Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 2)

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-do-you-think-the-world-and-or-your-country-will-look-like-in-20-years.1420294/

[Trigger warning: depressing pessimism ]

More and more lately my mind keeps going back to the Godspeed You! Black Emporer song "Blaise Bailey Finnegan III." I first head this song as a sensitive, angry, empathetic, brooding, albeit very ignorant, boy in my late teens. It was profound and moved me deeply.

The song features a tape recorded interview with some random charlatan doomsday "prophet" the band encountered on the side of the street. Turns out, as I'm sure many of you know, the dude was simply a peacocking pathological liar who blatantly stole the "poem" he recited and probably more. Even so, I felt at the time in the early aughts, that the sentiments rung true. Obviously the music, as darkly evocative as it is soaring and sublime, was intended by the band to have this affect.

Blaise Bailey Finnegan III: (pause) Well... I don't like the way the country's ran, don't you know, and, erm... that's pretty much what i was expressing in my poem. The government... the American government - they're sneaky, they're very deceitful, they're liars, they're cheats, they're rip-offs. I mean, the American government is one systematic government that...that nobody can trust. I don't trust them myself.

At the time I knew little to nothing about biases like that, but as the years have gone on - and especially since around 2016 - his words actually ring truer than ever. But to the specific question of this thread one line in particular always haunted me:

Interviewer: Do you think things are gonna get better before they get worse?

Blaise Bailey Finnegan III: No way. Things are just gonna get worse and keep on getting worse. Like I said, America's a third world country as it is and... and we're just basically in a hopeless situation as it stands.

Interviewer: What do you think this country's gonna look like in the year 2003?

Blaise Bailey Finnegan III: Y'know, I'll tell you the truth - nothing against you guys, but I don't wanna answer that question because... I haven't even got a mind that's that...that inhumane.

Maybe it was purely accidental and entirety derived but he was right. He was dead right, in the late 90s no less.

If you would have asked someone to envision what 2026 would be like back then, outside of dystopian sci-fi authors, academics and Kojima, few of us indeed had a sick enough imagination to see what was coming. I surely did not and could not imagine the trajectory this country has taken, at least not thelis fast, despite looking back at the post 9-11 world and it being so obviously clear.

I feel the same feeling now thinking about the future only exponentially more hopeless. Everyday it feels like we are marching towards 1984 and it's more sobering than ever. Between techno-enslavement and infocide, in many ways we are already there, right behind other superpowers and states like Russia, china, Israel.

I think eventually propaganda won't be needed once soldiers and police are replaced by mass-produced AI-automated drones / robotics. The wealth-horders have no compassion, no empathy. They want to win monopoly and that's it. They're not going to have some moral epiphany or let their foot off that gas out of the kindness of the hearts, because they don't have that organ. They aren't developing all the current technology to make the world a better place. They are parasites and if they could go full neo-feudal or worse at this moment and get away with they would.

Pardon the disorganized thread. My brain is weak these days so I will expand on my own speculations and share them here later, but for now I wanted to ask the question, as uncomfortable as it is. I hope to hear some optimism from people elsewhere in the world, because I'm not feeling much at all these days.

Am I shadow-banned, or am I that cringe or crazy that no one replies to my threads, or are we really that averse to thinking about this stuff? Because frankly that's how we got to where we are now - keeping tomorrow out of sight and out of mind.

[Boredfrom]

Totally and it's a logical explanation. I know there are sadistic doomers out there, but my pessimism ( at least when I share it) comes from a place of wanting to educate in order to unite and combat the enemy. To achieve solidary and expose how serious the problem is. Its probably futile and I know I'm preaching to the choir with a mostly progressive forum but I legimately find hope in the idea of unification

Also this dude:

feel the same feeling now thinking about the future only exponentially more hopeless. Everyday it feels like we are marching towards 1984 and it's more sobering than ever. Between techno-enslavement and infocide, in many ways we are already there, right behind other superpowers and states like Russia, china, Israel.


I think eventually propaganda won't be needed once soldiers and police are replaced by mass-produced AI-automated drones / robotics. The wealth-horders have no compassion, no empathy. They want to win monopoly and that's it. They're not going to have some moral epiphany or let their foot off that gas out of the kindness of the hearts, because they don't have that organ. They aren't developing all the current technology to make the world a better place. They are parasites and if they could go full neo-feudal or worse at this moment and get away with they would.

