>>24920
>>22657
To me, 2D is like a thin cross-section of reality, where concepts we see in reality are distilled down into a pure and potent form. The idea, whatever it happens to be, is usually familiar and identifiable, but its presentation in 2D escapes what is generally possible when dealing with things in 3D. That's why I choose to see anime as a sort of window into an ethereal realm filled with ideas in their most perfect and pure forms. Clearly this place doesn't exist in the same way reality does, but I view it as an equally "real" realm we can get glimpses of through various pursuits of the mind and imagination.

>>24934
> distilled
Great choose of word! The simplified drawing stile expresses sentiments very clearly, almost leaving the observer hungry for more, and connects them to the situation without mixing in the ever present angst and emptiness every human shares in any situation. Watching anime is like reminiscing. Everything is filtered to core elements, washing away mundane worries, you wouldn't remember a month or a year after.

> pure
Possibly one of the most loaded words in the community. It's almost funny how addicted anime fans are to real life events, while they can't enjoy them in the watered down form of painfully swallowing moment by moment in their very own present. Ah, don't feel insulted, just reflecting here.

>>24931
I do that too but with romance. It hurts so much and I can never enjoy it ever. But then it means I'm watching almost nothing.

>>24942
I don't watch romance either(because I hate it) and I still find that I am never lacking things to watch, most anime doesn't have romance.

>>24897
9.73KB , 208x255. It's fucking tiny.

Someone explain to me what the fuck is going on with these threads. They pop up for no reason, carry no content, present no topics for discussion nor questions to be answered, only some confusing non sequitur. Is it a bot or something?

>>24899
I've been wondering that too. Assuming that >>24897 is the OP then I don't think this is a bot, but if this is the case can OP please explain what the point of the thread is? While I think activity and thread-creation might be nice, creating threads that don't leave a lot of room for discussion just decreases the snr. In this particular case there's already a thread for "what did you learn today" type things (and just copying directly from Wikipedia seems lazy. At least please summarize *what* the essay is about!)

>>24899
I assume you're also referring to
http://tohno-chan.com/so/res/24876.html
http://tohno-chan.com/so/res/24886.html

I don't think the quotes one is a bot, since it's too specific (I recall seeing that specific line on /jp/ some time back).

The other one, however, seems to fit a pattern of posts that seem eerily out of place (semantically correct, but just not fitting with the board as a whole), coupled with images that always include a full URL or path name. A few months back there were also one or two threads that seemed even more peculiar, one of which was a "spam" post linking to some shady site but the remarkable aspect was that it was interwoven cleanly into a post that seemed on topic (if I recall it's body was something of the form "Why are imageboard users leaving.. [link to sketchy site]" replete with a suitable anime image). I originally thought this might have been a GPT-2 based bot but honestly it's more likely to have been someone mass-targeting imageboards with links and a carefully crafted message. There's also http://tohno-chan.com/an/res/33579.html made around that time which is similarly

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>>24902
>I assume you're also referring to
>http://tohno-chan.com/so/res/24876.html
>http://tohno-chan.com/so/res/24886.html
No, these make sense to me. I meant ones like ot/res/33620.html and several others I can't be fucked to look for.

Dispersed far apart and lost to the sands of time we are, the dream like days are long gone.

"Foam floats
upon the pools,
scattering, re-forming,
never lingering long.
 
So it is with man
and all his dwelling places
here on earth."

for I have seen the silver sparks
in crystal nights so long ago
and now I shall return to those
who laugh upon the pain
who see no clouds in empty skies
who fall down with the rain

>>24876
Everyday is a dreamlike day
For me to awaken from this dream
What awaits for me?
Man cannot take eternity and count it
My only wish is to dissolve away into the darkness
Like salt in water
Away from the eyes of mortal man

I read a book about subconsciousness recently. The idea is that the conscious and unconscious thought are rarely directly in contact and people can't uncover their deepest desire through deep introspection like in some Freudian therapy session. It is better to see the mind as a black box and determine its contents by your behavior and reactions rather than your thoughts. Of course it is wrong to deny your conscious thoughts wholly, but it may give you insights into things you can't get through rumination. Think about the history of how you react to different stimuli. Put aside your prejudice and try to judge yourself objectively, maybe by thinking that you're making an analysis of someone else. Imagine how you would feel in different situation. For example, someone may consciously think that he hates people and prefer to be alone but being alienated gives him emotional pain, so he can infers that he actually do feel some amount of desire for companionship without completely denying his desire to be alone. Maybe it's loneliness like the post above me says but I think you should still figure it out for yourself and jumping into improvebrah social-anxiety-fixing is not a good idea. You have to tailor-fit these advice to suit your individual conditioning.

