taotrooper | One of those memes

Tamaki :3

Be prepared, dude XD I've wanted to talk about Tamaki for ages.

What I like the most about Tamaki is, I admit, the silliness. My first contact with him was the first episode of anime, so it was him alterning between being seductive, vain/annoying, and silly. But then, he goes and helps Haruhi with her wallet, and then I see a hint of that caring side of him. But then, you get to know him better, and the silliness and the kindness stay in, stronger.

But see, I won't say he's perfect, because every Ouran character has Issues. What strikes me for Tamaki is his contradiction. He's intelligent for the academic and the arts, but he lacks common sense. He's extremely good at analysing people, but he's dense about his own heart. He's so mature he can leave his mother, who was his world, so she can live better, without angsting about it; but he's so inmature he gets depressed when nobody listens to him. He's so kind he's help anyone in a heartbeat, but he's so selfish he can't see Haruhi bonding with the twins. He's so overconfident he could talk hours about how good-looking and awesome he is, but he has such a low self steem he believes he has no future. He's so elegant he's like a gentleman, but he loses composture in public and play children games if stimulated. He looks happy, but his life isn't. He's horribly honest, but he lives in denial. He'll sorround himself with misfit guys and pretty ladies in order to feel like a king, but he'll still feel lonely in secret.

And yet, nothing of this is a facade. It's all him, you know. In juxtaposition. But what I like the most about him is how deep below the dorkiness and the flashy exterior, he's the character with the biggest heart.

Watanuki Kimihiro :)

Arrrrgh, my head is going to explode!

What called my attention about Watanuki first was his strong, moody character. I'm a very loud and easily annoyed person, so I could relate to that first side of Kimihiro we see immediately. When he doesn't like something or someone, he's not only going to say it. He'll SCREAM about it! Repeatedly. And same with the things he does like. He lives with his heart in his sleeve, and won't take shit from anyone. Or at least at first, because no matter he dislikes a situation or if he's exploited in the bargain, he won't back out and will still do what he must. So his stubborness is a strange one.

And yet, this pissed kitty is mature enough to understand when he was wrong. Instead of rejecting reality and pretend nothing happened, he'll accept things are different with either gritted teeth and his head bursting of rage, or with an infinite sadness. He's not going to like it, but he gets used to the fact and moves on, and never makes a big deal out of it. And this is why he could become friends (and in a future, something else -_-) with Doumeki, after getting his ass saved over and over. He tries to learn about his mistakes and prejudices. He now knows he's still alive because a lot of people wanted it so.

And yet, he's terribly kind and sweet. Excepting people who tease him in a daily basis (Yuuko, Doumeki, Maru and Moro, Mokona...), he'll be so educated and considerate with everyone. It doesn't even matter if they're human or spirits or youkai; it doesn't matter if they're dead or alive. He'll smile at them, listen to their problems, and even sacrifice for them without knowing them a lot. He's like Subaru Sumeragi, except he's mentally stronger and his heart doesn't break so easily. He'll be sad for a while, but then he'll go on.

For someone who's had so many shit in his life, he's rather optimistic and hard-working. For someone who lives in a supernatural world, he's quite down to earth. For someone who's supposed to be famous in other spheres, he's somehow indifferent to that. And this is why I love the boy so much.

Doumeki Shizuka. TAG! XD

Oh man. Dear passer-by person I've never talked to, don't complain at the one-line result, because I warned.

What I like about Shizuka is... mmm. His voice of reason, his will, and the way he plugs his ears even though he doesn't seem to dislike the noice so much.

I'm sorry? I don't really understand Doumeki, so I'm slightly indifferent to his character. Or at least, I don't seem to adore him like the rest of the fandom.

Kaho. Feel free to focus more on manga than anime, if you prefer.

Hyatt, do you mind if I reply to you next week? My manga volumes are at the new house, and I'm too lazy to fetch the CD with the scanlations from the dark chaos that is my bedroom. I want to reread some scenes in order to make her justice. I have the canon too foggy right now.