[Kazuma_Kiryu]

Christ.

I'm so fucking disgusted. I spent several years trying to protect the integrity of the Canadian elections by banning disinformation and hate speech on a certain social media app and got REAL familiar with some of the assholes up there that would court this shit. Like, we had a special focus on the most recent election because of the amount of shit that was getting flung around.

Nothing I did mattered. Truth means nothing anymore when this shit can happen.

I'm sorry Canada. I tried.

 

https://www.resetera.com/threads/trump-admin-officials-have-reportedly-held-several-secret-meetings-with-far-right-canadian-separatists-who-want-to-break-free-from-the-rest-of-country.1419718/page-3#post-150678160

Please don't bring that #NotAllAmericans bullshit into this thread. Thanks   

We need more Canadian emojis Benji

[Alpacx]

Am I shadow-banned, or am I that cringe or crazy that no one replies to my threads, or are we really that averse to thinking about this stuff? Because frankly that's how we got to where we are now - keeping tomorrow out of sight and out of mind.

Posters like this guy and Echoes are going to complain Ignore Lists are Micro aggression

[Keetongu]

Try a couple decades of shitty emails ranging from simple insults all the way up to death threats from idiot fanboys who can't handle you giving a game "only" 8/10 and see which one puts more calluses on your soul, dummy. You'd fold in six months or less.

I’m sorry Jeff… but

The Larian dude post is also stupid, but this is the shit world we live on.

The bolded is incredible. 

I don't know how you could type out something so lame and think it's okay to post.

You'd never survive a day as an internet game reviewer, it's an elite profession only the most hardened psyches can handle. 

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

#YESallamericans

[kaleidoscopium]

Insane fucking ban.

https://x.com/Popstonox/status/2017074225643696596

Streamers can call people the r-word every five seconds, harass other streamers and literally call for genocide. And that's just fine.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/hasan-piker-ot-oh-your-such-a-big-man-hasan.321886/page-69#post-150688246

Context of why poptarts pookie was banned: 

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/co-founder-of-latinas-for-trump-that-made-campaign-for-him-now-is-afraid-she-or-her-son-could-be-taken-by-ice-this-is-not-supposed-to-happen.1419802/page-3#post-150666928

 User Banned (2 Weeks): Inappropriate commentary regarding ICE

Someone snitch on her son. Wonder if she is anti LGBTQ too

A bunch of Nepenthe posts in there too.

[BIONIC]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-ot3-make-her-look-more-corpulent-more-stuffed-where-the-eyes-cant-escape.275780/page-502#post-150677062

relating to the Leon Resident Evil thread, I bring it up here and this may be a me thing but I never like the broad phrasing "women like/want *insert man/fictional man here*" when describing women's preferences when said by men because it always to me feels like it's treating women as a hivemind and feels really exclusionary because it's nearly always heteronormative and as a result I'm always excluded which has a nasty othering and

really opens my gender dysphoria and can make feel like a lesser woman or wrong (and I'm sorry but I'm not going to be thankful or praise Capcom for Leon, especially when I don't want Leon in the game).

Also I really regret posting in that threat because my own posts really reminded just how much SFV era Street Fighter pissed me off back in the day with just how cringe it was with it's sexualization and objectification and how much fans online would piss me using the "Sexy Ryu" phenomenon to defend it and just down any criticism of the game, especially during the pre-Arcade edition era with the "See men get sexualized to!", "Women got something so it's equal" and "No fun police!" meme, the latter pisses me off so much and I've seen so often like if you dared call or bring up the cringe and grossness of how some people reacted to Lady Dimitrescu (especially when Capcom began to play into it... Which honestly felt like a moment when Capcom regressed a bit and went back to sexualizing women more, albeit slightly better then before).

