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Projects => The F Plus => Topic started by: Cleretic on November 07, 2014, 07:16:32 am

Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Cleretic on November 07, 2014, 07:16:32 am
Lemon's asked this some 150+ times, and at some point I started realizing that it's actually a legitimate question. Staring into the abyss of the internet like this, seeing the best and worst it has to offer, I think we've all come out learning something after going through the fires of certain topics. So, let's share some of the things we've learned after certain episodes, or over the course of several similar topics.

Myself, I've learned something very simple over many of the more 'creative' episodes about fiction and sites like TVTropes: I'm not that bad. I enjoy writing, and I'm actually trying to write a novel right now, and when you're doing something like that it's inevitable that you'll start doubting yourself. I have some issues that I'm aware of and struggle with constantly, and sometimes I find I'm very critical about the whole picture; whether what I'm writing will turn out any good whatsoever, if I can overcome my issues with character voice, if what I'm writing actually works as a story and character arc, and if, at the end of the day, I've produced a book that is in some way worth the time I put into writing it. It can be really hard to grapple with those sorts of things sometimes.

But then, I hear the writing of people who clearly have no idea how to write dialog. I hear people describing their stories not in terms of what's actually happening, but by stringing as many '-punk' setting adjectives and trope names together as possible. I hear self-professed writers that fail to understand flow, the writing process, or sometimes even sentence structure. I get faced with all of this, and I can't think of anything else but 'this is my competition'. I don't think I'm a great writer, and sometimes I lose heart when I churn out something I'm not proud of on reading it. But then I can think of My Alpha My Mate, I can think of that Lokiwife that thinks she can write, I can think of literally anyone on TVTropes, and I'm filled with newfound confidence. Because at least I'm better than that.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: STOG on November 07, 2014, 09:51:36 am
I don't usually say anything during these because I am a slow learner and by the time the episode ends, I'm still processing all of this shit. (Also I am terrible at speaking off the cuff.)

But I do have something to say about The Rip-Off Report episode:

Consumer advice is important for a reason - it's not wise to go into anything completely blind. Do your homework and determine what is the best option for you, whether it's getting a home mortgage or a car or finding out whether your local McDonalds makes burgers out of rat carcasses and expired mayonnaise.

But it also matters where you get your advice. For instance, don't get your advice from some asshole who willingly gives money to a psychic service. Especially one who tells that asshole that all of their money has evil Thetans in it and in order to save the money that asshole needs to sign up for three credit cards. Don't get your advice from entitled idiots who whine about the burger not looking like the one on the menu.

And especially don't get your advice from people in comment sections. And that's what Ripoffreport.com is - it's a big pile of unmoderated comment sections about complaints in businesses. Advice from non-experts is a crapshoot, and advice from the guys who post 'first post bitches' and 'is goku more gay than master chief' is like sticking your hand into a rain gutter next to a busy highway. Your hand will get stuck (if it doesn't get bitten by feral cats or something worse) and people will treat you as a roadside attraction.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: montrith on November 07, 2014, 11:32:49 am
What I've learned? Oh so many things.

-Furries and Juggalos will never stop finding new ways to be stupid and funny.

-Crazy people believing in shit like reptilians and gangstalking are so numerous online they're not even worth talking about unless there's something unique that sets them apart.

-People really, really, REALLY want to believe in magic.

-Look at the extremists debating on any issue, and on the both sides of the argument you will find equal amounts of crazy.

-It is not wise to try to type and masturbate at the same time, yet people obviously keep doing just that.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Navigator on November 07, 2014, 11:38:21 am
One of the things I've learned is that no matter how weird your interests are, that doesn't excuse you from having absolutely no sense of personal boundaries. Lemon spelled it out really well at the end of the Butt Ghost episode, talking about how the guy who's really into BDSM, but has a life outside of that, is way better adjusted than the dude who walks around in a collar all the time. The relative anonymity the internet provides can make people think not only that the whole world can know about their dragon dildo collection, but that they should.

This notion, combined with the inevitable "who's the most hardcore" competition that happens online, seems to be part of what causes people to spiral out of control until their whole personal identity revolves around this one specific interest. I have a rather strong set of opinions about how this relates to nerd culture (NUZZLING!), but it's the most obvious - and horrifying - in the fetish episodes.

