The Unpopular Woman Love Post

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

It's pretty natural that some female characters do worse in fandom than others, right? And sometimes it's difficult, if not downright impossible, to find a place where you can fan these characters in peace, or fellow fans to fan them with. Not to mention trying to find fanworks about them. Experience says: It hard.

So, stealing the idea shamelessly from doyle_sb4's Women of Doctor Who celebration post, here is a love post for the unpopular female characters. Like in doyle_sb4's post, you start a thread with the character's name and their respective fandom in the subject line, after which people are free to share fic and vid recs, picspams, links to essays, defenses or simply thoughts of love about the character in question. Because unpopularity is a subjective thing most of the time, the character doesn't have to be somebody you know to be the fandom underdog for sure, but if the character also has a large number of fans it would be good to give some reasons about why they're hated and why it's wrong. Links to the character threads will be collected in this post.

Being a post for unpopular characters, this is a bashing free post. If you have any negative opinions about the characters discussed or the fandom rivals of the character of your choice, please keep them to yourself.

And now, knock yourselves out!

ETA: The character and the fandom should both be named in the subject line, I forgot to mention the fandom initially. Sorry about the inconvenience!

ETA 2: If you want to share you thoughts about a character who has a thread, please reply to the thread in question. General comments and threads for new characters go to the main post.

Threads:

Diana Fowley, X-Files (Vid rec, Fic Recs, Fic recs)
Jennifer Hailey, Stargate: SG1
Sakura, Naruto (Fic recs, Author rec)
Dawn Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Anastasia Dualla, Battlestar Galactica (Comic rec, Reasons why Dee is awesome)
Lana Lang, Smallville (Vid recs)
Maya Herrera, Heroes (Vid rec)
Relena Peacecraft, Gundam Wing (Fic recs)
Cally Henderson-Tyrol, Battlestar Galactica
Gwen Cooper, Torchwood
Jennifer Keller, Stargate: Atlantis (Community link, Fic recs, Fic recs)
Niki Sanders
Freya/Anise, Stargate: SG1 (Fic rec)
Maria Hill, Marvel Comics
Thirteen/Dr. Remy Hadley, House MD (Picspam links)
Bela Talbot, Supernatural (Fic rec, Fic)
Shiori Takatsuki, Revolutionary Girl Utena
Tifa Lockhart, Final Fantasy VII
Max Guevara, Dark Angel (Vid rec, Fic rec)
Elizabeth Swann, Pirates of the Caribbean (Author rec)
Cynthia Velasquez, Silent Hill 4
Allison Cameron, House MD (Meme rec)
Liz Sherman, Hellboy
Dr. Camille "Cam" Saroyan, Bones
Ruby, Supernatural
Chloe Sullivan, Smallville
Sakaki Ouka, Weiss Kreuz
Jo Harvelle, Supernatural
Inara Serra, Firefly (Fic Rec)
Lt. Colonel Hollis Mann, NCIS
Director Jenny Shepard, NCIS
Lilly Kane, Veronica Mars
Kate Austen, Lost
Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Teyla Emmagan, Stargate Atlantis (Link, vid rec)
Alex Drake, Ashes to Ashes
Anya Jenkins, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Fic recs)
Koriand'r, DC Comics
Sam Carter, Stargate SG-1/Atlantis
Ana Lucia, Lost
Padme Amidala, Star Wars
Arwen, The Lord of the Rings
Martha Jones, Doctor Who/Torchwood
Kennedy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Lois Lane, Smallville
Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter
Shmi Skywalker, Star Wars
Mai, Avatar: The Last Airbender (Fic links, Fic links & recs)
Keiko Yukimura, Yu Yu Hakusho
Orihime Inoue, Bleach
Yakumo Tatsuro, Shinzo
Sakuno Ryuzaki, The prince Of Tennis
Tenten, Naruto
Anzu Mazaki, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Temari, Naruto
Himawari, xxxHOLiC
Karen Kouzuki/Kallen Stadtfeld, Code Geass
Yuuki Miaka, Fushigi Yuugi
Meg Griffin, Family Guy
Elliot Reid, Scrubs
Princess Zelda, Legend of Zelda series/Brawl
Mizuki Kaho, Card Captor Sakura
Colette Brunel, Tales of Symphonia
Kaoru Kamiya AND Tomoe Yukishiro, Rurouni Kenshin
Ninian, Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken
Katara, Avatar: The Last Airbender (Vid rec)
Naomi Hunter, Metal Gear Solid
Scheris Adjani, Scryed
Silk Spectre II/Laurie Juspeczyk, Watchmen
Jun the Swan, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
Hinata Hyuuga, Naruto
Momo Hinamori, Bleach
Miyako Inoue, Digimon 02
Misa Amane, Death Note
Juri Katou, Digimon Tamers
Asuka Tenjoin, Yu-Gi-Oh GX

Comments

Anastasia Dualla

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Even people on my friendslist dislike her, and someone once challenged me to come up with reasons why I liked her. (that link, I'm gonna have to go searching for)

Scans of the BSG comic, wherein Dee is awesome (http://lyssie.livejournal.com/1213785.html) (spoilers for the comic, obviously)

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

That comic was fantastic! Seasons 3 and 4 are mostly mysteries to me, but Dee was very likable in the first two seasons, and I also liked Lee/Dee. It's been strange to see how fandom turned so fully on her.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I glommed onto Dee (ok, all the women of BSG, to be honest) from the get-go. And watching fandom continue to slam her, arrrgh.

