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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

JCC P E O P L E Interviews, Issue LXX: ophelia!

Discussion in 'Community' started by Coruscant, Sep 4, 2016.

  1. Coruscant

    Coruscant Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2004
    Welcome back to PEOPLE!

    ophelia is one of those users who has been on my little shortlist for a PEOPLE interview for a very long time. Too long, as a matter of fact- it’s probably been a decade. With a little nudging from ophie (“You interviewed Juliet before me?! I. Will. Murder. You!”), I finally asked her to participate, and she all too graciously agreed.

    How to describe ophelia? She has an absolutely killer writing voice, easily conveyed across the barrier of the screen with her choice use of words. In tandem with her sense of humor, she puts you inside her head, helps you see the world how she sees it, so you find things that would not normally be funny to you very funny. With her at the wheel, and me in the passenger seat (which is remarkable since I am the one interviewing her), the interview twice took turns for the playful and imaginative, and I am sincerely grateful to ophie for the pleasure.

    I asked solojones to describe ophelia, too. I thought Rachel would provide a valuable perspective on ophie. I never forgot what amazing collaborative fan fiction both of them created while playing GSE (I can’t believe it’s been eight years already).



    In this interview, we talked about English majors, depression, friendship, re-creation medieval battles, fan fiction, among many other things…

    My questions are bolded; ophelia's answers are not.

    ***

    You once helped build a 26-foot tall plastic castle... Could you describe it?

    This is it here: http://www.shadowclans.org. It's made out of vacuum-formed ABS plastic. Some friends of mine carved the molds for it, and built the vacuum former from scratch. I was just involved in the grunt work--trimming off excess plastic, bonding things together, standing around and helpfully supervising, etc.

    It was built for a medieval re-creation camping event. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsic_War) Every year my friends camp behind it. You can climb up onto the second story and tell people their mothers are hamsters.

    I tried to look at the gallery, but it gave me a 404! :(

    Yeah, the gallery has been down for some time, unfortunately. That site is no longer maintained, because everyone got lazy. And yeah, Pennsic is a little like a medieval Burning Man. With less desert, fewer drugs, and and no postmodern art installations.

    So this Pennsic War is kind of like a medieval Burning Man, I take it? Did your side win? :p

    Actually, Pennsic is nothing like a medieval Burning Man. :p

    Also, I didn't go this year, but I'm pretty sure my side lost. My side usually loses. Losing losers that we are.

    I have reason to believe that you are mildly interested in the Middle Ages. Why do you think that is?

    Yes, the middle ages are cool. My favorite historical period is the early modern one, though. For a while I went to grad school studying for an interdisciplinary master's in early modern English history and literature. (The early modern period is roughly between the years of 1500 and 1789.) There was just so much drama during that period. The world changing, new discoveries all the time, contrasts between amazing human achievements and hideous human cruelty. And the clothes were fabulous!

    For a while? Did you not get your graduate degree?

    Not in English/history. After a couple of semesters, I realized I hated all my classmates with the fiery heat of a thousand suns. Smug, self-satisfied pretentious gits. All their writing sounded like this: http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo/. The thought of spending my entire career among them made me feel faint. I also hated literary criticism. One of the required books had this sentence in it: "The concretization of lemurs, who have lost their horizons in more than one sense, passes immediately into the most extreme abstraction." I asked the professor what that meant, and he gave a long rambling answer that amounted to "I don't know." That was really my breaking point.

    I eventually got a master's in education instead.

    Do you think it's fair to say that an English degree is mostly bull****?

    I think most "postmodern" literary criticism is bull****, and that stuff is awfully popular in academia.

    Well, why?

    Why is it popular or why is it bull****? Much of it's bull**** because the jargony, abstruse style encourages terrible writing--impenetrable at best, and camouflage for weak ideas at worst. As for why it's popular, you got me.

    I have a theory- it's to make literary criticism seem like more of an objective field of study, like math or biology. What do you think?

