Your favourite characters

[marguerite_26]

I’ve been thinking about different versions of different characters and while we all want to be ‘canon’ (whatever that means to each of us), each version of these characters has its special something that makes it unique.

For writers, they are our babies. evil brain eating babies We give them life and put a piece of ourselves into each of them, even though they don’t really belong to us. Our version is ours and we love them.

For readers, they are the characters we fall in love with, we think about, dream about. They define who pops into our head when we read a name.

Writers/artists: who is the character you have written/drawn that you love the most.

By which I mean which character of which of your fics.

Maybe it wasn’t your favourite fic but one character of that fic always made you feel like you created something special there. Or he or she still lives in your head and hangs out, makes you laugh or shiver. (maybe whispers in your ear still.... but you don’t need to admit that to us).
REASONS and LINKS are appreciated

If you are not a writer/artist, feel free to share the character that you've read that still haunts your dreams/nightmares because the author truly 'nailed it' for you and made that character come to life.

Remember this isn't about your favourite fic, but a well loved character.



It is 'my' Draco who lives in my head the most I think. I do have a tendency to write a vulnerable/messed-up Draco. He appears in a few fics, but I think the Draco from Burn, Burn will always be my favourite. Writing that Draco defined Draco for me and, even though he's evolved over the years, when I pick up the pen, it's broken!Draco from Burn, Burn that talks to me and helps me shape my next one.

hmm... that's my answer for the moment, could easily change in an hour. :D

Comments

[lotus-lizzy.livejournal.com]

Fic: Life's Disappointments (http://lotus-lizzy.livejournal.com/115382.html)
Character: Scorpius

This guy still lives in my head, and I believe he lives there because he knows his story is not finished. Since college I've been trying to discover the big "aha" moment, the moment when I realize exactly what I want to write, professionally. Part of my participation in fandom has been in search of that source material, trying different styles and types to get there.

When I wrote the "Cockatrice" fic, I stumbled upon a realization. My inspiration, my source material, the thing that grabbed me and yelled at me to write, write, write, was Scorpius, a young boy, alone, with only his imagination to pull him through the world.

It was such a freeing feeling to finally find my direction and slowly I plan on easing out of fandom and easing into writing my own book (for children no less). So Scorpius still lives in my head, although he's adopted the name "Teddy" (not to be confused with the Teddy in HP) and instead of living at a magical school, he's a normal kid living in the Mid-west, his room in the attic of an old creaky home where he discovers an actual Cockatrice and keeps him there to study, and to befriend.

:)

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Oh! how AWESOME!! :D Yes, Scorpius from Life's Disappointments is an AMAZING CHARACTER and exactly the kind of example I was thinking about here. He very much came alive to me when I read, and immediately brought a smile to my face just now.

His story is a very powerful one and very engaging. I think it's wonderful that he has morphed into a OC for you to play with. Absolutely fabulous. :D

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Can't say at the moment. :D

But this is an awesome idea for a post.

Actually, this makes me think of something I was thinking earlier. The whole, "Why are you doing this?" thing. "Why do you write?"

And a lot of it has to do with the characters and creating or developing them, and then knowing that you've brought them to life in other people's minds as well. The idea that other people are reading my stories and seeing the characters I've written is just really nice somehow.

[lotus-lizzy.livejournal.com]

The idea that other people are reading my stories and seeing the characters I've written is just really nice somehow.

It really is isn't it? A bit surreal really.

[leashy-bebes.livejournal.com]

Oooh, fascinating question.

I have to say on balance my favourite character is James from Rebellion (and Suffering The Consequences) (http://leashy-bebes.livejournal.com/105538.html#cutid2).

The reasons are complicated and possibly a bit odd sounding. Essentially, there's more of me in that James than in any other character I've written I think, and writing the fic itself was a very cathartic (if slightly mental) process. However, I do want to slap him for most of the actual fic, which is where my explanation starts sounding weird.

The reason I love him so is more to do with the as-yet-unwritten sequel(s) in which James is grown up and has moved on, even if he's still affected by what happened. If I ever crack the sequel, it'll be possibly the most mature relationship/fic I'll have written, and as that James became so real for me, I am bizarrely proud of him for what he achieves later on/hopeful for what it might mean for the part of me that is in him.

