A is for...

[przed]

It's been a bit of a crazy week--when isn't it?--but I've finally got around to doing this meme.

1. Leave a comment to this post!
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Post the names of five fictional characters whose names begin with that letter, and your thoughts on each. The characters can be from books, movies, or TV shows.

draycevixen gave me the letter A.



Athos
Athos has always been my favourite of the musketeers, from my first encounter with both the '70s movie and the novel. He's smart and cynical, with a hidden tragedy in his past that comes back to haunt both him and his friends. As played by Oliver Reed in the Richard Lester movie, he had a brutish nobility that I found irresistible. I think it's probably Reed's finest role.



In last year's far more ridiculous Musketeers movie--which I may have seen as much for its Take That theme song as for my love of the musketeers--Matthew Macfadyen was Athos, and if the film itself bears only a passing resemblance to its source material, Macfadyen and his brooding looks and fantastic voice made a wonderful Athos.



Sherif Ali
Okay, Lawrence of Arabia is about a real person, but unlike Prince Feisel, Sherif Ali isn't based on anyone specific, so I'm calling him fictional for the purposes of this meme. As played by Omar Sharif, Ali is a perfect foil to Peter O'Toole's Lawrence. They meet as antagonists, when Ali shoots Lawrence's guide for taking water from the wrong well, but Ali becomes Lawrence's strongest ally, friend, and more.



If you want the full (love) story of Ali and Lawrence, I did a pic spam a little while ago.

Kerr Avon
When I first discovered fandom, Blake's 7 was the fandomI fell into first, and Kerr Avon was the character who pulled me headlong into it. I came upon the episode Powerplay on the local Madison PBS station while in grad school, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. But one thing I did know was that the arrogant dude with the gravelly voice was utterly fascinating. Avon is smart, ruthless, and sociopathic, and he's the most compelling character in the show, especially as played by a scenery chewing Paul Darrow.



April Dancer
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. is, let's be honest, not a great show. But I have a huge affection for the eponymous girl, April Dancer. She's not always well served by the show she was in, but April has huge potential as a character, and I've always enjoyed writing her, and her partner, Mark Slate, into UNCLE fanfic. If I ever get back to my long abandoned U.N.C.L.E. series, April and Mark are both going to play prominent roles.

April and one of her groovy hats. (I may have several hats just like it.)



And with Mark in U.N.C.L.E. headquarters.



Artemus Gordon
I started watching The Wild Wild West for Robert Conrad's Jim West. But what kept me watching, and writing fic for the show, was Ross Martin's Artemus Gordon. Artie is a master of disguise, and just a generally smart cookie overall. And he's as devoted to Jim West as Jim is to him, which just makes the show, as far as I'm concerned.



Artie with Jim

Comments

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

This is me commenting.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Okay, how about the letter S?

[agentxpndble.livejournal.com]

I'll give it a go.

[przed.livejournal.com]

All righty. How about C?

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

OMG! Noel Harrison. God I had such a crush on him. I have a stage play handbill around here somewhere with his autograph on from the 60s! Man, I'm frellin' old. :)

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

I wrote POETRY about his Girl From UNCLE character.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

He was worth writing poetry about. I completely forgot he'd done this show. I must Netflix his stuff. :)

[przed.livejournal.com]

Mark Slate is just about my favourite thing about UNCLE. Except for Illya, of course. *g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

You are teh awesome! And so is Mark Slate!

[sineala.livejournal.com]

Oh, fun! I like your answers! Can I try?

[przed.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, how about E?

[saintvic.livejournal.com]

Great characters although I have to shamefully admit to never having seen Wild Wild West, I just don't think it has ever been on where I could watch it.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Wild Wild West is awesome. If you ever get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

So. Much. Fun. And Jim, lovely Jim...

[pxr5.livejournal.com]

I'm feeling meme-sheeplike. Shoot me a letter?

[przed.livejournal.com]

Meme-sheeplike is good! Your letter is G.

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that I was thinking about Artie when I gave you the letter but what a great list.

