#don't get an mfa kids

[bellamyblcke]

started a new craft book bc i have been feeling stuck re: writing and then had to set it down bc it made me angry re: mining your life as the only way to write fiction. i personally hate that avenue into writing! and it is so weird to me that that’s what is recommended! i get it! sort of! but it’s sucking all the creativity out of me! let me make shit up pls i am goddamn begging you

[goodluckclove]

I've been meaning to say something. (100 follower hot take)

Hey! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you've had a nice day. Why don't you rest with me for a while? I made some chocolate chip cookies - with shortening instead of butter, so they're very soft and very chocolatey. I made way too many and they aren't my wife's favorite, so I could use some help in eating them.

You're probably a writer, right? Or maybe you think about how you could be. Browse the tags here, or on other social media platforms. Maybe you used to write stories as a kid. I bet those were fun. Teachers might've thought they were impressive, or they dissected them line by line until the words didn't make sense in your head anymore. Either way, if you're here you're probably here for a reason.

(rant alert)

I dipped a toe in online writing communities on and off. My last attempt was forty-five minutes scrolling through the writing hashtag on Youtube Shorts (so TikTok, I guess? I don't know). I didn't like it. I really didn't. The thing that sticks out the strongest in my mind is one particular video where a woman claims that every story needs a second act plot twist.

Huh? Every story? All of them? Why? Since when? Who are you? What qualifications do you have to make a statement like that?

That's the common thread that makes a lot of writing spaces very uncomfortable for me. Successful writers are really only successful in their genre and for the given moment, so they don't have that much objective authority in the craft. And yet I see a lot of people deciding the things that you can't do in writing. Or the things you have to do, and how you have to do them. It was so much of Writeblr at first glance that I almost dipped out once again. I didn't, though, and I'm glad I didn't because now I get to watch some of the next great storytellers from across the world grow and examine and forge their way forward.

No one can teach you how to write. No, that's not true. Teachers teach literacy. Handwriting. Typing maybe - do schools still teach typing? Let me try saying it in a different way - no one, not one single person on this goddamned planet, has the right to tell you how to make a story.

I was supposed to get my MFA in creative writing before my first breakdown. My uncle stayed in the program I was meant to be in, and a few years after I dropped out he graduated. Recently I had the thought to look up his thesis novella, and as I searched I found myself regretting my decision to leave school. If I stayed and got to develop my writing in an actual class, with other writers and a knowledgeable professor, how much further along would I be than where I am right now?

It was bad. His novella was terrible. It was so bad I had a small existential crisis for, like, three days. He spent so much money on years and years of professional education and came out with a truly soulless story that read as if you prompted an AI to write the next Great American Novel. So if you think you need a writing degree to be a legitimate author, it could help connections-wise, but it ultimately won't be the thing that does the work for you.

Not all advice I see online on writing is bad. I find the people who are able to capture the "I" statements of therapy and phrase advice as things that have worked for them, or things that they personally enjoy, to be fine. Some writing advice can spark inspiration.

But if someone is the type of person to boil every story down to troupes and cliches, and then immediately say that every story that uses the trait they don't like is automatically bad for everyone? I'm dropping the kindness for a second - that's trash. That's a trash take and I see far too many writers use it as a reason to stop before they begin.

I don't like whump. I say my reasons in previous posts if you go back through my blog. But you will never hear me say that any story with whump in it is bad, because I don't know that. You might prove me wrong. I am an adult human being and I have the humility to admit that I can like something I didn't expect to. I genuinely enjoy the direction of The Human Centipede (only the first one) and if you cringed just now that probably means you haven't seen it.

There are so many types of books and movies and plays and comics out there. To enjoy a specific genre is fine, to ignore the existence of everything else is a really, really, really odd thing to do. Maybe someone will hate your story because they think everything should be Neil Gaiman, and therefore have no way to understand your epistolary high-Western. You are not the wrong end of that situation just for existing.

And at there is a definite threshold on how many writing tips you can gather before they stop being useful. If you find them interesting, that's one thing. That's fine. But if the culture of creativity online has made you feel like you need to educate yourself on every possible angle before you can write a story, you are actively harming yourself.

Imagine taking the level of structure you put on yourself in that way and putting it on children playing pretend in the backyard. Oh, Susie, don't you know that it's overdone for your Kitsune have dead parents? Xyler, shouldn't you ask someone else before you decide how Spiderman would react to this? It would make no sense and they do not need it. Kids will make a whole world out of nothing and it's the most fucked thing in my heart that at some point they get access to Reddit and dipshits start insisting that's wrong.

They aren't wrong and you aren't either. Your favorite creative influencer can't tell you your story, strangers on the internet can't tell you your story, your teachers and loved ones can't tell you your story. They can influence it, but they can't write it honestly the way you can.

You do that. That's the thing you do.

Man that makes me upset. I can't tell you how to make a story, either. If anyone sends me asks for writing advice the most I'll do is say what I've done before hopping into your DMs and starting a direct conversation. it's so personal to each individual artist, and I'd like to think that the people selling these classes and software and promoting these platforms haven't thought about that before. Otherwise it does feel manipulative. If you have a willingness to practice and imagine and really experiment with the possibilities, you are ready to write your story.

And if it doesn't work? Try again. That's what you do.

Stephen King has written roughly a thousand books and maybe five of them have decent endings. He is unimaginably successful.

I'm rambling now. I think I got that out of my system. I was really worried to say this out of fear of being too weird or somehow reverse-gatekeeping so hard that it circles back into also being a bad thing. I've just spoken to a lot of people who I still think of throughout my day, and I truly ache for them to get past the fear of creation. Because it's worth it. It's worth it and it's fun, even when it's messy and you're tired.

Let it Be just came on. Beatles. I haven't listened to The Beatles in a long time. Feels a little apropos.

I love you, reader. Reader, Writer, Colleague. Take care of yourself. Especially the little you, still sitting there in the backyard of your soul, bathing in the sun with their bare feet in the damp earth.

Consider joining them, maybe.

[machtomiles]

here's my personal headcanons of redacted characters that i personally project onto! some i wrote specifically for pride month and others are just more specific one's :3

all of the damn crew is trans and in a poly relationship (even if not canon i've always seen them all together in someway whether it's romantic, sexual, or queerplatonic)! they all take t shots together and comfort each other through dysphoria

damien and hux are transmasc, lasko, dear, & fl are non-binary, and gavin is genderfluid or maybe genderqueer

(all characters are queer/bi/pan to some degree that's just canon logically since all audios are mfa)

guy is def transmasc and wears honey's hoodie because it secretly helps him with dysphoria (and also to be a menace because it's a win-win situation either way)

all the wolf boys are transmasc

i feel like vincent might be nonbinary or gender non-conforming regardless he just wears whatever he finds stylish

all other demons/daemons are agender

baby helps ollie with his t shots (ollie said his love language is physical touch so i think doing it together is def intimate and comforting for him)

in elliot's dreamscape, he helps sunshine with their insecurities but encourages them not to change their body because they look perfect in reality

personal/projected headcanons

hux, gavin, anton, & sam are all black because i said so ☝🏾

i see headcanons everywhere that lasko or damien is korean and it's true because like.....that ain't no yt boy.....

