we are the surefire winners
from an article about the monk finale here :
...the fall finale of USA's freshman series "White Collar" also hit series highs, averaging 5.55 million viewers, the cable network's best performance at 10 p.m. Friday in more than three years, since the series premiere of "Psych."
FUCK YES WHITE COLLAR YOU ARE A GQMF, GODDAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN. also alskfjlsdkfsj thanks to artisis for posting some insanely amazing icons from friday's finale, including the one i'm using here-- matt bomer + fedora + shades = emily is a puddle. :3 look at the fucking JAW on that man, and his NECK, unffffffffff.
in other news... it's monday. and i finally have the answers to all of your "resistance is futile" questions. if you asked me some and i didn't post them here, remind me and i will remedy that forthwith. XD
from laulan :
1. What voice part do you sing, and what's your favorite piece you've ever sung? (I'm curious, too.)
in glee club / formal choir i'm a second soprano, and i could never choose between the carmina burana and ralph vaughan-williams' dona nobis pacem. i love long works-- the carmina is insanely difficult but so beautiful it gives me chills, and dona nobis pacem is also gorgeous and haunting and uses a lot of walt whitman's poetry (he's one of my favorite poets ever). in a cappella we separated parts just by high/mid/low, and i usually ended up on mid or low-- probably also because as my college career went on i was smoking more and more, lol. i'd be hard pressed to choose a favorite-- i sung the solo on "he thinks he'll keep her" by mary chapin carpenter for two years running and so that's my favorite in the sense that i always really identified with the song and knew i sounded awesome singing it-- but we also did an arrangement of "northern cross" by dar williams' side band 'cry cry cry' which is incredibly beautiful, and i was always really proud of our arrangement of "hit 'em up style" by blu cantrell. AND i always loved when we did shakira's "estoy aqui" b/c my best friend had the solo and was amazing on it. (not to pimp myself out, but i do have recordings of all of these if you want.)
2. What foreign languages (if any) do you know, and which would you most like to learn?
this is a funny question-- i'm kind of a freak in that if i immerse myself in a language i can learn it really quickly, but i lose it fairly quickly if i don't use it. i sped my way through french in middle & high school (took a year's worth of lessons over a summer so i could skip a year, etc) and was nearly fluent when i graduated. but then i stopped taking it-- i can still read it and understand most of it, but i would have a hard time speaking it. then in jr. year of college i decided it'd be a great idea to take russian for fun (WUT) but again, i didn't retain much of it at all. and it just occurred to me that i do technically know old english as well (lauralyrics how could i forget that class, lmao) though that's not a spoken language and also one i'm horribly lapsed in. i would absolutely love to reacquaint myself with all of these languages-- also i have always wanted to learn welsh and german.
3. If you could be living somewhere other than where you live right now, where would you be and why?
seattle. :P no, but realistically i'd want to be in boston, MA or troy, NY. i have friends in both cities and i love both cities, so i'd happily go to either one. boston is great b/c i'm new england born and so it's kind of my "big city", plus i just love everything about it. the troy/albany area is also awesome-- troy is extremely underrated IMO plus it is home to the best bar in the universe which doesn't hurt, and albany itself is just a really cool city. but i do love providence, i really feel at home there and i wouldn't mind staying. :)
4. What is a movie or TV show from your childhood that has great significance to you, and why?
movies-- god, that's hard to pinpoint. labyrinth, the star wars trilogy, little women and the anne of green gables movies were all huge influences on me (and actually, as an amalgam they're not a bad representation of my personality, lol) i can vividly remember watching them as a kid, and loving them all fiercely. between them they're responsible for my sense of and love of good drama (especially epic family stories), my love of space operas, sweeping battle scenes and david bowie, and my belief that romance and true love are not only real but very important. i think if not for labyrinth i never would've gotten into theater, and if not for anne of green gables & little women (which to be fair i did read and love all the books first, but the movies are still to date some of my favorites ever) i don't think i would've had any solace in the fact that i felt so different as a kid for being smart and a troublemaker. anne and jo were sometimes the only proof i had that girls like me could have happy endings.
as for TV, i'd say punky brewster, star trek TNG and the PBS shows "321 contact" and "long ago and far away" were really important to me. we were hardly allowed to watch tv as kids, but every day i'd come home from school and watch punky brewster, do my homework and then my whole family would watch TNG at dinnertime. again with the space opera thing; i was always addicted to the exploration and discovery aspect of trek, and i loved how they used aliens and space battles to talk about different aspects of humanity (though i never would've been able to articulate it that way then, lol). "321 contact" was like the kid version of jeopardy to me; i think it fed my love of puzzles way too much (and dude, "mathnet" was the best-- it was like the x-files, but with math.) and "long ago and far away" was a show that told classic folklore stories from around the world, and if i remember correctly it was narrated by james earl jones. it definitely started me on the road to my current mythology-obsessed self. XD
5. What's a talent you desperately wish you had, but don't? Why? Would you trade one of your current talents for it?
i wish i had a talent for personal organization / discipline with myself, lol. like i can keep my room and my stuff organized, but i'm always forgetting and losing stuff, and i just-- like i said above, lol, like jo sometimes i feel like i can't get out of my own way. however, i am reasonably proud of all the things i am good at, so idk if i'd change it. :3 ALSO I AM BAD AT DECISION MAKING. XD
from speccygeekgrrl :
1. What's one thing that can always make you happy?
my cats and/or rereading a favorite book.
