Antique shops sound fun.

... I must be the only 18 year old that has ever or will ever say that.

... And I just realized that I don't really care.

hey, you can find some pretty cool stuff at antique shops.

I once found a vintage bike from the 50s or something. It was turquoise-on-white and had fenders, lights, whitewall tires... It was THE coolest bike I'd ever seen, and you can bet that I wanted it. Not even a modern Stingray would have the charisma of one of them beasts. I think that shop got destroyed in a fire, though. It's really too bad...

Old stuff rules! (And so do the Tunnel Snakes!)

The only old stuff I can possibly have problems with is anything that has music in it. Like ads, or films or songs...
Most of them are way too catchy, and haunt me for weeks.
But all the non-musical old things are great!

I really like any store that just has a bunch of random stuff to browse through whether antiques, collectibles, books, or whatever. Though I have a bad habit of wasting money out of boredom when I shop at them...



But being grounded is boring.

I wish we had a vintage book store near here! Even the closest antique store is like an hour away. My only consolation is the Sunday markets and everyone there charge WAY too much for their old stuff. Still, it satisfies my appetite for browsing.

When you live in a tourist town, antique shops can be very expensive. Most of the stuff is just useless junk anyway. Occasionally you can find some cool books though.

I don't know why I care to hear how someone would respond to this, but I'm saying it anyway and I don't know where else to say it....

Ordinarily I'm painfully shy with people I don't know that well, and especially around the opposite sex. I can talk to girls the same way I would talk to other guys (just generically, as people, not of a specific sex) but I have difficulty talking to girls as girls--you know what I mean, like how a guy would talk to a girl on a date, for example (I have never dated). It makes me uncomfortable.

That being the case, I write about the topic quite a bit, and I can't help but wonder if it's "practice" for me. In online text role-playing games and in stories, more often than not (though not exclusively) my characters are female instead of male. The primary reason is curiosity and challenge--how do I write for a well-rounded character who has traits in common with me (making it easy to write for her) but who is also female, and feminine, without the two feeling excessively distinct but having them gel together into a single, realistic character?

But I have also written something in the way of romance (though usually not the ideal, lovey-dovey stuff), and I'm wondering where the heck it's coming from. Case in point: my stories about Honey and Vanilla Cake (the characters in my avatar) which I've posted in the Fan Projects forums. In "A Pet Friendly Valentine", for example, I had Silver and Strawberry acting goofy with each other, teasing each other, and I have never acted that way with a girl, nor was I basing them on any specific couple I've observed--yet it felt real to me, not phony and made-up.

Likewise, more and more I've started to say (and I put this in my latest story) that the most beautiful part of a girl is her smile. That sounds like the kind of thing one of my male characters would say but they haven't, not directly--that's me saying that. This is just making me wonder if this has been serving as "practice" for me--even though obviously I get to control what happens in my stories. (I mean, they have to develop organically, I'm not free to do just anything, but it's not as unpredictable and out of my control as it would be with real people.)

I don't know, I guess I don't even really have any specific questions to ask or requests of anyone reading this, just curious to know what someone else thinks, I guess, and I'm not even sure why I care....

I guess I'll leave it at that before this post gets any longer, as I tend to ramble....

Don't fret so much your a good writer and you can capture the emotions of people very well (unlike me for i have very bad social problems, i had a very bad childhood....) i can hardly start my fan fics and story's because of what i am ADHD takes its toll on your mind and you end up more often then not distracted and dissented in your work. my newest one is about eli a dog Ive made a prolog but i feel that its WAY too short so i would like some suggestions please.

Well I should start with who I am. my name is Eli im currently two years old. I think. I have been on the road for some time now and have long since lost all sense of time. I am a Australian Sheppard. aaannnddd im lost...." that's the third time today!" I look down at my map to find a land mark so that I may press on. its been days since I last ate, I think as I walk through a narrow forest path, I look back to a month ago when all my troubles started...

See what i mean. I would greatly appreciate some help.
Thank you.

