I love Bob's backstory. Like I said, I'm a sucker for redemption stories, and boy, does Bob have a doozy of one. In the Dresden-verse, you can't get much nastier than a necromancer, and our boy Bob not only went there, he bought a vacation home there. But, despite all that, he's a good guy at heart, and is now trying to make up for his past fuck ups.
I love the way Harry and Bob interact. If snark is the language of love, those two are the ultimate bros. I love that their idea of bonding is to bitch at eachother about basic necessities like rent and food. I love that they care for eachother enough to forgive the other when they screw up. I love that they're both loyal to one another, even to the point of self-destruction (damnit, Bob). I love that they'll readily defend one another, even to a large, angry man with a sword.
I love the the "lost love" thing. Prior to meeting Harry, everything that was good about Bob was tied up with his love of Winifred. It kept him from ever being a complete black-hearted bastard like Morningway. We don't ever see Winifred, but thank you, fandom, for making that character awesome. It's probably a testament to the hints the writers did give us in the series and the great acting that folks came up with a complement to Bob that rocks so hard. I love Winifred, and I love seeing Bob interact with Winifred. I love that she's not just a sue, but a fully realized character, in her own right.
I love that Bob is a badass. Not only when he's actually free and running around as a mortal, but he's still got tons of badass even when he's non-corporeal. You piss him off badly enough, it doesn't matter that he doesn't have a body, he will fuck you up. Angry Bob is downright scary. And for good reason -- if half the spells we see from him during the series run are any indication, our buddy Bob could probably turn you inside out without much of a thought. (Admittedly, handy for walnuts.)
And, lastly, I love that Bob still tries to do the right thing. He's got 1000 years (give or take a century) of getting kicked in the teeth and pent up rage and thoughts of revenge and "you will serve me, ghost"... But he's a good guy, underneath it all. Granted, waaaay underneath. But it's there. Somewhere. If he weren't, he never could have raised Harry to be anything but evil. Not with Morningway's influence always just out of frame. Certainly not with Harry's own nasty inner demon just there, under the surface. But Harry turned out good. Bob may have a wicked streak (a fairly large one), but he set it aside when it counted, and that's awesome.
* All the people I ship romantically with this character--
Winifred, of course.
* My non-romantic OTP for this character--
Harry! :D
* My unpopular opinion about this character--
Bob and Winifred were grade-A nasty sorcerers, back in the day. You know the type: Curse-wielding, village-burning, puppy-kicking... They might've started out gray, but something pushed both over the deep end, way before Bob turned to necromancy.
...Okay, maybe not puppy-kicking. Mostly because Bob would've adopted any puppies he found. And then likely turned them into hellhounds. (He's named it Tiddles!)
* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon--
WINIFRED! DAMN YOU, SCIFI. At least they could've wrapped up Bob's sidestory. Or given some hint that there was a resolution. A little more explanation on the arrow, or the fact that Bob and Winifred's story is known as more-or-less a fairytale. Anything would have been preferable to the utter lack of info that SciFi gave us. Boo.
Pt. 2
I love the way Harry and Bob interact. If snark is the language of love, those two are the ultimate bros. I love that their idea of bonding is to bitch at eachother about basic necessities like rent and food. I love that they care for eachother enough to forgive the other when they screw up. I love that they're both loyal to one another, even to the point of self-destruction (damnit, Bob). I love that they'll readily defend one another, even to a large, angry man with a sword.
I love the the "lost love" thing. Prior to meeting Harry, everything that was good about Bob was tied up with his love of Winifred. It kept him from ever being a complete black-hearted bastard like Morningway. We don't ever see Winifred, but thank you, fandom, for making that character awesome. It's probably a testament to the hints the writers did give us in the series and the great acting that folks came up with a complement to Bob that rocks so hard. I love Winifred, and I love seeing Bob interact with Winifred. I love that she's not just a sue, but a fully realized character, in her own right.
I love that Bob is a badass. Not only when he's actually free and running around as a mortal, but he's still got tons of badass even when he's non-corporeal. You piss him off badly enough, it doesn't matter that he doesn't have a body, he will fuck you up. Angry Bob is downright scary. And for good reason -- if half the spells we see from him during the series run are any indication, our buddy Bob could probably turn you inside out without much of a thought. (Admittedly, handy for walnuts.)
And, lastly, I love that Bob still tries to do the right thing. He's got 1000 years (give or take a century) of getting kicked in the teeth and pent up rage and thoughts of revenge and "you will serve me, ghost"... But he's a good guy, underneath it all. Granted, waaaay underneath. But it's there. Somewhere. If he weren't, he never could have raised Harry to be anything but evil. Not with Morningway's influence always just out of frame. Certainly not with Harry's own nasty inner demon just there, under the surface. But Harry turned out good. Bob may have a wicked streak (a fairly large one), but he set it aside when it counted, and that's awesome.
* All the people I ship romantically with this character--
Winifred, of course.
* My non-romantic OTP for this character--
Harry! :D
* My unpopular opinion about this character--
Bob and Winifred were grade-A nasty sorcerers, back in the day. You know the type: Curse-wielding, village-burning, puppy-kicking... They might've started out gray, but something pushed both over the deep end, way before Bob turned to necromancy.
...Okay, maybe not puppy-kicking. Mostly because Bob would've adopted any puppies he found. And then likely turned them into hellhounds. (He's named it Tiddles!)
* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon--
WINIFRED! DAMN YOU, SCIFI. At least they could've wrapped up Bob's sidestory. Or given some hint that there was a resolution. A little more explanation on the arrow, or the fact that Bob and Winifred's story is known as more-or-less a fairytale. Anything would have been preferable to the utter lack of info that SciFi gave us. Boo.