Hello

Hello Chloe. Thank you! I hope you’re having a lovely day

Chloe Mod said:

Please reach out if you ever needs support.

Aww thank you. That’s really kind and very appreciated!

Penny

Hello!

Yeah that’s true but I think it’s where I’m more aware of everything now lol. When you’re a kid you don’t really notice anything important but now I do, and I have a lot of responsibility like with my work.. everything just feels so much pressure and it can be really draining.

I have no idea if the stress is causing my masking or vice versa. Masking is something I’m trying to understand better. I’ve tried the professional support approach but mental health services caused me a lot more stress. I get tired and negative a lot especially after work. Thanks for the tips of writing good things and achievements down, this I think could be a helpful tool for me.

I spend too much time gaming really. I need to find more positive and active hobbies! And yeah I totally get that. Taking each day allows me to sort of exist and keep going but I’m not really living if you know what I mean. Every day is the same and like you said time does fly by and it’s been a year before I’ve realised it.

Stuart333 said:

Good luck on you journey through life.

Thank you!

Penny

Stuart333 said:

I used to play civilization on a computer a long time ago. But it consumed and awful lot of time working out the best strategy.

I know right? I had the same issue with the Hitman World of Assassination Trilogy. On both I logged in hundreds of hours trying to get that perfect strategy lol.

Hello Penny 

Welcome to the NAS Community! Thank you for sharing your story. I hope you feel well supported here and manage to connect with others.

Please reach out if you ever needs support.

All the best,

Chloe Mod

Penny said:

Some of the fan fiction is so well done and I would totally buy them if they were properly released books

3 books will be / have been published: https://www.npr.org/2025/02/14/nx-s1-5261003/harry-potter-fanfiction-authors-publish-books

this summer and early fall will see the wide publication of three books by popular Dramione Harry Potter fan fiction authors: Rose in Chains by Julie Soto, Alchemised by SenLinYu and The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley.

Hello.

I'm curious why you think not a lot has changed? I'm sure you're quite different and can do and manage a lot more than at 4 really.

Is it the stress causing masking, the other way around? Masking is stressful and draining. You may want to consider what you are controlling and why.

I am quite negative when tired and overloaded, it's a feature. Writing down good things and achievements can help to rebalance perspectives a little, but it is hard. Beware black and white thinking. 

I used to play civilization on a computer a long time ago. But it consumed and awful lot of time working out the best strategy.

While taking each day as it comes is ok, it's a coping mechanism and can lead to years drifting by. Try to consider some goals bigger than surviving the next day or week. I know it is easier said than done, but it is so easy to see years you don't get back be lost.

Good luck on you journey through life.

Penny said:

How did you enjoy Hogwarts Legacy?

I loved it - I've played it 4 times, each time creating a new character to play and a different house for them to be in. The graphics are incredibly beautiful. And you can fly on a broom!

Ah I hope your adhd assessment goes well, I actually had one last year but I had it ruled out for now but there is a chance I could develop it later on in life as I do have quite a few symptoms. My assessment seemed to be more based on when I was a child though but again I didn’t show enough symptoms and I still do hence it’s been ruled out for me. I might try and get another assessment though if I’m lucky enough to get on the nhs again. Are you with psych uk at all? 

Omg loving the pics of the SpongeBob sims 4 themes! I will no doubt have a play on mine later and maybe try and send pics too lol! They have done a brilliant job with the SpongeBob expansion by the looks of things as when I first saw the pics I actually thought it was from the SpongeBob show lol! Love your sim too! She looks so nice! I haven’t done any saves on my sims yet as I’m never happy with what I’ve done lol! Yeah I got the Black Friday sale and the expansions were more than half price so I treated myself to a couple and my mum got me some for my birthday as well! I also have seasons and love the snow in the game.

I think the SpongeBob seasons might be on dvd in America but not sure about uk though. Also on paramount we only have a few from the seasons 14-16. Also they removed the one with Gary in the race and mr krabs feels old (probably due to lack of political correctness at the time). Ahh I love the sponge on the run as well and I can’t wait for the new movie to come out! 

Mario kart and galaxy are great games! I am such a huge fan of Yoshi he is like my all time favourite character! I play him on smash, party, Olympics you name it lol! I will actually go through all the different colours as well and try and keep them evenly played but I have taken a shine to aristocrat Yoshi in mk world! He reminds my parents of someone of Downton Abbey or something lol! 

Omg I love animal crossing! I’ve actually started a new island recently. I ended up losing my old island as when I went to reset paper Mario origami king data, I deleted crossing instead of origami as the pics looked similar when smaller ha! Why do some games not have save files and therefore have to go into settings to restart everything?

Hello Desmond. Thank you.

Wishing you a happy Saturday!

Penny

Hello Lotus, thanks for the welcome.

How did you enjoy Hogwarts Legacy? Crazily despite being such a fan of the whole Harry Potter franchise I still haven’t got round to playing Hogwarts Legacy. It’s something I’ll definitely do eventually but at the moment I’m always too busy with Sims 4 and Donkey Kong Bananaza.

And working sadly which takes up a lot of my time

Thanks for the link, I’ll drop in on that thread later today when I’ve got more time. Looks great though. I liked Businesses and Hobbies, a lot of fun. I’ve been playing with the new Spongebob kit pack lol and also exploring Adventure Awaits which I bought during the last sale. I love that kids can now get imaginary friends, such a cute feature to add and makes playing as kid Sims a lot more fun and diverse.

