Floridian here currently looking at snow outside my window right now. The snow didn’t get far enough south to affect these guys. I’ve never seen one here on the Gulf Coast. The iguanas are mostly down south near Miami.

Always enjoy seeing Sencha’s adorable face! I’ve been wondering, is his name a Harvey Birdman reference?

Sadly I’ve actually heard people say this in person. I’ve been stuck in this ridiculous state my whole life.

Luckily, there are barely any cars out right now. Almost everything is closed, even Waffle House, which is kind of a big deal.

Ah I didn’t know that, thank you! I’ve been using it for a long time and didn’t know.

I think you’re thinking of Wanikani? It doesn’t have an official app but it has some good third party apps. I’ve been using Flaming Durtles.

I used to be really into cosplay and the cosplay community and these kinds of questions about makeup and skin color would come up regularly. And without fail, the consensus always ends up being that it’s a bad idea. The rule tends to be that you shouldn’t change your skin color unless it’s a fantasy color like purple, green, etc. It very likely will be offensive to someone. If you’re okay with offending people, that’s your choice to make. But if you do this, especially at a convention or if you post it online, there will very likely be people who are bothered by it. The fact that you felt the need to ask usually means that there will be at least a few people bothered by this.

This is a bit of an atypical situation though since you’re black and you’re portraying the character as black. You’re not portraying a different race than your own. I think that’s what bothers most people. Especially if it’s white people mimicking a different race.

But although this isn’t mimicking a different race, it is mimicking a real skin condition that people can be born with and it can be a struggle for them. People may see that as insensitive to their struggle.

Personally, I don’t think your costume idea is a major offense, and you probably won’t get too much backlash for it, especially considering that you are portraying yourself as your own race. But some people will definitely see it as an offense. If you don’t post it online, and you’re not going to a huge convention, it might not be an issue for you at all.

But if I was a person with vitilligo, I might be a lot more upset by it, especially considering that the character is a horror character meant to be scary to look at. Imagine having this disorder and running into someone at a convention who is wearing the thing you’re insecure about to look scary. It might be a bit hurtful and make them feel worse about their condition if it’s something they struggle with or have been bullied for.

Unrelated to your issue, but I saw another comment in this thread saying that portraying black characters as a cosplay is different than doing Vaudeville-style blackface, but most people in the cosplay community would disagree with that. Nobody has a problem with people playing characters who are a different race than the cosplayer, but the consensus tends to be that you shouldn’t change your skin color to do it. It’s heavily discouraged. “I can’t take off my race at the end of the day” is something I’ve heard from black cosplayers a lot when this discussion comes up.

I’ve seen white people cosplay black characters in full makeup at conventions and it doesn’t go well. A white woman cosplaying Michonne From The Walking Dead in full makeup was the talk of a con I went to once. Lots of “oh my god, did you see that? Why would she think that’s a good idea?” Changing skin color makeup is definitely a big deal in the cosplay community, and a lot of people have zero tolerance for it, even for this kind of thing.

Anyway, this has gotten very long. I’m not going to tell you what I think you should do, but I wanted to share my experiences with this. I don’t think your intentions are hurtful. But if you choose to do the costume, you need to be okay with the fact that it will very likely offend or be hurtful to some people who see any skin tone changing as completely unacceptable. Consider where you’ll be wearing it and the kind of people who might be there and make a decision from there. I don’t think it’s really very offensive, but I’m a white woman and I don’t have vitiligo so I can’t speak for everyone. I have a few mixed feelings on the issue, because it’s complicated. But personally I would rather avoid doing something potentially hurtful, even if it’s unlikely to happen, than risk upsetting someone or making them feel bad about themselves because of what I chose to do.

I hope that helps you make your decision, and I wish you good luck no matter what you decide.

Do you know what type of ADHD she has? Knowing that might change things a bit.

This is going to be really long, but I hope you find some of it useful for your situation. I don’t know how your wife’s ADHD presents, but I’m diagnosed with combined type ADHD, social anxiety, and depression, and I’m a woman around the same age as your wife. The things my partner does that really help me the most is to help make things easy and accessible for me.

I struggle a lot with executive dysfunction, and if I’m overwhelmed it tends to compound into paralysis. I have a lot of trouble staying organized and I’m constantly losing things, which causes me to be late a lot, and when I’m late my anxiety gets worse.

I try to think about things I do every day, and make them available to do in as few steps as possible. I like to keep items I use frequently near the area I use them in, kept together with other items needed to complete the task in little “kits” so that it doesn’t take much thought to do daily stuff.

