#people will always know their loval histories best

[confuzing]

Today on Sometimes I Forget People Don't Know History:

Daily Office Trivia Question: Who was crowned Queen of England on January 15 1559?

-Elizabeth I

-Elizabeth II

-Victoria

The people who answered the question before me: Victoria. Definitely.

[lonelier-version-of-you]

Who is your favourite character from casualty and why?

If you’d asked me this a couple of years ago, I would’ve said Dylan without a doubt, possibly with Connie as a very close contender.

But we’ve had some very, very good character introductions over the last couple of years. So instead of one singular favourite character, have my top 5.

Dylan Keogh

He was my first favourite character, and will always be on this list. He’s just brilliant. Such a complex, well-developed character, and I can relate to him quite a lot.

He’s also amazing autistic representation. Most canon autistic adult characters (e.g. Jason on Holby, Shaun on The Good Doctor) are very blatantly based off autistic children instead. Not Dylan - you can tell the writers must’ve read up on autistic adults when they were creating him, and I really appreciate that.

Most autistic characters are also portrayed as unaware of their own condition, as thinking they’re perfectly normal while everyone else around them whispers things like “do you think he’s on the spectrum?”. Again, not Dylan. Dylan damn well knows he’s autistic, and while there have been lines from other characters that strongly allude to it, it’s ultimately Dylan’s identity and how open he wants to be about it is his business. I love that.

I also love the little hints that he involves himself in disability activism/the autistic community in some way. Things like calling himself “neurodiverse” in 2011, when it was still a pretty obscure term mostly used in autism activism circles. Or getting back at the patronising social worker in that one ep by asking him if he’d tried meditation or yoga (a phrase so commonly thrown at disabled people, it’s become a bit of a disability community meme).

Lev Malinovsky

Lev is a wonderfully crafted character, and one of Casualty’s best introductions in a long time.

He’s beautifully acted by Uriel Emil, and his storyline touches on very important issues. I was worried at first that they might end up sensationalising Lev’s story, but they haven’t - I think they’ve found a good middle ground between playing up the drama, and acknowledging that Lev’s experiences (or even worse) are reality for many people and need to be handled sensitively. It’s also great to see a queer male character on a soap who ISN’T being fetishised.

I hope he sticks around for a long time yet, so we can watch him come to accept his sexuality, patch things up with Faith, and find a lovely boyfriend. :)

Jade Lovall

It was a Jade-centric episode (or should I say THE Jade-centric episode, we all know which one) that got the show a Rose D’Or nomination this year. (I still think the episode was robbed. It deserved to WIN, dammit.) She’ll go down in Casualty history for that, and thank god she will.

I love how there’s more to her character than just her deafness, but they also don’t ignore it or play down the impact it’s had on her life. I love her friendship with Dylan (the two disabled kids who grew up feeling unwanted, finding friendship with one another as adults... it’s wonderful). I love how kind and optimistic she is.

Faith Cadogan

Another brilliant new introduction. She’s barely been around for a year, but she’s already a deeply complex character. I love her.

It would have been very easy for the show to relegate Faith to a minor role and define her by her relationships to men (a bit like Holby did with Roxanna), but they haven’t. Of course her relationships with Lev and Dylan have played a big part in her storylines so far, but she has a character and personality outside of that. She’s just as big a part of the story as they are.

She’s incredibly strong, too. Even when her son is very ill and she’s terrified he might die, she’s still able to put on a brave face and go to work. I find that a very admirable quality.

Kirsty Mitchell is a brilliant actress, as well.

Also, I have a massive crush on her.

Connie Beauchamp

One of the only two characters on this list to have been introduced before the last two years, Connie has always been a favourite of mine. I love characters who have an inner vulnerability that they cover up with sternness and sarcasm (in case the fact that I love Dylan, Henrik, and Jac didn’t give it away...). Plus, she’s queer-coded (read: it’s basically canon in all but name at this point), so I love that as well.