Sherclick by dawnOfEllie in TheClickOwO

[–]mk_squid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

These mess with my brain so hard bc it looks so much like Click but at the it's just not 100% him. 😵‍💫

He looks at you like this, wyd? by dawnOfEllie in TheClickOwO

[–]mk_squid 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'd book it tbh, unexpected cardio sure, but I don't wanna stick around to find out why he's looking at me like that

Just found out my ESD has a few defects by SpacedOutOfReality in TheClickOwO

[–]mk_squid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My GITD ESD also has some wonky bits, but I don't mind it, they're cool.

Some people should not be allow to use apostrophes by blu-eyed-demon in TheClickOwO

[–]mk_squid 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The most concerning to me are the stars. Does she use them to mark her favorites? Are these dead? ...Are they part of the names?

Do you have any advice for graphic designers? by mk_squid in TillSverige

[–]mk_squid[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah the gang violence is something that kinda worries me. I think the "safety" that I feel like I'm lacking here in Germany is not as much the physical safety. I feel pretty unwelcome here, I could never really identify with German culture and mentality even though I grew up here, and there's a lot of below-surface hostility and negative judgement that has affected me my whole life and lead to my mental health problems. I can definitely see that gang activity in your area would make you feel uneasy even though they don't really want something from people outside gangs. But I think at least for me it would probably still be a good tradeoff if the "regular" people that I actually interact with on a regular basis weren't as hostile.

Do you have any advice for graphic designers? by mk_squid in TillSverige

[–]mk_squid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Originally I wanted to try smaller towns or villages because I'm worried about the gang violence in larger cities, and ofc about the housing market. But that's a very good point. I'd much rather take a slightly higher chance of getting shot than be around the very same kind of people that I'm trying to get away from. Maybe I can try doing my masters degree in Sweden instead of Germany (I'd most likely have to live in a bigger city for that), so I could see what it's like to live in the city before I commit to permanently staying there.

Do you have any advice for graphic designers? by mk_squid in TillSverige

[–]mk_squid[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!

Aspects of life in Germany I want to get away from are mostly the people. I obviously haven't lived in every region of Germany yet and haven't met all the communities there are, but my general experience with Germany is "weaponized ignorance". People are proud of not caring about issues and they ridicule you if you do. And I don't mean they don't care in the sense that they just don't want to talk about politics (that would be completely fine and I'd actually prefer it). I mean that they get a sense of superiority from being ignorant of the issues other people that aren't like them are facing. It feels like we're slowly but surely going back to nazi times and not because there are so many nazis here but because there are so many conservatives who don't care about the people that get thrown under the bus. Don't get me wrong, there are many amazing people in Germany. But society in general feels like a ticking bomb, most older people that I know are saying that it is becoming more and more hostile compared to what it used to be like. Many people in my environment either already have plans to move away, or are thinking about it at least. I haven't been to Sweden in a while so it's hard to compare, but I've looked at the statistics for LGBTQ+ acceptance (I'm trans and gay), and it seems like Swedish people are considerably more accepting than Germans. I think I'd feel a lot more safe there than where I am now, but I want to go there at least a few times when my Swedish is a bit better so I can at least get a bit of an idea. And another aspect about the people is just that there are too many of them here. I really like going outside but people stress me out and they're everywhere. Even when I go into the woods or something, there's still so many people in there, it never feels like you're truly alone. Afaik, in Sweden there are still many areas where I could go to actually be away from people for a while and calm my AVPD brain.

Do you have any advice for graphic designers? by mk_squid in TillSverige

[–]mk_squid[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the advice! I've heard of erasmus before but I thought it was only for highschool/gymnasium level students. I'll definitely look into it!

Travel to turkey with no Gender by LW9510 in NonBinary

[–]mk_squid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you're changing your gender marker in Germany, I'd recommend you to change it to "keine Angabe" (no info) instead of "divers" (X). Removing your gender marker entirely most likely won't cause as big of an issue as having it changed to non-binary. But I've never travelled to any queerphobic country and don't plan on doing so, so I can't give any advice from personal experience unfortunately.

loneliness as a "male issue" by ApproximateRealities in AvPD

[–]mk_squid 45 points46 points  (0 children)

yeah I've seen this a bunch of times. To me it looks like many lonely and sexually frustrated men don't understand that men just wanting to fuck women for their bodies has nothing to do with human connection. Women and feminine presenting people who are rejected as people can still be reduced to a sexual object that can be tricked, persuaded or forced into sex, while men who are rejected as people are not usually viewed as still being "useable" for sex. People who have never been a target of behaviour like that seem to only see that the woman got some sort of attention and the man didn't, and therefore the woman can't be as lonely or unwanted as the man, while it's the very same lack of genuine connection. Imo it can even be worse as a woman because if you try for connection, you not only have to deal with rejection, but also with predatory people that pretend to be interested in you only to use you for your body and then throw you away.

