Meme!

[ladybug_archive]

For the past few hours, I've been wasting time doing a meme that I decided to put together. XD This has proven to be an interesting experience for me, and I'm happy with it. ^^ And I confess, I originally wanted to do it as an excuse to talk about my favorites in FF7 and KH, and how they've changed.

Pick your five favorite characters in each of your five favorite fandoms. Explain why they're your favorites.

1. Final Fantasy VII
2. Detective Conan
3. Kingdom Hearts
4. Yu-Gi-Oh!
5. Ha, you know, what is the fifth fandom? Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, maybe?


1. Final Fantasy VII

1st. Sephiroth Maybe a surprise, maybe not. XD; If you'd talked to me a month or so ago, this would not be the case AT ALL. XD It wasn't that long ago when I was watching some Last Order AMVs and thinking, "That @*&#*@&! I hate him!" But as I've thought things over, and watched what I can of him when he's sane, I've come to like him. And I feel sorry for him that he completely lost his marbles like he did. @___@; Even though I still don't know that I find it believeable. I wish we'd gotten more of a chance to see him sane, and I'm greatly looking forward to Crisis Core because of that! I think the KH version helped too, but I won't discuss him in this section. Why do characters like this always worm their way onto my soft side eventually? XD; I really, really don't want to think that it's because they're good eye-candy!

2nd. Reno He's just fun and amusing. XD Plus, he's deeper than he appears to be on the surface. One interesting image song I've seen used for him is "I Started a Joke." But he's not angsting all the time and seems to enjoy life. ^^ And of course, I also greatly enjoy his partnership/friendship with Rude. They're so different, but Rude kinda seems to relax and even to open up somewhat around Reno. I like to think that they originally didn't get along at all, and that Reno kinda mellowed Rude out.

3rd. Kadaj One of the most fascinating characters in the show, I do believe. He's so twisted, and yet at the same time, he seems to have a childlike innocence. It's like, he has no idea that what he's doing really is wrong; he just longs so badly for a mother and thinks that Jenova's plan is good. And he probably wants her love so badly that he's willing to do anything to try to get it. He's extremely tragic.

4th. Yazoo Another of those distant types that I end up liking. XD; Can't say a lot about him, because not much is known! But that's a fanfic writer's dream. He's mysterious, aloof, and sarcastic, and seems to be the one who mainly interacts with Loz. Maybe in one way, their relationship is a little like Micky and Peter's on The Monkees. Micky is usually the one to rag on Peter, and tease him, but in a bad situation, Micky is always right there! It seems like the teasing is actually proof of how close they are, and that's kinda how I view it with Yazoo and Loz. ^^ I need to develop more how Kadaj would interact with each, one-on-one.

5th. Vincent Valentine LOL, the only character on the list with a known surname. Yet another aloof type, and it must be said, he's just COOL. Plus, his awkwardness in certain situations is absolutely adorable! He's so serious, and then suddenly something happens that throws him for a loop, like Yuffie's rambling in Dirge of Cerberus. XD He just lays there digesting it for a while, and then goes, "Oh . . . Yuffie . . . it's been a while. How's your head?" And she says something like, "Can you at least pretend to be concerned?" Ah, good stuff.

Cloud, Rude, and Zack are runners-up for this section. And Loz has really grown on me. ^^ Yes, I love the FF7 girls, but I have to admit that the guys are who I focus on most. XD;


2. Detective Conan

1st. Gin I've already said a lot about why I like him, and those reasons haven't changed. Like with Yazoo and KH Sephiroth, I like how not much is known about him. It enables me to do pretty much whatever I want. And what is known about him just makes him all the more intriguing to me. I love the way he interacts with the characters, particularly Vodka and Sherry. It's different with them than with anyone else, and it adds to his mystery. And I will confess that his weariness during the Halloween case heavily influenced the way I write for him. It's interesting, how something relatively small (in this case, one panel) can color everything. XD I'm willing to admit that of course there could be many explanations, but I've picked what I think is the most interesting one to work with.

2nd. Vodka Aww, he's so cute! Seriously, his shyness and stammering and awkwardness is adorable and makes him more human. XD How could someone actually dislike him, even if he isn't a favorite? He has a lot of interesting sides to his personality; for instance, the way he likes looking at women from a distance, but gets tongue-tied when they're up close. And he handles the business angles well, but is lost during general socializing. And of course, his relationship with Gin. I love how he relaxes around Gin, and shows all these sides that he doesn't show with others. It's very clear that Vodka looks up to and trusts Gin a lot.

