The post in which I attempt to figure out why I like these particular characters
No reason for this, just me trying to get things straight in my head. A scary place I have discovered when actually attempting to make any sense of the (lack of) logic that swirls around in there.
To work:
--
One:
Minerva McGonagall
Potter fandom; all books
'Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts,' she said. 'Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned.'
That quote (for me at least) illustrates many of the reasons I find Minerva so fascinating. She teaches one of the most complex branches of magic, she is thus smart which is always a huge factor with most of my favourite characters. She is also strict, which could be a negative, but I actually like people who give clear-set boundaries and expect you to abide by them. Thus far, we are doing well.
She is interesting in all of the books but (for me at least) she truly shone in 'Order of the Phoenix' after Dumbledore had left the school. She went from being the Deputy Headmistress, and thus under another authority, to someone who deliberately undermined her supposed superior, fought (however surreptitiously) against an internal nemesis and at times showed blatant disrespect.
Conclusion: smart, brave with a wicked sense of humour.
All of these traits run through my favourite characters when I take a closer look.
--
Two.
Ros Myers
Spooks; series 5 - ?
"Don't be such a cry baby, it's only a graze with a 22."
This one I will have to cut short as I could write essays on Rosalind Myers. She is much like Minerva in many respects: smart, brave etc. though she has a manipulative streak that Minerva lacks and that makes Ros that little bit more fascinating to me. Sure, in fanfiction you can make Minerva manipulative and people do it brilliantly, but in canon she is very much down the line.
Ros canon on the other hand embraces this streak and we watch from the out-set as Ros weaves her little webs and that makes her brilliant. She doesn't try and hide this, she admits that she lies, she admits to her mistakes but she moves on and rarely apologises. A trait that many would find distasteful but which I find strangely endearing.
She also kills people with forks, but that's more of a 'oh, she can also do this...'
So we get smart, brave and manipulative.
--
Three.
River Song
Dr Who, S4-?
"I'm River Song, check your records again."
Another person I could write essays about. We meet River in the wrong order - she arrives with knowledge of the doctor that not even her knows, giving her an edge from the out-set. As time goes onward (through both seasons 4 and 5) we see that she not only matches the doctor, she beats him at times, which rarely happens in Dr Who. She can fly the tardis better than him, she argues with him and demands that he explain himself, she does not allow him to make plans and expect her to simply going along with them - she wants to know the reason behind his decisions.
She makes jokes, flirts, escapes from prison using lipstick. In the same episode she wears a formal gown and five inch heels, then in the next scene is in a camouflage outfit. And she seems equally comfortable in both. She is not inherently good or bad, she's ambiguous and we as viewers still have no bloody idea which side she falls on.
Frustrating but intriguing at the same time.
Also, she can make a dalek beg for mercy. My case is closed.
--
Four.
Elizabeth Corday
E.R; S4 - 11 (part of 15)
"Let me guess, infectious gangrene from a paper cut?"
You would think that Elizabeth Corday would be an easy character to explain but she really isn't. She arrives from England, already highly regarded as a surgeon and is able to perform procedures that the Chief of Surgery needs assistance with. We learn early on that she is not impressed by authority (one of her first scenes she says to a world-renowned surgeon "I knew you were old but I didn't know you were so short!"), she finds the 'pimping' that her superior attempts tiresome and says so: loudly.
She is opinionated, arrogant, and she doesn't care.
Her second trauma (in Chicago) she quite literally stops what she is doing and asks everyone to 'slow down.' And they do, and the surgery runs smoother with less panic and the patient, as a result, is better treated. This becomes a theme through out the series as she approaches her procedures with a level head.
That is not to say she does not make mistakes. On the contrary; while in a rush to get out before a specific time, she ends up paralyzing a patient. And then proceeds to lie at the enquiry stating that the spino-cerebral fluid could have been saline. This allows her to escape prosecution and the blame falls onto the equipment used and that particular instrument is recalled despite not being faulty. She is not unaffected by this and becomes afraid to perform complex procedures. She loses confidence which she regains only after being pushed by Robert Romano. She then becomes pregnant and has to deal with the effects of this in her male-dominated workplace. And she does so though it does take its toll.
Mark, her husband, then dies and Elizabeth retreats to England only to return rather different. She is cold, withdrawn and only shows any real affection towards her daughter, Robert Romano and - to an extent - her nanny. It is only when she speaks with a man who loses both his wife and his son that these walls crack and she begins to return to her former self.
Smart, opinionated, and very human.
--
Conclusion.
All of these characters are smart. All of these characters are brave. All are leaders in their respective fields. All are independent.
