varadia | (no subject)

Jordan Black.

I think I initially was like OMG JORDAN in the S1 episode where her power first expresses itself. Because wow, imagining a six year old seeing that stuff happen to hear aunt, or at least hear about it from whatever she was talking to? It was the initial crying plus the plaintive "but why is he so angry, mommy?' that really resonated with me. And the end of S2, which I watched a lot later, really really cemented it. Hard.

I think Jordan's best trait is her matter-of-fact acceptance of large facets of her life. I think if she didn't have that, that open-mindedness, she would be crazy by the age of 8. Or at least have a nervous breakdown.

Her worst trait? Given that she's between 6 and 8 for the entire series--I'd say her worst trait is her odd secretiveness about what she sees, especially later on. YOUR DAD CAN ONLY HELP YOU FIGHT DEMONS JORDAN. TALK TO HIM. *clears throat*

I started off fearing writing Jordan would be difficult. Most of the pups I write frequently have lived for centuries, if not millennia. Writing a six year old was an interesting challenge. I find her a lot easier now, particularly in situations where she is just getting to play. Those, sadly, are getting fewer and farther between.

There are two places I think I got the best picture of Jordan. One was the Santi-thread, because there I think I did a really good job of showing Jordan the six year old. The first Sylar-thread, though, I think is where I managed to show her gift, and what it actually does to her, which was a nice thing to really get to portray. And then we just kept going . . .

In the future--I've got some plans to write her, and to do more with her in terms of canon as well. I need to move her through S1, and see sort of what happens to her as various events occur. It'll be fun!

Tell me all your thoughts on Raven. I wants to catch them all.

I think I first fell in love with Raven in . . . was it ninth grade? Thereabouts, when I was reading a book of Native stories and hit how he stole the sun. I read heavily about him and Coyote and . . . I want to say Iktomi but I think it was probably actually Legba for a while. When it came to Milliways apping--I think I did a quick search of online stuff, and I was reminded of how much I loved him when I read the story about how he (and his wife) went to an island to steal all the treasures on it, and then Raven was held down by invisible people and FREAKED OUT. So. *grins* Yeah.

I think one of his best traits, in my portrayal of him, is probably his vast and immense affection for people. It really--it really gives him something to hold onto, and a way for him to make friends, or to keep making friends in light of everything else he is. So.

I think one of his worst traits is--*has to think about this, as there are so many potential answers*--I think it's his viciousness when cornered, particularly because his ideas of cornered are often different from those of other people. And I think his greatest tragedy is that he's never going to really understand what it is to be human, and it's always going to get in the way of him really fitting in and feeling like he's at home anywhere but what WAS home. So.

I find it horribly easy to write Raven. I can write him while I'm sick, while I have a headache, while I'm so tired I'm incoherent, whatever. It's nice. Even though a few people have pinged me to go 'omg it must be SO HARD to play Raven, he's exhausting'. I think it would be if he weren't my first character. Somehow.

Hmmm. I think--I think a lot of Raven's general conversational threads (and threads with Ace) get across the playful, trickster, troublemaker part of Raven. I think the . . . the Great Raven part I got to convey best during the Midsummer Blodwenstuff. I really do. And also in some of his Coyote-threads, where the violence and instability and love for home really come through.

I will never stop having plans for Raven. He's fun, and there are still things I want to do with him. So. Stay tuned!

Door, por favor.

I have to think back to when I first read Neverwhere. I almost typed that as Neverways, curse you Viv. *solemn* But. Hmm. I think it was in the scene with the Marquis in her home, where she's trying so hard to find information and deal with the recent tragedy and her impending nervous breakdown, and the Marquis, which can't be easy at the best of times. That and the very end where she tricks Islington and Co. Yeah. Take those together, and it was totally a one-two punch, with the rest of the book in between.

I think one of Door's best traits is her sheer dogged persistence, combined with her ability to recognize when she's out of her depth and not be too proud to ask for help, or . . . pay for help. Whichever.

Her worst trait--sometimes she is too inclined to protect people from themselves, and it just gets them and her in trouble. I'd say her youthful idealism, too, but a lot of that wears away during the book, and I think in Milliways even more of it's gone, so that puts paid to that one.

Door is a challenge for me to write, not least because I am balancing a lot of book canon with a lot of previously written millicanon by people who aren't me. It's not work I mind, I just don't have the mind for it as often as I do for other characters. Like Raven. *wry*

In the future--I have some plans for Doorthreads for next week, mostly with her and Tom. Long-term plots--I don't tend to do those with her, mostly I just ride on other people's coattails and have her react to crazy. Except for Yupppie-Door. Hee.

I would ask about Raven, but I think we went over a bunch of this last weekend. *grin*

Umm. Nynaeve! Or Anna! Your choice.

I fell in love with Nynaeve as a character waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in The Eye of the World when she stands up to Moiraine and calls her out (in private) about taking the children from the village. And at the way she just takes her responsibilities so seriously. Yep. Her crush on Lan was also not un-adorable. And her competence at tracking. I am easy!

I think one of her best traits is her practicality, whether it has to do with Healing and triage or village matters. She loses sight of that on the way, but later on she gets it back with a VENGEANCE. And it serves her so, so, so very well.

One of her worst traits--I think it's a toss-up between her vicious vicious temper that is often out of control and her weird-ass views on men, and how verbal she is about them. Both of them cause her trouble, in different ways, and I wish she'd just stop with the man-thing. Even when it's funny.

Writing her is hard for me. Very hard. She is so crotchety, and there is a delicate balance to keep between having her be funny and having her be respectable, and having her be a strong character even in the midst of irrational fits of temper. It--it's tiring.

