#stay engaged with media

[snailfen]

(regarding the five pebbles and seven red suns ship) i feel like when it comes to the iterators either interpretation could be valid?? like some people interpret them as friends, some interpret them as family

like, lttm says "one of [pebble's] friends" when talking about suns, and then suns themselves says (paraphrasing a bit) "as a long time friend" on the pearl they send to him

in regards to the ancients calling themselves the iterators parents, i always felt like it was akin to the way some religious people say that everyone is a children of [insert god here] or something, like a metaphor

sorry for the anon jumpscare i'm a bit nervous, the last thing i want is to be called a pr/shitter- i just personally have always interpreted them as friends

no no youre good cus im not looking to cause shit myself! im just confused. if anything i was nervous to ask anything cus ive heard some people in the rw discord are quick to dispute this whenever its brought up about shipping the two and as someone whos been around fandom for a long time thats a preeeetty bad sign.

also same here abt seeing suns and pebs as just friends, its just that now that ive returned to rw a few years later and looked into the lore pearls again that i think its implied that iterators would see eachother as somewhat related perhaps?

i didnt think about the iterators being considered like "children of (godlike figure)" but in hindsight, thats also a possibility. In the lore pearl that this is brought up they also say that five pebbles is "their gift to the world" or something like that, and that seems to fit with that theme as well...

and yeah, when it comes to all forms of art, no interpretation is truly wrong. i think the main point that bothers me aside from the possibly siblings stuff is i feel like this isnt what people should be getting out of the iterators plotline? like shipping is fun. it is for fun. im not gonna go after people for that! but i also feel like people should be taking a step back and appreciating the characters for what they are and not for what they could be. if that makes sense?

about your second point, i have something to say about that but its MAJOR downpour spoilers, specifically for the rivulet and the spearmaster campaigns so im just gonna put it under a readmore

in the rivulets campaign, when asking the rivulet to do one last thing for him, pebbles calls moon "an old friend" himself (in fact thats what the achievement for finishing rivulet is called). moon very explicitly sees pebbles as a younger brother and expresses this at the end of the campaign. and in the spearmasters campaign theres those satellite things that show iterator logs when touched, and we get to see 2 iterators (from what i assume to be a neighboring group) gossiping about pebs, one of them brings up the fact that pebs was built near moon and the other asks "Isn't she his senior enough to the point where she calls herself 'Big Sis Moon'?". Its much more explicit that moon views her group as her younger siblings but pebs still calls her an old friend of his regardless!

last of all, someone said this in the tags of my post but looking at the lore pearl convo between pebbles and suns as well as the one between suns and wind really gives suns the impression of an older sibling, at least it does to me. also, back to those satellites in the spearmasters campaign, suns says that pebbles always looked up to them and they never took that lightly. srs is someone pebbles considers close because he looks up to him!

Their dynamic is something interesting to me now bc of downpour and im all about bullshitting and reading into things a little bit more for ships, but looking at SRS and FP.... how do i describe it. i dont really feel like theres SPACE for shipping in this case? like it wouldnt be necessarily invalid but its kinda missing the Point of the spearmasters campaign i feel. infact i feel like this is the only reason people see seven red suns as male despite none of the other iterators having specified genders (unless the dlc confirmed a gender for suns, then i missed that). anyways this last paragraph is just me rambling oops

[kryptid-kat]

We should normalize being the average artist who never really goes viral and is happy in their lane creating for their own sake (be it commissions, or art for themselves).

The clout chaser mentality of all social media sites rotted our brain where we can't find value in our work unless it has a big number besides it.

Create for yourself, not to please some elusive algorithm that changes on a whim and pushes you back to square one.

[tariah23]

I rly don’t see how ppl be 20+ shipping kids anymore tbh… like, it’s so rampant and I don’t see the appeal to it anymore being as tho I’m in my late 20’s.

[vladdyissues]

If only everyone had the same mindset (as in "You do you, don't bother me and I won't bother you"), something as silly as ship discourse wouldn't exist. It's unfortunate that there will always be people who think of themselves as having higher moral grounds over fictional matters. I find it ironic, considering it's mostly antis who send death threats to normal fans.

I admire your courage, but I also worry that those antis might falsely report you and others in the same boat (or, God forbid, send death threats) just for the sake of being petty. Here's hoping they have more decorum. Stay safe, will you? I'm eagerly looking forward to your next creation. Have a nice day/night!

Thank you, anon. In my experience, most people in fandom—I'd say around 75-85%, depending on the media—abide by the precept of Live and Let Live, especially in matters concerting fiction. The ones turning fandom into a battleground are the minority. A loud, misinformed minority who use provocative language and make sensational, bogus claims, which draws a lot of attention and leaves outsiders with the impression that the fandom in question is a war zone, when it truly isn't.

