If I ever have the chance to become a mother, I probably wouldn't raise my child to believe in Santa. Not sure why… Would that be a bad thing to do?
Confession Session - LOCK THIS THREAD
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No, lying to your kids about Santa is the bad thing.
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@Monkey:
I've always found it kind of a bizarre mix of hilarious and creepy that these otherwise bashful and (relatively) normal girls become sociopathic second degree male rapists when they get their hands on a keyboard or pen 0___o
Reminds me of that time when I reluctantly helped a female classmate download a bunch of Yaoi. She was rather shy and innocent, and helpless about computer stuff. She talked about this Yaoi stuff so enthusiastically, and… innocently. It would have creeped me out otherwise, but her childlike excitement kind of swept me, so I went along with her request.
I delete my posts and comments on Facebook when nobody likes them.
I also do that occasionally, but mostly with the pictures I shared rather than with my posts. Once the initial excitement wears off, I find these picture boring, so I delete them anyway.
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If you're not even religious, why bother even celebrating Christmas? Just tell your kid it's a marketing ploy and to stomach it until their Birthday to get a present. There's no point in celebrating Christmas since it serves no other purpose outside of a religious context. So yeah, why lie about Christmas being a special day? It isn't. So no need to celebrate it whatsoever so skimp out on giving children gifts, lights, decorations, and music.
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I love explaining Christmas to Japanese students via chalkboard scribbles. They largely know the whole holiday as "Cake and Santa commercials."
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I love explaining Christmas to Japanese students via chalkboard scribbles. They largely know the whole holiday as "Cake and Santa commercials."
And the Colonel Sanders…
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And the Colonel Sanders…
I actually had a show of hands for who'd eat KFC on Christmas and there was a surprising lack of hands. I guess because it's Touhoku.
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If I ever have the chance to become a mother, I probably wouldn't raise my child to believe in Santa. Not sure why… Would that be a bad thing to do?
If you're not even religious, why bother even celebrating Christmas? Just tell your kid it's a marketing ploy and to stomach it until their Birthday to get a present. There's no point in celebrating Christmas since it serves no other purpose outside of a religious context. So yeah, why lie about Christmas being a special day? It isn't. So no need to celebrate it whatsoever so skimp out on giving children gifts, lights, decorations, and music.
To everyone their own but I just want to leave this. I'm not religious and I don't really care about Christmas anymore but I'm really really glad that my parents allowed me to indulge in this holiday like everyone else as a child despite them not being christian either.
I have some really dear memories about the Christmas tree the presents the eating together and what not.
So I guess what I wanted to say is there is value in letting children believe in magic.
Not everyone might feel the same but I'm not a friend of parents being overly selective about what their children should experience.
In my mind you'd want to open as many experiences to your child as possible and see what grows around that. -
To everyone their own but I just want to leave this. I'm not religious and I don't really care about Christmas anymore but I'm really really glad that my parents allowed me to indulge in this holiday like everyone else as a child despite them not being christian either.
I have some really dear memories about the Christmas tree the presents the eating together and what not.
So I guess what I wanted to say is there is value in letting children believe in magic.
Not everyone might feel the same but I'm not a friend of parents being overly selective about what their children should experience.
In my mind you'd want to open as many experiences to your child as possible and see what builds grows that.Hm, you do have a point there…
Also, I'm Christian, or at least raised as a Christian, but it's just that, I dunno. There's just something about the whole commercialistic aspect of the holiday that doesn't feel right to me, almost selfish in a way. I don't really want anything for Christmas besides being together with my loved ones, and cherishing the moments with them. No more, no less.
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The gifts thing is supposed to be about the giving over the receiving. In that way it's more about generosity than selfishness. It all depends on what the family emphasizes ("What will you get your brother?" over "What do you want for Christmas?")
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If you're not even religious, why bother even celebrating Christmas? Just tell your kid it's a marketing ploy and to stomach it until their Birthday to get a present. There's no point in celebrating Christmas since it serves no other purpose outside of a religious context. So yeah, why lie about Christmas being a special day? It isn't. So no need to celebrate it whatsoever so skimp out on giving children gifts, lights, decorations, and music.
'' I know now why you cry, but it's something I can never do ''.
[hide]
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The gifts thing is supposed to be about the giving over the receiving. In that way it's more about generosity than selfishness. It all depends on what the family emphasizes ("What will you get your brother?" over "What do you want for Christmas?")
Ah, that's another good point.
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If you're not even religious, why bother even celebrating Christmas?
Family cultural thing.
