Getting to Know You & Me

[kmo]

A questions meme!

-Comment with "What is a week-end?"
-I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better.
-Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
-Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions. (If you want. Totally optional.)

Questions provided by netgirl_y2k


1) If you could pick one ASOIAF character to make it to the end of the series unscathed who would you choose to protect?

As much as Arya is my favorite and the only character who hasn't made me shake my fists in frustration at this point, I'm not sure my little assassin deserves to make it through unscathed. Plus, she's a wily little thing and can probably take care of herself. So, I would choose to protect Brienne at this point, because girlfriend is too effing noble for her own good (still) and has been through enough shit already. And as much as Westeros is a crapsack amoral place, I do feel her constant choice to try to do the right thing should be rewarded somehow. Even if it just means she goes back to Tarth and becomes some kind of sword-slinging cat lady.

2. What's the fandom, trope, or pairing that you least understand the appeal of?

I really don't understand a/b/o, where it came from, and why it's so popular right now. Which is not to knock any of my friends who like a/b/o- to borrow a page from Dan Savage, "Your Kink Is Not My Kink But Your Kink Is Okay." I think part of my reaction is that it also involves mpreg, which is another trope that i just don't get. And possibly the boundary blurring between human and animal characteristics is just not for me. But to each their own.

I wish we could make the sort of genderqueer opposite of mpreg happen- growing a kid in a vat. I am totally okay with separating sexuality and reproduction. I like children (still undecided if i want them...) but am very ambivalent about the whole messy biological pregnancy stuff. Just goes to show that one person's Orwellian dystopia is this woman's fantasy.

3. If you could only have five books to read over and over again for the rest of your life, what would you pick?

Oooh this is tough. But I will go with:

1) Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey- to get my porn/awesome female characters/adventure fix

2) Catch-22, Joseph Heller- my favorite work of "serious" literary fiction. it's pretty complex and has a lot of layers- it would be fun to re-read

3) The Unredeemed Captive, John Demos- i'm a historian and this is my favorite history book. it's kind of cliche in academic circles to say you like this book but haters gonna hate. It's about a young girl living in frontier Massachusetts in the mid 18th century who gets abducted during an Indian raid and spends the rest of her life as a Mohawk, despite her Puritan family trying to ransom her. it's fascinating and very well written. Actually very accessible to non-historians- it won a National Book Award.

4) Wise Child, Monica Furlong- this is a childhood fave. Orphaned girl gets adopted by the local witch in medieval Scotland. feminist pagany goodness! I still want Juniper to adopt me. If I ever become a parent, I also want to be as awesome as Juniper.

5) Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman- something i haven't read all of! because at least one thing on this list should be something kinda new. and if i'm stuck with only 5 books, i want something- like poetry- that i might not get the meaning of right away.

4. Do you have any interesting or unusual phobias?

I really, really hate roller coasters. Just the sight of one makes me feel panicky. Whenever I go on one, I close my eyes and wait for it to be over....which is kind of like lying back and thinking of England. Yeah. Combines my fear of heights with issues about control. I don't find them fun at all. My partner loves them- this is not one of those things we share as a couple.

5. What's your ideal fic, the one you wish you could bring into being just with the power of your mind?


I keep hoping someone someday (maybe me) is going to write that fic where Carmen Sandiego is a fobwatched Time Lady and goes off to drive the Doctor nuts/inflame him with lust.

I also really want a fic where Sarah O'Brien inherits a ton of money and gets elevated to the aristocracy and...it's actually really hard and confusing for her. She's spent her entire life scheming and plotting and feeling resentful about her lot in life- who does she become when that identity is taken away? And everyone at Downton is all resentful and flabbergasted because "Oh noes, how could something so wonderful happen to someone so mean?"

Comments

[spuffyduds]

What IS a weekend?!?

[kmo]

Spuffy, i forget you are not a downton abbey fan! this is one of the Dowager Countess' most famous one-liners. and kind of appropriate for me because my weekdays look a lot like other people's weekends and vice versa.

the quote in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhfpBW-nUWk

did you want questions, btw?

[spuffyduds]

I am not a fan YET--doubtless that will change!

And yes, questions!

[kmo]

1) Who is your current fictional crush?

2) What are three book or tv series you wish more people were fannish about?

3) What is your favorite fairy tale?

4) What is the tv/book series of your dreams?

5) What's your spirit animal?

