Tell me about your favourite character?
Oh, gosh, like, ever?
Hot diggity, that’s a lot of fiction to sort through. Please excuse the vagueness I throw around to avoid the juiciest spoilers.
The ones that spring to mind immediately:
Araris Valerian (The Codex Alera) - He’s just so interesting! Knowing the whole story, going back to reading the first book is so much fun because of all the very clever choices you see him make when literally no one else notices. This is a character I love for his choices. He didn’t have to do anything, but he made some huge sacrifices that saved the right people and continued to make choices that might not have been the best for him, but were necessary for someone else. Also he is surprisingly cheeky and I love that.
Othello (Othello) - Honestly, he might only be here because I re-read the play today, but I really do like him as a character. Othello is the pawn in the play, but he is steadfast in his morals, even though his mind is twisted by Iago’s lies and wild speculation. He is unerring in his elocution and even when he’s driven to the brink of insanity, he tries to make sure his wife prays before he kills her so her soul isn’t damned forever. He is careful and measured until he is forced not to be. His downfall is enthralling to watch. (Also his “It is the cause” soliloquy is one of my favorites to see/hear performed.)
Crowley (Good Omens) - What’s cooler than a demon who wants people to think he’s really cool when he super isn’t? And has a hard time expressing positive emotion so he does it via acts of service and small demonstrations of considerate kindness? And is supposed to be something he never wanted in the first place and pretends to be good at that, too, even though there’s only one person he ever really feels himself with when he isn’t pretending? And whose imagination defies the powers that be? Nothing, that’s what.
Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince - I had the benefit of taking a class about female action heroes and we read the entire run of daily WW comics from 1944-45. I like OG Diana, DCCU Diana, Bombshells Diana (oh gosh that scene in the first issue with Steve in the soldiers’ camp? DUDE.), all of ‘em. She is unwavering in her values and refuses to be pushed aside or conquered. She will stand for what she believes is right no matter what. And she’s a huge badass.
Lucretia (TAZ: Balance) - Goddamn I love Lucretia so much. I don’t wanna say too much because the spoilers for her arc are so good but her development? Over the whole timeline of the Balance arc? Is so amazing? What I really love about her is that she’s a person who stepped up when she felt no one else could and did the unthinkable so the people she loved could be happy. Yeah, she might not have made the right call, but she made a call that she saw as the best and only option to save her friends and possibly the world. I want my own character arc to look a little bit like hers during The Stolen Century.
But if we’re talking my own characters, Gemma and Babylon are my favorites right now.
I’ve talked a lot about Gemma, but what I like most about her is that even though she’s been kicked in the pants by the universe a few times, she still has that drive to help others when they get kicked, too. She’s the kind of person who asks how you’re feeling after you came in two weeks ago to grab an decongestant when you thought you had the sniffles, even if she barely remembers your name and you ran into each other spontaneously on the street.
Babylon is a ruthless kind of person that I rarely ever write. They’re strict and sharp and pointy. They’re short with people who annoy them and dismissive of people who don’t live up to their standards. But what I love about them is their brutal efficiency. Whatever it takes, they’ll do it, and if someone is in their way, they had better move. They’re crafty when they need to be, even though they’d prefer not to have to be. They make friends in the most unlikely places.