asher is a lightskin with freckles HELPPPPP

milo and david are brownskin methinks all them wolves got melanin let's be fr...

anton loves talking to love on the phone because he loves the sound of their voice, regardless if he misses them or not

blake has bpd most definitely (takes one to know one......)

huxley loves being the little spoon and damien loves being the big spoon (they always switch cuddling positions in the middle of the night but don't mention doing it outright before bed for months)

huxley plants fruits, veggies, and flowers for damien so they can cook them together

damien is a good cook he definitely made lots of homemade meals with his mom

lasko secretly loves horror movies even if he gets scared watching them (both him and dear get scared and use it as an excuse to get closer to each other on the couch or in bed)

if lasko was a rolling backpack kid i feel like he was def a mouth breather as a kid (HELPPP this is a joke sorry)

i need to write more later this is all i have 😿

[write143]

✨Reading Master List (PART ONE)

Here's a masterlist of what I have read and/or am reading on AO3! Currently everything I'm reading is primarily SKZ fics (some have referenced TxT or ATEEZ and it's cute) but I'm generally just reading to read and learn what people are writing/passionate about. It's honestly enlightening, in a good way (most times). Reviews are below the cut. ♥

You can find change notes in the QRTs, where I list if anything was added, removed, edited, etc.

Also apparently this post got SO LARGE that I now have to break it up into pieces...will likely make a Google Doc of the Other Finished Fics section.

Number of fics I've finished reading: 114

my ao3: think143 🔖 - unfinished work 📗 - completed work 📖 - currently reading/tracking

My Favorite (Finished) Fics

(In order of completion, not best/worst or anything like that)

hands-on learning 💖 (E) 25.2k Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Porn with Feelings, Friends to Lovers My Notes: I thought I would have more to say about this one but it's just really really good. A nice quick nighttime read before bed. There's just something about the ones with "feelings revelation" that make me sooooo happy. And yes, all of the smut is *chef's kiss*.

MFA (Most Fuckable Ass) 💖 (E) 53.2k Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: Teacher-Student Relationship, Professor Lee Minho, Student Han Jisung, Slow Burn, Daddy Kink My Notes: I burned through this fic in an evening and I am fanning myself like a Southern woman in the heat of summer on her front porch. So incredibly well-written, and I've found a fic author that I'll be following closely for a long time.

don't leave me tongue-tied 💖 (E) 57.5k Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Friends to Lovers, Friends With Benefits, Porn with Feelings, Light Angst, Denial of Feelings, Emotional Slow Burn, Misunderstandings, Fluff My Notes: This was honestly really endearing to read and see actual feelings come to light. Author commented to say that it's based on a manga called "My Quiet Best Friend's Just Tongue-Tied", but without the dub-con elements. Well-written and reads easily; comical when it needs to be!

Haebang 💖 (E) 193.6k Relationship(s): Stray Kids Ensemble/Stray Kids Ensemble Notable Tags: Fluff, Smut, Porn With Plot, Sex Work, Dom/sub Undertones, Daddy Kink, Explicit Consent, Subspace, Porn with Feelings, BDSM, Polyamory, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Possessive Behavior, Feelings Realization, Safewords My Notes: Okay, hear me out; there is a LOT going on in this fic. A lot. The point of the Haebang retreat is that each member specializes in helping you find liberation with one aspect of sex; be it intimacy, dom/sub, etc, and each chapter follows each member at the start before things start to get a bit more involved. However, any time I try to word why I like this fic so much, I simply cannot. Also Seungmin is a nerd and we love him for it.

instinct 💖 (E) 53.4k Relationship(s): Bang Chan/Reader Notable Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Alternate Universe - College/University, Light Dom/sub My Notes:This was the first ABO fic I read and it makes every other one I've read after it pale in comparison. I love how the author describes what's going on in the reader's head without over-explaining or spoon feeding it to us. The relationship between Reader and Chan, plus all of the other housemates, is so so so good.

come on home 💖 (E) 206.7k Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: Angst, Smut, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Violence, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Denial of Feelings, Referenced Homophobia, Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Feelings Realization, POV Alternating, Gangs, Guns, Shitty Exes My Notes: The guns are there for a split second, but this fic is very centered on a incredibly difficult to read domestic abuse situation, and the liberation from said relationship. There's also the orientation realization of another character, but that instills a lot of angst and fear of loss while reading. However, the fic is still incredible, a powerful read, and definitely on the recommended list.

Wannabe Poet 💖 (E) 134.2k Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: Bad Poems, Bullied Han Jisung, Friends with Benefits, Loss of Virginity, Exhibitionism, Smut, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Sexual Assault. My Notes: I'm all about found family and I feel like this fic really hit the nail on the head for it. I loved the concept of this fic from the beginning. Han texts a bad poem to a random number and makes a friend in Minho. Most of this fic seems centered on Han becoming comfortable with his true self and what he wants, not what his family wants for him. I really love the love that he finds not only in Minho, but in everyone around him. ♥

Five Stars 💔 but 💖 (E) 420.7k Relationship(s): Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin, Han Jisung/Lee Minho, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin, Bang Chan/Lee Minho Notable Tags: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE, DEAD DOVE: DO NOT EAT, Cannibalism, Dismemberment, Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Emotional Manipulation, Some Fluff, Explicit Sexual Content, Animal Abuse, Animal Death, Grooming, Murder, Mutual Pining, Minor Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Implied/Referenced Suicide My Notes: I have to stress so so so so much that the writing on this fic is one of the best I've ever read. HOWEVER, it's also one of the most fucked up pieces of fiction I've ever read. Mental health issues are at the center of this bloody, sexy, kinky fic. It would truly be a horror movie if it were put onto screen. Please please please make sure to read ALL OF THE TAGS on this fic before deciding whether to read it or not. I had to take frequent breaks but it was difficult to make myself look away because I wanted to know what the hell was going on. I have never screamed so much at a fic before in my life. I cried at least six times and four of those were in the last 50k words.

Heart Song 💖 (E) 63.1k Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho, Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Hwang Hyunjin/Seo Changbin, Kim Seungmin/Yang Jeongin Notable Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst with a Happy Ending, Physical Disability My Notes: I just...I cried so much during this fic. In this universe, soulmates are identified by a dream that people have on the night of their 16th birthday. They dream about a significant memory from their soulmate's life, and when they awaken, their soulmate's first impression appears on their body written in their handwriting. The only problem is that...Han Jisung is blind, so he has never seen anything. Lee Minho leads his whole life thinking that he doesn't have a soulmate, because he saw nothing in his dream. I LOVE the author's storytelling style, the way they use angst in believable ways, and the way that they bring the characters together.