2. If you had to get lost somewhere far from home, where would you want to be?
ooh, that's a tough one. i've been lost in venice before and it was kind of amazing-- i wouldn't mind that again. any crowded part of a city like that, where i could at least have the assurance that *sometime* i'd find my way back to where i needed to be-- and as long as it was during daylight, lol.
3. What's one fanfic cliche that drives you batty?
ROFL there are too, too many to count. there are a lot of cliches that can be turned around to be done right and/or made funny, but some just can't-- namely for me, i hate magic healing cock fics, and i hate when people suddenly develop feelings for each other with no leadup or reason why things have changed.
4. Describe your favorite pair of panties. (I just got a bunch of new ones, okay, I'm not trying to scope your drawers or anything.)
lmaooooo well first off it's funny because i loathe the word 'panties', i go off about it with no provocation whatsoever-- idk why, it just bugs me, maybe because it makes me think of neon pink thongs or similar (stripper-esque?) underwear-- but in any case, i always call them underwear or underpants, because i enjoy being painfully dorky that way. BUT. with that said, i have two favorite pairs. one is from aerie, whose underwear i adore to pieces because they are 100% cotton and so, so comfy. my favorite pair is kelly green with lime green trim and four lime green hearts across the butt. XD and my other fave pair is from target, they're 50/50 cotton spandex and fit like magic, they're never uncomfortable. also they're black with white pinstripes, and who doesn't love pinstriped underwear? XDDDDDD
5. What's the best thing you've ever gotten through the mail?
butterflysteve once sent me a package full of candy and hilarious little things to make me laugh-- that was pretty spectacular. also when we did a snacksters exchange at my rpg dsneyvoice sent me the most amazing box full of chocolate and tons of british candy and cookies; i've got a killer sweet tooth so it was pretty amazing. and ceilidh and snowbryneich have sent me various cd's and dvd's via post that were all pretty amazing to get too. XD
from leupagus :
1) What is your process for writing a story -- you mentioned that you struggle with them, but do you have a method for getting through that?
yes, definitely. usually i start out by writing the scene that gave me the idea for the story, or at least making an outline of that idea and how i want to build a story around it. then i try to find a good starting place, whatever point in the story it feels most natural to me to write. that usually helps give me more ideas, and i add to the outline (though by outline i just mean a separate document full of lists of notes) and keep writing. i struggle with making a cohesive plot sometimes, because most of what i'm interested in exploring in writing is people's relationships and emotions, and at times it's just a moment or one scene that brings into focus the thing i want to explore-- leading up to that moment, and what happens after it, can be hard. when i hit those road blocks i either try to write a different part of the story that hasn't been written yet (sometimes when i'm focusing on something else my subconscious will figure out the thing i'm having trouble with) or i turn to some of my writer friends and say "mayday! what is this missing?" there are some stories i've never been completely satisfied with, but by and large i get it done. :3
2) Tie-in to the first question: how many unfinished stories do you have on your hard drive? (Full disclosure: 29 at last count.)
oh god. lmao. *counts* 17 that i have actually written a piece of so far (though some of them it's only a paragraph, lol) and about 8 more on the "i absolutely no question will be writing this fic" list. and the list seems to grow every day... *weeps*
3) What is a story (book, film, tv, whatever) that has really surprised you, in either a good way or a bad way?
margaret atwood's the blind assassin blew my mind completely away the first time i read it. i love her to begin with, but IMO that book is the best example of what a master she is at the craft of writing-- it's three stories blended seamlessly into one, and the ending is just flabbergasting. also, i expect this is true of most people, but the first time i saw "the usual suspects" i was knocked for such a loop. i'd heard it was so incredible from several people, and watching it i remember thinking 'kay, it's good, but amazing? idk...' and then at the end when the camera is on kevin spacey's feet and the twisted foot straightens out and he starts walking normal... i'm not ashamed to admit i jumped off the couch and shouted "NO FUCKING WAY!!!" XD also, i never ever expected to love either battlestar galactica or carnivale as much as i did/do-- both shows hooked me from the first episode and have yet to release me. XD
4) What humanitarian/social justice issue are you most passionate about?
as a queer person living in a state with very little protection for gay rights (super conservative governor who just shot down the "domestic partners can plan each other's funerals" bill) i'd say that's the issue closest to my heart. i was spoiled, going to mt. holyoke and then living in northampton for three years-- leaving the pioneer valley is a little bit of culture shock, or at least it was to me, and it's really made me realize in a tangible way how important it is to fight for equality. i donate to HRC and i go to rallies when i can (there aren't many around here) but mostly it's a state of mind and reminding myself to be courageous about it, talk about gay rights and be willing to engage in debates with people when it's worthwhile and just, idk, do whatever i can to remind people that this is an important issue that can't be ignored.
