Meme for the New Year--Answers (Part One)
fiercy asked me:
"What are you thoughts about the standardization of the world's currency and its impact on global relations?" (Because she is a MEAN LADY either playing tease the theatre major, or tease the theatre major who just suffered through an accounting class)
Let's start with the obvious: I know fuckity all about currency standardization and it's impact on global relations. If you thought that meant I wouldn't have an opinion... oh, my sweet summer child. Bless.
So yeah, I know nothing about the actual economic impact of currency standardization, or about the impact of global relations. What I do know is that the idea of that kind of standardization makes me kind of uncomfortable. I'm Canadian, and our money is unique, and I like that it's unique. It's something that's recognizable about us world wide. And if it was all of a sudden decided that all of North America was going to go by the same currency, that we'd all be the same, and that was taken away... I don't know. I just don't think I like that.
I'm sure that there's some real value to making things unified, making them the same. And I think that sometimes countries and nations... I'm not wording this right, I don't think, but I think that they use their individuality/nationality as an excuse not to have to do things that they don't want to do in a bad way. I'm Canadian, so I don't have to care about that big issue that's affecting you in your country, because it's not affecting me in mine. There's a difference between celebrating what makes you unique as a nation and hiding under your flag like a kid hides under their covers and going NOPE.
I don't like the idea of a world where everyone is expected to conform to the exact same sameness in all things, and I worry about standardizing currency across borders being a step toward that. It reminds me of listening to some of the people I work with bitching about people who have immigrate to Canada continuing to practice the religion from their country of origin, or choosing to still wear traditional clothing. "Why did they come here if they aren't going to [fill in blank of expected behavior]?"
But I also think that there are times when we don't get to go "that's the way we are as people from [fill in country name here], and that means that we can ignore human rights issues because we have a flag that says we can."
Like I said, I'm not wording this right. I just think that it's more complicated an issue than just the financial side. And that's why I don't get to make these kinds of decisions.
Or...
"Who are your top five current bullet-proof celebrity crushes/obsessions/joys-to-behold?" (Because she actually knows me pretty well, even when she's being a MEAN LADY)
I think that what she really knows is that I'm a sucker for anything that is a bullet-proof anything. While not actually liking anything that operates using bullets... although yeah, maybe that still works, because bullet-proof! Proof from bullets! No actual bullets here! Possibly bullet points though... or a numbered list. I like numbered lists.
1) Tom Hiddleston. It is utterly ridiculous how much I have come to adore this skinny bastard. But I do. I completely and utterly and totally do. He isn't remotely my type, from just a physical standpoint, but he hits all my buttons like fucking whoa. He is competence kink in human form. Because:
- He is incredibly fucking talented. He's one of those people where you can see the training and the word that he's put into being as good as he is, but at the same time, there's this talent that's just there, that you can't fake, and no amount of training will provide if you don't have it.
- He's a chameleon. And I am a sucker for this, no kidding. With someone like Robert Downey Jr, I always see RDJ in the background somewhere, and I like that. It's not in a way that some actors are always themselves. Jack Nicholason is always Jack Nicholson to me, where with RDJ I see the character... but he's there too. With Tom? Tom is somewhere else entirely.
The first time someone showed me a picture of Tom and said that's the guy who played Loki? I went PFFT. Because no it isn't. Who the hell is this curly headed ginger kid, and what are you playing with? He slips in behind his characters and the curly headed kid is GONE... and yet not in a freaks me out method kind of way. It's acting. It's skill, and it's work, and he can flip it on and off like a switch. I fucking love that.
- He's smart. Genuinely smart, both in the educated sense, and in the curious about the universe lifelong learning kind of sense. And when he talks about things, it provokes curiosity, it makes me want to listen and learn, rather than it being 'oh my God stop being such a smarty pants know it all shut up'. He has a childlike enthusiasm about learning that is dorktastically awesome.
- He's nice. Nice is not a pejorative, even though it's often treated like one. But this kid? He is genuinely fucking nice, by all accounts. I honestly think it would crush my little heart if it turned out that he was actually an asshole. He brings soup to reporters at red carpets. He gives his coat to people interviewing him who look cold. By all accounts he is a genuinely nice and kind human being, and being all famous and shit hasn't changed that.
