swamp ophelia

+ 404 Media out here doing the Lord's work, in this case talking about how the tariffs are going to affect hobbying in the US through the lens of eBay. Trump Tariffs Cause Chaos on Ebay as Every Hobby Becomes Logistical Nightmare. NIGHTMARE! NIGHTMARE!

+ A Dubai Chocolate Theory of the Internet is so good. Ryan Broderick's position is that video on the internet has become primarily a vehicle to spread pornography--not pornography in the sense of sexual content (necessarily), but that video has gone from telling a story (even if it was 8 seconds long, like in a Vine) to people vicariously watching other people have sensory experiences--eating things, touching things, etc. Narrative is no longer necessary at all and in fact is at a disadvantage. TikTok, according to this theory, does not want to create culture, it just wants to get people to buy stuff. Quote: "If we can get everyone to make ads, then those ads can become culture. Instead of making culture to sell ads...it's the total inverse....TikTok is competing not with [other social media sites], it's competing with Amazon."

I found this theory very compelling from what I can tell of the TikTok/Reels-dominated internet that I do not participate in. I would be interested to learn if those of you who are more familiar with that side of the internet agree.

This episode also goes into detail about how influencers end up with various products, which is a process that I find really depressing and cynical--I am one of those people who thinks we should stop using "influencers" and go back to using "shills" but that's just me.

This theory even explains how Gen Z is defining "cool." Basically, this is the most interesting theory of the current moment of the internet that I have ever come across, and it's going to shape how I think about the most popular parts of the internet going forward.

+ My friends over at Invisible Histories have produced an online zine entitled How to Spot AI Images Online (you'll need to scroll down to access it). On the other hand, I appreciated this artist on Tumblr talking about how we shouldn't worry ourselves to death when we can't tell what is and what is not AI.

+ Peter Shamshiri is one of my favorite grumpy dudes on the internet, and I really enjoyed this Is Activist Vocabulary Hurting the Democrats because he reports on some very basic fact-checking of the type that we desperately need more of.

+ For those of you who need it, reactions to the death of James Dobson. (The last one is on Substack if you--understandably--want to avoid that site.)

+ This macro is my favorite reaction to the news about a certain person's engagement. I don't know if it's genuinely hilarious or if it's just so tailored to my individual interests (Judaism, musical theater, Judaism in musical theater) that I was just carried away, but I love it even though I care zero percent about said engagement.

+ Dirt In a Cog: Small Ways to Resist Fascism That Make a Big Difference from my friends at Invisible Histories.

+ Conspiracy a video essay by ContraPoints/Natlie Wynn.

+ Interviews with civil servants. I think Defector is going to continue to expand this series.

+ The Tyranny of Public Opinion by Peter Shamshiri. "The battle over trans rights shows that Democrats have forgotten the fundamentals of politics." [This is trans-friendly--it's basically an argument for not throwing trans people under the bus, though this is more for realpolitik reasons than for moral ones. While the moral ones are of much greater concern to me, I do think the real realpolitik reasons matter too.]

+ Baby Talk by Moira Donegan. "On pro-natalism and motherhood after Dobbs."

+ University endowments can’t replace federal funding from Marketplace.

+ The Child Psychologist Who Loved Compliance by David Ferrier. “It worked for growing very unhealthy, very compliant people."

+ The Brutal Aesthetics of MAGA by Inae Oh.

+ The Right's Brave New World 'Vibe Shift': Never Having To Say You're Sorry For Saying The R-Word by Robyn Pennacchia. "They think they are replicating what the Left did with regard to what they understand as “woke.” They think we just made up new rules for everyone to follow in order to trip them up and get them in trouble for no reason — sort of like how old money people made up weird new etiquette rules (like a raised pinky while drinking tea) in order to trip up the nouveau riche during the Gilded Age."

+ Higher Ed Under Attack from On the Nose podcast (Jewish Currents). Conversation with Columbia professor Nadia Abu El-Haj.

+ Chinese AI Video Generators Unleash a Flood of New Nonconsensual Porn by Emanuel Maiberg.

+ Part One: The Zizians: How Harry Potter Fanfic Inspired a Death Cult from Behind the Bastards. [Okay, so this is a laugh-y podcast, so I can understand if this is not the place you want to get information about the Harry Potter rationality Zizian murders. BUT. Robert did something that I don't think many have--he actually read all of Ziz's blogposts and the blogposts of some of the people around her, and while I don't think he's an actual fandom person, he seems to be fandom-adjacent enough to actually understand the fannish aspects of what's going on. So imo, the tone is worth dealing with in order to get even more information about this whole situation. If you don't like to listen to podcasts, you can also find transcripts, starting here for the first episode though it's computer-generated so it doesn't read super easily imo.]