5) Discworld question: Have you read the new book? Is it good? (I haven't yet, and I'm weirdly nervous about it.)
i haven't yet! i really want to, i don't have the money to budget for hardcover books right now unfortunately, but i'm hoping to have some time (one of these years, rofl) to go to the library and check it out. because i am also nervous but excited; i've heard it's awesome from most people, but i really need to read it for myself. :3 i will definitely let you know, though. XD
from douxquemiel :
1. Top five favorite Pinto moments (interviews, etc). Also, top five favorite Pinto fics.
okay the interviews thing is going to have to wait, except for the moment depicted here :
when chris drops two $20 words in the space of 90 seconds and zach looks like he's actually about to jump on him right then and there. XDDDDDD
top five fics : absolute top of the list is the trilogy by winterlive, you know i don't ask for much, hit the floor and work it out. YOU are the person that introduced me to this girl, after all, so i'm sure you've read them. :E and then in no particular order i love sleeping with ghosts by grammar_glamour (have an ice bucket and a box of tissues on hand), accidentally by antihysteric, inertia creeps by credulesque and adumbrating by fortassetu. those authors all also have other awesome pinto fic (and fortassetu has a giant rec list that's quite comprehensive as well).
2. If you were independently wealthy, what would you do with your time? I want details, not just 'I’d write'. :D
what WOULDN'T i do. learn how to cook everything i don't know how to cook. plan and keep a kickass garden. have a library big enough for all the books i own and all the books i want to own, and ALPHABETIZE IT. finally see all the old movies i have woefully never seen. get more pets because i'd have time to take care of them. travel, travel, travel-- i'd be visiting everyone-- becky, mizza, suzi, andy, laila, meghan, rin, EVERYONE who isn't just a train or short car ride away. i'd go to london and paris, i'd go back to italy and take my time learning to love everything about the cities i visited in high school. i'd find worthwhile charities and causes to give my money to-- i'd set up a scholarship at mt. holyoke for someone from my high school to go there each year-- i'd give millions to gay rights and equality activism groups-- and i would write books. lots and lots of books.
3. What’s your favorite physical trait you have (hair, ass, legs, etc)? If you’re willing to say, what are you most self-conscious of?
i've been told my face is very symmetrical and (by you and many others) that i have angelina jolie lips; ergo, i am fond of my face, and i have been super fond of my glambert-esque haircut these past few months. i am very self-conscious of the rest of me, specifically the fact that i am heavier than i should be and don't particularly think that i look good without clothes on. (hey, you asked.) but part of that is due to two years of someone else's repeated attacks on my self-esteem (which i *am* getting over, but it takes time), and part of it is that i'm always heavier in the wintertime, which i know and therefore don't feel bad about. and to be fair, i'm not always self-conscious-- i don't walk around thinking i look like crap, because i consider myself a good dresser and enjoy my clothes, so on a given day i usually feel pretty good about myself.
4. What are the first five songs you’d arrange for your All Grown Up a cappella group?
oh, i love you for asking this question.
- alanis morissette's cover of "crazy" by seal-- the background on this is *amazing* and with the right soloist, ooh. *shivers*
- 'RENEGADE' BY STYX yes i went there. it would be so fucking badass, and you know me, i'm all about showing that women's a cappella can be just as fucking badass as men's, and that'd be a way to prove it. XD
- 'the sun' by maroon 5 - i know the m&c's did this, but i never got to perform it, and sam's arrangement was badass but she is still even now realizing things to tweak about it to make it better. also it's pretty much my favorite song ever, i want to sing that bitch. XD
- 'all these things that i've done' by the killers. because listening to it gives me a huge thrill, and i can't imagine a scenario where i wouldn't get super pumped about performing it.
- 'viva la vida' by coldplay-- because it would be hard as FUCK but so rewarding if we got it right. also, again, song i adore to pieces.
- runners up include 'whataya want from me' by adam lambert, 'the science of selling yourself short' by less than jake, 'beautiful day' by U2, 'kids' by MGMT, 'friday night' by lily allen, 'you know i'm no good' by amy winehouse, 'the boy in the bubble' by paul simon, 'the zephyr song' by the chili peppers, and a rap (?pop?) medley redux with 'poker face', 'if you seek amy', 'hey mama', 'hey ya' type songs. also a michael jackson medley or a beatles medley. I DON'T KNOW OKAY I THINK ABOUT THIS A LOT. XD
5. What occupation are you most curious about (that isn’t specifically in your field)?
if there's an occupation that IS in my field, i'd love to know what it is.... ;D no, but really, i've always sort of pondered whether i'd be good at journalism. i know you might say that's my field b/c it's writing, but really it's not b/c it's nonfiction which is so, so not my field. also i've always been interested to hear about what people in science actually DO for jobs. i'm sure wes could tell me. XD
from mirorelle :
01. What is your favourite thing to write about? Not necessarily particular characters, but scenarios, predicaments, that sort of thing.
i think it's that i raised myself on shakespeare, but misdirection comedy in romance is always so interesting to me. 'twelfth night' is one of my favorite plays because it has interesting minor characters with their own subplots, a lot of confusion and hilarity, and ultimately a happy ending. alternately i also love drama and intense action; i don't think i'm very good at either of those yet, but it's always so interesting to me that i get really excited about it.
02. Which would you rather; Personal Assistant to a celebrity of your choosing, or a tabloid reporter to an infamous gossip rag?
i was JUST pondering the other day what a great PA i'd make. i can organize the shit out of other people's lives, just not my own. i'd so kill for that job, but it would depend on who it was for. i'm NGL i'd kind of love to be jj's PA-- insane job, perhaps, but hard not to enjoy at least SOME of it. XD
03. Are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse?
i TOTALLY am. raindissolved has been helping me get ready for years-- i'm counting on her to bring the guns when it starts, but i've got asskicking boots and i'm confident in my ability to manufacture and shoot a flamethrower.
