(no subject)

[skygiants]

Am I ever going to pass up an opportunity to babble extensively about AWESOME LADIES? The answer is: no, I most certainly am not!

Therefore, stolen from in_the_blue and a few other people by now: 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

[web-of.livejournal.com]

Princess Tutu! Because nothing says badass like a tutu.

[skygiants]

Princess Tutu, I am ashamed to say, is pretty easy for me because even though there are lots of awesome ladies there are clearly some that hold special places in my heart.

Rue: After several rewatches, Rue has become completely my favorite character in the series. She's so complicated, and she grows so much, and there's so much she gives up - I love how human she is deep down, and how her friendship with Duck is ultimately as important as her relationship with Mytho (even though she's never talked to another girl like this, she doesn't think she hates it!) and how the one thing she knows how to do is love, and every time I hear "The Dying Swan" these days, I have to stop and go RUUUUUUUUUUE in my heart.

Duck: Of course I adore Duck! Drosselmeyer's Mary Sue who destroys the script and thwarts tragedy single-handedly, just by real person who cares about everyone and not just the pretty boy she's supposed to be in love with. I love her terrible taste in clothing (DUCK PANTS) and her amazing Fakir impressions and how very, very hard she tries, and most of all I love how she refuses to vanish. Because she doesn't need to sacrifice herself to save the boy, she just needs to be herself.

Pique: I love Pique because she is so SANE. It's easy to miss because Lilie is so crazy! But Pique is completely under the impression that she's in a normal dance school and people should react in normal ways. So she has a crush on the jerktastic-but-hot older boy (and finds Mytho totally boring, which I find hilarious) and tells Duck to do her homework and runs around doing normal teenaged things. And I love that she's the only person who goes up to Mytho and is like, "hey, that Fakir relationship? That - that looks kind of unhealthy. And maybe you should get out of that." I mean, she's going after the wrong person in this case, but it's a SENSIBLE REACTION.

Revolutionary Girl Utena!

[futuresoon.livejournal.com]

BACCANO

AS IF YOU COULDN'T GUESS

[skygiants]

Baccano! is so hard! TOO MUCH AWESOME AND I LOVE THEM ALL @_@


okay okay okay um

Rachel: I LOVE RACHEL OKAY. She is the Biggest Damn Hero ever to not appear in the opening credits. I love how she just kind of casually rescues everybody without even breaking a sweat, AND ALSO how she totally ends up having lunch and giving romantic advice to the most feared assassin in the world, ALSO without breaking a sweat. And also her inexplicable fashion choices. (Why army fatigues? WHY NOT.) Even the editor of the Daily Days thinks she is the most hardcore! If I end up requesting Baccano! for Yuletide next year I am totally requesting Rachel fic, because it needs to exist.

Nice Holystone: oh like you didn't know this was coming. NICE. She keeps a bomb in her eye socket! Do I even need to say anything more! And she totally does not even care about who sees her scars by this point; she is awesome and self-confident and totally in charge of a gang of amazing bootleggers. (Yes, Jacuzzi is technically in charge. But we all know who it is that everyone goes to for orders when Jacuzzi's teeth are chattering in terror.) It is not enough for her just to throw a knife; she throws a knife with a bomb on it. And yet, despite all this, she is one of the sanest characters on the show! Which says something either about her, or about Baccano! . . . (also she and Jacuzzi are so ridiculously adorable.)

Ennis: THIS THIRD SLOT WAS SO HARD, LET ME TELL YOU. But I think Ennis wins because she is just so amazingly earnest. She takes ISAAC AND MIRIA seriously. That tells you something! And she is still kind of learning how to be a person, and once she figures it out she's going to be an awesome one (she already kind of is.) And she wants a baby brother! Okay, she didn't ask for one, but Isaac and Miria gave her one anyway, and you know she is going to be the best and most badass big sister ever. Also, she looks super snazzy in her suit.