    Hmm. I think it has more to do with how sexist, racist, and other -ist old school literary criticism was. People are rightly repelled by that, and want to get as far away from that aesthetic as possible. Unfortunately, one of the things the old guard valued was making sense. The post-modernists threw that out, too.

    So, with your master's in education, you went into teaching, I assume? what do you teach? who do you teach?

    I taught special education for some years. I had students with a wide range of learning challenges, in grades 1 through 12. (Although not all those grades at the same time, obviously.) Eventually the stress and the long hours wore away at my mental health, however, and I haven't worked in some time. I'm on Social Security disability for depression.

    What about it was so devastatingly stressful?

    Well, the hardest part had to do with the pressure to meet standardized testing objectives. My kids were able to work with accommodations and were sometimes given different versions of tests, but many of them learned very slowly, and the numbers often didn't look good. I also worked in struggling districts where there often wasn't a lot of staff support, and there was a lot of behavioral challenges from the kids. At the worst job I had to buy and bring almost all the supplies myself.

    Don't get me wrong--it was very rewarding, and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. But it burned me out.

    My heart breaks for you. To go through the educational system for so long yourself, getting your master's, then beginning to teach, trying to help your kids meet these standards, burning out... it seems you've come a long way, and had quite a struggle. How are you doing now? Do you think you'll teach ever again?

    I'm doing reasonably well. :) I've started taking a new medication since I was hospitalized in May, and there's been a great improvement in mood. I'm not at 100%, but I'll take it. And no, I don't think I'll ever be in charge of a classroom again. That doesn't mean I couldn't tutor kids or work in some other capacity, though. I would like that.

    "It's an OPHELIA thing, you wouldn't understand"

    Could you describe yourself in such a way that illuminates just why a random user looking at your avatar would never understand your ophelia things?

    LOL! It's just a t-shirt logo that I found somewhere, and it struck me as hilarious. I think it's connected to some band. Also, I doubt there's a way to describe me that would be incomprehensible, unless I did it in gibberish or something. I'm like other people. Except for the human eyeball collection I keep in a locked box under my bed. And the fact that I worship an invisible T-Rex named Stanley.

    Dude, everyone has a human eyeball collection under their bed. I have Mr. Rogers's left eyeballl in my collection.

    I suddenly want to talk about imaginary friends. Or just imaginary beings, period. Did you have any as a kid? Do you still have any today?

    I don't remember any imaginary friends when I was a kid. I have fanfic characters now, so maybe that counts?

    You mean you didn't live up to the stereotype of little girls have imaginary friends?!?! How could you

    What were you like as a kid?

    I was a big dork. :p I spent most of my time daydreaming about Star Wars or about fantasy worlds that I'd make up. I think I saw ROTJ every week for the entire summer of 1983. My family got annoyed with me because I spent hours and hours in my room reading instead of interacting with them. Typical nerd. :p

    So I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that ROTJ is your favorite SW movie? Why so?

    Actually, I'm an ESB fan. I saw ROTJ so many times because it was the first SW film that came out when I was old enough to go to the movies without my parents. They were not up for seeing the same movie every week for three months. :p

    If several JCCers got trapped in your favorite childhood book, which one would it be?

    I guess that would be "A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. I'm not sure who would be Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace, but Frieda would be Mrs. Whatsit and Jello would be IT.

    Do you ever wonder if you're just not in the right world? I know it's similar to the way that I feel sometimes, especially when I'm at my most depressed. I apologize if this question seems a bit heavy.

    I used to think that as a kid sometimes. I'd wish I lived in the Star Wars universe or in the universe of whatever fantasy novel I'd just finished reading. When I got older I realized that most of these universes would be violent and terrifying to live in.

    I guess I sometimes wish I lived in the future, when people will presumably have a better handle on what causes depression, and have figured out how to treat it more effectively. But then again, maybe in the future the Earth will be an uninhabitable dust ball. So I guess I'll stay where I am.

    Read any good books lately?!

    Lately I've been reading Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January mystery series. They're set in 1830's New Orleans, and they're quite good. She's fantastic with historical fiction. Right now I'm reading "Crimson Angel," which is about a supposed family fortune hidden somewhere in conflict-wracked Haiti.

