Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Fan Fiction Meme

Found at Pretty, Fizzy Paradise.

First, select your ten fictional characters (from any medium) by whichever method you like best. Then answer the questions below. (My own rule was only one person from a universe. Couldn't pick two DC heroes or two people from the Star Trek universe. I thought it'd mix things up more.

1. Elim Garak (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
2. The Ray (DC Comics)
3. Grianne Ohmsford (Shannara)
4. Arthur (The Tick)
5. Tasslehoff Burrfoot (DragonLance)
6. Chloe O'Brian (24)
7. Cyclops (Marvel Comics)
8. Moiraine Damodred (Wheel of Time)
9. Mr. Raines (The Pretender)
10. Laura Roslin (Battlestar Galactica)

1. Divide the list up by even and odd. Which group of five would make a better Five Man Band (like a Power Rangers team)? Who would you slot in each position: Leader, Lancer (second-in-command), Big Guy, Smart Guy, The Chick? If you think the team would be improved by swapping one character between the even and odd groups, which ones would you switch?

Team 1:
Garak
Grianne Ohmsford
Tasslehoff
Cyclops
Mr. Raines

The Leader: Mr. Raines
The Lancer: Cyclops
The Big Guy: Grianne Ohmsford
The Smart Guy: Garak
The Chick: Tasslehoff

Team 2:
The Ray
Arthur
Chloe O'Brian
Moiraine Damodred
Laura Roslin

The Leader: Roslin
The Lancer: Moiraine
The Big Guy: The Ray
The Smart Guy: Chloe
The Chick: Arthur

Both teams are really great.

The first team is very black ops oriented. They're the ones who'll get in and out of the enemies base undetected, but if they are, only the guards who've seen them will be killed. No need to draw too much attention, after all. Tass might be a problem with his wandering and easily distracted nature, but he's still better suited to Team 1.

Team 2, on the other hand, is more of a PR sort of group. They're the face of the organization. Still, they have the brains and the raw power to do anything Team 1 can do, but they wouldn't be as precise. When it comes to diplomacy, though, Team 2 would be excellent, right down to Arthur's octopus hotdog appetizers.

I wouldn't change a single member of either.

2. Gender-swap 2, 8 & 10. Which character would have the most change in their story arc? Which the least? Would any of these characters have to have a complete personality change to be believable as the opposite sex?


The Ray:
Since I prefer the Ray Terrill version (the one written by Harris in the mini and Priest in the ongoing), I say nothing would have to be changed. So, Happy and his wife had a daughter they had to hide from the sun instead of a son, it works either way. Hell, she could even have a crush on Jenny Jurden (or is it Jurgen? I can't remember.) and they could go to the prom together.

Moiraine:
Well, if she had been born a man, she would either have been captured and gentled by the Aes Sedai or just gone insane and ended up killing himself and, probably, several others in the process. I guess he would have to find a clean source of saidin, but that would mean either using up the Eye of the World before Rand got to it, or joining up with the Dark One. Maybe he could live his life in a Stedding, but then there wouldn't be much of a story. His personality would be drastically different because he'd be mad or have been gentled and therefore lost any touch with his noble past.

Roslin:
Like The Ray, I don't see much difference. I guess Loren Roslin would have gotten prostate cancer rather than breast cancer, but that's not much.

3. Compare the matchups of 1 & 8 and 5 & 9. (Ignore canon sexual preferences for the moment.) Which couple would be more compatible? Which couple would be more plausible to people from either principal's home culture?

Garak and Moiraine:
Excellent!

Two people who have lives centered on the secrets they find and use and keep their lives so hidden from others they sometimes have a hard time remembering who they were before they started keeping secrets. One is out to protect the status quo and the other wants to save the world by changing nearly everything about it.

If neither one knows about the other they'd probably be secretly fighting against each other.

If they're working together, they could conquer the world.

Both are far too centered on their jobs to ever actually couple, but they could make a great pair of star-crossed lovers if they're working on opposite sides.

Tasslehoff and Mr. Raines:
HAH!

Um... No.

Even after Mr. Raines went and found God, I don't see him ever falling for an ADHD Kender. I guess their relationship would only be about the kinky sex, what with the old guy and the short guy and the oxygen tank.

