#is this like a niche interest and hobby now idk

[feliciteacup]

i just realized i havent posted here in weeks oops

i have a youtube and a tiktok where i post mostly everything but i keep forgetting to post it to here too 😭 so if you like my stuff maybe you should follow me there instead of here

honestly i dont know if theres even like a community or interest for voice acting on tumblr or anything but im still here just less active here than other places!

[lots of rambling in the tags...]

#idk #i just have fun with it even if i can barely find an audience #maybe its the fact that im so late to it? #i watched mlp from like 2013-2015 then fell out of it and only got back into it last year #and only started ''voice acting'' since february #and all the mlp voice acting videos i see on youtube are from like 2016-2020 when i was not in the fandom #so maybe i just missed the height of popularity or whatever #but people in the mlp discord servers im in seem to enjoy it so i like that #i would like to join servers specifically for mlp voice acting communities since i want to make friends who do this kinda stuff too #but idk if those even exist? #is this like a niche interest and hobby now idk #i just like doing it because it brings me joy #and ive been happier than i ever was before these past few months ive been doing this #and ive become more confident #not cringing at listening to my own voice anymore #not as scared to post my voice to the internet #ive found something i enjoy doing and even if other people dont care thats fine because i care and i have fun doing it #and i know no ones reading this and im just writing this for myself but its good for me to write all of this out somewhere

[being-kindrad]

Interest in a dedicated feminist online forum community?

What are women's thoughts here on an online feminist community, a forum (like phpBB for example), for discussions? Would enough women would be interested in this? Forum software has decreased in popularity, but is still used for niche subjects/communities. (Some real life examples: https://www.reef2reef.com/ and https://www.gardenstew.com/) I'm mildly interested in trying to set up forum software as a technical learning experience, but only if there would actually be interest in using it (because it would cost me money to buy a domain name and web hosting).

It seems like there are so little dedicated spaces for feminist women on the internet. Most feminist communities seem to be libfem, and/or plainly taken over by men (if they purport TWAW, then they definitely are taken over by men). Tumblr has a radfem community, but it's still part of a larger social media system which involves many TRAs (some of which harass radfems), and men, porn bots, etc. Ovarit is useful for consciousness raising, but it seems to me like the Overton window has been shifting towards more conservative takes than feminist ones, especially in how there appears to be more anti-trans takes on there than actual gender critical feminist ones, which kind of makes me bored of it. And so again, radfems are then stuck in a larger community, this one of conservative/non-feminist women, who are there because they dislike trans people and appear to have found a space where they can safely make fun of them and not actually to discuss gender critical content (the recent realization that I even need to be defending common feminist stances like women's right to abortion on Ovarit has been demoralizing). I basically want to make a place where feminist women can just take a break and not have to constantly be building up from ground zero, defending against TRA insults, arguing against conservative/right-wing rhetoric, and instead maybe discussing feminist topics or just chilling in some hobby forum sections or something, idk.

I was initially going to call it a "radfem community" but I see no reason for the community to not include women who identify more with other branches of feminism like gender critical feminism, black feminism, lesbian feminism, eco feminism, socialist feminism, intersectional feminism (I mean the original definition of intersectional, not "tumblrized intersectionality"), etc.

I think there would need to be some "gatekeeping" involved so that it doesn't end up filling up with neoliberal feminists ["choice feminism"] or "prolife feminists" [an oxymoron], so that would need to be figured out. This community would not be meant to be a place for feminists to have to hand-hold people and slowly explain over and over how gender is sexist, or how porn is misogyny, or how abortion is a part of women's healthcare and bodily autonomy. This place would be meant to be a solace from that. Imagine trying to participate in a Calculus class where people who haven't even taken algebra are constantly joining the class and asking "why the fuck are there letters with numbers in math now?!" The class would barely, if at all, progress. Likewise, this community would be for feminist women to have an agreed upon basis for basic feminist stances, and move forward with deeper analysis. There are plenty of other online communities for women who are new to (non-lib)feminism to learn about how "but I like wearing makeup, it's art" isn't a feminist stance. We don't need to keep spending finite energy hashing this out, we need to be able to move forward.

My basic thoughts so far:

It would be women-only. (But there would be no vetting that would involve requiring to share personal information, it would just be an honor system.)

I think there must be some basic feminist stances that members need to agree on, otherwise the community might as well just be a part of any mainstream social media platform. I would assume a decent starting point would be: gender critical, pro-choice, anti-prostitution, anti-pornography, anti-surrogacy, anti-beauty culture?

Some category ideas I have so far: feminism (with maybe different sections for the branches of feminism, and sections for discussing feminist books/websites/documentaries); politics (with sections for discussing or sharing news about feminist political topics like reproductive rights [for abortion, birth control, bodily autonomy], gender critical, surrogacy, prostitution, etc.; spirituality (for those who are into Wicca, or other spiritual beliefs); casual (for general chat, hobbies, music, arts, etc.)

So yeah, what are women's thoughts on here about this?

Would this type of community interest you?

What would you want to see in it?

What would you not want to see in it?

Has this been done before and I am just oblivious? (I tried searching for "feminist forum," but nothing relevant seem to come up.)

Am I naive and this is not going to work?

Please let me know! I welcome any opinions. Thank you. 💜

#radblr #radical feminists please touch #radical feminists do touch #radical feminist community #radical feminist safe #radical feminists do interact #terfblr #terfsafe

[gingersforeverbox]

Headcanons about Nathan Bateman and a Reader who likes to crochet

A/n: Ok, I know this is niche/ self-indulgent as fuck, but I just took up crocheting about a month ago (loving it too) and I can’t stop imagining what Nathan with a reader who likes to crochet would look like, So have some headcanons!

Crochet is tricky to get the hang of, but I feel like your determination to keep trying and to keep learning would definitely interest Nathan. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I still think Nathan would laugh and call it a “grandma hobby”, but he is secretly relieved that you’ve found something to keep you occupied out in the middle of nowhere with him.

Nathan’s grocery lists slowly begins to add regular shipments of various yarns over time for you, resulting in a room in the facility becoming devoted to your craft as a sort of art studio, equipped with custom crochet hooks that take your hands and preferences into account. You’ve looked many times, but you can never find where they came from or who made them (Nathan made them for you specifically but will deny it to your face).

If you like working on your crochet around others, I can absolutely see Nathan either working in the lab while you work on the futon behind his desk  or even him just flopping down on the couch next to you after a long day with a beer.

