#this is only tangentially related but like

[rhube]

This is something I think about a lot too. I completely understand why people want to destigmatise mental illness by stopping people using diagnoses in a derogatory manner. But. Speaking as someone who has had multiple mental illnesses for a really long time, the insistence that we never talk about any behaviours as crazy or insane - or sometimes even only tangentially related words like batshit - ignores the fact that there words WEREN'T solely used to stigmatised the mentally ill in the past. There's a lot of behaviours and thoughts that average, basically mentally healthy people engage in that overlap with or ar identical to things mentally ill people do. The difference is degree, proximity to other symptoms, and the extent to which they interfere with daily life. It's actually very useful to be able to say a person (including oneself) is a bit crazy without using the term negatively. But now we have to trip over ourselves to find a word for this overlap area of behaviours and thoughts.

Which is why I usually prefer to differentiate between more generic terms and actual diagnoses. Yes, 'psychotic' as a pejorative is not OK. This extends to things like 'sociopath' and 'psychopath', which a lot of people seem to both think are real diagnoses and OK to use as a pejorative. The terms themselves are not generally given these days as diagnoses and it's debatable whether you can separate out people with empathy disorders into these categories, but there are real people who struggle to empathise with others who, contrary to what you may have heard in a think pieces about CEOs and bad managers, are not typically bad people who do bad things to other people.

There is a problem with some of the language we use about mental health, but I'm not sure the solution is to remove the generic words that are inclusive of behaviours seen in healthy people from circulation.

It is sometimes helpful to say that someone's beliefs have deviated from reality even if you don't think they have specific symptom clusters that relate to a mental illness.

And I also just want to second the point that experiences and symptoms do not belong solely to one diagnosis. This is what's so damaging about these posts that go around being like, 'The uniquely X experience of Y'.

Like, I have depression and have had it most of my life. People with bipolar disorder also experience depression. We have an overlap of symptoms. But our diagnoses are very different. I have never had a manic episode and I never will. That's not better or worse than being overwhelmingly depressed, it's just that there is a very clear difference to the mechanism that gives us some of the same experiences.

See also the way that a lot of the symptoms I see attributed to only autistic people or only people with ADHD are also symptoms you can have from an anxiety disorder or PTSD. And some people have several conditions that can all cause the same or very similar problems. It doesn't help anyone to sort out what's going on with them to say 'only x people experience y'.

That doesn't mean you can't say, 'you might be x if you experience y', you just gotta recognise that there is a harm in saying, 'the uniquely x experience of y'.

Very often it's not unique and you are alienating and hurting people who experience the same thing as you for different reasons.

there's a lot to be said about how the average person indulges in delusions far more than anyone is really comfortable grappling with. every now and again, a poll comes out that reveals some sort of number of people who believe they have magical powers, usually pretty high, and everyone takes turns making fun of it and affirming their own Sanity

this is more observational than scientific, but it really does seem like writing off delusional thinking as the realm of the "insane" creates this valley where the "normal" person's thinking (especially a person who considers themself normal, but that's a whole other kettle of fish) must be more empirical, because, categorically, they are not insane

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

context, if such a thing even exists

stede: i think we should ask the crew to provide their own linens when they visit

ed: aw, what? what kind of shitass inn doesn’t even do linens for their guests?

stede: we can still do linens for regular guests, i just think-

ed: oh, cmon, we can’t give the crew worse service, they already hate me

stede: they do not hate you-

ed: well they might if we skimp on the linens!

stede: ed-

ed: i’ve gotten really good at washing linens, actually. i don’t know if you’ve noticed that. see how little jizz is on our sheets?

stede: …i mean, there is that rather large—

ed: ok that’s from literally a twenty minutes ago that doesn’t count, you know that doesn’t count

stede: alright, alright

ed: we literally haven’t even gotten out of bed yet

stede: fair enough

ed: if i wasn’t good at doing laundry this sheet would be just one big jizz stain and you know it

stede: this is true, you’re right. you’ve done an excellent job, sweetheart

ed: aww thanks babe :)

stede: im just a bit worried about the foursome

ed: (experiencing a sudden coughing fit) the what?

stede: the foursome? jim, olu, archie, and zheng?

ed: oh. oh. (clears throat) i thought you—nevermind. um.

ed: uhh what about them? you think i can’t handle their post-orgy cleanup?

stede: well…

ed: wait, seriously? it’s just two extra people, mate, it’s not that much more mess

stede: it’s not the quantity i’m concerned with, it’s the. well.

ed: …well?

stede: well. the thing is, archie always refers to sex with her partners as “goop sex”

ed:

ed: goop sex

stede: yes, goop sex

ed: are you sure she doesn’t call it “group sex” and you’re just mishearing her?

stede: no, it’s definitely goop sex

ed: hm

stede: admittedly i’m not completely sure what goop sex actually is—unless you happen to be familiar…?

ed: yeah no i’ve never heard of goop sex

stede: darn. well, in any case, i imagine there’s a very strong possibility that goop sex stains fabrics!

ed: hm, yeah, probably

stede: so you see my concern

ed: i do, yeah

stede: with the linens

ed: mhmm

stede: especially since we only have the one set!

ed: mhmm

stede: which we should probably do something about, actually, if we want to provide free linen service to our guests. although maybe we can wait until after the crew visits so we have an excuse for not doing their linens? what do you think?

