AMA - Bramblethorn

[cookiecat]

Do you think about growing old(er)?

Do you have retirement there like we do here in the states? Will you retire or continue to work in your "golden years?"

(Retirement is on my mind a lot these days)

 

[Bramblethorn]

Do you think about growing old(er)?

Do you have retirement there like we do here in the states? Will you retire or continue to work in your "golden years?"

(Retirement is on my mind a lot these days)

(caveat, this answer is a bit of a downer)

I think about it a little, and I have a reasonable superannuation plan (= US "401(k)"), but I don't know what shape the world is going to be in by then. I'm not sure how meaningful it even is to make plans past my sixties; it's like asking somebody in 1924 where they see themselves in twenty years' time. Also, by the time I reach 65 we'll probably have changed the retirement age. And my partner is ten years older than me, so that also presents some big unknowns.

So mostly I just try to navigate through the present without looking too far ahead.

Ageing is complicated. A little while back, three friends my age all died within about a year of one another. I'm older than my aunt was when she died, not too far off the age where my mother got her terminal diagnosis. But then I have relatives who lived past a hundred, so I don't know when "old" is. I do find myself more forgetful than I used to be, but I don't know whether that's age or just covid stress.

 

[seela]

(caveat, this answer is a bit of a downer)

I think about it a little, and I have a reasonable superannuation plan (= US "401(k)"), but I don't know what shape the world is going to be in by then. I'm not sure how meaningful it even is to make plans past my sixties; it's like asking somebody in 1924 where they see themselves in twenty years' time. Also, by the time I reach 65 we'll probably have changed the retirement age. And my partner is ten years older than me, so that also presents some big unknowns.

So mostly I just try to navigate through the present without looking too far ahead.

Ageing is complicated. A little while back, three friends my age all died within about a year of one another. I'm older than my aunt was when she died, not too far off the age where my mother got her terminal diagnosis. But then I have relatives who lived past a hundred, so I don't know when "old" is. I do find myself more forgetful than I used to be, but I don't know whether that's age or just covid stress.

My thoughts exactly.

Which historical figure would you like to meet?

 

[cookiecat]

(caveat, this answer is a bit of a downer)

<snip>

So mostly I just try to navigate through the present without looking too far ahead.

Yup, this. Thanks for the respinse.

Tacking on to seela's question, is there ca period of time in history you'd like to go back and visit?

 

[BlackCaramelCreme]

In real life, are you different from what you share of yourself on these threads?

What makes the BDSM section so special for you? What keeps you here?

What gives you more pleasure, the anticipation of what is to come or the actual act itself? I know the combination is desired...

 

[Bramblethorn]

My thoughts exactly.

Which historical figure would you like to meet?

Julie d'Aubigny would be interesting, I think.

Yup, this. Thanks for the respinse.

Tacking on to seela's question, is there ca period of time in history you'd like to go back and visit?

Hmm. I'm fond of Art Nouveau, so maybe the 1890s? I like my modern comforts though.

In real life, are you different from what you share of yourself on these threads?

What makes the BDSM section so special for you? What keeps you here?

What gives you more pleasure, the anticipation of what is to come or the actual act itself? I know the combination is desired...

The internet is a part of real life, and what I share here is real, but it's one side to me and there are others. In person I'm probably a bit shyer and quieter than I come across here.

BDSM section: mostly the people. It's a nice crowd here, overall. I started out on the Authors' Hangout and I still post there, but every year it feels a little more exasperating.

More pleasure: probably the act itself. I'm a sucker for instant gratification.

 

[seela]

Julie d'Aubigny would be interesting, I think

I just learned about her last week! She would be an interesting one to meet, for sure.

 

[BlackCaramelCreme]

Do you have any hidden talents? If so, care to share?

What is your favorite cuss (curse) word?

What something have you seen that captured your heart and takes your breath away?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Do you have any hidden talents? If so, care to share?

What is your favorite cuss (curse) word?

What something have you seen that captured your heart and takes your breath away?

Hidden talents: I'm pretty good at remembering useless trivia and at board games. Also proofreading stuff.

Curse word: tough choice. I don't swear much myself but I admire creative swearing from others. Scots English has some great options (more here) but Mozart is also pretty filthy. I do like "incompressible fucktrumpet".

