DE: Who are you?

[bjornwilde]

 One last childhood themed topic, did your pup grow up to be whom they thought they'd be? For those who are normally kids, or youths, what did they want to grow to become?

Comments

[road_to_calvary]

Gene - yes. The epitome of it.

Banner - um. Well. To a point? And then it changed somewhat, when he did.

Wayne - no. And yes. And no. Alter-egos are weird when you're not living them.

Javert - oh good Lord, yes. Not what anyone else thought he'd be, mind you. He's rather proud of that.

Valjean - no. A thousand times, no. He grew up to be so much more than he was, and thinks so much less of himself.

[death_gone_mad]

No.

[sdelmonte]

Knox, Kirk, Gibbs and Howard Stark all say "hell, yes!" Each knew the path they wanted to be on from very early on, and all followed it. Something most of us can't say, but there is an advantage to being fictional.

Cy wanted to be a running back. Sports was going to be his way out of the ghetto. Though he was smart enough to know that he was too smart not to also get an education. So in some ways, being in college is fulfilling part of the dream. But he can't watch a football game without feeling a little wistful.

Charlie was aimless as a kid and as a teen. His only goal was getting out of the orphanage and living long enough to be an adult. He stumbled into journalism after dropping out of college. He's still like that.

[ever_lovin]

In the realm of I doubt I'll ever have time for it, wouldn't it be awesome if we set up a super powered football game in Milliways? Cy and Ben could draft other meta-humans and draft teams and stuff. Not sure if there are enough in their power set to field full teams though. Maybe a friendly game?

[sdelmonte]

Would be fun, but it took a lot to do a baseball game some years back.

[justdyedit]

That is my fear. My unrealistic self can't help picturing a pickup game with Ben, Cyc, Thor, Mark (Invincible), Diana and Red (Hellboy).

No flying unless yer catchin' a pass!

[justdyedit]

Jess - No, but then she didn't get much of a chance to come up with what she wanted to be.

Ben - Yes, but he became so much more.

Val - Pretty much. I am sure her father expected more but then he's Doom.

Hank - I don't know. Sort of. He's still hiding which I'd imagine he wouldn't have wanted as a kid but he is doing important work and helping to keep the world safe.

Thalia - Yes, though not as she expected. She's also never going to really grow up now.

Andrea - Yes, though the reality isn't what she thought.

Quinlan - No, but then no one really understands what it is to be a jedi except another jedi.

Anton - I doubt it but then again I don't know that he thought that far ahead. I'm not so sure he has much ambition to be honest, he sort of sails through life; except when he doesn't.

[camwyn]

Shephard, Mordin, Varric and Medic: yep.

Santo: well, he wanted to be an athlete or a hero or something like that as a kid, he wasn't sure exactly what- and then lucha happened, so more or less yes, he did.

Stacker: I'm not sure what he wanted to be as a kid. The possibility of a military career didn't enter his head until after he was twelve years old, which was the point when his father was murdered and young Stacker a) found the man who did it b) burned down the man's nightclub and c) attacked the man himself. I'm pretty sure marshal of the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps and retired giant combat robot pilot is rather a higher target than he'd had as a kid, though.

Gordon: He thought he did, since his canonical heroes were Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein and he got to become a serious theoretical physicist. Then the Black Mesa Incident happened and he turned out to have grown up into the frickin' Messiah with a crowbar. He had not expected that.

Ellen: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *wipes face* no.

[kd7sov]

...Iiiiii'mma just leave it at "Ha, no."

[street_sparrow]

Gavroche... never expected to be anything much, given his circumstances. Les Amis gave him hope of something better, which is part of why he died with/for them. And now he has all sorts of new horizons.

[varadia]

X did not in any way grow up to be what she thought. She wasn't a person for the entirely of her childhood and most of her young adulthood. She was a weapon, a thing for other people to use. And now she has friends, and a home, and she can make choices, and she can teach people things, and people like her! So. It's very much not where she thought she'd be at all. (But she's still a weapon.)

Nynaeve was pretty sure she'd be Wisdom her whole life. The signs were there early, she doesn't like being told what to do, and her parents sort of prepped her for independence. Then saidar happened, and Lan. So.

