sovay: (I Claudius)
sovay ([personal profile] sovay) wrote2012-11-06 04:22 am

Mine own, and not mine own

So tonight [livejournal.com profile] lignota posted one of those memes where you set a list of character questions and ask your friendlist to suggest fandoms to answer from:

Name a fandom and I'll tell you which character I most likely:

1. bake cupcakes for:
2. lend my books to:
3. put thumbtacks on the chair thereof:
4. have a crush on:
5. pack up and leave if they moved next door:
6. vote for President:
7. pick as my partner in a buddy movie:
8. pair up:
9. vote off the island and into the volcano:
10. wheedle into fixing my [whatever is currently broken around the house]:


I said the complete works of William Shakespeare.

Her answers were so brilliant, I sent the same meme—with the same fandom—to [livejournal.com profile] nineweaving. Her answers were so brilliant, I couldn't turn down trying it myself. Now I want to know what the rest of my friendlist thinks. This is too much fun not to share.

(In the interests of example and honesty, my answers to Nine are below the cut.)

Oh, God. Some of mine will be taken, of course; I don't think anyone disputes that Beatrice and Benedick are one of the great romantic couples of Western literature, which would totally embarrass them to find out. Also the mechanicals were such an inspired choice, I can't disagree: if they're competent workmen, it's a good job and they'll probably leave you fliers for their next show, and if they're "Right Said Fred," at least you can sit back with popcorn and relax in the knowledge that it was worth in hilarity what you're about to pay in fire insurance. So let's see who's left . . .

1. Cupcakes: Malvolio. I cannot imagine he'd let himself be seen taking comfort food, but I conjecture that if you left a tray of tarts or a syllabub or something outside his door, you might find it'd disappeared the next time you walked by.

2. Books: Marina. Any character who can philosophize an entire brothel's clientele out of the activity traditionally practiced in such establishments (to the point of getting herself hired out as a teacher before she ruins their business entirely) is probably safe around your library.

3. Thumbtack: Leontes! What the fuck, man! Othello at least had a stealthy enemy actively working his destruction; you did it all on your own. You're just lucky you turned out to be in a pastoral romance, is all I'm saying. Under normal dramatic conditions, everybody would have died. (Runner-up: Prospero! Being wronged by your brother does not give you carte blanche to play writer-director with the lives of everyone around you, your daughter included. At least by contemporary standards you are still not as OH SHAKESPEARE NO as: Petruchio! Seriously! Your entire play is a problem by its premise, but you're not helping any!)

4. Crush: I recuse myself from this question, because the most recent Shakespearean character it's applicable to was wearing a really bad tie. I always liked Mercutio, though. And Benedick. And Karl Johnson's Ariel.

5. Flee: EVERYBODY IN THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. EXCEPT MAYBE JESSICA. BUT ALSO MAYBE NOT.

6. President: Viola, Duchess of Illyria. If she was clever enough to come out of a play that labyrinthine with her heart's desire, she'll do fine in government. Her husband might even make a decent Vice-President now that he's gotten over his romantically languishing period.

7. Buddy: I believe the genre of the buddy movie requires a pair of opposing personalities, which means I need someone I wouldn't necessarily hit it off with but could learn to bond with. Which means they can't be a complete asshat, even if they look like it at first. Er . . . I shall go alt-historical and suggest Tybalt, who isn't a villain per se, neither malicious nor stupid, just hot-tempered and house-proud. If you could keep him from killing himself in duels, who knows what he might mature into?

8. Pair: Beatrice and Benedick. It's a classic because it deserves it. Non-canonical runners-up: Starveling and Snug in that one production by the Boston Lyric Opera. They were so adorable.

9. Volcano: IF I HAVE TO LISTEN ANOTHER MINUTE OF YOUR REMORSEFUL RAVINGS MR. LEAR I AM LEAVING YOU ON THIS HEATH AND GOING THE NEXT MYTHOLOGY OVER TO HANG OUT WITH THE CHILDREN OF LÍR. AT LEAST THERE'S SHAPE-CHANGING IN THAT ONE TO MAKE UP FOR ALL THE SELF-PITY. AND I'M TAKING THE UMBRELLA WITH ME.

