Thanks, but it's not fair to call me cute when we don't know what you look like

@morebacon @parisqeen @calvinoot @releasethekraken @mikriarctos @tamikins123 There's a ton of great users/posters turned lurkers (or who disappeared) out there. I really like the users on this site right now but I do miss a bunch of y'all.

It is ENTIRELY possible to be cute without a physical appearance! It’s all about personality.

Glad to know I'm missed by some lol
I mostly lurk now, barely visit the site anymore.

It's true that a lot of us left because of stupid politics. This website helped me realise I was trans. How, you may ask? There were a lot of memes attacking trans people, and I felt mildly hurt by them. I was like "hey, you're not trans, why do you feel bad?" and then it clicked. I don't get why people have to make being trans political. It's totally unrelated. Another thing I didn't like was how America-centric this site was. It was like "great, another Trump meme". He's kind of a ridiculous guy, sure, but at a certain point it gets to be too much.

^ people made being trans political when they started making changes to language, advocating for the mutilation of children, asking for government funding, stripping others of their identities, etc. Whatever you feel about it, the moment they started doing these things it becomes a political issue.
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Pretending it isn't is somewhat disingenuous
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That said, turning this particular chat into a debate over trans issues seems counter-intuitive to the purpose of the chat

@silvermyth I feel sorry for you friend. I agree with you 100%.

@Sunflowers made an appearance a short while ago but didn't stay for very long I don't think?
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I haven't seen shikharizard in over a hear, but he was doing well the last time I did see him.
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@jasonmon might have an update about @aviva but idk for sure

Tbh I took a break from this website for awhile and one of the very first encounters I had when I returned was another user losing their damn mind because a user they didn't like had existed. Not even near User 1. User 1 had to come to a post about user 2 to start shit with them.
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The first user quit the website after I told them to essentially take that toxicity and shove it
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Another user quit recently after months of racism, derogatory comments, and something very similar to harassment
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There ARE some good users here, and I used to be more dedicated to trying to be wholesome and civil, but I've genuinely grown tired of catering to people that treat other users like that on this website

Oh yeah, I need to give you my update someday. A lot has changed in my life lately. But @aviva is doing well, the last I heard! She checks in here occasionally and will be back at some point, I think.
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And yes, @silvermyth is another person I miss. I know there's a million people who vanished and I was trying to think of a few of the best. You tend to have interesting points of view and you post great content, like the other users I mentioned. Glad to know you're lurking! @xvarnah, there are definitely a loud few who have made anything trans political; I'm sure you see not everyone is like that. Just some annoying fools yelling at each other.

Thanks, @omar1992
@xvarnah See, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. People just putting words into my mouth. Assuming I support stuff I don't support just because I'm trans. I don't assume all women are radical feminists. Trans people existing isn't an invitation for you to talk about political things related to being trans. Like how black people existing isn't an invitation to talk about political issues related to being black. You catch my drift? If you want to talk politics, talk politics, don't attack people.
I don't want to clog up the chat, but I did want to clear up a few misconceptions that you had, so here's a link to a pastebin with all of the info and sources. https://pastebin.com/M2RMmaP1

And thanks jasonmon, it always feels nice to be appreciated. Something I still love about funsubstance is the sense of community.

@silvermyth I... didn't tell you you supported any of that? Not one word out of my mouth/fingers remotely said YOU support anything.
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I said: "These are the reasons it's considered a political issue." Followed by "Whatever your views are, these are reasons why politics are involved"
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Not a single thing I said was an attack on you. Or on a single other person. It didn't even remotely resemble an "attack."
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Please calm down. This is not the purpose of this thread. You can create a different thread to take my comment personally in if you like.

@jasonmon like I said -- I have no interest in turning this thread into a trans debate. I was merely addressing an issue silvermyth raised.
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And like I told silver -- if they want to stir that particular hornet's nest, then by all means.... But not here.
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Not directed at any of you in particular, but This is exactly the kind of shit that makes this website exhausting sometimes.
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I consider this matter closed on this thread as far as my involvement goes

@jasonmon as for Aviva -- I'm glad to hear she's still doing well for herself. And that you yourself seem to be in good spirits. Hopefully she keeps you updated :)

I said it once and I will say it again, I am going to be the betty white of the server; one day most, if not all people will be gone, and I will be sitting here with a hot cocoa in my hand reminiscing on the good days

I said that if people wanted to talk politics, they could just talk politics instead of attacking people. I didn't mean you specifically, when I wrote "you" I meant "one". I can see why that'd be unclear, though. So for that, I apologise. But yeah, I wasn't even here to debate stuff like pronouns and surgery, I was just saying that the website became pretty hostile to trans people, and it wasn't a good time, so I left.

Even though I was not mentioned here but yes, I stopped making conversations for this sole reason that people were not accomodating anymore. Some users would constantly say something bad or challenge others (not me, specifically). I found that very exhausting and tiring because this is one place which always radiated positivity even on the gloomiest of days. I lurk sometimes and respond if somebody mentions me but otherwise, I don't engage into conversations myself.

It's easier to just lurk and not get involved in big debates and discussions sometimes. This is meant to be FUN-substance afterall.

Yeah Aviva moved halfway across the world, from Nigeria to Russia.