StaticShepherd

@staticshepherd

Lvl 37. They/Them. Queer and Disabled. Writer. Cyberpunk. P.L.U.R. The Goblin System

643 Following2,165 Followers6,578 Posts

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StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 16h

so...Terminator...

6 year old Dex (white femme child in red pajamas and long brown hair and yes that is a black eye) holding a silver 2-vhs box set of Terminator unwrapped Christmas morning.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 1d

RSS didn't die of old age. It was murdered for profit because it didn't serve targeted ads. The Weird Internet Codex 003 is out. A guide to pulling your own signal, hunting buried feeds on the indie web, and escaping the dopamine drip.

THE TRAP: The Trough, Not The Feed

Let’s get one thing straight: the "Feed" on your phone isn't a feed. It’s a trough. And you’re the livestock.

The algorithm isn't an accident; it's a behavioral Skinner box. Silicon Valley didn't just wire us to the trough by accident. They patched human nature with a dopamine exploit, and the original builders leaked the source code of their own guilt.

Sean Parker, Facebook’s founding president, admitted they built a "social validation feedback loop" that explicitly exploits a "vulnerability in human psychology."

Aza Raskin, the designer who invented the infinite scroll, now says he feels like he "unleashed a monster" and compares the feature to behavioral cocaine.

Nir Eya, wrote Hooked, the literal startup playbook half the Valley keeps on their desk. It explicitly teaches developers how to build habit-forming products using "variable rewards." The exact same mechanic that keeps lab rats pressing levers for food pellets.

They aren't showing you what you want to see. They are showing you what keeps you swiping.

The Timeline:

1999: RSS is born. The open web communicates.
2005: Atom standardizes it. The golden age of blogrolls.
2013: Google assassinates Google Reader because it didn't serve targeted ads.

It didn't die of old age. It was murdered for profit. We're taking it back.

THE TOOLS: Choose Your Level of Custody

You need a deck. A terminal. A place to aggregate the signal without the noise.

When you're picking an RSS reader, the real axis isn't "free vs. paid" or "open source vs. proprietary." The real axis is Custody. Who holds the keys to your input stream? Who can see what you're reading, and who can shut it off if you violate a Terms of Service agreement?

Here is the spectrum. Pick your rig.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 1d

I also write some weird shit here and there including trans horror clown smut with heart thestaticroom.neocities.org/clown-gate

cover for Taken by the Killer Clowns from Deep Space

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 1d

Its high time I updated my pinned post and share who the hell I am and what I do

Background - rainbow static.
Foreground is a green goblin with purple hair, a crt tv with the words The Static Room, graffiti that says About me, and a black box of text

User: Dex Bryant (they/them)
Alias: StaticShepherd
Origin: Appalachian Static
Traits: Autistic, queer, disabled, glitch-goblin
Output: Splatterpunk/cyberpunk fiction, digital assets, tech education
Mission: Cyber Autonomy, Crack Eggs, Stay Weird.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 1d

i know a lot of millennial afab early trauma media was from Flowers in the Attic mine was this fucking "gem" of a movie when I was way too young and the irony of having DID as an adult

cover of the movie Sybil (1976) staring Sally Field

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 2d

Warning...its a lot of synth

Like this and I'll post a random song from my playlist

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 2d

My kid made me a doll... I am both concerned and impressed

a doll made from red tissue paper, a plastic heart ring, a metal washer, and 2 blue push pins on black cloth

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 3d

If you see this, we implore you to post a picture from whatever device you're using without explanation.

Selfi. Dex a white femme presenting person
behind them is a very large glass light house lamp.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 3d

Hey here's my #100HorroMoviesin92Days thread Horror and countdown to Halloween time! For more information about the challenge check out @sarahstubbssays.bsky.social sarahstubbssays.com/category/100... Starting off with FINALLY watching Backrooms (2026)

Backrooms (2026) movie poster featuring a yellow wall and a woman leaning against it

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 3d

My MIL took us to the beach last weekend (where I got the sun poisoning) and we went to a place called the Sunliner Diner. I brought home mugs because they felt Lynchian and made me smile

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· 4d

hard agree also The Lords of Salem

cover for The Lords of Salem featuring Sheri Moon Zombie as Heidi with skull/corpse makeup

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· Jun 22

Making my own lil tamagotchi called a StaticSprite while learning Python!

screenshot of a small window. black background. small pixel art of a tentacled monitor head with a smiley face. stats for hunger, happiness, and energy.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· Jun 20

Green goblin with purple hair and black shirt staring at phone blushing (complementary)

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· Jun 18

Working on something for The Static Room...