Speaking broadly, the DP fandom is wonderful, full of some really awesome, funny, kind, talented people. I'm really glad to be a part of it :)

[rewcana]

do you spend many of your waking hours on social media? do you feel like it's a problem? in this world of late stage capitalism, your time and attention is actively being harvested by big corporations. it's.. not good. it also just makes you feel bad!

here are some tips that have really helped me reduce the amount of time i give to these apps & get in control of my social media addiction:

1. IDENTIFY PROBLEM APPS

you probably know which apps you spend the most time on. however, looking at real data about usage is very helpful because time spent on social media is very deceiving. keep in mind which apps you spend the most time looking at and interacting with for the rest of this list.

2. TURN OFF NOTIFICATIONS

this is probably the easiest thing to do and it makes an immense difference. it's up to your discretion which notifications you want to keep on (turning on messaging notifications but turning off algorithm and interaction notifs for example) but, the most effective way to stay off problem apps is to turn off ALL notifications.

3. TURN OFF NOTIFICATION SOUNDS

i always keep my phone on silent. i understand that not all people have that privilege but, if you're able to i would highly highly recommend. it has helped me a lot with anxieties regarding waiting for notifications. i used to experienced the phantom vibrate and check my phone obsessively when nothing would happen. you can also just turn off notification sounds and vibrations for any non necessity apps if you don't want to jump to turning off all notifications.

4. CHANGE THE PLACEMENT OF PROBLEM APPS

i actually learned this trick from facebook when they changed the UI slightly so you had to be more intentional in interacting with the app. changing the layout of the apps on your phone really helps you catch yourself when you are automatically opening up apps that cost you time and attention. instead of keeping social media apps on the homescreen, keep it on a different screen, in a folder, & if possible out of the preview window for the folder.

if you want to expand on this more, you could keep a log in a notes app of every time you reached for an app that has since moved. you can even put the notes app in its place!

5. UTILIZE APP TIMERS

my experience is based on samsung app timers so i'm not sure how it differs in different makes. i really dont like my phone telling me i can't do something so i've set my tumblr timer to the highest end of my usage data (2hrs 10 minutes). another mindfulness thing that i like about using the timers is that when i'm switching between apps, my phone tells me how much time left i have (it's currently 1 hour 21 minutes, most of the 49 minutes i've spent writing this lol). i'm just a slut for data so i really like this aspect of the samsung app timer function and it's very useful besides this point.

6. DELETE APPS

okay, i know this seems drastic. but it doesn't NEED to be depending on your habitual problem apps. apps like youtube, instagram, facebook, and tumblr (to a lesser extent ime) (and probably others these are just the ones i have experience with) can pretty easily be transferred to being used exclusively on a web browser. if you use firefox it will even get rid of ads which is very important for overall sanity and for safe web browsing. one of the biggest plusses to moving from an app to a web browser is that it won't automatically play your platform's version of tiktoks. it also makes it more difficult to upload items which is a plus because it will hinder you from doing so and cut back on the loop of expecting validation from recently posted content.

opening instagram without immediately being enthralled by their endless stream of reels has made it SO much easier to control my time on the site. there are tons of plusses to transferring from app browsing to web browsing.

so on the more drastic side, if you are addicted to tiktok you maybe should just delete it. tiktok is intentionally designed so you can't use it in a web browser and can only use it in the app. i will talk more about tiktok and how evil it is later in this post.

7. MOVE DMS TO MESSAGING APPS

if a hesitation to turning off notifactions or deleting apps is from not wanting to miss conversations from online friends, i understand your pain. but, if you are serious about cutting down screen time on apps that are absolutely draining your attention, talk to your friends about switching to a different messaging app. i would suggest signal personally.

your friends may be experiencing similar problems with phone addiction and even if they aren't, if they care about you, they will make this accommodation to help you in this process. i get that this is very scary but i believe in you.

8. USE TIME ON YOUR PHONE FOR OTHER THINGS

depending on your goals for how you spend your time, there are plenty of alternatives to social media / other problem apps you may have. personally i have downloaded a bunch of books on my reading list and will divert attention from dopamine pumping social media to reading. you can find tons of free pdfs of books online and if you are used to reading on your phone, it won't be a difficult transition to read longer form narratives from short text posts.

there are free art apps, language learning apps, self care / journaling apps, meditation apps, etc. that you can use when on your phone. this may seem counterintuitive, getting more apps to battle certain app addictions. but, simply weakening the habit that brings you to the apps that you spend so much time on should help. but watch out for apps that claim they are to teach or better you but have social media built into them / other tricks that keep you glued to your screen. everyone is trying to mine your attention so be wary of all apps and the methods they use to keep you engaged.

