I’ve simply got to talk about some fanfic. Oh, I’ll eventually post my top ten, which changes about every week, but for now I want to direct you to a fic that is for all of us GuyxMarian fans. If you still have a need for their relationship to be resolved (no matter how many writers have resolved it and again and again and again), you’re going to love the fanfic I’m reading. It’s the way I wish Season 3 had gone — at least as the fic is going so far. Just finished reading the latest chapter, and I’m very anxious for the next one. If the author doesn’t finish, I may have to do bodily damage. LOL! That is how hooked I am on this fic.
The only possible catch for you reading it is you have to become a member of C19 if you’re not already. I’m pretty sure the fic isn’t anywhere else. Oh, and I love the name of the piece. It satisfies on so many levels — Grant What I Wish.
Enjoy!
edit:
I wasn’t paying attention to the chapter titles, but now that I am, I’ll have to go back and reread them to see if the chess terms mentioned play out in the chapter. I play some chess, but I’m certainly no expert about it. I’ll have to get the help of one of the little SOs who happens to be a chess fiend. Good on Kleindog for throwing in another layer of interest!
For anyone who’s been following this blog, you already know I lamented the difficulty of making this post and mainly because there are so many RA videos out there. But I had such a good time trying to watch as many as I could to be fair. These things are almost like my children. I didn’t realize I had it in me to love so many. All the more to make it difficult to highlight only ten. But what a great problem to have! And I scrapped my in-depth criteria. The post would have been too long, and it may be already! Quite simply the ones selected are the videos I find myself going back to again and again.
I put them in an order, but hey, this order could change tomorrow or maybe later today. LOL!
I’ve embedded all of them below which shouldn’t be a problem, but if enough people experience problems, I may change how I’ve configured this post.
#10 — the ethereal quality of the song and the editing make me accept this AU (Alternate Universe) story as canon! Very soothing on a lot of levels. LOL!
#9 — considering it’s Thornton’s longing we mostly see in North and South, I love this take on Margaret pining.
edit: this video is no longer on YouTube, so the creator of the video, ATFrancis, has given me permission to upload here, and if you would like your own copy, you can download at FoolishPassion, one of Elvira’s sites.
#8 — this was one of my first Guy videos, and it captures his angst over Marian perfectly. At one point it disappeared from YouTube, but then it came back. Yea! I’ve never gotten tired of watching it. I love the editing, and it was my introduction to Shinedown.
#7 — too much to write about why I love this one; maybe it should move up. No, I’ve got to stop somewhere. Thank you, DB for editing MJ’s song. It was way too long. Your timing is perfect.
#6 — this is a masterpiece and probably should be #1. It’s the shortest video on the list, but the impact of it is enormous. I’ll stop there or this post will be so long it won’t load.
#5 — the quality of this video is stunning. Please, please, please if you like it, download it in the 1080 format. It’s RA like you’ve never seen him. Oh, and it’s Shinedown again. Love it!
#4 — whatever “it” is, Nat has it. I’ll sum up this video in a word: brilliant. Also, great thanks to Heather for her wonderful inspiration!
#3 — this is one slick video. DB just gets better and better and she’s already great. Oh, I would love to go back and completely rewrite the post I did on this one!
#2 — it’s scary how many times I’ve watched this and not just at the normal speed but slowed down as well. I notice something new every time, so I can’t seem to stop analyzing it. The video is a feast.
#1 This video may be a 10.
Most of these are available for download. Check their YouTube descriptions to find out how.
See Diary Part 11 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.
Entry — a couple of years ago shy a couple of months:
I just can’t bring myself to watch Season 2. I know something bad happens, and I don’t want to know what it is.
A few days later:
Even though I’m going to visit my mother for a while, I’m taking the DVDs with me. Somehow I can’t bear to leave them at home. Not sure I’ll have time to watch since I’ve got something pretty grave to deal with. But I’ll try. Still dreading the ending.
A couple of weeks later:
Uh, I’m not sure what to say. I’m dumbfounded. Talk about my head spinning around. I think it fell off at the end.
The last DVD broke when I threw it across the room. There’s now a crack in the middle. Not sure how I’m going to fix that. Do I even want to?!!
What a WASTE OF MY TIME!!! Damn those writers!! They royally messed this up!
