interview meme and recs

[ishtar79]

Given that I’m not a writer, there’s not really a lot I can contribute to the current debate, but some of the behaviour displayed has left a really bad taste in my mouth. Yes, we all can do/write whatever we want in our spaces, blah-blah specialsnowflakecakes, but at the same time, people wouldn’t be too surprised if they got jumped on by posting huge uncut spoilers or NWS pics in their lj. And I’m in no way comparing that to the experience of being traumatized or triggered by something we read, I’m just wondering when the hell common courtesy and a sense of community became such a novel concept in fandom (especially when it comes to not further harming rape/abuse/other serious trauma surirvivors-GOD!)

My long-overdue answers to the interview meme:

blnchflr’s questions:

1. You're Greek? What does it mean to you to be Greek? If you're just living there: Why do you live in Greece :o) ?
Heh, this is one of those questions that might be straightforward to most people but less so for me.

My mum’s Greek and my dad is actually Serbian, but because I grew up with my mum (divorced parents) and don’t have any real ties to my Serbian side, I identify primarily as Greek. I’ve lived most of my childhood abroad due to my mum’s work and have been in Athens…oh, for the last four years or so (and before that, I was for a year and a half in another Greek city).

Oddly enough, I feel more Greek when I’m abroad than when I’m home, if that makes any sense. Due to my upbringing, I missed out on a lot of the things people growing out here take for granted (and gained a lot of experiences they would miss, so it balances out) and the result is feeling like a perpetual tourist in my own country. There are things about my country that I love and others that frustrate me beyond belief, things the society here that I didn’t initially ‘get’ (some that I still don’t; others that I eventually figured out, but still don’t embrace) and things about it that I’m proud out, whether rationally (like the history and culture, though it annoys me when it gets used as an excuse not to address problems with Greece the way it is now) or completely irrationally (I LOVE that we smoke, drink, and stay up late like there’s no tomorrow) but I can’t get into it in more detail, as it’s a topic that could take up a post (or ten) on its own.

2. Which fandom did you fall the hardest for?
I actually had to stop and think about that one. As you may have noticed, I’m currently a *bit* obsessed with nuTrek, and I’ve gotten enthusiastic about many, many fandoms before. Buffy was my first fandom and for a long time my only one, and this combined with my unwavering love for the source material means it will always have a special place in my heart.

When it comes down to it, in my multifandom whoring ways, HP seems to be my steady relationship I always come back to, regardless of all the wild fannish affairs I have. Maybe it’s the fact I’ve met so many friends through it. Maybe it’s because there’s something about it that seems to inspire writers to produce an unmatched variety of pairings (Squidwarts!), genres, kinks. Maybe it’s the volume of both meta and wank (I kind of love that “at least we’re not as crazy as those HP fans” has become some sort of wank measuring yardstick for other fandoms). Maybe it’s Snape-hell, scratch all of the above. I’m pretty sure it’s Snape.

3. Are you religious/spiritual?

Like over 95% of Greeks, I was baptized Christian Orthodox, though religion was not a major presence in my life even when I did believe in God (my mother still does, but she’s always had a more liberal/humanistic approach to religion, and we pretty much only went to Church in Easter).

Around age 14, I began to question the existence of a higher power, though it was a very gradual process. It took me quite a few years to switch from calling myself agnostic to atheist, because I missed the way faith was a metaphorical security blanket for me.

I respect everyone’s right to believe in whatever they want, though I have some massive, massive issues with organized religion I can’t even begin to get into here.

4. You can only name one: Which is your all-time favourite fic, and why?

I thought this one was going to be so hard to answer, but after a momentary panicky feeling of indecision, the answer was obvious: Telanu’s Tea Series

The funny thing is I resisted reading it for the longest time, because at the time I was actually squicked by the idea of Snape/Harry (Hahahahahaha!) and because I’d glanced at the first part, I thought Harry was actually 13 throughout.

Anyway, I read all the posted at the time parts in one sitting, and sent poor Telanu some rambling fangirly feedback via e-mail (she was very gracious and sweet in her reply, which muted the embarrassment somewhat) about how OMG!AMAZING it was and how I was completely converted to Snarry. Anyway, it’s got everything I love. Plottiness, an eerily canon-like feel (well, you know, except for the Snarry *g*), fucked-up power dynamics, and sex hot enough to melt my computer screen. What’s not to love?

5. What do you eat for breakfast?

Usually cereal with some strained yoghurt and honey, though in the summer I substitute the cereal for a banana. Coffee and cigarettes. In that order.

anehan’s questions:

1. I'm sure I ought to know this, but did you go to a university? What did you study?
I went to University in the UK. My BA was in Visual Culture (basically visual art history and theory) and my MA was in Media Studies (moar theory!). It was all very interesting from a navel gazing perspective, but after turning 30 and STILL not having settled down professionally, it was also rather useless.

