Aran's recent activity
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Comment on What silly complaints would your pets try to report? in ~life.pets
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Aran Link ParentNot gonna lie, despite enjoying the first game, I'm only 8 hours into this sequel because I cannot deal with the ramp up period. It's... an ambitious game in that you see obvious Animal Crossing...Not gonna lie, despite enjoying the first game, I'm only 8 hours into this sequel because I cannot deal with the ramp up period. It's... an ambitious game in that you see obvious Animal Crossing inspiration to create customization options that didn't exist in the first game (island terraforming, arranging villager homes), and a ridiculous amount of time is spent breezing you through all this stuff while the very simple story nudges you along. I don't even know when I'm allowed to just stop and do what I see as the real Fantasy Life gameplay loop - grinding out the various jobs as materials necessitate. Maybe the 3DS game was identical in how it paced the "main story" but I certainly don't remember it taking so long for the game to say, okay, go, be free!
Funnily enough this game is known in my personal circle as the Final Fantasy XIV job simulator, because crafting and gathering work the same way: you start leveling one crafter, say a carpenter, and it's simple enough to just go out and chop down trees as a botanist/woodsman that you can then use as materials for crafting. But then you start needing mined minerals or monster loot for your carpenter crafts, so now you go level up the miner or your combat job, and on and on the wheel spins. It isn't for everyone but that chill grind really itches something for me.
I should just keep barreling through the story because I know it's not amazing and not the selling point of the franchise... but 8 hours and counting is insane. That feels longer than even a JRPG to take off.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Aran LinkFriends started up a temporary Project Zomboid server (temp as in, we tend to burn through a game for a few weeks and then interest peters out quickly - so the expectation here is for the server...Friends started up a temporary Project Zomboid server (temp as in, we tend to burn through a game for a few weeks and then interest peters out quickly - so the expectation here is for the server to only last a few weeks). I only played the tutorial before then, so I was pretty lost with all the menus and context actions. So I tried to see how playing solo on the Steam Deck would be.
I think the controls are a little wonky and I'm too lazy to look up how to get to every menu option without the touch screen. But I can interact with things and touch screen as needed, whatever.
And not going to lie, the "regular experience" of this game is fascinating but not something I can probably deal with long term. So after going through some solo files where I'd die anywhere between 2 hours and 9 days, I decided that actually I want to turn this into a horrible Stardew Valley, remove all zombies and crank up any and all settings that help living a chill life as the last person on earth. Which is kind of how I play solo Minecraft sometimes, where I'm not interested in actually building things, but just walking in random directions and eating what I find on the way...
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Aran Link ParentGod, I hated the dream portions of AI. The nonsense dream logic and wasted time redoing segments meant I ended up looking up solutions towards the end of the game, especially as they ramp up in...God, I hated the dream portions of AI. The nonsense dream logic and wasted time redoing segments meant I ended up looking up solutions towards the end of the game, especially as they ramp up in outrageous dream logic...ness. I feel like one could look up the dream segment solutions for the entirety of the game and not lose out on the experience at all (other than maybe some immersion - some were pretty cool environments).
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Comment on May 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Aran (edited )LinkOh gosh, it's already week 3???? I played a single hour of Erenshor and two hours of DREDGE. Which is a meager amount of time, but such is life. I did get a Steam Deck in (pleasantly surprised as...Oh gosh, it's already week 3????
I played a single hour of Erenshor and two hours of DREDGE. Which is a meager amount of time, but such is life. I did get a Steam Deck in (pleasantly surprised as I thought it would never suit my small baby hands; I only bought it because my partner bought a Switch 2) which is what let me put some time into Dredge.
Erenshor was definitely... way too ambitious to put on a backlog burner list. Everquest is before my time, but of course I've heard legends of the days of og MMOs and adventure games in general - interacting with NPCs with keywords and whatnot. I invited a sim to my party, ventured into the nearby cave filled with bandits, got them killed, and they sent a salty message about getting them killed and running away, before leaving the party. Nice! Anyways, I really want to put time into this because I adore ambitious small/solo dev team projects and I can totally relate to the... chill vibes of progressing through clunky MMO systems without dealing with People. Maybe I'll see how bad the text scaling is on the Deck. It just is the kind of game where I know I need to spend some time with to really get hooked, but it's fighting for my attention span alongside a bunch of other games I'd like to play...