    On your smartphone, or tablet, what apps do you have on "page one?" (it's kind of like a "what's on your desk right now?" sort of thing)

    It's just the lame default stuff. :( I did recently get the Monty Python's Silly Walk app, though. It's entertaining . . . you have to silly walk past obstacles and when you fall, John Cleese insults you. That's on page 3, though.

    How is that not page one?!

    So with all things that JCCers know about you, and how we perceive you, what is one thing that we could learn about you which you think would greatly surprise us?

    Hmm. Well, I did various types of fencing for years, and I was pretty aggressive with it. I used to come home with so many bruises that a doctor I saw tried to convince me to call a domestic abuse hotline number. A friend of mine once described me this way: "She's a sweet girl, but hopelessly violent."

    Is "Ophelia" your real name, or do you just like the character from Hamlet that much?

    My real name's Melissa. :) I'm a Shakespeare fan, and I chose "ophelia" as my fanfic name like 20 years ago, back when I was writing X-Files fanfic all the time. I like Rosalind at least as much as I like Ophelia, but I figured Ophelia was spookier, and better suited to The X-Files.

    Is there an X-Files fanfic that you are proud of in particular, even to this day? What happened in it?

    Yes, I'm still pretty proud of "Resurgam," which won a fan award a million years ago. It's a ghost story set on Martha's Vineyard. Scully gets tormented by a 200 year old headless lady.

    In your head, are you the headless lady? :p

    Actually, I think in my head I was Mulder. Really, I'm always Mulder.

    Interesting!

    Are you trying to get published? Or have you been already?

    I have been, a few times. I probably could be published some more, if I actually tried. But I must confess, I've never tried very hard. I don't actually enjoy writing original fiction all that much. I'm just a fanfic nerd at heart.

    Ready to write a little JCC fanfic?

    Sure!

    Who is the main character?

    Umm . . . Jabba-wocky. I've really been enjoying his adventures in the AD&D thread.

    What is the thing or person he most dearly wants?

    He wants Rogue_Ten to retract his statement that Malia Obama is a sex person.

    And who is the antagonist? I don't want to assume Rogue_Ten.

    I think it should be a triumvirate of terror. Rogue_Ten, Ender_Sai, and Josef Stalin. And Jello. A quadrumvirate.

    Who are Wocky's adventure companions?

    It is more honorable if he faces the quadrumvirate alone. For why should he wish to bring his friends into such a terrible situation?

    What is Wocky's internal flaw?

    He is so obsessed with being honorable that it makes him completely and utterly insane. And he sleeps on floors.

    How does this internal flaw interfere with his attaining his heart's desire?

    Well, you see . . . Jabba-wocky challenges Rogue_Ten to a duel over the sex person allegation, because a man of honor must be willing to die for his convictions. But since it is dishonorable to kill a man at a disadvantage, Jabba-wocky gives up fighting as soon as he starts to win. So Rogue_Ten kills him. As J-w lies dying, he takes a deep breath and bellows, "It's the most wonderful tiiime . . . OF THE YEAAAAAR!" and immediately expires. He is buried in a wooden coffin with no fabric lining, so as to simulate sleeping on a floor for all eternity. Malia Obama comes to his funeral swathed in black and stands wailing next to the grave. Rogue_Ten is unrepentant. Josef Stalin flirts with him shamelessly. Ender and Jello are puzzled as to how they got into this story to begin with, and go off together to look down on people.

    Beautiful. A tear came to my eye.

    If you were a monarch, what kind of monarch would you be?

    I would be a constitutional monarch. Not because I'm inherently more democratically-minded, but because I'm terribly lazy. Constitutional monarchs have to do the least. Also, they tend not to get their heads cut off as often.

    What about trappings? You know, kind of throne, what's it made of, throne room, worshippers y/n, palm-frond waver, how much of an entourage, etc...