You see this occasionally in the actual BDSM scene, where somebody shows up to a meetup at a public restaurant in a collar and a corset. Guess what? Those people get a reputation really fucking quickly for not respecting the boundaries and rules of the "vanilla" (normal) world. If the first couple of attempts at re-educating them don't work, people make it clear that they're not welcome in that group. The most obvious example of this is that disgusting Baby BunnyBwead reading. There are BDSM dungeons all across the country where you can dress up like a baby girl or whatever and nobody bats a fucking eye - because there's a time and a place for that shit, and going to a public shopping mall in a sissygirl outfit and then pissing yourself in the parking lot is not fucking it.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: A Meat on November 07, 2014, 12:23:58 pm
Mostly that a ton of people don't put on their 'should I say this out loud?' self-censorship filter when they're typing things on the internet. It doesn't matter if it's angry rants, creepy fanfiction or crappy poetry, people will use the internet as the receptacle for any thought they possibly have.

Also, I personally learned that while basically nothing on the net ever fazes me, I still get super bothered if any bad shit comes across my way in real life, and I like it this way.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: EYE OF ZA on November 07, 2014, 12:42:44 pm
I feel like I've learned a lot about broken minds, like the difference between someone who's batshit (Patrick82, Dozerfleet) and someone who's really bored (Spectrum-X).  A real crazy person is going to be making connections and assigning meanings to things that they think everyone will pick up on.  Of course you can fertilize chicken eggs you buy in a store, so why won't they hatch?  Anyone could see that sending weekly newsletters about my dogs is the highest expression of love.  It makes sense to them, even if it's disconnected from reality, and if you read enough of it, you end up getting a view into an alternate world where the rules are different.  The people who try to be different don't have that weird inside world.

It kind of applies to fetishists too.  Like, they've got the version of the world in their head where Dragonball Z pissbattles between schoolboys makes total sense, or where people just talk about their glasses prescription when they meet, or where a girl falls into mud and suddenly she gets horny.  It makes no sense in the real world, but it fits into their interior fantasy world and all the stuff they make about it reflects the weird rules of their world.  The non-broken equivalent to that stuff is like, asexual Sherlock fiction or Kindleporn--which can be baffling and gross in its own way, but it doesn't have the same logical leap that removes it from reality.  And when the non-broken stuff does depart from reality, it's more of a validation thing, like "I want a story where Sherlock goes to an ace bar and he learns about the asexual community and really likes us and thinks we're smart and then he calls my dad" and so on.  The rest of it is just dumb ideas that people thought up while horny.  (Side note: Adam's "that's something a penis comes up with" is super apt for so much of F Plus.)

Or in fanfic terms, it's the difference between poorly-written Resident Evil fanfiction and BabyMimi's unctuous waterfalls.  Both dumb, but one's dumb and also mental.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Mister Smalls on November 07, 2014, 02:41:26 pm
I've learned that there is a double-edged sword to the Internet's use as a historic archive for pop culture.

On one hand, somebody can learn far more easily - almost firsthand - about the media and culture of previous years and generations.  On the other hand, this makes it so much easier for people to inundate themselves with pop culture to the point where it becomes their entire identity, and they turn into somebody from the NaNoWriMo episode who just regurgitates the media they've previously consumed into meaningless vomit that they think everyone will immediately enjoy because it looks like another thing they enjoyed if you squint.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Runic on November 07, 2014, 04:28:48 pm
I've learned how to remove the glass ball I shoved up my ass!
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Mistress Eva on November 07, 2014, 04:49:29 pm
I learned that there are A LOT of schizophrenics on the internet.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Isfahan on November 07, 2014, 05:28:13 pm
I feel like I've learned a lot about broken minds, like the difference between someone who's batshit (Patrick82, Dozerfleet) and someone who's really bored (Spectrum-X).  A real crazy person is going to be making connections and assigning meanings to things that they think everyone will pick up on.EYE OF ZA, November 07, 2014, 12:42:44 pm

A variation of this sentiment is pretty much the biggest thing I've learned from five years of doing this. I've learned the difference between actual, legit crazy and people faking their crazy or thinking wearing two different color socks for THE WHOLE DAY is enough to be classified as crazy in a fun, entertaining way. You can't fake crazy. And, honestly, you can't fake too much else either. Phoniness shows through so easily—people tend to pick up on it. Case in point, TroperTales.