04. Has there ever been a movie that you've walked out of or ejected from your DVD player? What was it?
i walked out of "the science of sleep" but that was way more b/c of the circumstances of the evening than the movie itself. i don't know if i've ever stopped a dvd halfway through-- i'm weird w/movies in that i get annoyed if i don't know how it ends, even if i hate it. 'the good girl' with jennifer aniston was terrible, as was 'my first mister' with leelee sobieski. and i loathe indie movies that look like they're going to be quirky but just end up being super depressing at the end.
05. Share with me your favourite article of clothing at the moment.
ooh that's difficult. i have a couple. my dad got me a sweater from anthropologie for my bday last year, it has this wide sort of gathered collar that's very 40s movie star, and it buttons down the front. also i have a vest i just bought, it goes down to my hips and has one button and is great for fancy or to wear with jeans, and is so insanely flattering i am in looooove. i have a green hoodie that's fuzzy like a muppet on the inside, and a sea-green shirt with grey flowers that ties around the waist, both of which i could wear every day and never get sick of.
from pseudicide :
~~spoilers for the just-finished season of project runway in question 3.~~
1) What is it about the Northest? Or whatever you call it. ;p
NEW ENGLAND, lolol. it's awesome because it's small but interesting-- there's so much history here, you can literally visit the beginnings of the united states all throughout this area. i love it because i love being near the ocean, and because i love having four distinct seasons (even if winter is kind of a bitch in some parts). i like being close to my family, i like that it's a mostly liberal area (though mileage may vary) and idk, it just feels like home to me. i can imagine myself living elsewhere for a while, but in my heart i'll always want to come back here.
2) What's your favourite thing about RP and least favourite? Now compare that to fic writing.
i love that rp gives me a chance to explore a character to a depth that nothing else does. when you're writing a story you don't necessarily think about some of those minutiae, and RP really lets you pick and choose what you want to unearth. the flipside of course is that you can't control what happens-- who tags you, what they want from your character, their motivations or the way they play the person could conflict with yours. the contrast to fic writing is that you control everything-- which can be fantastic, and really let you tell the story *you* want to tell-- but otoh RP does give you the entire mind of another person to work with, and sometimes (if the other person is awesome) you can collaboratively make a story that's better and more complete than the one you might've written alone.
3) Irina. Misunderstood and got a bad edit, or bitch you wanted to slap? Also, do you feel CH should have been the winner? (Answer this correctly or fear my wrath)
um i fucking hate irina, i hated her all throughout the season, and i LOVED CH TO DEATH. i was so mad that she even got beat by althea, who i also loved, but i loved CH way more. irina was a cunt but i knew she was going to win.
4) What is something you've done that you never thought you'd have the balls to, once upon a time.
write fanfic and publish it. seriously, i never put up anything more than drabbles before i joined trek fandom this past may, and god knows i never would've thought i had enough guts and tenacity to write so much (including an almost-45,000 word piece!) and just keep throwing it out there.
5) Your top three fics you've written and why.
- reconciliation is at the top because i slaved over it for four months and i am SO HAPPY WITH IT. it's huge, way bigger than i ever thought it was going to get, but it's complete, it's a fucking novel and i am ridiculously proud of myself for finishing it.
- it's not finished or posted yet, but the white collar AU i'm working on with laulan right now is going to take the #2 slot real fast. it's awesome collaborating with someone i work so well with, and i'm loving the canon so fucking much that it's flowing as easily as reconciliation did. plus anything this epic is naturally going to be a labor of love.
- break down and tell, because it was my first, and it took a lot of steeling myself and self-motivating to convince myself to post it, but it got me into an amazing fandom and gave me so much encouragement and validation. plus i still love the prompt and the premise and i'm so proud of myself for banging it out in less than a week. XD
from stripedpetunia :
1. (to turn it around) What's your pick-me-up when you've got the blues?
going out to hang at a coffee shop or bookstore, watching a favorite movie (labyrinth usually does it for me XD), talking to a friend on the phone, going for a drive if it's nice out, sometimes just taking a nap.
2. What's your favourite kind of candy? (If you don't like candy then your favourite substitute for candy will do)
aaaaaanything with marzipan is my favorite, also jordan almonds.
3. Rec me a fic--any fic--and tell me why you're reccing it.
like water on a stain (the something borrowed, something blue mix) from remixredux 09, it's BSG fic, roslin/adama, and oh my god. it's gorgeous and sweet and heartbreaking. they're totally an OTP of mine, i could probably never pair either of them with anyone else, and this fic just nails their relationship (and roslin's character especially) in one straight shot.
4. You have to pick a Metric song to base a fic on (any fandom). Which song do you pick and what is the fic about?
done and done. "help i'm alive" - the fandom is resident evil, the pairing is alice/carlos, and it's about the fact that the carlos that died in the third movie was a clone; the real carlos manages to get out of the testing facility and goes on his way to find alice.
5. Who is your favourite, and your least favourite, character on Glee and why?
i... actually have never actually SEEN any glee. x___x;;;; i have it all on my DVR to watch, but i haven't seen the pilot so i'm waiting to marathon it. HOWEVER i anticipate, from what my gleek friends have said, that puck will be my favorite. because i have a type, goddammit, and i think he's probably it. XD
...the fall finale of USA's freshman series "White Collar" also hit series highs, averaging 5.55 million viewers, the cable network's best performance at 10 p.m. Friday in more than three years, since the series premiere of "Psych."