A pixel art of a tv head with tentacles in shades of purple. The head has a digital smile face.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· Jun 15

> initializing Art_Fight.exe I'm officially plugging into Art Fight this July! Expect heavy doses of glitches, experiments, and loud ideas. Let's make some mess. 🖥️⚡ #ArtFight #TeamComedy artfight.net/~StaticSheph...

Team Comedy Art Fight Card - User: Static Shepherd, I Attack: Clowns, Goblins, TV Heads, and Hot Monsters. I Participate in Friendly Fire, Revenge, and Mass Attacks. Featured characters listed includ human, monster, clown aliens, and goblins.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· Jun 9

We don’t usually see each other’s headers. Here’s mine. Quote post with yours.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· Jun 8

Did a PNGtuber commission and got paid in books from my wishlist.

4 books - tales from the crust, lost films, lost contact, and lost signals.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· Jun 5

Some of these I think are less being unc and more being someone with social anxiety lol

Sunglasses emoji and "low unc risk" with unc score 11 and youth score 89.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· Jun 5

And no one was surprised...

6 ranked #1. Dubious consent, hurt/comfort, age gap, body horror, monster fucking, corruption arc.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· Jun 3

The first two pages of Salt and Silk are made I wont have the comic done in time for Trans Queer Jam but I figured I'd show them anyways and just say I will come back to them eventually...

Salt and Silk comic page 1 featuring a merman tangled in tunnel-spider style webs in a dark space. A spider person then noticing and approaching from above

Salt and Silk comic page 2 spider person waist up reaching down and then their hand cupping the jaw of the merman

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· Jun 2

Happy Pride Month

digital art piece featuring a purple grid figure climbing out of a computer screen with The Matrix falling green binary code and green background over top a Nonbinary Pride flag and the words "404 NOT FOUND" "My Gender is a Glitch in the System" and "ERROR" "Static Shepherd" signature.

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· May 29

While the bundle sale is running, I've also been working on the new identity for The Static Room.

a green goblin with purple hair on a crt tv in vaporwave blue and magenta, with a purple static screen

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· May 29

I Found a Lost Hallway in a Dying Mall by Ben Farthing and you know what go read the rest of the I Found books while you're here just for a good time

cover for I Found a Lost Hallway in a Dying Mall by Ben Farthing

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· May 29

I'm soooo hesitant with this one because yes it has that liminal vibe BUT I have yet to get through this book and I've tried twice! House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski I need a book club or something for this one...

cover for House of Leaves The remastered full color edition by Mark. Z. Danielewski

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· May 29

There are several self pub backrooms books on 'zon but the only one on my TBR that was actually recommended to me is The Backrooms by Onyx Woods again havent read but the rec i got says it is pretty true to lore and has a few entities for those that like that

cover for The Backrooms by Onyx Woods featuring someone falling through a wall into yellow hallways

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· May 29

Subcutanean by Aaron A. Reed Not gonna lie this is on my TBR so I can't rec it but it does deal with unending rooms, hidden rooms, and entities in said strange space

cover of Subcutanean 30287 by Aaron A Reed featuring a repeating frame of two hands held and a stretch of hallway

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· May 29

Next is a lil different but does deal with no clip vibes and liminal spaces between spaces The Hollow Places by @tkingfisher.com - one of my all time favorite books

cover for the hollow places by t kingfisher featuring a tree and misty water

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· May 29

Starting to see people make "If you like The Backrooms read..." lists and so many have books on it that are...not anything like the backrooms so heres my list I guess Starting off with the obvious and one of the best Coup De Grâce by @sofiaajram.bsky.social A liminal subway.

cover for Coup De Grâce by Sofia Ajram featuring gray stairwells and red doorways

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· May 28

hell of a post to make shiny

Shiny Posts! liked this post and made it shiny

StaticShepherd@staticshepherd· May 28

Coming soon... In the meantime Check out my other zines and games which are still on sale for the next 3 days itch.io/s/186370/ent...