I wear a bra because I feel weird when my tits are bouncing freely in public, or when I know that others can see my nipples. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with going braless, but I definitely have been conditioned to feel weird about it, and it’s hard to shake.

I have so many beautiful memories of playing BioShock. What a game. BioShock 2 was exciting, although not as good as the first one (to me), but very cool that I got to play as a Big Daddy. BioShock Infinite was just great - elements of the base game, but a genuinely fresh story that didn’t feel forced (ahem Bioshock 2…).

All that to say that this hurts to read. BioShock meant/means so much to me. I hate the current state of the gaming industry.

I think you’re right that this won’t change much in terms of how people vote, but I believe it will greatly increase the tension between MAGA Republicans and everyone else. It seems probable that there will be some form of violent outburst from them.

This helped me understand my brother a little more.

Cheez-It bottom crust, compact noodle/cheese interior, loose noodle/cheese top layer, crushed cheese Cheetos top border.

How dare you smear the good name of Mac n’ cheese like that

Noo that’s the wrong direction

Fantastic game. One of the ones that has stuck with me through the years.

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

I have a fair amount of freckles. I don’t come from or live in an area where it’s very common.

You’re a great dude, Margot Robbie.

No, but with all of the hype and excitement around it, I thought there was something extra-special about this movie. Like an interesting/unexpected story.

Barbie.

I like Margot Robbie. I like Ryan Gosling. I like fun movies. But idk, it just didn’t really appeal to me, and the plot felt predictable. I don’t regret watching it necessarily, but I also have no interest in watching it again.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

I’m half hispanic/white. I grew up with my Mexican family and spent most summers in Mexico visiting family. I’m fluent in spanish and mostly identify culturally with my Mexican side. But my dad was a very white guy from northeast Texas, so I look very white.

While in college, I found myself serving and eventually bartending at a popular Colombian restaurant/club. I got called a lot of nasty things by Latino folks who assumed I was appropriating their culture or thought I was mocking them. I’ve also had Latino folks talk shit about me in spanish in front of me - assuming I didn’t understand.

I often find myself playing it down or pretending I don’t know spanish so as not to upset people. It has to be a conscious decision because it’s very different from how I talk with my family.

Wish I had some cool, “I showed them” story, but I was always frustrated and hurt in those situations. It’s like all of my upbringing, experiences, and familial relationships didn’t matter because I don’t look like them.

**I’d just like to add that for as many rude Latino people I’ve met, I’ve met 4x as many wonderful Latino people.

Aside from politics, most things suck. Comedy helps most of us get through it. If you can’t find a reason to laugh at <absurd/sad thing>, all you have is <absurd/sad thing>.

I remember feeling this way about the cut scenes in Dante’s Inferno on Xb360.

Panino

Thank you for sharing a little about your own journey with your wife. I’m really happy to hear that y’all are in a better place now. I feel like too often, I hear about the couples that didn’t make it through something like this. Things like this certainly put a huge strain on a marriage, and many times it’s going to be what makes or breaks a couple.

I hope my husband and I are able to come out of this stronger as individuals and as a couple - like you and your wife. I think we’re definitely headed in the right direction.

Cheers!

They actually are. I tried talking to my husband about a lot of the suggestions I was given in this thread, but he wasn’t very receptive to really any of it. I’m trying to keep in mind that he comes from a background where being depressed and struggling emotionally is considered mental weakness. Not to mention, I feel like it’s really hard to accept you need help (or even feel like you can be helped) when you’re extremely depressed. But I said my piece, and he at least listened to everything I had to say before turning it all down. In the past, he would have cut me off to turn me down.

Maybe doesn’t sound too optimistic lol, but when I saw him shut down those advances, I tried one of the other suggested approaches where I made plans for things that I know he loves. We go bouldering together and we love it, but had kinda dropped off due to depression on both our ends, but I started getting that routine going again. He had also mentioned that one thing he was struggling with was understanding what he was working towards, because he couldn’t see any clear goal in mind. He just feels like he’s going through the motions without actually moving or progressing anywhere. We used to always do projects, but again, that had kinda dropped off due to depression and just life being busy. So I took the initiative to start a “Life List” outlining the projects we need to do, want to do, and just other fun things we’ve been wanting to do. Goal was to get the ball rolling so that we could both build this list together, prioritize, then essentially plan it out on a calendar to create realistic objectives.

I’ve never been good at planning - I’m more of an “on the fly” type person, but I see that he needs help getting going with this, because this is important to him.

Anyways, all of these gestures seem to have helped pull him out of the deep darkness, and he’s starting to feel more like himself again.

I know that the goal isn’t to get back to exactly where we were, but I feel like things are a little bit better in the sense that he’s been opening up to me a little more. Sharing more about his feelings, and more importantly, being honest about them. It’s a huge step in the right direction, because he in general seems more comfortable with addressing his feelings. Hopeful that in the future, he’ll be finally willing to open up to a professional that can help him work through his deep-seated trauma. Especially hope that he has the confidence and knowledge that I’ll be by his side the whole way (not literally, of course).

Sorry for the ramble. Means a lot that even though you don’t know me, you had the thought to check in. You and everyone else in this thread have been truly amazing. We’re not making leaps and bounds here, but any progress is good progress. :-)