#which with my health conditions..... i can't work because i can't maintain that long of standing and walking around or lifting

[bringmefoxgloves]

screaming weeping and wailing: i think i need to get a job

[ms-demeanor]

I went diabetic earlier this year, since then I've had far more serious health concerns to really focus on it. I've listened to my primary care and reduced my average a1c from 13 to 7. I've recently been looking into diets and what not that are the best. Currently, I'm trying to cut out all carbs, on my doctor's orders. What I'm seeing though is that a plant based diet is best. It looks like a ketogenic diet is what my doctor wants me to follow? I've watched videos on both diets and I don't know, I agree with you that keto is evil. What are your thoughts about this?

I am not a medical professional so i can't give you medical advice, but I'd say that you should ask your doctor for a referral to a dietician (an RD or an RDN, NOT a "nutritionist" - RD/RDN are protected terms that mean they have completed specific training and have specific board certification) and ask the dietician for advice on your specific dietary needs for your specific medical conditions.

What I can say is that trying to cut all carbs is pretty dangerous - not only is it a macronutrient that our body uses as the most available fuel for your body processes (we *can* get fuel from protein and fat, and ketones can *theoretically* replace sugars for energy but nobody is actually sure how long our bodies can do that and we know it's a LOT less efficient, it's supposed to be less efficient, and what that means is it makes a lot of people feel exhausted when they try it because they literally have less available energy) but also there are certain nutrients that are fortified in the US that are going to be hard to get if you're cutting carbs completely. The example that I always use is folate, because when I had to cut wheat out of my diet (i have grain allergies and celiac disease) I didn't know to supplement it and ended up with a form of anemia and stuff like "fainting" and "dizziness" and "low oxygen saturation."

Which is part of why massive diet changes should be undertaken with the assistance of a dietician! That's why I started studying nutrition! Because nobody supervised my medically necessary diet changes and it went very poorly!

Your GP very likely doesn't have a ton of training on nutrition, and is even less likely to have training on nutrition specific to your condition. If your GP is telling you to cut all carbs, they are telling you to do something dangerous and not nutritionally sound (even really restrictive keto diets call for 20g of carbs a day). Ask either them or your endocrinologist for a referral to a dietician (again, you are looking for a Registered Dietician or a Registered Dietician Nutritionist, RD or RDN, NOT just 'nutritionist') who is familiar with helping diabetics manage their nutrition.

Now, all of that said, in the choice between two fairly restrictive diets I will always say to try the one that requires less effort. It is much easier to eat a plant-based diet long term than a keto diet, and it is vanishingly unlikely that you are going to end up protein deficient (the primary concern for most people who are starting plant based diets, and it's just not all that likely - we need a lot less protein than a lot of people seem to think; though if you're going completely vegan you do need to be careful to supplement your B vitamins and to ensure that you're getting plenty of omega fats)

Because the thing is, for a diet to "work" you have to be on that diet forever. If you stop being on that diet, and stop adhering to its restrictions, whatever benefits exist for that diet go away. So the best diet for *anybody* is one that will provide them with the nutrients they need in a way that they can access regularly and affordably, that they enjoy eating and can comfortably maintain for long periods of time, and that includes a variety of fruits and vegetables because the only diet advice that is nearly universally applicable is that people should be eating more fruits and vegetables and they should be eating a wider variety of them.

I am not a fan of "diets" as a concept and I think that people should think of nutrition in terms of "my diet" not "the diet that is meant to be one-size-fits-all for millions of people that I am attempting." Your diet is what you eat and drink, and that is what you should be looking at adjusting. If you want to reduce carbs in your diet it's better to tweak your consumption than it is totally replace your diet with a one size fits all keto diet. If you want to increase fat in your diet it is better to tweak your consumption than it is to replace your diet with a one size fits all atkins diet. If you want to go plant based I think it is better to start by adjusting your diet to include more plants and to slowly replace animal based products than by trying a one size fits all vegan diet right out of the gate. You can always (and should!) make adjustments to what you eat as circumstances change and you may end up at a vegan diet or a low carb high fat diet and find that that works for you, but part of the reason that I think nutrition studies on diets are so screwy and hard to pin down is because your body is going to *flip the fuck out* when you change from, say, an average american diet to a study-provided Mediterranean diet for a 12 week experiment. If you drastically change your diet all at once and get good results immediately it's very hard to say if those results will be lasting because your body may just adjust to the "new normal" of your diet six months down the line.

But like seriously if your GP is telling you to cut all carbs you need to see a person who specializes in nutrition, and to prepare for your appointment with that person you should make a list of your goals (for you it sounds like you want to manage your blood sugar levels, reduce a1c, and *ask about* low carbs if that is something that interests you), a list of things you think that you'll have trouble with or that you want to include in your diet because they're important to you (if you really like nuts but have to be on a low fat diet, ask if there's a way to work around that with your needs, for example; if there is a cultural staple that you will find difficult to cut from family meals, TELL THEM THAT), a list of questions that you have about different types of diets, and *VERY IMPORTANTLY* information about your food budget and cooking skills. Be clear about it if you can't cook. Be clear about it if you can't afford certain ingredients.

Anyway. Once again, not medical advice, please speak to a medical professional, good luck.

[cbenedict1123]

CW POLITICS, FAMILIAL ABUSE, TRAUMA, SA.

...

Hello, Mr. Redacted.

I'm writing this letter to you here because I don't know if I will have the courage to tell you this to your face. I have always tended to avoid conflict, and now is no exception, but I really do need to get this off my chest right now.

First off, as you notice from the salutation, I don't really consider you my father. I have not had a father since 2001 when y'all outed me and you shoved me up against a wall and told me that "if my mother got sick because I was a fucking (f-slur), you'd hurt my asshole so bad i wouldn't be able to shit by the time you were through."

So of course, the rest of high school was hell. Most of my adult life until 2019 was hell, because between you and Mrs. Redacted, you did everything in your power to keep me under your thumb. I had to sneak my internet access, I had to maintain my friendships in secret. I couldn't finish college because you refused to help if I was "going to continue to support the gay agenda." I developed a hell of a work ethic, because the more time I spent at work, the less time I would be at home, and now my health and psyche are trashed because of it.

You set to smolder so many potential bridges between us and I've just kind of let them fall apart. This is why I rarely call. This is why I respond to emails that you forward on with a 👍 if at all.

So I know who you voted for. Since I was a kid, I remember the toxic crap that you would have on the radio, the local talk radio station, with Rush Limburger and all those loud, white, male assholes. I remember when Rush Limburger had a television show and you and Mrs Redacted went to it. I remember, especially, in 2001, how the news network that you all became fixated on after 9/11 was the Fox Lies network. I remember seeing it on your television the last time I visited.

So I know you voted for. You said as much yourself, the man is trash, but because of your precious party affiliation, that was who you had to cast your ballot for.

Well, guess what. You are trash too. And, I know exactly why, but it doesn't exempt you. Anyone with a modicum of critical thought and empathy would be able to see that you were formed by the systems in which you grew up (white America in the sixties) and through which you worked (Reaganomics) for all of your life. But that doesn't mean that any of these systems were right, and it doesn't exempt you from doing horrible shit. It doesn't exempt you from your lack of empathy and critical thought, it doesn't exempt you from being accountable for your expressions of homophobia and racism that are such a frequent part of your vernacular now that I can't stand to be around you.

And now you got what you wanted. Your precious party is in control of the country once more. Women, Immigrants, People of Color, and the LGBT+ Community can now be codified as scapegoats rather than simply complained about rhetorically. Rapists can now choose the mothers of their children. States can now choose how human people actually are. Aren't you glad that you're in the demographic that gets to stay human?

But I know that there are going to be other consequences of this Arrangement which will not treat you well. And I am not going to shed any tears when you are hoist by your own petard.

I wonder how you will fare when Healthcare across the United States becomes even more capitalized? When they roll back the Affordable Care Act and the restrictions it placed on how insurers could deny service for pre-existing conditions. Do you remember that? Do you remember during the Bush Administration how you had to consistently downgrade your health insurance to the point where it would only really be effective if you were in a terrible accident? Do you remember how, even with your insurance, your prostate surgery cost more than your gross income over two years? And how long it took to pay it off? How's your PSA level? I know Mrs Redacted was concerned that it was creeping up a little bit. Such a nasty little pre-existing condition. Just a little food for thought.

