OKAY FINE I'll go first.

Day 1 - A Female Ass-Kicker first
The Boston Pride were the first team to win the Isobel Cup in the National Women's Hockey League. The NWHL itself is also a FAK First, as it was established in 2015 by founder/commissioner/FAK Dani Rylan, and it contains 4 teams full of awesome, bad-ass ladies who actually get paid to play the sport they love. =')

Day 1: A Female Ass-Kicker first

Manon Rhéaume is the first and only woman to have played in the NHL. Playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning, she played in two games, one in 1992 against the St. Louis Blues and one in 1993 against the Boston Bruins.

Day 1: A Female Ass-Kicker First

Kathryn Bigelow: First woman to win an Academy Award for directing.

Day 2: What brought you to the Female Ass-Kickers spot?

Weird reason, but I was on the Supernatural spot and I started to participate in the 20in20 incontest there. I really liked it, so I went to the search bar and looked for more icontest. I stumbled upon Dasm's icontest on this spot and I was like 'Cool! a spot for Female Ass-Kickers!', so that's it XD

Iconing is what brought me here!

Day 2 - What brought you to the Female Ass-Kickers spot?
During the Fanpop 20 in 20 Icon Contest Boom of 2012, link and I were discussing the need for a fast-paced one, 'cause we'd finish iconning early and get bored waiting for new themes. She suggested starting one here in the FAK spot, which I wasn't even a member of. Cinders was the brains behind the FAK 20-in-10, and I'm just the one with no life that's kept it running for 30 years. =P

Day 3 - A FAK athlete
Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux are flawless human beings. (And badass hockey players and coaches and trainers and businesswomen.)

I also love Angela Ruggiero and Julie Chu and Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan and oh whatever, I love all female hockey players. And while she is far from flawless, I very much admire Ronda Rousey's unapologetic, hardcore bad-assery.

Day 1 - A Female Ass-Kicker first

Valentina Tereshkova - the first woman in space. Not only that, but the first civilian in space too! I've always been fascinated in astronomy and space travel, despite the assumptions that physics is supposed to be "a guy thing" or whatever. Valentina Tereshkova went into space on 16th June 1963. She spent almost three full days there, and during that time orbited our planet 48 times. She was one of over 400 applicants.

Day 1: A Female Ass-Kicker First

Aretha Franklin: The first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She's won18 Grammy Awards and sold over 75 million records. She's also the most charted female artist on Billboard with 17 top ten singles. Rolling Stones ranked her #1 on their Greatest Singers of All Time List and #9 on the Greatest Artists of All Time list.

Day 2 - What brought you to the Female Ass-Kickers spot?

Pretty sure I discovered this place in my early Fanpop days, probably when I was just searching for spots to join and get involved in. While I don't remember exactly how I first found the FAK spot, I think what kept me here was the wide range of awesome ladies that get included in this spot. Pretty sure I already made a wall post about how happy I am that Ugly Betty is in the banner... but yeah! While I enjoy the characters who are literal ass-kickers, they're not the only ones I found empowering and inspiring. I also like the ones that kick ass for their brainpower, their assertiveness, some weird and/or amazing talent they have, and I love it when females can be just as dorky and/or as undignified as males. Basically, there are all sorts of ways in which female characters can be empowering and kickass, and the members in this spot know it.

Day 2: What Brought You to the Female Ass-Kickers Spot

link did. She invited me when she first created this spot because she knew I was a Buffy fan and liked strong female characters. It's kind of sad- I haven't seen her around in a long time. Thank you, Asvini, for creating this awesome spot!

Day 3: A FAK athlete

Marianne St-Gelais is a Canadian short track speed skater. She participated in the 2010 & the 2014 Winter Olympics. She won three silver medals at those Olympics, one in 500m and two in 3000m relay. She also won a bronze medal in 500m at the 2010 World Championships, a bronze medal in 1500m at the 2013 World Championships and two silver medals in 3000m relay at the 2010 and 2013 World Championships.

In 2010 and 2011 she was named Speed Skating Canada’s Female Short Track Skater of the Year and she's a vital member of the 3000m relay team.

Fun fact, her silver medal for the 500m in the 2010 Winter Olympics happened on her 20th birthday.

