Boredom leads to memes.
It's true. Look at this.
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will post the answers to the questions (and the questions themselves) on your blog or journal.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5.When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them fivequestions. And thus the endless cycle of the meme goes on and on and on and on ...
(I'm actually going to add to this--if anyone else wants to ask me five questions, then go ahead and throw them out there here, and all add them to this post. I am much too lazy to volley this thing back and forth.)
Asked redbrunja:
1.) Who is the woman in your icon?
Referring to this, I assume. And that is actually a guy. That's Tanda from Seirei no Moribito, which I think is available in the US as just Moribito. The relevence of the quote, aside from canon mixing which is awesome, referencing Wash, is that he's the love interest of... well, a warrior woman (see post icon). While he is, himself, a very peaceful guy, and a healer, who also serves more than a bit as her moral compass, which makes them a really awesome role reversal which is also very self-conscious, and acknowledges that he feels like the "wife," and it's uncomfortable for him. It's not really perfect, and it's pretty clear that it's not going to be, because the world they're in is sexist, but... well. It's how it's going to be.
If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. While the fight scenes are not copious, the ones that are there are beautiful, and Balsa is in... pretty much all of them excluding the two episodes of flashbacks to her male mentor.
It's also worth mentioning that Tanda's mentor is a badass old shaman woman who heals less than him and spends more time messing around in the spirit world and such.
A lot of the anime's plot does center around the coming of age of a prince who Balsa is protecting, and while I still enjoyed those episodes in the middle, I know a lot of people found them pretty slow. I still found Balsa's style of nurturing pretty interesting. She's not exactly a Uterus of Justice.
2.) How can a commercial be so awesome?
And referring to this.
I would say the short answer is that, my god, the world really must be changing if this is a commercial, since commercials are not generally on what you'd call the cutting edge of social consciousness. Obviously, at least in some countries, the idea of tolerance is marketable enough itself to market other things. For me, personally, I'd say it's awesome because it shows a trans woman in a very sympathetic, non-sexualized light, which is pretty damn cool considering that they're a group of people who mostly just appear in the media for comedy, because they're dead, or portrayed as sexual deviants and/or sex workers (while trans men generally... just don't appear at all--but that's whole other rant, and we're focusing on the awesome now). This is just one little point, but if we could get lots and lots of these, then... that's really something that could change the way we look at people who defy norms, isn't it?
3.) How did the whole gender-switched drabbles start?
Good question. I'm not sure I remember precisely the train of thought that led to it. I was thinking about doing a drabble meme because I was bored. And I was playing with the idea of genderswitching a character, because this is something relevent to my interests. The two trains of thought collided in a fiery mess, and I came up with the universe premise in just a few minutes. Which is probably why it is the way it is, but Saro's rule of fanfiction is that she doesn't have to take the laws of science any more seriously than the source material does. Which means in something like Naruto, they're out the window. Particularly if you count the filler.
4.) What are your thoughts on Neji/Hinata?
I haven't really had many of them for a while now. Some of my friends used to be into it, and I can see why. I can see some potential in the ship. I just can't seem to get into it, and I really don't like the tendency I saw in the fic completely change one character or the other--either manning Neji up so suddenly he's some kind of macho smooth operator or sexual predator almost, or turning Hinata into some kind of violently Tsundere action girl. I can understand exploring things in fiction, and if people want Hinata to take a level in badass, and explore that, I can see the appeal, but most people (back in the day when I was trying to get into the pairing), seemed to do that at the cost of being IC, and without really considering the things that have held her back so far. I'm not into Hinata, Neji, or both just magically waking up on day with a personality transplant.
I'm sure there is better fic out there, and I have seen some of it, but I couldn't make myself get through the poorly done stuff to get to the good stuff. These days, I think I actually prefer them platonic. Their relationship still has a lot of potential, and both of them have a lot of room to grow. I like really flawed characters, so low self-esteem, doubt and fears (which could apply to either of them, I think, if in different ways) make them interesting, and open up a lot of ways for them to develop past some of that together. Which would hopefully, yes, involve Hinata becoming a more formidable person (I'd really love to see how she could grow into a strong leader for her clan), or Neji becoming a more expressive person, but not to the point they're unrecognizable and, you know, not skipping the transition.
Ways in which fic is like math:
Show your damn work.
Who knows? You might get partial credit.
5.) Are you working? In school? Give me a thumbnails sketch of your real life, if you wouldn't mind.
