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The ship might be going down, but we've all had some good memories on Something Awful. Let's talk about the times our fellow posters helped us out of a bad place and made us feel like we weren't quite as alone in the world. A couple years ago I was in a disastrous place - an unemployed trans woman with no local support network, a single parent of what seemed like a permanently-intransigent child, chronically ill, and approaching my 40th birthday with no hope in sight - and I melted down one night in PYF. At the end of the meltdown I asked Literally A Bird for a probation; the stated reason was so I could get my head on straight, but the truth was that I expected to end that night no longer able to come back to the forums. I'd even put "send a message to the mods" in the notes I'd planned to send so they could perma my account. LAB sent back an unexpectedly kind note. I don't remember exactly what she said, but it was gentle and positive and forgiving - and it gave me enough hope to set my plans aside for one night. And the next day, I decided I could set them aside for another, and I kept doing that until I didn't have the impulse anymore. It's not an exaggeration to say that that one act of kindness kept me alive, and I'll never forget it. How have Something Awful and its posters helped you and improved your life? (Let's keep this a shitpost-free zone, please. I know it's tradition but a lot of us are feeling a little melancholy right now and we could use some unalloyed positivity!)
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Jun 25, 2020 08:27
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I'd be dead from IV drug use if a (ironically now dead from drug use) goon hadn't introduced me to his friend
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Jun 25, 2020 08:49
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I was playing MtG with one of my nerd friends I've known forever. Since I was reading front page articles, dying of laughter, unregistered. I remarked on one particular photoshop phriday that had me dying. "You remember?" I asked, standing in the corner of his dining room, clutching my sides, "holy poo poo would you look at it's goddamn teeth?" He did remember, and by the looks of it it was the first time in a while he bothered to. We had a good laugh, remembering my incapacitation by laughter, the photoshop phridays we read in high school. This was a few weeks ago. What I'm saying as opposed to getting into healthy hobbies, unfortunately, I was influenced heavily by SA at an early age, and therefore, will rightly die alone and hopefully soon.
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Jun 25, 2020 09:36
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Whenever I'm feeling sad, Doobie's Dog House always makes me laugh.
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Jun 25, 2020 09:41
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Like a month ago I had some credible threats made against me and TFR gave me really good home defense advice that was 100 percent about how to not end up having to shoot someone. They were super reassuring and the only gun forum on the internet I could go to where people wouldn't be talking about setting up kill zones and ammo selection with a half-chub. They made that lovely experience a lot easier. This place was also huge for me when I was working from home from 2012-2013. I had no social interaction during the day so having some kind of conversation to take part in did wonders for my mental health. Same for when I was working nights last year, many a three am yell of "FUUUUUUCK" was averted by these forums. And a time SA helped me help someone else: Ugly In The Morning posted:Anyway, for my own personal SA saga that nobody knows about, and I don’t want to go into too much detail without their permission:
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Jun 25, 2020 12:55
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I was a sad lonely teen who played video games all the time and felt sorry for myself because supermodels weren’t flinging themselves at me, and it scares me to think of what might have happened if I got sucked into reddit or something instead. There were these old goon virginity megathreads in e/n that I used to read all the time, half for cringe at least I’m not That Guy and half for the tough love advice about general self improvement. I think I turned out ok.
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Jun 25, 2020 15:12
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SA means more to me than I can say. Due to my own stupidity and sad brains I withdrew from the world completely starting in about 2005. In 20?16 cat died and started posting. I NEED SA. Right now I'm trying to decide if I can live with staying and not spending. This isn't the thread for that discussion but for some of us that SA really helped I think we are in torment. I know I am
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Jun 25, 2020 16:19
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About 5 years ago I really hated my job but felt totally stuck in my specific field (engineering) and felt like I'd be working in a job I hate with no creative outlet for years. I was also in a really abusive relationship at the time and saw no way out. I started sending confessions into the old Anonymous Confession threads which helped me write creatively, plus I injected a lot of the poo poo I was dealing with in my relationship into some of the stories. This was far from the only catalyst to me finally ending things, but seeing all of it written down made me realize how lovely things were for me. I'm still in a job that I don't love BUT I have a lot more outlets for my creative writing. I write murder mystery dinner shows and have started trying to get some short stories published. More importantly, I'm now married to somebody awesome who supports me in everything I do.