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If you're not even religious, why bother even celebrating Christmas? Just tell your kid it's a marketing ploy and to stomach it until their Birthday to get a present. There's no point in celebrating Christmas since it serves no other purpose outside of a religious context. So yeah, why lie about Christmas being a special day? It isn't. So no need to celebrate it whatsoever so skimp out on giving children gifts, lights, decorations, and music.
Why is it that so many people are obsessed with the 'point' of things? Is the concept of "ars gratia artis" so truly lost on so many people? Art for the sake of art, celebration for the sake of celebration; life for the sake of life! What difference does it make, truly, if Christmas 'serves no… purpose'? So what if it's a completely arbitrary holiday? It's an excuse for family to come be together, to put up silly, fun little decorations everywhere, to sit together, maybe drinking some mulled cider, in a room filled with the glow of the fire and the lights of the Christmas Tree.
There's no more 'point' to Christmas than there is to laughter, to happiness, to family and togetherness, I suppose that much is true. But what of it? Not to imply that Christmas is in some way the only source of these things, of course, or that it must be for everyone; everyone has their own traditions, their own celebrations, lives their life in their own way. But why disparage something that can mean so much, create so many fond memories, for so many people? What does trying to push your cynicism upon others in that way gain you?
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I feel like Christmas has become much more than a religious thing, it's more a time of joy and charity now imo. There are hardly any Christmas specials about the religious aspects going around either, while on the other hand A Christmas Carol is like the classic Christmas story.
Have to agree on Gilblord's post too, though I'm maybe not the one to talk, seeing how I don't think the commercialism is that jarring over here (like e.g. your Black Friday's and stuff…).
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@Panda:
There's no more 'point' to Christmas than there is to laughter, to happiness, to family and togetherness, I suppose that much is true. But what of it? Not to imply that Christmas is in some way the only source of these things, of course, or that it must be for everyone; everyone has their own traditions, their own celebrations, lives their life in their own way. But why disparage something that can mean so much, create so many fond memories, for so many people? What does trying to push your cynicism upon others in that way gain you?
But why on Christmas? Why that particular day? Why can't you be making many fond memories outside of it? What makes Christmas so darn special that everyone is out making memories for themselves on THAT particular day without significance? Why do folks succumb to this Christmas-ness and feel the need to be extra good on that time of the year? If anything, Christmas functions better as a symbol rather than an actual day to be celebrated. There's nothing to celebrate on that day after all. Why disparage it? Because of the seeming pointlessness of the day in itself in spite of its effecaciousness in inspiring others to instigate a sort of cheery feeling on that particular season. The motivation behind inspiring cheer on this holiday feels remarkably hollow.
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Because we simply can't be at high spirits all year round. That's human nature, so it makes sense for society to come together and decide on a day we're not all dicks to each other. Black Friday exists to siphon out the last of the cutthroat lack of fucks for one another; after that, what's left is the giving of fucks on Christmas
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But why on Christmas? Why that particular day? Why can't you be making many fond memories outside of it?
Because that would feel forced and awkward.
What makes Christmas so darn special that everyone is out making memories for themselves on THAT particular day without significance?
That we've done it that way all along? So it's associated with it?
The irony here with what you're saying is that the day wasn't even originally of Christian significance. It was a pagan one. But people back then were really attached to that day, so the cultural change toward being Christian continued on with it.
The main point though being that it's a completely harmless thing, so WHY bother changing it? -
Because we simply can't be at high spirits all year round. That's human nature, so it makes sense for society to come together and decide on a day we're not all dicks to each other. Black Friday exists to siphon out the last of the cutthroat lack of fucks for one another; after that, what's left is the giving of fucks on Christmas
And why do you need to be in high spirits? Is it simply the good nature manifesting within us OR is it for some other motivation? I can't speak for everyone, BUT take away presents from Christmas and what do you have left?
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Also consider the psychological phenomenon of "priming"–what you see influences how you behave on a subconscious level.
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@Monkey:
That we've done it that way all along? So it's associated with it?
The irony here with what you're saying is that the day wasn't even originally of Christian significance. It was a pagan one. But people back then were really attached to that day, so the cultural change toward being Christian continued on with it.
The main point though being that it's a completely harmless thing, so WHY bother changing it?I'm fully aware of that, but I'm pretty sure most folks still attribute Christmas as a Christian phenomenon regardless of its origins.
Also I'm not suggesting any changes whatsoever but questioning the motivation behind it and its rationale.