Like in general, it feels like the video game industry has regressed slightly with it's handling of women, like it feels like more game companies and mainstream games are being more brazen with their objectification women, like stuff like Rivals or Overwatch's treatment of women (the latter annoys with how Tracer has been near erased, sad that one of gaming's most prominent lesbians (even if ActiBlizz was very cowardly with how they handled her sexuality in game) has been ignored) and pushing "gooner bait" and it's just treated like it's okay because their making some pretty boys (who are no way near as sexualized and objectified). I'm sorry I've never been someone who though sexism is solved just by equalizing it because that doesn't solve or root issues and issues the sexualization and objectification causes like women not allowed to be old, less body types. Like this is not an argument against pretty characters or that women can't find characters attractive or sexy characters, I'd by a massive hypocrite because I love characters like Morrigan, Cammy, Ada, Manon especially when it comes to Resident Evil characters and one of my dream games I wish I could make is a sexy fighting game made for and by wlw/lesbians, I just don't feel like praising these studios and game companies because they "equalize" it a bit, like I love Marisa but that doesn't make the cringe with Mai better.[/hide]

I feel like their should be something between telling someone to back off and murder, either way really like how the game shames me for not wanting sex with men (which apparently gets worse by act 3 with character like Halzin) or Lae'zel like Nimbat1003 point out above, it made the game not feel fun and one of the reason why I could never get past the second act (that and just not liking the combat or dice mechanics at all) it felt like I was getting pressured in a way that made me very uncomfortable, like let me date Shadowheart in peace and back off. It's why I do not want that system to be the norm (that and I want lesbian and gay men companions and romances) and wish more RPGs just allowed me to state in character creation that I'm a lesbian to avoid that shit and wish games would stop doing this.

Since I don't want to make this page overly negative, just want to say I played a cute wlw platformer called Kitsune Tails which has a very adorable 8-bit artstyle (:

So does Super Lesbian Animal RPG:

[Alpacx]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-ot3-make-her-look-more-corpulent-more-stuffed-where-the-eyes-cant-escape.275780/page-502#post-150677062

All of Echoes' posts in the Burka Thread have to be typed one handed.

[Daffy Duck]

Problem with games reviewers/gaming sites is they became infested with people who have various disorders/mental issues/trans and they can’t handle being criticised as they think they’re special.

I haven’t cared for video game reviews for years, I’ll watch a YouTube video from ACG or something to get an idea what the game looks like in gameplay and if I like the look of it I’ll buy it.

[BananaBlast]

How ironic the Dispatch Switch censorship thread uses all the talking points they're quick to condemn. I thought stuff like "Censoring boobs for adult audiences is pathetic" and "Any amount of censorship is an immediate refund" was for the loser chuds, eh?

Lol. All the horn dogs crying over censorship is hilarious

Ahh, "pointless arbitrary censorship is good actually" has arrived on time.

These two are burka thread posters. They literally support and endorse the exact same mindset.

[BananaBlast]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/re-requiem-director-leon-kennedy-became-a-“hot-uncle”-thanks-to-hawk-eyed-women-staff-at-capcom-who-reviewed-“even-the-finest-wrinkles-on-his-neck”.1419160/page-3#post-150645265

In the "let's circlejerk over Daddy Leon's age wrinkles for progressive sexuality points!!!" thread....

From the schizo that brought you "Chun-Li's sweet buns will cause teenage girl suicides and raise incel murder rates", comes:

The kind of discussion that can exist around this lives so far in the opposite direction of where the internet goes that it is almost never worth engaging. "Oh yeah, well, what if it was the opposite" style complaints engender bad faith arguments that seek to justify or excuse the problematic status quo through an implicit erasure of difference. If developers were talking about reaching out to minority communities to drive feedback and iteration on more authentic and diverse representation of ethnic characters, I would hope nobody would be naive enough to consider race reversal to be a meaningful objection.

It's the perennial problem of people confusing equality ('sameness") with equity ('fairness"), a disconnect which is routinely weaponized by certain communities as a means of building and reinforcing a grievance based culture of hate. "So when White Men do X it's bad, but when Women/Minority does X it's good". It's a persuasive structure because it relies on a mental or logical sleight of hand to skip over the fundamental distinctions. It primes the audience by assuming the merit of the conclusion that X is the same for all groups, when disputing that statement is a central element of what drives social critiques regarding systemic or institutionalized oppression (X is never the same for all groups by definition).

This might feel perfunctory in a context like discrimination, which is 'negatively' charged by its nature so people are more resistant to attempts to ignore difference. Nobody is going to seriously argue that the police stopping a white person is the same situation as police stopping a black person, for example. But when things gets shifted to more 'neutral' or even potentially 'positive' context like attractiveness and sexuality, our internal alarm bells don't get set off in the same way and we tend to fall back into over-generalized thinking.

