vibinya

Cotton or anything natural! The idea of my clothes being made of plastic fibers which then enter the water supply or sit in a landfill bothers me. This applies to sheets, towels, etc. My skin also reacts poorly to synthetic fibers.

Music is my escape as well. I consider myself an audiophile and listen to music very technically as it’s one of the only things which distracts my inner monologue. Gives me a chance to visualize the sound stage and appreciate every little production decision. Also, great username! Glassware was one I used for the longest time.

My brain shifted towards the end of high school. Growing up, I had an uncontrollable imagination and mental environment - it was essentially a never ending plot line consisting of characters from movies, shows, books, comics- anyone that I found interesting. It was a way to cope. My brain constantly had these characters interact and create conflicts. Their actions and dialog would sometimes spill out into the real world, and I had to remember to keep everything inside. I saw it all in my mind- it was honestly super creative. I eventually wanted it all to stop because I felt like I couldn’t control it, but it took effort. I had to slowly turn the extremely detailed characters into lesser versions of themselves until they were just mental stick figures; eventually, I was able to stop the story as I got bored maintaining personalities for 2d characters.

I can still access my visual mind, with effort, but it’s nothing like it was. It is now instead a constant inner monologue which converses at nothing- usually it’s about topics which I might have to explain to someone later or a way to navigate my thoughts/feelings. There’s never anyone talking back, just my mind talking at nothing. It can be helpful as my brain bricks during random/spontaneous conversations with people, and I can lean on rehearsed talking points/sentences.

As for memory- It’s on point when something is actively in my life, but the moment that thing becomes uninteresting or I step away for a few weeks, it feels less accessible and usually makes me super anxious and avoidant. Learning about things initially is super fun, but knowing I’m missing information which I previously was very confident in is tough for me.

I’ve played so much of it and didn’t realize it only supported two players! I guess I’m glad I only talked one friend into playing with me 🤭.

I would definitely recommend some roguelike shooters like Roboquest, Gunfire Reborn, Crab Champions, etc. These are all 4 players, but you could always have a few different lobbies.

Maybe also consider something like Palworld, Grounded, Raft, and other Survivalcraft games. There should be a good few in that genre that will allow you all to play together!

Sounds like a fun group ready for some great memories! Good luck on your game hunt!

The only thing I can offer is a small warning. I also was a habitual neck cracker- up until one night where my normal twist had an unfamiliar popping sensation which kind of felt like a muscle snapping. I was then greeted with incredible pain anytime I tried to move my head or just move in general. Had to go to the ER/urgent care that night. The doctor was very straightforward with their advice- there’s no reason I should be cracking my neck and I need to stop. I had pulled one of the muscles and it had severely swelled.

I also used to crack my knuckles, elbows, back, etc. I eventually stopped by catching myself in the act, acknowledging that I don’t like feeling like I can’t control myself, and giving my hands something else to focus on.

Good luck!!

Pick up orders have improved my shopping experience so much! It’s allowed me to try new recipes and meals too; I normally tunnel when I physically go shopping and don’t have the energy to look at or try new things.

Fortunately, this is something I solved by establishing a set of routines which I do not deviate from. Each day is a repeat with minor variations depending on the day of the week. This helps me keep my place spotless, eliminates any mental energy put towards figuring out what to eat, and makes things like shopping less stressful as I just place the same pickup order each week. The BIG struggle for me is when I make the effort to change my routine for people (friends) to accommodate plans and they cancel on me or try to change them last second. I don’t think they will ever understand how much energy it takes for me to change my day and mindset for them.

I feel this. A few months ago I lost all my energy to maintain my mask- completely removed myself from my friends because I couldn’t be the person I wanted to be for them. The energy it takes to be patient doing things I don’t want to do, showing interest in things I’m not interested in, and supporting people who can’t support me just drains me. While it’s been moderately lonely as I also wfh, it’s a bit liberating having a completely consistent flow throughout my day; all that mental and emotional energy I can now put towards me. Familiar cycle though… Once I glue my mask together, we go again!

I tend to think world building should explain why certain races in an RPG behave the way they do. If your world building includes reasons why gnomes behave in a way where there is overlap with autistic traits then I don’t see the harm.

What traits are you referring to? Are they more isolated and keep to themselves? Explain what happened to their race to encourage that behavior. Also, just because a race is isolated, doesn’t mean they want that- sometimes they are forced into isolation and it’s not a natural thing for them. Are they tinkerers? How did they get started in that and where do they get materials? How do they contribute to the world as a whole? If there’s an option to exclude them outright, then it feels like there might be a hole in the lore of your world.

A few years ago I had a specialized photography hobby which turned into a small business. I enjoyed certain aspects of branding and really liked connecting with people who had similar interests, but the daily weight of interactions eventually bubbled to the point where I no longer enjoyed running things. I realized towards the end that I probably needed someone to handle all the interest and scheduling communications. This has happened with a few things in my life- the eagerness, excitement, and positivity of whatever I’m into gets snuffed out over time by the growing expectations to communicate with people interested in my work. It’s made getting into new things difficult for me.

Same! I do a few things like that. If someone makes a pun which people laugh at, I don’t force myself to find it funny; I just look at the person and then smile inside while people try to explain it to me- no, I get it, it’s just not actually funny or clever to me, but listening to people try to explain why something should be funny is amusing.

I taught myself, but I had to find the right way to learn- it had to be visually stimulating and engaging. I can’t do the Udemy style video courses. I’m not sure if it’s the same as it was, but I super enjoyed Codeacademy. The courses were all interactive and visually showed me what I was doing. They were also in small chunks and built upon each other. Also, know that while most languages appear different, they’re all fundamentally doing the same thing, so try to find one which feels fun for you; once you’re proficient with the basic concepts, you’ll start seeing them in every language!

Any task or activity outside my normal routine takes tremendous mental effort to perform. It can be done and usually turns out to be trivial, but taking that first step can take hours to months. If it’s a new activity, it becomes much easier if I have a friend with me.