The Singing Christian Dork

chlmera:

cancerously:

I feel like with the new ~fandom drama~ or whatever going around, I should re-introduce my favorite theory of fandom, which I call the 1% Theory.

Basically, the 1% Theory dictates that in every fandom, on average, 1% of the fans will be a pure, unsalvageable tire fire. We’re talking the people who do physical harm over their fandom, who start riots, cannot be talked down. The sort of things public news stories are made of. We’re not talking necessarily bad fans here- we’re talking people who take this thing so seriously they are willing to start a goddamn fist fight over nothing. The worst of the worst.

The reason I bring this up is because the 1% Theory ties into an important visual of fandom knowledge- that bigger fandoms are always perceived as “worse”, and at a certain point, a fandom always gets big enough to “go bad”. Let me explain.

Say you have a small fandom, like 500 people- the 1% Theory says that out of those 500, only 5 of them will be absolute nutjobs. This is incredibly manageable- it’s five people. The fandom and world at large can easily shut them out, block them, ignore their ramblings. The fandom is a “nice place”.

Now say you have a medium sized fandom- say 100,000 people. Suddenly, the 1% Theory ups your level of calamity to a whopping 1000 people. That’s a lot. That’s a lot for anyone to manage. It is, by nature of fandom, impossible to “manage” because no one owns fan spaces. People start to get nervous. There’s still so much good, but oof, 1000 people.

Now say you have a truly massive fandom- I use Homestuck here because I know the figures. At it’s peak, Homestuck had approximately FIVE MILLION active fans around the globe.

By the 1% Theory, that’s 50,000 people. Fifty THOUSAND starting riots, blackmailing creators, contributing to the worst of the worst of things.

There’s a couple of important points to take away here, in my opinion.

1) The 1% will always be the loudest, because people are always looking for new drama to follow.

2) Ultimately, it is 1%. It is only 1%. I can’t promise the other 99% are perfect, loving angels, but the “terrible fandom” is still only 1% complete utter garbage.

3) No fandom should ever be judged by their 1%. Big fandoms always look worse, small fandoms always look better. It’s not a good metric.

So remember, if you’re ever feeling disheartened by your fandom’s activity- it’s just 1%, people. Do your part not to be a part of it.

this is great!

(via bucketsofgiggles)

nezclaw:

felitomkinson:

felitomkinson:

PSA if you’re medicated or are new to medication: do not stop medicating cold turkey without supervision from your psychiatrist or without letting them know you’d like to quit. these things need to be done gradually, doing it abruptly can fuck you up really, REALLY bad, long term. please please please don’t be reckless about your mental health.

don’t sleep on this post and spread it if you can because it’s a good way to send your brain into a frenzy.

and don’t wait until the last minute to refill your meds either.

(via the-cosmic-alexolotl)

roah:

drawmeafteryou:

markntony:

vikingqueen:

shadowstep-of-bast:

carpeumbra:

No you don’t understand how frustrated I am that we always depicted the Apostles as old men, especially when it comes to during-Jesus-alive stuff.

They were probably late teens to early 20s, given the time and the description and some Biblical passages.

They were not ancient old men with long beards and wrinkles at the Last Supper.

They were young adult rebels with a cause.

where my punk-rock apostles at

I can’t remember where, but the bible says that Jesus was the only one who was old enough to pay the temple tax required by Jewish law, none of the disciples had hit that age. A quick google tells me that Jewish men pay it from the age of 20 - all of the disciples were teenagers.

Why this is possible:

• Probaly they were all underage except for Peter. In Exodus 30:14-15, Jewish law states that every male over the age of 20 is to pay a half-shekel as census offering when they visit the temple of God. In Matthew 17:24-27, Jesus instructs Peter to “fish up” this tax. Peter finds a shekel in the mouth of the fish he catches; enough to pay the tax for two men, himself and Jesus. You could conclude that the others were underage and did not need to pay.
  
• In Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21, and John 13:33, Jesus calls his disciples little children .
  
• We learn that Peter had a wife when Jesus healed his mother-in-law. In those ancient times, a Jewish man receives a wife after the age of 18. Again, no other disciples’ wives are mentioned, so they are unmarried and probably under 18.
  