Speak With Your Eyes 💖 (E) 164k Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: Alternate Universe - Space, Hybrids, Androids, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Space Corps, Miscommunication, Slow Burn, ONLY ONE BED, Found Family, Smut My Notes: A ROMANCE IN SPACE?! Lee Know is an android hybrid, and unfortunately this universe has a lot of not very nice things that are in place regarding people who are not fully human. Lee Know saves Han's life, then Han saves Lee Know's life, then Lee Know saves Han's life again...you get the picture. It's incredibly well-written, a lovely drop into a different setting than I'm used to, and devourable in a day. Will be following this author for a while!

so sweet like chocolate 💖 (T) 71.7k Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Fluff My Notes: I cannot stop gushing about this fic. The mutual pining is written incredibly addictingly and just aaaagh! Lee Know is a librarian, Jisung is a student who has never visited the library before, Jisung may have accidently thrown a pencil at Lee Know...it all becomes very fluffy at just the right pace. I read this so quickly and when it was over, and the author's note popped up saying "and that's the end!" I had to check the % progress on my kindle. I would devour any further stories written about this story, but I am also okay with how it ended, and imagining what happens next.

The Curse of Saturdays (T) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

opposites attract (E) Relationship(s): Bang Chan/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

chances taken (E) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

Let Your Love Walk In (E) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

LMCat_98 has joined the chat (E) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

i need you now, but i don't know you yet (M) Relationship(s): SKZ Ensemble/SKZ Ensemble Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

he ain't heavy, he's ours (M) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/SKZ Ensemble Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

A Beautiful Mess (E) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

strawberry chapstick (E) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

Promises to keep, we won't ever need Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

Loves Me, Loves Me Not Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

After Lust Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

abode of the saints Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Hwang Hyunjin Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

why did we ever meet Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho, Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Minho, Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Felix Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

Lonely Street Relationship(s): Lee Felix/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

break in case of emergency Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

Finger Lickin' Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

Poles Apart Relationship(s): Bang Chan/Hwang Hyunjin, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin, Han Jisung/Lee Minho, Han Jisung/Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Felix Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

boys, biology, and other inconveniences Relationship(s): Lee Minho/Yang Jeongin Notable Tags: TBA My Notes: TBA

To Be Read/Reading List

Charmer 📖🔖 (E) Relationship(s): Stray Kids Ensemble/Reader

Quaver and Storm 📖🔖 (E) Notable Tags: SKZ Member/Reader, Dom/Sub, Fluff, Smut, Polyamory, Non-con elements

Leap of Faith 📖🔖 (M) Relationship(s): Stray Kids Ensemble/Reader

Kerosene 📖🔖 (E) Relationship(s): Bang Chan/Reader

The Stray Kids Gang 📖🔖 (E) Relationship(s): Stray Kids Ensemble/Stray Kids Ensemble

In Too Deep 📖🔖 (M) Relationship(s): SKZ Member/Reader

We'll Be Alright 📖🔖 (E) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Minho

Connected 📖🔖 (E) Relationship(s): Stray Kids Ensemble/Original Female Character

I like the view right now 📖🔖(E) Relationship(s): Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Felix

The Force that Drives the Flower 📖🔖 (E) Relationship(s): Lee Felix/Lee Minho

Animals Without Direction 📖🔖 (E) Relationship(s): Stray Kids Ensemble/Reader

Everything you Crave 📖🔖 (E) Relationship(s): Stray Kids Ensemble/Reader

A Crack in the Glass 📖🔖(E) Relationship(s): Stray Kids Ensemble/Reader

Sin 📗 (E) Relationship(s): Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Felix

Boyfriend for Hire 📗 (M) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho

Waiting For Us 📗 (M) Relationship(s): Bang Chan/Yang Jeongin, Han Jisung/Lee Minho, OC/Hwang Hyunjin, OC/Lee Felix

You Are My Safe Space. 📗 (NR) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Reader

Ocean Sounds 📗 (E) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho

I Kiss Boys 📗 (E) Relationship(s): Various ATEEZ/ATEEZ and SKZ/SKZ pairings

The Pink Rose's Promise 📗 (E) Relationship(s): Bang Chan/Lee Felix

Stalking Tiger 📗 (M) Relationship(s): Lee Minho/Yang Jeongin

Wandering Eyes, And Spreading Thighs 📗 (E) Relationship(s): Han Jisung/Lee Minho

Other Fics I've Finished Reading

Due to Tumblr being a general jerk about post size, this is now in a google doc. You can view the list by clicking here. Sorry, I wish I could make this work better!! :(

[naranjapetrificada]

Fanfic Friday!

I still don't completely understand it, so this week I'm just gonna reflect on things that happened while writing this arranged marriage longfic, some of which I posted about on here and some of which I didn't.

I gave up on the Soup Paragraphs that were haunting me and realized I can introduce them later if I must.

I got in some "let go and let god" practice when I realized I don't have to get every little throwaway detail right, especially when it slows down my progress/makes writing miserable.

My therapist wants me to see about applying this Free Yourself skill in my non-writing life, to which I say I know you are but what am I

Characters put themselves in situations without my input and it was great!

Ceremonies are hard to write but at least I now know what Ed and Stede would be like if they were kids in a school play.

I started watching Rome again after thinking about it last week in the wake of the cancelation (I've had it on DVD for years). Still problematic in the way something made in 2005 will be, but otherwise it holds up incredibly well.

I've also stopped caring as much about all the people using the world's problems as a bludgeon against OFMD fans and the campaign to to save the show. For all the reasons other people have already articulated well but also, on a personal note, because of what this show has done for my relationship with writing.

I won't get into too much detail but suffice it to say I have a lot of baggage around writing, because of all the "gifted" nonsense of my childhood and my MFA experience as an adult. I don't blame anyone per se, but unhelpful social frameworks were unhelpful. Let's just say that when Pop-Pop said "if you were ever good at anything go do that" to Ed, it didn't not remind me of feeling obligated to do something that used to be rewarding but isn't anymore because it's what you're "supposed" to do. Anyway.

I wrote three short (<2000 word) fics between seasons 1&2, the first fic I've felt like writing in over a decade. It was liberating as hell to write again in a low-stakes environment, and with blorbo motivation to power me through the difficult parts. I never, ever thought I would write anything longer than 2000 words, but for the past (several?) weeks now I've been alternating between two drafts in tropes I can't get enough of, the shortest of which is around 10,000 (admittedly unedited) words.

The other is longer, and every time I work on it I keep having to break shit up so the chapters stay under 5000 words. This is unprecedented for me, and I've wanted to share it so much that I'm running out of shit to post on WIP Wednesday that won't reveal the plot or require too much context. I've never been in a fandom as creative (and creatively inspiring) as this one, nor have I every written so much in a single fandom before.

My relationship with writing wouldn't be healing like this at all if it weren't for this show and this fandom, and in particular I want to highlight the freedom in embracing the "David Jenkins School of Historical Inaccuracy." In fact, I've been keeping a running list of AO3 tags for the fic I've made the most progress on, and there are several "David Jenkins School of ________" tags, including Archaeology, Theology, and Comparative Politics. Thanks to seeing DJ's philosophy at work it's now possible for me to move on from certain details when I get stuck because they're "inaccurate" for the setting or whatever in a way I never could before. Now I feel empowered to move on from tricky details by asking myself:

Is it funny?

Is it related to the plot?

Is it character-building?

And if the answer to all of those is no, then so is the answer to question 4: "does it matter?"

Assuming I finish these longfics they'll be the longest creative pieces I've ever written and beyond the longest works of fiction I ever thought I would write, and for that I'm eternally grateful. Even if the world we live in is a crumbling disaster. Especially if the world we live in is a crumbling disaster.

