Bender... I'll let you guess the fandom. *whistles*

It's been ages since I watched The Breakfast Club...

1. Depending on the specific circumstances, Bender vacillates between chaotic evil, chaotic neutral and chaotic good. The latter far less frequently than the first two.

2. Bender is as much his own construction as anyone else's.

3. It's entirely possible that Fry is the love of his life, but not in any kind of robosexual way, you jerk.

4. The key to Bender is being insulting enough. As long as you can come up with enough offensive phrasing, you're on your way to an accurate depiction of his shiny metal ass.

5. Bender feels more emotion than any of the humans who surround him; his passion is more passionate, his anger more angry, his love more loving.

Gene, please! I am always ready to hear you talk about him. ♥

1. It's important to get the balance right with Gene. It is disturbingly easy to make him too nice, or too cruel, too refined or too oafish. He's all of these things and more. I think it depends upon the story as to which specific concentration you're going to use, but you need to be aware that all of these sides exist --- and that, at any given moment, Gene means different things to different people.

2. Gene Hunt is never wrong. But sometimes he is slightly less right than everyone else.

3. Gene can and will say things that are offensive to anyone and everyone --- he'll know they're offensive, he'll even understand why, but he'll pretend to be ignorant on these points because it's easier that way. He has a line, though. It's occasionally fuzzy, but it's always there. Sometimes, Gene looks at the line as he dances over it, before hopping back onto the 'right' side.

4. Love is important to Gene, and he does love, fiercely. With his love comes loyalty, and a capacity for forgiveness that can't be rivalled.

5. Gene is excellent with words, but he reveals who he really is through his actions.

Constable Benton Fraser ♥

1. Fraser's formal, but not to the point of sounding like an automaton.

2. He feels keenly, but often doesn't know how to deal with that, so he hides that side of himself away.

3. He is super manipulative, but in the kindest way possible. Most of the time, he manipulates by capitalising on people's false assumptions.

4. For me, an important thing about Fraser was the idea that he survived being alone very well, that he could manage, that he enjoyed it to a point, but that he did feel lonely. There was quite a lot of debate at one point about Fraser being introverted and therefore not feeling lonely as a result, and I was always on the side that, sure, he's introverted, but that this doesn't automatically mean he could never feel alone. This is why the two Rays were always so vital.

5. Duty, loyalty, and 'the right thing'. You don't have them, you don't have Fraser.

Farscape? Ooh, Chiana!

Oh man, why did I offer Farscape? It's been so long since I saw it. These are all super vague, because I only remember how I felt about Chiana, I don't actually remember much about her at all. I sense I need to rewatch, like, now.

1. A large part of what makes Chiana Chiana is her physicality. Her movement is a reflection of her emotions, her thoughts, her soul.

2. Her survival instinct is one of the strongest I've ever seen in a character.

3. This links with 2 --- it isn't selfishness, but it looks a lot like it. Chiana can and will form close, loyal bonds with others under the right circumstances, but part of her is always watching out for her.

4. Possibly the brightest character ever to set foot on Moya, and yet so, so dumb.

5. Sex is just sex, nothing more, nothing less. She has no idea why others try to conceptualise and analyse it. It's fun, it's messy, and that's all there is to it.

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes ♥

And a special big yes to #4. Introverted people may recharge their batteries better in solitude than by going to a party, but they* can be lonely just the same as anyone else.

*And by 'they', I mean we.

♥ Yes!

Arthur Pendragon

1. Arthur is often wilfully ignorant on all kinds of things; Merlin's magic, his father's rubbish ruling, the fact he gets knocked out ridiculous amounts and somehow can still function.

2. The key to getting Arthur's voice is having him be as condescending and patronising as possible towards Merlin and polite but respectfully distant to most others.

3. As he grows older, Arthur may appear to think he's superior to everyone, but he actually doesn't, when it comes down to it. He makes a show of seeming so as it's what's expected, but for the most part, his crown is heavy and he thinks he should really be treated just as any other man.

4. One of Arthur's greatest enemies is himself.

5. Ordinarily I wouldn't want to put something that relates to another character here, but for me, this is absolutely fundamental to how I view Arthur: Arthur fell in love with Merlin the first moment they met. It can be viewed as platonic, perhaps it even should be, but that doesn't lessen its strength. Merlin was the first person (barring Morgana --- and she's a special case, that was sibling rivalry) to ever challenge him, and he needs that. It is his relationship with Merlin that has helped him grow.