![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Responses to the 5 True Things meme
I've compiled my responses to the "5 True Things about Fictional Character X" meme from both DW and LJ. I received an interesting array of requests--lots of minor characters, including some fascinating ones who aren't always popular with fandom (I sometimes feel like one of the few people who likes Sally Donovan).
Five True Things about Iroh
1. The thing Iroh misses most about his wife was her sense of humor. More than anyone else he ever met, she knew how to make him laugh.
2. Sometimes, he thinks Zuko is so like Lu Ten it's painful. Sometimes, all he can see are the differences.
3. He still wonders if things would have ended up worse or better if he had decided in favor of trying to take the throne from his brother. It was concern over Zuko and Azula that had stopped him, in the end.
4. A few years after Ursa disappeared, Iroh tried to find her. He kept trying to find her, but until Ozai was gone, he could only risk so much in his searches. When Zuko became Fire Lord, one of the first things Iroh did was present his nephew with a list of every lead he'd followed and every clue he had found.
5. The pain of losing his son is just as strong now as it was then. Learning to live with the pain has done nothing to lessen it.
Five True Things about Mai
1. She was just as surprised as Azula when she helped Zuko escape. So much became so clear about so many things in that moment.
2. She was not, however, all that surprised when Ty Lee chose to side with her instead of Azula.
3. One of the (many) things she loves about Zuko is that she does not have to filter, censor, downplay, or dissemble what she is feeling when dealing with him. Yes, this often leads to fights, but the fights are always worth it in the end.
4. Zuko does not know this, but after the most recent assassination attempt, she had a long... talk with the chief bodyguard about her husband's refusal to have 'round the clock security. As a result, Zuko--unbeknownst to him--now has a new chief bodyguard who can provide an adequate amount of coverage. This bodyguard is very, very good with throwing knives.
5. She visits Azula once a week. She's not sure why she does this. Azula never speaks to her, after all. Maybe it's a form of penance, but she has no idea what she's repenting for.
Five True Things about Toph Bei Fong
1. Toph wishes she had some concept for what colors meant to people who could see. Over the years, she has come up with her own associations for what they are like. Red is earth, because blood is red and blood is life and life is earth. Black is the sky, because for her, air is the nothingness that truly makes her blind. Fire is a gray static, and water is stark white. Anything soft is purple, while anything sharp is yellow. Green is sour and bitter, while blue tastes like sugar.
2. Three years after the war is over, she finally writes to her parents, or rather, has someone else write the letter she dictates. When the return letter arrives just three days later, she waits nearly a week before taking it to the Jasmine Dragon so Iroh can read it for her.
3. The fact that she is so far the only one of the old gang that hasn't hooked up with someone bothers her, but only a little. In truth, it's little more than a vague wistfulness. What really gets under her skin is that she likes to think of herself as the kind of person who doesn't worry about that sort of thing.
4. A week after opening their letter, Toph accepts her parents' invitation to return home. It's awkward, and not just because of the whole running away thing. Her parents don't know how to deal with a child they can no longer thing of as fragile and helpless, and Toph doesn't know how to act in front of them when she no longer has to keep up an act.
5. She has thought about returning to the arena, but she is afraid that after everything she's been through, she would find it boring.
Five True Things about Tousen Kaname
1. When he left, he didn't so much regret that he had to leave Komamura and Hisagi behind as he did the fact that he couldn't make them understand.
2. He was rather dismayed to hear that his lieutenant had the appearance of a ruffian. The sound of Hisagi's voice always suggested to him something far more clean cut and not so disreputable.
3. When he was dying he and saw (or thought he saw) his true love's face, he was appalled to find he had forgotten what her voice sounded like.
4. He used to wonder what would have happened if he had said "don't" when she told him she was getting married. He stopped after admitting these fantasies to Aizen. Aizen told him--quite rightly--that focusing on the path that never was would only make him likely to stray from the path he knew he had to follow.
5. There were times when he had cause to doubt the path he was on. Every time he doubted, though, he made his resolve stronger yet, until nothing--nothing--could sway him any more. In his last moments, he realized that each of those times he doubted wasn't a test. Each and every one of them was a chance he had missed.
Five True Things about Angua
1. Angua is not sure she would have joined the Watch if it had been as easy for the undead to join as it is now. Looking back, she had very much needed a challenge at that point in her life.
2. She wants to tell Vimes she forgives him for killing her brother. She may have said something along those lines at the time, but everything had been so raw then, and she had nearly lost Carrot. Still, that should have been enough. It wasn't though, because from time to time, the way Vimes looks at her makes her wonder if he's forgiven himself.
