I'd like to hear about your take on a character from HP. How about Minerva McGonagall.

And I'm sorry to hear bout the headache from hell. I'm thinking that it's related to the one I have. I've tried everything you have (even the self-massage on the neck) and so far...no dice. *sigh*

From my personal canon for Minerva McGonagall:

1) She can hold her whisky better than anybody at Hogwarts... except for Hagrid.

2) She was married at some point before she started teaching at Hogwarts, but she isn't married now.

3) She hexed Dumbledore's portrait silent after finding out that he a) cruelly used both Harry and Severus as human sacrifices and b) didn't trust her enough to share any of the secret plans with her.

I'm sorry that you have a miserable headache as well. I wonder if it's just the transition in the weather? Whatever it is, it's killing me.

I'll play!

How about Ron Weasley and letter, hmmm... lets see... letter three D!

Sorry about the headache! Have you tried the pressure point in the webbing between you thumb and index finger? If you massage the muscular area it may help. It hurts like hell though and it does work better if someone else does it.

*hugs*

Feel better soon!

Ooh, Ron, Ron... let's see.

Five things that never happened to Ronald Weasley:

1) He never married Hermione, because thankfully, the two of them realized that neither could provide what the other person really wanted, and they were better off as good friends anyway.

2) He never became an auror because his brother George needed him more than the Ministry of Magic did, and anyway, creating practical jokes was loads more fun than filling out paperwork.

3) He never forgot that he was filling in for Fred, though, and on the night when Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes opened their twentieth location, he poured three toasts: one for himself, one for George, and one for their silent, dearly-missed partner in crime.

4) He never stopped being friends with either Harry or Hermione, even after Harry became a Snape apologist and Hermione started dating the greasy git.

5) He never regretted getting married a bit later than usual, because Gabrielle Delacour was beautiful and sophisticated and he loved her, and she was worth every moment of the wait to be with her.


I've heard that trick for headaches, but I've never been able to make it work for me. Maybe it does work better when somebody else does it...

Oh, let's say, Rowena Ravenclaw.

Any of the letters look good to me.

*glares your headache into submission*

Ooh, excellent! A chance to work on my cosplay backstory...

Okay, three things from my personal canon about Rowena Ravenclaw:

1) She was good friends with Helga Hufflepuff, because she understood that wisdom was only gained through hard work.

2) The man she married and the man she loved were two different people, but she was prudent enough to justify this choice to herself.

3) It was said that she died of a broken heart, and this is true. It was a long and slow and painful process, and it began the day that Salazar Slytherin left Hogwarts castle, never to return.

1) damn right!

2) Helga never married, but she wasn't a wallflower, no sirree! Fell in love a few times and parted amicably from them all. Steered clear - well clear - of Slytherin and Gryffindor in that respect.

3) Helga was very, very sad to watch her friend fade and die all because of that shit Slytherin. There is a hidden code in House Hufflepuff which states that while Slytherin's house seeks to promote certain qualities above others, it is the duty of Hufflepuffs to try to bring out the honour which sleeps in the hearts of their Slytherin friends. They don't believe that anyone should be condemned to follow so precisely in anyone's footsteps.

1) But of course!

2) In this respect, Helga was much, much wiser than Rowena. ;-)

3) This is one among many reasons that Rowena considered Helga to be the dearest and best of friends.


(I have to think there was something between Rowena and Salazar, especially since the "died of a broken heart" bit is JKR's own take. The tale of the Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron suggests a tangled history between Ravenclaws and Slytherins...)

Cuddy (sp?) from House.

P.S. I like how no one has balls-out said Snape and Hermione. :-)

Excellent! I &hearts Cuddy. :D (And yes, I kind of like that we're focusing on other characters for a change.)

So, Five Things that Never Happened to Lisa Cuddy:

1) She could never quite swallow the guilt when she saw House limping, so even when he pushed well beyond the boundaries of what was acceptable, she couldn't bring herself to condemn him. She owed him that much.

2) She never fell in love in Wilson, pretty and inoffensive as he was. When she was honest with herself, she suspected that the problem was that he was too pretty and inoffensive, though she didn't like to think about what that meant.

3) She never regretted standing by House, though there were days when she came damn close to it.

4) She never fully understood what standard she was using to judge the men she met on her blind dates, but she knew without a doubt that none of them were equal to it.

