A new meme

[dolorosa_12]

I've seen various people posting this, and it looks like it would be fun, so:

Give me a fandom and I'll tell you:

Favourite Male Character

Favourite Female Character

Least Favourite Character

Favourite Ship

Favourite Friendship

Favourite Quote

Worst Character Death (if any)

This made me so happy you have no idea moment

Saddest Moment

Favourite Location

If it helps, I would be very happy to talk about any fandom I've written for, received gifts for, talked about in my most recent friending meme comment, or have talked about here recently on my blog.

I've also noticed a recent uptick in people adding me here who don't seem to be people I know from other platforms or who I've spoken to before (or at least don't seem to have usernames that I recognise), so if any of you were interested in getting to know me/my fandoms, this post might be a nice place to do so. In other words, feel free to ask me questions, about this, or about anything else.

Comments

[merit]

Wicked Saints :D

[dolorosa_12]

Favourite Male Character

Malachiasz.

Favourite Female Character

Nadya.

Least Favourite Character

I don't really have any I dislike (I mean, obviously some of the antagonists are terrible people, but I don't have any problems with their characterisation). A couple of them are subversions of character tropes I dislike intensely in other stories, but I don't mind them in Wicked Saints.

Favourite Ship

I'm all aboard the Nadya/Malachiasz train! I also like the idea of Nadya/Malachiasz/Serefin, or Nadya/any of the gods who talk to her.

Favourite Friendship

Serefin and his two army friends have a pretty cool (if messed up) friendship.

Favourite Quote

I don't think I have one. I'd need to reread it a few more times, I think.

Worst Character Death (if any)

I don't think any of them hit me really hard so far.

This made me so happy you have no idea moment

When Nadya let Malachiasz use her blood for his magic! That was the point at which I realised this was defnitely my kind of book.

Saddest Moment

To be honest I don't think there were any that made me particularly sad.

Favourite Location

I loved all the little remnants of the Kalyazi religion, abandoned, ruined, scattered along the road that Nadya, Malachiasz and the others take on their way into Tranavia. And I loved how Nadya spent time cleaning the altars, even though there was no time, and no need — it just said so much about her character.

[girljustdied]

Noticed Veronica Mars on your friending meme comment, how about that in anticipation for the coming Hulu series?(!)

[dolorosa_12]

I am so excited for the Hulu series!

Favourite Male Character

There are so many great male characters on the show (it's generally better in that regard than it is with female characters, I find). It's probably a tie between Wallace, Weevil, and Logan, but I love Keith Mars as well.

Favourite Female Character

Veronica, but I love characters who sort of haunt the margins of stories, gone but not really gone, so I love Lilly as well.

Least Favourite Character

It's a bit of a cliche, but Duncan.

Favourite Ship

I'm a multishipper in this fandom, and I like Veronica/Logan, Veronica/Weevil, and Veronica/Lilly.

Favourite Friendship

Veronica and Wallace, definitely! I also love the way Veronica and Weevil's friendship is written.

Favourite Quote

This show is too quippy for me to have a single favourite!

Worst Character Death (if any)

I don't think I really had a problem with any of the character deaths in the show. I don't like the resolution of the mystery in season 2 (mainly because it means a lot of important stuff in season 1 gets retconned), so Cassidy's death annoys me — not because I have any particularly strong feelings about the character, but rather because it represents the culmination of a storyline I disagree with.

This made me so happy you have no idea moment

The first time I watched the first season I was an intense Veronica/Logan shipper, so all the shippy moments with them made me unbelievably happy.

Saddest Moment

Weevil's return to gang life in the movie was really heartbreaking for me.

Favourite Location

Well, most of the show takes place in Neptune, and indeed one of the best things about VM is its strong sense of place, and how real Neptune feels, so it's my obvious choice here.

[girljustdied]

but I love characters who sort of haunt the margins of stories, gone but not really gone, so I love Lilly as well.

