Hi, so I have a problem the NHS hasn't been able or willing to help me with, so this is pretty much a shot in the dark. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with dark web marketplaces and can recommend one?

My situation - my lower back and right hip are pretty fucked. I probably need a hip replacement - bad hips run in the family - even though I'm only in my early 50s. I have a job that requires a lot of physical activity, and it's been increasingly challenging for me to get through the day. Recently a friend gave me some tramadol, which I found very effective - I could work without pain, just like I could a few years ago.

Obviously I've had this conversation with my doctors, but they said basically 'No way are we prescribing you that, take paracetamol and try not to exert yourself'. TBF to them, they probably have addicts come in every week with a similar sob story.

So I'm looking for any suggestions as to an alternative source. Ideally legal options, but I'm wondering if the dark web could be what I need. I know nothing about it though.

I really don't want to have to give up my job, and paracetamol / ibuprofen just doesn't help. And yeah, I've tried the ibuprofen gel, also doesn't help much.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, apologies if this violates community guidelines

Hi, so I've seen the red wedding mentioned in game of thrones and venom 2. Yes, I can smell you judging me from here! It's okay. I was just wondering if this is a recent myth? Where does the red wedding concept come from?

I, for one, am happy that they can understand our propensity to steal fast cars, pick up sex workers, rob gangsters, and die in a shootout with the police.

As a British person, fuck him.

Right, so I just wanted to make the point that the alien films with Sigourney Weaver are kinda same flavour as the Riddick films with Vin Diesel, and that the Sigoureny movies are better. Prove me wrong! Or come up with something better than either :)

Right, so every time I've been in or out of that elevator at the lobby, there's a fucked up couple standing there, off their heads, holding each other up.

The first dozen times I found em cute. Then they started to get a bit annoying. I mean, how fucked up are they? They've been trying and failing to get on that elevator for fuckin days. So I tried talking to them. Didn't work out. Then I tried a fuckin frag grenade. Felt like I ruined their party, tho, and the police didn't see the funny side. So I started ignoring them again. I've been up and down that elevator over a hundred times now, easy.

Anyway, the other day I was coming home for a nap and got to the elevator and they weren't there. Couldn't fuckin believe it. Maybe they'd finally caught the elevator, or maybe some cyberpsycho had eaten them. Was a bit worried. I've got round to kinda feeling like they're my pets, apparently cats an stuff don't survive in night city so gotta take pets where you can find em.

Anyway, when I came back down the elevator after a shower and a nap, there they were again.

Still, I'm wondering if anyone else has seen them just not be there? Anyone got any intel on these poor fuckin fraggles?

Edit it's my first playthrough btw. No spoilers please! I've got the option to meet hanaka at embers but said point of no return an I got shit I wanna do first.

I'm after game recommendations.

My situation, I used to enjoy gaming but stopped maybe twenty years ago when my PS2 died and I moved abroad. Until last year when I got a steam deck and I've been catching up on the good stuff I've missed. Played bioshock (great!) and soma (decent), I'm playing prey (think I'm nearly finished, just got to the military operators) and resident evil 7 (just got away from that nasty bint Margheritte).

Most of y wishlist had come from stuff I've read on here, so I thought I'd ask - what next?

Back in the day I really enjoyed silent hill (can't remember which one, would have been early 2000s, the one with the school and hospital). I'm enjoying resident evil 7 - haven't played any of the others - and I like the atmosphere but most of the scares seem to be jump scares.

Jump scares can be good but I kinda feel like they're a cheap scare. I'm looking for something more fundamentally upsetting.

No idea why, I can't watch horror films, I get too frightened! But this seems to be a game genre I enjoy. Any suggestions?

Help me out here?

So sometimes I just wanna play chess on my steam deck. I'm in my 50s, I got a steam deck about a year ago, and I am absolutely loving what it offers me. Before this I hadn't done gaming since PS1. I recently finished bioshock, I'm currently about a third of the way into cyberpunk. I'm also playing prey. I pick games to suit my mood. And sometimes my mood is to just wanna play chess against a computer. Can anyone recommend a game?

The steam library has a whole lot of chess games, but they mostly seem to be chess plus scary monster, chess plus tits, chess plus nonsense. I just wanna play chess! Ideally on a 3d board, that's all I ask. No gimmicks, no boobs, just chess that runs locally on my steam deck.

I've googled this and seen people on reddit etc saying you've got to play online versions in the browser - FFS!

Can someone recommend me a decent chess game that is steam deck compatible? I've already bought a couple of chess games that weren't verified and haven't worked out.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just frustrated. Chess is such an ancient and fundamental game I'd have thought this would be easy, but here I am asking for your help.

I'll be grateful for any ideas.