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theknightlywolfe · 7 minutes
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It seems cops worldwide lack basic morals. Beating up high schoolers for peacefully protesting???
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theknightlywolfe · 2 hours
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What I Want You To Know About Long COVID
Well lads, I've been suffering from Long COVID for over a year now. My life is at a complete standstill. I'm 25 years old and I'm too sick to go back to school, I can't work, I had to move back in with my parents and I'm still stuck here.
Here are just a few things I wish people knew about Long COVID, including things I didn't know myself until I got it.
COVID destroys your immune system. Yes, even if you don't have Long COVID. Are you getting sick more often now? When you get sick, does it last longer? There are many studies showing that COVID causes t cell depletion, even in mild COVID cases! T cells are how your body remembers how to fight off infections you've had before so losing those cells? Bad news.
Your initial infection can be mild and you can still get Long COVID. Right from Yale Medicine, "Most people with Long COVID had mild acute COVID." (This is also a good link for a basic Long COVID overview).
There can be a gap of time between when you "get better" from the initial COVID infection to the onset of Long COVID symptoms. Some people get sick with an initial COVID infection and never get better. Some get better and then weeks or months later start developing Long COVID symptoms. Long COVID symptoms can even fluctuate over time, can go away for months and then suddenly come back.
So many people have Long COVID and don't realize it. Do you feel more tired lately but no matter how much you sleep, nothing helps? Is it harder to concentrate at work or school? Can you just not think like you used to? You could have Long COVID and not even know it. Even mild post-COVID symptoms are still Long COVID.
COVID can do anything to your body. Long COVID has over 200 recognized symptoms and can affect basically any part or system of your body. There is no one mechanism or cause of Long COVID which unfortunately also means there's no one cure either.
The effects of COVID are cumulative. Each COVID reinfection increases your chances of developing Long COVID. COVID is also affecting your body in other ways, yes, even if you're otherwise young and healthy! "Repeat COVID-19 infections increase risk of organ failure, death".
Once you have Long COVID, repeat COVID infections will make your symptoms worse. "80% [of Long COVID patients] saw their symptoms worsen [from reinfection]. In 60% of people who were in recovery or remission from Long COVID, reinfection caused a recurrence of Long COVID."
There is a lot more I want to say about Long COVID but I want to keep this post at least somewhat manageable to read. Like how when COVID is contracted during pregnancy, those COVID-exposed fetuses have a 6.3-fold increased risk of motor developmental delays, or that another study found 50% of babies exposed to COVID in utero had developmental delays.
You need to keep caring about COVID, for others around you and also for yourself even if you're "healthy". Everyone is at risk. And don't forget 40-60% of COVID infections are asymptomatic, which is why masking even if you feel fine is crucial. The only way right now to not get Long COVID is to not get COVID in the first place. It's not too late, if you've stopped masking it's never too late to start again! I know it's easy to get distracted by things in your life that seem more real than the possibility of getting sick some time in the future, and the peer pressure to not mask can be intense. But it only feels less real or less important until your entire life is having Long COVID. Trust me.
I know this is a complicated issue, many people can't afford to stay home when sick even if they want to because of their jobs, there are disgusting policies trying to ban wearing masks, but please if you can. Keep masking. Masking works, masking saves lives.
This post got a bit longer than I wanted so below the cut is a non-exhaustive list of my Long COVID symptoms and some of my experiences as one of the "healthy young people" who got "unlucky". cw brief mention of suicidal ideation.
Welcome to the Thunderdome that is my body with Long COVID. Keep in mind these are just my experiences and symptoms, Long COVID can cause any range of symptoms at varying severities.
Dysautonomia: Exercise intolerance, Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM), fatigue, and heat intolerance. What do those things mean? Here's some specific examples. Absolutely terrible circulation I am so cold all the time but also, if I get a little too warm I will pass out. Eating hot food makes my heart rate spike, I sweat, my body feels heavy. Blood pooling and pins and needles in my feet when I walk. Don't even think about exercising past walking, it's impossible. I used to work out an hour a day 4 times a week and now walking up one flight of stairs makes my heart pound and I can't breathe. Can't take even just warm showers anymore or I will pass out. Heat rashes from being in the sun for 10 minutes.