3rd. Sherry/Shiho/Ai Haibara They're all different sides of the same person, and I love them all. I suppose Shiho is actually a combination of the other two. Her distance is appealing to me, and also the fact that she is very strong, but also very fragile. You see her fear a lot, when it comes to the Black Org, and yet in spite of that, when she actually interacts with Gin, she matches wits with him so well! When she's pushed to her limits, she cries, too. She can't always keep it all bottled inside. Also, I love her friendship with Conan, and the way she can obviously read him like a book.

4th. Kaitou Kid/Kaito Kuroba A truly fascinating character with many aspects to his personality. I don't know how well I can sum it up, because I don't think anyone could sum it up better than Aubrie with her Kaitou Kid fanmix! But he first intrigued me because, well, I thought he was cool. XD Which he is. Then I started noticing other interesting things, like how he sends back the jewels when they aren't the one he's looking for. And I'm intrigued by the whole angle of how Kaito may view Kid as a separate persona, and how he may be afraid that someday he will not be able to look at it that way, that Kid may eclipse all other parts of his personality.

5th. Ayumi Yoshida Because she is adorable! Definitely one of the most likable kid characters around right now. She's so sweet, and innocent, and always wants to be helpful. She often loses hope in dire situations, but that's quite human and natural.


3. Kingdom Hearts

1st. Sephiroth One thing that attracted me to this version is, he's sane! XD; And I love his wings, I won't deny it. **pets them.** He's also very vague, and even though I'm sure Disney didn't intend it, just about everything he says could be taken differently from how they indicate he means it. I explore the other possibilities in my KH fics. He's very fascinating and mysterious because hardly anything is *really* known about him. And I think I'm using him a bit as a guide on how to write FF7 Sephiroth sane, since they have the same core personality.

2nd. Cloud Because he's also very interesting in this carnation. He's darker, broods more, and whatnot. I'd like to explore more of what made him the way he is. And it's just interesting that even in an alternate dimension, he and Sephiroth are mortal enemies. Of course, how could it ever be otherwise?

3rd. Axel Like Kadaj, Axel is one of the most bewildering, deep, and tragic characters. His actions seem to contradict each other, and the full reasons behind them are, even now, not completely known. What is known, however, is his immense desperation over wanting to see his best friend again, and how that desperation caused him to do many of these acts, both good and bad. He doesn't seem to have a good grip on his emotions, which is understandable. He must be very confused, especially because of not having a heart. Though it seems like he really does. Or at least a lot of soul. Plus, on the lighter side, he's fun and amusing like Reno. XD And obnoxious. "Burn, baby, burn!"

4th. Demyx He annoyed me at first, but I have to say, he's grown on me. ^^ I would like to know more about this Org XIII member. Aww, we lost him too soon.

5th. I'll confess, I'm unsure of who holds this position right now. ^^; I definitely need to watch many more of the cutscenes. But for right now, I'm going to say it's probably Leon. He was an interesting character, and fun, and his random sappiness is amusing. XD Plus, FF8 is cool!


4. Yu-Gi-Oh!

1st. Alister He would still have to be my number 1, even after all this time. ^^ Haven't forgotten about him! Aubrie still identifies me with him, and I'm perfectly happy with that. I still love his aloofness and secretiveness, and his bluntness. Also, there are definitely times when I can relate to his angsting. XD;

2nd. Seto Kaiba The original cold, aloof character from YGO. Plus, he's a businessman with a rough past. And no matter what else is thought of him, surely it must be agreed that his determination to provide a better a life for Mokuba is very noble, touching, and powerful. Their relationship was explored quite a bit both at Duelist Kingdom, and during Noa's Arc, and it shows that even if Seto's actions aren't always the best, he does have good intentions behind them.

3rd. Marik Ishtar I still love his dub voice, in spite of what the dub mangled about his personality! I like how his original motives had a sense of nobility to them. He wanted to overthrow the Pharaoh because he believed that the Ishtar clan had been unfairly oppressed by him for millennia, and he wanted to set them free. Of course, his personal grudge, believing that the Pharaoh had killed his father, was also strongly fueling him. I find it interesting that, despite how much Marik hated his father for certain things, especially the Tombkeeper's ceremony, and the way the guy treated Rishid, Marik still did not actually want him to die. At least, not in his normal mind. Yami Marik, of course, was created from all of Marik's darkest feelings, and in his darkest moments, he hated everyone.