The one thing about the crocheting that Nathan does not enjoy is finding the little scraps of yarn around the facility, and he will not hesitate to get on the overcoms to tell you to remove a piece of scrap he found in his lab. Every now and then you think that he takes a piece of scrap from your pile just to put it in the lab as an excuse to make you come and see him (he does).

Working on your first big piece? He will watch your internet history fill up with tutorials and advice from crocheting websites and social media, and he will offer a small compliment on a specific pattern of stitch you use throughout your piece.

Nathan would absolutely ask you to replace a beanie he uses for when he goes hiking up the glacier.

you can't TELL me that he wouldn't nag you about taking care of your hands.

"Your hands are gonna be crippled in a week if you don't take a break every now and then honey." "Use these. They're fingerless compression gloves specifically for people who use yarn. Don't look at me like that, I just don't want to have to listen to you whine about it later."

idk I'm just imagining Nathan just watching Reader descend into crocheting madness

#my stuff #nathan bateman #nathan bateman x reader #ex machina

[youremyheaven]

Do you think those influencers who dramatically switch from very left wing Marxist alternative etc to very trad Christians (specifically in homophobic/transphobic way) have ketu influence?

You were talking about ketuvians and their struggle to find a sense of self and it made me think of these types of people. I know someone with ketu 1H and magha moon who did this to an extent. She used to identify as non binary and was constantly shifting through different names and pronouns but then one day she just kind of stopped and started saying how she thinks pride is pointless and a waste of time or whatever😭 it wasn’t *that* extreme but I still thought it was a significant shift in belief in such a short time.

I think a lot of people have this dramatic shifts not only out of a need to identify with something due to a lack of sense of self, but also because they like going back to what their parents believe for comfort. I guess those two are interlinked but it’s interesting how my friend is a magha moon and magha is associated with ancestors and whatnot.

I guess mula is somewhat similar as “the root”? Idk about ashwini though

Sorry I haven’t actually had the chance to look into examples since it’s hard to find birth data for influencers and I don’t know that many examples irl 😶‍🌫️ so this is me just going on a tangent and hoping you get what I’m trying to say LMAO

I’m also not sure if anyone else is familiar with this phenomena or if I’m just too engrossed in niche internet drama.

In terms of influencers I guess a somewhat prominent example is Freckle Zelda on tiktok? I never followed her but she went from making cutesy safe space liberal type content in like 2021 and now she’s a Christian and is using it be to super controversial. But like I said I’ve never followed her so idk if this is dramatic enough of a switch to count as what I’m saying.

I also feel like this a rahu trait to switch between extremes🤔 idk lmk what you think

I feel like the capitalist commodification of identity has most adversely affected Nodal people.

If you think about it, spirituality's aim is to transcend the "self" entirely, you stop identifying with labels and attaching yourself to this or that thing. I'm not saying you cease to be a person but you stop trying to "accumulate" identities to hold on to.

9/10 times the reason we identify with something is to feel a sense of belonging but searching outwards for it will only lead to disappointment, when we search within and feel at home within ourselves, we lose the need to externally confined ourselves to rigid "identities"

Yk how people dye their hair, get piercings/tattoos etc to mark a new chapter or the end of an old one or whatever??? It is an attempt to claim something as "yourself" and "solidify yourself". Everything changes all the time, everybody changes yet there are many people who will never dye their hair or change their name or join a cult or whatever (not that all these things are the same) its just that if you're at peace with yourself and truly grounded, you will no longer be shopping for different identities or things to associate with.

Yk those people who have IG bios that read like "Mother, Pluviophile, ESFJ, Petrolhead, UJC'22, Missourian, Ancient Spirit, 1/4th Cherokee, Bitcoin Enthusiast, EDM Lover"

like what do any of those terms say about them?? how on earth is any of this central to your identity? all of these are external ??? is loving rain and being a petrolhead central to your sense of self?? im not trying to demean anybody's interests, im only trying to point out that what we choose to make the focal point of ourselves is up to us and its possible to not be defined by anything?? i think a truly ugly consequence of capitalism is how people try to define themselves by things outside them (their interests, hobbies, job, income level, marital status etc etc) because there is more to a person than all that.

when we retreat within, we base our sense of self on our qualities like kindness, compassion, creativity (this becomes the essence of who we are) so we don't feel the need to claim 87373 other things to describe ourselves

some people overly identify with others like their partners, friends or even strangers and kind of become them. this is also the root of stan culture, by being obsessed with someone to that extent and giving them all your time and energy, you are losing your own qi and harming your Sun (the same way criticizing the appearance of others ruins your Venus)

Rahu is prone to taking things to extremes and Ketu is prone to trying on different identities and losing interest in all of them one after the other. so your observations are right.

i dont really use social media so i dont know any influencers that i can quote as examples ;-; but im thinking of certain celebrities who have had drastic style changes in the past and all of them have nodal influence lol

in the 2000s, the Olsen twins were known for their boho chic hippie style and over the last decade or so they have become known for their "quiet luxury" style. They are Magha Moon

Julia Fox is Ardra Rising and she went from basic to avant garde

Jared Leto, Mula Sun, Ashwini Moon & Rising , he's also the leader of a cult allegedly so👀i guess it all adds up

Adele, Mula Moon & Ardra Rising

im not just talking about her weight loss, just her overall change in style. she got married young and had a baby and in a couple of years she got a divorce and revamped her look to that of an ig baddie

Kylie Jenner, Swati Moon she's changed her style/demeanour every other year since the early 2010s lol

Taylor Swift, Ardra Moon has also had many diff lewkzz throughout the years

before anybody says dont celebs change their styles often?? no they dont, not everybody for sure. look at Jennifer Lopez or Sarah Jessica Parker, theyve been dressing the same since the 90s. constantly evolving style/looks/personality is a Nodal thing. its also a big part of the reason why Nodal people succeed in the entertainment industry and in the material realm (a lot of rich people including Bezos have Nodal placements) because entertainment = illusion, pretending to be someone you're not and for Nodal people, this is pretty much second nature.

im sorry that my response is kind of all over the place. your question provoked some thoughts within me lol and i just had to shareee

i cant think of celebs who have drastically changed their life paths like the example u cited ;-; EXCEPT Bridget Mendler who is an actor, singer, and entrepreneur, has a PhD and went to Harvard Law and now runs a satellite company?? she also adopted a kid during all this? She has Mula Sun

anywayyys thats it for now

tysm for sending this ask!!! its a very thought provoking and interesting question<33hope u have a good day<33