And in a way, it's kind of funny because it should be just as obvious that men and women don't get to experience the world the same way, just as we wouldn't equivocate between gays and straights. And yet that's often the way we find ourselves talking, which can be hard to catch if we begin with disingenuous framing as our starting point. We've already had multiple posters point out the competing paradigms between the sexes with the simple example of wrinkles. The intersection between aging and attractiveness is NEVER the same for men and women; fine-tuning the appearance of wrinkles is a fundamentally different proposition than preventing their existence entirely.

So while personally, sure, I may have my own rabbit holes regarding how our cultures of appearance can serve to propagate or reinforce negative outcomes or systems, it never needs to come up when the standard of discussion is so far below the baseline that it wouldn't even be fresh forty years if we were talking about Roger Moore quitting Bond because he found the age gaps so disgusting. And yet here we are approaching the 2030s and women characters are still stuck living under the Leonardo DiCaprio curse.

Just pure mental gymnastics man 

[Daffy Duck]

I ain’t reading all that

[BananaBlast]

True equity is when men are banned for saying a woman is hot, while gays, women, stinky fujos, and performative soyboys gush over middle aged man wrinkles and wish they were in thongs or something.

[Besticus Maximus]

It's a typical problem in unenlightened communities notsuch as ours that people think there is some kind of 'expectation' that looking at one 'thing', listing out its various positives and negatives (and, indeed, DISCUSSING them as problematic and gross as that is) and afterward, post-hoc, doing the same with a different 'thing' (Gross again, othering) and looking for 'similiarities' or 'sameness'. They take two things, and compared them, even when one is clearly different and they are not literally exactly the same, and doing so invokes potential of bad things not being condemned. So tiring.

[Snoopy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-do-you-think-the-world-and-or-your-country-will-look-like-in-20-years.1420294/

[Trigger warning: depressing pessimism ]

More and more lately my mind keeps going back to the Godspeed You! Black Emporer song "Blaise Bailey Finnegan III." I first head this song as a sensitive, angry, empathetic, brooding, albeit very ignorant, boy in my late teens. It was profound and moved me deeply.

The song features a tape recorded interview with some random charlatan doomsday "prophet" the band encountered on the side of the street. Turns out, as I'm sure many of you know, the dude was simply a peacocking pathological liar who blatantly stole the "poem" he recited and probably more. Even so, I felt at the time in the early aughts, that the sentiments rung true. Obviously the music, as darkly evocative as it is soaring and sublime, was intended by the band to have this affect.

Blaise Bailey Finnegan III: (pause) Well... I don't like the way the country's ran, don't you know, and, erm... that's pretty much what i was expressing in my poem. The government... the American government - they're sneaky, they're very deceitful, they're liars, they're cheats, they're rip-offs. I mean, the American government is one systematic government that...that nobody can trust. I don't trust them myself.

At the time I knew little to nothing about biases like that, but as the years have gone on - and especially since around 2016 - his words actually ring truer than ever. But to the specific question of this thread one line in particular always haunted me:

Interviewer: Do you think things are gonna get better before they get worse?

Blaise Bailey Finnegan III: No way. Things are just gonna get worse and keep on getting worse. Like I said, America's a third world country as it is and... and we're just basically in a hopeless situation as it stands.

Interviewer: What do you think this country's gonna look like in the year 2003?

Blaise Bailey Finnegan III: Y'know, I'll tell you the truth - nothing against you guys, but I don't wanna answer that question because... I haven't even got a mind that's that...that inhumane.

Maybe it was purely accidental and entirety derived but he was right. He was dead right, in the late 90s no less.

If you would have asked someone to envision what 2026 would be like back then, outside of dystopian sci-fi authors, academics and Kojima, few of us indeed had a sick enough imagination to see what was coming. I surely did not and could not imagine the trajectory this country has taken, at least not thelis fast, despite looking back at the post 9-11 world and it being so obviously clear.

I feel the same feeling now thinking about the future only exponentially more hopeless. Everyday it feels like we are marching towards 1984 and it's more sobering than ever. Between techno-enslavement and infocide, in many ways we are already there, right behind other superpowers and states like Russia, china, Israel.

