The Unpopular Woman Love Post

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

Well. Another year, another halfamoon fest of awesome. Another chance to celebrate the characters who are unappreciated and unloved.

Personally I'm the kind of fan who always roots for the underdog, and there are many female characters who fill that role, and even more of them fill it role in fandom if not in their respective canons. This post is for people who want to fan the hell out of their unappreciated women and do it as loud as they can. It works like this:

1. Start a thread and put the character's name and the canon they come from in the subject line.

2. Those who love the character comment on the thread with squee, thoughts, fic/art/vid recs, picspams, essays, links and everything they can think of. Make sure your character gets all the love and the attention she deserves.

3. If a character has a thread and you want to talk about her, comment to the thread in question. General comments and threads for new characters go to the main post.

4. Focus on the love. This is an all positivity, all time post. Embrace your happy!

5. Avoid making negative comparisons to other characters or other character types. Those characters and character types have their fans too.

Links to the threads will be compiled in this post.

Being a love post for unpopular characters, this post is bashing free. If you have any negative thoughts either about the characters discussed or their rivals in fandom (meaning no "well this character sucks more!" kind of comments), please keep them to yourself. This is about celebration and love, so let's keep it that way!

And now, celebrate!

Threads

Gwen, BBC Merlin (Thread includes pictures, vid rec, fic rec and a link to picspam)
Gwen Cooper, Torchwood (Thread includes pictures and a vid rec)
Thirteen, House (Thread includes a link)
Ellen Harvelle, Supernatural (Thread includes a vid rec)
Kido Saori/Athena, Saint Seiya (all series)
Winry Rockbell, Fullmetal Alchemist (Thread includes pictures and fic recs)
Dawn Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Thread includes pictures)
Kate, Terminator (Thread includes pictures)
Anastasia "Dee" Dualla, Battlestar Galactica (new) (Thread includes pictures)
Riley Dawson, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Thread includes pictures)
Bela Talbot, Supernatural (Thread includes pictures, vid rec and a fic rec)
Niki Sanders, Heroes (Thread includes a link to fanmix)
Jo Harvelle, Supernatural (Thread includes links to fiction journal and to delicious links)
Cally, Battlestar Galactica (new) (Thread includes pictures and a fic rec)
Bonnie Bennet (Thread includes pictures and a vid rec)
Anji Kapoor, Doctor Who
Relena Peacecraft/Darlian, Gundam Wing (Thread includes pictures)
Jennifer Keller, Stargate: Atlantis (Thread includes pictures, fic recs and link to picspam)
Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter (Thread includes a link)
Izumi Orimoto, Digimon Frontier
Betty Draper, Mad Men
Chloe Payne, Mercy (Thread includes pictures)
Helen Cutter, Primeval (Thread includes pictures)
Nymphadora Tonks, Harry Potter (Thread includes pictures)
Amy March, Little Women (Thread includes pictures)
Alex Fielding, Wire in the Blood (Thread includes pictures)
Rita Bennett, Dexter (Thread includes a vid rec)
Tear Grants, Tales of the Abyss (Thread includes a shrine link)
Sophie Aubrey, the Aubrey/Maturin novels (Thread includes pictures)
Diana Villiers, the Aubrey/Maturin novels
Kate Freelander, Sanctuary (Thread includes pictures)
Elizabeth Weir, Stargate Atlantis
Kate Pulaski, ST:TNG (Thread includes pictures and vid rec)
Tosh, Torchwood (Thread includes a fic link)
Melanie Bush, Doctor Who (Thread includes pictures)
Josephine Grant, Doctor Who
Tory Foster, Battlestar Galactica (new)
Christine Everheart, Iron Man (film)
Myka Bering, Warehouse 13
Claudia Donovan, Warehouse 13
Diana Fowley, The X-Files
Jolinar, Stargate SG-1 (Thread includes pictures)
Anise/Freya, Stargate-SG-1 (Thread includes pictures)
Yuffie Kisaragi, Final Fantasy VII (Thread includes pictures)
Tifa Lockhart, Final Fantasy VII (Thread includes pictures)
Aerith Gainsborough, Final Fantasy VII
Anamaria, Pirates of the Caribbean (Thread includes pictures)
Atsuko Jackson, Michiko to Hatchin (Thread includes pictures)
Elizabeth Swann, Pirates of the Caribbean
Shan, Doctor Who (Thread includes pictures)
Mai, Avatar: the Last Airbender (Thread includes pictures)
Lila, Dexter (Thread includes pictures)
Christine Hill, Dexter (Thread includes pictures)
Amy Burley, True Blood (Thread includes pictures)
Chibiusa, Sailor Moon (Thread includes pictures)
Ezri Dax, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Tess Harding, Roswell (Thread includes pictures and a video clip)
Britta Perry, Community

