meme and musical
Hour and a half until the last performance (unless they decide to run it again Monday since it's been sold completely out every other night and lots of people still haven't seen it). I discovered last night that adrenaline makes you really weird in the head -- I had been hoping that my mom, uncle and 7-year-old cousin had come to see it, but I couldn't find them anywhere after it was over, so I had an abrupt and very not-fun crying fit. Had to wash my makeup off before the cast party because my mascara got everywhere. Bleh. But I got over it pretty quick and the cast party was enormous lots of fun. So. XD
And owlmaid and her mom are coming to see it today! WOOT! *happy dance*
And now a meme, ganked from runefallstar:
1. Post a list of 30 fandoms.
2. Have your friends list guess your fave character/s from each fandom.
3. When guessed, bold the line, put in brackets who got it and sentence why you like the character/person.
And in my case, some of the answers are kind of ambiguous because I have multiple favorites or favorites for different reasons...
EDIT: And I wrote more than a sentence per, but oh well. TWELVE FANDOMS LEFT...
EDIT THE SECOND: Two more down, go Yma! And I think I may just post the answers to the rest. Two-thirds of thirty is pretty dern good, I'd say. ^_^
Okay, I’m such a cheat -- I have multiple favorites from practically everything. But I’ve tried to narrow it down as much as possible, and so far everyone who knows my faves apparently knows the multiples anyway, or figured them out.
1. Harry Potter - Remus Lupin (yma2) is the main one, and a big hell yes also to Remus/Sirius, which terioncalling and rainweaver13 guessed. He’s a sweet man and a wonderful teacher, and I have a soft spot for teachers what with living in a family full of them. ^_^. Also there’s the tormented duality. Can’t get enough of tormented duality.
2. Lord of the Rings - SAM!! (almost slipped up there, Mom!), guessed by terioncalling and rainweaver13, who also got secondary fave Faramir, so. Not that bad after all. XD I love Sam because... well, I don’t actually know. Except to say that the relentless purity and innocence that puts a lot of people off him has the opposite effect on me. Also love Eowyn, Gimli, Gollum and Boromir of all people; there’s just too much to love in this fandom. (Book versions all, btw!)
3. Farscape - John Crichton (pretty much everyone - yma, terion, rain. I am so predictable. >_>...) Also Aeryn (J/A), according to rain. John is just... John. Farscape was my first fandom and I had not yet learned the art of being fascinated by secondary characters, so I was all about Crichton - and I still am. The snark, the Southern homeboyness, the reluctant scientist-hero, the sensitivity... the utter hotness... yeah, I have a lot of reasons to like Crichton. XD
4. The X-Files - Fox Mulder (terion & rain - but Scully/sheriff? A LIE. M/S UST all the way. Stupid superbaby, resolving ST that should not be resolved! XD) Mulder is like Crichton in that I was still young enough to be led by the hand when I started X-Files, so I stuck close to the MC and ended up falling in love. He’s often a bastard, but it’s more subdued and more justified than many other needless-bastard characters (ANA LUCIA, DIE), which I like. I also consider he and Scully to be somewhat scientist-heros, like Crichton, which gets many brownie points.
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - GILES! C’mon people! Giles rocks my socks off. He is at once the epitome and the perfect parody of the Englishman; he’s the only one on the show with a real respect for books, who will step back and consider an overly wound-up situation, and - along with Tara - is one of the only two characters who seem to understand what magic is really about. Plus, his presence brings Ethan onto the show, and it just wouldn’t be Buffy without episodes like Halloween, Band Candy and A New Man. And he got speared in the gut by Medieval horsemen while driving a renegade Winnebago in the middle of the desert. And he has a freakin’ awesome trenchcoat as of the last two seasons! Giles is so my hero.
6. Babylon 5 - G’Kar (yma, rain); also Sheridan (rain), but also Londo, which nobody got. The G’Kar/Londo interaction was the best part of Season 5 and one of the greatest things in the whole show. G’Kar just... rocked. Lots. The “uneducated” species ambassador one-upping all the superior races, then befriending the ambassador of the most stuck-up of them all, Londo. (Also, Marcus Cole... for the HOTNESS. And the Romeo-esque death, which made me cry.)
