Two more
Got off by a day, so let's do two. First, per gehayi: "Five characters that influenced you as a writer and/or person (explaining, of course, how and why they influenced you)"
That's a big question. Might require a whole essay. I'm going to cheat and widen this to fictional canons, because there are just way too many characters.
1. The Chronicles of Narnia: During some of the darkest, most difficult days of my life, these books helped me find an anchor. I was very sick as a teenager. It led to the panic attacks and depression that's haunted me into my adult life. I would pray and pray for wisdom, for comfort, for the certainty I'd lost somewhere along the way, and feel utterly alone in the universe. The book The Silver Chair, in particular, helped me to find my feet. At one point, Aslan says to Jill, "You would not have called to me if I had not been calling to you." That idea, that God was reaching out to me even as I felt alone and scared, helped me through the crises of my health and my faith.
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation: I was fannish about this show before I knew what being fannish was. I'm so glad there wasn't an Internet around during my teen years, because I'm sure I'd have written the worst fanfiction for it. I loved it. The creativity, the optimism ST has always been famous for, the breadth of room for imagination--I can look back now and see its flaws, but who even cares? Besides, Jean-Luc. There, you can't argue with that.
3. Highlander: My first real online fandom. Exciting days! I stepped into fanfiction and bulletin boards via this show. It was also really the first show I remember that posited this hidden world that most people never saw, something fantastic among the mundane. It's something that's continued to fascinate me, and why urban fantasy is much more attractive to me than medieval fantasy.
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Proof that in the right hands, the craziest idea (a cute cheerleader named Buffy who slays vampires and demons) can become sublime. This show went so many places. Sometimes it succeeded, sometimes it didn't, but you can never accuse it of being safe. The best things in my life have come to me when I stopped keeping myself safe. If I ever do write that novel, I think that's the lesson I'll have to take into it.
5. The Dresden Files: I know you expected this to be Doctor Who, and it does get an honorable mention, but DF sits closer to my heart. Just like BtVS wasn't a safe show, Harry Dresden isn't a safe hero. It's another crazy setup--a noir hero in modern-day Chicago who happens to be a wizard--and the supporting cast includes everyone from a crime baron to a holy paladin. The characters get tested in absolutely every way, and sometimes they fail, but the proof of the test is that they get up afterward and keep going. That's a good lesson to impart.
Next, from athersgeo: OBAFU, my thoughts theron.
Um, it happened? It was fun to do, and a lot of people liked it, but on the whole, I'm fairly certain I'd never have finished it. Maybe that's a good thing. I'm not convinced it was ever a good idea to begin with. Those are my thoughts. Not a whole lot of them.
That's a big question. Might require a whole essay. I'm going to cheat and widen this to fictional canons, because there are just way too many characters.
1. The Chronicles of Narnia: During some of the darkest, most difficult days of my life, these books helped me find an anchor. I was very sick as a teenager. It led to the panic attacks and depression that's haunted me into my adult life. I would pray and pray for wisdom, for comfort, for the certainty I'd lost somewhere along the way, and feel utterly alone in the universe. The book The Silver Chair, in particular, helped me to find my feet. At one point, Aslan says to Jill, "You would not have called to me if I had not been calling to you." That idea, that God was reaching out to me even as I felt alone and scared, helped me through the crises of my health and my faith.
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation: I was fannish about this show before I knew what being fannish was. I'm so glad there wasn't an Internet around during my teen years, because I'm sure I'd have written the worst fanfiction for it. I loved it. The creativity, the optimism ST has always been famous for, the breadth of room for imagination--I can look back now and see its flaws, but who even cares? Besides, Jean-Luc. There, you can't argue with that.
3. Highlander: My first real online fandom. Exciting days! I stepped into fanfiction and bulletin boards via this show. It was also really the first show I remember that posited this hidden world that most people never saw, something fantastic among the mundane. It's something that's continued to fascinate me, and why urban fantasy is much more attractive to me than medieval fantasy.
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Proof that in the right hands, the craziest idea (a cute cheerleader named Buffy who slays vampires and demons) can become sublime. This show went so many places. Sometimes it succeeded, sometimes it didn't, but you can never accuse it of being safe. The best things in my life have come to me when I stopped keeping myself safe. If I ever do write that novel, I think that's the lesson I'll have to take into it.
5. The Dresden Files: I know you expected this to be Doctor Who, and it does get an honorable mention, but DF sits closer to my heart. Just like BtVS wasn't a safe show, Harry Dresden isn't a safe hero. It's another crazy setup--a noir hero in modern-day Chicago who happens to be a wizard--and the supporting cast includes everyone from a crime baron to a holy paladin. The characters get tested in absolutely every way, and sometimes they fail, but the proof of the test is that they get up afterward and keep going. That's a good lesson to impart.
Next, from athersgeo: OBAFU, my thoughts theron.
Um, it happened? It was fun to do, and a lot of people liked it, but on the whole, I'm fairly certain I'd never have finished it. Maybe that's a good thing. I'm not convinced it was ever a good idea to begin with. Those are my thoughts. Not a whole lot of them.