Meme time again
Sep. 8th, 2007 08:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aurora_novarumGakked from about half of my flist by this point.
1. Comment to this post with the name of a character that I have written in fic.
2. I will comment, telling you the following:
a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
b. One of his/her best traits.
c. One of his/her worst traits.
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character.
e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character.
f. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future.
1. Comment to this post with the name of a character that I have written in fic.
2. I will comment, telling you the following:
a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
b. One of his/her best traits.
c. One of his/her worst traits.
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character.
e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character.
f. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future.
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-09 12:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-09 04:51 pm (UTC)She was in the scenes of an episode I was writing. :-)
I wanted to deal more with poor Harrid and Sallis, and Vala of course was part of that episode. When I was writing "Many Roads", I ended up creating more of the natural Daniel & Vala banter. I found some real insights to Vala's motivations and personality. By writing her, I grew to appreciate her better as a character on screen.
b. One of his/her best traits.
Her adaptability to survive. She resourceful in trying to fit into any environment...with varying degrees of success. She did well with the "Crusade" village of Ver Isca, floundered more at the SGC.
c. One of his/her worst traits.
Her selfish/mercenary nature, at least in the early arc to her character. For example: in P.U., she left Hammond et al alive but stranded on a defunct cargo ship where anything could've happened to them. And kept Daniel around to try and figure out the ship and just because she found him attractive...okay, I don't blame her for that part. ;-)
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character.
I LOVE writing Vala; it is very easy for me to write her. Her voice pops into my head spontaneously with the oddest comments and actions that I never would've originally planned. She's very lively. Ironically, next to Teal'c, Vala is of the most natural character voices I write in SG-1 fic. I understand how TPTB became enamored of writing her.
e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character.
From "Many Roads":
Daniel ended up changing the subject. "The point is, what are we going to do now? We obviously can't get these things to work by themselves."
"No we can't." Vala carelessly tossed her stone back into the book and flopped back on the bed beside it. "So, what did you have in mind to do?"
Daniel looked over at her lounging on the bed. "Well, not that, certainly."
"That what?" Vala proclaimed innocently, "Are you making presumptions since we're supposed to be married?" She laughed heartily as I sensed Daniel's flush overtake my cheeks. "Daniel, darling, you are such an easy mark. Whyever would you assume I was offering sex?"
"Oh, I don't know, perhaps the fact that you've been propositioning me since we MET."
"True enough. You ARE very attractive after all, and you have to admit it would be fun, but this is neither the time nor place." She plucked at Sallis's skirt frowning. She continued to speak lightly, but there was underlying tone to her words. "Don't worry, darling, your virtue is safe enough here, we'll have to wait until we get back."
[snip]
"Daniel, do you think that Harrid and Sallis are on Earth?"
Daniel blinked. [snip] "Maybe. We have no idea of how the stones work."
"Yes, but you said earlier you thought their conscious minds were suppressed. Do you think they're still here...somewhere, with us?"
Even if the tone didn't catch Daniel's attention, the words did, and he gave her a penetrating stare. I started getting the memory replay in his mind again.
[snip of Harrid seeing Daniel's memories of loved ones as hosts to Goa'uld]
In that time, Daniel had approached Vala and raised her lowered chin with a gentle touch. "Hey, it's not the same."
"What's not?" The bravado was obvious to anyone now.
"We are not Goa'ulds. You are not controlling this woman's body by choice, but by necessity. And hopefully it's obvious that we plan on this being very temporary. We didn't know this would happen, and we're trying to correct it."
"Small comfort to them I'm sure," Vala spat with bitterness, but it was directed to herself as much as Daniel.
f. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future.
Hmm. Two of my last fics featured Vala as a character. I'm trying to build my repertoire a bit more with classic team at the moment (and write the Making the Band series). But...I do like writing her, and there has been a concept of Vala and Teal'c bonding (NTW) floating in the back of my mind. So, um..."near" is a relative term, right?
no subject
Date: 2007-09-09 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-09 04:55 pm (UTC)I first seriously wrote Teal'c when I was still in my writing about Daniel from other POV's phase. Plus his shocked expression when Daniel threw the pillow at Vala just screamed for a larger exploration.
b. One of his/her best traits.
