interviews

[fahye]

I am an even later bandwagon-jumper than Ji, although my cunning excuse is that I was saving up all of my questions for a single post. Thus:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Now edited to fix my stupidity and include Shati's questions! Further edited six billion times for typos, because it is very late and I am very incompetent. It took me three goes to type 'incompetent'. Shit.



From parcae:

1. What about your third breast? Where would it be? And no, it can't be between your two existing ones.

It would be on the back of my neck, so that people would get a real shock when I turned around. It wouldn’t sing, but I would draw disturbing smiley faces on it.

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

London, I think, if we’re allowing for the fact that I have a good job and enough money to afford the hideous rent and living expenses. A small apartment buried somewhere in the wharf area near Tower Bridge. Fronting onto the Thames, if I’m feeling luxurious. I adore Australia, but London has everything I could want in a city. History, parks, a neverending list of places to visit… Plus, the rest of Europe just across the Channel.

3. What's your favorite breakfast food?

Uguh. Um. I adore pancakes if they’re done well, either crepes with lemon juice and sugar or pikelets with jam or thick pancakes with maple syrup…Also waffles, though they are rare beasts here in Australia.

4. Are you particularly fond of tinsel? If so, where do you usually put it?

Tinsel and I are going through a cool period. I get very fond of it around Christmas, and wind it around the Christmas tree until you can’t see half the decorations for the blinding bling.

5. Do you call it pop or soda?

Neither! We call it…um…soft drink, but more commonly just the particular name - 'lemonade', 'Fanta', 'Coke', 'ginger ale' etc.

From indy_go:

1) Tell me why you picked the Morningstar.

There was no particular amount of soul-searching or deep thought behind it; Nny was going on about this shiny new RP she’d created, and that I needed to come play! I think I must have been working on one of my Lucifer origifics at the time, and I liked the idea of having a bastardly character. Plus I wanted to snark with Crowley, and whilst not being a part of GO canon this was a character that gave me opportunity to do that :D

2) What was your favorite book at age eleven?

Hmm. I think… a tie between The Dark is Rising and Sophie’s World, which is a novel-slash-history-of-philosophy by Jostein Gaarder. My best friend and I were fellow fantasy nuts, although she liked Lord of the Rings far better than I did. She introduced me to Susan Cooper and I spent large amounts of my time wishing I was Will Stanton. Probably far less harmless then many things she could have introduced me to, I’m sure. Sophie’s World was my introduction to philosophy, and I devoured it. It made me feel intelligent. Heh.

3) I've never been to Australia. What's the one place -- could be a city, or a specific site -- I should be sure not to miss?

It really depends on what kind of things you want to see… I’d recommend going snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef before all the coral dies, but Queensland is a bit too unremittingly hot and sticky and glarey for my British complexion. Sydney is a lovely place, but once you’ve done a harbour cruise (under the Bridge!) and walked around the Opera House it’s probably much the same as any large American city, except with more tiny tourist shops. Personally I think Canberra is a great place to visit – and I’ve lived here for ages, so either I’m terribly biased or it hasn’t managed to repel me yet with its relative smallness. If you want ONE thing to visit… the statues of the sheep in City Walk. Someone thought it would be a mah-vellous idea to make very realistic metal statues of sheep. Um. One of them looks very normal, and it is staring at the other, which is sitting back in a beach chair in…THE most suggestive position possible. Uni students have a history of getting drunk, stripping, and taking pictures of themselves sexually assaulting the sheep. That can tell you a bit about Canberra.

4) What kind of candy are you?

*ponders this for a while* Dark chocolate (not the uberdark bitter stuff, just dark enough to take the edge off the sweetness) over hard caramel, the kind you have to patiently leave in your mouth for ages before it’s soft enough to chew. And then it sticks your jaws together and you look ridiculous, but the caramel taste stays for ages and ages.

Don’t ask why, it just sort of popped out.

5) Tell me about your favorite article of clothing.