#rahu #ketu #nodal #jyotish

[skipppppy]

Anyway I’m bored and Carmen Sandiego renaissance is on the brain. What are these characters like when they aren’t focused on the main plot?? Non VILE/ACME/Caper related dialogue seems so few and far between.. I wish we got to see their lives outside work. So I made some headcanons abt it

CARMEN

Player was her first exposure to the outside world so she probably holds a lot of his nerdy interests close to her heart. She’s not the best at video games but plays them regardless. She especially enjoys sci-fi horror movies from the 80s that go big on practical effects

Finding random trivia about different countries is genuinely one of her favourite hobbies. The little info segments she does are not part of the edutainment show. She is genuinely just like that. This woman is a trove of fun facts please let her unleash them upon you

In the same vein she LOVES quizzes. After missions she will drag Team Red to any bar doing a trivia night in her vicinity and will wipe the floor with everyone there. Fear her

Enjoys people watching. It’s why she’s so good at charming strangers despite her socially stunted upbringing. She’ll sit alone in a busy train station for hours and watch everyone pass her by

PLAYER

Look. We know this kid is a nerd. It’s canon. But which niche of nerdiness does he fall into exactly?

Despite being an avid gamer he isn’t very competitive about it. He prefers single player rpgs, especially ones with active modding scenes. He doesn’t even know what vanilla Skyrim looks like he probably wasn’t even born yet when it released

He will, however, duo queue with Carmen on unranked Overwatch. They are both terrible at it and think it’s the funniest shit

Enjoys sitting back and watching a good speedrun. Will have a video of someone doing a stupid BOTW challenge in the background while he hacks security cameras and such

Runs a DnD campaign for Team Red which they’re all crazy invested in. Shadowsan is the only one who doesn’t care for it but he keeps rolling nat 20’s on the dumbest shit and derailing the campaign and he finds everyone’s reactions too entertaining to stop. They have a rivalry only a DM and a stupidly lucky rogue could have

ZACK

We already know he’s kind of a meathead that enjoys sports and cars and cheesy action movies but I also think he has a lot of softer hobbies that he keeps to himself bc he knows they won’t take him seriously

He’s a secret crocheter. He’ll mend the team’s clothes when they rip but that’s the extent of their knowledge. He’ll sit for hours by himself and knit while listening to music. Sometimes Shadowsan will find a new pair of socks in his bag. When Carmen got sick once she woke up with a handmade blanket draped over her. Ivy has her suspicions but doesn’t wanna intrude

He loves animals. He never really brings it up because no one ever asks. He always checks out local zoos and aquariums if he has the chance. Grew up watching Steve Irwin-esque nature shows and still does to this day

His love of eating is less out of greed and more his own form of cultural appreciation. Idk what happened to his and Ivy’s parents but for reasons he can’t explain their cooking is one of the few things he hasn’t forgotten, so he has a lot of sentimental food-based memories. And experiencing other countries cuisine connects him with that

IVY

PERIOD DRAMAS. They don’t have to be good they just have to be steamy. She enjoys the hot women in pretty dresses. She and Carmen watch Bridgerton together and laugh about how historically inaccurate it is

She LOVES renfaires and similar high fantasy roleplaying communities. Someone please buy this woman a suit of armour

As an engineering prodigy AND fantasy buff she has a massive interest in Blacksmithing and Swords. That’s her designated lesbian hobby. She’s been trying to politely worm her way into a conversation with Shadowsan about the blade he returned to his brother for months now but isn’t sure if it’s too personal of a topic for him so she’s nervous

Her sweet tooth encompasses more than just chocolate. She’s secretly grateful to Zack since he takes most of the flack for being a glutton. She makes note of any bakeries they pass by on capers so she can come back later in secret and go ham on the pastries

SHADOWSAN

I think his interest in Samurai history starts and ends with his love for Hideo. He’ll happily discuss it and he’s studied it passionately, but out of a sense of respect and duty to do right by the brother he betrayed

He will NEVER, EVER admit it to anyone but he genuinely misses the adrenaline rush from committing petty crimes. He was a criminal for over 20 years. Lifestyles are hard to shake and change isn’t linear. He’d never succumb to impulse but he’s just kinda bored

He microdoses on the urge by pranking people. Everyone always blames Zack so he never gets caught. He also enjoys sneaking up on people and making them jump. He’ll always insist it’s unintentional. It isn’t

He’ll read and meditate and train to keep himself centred but he’s still a rowdy young punk at heart. Team Red is the first taste of freedom he’s had after a lifetime of VILE faculty monitoring him. The first thing he bought for himself after settling in at the San Diego HQ was a motorbike. The second was a new tattoo. The third was a potentially lethal amount of whiskey that he drank in one sitting

JULIA

We know she has a passion for history outside her work in Law Enforcement so she definitely goes to all kinds of museums in her free time. She’s the kind of person who enjoys learning just for the sake of learning (she and Carmen have that in common)

Outside of that she’s surprisingly good at karaoke? She gets stage fright but really likes singing and will go all out if you hype her up. Her taste in music is the exact opposite of her appearance and personality. Lots and lots of death metal

An aficionado for different types of tea. She keeps like 10 flavours in her house at all times. She especially likes floral ones that taste light and sweet. She hates iced tea with a passion though

Goes to botanical gardens whenever the weather is warm and the season is right. She likes the history of the old manor houses but she also loves admiring the landscaping and the blooming flowers. She could sit on a bench surrounded by local flora and fauna for hours

DEVINEAUX

Chase is an entirely different person when he’s off the clock. The unhinged high-energy maniac who froths at the mouth about La Femme Rouge goes dormant once he gets home. Especially after he got stranded on VILE island. That really gave him some introspection about work/life balance

The biggest, softest, sappiest hopeless romantic you will ever meet in your life. Passion is just part of his nature and he gets his heart broken A LOT. It’s why he throws himself into his work

He’s a really good chef. Like REALLY good. Before he was a cop he did a few summers as a line cook in his teen years and he retained most of the knowledge. His pantry is STACKED and he tries out recipes he picked up from his ACME travels in his free time. He’s a tad snobby about it because he’s French but you will not complain about the stuff he feeds you

Old movie enjoyer. His favourites are film noirs, cheesy romances, creepy eastern european animation and german expressionism. He has a fervent hatred of Marvel

Also one of those insane people who get up at 5am to do cardio. One morning before a mission he met Agent Zari with barely a glisten of sweat on his forehead and sadly informed her that he only got to run 15k and he wished he had time to do more. That was the first time she ever knew fear

#carmen sandiego 2019 #cs #player cs #zack cs #ivy cs #shadowsan #julia argent #chase devineaux

[theshadowrealmitself]

About my last ask

Got two lads I want to know about

"who hasn’t realized yet that their Vulcan coworker is an alien, and keeps summing up their behavior as them being autistic like the oc or it being a religious thing as their coworker is clearly religious (they assume the Teachings of Surak is a religion) "

Because honestly this is my favourite thing ever. Also my brain is so stuck on *oh yeah, vulcans do just look like goth humans don't they?*

And also "Mostly just because I want Vulcans to come into contact with a knitted Sehlat and stop functioning for a second, I don’t want to look at everyone through a human lens but I still think coming across a small plushie that resembles your pet growing up is a universal want "

Because mmm funky ass interactions of "I made this for you?" "What? H o w???"

