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shipperkitten. Did you hear that, Em? I hate you.
She's been posting pictures on her journal again, and while I liked the ones of Nessie (guide dog puppy) very much, I did not approve of the ones of me. Hannah and Clare looked nice, although the one featuring me and Clare laughing at the camera - do you remember the story behind that one? I refused to let you take a picture of a bin for fear of your looking certifiable, so Clare and I jumped into your field of vision at the last moment. That was the day I made sure you didn't get lost in Southport doing geography questionnaires, and yes, you're right, I did hand out more of them than you did, and I don't even do geography! Talking of which, how did it go yesterday?
Well, the interview meme seems to be in full swing. I mentally categorise all my LJ friends into which groups they belong to, and all of them have tried this meme, which probably makes it a success. I have doled out nine sets of questions, and have two more to actually answer:
purplerainbow's questions:
1. If you could give up your Indian background tomorrow, and lose all that comes with it, as though it never happened, would you still do it? Why/why not?
I have thought about this before, and despite everything, I think the answer would still be no. My ancestry is part of who I am - so is my culture, so is the certain knowledge that I come from "somewhere else" and removing it would be like removing any other part of my personality - a detriment to the whole.
And on the shallower side of it, I don't think white skin would suit me(!)
2. As a straight(ish) female, what brings on this fascination with slash?
I don't know. The first time I saw it, I was squicked, ashathy_col will attest. But somehow or other it grew on me. And now I don't know how it happened. I would try and explain it, but I don't know how!
3. You say you are a lone raven. Why would you say you were alone, and is that out of choice or necessity? Do you like it that way?
The name comes from the idea that I'm what I call a "displaced person" - something of a stranger in a strange land. Here, I'm girl-with-dark-skin-and-overly-hysterical-mother, and in India I'm girl-who-comes-from-magical-place. Not fitting in properly in either place means I sometimes feel I'm by myself. And then, I'm slightly weird - I write, I spend my life on the interent, boys in eyeliner make me happy - which further contributes to there being no neat group into which I slot neatly. As for whether I like it - sometimes. Sometimes it weighs on me.
4. Do you feel that the racism you have encountered in your life has made you a different person? Are you more open-minded?
I think I'm open-minded - for one thing, I can't discriminate and shout abuse when I know exactly what it feels like, and racism has made me into a different person, but not really in a good way. I'm more of a bitter person, more likely to second-guess people's motives, less likely to take criticism or praise gracefully because I'm not sure if it's sincere.
5. Would you ever spend the rest of your life with a significant other?
Ask me in five years time!
And now,amchau's questions:
1. What project are you currently working hardest on (real life, fanfic, whatever)?
Passing my exams with my sanity intact, I think. I haven't really had time or motivation to think about anything else - I don't even have any fic-in-progress.
2. How do you deal with living in the UK, when so much of fandom is US-based?
I've spent quite a lot of time in the States, which does help, because it means I'm not entirely lost, but mostly it's something you can just deal with. Life was more difficult in this respect when I was in Stargate fandom, as that is very American, but Good Omens is set in Britan and I don't think very many of us have been to Korea!
As for fans themselves being in America - that's what the internet is for!
3. Do you hate the UK education system as much as I do (a lot)?
I loathe it. I really, really do. The system is beyond fucked-up. Isn't it nice doing seventeen board exams knowing that these are only the first of three sets of
exams in two years? I don't know what they're trying to achieve - as one of the school governors put it, constantly weighing pigs doesn't make them fatter, but the government don't seem to agree.
4. Of all the stories, in all the fandoms, in all the world, or at least all the ones you've read in, which one do you like best? What do you go back to and read over and over?
There's a few stories I do read over and over. In Stargate fandom, I read Dr. Jackson's Diary by Anais quite a few times, which is no mean achievement seeing as it's novel length. I've read Offer Up Your Last Defence by Meredith Bronwen Mallory a few times, and... um.... there's one more. There was something byafrai that was really good - a drabble, actually, in which twisted!dark!Crowley rips off Aziraphale's wings when sleeping. It's so dark I went back to it a few times, even though it's only a hundred words.
5. If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
Anywhere?
I don't know... there's a few places I'd like to see. I'd like to visit Japan, and Iceland, and Australia, and places... ah, I don't know. There's so much to see, and so little time...