ed: mmm

stede:

stede: ed, darling

ed: hhwhat sorry huh

stede: you zoned out for a moment there

ed: oh shit, my bad, babe

stede: no worries! i was just wondering where you’d gone to

ed: right, well, i’d gone to goop sex

stede: yknow i probably could’ve guessed that myself actually

ed: specifically i was thinking that we should try and figure out what goop sex is

stede: i

stede: hm.

stede:

stede:

stede: okay, but—

ed: oh cmon don’t give me that

stede: ed, th-

ed: i saw your face just now! i bet you already have some ideas!

stede: ok but ed we really only have the one set of linens!

ed: and you’re telling me you’re not willing to risk those linens to try out some of your guesses about goop sex?

stede: y—i’m—well. I-I mean,

ed: yeahhhh that’s what i thought, you fuckin pervert

stede: alright well i better not hear any complaining when our only set of sheets is reduced to one big goop stain!

ed: that is a price i will gladly pay to let you try out your goopy sex theories on me

[mylittleredgirl]

i realized this definition is missing from my mental glossary, and instead of just asking what it means, i'm making a poll!

none of this has to be an x-reader situation if you engage with your favorite characters in a different way! if you know what it means but don't have one of your own you can still answer with your definition, but i also included an i don't know option at the bottom.

if you have more than one & it's different for different characters i'd love to hear about it and get more confused!!

[remythologise]

Mithras, lord of light. Please, help me. Father of our fathers. Help me lead my men well. Do not let me dishonour my legion. Please, help me regain my family's honour.

[mustasekittens]

drew this a couple weeks back as a joke but this buddie shit ain't a joke anymore lads

[dimsilver]

btw re: the homeschooling debate and related things - this site has been absolutely wonderful for getting to appreciate people who aren’t automatically My Sort of Person. it’s actually opened my eyes to look for and enjoy all sorts of things about in-person people that I don’t automatically connect with. I’m not even sure how to express this but basically this site of such a good outlet for people’s inner selves that I am constantly confronted with the richness and complexity and honesty and quality and beauty of people who aren’t super similar to me and I think that’s awesome.

[samipekoe]

i enjoy the way you draw women a lot...i enjoy women a lot...

thank you! I enjoy women very much too :)

[stampedestring]

If anyone wants to draw Rowdy's chaps in great detail from multiple angles, there are more pictures at the link.

[romanceyourdemons]

who says a middle-aged italian-american man with soulful brown eyes can’t slut his way through the jianghu

[palms-upturned]

I think the funniest thing about JV is that he seems completely oblivious to how self absorbed he is, like. Saying that the only reason Trant has remained on the task force is because JV is forcing him, as if Trant isn’t also a divorcee and recovering addict who talks abt Harry’s condition w a lot of thoughtfulness and insight. Calling Judit an “extremely patient patrol officer” to imply that it’s Harry who’s exhausting her patience, meanwhile Judit (who is ALSO a divorcee) is wearily telling JV to stop being a dick and embarrassing her. Complaining abt his clinical depression in the same breath that he says Harry’s faking his amnesia. It’s so fucking funny. He’s so lucky that Harry chased him off because if he was the player’s partner instead of Kim you just know the game would clown him so much worse. He would say smth about being clinically depressed and all the Martinaise residents would be like yeah yeah the horrors we’ve all seen them. If he ever talked to Cindy I think he would suffer fatal morale damage within five minutes.

[web-novel-polls]

I know this is the gay sex website, but I do wish more people fucked with more web novels with no (or almost no) romance on here.

[bisupergirl]

i miss kara...................

[sunshine-zenith]

The Traveler might be an absent dad, but at least we know he's Wanderlust's dad, while Jack's dad disappeared when he went to buy milk-- /j

(Just Dance giving its characters lore by giving them canon families) You get abandonment issues! And YOU get abandonment issues! And YOU-

[fromtheseventhhell]

She was the night wolf. But only when she dreamed. (The Blind Girl, ADWD) "The hour of the wolf. The blackest part of night, when all the world's asleep." (The Kingbreaker, ADWD)

Thinking thoughts...It's the longest, darkest hour of the night, Arya is the Night Wolf + Dark Heart, it's the time when "the world's asleep" and Arya wargs into Nymeria and the leader of a giant pack of wolves while sleeping, and it's likely she'll reunite with Nymeria right before the long night...

[prince-liest]

I purchased a number of African Violets and Cape Primrose a little over a month ago, and for the most part they have all been growing absolutely great and also quite prolifically - two of them are already flowering and some others have buds coming up - EXCEPT the very first one that I considered...

My PT Wild Plum has been growing a lot, but in a really weird shape! And it turns out that what it is doing is growing a bunch of suckers, presumably because of the stress of getting mailed and then repotted. I dug out an old disposable scalpel I had in my bathroom cabinet and did some plant surgery on it.

I mangled one of the suckers beyond repair, but I managed to get four intact ones off of her, and since I didn't realize what they were and left them on so long, they all have little crowns of their own and will probably be able to root! As advised I stuck them in damp soil and then put them in a ziplock bag (with a little plant tag propping it up so the plastic doesn't rest on the leaves) to retain as much moisture as possible while they are still lacking in roots, and hopefully in about 1-2 months I'll have me some nice little mini violets to give away to friends and family!

Using an egg carton for this brings me back to elementary school, haha. I actually shifted around some eggs to be able to use this. x)

[markscherz]

The Fredericton Region Museum won't let anyone take a DNA sample of the Coleman frog to confirm its species, but do you have any theories on IDing it? 🤔🤔🤔

I'd guess you'd get an ID of Bos taurus, given that it's such bullshit.