I really adore the aesthetics of games like Dredge and Untitled Goose Game. What do you even call that? (Gemini says stylized low-poly art style. Neat) Fishing minigames has ever been my weakness in games that offer it. I haven't actually taken my chances on fishing at night (though discovering that these rocks are magically conjured up when I'm PRETTY SURE they didn't exist before, was neat) but I do like the way the game sort of leads you on here - settle for the pennies of fishing close to home in daylight with chill music, or venture out at night to put a few more bucks in your pocket? I heard the game is also not really that scary - just perhaps a bit atmospheric/unsettling - so we'll see. I'll be sure to play in my partner's room with the lights turned up just in case anyways :P The game also comes with the upside of being pretty perfect for Steam Deck play, and I'm finding that portable games are the easiest for me to get through...
I shouldn't even count Project Zomboid. I did the 5 minute tutorial, then went to my friends and said "hey yalls I did the tutorial, when are we playing together???" And that will probably be a June/July activity assuming the game goes on sale soon :)
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Comment on Kingdom Hearts Missing Link is cancelled in ~games
Aran Link ParentDid KHUX really have a good story? If it did, it was for me marred by the typical trappings of what I, a non-gacha player, associate with these games - a system that promotes round the clock play,...Did KHUX really have a good story? If it did, it was for me marred by the typical trappings of what I, a non-gacha player, associate with these games - a system that promotes round the clock play, content that grows increasingly difficult to keep up with without putting a significant amount of money in, and a plethora of "free to play" enthusiasts who are really just converting an insane amount of time to make up for not putting coins into the machine. I played from around launch (April 2016) to November of that year and "only" spent $100 across 5-6 months. But it wasn't the money that made me quit and swear off gachas; it was realizing that I was spending 15 bucks for every limited time pull event, getting unlucky, and struggling to complete some later events, which made me... really unhappy.
I completely checked out of KHUX so I don't know how feasible it was to consume this story over the course of its service lifetime or how difficult it was to keep up as a very very casual player. Maybe they changed it after I quit. And note that I'm not saying I should be able to consume this content for free. But "good story" told over the course of years in a game that was frankly not balanced to be friendly to nonspenders/casuals is... well, that's a shitty medium at best.
I noted I'm not a gacha player and while I know Genshin Impact really made its mark in that space, I know nothing about it. The only other "gacha" game I played was Maplestory circa 2016-2019. Same shit - content that requires either a large amount of money (not a small amount - a LOT) or a large amount of time spent grinding to even begin to keep up. The upside was that one could sell most of their gear via outside markets; I walked away with maybe 4k USD, where 2.5k of it was a single item.
I'm saying this because I don't want to play the unethical/immoral card with gacha systems, which I've willingly participated in myself. I've played with a lot of people who spent far above their means in Maplestory, mostly not even just to meet the bare minimum requirements but for virtual clout.
My point is, do you think that we're playing the same game as people who spend a small fraction of what we've spent on our respective games? Maybe FEH was balanced better in that regard and you can educate me on that, but to say (insert gacha game) had positive qualities and were absolutely worth playing, while being in the upper brackets paying customer, seems a bit oblivious to what playing the game feels like as a lesser paying player. KHUX really was the worst possible example where you got absolutely no content out of paying, just made it much more palatable to complete content.
I don't even have an issue with paying for my games; I've apparently paid nearly 1k USD purely on subscription time for FF14 over the last five years. It depresses me a little when people talk about subscriptions like it's a crime to be charging money for the service of keeping up an MMO, especially when same MMO is pretty damn good at not capitalizing on FOMO. Then they turn around and play gacha games and happily pronounce that they're free to play / pay minimally without disclosing just how many dailies they're cycling through, on multiple games. I have some friends who will cancel plans because they need to finish their dailies. That's not a fault of the game, that's purely on my friends, but it's difficult to say that that model - a system that incentivizes paying to get out of inconvenience - makes for a game worth playing for the casual who just wants to follow along with a story that they've followed since 2002.
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Comment on Everyone is cheating their way through college in ~tech
Aran Link ParentI had a number of my better high school classes run similarly where I didn't spend as much dedicated "study time" because if I did the homework, it more than adequately prepared you for the exams...I had a number of my better high school classes run similarly where I didn't spend as much dedicated "study time" because if I did the homework, it more than adequately prepared you for the exams (YMMV depending on learning style I suppose). It was normalized to me that, yes, homework can be tedious busywork, but they genuinely did serve as practice for what folks might consider an actual assessment of their understanding, ie. the exams.