(Eve, Miria, and Chane were all runners-up for this third slot too - Eve a little more than the others just because I have an extra fondness for her after writing that Yuletide fic.)

I FORGOT TO GIVE YOU ONE. Princess Tutu!

[minkhollow]

Discworld!

[skygiants]

Discworld is haaaaaard. Um, this will totally be influenced by the fact that I read Unseen Academicals most recently. But yes.

Lady Sybil Ramkin: Lady Sybil IS. AMAZING. She's so warm-hearted and practical and freaking badass when it counts, and I ship Sybil/Vimes enormously. The city's whole hospital is named after her! FOR GOOD REASON. Someday, I would love a book where Lady Sybil and not Vimes gets to play the major active role - she's completely capable of it, and when Young Sam is a little older you know she will be charging back into the fray. (And now I want to reread Guards, Guards!)

Susan Death: When I was younger I always loved the Susan books best; now I think I love the Guards books a little more, but that does not detract from my belief that Susan is made of pure awesomesauce. I love her development from wannabe-goth teen to most sensible schoolteacher ever, I love the poker under the bed, and every time she and her grandpa have a heartwarming reconciliation I am full of joy.

Glenda Sugarbean: I fell in love with Glenda after reading Unseen Academicals and now she is very high in my heart! I firmly believe that she is going to help rule the city some day. She ignored Mrs. Whitlow and snickered at Ridcully, she gave the Patrician and Lady Margolatta both a piece of her mind, and she makes the best pies in the land; in short, she is a FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH. And everyone had better start learning it.

(Honorable mentions: um, all the witches ever? I did not name any of them because how can I pick just one! Also, Cheery Littlebottom.)

. . . I keep forgetting to actually give canons to other people! Because I suck. Can I do Discworld right back at you?

[agonistes]

Firefly!

[skygiants]

Zoe Washburne: Who is surprised that Zoe is my favorite? NO ONE is surprised. The deadpan snark, the utter loyalty, the complete and utter badassery . . . the only complaint I have about Zoe is that she was never given enough screentime or a story of her own, and if I have one dearest sorrow about Firefly being cancelled, it's that now we'll never get it. (Not that we necessarily would have anyways . . . but we'll never know now.)

Patience: Okay she appeared for all of one episode. But dammit, I love a lady who is willing to shoot off Mal Reynolds' kneecaps. (I love Mal too! But there is something about Patience's cheerful amorality that I seriously adore.)

Kaylee: I think Kaylee was my first exposure to the cheerful girly mechanic archetype, and it was so exciting! And I remember being really, really happy to have a character who was not hardcore-badass and who liked frilly dresses and girly things but was still competent, a character who I could identify with.

(River would have been on here, but I love Milliways River more than canon River, and also I feel like River gets so much attention from canon that other ladies should have a turn.)


Also, in exchange: Ugly Betty!

[blacksheep91.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you know, but I'll ask anyway:

Hana Yori Dango. (The LA drama preferably.)

[skygiants]

I actually do not know it! I saw a few episodes of the Korean version (Boys Over Flowers), but not enough to really get a sense for any of the characters except, like, the main three. Pick again?

[wavesofwood.livejournal.com]

DALEMARK♥

[skygiants]

DALEMARK oh man okay! Oh this is going to be hard.

Hildrida Navisdaughter: I never stopped loving Hildy - cranky, pompous, stuck-up brat though she is, but I have a fondness for cranky, pompous, stuck-up brats. And I love her determination, and how even though in many things she's selfish she always puts her brother first, and that she somehow miraculously grew a kind of moral code even with the upbringing she had. And I spend a lot of book 4 fanwanking her behavior to make sense, because yes, she's acting awful to Mitt at that point, but . . . kids are allowed to go through phases of being awful, and I do believe she has reasons for it.

