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Memes can be fun
Nov. 25th, 2014 03:16 amI got wordy, so answers from the last post get their own post!
AG:
Favorite female character
Samantha Parkington!
Favorite male character
Ben Davidson (aka: Felicity's Ben)
Least favorite character
Wow, there are a lot to choose from, aren't there? I feel like I should discount the obvious (Addy's owners) and probably I should avoid the ones meant to be annoying, but I'll go with Annabelle Cole because the girl rarely passed up an opportunity to be a royal witch.
Favorite ship
It's a little weird because these characters are kids, but as a kid I was 99% positive that Ben/Felicity was going to happen sometime in the future, so long as that war thing didn't kill Ben.
Favorite friendship
Samantha/Nellie. It also suffered the most due to the change in writers for Samantha's books, but I adored the way Nellie further opened Samantha's eyes to the way the world really worked and how Samantha helped Nellie see that for all the suck in the world, there were/are good people willing to do the right thing.
Favorite quote
Ruthie struggled to say what she had in her head. “I don’t really believe that life always works out happily like fairy tales do,” she said slowly, “and the wishes-come-true and happy endings aren’t the only reason I like fairy tales. I like them because they show that no matter what happens to us, it’s how we act along the way that matters. We still get to choose what kind of people we want to be. And, well, I guess I’d rather be foolish but hopeful than smart but stingy and distrustful.
Happiest moment
Oh, lord, there are so many. I may shed little happy tears when Cornelia and Gard adopt their gaggle of girls, or when Addy's family is fully reunited.
Saddest moment
Marta's death. There you are, happily rolling along on a boat and them bam! Main character's best friend (and not just for the travel, but legit best friend) is now dead. Dead-dead. Was not expecting that and really, it sets the tone for Kirsten.
Favorite location
I, like Ruthie, think it would be fun to hang out at Kit's house. I would also very much like to hang out with Kanani in Hawaii. :p
Unpopular opinion
I've got a couple.
1) I like Ruthie as a character. Most people, Kit included, think she's a bubble headed, fluffy princess loving lightweight.
Yeah, go back and re-read those books you're clinging to so hard. Kit "tolerates" Ruthie's love of fairy tales (way to be a good friend, Kit! And yes, that was totally sarcasm!) but basically thinks Ruthie's just wasting her time and possibly her life, believing in fiction helping people. Yes, let's put that thought into a young reader's mind, shall we?
But back to Ruthie. Yeah, Ruthie goes out of her way to help Kit. She goes along with Kit's schemes and plans because it's what Kit wants to do and it's not a big thing. When her best friend is in danger of losing her house, what does Ruthie do? She cooks up a plan and implements it, thus totally saving the day, and then she realizes that she doesn't want to take credit for it because these people are her friends and, as it so often happens, they've become family. She doesn't want to embarrass them.
She also doesn't want her best friend to go without and has the means to help her, so as the series progresses, she learns ways to work with Kit's pride to get Kit the stuff she needs and wants to be happy.
Ruthie makes mistakes and the girls do fight, but Kit fights just as hard as Ruthie and is actually a little more vicious but y'know, let's handwave that away because Ruthie had it comin', right? Right?
That would be a no, for those who are a little slow on the uptake. Ruthie is pretty awesome and is not a bad friend to Kit and I get irrationally irked when people say as much.
Seriously, go back and re-read the Christmas story where all Ruthie wants is to hang out with Kit like they do every year. That is LITERALLY her favorite part of Christmas: hanging out with her friend the day after Christmas. She's cool with not doing anything more than window shop and hey, if that's too much for Kit, they can picnic in the park and it'll be fine because they'll be together.
And Kit says no, she can't, she won't. When Ruthie does bungle things up, she learns from her mistakes, but I'm not sure Kit ever gets that for Ruthie, just being with Kit was enough to make her whole friggin' holiday.
2) I don't think Samantha grows up to be an airheaded socialite. I think if you honestly think this, you are an idiot or you never read the books. Even with their weird tone shifts between authors, it's pretty obvious that Samantha is surrounded by strong women and possibly even stronger girls.
To assume that she would somehow just turn off her brain and her heart does a great disservice to both Samantha and those strong females in her life. You really think Cornelia wouldn't spark a revolution in Samantha? Really? This is the woman who wants women to vote and to do all kinds of things, and who also knows how important it is to not silence your inner child, or children in general? You think she won't have even more of an impact on Samantha's moral compass as she grows older?
Or Nellie? Nellie who opens Samantha's eyes to how horrible factories are and how much people suck if you leave them unchecked? Really? Nellie who is headed down the path that will lead her to helping people as she grows older, you really think she's not going to impact Samantha? REALLY.
