marguerite_krux (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
marguerite_krux) wrote2008-12-21 12:30 pm
marguerite_krux) wrote2008-12-21 12:30 pm
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Day 4 of Happy Meme
Following Voyager, I became hooked on SG-1 and Carter. I did care a lot about her but I think it was more because of the whole Sam/Jack relationship. I tend to love a show more and forgive its flaws if there is a ship I can support. But after being jerked around for several seasons, and then the unpleasantness of Carter's move to SGA, which had me [unfairly] hating her for a while, I got a little turned off. Seasons 9 and 10 and the movies rekindled my affection for her, but there's still that little bit of lingering meh-ness.
So for today, a character I've never had any doubts or reservations about loving whole-heartedly.
Elizabeth Weir.
She changed my views on what it meant to be a leader. She was more warm and open than some of the other characters I was familiar with, more fun and easy-going. She never lost her authority, but she wasn't ruled or defined by her position.
Being a diplomat, she was more about compromise and negotiation and each party leaving the table having accomplished something they wanted, rather than her way or the highway. I wish we'd gotten to see her wield that wealth of experience and expertise off-world more, but ah well. *stabs writers*
She thought fluidly and wasn't restricted to blindly following rules and regulations all the time in place of using her brain and wits to survive the dangers they encountered in the Pegasus Galaxy. Okay, Elizabeth wasn't perfect and didn't always handle every situation brilliantly- it isn't a damning weakness, she's only human- but she regrouped, reflected on what happened and moved on.
Being a civilian meant she was able to express her feelings and emotions more than a lot of female characters in positions of authority in other shows, who end up being repressed automatons that never smile or joke around or relax. She was comfortable empathizing with other people and showing how she felt, although she certainly didn't act overemotional or irrational. And I love her sense of humor. It wasn't as obvious as O'Neill's quips or McKay's snarking, but a quiet subtle humor. And some of her inflections slay me, just thinking about it, heh.
Being a woman didn't make her less hardcore or powerful than the other characters. When forced to make tough decisions, where she could be responsible for sacrificing lives, she always rose to the occasion and made the wisest, most rational choices she could at the time. Being close to the members of her expedition and caring about them didn't cloud her judgment or make her lose focus when they were in a crisis and her choices could cost their lives.
She was also placed in positions of great danger on several occasions, and had to face it on her own- only through her strength and determination was she able to succeed in her mission. She was willing to do whatever it took, even give up her own life, if it meant saving her city.
Elizabeth lead me to become more involved with fandom. I dabbled before, but after falling in love with her, I joined GateWorld and LJ. I actually met a lot of my flisters through our mutual love for her. [Hey, I can totally blame her for my internet addiction!]
My fanfic writing improved with her as my muse- I may not have been as prolific as with Janeway, but I think the quality was a heck of a lot better, lol. I also began making fanvids, a new area of creative expression I hadn't explored before.
The period during which I first got hooked on Elizabeth and SGA was one of the lowest points of my life. I felt like I didn't have anyone that cared about me, that life wasn't worth living and things were generally crappy. [Well, still are but I'm better able to deal with it now] Fangirling her was fulfilling, gave me something to look forward to, something I could lose myself and find some joy in. My cousin was also pretty depressed at that time. We weren't all that close before; we hung out at family gatherings but that was about it. SGA brought us together. I visited her every week and we watched this show and bonded over our addiction. Now I'd consider her one of my closest friends, and it's directly linked to Elizabeth. I'd never have reached out, or known how to connect with Netty if it hadn't been for her.
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Real life thing I am happy about...
Netty, who is awesome. A little too responsible and mature at times, making me look bad, but I forgive her for that, lol. I love her so much for accepting the fangirl that I am, instead of making fun of me like so many other people, and being willing to go on the wild journey of addiction to a variety of shows with me. We've done SGA, SG-1, and X-files so far. Working on Criminal Minds, Kyle XY and Gossip Girl right now. And I'm determined to get her into The Lost World, heh.
In addition to being easy to convert into a fan of multiple shows, she's also a great listener and sounding board when I'm upset or needing to vent about something. Of course, she has a boyfriend so I can't monopolize her all the time, sadly, but she does wonders for my morale.
So for today, a character I've never had any doubts or reservations about loving whole-heartedly.
Elizabeth Weir.
She changed my views on what it meant to be a leader. She was more warm and open than some of the other characters I was familiar with, more fun and easy-going. She never lost her authority, but she wasn't ruled or defined by her position.
