We're living in a wi-fi soup.

Cerys II 22 II Scotland ftw I watch a lot of shit tv. This blog will contain an assortment of crap depending on what I'm currently obsessed with. Aspiring architect  HUFFLEPUFF

[ripe]

on god, i’m waking up january first with a healthy dose of serotonin and a functioning attention span. like, this entire past decade has just been a fluke, you mark my words. i have planted the seed and i will see the fucking harvest!

[tanoraqui]

it’s just hard not to think about the fact that in 1915, JRR Tolkien went to war not with but certainly in the same army and many of the same battles as his 3 best school friends, all nicely upper class young men who had never known much loss, and only he and one other came back alive - and a couple decades later, he wrote a book in which 3 nicely upper class young men (and one very excellent gardener) who have never known much loss go to war together, or at least they start out together, and they all come home alive. (Though one cannot bear it, and does not stay.)

[catchymemes]

[english-history-trip]

[kathrynethegreat]

Damn solid museum joke.

[catchymemes]

[ramblingpilgrim]

Tony Hawk is probably the best evidence that people would never recognize Clark Kent as Superman in real life.

[whitepeopletwitter]

[sappharah]

the idea of being right-handed or left-handed is so fucked up. like how in the hell is it evolutionarily advantageous to have one hand that’s good at everything and one that’s fucking useless. why aren’t we all dead.

[sealingfate-deactivated20221109]

So, Tory voters, how does it feel to have confirmation that your party has no morals and just blatantly lies to the electorate?

Union anger as 'essential' Chesterfield Royal Hospital service outsourced to US company

Union leaders have criticised Chesterfield Royal Hospital’s plans to ‘sell off’ an ‘essential’ service to an American company.

[bloodytales]

Rule says women must wear heels. No flats.

Kristen Stewart takes off her heels in front of all the cameras and walks barefoot.

The only way to kill sexist rules is to openly disobey them.

[tinyenthusiasttriumph-deactivat]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[meshkol]

[reddragdiva]

in which BBC Business Editor Robert Peston explains revolutionary socialism to a six-year-old

[whitepeopletwitter]

[s1eepless]

[gahdamnpunk]

It’s almost like the producers are the problem and the consumers don’t have much control over what they’re given 🧐

[hilarioushumorfromouterspace]

[jewishraypalmer]

The thing about Derry Girls is that truly no gifset does it justice. The show is comedic perfection when you put their facial expressions and their tonal inflections together. We will never get something funnier than this and that is the truth. 

[jennthebroadwaynerd]

Parallels between fandom conspiracy theorists and religious fundamentalists

Manipulation or misrepresentation of information

Presenting false information as fact

Completely failing to report information that doesn’t fit into their belief system

Reliance on logical fallacies

Belief that nothing happens by coincidence

Belief that nothing is as it seems on the surface

Belief that everything is connected

Extreme intensity of the belief

The belief is unfalsifiable to the believer, no matter what

The perceived existence of evil forces

Predicting a future date or happening, at which time they believe that “the truth” will come out and be known to all; moving the date forward when that date comes and goes

The subject/object of their belief is viewed as pure, innocent, awe-inspiring, and/or aspirational

Creation of a written doctrine; collected documentation of minutiae that they believe is proof that what they believe is true

Proselytizing to young, isolated, sick, lonely, and/or otherwise vulnerable people to recruit them into the fold

Denigration and condemnation of those who don’t believe what they believe, or who criticize their beliefs

Threatening or condoning hatred and/or violence against those who don’t believe what they believe, or who criticize their beliefs

I have said this before in years past, but lately I am seeing more posts and getting more anon messages about conspiracists in our fandom. My two cents: it is at best useless and at worst dangerous to engage a conspiracy theorist or a religious fundamentalist in a conversation about facts or evidence in an attempt to change the person’s mind. Being a “believer” is an identity for extremists. Stripping someone of an identity is not only incredibly difficult, but it is potentially harmful to that person’s sense of self if you succeed. While I do find entertainment in the absurd, I do my level best to spread love & truth and not engage with hate & mythology.

[greyhairedgeekgirl]

As I watched one of the famous fandom conspiracy theories blow the hell up in real time a few years back, I realized how similar the conspiracy theory was to the history of the early christian church, which I’d been reading histories of at the time.

Both have an initial source, followed by self-proclaimed prophets who suggest they have found a new meaning withing the original texts.  Both have ever more followers who are drawn to the prophet’s interpretations more than to the text itself.  Both have claims of secret messages within the text to those who indoctrinated into the mysteries, and begin to have an inner circle of leaders who attack those who disagree. Both work to explain why prophesied events do not unfold or explained interpretations turn out to be incorrect by creating new narratives with a new layer of secrets.

It’s not just “fundamentalists.”  We were watching the creation of a new, actual, religion.  It was fascinating, and creepy, and gave me real insights into ancient history.

[tea-and-liminality]

There’s a good essay on just this thing in Transformative Works and Cultures (open access): The JohnLock Conspiracy, fandom eschatology, and longing to belong

[theleftpill]

HOLY CRAP (pardon the pun) I never noticed this parallel, but it’s absolutely spot-on.

[stuffedgrapeleaves]

i can’t believe we’re all young professionals and academics and we’re still logging on to tumblr.com every single day to clown on ourselves. who let this happen

[cheese24k]

There’s a problem with Brighton’s Christmas lights

[carsh-nurberlu]

Jesus fuck

[vulpineechoes]

holy shit

[jackster3000]

Merry Christmas!