#thanks for reminding me that tamsin is my actual archetype for everything lololol

[direquail]

list 10 different female faves from 10 different fandoms

got tagged by @lightdescending!!! Thank you!!! Putting answers under a cut in case this gets Long (update: It Did)

Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel) - A formative archetype, for all that Joss Whedon turned out to be a creep and it kind of shows in how his characters are written. But honestly, there's how they were written and how they were received, and Faith has become so much more than how she was written. My younger disaster gay self was instantly vibing.

Tamsin (Lost Girl) - One word: Valkyrie. Two words: Drunk Valkyrie. A broken ancient warrior wandering the world as a mercenary, cynical and hardened, who proceeds to fall in love with her mark because her mark is The Real Deal? Iconic. A bisexual foul-mouthed murder lady who swigs vodka and then kills things? Effervescent. And she has WINGS???? There were many things about this show that (a) did not age well, and/or (b) were Not Great when they first aired, but Tamsin was. Influential to how I write and the fandom had a huge impact on me personally. I have a Character Type, and BOY HOWDY is Tamsin the mascot.

Brunnhilde | Valkyrie (MCU) - When Tamsin died at the end of season 3 of Lost Girl, I had a minor existential crisis because Valkyries canonically reincarnate, and I could not imagine another actress doing what Rachel Skarsten did with the role. And then I watched Thor: Ragnarok, and I am convinced that Skarsten's Tamsin is but an imitation of this Valkyrie. I know, I know; Lost Girl ended years before Thor: Ragnarok came out. But I don't make the rules.

Dutch | Yalena Yardeen (Killjoys) - She's just. I just. So. I watched Ant-Man and the Wasp, right? I watched it because I knew Hannah John-Kamen (the actress who plays Dutch) would be in it as Ghost. I did not watch the first Ant-Man movie. I have no plans to watch any Ant-Man 3 movie unless HJK is in it again. Technically, Killjoys is about all three of the main Killjoys (Johnny, D'av, and Dutch)--but the show is Dutch's story and Dutch is. How do I even describe her? "Badass" is not a strong enough word. There are similarities to other earlier characters on here--she's not as drunk as a lot of them, she can't afford to be, but like a lot of other characters on this list, she exists on the margins of the society she lives in (as a bounty hunter), and she is deeply, deeply cocky. But her story is also so much about self-determination and choosing how to use her deadly skill set after a truly horrifying childhood, about not being a pawn in anyone's plan anymore, and I can do absolutely nothing but respect and love her. And Hannah John-Kamen.

Wynonna Earp (Wynonna Earp) - What a fucking mess of a human. I love her so much. A very Gideon Nav kind of human who comes back to the town that had her committed to a psych hospital and gave her electroconvulsive therapy for refusing to lie about the horrors she'd seen and now, she finds herself bound to defend them. She is the hero of the show. End of story.

Kara Danvers | Kara Zor-El (Supergirl (2015)) - After reading this list, you may think that this is a departure from my Very Predictable Wheelhouse of drunk murder ladies, and you are correct! This came as a shock to me, too, because I almost never feel any kind of emotional connection to female title characters--I connect with Faith before Buffy, Tamsin before Bo, etc., and I know that at least part of the reason for that is the kind of gendered expectations placed on female title characters by our media, the kinds of stories they're allowed to embody. But Kara is the exception, and What A Fucking Exception. It's very predictable for me to love Gideon Nav; but Kara Zor-El is a Sunshine Character, and I have a deep love for her. Possibly because, while she is a Sunshine Character (ha ha, yes, pun), she is also just so profoundly genuinely kind, and it comes from profound and genuine grief and rage and loss, and it makes her sunshine-y -ness feel like more than a platitude. I love messy characters, but I also love Genuinely Good characters, and Kara Zor-El is so genuinely good. (This is also the exact kind of character that I love to pair with characters like Tamsin)

Grace Harper (Terminator: Dark Fate) - BUTCH REP BUTCH REP. (Accidental) BUTCH REP. Also, Mackenzie Davis. Grace gave me so many gender feels, and her complete unhesitating devotion and loyalty is *clenches fist* So Good

Camilla Hect (The Locked Tomb Series) - Why do I love her so much that I'd pick her out of all the Locked Tomb ladies to include on this list? I do not know. I only know I have a soft spot for gruff badasses who share their food with people. Also it helps that she dual-wields (yes, that is a euphemism, but also no, it is not a euphemism)

Alice (CW's Batwoman) - Another Rachel Skarsten character, because Rachel Skarsten is a Fucking Delight and Alice is just. *chef's kiss*

Mara (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) - The other Sunshine Character on this list, and I think I love her for similar reasons to why I love Kara? She's good, and kind, and noble, and so much all of those things it hurts. It would have been easy for her to be (and with any other people running the show, she probably would have been) uncomplicated and kind of boring, but instead she was moving and tragic and beautiful and I love her, thanks for coming to my TED talk. Also: She gives me distinguished older queer vibes, and my not-nearly-so-distinguished slightly-older queer self connected with that for some reason.

If you made it through all of that and you'd like to do this, consider yourself tagged! And I'd like to see what your answers are, so if you do do this, feel free to tag me! Tagging (with no pressure to do it but just inviting you to join in): @diaryreadingcat, @queersintherain, @nike-ravus, @the-evil-queen-14, @the-consequences-of-salt, @makutas-chronicle, @generalalder, and uhhhhhhh anybody else who wants to pass this around

#meme #character tropes #thanks for reminding me that tamsin is my actual archetype for everything lololol #*writes about tamsin* ohhhhhhh that's *checks notes* also dutch and faith and valkyrie and wynonna and andy and sarah connor and huntara a- #i am gay and extremely predictable