Young Writers Society

For me, probably these three:

Kaladin (Stormlight Archive): The first character I'd come across in fiction who also had depression (though at the time I didn't know what it was called). I related to both his compassion and his weird mix of idealism and pessimism. I also have a younger sister who is very much my "Tien"

Fitzchivalry (Farseer Trilogy): Quiet, humble, lonely, self-deprecating introvert who is too kind and idealistic for his own good, thinks way too much, likes to write, and wants nothing more than a boring, happy life with his family.. yup. Felt like I was reading about myself.

Nausicaa (Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind): We're both curious, easygoing, patient, and idealistic empaths who often take up the role of peace-maker and enjoy being with family, but like to spend a lot of time alone on our own personal hobbies. Granted, she's more of a social butterfly, but I still relate to her a lot.

1. Lain Iwakura (my current avatar) - from the anime Serial Experiments Lain. It's a bit hard to talk about her without giving away too many spoilers about the show's plot, but broadly speaking she is a lonely junior highschooler (?) who is somewhat afraid of the adult world. The story is about the events transpiring after she starts exploring a kind of technology that begins to permeate every aspect of her being.

I find quite a lot of similarities between her and myself in terms of our relationships to family and friends. I think I had an equivalent to Lain's friend Alice in junior high, where she was that girl from the "normal world" who reached out to me and tried to be friends, but didn't fully realise what she was getting herself into XD

2. Gregor Samsa - from The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. He is a hardworking travelling salesman whose lifelong aspirations for his work and family are cut short when he one day wakes up to find himself transformed into a strange bug-like creature. I was always fascinated by the dysfunctional co-dependent relationship he fostered with his family as a 'breadwinner' that begins to fall apart after he can no longer put food on the table. While I can't say I've ever won anyone any bread, I can definitely relate to the kind of personality that wants to be dependable in the view of others, which can sometimes lead to unconsciously forcing people to depend on you.


3. Kathy H. - from Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I identify a lot with Kathy's sort of stoic, parental role to all the other clones she lives together with. Again, it's the character's relationship to others that does it for me, haha. She also has a complex rivalry/friendship with her best friend Ruth, which to me is just laden with queer subtext. The way these two characters act as foils to each other in the story I think really reflects my relationship with a lot of girls and women I've known in my life.

Ruth is ambitious, cares a lot what others think of her, and is really concerned with how the clones as a whole are perceived. Kathy meanwhile is more practical and finds the way Ruth behaves sometimes to be dishonest, even a betrayal of their relationship to one another.

Whoops - sorry for the essay! But thanks for the really interesting discussion topic.

1. Peggy Olson (Mad Men) - Peggy is always someone I've identified with a lot, especially in recent years as I move forward in my career. She knows how to be the only woman in the room, but in spite of her success what she really wants is a family of her own.

2. Ariel (The Little Mermaid) - It was hard for me to a pick a Disney princess but I'm going to have to go with Ariel. She's curious, passionate, spunky and will stop at nothing to get where she wants to be.

3. Mia Dolan (La La Land) - When I saw this movie for the first time, I was like, "is she me?" -- right down to falling in love with Hollywood by checking out DVDs at the library
by her house.

1. Belle (Beauty and the Beast)- Belle is the Disney princess I've identified the most with. She's a bookworm, and she's kind. She wants an adventure like the ones she's always reading. I was like "Belle is basically me in a nutshell."

2. Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)- Katara spoke to me on a personal level. She is motherly, nurturing, and she does what is right. I don't have the trauma she has, thankfully. The Fire Nation took so many things from her, but she still wants to help innocent people from there.

3. Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons)- I don't know if she is too similar to Belle, but I identify with Lisa so much. When I was eight, I didn't have any close friends. I intellectually stimulated myself, and I also got very sad when book characters were having a hard time. I'm also becoming more interested in politics.

1. Lucy Carlyle from Lockwood and Co. I'd like to think I'm as independent as her, but I also know that I have nowhere near the amount of spunk she has. I relate to having an unconventional group of friends, to her struggles with trying to find her own, solo path, and her empathy towards ghosts in the book series she's from.

Plus, we both have the same hair color.