Fandom Sunshine: Fannish Identity
Jul. 17th, 2019 05:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithWhat does your username mean?
"Ysabet" is a Welsh version of my given name. "Wordsmith" is a job description.
How is it pronounced?
Roughly "EES-uh-BET" with a stronger accent on the first syllable and weaker one on the last.
What's your origin story? Is it fannish?
Doesn't really have one. No, it's not fannish. My fannish nickname is "The Hair With the Girl."
What is your default icon about? Does it have personal meaning? Why did you choose it? What is it from?
It's a slightly aspected version of myself with the fey showing through. It's just enough to clue people that I'm not ordinary without being a distraction. A friend made it for me.
Tell us anything else you want to share publicly that would help people know how to interact with you.
Most of that stuff is somewhere in my profile. The part about civility covers the social standards of this blog. It may help you to know that my blog metaphor is actually an analog of my house: my office is next door to the living room, so I am either working, socializing, or both on here. As an exception, the Cuddle Party has a room of its own, which is not in my house but is described in cyberspace on those posts.
Preferred pronouns?
Honestly, I don't have a preference. People generally say "she" because I'm wearing a female-shaped body. I am not feminine, but neither have I found another set of pronouns worth the work of asking everyone I ever meet to use them. I've studied many dozens of alternatives in many languages. I really like the nongendered ones. But whatever. Few of them fit worse than the one I use everyday.
Do you have a first language other than English?
Not ... exactly. What you really need to know here is that I am linguistic SillyPutty and pick up words without even trying. That means I hacked usable amounts of Latin and Greek out of dinosaur names as a preschooler, learned basic Spanish from Sesame Street, also usable amounts of Dog, Wolf, Cat, and Bird ... followed by every other language I brushed against even briefly. I have formally studied Spanish, Russian, and Japanese to varying degrees which are modestly useful. The Russian and Japanese got rust with less use. The Spanish has continued to grow without use and now incorporates things I remember being told the class did not cover. Well, that's what happens with a linguistic coprocessor. Don't try to nail down anything related to me and language unless you first put the jello in a bowl and then nail the bowl to the wall.
What does "fannish identity" mean to you?
Not much. I am what I am. I liked Frodo before liking Frodo was "cool" and have referred to museums as mathom-houses since I was four (see above re: languages). I'm comfortable calling myself a fan; many of my friends are fans. Fandom is entertainment I like, sometimes -- though less often now than in the past -- culture that I like, and a worldview that matches pretty well with my innate one. But cultures are just things I move through; they don't define me like they do most people. I've known too many of them. I just take what I like and leave the rest, which tends to drive people batshit, so this makes for a pretty cosmopolitan blogspace here.
"Ysabet" is a Welsh version of my given name. "Wordsmith" is a job description.
How is it pronounced?
Roughly "EES-uh-BET" with a stronger accent on the first syllable and weaker one on the last.
What's your origin story? Is it fannish?
Doesn't really have one. No, it's not fannish. My fannish nickname is "The Hair With the Girl."
What is your default icon about? Does it have personal meaning? Why did you choose it? What is it from?
It's a slightly aspected version of myself with the fey showing through. It's just enough to clue people that I'm not ordinary without being a distraction. A friend made it for me.
Tell us anything else you want to share publicly that would help people know how to interact with you.
Most of that stuff is somewhere in my profile. The part about civility covers the social standards of this blog. It may help you to know that my blog metaphor is actually an analog of my house: my office is next door to the living room, so I am either working, socializing, or both on here. As an exception, the Cuddle Party has a room of its own, which is not in my house but is described in cyberspace on those posts.
Preferred pronouns?
Honestly, I don't have a preference. People generally say "she" because I'm wearing a female-shaped body. I am not feminine, but neither have I found another set of pronouns worth the work of asking everyone I ever meet to use them. I've studied many dozens of alternatives in many languages. I really like the nongendered ones. But whatever. Few of them fit worse than the one I use everyday.
Do you have a first language other than English?
Not ... exactly. What you really need to know here is that I am linguistic SillyPutty and pick up words without even trying. That means I hacked usable amounts of Latin and Greek out of dinosaur names as a preschooler, learned basic Spanish from Sesame Street, also usable amounts of Dog, Wolf, Cat, and Bird ... followed by every other language I brushed against even briefly. I have formally studied Spanish, Russian, and Japanese to varying degrees which are modestly useful. The Russian and Japanese got rust with less use. The Spanish has continued to grow without use and now incorporates things I remember being told the class did not cover. Well, that's what happens with a linguistic coprocessor. Don't try to nail down anything related to me and language unless you first put the jello in a bowl and then nail the bowl to the wall.
What does "fannish identity" mean to you?
Not much. I am what I am. I liked Frodo before liking Frodo was "cool" and have referred to museums as mathom-houses since I was four (see above re: languages). I'm comfortable calling myself a fan; many of my friends are fans. Fandom is entertainment I like, sometimes -- though less often now than in the past -- culture that I like, and a worldview that matches pretty well with my innate one. But cultures are just things I move through; they don't define me like they do most people. I've known too many of them. I just take what I like and leave the rest, which tends to drive people batshit, so this makes for a pretty cosmopolitan blogspace here.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-07-18 07:04 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2019-07-18 08:41 pm (UTC):D
>> Some people are a little mysterious and I like to imagine that it's their fey roots showing.<<
Yes, that can happen.