3WFDW Meme: Questions 12-14

[ficticons]

This is from finch's set of questions


1. Why did you sign up for Dreamwidth?
Honestly? To follow scans_daily. I'd started following them on LJ, went with them to IJ briefly, and now I'm here.

I like what I've found at DW very much, though, whereas when I was at IJ it really was a 'focus on the specific community only and not much else'. I think part of the reason why I'm more interested in being active on DW as well as LJ (but not IJ) is because there was a lot of DW discussion going on at LJ at the time that I was starting to get into fannish activity there. So I read a lot about DW.

And denise's news posts were the first I enjoyed reading and really paid attention to! The willingness of DW's staff to talk and listen to its users is also very appealing, even if I don't do much talking myself or participate in life at DW a great deal. I'm working on changing at least the latter part of that.

2. Why did you choose your journal name?
This journal has the same name as my fandom journal on LJ - ficticons. It's an amalgam of 'fiction' and 'icons' - the two main things that I wanted that journal - and now this one - for.

3. Do you crosspost? Why or why not?
Sometimes. Looking at my crossposts to LJ, I see that the last time I did it was in August last year. I guess what I wanted was to have the content that I originally posted here more easily accessible to me when I was logged in to LJ (which probably means it was before I changed my settings so that I'm always logged on to DW on my PC). I do have an icon post that is worded exactly the same both here and on LJ, though - I guess I forgot to add the crosspost tag from here, or I posted there first and here later.

4. What do you do online when you're not on DW?
Well, when I turn on my computer in the mornings I usually check a couple of bookmarked sites for updates. Then (or concurrently, depending on pure chance) I check my email, sometimes following that with a look at Facebook.

Other times (when I'm just browsing/wasting time (which one it is is situation-dependent, of course), I read the various filters on my LJ flist, watch videos on YouTube or other places (usually looking for a particular show or clip, though), check particular fansites for two shows that I like (Sea Patrol [http://v2.sea-patrol.com] and Camelot [http://www.about-camelot.com]) to see if they've been updated, and check the tumblrs that I follow (usually every evening; I do this despite not having a tumblr myself).

And that's all I can think of for the moment.

5. How about when you're not on the computer?
If I'm not in the office then I'm probably watching TV, trying to figure out what to do with my room (it goes from 'clean' to 'WTF wait where did all this junk come from?' in an almost cyclical pattern), or reading. This is of course in addition to meals and sleep.

6. What do you wish people who read your journal knew about you?
The first thing that comes to mind is that while I'm willing to discuss fannish things, I'm very private about RL things. If I do say anything about RL stuff, it's probably going to be very general or very vaguely worded.

Apart from that there's really nothing. I think most of what I want people to know is on my profile page either here or at ficticons.

7. What is your favorite community on Dreamwidth?
Probably scans_daily. As I mentioned in one of the earlier questions, they're the reason I'm here. In addition, reading the original site was what brought me back into the comics fandom, and in a much bigger way than I've ever really experienced it before. So hurray for s_d! :)

I must say that I do like fic_promptly and writethisfanfic as well, however. My first published fic here at DW was the result of a fic_promptly prompt, and I like to read the WIP check-in posts at writethisfanfic sometimes, even though I haven't yet signed up for one of their monthly WIP challenges, because there may be useful resources in the comments or in the main body of the post. In fact, I believe that comm was what led me to fic_rush, where I have found fun, encouragement, and a sense of "I have to work on a piece of writing today because it's Fic Rush" that has actually resulted in at least one finished (and posted) piece.

8. What community do you wish was more active?
Probably the two Camelot comms here, ynis_witrin and camelotfans. sd_volunteers has been quiet for a long time too, but I think that's more or less a good thing because it means that there aren't any problems that need fixing.

9. Are there two people on your reading list that you think should meet?
:P Considering the size and make-up of my reading list, not really. ;)

10. Tell me about your default icon.
:D At the moment, it's a textless image of Karl Urban blowing on a pair of (sun?)glasses on a sort of faded pink background. It was made by umbrellas_can and I think it's sexy :D. Plus Karl Urban is just great anyway!



11. What features do you think Dreamwidth should have that it doesn't currently?
Mmm, perhaps an image-hosting feature so I don't have to depend so heavily on my LJ scrapbook. But it's not too much of a hassle and DW *has* been brilliant in terms of everything else that I've needed, so not having this feature doesn't really trouble me.

12. What do you consider the five most "telling" interests from the list on your profile? Why?
Ooh, good question. I'll get back to this question later, because it'll probably take a bit of thinking.


13. Do you have any unique interests on your user profile? What are they? How'd they get there?
:P Yes I do! They are "cassandra lang", "james buchanan "bucky" barnes", "mythquest" and "star wars: x-wing (novels and comics!)".

The first two and the last one are probably there because of the way I've listed them as interests.


Cassandra Lang is a comic character's full name; if I look for "Cassie Lang" there are four other journals with that as an interest. "Cass Lang" is unique as well. This is probably because "Cassie" is how the character in question, a member of Marvel Comics' Young Avengers, is best known. She's been called "Cass" once or twice as well, but I think in comics fandom "Cass" generally means DC's Cassandra Cain. (And I just checked - an interest search for "Cass Cain" will get you four results whereas "Cassandra Cain" gets 33. Interesting.)

