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

[myalexandria]

but you don't find Fraser boring, do you?

[skipthedemon]

This is exactly what I was going to post.

I feel much the same way as Aria, and I don't find Fraser boring. I'm not exactly sure WHY.

[killabeez]

As a Kirk, Duncan, and uh... well, not Clark from Smallville, but Superman fan in general, I submit that Fraser is a lot more like Spock or Methos than he is like any of the "hero" types. Which probably explains why I'm more of a Ray fan... :D

[themeletor]

to be fair, clark is and has been and always will be a big dumb alien.

lex gets a lot less interesting when he is monolithically evil instead of delightfully morally ambiguous and/or conflicted.

also OMG i want that the-good-ship-badass-women event A LOT. it's pretty much more awesome than EVERYTHING :D :D :D

[aria]

Not at all! I actually almost included that in the post, actually, because at first glance it's a break in the pattern, but ... Fraser is snippy and snarky and awkward and layered, and since those are the things that I find attractive in the guys I listed up there as being interesting to me, Fraser crosses the Pretty Hero divide and becomes fascinating to me. :D

[aria]

I think it is because I find Fraser snippy and snarky and awkward and layered, which are also things that I find wildly attractive in Methos and Spock and Lex! Fraser the pretty hero boy is a SNEAKY FACADE, you see.

[themeletor]

(also oh i see your subject line text. i see it~)

[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.)

[aria]

Aww, Clark IS a big dumb alien! Bless.

I can't even imagine Lex being monolithically evil! Where is the fun in THAT, I ask you. CONFLICTED LEX ALL THE WAY.

Can you imagine all those ladies in space together? It would be the most efficiently-run, snarkiest spaceship EVER. They have the best pilot, the best communications officer, the best gunslinger, and two ladies who are excellent at command and only think they are not also excellent at diplomacy and Getting Shit Done. *_*

(Ahaha my subject line! FFF I CAN'T GET THAT SONG OUT OF MY HEEEEAD.)

[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

[beccaelizabeth]

Nyota Uhura, Kara Thrace, Zoe Washburne, Susan Ivanova, and Cordelia Naismith

... *has happy brain melt* ...

That would be a proper working team with different roles and responsibilities. Needs a tech though. Toshiko Sato is from a much lower tech level but I'm sure she'd catch up.

[skipthedemon]

Good point. He's the best of both worlds, in many ways.

[aria]

Oof, yeah, the ship might crash. Maybe we can bring Kaylee along too, and she can bring Tosh up to speed? (Omg, Kaylee/Toshiko! I WOULD SHIP IT.)

[skipthedemon]

.....I just noticed your journal title. When did that change?? *DIES A LOT*

[beccaelizabeth]

OMG they'd be so cute together and like actually good for each other and stuff. Tosh would have a girlfriend who didn't try and kill anyone and Kaylee would have a girlfriend who brings her food and shiny broken things.

[aria]

Ahaha, what, "they are not the hell your llamas"? It ... there's been inexplicable running jokes about llamas in my life since at least 2005, and after I watched ST IV I had to change my title to something approximating THEY ARE NOT THE HELL YOUR WHALES. Somehow it became llamas! So, um, it's been like that for ... a couple of weeks? Ish? :D

[aria]

Okay, Kaylee/Toshiko is officially my new crossover rarepair OTP.

I think it is also important to ship Ivanova with someone, so she can actually have a functional relationship and not feel like ALL HER DREAMS ARE CRUSHED. Uhura, perhaps? They are refreshingly no-nonsense and I think Uhura would be very good at getting through Ivanova's emotional blocks.

[skipthedemon]

I am just terribly unobservant. And yes, THEY ARE NOT THE HELL YOUR WHALES. One of my favorite comedic lines of all time. I am just easy for ST IV, really.

[sophia-sol.livejournal.com]

...somehow I am entirely unsurprised by your mad love for Lex.

Also, I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. Well, BOTH of your newsletters. "Nyota Uhura, Kara Thrace, Zoe Washburne, Susan Ivanova, and Cordelia Naismith going on space adventures together" and "Methos, Spock, and Lex Luthor in a room together" are HAPPY THOUGHTS.

[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

[aria]

Ahaha, I know, right? I mean, I sort of knew going in that I'd only be watching it for Lex, but then he was wonderful and lived up to my expectations of him! (I should ... probably find healthier fictional types. Oh well.)

The thing about the "awesome ladies go on space adventures" thing is that I want ALL THE LADIES to go on space adventures! Like, I should clearly also be inviting along Gaila and Roslin and Dee and Kaylee and Delenn! At the very least! I really am tempted to make a list of spacefaring women and write the story of them all on board a ship together, though. It would be amazing.

I am not sure exactly what Methos, Spock, and Lex would actually do, though! I just keep picturing them being very polite and serious while brimming with unholy glee inside. Perhaps they would talk about brilliant scientific inventions? And history? And things?

[sophia-sol.livejournal.com]

I need to start by saying that your icon is adorable. They're just so happy!

(healthier fictional types? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS? That wouldn't be nearly as fun, or as cathartic!)

ALL THE LADIES obviously need to go on space adventures together. You should definitely write that story. Except that then I feel sad for the non-spacefaring ladies that don't get to come on this grand adventure, who would ALSO be amazing!

Methos, Spock and Lex: Well, I'm rather a big fan of the "clean up nice and take over the goddamn world" you suggest in the post proper! But I do not in fact know how they would get there.

[nextian]

Oh my god, Smallville, Aria? Seriously? I had like ten bucks that you'd do X-Files next.