4. Your team is 3, 4 & 9. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge?

Grianne Ohmsford, Arthur, and Mr. Raines:
Arthur gets social challenge. He's the only one out of the three who has any social graces and that's just barely.

The mental challenge would be for Mr. Raines because he's a feeble old man who used to be a psychiatrist.

Grianne Ohmsford is the only one who could do any sort of physical challenge and that's only because she has the use of her Wishsong and the Druid magic.

Odds are that this team would fail all three missions.

5. 7 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship?

Boss: Cyclops
Underling: Garak

Sure Cyclops thinks he's in charge, and Garak will do whatever Cyclops asks of him, but Garak is always working on his own agenda. Cyclops even knows, or at least suspects Garak, but Cyclops won't complain as long as Garak does what he's assigned to do.

6. 2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky?

The Ray is now in the 24 universe and knows Chloe.

If The Ray isn't already working for the US government, he's going to be thought of as a threat, this is the first time in this world that there's been a person of mass destruction. CTU has no idea where he's come from, but they've given all the raw data they've complied to Chloe and her team so they can find answers, any answers.

Meanwhile, The Ray is scared and confused about where he is, but tries to do the right thing by stopping muggings and other small crimes in LA.

Eventually, Chloe realized the pattern and send Bauer to a robbery in progress where he, and his team of guys with guns, threatens The Ray. They ask him to put down his weapon.

The Ray is even more confused. He tries to explain that he stopped the robbery and there is no weapon, only him.

Jack yells some more and The Ray ends up flying off thinking how screwed up cops are.

And the chase begins.

7. 3 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make?

Grianne Ohmsford and Tasslehoff:

Grianne gets to make all the wishes as long as she takes the time to convince Tasslehoff that he wants them, too. And Grianne is patient; she'll get what she wants.

Wish #1: That she had never become the Isle Witch and the Morgawr had never killed her family.

Wish #2: That the Druid Council is supported by all the races of the Four Lands.

Wish #3: That there is peace within the Four Lands.

8. 1 and 2 are brainwashed by a one-time artifact that works even on people immune to mind control to attack and kill 4. They keep their normal personality, skills and competence level, except any Code vs. Killing has been turned off. Can 4 survive? How?

Garak and The Ray are brainwashed and sent to kill Arthur.

Arthur's dead. There's no way for him to survive if Garak is out to kill him.

He's dead, dead, dead.

9. 6, 7, 9 & 10 must help an orphanage full of small and depressed children have a merry Christmas. Who does what, knowing that at the very least the kids will be expecting a visit from Santa?


Chloe, Cyclops, Mr. Raines, and Roslin:
Chloe stands around looking surly and wants to leave. Any time a kid comes close, she glowers even more.

Mr. Raines, even after finding God, frightens all the kids with his wheezing, the tube in his nose, and the squeaking wheels on his oxygen. No kids come near him.

Cyclops puts on the Santa outfit, but he's not happy about it. He's also not happy about every other kid telling him that Santa doesn't wear sun glasses, especially stupid red one.

Roslin hands out gifts and sings, but is more concerned with how it looks for the camera than the kids or Christmas. Got to keep up appearances if she wants to get re-elected.

10. 3 and 8 are challenged to circumnavigate the Earth in eighty days or less, using only forms of transportation invented before 1900. Can they do it, or will they be fatally distracted by sidequests or their own personality conflicts?


Grianne Ohmsford and Moiraine:

Hell yes they can do it. They're both focused women with frightening powers at their control; nothing is going to stop them from achieving their goal short of dying. And even dying may not be able to stop them from finishing the journey before the time limit. Distraction is not a problem for either and as long as they have the same goal, their personalities won't get in the way.

Tagging!
Anyone who wants to have some crazy fun!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The chick, eh? I always knew Arthur was a little ... funny ...

ticknart said...

But he does like the manly beers.

Ami Angelwings said...

That was great ^^

I luff how I've turned this meme into a disease that's infecting everybody now :D

Garak and Moraine WOULD make a great couple XD

ticknart said...

Ami Angelwings -- I'm glad you started this disease, too. It's the best one I've ever head.