Digestive issues: Honestly too many to name but: constant bloating, extreme nausea, constipation, slow motility, lack of appetite, just so much cramping and pain. I lost 18 pounds from Long COVID, as someone who was already considered underweight their entire life, and almost had to get a shunt put into my chest to deliver nutrients because I was nearly completely unable to eat. For the first 6 months of Long COVID, if I could manage 600 calories a day, that was a good day.
Histamine intolerance: Oh boy. My worst symptoms, I don't even know where to start with it. If you know Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) it's very similar. I can only eat 19 foods. If i eat a single bite of something not on that list, it's 48 hours of absolute hell. Coughing, migraines, itchy eyes, such extreme nausea I cannot even describe it, panic/feeling of doom, racing heart rate, derealization, rash, uncontrollable muscle tremors. I only learned about histamine intolerance 5 months into having Long COVID so before that, I was experiencing these symptoms nearly every single day. Terrifying isn't even a strong enough word to describe how it felt to experience all this and have no idea what it was, how to stop it, or if it would ever stop. Really dark times.
Neurological issues: More of that derealization. Inability to concentrate. Anxiety. OCD-like symptoms such as thoughts getting "stuck" in my head, repeating 24/7 completely unable to stop them, genuinely felt like my brain had cracked open and I had lost my mind. Constant dizziness like I'm on a boat.
Sleep issues: I sleep like garbage. I have insomnia, I wake up dozens of times every night and every single time I sleep I have intensely vivid dreams. I can't sleep longer than 7 hours total no matter how exhausted I am. It is exhausting. I'm exhausted, I'm so so tired.
And finally. Just. Really intense suicidal ideation. My body, my health, my entire life has been stolen from me because someone else decided my life was worth less to them than wearing a mask or staying home if they feel sick. Before I got Long COVID, I was preparing to go to South Korea to teach English, then on to a PhD in neurolinguistics, I was supposed to meet my long distance partner and had already booked plane tickets when I got sick. All of that has been destroyed.
Most of us with Long COVID are stuck in a cycle of being extremely sick, then if you're lucky you'll slowly get better over months, just to get reinfected and go right back where you started or worse. Honestly, I'm not scared of dying from COVID. I'm scared of living for a long time, suffering from Long COVID the entire time. This isn't living.
I don't know how to end this now. I'm still fighting, I'm trying experimental treatments, I'm not giving up yet. I hope everyone reading this stays healthy and well.
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theknightlywolfe · 4 hours
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🌊
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theknightlywolfe · 4 hours
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with the news Gumroad is going to be cracking down on nsfw content due to payment processor pressure, reminder that itch.io is mostly known for games but explicitly allows books/zines/etc too and many nsfw creators swear by them as a host for their paid works. (with the caveat that they do limit this to nsfw content that is fictional, not eg irl porn work, among other content requirements; the full policy is here.)
itch.io is especially noteworthy because their approach to creator/platform split is incredibly flexible; you as the creator choose the split. you can in fact choose to take 100% and give itch.io nothing, only losing out on any payment processor fees. obviously itch does need people to choose to share some revenue with them to continue going, but if you as a creator need to retain your profits to keep going, you can set it wherever you like and itch honours that. and as itch has a culture of people choosing to set it above zero because the community wants to keep it going, if you need to reduce their cut, it's an option!
itch isn't as popular as a platform to share non-game works so promoting your stuff elsewhere is important for visibility. but as someone who regularly buys both comics and books off there, it is very, very viable. here is a basic 101 guide:
now: itch uses the same payment processors that prompted the gumroad changes, and may at some point be challenged on the same grounds. it's not inherently a safe haven. but itch.io has historically made its commitment to working to keep nsfw content viable on its platform clear (look up the epic store apple lawsuit nonsense sometime; it didn’t result in a nsfw ban despite everything) and as of now is still small and niche enough they are not getting challenged the way larger, more generally popular sites like gumroad are; they are not trying to be a big commercially viable site, just stable enough to keep trucking, so they are less likely to be subject to that much scrutiny, or cave to it.
