With the bare exceptions that I’ve never seen a mental hospital from the inside (I escaped institutionalization by excluding mention of my suicidal tendencies and claiming that I’d never practice self-destruction again [PROTIP: I lied.], though I did undergo some therapy for spilling on the aforementioned self-mutilation. Amazing how profusely psychiatrists can profess to care about you, and so obviously not.), and the fact that I never had the balls to actually go through with a suicide attempt, though I did hold the gun to my temple a couple times (cutting, for me and most practitioners, was [is?] a coping mechanism, not an actual attempt), our stories are remarkably similar.

Bad experiences with judgmental Christians, yet still retaining a love for the actual precepts of Christ, just maybe not the corollary hypocrisy with which we and others are treated. Severe, probably clinical depression (though recently, my depression seems to be changing radically in form). Not standard males, often thought to be gay, but really heterosexual, with a distaste for the obsession with their own masculinity and traditional expressions of it (i.e., butt slaps and athleticism) that most guys seem to exhibit. Though, here’s another exception, no nail polish for me. Though I love the aesthetic(s) and have respect for people who can rock it, I simply cannot pull off any variant of Goth, emo, or even EA’s personal Victioriandustrial. But we both clearly like it (you with the nail polish, and both of us with the liking Emilie Autumn). Which isn’t really a perspective we share with most Christians. “Off-the-wall,” as you aptly put it, political ideas we also hold in common.

The fact is, it’s reasonably common for me to find females on the Internet with the same feelings about the world. (At first, I assumed you were a girl. That’s probably because male EA fans are few and far between.) Much less common to find such sentiments expressed intelligently, with a brain to back them up. And I’ve never seen another guy have both traits.

So, what I really want to say is, thank you. For confirming that I am not alone in this world.