I think that the "that kid... is inhuman!" story is fake, and so do you. However, I think the "I'm the manager of a GameStop" story is totally real. Why? Because it's completely mundane. People actually manage GameStops and I'm sure a few even manage to power-trip over it. Nobody, however, talks like the dialogue in the manga the first person obviously reads, but the troper lacks enough real-world perspective to think that it will sound genuine to everybody's ears.

The passion some people have for their fetish shows through. Again, phony vs. genuine. I believe that the British foot fetish guy has a foot fetish. I do not, however, believe his wife was unable to notice that she had a flat tire (tyre) immediately after leaving the driveway and then the two of them drove off in the flat-tire car because it was hot. That's an extension of his fantasies, because the setup is too perfect for all of his fetishes. It reads like a very specific porno script meant to hit all his boner-buttons.

In summary, I think a lot of Internet communities are based on an emperor's-clothes shared delusion that they choose to participate in. As Navigator mentioned, there's also usually an unspoken who's-the-most-into-this-thing competitive subtext that just encourages constant escalation of rhetoric. "Oh, you were joking about worshipping a My Little Pony? Well I fucking wasn't."
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: crow on November 07, 2014, 05:49:28 pm
I learned that I'm not as crazy as I thought I was.  Sometimes I think, "man, I'm pretty crazy since I have to take brain meds," but then I go, "well, at least I'm not wearing a pyramid hat."
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: One Of The Crappy Pokemon That Nobody Likes on November 08, 2014, 08:48:29 am
As someone's who has not only read and mined content, but has talked to people about said content, I've got to say I've learned something very important.

Personal growth absolutely must come from within. Your friends and family can provide a good support network, your hobbies might help develop your mind, and your entertainment might help you through the rough times. But in the end when it's all laid bare, you have to want it. Nobody can make you want it. And if you don't truly want to change, you'll do everything on God's green earth just to avoid even considering it.

Drakee Drake Dragonbreath swears she's a mythical dragon princess with magic powers? She's not going to listen to anyone who explains how dragons make very little evolutionary sense or how "magic" is literally something that defies the realities of nature. In her mind, all those science-y words are just TV static that can easily be turned off with phrases like "OTHER DIMENSIONS!" and "ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!"

Big Bob Bloatee refuses to get a job because he figures he could just play video games as a career since that there Japanese feller's been doin' it for years? He's not going to consider your explanation of how jobs like that are exceedingly rare and they're only really specialized novelty acts, usually put on by skilled entertainers who actually put in way more hours behind the scenes than one would think. To him, you're just a naysayer, and kid cartoons taught him that naysayers are doomed to become humorous footnotes when the Super Special World-Famous Awesome People write their best-selling autobiographies.

Kinkster von Spankenstein III will never shut the fuck up about all the different fanfics he's written about women being turned into fruit and eaten by Phil Donahue in a Luffy costume? He's sure as hell not interested in anyone else's personal space or feelings of discomfort. In his universe, he's taking a bold stance by relating everything to his boner, and it's on you to find creative workarounds to avoid hearing about it. Not that you should, of course, because that'd be mean to him and his community.

Yes, you could explain to them what's wrong with their behavior. You could go on for hours about how society works, how natural laws work, how medicine works, how emotions work, how the economy works, how education works... but it's not going to mean jack shit unless that person's willing to listen. Sometimes they do. Sometimes a person considers the opposing point of view, learns a few things about themself and about the world, and they work on their faults and become better people for it. But sometimes... a lot of the fucking time, actually... they not only won't listen, but they'll be fucking infuriated at anyone who disagrees with them. They'll yell about how mean you are. They'll accuse you of trying to do something bad to them. They'll say you're sticking your head in the sand. They'll wail about how they're being totally harmless, or how they're trying so hard when they've never even tried at all, or how it's too hard and thus not worth trying anyway. Obviously miserable people will claim they're fine where they are,  and obviously lonely people will say they don't actually need anyone else anyway. They'll repeat the same mistakes over and over because that's what they're used to, and the concept of changing is infinitely more terrifying than the inevitable failures that come from making poor choices. They'll plead for someone to tell them how to fix things, but won't actually consider any difficult solutions presented to them. They'll swear they always made all the right moves and that anything bad that happens is the direct result of everyone else being an idiot. It's your fault they're not where they want to be. It's their crush's fault that they're not dating anybody. It's their parents' fault for not sending them to Well-Known Manga Artist School. It's their friends' fault for not acknowledging the existence of werewolves. It's the government's fault for not making it illegal to personally offend them. It's society's fault that they come off as creepy. It's the world's fault for not tailoring itself for them and only them the moment they were born. "You can't tell me what to do because I'm perfect just the way I am."

