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andrastewhite
Jun. 10th, 2007 05:31 amselenak1. Comment to this post with the name of a character that I have written in fic. Or geeked out about.
2. I will comment telling you the following:
a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
b. One of his/her best traits.
c. One of his/her worst traits.
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character.
e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character.
f. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future.
2. I will comment telling you the following:
a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
b. One of his/her best traits.
c. One of his/her worst traits.
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character.
e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character.
f. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future.
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Date: 2007-06-10 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 03:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 04:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 06:07 am (UTC)a) After Cardassians in s2, I kind of loved him. After The Wire, I knew I did. "My dear doctor, they were all true." "Even the lies?" "Especially the lies."
b) He's witty in an elegant way.
c) I don't think he was kidding when he said he'd put the state first, every time. Whether that is a good or a bad quality depends on one's pov, of course, but living in a country with a past such as mine, I can't help but find it scary as hell.
d) Easy. One of those voices which just won't shut up.
e) This one (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1972769/1/). The Five Things AU format allowed me to include the best and worst I think Garak could be.
f) Yes. I have a very concrete idea, but it's for a ficathon, so it's kinda secret.
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Date: 2007-06-10 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 04:13 am (UTC)a) I found him sort of intriguing early on in the first season of Alias. Then came a two parter named The Box, which is one of those "the entire ensemble, no matter how much they're working against each other usually, has to band together against a mutual enemy" episodes, and those are always fun, but the reason why I went from, "hm, interesting villain" to "hm, I think I like him" with Sloane was that he was put in a situation where he had absolutely no power and no control, which was the antithesis of how he usually operates, and was shown not just to keep his wits but be brave and willing to ensure a considerable amount of pain to save Our Heroes' lives. (Bear in mind he was the main villian in the first season.) I still wasn't writing about him, though. Then there was the whole Emily situation (how many tv shows give their main villain a wife of 30 years whom he's absolutely devoted to?) and the love versus ambition dilemma. But the exact point where I knew I loved him and wanted to write about him? The Getaway in season 2 when we find out Sloane not only successfully faked Emily's death but managed to use the CIA and the Alliance (i.e. good guys and bad guys, for the purpose of this show back then) against each other to make his escape. Ability to love passionately, smarts, ruthlessness and manipulation do it for me every time.
b) He's somewhat sociopathic (to put it mildly) in that he cares only about a few people, but if he cares about you, he does that for life, and is actually pretty good at forgiveness. Not that I don't like vengefulness in my characters, but I find Sloane's ability to take it in stride when someone is double crossing him/trading his life/intending to kill him if he loves that person somewhat endearing and refreshing. He is so very matter of fact about it. Granted, this is also because he usually did some awful stuff to other people elsewhere, but still, in a universe where the other main characters are "I shall NEVER forgive you!" for such and such, Arvin S. goes "well, I'd have done the same in your position; now, lunch?" or "I love you anyway; please come with me" and I love that about him.
c) Um. Where to start? Okay, let's say, obsessiveness in reaching his goals and an utter lack of empathy and compassion with a great deal of humanity. To pick an example, because of Alliance rules, he's responsible for ordering the death of Sydney's fiance in the pilot. He's absolutely sincere in regretting this somewhat later in season 1. Because it caused Sydney pain, not because the poor guy didn't deserve to die to begin with! See what I'm getting at?
d) Very easy, most of the time. I had a bit trouble with some late s5 canon but could fanwank it into making sense with the rest of his characterisation.
e) Facets (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2317941/1/), which was my second story featuring him. The first one was an x-men movieverse crossover with Magneto I'm still very fond of, but it basically was a glimpse and an exercise, whereas with Facets I thought managed to capture the whole deal, bad and good, via his most important relationships.
f) At
Also: that rp was fun!
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Date: 2007-06-10 04:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 04:36 am (UTC)And I also enjoyed that RP! Apologies for the slicing. (Those being my apologies, and definitely not Logan's.)
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Date: 2007-06-10 05:54 am (UTC)And I wouldn't want him anywhere near me in RL, but as a fictional character, he fascinates me and I adore him.
