Para Bailar La Babble, Se Necesita una Cuarenta y Cinco!

[Alex]

Wow, I have a lot of these to get through… May skip a couple! :P

Any films anyone's interested in, atm, apart from Hunger Games?

I really want to see War Horse – but I know that if I do, I will be in floods of tears in the cinema.

Speaking of Hunger Games, I haven’t read them and know next to nothing about them: are they actually worth reading?

What are people writing at the moment?

Well, I’m supposed to be writing an archaeology essay… it’s going badly: done next to no reading because the question is so vague that I don’t really know where to start… Also have a Genetics essay to write for Biological Anthropology, and will be getting an essay on some aspect of identity for Social Anthropology tomorrow… yay.

As far as FF goes, currently nothing. If I get the time, and find some energy, over the next few days, then I will be starting an OotP fic from Lupin’s POV – would like to be looking for a Beta by the end of the month if anyone’s interested Would also be nice to find time for some original fiction: the ideas are there, but the time and energy, to research as well as write, just aren’t there at the moment.

Who is sick of winter? Anyone?

Me! I don’t like the threat of ice: I hate walking on anything slippery, and I’m dreading the day it gets icy and I have to dodge buses/bikes, as I just know I’m going to slip and fall into the road or something! The cold is also drying my skin out horribly: I’ve resorted to Savlon (anti-septic cream) for my hands, as my knuckles are just cracking and sore! :’(

What do you do in January (or winter) that you don't do in most other times?

Take hot water bottles everywhere – lectures, buses, bed (to keep my feet warm)…

Don't standardized tests stink?

What exactly is a standardised test?

What is your least favourite month of the year?

I don’t like January, actually: the post-Christmas blues, the cold, the way that fitness equipment/diet cookbooks/gym memberships are suddenly advertised everywhere... I could keep going, but I think that’s enough to be dealing with! :P

What is your favourite musical era? Favourite composer?

I don’t know much about eras…! I like Grunge music – does that count? Although to be honest, I like most varieties of rock, so it’s probably more of a genre thing. And composers… John Williams? :P I like certain bits of classical music (eg, Ride of the Valkyries) but I don’t listen to enough to have a favourite…

What's your favourite time of year?

Spring/Summer.

What music do you listen to cheer you up? What books do you read?

Honestly, I don’t listen to music or read to cheer me up: I can’t think of it that way, my tastes change depending on my mood. I’ve been in a rubbish mood today, so the main 2 songs I’ve listened to are “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For a Sunbeam” and “Lake of Fire” (both by Nirvana), though when I started to perk up, I moved onto Foo Fighters. I think if I tried to listen to something cheery on purpose, I’d just be irritated by it - sometimes a bit of wallowing is the best thing! I do usually cheer up on my own eventually, once I've mulled things over a little.

NEW TQ: Does anyone have any New Year's Resolutions this year? And if so, have you stuck to them? :P

[welshdevondragon]

I just watched (most of--shakes fist at dodgy internet connection) a livestream of an Arctic Monkeys concert. The only words I can think of to express how amazing it was are various superlatives that would have to be emphasised by swearing words, but god it was brilliant. I am now set on seeing the Arctic Monkeys next time they tour. Of course ideally someone would give me a small fortune and I'd get tickets and flghts to California and go to Coachella, the line up for which, quite simply made my jaw drop. That's a festival I will be scouring youtube for clips of.


NEW TQ: Does anyone have any New Year's Resolutions this year? And if so, have you stuck to them? :P


I try not to bite my nails. Also want to try and finish my essays more than a day before they're due, which I've failed at so far, but hope to succeed in. Also try to make one a.m not my usual bedtime.


Alex-really you don't listen to music/ read to cheer you up? I always listen to music to cheer me up. No matter how low I am, Nick Drake, Laura Marling, Joni Mitchell and Regina Spektor can make me feel--not necessarily better, but better with being down if that makes sense. If I didn't listen to music, I'd probably have another coping mechanism, but that's mine for now.

What are people writing at the moment?

I'm writing a lot at the moment. This will slow down, when uni kicks in next week. I wrote quite a few of the lovenotes and am developing a few of them to one-shots. And I have two chaptered fics, possibly three (though that's still in the planning stages) on the go. And two epilogues, oneof which is written, but SOraya quite rightly pointed out it needed a lot of work. The other one, I will be forcing upon you, Alex, as soon as it's written.

