I think you misinterpreted my comment entirely. I agree that those are healthier outlets than self harm. I was playfully implying that the examples you gave hint that you might live somewhere much nicer than my treeless, urban environment. I don’t think that you gave bad advice.

Rumor has it, if you say “a algorithm” three times, Hazel has a aneurysm.

Thank you for creating doig content!

Relaxed? They pace back and forth like they’re awaiting a jury verdict.

Thank you for creating merciful content!

Did you find that socially isolating at all? On one hand, and probably more a thought from my adult brain than something I would have agreed with back then, one doesn’t want friendships that are predicated on such things. On the other hand, it sure looked like they were having a lot of fun playing Pokémon, whereas I didn’t know the first thing about it. It would have been an easy thing to use as common ground.

Watching your friend’s Tamagotchi while they’re away sounds almost humiliating though.

My sister and I, aged 9 and 6 respectively, were sitting in the car waiting for our father to grab a couple of things from the supermarket. My sister pointed at a girl sitting on a bench outside the store playing with a Tamagotchi. I’d never heard of it. My sister described it to me, and I liked the idea a lot. It sounded like this thing would be my friend, and I didn’t have a lot of those.

“Tell mum and dad to get you one!” I remember this phrasing, because it made me uncomfortable to even think of telling my parents to do anything for me. It bothered me that she felt it was acceptable to demand things like this. I did ask my father though, and he heaved a sigh before relenting. He’d bought one for one of his children, so he knew he couldn’t deny the other one. Maybe that’s why my sister thought I was in a strong position to be demanding.

At the toy shop, my father asked the store clerk for a Tamagotchi in a defeated and despairing way. “Oh yeah they all want those bloody things now, don’t they?” I can’t remember the exact quote, but I remember the two grown-ups agreeing that these Tamagotchi things are stupid and annoying. It was very clear that I was pushing my father into doing something he didn’t want to do, and enduring something he found bothersome in the future. I stood there in shame as he paid for the thing I was now pretty sure I didn’t want.

In my bedroom that evening, I pulled out the little tab that isolated the battery, and the Tamagotchi sprung to life. It didn’t feel like a friend at all. It felt like a dirty little secret. I played with it for a few minutes, but I just felt so guilty. By the next time I picked it up, the battery was almost dead. I wished so much that I had never asked for that thing.

I don’t think I experience 90s nostalgia in the same way as the majority of my peers. I remember the feel of the 90s, but all of these little toys and gadgets were things my parents despised, and either refused to have in the house, or begrudgingly allowed in very small doses while making their contempt for them very clear. Maybe that was for the best in a lot of ways, but it boxed me out of the 90s childhood that many seem to remember very fondly.

Li shouldn’t have to eat alone. Seeing this depiction of her eating alone makes me sad. And a bit panicked. Like I need to run to her and let her know that it’s okay to eat. She can take as long as she likes, and have as much as she wants. Of course, if it were me, I’d hate having someone sit with me while I eat. I wouldn’t want her to see that. My disgusting gluttony. So is this about me? Do I wish someone had run to me when I was shamefully eating by myself as a child, and told me it was okay and that I didn’t need to rush?

You know sometimes the stupidest shit really hits me like a freight train.

Thank you for creating relatable content. 💙

Avoiding character ambiguity is a very cool and normal thing to do.

This is precisely what I meant, and I’m glad it came across. 💙

Thank you for creating crossover content! Hi owl lovers! 💙

I judge entire neighbourhoods on how amenable cats are. If a cat chilling on the footpath is pleased to meet me, then I’m calm. If a cat sitting 50 meters away from me responds to my friendly greeting chirp by backing under the nearest car with flat ears and a sunken tail, I assume the humans around it are garbage people and I need to get out. Cats are to the streets as frogs are to the rivers.

Cool kids would compose their own monophonic ringtones with the built–in composer utility.

Thank you for creating royalty free content!

This looks like a very exciting issue!

I’m lucky enough to receive pressure from every direction to avoid any food that brings me a noticeable amount of pleasure, so they’re all a no!

But Mr Davidson said the gift of the replica pistols appeared “a genuine gesture” from Mr Patel and that their destruction was “quite frankly, an overreaction by the NZSIS, which could have simply rendered the replica inoperable”.

It’s a weird gift, dude. What reaction did you expect?

You know how sometimes it feels really important that you do something, but then when you start doing it you realise it’s totally stupid but you have to commit anyway?

He seems nice!