Five Things Meme

[linndechir]

I've finished my fic for asoiaf_exchange (100% sadness, hopelessness and despair), so I'm allowed to do useless stuff like memes again. sternflammenden had this five things meme where someone gives you five things they associate with you, and you're supposed to write about them. You're also supposed to tell people who comment what you associate with them, but I hate that kind of thing, so I won't do that. Sorry. Here's useless rambling about the five things sternflammenden gave me. May I just say that I love your choice? ^^ Warning: this got long and rambly because I can't shut up once you get me talking.

-Languages/linguistics
My first thought was "languages are pretty". ;) Not all of them, obviously, but generally there is just something inherently beautiful in a language's grammar, in the fucked-up, absurd set of rules every language has, its quirks, the words that don't exist in any other language, how the exact same thing will sound completely different if you say it in a different language, how you feel like you can only say some things in one language but not in another. Not to mention the feeling of satisfaction when you truly master a foreign language and you feel like you just conquered another part of the world, a part you can suddenly understand because you don't have to read translations anymore. I love linguistics for a similar reason - to see how languages develop and change, how they influence each other. It's like the world starts making more sense when you understand languages. And personally I find it fascinating how different speaking and writing in different languages is. I have no idea myself why I find writing in English so much easier than in German, or why I'm uncomfortable about French even though I'm fluent in it.

-Stannis/Davos
<3333333 Do you need more? I have a soft spot for co-dependent pairings, people who completely trust each other, know each other to the core, and depend on each other to ridiculous degrees. And the fact that every other relationship in ASOIAF is fucked up just makes theirs look even more beautiful. They MUST see each other again. And I really, really wonder how their epic love ever started. Stannis could have just sent Davos off to his lands after knighting him, and I wonder what exactly happened to make Stannis keep Davos so close. Need to prompt this.

-Mark Strong
Possibly my favourite actor of all. He's just incredible. The things that man can do with his eyes, with just a tiny twitch of one muscle, the tiniest inflection of his voice. He does this very understated, subtle acting, nothing big, nothing dramatic, and I love that. I would watch a movie that consists of two hours close-up on his face and it probably would still be fascinating. I can't think of many actors who can express so much with so few gestures. He has enough charisma to make even the shittiest role in the shallowest script intriguing. Oh, and his talent for accents is incredible. He has such a distinctive, beautiful voice, but he still manages to sound different and just right for every character he plays. And he has such a wide range - there are many actors who are good at one type of character, but nothing else. I've seen a ridiculous number of Mark's movies, and I've seen him do just about everything from dreamy lover to emotionally torn gangster to evil overlord to goofy normal guy, and he does it all equally well.
Judging from interviews (which can be misleading, I know), he also seems to be a really great guy. Funny, polite, friendly, genuinely nice, somewhat shy, down-to-earth and adorably unaware of how amazing he is. Maybe he's a total dick IRL, but the impression you get of him is that he's a wonderful person. I still remember that one interview he gave with a bunch of French journalists, and he was so nice and considerate, apologising for not speaking French, asking if he should speak more slowly/clearly etc.
And as if that wasn't enough, he's smoking hot. I generally love green or blue eyes on dark-haired men (not that Mark has much hair left, but he's the type ;)), and his are one of the most gorgeous shades of green I've ever seen. Plus the hands, the voice, the endless legs, the frown, the smile when he smiles ... ALSO HE LOOKS LIKE STANNIS. ;) But I loved Mark Strong way before I even knew who Stannis was. Seems I have a type, though. Which brings us to ...

-Hard, uncompromising male characters
This one is interesting, makes me wonder why I like them so much. I think it's partly because I'm a bit like them (especially the unemotional side, I can just relate to rational, calm people who don't let emotional shit get to them and who also have zero tolerance for other people's emotional shit), and a bigger part is that I wish I was even more like them. I admire people who are tough as hell, hard, principled but pragmatic, people who prefer to piss others off and stay alone rather than compromise just to be nice, just to do others a favour. Also, they're usually incredibly honest and forward, and I love honesty. And I find it fascinating to see the softer sides of characters like that, without turning them into complete wusses, obviously. Nice people being nice is boring - hard people being nice because there's this one person in the world that they care about ... that's beautiful and makes me happy. I could also add that I'm incredibly attracted to men like that, if that's not TMI. Pretty, nice boys are all good and well, but I'll take a middle-aged hardass jerk over them any time.

-Beethoven
Is quite possibly God. There's something especially about Beethoven's piano sonatas (but also much of his chamber music) that just gets to me. It's like every single human emotion ever felt is in there. But it's not cheesy, prettified emotion, nor overly dramatic, pretentious emotion, but it's very raw and basic. I'm really no good at describing my thoughts about music, I'm afraid. But listening to Beethoven is just incredibly emotional and private for me, and playing Beethoven myself is one of the most intense experiences ever. I know that playing an instrument is a happy experience for most people, and for me as well, sometimes. But playing Beethoven ... it's like holding my breath for 25 minutes and tearing myself apart and when it's over I feel more emotionally exhausted than in any other situation. This mixture of concentration and emotional madness ... seriously, Beethoven just makes me shake. Yeah, I'm aware that this sounds somewhat dumb, sorry. There's a reason music is music, and it's because people like me are too dumb to express that kind of thing in words. ;)


Tadaaaa. I feel very self-centred now. Don't we all love to talk about ourselves.

Comments

[outboxed.livejournal.com]

Don't feel self-centred, your answers were totally awesome and interesting.

Your discussion of languages is definitely right on. Kind of reminds me of all the discussions we have in my French translation classes. Oh language, you are so expressive and so inadequate and all we have.

Stannis/Davos is so bizarrely healthy for a relationship which involves a massive power imbalance and the removal of finger joints. Only those two could make that work.

I could say other things but I am way too tired right now, so instead I am here saying heeeey.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

Heh, thank you. ^^ Look look look I have an awesome new icon! Yes, I'm excited about it like a little kid.

I could babble about languages forever. It makes me so sad when people don't appreciate that, especially when people complain about having to learn foreign languages. They have no fucking idea what they're missing if they stick to one language alone.

You're so right about Stannis/Davos. If you just look at the circumstances of their relationship, you'd expect it to be all kinds of abusive and fucked up and dub-con, but instead it's just pure love.

Heeeey right back at you. ^^ You missed the insane Stannis/Robb crack on the comment fic meme. ;)

[alcanis-ivennil.livejournal.com]

Bet you like Javert too. All you need, hard, uncompromising, unyielding, totally unable to change alignment. And apparently not handsome but still sounds hot. He made me love men with sideburns.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

I don't know, Javert kind of lacks the more pragmatic, practical side, so I'm somewhat less enthusiastic about him, tbh.

[alcanis-ivennil.livejournal.com]

He could've learned from Stannis.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

Most people could learn something from Stannis.

[sternflammenden.livejournal.com]

No, that description of Beethoven isn't dumb at all. It's how I feel about Mahler and Wagner. It's totally overpowering and more than words. There's something primal about it.

[linndechir.livejournal.com]

Glad it made somewhat sense. ;) I sometimes lose my own point when I start rambling.