Frankie's Questions Answered

[mothwing]

So, finally. Thanks for the questions, dearest Rye!
Sorry for taking so much time! I guess I'm more or less the last one to answer, right? Anyway. If anyone fancies some more questions, just let me know! :)

  1.) What would you do if you knew that you could not fail?

I guess, three things. Become a teacher, write a book and publish it, and attempt to do a PhD. Not necessarily in that order.

Both things, I will try any way, and both are hindered by my laziness and mediocricy. So it's probably not a good thing to mention that here at all, because chances are high that I will not make it and that would be rather embarassing... but that is what I would do, anyway. I am dead scared of failure, so I guess I would do practically everything I want and am scared of now. 

  2.) What has been the best day of your life so far?

Good question.
The day which comes to mind spontaeously was the day when Crocky and I arrived in Glasgow for the first time, in September two years ago, after a night spent on Stansted airport. The fire alert had been on all night, it was impossible to sleep, it was cold, there were people all around us, we were told to leave our spot several times because the cleaning staff wanted to clean the particular place where we were.
Not the best start to a good day, arrived at our hostel only to learn we could only move in at three pm - it was about eleven in the morning at the time - so we bought a map of the town and toured up to the university on foot for the first time, making a pause in the wonderful Kelvingrove park and had a break on the other side of the river, looking over the park and the university and Kelvinside. Crocky was so tired she fell asleep in my lap and I so bored that I started writing. We were completely tired, a state at which the Scottish accent is not to be recommended, we were cold, we did not have a place to go, we were hungry - but the weather was perfect, we spent a great day in this wonderful city we came to love so much- that was one of the most perfect days I ever had.
Full of everything - Crocky, excitement, despair, intense happiness, writing, finding a way, orientation, seeing a new city, sunshine, sudden rains, aching feet, joy and love.
We have not sighed deep, laughed free,
Starved, feasted, despaired – been happy... On that day, I have. Boy, am I sappy today.

  3.) Other than Crocky, what made you want to be a part of an online
  community, what were you looking for?

Hmm, good question. Depends on the online community. The first one I went to was a fan community of the Australian author Matthew Reilly. I went there simply because I could not believe this author had any fans out there. It seems so impossible.
Then, a few years later, there was the Pensieve and with it suddenly the possibility to talk about Harry Potter with people world-wide in addition to with friends and my Mum, who is a fan, people who loved the books as much as I did (and were not likely to get bored and wander off to do some ironing during the umpteenth chat about details), people who love books. So, I guess I was looking for what I always look for - interesting people. And I found you, and you are all amazing. I'm a lucky girl.

  4.) Do you believe that certain people are INHERENTLY more evil/bad than
  others, or were we all created equal?

I think all were created equal with no preternatural genetic or divine strings attached, nurture all the way. Well, genes seem to play a part, but I find the categories evil/bad difficult.
I guess everybody under certain conditions would be able to do horrible things, I'm sure I would. So... I could be evil. But I don't think I'm necessarily inherently evil. I’ve also come to think lately that decisions play not as great a part as I would have – people just don’t seem to  make any. Ever.

  5.) What are your religious/spiritual beliefs, and if you have none -
  what are your thoughts on it?

Confused. :)
I am a vaguely religious person, a struggling, bitter protestant, maybe. I am a Christian, but not as faithful as I want, one might say. (And it was hard to believe at all, being the child of two vaguely Lutheran, very critical biologists).
Religion, at some point, when I started believing all books were equal, stopped being an explanation for me, and the battle was hard to take it up again.
I am still struggling. I still think I am a Christian, albeit one who from time to time will strike up arguments about how and why Christianity is wrong, and/or complete nonsense etc, etc. Sometimes I go into overdrive in the other direction and write out huge and lengthy interpretations of the Genesis, trying to make them coherent with science. Which, of course works. Then, I want to be liberal, as liberal as possible – which causes clashes. Which causes even more internal debates about abandoning it all and becoming an uncaring non-atheist. Or something.
So... I am a Christian, but I’m not very good at it.
I cannot understand my relatives who take every word literally, written in a book that was translated, changed, abridged, shortened, altered and generally battered down into something which can only vaguely resembles the original form. Boy, I wish I could speak more ancient languages and get a feeling for what things actually were about in the beginning – and how far my new German happy-clappy version is from that, or even my slightly dusty Luther-version with Latin sentence structures. And I envy those relatives, too, because faith seems to come sooo easily to them when I have to fight for it.
Sooo... I am still a Christian, if at times only to be allowed to say bad, critical things about my religion and how it’s being treated to my fellow-believers. But inherently, I do believe, I want to believe – although I am not always sure what it is I ought to believe in.