Maewen Singer: OH MAEWEN. How can anyone not love Maewen? Partly because she's a reader stand-in, totally - an Ordinary Girl dropped down into the middle of this crazy story - and partly because she knows how history goes, and she just has to hang in there until it comes out properly, and because she yells at Mitt and Moril to get their heads on straight and she's got such good sense at heart.

Brid Singer: I always want more Brid - well, I always want more wacky Singer siblings in general, but I am really fond of Brid especially. She has such chutzpah! I like that she thinks she's better than she is, because it's so human (and I suspect that since we're looking at things through Moril's viewpoint, he sees her talents slightly less charitably than a non-sibling would) and how she is Clennen's grandiose, larger-than-life daughter through-and-through.

Honorable mention goes to Tanaqui and Lenina! (But Tanaqui especially.)

And I ask for Dalemark right back at you! (Because I always want an excuse to make more people babble about Dalemark.)

[elspeth-vimes.livejournal.com]

The Sun Sword!

[skygiants]

That is HARD. Because there are like a million characters and they are all awesome ladies! :O

Serra Teresa: How do have absolutely zero official status and still manage to completely manipulate the fate of an entire empire? BY BEING AS BADASS AS SERRA TERESA, THAT IS HOW. (Which means that no one else can, except possibly Serra Diora.) What I love most about her, though, is after all that badassery, in the end she's completely capable of throwing it all away and picking up a different life when it becomes necessary. Because that is possibly the most hardcore of all.

Finch: Yes, I love Jewel . . . but I possibly am starting to love Finch even more, for trying so hard to BE Jewel, and for "What Would Jewel Do? . . . aside from be a jerk, but OTHER than that." And for trying really hard to stand up for herself against some terrifying and powerful people! I am so looking forward to seeing more of her.

Serra Maria: Another minor character who I love unreasonably! I am so fascinated by her, and how on earth she has managed to hold two such disparate roles as proper Serra and VOYANI MATRIARCH. You have to be kind of crazy impressive to pull that off without tearing yourself apart. I don't know if we'll see much more of her, but hers is a backstory I would really like to find out about.

(Honorable mentions of course go to Jewel and Margret and Miriam and and and and . . .)

Agh I keep forgetting to ask things in return! THE COLLECTED WORKS OF URASAWA.

[agentclaudia.livejournal.com]

BtVS?

[skygiants]

Ohhhh a wealth of options here! And I am going to go with some unpopular ones, because I am contrary like that. >:D

Cordelia Chase: OH CORDY. How so awesome! I am a total sucker for the bitchy-girl-turned-awesome-heroine trope - that girl who may be a jerk, but you know what, in face of peril, she continues to be a jerk who does what needs doing and also is a jerk to the bad guys, and thus proves her bona fides of hardcoreness. I loved how she did not care enough to tell the nice little lies to each other that everybody else did, and that she might not have actually liked the Scoobies all that much, actually, but that doesn't stop her from fighting evil anyway.

Tara: What I love most about Tara is how, once she comes out of her shell a little, she is so quietly sane. When everyone else in season six is running around digging themselves deeper and deeper into their own little unhappy holes, Tara gets herself out of an unhappy situation and keeps on living her life. She's calm, but she's got massive amounts of backbone. Also I love her ridiculous dress sense.

Amanda: My favorite Potential Slayer! Plays D&D with the best of them! Punches annoying boys in the FACE! shati and I once stayed up all night rewriting the last few seasons of Buffy; in our version, Jonathan and Amanda both live, and hook up, and are the most adorably height-incompatible couple ever and play D&D ALL THE TIME. And that is how it will always be in my heart. <3

Also: for you, the works of Shakespeare! Whatever you have read most recently.

[oneechan19.livejournal.com]

Avatar the Last Airbender!

[skygiants]

Again: hard! :O TOO MANY AWESOME LADIES, TOO LITTLE TIME.