I think her intro-thread with Rand and Moiraine, and then later her thread with Paul Atreides, I think those captured her character quite well. Her relationship with Lan--that's been hard to get to paper and feel RIGHT. Except when they don't talk. *g*

As for future-stuff. I have some plans with her, though most of those depend on getting the last volume of canon. *sigh*

I think I fell in love with Anna when I wrote her backstory story. Man. I just. That is so her, and it explains so much. So.

I think one of her best traits is her willingness to laugh at herself, or at anything. I really do love that about her.

One of her worst traits is her inherent distrust of circumstances and people, and the fact that she is/was/will be always poised to flee. It doesn't do much for her, and it keeps her keeping people at a distance. Yeah.

I don't find her very hard to write at all. It's a good thing, probably, given the way the game goes in fits and starts.

I think I best captured her, really, in several of the Gwen-threads, in the one where she and Daniel agree to cohabitate, and in that backstory OOWL thing, because--those are pretty much the things you need to know to know Anna.

Boy do I have plans for her. Not least ways to edge her into moving toward becoming Sheriff of the post-apocalyptic Chicago area! *g*

DEEEEEEEAN.

AHAHAHAHA.

I. Um. First fell in love with Dean when he beamed up at Sammy from the ground and said 'Whoa there, Tiger'. And I never looked back. HE JUST LOOKED SO HAPPY AND OVERJOYED.

I think one of Dean's best traits is his sense of humor. It keeps him happy (as happy as he can be, sometimes), it amuses Sam even when he complains about it, and it lets other people feel superior, which either makes them like him, hate him, or ignore him!

His worst trait--god, the neediness. I--it's not good for him, it's not good for his family, and it's never going to be fulfilled (and shouldn't be, because it is just that unhealthy). I feel bad for him, I do. *HUGS HIM SO* That and the jackassery, which, while cute, gets him into so much trouble.

Dean is easy as hell to write. Aspen will say this is because I AM like Dean, in terms of my little brother. She's seen us interact, so. Um. She may not be wrong. Also I just like being able to let go and write a giant asshole with lots of charm. It's fun!

I think the threads I've gotten the best Dean out of have been the Sunny-thread, because of the kid-thing, and the protective thing, maaaaybe the Sylar thread, in which we see Dean the jackass, and the Coyotethreads, where protective AND flirty AND jackass Dean come out to play!

OOPS.

And futureplans stuff.

I have plans for Dean. MANY PLANS.

FEAR ME.

I DO I DO I DO I DO I DO.

Asyr!

I think I fell for Asyr when she takes Gavin to a party (a Bothan party), and her friend from school, upon hearing how they met, says 'you always did play rough'. I just. Man. That opened up so much of her character, and her youth, and I was all l;djaf;lksdjf;alksdfj;sld. So. *g*

One of her best traits is her sense of honor--seriously. It's what lets her keep her self respect, it's what lets her face things head-on and with an eye to seeing them through. She cannot be other than what she is, and she doesn't even try. There's no point. It's--she knows what she can compromise and still keep her self-respect, and I adore that. It serves her well.

Her Bothan pride does not serve her so well, in some ways. It's what leads her to leaving Gavin at the end of her part of the series--she wants to stay with him, in some ways, but she's also very Bothan. And she's going to give the entirety of her life to the effort she needs to make (the reform of Bothan society), and she doesn't leave him the choice to take part in that or not. Her reasons for not are understandable, insofar as those kind of reasons ever are, but--it's on the self-serving side. So.

Asyr is pretty easy for me to write. She's reasonably straightforward, pretty friendly, and she loves to learn new things and absorb new facts. This makes playing her in-bar extremely easy, even with the friction of being Bound to deal with, too. Yay!

I think I captured Asyr best both in her conversation with Wells, early on, her initial talks with Gavin and Wes, because--yeah, and perhaps the most recent one with Emma, because that was a little of her mischief coming out, and I'm glad I got the chance to showcase that for once. *g*

Boy howdy do I have plans with her. I am really looking forward to seeing what I can do with her and playing with what she brings to the table both for Star Wars at large and for Milliways in general! Whoo!

... were you Maida or Zia? *sucks*

I just started Someplace to be Flying, so.

I was Maida! They are . . . hard to tell apart, honestly. *g* Which is kind of the point.

Anyway! On to the answers!

I first fell for Maida and Zia in one of deLint's short stories--Jilly and a woman whose name I forget meet for coffee, and they see the crow girls, and then the woman has a transformative experience. I just loved that idea, and the expression of it, and reading Someplace to be Flying afteward just really cemented that love for me. Especially in the beginning, where they kill the cuckoo. It was such a transformation from the previous view of them, but it made so much sense, in some ways. So.

I think their best trait is their open-heartedness. They love everyone, well, most people, in some way, and you can just see it in the way they play, and the way that they want everyone to play with them. It is beautiful.

I think one of their worst traits is their intense desire to forget, to be . . . not less than they are, but far removed from their essence. It--sometimes it makes what they stand for harder to see, and in the world they inhabit, a clearer message is only to the good. Most of the time.

I found them really hard to write, actually. Not the lighthearted parts, but the greater meaning behind it. It was always tricky to tailor to the specific people they were talking to. Even moreso than with some of my other pups.

I think the Scarlett O'Hara thread was one where I got the clearest picture of them across, really. Which--odd, but true. They're hard for me to see clearly in RP, I think.

I have no real future plans to write them, not even in fic. I--I'm not sure why, but it's true. *wry*

So there you go!

So, I have no meme question for you at this time, but GUESS WHAT I DO HAVE FOR YOUUUU.

The X-23 issue of Captain Universe!

HOMG YAY YOU ARE MY FAVORITEST JO EVER!

*flings glitter in your general direction*

Hope you are having FUN!