[rosethornewrites]

A long time ago (2008) I lived in California while getting my MFA, and of course Prop 8 happened. It was ugly.

For those who don't know. Prop 8 was put on the California ballot after same-sex marriage was legalized, to illegalize it again. It was worded weirdly and up to the election and after was a really ugly time, and when it passed it was like a pall was cast over the queer population. Everyone was cheering Obama's win, but Prop 8 had passed, too, and that made it hard to celebrate.

Ultimately the CA Supreme Court struck it down because it created two classes of queer people: those who were able to marry in the time it was legal, and those who could not marry, which was unconstitutional.

At the time I was regularly attending a church service for the queer population, which I'd become aware of at Pride that year, and post-election it was just us grieving and coming together to support each other. We spent the entire election season huddling together for fear it would pass, and engaging in activism and protest.

A married lesbian couple I knew woke up (pre-election) to find that their lawn was covered in Yes on 8 signs, and they tore them down and set the pile on fire in the center of their driveway (the signs were plastic but they were too upset to care; their kids woke up to see the sea of hate on their own lawn). One of their neighbors had done it, and another neighbor let them know who it was.

There were regularly picketing Yes on 8 protestors (including kids) at nearly every corner, encouraged by the LDS to do so, all weekend long, like a constant caravan of hate.

I visited a friend/classmate who was Mormon (but not a bigot) and her roommate came home and started ranting about a car that had a sign that Yes on 8 was bigotry. It was my car and I said so, and she turned beet red and retreated to her room. She didn't have the courage to keep talking shit TO me.

The Catholic church removed a popular priest from the church just off campus because he said Prop 8 did not jive with the universal love of Christ. He became a symbol of the movement against Prop 8.

I hand-made a sign for a protest against Prop 8 he headed after it passed that read "Marriage is about love, not genitalia" and I made it into the local paper (with my back turned).

On my way to said protest, I was wearing a pride flag shirt that asked "When can I vote on YOUR marriage?" and I stopped at a Starbucks for caffeine. A large man decided to stand super close and growl "Never" in an attempt to intimidate me, then left in fury when I laughed at him. He was not the first person to try to intimidate me, nor was he the last.

Sometimes I wonder if young queer folks know just how bad it was a mere 15 years ago, and if they understand how terrifying it is to hear the rhetoric by bigots who intend to strip our rights or worse.

I don't know why I'm remembering this just now. Maybe because Trump won Iowa and we all know his plans.

[cantsayidont]

Black Sails

I don't think I can write a proper review of BLACK SAILS because that would require rewatching all of it, and the last time I did that, I couldn't get through all of Season 1 because of the truly punishing level of sexual violence, but I have several overall comments:

The sexual violence is really a lot. It's somewhat less pronounced in the later seasons, although the later seasons also expect you to buy a sort of face turn for Charles Vane, who is chiefly responsible for the punishing degree of sexual violence in the first season.

It is exhaustingly overwritten, especially in the final season. It's like being trapped in your home with the members of an MFA writing seminar who follow you to the bathroom and the kitchen and attempt to impute complex character nuance to your choice of toothbrush and pizza toppings. Given how clumsily written recent teevee often is, the writers' determination to build a thematically complex narrative is admirable and all, but EVERY conversation in the later seasons is layers within layers of rhetorical jousting for meaning, and it's just wearying. Sometimes less is more, and I'm not convinced that a narrative in which a cigar is never just a cigar is categorically better than a story that eschews all nuance.

The brutality of the violence can get oppressive, even for the kind of show it is. There were various points where I ended up muttering, "Is this really necessary?"

It doesn't actually line up with either TREASURE ISLAND (to which it's notionally a prequel) or the real history of the historical characters. At points, it acts like it's going to, but it doesn't, and its attitude toward both the Stevenson novel and the history of the period is kind of like Quentin Tarantino's. I don't especially care about TREASURE ISLAND (it was never a favorite even as a kid), nor do I care much about real-world pirates, but the lack of congruity becomes distracting. I would be fine with the show taking a "This is what the characters in the book later say happened, but what really happened is …" approach, but it doesn't even do that. Why?

Its version of Long John Silver is the least-interesting and least-compelling character, especially if (like me) you are wholly uninterested in shipping Silver with Flint. Long John Silver is generally the hub around which adaptations of TREASURE ISLAND revolve, since he is in that story the most interesting and charismatic character: obviously treacherous, but not wholly unsympathetic; crude in speech and full of blarney, but more cunning than he lets on. The BLACK SAILS Silver is a weirdly taciturn twitchy little weasel, and of course, like most of the show's characters, he talks like he's in an MFA seminar. There's something to be said for playing a character against type, but Silver is one of the biggest incongruities between BLACK SAILS and TREASURE ISLAND, which I thought was a puzzling choice.

[pencil-urchin]

Doodle of my Mirialan OC, Iria. She's a scholar--Peofessor of Cultural Anthropology/Archaeology, with a minor in Art History: all centered on what she calls "The Culture of Warfare" and how it defines and shapes those cultures which engage in war.

She also put herself through school as an exotic dancer in a not-very-nice place, like you do.

(Hold on because I'm about to word vomit)

***

She has a list of other skills and knowledges, but I don't want anyone crying "Mary Sue!" so a quick note:

All but a handful of her knowledge and abilities are skills I currently have or had at one point, and I promise I am not anyone's idea of a "Mary Sue."

These skills and achievements include:

-Multiple Advanced Degrees (I have an Associate's, a Bachelor's, and 3 Master's degrees)

-Art (I am a professional artist, and although I have a long way to go and a lot of room to improve, I have worked hard to get where I am, and obtained both an MA in Visual Development and an MFA in Concept Art in the process)

-Martial Arts (I stopped one test shy of a black belt when I was 17 because I started college)

-Fencing (I started fencing when I was 21, which is how I met my husband; we were both competitive until and somewhat during grad school, but now we mostly just coach)

-Music (clarinet and vocal primarily, then violin and piano for a short time)

-Writing (creative and academic, my second degree was in Literary Studies)

-Multilingual (I have studied Spanish, French, Latin, and Russian)

-Organization schemes/data analysis and curation (my first Masters was in Library Science, and I was a librarian for over ten years)

-Handling of rare/historic artifacts (I studied special collections, collection management, and rare books in my MLS)

-Cooking (my husband and I love cooking together)

-Fashion (as part of my MLS I worked in a designer and historic fashion archive)

-Metalwork (I have taken metalsmithing classes, worked as a jeweler's apprentice, and even got to try blacksmithing once upon a time)

-First Aid (through my first two years of grad school I was Healthcare Provider certified to offer assistance with CPR, use of a defibrillator, assisting with someone choking, etc)

-Emergency Response (for a while in my late teens, I participated in a program meant to prepare young adults for Firefighter I training, which included a rigorous exercise routine, specialized training in the use of emergency equipment, and learning the most basic foundations of Fire Science)

-Acting (listen I don't think I'm good, but I was in Improv as a kid, love to RP at the game table , and was even a mime once)

-Field Ecology (loved this class, caught so many snakes, frogs, turtles, and lizards: I do not do spiders or insects, and therefore neither do my characters)

Skills I ABSOLUTELY do not have that my OC has:

-social grace (I'm an awkward weirdo)

-physical grace (despite all I have done, I am so clumsy)

-beauty (I am a swamp witch without the swamp)

-confidence (see above)

-dancing (I did dance and drill team when I was in junior high, did swing choir in high school, did the "shimmy" belly dance workout, and took a pole-dance workout class once which was an absolute blast, but JFC I am NOT a dancer, I promise)

***

I'm sure there's more, but you get the idea. A multifaceted character with a collection of experiences that seem disparate isn't different from what we are IRL when we break ourselves down into a list like this. In addition to all the positives, I'm also old (35), neurodivergent and mentally-Ill.