No, that's fine; I'd rather have a really good rant and have to wait for it than a sketchy one right away.

Fine, I'll start saying I didn't want to like her at first when I was a fanbrat, for biased reasons. Also, because I met her through anime, and didn't read the first arc of the manga frequently. But I started loving her after I bought the volumes I was missing and refreshed my manga!Kaho memories.

Anyway, back to the rant. She's funny and witty, and has the perfect balance between elegance and dorkiness unlike the anime counterpart. She's actually a nice girl (I'm allowed to call her a "girl", as I'm in my twenties!), who's smart and with a good intuition. But then, all lunar people in that CLAMP world are softies deep down.

Sure, she's mystery woman, but not in a bad way. She has to push fate, but only if she knows it's all for the better, so she doesn't regret her decisions as they'll be fine. She sure secretly enjoys knowing more than the rest, and imply to others she does to annoy/motivate them, and I have the impression she could be curious. And this is why her idiosyncrasy is a perfect addition to the Eriol-tachi, in my opinion.

Oh, and another thing I like is that she doesn't judge people and creatures by their looks, but by their value as individuals. She seems to find out how things truly are and adjust herself to what she sees.

Alphonse Elric :D

Alphonse is a sweety and yet a kickass. I love how he's the voice of reason most of the times, regardless of the fact he's the youngest of the teen group (I mean, from the ones we know their ages). He's more cautious than his brother, but that doesn't mean he won't ever go to the wolf's mouth in order to protect or save someone because he certainly will. And that could be his brother, an ally like Hawkeye, or a perfect stranger like Mei. And I think this is why anime!Al makes me feel uncomfortable if compared with manga!Al, since movie!Al is reckless and doesn't feel too much of an individual. But manga!Al is Al and nobody else.

But even if he's polite and logical and mature, it doesn't mean he doesn't act his age. Because dude. There's the stray cat (or things resembling cats, lol) thing, which is adorable, but it's not the ephitome of his fourteen years; it's just his love for animals. But remember the tantrum he threw when he had the identity crisis after fighting Barry? What I liked about that part wasn't just the bonding between the brothers, but the confirmation Al can act like a prat sometimes, if he's confused. And there's his conversation with Mei; when compared (negatively) with Ed, he immediately told her off by telling her how wonderful and gentleman and tall he'd be XD Hah, teenage vanity popping in, hello?

Sophie! :)

I apologize, because I'll be talking about book!Sophie since she's way more interesting.

Sophie's biggest change with the spell weren't the wrinkles and the knobby legs. It was the change of attitude. She went from being a resigned wallflower to a nosey, outspoken force of nature. She had nothing to lose, after all, so she'd better do things her way. But basically, she's too curious and easily bored. She always was like that, even when she was "younger". She has to be doing something to keep herself busy, be it sewing back a suit, cleaning out the house, or snooping around. I think this is why she never got to leave the castle: it was still better than the hat shop! And sometimes it all backfires because of her gift or stubborness (and not because she's the eldest, like Howl points out).

And I'll try not to spoil CitA a lot, but I want to add Sophie fiercely protects her loved ones. You can see it in HMC already, with her watching over her sisters (and Howl, at the end of the book). He also does that with Morgan, her baby, at the other book. And the funniest thing is that she's terrified about becoming a mother, but she still protects him and looks for Howl.

Also, I love how her concept of love includes the other one's flaws. In CitA, Abdullah asks her to describe Howl, and all she says are bad traits XD "But I was just describing him! :O" She's honest like that. And no matter how much of an idiot Howl is, and how much crap he pulls on her, she never stops loving her husband. It's just great.

I really prefer Book!Sophie too, so that's all right. :)

I love how her concept of love includes the other one's flaws.
Yes! That's one of the things I love so much about this book. It's a lot more realistic than those stories when the lovey-doveys see each other as perfects.

