out_there | Thank God it's lunchtime...

Work's just... it's not a bad day, I'm busy, the time's going fast and I'm enjoying it as much as I normally do, but I'm just tired. The next time I stay up late on a Sunday night, you have my permission to kick me very hard. I have a strong feeling I did the same last weekend, too. Mondays would not be so horrible if I didn't sabotage myself by staying up to midnight on the Sunday.

Anyway, enough of RL. I was going to do the writer's meme (and I will, someday), but it just turned into whining about WW.

I'm sick of trying to write WW. Seriously. I hear these snippets of dialogue, it's not quite Sorkinese, but it's good enough for government work, and I'm relatively pleased. I have far more trouble trying to get the descriptions of what they're doing to fit in with the dialogue, without the dialogue being confusing (too little description, too little characterisation in the individual lines) or it sounding like he said, she said (which is just boring). Plus, they talk. And talk. And there is no foreseeable plot. I mean, sure, I had an idea for a plot, but they just keep talking around it. As a writer I get too distracted in the dialogue, in the details, and suddenly, poof, there's no plot.

At this second in time, I love the show dearly, but sometimes I wish it wasn't so *good*. It's intimidating. I need to go back to SV where the dialogue can be cheesy, kinda inappropriate and not quite work. Where the characters are not exactly fully-fleshed out, and the direction of the arc can easily change within a couple episodes. I need that flawed production with the potential for something better. That way, I can generally reach the standards set onscreen (and the great writers can far surpass them). With WW, I'm struggling just to make the grade.

I've been thinking about

elke_tanzer's post. She mentions her favourite characters and the themes that attract her to them. This got me thinking about my favourites.

If I list favourites from off the top of my head, they would include Jareth (Labyrinth); Nakago (Fushigi Yuugi); Han (Alan Rickman in Die Hard); Horatio and Archie (Hornblower); Sam, Josh and CJ of West Wing (actually, I'm highly fond of Toby, Leo and Jed, and most of the cast, but I'll limit it my absolute favourites at the moment); Mousse of Ranma 1/2; Miwa, Micheal and Arimi of Marmalade Boy; Sephiroth of FF7; Alex Keating of Family Ties; Aeryn of Farscape; Cordy, Faith, Wesley, Giles, Tara and the Mayor of BtVS/AtS; Tom Ripley (Talented Mr Ripley); Lex Luthor of the movies; Lex Luthor and Lois Lane of Lois & Clark; and almost by extension, Lex Luthor of SV (but not as much as his earlier incarnations); Death and the Patrician, Vetinari (Discworld novels). I'm sure there are more, but these will do for now. (Ooh, I guess Amon from Schindler's List should be added, too. Pretty, entrancing Nazi that he was.)

The first thing that comes to mind is that I respect intelligence. I respect intelligence and efficiency more than a strong moral code. All of these characters are highly capable, strong individuals who can achieve when they put their mind to it. I'm happy to support the villian if he's intelligent enough to deserve support. (I always felt for Jareth, until I watched it again as an adult and realised just how symbolic the whole tale was. *g*)

It's intriguing because I've never thought about this in these terms before. As in, what does it say about me? Firstly, it says that I distrust strong moral convictions. Oh, I like the idea of thinking about right and wrong, of making a decision because you've thought about and you agree with the morals. However, I prefer characters who do not accept the norm of society, who think about their actions, and decide that their course is what they want to do.

I don't fall for villians who are certain that they're actions are the "right" thing, I fall for the ones who see it as the necessary thing. I like the ones who consider the truth of what they are doing, even if they are misled, the ones who can see their own flaws, and accept themselves regardless.

Still, I don't trust that bone-deep *faith* that some people have, because personally, I've never had it. The closest I come to it is knowing, without a doubt, that if anything seriously went wrong, I could always turn to Mum for help, and knowing that she'd always help if she could. But, that's a knowledge, it's back up by experience and memories, it's not an unsubstantial emotional belief.

It's odd, because I support them having ideals. I mean, this even applies to Sam, who is so idealistic that sometimes you just hurt for him. But, he's also practical, he knows when something cannot be done, he knows that the world doesn't work the way it should, and he can think of the practical steps that he needs to take, even if he doesn't agree with them. He has ideals, but they are temptered by logic, by his awareness the world, by his awareness of himself.

If you can keep your ideals and still accept the world for what it is, I think it's quite an accomplishment. If you just allow your faith to lead you anywhere, I think it's a way of avoiding reality and responsibility for your actions. In a very real way, it frightens me.

Secondly, I'm an intellectual snob. Yeah, I shouldn't be, and I don't mean to hold it against people, but it's rather obvious that I do give intelligence a certain value. If you can think critically about something, if you can consider the pros and cons, if you can make up your mind without having to be led like a sheep, I'm impressed. I may not agree with your decisions, I may not like them, but I respect you for making them.

Partly, it's a case of I do consider myself an intelligent person. Not a genius by any stretch of the imagination, but I was an advanced child. (It wore off in high school when I realised that there were always going to be people far more intelligent than me. *g*) I was also unfit, unsocial, fairly stubborn and pretty selfish. I've never accorded a high value to physical or social achievements, and they've never been highly valued in my family, so it's unsurprising that I will desire the intelligent character over the physically gifted or the one with great social skills. Give me the one that doesn't always play well with others. *g* It's not a case of supporting the underdog so much as supporting the outsider, I think.

Linked to the intelligence, linked to thinking for yourself, is the rejection of strict social norms. I like my geeky boys who don't want or need to be macho, physical or overbearing. Who can be confident in themselves as gentler people. Likewise, give me my strong women, the ones who can be assertive, aggressive, determined, bitchy, without once considering themselve somehow less feminine, or less "female", because of these traits.

I like my characters to be capable, to be able to adapt and survive, to be efficient, and I love it when they know this. I find their self-confidence highly attractive because they should be confident. They have tried, they have achieved, and they deserve to be rewarded. They have "oomph", they try, they push themselves and they can do what needs to be done. I support all of these qualities, even if I don't actually possess them very strongly myself.

Also, I like my favourite characters to be attractive. I'm shallow like that. *g*