#psyche waffles

[gayupp]

While AO3 is down I just want to extend a huge thank-you to all of the volunteers who set aside their time to keep the archive up and running, including dealing with user reports for spambots, non-fanworks, etc. It's a thankless job and I can't even imagine how much goes into running and maintaining such a popular non-profit site.

[gayupp]

I feel like not enough people are kicking up a fuss about the loss of online spaces specifically for kids. Flash games, MMOs like Club Penguin, forums with human moderators who kept everything in order... all of these used to be super common and a lot of people online started out on those. Nowadays kids are diving straight into the deep end that is social media because there's nothing specifically for them anymore.

I'm not saying that bringing back kids' games and forums would magically fix the issue of online safety, but it would be heaps more helpful than banning them from social media or requiring everyone to hand over their ID to access websites.

[gayupp]

It really pains me sometimes to know just how invisible demiromanticism is compared to demisexuality. It's like, I can find so many resources and personal experiences focused around demisexuality, but if you're demiromantic allosexual, or demiro and acespec but wanting to find stuff focused on demiromanticism specifically, you're shit out of luck. All the demiro-specific blogs I can find are dead, the demiromantic subreddit is so much smaller than the demisexual one, and it feels like demiromanticism is more often intertwined with demisexuality than discussed and acknowledged as its own thing.

I completely understand that there are issues with the split attraction model and that not every aspec individual wants to use it. For a lot of people, their demisexuality and their demiromanticism are one and the same, or otherwise deeply intertwined. This vent is not in any way meant to invalidate their views or experiences. I just find it frustrating sometimes as a demiro-allo to find stuff that more specifically speaks to me, my identity and my experiences.

[gayupp]

I don't crave romance so much as I crave intimacy. Just having someone I can be with and rely on and share my deepest secrets with and cuddle with.

[gayupp]

Australian government and media: hooray we did it we saved the children!!! Look at us having a chat with this handful of kids who benefited from the social media ban!!!

Not pictured: the neurodivergent kids who lost their online/long-distance friendships, the kids who are now facing greater harm than before because the social media algorithms are serving up alt-right content, the kids who are driven to more dangerous and unregulated platforms, the kids who have lost invaluable spaces and resources to help them cope with abusive parents, the kids who haven't even been banned in the first place

Like good for the kids who legit benefited from this I suppose but they would've been equally well-off if their parents had appropriately regulated their Internet usage in the first place.

[gayupp]

"we should be meaner to people who do X" are you saying that because you genuinely care about X and want people to stop or are you just looking for an excuse to live out your Regina George fantasies

[gayupp]

I actually think it's pretty neat that the a-spectrum has so many microlabels. As far as labels go, I personally only use arospec, aroallo and demiromantic, but I also have an affinity for nebularomantic, autiromantic and possibly cupioromantic, and sometimes find myself browsing their tags too.

[gayupp]

I just saw a video in my YouTube recommended positing that Hitomi is the real villain of Madoka Magica, and I'm just like... be so fucking for real right now.

Yes, Hitomi did contribute to Sayaka's despair and accelerate her transformation into a Witch, but IMO she actually handled the situation in the best way she possibly could, especially for a 14-year-old. She could've just gone ahead and asked Kyosuke out without talking with Sayaka first, but she cared enough about her friend's feelings to let her know and give her an opportunity to make a move. The only thing she could've done better was give Sayaka a longer timeframe.

Also, Hitomi had no way to know the full extent of what Sayaka was going through. She didn't, couldn't, know anything about magical girls, let alone the dark truths behind them, because Kyubey never targeted her. Hell, because Kyubey targeted Madoka and Sayaka but not her, she became the third wheel of their friend group from the first episode onwards. From her perspective, Madoka and Sayaka kept hanging out and doing things without her for no apparent reason, and she's expressed her confusion and hurt over this in the series itself. Naturally, this would affect her closeness with both girls, thus making her less attentive to Sayaka's overall mental state, and Sayaka's tendency to put on a brave face in spite of how she feels deep down wouldn't have helped. The scene with Hitomi and Sayaka in the café shows that Hitomi still cares about Sayaka and wants to try to maintain a healthy friendship with her in spite of that distance. I'm sure that if Hitomi was aware of the whole magical girl thing, and exactly what Sayaka's had to reckon with throughout her time as a magical girl, she would've handled the Kyosuke situation differently.

Also, I love Sayaka to pieces and her arc makes me emotional to this day, but I have to acknowledge that she definitely could've made a move on Kyosuke at any time. I understand why she didn't, particularly after the revelation that her body and soul were separate, but part of her despair is her realisation that she could've – should've – been more selfish and worked to get what she wanted, i.e. Kyosuke's love.

I just. Agh. I understand that maybe that YouTube title and thumbnail are just clickbait for a milquetoast video about Hitomi's flaws as a person, but unfortunately I have seen a lot of Hitomi hate in the fandom – far more than what she deserves. I don't even consider her to be one of my favourite Madoka Magica characters, and yet I never understood why she gets so much flak. Girl's doing her very best as the one recurring teenage girl character who's never invited into the magical girl world.