>>24848
This has been far by the most helpful advice I have comes across, I have yet to try your suggestions. Thanks anon-san!

>>24848
I believe I'm going to take this advice to heart as >>24852 mentioned this seems like helpful advice and an interesting take nonetheless.

>>24847
>I'm not sure how to best do this

I noticed something, the moments I feel more lonely are when there's people around (family or work usually, classmates time ago), when there's no people at all on sight I usually feel fine or even good. Maybe that could help.
So if you're truly abnormal (not saying you are, I don't know) and you try to force yourself into things you're not meant to like someone said you could end making your bad feelings even worse.

>>24834
Same here, but only if I'm going to meet someone who would have an impact on me, like a doctor.

>... I feel even more anxious, at that point it just seems like a bad joke.

This hit me very hard, I totally know how that feels like. By the time I reach that point, I would get panic attacks just by thinking about sleep.

>>24835
Same. I changed that habit early this year, but only because I thought my bedtime anxiety would disappear if I became 'normal.' Too bad I was wrong. Initially I just wanted to avoid the daylight and prevent myself from having to face another day, but eventually as time passed, I developed bedtime anxiety. I tried to turn my sleep schedule back to a normal one, where I went to bed in the night like a normal person, thinking that my anxiety would disappear. Haha... I was wrong...

>>24833
It's the complete opposite for me.
I feel an extreme wave of anxiety when I try to force myself onto a "normal" schedule. I'm way more happier and comfortable staying up all night regardless if I see daylight at all or not. I'm only depressed while the sun is up anyways.

>>24837
At least instead of having sleep anxiety and poor sleep schedule you only have sleep anxiety now. I don't even know how I would start to change my sleep schedule. Setting an alarm just means I'll turn it off and go back to sleep. Going to bed early will just make me lie down for hours before sleeping or my body treating it as a nap and sleeping for like 3 hours before I wake up and become unable to sleep again. Going to bed early is a good thing. You can take your time in dealing with your anxiety.

I guess I sometimes feel anxious/concerned that I once again failed to do anything I intended to do during the day. Then I either do stuff at 2am and screw up my sleeping pattern, or worry about having to do it the following day -- which means I don't fall asleep -- also screwing up my sleeping pattern.

I have had pretty bad insomnia in the past, but that almost seemed like a "physical" thing. After not sleeping for a few weeks I get a worsening psychosis. I used to have a stash of sedatives, but last time it happened I had run out. So shit just progressed as it does and I had to go to the hospital and commit myself. Definitely wouldn't do that again.

I had.

Regret? Depends. If instead I could theoretically be living a full and happy life shared with people who loved me, then yes. What kind of life can someone like me expect in reality? An austere one, filled with slavish work and cruelty of others every day, with no reward for bearing the pain.

No mental problems whatsoever.

Would.

It's not about enjoyment. You don't withdraw to have fun, you do it to be able to endure living.
Hell is other people.

>>24784
Yes, for a short time I experienced that.
I lived by myself in almost complete solitude for a little more than half a year, without internet, and for one month or so without computer since it broke.
I was kinda depressed since the idea was to kill myself when I used all the money I had left, that was a source of anguish. But at the same time I was at peace, without knowing what was going on in the world and no one bothering me for the first time in my life. Also I'm a digital hoarder and I have been preparing myself for a situation like that for years, so it wasn't too boring since I had anime, movies, videogames, podcast and stuff to read until the end of the world. I always liked the idea to accumulate media then shut myself from the world in a bunker or something.

It's really nice to wake up knowing you don't have anything to do, you can do whatever you like today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, only problem is you can't keep living like that for too much time.
People that say you only enjoy free time when you don't have too many are wrong, I enjoyed my time better then than while being a wageslave.

Yeah, only but for a few months each time.

Didn't regret it. I'm just not cut out for contact with people. Even here on tohno I often feel bad or sad. There are just too many people who I don't understand at all. People so different from me I feel like my sense of reality crumbles. Or people who get angry and antagonistic for no real reason. I guess I'm just a really weak stupid pathetic person but I never really regretted withdrawing.

I did become slower and developed a stutter since all my verbal thinking was tied into posts on image boards. I also noticed I became paranoid and scared of people in real life.

I keep trying to do it again, but I always end up crawling back.