I wonder how you will fare when, instead of the expected tax cuts that you say Republicans always make sure happen... Don't. Only this time, instead of your tax money actually supporting society, supporting roads, healthcare, Public initiatives, public safety, food safety, all that fun stuff ... your tax money goes to line the pockets of preachers who are already rich, billionaires who are already rich, and, of course, all of those lovely politicians with the red ties that have their heads buried so far up Felonious Fuhrer's ass that they can't tell where he ends and they begin. You're going to get squeezed for more. And you're going to see much less because of it. You already complain about the roads, they're going to get so much worse. You don't have a new car. I already told you what's going to happen with healthcare. What about the price of groceries? What about the price of gasoline? What about the price of electricity? You're bitching about all of those, and instead of opening your mind just a little bit and ticking a box for a candidate who actually made a demonstrable promise to reduce taxes and codify law that prevented price gouging...

I wonder how you'll fare when they dismantle social security. You're definitely not a spring chicken. If I recall correctly, you are older than your father was when he died, so, I guess, good for you, but think about it. You're still working now. The way things are going, you're going to have to keep working. And you know how difficult your industry is. You may not be able to continue being a business owner with the way the economic environment continues to eat itself. Can you imagine being someone else's employee after a lifetime of being a business owner? Can you imagine trying to find work in the current job market? Can you imagine trying to find work when the job market gets even worse? I mean, I'm sure there will be plenty of jobs, when Mango Mussolini and his cronies work on that mass deportation scheme of theirs that's going to cost trillions of dollars, but do you really see yourself, in your seventies, getting a job as a farmhand? A laborer, a maintenance worker? All those essential jobs that your demographic feels you're just too good for? Just saying.

Mrs Redacted told me a few months ago that you cry because of how infrequently I communicate or visit. And then she asked me what the look on my face meant. I didn't tell her.

But I was thinking one word. Good.

I work with the public. And sometimes our clientele overlaps. And people will ask me how you are. And I usually give them some sort of politely non committal response. But I'm just going to start saying that we don't talk. I'm going to tell them that if they want to know how you are, they're going to need to ask you themselves. Like I said, I'm probably not going to say all of these things to your face. Because I try to take the high road when I can. But I don't have very much high road left. Your vote went for someone who is going to ensure that America is every man for himself, so I can't really spare any effort of kindness for you anymore. I have to save it for myself and for my friends and my community, because we are going to suffer because of your choices.

So it's with my feet on the low road that I say this. You're old, you're going to die sooner or later, and when that happens, I'm not going to have any tears to shed for you. I'm not going to have any kind words to say at your funeral, I don't even know if I'll go there. You have thrown away your country, you have thrown away your community, you have thrown away your health, you thrown away your prospect for a comfortable retirement, and you have thrown away your son. You may be able to get some sympathy from the other red hat cultists, "oh, boohoo, my woke kid doesn't talk to me," but you're not going to get enough to live on. And when you die, I hope that you are hungry, you are cold, you are in pain, and you're alone.

No love,

Guy who's probably gonna change his name from Redacted to distance himself from you even more

[saltwaterandstars]

Positive medical news under the cut

I have an autoimmune condition called polymyositis and I'm under the care of a rheumatology department in the nhs. My last rheumatologist, who was kind (if not particularly comfortable with emotions!) and competent, retired in the summer, and I've been a bit anxious to see what the new one would be like. Having a crap/unpleasant consultant treating my serious, long-term health condition would be miserable. Anyway, I saw the new one for the first time yesterday and he seems great! Very warm and friendly, didn't patronise me, explained some things in detail that I was a bit unclear about etc. I want to reduce my immunosuppressant dose because of side effects (my hair's thinning), and he was sympathetic and we came to an agreement, so from the end of January I'll be on a lower dose.

It was also interesting to get a different point of view about how effective my treatment is proving and what the likely long-term prognosis is. He was very positive - in his opinion the polymyositis is well controlled and is unlikely to be causing permanent muscle damage - which is really important because hopefully I'll live another twenty to thirty years, and I don't want to be accumulating bits of muscle damage now that'll eventually mean I can't walk or swallow. It's pretty certain I'll always have to take immunosuppressants and I'll always have to do regular muscle-strengthening exercise (I go to a specialist gym twice a week and do weights and other stuff), but he saw no reason why I won't live to a ripe old age and function pretty well, at least in relation to this autoimmune disease :-)

I wonder whether rheumatology attracts some kinds of doctors and puts off others. What I mean is, not all doctors would choose to work with patients who they can't cure and who they'll have to see for decades and perhaps witness them decline in health. The job is really to help maintain quality of life, manage flare-ups, and slow down deterioration - which is not especially exciting or sexy, and I imagine that would not be attractive to doctors with god complexes. Which suits me just fine!

[kedreeva]

Do you think you could give your opinions on the recessive / lethal yellow genes in mice? Do you think you'd ever consider breeding recessive yellow? (If you haven't already.) I'm just super curious about your thoughts on them as I don't really know a lot about genetics. Do you think it's possible to breed a consistently healthy line of yellow mice? I'm just super curious to hear your thoughts as a breeder

Well, this is a kind of long answer and I'll warn it discusses animal death, so I'll put it behind a cut.

Personally, I wouldn't, but not because of ethics concerns; I just don't like any of the colors made with RY/AY. They're just not visually appealing to me. I had a couple RY pop up from the Taylor black line when I first got it, and they were just enh. A good, rich red, esp a satin red, can be a really perfect looking mouse... but by god that's years of work and it never ends because Red is such a hard phenotype to maintain and I'm just not that determined. I'm convinced that people breed for red because seeing it opens all the ferret cages in their brain, not because they can be normal about it. If you want good reds, it's like you dedicate your life (and mousery) to it or you don't do it, and my life's already dedicated to the peafowl. My mousery is already dedicated to blacks and tricolors.

As for the AY gene itself, it's a "lethal" gene in that homozygosity is lethal but it's lethal at the blastocyst stage so it's not really an ethical problem imo. If it was lethal as in the pups deteriorate and die post partum, or if it caused well developed pups to die/be stillborn such that it caused the dam health risks, then it would be a problem. But, it doesn't. You just get smaller litters because some cells die way early on and get reabsorbed. I don't really have any problems with that. Show breeders cull litters down to 4-6 pups (for dam and pup health reasons), so it's not like all of them would be turning into adults anyway.

As for the genetic issues with the adult mice, there are three major health issues. The first is obesity (sort of), and the major problem there is keeping them in breeding shape (meaning, capable of doing the do at all). Curiously, in at least one study I remember seeing, there's a difference between an obese mouse of X color mutation and an AY that's considered obese because of its natural body type; for example, an obese black mouse will likely have a shortened lifespan, whereas an AY mouse doesn't (at least not less than any other mouse color mutation) unless it's obese for an AY. So this isn't really a problem as long as the breeder is watching their diet and ensuring they stay fit for their body type.

The other two genetic problems actually are health issues related directly to the AY gene, and that's being prone to diabetes and to tumors. However, these are both things that (any good) breeders would notice, cull, and therefore not breed forward, in order to keep the line as free from them as possible. Which really isn't any different than any other line that develops health problems of any sort. People don't keep health problems. A good breeder should be and usually is aware of the potential health problems in the lines they are breeding, particularly if it's a genetic one that can't be avoided (like you can't avoid AY if you're breeding AY), and will know what to look for and intervene as soon as possible. Diabetic mice urinate excessively so it's REALLY noticeable, and tumors... well. Hard to miss. And tumors of various sorts is a fairly common "select away from/cull" problem in any mutation, it's just slightly higher risk in AY.

So the short answer, in my opinion, AY isn't really an unethical gene to work with. It's not one I'd choose to work with, but I don't think the people who do are doing anything wrong just for working with the gene at all. It comes down to the same ethics as any other mutation; working to maintain body condition and selecting for health.

Honestly, out of all the animals I've seen bred and bred myself, I think mouse breeders in general have proven themselves to be the most concerned with what's best for the animal, not the breeder. The show clubs like FMBA and AFRMA etc won't recognize standards for things like snub noses or manx tails or anything else that would potentially seriously impact QoL by nature of existing at all, and at least in the groups I'm in, the members are not shy about recognizing when health problems mean no breeding for a mouse regardless of how pretty or sweet. When someone newer asks what to do, I've never seen anyone support trying to breed a mouse with issues, or usually even keep one whose QoL would be poor. They are very familiar with the kindest thing you can do is let them go. It's a breath of fresh air from the goddamn chicken groups, who will limp along any bird that's still breathing regardless of what's best for the bird.