Toph: TOPH IS AWESOME. EVERYBODY BETTER RECOGNIZE. FULL STOP. She is literally the most badass person on the show, quite probably the most badass person IN THE WORLD, and also the most hilariously cranky twelve-year-old in existence. <3333 This combination is like my kryptonite! Every time she punches Sokka in the shoulder in a manly way because she can't admit she liiiiikes him, my heart grows three sizes. Every time she and Katara bond over Toph's secret secret inner angst, my heart grows FOUR sizes. Every time she reminds them all for the umpty millionth time that SHE CAN'T ACTUALLY SEE THE POSTER YOU'RE UNFURLING, my heart grows FIVE SIZES!

Mai: I love Mai, and I love her extra because for some reason there are large portions of fandom that are bizarrely anti-Mai. How can you hate Mai! I love her hilarious deadpan, and how she is almost as cool as she thinks she is, and her FIVE MILLION KNIVES, and how she doesn't hate Zuko, and how, in the end, the fate of the world hangs in the balance of her choice . . . almost. Because really, the fate of the world hangs on:

Ty Lee: I love Ty Lee because I have never seen a character quite like her before on TV, I think. She's so cheerful and likeable! But she works for Team Evil! But she's actually competent! But her choice not to let one of her best friends kill the other is actually quite possibly what saves the world! OH TY LEE. <3333

For you: Fullmetal Alchemist!

I don't have an appropriate icon uploaded yet

[genarti]

THREE GUESSES

(It's that or Inda. :D)

Re: I don't have an appropriate icon uploaded yet

[skygiants]

DUDE IT'S NOT LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW ALREADY *giggling* (Alternately: EVERYONE in the Awesome FMA Ladies Post I made a week or two ago.) But OKAY I guess I can bring myself to babble anyway

Lt. Riza Hawkeye: GOSH WHAT A SURPRISE do I have to rehash everything we have been saying in email all day week THIS PAST LONG TIME. *cracking up* But for the benefit of anyone else who might be interested: Riza is so awesome! She is a HARDCORE ACTUAL GROWNUP PERSON who TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER ACTIONS; it is not that her only choice is to revolutionize the world, she does have other choices, but it's the only way to live with herself. <3333333 Haaaaaaawkeye.

Izumi Curtis: Izumi is so incredibly badass! But besides that, as I have said before also and will say again: dude, where else in fiction have you ever seen a disabled woman with an incredibly strong and happy marriage be the single most hardcore person in the universe? Susannah probably qualifies, but I think that's it.

General Olivier Milla Armstrong: It breaks my heart not to have room for Ross or Paninya or Lan Fan, but when it comes down to it I have to go with General Armstrong: ruler of the north, savvy middle-aged career soldier, PERSONIFICATION OF AWESOME. I love how badass she is, but I also love how savvy she is. Who else could get away with baldly informing the Fuhrer that she killed one of his generals in cold blood because the general just WAS NOT HARD ENOUGH? Nobody else could!



Also, while I'm here, I may as well do Inda too. :D

Hadand: Hadand is going to be the best queen ever. True, her situation sort of sucks for her. :( But she deals with it with grace! I fell in love with her during that competition with Tanrid, when they for once let their awesome flag fly and bond over super sibling hardcore, and I have not stopped loving her since. <3

Jeje: Our trademark Sherwood Smith cheerful ordinary-looking girl who is constantly questioning the sanity of all the drama queens around her! Which is enough of a reason to love her, but she's also incredibly fierce and loyal. (And I love her deep barrel-voice. I say this like I've actually heard it, which of course I haven't. But I can imagine it!)

Tdor: Tall and scrawny and cleverer than you'd think her for being so honest. Tdor is just a good person, and you can tell that. Which is why Inda relies completely on her advice, as a kid! And, like Hadand, she copes with difficult situations with grace; she has her own hopes and dreams, but she also knows her priorities and her duty.

FOR YOU: Utena!

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

The Chrestomanci series. Just to be difficult different.

