ishtar79

Day Fourteen: Favorite older female character: Captain Kathryn Janeway




While DS9 is my favourite Trek by a mile, Janeway will always be my captain (though Sisko comes a close second). Voyager has had its issues over its run: missed character opportunities, cracky one-shots over a coherent arc, and its infamous abuse of the reset button. However, one truth remained constant during its seven year run: You Do Not Fuck With Kathryn Janeway.

There is plenty to love about the character: her dogged determination to get her crew home despite insurmountable odds, her wry sense of humour, her out of the box thinking and willingness to bend Starfleet regulations, the relationships she builds with her crew, her legendary caffeine addiction (“There's coffee in that nebula” remains the best random Trek line ever) and the way she drawls “Battlestations”, which never fails to give me *chills*. Janeway also had some major flaws, which tended to be as big scale as everything she did: she often fell prey to hubris in her grandiose plans, disregarding both danger and Starfleet principles, she could isolate herself from her crew and refuse to accept any criticism, and she was without a doubt the Department of Temporal Investigation's single biggest headache. And on a Doylist level, it's rage-inducing that Star Trek's first female Captain was essentially rendered sexless, and the most action she got over seven years being a relationship while she suffered amnesia, a flirtation with an adversary (the thing with the guy looking for the fugitives that one time, not her UST with the Borg Queen) and a fling with a freakin' hologram.

Writing issues aside however (which should be the unofficial motto to maximize one's enjoyment during Voyager viewings), nothing can ever temper my Janeway squee. The woman went head-to-head with the freakin' Borg without even blinking, and the final showdown between her and the Queen was pure concentrated EPICNESS and a more satisfying payoff than even the other major event of the finale.




( Days 1-30 )

Day Twelve: Favorite female character in a movie: Nyota Uhura




So I've rambled at great length in the past about why I loved Uhura so much in the Star Trek reboot, and those reasons still apply. I have a lot of affection for TOS Uhura, but the movie allowed her to be so much more than she could on a show airing in the sixties.

From the moment she rolled her eyes in amusement at Kirk's "smooth" lines at that bar, I was kind of in love. There were plenty of other aspects of the character that reinforced my initial spontaneous like: her following of subspace transmissions for fun and knowledge of obscure Romulan dialogues (languages geeks FTW!), her being the first to understand Kirk's technobabbly exposition on the alternate universes and what we saw of her relationship with Spock, but what I loved the most about her throughout the film was her assertiveness and how utterly unimpressed she was by Kirk's attempts at flirtation and just...Kirk, really (which is why her “captain” minus the sarcasm at the end was one of the little awesome moments of the crew coming together-he earned that captain from her). And on a shallow note, the woman can rock the classic uniform like nobody's business.

As for my thoughts about the vitriol and hostility a lot of fandom directs at her, well, I've been over that in great detail in the Uhura post linked above, and since this meme is about celebrating female characters, I won't start with my thoughts on how fandom treats certain female characters, both compared to male characters and other sexually “acceptable” female character types.

At the end of the day, fuck that noise. Uhura's awesome, and so's her skirt.

( Days 1-30 )

Day Ten: Favorite female character in a scifi/supernatural show: Kara Thrace




So I fell in love with the character pretty much from the pilot. How could I not? There she was all cockiness and defiance, with the gambling, and drinking, and smoking, and punching of superior officers. Starbuck had levels of swagger I had not seen since Faith from Buffy: based on that alone, I was already sold.

Of course, there's much more to her than being a kickass pilot who can outdrink, outfly and outfuck the boys. She's got major childhood trauma, a self-destructive streak a mile wide and an almost magical ability to sabotage every major relationship in her life. Let's face it: if she were a dude, she'd be the kind of character that would become fandom's instant Top Woobie-in fact, there was something about the show's framing of Kara's suffering and issues that looked suspiciously a lot like Man!Pain. Not that she can easily be put in a box: over the show, we've seen her be hero and cold-blooded killer, competent mentor and pathetic drunk, torturer and hostage, devoted wife and Other Woman, infinitely relatable person trying to deal with her world being literally blown to bits and...well, whatever she was in the finale. Yet despite all those facets, I can honestly say there wasn't a moment I wasn't, if not actively rooting for her, definitely empathizing with her character.

