milly's meandering musings

endless list of my favourite female characters: Clara Oswald (Doctor Who)

Doctor Who

Jenna Coleman

She was intriguing at first, because when we first meet Clara, she’s inside the Dalek  empire, Uploaded by Sophie Madlen and then we also meet her in Victorian times. I only started liking her really though when Coleman started her run as a modern day companion.

Coleman made her easy to relate to somehow, and the scenes with her family, aside from the scene at her mother’s grave obviously were quite funny. I liked the fact that the writers made her different again to Amy, although she shares the same fearlessness with those companions that came before her.

She’s more technically minded than most of the modern companions, due in part to her first adventure with the Doctor, in a echo of the character in the Dalek compound. Another difference is that she is a proficient enough liar to lie to her boyfriend Danny, who happens to work with her in the school, and keep him oblivious to the reality of her life with the Doctor, despite him being on the periphery of several adventures.

Coleman was particularly good in the emotional scenes, and really made me sympathise with her, even in the early adventures. Clara’s energy and good spirits reminded me a little of Jenny, from series four.

She is probably one of the few companions, especially in the modern show, that has that complicated of a story line. I mean she’s the girl that dies twice, before she becomes a proper companion, and then jumps into the Doctor’s time stream to save him.

Her actions at the end of her first series, reminded me somewhat of Rose’s actions when she opened the Tardis’ heart. Uploaded by Joolushkos. She was evidently self assured, and didn’t put up with the Doctor’s nonsense, strong willed and funny enough to fire back at him, as shown in this video uploaded by xShrinkingUniverse

Coleman was impressive throughout her tenure in the TARDIS, but the emotional scenes, particularly when Clara lost Danny were some of her strongest work. It was clearly meant to be a turning point for her, as she became even more reckless, and determined to save others seeing as she was unable to bring him back.

Some fan videos dedicated to Clara and Coleman

Uploaded by Wolf Fusion Trailers: Crosses by José González

Uploaded by EastendersEdit Videos

Uploaded by luthiens: Tribute to Eleventh doctor and Clara to Never Let me go

My BrOTP’s (in no particular order) number 4

Felicity and Donna Smoak

Arrow

Emily Bett Rickards and Charlotte Ross

I love this pairing, and have done since Ross’ first appearance. They’re definitely the sweetest mother daughter relationship on Arrow, helped in no small degree by the fact that that Bett Rickards and Ross clearly, well judging by the behind the scenes photos I’ve seen of the pair, seem to get along very well.

It’s been great…

WWE

Michael Shawn Hickenbottom and Paul Michael Levesque

I didn’t watch WWE when the two were performing together, but thanks to the fans of the pairing on Youtube I have seen quite a few of their matches, and backstage antics. They were so funny, and evidently got along very well out of the ring. Triple H inducts HBK into the hall of fame. I liked the fact that Triple H was supposed to be the clever ladies’ man while HBK was pretty much the opposite. He was presented having a short term memory problem at least once, Clip posted by WHY BE IN THE CHAIN GANG WHEN U CAN BE IN THE CLIQUE!

The period where they were D Generation X was full of funny moments, such as spray painting McMahon’s plane, limo and the building. HBK was funny in this clip as well,  Posted by panagiotishbk, and the hunt for Jonathan Coachman made me laugh, posted by pearizbar

I liked the fact that they had HBK come out of retirement to support Triple H clip posted by WWE, showing that the two performers were friends outside the ring, and a further reminder that they had each others’ backs. Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Stephanie McMahon,  it was sweet, and funny to see HBK still acting the same, while Triple H had morphed into the very men that they used to make fun of, having to grow up.

The fights were always entertaining, as these clips show 

DX vs the Hart Dynasty

DX vs the Spirit Squad posted by WWE

DX vs Legacy posted by Vikingsman181

Bourne Movies

Matt Damon and Franka Potente

I’ve never really liked James Bond movies, I think it was in part because the women were all one note, and so when this film came out, and it was described as being the ‘New Bond’ I wasn’t all that interested. I liked Matt Damon though, so decided to give it a chance, and I’m so glad that I did. He’s nothing like Bond in my opinion.

Okay, the two characters share a profession, as they are both spies, and are white men. However Bourne is far more appealing, and interesting. Due in no small part that there’s a genuine connection with a love interest, namely Marie Kreutz, and the story line through the first three films, of Bourne trying to find his memories, kept me interested too.

It didn’t hurt that the fight in the embassy’s lobby was one of the most impressive I’d seen in a while, posted by Movieclips.

He’s intense, and brooding obviously, and Damon’s physical stature was impressively beefed up, to make him a imposing figure. It wasn’t until Bourne interacts with Marie properly, by her car when I really got involved in the movie though, I liked the character of Marie, and the side of Bourne that emerges during their ride to Paris was a nice contrast to the ultra focused man who had torn apart the embassy. clip posted by movieclips

I liked the fact that the two of them, both were lost a little bit, and helped each other recover a least a little of themselves over the first movie. Marie was accident prone, and clearly had been bouncing around from place to place. She’s relatable in that way, that she’s not quite found where she wants to be. The events of the first movie, seemed to have helped her become more comfortable in her own skin, and at the beginning of the second one, she and Jason had been living together happily in Goa, for several months.