5) She never got tired of the satisfaction she felt in her position, whenever those who had doubted her were forced to seek her favor.

Trek, eh? Give me Garrack.

Oh, Garack is one of my favorites. Good choice.

Three facts about Garack from my personal canon:

1) His current line of work is not so different from his former profession: both tailors and assassins must work neatly and carefully and precisely,in an effort to make the results of their handiwork look as natural as possible.

2) He doesn't know quite what to call the feelings he has when in the company of Julian Bashir; he only knows that in Julian's presence, he feels more alive than he has in all his days in exile.

3) Garak secretly suspects that he would do anything, no matter how cold-blooded, if the reward for doing so would be the chance to go back home to the Cardassian Empire. Even if he knew the target. Even if the target was Julian.

1) Excellent observation!
2) Awwww
3) Very sad.

*hugs*

Here's Colin to help with the headache...

And Star Trek, eh?

hmmm, Data!

~hugs~ Ooh, Colin, could you massage my neck, please? That'd be great.

Hooray for Data! He's one of my all-time favorites.

One reason (among many) that he is awsomecakes: he's strong enough to bend metal bars, but he has the gentlest soul of them all.

Star Trek, huh? Well how about Capt. Picard. (sp?) I just watched Generations a few nights ago and was reminded how much I loved this character. Let's hear your spin on him. :D

I love Picard. He's my favorite captain by far, so great choice!

Three facts about Jean-Luc Picard from my personal canon:

1. As a boy, he took equal delight in reading Shakespeare's thoughtful heroes and seedy detective novels featuring men of action, a contrast that shows in the life he's chosen for himself: a bold adventurer with the sensitive soul of a poet.

2. The only thing standing between Picard and a relationship with Beverly Crusher is the ghost of Jack Crusher.

3. There are times--last at night and early in the morning, in the place between sleep and wakefulness--when Picard thinks he can hear the whispering of the collective, even now, and it chills him more than anything else he's ever heard.

Good post. :D I totally agree with everything. Although I always wished he would get over the Jack Crusher thing and just go for Beverly.

I read a theory once about the captains of the Star Trek series in that they reflect the times they are written in. Kirk comes from the sixties, full of turbulence, questioning of authority and relaxed sexual attitudes. Kirk reflects that era with his getting the girl/alien female in bed during each show, fixing the program of the Star Trek Academy's un-winnable simulation so that he would win and by his hot emotions in dealing with his crew and others.

If you accept this theory, does the Picard character reflect the 80's when he was written? I will reserve my judgment on that until I see your answer. :D

Ooh, that's interesting. It's easy to see how Kirk represents the 60's, but now that I think about it, I can see Picard representing the 80's, at least in some way. For starters, just think about how different he is from Kirk: intellectual, cultured, philosophical. He's still more than capable of taking action, but Picard isn't stereotypically macho. You can read that, I think, as part of the shifting of gender roles in the 80's and the advent of the "sensitive man." ;-)

I think you can also read Picard's philosophical nature and the grayer moral universe of TNG as showing the difficulties of being a global (galactic) superpower, of how to balance power and wisdom. If the original series is all about boldly going where no one's gone before, and it's all about expansionism and adventuring, then TNG is all about how to manage things after the expansion is over, and the moral responsibilities (or possible corruption) that come with that. Old enemies are now friends, or at least uneasy allies (like the Klingons), which also suggests the detente that came towards the end of the 80's, with the hold of communism crumbling and diplomatic relations with the West reestablished.

As you said, Kirk is ruled by his emotions. Picard is ruled by the Prime Directive and questions of justice and fairness. And while you can easily make a case that there was a lot of unfairness in the 80's, I think we were at least aware that we were moving into a much more complex era where things weren't all black and white.

Okay, how's that for a try? :D

Oooh, let's have Luna, then. *g*

Oh my; been there with the headaches; hope it alleviates soon.

By the way, sorry I've been shit at commenting lately (school started and I had a bit of an anxiety thing about going back and being in class etc after so long), but I'm glad to hear your dad is out of the "red zone" as it were, and that things got resolved with a relative minimum of hassle and complications. I've been keeping you and yours in my thoughts.