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Date: 2007-06-10 04:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 04:35 am (UTC)a) The final scene in the pilot was what got me hooked on the show, because up to this point, I thought I was watching a pretty usual Marvel-type origin story, especially for Peter, who is very much a Marvelverse hero: he found his courage, he'd fly, the end, and I found myself saying, get on with it already. Nathan able to fly came completely unexpected and went directly against the comic cliché, while simultanously assuring me a) he was going to have at least one interesting ongoing dilemma, no matter whether they intended him to be a protagonist or antagonist, and b) there was more to this brotherly relationship than idealistic younger/cynical older brother, and I have a thing for convoluted family relationships. This did not mean I was in like or in love yet, mind. I sort of fell in like during his scene with Niki in Collision and Hiros made me fall in love, what with the cuteness with Hiro on the one hand of the spectrum and the sharkness with Linderman's henchwoman on the other.
b) I shall try to be original and not go for "ability to love despite being raised in an utterly screwed up family", no. Any man who is confident and relaxed enough in his own body to take everyone's looks in the diner with complete sang froid and dead pan manner when he's forced to show up half naked is okay by me.*g*
c) A similar problem to that Noah Bennet has, actually: he's far too prone to justifications and rationalizations along the line of "as long as the people I love are okay, to hell with everyone else".
d) Quite easy, but then, I have something of a track record with ambiguos types.
e) Folly (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3547678/1/), I think.
f) Absolutely. I'm still in the early state of infatuation with both character and show, after all. I have a definite plot bunny and some vague ideas right now.
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Date: 2007-06-10 04:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 05:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 05:38 am (UTC)b) His ability to say "I might have been wrong" and go against everything he was ever taught. Kosh or no Kosh, it was G'Kar who worked through that epiphany and made it stick. Very few characters in the B5 verse are able to do that.
c) He has a tendency to get self-righteous and/or stubornly martyr-y, which is why he needs Londo, of course! (Most immediate example that comes to mind: without Londo, G'Kar would have died rather than give Cartagia the satisfaction of hearing him scream.)
d) I find it easier to write him from someone else's pov in general; when I did write G'Kar pov, it was usually early up to s3 G'Kar. Enlightened!G'Kar is intimidating (as far as povs go, not as a character to be sued).
e) In dialogue? This one (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1698097/1/), but then, G'kar and Londo snarking at each other writes itself. In terms of in-depth characterisation, exposing murky layers and the like, I'm happiest with Diplomatic Relations (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2150793/1/).
f) No plans right now, but when the muse returns...
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Date: 2007-06-10 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 05:52 am (UTC)a) "No matter how good a boy you are, God doesn't want you." Pause. "But I still do." That was when I fell for her, and knew I wanted to write her.
b) She's not pretentious, which doesn't mean she doesn't pretend or roleplays when it suits her - what I mean is: in a family given to posing (the Master, Spike and Angel all do it, in various ways), Darla just rolls her eyes and gets on with it. Whether "it" gleefully terrorizing people or staking herself so her son can live.
c) Can we say "seeking out co-dependent relationships"? She's kidding herself about that one, btw, but between the Master, Angelus, the Master and Angel again, she's got it covered.
d) Very easy, most of the time.
e) The Haunting, Hunted Kind (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1380356/1/). Far from the first Darla story I wrote, but still the one I'm most proud of.
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Date: 2007-06-10 05:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 06:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 05:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 05:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 07:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 06:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 07:24 am (UTC)b) I think Peter genuinenly - i.e. in a way he'll keep no matter how old he gets, and let's not forget, at 26, he's not a teenager, he's an adult - wants to help people. There are a lot of other things feeding into his hero complex, true, but the desire to help is very real and at the core of his being.
d) Otoh, I don't think Nathan is wrong when saying to Heidi Peter is self-centred. Which isn't the same as selfish, btw, nor do I think Nathan means it that way. But it makes things like 5YG Peter not telling Niki he's responsible for the explosion that killed her son - and not telling Hiro, who really needs to know it wasn't Sylar, either - while living with her and from her possible; ditto Peter not contacting Simone after leaving the hospital, not even in the form of a "must learn to control powers, goodbye" note. It's not malicious, but it's definitely self-centred.
e) I haven't written Peter from his own pov yet, but I find it very easy to write about him from someone else's - Claire's, Candice's and Nathan's so far.
f) Absolutely, yes. See above re: Nathan - early stage of fannish infatuation.