7. Stephen King's The Stand - Nick Andros and Tom Cullin, all in one by Rain! I love Nick so very much because the story has an uber-Christian angle, but Nick is atheist, which never really matters in the end. To me, Nick represents the fact that good is good, and whether a god of any kind is involved doesn’t really make a difference. People make their own decisions. And even if the Bible is true and God and Heaven do exist, being a good person is enough to be in God’s favor. And Tom is just so sweet and so brave in his own way that I can hardly stand it.
8. Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Frylock (terion) and Meatwad (rain)... IMO, Shake doesn’t get put down nearly often enough. Frylock has the brains going for him, and Meatwad is just adorable. *snicker* And I can’t believe you didn’t guess the Mooninites, rain! Ignignot and Err freakin’ rock!
9. Neil Gaiman's Sandman - Delirium (yma), but also Destruction, which I didn’t figure anyone would guess, so. Delirium is also big with the duality, and her inherent insanity breaks my heart all the time I’m laughing. She’s one of those characters I wish I could just take home and comfort because she gets so little love from her fellow MCs. I love Destruction partly because he’s the only one who actually is nice and understanding to her, but also because of the contrast between his kind, gentle nature and the reason of his existance, as the anthropomorphic personification of destruction. He reminds me of Vash in a way -- trading his tendency to cause constant pain for the life of a nameless wanderer, or trying to.
10. Trigun/Trigun Maximum - Vash and Knives (basically everyone). Durr. Okay, so I tried to choose between them, but I just couldn’t. I have unpeakable amounts of love for Wolfwood as well, but Vash and Knives (mangaverse) just hit all my buttons. I mean, talk about tormented duality...
11. Fullmetal Alchemist - Maes Hughes (yma) is by far my favorite, although I dislike no one on the show. I could list valid reasons for each and every character to be my favorite, but Hughes just has an added bit of charisma that makes him stick with me more than the others. Maybe it’s his subtlety -- he is a seriously underplayed, unbelievably important character in both anime and manga. He’s a sweet man, the kind of father any little girl would love to have; he has a perfect sixth sense for when a little humor is called for, though he takes everything seriously, even the word of a child. His near-symbiotic relationship with Roy fascinates me and I love the way he treats his inferiors by rank -- you know the saying, the one about judging people by how they treat their inferiors rather than their superiors or equals: so true. Not to mention the black turtle neck and slight stubble at Elicia’s birthday party. Guh. XD
12. Fruits Basket - *snicker* Cow-guy is right, yma. XD Hatsuharu, guessed by Rune and Yma; although I also have much love for Hatori. The kids don’t interest me nearly as much as the adults, Mabudachi trio especially (Hatori/Shigure, drool), but Haru seems the most mature of the lot. Plus there’s the duality aspect, always a plus. And then there’s the completely deadpan prance he does whenever he sees Yuki, which makes me giggle insanely for hours afterward. XD
13. Neon Genesis Evangelion - I really wanted to like Shinji, but he just never got over his own wussiness. My two favorites from Eva would actually have to be Kaworu and Kaji. Kaji (esp. manga Kaji) has oodles of tormented-past angst, but does not particularly dwell on it; he accepts it and moves on, always my favorite way for a character to handle angst. Too much brooding leads to shoo-in roles for Crispin Freeman. Bleh. Kaworu, on the other hand, is just alien enough to be fascinating. I’m pretty sure a lot of people just don’t “get” him in the anime -- the dub made it particularly hard to gather any idea of what the character was about -- but I thought he was cool from the start, and then I read the manga and fell the rest of the way in love. He’s just WTF-creepy-ass enough to work without being overtly maniacal. Volume 9 -- the scene with the kitten? *shudder* I also bought and read Mark Twain’s Mysterious Stranger just because an interview in the back said that Kaworu was based on Twain’s Satan, which officially makes Eva the only manga/anime to introduce me to a classic work of Western literature, which is cool.
14. Cowboy Bebop - Ooh, so torn. Okay, everyone’s right -- Ed (terion, yma) and Spike and Jet (rain). Spike for the deadpan humor, the inner torment, and the best fighting style in any anime evar; Ed for the adorable insanity, the gender-confused name of Doom, the computer named Tomato and the MUSHROOMS!; Jet for the general grumpy-patriarch-ness, the unashamed bald spot and ability to cook, all of which remind me of my own dad. (Okay, not always the grumpy.) ^_^.
15. Last Exile - Lord Dio (yma), but actually more Lucciola. Their relationship is so heartbreaking, with the servant being more aware of reality than his master but with both of them living in a dream to some degree. I almost resent Claus for fascinating Dio so much, because I wanted there to be more love for Lucciola. But so goes great drama, I suppose. Also love Vincent for being just as responsible but infinitely less broody than Alex. Snark is a good thing. ^_^.
16. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Arthur! (terion, rain); also Marvin (yma) and Slartibartfast, just for the Norway-fjords subplot. XD Marvin is awesome and I quote him incessantly, but I have an enormous soft spot for Arthur in all his last-man-on-earth obliviousness. He just never gets it, does he? And he never does anything right -- even when he does do something right, no one acknowledges it. Poor guy. *pets him* It made me irrationally happy when he discovered how to fly.
17. Futurama - Zoidberg! Where is the love for Zoidberg? He just KILLS me. And the Professor; between the two of them, they make Futurama worthy of my worship. Fry and Bender and the rest are beyond awesome, too, don’t get me wrong. But purely from a comedic perspective, Zoidberg and the Prof. just make the show for me.
18. Discworld - Sam Vimes (rain) and Death (yma), because everyone loves Death, and Vimes is just the coolest. He’s the sweetest hard-nosed copper ever. And his inability to let someone else control a situation just kills me, especially when he pulls stunts like arresting two armies for disturbing the peace. XD
19. Saiyuki - Hakkai and Nii. I can’t help it. I love all the guys -- their lack of overt angsting combined with unabashedly terrible pasts makes me very happy -- but deep down all my love is for the creepy-as-hell perverted ex-priest scientist and Hakkai’s ability to stand perfectly still and smile right up until he kills you with his brain. Omg yes. Then there’s the family feud/sister incest/blood of a thousand demons backstory, which is squicky as hell and yet somehow makes me like Hakkai more. o_O.
20. Myst game/book series - Probably no one is going to get this, so I’ll just say it - it’s two pairs, actually. First, Sirrus and Achenar, mostly in light of Myst IV: Revelation; I have a history with brother/brother conflict and duality. Le sigh. Then Aitrus and Veovis from The Book of Ti’Ana; Aitrus is the grandfather of the Atrus of the games, and Veovis was his best friend-cum-political opponent and eventual mortal enemy, and the evolution of their relationship just broke my heart. I love that universe and that book in particular because all the main characters defy normal fantasy plot structure by taking extensive amounts of time to think every little thing through. A story that might be action-packed and rushed becomes more contemplative - and more tragic because more time and development has been invested in the characters. I love it.
21. X-Men - Nightcrawler (yma, rain). So clever and so poignant, with the devout demon imagery and the discrimination taken to the extreme. The identity quandary of the image-inducer was one of my favorite things in the comics. He’s also sweet and smart and capable of handling himself in nearly any situation, clearly a favorite combination with me (*looking up at rest of list*). >_>...
22. Star Trek: Next Generation - Geordi LeForge! (rain) Love love love. Although I also liked early Data (yma) when he was still very robotic, and Picard is the only spaceship captain of any sci-fi series who I would absolutely pledge allegiance to and follow anywhere. But I loved Geordi since I was really really little and watched Reading Rainbow religiously, of which LeVar Burton was the host. So. I learned valuable life lessons about empathy and disability from episodes about his blindness. Go Trekkian pacifism. *nods*
23. Frank Herbert's Dune series - Chani for being a wonderfully strong female character, Paul-Muad’Dib for the Shakespearian tragedy of his fate, Irulan for her sheer perseverance while being constantly pushed to the sidelines... but mostly, my favorites are the two Letos. (Well, there were three, but I’m not counting the firstborn killed by the Sardukar.) Duke Leto was the kind of ruler I’d like to have, especially working in tandem with his wife Jessica; and Leto II is just... indefinably cool. I’m running out of distinct reasons why I like characters, urgh. (And I swear it’s not just because of James McAvoy, although I do love him very very much, especially in light of Narnia - Mr. Tumnus! *sniffles*) I like the contrast between Paul and Leto, both having either the strength or the madness to accept their fates, but to equal and completely opposite ends. (I haven’t read past Children of Dune, btw, so I only judge Leto II by the first ten years or so of his life, rather than the latter 3000.)