2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

Hm, a few years back, I would have said the UK, but speaking with some of my UK friends about their life/job situation there has changed my mind and made me realise that the reality of studying somewhere and living there are quite different. Truth be told, while there are many places I’d love to live at (London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, New York), my ideal would be to have the option to move to a new place every couple of years. My upbringing has left me with some nomadic tendencies, and I get bored with places like I get bored with fandoms.

3. How do you relax after a long day?

Er…fandom? Sorry for not having a more original answer.

4. What's your favourite fandom right now and why?

Star Trek XI, definitely. I’m in love with the movie cast, the new take on Spock and the Spock/Uhura relationship, the fact it’s such an active fandom full of creativity and that ‘new fandom smell’ combined with all the massive Trek history people can draw on for discussions and fic.

5. If you won a million euros, what would you do with it?

One million is not outrageous enough to give the really wacky answers (“I’d buy an island and create my own fandom country!”), so I’ll be boring practical: buy a house, set some aside for the future, and use the rest to travel, travel, travel! Oh, and buy every single DVD set I’ve been to sensible to before.

If you want me to interview you, leave a comment saying, "Interview me", then post the answers in your journal.


Gen
these old walkin' blues by ignipes Summary: He's a doctor. He's only doing his job. (Five unrelated scenes.) Lovely Bones character study.
Lunch and Other Obscenities by rheanna27 Summary: Nyota liked her roommate just fine until she met her. I loved this. Absolutely fantastic take on Gaila and her her slowly building friendship with Uhura, doing justice to both characters and actually remember that some of the ST characters are aliens, with potentially extremely different but fascinating cultures and cultural taboos.

Spock/Uhura
Linguistics 101; or, Thirteen Ways To Say I Love You by loneraven Summary: Vulcan and human cultural differences.
I almost put this under gen, since the rest of the crew and their relationship get an equal amount of screentime.

Knowing Is Half the Battle by calexical Alien sex!pollen fic! Really, what more do you need to know? (Actually, since we’re on the topic of warnings, some dub-con elements. Which, duh, sex pollen)

Kirk/Sulu:
Everyone Knows by curiouslyfic Prompt: Jim always pushes. It isn't often that someone pushes back. I’ve been craving some good Kirk/Sulu since the movie, and this delivers: hot, kinky, dom!Sulu and just…yes.

Kirk/McCoy:
Borrowing Trouble by savoytruffle Summary: The Enterprise visits New Vulcan. Spock Prime comes aboard and tells Jim that Kirk Prime used to have a thing for Bones Prime. Jim decides to ignore it. Jim fails. This just left me with a massive grin on my face after reading it. A little cracky and extremely hilarious, there are so many things in this I want to squee about except that I don’t want to spoil the effect, so just READ!

Comments

[anehan]

I kind of envy you for your experiences of living in foreign countries. I'm very set on my ways so I'm not sure I'll ever have the courage and the inspiration to live anywhere else than Finland. But sometimes I think it'd be so cool (though I'd rather move together with someone else and not alone).

Hehe, your degree is even more useless than mine will be. At least English is good for something practical, like being a teacher or a translator (although I've been investigating what the life of a translator is like, and I've found that they, especially those that translate fiction, are paid so badly that it is difficult to live with it, grrrrr).

[ishtar79]

In my case, living in foreign countries kind of *is* me being set in my ways. :D But I agree, it's easier to move if someone is coming with/you already know people there.

I wanted to be a journalist with this degree, and actually I could be in theory, but after working as one in Greece for two years let's just say it lost its lustre somewhat (as in, I've become so cynical about the state of the media today I never want to set foot inside a TV station/newspapers).

And teacher and translator salaries...heh. I'm currently teaching English part-time and have done some freelance translating in the past. It's somewhat reassuring to know the pay for those is not just shitty here.

[blnchflr]

I never replied to this :o( ? I did read it at the time.

things the society here that I didn’t initially ‘get’ (some that I still don’t; others that I eventually figured out, but still don’t embrace)
I'd be curious to hear more on this!

Telanu’s Tea Series
Telanu made me cry over Sirius's death where Rowling couldn't :o)

[ishtar79]

Heh, it's ok, blast from the past comments are fun.

I'd be curious to hear more on this!

Oh, man. I don't even know where to start. A lot of it has to do with the leisure activities-there's the spending literally hours at a cafeteria, which I personally can do with a friend I hadn't seen for months, but not the same people every day like some-what the hell do they find to talk about. There's the open, unapologetic way everybody stares-and not just men, which could be explained away by the obvious reason, but also women. People watching is a national sport and any deviation from a standard fashion sense/appearance gets obvious side-eyes. You should see some of the looks I get when I get gothed out for a night out sometimes.

