Comments | matrithon: Definitions post: What is a woman? What's "40 or over"?

alara_r in matrithon

Definitions post: What is a woman? What's "40 or over"?

Jul 01, 2009 11:48

The basic rule of the Matri-Thon is that the main character of the story (or one of the two main characters in a pairing) must be a canonical woman 40 or over. But what does that mean ( Read more... )

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Comments 13

Rand, and Stargate women rocky_t July 1 2009, 17:35:58 UTC

In the VOY episode "Flashback", when she served as the communications officer aboard the Excelsior under Captain Sulu, Rand is definitely over 40. Rand also appeared in small cameos in the following ST movies: The Motion Picture, The Search For Spock, The Voyager Home and The Undiscovered Country.

I do have a question about some of the women in the Stargate franchise. Presumably Elizabeth Weir would count as over 40, as she is the leader of the Atlantis expedition, but I'm wondering about the other women: Samantha Carter, Vala, Janet Frasier. Carter in "Endless" did age substantially, Vala was host to a Gou'ald, Janet had a teenage daughter, so a case could be made for each, though perhaps "late 30's" would be a more accurate assessment. Would these women be acceptable for this ficathon?

Re: Rand, and Stargate women alara_r July 1 2009, 19:22:20 UTC

Carter is 40 as of right after the end of SG-1; according to her Wiki entry on the Stargate wikipedia, she was born in 1968 and the episodes take place in real time, so an air date of 2007 takes place in 2007. The actress is actually three years older than that, so she would qualify during Seasons 8-10 ( ... )

Re: Rand, and Stargate women rocky_t July 2 2009, 04:06:01 UTC

Thanks for clearing that up!

tooright99 July 1 2009, 22:53:44 UTC

Just to be clear, a not-human character HAS to be played by a woman in her 40s? So a vampire who is hundreds of years old doesn't count if she is played by a 20-something, like Darla and Drusilla from BtVS?

I would love to request some Darla and Drusilla fic because they have experienced way more than 40 years of "life", but it is of course up to you.

Thanks!

(The comment has been removed)

tooright99 July 2 2009, 12:38:50 UTC

First, woah that woman is AMAZING.

Second, dang! That is my second near-miss. Tina Fey is also 39 and Liz Lemon is 37.

alara_r July 2 2009, 14:20:31 UTC

For vampires and other immortal characters who are played by actresses who are under 40, or who are drawn or otherwise portrayed to look young, they qualify if their role in the story suggests maturity.

In the case of Darla and Drusilla, Darla is a great-grandsire vampire. She was the matriarch of her little vampire family. So I would say she qualifies.

Dru, however, has the archetype of "crazy seer", which is not specific to an age. While technically she's a grandsire because the First Evil made Spike sire Holden, she acted toward Spike more like his little sister most of the time (in fact they're kind of an evil Simon and River Tam who have sex, if you think about it. Joss loves his crazy girls.) I would not consider Drusilla a mature woman. But Darla counts.

Thread 6

astrogirl2 July 1 2009, 23:06:42 UTC

Hmm. I just left a prompt for a character who was under 40 in canon, but canon then proceeded to go on for 40 years without her, so that if she were to show up now, she'd be well over 40. That's OK, right? Or no?

alara_r July 2 2009, 14:21:17 UTC

If the prompt states the time period in which she'd be over 40, then she's fine.

astrogirl2 July 2 2009, 21:55:13 UTC

Yay! I figured, but wanted to be sure. :)

liliaeth March 28 2011, 23:17:00 UTC

Does Ellen Harvelle from Supernatural count? Not sure of Samantha Ferris' age, but she was a mother to her adult daughter Jo, and a motherfigure to both Winchesters.

alara_r April 8 2011, 17:15:51 UTC

If she had an adult daughter then yes. It's very very hard for an adult to have an adult child and still be under 40.