Should I Stay Or Should I Go? · 5:08pm Aug 13th, 2016
Well, title says it all, really. To those who are only now just watching me: I don't follow episodes as they come out. I like to binge watch several episodes in a row. The reasons for this are varied: I don't want to get a new idea to write out and then get distracted by yet another new idea, I don't enjoy watching it on my laptop nearly as much as I do on TV and I can't watch it on TV with my parents home...
On a side note: no, I'm not a thirty-something unemployed geek who's living in parents' basement. I'm twenty-nine, and technically this is was the attic.
Anyway, in the past I've also shied away from this website while new episodes have been coming out. Again, for various reasons, the biggest one being that I kept getting riled up over the drama going on here, and the constant whining and whinging of some people about how much this episode sucked or why that should be rewritten. I've hinted at coming into this fandom on the back of a breakdown, but recently I've felt that it was probably just a caffein overdose, which is now getting balanced out with a healthier diet, so I don't have to worry about sensitivity issues as much as I used to. But that's a side note. Basically: I usually avoid this place when I'm not publishing.
Which brings me to my question: should I go on another radio silence or should I stay and chip in with the random group discussions? I've noticed my posts are at least not hated, when I do contribute something. And I guess I could do more random blogs, stuff that isn't pony-related. If the first six episodes of the Season were anything to go by, the show is now leaning more towards Warner Bros. cartoons than the anime-ish style of previous Season. So spoilers wouldn't matter as much with that sort of look and feel. The only thing I've disliked so far was the Season finale/opener thing, which is always an issue, and some lazy animation on Tender Taps. Nothing to be upset about, not likely to see anything in the future that will.
But what do you want? Do you think my content is better or more unique precisely because I avoid outside influences, or do you want me to speak up more, and thereby increase the odds of getting tarred and feathered by a hatemob who doesn't agree with my opinion on Mysterious Mare Do Well? (It's one of the best episodes in the series, by the way, just lettin' ya know.)
Is there a demand for anything that's not pony-related, basically? Do you want my take on what wisdom is vs. what intelligence is, do you want to hear why I quit Hearthstone and picked up Duelyst, and the reasons others might do the same? Or should I just do my usual schtick once every two terror attacks?
I ask because... well, this place and a few hangouts on IRC are my only social circles. I don't get out much, so I don't have a lot of people to talk to. Aside from my family, I'm kind of a hermit. I suppose there's always YouTube, but... I'd have to figure out how to stay anonymous, if that's even possible. I'm not about to go full Tony Genovese and publish my college work online or anything.
Anyway, tl;dr: should I stay, and actually start using my voice outside of stories, or should I go and focus on those stories more, and save the personal stuff to use as inspiration?
While you contemplate that, I leave you with this very interesting video series by a very interesting person. He's basically evil incarnate, and he's very smart. But then he would be, after sucking the brains out of an entire town.
You should say whatever you feel comfortable saying. Some of my favorite users on this site are among my favorites because of insightful blogs about topics that are at best tangentially related to ponies. However, if you think those thoughts would be put to better use fueling stories, then take that route.
... This isn't very helpful, is it?
4147712
Sometimes just writing out the question makes you think about the correct answer. I guess my main worry is turning this website into my personal whining or virtue signalling ground. The issue is that I'd mainly be talking about myself, and... is that what the audience wants, or does that paint a bad picture?
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Agreed, we cannot say its wrong to let it out. We want to help in anyway we can!
4147728
Yeah, and some things don't translate to story form that well.
... I'm going to have to make a list.
Wipe that smirk off your face, Twilight, I'm not saying anything yet.
InB4 loud exclamations of "Fite me IRL"
Honestly wasn't that bad an episode, just had an extra lesson that could have been added at the end; that while overbragging can be obnoxious, it's better to talk about your problems than be passive aggressive about them.
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... I'm gonna have to blog about that, too, huh?
I'm not worried; anyone who wants to fight me has to reach me first. And unlike Sauron, I don't go down like a brick just because someone tosses my bling away.
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One does not simply walk into the attic?
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Its wooden gate is barred by more than just junk. There is evil there that does not sleep, at least not before all the streamers and Youtubers do. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with cardboard boxes, old books, and dust. The very air you breathe is a citronella vapour, to keep the mosquitoes at bay. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly.
In all seriousness, though, I doubt anyone's going to travel to Belgium just to fight me. And if they do... well, let's just say I have favourable terrain at my disposal and leave it at that.
Can't offer much advice; I only followed you today (mostly on the strength of the tagline on your profile).
But reading that post, the thought that crosses my mind is “You're almost like me… but popular/successful”. So… hi, I guess. And you're not the only one who's followed pretty much the same train of thought, if that means anything.
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That does mean something, actually. It means that thinking like that isn't as unfamiliar as I'd thought.
Hello to you, too. I hope to be of service
You should stay but don't sweat it. Do what you want to do and remember you don't owe anybody your time but yourself. Seems like you know what you don't want to do. Halfway there is good. If you want to vent once in awhile, who is anyone to judge?
