The Unpopular Woman Love Post

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

Friends, halfamoon is here again! For me, that means it's time for The Unpopular Woman Love Post.

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 that role in fandom. 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. Absolutely no bashing allowed. Please avoid making negative comparisons to other characters, other character types and "well this character sucks more!" kind of comments. Those characters and character types have their fans too and hey, it's a love post. Save negativity for other things.

ETA:
5b. No bashing actresses or the other versions of the character either. Keep in mind that mileages vary and what doesn't work for you may work for someone else.

Threads

Valentine Wiggin, Ender's Game
Sgt. Sally Donovan, Sherlock (BBC)
Anastasia Dualla , Battlestar Galactica (reboot)
Guinevere, Merlin
Lady Catelyn Stark, ASOIAF
Jules, The Vampire Diaries
Bonnie Bennet, The Vampire Diaries
Dawn Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Martha Jones, Doctor Who
Jaden, Nikita
River Song, Doctor Who
Karen Filippelli, The Office
Amy Gardner, West Wing
Briony Tallis, Atonement
Jennifer Keller, Stargate Atlantis
Gwen Cooper, Torchwood
Mai, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Ramona Flowers, Scott Pilgrim
Rebecca St. Clair, Warehouse 13
Rose, The Vampire Diaries
Sansa Stark, ASOIAF
Cally Henderson, Battlestar Galactica (reboot)
Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, House
Leena, Warehouse 13
Jesse Flores, Sarah Connor Chronicles
Kate Freelander, Sanctuary
Jo Harvelle, Supernatural
Michelle Richardson, Skins
Bela Talbot, Supernatural
Ruby, Supernatural
Kennedy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Vanille, Final Fantasy XIII
Dahlia, Legend of the Seeker
Betty Draper, Mad Men
Nicola Murray, The Thick of It
Ziva David, NCIS
Dr. Allison Cameron, House
Lauren Reed, Alias
Ana-Lucia Cortez, Lost
Tea Gardner/Anzu Mazaki, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Rose Tyler, Doctor Who
Suki, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Elizabeth Weir, Stargate Atlantis
Zoe Washburne, Firefly
Shannon Rutherford, Lost
Amy Pond, Doctor Who
Anna Milton, Supernatural
Vanessa Abrams, Gossip Girl
Amy March, Little Women
Tara Thorton, True Blood
Inara Serra, Firefly
Emily Gilmore, Gilmore Girls
Liz, Sneakers
Kelly Hernandez, Warehouse 13
Nina Pickering, Being Human (UK)
Lily Potter (Evans), Harry Potter
Susan Rodriguez, The Dresden Files novels
Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter
Jess Parker, Primeval
Brienne of Tarth, ASOIAF
Donna Hayward, Twin Peaks
Becky Sproles, Friday Night Lights
Nymphadora Tonks, Harry Potter
Elizabeth Swann, Pirates of the Caribbean
Kara Thrace, Battlestar Galactica (reboot)
Orihime Inoue, Bleach
Kaho Mizuki, Cardcaptor Sakura
Elle Greenaway, Criminal Minds
Kate Austen, Lost
Renee Walker, 24
Hannah Burley, Bones
Rinoa Heartilly, Final Fantasy VIII
Nell Jones, NCIS: LA
Renge, Ouran High School Host Club
Mai and Jin from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Yori and Lora from TRON
Ashley Williams, Mass Effect
Erzsébet/Elisaveta Hédérvary/Hungary, Axis Powers Hetalia
Arwen, Lord of the Rings
Momo Hinamori, Bleach
Kitty Pride, X-Men: Evolution
Rue, Princess Tutu
Dana Whitaker, Sports Night
Rue, Princess Tutu
Dana Whitaker, Sports Night
Veralidaine Sarrasri, Tamora Pierce's Tortall
Donna Noble, Doctor Who
Fanny Price, Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)
Relena Darlian/Peacecraft, Gundam Wing
Cersei Lannister, ASOIAF
Juliet O'Hara, Psych
Sara Sidle, CSI
Teyla Emmagan, Stargate Atlantis
Namine, Kingdom Hearts
Lucy Jaggat, Being Human (UK)
Willow Rosenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Cho Chang, Harry Potter
Servilia, Rome
Women of Final Fantasy VII
Ariadne, Inception
Sakura, Naruto
Britta Perry, Community
Hinata Hyuuga, Naruto
Higurashi Kagome, Inuyasha
Anora, Dragon Age
Lynn Minmay and Ranka Lee, Macross and Macross Frontier
Yukari Takeba, Persona 3
Laurie, Watchmen
Lenalee Lee, D.Gray-Man
Ulala Serizawa, Persona 2
Miranda Lotto, D. Gray-Man
Terri Schuester, Glee
Seychelles, Axis Powers Hetalia
Priscilla, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword
Belgium and Liechtenstein, Axis Powers Hetalia
Caroline Forbes, The Vampire Diaries
Micaiah, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Asuka Langley Soryu and Rei Ayanami, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Sharon Valerii/Agathon, Battlestar Galactica
Katara, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Kairi and Xion, Kingdom Hearts
Stephanie Brown, DC Comics
Adelle Dewitt, Dollhouse
Maria Thorpe, Assassin's Creed
Jaina Proudmoore, Warcraft
Mystearica "Tear" Grants, Tales of the Abyss
Anise Tatlin, Tales of the Abyss
Colette Brunel, Tales of Symphonia
Juri Katou, Digimon Tamers
Lois Lane, Smallville
Jean Grey-Summers, X-Men
Madeline Westen, Burn Notice
Sheila, Army of Darkness
Miyako Inoue, Digimon Adventure 02
Song, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Eponine and Cosette, Les Miserables
Garnet til Alexandros XVII, Final Fantasy IX
Eiko Carol, Final Fantasy IX
ChiChi, Dragon Ball Z
Atoli, .hack//G.U.
Ninian, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword
Princess Peach, the Mario series
Cordelia Chase, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel
Meg Thatcher, Due South
Women from Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny
Sylvanas Windrunner, WCIII/Word of Warcraft
Mercedes Jones, Glee
Niobe, Rome
Carlotta Guidicelli, Phantom of the Opera (2004 movie)
Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Kate Brewster-Connor
Chibiusa Tsukino, Sailor Moon
Yuna, Final Fantasy X
Yuuki Miaka, Fushigi Yuugi
Anya Jenkins, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Kate Bishop aka Hawkeye, Marvel Young Avengers
Kendra Young, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Lana Lang, Smallville
Molly Prewett Weasley, Harry Potter
Susan Pevensie, Narnia
Tohru Honda, Fruits Basket
Tess Fontana, Eureka
Jack/Subject Zero, Mass Effect
Francie Calfo, Alias
Judge Magister Drace, Final Fantasy XII
Kay Faraday, Ace Attorney
Iris, Ace Attorney
Egeria, Stargate SG-1
Desiree DeLite, Ace Attorney
Hoshi Sato, ST: Enterprise
Molly Carpenter, The Dresden Files
?
Helen Cutter, Primeval
Morgause, Merlin
D'Anna Beirs, Battlestar Galactica (reboot)
Helena Cain, Battlestar Galactica (reboot)
Alti and Callisto, Xena: The Warrior Princess
Niki and Jessica Sanders, Heroes
Claire Bennet, Heroes
Monica, Heroes
Elle Bishop, Heroes
Angela Petrelli, Heroes
Maya Herrera, Heroes
Koriand'r/Kory Anders/Starfire, DC Comics
Tory Foster, Battlestar Galactica (reboot)
Kali, Supernatural
Sarah Sawyer, Sherlock

