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GuyInPlace's avatar

Twitter has always been bad, but the angry reaction to the photo of people having friends is proof that it's become even worse. The people angry over someone else having friends in a rented apartment are just miserable people who just want to commiserate in nihilism. The only thing that keeps them from being the worst people there is that it's become overrun with Nazis.

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Simon Kinahan's avatar

Right? What world is this where owning some furniture and plants and renting an apartment is an unattainable luxury? Are they commenting from a tent under a subway bridge?

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Laura's avatar

Everyone saw that post about the lady who has coffee with her husband in the garden every morning and decided that was the standard to which every jealous, miserable loser must behave when they see someone doing something normal.

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Jesse S.'s avatar

Exactly this! I mean, i've hung out in countless apartments like that in my 20s, all the stuff inside either held onto since college, leftover from past tenants, or picked up at stoop sales and flea markets.

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GuyInPlace's avatar

I moved away after college and would later find my college stuff at parties at random people's houses when I came back to the area.

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Jesse S.'s avatar

One party I went to had a... ahem... "borrowed" subway sign.

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Sebastien H's avatar

I need to write this up, but a big part of twitter toxicity is that a lot of prominent posters’ style of talking and arguing were formed in the pressure cooker of highly argumentative forum subcultures - Reddit and 4chan on the right (libertarian and fascist wings), and tumblr and somethingawful on the left (woke and asshole wings). But they have since left those forums and emerged into the Twitter thunderdome

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Eric C.'s avatar

The key is the rug, which really ties that room together. Rugs like that cost either $200 or $12,000, which makes it hard to tell how rich they are.

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Will I Am's avatar

This is why people become Nazis. When you have nothing in life but negativity, where else do you have to go but down?

If hatred and negativity are like drugs, then imagine discovering the wonders of right-wing extremism: literally all of your pain in life is caused by Jews (also Blacks, Gays, Immigrants - the people the Jews allegedly want to replace you with).

It's literally like a junkie finding a giant suitcase full of heroin.

Left-wing extemism is a little bit similar in its toxicity, but requires a certain degree of self-flagellation ("I've been a part of an evil capitalist system!" or "I bear the guilt of my white oppressorship!") that might not be everyone's cup of tea. Not everyone would be into the masochism of left wing politics.

But far-right politics is just straight up fear and loathing, a race to the bottom of your psyche. This is why so many of these guys are also into pedophilia - same idea, a race to the bottom: "How can I be the most vile and horrible person?"

Far-right beliefs are sadism. Far-left beliefs are masochism.

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awesomizer's avatar

Ngl, I do get envious about look-how-cool-my-friends-are pics. But I don’t think it follow that people need to stop having friends, or apartments!

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Toiler On the Sea's avatar

"Anyway, I will return to Twitter"

For fuck's sake why? After everything you just said, it's like a drug addict describing Queensbridge circa 1989 and saying they plan to move back there after escaping to Wisconsin.

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Cartoons Hate Her's avatar

Because you guys like MST!

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James's avatar

I have honestly felt bad about this! It's true, as a reader, MST is great. But in all seriousness, it isn't worth it if it's making it hard for you to avoid the impact of all the negativity to your personal life. You put out so much great stuff without MST! You don't need to be a hostage to it.

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Pedro Leon de la Barra's avatar

No way. I pay so she can damage her brain compiling all this material so I don’t have to.

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drosophilist's avatar

Seconding what James said. You don’t have to do this! Either do slightly less deranged, Xitter-free MST or forgo MST altogether. We’ll still love you anyway! 😊

Also, snakes. 🐍

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Sharty's avatar

Fun fact: youtube.com/@snakediscovery

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Testname's avatar

We thank you for your service

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Person with Internet Access's avatar

Gotta get an intern for this stuff Yglesias style.

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James's avatar

You know what the best part of my Sunday is? It's for about ten seconds when I open up Substack and get to the Cartoons Hate Her feed. 'Cause I think maybe I'll get there and I'll look for the Many Such Takes and it won't be there. No goodbye, no "see ya later", no nothin'. You just left Twitter.