Idk if I'm explaining my thoughts correctly but my autism has latched onto your ocs

(Real quick, none of my oc’s are named because I’m terrible at naming 😭)

Unfortunately I don’t have too much for the first one, the main thing was just misunderstandings of them like, offering chocolate to their coworker and when they reject it, they assume it’s either a religious thing or they’re allergic to chocolate, so they take great care to not offer it again to not make them uncomfortable (especially if they want chocolate but aren’t allowed to, wouldn’t be nice of them to dangle a treat like that in front of them knowing they can’t accept it)

Their Vulcan coworker just thinks they’re the most accepting Human they’ve ever worked with:

very courteous of their personal space and eating requirements, tries to communicate with them on the same level (mirroring them), i.e., trying to avoid words that imply emotions, they don’t ever make them feel unwanted or like an outsider, but they also don’t ignore that they’re a Vulcan, they’re always inquiring about Surak and acknowledging the differences in how they view things since they’re from a different species (their coworker is actually just acknowledging how coming from different time periods and religions causes them to view things differently)

I got stuck on what would happen after awhile, I was thinking that maybe their other coworkers figure out what’s happening first based on how the Human coworker has phrased some stuff about their Vulcan coworker or Vulcans in general, but I couldn’t think of how I’d want the reveal to go down (other than the Human bouncing back immediately because I can’t stand the thought of the Vulcan coworker having to deal with the fact that the Human actually is freaked out by them being different species or anything like that) so this little au/story/thing is on the back burner for now

And for the second one, oh my god I haven’t thought about those ocs in awhile, they’re connected to a type of ocs I was making for awhile that included “Humans making videos that Vulcans watch for entertainment”:

So the premise was that this Human wakes up in the future (I forget the buildup, really need to write stuff down more often), and they’re trying to adjust to the fact that since the world is post-scarcity they can actually follow their interests, but also since the world has changed so much, they don’t even know how to enter their world of interests anymore (if that makes sense?)

While trying to acclimate to everything, they look into their hobbies to see how much has changed, and find out that knitting (both fortunately and unfortunately) hasn’t changed that much, like there’s way more patterns for Human stuff, i.e., more realistic patterns for earth animals, but patterns for non-Terran stuff? Nonexistent.

The Human starts filling this niche, coming up with patterns for them, and then making long “how to” videos with no cuts (they have no idea how to edit videos, so all their videos are real time how they made the item), and then they post it where it doesn’t really get a lot of Human views, but it starts gathering the attention of other species’ who all start to really enjoy learning this Human hobby

Because the videos are so long, the audio is the Human talking about customs and stuff surrounding knitting (like baby blankets for baby showers, making scarves for crushes in media, the “boyfriend curse”, etc), which leads to other Human customs, and gives everyone who watches it a new view of Humans, while the Human gets an appreciation for these other species that other Humans don’t normally get, as their first introduction to these species is searching up customs and stuff that other Humans don’t even think about as they try to see if there’s anything similar to Human knitting customs

(Like do other species ever gift handmade blankets to each other? if they did what’s everything surrounding them? like do different patterns and different colors have different meanings? can any of these blankets be recreated with knitting? etc)

I’m so upset that I forgot what the setup was with the Vulcan in this scenario, the main things I remember was them seeing the stuffed sehlat for the first time and just freezing, and the other thing was them knowing the Human before ever knowing that they knit and getting a crush on them through the videos after seeing how focused and competent they were while knitting

(I love Vulcans falling for wacky or whatever types of Humans, but I also like them first logically getting a crush on Humans after seeing them serious or competent in a way they never really thought of Humans being like, and then the crush getting worse after seeing them be silly and they don’t understand it)

Edit: I have another oc set that’s similar to this (like I said I have a lot of Human ocs that follow this outline) except: they specifically make miniature realistic figurines, they’re academic rivals with the Vulcan (huge misunderstanding, neutralness sometimes sounds like being an asshole especially when the other person has been having a terrible day and doesn’t know anything about Vulcans and them being neutral, but the misunderstanding eventually led to both of them considering the other one a rival)

And one of their rivalries is over getting this specific study room, the Vulcan thinks it’s the most logical place to study, and the Human uses the room to make their figurine videos and hates the idea of switching to a different room when they’ve become accustomed to this one, so the two keep trying to arrive earlier and earlier than the other one to claim it, even going to the lengths of underhanded methods (the Vulcan swears they didn’t mess with the coding on the door to not let the Human in when they got the key first that one time, but they totally did)

Eventually a professor steps in and forces them to share the study room, which leads to the Vulcan’s new fascination with these tiny figurines and then a fascination with the one who makes them (although tbh that fascination was already building while they were fighting over who gets the room first, the Vulcan just doesn’t want to admit to ever having a crush on such a hot headed Human)

#Star Trek #ask box #Vulcans #Humans #Star Trek ocs #sorry I didn’t reply to this immediately!! #had to get my thoughts in order #having some many similar ocs and not having enough written down means if I’m not careful I’ll accidentally lump two or three separate ocs #into one

[skinnytuna]

(i'm anon who replied to your long post about audience validation and art)

thank you for your response, it's very interesting. it's actually kinda funny because I used to be a person who never, ever shared anything I did with other people (online or in person). I wouldn't talk about the media I enjoyed or showed the drawings I made. it always felt too intimate - I was only doing it for myself and so having other people's eyes on it wouldn't add anything to my enjoyment apart from shame from not liking or creating the 'perfect' thing. if I imagined what I would do in the future, it was only from the perspective of what I would actually create, rather than the validation it would give me.

