Fandom questions meme!

[brendala]

sarajayechan  tagged me with Facts of Life, Slayers, and Scooby Doo!


FACTS OF LIFE

1. The first character I first fell in love with: Natalie. The fact that I already adored the actress who plays her (Mindy Cohn) was part of it. But Natalie herself stole my heart the moment she uttered the line, "who wants to be a skinny pencil? I'd rather be a happy magic marker!" in the "Very Special" dieting episode of season one.
One of the things I love most about the show in general is how it never made an issue of Natalie's weight (at least as far as I know. I haven't seen every episode yet). The fact that Natalie's confidence and outgoing nature allowed her to have an active social life and lots of dates with cute boys was a refreshing sight to see because I honestly can't think of any other program  that wrote an overweight female character quite like that without making her the butt of some awful joke. It's nice to see a TV show acknowledge that not all overweight girls spend their lives locked in their rooms gobbling chocolate and wishing they were skinny so boys would love them.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Blair! The "rich bitch" type characters tend to be one-dimensional and annoying. But Blair had a surprising amount of depth to her. And the fact that Blair's actress (Lisa Whelchel) was hella talented and had AMAZING comic timing didn't hurt either.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don't: I can't really think of anyone I dislike all that much.

4. The character I love that everyone else hates: Cousin Geri. The reason her character was diminished from the show as time went on was because lots of people complained that it became "A Very Special Episode" every time she was on screen. And, yeah, sometimes it did. But she was a great character over all. And some of the message episodes had important morals about how to treat the disabled that no other show has ever dealt with. My personal favorite was the one where Geri made a date with an older guy, Blair went ballistic trying to protect her, and Geri got fed up and told her "Disabled people aren't f***ing eunichs, Blair! I know how dating works. I've done it a million times before. Now back off before you ruin my chances of getting laid!". XD

5. The character I used to love but don't any longer: This question doesn't apply to me since I only recently got into this show.

6. The character I would shag anytime: I'm not a fan of these types of questions. So I'm opting out of this one.

7. The character I'd want to be like: Natalie. She was driven, confident, and she got things done.

8. The character I'd slap: Pippa. Mainly because she was this show's Scrappy Doo and the biggest warning sign that it was about to die horribly

9. A pairing that I love: Jo and David (the French guy from the Paris TV movie) were kinda cute together, I guess. But, honestly, I don't have any ships for this show. I watch it for the friendship, girlyness, and delicious 80s cheese!

10. A pairing that I despise: Natalie/Snake. It really bugs me that Snake (the guy Natalie slept with in the infamous "virginity losing" episode) was just some dude that had barely been in the show before Natalie gave it up to him (and was never seen again afterward). Yeah, I know the technical reason why it happened that way (that episode was supposed to center around Blair, but Whelchel didn't want to do it, so Mindy Cohn volunteered); but it still felt like lazy writing.

11. Favorite character: It's hard to choose. But I think I'll go with Blair. If any other actress had played her; I would have probably hated her. But she's just so funny and charming that you can't hate her even when she's being a total brat.

12. My five favorite characters: Blair, Natalie, Tootie, Jo, and Mrs Garrett.

13. My five least favorite characters: Pippa, Chef Pierre, Mike&Sylvia (Tootie's annoying aunt and uncle from the failed spin-off pilot), and the guy Jo almost married in season 2 (I forgot his name :P)

14. Which character I am most like: I think I'm most like Tootie. Like her, I'm really outgoing and fun when I'm in a familiar setting and/or around people I know and am comfortable with. But I tend to get really quiet and shy when facing something new.

15. My deep, dark fandom secret: I'm not crazy about the Blair/Jo ship and, personally, I think it's WAY overblown.
I understand why people ship it and I can't deny that some subtext is there; but it seems like the ONLY fandom that exists for this show obsessively revolves around that ship and it's really damned annoying.



Slayers

1. The first character I first fell in love with: Gourry. The first episode I ever saw was the Peacemen episode from season three. And I laughed my ass off despite knowing squat about the show and it's characters at the time because Gourry was an amazing straight man to Amelia's starry-eyed sentai fangirl. It's always bothered me that Gourry and Amelia didn't get more chances to interact in the show because they had great chemistry as a comedy duo. XD

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Zelgadis. In season one, he came across as a generic tortured, angsty, bishonen with a chip on his shoulder and a bad attitude. But he grew on me in season two when he came into his own as a character.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don't: Xellos. Lots of fangirls squee over him and I just don't get why. Not only is he an evil prick; but his character and personality are really annoying. And he's not even appealing on the shallow "omg hot bishie" level because his design isn't even all that attractive.

4. The character I love that everyone else hates: I can't really think of anyone that the fandom as a whole hates that much. The current Slayers fandom is pretty mellow that way.

5. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Rezo. He used to be one of my favorite villains because I thought it was neat that we never found out if he was truly to blame for all the horrible things he did or if it was mostly Shagbranigdo's influence wearing him down, destroying the person he really was, and taking over his mind. 
.....but then Revolution and Evolution-R came along and killed all the mystery surrounding the character by confirming that he was just as big a prick as Zelgadis thought he was. :P

6. The character I would shag anytime: opting out again!

7. The character I'd want to be like: Amelia. I wish I could be as upbeat as her in the face of the kind of crap she's dealt with in her life

8. The character I'd slap: Xellos. Because he just annoys me.

9. A pairing that I love: Lina/Gourry all the way.

10. A pairing that I despise: Rezo/Zelgadis. Just...ew. >_< 

11. Favorite character: Gourry. He's just so lovable. And honorable mention goes to Martina for having an awesome character development arc!

