they say our love won't pay the rent

[lostinapapercup]

I really do have a soft spot for the movie Groundhog Day.


Inspired by the coming lovefest for fictional females over at halfamoon, here's a game: name a canon you know I know, and I'll tell you (in no particular order) my three favorite females and why. And then I'll name a canon for you, because I'm just as curious as I am eager to share.

Comments

[ashavah]

Battlestar Galactica!

[lostinapapercup.livejournal.com]

(Happy Birthday!)

Laura Roslin. Oh God, how I love Laura Roslin. She's a fantastic character, so wonderfully human. From her second scene (if I recall correctly) where she has to excuse herself and go be silently terrified by the news the doctor just gave her, right up until her very last scene, I adored her. I'm notorious for having trouble with characters when they get fixated on their destiny, but I had no trouble following Laura through all the twists and turns of BSG. That woman, while not always the perfect pillar of strength, has a spine so strong it could stop a freight train, and I believed every one of her flaws.

It also helped that sometime in season two her hairstyle reminded me very much of one my mom had when I was younger.

Kara Thrace. Oh yeah, I'm predictable. Tough-as-nails young woman with something tragic in her past and emotional issues out the wazoo? That's our Starbuck. I love Kara because she's highly complex. Even to the point of being too complicated, perhaps, especially where romance is concerned. She's very confident (and deservedly so) in some aspects of her life and a mess in others. I didn't always like the way her storyline was handled, but she's no Mary Sue: she's undeniably flawed, she's got way more than her fair share of attitude, she doesn't always know what she want, and she can be a really obnoxious drunk. Season four was rough for me as a Starbuck fan, and I was glad when the latter part of the season allowed her to be less focused on her destiny and just... be herself.

Sharon "Athena" Agathon. Oh, the tragedy of Sharon. I liked Boomer a lot when initially watching the pilot and was genuinely moved by her panic and self-doubt during the entire first season or so, but oh. Oh. My love for her did not last the whole show. Athena's storyline is honestly so heavy-handed in parts that I almost can't take it, but her struggle for acceptance and her deep love for her family win me over.

And now for you! How about... Stargate Atlantis? I haven't seen a lot of it, but I've seen enough -- even if just in bits and pieces -- to know who all the characters are.

[ashavah]

(Thank you!)

Elizabeth Weir: Oh, Elizabeth. She's one of my absolute favourite Atlantis characters, because she has a wonderful combination of strength and frailty. She's compassionate and sensitive, and deeply caring. Yet when she needs to, she's got nerves of steel and will fight literally to the death to protect the people under her command. It's a beautiful thing to watch her calmly tear strips off the bureaucrats who want to send Sheppard home from Atlantis because they're afraid they can't control him and insist that he not only remains commander of the forces in Atlantis, but that he gets promoted. That's Elizabeth to a T: fierce, loyal, passionate, and cool-headed. The boyfriend who dumps her because she's off in Atlantis? Such an idiot.

Samantha Carter: It's a wonderful thing to see Sam grow into command. We see her as the newly promoted leader of Atlantis, unsure how things will go for her. As a woman and a scientist in a man and soldier's world in the Air Force, Sam's had to fight hard to get where she is, and that shows in her incredible toughness. She's about the only person who can ever get Sheppard to obey orders, which says a lot for her force of character. I also love that she sort of spans the two different types of characters in Atlantis in that she's both a scientist and a soldier, and she's able to see things both from a military and a scientific standpoint. She grows so much as a character, and I'm really enjoying going back to SG-1 now and seeing her grow there, as well. I was really disappointed we only got one season of her as leader of Atlantis.

Teyla Emmagan: I had to think hard about who'd be my number three (if we were going to four, Jennifer Keller would be fourth). I love Teyla because she's tough as nails, a real warrior, and can kick anyone's ass five different ways (and is not above giving Sheppard a good beating in sparring matches whenever he deserves it). But she's an incredibly diplomatic and sensitive woman, and a gentle and compassionate leader to her people. I hated seeing her imprisoned by the Wraith/human hybrid Michael in season 4 and 5, but I cheered her on when she faced him and her fears for her son's safety down and dealt with him. She's a great foil and conscience for the senior staff of Atlantis.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Bypassing the obvious...

Let's go with Shakespeare's plays. To start with, at least.

[lostinapapercup.livejournal.com]

Hee, to start with. ♥

Beatrice. From what may be my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, she's one of my dream roles -- one of two that are Shakespearean, for that matter -- and I think I'm pretty transparent here: my dear Lady Disdain is a smart lady with a smart mouth. She falls in love over banter and through the meddling of a cousin she's devoted to, and I enjoy her love story more than any of Shakespeare's tragic works, no matter how classic.

Katherina. The Taming of the Shrew's Kate is my other Shakespearean dream role. Although I did play her a scene for a high school English class. I love her wit, her sharpness, her refusal to submit. I even love the Moonlighting episode where... oh, you know what I'm going to say, right? I love it. My problem came in my teens when I reread the play and realized how much I hated her father's deal with Petruchio and Petruchio's efforts to change her. I had no problem with her becoming a kinder person, but I didn't like the hows and whys that led to it.

Rosalind. - As You Like It was one of my favorite plays for a long time, from back when I first got these little education comic-style versions of some of Shakespeare's plays from my dad. I still have a soft spot for quick-witted (a trend here!) Rosalind. She's of his most compelling and three-dimensional female characters; I can't think of many that measure up to her.

And for you: Howl's Moving Castle? The book or its whole series. I'm not picky.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

What great answers. ♥ Here are mine, and my caveat is that these were very hard to pick!

- Mrs. Pentstemmon. Howl's teacher is an incredibly formidable character, no-nonsense in a way that shows she holds so much power and sway, and she doesn't waste a single moment of the little time she knows she has left. While it's nice that she's able to boss Howl around, I also like the respect she has for his abilities and the faith she has in him where many other people don't.

- Flower-In-The-Night (from Castle in the Air). Diana Wynne Jones is good at creating kickass ladies who won't take no for an answer, and Flower-In-The-Night is one of those. I can't imagine the skill it took her to organize all those princesses into an army and convince an evil djinn to do what she wants. Also, her destiny aside, she does exactly what she wants and makes the most out of everything.

- Lilly Angorian. I like characters who seem like they're background noise and distractions and end up being the ones with the real power, and she's definitely one of them. Diana Wynne Jones does a great job of using her as a smokescreen, making us think she's just another romantic interest for Howl, when in fact she's the one who ties all the pieces together.