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Aug. 7th, 2009 11:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsAlso: meme-thieving!
Ask me my fannish Top Five [Whatevers]. Any top fives. Doesn't matter what, really!And I will answer them all in a new post I will probably just answer them in comments in this post, I am lazy.
Also as far as I am concerned 'fannish' translates to 'fictional', I am easy!
Ask me my fannish Top Five [Whatevers]. Any top fives. Doesn't matter what, really!
Also as far as I am concerned 'fannish' translates to 'fictional', I am easy!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2009-08-07 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 04:37 pm (UTC)#5: "LOOK, I'M SORRY I STOLE YOUR EYEBROWS FOR MY NOVEL!" The premise of Sylvester. Which says it all right there.
#4: "CROSS-DRESSING LEADS TO COMPLICATED HIJINKS!" My favorite complication pops up in The Corinthian, which features a glorious combination of "the only way to fix this problem is for you to FAKE ELOPE with me!" AND "whoops, no, really, I'm not actually a dude!"
#3: "DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT LOVE RIGHT NOW! YOU HAVE TO HOLD THIS DUCKLING INSTEAD!" Basically the best part of The Grand Sophy.
#2: "THIS IS A VERY INCONVIENT ABDUCTION!" Best in Sylvester, where Phoebe and her BFF get carried off in a boat because their captors have no idea how to take care of a small child!
#1: "LET'S STICK ALL THE CHARACTERS IN AN INN TOGETHER UNTIL THEY BECOME BFF!" This adorable trope is one of my favorite things about Heyer and is put to best use in Sprig Muslin, where the young girl, her would-be rescuer, and her abductor all bond so much that by the time the end of the book comes around they're calling him Uncle Gary!
I am kind of surprised that I could not get tropes from either The Unknown Ajax or Cotillion on this list, which are some of my favorites! But though I think they're both really good, they are not such fonts of DETERMINED WACKINESS as many of her other novels.
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Date: 2009-08-07 03:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 05:17 pm (UTC)#5: The only reason Wendy Watson is not higher up this list is because, aside from being a sidekick, she is also a series protagonist! But she makes it anyways, because for the moment at least she IS a professional sidekick and because is composed of 100% pure-grade awesome. Her superpower is being totally unflappable in the face of any and every kind of bizarreness! AND AN AWESOME SUPERPOWER IT IS.
#4. Amy Trevelyne, from the Bloody Jack books. A quiet, intellectual, generally disapproving young lady who has somehow found herself BFF with a crossdressing merchant-actress-singer-thief-pirate-spy! And therefore decided to put all her adventures down in print. :D My reaction to most of the latest Bloody Jack books has been "yes, very good, but NEEDS MOAR AMY."
#3: Danny Hislop, from Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond saga. Forget Lymond, DANNY is the hottest character in the books. Basically he follows Our Angsty Superman around for half the series because he finds all his angsty scrapes fascinating and hilarious, like his own personal soap opera! "And the prospect of watching the Crawford family at grips with itself was something that, blissfully, he wanted very much for his birthday."
#2: Even though I prefer to pretend Heroes ended after season 1 these days, I still retain the full force of my love for Ando. He'll do a lot of things for you, Hiro, but he WON'T WEAR TIGHTS.
#1: In conclusion:
(Honorable mention for Joseph from the Company books, who isn't really a sidekick except sometimes, but totally fits the archetype!)
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Date: 2009-08-07 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 03:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 03:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 06:25 pm (UTC)Also, I'm eliminating all the Princess Tutu music from the running because the whole soundtrack is a.) stolen and b.) gorgeous and I still get shivers every time I hear Drosselmeyer's theme and it would be UNFAIR.
#5: It is solely the fact that Evangelion is such an RIDICULOUSLY MESSED-UP anime that makes the use of Fly Me To the Moon as its ending theme so utterly hilarious!
#4: The Gunslinger Girl anime has a gorgeous opening to a song by The Delgados, The Light Before We Land.
#3: KISS KISS FALL IN LOVE! (My roommate from college once threatened to put this on her alarm clock and wake me up with it every morning.)
#2: The first opening theme to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I think it is called Again? (Lyrics are here. Anyway, it's the determined little-kid voices that get me. I don't like the second opening nearly so much.