I adore Avon, the snarkiest character to ever snark his way across the universe and Athos is also my favourite musketeer.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Ah, I did wonder who you were thinking of. And wow, I just realized I forgot Aragorn!

Avon and his snark is just irresistible to me. And Athos always is my favourite musketeer too.

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

I was surprised when Aragorn didn't show up on your list. *g*

It's a fun meme because once I started thinking about I was surprised how many characters actually popped in to my head.

[kayberrisford.livejournal.com]

I honestly never really heard of Wild Wild West until this week, when for various convoluted reasons, several days of my life got swallowed by this screen cap site -- http://www.framecaplib.com/index.htm -- and I see it's one of the shows capped on there. Will go look for the slash :D

And yes please, give me a letter. Due to personal dullness, I've had nothing to say here for ages, I need to learn how meme again :D

(PS -- for various convoluted reasons, the amazon seller wouldn't ship me your book. Boo! I'm going to try again, though, but just in case you were wondering why I hadn't mentioned it's joyful arrival...)

(PPS -- Halo showed me a disc of your fanvids, and I needed to say OMG YOU ARE AWESOME!!)

[przed.livejournal.com]

Wild Wild West is a fun, steampunky show, and very slashy. I'd totally recommend it.

Your letter is H. And I'm sure personal dullness doesn't come into it. (Hey, I here you've got into David McCallum. Your taste is impeccable.)

As for the book, I just noticed on my bookshelf that I've still got 4 copies of it myself. Would you like one?

Yay for you liking the vids! (Did Halo show you my new Markie one? It's with my beta, and I'm hoping to post next week, but I could send you the preview version. Drop me a line--paulinezed at gmail dot com--and I'll send you the link.

[kayberrisford.livejournal.com]

Yay -- H!! I will rise to the challenge, thank you :)

Re: David McCallum. Ah. I think you've been chatting to Halo ;) Actually, I nearly added an extra PPS above along the lines of 'OMG will you squee with me about Illya/Simon at great length please,' but refrained. Just ;) Yes, we watched Colditz together and she managed to revive one of my first major crushes to the extent that I have actually changed my screensaver from Markie for the first time in 3 years. I'm sort of lurking on the verges of the Uncle fandom at the moment (which I've done on and off for many years) and am kind of desperate to fic, but am terrified of particularly the fandom canon, because I'm a bit ill educated there...anyway, fic might happen, or very possibly Colditz fic, as I'm getting quite good at the fanon Halo is creating there (which is, of course, canon :)). We will see. I'm very much looking forward to checking out more of your fic on Archive of Our Own.

That wasn't a short answer, was it ;) Sorry!

Yes!!! She did show me and I nearly died of excitement. Oh, the pretty...yes, will be in touch now!!

Aw, thanks so much but no, I'm determined to buy it. I know how much a sale means :)

[przed.livejournal.com]

I am always up for an Illya/Simon/DM squee. UNCLE was my home fandom for a very long time, and I was always a DM/Illya gal. I still harbour the hope that I'll finish this long story cycle I started ages ago. I've got 6 of 10 stories done, and really want to finish those last 4. (Mark Slate has a particularly interesting arc in two of those unfinished stories, and I really want to do right by him, as well as Illya and Napoleon.) Once you're comfortable with the canon, I'd love to see what you do with UNCLE. Hey, if I can write TT after a month or two of immersion, I'm confident you can handle UNCLE. *g*

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I'll play - though I might be a while before posting.

And what book??? What have I missed? (Through not friending you till recently and only meeting in comms...)

[przed.livejournal.com]

Your letter is B. Take your time. It took me nearly a week to finally post this.

The book is Lace and Blade 2, the anthology that was my first and last professional sale. It was out nearly 4 years ago now, and the details and an excerpt is here: http://paulinezed.livejournal.com/9063.html

It's a good antho--though a bit hard to get hold of these days--with over half the stories being m/m.

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I have noted the letter and will indeed take my time!

I found your book on Amazon (UK) but it's quite expensive so I'll add it to my wishlist for when I have a bit more money - I just had to pay an arm and a leg for car repairs. Why is it your last? Just because you don't happen to have sold any more since or have you turned your face against the pro market?