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Jun 25, 2020 16:32
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I joined this site when I was 18. I'm almost 27 now. Thanks to SA I learned about adult life. Also when the whole Gamergate thing went down SomethingAwful spoke out against it (kinda) and kept me from being a shithead. I'd be gutted if had to lose this site. It means so much to me. It was a safe space for me to learn and grow during my post secondary years with cool people.
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Jun 25, 2020 20:40
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I don't remember the exact details, but the guy who get permabanned with the stipulation of having to match a certain charitable donation, and goons banded together to set the mark at over ten grand, is something that warms my cold, dead, stupid heart when I remember it.
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Jun 25, 2020 20:50
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Like most of you I was a little poo poo when I joined back in 2007 and, while I can't blame SA for making me a significantly better person, I can definitely say y'all (especially TCC) kept me alive long enough for me to become a better person. And I'm so glad the forums have grown alongside all of us to be a place where generally decent people want to hang out - there's nowhere else on the internet that's even remotely comparable, or if there is it's focused on a single topic without the breadth of experience SA has to offer. Also I'm currently engaged to marry a goon I met through the goon diaspora when I wasn't on the forums so much. I hope that from whatever corner of the internet Abey hosed off to that he's nodding his head in approval of that at least. GLITBL
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Jun 25, 2020 21:01
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My parents tried to take away my passport and goons helped me escape with passport intact, I'll never forget it. You guys are incredible. Plus when I was unemployed and losing my poo poo goons helped clean up my resume and I got a Real Job in my field within like a month. Also the trans goon thread! So many good resources. I'm starting HRT this month, goons made me gay
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Jun 25, 2020 21:12
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Goons also helped me out when I was a low point mental health wise and encouraged me to get better. I was a suicidal mess due to dysphoria over my cerebral palsy. Now I'm mostly better. (But i'm loving on double quarantine due to being vulnerable which isn't helping.)
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Jun 25, 2020 21:23
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Dug me out of a lovely abusive relationship that was doomed to translate into a lovely abusive marriage. Gave me the tools to get fit, lose that, and then get it back. Made me feel good about game development. I want this place to die because Lowtax deserves nothing but I don't want the people to go away.
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Jun 25, 2020 21:28
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Somfin posted:I want this place to die because Lowtax deserves nothing but I don't want the people to go away. No. We want Lowtax to go away and for this place to live.  That's the truth and it's the way the mods and admins feel.
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Jun 25, 2020 21:33
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Pastry of the Year posted:No. We want Lowtax to go away and for this place to live. Me too thanks.
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Jun 25, 2020 21:37
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Pastry of the Year posted:No. We want Lowtax to go away and for this place to live. That's a better way of putting it. Thank you.
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Jun 25, 2020 21:43
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Pastry of the Year posted:No. We want Lowtax to go away and for this place to live. I’d really love it if this place could continue without Lowtax. Sometimes I go through my bookmarks and read my posts in threads from years ago as a little time capsule of how I thought and what I cared about back then and I’d hate to lose that.
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Jun 25, 2020 21:44
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SA made me so, so much better at dealing with reactionary shitheads. It also accelerated my trip into thinking a lot more critically about gender - in fact I think the first time I ever heard the word "patriarchy" was probably here (a bit ironic given the current circumstances, I know). I was 25 years old when I joined. I met a girlfriend through this site (it didn't last but she's a good person I wouldn't have met otherwise), had my first GM stint through a forums game here and saw a lot more funny poo poo than I can recount. It also set me on a path to definitely never turn into a sad neckbeard.
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Jun 25, 2020 22:23
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I've been here for about 16 years. Reg'd just over a decade ago. I met my partner through this site 8 years ago (notable moperater Pork Lift if anyone recalls, I feel okay saying that now the place is burning down). Although I don't think it ever directly saved my life, I can honestly say my life would not be the same without this forum. I'm a weird shutin nerd that would for sure have gone some different places without SomethingAwful.
