Top Five Characters I Want as My Best Friend

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“It is not enough to be friendly. You have to be a friend.” – Wonder, R.J. Palacio

Top Five Tuesday is hosted by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm. I love this theme and I tried to be as realistic as possible when it came to this list. Sure, I might admire a character… but simply from afar, because I know that I wouldn’t want anything more than that with certain characters. As you will see, I place much importance on a good degree of sociability, warmth, FUN, openness to new experiences (but grounded too), and loyalty. But, most importantly, being an actual friend and being courageous. You can have the mind and heart of a Ravenclaw/Slytherin/Hufflepuff, but you must have the spirit of a Gryffindor.

  1. Chris Chambers – The Body by Stephen King

chris chambers

Hands down, no competition. If you haven’t read the book, then you must have seen the film (Stand By Me) at the very least, I’m hoping. Chris Chambers is the embodiment of what a friend should be. When Teddy stands on the train track waiting to dodge the train, he very rightly tells him to stop being stupid and get off it before he kills himself. When Gordie is worried about being weird, Chris tells him that everybody is weird. When Gordie wants to drop his classes, Chris tells him he’d be idiotic to throw away such an important opportunity, tells him that he has a gift for writing and that he should pursue it no matter what anybody thinks. He’s there for his friends, he has a big heart and he is a straight-shooter to boot.

And, you know what? The same applies for Gordie, he stands up for Chris when Ace threatens them, he tells Chris he is more than the bad reputation of his family and he is capable of so much more, and he comforts Chris when he cries. If I had to recommend a film to propel our feminist movement and highlight how we embrace and strive to dismantle the stigma of “men do not cry” then this is the right film. This book, this film and these characters especially Chris and Gordie taught me what it really means to be a friend.

I, also, want to add that personally, I believe the whole “Oh, my God, I’m so much weirder than everybody else” is a whole load of nonsense. There aren’t degrees of weirdness, there’s just different types of weirdness and you just gotta find the ones who are on the same level of weird as you.

  1. Elinor Dashwood – Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

elinor dashwood

Steady, mature, calm, logical and fairly sociable, there’s no Jane Austen heroine I admired more than Elinor Dashwood. I literally read the pages in awe and with a huge smile on my face. Elinor is very much like Professor McGonagall and her quiet strength and levelheadedness would be a perfect balance to my Marianne-ness. Realistically, she is also the kind of people I naturally gravitate towards in life, so that helps too!

  1. Ginny Weasley – Harry Potter series

ginny weasley

What I love about Ginny is that she is so straightforward and for a classic overthinker (and sometimes an underthinker) like myself, I know that I wouldn’t have to overthink around Ginny. Yes, sure, she can be mean, but my girl never pretended to be morally and righteously superior to others and personally, teasing people is my way of showing affection and so me and Ginny basically share the same love language. Also, I usually don’t understand sarcasm, but I understand Ginny’s (and Chandler’s) and sharing the same sense of humour is a must. And she’s much more understanding than she’s made out to not be, as we saw when Harry was raging and Ginny listened and then she gave her opinion and thoughts on the issue. And she plays sports. Now I love obstacle courses in particular, so we would actually share common interests, and I could definitely see myself going to Go Ape with Ginny. Plus, I could attend parties with her.

Yes, I would actually enjoy being friends with Ginny. I would have fun. Side note, my friend went to the same university as Bonnie Wright and often found her in the library! How cool?

  1. Louisa Clark – Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

me before you

Louisa is a big ball of fun, warmth and compassion. But the icing on the cake for me is that despite her initial stubborn hold on her beloved traditions and comfortable ways, she slowly begins to embrace new experiences and new ways of thinking after meeting Will. Can you imagine all the fun me and Louisa could have? It’d be a great balance of the new and the old with our friendship and would make for interesting and exciting conversations! It would be a very well-rounded friendship.