and then my world view flipped, I guess as I became increasingly exposed to online validation. I still dont share anything I make but if I (indulgently) daydream about creating something, it is rarely purely the process of creation that I think about. I cant separate the stuff I do and the response I would get like I could as a kid. this is probably partly because of watching numbers rise online. but maybe it could also just be the sad reality of transitioning into adulthood? when you are young the stuff you make is never going to get you shit. but when you are older, you are expected to view the world with a transactional slant: whatever you give, you must get back in return.

idk how into fandoms you are but I love them because they are a way to remove that dependence on transaction (both monetary and inter-personal validation) we have. obviously, fandoms mostly exist in an online world and so some people are going to be more successful at creating than others (and some people might even manage to make a tiny amount of money) but mostly they are pretty equal. most artists (fic writers/fan artists) are only creating for the sake of creation. they like something, want to improve it or want to explore a world and so they create. some fanfic writers will never get past 100 kudos on a single work, but they still write thousands and thousands of more words. this is because, for them, writing is a hobby and a way to have fun. they are literally unable to monetise it, and the possible size of a response is often limited by the tiny size of a niche fandom.

fan fiction is wholly and unapologetically amateur. it can be a great quality, but writers have the freedom to create imperfect things and learn as they go. there are no critics, book sales or best seller lists - you can just make shit and put it out there if you want.

idk if any of that made sense but yeah

it's funny you say that about adulthood because there are so many like. 13 year old rappers now who are solely in it for the money or dont understand why they are doing it and their parents are encouraging them to do it for the money so like. childhood for us was very different to what childhood currently is, right now this year.

but i personally cant remember a time when i wasn't desperate for validation like when i was playing guitar when i was 8 or 10 i still had that "i hope im good enough i want to be good enough without trying" feeling it's just the people i wanted to impress were like, authority figures. i wanted my guitar teacher to think i was cool. i wanted my moms friends to think i was funny. i'm still afraid of doing anything i haven't already learned how to do, writing is the first New thing i've attempted in maybe my entire adulthood.

it's kind of funny, when i was younger i didn't realize how bad i was at writing music and that's the only reason i stuck to it long enough to learn anything. i was like laughably bad at it in high school and no one really went out of there way to grab me by the shoulders and say "hey! you suck at this! stop!" though a bunch of people did tell me it kinda sucked. i mostly just thought they were wrong. they weren't. but now part of me doesn't believe i could ever be any good at something that isn't that. like when i write fiction i know on a cognitive level if it ends up being good it's not because i worked hard or earned it or anything it's just a complete fluke. and i don't even really believe people when they tell me it's good. even though obviously i'm only posting it so people will tell me it's good.

in a way i feel like i'm sort of shifting back to the way i was in high school... every piece of art i make im like "this is the best shit ever" and then i post it and if people tell me it sucks im like "lol. incorrect. your tastes are Unrefined" and then i keep making more whatever crap whatever. which honestly is the best way to live i think. i have some people in my life who really like, respect and admire that i make whatever the fuck i want without ever really considering whether or not i should. which is funny because i have a lot of people in my life who are like, Normal artists, who Think before they make something, and try to make Good Things and i envy them greatly because it really comes through in the work.

though obviously as an evil bastard communist i am a strong believer that "Bad" Art Is Radical and "Good" Art is Bourgeois Idealism and i find myself constantly torn between, the allure of timesinks and iteration and the mystique of hyperprolific stream of consciousness artists and i feel like i'm the worst of both worlds by not being fully one way or the other! but i guess not everyone can be Lil B and not everyone can be Frank Ocean and some of us need to sit in between those two extremes...

look at all this me talking about how i never stop and think about the art while i'm stopping and thinking about the art... i'm an Olympic level liar rn.

i've never read a fanfiction in my life (outside of like.. homestuck smut when i was fifteen. which i guess Technically Counts.) but as the form is widely derided i'm sure it has the most artistic merit of any thing. i think a lot about what a world would be like where money and art are completely unrelated. and all art exists completely separate from how much dollars it can make a corporation. would being popular even matter? would people still seek fame... complicated questions. Way if we pees form butts

#you better tell me who you are anon we better become friends

[detestable-darling]

idk lil personal ramble under the cut. im sentimental.

i fucking love niche hobbies. i love reconnecting w my old interests with a new unbiased light.

i used to be made fun of for how into little things i got. my passion abt bugs specifically got me bullied pretty heavily as a young autistic kid. i believed in every individual bugs’ life. so kids would torture and kill any bugs they found in front of me. its actually fucked up thinking back on it. theyd make cicadas scream and tear off their wings and legs before squashing them just so i would cry.

so i stopped openly caring and grew afraid of bugs as a result.

then i developed vermiphobia in high school and i was made fun of very openly by who i thought was my best friend at the time. she tormented me that day.

its been 6 years since ive ever exchanged a word with her. its been even more years since ive had anyone pick on me maliciously, many years since i had a “friend” pick on me for what i am and am not interested in or scared of.

in 2021 i re-realised my love for entomology. i started reading and studying, feeling that spark of passion again was invigorating!

its 2023 now.

my bf has a riff with a student of his where they exchange spider facts, he asks me for some to give her every wednesday.

last night, we stopped to fill up fuel, i stopped him from walking so he didn’t step on a beetle. he didn’t make fun of me or anything, hell, he was worried that maybe he did step on it and felt bad for it! the beetle was okay, i tossed him to the grass after my bf and i admired it. that would’ve gotten me bullied as a kid. not now.

i have friends both in person and online who think of me when they see an unidentified insect or spider. members of my family and lots of my friends and even co-workers pick up interesting bugs that died on their windowsills or that they found in abandoned webs or dusty corners!!

ive made people keep their eye out for the beauty of insects, even those who admit that theyre scared of them see them in a slightly different light due to my passion for it. like “wow i think this is scary, but charles would probably think this is so cool wouldnt he?”

im doing reading to find out spider facts to exchange with my bfs student as i thought about all this. its just… nice. its rly rly nice. genuinely.

[thatdogmagic]

I look forward to not having to post about this AI shit nearly as much anymore. Truly.

To an extent the investment isn't just professional, or "simply" personal on a 'I'm an artist and I wanna do art w/o being constantly demeaned and exploited' level. I have always loved machine learning/neural net nonsense. It's a niche interest that has a lot of really hilarious output and applications, not the least of which was Talk to Transformer, when it existed.

Like-- getting a robot to try and expand on my own writing was often times pretty hilarious. And I often submitted and resubmitted the same images to Deep Dream sites to see what bizarre hallucinations it could come up with, ala DogThing turned Duck Hell:

Enhance!

