# What are some of your likes o.O outside of fantasy



## Mdnight Falling (Mar 12, 2011)

We all know we're here because we like fantasy writing, books, games, and movies.

But most people like more then just that. What are some other non fantasy things you like?

For me I like almost all kinds of books. It doesn't matter what it is really so long as it's fiction. If it's none fiction, it has to be something that catches my eye and holds my interest. which is rare.

Outside of the fantasy genre my favorite author is Ayn Rand, I like her philosophy and even if I didn't the way she weaves her stories catches and holds me everytime. My favorite Ayn Rand book is Atlas Shrugged for personal reasons. My first copy of the book was given to me when I was 15 by someone I respected a great deal who passed away a few years later.

I also like Clive Barker which I noticed none of you mentioned in any of you fantasy threads LOL He writes fantasy and does so very well... Galilee, Weave World, and  the Great and Secret Show are a few of my favorites by him.

Video games I'm strickly fantasy on that. I don't care for one person shooters or sci-fi or war games, I like my platform and RPGs thank you very much >.<

On AOL I role play. I do turn based and on occassion dice gaming. Don't ask about the chars the list is way too long for here x.x!

I also have gotten into playing table top RP too  something I swore up and down I'd never do LOL But earth dawn hooked me and the history behind it is interesting.

TV... Drama, Mystery, Doctor shows, sci-fi, fantasy... anything really never give me a remote you may get stuck watching something dreadful LOL

Movies.. I have no set preference, I like the big box with the pictures LMAO!

Music I'm the same way, though I do tend to blast j-pop every once in a while.. and when I want to feel young.. I blast the Spice girls.. Shhhh >.> I can like the spice girls >.<

I'm not sure if this was put in the right category, I didn't feel it should go into introductions since we all pretty much have walked that road LOL and chit chat seemed like a good place since I assumed it's where we can talk about whatever 

So now I've told you guys some of my likes out of fantasy, even if some remained in there out of no other choice LOL... Now it's your turn >^.^<


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## Chilari (Mar 12, 2011)

I like loads of music, mainly rock, some pop (mainly Britpop), some other stuff, but not rap or hip hop or any of that nonsense. I tend to watch sci fi drama on TV (at the moment, Outcasts on BBC and I've just come across 4400 which I'm watching on DVD), and the video games I like include Pokemon, Guild Wars, Minecraft and Fable 3.

I also really enjoy my studies - I'm a postgrad student studying the ancient Mediterranean, and it's really fascinating. I'm really looking forward to getting my module assignments out of the way by the end of May and getting started on my dissertation, which is going to be about beekeeping, honey and wax in the ancient Mediterranean. It really is very interesting. Well, to me anyway. But it is going to be a lot of work.


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## Ophiucha (Mar 12, 2011)

When it comes to reading, my favorite non-fantasy authors are Vladimir Nabokov (_Lolita_, _Pale Fire_) and Cormac McCarthy (_Blood Meridian_). I am a libertarian, but I am on the left, so I couldn't disagree more with Ayn Rand on most of her sociopolitical policies. Also, any author who uses a hundred page speech as the climax to their novel should go back to the workshop. Politically, I follow China MiÃ©ville's writing (both his fantasy and his non-fiction; he's my favorite author if only for that extra bit his politics give the stories), and I also enjoy any good book on atheist theory and socialism. Socialist at heart, although I do disagree with MiÃ©ville when he tips over to the communist side of things. I'm definitely more of a capitalist. Clive Barker is one of the better horror writers of the day, a fact I say quite likely because he mixes horror and fantasy heavily. My favorite, though, is H.P. Lovecraft. I also have a kick for South American writers of the magical realism sort. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, all that sort. Some are a bit more 'fantasy' than others, though.