+ mollivanders has some thoughts on Molly Hooper which are excellent. Oh, oh, oh Molly.

+ upupa_epops has brilliant, brilliant thoughts on Katherine and Elena (and by extension Damon and Stefan)

+ lutamira has stats about the Oscar noms that are simultaneously depressing and not at all surprising. [eta--this is flocked, too! But the article is here and if you want to rant, you can totally do it here in the comments]

And now I'm going to go back to work/taking breaks to read Derek/Casey fic because who am I.

If you're new around here (and by "around here" I mean my journal), you may be unaware that I do this completely obnoxious thing where I will fall off the internet for a matter of weeks with no warning. I like to call this "hiatus-ing," but really, it's just annoying. Then I try frantically to catch up with what's been going on in everyone's lives, and it is not pretty.

So! Apologies for that, and in reward for your patience, I will not spam you with useless information about my life except to say that it is FREAKIN' COLD here, and I do not approve at all. Someone remind me why humans don't hibernate?

Also, I want to remind you that May is still hosting THE CROSS-A-DRABBLE MEME and there's some incredibly amazing stuff going on over there: lots of unexpected things (did you ever in your life think you'd be able to read an Edmund Pevensie/Wendy Darling fic?), and all that I've read has been lovely.

I also just posted an Almost Famous/The Virgin Suicides fic pairing William Miller and his adorable self with Lux Lisbon called One More Song About Moving Along the Highway, and I'm going to shove modesty to the side and say that I think it's really good, so you might want to check it out.

Also, a few of my Spuffy pieces have been nominated at the Fang Fetish Awards, which totally makes my year.  Thanks so much to whoever nominated me!

Now! Links!

*  Stephen King has pissed off the Twihards by daring to say that Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn.  The fallout is hilarious.

* First off, let's all try to contain our fury: someone is remaking Bonnie and Clyde. On top of that, Hilary Duff is going to be Bonnie. Which is enough to make me want to go to the Dark Side and blow up planets and things, but I'm trying not to think about it. What I am thinking about is how neither Hilary Duff nor Faye Dunaway is proving to be very classy: they've started a fued. Oh, ladies. Not that I don't understand why Faye is so upset--I do--but still. Didn't thier mamas teach them better than this?

* This sounds like the greatest book ever, and I will totally buy a copy. How did someone know that I'd been waiting all my life for the combination of costume dramas and zombies?!?!?!

* If that upset you, please to be going here, where you can read the entire plot of Pride and Prejudice in facebook form. My favorite link of the month.

* For the grammar Nazis among us, this is my new favorite blog: The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks. Glorious.

* This Buffyverse vid made my day.

* Neil Gaiman won the Newbery Award! I haven't read the book yet, but I'm thrilled for him.

Now. I'm off again to get some more writing done and to try to catch up with y'all. Peace!

I, for one, have been thoroughly enjoying the fallout from the release of Breaking Dawn.  As a self-avowed mocker-of-all-things-SMeyer, one of my favorite hobbies is snarking about Twilight and its fandom and wishing that I could hate SMeyer (but she’s just so dang nice).  Hence, the release of BD and the reactions of the fans have made my entire summer, and the Sparkledämmerung, as we like to call it on fandom_wank, has been almost as glorious as the Potterdämmerung I enjoyed so much in earlier times.

I’ve spent way more time than I should on the internet reading articles and fan’s reactions and generally glorying in the epicness that is the BD aftermath.  Yes, I am a loser, but apparently laughter can add eight years to your life.  I’m convinced that through all of this, I’ve added at least sixteen.

Now, I know a lot of people my flist read the books, most of them in a self-depricating way, tongue-in-cheek, as a guilty pleasure.  These people tend to have really great senses of humor, so I’m sure they’ll really enjoy all of these links.  But if you’re one of those people who is a really big fan of the series and doesn’t want to hear anything ill of it, turn back now.  This is your warning.  For those of you who want a few laughs, carry on.  Need I even say, "Spoilers abound"?  No?  Well, I did anyway.

So, as a public service to you, my flist, I have created a list of my very favorite links that snark or mock or shake their heads or shrilly scream “WTF?” at the top of their lungs.  Enjoy!

 

 

And there you have it, my friends.  The Breaking Dawn aftermath all in one place.

Also, my lovies, if you have any links of your own that are enjoyable, please feel free to suggest them and I’ll update the list.