ALSO:

Ellie, do you mind if I ask you where the quotation in your signature is from? Just a candidate on the British Apprentice said that, and I'm wondering if you heard it from that, or from somewhere else, or whether the candidate had plagarised it (which, since she was Soraya's favourite, Soraya won't like) but I'm curious

ALSO:

Can we talk about Lovenotes? Obviously you don't want to reveal which ones you wrote, but are you enjoying the activity? Any drabbles for other people that you particularly liked (but just say one or two, because otherwise the guessing game will get easier )?

I've enjoyed/ am enjoying it immensely And both the drabbles that have been written for me are lovely, and I will reply to them in my thread in more detail soon.

[babewithbrains]

NEW TQ: Does anyone have any New Year's Resolutions this year? And if so, have you stuck to them? :P

Hehe, I don't really do New Year's resolutions, to be honest, but if there was one thing I resolved not to do recently, it's putting pens in my mouth. I never chew them, but I do put them-- not even in my mouth, just between my lips. But, actually, it's rather unhygienic, so I've tried my best to stop doing that. I'm getting there, I think. I now press the end of my pen against my chin, which helps, lol.

Can we talk about Lovenotes? Obviously you don't want to reveal which ones you wrote, but are you enjoying the activity? Any drabbles for other people that you particularly liked (but just say one or two, because otherwise the guessing game will get easier )?

Oh, I'm loving it! All my drabbles were just lovely, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. And I think the Harry/Draco posted recently in Jess's thread was also excellent. I have a good idea of who wrote it, but I won't say anything. I'll just say it's fab

I don't really want to talk about writing, though >.< I really am not getting any inspiration at all. It's a good thing, though. Getting major plot bunnies right now is a bad idea -- I have an exam at the beginning of March that I'm trying not to think about at the moment, and then loads more exams in May and June

Anyway, how about another TQ to add?

What kind of perfume (if any) do you like wearing?

I personally love Emporio Armani, Shilpa Shetty's one and Lacoste. Oh, and my sister wears Beyonce's Heat, and it's lovely

[iMusic17]

What kind of perfume (if any) do you like wearing?

Sorry. Thirteen = not allowed.

What are you writing at the moment?

Well, I have a sequel to All That's Left that I'm trying to post (eventually), and I also have Remember the Slytherins to work on. But on HPFF, (that place is so lax about cliches and such . . . it's both fabulous yet kind of bad sometimes) I have this fic called Shattered, where it's just a release. I took a classic cliché (James II/OC love/hate thing) and am twisting it very darkly. It's just a fic where I can get all of my melodrama and dramatics out before focusing on something substantial. I'm not sure it will reach Novel length, but I'm working hard so I can finish it. (The melodrama is addicting)

Also . . . one of my best RL friends EVER has her birthday in August, and she is really THE ONLY PERSON who knows that I write. Sooo . . . I'm working on a fic just for her, but it's more of a parody of the Hunger Games, with her being the beasty heroine.

New TQ: What do you think about Next Gen. humour/YA? Or would you prefer angsty and dark for the next set of witches and wizards?

I personally (this being the teenage girl inside of me) kind of have a weird thing where the humour/drama/crazy Quidditch stuff can be found enjoyable. I particularly like the sarcastic girls who fight with James II.

But . . . I also can't stand too much 'ooh, I love you' stuff. I like when things get dramatic and dark; I also hate when a character survives something they shouldn't have, simply because this or that loves them.

So I'm on the fence about my own TQ.

Wow. That's a new weirdness, even for me. (I blame it on the SUPER long orchestra practice I just had)

Ellie (will stop rambling now)

[Maple_and_PheonixFeather]

What is your least favourite month of the year?
Hmmm, November, I think. It's long and there are no holidays, and its crunch time and uni and the weather is blah.

What is your favourite musical era? Favourite composer?
I have discovered that as a musician, I excel in Romantic music and jazz. The Romantic era is probably my favourite. As for composer, I all for Beethoven. He's so amazing! I mean who else could take a three note theme that is three Gs and make it into the Moonlight Sonata? My least favourite composer is Mozart, just saying.

What's your favourite time of year?
December and summer. December because outside is so pretty and Christmas, and summer because I work at this amazing place with amazing people, and i get to go fishing and camping and all sorts of other outdoorsy stuff.


What music do you listen to to cheer you up? What books do you read?
Depends on what kind of funk I'm in. Usually, I just turn on That Kind of Beatiful by Emerson Drive, or Crazy Girl or the Band Perry or the Zac Brown Band. Lately, I've been listening to Carly Rae Jepson and Marianna's Trench. I tend to read Ella Enchanted if I'm feeling down as well.

What are people writing at the moment?

A music history assingment due March 20 and my Lily/Cormac.


