(no subject)

[olivermoss]

* Scarlett Hollow has a revamped save system under player control! It's a horror game still in early access with chapter 4 only coming out recently, but it won awards and made a lot of best of lists back in '21 when it still just had a single chapter out. The problem was that the game used to save for you, which sometimes lead to borked playthroughs and needing to restart it again. So I've been in this state of both 'want to play' but also 'can't deal with this'. There are a few times when what looks to me to be the neutral option is actually the nuclear option, so one misunderstanding or misclick and it's like... okay time to replay the first hour yet again!

Now with control over the saves, instead of it auto-saving to it's single slot, I can finally play the game... I just need to replay the first hour yet again...

Trailer if you are curious

* Last few grocery trips I've been looking at my usual staples and going 'nope, too expensive'. I know it's not just me, but I can't eat about 80-90% of what is in a grocery store to begin with so it's hard to switch up my eating habits.

I cannot get a referral to a gastro even though I haven't seen one in... idk how long. I may self pay for one just to be eeextra sure there is no medication for my form of IBS, esp after last week. My current doctor wont even consider giving me a referral unless I give hyasciamine another shot and it's like.... the side effects were bad enough before. I literally do not think I can handle the side effects in my current state.

So many forms of IBS can be nuked with meds these days. If mine ever is I don't even know what I'd do with the time and money I'd save. I'd be so confused.

Anyway, because I can only handle so much vegan protein in a week I am used to eating a lot of... eggs. (If you are outside the US, we have a big bird flu problem and currently eggs cost more than meat in my local stores. Also, by 'handle' I mean physically handle, a certain amount of my protein has to he animal based to keep my system calm.)

It's not too bad, I can tank higher costs more than some. I just want to know if I could, yanno, be able to just eat whatever, stop at food carts, have a Stouffer's frozen lasagna, etc.

Yeah, getting a gastro appointment one way or another needs to be on my to-do list.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

Hooray for the fixed save system! Having an unfortunate autosave softlock you out of the game/into a bad ending is no fun at all, so I'm really glad they changed that.

Uuuuugh. Major sticker shock yesterday when Alex went to the store and eggs were up to $8.49! The prices have been climbing, but that was a really large spike.

But even outside of money, I can absolutely understand that it sure would be cool if you had the chance to *not* have a fairly debilitating chronic illness! And it's utter GARBAGE that your doctor doesn't want to help you even explore the possibility of that.

[olivermoss]

Managing my condition through a severely limited diet is really complicated. The social impacts are the worst. Can't do stuff sometimes because not being able to eat will be awkward or seen as attention seeking. Even peacing out to not cause problems gets seem as me being emo and attention seeking. Can't win.

Also being able to just get food wherever would be amazing!

[mistressofmuses]

Ugh. So much social stuff is structured around food. And in an ideal world, things like that should be easy opt-out, but you're right that people get weirdly weird about it. Bleh, I'm sorry that's so unwinnable.

And yes! Not having to worry about every ingredient in something on a menu, or have more "easy/lazy" options available would be such a relief, I imagine!

[olivermoss]

Yeah, it's limited me a stupid amount and even made people who haven't met me yet have strong opinions of me. 'oh, they're one of THOSE' I do my best to be as low key as possible with protein bars and stuff, but bleh.

[mistressofmuses]

That's extremely frustrating, that people you don't even know pre-judge you on that. I would hope that people have by now been exposed to more knowledge about how common food allergies and the like can be (which I know isn't exactly the issue for you, but has the same end result of limiting your options), yet...

Then again, Alex has had people send him to the hospital because they thought he was being picky when he told them he had an allergy, so they lie about the contents in order to "prove" it.

I deeply wish people would just be a lot more chill in general about believing that people are doing what they know to be best for them, and that no one's time is improved with an interrogation or weird judgements about whether it's valid or "attention seeking" or whatever. Ugh.

[olivermoss]

I used to hang out in Keto communities because they don't do dairy and soy, I can't do dairy and soy. It was a good place to get leads on products I could eat and stuff.