Aaaand I'm gonna post this before I either read it and realise it sounds completely weird, or I carry on for another five comments with my disjointed thinky thoughts.

[potteresque_ire]

Ooooh. May I friend you? I remember your story and I enjoyed it muchly!! :)))

*curtsies*

[dysonrules.livejournal.com]

You are making the most awesome posts this week! :D :D :D

Mine is Harry from Draco's Escort Service (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3428929/1/Dracos_Escort_Service), because Harry was broken and Draco fixed him without really even meaning to. And Draco is my favourite, too, because he was fine, he was good, and then Harry made him better, also without really meaning to.

OH, BOYS. *happy sigh*

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

awe!!! You know, I've never read Escort Service. I will have to check it out sometime. I totally get that, though. That you love that they fixed each other without meaning to.

Funny enough, my choice of Burn, Burn had a lot to do with that. He allowed Harry to 'fix' him. Even though, that too was missing 32 pages! It's my trademark. ;)

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I am terribly wibbly about all of my characterisations so I got nothing for you :-(

OTOH, I do think I write a pretty convincing Snape/Sirius, but I doubt anyone'd be interested in links for that :P

[hereticalvision.livejournal.com]

I am!

[accioslash.livejournal.com]

I considered not replying because this likely won't make sense to anyone else but me. But I love dementordelta's characterization of Harry Potter because in every fic she writes I can feel just how much she loves the character and it makes me love him, too. I think she could make me love Harry/anyone if she wrote it. I will read Snape paired with anyone. But I only read Harry with Snape. For her, I'd make an exception.

[stellamoon.livejournal.com]

Hear, Hear!! I'll second that!!

see, you aren't the only one who stalks others' comments! LOL!!

[chantefable.livejournal.com]

Can't say at the moment. :)

But there are a couple that now feel quite dear to me. Will get back with links when I'm free to say more. ;)

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

*\o/*

:D

[acidpop25.livejournal.com]

*waves* Hi, new friend. :) I'm just going to jump in here, because it's an interesting topic.

For me, Theo Nott is my baby, and he doesn't really change too much from fic to fic. He's intelligent, sharply observant, has some serious psychological scars, and only really speaks when he has something worth saying. He's a perfectionist, he can be a master manipulator if he chooses but he'd usually rather tell the truth, he represses most of his feelings but is emotionally a character of extremes. My favorite fics of him I've done are probably Devotion (http://community.livejournal.com/hermionebigbang/8793.html), my Hermione Big Bang, or maybe a Theo/Draco multichap of mine called Going Nowhere Fast (http://acidpop25.livejournal.com/tag/going%20nowhere%20fast). But he's so much 'my character' that he generally comes out pretty consistent– may also be helped by the fact that I started writing him for an RPG, so I have a very strong sense of his voice.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's lovely! I don't think I've ready any Theo fics, tbh. But I love your thoughts on his character, how you have him fleshed out and know who you are writing each time you start a fic.

I'm very much not like that. My characters mold from canon into fics based on the plot outline. I 'reinvent' them each time. Obviously, I'm somewhat consistent with my 'ideas' of the character but they can change dramatically from fic to fic.

For example, I enjoy writing Scorpius. But I think people would be hard-pressed to look at every the various Scorps I've written and say they were written by the same author.

But that's where I get my inspiration from. Making each new version.

So I really appreciate your love of 'your' Theo. I'm sure the product is a stronger character in the end.

[lordhellebore]

Writers/artists: who is the character you have written/drawn that you love the most.

Definitely my Neville and Bellatrix from A Tale of Seasons. I can't even decide which of them. To me, they feel like the most "real" characters I've written so far, if that makes any sense.

As for reading, I have to pick a character that's not from HP, but from Star Trek TOS fanfic. It's Mirror!Spock in janecarnall's Through A Glass, Darkly series. He feels like still Spock, but realistic under the circumstances of the Mirror Universe.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Oh, A Tale of Seasons was a beautifully written fic. I can see why you'd choose Neville or Bella from there. ♥

[penguin474.livejournal.com]

Interesting!

