dunmurderin: A clownfish, orange and white, with a banner saying he is NOT a Combaticon!  So no one mistakes him for one, y'know? (Default)
[personal profile] dunmurderin
For more on the [community profile] sunshine_challenge, click on the link.

Prompt Two: What does your username mean? How is it pronounced? What's your origin story? Is it fannish?

My username comes from a comic book, so that probably makes it fannish. Specificially, it comes from a Transformers comic: Transformers Generation 2, #7, “New Dawn.” Transformers Generation 2 was a reboot/continuation of the original Marvel US/UK comic, but featuring new toy designs and artwork that could get seriously *weird* (see the thumbnail below).

The quote comes from Starscream who is musing about the fact that Megatron is eventually going to get rid of him because of Starscream’s treacherous and deceitful nature:
"[Megatron’s] telling me my usefulness has almost run its course -- that once his new army is fully mobilized my services will no longer be required. And given my past record of treachery, I doubt that means a pension and a sign that says 'Dunmurderin.' Can't say I blame him. It's what I'd do! The trick is...to get in there first!"

A page from Transformers: Generation 2 comic #7, "New Dawn," which features the dialogue that inspired my username "dunmurderin"
It’s pronounced, pretty much like you’ve probably guessed it does, since it’s a phonetical spelling of “Done Murdering” and is a reference to the British custom of naming homes things like ‘Dunroamin,’ which makes sense since Simon Furman, who wrote the issue (and the entirety of Transformers: Generation 2, plus a metric freak-load of other Transformers comics). Furman’s a topic I’ll come back to later on. Suffice to say that when he’s good, he’s good and when he’s bad…sweet magnolia, is he awful. Prime’s Rib being one example and something I want to touch on in depth at another time.

If you’re a Terry Pratchett/Discworld fan, the joke shows up there too with the home of the gods being called “Dunmanifestin”

What is your default icon about? Does it have personal meaning? Why did you choose it? What is it from?

My default icon can be described thusly: “A clownfish, orange and white, with a banner saying he is NOT a Combaticon! So no one mistakes him for one, y'know?” It was made for me by KoiLungfish back in my LiveJournal days (link leads to KoiLungfish’s AO3 page). It represents my love of Combaticons and clownfish. (I have a second icon, also by KoiLungfish, that features the Combaticons stating that none of them is a clownfish.)

Tell us anything else you want to share publicly that would help people know how to interact with you.

I’m originally from a rural community in Indiana but I live in a small city in Ohio now (and have for 14 years). I knew a girl in high school whose brother wanted to put a ceiling fan in his truck (no, seriously). I’m turning 50 next year, which feels just strange because how the hell am I almost fifty!? I’m bisexual, in a 20+ year same-sex relationship with a fellow Transformers fan who complements my nerdiness in all the best ways. (We met on a Transformers MU* back in the late 90s). I write original fiction, mostly science fiction/fantasy based.

Preferred pronouns?: She/her

Do you have a first language other than English?

Sadly, no. I am woefully monolinguistic and I have a great admiration for people who can speak more than one language. I can speak just enough Spanish to maybe order lunch or to find the way to the bathroom. In French, I can inform people that I am a red potato (because a co-worker knew how to say it and I demanded to be taught it because it’s funny).

The one language that isn’t English that I come closest to speaking fluently, is Mando’a, the language of the Mandalorians in Star Wars (aka Boba Fett’s people).

What does "fannish identity" mean to you?

To me, ‘fannish identity’ is who I am. It’s not an identity I try to keep secret. I don’t announce it, but I also don’t try to hide the fact that I like fannish things. I mean, I don’t talk to people about fannish things at random, but I also don’t try to hide my fannish side if it feels like the conversation might lean that way. For me, it’s just a part of who I am. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been interested in fannish things. When I was about six, I remember asking my babysitter, who was the advanced age of like, eighteen or so, if they still watched cartoons. I can’t remember what they said, but I do remember that I said that when I was eighteen, I would still be watching cartoons. It’s a vow I kept and then some. I’m waaaaay older than the lofty age of eighteen (over two and a half times, in fact) but I still enjoy cartoons.

I saw Star Wars in the theatres – I want to say it was when it was first released but I really think it was on the second release in 1977. I have a memory of seeing R2-D2 on the big screen getting shot by Jawas. I watched Quark (warning: TV Tropes link!) and thought it was a cool thing. I was also a huge fan of M*A*S*H – at one point, due to the show being in syndication and still being broadcast on CBS, I was watching the show at least 11 times a week (2 times/day + the network broadcast on Mondays).

I think the biggest aspect of my fannish identity is I like thinking too hard about things – I am the person who wrote an essay all about how/why Transformers have sex, after all. (And I need to update it because holy paradigm shift, have things changed since 2009!).

And that's it for me, but feel free to ask questions!

war

Date: 2019-07-07 05:01 am (UTC)
oldtoadwoman: Sam Winchester, Supernatural 14x17 (Loretta Swit & Larry Linville)
From: [personal profile] oldtoadwoman
One positive thing about the last hundred years that doesn't get enough appreciation is how unacceptable traditional war has become. Before news cameras were there to capture it, people had ridiculously romantic notions about "noble" warriors. I was watching a documentary about World War I and there was a single naval battle where thousands of sailors died on both sides in the space of just a few hours. I couldn't wrap my head around it. We just don't tolerate those kinds of numbers today. It's hard to remember that there are many ways in which the world has gotten better because the reason it has gotten better is that we are more aware of the horror and injustice than we used to be.

Re: war

Date: 2019-07-07 07:36 am (UTC)
oldtoadwoman: Sam Winchester, Supernatural 14x17 (battle cry)
From: [personal profile] oldtoadwoman
I learned almost nothing about the first World War in school. I felt like we covered the Revolutionary War over and over again in different history classes, the Industrial Revolution, the Civil War, and then the school year was nearly over and the teacher would spend a day on World War I and the last week of school summarizing World War II. I know the causes of WWI and WWII were interlinked, but the way teachers always rushed through WWI to get to WWII always left me with the impression that it wasn't that important. And then when I started to learn more about it as an adult, holy shit, that war was terrible. And I just get so angry at the pompous generals at the top treating it like a chess match and ordering soldiers into hopeless situations.

Between the two World Wars, the Holocaust, multiple disease outbreaks, and famines, it's a wonder the human race survived that century at all.

Re: war

Date: 2019-07-08 05:28 am (UTC)
oldtoadwoman: Sam Winchester, Supernatural 14x17 (Fear from Inside Out)
From: [personal profile] oldtoadwoman
The heart-stopping near misses still freak me out when I hear about them.
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