Big Brother Challenge Anniversary Special ~ an interview with Ophelia!

You know Ophelia from the JCC and fanfiction, a former mod and hedgehog expert who always has something clever to say. We talked about mod squad, fan fiction, and her "loltastic" hedgehogs among other things. Enjoy!


First, let's start with the basics. How did you choose your username?

"Ophelia" has been my fanfic handle for about 12 years now. I actually chose it when I was writing in the X-Files fandom, where it makes a little more sense. I knew I wanted a name that was unambiguously female, 'cause I don't want to have to discuss the nature of my genitalia every time I meet someone new, and I'm a huge Shakespeare fan. Of all the names I could have gone with, "Ophelia" had the nice, spooky connotations that suit X-Files fic. It comes off as kind of peculiar in the SW universe, but hey, that's probably why it wasn't taken when I registered.

Ah, I was wondering if Shakespeare was involved in that decision.


Currently, the anniversary celebration is in full swing. Do you enjoy having your colors back?

Yes--there's something strangely gratifying about having those extra little buttons to push! Ironically, I'm sort of "meh" about my usual color combination--I originally chose it for non-blinding visibility and (relative) uniqueness rather than for fashion. I may yet change it for something I like better . . . or something other people hate worse. Whichever. Mostly it's cool to have the option.

Could you give us a preview?

Well, there's always this . . .

[image=http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/2299/solararkwordsplusmeandsxt8.jpg]


You left MS about a year ago. Is there anything you miss?

Yes . . . I miss being part of MS at its best, when it's a group of people from every board and every kind of background, working to make the JC fun for its users. Mind you, the place can still look more like an alley cat fight than a field of lollipops and flowers, but so long as mods can step back from their own hurt feelings and personal biases and say, "Actually, you just had an awesome idea," MS is doing its difficult job well.

I met some great people there who I probably never would have spoken to otherwise--or perhaps never would have spoken to again, after a negative first experience. Sometimes the people you end up respecting the most are the ones you had the witchiest fights with.

Also I miss being a jackbooted thug and destroying the internetz, but that's pretty much a given.

They don't let you keep the jackboots after you retire?

Sadly, no. They burn the serial numbers off the metal ID plates with acid, then re-engrave and reissue them. Grimby used to have my old ones, but he'll be in the Head Admin boots now. Black rhino hide and 24-karat spikes, man. You should see the things.

They did offer to return my pants when I left MS, but I declined.



Let's go back a bit further. What first brought you to the boards? How much have they changed since then?

Well, I first posted here because I needed a place to put a 360+ page fanfic novel. I have no excuses for that, really. Sometimes, you start writing a fanfic novel, you know like you just do, and then there are more than 360 pages of it before you stop.

I shall be forever grateful to all six (6) of my readers for staying with me all that time. Some are still among my best friends on the site.

As for how the boards have changed . . . I'm inclined to say they've stayed the same more than they've changed. The number of active users and new registrations have gone up and down, and partly as a result, the role of moderators has swung back and forth between being an e-police force and being something more like dorm RA's. Sometimes sleeping dorm RA's. I'd say the one major difference is that the JC is more friendly to users now. At one time, the tone was something like, "This place is the owners' private party, and nobody asked any of *you* to show up." Now, there's less of a sense that users are disposable. With activity down, we can't afford to chase

 

Nice interview.