I have gone through a lot of stupid posts on the internet. A fucking ton of them. This story repeats itself over and over and it'll repeat itself until the end of time. If you see someone drowning, you can throw them a life preserver. Just don't be too surprised if they instead use their dying breath to tell you how it's your fault the lake's even there in the first place.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Emperor Jack Chick on November 08, 2014, 09:50:56 am
Yeah, pretty much what the monster with the dot eyes and bitey mouth said.

It reminds me a lot of Mike Tyson on the poe forums as a specific concrete example.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Tiny Prancer on November 08, 2014, 03:33:28 pm
I learned that I'm not as crazy as I thought I was.  Sometimes I think, "man, I'm pretty crazy since I have to take brain meds," but then I go, "well, at least I'm not wearing a pyramid hat."
Smoking Crow, November 07, 2014, 05:49:28 pm

as someone who grew up with new-age ideas being a common thing I can confirm that there's a depressing number of people with those pyramid hats who have no mental issues whatsoever but just REALLY deeply believe in those pyramid hats because not believing in them is unthinkable.

("those pyramid hats" is more of a metaphor for whatever they practiced/shilled as amazing ways to make your life better and become one with the universal life force or whatever, but I did indeed see some pyramid things. I distinctly remember seeing a glass pyramid you were supposed to put fruit inside of to get rid of "negative energy" or something, and a lot of colorful glass pyramids you were supposed to put your crystals or whatever inside of, maybe because there was some supposed spiritual reason, but I'm pretty sure it was mostly because it looked neat. I will admit I owned one because I thought it was pretty.)
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Adam Bozarth on November 08, 2014, 04:22:45 pm
I've learned that people will gladly put themselves into smaller and smaller boxes to seem more sexually interesting. The word "fetish" has no meaning anymore, and people believe they have to invest their entire sexual identity on the one strange sensation or another. But, I am all for people making themselves more unfuckable.

It is definitely a self-selected sample, but there is just so much competition on the Internet. If people aren't competing with each other to hate women the most or troll as many people on video at once, they are putting internal pressure on themselves to keep up with the e-Joneses. You see in episodes every once in a while the small voice that dares ask if the Emporer has any clothes on. But then that voice asks for links to help see the new clothes the most clearly.

Also, a lot of garbage on the Internet is written on public terminals.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Isfahan on November 08, 2014, 05:50:40 pm
Yeah I just assumed all of the content for the Squat Cracking episode was written at various libraries across our great nation.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: crow on November 08, 2014, 05:55:26 pm
Yeah I just assumed all of the content for the Squat Cracking episode was written at various libraries across our great nation.
Isfahan, November 08, 2014, 05:50:40 pm

Or in places with free wifi
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Cleretic on November 08, 2014, 08:51:13 pm
Good words
portaxx, November 08, 2014, 08:48:29 am
God damnit is that true. A little bit of willingness to solve your own problems goes a long way, but I never realized how true that was until I saw people without it. And nobody exemplified that better to me than WearyTurtle/the toddler and the flying dog/Jen Here.

Her parents are saints, because they've apparently dealt with that mess, every day, first-hand, for years and still persisted. She seemed acutely aware that she needed help, but utterly unwilling to take any agency for that herself. There was a post where she talked about an incident where she got stopped from just eating peanut butter from the jar by her mother, who said 'you can eat that if you want to ruin your diet'. She seemed to take that as permission, and got Tumblr-post-worthy offended at the fact that her mother blew up at her for that.

I find that story amazing and fascinating, because she is right in front of the point, she barely even has to make an effort to get it, and she still doesn't. I get that it's hard to change sometimes, I'm facing that right now myself, but it must be REALLY hard to refuse to improve that badly.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Cyberventurer on November 08, 2014, 10:37:53 pm
I was going to write a bunch of words about this but it was all just pointless navelgazing so I wiped it and replaced it with this.

Delusion, lack of self-awareness, shamelessness, entitlement.  Just about everything horrible seems to grow from at least one of those.