I don't really enjoy it, but at least I'm not being hurt by other people as much so that's something at least.

Lots to digest here. For the record I live in the US. I'm also 30 years old.

> Is the "loneliness" epidemic that the media reports a genuine phenomenon?
I don't really have a lot of (or any for that matter) friends, but I do have coworkers who are around my age (+/-1-2 years). None of us are married, and we're all from engineering backgrounds. A few of us do have 3DPDs, however. Me personally, I would say that my main "problem" is that I am lonely. I think about it daily, and I struggle with it. My main source of dealing with it is image boards and trying to be cheerful at work (I am actively afraid of losing my job, as it means everything to me). I don't know how to solve this problem, because of my live situation. The real solution would be to, obviously look for a nice women to befriend, but I really don't have the living situation to deal with that (I live with my parents).

> Or do you think the type of "loneliness" affecting the general population differs from our situation in some sense.
No I think that Hikiki and what we're experiencing are very similar. Both stem from a feeling of inadequacy, fear, lack of meaning, and self esteem issues. Not saying these are all of the reasons, but they're the ones I have at times related to.

> Note: the articles and studies conducted specifically mention friends, not romantic interactions.
Specifically on the subject of friends. I don't even know how you make ones anymore. I've lived with an "inability to make long term relationships" all of my life, and I struggle with whether or not I want a relationship, as I'm afraid of being let down again (Being let down is pretty much a core aspect of my existence). People say "go to the gym, get fit, go drink / watch sports at a bar, play sports, ect." but none of those things interest me. I'm sorry. Also no, it has nothing to do with "Soy" or other BS that's being propagated. I just find those things boring, and part of "normal culture".

> been part of the "excluded group" from childhood
Not going to lie, there was only a sm

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>Specifically on the subject of friends. I don't even know how you make ones anymore.
I don't think the structure of modern society is really conducive to making genuine friends. Most of your day is spent at work, but forming deep friendships probably requires a long period of having known each other which necessarily limits new friendships to your co-workers. This is combined with the fact that most other people prefer to stay in their cliques and that social media has normalized the notion of shallow interpersonal connections. And if you are not very sociable or have interests outside the mainstream, the challenges become almost insurmountable given that there are very few others who you'd likely get along with in the first place (and they would probably be as unsociable or quiet as you apriori so finding them is akin to finding a needle in a haystack).

If we accept technology, modern society, and ephemeral relations as a given, maybe the solution might be to somehow follow in the footsteps of monks and cultivate an appreciation for the ephemera while learning to distance oneself from others? It's certainly not easy, but you have many monks and such who spend most of their time in isolation just meditating, and I assume that by doing so they've overcome most of these emotional desires.

>Oh you're lonely and possibly involuntarily celibate? LMAO fucking privileged alt-gamergate anime avatar russian nazi bot manbaby misogynist, why don't you fucking KILL YOURSELF while we have sex and fight climate change and shit *dabs on u* #Winning #MurderedByWords
And that's all society has to say on the matter.

>>24700
I think that's primarily limited to the (very) vocal segments of twitter/facebook/etc. though. Sure, the average person probably harbors those same sentiments but not to the same extent.

>>24506
You should theme it somehow. The modern vaction has become a haphazard photo shoot, but it doesn't have to be that way. It could be a food tour or a music tour, or a cultural tour, or an otaku pilgrimage or something. Before going though, you should buy whatever tickets and make whatever reservations you need.

Post edited on 4th Aug 2019, 7:07am

>>24485
I used to daydream about traveling to lots of places when I was younger, but your second paragraph includes some of the reasons I don't want to anymore.
In my early 20s I got the chance to actually travel somewhere I had dreamed about going and it was horrible. I was constantly stressed and anxious, the schedules I had planned before I left gave me no enjoyment and just left me exhausted and confused. Nothing was worth the hassle. I just wanted to wait in my hotel room on my computer until I could go home.
The only fun I actually had was going to the grocery store. If you travel any significant distance (even within the same country, if it is big enough) the things you can find in a grocery store are totally different, and since the food in grocery stores is generally only a couple of dollars rather than the price of a full meal, you can afford to buy pretty much every single item that looks interesting to you.

Just like how there's a Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage, there's a new Otaku 88 pilgrimage. Some of the "holy sites" may interest you.

I often think about it but I've come to realise it's more about mentally escaping my life than actually visiting somewhere different.

As in my troubles will go away if i physically move. I think about this so often.
But, when i think about it there is nothing i particually want to see. If i did i could justy see it online. I've spent hours and hours looking at streetview for various countries.