I think eventually propaganda won't be needed once soldiers and police are replaced by mass-produced AI-automated drones / robotics. The wealth-horders have no compassion, no empathy. They want to win monopoly and that's it. They're not going to have some moral epiphany or let their foot off that gas out of the kindness of the hearts, because they don't have that organ. They aren't developing all the current technology to make the world a better place. They are parasites and if they could go full neo-feudal or worse at this moment and get away with they would.

Pardon the disorganized thread. My brain is weak these days so I will expand on my own speculations and share them here later, but for now I wanted to ask the question, as uncomfortable as it is. I hope to hear some optimism from people elsewhere in the world, because I'm not feeling much at all these days.

Am I shadow-banned, or am I that cringe or crazy that no one replies to my threads, or are we really that averse to thinking about this stuff? Because frankly that's how we got to where we are now - keeping tomorrow out of sight and out of mind.

Sounds like one of those street nutters ranting about the end times 

I'll be homeless again in 2 weeks. All the programs I rely on have been stolen from me in the past 6 months. I'm literally going to die because of this dude lol

[Daffy Duck]

These idiots man, I just can’t…

nice, the boycott is working

https://www.resetera.com/threads/vgc-twice-as-many-developers-surveyed-by-gdc-say-they-want-to-make-games-on-ps5-or-switch-2-than-on-xbox.1419937/#post-150668209

[kaleidoscopium]

we are losing our constitutional rights daily because of these zionist pieces of shits

https://www.resetera.com/threads/hasan-piker-ot-oh-your-such-a-big-man-hasan.321886/page-70#post-150689320

Yes, the constitutional right to…… stream on Twitch! 

Fuck twitch, full stop.

This is literally proving his point (US of ICERAEL).

Edit: for context, Asmongold got 2 days for calling Palestinians subhumans who deserves to be genocided.

And that Lakkari guy only got seven days for showing links to fucking CSAM.

US OF ICERAEL HOLY SHIT.

I wish Hasan could just build his own platform, or work with something not controlled by corps. Dude is bigger than twitch at this point anyway.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/hasan-piker-ot-oh-your-such-a-big-man-hasan.321886/page-70#post-150692404

[Snoopy]

ICEREAL. Fuckin gottem. Take that Zionistas. You can tell how clever it is because he posted it twice.

[kaleidoscopium]

Who does this? How can so many people be so hateful and miserable 24/7. It has to be exhausting and they have zero empathy.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/jan-6th-rioter-chaya-raichik-aka-libs-of-tiktok-is-doxxing-teachers-nurses-who-support-alex-pretti-or-oppose-ice-trying-to-get-them-fired.1420777/#post-150698218

[DavidCroquet]

Is Chaya Raichik a jan 6er?

Also isn’t her whole deal that she was OMGDOXXXED by liberals in the first place (from which she died badly…oh wait…)??

also even the OP is like “and no one gives a shit”. Charlie Kirk this ain’t.

[Taco Bell Tower]

Who does this? How can so many people be so hateful and miserable 24/7. It has to be exhausting and they have zero empathy.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/jan-6th-rioter-chaya-raichik-aka-libs-of-tiktok-is-doxxing-teachers-nurses-who-support-alex-pretti-or-oppose-ice-trying-to-get-them-fired.1420777/#post-150698218

[Uncle]

These idiots man, I just can’t…

nice, the boycott is working

https://www.resetera.com/threads/vgc-twice-as-many-developers-surveyed-by-gdc-say-they-want-to-make-games-on-ps5-or-switch-2-than-on-xbox.1419937/#post-150668209

I choose to interpret this as a joke at era's expense

[clockwork5]

Our old friend noodlesoup has entered the thread, as performative as ever. 

Banning Hasan for this is crazy. Also, I don't think people realize how influential these lame ass ICE and Zionist groups are. I found my name on one of those watch lists (wtf) the other day and now I'm just waiting for some bullshit to happen.

Wait you just found your name on some conservative hate list? Where did you find it? Seems like others have the same question. 

Those lists are public?

You found your name on a watchlist??? They're publicly available??

Also could someone explain to us retards, what does Zionism have to do with ICE?

[HaughtyFrank]

This reminded me a bit of Resetera and how outspoken they are about mental illness but will at the same time make statements like "mental illness doesn't make you say racist things" and how they were happily shitting on Etika before he killed himself.

