The lockdowns ruined my life. Before Hypochondriac's Flu had everybody and their mother panicking about the health of people who - let's face it - would die the next time flu season rolled round, my life was looking up. I was studying away from home, my depression was manageable, and I'd finally found the courage to join a social group after twenty-odd years of being terrified of people.

Then the circus came to town, and it was back to having nowhere to go.

Back to being a hermit with no friends.

Back to being crippled by anxiety.

I was going to try for a motorcycle license so I could be a little independent. That's not going to happen now, and I might never again get the courage to try.

And masks are dehumanizing as fuck. I refuse to be muzzled like a dog for a society that might as well admit that we have always been at war with ~~Oceania~~ Eastasia.