(no subject)

[shipperx]

[Poll #1959508]

Comments

[jerusha]

Actually, if we're talking emotional avatars, the big one for me would be Bruce Banner. I can provide more details if you're interested.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Bruce Banner wouldn't surprise me. And he is tortured and lovely. :)

Please do elaborate.

[jerusha]

I've been meaning to make a post about this for a while, so keep an eye out for a post that goes into a lot more depth. But for me personally, and the way my mental illness manifests, I often feel as though I'm two very distinct people, and I'm not always fully in control of that Other self. Plus, the line from The Avengers where he confesses that he'd tried to commit suicide really resonated for me as well.

[paratti.livejournal.com]

Do you mean the Black Widow?
Only Marvel has a Scarlet Witch for Whedon to mess up as well as the Black Widow already being used.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

*snort*

You are correct. I brain farted.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I decided you meant Scarlet Witch...although my answer would have been the same regardless. These sorts of polls, I've discovered, are a lot harder to do then they look. I wonder if anyone else realizes that?

[shapinglight]

I've ticked no for all of them, I'm afraid.

I suspect my emotional avatar from BtVS is probably Joyce.

[elisi]

I suspect my emotional avatar from BtVS is probably Joyce.
Same here. But then I don't watch to see myself. I find Spike interesting, I've not got anything in common with him.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'm actually expecting the vast majority of these to be 'no' or 'never thought about it.'

I was just curious as to whether gender would make a difference.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'm actually expecting the vast majority of these to be 'no' or 'never thought about it.'

I was just curious as to whether gender would make a difference.

[rahirah]

I started to answer this and then I realized that I just don't DO emotional avatars in the sense I'm assuming this means. There are characters I like, characters I enjoy watching even if they're unlikeable, characters I sympathize with, and characters I empathize with, characters I identify with. There are even characters whom I've based explicitly on myself. But none of these are my avatar or my muse or my spirit animal or my totem or my otherkin headmates or whatever the kids are calling them these days. I've sometimes referred to characters living in my head, but it's just a metaphor for the creative process, not an actual separate entity. And so far as identifying with a fictional character to the point that any insult to them becomes an insult to me... well, I've seen the kind of interpersonal damage that can do in more than one fandom, and if I notice myself doing that, I really try to back the hell off, because it only leads to tears.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'm actually expecting the vast majority of these to be 'no' or 'never thought about it.'

I was just curious as to whether gender would make a difference.

[elisi]

I've put 'Never Thought About It' for the female characters I don't know well. And just 'No' for all the men. (Wish there was a 'REALLY No' option for Thor. *g*)

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty gobsmacked by either Thor or Iron Man being anyone's personal emotional avatar (even if they can be amusing.)

[elisi]

Well if there was a scale, I'd put them on opposing ends... Thor is a very straightforward character, whereas Tony Stark is by far the most complex character of all the Avengers.

(Speaking of avatars, then Ianto from Torchwood would probably be right up there... But then - going back to your comment on shapinglight's LJ, I meant to comment - he's a very atypical male character.)

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

I loathe superheroes, except for Penny Century (if she really counts) and the Mystery Men, so most of these are out.

[hobbituk.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what is meant by a "super hero emotional avatar", to be honest. But I do have a really pretty one of Loki with a tear in his eye if that counts! *points at it*

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I think in a very inarticulate way I'm trying to bound the areas of:

objective observing -vs.- relating to (empathizing but still an external perspective) -vs.- identifying with (internalizing a character's POV and indentifying with them).

And like Venn diagrams I'm sure there's areas of overlap.

If that makes it any more clear... which it probably doesn't.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I have to confess that my Whedonverse emotional avatars are Wesley in terms of "what I'm like on a very bad day" and Warren in terms of "what I could have been if I didn't have a functioning empathy circuit".

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

While I do have male emotional avatars (such as that is), most of them are my own characters -- I answered "yes" to Sarah Connor, Crichton, and Aeryn just because of the emotion they brought out in me; but I think the main "emotional avatar" I've found in media outside of my own mind was Angel (on his own show, not on Buffy); or back to Farscape, Zahn. (Or Delenn from Babylon 5.)

[ms-scarletibis.livejournal.com]

Totally...misunderstood the question, at first.

My true emotional avatar didn't make the list :P

And...who are the last two?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

See Icon ^

Farscape characters

John Crichton: U.S. astronaut/physicist (...and eventually Aeryn's husband) thrown through a wormhole to the far reaches of the galaxy where there's an ongoing war between "Peacekeepers" (advanced techonology Nazi-ish humans) and Scarrans (evil aliens). (There's no admirable side to choose in that war...)

Aeryn Sun: Peacekeeper pilot/officer (and eventually Crichton's wife) who in the pilot episode was condemned as a traitor because she interacted with Crichton.

Through the series they (and their friends) end up running from both sides of the Peacekeeper/Scarran conflict and save the universe a lot.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Last Two:

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Regarding Buffy? Depends on which season. No for the first 3-4 seasons. Yes for the last three seasons. (I identified more with Willow in 1-3, and in 4...well, no one.)

Also not strict on gender lines, as it may appear - if you put Spike up there, I'd have said I identified with him on some level. But I did not identify with Angel.

Batman, Angel, Captain America, Superman and Iron Man - all have similar problems for me - they represent authority or establishment. They are rich, well endorsed, or popular..they really aren't outsiders. They really don't understand what it is to be powerless. Their issue is handling all the power, whether it be financial or physical, that they've been given. Except for possibly Captain American, who was physically weak, and made a deal with the government to become a super-solider.

You'd think I'd identify more with Peter Parker, but he provides the same issues as post S3 Willow, which is "super-geek", the insanely smart geek, who becomes well Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. I just can't identify with super-geek.

Same with Thor and Loki - both are Gods, they represent "Authority" or
people with too much power. Or who want power.

Batman wants his power. Iron Man craves Power. Thor wants power. Loki craves it. Superman whines about it, but at the end of the day prefers it. Angel wants power. Love power. All want to be heroes.

Although, weirdly I prefer Batman to Iron Man, Thor, Superman, and the others...because Batman doesn't want to get any accolades, and doesn't want to be the center of attention.

John Crichton and Aeryn Sun work better as emotional avatars..they seem less interested in power and being "important". Buffy - I liked for her reluctant heroism. She worked for me. Again depends on the episode and the season.

IF any of that makes sense. Not sure if it aids your theory? I've discovered my polls rarely support my theories, although weirdly the comments to the polls often do.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

After reading the comments above, it occurs to me that I may have misunderstood what was meant by emotional avatar? I was thinking identify with on an emotional level or emphasize with. Is this true?

These polls are really hard to do. No matter how you do them, you always leave someone's best choice out. It's inevitable. Which is why the comments are often more useful than the poll or so I've found.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

You didn't misunderstand. That's basically what I meant. And I wasn't really trying to unearth anyone's avatar, just trying to see whether gender was a factor at all.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Mine isn't there: Wonder Woman.