[Mediocre Lager]

Biological women think Leon is hot. I do not think Leon is hot. This difference of opinion makes me feel like less of a woman.

Therefore, we should ban biological women from having opinions.

#feminism

[kaleidoscopium]

Banning Hasan for this is crazy. Also, I don't think people realize how influential these lame ass ICE and Zionist groups are. I found my name on one of those watch lists (wtf) the other day and now I'm just waiting for some bullshit to happen.

Those lists are public?

The one I found was public.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/hasan-piker-ot-oh-your-such-a-big-man-hasan.321886/page-70#post-150700426

Shouldn't be a surprise given your public arrest record for the silly protest, Jomareun Richardson

[kaleidoscopium]

Reminded me we haven't heard from Sheryl in a while so looked her up, looks like she lost a case in December 

https://www.hpherald.com/evening_digest/judge-strikes-lawsuit-against-qumbya-housing-co-op/article_30f4f66c-1b4d-4d3c-9628-23827262ad7c.html

Judge Thaddeus Wilson dismissed the complaint last Tuesday against Qumbya Housing Cooperative and its management partner, NASCO Properties, saying the plaintiff’s attorney failed to properly plead the claims and did not include exhibits supporting the factual allegations. The case was struck without prejudice, meaning the plaintiff can refile, though Wilson expressed skepticism about whether the lawsuit could proceed as a class action even if reworked.

Sheryl Weikal, Saudi’s attorney, told the court on Tuesday that the parties had engaged in settlement negotiations but those had so far proven unsuccessful.

“We received a settlement proposal. We made a counter. We did not receive a response to the counter,” Weikal said. “At this point, it looks like the defendants want to litigate.”

And hasn't really changed all that much 



Posts of this nature every hour or so going back months

and noodlesoup can't seem to stay away from crime, just got a speeding ticket few weeks ago on 1/2/2026:

[benji]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-do-you-think-the-world-and-or-your-country-will-look-like-in-20-years.1420294/

Interviewer: What do you think this country's gonna look like in the year 2003?

Blaise Bailey Finnegan III: Y'know, I'll tell you the truth - nothing against you guys, but I don't wanna answer that question because... I haven't even got a mind that's that...that inhumane.

Maybe it was purely accidental and entirety derived but he was right. He was dead right, in the late 90s no less.

If you would have asked someone to envision what 2026 would be like back then, outside of dystopian sci-fi authors, academics and Kojima, few of us indeed had a sick enough imagination to see what was coming. I surely did not and could not imagine the trajectory this country has taken, at least not thelis fast, despite looking back at the post 9-11 world and it being so obviously clear.

I feel the same feeling now thinking about the future only exponentially more hopeless.

Except he wasn't dead right? He was off, in your version, by a quarter of a century. And in the real version he was wrong as that quarter of a century has only gotten better. In the 1990's you were poorer, less aware/informed, had less capabilities, had less government "services", more crime, etc. This is true for Americans only slightly less than it is for the rest of the world.

Is Chaya Raichik a jan 6er?

I believe she was at the STOP THE STEAL rally, possibly the one Trump spoke at, earlier in the day but was not part of the group that invaded the Capitol. There were multiple things that day but lots of people seem to be under the impression that was a single rally that immediately invaded the Capitol.

But it's cool to condemn people who protest what they consider an authoritarian government ran by a Zionist genocider I guess.

https://x.com/dellulled/status/2016550288220717175

This reminded me a bit of Resetera and how outspoken they are about mental illness but will at the same time make statements like "mental illness doesn't make you say racist things" and how they were happily shitting on Etika before he killed himself.

They want "mental illness" to be a stat buff, a get out of jail free card, etc. Something that makes you more interesting/quirky while also reducing your responsibility especially your need to account for others. If mental illness is instead distorted thinking that can severely diverge from reality then it can't be this.

I think the plurals/headmates are an ideal example. Rather than something the person has no control over that clearly makes their life worse you instead have someone like Android Sophia writing essays about how all their headmates sit around and discuss MCU shows and crack jokes about being headmates. They never seize control at the wrong time. They all have awareness of everything even when not in control. They never have bigoted or Nazi headmates. They rarely even have boring straight white cis male headmates.

For these kind of people mental disorders are a means to manipulate others, not something that manipulates themselves against their intent except when they need an excuse for their behavioral choices.