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Jun 25, 2020 22:27
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I met my husband here. He posted in a 'post your phone number' thread (back in summer 2004, when the world wasn't quite as mad as it is now), and I liked his avatar of a cartoon bear, so I phoned him up to quote Withnail and I at him. We got talking, posted some fun art threads together, and stayed friends. Some years later - we first met in person at the protests against the church of scientology (I know, I know, the gooniest love story) in early 2008; by the summer we were officially dating; we moved in with each other in the autumn of that year. We were married in 2014, and this year marked our 12th anniversary as a couple. I have made so many real life friends through the forums, particularly in London. Happy memories in particular of frantically colouring in Zoofights illustrations (the chap who created it is the reason I registered - we were friends at uni and he mentioned something about 'this idiot forum' when I was round his room one day). I literally wouldn't have the life I do if it weren't for this stupid community. <3
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Jun 25, 2020 23:03
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I moved halfway across the world to a place where I knew nobody. I didn't realise at the time that I was also going through the worst depression of my life, and nearly ended up killing myself. Most of my online "friends" at the time were absolute narcissistic pricks and I didn't really have anywhere else to turn to. But. There was everybody on somethingawful. It was one of my few social outlets. I mainly lurked back then but seeing everybody posting about random loving nonsense helped. Seeing the different people who mostly weren't loving monsters, talking to people, and generally having a baseline place to get clear my head really helped. Now I just have massive anxiety from my life being completely hosed for the past three years and 2020 is really knocking it out of the park gg But I won't forget the people who helped me, and how far we've all come together
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Jun 25, 2020 23:46
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Beyond the usual "port in a storm" sort of story I think we all have, I can point to the fact a goon may have genuinely saved my life. In the unspooling, general chatting of the infamous "I married an anime guy in the astral" thread years ago, a goon brought up that a childhood story I told in that "I think this story is funny because I haven't dealt with its events yet" way made it sound like I had bipolar, a mild seizure disorder, or some other serious poo poo wrong with me. Definitely something wrong with the friends who had been treating me that way, too. I was spooked by that. I saw how my behavior had been getting weirder/meaner/shorter through my mid-20s at that point, so I went to the doctor. A new doctor, not the doctor who dismissed my symptoms or questions. Let's just say I've been on medication, seeing a health team on and off, and quite happy and event-free for several years. Thanks, goon, I can't remember! You might have, statistically, saved my life by going "Your poo poo is hosed!" without judgment. It was so hosed! Thank you.
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Jun 26, 2020 00:25
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Treguna Mekoides posted:Beyond the usual "port in a storm" sort of story I think we all have, I can point to the fact a goon may have genuinely saved my life. In the unspooling, general chatting of the infamous "I married an anime guy in the astral" thread years ago, a goon brought up that a childhood story I told in that "I think this story is funny because I haven't dealt with its events yet" way made it sound like I had bipolar, a mild seizure disorder, or some other serious poo poo wrong with me. Definitely something wrong with the friends who had been treating me that way, too. I was spooked by that. I saw how my behavior had been getting weirder/meaner/shorter through my mid-20s at that point, so I went to the doctor. A new doctor, not the doctor who dismissed my symptoms or questions. That is awesome. That was one of my early favorite threads when I first got here (I still have it in my thread bookmarks, even). It was one of the threads that made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe. I originally discovered Something Awful because someone on another site linked to the Ask Me About Being A Birthday Party Princess thread (which has since dropped off into the archives). I stayed for the other A/T threads, including the "anime guys" one and the religionchat thread, as well as BFC. That brings me to how SA has improved my life. If I hadn't discovered BFC, I wouldn't have YNAB, nor would I have a healthy and forward-thinking attitude toward money. If I hadn't read D&D, I wouldn't understand how privileged I am, how hosed the world is, and what I can do to make some things a little better. On a more personal/spiritual note, I had some incidental exposure to authoritarian fundamentalism as a dumb teenager, and if it hadn't been for Prester Jane's original authoritarian thread and the Slacktivist takedown of the Left Behind series that someone linked to in that thread, I don't know if I would even think it was possible that I could change my perspective on the universe, or that I could start to heal and move forward from that perspective. PJ's perspective shed light on what was happening to the world in a way that makes so much sense to me, and I'm glad I found her.
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Jun 26, 2020 01:14
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When I was pregnant in my early 20s, I was especially worried (being a trans guy and all). The pregnancy megathread was incredibly helpful and nonjudgemental and I ended up with the easiest pregnancy ever and my little dude is turning 8 soon. 
