It's not a mental defect, we're just too poor to buy vowels. :(

Respectfully, I think one point of insight that you have elided is that an internet without anonymity would still disproportionately harm people who are already in disadvantageous situations—women, minorities, disabled people etc would not gain much advantage from being forced to stick to their real name, and the…

Okay. Thank you for clarifying. I appreciate it.

I was genuinely asking. Mental illness comes from a disregulation of chemicals in the body; it has physical symptoms just like pneumonia or the flu, both of which can be exacerbated by e.g. standing around outside in January weather. Is there any threshold for bodily harm that you would accept?

Would you express a similar sentiment if you were speaking about someone who had pneumonia or the flu?

I feel obligated at this point to put in a good word for JoJo and his various adventures.

But Aziz Ansari's actual mother was on Master of None. Pretty sure she's an Indian woman? Does she not count for some reason? Haven't listened to the podcast, so I'm not sure if there were other criteria—was it solely about people who Ansari's character dates?

Nah, it's just this one dog. It's always this one dog.

Thank you again… I will. You, too. I meant it about being an ear to listen, if you ever need an extra one. I am really, deeply grateful for the conversation you've had with me today. All I can offer in lieu of sentimentally repeating myself is this silly video of big cats getting gently stoned. https://www.youtube.com/…

Apology more than accepted, and metaphorical/electronic hand held out in return. Thank you so much for your understanding and for your unbelievable empathy; I'm sitting here in tears (in a nice way, don't worry).

Hi—I find I often agree with you when I read your posts, but this one feels almost personally insulting (though I know that's not how you mean it!) and I feel the need to say something, especially since I've seen you say something to this effect multiple times.

Throw some poetry at the kid.

I see what you mean about the twist not going anywhere, but I thought that was the intention? (Apologies for jumping in!) I thought the way the conspiracy was something both characters grabbed onto was a way to think about a) how people are driven to distract and divert themselves from deeper issues/problems in their…

"I'm not saying that given groups aren't marginalized because obviously many are…I'm saying we (royal we) shouldn't give a shit about any specific group because every specific group is still part of the bigger group of humanity. There is no reason to further divide ourselves…we're in this together."

I did, actually! This is a topic I care a lot about. Been reading AVC for ages, though. And happy new year to you too, I'm very grateful for this conversation! I hope your new year is fantastic. :)

Actually, from what I have read (a fair amount—sex ed is important to me, and if I had the resources I would have loved to become a sex educator/advocate) plenty of people don't notice when their hymen is broken. Admittedly that can be because of pain associated with whatever activity resulted in the broken hymen…

Penetrative anal sex doesn't have to be an act of dominance or humiliation (even if that is the harmful cultural image we're typically raised with). It also doesn't have to hurt, even the first time, the same way penetrative vaginal sex doesn't have to hurt the first time. Two women saying pegging is about humiliation…