• Jewish children began intensive study at young ages, but education for most concluded by age 15. For those bright (or wealthy) enough, higher education consisted of studying under a local rabbi. If they didn’t find a rabbi that accepted them as a student then they entered the workforce by their mid teens. The disciples, already working-men, must have been rejected  by other rabbis when Jesus hand-picked them for further education as his disciples. In light of this, a younger age is more probable than older. A youth would be in the mindset of continuing his education. A man over 30 leaving his trade to follow a rabbi would be counter-cultural , although not impossible.
  
• The behavior of the disciples, as detailed in the gospels, fits well with the zealous nature and foolishness of adolescence. Picture a gang of teens instead of work-hardened men in the boat when the storm hit, fear-stricken and waking up Jesus for help. The forgetful and distracted nature of youth helps me understand how they could hear Jesus say he would die and come back to life, yet act as they did when these things happened. When we age them under twenty, we can understand Jesus’ patience with them, his low expectations of their behavior, and his teaching style.
  

so punk rock

This changed my life.

sorry but i’m laughing as i imagine them dabbing over some simple joke while jesus looks just tired and deadpan questions some of his life choices

(Source: carpetenebras, via clayinthehandsofourfather)

greater-than-the-sword:

doyouhearthetardissing:

greater-than-the-sword:

Just in case you didn’t know, “hello darkness my old friend” is in the Bible

Where?

Psalm 88:18

(via understandingchaoss)

josh-christian:

thoughyourheartisaching:

starlight-in-your-eyes:

do you ever just think about Jesus living here on earth 

i think sometimes we tend to think He just bounced from one miracle to another and everyday was a Bible story but His ministry lasted for three years and the Gospels don’t actually cover that much so

imagine all those ordinary days?? 

He probably had favorite foods and morning routines and sore dirty feet from walking while sweat ran in His eyes in the hot Judean sun and He got blisters and hiccups and colds and maybe He snored 

all the times He laughed till He cried and i bet He had inside jokes with His disciples. imagine having an inside joke with the person who gives you breath to laugh in the first place 

and He had human skills He knew how to build a house and cook and wash his clothes and read 

passing food at the dinner table and bumping hands with Jesus 

talking about silly inconsequential things like the weather 

maybe some nights John was sleepy and he leaned against Jesus and could hear His heartbeat 

maybe some nights a disciple had insomnia and he climbed out of his bedroll to find Jesus sitting against a rock, looking up at heaven, and they sat and watched the stars together 

(the God of the universe looking up through short-sighted eyes at His creation, and the disciple wants so badly to ask what it was like to shape each star, but he looks at those calloused human hands and something in him trembles) 

do you ever think that the ordinary days so far outnumbered the miraculous ones that the disciples, sometimes, almost forgot

and then He goes and turns water into wine and feeds five thousand people from a kid’s lunch and brings dead Lazarus walking alive out of the tomb and they just kind of lose their breath

not because they didn’t expect deity to accomplish the impossible but because this God has been living with them

it’s not the miracles that are unthinkable

This is so beautiful.

Also, imagine his ordinary days with his family. Imagine Joseph telling him stories and he listening, paying attention. Imagine when Joseph and Mary put child Jesus in bed and could hear his breathing sounds. Or imagine the inside jokes he had with his mother about his father, or with his father about his mother. Imagine the God of the world not only looking at the stars but also watching the majesty of a sunset. Imagine child Jesus running around the house, singing beautiful and cute cultural songs that Mary might’ve taught him. Imagine his joy when he ate his favorite food or taking a bath after a hot day. 

Imagine Joseph’s doubt when figuring out that he would have to teach carpentry to God himself. And that Jesus, the Lord, actually took time to listen and learn his old father’s words. Imagine God’s humble attitudes. We usually say that he humbled himself by coming as a human. But it’s only when we actually think about what makes us human, that we get the idea of how big was it. The God of the world taking time and putting effort to learn what we, merely humans, had to teach/say. And he wanted to. He wanted to be near us. And be one of us. When God lowered himself, that’s when He showed us how big He was. 

my favorite post in the world ❤️

(Source: windsswept, via clayinthehandsofourfather)

allophobia:

what society needs to understand is that friendship and romance are not ranks, tiers, or levels. they are not above or below each other. romance is not a promotion. friendship is not a demotion. romance is not “more than” being friends with someone. friendship and romance are concepts that exist on equal terms, side by side. sometimes they happen to coincide. other times they never intersect at all. how relationships are classified is up to the individuals involved but like?? neither is inherently more or less valuable is the thing

(Source: allophobia-archive, via the-cosmic-alexolotl)

Avi is leaving Pentatonix and I am dead inside