AMA - Bramblethorn

[ultramarineblue]

I already had a lot of personal connections here, friends and family, but also I love the personality of this city. Sydney is about beaches and sun, Melbourne is about bookshops* and coffee** and street art. The architecture has a bit of a gothic tinge to it (believe it or not, the city was founded by a Mr. Batman - terrible person, excellent name) and it's a little bit greener and less sprawl-y than Sydney.

*Some years back, Borders Books opened up in Melbourne, and they went out of business because they couldn't compete with the local independent bookshop.
**Starbucks also failed here, though they've managed to revive it as a modest business catering mostly to tourists looking for a familiar brand.

Sounds like some absolutely amazing reasons to travel there.

 

[cookiecat]

I don't own that one, but I do have a rather pretty lemon-yellow waistcoat from the same place, which I have occasionally worn with the highly NSFW shirt.



Strength: Eclectic memory.
Weakness: Insecurity.
What I bring to the table: a squirt bottle for spraying Those Guys in forum threads. You know the ones I mean.

 

[cookiecat]

What do you do if you can't sleep?

 

[Zionisacat]

How are you going to fill your weekends now that the footy season is over ? Do you have a team? If not, which team brings you the most joy when they win vicariously through a loved one, friend or co-worker? Conversely which team brings you the most joy when they lose thanks to a disliked co-worker or friend of friend, maybe an in-law?

You've mentioned a few times that you're poly. Are you BDSMy with all your partners? Just the one? Only some? Do you always stay on the PYL side of the sash?

but every time I visited Melbourne as an adult I wanted to stay.

So where else did you spend your growing up years? Country vic or worse, are you a cockroach?


P.S. Nunya is a perfectly reasonable answer for the last two questions.

 

[Bramblethorn]

What do you do if you can't sleep?

Unproductive things. Doomscrolling, computer games, etc. But usually once I'm in bed, sleep comes quickly these days; it's switching off enough to get to bed that's the hard part.

 

[Bramblethorn]

How are you going to fill your weekends now that the footy season is over ? Do you have a team? If not, which team brings you the most joy when they win vicariously through a loved one, friend or co-worker? Conversely which team brings you the most joy when they lose thanks to a disliked co-worker or friend of friend, maybe an in-law?

I know this marks me as an outsider, but I don't have strong feelings about football, and nor does my partner. I guess I prefer it when Eddie McGuire's team loses, which I think is Collingwood? Nothing against the team, just that Eddie is irritating.

You've mentioned a few times that you're poly. Are you BDSMy with all your partners? Just the one? Only some?

Almost all. One two-night stand with a friend that wasn't BDSMy, all my other partners in the last many-years have been at least occasionally BDSM-ish.

Do you always stay on the PYL side of the sash?

In sexual contexts, yes. But I enjoy being on the receiving end of hurty massages and (n=1) tattooing, so it depends where you draw the line.

So where else did you spend your growing up years? Country vic or worse, are you a cockroach?

Outside Victoria. Beyond that I'll have to leave it vague, alas.

 

[gracie920101]

What's your favourite platform in which to dabble?

 

[Bramblethorn]

What's your favourite platform in which to dabble?

What kind of platform do you mean?

 

[soltiera]

Melbourne is about bookshops* and coffee** and street art. The architecture has a bit of a gothic tinge to it (believe it or not, the city was founded by a Mr. Batman - terrible person, excellent name) and it's a little bit greener and less sprawl-y than Sydney.

*Some years back, Borders Books opened up in Melbourne, and they went out of business because they couldn't compete with the local independent bookshop.
**Starbucks also failed here, though they've managed to revive it as a modest business catering mostly to tourists looking for a familiar brand.

I have never been interested in visiting Australia, but this makes me want to reconsider...

 

[seela]

I have never been interested in visiting Australia, but this makes me want to reconsider...

And did you check out the organ pipes Bramble linked above? All this plus platypuses have definitely made me interested in visiting Australia

Are there platypus places in/near Melbourne?

 

[Bramblethorn]

I have never been interested in visiting Australia, but this makes me want to reconsider...

We're not all deserts and crocodiles! Some of us even eat with cutlery!*

And did you check out the organ pipes Bramble linked above? All this plus platypuses have definitely made me interested in visiting Australia

Are there platypus places in/near Melbourne?

I think they have some at Healesville Sanctuary, which is about an hour's drive from central Melbourne. There would be wild platypuses living closer than that, but they're very shy and hard to spot in the wild.

*on special occasions

 

[cookiecat]

Are there kinky things you'd like to try? Is there anything kinky you are now pursuing?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Are there kinky things you'd like to try? Is there anything kinky you are now pursuing?

