Last question! and I more or less managed to post an answer every day, hooray!

fishmalk asked me a really good end of the year question: Do you think that on average the world will be a better place next year than it was this year? If so, why?

Unfortunately, I don't have a good answer. Or rather, my answer is "no". I think on average it will be about the same - it isn't likely to me that there is going to be anything in one year, good or bad, that will so majorly sift the balance of the whole *world*.

I guess we'll have to wait and see!

A quick reply to today's question from fishmalk because I do have an answer quick to hand:

I have always wanted to visit the Ukraine and the Black Sea area. I don't really know *why* I have, but it fascinates me for some reason. I've never been able to afford it, and of course the region is deeply troubled at the moment. But I'd really love to see Kiev someday.

I am lucky though - earis has been (envy!), and she brought me back a few little souvenirs - a totebag from Kiev, a beautiful little mug from Swallow's Nest Castle, and a little iron of a saint whose name I forget but it is really pretty! so I have some Thing even if I have never been. There are a lot of other places I'd love to travel too, in Europe and elsewhere. I'm lucky to have been around as much as I have, though!

Tomorrow I don't technically have a question submitted, but I thought I might do sort of an AMA style thing instead - just leave me questions in the comments all day tomorrow and I'll try and answer them. I might not get them all answered *tomorrow* but I'll try! And if I don't have nay questions by, like, 11 PM my time I'll just poke naryrising for another drabble prompt ^-^

Meanwhile, I have a bunch of stuff I need to do today, so I am also including a ( to-do list... )

Another odd day, and so the question comes from fishmalk, who asked: What are some things that you think are worth suffering for?

I had a hard time answering this, partly because it is so open ended. (I am using that as my excuse for why I am a day late, nd it is *mostly* correct!) Like - how much suffering are we talking here? Is it like - it is worth walking around the British Museum in bad shoes for a day, knowing your feet will be killing you later? Or are we talking - leave behind everyone you love knowing you'll never see them again? Losing a limb?

In any given situation, I'd rather find ways to mitigate any potential suffering, for the most part. That said, I had my wisdom teeth removed two weeks ago and am still having jaw pain, and decided to have dinner without waiting for my ibuprofen to kick in, so apparently 'dinner' is worth some minor amount of suffering? in this case, some extra old cheddar, hummus and naan (couldn't find the pita at the store), and some cold rotisserie chicken. Ow? maybe 'pride' is a better answer, but even that is slightly mitigated. I *did* take painkillers, just too late :p

I think that self improvement can be worth suffering, to some extent - that's a thing that requires constant assessment, whether you are talking about physical suffering from physical training or emotional/mental suffering from isolation, stress, etc... You need to let yourself decide whether the threshold is of where the costs outweigh the benefits. Quitting is okay, and if you think otherwise, you risk failing even when you succeed.

Enough pith I think!

So! It is Christmas day! I had a nice quiet Christmas at not-home, and got a ton of things that are mostly book. I got 7 books (one is more of a booklet, but it came with a CD of Insmouth Sea Shanties)! Also a swift and some hand-quilted ornaments! And I think some other things on the way as well - at least one other thing, anyway!

I will make a squeeful Yuletide Post later, probably in my writing journal proper. This might be the year that I try to make a proper recs post! maybe. There are some things that I definitely want to make sure people read!

Hem! Anyway! I was asked (by fishmalk) about stories from my misguided youth that you might not know about. Actually I am going to tell you a story from my fairly explicitly guided youth - a story from my Sea Cadet days!

( What's that, you say? )

What - if I haven't gone to bet yet, it is still the 23rd! That's how this works, okay???

fishmalk asked me what makes a good friend. Once again, I apologize for giving you a short crappy answer instead of a longer more in-depth one that the question probably deserves. Whose idea was it to post this during Yuletide? feh! At least I think I am done the treat I was working on, which bring my YT word count up to somewhere between 16-17k. So far! I still have until around 6 tomorrow to write more. I'm hoping for drabbles. Lots of drabbles... we'll see!

Anyway - friends! I think good friends are people you actively want to be around, and that you can trust. You are invested in each other's lives and want what is best for each other, but they are willing to be straight when they have problems with you. They are people you *can* be honest with, knowing that you can get through whatever troubles come out of it. Good friends respect you and respect your boundaries (and as a corollary, you should respect theirs!) Good friends are fun, but they are there when you are having a not so great time, and actually want to help you. That doesn't mean they will be able to, or that they will necessarily know how! Friends may feel magical, but they are actually not. Not usually. Good friends will help you look after yourself.

