Ask me questions

[dolorosa_12]

Hello to all the new people I've met through st_aurafina's friending meme! (Anyone who has not seen the meme yet, click on the image below to participate.)



This segues nicely into something I had been planning to do anyway: a January talking meme where I write each day on a topic suggested by one of my Dreamwidth friends. New people and long-term people from my circle, are there any topics you've wanted me to talk about? If so, suggest those topics in the comments here, and I will assign each topic to one of the days in January.

If it helps, I'm very happy to talk about anything covered in my most recent intro post, any of my tags (so, if one of the tags I use has always baffled you, now's the time to ask for clarification), or feel free to look through my Ao3 profile and ask me about my own fics, or the fandoms of any fics I've bookmarked or been given as exchange presents.


1 January
2 January
3 January: My favourite thing about my job, and the bit I dislike the most, for falena.
4 January
5 January
6 January: The new Philip Pullman books in the Book of Dust trilogy, for nyctanthes.
7 January
8 January
9 January
10 January: A meaningful tree, for forestofglory.
11 January
12 January
13 January
14 January
15 January: A favourite or significant memory from childhood or adolescence, for montfelisky.
16 January
17 January
18 January: How do I know when I want to write fic in certain fandoms? Does it differ for each fandom? For falena.
19 January: What 'fandom' means to me, given all the things I feel fannish about are tiny fandoms, for schneefink.
20 January
21 January
22 January
23 January
24 January
25 January
26 January
27 January: The trashiest piece of media that I love, for wheatear.
28 January
29 January
30 January
31 January: The best moment of the month, for falena.

Comments

[forestofglory]

I've been asking everyone the same thing for this: January 10 is Tu BiShvat, the Jewish New Year of the Trees. So could you talk about a meaningful tree on that day?

Or if that's too specific just talk about nature in general.

Which reminds me that I should tell you that I love all your photos from your walks and such! They are so pretty and make me nostalgic for when I lived in Cambridge.

[dolorosa_12]

Oh, what a fabulous question! I can certainly talk about that — the trouble will be narrowing it down to just one tree. (I spent most of my childhood up trees.)

I'm glad you enjoy my photos from out and about in Cambridge. I don't own a car or know how to drive, and I don't cycle. This means that I walk everywhere, and I really appreciate that I have such a beautiful city to walk around in. I'm glad they spark happy memories for you.

[forestofglory]

Well I certainly won't mind if you write about more than one tree!

Cambridge does seem like a particularly walkable and pretty city. I miss it.

[dolorosa_12]

Multiple trees it is, then!

[nyctanthes]

I'd love to hear your thoughts about the recent Pullman novels (i.e., Book of Dust). I've read La Belle Sauvage. Not The Secret Commonwealth yet, but I'm not averse to spoilers.

If that's too specific, than anything from that 'verse is fair game. :)

[dolorosa_12]

I'm definitely happy to write about the new Pullman books. I've updated my original post to reflect that.

[montfelisky]

A favourite or significant memory from your childhood or adolescence.

[dolorosa_12]

Oooh, that's a good one! Thank you.

[falena]

3 - What is your favourite thing about your job and the bit you dislike the most?
18 - This is something that always fascinates me, as a non-fic writer, how do you know when you want to write in a certain fandom? Does it happens the same way for most fandoms, or does each have its own story?
31 - Best moment of the month

[dolorosa_12]

These are all great! I've updated the post to include those prompts.

[schneefink]

Hmm, would you talk about tiny fandoms? When you read a book and love it, when do you consider yourself a "fan" (or do you at all?) As far as I can tell, most books you read have very small fandoms, where some are lucky to get fics for Yuletide and some don't have any fandom to speak of (while some are a bit more active.) What does "fandom" look like/mean for you then? How much/do you wish it was different or are you used to it/don't miss a bigger fandom at all? Have you ever been active in a big fandom?

[dolorosa_12]

This is a really, really good question, and I think it goes well with one of the prompts falena gave me above. I'll stick the prompt the day after her related question.

[wheatear]

This is kind of a heavy question so I understand if you don't want to tackle it: If you were in charge of the UK Labour party, what would you do next?

Or if you want something lighter: what's the trashiest piece of media you love?

Any day is good!

[dolorosa_12]

To be honest, I'm not sure I have the emotional energy to answer your first question about Labour, other than to say that the absolute worst thing would be to appoint another Corbynite as leader. My sister, who works for the Australian Labor Party as a policy advisor (but for the state government -- the ALP is in government at state level in many parts of Australia, it's just in opposition at national level), thinks that what the UK Labour Party needs to do is just have one really good, credible, hopeful policy (particularly around new industries and climate change) and just hammer that policy obsessively for one election with a laser-like focus, but I'm not convinced that will be enough. Also -- and this is easier said than done -- from my outsider perspective (as someone who didn't live in the country when he was prime minister), they really need to get over their discomfort about Blair. Don't get me wrong, I loathe the man, he is a slimy, lying, manipulative individual with a messiah complex, and I marched against the Iraq war when my own government got involved -- but they need to learn the right lessons from what he did to win, and to keep winning. And if they ever get back in power, they need to immediately implement proportional representation, automatic voter registration, and compulsory voting, so that we will never suffer under the prospect of a ghastly conservative government winning a landslide with only 40ish per cent of the vote.

Hmmm, apparently I did have things to say about this!

I'll answer your second prompt on one of the days.

[wheatear]

Totally agree on all your points. Sadly I fear that none of these three things will happen (i.e. not appointing another Corbynite, learning good lessons from Blair, implementing proportional representation). First test will be the leadership contest. We'll see.

[dolorosa_12]

Yes, we'll have to wait and see on all counts, but I, like you, don't feel very hopeful.