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Ben's avatar

The funny thing is I read MST as mystery science theater, and thought "yeah, I guess this newsletter is kind of like that"

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Matt S's avatar

If you don't want to be on twitter but still want to write the articles, you could try outsourcing the "research" phase

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Jesse S.'s avatar

That just looks like a cluttered apartment that 20 somethings would rent together and get a bunch of tchotchkes from stoop sales and flea markets to make it look cozy. People are nuts!

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Lila Krishna's avatar

If they find this crazy, i wonder about their living conditions? Mom's house?

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Sailor Io's avatar

Yeah that’s what gets me — it’s very easy to accumulate Stuff like this (especially over many years) without having a lot of genuine wealth. Ask me how I know!

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Jesse S.'s avatar

There’s this weird flex these days online (that reminds me of this famous Monty Python sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7wM0QC5LE) Where people want to brag that anything remotely pleasant is a sign of gross wealth. “You got an ice cream one summer by the beach as a kid? Wow UP AGAINST THE WALL FOR YOU!”

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Sailor Io's avatar

It’s so funny because it positions itself as progressive, but it’s not that far removed from when conservatives complain that someone on welfare owns an iPhone or goes to a nice restaurant once in a while. Or that food stamp recipients are using them for something beyond the barest of necessities.

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Jesse S.'s avatar

Exactly! “Wow, you have friends? Tell me you’re bougie without telling me…”

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Matt's avatar

Many Such Snakes.

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Cartoons Hate Her's avatar

LOLOLOL

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Eric S.'s avatar
1dEdited

it is true that when these guys receive a revelation from god, it's always "god wants me to bang a bunch of women". (That’s right on page one of the cult leader handbook!) it's never "god wants me to make sacrifices for the good of the world". well, other than Jesus, of course.

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GuyInPlace's avatar

It's amazing how these people never hear "God told me to work hard, go to medical school and dedicate myself to AIDS research" or something useful to broader humanity.

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Sailor Io's avatar

It’s not even just sleazy dudes. Anyone who grew up around “personal relationship with Jesus” evangelicals (I wasn’t raised by them, but I went to public school in the suburban Midwest) has a million stories of when their friends insisted “God was calling them” to do something, and it was always something they really wanted to do but their parents or other authority figures said no. I remember when a homeschooler friend I knew from a community youth orchestra I was in posted on Facebook about how “God was calling her” to go to Liberty University but her parents didn’t want her to (because I guess even if they were fundie enough to homeschool her in an area with good public schools, they still wanted her to get a better college education than that place offers). Whenever I asked them what made them think it was God calling on them it was always something along the lines of “I want something really bad and I prayed on it and still want it.” Ok, well, I also can have strong and persistent cravings for specific things without believing in God and somehow this doesn’t sound all that different.

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Prince(ss)O'Wales's avatar

Love that even fundie parents were like "Liberty? Oof you can do better than that".

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Matt S's avatar

It's not just Jesus - there are dozens of people who are called by God to service

https://www.npr.org/2025/08/19/nx-s1-5476267/the-number-of-shakers-in-the-u-s-rises-to-3

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Sailor Io's avatar

They generally don’t talk about it in the same way, though.

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KetamineCal's avatar

Movers and Shakers indeed.

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angrybk's avatar

I can’t get over the dental appointments thing! Like, is it dom to make the sub’s dental appointments or to have her make them for you?

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Alex's avatar

The synthesis between "millenials get anxiety from trying to schedule an appointment on the phone" and "zoomers are all porn-brained trad weirdos."

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Lila Krishna's avatar

Maybe the sub has to make them and then-- attend them. Experience pain.

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Cartoons Hate Her's avatar

This might be why my husband makes me eat Sludge

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a.j. archer's avatar

my thing w sludge is why are the onions necessary. like how much nutritional value can they possibly have. why not make it w onion-free vegetable blends.

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Prince(ss)O'Wales's avatar

It's the Steve Martin/Bill Murray scene from *Little Ship Of Horrors*

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jrhurren's avatar

Re, Twitter - your life will be better off without it. Yes, there are a couple good things on there. But in general, the negatives far outweigh the positives and that makes your short life on Earth worse. I tried BlueSky and similarly didn’t last 24 hours. There seems a certain “frog in a boiling pot” phenomenon where I don’t think people realize how bad it’s gotten because it’s been that way for years now. But when you walk in with fresh eyes, it’s almost insane how poorly humans treat each other.

