The Person Responsible For The Credits Has Just Been Sacked

[netgirl_y2k]

As a part of the homework I get from my counsellor-therapist type person, I'm sitting here making a list of my finer qualities. So far I have that I'm funny, reasonably well-read, and kind to children, the elderly, and people who work in service jobs. I mean, I'm kind to other people too, but outside of those groups it's on more of a case by case basis.

Anyway, I'm bored of that now, and there's a meme going around.

Give me a character and I will tell you...

* How I feel about this character
* All the people I ship romantically with this character
* My non-romantic OTP for this character
* My unpopular opinion about this character
* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.
* Something about them I consider true, even though it's only my head canon/fanon

Comments

[likeadeuce]

Since you talked about her a bit the other day, Daenerys. (tv or book, or both, if you need to distinguish them)

[netgirl_y2k]

* How I feel about this character

I think she's endlessly fascinating. And while I totally get that people are turned off by the white saviour trope when it comes to her story - either because they don't see it as being subverted, or don't think it's being subverted enough - I'm fascinated by the fact that she's taken this basically noble idea, that as a queen she needs to protect her people, that protecting the weak is what kings and queens are for, and turned it into this massive, massive messiah complex.

I think that she's less of a queen and more of a conquerer with a conscience, and that's how she gets herself into the mess she's in in slaver's bay, because she can see that her presence is just causing more problems, but the idea of leaving and letting Meereen slide in chaos like Astapor, or worse letting slavery resume is basically abhorrent to her.

I think it's interesting that however much she came to love Drogo that being sold to him left such an impression on her, and that's why she identifies so much with the slaves she meets and why it's such a hot button issue for her. And I love how much she doesn't get that it's a false equivalency.

I appreciate that she knows she knows nothing about being a queen, and that she's trying to teach herself. It's fashionable in fandom at the moment to talk about what a terrible queen Dany would be, and I'm not sure that I want her on the Iron Throne myself, and I'm not sure canon is heading that way, I'm on Team Emerging Demorcracy anyway, but dammit if it's between Dany and Stannis or Young Griff, then All Hail Daenerys Targaryen, First of Her Name.

Um, yes, it seems mostly how I feel about her is defensive.

* All the people I ship romantically with this character

No one, really. Partly because her taste in men is just so awful. There was Drogo, and I'm convinced that was more Stockholm Syndrome than not, and then Daario (vomits). And as for her other potential suitors, Quentyn Martell (burnt to a crisp) Victarion Greyjoy (wife murderer) Euron Greyjoy (psychopath) Jorah Mormont (Lord Friendzone), they're hardly an inspiring bunch.

I know Dany/Jon is a big pairing in fandom, and while I definitely think they'll meet at the Wall (Ice Zombies meet dragons, etc.) I can't see it being a romance, not least because I doubt they'll both survive it.

There's also the thing in this universe where any married woman, no matter how powerful, is subservient to her husband, which is tricky when you're the mother of dragons and believe that you're the rightful queen.

* My non-romantic OTP for this character

I like Dany and Jorah, more so on the show where I want the guy who plays Jorah to come round my house of an evening and read me a bedtime story. But I also think that Jorah was less willing to indulge Dany, and more willing to say so when he thought she was making a mistake than Barristan Selmy is, and everyone else is too in awe of Dany. It's why I think Jorah's exile was so interesting, because he really gave her no choice, but he was also the one she most needed around.

* My unpopular opinion about this character

That I like her and wouldn't hate her ending up on the Iron Throne feels pretty unpopular at the moment. It's not even that I've never been a fan of an unpopular character before, it's basically my fandom MO, but it's the first time since I've had a tumblr, so it's the first time I've really seen this attitude of if you like this character then you're not just a bad fan, you're a bad person.

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

GO TO WESTEROS, ALREADY!

I do think that Dany's storyline was the one that suffered most from the books turning from a duology to however many it'll be now, and from GRRM deciding to do away with the five year time jump. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to not have any Dany chapters after aGoT, and just have her movements told through the rumours that are reaching the characters in Westeros.

* Something about them I consider true, even though it's only my head canon/fanon

That Targaryen coin, the one that determines whether a Targaryen will be great or mad? Dany's hasn't landed yet.

[saturnofthemoon]

Asha Greyjoy

[netgirl_y2k]

* How I feel about this character

She's the best of the Greyjoys, and the finest queen the Iron Islands never had. Seriously, Ironborn, you missed at trick there, one I think you'll live to regret; those of you who survive Euron's rule, that is.

