#burnout discourse

[golden-letters]

gang u ever feel that soulsucking feeling of never amounting to anything ever because everyone else will always do better than you do more than you have more than you and you will always be behind no matter how hard you run and the worst thing? youve found yourself running slower and slower because you can't seem to feel driven anymore

[atomicrebelfire]

🐅 The Tiger’s Out: Thoughts on 9-1-1, Press Cycles, and Fandom Entitlement

Watching the fandom ( ahem-Buddies-ahem) spiral over Bobby’s death this week—on Twitter, in tags, in comments—got me thinking. Not just about the storyline itself, but about how 9-1-1 has shaped its relationship with us as an audience over time.

And I say us because I’m not above it—I’m here too: spiraling, speculating, commenting, hoping, wishing, refreshing AO3. I mean, how else are we supposed to survive being canon ship fans? But it’s hard not to notice how this show, more than most, has encouraged a kind of fandom culture (ahem—Buddies—ahem) that feels increasingly intense, reactive, and exhausting.

🔹 9-1-1 is one of the only network procedurals I’ve seen that does press and postmortems for nearly every episode. (Or maybe I just didn’t follow the press this closely for other shows.) Not just premieres or finales. But like… every time someone breathes too loudly, there’s an interview explaining why.

We’ve all been conditioned to expect that—like the story isn’t done until it’s been followed by cast interviews, Instagram teases, writer commentary, and four different articles saying “here’s what really happened.”

🔹 For a while, it was fun. It felt like being invited into the process. But over time, that constant feedback loop has turned every moment into a test. Every twist feels like a betrayal. Every silence feels like a message. Every character decision becomes something fans feel owed an explanation for.

And yeah—some of the behavior has gotten out of hand (ahem—Buddies—ahem). But if we’re being honest? The show and its promo machine spent years telling us this story was a conversation, that fan feelings would be heard and reflected, that ships were part of the game. And now that the show is pivoting into heavier, messier, less “pleasing” territory?

The fallout is intense. Because people were set up to believe this was their show, too and the story is a customer service product.

But here’s the thing: You can’t spend six+ seasons feeding the tiger and then act shocked when it bites.

Yes, harassment is never okay. And I support the cast and writers drawing boundaries when things get toxic.

But this climate didn’t come out of nowhere. It was built—one postmortem, one vague ship tease, one “we hear you” at a time. And now that they’re trying to pull back, it’s clear just how hard it is to put that energy back in the bottle.

Sometimes the hardest truth is this: You can’t always untrain what you’ve taught.

And now, suddenly, we’re supposed to act like the fandom’s behavior came out of nowhere? Nah. You raised a tiger on steak and serotonin—and now it’s chewing through the walls. And the fans who are normal? Who are fine with stories evolving or ending? They’re drowned out or driven off.

[zebulontheplanet]

Autistic burnout vs autistic regression

Autistic burnout has been described as a phenomenon that happens when you get burnt out. Leading to loss of skills, exhaustion, and extreme fatigue. But what’s it called when you aren’t burnt out. When you do lose skills but aren’t fatigued and didn’t mask that causes burnout?

It is often debated on if autism regression can happen in adults and teens. I would like to remind people that autism regression isn’t researched a lot, so forget about teens and adults.

Autism regression in teens and adults, also referred to as late regression, is referred to as the phenomenon that causes sudden decline in social, developmental, and language without any underlying cause.

Difference between the two? Burnout is caused by burnout. And does get better with accommodations, self care, and time. Regression isn’t really known to have a cause, and can only be fixed with professional help and time.

I know many of my friends who have gone through regression, yes, burnout and regression do have similar symptoms, however are very different. Stop saying regression isn’t real.

Please feel free to comment, correct me, etc.

[mother-of-houseplants-2]

when will people stop talking about 'former gifted kid syndrome' like it's just "i used to be smart and now i'm not wah wah wah" and start talking about what it really is, which is "people expected perfection from me my whole life with no support and now i'm struggling as a grown up with no support"

[kouhai-deactivated]

Dude you know what makes less and less sense to me the older i get? The basis of being charged for rent and utilities in this day and age when we spend less and less time actually at home doing anything fr. Like when you take into consideration how fucking burnt out we are on a regular basis (esp and particularly among adolescents and young adults), how do I even have a bill for utilities I’m never home to really use for any significant amount of time?