Heart and breath: it's not the most original answer in the world, but: the kitten I adopted a few years back, who is now sitting at my feet and will probably demand All The Cuddles tomorrow morning. She's a strong personality.

 

[BlackCaramelCreme]

Hidden talents: I'm pretty good at remembering useless trivia and at board games. Also proofreading stuff.

Curse word: tough choice. I don't swear much myself but I admire creative swearing from others. Scots English has some great options (more here) but Mozart is also pretty filthy. I do like "incompressible fucktrumpet".

Heart and breath: it's not the most original answer in the world, but: the kitten I adopted a few years back, who is now sitting at my feet and will probably demand All The Cuddles tomorrow morning. She's a strong personality.

Thank you! I've shared your findings with a couple others and they appreciated the creativity!!! Your furball sounds like an affectionate heartache

How have you changed since the pandemic?

Where would you like to travel, once you're safe with it?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Thank you! I've shared your findings with a couple others and they appreciated the creativity!!! Your furball sounds like an affectionate heartache

She is that. She was wild until about eight weeks old, so she has a very independent personality, but she likes hanging out with me.

How have you changed since the pandemic?

Less than most, I think. Touch wood, I've been insulated from a lot of the worst of it - I was always an inside/online kind of person and I was already working from home a lot of the time, so although I've been mostly stuck at home since late March, that's not as big a change for me as it has been for some. My job is pretty safe and Australia has done pretty well at containing the virus by world standards - my state is the worst-hit in the country, but still doing way better than most places. Touch wood, I don't know anybody in Australia who's caught the virus, and I only know of one friend-of-a-friend here. My partner is the only person I see regularly but she's my favourite person to spend time with.

I'm a little bit fitter, because I've been making an effort to get regular exercise.

Most of my worries are second-hand. My partner is a much more gregarious person than I am and being unable to visit friends & family is hitting her harder than me. I have friends who are out of work because of lockdowns, and some of those jobs probably won't come back even when restrictions end here; I also have a good friend who's involved in public health and is under a lot of stress. My partner's dad is dying by degrees (he's not far off 90) and as things stand, we wouldn't be able to visit him or go to his funeral. My own father is not young. And I have a bunch of dear friends in the USA and UK who have it far worse for them, and I worry for them - not only for pandemic-related reasons. The USA especially is a weird and not-healthy place right now, on so many levels.

I'm angry about the way Certain People have responded to the pandemic, and stressed about how it's all going to turn out for my friends. But, yeah, less touched by it than most.

Where would you like to travel, once you're safe with it?

Germany, especially Hamburg. Was there for work a few years back but didn't have much time for sightseeing. By now I actually speak enough German to be useful on holiday, and there are several bands I'd love to see. What little I saw of Hamburg looked lovely. And I'd like to see how well I go speaking German to actual Germans.

USA. Want to go visit my ex and a bunch of other friends there, including a few I've never met.

Iceland. Had two weeks there, not nearly enough.

Ireland. My mother's family are mostly of Irish descent and some day I'd be interested to see the places they came from, four or five generations ago.

New Zealand is very pretty, but I visited there just last year, so I can wait a bit longer on that.

 

[BlackCaramelCreme]

When was the last time you've felt a longing in your heart for something as a result of a missed opportunity?

Do you have a best friend here?

 

[Bramblethorn]

When was the last time you've felt a longing in your heart for something as a result of a missed opportunity?

The trivial:

Back when I was at university, there was a jewellery stall, and one day they had a nice pendant in a geometric design. I didn't want to impulse-buy so I decided I'd think about it, and when I came back next time it was gone and I never saw that one again. It's been a couple of decades and I'm still a bit wistful about that one. It probably wasn't nearly as cool as I remember it.

The serious:

After I got my autism diagnosis, I've been thinking a lot about how my earlier life might've been different if I and people around me had known about it, and had the tools for working with it. I spent a lot of my life as a square peg trying to fit into round holes, and there are some major points in my life that might've worked out better with that understanding. I think a lot of adult-diagnosed autistics/ADHDs/etc. go through a similar kind of process.

Do you have a best friend here?

I have a friend from this forum who I chat with via Skype now and then, and a friend from Authors' Hangout who I talk to pretty often, mostly about writing stuff.

