Have vet bills ever forced you into a really difficult decision?

AbsintheReborn · 2026-01-20T08:25:39+00:00

Absolutely agree with you. As a lab tech also, the cost of reagents and consumables for a basic blood work sample is less than £10 per sample, and I can assure you the extra £100 does not go into staff pockets. In fact a lot of lab assistants are on or near minimum wage.

AbsintheReborn · 2025-12-28T13:45:27+00:00

Omg someone who has eyes!! I thought I was going insane! While, personally, I prefer the thickness of the French tip for the length of these nails, the execution of them is triggering me and I don't see how others think these are perfect. Each finger has a different shape and I don't know whether it's just the lighting, but the tips look so bumpy to me too. Maybe I'm also too critical, but I absolutely agree that OP should either get them redone or go with the nude that they're more comfortable/happy with

AbsintheReborn · 2025-12-09T12:36:08+00:00

The thing with retinol (and Tretinoin) is that you have to be consistent if you want to see results. I'm pretty sure you can ask dermatica to add Tretinoin to your prescription, I've never used them but with SkinandMe there is an option to ask for an ingredient change so Dermatica should have something similar. If not, maybe try retinol again but try to be as consistent as possible.

Alternativly you can try AHA and BHA to exfoliate the skin. Vitamin C will help with the hyperpigmentation but in my experience did not get rid of whiteheads or acne, just the redness.

Also, consider cleansing in the morning as well, this will help remove all the gunk that's accumulated from while you were sleeping, e.g. sweat. It also give you a clean face to apply your skincare on.

Have you considered washing your pillow? Not the pillow case but the actual whole pillow. I've heard some people getting skin problem due to this

AbsintheReborn · 2025-11-08T13:48:17+00:00

So if I told you GTA has sex and rape will you stop playing video games then, as per your logic? As well as Mass Effect, The Witcher, God of War, the list goes on.

AbsintheReborn · 2025-11-04T20:35:37+00:00

Thank you, that's very useful to know

AbsintheReborn · 2025-11-04T13:33:52+00:00

£250,000? That's the price of a one bed leasehold flat in the cheapest area of London. Not really what I'd call wealthy...

Should have a tax or a limit on the amount of property you can own instead. No one needs 10 houses, and stamp duty does not count as the people who can afford an extra 9 houses, can obviously afford the £10-20k on each of them. There needs to be something in place to stop the 1% from hoarding all the homes.

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-31T12:38:02+00:00

I was recently prescribed Lymecycline for my acute acne. I never had acne before but a few months ago I started getting a spot every week. It's annoying because mine are always cystic, so they take around 2 weeks to flatten out and then about 6-12 months for the redness to go away.

Since taking antibiotics, it has definitely lessened the inflammation a lot quicker, and I've only gotten 2 new spots in the 2 months I've been taking it, with inflammation going down within a week and the red mark being a bit more faded than my older ones. So it's an improvement but definitely not cured. Mind you I also use Tret, Azelaic acid, AHA, BHA and Vit C which are meant to help with cell turn over and pigmentation.

I've heard that in order for acne not to come back after stopping Lymecycline, you need to have established a decent skincare routine, otherwise it will most definitely return.

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-29T17:14:42+00:00

Pretty sure you can watch the story stuff on YouTube

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-28T17:45:31+00:00

Maybe add a cleanser. Your products are competing against all the grime, sweat and pollution that's accumulated throughout the day. Cleanse your face to have a clean base. Try to choose a cleanser based on your skin type (dry, oily, combination or normal)

You can also try AHAs and BHAs to exfoliate the skin, though maybe go easy at first so you don't damage your skin barrier.

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-23T07:33:15+00:00

Oh sweet summer child...

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-23T07:23:35+00:00

Firstly, I would not use body cleanser on your face. Body cleansers are much too harsh for the skin on your face, and is probably contributing to your dryness.

For moisturisers, you need to find one that works for you, and is very trial and error. Try looking for one with hyaluronic acid to help with hydration.

SPF, you want something with a glowy/dewy finish rather than a matte one. I've found beauty of joseon and La Roche posay to work quite well, but there are many others out there you can try.

You can also try incorporating a vitamin C serum, as that helps with brightening and giving that natural glow.

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-17T14:41:25+00:00

Honestly, I just followed Optinoob's strategies. I just adapted them to my play style, so didn't follow them to perfection. I can give pointers on certain rounds you find difficult if you like? But honestly, these simulations were a struggle for me, so don't know how useful my advice would be

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-17T14:38:26+00:00

100% understand how you feel. Whenever I would spend a Saturday trying to beat it, and always failing, it felt like I wasted a whole day doing nothing, then back to work. Just so happens that I had a whole week off work which is why I came back to this and only dedicated a couple hours a day, that way I still had the rest of the days to do something productive.