PS: Though if I were to change anything, I would be curious to see what happens if you got rid of presents as an element of Christmas. I'm pretty sure the Grinch is not an accurate depiction of how it would be like.
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And why do you need to be in high spirits? Is it simply the good nature manifesting within us OR is it for some other motivation? I can't speak for everyone, BUT take away presents from Christmas and what do you have left?
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I'm altogether not too bothered by it. Besides, explaining Christmas traditions over and over has made me a little more affectionate and warm over them. There is some value in tradition for its own sake, after all
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I'm fully aware of that, but I'm pretty sure most folks still attribute Christmas as a Christian phenomenon regardless of its origins.
I don't think your following why I brought that up.
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Probably not shrug
And most folks probably have no idea why they're celebrating Christmas outside of the feel goodry or…for shits and giggles (and continuing the shits and giggles out of tradition)
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You're depressing and depressed, aren't you?
Personally, I'm celebrating Christmas as a Catholic. That doesn't mean other people should be talked out of being happy, or getting together with their family.
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Well, Christmas is the most stressful time of the year. But I don't see why you shouldn't celebrate it.
You get free stuff!
AND MONEY!
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"To the why Christmas specifically?" There is a factor of convenience that makes it easy to celebrate. Why go out of my way and celebrate on the 14/06 every year when the people that are important to me are tied up with work and what not.
When we celebrate Chinese new year it's just me and my parents at times it even falls into the work week which makes it harder to organize.
Christmas is a national holiday in many countries so people generally have the days surrounding it off or take their vacation time.
So even when you don't care for all that stuff behind Christmas why sit gloomy and lazily around during those days doing nothing(with a lot of stores being closed during that time it also limits stuff you can do) when you can chime into the mood and celebrate yourself with everyone else.That is assuming it makes you happy, the line of reasoning for questioning "why do it" only makes sense to me if you don't enjoy celebrating together with your loved ones. So I have to agree with Panda that obsession for celebrating for the right/real reasons is kind of weird to me. If it makes you happy and you can create good memories why not?
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So essentially Christmas is essentially Thanksgiving part 2 for you?
Don't know Thanksgiving is not a thing in Germany.
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Don't know Thanksgiving is not a thing in Germany.
Shit, I keep forgetting where everyone's located. w/e
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Also it's basically my birthday so. Can't really NOT celebrate it.
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Christmas is fun. Like birthdays and Thanksgivings. I don't know what it's like for other people's friends or families, but these days are like a break away from the busy times, taking a moment of appreciate the great times and be happy to be alive. If we did that everyday, then I can only imagine there being holidays to keep heed of eachother's company. But hey, this is just me.
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Christmas and New Year's means I get a couple of weeks for rest and good food and gifts.
Don't care why people celebrate it since I in general constantly buy crap for people all year round. But please let them keep on celebrating it because I really really like this break.
Although, businesses that play christmas music all day long from the end of Halloween to January should realize they're losing my business. A couple of times I don't mind, but after constantly hearing christmas music it starts to get really tiring.
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It depends on what you value. If you value truthfulness above all, then you won’t raise your children to believe in Santa. If on the other hand you see truth as only secondary and can be discarded when fantasy is a better means to bliss, then you will tell your children that Santa is real, and later, that it is okay to believe in a lie for a good while.
The way I see it, Christmas is a form of escapism, for children and adults both. Like many traditional holidays, it gives the adults a temporary escape from the stressful, dreary routines of their everyday lives; a frustration release; an energy recharge before re-entering the dreadful circle of works or schools; a dose of nostalgia for reliving childhood and forgetting the competitive pressure and unfairness of the world of adults; and an opportunity to feel like they have done their adult duties, that is, to show their family friends ‘proper’ care and appreciation, which they might have somewhat neglected during the rest of the year. It has its pros and cons, and the pros you guys have done a good job at listing, so I will focus on the cons. Aside from fostering a form of consumerism lifestyle, it also fosters a form of conformism: “I do it because everyone else does it, and we has always been doing it, so why stop now?”; and a form of artificiality: many pretend to be friendly with those who they normally dislike so that they can feel like a good person for a short while, before returning to the old way. And all of this is commercially exploited in every way possible. In a sense, holidays like Christmas is necessary for maintaining the status quo, as they provide a temporary relief for coping with the sweeping fast-paced flow of modern industrial life and its many problems without effectively solving them, a short time during which many people can again feel connected amid their much disconnected lives, so that they can find life tolerable and be at ease with themselves.