Penny

Thank you Cinnabar_wing. Hello.

Wow your son is so lucky to get all those nice things for his birthday. I have a scarf too, a Ravenclaw one which is gorgeous but I’ve never bought or been bought the butterbeer before. Totally jealous now lol. And the train as well, that’s amazing you are all so lucky haha. I’m hoping I’ll get to go on it one day.

It must be nice having everyone in the household who’s into gaming. In my house it’s mostly just me and that’s fun but it can be a bit lonely. But Bananaza makes me forget the loneliness! I play a lot of Nintendo games I think they take some beating!

Look forward to seeing you around.

Penny

Humankind sounds fascinating! I love the idea of starting out with the Egyptians, the Egyptian times are a bit of an interest for me so I think I'm definitely gonna have to buy it just because of that lol! Thanks for telling me about it, think this will be a fun game for me too.

I think you're the only other person to have played Civilization that I have met now.

profdanger said:

e. I have lots of great memories playing the story mode on that one!

Yeah same, amazing game and I spent a lot of my childhood glued to it lol!

Penny

Hello! Thank you. I’m glad my profile was ok, I wrote it again and again until I was satisfied with it and even then I wasn’t 100% sure. I love your username and PFP by the way. Aliens are fascinating

Penny

Yay! Another Harry Potter fan in the making.. funny enough I’m not a big reader either. I mean I own a lot of books but probably only read like 8% of my collection. I struggle with remembering character’s names, and places in books, to do with ADHD possibly so I’ve been told.

Currently going through potential diagnosis for ADHD. Bit stressful but it’d be nice to know.

Sims 4 is so much fun, it’s nice to see so many people here play it too. I’m literally the only person I know who plays it lol. 7 expansions is a lot. I think I own 4 or 5 maybe, I own more game packs and most of the stuff packs. I did get the horses pack and I’ve got seasons because I love having winter and fall in my games.

The Spongebob kit makes the houses look so cute.

Hope these images appear it was erroring out with the size dimensions!

If I could I’d do this in real life lol.

Omg me too. I like watching the seasons but it’s a shame you can’t get them all on dvd. I would happily pay for the whole dvd box set if one’s ever released, in the meantime I watch them on Sky. I watched the Sponge on the Run movie on Netflix last weekend and it was so good.

Mario Kart is a great game series. I haven’t played for a while but I’ll be getting back to it again soon. I also like the Super Mario Galaxy games, I think they are mega fun.. Yoshi is really cute. I wish you could get a pet Yoshi in real life that would be fab lol.

I’m also a big fan of Animal Crossing.

Penny :hearts

Welcome Penny!

Hi Penny and welcome to the community. I'm a woman in my mid sixties and retired.

I also like Harry Potter - although I prefer the movies to the books - and one of my favourite games is Hogwarts Legacy.

I also play Sims 4 and I started a thread about it:

 Sims 4 discussion thread 

I have just got the Businesses and hobbies pack and I'm currently building homes with businesses attached.

Welcome Penny! 

My son (11) who's just diagnosed himself is the Harry Potter obsessed one in our house! I got him a whole bunch of stuff for his birthday this year including a scarf and butterbeer! Plus a few years ago we went on the Jacobite (the train in the films).

We are also a gaming household, primarily Nintendo. I hardly seem to play much myself there day, but I've been watching both my kids playing bananaza lately. 

Looking forward to your posts!

Hi, welcome to the community! I red your profile and I like it. I wish you find fun and support here.

I will defo look into Harry Potter at some point, the books might also explain things as well, though I’m not the biggest reader lol! I’m also loving the sims 4, I actually have about 7 expansions (got a few whilst they were on offer) which I have been loving! I haven’t tried the SpongeBob pack out yet but I will defo play with it soon, I can’t wait to have a SpongeBob themed house lol! I am also a big SpongeBob fan, I like to watch the seasons so much and so excited for the new movie coming out soon! I haven’t watched on paramount lately because of these annoying ads despite paying for no ads.

As for games I love anything to do with Yoshi, Kirby, Mario and animal crossing! Currently playing paper Mario ttyd, also been playing Mario kart world and Kirby air riders which I have been loving too! 

Penny said:

Whoops sorry if I wrote too much in my reply.

Lol, not at all!

Penny said:

Have you played the Civilization games before?

Yes I have! Though I haven’t played the latest one, but I’ve done V and VI. Humankind is exactly the same, except instead of choosing one culture to represent you, you evolve through different cultures as time passes. Ex. You can start off as the Egyptians, then become the Greeks, then the Swahili, etc. That’s exciting to hear that you’ve played Civilization! I don’t often meet people who have played that.

Penny said:

I used to have Super Smash Bros Brawl on my Nintendo WIi but unfortunately I think it was taken to a jumble sale.

Aw that’s a shame. That’s a really great game. I have lots of great memories playing the story mode on that one!

Penny said:

But then again I have joined this site now and already feel a little more positive now I’m around people who get what it’s like

Hey exactly! Yeah, this is a great place as there’s a load of people that have experiences similar to yours. That’s why I think recognizing your Autism is such a good thing: It opens up a potential community of people you can empathize with.