This got...so much longer than I meant it to get...
Comment to this post, and I will list seven things I want you to talk about. They might make sense or they might be totally random.
Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.
These questions were asked by lysachan, and some epic questions they turned out to be. I'm taking this as proof positive that I am losing my filters, and I...have problems not giving pretty long answer to questions. I apologise! This gets long, and candid...and... yeah. I hope this doesn't disappoint, lysachan! :)
1) What is your favourite drink with alcohol in it?
2) Do you prefer subtext or maintext (if you know the ship is going to be endgame)?
3) Were you good at school?
4) Do you follow politics?
5) How old were you when you had your first kiss and where was it?
6) What was your first fandom?
7) What is the most embarrassing CD you own?
1) What is your favourite drink with alcohol in it?
Ok...lets see. I like lager, although I don't drink it much any more. I've actually switched to ale and beer. I like the occasional cocktail, and I'll drink and enjoy any number of shorts such as gin and tonic, whisky and coke, brandy, rum and coke...basically, lets say I'm not very fussy with what I drink. But I think the drink that I enjoy the most and come back to is probably red wine. I love, love, love a good cabernet sauvignon. The only thing I know for definite that I really, really can't drink at all is Pimms. That, for whatever reason, makes me insanely grumpy.
2) Do you prefer subtext or maintext (if you know the ship is going to be endgame?)
What an absolutely fantastic question! And...my goodness. I just don't know. I mean I love maintext, of course! Watching a love story play out fully in front of me, knowing that there are people out there who might not have thought too highly of gay people (or thought of them at all) and maybe, if it's a beloved show with beloved characters, that it's changing their mind and helping them see things in a new way? (Guiding Light or lhdp for example)? Or, just the joy of seeing skilled actors playing something I can relate to, for me to see parts of myself in, when we are so inundated with hetero storylines everyday? (not that there aren't parts of any love story that I can't help but relate to, some things are universal)? How can I not love that? Plus...pretty ladies kissing...well, what's not to love about that? (Hellooooo Lost Girl) (Yes, I am shallow, I admit it).
But...subtext is...subtext. It's been part of my online fandom life for - really - longer than I care to admit. I love the way that it sparks peoples imaginations, and allows people to take little moments on screen and create wonderful moments online. Plus, way back in the mists of time when I developed my very first ship, before I even knew what shipping was, it was, dare I say it, fun to look out for. And helped me to recognize what I was looking for myself. Subtext was a means for a lot of people to see things that they wished they were seeing on screen, when there really wasn't a lot of anything to be seen on screen. It was a bit of a psychological balm for many people, I suspect. And I was probably one of them. To have the freedom to project ones feelings onto ones favourite characters; to be able to believe for even a second that maybe, just maybe, they were like you? Well, the benefit for many people could have been very great. But then there's always the other side; I'm not suggesting subtext was purely a psychological exercise by a marginalised group of people who were looking for reflections of themselves. Subtext is subtext. Chemistry is chemistry. Wherever people interact other people will disect their actions through their own filters of perception. It just is. Plus, and I cannot stress this enough, reading reams of fic about hot ladies kissing is just plain fun. And this was meant to be a one line answer ("I like them both")
3) Were you good at school?
...Ehhhhyes? No? Yesno? Tough question. If you mean was I good at the act of arriving at school and learning...the answer is sort of. I was good at the learning part. I loved English, drama, religious education, history, art and was ok with physical education, depending on the sport. Basically the talky, arty stuff. The logical, science-y stuff? Not so much. Maths, I struggled with (but I've come to realise that was probably to do with four years with a teacher of the 'Here is your text book and ask me no questions' variety), and science was my nemesis. Geography and I were not really on speaking terms, either. But yes, English and RE were probably my best subjects. The turning up part? Werrrll. I suffered from an afflicition I like to call 'terminal lateness', which in latter years turned into 'terminal lateness with the occasional symptom of not turning up at all'. Like an awful lot of people, I do wish I'd tried a little harder in school. But I'm learning again now, and grateful for the opportunity.
