If something goes wrong, it’s not the end of the world. The worst case scenario is simply a very interesting chapter in an awfully long novel. So go ahead, skull a few too many shots, and text your ex, it’s good for the plot.

There exists another version of me that is stuck at the age of 13, operating on a conversational level, frozen in a specific time and age.

Pathologising these systemic issues means that the burden is placed wholly on the individual to dismantle the effects of an entire power structure working against them.