[mmm, girl!anti-heroes....]

[reenka]

Man... I'm rewatching my BtVS Faith vids on a whim, and of course it's reminding me how awesome Faith is, so I'm trying to think of women that I think are hardcore as much as she is [in fandom]. And. It's difficult -.-

All I'm coming up with is Scully (don't laugh!!), Arya (well, there's a GRRM fandom), and well, there's Willow & Buffy in BtVS too (as well as other 'solid' female characters), but I'm less thinking of 'good strong female characters' & more... really COOL, hardcore female characters that are totally as badass, selfish & violent as the guys (or as coolly rational & competent, whatever). Y'know, girls that make you starry-eyed. Uh. Not the most objective measure in the world, I realize ^^;; Buffy herself is sort of like that in my head. Ginny in HBP is sort of a bad parody of a girl like that :)) I love the type, though, when they're more like Faith (more honest about being hardass, I mean) and less like Ginny, I guess. Though I like Ginny. -.- I used to make my Pansy like that, but people have told me she's OOC enough times that I'm like 'uh... oh well' :))
    Oooh, McGonagall is like that :D :D :D She doesn't make me starry-eyed (most of the time), though -.-


Hm. There are lots in obscur(ish) books which I like, since I tend to read books with female leads, but they don't get fandoms, really. Maybe I should finally watch Veronica Mars?? Heh. Then I suppose there's Zoe in Firefly, but I've only watched the movie so I can't be sure. Also, I suppose maybe you can go with Amanda in Highlander; Eowyn from LoTR sorta fits except she's just badass without being cool (I DON'T KNOW, OKAY). I think that bit of darkness/angst (not relationship angst!!!) in them is also necessary to make them 'on par' with the boys-- if they're just 'tough chicks', then it's like... meh (though still good!) It's like, to make them romantic (in a Byronic-heroine sort of way, ahahahahahaokfjladkfjaslk), they'd have to have their... y'know, twisted soul or whatever. Not that... Scully would then qualify, 'cause... notsomuch with the angst. But. Still badass, plus she used to be my hero -.-

Really, there's no one I can immediately think of who's 'romantic' in the way Faith (and to a lesser degree) Buffy are in fandom. Dark and badass and complex and bitchy and yet heroic (walking the line between that & anti-heroic). Too few female anti-heroes! Dammit. *sniffs* Unless you want to count Catwoman, and WHY NOT. There you go. Catwoman :D :D :D :D (...sort of... although come to think of it, this is a lot more common a character-type in comics, maybe.) Also, um, maybe Death (from Sandman) and... Rose Walker?? Sort of. Heh. Definitely Lilith, but now we're leaving fandom behind entirely, though there's always the Lilith in Lucifer (the comic), but... I didn't especially like her-- or more importantly, find her romantic, which is the problem with most of the others, too. ^^;; In Lucifer, I'd say Mazikeen is more what I'm talking about... though she doesn't make me starry-eyed either, she's a lot closer to 'The Real Thing' than the rest I'd mentioned, to me. Mazikeen just needs a bit more... internal turmoil and a liiiittle less stoicism to make the leap to 'Badass Romantic Anti-heroine'.

    Okay, if I had to think in terms of fictional archetypes, I mean the Dark Temptress-type woman most common in Fatal Attraction-like hetero love-stories, y'know... the darkly beautiful dangerous woman pulling the hero down below the lake. BUT! I'm bored with that cliche if it's pure, and I like it a lot more when the darkness isn't all centered on seduction (hopefully not at all on seduction, 'cause I pretty much hate Vivien/Morgan Le Fay), and -that- is rare. A Femme Fatale that doesn't use her 'womanly wiles' as her main weapon? Shhyeah. But. That's what I like :P Besides, Femme Fatale types tend to be portrayed from the male pov, and the poor innocent/vulnerable boys don't tend to see the vulnerability inside the woman. Possibly, it's like, there's not supposed to BE any real vulnerability-- she's just... y'know, the Black Widow spider, etcetc. But that's boring. I want the girl to be a girl, all conflicted and passionate and intense and badass... *sigh* Faith. *______*

...In other news, I finally watched ep 1 of The Sentinel today. And MAN. I can't believe I actually enjoy the show almost as much as the fic. I mean, they're pretty, but it's so cheesy & lame but I CAN'T HELP IT 'cause it's like... you can already tell it's About Jim & Blair-- like if Brian/Justin is sex-without-commitment, here you have aaaaall the platonic commitment EVER, just no sex. I think I actually prefer the latter :D Though if you know me, you know I only mean 'in small doses', y'know, ahahah.