Day 2: What brought you to the Female Ass-Kickers spot?

Dis.

Day 3: A FAK Athlete

Dottie Hinson [A League of Their Own]

I'm not really a fan of any real sports so i decided to just go with a fictional character. That being said, the movie is based on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League which was a real thing in the 1940s.

Day 3: A FAK athlete

NZ netballer Joline Henry.

Day 4: Your favorite Female Ass-Kicker(s) as a child

Sarah [Labyrinth]
Among many others...
link

Day 4: Your favorite Female Ass-Kicker(s) as a child:

I was gonna go with Sarah as well, but decided to use another one. I'll try to keep this forum as diverse as possible ;)

Abigail, from Once Upon a Forest,
Like 'fly, among loooooooots of others.

Day 4: Your Favorite Female Ass-Kicker(s) as a Child

Pippi!

Day 5: A FAK musician

P!nk

Definitely one of my all time favourites, if not my most favourite female artist ever. Love her lots!

Day 4 - Your favorite Female Ass-Kicker(s) as a child
Anna Peterson (The Rogue Stallion) - I spent so much time mimicking her every move as a kid, I was completely freaked out by the stuff I still did when I re-watched it as an adult, over 10 years later. I'm not even a real person, I'm just a bunch of stuff stolen from fictional characters. =P
Casey Brown (Candleshoe) - Casey was my first juvenile delinquent love. Good thing it's a Disney movie, so she renounced her evil ways in the end. ;)
Kristy Thomas & Dawn Schafer (The Baby-Sitters Club) - Dawn was my favorite in the books, but I leaned toward Kristy in the movie. They literally had to pry my BSC books from my angry little hands in elementary school, because if I'd had my way, I never would have read anything else.
Jody Salerno (Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain) - That is my name. With the right spelling. And a girl had it. Before Gold Diggers, all I had was the boy who got attacked by buzzards in The Red Pony. #Hero

Day 5: A FAK Musician

Old school Gwen Stefani (not new school...). 'Tragic Kingdom' was a formative album for me, and I listened to it in full the other day and had a bit of a nostalgia pang for the old kick-ass Gwen... *single tear*

Day 5 - A FAK musician
Sandy West, a pioneer FAK drummer. Sandy and She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named started all-girl band The Runaways in 1975 at age 15. The Runaways got famous, fast, and had a wild 4 years. All Sandy ever wanted to do was be in a rock band, and didn't really know what to do with herself after The Runaways broke up. She started her own band for a while, but it didn't work out. She worked in construction, as a vet tech, and was involved in some shady activities and might've served some time. She died of cancer in 2006. Watching link of her on stage in the 70s and seeing how happy she is and how much she loved what she did and how good she was... it's a beautiful thing, because Sandy was a beautiful person, and I wish she'd had a happier life.

Sorry, I've not been on the internet all week mostly because I've barely been home at all! But anyways...

Day 3 - A FAK athlete

Leslie Porterfield - the fastest female motorcyclist in the world. I love motorcycles, but normally when people put women and motorcycles together you end up with a supermodel posing next to one, rather than actually interacting with it. But Leslie has been riding since she was a teenager; it's her lifestyle, her passion, and she is damn good at it too.

(I hope motorcyclists count as athletes, because I definitely think Leslie belongs here.)

Day 4 - Your favorite Female Ass-Kicker(s) as a child

Laverne (Day of the Tentacle) - this 1993 computer game is still my favourite of all time, and while I love all the characters, Laverne is my favourite. Female protagonists are more common now in games, but were still a rarity when I was a kid. I'll be surprised if anyone else here is familiar with her and her game, so I'll give a brief overview: she is one of the three controllable characters (and the player must control all three in order to actually finish the game) and the only female of the trio. She is one of the characters I had in mind back when I previously mentioned females who are "just as dorky and/or as undignified as males". On top of that she is completely crazy, a bit quick-tempered at times, unafraid of her own mortality, and isn't a fan of oppression or objectifying people. In an optional conversation, she has a great line where she compares the shallowness of enforced beauty pageants to American politics. Oh, and she's also training to be a doctor.

