Ok so there's this trend that's been going around the internet, tumblr in particular but it generally resides in image or short gif forms. This trend is where some reference or joke is encapsulated in a somewhat encrypted form and may or may not require explaining.

In the past this has been generally reserved for terrible jokes. Yaknow, visual puns n such. Where upon discovery of what said reference was to mean caused even greater torment to those from the cleverly manufactured pun.

What has spawned of this has been a gradual progression from clever puns, to snide references and then inside jokes, of which grow ever more obscure. In addition to this has been the tendency for people to be little shits about their "special fucking club" of understanding of said references.

People grow ever more hostile to others outside of the circle of understanding.

Don't understand this visual reference of multiple fandoms mashed together, yer an uncultured fuck and fuck you for not being into the same thing I'M into and so deeply invested! How dare this swine bother asking the masses what this means. Not only shall we NOT tell them, but we shall ostracize them for even being curious.

What? Is this seriously the attitude people take towards others? Blunt hostility and snobbishness? "I'm clearly better than you because I know something you don't and you are trash!"

People need to grow the fuck up. Sometimes people don't get references, don't get jokes. If something didn't pan over on them, explain why! There is no harm in that and no real benefit to having them figure it out on their own. Not everyone has seen the same movies, games, books, websites you have.

People have different live experiences. They come from different upbringings, different backgrounds. They watch their own shows, like their own things, live in their own cities. Each person finds their own sports team, or sports for that matter that they get behind. It is all an individual experience, and these experiences feed into who a person is, what they know and enjoy, and how they react to situations presented before them.

So next time you see someone acting confused or curious, please, share with them. Perhaps they might learn something, might grow and expand into a world closer to yours. Who knows, you might find someone you have more in common with than you thought and might find a friend.