So yeah, not a "Mary Sue."

[terminalisms]

caved so quick to the 2nd muse impulse o mein gott......throwing sejoon into the mix with another minimal stats page + round two of rambly character intros 😵‍💫 if u are interested in plotting just like this post or add me on discord!! (tip.toph) 🥰

tw! mentions of terminal illness, death of a parent

only son to 2 anomalies. plain jane working class background

in a past life, dad is still a top tier hardboiled detective who doesn't gotta think about the fact he has a wife and kid at home

in this one, mom is inconveniently out of the picture for......... [vague gestures] reasons and he has to hunker down into single father life fast. ends up opening a restaurant in order to be able to provide

but in spite of all of this his childhood isn't so bad! he and his dad are close despite obvious stark differences in personality, which can be summed up as naive softie vs cynical hardass. even if sejoon's too trusting ways has dad up at night wondering how the hell is this kid gonna survive on his own

also dad: [does the absolute most to keep him shielded and sheltered cause he's Seen Things and as a parent's bare minimum that means letting a kid being a kid. which means shoving things deep under a rug and the default response to any inkling of curiosity being "Don't worry about it"]

until sejoon's anomaly kicks in at 12-13 by making a patron's chair float on accident and his dad's like k. better late than never......

its a little (ok a lot) hard to coach sejoon through controlling his abilities considering dad's own anomaly is not anything remotely close to moving things w his mind (its memory manipulation btw for some hwang fam #trivia) and sejoon is like ): but this is so cool why shouldnt i wanna show it off......

their deeply anti-anomaly district with equally staunchly anti-anomaly neighbors, friends, politicians being a VERY good reason not to: (:

dad: wear this patch thingie. dont ask why just do what i say

(thank god for nullivi huh like seriously)

doesnt stop the bubble bursting with when people realize ur not "human" they treat u different but ykw.........the sun is still shining and the world is much much bigger than their humble slice of daegu for EVERYONE to be that way

sua's open for admissions just around the time sejoon's thinking about higher ed AND broadening his horizons. gets in on arts scholarship and off he goes

baby bird leaving the nest turns fish out of the water. college and seoul are a bit of an adjustment but exciting all the same. and he does thrive! gets involved in the sporting rallies, really developing his artistic vision, has a social life, and gets to be his #true self among fellow anomalies the whole enchilada

things only really go downhill in the last 6 months of his undergrad with 2 wrecking balls: a devastating breakup and (TW: ILLNESS, DEATH) his dad being diagnosed by stage iv lung cancer

its right after graduation that sejoon immediately falls off the face of the earth for 3 years to be his father's sole caretaker until his death (END OF TW) no one i mean no one knows what he was doing or where he is

but hes back now to do his mfa!! let the bella loca where the hell have u been-isms begin

vibe wise hes bright, social, easy to talk to but can also be kind of spacey eccentric and the ultimate pacifist. the type that makes u feel like u guys are sooo close but then when u reflect ur like actually idk if i really know much about him at all (which!! is not totally intentional he just makes for a better listener and is great at making conversation about what YOU have to say). these days that same can do energy is there but it doesnt feel the same if u look too close but its fine!!! everything is fine

plots that are marginally better than the first time around but not by much:

friends who were blindsided by him going mia without warning

friends who are gracious enough (or equally ??????? avoidant? weird even) to pick up where they left off like nothing happened in the first place

people who dont even know who he is so like none of the above for his sob story doesnt even really matter

this is really really limited to one (1) person but somebody who managed to run into him in the three years that he was laying low

will require extensive plotting but the ex......not necessarily endgame but i am in the mood for some bittersweet woulda shoulda coulda's, angst and answering the penultimate question of: why did we break up?

former teammates? i imagine he was part of house samjoko during undergrad

ur a stranger feeling nosy and ur ultimate mission is figuring out where hes been. he lets u speculate

u need someone to do ur graphics. can be contractual pro bono whatevah.......

im running out of steam here but i am open to it all please hmu

[literaticat]

Hi Jenn. I know you’ve answered questions similar to this but what does it mean for something to have a middle grade voice? I also heard there’s more telling in MG than YA. I just don’t really get what that means?

What does it mean for something to have a middle grade voice? I'm afraid there's no clear-cut answer to this, it's kinda one of those "you know it when you see it" type deals. Like... the characters sound authentically like kids, not like mini-adults or teenagers or babies. The tone of it feels ... idk, LIKE A MIDDLE GRADE!

I would suggest what I suggest to ALL authors: Read 100 books in your category published in the last 5 or so years. (Make sure some of them at least have won awards or been bestsellers!) Study your favorites. These can be your mentor texts. What makes them your favorite? Why do they ring true? What are they doing right? What's the pacing like? Are there flashbacks, or dream sequences, or [whatever other thing you are interested in]? What do they have in common? What is different about them? How did the author handle [thing you have been struggling with in your own writing]? Pick them apart!

Congrats, you just got an MFA without having to pay for it. And now you definitely should know what a successful "middle grade voice" sounds like.

I also heard there’s more telling in MG than YA. I don't know what that means, either, tbh, and I don't see why that would be true. On the face of it that sounds like bullshit. But maybe while you are reading all those middle grade books and analyzing them, you can figure out the veracity of that statement for yourself!

[katierosefun]

tagged by @b1uetrees! thank you for the tag buddy!

do you make your bed? i try, the operating word being try. i used to be really good at making my bed, but for the last few weeks, i've been lucky to just straighten out my sheets and pile my pillows on the right way before darting around to make myself breakfast and wash my face.

what's your favourite number? i've always really liked 12 for some reason. maybe because i associate it with the year of the dragon, which is the zodiac year i'm born in?

what is your job? i'm a second-year law student. i think the closest i have to a job right now is that i'm a student attorney (which has been very exciting, because it's definitely aligned with what i want to do after graduation), and this coming summer, i'll be working at a law firm (which is also exciting. everyone pray i don't screw up)

If you could go back to school would you? i mean, would i pursue more education after getting my current degree? i'm not sure. i've played with the idea of getting an mfa for a while now, but also? i think mfa's cost so much money, and the rewards aren't always very tangible. so it depends on how financially comfortable i am and if i can figure out a way to get into publishing without an mfa haha!