#1: The Mouryou No Hako opening. Translated lyrics are here. There's something about the song that's so amazingly pretty and creepy at once; I can't find one with dub-translation, but there's a line "I'll be reborn again as myself" that I really really like.
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Date: 2009-08-07 06:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 03:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 04:15 pm (UTC)Or I am at work, and selected an icon more or less at random. This is more likely.
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Date: 2009-08-07 04:23 pm (UTC)You thought it was random, but your subconscious knew the evil truth!
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Date: 2009-08-07 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 06:56 pm (UTC)#5: ORKNEYS. I have always had a weird fascination with the Orkney siblings from Arthurian legend; I don't care if their version exists more in my head than anywhere else, I find that whole complicated, messed-up, fiercely loyal family completely fascinating.
#4: Sophie Hatter and her sisters from Howl's Moving Castle. Sophie's relationship with Lettie and Martha (and her stepmother Fanny) is a large part of the reason I love the book as much as I do; it's so real and frustrating and warm in the way that sibling relationships are!
#3: Yes, Diana Wynne Jones gets to be on here twice. :D Mig and Chris from Black Maria are pretty much my epitome of a well-written brother-sister relationship in fiction - they fight almost as much as they make each other crack up, Mig crushes hardcore on Chris' best friend and Chris mocks her mercilessly, they drive each other crazy and they won't stop at anything to save each other when necessary.
#2: Inda, Hadand and Tanrid, in Sherwood Smith's Inda series. I LOVE how this series handles family dynamics within its social structure, and these three are a great example. Tanrid doesn't know how to show affection except by trying to hammer training into Inda, and occasionally awkwardly patting him on the head; Inda is worships Tanrid; Hadand loves Inda enough to SECRETLY TRAIN HIM in SECRET BADASS LADIES' COMBAT; Hadand and Tanrid bond by sharing a Crowning Moment of Awesome when they face off against each other in boys vs. girls warrior training, and it's kind of wonderful to see them trying to form their tentative bonds even though they don't know how.
#1: The kids in L.J. Smith's The Night of the Solstice and Heart of Valor. I always feel like four is the right number for siblings, and these are the BEST siblings. The oldest sister is the long-lost heir of King Arthur! The middle is the completely ordinary one who has to get rescued from the clutches of fairy ladies all the time! His twin sister is a GENIUS MAD SCIENTIST with PURPLE EYES! The littlest one talks to animals and has a runny nose! And there is so much beautiful bickering and pettiness and surprise bonding and root loyalty, and it is amazing. My favorite is when Alys (the oldest - the sword-wielding Responsible one) and Janie (the mad scientist) get attacked by a magic thingumabobber after they've been having sibling power struggles all night, and after they finally beat it Janie looks at Alys and grins and says, "We should do more of these sister things together." GIANT HEARTS.
Honorable mention goes to the Elric brothers, who didn't make it on here because I haven't seen the whole series yet. :D
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Date: 2009-08-10 05:33 pm (UTC)It looks like my library has Heart of Valor but not The Night of the Solstice. What is wrong with you, Arlington!? And Alexandria has nothing but Vampire Diaries. Inda looks awesome, though, so I'll probably add it to my list!
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Date: 2009-08-10 08:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 04:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 07:10 pm (UTC)#5: Granny Weatherwax. Any time. EVERY TIME. I cannot pick just one! (Okay, maybe that time that she faced down the Queen of the Fairies WITH HER CRANKY BRAIN.)
#4: In Angel Sanctuary, Kurai gives God the finger and tells him that he should know better than to mess with a bunch of stubborn idiots. Because THAT'LL go over well!
#3: Sophie figures out that she's in love with Howl and furiously weed-kills half their garden in response, which seems perfectly reasonable to me!
#2: Mary Lennox SAVES COLIN CRAVEN'S LIFE . . . . by throwing a giant temper tantrum. BEST way!
