Now while Taye Diggs may be living the high life on Private Practice, there were two other TV shows that this overly talented actor starred in before it. He played a lawyer in Kevin Hill and a police detective in Day Break. Now while I loved both shows, neither one of them lasted all that long. And while I enjoy all three characters, who wouldn't, it has to be his role as Detective Brett Hopper that is my favorite. So with no further ado, here is the post I originally had on 9/8/10.
I know I'm probably going to be the only one who even knows about this character, but that's fine, I can live with that. Detective Brett Hopper, played by the gorgeous Taye Diggs, was the lead character in the short lived TV show, "Day Break". The show aired for only a few episodes in 2006, but I was hooked right away. Luckily they wrapped up the storyline for the DVD release which has 13 episodes.
What I like about Det. Hopper, other than how fine he is, is how resilient he is in the face of the bizzaro world he is forced to deal with. One day he wakes up and discovers that he is being set up for the murder of a state attorney. He is forced to go on the run and watch as his girlfriend and family are targeted by the bad guys. The problem is, he's forced to relive the day over and over again until he finds out what is going on. Over the subsequent days he sees his girlfriend killed, his partner killed, his sister kidnapped, and almost every other thing that can ruin your day. He's almost killed a few times and when he wakes up he has the wounds and scars to prove it.
Thankfully when he wakes up he is able to remember everything that happened the "day" before and he's able to correct the mistakes he's made. How many times can you think you know someone only to have them do something that looks like a betrayal? He has his limits pushed to the edge, he doesn't know who to trust, and all he wants to do is save his girl. For most people this would drive them crazy, how many times can you watch your loved ones die without it driving you mad? But Hopper finds the inner strength to continue on because he realizes that's the only way to make his nightmare end.
I'm a huge fan of Mercedes Lackey despite all the critics out there. She was the first fantasy author I ever read that used positive portrayals of gay and lesbian characters in her work. The Herald Mage Trilogy stars one of her most popular characters of all time, Vanyel Ashkevron. He was the first fantasy character I came across that seemed to understand some of the same feelings and issues I was dealing with as a teenager. He was surrounded by a vast array of supporting characters throughout those three books, and his aunt Savil Ashkevron was my favorite. I featured her back on 8/4/10 and she didn't seem to get that much attention. I wanted to give it one more try because she deserves all the attention she gets.
I wish there was a picture of Savil to show you but I'll have to settle for the book cover of Magic's Pawn which is the first book in The Last Herald Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. The main character of this series is Vanyel Ashkevron, who was actually the focus of my first Favorite Fictional Character post.
So for this post I wanted to talk about Savil Ashkevron, the tough Herald Mage who is Vanyel's Aunt and teacher. Savil, who never married or had children of her own, is fiercely protective of the Herald Mage trainees who are placed into her care. So when her overbearing brother sends her his oldest son who he can't make anything out of, Savil is at first annoyed by the intrusion of a spoiled brat into her well run home. Throughout the course of his stay however she, with the help of her young protegee who quickly falls in love with Vanyel, begins to realize that she has a very scared and emotionally oppressed young man on her hands but doesn't really know what to do about it.
When the relationship between Vanyel and Tylendel enters into a romantic relationship, Savil quickly learns to see what Tylendel has been sensing all along. She shelters the two young men and gives them a sanctuary to build their relationship together. And when that relationship ends in such a way that it leaves carnage everywhere you look, Savil steps up to save Vanyel from himself and others.
What I love about Savil the most, other than her gloriously overbearing and confident personality, is the fact that when she realized she couldn't give Vanyel what he needed to heal, she admitted defeat and took him to the people that could. I have mad respect for anyone who understand their limitations and is able to ask for help. For that request to come from someone who is such a strong character as Savil, makes it that much more meaningful.
Savil is that tough old broad that we all wish were in our lives. She speaks her mind but has a mind that is worth being heard. She gives advice, even the kind you never want to hear. But the best part of Savil and women like her, is the fact that once they give you their loyalty and friendship, it never waivers. Savil and all women like her will have your back and fight your fights for you if you can't. She is a fantastic character and I just hope that everyone will discover for themselves how great she is.
March of 2011 was the month I decided to revisit some of my favorite puppet/muppet characters from my childhood. I highlighted some of those characters that never failed to bring a smile to my face or illicit a laugh at the slightest bit of hilarity. One of those characters was Don Music from Sesame Street. He was an early victim of parental overreaction that resulted in him not staying around very long. But when he did light up the screen, this little boy was in awe of him.