In other words, this post is all about celebrating and loving our favorite unloved women. Now, love away!

Note: So for some reason there seems to be spontaneous comment screening going on in this post. I'll be unscreening everything I see, but poke me if I miss something!

Comments

Valentine Wiggin: Ender's Game

[quinby.livejournal.com]

Valentine is mostly-ignored by her fandom, however, she is one of the strongest characters in the canon. Her emotional strength and determination is bar none.

And it's just awesome when you have a ten-year-old taking over the world with her brother.

Some people do love Val, but most people gravitate towards others, such as Petra or Virlomi.

Sgt. Sally Donovan: Sherlock (BBC)

[sophiap.livejournal.com]

Alas, Sally is often disliked for daring to dislike the titular hero of the series. She doesn't have many appearances, but there's something intriguing about why she dislikes Sherlock so much, and why she would go out of her way to warn John about trying to be friends with him.

It's also nice when we get to see her being competent and professional.

Re: Sgt. Sally Donovan: Sherlock (BBC)

[evewithanapple.livejournal.com]

I love Sally! Though I don't think her dislike of Sherlock is all that mysterious- if you're a cop, and deal with dead bodies and grieving relatives all day, a guy who bounces gleefully around the crime scene and treats the whole thing as a game is bound to get on your nerves. Plus, Sherlock's kind of a dick.

BSG (reboot), Anastasia Dualla

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

Like last year, I'm throwing Dee into the mix. The poor woman gets so much flak in fandom for getting in the way of a popular pairing when she's simply a quiet, competent young officer who is thrown, like so many others, into the most horrible scenario ever and tries to be make the best out of that situation for herself -- and loses hope completely in the end. :( She deserves better than the fate the writers gave her and she certainly deserves better than the character-bashing I've seen directed at her.

