Feral isn't a trendy word anymore, but I don't care. The truth is, it suits me, so I'm keeping it. When we entered Pandemic Times, lo, these 3+ years ago, I sowed my fucks in a barren field where they have gone to compost.

I have always been "too" intense. Too forceful. Too prone to spouting off massive amounts of knowledge no one asked to receive. It bugs people, it distresses people, it makes people uncomfortable. So I always did the emotional work to tame myself in the company of others.

Not saying I succeeded, only that I tried.

These days I've not only stopped working so hard to throttle back to socially acceptable levels of muchness, I am getting assertive about Not Caring if the resulting Too Muchness bothers other people.

Even friends. Because if I can't be myself around people, are those people really friends?

Feral is fine. I've always been feral.

I dislike parties for many reasons. Instant regrets and days of kicking myself for opening my mouth an speaking up about anything top the list. Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria means often feeling like I've done wrong even when the hypothetical "objective observer" wouldn't agree.

Do I go off on the regular? Hell, yes, of course my slips show if I feel I am among friends. But I always used to regret cutting loose in group environments. I always heavily moderated myself around others. Even friends.

So it's quite likely that even if you know me "well," you don't know me at my full-on feral mostness.

The only people who know the full me are the ones who grew up with me, are married to me, or worked a bookstore opening with me & spent an overnight lying on the carpet in the kid's section wondering how the FUCK we were ever going to get done in time.

That's what I used to say, anyway.

Since 2021, I've added another category: folk who shared hotel room meals at cons with me despite being required to demonstrate proof of vaccination and a clean rapid test before I would share unmasked airspace.

Anyway, if you think I am Rather a Lot already, if you have ever thought I am Too Much, you may want to shift your interaction parameters to limit exposure from now on.

I'm only going to get wilder.