(no subject)

[skygiants]

Guys, I was going to be so productive today. I had it all planned out. I was going to go to the used bookstore and see if they had the texts I need for class next week, and then I was going to go get myself a much-needed new pair of jeans and bra, and then I was going to go to the Whole Foods and stock up, and somewhere in between there I was going to reward myself for productivity by stopping at the good pizza place nearby for some solid pleasure reading time.

Due to the crazy organization of campus buses, this program also involved several miles of walking - which is a good thing! Or was. Until I got back from class, and it suddenly started pouring rain.

Yeah, my dedication to productivity is not that great, especially when I'm already vaguely sniffly. So instead, you all get a meme while I cross my fingers and hope the skies clear, squished together from fahye and shati:

Name either a character or a relationship between characters (not necessarily romantic) and I will a.) give my rambling opinion of him/her/it and b.) tell you one thing I really like about him/her/it.

Comments

[areyoumymemmy.livejournal.com]

Are you talking Milliways relationships or canon or both?

In either case, I'd like to start with Mary and Dickon!

[skygiants]

Both! :D

And oooh, Mary and Dickon. Okay. Well, for a start there is canon-to-current Mary and Dickon, which I love because - okay, there's an exchange in the book that sums up almost everything that makes me happy about what Dickon does for Mary. And it's when Mary is counting off people she likes, and Dickon says that he likes Mary and the robin likes Mary too, and Mary is like "That's two for me! :D" He doesn't just teach her how to care about things, but he's the main person in the book who convinces her that she's worth being cared about. And I love that. In a way that makes me want to ignore all the class and social relationships and say that in the future they will live HAPPILY EVER AFTER, although now that I'm RPing her it's more interesting to play with the various conflicts than otherwise. And come up with tragic future death sequences. *serene* But in my heart, they live in happy alterna-England where nobody cares if the master's niece marries the vaguely messianic servant's boy, and don't have to work but just hang around and garden and talk to plants all day.

[agonistes]

*considers*

Peter and Kaylee.

If not Peter and Kaylee, theeeeeen...Jayne and Lilly.

Or both!!

[skygiants]

Hmm. Okay.

Jayne and Lilly is easier, because I play half of it, so I will tackle that first! As an RPer, I like Jayne-/-Lilly because it allows both characters to get some believable depth in way that's IC and very much not zomgtruelove. Lilly's not in love with Jayne, and Jayne isn't really in love with Lilly - maybe a little bit, but it's not the PURENESS AND STRENGTH of the emotional attachment that gets him all pissy and possessive, it's the fact that there is one at all. And they're both dumb in certain ways, and enjoy the same things (like booze) so things keep happening, and then going horribly wrong, and while it's unlikely that they'll ever be an OTP, they are, I think, helping each other grow a little, and learn things about the consequences of interpersonal relationships.

. . . a little. If they learn too much they wouldn't be themselves. Or at least, that's my rambling take - Emmy, you should weigh in on this one!

As for Peter and Kaylee - well, I haven't read all the threads, but it makes me giggle a lot of the time, for a start. And I like that Peter's done his duckling-imprinting on someone who's not a member of his family (although if you have it turn out that Kaylee is a great-great-grand-descendant of the Petrelli family, do you know how hard I'll laugh? SO HARD) and that Kaylee has someone to talk to who shares her . . . sort of early outlook on the world, if that makes sense. Like, Peter is a lot more like Kaylee when she was all optimistic and chipper, before woe started bearing down and the storylines that the crew were involved in got darker. If I have a hope for the Peter-Kaylee friendship, it's that they help keep each other optimistic if bad shit keeps happening, instead of pulling each other down. If that makes sense.

*weighs in*

[areyoumymemmy.livejournal.com]

What Becca said!


Well, actually I can add a bit I think. Because yes, what she said. Canon!Lilly would most likely not have given a shit about Jayne's feelings and would have kept sleeping with him even if he was seriously interested in her and she didn't return the feelings. (e.g. Weevil!) Milli!Lilly has done some haunting and some observing and learning and just plain growing up, and the thing with Jayne both comes from that and is helping her learn more.

Because she does like him, even if she doesn't Love Him Truly and that means she feels guilty about potentially leading him on, or having casual sex that might mean something more to him, and... that means she gets defensive and bitchy! :D.

