Basketballssmell Gross

basketballs smell gross 

hi neil. i've held off on writing this message for a bit because i didn't know if i could get it out or not.

i work in a senior healthcare facility. not a nurse or anything, i actually just serve food to the residents, but it's given me the ability to get to know a lot of the people that live there. because of this, i was able to befriend a wonderful lady named sally. she would always come talk to me while i served up the meals, and we'd have nice chats. she spent most of her time reading books, since she didn't like to do many of the activities with the other residents, and since she loved books with mystery and suspense, i loaned her my copy of american gods, thinking that she'd enjoy it. and she did! i loved it when she'd come talk to me about the chapter she'd just read, our little chats about wednesday, just everything. i was happy that she liked the book.

our chats kind of tapered off after awhile, and we didn't talk as much. she's had my book for well over a year now, which i hadn't minded, but she eventually started picking up our chats again, about the book. but she was talking about how she had just started reading it and that she was really interested in it so far. i came to realize some time later that sally was actually just finally showing signs of dementia, which was saddening for me to hear, but it's one of the heavy realities of working in a facility like this. she had always struggled with some memory and speech issues, but i'd always chalked it up to her older age.

anyway. i am saddened by this onset, but at the same time, i am also finding some strange comfort in knowing that she will come up to me at breakfast, wanting to talk to me about american gods, because she's forgotten that she's already read most of it, and she just reads the first few chapters over and over. she doesn't leave her room without it, she brings it to the table with her every day. when she leaves the facility with her family for an outing, she brings it with her. i am just. so comforted knowing that your book i loaned her a year ago is a source of joy and delight for her, and continues to be so over and over. i know i'll never get that book back, and i won't ever try to get it back from her, even if she stops reading it. i want her to keep it.

i now have a streak regarding losing my books that you've written, i'm two for two now, haha

idk. i'm just really kind of overwhelmed today by all the emotions surrounding it and i'm just happy that you wrote something that she likes so much, and that we talk about it even though she doesn't remember that we've talked about it a dozen times before. i love each and every chat with her so much, and i want to keep having them with her for as long as i can. thank you for your work.

Some of the happiest hours of my life were spent with a friend with advanced Parkinson's dementia, sitting on his porch with him, both of us reading. And he read the same few pages over and over and it was okay.

Pride Month and The Aphobic Stereotypes

With Pride Month being here we will unfortunately see a lot of aphobia. The usual:

'you just haven't found the right one'

'are you x because you have suffered?'

'sex/romance is everything!'

'you're like an innocent child'

'you're a monster for not feeling (romantic) love'

'how can you write/draw smut or enjoy smut art if you're asexual?'

'how can you write/draw romance or enjoy romance art if you're aromantic?'

'you're going to die alone/be miserable without a partner!'

'that person can't be your friend; must be your lover/crush'

No aphobia allowed. Asexuality and aromanticism is a spectrum. We're not all the same. I'm a sex-repulsed and romance-repulsed aro/ace. If you want to learn more research and kindly ask around. So Happy Pride Month to Aromantics, Asexuals, and Aroaces!

Above image is a pride flag with every color band represented by a NASA image. White is Earth clouds, pink is aurora, blue is the Sun in a specific wavelength, brown is Jupiter clouds, black is the Hubble deep field, red is the top of sprites, orange is a Mars crater, yellow is the surface of Io, green is a lake with algae, blue is Neptune, and purple is the Crab Nebula in a specific wavelength.

How to come up with a story based on vibes that (probably) doesn't suck aka how to come up with a plot

First, identify the vibes. Maybe you already know. If so, great! If not, well that's what I'm here for. What are books/movies/shows that have what you're trying to achieve? A song or an image? Come up with a list of as many things.

YAY now you know what vibes you want.  

Then you are going to make a list about the things (or your favorites if you have too many).  Look at themes, characters, genres, settings, style, etc.  If you have no idea where to start, pull up their wikipedia pages and read them.  Anything similar WRITE IT DOWN (you will forget, don’t lie).

Take that list and find your favorite/most common things.  These will be what gives you your vibe.  

Take this list and invent a little guy who lives in this list.  YAY now you have a character.  What does this guy want?

It wants to live.

Now look at me.  No.  Look at me in the eyes.  Stare into my soul.  

You’re gonna let him live.  

Use your vibe list to create a little world.  Do you mostly like horror/mystery?  BAM this guy lives in a horror/mystery.   Do you mostly like historical fiction? BAM this guy lives in the past.  Do you like dystopian things? BAM this guy lives in a dystopian world.  Do this with whatever genre you want.

Now what does this guy in this world want most?

And how are you going to do everything in your power to stop him?