    Hmm. Does Galadriel have a throne room? I'd want a throne room like she'd have. All sparkly lights and art nouveau trees. All my friends could be my entourage. Including JCC'ers, of course. We'd lounge about looking awesome and then eat burritos.

    Which JCCers would be confined to the forest floor?

    Awww, I wouldn't make JCC'ers lie on the forest floor. That's for the people who post in 8 & 9 SA.

    You're such a kind queen! Except for those SA-ers. But who cares, right?

    Blue, red, or yellow?

    Blue.

    Warmth or coolness?

    Coolness.

    Chaos or order?

    Order.

    Care Bears or GI Joe?

    GI Joe.

    Who is your heroine?

    Barbara Hambly

    Who is your "I don't want to ever be like that person, but I do find myself in constant danger of being so" person?

    My mother. :p

    What is your pet peeve?

    People who confuse there, their, and they’re

    And what subject will turn you into a raving lunatic in two seconds?

    People who equate poverty with laziness

    Who is Barbara Hambly?

    A fantasy, horror, mystery, historical fiction, and science fiction author who is widely reviled in the SW fandom for having written a couple of lousy EU novels, including the infamous "Children of the Jedi." Her original material is much, much better. I absolutely love her characters, as well as her rich historical backgrounds and dark fantasy/horror mix.

    But why is she your hero? Is it just because her characters are that good?

    I wish I could write like her, yes.

    Would you do the JC again?

    You mean if I could rewind time to 2002, would I join up again? In a heartbeat!

    Would you do anything differently?

    I don't think I would have been a mod. I wasn't particularly good at it, and I didn't have much fun. The only thing I did that I'm really proud of is catch a death hoaxer. This individual created a fake woman who "got engaged" to a married user living in an Asian country. The guy left his wife, left his home, and moved to the US to be with "her." Then the hoaxer faked his alter-ego's death, leaving the "fiancé" devastated. It took me the better part of a day to hunt through all the hoaxer's various socks, but I finally got him. He's gone now.

    You hear that, kids? Don't do mods!

    How has the JC changed you? Or has it not changed you? How are you better off, for the existence of the JC?

    Hmm. I don't know that the JC has changed me all that much, but I'm definitely better off for having made friends here. There are lots of fantastic folks on these forums.

    Who are some of them?

    solojones
    Souderwan
    Jello
    harpuah
    Daveed
    PRENNNNNNN
    Pulsies (We're FB friends now that she never posts here anymore)
    Leona
    . . . and a cast of thousands. :p

    Really the people I mentioned are just the ones I interact with regularly or semi-regularly off the boards. I consider everybody here a friend. Except that one person.

    You know who you are. [face_plain]

    And why is solojones at the top of your list?

    Sj and I talk all the time . . . she's one of my dearest friends, even though technically I've never met her. :p

    Does the JC help you with depression?

    Yes, actually, it does. It's a social, entertaining place I can go to when I don't feel up to interacting with people in person. If I'm still in my pajamas at 3 pm the JCC doesn't care. Well, the JCC doesn't know. Until now. :p Also, despite its reputation, the JCC is a pretty positive place. People are here to have fun, and are a pretty supportive bunch, unless you're some kind of lousy N00b. :p

    Are you in your pajamas now?

    Amazingly enough, I am wearing day clothing at the moment.

    Don't you think it's odd that many of your fond memories of the JC are just letters on a screen? Like that hoaxer you caught? But that's all it takes, isn't it?

    Well . . . saying online communication is just letters on a screen is like saying that human speech is just sound vibrations in the air. Communication is communication. It's a little weird that I'm friends with people I've never met in person, but I don't think that means those friendships are fundamentally different in any way. Other than the fact that the friends are freaks.

    In what ways are online friendships stronger than real-life ones?

    Interesting question. I'm not sure online friendships are stronger or weaker than in-person ones. I think the strength of a relationship has to do with the quality of the connection between the people involved, whether they're often in the same room together or not.

    What are you doing to support Rogue number Ten's JCC NIGHTS initiative?