I don't watch much TV, save for a show called 'Eureka', which is on the SyFy channel. It's about a town set up by Einstein or Eddison, I can't recall which, where all the greatest scientists in the world live and develop advanced technology, as well as use it in their every day lives. The main character is a normal (non-genius) guy who works as the town's sheriff. An odd show, but it is pretty fun and the effects aren't half bad. Plus, it has that dude from T2 (the black guy who owned Skynet or whatever it was). I also like QI, an English quiz show about really obscure and "quite interesting" trivia, hosted by Stephen Fry and starring a guest panel of random actors and comedians. Dara O'Briain, Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Ross, David Tennant, etc. Plus a few lesser known regulars.

Movies - I'm a B-Movie junkie. My favorite of those is Wild Zero, a Japanese rock n'roll zombie flick with aliens and a message about how love knows no gender.  It's awesome. Also, Japanese people saying "rock n' roll" = instant hilarity. I am also a fan of spaghetti Westerns - anything scored by Ennio Morricone is genius - and, in turn, I am a bit of a Tarantino fangirl. I also like film noir, Disney movies, and pretty much any film with Hugh Jackman in it.

Otherwise, I like wearing corsets, cooking (if I ever decide to get a job outside the home, it'd likely be as a chef), home decor, erotica, video games (mostly strategy games and RPGs), tabletop games (Arkham Horror being my favorite), arguing with people on the internet, and hunting down information to throw into a novel. I spend more time clicking the 'Random Article' button on Wikipedia than I do sleeping.

I love hard rock, heavy metal, and instrumental music. I have a bit of everything - country, pop, rap, jazz, swing - but those three genres take up the majority of my iTunes library. In particular, I am fond of German industrial, symphonic metal, and Viking metal.


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## Kelise (Mar 12, 2011)

I'll read utterly anything. Fantasy is my favourite, but I try to read a balance of classics and general fiction as well.

Music wise I generally like alternative - Florence and the Machine, The Shanghai Restoration Project, Silversun Pickups, Newton Faulkner, etc. And I adore musicals. Nine Inch Nails, 30 Seconds to Mars and My Chemical Romance if I'm in a certain mood. 

I adore travelling. I go to London or Tokyo once a year or so - I'll be back in London in six weeks. I did plan to go to Tokyo at the end of the year, but for now, uh, we'll just see. I'll certainly support them when they need to get tourism up again. Despite my travels there, my Japanese is limited. I just can't get any language stuck in my head at all, no matter what I do. 

I used to enjoy performing. I used to work as a children's entertainer with circus arts - tightwire, juggling, unicycling, face painting and the like. I liked acting too, I've been an extra a few times but I prefer stage acting - I've been in a few musicals and plays, with my favourite being lead female in The Crucible as Elizabeth.

Movies - I generally don't hate as many as most people do. I generally like light entertainment as I only watch them to relax - which means I'll usually enjoy something that others cringe at, like Avatar, Matrix, etc. ...Except movies like The King's Speech which was so utterly amazing, I'll pay attention a bit more.

I didn't go on to Uni - I just can't study. I'm into my seventh year of working for local Government and I enjoy it enough to work there until I've got a few series published and can 'retire' onto my writing  I adored high school though. I was teased, don't get me wrong, but I also didn't really care.

I practically live on the NaNo forums, and on twitter. If anyone loves Sherlock and knows of the rp accounts SherlockSH and WatsonJW... I'm one of them. We have something like 4-5,000 followers, which is just crazy. Crazy and awesome. 

TV, I'll watch anything, though my favourites are mostly British. Actually, very few of my TV favourites are American... only things like Firefly and Battlestar Galactica.

Games I prefer DS and PS3, though I own all consoles ever knooown. Favourite games are Final Fantasies, Uncharted 2, Assassin's Creed and pokemon. Oh, and Animal Crossing. I'm getting a 3DS even though I can't stand 3D.

...I think I've rambled on for long enough while I level my Legendary XD


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## Telcontar (Mar 13, 2011)

Music: I can find something to like in most types of music, but my favorite is rock/hard rock/other flavors of rock. Favorite bands are Metallica, Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Soundgarden, and Disturbed (in no particular order).

TV: Don't watch it when it's actually on TV, but I watch shows on DVD a lot. How I met your Mother, Scrubs, and Big Bang Theory are probably my favorites. 