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Sharty's avatar

The other day, I realized we should not call it your "feed". We should call it your "trough".

Eat up, little piggy! Eat up, eat up for the fattening!

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Prince(ss)O'Wales's avatar

Godly polyamory guy has seven kids. Oh his poor wife. Gurl he straight up trapped you.

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Cartoons Hate Her's avatar

Terrifying actually.

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The Cultural Romantic's avatar

BDSM is just “I just want to be a worm” gender slop at this point.

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Lila Krishna's avatar

I got the vibe that it's being a baby. Something gives me the feeling that the people who want this life didn't get a chance to be a baby enough at the appropriate age.

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Alex's avatar

This kind of affect is everywhere, not even relegated to kink. Like adult LEGO and Harry Potter and Disney stuff, along with talk about "adulting" and being "three raccoons in a trench coat," there's just a compliment of people who decided to chase the high of having a pizza party birthday and resent the fact that they have to be responsible grown ups.

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Mara U.'s avatar

I have a husband, two children, a mortgage, a law license, and a display of Harry Potter Lego minifigues. It’s really not that deep.

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Lila Krishna's avatar

Most people who talk about adulting are actually doing grownup things. Actual people in arrested development are not as self-aware and justify their life in some or the other way.

I dont think adults enjoying material originally meant for kids is that much of an issue - these brands actively courted the kids as they grew up. You even get architect lego sets that are quite serious. With Harry Potter, the characters aged with you. Disney... idk, but they are based on timeless stories that are meant to teach you values, and it's not that crazy to use them as cultural touchpoints. I see my own kid grow out of media that isn't targeted at her anymore, but stuff like Disney does a very four-quadrant targeting so the whole family finds something to enjoy in it.

There are some people who make these things their whole life, and those are the folks I'd wonder about. The ones I knew had some sort of intense trauma happen at a young age (parents divorce, typically).and they soothed themselves with Disney movies, and since that pain didnt go away for them, they still self-soothe with Disney.

Wouldn't be surprised if the control kink is something similar.

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Sailor Io's avatar

I find it a little more weird when people are into children’s media they discovered as an adult (like YA adults, or the Bluey adults who are not parents) but even then most of those people aren’t particularly maladjusted relative to other people their age; they’ve just decided they prefer unchallenging comfort food in one area of their life. I remember going to fan conventions when the “brony” thing was at its height in the early 2010s. For the most part, the bronies weren’t any weirder than any other nerds at those cons who were there for comic books or anime or sci-fi. The ones who lived with their parents were usually people of an age where it is normal to live with their parents. Eventually that seemed to shift, but only because it stopped being the big new shiny nerd thing, most people left, and then it was basically only 4chan incel types — and it wasn’t the ponies giving them brain worms, it was the 4chan and incel stuff.

But yeah, being into Disney and HP because it’s part of your childhood doesn’t say anything about your overall maturity and it’s also nothing new—can find plenty of examples of Boomers and Gen X shelling out for childhood nostalgia. A significant chunk of Disney adults are over 50.

There were some attempts by some popular thinkpieces to connect the popularity of Disney or Harry Potter with adults with the “I just want to be a sexy baby” “I’m too hot to work” “I don’t dream of labor” immaturity, but I always thought it was a reach. For starters, a lot of nerdy and fandom hobbies, from cosplay to putting together elaborate Lego sets and gunpla, are in fact a ton of work! These are not people afraid to put effort into things and lift fingers. I also feel like I see the “sexy baby” stuff from people who would insist they are way too hot and cool to get within ten feet of anything that could be described as “fandom.”

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Lila Krishna's avatar

Oh yeah. Discovering YA stuff as an adult isn't so bad, but kids material isn't great.

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Sailor Io's avatar

And in terms of brands for 90s-00s kids stuff courting Millennials and Gen Z as they grow — a huge chunk of what you’ll find on the big official Pokemon merch site, Pokemon Center, is stuff that is specifically for adults. Wedding invitations and cake toppers. Baby shower decorations. Gardening tools. Fancy dinnerware and place settings and table runners with a subtle Pikachu theme. Those are not there for little kids! And they are also not there for the kinds of adults who never leave their parents’ basement either; these are specifically oriented around milestones like home ownership, marriage and parenthood because there are adults who have achieved those who buy Pokemon stuff. Case in point: My sister and her husband had those plates on their wedding registry. And it’s the same deal for Disney, Harry Potter, Star Wars and so on.