It's not helped by the writers not having any idea what to do with her, after a while. (I like her with Lee, I like her with Billy, I like her with anyone, really.... that was so not meant to rhyme)

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

huzzah. I have found the old list.

26 reasons Dee is more awesome than God (http://lyssie.livejournal.com/992031.html) (please note this was written waaaaay back in season three)

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

My S3-knowledge is patchy, but I still enjoyed the list! The point I is something I do all the time, too, and I've noticed that most of the time there really is more to see to the hated characters.

I love all the women from BSG too (which is why I hope to catch with the rest of the show ASAP!) and although Dee's personality and storylines may not as be as flashy as those of others, she's a solid character with depth, which are by no means bad traits for a character. But from what I've seen fans and writers are usually unaware it's possible to do wonders with characters like these.

And if you're worried about the unintentional rhyme, here's an intentional one to shadow it: Dee is Leet. There.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[ivanolix.livejournal.com]

What an excellent post, explaining exactly why I like her too. Very neatly put. Up until SAGN, I thought she was going to be the one to break the BSG trend of women all ending up mentally unstable. Oh well, it was great while it lasted, and I'm glad Lee admitted on a couple occasions exactly how wonderful she was. The boy may make some stupid choices, but he wasn't blind in choosing her.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[calapine.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think she's marvellous. She has sense and calm and a quiet, sensible sort of confidence.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

People don't like DEE?!

She and Chief were/are my favorite characters on this show! I'm not in fandom, more a casual fan, but I loved Dee for her optimism, but yet able to call people on their shit, and that she was complicated without necessarily broken (well until recently (not spoilering). :-() She had this quiet dignity about her.

I liked her with Roslin's aide that I'm blanking on the name, I liked her with Lee. I liked her with Bill Adama--that father daughter kind of relationship that was a bit of a yin to Starbuck's yang as far as mirroring things.

Go Dee!

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[dirty-diana.livejournal.com]

I love Dee. Honestly, partly because she's awesome and I enjoy Kandyse, and partly because fandom's hatred of her seems to be to come from a seriously skeevy place, like more skeevy than usual, and I prefer not to validate that. I don't know if that's an okay reason to love someone, but there it is. :)

Dee!

[aj.livejournal.com]

I like Dee for a lot of reasons. Strangely enough, they come out of reasons that 'other people' tell me I should hate her for. I was honestly kind of indifferent to Dee for a long time, other than the general "Oh, she runs the fleet and is adorable and saved humanity by being adorable at and with Billy!" She, more than a lot of other characters, was pushed as one of the common people; her standing, holding the photos of her family in the memory hall is one of the most haunting images of the mini-series.

I love Dee because she was a flawed, funny, strong woman who went after what she wanted (even if it was Leland) and stood her ground. I think she started out looking at her husband through rose-colored glasses but was practical enough, and loved the person he was enough, to compromise and try.

Moreover, she was competent. She did her job, even under horrific stress and pressure, and she did it well. More than that, she was the most visible voice of the fleet. She talked to the pilots and the captains and a lot of the outgoing/incoming calls. She had friends and made good (and bad) decisions, and did the best with what she had.

More than that, she did all of this while being incredibly, incredibly young. For real, I <3 Dee.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

As another commenter above already said, Dee has this aura of quiet dignity, of calm strength, and I loved that about her. Sometimes a Great Notion left me a blubbering mess, and it was mostly because of her fate.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[palmetto.livejournal.com]

I adore Dee. She's quiet, contained, and efficient. She has a great sense of humor, maintains good friendships, and knows what she wants. And like any good strength, that last thing is also one of her biggest flaws.

Her departure in SAGN hit me like a ton of bricks. I don't think I would have reacted as strongly or negatively if it had been one of my "favorites"...but coming out of Dee? Augh.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[ana-grrl.livejournal.com]

I've never understood the dislike for Dee. I always liked her strength, and the fact that she speaks her mind when she has something to say. I always wanted more Dee on the screen! I do think she had remarkably bad taste re: Apollo, though.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[mkitten13.livejournal.com]

I would challenge them back on reasons why they should dislike her (except that she "stands in the way" for the Kara/Lee shippers).

I can't explain why I like her. I simply see no reason to dislike her *shrugs*

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[ancarett]

Oh, my gosh, I love Dee and have loved her all the way through the show. The last scene of hers hit me hard, but I have so many good memories of her character. I don't think that they played out Lee/Dee as well as they might but I loved the pairing, nonetheless, largely because she was so realistic with him as a woman with a man that she loved.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[waterdaughter.livejournal.com]

Yes. Dee is awesome. She was the fleet's rock, and I am angry beyond words that she's gone. She didn't take any shit, and she kept things together. I hate how fandom treats her.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

Unfailingly competent. Always thoughtful and polite, even when clearly speaking her mind to someone who doesn't want to hear what she was saying.

NOT an evil temptress who lured someone against his will.

Re: Anastasia Dualla

[ingridmatthews.livejournal.com]

She's gorgeous, like the eighth wonder of the world gorgeous. She quietly calls people on their crap. She's compassionate, sensitive, meticulous and kind. She's tough and sensible. She rescues the woman who is fooling around with her husband because it's her duty and the right thing to do.

She's the only character I ever thought was worthy of my favorite, Felix Gaeta.

Dee is the best. I ADORED HER AND ALWAYS WILL.

Great thread and post. Thanks. :D