24. Gundam Wing - Much love for Relena -- I have a thing for pacifists. Also much love for Sally Po, most kickass of all the kickass women on the show, and for Duo (snark, yay!) and Wufei, whose sexist ways I can forgive because of his stubbornness and his desperate attempts to do the right thing despite his own confusion. Poor Wufei. *pets him carefully, avoiding teeth or possible weaponry*
25. Witch Hunter Robin - Sakaki. There is so little love for poor Sakaki. He’s the first one to get injured in any and all life-threatening situations; that’s gotta suck. He’s also carefree with a hint of well-placed seriousness and just the right combination of experience and naivety. I also like Amon’s brother, I forget his name, but he’s muuuuch cooler than Amon, who ought to practice a couple more facial expressions and the art of not-being-a-bastard once in a while.
26. Wolf's Rain - Hige and Hubb. I know, kind of weird, but yet again these are the smart, sweet, realistic characters who toil on in the wake of the idealists, hoping for nothing more than to protect their own and play what part they can. (Sam Gamgee much?) Hubb is sweet beyond the imagining of it; I love his interaction with Quent, especially when drunk. XD Hige seems the same right up until his mysteries start being revealed, but those only make him cooler -- and I think it’s so awesome that the chubby tagalong is the only one of the four wolves to Get The Girl in the end. ^_^.
27. FLCL - Canti! Canti rocks. He’s the King of Pirates, has a girlfriend like Haruko and a TV for a head; how can he not rock? XD I also have much love for Naota in all his clueless, sometime cat-eared uselessness. Kind of Arthur Dent-ish that way.
28. Spirited Away - No Face (rain). I don’t have any deep reasons to love him, really, I just think he’s awesome. ^_^. I like Chihiro a lot, too, though -- I think a lot of whiny, clingy, sulky kids I know could do with that particular lesson in growing up.
29. Princess Mononoke - Ashitaka, as the perfect balance between the industrialist and environmentalist extremes. He clearly has a great deal of respect for nature, but is also perfectly tolerant of and amiable with his fellow human beings. I like his samurai-esque quality also, his constant calm and humble attitude towards his own skill. San is cool, too, but of all the wolf-kin I actually prefer Moro, with her sheer power and maternal instincts; she’s the perfect foil for Lady Eboshi. And Miyazaki tops himself yet again. ^_^.
30. The Last Unicorn - Sigh. I don’t know why I even listed this, as when I started thinking about it I realized that I couldn’t pick a favorite. This has been a favorite story of mine since forever, and I love everyone in it with a sort of childlike glee. The unicorn, Molly, Schmendrick, Haggard, and the harpy Celaeno are as much as I can narrow it down. So, yma got Schmendrick right and rain got the unicorn. *laugh*
Guess away,
-rave
And owlmaid and her mom are coming to see it today! WOOT! *happy dance*
And now a meme, ganked from runefallstar:
1. Post a list of 30 fandoms.
2. Have your friends list guess your fave character/s from each fandom.
3. When guessed, bold the line, put in brackets who got it and sentence why you like the character/person.
And in my case, some of the answers are kind of ambiguous because I have multiple favorites or favorites for different reasons...
EDIT: And I wrote more than a sentence per, but oh well. TWELVE FANDOMS LEFT...
EDIT THE SECOND: Two more down, go Yma! And I think I may just post the answers to the rest. Two-thirds of thirty is pretty dern good, I'd say. ^_^
Okay, I’m such a cheat -- I have multiple favorites from practically everything. But I’ve tried to narrow it down as much as possible, and so far everyone who knows my faves apparently knows the multiples anyway, or figured them out.
1. Harry Potter - Remus Lupin (yma2) is the main one, and a big hell yes also to Remus/Sirius, which terioncalling and rainweaver13 guessed. He’s a sweet man and a wonderful teacher, and I have a soft spot for teachers what with living in a family full of them. ^_^. Also there’s the tormented duality. Can’t get enough of tormented duality.
2. Lord of the Rings - SAM!! (almost slipped up there, Mom!), guessed by terioncalling and rainweaver13, who also got secondary fave Faramir, so. Not that bad after all. XD I love Sam because... well, I don’t actually know. Except to say that the relentless purity and innocence that puts a lot of people off him has the opposite effect on me. Also love Eowyn, Gimli, Gollum and Boromir of all people; there’s just too much to love in this fandom. (Book versions all, btw!)