I’m being charged increasingly for streaming services i don’t have the energy outside of work to watch with any actual consistency or attention. Most of the time I turn the mf tv on for white noise — to scroll through social media on my damn phone 😂 bc the sound of the tv in the background gives me this illusion of control over how I’m spending my time “leisuring”, only bc it’s something i can use to convince myself that the shackles have been at least temporarily removed. They’re never removed though. Literally ever.

You spend $200 on 10 damn items at the grocery store now; groceries that don’t even last, at that. The essential-est essentials have prices straight out of apocalyptic hell. At the same time, this is the same damn country that decided no one has a technical right to food or sustenance — with the phenomena of food insecurity all over the damn nation. People can’t even truly afford to take care of their health being tethered to working “tirelessly”, and with health insurance having no seriousness here whatsoever.

I’m paying 1,000+ damn dollars a month for rent alone, working for shit wages that never really budge in any way that matters and that I can’t actually save shit with, bc I never really have any disposable income. It’s just a fucking nightmare. How are y’all doing this with children??? How are y’all doing this with dependents and pets and car payments and student loans and credit card debt on top of a never ending series of American obligations?? How are y’all not losing your very minds living like this every day??? The math doesn’t even add up. Logic doesn’t even apply.

There’s nothing logical or fair about any of this. It doesn’t even make systemic sense the way we’re charged damn near everything year-round to exist here. How are they incentivizing y’all to breed playing w our rights like this in our faces?? It’s worth it to y’all? I could grind my teeth to nothing trying to make the vaguest sense of it. I feel so utterly squeezed by and ensnared in bills 24/7/365. And like………… in a way…… it kinda doesn’t make declining birth rates seem so bad? This really might be for the best.

Tf we supposed to do, just work for other human beings all our lives? 8 billion of us?? What right do human beings have to demand such consistent energy from other human beings? 😂 Just to be a vessel by which others procure and sustain wealth via our underpaid and exhausted labor while we struggle to survive on meager resources? Doesn’t seem sustainable. Or realistic. Or humane. I’ve never wanted to be here less. I’ve never wanted to not be needed so badly in my entire life. I’m so fucking tired of being here.

[moregraceful]

hope everyone who got a creator subscription notif from me today realizes something deeply unwell and bizarre happened to me in march

[strawberrystepmom]

ngl writing for less “popular” fandoms has really reignited my spark

[myfandomrealitea]

Because I'm seeing a lot of vile accusations and guilt tripping thrown around lately, I feel the need to reiterate:

Its okay to need a break or a space away from real life events and real life horrors.

Yes. Its okay if you don't reblog that death count post to your Marvel fanblog. Yes, its okay if you need to turn your phone off for the day so you're not staring at horrific headlines. Yes, its okay to not join in a conversation or to move away from a conversation if you need to.

Needing to appropriately manage your mental wellbeing is not the same as being wilfully ignorant or uncaring.

[tedkaczynskiofficial]

I don't know if I'm going to publish the actual rant I have in my drafts, but some of y'all need to realize that making "former 'gifted' kid burnout" your whole personality is unhealthy, and that maybe you should take the "I'm not actually special" thing to heart more. Most people are bad at studying. Most people don't handle being bad at things well. Most people have shit self-discipline. Like, the whole problem was people telling you you're special and fucking with your perceptions. Why are you continuing that by acting like struggle is some exceptional thing only a small group of people experience?

Yeah, you had a weird/bad experience as a kid. Good news! You can choose to do something about it now.

[taehyungfirst]

I think the problem with the fandom is only going to continue. Because yes, there will clearly be a comeback and group efforts. That's the whole point of enlisting together. But there is also no way they are going to give up on their solo activities. They want to continue in their own individual endeavors, which are not only unique from each other but from the group. And that will be hard to navigate with a fandom this splintered and dysfunctional. There will be clear pressure points. And like we are seeing now with Tae and JHope, when members activities overlap or seem competition, the dysfunction shoots through the roof.

