*cough* Is this thing on?
Gakked from likeadeuce:
Character meme from Cornerofmadness. I am going to amend this to say you can comment and ask for a letter OR for 5 questions. Because thinking of letters is hard, I guess?
1. Leave a comment to this post!
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Post the names of five fictional characters whose names begin with that letter, and your thoughts on each. The characters can be from books, movies, or TV shows
So, I told Deuce that if she'd give me a letter I'd post; she gave me "B":
This is hard; for some reason there are not a lot of "B" names in things I'm fannish about. Okay, if first or last name counts...
Tim Bayliss--I still haven't seen all of Homicide yet, but I've been pretty much spoiled for the main points of his arc--still want to watch it play out. In the seasons I've seen, mostly the first two/three, he's an emotional anchor, the person that I connected with right away. He's a newbie, eager to prove himself, and although some of the darker parts of his story are still ahead, one happens right here, and you can see it continue to shape him in those subsequent episodes. His contested friendship with Frank Pembleton is also a touchstone of the show, and rightly considered epic. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing more of how Tim interacts with the rest of the ensemble. Even though I love Tim, I am a tiny bit resentful of how much he (and to some extent Frank) dominate the now-relatively-small Homicide fandom. I still want to read all the awesome stories about Howard (though I did get amazing Howard/Russert not-quite-femslash one year for Yuletide), Gee, Bolander, Crossetti, and the rest of the gang.
Bel Thorne--it (that is it's preferred pronoun) is a Betan herm, a member of an androgynous-looking third sex created by genetic engineering on Beta colony, in Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series. Beta is a very liberal, scientifically oriented society that is both wildly experimental and very orderly in certain ways. Bel is a member of Miles' mercenary crew, the Dendarii and has a poorly-hidden crush on Miles that is neither totally unrequited nor really reciprocated (it's complicated). Later on, it marries Nicol, a woman who is a Quaddie--a member of another genetically engineered race with 4 arms; they seem to be living a pretty happy life in Quaddiespace. Though it's never more than a minor character in the saga, Bel always provides an interesting perspective and in a couple of plots, it's actions are pivotal. Bel has a strong moral compass and abhors slavery and human rights violations; it will put that above most other imperatives.
Brinton Garrett--I absolutely loved the Vesper Holly series by Lloyd Alexander as a kid--still do, really. Brinton Garrett, or "Brinnie" as he is soon known, is the narrator of the series--a quiet, erudite, rather conventional man, at least until he learns that his friend's dying wish is for Brinnie and his wife Mary to become the guardians of his daughter Vesper. "Become the guardians of" actually means "accompany on adventures and help her save the world from Dr. Helvitius. Again". He is an absolute sweetheart. In conclusion, every adventure-loving elementary school girl (and any older person who likes that sort of thing) should go read those books. The first one is called The Illyrian Adventure.
Alfred Bester--He's one of the many awesome characters of Babylon 5, the head of the PsyCorp, the sinister, Orwellian agency that controls telepaths. Bester believes absolutely in the goals of the PsyCorp, believes that it protects telepaths and helps them achieve their highest potential--and the ends justify the means. He does some pretty reprehensible things to that end, but he's always understandable; he's menacing, but also witty and clever. I haven't been able to get past where I am in the series, partly because I'm having a hard time watching one of my favorite characters unravel because of something Bester's done. Oh, and although this doesn't have much meaning to me, since I didn't grown up on original Trek and in fact have never seen much of it--he's played by Walter Koenig, who played Chekhov in the original series.
Benton Fraser--to get the shallow out of the way first, he was my first introduction to the beauty that is Paul Gross. He was also my introduction to the idea of slash in fandom, which was painstakingly explained to me by my college roommate gwynraven, who was a huge fan of the series. I was confused--"they think they're what??" was my response at the time. Then I watched it again, much later--I think either hurry_sundown or kindkit was responsible and I Got It. And eventually bought the DVDs myself ;) Why Fraser? He's heroic, awkward, clever, earnest, lost, snarky, sensual and oddly innocent all at once. That'll do to be going on with.