Oh god

It was fun, it was silly, it was probably feeding a shitty algorithm on my work, but it was something I could do to pass the time, and just in general a weird little tool w/ which I could entertain myself.

Like so.

I played around with a pixel version of the tools we have currently, too, and got some real bonkers results, so it's just-- IDK, sad. Disappointing. There were a lot of great applications shit like this had in terms of augmenting your own work, and the well feels so thoroughly poisoned now that it's hard to imagine when I'll see these two hobbies meet on ethical terms.

#the thing #deep dream #surreal #body horror #werewolf #ch: Sandra #thatartmagic

[e77y]

Long but relatively unserious vent/rant below the cut (sorry I added this in bc I realized how long this post is oops)

Being at the center of some kind of internet witchhunt (which ik is kind of buzzwordy but) is literally my biggest fear ohhh my god. Even a small scale one… I think I would Die. Maybe it’s because I had a similar thing happen with my friend group in high school where one of them convinced the others I was like evil and spread all these rumors about me… 😭 He was splitting on me but still. That’s an explanation, not an excuse. And it basically confirmed all of my intrusive thoughts about myself, and my personality completely self-destructed and changed, and I haven’t interacted with any of those people the same way since. I isolated from them for MONTHS and just loathed myself. Bleh

The reason it’s on my mind is bc I’ve seen this happen to friends and mutuals and even just people I’ve followed in small fandoms, where the whole fandom hates them bc of this little drama and like. I KNOW that fandom drama is not the end of the world, but truly I think that would destroy me for months. And I would never be able to set foot in those spaces again :’) Getting a handful of rude comments about a fucking transfem hc I had at like 14 made me stop writing fanfic for YEARS 😭😭😭 sigh. Just bc they said it was ‘out of character for him to want to be a girl’ 🙄 (<- character who canonically felt confident when dressed as a woman btw. initially for a disguise but then she grew to love it. BUT I DIGRESS KNSHFJW)

All this to say I think that’s why I tiptoe around everything I say online… I am SO scared of ruffling feathers, but I know that fandoms are places for like! Having fun! And it’s not a big deal! And it doesn’t affect my real life! But like idk.. I just hate the idea of being hated by anyone. I’m sure that I ANNOY some people, and that’s whatever; I talk a lot and make overly personal posts sometimes (like this lol) but I don’t wanna be HATED yk? And idek if it’s better to be hated and ostracized publicly or resented in secret by people who still interact with you… :( Agh. If you ever have an issue with me, please DM me instead of letting it build up into something worse!

ANYWAY LIKE.. with fandom stuff. Idk. I want to have fun! I want to write and post things on Tumblr and AO3 etc but I am just very scared of peoples’ opinions, especially now that I have a decently popular/well-liked longfic in DnDads. For some reason I have convinced myself that writing bad or self-indulgent NSFW will make everyone hate me lmao. Like girl the POINT of fanfic is to be self-indulgent……….. sigh I need to get out more

^ light-hearted… but also kinda true haha. I stay at home a lot just bc I don’t have many reasons to go out atm and only a handful of close friends to go out with. Hopefully that will change when I move next semester lol. And whenever I get interests, they’re VERY strong and long-lasting, and fanfic writing is one of my main hobbies, so I get REALLY into online communities. And rn that is kind of my little niche fandom Tumblr bubble… which is embarrassing and probably unhealthy but whatever. I just inevitably get a lot of anxiety about things that are important/fun to me (bc OCD), especially bc I’ve never really had mutuals/‘friends’ in a fandom before this, excluding my irls

Anyway this got longer and more vent-y than I intended so I will tag accordingly, and sorry to whoever is reading this lol; I just wanted to get my thoughts written down in a public forum bc idk… Makes me feel less insane when ik other people can see it, too. Helps me not take it too seriously and spiral lol.

#vent #cw vent #rant #delete later #<- like tomorrow morning I’m shre #usually I delete stuff like this immediately but I’ll try to keep it up #was talking to my mom earlier about OCD and intrusive thoughts and whatnot…. #she definitely has it too. like undoubtedly #her intrusive thoughts and compulsions sounded exactly like mine #which sucks for me bc my dad ALSO definitely has OCD (in a more outwardly recognizable way) so! wahoo! double whammy #just feeling kinda defeated about mental health stuff #I feel like it’s never gonna get better #I need to go to therapy or a psychiatrist or SOMETHING #it’s been like 4 years now since I was originally supposed to go lol #and I keep putting it off out of fear (I think) #my friends (irls) have all been getting diagnoses and prescriptions lately #which is exciting for them but :( idk. I feel like there’s no way to medicate whatever I’ve got going on except SSRIs???? #and I don’t really want that #mostly though I’m just scared of going back to therapy or to a psychiatrist bc I think they’ll think I’m lying or crazy or whatever #which sounds stupid when I write it out but idk #I should probably keep a journal but when I’m only writing for my own eyes I just kinda wallow in it and write concerning poetry lol #I like journaling in a way other people can see (even if y’all DON’T like seeing it lmaoooo) bc it makes it feel more real? #and out of my head.. concrete etc. #wackyposting #<- seriously need to change that tag still lol

[lasi-nariyoyoreads]

I don’t know if this is possible to know through tarot but could you do a reading on what hobbies does nct taeil likes off cam?? we barely know the guy and I don’t see reading on him..

ty in advance ��

Taeil's hobby

Hi, that's an interesting thing to ask! I don't follow his group too closely so I don't know much about the guy, but I'll try!

Disclaimer:

My readings are made for fun and you should read them for fun too. So don't take them seriously.

The fool, rev 8 of wands, the chariot

My impression it's that it's something more mental than physical.

Something that implies a bit of fantasy, day dream or mental abilities in general. Something that can detach you from the "here and now".

It can be something like reading, games, listening to music, riddles, crosswords and stuff like that.

Activities that might not require a fixed time or a fixed place (idk like playing a sport) and that can be done anytime, anywhere, especially if he doesn't have a lot of free time.

The Fool generally points to novelty and ideas, so he might not be the type of person that re-watches or re-plays too much and is always looking for something new and interesting.

He might be into niche content that isn't mainstream for the people around his age/area.

Rx of Wands makes me think that he prefers in-door (if not at home) hobbies, where he doesn't have to move around physically and where he can slowly and calmly enjoy his hobby.

The Chariot might imply that he still likes adventure and emotions, so he might enjoy horror or action movies/books, shooting games, crime books, hard hitting or emotional music etc.