(I realize that not every high school or even post HS education experience is like this)
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Aran LinkYakuza: Like a Dragon, where I have spent maybe the last five hours of my 20 hours total playtime playing the business management minigame. Unfortunately the fear of failure (I can't let my...Yakuza: Like a Dragon, where I have spent maybe the last five hours of my 20 hours total playtime playing the business management minigame. Unfortunately the fear of failure (I can't let my fictional NPCs down!!!) meant I did look up a basic guide including ideal properties to invest in, which in retrospect was unnecessary unless I wanted to speed through the minigame entirely. In double retrospect though, it does get a little tedious, even the shareholder meetings.
Oh, right, the rest of the game. It's fun! The JRPG combat is nothing to write home about but I like that it's not terribly challenging because I actually am a bit invested in the story now, and something tuned to the level of the SMT/Persona games would unfortunately tune me out pretty quickly. I actually got the game because I got a severe itch for... overly-long JRPG with a ton of minigames / fake achievements to accumulate. I heard the next game, Infinite Wealth, is even better in that regard - but that I should play Like a Dragon anyways. I went into the game knowing nothing about the Yakuza franchise other than the classic memes and am pleasantly surprised by how the story seems very serious and un-serious without dropping a beat.
When not at the PC I'm still slowly going through Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, emulated on my 3DS. Some of my friends are huge old school Fire Emblem fans and this one has been pretty consistently praised as one of the best. The game shows its age here and there in its design and while I can abuse save states, I don't have a fast forward and sometimes I'll just put the 3DS down and take a 5 minute nap because that's how long it'll take for all the enemy armies to take their turn. The arena can be a terrible slog too, though this one is definitely my fault (trying to abuse rerolling the RNG for positive arena outcomes).
I'm not a big FE fan (as in, I do not have the brain or patience to play strategy games well) and I've only played the modern ones (Awakening, Fates, Three Houses) so that's all I have to compare this one to. The huge maps and limiting item management system are neat. They feel punishing for someone not using a guide, especially when enemy reinforcements come in from a place where you wouldn't know ahead of time. But there's something about the sense of scale when a single map consists of what would be maybe 4-5 modern FE "chapters".
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Comment on May 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Aran LinkI generated a Flux bingo card just to see what gets scratched off, but I intend to pick a game out of the following list based on vibes or wheel spin. Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 0/25...I generated a Flux bingo card just to see what gets scratched off, but I intend to pick a game out of the following list based on vibes or wheel spin.
Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 0/25 Single-word title Has a review score above 80 You control a party of characters Part of a long-running series Someone else has played it for their Backlog Burner Music/rhythm-focused Set in a fantasy world Focuses on relationships Uses procedural generation You heard about it in our weekly gaming topics Chosen for you by someone else Has dogs ★ Wildcard You're giving it a second chance Has a time limit You wanted it when you were younger You can complete it in only a few hours From a studio you haven't heard of before Uses a unique control scheme You have to tinker to get it running Has a score system Came out more than 4 years ago Is one of the oldest games you own Has a skill tree From a different culture or country backlog items on the "i really want to play this in 2025" list in purchased order
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Erenshor (thanks to it being mentioned on Tildes recently!)
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance (also Tildes mention)
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Project Zomboid
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Fields of Mistria
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Resident Evil 4
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Machinarium
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Disco Elysium
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Control
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Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
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Dredge
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Pathologic 2
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Tamashii
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Heaven Will Be Mine
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Yuppie Psycho
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System Shock 2 (original)
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Outer Wilds (I am not blind to the core mechanic, but otherwise know nothing about the game)
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Buddy Simulator 1984
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Hotline Miami 1/2
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What Remains of Edith Finch
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Comment on Announcing the Tildes Backlog Burner event for May 2025: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
Aran (edited )LinkI'm in! A shame that I JUST started tackling my backlog earlier this month (Fire Emblem 4 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon) but there are so many titles in my various game libraries that really could use...I'm in!
A shame that I JUST started tackling my backlog earlier this month (Fire Emblem 4 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon) but there are so many titles in my various game libraries that really could use a few hours each of my time...