It's a similar situation for "James Buchanon "Bucky" Barnes". That's the full name of the man currently in the Captain America uniform, the man who was also sidekick - as "Bucky" - to Steve Rogers' Captain America. Looking up "James Buchanon Barnes" won't get any results, "Bucky Barnes" will get 9, and "James Barnes" will get 1. This is probably because "Bucky" is how the character is best known (AFAIK both in fandom and in the MU itself).

"star wars: x-wing" produces no results, as do "star wars: x-wing rogue squadron" and "star wars: x wing". That's...somewhat sad. There are 11 matches for "rogue squadron" though, so I suppose it depends on how people think of the X-Wing series. Maybe they just don't refer to it by that name? Or do they just like the Rogues as a group of characters (who are awesome)? Or are they referring to the old video game? I don't know.
.

MythQuest, though. My beautiful, beloved MythQuest. That is truly a unique thing!

It's a Canadian TV series that aired in 2001 for 13 episodes and ended on the biggest unresolved storyline/cliffhanger EVER (IMO). There are no DVDs, even though there are young-reader adaptations of the first four episodes. But it's being posted on YouTube (freakin' FINALLY!) so now I have a place to send people when I rec it.

The story is about two teens, Alex and Cleo Bellows (played by Christopher Jacot (♥) and Meredith Henderson), whose father Matt (Joseph Kell) goes missing. The culprit? A little-known trickster god, Gorgos, who traps Matt inside a computer-based "CyberMuseum" that he'd been developing. Alex and Cleo accidentally discover that they, too, can enter the CyberMuseum - and various world myths - if they touch artefacts on the CyberMuseum's screen. Once they realize they've found a way to get in and out, their goal becomes to find their father and bring him home with them.

Check out a trailer for the series!

Later on they tackle a Japanese myth, an Arthurian story, the story of Osiris and Isis (in an IIRC exciting two-parter!), a story from the Mabinogion, an African myth, another Greek story, and a story of Quetzalcoatl. Great stuff from a wonderful show.


14. Did you have a gateway fandom? Still in it? Why or why not? Is there a community for it on DW?
If 'gateway fandom' means one that led a person to online fandom, then mine is either Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. The first fics read and authors I really followed on ff.net wrote in both those fandoms.

I'm still in both of them, yeah, but not as heavily as I was before. I still participate in particular comms related to them over on LJ, but I interact with them via my personal journal because my involvement is from a few years ago, when I wanted to do some fandomy stuff but wasn't sure I wanted or needed a entire separate fandom *journal* yet. Nowadays, fannish things are what this journal and ficticons are both for.

I'm not actually sure if they have comms on DW! Worth a look-see, though. Hmm.

15. What's your current obsession? What about it captures your imagination?
Hmm, let's see. The TV series Camelot (from Starz) probably qualifies because I watch each episode soon (read: a few days) after they air. I like it because it is (to me) an interesting new Arthurian adaptation. The actor Peter Mooney, who plays Arthur's foster-brother Kay, is a particular draw. Kay is a great character and I love Peter Mooney's portrayal of him. The actor himself seems really sweet too, from what I can tell from interviews et al. Another male draw is the actor Philip Winchester and the original character he plays, Leontes, both of whom are interesting too.

And the cast has stunning women! Eva Green rocks as Morgan, Arthur's half-sister; Claire Forlani is sterling as Igraine, Arthur's birth mother; Tamsin Edgerton makes a fab Guinevere; and Chipo Chung, Sinead Cusack, and Lara Jean Chorostecki are great as recurring supporting characters Vivien, Sybil, and Bridget respectively.

The other is the Australian drama Sea Patrol. It's about life on a fictional Royal Australian Navy patrol boat, the HMAS Hammersley, and features some big-name Australian talent as well as some newer faces. Season five, SP's last, is on now.

I guess what attracted me to the show was the uniqueness of perspective it offered. I've watched and enjoyed the military-focused JAG, and the naval-themed-in-some-ways Star Trek, so I guess once I saw some SP and discovered I liked the characters, I was hooked.

This show also has and has had some fabulous women in it. Currently the regulars are Lisa McCune as Kate McGregor, the Hammersley's executive officer/second-in-command; Danielle Horvat as Jessica Bird, currently the ship's chef and second medic after starting as a young gap-year seaman; and Tammy McIntosh as Maxine White, head of the fictional NavCom (the organization that Hammersley's crew report to). Past female stars have included Saskia Burmeister as Nikki Caetano, ship's navigator, and Kirsty Lee Allan as Bomber Brown, ship's chef and second medic.


16. What are you glad you did but haven't really had a chance to post about?
17. How many people on your reading list do you know IRL?
18. What don't you talk about here, either because it's too personal or because you don't have the energy?
19. Any questions from the audience?
20. Yes, but what are your thoughts on yaoi?
21. What's your favorite thing about Dreamwidth?