I was challenged by SGMijumaru to talk about my favorite characters from my own books. Actually, the name of the challenge was different, but I didn't care for it. Also, it looks like I'm supposed to list off my top five characters in reverse order, and I'm not going to do that either. What can I say? I'm a bit of a nonconformist.

In the spirit of the challenge, I'm going to be sharing about all of the characters I love writing about from my books on Wattpad. They're not going to be in order because I would feel so bad for the characters that didn't make the top. That's also the reason why I'm going to include as many as I feel like -- I can't bear to leave good characters out! Yes, I know these characters are fictional. They live inside my head, ok?

Anyway, since I'm going to be sharing characters from a few different books and discussing aspects of them that may have only been revealed near the endings, there will be spoilers ahead. Especially consider yourself warned if you haven't read to the end of The Girl with the Chikorita. Thank you! This has been your public service announcement for the day.

* My version of Delia Ketchum (Pokémon Rewritten) *

Easily my favorite character to write (at least so far) of Pokémon Rewritten. Delia definitely has a mature, adult perspective that I find to be both refreshing and emotionally resonant. While writing her, I've definitely gotten the sense that some of my readers might not connect with her so easily because of that, but I find myself enjoying rewriting the Pokémon anime in a way that could appeal to adults, regardless of whether or not there are any reading Pokémon fanfiction on Wattpad.

I love Delia's emotions and the way she handles them. They're often very strong, and she's not afraid to show them, even through tears. I enjoying promoting the idea that a "strong female character" doesn't have to be less like the traditional idea of a woman. She doesn't have to be less emotional. She can be a mother whose family is the most important thing to her. She can spend most of her day cooking. She can even give up on her chance of becoming a great Pokémon trainer (the world's idea of success) in order to raise her son. Ultimately, it's about why she makes the choices that she does and especially about the fact that she does the right thing in spite of great difficulty. Allowing those powerful emotions to shape her while also overcoming them when necessary is just one example of that.

I love challenging the simplistic view of "Ash's mom" shown in the original anime as well as challenging ideas about women both in the real world and as characters. I also personally connect with her in some ways that make me feel attached. I've got some great ideas for where she'll end up going as the story continues to unfold.

* Mary Ann (The Girl with the Chikorita) *

Mary Ann is a character who started from a really awesome concept. For a long time before I started the sequel to Getting Out of Fuchsia, I had an idea bouncing around in my mind of a character who could use sign language to speak to Pokémon. The notion that a Pokémon could speak in sign language arose quite naturally from my chosen worldview vis-à-vis Pokémon -- creatures with all of the intelligence of a human but merely limited vocal ability. It only made sense that they would be able to communicate through gestures and even through sign language as we know it if they happened to possess humanoid hands. Hypno is one such Pokémon, possessing five beautiful fingers on each hand.

I had been falling in love with my ideas for psychic Pokémon trainers, based partially on my memories of Sabrina from the anime and partially from the games themselves, which portray psychic trainers levitating pokéballs and performing other feats. That makes for some awesome abilities as well as the awesome depth that comes from being able to connect with your Pokémon on a telepathic level.

And I love that a character who has so much awesomeness is really sweet and humble about the whole thing.

In truth, there's a lot about Mary Ann that I never truly got a chance to showcase in The Girl with the Chikorita, partially because of the way I wrote it but mostly due to point of view constraints. I was bound to report only what the first person narrator knew and saw, and there was a lot she didn't notice about Mary Ann and even more that she was simply unable to understand.

Of course, that did also prove fun for me in its own way. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed writing about what seemed to be a budding romance from the perspective of a character who was both taken completely by surprise and then absolutely mystified by the entire affair.

* My version of Sabrina (The Girl with the Chikorita) *

Another character from the anime, this one was chosen because I have so much fun writing my version of her. The episodes from the original anime that featured her had some of the biggest impacts on me of any from the entire series, and I love being able to take that and blend it into something of my own.

Sabrina is awesome, there's just no other way to put it. With psychic powers like no other, crazy intelligence, and just the right amount of strangeness and mysteriousness mixed in, she makes for a very unique character.

I love being able to write her dialogue in a formal style with a hint of mystery. I also like noting all her little mannerisms and quirks. Of course, writing about levitation and teleporting and prophesying the future are obviously fun as well! 