 

[BlackCaramelCreme]

Thank you amazingly tender soul. Thank you for sharing this. Because of your sharing, I'm seeing a common trend or theme in the underdiagnosed population. Whether time, energy or efforts lacked in certain areas may have been the key, it is not known. I can only move forward with the knowledge of things now. Exposing my thoughts may need a different platform because of all that is needed to prove it. Until then, those thoughts are all assumptions.

 

[BlackCaramelCreme]

Do you have any hobbies?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Do you have any hobbies?

Writing
Roleplaying
Board/card games
Leathercrafting (though not very often)
Reading
Programming

 

[Zionisacat]

... I started out on the Authors' Hangout and I still post there, but every year it feels a little more exasperating.
...

Is that the main emotion you get when you play "Are you smarter than a friend of a friend of an entertainment lawyer"? I must admit to a certain perverse pleasure, accompanied by metaphorical popcorn, in watching those cretins run up against the imposing brick wall that is Bramble and your impressive Google-fu but at the same time I worry that it's got to be draining and annoying and each experience drives you closer to leaving us.

Are you left handed?

Assuming there was enough alcohol imbibed, what would be your karaoke song?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Is that the main emotion you get when you play "Are you smarter than a friend of a friend of an entertainment lawyer"?

I don't know WHAT you're talking about.

That one's certainly an example of the AH weirdness, but there are a bunch of others, all annoying in their own unique ways.

I must admit to a certain perverse pleasure, accompanied by metaphorical popcorn, in watching those cretins run up against the imposing brick wall that is Bramble and your impressive Google-fu but at the same time I worry that it's got to be draining and annoying and each experience drives you closer to leaving us.

It is a bit annoying, yeah. Back around March-April I took a bit of a break from AH because I got fed up with the "it's just a flu" contingent, and I don't spend as much time there as I used to. OTOH, I'm finding a bit more time for actually writing stories, which ends up being more gratifying (but slower gratification) than arguing on the forums.

Are you left handed?

I am not. Boring right-hander here.

Assuming there was enough alcohol imbibed, what would be your karaoke song?

By coincidence, my most recent story posted here (about to be my second-most recent) involves a protagonist with similarities to me who is unexpectedly forced into karaoke at a work party. It's not a happy experience for her.

I get self-conscious easily, and alcohol is counter-productive. Feeling impaired by alcohol makes me cautious and withdrawn, so I only drink when I'm already feeling happy and secure, and not much then. In the last six months I've had one, maybe two drinks.

But if karaoke is the only way to save the life of an adorable puppy, and if the karaoke playlist is designed for my niche-y tastes, some possibles...

Never Let You Go or Black Wedding make for nice duets.
Weinst Du? - pleasantly melancholy, nice bagpipes, and the vocal isn't too challenging.
Vorbei ist Vorbei - moar bagpipes, and one of those songs where finesse doesn't matter as long as you can sing it with gusto.
Mother - I think I like this version better than the original. Not sure if it's really karaoke material though.

I've been known to sing along with Sex On Legs when nobody else is around, but no way I'm attempting that in front of an audience. Don't have the voice for it.

 

[Zionisacat]

It is a bit annoying, yeah. Back around March-April I took a bit of a break from AH because I got fed up with the "it's just a flu" contingent, and I don't spend as much time there as I used to. OTOH, I'm finding a bit more time for actually writing stories, which ends up being more gratifying (but slower gratification) than arguing on the forums.

So why do you go to the AH? You're a more than accomplished writer, your professionally proof read as a part time gig, what more can they offer you? Or is it more the social aspect?

I am not. Boring right-hander here.

Right handed you may be. Boring you are not.

I get self-conscious easily, and alcohol is counter-productive. Feeling impaired by alcohol makes me cautious and withdrawn, so I only drink when I'm already feeling happy and secure, and not much then. In the last six months I've had one, maybe two drinks.

So when was the last time you had a skinfull. i.e. enough that'd you wouldn't be able to legally drive?
Wait, do you drive? Do you have a license?


Pretty ballsy for someone who doesn't speak much German to have two on their karaoke list means you're either better than you're letting on or better than you're willing to admit.

 

[Bramblethorn]

So why do you go to the AH? You're a more than accomplished writer, your professionally proof read as a part time gig, what more can they offer you? Or is it more the social aspect?

There are a few things. I do enjoy discussions about storywriting - I don't learn a lot new from AH these days but I'm happy to share what I've learnt with newbies. And there is a social aspect there - I've made good friends on AH and next door in Story Feedback.