Being a diplomat, she was more about compromise and negotiation and each party leaving the table having accomplished something they wanted, rather than her way or the highway. I wish we'd gotten to see her wield that wealth of experience and expertise off-world more, but ah well. *stabs writers*
She thought fluidly and wasn't restricted to blindly following rules and regulations all the time in place of using her brain and wits to survive the dangers they encountered in the Pegasus Galaxy. Okay, Elizabeth wasn't perfect and didn't always handle every situation brilliantly- it isn't a damning weakness, she's only human- but she regrouped, reflected on what happened and moved on.
Being a civilian meant she was able to express her feelings and emotions more than a lot of female characters in positions of authority in other shows, who end up being repressed automatons that never smile or joke around or relax. She was comfortable empathizing with other people and showing how she felt, although she certainly didn't act overemotional or irrational. And I love her sense of humor. It wasn't as obvious as O'Neill's quips or McKay's snarking, but a quiet subtle humor. And some of her inflections slay me, just thinking about it, heh.
Being a woman didn't make her less hardcore or powerful than the other characters. When forced to make tough decisions, where she could be responsible for sacrificing lives, she always rose to the occasion and made the wisest, most rational choices she could at the time. Being close to the members of her expedition and caring about them didn't cloud her judgment or make her lose focus when they were in a crisis and her choices could cost their lives.
She was also placed in positions of great danger on several occasions, and had to face it on her own- only through her strength and determination was she able to succeed in her mission. She was willing to do whatever it took, even give up her own life, if it meant saving her city.
Elizabeth lead me to become more involved with fandom. I dabbled before, but after falling in love with her, I joined GateWorld and LJ. I actually met a lot of my flisters through our mutual love for her. [Hey, I can totally blame her for my internet addiction!]
My fanfic writing improved with her as my muse- I may not have been as prolific as with Janeway, but I think the quality was a heck of a lot better, lol. I also began making fanvids, a new area of creative expression I hadn't explored before.
The period during which I first got hooked on Elizabeth and SGA was one of the lowest points of my life. I felt like I didn't have anyone that cared about me, that life wasn't worth living and things were generally crappy. [Well, still are but I'm better able to deal with it now] Fangirling her was fulfilling, gave me something to look forward to, something I could lose myself and find some joy in. My cousin was also pretty depressed at that time. We weren't all that close before; we hung out at family gatherings but that was about it. SGA brought us together. I visited her every week and we watched this show and bonded over our addiction. Now I'd consider her one of my closest friends, and it's directly linked to Elizabeth. I'd never have reached out, or known how to connect with Netty if it hadn't been for her.
---------------------------
Real life thing I am happy about...
Netty, who is awesome. A little too responsible and mature at times, making me look bad, but I forgive her for that, lol. I love her so much for accepting the fangirl that I am, instead of making fun of me like so many other people, and being willing to go on the wild journey of addiction to a variety of shows with me. We've done SGA, SG-1, and X-files so far. Working on Criminal Minds, Kyle XY and Gossip Girl right now. And I'm determined to get her into The Lost World, heh.
In addition to being easy to convert into a fan of multiple shows, she's also a great listener and sounding board when I'm upset or needing to vent about something. Of course, she has a boyfriend so I can't monopolize her all the time, sadly, but she does wonders for my morale.
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But before I let myself feel too flattered, you know I'm the one with glasses, right? ;P
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I admit it, there was a lot of squee going on when I read it..
And having family you can fangirl with is awesome.
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I love Elizabeth so much but it's funny how hard it is to pin down WHY exactly. Okay, she's super damn gorgeous but I want to find less shallow reasons, lol.
So, like, I find her hysterically funny but when I was searching for quotes, there weren't any obvious one-liners, and I realized...it's all in her delivery. She's so wry and understated about it.
I think she has this air of authority and power but not the usual way a character exercises it- not like Xena throwing her chakram or Scully handcuffing someone or Janeway throwing a person in the brig. Elizabeth is so different from them because of her civilian status and the fact that she doesn't use weapons [except that one time in The Return].
And the other ladies influenced my development a lot and had an impact on what I did, which wasn't so much the case with Elizabeth. But there was more of an emotional reliance in her case. She may not have compelled me to write hundreds of fics or study a particular area of science or drink black coffee, but I needed her a lot more than the others because I was so depressed and angsty when I found SGA, and she literally calmed me down and made me chill and just be happy. So her influence is less tangible than the other 'heroes' of mine, but so powerful.
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SO TRUE. Because honestly, if you look at the transcripts, you wouldn't think half of her lines were as funny/snarky/awesome as she made them. Delivery is everything. Also, the eyebrow and smirk that usually mean Elizabeth is about to pwn you.