They were very bullish on lying and claiming to be allergic to dairy and soy and gluten to make companies, schools and events accommodate them. They thought it was a great tactic, but then they'd get caught on a 'cheat' day and wouldn't be taken seriously anymore. They were like 'it's for my health so it's the same thing and I need to be accommodated!' A lot of people claim to have allergies or food intolerance, buuuut then they just can't resist a buttery breadstick and the waitress who did all that extra works sees them do it.

So yeah, I get lumped in with those idiots and some of what Alex deals with is likely also caused by those idiots.

[mistressofmuses]

It's SO frustrating when people abuse a system (in a sense, even if it's just the system of "being honest") and make it harder for the people who legitimately have those issues/need those accommodations. It was the same with Alex when he was in need of a service dog - so many places had dealt with people's badly-trained, sometimes downright aggressive pets with ID cards bought off the internet that they refused to abide by ADA requirements.

But yeah, that's frustratingly common with food things. "Just lie and say you're allergic!" until that becomes "other people cried wolf, so enjoy your anaphylaxis/horrible digestive issues/crippling stomach pain."

I DO think that things like food preferences should be respected and accommodated (at least to a point), and if someone is on a particular diet, no one should mislead them about things that would go against that, even if it's not truly an intolerance/allergy. HOWEVER. I feel like it shouldn't be too much to ask that the honesty go both ways - no one lie about what's in the food or try to force someone to break a diet, and no one lie about being allergic to the thing.
(But, of course, that IS too much to ask, because there are too many assholes on both sides.)

[olivermoss]

The problem is that keto meals tend to be very expensive. No soy, no dairy and no grains. So, no bread or rice or pasta or other things used to bulk up food to make it cheaper to feed many. In certain circs it should be respected, but honestly it's a lot to deal with. So the keto crowd lying for accommodation tends to be particularly bad. Like, the peanut butter I buy is 2-3x more expensive than the big brands because of soy oil.

[mistressofmuses]

It is definitely expensive - Alex periodically goes on low-carb diets, and the no bread/pasta/rice/potatoes thing definitely makes the grocery budget go up... particularly now that eggs aren't even a cheap protein!
I can absolutely say that those dietary restrictions should be respected - as in the person being given honest information about what is in their food, so they can decide whether it's compatible with their dietary needs. It's also always appreciated to have a few different options available when possible, so that people CAN make choices that work for them.
But expecting every restaurant/cafe/friend/etc. to be able to turn any/every meal or menu item into a perfect keto version of the "regular" options, or expecting every employee to know the exact details of what is/isn't appropriate for every possible diet, is NOT a reasonable expectation.

But yeah, cutting out certain things can be SO hard. Soy and corn I know are in fucking EVERYTHING, and finding versions without those ingredients can be frustrating and expensive once you find a product that works.

[olivermoss]

Oh yeah, dietary restrictions should be respected, but people in these comms are just gross about lying to make schools and friends feed them expensive things and then being defensive over being caught on cheat days.

Yeah, the eggs thing is complicated. Hopefully, it will even out in a few months. Hopefully grocery stores don't decide that we've acclimated to the higher prices and will see $5/dozen as a relief...

I try not to post about it too often because everyone is struggling, but one brand being out of stock can really mess me up. I can't just buy a different one. Also, the one store that sold soy-free apples has gone back to using a soy wax coating to extend shelf life and my brief window of being able to eat apples is over.

[mistressofmuses]

Yeah, it's the lying *in order to get something expensive*, in terms of money and sometimes effort, without having to actually pay for it that I know upsets people the most.

(Makes it that much more annoying when you're doing basically the opposite of that, trying to low-key eat stuff you know is safe, even if that's a protein bar or the like, but you get lumped in with people being jerks.)

That's my worry, too! That suddenly $5 for a dozen looks like a bargain, so that becomes the new norm, even when production is back up.

Ugh, that's really frustrating. It sucks how often people assume that something can be easily substituted brand for brand, or even variety for variety within a brand. When it comes to those kinds of "hidden ingredients", your options have to be super limited. And UGH, that sucks that they went back to a soy wax! >:(