I think the word feminist gets thrown around a lot in discussions of the books; whether they're feminist at all, or feminist enough. And I don't know that they are, and I don't know that it matters. The female characters are as three dimensional and real as the male characters, and in this instance that's enough for me, but I think Asha's internal monologue about the word cunt - how men use it to insult women when it's the only part of a woman they value - was a genuinely feminist moment.

* All the people I ship romantically with this character

I like her pirate boyfriend - Qarl, is it? - well enough, but mostly I ship her with Alysane Mormont. I want the Kraken's Daughter and the She-Bear to have to huddle for warmth, and have long loaded conversations about what they think of Stannis, and being a woman warrior in Westeros, and the history between the Ironborn and Bear Island.

* My non-romantic OTP for this character

I love sibling relationships, so obviously it's Theon. I love that they didn't grow up together but still have such an obviously sibling relationship, with all the rivalry and jealousy and protectiveness that it entails. I loved Asha's line about how a little brother could live to be a hundred and still be a little brother.

I really want their story to end with Theon back on the Iron Islands, and Asha ruling in his name while, awkwardly and stiltedly, because she's not good at this, she tries to help him deal with his trauma.

* My unpopular opinion about this character

Much as I love her, I would sacrifice Asha's chapters in a heartbeat it it meant we could also be rid of the Greyjoy uncles; damn, but I hate those guys.

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

QUEEN OF THE IRON ISLANDS!

* Something about them I consider true, even though it's only my head canon/fanon

I think a lot Asha's swagger is an act. I think she knows what a precarious position she's in as a female captain, so she puts on this act of being the Kraken's Daughter, and calling her weapons her husband and babe are part of that, because she knows that if her men ever start looking at her as "only" a woman then she's screwed.

[melsheartsthings]

Morgana Lefay/Pendragon?

[netgirl_y2k]

* How I feel about this character

I adore her, she is my always and forever favourite character. And the thing is I don't actually know why I love her so much; she's an incoherently written villain from a show I find almost offensively bad.

And yet, and yet, and yet...

* All the people I ship romantically with this character

No one, really. The show really pulled a number on making Morgana closely related to pretty much anyone she had chemistry with. I wrote a lot of Gwen/Morgana fic in the heyday of my involvement in Merlin fandom, but with hindsight I can see that they were always a pair-the-spares pairing, even if you were mostly interested in the spares. I do think that Morgana had a crush on Morgause that she probably had a lot of trouble processing, but I'm mostly interested in them in a fucked up genetic sexual attraction type way.

In fandom, I variously shipped Morgana with Vivian, Elena, Mithian and Annis, but that's mostly because I wanted Morgana to get the hell out of Camelot and find herself a nice queen or princess to be court sorceress to; I thought that would do her the world of good.

* My non-romantic OTP for this character

I always thought that the show missed a trick by not doing more, or really anything, with Arthur & Morgana after the reveal that they were brother and sister, the screwed up sibling dynamic would have been delicious; the golden king and the dark queen.

I was really interested in Morgana and Aithusa, too. By the last season Morgana's love for Aithusa was her sole redeeming feature, and as much as I loved Morgana getting someone that prioritised her over Arthur, Merlin, destiny et al., even if it was a poorly cgi'd dragon, I'd have loved to have known why Aithusa was so keen on Morgana.

* My unpopular opinion about this character

Well, I guess my belief that the show could only have been improved by her stabbing Merlin through the eye circa-S3 and allowing Arthur to take over as protagonist is pretty unpopular?

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

In general, I wish they'd let her hatred of Camelot continue to stem from fear for her own safety/the persecution of magicians, rather than give her a totally out of left-field desire for the throne.

In specific, I wish she'd come back at the beginning of S3 and immediately accused Merlin of poising her. What a brilliant way to have the magic reveal:

"Merlin poisoned me!"

"Morgana's a witch, and conspired with Morgause to curse Camelot!"

"How do you know?"

"Um..."

* Something about them I consider true, even though it's only my head canon/fanon

She's a lesbian.

[fallingtowers]

Obviously, Brienne. Or if you find my choice too boring, how about the Queen of Thorns?

[netgirl_y2k]

I shall do Brienne, for there is nothing boring about Brienne

* How I feel about this character

I love her, perhaps not as much as I love Sansa and Dany, but certainly on par with, say, Asha or Arya, which is nothing to sniff at. She hits that sweet spot for me of characters who are trufax awesome and yet also desperately insecure. There's a reason Donna Noble is my favourite Doctor Who companion.

