Dumbing Down with Doughnuts and Doubt
It's taken me SO LONG for to do this, but still. An meme:
1. Comment on this post with I VOLUNTEER!
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Think of 5 fictional characters and post their names and your comments on these characters in your LJ/DW.
xylodemon gave me D.
Donna Noble Doctor Who
Oh, most beloved of Donnas, you were the greatest companion of them all. Donna is unusual amongst DW companions in that she is almost universally popular, at least with female fans (I've heard a few gross comments from boys at OG and such but, uh, that's why I don't hang out there). We loved Donna because she was fiesty and funny, because we all thought what Ten needed most was someone to slap him about a bit, but more than that we loved Donna because she was so very easy to identify with. Donna hid her truck load of insecurity and lack of self-worth behind a veneer of gobbiness and gossip and while our methods may vary, haven't we all done something like that at some time? Felt that we were running around desperately hoping no-one would notice our miscellaneous shortcomings, all the while convinced they doom us to failure?
Donna was in no way a failure, though. In many ways hers was the perfect companion story arc - with the Doctor she became more confident, more self-assured, and their adventures brought out her best qualities. We saw Donna being brave, capable, and compassionate in ways that may have seemed unlikely in The Runaway Bride. She's good for the Doctor too, getting him to open up and persuading him to do the right thing. It is a good job that many people on the internet found ways to correct the ending to Donna's story, after the horrible business that was mistakenly broadcast onna telly. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Dumbledore Harry Potter
I gotta admit, I liked early!series Dumbledore, not the srs bizness Dumbldore of later canon. All that moral ambiguity and haunted by a terrible past is all well and good, but I do not want a nuanced Dumbles or one who "radiates with power" and such like. No, I likes a man who is very old and very clever, but still all about the lemon drops and the importance of owning enough socks. (This is very true: socks are important!) Avuncular and eccentric, that's how I enjoy my elderly wizards, with magnificent beards and a fondness for that flighty temptress, adventure. Splendid.
Dolores Umbridge Harry Potter
Staying with HP, and one of the finest villans in the series. It's often noted that characters like Umbridge attract an extraordinary amount of dislike, far more so than the supposed arch-villain of the piece, Voldemort. The reason for this is that Umbridge, unlike Voldemort, is a fully-realised and recognisable character. Though her behaviour is pretty extreme, even in OotP, her brand of petty-minded officiousness and saccharine coated cruelties are recognisable from real life experiences for many of us. Everything about Umbridge is so wondefully, gloriously hateable: her toad-like face, her simpering voice, her crawling to superiors and crowing over subordinates, her bigotry, and her self-righteous sadism. Above all Umbridge is so fake, with all her mock-innocent questions desined to put the boot in, and all the kitten-fluff pinkness of a woman incapable of any genuine sweetness. Voldemort may be the greater evil, Bellatrix and Lucius more violent, but it's Umbridge who really crawls under our skins the most. A monstrous individual and a wonderful fictional creation.
Dahlia Travers Jeeves and Wooster
Good old Aunt Dahlia, finest of all the Wooster clan. A woman of wit and vigour, with a suitable propensity for devious and underhanded behaviour. How else to keep that esteemed periodical, M'Lady's Boudiour, afloat? Until you've edited a woman's weekly magazine you don't know what rocks are, after all.
Small wonder that Dahlia was Bertie's favourite auntie, for all her threats of violence, abusive telegrams and insistence that he was a miserable worm. She'd be my favourite too, were I a Wooster (or a Travers, I suppose). As it is Aunt Dahlia remains my inspiration and role model in life. Who could do better?
(The) Doctor Doctor Who
Yeah, yeah, I know. I did try to think of someone less obvious/with an actual name that beings with D, but I could not help it. I loves the emo Time Lord.
#
Happy Easter, for those who partake. I've eaten so much chocolate I may actually be sick, but that won't stop me forcing down a bit more before the day's out. It's what Jesus would've wanted!