can you parallel park? i don't know how to drive, so nope

a job you had that would surprise people? i always get questions about what the heck a costume stock keeper does, but for a short while, i was a costume stock keeper. which basically meant that i organized the costume stock room in my college's theater department. it was really cool, because we had a huge stock room, and my bosses were people who actually worked in a lot of really cool movies, so that was neat!

do you think aliens are real? i have to think so! like, the universe is so big--how can there not be other things out there?

can you drive a manual car? i can drive a golf car. does that count?

what's your guilty pleasure? not really certain if i feel guilty about this yet . . . i guess watching kinda bad old kdramas? (like . . . i know there are some tropes that we've left behind in the early 2010s/early 2000s, but what can i say--some classics are classics, even if some of the stories wouldn't fly in 2024.)

tattoos? none right now, although i've been wondering if i want to get a tattoo before i graduate law school. i think i want to get a constellation somewhere on my bicep. but also, i get so scared of something being permanent and how skin changes over the years, so maybe not :/

favourite colour? i'm currently digging really deep greens lately!

favourite type of music? i think i've been really loving a lot of moody ballads and alternative rock . . . and also whatever the hell the music in alien stage is right now!

do you like puzzles? nope--i'm not patient enough for puzzles a;shdfasdf

any phobias? i am terrified of spiders. i don't care if they're smaller than me--they have eight legs, i have two, and also the way they move freaks me out so much oh my god why do they move like that ! !!

favourite childhood sport? i really liked to swim as a kid, and i still do

do you talk to yourself? yeah--mostly when i'm annoyed or stressed. i've been known to quickly mute myself on zoom meetings or make more of an effort to just shut my mouth whenever i'm waiting for someone to come onto zoom, because i once started muttering "jesus christ, what a way to make a first impression--i can't believe you're late" and i didn't realize that there was? a little thing that was? making a transcript of everything i was muttering? if my boss ever read that transcript, they've been kind enough to never mention it--so!!!! anyways!!! i'm working on that lol

what movie(s) do you adore? i really love kogonada's films (columbus and after yang are probably the major ones), and i also love the korean adaptation of little forest. and also beginners. in general, i think i love films with a lot of green coloring and also just enough moments of quiet to make you feel comforted! or at least--better said--i like movies that feel like you've had a conversation with someone.

coffee or tea? coffee for when i want to wake up and tea for when i want to wind down!

first thing you wanted to be growing up? a writer :) or, at the very least, a well-known storyteller.

no pressure tags: @kckenobi @lightasthesun @l-tyrell @reese-haleth

[terrainofheartfelt]

any date headcannons?

oooooh so open-ended I love it!

being an ~Athlete~ Nate is habitually a morning person and typically runs in the mornings. Dan can not understand this. Nate will pester Dan to come on runs with him every so often because it's good for Dan's mental health, but, god, at what cost?

Nate starts learning to cook under Dan's tutelage. there's the basics: eggs, pasta, grilled cheese, pancakes. the first time Nate manages to cook breakfast on his own he is so proud of himself. but there are a couple times when he sets off the smoke alarms.

Nate is such an easygoing down to earth guy, so he's not typically or outwardly materialistic, but every so often he will say something so rich-boy-unhinged, about food or wine or clothes or hair products and Dan takes psychic damage.

they do their own march madness brackets every year and they never win, but their bet is who loses first buys dinner and drinks next time they go out.

my favorite vocations of choice for Natie change with the wind: community outreach for a major league team, PT for a major league team, school teacher, pediatric nurse, social worker, but Dan is always a writer/house-husband/stay-at-home-dilf. he goes to grad school after college, and nate is his rock through it

(I think it was waldorfhistoria who told me that in the books Dan goes to a MFA program at U of Iowa? what if Nate followed him to the midwest? omg, what if nate follows him to Iowa and that's how he learns to be a grassroots organizer?!?! ohhhhh the potential...)

i already put this in my dilf!date fic, but Nate is the one who proposes. he plans this big romantic trip to the mountains, he gets use of his uncle's ski lodge, he books this grand romantic dinner but before they get to that night, Dan gets injured on the slopes, and Nate feels so bad about it that he just mopes the whole time bc he just wanted Dan to have a romantic, happy time and be able to walk and now he's like "i can't propose after i almost killed him!"

but Dan picks up on his bad mood and in typical Dan fashion teases until he pushes Nate over the edge and Nate goes and gets the ring and he's like "here!" and dan is just *shocked pikachu face*

but OF COURSE Dan says yes and their people are very excited and Blair says she'll be throwing them an engagement party but not until Dan's ugly walking cast is off

also when the cast is off Dan does his own proposal and gets down on his knee because Nate deserves it!

Nate's parents are Trash and aren't very supportive of date from the start but Nate goes through his mourning period and is pretty much at peace with cutting them out. If they don't want to be here then they don't deserve to be.

and all of Dan's parents (all three of em) bend over backwards to make Nate feel like he's in their family - which he like, basically already is.

the first time Alison sees him after he breaks up with Howard and Anne she tells Nate "I'm Mom. Don't you ever call me anything else."

their wedding is small. they go somewhere together every summer, a house on the beach, maybe Hamptons, maybe elsewhere, so after they get engaged they tell their people, "Okay, we're going on our vacation these days, we'll be getting married then, come if you want" (of course they want). so Jenny, Eric, Serena, Vanessa, Blair, Scott, Rufus, Lily, Alison, they all come. (Howard and Anne are not invited, but they are informed)

Eric officiates. Serena makes a toast that opens with "I take full credit for this relationship!"

Nate is not A Reader, but Dan firmly believes that there's a book niche for everybody, after some trial and error, they find that Nate's is FANTASY. Howl's Moving Castle becomes one of his favorites.

Before they have kids, when Dan goes on book tour, Nate will always come along for a week or two. He's very good at working a room, and shining a light on Dan is his favorite reason to do it.

[authoralexharvey]

INTERVIEW WITH A WRITEBLR — @vmccombs

Who You Are:

V McCombs || She/her

I've been a military wife for more than thirty years. As a result, I've lived in England, Germany, Japan, and all over the United States. I have my MFA in Creative Writing, and after more than fifteen years teaching college writing classes, I've decided to try my hand at being a self-published author.

What You Write:

What genres do you write in? What age ranges do you write for?

Fanfic, fantasy, and sci-fi. New Adult and Adult.

What genre would you write in for the rest of your life, if you could? What about that genre appeals to you?

science fiction, I like how it forces you to speculate about what might be.

What genre/s will you not write unless you HAVE to? What about that genre turns you off?

Romance. I find it very limiting. I tried writing romances for a company before, and they made me adhere to a boring outline.

Who is your target audience? Do you think anyone outside of that would get anything out of your works?

People who like sci-fi and speculative fiction. I think anyone who likes a good adventure story would enjoy it as well.

What kind of themes do you tend to focus on? What kinds of tropes? What about them appeals to you?

I tend to write characters who need to figure out what they really want in life. I like it when my protagonist is full-on focusing on something, only to realize what they want is really something else.

What themes or tropes can you not stand? What about them turn you off?

I don't think I honestly have anything that turns me off in general. I find anything can be appealing, if it's written well.

What are you currently working on? How long have you been working on it?

