Diary of an RA Fan — Part 9 In Thunder, Lightning or Rain

Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen all of Robin Hood Season 1.

See Diary Part 8 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.

Entry — a couple of years ago:

I watched Robin Hood Season 1 in two days, and I’m pretty emotional right now and a little bit confused. One minute it’s about the nobility of the legend and lots of pontificating with a heavy dose of political statement, the next it’s pure camp, the next it’s an intense love triangle. The pontificating is why I hesitated to watch it. Haven’t we been beaten over the head enough with the nobility of Robin Hood? The camp was a pleasant surprise. The love triangle hooked me.

I’ll never admit that to anyone. Why I never want to admit I’m a romantic I don’t quite understand. In this age of in your face identities, people pounding their chests to show who they are no matter how goofy or silly or just bizarre, I can’t simply admit I’m a romantic. I could barely admit it to SO, but he already knew. It seems like weakness to admit an attachment for things romantic. Not sure if this is the result of a skewed view of what it means to be a feminist or being brought up as the only child to a man who really needed a son to hang out with him and repair the family car, shoot guns and never be silly and certainly never girlie. That son did come along but not before I had long since conditioned myself to refrain from anything girlie. I could never let on about having crushes or daydreaming about some heartthrob. Had to be too sensible for that nonsense. I was the girl who knew her way around radial arm saws, torque wrenches and flaring tools. I made regular adjustments to the valves of my first car, changed the oil and dealt with any flat tires by myself. All of that at the fighting weight of about 100 pounds. But hold the hand of a male or even smile openly at him to show I admired him? No, I gave new meaning to playing hard to get.

I can’t believe I cried at the finale. Surely my hormones must be out of whack. Oh, I’ve cried at movies and books a few times before, but Gisborne is horrible. Isn’t he? Oh, yeah, he is, but he doesn’t want to be? Damn! he just wants someone to think he’s valuable, and he sucked me right in. I lost it when he asked Marian if he pleased her. I’m tearing up; want to cry again right now. I know I’ve been totally manipulated, but it never felt so good to cry for a character. I’ve always been such a pushover for someone looking for redemption. I want to move heaven and earth to make sure they get it.

I can’t wait for the Season 2 DVDs to get here. I need to know what happens to Guy. So much for the legend of Robin Hood. Blast. I won’t be able to see it for a couple of months, and I refuse to watch the spoilers on YouTube even though I’m having a hard time not inadvertently seeing it. The videos seem to be everywhere. Oh, this is killing me! Why do we have to wait so long for these British shows?!!

I need to rewatch Season 1 or at least the finale.

A little while later:

I cried again. When he’s talking to Thornton I begin to get anxious for Guy, or maybe it starts when he visits Marian’s sick bed. He is so desperate and loves Marian in his own warped way, or maybe this character has warped me? I don’t know. All I know is that I’m rooting for Guy to have a great destiny and find peace, and Robin has faded from view. At least I was wiser this time around and watched so no one could hear my sob when Guy entreats Marian to approve of the church decorations and of him. Man, is this part of the camp? I wonder, and I feel dumb crying at this, but I can’t help it, and I don’t want to help it even though I do feel dumb. The crying feels too good.

Diary Part 10 here.
Screencap courtesy of my stash.

May 11, 2010
Categories: Robin Hood, SO, Spoilers . Tags: , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 3 Comments

Diary of an RA Fan — Part 8 I Sense Trouble

[edit: if you’re landing on this page looking for 2010 pics of Richard Armitage at the BAFTAs, I have some here.

See Diary Part 7 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.

Entry — a few years ago minus five months:

I couldn’t stay away from the Robin Hood videos on YouTube. I just had to watch some of them. Someone had up several of the shows, so I started watching. Now I own the first season. That makes over a $100 I’ve now spent on Richard Armitage. I console myself with the fact that I’m getting my money’s worth — watching them every day. I also found this site called RobinHood2006.com which has tons of screencaps. Then I opened a Photobucket account, a paid one! to store my own copies. Let’s see that makes over a 100 bucks plus about $20 more I’ve spent, and I dare not add up the money I’ve spent on the songs to the fan videos I like. I’ll soon own the second season of Robin Hood. The only reason I don’t have it now is it’s not out yet in America, and I don’t have a DVD player that will play the stuff from the UK. What in hell’s name is going on with me? I’m a cheapskate, and now I’ve spent close to 200 bucks because of some British actor I had never even heard of until several months ago?!!

