Kekken
2009-10-19, 11:05 AM
Okay, now I love a good, well thought out vs. Thread. You know, the ones with a good background and reasons for the character's in question to fight. They can really help one understand a character in an unusual situation.
However, I've been thinking. Antagonism isn't the only kind of interesting relationship. Thus, I propose a new kind of thread, where instead of focusing on two characters fighting, we take two characters who have never met in Canon (mostly, but not always, because they are from entirely different settings), and discuss the relationship dynamics between the two of them.
I'll get things started with my two favourite Discworld characters who have not yet (as far as I know), interacted. Samuel Vimes and Granny (sorry, sorry, Mistress) Weatherwax.
These two characters have one thing in common that stands out to me. They are both people who know (or believe) that they must always maintain a rigid, iron self control at all times. Vimes, because he knows he is capable of great acts of violence when pushed, and Weatherwax, because she knows that she constantly stands just behind the line of cackling evil. They are both extremely moral because of this, the morality that only those who fear the darkness within more than the darkness without can muster.
I wonder how these two would interact if they were forced to team up. Maybe the Duke of Ankh (Vimes) has been sent as an ambassador to Lancre, where (because he is a policeman on holiday, and where one finds policemen, one finds crime), it turns out the kings baby son has been kidnapped for ransom by dissidents unhappy with the direction the rather modern young king is taking Lancre. Since the witches are the closest thing Lancre has to the law, Vimes would probably find himself working with (maybe reluctantly), Weatherwax on this case.
I see these two as the unmovable object and the irresistible force. If they were to come to heads, the outcome would probably be a stalemate. But working together, there probably isn't much they couldn't do.
On a side note, I think Sybil Ramkins-Vimes and Nanny Ogg would get along swimmingly. Both are full of life with generous hearts, and if Sybil can think Nobby Nobbs is a charming rascal, she can definitely find Nanny Ogg's saucy innuendos and single entendre (she don't go for none of that fancy double entendre business) a delight.
So, what do you think, both of the idea in general and the example I gave?
However, I've been thinking. Antagonism isn't the only kind of interesting relationship. Thus, I propose a new kind of thread, where instead of focusing on two characters fighting, we take two characters who have never met in Canon (mostly, but not always, because they are from entirely different settings), and discuss the relationship dynamics between the two of them.
I'll get things started with my two favourite Discworld characters who have not yet (as far as I know), interacted. Samuel Vimes and Granny (sorry, sorry, Mistress) Weatherwax.
These two characters have one thing in common that stands out to me. They are both people who know (or believe) that they must always maintain a rigid, iron self control at all times. Vimes, because he knows he is capable of great acts of violence when pushed, and Weatherwax, because she knows that she constantly stands just behind the line of cackling evil. They are both extremely moral because of this, the morality that only those who fear the darkness within more than the darkness without can muster.
I wonder how these two would interact if they were forced to team up. Maybe the Duke of Ankh (Vimes) has been sent as an ambassador to Lancre, where (because he is a policeman on holiday, and where one finds policemen, one finds crime), it turns out the kings baby son has been kidnapped for ransom by dissidents unhappy with the direction the rather modern young king is taking Lancre. Since the witches are the closest thing Lancre has to the law, Vimes would probably find himself working with (maybe reluctantly), Weatherwax on this case.
I see these two as the unmovable object and the irresistible force. If they were to come to heads, the outcome would probably be a stalemate. But working together, there probably isn't much they couldn't do.
On a side note, I think Sybil Ramkins-Vimes and Nanny Ogg would get along swimmingly. Both are full of life with generous hearts, and if Sybil can think Nobby Nobbs is a charming rascal, she can definitely find Nanny Ogg's saucy innuendos and single entendre (she don't go for none of that fancy double entendre business) a delight.
So, what do you think, both of the idea in general and the example I gave?