So yeah. Lots of learning and growth, but at the same time this isn't going to completely stop her from ill-advised romantic encounters or doing things first and regretting them later, especially if there is booze involved.

[winding_path]

Hmmmmm. I'm curious to know what you think of Amy, since I seem to remember your mentioning you were a fan of the book.

[skygiants]

I am! *grins* I read it in second grade, and then listened to it on tape a lot after that. And although of course I was tiny then, so I didn't think of it in quite the same way I do now (i.e., oh, it's so nice to see the normal politics of perfection in fairy tales disrupted) I really think it meant a lot to me to have a heroine who was normal. And to have that normality turn out to be valued, in the end, more than the girly perfection of the other princesses. Amy and Cimorene were probably my biggest princess role models when I was young, actually, and they both influenced that. They were ordinary, and they were useful, and they had a sense of humor, and they liked food - these were important things to me.

. . . actually, now I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if imprinting on Amy when I was young is one of the reasons that I often tend to be fondest of the ordinary, non-magical characters (like Dave, or Xander) in the stories I become invested in these days.

(Sidenote: have you read Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Air? I can't remember, but you should at least read the latter, if only for the fantastic princess lineup.)

[winding_path]

I have read Howl's Moving Castle, but it's been a while, and I honestly couldn't tell you anything about it except that I had read it. I need to double back.

*hugs*

[skygiants]

You should!

Read it, and then read the sequel - it's full of kickass princesses of all shapes and sizes. (And I really enjoy imagining Amy among them.)

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

Oooh! Nice meme. *steals for own journal*

Bran and Mary, or Archibald and Mary.

[skygiants]

Oh hey, I'm a trendsetter! *pleased*

(Well, technically Fahye and Shati are trendsetters, but.)

We have babbled a lot at each other about Archibald and Mary, so for now I will do Bran-Mary - I may come back and do Archibald-Mary depending on how my day goes. :D

The great thing about Bran and Mary, for me, is how seriously they take each other. Bran tries to protect Mary, but he never considers her efforts to do things she probably is too young to handle silly, and Mary accords Bran the kind of serious respect that she doesn't give to everyone she's close to (see: Wellard, or even Duo, both of whom have a very different relationship with her.) It's fantastic because they're both characters that take themselves very seriously, also - and while I love having Mary taken down several pegs, it's also really nice to play her against someone who can match that seriousness, because it builds a different kind of trust, and I think it does help her to act more maturely. And I think it makes Bran feel more responsible, too, although I could be wrong on that one. *grins*

[cupenny.livejournal.com]

Now I'm curious.

Mary-Duo and Mary-Wellard. ^_^

[skygiants]

Oooh. There are very different relationships for the both of them! *giggles* But I will try!

So: Mary-Duo first. Duo is . . . the easy way to say it would be that he's like her older brother, but that's not quite it. Mary thinks that Duo knows and can do just about everything; he's her oldest friend in Milliways, just about, and she loves him. That being said, Mary doesn't necessarily take Duo seriously quite all the time, because - well, he is often very silly. *dignified* But he is the absolute best at getting Mary to act like a real kid, and for that maybe most I love their relationship. She trusts him enough to laugh in front of him, and to let him laugh at her, and for Mary that's really, really rare.

As for Wellard - Mary treats Wellard like he's her little brother, or maybe like her cousin. She cares about him a lot, because she thinks he's a good person, like Dickon (although not quite to the same extent) and wants to take care of him. . . . that's probably something she's picked up from Duo unintentionally, actually; that good people need to be protected by people who are slightly less good but more practical or competent than they are. And Wellard, of course, does not think he needs to be taken care of, but - well, he's your character, so I would love for you to weigh back in on this at me! But I think he sees in Mary a little of the lonely kid he used to be, and that he enjoys teaching her things and taking care of her, and somehow that mutual feeling of must-be-taken-care-of balances out into a somewhat equal friendship. :D

[jothra]

That good people need to be protected by people who are slightly less good but more practical or competent than they are.

I hadn't thought of it that way before. But that is sooooo true, augh. He would be mad she thinks she is one of the latter people.

Duo is actually very glad Mary doesn't take him seriously most of the time. This is why he likes Milliways so much. Almost no one there knows what he has done/is capable of doing.