In the center, you find a Montrith document.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: nigeline on November 08, 2014, 11:07:03 pm
Yeah I just assumed all of the content for the Squat Cracking episode was written at various libraries across our great nation.
Isfahan, November 08, 2014, 05:50:40 pm

Or in places with free wifi
Smoking Crow, November 08, 2014, 05:55:26 pm
Libraries attract the worst sort of folk since their public internet terminals cannot legally restrict access to anything - thanks, First Amendment! You're free to read/watch/draw/discuss all the nasty dragon butt porn you want, as long as you don't disturb your neighbors (aka jerk it in public).

I've learned that the fine line between reasonable opinions and all-out fanaticism that completely disappears on the internet. I know many people in real life that participate in extremely specific fandoms/tumblr communities/fetish forums etc etc... Since I actually want to hang out with them in person, they are relatively well-composed, articulate, and intelligent human beings, so I was surprised to learn just how strongly they embraced the far more disgusting features of their certain communities and/or hobbies were. While everyone has some weird desires that others may never full understand, it's hard to see people I respect and like defending the omegaverse as reasonable or claiming their soul is really a wolf-snake without bursting into laughter or punching a kitten.

Also, most everyone hates PUAs.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Cheapskate on November 08, 2014, 11:07:35 pm
I’ve learned that people who identify themselves by what they think or what they feel or what they like all annoy the hell out of me, and that people should be defined by what they do.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: count_actuala on November 09, 2014, 09:39:48 am
I don't know if I've learned this as much as I've had it reinforced again and again, but perverts are either totally lazy or so committed to the generation of new jerk content that it surely consumes all their free time.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Lady Frenzy on November 09, 2014, 02:50:52 pm
I’ve learned that people who identify themselves by what they think or what they feel or what they like all annoy the hell out of me, and that people should be defined by what they do.
Cheapskate, November 08, 2014, 11:07:35 pm

What about people who define themselves by what they don't do?
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Cheapskate on November 10, 2014, 03:56:31 am
What about people who define themselves by what they don't do?
Lady Frenzy, November 09, 2014, 02:50:52 pm

(http://i.imgur.com/QSxsR3W.gif)
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Emperor Jack Chick on November 10, 2014, 02:31:18 pm
I’ve learned that people who identify themselves by what they think or what they feel or what they like all annoy the hell out of me, and that people should be defined by what they do.
Cheapskate, November 08, 2014, 11:07:35 pm

:(
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: EYE OF ZA on November 10, 2014, 04:02:48 pm
Jack Chick, the metal guy guy who goes to lots of shows
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Tiny Prancer on November 10, 2014, 05:16:55 pm
Good words
portaxx, November 08, 2014, 08:48:29 am
God damnit is that true. A little bit of willingness to solve your own problems goes a long way, but I never realized how true that was until I saw people without it. And nobody exemplified that better to me than WearyTurtle/the toddler and the flying dog/Jen Here.

Her parents are saints, because they've apparently dealt with that mess, every day, first-hand, for years and still persisted. She seemed acutely aware that she needed help, but utterly unwilling to take any agency for that herself. There was a post where she talked about an incident where she got stopped from just eating peanut butter from the jar by her mother, who said 'you can eat that if you want to ruin your diet'. She seemed to take that as permission, and got Tumblr-post-worthy offended at the fact that her mother blew up at her for that.

I find that story amazing and fascinating, because she is right in front of the point, she barely even has to make an effort to get it, and she still doesn't. I get that it's hard to change sometimes, I'm facing that right now myself, but it must be REALLY hard to refuse to improve that badly.
Cleretic, November 08, 2014, 08:51:13 pm

To my knowledge the peanut butter incident would be even more horrifying in context, because from what I remember, along with her countless headmates, she also identified as "transfat", i.e. "a fat person in a thin body" and took huge offense to her mother trying to get her to not eat horrible things constantly because it meant her mother was "oppressing her identity" or some shit.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Plague of Hats on November 13, 2014, 06:35:27 am
I learned that there's no real use to being skeptical about the depths to which people will drive themselves for the sake of a subculture, now that they can find an overabundance of validation on the internet. I recall Boots or John mentioned in a fanfic episode that he didn't care if the stuff was genuinely misfired or a deliberate joke. It was still funny and fun to read. Likewise, I won't question a PUA who claims to successfully pick up chicks by talking about "mud creations" and European mayors. Because, as made-up sounding as it is, I know there are pathetic manbabies who really believe that works, and sadly there are probably some women out there who fall for it. Somehow.