Comments

Gwen - BBC Merlin

[robinmarian.livejournal.com]

I love her so freaking much!!! She's the ultimate QBIC!!!

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!!!

(http://tinypic.com)

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[mustbethursday3.livejournal.com]

I'll second that.

God, I love that pic, she's all fairytale heroine with a dash of 'I could kick your arse' - which is obviously a brilliant combination.

Arthur never stood a chance.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[robinmarian.livejournal.com]

Your reply = GOLD!

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[robinmarian.livejournal.com]

one thing I really like about her character arc is that the writers have maintained Gwen's unshakeable goodness even as she's gradually becoming less innocent and having to face harsher realities. It could have come across as way too heroine-as-moral-compass but I feel like they've really integrated Gwen's ethics into her character in a way that rings true.


SO MUCH WORD.

RE: pic: I chose that pic because she does look every bit the queen there and if may be so bold to add, "WARRIOR". Y/N? hehe She just looks so fierce in that pic. And guh, you're not alone in loving her windblown hair. I wish she would wear her hair down more often on the show.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[purely-distel.livejournal.com]

YOU KNOW THAT I LOVE HER JUST AS MUCH, RIGHT?!

Angel Coulby is so stunningly beautiful, it hurts to look at her and her Gwen is simply amazing and lovely and .... *hugs her girlcrush*

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

I can't believe a person can be this stunning. Her smile! HER SMILE!

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

I'm SO crazy about Gwen. I love her quiet strength and bravery and that she has this incredibly strong sense of what is right and just. I love that Arthur had to learn to look past his own navel for her to warm up to him and that she's not afraid of challenging him, and I love how she supports Morgana and Merlin and how she's willing to let natural justice take care of Uther because that's how it should be. I love that she's both steely and so beautifully warm at the same time and I hope she'll get only more screentime as the time goes on.

Love the picture, BTW. That's the determined stare a motherfucking queen.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[copracat]

I love her decisiveness. She doesn't fuss about or hesitate. She makes good judgements and acts.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I can't add much to what everyone else has said but, argh, Gwen. I love her so much.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[heather.livejournal.com]

Eee, Gwen. One of the smartest people in Camelot, and so brave. Speaks truth to power and believes that when you see something wrong and you're able to do something about it, you should damn well do go ahead and do it. Full of hope, but more cautious with it than she used to be, a little bit less naive. She's strong and practical, she doesn't like to dwell on her problems or talk about them even when she should, she keeps moving forward.

Watching her start to learn how to assert her own personal power in a world where she has no magical or societal power of her own is pretty much the most gorgeous thing ever.

Also? FLIPPING STUNNING.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

Watching her start to learn how to assert her own personal power in a world where she has no magical or societal power of her own is pretty much the most gorgeous thing ever.

This, this! What a beautiful way to put it, and what a beautiful way to wear that dress, Gwen! *hearts*

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[sunnyrea.livejournal.com]

HOW IS SHE SO GORGEOUS!?!?!

*points to icon* That's not Arthur, that is SO ME!

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

Wait -- Gwen is an unpopular character? Fie on you then, Merlin fandom!

She's clearly the most sensible, practical, and kindest person in Camelot. Duh.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[goobalicious.livejournal.com]

Gwen is my favorite Merlin character. Season one introduced us to this adorable young woman, who was sweet, awkward and good. In season two she's still that same woman, but a little more sad and a little less naive. Gwen, despite being a servant, is IMO the most regal character on the show. She carries herself with dignity and is governed by a strong moral compass which will eventually make her an awesome Queen.

Also, one time she cut a guy off by the knees and it was awesome.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[crazy4dw.livejournal.com]

I co-sign this!

Plus, she is GORGEOUS!!!!