I think the only morph I've seen that I have an ethical problem with is the X-brindle gene, which is a "brindle" gene on the X chromosome that causes the mouse to be unable to absorb copper. This means that the males DO founder and die after birth (which means most people just humanely euthanize the male pups, they aren't out here letting them suffer that I've seen), and females get a strange coat color and curled whiskers from low copper absorption. Does have a second X gene that's clean so they still can, but it's really an unnecessary mutation to continue imo. It hasn't been recognized by the show clubs that I know of, but idk if they can be shown under normal brindle or if you can tell at a glance, as I don't really know as much about them or any of the AY gene specifics. I have basic knowledge but since i don't breed them myself it's very in passing knowledge. I know it's rarely bred or worked with in the first place, and I hope it stays that way or disappears entirely.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

By resistance I was referring to When everyone was taking on nine in the final battle in the series.

Ah so that's what you meant. My bad, anon😅

So for anyone reading this, the ask anon is referring to can be found here.

I'll answer your previous question with this bit of clarification in mind (and under the cut cause I kind of went off😂)

ㅤ

I think just like with the very first ask my question is "how/when does this come about", of which there are a few options in my eyes.

Nine cloned himself before meeting Sonic

Nine cloned himself after meeting Sonic and before being captured by the Chaos council

Nine cloned himself after the S2 finale

With that being said, though, I find these options to be most to least plausible in the order presented. While Nine pre-Sonic did not think he needed anyone (and while I maintain that he's more likely to build a robot for help during this time than clone himself), this point of time is before he really deals with the identity crisis of possibly just being a copy of someone else. So I think this is an era where as long as the conditions are right, he can clone himself without first worrying about what it means to not be the only "you" out there.

And for option 2, I can largely see him resorting to doing this so he can have more of him doing what he needs. Though it's only a choice I can see him making as long as he's under the assumption that he's the original and has command over the others before cloning himself, I think having multiple versions of himself with the same vision would allow him to multitask (in this case, work on building the Grim into this perfect home for himself and Sonic while being able to go get Sonic, for instance). I can see him starting out believing that it's just a tactic he's using to have more hands on deck (+ assistance with the same cares and intelligence level as himself).

For option 3, though, I really only see this as plausible or a good choice narratively as long as he has the time to go about making a whole machine to clone himself, already has a method to clone himself (one that creates a permanent being like the alpha grim robots rather than a temporary one like the grim troopers), and/or still has the time and energy to make robots anyways. This is because the gap between Nine leaving Ghost Hill and Sonic and Shadow arriving in The Grim is presumably not a very long span of time. And while this could easily be handled by making time slower in The Grim compared to Ghost Hill, I still...I don't know. Unless the time it takes is ungodly slow (like we're talking a few weeks for The Grim versus like less than a day in Ghost Hill), I personally feel like cloning himself and building the robots is too many things to happen in the same short span of time (no matter how the clones are created).

Of course, you're probably wondering why he has to build the robots at all in this hypothetical au. This is largely because even if I rewrote S3 and stretched it out some (which I probably would if I was going to make an au like this), Nine can't do so much as protect The Grim without them, much less win an all out war. Having other versions of himself is very helpful for diagnostics, coming up with ideas, getting a lot of detail work done at once, etc. But although Nine can fight, he's at least a decent strategist. And if (during the s3 period) he needs to send someone out for scouting or gathering things, then he needs something most suited to the job. If he needs cannon fodder or fighters during the war or in case someone attacks him, better to have some resilient robots he can just resurrect with prism energy than send out a clone of himself, and to have multiple different kinds of fighters to cover a range of possible attacks and employ different strategies. If he has to fight a war with just himself and some clones, he'll likely be overwhelmed pretty fast (even if they're all in full health) because of the types of fighters and manpower the resistance has on their side. Even if they're just clones, I don't think he'd want to deal with seeing them die, and it's also unlikely that they'd agree to go out there just to die/be captured (because since they *are* Nine, they'd share his sense of self preservation). Final reason he'd build the robots, though, is that at very baseline I think (due to Nine's character) he'd either build Alpha Grim Sonic or revive Chaos Sonic, because even if he's "no longer alone" because of his clones, I don't think his attachment to Sonic and how "the betrayal" at the end of S2 affected Nine about it can be overstated. I kind of always see him turning to creating a robotic version of Sonic as a response to this, given how he still feels that attachment (and the hurt from the s2 finale), despite trying to act like he's over Sonic or doesn't care about him.

But I digress. All in all, I think a good middleground (and a prospect I like the most) is option 2, where Nine creates the clones after Sonic disappears at the end of S1 E3.

ㅤ

Okay, with the the how and when out of the way, let's move onto the effectiveness in taking out the resistance and camaraderie.

And honestly, I agree! If we go with option 2, and the clones have been around since after Sonic left New Yoke for the first time, there's a lot of time there for Nine and his clones to get used to each other and come to a sort of understanding. While I'd probably have to write a fic to figure out exactly how they all naturally are to each other (in my personal opinion) and how they all eact around each other by season 3, I can really only see them being more close knit after the season 2 finale.

After all, Sonic "betrayed" all of them by proxy, and if any of them are attached to Sonic half as much as Nine is, well...

Honestly even if most of the clones or all of them don't have any attachment to Sonic, it's probably enough that the original Nine is driven to make it so their group is without anyone else in a home of their making now.

With this, I think if we keep S3 as is (with the addition of the clones of course), I can see them talking over certain decisions they can afford to take even a minute of time over or at least trying to relegate roles of focus. With all of them and the robots, they theoretically have the potential to clean house and mitigate some of S3 Nine's exhaustion by either sharing or trading the strain/duty of drawing power from the paradox prism around. However, I think this is best case senario. This assumes they have different ideas but come to conclusions quickly, are confident enough to not be as bothered by the time limit of the universe breaking down as s3 Nine was, that they work together well in tandem without much infighting or friction, that they don't all (or most) end up working themselves to exhaustion, and that Nine shares his burden rather than taking it upon himself to handle the prism.

This is all to say that depending on the interpersonal relationships within the group and Nine's feeling of trust with the clones, with factoring in some slack for mistakes, quick decisions, or some friction, things can go...largely the same as s3. While they have the potential to be their own people, the clones are still all Nine. And we're assuming that they all wish to have "home", just as Nine does. And a lot of Nine's actions or impulsiveness plus his getting worse as the episodes go on are a combination of his working himself to the bone, trying to keep up a specific act despite exhaustion, feeling the increasing urgency as everything (and his potential "home") is breaking down, and becoming more and more cornered, with the threat of being killed or losing his home should he lose to the resistance immenent. Essentially, the conditions at the end of the season put him at his worst, at his most impulsive, and at his least sound of mind. I don't think the clones would be immune to this cycle either. Even IF only the original Nine handles the prism and we, say, have enough Nine clones to each command a subset of Grim Robots, I can very well see this group starting off fairly confident (or trying to seem to be) while working together to get Sonic, and end up working themselves without rest as the stakes ramp up and doom is immenent.

Now, anon, you mentioned that perhaps the only way they can be stopped would be to point out their camradere. While I suppose that's not impossible for an au such as this one, personally I think there are two outcomes under my framework if S3 has largely the same structure (just with the Nine clones added in) and Nine and the clones are winning at the end.

Nine and the clones successfully detain Sonic and drive the resistance to exhaustion or near death. They drain Sonic's energy.

Close to the S3 ending, Sonic personally comes for Nine and ends up falling into his lab with him. Sonic manages to wind things down and the fighting comes to a stop, as Sonic refuses to let either side die.

If Nine and the clones are cleaning house, I arrive to the same impression I'm sure drove anon's earlier ask. In this case, that Nine and the clones would not be prepared to stop or consider the damage if they do clean house and come close to winning. Sonic is the only one they need alive, and once you get someone desperate and cornered enough reason flies out the window. It's also important that once the resistance was winning the war at the end of the season, they weren't prepared to just stop fighting either. In other words, the conditions are right and tensions are high enough (and both sides, minus the inclusion of Sonic, hardly like each other or believe the other would spare their lives and homes) that without intervention (Sonic), they're each prepared to drive the other side to "punishment" (whatever that would mean).