I've also learned to be more sympathetic and tolerant. No, really!

I regularly talk to a number of people who are asexual, or trans, or bi, or into BDSM, or who write fanfiction, or some combination of those or other things besides. Sometimes, when these people talk to my painfully hyperprivileged self, I can have difficulty empathizing with their troubles. But, by now, whatever your predilections or hang ups, I've probably listened to an episode of the F Plus about someone with the same problems who is an insufferable, clueless piece of shit about it. I can instantly connect with someone when I keep in mind, "somewhere on the internet, there are a distressing number of unwanted fellow travelers ruining this for you."

No asexual person worth knowing is going to just scream and scream at the top of their lungs about "not getting" social cues that they grew up with their entire life. But that's the kind of shit some people will think about all asexuals. Because when you go to LiveJournal or Tumblr, you don't come away remembering a boring writers' club or "The Every Last Cumberbatch Meme" Tumblr that started two years ago and stopped after 10 posts. You remember falling down the rabbit hole of watchful-entity (RIP) or some nth-dimensional web of competing interdependent Harry Potter slashfic blogs. So you need to be understanding, because sometimes a Juggalo just likes listening to shitty music with makeup on and getting high, and you can't put it on him that other Juggalos keep their hatchets sharp for the Revolution.

So you trade links with someone you may not totally get, and you come together to laugh at the people that no one should want to get. And you all, no matter what, laugh at the MRAs and PUAs.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: strifeheart on November 13, 2014, 07:20:53 am
watchful-entity (RIP)Plague of Hats, November 13, 2014, 06:35:27 am

http://waakzaam-entiteit.tumblr.com/ (http://waakzaam-entiteit.tumblr.com/)
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Plague of Hats on November 13, 2014, 07:45:00 am
Excellent! Thank you.
Title: So what did we learn from all this?
Post by: Bobalay on November 13, 2014, 05:29:06 pm
I've learned to be a better person, more forgiving, understanding and empathetic.

A few months ago I figured that nobody in the history of ever really changed how they think just because someone got mad at them, and it changed how I perceive everything. At the very best, they change how they behave when they think someone is watching, but the negative beliefs still simmer in their brains. For an extreme example, do you think any amount of public vitriol will make Darren Wilson go "oh golly, I'm probably too mean to those black folks"? Or do you think he'll act like literally every F+ subject and mentally dig his heels in further? If Wilson keeps his badge and goes back into duty, he might do his job very differently, but not out of any self-examination.

It's an easy kneejerk reaction (and maybe a straw argument on my part) to go "pshaw, those are just the crazy and broken people," but I think many of us know that the idea of a "normal person" is sort of an impossible concept. Everyone's got their baggage and brokenness, and to be honest, some of us could make a decent F+ episode if we dug up our beliefs prior to certain epiphanies -- which brings me to another realization I had.

I don't remember where, but I remember seeing a W-E style tumblr with a comment saying something like "This person has a twelve-year-old's understanding of <thing>." Fact is, that person could very well be twelve, or perhaps going through some very real and very legitimate issues that have arrested their emotional development. It's all too easy to take a tumblr post and consider it a static, emblematic representation of someone while simultaneously considering ourselves and our friends to be dynamic, changing, and improving works-in-progress. When we type "theyre" it's because we're in a hurry, or drunk, or trying to make space for a killer tweet. When an F+ subject types "theyre" it's something to point and laugh at.

And I do laugh! A lot! But at the same time I have a degree of empathy for every F+ subject. People aren't naturally inclined to desire to be 'broken' or to desire to hurt others. To take a page from Mencius, anyone who sees a baby crawling towards a well will let out a gasp and go "oh shit that baby's about to get fucked." Empathy for others is a human instinct.  So when I listen to F+, I laugh at the crazy dumb nutbars, but I also think "man, I feel for them. What has to happen for you to think all women are buttsluts/you're a dragon and anyone who doesn't agree is Hitler/nothing is sexier than being tossed in a dumpster?" I think about some of the warped beliefs that I still have and can trace back to my childhood, and the ridiculous things I sometimes believe only because of shitty things that have happened to and around me.

So to bring this hand-wringing apologeticism to a close, I learned that precum is the tastiest cum.