3. Alone, she generally sleeps in wolf form. It's more comfortable for her back, and she never find that she's too warm or too cold the way she does when dealing with blankets and unfurred skin. It also makes it easier not to feel the absence of Carrot next to her.
4. She tells Cheery she dreads the times Young Sam comes to visit his dad at work. Young Sam, you see, always ask to 'play with the doggie' after she made the tactical error of being transformed when he came for a visit. Vimes told her she didn't have to, but she smiled and said she didn't mind in a tone of voice that implied she did. The truth is, she doesn't mind. Complaining makes it easier to justify spending a half hour playing delightfully silly games followed by a two hour nap in a sunbeam with a small child pillowing his head on her side.
5. Angua is at once terrified that Carrot will ask her what she thinks about having a child of their own and disappointed that it never seems to have crossed his mind.
Five True Things about The Luggage
1. The Luggage doesn't really like Rincewind all that much, but too many interesting things happen to the wizard for the Luggage to want to try to find a new master.
2. The Luggage knows what kind of reaction it provokes. It rather enjoys these reactions.
3. Once, when Rincewind was having a particularly long bout of staying at UU for more than a few weeks, the Luggage tried to join the Watch. This did not go well.
4. During the same period of time, the Luggage tried to lure the Librarian by opening up to reveal an interior full of bananas. Fortunately for everyone, Rincewind saw what was happening before it was too late.
5. The Luggage dreams. Or at least Rincewind thinks it does, from the way some of its legs twitch when it is otherwise quiet. He does not want to know what these dreams are about.
Five True Things about Kaylee Frye
1. She has never, ever seen any irony or contradiction in the fact that she likes both frills and engine parts. Hearing Serenity's engine hum back to life sounding better than ever makes her as giddy as if she were twirling around in that pink dress the Captain bought her.
2. She is in love with Simon. Simon is in love with her. Simon loves River. Kaylee knows that some women would see River as competition, but she's not dumb like that. It's not like love is something you run out of. She's also smart enough to know that if she did see River as competition, she would lose that competition right then and there.
3. The only times she's regretted leaving home are the times when she's nearly died. Once the danger passes, however, so does the regret.
4. As wonderful as Serenity is, she does wish there was a place for her to grow flowers. Sometimes, she'll go to Inara's shuttle and let Inara brush her hair while she sits there and breathes in the room's perfume. It's not quite the same thing as sitting in her Gram's garden, but it's a good enough substitute given that everything else about Serenity more than makes up for the lack.
5. The few times she gets homesick, she doesn't imagine herself going home. She imagines her mother letting Zoe cry on her shoulder about Wash, or her father drilling Simon about his 'intentions,' or her brother rassling with Jayne in the cargo bay. It wouldn't be home without everyone there.
Five True Things about YoSaffBridge
1. She has been married 43 times. She plans on treating herself to something(one) very special when she hits number 50.
2. She was actually very offended when Wash resisted her advances.
3. When she's between cons, she is generally law-abiding and honest. She does a good job of coming across as pleasant, quiet, and unmemorable. Sometimes, she thinks this is the best and biggest con of them all.
4. Her first marriage was legitimate, and she meant it to last. She even got married under her real name. Her husband was a con artist same as she was, only he got greedy. She didn't kill him, but she also didn't swing back to get him the way she said she would after a job went bad.
5. There's no one alive who knows her by her real name. It's a convenience, but she resents the assumption that she engineered the situation.
Five True Things about Dr. John Watson
1. John is still on very good terms with Clara--better terms than he is with Harry, to be honest. The two meet for a drink or lunch every so often, and John takes particular care not to let Harry find out. Even though Harry is temperamental in many of the same ways Sherlock is, John has a harder time putting up with one than the other. He hasn't really stopped to think why this is.
2. Every time he finds that Sherlock has put something odious in the refrigerator, used up all the tea, 'borrowed' his debit card, or rendered the flat temporarily uninhabitable with a chemistry experiment, John stops and thinks about what his life might have looked like if he hadn't met Sherlock. One day he scared himself rather badly when in a moment of stark honesty, he answered 'short.'
3. He still has nightmares about Afghanistan. Only now, a small, dapper figure with a ridiculous accent prances through the battlefield, laughing as shrapnel and sniper fire pick off John's friends one by one.
