Social networks, with all their weirdness and rage, are ubiquitous in our lives. From the humble beginnings of the online equivalents of “clubs” or sometimes town squares to the present day outrage harvesters and dopamine distributors, messing with our health. We spend a lot of time in them, sometimes unhealthy amounts of time, stripping ourselves of our privacy. Combine all that and you pretty much get my disdain towards social networks
And yet there’s a certain charm in all this. There’s a way to find diamonds in the sea of mud. Because while there’s a lot of brain-damaging content in many ways, at the same time you can find moments of wholesomeness and in rare cases even genuine friendships. Ironically if not for social media, I wouldn’t find some of the best people in my life. So maybe I’m giving the socials a bit too much scorn. And the recent rising star BlueSky or the rather niche yet resilient Mastodon (even though I have some issues with the culture there) give me hope that social networks can be freed from the rage machine.
Recent visits to social circles (yes, I’m an idiot for inflicting this damage to myself) have been in the light of witnessing certain people and their deranged thoughts. I won’t name but I believe everyone can guess who’s on my mind. And as my already messed up blood pressure was going even more haywire I couldn’t help but scream inside my head this question: “WHY ARE YOU GIVING THAT DEGENERATE THE ATTENTION???!!!” I was and still am competely baffled by the fact that the same people who avoid certain spaces have no problem reposting the stupidity of whoever they’re avoiding just to have this dopamine rush of “owned the fucker”. Well, strap in folks for you’re probably about to discover your own stupidity.
I’ve been pretty much a lifetime user of Mozilla’s Firefox. From the first days, through its rougher times up until recently. The absolutely arse-backwards decisions, personal problems and recent downright idiotic developments made me finally lay the fiery floof to rest. Here I’m to make a little nostalgia trip. Keep in mind that I’m forming all this based on my personal experience and rather surface knowledge of the surrounding events so don’t take my word with any significant weight.
I’m in a ranty mood and this is something that’s been sitting in my head for a long time and likes to return more and more. It’s also mildly ironic since I’m going to use socials for spreading the word but I’m aware of the consequences and accept the possible shit-storm this will cause. As if the one outside wasn’t enough (at the time of writing, there was a massive downpour in my place).
I wasn’t expecting to jump into this one so early but an article circulating social spaces gave me, let’s say, spiteful energy >:3 The article in question is an opinion piece and apparently is about, wait for it, kid-dults. First, what the fuck is that word? Second, the author must be one hell of a misrable person. I’ll admit I haven’t delved into the article but the title itself is repulsive enough. Doesn’t help that the it’s also denoted by “RIP ADULTHOOD”. Well, dear author of the article and anyone who this in a similar fashion, allow me for a quote (most likely not mine originally but it’s the message that’s important):
Never abandon your inner child. For doing so is like killing your soul.
Have I got your attention? Am I hearing your “mature” comments? Am I seeing your nose pointing upwards in self-fueled pride? Good. Now grab your favourite beverage and or a snack. And make sure it’s some comfort food because you’re going to need it >:3
Time to ruffle some feaethers again. And I know I will because I already managed that with this one:
Those who claim to bring freedom will be the ones who will restrict it the most.
We’ve been hearing this song quite a lot recently, especially during the pandemic years where we really had to have a chunk of our freedoms temporarily taken away or at least have it heavily checked in an interest of public safety. How well that worked and how well or badly it has been handled will be a debate for decades to come and I highly doubt everyone agreed with everything that was done but that’s not what I’m trying to focus on. My intention with this “lesson” (can I even call it lessons?) is to focus on these various “freedom fighters”, shouting and screaming “THEY’RE CONTROLLING YOU!” whenever a regulation come into play or some rights are adjusted, often benefiting common folks. Welp, let’s strap in for the ride.
This one’s going to be a bit more personal, hence the title. “Behind the closed doors” will usually feature a small peek into the more private moments that I find worth sharing since they may provide some valuable insight. This one in particular will shed a bit of a light at how I had to handle one massive (at least by my own measure) mental downfall and how it made the bond with one of my best friends even stronger than it already is.
Alright, let’s start this series and we’re going in with quite a steep one:
If someone sells you an easy solution to a complex issue, they either don’t know what they’re talking about or they’re trying to screw you over.
You see this all around yourself: “Do these X simple steps to change your life forever!” or “You can be happier with this one easy trick!” All these adverts, carpet-bombing your brain. We often scoff them away, thinking “What a load of horseshit!” and move on with our lives. But even then there’s that little worm in your head saying “What if? What if they’re right and it’s really this easy?” Well, my dear reader, let’s find out whether it really is that easy.
So, you’ve probably noticed I use a lot of furry-related material and from my presentation you could say I indeed am one. You know, the usual “walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it’s a duck” approach. So why do I answer “Yes and No” to that question? Or why do I refuse to use the “furry” label with me? Well, strap in for the ride because it may be a little wild.