Bingo sounds fun, but I want to focus on getting games off my "actually really really need to play/try a bit of" list. I just went down my Steam library (dating back to 2013 but I didn't really have spending money until 2017) and picked out the following:
backlog items on the "i really want to play this in 2025" list in purchased order
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Erenshor (thanks to it being mentioned on Tildes recently!)
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance (also Tildes mention)
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Project Zomboid
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Fields of Mistria
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Resident Evil 4
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Machinarium
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Disco Elysium
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Control
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Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
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Dredge
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Pathologic 2
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Tamashii
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Heaven Will Be Mine
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Yuppie Psycho
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System Shock 2 (original)
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Outer Wilds (I am not blind to the core mechanic, but otherwise know nothing about the game)
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Buddy Simulator 1984
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Hotline Miami 1/2
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What Remains of Edith Finch
I'll probably close my eyes and spin a wheel or something. Or maybe attempt a bingo card anyways using just the list above?
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Comment on Are there any good online CS degrees? Is it advisable to enroll into an online CS degree? in ~comp
Aran Link ParentThank you for the callout; I've been looking for other well regarded online CS degree programs while waiting for a decision on another application. Not even worried about placement; I've just...Thank you for the callout; I've been looking for other well regarded online CS degree programs while waiting for a decision on another application. Not even worried about placement; I've just needed my piece of paper and some gaps in my self-taught education filled.
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Comment on Are there any good online CS degrees? Is it advisable to enroll into an online CS degree? in ~comp
Aran Link ParentAs someone who has the industry experience backing you up and is just shoring up any missing knowledge that is standard in a CS/SE curriculum (and of course, the piece of paper)... do you have any...As someone who has the industry experience backing you up and is just shoring up any missing knowledge that is standard in a CS/SE curriculum (and of course, the piece of paper)... do you have any thoughts on how well WGU does in the "teaching someone who doesn't have existing industry experience" part of things?
I've seen a lot of similar sentiment regarding WGU online when I was choosing between CSU Monterey Bay's CS Online program and WGU. I'm not exactly learning this fresh but am missing a lot more than anyone who's actually been working in software development for a while (dropped out from a CS program over a decade ago, have been doing analyst-y work since with the occasional scripting/programming). A lot of the appeal of WGU seemed to be the cost and pacing if you happen to already know enough of this that you're just refreshing yourself on the content before passing the exams to earn your credits. CSUMB's program flairs itself as more or less the "online version" of their in-person CS degree, with the difference of only taking one class at a time and with no general education courses on the schedule (as you need to have completed all non-degree courses to apply for the program). I think cost-wise they were pretty similar, though with CSUMB you are slated to finish in two years exactly whereas WGU is completely self-paced and costs would vary.
Mostly asking because I think the environment of CSUMB's program makes more sense for me, but my last application was denied for the strangest reasons (missing requirements even though I have an email trail correspondence with their counselor verifying that my old high school AP scores should count for them) and I'm getting antsy waiting the six weeks for them to review my admissions appeal.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Aran Link ParentMy bought-new-on-release Soulsilver copy died - well, it pretends to have a heartbeat every so often, but inevitably it fails to save my game (and then I have to keep trying to reload the game for...My bought-new-on-release Soulsilver copy died - well, it pretends to have a heartbeat every so often, but inevitably it fails to save my game (and then I have to keep trying to reload the game for minutes to try to get back in) or refuses to load the game at all. Which, given prices of older legit Pokemon game copies... felt a bit like a slap in the face.
Not that I have many qualms about piracy (especially for older games/media that simply cannot be purchased outside of secondhand) but it did feel particularly good to get around to hacking my 3DS and reliving Soulsilver!
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Comment on Are any of you fans of the older Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games? in ~games
Aran LinkMy first Harvest Moon was Friends of Mineral Town for the GBA, and it was introduced to me by a friend in elementary school. I remember a LOT of savescumming for fishing, marrying Karen because I...My first Harvest Moon was Friends of Mineral Town for the GBA, and it was introduced to me by a friend in elementary school. I remember a LOT of savescumming for fishing, marrying Karen because I thought she was the prettiest (no idea what her personality was like or what she did for a living; I was a simple child), and really liking the music. The Switch remake is interesting because I can't believe how much I remember from 2004, and how dated the game's original mechanics are.