4. Once, Lestrade called John--not Sherlock, John--to ask a medical question related to a case. John told him very quickly that yes, those two prescriptions mixed together along with intructions to drink a glass of grapefruit juice would very likely have led to death. His smugness at having been helpful was nothing compared to his smugness at seeing how put out Sherlock was by the incident.
5. He's almost glad for the occasions when his psychosomatic limp comes back. It takes his attention away from the dull ache in his shoulder that never, ever goes away.
Five True Things about Sgt. Sally Donovan
1. Sally is actually pretty good with kids. Not the little ones who need to be cossetted and comforted. It's the older ones she clicks with, the ones who invariably see her as the older sister they wished they had. She's solved more than one case simply by listening to what a kid had to say.
2. She and Sherlock used to be friends, once. At least, she thought so. That illusion was shattered the first time she witnessed him solve a murder. She was fifteen years old, and she hasn't said a kind word to him since then.
3. Sally doesn't date much any more. Even the casual hookups have invariably ended in disaster. Sometimes the desire for sex gets the better of her, but with that out of the equation, she'd much rather spend a night out on the town with her mates Tish and Melanie. She has, on more than one occasion, wondered if things would be easier or harder if she was attracted to women.
4. Sally is a voracious reader. She only reads detective novels in order to make fun of them with Tish and Mel, but she adores science fiction and fantasy. When she's had a particularly bad day at work, she'll treat herself to a bath bomb and re-read an old favorite. Dune is the current drug of choice.
5. She is a morning person. She'll be up at sunrise, then make herself a cup of tea and a plate of toast and read the non-news parts of the newspaper for a good hour. It's during that early morning quiet when she can imagine that the world is a decent place and the people in it are good.
Five True Things about Bela Talbot
1. One year after making her deal, Bela could only think of how good it was to be free. Five years after the deal, she started working on a way to get out of the deal. Seven years after the deal, she was still convinced she could. At nine, she started to doubt. Still, it wasn't until she handed the Colt over to Crowley that she realized that she really never had a chance.
2. Her last thought before she died was what will happen to my cat?
3. It took her longer to break in Hell than it took Dean.
4. On one of her jobs, she crossed paths with Jo Harvelle. They worked together well enough that Jo gave her a hug goodbye when they went their separate ways. Bela thought it would be nice to have the opportunity to work together again, but she never did anything about it.
5. If she had escaped the hellhouds, she would have reformed her ways--for about a year. Then she would have gotten bored.
Five True Things about Iroh
1. The thing Iroh misses most about his wife was her sense of humor. More than anyone else he ever met, she knew how to make him laugh.
2. Sometimes, he thinks Zuko is so like Lu Ten it's painful. Sometimes, all he can see are the differences.
3. He still wonders if things would have ended up worse or better if he had decided in favor of trying to take the throne from his brother. It was concern over Zuko and Azula that had stopped him, in the end.
4. A few years after Ursa disappeared, Iroh tried to find her. He kept trying to find her, but until Ozai was gone, he could only risk so much in his searches. When Zuko became Fire Lord, one of the first things Iroh did was present his nephew with a list of every lead he'd followed and every clue he had found.
5. The pain of losing his son is just as strong now as it was then. Learning to live with the pain has done nothing to lessen it.
Five True Things about Mai
1. She was just as surprised as Azula when she helped Zuko escape. So much became so clear about so many things in that moment.
2. She was not, however, all that surprised when Ty Lee chose to side with her instead of Azula.
3. One of the (many) things she loves about Zuko is that she does not have to filter, censor, downplay, or dissemble what she is feeling when dealing with him. Yes, this often leads to fights, but the fights are always worth it in the end.
4. Zuko does not know this, but after the most recent assassination attempt, she had a long... talk with the chief bodyguard about her husband's refusal to have 'round the clock security. As a result, Zuko--unbeknownst to him--now has a new chief bodyguard who can provide an adequate amount of coverage. This bodyguard is very, very good with throwing knives.
5. She visits Azula once a week. She's not sure why she does this. Azula never speaks to her, after all. Maybe it's a form of penance, but she has no idea what she's repenting for.
Five True Things about Toph Bei Fong
1. Toph wishes she had some concept for what colors meant to people who could see. Over the years, she has come up with her own associations for what they are like. Red is earth, because blood is red and blood is life and life is earth. Black is the sky, because for her, air is the nothingness that truly makes her blind. Fire is a gray static, and water is stark white. Anything soft is purple, while anything sharp is yellow. Green is sour and bitter, while blue tastes like sugar.