- He is hot like burning in a way that you don't even realize until it is Too Late. One minute you're going pfft, skinny curly haired ginger boy, and then you're going... oh. Oh dear. Oh dammit, I'm going to need a larger hardrive for my pictures. And you're okay with that. Because it's Tom Goddamned Hiddleston, and you deserve to have nice things.
2) The Marvel Cinematic Universe, and fanfic/fanon that has showed up because of it. I don't even know what happened here. I really don't. I didn't see a single one of the first set of movies in theatre. Didn't know, didn't really care all that much.
And then someone--I don't even know who, but someone--whose fanfic I read started writing Avengers fic. And I liked their writing, and so I started reading it, and then it just. Oh my God. I don't even know what happened, but I was in. I caught up on the movies, and I fell in love with Clint/Coulson, and I waited for Avengers with my heart in my hands and stars in my eyes. I'm writing RDJ and Sebastian Stan in my RPG, and I'm writing Marvel Cinematic Universe fanfic with ashinae, and it's taken over a large part of my fannish brain and I am just so perfectly all right with that.
(and I KNEW that Coulson lived. I knew it and I was never so happy as to be proven right.)
3) Joss Whedon. Because of reasons. Because he's Joss. Because he seems to have total access to my hindbrain in as far as creating things that will make me go 'oooooh shiny'. And he breaks my rules on things. I watch his stuff even though he kills off characters and I usually go NOPE NOPE NOPE about shows where that sort of thing is commonplace.
I like the writing, I like the characters, I like the imagination. I feel like he tries--genuinely tries--and sometimes he fucks up, because human, but I feel like he is actually trying in a way that the majority of people who are in a position to create stuff for current film and TV don't have the slightest inclination to try, and I like that.
Not enough to watch Cabin in the Woods, but we all have our limits.
Also, I think that some day, he and Nathan Fillion will finally let the world know that Nathan is the kept boy of Joss and his wife because seriously. Like we don't all know that Nathan is sleeping on the foot of their bed.
4) Robert Downey Jr. I mentioned him a little bit up above, and yes, at the moment, this list is very Marvel heavy, which probably goes to show a lot of the way that my current fandom brain is trending, but like I also said above... I'm okay with that.
So, RDJ. The man gives me the feels. All of them. He's gorgeous and he's painfully talented, and he's been through hell and back and lived to tell. He's blunt and honest in a way that hurts, and he's completely full of shit, and he's just... I don't even. But I love watching him, and I love listening to him talk, and I think that while he would probably be exhausting to be around full time, it would also be completely and utterly fascinating.
5) Dragon Age II. ashinae's fault. She started playing it, she started telling me about the storyline, and then next thing I knew I was glued to Youtube clips, and I was writing Dragon Age II fic, and I was watching her play the game when I visited. And I'm still doing that. I've never actually played the game myself, because I don't game, but Oh. Oh, the game, and the characters, and Fenris, and Anders, and oh my God. Someday, there will be SO MUCH DRAGON AGE II fic posted. And like, three people will read it, and I will be okay with that because the people who get it will GET IT. Because Anders. And Fenris. And oh. Dragon Age II.
AND BONUS ROUND:
6) Natalie Portman. Who yes, Marvel, but she long predates that, and will probably always be on every and any list I ever write. Because Natalie Portman. I mean, really, that's kind of the beginning and the end. Because Natalie Portman. I like her, I respect her brains and her talent, I love watching her on screen, I think she's gorgeous... she's just Natalie Portman.
lannamichaels asked:
So, what *are* your pizza preferences? (Because she knows what questions are really important in the grand scheme of things)
This is so boring. SO BORING, and I don't even care, because it is made of awesome.
I am always (okay, one exception, but always) going to get exactly the same thing on my pizza: ham, and mozzarella cheese. Preferably extra mozzarella cheese, if it's available. I may dump some parmesan on top of it, especially if it's somewhere that they have it shredded, rather than the powdered stuff, but the only part that is Must Have is pizza base (pan pizza, thin crust, piece of naan, whatever), sauce, ham, lots of mozzarella cheese.
My one exception is if I'm going to Earls (this is a restaurant that I think is primarily in Western Canada, maybe a bit in the western United States. They do a thin crust pizza which is oven baked (I think the type of oven is 'forno?'). When I'm there, I get it with chicken and mozzarella cheese. But that's literally the only place. Everywhere else? Ham, extra cheese.
(I'm still taking questions on my Meme for the New Year post if anyone would like to ask me stuff and things.)