Of course, he wishes she'd take him seriously when things are serious, but that's the price you pay...

[skygiants]

*hugs Duo* Of course he would.

She actually does take him seriously a lot of the time! Just - less than all the time, which is a significant difference from the way she considers THE WORLD (very seriously indeed.)

[jothra]

The world is srs bzns?

[skygiants]

VERY SRS BSNS.

(They be stealin her sense of humor.)

After LJ ATE the whole big comment I just wrote *grrr*

[cupenny.livejournal.com]

Wellard does see himself in Mary, to some extent. (Hello, being orphaned at a young age and being sent to live with your (Great) Uncle who doesn't spend much time caring about you.) However, Mary is stong and stubborn- how Wellard wishes he could have been, when he was younger. (Sheesh. I watch his canon, and cringe a bit, and I think he realizes how he was back then as well. Ouch. Thankfully he's gotten so much better.) If she had been older, and male, she probably would have walked all over him at the start of their friendship. As it is, he does let her get away with a lot because she's female and younger, but to a point.

Given that, though- he wants to protect her from the sorts of experiences (and bad decisions) he went through- Hence the flailing when she mentioned wanting to kill Blodwen. Wellard does recognize her determination, however- so, her knowing about such matters, as long as the knowledge is second hand, is good. Mary's going to go looking for the answers anyways, might as well make sure she gets good, true ones.

... I don't think he'd admit its an equal friendship. >_< But it is. And its one that I think could be very interesting in 8 or so years, when Mary is grown up and he FINALLY realizes it as well.

Re: After LJ ATE the whole big comment I just wrote *grrr*

[skygiants]

Wellard is very smart in some ways. *hugs him*

And . . . neither of them will admit it's an equal friendship. *giggles* That's what makes it awesome. And so very much so - although, Mary will be very frustrated if she has to wait until she's twenty and ancient before being seen as grown-up. :P

[genarti]

Oooh. Um. So many choices!

I will ask about Mary and Gabriel Tam. *grin* And if you feel like doing a second, I will ask about River-Galadan, because I have rambled at you lots and I am curious about your thoughts! But... I have rambled at you lots, so I ask about somebody else for my main one.

[skygiants]

*giggles* I say the same for you that I did for Rym - if I find myself bored/with time later in the day, I will probably come back and do River-Galadan! But for now, Mary-Gabriel:

That dynamic is . . . well, half the reason I love it is because it's so entirely unexpected in Mary's development. Mary does not feel herself to have a great need for parental figures (as we have discussed) so the Gabriel relationship kind of snuck up on her, and I think it has really helped her become - more well-adjusted, in a lot of ways. I mean, Secret Garden canon is all about kids helping kids, and adults don't play a large role. The concept of trusting an adult is something that she still has difficulty with, obviously, but it's a lot easier for her because of the Gabriel-Mary, and it helps her act more like a kid sometimes. When I started playing her, I never expected her to reach that. And I love that it's kind of a second chance for both of them, in a certain respect.

It's also complicated, because from Mary's side at least, she's becoming more and more aware of the 'NOT YOURS' aspect of it. I mean, she's very possessive herself, and so she sort of expects other people to feel that way too. So I think she's a little wary of what River and Simon would think, without actually consciously thinking about them a whole lot. If that makes sense.

[genarti]

*beams at all of this*

I think at another time in their life, there might have been more of that NOT YOURS. Although I'm still not sure how much 'more' means; they're not as possessive in the same ways, and they're used to a much more functional family than she grew up with. Not so much of the grabbing onto what you do have for your own and holding tight.

And I do love Mary-Gabriel dynamics so much. A second chance for both of them, in some ways, as you say.

[skygiants]

Yes. *nods* And also both Simon and River are adults now, and adults in general have a very different relationship with their parents and with other children both.

And yes yes yes. :D

[rowanberries.livejournal.com]

...Oh, fine. You know I have to ask about Mary-Harth, even if they haven't threaded in ages.

And I will steal the meme for my journal to... make it fair. Or something.

[skygiants]

*tackles* They need to, Amy! I miss them!