A novella called Your Artificial Afterlife Awaits. I got the original idea almost two years ago, and now I'm working on what I hope will be the final draft.

Why do you write? What keeps you writing?

Because I get these ideas, and I feel like they have to come out. I enjoy working with stories, and even though the writing itself sometimes makes me crazy, not being able to write makes me more unhappy than anything.

How long have you been writing? What do you think first drew you to it?

I've been writing on and off since I was a kid. I've always been a voracious reader, and even back then, I would have ideas about where the stories I read should go.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Is that how you got your inspiration for your current project? If not, where did the inspiration come from?

I get my inspiration from a lot of places. I read a lot of articles about science, and that gives me my inspiration when I'm writing science fiction. This story though came out of another story I was trying to write when I realized I'd created this side character that I really wanted to be my protagonist

What work of yours are you most proud of? Why?

My one short story that's been published by an online mag. Obviously, it's partly because I can point to it and say it's published. But also because I was given a very short format to work with, and I feel like I managed to pack in a lot of story and emotion in those two pages.

Have you published anything? Do you want to?

I've had one short story, "The Enclosed Check Should Cover The Damages," published online. I've also tried to get a few books published here and there, but after years of rejection, I've decided to try self-publishing.

What part of the publishing process most appeals to you? What part least appeals to you?

The amount of time traditional publishing takes is looking less and less appealing to me. I want to speed things up by self-publishing, even though it means doing my own marketing. But I've worked on literary journals and for newspapers before, so I think I can handle it. Also, I'm excited about doing my own formatting. It's something I've really enjoyed in the past.

What part of the writing process most appeals to you? What part is least appealing?

I love rewriting. I can rewrite all day. Drafting, on the other hand, is both fun and challenging. It's fun when you get into the flow, but challenging when you're staring at a cursor that's mocking you.

Do you have a writing process? Do you have an ideal setup? Do you write in pure chaos? Talk about your process a bit.

I like quiet when I write. I'm easily distracted, so noisy environments put me off. My favorite place to write is anywhere in my house I can take my laptop and hide away for a few hours. So long as I've got that and a glass of water, I'm in good shape.

Your Thoughts on Writeblr:

How long have you been a writeblr? What inspired you to join the community?

I've been a writeblr since 2014, although I deleted the old one and started fresh just last year. I like having a place to discuss what it's like to be a writer, and even more importantly, what it's like to be a writer who's trying to publish their own work.

Shout out some of your favorite writeblrs. How did you find them and what made you want to follow them?

I like @thebibliosphere because she's so great about sharing information about self-publishing. @theplottery because she posts stuff that makes me think about my writing. And for just pure fun and tag games, I've done a lot of interacting with @Nanashi23, @ezestreet, and @toribookworm22.

What is your favorite part about writeblr?

Seeing posts that make me think

What do you think writeblr could improve on? How do you think we can go about doing so?

I'm not sure if this is a writeblr thing, or a Tumblr thing, but I often see people who just post blindly trying to find more like-minded writeblrs to follow. This tells me we need better ways for finding each other.

How do you contribute to the writeblr community? Do you think you could be doing more?

I'm mostly just reblogging anything I think more people should see and playing tag games. I'm also trying to curate my own tag list, so if anyone wanted to find a particular writing tip, or piece of self-publishing info, I've collected, they can. I'd like to make my blog a hub of useful information. But like I said, it's fairly new right now, so that might take some time before I get it exactly the way I want it to be.

What kinds of posts do you most like to interact with?

I like tag games, but I'm really drawn to discussions of culture, history, and language. I think that's because I've been so many places, and when I see someone who's uncertain about something, I like to jump in and help.

What kind of posts do you most like to make?

I like both posting about my writing and telling stories about my past.

Finally, anywhere else online we may be able to find you?

Nothing current, although I've started blogs other places over the last twenty-five years or so. I need to create a proper web site, but right now, I'm just focusing on getting this last draft done.

Questions For Fun:

Where has been your favorite place to live in and why? Have you ever based any place in your works off of it?

I would say my favorite place to live has been Germany. The people are very nice, the country is beautiful, and it’s a great jumping off place for seeing the rest of Europe. Especially if you go by train. I have not used it in any of my work as of yet. I will probably do so in the future.

What is your favorite sci-fi trope? If you can't pick, how about a favorite scientific development?

I’m sort of fascinated with advances in medical technology. I have some minor issues I was born with, so the idea of being able to use tech to modify yourself has always been I interesting to me.

What is the most valuable lesson you learned in the process of getting your MFA? Why?

I think the most important lesson I learned is to not be so defensive about my writing. We did a lot of workshopping, and some people were better about it than others. I quickly realized I didn’t want to be one of the jerks. I also learned how to pick and choose which critiques I should listen to and which ones I should ignore.

[riviera1ru]

Pottery Workshop in St Petersburg for Children and Adults

If you're interested in learning pottery, you can try a pottery workshop in St. Petersburg. These classes are fun and can be a great way to get away for a few hours to relax.

Pottery workshop St. Petersburg

If you are interested in learning about ceramics, there is a Гончарная мастерская Спб that is open to children and adults. These workshops focus on building a connection between the maker and the consumer.

Belinda Glennon, an educator, teaches ceramics classes for both adults and children. She also coordinates public school field trips. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida.

Suze Lindsay studied ceramics at the Penland School of Craft, and returned to work as an artist-in-residence at Penland. In addition to her clay work, she has developed a unique style of figurative sculpture by manipulating forms after they have been thrown.

Maria Dondero, born in Yaounde, Cameroon, took her first pottery class in Guanajuato, Mexico. Her aesthetics draw from the history of ceramics around the world. She studied slipware from Japan.

Sarah Chenoweth-Davis works with stoneware clay. Her pots are inspired by nature and function. She has exhibited widely and has been recognized with awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the McKnight Foundation.

Kris Erickson has been working with clay for more than two decades. His vessels are made on the potter's wheel and are glazed in textured white glazes. He has taught workshops at many art centers.

Matt Repsher, who earned his MFA from Indiana University in 2003, was an instructor at Indiana University and Indiana University-Bloomington. After graduation, he was a resident artist at Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft in Columbia, North Carolina.

Over 200 ideas for inspiration

For a budding potter or pottery enthusiast, there's a new hot spot in town to tote the family to and fro. The Factory is located in the Warehouse Arts District. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned pro, you're sure to find some zen time among the frenzies of like minded creative types. Not to mention the plethora of local restaurants and bars. You'll also find a slew of local makers, movers and shakers aplenty. And if you're lucky, you might even catch a show. With a myriad of options for dinning, shopping and dancing, you'll be in awe of the sheer number of entertainment choices. So, get out there and try some of them out for yourself! A few lucky souls might even be rewarded with a prize or two. If you're really into the creative life, you might be willing to make the move south. Depending on your budget, you could be in the neighborhood of Tampa Bay, or at least the bay side. Whatever you do, don't miss out on a creative experience you'll be proud of.

Events and pottery courses

This beautiful city has a vibrant art scene and a booming performing arts community. It is also home to some of the country's best beaches and state parks.