1. Comment on this post with I VOLUNTEER!
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Think of 5 fictional characters and post their names and your comments on these characters in your LJ/DW.
xylodemon gave me D.
Donna Noble Doctor Who
Oh, most beloved of Donnas, you were the greatest companion of them all. Donna is unusual amongst DW companions in that she is almost universally popular, at least with female fans (I've heard a few gross comments from boys at OG and such but, uh, that's why I don't hang out there). We loved Donna because she was fiesty and funny, because we all thought what Ten needed most was someone to slap him about a bit, but more than that we loved Donna because she was so very easy to identify with. Donna hid her truck load of insecurity and lack of self-worth behind a veneer of gobbiness and gossip and while our methods may vary, haven't we all done something like that at some time? Felt that we were running around desperately hoping no-one would notice our miscellaneous shortcomings, all the while convinced they doom us to failure?
Donna was in no way a failure, though. In many ways hers was the perfect companion story arc - with the Doctor she became more confident, more self-assured, and their adventures brought out her best qualities. We saw Donna being brave, capable, and compassionate in ways that may have seemed unlikely in The Runaway Bride. She's good for the Doctor too, getting him to open up and persuading him to do the right thing. It is a good job that many people on the internet found ways to correct the ending to Donna's story, after the horrible business that was mistakenly broadcast onna telly. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Dumbledore Harry Potter
I gotta admit, I liked early!series Dumbledore, not the srs bizness Dumbldore of later canon. All that moral ambiguity and haunted by a terrible past is all well and good, but I do not want a nuanced Dumbles or one who "radiates with power" and such like. No, I likes a man who is very old and very clever, but still all about the lemon drops and the importance of owning enough socks. (This is very true: socks are important!) Avuncular and eccentric, that's how I enjoy my elderly wizards, with magnificent beards and a fondness for that flighty temptress, adventure. Splendid.
Dolores Umbridge Harry Potter
Staying with HP, and one of the finest villans in the series. It's often noted that characters like Umbridge attract an extraordinary amount of dislike, far more so than the supposed arch-villain of the piece, Voldemort. The reason for this is that Umbridge, unlike Voldemort, is a fully-realised and recognisable character. Though her behaviour is pretty extreme, even in OotP, her brand of petty-minded officiousness and saccharine coated cruelties are recognisable from real life experiences for many of us. Everything about Umbridge is so wondefully, gloriously hateable: her toad-like face, her simpering voice, her crawling to superiors and crowing over subordinates, her bigotry, and her self-righteous sadism. Above all Umbridge is so fake, with all her mock-innocent questions desined to put the boot in, and all the kitten-fluff pinkness of a woman incapable of any genuine sweetness. Voldemort may be the greater evil, Bellatrix and Lucius more violent, but it's Umbridge who really crawls under our skins the most. A monstrous individual and a wonderful fictional creation.
Dahlia Travers Jeeves and Wooster
Good old Aunt Dahlia, finest of all the Wooster clan. A woman of wit and vigour, with a suitable propensity for devious and underhanded behaviour. How else to keep that esteemed periodical, M'Lady's Boudiour, afloat? Until you've edited a woman's weekly magazine you don't know what rocks are, after all.
Small wonder that Dahlia was Bertie's favourite auntie, for all her threats of violence, abusive telegrams and insistence that he was a miserable worm. She'd be my favourite too, were I a Wooster (or a Travers, I suppose). As it is Aunt Dahlia remains my inspiration and role model in life. Who could do better?
(The) Doctor Doctor Who
Yeah, yeah, I know. I did try to think of someone less obvious/with an actual name that beings with D, but I could not help it. I loves the emo Time Lord.
#
Happy Easter, for those who partake. I've eaten so much chocolate I may actually be sick, but that won't stop me forcing down a bit more before the day's out. It's what Jesus would've wanted!