Then again, this picture explains it:

And this Guy of Gisborne, bad ass as he is, is, well, is, well, I’m not sure how to describe him. All I know is that he’s even more sexy than John Thornton. No, he’s equally sexy as Thornton. Then again it depends on my mood. And then there’s Harry. Harry’s my favorite, and Richard Armitage is one savvy dude to play love interest to the Vicar. How could I not like some guy who falls for the Vicar? Then I saw a wonderful video of him at the BAFTAs, which I’ve learned is sort of like the Oscars except it includes TV shows (more useless crap for me to remember). In the video he’s being interviewed about whom he would like to kiss, and he says Nigella Lawson (I already knew her ’cause I’m a Food Network junkie!) after she’s eaten a chunk of chocolate cake.

Uh, where was I? Had to swoon for a second thinking of Richard Armitage liking a full figured woman. Who IS this guy?!

edit: For Twinkling Moon and anyone else who wants to hear RA talking about Nigella Lawson. :D His interview starts about 2:15. Rupert Penry Jones is at 1:50. If you would like your own copy of this or some other footage at the 2007 BAFTAs, then see this page at RichardArmitageNet.com

See Diary Part 9 here.

Screencap courtesy of my stash. Candid shot courtesy of some wonderful person named Soule and video courtesy of RichardArmitagetNet.Com

April 27, 2010
Categories: Interviews, Robin Hood . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 17 Comments

Diggin’ Dorktastic

So yesterday a bunch of us got excited about the supposed video of RA as a kid of 20 mimicking a music video. I don’t know for sure that it’s him, and I doubt that anyone reading my blog or Nat’s or servetus’ knows either. But it was fun to speculate.

I thought it was cute, and if it is RA, there is nothing embarrassing about it in my opinion, and it’s my opinion (for the most part) that will dictate what does or does not get posted on this blog. Hopefully, no one was offended by that video. If they were, then they probably won’t want to read this blog in the future. By saying that, I’m not implying at all that I would put something up that would compromise Richard Armitage. I respect him even though I’m wrestling with objectification (more on that later; not quite ready to talk about it yet. I still want to wallow in it a bit).

But today, I’m trying out a new word that I love. It’s already becoming entrenched in my vocabulary. At least in my head and on this blog. Not sure if I’m ready to utter the word, but I do LOVE dorktastic! and it’s now part of the RA Lexicon. Thank you, Nat for introducing me to that word in Busting a Groove!

Dorktastic gets at another facet of RA that I love. His dork factor. I love it when some guy is very sexy and masculine but has a bit of dork going on. It’s a type of vulnerability, and we women need vulnerability in the men we’re attracted to. No, I don’t want to psychoanalyze that just yet. It might reveal more about my control freak than I’m comfortable with. LOL!

I find it interesting that Guy of Gisborne, who is fatally sexy, has a bit of dork peek through now and again. I love that about Guy — showing that vulnerability. Showing the kid, the little boy inside the bad ass. Is it just me who finds this attractive?

Okay, hit me with the psychoanalysis. I’m ready. LOL!

Wait! I forgot my gratuitous pics.

Dork moment coming up:

He has no clue; just can’t hold back his dork:

There he goes:

Classically perplexed like a true dork, or huh?

My heart went out to Guy in that scene. I had to mentally slap myself to remember the heinous things he’d done. Such is the power of the dork when it’s in a sexy package.

For a less cursory treatment of dork as it applies to RA, check out Servetus’s post Dorktastic Past.

Screencaps courtesy of RobinHood2006.com (update: which no longer exists) and RichardArmitageNet.Com

April 27, 2010
Categories: Dorktastic, Fanvids, Robin Hood . Tags: , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 14 Comments

It’s Even Changing the Way I Speak

I knew I was changing, but it was obvious when I said the “word” phwoar. I didn’t even know it was a word until a couple of years ago. The first time I said it, someone in the family made a point to turn his head towards me and stare at me as if to say, “Do I know you?” To which I mentally replied, “Yeah, you know me, but maybe I don’t know myself anymore.”

What all of you don’t know is that I don’t use much onomatopoeia when I speak much less when I write (does anyone except comic book writers?), and certainly don’t use it to describe something that is extremely appealing. But maybe I ought to because it felt good to say phwoar, which is properly said PHWOAR!

A few years ago I took a self-defense class for women. If you have never taken something like that, I highly recommend it. I was prompted by a friend to do it and went only because of the prodding. I figured the instructors would just remind me of things I already knew but probably needed to hear again. Wrong. It was taught by a husband and wife who had been military and were now police. Both had black belts in some martial art, and when they told us that, I thought, “Oh yeah, great. Like you two are living in the real word where people like me can’t do squat.” But again, I was wrong. They taught me a technique of imagining myself in a bad situation and then mentally using the practical things they had taught. Part of this was to practice yelling STOP! They said studies had shown that women had a hard time raising their voices to strangers even someone who scares or surprises them. It’s part of our genteel gene I guess. Aren’t we special? Thankfully they stayed on us about yelling STOP! Half of one class was spent just doing that. Man, that was some easy money for them. Well, I haven’t been attacked, but I have been threatened, and when the time came I was able to yell STOP! and the very suspicious person fled.