But those draws are a bit weaker than they were. I don't think we talk about storywriting as much as we used to, beyond the perennial discussions about "what person should I write in?" "what are the rules about under-age characters?" etc. etc. I feel like AH isn't drawing and keeping as many new authors as it used to, which I suspect is a mix of a Bite The Newbies attitude among certain of the regulars and the site itself being ancient in website years - probably a lot of the new smut writers are going to Ao3, Tumblr, or wherever it is the cool kids are these days. I'm on Ao3 myself now, with some cross-posted stories and some that don't fit on Literotica.

The social networks - some of those have faded as people drifted away from Lit, and some have migrated to other channels, Discord and GChat and so on. So at this point, it's about 50% force of habit. I am a stubborn cuss.

So when was the last time you had a skinfull. i.e. enough that'd you wouldn't be able to legally drive?

I don't think I ever have. I'm physically and socially awkward at the best of times, so I don't like the feeling of being even mildly intoxicated. I also don't like the flavour of most alcoholic drinks (exceptions made for dessert wines, especially Noble One) so there just isn't a lot of incentive for me to drink. And as a teenager I was resigned to being terminally uncool, so peer pressure was less of a factor for me than for many.

I don't begrudge others alcohol, if they enjoy it and are responsible in what they do with it, but it's not a big part of my life. Despite me growing up in Australia

Wait, do you drive? Do you have a license?

Yes, been driving since I was eighteen, though I don't do it very often. Generally my partner drives, unless we're doing a long trip and she needs a break, or if she's away. And even less since the pandemic, of course. I have good access to public transport.

Pretty ballsy for someone who doesn't speak much German to have two on their karaoke list means you're either better than you're letting on or better than you're willing to admit.

I have a fairly good memory for songs and they've been a big part of how I learn German. Listened to Rammstein, looked up the lyrics and translations, repeated with other bands. Sometimes if I'm trying to remember how something works in German, I'll try to remember a song lyric that's relevant.

For instance, "denn" and "weil" both mean "because", but they come with different sentence order. I remember which is which with lyrics from these two songs:
Denn ich bin der Meister ("Because I am the Master")
Weil ich so sinnlich bin ("Because I so sensual am")

It doesn't cover everything, since songs don't always work like spoken language, but it's helpful. I don't have either of the two German songs I mentioned fully memorised but for karaoke, with lyrics provided, no problem.

(Native speakers might complain though... and I admit I'm still not sure if I've got the German 'r' down right. Details.)

 

[seela]

Have you ever seen a platypus in the wild?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Have you ever seen a platypus in the wild?

No, alas. Manta rays, turtles, echidnas; assorted snakes and lizards; various kinds of kangaroos, wallabies, and possums; a koala. But platypuses are really shy, and I've only seen them in sanctuaries etc.

 

[seela]

No, alas. Manta rays, turtles, echidnas; assorted snakes and lizards; various kinds of kangaroos, wallabies, and possums; a koala. But platypuses are really shy, and I've only seen them in sanctuaries etc.

Ooh, echidnas are cool, too. But platypuses are the coolest! If I ever make it over there, I refuse to leave the country without seeing a platypus. Good to know you can at least see them in sanctuaries.

I once had a dream there was a platypus nest under my desk at work and the platypus kept pecking at my ankles with its beak/bill/whatever the snout part is called in English.

Have you ever been bit by a snake?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Ooh, echidnas are cool, too. But platypuses are the coolest! If I ever make it over there, I refuse to leave the country without seeing a platypus. Good to know you can at least see them in sanctuaries.

I once had a dream there was a platypus nest under my desk at work and the platypus kept pecking at my ankles with its beak/bill/whatever the snout part is called in English.

Have you ever been bit by a snake?

(It's a "bill". It detects electrical signals from tasty crustaceans in the mud!)

Bitten no, but I've petted a few, including one of the venomous species, and I knew a guy who'd been bitten by tiger snakes a couple of times.

 

[seela]

(It's a "bill". It detects electrical signals from tasty crustaceans in the mud!)

Bitten no, but I've petted a few, including one of the venomous species, and I knew a guy who'd been bitten by tiger snakes a couple of times.

(Thanks for the "bill". They are marvelous creatures with their electrical detection and poisonous spurs!)

I've never touched a snake. I saw an adder last summer, it's been years since I've seen one. It was a tiny one, I almost stepped on it.