*cough* And um. So. Dynamic! Mary-Harth makes me gleeful because it's just so bizarre. I mean. Harth is evil! And Mary is fully aware that he is evil, and totally wouldn't go outside the Milliways area . . . but at the same time, she trusts that he's going to tell her the truth about where and when he'll do evil deeds, and I don't know why. But she does. So he's half an interesting experiment to her (observe the vampire in his unnatural habitat, and take notes!) and I think she is half the same for him (observe the child who has decided to observe the vampire in his unnatural habitat! Isn't she entertaining!) and if asked she would not classify him as a friend, because, evil . . . but she sort of acts like he is one anyways.

And that, I think, is mostly because he's proven he can take care of a garden, and Mary can't really not trust to a certain extent people who can do that.

(Also, I really wish they could solve a mystery together or something, just to be able to use the "He's a teenaged vampire destined to lead the hordes of evil! She's an Edwardian child with a fondness for gardening! Together, they fight crime!" tagline.)

[rowanberries.livejournal.com]

(...This must happen. They can investigate with the aid of dubious semi-magical rituals! And argue over whether they're satanic or not!)

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Ummmmm. You can pick!

Lucifer & Meg or Azula & Zuko.

[skygiants]

Hard! I want to do them both!

Lucifer and Meg . . . um. This is hard, because I haven't written Meg in a while, but. Lucifer is kind of the ultimate expression of Meg's tendency to be stupid overlook character flaws in her acquaintances if she sees something worthwhile in them. And also there's something fabulously operatic about Lucifer, and - he lets her dance things, and things that mean something, and that's enough to win her over forever. And Lucifer finds her entertaining, and . . . I keep coming back to that dancing thread, because I think that's what it's really about. Lucifer obviously doesn't see Meg as an equal, but she's safe, in a sense, to share things with - a good conduit - and that lets Meg be part of something bigger, which is what she wants. And then you get the dance. . . . I want to see you babble about this now!

As for Azula and Zuko - obviously, Azula is everything that Zuko thinks he should be, and isn't. She's halfway between a rival he can never beat and a role model, and I think part of him hero worships her, really, which is why he always ends up believing her in spite of himself. Azula's part of it I can never make out quite as well, but I love her because she is just always so fabulously on top of everything. And she knows exactly how Zuko feels, and how to use that to her best advantage.

. . . also, this may just be me and too long a time spent in Heroes fandom, but did they have to set that one scene in Azula's bedroom?

[fahye.livejournal.com]

I think 'conduit' is a very good word; Lucifer is all about finding the aspects of people that he can use when he needs to, and (especially in Milliways) he has no problem with cultivating relationships so that he has access to as wide a range of these aspects as possible. Less ruthlessly, he does enjoy spending time with Meg - she demands very little, she's good for keeping a finger on the pulse of the bar, and she can surprise him. (And, you know, she's a slightly crazy girl, and he gets on well with those.) The dance was VERY important, and even managed to win his respect, in some sense.

[ashen_key]

Meg and Mordred!

[skygiants]

Aw, that is a dynamic that I miss too - one of the things I miss most now that I have background-faded Meg and you have background-faded Mordred, really.

Um. Mordred is occasionally emo. And Meg does her best to keep him from slipping into emo/total snark and coldness (and generally fails), but I think she feels like that is her Role, as Mordred's Friend, to keep him as grounded as he can be after hundreds of years dead. She thinks that if she expresses enough confidence that he is not a bad person he will eventually believe her . . . I think she also counts every time she can make him laugh as a personal victory.

And since she died, especially, he's one of the people she feels like she can really talk to about it. Especially since her emo will never be as great as his, so it puts her in perspective! *giggles*

[ashen_key]

Background-faded/retiring once I email Rym with Things! (we have a plan. I think.)

but, aww, yes, I do miss them too! So much! And this made me giggle. Especially this:

Especially since her emo will never be as great as his, so it puts her in perspective! *giggles*

[skygiants]

IT'S TRUE. :P

Even though she is constantly trying to convince him that his emo is not that bad, really!

[varadia]

Um. Um.

Mary-Raven!

Or Meg-Winchesters!

Or Preston-Anna! (or Gwen)

[skygiants]

....Mary-Raven is hard! They have not threaded in a really long time!

