign,” the Air Force continued to collect U.F.O. data under the code name “Grudge.” This six‐month project found no evidence of foreign scientific development and therefore no direct threat to national security. It did, however, stress that the reported sightings could be dangerous. “There are indications that the planned release of related psychological propaganda would cause a form of mass hysteria,” the report stated. “Employment of these methods by or against an enemy would yield similar results ... governmental agencies interested in psychological warfare should be informed of the results of this study."
A press release following the termination of “Grudge” allowed the public to believe that the Air Force was no longer interested in U.F.O.'s. But the Air Force continued to collect reports through normal intelligence channels until a dramatic sighting of a U.F.O. at the Army Signal Corps radar center in Fort Monmouth, N.J., in 1951 led to the reactivation of “Grudge.” The Air Force project was renamed “Blue Book” in 1952, a year that saw a record number of U.F.O. reports.
The situation got out of hand during the summer of 1952. On the morning of July 28, the Washington Post revealed that U.F.O.'s had been tracked on radar at Washington National Airport, the second such incident in a week. Reporters stormed Air Force headquarters in the Pentagon, where switchboards were jammed for days with U.F.O. inquiries. Military installations across the country handled such a volume of reports that “regular intelligence work had been affected,” reported The New York Times.
These events prompted action at C.I.A. headquarters, apparently at a request “from the Hill.” From the start, the agency's involvement was to be kept secret. An August 1 C.I.A. memo recommended that “no indication of C.I.A. interest or concern reach the press or public, in view of their probable alarmist tendencies to accept such interest as ‘confirmatory’ of the soundness of ‘unpublished facts’ in the hands of the U.S. Government.”
The C.I.A.'s Office of Scientific Intelligence (O.S.I.) found that the Air Force's investigation of the U.F.O. phenomenon was not sufficiently rigorous to determine the exact nature of the objects in the sky. Neither did the Air Force deal adequately with the potential danger of U.F.O.‐induced mass hysteria, or the fact that our air vulnerability was being seriously affected by the U.F.O. problem. O.S.I. chief H. Marshall Chadwell thought that our nation's defenses were running the increasing risk of false alert and, worse yet, “of falsely identifying the real as phantom.” He suggested that a national policy be established “as to what should be told the public” and, furthermore, that immediate steps be taken to improve our current visual and electronic identification techniques so that “instant positive identification of enemy planes or missiles can be made.” Ever vigilant, the C.I.A. was keeping an eye on the possibility that U.F.O.'s could be of Soviet origin.
By the winter of 1952, Chadwell had drafted National Security Council proposal calling on program to solve the problem of instant positive identification of U.F.O.'s. In a memo that accompanied the proposal, Chadwell urged that the reports be given “immediate attention.” He thought that “sightings of unexplained objects at great altitudes and traveling at high speeds in the vicinity of major U.S. defense installations are of such nature that they are not attributable to natural phenomena or known types of aerial vehicles.” He said that O.S.I. was proceeding with the establishment of a consulting group “of sufficient competence and stature to ... convince the responsible authorities in the community that immediate research and development on this subject must be undertaken.”
But C.I.A. Director Gen. Walter B. Smith's interest apparently lay elsewhere. In a letter to the Director of the Psychological Strategy Board, he expressed a desire to discuss “the possible offensive and defensive utilization of these phenomena for psychological warfare purposes.” Only later did Director Smith authorize recruiting an advisory committee of outside consultants.
The scientific panel met for four days beginning Jan. 14, 1953. Chaired by Dr. H.P. Robertson, an expert in physics and weapons systems, the panel essentially bestowed the scientific seal of approval on previously established official policy regarding U.F.O.'s. The distinguished panelists felt that all the sightings could be identified once all the data were available for a proper evaluation — in other words, the phenomena, according to the panel's report, were not “beyond the domain of present knowledge of physical sciences.” Neither did the panelists find U.F.O.'s to be a direct threat to national security, though they believed that the volume of U.F.O. reports could clog military intelligence channels, precipitate panic, and lead defense personnel to ignore real indications of hostile action. The panel worried about Soviet manipulation of the phenomenon; that the reports could make the public vulnerable to “possible enemy psychological warfare.” The real danger, they concluded, was the reports themselves.
Fearing that the myth of U.F.O.'s might lead to inappropriate actions by the American public, the panelists decided that a “broad educational program integrating efforts of all concerned agencies” must be undertaken. They sought to strip U.F.O.'s of their “aura of mystery” through this program of “training and ‘debunking.’ “ The program would result in the “proper recognition of unusually illuminated objects” and in a “reduction in public interest in ‘flying saucers.’ “ The panelists recommended that their mass‐media program have as its advisers psychologists familiar with mass psychology and advertising experts, while Walt Disney Inc. animated cartoons and such personalities as Arthur Godfrey would help in the educational drive. To insure complete control over the situation, the panel members suggested that flying‐saucer groups be “watched because of their potentially great influence on mass thinking if widespread sightings should occur. The apparent irresponsibility and the possible use of such groups for subversive purposes should be kept in mind.”