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Date: 2007-06-10 10:06 pm (UTC)(b) I continue to be amazed at how idealistic these writers are, having been raised on Joss Whedon and more recently on Rob Thomas. I thought characters like Hiro and Peter would induce a great deal of eye-rolling in me, but they didn't, and I think it's because I really believe that *they* believe in what they're doing. There's a core of "goodness" to the show that I find very comforting.
(d) Someone over at TWoP said that they think "Peter is self-centered, but not selfish, while Nathan is selfish, but not self-centered." I'm not sure if I agree with that completely, but for a one sentence summary, it's not bad.
(e) I think this is true of almost all the writers I've read so far. Their "Peters" ring most true when he's written through Nathan's eyes, or Claire's. I think it's a sign of how well the writers have done writing him as an empath, through and through--just like Sylar is an engineer, through and through, not just with respect to his power.
(f) YES! \o/
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Date: 2007-06-10 07:26 am (UTC)"It was a typical Peter pronouncement; overly emotional, too insightful and yet missing a major point at the same time."
I have the
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Date: 2007-06-10 06:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 07:38 am (UTC)b and c) His adaptability. Yes, I think that's simultanously one of the best and worst traits. On the one hand, it not only enables him to survive and make it through the millennia, and saves him from being an ideologue (hard to be when beliefs and ethics keep changing around you and you adapt to them all), on the other, it also makes him somewhat hollow, which is why I think people like Duncan and Kronos are so attractive to him. In their different ways, they're the opposite of this. I think deep down Methos is afraid that he's worn so many masks that there really is nothing left underneath.
d) Easy to write if we're talking about Methos playing a major or even the major role in a story. Methos pov, that's different. I think I have some in the Covenants trilogy, but mostly it's Cassandra's, Amy's Rachel's, and in the last story also Duncan's. For the one shot stories, it's never Methos pov, either, but Joe's, Alexa's and Cassandra's. Which is partly due to wanting to keep the mystery of the character, the enigma, and partly due to point c).
e) My absolute favourite of stories with Methos in it, the HL story I'm still proudest of, is Death and the Maiden. However, that captures only Horseman!Methos. So I'm going with the Covenants trilogy for my attempt to present as complete a portrait as I was able to get.
f) No, no plans at the moment, no.
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Date: 2007-06-10 07:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 07:52 am (UTC)a) Well, I thought Vader was the most interesting character of A New Hope, and the "I am your father" scene hooked me on the OT. When it was over, the backstory of Anakin Skywalker was the one I really wanted to know, so I was somewhat disappointed by the books and thrilled when the prequels were announced. As we know, I'm in the minority who liked the Anakin scenes in TPM, especially "I am a person and my name is Anakin". At that point, I had written two stories featuring Vader in German, btw. But the point where I began to think of the character as Anakin, not Vader (i.e. Anakin as the core and Vader as the mask, literary, rather than Vader as the character and Anakin as the pre-stage) and loved him as Anakin most was definitely AotC.
b) Passion. Which is one of the many reasons (other than, you know, lots of deaths for the galaxy at large) why the Vader thing is such a tragedy and what makes him compelling. Strictly speaking, I suppose passion is a neutral quality - it can be used for good or evil - but it's quintessential to what makes Anakin himself.
c) Like other people I could name, he externalizes his conscience, which I suppose is partly due to the slave background in his case and the way the Jedi behave, but still - his mother, Obi-Wan, Palpatine, Padme, all in various ways people he looks for to tell him what is right or wrong. Which when you're someone that powerful is scary.
d) Relatively easy, both as Anakin and as Vader.
e) I'm happiest with Five Senses (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2427058/1/)
f) Not right now, but I wouldn't exclude it for the future.
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Date: 2007-06-10 10:26 am (UTC)The Sith code:
Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
taken from wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sith)
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Date: 2007-06-10 09:52 am (UTC)Given that my usual suspect is taken I'll give you two choices: Claire or Connor.
