(no subject)

[bubosquared]

More interview meme, questions from inruins:

1. What do you like most about your writing style? What, if anything, do you dislike?

Heh. Good question. I don't really know that I have a distinctive style in fiction these days, as I tend to swing wildly between all-form-no-content and all-content-no-form, if that makes sense.

I do like it when I can write a sentence or a phrase that's just right. The first sentence of Evitar (He made it to Cuba by May, and by then Harry's trail was only seven years old.) is like that. In fact, most of the lines I like this much tend to be first lines, which is odd considering my absolute hatred of first lines.

Things I dislike about my writing are a lot more numerous, though I don't know that they count as "style", really. I still cannot get a story started properly, I've a tendency to rush things, and long-term plot planning is still not my forte. But I'm starting to learn character development and show don't tell, so at least there's improvement.

2. Of the places you've travelled to, which do you find the most inspiring?

Hm. Much as I like Rome, and much as its history has given me ideas for stories, when it comes to the actual city being inspiring, I'd have to say Paris.

3. Is there something about yourself that people don't immediately see? (A trait, or something else.)

Heh. Define "people". Obviously, there is preciously little that readsers of my LJ won't know, as I tend to be very open about things in here. I do think people don't always realise that a lot of my flirty, exhibitionistic behaviour is a bit of an act. Not that I don't like flirting or showing off my boobies, but I still have a lot of moments where I just cannot fathom why anyone would find me attractive.

4. What's your current favourite song?

Hm. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, U2 and the New Voices of Freedom. I love gospel, and this is a very happy gospel song.

5. What did you dream, last night or recently?

Er. I don't remember, to be honest. I very rarely remember my dreams when I wake up, let alone later on during the day. The last dream I remember, I was hanging out with Ruth, talking about fandom. Yes, I am a dork. At least it wasn't another HTML dream.

And a couple more from hobsonphile:

1. To echo astrogirl2's question: Which B5 episodes have you seen most recently? What do you think so far? Do you have any speculations as to what might happen next (assuming you're unspoiled)?

Er, good question. I'd have to double-check with wibbble and elance, but I think we got up to Interludes and Examinations.

So far, I'm loving it. I love intrigue (political or otherwise), and angst, and this offers both in an epic arch, which is also something I tend to fall for. (And yet, I was never an X-Files fan. Go figure.)

I will admit I've been partially spoiled, so I'm not going to predict anything, though I will repeat what I said way back in season one: "Vir for Emperor!" :D

2. So why Londo/G'Kar anyway? *g* I mean, I have my reasons, about which I will go on at length at ship_manifesto on the first of October. But what are your reasons?

Why not Londo and G'Kar? <g> Seriously, though, if I could figire out why I (almost) always go for the antagonist pairings, I'll have probably solved the major mystery of my life. The first time I ever "saw" slash was in The Defiant Ones, and I can count the non-antagonist pairings I've OTP-ed since then on one hand. (Including my few lone het pairings.)

So yeah, I don't really know. I just like the tension between adversaries, I guess. Best friends slash is just. Kinda boring. It's much more interesting to see how two people can go from vicious enemies to sort-of-friends to lovers. You get much more character development that way.

3. What was your favorite book as a kid?

One? I have to pick one? Ahahah! Also, well, define "kid"--I was reading Young Adult books by the time I was nine or ten, and by the time I was twelve they let me take out books from the adult section (two years early) because I'd read everything in the children's section. But anyway. Kid's books. I'd have to say Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek (Cruseade in Jeans), which I read about a dozen times between ten and fifteen (I can't actually remember much of anything I read before that), and which you'll likely not know at all.

It's a great book, though, about a boy who gets thrown back in time to the Middle Ages and gets caught up in a Child Crusade. I remember this as one of the first books I read that didn't read as "children's" books. It doesn't pull any punches--people die, and there's no romantication of the Middle Ages, but then that whole "school" of Dutch historical youth authors were like that.

4. Do you have any really big pet peeves?

Ha! Do you have a week or so? :D Okay, let's see. There's the obvious/practical ones, like people taking up the whole pavement and walking ever so slowly and generally being IN MY GODDAMN WAY OMG DIE, etc.. I also have issues with cars, though less here than back in Belgium, oddly.