Peppermint Patty (Peanuts) - anyone who knows me in real life knows that Snoopy is my favourite fictional character, Charles Schulz is my hero, and Peanuts was my main inspiration for creating my own cartoons, comics, and animations. Peppermint Patty (first introduced into the strip in 1966) is my favourite female character from the franchise, followed closely by her best friend and sidekick Marcie. Peppermint Patty is a kid athlete and a heck of a tomboy who loves and excels at sports (including baseball, hockey, and even figure skating), but has a tendency to sleep through school. Marcie is basically the opposite - an excellent student who doesn't have a clue when it comes to sports (one strip involved her playing baseball and asking if they were playing nine holes or eighteen). I love both, but Peppermint Patty just a bit more thanks to her attitude, all those embarrassing moments she has in school, and how she's just as competitive as the boys when it comes to sports.

Nala (The Lion King) - well hey, no one said FAKs had to be human! Released in 1994, this is my absolute favourite movie, and Nala made a good impression on me right from the start. I especially love her when she is younger and just as adventurous as her best pal Simba. I'm glad the writers didn't treat her personality and actions different to Simba due to her gender; besides, it wouldn't have made much sense considering that real life lionesses are the ones that do the hunting. Nala is always up for a bit of rough 'n tumble, enjoys a bit of excitement, and it's easy for the viewers to see why her and Simba get along so well as kids. I also like the way her personality develops when she grows up; she becomes more practical and level-headed as an adult, but her bravery and fierceness remain intact. Looking back, all the female characters in this movie are FAKs really, but I chose Nala because she's my favourite of them and definitely demonstrates this side of her nicely during the movie.

Day 6 - A FAK quote
"Hoes before bros. Uteruses before duderuses. Ovaries before brovaries." -Leslie Knope

Day 5 - A FAK musician

Lita Ford - an awesome guitarist, powerful singer, and her albums are fantastic. She's been playing since she was eleven, and began her career when she became the lead guitarist for The Runaways. Following the band's breakup, her solo career launched in the '80s. She did put her music career on hold in order to raise her kids, but made a comeback in 2008 and released her newest album only a few weeks ago!

Now excuse me while I listen to her album "Lita" on loop for the rest of the day.

Day 6: A FAK quote

Ellen Ripley (Aliens)

Day 6 - A FAK quote

Probably going to be a little different to the kinds of quotes we usually associate with FAKs, but I like this one and it's a nice reminder that it's not just the character that many find empowering, but also the actress that plays her.

"She's very determined, I am as well. I like to think that I am very loyal in the same way that she is. Bit of a feminist in the same way that she is. I will speak my mind in the same way that she does." - Emma Watson (comparing herself to Hermione Granger)

Day 7: A FAK author or artist

Patricia Briggs, author of the Mercy Thompson Series
Also JK Rowling, Leigh Bardugo, and Suzanne Collins.

Day 5: A FAK musician:

Hayley Williams {Paramore} & Amy Lee {Evanescence}

Both awesome signers and I'm in love with Hayley's hair!

Day 7 - A FAK author or artist

Mary Shelley - author of Frankenstein, which is often credited as the very first sci-fi novel. If you're a girl and you're into sci-fi, but have heard countless times that "sci-fi isn't for girls", remind yourself every once in a while of Mary Shelley.

Day 7 - A FAK author or artist
Mary O'Hara (1885–1980) was an author, screenwriter, composer, pianist, rancher and mother. She's best known for My Friend Flicka, but wrote 8 other books and a few silent film screenplays in 1920s Hollywood, while she was a single mother of two. She loved adventures, animals, and learning, and she was a bit ahead of the game when it came to being an independent woman. (She once conned a friend into pretending to be her husband and giving the Wright Bros permission to take her up in one of the earliest planes.) She was twice-divorced, in the 1920s and 40s. She and Husband #2 owned a ranch in Wyoming that was the inspiration for the Flicka novels, which she wrote there in her 50s. After her second divorce, she packed up, adopted a dog and drove back east to be closer to her family, who she hadn't had much contact with since marrying Husband #1 against their wishes. She bought her own farm, wrote a few more novels, a play, and an autobiography. She died at age 95, near her son and grandchildren.
(Forgive the length of this, I just finished her autobiography and am overflowing with love for all things Mary O'Hara. Which my bank statement will soon reflect.)