Samantha goes through life listening to her heart. Her heart isn't going to send her chasing nothing but good times, guys, and to think that way is just incredibly short sighted. You disappoint me, internet. You really, really do.
Sweet Valley!
Favorite female character
Enid! Which means I am in a world of pain the further along in the series I go! I also have a soft spot for Lila.
Favorite male character
Ken Matthews. I was going to say Sam Woodruff, but I think Ken is actually my favorite. Ken is a good guy at heart. He's the football hero and is shown to be just that pretty much from day 1 in SVH and yet when we do get around to seeing things from his perspective, he's not a jerk.
He sticks by Lila for reasons we're never privvy to, and he doesn't break up with anyone and loathe them... til Jessica and that's complicated. He's given numerous chances to be incredibly shallow and yet manages to skirt by them. He could have the popular cheerleader who apparently went out East to have a lobotomy and he's not interested because she's not his type.
When Olivia dies, Ken mourns her more than anyone else in the series. His life changes and he struggles to deal with it and honestly, it's one of the few reasons I kept slogging through SVHSY the first go round.
Least favorite character
Again, oh so many. But I'm going with Devon Whitelaw because for me, he's the moment the series just burst into flames. It jumped the shark with Margo, but she at least was entertaining. Devon reappeared in SVU and was just as much a waste of space there as he was in SVH. He ruined everything and to this day I still can't tell if they intended it or if the readers just didn't take to him, or they got the order to burn the series to the ground and all their attempts to make Devon likeable just got thrown in the garbage as they laid waste to what was left of SVH.
Favorite ship
I feel like I am captain of the good 'ship Ken/Lila. :P If you want to forget SVC (and I usually do) and feel K/L is too tied to it, may I suggest the alternate 'ships of Lila/Bruce and Jessica/Ken? Or Sam/Jessica
Favorite friendship
I've got two! Enid/Elizabeth is actually my favorite because when it's done right, it's probably the friendship I would most want to be a part of. They bake cookies and gossip but not maliciously, they do nice things for people and they go to the beach, and they just genuinely like one another. Plus, when the series first starts out, Liz isn't as popular as she grows to be, so she feels like an outcast and knows Enid does too, and they bond over that, all while Elizabeth knows that Enid is awesome.
Jessica/Lila. Because when they team up, amazing things happen.
Favorite quote
There’s no going back,” she reminded herself. “I can’t live my life over. I can’t change what I did in the past. But what I do in the future...”
Slowly, it dawned on her. “I’m in charge of that. It’s still ahead of me; I can choose how I want to act, what I want to do and say, who I want to be. The future is mine."
- Jessica in The Evil Twin
Happiest moment
Liz arranging for Jessica to be mistaken for her and thus dunked in the pool when she's outted as the lady behind Eyes and Ears.
Saddest moment
Sam's death. I cry every time. Runner up, Regina's death.
Favorite location
I would very much like to hang out at Lila's.
Unpopular opinion
Wow, I'm not sure I know enough of the SV fandom to have an unpopular opinion. *thinks*
Oh. Duh. The fact that I like Enid is an unpopular opinion. :P I don't think she's wimpy or a waste of space. While I enjoyed the idea of her evolution into Alex, I think they fouled that up royally. I was even on board for her growing to resent Elizabeth, especially the Elizabeth of later SVH arcs.
Maybe the problem was that Enid was probably like a lot of readers and they didn't want to identify with her? The Mallory Pike syndrome, perhaps? Because Enid went through some shit, man.
But I loved that she had a past (not so like me after all!) and that she'd done her time and had a very clear vision of what she wanted her life to be like, even if I'm not sure we ever knew what Enid wanted to be as an adult. Which was okay because we knew who she wanted to be.
She suffered doubts and was clearly not all that popular, but she seemed relatively okay with that so long as she had Elizabeth. She could stand up to Lila without really batting an eye and didn't seem all that intimidated by her after awhile. (Just think of the stories we never heard about what would happen when Jess/Lila and Enid/Elizabeth hung out and the twins would get called off by their parents to do something, leaving Enid and Lila hanging out by the pool awkwardly or whatever. Just think of it!)
She could call Jessica on her BS and get away with it better than Todd ever could. Before we even met her, she turned the great and powerful Jessica down! Come on, what's not to love?
She just never got a fair shake and as the series went on, it became increasingly obvious that like the sane person on a reality show, the writers had no idea what to do with her.