For me it's Draco, definitely Draco. I've written him many times, but I think Draco in Of Snow and Dark Water (http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=5547&chapter=1&font=&size=) is my favourite character that I've written. He's frightened and brave, and unable to see that he's brave, because he's never been before. He's a teenager starting to question his father's beliefs and theories - well, those of any adult, I suppose, and trying to find his own way through the wilderness. He makes mistakes along the way but his intentions are - mostly! - good. I think the Draco that I write in various stories are only variations of this Draco.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a wonderful Draco. I haven't read, but definitely what I look for in a Draco. :D

[jamie2109.livejournal.com]

What an interesting question. I'd have to say my Harry lives in my brain. Sometimes I wish he wouldn't, because he shapes the Harry I am trying to write too much. Like, I have a running battle with him every time I try and get him to do something that's not quite right - like in my current WIP, his ethics are a bit wonky and I spend a lot of time justifying it and I shouldn't.

And the most my Harry, Harry I've written is the one in A certain Kind of Memory. I felt very close to that Harry; there was more of me in there than I had bargained for. I was so grateful he had a Draco around at the time that was a perfect match for him.

On a lighter note, the character I adore writing more and more is my Draco's house-elf Pippy. He makes cameo appearances all over the place getting more familiar at each appearance. I am enjoying writing him.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Oh! I love that you gave Draco a house-elf and reuse him. I didn't know that and it's a little bit of brilliant. :DDDD Creating a house-elf takes work, and they can be great OCs. :D

I get what you mean about 'your Harry', too. Sometimes I fear for 'my Draco' that I'm building off other characterisation from my own fics and each time creating my own canon in my head and moving that much further from actual canon. :/

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this counts, but my favourite character to write is actually an OC of mine (though loosely based on the character from legend) Sir Percy in The Route To Advancement series. I find his POV incredibly natural to write, mainly because he has strong aspects of me, and I think the best Merlin and Arthur that I write is through his eyes. I always start with Percy in those fics, but as soon as I start writing in his 'voice', Merlin and Arthur fall into place, and they're my favourite versions of them - Merlin the cheeky and incorrigible manservant, and Arthur the long suffering but ultimately fond prat :D

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

That makes total sense. And actually not surprising at all. I've seen your 'Percy series' mentioned and have it bookmarked to checkout. I can see why such a character would be your fav. :D He sounds lovely and someone the reader can relate to.

[symetric.livejournal.com]

i have much to say on this subject but i have driving at the crack of dawn and must be off to bed. so i hereby reserve my place to prattle at length here later. cheerio!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

coooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! :D

[lolafalola.livejournal.com]

I love this idea. It makes me want to go read all these stories that I haven't read before.

Great idea!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And feel free to come back and share your own. :D

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

Fascinating topic to explore.

For me, it's not an HP character, but one from Firefly. My take on Jayne took root in the first fic I wrote for that universe and just kept growing from there. Ultimately, the most him story I've written is Safety Catch (http://www.daiseechain.com/content/safety-catch). I think I understand him better than any other character I've written. And his voice just comes so easily to me. I find if I can nail a character's voice, I understand them much better.

In the HP universe, my character is Harry, which I honestly didn't expect to happen. But he came out of Descent (http://community.livejournal.com/hp_darkfest/23197.html) (I think you might need to be a member of the hp_darkfest to read it there? Sorry. It's the only place I've posted it so far.) Every version I've written of him since has been heading toward that, running away from it, or recovering from it in some way; even the comedic/lightweight stories.

Also. I'm exhausted, so this response may veer to the nonsensical or erroneous links.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

oh, wow. Good on you. I've tried to write something in Jayne's POV... *scowls at horrid attempt still sitting on harddrive* He is a difficult character to write, esp from his POV. I can see how once you've nailed him, you could get lost in him. :D

[treacle-tartlet.livejournal.com]

Fic: Pomegranate (http://community.livejournal.com/hd_career_fair/9342.html?page=4)

Character/s: Harry

This is the first really 'characterised' Harry I ever wrote (who needs characterisation when you can have teh pt0nz?!). I really like his sort of quiet self-confidence, and how 'earthy' he is. He's grown up since the war, and has a calm about him that gives Draco's more volatile character a bit of ballast. Draco can still get under his skin and make him angry, but that vulnerability makes him more real and more likable to me. There have been shades of this Haarry in all the (real, not PWP) Harries I've written since, I think. At least, I hope so.

Also, I seem to like Draco when he's drunk. Hrm...

[lotus-lizzy.livejournal.com]

Teehee! Then let's get you drunk! I'll poke you when I'm shifting out Draco's character....