Day 8 - A FAK duo you’d vote for as leaders
Knope/Lemon 2016! link

Day 8: A FAK duo you’d vote for as leaders

Buffy Summers and Hermione Granger

Day 8 - A FAK duo you’d vote for as leaders

Oookay, I've been puzzling over this one for some time. It's why I didn't post yesterday. Because I didn't have a clue. I was trying to be all meaningful and pick a duo of real life kickass ladies, and then after shortlisting a few, all of a sudden this fictional duo came to mind...

Daria and Jane - two totally cynical pessimists who never once lost faith in humanity... because they never had faith in it to begin with. This must seem like a really odd choice, but I kinda feel like their harsh sense of reality when it comes to peer pressure and teen shallowness is something I'd really want to see in a couple of leaders. These two girls are wise beyond their years and their anti-shallowness could be just the thing to sort out the world!

Bet they've got some great campaign ideas too...

Day 9: A FAK politician or activist

Wendy Davis

She did a filibuster to block an anti-abortion bill. She held the floor for 11 hours, talking nonstop. Although ultimately the bill was passed later she's still a kickass woman.

Day 9 - A politician, activist, or influential ass-kicker
"If you plan to be born, make sure you born white and male."

Mary Brave Bird (1954-2013) was a Lakota writer and member of the American Indian Movement. In her books, she details the struggle of Native Americans in a country that tried to exterminate them. (And a modern, strong-minded woman's fight for acceptance within a traditional tribe.)

She lost many friends in mysterious or violent ways that were never investigated, because the government was either behind it or just didn't care. (I'm no medical examiner, but I believe bullets in the brain indicate that "exposure" was not the cause of death.) Native women who had babies in white hospitals were sterilized without their knowledge or permission. Native children were ripped from their poor but loving reservation homes and thrown into abusive Catholic boarding schools. This isn't ancient stuff - this is the 1960s and 70s.

Mary took part in historical protests like the Trail of Broken Treaties and the 1973 occupation at Wounded Knee (at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre, where the US cavalry slaughtered and dumped 300 Lakota men, women and children in a mass grave in 1890). She gave birth to her first son there, at age 18, during a firefight. She was arrested a few days later, when leaving to help with funeral arrangements for a friend lost during the siege, and was thrown in jail for 24 hours, unable to nurse her newborn or have any contact with the outside world.

Mary Brave Bird fought for the rights and recognition of her people, who have been colossally fucked since the 15th century. Through her books, she gave the world a sobering look into the injustice Native Americans deal with, and told of her struggle as a modern Indian woman stuck between a mother wanting her to assimilate, a husband teaching her about her heritage, and a country who wanted her and her people gone.

Day 10: What are some good movies or shows written, created, or directed by real FAKs?

The Adventures of Prince Achmed, directed by Lotte Reiniger

This animated film is one of my favourites, a real feast for the eyes. Lotte Reiniger invented the silhouette animation technique used in this film. Released in 1926 I think it's the oldest surviving animated feature film. Reiniger anticipated Walt Disney by 10 years- making the first multi-plane camera to create certain effects for her films.

Oh cool, I have internet for the first time in a few days. Right then.

Day 9 - A FAK politician or activist

Emily Wilding Davison - the suffragette that threw herself in front of George V's horse at the Epsom Derby, leaving her fatally wounded. What breaks my heart the most about this is how she did so much for women in the UK, but died before she could partake in any voting herself. She was hardcore, what she did was extreme but ultimately selfless, and it's thanks to her and many other women like her that I can vote at all. When I first learned about what she did for women voters here in the UK, I remember feeling almost guilted into voting, even though I probably would have done anyway. But she has inspired me to take British politics more seriously, and do more thorough research before casting my vote that I owe to her and the other courageous suffragettes of my country. When I think about what those women did just so that the females of future generations would get a say in UK politics, I end up making sure I read up on the issues and think carefully about what I'm doing; if those women lost their lives for my voting rights, I want to do it right.

I am doing awesome at keeping up with my own damn challenge.

