You should refer to her as her nickname, Rory, since they’re both Lorelei.

I have always been “non-traditional” looking. When I was young and skinny I don’t think I was ugly but certainly not conventionally beautiful. Now that I’m older I am certifiably “meh”.

The expectation to look pretty (for men) is still there even if I don’t meet the criteria for their attention. I still feel the societal pressure, I still feel bad about my appearance when I’m not serving male gaze ideals. It doesn’t just go away even when you’re disqualified from personhood for being ugly.

I’m hoping becoming an old biddy will release me from requirements and I can feel free.

Is there a term for this “live, laugh, love”-esque pop psych BS?

Huh, crazy. A remaster would be neat, I really enjoyed FF9.

This is just like Maximum Overdrive!

If you include insects and arthropods and everything suddenly turns into uberbloodlust-kill-all-humans then non-human animals win, hands down. I think people overestimate their ability, the effectiveness of weapons, and the sheer number of insects that are near you at all times. Insect biomass alone outstrips humans by an insane margin. Very few mammals or other animals would get a lick in, I think. There is no hermetically sealed bunker that would hold for long, and that won’t save you from the mites already on your skin although they probably can’t do a ton of a damage.

Am summer fae. Hard disagree. The worst part of summer is indoors where they abuse air conditioning to create a dry frigid wasteland.

And wildfire smoke which didn’t use to be a thing where I live.

Hm. I think we’d just have to specify our special and unique process only works with water-based paints and primers. Could get away with the hybrid paints though and I think there’s good enough hybrid primers to make it work.

Until you can afford it deal with the more permanent solutions, I used to know someone who both waxed and epilated their beard.

They used stripless wax like GiGi Strip Free, a microwaveable wax that smells like pine resin you can get at Sally beauty supply. They also purchased an epilator from Amazon, which is a device that plucks hair in bulk and looks like an electric shaver.

Both methods are touchy but can give you a smooth face with a longer regrow time.

With waxing you have to be careful not to rip off your skin which is always a risk when waxing the face. Epilating just takes technique and pain tolerance.

Both are reportedly painful at first but you get used to it after a while.

I’m not a “collector” but so far my physical media is a mixture of both. I just don’t have the storage capacity for cases but I keep cases for things I really like or box sets.

One thing I would do is use my water bending powers to open a house painting business (interior/exterior and cabinets). I would promise completely perfect results in 1 day or less with the caveat that the customer cannot be home for ‘safety’ reasons. Oh! I could partner with an air bender and we could have places completely painted, not a drop spilled, and completely dry in 1 hour or less. Without even over charging people we could do so much volume we’d make bank!

I may or may not be painting right now and hating reality.

Thank you

Jokes on them, they made me take off my glasses that hide aspects of my wonky face but I wear glasses 100% of the time out in the world. You’ll never catch me, copper!

(I know. I just like to think it can’t figure out crooked nose vs glasses. )

Caveat: doctors will only let you have a sleep study if they suspect sleep apnea. Other sleep studies that capture off-the-wall sleep disorders don’t seem accessible, at least in my local health system which is a Catholic-run local monopoly. Perhaps HCA, or Kaiser, or others may have a different philosophy.

I don’t discount your experience but I want to point out that benzos can be a very useful tool for people, especially with panic disorder, and they’re not inherently a trash drug.

While some people may develop a problem, others are able to use them on an as-needed basis long term. I’m sorry you struggled but glad you were able to overcome it. It’s absolutely understandable why you would feel negatively towards benzos as a whole.

What, specifically, have they tried? Did you try trazodone? I don’t think Xanax is the solution you think it may be even though it worked for you.

Is the issue falling asleep or staying asleep? Do you have an idea of what prevents you from falling asleep? What do you think about when you’re in bed falling asleep? What is your natural sleep cycle timeline? In other words, when do you naturally get sleepy and if given no restrictions, when would you wake up? How is your sleep hygiene (really, not just what you tell people)?

Do not, I repeat, do not go in there asking for Xanax or you will be labeled a drug seeker permanently. A doctor is not going to give you Xanax for this, full stop. They’re going to ask all of the above questions and try other avenues first. If they suspect an anxiety disorder they will move up that avenue and you may need a benzo but you have to be under care for a while and basically prove you’re trustworthy.

I have massive sleep problems too but you don’t have enough information in your post to give any other advice other than the standard sleep hygiene stuff you’ve already been told.

Funny, they seemed to be released all at once. Was there some sort of coordination on TikTok?

Wow, mad respect.

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Yes it has been a stark difference that picked up this month. I was in what used to feel like a chill community and the sheer vitriol of the threads the past week has been really annoying.