The city is known as "The Sunshine City" for its constant sunny weather and breathtaking beaches. In addition to the beach, it is also home to a number of museums. If you are looking for a creative outlet, consider taking pottery classes. Alternatively, you may wish to take a day trip to the Florida Botanical Garden. These gardens offer trail hikes and educational demonstrations.

For adults and kids of all ages, there is a plethora of opportunities for learning about and playing with clay. Practically Pikasso, for example, offers over 300 ceramic pieces for sale, along with several workshops.

You'll need to make an advanced reservation to guarantee your spot. But rest assured, you'll be rewarded with a fun, informative experience that will last a lifetime.

The same goes for the numerous events and classes offered at the nearby Belger Arts Center. They offer everything from lithography workshops to pottery classes, and more. Several of these classes are designed for adults and kids, allowing you to spend quality time together while making something special.

Likewise, the Belger Arts Center boasts a metal yard and exhibition space. They also offer monthly storage fees for your pottery creations.

[crystalcultures]

the mit kids told me that in the math department, they measure talent by how rarely someone of the same caliber comes along: terence tao was one in thirty years. you work next to someone who's just a lot smarter than you and they just make connections that you don't; entire problems unravel themselves in their hands in the time that you take to get your bearings. a few times a year i do some work where it feels like a little more mathematical intelligence would go a long way, but mostly i leave math for the math people.

it's the same way, i've never been to a writer's workshop, and i think i would do terribly at one. they say writing is thinking but to me writing is like dancing, and the utmost expression of one's virtuosity is the ability to craft one long phrase that carries the reader from one place to another and still makes sense. i don’t know anyone who can do it better than the friends i met from the last decade on the fringes of san francisco tech. they say sally rooney writes like she never got an mfa but she can write without the selfconsciousness that characterizes so much of our generation and maybe that's all that matters: what you know, and the vitality you write with. i don't even know what the millennial experience means but i know from her writing that she understands it. my first piano teacher told me that she was against virtuosity, and i hate spectacle but i love virtuosity.

i like the principles they taught me at my first job: do what you think is right, and be right. we begin life crying and unable to feed ourselves, and then learn pride and shame and to call that a fig leaf, before we go to therapy to unprogram ourselves, but i don't know what that's like, and when i get to know someone well i have to explain that it's a facet of experience that i've never been able to make sense of. aren't we all just looking for immediacy and presence? there's just us, right? and don't you know what is beautiful?

emmanuel levinas says: experience is intransferent. but caroline polachek sings: fall in love again and again, fall in love again and again. everything is romantic. everything is romantic - right?

it's 2015 as you jet between new york and san francisco while finishing school and you get the ping from facebook messenger: “do you like economics? i wrote something.” it's 2019 and nick cammarata comes up to you and your friend in the highest room in the highest house above buena vista park hill: “everything is fertile”. it's 2023 and you're driving up the long road to mendocino and your friend's relationship has just blown up when the fire warning comes over the radio. it's 2024 and you're back on here.

caroline polachek again: dark in the park, celtic graves, girl throws up from the back of a lime. headphones on, i hit play. all things change in the blink of an eye.

[pipsqueakparker]

just some rambles & reflection on the past almost-year of my life

last year there was a friday 13th in october and it was the night one of my friends released a book. so we drove about 30-40 minutes south to a city to celebrate her book launch, except as we were trying to find the right place to be i got a phone call.

it was my nephew. not my 'real' nephew, if we're assuming 'real' has to mean 'blood'. i was still getting to know this kid, they're the kid my roommate used to basically raise. (she was a live in nanny, but the mother sucked major fucking ass so the only person raising those kids in any decent manner was my roommate.) she calls them her nephew, (or nibling, the more accurate one, but no one understands 'nibling' and we live an in an area where all of the educating we have to do to exist is exhausting enough, so we don't often choose this battle). but you all understand, so i'll say nibling. she calls them her nibling, so they are my nibling by association. and unbeknownst to me, this kid... clung. now, they were 10 when i met them, and at that point in time they were my roommate's shadow. (their sister was the one that clung to me when they were young). but at this point, they're 17 and they're also non-binary and queer and confused and i don't get anxiety from phone calls so when they need to talk they call me. so we're standing in the middle of some city ive never been to in vermont, and my phone is ringing, and it's my nibling.

and i know it's not good, because it's almost 9 pm and when i answer, they're crying. and it takes a few tries, but i finally gather that their mother kicked them out and they're walking in the middle of the woods, and we're forty minutes away from them but they need us so we book it. i send apologies to my friends that were waiting to see me for a little mfa crew celebration, but family emergency. (they all understand, because my mfa family is full of amazing people.)

we're on the interstate going as fast as legally allowed, and maybe even a little faster than that. i tell my nibling we're on our way, we're pretty far, but we're on our way. they say their friend is calling them, so i let them go answer. and at that point, my roommate's phone is ringing, her friend is calling, and she answers because her friends lives 10 minutes away from us. 'are you home?' but no, the friend is not at home... she's actually driving out near our nibling's house. we give her the recap, she finds our nibling and drives them over to our apartment. the new one that we just moved into, where our landlords are reasonable human beings that won't threaten to evict us because we have a family member over for more than two days at a time.

that was friday october 13 2023 - and today is friday september 13 2024. a month away from our new adult child's gotcha day. from the anniversary of officially forming this weird little family unit that we have. and it's been really difficult, because we are all traumatized individuals - and some of our traumas are really similar, some of us have the same abusers, and throughout this entire year we've been hit with bombshell after bombshell of just how fucking horrific my nibling's womb donor truly is. and it has been hard to figure out how to live with and around each other, figure out the dynamics and come to terms with the truth behind the lies we were all told.

but next month will make a year, and so today we saw a sick ass friday 13th tattoo flash sale and decided we'd all go as some kind of redemption trip. have a good friday 13th! okay well, about that... turns out, that was a sketch-fest, so we drove all the way out (back to that exact same city where i got the call nearly a year ago) just to turn back around because i have gotten tattoos in really sketchy studios but i drew the line at someone's studio apartment. so we go to chipotle instead, 'cause we're finally near chipotle. and the nibling is pissed, fuming, on top of the trauma they have the adhd that makes it so very hard to regulate their emotions and they. hate. change. and chipotle was weird. but it was delicious. and we were all laughing by the time we left, then went to spirit halloween. then walked all the way around hobby lobby trying to find a place to piss just to find out the bathrooms were actually right next to the front door, and then some middle-aged WASPy woman stared me down as i waited for everyone to come back out so we could leave the store. i was spotted as the queer atheist i am and she was trying to get the building to burn me, i swear. those were her vibes.

anyway. it wasn't a perfect day, and there were still disappointments, and i still kind of feel like tearing my skin off because i'm just overwhelmed, but none of that ruined the day the way it once would have. and even the nibling ended the day with a smile and a 'love you' before bed, and it's just moments like this that i like to reflect on how far we've come. my therapist says i need to acknowledge myself more, so i'll acknowledge that one day not too long ago, i would've let the whole day be ruined the moment i felt uncomfortable because i needed to shower. but instead of giving in, today i just kept pushing and as it turns out, the good does outweigh the bad.