Guinevere (Merlin)

[fly-to-dawn.livejournal.com]

Pulling out an old ode-ish thing I wrote for a her a while back: Why do I love her? Because swans wish they were even half as graceful as her. Because suns aspire to shine like her. Because flowers wish they had even a quarter of her loveliness. Because she’s the once and future queen who’s brave, noble, loving, kind, and the only sensible person in Camelot; the one who believes in their dorky best friend like no other, the one who stays late at night to comfort their best friend and mistress when they have nightmares, the one who inspires people into becoming chivalrous knights, the one who chides arrogant princes for their ungratefulness and nurtures them into the kind of prince who’d have a round table, rather than a rectangular one. Because she’s the beating heart of Camelot, that’s why.

Also, every time someone hates on Gwen, a fairy dies. This is a fact.

Re: BSG (reboot), Anastasia Dualla

[fly-to-dawn.livejournal.com]

Dee, oh Dee ♥ I'm about halfway through BSG right now (but have been spoiled) and am frankly terrified of watching the rest ;____;

ASOIAF: Lady Catelyn Stark

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

One of the many important POV characters in a fantasy series, Lady Catelyn seems to be hated for being a female character acting within the constraints of traditional feminitiy in her world: as a noblewoman conscious of her family's position, a ruling lord's wife, and a mother of several children whom she tries to protect from utter ruin. She can be petty (esp. towards her stepson) or short-sighted (when it comes to choosing people to trust), but she is resourceful, has a great deal of common sense in other situations, never shirks from doing her duty, is mature and warm-hearted, and tries to give good and careful counsel. Gracious would be the very word to describe her, and I HATE it when people call her bland or mean or whiney or boring. So there.

Jules, The Vampire Diaries (TV)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hated long before she ever showed up by virtue of being advertised as a character who would hate Damon(now they hate her for killing people, while cooing over how tragic and sympathetic it is when Damon kills people) I loved her from the moment she showed up and called Damon on his bull.

Re: ASOIAF: Lady Catelyn Stark

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

*yes* Cat is tough, she is fierce, and when she had every reason just to curl up in a ball and die, she stood up and did what she believes needs to be done for her family and her land. I so agree with you.

Relatedly, I think all the hate directed toward Sansa Stark is a bit much. Yes, she is spoiled and whiny for much of the first book, and she makes some poor choices that result in tragedy, for herself and others. But she pays for those choices tenfold, and I think the way she reacts shows her to be every bit as strong and resourceful as her mother.

Re: BSG (reboot), Anastasia Dualla

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I adore Dee. I don't know whether to be more upset at the writers or at fandom for the treatment of her. Gah.

Bonnie Bennet, the Vampire Diaries

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Badass witch, awesome best friend, and someone who's thrown into a world she couldn't have anticipated. People hate her because she reacts as probably anyone would to the news that vampires are real--she doesn't trust them. Fandom hates that she threatens their poor woobie Damon, but she's perfectly right not to trust an unrepentant murderer. And while she struggles with coming to terms with her best friend being turned into a vampire, that, too, is completely realistic and understandable, and she's coming around to Caroline's side again. She'll do what she can to protect those she loves, even if she has to protect them from themselves.

The most sensible person on the show? Definitely.

Dawn Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Unrepentant Dawn stan here. Is she annoying at times? Uh, yes. But she's a teenage little sister. I have a little sister, and let me tell you, she was often annoying during her teen years. That's kind of what teenage little sisters do.

But even though Dawn's been abandoned by every stabalizing figure in her life (first her dad, then her mom's death, then Buffy's death--for her--then Giles leaves, then Spike breaks her trust) she manages to grow up into a kick-ass young woman who'll threaten the vampire who hurt her sister, turn over the mantle of potential slayer with grace, teach herself ancient languages, and refuse to be protected. Dawn Summers is a badass, okay?

Re: Sgt. Sally Donovan: Sherlock (BBC)

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Sally was actually the only reason I attempted to watch past the first episode. I thought she was interesting and fun.

Re: Sgt. Sally Donovan: Sherlock (BBC)

[summerstorm.livejournal.com]

I love Sally! I don't have thinky thoughts to share, but I do like her a lot. I even got a wonderful fic about her in last month's girlsgunsfic exchange: Like a Colour Slide (http://moodfic.livejournal.com/184545.html?style=mine) by voleuse, Sally Donovan/Irene Adler, which is sort of my pet crack-ish (because we have no Irene -- yet) pairing in the fandom.