I know a lot of the Kara-related fannish activity was centered around Kara/Lee, but to me, that was the least interesting aspect of the character (though admittedly my most frequent source of frustration with some of her actions, especially in later seasons). Don't get me wrong, the bratty, pseudo-incestuous and incredibly convoluted nature of their dynamic had its moments, but I much preferred her “why don't you love me, daddy?” vibe with Adama senior (granted, that seemed to be a question a lot of the characters seem to subtextually ask Pappadama at times. Except it didn't usually end with him trying to kill them. Except that one time with Sharon), her more distant but equally complicated interaction with Roslin, the surprising healthiness of her friendship with Helo, the complete and utter disaster that was her marriage to Sam (I still maintain Sam and Dee should have totally hooked up and given the other two the finger. Things would have worked out SO MUCH BETTER for all concerned), the EPICNESS of her ongoing feud with Saul Tigh (with the high point them getting drunk together in that Daybreak deleted scene. I swear, if Tigh didn't remind me looks-wise of a fitter John McCain, I would be shipping that SO HARD) ...and let's not even get into the Stockholm Syndrome mess that was that Thing with Leoben.

Kara wasn't perfect, and the show's general treatment of its female characters has already been discussed at length elsewhere (short version: it sucked). But despite all my issues with Galactica, I can never quite hate on it, if only for the genius idea to genderswap Starbuck in the re-imagined version, leaving us with that glorious, lasting impression of a character who should be next to the dictionary definition of “kicking ass and taking names”.


( Days 1-30 )

Day Eight: Favorite female character in a comedy show: Annie Edison



Annie is not the type of character I usually go fangirly over: she's perky, rather sexually repressed, and almost naïve at times in the ways she sees the world. Yet I find myself utterly charmed by everything she does. Even among a wonderfully bizarre and hilarious cast of characters, there's a kind of intense earnesstness about Annie that frequently makes her stand out, and in a group that includes the douchey cynicism of Jeff and the sheer trainwreck that is Pierce, it's nice to have Annie occasionally be the group's consciousness.

A large part of it is in the sheer genius of Allison Bree's performance. It would be easy to make an occasionally moralizing overachiever with past addiction issues and the dress sense of a ten-year-old into an annoying, OTT stereotype, but she plays Annie's quirkiness just right.

Just check out this clip of Annie and Abed playing D&D.


And for anyone who isn't: watch Community!


( Days 1-30 )

Day Six: Favorite female-driven show Buffy the Vampire Slayer




Is this cheating? You know how it goes: shows with a roughly equal gender ratio are perceived to be female-dominated, and it's true much of fandom's energy (and screentime in later seasons) was dedicated to certain male characters. On the other hand, trying to think of majority female cast shows made me think of the either depressingly stereotypical (Sex and the City) to shows than I either haven't watched or wasn't crazy for (Xena and Lost Girl, respectively). And the fact remains that, for all its flaws, Buffy at its core remained about the story of a girl, and over the years it has offered truly amazing and varied female characters.

At the end of the day, it's a show that holds a special significance to me that no other show has managed to replicate so far. Whether it's the camp, brilliant metaphors and witty dialogue that characterised the earlier seasons to the less universally beloved grit and darkness of the last few years, BtVS kept me hooked throughout, right up to a finale that is, to me, the most feminist closing of a television series. I cared about Buffy and the Scoobies' struggles, battles and evolving relationships. And while the wankiest fandom battles were about the canon het ships, it's easy to forget how good it was at portraying female relationships, from the occasionally rocky but always strong Buffy and Willow friendship, to delightfully convincing sisters Buffy and Dawn, to one of the first long-term tv lesbian relationships in Willow and Tara and, of course, to the antagonistic and sexually charged dynamic between Buffy and Faith. There's just something wonderful and magical about the show I haven't been able to let go of, and it's not just because it was my introduction to fandom. It's telling that whenever a great new show comes up, for a significant portion of fans the question seems to be “But is it the new Buffy?”.