Those three cards together make me think of pov games where you go through the story or explore the world and you act as the main character. Games that might take a long time to complete and that require a certain amount of effort.

But as I said it can also point to any mental activity you manage on your own, like reading, listening to music and stuff like that.

#taeil reading #taeil tarot #nct tarot #nct reading #nct 127 tarot #nct 127 reading #kpop tarot #kpop reading #tarot #tarot reading

[aronora8]

A headcanon list but it's only Mindy

Idk I just felt like I was neglecting the best girl, so here you go!!

She's in her mid-20s

Has had every phase known to mankind ever since she was a little kid. From Scene, to Metal to preppy, to art kid, she had it all

She loves changing her appearance and trying out new things in general. Even niche hobbies interest her

She also loves to get to know other people being extremely extroverted. She's also a very chatty person, which can be annoying to some people who just want peace

Despite all this, out of her and Vicky, she's the more reserved person. Vicky is 10x as bubbly as Mindy is, which believe me is very bubbly

She and Vicky share a very close bond with each other. Due to only having her mom in her life, Mindy has always tried her best to help her, and one of the reasons she works with Vicky is because she wanted to help her mom get the salon going, and she kinda stayed

Vicky has never pressured Mindy into doing this, but she sometimes feels guilty that her daughter never got another job, and that she's still putting Vicky before herself instead of living her life

Other than being a hairdresser, Mindy has always wanted to be an artist. She sometimes still draws (has DEFINITELY drew herself and Whiff kissing

She met Whiff at the time when she wanted to try out the gym. Whiff kinda showed her around and they started talking about their silly lives so they became friends

Whiff confessed to Mindy during a thunderstorm, that's why they have the lightning bolt symbol

Mindy loves teasing Whiff over silly stuff to make him smile and Whiff usually chuckles on those because he loves to see his gf goofing off and having fun

Other than Whiff, Mindy hangs out with Chuck the most. The two love gossipping together and their favorite subject is the relationship of Quinn and Timm (are they together???? Are they not together????? Who knows)

Mindy also knows every customer's dirty little secret, since she hears all the gossip during her sessions with her guests

She's also very close to Allan and Robby, Allan being her classmate before he moved, and Robby being another friend of hers. Once every few months Mindy hangs out with the two+Chuck and sometimes Taylor

Mindy's terribly afraid of water. She can't swim and boat rides used to scare her (a reason why she was absent from the old Papa's Freezeria). Robby has tried to help her get over this and he was half-successful since now she reluctantly can take boat rides

(TW for mentioning drowning) The reason why she's afraid of water so much is because she almost drowned as a kid in a swimming pool. She doesn't remember it as much because she was still fairly young but she has a very bad feeling about water ever since

#headcanon #flipline #flipline mindy #norambles

[randoimago]

Just some curious asks I have: What are your favorite seasons? I like autumn, the air is so crisp and it smells like cardamom and jasmine near my neighborhood!

If there were 2 things you could tell your past self, future self and present self what would you say to them? (Advice? Questions? Random thoughts?)

Are there any hobbies that you’d share to the world? Little niche interests that bring little bundles of joy? Things you’ve used to do that bring a wave of nostalgia?

(Fun facts: I like collecting bottles and glass yogurt cups for painting and metal smithing.)

[you don’t have to answer any of these questions if you don’t want to. I’m just a curious rock, interested in professional chain maille jewelry.]

I hope you have a good day/mid-day/night. Remember to rest well, hydrate and distress once in a while.

Ooh these are definitely some fun questions to think about! Also you paint and metal smith? That's awesome!! And I hope you have a good day too!!

I'm adding the "Read More" because this does get a tad lengthy!!

Let's see, I like Autumn too! It's a nice time of year when it's not too hot but it's also not quite cold yet. Also the leafs changing colors is so pretty and just relaxing.

For my Past Self, I'd say "Who cares?" because I was constantly afraid of talking and just expressing myself. But I'd also say "I love you." just because I've found it so easy to think of things I did in my past and immediately go "god I was cringe, I hate myself" and that mindset really starts to stick. For my future self, I'd say "I hope you're okay" and "Look how far you've come". Even if I don't accomplish things I want to, I'm still living despite things that are definitely affecting me today. Now for my Present Self, "Relax." and "It'll be okay." Stuff is happening and I end up thinking too much. I'm also a bit emotional so reminding myself that things will be okay is something that I need to do more often. (sorry if I got a bit depressing with this question 😅).

As for hobbies, the idea of getting into streaming would be a lot of fun. Idk if I'd ever get huge, but it would be me sharing what I love (also I always like the idea of streaming lesser known video games and helping build a bigger audience for it, look at how Among Us got famous). I also want to get more into art. I'm not that great of an artist, but I had fun when I did draw so I want to try and get better (can't get better if you don't practice). And I do want to actually publish a book someday. I enjoy the reactions I get when I write headcanons, but being able to actually express so much more in a book would be amazing.

#mod kat speaks #peachteasoda

[fancyshooting]

epaulettes anon here, thanks so much for such a comprehensive answer!! I had wondered if perhaps the design process went something like "ok this guys a kgb spy so I'll put kgb on his uniform" > "oh shit they're not meant to KNOW he's kgb" > "quick change it" haha. a mystery for the ages, much like the choice of the captain design instead of the one for majors.

I really appreciate that diagram of the uniform too, since my (admittedly only cursory) searches of an actual historical example of that navy uniform has been pretty barren.

Trying to research a foreign country's military special forces and find out what was true during a very specific time period before digital archives is pretty hard, apparently! I appreciate all the effort you've put into this.