None of the above necessarily applies to your personal reason for celebrating Christmas. And since my policy is not to be judgmental, I respect people’s choice and value. Personally, however, my choice is like that of Epoia. I prefer that my children grow up knowing the truth, valuing the truth, and grounding their happiness on truth, rather than building their fascination on the sand cattle of fairy tales that will sooner or later be washed away by the waves of life. I want to teach my children to accept the truth no matter how boring or interesting, mundane or extraordinary, comforting or discomforting it may be. And I want to teach them to be as kind as possible in every day of their life, and to express their kindness not so much through ready-made gifts and cards, half-hearted “Merry Christmas!” and “I love you!”, gaudy balloons and candles and candies, customary rituals and special occasions, but more through their everyday gestures, big or small, in workplace or on the streets, to contribute every little bit they can to better human lives and alleviate suffering. So that even without them uttering a word, their friends and families would still know how much they are appreciated and cared for, and so that life will be more enjoyable even without special occasions like Christmas. The gesture of kindness needs not be anything grandeur, it doesn't require celebrations, so it won't be forced and awkward. Something that is forged and cemented little by little throughout the years can stand firm. And I hope that they will be strong enough to maintain this spirit of giving and unity and appreciation against the challenges life will constantly put them through, the harshness of which you don’t need me to spell out. This is certainly difficult, but a worthwhile goal nonetheless. Hopefully I won't be such a bad role model to them.
/ranting.
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Personally, I'll just assault my kids with a constant barrage of trolling and made-up stories and fantasies. At the most basic level, I imagine they'll have fun from those stories
At the higher level I would hope that, like me when I was a kid, they learn early on to determine by themselves what's true and what isn't based on the evidence and data provided, as well as their own emotions and beliefs. Mostly because when they get to the real world they'll make their own truths and won't wait to find it in a world that's at best a confusing mess of information. Don't want to choose for them what's true and what's false, because no one really chose for me either, and it's something I'm really happy about.
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It's extremely weird to me to see people have believed in Santa because over here we have Sinterklaas for that purpose instead.
Like, nobody here cares that Santa is not real because everybody knows it, but Sinterklaas not being real is treated as serious business that children are not supposed to know about.
Christmas over here always has been a tradition of visiting family and being and dining together and lighting up the house with pretty accessories, and some people do go to church at christmas, but most of what is happening on Christmas these days in terms of gift giving has simply been assimilated from other cultures for the sake of companies to make more money off of it and feels just forced and fake to me. My parents just put the presents under the tree a few hours prior to Christmas eve, prepare a nice Christmas dinner and after that spend all night watching bad movies and don't care about the rest of it at all.Giving presents at christmas is only really done by some people, when the children are in high school or beyond, and when Sinterklaas is starting to become kind of obsolete when the childhood peer pressure of everybody being forced to brag or show off their presents at school goes away and most people switch to doing surprise gift exchange parties instead.
We basically just split Santa and Christmas into two different holidays in the same month, but Sinterklaas has no religious meaning and has purely become a overly commercialised game of peer pressure in primary school with no way out because giving gifts is the only point of the entire holiday. Not going along with it at all basically only leads to mockery and misery at this point for a child. (Also, for the record, at least these days Black Petes are supposed to be Spaniards who became black from going through sooty chimneys to deliver presents all the time. The whole racism and slavery debate that raged worldwide is actually genuinely baffling to a lot of people over here because of this.)I like christmas better, personally speaking, if I had to choose one holiday to celebrate from these two. I like the closeness and general atmosphere of Christmas just a lot more, even though I'm an atheist, and I wouldn't really mind going along with the lie to any future children I might have as long as they are genuinely having a good time with it, even if it wasn't the most important holiday in the year to me in the past.
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Not really a riveting confession, but I've noticed that most of my socks have cute little animals on them… I'm wearing a pair with porcupines on them right now. :I
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Personally, I'll just assault my kids with a constant barrage of trolling and made-up stories and fantasies. At the most basic level, I imagine they'll have fun from those stories
At the higher level I would hope that, like me when I was a kid, they learn early on to determine by themselves what's true and what isn't based on the evidence and data provided, as well as their own emotions and beliefs. Mostly because when they get to the real world they'll make their own truths and won't wait to find it in a world that's at best a confusing mess of information. Don't want to choose for them what's true and what's false, because no one really chose for me either, and it's something I'm really happy about.
The fun part is that some people grow up to create their own imaginary fantasies, just to give someone else that moment to be immersed in their frantic little world. I don't know about logical parenting or being overly analynical describing the reasons people celebrate Christmas (escapism,lol. It's a mundade childish fantasty kids grow out of. Not some chemically toxic reaction in the brain), but I personally won't cheat someone out of an active imagination too early.