So in all honesty these two options represent two outcomes. The first is the outcome where the clones get ahold of Sonic and quickly work to drain him and fix the Grim, not planning on stopping until all threats to home and safety are neutralized, and until they've finished lashing out. The second is the outcome where whether they get ahold of Sonic or not, Sonic plays mediator at the end, hammering in his (Sonic's) personal wish to see that all the people he cares about are allowed the right to live and have a home.

Does this sound like I'm saying that only Sonic can stop Nine and the clones under this framework? Yes. That is what I'm saying.

Sonic the Hedgehog by the end of S3 is the only one who cares about the well-being of both sides, and is the only one with any positive attachment to Nine. Plus, under S3's framework, he's the only one who really puts his anger and self destructive tendencies aside during the battle and tries to stay true to his ideals as well as a bit more sound of mind. Nine and the clones have been interacting with and dealing with each other for a while now, and they'd already be prepared for the idea of living in the Grim alone together. So pointing out their camradere or that they could be like a family to each other would be like...praising someone's teamwork.

No, once reason flies out the window and everyone is exhausted, acting on their negative emotions, and lashing out as they feel cornered and threatened by death.

Only reason can calm things down.

The very first outcome would be reason through revelation, as Nine and the clones have to deal with the reality of the consequences of draining Sonic of prism energy. However, the only reason I can see this bringing is to redirect Nine's attention from the losing of his home (since restoring the paradox prism allows him to fix that) to Sonic's life instead. With his home intact, it *could* be a situation of focusing on what's important. However, while this option can bring some reason, it would do nothing to actually stop the fighting altogether or defuse tensions, especially if Sonic doesn’t manage to successfully convince everyone to stop in this outcome. Even if Nine and the clones succeed and then have to deal with the fallout of draining Sonic emotionally, they're also going to have to deal with a resurgence in anger and pushback from the resistance for doing so.

And the second outcome well. This would lead it largely the same as the end of S3. Sonic would be able to make his intentions clear, wind things down, get everyone to agree to leave each other alone in their homes in peace, and get Nine to use the prism to restore everyone's homes. Under this outcome, while someone pointing out their camradere may not do anything to stop the war, I think that the clones and Nine being a group or family for each other would help *after* S3's war. While things would naturally end bittersweetly as before, Sonic (and us, the viewer/reader) would at least be able to hold onto the fact that even if everyone is separated, Nine won't be left in the Grim alone.

ㅤ

Or, tl;dr

While I don't think pointing out their camraderie would stop them, I agree with anon that they have the potential to clean house and be even more overwhelming to the resistance during the war.

[andmyvape]

You know...

People talk about drugs like if you give someone who wants them whatever drug they're asking for in whatever amount they're asking for, they'll become hopelessly addicted and ruin their lives

Now I'm not arguing that addiction isn't fucking awful but I fervently believe those in the newer circles of rehabilitative care theory that are putting forward the idea that addiction, at its core, is self medication. Unregulated, self destructive self medication in too many cases, but it's not the drugs themselves in so many cases, huffing paint thinner and other examples not withstanding, but honestly I don't think people would do that if they had alternatives that ARE less damaging.

It's the pain and lack of support that drives so many people to alleviate their pain or stress which really is just pain too by numbing it with drugs. It helps, but they don't regulate, they don't find alternatives to cope with whatever they're medicating that lighten the need for the medication alone, their tolerance builds up, they don't know what they're medicating enough to know how to do that consciously and more safely...

It's a nightmare that is truly systemic, not some moral failing or some contagion inherent to the human spirit. I can't currently think of any example of an organism that wouldn't practice homeostasis when outside of whatever range of normal function they're supposed to be in. Not for some philosophical or spiritual reason, in this sense specifically it is purely biological, and I find it to be DEEPLY disturbing that so many people I encounter in my life INSIST that being in constant discomfort is somehow a state to aspire to and be proud of. Being able to safely handle exiting a space that would provide you homeostasis means being able to MAINTAIN that homeostasis when you go elsewhere or do other things. It's NOT about giving in to the idea that if you prefer to be comfortable that you are somehow weak or inferior. That is not a mark of strength, it's a mark of how damaged a person is.

Grandpa, stop ranting about my generation not wanting to be "triggered" you literally JUST threw a hissy fit because they didn't have your slim jims at the corner store and the cashier wouldn't give it to you for free. Your comfort is predicated on unfairly demanding behaviors from others that is not being reciprocated in a worthwhile way. I don't think that's more valid than my being upset that a man who claims to love me is more interested in mocking a caricature of a trans person that isn't actually me. But I digress

The point my adhd ass is making here is that I think I understand a bit more about what I've been arguing this entire time. Not that I didn't understand it at all before so much as that I've been given new depth. I have a pain condition, possibly multiple, have my entire life, and I have always been rather fixated on whatever would alleviate that pain. When Tylenol stopped working, I stopped using it. Eventually I found marijuana which has done me WONDERS but I've been dealing with worsening health issues due to various reasons and it's not quite doing enough. I had to be taken off all my meds because of a bad interaction and in the month before we start reintegrating meds that might help, my doctor gave me benadryl

Now, I've been taking benadryl on and off for years for anxiety and insomnia. I can't do it long, some toxicity issue I think? Or organ failure. Can't remember right now. The guideline is a two week limit, and I've found by the end of that two weeks it is very hard for me to get the effect I need without running into the 300mg daily cap. And the times I've taken it before it hasn't done much but make me sleep eventually and relax for a few hours

That has changed. Now when I take my benadryl, I can feel it kick in like God Herself just grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, total limpness, the anxiety isn't GONE but it's so much more manageable. The cessation of pain is so fucking nice, which I understand is a HUGE component of addiction outside of the direct chemical alterations over time becoming unpleasant or downright agonizing to reverse. Being so uncomfortable and having it relieved that quickly is amazing. It doesn't make the problem that is causing me the stress or pain go away, but it does give me clarity of mind that lets me take action to make my life better, for myself and my loved ones

Now here's the kicker for me. I HAVE taken benadryl before, but when I did, my conditions were so unmanaged that it just really did not do THIS much. And at that time, I very much required things that were stronger, for both pain and mental distress. I was given them after some hospitalizations, begrudgingly, and surprise of surprises it helped me. I started to improve. Pretty significantly. Years later, they started making me sick, thus the meds having to be changed now, and honestly I was TERRIFIED because I thought the benadryl wouldn't be enough, like it was before, and I'd spend a month in agony. I was so wrong yall

So here's what I think, in my amateurishly educated opinion: if they had just given me the medicine I was asking for instead of taking my agency away in denying my medication that could have helped but could also have consequences that they felt weren't worth the risk. Maybe they were, maybe there weren't, but... Shouldn't that have been my choice? And I did eventually get put on something stronger, which led to me having the strength and spoons and clarity I needed to make changes over time that have led to me being able to be helped by the benadryl now. They couldn't have just handed me a bottle of percocet at 14 and said "Good luck!" because YES that would have been it's own kind of damaging, but I have trouble with authority, and at least the damage would have been mine to cause. After all, it was my body

But... What they could have done, what research is proving again and again ACTUALLY works more than patriarchal denial of bodily autonomy on the basis of my supposed "inherently and deeply lacking ability to make choices for my own health," is just... Giving me the meds I asked for. Tell me the risks, help me manage the potential consequences, trust me to tell you when I feel sick instead of functional. To not just keep taking more and more of whatever drug that is helping me but you've decided I'm having FUN with, to the point that being denied the care I needed was damaging. If you had trusted me, I would have trusted you, and we could have made a plan that would have probably resulted in what's happened now, me finding that benadryl actually is enough now and crying in sheer joy that I've finally worked hard enough to get this far

But that would have implied that I have an ability and right to make decisions about how to take care of my own body, right?

This isn't a story that hasn't been experienced and shared so many times that it all paints a detailed and disturbing tapestry of how little bodily autonomy matters in this system. Too many demographics are judged as being "at risk for addiction" without the judgement being made by people who care that those demographics are at risk because of so fucking many social and systemic inequalities that leave so fucking many deprived of preventative, proactive care that would ultimately ease the burden of emergency care that has to be given once things get to a point considered "bad enough" and that's just... Not okay.