Day 10 - What are some good movies or shows written, created, or directed by real FAKs?
link is about an all-girl band (Gina Gershon, Drea de Matteo, Lori Petty & Shelly Cole) trying to score a record deal. The main character is a bisexual link/musician who will do anything to protect her friends, and refuses to sell out or give up on her dream. It's co-written by Cheri Lovedog, loosely based on her life. Gina Gershon does all her own singing. The music's a little iffy at first, but it grows on you.

link is about three childhood friends (Katie Aselton, Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell) who reunite for a girls' weekend on an island they loved as kids... and get stuck there with some creeps who become murdery creeps. The story is Katie Aselton's, the script is written by her husband, and she directs and stars in it.

link is about a voice actress trying to make it out from under her father's shadow in the biz. It's written and directed by Lake Bell, who also stars in it, and she is magnificent.

I'm going to try and do some catching up with this.

Day 10 - What are some good movies or shows written, created, or directed by real FAKs?

I expect most of you have already heard of and even seen Pixar's Brave. So why the heck am I bothering to mention it here? Well, what many people I talk to are not so aware of is the fact that this was the first ever Pixar feature-length movie to have a female director. Brenda Chapman directed her first animated movie back in 1998, when she worked at Dreamworks and directed The Prince of Egypt. In doing this, she became the first ever female to direct an animated feature-length movie produced at a major studio. She continued to make history when she was the first female to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, which was for Brave.

I have a degree in animation myself, and I can tell you from first hand experience that it is a heck of a rough industry to be a part of. I could never land myself a long term position with any employer - I'd go from company to company, sign temporary contracts, and be made redundant as soon as I'd done my bit. I've done okay freelancing, but it's not my only job nowadays as it simply doesn't bring in enough money. And something I noticed at all the companies I'd bounce between is that I was almost always the only female there at the time. I think on two occasions there was one other female in the studio the same time as me. Otherwise it'd be about twenty or so males.

Brenda Chapman, despite actually writing the story for Brave and directing the majority of the movie, was replaced by a male director towards the end of production, apparently following some creativity disagreements. However, she has stated that her own ideas ended up being used in the movie even after she was replaced, and that she did stand up for herself. Anyone aware of how aggressive the animation industry is will know just how badass you have to be to have the guts to stand up for yourself!

Incidentally, the movie was inspired by Brenda's relationship with her own daughter. She describes her daughter as "so strong-willed, challenging [her] every step of the way". She sounds kinda badass herself, honestly (although, to be fair, how many kids aren't strong and assertive these days?).

For those unfamiliar with the movie itself, Brave's protagonist is basically the first in the Disney Princess line-up to not have a love interest, and the movie's events do involve her fighting for her right to remain single as she does not feel ready to get married, and is unsure whether she will ever want to. There's also some action (obviously) and an intense mother-daughter relationship explored during the movie.

Day 11 - A young FAK

Alexis Goggins - the girl who, at the age of seven, threw herself in front of her mother while at the barrel of her ex-boyfriend's gun, and was shot six times. Doctors did not think she would ever walk or talk again, but thankfully she made a good recovery, defying their predictions. Alexis denies being a hero; she claims that she was just protecting her mother.

Day 11 - A young FAK
Billie Pike, played by a 10 year old Thora Birch, was one of my favorite characters growing up. (And also my first Thora Love.) She's very opinionated, brutally honest, and not afraid of anything. A total wild child. She was a little short on females worth looking up to for most of the movie, but she connected with a local artist who inspired her to start doing crazy things like calming down a little and brushing her hair every once in a while. Oddballs and artists have to maintain appearances too, y'know.

Day 12 - Your favorite ass-kicking actress(es)

Emma Watson - best known as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, this actress has identified as a feminist from a young age and has done a lot of work as an activist over the years. Emma has stated that she dislikes the common misconception that feminism has anything at all to do with "man-hating" and has such has included in her campaigns how feminism is beneficial to men too, and what all people regardless of gender can do to help make the world a fairer place for all genders. Apparently she has received threats... and apparently that makes her all the more determined!

Melissa Joan Hart - these days I'm not sure if her most famous role is Clarissa, Sabrina, or her character of the same name in Melissa & Joey - this lady has a lot of lead role experience! What I think is kickass about her is how much she has managed to achieve in her life, and what a range of things she's done. Other than her three leads in TV shows, she has a long list of credits in television and film, and won many awards for her roles. But she's not just a performer, oh no! Melissa also has directing and producing experience, has previously owned a candy shop, and more recently started up a fashion line along with her husband. She is also a mother of three, on top of everything else! Not all of Melissa's ventures have been successful, but it's safe to say that nothing keeps her down.