There is likely the most potential for that when it comes to JK's solo efforts. His sound and his goals (mainstream/Western pop success) are in most direct competition with the group. JM solos are bonkers but committed. So they will keep streaming and crying about how persecuted he is. And while Tae clearly has challenges when it comes to the company and the fandom, I do think he has one of the strongest long games because he has spent this time wisely establishing his unique sound/approach and continuing to build not only his immediate support network but his broader one.

Hi! I agree it’s going to continue but they will have to wait some time when they come back for other solo content. I believe they will be immediately rushed into working on the bts comeback, then the tour, and after that (2 more years?) they will resume again their individual projects. Or else they’re gonna be overworked and exhausted. In the meantime, they’re gonna have to interact with group content and I hope that stan twt will grow a backbone by then and bully off the akgaes. Or at least don’t be intimidated by them? 😭

When projects overlapped, for awards season, they always said to vote it for the member who was leading, what changed is that they get jealous when it’s the member they don’t want to lead, so they should drop the ot6/ot2 mask.

Jk is being recognized by the gp so he could get that push, Jm I feel is strictly connected to bts and still didn’t make a name for himself (must be the sound? I feel like he’s still navigating), Tae is being smart and building his loyal fanbase so we will see how things go.

[gmax]

my discourse energy is so so so so so low. ace discourse. slur discourse. flag discourse. of course i have opinions still but i just cannot be asked to argue with people or really care.

[flywolf33]

I am the only person in my position and when I'm gone even for a day it puts a lot of extra burden either on the recovery assistants or the case managers to cover for me, and the quality of client care drops. I mentioned to my boss I feel guilty taking too much time off because of this and she set down her pencil, looked me in the eye, and said, "Take it. We will figure it out. You can't help the clients if you get burned out so take time off."

Now to be fair I'm in social services so my company is genuinely a non-profit funded by Medicaid and the County, but still. It says a lot.

Client care is preceded by self care.

[firstoccupier]

Finding Clarity in the Blogging Chaos: A Journey Toward Purposeful Expression

In the era of digital communication, blogging has emerged as a powerful platform for self-expression and connection. However, many bloggers find themselves caught in a whirlwind of frustration, especially those who feel like they’re on a relentless rollercoaster of writing essays that seem to lead nowhere. The struggle is real for many, particularly those who wish to escape the ‘soap opera’ that…

[ooglywooglies]

i made a tag for my posts where i talk about GATE since i apparently do it a lot (and a friend sort of asked me to so theyre easier to find), and i went back and read the other posts ive made about it and it seems like i sort of flip flop between talking about how

you shouldnt humble brag about how being "gifted" set you up to be burnt out bc it placed high expectations on you (ie from my perspective, not what the GATE program did at all) and how people are confusing GATE with being on an honor roll

and about how being in GATE prevents kids with disabilities from receiving accommodations

and i guess in some ways they sort of contradict, because like i cant talk about the ableism problem with GATE without mentioning that i myself was in GATE and how that affected the way my schools administration tried (or didnt try) to handle my constant failing. and like thats a problem. its not ONLY a GATE problem, like i kind of assumed for a long time it was because of my standardized test scores (it probably also was that) especially since the tipping point in my case (for realizing i needed SPED and something needed to be done) was failing the SAT. like it does conflict with the sentiment i have that if you were in GATE you shouldnt frame "being gifted" as the source of your struggles in school.

but maybe it doesnt because really it isnt! the source is shitty school administration and baked in systematic ableism. and like, one thing that pisses me off about other "gifted kids" even people who DO label themselves correctly and were in GATE specifically, not JUST honor roll kids, is that we (me included sometimes, though i try not to) completely overlook how the structure of the american education system doesnt benefit kids who ARENT disqualified from SPED, how being in SPED is not far off from being "given up on" or "left behind", as someone who was BOTH of those things i can tell you its more frustrating as a left behind kid (who wasnt always a left behind kid i just mean they got there eventually and i also didnt graduate) to see people who objectively had it better talk about how uniquely hard their experience was

[marshemillow]

For the millionth time, you do not have to call yourself "proship," but if you refuse to stand in solidarity with proshippers, then you are excusing harassment. Sorry if you don't like hearing that.

