It's Sunday. Let's Have a Meme.

[lebateleur]

I am kinda loving the mini-revival non-tumblr, non-twitter fandom's been undergoing recently. In that retro spirit, let's do a meme. Pick a fandom you know I like and I'll answer the questions below:

Fandoms include (but are not limited to): Akitsuki Koh, Baldur's Gate, Blake and Avery, Discworld, His Majesty's Dragon, Injection, MCU, Onmyoji, Saiyuki, Sherlock (BBC, Ritchieverse), Sugiura Shiho, The Goblin Emperor, The Queen's Thief, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, WWE (Raw, Smackdown, NXT)

1. The first characterI first fell in love with
2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now
3. The character everyone else loves that I don't
4. The character I love that everyone else dislikes
5. The character I used to love but don't any longer
6. The character/person I would shag anytime
7. The character/person I'd want to be like
8. The character/person I'd slap
9. A pairing that I love
10. A pairing that I dislike

これで以上です。

Comments

[flemmings]

Discworld?

[metal_dog5]

Ooh, flemmings already took my first choice, so I'll pick MCU. OR Saiyuki. Too hard to choose just one.

[i_am_zan]

Oh if you pick Saiyuki (which was what I was going to go for) I wouldn't mind seeing your answers for Sherlock BBC verse ... ...

[lebateleur]

1. The first character I first fell in love with
Mort, although in absolute terms I love Vimes, Weatherwax, and the Nac Mac Feegle more. But I read the books in order and while I liked Wyrd Sisters well enough, Mort was the first where I laughed myself silly, due in no small part to its titular character.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now
Sam Vimes. I'm not a fan of either the mystery or detective genres, but hoo boy did he grow on me. By Night Watch, it was all over. His blend of decency, gruffness, social awkwardness, and world-weariness does it for me like nothing else. And also the Nac Mac Feegle, who I thought would just annoy me but whom I deeply adore.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don't
Rincewind, or any of the wizards, really. They are very much in the "bumbling but endearing" mold that I've never found particularly humorous or endearing.

4. The character I love that everyone else dislikes
I dunno. Do people dislike the Auditors? I don't root for them, but they are such great characters.

5. The character I used to love but don't any longer
Sam Vimes, but only as he appears in Snuff, which was such a departure in tone from the earlier novels I suspect it was largely ghostwritten.

6. The character/person I would shag anytime
Sam Vimes, but only with Lady Sybil's go-ahead. Granny Weatherwax if she'd have me. And definitely Rob Anybody.

7. The character/person I'd want to be like
Tiffany Aching, hands down.

8. The character/person I'd slap
Rincewind, or any of the wizards.

9. A pairing that I love
Carrot/Angua, for his doofy goodness and her long-suffering wryness.

10. A pairing that I dislike
While I don't dislike Vetinari/Vimes, I just don't see it (although I'm aware large swaths of fandom would disagree with me here).

[lebateleur]

I'll do Saiyuki in a reply to the top-level post, so here's MCU:

1. The first character I first fell in love with
Loki, but you've probably already guessed that. His character and background hit so many of my narrative kinks, and that's even before you throw Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of him into the mix.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now
Steve Rogers. Captain America was a total obligation view for me because I have to read/watch everything in order, but holy crap did Chris Evans sell me on him. Or maybe I've just grown into a taste for earnest and decent characters (vice Sanzou's caustic charisma) in my old age.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don't
Tony Stark (don't hate me). Which isn't to say that I dislike him by any means, but he's just eclipsed by so many other characters--Loki, Thor, Cap, Bucky, Coulson, Drax, Heimdall, Darcy--I love more.

4. The character I love that everyone else dislikes
Honestly, Laufey and Malekith, whom I see as two characters whose existences are imperilled by the stories' protagonists rather than inherently evil.

5. The character I used to love but don't any longer
See no. 3 above.

6. The character/person I would shag anytime
Eheheh, you know me well enough to know the answer to this already.

7. The character/person I'd want to be like
Cap, for the earnestness and goodness and decency and dedication, all without losing a dry sense of humor.

8. The character/person I'd slap
Odin. Fuck that guy.

9. A pairing that I love
Thor/Loki, but specifically from a "what are we to each other now that we aren't family" angle. Jane/Darcy. Steve/Bucky.