That day I yelled STOP! and really needed to was a kind of epiphany that forever altered my world. It gave me power I really wasn’t sure I possessed until the moment of crisis. Saying PHWOAR! had the same effect on me. It was the passionate me, my inner PHWOAR, which I had buried for so long, rushing to the surface. My SO, who was the only one around at the time and the object of my PHWOAR!, said, “What was that? I like it.”

I hope you can do a little PHWOAR! today. At least get in touch with your inner PHWOAR! See how good I am to all of you; continuing to be of public service. ;)

Of course that’s far from the only word I’ve learned and now love. I’ve started a list, RA Lexicon, and you can add your own. Enjoy!

Oh, oh, oh, I can’t believe I almost forgot to put up the image that made me PHWOAR! (at least in my head) the first time. Actually I was watching the scene it’s in, and thought PHWOAR! when he turned around.

Screencap courtesy of RobinHood2006.com

April 20, 2010
Categories: Inner PHWOAR!, PHWOAR!, Robin Hood, SO . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 12 Comments

Guy Strays — More Unlikely Duo

When I think about it, maybe these duos aren’t that strange. Guy is overtly sexy just like Britney and Lady Gaga.

The Lady Gaga video I linked in “Pheromone or Not to Pheromone” and the one below are the only two I feel comfortable putting up even though they pretty much strip the finer feelings from any perception of S3 Guy; however, this is an important aspect of Guy. What I think many of us (maybe not all of us but a significant number of us) didn’t think was that Guy could be sexier in Season 3. That was wrong.

There is a third Gaga video, but it really treats him like a piece of meat. Can’t quite bring myself to do that to Richard Armitage never mind Guy. You can figure out what it is from surfing YouTube if you don’t already know. The only hint I’ll give you is that Principessa55 and Romana55 seem to like the combination of Guy and Lady Gaga. Well, that and they like the number 55. Haven’t quite figured out what the 55 is about, but I did figure out Romana 55 is a pizza parlor somewhere.

April 17, 2010
Categories: Fanvids, Robin Hood . Tags: , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 6 Comments

Pheromone or not to Pheromone

Someone wondered* if Richard Armitage could transmit his pheromones through the screen. I don’t know, but something’s going on. He is seriously sexy, and I’m not that bowled over by actors. I base my sexy scale on my significant other who is also seriously sexy and has been since the day I met him. My SO is so sexy at times that I have to mentally slap myself from the daze he can put me in, and I would think it was just a number done on my head alone, but there are other women who have felt the same. Thankfully he’s faithful. If he weren’t, I might beat him with a really big stick. LOL! But I mention my SO to make it clear I have some traffic with the seriously sexy. I know what it looks like, and Richard Armitage has it.

But I’m writing this diary, in part, to find out what exactly it is that he has. I have never fully figured it out with my SO, and maybe I shouldn’t. Sometimes I think I know what it means to be that sexy. Maybe it will become clear as I go along. It is a little comfort to know that other women find RA so sexy. As for me, I thought I had been hit with a two by four. I would love to know your reaction. Maybe I need to hear it!

While you’re thinking about it, notice that Romana55 on YouTube definitely received a few pheromones from RA and is so kind to share her reaction with us. Or maybe she couldn’t help herself. LOL!

*Click again after it loads in order to enlarge.

April 15, 2010
Categories: Fanvids, PHWOAR!, Robin Hood, SO . Tags: , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 23 Comments

The Unlikely Duo

At least in my opinion. I would have never put Guy of Gisborne and Britney together. Huh? But it works! Britney is one of my guilty pleasures. Apparently, along with RA. I think it’s because they’re both earthy and so am I.

For your pleasure, and yes, there is a bit of SNARFU (Strict Norms of Aspect Ratio Fouled Up; that’s how I think of it) in some of these and maybe a few other technical difficulties as well, but I don’t care — well, mostly I don’t care. I love ’em. See what you’ve done to me, Elvira?! I love these, but I still think about that stuff. LOL!

This one below is hilarious. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched, and I still laugh at the part about the ring.

Gotta love Principessa55.

Stay tuned for further odd pairings that I love, and you probably will too. :D

April 14, 2010
Categories: Fanvids, Robin Hood . Tags: , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 2 Comments

Woman is always looking for a shoulder to put her head on

[note on Mencken below]

Per tyme4t’s request.