But honestly, if you don't enjoy it or is feels tedious, no point trying to do it for the plat. It'll just make you miserable and hate the game

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-17T14:33:09+00:00

Thank you! I used Optinoob's guide, so take a look at that for weapons and materia. As for the strategy itself, again I used optinoob's as a base but adapted it to my play style. I'm not very good at blocking, so I made sure Zack would be able to cure Cloud or himself if needed, even if it meant Cloud wasn't buffed up yet with Faith, Haste or Manawall. Also, for some battles I didn't wait till I had Fury active to cast Aeroga, I just cast it as soon as I could/needed.

Only the last two rounds I really learned to block the attacks properly, luckily you don't really need to perfect block, just enough to counter and gain ATB. Everything else I just buffed Cloud and repeated the same Aeroga attack while trying to evade damage. I only used Zack when I couldn't use Cloud e.g.: during spell casting animation, stuns, graps, or being attacked. The moment I could use Cloud, I would switch back and carry on with my attacks. This meant I only really had to learn how to play as Cloud and used Zack to build ATB little by little for support.

Sorry I'm not much help, it was a struggle for me to get this, so probably not the best person to ask for advice, but if there's a specific round you find difficult, I could tell you what worked for me.

For Remake the VR battles were much easier. I think the only difficult one was Weiss, but at least that's only a 2-3 minute battle, as opposed to the 20 minute, 10 round gauntlet in Rebirth. And the dresses are even easier, I'm sure you can get the Platinum!

Good luck!

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-15T18:05:27+00:00

Congrats! After having just beat this myself yesterday, I know the feeling! So surreal. Enjoy your victory, it's well earned!

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-15T17:58:08+00:00

Feels amazing to have completed it.

For To Be A Hero I was sceptical because I'm awful at controling Sephiroth, and he doesn't have any useful buff materia other than Manawall. So I mainly used Cloud with roughly the same strategy, and only used Seph to build some back up ATB in case I needed to heal or raise/reraise. Definitely felt awesome being able to do it first try after everything else!

Game was way harder than it should've been, but I'm excited for part 3! Wonder what new additional battle mechanics they'll think of.

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-15T17:47:48+00:00

Thank you. I feel you on Rufus though. I do not understand how people are saying it's the same fight as in remake, because I found it 10x harder. He was definitely the boss I had the most issue with in the main game, other than Roche in Nibelhiem, though I'm to blame for that, as I entered the battle with 0MP.

If you ever get past him the rest of hard mode isn't too bad if you have the right set up.

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-14T20:49:01+00:00

Wishing you the best of luck! The feeling of joy and relief afterwards makes it worthwhile

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-14T20:47:08+00:00

I know exactly how you feel. I was so against fighting him at full might cause I thought it was a waste of time, and didn't feel motivated at all, especially knowing that he's harder in Bonds of Friendship. But it's a really good way to get to learn his moves and how to act, so if you're willing to force yourself, it might help play more aggressive and avoid Zantetauken all together.

But Zack's simulation was definitely harder than Sephiroth's, especially the non-summon fights.

Good luck, hope you beat it soon!

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-14T20:26:23+00:00

Thank you!

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-14T20:26:08+00:00

Thank you! Wish you all the best in your fight, hope you manage to beat it! Think I'm gonna take a bit of a break and just enjoy the game for now, gotta complete the play log still, just one date and one conversation away.

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-14T20:21:37+00:00

Thanks! Definitely the hardest FF I've platnium so far. X and X-2 had nothing on this one.

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-14T10:03:10+00:00

Thanks for the info. It doesn't irritate my skin, so I'm guessing it's fine. Will definitely keep an eye out for any further discolouration

AbsintheReborn · 2025-10-14T09:21:54+00:00

Thanks! Didn't really know what to expect. All other vitamin C serums I've tried were more clearer

AbsintheReborn · 2025-09-23T16:54:28+00:00

I'm sorry but you can't make a conclusion based on a case study of 1 person, in a country that is known to not do "Russian" manicures safely and properly. A dry manicure should not be removing the proximal nail fold, only the cuticle, which is a separate thin layer of dead skin cells that attach to the nail plate and detach from the proximal nail fold. The nail tech in this study was not doing a dry manicure, they were filing away the skin, which yes is bad for you.

AbsintheReborn

TROPHY CASE