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okay I'm jumping on the Shipmate-is-Panda bandwagon. only thing left to do is figure out which one is the evil twin.
as for what you tell your kids, I have been planning to dedicate a considerable amount of effort into convincing my children of silly but harmless little ideas, like if you split a banana open there will be ice-cream inside. on one hand I just want to liven up their childhood and encourage their imaginations to flourish as long as it stays fun and helps them keep that lovely sense of wonder and curiosity which kids naturally have; on the other I kinda want to see how far I can go. XD but not the Santa thing, we just don't do that seriously here at all, and I have never met anyone who ever believed in Santa Claus. the distinct lack of any sort of chimneys anywhere kinda makes the story a little difficult to tell.
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It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes something something nah nah want to take my clothes off.
Nah but that's sweet. Making some nice progression in that there relationship of yours^^
I am getting so hot, I wanna take your yada yada yada
Heh, thanks. This last weekend was the first one we've spent together so I decided to make it special somehow. Ohhh, the look on his face when I invited him to the shower with me~
that's good take it at pace you like and feel comfortable.
No worries, we're both perfectly clear on the fact that since I'm the inexperienced one things should go at my pace. So now that something has happened between us we're both stuck at being horny and not seeing each other for two weeks XD
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escapism,lol. It's a mundade childish fantasty kids grow out of. Not some chemically toxic reaction in the brain
It sounds really silly, isn't it? XD
But escapism doesn't necessarily have anything to do with some chemically toxic reaction in the brain, you know. It may be just about immersing in your own frantic little world, to be distracted from the banal or unpleasant reality. That is why we have escapist fictions. And I called Christmas a form escapism because of the fact that many people feel disappointed and let down when they learn that Santa isn't real, and not simply growing out of it like you get bored of a toy. But maybe I am exaggerating it, hee hee. ^^
I think we can nurture the imagination of children without telling them that fictions are real. They can have fun with their active imaginations without believing a single bit of it. And in fact this is just how I grew up. But hey, that is just me.
My main point is just that a positive attitude, is it is genuine and heartfelt, should be maintained as persistently as possible, and NOT just be practiced in a particular day following some particular tradition. So long as you keep your positive attitude, it doesn't matter if you celebrate Christmas and wear a red hat and sing Jingle Bell like everyone else or not. ^o^/Anyway, I hope you all enjoy your Christmas. ^___^
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I am getting so hot, I wanna take your yada yada yada
Heh, thanks. This last weekend was the first one we've spent together so I decided to make it special somehow. **Ohhh, the look on his face when I invited him to the shower with me~
No worries, we're both perfectly clear on the fact that since I'm the inexperienced one things should go at my pace.** So now that something has happened between us we're both stuck at being horny and not seeing each other for two weeks XD
Good man. I can't imagine that was entirely easy for him lol
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Good man. I can't imagine that was entirely easy for him lol
Judging by the purely physical reaction… yeah no not that easy at all haha.
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Judging by the purely physical reaction… yeah no not that easy at all haha.
I bet you just stood there thinking heh still got it lol
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Shipmate's avatar intrigues me… Who is this exactly... Hmmm...
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That reminds me when I was sorta dating this girl, towards the end she suggested going to the park (closed park about five miles outta town, so no public nudity XD) and getting naked because she felt I was too insecure about my body. It never happened but it was one of those things I actually appreciate a lot more after the fact. It taught me that when it comes to love, your partner will accept you for who you are, and all you are. They won't accept you being some weird pedophile of course, but nobody's gonna turn you away for being fat or disfigured or something when they've already bared themselves to you as well. :)
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I need a free software tool (preferably online) that me to use a 3-D Body reference model, and allows me to position their arms, legs, anyway I like, so that I can improve my drawings when trying to do poses.
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Shipmate's avatar intrigues me… Who is this exactly... Hmmm...
Wagatsuma-san from Wagatsuma-san wa Ore no Yome (Wagatsuma-san is my wife). It is just an ordinary romantic comedy manga that I enjoy. ^^
The main girl is like my alter ego. XD -
Wagatsuma-san from Wagatsuma-san wa Ore no Yome (Wagatsuma-san is my wife). It is just an ordinary romantic comedy manga that I enjoy. ^^
The main girl is like my alter ego. XDI was actually asking about your identity. Does this disqualify Panda? Intriguing.
Maybe we just have another, completely original weirdo on our hands.