Do you speak Russian? I imagine id find much more information if I knew what keywords to search, but if you don't know the language its like... where to start lol. Definitely didn't download duolingo just to learn because of revolver ocelot. definitely not

no problem ^___^

I learned the cyrillic alphabet and did a tiny bit of duolingo too hehe..... but no I don't speak russian. I think it was on the mgs fandom wiki that I read about his uniform but finding pictures is quite difficult. I can't say for certain but it looks like it was actually a wwii uniform. there's nothing I can find to confirm that ocelot wearing that uniform in 1964 is period accurate but there's SO much information to wade through and tbh I don't have any interest in doing that :| all the different branches and years and battles and ranks... it confuses me LOL. it's such a massive topic but like... niche at the same time so I'm grateful for hobby sites and the like that make it slightly more digestible to the common ocie researcher. my knowledge does NOT go beyond the scope of ocelot I promise

searching Морская Пехота (marines in russian) might wield better results. there's a site on the very first page with these pictures:

the only thing about these is that they don't seem to be wearing the same trousers or boots as ocelot:

had to give him an undeserved angelic glow to show this sorry but his are much baggier, like riding breeches. they're called galife/galliffet/галифе and are worn with jackboots. the guy in the diagram before was wearing them, so maybe the unforms in the irl pics are from a different era or something. maybe the design of ocelot's uniform was a combination of multiple uniforms. idk but that's the best I can do right now o7

#ask #sorry for making you wait one billion years btw #the russian marines are apparently known as the 'black berets' #but ocelot's is red because it's a spetsnaz beret #would LOVE to know everything that went into major ocelot's design #and character #dear mgs3 team can you please send me every file every sketch every sticky note related to ocelot ty <3

[feelbokkie]

No it's fine, don't be sorry for rambling since we can both ramble! lol (I was worried before that my asks were getting long for no reason 😭 but it's fun to just have conversations). You literally did grad school, write so well, are fluent in 3 languages (so cool how easily you picked up French!), and are learning your 4th and 5th languages so I'm sure you're not stupid at all.

I'm fully fluent in Tagalog and English, and then my brain decided to only be partially proficient in several other languages whether I Iearned them for several years or only a couple months: conversational listening in Spanish (from 4 years in middle school), only translating and reading aloud in Latin (despite 4 years in high school and 1 in college), reading French (from 2 semesters + sporadic Duolingo), reading and translating Old English (from just 1 semester but one of my niche/useless in daily life expertise is Medieval European History lol), and Japanese and Korean in the capacities I explained before.

I seriously considered doing linguistics in college since languages are so fun and interesting, but I was already on track to disappoint my parents by majoring in History and then doing Education for grad school lol.

It sounds like you're pretty close already to being able to watch Japanese shows in the background, you probably understand more than you realize! But yeah, I'm more an immersion/listening learner too so I'm def picking up more Korean from watching and listening to stuff (I'm a fast subtitle reader👍) than the workbook I got, although me taking notes with colorful pens is what fast tracked my learning Hangul so quickly.

There's so many things I wanna read in Japanese that people online haven't translated yet so I'm suffering too but I can't get myself to even consider learning hiragana/katakana/kanji until I get better at Korean since I have a limited summer time (the school year fills my brain with too many other things 😔).

Hope everyone else doesn't mind all the random infodumping I'm doing on your skz blog lol

-👻✌️

I apologize to everyone who has my post notifications on who are now being subjected to feelbokkie nerd hours, lol

Fluent in creole and French is a stretch. I can mostly understand and kinda read and write but I'm not actively using them so I'm losing them again. and I think me picking up French quickly is cheating since I technically already knew the language mostly. But I will give myself props for trying to learn 2 more languages. Idk, I think I'm spiraling because I'm done with school until I convince myself that I actually do want a Phd and I love learning and need something to do with my free time.

I wish I could learn latin. I had so much fun when we were learning Greek and Latin root words and etymology in middle school (God, I'm such a nerd) and I did Shakespeare acting competitions for 3 years in hs school so I got really well versed in reading Shakespearean English. Like I have a collection of all his plays and sonnets that I'm reading and analyzing for fun (again, I'm a nerd).

Linguistics wasn't an option for me in undergrad because my school didn't have a linguistics program. But it's amazing that you studied History! I would have switched to History but I already disappointed everyone by switching from criminal justice to English and then doing more English in grad school lol.

I'm so excited to do my color coded notes and all that again. I found a box of mine a few days ago from when I was relearning French full of all my note cards so I can only imagine how bad it's going to be this time.

I can also imagine how little time you have outside of teaching to pursue your hobbies and special interest. But at least you have time during the summer to work on your Korean.

#feelbokkie answers #👻✌️ anon

[vivilove-jonsa]

I saw you're writing a book. Is there any advice you could give for someone who might want to try? I miss your jonsa but good luck!

Hey Anon,

Thanks for the well-wishes and the ask! I've actually already released the first book (but I'm keeping my pen under wraps on here, sorry) and the first draft of book 2 is nearly done. It's been a journey with lots to learn for certain.

I'm writing Romance so my rambling will relate to that genre specifically. Here's just some starter info-

My advice to anyone who's interested is know what you want to write and then what your goals are. Do you want to write Romance? Erotica? Sci-fi? Suspense? Nonfiction? Figure that out first. Churning out Erotica regularly online can definitely pay some bills. However, I'm writing Romance (it's steamy though) because there's a huge market for it, it's what I enjoyed focusing on in fanfic and it's the most lucrative genre which links to those goals...

Do you want to write the next War & Peace or do you want to earn some mad money with your hobby/side hustle? I'm in the latter category. I'm not looking to win awards (but I sure wouldn't mind getting rich). I want to have fun but also entertain folks and make some money off it. If you can turn out quality, on-market books at a steady clip, you can make some very good money over time. Just keep in mind it's a marathon, not a sprint and very, very few authors hit it big with their first book. Allow for that learning curve.

Read Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes! It's a great book for teaching or reminding you of what slaps with Romance readers.

How do I get published, you ask? I couldn't tell you anything regarding trad pub. I'm doing self-pub on Amazon. It's free and not as hard as I'd once thought. My investment has been bare minimum, all related to marketing stuff. Look for indie author discords and reddits to join. There's so many helpful folks out there who will give you advice. Some of it is actually good!

On-market matters! You could write the most beautiful love story ever written about two lonely souls finding each other in the wilds of Australia in the 19th Century but, if there's no appetite for it (there may be, Idk), you won't sell books.

Also, an enormous genre like Romance has tons of categories and then sub-categories called niches. Do you want to write an Alien Romance of a Human and Humanoid from another planet? The Billionaire Boss and his new assistant? The Humorous Fake Engagement where the best friend gets kidnapped and hijinks ensue? Or the Mafia Arranged Marriage one? And that's all considered contemporary! I'm not even touching Historicals where Regency is huge right now but clean Westerns bring in the bucks, too. My point is, choose something that appeals to you but, if you want to make money, make sure there's an audience for it. You can be a pioneer of course but for a beginner, I'd suggest finding a well-trod path. Read the top books in the niche you pick and then see what clicks for readers and which authors inspire you.

Whew! I could add more but this is a lot to start with so I hope it's helpful and take care!

#anon ask #romance writing #selfpublishing #writer asks #writing #fiction writing