So do I! There's something so mythological about characters like Lilly. It's magnetic and yet my mind also fights to keep that image of who she is grounded because she can no longer contribute to it herself.

It's a bit of a cliche, but Duncan.

Cliche for a reason! Heh.

I don't think I really had a problem with any of the character deaths in the show. I don't like the resolution of the mystery in season 2 (mainly because it means a lot of important stuff in season 1 gets retconned), so Cassidy's death annoys me

With you 100%. It deflated the meaningfulness of the previous excellent season arc for Veronica and I DON'T LIKE IT!!

[dolorosa_12]

There's something so mythological about characters like Lilly. It's magnetic and yet my mind also fights to keep that image of who she is grounded because she can no longer contribute to it herself.

Exactly! It's why I liked Pretty Little Liars so much, at least at the beginning (it degenerated into awfulness about midway through) — there was a similar character who drifted in and out of other characters' memories, both there and not there at the same time.

[elperian]

1) I didn't know you were also friends and what a delight, 2) I CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON YOU FOR VMARS CONTENT :D

[dolorosa_12]

I think I added both of you around the same time, possibly via a friending meme. And I'm always very happy to see more VMars on my feed here!

[girljustdied]

<333

[iberiandoctor]

Lions of Al-Rassan! Or really any GGK novel of your choice <3

[dolorosa_12]

Favourite Male Character

Ammar! And Rodrigo! And I have such a soft spot for Husari ibn Musa as well.

Favourite Female Character

I love love love both Jehane and Miranda.

Least Favourite Character

I don't really have one? Obviously I loathe all the antagonists whose actions lead to the destruction of Al-Rassan as a place of culture, art, coexistence and tolerance, but of course they are necessary for the kind of story being told.

Favourite Ship

Any and all combinations of Miranda, Jehane, Rodrigo, and Ammar.

Favourite Friendship

I love all the odd friendships that spring up in that brief, shining moment when all the main characters (and many of the supporting characters) are in King Badir's court.

Favourite Quote

' "What, I wonder, is worse ugliness?"

"You do not really mean that," Rodrigo said. "I have part of an answer, though. Worse, is when what little space there is for men to move back and forth between the worlds is lost to hatred." '

Worst Character Death (if any)

The obvious one: Rodrigo. And, also, the death of what Al-Rassan, at its best, represented. Oh, how I wish for a way for this book to end any way other than it does, except of course the ending is inevitable, and it's what gives it is power.

This made me so happy you have no idea moment

It's not one moment so much as a slow accumulation of little moments in which the trio of main characters come together, and grow to appreciate each other's minds, talents, and humanity.

Saddest Moment

The saddest moment for me is that conversation I've excerpted in my favourite quote. Watching all the fragile connections — that space to have multiple identities, move between worlds, live with more than one truth — be shattered breaks my heart every time.

Favourite Location

King Badir's court, for that shining, fragile, brief, elegiac moment suspended in time when all the characters are together and working together, is beautiful. Having visited Seville, Granada and Cordoba last year made all the locations of the book come alive in a way I'd not anticipated, and walking around the Alhambra, and then returning to my hotel room (which looked up at the Alhambra from its window) and rereading part of Kay's book was a wonderful moment.

[iberiandoctor]

I basically co-sign all of this: Badir's court, what is worse ugliness, Husari ♥ Even my distaste for Amalik II of Cartada doesn't detract from what a compelling character he is!

(Where did you guys stay in Granada? My journals from this time has us at the Hospes Palacio de Los Patos, which was awesome, but which did not have a view of the Alhambra, or at least our room didn't!)

[dolorosa_12]

The hotel we stayed at was called Hotel Palacio de Santa Ines -- I went there with my mother, who had been three years earlier with my younger sister, and we stayed in the same hotel the two of them had stayed in previously. If you look at it on Google Maps, you can see how close it is to the Alhambra. The hotel itself is from the sixteenth century.

[nyctanthes]

Mad Max: Fury Road

[dolorosa_12]

Favourite Male Character

Max!