10. A pairing that I dislike
Thor/Loki when the focus is on incest kink. Loki/Tony. Loki/Jane.

[lebateleur]

I'll do a Saiyuki rundown later tonight as a top-level reply. In the meantime, here's BBC Sherlock:

1. The first character I first fell in love with
Lestrade, for his long-suffering wryness. As I said in another reply above, I'm not a fan of the mystery or detective genres, but apparently I have a huge thing for the dry, slightly-put-upon detective.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now
Mycroft, who was always just a background wallpaper pattern kinda character to me until Gatiss made him the most intriguing thing about the series.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don't
Do people love Eurus? Her character was horrendously mishandled.

4. The character I love that everyone else dislikes
I don't think there is one; all of my favorites seem to be crowd favorites.

5. The character I used to love but don't any longer
Sherlock, after the final series turned him from a humanized misanthrope back into a Marty Stu with a ridiculous origin story.

6. The character/person I would shag anytime
Lestrade. Without question.

7. The character/person I'd want to be like
Again, probably Lestrade. He is the most human of the bunch aside from John, and I like Lestrade's brand of prickliness better.

8. The character/person I'd slap
The entire Sherlock clan and John, for all that bullshit surrounding Eurus.

9. A pairing that I love
John/Sherlock, but that's the case for every incarnation of this story from ACD on.

10. A pairing that I dislike
Man, I am not into the Sherlock/Mycroft incest stuff. Nor do I much care for Sherlock/Moriarty, although Moriarty himself is a fantastic character.

[lebateleur]

And here is the Saiyuki rundown:

1. The first character I first fell in love with
Sanzo, because at that time characters with shitty attitudes and dark pasts were my jam. And then there was the esoteric Buddhist priest angle. And the fact that I learned how to curse in Japanese from reading his dialogue.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now
Gojyo. It took awhile before I was able to appreciate his straightforwardness.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don't
Goku. I don't dislike him by any means, but when it comes to Japanese adolescent maleness, I prefer the optimism-plus-polite snarkiness of Silver Diamond's Sawa Rakan to Goku's brand of genki.

4. The character I love that everyone else dislikes
Zenon, because he reminds me of the blue collar trash I grew up with. Yes, this is a contradiction given how long it took me to warm up to Gojyo, but what are you gonna do?

5. The character I used to love but don't any longer
What I don't love any longer are not the characters, but the way Minekura began drawing them around the Hazel arc. To me, the apogee of her art began around volume 7 of the original 9 and went through the burial arc. The eyes, the noses, the hair...just stunning. I do not care for the sketchy quality of the latter stuff, nor the way everyone suddenly got pert little upturned noses.

6. The character/person I would shag anytime
Hakkai. Or better yet, Hakkai and Gojyo as a two-fer. And if you want to throw Zenon and/or the rest of the Homura-tachi into the mix, who am I to complain?

7. The character/person I'd want to be like
I wish I was as good as post-Gonou Hakkai at not letting my irritation (or worse) get the best of me.

8. The character/person I'd slap
God, I dunno. Dokugakuji, probably. I know we're supposed to think Gojyo's mom is the one who's all effed up, but they couldn't have tangoed without his being down for it too. Otherwise, Ni Jien I. But then I'd have to run like the wind.

9. A pairing that I love
...uh, does anyone really need to ask?

10. A pairing that I dislike
3/9. The platonic loyalty between these two is what does it for me.

[flemmings]

Agreed on the artwork. Those ski jump noses she goes in for now...

What I like about Saiyuki is that all the pairings work better as Platonic bro-ness and devotion- delicate, subtle, understated- than as sexual yaoi-ness.

[i_am_zan]

Ditto me on the artwork, it seems very mainstream. Assistants' work or pandering to the 'what's popular now' thing?

I mean they're still lovely but not what I fell in love with all those years ago!

[i_am_zan]

Ahahaha! I love Gojyo ... I love telling fans that I discovered Saiyuki when I was breastfeeding my girl at the time ... I think Gojyo would get a kick out of that! (Seriously all those 2AM feeds and I found some darned good fanfic first before I found the manga - and yes I know what you mean about the swearing.)

The Homura-tachi were so much gorgeousness!

^_^ thank you for sharing with us!

[marianainthemoatedgrange]

Uhhh.... can I say both TGE and Baldur's Gate? :D

[lebateleur]

Certainly! Here's my response for Baldur's Gate; TGE to follow tomorrow.

