11. Me When Writing A Story:

I posted this on facebook before I had a blog and I just thought it'd make a neat blog post! So here goes nothing...Tell me if there are triggers^^

Me when writing a story:

*leans back* and now, finally, all the good stuff can happen to this character that I've grown fond of.

Wait, what are you doing? Why are you going in there? Turn around, turn around. You don't want to turn around? Fine, then. Oh gosh, it's dark in here. Did you bring a torch? You didn't. Of course not. Wait, who are you? Where did you come from? Do we know you? Come on, show your face. You won't? Okay, I don't think this person is good news, so let's just go the other way. What are you saying hello to this person for in the middle of the night in a dark alley? I didn't know you were crazy? Oh, wait, you're not crazy. You're still looking for that person? I didn't know you cared so much. Oh gosh, he's gonna kill you, isn't he. Well, I told you you should have gone the other way. Coming closer. Just run now. Come on, run. You're leaning in to give him a hug? Okay, that's adorable. But he's got a knife. And I think you're confusing him with someone. No, apparently it's your philosophy to hug killers before they kill you. I don't think he's interested in hearing the entire philosophy. Okay, now even HE is telling you to go away. Did your parents never teach you to listen? Wait, what are you doing? How did you do that? I didn't know you could do that. Is he unconscious? Is he dead? Why are you still not leaving? Oh you're... oh you're... taking a picture, aren't you. Wow. Of the dead guy you just killed. Now that's just, that's just sick. No he's not your brother. I could have told you that before. Okay, there is some resemblance, but still. Now are you leaving? Now you're leaving. Perhaps you should call emergency services, but that's not your style, is it? No. Well you can't go back. We all know you can't go back now. Oh Gee. And it's three in the morning and I've got to abandon you for sleep. Okay I've turned out the lights now. And now I can't sleep because my 13-year-old character has just possibly killed someone and is now on the run and I wanted to end this chapter with puppies and flowers „cry“-Emoticon

10. Book tag!

No triggers.

Hello, dear world! Today is book tag day! And yes, I do get to decide that. I do. Trust me, I do. Thank you to http://geekygirlonline.blogspot.co.uk/ for tagging me :)

1. Favourite book

Umm, yeah right :D I’ll give you some of my favourite books: The Stars’ Tennis Balls by Stephen Fry (16 and up, I would recommend), Overheard In A Dream by Torey Hayden (also 16 and up), Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (just read it), Far From The Tree by Andrew Solomon (non-fiction. Age recommendation for some of the last chapters. I don’t know 18 and up? I’m still shocked by some of the things I’ve read. But, you know. It’s real. It happened.) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (read it! :) ), Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling, the Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones (children’s books, but everybody should read them! :D I’ve always felt like her books were constructed like dreams. Truly, like dreams!)…

2. Favourite author

All the ones who’ve written my favourite books! :D Actually, with every author who’s ever published a book I have a sort of love-hate relationship in my head: I admire them, I am grateful for their work, I’d love to meet them, write to them, ask them questions… But I’m also, you know, insanely jealous.

3. What genre do you prefer?

I think I like most genres. I rarely read crime novels or romantic novels, but I’ve read some wonderful books in both of these genres as well. When I was like 15 I found it really difficult to know what to read, because I felt I was too old for the children’s books and too young for the adult books and didn’t really know about the YA genre. Now I just read everything, children’s books, YA books, adult books. Don’t miss out on reading children’s books just because you’re not a child and don’t have an alibi child to read them to!

4. What is your favourite book series, trilogy?

Some of my favourites are Harry Potter, Bartimaeus and the Chrestomanci series :)

5. What book did you hate reading in school?

‘Awful End’ by Philip Ardagh. We had to read it in 5th or 6th grade. Either way, I was eleven. The teacher gave us a bunch of books to choose from and vote on and my class chose THE ONLY one I really didn’t want to read. It’s actually quite an interesting book but I really hated it as a child. My parents and teacher and friends (god, I was annoying EVERYONE :D ) said that once I started to actually read it, I would like it, but I really didn’t. Which in no way means that it’s a bad book, I just didn’t like it.