For those of you who may not be familiar with Don Music, I'll give you a few introductory details about him. Don was a struggling music writer who came close to writing some very familiar songs. He almost finished "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", came close to completing "Mary Had a Little Lamb", and was almost done with "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" that the royalty money was inches away. Instead those songs were completed by other, not so gifted song writers. Don Music went on to write such classics as "Whistle, Whistle, Little Bird", "Mary Had a Bicycle", and the fantastic "Drive, Drive, Drive Your Car". You may also know his version of "Old MacDonald" which he wrote with a barnyard full of animals.
Don's part time collaborator was the intrepid reporter, Kermit the Frog. It seems that Kermit was so enthused by Don's creative talent that he would often times do a news story featuring Don as he wrote his newest hit. Now like any creative soul, Don would occasionally hit a mental block and start feeling sorry for himself. He occasional banged his head on the keyboard in fits of despair that would leave poor Kermit perplexed and eager to help.
Where Don normally found himself blocked was in the rhyming of it all. He often times could not figure out what to rhyme with words like "snow". Kermit, the eager beaver that he was, would offer suggestions that, though rhyming, would not make sense in the context of the song. This would cause Don to constantly change one word after another until his creative genius shown through and a new song would be born.
Sadly, due to his younger fans copying his headbanging moves, Kermit's visits grew further and further apart and Don slipped into music obscurity. It's only with the invention of YouTube that Don's popularity recently started a comeback and I expect that it won't be long until he is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
I'm not sure if some of you will think I'm cheating this month or not, but here it goes anyway. As you all know, when I love a character, I really do love them. Every single character I've featured over the last few years is someone that I have grown to care about and hold dear for one reason or another. Some have taught me important lessons, others have simply entertained me. So this month is dedicated to those characters that I've featured before, but never really got a lot of love from my readers. It will be my second chance to spread the word about some very special characters, and hopefully it will give those characters one more chance to win over some fans.
Now I may be shooting myself in the foot with this, but I'm hoping that this time around these very special characters will win some new followers of their own. If even one more person is exposed to them, I'll consider this month to be a success. So with no further ado, I would love to reintroduce you to a character that I first feature on June 9th, 2010. He is one that has been around for decades and deserves all the attention he can get, Mandrake the Magician.
Growing up, I was always fascinated by stage magicians. There was something so wondrous about a elegantly dressed man wearing a a top hat who can make things disappear or appear at will. So when I came across a bunch of old comic books, during the 4th grade, that showcased a stage magician who not only performed real magic but fought criminals and saved innocents, I was hooked.
Mandrake the Magician started as a syndicated comic strip appearing in newspapers around the country in the 1930s. He quickly became so popular that he started to appear in his own comic books, the ones I fell in love with plus a radio series in the 1940s and a movie serial from Columbia pictures, which is now available on DVD (I'm so buying them).
Needless to say with all the moving we did as I kid I eventually lost track of those comic books and Mandrake had slowly started to fade in my memory, so when the animated series, Defenders of the Earth, came out in the late 1980s I was hooked once again. Defenders paired Mandrake up with his old sidekick Lothar (who was one of the earliest black heroes to appear in comic books), The Phantom, and Flash Gordon, both of which where first created by King Features, the company behind the Mandrake comic strip. I loved this show, these heroes, along with their younger heirs, fought off Ming the Merciless from conquering our world. It was only on for about one season, but every once in a while I find episodes of it for sale on DVD.
I have a lot of fond memories of Mandrake as he fought evil villains like The Cobra. He stuck to his guns and never let the situations he found himself in, get the best of him. He was strong and kind and I owe a big thank you to whoever put those comics in that box, then forgot about then.
Once again I must apologize for allowing life to get in the way of having a brilliantly written new post for you to enjoy. This bronchitis or whatever the crap it is is still kicking me in the butt and my cough doesn't seem to be getting any better. I have days where I don't cough much at all and then I have some where it seems I'm doing it all the time. I'm also going on a staycation from work over the weekend so I've been working open to close the last few days in order to get everything I need done before I take 4 days off. I promise that next week I will have something new and shiny for you to enjoy. In the meantime please let me reintroduce you to a character that I first posted about in 2099. She is still the only character to come from poem though I have a few others that I have thought about. So with no further ado, here is The Lady of Shalott.
I'm not sure I can really describe why this poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson gets to me the way it does. Why the main character of this beautifully written work makes me want to cry every time I read what happens to her. Nor am I going to give an academic dissertation on the themes found in this work. That is for another time. What I'm going to try and explain here is what I feel when I read this poem and why The Lady of Shalott is my third pick for My Favorite Fictional Character.
