More Interview Questions!

This batch comes courtesy of Tamara, of Tamara's Flooby Web Log. Thanks, Tamara! I'm really enjoying doing these!

Again, if anyone else wants to join in the fun, the very simple rules can be found at the bottom of this post. Short version: Leave a comment, and I'll send you some questions, then you answer them and offer to interview other people. Like I said, simple!

Anyway, here we go:

1) Which Buffy character are you most like in terms of your personality? You can draw from all seven seasons and the minor characters (Warren, Harmony, Maggie Walsh, etc.) as well as the major characters. Well, I suppose that really depends on what aspects of the personality you want to focus on. I will say that the character I identify the most with, in many ways, is Andrew. (Note that I'm mainly thinking of 7th-season Andrew here, as I still haven't seen most of the 6th season.) I'm sure the similarities are obvious: he's pretty much the epitome of the geeky fanboy. (And without, I might add, any particular emphasis on the "boy" part, either.) And I do have more than a little sympathy with the way he clearly wants to do the right thing, or at least to do something worthwhile, but often seems to have trouble figuring out exactly what that something is. But Andrew also has same major personality problems that I mercifully don't suffer from. He's got very little concept of the distinction between fantasy and reality, a line that's so firm in my own mind that it seriously bugs me when people refer to actors by their characters' names (or vice versa). And he's very weak-willed and easily manipulated; whereas I can be extremely stubborn-minded, and never so much so as when I think somebody's trying to play emotional games with me. So, in other words, I'm, uh, not really all that much like Andrew at all.

So who else does that leave? Well, I used to be a bit Jonathan-esque back in junior high school but, thank goodness, I grew out of that. I suppose I do identify a bit with Willow, though less the Willow of later seasons as the nerdy high school Willow. But then, she's much perkier than I am, and much more emotional. I've got a few similarities to Giles, I suppose: I'm academically-minded, I love books, I groove on classic rock. But the deeper you look, the weaker the similarities get.

No, I'm afraid the truth is that I don't really bear much of a resemblance to any of the Buffy characters. I'm not the kind of personality that'd work well on the show, I guess. If you dropped me in Sunnydale, I'd probably end up as Nameless Vampire Victim #743.

Oh, and, hey... Maggie Walsh? Warren?! What kind of psychopath do you think I am? *grin*

2) Kira Nerys had several "boyfriends" during DS9's run. Who would be your pick for Kira's perfect mate? You can choose from anyone in the DS9 universe or just stick with her romantic entanglements. Well, I very much liked Bariel. He was a heck of a nice guy, and you could tell he and Kira were totally into each other. But, truth to tell, he never seemed to me to be very much what I would think of as her "type." Possibly because I've never really bought into the old "opposites attract" cliche (or at least into the idea that they tend to make for solid long-term relationships).

Now, I was a huge Kira/Odo 'shipper for years. Not only were those two already very good friends who clearly cared about each other a lot, but it seemed to me that they were extremely compatible on a number of levels. They had the same sense of humor, the same sense of duty, the same straightforward, no-nonsense attitude. I was convinced they were perfect for each other and that the only reason nothing was happening was that Odo's "I am an asexual alien and think humanoid mating rituals are silly and pointless" act was so good that it never even occurred to Kira that he was someone you could have anything other than a platonic relationship with. However, once they actually got together on-screen I found myself rapidly losing interest. How much of it was the familiar Moonlighting syndrome, where resolving the sexual/romantic tension in a relationship robs it of its sparkle, and how much was just that I didn't much like where the writers went with the relationship after that point, I don't know. Probably a bit of both. I was still rooting for them to end up staying together at the end, though.

As for Shakaar, I never thought he was a particularly good choice. Too wrapped up in himself, too little actual personality. I was surprised it lasted as long as it did.

3) What is your favorite 'by the computer' toy or knick knack? I need to find one! As I mentioned a little while back, I just got a new computer desk, and, unlike the old one, it actually has space for toys and knick-knacks. In particular, there's a big shelf over the monitor that isn't convenient for holding anything practical, but which really needs something to make it look less bare. I'm thinking of putting my Farscape action figures on it (I have a Scorpius and a Zhaan), or maybe my DS9 ones (a Garak, a Bashir, and a Sisko wearing the TOS uniform from "Trials and Tribble-ations"). Right now, the only toy I have on the computer desk is a little Tiny Toons car I got years ago out of a Happy Meal. Flip it one way, and it's Plucky Duck in a boat. Turn it upside down and it's Babs Bunny sitting (for some reason) in a vehicle shaped like a giant telephone receiver. It's really very cute.

4) Who would you rather be: Xena or Gabrielle? Hmm. My sister's really the big Xena fan in the family. I've only ever seen a handful of episodes, myself. But from what I have seen, I am definitely more of a Gabrielle. Xena frightens me.

5) Are you ever going to write your Alaska trip report? I wanna read it! Oh, my, I was hoping nobody would actually care enough to notice I hadn't done it... To be honest, I really doubt I'm going to get around to it now. I had notes, I had all kinds of literature from the cruise line, including the schedule of each day's activities, and I was going to sit down and write up a very thorough account... But that proved to be a dauntingly large task, and I very quickly ended up getting distracted by other things that wanted doing... I'm not even sure where my notes have gotten off to now.