InsaneJournal

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Entry tags:	meme

Meme responses
I finally finished the responses from the old 15 Questions meme from two or so weeks ago! All rejoice!

Jane Roland from Temeraire, for Hyel:

1. What would your character kill for? What would they die for?

For England, and, like I think all good aviators would, her dragon.

2. What would they refuse to do under any circumstances? Why?

Betray her country. And while she agrees that Laurence has done the right thing, from a moral standpoint, there's a part of her that cannot quite forgive him for it.

3. What do they dream about?

I think Jane is too pragmatic to have very elaborate and unrealistic dreams, but she probably wishes she could have a holiday somewhere quiet with Excidium, and maybe Laurence and Temeraire, once in a while. Maybe just the occasional night without dreaming of pepper guns and dispatches.

4. What’s their biggest fear?

Hard to say, but I think fear of failure would be a good umbrella category, to include such things as giving wrong orders, getting people under her command killed, appearing unprofessional, or dying.

5. What single object would they be most hard pressed to part with? Why?

Her uniform. It's the marker of everything she is and wants to be.

6. What is their fondest memory?

Her first time flying. Long before taking to the air was all about battles and staying on schedule, and was uncomplicated fun rather than a life and death matter. It felt so very liberating, and she sometimes wishes that freedom hadn't been mostly an illusion, or at least, that she could still conjure up that illusion once in a while.

7. What is their worst memory?

Excidium's sickness. Not because the inevitable-seeming loss of his life would have meant an end to her military career and the kind of life she can't imagine an alternative to -- these things only occur to her later, almost as an afterthought. And neither because the political and military situation is urgent and the corps strategically can't afford to lose even one single dragon -- though of course that is what she tells everyone, and there is no denying it's true. No, the main reason is that she loves Excidium more than anyone else in the world, even her own daughter. It's something only a fellow aviator could understand, but losing Excidium would be like losing half of herself.

8. What or who was their most significant influence? Expound.

Excidium, I'd say. If I recall correctly, he was in her family for generations by the time she became an aviator, and she probably learnt most of what she knows from him. The captains she was a midwingman and a lieutenant with come a close second, though.

9. What do they believe makes a successful life?

Serving her country.

10. What makes them laugh?

Laurence. Moreso when he's being earnest than when he wants to make her laugh. There are just so many things he doesn't know or understand, and she selfishly hopes he never will, because his particular kind of innocence is just that charming.

11. What are their religious views?

She was raised in the same perfunctorily Anglican way as most of the British upper class of her time, and similarly prefers the rationalism of Enlightenment philosophy to the pathos and pointless rituals of religion.

12. What is their greatest strength?

Decisiveness. She is objective and does what she considers best in any given situation, no matter the cost to herself or people she cares about.

13. Do they have a fatal flaw? If so, what is it?

She will always put personal relationships second to her duty, and expect that everyone else do the same. This inadvertently, but inevitably leads to hurt feelings.

14. Who is the most important person in their life?

Excidium, followed a close second by Emily.

15. If they died, who would miss them most? How would they die?

She'll probably die in the line of duty sooner or later, and Excidium (in case he doesn't die with her) and Emily will be the ones to miss her most, though at least they'll have each other to take comfort in.

Dalamar Argent from Dragonlance (canon-verse -- I hope not remembering most of Second Generation doesn't impair this), for Skull Bearer:

1. What would your character kill for? What would they die for?

The magic, definitely. Power, by extension. It makes things interesting that he'd kill for Raistlin, as well as kill Raistlin if it became necessary.

2. What would they refuse to do under any circumstances? Why?

Help Raistlin destroy the world. -- I'm fairly sure he sees the idea of challenging the gods for the insanity it is.

3. What do they dream about?

Everything he later achieves: his own Tower of High Sorcery, the chair of the Head of the Black Robes, and later Head of the Wizard's Conclave. If that isn't an effective "Take that!" to those who wanted to keep him down because of his low birth, he doesn't know what would be.

4. What’s their biggest fear?

To ever again be as powerless as the day they cast him out of the Elven lands armed with nothing but rage and pride. He doesn't quite understand, however, why that fear becomes titillation when it is Raistlin he is powerless before.

5. What single object would they be most hard pressed to part with? Why?

His Tower. It's a symbol, of equal public and personal significance. Not to mention the countless memories attached to it that make the thing as close a place to home as he could hope anything in the human world to be.

6. What is their fondest memory?

Studying with Raistlin. Which is somewhat ironic, seeing as that was easily the most dangerous time in his life. But maybe that was what made it such a... stimulating experience.

7. What is their worst memory?

Being exiled. The humiliation, the feeling of losing his home -- never mind how horrible the people in it -- and the absolute dread that filled him when thinking of his immediate future... He understands why so many Elves don't survive this, but he is glad he proved stronger.

8. What or who was their most significant influence? Expound.

The black magic spellbooks he found and studied in secrecy. Without them, he would have lived a miserable life under the feet of his self-proclaimed social betters, and the resentment would have eaten him.

