7 Questions!
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.
Via the lovely huskyteer I have the following questions to answer for you
If you were a wereanimal, werewhat would you be?
I'd like to say rabbit for obvious reasons but I know, in my heart of hearts, it's much more likely that I'd be a werecat. Not something big and awesome like a panther or jaguar - just a humble domestic cat who would sleep through the majority of the full moon period.
I'd not be too much of a burden on society, at least, but it's also unlikely that I'd get into any exciting shenanigans with other supernatural creatures either. They'd be all "Jen! The ghosts are trying to start a war with the vampires!" and I'd be all "*yawn* Meh. Get back to me when it's not the full moon."
The internet is for _______? PORN
*cough* For me I think the internet is for conversation/interaction. Despite how incredibly smooth I was in the general direction of Messr. Menzies (see previous post) I am generally not brilliant at initiating conversation with people I don't know very well.
But on the internet? Well, okay, I still lurk a lot, that is true. It's only recently I've started just biting the bullet and friending people who I want to read. Colour me surprised when sometimes they friend me back!
That aside, though, I find it so much easier to converse on the screen than in the world. For one: my peculiar mix of wordiness and vaguely "ironic" youthspeak is more amusing in print than pouring out of my mouth. For another: I can think about things and, although I've become better at this over the years, that really helps me talk to people.
I suppose it's better to say that the internet is for friends - because that's what it often means for me. From the Talesians (who number amongst some of my closest friends in the world) through to the folk I met in Cardiff through those I've met in a variety of fandoms and those that I've stumbled upon (or have stumbled upon me) completely by accident the internet has ensured that I have a significantly higher amount of good friends now than at any other point in my life.
So. Yes. The internet is for friends.
What turns you into a fan of something rather than just liking it?
This is a good question! I think it's a number of things, really, which I shall try to enumerate.
1. If it's a visual media (TV, Film etc) it's likely that featuring an actor I adore (or introducing me to a new actor to adore) will increase the likelihood of me becoming a fan. A good example of this is Eternal Law - achieving a critical mass by having both Sam West and Tobias Menzies in it.
Secondary to this is plot and character etc - which probably sounds terrible. It's something to do with my current problems with concentration, I think, which is something my depression has given to me that I never had before. I'm much more likely to concentrate on anything, even if it's terrible (2 Broke Girls, I'm looking at you) if there's someone in there I love (Kat Dennings, in that case).
2. If we're talking print (books, comics etc) it becomes a little more complicated:
a) Character. If I can't find a character to love it's unlikely I'll stick with your book (EMILY BRONTE, I'M LOOKING AT YOU). Characters who I want to be or want to be with/near = instant fannishness.
b) Art. In the case of comics I will forgive bad story for tremendous art. Currently, as folks on Tumblr will be aware, I'm pretty much at the point where I will read anything if Phil Noto does the art. Luckily for me he often works with some of the best writers in the business so it's good.
c) Story. Grip me, fascinate me, lure me in. It doesn't even have to be original (but I do love original) as long as it's interesting. Book series that have won my heart in the past decade include, but are not limited to: Skulduggery Pleasant, Space Captain Smith, Peter Grant mysteries (for want of a better name), the Matthew Swift books, The Hunger Games, the Aberystwyth books. The list is endless. Oh, obviously: anything written by Peter S Beagle I can get my hands because of:
d) The writing style. Turn a phrase so beautifully that I shout "FUCK YOU, I MIGHT AS WELL GIVE UP" and I am yours forever.
E-publishing
Oh, nice! I am not against e-publishing! I think that anything that relaxes the grip of the publishing giants is a good thing.
I think I can also talk a little about things like the Kindle under this too. I'm all for it because people will never not want books. It's that simple. (And, money-wise, there's a lot of people in this world that will likely never be able to afford e-readers of any kind.) SO when people wail and gnash their teeth about the so-called death of books I just shake my head.
Marsupials
Some of my favourite animals are marsupials! Despite growing up in a country where this peculiar little subset of animal is prolific I've never gotten over how awesome I find them. They're also cute as all get out.
(Well - except for the part where a Big Red could kick you to death as soon as look at you. And the bit where a wild Koala would probably claw your face off given half the chance. And, good Gods! don't get me started on the Drop Bears.)
First story you remember writing
I believe it was something about the Easter Bunny. Oh, wait, no! That was a song! No, so the first story I wrote was probably something drawing on Dreamtime stories when learning about Aboriginal stuff in class. (Heh, apparently I've always had my thing about fracturing old stories and making something new.) That's my first conscious memory of writing a story - probably somewhere around Year 2/3.