6. What is one of the first books you remember reading?

By myself? I don’t know. I think it was a story with a red-haired little witch, but I know it wasn’t the first book I read, I just remember it because I read it for my grandma :)

7. Bookstores or libraries?

Libraries. They’re like book stores without the guilt of having spent too much money on books. Some of my happiest childhood memories are in libraries. I love book stores and I love owning books, but there’s nothing like sharing the love for a book with lots of people who’ve read it as well. I like used books. And I’ve recently started putting little notes inside library books, just to let people know they’re loved :) You’ll probably be able to guess where the inspiration to do this came from :D

8. How many books do you own?

I have absolutely no idea. My dad’s awesome, he bought me at least a trailer full of books as a child, most of which are still in our basement. I have very clearly inherited the book buying gene. I might be able to tell you a vague number if I’m at home and REALLY bored :D or I might just wait until a kid walks into our house who wants to show off her/his awesome counting skills :D

9. Do you read before you go to sleep?

If I’m not too tired, I either read, write, or write in my diary (or all the above) before going to sleep.

10. Most comfortable reading position

Sitting. Somewhere. In an awesome chair. Or bean bag. Or sofa. Or floor.

11. Most recent book you read

I’m currently reading ‘Rooms’ by Lauren Oliver and ‘A Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams. The book I read before that was ‘Ghost Child’ by Caroline Overington.

12. One quote from a book that you love

Re-quote from the Dalai Lama found in Far From The Tree: “(...) the quest is never to lose compassion.”

13. Science Fiction or Fantasy?

Both. Combined. Please.

14. What book do you regret reading?

Apart from ‘Awful End’ it’s a book I read as a young child, called ‘Heute bin ich ein Elefant’ (=Today I am an elephant). I thought the title was intriguing, I thought it was about someone actually turning into an elephant. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that it was actually about a child pretending to be an elephant, and then a tiger, and then I don’t know what! Like in front of her friends and parents all day long! She would NOT have been fun to play with.

15. How large is your book case/ shelf?

I used to have a really large book shelf in my room, but I threw it out because it was impossible to keep neat in any way, and it was annoying me. Now I have several quite small book shelves around my room, and I just put books all around the room as decoration!

16. On average how many books do you read a year?

I have no idea! I can tell you at the end of this year because I’ve started using goodreads! Also I used to not read very much for some years because my eyes started tiring after a few minutes, but thanks to my awesome eye doctor (the other one just said: “Have you tried reading without the glasses? Is that better? No? Well then you should read with the glasses.”) I now have new glasses with which I can read a lot longer, so now I’m back in the game!

17. What books do you read a hundred times without getting bored?

Harry Potter and ‘Witch Week’ by Diana Wynne Jones and anything by Torey Hayden.

18. Do you like to read outside?

I do! :)

19. What is the biggest life lesson you’ve learnt from a book?

That I’m not alone.

20. What is the best book you’ve read so far?

I don’t know! Stop asking me all these impossible questions!

You have? Oh. Now I’m kind of sad.

I tag everyone who has seen a book today :)

9. The Doctor Who Tag

No triggers. Unless you freak out at the mention of Doctor Who villains. Which can happen. 

1. New, Classic, or both

I’ve yet to watch the classic ones, so I have to say new!

2. Favourite Doctor

Tenth. Because David Tennant.

3. Favourite Companion

Donna, and then Amy :)

4. Favourite "non travelling" companion

This apparently just means a less permanent companion. Captain Jack Harkness, obviously!

5. Which Villain would you not want to run into?

The Sisters of Plenitude, actually. I would never dare to discriminate against cat nuns, but what they did with those humans… No. Just no. Also any cyberman!

6. Why did you start watching Doctor Who?

Because a lot of awesome people said it was awesome.

7. Top 3 episodes

‘Last of the Time Lords’, ‘A Good Man Goes To War’, ‘Vincent and the Doctor’.

8. What is your favorite Doctor Who quote?

“Nobody important? Blimey, that's amazing. D’you know in nine hundred years of time and space I've never met anybody who wasn't important before.”

9. Suddenly the Doctor shows up at your door. Do you go with him?

Duh, yes, obviously.

10. What are you looking forward to most for the future of Doctor Who?

More historic episodes, because I love those, and hopefully some ex-companions returning for some episodes? Please?