Was I well behaved in school? Another tough question. I wanted to be. I wanted so much to be, absolutely. I felt /so proud/ when a teacher gave me praise. But being an overweight girl who liked star trek, wore boys shoes and had the most ridiculously dorky sense of humour, I realised that being popular with teachers was really the very last nail in my popularity coffin. I was really, really lucky that - despite being bullied in school, quite a lot - I met my then and still now best friend in my third year, and being friends with an older boy raised my cachet (right word?) somewhat (although I learned it wasn't really cool to wave like a dork at him at school). Then I met my then very good friend Gemma by being picked to show her around when she transferred (I got picked to do this a lot), and she was so achingly cool that being friends with her made me sort of cool by association. She, for some reason, stayed friends with me even after realising how low down on the totem pole I really was, and I used to sometimes sit with the cool kids, smoking (yes, I smoked in school - it was like a badge of coolness). Sometimes I feel like I learned all the tropes used in high school shows all at once lol. I managed to walk a thin line between having my geeky friends, and being somewhat accepted by the cool crowd. This was also helped by the fact that Chris's best friend at the time was in my year, and was very handsome and popular, and people used to see the three of us walking home together all the time (we used to hang out every single night, talking star trek, smoking, and running around in the woods). I could go on, but I feel like I shouldn't lol.
4) Do you follow politics?
I have to say my knowledge of politics is much more firmly rooted in the grassroots levels than anywhere else. I know how the county council is affecting our parish council, as I'm a little involved with that now and again, and how this affects the area in which I live. I have a basic grasp of what's going on at a national level, and I try to keep it opinion free, but that's very difficult when a lot of the talk in the pubs and clubs (and shops and streets) is of the 'Why are they doing x?' 'Have you heard they're trying to bring in x policy? Bloody idiots' 'When they do z they'll be ruining our x!' and so on, and all of it filtered through the distorted filters of the media and prejudice. I try to bone up on it all before elections, but to be honest, I do run out of the will to care when I have so many things to do here and now. Does that sound awful? No, I know it does. Ok, I'll put it another way. If I could break into the prime ministers office and read documents first hand, and be a fly on the wall and see what people really talk about in parliment, then I would feel like I could talk about politics, because I would know exactly what was happening from the source. Otherwise, I am slightly suspicious, because I am not sure what has happened to the information I hear before I hear it.
5) How old were you when you had your first kiss?
Oh. Well. This question made me laugh out loud when I first read it. Hm. Ok. I was...14, I think. No, 13!...14...I'll go with 14. Yeah. And we used to hang out with some terrible people. Awful. The kind of people who, I kid not, are all in jail now, or have been in the last two years. And there was this family - lets call them the Joneses. They were well known, - even at 14, 13 and 10, as the brothers were then - for being absolute nightmares. Stealing, drinking, smoking, fighting nightmares. But, in the subjective way one views things through the hazy filter of memory, I can say that I never remember them being anything other than nice to me. I think I was like a little mascot. They were actually kind of protective of me. Anyway. I kissed the eldest Jones when we wlaking between our two villages, via some fields. Between the villages was a sewage plant, and it was as we were passing this that I kissed him. Or he kissed me. I'm a little hazy. We were with some other friends, I think. Anyway. He told me that - I kid you not - I kissed like a goldfish. For /years/, /YEARS/, I was paranoid about how I kissed. Even now I still get a little nervous (although I'm pretty sure I'm better at it now :D)
6) What was your first fandom?
We're not including the Redwall series of books right? Because I was /insane/ for them when I was a kid. But no. Going back to the subtext/maintext question: my first ship was Talia/Susan, and my first fandom was Babylon 5. It was a fandom of one. Me. This was before we had the internet. But I really, really made that fandom of one work. But no, lol. My first proper internet fandom, and actually the reason I know everyone I know online now, was ST:V. (T/7 all the way baby!). I joined a yahoo mail group, starting writing (terrible, completely off-the-wall) fic...and I was lost. What was yours?
7) What's the most embarrassing CD you own?
Ooo, tough one. I love so much music that I don't find things embarrassing. My friends are used to the fact that if I pull up in my car, I'm just as likely to be pumping out the Dolly Parton as I am the Biffy Clyro, the Shakira, the Black Keys, or the Joan Jett. My most embarrassing CD probably depends on who you ask. Chris will say the compilation of musical numbers that I made from the other musical cds that I own (if I ever stop getting the compulsion to sing 'The Wizard and I' in the shower, then I have clearly been replaced by a pod person (actually, I'm wrong. Chris would say Kelly Clarkson). ) Ummm...oh, no, I totally know this actually! LOL. How could I forget that I own a copy of 2 Live Crew's 'As Nasty As They Wanna Be', which includes such classics as 'Me So Horny', 'The F**k Shop', and 'If You Believe in Having Sex'. I own it for sentimental reasons. I know none of the songs. And I will not rap them in the pub...say, last Saturday night...for comedy value...I swear...
Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.
These questions were asked by lysachan, and some epic questions they turned out to be. I'm taking this as proof positive that I am losing my filters, and I...have problems not giving pretty long answer to questions. I apologise! This gets long, and candid...and... yeah. I hope this doesn't disappoint, lysachan! :)
1) What is your favourite drink with alcohol in it?
2) Do you prefer subtext or maintext (if you know the ship is going to be endgame)?
3) Were you good at school?
4) Do you follow politics?
5) How old were you when you had your first kiss and where was it?
6) What was your first fandom?
7) What is the most embarrassing CD you own?
1) What is your favourite drink with alcohol in it?
Ok...lets see. I like lager, although I don't drink it much any more. I've actually switched to ale and beer. I like the occasional cocktail, and I'll drink and enjoy any number of shorts such as gin and tonic, whisky and coke, brandy, rum and coke...basically, lets say I'm not very fussy with what I drink. But I think the drink that I enjoy the most and come back to is probably red wine. I love, love, love a good cabernet sauvignon. The only thing I know for definite that I really, really can't drink at all is Pimms. That, for whatever reason, makes me insanely grumpy.
2) Do you prefer subtext or maintext (if you know the ship is going to be endgame?)
What an absolutely fantastic question! And...my goodness. I just don't know. I mean I love maintext, of course! Watching a love story play out fully in front of me, knowing that there are people out there who might not have thought too highly of gay people (or thought of them at all) and maybe, if it's a beloved show with beloved characters, that it's changing their mind and helping them see things in a new way? (Guiding Light or lhdp for example)? Or, just the joy of seeing skilled actors playing something I can relate to, for me to see parts of myself in, when we are so inundated with hetero storylines everyday? (not that there aren't parts of any love story that I can't help but relate to, some things are universal)? How can I not love that? Plus...pretty ladies kissing...well, what's not to love about that? (Hellooooo Lost Girl) (Yes, I am shallow, I admit it).
But...subtext is...subtext. It's been part of my online fandom life for - really - longer than I care to admit. I love the way that it sparks peoples imaginations, and allows people to take little moments on screen and create wonderful moments online. Plus, way back in the mists of time when I developed my very first ship, before I even knew what shipping was, it was, dare I say it, fun to look out for. And helped me to recognize what I was looking for myself. Subtext was a means for a lot of people to see things that they wished they were seeing on screen, when there really wasn't a lot of anything to be seen on screen. It was a bit of a psychological balm for many people, I suspect. And I was probably one of them. To have the freedom to project ones feelings onto ones favourite characters; to be able to believe for even a second that maybe, just maybe, they were like you? Well, the benefit for many people could have been very great. But then there's always the other side; I'm not suggesting subtext was purely a psychological exercise by a marginalised group of people who were looking for reflections of themselves. Subtext is subtext. Chemistry is chemistry. Wherever people interact other people will disect their actions through their own filters of perception. It just is. Plus, and I cannot stress this enough, reading reams of fic about hot ladies kissing is just plain fun. And this was meant to be a one line answer ("I like them both")
3) Were you good at school?
...Ehhhhyes? No? Yesno? Tough question. If you mean was I good at the act of arriving at school and learning...the answer is sort of. I was good at the learning part. I loved English, drama, religious education, history, art and was ok with physical education, depending on the sport. Basically the talky, arty stuff. The logical, science-y stuff? Not so much. Maths, I struggled with (but I've come to realise that was probably to do with four years with a teacher of the 'Here is your text book and ask me no questions' variety), and science was my nemesis. Geography and I were not really on speaking terms, either. But yes, English and RE were probably my best subjects. The turning up part? Werrrll. I suffered from an afflicition I like to call 'terminal lateness', which in latter years turned into 'terminal lateness with the occasional symptom of not turning up at all'. Like an awful lot of people, I do wish I'd tried a little harder in school. But I'm learning again now, and grateful for the opportunity.