[skygiants]

The problem is, I am going to be referencing Witch Week extensively, which as far as I know you have not yet read! OH WELL more motivation for you guys to get around to it. :D

Estelle Green: Estelle is a knitting chatterbox who seems like nothing more than a spineless hanger-on of the boarding school's popular crowd. BUT WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW is that Estelle's mom is in prison for smuggling condemned witches out of the country, and Estelle is determined to secretly keeping watch on the whole school in case someone eventually needs rescuing. Which doesn't stop her from being genuinely sweet and bubbly and chattery, which I love too, but there are such hidden depths under there. <3333

Nan Pilgrim: Another Witch Week girl, Nan is dumpy and plain but has a secret gift (well, aside from the witchcraft): she can describe things amazingly. Sometimes she gets so caught up in describing things that she can't stop, which is kind of a problem at the lunch table when she is going on about how the tinned tomatoes look like skinned mice. >.> At the start, she's sort of the school punching bag, but throughout the story she finds her spine and her voice, and it's a hell of a voice. I love her a lot.

Millie: I love Millie in all stages of life! As a cranky goddess, kind of scared for her life, but also just bored and longing for a life like she reads about in books; as a sensible and far-too-stubborn teenager, mocking Christopher mercilessly and occasionally getting into scrapes she can't quite get out of; as an extremely sensible adult witch and mother, with how powerful she is hidden under a layer of ordinariness that you have to squint to see past. She is amazing at every stage!

For you . . . Samurai Champloo!

[aberration]

BSG!

[skygiants]

Tory Foster: Oh, like you didn't know that was coming. *laughing* Tory is my ultimate "fuck you, she's awesome!" character. She got a raw deal, and I love her extra because no one else will; she was awesomely competent, and willing to be underhanded for what she believed in, and no one respected her for it. Is it any wonder that she eventually joined the Cylons? I submit to you: no; see also, Appendix A, That Fic Becca Wrote That One Time In Order To Drone For Several Thousand Words On This Subject.

Athena: Boomer was the first lady in the series I fell in love with . . . and I still feel bad for transferring my affections a little to Sharon/Athena, because did Boomer ever get a raw deal. And I love Boomer too! But I love the lengths Sharon was willing to go to, once she'd picked her side, and how much she eventually becomes part of the crew in spite of everything - that takes a lot of guts, and a lot of perseverance. I think it's that that I admire most about her, how she stuck that out.

D'Anna/Three: It was a tough call, on this, between D'Anna and Ellen Tigh. But eventually D'Anna won out. Because she's Xena Because she's so snarky and cynical, but at the same time she really, really believes in something. (And also, just because she's fabulous. >.>)

BSG back at you!

[gramarye1971]

Phantom of the Opera, in whatever incarnation you choose. ^_^

[skygiants]

HAHAHAHAHA OKAY

Meg Giry: I have basically always seen Phantom of the Opera from a Meg's-eye view. (In fact, I think my very first posted fanfiction was a Very Secret Diary version of Meg's journal. *nostalgia*) She just seems so sane compared to the rest of the cast! "Christine, please stop talking about the voices in your head, you sound like a CRAZY PERSON" seems to be pretty much her attitude. And who can deny that it is, indeed, an eminently sane and sensible attitude?

Madame Giry: Oh my god, the woman is such an amazing drama queen. *_* I mean, presumably she is also a good ballet teacher! But you know she gets an incredible thrill out of swooping around wearing black and intoning ominous warnings. And the managers are just like "PLEASE, Madame Giry, you are NOT BEING HELPFUL."

Christine Daae: She's a total airhead who probably should not be let out alone, but I can't help it, I have a great fondness for her. She totally thinks the Phantom is her dead father! Which you have to admit makes it pretty awkward when he tries to hit on her. :( She spends most of her time off in la-la land, but you have to admit she's basically a sweetheart who just got unlucky with stalkers.

For you: Sailor Moon!