This is exactly where I am as well. “I just don’t want to pay for them” is so real lol.

I’ve considered it! I do already subscribe to a lot of communities there. It feels like the only thing I’m really missing out on is the awesome emojis they have access to

Gotta have a requirement for people to upload an avatar when they make an account (and make the avatars a little bit bigger). Something about old forums seemed like a little village/community because you don’t have to rely on “nametags” (i.e. reading people’s username), but rather, you just know people by their avatars. I can still vividly remember people’s usernames and avatars from an old forum I’d go on when I was a kid. (yes, I know I don’t have an avatar. I’ll do it eventually lol)

I do think lemmy, at least on my instance and the communities I have subscribed to, seems pretty joyous already. It’s not fake-happy like instagram and it isn’t doomer-posting ragebait like reddit. For years, I felt stuck in a social monoculture I didn’t really feel comfortable inside of. There’s a struggle here and some people put a LOT of effort into their messages to more clearly explain their side. I’ve probably “saved” more messages here than I ever did on reddit just so I can look things up when I get a chance or use for reference later. It’s pretty amazing! It’s the first time I’ve felt hopeful about a social forum in a long time.

[now’s the part where I do the thing you said not to mention]

To make lemmy as a whole joyous instead of individually joyous servers that all despise each other, there must be a solution to the political conflicts between the servers. People who lived in the USSR would reminisce about how kind people were to each other back then and I think that probably would follow the same logic in online communities. To make lemmy truly joyous, we have to have a global revolution for the working class.

I was able to get a really good deal on a second-hand a6700 that seemed barely used when I got it. It’s definitely not small enough to put in a pocket and it’s still too expensive not to baby. It’s amazing for video and I love the sony color science (controversial). I use it for work as well as if I feel the need for media that has more flexibility in post.

For “I’d like to remember this event” type photos where resolution and accuracy aren’t the priority, I usually just bring along a disposable-looking plastic 35mm camera I can just toss in a bag and hand it to friends/family if they want a picture. Unfortunately, a lot of these kinds of cameras seem to be inconsistent. I had a Kodak Ektar camera and the film advance wheel broke within a week. I also have a Ricoh RZ-900 I got from the thrift store and a bag of expired unused fujifilm rolls for $20. It’s not a great camera (and I suspect it will die soon since the motors sound very bad), but it works for what I need it to do.

Trust The Light - KNOWER One of those “I’m dealing with heavy shit and need some help getting out of bed” songs. Not traditionally “motivational-sounding”, but idk it works for me.

And probably most of the Undertale OST. Idk I put a lot of emotional weight behind a lot of those tracks.