Oh. Oh. My Lestat coat <3 I don’t really have any evidence that he wears a coat resembling it in any of the books or movie adaptions, but it IS a Lestat coat. It’s almost floor length, thick black felt, and fitted so that the lapels come down in a low V to my waist, where there is a loop-and-button to keep it in, and then it flares out almost like a skirt. It’s insanely lovely, though so heavy to carry that I only wear it out to the theatre or on really cold days.

From villainny:

1. Which is your favourite Lucifer? Yours or not.

I am deeply in awe of Mike Carey’s Lucifer, although I think that after a few volumes the OMG COLD SNARKY BASTARD love began to wear off and I wished for a few signs of emotional depth, or at least some indication of prior circumstance and/or weakness. This was probably the time I started changing MY Lucifer accordingly, because without some kind of attachment and backstory he was never going to be anything more than a 2D character.

All that said, I love my Lucifer. He’s wound around some part of me inside, which can be unpleasant in terms of characterbleed but he’s always, always fun to play.

2. Which character would it kill you to see done badly in the bar?

Mal Reynolds, from Firefly. I think there’s a general feeling in that direction; as far as I know, nobody has brought him in yet. He’s such an amazing character – not hugely complex, but such a tribute to Joss Whedon’s gift for voice and sympathy that anything less than a perfect portrayal would be a huge letdown.

3. If you could spend a week as someone else, who would it be?

I’m going to skip over the obvious answers of “so and so’s wife, heh heh heh” and say John Malkovich I really have no idea, though probably a man. For purposes of insight. Actually, given the choice, I don’t know that I’d do it at all – I’d pick someone with a better life than me and then be depressed for ages afterwards that I‘d never have that life myself. Better off being glad of what I have.

4. What do you wish you could do better?

Oooh, so many things. I’d say drawing, or something that I don’t have any skill at, but if I’m being allotted a certain amount of proficiency points then I’d rather pile them onto something I’m already good at. Nobody can be good at everything, and I chose a long time ago to put my energy into writing. (I WAS actually getting very good marks in art, once upon a time, it just didn’t interest me as much.) So…yeah. I’d like to be able to come up with plots that are complex and original, be able to capture readers and make people happy with my writing. I’ like to be able to use words to do whatever I want them to do, and to have the motivation and ability to do it whenever I wanted, rather than having inspiration for short weird things hitting at inconvenient moments, and I want stamina for novels, goddammit.

5. What would be your ideal fanfic?

Cue the wild fangirling…in many ways shoebox_project IS my ideal fanfic, just in a fandom that I don’t follow much. (Not that I follow any one fandom with any sort of mad regularity.) It takes the good things in its canon source and RUNS with them, extending and expanding and entertaining lots of people. That is what fanfic should be for. Applying one’s own invention and ideas to a world that stirs your imagination.

From schiarire:

1. Chocolate: dark, milk, light?

Normally I am satisfied with just plain milk chocolate – Lindt, if possible. Lindt is heavenfood. Although if you want me to put on a billion kilos and die of chocolate poisoning, then hand me a family block of Old Jamaica. (Dark chocolate with rum flavouring and sultanas. Mmmmmm.)

2. Name one book that you're embarrassed to like but which touched you somehow. Talk about it. At length.

Um. The Vampire Lestat. I adored it beyond measure when I read it, mostly because the prose style was very like my own at the time of reading. I still adore the character of Lestat – maybe it’s just Anne Rice’s own personality shining through, but the book has such a sense of arrogant grandeur and selfish hedonism that makes Lestat a wildly likeable character. I love Louis. I love the leaping between the prettiest parts of history and the sheer invention of the vampiric psyche, the way it affects the different characters. The whole book is a mad romp of OMGPRETTY and frustration. Interview With The Vampire was boring and whiny, and Queen Of The Damned was full of characters I didn’t care about at all, and I’ve been well warned off touching any other Anne Rice books, but this one made a very long plane trip to England seem short and exhilarating.

Of course, I never mention this in civilized society. But Ji did ask. Damn her.