Day 12 - Your favorite ass-kicking actress(es)
Picking just one is crazy-talk, so here's a random sampling of ladies who kick ass both on screen and off.
Michelle Rodriguez, Milla Jovovich, Lake Bell
Kelli Giddish, Gina Gershon, Carice van Houten
Moon Bloodgood, Mariska Hargitay, Taraji P. Henson

Day 13 - An older FAK
Mayor Nicky from Defiance was a twisted, manipulative old broad, but damn she was awesome. There's a fair amount of bias here, 'cause Fionnula Flanagan is the reason I started watching the show. Everything FF does is worth watching.

Day 13 - An older FAK

Germaine Greer, aged 77, is the author of many feminist books and has been writing for decades. She is still actively writing, and her texts have caused a lot of controversy but got many readers thinking more carefully about the lack of gender equality even in our modern society. She has more recently spoken up (on last year's International Women's Day) to ensure that feminism is inclusive to the elderly and also to children, claiming that there is too much focus on women of child-bearing age, and made a demand that feminism starts taking the aged care sector much more seriously.

Day 14 - Which FAK do you think you’re most like?

I'm gonna go for a fairly new character, and also one of the non-human ones, and say that the FAK I think I'm most like is Judy Hopps.

An adorable little bunny upon first inspection, Judy is fiercely ambitious and gets accused pretty early on in the movie for "not knowing when to quit". She admits to this, and doesn't seem to see it as a flaw herself. Her ambition as a child is to become a police officer so she can make the world a better place - not a career choice that's typical for her species in this movie's setting - and she is ridiculously determined to make it happen. She fulfils her dream as an adult after years of dedicated training (which is not easy for her) but even when she gets there, she continues to face many obstacles. She makes mistakes and isn't successful at everything she tries to do, but the bottom line is that she always tries. One part of the movie even deals with her temporarily giving up, only to have her pull herself together (following a revelation in the plot) and get back out there soon after!

So how do I relate to all this? Well, I'm no police officer and my life isn't as physically action-packed as hers, but I have to constantly overcome my own set of obstacles when it comes to my career. Trying to make it in animation isn't easy; career advisers tried to steer me away from doing an animation course in college, and during my training at university lecturers would try to talk me out of taking up 2D frame-by-frame animation. They said that the tasks I set myself were impossible. Throughout university, I worked on projects for 14 hours every weekday in order to produce thousands and thousands of images that were to each be shown on screen for a twenty-fourth of a second. I never set myself realistic projects, but I always got them done anyway. I didn't always get great grades, but from time to time I would still manage to get the top mark in my class. I was absolutely crazy putting that much time and effort into projects that future employers would barely even care about.

As for my professional life, it's been one battle after another. I've been made redundant a lot because studios only use me while they need me. Sometimes I've been commissioned and then never got paid because the project or company has fallen through due to something unrelated to my portion of the work. I almost moved to Hamburg once but that fell through due to a project cancellation, and now that we've left the EU I'm never going to get that opportunity again. Not to mention the media industry is almost entirely male. These days, I have another career outside of the industry (I was a college lecturer for a while specialising in media subjects and am currently a school teacher, which I love doing) but alongside this am co-directing two indie video games, have my own short films screened at a local theatre every year, and am soon to launch my own animated web toon.

To put it simply, the media industry is doing its best to keep me quiet, but I'm putting myself out there anyway, with or without them.

I think Judy Hopps and I share similarities when it comes to our insane amount of determination, and the way we refuse to give up on things, even when other people think we should! We're both capable of screwing up, big time, and we have moments in our careers that we aren't proud of. We sometimes fail, and when we do, we pick ourselves up, learn from our mistakes, and carry on giving it our best shot. I've never really considered myself much of a FAK (at least not compared to a lot of women), but my refusal to go down without a fight is probably the most kickass trait I have, and a trait I actually like about myself.

Whoops, I killed the thread. Time to try and revive it!