[likeadeuce]

Brienne of Tarth, sword-swinging cat lady is an AMAZING concept.

Also, thumbs up on the O'Brien idea.

You know what fic I'd like to exists? The one where, when Don & Betty Draper get divorced, she's like, "Fuck it, I never wanted kids anyway, you take them" and moves to Europe or something. Because (a) Betty's a terrible mom (tm) ANYWAY so she may as well be one from a distance and (b) Don's at his best as a parent, in a lot of ways, but it's always on the 'when I feel like doing it' terms. Does he just get a new wife SOONER and replicate the pattern or is he forced to actually make some choices about his life?

ETA: Oh yes. "What is a week-END"?

[kmo]

that's a great idea. and i loved the episode where Betty & Don went to Rome and you saw how glamorous and mysterious Betty could be outside of the house in Ossining and why Don might have fallen in love with her in the first place. and yeah, it would teach Don that of course it's so much easier to be Dad when you get to do it on your own terms. so yes, Betty goes to Europe and parties Italian gigolos is a great fic idea.

having recently rewatched s4 of the Wire, I am really hankering for a Game of Thrones/Wire cracky crossover. i think it would really work- Baltimore and Westeros have a lot in common! "There you go again, Brienne, givin' a fuck when it ain't your turn to give a fuck."

Your Questions:

1) What fictional character do you most identify with?

2) What is your favorite place you have ever visited or lived?

3) What is the trope/pairing/character you love but everyone else hates?

4) What is your usual Starbucks/coffeshop order?

5) If you could change anything about a favorite canon, what would you change?

[likeadeuce]

:) I should also finish 'Sally, Don and Peggy go to see 'the Wrath of Khan' b/c I do love that bunny.

And I love the 'Wire' comparison to GoT -- I don't think we've talked about this. -- I don't know when we would have -- but 'giving a fuck when it's not your turn to give a fuck' is one of my FAVORITE fictional (and real life) tropes and the way the Wire articulates that is why I think it's a more optimistic show than it generally gets credit for. Granted, that is NOT saying much, it is by no means an optimistic show, but it does leave open the possibility of small individual victories. Which I'm not sure whether ASOIAF will do or not -- are we headed for PURE rocks fall everyone dies or is some one going to escape?

Will ponder and get on the questions :)

[kmo]

i think there are some optimistic notes to The Wire for sure. and i totally agree- institutions might fail people but individual choices still matter, and perhaps matter even more in this context. there are some characters like Bubbles or Namond who are able to escape the cycle, even as others get dragged in. The last book is supposed to be called A Dream of Spring- so perhaps asoiaf will also end on a quasi hopeful note.

i think it was the fact that Aiden Gillen plays a scheming politico on both shows. though I think Littlefinger would be a much more effective mayor of Baltimore- not that he'd ever WANT to be. There's some interesting parallels in terms of characters. Can't you see Arya, child soldier, out bangin' on them corners? Omar and Jaqen H'ghar- "a man got to have a code."

[likeadeuce]

That is a super great idea, you are on to something.

I do love it when people call Gillen "Mayor Littlefinger."

Also, I spend a lot of time swearing at Tommy Carcetti, whereas Gillen actually makes it plausible that people get taken in by Littlefinger (which never really happens for me in the novel.) Both of which I think speak to Gillen's acting -- he is great to hate.

[kmo]

seriously i can't imagine Gillen playing a non-sleazeball character at this point. i'm really interested to see what he does in s3.

[chaila]

"There you go again, Brienne, givin' a fuck when it ain't your turn to give a fuck."

Ha, that made me laugh out loud!

Does that make Stringer and Avon Jaime and Cersei? Because...I kind of think it does.

[kmo]

can't you see The Bunk and Brienne as partners? they would be *so* awesome. and yes, Jaime=Stringer and Avon=Cersei in those totally co-dependent relationships.

you should check out this tumblr- it's not really that active anymore, but it's pretty funny!
http://asongoficeandwire.tumblr.com/

[chaila]

I had to look up a/b/o a few weeks ago, I think during fandom_stocking when someone said in their requests that that's what they mostly wrote. Somehow I had totally missed that as a thing and I don't really get it either. I mean, I'm biased because it seems constructed to entirely leave out women, and like the second thing I saw when I looked it up were people talking about how they loved it because it was free of gender politics in a way stories/canons with women can't be, so my introduction to it was probably not a fair one. (Not that I don't on some level *understand* what they mean...)

