Writer's Block: On Character Preferences

[Error: unknown template qotd]First of all, that should be "your favorite fictional character" with an "r" goddammit. My favorite fictional literary character is Willa Rahv from Early Disorder by Rebecca Josephs. Nominally about a 15-year-old's struggle with anorexia, Early Disorder is actually more of a slice of life for a young girl as she tries to find her place in her overbearing, perfectionist family, a fast-paced, overwhelming school and a city that teems with life that she would like to be a part of. Witty, pretentious, oversensitive and insecure, Willa embodies many of the strengths and fallacies common to young teenagers. However, her sarcastic, keen-eyed first-person perspective evinces a deft sense of humor and a maturity that she eventually grows into. I find the theme of coming into one's own eminently relatable, and I've always found Will a sympathetic protagonist over the decades during which I have cherished this book.

I'm also really keen on the eldest princess in A.S. Byatt's short story "The Story of the Eldest Princess" [available in The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye] because she's smart and assertive and reflective. She realizes she's in a skewed fairy tale and forms her own happy ending, which does not involve happy hetero marriage.

In TV or movies, my favorite characters are Jareth the Goblin King from Labyrinth [details at Jareth's Realm], Frank from The Rocky Horror Picture Show [details at The Frankenstein Place], Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer [details all over this blog] and Dean Winchester from Supernatural [details all over this blog].

In fiction that I have created, my favorite characters are Will and Anneka because they have pink hair and no fashion sense. I also really like Mark because he's such a  dweeb, Chow  because  he's  probably  the only wise character around and Viktor because his constant attempts to screw anything that moves are amusing.

In any medium, I dislike whiny characters who do not stand up for themselves. Three particularly egregious examples are Sarah from Labyrinth, Harry Potter from the seven books concerning him and Bella from the Twilight Saga. Make that EVERYONE in the Twilight Saga.

EDIT: BWAH HAHAHAH. I notice that Edward Cullen, abusive personality extraordinaire of the Twilight Saga, appears most frequently as a favorite character, clearly nominated by people without critical intelligence.

Amusing derogatory book review

Paul Constant over at The Stranger writes a scathing review of Noelle Oxenhandler's memoir The Wishing Year. While incisively sarcastic, Constant's review succeeds because he backs up his poor opinion of the book with examples of its failings. My favorite sentence:

Oxenhandler is exceedingly relieved that the African-American syrup advertisement has absolved Nicholas of generations of slave-owning guilt, and she goes about the happy work of intervening in his life.

Maybe, if I hone my rapier-like wit enough, I can be that vicious in a book review and get away with it. Until then, I will enjoy others' excoriations of trash.

Favorite dismissal of an atrocious book, attributed to Dorothy Parker:

This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.

1:6 stuff coming in

I ordered last night from War Toys, and they're shipping out the order today! Wow, that was quick.

I ordered a nude Hermann Miller for Davry's body. It's an 11" DiD body that's supposed to be a young boy. I'll have to hack out the upper arms, upper legs and torso in order to make a convincing example of a person with achondroplastic dwarfism. As a bonus, the Hermann head that comes with the body is attractive, possibly usable in future for another character.

I also ordered a nude US Navy EOD by Soldier Story for Sibley. He looks prissy and disapproving [it's the mouth], which is how I always imagine Sibley: better than you and cognizant of it. Poor Sibley...He irritates me so much as a character that I don't want to have a doll of him, but I have scenes planned involving him, so I need him. He'd better stop acting like a dipstick soon, or else he'll antagonize the entire cast. Wait...he already did.

I also ordered some atrocious clothes for Will, including a tropical print shirt, a white mesh tank top and an olive tank top. I think I ordered some normal jeans too.

My wife is helping me order Chow's body and a jukebox for my 1:6 Nightcrawler. I should work on dolls tonight, sculpting Chow's hair and taking some pictures of Absinthe, who is now done, and my 1:6 scenery in progress.