Anyway, not entirely sure why I did that. But, y’ know.
I tag every fan of Doctor Who :)

8. My experience of watching the german casting show ‘Deutschland sucht den Superstar’ (Germany is looking for the superstar) (similar to X-Factor) as a young teenager and how it impacted my life

No triggers I think, but please tell me if I'm wrong.

I grew up watching this show and one of my biggest wishes when I was 13 was to be on it. I actually had already decided to go and audition there as soon as I turned 16, which is the age at which you can enter there. Watching some moments in the show completely changed that. Which is probably a good thing. I would have had a really rough time there. I know that because I saw some other people having a really rough time there. I’m not talking about ‘the funny ones’, the people who come to the auditions and really can’t sing and are therefore ridiculed - I really don’t want to know where this human condition came from. Anyway, I’m not talking about this phenomenon today (though maybe another time). I want to tell you about two moments in the history of the show. One of which made me reverse my decision to go on that show. The other made me stop watching the show. Both made me believe that the show was cruel and discriminative. All for the purposes of ‘entertainment.’ 

I first want to tell you about the moment that made me stop watching the show altogether. In 2009 they decided to ‘spice things up a bit’. In a Recall Challenge the boys had to basically sing while bungee-jumping from a crane-thing. If you were very afraid of heights you could not have done it. The girls had to sing while having a snake on their body. They had to look like they were enjoying it to score points with the jury. What? I mean I understand that it’s an entertainment show, but what? 

A) Why can’t boys and girls do the same thing? B) Why do people who are very afraid of heights or snakes be treated the same as people who bungee-jump for fun in their free time or who have a snake as a pet? Some of these people were terrified. Yet they were criticised for being afraid. The people said that that was ‘what Britney Spears was doing’. Well, Britney Spears probably wouldn’t have done it if she had been terrified of snakes. She would have done something else. I thought that this was so unfair and sickening that I directly switched off the TV and stopped watching the show altogether. I don’t get the fascination with shows like ‘I’m a Celebrity - get me out of here!’ I really, really don’t. But still. Perhaps the people in this casting show were even more vulnerable. Extremely young, seemingly close to fulfilling their dream and just as seemingly close to failing at it. And the show just treated them like crap. I mean wow. And I still remember this, even after six years.

The second moment I want to tell you about happened a year before. A sixteen-year-old girl came to a casting. She had quite a good voice if I remember correctly, good enough to pass the first casting at least. They made her beg. They made her drop on her knees and effing beg. How messed up and sick is that? And when they did let her through they called her back and took the glasses off her face and said: “Can’t you get contacts?” The woman judge said: “Look what a pretty girl you are!” - Without the glasses. The girl did get contacts, which actually infected her eyes - she was fine, no major consequences came from it, but she was red-eyed and in some level of discomfort for a while. She didn’t get as far as the live shows. Not only did I feel really bad for the girl, it also made me feel kind of heartbroken. I was a thirteen-year-old girl who was having self-esteem issues anyway. I believed that I was good at singing, my plan was to go on that show at age 16 and see how far I would get - I reckoned that I would either go through or, if not, wouldn’t be on TV because it at least wouldn’t be embarrassing. But - I wore glasses. I spent the next three years obssessing about getting contacts - even though they are less safe for your eyes than glasses. I thought that with glasses I would never be pretty enough to do anything, let alone become a singer. My eyes don’t take contacts. When the opticians tried to put them in, the only thing I ever achieved, was having a full-blown panic attack. I tried, again, and again. It didn’t work. Does that mean that I can’t be a singer? As far as I’m concerned, the fact that I wear glasses and my inability to get contact lenses into my eyes do not affect my ability to sing at all. Who knows, perhaps if I ever managed to wear contacts, I could play the piano with my feet and the violin with my hands, while singing a simultaneous duet with myself as both a low bass and a high soprano. If there was even the slightest indication of that being true, I would say:
“Oh, boy, you were right, contacts are awesome!”

But, of course, they wouldn’t be right, because even if that was true, I would still be able to sing just fine without the lenses.

In all probability, they were trying to prepare this young girl for the cruel, cruel world. In doing this, they were supporting the cruel, cruel world, saying “We approve of this discrimination.”