( Days 1-30 )

Day Four: A female character you relate to: Jessica Jones




In a way, superhero comic books were my first fandom, from when I started reading them at 13 (the Greek editions, before moving on to the originals, dictionary in hand. I'm self-taught in English, and about 90% initially came from X-MEN comics leading to my occasionally creative use of grammar, though thankfully not to phonetic accent spelling). As much as I identified with some of the younger characters as a teen (Kitty Pride, Jubilee and Illyana Rasputin, to name a few), I never found a character when I recently reread them that just clicked for me.

Then a picked up Michael Bendis' Alias (no relation to the show, just a poor marketing decision). Alias' protagonist, Jessica Jones, is essentially a failed superheroine running her own P.I. Agency. Throughout the limited series, we get to see her solve cases, witness the disaster area that is her love life, and eventually get the full reveal of her backstory and what led her to this point in life. Unlike the more typical superhero, who tends to have a clear purpose and more traditionally heroic traits, Jessica is cynical, often reluctant and embodies the very essence of the traditional noir hero (rather than the “femme fatale” noir archetype). Despite possessing superpowers (and her origin story having some almost Mary Sue qualities in the way she's inserted into classic canon) her reactions seem, to me, very much like a normal person finding herself in bizarre circumstances- from feeling in over her head in several of her cases to discussing guys with Carol Danvers (and her vehement refusal to date someone named “Ant Man”), everything she does just feels authentic. The book was launched under Marvel's adult “Max” line, which means Jessica gets to smoke, drink, have casual sex and swear up a storm in every scene she's in, something rare in comic book female characters (or, indeed, any female characters not explicitly marked by the text as “bad” or “messed up”), which makes her very much rateable to me.

And by the end of the book, for all her flaws, pessimism and lack of that superhero je ne sais quoi, she manages to get herself out of her slump, confront her past and defeat her demons, and even ends up in a relationship with superhero Luke Cage (like it was ever going to be Ant Man!). I haven't been crazy about her storylines post-Alias, but I still cherish what I consider that piece of comic book perfection.

And for a bonus taste of the character, what happens when Jessica stumbles on a robbery at a convenience store (I realise the art is an acquired taste, but you can't beat the dialogue):

( Cut for very large images )
( Days 1-30 )

Day Two: Favorite supporting female character: Luna Lovegood




It took me AGES to figure this one out, as I initially made the mistake on focusing on TV characters, and I tend to like enssemble shows, making it hard to figure out exactly who qualifies as a supporting character. Once I rembered the fandom that got me into lj in the first place, the answer was obvious.

Not the most original choice, I'll grant you. Luna seems almost universally beloved by HP fandom (which, given how divisive it can be, is a pretty rare thing), and with good reason. One of the few non-Gryffindor and Slytherin students that get fleshed out, Luna is about as far as you can imagine from the stereotypical Ravenclaw. Sure, she's got a natural curiosity and thoughtfulness, but those tend to be focused on a wonderful world she alone inhabits. She very much marches to the beat of her own drum, is completely unfazed by trivialities like being captured prisoner by Death Eaters, and has more compassion and empathy in her little finger than most of the more traditionally “heroic” characters.

Also, she possesses a certain quality that makes me ship her with everyone. And I do mean everyone, not just HP characters. There is no crossover, no matter how cracky, that wouldn't work with Luna. Go on, just try to imagine one. As far as I'm concerned, there can never be enough Luna crossover fic.

( Days 1-30 )

Gacked from...everyone, actually:


Ask me my fannish Top Five [Whatevers]. Any top fives. Doesn't matter what, really! Some people have come up with some creative ones. And I will answer them all in a new post.

-It’s rather ridiculous how hot it gets here in the summer. It’s sort of bearable if you’re lying on a beach feeling the summer breeze, but in the center of Athens, with the concrete and the fog? Kind of what hell must feel like.

-My (very) belated answers to the “ask to blog about anything” meme:

mimine asked me to blog about underwear

( Huh, turns out I had quite a bit to say about that )



anehan asked for my thoughts on Snape/Hermione
( I may never tire of bitching about this )

( Trek recs )