3. Describe a skirt you've known and loved.

Hee! Okay. When I was eight or so my mother made lots of my clothes, and she had some leftover fleecy material – white, with pink and blue flowers and butterflies and stuff all over it. So she made me a skirt – very simple, just down to my knees, with an elastic waistband. Made of FLEECE. I adored it. I wore it everywhere – by itself in summer and with tights in winter.

4. Talk about your cat! You never talk about your cat!

My cat is INSANE. She’s called Tasha, although most of the family refers to her as Pookie thanks to my brother’s penchant for nicknames. I call her Pusscat. She’s a medium-haired dark grey tabby who is, as I mentioned, quite mad. She will go on crazy rampages of energy, attack anything that moves, or else become scared of anything larger than a cornflake. She will scratch herself on ANYTHING, including my laptop. Though when she’s quiet she’ll just collapse into your lap and purr like a maniac and be the cutest thing ever.

5. You said once you would like to be a chef. What kind?

Ooh. Hmm. I’d like to be trained as just a basic all-round chef, but then specialise in desserts. I’d like to make huge mounds of profiteroles with toffee butterflies, and huge swans made of chocolate that are full of mousse. And invent fancy new things involving coffee and mint chips and rose petal leaves and raspberries, although not all at once.

From shati:

1. Who is the person you would absolutely least want to meet in a dark alley? Fictional allowed. :D

Wossname. Carcer. It might just be Pratchett's gift of description, but as much as I am fascinated by the idea of someone who just realised that the rules didn't have to apply to him, not if he didn't want them to, he scares the shit out of me.

2. Why is the sky really blue? The scientists lie.

Because nature has an inherent dislike of anger and disharmony, and there are very few beings that can maintain anger in the face of a pure pure blue. If the sky was red, we'd all be dead from the nuclear wars by now.

3. Describe your wings.

Despite my own personal preferences, I think that black wings only work if you have black hair. They've got to match. So I expect mine are a subtle sort of golden brown, with paler blonde highlights and a bit of red. That's the thing about feathers. Lots of colour variation possible.

They're big. Really big. You can joke all you like about overcompensation, but I have a mofo of a wingspan. Can get a wee bit inconvenient, but they're handy for hiding behind and fast exits.

4. Next, decribe the most ridiculous, technically-impossible dish you would actually eat. Rose petals, mint chips, raspberries, coffee, and swans (of some sort) must all be included.

All righty then. The swan is made of coffee-flavoured chocolate (this does exist - we have wafers covered in it, best things ever) and full of chocolate mousse that has been made with the most expensive, mouth-meltingly amazing chocolate known to man. Under the mousse is a layer of chocolate and mint biscuits, with mint chips in between. Just before serving a raspberry coulis is poured over the top of the mousse and swirled with a fork to make gorgeous red streaky patterns. Frosted rose leaves are stuck to the wings of the swan with hard fondant, overlapped like feathers.

That was a bloody good question. I always love the ones about food :D

5. Invent a dance.

Oh my god. I love this question too.

The dance is called the Karella. It is performed in an outfit adapted from the flamenco; sleeveless and tight to the waist, though made of material that stretches enough to provide perfect freedom of movement. The skirt is layered and asymmetrical, though light enough to life and spin and manouevre as the dance requires. The shoes have a flexible sole to allow the foot to point and flex as needed, with a thin layer of taps at the toe and heel.

The music is Latino-inspired, usually with a techno base, and almost always fast.

The dance itself uses the entire body, although emphasis is placed on the positioning of the arms and intricate footwork that combines aspects of tango, flamenco and contempory tap. Accents in the music are very important, and a strong sense of rhythm is essential for the dancer. The steps are complex and require great concentration to learn, although look careless and almost improvised when carried off correctly.

The most distinctive movement is a spinning step, performed on a diagonal, with alternating quick taps of the toes and fast head spotting, the arms being held in a diagonal line to the sides of the body.

Well. It looks fucking awesome in my head.