I'd be interested in doing more with wax play (especially if I didn't have to worry about cleanup!) and clothes cutting, and some CNC scenarios that aren't particularly my partner's thing. (Not going to go into specifics there.)

Not pursuing anything at the moment - this year I've just been putting one step in front of the other and dealing with 2020 as best I can.

 

[seela]

Do you have a song, smell, food etc. that always brings back a memory of a very specific, but utterly mundane moment?

If yes, what's the trigger and what's the moment?

I'm going to ask everybody this question, because among my friends I'm the only weirdo to have lots of mundane connections like that and everybody else only seems have these triggers for meaningful things. I refuse to believe I'm the only one.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Do you have a song, smell, food etc. that always brings back a memory of a very specific, but utterly mundane moment?

If yes, what's the trigger and what's the moment?

I'm going to ask everybody this question, because among my friends I'm the only weirdo to have lots of mundane connections like that and everybody else only seems have these triggers for meaningful things. I refuse to believe I'm the only one.

Songs for me. I tend to listen to a song obsessively for a stretch, so it can get strongly associated with whatever I was doing at the time. Lessee...

ASP's "Bernsteinmeerengel": memories of one specific time I was listening to it at work when my dickhead MAGA co-worker was being a dickhead. (huh, I wonder how he's coping today...

ASP's "Beschwörung": playing the beta of a game called Clockwork Empires (not recommended - the devs disappeared leaving the game unfinished and badly buggy).

GnR's "Coma": maths camp in high school.

Roxette's "Fading Like A Flower": wargaming with a high school friend of mine.

 

[KimGordon67]

Good dinner. Hanging out and talking for hours, maybe a favourite movie or just sitting around talking for ages. Or tying them up and undressing them with scissors. That's good too.

I never really figured out the dating-as-courtship thing. For me, dates are usually something that happens after the relationship is established.

The first bit made me laugh out the loud.

The second bit is so Antipodean. I read something a while back about Kiwi's approach to dating ... we're very good at jumping into bed with whoever happens to still be standing at the end of a night of drinking. But as you suggest, going for a picnic by a lake, stone cold sober - that's something you save for when you're together.

 

[KimGordon67]

Now I really want to visit Melbourne!

You totally should. If I ever lived in Australia again (which has been a possibility at various moments) Melbourne is probably the only city I'd want to live in.

 

[KimGordon67]

This is so much fun! I haven't quite read through all the pages, so sorry if you've answered this elsewhere ...

Who did you first fall in love with?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Speaking of smells, is there a certain scent you wear?

Just deodorant. Sometimes it's called "Mum", sometimes it's "BLACK CARBON SUPER POWER EXTRA STRENGTH: FOR MEN", but I suspect the only difference is the colour of the packaging.

Is there a scent you are attracted to in others?

This is a bit like my answer to the makeup question: not a lot of people in my social circles wear scent. I do remember one lover who did wear perfume and who sent me a letter that smelled heavenly, until it gradually faded, but I couldn't tell you what the scent was. Knowing her tastes, it wouldn't have been cheap.

Some people do have a natural scent that I notice, and that can be attractive, though again hard to describe. I had one ex who smelled very faintly of fireworks, by some quirk of body chemistry. But by the time I'm close enough to notice that scent, attraction was probably already established!

 

[Bramblethorn]

The first bit made me laugh out the loud.

The second bit is so Antipodean. I read something a while back about Kiwi's approach to dating ... we're very good at jumping into bed with whoever happens to still be standing at the end of a night of drinking. But as you suggest, going for a picnic by a lake, stone cold sober - that's something you save for when you're together.

Antipodean but also autistic, I suspect. I prefer to socialise one-on-one or in small groups and usually I need to know somebody pretty well to be actively interested in a relationship, so friendship turns into relationship and then we go "huh I guess we should do dates since we're together!"

This is so much fun! I haven't quite read through all the pages, so sorry if you've answered this elsewhere ...

Who did you first fall in love with?

I met a girl at an inter-school maths contest. This is incredibly on-brand for me.

 

[Bramblethorn]

do you think i should start my own ama thread?

Sure!

 

[Chewbacca79]

There is a zombie apocalypse and the cast of the last show you watched have to save you.

How screwed are you?

 

[cookiecat]

What was the last movie you watched?

 

[Bramblethorn]

There is a zombie apocalypse and the cast of the last show you watched have to save you.

How screwed are you?

Pretty good!

 

[Bramblethorn]

What was the last movie you watched?

At the cinema: Emma.

At home: I think either The World's End or The Dead Don't Die.