[ahundredlifetime]

Thoughts lately about Elvis

When I think about Elvis - all the time basically - it's not uncommon for me to feel sad at the end. I feel sorry his life ends the way it ended, I feel sorry he only had a short time on this earth, I feel sorry that he was trapped by his obligations, overworked, and I feel sad that now I know how lonely he was.

I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling this way.

I kept thinking what could've been, should've been. I asked myself, where did it all go wrong? But I can't turn back the time, so instead of making myself depressed thinking about it, I made peace with the reality.

When I read books or watch movies about him, the summary that I get is he didn't have much control in his life and career choices. It's all taken care of by the Colonel. This is the part that makes me sad the most. It might be true to some extent, but after some thoughts, I don't think the Colonel could control that much of Elvis' life, if Elvis himself didn't give permission to it.

These sources do give us facts, historically, of what happened in Elvis's real life in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. But what they didn't explicitly tell us - doesn't mean they should be - is how it would actually feel to be in his position.

Elvis saw Colonel as his business partner. You might not like the Colonel - well I don't - but he brought the money in, millions of it. I think the "declines" in the later years of his life is a "side-effect" that both of them weren't anticipated - overworked, depressed, and his health condition got worsen.

We need to put in context how bad the working conditions was for artists in the those years. Singers became actors in Hollywood was the norm, multiple performances in Las Vegas hotels wasn't uncommon. Even though Elvis's Las Vegas schedule was insane compared to other artists, it was less insane back then. You know what I mean? I think the point what I want to make is, if you are in his shoes, back in the day, all of his life and career choices did make sense.

Like Elvis once sang "Walk a mile in my shoes~".

I don't know why I'm writing this post, I think because I'm upset reading reports about him - especially from the past - that makes Elvis looked like he's "not that bright". I guess people from our era have more respects for him (because he's gone, but his tragedy outshines his music and movie career) than the people from his days who made fun of him and criticise him a lot.

I think people should've gave him more credit for maintaining his long 22 years career in entertainment industry, because he was a mastermind in his own right.

After looking from this point of view, I feel less sad, to be honest. Knowing he did it his way. He might had some regrets, but I bet it'd be a few ("my way" reference)

To prove my points:

Since early in his career, he has already read critics to know what people didn't like about him, so he would know what to improve.

and this

Elvis and Bill Belew collaborated to make his iconic jumpsuits come to live.

and many more other references that says Elvis knew what his fans like, what makes girls crazy about him, and he has done some experiments in his tours to see which songs to get the audience excited.

I think that's all for my rant tonight.

[therhythmafterthesummer]

Bonjour!

Would our werewolves ever suffer from ailments which could affect their shifting? Perhaps being unable to shift into the wolf or not being able to change back? No longer hearing the wolf inside or losing their strength? Stress related or some AU sickness or magic?

How would you think each would handle it?

Sorry for the angst!

-🧁

hallo!!

what an interesting question. my short answer would be that: yes, yes this could potentially exist in this universe. it kinda makes sense to me for wolves to have specific illnesses that a human wouldn't have... things that could affect them not only physically, but also mentally as well!

as for how each would handle being sick... i'll leave some Thoughts under the cut.

Chris: regardless of the ailment, whenever Chris gets sick, he's GONE. he doesn't get sick often, but when he does he just becomes completely useless. can barely take care of himself. if he ever went through periods of not being able to shift it'll take him LONG time to recover. which, if it happens to be that he can't shift from wolf to human, would be very inconvenient. not only because he's got to work to maintain his flat, his house, and his life overall, but also because he wouldn't be able to be with his pretty girl, and that would be what would hurt him the most. on the other hand, if he weren't capable of shifting into his wolf form from his human form, he'd probably feel incredibly frustrated and inadequate bc at the end of the day he's an alpha and his wolf side is part of his pride as a werewolf, if that makes sense.

Minho: manages well enough on his own because he just... grew up taking care of himself. he'll be extra pouty if kitten is close just because he wants attention (she knows he's doing it on purpose, and he knows she knows, you know? lee know). anyway, minho already has trouble figuring out his instincts, so you could kinda say he's pretty much chronically ill on this aspect. unfortunately, this is a thing he carried over from his human self before being turned. he already had a condition, so it makes sense it affects his inner wolf, too.

Changbin: also becomes a bit useless when sick, but to a lesser degree than chris. will still be capable of going through with her day as long as his ailment isn't too serious, and will also heal fairly quickly if he follows doctor's orders religiously, but he'll be super whiny about it the entire time. cranky mood to the max. will snap at people often. not being able to hear his inner wolf or shift from either form would frustrate him, but it wouldn't be crippling.

Hyunjin: this boy is fuelled by spite, and something like being sick won't stop him. fuck everything and everyone, he's gonna keep doing his thing for as long as he can. he's passed out in inconvenient places before because of this mentality lol. heals quickly overall.

Jisung: hardly ever gets sick at all. he's been blessed with amazing health and antibodies. he does, however, tend to suffer from mental related stuff... will try his best not to burden anyone with his problems but will eventually open up to kitten or minho or chris about it.

Felix: hardly ever gets sick as well. his time living in the forest has prepared him for almost anything and made him immune to a lot of things because of it. will be able to push through just fine if he does get sick, though.

Seungmin: will keep any problems to himself. doesn't like it when people worry about him so if he's feeling bad he'll isolate himself until pretty mum figures it out and goes into his flat to pull on his ear. will suffer in silence.... i don't want to add much here because i don't wanna spoil anything i've got planned for seungmin hfdsljkfds

Jeongin: also doesn't like to burden people with his problems, but is definitely more open than seungmin. will also become a little useless when sick, and he'll need a lot of help from his pack mates to get better.

[aquotidianoddity]

I keep seeing posts like this about Finland and homelessness and I wanted to add a comment to correct some misinformation. To be clear, this isn't a criticism of Finland, just the way the information is being presented.

This post doesn't say it, but I've seen others that say that Finland has "ended" homelessness. This is not true. Finland has about 3500 homeless people, about 2/3 of which are living with friends or relatives. Finland has made huge strides in reducing homelessness and poverty-based homelessness is almost non-existent (meaning that homeless people usually have a social problem that prevents housing: debt, drug or mental health issues, or violent living situations).

Finland also doesn't "give you an apartment." The philosophy of "housing first" means that the social services in place are available to you regardless of your situation and their goal is to help you find your own apartment as a first priority. There are no sobriety or health requirements to receive them. The only prerequisite is that you're homeless or about to become homeless.

There are many services available to help you find and keep an apartment: social workers, housing counseling for those who don't know how to look for an apartment, and advice for approaching landlords when you have a mark against your credit, you have debt, or you're unemployed. There is also public housing; however, this can be limited, wait times can be long, and applications are prioritized by need (for example families with children and people who can't get private apartments because they've lost their credit details are prioritized)

There are also other services that are available to everyone, which help prevent both homelessness and poverty. The government pays a housing allowance to everyone whose income is under a certain amount (about 1600€/month). For example, as a student with no income my housing allowance is 313€/month and my rent is 480.

Unemployment benefits have no maximum time limit. There are some higher, wage-based unemployment benefits that have a time limit (300-500 days), but if you don't qualify or you run out of days, you can get the minimum benefit, about 800€/month.

If you can't work because you're sick, the government pays you 70% of your wages or a minimum of 800€/month for those with low wages or no job.

If your income isn't high enough to cover your necessary expenses, or if you have no income (perhaps you've temporarily lost your right to unemployment because you didn't apply for 4 jobs per month) and no savings or assets, the government pays you a basic income aid. This includes about 550€/month for food and necessities, the rest of your rent after the housing allowance (up to a certain maximum), plus the exact amount of your water, electricity, renters insurance, and medications. Other urgent and necessary bills can also be covered if they're approved. For example if you're evicted from your apartment and can't afford your new apartment's security deposit.

This is kind of the tip of the iceberg when it comes to welfare in finland, but these are some of the main pillars that most people will use at one point or another. All of these add up to a system that prevents homelessness before it can happen and supports people with issues to get back into a home and maintain it.

This system is unfortunately under attack by our current right-wing government. Health and social services are being underfunded and the conditions for receiving certain benefits have been made less generous and less flexible. The current government has a goal of eliminating long-term homelessness by 2027, but with their policies, I would be surprised if they achieve this.

