FaceDownDagon

First things first: No, this channel will not be turning into a political channel. Your chosen politics should not affect your enjoyment of beefy ladies.

Now, have you ever noticed that many political discussions online are just...the worst? Ever wondered what happened to common sense? Does it seem like people just yell at each other, and you just aren't interested in that? Well, here is a quick guide to not being awful!

DON'T allow yourself to be shamed into silence. Someone calling you 'brainwashed' doesn't mean you actually are.
DON'T be baited into defending yourself against meritless insults. "You're a fucking moron" isn't an argument; don't give it the honor of being treated like one.
DON'T continue to engage with someone who has made it clear that they're not interested in two-way discussion.
DON'T assume that all the worst stereotypes of the opposing side apply to the person you're speaking with right now. A little bit of good faith is essential to productive conversation.

DO give everyone a fair chance. You can't just assume someone is irrational without talking to them.
DO look into assertions other people make, even if they seem odd or unlikely at first.
DO take the time to understand positions you don't agree with. You likely won't be swayed, but it will help you to discuss these things when others bring them up.
DO take into account the agendas that might lead sources  - yours AND your opponents - to deceive about something. Nobody can fact-check everything for themselves, and there are often strong incentives at play for even sources that *ought* to be authoritative, to potentially lie or spin the appearance of an issue to their advantage.

and DO remember to be civil to your fellow humans!

...though mostly I just wanted to change the journal, lol.

Anyway. The old site I used for hosting The Amazon Pit no longer accepts new submissions/updates. If you were reaching the game via browser for some reason, you'll need to access the new address at facedowndagon.itch.io/the-amaz… .

Also a minor bugfix.

So uh.

Most of you who have been here long enough know I have struggled with various mental...things, over time. But I found something today that sort of shocked me, because I've literally never seen anyone address it before. I have no clue how common this may be or if it will help anyone else, but dA tends to be full of people with the sadbrains, so I figure I might as well share. This has nothing to do with art or the game, so feel free to skip if none of that sounds relevant to you now.

Y'know how folks always say 'Exercise is the best thing for [sadbrains] there is?' Those people have always kind of pissed me off, for a specific reason: Some of my worst episodes of crisis were during periods of my life where I exercised regularly, or even during exercise. So, depending on the person speaking and how they went about offering the advice, my response ranged from 'Fuck you, and get off your high horse' to 'Yeah thanks, I know you mean well but that's just another bullshit fortune-cookie token for me.'

This is the first time I've ever really seen someone talk about the issue, talk about why it happens, and acknowledge the problem that needs to be addressed rather than patronizing me as if I thought a walk to the computer counted as exercise (such people were extra-likely to register in the 'fuck-you' category.)


Like a lot of good advice, it makes so much sense in hindsight, but nobody ever tells you this stuff. As a person who's experienced some pretty nasty side-effects from exercise (up to and including temporary blindness and vomiting), it's always been pretty hard to actually y'know...want to keep doing something that's having the opposite effect from what I want, based just on word-of-mouth. I hope some of you might find this interesting or helpful.