"What are you thoughts about the standardization of the world's currency and its impact on global relations?" (Because she is a MEAN LADY either playing tease the theatre major, or tease the theatre major who just suffered through an accounting class)
Let's start with the obvious: I know fuckity all about currency standardization and it's impact on global relations. If you thought that meant I wouldn't have an opinion... oh, my sweet summer child. Bless.
So yeah, I know nothing about the actual economic impact of currency standardization, or about the impact of global relations. What I do know is that the idea of that kind of standardization makes me kind of uncomfortable. I'm Canadian, and our money is unique, and I like that it's unique. It's something that's recognizable about us world wide. And if it was all of a sudden decided that all of North America was going to go by the same currency, that we'd all be the same, and that was taken away... I don't know. I just don't think I like that.
I'm sure that there's some real value to making things unified, making them the same. And I think that sometimes countries and nations... I'm not wording this right, I don't think, but I think that they use their individuality/nationality as an excuse not to have to do things that they don't want to do in a bad way. I'm Canadian, so I don't have to care about that big issue that's affecting you in your country, because it's not affecting me in mine. There's a difference between celebrating what makes you unique as a nation and hiding under your flag like a kid hides under their covers and going NOPE.
I don't like the idea of a world where everyone is expected to conform to the exact same sameness in all things, and I worry about standardizing currency across borders being a step toward that. It reminds me of listening to some of the people I work with bitching about people who have immigrate to Canada continuing to practice the religion from their country of origin, or choosing to still wear traditional clothing. "Why did they come here if they aren't going to [fill in blank of expected behavior]?"
But I also think that there are times when we don't get to go "that's the way we are as people from [fill in country name here], and that means that we can ignore human rights issues because we have a flag that says we can."
Like I said, I'm not wording this right. I just think that it's more complicated an issue than just the financial side. And that's why I don't get to make these kinds of decisions.
Or...
"Who are your top five current bullet-proof celebrity crushes/obsessions/joys-to-behold?" (Because she actually knows me pretty well, even when she's being a MEAN LADY)
I think that what she really knows is that I'm a sucker for anything that is a bullet-proof anything. While not actually liking anything that operates using bullets... although yeah, maybe that still works, because bullet-proof! Proof from bullets! No actual bullets here! Possibly bullet points though... or a numbered list. I like numbered lists.
1) Tom Hiddleston. It is utterly ridiculous how much I have come to adore this skinny bastard. But I do. I completely and utterly and totally do. He isn't remotely my type, from just a physical standpoint, but he hits all my buttons like fucking whoa. He is competence kink in human form. Because:
- He is incredibly fucking talented. He's one of those people where you can see the training and the word that he's put into being as good as he is, but at the same time, there's this talent that's just there, that you can't fake, and no amount of training will provide if you don't have it.
- He's a chameleon. And I am a sucker for this, no kidding. With someone like Robert Downey Jr, I always see RDJ in the background somewhere, and I like that. It's not in a way that some actors are always themselves. Jack Nicholason is always Jack Nicholson to me, where with RDJ I see the character... but he's there too. With Tom? Tom is somewhere else entirely.
The first time someone showed me a picture of Tom and said that's the guy who played Loki? I went PFFT. Because no it isn't. Who the hell is this curly headed ginger kid, and what are you playing with? He slips in behind his characters and the curly headed kid is GONE... and yet not in a freaks me out method kind of way. It's acting. It's skill, and it's work, and he can flip it on and off like a switch. I fucking love that.
- He's smart. Genuinely smart, both in the educated sense, and in the curious about the universe lifelong learning kind of sense. And when he talks about things, it provokes curiosity, it makes me want to listen and learn, rather than it being 'oh my God stop being such a smarty pants know it all shut up'. He has a childlike enthusiasm about learning that is dorktastically awesome.
- He's nice. Nice is not a pejorative, even though it's often treated like one. But this kid? He is genuinely fucking nice, by all accounts. I honestly think it would crush my little heart if it turned out that he was actually an asshole. He brings soup to reporters at red carpets. He gives his coat to people interviewing him who look cold. By all accounts he is a genuinely nice and kind human being, and being all famous and shit hasn't changed that.