2. Three years after the war is over, she finally writes to her parents, or rather, has someone else write the letter she dictates. When the return letter arrives just three days later, she waits nearly a week before taking it to the Jasmine Dragon so Iroh can read it for her.
3. The fact that she is so far the only one of the old gang that hasn't hooked up with someone bothers her, but only a little. In truth, it's little more than a vague wistfulness. What really gets under her skin is that she likes to think of herself as the kind of person who doesn't worry about that sort of thing.
4. A week after opening their letter, Toph accepts her parents' invitation to return home. It's awkward, and not just because of the whole running away thing. Her parents don't know how to deal with a child they can no longer thing of as fragile and helpless, and Toph doesn't know how to act in front of them when she no longer has to keep up an act.
5. She has thought about returning to the arena, but she is afraid that after everything she's been through, she would find it boring.
Five True Things about Tousen Kaname
1. When he left, he didn't so much regret that he had to leave Komamura and Hisagi behind as he did the fact that he couldn't make them understand.
2. He was rather dismayed to hear that his lieutenant had the appearance of a ruffian. The sound of Hisagi's voice always suggested to him something far more clean cut and not so disreputable.
3. When he was dying he and saw (or thought he saw) his true love's face, he was appalled to find he had forgotten what her voice sounded like.
4. He used to wonder what would have happened if he had said "don't" when she told him she was getting married. He stopped after admitting these fantasies to Aizen. Aizen told him--quite rightly--that focusing on the path that never was would only make him likely to stray from the path he knew he had to follow.
5. There were times when he had cause to doubt the path he was on. Every time he doubted, though, he made his resolve stronger yet, until nothing--nothing--could sway him any more. In his last moments, he realized that each of those times he doubted wasn't a test. Each and every one of them was a chance he had missed.
Five True Things about Angua
1. Angua is not sure she would have joined the Watch if it had been as easy for the undead to join as it is now. Looking back, she had very much needed a challenge at that point in her life.
2. She wants to tell Vimes she forgives him for killing her brother. She may have said something along those lines at the time, but everything had been so raw then, and she had nearly lost Carrot. Still, that should have been enough. It wasn't though, because from time to time, the way Vimes looks at her makes her wonder if he's forgiven himself.
3. Alone, she generally sleeps in wolf form. It's more comfortable for her back, and she never find that she's too warm or too cold the way she does when dealing with blankets and unfurred skin. It also makes it easier not to feel the absence of Carrot next to her.
4. She tells Cheery she dreads the times Young Sam comes to visit his dad at work. Young Sam, you see, always ask to 'play with the doggie' after she made the tactical error of being transformed when he came for a visit. Vimes told her she didn't have to, but she smiled and said she didn't mind in a tone of voice that implied she did. The truth is, she doesn't mind. Complaining makes it easier to justify spending a half hour playing delightfully silly games followed by a two hour nap in a sunbeam with a small child pillowing his head on her side.
5. Angua is at once terrified that Carrot will ask her what she thinks about having a child of their own and disappointed that it never seems to have crossed his mind.
Five True Things about The Luggage
1. The Luggage doesn't really like Rincewind all that much, but too many interesting things happen to the wizard for the Luggage to want to try to find a new master.
2. The Luggage knows what kind of reaction it provokes. It rather enjoys these reactions.
3. Once, when Rincewind was having a particularly long bout of staying at UU for more than a few weeks, the Luggage tried to join the Watch. This did not go well.
4. During the same period of time, the Luggage tried to lure the Librarian by opening up to reveal an interior full of bananas. Fortunately for everyone, Rincewind saw what was happening before it was too late.
5. The Luggage dreams. Or at least Rincewind thinks it does, from the way some of its legs twitch when it is otherwise quiet. He does not want to know what these dreams are about.
Five True Things about Kaylee Frye
1. She has never, ever seen any irony or contradiction in the fact that she likes both frills and engine parts. Hearing Serenity's engine hum back to life sounding better than ever makes her as giddy as if she were twirling around in that pink dress the Captain bought her.
2. She is in love with Simon. Simon is in love with her. Simon loves River. Kaylee knows that some women would see River as competition, but she's not dumb like that. It's not like love is something you run out of. She's also smart enough to know that if she did see River as competition, she would lose that competition right then and there.
3. The only times she's regretted leaving home are the times when she's nearly died. Once the danger passes, however, so does the regret.
