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Am I ever going to pass up an opportunity to babble extensively about AWESOME LADIES? The answer is: no, I most certainly am not!
Therefore, stolen from in_the_blue and a few other people by now: name a canon you know I know, and I'll tell you (in no particular order) my three favorite females and why. And then I'll name a canon for you, because I'm just ( Read more... )
Therefore, stolen from in_the_blue and a few other people by now: name a canon you know I know, and I'll tell you (in no particular order) my three favorite females and why. And then I'll name a canon for you, because I'm just ( Read more... )
Serra Teresa: How do have absolutely zero official status and still manage to completely manipulate the fate of an entire empire? BY BEING AS BADASS AS SERRA TERESA, THAT IS HOW. (Which means that no one else can, except possibly Serra Diora.) What I love most about her, though, is after all that badassery, in the end she's completely capable of throwing it all away and picking up a different life when it becomes necessary. Because that is possibly the most hardcore of all.
Finch: Yes, I love Jewel . . . but I possibly am starting to love Finch even more, for trying so hard to BE Jewel, and for "What Would Jewel Do? . . . aside from be a jerk, but OTHER than that." And for trying really hard to stand up for herself against some terrifying and powerful people! I am so looking forward to seeing more of her.
Serra Maria: Another minor character who I love unreasonably! I am so fascinated by her, and how on earth she has managed to hold two such disparate roles as proper Serra and VOYANI MATRIARCH. You have to be kind of crazy impressive to pull that off without tearing yourself apart. I don't know if we'll see much more of her, but hers is a backstory I would really like to find out about.
(Honorable mentions of course go to Jewel and Margret and Miriam and and and and . . .)
Agh I keep forgetting to ask things in return! THE COLLECTED WORKS OF URASAWA.
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And you give me a very hard choice! I shall choose a few who I feel deserve more love (not that Nina, Yukiji, or Uran do not deserve love! but I think they get it fairly often).
From Monster, we have Lotte! Because more Lotte is needed. I love her smarts, her mad research skills, and the fact that she does really cool things simply because she likes people and wants to help them out, whether they realize they need the help or not! She can be sneaky, sly, and mischievous, but all in the name of good things like making sure a massive fortune goes to the rightful heir! And the way she falls for Karl is really sweet and I know they eventually end up together because anything else is unacceptable.
From 20th Century Boys, we have Koizumi Kyoko! ...And because my copy of volume 6 is lent out, I don't know if you've met her yet or not. But I love Kyoko! She is a ditzy teenager who does things like miss large amounts of class because she is an incurable groupie for an awful band. Because of this, everyone, including Kyoko, thinks that she is not all that bright. But she is pretty bright! Just kind of clueless about it. Which means that she's smart enough to notice things that others don't, and clueless enough to say that she notices said things and thus end up in huge amounts of trouble. And she keeps this wonderful sanity, which results in "ohmygod this is so messed up why do I have to deal with this oh FINE I'll take care of it in as straightforward a way as I can." Also, she is tied with Chouno in the MOST HILARIOUS FACES category, which is great fun.
From Pluto, we have Helena! Helena is, all things considered, pretty minor. She's the wife of the main character, Gesicht. But in a lot of ways, she's among the most human of the robot characters. A lot of the "imitation of humans" that robots do seems to come pretty naturally to her. She manages to come through a lot of things while keeping huge reserves of kindness and compassion, and has the ability to make large sacrifices simply because she knows it's both the right thing to do and a necessary thing. (Also: fiction needs more happily married couples, and she is part of one! I love happily married couples.)
Honorary mention goes to the series Yawara!, which I do not yet have firsthand knowledge of but which I understand is full of awesome ladies, many of whom know judo!
(Do I get to ask you for another? Because if I do, I choose Otherland.)
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Hee hee sure, why not! It is not like Otherland does not have lots to choose from. :D
Sam Fredericks: Oh, like this was going to be a surprise. Sam is pretty much my favorite character in the books! Because she really has no backstory angst - she's got all the necessary social skills, a supportive family, and so on - but she feels like she wants something more out of her life, even though she doesn't know what yet; because she thinks making gender a big deal is kind of stupid; because she read Lord of the Rings and didn't tell Orlando, but she knows she's totally the Sam. I love how at first that plotline is totally all about Orlando, but in the fourth book it becomes Sam's story. (I also love the fact that she's biracial, and it's not a big deal or a source of massive angst or whatever. And one of the things I love about Otherland is that it is not a story full of white people!)