Think minimalist, uncluttered, functional areas. For example, if she drinks coffee every morning, have the mugs on a stand near the coffee maker, have the coffee already in the coffee maker so she only needs to start it, and keep any sweeteners, etc she always uses near the mugs.

Another example, going to work is particularly stressful for me, so I try to lessen the amount of decisions and prep I have to do before hand. Getting all of my clothes and things I bring to work together the night before I have to work helps me a lot, because it lessens the chances of me being late, which helps with the anxiety overall.

For me, it feels like every decision I have to make, every lost item I have to find, every time I leave the room to get something and immediately forget what I went to get, my energy is drained. So minimizing these problems makes everything so much easier.

If I’m really struggling, a messy area makes anything I have to do so much worse. If I feel like I can’t do anything at all and the room is dirty and chaotic, everything is going to be so much harder. I don’t know if your wife’s symptoms are similar to mine, but if I’m a zombie and I can’t do anything and I’m doomscrolling Lemmy too much, having my partner help me by tidying the area around me makes a big difference. I feel like I can function a bit better.

There are times when I look like I’m being lazy, but I’m not. I might look like I’m just sitting around doing nothing or scrolling or playing some dopamine-extracting game all day, but in my head I’m thinking about how I want to do everything and I’m screaming at myself to do something, but I just…can’t. I don’t know if she has exacutive dysfunction like I do, but when it happens to me, I appreciate that my partner doesn’t make it worse by making me feel guilty about being “lazy,” because it’s not laziness at all.

Another thing my partner does that helps me with executive dysfunction is to just…put stuff near me. I like to paint, so if I’m stuck in “couch mode” too long, my partner will get my painting supplies and put everything I need within my reach. Eliminating steps really makes it easier to break the trance, and sometimes I’ll just start painting without thinking about it.

Sometimes decision making is particularly difficult for me and it requires a lot of mental energy when I’m feeling especially bad. If this is an issue for her, I would suggest trying to make choices as simple as possible. For example, instead of saying “what do you want for dinner?” you could say “I’m feeling like Italian or Chinese food tonight, do either of those sound good to you?” I feel like my mental energy is limited, especially if I’m in a depression, and making decisions simpler helps preserve it.

You both might like the “How to ADHD” channel on YouTube. She talks about ADHD from a woman’s perspective and some of her advice has been helpful for me. I sometimes show some of her videos to my partner because it helps him understand how I feel and think a bit better.

And of course, if you can, get her into counseling and/or medication as soon as possible.

Soooo yeah. Long response but I hope some of it was useful. Your wife is really lucky to have a partner who is making an effort to help and understand. Having support is so important. I wish you both luck! ADHD is not fun but there are ways to make it much easier. Feel free to AMA if I can help you in any way!

His taste is pretty much anything an 8 year old thinks a rich guy would have.

It’s a somewhat informal “discarded.”

I know I am way too invested in this, but at this point I really want to know the results. How’d it go?

Summary:

The Florida State Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, has urged a pause in the use of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, citing concerns about nucleic acid contaminants. In a letter to the FDA and CDC, he specifically pointed to the presence of Simian Virus 40 (SV40) promoter/enhancer DNA in these vaccines, raising worries about potential risks associated with DNA integration into human cells. Dr. Ladapo emphasized that the FDA has not provided evidence of conducting assessments on these risks, as recommended in their own 2007 guidelines. He underscores the unique and heightened risk of DNA integration, stating that if not assessed, mRNA COVID-19 vaccines may not be suitable for human use. The Surgeon General encourages healthcare providers to prioritize non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and treatment. Dr. Ladapo commits to ongoing research assessment, emphasizing transparency and scientific integrity in providing updates to the public.

All right let’s do a little adjusting here then

@[email protected] 7 days

How did the dentist appointment go, Gigan?

Fun fact: When I briefly worked in a funeral home, I learned that dead people just chilling on a table will sometimes look like they’re breathing. I’m not talking about actual movement, like fluids settling in the body or anything like that. It’s a sort of optical illusion. I guess the brain is used to seeing people breathing so it fills in the blanks. I experienced this illusion myself and so did others working there.

I feel like they did it on purpose for the attention. Otherwise what would a “memorable edge” be? A screenshot of a website? They knew what they were doing.

That’s definitely Roger from American Dad.

I’m concerned again.

I’m concerned.