Raven has never grown up. Make of that what you will.

Galadan was supposed to be a bright, shining thing. Oops.

Michael grew herself up, so . . . . yes?

Sam probably wanted to be a footie player as a kid, but after his dad disappeared, definitely a copper.

Dean wanted to be a fireman. If you squint, hunting is kind of in the same neighborhood. Sam, however, has nothing that Dean wanted for him, dammit.

Wonder Woman pretty much grew up to be everything Diana wanted to be and is. So that worked out well!

[genarti]

Enjolras: lol 'grow up' Pretty much! I mean, he rather hoped to see a new republic come to fruition, or at least to die a martyr in a successful revolution. But any profession would always have been a means to an end.

Trowa: hahahaha no. I mean, he survived to adulthood, for one thing. He's not a soldier, for another. So no! He was interested in the circus as a kid, but didn't really see most things as options for himself.

River: another hahahahaha no, for very different reasons. She wanted to be a dancer! And a mathematician! (Honestly I'm pretty sure she spent most of her childhood confidently expecting to be able to juggle at least three full-time careers at once and retain free time, because HOW CAN YOU CHOOSE BETWEEN SUCH FUN THINGS.)

Regan: Sort of? Her general career track was kind of an option on the horizon always. But when she was little, she wanted to be a doctor. And/or a terraforming explorer.

Clare: hahaha. We'll go with 'yes,' I guess.

Thor: Yep! Prince, heir, badass warrior, all in the game plan. Some other things were not, of course, but they're not profession-related.

[gavin62truck]

A constant source of disappointment who's a (sort of) divorced alcoholic with PTSD and Issues up the wazoo? Oh, you mean if Tommy thought he'd grow up to be a fireman. Yes and no, I think.

Growing up in a family of firefighters, cops, and priests, there was always some pressure (whether implied, outright, or guilt-tripped) to becoming one of these three. For example Tommy's cousin Mickey was pretty much guilt-tripped by his mom and aunts to become a priest and he discovered later on that it really wasn't his calling. I think it must've been the same with Tommy to become a firefighter, since his dad, granddad, and uncles were firemen, and there was a tradition of there always being a Gavin in the FDNY. As a child, I think Tommy had his own ideas of what he wanted to be: a baseball player, a hockey player. But the reality (bad grades, middling skill) got in the way. His older cousin Jimmy was a lot more certain in his own goals, and Tommy followed his lead when he said he was going to become a firefighter.

So I think now, after twenty years in the service, he does believe he's doing exactly what he's meant to do, but he never thought his personal life would've gone to shit as it did.

[vance_prime]

*prolonged, bitter laughter*

[damncompass]

Joshua at first wanted to create something, and then wanted to discover something. He's definitely made his mark, so yes?

Helena didn't have much of an idea of who she wanted to be other than possibly not married to a drip. She's got that down quite well.

Valentine is still twelve and doesn't know what she wants to do with herself.

Fantine wanted to be a seamstress, which she's actually doing quite well currently.

[souffle_girlek]

Ace: ... nooo, but then again, as a kid, she didn't think she'd survive to be an adult, and if she did it'd be some kind of criminal sort.

Glorfindel: No, but the life he could have imagined for himself as an elfling is so much less than the reality, so it's not a bad thing.

Bones: ... Yes, but no? He pretty much always wanted to be a doctor, he just... kinda thought that he'd be a doctor on Earth, like a sane person.

Katya: If we're going pre-Other, heck no. She prefers the reality over the make-believe though. If we're going by what she thought she'd be once she became Other... other than not being able to shape-shift into a cool wolf, then yeah, she's pretty much that.

Haymitch: Nope. It'd take some kind of crazy-ass demented kid (or a Career) to want this life as a kid.

Balthazar: ... Yes but no. He was picked up by Merlin pretty young, so most of his 'when I grow up' thoughts have been that he'd be a sorcerer. He just... kinda thought he'd live and die within his own time frame. Dangit, Merlin.

Blakeney: Is living the dream. Well. He kinda always knew that (assuming he survived long enough) he'd be pushed into joining the Navy, that's a bit of a given with his family's status and his two older brothers. It was this, or something like lawyering, and he's no good with that sort of thing. This, however, suits him perfectly.