As most people who have read this poem, I encountered it for the first time in my Senior English class in high school. All I remember is reading along in class and having this well of emotion come out that I'm not sure had ever been brought out by any other poem. It was a feeling of utter sadness and regret for this woman who was condemned to live alone with no physical contact from the outside world.
She is loosely based off of Elaine of Astolat from the Arthurian legends. Though many of the details from the poem are not to be found in the original story. We meet her as a woman living in a tower that sits on an island in the middle of a river. She is physically isolated from any other human being. Her only view of the comings and goings around her is through a mirror. If she were to gaze directly out the window a curse would come over her so she has never chosen to do such a thing before. One day Sir Lancelot rides by and the Lady of Shalott is so enchanted by what she sees that she looks out the window and with the breaking of her mirror she condemns herself to death. The rest of the poem recounts her journey down the river to Camelot and her eventual death.
What really upset me the first time I read this was Sir Lancelot's response once the Lady reaches Camelot lying dead in her boat. As a young man I found it to be callous and cold. Upon later reflection I really couldn't blame him, for how is he to know the small role he played in this tragedy.
Her story had stuck with me since then and I tend to read the poem many times throughout a normal year. I have the above print by Waterhouse framed and hanging in my living room and I listen to Loreena McKennitt sing the poem about as often as I read it. The sadness and total isolation she felt still gets to me and I end up putting myself in her shoes. If I were ever in her situation would I eventually get to the point where I would say "I am half sick of shadows", damn the consequences and choose to live just one last moment in the world.
I' m not sure I can fully express the emotions this poem and it's "hero" convey in me so I will post the poem here and let you read it for yourself.
The Lady of Shalott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.
Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Through the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
By the margin, willow veil'd,
Slide the heavy barges trail'd
By slow horses; and unhail'd
The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd
Skimming down to Camelot:
But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?
Only reapers, reaping early,
In among the bearded barley
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly;
Down to tower'd Camelot;
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers, " 'Tis the fairy
Lady of Shalott."
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.
And moving through a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot;
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls
Pass onward from Shalott.
Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd lad,
Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad
Goes by to tower'd Camelot;
And sometimes through the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two.
She hath no loyal Knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.
But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often through the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot;
Or when the Moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed.
"I am half sick of shadows," said
The Lady of Shalott.
A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.
The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon'd baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armor rung
Beside remote Shalott.
All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn'd like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, burning bright,
Moves over still Shalott.
His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flashed into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.
She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces through the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.
In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining.
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And around about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.
And down the river's dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance --
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.
Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right --
The leaves upon her falling light --
Thro' the noises of the night,
She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
The Lady of Shalott.
Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darkened wholly,
Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.
For ere she reach'd upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.
Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and Burgher, Lord and Dame,
And around the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.
Who is this? And what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they crossed themselves for fear,
All the Knights at Camelot;
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."
This is the talented Loreena McKennitt putting the poem to song.
I was all set to give you guys a brand new FFC post about one of my favorite superheroes, Northstar. I had already started to type it all up when I realized, I really do not feel well enough to write a post that makes any sort of sense. I've been running a fever and really am not feeling well at all, so for not being able to give you guys something new, I apologize. I feel really bad because it seems I've been having to do that lately, more than I would like to. So instead I'm going to do a repost on one of my favorite fictional detectives of all time, Jessica Fletcher. I hope you enjoy it and I'll be back next week with Northstar, the first openly gay superhero.
I decided to go with one of my favorite TV detectives for this weeks Favorite Fictional Character. The brilliant and always classy Jessica Fletcher from the show Murder, She Wrote.
Jessica was a widow and former high school English teacher who took to writing mystery novels. Shorty there after, her life started to imitate the adventures she wrote about. For the most part she stayed in her fictional town of Cabot Cove but as the seasons progressed she found herself traveling more and more around the States and internationally. For some odd reason whether she stayed at home or travelled people always seemed to die around her.
Most of the dead were friends or acquaintances so she felt compelled to solve the case, especially when the police always seemed to be chasing the wrong leads. She never cared about the danger she found herself in, she only cared about finding out the truth. Sometimes that truth wasn't what she wanted it to be, as she sometimes had to put friends in jail. No matter what she never backed down and always proved to be smarter than the criminal.
I've loved this character so much that I have read quite a few of the over 30 books by Donald Bain that are based on her exploits. I keep telling myself to buy the DVDs of the show but I always get distracted by other purchases, so for now I stick to the reruns that occasionally air on cable.
I'm going to apologize right up front for not coming up with a new character to feature. Life and work has been chaotic this week and I've been lucky to remember to tie my shoes. I would like to thank everyone who has been reading my blog for the last few years, no matter how frequently. I appreciate all of you and if it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't be doing this anymore. Becuase of not having any time at all this week, I'm going to repost my Nick & Nora Charles FFC. It was originally done within the first few weeks of starting the blog, I hope you enjoy it.
