That sounds like an awful experience. I hope your recovery has gone well.

Dressing up for oneself isn't always about sex. I have some feminine clothing that I wear in private (mostly because it's largely nightwear) every so often. I don't do anything sexually with it on at all, no masturbation or anything; as I recall, one of the last times I did it was a wonderful evening spent tearing…

Is John Wick B-movie enough?

Exactly. Changing the DSM didn't automatically change all of the systems to which it has a relationship. Funding is a matter of Byzantine complexity and changing one part can make the whole structure somewhat wobbly.

I think every group has those people. It's just a matter of whether or not they end up dominating how something is perceived. It's kind of hard for people to get over the neo-Nazis, you know? Even if they're a minority, they're an eyesore that isn't easy to ignore.

A lot of what you're saying is really, really familiar to me. The bisexual-as-a-term thing? I keep wondering if I need to update that term, as things are very different now from when I figured it out over a decade ago and implying that only two genders need apply isn't correct. Feeling like you don't fit into…

Freud would look at these guys and mutter something in German about it being too easy. It's tantamount to an open declaration that they think about politics and culture almost solely in terms of sexual fantasy.

That's the tricky thing with metal, though. It's a genre with a bad reputation for sexism largely because some people within it actually like that reputation. It's a consequence of prizing provocation in your bands and fans, as people tend to react when you provoke them. That's not fair for some fan of the music…

That vague assistance can be improved without damaging anonymity, though. The problem that I often see is that attempts to link people to services are often quite scattershot, as those who want to help weren't prepared to offer those links that day. I think that having all of those links in one place will make what…

I hadn't heard of them before right now, but this looks like a fantastic resource. It especially seems like a good option for someone who's leery of a hotline right at that moment but still wants to talk. This should go on a list right next to all of the other relevant services.

I always liked to imagine that both pills were just jellybeans. That sounds like a reference, but it isn't.

Just show up in your business socks and she'll get it. (Does she have any shirts from team-building exercises?)

"Cock" always sounds jolly to me, though. I like the word. Something about it is sunny and fun. "Cocks ahoy!", you might yell as your ship finally puts to port and you can practically taste the voluptuous repast laid out before you.

I don't think one does get around it. If someone disagrees, they either convince whoever they need to convince or they lose their cause. The DSM is one of those things that may well be necessary to medical practitioners while seeming rather less necessary to some of their patients, but, you know, money wins. As you…

Well, the problem (if it is one) is that this diagnosis would be applied to new people as they developed it. If you disagree with the diagnosis, you could see this as a serious error; if you're fine with letting doctors call it what they like, you could still be concerned about your identity being further…

The DSM-V is a topic of significant division, especially when it comes to the autism shift. I think it goes a bit beyond some people still self-identifying; in terms of scale, it seems more like a minor schism to me.

I remember that a guy I was supposed to play with made a comment about not wanting to play with female musicians. I didn't get a chance to ask him what the hell he was about. He was young (maybe 20?), so maybe residual fear of cooties?

Everybody on the spectrum is different, so no advice will always hold true. That said, explicit communication tends to be very important for many people on the spectrum. Maybe start by trying to avoid assumptions in general as best you can. Don't assume that "obvious" things are actually obvious to everyone, don't…

I've been thinking about this quite a bit. It has been staggering to witness what has happened online in recent years regarding mental health, and this time I mean it in a potentially positive way. I don't think any point in human history has seen so many people talking to each other about their mental health. The…

God, how I'd love to see Kate Beaton helm an animated show. It could just ping-pong madly through history and fiction, no throughline necessary. Just give me a full episode devoted to the pirate captain and his Nemesis and I'll be happy forever.