FUCK YES WHITE COLLAR YOU ARE A GQMF, GODDAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN. also alskfjlsdkfsj thanks to artisis for posting some insanely amazing icons from friday's finale, including the one i'm using here-- matt bomer + fedora + shades = emily is a puddle. :3 look at the fucking JAW on that man, and his NECK, unffffffffff.
in other news... it's monday. and i finally have the answers to all of your "resistance is futile" questions. if you asked me some and i didn't post them here, remind me and i will remedy that forthwith. XD
from laulan :
1. What voice part do you sing, and what's your favorite piece you've ever sung? (I'm curious, too.)
in glee club / formal choir i'm a second soprano, and i could never choose between the carmina burana and ralph vaughan-williams' dona nobis pacem. i love long works-- the carmina is insanely difficult but so beautiful it gives me chills, and dona nobis pacem is also gorgeous and haunting and uses a lot of walt whitman's poetry (he's one of my favorite poets ever). in a cappella we separated parts just by high/mid/low, and i usually ended up on mid or low-- probably also because as my college career went on i was smoking more and more, lol. i'd be hard pressed to choose a favorite-- i sung the solo on "he thinks he'll keep her" by mary chapin carpenter for two years running and so that's my favorite in the sense that i always really identified with the song and knew i sounded awesome singing it-- but we also did an arrangement of "northern cross" by dar williams' side band 'cry cry cry' which is incredibly beautiful, and i was always really proud of our arrangement of "hit 'em up style" by blu cantrell. AND i always loved when we did shakira's "estoy aqui" b/c my best friend had the solo and was amazing on it. (not to pimp myself out, but i do have recordings of all of these if you want.)
2. What foreign languages (if any) do you know, and which would you most like to learn?
this is a funny question-- i'm kind of a freak in that if i immerse myself in a language i can learn it really quickly, but i lose it fairly quickly if i don't use it. i sped my way through french in middle & high school (took a year's worth of lessons over a summer so i could skip a year, etc) and was nearly fluent when i graduated. but then i stopped taking it-- i can still read it and understand most of it, but i would have a hard time speaking it. then in jr. year of college i decided it'd be a great idea to take russian for fun (WUT) but again, i didn't retain much of it at all. and it just occurred to me that i do technically know old english as well (lauralyrics how could i forget that class, lmao) though that's not a spoken language and also one i'm horribly lapsed in. i would absolutely love to reacquaint myself with all of these languages-- also i have always wanted to learn welsh and german.
3. If you could be living somewhere other than where you live right now, where would you be and why?
seattle. :P no, but realistically i'd want to be in boston, MA or troy, NY. i have friends in both cities and i love both cities, so i'd happily go to either one. boston is great b/c i'm new england born and so it's kind of my "big city", plus i just love everything about it. the troy/albany area is also awesome-- troy is extremely underrated IMO plus it is home to the best bar in the universe which doesn't hurt, and albany itself is just a really cool city. but i do love providence, i really feel at home there and i wouldn't mind staying. :)
4. What is a movie or TV show from your childhood that has great significance to you, and why?
movies-- god, that's hard to pinpoint. labyrinth, the star wars trilogy, little women and the anne of green gables movies were all huge influences on me (and actually, as an amalgam they're not a bad representation of my personality, lol) i can vividly remember watching them as a kid, and loving them all fiercely. between them they're responsible for my sense of and love of good drama (especially epic family stories), my love of space operas, sweeping battle scenes and david bowie, and my belief that romance and true love are not only real but very important. i think if not for labyrinth i never would've gotten into theater, and if not for anne of green gables & little women (which to be fair i did read and love all the books first, but the movies are still to date some of my favorites ever) i don't think i would've had any solace in the fact that i felt so different as a kid for being smart and a troublemaker. anne and jo were sometimes the only proof i had that girls like me could have happy endings.
as for TV, i'd say punky brewster, star trek TNG and the PBS shows "321 contact" and "long ago and far away" were really important to me. we were hardly allowed to watch tv as kids, but every day i'd come home from school and watch punky brewster, do my homework and then my whole family would watch TNG at dinnertime. again with the space opera thing; i was always addicted to the exploration and discovery aspect of trek, and i loved how they used aliens and space battles to talk about different aspects of humanity (though i never would've been able to articulate it that way then, lol). "321 contact" was like the kid version of jeopardy to me; i think it fed my love of puzzles way too much (and dude, "mathnet" was the best-- it was like the x-files, but with math.) and "long ago and far away" was a show that told classic folklore stories from around the world, and if i remember correctly it was narrated by james earl jones. it definitely started me on the road to my current mythology-obsessed self. XD
5. What's a talent you desperately wish you had, but don't? Why? Would you trade one of your current talents for it?
i wish i had a talent for personal organization / discipline with myself, lol. like i can keep my room and my stuff organized, but i'm always forgetting and losing stuff, and i just-- like i said above, lol, like jo sometimes i feel like i can't get out of my own way. however, i am reasonably proud of all the things i am good at, so idk if i'd change it. :3 ALSO I AM BAD AT DECISION MAKING. XD
from speccygeekgrrl :
1. What's one thing that can always make you happy?
my cats and/or rereading a favorite book.