9. What do they believe makes a successful life?

Studying hard, and never compromising until you get what you want, whatever that may be, and whatever means you have to employ.

10. What makes them laugh?

Politics.

11. What are their religious views?

He doesn't think the gods deserve much respect, bunch of incompetent squabblers that they are, and he'd dip his fingers into hydrochloric acid rather than listen to the pious idiot babble of clerics for any extended period of time, but he is fiercely loyal towards Nuitari, and if there was a purer, more abstract way to worship magic -- well, other than sacrificing most of your life to it, as you must anyway -- he would.

12. What is their greatest strength?

Intelligence. Though some would call it cunning.

13. Do they have a fatal flaw? If so, what is it?

Over-confidence. Though he likes to think he learnt better after the painful lesson Raistlin gave him. He could do without the reminders, but there've been situations he had to admit they came in handy.

14. Who is the most important person in their life?

After Raistlin -- well, not quite, since he just got confined to the Abbyss for eternity, but for all purposes -- died, Jenna tried hard to fill that place, and liked to tell herself she had, but she was wrong.

15. If they died, who would miss them most? How would they die?

See, I'm fairly sure this is where not remembering Second Generation becomes a problem.

Lord John Grey from Outlander, for MaryMonroe:

1. What would your character kill for? What would they die for?

I think when he was young, John would've killed and died for a lot of things: his country, his honour, his family's honour, the honour of a lady... But he grew out of that overblown gallantry over the years. Mostly that comes with actually having killed for your country, and being wounded for it, and having seen that it's nowhere near as glorious as people try to make you believe when you're younger. Honour aside, he still would (and does) kill without a second thought to protect his family, other people who mean something to him, and his own life. Where patriotism is concerned, he has grown increasingly careful, though, and he isn't quite sure what to think about William's decision to join the army as well, but he can hardly talk the boy out of it without coming off as a hypocrite of the highest order.

2. What would they refuse to do under any circumstances? Why?

Take advantage of someone weaker than himself and in need of protection.

3. What do they dream about?

A love declaration from a certain tall, red-headed Scotsman. He knows that this is never going to happen, but that doesn't mean he can't dream.

4. What’s their biggest fear?

Losing people he loves.

5. What single object would they be most hard pressed to part with? Why?

I think that thing was Hector's ring, but he did part with that for Jamie's sake.

6. What is their fondest memory?

Being young and in love with Hector. The world had seemed so simple then, right and wrong clearly delineated, the future bright and being in love so very easy. He wonders if fond memories are supposed to hurt that much.

7. What is their worst memory?

By rights, he should say "the battle of Culloden," because it was the single most horrible thing he witnessed -- and participated in -- in his lifetime. But he's well aware that would make him a hypocrite. He signed up for it, after all, and it's not like it was a strong enough experience to give up soldiering afterwards, either. If he's honest with himself, his worst memory is of the night Jamie Fraser told him everything that Jack Randall had done to him, and John realised once and for all, with a sick and dropping sensation in his stomach, that there was no way his feelings could ever be returned.

8. What or who was their most significant influence? Expound.

His brother. They have little in common, but John spent a great deal of his childhood and adolescence trying to live up to Hal's example.

9. What do they believe makes a successful life?

Finding happiness without ever compromising your personal integrity.

10. What makes them laugh?

A lot of things, good and bad. He believes in seeing the humour -- no matter how dark -- in any situation. Call it the irony of fate, or however you will; laughing about it really is the only way to stay sane sometimes. He rarely laughs when he's happy, though. In those moments, he much prefers making other people laugh, and to smile quietly along while they do.

11. What are their religious views?

He is a pragmatic, first and foremost, and secondly a fairly typical son of 18th century English aristocracy, whose education was comprised equally of Enlightenment ideals and world-weary cynicism, neither of which is especially conducive to religious ardour. Quiet, honest religiosity sometimes makes him feel a little torn between pity and envy, but there are enough hypocrites and fanatics around that he doesn't especially rue the fact that, on the whole, he wants to have about as much to with religion, as religion does with him.

12. What is their greatest strength?

Loyalty.

13. Do they have a fatal flaw? If so, what is it?

Loyalty. And the fact that he is and remains a hopeless romantic. Both not bad things in and of themselves, but awful in their consequences, because they will hurt him over and over again.

14. Who is the most important person in their life?

His son, William. And yes, privately, he thinks of the boy as his and Jamie's son, never mind the biological necessity of female involvement. However, he never plans on finding out what Jamie's response to that particular sentiment would be.

15. If they died, who would miss them most? How would they die?

A lot of people would miss him. Willie, first and foremost, but his mother and brother as well, along with Olivia and his nephews, and assorted other family. He flatters himself that Harry Quarry and Stephan von Namtzen would miss his occasional correspondence -- after all, he would miss theirs. And he sincerely hopes Jamie would miss him as well, whether or not his wife approves of that.

As to how he'd die, he hopes it'll be at a ripe old age, peacefully in a bed surrounded by the people he cares about. He strongly doubts that something carmically unironic as that could happen to him, though.

This was a fun meme! Request more? ":-D