Psylynce

Dear Tom Hiddleston,

I’m not going lie, I’m in your army, although I came to it in a roundabout way, but I’m pretty solidly in it now. So as one of their number I’d like to reassure you that while yes, your fans are a bit crazy, they are also really nice. Case in point, there is a Pinterest board called Hiddles for All. It currently has 2967 followers and the goal of this smaller army is to pin 33,000 pictures of you by your 33rd birthday, which I believe is in 2 days. The total is currently at 32,363 and climbing as we speak. I mean right now there are fans avidly posting as many pictures of you as possible while also taking copies for their own boards, liking the pictures and having long comment based conversations with each other about said pictures. As a new convert I came across a compilation of you singing with a microphone and a full band backing you up. My comment: “Oh God, he can sing too?!” the lovely reply, which I will hold in my heart forever, was: “You must be new here, welcome! And yes, I don’t think there is anything that Tom can’t do.” How nice is that?! An official welcome to your army from a complete stranger. Your fans are awesome. But I did also mention they are a bit mad.

The number of pictures of you and their frequency is just staggering. You have had a lot of press recently: the Jaguar Super Bowl commercials, Elle, Coriolanus (which was utterly fantastic), and now Top Gear after Benny (be warned there is a lot of overlap between the Cumber Collective and the Hiddlestoners). Where am I’m going with this? I’m not really sure but the sheer volume images have tipped me from jubilant to worried. When does this amount of attention begin to take its toll, or has it started already? It has got to be a strange feeling to have 33,000 pictures of you collected in one place. You are too intelligent and sensitive not to be a least partially stunned by the obsession and attention that goes with fandoms and stardom. Not that I would know in the least, but I do see how it affects others and the addictions and suicides that fame cannot defend against.

Please don’t forget to take care of yourself and take time for yourself. Your fans don’t need another picture of you in a bathtub in a white t-shirt. There are a lot of those out there already, over 33,000. Take a break, breath, and realize what we want most for you is a happy life, and long career, and Loki in his own movie.

Happy Birthday.

Sincerely, Psylynce.

P.S. I am not kidding about that Loki movie.

Dear Social Media,

Yeah, I'm talking to you Pinterest, Dreamwidth, (more specifically Scans_daily), Deviant Art and now even freakin' Tumblr! You are all a creeping disease that started, I now realize, about a year ago when I got my first iPhone. I admit I was a little slow to get on the smartphone band wagon. I didn't think I needed one, and you know what, I don't need one, nobody does, we just crave it.

I didn't even text, but then my friend texted me so much I had to get an unlimited plan or incur $15 a month in texting fees. Then this same enabler showed me Dragonvale which I am still playing. Not really social media but certainly the start of a slippery slope of constant cell phone use. Like how cigarette companies made candy cigarettes so kids would get use to the feel of one in their hand and associate the smoking motion with a good time.

Then my dad got me an iPad, sort of. He gave me a birthday coupon for $100 off an iPad he was going to "get cheaper" in the States in a month. The next day he showed up at my door with one in hand and asked for the owing $350.00. Nice. But now the screen was bigger and I could lounge. I de-lurked from Scans_daily which I would now check every day leading me to the other boards and the peculiar "rush" of someone actually responding to something I said! Revolutionary. And deeply addictive these reassurances that I was not alone in my obsessions and people had things to say about what I had to say. And all at random intervals which is the best way to do conditioning. So now I'm hooked and fighting not to attribute my self worth to the responses and whims of an endless parade of avatars and distant, unattainable celebrities.

Social Media you are an illusion of connection and community. A pretty one and a fun one, but something that can be inherently damaging if taken too seriously. I must remember to say what I want to say because it's important for me to say it, not because it's important for someone else to comment on it.

That is all.

Sincerely, Psylynce

P.S. Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie suckered me onto Tumblr with their fancy Young Avengers intro layouts and interesting posts.