Character meme from Cornerofmadness. I am going to amend this to say you can comment and ask for a letter OR for 5 questions. Because thinking of letters is hard, I guess?
1. Leave a comment to this post!
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Post the names of five fictional characters whose names begin with that letter, and your thoughts on each. The characters can be from books, movies, or TV shows
So, I told Deuce that if she'd give me a letter I'd post; she gave me "B":
This is hard; for some reason there are not a lot of "B" names in things I'm fannish about. Okay, if first or last name counts...
Tim Bayliss--I still haven't seen all of Homicide yet, but I've been pretty much spoiled for the main points of his arc--still want to watch it play out. In the seasons I've seen, mostly the first two/three, he's an emotional anchor, the person that I connected with right away. He's a newbie, eager to prove himself, and although some of the darker parts of his story are still ahead, one happens right here, and you can see it continue to shape him in those subsequent episodes. His contested friendship with Frank Pembleton is also a touchstone of the show, and rightly considered epic. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing more of how Tim interacts with the rest of the ensemble. Even though I love Tim, I am a tiny bit resentful of how much he (and to some extent Frank) dominate the now-relatively-small Homicide fandom. I still want to read all the awesome stories about Howard (though I did get amazing Howard/Russert not-quite-femslash one year for Yuletide), Gee, Bolander, Crossetti, and the rest of the gang.
Bel Thorne--it (that is it's preferred pronoun) is a Betan herm, a member of an androgynous-looking third sex created by genetic engineering on Beta colony, in Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series. Beta is a very liberal, scientifically oriented society that is both wildly experimental and very orderly in certain ways. Bel is a member of Miles' mercenary crew, the Dendarii and has a poorly-hidden crush on Miles that is neither totally unrequited nor really reciprocated (it's complicated). Later on, it marries Nicol, a woman who is a Quaddie--a member of another genetically engineered race with 4 arms; they seem to be living a pretty happy life in Quaddiespace. Though it's never more than a minor character in the saga, Bel always provides an interesting perspective and in a couple of plots, it's actions are pivotal. Bel has a strong moral compass and abhors slavery and human rights violations; it will put that above most other imperatives.
Brinton Garrett--I absolutely loved the Vesper Holly series by Lloyd Alexander as a kid--still do, really. Brinton Garrett, or "Brinnie" as he is soon known, is the narrator of the series--a quiet, erudite, rather conventional man, at least until he learns that his friend's dying wish is for Brinnie and his wife Mary to become the guardians of his daughter Vesper. "Become the guardians of" actually means "accompany on adventures and help her save the world from Dr. Helvitius. Again". He is an absolute sweetheart. In conclusion, every adventure-loving elementary school girl (and any older person who likes that sort of thing) should go read those books. The first one is called The Illyrian Adventure.
Alfred Bester--He's one of the many awesome characters of Babylon 5, the head of the PsyCorp, the sinister, Orwellian agency that controls telepaths. Bester believes absolutely in the goals of the PsyCorp, believes that it protects telepaths and helps them achieve their highest potential--and the ends justify the means. He does some pretty reprehensible things to that end, but he's always understandable; he's menacing, but also witty and clever. I haven't been able to get past where I am in the series, partly because I'm having a hard time watching one of my favorite characters unravel because of something Bester's done. Oh, and although this doesn't have much meaning to me, since I didn't grown up on original Trek and in fact have never seen much of it--he's played by Walter Koenig, who played Chekhov in the original series.
Benton Fraser--to get the shallow out of the way first, he was my first introduction to the beauty that is Paul Gross. He was also my introduction to the idea of slash in fandom, which was painstakingly explained to me by my college roommate gwynraven, who was a huge fan of the series. I was confused--"they think they're what??" was my response at the time. Then I watched it again, much later--I think either hurry_sundown or kindkit was responsible and I Got It. And eventually bought the DVDs myself ;) Why Fraser? He's heroic, awkward, clever, earnest, lost, snarky, sensual and oddly innocent all at once. That'll do to be going on with.