His humor, which I don't explore often enough. Jaffa jokes aside, Teal'c has an amazing dry wit. Plus someone so used to structure and discipline loves to let loose with Hawaiian shirts and reading "weekly world news". I'm betting three quarters of the time he's playing innocent to Tau'ri culture (especially the later seasons), he's just doing it to mess with his teammates.
There's a lot behind that eyebrow, you know.
c. One of his/her worst traits.
Oh the revenge kick. Teal'c is an intelligent warrior who cares deeply for things, but it's also a weakness because he can have blinders on when it comes to vengeance. I think he views allowing an individual to get the better of him as a weakness, and he gets quite scarily cranky at weakness, doesn't he? At least with regards to himself.
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character.
Teal'c shocks me in how easy I find him to write, or more specifically writing from his point of view. He has amazing insights into situations because of his relationships with his friends and the long life he has led. Plus there's a nice naivete to him in seeing so many new things. He has a brevity and dry wit to his speech, but that doesn't mean there's not a million things simmering behind that "eyebrow". And though there is a formality to his words, it's not that Teal'c himself stands on formality. I think he sometimes uses it to his advantage.
One thing I regret doing with Teal'c is in earlier stories, I wrote dialogue with DanielJackson, MajorCarter all one word. If I come across them now, I "fix" that. ;-)
e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character.Not a funny scene for certain, and perhaps not the best "Teal'c voice" I've done, but definitely one where I felt true insight into the character. From "Drawing Straws":
"Daniel Jackson, the day I first met all of you was the pivotal turning point in my life."
Daniel nodded. "You saved our lives, Teal'c; you betrayed your god."
"I did it because of the strength I saw in the Tau'ri and the hope and trust I witnessed amongst you. O'Neill asked me to help him not to save himself, but to save the innocent people. He asked me not just with words. It was what I saw in his eyes that made me openly defy the false god Apophis. Right now, you question everything you understood about O'Neill. Was my initial judgment on that day incorrect?"
Daniel's expression changed to one of compassion. "No, Teal'c, of course not. You made the right decision then."
Teal'c nodded in a gesture of respect to Daniel Jackson. "I have not regretted it. O'Neill has proven many times my choice was correct. His current actions are in stark contrast from what I have observed in the three years I have fought by your sides. His words to you were hurtful, but were not without purpose."
Daniel became more guarded, but he instantly seized on the implications. "What purpose? You think it was a ruse?"
"O'Neill knows us as well as we know him. Anything less than what he did would not have stopped you."
"In principle, I agree with you, Teal'c, but you weren't there. You didn't see... Besides, why push us away? Why not trust us, Teal'c? Why not trust me?"
"That I do not know." Teal'c frowned in defeat. "O'Neill has his reasons for his actions, and he has not deigned to share them. I am only certain that the man who made me betray Apophis would not betray our trust in such a manner without a purpose."
f. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future.
Well, as soon as I figure out what to do for the team ficathon...he's sure to have a decent part. :-D Plus he's going to have his own little short story in the Making the Band series (I swear, I really am writing it).
Plus, there's the WIP round robin of a Teal'c fic I started over at
no subject
Date: 2007-09-09 03:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-09 05:00 pm (UTC)Well, he *is* the leader of the team, so of course he has to play a prominent part in my teamy fics. And he is a lynchpin of the team (even in season ten), so when it's natural, I feel references to or even dialogue with him is a necessity.
Actually, Jack intimidates me as a character to write (see d below). I ended up having my first real "Jack focused" story more "about" him than "with" him. "Drawing Straws" was all about the team's reaction to his absence.
"Between the Lines" is really the first time Jack's voice really called out to me. Strange, since it was set in season ten, but I really felt his absence strongly in that episode and his character needed to be there.
b. One of his/her best traits.
His loyalty. It takes a lot to impress Jack. He is of the "you can't bullshit a bullshitter" school of thought, but once you've proven yourself (like being a commander willing to listen a la Hammond, or say, stepping in front of a staff blast meant for you a la Daniel), you're in his circle and he will do whatever he can to help you/protect you.
c. One of his/her worst traits.