As an extension of that, there's the fact everyone is up on everyone's business. I miss living in the UK and literally not having exchanged a word with my neighbours the whole time. Here people like to meddle, and while it can have some good side-effects (my elderly neighbour often brings me a plate of something she cooked too much of or sweets people brought her that she can't eat for health reasons), the constant gossiping is annoying as hell.

Generally families are tighter knit than in Western European countries, which is good in terms that they'll always support you if you need it (in fact, considering our non-existent social system and raging unemployment, family support is what keeps a huge chunk of the population from living beneath the poverty line. The only homeless people you see here are either emmigrants or some people with serious addictions: generally it's unheard of to allow anyone in your extended family to end up on the street) but again, often you'll wish they'll leave you the fuck alone. It's not so much a problem with me, as my mum is very cool and only meddles in terms of motivating me career-wise and I'm good at setting clear boundaries with everyone else, but something I observe.

Then there's stuff like Greek TV (which I don't remember being so horrifyingly BAD last time I lived here), the fact there's STILL not separation of Church and State (there are specific historical reasons for this, but I think we're overdue moving past them), the way casual racism/sexism/homophobia is still...casual (but hey, where ISN'T that true to a degree?) and the fact people seem obsessed with status symbols and leaving beyond their means.

Ya know, for starters. ;)

[blnchflr]

There's the open, unapologetic way everybody stares-and not just men, which could be explained away by the obvious reason, but also women.
Reminds me off how in Greenland it's completely normal to laugh at people who trip, etc.: In Denmark, if you see someone trip on the other side of the street, it's common courtesy to turn your head, so they don't see you fighting your grin :oP - in Greenland, people point and laugh!

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

Wow, those were pretty good questions, at least they elicited some really interesting answers!
I think I get what you mean when you say: "I feel more Greek when I’m abroad than when I’m home,"
when you are in other countries then people look at you as Greek, so you feel very Greek, but when you are in Greece you probably stand out as being more international, more widely traveled, and speaking more languages, so you don't seem typically Greek.

Unfortunately I'm boringly American although in no way a product of just New England, Mid-West, or Western sections of the USA...

It would be very cool if you moved to NYC, I'm thinking of trying to do so in 2010!

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

when you are in other countries then people look at you as Greek, so you feel very Greek, but when you are in Greece you probably stand out as being more international, more widely traveled, and speaking more languages, so you don't seem typically Greek.

There's that, and also how when I'm abroad I miss things from home (like when I lived in the UK, I can't tell you how much I missed SUNLIGHT), but when I'm back home, I'm reminded of things here that annoy the living crap out of me. Distance does make the heart grow fonder.

Yay, it would be awesome if you moved to NY. Because I still plan to travel there at some point, so I'd get to see you and Lenny and Alice!

[mordyn4]

I loved reading your interview. :D We have a lot in common, which I always find amazing with flisters as we're all over the globe. One day I will stop being surprised by this, but not today.

I do think that people should care about how their actions affect the health of the fandom community and also be prepared for people to be upset when they behave badly. Seems like common sense and rather obvious to me, and I'm not exactly sure what prompted your paragraph about it other than the warning wank in general, but I'm sure I don't want to know. :P

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how similar people can be underneath the superficial differences, isn't it? I often find myself 'clicking' more with people halfway across the world than people I'm supposed to have so much more in common with. But then, the I've met the two Greek friends I spend the most time with here through fandom, so that might explain part of those seemingly random similarities. *g*

I do think that people should care about how their actions affect the health of the fandom community and also be prepared for people to be upset when they behave badly. Seems like common sense and rather obvious to me,

Pretty much. And I don't know why they call it 'common' sense, it seems to be becoming more and more of a rarity.

and I'm not exactly sure what prompted your paragraph about it other than the warning wank in general, but I'm sure I don't want to know. :P

Just a few posts I've read in that context, not one specific thing. And I'm not sure you want to know, unless you're eager to lose a few hours cursing your computer screen. ;) Or if you're feeling brave, there's always the abyss that is metafandom.

(I can give you some links if you want, but consider this my 'might raise blood pressure' warning).

Icon love!

[nuvolanera.livejournal.com]

Great interviews, both of them, and I loved reading your replies!
Also, your BA sounds awesome ♥ though it's sad that oftentimes the more you enjoy what you're studying while you're at Uni, the less useful it turns out to be for your career :/ Damn RL!

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Also, your BA sounds awesome ♥ though it's sad that oftentimes the more you enjoy what you're studying while you're at Uni, the less useful it turns out to be for your career :/ Damn RL!

LOL! I think your theory is exactly right!