* All the people I ship romantically with this character

Jaime, sort of a-- I love their relationship, the worst roadtrip ever, the bear, SAPPHIRES warmed me to Jaime in a way that probably nothing else could. I don't OTP them, and I don't see them as having a grand romance, but I like them for what they are, two people who make each other better, well, sort of a.

Also, and I blame the show entirely for this: Margaery.

* My non-romantic OTP for this character

Sansa. There are few things I want more in the series than for Brienne to find Sansa. Sansa prayed for a true knight to defend her, now she has the truest knight in Westeros on a quest to find her, and she doesn't even know it, I could weep.

I go nuts for the parallels between them; there's certain niavety and innocence to both of them, which is cruelly stripped from them, they both grow up believing in the archetypes of true-hearted maidens and knights, and dammit, they're going to live by those principals even if they're the only people in Westeros who are.

* My unpopular opinion about this character

I'm not sure that I have one-- I did like her whole knight errant bit in Feast for Crows, when she was travelling around training Podrick up and almost incidentally reducing the numbers of Bloody Mummers running around the place by 33%

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I wish she'd find Sansa. I wish we'd gotten to see more of her as Cat's liegewoman, because that was a fascinating relationship.

* Something about them I consider true, even though it's only my head canon/fanon

Deep down she still desperately wants to be a proper knight, but if Jaime offered (any knight can make a knight, after all) she'd refuse because she'd think he was mocking her, even though he probably wouldn't be.

[fallingtowers]

I go nuts for the parallels between them; there's certain niavety and innocence to both of them, which is cruelly stripped from them, they both grow up believing in the archetypes of true-hearted maidens and knights, and dammit, they're going to live by those principals even if they're the only people in Westeros who are.

I completely agree with this assessment. Brienne is who Sansa would be if she were six foot four and could wield a two-handed sword. I do hope the two of them get to meet in canon. They should really BBFs.

...but if Jaime offered (any knight can make a knight, after all) she'd refuse because she'd think he was mocking her, even though he probably wouldn't be.

;_;

I'm also hoping that we might get a canon scene where Jaime actually offers to knight her. It would fit their thematic arcs very neatly.

[swatkat]

Regina. Because I always enjoy you talking about her, and Morgana's already taken.

[netgirl_y2k]

* How I feel about this character

Love the character, slightly leery of the fandom. The way they're dealing with her redemption arc, with her growing and changing without ever really repenting, really works for me, and is everything I wanted them to do with Morgana on Merlin.

I would like to read more fic about her than I actually do, but I find myself back-buttoning out of a lot of it because I don't recognise the version of Regina it contains, and worse a lot of it sacrifices Emma and Snow's characterisation for the sake of making Regina an eternal victim. On the other hand, I'm always on the look out for recs :-)

* All the people I ship romantically with this character

Emma. And I 'm a relative newcomer to the ship, really only with their sojourn to Neverland, but it seems obvious to me now that Regina, Emma, and Henry are a family and trying to swim against that current results in the bits of the show that feel forced and stilted.

I go back and forward on Robin. He likes little kids! He's so well meaning and jaunty! He's not afraid of Regina, which is frankly a good start when it comes to a relationship with her! But every time the show talks about the lion tattoo, and true love destiny and all that I feel like I'm listening to a public service announcement: this is your canon approved het ship, commence shipping now, and I just want to rest my head against my screen and gently whisper, won't, shan't.

* My non-romantic OTP for this character

I like Tink, I love that Regina has a friend, I love that they're basically drinking buddies, and again it's the thing about not being afraid of Regina.

But it has to be Henry, doesn't it? He's the most important person in Regina's life, even in the early days her love for him was her one redeeming feature. I need Henry to get his memories back; yeah, it's sad that he doesn't remember his dad, but let's be honest, Neal was in Henry's life for about two weeks, but Regina's his mom.

* My unpopular opinion about this character

That she's absolutely, completely, inexcusably and forever in the wrong when it comes to her ridiculously out of proportion vendetta against Snow.

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

At the risk of going with the obvious, Emma/Regina.

* Something about them I consider true, even though it's only my head canon/fanon

If she could have modified the curse to stop Henry growing up she would have. Not anymore, but before Emma came to Storybrooke, she would have done it in a heartbeat.

[swatkat]

I would like to read more fic about her than I actually do, but I find myself back-buttoning out of a lot of it because I don't recognise the version of Regina it contains, and worse a lot of it sacrifices Emma and Snow's characterisation for the sake of making Regina an eternal victim. On the other hand, I'm always on the look out for recs :-)


Fanfiction has an obsession with broken!victim!Regina, and I've more or less accepted the fact that half of fandom makes no effort in understanding Snow and Charming and prefers to use them as shallow external obstacles to Twu Wuv instead (seriously, Snow White and Prince Charming are obstacles to True Love?).