I probably have more thoughts on this when it isn't midnight and I'm not yule-fried. But I wanted to say that I am an extremely lucky person when it comes to my friends, and I know this and I hope my friends know they are appreciated! <3!

Ugh, I got behind :( I was doing so well, then I got eaten by Yuletide :( I think I need a break from YT for today though, so I'll catch up on this, write today's drabble, and then flail madly tomorrow.

So - fishmalk asked about music that has really influenced me in some way. I was having a hard time picking, but I think that the clearest answer I can give is folk, specifically my mom's old Steeleye Span records, and later mixed tapes and CDs, that I used to listen to in the car. I think that ballads, especially the darker ones, have really strongly influence my taste in stories, both in terms of what I like to read and what I like to write, and also in developing a strong sense of subtext... I feel like I have written this out before, now. Hmmm.

Seriously, fishmalk what the hell kind of question is that :P

I don't have any one thing that I can point to and go "Yes! This thing! This thing gives me a real sense of accomplishment!'" Not my PhD, not my one ever published short story, not any one thing I have produced or any thing I have done. If I could get the fire lit in the fireplace tonight i might have been pretty feeakin' proud of that, but nope :p

So then - I think, if no one thing stands out - I am going to have to go with the whole package. I probably could have done things better, but on the whole I am pretty satisfied with who I am as a person, even if I'm not exactly where I would like to be, or where I hoped to be. I feel like I am pretty good at dealing with stuff when I have to, and my Life Skills/Adulting Skills are both fairly well developed and varied. I am not always 100% confident in everything I do and in some regards I am very dependent on others, but I think I do okay at managing those things as well.

So there you go. Yes, another co-out answer.

How I got to this point (or how I think I did) is another question - but not one anyone has asked! I do still have two open questions though.... On DW|On LJ

Today's question is another from fishmalk who actually went through and added prompts for half my remaining days. Maybe I should cut him off. There are still days remaining though! Even days from now through the end of the month, unless someone has added any since I started writing this.
Today's question is: Tell me about what you consider to be your home town. What about it most sticks in your memory?

My hometown is Fredericton, New Brunswick. I was born elsewhere, but moved when I was very young. Fredericton is where I grew up. I even went to undergrad at the University of New Brunswick there, on the principle that it was a fine school, that it didn't really matter where I got my first degree, and it was going to be cheaper to stay at home. I actually have no regrets, either.

( Lots of things about it stick in my memory! This is about to go meandering.... )

I probably could go on more, but I feel like quite possibly this is enough! I haven't even started on restaurants... TL;DR version - I really love my hometown and would move back there in a heartbeat.

Meanwhile, naryrising claimed most of my remaining open slots, but there are still a few that I will leave for anyone else who might want to ask me something! On DW|On LJ

Today melanen asked me to talk about a fanfic I wish existed. I knew it was coming up, so I have been thinking about it some... But I don't have a good concrete answer! I don't have a single specific fic-of-my-heart I wish was already extant. I often get "Man I would so read that story" or "There should be fic about X!" - but those are usually fleeting.

I have a few less specific things though: I have a few long abandoned wsip that I wish were finished. I wish they existed in a completed state?
If I had to pick just one, i would probably pick the Star Trek one, Twenty Five Years (here, if you are curious).

Other than that, I will say that I would love to know that fanfic existed that was inspired by some piece of fiction that originated with me - original fic, gaming stuff, OCs I made... That something I made was interesting enough that someone else wanted to play in the world, or with the characters, that I made. That would make me super happy!

So I dunno - I feel like maybe that is the second lame/cop-out answer in a row. But sorceror asked me about pirates for tomorrow, so hopefully I can get back in the game!

And of course, and they next two days I still have a ton of slots open! On DW|On LJ

Today's topic is another one from fishmalk: What's your zombie apocalypse survival plan/strategy?

The sad truth is that I don't *really* have one. My house is not zombie defensible and I don't have anywhere good I could get to safely from there. At work I'd be fine in the short run but again - where would I go? How would I get anywhere? It is hard to plan, really. Ideally I'd like to hook up with a group of folks that wouldn't morally disgust me. I think I could (metaphorically) sell my self pretty well, in terms of post-apocalyptic skills - I have basic survival, I'm good at problem solving, I can build things, I can cook and make things, etc. It's the short term that would bone me, as even when I'm in decent shape (which I'm not currently), I can't run very fast for very long.

So... Yeah, no real plan, other than hold on for dear life, and if that's not gonna happen, make sure I *don't* take too many people with me on the way out. I'm sure there are people out there (Joel) who are Very Disappointed in my lack of planning and preparation, but I think it going to be more to my advantage to be adaptable.