<![CDATA[The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit.]]>The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. Your passions and interests don't magically disappear.

Normal is overrated and borderline oppressive in today's political climate, anyway.

Stay weird and unmarketable.

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/2e2b496c-9da6-4dce-9beb-d625d99e9a51/the-expectation-of-becoming-a-normal-married-person-with-only-a-job-once-you-re-over-25-is-bullshit.RSS for NodeFri, 15 May 2026 04:59:39 GMTTue, 05 May 2026 07:41:49 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 15:29:06 GMT]]>@jhooper @bengesko for sure. while i generalized about generations it's very worth saying people have always been like this. people have always loved games and toys. who do you think was making toys throughout history? it was going to be adults a lot of the time, and not just to shut the kids up. making toys is a hecking craft. adults made soft toys with a deep love for them. and who made cartoons? adults! often for other adults! adulthood and what it entails are social constructs. nothing more

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://plush.city/users/Yza/statuses/116522676832203710https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://plush.city/users/Yza/statuses/116522676832203710Tue, 05 May 2026 15:29:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 15:10:24 GMT]]>@bengesko honestly, I think a lot of the problems with older generations is that they did this. They gave up everything when they became adults, and now that theyโ€™re retiring, they have nothing.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://meow.social/users/moonshine_fox/statuses/116522603303709370https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://meow.social/users/moonshine_fox/statuses/116522603303709370Tue, 05 May 2026 15:10:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 14:13:57 GMT]]>@Yza @bengesko You see, my father is a boomer, and he would watch cartoons with my brothers and I all the time. He was also a big nerd and was into almost any kind of science fiction or fantasy be could get his hands on.

I didn't realize this as a kid, but he was into comics when he was growing up, and still paid some attention to the movies and shows that came from them when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s. The last time he visited, he mentioned how he was really into comics in the 70s, and at that time he preferred the art style of DC over Marvel. He also tried to have a conversation with me about how he resented the Marvel movies making Iron Man being just about on par with Thor, but I couldn't add anything to the conversation.

If there's one thing I want my kids to understand, it's what "being true to yourself" means. I never stopped playing games, and I collect Transformers. Don't let age stop you being yourself.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://techhub.social/users/jhooper/statuses/116522381287076706https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://techhub.social/users/jhooper/statuses/116522381287076706Tue, 05 May 2026 14:13:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 13:56:38 GMT]]>@bengesko any amount of "more normal" I display in my 30s is the result of the system grinding me down and making me tired =(

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chitter.xyz/users/Ripp_/statuses/116522313199704478https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chitter.xyz/users/Ripp_/statuses/116522313199704478Tue, 05 May 2026 13:56:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 13:45:56 GMT]]>@bengesko plus you have a good chance of losing some of the sillier inhibitions and fears that kept you from being yourself when you were younger.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://snabelen.no/users/bjoernstaerk/statuses/116522271119793828https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://snabelen.no/users/bjoernstaerk/statuses/116522271119793828Tue, 05 May 2026 13:45:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 11:48:31 GMT]]>@bengesko Amen to that, fucking *resist*

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/renardboy/statuses/116521809454127770https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/renardboy/statuses/116521809454127770Tue, 05 May 2026 11:48:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 10:57:10 GMT]]>@bengesko I've defintely become more domestic in my late 30s, but in the way that Baba Yaga was quite domestic.
Comfortable in my personal den of weirdness.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://yiff.life/users/garrwolfdog/statuses/116521607521320435https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://yiff.life/users/garrwolfdog/statuses/116521607521320435Tue, 05 May 2026 10:57:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 10:40:04 GMT]]>@bengesko this is why I'm touchy about the "midlife crisis" framing. No I'm not having a crisis I just have some free time for the first time in n years

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://axillae.telent.net/users/dan/statuses/01KQVVJEGBNZ43Y3NG31DK44WKhttps://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://axillae.telent.net/users/dan/statuses/01KQVVJEGBNZ43Y3NG31DK44WKTue, 05 May 2026 10:40:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 10:21:58 GMT]]>@bengesko Even more: in today's economic landscape it is unaffordable. Total bullshit.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Illuminatus/statuses/116521469146414557https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Illuminatus/statuses/116521469146414557Tue, 05 May 2026 10:21:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 10:07:19 GMT]]>@bengesko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normopathy

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.lgbt/users/Akki/statuses/116521411495642480https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.lgbt/users/Akki/statuses/116521411495642480Tue, 05 May 2026 10:07:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 09:49:58 GMT]]>@bengesko "Normal is overrated and borderline oppressive in today's political climate, anyway."