Meg-Winchesters, however, is easy. *giggles* There is a lot of mutual eyerolling going on, I feel. She doesn't dislike them! (I think she actually has slightly more respect for Dean than for Sam; Dean seems to her to be more upfront in general about things. And she gets really annoyed when she feels like Sam's talking down to her . . . which is easy because compared to her he's frickin' HUGE.) That being said, she really is like, "Aw, Andrew has guy friends who share his interests who are not tiny and evil! How sweet." Also, as a sidenote, I am still sad we never did that Dinner of Ultimate Awkward.

As for Preston-Anna - Preston has a lot of respect for Anna, both because she is kickass and because she is writerly! And he was concerned for her when she was wisping around Chicago. Their dynamic is interesting because Anna is slightly more serious more often than the rest of the Wasteland crowd (with the exception of, like, Russ, who is SRS BSNS - except not with Preston anyways, so, moot point) so although they still have that layer of jokiness, Preston kind of wants to find out what Anna thinks about things. And he has a fair amount of trust for her; he's not a suspicious type, and he's got no reason not to. He'd consider her a friend.

Your take!

[dictator-duck.livejournal.com]

I am totally late to this.

Um. :D? So if you has/time inclination is yay but if not that is also okay! Especially because I babble at you a lot, and feel that likely I should force you to babble in return.

Filif-Mary, Paul-Finn.

[skygiants]

Filif-Mary is ADORABLE. Um. That is about the extent of my coherency. *giggles* No, I do have a bit more. Filif-Mary is awesome because there is NO ONE Mary will respect more than a talking tree. Seriously, it is the ultimate representation of awesome for her, and so she will listen to him a lot more than she will . . . um . . . well, most actual people, as seen above . . . which in turn gives Filif the impression that she is a thoughtful and considerate young woman. *giggles* Which maaaay not be true all the time, but it works for their dynamic! AND THERE IS ADORABLE.

As for Paul-Finn - seriously, it's their dynamic that makes me able to work out in my head how Paul's character works as an older brother. Not that he acts as one to Finn, because there's a lot going on there, and Paul never forgets that Finn is also the Child. He can't afford to. But some of the understanding of what Finn goes through comes from that, and some of it also comes from his own dual role, and while he knows he can't really understand there are parallels.

I think their dynamic also works because Paul wasn't the one responsible for Finn being called; there's not quite the same layer of guilt about him that Kim has, and so he's better able to navigate around that and form a working relationship with him. At the same time, he does feel responsible for Finn in a certain way, just by dint of being who he is, so he's always going to lend what help he can.

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Oh oh oh I'm late to the party but but but I want Torquil! Torquil and ANYBODY. No no no must limit myself. Um... Torquil and Venturus.

*glees ridiculously*

[skygiants]

You are in luck! I could not have done this if I had not reread over the summer. *giggling*

Torquil and Venturus is fabulous because Torquil loves to act out the spoiled brat, except Venturus is the actual spoiled brat of the family, and . . . I feel like, before Venturus lost his memory, they kind of tried to out-flamboyant each other a lot of the time. See: wardrobe of super costumes vs. GIANT SPACESHIP HEAD. And it is honestly no wonder that Erskine is grumpy, being stuck as the Responsible One in the middle of the two of them. (I sneak Erskine in here because he is secretly my favorite.) I think, when they were younger, Torquil was pretty jealous - that Venturus got all the attention for being youngest, yeah, but also that Venturus hero-worshipped Archer so blatantly. I mean, Hathaway and Erskine were no threat because fantastic as they both are they are neither of them exactly glamorous, and Venturus is such a boy that he was never going to fixate on Shine and Dillian, but Torquil is SO obviously SO MUCH MORE AWESOME than Archer, and closer in age to Venturus to boot. And I think he got very frustrated whenever Erskine or Venturus would call him selfish when Archer was in fact ten times more selfish than he was, he just passed it off better. And then proceeded to act out more selfishly as a result, just to be contrary.

Post-canon I think they clearly get along a lot better, because Venturus has had the experience of being the older one now, and of dealing with Awful to boot, and - I think post-canon Erskine and Venturus both treat Torquil like he's younger than they are instead of older sometimes, because they have the experience with Awful and Torquil is much more of a drama queen than either of them. And Torquil knows that's going on, and he's okay with that, as long as he still gets older-brother privileges of mocking and lording it over them and being generally more fabulous.