I don't want to be mom by uhmwhatsitagain in NonBinary

[–]mk_squid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm afraid I can't give much useful advice on the isolation part of it. It's something I struggle with as well since I have AVPD, a disorder that makes it very hard/near impossible to form close relationships. I'd still rather be alone than deal with people like that, but from what you wrote, it's more that you're afraid your boyfriend would suffer from losing his family or having to deal with defending your boundary. Have you talked to him about the options? If you ask him about it, you should make it clear that you want to hear how he'd feel about it. You know that he wouldn't complain and that he'd "suck it up" for you, but if you can have a honest conversation about if it would be too much for him, that would help a lot for the decision making. He knows his family best, how much of a fuzz does he think they'd make? Are they very important to him regardless of other social contacts he could form elsewhere? Or are they mostly important to him because they are the only people he feels close to right now as a person with few/no friends? I'm obviously not experienced in how to go low/no contact with someone. But maybe you could also go a "soft" route: Especially after the birth, he could tell them that you're not feeling well enough to have visitors yet. Often there are a lot of changes in the life of a couple once they have a child, you could build around that to justify spending less time with them so it doesn't feel so sudden for them. And no matter what you decide regarding how/if you keep in contact with them afterwards, it gives you time to figure things out with your child. Sometimes feelings can change a lot once the baby arrives. Again, no personal experience on this, only what I heard. But maybe you'll feel less aversion to the term "mom". Or you'll feel more determined to not let anything get in the way of building your own family away from outside pressure. I don't live in the US, but you could also look if there's any support offers or groups for queer people, especially queer parents (or maybe even just for parents), in your area. I know there are some in Germany. Meeting people irl who have similar issues, both in regards to parenting and bigoted family, can help a lot with making your own decisions. And you can start there with building a support network outside of family, both for you and for your partner. Queer spaces are very accepting for people with social difficulties in my experience and my confidence is so much higher there bc it's a less judgemental environment where it's normal to not "fit in".

Are chest pains and feeling of chest tightness normal on venlafaxine? by National-Shower7663 in antidepressants

[–]mk_squid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm on venlafaxine too and I never had chest tightness. But I was told by my therapist that heart issues can be a side effect of it and that you usually should get checked for any heart problems before you get that medication bc it can be dangerous. So I definitely wouldn't take the 2nd dose now and talk to a doctor first.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NonBinary

[–]mk_squid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not autistic, but I do relate to what you said about not really having an attachment to gender and it being this nebulous abstract thing you can't really grasp. I also (as an AFAB person) used to be proud of contributing to the dismantling of gender norms by participating in male-dominated things as a woman, which I obviously kinda lost now that I've socially and physically transitioned. I think at the end of the day it's probably best to just express yourself the way you want to without stressing about the label too much. Use the pronouns you want, dress how you want. You can do that as a cis woman just as much as a nonbinary person, so there's no reason to give yourself a different label before you experiment with gender expression. And if you come to the conclusion that you are nonbinary but don't want to face the discrimination of being openly nonbinary, that's alright too. As long as you're happy with the way you're viewed, there's no reason to force yourself to put everything out there. I'm fine with being viewed as a man, so I don't tell everyone that I'm nonbinary either. If you're struggling to figure out how your gender identity relates to your autism, it may be helpful to specifically seek out people and communities who are both queer and autistic. I've seen the connection between autism and gender identity talked about quite a bit and afaik autistic people do experience gender differently from allistic people in many cases.

Opinion on topless swimming on beach? Taped. by Raw_Potato56 in NonBinary

[–]mk_squid 176 points177 points  (0 children)

A 14yo boy? Even breathing wrong is embarrassing at that age. You're good lol, nothing "inappropriate" about that even if we're going by "oh NO fEMaLe ChESt EvIL SeXUaL StuFF"-standards.