[przed.livejournal.com]

If you want to read my story, I can sling you a copy on PDF. (It's based on this Pros story, though only the barest bones of it are still visible.)

I'm not completely abandoning the possibility of writing for professional publication again, but circumstances kind of took the wind out of my sails on that one. I made the sale two days before my father died, so the thrill of selling the story was rather overshadowed by RL. And frankly, I get far more feedback and satisfaction from fanfic than I ever did from that story. That said, I've got two ideas for novels based on the world I created in the story that I do want to write eventually.

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I very vaguely remember reading (and liking) that story, in the days before I started making brief notes on all stories for the sake of knowing what I was talking about on things like The Reading Room etc. I'd love to read your original fic but as someone else said, sales are important... You shouldn't go offering freebies to all potential purchasers! *g*

What a shame that the timing of the sale made it less of a thrill.

I've known other friends claim better feedback and satisfaction from fanfic. I have to say that at least from the extended writing group I'm in I get more in-depth feedback and encouragement for my original fic. Plus, I find it much easier to write than fanfic. But i suffer much more from nerves at the thought of submission. I'm hoping to publish something or self-publish later this year.

[periwinkle27.livejournal.com]

I so agree with you about Artemis Gordon. My mother had a crush on West, but I wanted Artie. Same in the movie - I wanted Kevin Kline.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I admire the way Robert Conrad can, ahem, fill out his trousers, but Artie is far more my kind of guy. I haven't seen the movie, though. I happily pretend that one doesn't exist. Just like the non-existant I Spy movie. ;-)

[halotolerant.livejournal.com]

I want to catch up with the recent Musketeers film because it sounds suitably dreadful such that one could rewrite it for slash purposes *g*

The first time I saw 'Lawrence of Arabia' I didn't know what to expect and massive gay subtext wasn't it, so I was pleasantly surprised! *g* Omar Sharif is just beautiful (as I think I rambled about on your previous picspam)

[przed.livejournal.com]

The new musketeers film is...not good. But it manages to be so utterly ridiculous that I enjoyed it immensely. (It diverges from the book so radically in the first five minutes that I decided to treat it like it wasn't even connected to it, and thus I didn't need to get all annoyed when it wasn't like the book. Which it really, really wasn't, so it all worked out.) Plus, TT at the end is always a good thing. It almost made up for the North American prints of the X-Men movie not having Love Love at the end. Almost. (No, I'm not still bitter.)

Unexpected gay subtext makes everything better, doesn't it? *g*

[soundofthesurf.livejournal.com]

I'm so slow with catching up on everything! Gnarghhh!

But I'd really love doing this meme, just so I can accomplish something that seems manageable (I've still not written a single line :/). Give me a letter, please? :)

[przed.livejournal.com]

I understand that feeling. (It's just after 6 a.m., and I'm already contemplating the huge mound of work awaiting me at my desk.)

I'm always up for enabling a manageable task. ;-) Your letter is J.

Here's hoping this leads to actual fic being committed.

[soundofthesurf.livejournal.com]

I feel really bad about moaning about my work-load when I think of all the things you've got going on! Just in case: did someone lately tell you just how awesome you are?! If not: YOU ARE AWESOME!!


I got my manageable task done and feel wonderfully accomplished now - thank you so much! (I still wonder why you chose the letter J....*scratches head*)

Aaaaaand *drumroll* guess what I found?!

The quality is gnarrrrghhhhh! But I can't find a better version right now! Buuuuuut one thing I'd forgotten! Jason's hand on Howard's shoulder!! *does silly happy dance*

[przed.livejournal.com]

Hey, we're all awesome!

I love your answers to your manageable task. And OMG, that's one adorable pic. I love Mark snuggled in between the two tall ones. ::sigh::

[soundofthesurf.livejournal.com]

We sure are...but....you know...some of us are just more awesome than others! :)

Isn't it just wonderful? I'm just gutted that the quality is so rubbish! I knew I had a better quality pic for the icon, but I just can't find it...*grumbles*