Movies: Too many to name. I find it easy to enjoy movies on _their_ terms, so I rarely actively dislike something. Though there are exceptions.

Outside of entertainment media, martial arts and acting are what I spend most of my time on. Oddly enough I'm not big into writing screenplays, though I'll no doubt give it a try eventually.


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 13, 2011)

Chilari said:


> and getting started on my dissertation, which is going to be about beekeeping, honey and wax in the ancient Mediterranean. It really is very interesting. Well, to me anyway. But it is going to be a lot of work.


 
OOO That really does sound interesting! I love ancient things... >^.^<


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 13, 2011)

Ophiucha said:


> Also, Japanese people saying "rock n' roll" = instant hilarity.


 I have this one song... It's off the Bleach collection.. Bleach is Manga/Anime for those who don't know... anyway there's this one song on the OST.. and omg it sucks but it's the funniest thing EVER... I's called "Everybody hates my guitar song" and that line is about the only thing in english but OMG I crack up everytime he says it >.<

And I know you like arguing with people on the net LMAO. It amuses me cause I'm the exact opposite in that respect, I'll either stay quiet or agree with the scarier of the two arguers LMMFAO! I'm such a chicken I know LOL


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 13, 2011)

Star... I love british shows unfortunately out here it can be a bit hard to find the good ones >.< PBS only puts crap on in general these days LMAO... Not all american shows are bad.. Well I'm an Adult Swim fan so yeah it's about all I'll willingly watch on TV as it is LOL... 9PM-6AM I'll stare at my tv like a brain dead moron watching Robot Chicken and everything else LOL


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## Chilari (Mar 13, 2011)

starconstant said:


> I adore travelling. I go to London or Tokyo once a year or so - I'll be back in London in six weeks.


So, in time for the royal wedding then? Cool! I probably won't actually go down to London for it, I'll be busy studying, but I'll watch it on TV. How long will you be in the UK? What locations are you visiting?


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## Kelise (Mar 13, 2011)

Chilari said:


> So, in time for the royal wedding then? Cool! I probably won't actually go down to London for it, I'll be busy studying, but I'll watch it on TV. How long will you be in the UK? What locations are you visiting?


 
I'll be getting out of London for that lol I'm only there for two weeks this time, I'm rather ill at the moment and doing too much makes the illness come back (Ross River) so I'm playing it safe. I'll be in London for a few days, then going up to Cambridge with a friend, then on to Stratford upon Avon, then back to London for a week with my boy. Then, home!

It's funny, but this will be my third time to London, and I still haven't done much 'touristy' things there. I prefer just... hanging out as if I live there, going to plays and just... walking around. Still haven't seen the Palace, or Number 10, orrr.. Stonehenge, or anything, really.


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## Rachel. (Mar 13, 2011)

I am a tv junkie. I am able to do this because I generally use a laptop, so I just park in front of the television and multitask like a crazy lady. I absolutely *adore *Supernatural, Glee, Eureka, MonsterQuest, Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth, V, and that's all I can think of off the top of my head. I'm also a junkie for shows like Futurama and Family Guy.

Otherwise, I'm a big music listener. I'm always surfing YouTube for new bands. I listen to stuff like A Pale Horsed Named Death, Audiomachine, Nightwish, Epica, Nox Arcana, Era, Tool, A Perfect Circle, and uh, pretty much all classic and glam rock.


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## myrddin173 (Mar 13, 2011)

I love country music some of my favorites are Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flats, the Band Perry, and Taylor Swift.

I also love crime investigation shows like NCIS and Bones.  House is also good.


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## At Dusk I Reign (Mar 16, 2011)

Likes outside of fantasy? Hmm. Well there's music, obviously, but I think I've already covered that topic in nauseating depth elsewhere. My TV viewing tends to revolve around comedy shows, with occasional glimpses of Sci-Fi inbetween (since Farscape and Babylon 5 disappeared I've been rather bereft in that regard).

