#by relation (to amy + the ponds) river was 1) born because of her but

[acetheta]

constantly thinking abt the implications of the yowzah kiss at end of day of the moon.

[ialwayscomewhenyoucall]

Some of My Favorite Ladies

I was tagged by @fangirlingtodeath513 to share some of my favorite female characters...and wow, this was hard. If I could just pick ten, it would be easy as pie, but the rules say from ten different fandoms and I am a good girl who never breaks the rules. ;) I managed, but it was a close thing. (Honestly, I wanted to pick nearly all of them from Doctor Who...!)

Anyway...

The rules are to list ten of your favorite female characters from ten different fandoms and then tag ten different people.

1. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Battlestar Galactica) - I may be 39 years old, but I still have days when I say “I want to be Starbuck when I grow up.” Yes, she is deeply flawed. But she is strong, and she cares deeply, and when she has a task she throws herself into it with her everything. She is my patronus, my spirit animal, and I will always cry when I think of “Maelstrom” and the BSG finale.

2. River Song (Doctor Who) - What can be said about River that hasn’t already been said? So much of her story is some dude saying “you can’t do that” and her saying “watch me,” kicking ass while reapplying her lipstick or flirting with the Doctor. She shot a Silence she couldn’t see (behind her)--or even remember--all because she saw that Rory had a scared look on his face [”Day of the Moon”]. She loved her parents, she loved the Doctor, and she did the hard things even when she knew what was coming after. ((I need a hug))

3. Charlie Bradbury (Supernatural) - Of course. Charlie rules. But I’m not bitter. Clever, funny, adorable, just snarky enough when it’s needed...Charlie is (I refuse to even think the past tense) perfect.

4. Olivia Dunham (Fringe) - Oh Chuck how I miss this show. (And yes, I know I just mixed my fandoms. Deal with it.) Olivia is the perfect mix of strong and vulnerable. She is way badass and can take down any bad dude you throw at her, but she is so soft with Peter, or Walter, or any child who needs help. She takes the insanity of Fringe division in stride, and she survives the alternate universe on her own. Seriously amazing.

5. Luna Lovegood (the Harry Potter books) - Luna, I’ll admit, reminds me of me. Quirky. Unconcerned with what other people think. Fiercely loyal. Bookish. She is, I think, smarter than me, but she’s fictional so I don’t feel too bad about that. ;) I love her. I’ll admit it: when I re-read the series, I find myself thinking, “okay, but when do we get to Luna again??” as I read the earlier books!

6. Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - this one was easy, but also not. Easy because BtVS was my first true obsession, television-wise. It was the first show I watched over and over and over, the first show I could quote long sections of, the first show I actually cried when it ended. But it was not easy too, because I also love Willow with my whole heart. And if you’d asked me to choose fifteen years ago I almost certainly would have chosen Willow. But these days I identify more with Buffy. No, I don’t have a weighty destiny or super powers (I wish), but I do have three children, and that in itself puts what sometimes feels like the weight of the world on my shoulders. Fifteen years ago I didn’t know what it felt like to be truly responsible for the life of another. Now I’m responsible for three (along with my husband, of course). It’s not the same, I know, but since my first son was born just about ten and a half years ago I find myself identifying with Buffy more and more. It’s funny how perspectives change.

Anyway, personal introspection aside, Buffy saves the world. A lot. Do I have to say more?

7. CJ Cregg (The West Wing) - Okay, I know this show has been off the air for ages. I don’t care. I love CJ. She has an impossible job and she does it with grace and courage with the whole world watching her...and then she gets an even more impossible job, and she’s even better. And she’s not afraid to speak her mind to the president, or whoever needs to hear it. Awesome.

8. Alanna of Trebond and Olau (Song of the Lioness quartet and other books of Tortall by Tamora Pierce) - And here’s where I delve into places it’s likely fewer people have gone....but really should. I first picked up Alanna: The First Adventure, the first book in the Song of the Lioness quartet, when I was 12. I found it on a paperback rack in my middle school’s library. I was instantly hooked, and I’ve never looked back. Ten year old Alanna and her twin brother, Thom, have a problem. Alanna is supposed to go to the convent to learn to be a lady. Thom is supposed to go to the palace to learn to be a knight. But Alanna wants to be a knight and Thom wants to study magic. So they trade places. Alanna becomes Alan, hiding her sex. (Thom is lucky; at the convent they train boys to use magic as well as training up girls to be young noblewomen.) It is never easy, but the lesson is a good one--not that “boy” things are better, but that one should be free to choose whichever path they want in life, if they are willing to work for it.

I’ve read and re-read these books over and over and over again. It was actually difficult to choose my favorite of Pierce’s heroines (each quartet focuses on a different character but they all take place in the same world and interconnect). Alanna will probably be my favorite forever just because she was the first, but I also love her daughter, Aly

9. Lirael, daughter of the Clayr (the Old Kingdom books, by Garth Nix) - These books are very, very high on my list of all-time favorites, and Lirael herself is a big part of that. For a long time she struggles with finding her place in a world that doesn’t seem to want her, but when she finds her true calling she steps into her place without hesitation. It’s beautiful to “see”. Plus she starts out as a magic-wielding, crossbow-carrying librarian. Awesome.

(Okay, feel free to laugh at me for this last one, I can take it...)

10. Fluttershy (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) - Yes. My Little Pony. I started out watching this with my little girl...but I kept watching it on my own. I’ve seen every episode...more than once. Shh! It’s our secret, okay?? ;) All of the mane six have qualities that I admire, but Fluttershy is my favorite. Again, she reminds me most of myself. She is quiet and reserved, keeping mostly to herself unless she is around her friends. But if you wrong one of her friends or her animals--watch out! She becomes a force to be reckoned with. I love that, and I can so relate.

Honorable mention: Jody Mills (SPN), Rose Tyler (Doctor Who), Donna Noble (Doctor Who), Amy Pond (Doctor Who), Willow Rosenberg (BtVS), Hermione Granger (Harry Potter), Astrid Farnsworth (Fringe), Keladry of Mindalen (Tortall), Aly Homewood (Tortall)

Because who cares about the rules

And now I tag...

@bend-me-shape-me @bold-sartorial-statement @starsinursa @gneisscastiel @aldehydean @nera-solani @heyitsmebee @wanderingcas @magicknightriderjellyfish @allofmystudentsrunaway