I hope you have a happy birthday today!

Been trying to play more video games lately. They're all harder than I remember.

Not gonna lie, this kinda sucked. Maybe it's the ongoing depression, maybe I did it wrong, I don't know. I'll at least try again next year, see if anything changes.

At the root of it, though, I know it doesn't really matter; it's ultimately me that's the problem. I'm so miserable, even formerly-pleasurable things feel like a chore. I'd be equally miserable even if they did include me. I'm so lonely, and nothing seems to help that.

But it still hurts, and there's no practical way to address that hurt. Just mentioning it is enough to reinforce the idea that I don't belong in the friend-group. But ignoring it just leaves the feeling to fester. And to pull out of the group completely...well, that's not fair to anybody involved.

I mean, this is really just me coming to terms with the reminder that "It's a club, and you're not in it" isn't just advice about big-shots; it applies equally to little groups.

You're cool; it's a different friend-group I'm talking about.

There's no diplomatic way to ask a friend-group, "Do you all consider me a friend, or have I just been a parasocial sugar daddy this whole time?"

Ooh, Dragary!

It's an "everything is upsetting" kind of weekend, apparently.

A vent comic I doodled. It's not really about ramen. Or even about liking/disliking something. It's about feeling outcast when you realize you're the only person you know who's been excited about something.

They always go so quickly, it seems.

I hope you have a happy birthday today!

Good kink choices! I especially like the ones in the lower left.

Vent comic. Another year, another missed event. Please, have a happy Pride. For those of us who can't.

I hope you've had a happy birthday today!

His logic was that they (Elizabeth Warren specifically) blocked a merger three years ago. And since Absolutely Nothing Else happened in the time since, it's their fault the company collapsed.

I stay in, trying to avoid awkward conversations, questions I don't have the answers to. Father corners me at the bathroom. No act of comfort, no words of sympathy, just "Thank the democrats" and left. Even if that was true, how poisoned does your mind have to be to think that's okay to say?