The last movie I actually went to a cinema to see was Silence of the Lambs. I haven't been since. I'd much rather watch something on DVD so I can pause when life intervenes in its usually clumsy way. .

I tend to play games on my Xbox360 late at night when I can't sleep and there's no-one around to annoy, and sometimes even venture online. If anyone's been playing Black ops recently - the guy you killed multiple times before he could even pull the trigger, that's me.

I listen to the radio a lot, particularly BBC7. It's a shame the budget cuts have hit it so hard, it used to be a fine source of radio drama, both Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Bring back OneWord, I say!

Away from fantasy fiction my reading tends to focus on the Napoleonic era, and the Penisula War in particular. It's the one period of history that actually fascinates me.

There are other things I'm interested in, but they're not springing to mind too readily so they're probably not worth reading about.


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## Chilari (Mar 16, 2011)

At Dusk I Reign said:


> Away from fantasy fiction my reading tends to focus on the Napoleonic era, and the Penisula War in particular. It's the one period of history that actually fascinates me.


 
Sharpe or Aubrey/Maturin? I find with Sharpe that the plots get a bit samey after a while (I'm stuck on Sharpe's Sword, though possibly because I saw the TV episode before I read the book and thus there's no mystery for me; I saw all of the TV episodes before reading any of the books, but this one just doesn't do it for me). However, the prose itself is well written. Patrick O'Brian's writing can be quite dry and the pacing slow, but the characters are more well rounded and mroe strongly portrayed and the plots more varied and interesting. Still, I've read much more Sharpe than Aubrey/Maturin, because O'Brian's dry slow-paced prose really needs working at, and after a long day reading generally dry articles while studying, I prefer to read something a bit more interesting, even if not so rewarding come the end of the book.


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## At Dusk I Reign (Mar 16, 2011)

Chilari said:


> Sharpe or Aubrey/Maturin?


Primarily non-fiction, I'm afraid. I do enjoy the Sharpe novels, though. I haven't seen the TV version, mainly because I spend very little time in front of the box.


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 17, 2011)

LMAO! I play LotRO late at night when there's no one around to annoy Dusk! I get bored so easily it's a bother but I think it's add or some crap nothing holds my interest for long except a GOOD MMORPG or video game.. or book a good book will enthrall me for hours LMAO!


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## Ophiucha (Mar 17, 2011)

My husband is a big fan of LotRO.  He tried to get me to play, but I just can't get into the MMO genre.


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 18, 2011)

bah! Try it x.x it's fun Ophiucha.. I thought I wouldn't like LotRO either.. but now I'm debating on whether or not I want to subscribe to it or DAoC LMAO!


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## Ophiucha (Mar 18, 2011)

I'm just more of a console gamer. Except Civilization. I love Civilization. In general, I love any game where I can do turn-based warfare. Fire Emblem is the best, but mostly because of all the support conversations (and the fact that you can get the main character into a quasi-romance with just about anyone; sort of the PG version of Dragon Age, in that way).


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## Ravana (Mar 18, 2011)

Oh, gods… how am I supposed to answer _this_ question? 



Mdnight Falling said:


> I also have gotten into playing table top RP too  something I swore up and down I'd never do



LOL yourself. I got into what you so quaintly refer to as "table top" RPGs so long ago that not only were those the only kind in existence, but there was in fact only one of them, and it came packaged as three saddle-stapled paperbacks in a 7'' x 9'' white box. I would, in fact, argue that these are the _only_ kind of games that can legitimately be called "role playing"; at any rate, I have yet to see a computer game that would qualify, as none of them require you to play a role–even online games where you are interacting with other players allow you to be as inconsistent with your "persona" as you want to be. I still retain a keen interest in RPGs, though I no longer have a playing group, and I own rules for, at last count, twenty-six different game systems, many of them in multiple "generations." Even before that, I was involved in wargaming, and again while I am not regularly active in these, I still play them once in a while. Same with collectible card games and to a lesser extent miniatures. I do play some games on the computer and online, most only irregularly. I prefer turn-based games, in part because it's the well-thought-out strategy that interests me, in part because my reaction times are just too damn slow. 

