everybody wants to change the world

[aria]

Now that I am doing an idle Lex-Luthor-bits-of-Smallville watch, and unsurprisingly shipping Clark/Lex like burning, I have had the same conversation with a handful of friends. It goes something like this:

ME. And I love Lex! Oh my god, I love Lex! But Clark is, uh ...
FRIEND. Boring?
ME. Yeah! And this is becoming a pattern. Like, okay, take Highlander --
FRIEND. You love Methos, but Duncan is boring?
ME. ...Yes. Or Star Tr --
FRIEND. You love Spock and Kirk is boring!
ME. You are a mind-reader!

...although I have had this conversation with three separate friends, so in this case it's probably just that my friends know me. Anyway, it led me to imagine what would happen if I just eliminated the things that are boring, which incidentally leaves me with the mental image of Methos, Spock, and Lex Luthor in a room together. I am a little worried they would clean up nice and then take over the goddamn world.

Of course, then my brain took "What could possibly be more awesome than Methos, Spock, and Lex Luthor in a room together??" as a challenge, and I hereby submit for consideration the notion of Nyota Uhura, Kara Thrace, Zoe Washburne, Susan Ivanova, and Cordelia Naismith going on space adventures together. That is what is more awesome.

Comments

[aria]

I am fascinated by this! Now I want to know what you find great about Kirk, Duncan, and Superman! (To be fair, I am wildly generalizing when I say they are boring; I am bewildered by my growing fondness for Kirk, Clark is kind of adorkable, and the more Duncan I see the more I genuinely love him. They're just not comparable levels of fascinating.)

Fraser is more like Spock or Methos than he is like hero types, though! But I don't think Ray is very good at being a hero type either, and depending on my mood or the time of day, I can't decide if I love Fraser or Ray more. (By which I mean Ray Kowalski; Ray Vecchio is also dear to my heart, but I find him slightly less fascinating than Fraser or Kowalski.)

[killabeez]

I still haven't watched the Ray Kowalski eps, so it was Vecchio I was talking about -- although I love CKR, so I fully expect to be a RayK fan, too.

The key for me in what makes me love a character most is emotional availability. So, it's not really the hero thing -- and honestly, I don't love Superman the way I do Duncan and Kirk (and for the short time I watched Smallville, I was a Lex fan because of the way MR played him). Likewise, I'm a Spike (not Angel) fan. So I guess that's why I equate Fraser with Spock.

As for what I find great about Duncan (that's the easiest, since I love him best!) -- for me what makes him the exact opposite of boring is that he struggles both to do what's right and to remain self-honest. To me, that's the most difficult task a person can set themselves, balancing both those things. I find the struggle to be the best person one can be to be endlessly sexy, regardless of anything else -- but he also happens to be emotionally available. *g*

(Don't ask me why my other favorite character type is thieves and rogues. I... guess you have to have both?)

Anyway, for me, Duncan, Kirk, and Clark are not that much alike, except for that factor of emotional availability that I like. I think Superman in most of his incarnations is gloriously fucked up, and addicted to saving people. He's the only one I'd say really has the hero complex. I don't like him so much as I find him riveting to watch (in a car wreck sort of way). Duncan is a lot more concerned about his own inner judgment. And Kirk... well, hard to judge. His canon portrayals are so all over the map, even from one episode to the next, never mind one movie to the next. The character I love is probably more fanon than canon.

I do find Spock, Fraser, and Methos to be intellectually interesting, but ultimately I love them best when they let their emotional distance crack and break down. Which, lucky for me, they do fairly often. *g*

[aria]

Ohh, if you haven't reached Kowalski yet, you are in for a treat! My only regret re: due South is that they never did a season with all three of them. It would have been glorious.

The emotional availability thing makes a lot of sense! I think I sort of come at it from the other direction -- like, the characters who have emotional availability all the time are probably the ones I'd want to be friends with (in part because I am really awful at emotional nuance in real life and assume that things are cool unless specifically told otherwise, so Methos would either give up on me after a week or really love me because he wouldn't have to try very hard) ... but it isn't what makes me go starry-eyed for a character. I think you hit on it with I love them best when they let their emotional distance crack and break down because, um, that is basically what I LIVE for with those characters.

I am also delighted with your Thoughts On Duncan! As I said, he's growing on me, but I love hearing people articulate what they like about him, because ... well, I'm trying to write a ridiculously long Highlander fic right now, and liking the guy I'm writing about is helpful. :D

[killabeez]

That makes sense! And it explains certain aspects of Methos as you write him, and why I enjoy your portrayal of him so much. :)

I love all the characters best who are least like me, pretty much. *g* So, me and Spock? We're like *this.* Hence why he annoys the crap out of me half the time, even as I'm sympathizing with him.

In my next life, I'll be awesome and adorable and fun like Amanda. Maybe that version of me will have a thing for the Methoses(Methi?) of the world...

[aria]

I love all the characters best who are least like me, pretty much.

Oh god, this. I mean, obviously I don't Go Forth And Do Heroic Deeds, but half the time when I am hiding behind my hands and going "Oh Duncan whyyy" it is because he is doing exactly what I would do, and it drives me nuts.

I think "be like Amanda in the next life" is a worthy goal for all of us. :D