What kind of perfume (if any) do you like wearing?
I have Adidas perfume that I wear to work, mostly becuse it's fresh smelling, but my favourite perfume to wear is the Body Shop's vanilla one, which I wore everyday last summer (seriuosly, the smell wouldn't wash out of the uniform.) and it became my signiture scent. I really want to get Love etc. from the Body Shop, it is super lovely

[Padfoot11333]

I'm here. I hardly ever post in the babble because...well, I just don't, so I'll answer a bunch of TQs.

ANNOUNCEMENT btw: I know I already told Ellie but nobody else knows, so I’ll just tell you. I made CONCERT MASTER in my all county orchestra (first violin, first chair) which rocks! Last year I was sixth chair, this year…it even has a cool name. I’m so excited!
What are people writing at the moment?

I'm attempting a H/G fic and a J/L fic (the latter is for the Great Hall challenge) and I like the beginnings of both of them so far, which is good. I'm actually getting into pairings a little bit, *whatever*.

What is your favourite musical era? Favourite composer?

I totally agree with Maple--I kind of hate Mozart. The outcome is mostly pretty but learning it is kind of a b**** and some of the pieces get a little old. I love Bach and Beethoven (especially the Brandenburg concertos--so beautiful!) and I like the Baroque era, because it's fun I love like Seitz when you listen to him, but learning it...ugh. Same way with Vivaldi (although some of his pieces can be pretty awesome to learn) I could go on all day about this.

What's your favourite time of year?

I love May, not only cause it's when my birthday is, but also it's when spring really comes to life. Aah. It's awesome.

What music do you listen to to cheer you up? What books do you read?

Depends on how upset I am. Sometimes if I’m really angry, I’ll actually play music instead of listening to it (some pieces can be a real stress relief), but sometimes I’ll just crank up the rock or alternative (like Shinedown, The Script, or Linkin Park) and curl up in my bed. Your SPEW Monarch approves of this. As for books I read Harry Potter because I don’t even have to think about it

Also Maple: re the Band Perry—I love them, which is weird because I can’t stand country music besides Taylor Swift. You have garnered more royal favour with this, hehe. I’m sorry but I’ve never listened to an entire Zac Brown Band song…


NEW TQ: How are you liking the Cotillion? Did you make a wise choice with your pairings (I know I didn’t…)

Lily xxx

[Alex]

Alex-really you don't listen to music/ read to cheer you up? I always listen to music to cheer me up. No matter how low I am, Nick Drake, Laura Marling, Joni Mitchell and Regina Spektor can make me feel--not necessarily better, but better with being down if that makes sense. If I didn't listen to music, I'd probably have another coping mechanism, but that's mine for now.

Well, no... If I try and put on something to "cheer me up", I'll just get irritated by it. I suppose I might put on something that'll put me in an even worse mood, to try and get myself through the worst of it (and then let my song choices sort of evolve into steadily happier things as I start to feel better - though it can go both ways as well, I've started happy with happy songs before and ended up on something gloomy!), but it's never a case of "I'm feeling down so I'll listen to X to cheer me up." I'm more likely to pick up the phone and call my mum, or vent to a friend... probably terrible that I'm so dependent, but, well... it works for me, most of the time...!

[babewithbrains]

I personally love to listen to music to calm me down, lol. Like, when I'm really annoyed with my family or if I just want to block everyone out, I usually put an Adele song on at full volume and sing very, very loudly Definitely helps in my case


TQ: How are you liking the Cotillion? Did you make a wise choice with your pairings (I know I didn’t…)

I think it's fabulous, but I've been kind of busy so I only claimed one pairing I wanted to claim another but I'm not sure. I might. I could expand my James/Roxanne SBBC drabble, since I cut it pretty brutally as it was, but we'll see how I do.

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

*feels like she's got enough juice to answer this question*

TQ: How are you liking the Cotillion?

I am thoroughly enjoying the Cotillion thus far. Just the sheer diversity and the amount of people who have learnt to stretch themselves to the limit with the time restrictions is fabulous. It gives me heart to see so many rarepairs and oldpairs and just a bit of everything sprinkled in. As a mod, I don't think I could ask for more participation. You lot are fabulous!

[babewithbrains]

I think the best thing about the Cotillion is that it's so open. You can have whatever kind of plot you want, and there aren't any real restrictions. I like challenges that are structured, but I also like freer challenges such as this one because we just have to pick two characters. Even better, it means we get to try new pairings we haven't thought about before

In a similar vein, are there any stories you've read recently that you liked (not necessarily from the GH Cotillion)?

I recently read Carole/Equinox Chick's Forbidden Colours which I thought was fab I also betaed Deathlex's Punching in the Dream which was also excellent.

Any other recs?