Skip Navigation
chat @hexbear.net
SadArtemis [she/her] @hexbear.net

We (Hexbear and Lemmygrad) should make a comfy "mostly apolitical" space or network for chilling

Proposal: I think we (Hexbear and Lemmygrad) should make/organize a third space or collective of spaces for ""non-political,"" intentionally non-stressful topics and activities.

Needless to say, I think we could all benefit greatly from this. Personally regardless I'm likely going to at least try to assemble friends/people I know are chill both from IRL and here for my own interests, if we don't create something akin to this ourselves (but I think that both the Hexbear and Lemmygrad communities show a blatant and extreme need for this amongst many of us- myself included).

Ideas that come to mind for instance that could be incredibly cool- voice chats with karaoke, trans voice training, gaming, etc. VRchat or expanding into MMOs or other game communities (having our own guilds or some shit, not that I play any MMOs rn). Promoting, collaborating with, enjoying, etc. our own chill creative works and sites/etc on other platforms (while not having it connected to our politicking on Hexbear or the Grad)- Twitch, X/formerly Twitter (always get a kick out of saying that admittedly) Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, etc. or perhaps better alternatives (probably what I'm suggesting is also terrible opsec and I'm sure that crowd will rightfully dunk on this take).

We already have something similar in the TV/Movies watching channels in Hexbear, and I know there's Hexcraft or whatever the server name is. Why not expand out further yet still (and also provide a non-chud space for people to take a breather and just live)?

Also- since many comrades on both instances and elsewhere are struggling for the reasons listed, especially in these times... this could help us all just hype each other up ("apolitically") and help us all be the best comrades we can be. Self-care through group care and all that is hella praxis.

Anyways, please consider. Also obligatory Aftonsparv because I still want them as an emote

12 comments

  • I completely agree and ive thought about it before ngl, but i have literally 0 computer skills so i wouldn't even know where to start with it

    • Well, my thought was that (depending on how others feel) it could literally be anywhere- even more mainstream platforms with lower (tech knowhow) level of entry/better accessibility, due to being ""mostly apolitical"" in intent and a supplement/third mostly separate space to hexbear and the grad. Hexbear and the grad would provide the framework for- vetting, and perhaps figuring out how the community should be run.

      (FWIW I think we all should be starting smaller chill groups of our own separate to this (also intended to be chill) broader comm- a sort of "help out/befriend or mutual support socially your fellow comrades" sorta schtick, also because being leftists sometimes we get along like oil and water (personally I'm a dumpster fire myself in many ways)

    • At the risk of going too hard at self-promotion, there's this comment I wrote in response to this post which you might find interesting.

      TL;DR: This kinda already happening because of a project I have recently started

  • Also, on secondary thought I'll also definitely be making a space of my own in time. Though this is also because I have my own vibes (though also want to be part of whatever comes out of Hexbear+Lemmygrad collab and think there should be such a collab) and want to gather my own personal crowd (and would naturally have done it/do it)

  • I get the sense that we have been thinking along the same lines here.

    I actually just launched a moderated third space/hangout space with this project of mine recently. (Also feel free to hang out in the neurodiverse comm - self-diagnosis/self-diagnosis[maybe?] is valid and recognised there.)

    My intent for the project is to allow comrades to blow off steam and to get peer support from myself if they choose to, as I have worked in peer work roles before. Just trying to make up the gap in mental health services and accessibility while providing a service to the community here in some small way.

    The downside of this is that it's a space that is quite strictly moderated due to the nature of it, so it requires a bit more of a hands-on approach for it to work, however I could totally see people using that game as a platform to make an unstructured third space for comrades just to hang out in online and maybe engage in the self-care/group-care informally without a particular person facilitating the whole thing, especially if my project is a success. I figure if I'm not around to run a formal peer support server but people want to hang out then they're just gonna host their own server regardless.

    Anyway, you're very welcome to join the peer support server (once it's fired up and running later today, or later on when I'm running future sessions) to scope it out and see what it's all about or to use it for peer support. It's only in it's soft-launch phase right now meaning it's early days so set your expectations accordingly. I'm also happy to provide guidance with setting up the "infrastructure" for this kind of thing (the social end of it, not the hardware and coding side) if anyone else wants to make something happen.

    As it stands my current project is a one-person show but it doesn't really need more people behind it yet. If demand goes wild for it, I'd be happy to provide guidance to someone else on how to run a peer support space themselves. It's been an awfully long time since I've trained peer workers but I'm sure I'd be able to dust off that skill set if there was someone who was interested in this stuff. I'm not in it for glory or to stake out my turf - I'd be glad to help someone set up their own parallel space based on their own vision or to have them work under the auspices of my project, provided I have the capacity to do so.

    • Sounds awesome, and I'll definitely check it out! Sounds like it'll be up soon (an hour from now)? Considering I'm a disaster I just woke up from a nap, so it's perfectly timed for me lol..

      And I'll definitely check out the neurodivergence comm- I do see posts from it sometimes FWIW. I'm self diagnosed(?)

      And I'd be glad to chat or learn in regards to both peer support, or running such a space

      See you in webfishing soon! (Recently, as in a week or more ago got, not played overly much yet but it seems neat).

      • We're live, hope to see you in there!

      • Yep, we're going live in about one hour and ten minutes from now. There's a link to a countdown timer in the announcement post.

        I'm going to take a quick nap and sort out a few things so I'm all prepared for running the drop in space. Either I'll catch you in there and we can chat about what you've mentioned in your reply or I'll circle back around to it after the session is over and I've had a chance to catch my breath.

  • I saw this a few days ago and meant to comment I think it's a great idea. There used to be a zomboid server, a foxhole server discord group, and I think there's still a general game discord group that's inactive. I thought about trying a bit more but I don't know how to do anything like host a lemmy instance and I have security concerns about hosting something that relies on direct connect like Minecraft.

    • Thanks! And- hmm, yeah we should probably have a gaming megathread come to think about it (or a hangout megathread but then I think the movies/shows thread/watching covers that somewhat). Hexcraft definitely exists and I still need to check it out..

12 comments