Favourite Female Character

I love Furiosa, and I adore the Wives.

Least Favourite Character

Obviously Joe and all his followers are awful, but they're perfectly written as antagonists so I have no objection to them. I'm not hugely invested in Nux and the other War Boys as characters, and am generally uninterested in fanworks that focus on them.

Favourite Ship

Any and all combinations of the five Wives.

Favourite Friendship

Any and all combinations of the five Wives, as well as the friendships they make with women they meet along the way.

Favourite Quote

'We are not things.'

Worst Character Death (if any)

I generally think this film is as close to a perfect piece of storytelling as it is possible to be, but I do regret that so many of the Vuvulini die, as it seems to imply that there is no place for older women in the new world being built on the destruction of Joe's dictatorship.

This made me so happy you have no idea moment

Oh, so, so many. I love that moment when Furiosa drives the war rig straight into the impending dust storm (I've got it as my Twitter banner) -- it's just so powerful and epic. I love the moment where Max makes way and lets Furiosa rest her gun on his shoulder. I love it when Angharad opens the moving car door and dares Joe to shoot at them. I love the moment towards the end when Cheedo finds her courage and pretends to surrender, so as to get closer to their pursuers and finish them off. I love the moment when Furiosa returns to the Vuvulini and clings to them in grief, relief and exhaustion, because she has finally found her way home.

Saddest Moment

That moment of despair when Furiosa realises that the Green Place is no more, and she just falls down and howls.

Favourite Location

The whole film is just one fabulous location, really. It's impossible to pick one specific place, because everything fits together in a seamless, well thought out whole. I'm in complete awe at the cinematography, location scouting, design of this film, and how everything just comes together perfectly in terms of creating locations that feel real, lived in, and exactly in keeping with the story being told.

[nyctanthes]

I don't rewatch movies or shows very often, but I've seen this multiple times. I agree, it's pretty much perfect. (I must find some FR icons)

One of my favorite scenes, in terms of the sheer beauty, is when they're driving to the Green Place and pass the crows (?), the people walking on stilts. The blue light and the eerieness and their fright. (After all they've seen, Furiosa and Max find them scary!) Really loved that.

[dolorosa_12]

Oh, that scene on the way to the Green Place is just incredible. It's so unnerving and eerie and different to the stark, rust-coloured landscapes they've been driving through up to that point. The whole film is just stunning from start to finish.

[regshoe]

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell!

[dolorosa_12]

Favourite Male Character

The Raven King.

Favourite Female Character

Lady Pole.

Least Favourite Character

I don't really have any.

Favourite Ship

The Raven King/John Childermass

Favourite Friendship

The whole book is, in a sense, about the fractious, complicated, lonely friendship of Strange and Norrell, and I suppose for that reason it's my favourite.

Favourite Quote

The whole book is so quotable that it's hard to pick a single favourite, but I'm quite partial to this one:

He understood for the first time that the world is not dumb at all, but merely waiting for someone to speak to it in a language it understands.

Worst Character Death (if any)

This made me so happy you have no idea moment

All the footnotes alluding to half-remembered stories about the Raven King. I love the way he haunts the margins of the book, and the semi-scholarly way that's represented, trying to contain him in footnotes until he eventually bursts out.

Saddest Moment

I find Stephen's whole story so heartbreaking, but it's not exactly a single moment.

Favourite Location

I love the library scenes.

[regshoe]

I agree with your choice of favourite quote, and that's a perfect description of what the footnotes are doing! :D

[dolorosa_12]

To be honest, this entire post has made me want to reread/rewatch all the stuff people have asked about, and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is at the top of my list!

[regshoe]

Funnily enough, there are some people on Tumblr floating the idea of doing a read-along sometime soon, so if you wanted a good excuse for a reread...

[dolorosa_12]

Ooh, what a great excuse. I don't use Tumblr any more, so I wouldn't be able to participate there, but I suppose I could post about it here on Dreamwidth.

[elperian]

Nobody has asked yet, so: Six of Crows!