Having done that, I think I'm hungry.
shipperkitten. Did you hear that, Em? I hate you. She's been posting pictures on her journal again, and while I liked the ones of Nessie (guide dog puppy) very much, I did not approve of the ones of me. Hannah and Clare looked nice, although the one featuring me and Clare laughing at the camera - do you remember the story behind that one? I refused to let you take a picture of a bin for fear of your looking certifiable, so Clare and I jumped into your field of vision at the last moment. That was the day I made sure you didn't get lost in Southport doing geography questionnaires, and yes, you're right, I did hand out more of them than you did, and I don't even do geography! Talking of which, how did it go yesterday?
Well, the interview meme seems to be in full swing. I mentally categorise all my LJ friends into which groups they belong to, and all of them have tried this meme, which probably makes it a success. I have doled out nine sets of questions, and have two more to actually answer:
purplerainbow's questions:1. If you could give up your Indian background tomorrow, and lose all that comes with it, as though it never happened, would you still do it? Why/why not?
I have thought about this before, and despite everything, I think the answer would still be no. My ancestry is part of who I am - so is my culture, so is the certain knowledge that I come from "somewhere else" and removing it would be like removing any other part of my personality - a detriment to the whole.
And on the shallower side of it, I don't think white skin would suit me(!)
2. As a straight(ish) female, what brings on this fascination with slash?
I don't know. The first time I saw it, I was squicked, as
hathy_col will attest. But somehow or other it grew on me. And now I don't know how it happened. I would try and explain it, but I don't know how!3. You say you are a lone raven. Why would you say you were alone, and is that out of choice or necessity? Do you like it that way?
The name comes from the idea that I'm what I call a "displaced person" - something of a stranger in a strange land. Here, I'm girl-with-dark-skin-and-overly-hysterical-mother, and in India I'm girl-who-comes-from-magical-place. Not fitting in properly in either place means I sometimes feel I'm by myself. And then, I'm slightly weird - I write, I spend my life on the interent, boys in eyeliner make me happy - which further contributes to there being no neat group into which I slot neatly. As for whether I like it - sometimes. Sometimes it weighs on me.
4. Do you feel that the racism you have encountered in your life has made you a different person? Are you more open-minded?
I think I'm open-minded - for one thing, I can't discriminate and shout abuse when I know exactly what it feels like, and racism has made me into a different person, but not really in a good way. I'm more of a bitter person, more likely to second-guess people's motives, less likely to take criticism or praise gracefully because I'm not sure if it's sincere.
5. Would you ever spend the rest of your life with a significant other?
Ask me in five years time!
And now,
amchau's questions: 1. What project are you currently working hardest on (real life, fanfic, whatever)?
Passing my exams with my sanity intact, I think. I haven't really had time or motivation to think about anything else - I don't even have any fic-in-progress.
2. How do you deal with living in the UK, when so much of fandom is US-based?
I've spent quite a lot of time in the States, which does help, because it means I'm not entirely lost, but mostly it's something you can just deal with. Life was more difficult in this respect when I was in Stargate fandom, as that is very American, but Good Omens is set in Britan and I don't think very many of us have been to Korea!
As for fans themselves being in America - that's what the internet is for!
3. Do you hate the UK education system as much as I do (a lot)?
I loathe it. I really, really do. The system is beyond fucked-up. Isn't it nice doing seventeen board exams knowing that these are only the first of three sets of
exams in two years? I don't know what they're trying to achieve - as one of the school governors put it, constantly weighing pigs doesn't make them fatter, but the government don't seem to agree.
4. Of all the stories, in all the fandoms, in all the world, or at least all the ones you've read in, which one do you like best? What do you go back to and read over and over?
There's a few stories I do read over and over. In Stargate fandom, I read Dr. Jackson's Diary by Anais quite a few times, which is no mean achievement seeing as it's novel length. I've read Offer Up Your Last Defence by Meredith Bronwen Mallory a few times, and... um.... there's one more. There was something by
afrai that was really good - a drabble, actually, in which twisted!dark!Crowley rips off Aziraphale's wings when sleeping. It's so dark I went back to it a few times, even though it's only a hundred words. 5. If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
Anywhere?
I don't know... there's a few places I'd like to see. I'd like to visit Japan, and Iceland, and Australia, and places... ah, I don't know. There's so much to see, and so little time...
Having done that, I think I'm hungry.