Well, aside from maybe going into a little more detail (then again, maybe not, since he's lost all track of time), I'm not entirely sure I know what you intend with your prologue--if I knew I'd have a better idea of how to help you.

Anyway, I'm sorry you had a bad childhood. But it's over now, right?

And thank you for the compliments--have you read my stories?

yes Ive read your story its good (and there is now a war on rather or not wart is cruel in telling honey and vanilla about his love."was it cruel or something else")

my story is centered around a dog named eli's past what happened and his travels until the beginning of the story and i think your right i may need to go more in depth in detail thanks i hope i may make a second part to his story.

You're welcome, glad I could help. Good luck with everything.

"War"? Where? I didn't see that much of it in the actual thread....

Wort was trying to do the right thing--Vanilla would have found out eventually, wouldn't it have been worse if he had let her find out some other way rather than being up front and honest right from the beginning?

ok war might be a little big how about argument or heated discussion...

Yeah, I know how you feel, you kind of mix with your own work after a bit, its really weird, but it happened to me, if it gets too weird for you, I just recommend take a break for a little man

That's the best thing I've heard all day, sir.

Sleet, I do read books! One is a picture book on the Internet and it's over 3000 pages long with classy music and it's called Homestuck!

Well there is an obscene amount of text in that comic, I guess.

According to some chick named Merriam Webster (who is by all account quite the knowledgeable old gal)

Obscene
a: abhorrent to morality or virtue; specifically: designed to incite to lust or depravity
b: containing or being language regarded as taboo in polite usage <obscene lyrics>
c : repulsive by reason of crass disregard of moral or ethical principles <an obscene misuse of power>
d : so excessive as to be offensive <obscene wealth> <obscene waste>

Boom
English major stuff. : p

I'm not sure anyone has quite interpreted my above long post correctly. I don't blame them, though, because I'm not sure myself what the proper interpretation is....

Don't worry about it! We're not here to judge you, we're here to be your friend!

So this is more as a post for my own organization, but you guys can hear about it too!
- I have one 4-6 paged research paper left for my ENG 112 class.
- I have one forum discussion, a weekly quiz, and the final exam for my HIS 121 class.
- I have one small paper, one forum discussion, and two quizzes left for my PSY 150 class.

Three and a half weeks left in my college classes~ Then getting out of high school at 11:05 AM every day for the last month and a half~ And only one month left until my BC Calculus exam~ And after that school will be a complete joke~

Well the language of Homestuck isn't exactly PG either. So it works.

Be prepared guys, it's about to get Kankri level wall-o-text up in here! Apart from ChewyChewy and Lasthunter, I don't mind if you skip it.

@Lasthunter: That's a very interesting prologue! That's the thing about a prologue, it needs to capture the reader's attention; if a book has a prologue which is just one or two pages, I'm more likely to read that book because it would be easy to get into it and interested, so long as the prologue, as well as being short, is captivating. When I started writing my book, the prologue was a paragraph and I tossed up the idea of just not having a prologue. I fleshed it out with some fluff which described the character, his surroundings and his emotions a little more and it's now nearly two pages! For your prologue, I'd suggest describing how Eli is feeling, maybe describe his facial expression as he looks around him, both where he is going and where he has been.

Besides, while I've not experienced ADHD, I'd say short and punchy chapters which develop the story quickly is the best way to get your fan fics out, then you can go back and add more information later. Over time, you'll learn how to develop and describe more as you go, and asking help of others is a good way to learn how to do that quickly! Hope you get more of this fic out!

@ChewyChewy: More and more I'm finding people who just seem to be describing me, I'm worried someone cloned me ages ago and is just messing with me.

Seriously though, I understand everything you said, making new friends is a challenge but once I know people as such, I can talk to them however I want without it feeling awkward, regardless of gender. But I've never dated and the thought of how I should act with a girlfriend is still a little daunting, but a challenge I hope to take up with gusto very soon!

