Opposites, part 1
Jan. 11th, 2005 10:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
camwynThe latest question on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
theatrical_muse is 'what would a description of your exact opposite be like?'. Both my muses, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sgt_preston and bastard_john. The Sergeant refused to go very far with his on the grounds that he didn't want to seem like he was bragging, and John merely pointed at Preston and said 'him, right there'. I'm not really satisfied with either answer, though…
See, John pinged Preston because he didn't especially want to do the mental digging necessary to unearth his opposite. That requires a certain level of self-knowledge that I don't think he's comfortable with as a character. I'll agree that yeah, on the surface it looks like the two muses are each other's opposites, but that's not entirely true.
John's opposite, to begin with, would have to be an idealist. John might've been something not unlike an idealist once, but he's been so badly burned along the way that in his mind the only thing ideals are, any more, is a source of resentment. His opposite would have to have ideals and embrace them wholeheartedly, without the slightest bit of hesitation, cynicism, or fear.
John's opposite would not be a believer, of any kind. I cast Preston as a Methodist largely because it was plausible for someone born in his part of Canada in the late 1800s to be so, especially someone who wound up with a demonstrated general disapproval of drinking and gambling but no inclination to forbid them entirely. John said he's not a believer because 'I know, and what I know precludes belief', but that's not really the opposite of belief. That's still the voice of contact with a belief system, whether he embraces it or not. John's opposite would have no faith of any kind, or bother to abjure such faith, in any religious system. John's opposite would not even be interested in magic, religion, or the supernatural.
John's opposite would be mentally healthy. This might be the result of not having fiddled with magic, not ending up in Ravenscar, what have you- it doesn't matter. John is seriously messed up in the head. His opposite would not be.
John's opposite would also be physically healthy. If John's opposite smoked, there wouldn't be the slightest sign of lung cancer or other nicotine damage anywhere. John's opposite certainly wouldn't indulge in intoxicants or other forms of recreational pharmaceuticals. John's opposite would value clarity of mind over interesting mental state regardless of the circumstances.
John's opposite would be self-sufficient. Oh, John's a loner often enough, but that's largely by choice; he could never in a million years get along without other people. He has a network of sometime allies and people he can call on for mundane things. The same network can also be tapped for matters magical as need be. Quite a lot of John's magic requires summoning things to do his bidding, too, since he hasn't got Zatanna's or Tim Hunter's innate power. John's opposite, while perfectly capable of interacting with and working with others, would be almost infinitely more capable of acting alone.
John's opposite would be creative. Aside from maybe his days in Mucous Membrane, I don't think John's actually created anything on his own- oh, sure, he spun off his nasty bits into a separate being, but that's not the same. That was reshaping what was already there. I'm not sure how many ideas John comes up with on his own, but for the most part he seems to focus either on alteration or destruction.
John's opposite would not be English. Probably John's opposite would be American, but other young, democratic countries are also possible.
John's opposite would be clear-minded, level-headed, and not taken in by trickery. His opposite would be honest, almost painfully so.
John's opposite would not be plagued by pain, or hate, or fear- all of which have blazed their paths across John's soul.
John's opposite would not be deceived by either romantic nonsense or cynical 'wisdom' when it came to relationships between the sexes. All of John's opposite's relationships would be based on truth and understanding, not on lies and hopes and fears and assumptions. John's opposite would probably have a very small romantic history, culminating in a single long-term relationship, and all partings from romantic partners would be good ones (or at least bearable).
John's opposite, in fact, exists. Maybe only in fiction, but John's opposite exists.
John Constantine's opposite is John Galt.
(All right all right, if you insist on his opposite also being of the opposite sex, then it's Dagny Taggart. But I'm much more inclined to say it's John Galt.)
theatrical_muse is 'what would a description of your exact opposite be like?'. Both my muses, sgt_preston and bastard_john. The Sergeant refused to go very far with his on the grounds that he didn't want to seem like he was bragging, and John merely pointed at Preston and said 'him, right there'. I'm not really satisfied with either answer, though…See, John pinged Preston because he didn't especially want to do the mental digging necessary to unearth his opposite. That requires a certain level of self-knowledge that I don't think he's comfortable with as a character. I'll agree that yeah, on the surface it looks like the two muses are each other's opposites, but that's not entirely true.
