21 days for Dreamwidth

[unikorento]

11. What features do you think Dreamwidth should have that it doesn't currently?

Tickys! That is to say, a button like the "kudos" or "like" buttons that you get on AO3 or FB. I get very anxious about writing comments, especially to strangers, and I love the "kudos" on AO3, because it allows me to leave "feedback" on stories I enjoyed I've but don't have anything specific to comment on. With tickys I could let people on my list know that I'm still out here and paying attention, even when I don't always have the time or energy to write actual comments.

12. What do you consider the five most "telling" interests from the list on your profile? Why?

I'm not entirely sure what "telling" means in this case... But I'll pick the five that occupy most of my time in one way or another. Though I think it's worth noting that interests do tend to change. So the things that are defining of my day-to-day existence right now, might only be true for today. Or this week. Or this summer.

1. Dogs.
I'm dogless right now, sure, but still. It's a favourite topic. I visit forums, I read articles, I point and squee at random passers-by... Ask me a question, any question, about dogs, and I'll launch into a half-hour monologue. I've loved dogs since I was a little baby crawling on a blanket on the floor, and my grandmother let her lapphund puppy come sniff and lick and nip at me. (Incidentally, that dog was born just a few weeks after me, and she lived to be 16 years old. Her name was Turre and she was a dear friend. Together we wrecked no small amount of havoc chez les Myrttinen.)

2. Games.
Computer games, console games, roleplaying games, board games... hell, mind games. I love games. By nature I'm easily frustrated and easily distracted, but I play games the way alcoholics go on binges. I don't answer my phone, I neglect my duties and I get uncharacteristically hostile at anyone coming between me and my game. That's also why it's periodical - I don't pick up a game if I know my focus is needed elsewhere. Or.. you know.. unless it's the latest DA or FF and I really really really want it.

3. Slash/Fanfiction.
I read it. I sometimes write it. The people who know what it means will recognize it in my list, and the ones who don't will think that I have a thing for the old guitarist of Guns n' Roses. Fanfiction, but slash specifically, is definitely a big part of my online life.

4. LCHF.
I very much enjoy my diet, and since I, like most people, eat every day, it's definitely a part of who I am right now.

5. Supernatural.
I assume this will change sooner or later, but right now being a fan of the show is my favourite hobby.

13. Do you have any unique interests on your user profile? What are they? How'd they get there?

Avoiding carbohydrates. It's there because it's an interest and... because I couldn't come up with a better way to express it. It's a part of my diet, and even though I don't post meal-plans or anything, making the decision to take control of my weight and eating habits before something horrible and unhealthy happened has been an overall incredibly positive thing in my life. I lost a bunch of weight and I re-learned the art of cooking :P I've absolutely no intention of ever going back to the way I used to eat before.

14. Did you have a gateway fandom? Still in it? Why or why not? Is there a community for it on DW?

I think my gateway fandom was Marvel comics, back in the late 90's. My brother bought me my first Spider-man comic in November of -97,(*) and it just started from there. My closets still hold a fair amount of issues up until 2004, and I do pick up the occasional issue to pass the time while waiting for trains and the like.

I've since fallen very much behind on what happens in the Marvel comics 'verse, but the fandom does hold a special place in my heart. I recall reading tonnes and tonnes of Mary Sue fic featuring Wolverine and Gambit, and lurking on something called the Shifting Sands archive, before stumbling across slash a good few years later. My only nod to my fannish roots now is that I follow "makemineamovie" over on LJ, which is mostly about being excited and waiting for the latest disaster super-hero movie to come out. They may be dorky, but I do love seeing my old heroes on screen.

15. What's your current obsession? What about it captures your imagination?

Supernatural, because they're pretty! And they kill things and it's straight forward hero business with supernatural elements and how can you not like that? And they cry. And I get to watch the show and be part of an online community of other people who also watch the show.

16. What are you glad you did but haven't really had a chance to post about?

I finished my essay on Camus and existentialism. It was hard, and I hated every moment, and it wasn't a good essay, but I finished it on time. I've not made a deadline in months. Maybe years. This is the first time I've not felt like a failure in a long time. It isn't much, but it made me glad. Baby-steps, you know?



(*I remember this exactly, because it was the day he moved into his new apartment in Helsinki where he'd just started his first year of university, and I was throwing a completely irrational fit about the fact that my brother was going away and everyone seemed to be completely ok with that. Hell, they were helping! I was beyond consolation, the way only 13-year-olds can be, and was refusing point blank to help carry a single item. I was even refusing to go inside, opting instead to sit on the stairs, in the snow, freezing and sulking and being in everyone's way. Brother, in an effort to cheer me up, told me that he would very much like it if I stayed with him that first weekend. I told him that he was stupid, and that that was a stupid idea because there was nothing to do in his stupid new apartment, and he should just come home instead. He asked me to please give it a chance, and bought me the comic so I would have something to flip through while he unpacked in the evening, and we spent the weekend watching movies and discussing the history of Spider-Man.)