[dolorosa_12]

I really, really need to get a Six of Crows icon!

Favourite Male Character

Kaz.

Favourite Female Character

Inej.

Least Favourite Character

Jan van Eck is so awful, but in such an ordinary way (as opposed to the other, cartoonishly evil antagonists), and I loathe him so much.

Favourite Ship

Kaz/Inej. I also like Nina/Inej, and like the idea of all the six main characters as a big poly ship -- but not until all of them have sorted out their various traumas!

Favourite Friendship

Nina and Inej have a great friendship. I also love the friendship of Jesper and Kaz, simply because it's so blatantly unequal and not healthy for either of them -- it's just written so well.

Favourite Quote

'I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.' Oh, my shipper heart.

Worst Character Death (if any)

Although it happens pre-canon, Jordie's death is so awful, and the way its effect on Kaz is written is just brutal.

This made me so happy you have no idea moment

Oh, so many Kaz/Inej moments. Neither of them are perfect people, and they mishandle so many things, including their relationship, but the one thing that remains constant is their mutual awareness of the other's aversion to being touched, and how careful they are about that, and it's so beautiful to me.

Saddest Moment

When we find out what happened to Kaz to make him the way he is. There's something so brutal about the utter betrayal of trust, and what it does to a person.

Favourite Location

I love, love, love Ketterdam. It really resonates with me as this grimy, unjust, iniquitous city of misfits, refugees, migrants, who all find a way to survive and a home amid the grime, crime and trauma. I still maintain that the series should have ended with all the characters choosing to remain in Ketterdam and recognising that it was their home, rather than half of them choosing to leave.

[shopfront]

Obernewtyn! :D

[dolorosa_12]

(Please bear in mind I have a ... complicated relationship with this series and don't unequivocally like every single one of Isobelle Carmody's narrative, thematic, or characterisation choices. A 'frustrated fan' is how I would describe myself.)

Favourite Male Character

Domick, Rushton, and Brydda.

Favourite Female Character

Kella, Elspeth, and Dragon.

Least Favourite Character

Leaving aside the obviously awful people such as Malik, Ariel, various members of the Council and so on, I'm not the hugest fan of Dameon. His Talent literally gave him the ability to feel and recognise other people's hidden feelings, and he knows Elspeth doesn't feel the same way about him as he does about her, and he knows she's bad at recognising other people's feelings unless they spell them out exactly, and still he chooses to keep her in the dark!

Favourite Ship

Kella/Domick (although the way Carmody chose to end it made me utterly furious). I also like Elspeth/Rushton, but dislike intensely where they ended up and the choices Carmody made regarding their relationship.

Favourite Friendship

I love Elspeth's friendships with Maruman and Galtha, and the prickly frienship that develops between the latter two as well.

Favourite Quote

I don't think I have one that I know off the top of my head, although I'm sure if I went back through my teenage diaries/quotes books I would be able to find one.

Worst Character Death (if any)

Domick's death, and what it implied (and how judgemental Carmody/the narrative was of his choices and the way he reacted to trauma) made me so unbelievably angry. It's been, what, nearly a decade, and I'm still bitter about it!

This made me so happy you have no idea moment

The choices the Misfits made when competing against the rebels in the Sadorian games, and what this said about them as people was such a beautiful moment.

Saddest Moment

I don't think I could pick a single one. A lot of the early character deaths are awful, and learning what was done to Dragon -- especially given she was such a small child -- is also horrifying.

Favourite Location

I love stories about groups of misfits, outsiders, and the dispossessed finding a home in each other, and reclaiming hostile spaces to turn them into their homes, so I love Obernewtyn itself for this reason. This is partly why I find the ending of the series so frustrating -- I know the prophecies said that Elspeth would never be able to return to Obernewtyn, but I wish Carmody could have found some way to handwave this away, because for me the series was all about Elspeth learning that she needed other people, and learning how to live in and build a community -- and to take that community away from her was unforgivable.

[wheatear]

His Dark Materials!