Renie Sulaweyo: I don't know if there's a better word for Renie than FIERCE. She is totally the hero of this story, in the classic sense - the one who charges into danger, who protects her friends and family, who kicks ass and takes names and everything else. On top of that, she's smart - she works at a university! - determined and loyal, but she's not at all perfect. She can be short-tempered and headstrong and totally bossy, and I love that about her too, for her flaws as well as for the things that make her awesome.
Calliope Skouros: Not a main character, but I love her a lot! Most of all I love how in the middle of all this futuristic virtual fantasyland stuff, Calliope's storyline is baaaaasically a straight-up police procedural. *laughing* And let me tell you, if there were a police procedural starring her on TV, it would be so much higher on my list than any of the ones we have now. SO MUCH HIGHER.
Okay, if we are still going . . . Sunshine!
(Also: I got your letter! :D It DID INDEED make me beam all the way through. You will be getting a response soon!)
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I think Otherland is a great guide for how to Do Things Right. It's not perfect, but damn it pulls off so much so well.
And now I desperately want a t.v. show about Calliope (and her poor partner)! It would be so good. *_*
Now for Sunshine!
Rae Seddon: Obviously I absolutely love Sunshine. She's sane, kind of geeky, and just tries to do the right thing on principle. She's not an epic hero, she's too sane to want that. What she wants is to exercise her mad baking skills and to read her fantasy fiction, and that is awesome. She's among the most human of protagonists I've ever encountered. I relate to her enormously.
Sadie: Sunshine's mom is badass. She didn't just have the guts to completely cut ties with her family in order to ~follow her heart~, she had the guts to take her daughter and leave with no support from anyone when the guy turned out to be a controlling jerk. She's ended up with a good place in life because she's worked for it, and no one is going to threaten her or hers.
Aimil: Dude she's a librarian who moonlights with the S.O.F. how is that not completely awesome?
Honorary mention goes to Yolande!
And if we are still going...The Twelve Kingdoms!
(I am so happy to hear that! 8D)
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Yeah - it's definitely not perfect, but there's a lot of things that it does incredibly well. (It amazes me more because I have yet to be that impressed by anything else Tad Williams has written. Where did Otherland come from, Tad Williams! And where did it gooooo. D:)
That is one of the amazing thing about Sunshine, is how incredibly relatable she is! And I loooove her relationship with her mom, messy as it can sometimes be.
OH MAN but how can I talk about awesome female characters without spoiling you? D: Because the third book has some awesome ones. I will try to be vague . . .
Yoko: UM HOW MUCH DO I LOVE YOKO. I LOVE YOKO SO MUCH I WROTE A WHOLE LJ POST ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE HER AND IDENTIFY WITH HER. THAT IS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOKO. I mean BASICALLY she is one of my favorite fantasy heroines of all time, because it's not easy, and because of how much she grows, and because even though she had no real connections at home she still wants to go home and change that. YOKO. <33333
Risai: So I . . . am discovering I have kind of a thing for awesome lady generals? Risai is THE AWESOMEST lady general. I like the way Sea of Wind works out, but I am still a little sad that she wasn't king, because dang would she have been amazing at it. She is hardcore without losing her kindness and she has an amazing sense of perspective. And I want her and Taiki to be BFF forever.
Ribi: You haven't met Ribi yet, but she is seriously amazing. She is one of Shoryu's councillors and the ambassador to a potentially rebellious province, and she is completely loyal and dedicated and ruthless - one of those characters who is willing to sacrifice a lot for her ideals. There's a scene where she is stating once again her loyalty to Shoryu and to the kingdom, and Enki is being a total brat, all "I bet that's because you loooooooove him! SHORYU AND RIBI SITTIN' IN A TREE," and she just refuses to be swayed or bothered at all - it's not about that, it's about doing what you know is right.
Iiiif we are keeping up the chain: Princess Tutu!
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