But you mentioned recs. I will return with them. I tend to read an embarrassing amount of Swan Queen fic.

I waffle on Robin, too. He is attractive and isn't afraid of Regina! But he's her canon-mandated twu wuv and I refuse. OTOH, her interactions with Emma keep getting gayer.


That she's absolutely, completely, inexcusably and forever in the wrong when it comes to her ridiculously out of proportion vendetta against Snow.

I'm with you here.

[ein_papier]

Someone else asked Regina already so... Margaery, perhaps?

[netgirl_y2k]

* How I feel about this character

In the show I love her, I blame Natalie Dormer and her stupid, sexy smirk. In the books, she's much more of a dark horse, seen mostly through Sansa and Cersei's eyes - she's showing Sansa what she wants to see, and Cersei is hardly unbiased - so I'm reserving judgement on her.

* All the people I ship romantically with this character

Sansa. More so on the show than the books, I think show!Margaery's interest in Sansa seems much more genuine, the scene where she gave Sansa a rose and told her "some women like pretty girls" didn't hurt either.

Also on the show: Brienne. Oh, delicious height difference.

Basically, Margaery/ladies!

* My non-romantic OTP for this character

Little King Tommen, lord of kittens, slayer of beets! Obviously their marriage would be awkward as fuck as Tommen grows up, and obviously it's all going to end in tears, but I think King Tommen as steered into adulthood by Margaery Tyrell would be fascinating.

* My unpopular opinion about this character

That she's not the super savvy player of the game that a lot of fandom paints her as. Her biggest advantage is her support network, that she has her grandmother to steer her, and her brother(s) to defend her, not that she's some sort of innate political genius.

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Hmm, I would like her to meet Dany, mostly because I'd like to see how Margaery relates to a ruler that she can't get around by marrying. In fandom I could go for a crack fic where that's exactly what Margaery tries.

* Something about them I consider true, even though it's only my head canon/fanon

I like to think that she's bisexual.

[ein_papier]

I loved Margaery in the books too, but I agree that we don't really know her that much; in fact, it's an important part of her character that we stay in the dark about her, and don't always know just how genuine and in on things she is. And we've talked about that before, I agree about her not being a super savvy player of the game; she's good at doing her part, though, and clearly she's been prepared (unlike some). I'd also say the her family is particularly good and dedicated to creating an image.

I don't even watch the show, but every time Natalie Dormer as Margaery shows up on my dash on tumblr I'm happy. And then I go find the scene on YouTube. Because she is fantastic.

In fandom I could go for a crack fic where that's exactly what Margaery tries.
Heh. But yeah, Margaery/ladies.

Hey, if you ship Regina/Emma now, are you going to write fic? 'cause that would be great. I haven't really been able to find what I want from this pairing.

[netgirl_y2k]

I definitely want to write some Emma/Regina - I'm still trying to articulate exactly what it is I want from the pairing, and why so much of the existing fic doesn't quite work for me.

[kmo]

Donna Noble, supertemp!

[netgirl_y2k]

* How I feel about this character

Bloody hell, I over-identify with her like wow... I was a temp for years, I had a very similar relationship with my family, right down to being especially close to a grandparent, I really identified with her crippling insecurity and having a bit of an act to cover it up. So, yeah.

* All the people I ship romantically with this character

No one, really. I did ship her with Rose a fair bit in Turn Left, and I 'm pleased that she eventually met a nice man and settled down, if only because she seemed to want it so much. Not unrelatedly, wiping Donna's memories really annoyed me not just because it undid all Donna's character development and was mostly for Ten's manpain, but because it was unnecessary - Donna probably was the one RTD companion who would probably have eventually left the Doctor for a nice man with a mortgage, or because Wilf needed her, or something.

* My non-romantic OTP for this character

Ten. Speaking of over-identifying, Donna's relationship with the Doctor reminded me a lot of how I am with my own best friend.

* My unpopular opinion about this character

I guess that she would have eventually left the Doctor?

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Six seasons and a movie of Ten and Donna: BFFs through time and space!

* Something about them I consider true, even though it's only my head canon/fanon

Her memories come back, they leak through, and she finds herself building a vortex manipulator out of kitchen appliances at 3am.

[kmo]

i do ship Ten/Donna- probably the only Doctor/Companion relationship I ship. But i like them as platonic buds, too. but i agree, she would have left him eventually to have a family of her own- the mind wiping was really unnecessary.

your headcanon is the same as mine and i still hold out hope that eventually she'll get her memories back one day.