I am a mod of a dedicated niche Discord fanclub server. We run the server well enough that the actual creator of the thing we like & owner/admin of the official server pops in occasionally to say hi, interact, and give updates on events & future releases. Hell, even the mod team from the official server joined our server for a more casual experience.

If I wasn't passionate about the subject, there's no way I'd be helping to maintain it out of the "good of my heart". The work of moderating something with an ultra-large fanbase? If you don't truly and passionately care about it, forget it! And even if you did, it can still be too much of am endeavor to put up with for free!

To let just any rando moderate a community will lead to its downfall. I'm especially worried when it comes to things like mental health & recovery subs.

I've been wanting to learn German for years now, specifically because "ich_iel" looked really fun.

Guess now is as good of a time as any!

My best friend had this happen to him. Except he's over 30.

He now worships T×m P×ol, El×n M×sk, and J×e R×gan. He also thinks that Tr×mp is "the ultimate epic troll".

He finally started saying that c×vid is fake & trans folks should be "purged". He also still thinks that you can catch AIDS from a toilet seat or a handshake.

His critical thinking skills have eroded to the point where I don't even recognize him anymore. He just parrots talking points from grifter podcasts.

We are no longer friends. I miss the "old" him everyday.

I don't argue anymore. You can't logic them out of something they didn't logic themselves into.

My father is too far gone and considered an "intellectual" man. My mom thinks she's "not that smart" (cool, thanks da), but she's become so much more open and accepting as she's gotten older and has shifted a lot of her views to be more progressive. Maybe because she realizes that my father, despite being very intelligent, is also an absolute moron who wrecks all his relationships. They're still together, though.

Therapy can help you cope with the situation, yeah.

My siblings are almost fully split on our views on religion and stuff.

Youngest to oldest: pastor, party girl, anxious wreck withdrawn from society, ex-military, brow-beaten family man, severe mental-illness-ridden mother, literal cult member, golden child/took over family business, ex-Rainbow gathering stereotype, and depressed IT guy who loves drugs, dogs, and the outdoors.

Things get better when you get far away from parents like this. Seriously.

ADHD advice from non-ADHD-havers has always been infuriating.

It's like yelling at a drowning person with no arms to "swim better!"

I will warn you right now: regardless of their claims to be LGBTQ+ inclusive, they mercilessly harass users and fracture communities. I have left a couple other instances over their federation with them because of the constant harassment for any kind of perceived slight (I was accosted because they thought I had implied something about autistic folks? When in fact I was trying to make myself understood as an autistic person!).

You are making a huge mistake with this decision. But, obviously, as a user, I can only wish you well if this is the direction you choose. You will be making so much more work for yourself by doing this and putting a lot of stress on users who did not sign up for what is to come.

Best of luck.

My ex-spouse actually did the "tighten all the lids in the house"–thing when he was angry with me.

I had very little issue opening them. He did, though, which is when he was forced to confess what he did.

Fans keep buying the latest Pokémon games, which is why they'll never get an actually good Pokémon game.

You have arms, you coward.

Why go back to a site that harvests your data, forces you to use its shitty app, astroturfs posts, engages in vote manipulation, uses constant ragebait to up engagement, forces constant ads at you, and has a CEO in charge who will lie about an innocent person to make them look bad?

Not to mention the state of the userbase, right now.

No thank you.

I want to be able to trust someone enough to allow them to give me a hug. 🫠

Yeah, it wasn't great. They didn't believe in birth control and did very much believe that if they had another child, it was God's will & He would provide.

We're all pretty fucked up mentally. Don't love that part.

Yeah, my painful acne lasted far into adulthood. Found out it was 100% hormonal and finally got on something to treat it.

There's a lot of things that can cause acne.

Not that I have seen so far. :(

I know that folks have & will continue to do the "I don't dream of working"–thing, but I'll answer sincerely.

If I could do it in a way that could sustain me, I'd love to be able to design & make my own line of stuffed toys! I kind of do that right now, but it's not something I can do full-time and still survive.

I'd also love to do bearded dragon rescues/fostering/specialized veterinary care. I'm definitely not able to handle the schooling required to do any vet stuff, though. But I've done rescues/foster work in the past before I just couldn't handle the costs anymore.

Aye. Understanding it doesn't make them easier to get along with.

My da has unprocessed trauma yet refuses to address it, saying that his mental illness is cured because of Jesus. And if I was a good Christian, I would be cured, too.

Like.... my dude: a big part of my mental illnesses stem from my upbringing with you, but okay.

Kill?

I have no love for the guy, but jesus christ.

Grody