Hi, friends!
I've already listed out all the books I read in 2025 and all the movies I watched in 2025, but it isn't enough to just say them, I want to talk about the characters.
I know, I know, I should stop talking about 2025 and just move on with the new year. The thing is, though, that I experienced about 100 different stories last year, from words on a page to people on a screen! One doesn't just get over that.
With the recent announcement of the Oscar nominees for this year, I'm in the mood to give out some awards myself. Therefore, I'm going to fill out the Smashing & Dashing 2025 Character Awards! Credit to C. G. Drews of PaperFury for creating the tag ages ago, and to Katie Hanna and Sarah Seele for always reminding me about it. Their posts are awesome, you seriously need to check them out. I'm just a copycat.
But me being me (i.e. too obsessed with a visual format), I'm going to be including characters from movies and TV shows, so each question will get a book answer and a movie/TV show answer.
Additionally, I'm going to try to only use each story once as I have a ton to choose from. Wish me luck!
Just because I'm talking about these characters does not mean that I like the stories they are from, but they should get props all the same. Let's get into it!
Book: Harriet Manners from Geek Girl. I'd related to her in the TV show, and this year I related to her just as much in the book. I want to read the rest of the series ASAP. She's awkward but adorable and I want to strive to have her compassion.
Movie/TV show: Maomao from The Apothecary Diaries. She's just wants to do her job and experiment with poisons and not be bothered by people. I'm not into poisons, but there were so many times that I felt what she was feeling, especially when Jinshi is trying to be sparkly and flirty and Maomao has her priorities in a different place.
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| #notimpressed |
Book: Paganini, who is a rabbit, from the Vanderbeekers books! Those kiddos also have a sweet, sweet dog, but I can't think of his name right now.
Movie/TV show: This has made me realize how few animals I see in movies and that makes me sad. The cow from The Rare Breed (1966) is pretty stinking cute. His name is Vindicator, which doesn't quite live up to how adorable he is, but that's fine. The poor guy has been dragged all over the place, from England to the Wild West!
Book: Agatha from The School for Good and Evil. She and her best friend Sophie are stuck in a magical school and Aggie will stop at nothing until they're out of there, and she has tons of obstacles to face, like Sophie herself.
Movie/TV show: Evelyn from Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). If you've seen the film I don't think any explanation is needed. If you haven't, just know that Evelyn is facing both physical and emotional battles.
4. Am Surprised That I Loved You??
Book: Lord Peter Whimsey from Gaudy Night. I'd read Whose Body? a couple of years ago and did not like Peter. Here, I had several times where I was cheering for him. He'd mellowed and had a deeper side and we met his nephew which explained a lot.
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| Source |
Movie/TV show: Mary Yellan from Jamaica Inn (1939). This is surprising because I'm not usually a fan of her Maureen O'Hara's acting, but I sympathized with her immediately (debut for the win!) because she's just trying to find a new home and instead immediately gets thrown into conspiracies.
Book: Hercule Poirot from The Early Cases of Hercule Poirot. I already talked about this, but he says such cutting things to Hastings and I love it. I should've written down more of what he said because at least once per story he had me giggling.
Movie/TV show: Myeol-mang/Kim Sa-ram from Doom at Your Service (2021). ACK. I LOVE my sassy boy. I mean with iconic blue/green hair the sass has to live up to the look. He's the personification of doom itself, and has been nihilistic for a while until he found someone to bother. Then the sass comes out full force when he's in front of Dong-kyung. For example, he can hear peoples thoughts and the first time we see him, someone has bumped into him and thought, "wow, he's handsome" which Sa-ram immediately answers out-loud with "I know."
And now my computer dashboard is covered in gifs of him that I don't know what to do with, so another one is going into this post. It's the only rational thing to do.
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| That sassy smirk! |
Book: André-Louis from Scaramouche. He does some heroic things, but the term might fit him because he doesn't believe what he's saying, he's just using a means to an end? I already compared him to Anne Elliot, so check out that post for more about him.
Movie/TV show: Charlie Babbitt from Rain Man (1988). He's a jerk, he's selfish, he's greedy, and to top it all off he's kidnapped his brother. Then he grows and goes through some character development and does unexpected things so that I was cheering for him.
Book: Betsy and Tacy. Tacy is bashful (sorry, I will never get over that being the one word used to describe her) but not around Betsy! They trust each other and will do anything for each other. Even skipping school, kind of.
Movie/TV show: My dudes Arjun, Kabir, and Imran from Zindagi na Milegi Dobara (2011)! They have their issues (especially two of them have beef with each other) but they work through it (with Kabir's help of being the peacemaker) and I love them.
8. Best Villain To Hate
Book: The Snow Queen from Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy! She is horrible to the sweet Marvelous Boy and I just want to keep him safe.