The panel's recommendations called for nothing less than the domestic manipulation of public attitudes. Whether these proposals were acted upon, the C.I.A. will not say. But the report was circulated among the top brass at the Air Technical Intelligence Center, the C.I.A.'s Board of National Estimates (of which Hoover was a member), the C.I.A.'s bureau chiefs, the Secretary of Defense, the chairman of the National Security Resources Board, and the director of the Federal Civil Defense Administration, who eventually sent a representative to meet with C.I.A. officials in order to “implement the appropriate aspects of the Panel's Report as applicable to Civil Defense.”
The Government's efforts in the 50's and 60's to squelch public apprehension over U.F.O.'s went beyond debunking and even touched the fiber of constitutionally protected free speech. According to author David Michael Jacobs, in 1953 the Air Force pressured Look magazine into publishing disclaimers throughout an article by retired Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe entitled “Flying Saucers From Outer Space.” Then again, in 1965, the Army — in a prepublication review denied clearance for a U.F.O.related article by one of its employees, Larry W. Bryant, a technical editor, until he took the issue to court.
Meanwhile, the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. proceeded routinely in the surveillance of U.F.O. organizations and U.F.O. enthusiasts. People with U.F.O. interests were checked out by the F.B.I. at the request of the C.I.A., the Air Force, or private citizens inquiring about possible subversive activities. None caused as much consternation as the case of Major Keyhoe and the organization he directed, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). The C.I.A. appears to have had a protracted interest in NICAP, which was founded in 1956 and utilized by Keyhoe as an organizational tool for challenging the alleged Air Force cover‐up on U.F.O.'s. Both the C.I.A. and the Air Force were upset by NICAP's wide‐ranging influence. Its prestigious board of directors included, among others, Vice Adm. Roscoe Hillenkoetter, the first C.I.A. Director (1947‐1950). “The Air Force representatives believe that much of the trouble ... with Major Keyhoe ... could be alleviated,” states a C.I.A. memo dated May 16, 1958, “if the Major did not have such important personages as Vice Admiral R. H. Hillenkoetter, U.S.N. (Ret.) ... on the board. ...” The Air Force suggested that if the Admiral were shown the SECRET panel report he might understand and take “appropriate actions.” Whether or not the Air Force got through to the admiral, Hillenkoetter
The 60's saw further C.I.A. interest in NICAP. After flurry of Washington‐area sightings in 1965, the agency contacted NICAP about seeing some of its case files on the matter. Richard H. Hall, then NICAP assistant director, chatted with a C.I.A. agent in the NICAP office about the sightings, NICAP's methodology, and Hall's background. The agent's memo on the visit suggests that the C.I.A. had some role in mind for Hall, predicated upon his being granted a security clearance. Nothing apparently came of the suggestion. A later set of C.I.A. papers reveals an inter. est in NICAP's organizational structure and notes that “this group included some ex‐C.I.A. and Defense Intelligence types who advise on investigative techniques and NICAP‐Government relations.” There are presently three former C.I.A. employees on the NICAP board of directors, including Charles Lombard, a congressional aide to Senator Barry Goldwater, who is himself a NICAP board member; and retired U.S. Air Force Col. Joseph Bryan III. Bryan feels, as he did back in 1959 when he joined the board, that U.F.O.'s are interplanetary. NICAP's current president is Alan Hall, a former C.I.A. covert employee for 30 years.
In 1966, mounting discontent from members of the press. Congress and the scientific community compelled the Air Force to commission an 18month scientific study of U.F.O.'s under the direction of Edward U. Condon, professor of physics at the University of Colorado. The politically expedient study, in which onethird of the 91 cases examined remained unidentified, reiterated official policy with one novel twist: U.F.O.'s “educationally harmed” schoolchildren who were allowed to use science study time to read books and magazine articles about U.F.O.'s. Condon wanted teachers to withhold credit from any student U.F.O. project. The Air Force took the cue and disbanded project “Blue Book” in 1969.
Less than a decade later, the White House, perhaps in an attempt to make good Jimmy Carter's campaign promise to tell all about U.F.O.'s, suggested via science advisor Frank Press that possibly NASA could undertake a review of any significant new findings since Condon's study. NASA examined the offer, but saw no way to attack the problem on a scientific basis without physical evidence. They envisioned a public‐relations nightmare if they were to accept such a project, and so rejected it. A frank, in‐house evaluation of NASA's options, however, noted that a handsoff attitude only begged the question. So in good spirit, the space agency offered to examine any piece of physical evidence brought to its attention. That position led one Federal aviation official to comment: “If you get a piece of the thing, fine. But don't bother me with anything else.”
These days, the Air Force admits to nothing more than a “transitory interest” in the phenomenon, although military directives still exist for reporting U.F.O.'s.