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Jun 26, 2020 02:23
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The hope for the forums going forward made my loving month. After all the poo poo in 2020 it was nice to have something awful (heyo!) not only turn out well in the end, the outpouring of positivity everywhere on this forum really cemented the fact that, as much as these are all online people I've mostly never met, we've all really appreciated each other during our time here. I've gotten some PMs about keeping in touch and I've sent some out about the same, and it was really something at making me realize that even the people who annoy me here mean something to me.
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Jun 26, 2020 02:30
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It sounds weird to say, but the way the older members taught us younger posters about life is kinda like an older sibling relationship. Can you tell I'm an only child?
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Jun 26, 2020 02:34
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I don’t think this forum did any drastic lifesaving thing for me but it still means a lot to me. I think it subtly shaped me, helped me be more chill and empathise with people in different circumstances than me a lot. A few goons helped me a lot to come out of my shell in regards to certain parts of my life. And they were just there for me in good and bad times, especially the Fabgoons on irc and discord. I dunno, I told my fiancé last night about the whole possible end of forums thing, and was tearing up a bit. He knows I post in a forum a lot and chat with people from the forum on discord, but he doesn’t really know the importance it’s had in the last 12 years of my life. I explained a bit more about the history of the place and also what it meant to me, and I dunno if I did it justice.
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Jun 26, 2020 02:46
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I'm so glad to hear about times goons really helped other people. I am very lucky I had so many online and in person networks when I was unwell. I wish more people had that privilege. Pardon me if this isn't cool, but since Renee's announcements mentioned Discords...is there a PYF-specific Discord, or do y'all hang out in the main Something Awful Discord? There's a new #pyf channel there. I don't know much about the GDN, so I'm sorry if we shouldn't discuss it. It's just, even if Jeffrey has the site, and things are fine, I do like chatting in Discord and honestly? I should get to know my favorite subforum better. I lurk a lot, and maybe I shouldn't. I realized just how much I'd actually miss SA in the last 24 hours.
Treguna Mekoides has a new favorite as of 03:20 on Jun 26, 2020 |
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Jun 26, 2020 02:48
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I almost never post, but for over a decade these forums has been one of the only places I've visited daily. For me personally, the advice I learnt from cooking, to exercise and basically the sheer education has been completely invaluable to me. It's hard to put 100% into words for me, but SA has made me the person I am and I am forever thankful for all that I learnt here.
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Jun 26, 2020 02:49
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I'd probably be a libertarian right now if not for these forums. I know that's not as important as some of your stories, but I'd be a much worse person, and I wouldn't even be aware of it. Edit: oh right, the cooking! I have always loved cooking but I learned so much from goons with spoons. Blackula Vs. Tarantula has a new favorite as of 02:56 on Jun 26, 2020 |
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Jun 26, 2020 02:51
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I kept my dorm room door open 13 years ago and met most of my current best friends
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Jun 26, 2020 03:53
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Soon after I stopped lurking and joined the forum I went through a messy breakup. Reading E/N and learning what not to do helped me get through it, but what also helped me get through it was losing like 60 pounds largely because of advice I got from W&W (YLLS). I stuck around there and learned how to take care of my body and took up running, up to ultramarathons. In the middle of the night, in the middle of a 80km+ race, on more than one occasion, part of what kept me going was thinking about what I’d post in the running thread. Every time I need to find good information about a new hobby or interest I look for a thread in SA, and I always find one and it is always filled with knowledgeable and passionate people who give great advice. Sometimes that advice is harsh and raw but it’s inevitably helpful. In general SA has really helped me be a better person, in terms of my politics, my approach to dealing with others, and just how I deal with the world. The last few days really drove home how much this forum means to me. I am really hopeful that the ownership move happens and that the incredible community can stay together, because this is really the best place on the internet.
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Jun 26, 2020 05:30
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Jordan7hm posted:Soon after I stopped lurking and joined the forum I went through a messy breakup. Reading E/N and learning what not to do helped me get through it, but what also helped me get through it was losing like 60 pounds largely because of advice I got from W&W (YLLS). I stuck around there and learned how to take care of my body and took up running, up to ultramarathons. In the middle of the night, in the middle of a 80km+ race, on more than one occasion, part of what kept me going was thinking about what I’d post in the running thread. Yeah, I was too harsh before. The space itself is part of what makes the place so good; the genuine feeling that there is a place here, rather than just a feed or a stream. I also dropped about 60 pounds off of advice from YLLS, which took me out of "morbidly obese" and into "overweight" which is the biggest ego boost I'd had in years and made me realise I can make changes if I want to (yes I know BMI is very discredited but it's my loving body I decide what measurement stick to use) And I totally get where you're coming from with the "I can't wait to tell them," I love the game dev thread for that so much.