I didn't put as much time into A Wonderful Life, because sneaking some time into a GBA game as a kid was easier than turning on the PS2. I was distraught when I got to winter of the first year and learned that grass doesn't grow in winter, and also your cow stops giving milk around that time and needs to be impregnated to be a cash source again. No money to impregnate the cow, and no money to buy feed since I didn't have a stockpile from earlier in the year... yep, it was a cruel restart. I sort of miss that unforgiving nature from newer SoS titles though.
I don't think I've really loved any SoS title as much (even Trio of Towns and that one gets a lot of praise). I've played all of them though, from anywhere between 20 hours to 100+. They can be a fun time sink but I haven't really been in love with the villagers since A Wonderful Life... though as I type this I realize my real favorite "Harvest Moon" game is actually Rune Factory 4...
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Comment on You can change ONE thing about a game. What do you change? in ~games
Aran Link Parentok, also hear me out for MH specifically! I do not hate resharpening (I will assume y'all are talking about sharpening, not sharpness itself). Choosing to sharpen mid-fight is just an additional...ok, also hear me out for MH specifically!
I do not hate resharpening (I will assume y'all are talking about sharpening, not sharpness itself). Choosing to sharpen mid-fight is just an additional decision you make that isn't just "dodge monster, hit monster". Factors like whether you bounce off certain parts at your current sharpness, or whether it's around time for the monster to change areas, or how the loss in damage from the sharpness modifier compares to the loss in damage from sharpening and not hitting monster... Maybe that's all tedium, but it's just a small extra little bit of flavoring to a hunt IMO. It also lets certain skills like Razor Sharp exist, that aren't simple straightforward growths in stat and will yield different mileage based on your weapon type and whether you are skilled enough to stick to the monster enough for the slower sharpness degradation to matter.
I don't even think the ability to mount out of danger and running in circles is necessarily making sharpness less relevant. That shit takes time and MH eventually gets more about killing something more efficiently, not just getting a single clear. It gives an option to make sharpening mid-combat easier, but doesn't fully kill that tradeoff of mid-combat sharpening.
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Comment on What are everyone’s favourite pens and stationery items? in ~creative
Aran (edited )Link ParentI think a popular explanation is that characters in most east Asian writing systems tend to require finer lines to be distinguishable. I happen to have some old photos on hand that I took back...I think a popular explanation is that characters in most east Asian writing systems tend to require finer lines to be distinguishable. I happen to have some old photos on hand that I took back when I sold some pens on Reddit...
Above is a Pilot F, below is a Pelikan F, on 5mm grid Hobonichi paper
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Comment on What are everyone’s favourite pens and stationery items? in ~creative
Aran LinkI rotate through my pens and I feel like the search for the One True Pen has unfortunately kept that Reddit-hobby-consumerist-treadmill going far longer than it should have. I think my actual...I rotate through my pens and I feel like the search for the One True Pen has unfortunately kept that Reddit-hobby-consumerist-treadmill going far longer than it should have. I think my actual favorite pen was a Sailor Pro Gear Slim that I got on sale, which started life with a broad nib that I sent to Kirk Speer to be ground to a fine architect. I say "was" because in an effort to destash, I let some folks try my pens and freely take the ones that they liked. My partner chose the PGS so off it went!
Anyways, it really depends on what I'm doing! I favor smaller handwriting but also really like to admire ink on the page, so any note taking is done with my Parker 51, Sailor 1911s, or a Pilot Kakuno which all lie somewhere on the western EF, Japanese F/M range in terms of line width. If I'm doodling I bring out the Japanese EF/Fs that are pretty dang close to needlepoints, with maybe some messy coloring done with my broader nibs (shout out to my EF Lamy Safari that basically writes the same as a broad Pilot, oof).
I really like my Take a Note A5 planner. I'm not great at keeping up with planner use throughout the year, so the empty pages get filled with random musings or doodles. And when I do keep up with it, it's like a brief several days of clarity and groundedness before I regress back to an ADHD fugue. I'm working on it!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Aran Link ParentI've been waffling on getting this game, because I actually don't like metroidvanias and not huge on platforming (Celeste is basically the only platformer I've really played in the last.... many...If you enjoy those epiphanies where not only you understand something new about the game, you realize that thing has been under your nose the whole time and at some point you'll want to re-check twenty five different locations armed with that new knowledge, this is the game for you.
