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[–]FlippyKing 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I'm flinging random thoughts at you, and I apologize in advance. I think the AHE AAP Yaoi is a "McGuffin" in all this. It is not worth your time sorting out at the moment. It is just where your mind wandered, and even though it is your mind, you did not wander there alone nor unprompted even though I do not want to speculate why it wandered there. The fact that it did not wander there alone makes it not a "psych" thing and not an "anthro" thing, but a "soc" thing.

I feel horrible for kids and young adults today because every bad idea is encouraged, every thing that pops into one's imagination is treated as if it means something real, and the time when a person is asking questions about literally everything possible is treated like the time their "real" self and their real personality is asserting itself. And on top of that their minds are saturated in porn and lies from every special interest (drug company, all major governments, etc) and their parents are generally distracted or working too much to notice, and the network of adults that were there for previous generations are just not there and instead teachers and homework are all there is (besides the internet).

The daydreaming you did is just that: day dreaming. It means nothing and reflects nothing about you other than that is what you were wondering about. There could be any number of reasons for it, but from what I gather that kind of daydreaming is not uncommon and there is a whole subgenre of art or anime that indulges it. It also reflects more about the world you are in than it does about you, the same way heavy metal in the 70s and 80s reflected the fear of a civilization ending nuclear war than it reflected kids naturally predisposed to doom and gloom. Once that started to disappear, "metal" became hair bands reflecting good old teenage raging hormones again.

The bad sex you had also is nothing new and I can't imagine a solution. Guys are seeing the most insane sex acts done by literal professionals who are acting and acting "pleased" at real pain and acting pleased during acts that take a woman's body a lot of practice to get used to (before "enjoying" it can be considered, and it usually isn't depending on the act). Young women seeing that as "sex" have every right to find some other way for their minds to wander.

I recommend reading and practicing Stoic philosophy, or reading Zen or Taoism. I find them very related anyway if you get deep enough into them. Plato and Aristotle are also great to read. You are not your thoughts and you are not what happens to you. The worst thing, and I do not think you any where near this, is when people allow themselves to be replaced by: their thoughts, their impulses, the things that happen to them, and the things others tell them. This is not a new thing and Hannah Arednt discussed how in Nazi Germany many people, perhaps more those who blindly climbed the bureaucracy, had their thinking reduced to "sloganeering" where they had no real thoughts and no real critical thinking because some slogan was made readily available for them to repeat instead of thinking.

Step back, build your own self and your own mind and your own body, as there is no 'mind' separate from the body (no "identity" so many talk about even when they are talking real aspects of themselves), and just for a while question EVERYTHING anew. Everything! Every time you open a door, stop and ask yourself if you know what is behind it. Are you ready for what is there? If you are right, and you see what you expected, don't celebrate. Add it to your body of knowledge. When ever you see some claim made, save it and see if it comes true. Don't celebrate it, don't lament it. Just keep track. Step back from what you do not know and grow to rely on what you can verify yourself. It will be very little. You will not be able to join in a lot of conversations, especially on line. Even if you find a source, does that verify the claim? No, not really. Be less firm about what you yourself can not physically touch and affirm.

There is this idea, and the term for the idea is "the passions", but it is not the current way we see our "passions". It is not what we are "passionate" about. Instead, it refers to the ideas and feelings and compulsions that come over us passively. I see an attractive woman and my eyes and my mind wanders. Nothing actively did that, it is a thing that distracted me passively. She is not a "thing", the thing is the attention in my mind that "it" got using her as a symbol or something. If I only see her, then that's it and I move on. But some imagine and imaginary version of something, not really her at all, distracts me if I let it. Similarly let's say we're in high school and we have a test tomorrow. Our fears about the test are passions that distract us. We are projecting onto the test a set of events that are not happening and probably will not happen. But if we keep being distracted then we are not preparing. We might be creating self-fulfilling prophecies. Stoicism both on its own and as it was continued to be written about in the same part of the world by Orthodox Christian monks, addresses how to separate ourselves from these the same way Zen does.

A similar set of things, though graduated from inner thoughts and into dynamic social situations, are described by Transactional Analysis and in the tiny book that sets "TA" out very clearly, Games People Play" by Dr. Eric Berne. I is a great read. Though the kinds of sexist imagery used in the 1950s might put some people off, the points he makes and the truths the book contains are not cheapened by the way he conveys them using the cultural tropes of his era.

This questions have been wrestled with for as long as we've been able to think. Many religions and mythologies have been written to make sense of it all, and they seem to all be written at specific junctures in time. Chinese philosophy reflects the political changes in their world. The most amazing things about centering ourselves were written during times of utter chaos and war. The various writings in the eastern Mediterranean written as a result of the interaction of the Hellenistic, Jewish, Roman, North African, Anatolian, and even Indian cultures, show many people working out big ideas and big struggles of individuals in the transition from the Roman republic to the Roman empire. While you can't avoid religious ideas in these writings, you shouldn't want to. You have to (if you choose to get into them) see their use of the word "God" as meaning something very different than what most people use it for today. Similarly "wisdom" books from various traditions, be it the Havermal or the Jewish book literally called "book of wisdom" in the catholic bible or any other, point to similar things that Stoics point to.

[–]aapahethrowaway[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Thank you for your reply. I agree that I need to give myself a break. I could take a look at stoicism. It's been a few years since I've had any sort of spiritual involvement, I used to be into the likes to Rob Bell, Richard Rohr, James Martin.