Not me. I use this website to deal with my pain, grief and insanity. Here for the pony stories and it's a nice break from pre-reading/editing other people's fanfiction. The horrors of writing I've seen - good times indeed.
Just don't isolate yourself from life.
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Thanks. I'm gonna set up my schedule for the rest of the month today, and I'll probably add some blogging to that. If I ever want to go pro, I'll probably have to learn how to blog properly anyways.
I don't want to say that ship has sailed, but it's weighing anchor.
Well, you just declared to us that you are a near-30 living like a hermit in an attic, and might have also said that you are either unemployed or sub-employed.
I would want to tell you to go out there and get a life. Go to Meetup.com or some such website and find where are people with your own hobbies meeting over coffee. Or go to SF&F bookstores and used book stores and read the dartboard for meetings and book clubs. Check out local charities and see how can you volunteer. Pick up a D&D Player's Handbook and find out where is the nearest RPG group. Volunteer at your nearest convention. Go to the colleges and U's in your area and check out the various geek groups and clubs. Or just phone your college buddies and ask them if they want to hang out.
EDIT: And of course, don't leave the site entirely. Just give yourself maximum online times per day or so.
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Thanks, I appreciate it. That said, let's just say suggestions have been tried and didn't really work out. My old hobbies of Magic and such, I ended up quitting because the return on the required investment was just too little. Hecatomb was downright cancelled before I even got to play.
My college buddies... well, one girl I used to talk to was married when I met her, and she's back in Bangladesh now. Another girl I had some laughs with, Vietnam. One guy I used to play Magic with is probably a girl by now.
As for the nearest convention... err... so that's FACTS and maybe the Boekenbeurs. Yeah, I can try volunteering for that. Then there's always NaNoWriMo. They do meetups. But yeah, a lot of the stuff I do just doesn't have much of a platform in this country. The stuff you talk about... isn't really all that common here, even the more mainstream parts of it. Even finding a used bookstore or science-fiction/fantasy comic store can be tricky, at least if we're talking foreign comics. The ones I used to frequent didn't do book clubs, I doubt they've started since. This is still Spike and Suzy's turf first, after all.
And yes, unemployed. I'm in the selection process for two government jobs now, still no feedback on my test results. If this keeps up, I'm going to start selling porn, and that's a threat
I dunno. You're right, of course, in terms of needing to get out more, but the options here aren't the same as they are on the other continent.
Edit: it's also not an 'attic' attic, it's just a room that used be used purely for storage, but it got turned into my room when I was, what, ten or something. We called it the attic, but technically it's just another room on the upper floor. Don't get any ideas.
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Let me see... Belgium. One of those countries with such a pro-isolationism mentality that a significant part of its population exclusively speaks the language "Flemish" and can't be bothered to learn French, the one language that connects you to about a tenth of humanity.
I feel for you: I grew up in a true metropolis (Mexico City), yet I moved to Cancun upon my majority. Cancun is at the far side of the Yucatan peninsula, and is mostly populated by Mayans. Now, the thing is that Mayans were constantly prosecuted since the Spanish invasion (1492-1521) until the official peace Treaty with the post-revolutionary Mexican government (1921), so it can be understood why Mayans developed xenophobia to an art form. And as such, it is extremely hard to be different, or to have different interests or different hobbies around here. So my Goth period ended almost immediately upon my arrival 16 years ago; I haven't seen a decent local convention in almost ten years; and forget about a decent alley cat (city cycling) or hiking club.
Well dude: find something, anything to do around your hobbies. Hope is the last thing to die. And good luck with that job.
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I'll have you know that both sides of the country learn each other's language, thanks very much, as well as English. It's just that outside of the Brussels regions, the quality varies wildly. I'm in the Brussels region, my French was considered pretty good last time it was measured by a native speaker.
There is a 3D printing workshop close by coming up in September, I found out. Probably going to sign up for that, at least. But that's the thing, you see: all my hobbies involve a computer now. NaNoWriMo is probably my best bet at socialising right now.
Thanks for the advice, though. I know it sounds like I'm whining or being nitpicky but it really is trying to change one's own bad habits. It's hard to tell what's an actual practical problem and what's just avoidant behaviour. Anyway, maybe I'll print out some toys after the workshop, who knows. Get my own bootleg OC ponies, that'd be a laugh
Peace out.
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Well; your country's attitude seems to have improved significantly since my mother went to Lieja for an internship. She spoke English, French and Spanish and still found plenty of people that she couldn't communicate with at all.
Don't take that 3d printing course, for two separate reasons:
A) unless you want to make money out of 3d printing and thus need to be certified, you won't learn anything that wouldn't learn from the tutorial of any object-oriented 3d modelling software.
B) if you are doing it for a hobby, then you are going against what you need. You need to get out, not find new excuses to stay inside. Besides, isn't Brussels supposed to be one of the artistic capitals of Western Europe, except without French snobs overvaluing toddler-level doddles painted by drug addicts? Can't you join, I don't know, a museum-hopping club, a choir, or some amateur artists' class (I've seen your dA, so I know you have the interest)?