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next_to_normalHaha, this is the point at which I completely gave up on trying to narrow these categories down to just one character, so from here on out, the picspams may get exponentially less dial-up friendly. :)
Day Seven: A female character that needs more screen time
Bonnie Bennett and Ainsley Hayes
So, here's the thing about Bonnie. I feel like I should love her, because she's exactly the kind of character I typically love: she's strong-willed and sticks to her principles. She's responsible and is often the only person in Mystic Falls who behaves rationally about vampires. She has had some classic BAMF moments with her witch-fu, and she will not take shit from anyone. And yet, I feel like there's something missing with Bonnie. We never seem to get into her head, and she hasn't had nearly the quality time and character development that Caroline has. Her growth as a witch happens mostly off-screen after Grams' death, and then she just shows up again all, "Look, Elena, I have powers!" Likewise, the loss of her powers could've been an opportunity to delve into her character and the ways she'd let magic define her, but they were restored so quickly there wasn't time for it. Generally, I'm a big fan of the breakneck pace The Vampire Diaries sets, but it does have the effect of leaving certain characters (particularly the non-vampy ones) underdeveloped, and Bonne is probably the most frustrating of all, because she has so much potential.
Okay, this one is less about character development and mostly just that I LOVE AINSLEY. She is fierce and smart and adorable and driven by a sense of patriotic duty, and she should be in every episode ever. MOAR AINSLEY! Especially with Sam! Because I ship them! But mostly just more Ainsley in general!
Bonnie Bennett and Ainsley Hayes
So, here's the thing about Bonnie. I feel like I should love her, because she's exactly the kind of character I typically love: she's strong-willed and sticks to her principles. She's responsible and is often the only person in Mystic Falls who behaves rationally about vampires. She has had some classic BAMF moments with her witch-fu, and she will not take shit from anyone. And yet, I feel like there's something missing with Bonnie. We never seem to get into her head, and she hasn't had nearly the quality time and character development that Caroline has. Her growth as a witch happens mostly off-screen after Grams' death, and then she just shows up again all, "Look, Elena, I have powers!" Likewise, the loss of her powers could've been an opportunity to delve into her character and the ways she'd let magic define her, but they were restored so quickly there wasn't time for it. Generally, I'm a big fan of the breakneck pace The Vampire Diaries sets, but it does have the effect of leaving certain characters (particularly the non-vampy ones) underdeveloped, and Bonne is probably the most frustrating of all, because she has so much potential.
Okay, this one is less about character development and mostly just that I LOVE AINSLEY. She is fierce and smart and adorable and driven by a sense of patriotic duty, and she should be in every episode ever. MOAR AINSLEY! Especially with Sam! Because I ship them! But mostly just more Ainsley in general!
no subject
Date: Mar. 20th, 2011 09:39 am (UTC)Just, complete word on Bonnie. Complete. The writing for her annoys me so much because it is never, ever from her point of view. Like with this new Jeremy thing - their whole romance has been from his POV. I have no idea what he does for her, emotionally. And I kind of want to ship them, because they fire up my screen like whoa, but I have no idea what their relationship is even about? And then there's hate from fandom at Bonnie because of her nastiness towards Damon, which is absolutely sexist, but to be frank, I can't blame people for sympathising with Damon over Bonnie since we have more than enough insight into Damon's headspace, and absolutely zero into Bonnie's. I sympathise with Damon more, because there's nothing about him that doesn't make sense to me, whereas I feel like I barely know Bonnie.
...
Uh. Yeah. Spontaneous rant. In happier news: SAM/AINSLEY OTP.
no subject
Date: Mar. 20th, 2011 08:29 pm (UTC)I think part of the Bonnie hate is because she spent so much time at odds with the Scooby Gang. Because yeah, Bonnie is typically the voice of reason regarding vampires, but 99% of the time, when Damon (or Elena or Stefan) wants her to do something pro-Salvatore, it's usually about protecting people by stopping other, worse vampires. So Bonnie ends up looking like a jerk for being consistent on her "no helping vampires of any kind, even if they are Salvatores" stance, when actually... that's not a bad policy, in general.
I'm happy that she's been pretty well integrated into the gang this season, because it makes her less of an antagonistic presence but it's still clear that she has reservations about making things easier for the vampires (even if one of them's her best friend). She will work with Damon, but it's always clear she's doing it to save Elena/stop Katherine/stop the werewolves/stop Elijah, not because she has any squishy feelings toward Damon (which is why everyone else lets him get away with shit).