The first story I wrote after I made the conscious decision that I was going to be a writer was called Jenna O'Wurr: The Bow. I convinced my English teacher in Year 8 (or 9) that instead of doing the journal project we were meant to do (because nothing happened in my life) I should write a story in instalments instead. It was about, well, an archer called Jenna (thinly-veiled self-insert for my own story long before I'd heard of Mary Sue) and her talking wolf sidekick (sort of borrowed from The Dragon & The George) and her friend Martin (not at all based on Martin Longbow from Magician) and her teacher Daffyd (also sort of based on someone from The Dragon & The George) and various shenanigans they got up to.
It is. Not great. I actually have it open right now and I was going to post some quotes but it's just entirely too embarrassing. I'm also laughing at myself a little because when I was writing it I thought it was sooooo long and it's around about ~8300 words in actuality. Oh, past!Jen, you're so adorable. *smush*
The perfect hat
Hnng. This is not an easy question to answer!
I love a fedora. I really do. I have a fantastic fedora, pinstriped with a skull & crossbones on the side, which I bought many years ago and remains my go-to. First hat I bought that wasn't a baseball cap and, even though I now have around 10 trilby/fedora and otherwise hats, still the one I wear most often. It has survived nearly being left on a train at Birmingham New Street and the often windy Whitley Bay weather. To me it is perfect, I guess.
I do love looking at the extraordinary confections that women have worn over the years as well. I could wear them easily enough (my mother says I have a head for hats) but, sadly, these days it simply isn't the fashion. I generally profess most of my ladies!hat love in the direction of those worn in the early stages of the 20th century. Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey are like hat catnip for me.
Basically a hat has to make me feel cool. As a person of nervous disposition I often choose clothes and the like in a fashion akin to armouring myself: Chucks, cords, geeky t-shirts, pinstripes, fitted shirts that catch the flare of my hips, hats. I used to say, fairly regularly, that hats are like masks for heads - the hat you wear can often find within you aspects of your personality that you have difficult expressing*. My hats make me feel cool, mostly, which is something I very rarely feel without them.
I think, though, in the end I will always be happiest under a fedora. I tip it to people when they say hello to me in the street and it invites comment from the sort of people that enjoy just randomly shouting at people from car windows. Swings and roundabouts, in the end, but that's my favourite thing about hats.
One of the strongest wishes I have is that hats would come back into fashion for everyone. Which is why Tobias and his bloody hat knocked me so sideways the other week. Perfect bastard.
*Which is perhaps best exemplified by this Looney Tunes classic.
Oh, that was very rambly. Funtimes!
This entry was originally posted at http://jennova.dreamwidth.org/6556.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Via the lovely huskyteer I have the following questions to answer for you
If you were a wereanimal, werewhat would you be?
I'd like to say rabbit for obvious reasons but I know, in my heart of hearts, it's much more likely that I'd be a werecat. Not something big and awesome like a panther or jaguar - just a humble domestic cat who would sleep through the majority of the full moon period.
I'd not be too much of a burden on society, at least, but it's also unlikely that I'd get into any exciting shenanigans with other supernatural creatures either. They'd be all "Jen! The ghosts are trying to start a war with the vampires!" and I'd be all "*yawn* Meh. Get back to me when it's not the full moon."
The internet is for _______? PORN
*cough* For me I think the internet is for conversation/interaction. Despite how incredibly smooth I was in the general direction of Messr. Menzies (see previous post) I am generally not brilliant at initiating conversation with people I don't know very well.
But on the internet? Well, okay, I still lurk a lot, that is true. It's only recently I've started just biting the bullet and friending people who I want to read. Colour me surprised when sometimes they friend me back!
That aside, though, I find it so much easier to converse on the screen than in the world. For one: my peculiar mix of wordiness and vaguely "ironic" youthspeak is more amusing in print than pouring out of my mouth. For another: I can think about things and, although I've become better at this over the years, that really helps me talk to people.
I suppose it's better to say that the internet is for friends - because that's what it often means for me. From the Talesians (who number amongst some of my closest friends in the world) through to the folk I met in Cardiff through those I've met in a variety of fandoms and those that I've stumbled upon (or have stumbled upon me) completely by accident the internet has ensured that I have a significantly higher amount of good friends now than at any other point in my life.
So. Yes. The internet is for friends.
What turns you into a fan of something rather than just liking it?
This is a good question! I think it's a number of things, really, which I shall try to enumerate.
1. If it's a visual media (TV, Film etc) it's likely that featuring an actor I adore (or introducing me to a new actor to adore) will increase the likelihood of me becoming a fan. A good example of this is Eternal Law - achieving a critical mass by having both Sam West and Tobias Menzies in it.
Secondary to this is plot and character etc - which probably sounds terrible. It's something to do with my current problems with concentration, I think, which is something my depression has given to me that I never had before. I'm much more likely to concentrate on anything, even if it's terrible (2 Broke Girls, I'm looking at you) if there's someone in there I love (Kat Dennings, in that case).