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theknightlywolfe · 4 hours
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15hrs from NYC to LA? Shit man, driving from the edge of LA to the center is 3hrs during the evening commute. Sign me the F up.
“Nobody’s going to want to sit on high-speed rail for fifteen hours to get from New York City to LA.”
Me. I will sit on high-speed rail for fifteen hours. I’ll sit on it for days. I’ll write and read and nap and eat and then do it all over again. I’ll stare out the windows and see America from ground level and not have to drive. I’ll see the Rockies and the deserts and cornfields and the Mississippi River and your house and yours and yours too. I’ll make up stories in my head about the small towns I see as we go along. I’ll see the states I’ve yet to see because driving or flying there is a fucking slog and expensive to boot. I’ll enjoy the ride as much as the destination. And then I’ll do it all over again to come the fuck home.
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theknightlywolfe · 4 hours
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The post credit having Yelena show up at Kate's raiding her booze would be hilarious.
ESPECIALLY if that becomes the new "Stan Lee Cameo", one of the new gen heroes at the end of their movie showing up unexpectedly at Kate's place until she just bursts and is like "how the hell do all you people know where I live?!?!?".
We need to know if Kate Bishop is okay
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theknightlywolfe · 4 hours
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Alvin and the chipMONKs
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theknightlywolfe · 5 hours
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Voting matters.
Decades passed without proper infrastructure spending. Democrats changed that. The economy will get a broad boost from demand side spending. Give Joe Biden credit. #VoteBlue
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theknightlywolfe · 5 hours
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This was not the Dracula lore drop I was expecting today.
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theknightlywolfe · 20 hours
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Had moved my hard apple sludge from the main brew bucket into glass carboys to figure out what I was going to do with it and to prep for a mead brew. Have been burping the carboys twice a day every day in the couple of days since I did it and not a hiss of gas but better safe than sorry. Apparently in one of the carboys, since it had a higher concentration of yeast, the yeast was able to defeat the pectin today and return the cider back to liquid not sludge and IMMEDIATELY WENT TO TOWN ON THE NEWLY FREE SUGARS.
So when I went to burp it it went full shaken soda bottle.
So now it and the other carboy, which was still sludge, have been transferred back into the brew bucket and an airlock put on so it can finish this second fermentation without risk of glass container explosion.
This is wild to me because I used a yeast that is supposed to burn itself out in a week and let it sit for two weeks, but apparently the whole pectin sludge situation just delayed everything.
I am absolutely getting the same apple varieties and yeast this fall and seeing how it goes with enzyme first.
I am not loving having to rewash and resanitize everything again for the same brew.
I need to get another small wooden barrel and return to doing my cider brews the old school way.
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theknightlywolfe · 21 hours
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ok, this is amazing. I found a great site with short stories in 34 languages!
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"WorldStories is a growing collection of stories from around the world. The collection includes retold traditional tales and new short stories in the languages most spoken by UK children.
We are adding new stories, translations, pictures and sound recordings every week. So keep coming back to enjoy new content!"
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theknightlywolfe · 21 hours
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theknightlywolfe · 22 hours
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Fly me to the fridge
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theknightlywolfe · 22 hours
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So FB pushed an ad to my feed for a women's hiking and shibari retreat.
...
I mean ...
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theknightlywolfe · 22 hours
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MEMENTO MORI
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Roman glazed ceramic cup, 1st century AD.
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Larvae Conviviales, a miniature skeleton made of bronze, with articulated limbs, Roman work 2nd century AD.
Science Museum, London.
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theknightlywolfe · 22 hours
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Good! Now give us the rainbow lion in the Many Coloured Desert that we deserved.
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theknightlywolfe · 22 hours
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who wants to see the worst thing ive seen this week
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