#1: FAKIR DROPS AHIRU ONSTAGE AND STORMS OFF. *_* *_* *_*
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Date: 2009-08-07 04:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 07:23 pm (UTC)#5: While the Dalemark Quartet is among my favorite Diana Wynne Jones works ever, I don't think any of the endings of those books are super-strong except for Cart and Cwidder. Moril, after he's used the cwidder, when he says "I did it for Olab" and bursts into tears . . . that's such an incredibly poignant moment.
#4: The Ogre Downstairs is pretty small in scope, dealing as it does with just one family, and the end, where they've all grown to accept each other and really become a family, is kind of adorable. - oh darn how did I forget to list them for Favorite Fictional Siblings? They totally beat out the Hatter sisters!
#3: Contrary to what it might look like due to all my references here, Howl's Moving Castle is not actually my top favorite DWJ! But I do think it has one of the strongest (and most adorable) endings.
#2: I can't remember if you've read this one or not, so I will keep it unspoilery, but I really love the way that the end of Archer's Goon emphasizes the power of writing and how much Howard has to grow up. Even though I do always feel like it ended too soon, but I think that's just because I want more!
#1: THE HOMEWARD BOUNDERS. Call me a masochist, but even though it obviously sucks for Jamie, the ending makes so much sense even as it's a kick in the gut.
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Date: 2009-08-07 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-07 07:43 pm (UTC)I am going to say that it is real old women and thus allow myself not to list Sophie Hatter for like the fifty millionth time on these lists. >.>
#5: Aunt Maria, who I firmly maintain is one of the best villainnesses of ALL TIME EVER. So creepy! So amazing! I am legitimately terrified of her, and I can do nothing other than acknowledge the hardcore.
#4: Claire Meade is pretty much one of the best things about Ugly Betty. She was badass and hardcore as an alcoholic, she was badass and hardcore as a confessed murderess and jail escapee, she is badass and hardcore as the ruler of a media empire.
#3: Angela Petrelli! I am only including her as of season 1, because, as I have said, I like to pretend the rest of the show does not exist - okay, and the beginning of season 2 for the amazing that is Angela/Kaito - but oh man, HOW AWESOME was she in season 1?
#2: Granny Weatherwax has to top this list - she is such a power. And man, now I really want to reread some of my Discworld Witches books!
#1: But right now, my favorite old lady is AUNT LIL from Laurence Yep's Chinatown Mysteries. Aunt Lil is a wisecracking Chinese-American actress who starred in her own series of hijinks-ful adventures back in the day, and now SOLVES MYSTERIES! She wears wacky disguises! She challenges kung fu masters to SINGLE COMBAT and then defeats them with parlor tricks she learned on the set of "Kung Fu Granny"! She dodges murder attempts! She forces her niece to dress up like a jar of herbal medicine for promo stunts! BEST OLD LADY DETECTIVE EVER.
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Date: 2009-08-08 08:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-10 08:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-10 08:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-08 12:33 pm (UTC)YES I AM A SAP.
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Date: 2009-08-10 08:09 pm (UTC)Okay this is not really top 5, this is 'top 5 that I can think of right now in between conference calls,' but same difference yes?
#5: Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, at the end, when they read their letters that they wrote to each other and it's all "here's our own hands against our hearts" and then they get married and skip through the fields and all is joy and happiness.
#4: IN THE INTERESTS of providing some DWJ sappiness that is not Howl/Sophie (though I of course love me some Howl/Sophie), the bit in House of Many Ways where Calcifer is like "I have to save the day to DESERVE the heart that Sophie gave me!" CALCIFER. <3333
#3: Emerson tells Olive that she can be his sidekick at the end of that episode with the raincoats! ADORIMABLE. *waves tiny tiny Emerson/Olive OTP flag*
#2: Sokka tells Katara that she will always be his sister and he will always be behind her and then they hug and then Aang cries. And then Toph punches him in the face for being a wuss. BUT it is super sappy right before that!
#1: The finale of Princess Tutu! ALL OF IT. It destroyed my cynicism forever and I don't want to say anything more in case you someday see it (you should totally see it *cough*) but oh man the day is saved by the power of looooooove and the important thing is to be who you Really Are and [character] says "even if [spoilery thing] happens, I will always stay by your side" and there WILL BE A HAPPY ENDING, DAMMIT, BECAUSE THE DUCK SAID SO. <333333333333