With it's witty and daring couple, The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, brought to mind my favorite sleuthing couple of all time. Nick and Nora Charles the star of 6 Thin Man movies and one book by Dashiell Hammett.
I have never read the book so I can't say how much Nora is in it but without her the movies would not have been the same. (There was also a TV show in the 1950s that I'm not familiar with either).
The premise behind the movies is that a detective marries a rich socialite, then tries to retire from the business. Now if this is all that happens we would not have 6 glorious movies to watch. It seems that everywhere they go someone seems to find themselves dead. It is then up to Nick to solve the crime, well almost up to Nick that is. It seems that no matter how hard Nick tries to keep Nora out of it, she always puts herself in the thick of things and in my opinion ends up doing or saying something that helps Nick solve the case.
Now these characters, as played by William Powell and Myrna Loy, are as well rounded as movie characters can get. On the surface you see two people whose constant banter and love of cocktails seems to be all they have in common. Once you get to know them though you are able to witness a strong marriage built on love, respect, and friendship. This was the type of relationship I have always wanted and never seem to be able to find. Watching them together is a joy and I wish they would have made many more Thin Man movies to enjoy. I will say that if these characters were played by two different actors I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the movies as much. William Powell and Myrna Loy have such great chemistry together, they went on and starred in 14 movies together.
As the movies progress something happens that made the characters fuller and richer. At the end of the second movie we learn that Nora is pregnant. The third movie introduces us to little Nicky, Jr. Being able to see how they adapt their lifestyle to this development is hilarious at times. In one of the movies Nicky, Jr. insists that Nick drink milk at the dinner table. Now I'm pretty sure Nick hasn't drunk anything non-alcoholic in years and watching his face as he takes a drink of milk is hilarious.
Now Nick and Nora would not be complete without Asta, their wired-hair terrier, that was their constant companion. Asta is hilarious and acts the coward at all the right times. The obvious affection they hold Asta in, as a dog lover, is wonderful to watch. They even go to the extreme of riding in the baggage car of a train in order to keep Asta with them.
For anyone who has not had the pleasure of watching these movies, I more than strongly suggest them. I implore you, no I beg you to do so. Please take the time and familiarize yourself with two of the best detectives in the biz.
I apologize for resposting a Halloween FFC from two years ago, but life has been a little chaotic lately. Work has been crazy this week, we have the VP in town and we are doing inventory. On top of that, I haven't been feeling well the last few days and I'm not getting much sleep. That's part of the reason you aren't seeing a lot of new posts the last week. I have a few books finished to review, I just need to find the time and energy to do them. Hopefully next week will be better and you will start to see more reviews going up soon. In the meantime, please enjoy an introduction to Michael Meyers, the coolest killing machine to ever be created.
I will pass on Jason and Freddy. Laugh at Chucky and Pinhead. Oh, but Michael Meyers is another story. Now I know this isn't the best picture of my silent, slasher hero but it will have to do for this post.
Of all the great unstoppable killers in the history of cinema there is no other that even holds a candle to him. The star of 9 films (2 of them really bad Rob Zombie movies) and a body count any psychopath can be proud of he is a star of the silver screen.
The first time I saw the original Halloween movie it scared the crap out of me. I was 13 years old and really didn't want to watch it at the time. Not because I would be scared, quite the opposite actually. I didn't think it would scare me at all. I remembered watching the firstFriday the 13th movie and the first Nightmare on Elm Street movie and neither one scared me one bit. To me it was a human killing other humans, nothing all that scary. My mom made me watch it though and it terrified the hell out of me. There was something so creepy about Michael.
Jason Voorhees was just as silent as Michael but he wasn't as scary. Michael has a presence about him that is amazing. Whether it's the way he cocks his head or the way he walks he is a killing machine that oozes terror. I never get tired of sitting on the couch, all the lights off, the jack-o-lantern glowing in from outside, and watching Michael as he does his thing.
Right now I'm sitting at the computer and not loving the experience. I lifted some boxes yesterday, apparently the wrong way, and my lower back has been annoying me ever since. Because of that I'm not in the mood to sit down and write out a FFC. Instead I will repost one I've previously done on my second favorite fictional character of all time, Auntie Mame.
I first met and fell in love with Auntie Mame in high school. I was home from school (don't remember why) and happened to turn on A&E. I didn't turn it off for the rest of the day. They were running a movie marathon of "Auntie Mame" starring Rosalind Russell and I was hooked. I must have watched it 3 times that day. My mom by the way thought I was completely crazy but let me do it anyway.
