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A Starting Sentence a Day

"There wasn't a lot of oil left, despite her best efforts to conserve it."

#a devil's tale #starting sentence #one a day #book 1 #chapter 85 #ask me anything

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Challenge #04128-K110: Unwelcome in More Places

Several humans from a larger nearby polity, learning of the city of Middenden, try to go and subjugate it. It's filled with "filthy monsters" after all and "devils". Their heavily armed soldiers, and their leaders, quickly learn these beings are not weak, and are tired of being treated like this, they deserve respect too, damnit!

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-03642-i354-unwelcomed-experiences -- Lessons

The real problem with People of Import is that they have a great influence on everyone who knows them. Lies Hashu could be very vocal, as all the citizens of Middenden well knew. She bullied her way into the attention of Duke Urbicandol Koyunlyr, who had an impressive army and a low tolerance for self-important trumpeting.

Those uppity types had to be controlled. Taught their place. Otherwise, they'd all get ideas. Think they could govern themselves. And then they'd get stronger than they deserved to be, and spread corruption and deprivation all over the known world.

She didn't even need a third chorus of, "Think of the children!"

[Check the source for the rest of the story]

#instant story #just add prompt #alfarell #speciesism #think of the children

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#I'm Gen X and I remember all of them

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A Starting Sentence a Day

"If he lived to be one hundred, he would never forget the look of honest horror on the Hellkin's face as the floor beneath him cracked, and then gave way."

#a devil's tale #starting sentence #one a day #book 1 #chapter 84 #ask me anything

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Challenge #04127-K109: Well-Earned Trust

Abandoned by the crew, nearly friendless, so she thought, the human took her to get therapy, recognizing the ill health stress had caused. After a long time of therapy, and the human keeping open their friendship, she, tentatively, began the process of trusting again, though the human was obviously not happy with the crew that had filled her head with horror stories before telling her to flee like that.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-03794-j141-the-big-mistake-hunt -- Anon Guest

It's easy to be paranoid when you truly believe that They are out to get you. Xyn firmly believed that she would die a lengthy and painful death when the Human found her. She honestly expected bloody vengeance.

She did not expect a job offer.

"And... this isn't a bait and switch? You're not taking me somewhere everyone can see what's been done to my corpse?"

[Check the source for the rest of the story]

#instant story #just add prompt #amalgam universe #havenworlders v deathworlders #two kind hands

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Apollo and his Tomfoolery :3

Hades game Apollo!

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There's also TKALLCAPS

If there's something you're not sure of, but want to keep the ideas flowing, stick the capslock on and type the general idea with TK in the front.

Example:

Blorbo paced the floor, trying to plan around uncertain circumstances. "It's TKASSHOLENAME, I'm sure of it... but what's TKGENDER goal?"

And you can get on with the rest of the plot.

Why TK? It's a nonstandard letter pairing, and therefore easy to use in a search function. If you need it to stand for something, it can mean "To Korrekt" just like OK was "Oll Korrekt" lol

Good for the little details that might snag your process

Every writing advice thing ever: Don’t get bogged down in details on your first draft. Just write! ☺️

Me: How I begin this scene hinges on whether cheese sandwiches were served with mayo in the 50’s.

#writing #writing advice #my two cents

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Every writing advice thing ever: Don’t get bogged down in details on your first draft. Just write! ☺️

Me: How I begin this scene hinges on whether cheese sandwiches were served with mayo in the 50’s.

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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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"The unit voted UNANIMOUSLY - with 100% participation - to authorize a strike if management does not reach a fair new contract before their current agreement expires this Friday, April 19."

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This one's about anxiety and I feel like I've phoned it in. Sorry.

#weird writer wednesday #anxiety #burnout

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A Starting Sentence a Day

"Kosh controlled his pain with specific breathing."

#a devil's tale #starting sentence #one a day #book 1 #chapter 83 #ask me anything

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Challenge #04126-K108: You Want to What?

Nils asks about buying more shed fur, at a rate higher than what the recycler was paying. In return, the show the knitted and crocheted handicrafts he had been working on after plying and dying the long fur and turning it into yarns and threads. They even offered to split the proceeds of selling these crafts with their friend 50 / 50.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-03880-j228-fluff-and-nonsense -- Anon Guest

"Baby clothing," repeated Lech.

"And non-allergenic accessories," clarified Nils, "and some furnishing options. Your fur is amazingly soft, and absolutely nobody's allergic to any bits of fluff. Heck, your fibrous structure repels micro-mites. It's practically perfect. How much is the molecular recycler giving you?"

"Not much, honestly. Minutes. But Minutes are better than seconds, and seconds are better than nothing."

"How would you like half an hour per pound[1]?" Nils offered. "I know it's a seasonal thing, and availability's limited, but you and your family could have a real business going with your seasonal fluff. Check this sample."

[Check the source for the rest of the story]

#instant story #just add prompt #amalgam universe #special interest #ick factor