2. If we're talking print (books, comics etc) it becomes a little more complicated:
a) Character. If I can't find a character to love it's unlikely I'll stick with your book (EMILY BRONTE, I'M LOOKING AT YOU). Characters who I want to be or want to be with/near = instant fannishness.
b) Art. In the case of comics I will forgive bad story for tremendous art. Currently, as folks on Tumblr will be aware, I'm pretty much at the point where I will read anything if Phil Noto does the art. Luckily for me he often works with some of the best writers in the business so it's good.
c) Story. Grip me, fascinate me, lure me in. It doesn't even have to be original (but I do love original) as long as it's interesting. Book series that have won my heart in the past decade include, but are not limited to: Skulduggery Pleasant, Space Captain Smith, Peter Grant mysteries (for want of a better name), the Matthew Swift books, The Hunger Games, the Aberystwyth books. The list is endless. Oh, obviously: anything written by Peter S Beagle I can get my hands because of:
d) The writing style. Turn a phrase so beautifully that I shout "FUCK YOU, I MIGHT AS WELL GIVE UP" and I am yours forever.
E-publishing
Oh, nice! I am not against e-publishing! I think that anything that relaxes the grip of the publishing giants is a good thing.
I think I can also talk a little about things like the Kindle under this too. I'm all for it because people will never not want books. It's that simple. (And, money-wise, there's a lot of people in this world that will likely never be able to afford e-readers of any kind.) SO when people wail and gnash their teeth about the so-called death of books I just shake my head.
Marsupials
Some of my favourite animals are marsupials! Despite growing up in a country where this peculiar little subset of animal is prolific I've never gotten over how awesome I find them. They're also cute as all get out.
(Well - except for the part where a Big Red could kick you to death as soon as look at you. And the bit where a wild Koala would probably claw your face off given half the chance. And, good Gods! don't get me started on the Drop Bears.)
First story you remember writing
I believe it was something about the Easter Bunny. Oh, wait, no! That was a song! No, so the first story I wrote was probably something drawing on Dreamtime stories when learning about Aboriginal stuff in class. (Heh, apparently I've always had my thing about fracturing old stories and making something new.) That's my first conscious memory of writing a story - probably somewhere around Year 2/3.
The first story I wrote after I made the conscious decision that I was going to be a writer was called Jenna O'Wurr: The Bow. I convinced my English teacher in Year 8 (or 9) that instead of doing the journal project we were meant to do (because nothing happened in my life) I should write a story in instalments instead. It was about, well, an archer called Jenna (thinly-veiled self-insert for my own story long before I'd heard of Mary Sue) and her talking wolf sidekick (sort of borrowed from The Dragon & The George) and her friend Martin (not at all based on Martin Longbow from Magician) and her teacher Daffyd (also sort of based on someone from The Dragon & The George) and various shenanigans they got up to.
It is. Not great. I actually have it open right now and I was going to post some quotes but it's just entirely too embarrassing. I'm also laughing at myself a little because when I was writing it I thought it was sooooo long and it's around about ~8300 words in actuality. Oh, past!Jen, you're so adorable. *smush*
The perfect hat
Hnng. This is not an easy question to answer!
I love a fedora. I really do. I have a fantastic fedora, pinstriped with a skull & crossbones on the side, which I bought many years ago and remains my go-to. First hat I bought that wasn't a baseball cap and, even though I now have around 10 trilby/fedora and otherwise hats, still the one I wear most often. It has survived nearly being left on a train at Birmingham New Street and the often windy Whitley Bay weather. To me it is perfect, I guess.
I do love looking at the extraordinary confections that women have worn over the years as well. I could wear them easily enough (my mother says I have a head for hats) but, sadly, these days it simply isn't the fashion. I generally profess most of my ladies!hat love in the direction of those worn in the early stages of the 20th century. Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey are like hat catnip for me.
Basically a hat has to make me feel cool. As a person of nervous disposition I often choose clothes and the like in a fashion akin to armouring myself: Chucks, cords, geeky t-shirts, pinstripes, fitted shirts that catch the flare of my hips, hats. I used to say, fairly regularly, that hats are like masks for heads - the hat you wear can often find within you aspects of your personality that you have difficult expressing*. My hats make me feel cool, mostly, which is something I very rarely feel without them.
I think, though, in the end I will always be happiest under a fedora. I tip it to people when they say hello to me in the street and it invites comment from the sort of people that enjoy just randomly shouting at people from car windows. Swings and roundabouts, in the end, but that's my favourite thing about hats.
One of the strongest wishes I have is that hats would come back into fashion for everyone. Which is why Tobias and his bloody hat knocked me so sideways the other week. Perfect bastard.
*Which is perhaps best exemplified by this Looney Tunes classic.
Oh, that was very rambly. Funtimes!
This entry was originally posted at http://jennova.dreamwidth.org/6556.html. Please comment there using OpenID.