Was gonna say, every single one of the Goth kids I grew up around would have absolutely loved that.

There are definitely risks, hence the infection warning at the end there. Mechanically speaking, it’s pretty simple… think of like a pump action squirt gun ‘super soaker’ or w/e from when you were a kid, except the end of the gun loops back into the tank it pulls from: so you push the mechanism to build up pressure, then pull the trigger to release that pressure.

Instead of pump it’s a button over a one way valve that’s on the reservoir that hangs out in your scrotum like a 3rd testicle. That’s filled with a few mL’s of saline, and when you press the button it squirts the saline into prosthetic balloons that match the shape of your corpora cavernosa - the two chambers that run the length of your shaft that normally fill with blood to enable fun times. Anyway, push the button until it’s hard, engage in fun times, then push another button that’s basically just another one way valve to release all the saline back into the reservoir. Everything is internal - you feel the buttons through the skin of your scrotum.

There are pictures (animated - nothing gory or anything… it does depict a penis and this is a sfw thread, so I won’t direct-post it here, but it’s about as sfw as a picture of a penis can be… high-school health class textbook type of image) in the link I posted down toward the bottom of the page if you’re curious.

I always thought it was kinda cool - we can restore a pretty significant part of someone’s life with just a couple balloons, tubes, and some saline, and it’s not like most prosthetics where we’re replacing something (i.e., total knee replacement uses a prosthetic femoral head and tibial plateau, but before we can place those, we break out a powered saw, and things like a hammer and chisel to cut out the original femoral head and tibial plateau… it’s gory as fuck). The penile prosthesis just kinda sits in space that the body already provides.

So, if your doc hasn’t already discussed stuff like this with you, you’ve got a shitty doc. But, 100% there are treatments for that.

I’m a surgical tech, so my brain always jumps straight to the surgical option - there are probably things to try first, but just in case nothing else works and your vasculature really insists on being a… well, dick; there are still options:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/penile-implants/about/pac-20384916

I’ve been in a few of those surgeries, and it’s literally just putting a balloon in the chambers that usually fill with blood to produce an erection. You fill the balloon manually from an internal reservoir when to get it up; then release the pressure back into the reservoir when you’re all done.

In any case, sexual health is part of health: don’t let social anxiety or fear of awkward or anything like that get in the way.

And if you go the surgical route, FOLLOW YOU PRE AND POST OP INSTRUCTIONS TO THE T!!! I’ve also done a revision of one of those implants cuz our patient didn’t keep himself clean during the immediate post op period, and got an infection that is the stuff of nightmares. Definitely don’t be that guy.

What about the pilots tho

In unrelated news, the graphics for the Switch 2 are fucking incredible - look at this shit! This is wild!

In more ways than one!

Surgical tech, here. :D

Now if only those weird and miserable old men would stop calling me selfish for not having children.

I’ve found it works pretty well to just beat em to it. “Man, I’d love to have a kid, but bringing a child into this dumpster fire on purpose just so I can have a ‘little bundle of joy’ would be so selfish. It’s just not fair to the kid, ya know?!”

Worked on my parents at least, lol.

My grandchildren will enjoy the relative bliss of non-existence.

✂️🍒

This just in: hobby people have had for basically their entire life has big number!!

Yeah when one of those fuckers is driving behind me, I’ll just decelerate a mph every couple of seconds. Doesn’t usually take more than about 5 until they get annoyed enough to actually pass.

A tip from the drama department:

(@time stamp)

https://youtu.be/ermpMhbZXUA?t=65

…probably wouldn’t as well with the specific type of tape shown in the OP, but for most other types, this is a good one to shove into your muscle memory when tearing off a piece.

sigh

Might as well watch another movie.

…

…

…as though any of us could afford to go to the cinema once, let alone a second time just for shits and giggles.

Honestly, no one needs more than three, maybe four emotional support tigers. Seven is excessive.

1. Apply to a position above your experience level with a company you don’t give a shit about. Lie on your resume. Lie in the interview. Use fake references. The whole 9.

2. Fly under the radar until you have the actual experience to satisfy the job requirement.

3. Apply to that same position at a company that actually looks decent; this time don’t lie.

Low risk first steps (worse case scenario 1st company sees through the lie and you burn a bridge you don’t actually give a shit about; try again with another), job security with the keeper.

I’m definitely a fan! It’s pretty unique… if you’ve had Indian food, that’s probably the most comparable - tasty curry on naan bread. But at the same time, not really.

If you do have one near you, see if they have a sampler type platter with like a large-pizza-sized circle of injera with a single scoop of multiple types of curries in little piles across the top.

You’ll usually get little rolls of extra injera cuz the stuff on the main plate will disappear quick.

I’ve only tried the tip of the iceberg with Ethiopian food, but pretty much everything I’ve tried so far has been great - easy favorite is the lentil curry.

Ever had Ethiopian food?

A lot of it’s served on a pancake-like bread called injera. Tastes a bit like sourdough bread, but with that nice gummy/spongy pancake texture. Tear a chunk off, use it to grab a handful of some delicious curry/stew-like food, and go to town on it.

Ethiopian restaurants can be few and far between, but definitely worth a search to see if there are any near you.

If the system is working correctly

then it’s time to perform a few reality checks: you are stuck in a dreamstate.

here’s some random shit from the internet to get you started: https://luciddreamsociety.com/reality-checks-guide/

Remember when that actually happened? There’s been so much bullshit since 2021 that I completely forgot about that time we set our ocean on fire until you mentioned it just now.

…but you’re not wrong, it is beautiful in its own terrifying kind of way.

Exercise is definitely a good “try this first” for mental health, but at the same time, no amount of jogging is going to fix something you need medication or therapy for, or the fact that you exist in a capitalist hellscape.