3. Farscape - John Crichton (pretty much everyone - yma, terion, rain. I am so predictable. >_>...) Also Aeryn (J/A), according to rain. John is just... John. Farscape was my first fandom and I had not yet learned the art of being fascinated by secondary characters, so I was all about Crichton - and I still am. The snark, the Southern homeboyness, the reluctant scientist-hero, the sensitivity... the utter hotness... yeah, I have a lot of reasons to like Crichton. XD
4. The X-Files - Fox Mulder (terion & rain - but Scully/sheriff? A LIE. M/S UST all the way. Stupid superbaby, resolving ST that should not be resolved! XD) Mulder is like Crichton in that I was still young enough to be led by the hand when I started X-Files, so I stuck close to the MC and ended up falling in love. He’s often a bastard, but it’s more subdued and more justified than many other needless-bastard characters (ANA LUCIA, DIE), which I like. I also consider he and Scully to be somewhat scientist-heros, like Crichton, which gets many brownie points.
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - GILES! C’mon people! Giles rocks my socks off. He is at once the epitome and the perfect parody of the Englishman; he’s the only one on the show with a real respect for books, who will step back and consider an overly wound-up situation, and - along with Tara - is one of the only two characters who seem to understand what magic is really about. Plus, his presence brings Ethan onto the show, and it just wouldn’t be Buffy without episodes like Halloween, Band Candy and A New Man. And he got speared in the gut by Medieval horsemen while driving a renegade Winnebago in the middle of the desert. And he has a freakin’ awesome trenchcoat as of the last two seasons! Giles is so my hero.
6. Babylon 5 - G’Kar (yma, rain); also Sheridan (rain), but also Londo, which nobody got. The G’Kar/Londo interaction was the best part of Season 5 and one of the greatest things in the whole show. G’Kar just... rocked. Lots. The “uneducated” species ambassador one-upping all the superior races, then befriending the ambassador of the most stuck-up of them all, Londo. (Also, Marcus Cole... for the HOTNESS. And the Romeo-esque death, which made me cry.)
7. Stephen King's The Stand - Nick Andros and Tom Cullin, all in one by Rain! I love Nick so very much because the story has an uber-Christian angle, but Nick is atheist, which never really matters in the end. To me, Nick represents the fact that good is good, and whether a god of any kind is involved doesn’t really make a difference. People make their own decisions. And even if the Bible is true and God and Heaven do exist, being a good person is enough to be in God’s favor. And Tom is just so sweet and so brave in his own way that I can hardly stand it.
8. Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Frylock (terion) and Meatwad (rain)... IMO, Shake doesn’t get put down nearly often enough. Frylock has the brains going for him, and Meatwad is just adorable. *snicker* And I can’t believe you didn’t guess the Mooninites, rain! Ignignot and Err freakin’ rock!
9. Neil Gaiman's Sandman - Delirium (yma), but also Destruction, which I didn’t figure anyone would guess, so. Delirium is also big with the duality, and her inherent insanity breaks my heart all the time I’m laughing. She’s one of those characters I wish I could just take home and comfort because she gets so little love from her fellow MCs. I love Destruction partly because he’s the only one who actually is nice and understanding to her, but also because of the contrast between his kind, gentle nature and the reason of his existance, as the anthropomorphic personification of destruction. He reminds me of Vash in a way -- trading his tendency to cause constant pain for the life of a nameless wanderer, or trying to.
10. Trigun/Trigun Maximum - Vash and Knives (basically everyone). Durr. Okay, so I tried to choose between them, but I just couldn’t. I have unpeakable amounts of love for Wolfwood as well, but Vash and Knives (mangaverse) just hit all my buttons. I mean, talk about tormented duality...