Day 15 - An animated FAK

Abby Lincoln aka Numbuh Five from Codename: Kids Next Door. I loved this cartoon show, despite it having a very clear target audience of 12-year-olds and under, and I was in my teens by the time I first watched it. All of the main characters were very well defined, and they were each well-rounded characters with talents and weaknesses. They all had their days in the limelight where we got to know them better and see them all kick ass in their own unique ways.

Numbuh Five was always my favourite character though. For those unfamiliar with KND, a typical episode would take a normal scenario from kids' lives (e.g. a trip to the dentist, handing in homework, a dodgeball game) and turn it into an epic, action-packed mission that involved kids trying to liberate each other and themselves from "adult tyranny". (although some villains were teenagers and others were even kids) A lot of episodes parodied famous movies. Numbuh Five's episodes were often based on Indiana Jones, although she also starred in a Pirates of the Caribbean spoof.

Not only was this sassy ten-year-old one of the most action-prone of the cast, she was also second-in-command of the group and was promoted to team leader (and eventually leader of the worldwide KND organisation) in the series finale, so she had a lot going for her. Despite being the super cool, laid-back member, she had her moments of rage and her moments of panicking. She was also prone to being too skeptical and then proven wrong (kind of an Agent Sculley character), but probably the closest thing to a sane character that this team had! I just loved her awesomeness and wish I could be as calm and collected as her in the face of danger (y'know, most of the time).

Day 14 - Which FAK do you think you're most like?
*sigh* I am Lindsay Weir from Freaks & Geeks. Even kinda look like her with my hair down. I have a Millie (who actually looks like Millie), a Kim, and was unable to like Jason Segel in anything ever again after realizing I knew that exact feeling of smother-y terror Lindsay's showing in the 6th pic. Trying to fit in with people I didn't fit in with, guy I liked hooking up with my Kim, doing but not getting the point of certain mind-altering substances, signature jacket. We made a different choice in the end, but I lived your life, Lindsay Weir. (I think she would've got bored and come back to her regularly scheduled life too, eventually.)

Day 16 - In her defense…

When I discovered the FAK spot some five years ago, one of the first things that caught my eye was the inclusion of Betty Suarez in the banner. I don't recognise all the women in the banner, but the ones I am familiar with are primarily of the "action girl" variety, and are known for their physical strength and athletic abilities. Betty is a little different, but still kicks ass in her own way.

However, back then I noticed a comment on the FAK wall about how Betty should not have been included in the banner, along with a reply agreeing to this. I even recall a user accusing her of being "too nice" to be a FAK, which I think is actually quite a dangerous assumption; some seem to have this idea that women can only be strong if they are mean, and that is obviously not the case at all.

As for Betty's strengths herself, I think her determination is impressive, and the way she can't be "broken" by certain other characters, despite their efforts. She's just so optimistic! She is also highly intelligent and successful, with an impressive career in the media industry. So while she's not from an action series or anything like that, she portrays a lot of emotional strength and intellectual strength, in realistic situations that viewers may even relate to.

It's probably also worth mentioning that Betty isn't invincible. She does show weakness from time to time; things do upset her, she sometimes needs help from friends and family, and she is only human. I do recall seeing one strange comment on the FAK wall once that accused all FAKS of having "damsel moments" - whatever that's supposed to mean (I think it was worded in quite an odd way). Which made it sound like a disapproval of characters being imperfect and actually having room for growth and development. Whereas I think it's quite important for a character to have flaws. More realistic for a start, and something for the writers to really work with!

So I guess my main points are:
1. Being nice doesn't make a person weak. Especially in today's world where the negativity bias seems to have taken over - I think it takes real courage to be friendly and optimistic!
2. Physical strength is not the only strength. There are many, many ways in which a person can be kickass and empowering.
3. Flaws are a good part of character design. All I can say is I'm sorry if flawed characters are not boring enough for you. :P

The funny thing is, the actual people who are most likely to read this are not the people this is even directed at! The people who visit the spot regularly, do the icon contests (I know who the regulars are, I vote every time!), take part in the 31 day challenge, etc. seem to be all for variation and diversity when it comes to FAKs. Users passing by on the spot wall who have a very specific idea of what a FAK is are the ones this defense is really aimed at!