1. The first character I first fell in love with
Viconia, because I think there's far more potential to the drow than Salvatore or the original D&D designers are willing to explore (and you meet and then kill a Flaming Fist goon to save her!). I also fell in love with Kivan the first time I encountered him, because bitchy, grieving elves are apparently my thing, and I liked his character's voice acting too. I'm still bummed his back story wasn't explored further, either in BG or in BGII. Soulafein, who I suspect was intended to be one of the additional BGII NPC romances that Black Isle ultimately didn't finish. And like everyone, Minsc and Boo, because, Minsc and Boo.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now
Jaheira, who grew on me so much I modded BGII to get her expanded storyline with my female PC. Her grumpiness really grew on me, and she taught me how to effectively play druids.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don't
I don't know enough about fandom to know who the favorites are, but even those characters for whom I don't have an immediate affinity (Neera, Garrick, Xzar and Montaron) tend to grow on me with time.

4. The character I love that everyone else dislikes
Anomen, because although criticisms of his romance are spot-on, I still see what the developers were trying to do with his character and it was revolutionary despite their blind spots. To wit: the female PC saves the literal knight in shining armor. Anomen's “sanctimonious, lady-dismissing paladin to flag-waver for women kicking ass” progression could have been better executed, but it is a pretty damn subversive plot progression for the genre all the same.

5. The character I used to love but don't any longer
This does not apply to my love for any of the BG characters, which is constant.

6. The character/person I would shag anytime
In no particular order: Viconia, Kivan, Soulafein, Rasaad, Jaheira, Mazzy, Anomen, possibly Garrick.

7. The character/person I'd want to be like
Rasaad, for his optimism and goodness combined with wicked monk skills, and Mazzy for her dedication and goodness.

8. The character/person I'd slap
Drizzt. Over and over and over and over.

9. A pairing that I love
Jaheira and Khalid (and oh, how that broke my heart). Not a pairing, but Minsc's devotion to Boo is darling.

10. A pairing that I dislike
PC/Imoen is not my cup of tea. And I'm not a fan of pairings with evil-aligned characters unless they have a change of heart/alignment as a result.

[lebateleur]

Ahahaha! I love Gojyo ... I love telling fans that I discovered Saiyuki when I was breastfeeding my girl at the time ... I think Gojyo would get a kick out of that!

Everything about this fills me with joy. And yes, I too think Gojyo would approve!

[lebateleur]

And by 'tomorrow' I clearly meant 'within a week.' At any rate, The Goblin Emperor:

1. The first character I first fell in love with
This is hard because I remember liking Maia, Csevet, Cala, Csethiro, etc. as soon as they were introduced. For some reason, the first time I read TGE my mind decided Csevet was in his early 30s and since older servant/younger master is a kink of mine... Cala was 'elven Hakkai' to me from the get-go, with the same result, and Csethiro had me at her reaction to the attempt on Maia's life.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now
Beshelar, because since when do I like lawful good anything? His groaning and affront at violations of protocol should have been infuriating but were somehow endearing ('passed judgment like breathing' ::sporfle::), and when he apologised to Maia it was all over.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don't
I don't know if 'loves' is the right term, but I don't find Tethimar inherently intriguing. That said, fandom does intriguing things with him, which is a nice bonus for all us fic readers.

4. The character I love that everyone else dislikes
I think Thara's wife gets a raw deal. We only know what Thara chooses to tell us about her, and had I been a woman who, after being told my entire life my worth derives from motherhood and the home, found myself married to a man who wanted nothing to do with me and was very much in love with someone society told me my entire life was disgusting... It does not excuse her actions but it does give them context.

5. The character I used to love but don't any longer
There isn't one. My love grows with time.

6. The character/person I would shag anytime
Oh, the laundry list. Maia, Cala, Beshelar, Csevet, Csethiro, Orthema, Telimezh, &c., &c. Preferably after unlocking the harem ending for myself.

7. The character/person I'd want to be like
Maia for his absolute decency and courage to do what's right in the face of danger and ridicule. Cala for his compassion and equanimity. Beshelar, for his decency and dedication. Csevet for his goodness. Csethiro for her intelligence and talent and willingness to be herself in the face of society's approbation. The list goes on.

8. The character/person I'd slap
Varenechibel, for starters. Then Tethimar. Then any of our heroes, but only if we establish a safe word first. 0:)

9. A pairing that I love
Does 'Yes, please' count? This novel is like the lottery jackpot of amazing pairings.

10. A pairing that I dislike
I'm not inclined to like Tethimar/anyone or Maia/Setheris; that said, fandom rights both incredibly well.