It's okay, Enid. Come on over and we'll bake some cookies together and talk about how cool Liz used to be.
AG:
Favorite female character
Samantha Parkington!
Favorite male character
Ben Davidson (aka: Felicity's Ben)
Least favorite character
Wow, there are a lot to choose from, aren't there? I feel like I should discount the obvious (Addy's owners) and probably I should avoid the ones meant to be annoying, but I'll go with Annabelle Cole because the girl rarely passed up an opportunity to be a royal witch.
Favorite ship
It's a little weird because these characters are kids, but as a kid I was 99% positive that Ben/Felicity was going to happen sometime in the future, so long as that war thing didn't kill Ben.
Favorite friendship
Samantha/Nellie. It also suffered the most due to the change in writers for Samantha's books, but I adored the way Nellie further opened Samantha's eyes to the way the world really worked and how Samantha helped Nellie see that for all the suck in the world, there were/are good people willing to do the right thing.
Favorite quote
Ruthie struggled to say what she had in her head. “I don’t really believe that life always works out happily like fairy tales do,” she said slowly, “and the wishes-come-true and happy endings aren’t the only reason I like fairy tales. I like them because they show that no matter what happens to us, it’s how we act along the way that matters. We still get to choose what kind of people we want to be. And, well, I guess I’d rather be foolish but hopeful than smart but stingy and distrustful.
Happiest moment
Oh, lord, there are so many. I may shed little happy tears when Cornelia and Gard adopt their gaggle of girls, or when Addy's family is fully reunited.
Saddest moment
Marta's death. There you are, happily rolling along on a boat and them bam! Main character's best friend (and not just for the travel, but legit best friend) is now dead. Dead-dead. Was not expecting that and really, it sets the tone for Kirsten.
Favorite location
I, like Ruthie, think it would be fun to hang out at Kit's house. I would also very much like to hang out with Kanani in Hawaii. :p
Unpopular opinion
I've got a couple.
1) I like Ruthie as a character. Most people, Kit included, think she's a bubble headed, fluffy princess loving lightweight.
Yeah, go back and re-read those books you're clinging to so hard. Kit "tolerates" Ruthie's love of fairy tales (way to be a good friend, Kit! And yes, that was totally sarcasm!) but basically thinks Ruthie's just wasting her time and possibly her life, believing in fiction helping people. Yes, let's put that thought into a young reader's mind, shall we?
But back to Ruthie. Yeah, Ruthie goes out of her way to help Kit. She goes along with Kit's schemes and plans because it's what Kit wants to do and it's not a big thing. When her best friend is in danger of losing her house, what does Ruthie do? She cooks up a plan and implements it, thus totally saving the day, and then she realizes that she doesn't want to take credit for it because these people are her friends and, as it so often happens, they've become family. She doesn't want to embarrass them.
She also doesn't want her best friend to go without and has the means to help her, so as the series progresses, she learns ways to work with Kit's pride to get Kit the stuff she needs and wants to be happy.
Ruthie makes mistakes and the girls do fight, but Kit fights just as hard as Ruthie and is actually a little more vicious but y'know, let's handwave that away because Ruthie had it comin', right? Right?
That would be a no, for those who are a little slow on the uptake. Ruthie is pretty awesome and is not a bad friend to Kit and I get irrationally irked when people say as much.
Seriously, go back and re-read the Christmas story where all Ruthie wants is to hang out with Kit like they do every year. That is LITERALLY her favorite part of Christmas: hanging out with her friend the day after Christmas. She's cool with not doing anything more than window shop and hey, if that's too much for Kit, they can picnic in the park and it'll be fine because they'll be together.
And Kit says no, she can't, she won't. When Ruthie does bungle things up, she learns from her mistakes, but I'm not sure Kit ever gets that for Ruthie, just being with Kit was enough to make her whole friggin' holiday.
2) I don't think Samantha grows up to be an airheaded socialite. I think if you honestly think this, you are an idiot or you never read the books. Even with their weird tone shifts between authors, it's pretty obvious that Samantha is surrounded by strong women and possibly even stronger girls.
To assume that she would somehow just turn off her brain and her heart does a great disservice to both Samantha and those strong females in her life. You really think Cornelia wouldn't spark a revolution in Samantha? Really? This is the woman who wants women to vote and to do all kinds of things, and who also knows how important it is to not silence your inner child, or children in general? You think she won't have even more of an impact on Samantha's moral compass as she grows older?
Or Nellie? Nellie who opens Samantha's eyes to how horrible factories are and how much people suck if you leave them unchecked? Really? Nellie who is headed down the path that will lead her to helping people as she grows older, you really think she's not going to impact Samantha? REALLY.