Even looked at airbnb rooms and imagined interacting with the people. I know how the interaction will go. I know how i will speak and how the conversation will go.

Which is strtange considering the anxiety i feel when travelling. A couple years ago I flew 30 mins to another city to see my brother. It was 48 hours of panic and stress.
That feeling when I returned and got back in my car and sank into the seat was unbelivable.

Another time I toured my own country a little. It was just the same shit everywhere. The same shops and everything just with different geography. I found it increasingly frustrating being unable to derive any satisfaction from it.

It put me off any travel. Or anything really. There's nothing out there is there?

I’m in sort of a similar boat. Don’t see any place for me in the system outside of working from home. I am going to try to balance freelance web design and art work patreon. I already got the web design education and a year of field experience (cringey, retarded experience, but experience) now I gotta grind the art skills. Thankfully I can stay at my parents place which saves so much money. Thanks mom.

But I have some real mental health issues fighting against this plan and they are winning right now. Unemployed and lying that I said I applied to places...just wasting time now.

I'm currently trying to figure it out some way to have an income doing work online. This "field" is so utterly filled with scams. Right now the most promising stuff I think I can do and it actually pays something is translation work, captioning and transcription. I've been rejected by three different online companies that hires freelance workers for captioning and transcription so far though. Another thing I'm looking into is teaching English online. It's all a terrible and exhausting process. The simple step of going to the bank and setting up an account makes my guts churn inside. Unfortunately there's no other way, it's this, flip burgers, be homeless, suicide or winning the lottery. I usually would have given up by now but this time I can no longer afford to pretend everything is fine.

Life is a dreadful business, what can you do..

>>24428
>>24429
I'm successful day-trading binary contracts. At the moment it's something anyone can make money with. A few hundred dollars is enough to start with.

I don’t know if you’re still here but there’s lots of online work from home stuff that can net you 40-50k a year. I am considering becoming a hermit and being a transcriptionist seems like a good way to generate income without leaving the bedroom. This is not an advertisement, so you’re gonna have to find stuff yourself but just be careful and do research when looking for at-home work.

cute pic op

Hey, does anybody still care about this thread? Anyone still care about op? Anyone remember him? False compassion is crueler than genuine apathy because while one is fleeting, the other is consistent.

>>24789
> False compassion is crueler than genuine apathy
It's for this reason that I'm viscerally disgusted by posters (not on this site, thankfully, but on other imageboards) who feel like they're being helpful by telling people to "reach out" to them and offering platitudes of advice.

Almost always it's some outsider just wanders by the forum and sees these people struggling with life. For some reason this triggers an almost instinctual reaction to be a "leader" and by typing out some message of concern (I'm not sure they even realize that any compassion on their end is superficial) they can go on thinking that all is right with the world and they feel good thinking they've helped out some poor soul. It's even worse with the ones who leave behind some sort of contact information, since that offers a false glimmer of hope yet in reality the poster has no incentive to care.

>>24790
>I'm not sure they even realize that any compassion on their end is superficial
They don't. They're driven by feelings and instincts. Maybe it takes prolonged isolation and disappointment to realise that just like stangers don't care about you, you don't care about them. Without that you keep living in a delusion where of course somebody cares.

Pretending to be that person for a little bit maintains the illusion when something contradicts it. If they by some tiny chance remember the person they felt like "helping", they'll just assume somebody else picked up where they left off.

>>24443
I have those too. I'm probably not vain enough to do this, but the best way to get rid of the deep ones is dermabrasion where they remove a decent layer of skin from the area.
Talking of cosmetic "problems", I also have a missing tooth that doesn't look great. Again I don't want to do anything about it, but in a late capitalist service economy I can't help but be paranoid that one day it will be the difference between getting a job and sleeping on the street.

Do you have good dental health?

I have no fucking idea to be honest. My mom says I'm good looking and I don't see any particularly glaring flaws in my face, but no girl ever showed interest in me (thank god for that) and lots of people commented on how weird I look. Maybe it's just a posture thing, or maybe my mom is just too nice. All I know is, I've never been accepted into any group ever, friends or otherwise, and I'm an unemployed friendless highschool dropout virgin. I wouldn't change my looks for the world because that's just me, it's who I am. If nothing else, I do love myself and my own identity over the world.

Honestly I don't know, I think I'm probably just average. Never got insulted for being ugly or bad looking, but neither I have been praised for being handsome.