12. My five favorite characters: Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadis, and Martina

13. My five least favorite characters: Xellos, Sirius, Erulogos, Almayce, and Valgaav

14. Which character I am most like: I think I'm a lot like Filia.

15. My deep, dark fandom secret: I'm really surprised that there aren't more Gourry/Amelia shippers out there (especially among all the Lina/Zel shippers who frantically grasp at straws for reasons to get Amelia and Gourry out of the picture in fics). Those characters have great chemistry together and I could actually see them as an item if Lina hadn't been in Gourry's life when they met. Lina/Gourry is still one of my top 3 OTPs. But Gourry/Amelia is one of my favorite AU crack ships.




SCOOBY DOO

1. The first character I first fell in love with: Scooby Doo. Like most people who had access to television growing up, I was just a toddler the first time I watched Scooby Doo. So naturally I gravitated to the cute talking dog.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: I have two...
(a) Pup-Daphne. When I re-watched A Pup Named Scooby Doo as an adult, I was surprised to discover that Daphne of all people was the coolest character in the show! Her barbs at Fred are always funny and I love her no-nonsense, take charge attitude.
(b) Fred. Specifically, the What's New Scooby Doo version of Fred. I think that What's New was the series that handled him best (he was basically characterized as the lovable big brother that everyone wishes they could have). And, while he was a bit of a doofus sometimes, he never came across as a total dumbass and/or obsessive freak like he does in most other post 1980s reboots of the franchise.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don't: Madelyn Dinkley (from the Abracadabra Doo movie) seems to be fairly popular. But I don't see anything appealing about her aside from the fact that she's voiced by Winnie Cooper. She's basically nothing more than a thinner, younger, cuter, and more Mary Sue-ish version of Velma. And I personally feel that Abracadabra Doo would have been WAY better if it had been centered around Shaggy bonding with his little sister Maggie (who's been a canon character since the 70s but hasn't been used in the franchise since A Pup Named Scooby Doo) instead of inventing a new sibling for Velma and having her hump Shaggy's leg for the duration of the film. I just hope she doesn't become a recurring character in the franchise like the Hex Girls did.

4. The character I love that everyone else hates: All the parents in Mystery Incorporated except Mayor Jones. I don't "love" these characters per se; but I don't think they're monsters for doing the things they did. Think about it, if the MI-versions of the gang were YOUR children, wouldn't you feel driven to use extra tough love to beat some self-preservation into those morons?

5. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Scrappy Doo. When I was little, I LOVED the movies starring Scooby, Shaggy, and Scrappy (Reluctant Werewolf, Ghoul School, and Boo Brothers) and I watched them countless times. But now I can't even sit through them because I end up missing Fred, Daphne and Velma and resenting Scrappy for driving them out!

6. The character I would shag anytime: I want to say Shaggy because it would make for an awesome pun. But I'd prefer to just skip this question entirely. LOL

7. The character I'd want to be like: Classic-Velma. She's brilliant, sweet, confident, nerdy, and she looks good in a turtleneck. What more could you ask for? She's also a great role model for young girls because she's so unique and neither she nor her friends seem to notice or care that she's not "conventionally attractive". So girls who feel like dorky outcasts (and who doesn't at some point in their life?) can look to her and feel a little better about themselves.
..............and then you-know-what had to come along and turn her into a boy crazy nitwit who wears turtlenecks because she thinks she's a fattie. >_<  
**burns bra in protest/mourning**

8. The character I'd slap: I already got my chance to slap the Mystery Incorporated versions of Velma, Scooby, and Shaggy on two different occasions (and boy did it ever feel GOOD!). ~_^
But I'd also like to add MI-Daphne to the list because the way she let Fred walk all over her was just awful. And don't even get me started on the marriage proposal! >_<   

9. A pairing that I love: Shaggy/Velma all the way! But I also have some fondness for Velma/Prince Omar (from the Where's My Mummy movie).

10. A pairing that I despise: Mystery Incorporated's Shaggy & Velma. Their romance was one of the most toxic and messed up relationships I had EVER seen in fiction. And, yes, I have seen Twilight (though I used RiffTrax to make it tolerable ~_^)

11. Favorite character: It's a tough call between Classic-Velma, and the Pup versions of Velma, Daphne, and Scooby. Classic Velma for all the reasons I listed in #7. Pup-Velma & Pup-Scooby because they're just so sweet and lovable (especially when they do silly things in the background together). And Pup-Daphne because she's a tiny goddess of snark and I think that was a very clever way to reboot a character who was previously just the team bimbo.

12. My five favorite characters: This is an easy one. Velma, Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, & Daphne! ^_^

13. My five least favorite characters: Another easy one. MI-Velma (aka Lady Bunny-Boiler), MI-Scooby (aka Cujo-Doo), MI-Shaggy (aka Mr Insensitive Hypocritical Man-Whore), MI-Fred (aka brain-damaged Edward Cullen), & MI-Daphne (Bella Swan).

14. Which character I am most like: I wanna say Classic-Velma (minus the smarts to do contract work for NASA at age 10, of course). But I think I'm probably a bit more like the What's New version of Fred (minus the MacGuyver-esque ability to build a trap out of whatever junk I can get my hands on).

15. My deep, dark fandom secret: I don't think Linda Cardilinni was all that great in the theatrical Scooby movies. Most fans (even the ones who didn't like those movies at all) seem to think that she was awesome. But I remember being the most pissed off about how Velma was cast back when that movie first came out. Not only was she physically wrong for the role (she was WAY too tall and looked like a "sexy halloween costume" version of Velma), but the nasally effect she added to her voice to make it sound like a generic nerd got really annoying really fast.