At the moment, I'm a bum. I'm looking for a job, and I'm transferring schools, and I didn't get my transfer stuff worked out in time, so I'm not taking classes this quarter. The short version goes something like...
Saro gets out of high school; has no idea what to do with her life, so takes a variety of classes at community college while looking for work.
Saro finds work; still has no idea what to do with her life, so quits college to think about it for a while, and work more hours.
Saro works a couple of years in a crappy, crappy night job, for a sexist, spineless idiot of a boss, taking on more and more responsibility, without ever seeing any rewards or even consideration for it, while male coworkers who are hired start out making more money, and proceed to be rewarded with raises and promotions for things like calling in drunk to work. Saro eventually gets fed up with boss, work politics, and general stupidity, and walks off the job. Last words to boss: "This isn't worth it."
Saro discovers that walking off your job doesn't exactly make you a hot commodity (BUT HAS NO REGRETS THAT SHE DID); works temp jobs, odd jobs for family, and lives off unemployment and savings during the next couple of years. Luckily, is an awesome manager of money, so despite working a crap job with no raises, has healthy savings.
Saro eventually decides to screw all those people who told her that an English degree was worthless; it couldn't be harder to find work with that than with no degree, so Saro goes back to school as an English major. Some of her old credits count. Many don't specifically anymore, or never did, so she has about a metric shit ton too many elective credits, and not really all that many required credits. orz
Saro works along at a good pace; throws out that pace last spring to take a quarter abroad in Paris; only got three required credits out of the deal. Had student pass to the Louvre. (NO REGRETS.) Also got to visit a couple of long term online friends, including one in Tunisia. Three continents!
Saro comes home, is now ENTIRELY BROKE. And in debt. And off schedule for school, but oh well, I'm already way into nontraditional anyway.
Which brings us up to present, where I'm looking for a job, transferring to a new school, and generally happy with my life until I realize I'll be twenty-seven in exactly one week, unemployed, bumming on my parents, and no degree. Yet. At this rate... well. I should graduate around the time I'm thirty. orz
Also, writing goes throughout that, and submitting a few short stories and stuff places, but nothing that's lead to anything better than some really nice rejection letters. Seriously. People tell me they don't want my stuff so politely, it's almost amazing.
So basically, I could just say I fail at life. But normally I have a pretty good time doing it.
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will post the answers to the questions (and the questions themselves) on your blog or journal.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5.When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them fivequestions. And thus the endless cycle of the meme goes on and on and on and on ...
(I'm actually going to add to this--if anyone else wants to ask me five questions, then go ahead and throw them out there here, and all add them to this post. I am much too lazy to volley this thing back and forth.)
Asked redbrunja:
1.) Who is the woman in your icon?
Referring to this, I assume. And that is actually a guy. That's Tanda from Seirei no Moribito, which I think is available in the US as just Moribito. The relevence of the quote, aside from canon mixing which is awesome, referencing Wash, is that he's the love interest of... well, a warrior woman (see post icon). While he is, himself, a very peaceful guy, and a healer, who also serves more than a bit as her moral compass, which makes them a really awesome role reversal which is also very self-conscious, and acknowledges that he feels like the "wife," and it's uncomfortable for him. It's not really perfect, and it's pretty clear that it's not going to be, because the world they're in is sexist, but... well. It's how it's going to be.
If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. While the fight scenes are not copious, the ones that are there are beautiful, and Balsa is in... pretty much all of them excluding the two episodes of flashbacks to her male mentor.
It's also worth mentioning that Tanda's mentor is a badass old shaman woman who heals less than him and spends more time messing around in the spirit world and such.
A lot of the anime's plot does center around the coming of age of a prince who Balsa is protecting, and while I still enjoyed those episodes in the middle, I know a lot of people found them pretty slow. I still found Balsa's style of nurturing pretty interesting. She's not exactly a Uterus of Justice.
2.) How can a commercial be so awesome?
And referring to this.
I would say the short answer is that, my god, the world really must be changing if this is a commercial, since commercials are not generally on what you'd call the cutting edge of social consciousness. Obviously, at least in some countries, the idea of tolerance is marketable enough itself to market other things. For me, personally, I'd say it's awesome because it shows a trans woman in a very sympathetic, non-sexualized light, which is pretty damn cool considering that they're a group of people who mostly just appear in the media for comedy, because they're dead, or portrayed as sexual deviants and/or sex workers (while trans men generally... just don't appear at all--but that's whole other rant, and we're focusing on the awesome now). This is just one little point, but if we could get lots and lots of these, then... that's really something that could change the way we look at people who defy norms, isn't it?