2. If you had to get lost somewhere far from home, where would you want to be?
ooh, that's a tough one. i've been lost in venice before and it was kind of amazing-- i wouldn't mind that again. any crowded part of a city like that, where i could at least have the assurance that *sometime* i'd find my way back to where i needed to be-- and as long as it was during daylight, lol.
3. What's one fanfic cliche that drives you batty?
ROFL there are too, too many to count. there are a lot of cliches that can be turned around to be done right and/or made funny, but some just can't-- namely for me, i hate magic healing cock fics, and i hate when people suddenly develop feelings for each other with no leadup or reason why things have changed.
4. Describe your favorite pair of panties. (I just got a bunch of new ones, okay, I'm not trying to scope your drawers or anything.)
lmaooooo well first off it's funny because i loathe the word 'panties', i go off about it with no provocation whatsoever-- idk why, it just bugs me, maybe because it makes me think of neon pink thongs or similar (stripper-esque?) underwear-- but in any case, i always call them underwear or underpants, because i enjoy being painfully dorky that way. BUT. with that said, i have two favorite pairs. one is from aerie, whose underwear i adore to pieces because they are 100% cotton and so, so comfy. my favorite pair is kelly green with lime green trim and four lime green hearts across the butt. XD and my other fave pair is from target, they're 50/50 cotton spandex and fit like magic, they're never uncomfortable. also they're black with white pinstripes, and who doesn't love pinstriped underwear? XDDDDDD
5. What's the best thing you've ever gotten through the mail?
butterflysteve once sent me a package full of candy and hilarious little things to make me laugh-- that was pretty spectacular. also when we did a snacksters exchange at my rpg dsneyvoice sent me the most amazing box full of chocolate and tons of british candy and cookies; i've got a killer sweet tooth so it was pretty amazing. and ceilidh and snowbryneich have sent me various cd's and dvd's via post that were all pretty amazing to get too. XD
from leupagus :
1) What is your process for writing a story -- you mentioned that you struggle with them, but do you have a method for getting through that?
yes, definitely. usually i start out by writing the scene that gave me the idea for the story, or at least making an outline of that idea and how i want to build a story around it. then i try to find a good starting place, whatever point in the story it feels most natural to me to write. that usually helps give me more ideas, and i add to the outline (though by outline i just mean a separate document full of lists of notes) and keep writing. i struggle with making a cohesive plot sometimes, because most of what i'm interested in exploring in writing is people's relationships and emotions, and at times it's just a moment or one scene that brings into focus the thing i want to explore-- leading up to that moment, and what happens after it, can be hard. when i hit those road blocks i either try to write a different part of the story that hasn't been written yet (sometimes when i'm focusing on something else my subconscious will figure out the thing i'm having trouble with) or i turn to some of my writer friends and say "mayday! what is this missing?" there are some stories i've never been completely satisfied with, but by and large i get it done. :3
2) Tie-in to the first question: how many unfinished stories do you have on your hard drive? (Full disclosure: 29 at last count.)
oh god. lmao. *counts* 17 that i have actually written a piece of so far (though some of them it's only a paragraph, lol) and about 8 more on the "i absolutely no question will be writing this fic" list. and the list seems to grow every day... *weeps*
3) What is a story (book, film, tv, whatever) that has really surprised you, in either a good way or a bad way?
margaret atwood's the blind assassin blew my mind completely away the first time i read it. i love her to begin with, but IMO that book is the best example of what a master she is at the craft of writing-- it's three stories blended seamlessly into one, and the ending is just flabbergasting. also, i expect this is true of most people, but the first time i saw "the usual suspects" i was knocked for such a loop. i'd heard it was so incredible from several people, and watching it i remember thinking 'kay, it's good, but amazing? idk...' and then at the end when the camera is on kevin spacey's feet and the twisted foot straightens out and he starts walking normal... i'm not ashamed to admit i jumped off the couch and shouted "NO FUCKING WAY!!!" XD also, i never ever expected to love either battlestar galactica or carnivale as much as i did/do-- both shows hooked me from the first episode and have yet to release me. XD
4) What humanitarian/social justice issue are you most passionate about?
as a queer person living in a state with very little protection for gay rights (super conservative governor who just shot down the "domestic partners can plan each other's funerals" bill) i'd say that's the issue closest to my heart. i was spoiled, going to mt. holyoke and then living in northampton for three years-- leaving the pioneer valley is a little bit of culture shock, or at least it was to me, and it's really made me realize in a tangible way how important it is to fight for equality. i donate to HRC and i go to rallies when i can (there aren't many around here) but mostly it's a state of mind and reminding myself to be courageous about it, talk about gay rights and be willing to engage in debates with people when it's worthwhile and just, idk, do whatever i can to remind people that this is an important issue that can't be ignored.