His tendency to be silly...occasionally at inappropriate times. I like it when it's to good effect or on purpose (snarking at captors, putting down Kinsey, cutting the technobabble), but sometimes he's not reading (or not caring) about the vibe of the room. Hammond luckily curbs that when it goes too far. ;-)
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character.
As I mentioned above, Jack intimidates me as a character. There's many layers to Jack O'Neill. He's a goofball, an instigator, a rebel, a serious career officer, a caring man, intelligent, with personal demons of Charlie, and his own dark past in special ops, a father who no longer has a child and a child at heart. RDA balances those various aspects of Jack's character so well onscreen, there's always so much simmering beneath the surface. He's a man of action and movement more than words. I find it difficult to try and portray that nuance well in the written word. When I see good Jack characterization in other stories, I'm always impressed.
That said, the one time I wrote wholly from Jack's point of view in "Between the Lines", his voice was the easiest one to handle. It was the other characters that were being difficult and making me want to tear my hair out in frustration. Others will have to decide if I got the balance "right". ;-)
e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character.
Well, "Between the Lines" as a whole is my biggest and best Jack work to date. But I also like my earliest Jack scenes from the end of "Just a Scientist" where he banters with Daniel and Bill Lee (and they're too long to post, :-().
f. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future.
Jack will be a good part of my
no subject
Date: 2007-09-12 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-20 08:18 pm (UTC)Oh, I adore Samantha! When I have to pick my favorite of the team, she's second favorite! I love her humanness. So driven to excellence in her career, so insecure and screwed up in her personal life (I can kinda relate to her).
b. One of his/her best traits.
Her fun side/sense of humor. When she's comfortable with something or someone, she truly shines. She teases Daniel, Jack O'Neill, and even Teal'c. She works on a motorcycle on base with Siler. She jumps at the chance of entering a space race. She geeks out over technical things that are just as riveting to her as going through the stargate. I wish we saw more of this part of Sam.
c. One of his/her worst traits.
As a character?
Her scientific side. She is so much at heart a soldier/scientist, she sometimes has to be forced to see past that. She thinks getting upset about Cassie is a sign of weakness, when Daniel points out it's a strength. Even her worries about Daniel dying doesn't stop her from wanting to try and get the naquadria that caused his death.
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character.
I find Sam as a person I connect to more than any of the other characters. That aspect I get, and can find easy to write. However, I've grown intimidated at writing Sam. Her technical/scientific side is a core part of who she is and I know next to nothing about it (most of her technobabble sounds good enough to me, even when I know it makes my scientific friends cringe). So I have mixed feelings on writing Sam.
e. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character.
Well, "Az'heni" really is my tour-de-force for Sam, but I can't help but have special fondness for her OTT hovercraft/naquada grenade sequence from "Vanquishing Demons". :-)
Um, but this is where I felt most connected to Sam. I'm not sure if it's a Sam moment or if she's channeling me here, but... From "Girls Night In":
"That's the telling moment, isn't it?" Sam's eyes were haunted. "Deathbed realizations and making sure you don't have more regrets?"
Carolyn was still caught in her memories of her vigil, but she recognized the expression on Sam's face and remembered a notation in Sam's file. "You lost your father recently, didn't you?"
"Relatively, I suppose. It's been a couple years. But it's something you never quite get over. When the other SG-1s from alternate universes were here, he and Selmak were still alive in a few of them. I wondered if there was something we missed." Sam spun her wine glass around in her hand. "But we thought we were going to lose him years before this, so I'm grateful for what I had. Some of Sams never had the Tok'ra's intercession." She blinked at the blank looks on Carolyn and Vala's faces. "Dad had untreatable cancer eight years ago, was in a critical state. It was only by blending with Selmak he was saved. My job--meeting the Tok'ra--saved Dad's life."
"Your father was Tok'ra?" Vala straightened in her seat. "And this was after your own experience?"
Sam nodded. "Even though Dad and I got along okay before then, we really weren't close. Blending with Selmak softened up the rough edges. He and Mark reconciled. He had a relationship with his grandchildren. We worked together on missions, and...we talked. I'll always be grateful to Selmak for that."
f. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future.
Well, there's the