    I've become a straight-arrow cop paired with a partner who breaks all the rules. Together we'll take on a burning-hot city that never forgives, and never forgets.

    Oooh, what is the twist? I think the straight-arrow cop is also the rule-breaker! They're the same person!

    The twist is that my mentor, Police Commissioner Ramza, has secretly been running the methamphetamine cartel that has the city by its throat. Against my partner's advice I confront him, and then
    he has my pregnant wife shot.

    Betrayed and enraged, I must choose between my principles and the sweet call of revenge.

    Omg omg, I am riveted! What happens next? He kills Ramza, doesn't he? I know it.

    It turns out that I had a compulsion for rule-abiding because it was the only bulwark against the dark well of fury that is my soul. I leave the police force and join the paramilitary group HAND (Homeland and National Defense), where I learn to be the killer I was born to be. Then, using my former partner as a contact point within the police organization, my new comrades-in-arms and I sweep into the city and institute martial law. Ramza is sealed in drum of toxic waste and buried in the salt mines beneath the city, with a sign saying: "Do Not Open For 10 Million Years." Crooked cops, drug dealers, and scofflaws of all varieties die screaming on their knees. The city is awash in blood. My partner tells me I've gone too far one too many times, and I shoot him in the face.

    The final scene is of me standing on the roof of my penthouse apartment, pensively puffing on a cigar as I stare out over the burning city, having become the thing that I once hated most.

    Jesus, this is good ****. What about the sequel, where Ramza is unsealed before ten million years are up by a band of post-apocalyptic Rastafarian cannibal warlocks?

    Ah, that's when the cannibal warlocks bring Ramza to their hideout and replace his dissolved limbs with cybernetic body parts. He is now called BEEZEL (Bio-Engineered Entity Zombified into Electronic Life). They unleash BEEZEL upon the city to terrify its citizens into worshiping the cannibal warlock leader, a shadowy figure known only as "El Admin."

    A plucky young cub reporter (obituary section) named Juliet tracks me down and demands to know why I, as de facto ruler of the city, don't do something about El Admin and BEEZEL. I find her attractive, so I tell her that I'll grant her an exclusive interview over dinner, even though I don't really care if BEEZEL wipes the city out. During our whirlwind romance, Juliet teaches me how to love again, and annoys me by insisting upon telling me every single time a citizen of the city dies.

    Desperate to redeem myself and prove that I'm worthy of a good woman's love, I arm myself to the teeth and confront BEEZEL. In an epic showdown that destroys the city's downtown, I tear out BEEZEL's electronic heart and shove him into the ice-choked river, shorting him out and electrocuting myself at the same time.

    The last scene is of a wind-whipped, cloaked figure standing on the iron railings of a bridge overlooking the river. It is El Admin. He throws back his hood, revealing that he is Daveed, my supposedly-mentally-challenged assistant gardener. He throws back his head and laughs as lightning flashes through the sky.

    Daveed was El Admin all along? Holy ****amole! How does one guy become El Admin and Co-DM at the same time? I'm sensing a spin-off!

    Well, he's only El Admin in the reboot universe. Some of his original fans are still pretty mad about that, actually.

    Do you think we'll ever get our characters in YJCC AD&D?

    Only if we marry Dave first.

    How do we accomplish this? Does it involve blueprints, notations in crayon, and montage music?

    Yes. And a superimposed digital clock counting down to midnight.

    Excellent. I have every bit of confidence we'll successfully execute our ornately accessorized conception of a plan that utterly lacks specific steps and goals and is thus entirely vacuous. Then AD&D will be in the palm of our deft hands by the end of the week! That, or we'll be saved at the last minute from our own incompetence by Jack Bauer, who has seemingly escaped from the Lubyanka.

    Do you think there will ever be an end to tyranny in the JCC?

    What would the JCC be without tyranny? Without Comms threads and unban requests? Without drama spillover onto FaceBook? It would be like a ship without an anchor. Like a slave without a chain. Just the thought of those sweet ladies sends a shiver through my veins.