Was I well behaved in school? Another tough question. I wanted to be. I wanted so much to be, absolutely. I felt /so proud/ when a teacher gave me praise. But being an overweight girl who liked star trek, wore boys shoes and had the most ridiculously dorky sense of humour, I realised that being popular with teachers was really the very last nail in my popularity coffin. I was really, really lucky that - despite being bullied in school, quite a lot - I met my then and still now best friend in my third year, and being friends with an older boy raised my cachet (right word?) somewhat (although I learned it wasn't really cool to wave like a dork at him at school). Then I met my then very good friend Gemma by being picked to show her around when she transferred (I got picked to do this a lot), and she was so achingly cool that being friends with her made me sort of cool by association. She, for some reason, stayed friends with me even after realising how low down on the totem pole I really was, and I used to sometimes sit with the cool kids, smoking (yes, I smoked in school - it was like a badge of coolness). Sometimes I feel like I learned all the tropes used in high school shows all at once lol. I managed to walk a thin line between having my geeky friends, and being somewhat accepted by the cool crowd. This was also helped by the fact that Chris's best friend at the time was in my year, and was very handsome and popular, and people used to see the three of us walking home together all the time (we used to hang out every single night, talking star trek, smoking, and running around in the woods). I could go on, but I feel like I shouldn't lol.
4) Do you follow politics?
I have to say my knowledge of politics is much more firmly rooted in the grassroots levels than anywhere else. I know how the county council is affecting our parish council, as I'm a little involved with that now and again, and how this affects the area in which I live. I have a basic grasp of what's going on at a national level, and I try to keep it opinion free, but that's very difficult when a lot of the talk in the pubs and clubs (and shops and streets) is of the 'Why are they doing x?' 'Have you heard they're trying to bring in x policy? Bloody idiots' 'When they do z they'll be ruining our x!' and so on, and all of it filtered through the distorted filters of the media and prejudice. I try to bone up on it all before elections, but to be honest, I do run out of the will to care when I have so many things to do here and now. Does that sound awful? No, I know it does. Ok, I'll put it another way. If I could break into the prime ministers office and read documents first hand, and be a fly on the wall and see what people really talk about in parliment, then I would feel like I could talk about politics, because I would know exactly what was happening from the source. Otherwise, I am slightly suspicious, because I am not sure what has happened to the information I hear before I hear it.
5) How old were you when you had your first kiss?
Oh. Well. This question made me laugh out loud when I first read it. Hm. Ok. I was...14, I think. No, 13!...14...I'll go with 14. Yeah. And we used to hang out with some terrible people. Awful. The kind of people who, I kid not, are all in jail now, or have been in the last two years. And there was this family - lets call them the Joneses. They were well known, - even at 14, 13 and 10, as the brothers were then - for being absolute nightmares. Stealing, drinking, smoking, fighting nightmares. But, in the subjective way one views things through the hazy filter of memory, I can say that I never remember them being anything other than nice to me. I think I was like a little mascot. They were actually kind of protective of me. Anyway. I kissed the eldest Jones when we wlaking between our two villages, via some fields. Between the villages was a sewage plant, and it was as we were passing this that I kissed him. Or he kissed me. I'm a little hazy. We were with some other friends, I think. Anyway. He told me that - I kid you not - I kissed like a goldfish. For /years/, /YEARS/, I was paranoid about how I kissed. Even now I still get a little nervous (although I'm pretty sure I'm better at it now :D)
6) What was your first fandom?
We're not including the Redwall series of books right? Because I was /insane/ for them when I was a kid. But no. Going back to the subtext/maintext question: my first ship was Talia/Susan, and my first fandom was Babylon 5. It was a fandom of one. Me. This was before we had the internet. But I really, really made that fandom of one work. But no, lol. My first proper internet fandom, and actually the reason I know everyone I know online now, was ST:V. (T/7 all the way baby!). I joined a yahoo mail group, starting writing (terrible, completely off-the-wall) fic...and I was lost. What was yours?
7) What's the most embarrassing CD you own?
Ooo, tough one. I love so much music that I don't find things embarrassing. My friends are used to the fact that if I pull up in my car, I'm just as likely to be pumping out the Dolly Parton as I am the Biffy Clyro, the Shakira, the Black Keys, or the Joan Jett. My most embarrassing CD probably depends on who you ask. Chris will say the compilation of musical numbers that I made from the other musical cds that I own (if I ever stop getting the compulsion to sing 'The Wizard and I' in the shower, then I have clearly been replaced by a pod person (actually, I'm wrong. Chris would say Kelly Clarkson). ) Ummm...oh, no, I totally know this actually! LOL. How could I forget that I own a copy of 2 Live Crew's 'As Nasty As They Wanna Be', which includes such classics as 'Me So Horny', 'The F**k Shop', and 'If You Believe in Having Sex'. I own it for sentimental reasons. I know none of the songs. And I will not rap them in the pub...say, last Saturday night...for comedy value...I swear...