She was the one helping Jason piece things together, and was still a guiding influence after the events of the first part of the second movie (spoiler: she is killed) clip of the scene posted by movieclips I disliked the writers’ choice, although it obviously drove Jason’s story on in a way and with a urgency that wouldn’t have necessarily happened if she had been abducted rather than killed.

She becomes another reason for him to find out what Treadstone actually is, and revenge himself on the people responsible for her death. The scene in the water, and afterwards when he burns her identification and photos were genuinely moving for me.

It was nice to see that even in the moment, of him discovering the truth behind Marie’s death, that her last words to him were still lingering in his mind. clip posted by movieclips

There are several fan videos of the pair, but these are my personal favourites

Fan video created by REALTJPRODUCTIONS

Created by satcvids

We love us some Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), but — when it comes to saving the day on “Arrow” — the green-hooded archer has nothing on tech goddess Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards).

In addition to hacking into “impossible” databases, writing programs to blow bad guys’ phones up remotely, and working full-time, Felicity manages to find the mental energy to keep Team Arrow from falling apart. (OK, Diggle definitely helps, too.)

WWE

Leati Joseph “Joe” Anoaʻi and Jonathan “Jon” Good

‘Anyone comes in at us, we’re gonna go at them’: Roman Reigns

There’s something very watchable, and likeable about the two of them, in the midst of all the other WWE performers. It’s probably due to the different characteristics, I mean Dean Ambrose is the smaller physically, but has a bigger in ring personality, throwing himself all over the place in the name of winning. Roman on the other hand seems to be a more verbally restrained character, and isn’t as careless with his physical safety.

They were funny in the first episode since Seth Rollins turning heel on them, after Good delivers his part of the speech, and drops the microphone. The look that Anoa’i gives him always makes me smile. Roman and Dean address Seth Rollins

The WWE creative team have so far kept the pair together, making them almost into a team similar to HBK and Triple H, the two being each other’s support, against whoever might challenge them. It’s been shown time and again, that the pair have each other’s backs, Roman helps Dean against Kane and Sheamus posted by Brandon Wilkinson, and Dean saves Roman from Wyatt family

It’s very sweet that Dean is there with Roman’s biological family, when Roman wins the WWE World Heavy Weight belt, Roman Reigns celebrates with family

Fan videos for the pair that I particularly like

Tribute created by Swoope

Created by oldnbaschool

Tribute by oldnbaschool

My Fave Characters (in no particular order) number 28

Sons of Anarchy

Maggie Siff

“I don’t need a boy to handle my shit,”

She was interesting to me from the outset. I mean I know that there’s a back story, that Tara and Jax were in love as teenagers, but it was still intriguing to me, that a pretty, capable and clearly intelligent woman hadn’t found anyone that she liked as much as her first love. There was something in the way that Siff played her, which elevated the already great writing, and made her a great foil for Sagal’s Gemma Teller.

Tara was strong pretty much from the outset, clearly academically able but she wasn’t infallible. Her evident great capacity for love, most obviously shown in her relationship with Jax was also visible during Siff’s scenes with the children. However she could be judgemental, most noticeably in her initial interactions with Lyla, dismissing her in part due to her profession, but the two ultimately became very close. Tara was Lyla’s maid of honour when she married Opie, and accompanied her so that Lyla could get a abortion.

She was very protective of those that she loved, and that was shown more than once, but her protectiveness of Abel, came out in season four, when she shattered her cast in a fit of rage when Wendy wanted to get to know her son.

This video shows her strength, and some of the troubles that she had to go through, because who Jax was, and who he was connected to.  Video by GabyReuploads

Fan video by tjmack1986, this one goes right up until Tara’s final scene, and shows more of the difficulties between Tara and Gemma, their tumultuous friendship, and the fights that the characters had over Jax through the six seasons.

Tara was forever getting sucked right into the heart of action, during the six years, despite the fact that she really just wanted a ordinary life with Jax and the boys. This is a funny compilation by littlebiggieful, detailing just some of the situations she found herself in, even though Jax tried to keep her safe.

The Thor Movies

Chris Hemsworth and Jaimie Alexander

I think there’s something endearing about the pairing, from their first interaction, when Thor is trying to persuade Sif and the warriors three into following him to Jotenheim. He evidently has been meant to have supported her for a number of years. Thor, Loki, Sif & the Warriors Three extended scene posted by Huginn

That loyalty, is returned wholeheartedly by Sif numerous times over the course of the first two films. She commits treason in both, in a bid to help Thor. The first time is when she and the Warriors Three come to earth, despite Loki’s orders, Vanne Henley’s video of Sif and Warriors Three’s arrival on earth, and the second time is when she fights against Asgardians, to free Jane, despite her personal feelings for Thor in ‘Thor the Dark World’.

The banter between them, is really quite funny, and I love the fact that the two characters clearly are designed to be physical equals. Clip posted by IGN. She’s more than capable in battle, and is in some ways more impressive, I’m thinking especially of the leap in the first movie, onto the back of the Destroyer.

For me, there is more interesting scenes between the two, and the chemistry between Hemsworth and Alexander is stronger, than there is between Hemsworth and Portman, in my opinion. It’s partly because I much prefer Sif, as a character to Jane. She’s more vivid, and interesting, and Alexander plays her vulnerability just as well as the more physical scenes.

Here’s hoping that the third Thor film will finally have more scenes between Alexander and Hemsworth.

Some of my favourite fan videos for the pairing

Made by dancewithwolvesx

Video made by Painappuru Shoujo

Fan video with King and Lionheart