4th. Siegfried von Schroider Probably one of the most disliked characters in the entire fandom. XD Also one of the most unknown, since many refuse to even watch the anime-only arcs. Which is a shame. I still find this obnoxious man fascinating on several levels. For one thing, he's one of the few who has *never* been associated with magic in any way. He operates completely with technology and brains. Though I'm sure we can all agree that his mind was fried at some points along the way. And again, we don't know a lot about him. There's many blanks to be filled in, especially concerning his home life and his relationships with his family. Was his father overbearing? What happened to him? Even if he didn't commit suicide, he went mad, and how did that affect Siegfried? What was his mother like? Was Siegfried ever close to Leonhard?

5th. Raphael I struggled with this one a bit. XD But I picked Raphael because of his intense loyalty, to Dartz, to his family, and to Alister and Valon. He was always pushing for them to work together and get along, even when they didn't want to. And when he could see something amiss and knew that someone he cared about would get hurt (like Valon caring about Mai), he didn't hesitate to speak up, even if he knew that he would be disliked for interfering.


5. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

1st. Neflyte/Nephrite The second of the four Generals, and in the anime, the only one who ever really managed to overcome some part of his brainwashing. He has a very low opinion of himself, believing that he is entirely evil without any redeeming points. He could not understand why Naru loved him, and though he did not really know how to love and often hurt her, he wanted to find out the reason for her feelings. And in the end, he seemed to get an idea of what true love really was. He and Naru are one of my few OTPs!

2nd. Malachite/Kunzite The obligatory aloof and cold character, perhaps the (dare I say it?) Sephiroth of the Sailor Moon world. He reminds me, now that I think of it, of how Sephiroth may have been as a SOLDIER: powerful, strong, efficient, being closed off to all but a select few one or two. And I have become intrigued by the pairing of Malachite/Minako. They're such an odd match, but it's been proven to me now that it can work!

3rd. Sailor Venus/Minako Aino It's really hard for me to pick favorite Senshi, because I don't dislike any of them and my favorites keep fluctuating! But Venus has almost always been high on my list. She seems really ditzy and silly, but she's actually one of the most mature of them all, as shown by episodes such as 42.

4th. Sailor Mercury/Ami Mizuno My first favorite, and still a big one! And no, it isn't just because of the cool blue hair. I can relate to her practical, logical side, and her lack of self-confidence. And while I hate math and she loves it, I actually do pretty well with it, once I understand what's going on. XD

5th. Sailor Mars/Rei Hino (manga version only) I don't dislike the anime version, but she's further down on my favorites list. In the manga, Rei is much more elegant, serious, and mature. In the anime, for instance, she's boy-crazy, and even steals Mamoru from Usagi. .___. But in the manga, she decides that she doesn't want to have a boyfriend, because she's afraid that she would be possessive and want him all to herself and ruin him. Also, in the anime, she and Usagi love to hate each other. XD That's a lot of fun, but I prefer the manga version that respects her as the leader (while still being blunt at times about faults). Manga Rei is someone I can relate to a lot more, and for some reason, I'm reminded of Alister when I think of her.

Comments

[ran-mouri82.livejournal.com]

Girlfriend, you love your cool and aloof characters, ne? ^^

For some reason, I <3 Demyx! Maybe it's because ever since someone made a Demyx AMV to "Fergalicious", I can't get him out of my head. ^^*

Alas, I've never read the Sailor Moon manga, but I love that last analysis of manga!Rei. She doesn't wanna be a maneater so she's keeping herself off the market, awww. (Wonder what Sonoko would think of that? lol) XD

Lurvely list, dear!

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Buwahaha! ^^ Yay for cool and aloof characters!

I should try to find some Demyx AMVs. ^^ This one girl who does excellent lip-synch work made one with Org XIII to The Hamster Dance, and another to Cottoneyed Joe. LOL. And she always uses a lot of Demyx.

**pats Manga Rei.** She also had a heartbreak of her own that led her to that conclusion. I dunno that I'd be good at summarizing it, though! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rei_Hino It tells here. ^^ The Casablanca Memory special.

I wrote another little KH thing, BTW. Very short, from Sephiroth's POV about Cloud.

[ran-mouri82.livejournal.com]

It's funny, but I'm usually attracted to main characters (like pop music?). There's something about a main character that, if good, makes me sympathize with his pure nature. Hence, I loved Usagi in the past (though she annoyed me at the same time! XD) and love Ran now. Haibara does appeal to me with her cool aloofness and sardonic wit, but that's because she also conceals a tender, wounded heart.

Thanks for the link! It gives some wonderful insights into Rei's character and reveals her to be even more admirable.