10. Fix-it: Quince & Co.! No job too small, no malapropism too large. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back plus two tickets to our next production. Funny, we never get repeat customers with that one.

Your picks?

In other news, I should really try to sleep. I have to vote in the morning. So, if you're in this country, should you.

[edit] Done.

[identity profile] nineweaving.livejournal.com 2012-11-06 10:00 am (UTC)(link)
1. Cupcakes: Peter Quince? He's had a stressful production. Shakespeare himself, if he showed up in the wings.

2. Books: Not Hamlet. He turns leaves down, scribbles aphorisms in the margins, forgets them in open graves.

3. Thumbtack: Bertram. Nobody likes All's Well, except Oxfordians. They think he's Bertram. They're right.

4. Crush: Does it have to be romantic? For conversation, I want Beatrice, Viola, and Marina in my common room, with Peter Quince as librarian.

5. Flee: All the dreary roisterers: Sir Toby and Sir Andrew; Trinculo, Stephano & Co.; Slender & Shallow in their riotous youth; the Boar's Head gang; Lepidus, Antony, and Sextus Pompey.

Also the Titus Andronicoids.

6. President: Emigrate.

Imagining four years of Oberon and Titania. And hail and havoc. With twenty minutes of peace, fecundity, and foison. Then the quarrel would begin again...

7. Buddy movie: Heh. Wait for the Ben story.

8. Pair: Beatrice & Benedick. The Witches. OT3!

9. Volcano: The First & Second Murderers. I'd like to sleep at night.

10. Fix-it: Likewise the Rude Mechanicals. Do they make house calls? Curtain calls?

Nine
ext_8883: jasmine:  a temple would be nice (Default)

[identity profile] naomichana.livejournal.com 2012-11-06 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you mind if I play? I voted early and now I'm trying to wake up the rest of the way. :)

1. Cupcakes: Ophelia. And then sit her down and explain why Hamlet's not worth it and a pre-Reformation nunnery is actually a pretty decent place from which to control property. (Although given that it's a revenge tragedy, she'd probably have been poisoned there a la Jew of Malta.) Also: Shylock.

2. Books: Either reformed post-play Prospero (hey, the guy has some real respect for books and decades of bestsellers to catch up on!) or Katharina (because I think she'd enjoy the feminist critical theory).

3. Thumbtacks: Lucio in _Measure for Measure_ and all the other characters who think prostitution and STDs make for hilarious comic relief.

4. Crush: Celia, who is pretty much the epitome of awesome sidekick with a nifty secondary romance. (On a more heterosexual note, I think Oliver is my one and only reformed-bad-boy crush.)

5. Flee: Falstaff. Depending on which play we are in, I am likely to either get caught up in deadly court politics, drafted into a war (if anything slightly less deadly provided I know my way around a longbow), or aggressively and cluelessly propositioned along with any other vaguely female-shaped people in my household. Also Titania and Oberon, because, wow, there goes the neighborhood. And pretty much the entire cast of all the tragedies and histories.

6. President: Rosalind. Political family, good at bipartisanship and deal-cutting.

7. Buddy-movie Partner: La Pucelle. I'm pretty sure my buddy-movie partner is required to be the same gender as me and to have fighting skills, since I'm the bookish one. I'm also open to Queen Margaret.

8. Pair: I actually do like Duke/Isabella, but I think it calls for long-form fanfic or another play, not a tossed-off couplet at the end of a tragicomedy.

9. Volcano: Antonio at the end of Merchant of Venice. OK, Antonio pretty much throughout Merchant of Venice. And most of the cast of Titus Andronicus for obvious reasons.

10. Fix-it: Ariel, if we were on good terms. (I have no problem whatsoever with magical fix-its.) Otherwise, yes, the mechanicals.

[identity profile] tilivenn.livejournal.com 2012-11-06 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know Shakespeare enough to do this, but I find this basic concept charming.

[identity profile] rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com 2012-11-06 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Working on waking up.

1. Cupcakes: Timon of Athens. I shall make parsnip cupcakes, and then he can't object.

2. Books: Miranda. The life she's had, with her father with all those magical books right there, and probably not letting her into the really interesting ones.

