It hurts my heart to think that there’s so much negative self-talk and so few avenues for human interaction available to humans, regardless of age. Misanthropy toward oneself invariably leads to the same hate projected onto others.

Misogyny has developed into something of a sport in the current frame. There are so many forms of misogyny that it’s getting difficult to keep track:

• “how dare they seek equal status as men” — in educational, economical, or authoritative power.

• “how dare the deny a man access” — for ogling, groping, or raping.

• “how dare they speak among men” — communicating, captivating, and commanding in the domain of ideas.

• “how dare they take control” — of their own bodies, of their own thoughts and feelings, and of their own roles in society.

• “how dare they make any demand” — for justice, for peace, for sustainability, or for care in the community.

• “how dare they corrupt our culture” — one that relegated women to the nursery, the laundry, the kitchen, and the boudoir in service of men.

Some people immerse themselves in hate and are, primarily, driven by the motivating clarity of hate. The statistics bear it out. It is primarily men who violently inflict hate.

Sure, there’s therapy, but what sense is there in having one, 50 minute safe space per week or month — for those who can afford it — against a relentless tide of destructive ideation? In the chauvinistic “West,” advertisers, marketers, television executives, filmmakers, pornographers, and politicians all drive the singular narrative — be better. You still won’t be good enough. People have limitless access to shit that will make them feel worse and few outlets to make them feel better. For some youth, the Incel subculture is going to get pretty crowded. The world is often a sickening, imbalanced, thoughtless, and uncaring place.

It is also a place capable of inspiring wonder, exhibiting grace, and delivering monumental challenges. The ability to see the world differently is governed, often, by the other ideas and perspectives we encounter. Isolation is the enemy.

If you are a person who has a man such as this in your circle, if you uncover this type of torment, or if you see a pattern of behaviour forming, and — most importantly — if you are yourself resources enough to do so, intervene. Be a friend, a neighbour, a confidant, a coffee companion, a gaming buddy — build positive relations. Help that person to short circuit the destructive pathways. Show them another way is possible.

Well, I’m not sure I like it, but there’s definitely some good writing going on there. The character is internally consistent, and it’s believable within that context. That’s not as minor a compliment as it might seem.

Crafting a character that’s believable within a story is a fuck ton harder than it looks, even for short fiction.

And it matches with real life experiences I’ve had with incels, and with non incels that had bad patches.

It’s no fucking joke that regular human contact, physical contact, is a basic need. And having it come from a partner is a different kind of fulfillment for anyone that is sexual and/or romantic. There are people that don’t have those specific needs, but even they still have the need to be properly embraced for who they are, as they are.

Being touch starved is a horrible thing. I’ve experienced it to a limited degree while I was recovering from an injury, dumped by a partner, and with the handful of people I would normally hug and touch with affection being unavailable. With all of the crap going on, not having good physical contact was brutal. And I wasn’t even entirely without touch, it was just severely limited by the combination of my physical limits, and the availability of my support network at the time.

Skin hunger, touch starvation, it fucking eats at you, even as an adult with self awareness and a long history of having good people around you.

Someone stuck in it the way that character was? With nobody to help pull him out of it, I can totally believe that charges character. And there’s plenty of people that will either not recognize a helping hand, or will outright reject it.

Even with great friends, friends I can cuddle with, there’s still something more to cuddling with a partner. No sex involved, just being in contact, watching a movie and chilling, there is a different kind of fulfillment there that nothing else matches. I can very easily see a spiral into a homicidal state when someone is starved of that, of even the hope of it.

That’s why I think the comic is well written. It’s believable, and I’m just amazed it doesn’t happen often in the real world.

Also, just like in real life, I could see points in the story where one helping hand could have changed it all. Just like in real life, the chances of it being offered amd accepted aren’t high. Once a person starts spiraling, they become very difficult to be around. They’re less and less tolerable as it continues. If they can’t or won’t take the hand offered to them and use it to pull themselves out of the spiral, it won’t even work. So they’re getting worse, and you have to eventually decide if you can endure them when they simply don’t shift their perception.

So, I guess what I’m saying is that this was a great fucking post! Has me thinking, and thinking hard. Thanks for sharing it

Probably saying too much about me, but I feel for him for most of the first 8 pages. I’m in my 30s and I feel like everything has past me and I’ll never have been loved how I want to be in my life. Some of those experiences like encountering someone who tears you down without meaning to can also rot in your head for a decade. I’ve never wanted revenge though. I have wanted to do something if I saw some of them again, but what I wanted to do was ask why my demeanor bothered them. I just would like them to help me improve myself. I don’t deserve a response though. I’ve even had some positive moments with some women as friends, without expecting anything more. I know how a lot of the other thoughts can burn in your head. I’m fortunate. I have a few close friends who are real people, and I make a good salary. I like to think I’m a good person, and my friends tell me I’m an attractive enough man. I don’t really know what makes a man attractive myself. It doesn’t translate directly into a good relationship. I think I missed something that I never can get back. It may just be time. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve had good friends that kept me grounded. I think this explains these kind of people’s feelings well. It’s easy to get into these traps of thinking it’s all about money and appearance. Don’t blame others for it, sometimes it happens, or sometimes it’s something undescribable. Or blame the way corporate America has set up dating apps. I swear I must have spent over 10,000 dollars to these greed holes over the past ten years.

There is at least a portion of this that is just laziness, pretty much everyone but the richest and most attractive people have to work for companionship. It has become more difficult for everyone else in the past 10-ish years as our society has become increasingly atomized socially but that’s as much quarter as I’m willing to give these women hating assholes who want a sex and chore slave instead of a relationship

Holy Insecurity, Batman! Ugly people find love all the fucking time. “I’m ugly, so no woman will ever touch me, so I am sad and alone.” What a crock of shit.