Thanks for all the good wishes, darling. I really do appreciate them! ~hugs~ Don't worry about commenting! I know you've had so many things on your plate--and by the way, I really hope that classes are going well, because I do know about the anxiety of going back after being out of it for a while. I'm sure you're going to be a star. :-)

Okay, now three personal canon facts for Luna (and thank you for giving me a reason to use this awesome new icon):

1. She knew that Professor Snape had been bullied in school long before Harry told her. She recognized it in the hunch of his shoulders and the look in his eyes and the way he snapped at the first whisper of disrespect.

2. She understands that there's very little proof that the creatures she seeks exist--but she also knows that there's no proof that they don't exist, either, so she doesn't see why she should stop looking.

3. When she was younger, her favorite soft toy was Horace the Horklump. She brought him with her to Hogwarts, but she never took him out of her trunk, because she didn't mind if the other girls hid her quills and shoes and such--those were only things, after all--but Horace was her friend, and she though it would be very sad for him if he were lost.

Edited at 2008-09-25 04:22 am (UTC)

*Grins* And of course I'm going to mention our lovely, limited-character fandom. So tell me why you've gotta love Q-Chan!

Ooh, good one! An interesting one, too, because although I know that Q-chan and Sofu D are the same person, I think of them differently, if that makes any sense.

So, Q-chan. You have to love Q-chan for his protectiveness, don't you? He's always there to look out for the safety and well-being of D and Chris, even when it means having to work with Leon. *g*

(I think there's also a dark side there, because Sofu is essentially spying on D's every waking moment, but I think that's rooted in at least some affection for his grandson. Yes, he wants to make sure that D isn't wavering in his duties, but he also wants to see that he comes to no harm.)

Madeline Bassett, from Jeeves and Wooster: "Don't you think the stars are God's daisy chain?"
And I'd most love your 3 personal canon facts about her.

Hee! Oh, Madeline, Madeline, Madeline...

Three personal canon facts:

1. Madeline had no idea what a newt actually was until her engagement to Gussie, but she was sure she would love them instantly because Gussie did.

2. Madeline can't decide whether she more admires or pities Bertie for bravely hiding his heartbreak over her so well and pretending to be perfectly happy living as a lonely bachelor with Jeeves.

3. Madeline went through a brief hunger strike in her younger years, when it occurred to her that fruits and vegetables might have feelings, too, and it must be wickedly cruel to eat them.

Oh, those sound very accurate. ! :)

Gul Dukat, please.

I'm sorry your headache is there to stay. IT sounds as though you need a professional massage, or maybe even a visit to an osteopath - academics and writers generally have miserable posture, as I know.

A night of sleep finally did away with the headache, thank goodness. The suggestion for the massage is a very good idea, though--we do have terrible posture! It's from being hunched over books and papers and computers all the time, and lugging around heavy bags. My posture used to be better, but these days, I always end up with my shoulders creeping up and getting tense.

Now, for Gul Dukat! He's one of my favorites, too. (Have to love those conflicted Cardassians.) Among the many reasons he is awesomecakes: he makes moral ambiguity look dead sexy. Bonus reason for his greatness: there is a strange streak of decency in him, if you look very closely.

*hugs* for the headache suckage (sympathy, sympathy).
Hey, have you tried laying flat on your back on the floor and let your muscles unknot? I do that when I have shoulder/neck tension headaches - sometimes I just get comfy...but other times it really does help a great real. :p (especially after a glass of wine or something...close the eyes and concentrate on breathing, and contracting and releasing muscles)


OK - my predictability is showing: our friend Snape.

Thank you! ~hugs~ I know you share the headache pain. I think it comes with living in this state--it gives allergies to everybody, even people who never had them before. I can't believe I haven't tried the laying-down trick, because I used to use it all the time when I was an undergrad! I seriously need to get back to doing my yoga regularly, too; the guided meditation really helps me get rid of tension.

Ahhh, so somebody finally asked for Snape! :D I could fill a book with my theories about Snape, but I'll try to limit myself. ;-)

Three facts about Snape from my personal canon:

1. He's either a virgin or relatively inexperienced. Not that people can't differentiate between love and sex and seek one without the other--it's just that an intensely private, secretly needy man like Snape doesn't strike me as one of those people. It seems like he gives everything or nothing, so when he lost the opportunity to give everything... he contented himself with nothing. Until he survived Nagini's attack, and then he met the woman (or man) of his dreams and decided that sex was actually pretty fun after all, and he should have a lot more of it to make up for lost time.