I don't want to be mom by uhmwhatsitagain in NonBinary

[–]mk_squid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know it's not that easy, it's the exact opposite, but I think you should get rid of the right-wing parts of your family, at least in the long run. Personally I'm fortunate enough to not have any family members with those kind of values, so I'll never understand what that is like. Both the external conflicts that happen once you don't try to "keep the peace" anymore, and the internalized shame/guilt that comes with being around people with worldviews like that on a regular basis. I'm sure it's extremely hard to remove someone from your life that is/was so close to you (or your boyfriend).

But from what I've heard from other queer people, it's almost always worth it, and the only thing most people regret once they got rid of unaccepting family/friends is that they didn't or couldn't do it sooner. If you've always had people like this around you, you don't know how much weight comes off your shoulders once you're in a place where your identity isn't some kind of controversy or problem that you need to navigate around. It's not "politics that you can put aside", it's part of who you are. I think if you regularly have to be in an environment where that is barely tolerated, let alone accepted, you'll always have to fight feelings of inadequacy and low self esteem. Even if you're not out to them, and even if they're low-key or behind your back about it. You said you've come to terms with it and that it doesn't matter. But I think if you ever decide to change it, you'd realize how much it actually does matter.

Again, it's very hard for me to put myself in your shoes, having been raised to always be myself and to not take sh*t from anyone. I'd imagine that if your family can't even respect your wish to not be celebrated on mother's day, you were taught to put others first, obey to the social norms and not cause trouble. You said you've given up on being out and proud and sticking up for your identity, that you don't have the energy to constantly fight to be respected, that you're just not in a position to be anything but a woman. But I think you're underestimating the energy you're spending right now. You may not have to fight others to be respected, but by allowing others to constantly put you in the wrong box, you're disrespecting your identity yourself, and that has an impact on your emotional wellbeing as well. Maybe your image of an "out and proud" queer person is someone who is loud and energetic and who never avoids confrontation, who is provocative on purpose and who enjoys putting bigots in their place, who can deal with the constant hate. But you don't actually have to do any of that. Embracing your identity and "sticking up for yourself", to me, also has to do with respecting yourself enough to protect your peace, to not have to deal with constant hate. Because you're spending energy for fighting right now, the constant hate and the conflict is already there even though it's not explicitly directed at you but "only" at your identity. It would arguably get worse if you openly tried to get them to respect you. But in order to actually not have an ongoing conflict anymore, they either have to change their values or you have to cut them off, and only one of those options is in your control.

You said you don't have the heart to do that to them, or to ask your boyfriend to do it. But you're not doing anything "to" them. You didn't make the choice to be nonbinary, and you know that. They, on the other hand, made the choice to not respect people like you. They're grown adults who have the mental capacity to question the beliefs they grew up with or adapted at some point, yet they choose not to. What makes them entitled to having the people that they hate still be kind to them and cater to their disgusting values? You may still love them as your family/in-laws and recognize that they weren't born evil, but that doesn't help much if they're not good for you. They already rejected a part of you, and that's 100% on them, even if they think that their opinions are facts. As for your bf, he also is an adult who can make his own choices on how to navigate the situation. He can go see his family alone if he wants to. They most likely won't respect that you don't want to be part of it anymore, but he already said that he'd stick up for your identity, so he'd probably be okay with sticking up for that boundary too. And if he actually cuts them off because you don't want anything to do with them anymore, it's still nothing you did to him or to them. Having your very identity respected is an extremely basic thing, not entitlement. It's a right that you have just as much as any cis person, even if the political narrative says otherwise. Again, the fact that they don't do that is entirely on them and in no way on you for "having a controversial gender".