Can I just say...I ship Carmen/River Song so hard, despite the fact that I've still only seen a handful of Carmen eps. It's just too perfect. I prompted it for the porn battle, but so far no takers. :) BUT REALLY.

What is a week-end!

[kmo]

color me a complete cynic, but whenever someone says "devoid of gender politics" i roll my eyes. because somehow that almost always means the worst.gender.politics.ever- as in the complete exclusion and devaluation of female characters. and i guess i'm old fashioned, but the idea of people taking on animal characteristics is just not sexy to me.

the Carmen/River porn battle prompt was YOU? *tips hat* oh girl, i wish i had more time right now because they were TOTALLY MADE FOR EACH OTHER.

Your Questions:

1) What was the your first fandom?

2) What's your favorite character archetype?

3) What's your go to take out order?

4) What's your favorite guilty pleasure?

5) What's your dream tv series?

[chaila]

I'm copping out and answering these here, as I have been rather posty lately. :)

1. I think I'd have to say Battlestar Galactica. I had light brushes with fandom before--looking up TWOP episode reviews for The West Wing, or reading message boards for things I can no longer remember, but never in any sustained way and never participating--but it wasn't until BSG that I started really paying attention and felt the need to get a journal and actually talk to other people. And then VID. Um, a lot.

2. Morally ambiguous ice queens? Is that an archetype? That should be an archetype? By which I mean, the remote, possibly-or-outright evil, feelings-averse lady with power, the Attolias, the Patty Heweses. Either that, or the reluctant savior, if she's a woman, who feels a duty because of circumstance or "prophecy" or whatever to save the world. There are tons of dudes like that, but when it's a woman, I flail. Lady messiahs! :)

3. Hmm I don't know if I have one anymore! I moved to a new city in August and the options are quite a bit different than what I'm used to. So I've been trying lots of new places and not finding a go-to. Woe!

4. Probably all sorts of teen or children's shows aimed at girls? My Little Pony, Pretty Little Liars, Make it or Break It--these are all things I have casually watched and enjoyed. The place to go, mostly, for female friendship is often this genre. The plots are usually silly and/or contrived, but girls get to be friends! I also read a lot of YA fantasy with heroines, lots of which probably falls into the category of guilty pleasure?

5. I'm so bad at original thoughts about stories! So all I can think of is adapating or expanding existing things I love. So I'd probably pick an epic 8 part miniseries adapting The Queen of Attolia (SWOON) in an appropriately complex, adult and Attolia-centered way. Or seasons 3 through 5 of The Sarah Connor Chronicles where Sarah teams up with all the characters I loves and realizes it's her fate to save the whole world and not John's. *happy sigh*

[kmo]

2) morally ambiguous ice queens is totally an archetype! i go nuts for them, too. :) Hail Attolia and Patty Hewes- they can rule my Evil Empire any day. I will just have to put in a plug here for the Kushiel's Legacy series, because it features a Lady Messiah/Chosen One who is torn between serving a Neutral-Good Ice Queen and a (FAR hotter) Machiavellian Ice Queen. I always tell Kushiel fans to read Queen of Attolia, I guess i will tell Attolia fans to read Kushiel. :)

and god would i EVER die of happiness if someone made Queen's Thief into a miniseries. Attolia and Eugenides are one of the most complex, complicated romances I have ever seen. And it's so strange that they are in a YA book.

[chaila]

Oh thanks for the rec! Interestingly, I don't think I'd ever been told any specifics about those books, beyond seeing them mentioned here and there, until this week. Though the first time it was b/c someone was asking about the prostitution in the book and some of the details kinda set me back, so it is good to have this from another perspective! I shall perhaps just have to try them myself.

I would DIE if there was ever a QT TV mini/movie/anything, I would never vid anything else ever again.

[kmo]

re: Kushiel's Legacy- you know that part in s2 of The Wire where Beadie says that the prostitutes ought to have a union? well in these books they actually kind of do have a union. and both men and women participate in sex work and basically everyone is bisexual. which makes it a lot more palatable to me than say prostitution as depicted in asoiaf.

there is a fair amount of bdsm as well as dub-con situations- but they are not done in an exploitative way so if that is a trigger for you, probably not the series for you. but one of the main points of the series is that though Phedre, the heroine, is a masochist, that doesn't mean she is passive or weak. she definitely has a mind and a will of her own.