[hereticalvision.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, cool question. I will answer in the morning when I'm sober :)

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

hee! sobriety is overrated. :D

(though it does help with spelling).

[frayach.livejournal.com]

This is so much fun! (and another good source for fic I haven't read yet)

My favorite character is my Draco in A Mitigating Circumstance (http://frayach-nicuill.livejournal.com/46880.html#cutid1). He's so extravagant and debauched but also very vulnerable (and even innocent in a way). Harry is captivated before he even knows what's happening (well, captivated and appalled both). Sadly, M.C. is an unfinished WIP :( I would love to finish it because it's one of my favorite stories, but it's very plot-heavy, and I've lost the thread. I keep saying that if I have time, I'll finish it, but a lot of water has gone under the bridge since the last chapter I posted.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

You know... I'm thrilled to read that. Draco from AMC is my favourite of your Dracos and I don't know why, but I'm pleased that he is your favourite too. :D

He still lives in my brain, tbh.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I was going to say Harry in For the Public Good, but then I thought more and it's actually Sirius in Of Great Price (http://blamebrampton.livejournal.com/55351.html/).

He is so horribly aware of how stupid he has been in such essential ways, from his glib lipservice to Muggle rights to his falling into the same prejudices about werewolves he would condemn in anyone else and never seeing the obvious treachery of Peter right under his nose.

At the same time he is so proud and beautiful, and so certain that life should have been fun and simple for those very reasons. Yet when it's not, he doesn't despair, merely does what he can in the best spirit of the Blitz and will worry about the consequences later. I feel strangely close to him, which is why he ended up being a bit like my father, and I even gave him one of my accidents when he was injured.

One thing I do want to do is to come back and revisit their world from Remus's perspective, because I think that Sirius is never aware that he is a tiny little bit of a hero in Remus's eyes. As well as being a profound idiot, of course.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I absolutely loved Of Great Price. All of your Marauders were awesome, Brammers.

[potteresque_ire]

I think I'd like to say Knockturn Alley in Memoria in Aeterna, but, er, that's not a character :). Although it does live inside me—probably more so than the characters I have written. I dream up stories about that place almost as often as I do about Harry and Draco—it has a whole sequel in my head, in a way... when often I have no clue what the characters will do next when I write a story :P.

Neither Harry nor Scorpius in that story were part of the main pairing, but both have more or less defined my personal canon of these two characters. In Harry's case, I think it's how I see him after I've digested his portrayal in canon, blended with impressions from fanfics the Harry of which I fell in love with. As for Scorpius, he'd just popped inside my head as he had on the table in the fic, but for a minor role that he was, he's left something inside me... a sentiment, perhaps? Something that I hope to revisit soon—I haven't investigated his character enough.

I write Draco's POV almost by default, but the Draco that appears under my fingertips tend to deviate from my personal canon of him—I tend to beautify him more than how I see him in my mind. The Draco in The Last Temptation of Draco Malfoy is probably the closest to my impression of my Head!Draco, but still, he's lacking a bit of ... the cold fire that made him shine, maybe? Those... daggers of equal passion and danger I've read in other author's works and have adored. Sometimes, it's a bit frustrating because I use him all the time to tell a story but I never quite manage to make myself love my own version of him :).

[lotus-lizzy.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, it's a bit frustrating because I use him all the time to tell a story but I never quite manage to make myself love my own version of him :).

I feel like that all the time with Harry. I tend to write from his perspective, I think because I imagine I have more in common with his quirky lonely outlook, but it's never quite right.

And I think that's why we keep writing! It can be very good motivation if the character in our head has yet to fully develop on the page. :)

*squishes you*

[curia-regis.livejournal.com]

I'd say it's probably my Peter from Revolution and Betrayal (http://curia-regis.livejournal.com/787584.html#cutid1). He sort of seems real to me in a way Peter from canon never seemed real. JKR never really gave us a reason why Peter would betray his friends. I always thought it would be interesting to explore why. In my fic, I'd say Peter isn't quite sympathetic, but he's not a bad guy either. He's human and he's made human decisions, both good and bad ones, just like everybody else.

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

I loved this version of Peter; he does seem very "real" -- such a fine story all around.

You don’t half ask the hard questions, do you.