Now this post isn't about the movie or the book. It's about why I loved this character when I first met her and why I still do to this day. It's about the way Auntie Mame connected with a part of me that was craving something I didn't even know I was missing.
This was the mother I always wished I had. I envied little Patrick with a vengeance. Why should he get the perfect (in my view) mother when I didn't get one. I just didn't think it was very fair. Now I didn't give a second thought to the fact that Mame was only getting custody of Patrick because his father (her brother) had just died. Who cared about the reason? I was green with envy.
Mame was the ideal liberal, free thinking woman of her day. She believed in experimental education, couldn't stand snobbery, and was so shockingly outspoken it took your breath away. Even when she lost all her money and lost Patrick to a boarding school all in the same day she rose to the challenge and rebuilt her life anew. She was brazenly resilient and I admired her for it. She never stayed down and never let those around her fall down.
Here was an individual who took control. A woman who wouldn't let someone else dictate to her the way she should live her life. A loving mother who cared for her charge and made sure he grew up to be a man any mother would be proud of. A woman who took in a single, pregnant women in a time when the idea was scandalous.
I could go on and on about parties, fox hunting while wearing boots that don't fit, jingle bell bracelets, world travels, and writing books. There was so much to this woman that I still am amazed every time I watch the movie, read the book (Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis), or even watch the musical with Lucille Ball as Mame.
She has been my inspiration in so many things. In the movie she says "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death." I believe that's true and I never want to be one of those "suckers". For that is what Auntie Mame Dennis did. She Lived, Lived, Lived.
I would like to apologize to everyone for not having a post done earlier or for not being all that active on my blog or commenting on other blogs the last few days. I have been rather sick with a rather bad stomach bug, whose symptoms will remain unspoken, though I've had to work anyway. Needless to say I haven't been in the mood to do much of anything once I've gotten back home, at least not anything that requires me to think. I'm trying to get some rest so I can deal with tomorrow so I'm not planning on being on here much tonight either.
With that being said I wanted to re post my very first Favorite Fictional Character profile for two reasons. The first and most important, is that he is my favorite character of all of them and probably the one that means the most to me. Secondly, since this was my first post, there is a rather brief explanation for why I started this feature to begin with.
So with no further ado I would like to present to you, Vanyel Ashkevron, again.
I get asked at different times by friends, family, and other readers who my favorite fictional characters are. As most of you will know this tends to be a rather hard question to answer. We all like certain characters for many different reasons. We like how they overcome a challenge, the way they treat their friends or families, their wit and intelligence, maybe even it's just their name. Whatever the reason, we tend to fall in love with them because they connect with us on an emotional level. Something about them hits that proverbial nerve within us and they are a part of us for the rest of our lives.
So I thought I would, once a week, post one of my favorite characters and share some of the reasons behind it. I hope by doing this it helps you (the blog reader) discover new characters or gives you the voice to share why you like the characters you like.
The characters I post about will come from books, movies, TV shows, and even an occasional poem.
Now with no further ado, I will present my first character. I first met Vanyel Ashkevron a few years after college. I had read a little bit of fantasy when I was younger but got away from it during high school and college. The idiot I was sort of dating at the time (not that I'm bitter or anything) was reading Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey and seemed to really enjoy the book. Long story short, I got rather sick for a few days and the book was the only thing around to take my mind off of how bad I felt.
It was love at first read. I had, up to that point, never found a character I could connect with in such a way that I would cry when he cried, laugh when he laughed. Here was a character that was going through a lot of the same issues I faced when I was younger and in a way still do.
A sense of isolation from those who he should of felt the closest too, his family. Not feeling comfortable in your own skin and not fully understanding why. The joy and almost instant pleasure at finding yourself and discovering that you are not only loved but worthy of that love. Finding your "home" and the "family" you choose. Then the pain and loss that is unimaginable at such a young age (he is 16 when this book starts). Finally the reawakening of yourself and your purpose in life.
He was the first fantasy character, the first character really for me, that made me feel that what I went through as a teenager was OK. That the pain and confusion I felt dealing with who I am and how that made me different form others was normal. He also helped me to understand that the way I feel today, and when I read the book for the first time, was my reward for going through the pain and isolation I felt growing up. That I had earned the right to be happy, be who I am, and enjoy my life and my "family" to the fullest.
I don't want to get into too much detail of the books because I really encourage you to read them. I will say there are three of them. Magic's Promise and Magic's Price are the final two books of the series, The Last Herald Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. The links I provided will give you the basic premise of the books. However they can never explain the amazing person that Vanyel Ashkevron is.
