Ring Around the Rose: Characters

We are back with another rousing game of Ring Around the Rose!  Here is a list of the other blogs that I know of that are participating in our little game of tag/ring around the rosie:Kaycee at The Pink CaveSavannah at Savannah Jay's WorkshopDorian at Dorian WritesHayden at The Story GirlHeidi at Along the BrandywineIf you'd like to play, please feel free to do so! You can write a blog post or just answer in the comments, whichever you prefer. If you do write a blog post, let us know so we can come read it, and feel free to use the lovely banner!If you could meet your favorite literary character, who would it be?Super tough, and I REALLY can't keep it to just one. So, instead, I'm going to give you the run-down on my top favorite characters I'd love to hang out with in the middle of their stories. Kaycee raised an interesting point earlier this week in her post about awkward conversations... so I'd definitely want to meet them before or during their adventures... not after they were all over. I think it's safe to say that I'd rather meet any of these characters in the midst of their quest... adventure... things.... and not just for coffee afterwards. Partially because coffee = BLECH and partially because I'm really, really, really bad at small talk and I try to avoid socially awkward situations as much as possible. Let's just go DO something!There's Haplo from Margaret Weis/Tracy Hickman's "The Death Gate Cycle." I think this was one of the very first fantasy series I read independently, and to this day Haplo remains one of my all-time favorite fantasy heroes. I'd love to follow him around on his adventures.Han Solo from any of the Star Wars EU books. Who wouldn't want to hang out with Han and go diving through an asteroid field? He'd probably give me a heart attack now and again with his stunts, but I'd be pretty confident we were always going to come out of it okay.Princess Cimorene from Patricia C. Wrede's "The Enchanted Forest Chronicles." She's just so pragmatic and matter-of-fact, I would love to hang out with her and become best friends.Rose Red from Anne Elisabeth Stengl's "Tales of Goldstone Wood," okay, really, just about any of her characters - they're all such fun! (Though I'm sure hanging out with Eanrin would drive me mental - or just keep me laughing hysterically. It's always such a fine line between those two reactions...)Kamarie from my own "Minstrel's Song" - we would go horse back riding and get into all sorts of mischief, I'm sure. Actually, Kamarie would probably be my first choice. I love her dearly, but I figured picking her might be cheating.Meg from "A Wrinkle in Time" - because I just love her.Lucy from "The Chronicles of Narnia." Who wouldn't want to explore Narnia with Lucy? Really. Then Savannah mentioned Aslan... oh, Aslan!Any of the characters from The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. But especially Eomer, Sam, and Bilbo.I think it would be fun to ride along with Harry Dresden on a case, but it might also be a bit terrifying.To swashbuckle with Westley as the Dread Pirate Roberts... to tease Taran while giggling with Eilonwy... to sip tea with Sophie or go on adventures with Chrestomanci... to sit on the veranda of The Place with Lad resting near my feet, content to let me pet him...And this, dear Reader, is why I reread books, to spend time with these characters, to "meet" them over and over again. I cannot choose just one. "I could sooner choose a favorite star in the heavens..." - Ever AfterBut really, Helen Keller said it best: "In a word, literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet discourse of my book-friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness. The things I have learned and the things I have been taught seem of ridiculously little importance compared with their 'large loves and heavenly charities.'"That's why I read.Yeah, I can't pick just one...Who would you want to spend a day with, if you could hang out with any literary character?Make sure you swing by Dorian's blog tomorrow to read her answers!