Comments

[lasultrix.livejournal.com]

ARYA PLUCKS APPLES FROM THE TREES ON WHICH CORPSES HANG AND EATS THEM WORMS AND ALL AS SHE RIDES PAST, TO SURVIVE.

Ain't nobody more hardcore than that girl. Nobody.

[arboretum]

On strong female characters... have you ever read Bleach? :D

[cellia.livejournal.com]

Battlestar Galactica is lousy with chicks like that. Starbuck is the most obvious example, but almost every chick in that series is badass (and flawed) in some way.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking that I'd missed mentioning all the possibilities in anime/manga, but then I was already going to sleep... However, I wasn't talking about just 'strong female characters' or even just 'badass female characters' but a very specific subtype... y'know, angsty, romantic, sexy (now we're getting subjective) :>

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I was thinking she needs to grow up a little before she'd be... 'romantic', though. Like, y'know, hit puberty :> All it would take is a little more... pizzazz?? I dunno. She's getting there, definitely :D Well, she's already there on the hardcore dept, but not in the Femme Fatale dept :>

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking I need a better definition than 'badass and flawed'! It's that darkly romantic quality, man... hard to define :( But! That sounds promising. In a 'I've never watched that show so I have no clue' sort of way :))

Oh yes, the kicker: 'badass, vulnerable yet flawed' :D That's what makes it romantic.

[cellia.livejournal.com]

Hm. It's hard for me to say if the BSG women fit the bill exactly. They def do have their moments of vulnerabiliy. Maybe? There are many diff types of female characters in the series (even if I think it's gotten a little eh in this season). Some of the best and most developed/complex female characters I can recall on tv lately anyway.

Don't know if BSG'd be your thing though. There is a thread of mysticism through the show, but the emotional mood of it is much more like a war flick than a fantasy. In general, Quality stuff though.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I thought about it & (just as I posted (http://lunacy.livejournal.com/339505.html)) the vulnerability probably isn't it. ^^;;; I just want that dark/anti-hero...ness. There are tons of -guys- like that. Hmf.

...I live in deathly fear of getting into another show, since I got into The Sentinel (to my utter surprise) and now there's ilke, only one ep of it online & my Season 1 DVD isn't here yet and there ARE no more DVDs ;____; Well, I suppose there's more stuff with BSG since it's current, but still, it's pretty overwhelming to watch so much TV to catch up when currently I watch none :> Mostly I sort of wish there were more characters like Faith? But I wouldn't benefit from it since I probably wouldn't get into that fandom anyway :>

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Heh, I don't really think GRRM writes like that. The only vaguely romantic characters he has are Jon and Dany, and Jon's always being told by his companions and superiors to get a grip. The writing for Arya especially strikes me as very matter-of-fact. Her story's upsetting for the readers because we're aware she's using anger as a way to cope, but she's just really not very emotional except for that very very cold anger. It's also why I like her, as you may have guessed ;P If she was some horror Darth Arya archetype I'd probably stick to Sansa.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Hahaha Darth Arya-- Faith isn't Darth Faith :P Actually, I was watching this femslash vid for 'Bad Girls' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnoHM_gWK60), which is a British women's prison show and that totallyy went there-- Pat particularly is the type I meant, I think. Mmm. Doesn't mean she's 'unrealistic', just passionate and conflicted-looking :)

Anyway, yeah, you're right about GRRM's writing & Arya-- that's why I didn't seriously say she was like, just that she -could- be, has some of the ingredients, a potential especially in another story & once she gets more hormonal & adolescent-angsty such, ahahah. If she did. All I wanted to say is that I -like- that sort of thing and find it interesting it's rare in females & common in males in fiction. Um. :>

[malafede.livejournal.com]

I plead the fifth!

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel about what's-his-name-- oh yes, it starts with S :)) And H, come to think of it, a bit <3. hee.

[malafede.livejournal.com]

I really just couldn't come up with a way to disagree that didn't sound vaguely offensive, especially re=past history. ;P Anyway, Arya's already badass and flawed, it's just the tone of the narrative that doesn't allow for the character you want.

(Okay Naruto stuff removed because it was just pathetically fangirlish.)

(*eyes narrow* I hope that heart's for me and not fot that hormonal adolescent H person.)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I don't think 'badass & flawed' is enough, which is why I tried to explain more in the following post; I think the 'form' of narrative seriously affects the character, maybe, I'm not sure. I don't think it's -just- tone-- I really think there are real differences between Arya the way she is currently, at least, and my Faith prototype. But my thoughts on this aren't really defined enough, so :> I didn't mean I don't love Arya -too-! :P

Of course the heart is for you <3. AND FOR HARRY COME TO THINK OF IT AHAHAHHAflajkslkjafasjslkjaslkfjsa;lkj