11. Fullmetal Alchemist - Maes Hughes (yma) is by far my favorite, although I dislike no one on the show. I could list valid reasons for each and every character to be my favorite, but Hughes just has an added bit of charisma that makes him stick with me more than the others. Maybe it’s his subtlety -- he is a seriously underplayed, unbelievably important character in both anime and manga. He’s a sweet man, the kind of father any little girl would love to have; he has a perfect sixth sense for when a little humor is called for, though he takes everything seriously, even the word of a child. His near-symbiotic relationship with Roy fascinates me and I love the way he treats his inferiors by rank -- you know the saying, the one about judging people by how they treat their inferiors rather than their superiors or equals: so true. Not to mention the black turtle neck and slight stubble at Elicia’s birthday party. Guh. XD
12. Fruits Basket - *snicker* Cow-guy is right, yma. XD Hatsuharu, guessed by Rune and Yma; although I also have much love for Hatori. The kids don’t interest me nearly as much as the adults, Mabudachi trio especially (Hatori/Shigure, drool), but Haru seems the most mature of the lot. Plus there’s the duality aspect, always a plus. And then there’s the completely deadpan prance he does whenever he sees Yuki, which makes me giggle insanely for hours afterward. XD
13. Neon Genesis Evangelion - I really wanted to like Shinji, but he just never got over his own wussiness. My two favorites from Eva would actually have to be Kaworu and Kaji. Kaji (esp. manga Kaji) has oodles of tormented-past angst, but does not particularly dwell on it; he accepts it and moves on, always my favorite way for a character to handle angst. Too much brooding leads to shoo-in roles for Crispin Freeman. Bleh. Kaworu, on the other hand, is just alien enough to be fascinating. I’m pretty sure a lot of people just don’t “get” him in the anime -- the dub made it particularly hard to gather any idea of what the character was about -- but I thought he was cool from the start, and then I read the manga and fell the rest of the way in love. He’s just WTF-creepy-ass enough to work without being overtly maniacal. Volume 9 -- the scene with the kitten? *shudder* I also bought and read Mark Twain’s Mysterious Stranger just because an interview in the back said that Kaworu was based on Twain’s Satan, which officially makes Eva the only manga/anime to introduce me to a classic work of Western literature, which is cool.
14. Cowboy Bebop - Ooh, so torn. Okay, everyone’s right -- Ed (terion, yma) and Spike and Jet (rain). Spike for the deadpan humor, the inner torment, and the best fighting style in any anime evar; Ed for the adorable insanity, the gender-confused name of Doom, the computer named Tomato and the MUSHROOMS!; Jet for the general grumpy-patriarch-ness, the unashamed bald spot and ability to cook, all of which remind me of my own dad. (Okay, not always the grumpy.) ^_^.
15. Last Exile - Lord Dio (yma), but actually more Lucciola. Their relationship is so heartbreaking, with the servant being more aware of reality than his master but with both of them living in a dream to some degree. I almost resent Claus for fascinating Dio so much, because I wanted there to be more love for Lucciola. But so goes great drama, I suppose. Also love Vincent for being just as responsible but infinitely less broody than Alex. Snark is a good thing. ^_^.
16. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Arthur! (terion, rain); also Marvin (yma) and Slartibartfast, just for the Norway-fjords subplot. XD Marvin is awesome and I quote him incessantly, but I have an enormous soft spot for Arthur in all his last-man-on-earth obliviousness. He just never gets it, does he? And he never does anything right -- even when he does do something right, no one acknowledges it. Poor guy. *pets him* It made me irrationally happy when he discovered how to fly.
17. Futurama - Zoidberg! Where is the love for Zoidberg? He just KILLS me. And the Professor; between the two of them, they make Futurama worthy of my worship. Fry and Bender and the rest are beyond awesome, too, don’t get me wrong. But purely from a comedic perspective, Zoidberg and the Prof. just make the show for me.
18. Discworld - Sam Vimes (rain) and Death (yma), because everyone loves Death, and Vimes is just the coolest. He’s the sweetest hard-nosed copper ever. And his inability to let someone else control a situation just kills me, especially when he pulls stunts like arresting two armies for disturbing the peace. XD
19. Saiyuki - Hakkai and Nii. I can’t help it. I love all the guys -- their lack of overt angsting combined with unabashedly terrible pasts makes me very happy -- but deep down all my love is for the creepy-as-hell perverted ex-priest scientist and Hakkai’s ability to stand perfectly still and smile right up until he kills you with his brain. Omg yes. Then there’s the family feud/sister incest/blood of a thousand demons backstory, which is squicky as hell and yet somehow makes me like Hakkai more. o_O.
20. Myst game/book series - Probably no one is going to get this, so I’ll just say it - it’s two pairs, actually. First, Sirrus and Achenar, mostly in light of Myst IV: Revelation; I have a history with brother/brother conflict and duality. Le sigh. Then Aitrus and Veovis from The Book of Ti’Ana; Aitrus is the grandfather of the Atrus of the games, and Veovis was his best friend-cum-political opponent and eventual mortal enemy, and the evolution of their relationship just broke my heart. I love that universe and that book in particular because all the main characters defy normal fantasy plot structure by taking extensive amounts of time to think every little thing through. A story that might be action-packed and rushed becomes more contemplative - and more tragic because more time and development has been invested in the characters. I love it.