[–]FlippyKing 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I had only heard of Rob Bell before I read your comment. There are a good number of people sort of re-presenting religion or their take on their own faith in a way that seems to draw people in. I might be ten years older than Rob Bell, maybe a good bit more. I always found right in front of me, when I needed them, people who could help me out and get grounded spiritually. Some were the born again Christians from the 70s, some were just good people raised in some faith, others were picking themselves up after battles with addictions or other problems. I had an interest in Buddhism but for me it was all thinking or all in my head, calming my thoughts or finding peace. I managed to keep doing crazy and stupid things while reading up on Zen and looking for some now way to go without changing my direction.

The first person outside of my own circle, at any given time, that I felt was saying things that really resonated with me was Elaine Pagels, who wrote a number of books about the early Christian church and gnosticism and history around those sorts of things. (note, and tangential thought: I don't recommend her later books, and especially not her book with Karen King about the Gospel of Judas because they're just wrong about what it says and what it means and what the sect that it is associated with was talking about. The expert on those subjects, that gospel and the "Sethians" is April De Conick). Dominic Crossan was a writer I liked too. This was in the earliest days of the internet so, reading or going to hear someone speak where how you heard such ideas.

But that was stuff I was into, ancient Chinese writings, Zen writings from Japan, ancient eastern Mediterranean writings, always trying to find eternal truth that would make sense of it all, trying to find the intersection of science, philosophy, and spirituality. I think I've gone as deep as I can into that without becoming an expert on ancient languages and artifact conservancy. I've since moved on to the twentieth century (I'm catching up!) and doing a deep dive into Marian apparitions.

I think our comments, dare I say conversation, here is a bit off topic from your post; but I agree: don't be hard on yourself. And don't worry too much, just get grounded and centered and you'll find your way. A lot of times things come into our lives, ideas or some specific people's ideas fascinate us, not as places to stop and stay but as a point or preparation along a longer journey the way a 25 lb dumbbell is a point along the journey or preparation for the 30, and so on.

[–][deleted]  (5 children)

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    [–]aapahethrowaway[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

    are there or have there ever been any men that you'd actually like to have sex with?

    not that I can think of. other than as described in my post. I think as individual entities I don't really care much for the men either.

    Are you saying that it didn't do anything for you emotionally, or something else?

    I just noticed that I didn't get as turned on by it. Dose anyone get turned on emotionally by lesbian porn lol? It's hard to explain but to get into it I almost have to turn that part of my brain off and just objectify them. So much of lesbian porn just looks awkward, uncomfortable, and it's so obvious most aren't into it.

    how do you feel about therapy?

    Excellent. I should do that but I have to go through a referrals process and that will take a while.

    What exactly is it about the relationship (or the idea of a gay relationship) that you're drawn to?

    Dunno.

    [–][deleted]  (3 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]aapahethrowaway[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

      Nah I doubt anyone gets emotionally satisfied by lesbian porn, I was just confused when you said it made you wet but at the same time didn't do much for you. I see what you mean now.

      It's odd. Like, I will get turned on by (sorry to be explicit but) naked women doing sexual things, but I won't really engage with something like portrait de la jeune fille en feu. With male / male it's the opposite. And I don't really know why but if that sort of story is told in a particular way it just seems erotic to me.

      So that's why I asked. The idea of a gay relationship clearly holds a particular meaning for you, or there would be nothing to find alluring. I'm really curious about what significance you've assigned it.

      If only I knew haha. I think it's tricky to answer, because I know that adult me is probably going to reinterpret adolescent me, and superimpose adult me's understand of the world onto adolescent me's understanding. I'll have a shot at answering your question, but it's hard because memories fade so all I really have is now and what I can remember of the past. And maybe the best solution to all of this is to simply describe it as a paraphilia? Who knows.

      Anyway I'll give you a couple of ideas because I've been having a think about this. I think one part of it is the fact that a lot of these story lines focused on pining and repression, so you get more build out of it. Think of the film Maurice as an example. If that pining isn't there then it's not that interesting to me. The other idea I have is that stories between men are a bit easier to read. Bear with me. I am pretty sure I have borderline asd. I suspect that part of this is that men are a little less emotionally complex and easier to read. Take for example portrait de la jeune fille en feu; a lot of that film is the two main leads making eyes at each other. I suspect that a lot of the emotional depth could just be going over my head so I don't engage with it in that way.

      [–][deleted]  (1 child)

      [deleted]

        [–]aapahethrowaway[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

        I haven't seen blue is the warmest colour - I'm a bit weirded out by the fact that the girl is meant to be 15. Call me by your name was as gorgeous as it was pretentious lol.

        Getting back to your original post: so did the fantasy pretty much stop after you broke up with your ex?

        Well, since I started having sex with him. But pretty much. It's just sort of faded since. It's hard to describe. On one hand I'm in one place now but I feel like that contradicts where I was? It's confusing. I feel grossed out by the sex now.

        you haven't been in love.

        I feel like I was at one point. Not with my ex though. It wasn't a relationship and I didn't pursue it because I was still in that relationship. Said relationship ended, then covid happened, and now I'm here after 18 months of ruminating, spending too much time online, and delving into strange parts of my psyche.

        Thank you for talking with me about this though it's really helped to clear my head out. Definitely going to see a therapist.