John's opposite, to begin with, would have to be an idealist. John might've been something not unlike an idealist once, but he's been so badly burned along the way that in his mind the only thing ideals are, any more, is a source of resentment. His opposite would have to have ideals and embrace them wholeheartedly, without the slightest bit of hesitation, cynicism, or fear.
John's opposite would not be a believer, of any kind. I cast Preston as a Methodist largely because it was plausible for someone born in his part of Canada in the late 1800s to be so, especially someone who wound up with a demonstrated general disapproval of drinking and gambling but no inclination to forbid them entirely. John said he's not a believer because 'I know, and what I know precludes belief', but that's not really the opposite of belief. That's still the voice of contact with a belief system, whether he embraces it or not. John's opposite would have no faith of any kind, or bother to abjure such faith, in any religious system. John's opposite would not even be interested in magic, religion, or the supernatural.
John's opposite would be mentally healthy. This might be the result of not having fiddled with magic, not ending up in Ravenscar, what have you- it doesn't matter. John is seriously messed up in the head. His opposite would not be.
John's opposite would also be physically healthy. If John's opposite smoked, there wouldn't be the slightest sign of lung cancer or other nicotine damage anywhere. John's opposite certainly wouldn't indulge in intoxicants or other forms of recreational pharmaceuticals. John's opposite would value clarity of mind over interesting mental state regardless of the circumstances.
John's opposite would be self-sufficient. Oh, John's a loner often enough, but that's largely by choice; he could never in a million years get along without other people. He has a network of sometime allies and people he can call on for mundane things. The same network can also be tapped for matters magical as need be. Quite a lot of John's magic requires summoning things to do his bidding, too, since he hasn't got Zatanna's or Tim Hunter's innate power. John's opposite, while perfectly capable of interacting with and working with others, would be almost infinitely more capable of acting alone.
John's opposite would be creative. Aside from maybe his days in Mucous Membrane, I don't think John's actually created anything on his own- oh, sure, he spun off his nasty bits into a separate being, but that's not the same. That was reshaping what was already there. I'm not sure how many ideas John comes up with on his own, but for the most part he seems to focus either on alteration or destruction.
John's opposite would not be English. Probably John's opposite would be American, but other young, democratic countries are also possible.
John's opposite would be clear-minded, level-headed, and not taken in by trickery. His opposite would be honest, almost painfully so.
John's opposite would not be plagued by pain, or hate, or fear- all of which have blazed their paths across John's soul.
John's opposite would not be deceived by either romantic nonsense or cynical 'wisdom' when it came to relationships between the sexes. All of John's opposite's relationships would be based on truth and understanding, not on lies and hopes and fears and assumptions. John's opposite would probably have a very small romantic history, culminating in a single long-term relationship, and all partings from romantic partners would be good ones (or at least bearable).
John's opposite, in fact, exists. Maybe only in fiction, but John's opposite exists.
John Constantine's opposite is John Galt.
(All right all right, if you insist on his opposite also being of the opposite sex, then it's Dagny Taggart. But I'm much more inclined to say it's John Galt.)
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no subject
Date: 2005-01-11 08:57 pm (UTC)That would make for a very interesting crossover story, wouldn't it.
(on that note - I recently re-read the first chapters of H:H, and now I'm really really looking forward to the next one. Soon? Please? I know you have a life and all...)
no subject
Date: 2005-01-11 09:01 pm (UTC)I don't even know how you go about crossing the two universes over, though. Atlas Shrugged and Hellblazer, I mean. The first basic postulate of any given Ayn Rand universe is that the supernatural doesn't exist. One of the most basic postulates of Hellblazer is that it does. Unless you want to go with the theory that 'someone who time travels enough and makes enough dinky changes eventually finds that he's changed his way into a universe where time travel is completely impossible', and have John accidentally magic himself into a world of no magic at all, I don't see how to make the premises work together. And we are talking about me here.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-11 09:47 pm (UTC)I have to say reading Atlas Shrugged really did change my views to a degree, although she is a bit too, well, objective for me overall. I did go on and read her other novels though.
Maybe John Galt could find himself in a world OF magic...no, you're right. Wouldn't work.