    What is our place in this chaos, you and I, two commoners trying to do an interview and avoid the bloodshed? What can we hope to accomplish?

    I don't think any of us can ever know. We just have to keep forging onward, walking, walking, in single file to hide our numbers . . .

    Wait a minute... I thought it was just us two... Who is this guy behind me in the single-file?

    We were hiding our numbers! How can you tell there's a third guy?

    I'm freaking out, man! Are you sure this single-file thing works?


    Well, it worked for Jesus. You know, in the sand.

    ***

    Thanks for stopping by! My humblest thanks to Melissa for her participation!

    Melissa might make a post shortly. If you liked her answers and participation in this interview, please Like that post.

    If you were a PEOPLE interviewee in the past and you saved your issue, please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, old issues from before the big move will be restored by going the (very) long way around.


    Past Issues

    1. FamousAmos
    2. Darth_Ignant
    3. FareLenore
    4. Mortimer_Snerd
    5. Darth_Deception
    6. Albert_Normandy
    7. Darth_Snowball*
    8. PhilipWise
    9. Everton*
    10. Quixotic-Sith*
    11. DarthTunick*
    12. KnightWriter*
    13. gabe*
    14. Coruscant*
    15. rhonderoo / Kavic_Toth*
    16. Katya_Jade*
    17. harpuah I*
    18. VadersLaMent*
    19. George_Roper*
    20. Handmaiden_Yane*
    21. solojones I*
    22. jp-30*
    23. GrandAdmiralJello*
    24. Earwen and Skye Lightrider*
    25. Souderwan*
    26. harpuah II*
    27. AaylaSecurOWNED*
    28. TheGuardianofArlon*
    29. PulsarSkate*
    30. Eeth-my-Koth*
    31. dp4m*
    32. MASTERPRENN*
    33. Grimby the Hutt*
    34. s65horsey*
    35. Esperanza_Nueva*
    36. Errant_Venture*
    37. harpuah III*
    38. Darth_Guy
    39. JediYvette
    40. solojones II*
    41. SLR*
    42. Whitey*
    43. imperial_dork*
    44. AmazingB*
    45. Miana Kenobi*
    46. JoinTheSchwarz*
    47. Armenian_Jedi*
    48. darth_boy*
    49. ApolloSmileGirl
    50. tom
    51. Jabba-wocky
    52. Zapdos
    53. Kyle Katarn
    54. Healer_Leona
    55. I Are The Internets
    56. Ramza
    57. Rogue1-and-a-half
    58. Admiral Volshe
    59. Lord Vivec
    60. Jabbadabbado
    61. anakinfansince1983
    62. slightly_unhinged
    63. mrsvos
    64. Darth Punk
    65. Boba_Fett_2001
    66. LostOnHoth
    67. Juliet316
    68. Shira A'dola
    69. TahiriVeilaSolo69

    *unrestored



    ~Coruscant
     
  2. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    Fun interview! Although hilarious plot aside I'm not entirely sure how I feel about getting turned into BEEZEL. [face_plain]
     
  3. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    Cor asked me to post here. And . . . er . . . sorry about the BEEZEL thing. Don't ban me, okay? [face_worried]

    (Belatedly thinks twice about making fun of the head admin.)
     
  4. vin

    vin Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 1999
    Ophelia was a strong supporter and defender on #teamjuli. You should have asked her how she felt when the truth came out about the fake cancer, fake vagina, fake etc.

    I'll always appreciate Ophelia hosting the JC CAH. It was a fun time.
     
    TahiriVeilaSolo69 likes this.
  5. Harpua

    Harpua Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2005
    We need to do another Cards Against Humanity!


    Great interview.


    Did you know that you and I were up for mod together, and you beat me? Thanks for that... I owe you one! <3 :p
     
  6. Healer_Leona

    Healer_Leona Squirrel Wrangler of Fun & Games star 9 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2000
    Riveting interview! I remember how fun you were before being modded. Nothing like being a mod for the fun of the boards to dry up, huh?

