Welcome to 5 Quick Things that I saw since last month that I thought were interesting enough to share with you. None of them are particularly timely so feel free to just enjoy 🙂

>Number One<

Not Boring, Consistent

A friend of mine linked me this article about 1000 years ago and I still haven’t stopped thinking about it. As a person in a very long term steady relationship that is extremely good (not to brag but also, I don’t mind bragging). This article is completely right and it’s good to see that not all articles about how to keep a relationship together and healthy are listicles with zero data that make no sense and often boil down to “find your soulmate” – which to be very clear, is not a thing. At this stage in our relationship (over 15 years in) I don’t remember what it was like to be newly in a relationship anymore but I can tell you that one of the things that has kept us together the whole time which remains difficult is that we do the work, even when we don’t want to do the work or the work is hard, we show up and do and eventually we remember why we’re doing it together.

>Number Two<

Puriteens Can Heal

Being a person in fandom on AO3 and Twitter means they’ve I’ve gotten a front seat to a lot of changing mores and values that have passed through these last 10 years and nothing has really blown back my hair as much as the Puriteen movement. It seemed to have actually come from nowhere and be in direct opposition to why fandom are the way they are today. As a person who is not Christian and did not a purity culture as a foundational part of my life to the point that the concept of sin isn’t one I learned directly but simply by cultural osmosis, I find it both fascinating and horrifying. However, what can be learned can be unlearned and I think we’re at an intersection where a lot of people who grew up in deeply restrictive homes after the turbulent 10s are having the rubber hit the road and we need to be there for them. This article has a great number of starting points for healing purity culture which is deeply rooted in shaming people which keeps them scared and ignorant. But also I will block you on AO3 if you tell me I’m writing stories that are too racy. You clicked the 18+ button! That’s not my problem!

>Number Three<

Digital Dreaming

Chromalore hasn’t released very many videos but this one really caught my attention. This is a great video which is deeply researched and extremely interesting but I have to admit I very shallowly clicked on it because I was just excited that it was a video about the digital realities we are building that isn’t just about The Matrix and/or Paprika. I saw Little Nemo when I was a kid and it haunted me in a strange way until I even met my best friend a decade later who had such an interest in the movie and its lore that he had some of the original comics and the video game. Anyway it would be really difficult to summarize this video but it’s thesis is built around what are the consequences of dreams that come true? Which, even if you don’t watch this video it’s probably a question worth thinking about.

>Number Four<

The Lens Through a Lens

I know English speakers tend to forget they’re the only people in the world (for reason I just don’t have time to get into here which are valid to varying degrees and exhausting and wrong in other ways) but it is always a good idea to come back down and live on Earth with the understanding that other people live here and this article was circulating around Tumblr and Twitter doing just that. As a person who used to and occasionally still does interact with the Japanese language side of the internet this isn’t a newsflash to me but it was a nice little hipcheck to English language fandom. Also I hope that more people do use some of the slang that Japanese otaku and fans use because I like it. That’s person bias but you can’t stop me from enjoying “お気持ちヤクザ” (feelings yakuza) as a turn of phrase.

>Number Five<

It Really Whips the Llama’s Ass

I like the end these little lists with something light hearted because I’m cool like that. I like to think that this article about Trent Reznor’s appeal to teenage girls fits that bill. I’m not sure how much today’s extremely cool and edgy teens are into Trent even if the ones I see look like my friends hit up a Hot Topic in 2003 but Reznor was always extremely cool to me when I was in my teens especially. His music, often too honest to the point of being lyrically juvenile, hit a real nerve remaining sexy and strange and honest in a way many artists can’t do either at all or for very long. I hope today’s teens are fulfilled by their own screaming beautiful angry men but I’m happy with the one I got.

Alright folks that’s all she wrote, see you next month!