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The Cultural Romantic's avatar

Why can’t both people be babies together omggg

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Lila Krishna's avatar

I had a very weird experience once. Dated a guy. He was into some weird kink stuff and we decided it's not gonna work. Years later, he reached out and asked me if I'd come over and Dom him and his wife, because apparently im very bossy. I said no and blocked him.

Maybe this is what that is? Them getting to be babies together?

Feels like it comes from an impulse to relive their issues and make it better, but then they just like keep retraumatizing themselves.

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The Cultural Romantic's avatar

Sigh. Sounds exhausting. I just freak out and run away the moment people start talking about these things. One of the reasons why I’m still single cause this sort of thing has become so common now.

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Lila Krishna's avatar

I feel you. This was really hard to navigate while dating.

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GuyInPlace's avatar

That's so sad it's become common. I have like one friend who is in that type of scene and my main takeaway from interacting with their friends who are also in it is that there's a lot of people who have unresolved mental issues and are too online.

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The Cultural Romantic's avatar

I think for a lot of people it’s also a lack of language with which to talk about desire. I wrote about how people kept saying I was a “sub” and I was kind of pushed into accepting that definition of myself when I don’t even believe that domination and submission is a thing with me. https://open.substack.com/pub/theculturalromantic/p/they-said-i-was-a-sub-but-i-am-a?r=2uunh&utm_medium=ios

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Matt S's avatar

If both partners make each other feel really safe that's kind of what a relationship feels like

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The Cultural Romantic's avatar

one can only dream

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KetamineCal's avatar

Everyone wants to be the baby, but no one wants to be the pedophile.

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The Cultural Romantic's avatar

oh jesus christ!

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The Unlucky Conqueror's avatar

I'm not even angry or outraged by the reaction to the apartment tweet. The accusations of Ai; the awkward use of "privilege" as a insult; the foot fetish guy. It's all just so... pathetic. Being a social media user is becoming more and more uncool by the day and I'm lovin every minute of it Jerry.

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KH's avatar

I am sorry that is the experience for me and I can relate so much bc this is literally why I quit Twitter as well as my bad habit of trying to see for reassurance whenever I see news that makes me anxious…

And the righteous rage and deride I think is very addictive and may of us including myself easy fall for “actively looking for things to be mad about and feel superior that you are better than them”…

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Thomas's avatar

I have many vices but I'm glad a Twitter account is not one of them.

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James's avatar

If you’re not sleeping on a mattress on the floor with your clothes in a pile, are you really down with the common man’s struggle? If you don’t eschew your friends in favor of staring at the bare wall painted eggshell-landlord-special-white, then you’re the most privileged snowflake on the internet.

Alternative decorations include:

- only decorations are marvel Funko Pops on shelves with LED backlighting so that your audience of four on Twitch can see you’re a real fan

- That one huge mushroom cloud poster your RA had on his wall in the dorms. You asked for it at the end of the semester and he gave it to you because he was graduating. You’ve put it up in every bedroom you’ve had for the last ten years.

- Another 72in television.

- Stacks of sneaker boxes on top of an IKEA pull-out bed sofa. A drum set. Electric unicycle. Two hundred pounds of assorted kettle bells, collecting dust. You don’t walk through this room so much as climb. Your roommates keep closing the door whenever it’s open because of the smell.

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Mary's avatar

I’m pretty sure that girl wants a mom. Which frankly, most men are not socialized to be.

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Sailor Io's avatar

The "Total Power Exchange" thing reminds me of the Internet drama over the woman who was in a 24/7 BDSM relationship like that, and insisted that therefore her coworkers needed to refer to her husband as "her master," or they were discriminating against her relationship and it was just like homophobia or something.

Of course, if I remember correctly, this was on Reddit, so more than likely it was a troll. But it did contribute to The Discourse on Twitter for a while. Some of the BDSM discourse can get really out there!

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