    I don't think I've read a Wrinkle in Time and now I have to. :p
     
  7. Juliet316

    Juliet316 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2005
    Never been somebody's fanfic love interest before. Fun!

    Great interview. Lovely getting to know Ophelia better!
     
  8. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    I don't even remember the first time I really noticed an ophelia post and I feel like we've only interacted a handful of times, but, somehow, over the years, she just kind of slowly became one of my favorite posters around here.

    And jeez, just the other day I was saying how I sometimes forget Ramza is an admin. I only just this minute realize that I had literally forgotten that he was Head Admin.
     
  9. DarthTunick

    DarthTunick SFTC VII + Deadpool BOFF star 10 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2000
    Lovely interview for such a standout person/JCer. :D
     
  10. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    Hey, Ophelia, I used to fence in the SCA too. What was your favorite style? I tried them all, and my faves were sword & dagger, and two swords. Buckler and single sword were OK, and I never really got the hang of soft parries.
     
  11. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    I liked sword and dagger too, and sword and rigid parry. :D I got a kick out of the schlager too, but it was so heavy that it hurt my wrist.
     
    Sarge likes this.
  12. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    "You know who you are"

    Yes. Yes I do.
    Great interview - you will get a D&D character soon.

    Cor, maybe. Maybe.
     
    ophelia likes this.
  13. Jabba-wocky

    Jabba-wocky Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 4, 2003
    That was the most accurate depiction of real people I have ever seen in a fictional work. Bravo.
     
    Sarge, ophelia and tom like this.
  14. tom

    tom Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2004
    this was easily a top five people interview. super entertaining, good job guys.
     
  15. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998


    I did heavy rattan combat before we had rapier in my kingdom, so my wrist was totally fine with the weight of schlagers. Here are some of my toys:
    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
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  16. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    God damn that was an awesome interview.
     
  17. morrison85

    morrison85 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 13, 2005
    that abusive person with the death hoax sounds ****ed up. woah .
     
  18. MariahJSkywalker

    MariahJSkywalker Poopoo Head star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2005
    I'm glad you're still doing these! Great interview.

    Also have to agree with ophelia about English majors currently. I wanted to get a degree in English but realize I be studying nonsensical literary criticism.
     
  19. KnightWriter

    KnightWriter Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 6, 2001
    Coruscant

    It's interesting to trace the arc of these interviews from being something closer to a lark, or things thrown against the wall, to being what they are now, which are the result of a highly effective interviewer. One more example of how trying something and sticking with it through the early efforts, and then the somewhat better (but still mediocre ones), can turn into something great. for most of us, if we tried to imitate what you're doing, it would fall flat (whether we tried here or somewhere else).

    Well done.
     
  20. Coruscant

    Coruscant Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2004
    Thank you for the humbling words. They mean a lot to me.

    If there's been any improvement to these interviews over time, I can't say that it's been due to any deliberate effort to improve my game or something like that. I started bugging JCCers with my questions and publishing the results when I was 16 years old, and now I'm 28, so I've obviously done a lot of growing up. Of course, the fact that JCCers were interesting in '04, more so than in any other forum throughout the internet, and only got more interesting as the years went by, has been a big, big help.
     
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  21. Harpua

    Harpua Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2005
    Holy ****, I can't believe you're 28 now.
     
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  22. KnightWriter

    KnightWriter Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 6, 2001

    You get better by doing the work, which you've done. A lot us are held back by our fear of making mistakes and looking bad, in part because we are bad to start with at most things.

    In the time since you first did these, it's gone from you benefitting from other people, to other people probably benefitting from you.
     
  23. Coruscant

    Coruscant Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2004
    Again, thank you. It really means a lot to me, especially with what I'm going through in my personal life right now.

    I'll definitely keep doing these!
     
  24. Boba_Fett_2001

    Boba_Fett_2001 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2000
    Your survival battles on the other hand....

    (j/k :*)
     
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  25. Master_Lok

    Master_Lok Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 18, 2012
    Wonderful interview! Ah, X-Files fan fiction, awesome. I really need to catch up on reading these.
     
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