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Jun 26, 2020 05:56
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Been here for 12 years now, lurked for quite a bit before that. I think I stumbled over here when the Comic Strip Megathread started doing top-tier edits on "For Better or for Worse" that leaked out over the internet.  I ended up regging because 1) occasionally I couldn't see the new funny edits bc of the paywall and 2) discovered a thread dedicated to shortwave aficionados, and good luck finding a forum online for that where a 30-something year old woman felt welcome.I can't possible recount all the ways SA has made a positive change in my life, but here's some greatest hits. AI has not only helped me fix small stupid problems with my car, but also took a shine to my home-based hot sauce business. As a result, I had new tires put on my trusty 2001 Cavalier years ago when I had to move very suddenly in the middle of a snow storm. (I'm still trying to find the pic I took for the thread of me mailing off a stack of Priority USPS boxes full of hot sauce. It was my Cav in a foot of snow with a comic strip word balloon saying "thanks, goons!" or something.) AI totally bought those tires thanks to their patronage. GWS... jeez where to start. When I had car trouble yet again, and felt like I was trapped in my absolute poo poo job because it was the only thing I could walk to, the industry thread rallied and someone set up a GFM. In 24 hours, they kick in enough to not only get my car fixed but pay off some other outstanding bills I had, giving me a fresh start. This is going to sound insane but... the GBS Sardine thread. I started reading on a lark and decided to try sardines. Turns out, they're really loving tasty! Plus, they come in pretty printed cans! I make art out of junk, that's my jam, so I started making collage art of sardines out of sardine cans. Not only did that thread take a liking to it, but I had an SA-Mart page selling them that got sticked by a mod (think it was NYC Tattoo?) just because it was so bizarre. ...And that's just when goons have specifically helped me financially. I've made friends, I've gotten connections, and as someone who's always thirsty for knowledge, I have learned SO much from these forums. Like, not a day goes by when my husband comes home and I'm all "hey, guess what I just learned today on A/T!" Plus the real sense of community. Right now my life is crumbling because of my being jobless and about to be homeless, and every time I get a PM asking "hey, you okay?".... it means a lot to me. It really does.
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Jun 26, 2020 07:02
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Been here for 12 years now, lurked for quite a bit before that. I think I stumbled over here when the Comic Strip Megathread started doing top-tier edits on "For Better or for Worse" that leaked out over the internet. JD, I’ve enjoyed so many of your posts, and I’m glad you’re still around. As far as it all goes, being here for ages... We helped some people, didn’t we?
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Jun 26, 2020 07:20
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Ha, found the pic! And apparently mis-remembered, that was the time I was selling apple butter in SA-Mart and needed a new battery. Too many times goons have helped for me to keep straight in this old noggin of mine! And yes, I am STILL driving that Cavalier to this day. She'll be old enough to drink next year!
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Jun 26, 2020 11:43
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Ha, found the pic! And apparently mis-remembered, that was the time I was selling apple butter in SA-Mart and needed a new battery. Too many times goons have helped for me to keep straight in this old noggin of mine! Hahaha, I’ve seen shops of that quote but never the original. Caviliers are good cars! I just bought something similar in the hopes that I can just drive it forever.
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Jun 26, 2020 12:03
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i joined sa in 2012 to be an eve goon, and while i was waiting out the three month posting period I saw a new thread for weekly flash fiction. 8.7 million words and 410 weeks later, I'm still there, having written just short of 200,000 (bad) words. I have yet to complete the tutorial for eve online.
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Jun 26, 2020 13:31
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When I moved to my current city, I didn't know anyone other than a few folks from school. Around the same time some local goons started up a game night, but I wasn't sure if I would be staying here more than a year or about meeting people from the internet. A year later, I knew I'd be staying longer and was fed up with only knowing lawyers, so I went to game night. Met a bunch of cool people who are now friends, and I also met my now husband who may or may not also fall into the first category. Like someone said earlier, GLITBL.
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Jun 26, 2020 14:47
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