9. DON’T BE AFRAID TO PUT YOUR PHONE BACK DOWN AFTER PICKING IT UP

idk if this is a weird one or not but, you know the feeling of going into a room to do something but you forget what so you putter around trying to remember? i feel like going on your phone when you have a phone addiction is often a state of that except the majority of the time you DON’T have a purpose to go on it. so even though it may feel silly, opening your phone only to close it right after is PERFECTLY FINE.

IN CONCLUSION, phone usage is pretty inevitable in this day and age. i've considered getting rid of my phone entirely but, between the expectation to be constantly reachable from employers to QR code menus at restaurants, it just doesn't seem reasonable to get rid of my phone completely. and i will readily admit its convenience and functionality is life changing and wonderful.

however in late stage capitalism, technology doesn't only work for you but it harvests you -- your data, your habits, your time, your attention, your wants, your needs, your thoughts. even leftist spaces with good intentions can trap you (doom scrolling). when i was becoming radicalized during the beginning of the pandemic i spent sooo much time online reading about all these horrible truths of imperialism, colonization, and capitalism, and i felt it was my duty to share these horrors with other people to radicalize them. but it was so unhealthy, especially when shit hit the fan (which it was like constantly doing) because everyone was posting about the horrors and it felt utterly inescapable.

after following some of these steps (which i did in stages over the course of a few years), my relationship with social media has improved greatly and my mental health is actually significantly better. all of this is based on personal experience and observation and this post is specifically for people who want to cut down on phone usage, it's not supposed to be a preachy post that's telling people they spend too much time on their phone.

it's also nowhere near complete. it doesn't tackle addictions to games on phones nor the notorious tiktok. i said i would talk about it later and here it is. i have a chalkboard in my kitchen and all it has written on it is "tiktok is the devil". i have never seen such a commonly used app that has such a degrading effect on all of its users. and it set a precedent to all other social media apps for autoplaying videos that demand user engagement. i was on tiktok for a little less than a year and the way that it would sap anywhere from 20 minutes to over 3 hours of my time when i told myself i'd only watch a few videos was insane. as an aspiring creator i felt that i needed to hop on it to get recognition but now, i don't see it as anything more than a tarpit to trap as many people as possible in its dopamine rich algorithm. but whatever, that's just my little rant. as a social experiment i think it's fascinating lol and i for the creators it's benefited im very happy for them.

anywayy, i hope this helps someone if it gets any attention at all lol. remember no one can make the decision of how you spend your time on or offline but you. not some stranger on the internet, not corporations, no one. you are in control of your time (well besides the whole having to work most of your waking hours to survive but that's what communism is for yayy).

[hussyknee]

So. Anyone else feeling a little unhinged rn?

[pinkysberg]

i want to compile a list of the most bizarre statements and conflict ive seen in the red dead community on the cursed clock app. bc it's hell and i need someone to understand pls.

it is ridiculous to be sad about rdr2 as arthur morgan is a fictional character.

because it is 1899, and the concept of mental illness and trauma is unexplored, traumatizing events (i.e. the storm and ship wreck following the bank mission) would not have impact on the psychological health of characters.

Real Quote: so what? because he could have drowned and died it's trauma all of the sudden?

characters like charles smith or sadie adler are "trying to be the main character" because they are integral to the plot of the game. (this apparently has nothing to do with the fact they are not white men. anyways.)

shipping jovier is incestuous ?

if you think about it micah was actually a good guy because he ended the van der linde gang (ignore the part where he starts his own gang that's way worse and then re-teams up with dutch later)

all the characters are straight because it's 1899 and they're all cowboys (a famously heterosexual profession, of course)

arthur morgan cannot be bisexual because he had a son and has had only "female romantic partners". (unsure what their working definition for bisexual is)

milton is invincible to criticism because he "is just doing his job" (this is obviously not a core criticism of the red dead redemption franchise)

for some reason bill is a likeable and defensible character while javier is satan's reincarnate and one might argue, based on how he's discussed, is the main antagonist of RDR1. wonder what that's about.

it is feminine to change arthur's appearance in literally any capacity. (giving him any hair cut is a bastardization of his character)

discussing headcanons - or having them at all, period - is disrespectful to the creators of the source material. (their personal opinions and feelings, however, aren't headcanons, they're just objectively true statements about the game)

this is everything i could think of off the top of my head without even looking. its incessant.

[istherewifiinhell]

The fucking arcane sciences needed inorder to balance all needs for sleep. Insane. Unfair. Cruel.