* Chica (Getting Out of Fuchsia, The Girl with the Chikorita, and Chica's Story) *

Chica is another character that I enjoy writing about and another one that I feel a connection to. That stretches all the way back to my childhood of watching the Johto series of the anime. The character actually stretches all the way back to that time as well (which explains the name -- it's a sentimental nod to the past). All I did was put her in the story with my main character.

To be sure, I have expanded certain aspects, the most notable example being the way that her scent is tied to her emotions. For the most part, though, she's just a beloved character.

* Elliot (Getting Out of Fuchsia and The Girl with the Chikorita) *

Ah, Elliot. This character falls very solidly into the "so much fun to write" camp. I've already shared in the afterword to The Girl with the Chikorita how his character came to be and why I decided to keep him around. Any character who redirects the course of an entire book series the way he did must be one the author really likes.

I like Elliot's humor (intentional or otherwise), his excitement, and his passion. The main character has a penchant for belittling his intelligence -- and sometimes he does do quite funny things because he isn't thinking properly -- but she really does tend to underestimate him. The real secret, which I'm not sure that readers have picked up on, is that Elliot is not unusually stupid at all. The main character is the one who is unusually intelligent. She just puts other people down instead of recognizing the great things in herself.

Elliot is a sixteen year old teenager who's mature in some ways, immature in others, and doesn't have everything figured out yet. I think that's normal, but you don't always see it in a world where canon says that ten year olds are completely independent and even frequently capable of shouldering gargantuan, world-saving responsibilities. I enjoy showing an age difference between Elliot and my main character, and I also enjoy showing the ways that he can sometimes surprise you -- because any truth applied too broadly and simplistically can act like a stereotype. Real people don't always meet your expectations. Real people are complex, and I enjoy showing that with characters like Elliot.

I also enjoy making fun of him. XD

* The Character Usually Referred to as The Girl with the Chikorita (Getting Out of Fuchsia and The Girl with the Chikorita) *

The main character with no official name, the first person narrator of my two best known works on Wattpad was obviously going to show up on this list eventually. You don't just write two whole books from a character's perspective if you don't consider them to be a favorite.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about the character from the beginning was her voice, the way she described her world with something approaching admiration and wonder while simultaneously poking fun at it. When Elliot joined the story, I also came to enjoy her conversations with him, which have been among my best experiences as a writer. I often find myself completely wrapped up in them -- I hear their voices in my head, each one responding right where the other one left off, and I just sit at my computer and transcribe it all.

I also like her emotional and psychological complexity. I really enjoy writing about her inner conflicts more than just about all of the external conflicts like battle scenes. There's so much to explore, and I'm certainly not finished yet.

As a point of view character, I have to say that I also like my decision to use her as someone who originally came from our world as opposed to the Pokémon world. It really lends her a unique perspective that a native wouldn't have that allows her both to explain things using real world terms and concepts (which a native character couldn't realistically do) and to recognize everything in the world around her that is strange or ridiculous or, on the opposite end, amazing and incredible.

I also enjoy the way her weaknesses and limitations allow me to use irony, and, conversely, I enjoy writing the story in a way that throws light upon those limitations at just the right times. I have a much deeper connection to a character who isn't perfect and really struggles at times with issues that run deep and seem nearly impossible to overcome.

She really has so much complexity that I could go on like this for much longer, but I will also mention that I take personal enjoyment from putting focus on her as a solitary character and making it (hopefully) impossible to throw her into different ships. I should make it clear that I didn't force her identity on her for that purpose -- it's just the way I imagined her from the beginning, and it continues to seem only natural for her -- but I do enjoy writing it. I should also say that shipping isn't necessarily bad, but I do think that romantic relationships are far too overemphasized in our culture as a whole. And, as I personally find it easier and more pleasant to identify with characters not involved in a romantic relationship, I tend to hope some others might as well. To all the die-hard shippers, I say, please, give us at least one.

Conclusion

I'm going to stop there, unless I wake up tomorrow morning and find that I neglected some character or other that I can't believe that I left out. I think I've covered all the major ones, at least from my books on Wattpad. If I did this exercise for everything I've ever written, I don't know how I'd ever find the end of it.

Anyway, I challenge Risa-White and VanillaWind and ChronaLilly ? I don't really care if you don't do it, though.