  1. Violet Markey – All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

We Heart It

Even the coldest heart would be pierced by Violet’s warmth. She is understanding, compassionate, intelligent and it’s hard to explain, but I absolutely loved her. She is such a strong, mature and loving person, and it takes a lot of courage to be there for someone even in the most difficult of times and plenty would have fled, but Violet? Finch taught her to live again, and damn it, she would be try to do it for him too. She is a friend, a true friend.

Notable mentions:

Queen Sansa Stark, Jaime Lannister, Davos Seaworth, Jon Snow – Game of Thrones || Melanie Hamilton – Gone With The Wind || Catherine Morland – Northanger Abbey || Fleur Delacour, Professor McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Luna Lovegood – Harry Potter series || Anne Eliot – Persuasion || Samwise Gamgee and Boromir – Lord of the Rings || Meg, Amy and Beth March – Little Women || Katniss Everdeen – The Hunger Games || Grover and Annabeth – Percy Jackson series || Hassan – The Kite Runner || Sam – Perks of Being a Wallflower

I found this quote from All the Bright Places in Goodreads (below) and also finally found my copy of the book which had been lost for a very long while. So, yep, very happy.

“Listen, I’m the freak. I’m the weirdo. I’m the troublemaker. I start fights. I let people down. Don’t make Finch mad, whatever you do. Oh, there he goes again, in one of his moods. Moody Finch. Angry Finch. Unpredictable Finch. Crazy Finch. But I’m not a compilation of symptoms. Not a casualty of shitty parents and an even shittier chemical makeup. Not a problem. Not a diagnosis. Not an illness. Not something to be rescued. I’m a person.”
I tried to make the most of Canva and it was really hard! My one (in the featured image) ended up looking so bare and plain, so Canva aficianado’s, please teach me your ways!

Who on my list do you like and why? Who else would you add to the list? Let me know in the comments!

Sopshki out.

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42 Comments

  2. I haven’t read The Body. I didn’t know the film, Stand By Me, was based on a book! And moreover, that book was written by Stephen King! I have never read his work but he’s my friend favorite author, so this might be a good opportunity to try it.
    I really can’t figure whether I like Chris or Gordie more. I know this is a very old movie but I’ve only watched it a few months ago. Our English teacher recommended it. This is weird but I just shipped those two, Chris and Gordie. They look so cute together! ❤️

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    1. The Shawshank Redemption alongside The Body are both in the same novella by Stephen King, they’re ridiculously short reads (it took me like an hour or so to finish it 😊). I’m sure she’ll love it, it’s quite different from the film but the same messages are there and weirdly, the book made me cry way more than the film. 💔

      Yay, I’m so glad you’ve watched it, your English teacher knows his stuff. 🙂 I completely agree, those two together is the stuff of true love, friendship and soulmates. They’re both such amazing friends, so much to learn from these two.

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  4. Nice job, Soph. In support of your statement, “the whole ‘Oh, my God, I’m so much weirder than everybody else’ is a whole load of nonsense” I offer this profound quote from Elizabeth Strout’s awesome Olive Kitteridge, one of my favorite books and favorite quotes: “And mentally, I don’t believe, really, that I am one bit more out of my head than any other creature here on earth.”

    As for your list of honorable mentions: How could you fail to include the noble, courageous, brilliant, humorous, and infinitely just Tyrion Lannister? I’m aghast! One of my favorite Tyrion quotes: “That’s what I do. I drink, and I know things.” Ha ha ha!

    Keep up the great work!

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    1. Exactly! We’re all mad here. Great quote, when I worked at Waterstones all the booksellers recommended Olive Kitteridge as a must read, so I need to read that one day, for sure.

      I absolutely love Tyrion but I fear we are far too alike, except he is so far above in intelligence, and we might have some squabbles because of that.