[unexpectedbrickattack]

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[akkivee]

hi! i have a question about something that struck me a little while ago. i think i have a little problem with the burnout towards hypmic. the thing is i really love this fandom and I don't want to leave it behind... I KNOW YOU'RE NOT A THERAPIST AND I SHOULDN'T ASK REGULAR PEOPLE I DON'T EVEN ACQUAINTED WITH TO DEAL WITH MY PROBLEMS but i think you'd have some advices as someone who's been into hypmic for quite a long time

thank in advance<3

i wish i had more useful advice other than i’m too tired about everything else to even consider being burnt out by hypmic but that is kinda how it is lol 😓

but i revisit the series like, a fair amount!!! sometimes i have a point i’m thinking about and have to remind myself of the specifics which tends to have me jumping from chapter to chapter or media to media to try to remember where tf i read/saw that moment from lmao. and like 40% of the time i find something new to muse about it’s fun lol

i also don’t just stick to hypmic believe it or not lmao like bc i want to be here, i don’t fandom hop the way i do when i don’t have a fandom home but i do enjoy other series and picking apart my fav characters there, maybe not to the extent i do with kuukou lol but enough!!!! even when i wasn’t working as much and had more free time, i’d always be reading other stuff

i’m not being very useful gomen lol 🙇‍♀️

[space-feminist]

it's been fascinating to reach the age where companies are starting to remake things from my childhood as nostalgia-bait. i'm seeing the whole phenomenon from a side i haven't before.

i think the shitty remake stems from a very genuine shift that happens in people's lives when they settle into adulthood (late 20s/early 30s) and start to become disconnected from mainstream pop culture and trends. that's often a good thing - it's a sign of maturity to know your own taste and build your life around that instead of chasing what you're told to want - HOWEVER if you didn't use being young and trendy to explore and develop your own taste, your "taste" may stagnate in what was trendy when you were 20 and now you don't know if you genuinely like it or if it just feels familiar. this, in turn, leads to:

resentment of other generations' trendy items bc you want to believe your "taste" is simply what's Normal and not also a product of its time. you're not uncool and out of date it's the children who are wrong

an unwillingness to understand when something may have aged poorly, where you keep wearing that threadbare shirt or watching that racist show because that's what you've always done and what people around you did and you didn't think about your decision any harder than that

still having the urge to buy and consume new things in order to fit in (no sense of self and personal taste) but also being afraid to explore anything new (craving familiarity and what you grew up with as Normal)

and point #3 is the toxic combo that produces corporate nostalgia-bait. the new but not actually new. safe and familiar but still Trending and Mainstream. they changed it but not in any meaningful interesting way bc doing that might threaten people's sense of comfort

i feel like i could've diagnosed this phenomenon as a young person, but the insight of hitting this age is that there's no clear line between someone who's gone through this shift in a healthy way and someone who hasn't. the pressures of consumerism and conformity don't just let up when you reach a certain age. you can do all the work to find your personal taste and not need The Newest Thing and you're still gonna be bombarded with ads, except this time the ads are trying to convince you that buying this New Thing is the way to show your love for the old thing and will make you feel just as comforted and it's totally aligned with your personal taste and the taste of people like you. sure, the Ideal consumer is the person who only likes what they like because it's popular and isn't thinking about it hard but they're ALSO trying to market to everyone who likes that thing genuinely. and being bombarded with the general pressure to participate in consumerism is not something you can shake so easily.

what i'm saying is that you can't assume you're immune to this. you think you're being an individual and that you like that thing that came out in your youth bc it's good not just because of nostalgia and you may even be right but that doesn't mean they won't try to get ya. stay on your toes my friends

[chushanye]

tumblr is like

*sees the dumbest most repeatative fandom discourse that has escalated so much that neither side is actually engaging with each other and they're all taking the absolute worst interpretation of what the other is saying creating a cycle of bad-faith arguments* jesus fucking lord. let me log o-

*sees the most beutiful delicious wonderful soul reviving in character piece of fanart ever drawn* ☺️

[blyszczopies]

like also i dont think that would work in places like tumblr where people make a lot of shitposts and overall post silly stuff thats not really, like, worth keeping forever. yes i will reblog that post but also i wouldnt lose anything if i havent seen it. idk

[sparkspropaganda]

This has been eye opening for my real life contacts, like who is speaking up and sharing information and who won't stop fucking travel blogging for five minutes to say something, anything. I feel equally heartened by the many people I know who are fighting and equally disheartened by all the people I know who are intentionally looking the other way

[girleulogy]

Okay u know I’m going insane when I start tagging posts with character names usually I leave that shit alone