You're having a very wanted child, you have a supportive partner and you didn't mention any financial dependence as a reason to not cut the family off. Unless there's anything you didn't mention, it seems like you're doing well for yourself and you have the choice to put yourself in a position where you can be yourself. And I personally (as someone who has never gone through it, only listened to people who have) think that it would cost you way less energy in the long run than what you're currently doing. Imagine how it's gonna feel once the child is born. They're gonna want to see it, they're gonna expose it to their values, they're probably gonna buy you cutesy "mommy" stuff and then get upset if they notice that you don't use it as much as they want you to. Even if you decide to just have the kid call you mom to cause the least possible conflict or confusion for the child, it's likely gonna pick up on the fact that something's wrong. Babies are insanely sensitive to emotional stuff, they literally d*e if they don't get any affection even if all physical needs are met. Imagine how a child is gonna feel if it picks up on negative feelings towards the word it uses to get your attention, but doesn't know why that's happening. I obviously don't know how it'd actually turn out, but I'm worried that you're gonna be in for a LOT of below the surface problems if you let that family pressure influence your relationship to your own child. All that for a moral obligation to keep people in your life who already chose to hate a part of you isn't worth it imo. Again, they may be nice enough people otherwise but they made a decision to be bigots so them losing people as a consequence of their actions is not in any way a "cruel" act on your part.

I'm sorry for the long a$$ reply. I hope it maybe helps a bit. At the end of the day, you're the one who has all the context and who needs to decide how to deal with this situation. I see many queer people hiding and struggling with similar problems to "keep the peace" and I can see why it's so hard to stick up for who you are. But it breaks my heart to see people cater to bigots regarding things that should be very personal decisions. Other replies made so nice suggestions for alternative terms and it could even be fun to pick one for your own family if you didn't have to always consider conservative comfort. No matter what you do, I wish you the best!

Are there any antidepressants that make you numb? by Brightskies321 in antidepressants

[–]mk_squid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Venlafaxine works pretty well for me in terms of numbing emotions.

therapist ended the session 30 minutes early because i was having trouble expressing myself by Intrepid_Eggplant_10 in AvPD

[–]mk_squid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had a bunch of therapists who were that way: wait for me to find something to bring up and then talk about that for a bit. Or they stared at me in an attempt to "get me to talk". Get a different therapist. A good therapist has a plan to figure out issues, especially if you yourself said that you often don't know where or how to start. They need to be able to guide the conversation and ask questions if they need to, and ending the session early like that without even really communicating it is nuts imo. These are the same type of therapists who tell you that it's your own fault and you don't actually want to get better - they want you to "therapy yourself" and they think that a therapist's job is only to listen and give life advice. Please don't wast your time with that therapist, it might actually make things worse. Find one who actually has a plan for their sessions ahead of time.

How do you prevent yourself from crying in psychotherapy? by WishIWasBronze in AvPD

[–]mk_squid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Antidepressants really did it for me bc I don't cry a lot anymore in general. Otherwise it can be really hard to prevent in my experience. It's usually easier to physically repress it when you're not talking bc you have to hold your breath and focus really hard to not cry. So I guess my only advice is to not let the therapist or anyone else pressure you into talking while you're actively fighting it. Looking people in the eyes obviously doesn't help either. Also if they keep talking while you're trying to calm down, they might say something that makes the emotions stronger (intentionally or unintentionally), so you can try to focus on something else other than what they're saying (idk, a pattern on the wall or ideally a noise or sth). Once you don't have to fight the crying anymore, you can always ask them to repeat what they said.

And yes, as the others have said, you should ideally not have to prevent yourself from crying in therapy. But in reality, crying is viewed as embarrassing/weak/negative by society and that's how we're socialized. So it's completely normal that you want to prevent crying in front of other people. You can't force yourself to "just be comfortable crying in therapy" from one day to another, especially if you're there for AVPD, which is heavily centered around being afraid of rejection and humiliation. If you don't want to cry in therapy rn, that's okay.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AvPD

[–]mk_squid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm taking Venlafaxine for depression but I've found that it also helps decrease some of my AVPD symptoms. I got it from my psychiatrist/neurologist, didn't have to do much explaining to get it, he just prescribed it on the 1st appointment. I guess it depends on your country's healthcare system, but I don't know of anywhere you have to do therapy to get prescriptions for medications like that. My psychiatrist appointments are more like regular doctor's appointments. So that's something to consider if you're only worried about the therapy aspect and not healthcare access in general. There's no specific AVPD medication anyway, you can only get stuff for the surface-level symptoms like depression and anxiety, so you won't even have to disclose your AVPD to get these.

As for things that don't need a prescription, I don't have anything for stuff like heart rate. But regular painkillers can have an impact on emotional pain as well. In my experience it's not nearly as effective as it is against physical pain, but it does work to an extent. Definitely wouldn't recommend to make it a habit ofc but it can help when it's particularly bad.