Samantha goes through life listening to her heart. Her heart isn't going to send her chasing nothing but good times, guys, and to think that way is just incredibly short sighted. You disappoint me, internet. You really, really do.
Sweet Valley!
Favorite female character
Enid! Which means I am in a world of pain the further along in the series I go! I also have a soft spot for Lila.
Favorite male character
Ken Matthews. I was going to say Sam Woodruff, but I think Ken is actually my favorite. Ken is a good guy at heart. He's the football hero and is shown to be just that pretty much from day 1 in SVH and yet when we do get around to seeing things from his perspective, he's not a jerk.
He sticks by Lila for reasons we're never privvy to, and he doesn't break up with anyone and loathe them... til Jessica and that's complicated. He's given numerous chances to be incredibly shallow and yet manages to skirt by them. He could have the popular cheerleader who apparently went out East to have a lobotomy and he's not interested because she's not his type.
When Olivia dies, Ken mourns her more than anyone else in the series. His life changes and he struggles to deal with it and honestly, it's one of the few reasons I kept slogging through SVHSY the first go round.
Least favorite character
Again, oh so many. But I'm going with Devon Whitelaw because for me, he's the moment the series just burst into flames. It jumped the shark with Margo, but she at least was entertaining. Devon reappeared in SVU and was just as much a waste of space there as he was in SVH. He ruined everything and to this day I still can't tell if they intended it or if the readers just didn't take to him, or they got the order to burn the series to the ground and all their attempts to make Devon likeable just got thrown in the garbage as they laid waste to what was left of SVH.
Favorite ship
I feel like I am captain of the good 'ship Ken/Lila. :P If you want to forget SVC (and I usually do) and feel K/L is too tied to it, may I suggest the alternate 'ships of Lila/Bruce and Jessica/Ken? Or Sam/Jessica
Favorite friendship
I've got two! Enid/Elizabeth is actually my favorite because when it's done right, it's probably the friendship I would most want to be a part of. They bake cookies and gossip but not maliciously, they do nice things for people and they go to the beach, and they just genuinely like one another. Plus, when the series first starts out, Liz isn't as popular as she grows to be, so she feels like an outcast and knows Enid does too, and they bond over that, all while Elizabeth knows that Enid is awesome.
Jessica/Lila. Because when they team up, amazing things happen.
Favorite quote
There’s no going back,” she reminded herself. “I can’t live my life over. I can’t change what I did in the past. But what I do in the future...”
Slowly, it dawned on her. “I’m in charge of that. It’s still ahead of me; I can choose how I want to act, what I want to do and say, who I want to be. The future is mine."
- Jessica in The Evil Twin
Happiest moment
Liz arranging for Jessica to be mistaken for her and thus dunked in the pool when she's outted as the lady behind Eyes and Ears.
Saddest moment
Sam's death. I cry every time. Runner up, Regina's death.
Favorite location
I would very much like to hang out at Lila's.
Unpopular opinion
Wow, I'm not sure I know enough of the SV fandom to have an unpopular opinion. *thinks*
Oh. Duh. The fact that I like Enid is an unpopular opinion. :P I don't think she's wimpy or a waste of space. While I enjoyed the idea of her evolution into Alex, I think they fouled that up royally. I was even on board for her growing to resent Elizabeth, especially the Elizabeth of later SVH arcs.
Maybe the problem was that Enid was probably like a lot of readers and they didn't want to identify with her? The Mallory Pike syndrome, perhaps? Because Enid went through some shit, man.
But I loved that she had a past (not so like me after all!) and that she'd done her time and had a very clear vision of what she wanted her life to be like, even if I'm not sure we ever knew what Enid wanted to be as an adult. Which was okay because we knew who she wanted to be.
She suffered doubts and was clearly not all that popular, but she seemed relatively okay with that so long as she had Elizabeth. She could stand up to Lila without really batting an eye and didn't seem all that intimidated by her after awhile. (Just think of the stories we never heard about what would happen when Jess/Lila and Enid/Elizabeth hung out and the twins would get called off by their parents to do something, leaving Enid and Lila hanging out by the pool awkwardly or whatever. Just think of it!)
She could call Jessica on her BS and get away with it better than Todd ever could. Before we even met her, she turned the great and powerful Jessica down! Come on, what's not to love?
She just never got a fair shake and as the series went on, it became increasingly obvious that like the sane person on a reality show, the writers had no idea what to do with her.
It's okay, Enid. Come on over and we'll bake some cookies together and talk about how cool Liz used to be.