(i ripped this off wikipedia real fast so sorry if it's lib)

In October 1776, the Public Universal Friend contracted an epidemic disease and was bedridden and near death with a high fever. Their family summoned a doctor from Attleboro, six miles away, and neighbors kept up a death-watch at night. The fever broke after several days. The Friend later reported that [deadname redacted] had died, receiving revelations from God through two archangels who proclaimed there was "Room, Room, Room, in the many Mansions of eternal glory for Thee and for everyone". The Friend further said that [deadname redacted]'s soul had ascended to heaven and the body had been reanimated with a new spirit charged by God with preaching his word, that of the "Publick Universal Friend", describing that name in the words of Isaiah 62:2 as "a new name which the mouth of the Lord hath named".

From that time on, the Friend refused to answer to their deadname, ignoring or chastising those who insisted on using it. When visitors asked if it was the name of the person they were addressing, the Friend simply quoted Luke 23:3 ("thou sayest it").  Identifying as neither male nor female, the Friend asked not to be referred to with gendered pronouns. Followers respected these wishes; they referred only to "the Public Universal Friend" or short forms such as "the Friend" or "P.U.F.", and many avoided gender-specific pronouns even in private diaries. When someone asked if the Friend was male or female, the preacher replied "I am that I am", saying the same thing to a man who criticized the Friend's manner of dress (adding, in the latter case, "there is nothing indecent or improper in my dress or appearance; I am not accountable to mortals").

editorial note: I think this is a very cool story and I really love hearing it. We've been around forever and we've been doing variations of this forever. It's really beautiful


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  • TerminalEncounter [she/her]
    ·
    2 months ago

    My little sister fretted about turning 18, she thought she was gonna be too old. She wanted to look like a teenager forever, which... ugh I know she just was but personally when I was that age it was a relief to finally be an adult and get out from being told what to do all the time

    Reminded me of the young twinks lamenting their twink death at 19 lol

      • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        hrt has made me a lot less scared, even excited about 30 tbh. i'm gonna be smoking hot and 30s can't be any worse than my 20s lol. 40 is still scary though.

        • ashinadash [she/her]
          ·
          2 months ago

          10000-com I'm not even worried about my 40s tbh, my body is already coming apart at the seams so lfg, here's to me becoming older and better.

          • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
            ·
            2 months ago

            my body is already coming apart at the seams so lfg, here's to me becoming older and better.

            same! meow-bounce and definitely a great attitude to have. at least i know my rate of inflicting damage on this vessel has slowed down in more recent years (did most of my worst disordered drinking from the age of 16-22 or so...) so things are looking up!

            • ashinadash [she/her]
              ·
              2 months ago

              lets-fucking-go I plan to work out even more as I age, hopefully I won't slow down much. I will say it seems grim when there's an inverse correlation between how well I treat myself (I eat way better and exercise way more) and how healthy I am (chronic pain is killing me 100× more than it was even seven years ago) but y'know!

              • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
                ·
                2 months ago

                I feel that very hard, I get resentful a lot of the time because I've done so much work to abuse substances less, don't do hard drugs and drink 3x/week anymore, even working on quitting weed recently... but I'm more or less still miserable a lot of the time. i have chronic MDD, I'm used to it for better or worse. like, I'm sure it will pay dividends physiologically in the long term but sometimes I get in a really bad mood and I'm like what was the point of all that yknow

                • ashinadash [she/her]
                  ·
                  2 months ago

                  yea too relatable... Me I just try to think that there's no sense treating myself worse Idk.

                  • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
                    ·
                    2 months ago

                    it's the right mindset and I'm thankfully able to channel it most of the time these days! it just comes under pressure when I'm in a real doomer mood which unfortunately isn't so infrequent. still doing better than ever with all that self destructive stuff though snom

        • magi [null/void]M
          ·
          2 months ago

          I'm in my 40s and looking better and doing better than I was in my 20s, still get carded lmao anya-heh

          • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
            ·
            edit-2
            2 months ago

            that rules kirby-spin tbf even 40 is less scary now it just seems like more of a Big Deal than 30, probably something i'll get over as the years go on. i know im just gonna be getting hotter and more comfortable in myself every year now so that's one reason the future in that way feels so much more real than

            oblique sui talk

            when i was younger and never thought i'd make it that far. :::

            • magi [null/void]M
              ·
              2 months ago

              Once I hit 25 I stopped caring and have had chronic pain since around 19 and I've managed that to this day, but today I am fitter, look better than I did in my 20s which is extremely funny to me. Plus not going into the sun in years hasn't aged me either lol

              spoiler

              I didn't think I'd get to where I am now either

    • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
      ·
      2 months ago

      yeah i couldn't wait to be a "real adult" (lol) from the age of like 15 onwards. partly because i was already a burgeoning alcoholic and wanted to buy my own drink, but largely i was so frustrated with the way adults treated me when i was a teenager. so dismissive and would just talk over me constantly and act like i was just a cute little addition to the conversation not to be taken seriously. it drove me nuts. tbh some of my extended family still treat me this way, thankfully i hardly see them anymore.

    • ashinadash [she/her]
      ·
      2 months ago

      I don't trust anyone who does not revile their teen years and relish their ability to be an adult madeline-stare