      Thank you. 🙂

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  5. Pingback: Top 5 characters I want as a best friend! – Bionic Book Worm

  9. Now that I’m a bit less immature I should probably try re-reading Sense and Sensibility. That was a huge failure when I was much younger. Reading Jane Austen made me want to cry tears of blood.
    Maybe I’m a bit smarter now 🙂

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  10. Elinor Dashwood and Lou Clark would be such great friends! (I also think Elinor would be a great friend for Lou.) And Jaime Lannister of course. I try not to judge my friends romantic choices but I think on that one I might have to wait until after the whole sister thing 🙂

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    1. Elinor would tell her the truth, for sure, but I also think just like Lou, Elinor is traditional and cautious of new experiences and you know what they say, opposites attract.
      True. Cersei needs to be gone first. But he’ll probably go too in the end – “we came into this world together, we’ll leave together.” 😢

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  11. Stand By Me makes me sob buckets of tears. I love that movie. I should read the short story…

    Lou!!! I would definitely be bffs with her. She’s so joyful and upbeat haha. Idk if I’d want to be friends with Violet though..

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  14. Oh, I am so with you on Ginny and Louisa Clark! Also, I wish I knew how many times I was shocked to find out Stand By Me was based on a Stephen King novel! But, I understand your answer of Chris. I feel like he’d be an amazing friend (based on his character from the movie at least)!

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    1. I know, right, who would have thought Stephen King, king of horror, would have written Stand By Me? And the Shawshank Redemption? I loved Chris in the book too, in both versions he’s so brave, outspoken, honest and caring. 🙂

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  15. I am so there with you about Chris Chambers!!! What a good freaking kid (and then adult and now I’m *gross sobbing). I would also love to be friends with Ginny (and Neville and Luna and Hagrid and Remus lol).

    Top Five Fictional Friends for me // Johnny Cade (and the whole gang) from The Outsiders (that’s a given), Claidi from The Claidi Journals by Tanith Lee (she’s so observant and adventurous and really grows and learns not to take sh*t from anyone), Eeyore (because I feel that lil stuffed donkey I do), Matilda (I mean a lot of it comes from movie!Matilda but I just love her and her bookworm-ness and her resilience), the crew from A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (I love them all but would especially love to hang out with Dr. Chef and eat everything he prepares and learn to make it and Sissix because she would be such a good listener)

    Awesome post!!

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    1. Even as a child he was such an excellent role model. 😭 I love your choices, also can you imagine how much Hagrid would feed you, especially cake? 😂

      I just looked up Johnny Cade and he seems adorable, he had me at puppy eyes. 💔 You gotta love a character who develops into a strong and outspoken woman, she’s giving me Sansa Stark vibes already. Poor Eeyore, he was just so unhappy but I loved his friendship with Tigger who for me is the most rebatable, such a beautiful case of opposites attract. 😭 MATILDA IS DOPE! The pranks she pulled on her dad were inspirational 😝 I don’t know many good listeners so I would like to be Sissix’s friend too, sign me up. 🙂

      And thank you ❤️

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  16. Honestly I’m pretty sure Fred, George, Luna and Hermione would be on my list!! Always and forever those 4!!!! 😂😂Haha too many exclamation marks… 🙂

    I’m pretty sure I’d add Annabeth and Clarrise from Percy Jackson and defiantly Elliot from Girl Online series! 💖C

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    1. Fred and George would be so much fun to hang around, Luna for interesting discussions and Hermione… erm, nah, that girl is too serious.

      Annabeth is cool, she’s very mature for someone her age and Clarisse would be great company! And I have no idea about Girl Online series, I think it’s Zoella but I don’t know, she’s never intrigued me.

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      1. Girl online is Zoella yeh I guess Hermione can be a little too serious but her seriousness can be extremely hilarious. I’ve always loved Annabeth and I developed a liking for Clarisse because of her Hot headedness if you get what I mean haha 🙂

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        1. I really liked Hermione in book 1 & 2 after I got over the frenzied nerdiness and by the end of Book one, I thought she was quite endearing. But after book 3, she just got worse and every book highlighted the many problematic things about Hermione. Whereas I hear Clarisse improves and Annabeth is already very mature, rational and open-minded.

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