The C.I.A. is still wary of the possibility that U.F.O.'s. may be of Soviet origin. “The agency's interest,” says Katherine Pherson, a public‐affairs officer for the C.I.A., “lies in its responsibility to forewarn principally of the possibility that a foreign power might develop a new weapons system that might exhibit phenomena that some might categorize as a U.F.O. But there is no program to actively collect information on U.F.O.'s.” The agency's interest cannot be denied, however, as two 1976 memos reveal.
The first, dated April 26, states: “It does not seem that the Government has any formal program in progress for the identification/solution of the U.F.O. phenomena. Dr. [name deleted] feels that the efforts of independent researchers, [phrase deleted], are vital for further progress in this area. At the present time, there are offices and personnel within the agency who are monitoring the U.F.O. phenomena, but again, this is not currently on an official basis.”
Another memo, dated July 14, and routed to the deputy chief in the Office of Development and Engineering, reads: “As you may recall, 1 mentioned my own interest in the subject as well as the fact that DCD [Domestic Collection Division] has been receiving U.F.O. related material from many of our S & T (Science and Technology] sources who are presently conducting related research. These scientists include some who have been associated with the Agency for years and whose credentials remove them from the ‘nut’ variety.”
If nothing else, the success of the U.F.O. paper chase may have lent U.F.O.'s a measure of respectability that has eluded the subject for the past third of a century. Though it appears that no U.F.O. sighting has ever represented an airborne Soviet or foreign threat, the possibility that such an event could occur remains foremost in the coldwar‐conscious Government mind. Should that threat come to pass, military officials believe, our nation's sophisticated defense system would know about it before someone getting a glass of milk in the middle of the night sees the threat hovering outside the kitchen window. Or so we are made to understand the Air Force's seemingly nonchalant advice to the public: “If you see a U.F.O. and you feel the situation warrants it, call your local police.”

I built a SaaS tool and made multiple viral videos on TikTok/Instagram, resulting in hundreds of thousands of visits to my SaaS tool in ~3 months.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how I did it.
For some context:
The product I’m talking about is nexusresearch.ai. It is a chat pdf tool targeted towards students.
Now, onto the content strategy.
1) Make your first post really boring
The first post for every account that I make is the same: it is a “sales” video. Just a very simple walkthrough of what the product is and how it can solves a particular problem.
Pin this post to your profile so that it is the first post that anyone coming by your account will see.
99.999999% chance this post won’t go viral, and that is expected. It isn’t supposed to. It is strictly there so that eventually once your future videos go viral, people will watch your pinned video and learn about your product.
example video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cy6-fAJME4x/
2) Build your initial audience
Now it’s time to build your base audience. You’re going to want to talk about your product every single post and talk about how great it is — but now is not the time.
I like to build an initial base audience of my users with some fun, general content and then once I have some initial base of users I start to make content about my product.
The reason for this is because of how the algorithm works in terms of pushing out videos. The algorithm a/b test your video with a small audience pool and then if that initial small audience pool like the content, they start pushing it out to an even bigger pool, and so on and so forth.
When you don’t have a base audience, it is harder for the algorithm to target the right demographic of people that will like your content.
Build your initial base of users and then once you have that initial base of users you can start pumping out the real marketing content.
For my product, I decided to lean into comedy videos to build my initial base of students. Here are some examples:
— https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzEdn_WOjQD/
— https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzHD3Veubzh/
— https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cztju7GO9AF/
— https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzwwV7Ku-Sq/ — this video was the one that went really viral and helped establish my account and it was just a totally random account. Entertaining/funny posts have a much higher chance of doing well and going viral.
Figure out your “golden” piece of content and double down on it.
I describe a “golden” piece of content as something that is

• repeatable
• organically shows the product

This is the hard part. It’ll take time to find this content format, but when you do find it it will pay dividends.
This is the golden piece of content I found for my chat pdf product.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0MYi3gueNy/
The whole premise of this video series is finding ridiculous articles (e.g. “Which doctor cheats on their spouse the most?”) and then summarizing the findings of the article by using my chat pdf tool.
Repetable? Yes.
Organically shows the product? Yes.
Once I found this content I just doubled down on it and milked the format as much as I could.
I also started a second series of “If colleges were honest” that regularly went viral and helped to get more and more eyeballs into my page (https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0FqH3OuS1C/). This series is a piece of content fits more into the "Build your initial audience" phase, but I continued making these videos because they still generated a lot of views and profile views.
Hope this guide was helpful! This is my approach to organic social media marketing content that has worked for various products, but what works for me isn't necessarily guaranteed to work for you and your product since every product is different.
Enjoy and happy posting 🚀
Last but not least, if you are interested in learning about the strategies that other businesses use to grow on social media, feel free to check out thecontentmarketingblueprint.com, a database of case studies of startups that have successfully grown through organic social media marketing for you to learn from their playbook.
Full disclosure: This is a product that I am building.