"LOVE TODAY, SEIZE ALL TOMORROWS"

what does the name mean? my = muscle. algic = pain. encephalo = brain. myel = spinal cord. itis = inflammation.

ME is classed by the WHO as a neurological disease. the Decode ME study found immune and neurological genetic markers in its analysis of 15,000 subjects.

ME is more complex than just fatigue. many experts and patients dislike the old name ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’ because fatigue is only one part of the condition, and it’s the least unique trait.

the most unique trait is post exertional malaise, where, 24-72 hours after any exertion outside the patient’s limits, there’s a peak of worsening and new symptoms affecting multiple bodily systems. PEM often involves immune activation, such as sore throat and a low fever, and a loss of muscle recovery after exertion, measurable through CPET testing. (normal muscle recovery takes 200 mins, but muscle recovery in ME takes days, with some patients taking longer than a year to recover from a single exertion.)

ME can range from mild to profoundly severe. these severity levels are only within the context of ME, not general illness; ‘mild’ ME is still a severe illness as it includes a 50% loss of functioning. ‘mild’ ME can feature debilitating pain and complex symptoms and can turn basic activities of daily living into a marathon.

severe ME is (naturally) even more physically limiting than mild ME. people with severe ME are largely bedbound and only rarely able to leave their room in a wheelchair, and usually can’t perform their own care tasks, needing help dressing, washing, and eating.

in very severe ME, the person may be unable to leave bed at all and may not be able to speak, swallow, roll over, sit up, read, or be exposed to light or noise, for years or decades.

ME has a measurably lower quality of life than any other illness studied, including cancer and stroke.

I lost the ability to eat solid foods and any liquid more viscous than whole milk (safely, comfortably, enough to survive and maintain a healthy weight) about a year ago. Eating is so viscerally unpleasant, and has been for so long, that I have no interest in eating whatsoever. The thought of eating makes me upset and anxious. I have no desire to eat, even when I'm physically hungry. Looking at food I used to like makes me feel sick at worst and at best I'm just disinterested. I used to love food. I used to beg my mother for chocolate or cereal every time we went for groceries, and now I have zero interest in eating anything at all, and at times am actively scared of eating for fear of The Symptoms I have every time I eat. I would consider that some kind of trauma, when I used to love eating and now am actively opposed to it due to the severe physical discomfort it causes. This doesn't have anything to do with ableism. It's not anything to do with doctors or other people. The symptom itself is the cause.

her name is rabbit tracks / gah hahat’ee

Announcing OpenSO alpha testing 🧪 Signups are open now!

OpenSO is a revival of FreeSO, a fan-hosted recreation of The Sims Online, upgraded with a modern foundation:

Runs on .NET 10 LTS with the latest MonoGame. GitHub Actions automatically builds client, server, and updated shaders for all platforms.

A C# launcher replacing the old Electron one, with an integrated patcher and self-updater.

Replaced the Mina.NET dependency with a rewritten networking and buffer stack supporting TLS end-to-end encryption.

Updated rendering pipeline: dynamic frame rates >60FPS, resolution scaling, new AA options, and optional post-processing effects for 3D mode.

New features: rebuilt Create-A-Sim with zoom & rotation plus larger icons; edit your Sim's gender, appearance, and skintone at any time from the Select-A-Sim menu; a Social Bunny NPC who shows up to help your Social need when your Sim is alone. 🐰

Fixed long-standing nitpicks, like the window scaling/mouse glitch.

Always free and open source, with no pay-to-win or donation perks.

OpenSO is early in development, so things may break or be rough around the edges. Expect frequent updates.

Player feedback will be crucial in shaping the game's direction. Once the foundation is tested under a real player load, the beta release can shift focus to new content & gameplay changes while staying faithful to the original game — as well as events, documentation, tools, and quality-of-life features.

The alpha provides starting funds of $100k to begin building. The testing world, Genesis, will be wiped for the public beta.

Signups are open now and public for anyone who wants to help playtest, report bugs, or contribute ideas and changes.

🔗 Sign up + download: openso.org

💬 Discord: discord.gg/3U3sqPnPB7

💻 Code: github.com/voicemxil/OpenSO

not affiliated with EA, no copyrighted assets included