I'm personally more annoyed, like I said in the Howl rant, when lovey-doveys DO change their personality radically so it fits their SO's concept of perfection. I mean, it's fine to give in a little in order to compromise, because that happens in real life, but when the whole thing looks OOC it alarms me. And that's not only in fiction, but also in fanfic. And this is why I was so happy with the Howl "sequel". I could recognize the characters.

Howl

Again, I'll be talking about book!Howl.

I love Howl because he's a vain prat :D What I like about the books the most is the fact nothing really changes Howl's slither-outer attitude in life. Not love, not danger of his loved ones, nada. After his happy ending (although the "happy" is relative, between the CitA crap, the war before that, and Sophie), he's still a self-centered, lazy coward with a nasty sense of humor. But even though he's like that, he's reliable in his own way. Sure, he's not reliable for some things, but he is for the important ones. However, don't count on him showing it openly. As a matter of fact, expect him to do the opposite, or appear to be doing the opposite, and confuse the fuck out of you. This is why he blackens his name, I guess.

I love how he's so melodramatic and dorky, too. He gets worked out over the tiniest details. I liked the slime tantrum a lot. I liked how much noise he made when he had the cold and nobody listened to him ("I'm dying of boredom! Or maybe I'm just dying.") And yet, the things that really matter, like his master's death, don't get such a superficial reaction. He keeps the deep feelings for himself and shows the small ones; this is why he appears to be so shallow and he shocks you so much afterwards.

Come on. He's the last thing you'd expect from a love interest of a fairytale-like book. He's the ultimate parody of a gentleman.

♥ now I want to reread the book

BTW all the write-ups you've done are terrfic, I'm having a riot reading them XD

Uncle Iroh :D

Iroh is one of the most amusing mentor figures I've ever seen XD I think it is because everyone in the show is always rushed, in a hurry, because that's the way things are. Meanwhile, Iroh is like "chillax prince Zuko, let's play a board game and drink some tea~~" And even though he's always looking so passive and zen, he's a good strategist and warrior, so he always knows what to do. And if he has to show his claws, God help us all. Also, he's kickass because he researched all four elements.

But even though he's a wise old man, he can be so reckless. I'll point at the herb incident and the warming tea thing in last episode. But also, he's a dork. He always gets distracted by the little things in life, like games, tea, food, shopping, tea, music, hot springs, tea, ladies, did I mention tea? But the dorkiness is a part of his wisdom, and balances Zuko's seriousness, and the rest of his family's batshit crazy.

And speaking of Zuko, I love how he got to love the brat of a nephew so much, like a son. Perhaps in part he tries to fill the void Lu Ten's loss, but I think now he appreciates Zuko for how he is, and would do anything for his safety (and viceversa). Then again, compared to the rest of his living relatives, Zuko is a Teddy bear. But really, Iroh is an interesting man; especially after the flashbacks, because it's amazing how Lu Ten's death, and possibly his incursions in the spirit world, opened his eyes.

Maybe too predictable: Eriol Hiiragizawa XD

Haven't I said everything about him? Just... go here (http://www.hiiragizawa.net/eriol) or something. It'll save LJ some space.

Because I know you like him: Ling :D. ~~And Touya.~~

Ahora noto que cuando haces memes suelo meter a Ling... ^^u.

~~Which Touya?~~

Ling at first seemed like a goofy foreign guy, and then five pages later he set ~~us up the bomb~~ the brothers a trap. It was so "lulz wut". But really, I don't know how the hell Ling came to be one of my top, if not the most, favorite character. When you slowly get to meet him beneath the silly exterior and the abuse of hospitality, you see he's more complex than he looks like. Then again, doesn't that happen with almost all Arakawa characters? I like his high sense of honor. He has some solid ideas on how a leader and a king should be like, and he looks like the kind of guy who wouldn't be so corrupted (well, he's sure going to favor his clan, so I wouldn't say he's going to be entirely honest) if he seizes the power. And also, he's fond of the plebe, and he respects his underlings (bwa, underling! must... restrain... dirty joke...) so much he can't leave them in danger. This is something I admire from Ling.

