#warp6blogging

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Election Day is TODAY, Tuesday, November 5th, 2019, in many states and towns across the U.S.!

A friendly reminder to check if you’re having an election and VOTE, from your local nerd whose very politically-engaged but busy and ADHD ass nearly straight-up forgot that this was Election Day until I was reminded this morning. 😅 (I think the takeaway here is “make a voting plan and mark Election Day on your calendar, even if you’re ~sure~ you‘ll remember.”) 🇺🇸

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Hey, I have a couple of Life Questions and I’m hoping to get others’ thoughts, if you have any relevant experience or info.

I’m safe/okay overall, but I’ve had a low-grade fever (99 degrees F) and fatigue for three weeks now, along with a few other symptoms; I went to the doctor a couple times but they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I then had to go to the emergency room yesterday morning for right-side abdominal pain that started this past week. The ER did blood work, an x-ray, a CAT scan, etc, which fortunately ruled out all the really scary stuff! But they couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so they told me I probably have some random virus and I just need to wait it out.

Question: When I was getting discharged, I asked the ER doctor what I should do to avoid getting other people sick, if this is all because of a virus. She said that as long as I’m having symptoms, I should avoid being around immunocompromised people, e.g. pregnant people, older people, etc. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow (Monday 9/23) and I assume there are some immunocompromised people at the dentist’s office. Do you think I should cancel the appointment? Already thought about it, and pestered a few IRL people for advice, and my current plan is to, first thing in the morning, call 1) the dentist’s office and ask them, and 2) my regular doctor’s office and ask a nurse about it. Anyone else’s thoughts on this are appreciated. I do have some disposable face masks, which I would wear except when I’m actually getting my teeth worked on.

More general question: How do I figure out how to navigate this illness/potential contagiousness going forward? I don’t want to overreact and ban myself from going anywhere until I’m not sick (which could be weeks longer, for all I know), but I really don’t want to get anyone else sick, either.

In addition to not having any kind of medical background or personal experience with this kind of illness, I have a lot of anxiety around accidentally hurting people, so this is the kind of decision where I really struggle to figure out what is reasonable and what isn’t.

If anyone with experience with this kind of long-lasting illness, anyone who is actually dealing with being immunocomlormised, etc, has time to weigh in, I really appreciate it ❤️

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I PASSED ALL MY FUCKING CLASSES THIS SEMESTER

I CAN STILL GRADUATE ON TIME IN MAY

AND LEAVE THIS TOWN WHERE MULTIPLE BAD THINGS HAVE HAPPENED

1) Holy shit I am glad I didn’t give up when it looked Really Pessimistic. Those last few weeks were rough and it looked like I was going to fail at least one class, which would have been financially really bad and meant I had to stay in said town for several more months which would have been emotionally very bad. At one point I thought, “I can’t even make things better; the only thing I can do at this point is make things not worse,” but I decided to keep going and trying to at least not make things not worse, and what the hell, it paid off. By the skin of my teeth. If I sound proud of myself, I AM.

(I do just want to add that there are times when it makes sense to give up/take a step back from work/school/challenges; there have been times when that was right for me and I did that, and I absolutely advocate doing so if necessary!)

2) In so many ways, you all supported me through this year and semester, so once again, THANK YOU.

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Thank you.

I keep saying that I am planning to write a thank-you post, and this is that post. ;)

I joined this fandom two years ago. Since that time, it is impossible for me to explain in words how much being a part of this community has changed my life for the better.

First and foremost, just having a friendgroup was a big deal for me. At the time I made this blog and started talking to people on here, I’d found and lost three friendgroups since moving to college. None of the breaks were for particularly dramatic reasons, nor was anyone at ‘fault,’ but, though I’m still friendly with a few of the people individually, I kept losing my social circles, which at the time was painful in and of itself. I’m not the superstitious or pessimistic type, but after all that on top of being bullied/excluded a lot as a kid/tween, I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever find a social community I wasn’t going to lose.

On top of the baseline of not disappearing from my life, LOL, you all are just SO COOL AND INTERESTING AND WONDERFUL. Being part of this fandom and watching the INCREDIBLE fountain of fanworks and meta and edits and conversations about our shared interests (and even unshared interests ;) has been an absolute delight. And the diversity of people and experiences in this community has been amazing to be a part of and to learn from. I often think about how, IRL, there *aren’t* many spaces where such a wide swathe of people of multiple ages and backgrounds (and from around the globe…well, obviously, if we’re comparing with RL, but still!) will all hang out socially, by choice, having fun and sharing silly and deep conversations together. Wow??????

