Finding Friends

Is there an interesting story behind your username? It's a misspelling/mispronunciation of the name Aramina, from the first short story of the The Girl Who Heard Dragons by Anne McCaffrey.

Location and language(s): Arizona, US. English

Age range (e.g 20s, 30s, etc.): 30's

Hot button/deal breaker issues that will likely lead to unfriending: Lack of empathy, cruelty. Any situation where I feel like I cannot talk or express on my own journal without being lashed out at. Being cruel or contemptful of others on an excessive basis, making a platform of pointing out flaws in others and nothing else. Any situation where my time or emotional energy is demanded without my consent.

Do you have an "About Me" post new friends can read to get a sense of who you are, the people you talk about regularly, etc.? Eh, not really? Though browsing the thoughts tag will probably clue you in on how I talk about things.

Is your profile up-to-date or at all useful? Yep, though http://me.armaina.com/ is the best profile.

List a few things you think it's important new friends know about you right away: I'm tactfully honest, I'm an extrovert, and I'm highly empathetic. I see the world and people as nuanced and exceedingly complicated and really detest black and white thinking. (I know people do it as a defense mechanism but I just cannot be around it for very long). Because of that, I'm extremely passionate about people, about compassion, about the way we treat one another. Aside from all that, I'm an avid worldbuilder, creating societies, peoples, histories, interactions, is a huge part of my life. I likewise love seeing what other people create, it's the thing that keeps things going.

You mostly write about: A lot about society, interaction, people. A lot of worldbuilding when I'm not bummed about it. Art, I illustrate and pixel art and I'm trying to make myself have more fun with it. And then the occasional games or cartoon Thing.

You never or very rarely write about: Anything particularly dark or distressing is never available to the public. There's a lot in the way of the current state of the world that I probably won't talk much about because I gotta be honest, I'm just too dang exhausted with all that.

Is your journal mostly public, locked, or a mix of public and locked? It's mostly public, with some locked entries

Do you use filters for certain types of posts (e.g. fandom-related posts, or posts about sex, or mental health issues, etc.)? I have a mature filter post, a headspace filter, and a religious filter I've used about once.

Your posting frequency (e.g. daily, every few days, weekly, etc.): I'd say about weekly with some bursts of several times within the week.

Does your journal frequently include any of the following: memes, linkspams, gifs, photos, videos, etc? No memes or link spam, just artwork I made myself and screen caps from video games.

What do you enjoy most about journaling? Getting out my thoughts, mostly. Being able to think and process whats on my mind has helped me in my comprehension of language so much. I don't think I'd be nearly as articulate as I am without it, and I still have a lot to figure out. Plus I use this place a lot to hash out ideas for stories, settings and characters in a nice categorized way I can't do much anywhere else. I just like using any place I have for creative works and stories and things.

How often do you read your friends list (e.g. daily, every other day, once a week, etc.)? Daily, often checking multiple times in a day.

You really enjoy reading about: Creative stuff! Give me the things you make, the things you do, the things you're enthused about. Looove seeing other world-builders and story creators. I also enjoy philosophical talk and things like thoughtful observations. Discussing the how and why we do the things we do is hugely important to me.

You have very little interest in reading about: Endlessly posting about why other people are bad or why some demographic is bad. Venting is fine, dislike is fine, my issue lies in the excess.

Your thoughts on journals that regularly include any of the following: memes, linkspams, gifs, photos, videos, etc? I can take it in small doses but if it becomes excessive I just can't do it.

When it comes to comments on your posts, what matters more -- quality or quantity? I don't care?? comment or don't comment, comment as much or as little. Never ever force yourself to exert beyond what's appropriate.

Do you unfriend people who don't comment much, even if you know they are reading you regularly? I'll occasionally do friend clean up, but that often comes from months or years of inactivity.

What is your approach when it comes to commenting on other journals? If I have something appropriate to say I comment. If I don't, I don't. And sometimes I open up a window, write half a comment, then forget to finish.

When you friend someone, but things don't really click, do you unfriend them without warning, or do you send them a note first? How do you prefer to be unfriended in similar circumstances? It will sometimes take me months or even years to actually remove people, and if I do it's because I've heard/read nothing. However, in the case where I feel something has been violated, I usually will contact the person if I feel familiar enough with them to talk it out. I won't notify someone if I feel they will just be malicious. People are not obligated to talk to me about anything if they remove me. While it would be appreciated, it would be wrong, controlling even, to expect people to do this.

AND LASTLY

Friending memes often ask people to list their favourite TV shows, movies, books, etc., but more often than not, those aren't things people actually write about in their journal. Do you have any favourite TV shows, movies, books, etc., that you DO often write about -- not necessarily in a fandom sort of way, just in general? Media topics that are most likely to come up will be Warframe, SecondLife, GuildWars 2, Destiny 2, Pokemon, Doom, Boatloads of cartoons, mostly western, and if I feel up to it I even do little thought pieces or reviews. I also have a strong preference for anything SciFi leaning, especially super future settings (like Mass Effect and Warframe).

Any final thoughts you'd like to share with potential new friends? I tend to like people more often than dislike, it's really difficult for me to have a strong negative perception of others. Oh and while I sometimes write about things I'm a fan of, I do not consider myself a 'fannish' blog and I don't really partake in 'fandom' on the whole.