2. The bookcases at Spinner's End are all his doing. He always wanted a house with a library in, and although he could never afford that sort of house, he did figure out how to create a library of his own.

3. He isn't actually all that tall; it's just that the looming and swooping and all the billowing black robes make him look like a much larger man. Besides, what man doesn't look tall to a bunch of eleven-year-olds?

I agree 100% with #1...but you already know that. ;)

#3 - lol!

Glad the headache is better! And what great responses; I love what you said about Luna.

Can you tell me some things I don't know about either Julian Bashir or Miles O'Brien? (your choice)

Thank you! And I'm glad you've enjoyed the responses. I've really enjoyed doing this meme; it's a great creative writing exercise.

Three facts about Julian Bashir from my personal canon:

1. Because of the genetic "enhancement" his parents gave him, Julian has never been quite sure how much of him is himself, and how much a creation of the procedure. If his brilliance isn't really his, then who's to say what else is an illusion?

2. With his scores, he could have had any prime post in Starfleet. He chose to come to DS9, to the broken-down frontier, because he wanted to give his all in a place that had the least. If his parents broke the rules to grant him boons, then the least he could do was use those talents to serve.

3. He has always loved Dax. No matter the form, no matter the time or place, he has always loved the essence that is Dax, and he always will.

Are you feeling better today?? I hope so.

May I please have both Bertie and Jeeves? You pick the letter for each, but I'd like to see what you say.

I'm feeling much better today, although the weather here is still up and down and all over the place. But I have the day off, and that has a way of making everything better. *g*

So, Bertie and Jeeves...

Three Personal Canon facts about Bertie Wooster:

1. He purposely looks for call-and-response songs to play on the piano, because then he has an excuse to rope Jeeves into a duet.

2. When he was a boy, he once overheard Aunt Agatha say that she thought Bertie was a very poor exchange for the lives of her brother and sister-in-law.

3. Sometimes, Bertie finds himself entranced just by the pleasure of watching Jeeves work: pouring tea, ironing, arranging life's chaos just so with certainty, deftness and grace. Watching Jeeves soothes something inside Bertie that he didn't even realize was sore.



Okay, and now for Jeeves...

Three Personal Canon Facts about Reginald Jeeves:

1. Jeeves was quiet and reserved even as a boy, but he read a great deal, and in his imagination, he traveled the world, talked with kings and learned from the greatest of minds.

2. Jeeves loves working with Bertie's clothes. As he smoothes lapels and straightens seams and fastens cuffs and collars, he is careful not to let his touch linger too long, or to cross the line between professional concern and tenderness. He knows the difference between the two, and while the first is what makes him exceptional at his work, the second is an indulgence he refuses to allow himself.

3. Jeeves finds Bertie's taste in music to be execrable, but all the same, he feels an odd sense of pleasure whenever the young master takes the piano, and Jeeves' gaze is inevitably drawn to the play of those fingers over the keys, nimble and talented and unexpectedly delicate in their touch.

Is this a new layout? It looks quite nice.

Aunt Agatha certainly treats Bertie shabbily in the books, and I can't see her being much kinder to a child than she is to the adult. And I love how Bertie looks for excuses to involve Jeeves in the songs. Brilliant!

All three facts about Jeeves are brilliant, too. They give me the warm fuzzies (it's Friday; I'm allowed to be silly on Fridays).

Thanks!

Thank you! It is a new layout for autumn; glad you like it.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the "facts," too! Thanks for asking; it gave me chance to dip my toe in the pool and start thinking about how to write them as characters. I'm happy to have played any part, however small, in giving you warm fuzzies. :-)

I don't think Aunt Agatha would have been very moved by the fact that Bertie was a child. There's affection in his relationship with Aunt Dahlia, but Agatha really does seem to resent Bertie for existing. But I think that's actually one of the reasons why Bertie might care for Jeeves: Jeeves minds all of Bertie's comforts as though he actually cares about Bertie. He's not just fulfilling a job, and I think that would make all the difference to Bertie.

Oh, I do like the contrast between Aunt Agatha and Jeeves. One has no restraint and no affection, the other has a great deal of restraint and a great deal of affection.

I followed your example and chose an autumn-y layout.

~peeks at new layout~ Oh, it's lovely! I do love autumn colors. Actually, I just love Autumn, period.

That's the perfect way of describing the contrast between Aunt A and Jeeves!