It was always oppressive. "Normal" is beloved of conformists, especially those who want to force others to conform to their personal (usually mind-numbingly beige) preferences.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chaosfem.tw/users/KatS/statuses/116521343310992681https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://chaosfem.tw/users/KatS/statuses/116521343310992681Tue, 05 May 2026 09:49:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 09:39:27 GMT]]>@bengesko we actively became weirder in our 30s and we're not nearly done yet

- ๐ŸŒŸ

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.art/users/moonglow/statuses/116521301920859706https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.art/users/moonglow/statuses/116521301920859706Tue, 05 May 2026 09:39:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 09:12:10 GMT]]>@bengesko We wondered for decades "when are we going to start acting grown-up like our parents?"

I eventually decided that the difference between us and them was that we didn't have to live through the war.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://c.im/users/TimWardCam/statuses/116521194661489233https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://c.im/users/TimWardCam/statuses/116521194661489233Tue, 05 May 2026 09:12:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 09:05:58 GMT]]>@bengesko *me, on the way to becoming the witchy old crone 12-year-old me always dreamed of becoming*: Please tell the rocks and mud Hello from me and to enjoy the sun

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.chaosfield.at/users/dequbed/statuses/116521170245032916https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.chaosfield.at/users/dequbed/statuses/116521170245032916Tue, 05 May 2026 09:05:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 08:15:35 GMT]]>@mynameistillian@plush.city @bengesko@plush.city

so like pretty much everyone

there's a reason why i mask and try to appear more normal, it's less psychic damage than maybe "living as myself" but being surrounded by nobody else

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://gabboman.xyz/fediverse/post/7d41ae27-5c25-4d45-9296-34b179d9f5fehttps://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://gabboman.xyz/fediverse/post/7d41ae27-5c25-4d45-9296-34b179d9f5feTue, 05 May 2026 08:15:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 08:13:50 GMT]]>@goog @bengesko tbh everyone who unfriends you over being weird in a harmless way is not worth being around

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://plush.city/users/mynameistillian/statuses/116520965288552559https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://plush.city/users/mynameistillian/statuses/116520965288552559Tue, 05 May 2026 08:13:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 08:09:13 GMT]]>@bengesko@plush.city

lowkey the choice for plenty of us is either "be normal and have a chance to be employed and live a somewhat healthy life" or "be weird and unmarketable, and also hope something runs you over tomorrow because you can't be employed and you're too able for the state to get any sort of welfare scraps"

not to mention being "weird and unmarketable" in my case only isolated me from everyone else and made my loneliness and mental health even worse than it already was

so no, it's not something you get to choose on a whim when your entire life stability is at stakes

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://gabboman.xyz/fediverse/post/bafe3c77-477e-460d-bdad-c1a108f0310dhttps://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://gabboman.xyz/fediverse/post/bafe3c77-477e-460d-bdad-c1a108f0310dTue, 05 May 2026 08:09:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 08:01:41 GMT]]>@bengesko normal is a fucking prison

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://plush.city/users/Yza/statuses/116520917467885697https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://plush.city/users/Yza/statuses/116520917467885697Tue, 05 May 2026 08:01:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 08:00:57 GMT]]>@bengesko *zoomers* are saying this? if it was boomers or gen xers i'd understand

as a millenial, the idea of adulthood we were sold was an absolute lie, made all the more apparent by how it was denied to us by many of its markers (like home ownership and career progression) were made unobtainable. a great deal of who our generation is comes from the reject6ion of the old idea of adulthood. fuck it, we'll watch cartoons and play with toys untiil we're in the grave

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://plush.city/users/Yza/statuses/116520914591376475https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://plush.city/users/Yza/statuses/116520914591376475Tue, 05 May 2026 08:00:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The expectation of becoming a "normal married person with only a job" once you're over 25 is bullshit. on Tue, 05 May 2026 07:56:05 GMT]]>@bengesko I got gender affirmation surgery and my easily-visible tattoos after turning 50, and I still write kinky dragon smut fanfic. my hair is finally going grey and I'm not going to shave it this summer in hopes that it'll take green dye to give me green highlights. when I move down to Humboldt, I fully intend to join the local Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence chapter in whatever role they'll take me and paint a huge, wildly colored mural on the wall of whichever room becomes mine.

fuck normal. it's never too late.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://weirder.earth/users/troodon/statuses/116520895479248579https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://weirder.earth/users/troodon/statuses/116520895479248579Tue, 05 May 2026 07:56:05 GMT