But one of the things that got me was the idea (it's more like a theory of mine) he could've agreed to take Greed in because he felt useless after Lan Fan cut her arm off. Maybe it was guilt and wanted the lost arm to be meaningful. Maybe it was inpotence because his bodyguards wouldn't let him do sacrifices like that. Or maybe it's what he said that he wanted to prove he was ready to be as hardcore as she is. Because before that loss he didn't look like that kind of guy. I still think he was stupid, taking that risk because of any of those reasons, but since I was ranting over Ling I had to say it.

The CCS one? Just because I really love him, but it's ok if you don't want to ^^u. You've wrote about everyone so well~ ♥.

Touya is one of the most awesome boys in CLAMPverse. I think his personality is well balanced. For one side, he's cranky, shy, easily annoyed, jealous, overprotective, a bit rude. By the other side, he's incredibly sweet, hard-working, dedicated, open-minded (as long as it doesn't involve Chinese boys near his baby sister), and caring. Also, he's talented in several areas, but he's still down-to-Earth. He was well-raised by his parents.

One of the traits in the manga I wished it was better shown (or shown at all) in the anime is Touya's extreme shyness. He can count his friends with one hand's fingers and still he has spare. He'll blush whenever other people tease him or just figure his feelings out without him saying it, which is actually really amusing XD. It's not what you'd expect from the ZOMG-tall-and-dark-seme-bishie stereotype. ~~I swear Yuekito can top him!~~ And yet, it's endearing how he can be figured out so easily by Sakura, Yukito, Fujitaka, and Kaho, with his tough guy image.

And yet, he can be outspoken when he needs to take action.

Clow.

Yukito from CCS.

At first I was indifferent to Yukito because he felt a bit redundant in the anime (then again, the anime is redundant in nature). I started looking at him closer after the Final Judgement, probably because he was Yue's other identity and ~~I started following the series for real for Yue~~ the contrast was intriguing. But after the whole deal, and the identity crisis, and the transfer of powers, he had grew fonder for me. I don't think it was just because of the duality with Yue any longer, but because the series had showed me how Yukito really was and worked. He wasn't a big smile and a big stomach any longer.

He's a sweety. Yukito has a big heart and is polite and friendly to everybody, no matter how shitty or weird they are to him. So he doesn't pay any attention to what others think of him, and focus on the people he's fond of, which is the important thing after all. He's the kind of guy who'd never kill a fly. He's cheerful and forces himself to be even in his worst moments, as that's his approach. He tries not to be selfish (even with the food! he'd still share if asked!) or to force feelings to others in order to be happy. He even feels bad when others love or do for him too much.

He might look perfect, but he's actually insecure. Or that's how I interpret him; I think he might likely be questioning a lot of things in life, even pre-Yue-awareness, but we couldn't see it entirely from his POV.

Also, he's not as light-headed or dumb as the fandom or the anime writers think he is. He's actually empathetic and clever, and notices things others wouldn't take for granted (especially Touya-related). And even though his situation was the other way around, he's caring and wouldd actually sacrifice a lot for love. Personally, I think this is why his manga self won me over.

Yuuko :3

Katara ♥~~

Harry Potter. (Could not stop myself)

Oh, but I stopped liking the HP series actively. Can you change the character choice, please? Harry's changed so much I don't know where to take this rant from.

Oh, I'll drop it then. Most of the characters have changed so drastically through the series...
Everyone else already asked my anime favorites, though (loved the Watanuki answer [man, what is with me and skinny, black-haired, be-spectacled boys?-oops, didn't say that)].

One of those memes

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See how my icon choice makes me sort of a hypocrit

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