"I don't like sexists OR feminists, because they BOTH just keep making discourse about insular bullshit that doesn't really matter! I think we should have equality, but I also think SOME women should be subjected to misogyny, but only if they're bad obviously!!! Why can't these two groups just agree to a compromise and stop fighting???" Like you have to be joking, right? Please tell me you are joking.

"But fascism is a real problem that can't be encompassed by fandom labels-" I NEVER WANTED TO BE AN ACTIVIST!!! I LITERALLY JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THIS FUCKING HOBBY BACK!!! STOP TRYING TO FORCE ME TO BE A REAL ACTIVIST AGAINST MY FUCKING WILL!!! I'M IN DANGER HERE TOO!!! IT'S NOT THAT CRAZY FOR ME TO WANT AN ESCAPE FROM REAL PROBLEMS!!! NOT EVERY SPACE HAS TO BE FULL OF REAL POLITICS HOLY SHIT YOU ARE THE REASON WHY EVERYONE HAS ACTIVIST BURNOUT BECAUSE YOU CAN'T JUST LET PEOPLE HAVE A FUCKING BREAK!!!

Proshippers are kind to me and like to write fiction. Antis want to skin me alive with a vegetable peeler and then rape my dead body. Do you seriously want to "both sides" this bullshit??? You really think it's both groups' fault that this wank won't end???

"But these labels are meaningless because nobody can agree on a definition!" Literally every proshipper gives the exact same definition. Seriously, proshippers outnumber antis in fandom more than 10 to 1, if a thousand people inside the group give the same definition and ten people outside the group give conflicting definitions, how can you seriously just throw up your hands and say "nobody can agree on a definition!!!" like yes we do, I don't know what you're talking about.

"But proshippers harass people too!" And I am against that, but you can't deny that the foundation of the anti mindset is built upon the idea that people who write bad fanfiction deserve to be harassed. They literally CELEBRATE when people kill themselves. They've fed needles to people before!!! Yes there are good antis and there are bad proshippers, but to act like that means both sides are just as bad is fucking absurd and I genuinely don't know how people can't see it.

"But there's nuance!!!" Please tell me what nuance there is between harassing people for their ships and not doing that. Please tell me what nuance there is between censoring "gross" fiction and not doing that. Have you ever heard of the Civil War in the United States? You can't just crowbar a middle ground into an issue where no middle ground exists! Some harassment is still harassment! Some censorship is still censorship!

"But I don't like underage/incest/whatever bad fiction!" Cool! Neither do I! I still think it shouldn't be censored!

"But we have to draw a line somewhere!" Yes, and that line is whatever hurts real people. Any fiction that doesn't require hurting real people to write should be allowed. If Game of Thrones can't normalize incest, then NOTHING CAN.

"But lolicon is pedophilia!" Do you know how hard it is for CSA survivors in real life to hear that the worst thing that ever happened to them is just as bad as watching cartoons? They're already subjected to feelings of being "ruined" because of purity culture, don't insult them on top of that!

"But-" IF YOU REFUSE TO STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH PROSHIPPERS, THEN YOU ARE EXCUSING HARASSMENT.

The least you could do is stop fucking talking about it. You know, the same thing you do with everything else you don't understand? You clearly don't understand the issue, so just drop it!!!

[my-castles-crumbling]

Hi guys!

Just a kind reminder that 'reviews' of fics, discussing the things you didn't like about fics, saying you didn't like a fic at all, or being negative about a fic in general, even if it's a very well-known fic, isn't cool when you do it in a public forum.

Fic writers are humans that write for fun and for free, and being negative about their work is a great way to cause burnout and to make them stop writing. Please don't turn their works into discourse, because even if you think they don't see it, they might.

Sure, you can have those conversations with your friends in private spaces or offline. But making public polls about what the best fic is, posting reviews about the pros and cons of a fic, posting polls about who liked which fic, or doing something similar, really makes people feel like shit no matter what you do.

Sending love!