Oswin: ... No. No, so much no, we aren't even thinking about how much no. And yet.... yes. Plz see last season's finale.

Clara: Nope. Well, sorta, but more... Earth-based? And less constant threat of imminent death? Mmm. Also, last season's finale.

[mnt_mike]

Raph and Mike never thought they'd grow up to be Human.
Splinter never thought he'd live long enough to see his sons grow up at all.

Aang wanted to be a shepherd of sky bison, instead he gets to be the Avatar.

Bumi is doing exactly what he thought he'd be doing, though the potbelly was unplanned.

Ida was never a child to begin with.

[ceitfianna]

Will didn't think he'd live this long and he's from an era when growing up into something doesn't really happen.

Charles, yes and he's working on it. The degree and being the expert on mutants, yes, the changing how mutants are treated worldwide, that will take more time but other timelines make him hopeful that he will manage it.

Moist, he wanted to not be in Uberwald as a child so yes, it worked.

William thought he'd be going to school for something, maybe a lawyer so no. He's still got some growing up to do but he's not hopeful that his course will change.

Sameth, no and he's rather happy about that. He grew up thinking he would be Abhorsen, he'd much rather be Wallmaker.

Jane is working on becoming an author, though the wife part seems to have fallen through.

Demeter is a goddess, which makes this question not quite work.

Tumnus, no, he had no idea he could ever end up working for the royal family of Narnia.

The Pirate King, yes, he always wanted to be a pirate and he is one.

[bbq_platypus]

Waco Kid: Fictional character, always has been and always will be around 40. Not applicable.

Borgel: I don't know if he expected to leave the Old Country, but he sure wanted to. Anything after that is just gravy.

Leela: I don't think anybody in the world would expect to wind up traveling the universe in a small box with a weird dude wearing a scarf before settling down on a planet of long-lived humanoids with nigh-total mastery of spacetime. But in a way, she's still a warrior like she thought she would be. Just a warrior strongly discouraged from killing people.

Kane: Um...next.

Caius: Canon doesn't really specify what Caius wanted to be as a kid. I like to imagine he wanted to be a Legionnaire. So...close enough, I guess?

Garyn: He had different expectations at different parts of his youth. At the chapel orphanage he didn't really have any plans (no child there had any guarantee of a future), but if pressed and then pressed some more he might have come up with alchemist or herbalist. For the rest of his youth he was groomed by his adoptive father to become the guildmaster of the Leyawiin chapter of the Fighters' Guild. Either way, "savior and prophetic figure" didn't really figure into his plans.

[ashen_key]

*eyes Natasha*

*wheezes with laughter*

Hell. No.

[lady_bols]

Alex: Yes.

Earl: Doesn't count, but he's happy.

John Silver: Yes.

Olga: ~rolls her eyes~

Sherlock: Ahahah, um. Possibly.

Vert: Yes.

Vlad: ~so much facepalm~

[inlovewithwords]

Henry hasn't really thought about it. No clue.

Eriond... always had some idea of his potential future? Considering he calls UL 'Father' in book 5 of the Belgariad. (Or could've just been repeating the word, who knows. At that point he only said 'Errand' or when appropriate 'Belgarion.')

Lois never really thought about it much. Smallville Lois, unlike most versions, never planned to be a journalist. Also she had nightmares about red capes and hated fortune tellers informing her she would fall for a pilot in Leiderhosen. (That's what 'flying man in tights' means, right?)

Tavi: Well, when he was really, really young, probably his ideas were unformed to some degree, beyond going out into the world and being the best furycrafter and Doing Great Things. Eventually going to the Academy and being a fantastic scholar augmented/replaced that, with a side of Not Needing Any Crafting To Do Great Things. I don't think he was ever capable of conceiving of 'Great Things' not somehow helpful to people. He always had a mountain of ambition with a peculiar selflessness (maybe he dreamed of glory, but not gaining power or riches).

So in that way, yes, in fact, he grows up into exactly what he planned to be.

Being a spy? Never thought of it. Being a highly successful military commander? Maybe in the context of Doing Great Things, but not specifically.

Being First Lord? Even when he knows how he'd change Alera given the power it doesn't occur to him.