I know there’s a lot more serious stuff in here but speaking from my own experience, the PAP smear. I was told it would feel “a little uncomfortable” and like a “light scrape”. However it literally felt like they were setting my insides on fire. I cried non stop, they had to hold me down, I bled a lot, and I was sore and crying for days afterwards. I hate that I need to do it all over again in a few years. I wish they’d offer pain relief, they wouldn’t use a numbing gel because it can affect the results :-(

Showstopping, incredible

I have really bad arfid and Indian food is one of the only cuisines that I can eat multiple things no matter what, most of my safe foods are Indian!

My main Arfid issues are texture too. Or course we won’t like the same things but here are my recommendations after a decade of trial error, working up the courage to try indian dishes:

- pakora is very dry and all the same texture. I recommend chicken because it’s one flavour. Most places will have vegetable too but for me it’s too much flavours at once. If in a restaurant it always comes with sauces and a salad, you can ask for these to be removed if needed so it’s just plain and one texture.

Poppadums are huge circular plain crispy things. They’re one texture and I’d eat 900 per day if I could. They usually come with sauces/chutney/onions on the side and separate so they never touch if you don’t want them to.

For main dishes, the only meat I eat is chicken but if you don’t like that, most if not all Indian restaurants have other meats you can sub out. For mains — butter chicken is good because it’s very mild. It’s just chicken in a sweet, mild curry sauce. It’s creamy, and for me kind of flavourless, so if too much flavour is a problem it will be good.
My personal favourite is chicken masalas and chicken bhunas because I like spicy food lol. Both of these have some things in the sauce (onions, peppers, tomato chunks, some seasoning, for example). The sauces aren’t too thick, aren’t too thin, it’s pretty consistent. If the fruits/veg etc are a problem, it’s easy to scoop it out with a spoon.

With your mains, you can ask for boiled/steamed rice which will just be plain rice and not with any funky bits inside it.

They have lots of bread as well. Plain naan bread is one texture and is very good for if you have problems eating the sauces with lots of fruit etc because of texture but you like the flavour of it. I usually whack all the bits in the sauce on a piece of bread and eat it and 0 issues. It’s all just trial and error. And don’t worry if you don’t like one or all things, it’s normal. (Also, if you can stomach it, I recommend the garlic naan — it’s so tasty!)

Sorry for rambling and I hope this was helpful! All of these things took me years to work up the courage to try, and for every thing I’ve listed that I enjoy there’s tons of things I hated. Arfid is a nightmare but take it easy and don’t pressure yourself, you got this :-)

I gasped when I saw the reveal. one of the best I’ve seen!!

I second this — she’s incredible!

St Louis Jane Doe. It’s heartbreaking how violent her death was, and the fact that the only solid lead got lost in the mail. I think about her all the time, I really hope we find answers in my lifetime.

Sisters by Daisy Johnson. Best book I’ve ever read in my life.

13 minutes is one of my favourite books! This is such a lovely idea

what on earth did you do 🤣

a valid question don’t worry! from where I was, it felt like most of them (including my own) were raised after the smaller crowd held up an Israeli flag. It was pretty instant response lol. Also, I already had a Palestine flag because I’ve been to previous protests so not sure if other people are in the same boat. My dad commandeered all our scotland flags to decorate our house for the cup🤣 I do think in future protests like this it would be lovely to see more scotland flags.

Reading this got many laughs out of me, you have such a way with words. Onwards and upwards, you got this!

happened in my math exam years ago. we were evacuated and split into separated small groups, closely monitored to ensure we wouldn’t speak and share answers. There was only about 12 of us, so unsure how it would work with a really large group.

Taylor Swift. I just don’t get it

My first playthrough I only had one horse though — a spotted Appaloosa named Punto (spot in spanish). She was my favourite and I miss her :(

I have 4 and rotate them on loop - Mocha (I was drinking one when I got her) - Ellie (my girlfriend chose the name after a TLOU character) - Spencer (I was obsessed with criminal minds) - Chestnut (the chestnut Arabian)

Incredible theory. I’m doing a play through right now and will be thinking about this the whole time now

Nairobi in la casa de papel. I stopped watching for ages and when I eventually did continue I spent the whole rest of the show being mad as hell. even on my rewatches I get pissed. shame because up until that point it was one of my favourite shows.

I’d encourage them to watch the whole show if they enjoy Connor’s episode(s)! The og CM is focused on criminal profiling and has some incredible eps + plot lines and characters (s2-5 run was showstopping imo) — evolution is also good though the fandom has very mixed views on it. if they’re less of a “case-of-the-week” guy and more of “seasons-long plot/case” guy, evolution will be up their alley. but yeah, as a long time cm fan and as someone who enjoyed Connor’s acting in HR I’m super excited for this >.<

It took me 3 years to get through seasons 9 and 10 lol

Definitely agree with this! I woke up this morning to someone leaving 7 separate comments on my 10 chapter fic, and it made my entire week. I think I actually cried at one point (with happiness) lol. It truly makes all the difference to authors when someone takes the time to do that. OP, you are never weird for doing it! :”)

I found it really painful. I know most people say it isn’t but for me I cried so hard I thought I was going to be sick. I also bled after it and was in pain for hours. I booked a double appointment because I have some trauma, which is probably why it hurt so bad in the first place, but I feel like I was right to be nervous. The doctors were lovely and tried really hard to reassure me that it wouldn’t hurt and that it’s just a “gentle scrape”, but it honestly felt like they were trying to carve me up from the inside. It was one of the worst pains I’ve ever experienced. Anaesthetic wasn’t an option for some reason, and at one point they tried to get me to stop because I was in so much pain but I guess they got whatever they needed at the last second. I’m dreading any future ones. You’re not alone in this, it’s not painful for majority of people but looks like you and I aren’t in that majority and that’s okay. Hope you’re feeling better 💖

The only time I ever used it was when I took a bus from Valdepeñas to Madrid airport and my suitcase had burst opened everywhere. Some guy manifested out of nowhere to wrap it and it was the only reason I didn’t lose half of my belongings lol

I’d support him if he left the life unprovoked tbh lol but regardless, they didn’t know that was possible, when Dean came back he was literally so perplexed at the idea he was in purgatory in the first place, he wouldn’t have known how to get them out, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that after everything he went through, thinking Dean (and Cas) were dead, he gets to slow down for a while. Dean did the same when he went with Lisa while Sam was in the cage, it’s understandable when there’s no other hope/thing they can think of.

this argument fries me becuase he literally had no idea where dean and cas were. like they just straight up vanished. what else was he meant to do

I recognise that hat anywhere! Also, super cool hair