The pet peeve I've been recently growling about the most if the whole PC/non-PC thing. I get really fucking annoyed when people accuse me of "just being PC" whenever I speak up about bigotry, not to mention the crowd who seem to think that "non-PC" is a badge of honour that allows them to say all sorts of hateful shite and get away with it.Just. No. Die. Related to this: that whole "arguing on the internet is like running in the Special Olympics" thing. Die. And don't even get me started on people who claim that poor people "choose" to be poor and homeless people "choose" to be homeless and the unemployed are all just lazy.

In fandom, there's the RPS/incest/nderage debates. Especially the RPS one.

And on a personal note, if you ever really want to piss me the fuck off, tell me I'm "wasting my potential". I'm liable to rip you a new one.

5. If you were given the opportunity, would you agree to live in a colony on the moon or on Mars? Why or why not?

Given today's technology, probably not. If you'd asked me this a couple of years ago, I'd have said yes in a heartbeat, but I don't think I could miss my family and friends anymore now. It was difficult enough to move to another country, away from my family.

Comments

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

What did Sheridan ask Kosh to do in Interludes and Examinations? What happened as a result?

Step in and inporess the Non-Aligned Worlds so they'd help and protect B5.

And what happened to Londo in the same episode?

Er. Oh, wait, this was where Adira dies and he asks Morden for revenge, right? (It's been a while since I saw it, sadly.)

If indeed you have seen this episode, be prepared to hear me babble at some length about things of a Londo-ish nature. *g*

Yay! Story time! *sits self at your feet*

He's so sweet and smart and adorable, I just want to kidnap him, stuff him in my bookbag, take him home and cuddle him all. day. long.

YEs! Totally! *feeds Vir milk and cookies*

(And dammit, I hate it when you people get all "Oh, you'll love such-and-such episode"! :P *impatient!* )

I'm afraid I haven't heard of your choice.

Didn't expect anyone but the Belgians or Dutch would, as it's a Dutch book and hasn't, AFAIK, been translated.

I'm leery of third parties getting into the thick of things unless it's a last resort.

<tangent>The thing about that is, though, that all too often people have told me I've no "eight" to feel insulted by their racist crap because I'm white, which I don't think is what you're saying, but a lot of people do feel that I'm a "third party" in any situation where racism is involved, whereas AFAIC, I'm very much not.</tangent>

On repeating fandom debates: YES. And don't forget the slash/het debate. My opinion? There are crap writers in both genres and everyone needs to get over themselves.

Which is pretty much my opinion on the whole RPS, especially. But then I'm a Bitter Old Fan Hag who's spend several years in the trenches of the RPS War (and a war it was, and still is sometimes) and thus has little to no patience with these young whipper-snappers who think they've come up with a Revolutionary New Argument Against RPS. Except NOT!

[hobsonphile.livejournal.com]

Er. Oh, wait, this was where Adira dies and he asks Morden for revenge, right? (It's been a while since I saw it, sadly.)

Yes, that's the one. Great Maker, Londo's scenes in that episode make me gibber incoherently. Watching the scene in the docking bay in particular is like taking a sledgehammer to the gut. He was so. happy. And then- bam! Further proof that he deserves the title "Most Tragic Character on Television EVER."

I believe that that full scene plus Londo's scene with Morden at the end constitute what is probably Peter Jurasik's best performance of all time (and picking one is so hard because PJ is consistently excellent- and, if no emergencies strike, I'll be seeing him this weekend! Squee!). He hit every emotion- and by the end, you could literally feel Londo's rage at the universe.

Incidentally, Interludes and Examinations is the only episode in which Londo made a horribly bad decision and I didn't want to slap him for it.

The thing about that is, though, that all too often people have told me I've no "eight" to feel insulted by their racist crap because I'm white, which I don't think is what you're saying, but a lot of people do feel that I'm a "third party" in any situation where racism is involved, whereas AFAIC, I'm very much not.

No, I was referring to speech codes and other institutional interventions. Private citizens, no matter their race, have every right to speak up about something that offends them. And telling white people they have no place in the dialogue is total BS.

But then I'm a Bitter Old Fan Hag

Hee!