Monday Meme: Brand New Interview

Deoridhe Quandry: So, did you have any thoughts on what you wanted to ask me. 8D

Rowan Dryke: Sure. :) How many questions...What are the rules of this meme?

Deoridhe Quandry giggles. "I'll quote it to you."

Rowan Dryke: fankoo

Deoridhe Quandry: Strawberry Singhs's Meme Instructions: Get someone else to interview you and then post the question and answers on your own blog. You can ask a friend, lover, another blogger (you can interview each other) or a fake husband like I did. Don’t forget to leave a link to your interview in the comments so we can all come and read it.

Deoridhe Quandry: So... you can ask anything you'd like, or think the internet at large Deserves To Know.

Rowan Dryke: Okay. In an environment where the users have nearly total artistic control over how they present themselves, what do you find to be the most problematic aspect of what you see?

Deoridhe Quandry: Ooooh, that's a good one. I think what troubles me the most is the extent to which social pressure still holds sway. It is, in may ways, less than offline in some pretty significant ways - the jobs here are much less important, for example - but it feels like in many ways we play out the same prejudices here that show up offline. From one perspective that's understandable; we made this world and we're all prejudiced in a variety of ways. From another perspective, though, I sort of hoped more people would break out of the limitations they were raised in and really explore what it's like to be themselves, and to be other people. That being said, I think we get an image of how appearance is rarefied in the social hierarchies which sometimes develop, especially when there are people who wish to be influential but who struggle to influence others and feel jealous of those who influence others but don't seem to have tried to do so.

Rowan Dryke: How has this played out in the development of your own avatar over time?

Deoridhe Quandry: I'm really an idealized image of myself... with wings. Its interesting because each platform where I've been free to express myself through an avatar's appearance, I've become attached to some aspect of it - on Gaia Online it was my Mini Angel Wings and my Rainbow Halo, and here it is my wings and ears - but other things remain consistent throughout. I'm always white. I'm always primarily blond. Where rainbow eyes aren't available, I have blue eyes. These are all sort of central to who I think of as "me" in a way I can't easily express in words, but which are probably part self-identification, and part internalized privilege and prejudice. I have alts who are of different ethnicities, but they are always alts.

Rowan Dryke: How do you handle the problematic aspects of things you love? Keep in mind you're talking to a gay man wearing a form that pretty much sums up all the worst tropes 'moe' culture has infected on the world. ;)

Deoridhe Quandry laughs. "And I love you for it."

Deoridhe Quandry: What I have settled on, by and large, is continuing examination of what it really means for the political to be personal. This has become a means by which to condemn women for the choices we make in self expression, work, behavior in the home, relationships, etc... but its initial coining was as a way of expressing that people often act in accordance with a political reality for political means, and thus we shouldn't judge peoples' personal choices because they are influenced by the environment within which we all live. Whether I am modest or sexy, any appearance I have is open for criticism not because of anything inherently wrong in my choices, but rather because the political reality is that female appearances are more open for critique and debate than male ones - and a valid political response is to refuse to interrogate some of the things I love because I love them.

Deoridhe Quandry: Cuteness, Lolita, the entire culture around that began (and in many ways continues) as a rebellion against hyper-sexualization. Yes, it carries threads of infantalization, but so do a lot of other "modest" choices. Even the modest choice of wearing ugly, unflattering clothing and having a deliberately unattractive appearance opens one up to critique - look at the enormous amount of flack that the squinty eyed, wide hipped brigade gets.

Deoridhe Quandry: So while I might spend some time critiquing my own choices because I've been socialized to do so, I am far more interested in critiquing things of much wider influence on the actual things holding women back - like our being only seventeen percent of any cast in the media and this likely influencing why women's advancement in visible roles in non-fictional contexts has also stopped at around seventeen percent. That is far more important than whether I wear a bow in my hair or like to get tied up, or even whether I giggle and wriggle a lot. Bows, sparkles, giggling - those all make me happy and rejuvenate me to go out and try to make the world a better place, and as far as I'm concerned that makes them above reproach.

Deoridhe Quandry: Ok, essay done. >.> Deoridhe Quandry blushes, giggles, and wriggles all over.

Rowan Dryke: *laughs* That brings me to slightly lighter topics, then. This will be a multi-part. What recharges and renews you outside of the SL environment?

Deoridhe Quandry: Ooooh, um. Cuddling with my cat is a big, big thing. I spend a lot of time petting him, picking him up, harassing him, throwing things that squeak around, etc... and he sleeps with me every night. He's next to me right now, all fluffed out and adorable. I also like being a minor god in a variety of contexts; I spend a lot of my working life feeling very powerless, so in my fantasy games, like Sims or Civilization, I cheat like anything in order to be completely superpowered. I try to be benevolent, but in Civ other civilizations with sometimes attack me, and then I feel perfectly justified in CRUSHING THEM INTO DUST. It's very cathartic. I also love dolls, and I've gotten better at taking care of plants, and I do a decent amount of cooking - though the cooking makes dishes, and dishes are evil.