Also let me know in the replies or my asks if you want to know more about welfare in Finland! It's one of my special interests and I have a lot of experience both working in the field and receiving it myself

Source

Source

[rewritingtrauma]

The Invisible Illness: Living with Long COVID ME

Two and a half years ago, my life took an unexpected turn. After a long COVID-19 infection that left me almost bed bound for a month, I tried to rebound and get back to “life as usual” but every effort seemed to be redoubled with exhaustion, pain, dizziness, palpitations, and confusion. I kept pushing - returning to freelance and employed work, to all of the house and garden chores, to maintaining the allotment, to socialising… But it was like being immersed in mud, with the worst hangover I’ve ever experienced, every day. Still, I kept pushing, thinking this was just temporary, that I would get through, get better, be “back on form”. But over the four months that followed, with increasingly frequent crashes (that left me, at times, unable to even walk) I ran myself into the ground. What followed has been a relentless struggle with Long COVID ME. It's a condition, or cluster of conditions, that has drastically altered my daily life, and one that many people still don't fully understand.

The Daily Grind

Every day is a unique challenge. The constant fatigue is debilitating, and even the slightest exertion can trigger a bout of severe post-exertional malaise. I wake up at 2 AM, night after night, my body refusing to rest (perpetually overstimulated nervous system). Pain, a persistent and sprightly companion, dances throughout my body - headaches, muscle aches, nerve pain, eye pain, sometimes it feels as though my skeleton is aching. I experience, at times extreme, sensitivity to noise and light, which can make being outside or in public spaces overwhelming to impossible. It’s an interesting and entirely horrible experience, that sensory overwhelm, like 360 degrees of nails being dragged down chalkboards as someone gives an impossibly dry lecture on quantum mechanics that you are on pain of death to absorb and remember for a test which is happening yesterday… And then there’s the fevers, the orthostatic intolerance, the dizziness, the balance problems, the changes in my sense of taste and smell, the depression, derealization, and anxiety… 

The worst part for me, even beside the loneliness that physical isolation causes, is the brain fog, or Cognitive Dysfunction. I feel entirely unlike myself… My memory, which was always unreliable, has become completely faulty, words disappear like melting ice caps, and even simple tasks become insurmountably complex puzzles. The world around me often feels like a confusing, unmappable cacophony of sensory noise. I involuntarily check out in the middle of conversations, not out of choice but because my information processing engine has sputtered and died and I’m suddenly adrift somewhere… and i see it, in the faces of the people who are talking, when it happens: they become irritated, bewildered, or worst of all, judgemental. I’m deemed stupid, spacey, or disengaged. When in reality, I can’t control it any more than I can control the direction of the wind. 

It's disheartening when people say to me, "You look well." I know their intentions are good and that, in their world, it is a compliment to look well but those words clash so completely with my reality - with the invisible battle I face constantly, and everyday. Every social interaction, every text message exchange, drains my limited energy. The Iris you see on a good day (and you will likely only see me on good days or else high-masking average days) is just a glimpse of who I am. The majority of my days are marked by average or poor health, where cooking a meal or walking a short distance becomes a significant challenge. Good days take a lot of preparation: if I know I have a social appointment, a meeting, or something I need to be "OK" for, I have to take things very easy in the three-to-five days prior. And "very easy" from someone with chronic illness looks like a proper sick day for someone without. So, when I can't be spontaneous, accept that last minute invitation, please know this is why. Then, on the worst days, I'm confined to bed, a prisoner in my own body. Thankfully, I have fewer of those days now but the price of that is a life which is much, much smaller and quieter than anything I could ever have imagined.

Radical Acceptance 

I am such a long way from the person I was three years ago. It wasn’t even three years ago that I was getting married, dancing and singing all night, when I cycled every day, swam every week, gardened all weekend, hiked, made art… Now, most days, it’s good if I make it out of the house. Nowadays, I can get vertiginously dizzy and out of breath just taking the stairs. The cognitive dysfunction makes things like this (writing a blog) a mission which takes four to eight times as long as it would have three years ago and, when I’m finished, I know my brain will be of such a calibre of mush that the best I can hope for is a day of sitting without too much noise, light, or pain. And then there's all this internalized stuff I'm coming up against... Which is bitter and horrible but also, the truth. In how I talk about myself "then" vs "now" I can hear the spectre of ableism, fattism, and a script of "better is productive" and "a meaningful life is one of action". I have quite violent internal lights with myself, my inner critic, my inner parents and teachers. All the while, working bard to name, map and diffuse my inner alarm system. And I've become reactive. So reactive. I've always struggled with an amount of emotional whiplash from difficult encounters, with perceived and real attacks but that has been turned up to 11. Most days, even if I have the energy to get out of the house, I only go out at dusk and dawn to minimize the chance of my bumping I to someone (usually a curious or uncompassionate neighbour) and having that whole disaster cycle triggered, again. Because it now takes days, sometimes weeks, to reset. Maybe because my nervous system is in constant activation while I, simultaneously, don't have the tools I used to have available to me for processing (i.e. movement and creative expression).

In contrast to the drama, everyday I experience some degree of boredom, oftentimes to the point of exhausted frustration. On even average days listening to the radio or reading a book is only possible for up to an hour before I can't take anything in and the overwhelm hits. Most days I cry. Some days I think of ending it all. It has been very hard to have a sense of a future when you can’t work, are unsupported financially by the state i.e. can’t afford to live, when you are this socially isolated, and when all the things you were dreaming of are - on this health trajectory - impossible. When the things you used to do that gave your life shape and meaning are impossible (movement, drawing, socializing). And then, some days, there are these moments - glimpses - when I accept what is happening to me, when I forget the past and the future, and just for a moment, everything just is. Those moments might be the key to what will save me - moments of radical acceptance. They may be crumbs at present but perhaps a path of them will lead me out ofthe darkness…

The Unseen Struggle

Long COVID ME is an invisible illness affecing tens, possible hundreds, of thousands of folk in the UK today. It's a condition that often goes unrecognized, misunderstood, and dismissed. It can be a constant struggle, a daily fight for normalcy, for recognition, and for acceptance. I’ve had GPs roll their eyes, shrug their shoulders, as though I’m making it up. And yet, these experiences are real. I wish they weren’t. I spend a good majority of my time in brain retraining programmes, doing EFT, meditating, therapy, practicing DBT and yoga nidra, all to try and reregulate my nervous system, to get well again.  I yearn for a life free from pain, fatigue, and cognitive fog. At the same time, I know that change only happens once we fully accept where we are now. 

I hope that sharing my experiences will shed light on this debilitating condition. I’m sure there will be people you know, possibly you even, who are going through similar. If you would like to know more about Long Covid ME, there are a few resources I recommend. Let’s keep this conversation and awareness of Long Covid ME alive: 

The ME Assosiation - advocacy, information and support for people and their familiies living with ME and Long Covid: The ME Association - The ME Association

National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) - Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of ME and Long COVID in the UK which can be very useful for getting both.

The Long Covid Podcast Long Covid Podcast Podcast - Apple Podcasts

Visible health tracker (great for getting data on Heart rate, Heart Rate Variability and for tracking symptoms, also they are involved in a lot of studies into Long Covid & ME): Visible - Activity tracking for Long Covid and ME/CFS

[healthi-pedia]

Sugar Defender: A Game-Changer For Blood Sugar Management

For years, I struggled with maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. The constant energy crashes, afternoon slumps, and sugar cravings were a real drag on my daily life. I tried various methods to manage it – from portion control to exercise – but nothing seemed to offer lasting results. That's when I came across Sugar Defender supplements, and let me tell you, it's been a game-changer.

Natural Ingredients, Big Impact

Sugar Defender is a dietary supplement formulated with a blend of natural ingredients. What initially drew me to the product was its focus on plant-based, non-GMO components. Some of the key ingredients include cinnamon bark extract, chromium, alpha-lipoic acid, and bitter melon extract. These ingredients have been linked to supporting healthy blood sugar metabolism, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Curbing Cravings and Balancing Levels

The first noticeable difference I experienced after taking Sugar Defender was a significant reduction in sugar cravings. Those intense urges for sugary treats that used to plague me throughout the day simply faded away. This, in turn, made portion control much easier. But the real magic happened with my blood sugar levels. The constant fluctuations I used to experience became a thing of the past. Sugar Defender helped me achieve a sense of balance, keeping my energy levels consistent throughout the day.