21. X-Men - Nightcrawler (yma, rain). So clever and so poignant, with the devout demon imagery and the discrimination taken to the extreme. The identity quandary of the image-inducer was one of my favorite things in the comics. He’s also sweet and smart and capable of handling himself in nearly any situation, clearly a favorite combination with me (*looking up at rest of list*). >_>...
22. Star Trek: Next Generation - Geordi LeForge! (rain) Love love love. Although I also liked early Data (yma) when he was still very robotic, and Picard is the only spaceship captain of any sci-fi series who I would absolutely pledge allegiance to and follow anywhere. But I loved Geordi since I was really really little and watched Reading Rainbow religiously, of which LeVar Burton was the host. So. I learned valuable life lessons about empathy and disability from episodes about his blindness. Go Trekkian pacifism. *nods*
23. Frank Herbert's Dune series - Chani for being a wonderfully strong female character, Paul-Muad’Dib for the Shakespearian tragedy of his fate, Irulan for her sheer perseverance while being constantly pushed to the sidelines... but mostly, my favorites are the two Letos. (Well, there were three, but I’m not counting the firstborn killed by the Sardukar.) Duke Leto was the kind of ruler I’d like to have, especially working in tandem with his wife Jessica; and Leto II is just... indefinably cool. I’m running out of distinct reasons why I like characters, urgh. (And I swear it’s not just because of James McAvoy, although I do love him very very much, especially in light of Narnia - Mr. Tumnus! *sniffles*) I like the contrast between Paul and Leto, both having either the strength or the madness to accept their fates, but to equal and completely opposite ends. (I haven’t read past Children of Dune, btw, so I only judge Leto II by the first ten years or so of his life, rather than the latter 3000.)
24. Gundam Wing - Much love for Relena -- I have a thing for pacifists. Also much love for Sally Po, most kickass of all the kickass women on the show, and for Duo (snark, yay!) and Wufei, whose sexist ways I can forgive because of his stubbornness and his desperate attempts to do the right thing despite his own confusion. Poor Wufei. *pets him carefully, avoiding teeth or possible weaponry*
25. Witch Hunter Robin - Sakaki. There is so little love for poor Sakaki. He’s the first one to get injured in any and all life-threatening situations; that’s gotta suck. He’s also carefree with a hint of well-placed seriousness and just the right combination of experience and naivety. I also like Amon’s brother, I forget his name, but he’s muuuuch cooler than Amon, who ought to practice a couple more facial expressions and the art of not-being-a-bastard once in a while.
26. Wolf's Rain - Hige and Hubb. I know, kind of weird, but yet again these are the smart, sweet, realistic characters who toil on in the wake of the idealists, hoping for nothing more than to protect their own and play what part they can. (Sam Gamgee much?) Hubb is sweet beyond the imagining of it; I love his interaction with Quent, especially when drunk. XD Hige seems the same right up until his mysteries start being revealed, but those only make him cooler -- and I think it’s so awesome that the chubby tagalong is the only one of the four wolves to Get The Girl in the end. ^_^.
27. FLCL - Canti! Canti rocks. He’s the King of Pirates, has a girlfriend like Haruko and a TV for a head; how can he not rock? XD I also have much love for Naota in all his clueless, sometime cat-eared uselessness. Kind of Arthur Dent-ish that way.
28. Spirited Away - No Face (rain). I don’t have any deep reasons to love him, really, I just think he’s awesome. ^_^. I like Chihiro a lot, too, though -- I think a lot of whiny, clingy, sulky kids I know could do with that particular lesson in growing up.
29. Princess Mononoke - Ashitaka, as the perfect balance between the industrialist and environmentalist extremes. He clearly has a great deal of respect for nature, but is also perfectly tolerant of and amiable with his fellow human beings. I like his samurai-esque quality also, his constant calm and humble attitude towards his own skill. San is cool, too, but of all the wolf-kin I actually prefer Moro, with her sheer power and maternal instincts; she’s the perfect foil for Lady Eboshi. And Miyazaki tops himself yet again. ^_^.
30. The Last Unicorn - Sigh. I don’t know why I even listed this, as when I started thinking about it I realized that I couldn’t pick a favorite. This has been a favorite story of mine since forever, and I love everyone in it with a sort of childlike glee. The unicorn, Molly, Schmendrick, Haggard, and the harpy Celaeno are as much as I can narrow it down. So, yma got Schmendrick right and rain got the unicorn. *laugh*
Guess away,
-rave