Well, as shutdown looms, I might as well make one of these posts. It won't necessarily be my last post, but I might as well make it.
I liked Cohost, a lot. I have referred to it in spots as the only good social media site-and it honestly kinda was. Twitter has been overtaken by violent racists and robots. Tumblr is all well and good until some burst of wild drama happens and/or you get banned because the admins are still scared of the trans community and their exploding hammer cars. Bluesky is trying to be Twitter, not just in layout and functionality (where it is worse Twitter, even compared to how bad that site has become), but in how a surprising number of people are eager to simply run through every old piece of drama, or simply drag screencaps from Twitter over there. Look at the horseshit you left behind, they'll say. Let me hold this under your nose and show you how bad it sucks. Let me fill your feed with the stuff you wanted to get away from. Mastodon and Discord are all well and good, though the latter always feels like they're about to do something really stupid and fall apart, and the insular nature means actually finding a community's hard. Pillowfort is facing the same issues this site is.
So, I dunno. This site certainly wasn't perfect, no: there were a couple waves of just jerks coming through. There were plenty of racism issues, and while I was fortunate enough to not run into them, don't mean they didn't happen. I can speak only to my experience, though, which was pretty positive, and there's a reason for that:
this is the singular site online where I did not feel like a freak.
Aegosexual, pan, genderfae, transfemme, probably the most accurate description. I am plural-there's nine of us kicking around up here, now, two of which appeared after I started posting here. (One of them's a clown, which gets strong enough opinions on its own!) I'm pagan. I'm otherkin, fae. I'm furry, a chocobo. I am the owner of a wild and impressive collection of weird kinks.
Now, I have plenty of Discord servers full of kinfolk of some type or another in those descriptors! And even then, I have plenty of people in those who're plenty kind and understanding. I'm lucky. But, man, you say half those things on most social media sites and you'll run into plenty of people with Strong Opinions on at least one of 'em. So it was nice to have a place where that wasn't the case. And it kinda stinks I'm losing that.
...well, it sucks a lot. It's real miserable feeling. I cried the night of the announcement. I'll cry again when I click here after it goes read-only, I'm sure.
But, I can't really do much about it. So what happens next?
who am I and where can you find me
Hi. I don't know if I've ever put the whole system's name on display anywhere. I'm Lavender, I'm the one who fronts most often. There's a few more of us. Allison, Midnight, Marie, Anne, Sheena, Raleigh, Emerencia, and Madlin.
We're on Bluesky, at Lavendermidnight dot bsky dot social. I'm not sold that it's some better alternative to Twitter yet, but it's probably the best surviving thing I have. I'll post lil' shit there regularly.
We're on Discord as Chocobabe, or alternatively as helloallison. If I see a name I recognize, I'll probably accept a friend request! I'm not the most active in terms of DMs, but I try to be approachable enough, provided boundaries are respected.
We are part of the podcast "The Coffin Club." This is an actual play show! You can find us on podcast feeds, on Patreon, or probably most easily at thecoffin dot club. Our first campaign, The Student Body, is wrapping up soon-our final session should go up on Friday. We've got an eighteen-week backlog, so, um, this was a bit ago, but it was one of the most fun tabletop experiences I've ever had. Very sincerely, and I'm not just saying this because I think all of them will see this: recording the Coffin Club is always a highlight of my week. I have somehow slid unnoticed into a group of four people who're better RPers and funnier people then I am, and I have grown for it.
A twitter account still exists, but honestly it's only for a couple artists. I wouldn't recommend following there, if you find it-eventually the people still holding me to that site will fall away and I will as well. Certain accounts on adult sites exist, but if you find me on those? I've fucked up massively, I try and keep all this separate. I'm less active in those spaces these days, anyway.
I do, also, have a request for all of you:
hang the hell in there, okay?
whoever you are out there: If you are reading this, you have somehow improved my life in some way, and I appreciate it.
Every person out there, human or otherwise, is a god damned wonderful work of art with inherit and natural worth. So I want you to remember that. If our paths cross again, I will be happy for it, because you will probably make my life better again.
But, also, I know there's some folks out there who're kinda ready to recede from the internet for now. And to you, I wish you only the best, wherever you find yourself.
It can, at times, feel like the world is falling into a real dark place. It's easy to feel that these days, looking at the news. But there is hope, yet. But that hope requires every last one of us to be here.
May you do some good as you go. Thank you for everything.