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_esmeralda_/]

Gwennn. I love the ease which she forges relationships with everyone around her, and her warmth, and innate goodness. Her grace and quiet dignity through everything that happens to her means watching her journey to queen is becoming one of the most rewarding stories on this show.

Also, some people are BORN TO WEAR THINGS IN THEIR HAIR.


And fic rec! Vita Guineveris (http://archiveofourown.org/works/44097) is everything that Gwen is, and in beautiful writing.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[tiamatschild.livejournal.com]

I'm an Arthurian legend and its interpretations, re-interprations, updatings, re-tellings, what have you fan in general - and I started watching Merlin for Gwen, because the fic I'd given in and read seemed to promise a wonderful take on her and do you have any idea how rare that is? Much rarer than it should be, let me just say. And oh my goodness, she is. She really, really is.

Gwen is funny and smart and cognizant of the limitations of her position. I love it when her own audacity and boldness shock her, and I love her determined hold on her dignity even when all the external structures that would help her support it have been stripped away. I love how quiet she is, because being quiet doesn't mean being a push over. I love the moments where she pauses to collect herself, because her first impulsive reaction was really impolitic, and she knows better than that. I love her silent amusement at Merlin, and her not so silent amusement too.

Angel Coulby just does an incredible job with her. She is one heck of an actress.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[springinstep.livejournal.com]

FUCK YEAH, GUINEVERE!

I love this girl! When things matter she will speak out, she is always there for Morgana when it seems nobody else is (she brought Morgana flowers just to cheer her up in 1x03), she gives a damn about what happens to people whatever the status may be, she beat up raiders with a shovel, she held herself up well against Hengist, was the one to bring up women fighting in 1x10, I watch each and every scene with her with heart-eyes, the glue holding the whole damn thing together, could kick your ass, so wonderfully sweet and awesome, got your back, seems to know about Morgana's abilities and has probably been raised in a Camelot where magic=evil but in her eyes that doesn't apply to Morgana, talented (picked up things through being the blacksmith's daughter, maidservant, seamstress, sword fighting on the side), so very pretty, and just ♥____♥

Here, I've got an old picspam full of Gwen love (mostly from season 1 - this was put together before season 2 aired).

When Gwen Did Awesome Things And/Or When I Especially Loved Her (http://vicky-v.livejournal.com/371456.html)

Here's a few pics:
(http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v71/Dragonheart287/Gwen%20Picspam/?action=view&current=16gbubmwas004.png)
(http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v71/Dragonheart287/Gwen%20Picspam/?action=view&current=10aylhr001.png)
(http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v71/Dragonheart287/Gwen%20Picspam/?action=view&current=08mu003.png)
(...I have a dom!Gwen thing so always tend to pull this one out.)
(http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v71/Dragonheart287/Gwen%20Picspam/?action=view&current=0gbpf0003.png)
(http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v71/Dragonheart287/Gwen%20Picspam/?action=view&current=01igbmpcmg003.png)

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[savepureness.livejournal.com]

This is one of my favourite pictures ever - I should honestly consider rewriting Little Red Riding Hood with Gwen as a mature character.

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[blackmamba-esq.livejournal.com]

Waaaat? Not like Gwen? Pfft.

Late to the party but just wanted to say she's awesome :)

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[mhari.livejournal.com]

How fabulous is she? I have not actually WATCHED THE SHOW YET and I love her. That's how fabulous.

(Seriously, she has so much CHARACTER even just in stills.)

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[tielan]

Beyond awesome - all the more because she's not a character 'full of sass' the way we expect our major female characters to be. She does her duty and is easily dismissed, but when she needs to be heard she speaks up - even to princes.

I need to do a picspam for Gwen. :)

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[sunnyrea.livejournal.com]

Gwen is totally boss and I want to steal her from Arthur, so beautiful!

Re: Gwen - BBC Merlin

[fiercynn.livejournal.com]

All the Gwen-bashing that started during S2 angered me SO MUCH because I felt that it was so clearly an anti-Arthur/Gwen thing, and she deserves so much better than that. She's honestly the best-hearted and most genuine character on the show (and I say this as someone who loves each member of the OT4 to death), and she's intelligent and brave and kind and yet completely willing to stand up for herself and what she believes in. And Angel Coulby is lovely in pretty much every way.