Improved Energy and Overall Wellbeing

Prior to using Sugar Defender, I often battled afternoon slumps that left me feeling drained and unproductive. However, this supplement has been instrumental in boosting my energy levels. With stable blood sugar, my body is able to convert glucose into energy more efficiently, keeping me going strong all day long. This newfound energy has positively impacted every aspect of my life, from my work performance to my ability to enjoy an active lifestyle.

More Than Just Blood Sugar

While managing blood sugar was my primary concern, I've come to appreciate the additional benefits Sugar Defender offers. The formula includes ingredients with antioxidant properties, which can help protect cells from damage. While I can't definitively say it's because of the supplement, I've also noticed an improvement in my overall sense of well-being since starting to take it.

A Word to the Wise

It's important to remember that Sugar Defender is a supplement, not a miracle cure. It works best when combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise. Also, be sure to consult with your doctor before starting any new supplement, especially if you have any pre-existing health conditions.

However, if you're looking for a natural way to support healthy blood sugar levels and improve your overall well-being, I highly recommend giving Sugar Defender a try. It's been a transformative experience for me, and I believe it can be for you too.

Here you can checkout the product

[ocqueen]

CW detailed discussion of weight loss/gain, chronic health, and disordered eating

Normally I'd post this type of stuff on my journal blog never to be seen again, but hey. I'm feeling bold and weirdly okay about people I know reading this, and it might be insightful for some other people, too.

A long rambling story about weight and physical/mental health, chronic illness, changing bodies, and roads to recovery

I've just hit a really significant physical milestone for me where I can see myself gaining weight. I don't keep a scale (my mom didn't allow them in the house growing up and I never got one for myself), so I don't know if it's backed up by numbers, but it's enough to where I'm actually filling out my bras, developing a stomach and an ass, can't feel my sharp hip bones or ribs jutting out anymore. It's... weird. I finally get people's insecurities about NOT being twiggy thin like I used to be, can feel those thoughts creeping in already even as a still very thin person every time I struggle to get my new butt into my old size 0 pants, but at the same time there's something a bit joyful about being able to see a body that's taking up more space and changing with my age and what that means about my personal health and recovery in general.

I've been stick thin ever since I was a kid, and as I went through college it was very clear that I wasn't going to get a 'freshman fifteen' - and then just about the same time equally as clear that the reason for that was because I was very chronically ill, violently depressed, and stressed out of my mind in a high-pressure program, all of which meant I had a low appetite and lost a lot of weight. The fabled 'freshman fifteen' was actually there, just keeping me at a baseline thin instead of dropping me off a cliff into more dangerously underweight. Even with it, I was starting to have attacks of hypothermia from lack of fat to keep myself warm, and had to start dressing in heavy layers - something my GP originally couldn't explain.

I've struggled since my diagnoses with managing my health, and a lot with gaining - and keeping - weight. I'd go through periods of weight gain as my conditions were in remission or I better managed my stress levels, only to have a health flare or a bout of deadlines and anxieties and lose it all again. I've barely ever managed to hit my goal weight, and when I did it was probably only for about two weeks. I live in constant fear of falling below 100 pounds again now that I finally managed to get myself over it, to the point where I refused to exercise at all and risk accidentally losing more of what little weight I had, despite it being bad for other areas of my health and well being.

I also tend towards disordered eating since I was a teen, especially once I lost the structures of school, and hate having to feed myself - cooking feels like a drudgery and a chore, and eating out was too expensive and wasteful, so I often forgot or forewent it intentionally - something I did more often in school and during my stints working in television. Eating got put to the wayside, in favor of 'productive tasks' and 'saving money' (as if eating to fuel your body wasn't productive enough). I got headaches, shakes, fatigue, all from not eating enough, and it got bad enough that eventually I got an app specifically to track my calories, which revealed how horrible I've been with fueling my body or eating enough to maintain weight. I tried to change, force myself to eat, and for a time it worked, but I always ended up forgetting and falling back onto old habits.

Now, years later, I've adapted. I eat three meals a day because I have a new job with a time structure, I've learned to intentionally eat more calorie-dense foods to make up for eating less, and I snack when I remember to and keep fruit and packaged snacks around that are easy to grab. I've taught myself to be okay eating takeout if I don't have the energy to cook and I exercise doing strength training and yoga to gain muscle without losing weight (though my current job is quite sedentary and I should probably be doing more cardio, haha). Many of my health conditions are getting better with managed treatment, even while others might worsen, and the main culprits for my medical weight loss have slowly been brought to heel and monitored closely. I'm even on a few meds with a side effect of weight gain, which has helped out, too.

And with all of that together... I think we've finally moved past maintenance. I looked in the mirror the other day and I had a real, true stomach, and smooth bumps at my hips instead of jutting bone, and while it caught me off guard I'm slowly coming to enjoy it instead of fear it. My waist isn't so wasp-thin anymore, filled out by fat or muscle, and it's unclear which but I don't care right now. My face is less gaunt, I look less tired (my mom tells me how much better I look), I'm getting fewer unexplained bouts of hypothermia and I know where my late afternoon headaches are from and can make sure they don't happen anymore. It's surreal to me, like I'm a different person, and while it's a lot of work to manageI know that it's healthier this way. My doctors are now worried about me gaining too MUCH weight, but I'm just happy to settle into a new body for a bit - one that might be able to help carry me wherever I need to go, and one I might be able to treat a bit better in the future if I make sure I don't forget it. It's part of my recovery, not only with my physical health, but a sign of moving past and managing my fast-inducing depression and anxiety, too, and that alone is enough to make me happier than I could have thought a little bit of fat could do.

Anyways, recovery looks a lot of different ways for a lot of different people, but this is mine, and it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately as I go through chronic health flares and scares related to other things. It's a small victory for me that I hope can usher in a few larger ones in the future, and pave the way for something more.

[immortalonus]

Dani/Ellie Phantom and Swyer's Syndrome

This is probably stupid, but it's been cluttering up my brain ever since I first remembered the condition existed, so I figured I might as well post it here.

So all those clones Vlad makes in kindred spirits: I'm almost certain you could roughly match each clone's appearance to real life genetic disorders (Which has lead "terminal bone disorder-fetus" to add another tick on my secret FBI watchlist, so thanks for that.) Some on a more one-to-one real life scale than others.

I may put some more research into the other clones sometime or other, but at the moment, lets focus on Ellie.

Ellie Phantom! One of only three halfas in the show, and, somehow, a female clone of a male gene donor.

Since Danny Phantom has managed to maintain a pretty robust fanbase since it ended in ~07 or so, there are already a bunch of good answers as to how a male teenager's genes could somehow lead to the creation of a 12 year old girl, one of the most popular being that Danny is, in fact, transgender, which would cause any genetic clone of his to pop out with an XX female phenotype by default.

Supposing that Danny is in fact an XY male, however, there are still a couple of options out there that could explain how his genetic code could be used to create a female variant of himself.

Because that's the thing, you know genes? Genes are strange, and when you add irresponsible mad scientists operating outside their specialty on top of ghost powers, things get even stranger.

And for the record, a lot of this is going to lean heavily on the idea that Vlad *is* operating outside his specialty here. Dude's an ectobiologist at best and a jack-of-all-trades ectoscientist at worst. Any understanding of how living (or half-living) things work is way outside his wheel house. Honestly, the man would be lucky if debilitating genetic anomalies were the only thing wrong with these kids.

Back on topic, Swyer's syndrome is interesting because its a disorder associated with the Y chromosome which leads to a near perfect female phenotype in the effected individual. Put simply, someone with Swyer's syndrome would present as physically female, despite being genetically male, a really stark example of how genotype (the information coded in your genes) doesn't always match phenotype (your physical makeup/how those genes present.)

While Swyer's syndrome doesn't seem to have one absolutely certain cause, what usually seems to happen is that early on in a fetus's development, the Y-chromosome does a whoopsie and fails to deliver its make-a-dude manual (*usually* the SRY gene) the way it's supposed to, so the body, lacking any instructions to the otherwise, just kind of defaults to a girl instead.