Here’s the best “shoulder” pic I could come up with (great jawline pic too; check out others here). Oh, there are other shoulder pics, but I thought I would just run the best one out there first. At least the one I think is the best. Feel free to disabuse me of the notion. :D

John_Porter_Dani

Continuing rationalization:

One of the first things I noticed about RA is his ability to use his shoulders and back to convey a message. Oh, yeah, actors can shrug to convey some emotions, but he goes way beyond that. I lost count of the times Guy used his shoulders with one of the most stunning times being when he flinches as Friar Tuck tries to comfort him (S3Ep1). I can’t watch that scene without being very moved by the grief and pain and just utter self hatred radiating from Guy’s shoulders alone — since we can’t really see his face. Wonderfully done scene!

Guy_Gisborne_shoulders

Guy_Gisborne_shoulders_2

Note: The quote in the title is from H.L. Mencken’s In Defense of Women. I didn’t like it the first time I read it — a long time ago. Not sure what I would think of it now. I do agree with that particular quote though — to some degree. Most of the women I know (young or old), love it when they actually meet a man. Men are few and far between, and it can be a rush to encounter one. Most women are drawn to that and want to rely on them. Notice I didn’t say male, but that I’m actually referring to someone who is a man — worthy to lean on but not lessening a woman’s worth by being so.

Screencaps courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com and RobinHood2006.com

April 12, 2010
Categories: Robin Hood, Strike Back . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 4 Comments

RAddicts-R-Us

So I’ve been sharing these diary entries in an attempt to show how someone descends into this madness, and I’m only just beginning. I have never spent as much time on something frivolous as I have this fangirling (is that a word?) over Richard Armitage. But of course I’m doing this as a public service, so that the rest of you don’t feel like such nuts. ;-)

I promise to throw in more media even if it’s something you’ve seen a thousand times. Can we look at these pictures enough?

I said I love his jawline, and this is where it started, and if you don’t know which picture is under the link, then you’re not really a fan of RA. LOL!

A few more for your pleasure:

Guy_Gisborne_wooing_Marian

Yes, I flipped that one.

Harry_Kennedy_wooing_Geraldine

John_Standring_Carol

Lucas_North_Suit

John_Porter_beret

Screencaps courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.ComCom, RobinHood2006.com and my own stash.

April 12, 2010
Categories: North and South, Robin Hood, Sparkhouse, Strike Back, Vicar of Dibley . Tags: , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 3 Comments

Puddle of Goo or Don’t Tell Me the Moon is Shining…

Wow, so many fan videos and not enough time. I would say that chocolate has been replaced, but I’m not a chocolate lover. Maybe now I know what all of you chocolate lovers get out of it. I know I get a bit of a high watching these things. Is that how it works with chocolate? If so, then I’m sorry I missed out all these years.

Getting inebriated does reduce me to a puddle of goo — inside. On the outside no one would ever know. I’ve managed to keep the addiction tamped down enough that no one knows except all of you. :D

But onto more lofty matters. Why does it reduce me to a puddle of goo? That’s the question I haven’t wanted to answer but have been desperate to answer. I am normally very, very sane. I can give you sane 6 days a week and a double dose on Sunday. Many people who know me actually depend on me being the most sane one in the room. So is it sanity to like fan videos this much? And in particular RA’s fan videos?

Initial rationalization:

The videos appeal to the artist in me. I love all things aesthetic. Truly. So I adore the artistry of the “vidders.” Well, they’re not all equal vidders; some are more equal than others. But even the ones that have the strict norms of aspect ratio fouled up (SNARFU), I love as well. I get it. I get their intent, and even if it’s not their intent, there’s enough there for me to perceive my own. Isn’t that what art is about? Perceiving intent and/or imbuing it with our own? Whatever the case, the intent comes through clear and loud (if no one else is at home with me). I can suspend my normally hyper-sensitive eyes to appreciate that “Guy” or “Lucas” or “John” is on the job — swaggering for my edification. Oh, wait, this was supposed to be a rationalization.

I really do appreciate the artistry of those vidders who have an eye for detail. Chief among those in my mind is someone named Angela. If you have not been around the RA Fandom for very long, you might not know who she is. Hang around for a bit and you’ll find out and will be better for it.

She is an artist. Bold as that statement is, I mean it. I’ve wondered many times what she does for a living. If it’s not something to do with art, what a shame. Some of her attention to detail is stunning, and I appreciate it no matter who is in the video. That’s when I knew she was an artist — I could disregard that RA was the object. That’s saying something since it’s obviously very hard for me to disregard RA as the object. LOL! But seriously, she does show the glint on the glass.

I didn’t intend this post as a paean to Angela’s ability, but I’m running with it and she deserves it. So maybe I’m not rationalizing?

And since I’m talking about her work, here’s one of her little masterpieces (SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN Robin Hood Season 3):

April 9, 2010
Categories: Fandom, Fanvids, Robin Hood, Vidders to Watch . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 3 Comments

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