3.) How did the whole gender-switched drabbles start?
Good question. I'm not sure I remember precisely the train of thought that led to it. I was thinking about doing a drabble meme because I was bored. And I was playing with the idea of genderswitching a character, because this is something relevent to my interests. The two trains of thought collided in a fiery mess, and I came up with the universe premise in just a few minutes. Which is probably why it is the way it is, but Saro's rule of fanfiction is that she doesn't have to take the laws of science any more seriously than the source material does. Which means in something like Naruto, they're out the window. Particularly if you count the filler.
4.) What are your thoughts on Neji/Hinata?
I haven't really had many of them for a while now. Some of my friends used to be into it, and I can see why. I can see some potential in the ship. I just can't seem to get into it, and I really don't like the tendency I saw in the fic completely change one character or the other--either manning Neji up so suddenly he's some kind of macho smooth operator or sexual predator almost, or turning Hinata into some kind of violently Tsundere action girl. I can understand exploring things in fiction, and if people want Hinata to take a level in badass, and explore that, I can see the appeal, but most people (back in the day when I was trying to get into the pairing), seemed to do that at the cost of being IC, and without really considering the things that have held her back so far. I'm not into Hinata, Neji, or both just magically waking up on day with a personality transplant.
I'm sure there is better fic out there, and I have seen some of it, but I couldn't make myself get through the poorly done stuff to get to the good stuff. These days, I think I actually prefer them platonic. Their relationship still has a lot of potential, and both of them have a lot of room to grow. I like really flawed characters, so low self-esteem, doubt and fears (which could apply to either of them, I think, if in different ways) make them interesting, and open up a lot of ways for them to develop past some of that together. Which would hopefully, yes, involve Hinata becoming a more formidable person (I'd really love to see how she could grow into a strong leader for her clan), or Neji becoming a more expressive person, but not to the point they're unrecognizable and, you know, not skipping the transition.
Ways in which fic is like math:
Show your damn work.
Who knows? You might get partial credit.
5.) Are you working? In school? Give me a thumbnails sketch of your real life, if you wouldn't mind.
At the moment, I'm a bum. I'm looking for a job, and I'm transferring schools, and I didn't get my transfer stuff worked out in time, so I'm not taking classes this quarter. The short version goes something like...
Saro gets out of high school; has no idea what to do with her life, so takes a variety of classes at community college while looking for work.
Saro finds work; still has no idea what to do with her life, so quits college to think about it for a while, and work more hours.
Saro works a couple of years in a crappy, crappy night job, for a sexist, spineless idiot of a boss, taking on more and more responsibility, without ever seeing any rewards or even consideration for it, while male coworkers who are hired start out making more money, and proceed to be rewarded with raises and promotions for things like calling in drunk to work. Saro eventually gets fed up with boss, work politics, and general stupidity, and walks off the job. Last words to boss: "This isn't worth it."
Saro discovers that walking off your job doesn't exactly make you a hot commodity (BUT HAS NO REGRETS THAT SHE DID); works temp jobs, odd jobs for family, and lives off unemployment and savings during the next couple of years. Luckily, is an awesome manager of money, so despite working a crap job with no raises, has healthy savings.
Saro eventually decides to screw all those people who told her that an English degree was worthless; it couldn't be harder to find work with that than with no degree, so Saro goes back to school as an English major. Some of her old credits count. Many don't specifically anymore, or never did, so she has about a metric shit ton too many elective credits, and not really all that many required credits. orz
Saro works along at a good pace; throws out that pace last spring to take a quarter abroad in Paris; only got three required credits out of the deal. Had student pass to the Louvre. (NO REGRETS.) Also got to visit a couple of long term online friends, including one in Tunisia. Three continents!
Saro comes home, is now ENTIRELY BROKE. And in debt. And off schedule for school, but oh well, I'm already way into nontraditional anyway.
Which brings us up to present, where I'm looking for a job, transferring to a new school, and generally happy with my life until I realize I'll be twenty-seven in exactly one week, unemployed, bumming on my parents, and no degree. Yet. At this rate... well. I should graduate around the time I'm thirty. orz
Also, writing goes throughout that, and submitting a few short stories and stuff places, but nothing that's lead to anything better than some really nice rejection letters. Seriously. People tell me they don't want my stuff so politely, it's almost amazing.
So basically, I could just say I fail at life. But normally I have a pretty good time doing it.