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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2642 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for October 23, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Autopsy of Jane Doe also doesn't claim to be based on accounts that claim to be real. Also, buried alive, not burned.

But yes, the-bigots-created-the-monster is another variation. Or the "witch" does actually have magic powers or is psychic or whatever, but there's no connection to "satanism", which is ultimately Christian fanfiction.

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A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

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