Re: Listen She's Not Wrong

But Kathryn, you may be saying, why do you stay on Twitter if you hate it so much?

The truth is that I don't hate Twitter. Most people I interact with on Twitter are interesting, intelligent, and kind, and some of them are extraordinarily clever as well. I've discovered a number of writers and artists through Twitter, as well as small lit mags and calls for submissions.

Also, thanks to Twitter, I now know what Bowser's dick looks like.

https://twitter.com/akkoarcade/status/1380764674656858117

A word of warning, don't click on that link unless you're sure you want to, because the image is right there.

To put this in context, a 3D modeler who specializes in video game characters got a cease and desist notice through Patreon regarding a model of Bowser's dick, and people have been joking that Nintendo claiming this model specifically as their intellectual property is tantamount to them saying that this is canonically Bowser's cock.

Thank you Twitter.

Under 25yo DNI

Ask Polly: How Am I Supposed to Make Friends in My Late 20s?
https://www.thecut.com/2014/08/ask-polly-how-do-i-make-friends-in-my-late-20s.html

So the first thing you have to do is accept that, despite appearances, you’re not all that different than most people your age. The mid- to late-20s are often an apex of friendless desperation. To make matters worse, people feel very self-conscious about their friendlessness at that age, as if everything should’ve fallen into place a long time ago. Considering how often urban, career-focused Americans move around and turn their lives upside down in their 20s, you’d think most of us would know better.

I've been seeing a lot of posts on Tumblr recently (like this one) setting 25 as an arbitrary cut-off age for tolerance of bad behavior. The underlying message seems to be that, by 25 years old, you should have your shit together and shouldn't be fucking around in fandom.

Dangerous and toxic behavior shouldn't be tolerated or excused at any age, of course. Saying that young people (or neurodiverse people, or people who are mentally ill or chronically ill or what have you) have no control over their behavior is basically saying that they're subhuman animals with no rational judgment or impulse control, which is both offensive and untrue. Putting that aside.

The idea that you have to have your shit together by the time you're 25 years old is wild. I feel like 25 is actually the age when a lot of people's shit starts to fall apart, honestly.

While you're in high school and college, you have a structured set of goals and multiple ready-made groups of peers. For the first few years out of college, you likely still have structured career goals and probably still keep in touch with many of your friends. By the time you hit 25, though, things start to get weird. A lot of your friends are pairing off and getting married, and some are even buying houses and having kids, which can create subtle conflicts and a lot of pressure. You're probably also, for the first time in your life, surrounded by people who aren't your age and don't share your values and life experiences. Your relationship with your family will probably change as you start being expected to pay for expensive things you formerly took for granted, like car insurance. After working in entry-level positions for a few years, you might be considering a career change. You might have even been fired from a "real" job for the first time. You might make a terrible life decision and apply to grad school. You might move to another city, or to the suburbs, or to a different timezone altogether.

25 is an incredibly awkward age, and it takes time to figure out how to be an adult. Some people are innately blessed with wisdom (and money, and a supportive family), but most of us need about ten years or so to get our shit together.

Again, I'm not excusing the behavior of anyone who is creepy or hateful online, but to suggest that 25 is the age when you should stop being in fandom and stop trying to make friends with people who share your interests is fucked up.

And "discrimination" is a strong word, but I really do feel like giving 25 as a cut-off point is ignoring the realities of a lot of people coming from marginalized identities and communities who just don't have the time or money or emotional energy to devote to their interests and hobbies (or social media in general) until they're a bit older.

Vaccinated (Part One)

UPenn finally stepped up and started offering vaccines to its employees a few days ago. I set up an appointment immediately and got my first shot of the Moderna vaccine yesterday afternoon.

I've been seeing here and there that it's a giant shot that really hurts, but this isn't true. The needle isn't big at all, and the shot takes literally a second. It's not painful, just a tiny touch of ice on your shoulder.

I'm deathly afraid of needles, but this wasn't a big deal, even for me.

Everyone in the impromptu clinic (which has been set up on the second-floor basketball court of the university gym) was very friendly and kept thanking me for showing up and being there. All of the doctors and nurses were bizarrely attractive in the way that doctors and nurses often are when they're not at the end of some horrible hellshift. I got a big glossy sticker and a cute little passport card at the end of the fifteen-minute observation period, which I appreciated.

I had a slight fever and some wooziness yesterday afternoon and evening, but the symptoms were mild and had totally disappeared when I woke up this morning. My arm is still a bit sore, but it's not painful; it's just like the feeling you get after pushing your limits a little during a weightlifting session. There's no bruise at all.

I've been hearing scary things about this vaccine, like about how much it hurts and how it knocks you out and so on, but none of that is true. It's very chill and painless and stress-free. If nothing else, you can use it as an excuse to order a pizza and spend the rest of the day in bed playing video games, which is totally what I did.

(If you're curious, I'm playing Bravely Default II, which is excellent btw.)

I've also been hearing about vaccine clinics that have been set up in mostly abandoned malls in New Jersey, and damn that sounds cool. I've added "visiting mostly abandoned malls in New Jersey" to my list of things to do once I'm fully vaccinated, and I'm looking forward to it.