I don't role-play (I keep thinking I should but I don't think I'm that good on my feet) but I know what you mean when you talk about writing Silver and Strawberry's relationship. You have ideas about what a relationship can mean without ever having been in one and you can write for the characters when they're already in a relationship but the thought of getting to that - and in real life - is somewhat puzzling. I'm much the same, I can picture how I might act in a relationship and I have an idea for my ideal partner, but I still have to actually be in a relationship first.

I think it is sort of serving as practice, but that's fine as long as you don't believe your own relationships will always go so smoothly otherwise you will be very disappointed and many a man has fallen into a great depression simply because their relationship didn't go how they expected. If you want more practice, try to write two characters meeting and forming a relationship; not like a Disneyesque "love at first sight" situation, but a very real, very normal relationship. OR if you want even better practice, why not go out there and actually meet some girls!

Also, the one line which convinced me I knew exactly what you were feeling is that "the most beautiful thing about a girl is her smile". I've thought the exact same thing for many years and know that before I have a serious relationship, I have to be able to make her smile and depending on how that smile makes me feel, will define how I feel about her.

I might have to check out some of your works, I'm always interested to read original works, especially concerning serious yet light-hearted subject matter. And I'm looking forward to reading more of yours Lasthunter!

thanks for the tip on how to expand my little story.

please note however that it's still in its early stage's and will change according to how i see fit and no more spoiler's from me

Thank you, Nyaliva! I think that's the kind of response I was hoping for!

I don't know that I actually have an idea of an ideal partner, though.

You think my characters' relationships go smoothly? They don't. Yeah, that would be difficult, writing that (and I'd probably have to have it not be with the cast of the Cake sisters stories). And that's not an easy thing for me to do, sad to say.

Hey, that's wonderful that we agree on that! And by a smile I mean one of pure joy--not a fake smile, not a shy smile, not a P. R. smile, not a mischievous smile, not a wicked smile, not a flirtatious smile, not a silly dopey smile, not even a surprised excited smile, but a smile of pure joy and happiness.

Hey, thanks! If you do, please comment and let me know what you think!

best of luck to you chewy!

Thanks.

Okay, now I'm embarrassed at that line--it's apparently very similar to another one that I don't want to say here. Point is, I prefer my way of saying it better.

Heh, glad I could help!

Just to clarify, I didn't mean an ideal partner in terms of physical traits, but ideal in terms of her sense of humour, level of compassion, ideas of fun and so on. But yeah, I tend to over think things like that...

Hm, that makes me want to read your stuff more. Most people can write characters in a happy relationship but it takes a much greater degree of understanding to write ones that have their problems and still make it seem real.

I know what you mean! It sounds soppy and helplessly romantic but a smile says a lot about someone. To be able to invoke that kind of smile in someone is a sign of true love, either plutonic or intimate depending on the person.

I'm super busy with uni work this week (I'm procrastinating at the moment ) but as soon as I have a break, I'll be sure to do so! Look out for my comments!

Because everyone should know about the toilet paper test. Everyone. It's a good starting point.

Also never marry someone who disagrees on whether toilet paper should go over or under the roll.

Read: Never marry someone who thinks toilet paper should go under the roll.

well it does need to if you have cats or anything else that would bat at the roll and make it unroll

@Nyaliva: Me too!

Well, my point still stands, although I have more of an idea in that regard.

Hey, thanks! Yeah, my main characters have never been in a stable relationship, and at least in Vanilla's case that doesn't mean there hasn't been the opportunity.

"It's the style to wear a smile, do you know how to put one on your face?" --Mister Rogers (By the way, the word is "platonic".)

That's okay, that comes first. But I look forward to that!

@Beagle: Interesting test there. But you're right--and Sleet, I would say that if the love is real, that kind of thing can be worked out. (I prefer over too, Beagle.)

@Brent: Which I don't.

Well I wouldn't marry someone who has a cat anyway, since I'm allergic. So there.

And suddenly, Sleet X Dissension fanart floods the forums.

I still don't see how that's problematic but "I want your puppies" is okay....