I'll check that fic out soon and comment! ^_______^

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

^^ Main characters for me vary from series to series. I love Cloud from FF7, and he is probably #6 on my favorites list for it, which may not seem like much, but he's probably higher on the favorites lists than most main characters. ^^; Usually I like antagonists/anti-heros/characters who get ignored. But I always have loved Yugi, for the very reason you named: his pure nature.

That was a good and informative site for Rei! Though I was thinking that it wasn't as good as this fansite for her where I first read about Casablanca Memories. Only now I can't find it. XD; Blah.

Thanks for your review! ^^ **will reply to it in a minute.**

[garowyn.livejournal.com]

I'm going to do this meme!

*reads* These are all very interesting.

*Gasp!*

[invincible1863.livejournal.com]

I am very shocked that Alister took Marik's place as number one in your Yu gi oh fandom!! WOW! I'm....stunned! and I will be doing this later, probably by the time you get to this, I will be done. ^^

Re: *Gasp!*

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

All I can say is ... where the heck have you been the last couple of years? XD; Alister's been my #1 for some time. And I'm pretty sure you knew at one point.

[amanechan.livejournal.com]

Fun meme! ^_^ I love these kinds of memes, where you just talk about your fandoms and whatnot. Definitely snagging it for myself. X3

That's really interesting that your favorites in FF7 are villains (with the exception of Vinnie, of course). XD I see your reasons, though! And I loveloveLOVE Vincent's awkward moments in DoC. My favorite is when Tifa calls him and Tifa, Barret, and Cloud are all trying to talk to him at the same time. XD I wonder if *that* scene's on youtube anywhere, it's priceless.

Definite word to your Axel explanation. He's such a fun character, because of his obnoxious silliness and his angst. LOL. ...Yeah, the question of whether or not the Org. really doesn't have emotions is one of the most hotly contested issues in the fandom. I'm not even sure where I stand on the idea. XD I know the KH novels deal with that a lot, but then of course there's the debate over whether or not the novels are canon or glorified fanfic... >_> I wonder if there are translations of the novels anywhere. I'd be surprised if there weren't...

"...perhaps the (dare I say it?) Sephiroth of the Sailor Moon world"

...ohhh the mental images that popped into my head when I read that. Ahaha. XD

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Yay meme! **pets it.** It was fun to make and do.

XD True! Though Reno is a protoganist in AC rather than an antagonist.

LOL! I hope that scene is on YouTube. X3

I definitely want to read the KH novels! The FF7 Citadel has the English translation of that book about Denzel and Tifa that takes place before AC! **read some of it.**

Malachite was my very first favorite SM character, and it just now clicked that he's like Sephiroth when he's sane. XD

[twitchytwitch.livejournal.com]

Awesome list~ ^_^

Haaaate youuuu. Partially because of that episode, but it's also your fault I'm starting to LIKE Gin/Sherry. ^^;;;

-nitpicker- But Rei never steals Mamoru. ^^; That's mostly the awful dub Raye. Rei-chan only has a date with him once, before he and Usagi are even together! ^^;

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Buwahahaha! The Gin/Sherry love spreads!

True. XD; It's been so long since I've seen those episodes. If the anime wounded the original Rei, the dub version completely annihilated her. **still prefers manga Rei, but admits that the Japanese anime Rei is a lot better than dub Raye.**

One change I really hated was the episode where Rei had Usagi's wand thing. In the dub, she just took it/stole it, and in the original Usagi had actually entrusted it to her.

[twitchytwitch.livejournal.com]

Now I wanna know if you know any good fansites or places where I could get a Gin/Sherry fix. xD

I know, it was so horrible. I cried in the original 'cause it was so lovely... in the dub... GUH.

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, no, unless you haven't tried fanfiction.net. XD; I actually haven't tried there myself right recently. For all I'd know, maybe someone's uploaded a gem. ^^ I have some stuff there myself, most notably Snow White Queen, which is unfinished but I still have every intention of completing it. ^^

[twitchytwitch.livejournal.com]

Awww, I've never been very much of a fanfiction person besides one short period when I was Harry Potter obsessed, I'm mostly a fanart person. -noddles-

Alrighty, then! ^^

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Ahh, I see. I love writing and drawing, both, but I hardly ever read other people's fanfictions unless it's someone I know. XD Though I do read most of the Kingdom Hearts stories that come through 20_heartbeats...

[twitchytwitch.livejournal.com]

I read just about anything posted in rocket100 that isn't smut or spoilerish. xD