4. As wonderful as Serenity is, she does wish there was a place for her to grow flowers. Sometimes, she'll go to Inara's shuttle and let Inara brush her hair while she sits there and breathes in the room's perfume. It's not quite the same thing as sitting in her Gram's garden, but it's a good enough substitute given that everything else about Serenity more than makes up for the lack.
5. The few times she gets homesick, she doesn't imagine herself going home. She imagines her mother letting Zoe cry on her shoulder about Wash, or her father drilling Simon about his 'intentions,' or her brother rassling with Jayne in the cargo bay. It wouldn't be home without everyone there.
Five True Things about YoSaffBridge
1. She has been married 43 times. She plans on treating herself to something(one) very special when she hits number 50.
2. She was actually very offended when Wash resisted her advances.
3. When she's between cons, she is generally law-abiding and honest. She does a good job of coming across as pleasant, quiet, and unmemorable. Sometimes, she thinks this is the best and biggest con of them all.
4. Her first marriage was legitimate, and she meant it to last. She even got married under her real name. Her husband was a con artist same as she was, only he got greedy. She didn't kill him, but she also didn't swing back to get him the way she said she would after a job went bad.
5. There's no one alive who knows her by her real name. It's a convenience, but she resents the assumption that she engineered the situation.
Five True Things about Dr. John Watson
1. John is still on very good terms with Clara--better terms than he is with Harry, to be honest. The two meet for a drink or lunch every so often, and John takes particular care not to let Harry find out. Even though Harry is temperamental in many of the same ways Sherlock is, John has a harder time putting up with one than the other. He hasn't really stopped to think why this is.
2. Every time he finds that Sherlock has put something odious in the refrigerator, used up all the tea, 'borrowed' his debit card, or rendered the flat temporarily uninhabitable with a chemistry experiment, John stops and thinks about what his life might have looked like if he hadn't met Sherlock. One day he scared himself rather badly when in a moment of stark honesty, he answered 'short.'
3. He still has nightmares about Afghanistan. Only now, a small, dapper figure with a ridiculous accent prances through the battlefield, laughing as shrapnel and sniper fire pick off John's friends one by one.
4. Once, Lestrade called John--not Sherlock, John--to ask a medical question related to a case. John told him very quickly that yes, those two prescriptions mixed together along with intructions to drink a glass of grapefruit juice would very likely have led to death. His smugness at having been helpful was nothing compared to his smugness at seeing how put out Sherlock was by the incident.
5. He's almost glad for the occasions when his psychosomatic limp comes back. It takes his attention away from the dull ache in his shoulder that never, ever goes away.
Five True Things about Sgt. Sally Donovan
1. Sally is actually pretty good with kids. Not the little ones who need to be cossetted and comforted. It's the older ones she clicks with, the ones who invariably see her as the older sister they wished they had. She's solved more than one case simply by listening to what a kid had to say.
2. She and Sherlock used to be friends, once. At least, she thought so. That illusion was shattered the first time she witnessed him solve a murder. She was fifteen years old, and she hasn't said a kind word to him since then.
3. Sally doesn't date much any more. Even the casual hookups have invariably ended in disaster. Sometimes the desire for sex gets the better of her, but with that out of the equation, she'd much rather spend a night out on the town with her mates Tish and Melanie. She has, on more than one occasion, wondered if things would be easier or harder if she was attracted to women.
4. Sally is a voracious reader. She only reads detective novels in order to make fun of them with Tish and Mel, but she adores science fiction and fantasy. When she's had a particularly bad day at work, she'll treat herself to a bath bomb and re-read an old favorite. Dune is the current drug of choice.
5. She is a morning person. She'll be up at sunrise, then make herself a cup of tea and a plate of toast and read the non-news parts of the newspaper for a good hour. It's during that early morning quiet when she can imagine that the world is a decent place and the people in it are good.
Five True Things about Bela Talbot
1. One year after making her deal, Bela could only think of how good it was to be free. Five years after the deal, she started working on a way to get out of the deal. Seven years after the deal, she was still convinced she could. At nine, she started to doubt. Still, it wasn't until she handed the Colt over to Crowley that she realized that she really never had a chance.
2. Her last thought before she died was what will happen to my cat?
3. It took her longer to break in Hell than it took Dean.
4. On one of her jobs, she crossed paths with Jo Harvelle. They worked together well enough that Jo gave her a hug goodbye when they went their separate ways. Bela thought it would be nice to have the opportunity to work together again, but she never did anything about it.
5. If she had escaped the hellhouds, she would have reformed her ways--for about a year. Then she would have gotten bored.