[wemyss.livejournal.com]

Deceptively innocent and confiding ones at that: rather like the questioner.

Every character I write, even the rotters – I make certain that, by Monday week, a large chorus will be chanting, ‘especially the rotters’ – is of course derived from a part of my personality; this is true of everyone who writes. I am rather fond of writing Ernie, that model civil servant, and Justin, in all things save his having gone to Hogwarts instead the complete OE, and Neville, that embodiment of rural virtue and common sense. Luna, also, is a joy to write, particularly when the ‘all was well’ bit of the Epilogue receives the twist it clearly asks for and she and Nev marry after the deaths of their first spouses in the next insurrection: she and Neville I like to think of as exemplary Friends (‘Quakers’ to you lot). I enjoy crafting the post-War Harry, and he drives much of my idea of the post-War world, not least in my making the Aurors an army and the MLE the plods: Harry’s not, actually, thick, but I cannot see him as a senior copper in the way I can see him as a senior officer of HM Forces (‘Potter,’ sighed Kingsley, ‘I commend your initiative and admire the comprehensive nature of your success, but could you not have remembered to take one or two of the sods alive so that we might interrogate them?’). I indulge myself in the post-War Draco, partly because I have always held that a redeemed Draco is not an emasculated Draco, but, rather, a Draco with a large likeness to Harry – not Potter: Flashman. Tony Goldstein is a joy – and a tribute; Slughorn a tribute as well to many Dons I Have Known. Dudley in after years is always a pleasure to write, not least because he can be our Watson, noting the oddness of the Wizarding world that is tame and ordinary to its own inhabitants, even the Muggleborn accustomed to it by long familiarity. And I may like best of all to write Narcissa after the War and after Lucius, if only because I can do so in a fashion that is highly reminiscent of one my grander aunts (she wasn’t a blood-purist married to a Death Eater, but she was a rather bluestocking person from a traditionally Liberal family who became a grandee-style sympathiser with Labour, so it’s morally equivalent). And I suppose Al and Scorpius, as representing what Harry and Draco might have been without all the weight of history on them, to be personal favourites for all that they’re rather out of the same stable as Waugh’s exquisites or the Line-of-Beauty lot.

The fact is, I enjoy all the characters I write and am satisfied enough with the result, or I’d not do it to begin with. That does not mean I’d not give my eye-teeth to have written a Harry or Draco or Al or Scorpius that bears comparison to those crafted by Brammers or Femme or Noeon or any of the writers I read with such joy and gratitude, and who are simply too many to list (Tree and Leaf’s Hermione comes very much to mind here as well).

ETA: I shd add that through all my hackery, Evelake stories to HP and the Demon Bowler to Seablite to Dartmoor Eclogue, the best realised and most consistent character is probably the land itself, Merline' Isle of Gramarye; as has been noted, England Is My Fandom (and, with Wales and Scotland, my OT3).

Re: You don’t half ask the hard questions, do you.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

LMAO! I love reading about your point of view of HP characters. England is your fandom, indeed. :) *fetches dictionary*

That does not mean I’d not give my eye-teeth to have written a Harry or Draco or Al or Scorpius that bears comparison to those crafted by Brammers or Femme or Noeon or any of the writers I read with such joy and gratitude,

I think that while we all have characters that we feel someone else does better (goodness, my list would be long as well) I specifically didn't ask that because we often focus outward.

We think about how great our fellow authors are on a daily basis (well, I do at least). When do we share a specific accomplishment of our own, something that we are proud of, possibly years after we'd done it?

Deceptively innocent? Moi? ;)

[phoenixacid.livejournal.com]

I think my favourite character is Draco from Sorrow (http://phoenixacid.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2iqv9u). It's the first time I managed to successfully convey the emotion I wanted through my art. :)

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

That's a really beautiful piece of art.

[luvscharlie.livejournal.com]

As much as I love HP (and boy, do I), and this came from an HP fic I wrote, my favorite character I've ever written was Count Dracula in this Viktor/Hermione fic I did for hp_porninthesun-- before I was done, I wanted to scoop him out of the fic and squish him.

Vampires Don't Sparkle But They're A Real Bitch to Live With (http://luvscharlie.livejournal.com/496894.html)

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

OH!!! Dracula would make a great 'OC' well... not really an OC... but kinda. LOL. FUN!