~ Touch Triggers ~

Since we're talking about negativity, I want to talk about a trend that made me quit take a break from PT.

What is a touch trigger? Well basically, a person with a touch trigger (or TT for short) have... a touch trigger! Like, you can't touch them, cuz touching them reminds them of their trauma and it might give them panic attacks or make the relapse. It's similar to haphephobia, which is the fear of being touched. Yes... haphephobia *in-game*. You strictly cannot touch their little virtual pixel pony avatar, even if it's on accident, as it gives the person with TT phantom touches.

(There are various levels of TT. Mild touch trigger or MTT, normal TT which is just TT, and severe TT or STT. There are TDs or "touch discomforts" too, which is basically just MTT.)

And I know, phantom touches and haphephobia are real. They're definitely real, and there are times that yes, games may give a user phantom touches. Although, that only happens with 3D hyper-realistic and/or VR games.

So I was like... phantom touch? From a 2D pixel game that doesn't even have human avatars? You gotta be kidding me! It sounds so bizarre... In fact, when you search "touch trigger" in Google, you'd get only Pony Town related sources, and I dunno, a Geometry Dash level of the same name? No scientific papers or even articles about it. Only a few Reddit and Twitter threads. This TT thing seems to be a Pony Town only thing, and like if it's really real, shouldn't it be more known before 2021? Like we never hear about this from Terraria, Stardew Valley, other 2D pixel game players, so like, the heck?

Like even if it is real, I'm totally all for respecting triggers and crap, but like, this is totally watering down people's brains! Respecting it definitely won't help the TT person in the long run. It's like... so insignificant! Like, so what if they touched your pony? If that teeny thing sends you into a full blown panic attack then I don't think you're supposed to even be *allowed* on the Internet. You aren't even supposed to play the game! Like, get over it, it's part of recovery, dur

Oh yeah, that. What's hella weird is like, if you really have this touch trigger thing, then why are you lounging in like a really crowded area like Spawn? I think it was around earlier this 2021 that literally 60% of all the players you see have "TT" written on their names. I mean, I'm not even supposed to see people with TT on the public map if it's truly a real thing! They should be hiding in Party Island (the private map) or some remote area on the public map but no, spawn and crowded fandom areas are littered with people who have "TT".

What's more... the created a "Touch trigger pride flag." What??? There's a Carrd all about it too. I can't find it though... sadly. The Carrd talked a lot about "stop ableism" but then the flag had bright neon colors that totally won't overstimulate eyes (sarcasm). "Stop ableism as long as it doesn't benefit me", I guess.

~ What I think touch triggers really are ~

Another trend... Fake as hell... Spread mental health awareness? No, no, more like promote baby brain and degeneracy. People faking disorders... to be different!

Well... if it were really real, then I say it's a result from extreme stress. Like, people do crazy crap under stress right? I've done something like that before too. So it's probably just that. I do hope the people with /real/ touch trigger are doing better now, since the TT trend is kind of dead now (LOL)

But like... I hate hate hated how people tried to "spread awareness" about TT... as if we were here to welcome its stay forever. Just molding yourself to accept the problem, rather than solving it. I hate that part the most.

(Also like, did you know? The creators of that TT Carrd I was talking about have a Twitter account that made "callout" posts of "ableists." They literally just post a picture of the names and avatars of people who debate about them about TT to "expose" them. But they stated on their bio that they "mean no harm" and nobody should witch-hunt the people they post. Like, that's so totally responsible [sarcasm]. Plus, I have a few friends who have actually talked to these TT awareness persons, and my friends were just trying to ask about TT but the TT person acted hella rudely. humph)

When the touch trigger trend was really trendy, I can barely enjoy my time on Pony Town. Everywhere I go, everywhere I look, I see some loser faking a trigger. Another heated debate about the existence of TT. I hid a lot of those people who had TT on their name. There was so many of them to the point that I can barely participate properly in Minigames and RPs because there would always be a hidden person.

So yeah, I took like a 2-3 month hiatus from Pony Town. After a while I came back, and it was so funny~ I unhid all the TT people I've hidden and I never saw them again. Maybe they learned how to stay in Party Island? Maybe they figured that faking triggers is stupid and disrespectful and having TT on their name did not make them any more special? I like the latter reason more.