And all have a sly and sarcastic sense of humour.
Simple, really.
To work:
--
One:
Minerva McGonagall
Potter fandom; all books
'Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts,' she said. 'Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned.'
That quote (for me at least) illustrates many of the reasons I find Minerva so fascinating. She teaches one of the most complex branches of magic, she is thus smart which is always a huge factor with most of my favourite characters. She is also strict, which could be a negative, but I actually like people who give clear-set boundaries and expect you to abide by them. Thus far, we are doing well.
She is interesting in all of the books but (for me at least) she truly shone in 'Order of the Phoenix' after Dumbledore had left the school. She went from being the Deputy Headmistress, and thus under another authority, to someone who deliberately undermined her supposed superior, fought (however surreptitiously) against an internal nemesis and at times showed blatant disrespect.
Conclusion: smart, brave with a wicked sense of humour.
All of these traits run through my favourite characters when I take a closer look.
--
Two.
Ros Myers
Spooks; series 5 - ?
"Don't be such a cry baby, it's only a graze with a 22."
This one I will have to cut short as I could write essays on Rosalind Myers. She is much like Minerva in many respects: smart, brave etc. though she has a manipulative streak that Minerva lacks and that makes Ros that little bit more fascinating to me. Sure, in fanfiction you can make Minerva manipulative and people do it brilliantly, but in canon she is very much down the line.
Ros canon on the other hand embraces this streak and we watch from the out-set as Ros weaves her little webs and that makes her brilliant. She doesn't try and hide this, she admits that she lies, she admits to her mistakes but she moves on and rarely apologises. A trait that many would find distasteful but which I find strangely endearing.
She also kills people with forks, but that's more of a 'oh, she can also do this...'
So we get smart, brave and manipulative.
--
Three.
River Song
Dr Who, S4-?
"I'm River Song, check your records again."
Another person I could write essays about. We meet River in the wrong order - she arrives with knowledge of the doctor that not even her knows, giving her an edge from the out-set. As time goes onward (through both seasons 4 and 5) we see that she not only matches the doctor, she beats him at times, which rarely happens in Dr Who. She can fly the tardis better than him, she argues with him and demands that he explain himself, she does not allow him to make plans and expect her to simply going along with them - she wants to know the reason behind his decisions.
She makes jokes, flirts, escapes from prison using lipstick. In the same episode she wears a formal gown and five inch heels, then in the next scene is in a camouflage outfit. And she seems equally comfortable in both. She is not inherently good or bad, she's ambiguous and we as viewers still have no bloody idea which side she falls on.
Frustrating but intriguing at the same time.
Also, she can make a dalek beg for mercy. My case is closed.
--
Four.
Elizabeth Corday
E.R; S4 - 11 (part of 15)
"Let me guess, infectious gangrene from a paper cut?"
You would think that Elizabeth Corday would be an easy character to explain but she really isn't. She arrives from England, already highly regarded as a surgeon and is able to perform procedures that the Chief of Surgery needs assistance with. We learn early on that she is not impressed by authority (one of her first scenes she says to a world-renowned surgeon "I knew you were old but I didn't know you were so short!"), she finds the 'pimping' that her superior attempts tiresome and says so: loudly.
She is opinionated, arrogant, and she doesn't care.
Her second trauma (in Chicago) she quite literally stops what she is doing and asks everyone to 'slow down.' And they do, and the surgery runs smoother with less panic and the patient, as a result, is better treated. This becomes a theme through out the series as she approaches her procedures with a level head.
That is not to say she does not make mistakes. On the contrary; while in a rush to get out before a specific time, she ends up paralyzing a patient. And then proceeds to lie at the enquiry stating that the spino-cerebral fluid could have been saline. This allows her to escape prosecution and the blame falls onto the equipment used and that particular instrument is recalled despite not being faulty. She is not unaffected by this and becomes afraid to perform complex procedures. She loses confidence which she regains only after being pushed by Robert Romano. She then becomes pregnant and has to deal with the effects of this in her male-dominated workplace. And she does so though it does take its toll.
Mark, her husband, then dies and Elizabeth retreats to England only to return rather different. She is cold, withdrawn and only shows any real affection towards her daughter, Robert Romano and - to an extent - her nanny. It is only when she speaks with a man who loses both his wife and his son that these walls crack and she begins to return to her former self.
Smart, opinionated, and very human.
--
Conclusion.
All of these characters are smart. All of these characters are brave. All are leaders in their respective fields. All are independent.
And all have a sly and sarcastic sense of humour.
Simple, really.