As for her dislike of Sherlock, I find it quite refreshing and understandable. As fascinating as Sherlock can be as a character, I imagine having to put up with him on a regular basis would be pretty taxing in real life in general, let alone on a professional level.

Martha Jones, Doctor Who

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Was she served well by the writing of her character? No, she really wasn't. She could have been a whole lot more than the show let her be.

But.

She walked the post-apocolyptic earth, armed just with a story, and she saved the freakin' world. She's the one who had the self-possession and self-awareness to realize that she had to leave the Doctor, and she did it with grace. And then she kept using all she learned to fight the good fight.

Martha Jones is a legend.

Re: Guinevere (Merlin)

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

I love Gwen so damn much. I love that her strength is quiet in nature and her badassery is subtle and that her warmth, compassion and humor are so obvious in contrast. Merlin-fandom needs to get their fairy murderers in line!

Re: Martha Jones, Doctor Who

[51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com]

Yes, she is!

She saved the world while her family was under threat from serious evil.

Martha is Big Picture.

Re: Jules, The Vampire Diaries (TV)

[summerstorm.livejournal.com]

I'm torn on Jules. On the one hand, she's not intimidated by Damon or in awe of him or attracted to him in any way, the calling him on his bullshit thing was good, and hey, a female werewolf, always nice. On the other hand, she hates vampires and wants to get rid of them all but she... has no trouble killing people herself, accidentally and not. (That police officer's death really crossed a line for me.) That's pretty hypocritical, and we don't really know a lot more than that about her.

I want to be positive, it's just hard? But you painted everyone who dislikes Jules as a huge Damon lover and that could not be further from the truth. I know a lot of the fandom is super hung up on Damon and likes and dislikes other characters depending on how they treat him, but that's seriously not everyone. I enjoy Damon well enough, but he doesn't make or break the show for me, and 80% of the time I think he's a psychopath in a really dislikable way. So. Sorry that this isn't a love comment, I just felt compelled to say this.

Re: Martha Jones, Doctor Who

[esotaria.livejournal.com]

I loved the way that Martha left. I did not care for how the writers portrayed her character for the entirety of her season, but when she left, I was like "GOOD FOR YOU, MARTHA." She was a mfing grown up about it.

I also have one DW comic book, and she is very badass in that.

Re: Bonnie Bennet, the Vampire Diaries

[summerstorm.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes. My biggest problem with Bonnie over the entire course of the show was that we didn't quite get her point of view on her fight with Elena, so for a while I felt lukewarm towards Bonnie just because she was causing Elena pain (and causing me pain, watching their friendship be strained like that when Elena needed her, even though were 100% valid and I would have been disappointed in the show if they'd never addressed the eventual utter pointlessness of her grandma's death). But now she's come into her own and the way she's handled Caroline's turning has been realistic and heartbreaking and compelling and just really wonderful and interesting, and I'm so excited to see more of her magic, because we never got that arc for her the way we got Caroline's adapting to being a vampire and Tyler's werewolf storyline, and more of her friendship with Elena and Caroline, and more of her being levelheaded and awesome. And on a more shallow note, I'm also looking forward to everything Bonnie/Jeremy.

Re: Sgt. Sally Donovan: Sherlock (BBC)

[unovis-lj.livejournal.com]

There's a nice evaluation of Sally on Baker Street Supper Club: http://baker-street.org.uk/2011/01/deducing-sally-a-character-study/

I love a good Sally story. I just recced a Sally/Molly story, "Other Things to Do After Buying a Cat" here (http://community.livejournal.com/221b_recs/11342.html) in 221b_recs

Re: Martha Jones, Doctor Who

[be-themoon.livejournal.com]

I still find it so bizarre that people don't like her. I mean - it's MARTHA. what you said! She's ridiculously amazing.

Re: Bonnie Bennet, the Vampire Diaries

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

The show should basically just about the ladies, in my opinion, but nobody's asking me. Less vampire angst, more awesome friendships.

ANYWAYS!

And on a more shallow note, I'm also looking forward to everything Bonnie/Jeremy.

Me, too! Came out of nowhere, but I'm feeling it!

Re: Jules, The Vampire Diaries (TV)

[mollivanders.livejournal.com]

Here here! I'm an equal opportunist when it comes to dark characters with uncertain agendas :)

(spoilers)

[be-themoon.livejournal.com]

Deeeeee, baby. I do ship Starbuck/Apollo, but I always thought, romantic sensibilities aside, Dee was probably better for him than Starbuck ever would have been. Not to mention Dee was amazing. :( Her death really made me unhappy. I wanted her to get a happy ending!