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Date: 2007-06-10 01:11 pm (UTC)(I, um. Wrote an entire essay at
a) Season 3 was imo the worst of AtS, despite individual great episodes. I was this close to giving up, until teenage Connor came back from Quor'toth. Liked him immediatley in "A New World" and fell in love in "Benediction". Between his two fathers and the messed upness and the echoes of his mother, he had me.
b and c) As with Methos, I'll combine best and worst, because it really is both - Connor's capacity for love and affection, which is immense, means he'll do just about anything for the object of that devotion, overriding clear awareness of the wrongness of some of these actions. (This is even true in a milder form for mindwiped!Connor who signs on to the kill Sahjahn gig because Cyvus Vail threatens his family; for all mindwiped!Connor knows, Sahjahn is as innocent as the girl in white sacrificed to allow Jasmine to be born.)
d) Very easy, in all the phases of his life, pre, during and post mindwipe.
e) Pre-mindwipe Connor: The Haunting Hunted Kind (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1380356/1/), aka the one with Darla. Post-mindwipe and mindwipe reversal Connor: Ouroborous (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1962559/1/), aka the one with Lyta Hall, the Sandman crossover.
f) I'm writing him at [Unknown site tag], so, yes, absolutely.
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Date: 2007-06-10 11:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 01:23 pm (UTC)b) Compassion for strangers/enemies and the willingness to act on it.
c) Hm, does Vir have worst traits? Can't think of any....
d) The only time I had trouble writing Vir was my Firefly crossover, and that was because he and Inara are both genuinenly nice and polite people. It's easier to write dialogue between people when either or both are prone to verbal agression or mind games, you know? But in the end, I found a situation where they really needed some hurt/comfort, and it all worked out.
e) I'll go with my first Vir story, Knowing Love (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1474348/1/).
f) Not right now, but who knows?
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Date: 2007-06-10 04:12 pm (UTC)What about Kai Winn or Quark? (Which one you choose is up to you.)
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Date: 2007-06-10 04:43 pm (UTC)a) I did like him early on, but the episode I fell for him was season 2's Rules of Aquisition (aka The One With Pel). Ferengi greed and pragmatism + inner romantic = win!
b) Even at his most exploitative, Quark isn't cruel. I don't think he gets sadism, or even the urge to kill. He does it twice in seven years and both times to save someone else's life, and both times it shakes him.
c) Otoh, he completely believes in those rules that say relations and emplyoees are there to be exploited. Mind you, within the Ferengi code of ethics, that's not a bad trait.*g*
d) Easy. He has a very accessible voice.
e) Quark's Day (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1862238/1/)
f) None right now, but who knows what the future might bring? The stars are made of latinum!
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Date: 2007-06-10 05:44 pm (UTC)Babylon 5, the station itself, I've always thought of it as a character.
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Date: 2007-06-10 07:09 pm (UTC)*clears throat*
a) "It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, when I heard of this other space station and this other space show. I decided to give it a try. Much as the space station in a universe I was familiar with, I found it to be a very interesting place, though I wasn't sure at first whether or not I wished for permanent quarters or just temporary ones. After observing various inhabitants, however, I moved in on a regular basis and never regretted it."
b) Its zylindrical form makes sense and is practical. Also, the Babcom seems to be perfectly maintained, considering it can connect with Centauri Prime (Londo talking to Vir n the season 4 opener) without loss of picture and sound quality) instantly.
c) On the other hand, Epsilon III and the Great Machine might be useful for time travel, but they don't offer the space station inhabitants the chance to visit and relax, or escape if the station is attacked, as opposed to, say, planets like Bajor. *g*
d) and e) I don't think I managed to write an ensemble story for B5 which would have given a good sense of the station as such, a good sense of place; all of my B5 fanfic tends to be focused on one or two characters, which means they're also mostly in one or two rooms. But I think I gave a great impression of the Dark Star in "Stag Night". *g* (Aka the One Where Londo and G'Kar Throw a Bachelor Party For Sheridan.)
f) Sooner or later, my fictional way will lead me back to B5....
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Date: 2007-06-15 07:18 pm (UTC)