5) Discworld question: Have you read the new book? Is it good? (I haven't yet, and I'm weirdly nervous about it.)
i haven't yet! i really want to, i don't have the money to budget for hardcover books right now unfortunately, but i'm hoping to have some time (one of these years, rofl) to go to the library and check it out. because i am also nervous but excited; i've heard it's awesome from most people, but i really need to read it for myself. :3 i will definitely let you know, though. XD
from douxquemiel :
1. Top five favorite Pinto moments (interviews, etc). Also, top five favorite Pinto fics.
okay the interviews thing is going to have to wait, except for the moment depicted here :
when chris drops two $20 words in the space of 90 seconds and zach looks like he's actually about to jump on him right then and there. XDDDDDD
top five fics : absolute top of the list is the trilogy by winterlive, you know i don't ask for much, hit the floor and work it out. YOU are the person that introduced me to this girl, after all, so i'm sure you've read them. :E and then in no particular order i love sleeping with ghosts by grammar_glamour (have an ice bucket and a box of tissues on hand), accidentally by antihysteric, inertia creeps by credulesque and adumbrating by fortassetu. those authors all also have other awesome pinto fic (and fortassetu has a giant rec list that's quite comprehensive as well).
2. If you were independently wealthy, what would you do with your time? I want details, not just 'I’d write'. :D
what WOULDN'T i do. learn how to cook everything i don't know how to cook. plan and keep a kickass garden. have a library big enough for all the books i own and all the books i want to own, and ALPHABETIZE IT. finally see all the old movies i have woefully never seen. get more pets because i'd have time to take care of them. travel, travel, travel-- i'd be visiting everyone-- becky, mizza, suzi, andy, laila, meghan, rin, EVERYONE who isn't just a train or short car ride away. i'd go to london and paris, i'd go back to italy and take my time learning to love everything about the cities i visited in high school. i'd find worthwhile charities and causes to give my money to-- i'd set up a scholarship at mt. holyoke for someone from my high school to go there each year-- i'd give millions to gay rights and equality activism groups-- and i would write books. lots and lots of books.
3. What’s your favorite physical trait you have (hair, ass, legs, etc)? If you’re willing to say, what are you most self-conscious of?
i've been told my face is very symmetrical and (by you and many others) that i have angelina jolie lips; ergo, i am fond of my face, and i have been super fond of my glambert-esque haircut these past few months. i am very self-conscious of the rest of me, specifically the fact that i am heavier than i should be and don't particularly think that i look good without clothes on. (hey, you asked.) but part of that is due to two years of someone else's repeated attacks on my self-esteem (which i *am* getting over, but it takes time), and part of it is that i'm always heavier in the wintertime, which i know and therefore don't feel bad about. and to be fair, i'm not always self-conscious-- i don't walk around thinking i look like crap, because i consider myself a good dresser and enjoy my clothes, so on a given day i usually feel pretty good about myself.
4. What are the first five songs you’d arrange for your All Grown Up a cappella group?
oh, i love you for asking this question.
- alanis morissette's cover of "crazy" by seal-- the background on this is *amazing* and with the right soloist, ooh. *shivers*
- 'RENEGADE' BY STYX yes i went there. it would be so fucking badass, and you know me, i'm all about showing that women's a cappella can be just as fucking badass as men's, and that'd be a way to prove it. XD
- 'the sun' by maroon 5 - i know the m&c's did this, but i never got to perform it, and sam's arrangement was badass but she is still even now realizing things to tweak about it to make it better. also it's pretty much my favorite song ever, i want to sing that bitch. XD
- 'all these things that i've done' by the killers. because listening to it gives me a huge thrill, and i can't imagine a scenario where i wouldn't get super pumped about performing it.
- 'viva la vida' by coldplay-- because it would be hard as FUCK but so rewarding if we got it right. also, again, song i adore to pieces.
- runners up include 'whataya want from me' by adam lambert, 'the science of selling yourself short' by less than jake, 'beautiful day' by U2, 'kids' by MGMT, 'friday night' by lily allen, 'you know i'm no good' by amy winehouse, 'the boy in the bubble' by paul simon, 'the zephyr song' by the chili peppers, and a rap (?pop?) medley redux with 'poker face', 'if you seek amy', 'hey mama', 'hey ya' type songs. also a michael jackson medley or a beatles medley. I DON'T KNOW OKAY I THINK ABOUT THIS A LOT. XD
5. What occupation are you most curious about (that isn’t specifically in your field)?
if there's an occupation that IS in my field, i'd love to know what it is.... ;D no, but really, i've always sort of pondered whether i'd be good at journalism. i know you might say that's my field b/c it's writing, but really it's not b/c it's nonfiction which is so, so not my field. also i've always been interested to hear about what people in science actually DO for jobs. i'm sure wes could tell me. XD
from mirorelle :
01. What is your favourite thing to write about? Not necessarily particular characters, but scenarios, predicaments, that sort of thing.
i think it's that i raised myself on shakespeare, but misdirection comedy in romance is always so interesting to me. 'twelfth night' is one of my favorite plays because it has interesting minor characters with their own subplots, a lot of confusion and hilarity, and ultimately a happy ending. alternately i also love drama and intense action; i don't think i'm very good at either of those yet, but it's always so interesting to me that i get really excited about it.
02. Which would you rather; Personal Assistant to a celebrity of your choosing, or a tabloid reporter to an infamous gossip rag?
i was JUST pondering the other day what a great PA i'd make. i can organize the shit out of other people's lives, just not my own. i'd so kill for that job, but it would depend on who it was for. i'm NGL i'd kind of love to be jj's PA-- insane job, perhaps, but hard not to enjoy at least SOME of it. XD
03. Are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse?
i TOTALLY am. raindissolved has been helping me get ready for years-- i'm counting on her to bring the guns when it starts, but i've got asskicking boots and i'm confident in my ability to manufacture and shoot a flamethrower.