Physically, a person with Swyer's syndrome would be born with non-ambiguous genitalia, normal Fallopian tubes, and even a functioning womb (so long as an egg is donated from elsewhere). So far as I know, the only problem is that someone with this condition would have is that they don't have proper ovaries. instead, they just have "streak gonads", basically the reproductive equivalent of a confused shrug where you would normally expect the girl bits to go.

Those streak gonads are the primary way most individuals with Swyer's syndrome are normally found, as these things can't do stuff like "menstruate" or "puberty" the way actual ovaries would on their own. Completing a full female puberty and achieving menses requires administration of external hormones instead.

Streak gonads are also super cancerous, BTW. We're talking tumor-licious funtime levels of cancer here, which gives Swyer syndrome's otherwise subtle presentation something of a downside. Surgically removing those streak gonads is usually strongly recommended for long term health.

Interestingly, the lack of normal ovaries (and the puberty they play a part in,) has the potential to explain another oddity between Ellie and Danny: Namely, their apparent age gap.

While it's very possible Ellie's just younger than Danny because Vlad didn't have enough of his EZ-bake growth serum or whatever for her tube, what if she actually was 15 or even 16 years old, but doesn't really look it? What if she had something, such as the streak gonads associated with Swyer's syndrome, actively obstructing her ability to mature?

Ellie was lab grown, so the length of time she's been alive doesn't match her stage of growth, anyway. She'd have no way to tell for herself, and once Vlad realized he had another imperfect clone on his hands, I doubt he cared enough to bother with something as fiddly and time consuming as getting a proper measurement of her age. I can easily see him telling her "ur twelve," based off a quick glance at her looks and calling it a day.

So yeah, those are my thoughts on "What if Ellie had Swyer's syndrome." It's kind of a cool headcannon, though I have no idea how I'd implement it in practice. It was fun to research, I guess.

[psychoticallytrans]

Hi, I’m sorry if I’m bothering you. I was wondering if you had any advice with just…getting through the days with disabling conditions? I won’t be too specific because I don’t want this message to be too long, but I’m a minor (I’m sorry if you don’t like interacting with minors, I’m not sure what your stance on it is.) and I don’t have any access to treatment or help for my condition where I live. The condition gets worse over time. I also don’t have access to a mental hospital or anything like that. I’m sorry if this message is out of line.

Briefly coming out of my break for this, because I consider this ask very important.

I'm completely okay with minors sending me asks. DMs not so much, but you do need some people to talk to and ask questions of when it comes to disability, especially when you don't have a lot of local support, and it sounds like you don't.

I can't give very specific advice with this information, but I'll give you what I can.

Find information from other people with your condition. Support groups, forums, subreddits, anywhere where people with your condition gather. Other disabled people will have had to deal with the same problems you have, and they will have information that will help you.

Be alert and aware of the symptoms you experience, and document them if you can. Even if you never gain access to treatment, you will then know what you are experiencing and how often, which will help you develop a coping plan. This will also help you keep an eye on your degenerative condition, and let you know if you're developing symptoms that need immediate attention.

Do try to maintain general health behaviors if you can. Going outside, talking to friends, drinking water, and so on. If some health behaviors are off limits to you, focus on what you can do, and don't force any ones that hurt more than they help. If your condition makes it so that you can no longer perform a health behavior, then that's okay.

This is a hard one if your condition affects your memory and planning, but you have to learn to plan in advance for the possibility of bad days. You can't just go "I can't have a bad day this day because I can't afford to." That kind of stress will make a bad day more likely. You have to make sure to avoid in advance triggers for your condition, support your own health, and even then, still have a backup plan for if that day turns out to be a bad day.

If you have a bad day, you do need to figure out how to explain it to people, but you don't have to give them the whole explanation. "Sorry, I missed the bus." does not have to be followed with "because I have insomnia and my pills aren't working." "I was unable to finish this part of the project." does not have to be followed with "because I was in agony with joint pains." Only give as much information as is needed, or as you are comfortable with.

Forgive yourself for making mistakes. If you do something that triggers a bad day, that's not something to feel guilty about. Take a note of it and move forward. If you do something that's not great for your overall health, that's not a morally bad thing, and you can move forward without agonizing over it.

Lean on others when you can. Not even just when you absolutely need it. Welcoming help day to day when it comes around helps to lower your overall stress load, which will free up energy.

I find myself devolving into general life advice, so I should probably stop here. If you have any more questions, including clarifying ones for this advice, please don't hesitate to reach out. I want you to thrive.

[fatphobiabusters]

So this might be a silly question and I'm sorry in advance. But, I heard reading nutrition labels is a sign of "disordered eating" because they force you to reevaluate your choices based on the calories/fat/etc (I'm paraphrasing). Is it bad to look at food labels to see other things? I try to make sure what I eat (packaged food wise) has at least a few grams of fiber because I have digestive problems and, well, metamucil is just really gross. I look at the sugar to see how much is added because I have a strong family history of diabetes (although, I feel like i read somewhere that sugar intake doesn't have anything to do with diabetes, but I could be wrong). And in the case of "fortified" food, like cereal, I look to see how much Vitamin D is in them because I need to get as much of that as possible. Would this still be viewed as "disordered eating"? I'm not reconsidering my choices based on calories, but on different nutritional parameters. Kind of like I have to read the ingredients to make sure there's no sesame because I am allergic (RIP sesame chicken, you will be missed).

Should I even bother, or should I select foods I want/like instead of basing my choice on other nutritional value? One example is applesauce. I buy a high-fiber strawberry applesauce that is OK (and more expensive) instead of the generic strawberry applesauce that is cheaper and tastier. Is looking at other nutritional facts aside from the "big ones" (fats/carbs/calories) still considered "disordered" because it still artificially separates foods into healthy/unhealthy categories based on some made-up parameters, or is it more just me looking out for specific dietary needs that I have trouble maintaining?

Personally I look for foods with iron! I'm anemic. This is a situation where nutrition labels can be really helpful for people who have special dietary needs and is 100% okay.

Calories don't help people make "good" decisions 99.9999% of the time (when you are feeding someone whose been starving you def want to count calories then, for instance which is why its not 100% of the time).

The information wasn't decided on by neutral thinking, calories being so dominant on labels shows that. But we as consumers can check how we use this info. Our reasons and motivations. You're doing fine!

I believe based on my mom and her diabetes/pre diabetes it's carbs she has to count. Sugar can certainly spike your blood sugar but the long term health seems to be carbs!

More info here: https://www.diabetes.org/healthy-living/recipes-nutrition/understanding-carbs

"There are three main types of carbohydrates in food—starches, sugar and fiber. As you’ll see on the nutrition labels for the food you buy, the term “total carbohydrate” refers to all three of these types." (But don't fear fiber is important, they acknowledge that.)

You said it runs in your family and the only advice I can give is to see what the latest research says. Family who get educated on something don't necessarily keep up with what's new and especially if they are going at it alone (they can't regularly see a doctor or afford blood testing machines/strips for example) they often find what works and that's it.

Diabetes doesn't run in my family btw that's just something I've noticed about a lot of people with chronic conditions.

Slight aside: if your gallbladder starts acting up get rid of it because it can mess up your pancreas and thats my current theory on why my mom is diabetic now. Her gallbladder caused pancreantitus twice. She couldn't afford to get her gallbladder removed the first time and it happened again. Very severly so.

Anyway back to the point at hand. I'm a follower of "food is medicine" thinking, well when the thinking is positive. (Apparently some people use that term in weird ways.)

If you've got a condition that isn't being blamed on weight/race/gender and is showing up on tests, you can definitely use those labels to make informed health choices. It's technically disordered but it's not in a way that follows a negative relationship with food/eating. In situations like yours it's part of a medical treatment and self care in the most literal sense. These are tools you can use.

You can have non beneficial food in moderation, of course. When you deny yourself everything tempting is when that slippery slope starts. If you'd rather have the cheaper taster applesauce then I'd personally try to add that fiber back in another meal. For people with medical needs it can feel like a fine line but it's really just trying to thrive.

Disclaimer here: part of bodily autonomy is that you can choose not to do anything at all, your body is yours alone. I know a friend of my mom who refused to amputate her leg and while my mom would want more time with her friend it's ultimately that friends choice to risk infections and a shorter life. No matter what you choose to do with an aspect of your health you deserve respect.

Sorry of this is a bit scattered but tldr you are doing great and you're coming from a place of trying to give your body what it needs not denying it things arbitrarily.