Rowan Dryke: What kind of dolls do you have? Who are your favorites? <3

Deoridhe Quandry: I have a lot of My Little Ponies, especially Gen One and Gen Three. I've been a lot less pleased with the Gen Four ponies, so haven't gotten as many. I also recently started picking up the Ever After High dolls, which are really fun. I also have a lot of anime dolls. I made Gundam Wing models, and I have Ah My Goddess figurines and nick-knacks from a variety of anime I really like. I also have some pewter figurines kicking around, and I own all of my grandmothers' dolls.

Deoridhe Quandry: I do pony salons sometimes and their hair can get very ...elaborate.

Rowan Dryke: Aww. *tosses out her 'who is best pony' cards. Okay. Gundam wing: Awesome, or totally awesome?

Deoridhe Quandry giggles. "Windy is the best. After her, Rainbow Berry. And Gundam Wing is Totally Awesome. I actually roleplayed it for years - I was Heero and Quatre."

Deoridhe Quandry: Also, we look adorable 8D

Rowan Dryke: Well, you were only partly right. Gundam wing is totally awesome, but the answer for the first was Rarity. Rarity is best pony. No cake for you.

Deoridhe Quandry: Rarity is one of the best in fourth gen, but remember, I am an old school Pony fan. I go back to first gen.

Rowan Dryke: Cake or death?

Deoridhe Quandry: Death.. I mean CAKE 8D

Rowan Dryke: Gaia or SL?

Deoridhe Quandry: Second Life, now, because my attention has moved so far over here. I still like Gaia in theory, but in practice I'm never there.

Rowan Dryke: Braids or pigtails?

Deoridhe Quandry: Pigtails. Offline I have waist length hair, and I put it up in a side ponytail. Oddly, though the internet assures me this style was played out in the eighties, most people don't seem to care.

Rowan Dryke: Limited edition or Gacha Rare?

Deoridhe Quandry: Ugh, neither? I've missed a few one day limited editions that made me want to tear my hair out, and I've spent more on trying to get a rare than I'd like to admit...

Rowan Dryke: Mesh or Prims?

Deoridhe Quandry: Oh man, that's hard to say... I love mesh and rigged mesh clothing, though, I sometimes miss the movement of prims, but for photography, clothing being able to bend is huge. I'd have to say mesh, but only by a hair since a good prim outfit will stand the test of time.

Rowan Dryke: Best ice cream?

Deoridhe Quandry: I had a chocolate blood orange on Friday which was bliss incarnate. I tend to return to fruit-and-chocolate or mint-and-chocolate combos in general, but my all time favorite is a brand of mint which isn't made anymore. It has green and red candies, and was more spearminty than pepperminty, and I loved it. I can't find it anymore.

Rowan Dryke: Raptor Jesus vs Frog Thor.

Deoridhe Quandry: Frog Thor, yo.

Deoridhe Quandry: Also, heeeeeeee. Thor as a frog. That is awesome. Comics never disappoint when they bring the wacky.

Rowan Dryke: What's your dream date with Ro-Chan? <3

Deoridhe Quandry: My dream date with Ro-chan would be if we could hang out together, watch anime I'd never seen before, eat little petit fours and macarons, and just enjoy spending time together.

Deoridhe Quandry: Ad probably some games in there, too.

Deoridhe Quandry: Yay games. 8D

Deoridhe Quandry: You have asked a ton of awesome questions. O.O Ro-chan the awesome interviewer.

Rowan Dryke: Hugs or kisses?

Deoridhe Quandry: Hugs. Kisses have to be given more sparingly because of what they represent, but hugs can come from almost anyone.

Rowan Dryke: *hugs tightly* Interview over. :)

Deoridhe Quandry: Awesome interview. 8D You are fantastic - thank you. 8D

Credits: 

Deoridhe

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Cherry
Hairbow: katat0nik, Dolly Vine Hair Bow
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Eyes: De La Soul, Rainbow
Eyelashes: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe Wings
Hands: SLink, Rigged Mesh Hands
Jewelry: Earthstones, Butterfly
Nails: A:S:S, Precious 2
Dress: Schadenfreude, Into the Woods Dress
Shoes: G Field, Lace Up Boots "Gina"

Ro-chan:

Head: Utilizer, M3 - Head
Hair: LaViere, Nadia
Outfit: Bare Rose, Tika
Shoes: Dark Midday Designs, Princess Pumps

Pose: Off-Brand Furniture, Reading Chill

Location: My Front Porch
Light Settings: Meni Light 01
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only