And I could write a whole separate post about this, but since adults don’t often own to either mental illness or being nerdy/in fandoms, as I was coming of age in my late teens and my earliest twenties, I think I’d subconsciously felt like two of the biggest parts of myself (by choice and by not-choice) were fundamentally incompatible with adulthood. So, I truly appreciate the 25+ adults who are open about being fangirls and/or having mental illness. Thank you. ♥

And finally, I can’t even put into words how much it means to me to be accepted and talked to kindly/respectfully as I am, without having to be what someone else wants me to be. Our culture tends to talk about “settling” in the context of romantic rather than platonic relationships, but I keep coming back to that concept. Having actual good, healthy relationships on here helped me realize that I didn’t have to “settle” for loved ones insulting me with the words they knew would hurt me most if I so much as didn’t want to go to the same movie as them. While I was able to start recovering from being bullied by an adult as a teen just by reading about bullying, having reasonably decent friendships and relationships with family members, etc, I don’t think it would have been possible for me, a few years later, to realize that I could have something better than the way some of my friends and family members treated me (I’m not saying I ditched said family members, just that I don’t let their words have the same importance to me anymore) if I didn’t…literally…start to have something better. 

Which, in addition to a few IRL long-distance friends, was you.

(I’m not saying that all relationships have to be perfect. And another thing I’m grateful for is that, on here and in real life, my friendships HAVE had problems…but for the friendships where both sides want to make it work, we’ve worked it out and come through it. That’s a worthwhile challenging relationship, not one where I can never be “enough” for someone just because of who I am.)

You all have supported me emotionally through some bad times and crises my family and I have gone through over the past couple years; I genuinely don’t know what I would have done without your support and advice last winter.

And during times of not-crisis, you have helped me have a better “normal” than I was starting to think would ever be possible. That goes both for my friends, AND those of you I’ve never even talked with -- by creating and sustaining such a kind and wonderful community, all of you have helped me more than I can say.

Thank you to all my friends and fellow fans in this community, for being here, for being you, and for accepting me as I am.

Some time in the future, maybe after next year’s move, I do hope to find a group of good real life friends in the same geographical area as me, in addition to (not as a replacement for ;) being part of a community online. 

But for now, after these past few years when having multiple geographically close friends just hasn’t been a reality for me, it has truly been a godsend to have you all on here. For the past two years, I have very literally been grateful every day for this community.

You have helped and supported me without asking for anything in return, you have challenged me to try new things and consider new perspectives, you have accepted me for who I am despite all the characteristics I have been bullied and excluded for in the past, you have survived horrible things and continued to be your amazing selves, and you have written and drawn creations that have made me smile, and cry, and laugh until my stomach hurt. Every single one of you is incredible, and I am so grateful to have you in my life. Here’s to the approaching New Year of fandom and community. ♥

Love y’all.

Thank you.

[warp6]

YESSSSSSS

My laptop, Kobayashi Maru, stopped turning on last night (not good). Took it to the nearest repair shop, which took 2+ hours round trip because public transit (not good).

Just got a call that they finished the diagnostic and it will take at least until late next week for the new motherboard to come in and be installed (not great, especially since I have two exams, though it could be worse), but

IT IS COVERED UNDER WARRANTY, GLORY HALLELUJAH

(When I was dropping it off, the repair guy said it was probably the motherboard, and if so, it would cost almost as much as a new laptop...but would be covered under warranty unless there was evidence of water damage or excessive physical damage. So I have been in a state of “well I haven’t really spilled anything on it but there WAS that SMALL SPILL on the trackpad like a few months ago so WHAT IF...” for the last few hours. But he called a few minutes ago and it’s all good! ^_^ My Kobayashi continues not to believe in a no-win scenario.)

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My mom just texted me...she is fine; she is visiting NYC and was in Lower Manhatten but several blocks away from the terror attack; she was not there or involved, and is 100% fine. We're going to talk on the phone in a few minutes.

This is horrible. Sending love and strength to anyone affected.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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ACCOUNTABILITY.

A thing I thought was due later is due sooner and I don't have the energy to stay up and get it done, BUT I GOTTA.

I am going to post a ficlet, a few sentences at a time, with a few sentences every thirty minutes until 2am. I know there is a slim chance anyone will be awake and on the Internet for the next five hours, but if you are around even part of the time, NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL THE OBNOXIOUS COMMENTS WE KNOW NOT TO MAKE ON PEOPLE'S FIC: Give me your "please finish!!!", your "what's next?!?!?" your huddled "update pls!", yearning to breathe free!

This is a group project so I need to stay awake and 'checked in!' so I can finish my part and not let my teammates down.

Sentences will start at 10:00pm and continue every half hour!

THANK YOU!

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I hate back pain.