3. Thumbtack: Petruchio. Is there some way of ensuring it follows him wherever he goes, a la one of those may your feet always be cold curses?

4. Crush: No. Not unless Karl Johnson is always Ariel.

5. Flee: THE BEAR. IT SAYS SO RIGHT THERE READ THE DIRECTIONS PEOPLE

6. President: Katharine. She'll do quite well once the lesbian-feminist phase after the divorce has become slightly less militant.

7. Buddy: Richard III. Because a buddy movie where your companion continually talks everyone into upgrading your hotels sounds good to me.

8. Pair: Beatrice and Benedick, duh, end of sentence, it's the only romance in Shakespeare which will last.

9. Volcano: Dogberry. GET OUT OF THE PLAY WHICH WOULD BE BASICALLY PERFECT IF YOU WERE NOT IN IT

10. Fix-it: Oberon and Titania, of course. Because there has to be some impetus to send you on a buddy movie with Richard III.
zdenka: Miriam with a tambourine, text "I will sing." (gender non-binary)

[personal profile] zdenka 2012-11-06 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh. I hadn't thought of Rosalind for President, but I could get behind that candidacy.

I'm pretty sure my buddy-movie partner is required to be the same gender as me and to have fighting skills, since I'm the bookish one.

Oh, I guess I did that question wrong then. Or at least based on zero knowledge of the genre. But I like my answers, so I'm not changing them.
zdenka: Miriam with a tambourine, text "I will sing." (classics)

[personal profile] zdenka 2012-11-06 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
and Sextus Pompey

I think he's more fun in the opera?

[identity profile] rinue.livejournal.com 2012-11-06 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I would watch a Rosalind-Othello buddy cop movie; I feel like she could keep him from acting the fool and he could give her something more interesting to do than wander around with exiles.

[identity profile] nineweaving.livejournal.com 2012-11-06 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
So much.

Nine

[identity profile] ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com 2012-11-06 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Interesting meme. Unfortunately, I'm pants at these things and don't know Shakespeare anything like well enough.

I hope you found sleep. Glad you've voted. I've done likewise. Still debating whether I'll try to do NaNo or instead make myself finish stories I've got sitting round.
selidor: (Default)

[personal profile] selidor 2012-11-06 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
I AM LEAVING YOU ON THIS HEATH AND GOING THE NEXT MYTHOLOGY OVER TO HANG OUT WITH THE CHILDREN OF LÍR. AT LEAST THERE'S SHAPE-CHANGING IN THAT ONE TO MAKE UP FOR ALL THE SELF-PITY. AND I'M TAKING THE UMBRELLA WITH ME.

My tea nearly spilled all over the desk on that one from the amount of laughter.

[identity profile] tilivenn.livejournal.com 2012-11-07 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure there's anything I like that has as large a supply of characters as is probably necessary for this meme to work well. But just watching is plenty of fun anyhow. :)

[identity profile] asakiyume.livejournal.com 2012-11-07 07:41 am (UTC)(link)
I love number three, and I love the whole text of your answer to it. I think I'd put them on Henry V's chair. I resent that guy so much. Such an asshole for all of Henry IV parts 1 and 2, and then becomes Mr. Great King. Huh! Thumbtacks to you! Henry Vee!

I wish I remembered more of the comedies, but they've all blurred for me, so the only plays I have to draw on are the handful of tragedies I recall from taking Shakespeare in college (and from high school).

You and Tybalt would make *awesome* buddies, I think. And while we're on Romeo and Juliet, I think I'd like to make cupcakes for just about everyone in that play. Solve this family feud with .... CUPCAKES.

Edited 2012-11-07 07:42 (UTC)

[identity profile] ashlyme.livejournal.com 2012-11-07 11:35 am (UTC)(link)
Oof. My Shakespeare's too sketchy for this one. Give me another fandom and I'll see what I can do.
zdenka: A woman touching open books, with loose pages blowing around her (books)

[personal profile] zdenka 2012-11-07 12:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd happily read it, but I don't think I could write it well.
ext_13979: (Default)

[identity profile] ajodasso.livejournal.com 2012-11-07 01:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Excellent <3

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