I don’t. I don’t approve of any discrimination. If you want to do a traditional Shakespeare’s play you would probably not be able to wear modern glasses. But if you’re playing yourself? If you’re a singer on a stage who isn’t trying to do anything but sing? Why on earth would it matter what they looked like? I think, even from a business-y point of view it’d be good to have singers who you can actually tell apart from one another.

7. Would You Rather Questions Round 2: Fandom Edition

Again, a bit of fun today. Why not. 20 Would You Rather Fandom questions, mainly about Harry Potter because there are just the most questions there! But also about Disney and Doctor Who!

1. Would you rather fight the Basilisk or fight a Dementor?

If it was clear that I would die or be kissed by the Dementor anyway, then I’d rather fight the Basilisk! If I had hope that I might not die, I would fight a Dementor, because then I’d have at least a wink of a chance!

2. Would you rather fly on the magic carpet with Aladdin or fly among the stars with Peter Pan?

I would rather fly with Peter Pan. He doesn’t need an old carpet!

3. Would you rather swim around the ocean with Ariel orwing through the trees with Tarzan?

Swim the ocean with Ariel! I love Ariel and I love the ocean!

4. Would you rather spend a weekend with Dudley Dursley or Kreacher the house elf?

Kreacher the house elf. He’s just… misunderstood… right?

5. Would you rather be sorted into Ravenclaw or into Hufflepuff?

Ravenclaw. Though Pottermore says I’m a Hufflepuff!

6. Would you rather have an Invisibility Cloak or a Time-Turner?

Well, that’s a tough one. Let me get back to that. No, still too tough!

7. Would you rather receive a Howler in front of your friends or eat a vomit flavoured Every Flavoured bean?

I think I’d rather receive a Howler. Because imagine eating something like that and then never being able to eat any sweets again because you’re too grossed out! Dreadful!

8. Would you rather attend the Yule Ball or the Quidditch World Cup?

The Quidditch World Cup. Hopefully without Deatheaters this time!

9. Would you rather have Severus Snape as a father or Dolores Umbridge as a mother?

Well, that’s easy. I’d rather have Severus Snape as a father! Plus it would mean that he might have fallen in love with another woman and might have found something like happiness again…

10. Would you rather have a pet Hippogriff or a pet Phoenix?

A pet Hippogriff. Though they’re not pets, they’re people!

11. Would you rather take a class in potions or in caring for magical creatures?

Caring for magical creatures. But I’d love to do both!

12. Would you rather have a flying broomstick or an enchanted flying car?

A flying broom. I don’t really like cars :D Brooms are more wizard-style.

13. Would you rather be a werewolf like Remus Lupin or a ghost like Nearly Headless Nick?

Seeing how I wouldn’t be dead if I was a werewolf, I would rather be a werewolf. Also, wolves are my favourite animals. It’d be cool to be a wolf. Only problem: I might actually end up hurting someone while as a ghost I’d just scare them a bit!

14. Would you rather spend a week in the Forbidden Forest or a day in Azkaban?

I would rather spend a week in the Forbidden Forest. Friends and foes there, while Azkaban is just there to destroy you and turn yourself against you!

15, Would you rather have Hagrid or Dobby as a friend?

I love Dobby but I’ll have to say Hagrid! He’s so kind and can also occasionally save your butt! And he loves and usually owns magical creatures that could kill you! You’d never get bored!

16. Would you rather change the story so that Dumbledore doesn’t get killed or so that Sirius doesn’t get killed?

I’d change it so that Sirius doesn’t get killed. He’s my favourite character and his death is heartbreaking. Dumbledore had a good, long life and kind of already knew his death was coming.

17. Would you rather spend an hour talking to J. K. Rowling or to Daniel Radcliffe?

Either would be amazing, but I’d pick J.K. Rowling because I want to be a published author one day!

18. Would you rather be the Doctor or one of his companions?

One of his companions. Because then I could have the best of both worlds! I couldn’t be the Doctor, that’s like asking if I’d like to be Sherlock Holmes, sure, I’d like to be near them, but actually being them? I don’t think I could handle it!

19. Would you rather own 3D Glasses or a Fez?

A Fez. Because fezzes are cool. Also, I can’t see 3D :D

20. Would you rather be converted into a Dalek or a Cyberman?

Gee, this is gonna give me nightmares! Umm… a Dalek? I always found them kind of cute in a disturbing sort of way. Cybermen are just terrifying!