Crushes on Fictional Characters

[OrzBrain]

Gabrielle from from Xena: Warrior Princess:



Illyria, God-King of the Primordium, from Angel The Series -- she probably comes in at number one:



Willow from Buffy:



And the Borg Queen from Star Trek: First Contact.





Hmm. I think I see some kind of pattern here... What can it be? I know -- three out of four are splotchy. I must like splotchy girls!

[Ruan]

Have you ever experienced or encountered Nerd Rage over fictional crushes? Ngau keeps telling me stories about fans who completely wig out on the internet when their favourite anime character finds a love interest, or when the voice actress is spotted with a boyfriend. I'm just sitting there thinking, "Whaa?"

Hmm.. not for that reason. What causes the nerd rage for me is when the protagonist cheats on her, or she cheats on him. As I've noted before, it's a bit of a Do Not Ever Do This thing for me, so seeing it happen always ticks me off.

Dear heavens, I wanted to kill the protagonist of Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien for that by the end of the anime... and later the game, when I played it. Granted, he cuts things off eventually, but still. Gah.

An interesting sidenote:

There's actually a genre of eroge who focus on other men stealing away your girlfriend - called netorare. For obvious reasons, it's one I stay away from.

[Galaxy Hunter]

OrzBrain, don't know if its just me, but I get real uncanny valley vibes from the last three pictures...

[drachefly]

OrzBrain - no Talana?

[OrzBrain]

OrzBrain - no Talana?

Heh. She's nice looking. But I thought this was about crushes, characters in fictional media one gets to know well enough to have a crush on, not just think are hot.
I generally don't have much of that kind of feeling for video game characters... Although Shodan from System Shock 2 would definitely qualify:



"Look at you, hacker. A pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?"

[weatherwax]

Have you ever experienced or encountered Nerd Rage over fictional crushes? Ngau keeps telling me stories about fans who completely wig out on the internet when their favourite anime character finds a love interest, or when the voice actress is spotted with a boyfriend. I'm just sitting there thinking, "Whaa?"

I don't get upset when a crush gets a love interest in general, but I will confess to Very Strong Opinions about the paramours of my imaginary boyfriends.

I'm in inspiration's camp. I don't get upset, but if they're paired with someone subpar, I get grrrish. Two examples:

Spike Spiegel's ex Julia. Lord, Julia was a boring character. She was on the run. She was the damsel in destress. *SPOILERS* She dies like a sopping wet blanket. There must have been SOMETHING Spike saw in her that made him all gooey, but what it was makes me scratch my head. Was he really, really the type who'd be happy with the whispery flittery girl who can't hold a damn gun? Who is "strong," but not in any way that really mattered? When Fay was right there as a proper foil? Blah. I know it was a nod to noir, but I thought Julia was laaaaame.

I'm a straight woman, but I do appreciate tha ladies. Willow Rosenberg was an ultra hottie, particularly when she got out of her "I'm a nerd, and so must be meek and quiet!" stage. What on earth did she see in Kennedy?! Kennedy was an arrogant, thoughtless, forward twit. My imagination proclaimed that Willow was simply on the rebound, and eventually settled for a much nicer woman (I'm pretending in this situation that the comics don't exist.)

[OrzBrain]

I'm a straight woman, but I do appreciate tha ladies. Willow Rosenberg was an ultra hottie, particularly when she got out of her "I'm a nerd, and so must be meek and quiet!" stage. What on earth did she see in Kennedy?! Kennedy was an arrogant, thoughtless, forward twit. My imagination proclaimed that Willow was simply on the rebound, and eventually settled for a much nicer woman (I'm pretending in this situation that the comics don't exist.)

Power. All Willow's relationships are defined by her need to grasp as much power as she can. Oz was the highest point in the Sunnydale high-school social structure she could control -- the cool, never flustered guitar guy. Terra was literal power, acting as applied phlebotinum to increase Willow's magic, and it is interesting to note that the relationship started veering into mind rape territory almost as soon as Terra stopped being a source of power and became a hindrance. Indications are that Willow may have actually loved her, considering the amount of effort she put out to win her back, but we never get to see how that would have turned out since Terra promptly gets killed.
Kennedy was the dominant power among the potentials. The only options available to Willow at that point with greater power were Buffy, Spike, and Faith, and those weren't really appropriate (although I would have preferred to see her go after Faith). It's also indicated that Kennedy was power in a more basic way as well -- in one episode Willow draws magical energy/life force from her, using her as a living battery to sustain a portal, and states as explanation later that she takes from the strongest around her, it's just the way she works.

[arcosh]

I would interpret it differently. After Taras death Willow thinks she is cursed/deserves no lover/does not think she can love anyone or something similiar.

Now Kennedy comes, is not very likeable and aggressivly attaches herself to Willow. With someone more likeable or someone less forward, Willow would have a bad concience, starting a realtionship, where she assumes, she most likely will hurt her partner. But with Kennedy, who cares.

I don't really remember the situation in the comics all that well (and i haven#t read the latest one yet), but it seemed to me that Kennedy has mellowed* and Willow makes her decisions on the new Kenedy.

I would prefere someone more Tara like for Willow myself too, but I consider Willow Kenedy still a workable possiblity, though not an ideal one.

*as slayer in waiting, she can't be much more then a teenager, and i guess getting in a relationship with someone like Willow could have been good for her self assuredness (most of her negative character traits seem to me like obessivly projecting self assuredness that isn't actually there), so that is plausible character development.

[gregnier]

oh dear god, we've veered into the Wheadonverse...

oh... in that vein... River Tam. Rawr...

[giggles]

oh dear god, we've veered into the Wheadonverse...

oh... in that vein... River Tam. Rawr...

Oh sweet jebus, I left out the Firefly crushes for the simple fact that I don't think there's a single main character from that show that I DON'T have a crush on. Yes, that includes Shepherd Book.

[drachefly]

Jayne? Ewww.

[weatherwax]

Jayne would be fun for frolics, and little else.

Wash, FTW.

To be honest, there aren't any others I crush on from the Weadonve --

Wait, I lie. Victor from Dollhouse. Lordy, that actor knows how to do his thang!

[AlternateTorg]

Inara's pretty easy on the eyes, I will admit. Kaylee's not bad, either. Even the guys want Mal.

As long as we're talking about live-action characters, I suppose I must include these two:

[FreakyBoy]

I never understood what people saw in Troi/Marina Sirtis.

I never crushed on Crusher. I crushed on Gates McFadden, so that doesn't count.

[Grillick]

The TNG girl I crushed on was Ro Laren. I'm pretty sure it was the earring.