As for reading: I am more interested in science fiction than fantasy (though that hardly means I'm uninterested in the latter… duh), more interested in fantasy than horror (ditto); I write all of the above; I'm far more interested in any of those than "mainstream" fiction. I also read a great deal of poetry, and write a fair amount of it. Comics, though I haven't been able to follow them to the extent I used to or would like to. Throw in linguistics, philosophy, mythology/folklore/religion, history, law, military, archaeology, astronomy and physics as "major" interests; follow it up by architecture, art, other sciences and just about anything else as "secondary" ones. 

I love languages and language studies in general, and have taken classes in Spanish, German, Chinese, Latin and Sanskrit. Don't ask me to speak any of them: I'm more interested in reading knowledge. (I can get by in Spanish in an emergency.) I've done translation (outside of class assignments) in the first two–poetry, no less. I have sufficient competency with linguistics in general that I have performed my own translations of words or short passages from, in addition to the above, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Japanese, Turkish, Hungarian, Finnish, Swahili, Welsh, French, Italian and Tok Pisin, in order to check the accuracy of someone else's translation or to win arguments. One of my bookshelves is filled with dictionaries, grammars, or at least phrasebooks in well over a hundred languages–I've lost count–and that's without the Spanish, German and French ones, as those wouldn't fit.

I love music, with a broad range of tastes. About the only things I don't like are urban/soul, rap, and most Asian music involving a vocalist; I also have a fairly low tolerance for Top 40 pop these days. (As with editors and stories, though, I can enjoy the occasional exceptional song even from those categories.) I have played several instruments, all of which I am out of practice with, none of which I was ever much good at except for hand drums–which I was actually quite good at, thank you very much; others include flute, piano, guitar, bass guitar and recorder, to name those I actually practiced for any length of time, though I can pick up (or sit down at) just about anything other than a brass instrument and at least produce acceptable noises after a few minutes. I'm told I can sing, but don't believe it for a minute. If I had the money (and the space), I'd like to pick up a drum kit some day; I'm not holding my breath on that one. I attend concerts (usually rock), though less often than I'd like to: these constitute about the only setting I'm willing to crowd myself in with that many other people in one place. 

I do some landscaping and gardening, but only ornamentally, not for produce. I'm particularly fond of irises.

My television and movie viewing has diminished over the years, to the point that I almost never go to a theater any more, and don't follow any series on TV other than _Doctor Who_ (even there, I'm usually playing catch-up). I'll watch history or science channels from time to time. I like football (American), Australian rules football, figure skating, some auto racing, and will watch just about any competition in the Olympics–though for most such sports, once every four years is plenty for me. The exceptions are baseball and basketball: I rarely watch the former, and almost never the latter.

I've been involved in historical recreation (SCA), though here again I'm in an "inactive" phase right now. Maybe someday.… I like to see interesting places, but hate travel, so I usually don't. I enjoy museums of almost any variety, though art, historical and natural history ones tend to get the nod over ones featuring bottlecaps or Barbie dolls. 

I smoke a pipe. I collect books (duh again), comics, rocks, fossils, RPG systems, tarot decks, stamps and dust. I prefer music to silence, silence to talking.


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 19, 2011)

Ravana - MMORPGs don't.. BUT RP on AOL is akin to D&D and any table top really... We even have dice systems  Oddly enough there's a / command to roll dice on AOL LMAO! then there are bots too in case you forget the / command LOL AOL RP is a hoot... But there's no DM.. you spar, have fun... there's no "quest" or anything unless you make one yourself


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## Ophiucha (Mar 19, 2011)

I would argue how many pen and paper roleplayers actually 'roleplay'. They might use the first person, but few to none I've met will do any sort of legit roleplaying. I guess it used to be more popular to do it that way, but I've been in five or six groups and nobody ever played _as_ their character any more than I am playing _as_ Cloud when I play Final Fantasy VII.