Movie/TV show: Velma Von Tussle from Hairspray (2007). She's HORRIBLE. Yes, I guess the word I use to describe villains is horrible as I've used it for both these gals, but it's true!
I don't really read enough YA to say, so we're just going with parents in general. And having four seems like a lot, so I'll have one from a movie/show and one from a book.
Best: (Book) Peter and Kira from Beartown. This book in and of itself can capture such a spectrum from best to worst for parenting, and in addition to being amazing parents, Peter and Kira are now one of my favorite couples of all time. They go through absolutely horrible things and have to figure out how to keep their family together and how to feel whole again.
Worst: (Movie/TV show) Do Min-Ik's mother from The Secret Life of My Secretary (2019). Her son isn't really her son, but he loves her and they act like they are related and all Min-Ik wants in life is to be loved by her. Early on there's this moment where the mother is telling him who he should date (for mergers in the company) and he asks, "If I do this, will you accept me as your own?" and she callously replies: "Her family will, at least." CRUEL.
Book: I'm really struggling with this one, now that I've already used Peter and Kira. But they don't even really qualify as a ship because they got together long before the book started.
Aaaaaaaaaand, I've got nothing that I haven't already used, which is pretty sad. But, I do complain every time I read romances, so maybe it should be expected. I have to dip into my rereads from last year, so in that case it would be my All the Crooked Saints couples. Forever and ever, Beatriz and Pete. Forever and ever, Marisita and Daniel. *hugs them*
Movie/TV show: Let's see how many times I can get away with talking about k-dramas...I'm giving this award to my DARLING Woo Young-Woo and Lee Jun-ho from Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022). Just thinking about them I want to CRY because it's the cutest of all cute things and ACK. I can't. I watched most of this series in 2024, but in the three episodes that I watched in 2025 I cried several times just looking at Jun-ho's face. Real, body shaking, sobbing, tears.
Find yourself a person who will listen to you talk as much as Jun-ho will listen to Young-Woo talk about whales.
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| SOULMATES |
Book: Poppet and Widget from The Night Circus! I ADORE these twins and would do anything for them. They have premonitions that make them worried and it makes me say OH BABIES and just want to feed them hot chocolate and treats and keep them away from it all.
Movie/TV show: Pugsley Addams from Wednesday is a sweetie and I need him to be more careful because as it is, he doesn't think things through. He himself may not be the most precious from everything I watched, but he's definitely the one who most needs to be protected. HE JUST WANTS A FRIEND. And baby doesn't realize that a zombie is not an ideal friend. I want him and Agnes to become BFFs. Is that too much to ask? And she's got her head on her shoulders better than he does, so she can help protect him, too.
Book: Sophie Foster from Legacy, book 8 of Keeper of the Lost Cities. The girl just goes through a lot, and it's amazing that she's made it this far, what with multiple near-death experiences in every book. Book 10 hasn't come out yet, so I can still be worried for her.
Movie/TV Show: Barry Allen from The Flash. I'm only 2 seasons in with 7 to go and I have no clue how Barry has lasted this long. I get it, he has supernatural recuperation skills, but dude. He basically breaks bones every day of his life and I just feel bad for the poor guy. And I'm fairly sure it's just going to get worse as the seasons go on.
Book: Poor Zoey from The Forgotten Magic of Zoey Turner. I relate to her, she's really trying to make her life better, but she does that in ways that hurt other people. She just needs a hug and a cupcake and someone to read her stories.
Movie/TV show: All of the characters in The Mummy (1999). I feel like banging my head against a sarcophagus watching them do things that they were told not to do. Like going back to the creepy haunted place. Or leaving each other alone when they are being hunted by supernatural beings. Come on, guys!
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| This was a valid reaction, though. |
14. Most In Need Of A Nap
Book: Poly from Spindle. I know, she's been asleep for a couple of hundred years, but that wasn't good sleep. And besides, I get tired just reading about whatever Luck is doing without explanations, so I can only imagine being around him would want me to have a nap, too.
Movie/TV show: Brian from The Breakfast Club (1985). Poor baby is just trying to get good grades and escape from the pressure and is instead put into detention. And made to do all the work, which is totally unfair.
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| Honey, if you drink that Coke you won't be able to take a nap. |
Book: I want more of all of the stories in The Chronicles of Harris Burdick. More new stories, continuations to the old stories, all of it.
Movie/TV show: This is going to be a hot take, but I wanted more of Roger's mother, Mrs. Thornhill in North by Northwest (1959). I was vibing with that movie at the beginning when it was Roger trying to prove to his mother that he's not crazy and I wanted that to be the whole movie. I don't need Eve or anyone else, I wanted just the two Thornhills on a wild adventure.
And with that, the awards have all been given out! Do you know any of these characters? How well do you think they deserve these awards? How would you describe best villains? Any one have any good k-drama suggestions (I just finished a new one and I need help)? Who are your favorite sassy characters?
Thank you for reading!
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