04. Has there ever been a movie that you've walked out of or ejected from your DVD player? What was it?
i walked out of "the science of sleep" but that was way more b/c of the circumstances of the evening than the movie itself. i don't know if i've ever stopped a dvd halfway through-- i'm weird w/movies in that i get annoyed if i don't know how it ends, even if i hate it. 'the good girl' with jennifer aniston was terrible, as was 'my first mister' with leelee sobieski. and i loathe indie movies that look like they're going to be quirky but just end up being super depressing at the end.
05. Share with me your favourite article of clothing at the moment.
ooh that's difficult. i have a couple. my dad got me a sweater from anthropologie for my bday last year, it has this wide sort of gathered collar that's very 40s movie star, and it buttons down the front. also i have a vest i just bought, it goes down to my hips and has one button and is great for fancy or to wear with jeans, and is so insanely flattering i am in looooove. i have a green hoodie that's fuzzy like a muppet on the inside, and a sea-green shirt with grey flowers that ties around the waist, both of which i could wear every day and never get sick of.
from pseudicide :
~~spoilers for the just-finished season of project runway in question 3.~~
1) What is it about the Northest? Or whatever you call it. ;p
NEW ENGLAND, lolol. it's awesome because it's small but interesting-- there's so much history here, you can literally visit the beginnings of the united states all throughout this area. i love it because i love being near the ocean, and because i love having four distinct seasons (even if winter is kind of a bitch in some parts). i like being close to my family, i like that it's a mostly liberal area (though mileage may vary) and idk, it just feels like home to me. i can imagine myself living elsewhere for a while, but in my heart i'll always want to come back here.
2) What's your favourite thing about RP and least favourite? Now compare that to fic writing.
i love that rp gives me a chance to explore a character to a depth that nothing else does. when you're writing a story you don't necessarily think about some of those minutiae, and RP really lets you pick and choose what you want to unearth. the flipside of course is that you can't control what happens-- who tags you, what they want from your character, their motivations or the way they play the person could conflict with yours. the contrast to fic writing is that you control everything-- which can be fantastic, and really let you tell the story *you* want to tell-- but otoh RP does give you the entire mind of another person to work with, and sometimes (if the other person is awesome) you can collaboratively make a story that's better and more complete than the one you might've written alone.
3) Irina. Misunderstood and got a bad edit, or bitch you wanted to slap? Also, do you feel CH should have been the winner? (Answer this correctly or fear my wrath)
um i fucking hate irina, i hated her all throughout the season, and i LOVED CH TO DEATH. i was so mad that she even got beat by althea, who i also loved, but i loved CH way more. irina was a cunt but i knew she was going to win.
4) What is something you've done that you never thought you'd have the balls to, once upon a time.
write fanfic and publish it. seriously, i never put up anything more than drabbles before i joined trek fandom this past may, and god knows i never would've thought i had enough guts and tenacity to write so much (including an almost-45,000 word piece!) and just keep throwing it out there.
5) Your top three fics you've written and why.
- reconciliation is at the top because i slaved over it for four months and i am SO HAPPY WITH IT. it's huge, way bigger than i ever thought it was going to get, but it's complete, it's a fucking novel and i am ridiculously proud of myself for finishing it.
- it's not finished or posted yet, but the white collar AU i'm working on with laulan right now is going to take the #2 slot real fast. it's awesome collaborating with someone i work so well with, and i'm loving the canon so fucking much that it's flowing as easily as reconciliation did. plus anything this epic is naturally going to be a labor of love.
- break down and tell, because it was my first, and it took a lot of steeling myself and self-motivating to convince myself to post it, but it got me into an amazing fandom and gave me so much encouragement and validation. plus i still love the prompt and the premise and i'm so proud of myself for banging it out in less than a week. XD
from stripedpetunia :
1. (to turn it around) What's your pick-me-up when you've got the blues?
going out to hang at a coffee shop or bookstore, watching a favorite movie (labyrinth usually does it for me XD), talking to a friend on the phone, going for a drive if it's nice out, sometimes just taking a nap.
2. What's your favourite kind of candy? (If you don't like candy then your favourite substitute for candy will do)
aaaaaanything with marzipan is my favorite, also jordan almonds.
3. Rec me a fic--any fic--and tell me why you're reccing it.
like water on a stain (the something borrowed, something blue mix) from remixredux 09, it's BSG fic, roslin/adama, and oh my god. it's gorgeous and sweet and heartbreaking. they're totally an OTP of mine, i could probably never pair either of them with anyone else, and this fic just nails their relationship (and roslin's character especially) in one straight shot.
4. You have to pick a Metric song to base a fic on (any fandom). Which song do you pick and what is the fic about?
done and done. "help i'm alive" - the fandom is resident evil, the pairing is alice/carlos, and it's about the fact that the carlos that died in the third movie was a clone; the real carlos manages to get out of the testing facility and goes on his way to find alice.
5. Who is your favourite, and your least favourite, character on Glee and why?
i... actually have never actually SEEN any glee. x___x;;;; i have it all on my DVR to watch, but i haven't seen the pilot so i'm waiting to marathon it. HOWEVER i anticipate, from what my gleek friends have said, that puck will be my favorite. because i have a type, goddammit, and i think he's probably it. XD