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 19, 2011)

oh we play our chars when we play Earth Dawn.. and on AOL you have absolutely no choice but to actually role play your character.. you have to do everything for her.. I swear each day in RP is like it's own short story if you have the right circle to play with which I do >^.^<


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## Telcontar (Mar 19, 2011)

Ugh. I wanted to play D&D type games for awhile because of roleplaying, too. The only groups I found that played them weren't fun at all. No imagination, they were in it for the stats. Kind of like being a powergamer. Needless to say, I don't play D&D.


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 20, 2011)

I have a char I've played once a Wemic or something... Powerful thing too O.O she's like a centaur only she's ALL lion even the "human" parts are lion like LOL... It's the only reason I made the char cause I'm not a big fan of D&D either... But I do enjoy Earth Dawn.. and AOL RP is like D&D but not in the way of stats and whatnot.. I mean your rolling dice determine your strength not anything else


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## Donny Bruso (Mar 20, 2011)

Uh... Centaurs are part human part horse. There's no lions involved...


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## Mdnight Falling (Mar 21, 2011)

It's centaur LIKE... the waist up is bi-ped but the features are lion.. the waist down is all lion... my wemic is 600 pounds 15 feet long 7 feet high... I picked the Wemic out of the Forgotten Realms race book or something  It had all the kinds of things in Faerun. and I never said she was a centaur.. I said she was LIKE a centaur. Here's a pic of the Wemic in the book... Google Image Result for http://www.gemmaline.com/races/wemic.gif

Like a centaur in build but not cause it's a lion >^.^<


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## At Dusk I Reign (Mar 31, 2011)

I've recently got into Trollope, rather late in life. Not fantasy, but who cares? Only dead fish float with the stream.


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## Amorus (Apr 4, 2011)

Let's see. 

Music: I like classic and hard rock and I am extremely attracted to the concept album or technically precise bands alla: Pink Floyd, Rush, Dream Theater, Queensryche, Tool....ect.
I also enjoy jazz and classical as well as musicals.
I also enjoy writing and playing music. That has slowed down a bit and I found writing stories to be a nice creative alternative.

TV....I like sitcoms, Scrubs, Seinfeld, Modern Family, The Middle. I love the Cooking Channel, Food Network, Travel Channel, History and Discovery Channels.

General: Craft beer & beer philosophy. 
Wine
Early American History
Gardening
Art

I work in Higher Education and currently I am pursing my MSED degree which takes up a lot of my time. I love doing research and learning about how higher education functions.


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## Worldbuilder (Apr 4, 2011)

I used to be a voracious reader of practically anything, but with young kids I now have to do most of my reading in the bathroom or at bedtime, so I mostly read nonfiction because it's easier to pick up and put down. When I do read fiction, it's usually fantasy (of course), historical fiction, or mysteries. I also like the classics - novels, drama, poetry, you name it, though I'm a bit picky about time and country of origin.

I like movies, but am a bit picky about them too. I'm not at all averse to sex and violence, but I don't like them gratuitous, nor do I like crude humor, so that cuts out about 90% of what Hollywood produces right there.  Favorite movies include Sense and Sensibility (the Emma Thompson one), Pride and Prejudice (the Colin Firth one), Shakespeare in Love, Gosford Park, My Cousin Vinny, Mean Girls, and Maverick. Curiously, I don't watch a whole lot of fantasy films, though I did love the LotR movies.

I used to watch lots of movies and hardly any TV but since having kids it's much easier to find 40 minutes to sit down than two hours, so now I watch much more tv than film. Past and present favorites include The West Wing, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Queer as Folk, Burn Notice, Battlestar Galactica, Criminal Minds, White Collar, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, and the new Hawaii Five-0

I like music, but am not really into it to the degree a lot of people are. I'm also not much of a gamer, though I like to sit down to Civilization I or Tropico I occasionally (my favorites in high school and college respectively), and not really into sports, except for figure skating, equestrian sports, and the occasional game of soccer or volleyball.

My other interests and hobbies include gardening, hiking, environmental issues, sustainable agriculture, women's rights, politics, history, and cooking.


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