Well, this a great example for the ESL guy wondering if "Females" is offensive.
BirdEnjoyer
The quiz shows up in multiple games, I thiiiink this question started showing up in Morrowind though, iirc.
That one question from the Elder Scrolls class/Personality quiz was uncomfortably prescient:
Question 4: There is a lot of heated discussion at the local tavern over a group of people called 'Telepaths'. They have been hired by certain City-State kings. Rumor has it these Telepaths read a person's mind and tell their lord whether a follower is telling the truth or not.
Combat Response: This is a terrible practice. A person's thoughts are his own and no one, not even a king, has the right to make such an invasion into another human's mind.
Magic Response: Loyal followers to the king have nothing to fear from a Telepath. It is important to have a method of finding assassins and spies before it is too late.
Stealth Response: In these times, it is a necessary evil. Although you do not necessarily like the idea, a Telepath could have certain advantages during a time of war or in finding someone innocent of a crime.
It looks like the kids these days are all mana-slingers lol
Oh, I understand that. My handwriting isn't great, and I used to do absolutely massive, elaborate drawings, dabbled in asian calligraphy, etc. those skills do not translate.
I had a family member with a hybrid years ago, (but it was a more standard gas with a bonus battery setup) and who drove a ton for work.
The gas mileage was fantastic, and they weren't limited by the range of electric.
Extra maintenance wasn't really a problem, it just cost a bit more when it did come up. But, again, gas savings were worth it, so take this anecdote for what its worth.
This is a bit more low tech, but you mention technique, and I think people should hand write things more. At least, for first drafts.
You neurologically process things in a different way when you use your hand in that manner, and the act of transcribing your own work into a computer or device is an incredible editing measure in its own right. It forces commitment and flow, which is so precious in our time of short attention and focus.
Also, its good to be fluent in both skills, because you never know what could happen to your body. Realizing you haven't extensively used a pen or pencil much in years is a pretty fucky kinda feeling from a motor dexterity perspective.
You mentioned you're on meds, but how deep does the health rabbit hole go, I wonder? The body is a whole system, after all.
Have ALL your hormone systems been checked, your iron, your inflammation markers, lupus, etc?
Have you ever had a sleep study? (Do you snore?) Do you have migraines or anything like that? Are you perhaps super flexible?
Any of these could be a potential lead to some relief, if you have an additional underlying health issue like sleep apnea, anemia, hypothyroidism, or the likes.
All of these can just fly under the radar for years as just fucking with your head, and most of them can be resolved with pills- supplements, antibiotics, t4, etc.
I personally identify with so many of your fears- I'm personally coming to the realization that I may not be aro ace and I'm in denial, which is scary.
But I've only come so far in part because I feel so much better after getting my thyroid out, getting my thyroid levels right for the first time maybe ever, medicating my sex hormones, and getting my migraines to some relative degree of managed for the first time.
Part of the reason they get so high up on nerd sites (And Reddit at least started as a nerd site) is that they hunger for power, and the right people are too shy to seek power themselves.
This would all be greatly relieved if communities asked for communities to nominate other members, and asked for the type of folks who are the types who would mostly only consider the position of asked/ or if they were write-ins.
People with the capacity but are looked over because they maybe lack the ego or self confidence to take such power.
This works especially well in smaller communities under 4K users or so, which kinda falls apart in our Big Internet world, sadly...
Lol try being a Roguelike fan.
You correctly tell people that Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is a Roguelike and they look at you like you've grown a second head.
Sometimes this stuff happens, and there's basically nothing you can do about it.
Well, its kinda like how dogs can be treated with a lot of cancer drugs people can't- its largely a matter of longevity and personhood. Just load 'em up with stuff that'll cause all kinds of crazy side effects in a decade or so, if they're at least six, even in longer lived breeds. (assuming its a bad form of cancer in the first place)
Sheep don't have to worry about the things people have to worry about when they aren't going to have to use the same body for the better part of a century.
So yes, they do get sick, but its not regarded as the same level of devastation because its an animal, you can use harsher treatments, and you're not looking at the same level of magnitude of suffering or life lost.
We also work a lot harder to keep a lot more physically frail individuals alive whom would otherwise just be dead if they were sheep. For example, I had a doting mother who got me medical attention for my frequent dehydration as a child, and I am now able to advocate for myself when I have those episodes.
A sheep who couldn't tolerate something foul on some grass would have likely died as a lamb and have just been a sad statistic before they even developed enough to graze.
If we had much shorter lifespans, we'd honestly be some pretty rugged creatures. Our stomachs are only .5 less acidic than some carrion birds. More acidic than most carnivores.
No worries about preserving teeth or joints, eat what you want, its literally Yolo!
Our brains, vision, bipedalism and weird vomiting thing are pretty damn sensitive though.
A lot of animals don't have such a vomit issue. Rats literally can't vomit, iirc.
Well, here he's clearly using "Females" to be exclusive and offensive, demonstrating that the term does, in fact, have that potential, is my point.
It is kinda nice when trying to figure out other cultures' taboos, that you can get something as cut and dry as "this word or concept can show up in a news article when politicians misuse it."
Kinda intimidating, but also a useful frame of reference, because then there's post like yours which specify that its context-specific.
It can be really frustrating when you spend years tiptoeing around something, only to find out that the person you learned it from just had weird personal hangups or something.