- He is hot like burning in a way that you don't even realize until it is Too Late. One minute you're going pfft, skinny curly haired ginger boy, and then you're going... oh. Oh dear. Oh dammit, I'm going to need a larger hardrive for my pictures. And you're okay with that. Because it's Tom Goddamned Hiddleston, and you deserve to have nice things.
2) The Marvel Cinematic Universe, and fanfic/fanon that has showed up because of it. I don't even know what happened here. I really don't. I didn't see a single one of the first set of movies in theatre. Didn't know, didn't really care all that much.
And then someone--I don't even know who, but someone--whose fanfic I read started writing Avengers fic. And I liked their writing, and so I started reading it, and then it just. Oh my God. I don't even know what happened, but I was in. I caught up on the movies, and I fell in love with Clint/Coulson, and I waited for Avengers with my heart in my hands and stars in my eyes. I'm writing RDJ and Sebastian Stan in my RPG, and I'm writing Marvel Cinematic Universe fanfic with ashinae, and it's taken over a large part of my fannish brain and I am just so perfectly all right with that.
(and I KNEW that Coulson lived. I knew it and I was never so happy as to be proven right.)
3) Joss Whedon. Because of reasons. Because he's Joss. Because he seems to have total access to my hindbrain in as far as creating things that will make me go 'oooooh shiny'. And he breaks my rules on things. I watch his stuff even though he kills off characters and I usually go NOPE NOPE NOPE about shows where that sort of thing is commonplace.
I like the writing, I like the characters, I like the imagination. I feel like he tries--genuinely tries--and sometimes he fucks up, because human, but I feel like he is actually trying in a way that the majority of people who are in a position to create stuff for current film and TV don't have the slightest inclination to try, and I like that.
Not enough to watch Cabin in the Woods, but we all have our limits.
Also, I think that some day, he and Nathan Fillion will finally let the world know that Nathan is the kept boy of Joss and his wife because seriously. Like we don't all know that Nathan is sleeping on the foot of their bed.
4) Robert Downey Jr. I mentioned him a little bit up above, and yes, at the moment, this list is very Marvel heavy, which probably goes to show a lot of the way that my current fandom brain is trending, but like I also said above... I'm okay with that.
So, RDJ. The man gives me the feels. All of them. He's gorgeous and he's painfully talented, and he's been through hell and back and lived to tell. He's blunt and honest in a way that hurts, and he's completely full of shit, and he's just... I don't even. But I love watching him, and I love listening to him talk, and I think that while he would probably be exhausting to be around full time, it would also be completely and utterly fascinating.
5) Dragon Age II. ashinae's fault. She started playing it, she started telling me about the storyline, and then next thing I knew I was glued to Youtube clips, and I was writing Dragon Age II fic, and I was watching her play the game when I visited. And I'm still doing that. I've never actually played the game myself, because I don't game, but Oh. Oh, the game, and the characters, and Fenris, and Anders, and oh my God. Someday, there will be SO MUCH DRAGON AGE II fic posted. And like, three people will read it, and I will be okay with that because the people who get it will GET IT. Because Anders. And Fenris. And oh. Dragon Age II.
AND BONUS ROUND:
6) Natalie Portman. Who yes, Marvel, but she long predates that, and will probably always be on every and any list I ever write. Because Natalie Portman. I mean, really, that's kind of the beginning and the end. Because Natalie Portman. I like her, I respect her brains and her talent, I love watching her on screen, I think she's gorgeous... she's just Natalie Portman.
lannamichaels asked:
So, what *are* your pizza preferences? (Because she knows what questions are really important in the grand scheme of things)
This is so boring. SO BORING, and I don't even care, because it is made of awesome.
I am always (okay, one exception, but always) going to get exactly the same thing on my pizza: ham, and mozzarella cheese. Preferably extra mozzarella cheese, if it's available. I may dump some parmesan on top of it, especially if it's somewhere that they have it shredded, rather than the powdered stuff, but the only part that is Must Have is pizza base (pan pizza, thin crust, piece of naan, whatever), sauce, ham, lots of mozzarella cheese.
My one exception is if I'm going to Earls (this is a restaurant that I think is primarily in Western Canada, maybe a bit in the western United States. They do a thin crust pizza which is oven baked (I think the type of oven is 'forno?'). When I'm there, I get it with chicken and mozzarella cheese. But that's literally the only place. Everywhere else? Ham, extra cheese.
(I'm still taking questions on my Meme for the New Year post if anyone would like to ask me stuff and things.)