Elizabeth was the no-nonsense intelligence of it, she knew the way things worked. She keenly understood the way people worked, which is why she was such an effective politician and diplomat before she became the leader of Atlantis. Whether it was negotiating with her own people or dealing with the Pegasus galaxy, she just got it.
The one thing I never understood was how little that knowledge seemed to translate into her personal life. On the one hand she has all these wonderful friendships, there's John, who's a different category altogether, and then there was Simon. For someone who had so much life in her, I just don't get how Simon fit in. He was the safe, comfortable relationship, but that just doesn't quite make sense to me. There was no passion, no challenge, it just seemed kind of boring to me.
Bwah. Rambling. Apologies. I will say this though, she was the heart of it all. Without Elizabeth, they lost that moral compass they used to have, and as much as I love Sam Carter as a character, introducing a career military woman as the leader was a bad idea. The military sees things far differently, and seasons four and five became darker because of it.
and she literally calmed me down and made me chill and just be happy. So her influence is less tangible than the other 'heroes' of mine, but so powerful.
That makes sense to me. Elizabeth just has this way about her that makes her my favorite. Even beyond the things I can pin down, there's just something completely different about her that I love.
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THIS. Torri is awesome. ♥ One of my favorites- and I feel like a disloyal shipper saying this, lol- is with Lorne, when he's all 'we know how you worry' and she gives him the Raised Eyebrow of Doom. When he stutters and capitulates, she smiles sunnily and all is well, like her mood just does a complete 180 and it's so funny! All of that is nonverbal, it's acting awesome that you just can't teach.
I wish wish WISH we'd gotten to see more of her diplomatic skills. So sucky that they never cared to explore that. Ugh. Have you read Meylanna's Pacific Rim (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2326804/1/The_Pacific_Rim) ? It's an SGA/WW crossover, and we see Elizabeth in her political element, pwning all! So cool!
Simon. I hated Simon, not just because he was a loser jerkface but I mean, why bring Carter's leftovers as her boyfriend? Why? I didn't see the need to have him in the show at all, except as a lame nod to Janeway. Actually, they totally ripped off Janeway, right down to the 'find another woman, be happy but wait, let me become miserable when I learn that you have done as I asked' useless pointless pseudo-angst.
Rambling = coolness. ;D
I used to love Carter, and I found it again after I watched season 10, but I was seriously in hate with her for the longest time. I mean, that's what TATB did to me, wrecked my longstanding affection for her character. It's scary that they could do that. *shudders*
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Okay now see that right there is one of the moments I was thinking about. Elizabeth has this look that simply implys you'd better get things straight quickly or you will regret it. It's like the banner
*glee* I never saw that fic! I'm reading it now. I need to watch WW at some point to fill in the blanks, but it seems I've got most of it down.
Well that's the other thing, I know SciFi shows, especially ones in Canada love reusing each other's actors and all, but that was just LAME. And also that Simon was a total loser jerkface. I never watched much Trek, but that's actually a point you have there..
In that case I'll be perfectly fine. We both know I ramble like nobody's business. :P
I tend to blame the writers for sucky things like that, especially when I already have a character fixed in my mind. I'm pretty sure we know the characters better than they do. *sporks the writers*
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Oh, I'm glad you're enjoying the fic! So so good. You don't need to know TWW to get it, but it's pretty enjoyable, definitely worth- wait. No. Not going there, I'm not pimping another show. Jeez, it's like a conversational landmine...
Anyway, there's a list of all the west_gate fics in chronological order here (http://community.livejournal.com/west_gate/10627.html) for easy reference.
*snorts* Talking about reusing actors, apparently 90% of the BSG cast has crossed over (http://community.livejournal.com/battlestar_blog/1477992.html) into various shows including Stargate, X-files, Dark Angel, Smallville, Supernatural, etc. etc. Must be good being an actor in that area, they get recast over and over!
And also that Simon was a total loser jerkface. I never watched much Trek, but that's actually a point you have there..
Thank you. I don't mind show reusing concepts, heck, I want all my ships to resemble each other in a few very particular ways, and there are fun concepts I adore seeing reflected in different shows, but why that, and why so badly? I love Intruder but I always fast forward through that to avoid him. She's better off without him. I mean, her fashion sense improves when he's not lurking in the background.
We both know I ramble like nobody's business. :P
You?! What about me?! I'm the master of leaving a page-long response to a one-line comment. I feel vaguely guilty at making people read all that, but what the hell. >:D
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Bringing fans all over the world together. :D
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I have to find out if I can download it. I want to see Torri and her cute hairstyle, damn it! >:[
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((hugs))
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Beautiful pics!