I've been waffling on getting this game, because I actually don't like metroidvanias and not huge on platforming (Celeste is basically the only platformer I've really played in the last.... many many years). This might be the comment that gets me to pick it up next time it's on sale. I'm not crazy about The Witness but that "epiphany" moment in games is so, so underused.
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Comment on ADHDers, how do you speed-up, bypass, or otherwise eliminate the "ramp-up" period required for big tasks? in ~health.mental
Aran Link ParentI think you've just written down exactly why I struggle with some of my long-term goals that, like many things in life, simply require consistent time put in. I open my study materials, maybe I'll...But the important part is to still consider that a success.
I think you've just written down exactly why I struggle with some of my long-term goals that, like many things in life, simply require consistent time put in. I open my study materials, maybe I'll get a 25 minute Pomodoro session in, even feel like I have the energy to do more... and then I don't. Sometimes I open the study materials and then start browsing Youtube. Worst is when I have free time and the thought of studying crosses my mind, and I think "Yes, I really would like to put an hour or two into studying..." only to not even take the first step of moving to my work/productivity desk and open up the study materials. But that worst case scenario tends to be preluded by multiple instances of getting the first step "done" and not following through, and feeling bad about it. Heck, I put 30 minutes in and then start browsing Reddit, never to return, and consider that a failure when maybe I should have just been happy that I even bothered putting in 30 minutes, because putting in 30 minutes every day would put me way ahead of where I am now, where I might get a 1-2 hour session in once in two weeks.
Anyways, I'm here writing this after quitting my studying after yet another 30 minute session :) Will see if the mindset change helps me keep it up, I guess.
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Comment on It's official: My back is shot in ~talk
Aran LinkBack in 2018 I got back from an uncomfortable drive home to LA from Vegas; for a few days after, a sore lower back turned into an awful stiff pain (couldn't really stand up straight and walk). It...Back in 2018 I got back from an uncomfortable drive home to LA from Vegas; for a few days after, a sore lower back turned into an awful stiff pain (couldn't really stand up straight and walk). It got better, but ever since, sitting down was now always accompanied with this burning pain in my lower back. I didn't even categorize it as "pain" back then, just really annoying how hot my back would feel. It got to a point where I was trying to treat it with stuff like Biofreeze or Permatex cream, which honestly felt like a shitty bandaid on a problem that wasn't going away. The only thing that worked was using prescription lidocaine patches, except it got to a point where I could absolutely not function without them and they were leaving some ugly marks on my back. I got a standing desk and that helped a lot; walking and standing felt great and I could sit for short periods, but sleeping was where the real issue was. I've never been a good sleeper but it was truly hellish being kept up for hours, not able to find a sleeping position that didn't hurt after 5 minutes.
And I, being foolish, 24, and deathly allergic to making appointments with the specialists I was referred to, avoided actually getting my back checked out seriously until 2023. I discovered after a year or so that heating pads provided a lot of relief when lying down, so I used those instead of going to a doctor. (In my weak defense I was also really discouraged when I was reapetedly told that I couldn't possibly be rating my pain at a 5 or 6 if I could walk perfectly without pain. What do I know) And I only went because I looked in the mirror one day and realized I've been lowkey burning my lower back with the heating pads.
I had my highs and lows with the physical therapy I was prescribed. I definitely felt better while sitting after the stretches, but it didn't seem like anything was changing when I was lying down. I did end up getting an MRI done and the solution was still... just strengthen my core muscles. But the specialist did mention that the disc bulge was something that would take years to fix - something like maybe 1 mm a year. At this time I had only done the daily exercises from my therapist for... 7 months? So that really helped me mentally (that, plus the Voltaren I was prescribed...), because he said yes, me experiencing this pain was not me being crazy, and that I should expect this to be a years-long endeavor and not be too discouraged if I wasn't seeing noticeable results from the several months of physical therapy.
I don't even think my diagnosis is anywhere near as bad as yours (though who knows, I never did get my back checked out when I first had the issue years ago). I'm still occasionally reaching for the drugs, but I'm definitely doing better than I was at 24, which is sad to admit but I for one am happy to not be crying myself to sleep at 3 am. So, IDK, recovery-story-in-progress...?
TWO CHURUS in a sitting is insane. After moving away from my family I had to cut that cat crack because my cat internalized a daily churu feeding schedule (thanks grandma).