It’s amazing how invested in these characters I became. Well, I’m invested in Guy and in Marian because she means so much to Guy. Everyone else is more or less a prop. Oh, I like the actor who plays Robin Hood. He’s a doll, and I am curious what else he’s been in, but his character is no match for the charisma that is Guy. About the only character who can really draw some attention when Guy is around, besides Marian (who gets almost all of Guy’s attention), is the Sheriff. I’ve heard of the actor who plays him, Keith Allen. Don’t remember what he’s been in, but just remember he’s a comedian. He’s hilarious and menacing in this. I love his interaction with Guy even if Guy is a tool.
But all that goes out the window when Marian is in the picture or Guy is thinking about her being in the picture. I thought when I saw North and South that Richard Armitage could never again pull off that kind of intensity about a woman. I was wrong. So wrong. But really, that’s not all this is about. It’s not just about the obsession with Marian. It’s about the obsession with being someone worthy. Guy is desperate for recognition, and it jumps off the screen and grabs me and almost rips my heart from my chest. And Marian. What can I say?
The last time I remember crying like this at a series is when I watched Lassie as a kid. Lassie was always involved in a crisis and somehow got lost or seemed to, and Timmy would call and call for Lassie to come home and that haunting theme song with the whistling would start, and I would sit there sobbing with big tears rolling down my cheeks. Mom would come in and offer to turn it off, and something came from my toes, “NOOOO!” That’s how it’s been with Guy. He’s lost but I can’t look away, and just thinking about him makes me choke up. What the hell is wrong with me? Those writers. If I could get my hands on them. It’s a good thing I can’t. I think Heathcliff was supposed to make me feel this way, but I hated Wuthering Heights. But that was a long time ago. Maybe I need to read it again since I can’t seem to get enough of this torture. No. This is enough.
Oh, I just thought I was hooked on the first season of Robin Hood. So what now? I have to find out what happens to Guy. Is there even going to be a third season? So far I can’t find anything. Someone said something on IMDb, but it’s not definitive. Must find out.
This is probably the anthem for all of us who are Guy of Gisborne lovers, and it certainly is for 01Cheers on Livejournal. She has set up a shrine (those are her words) to Guy. If you haven’t already, check it out. You can click “Serious Guy Addict” under the Addict List. Of all the links I have listed on my blog, hers is clicked on the most. Gee, I wonder why. And if you appreciate all of her hard work, please let her know it.
Once the dust settles from Strike Back, I’ll probably be examining every little aspect of Guy. I’ve already started on this, but I’m probably going to take the first part of the summer to continue with it. What else can I do while we’re in a drought? Oh, and I’m sure it doesn’t matter if you’ve heard what I’m going to say already. If you’re a Guy fan, you will probably consume it, because you know it will either confirm what you think or give you food for thought. Whatever, the case, you’ll be thinking about Guy and looking at pictures and videos of Guy, and that’s the point isn’t it?
Oh, wait! I almost forgot my gratuitous pic.
A scene from Season 1 Episode 4 Parenthood, in which Guy is particularly nasty. But I’m sure I don’t have to tell most of you that, and I’m sure it doesn’t keep us from admiring that picture. Hey, Richard Armitage probably thinks we’re all nuts anyway. I figure I’d rather be hung for a lion than a lamb. Is that mixing metaphors? Oh well, literature never was my forte. LOL!
Yes, I’m still going to post about RA’s eyes, but I’m searching for a particular screencap. May have to breakdown and make it myself.
Screencaps courtesy of RobinHood2006.com
edit: I guess the Guy movie 01Cheers made was deleted from online storage. If you want access to it, send me a note.
See Diary Part 10 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.
Entry — almost two years ago:
Robin Hood Season 2 DVDs arrived today! Can’t wait to watch them. In the interim, I watched all of Season 1 again, and I cried again. What is my affinity for this character? Oh, yes, he’s sexy. Those faces he pulls and the way he stands and holds his head when he looks at Marian, and of course there’s his jawline. I did not know a jawline could be that sexy. But I’ve seen so many shows where an actor was sexy and wasn’t moved like this. No, this is something else because I don’t remember sexy ever making me cry.
A week later:
I still haven’t watched Season 2 yet. Season 1 keeps beckoning, and I keep running back to it. I’m having to watch it on the sly since the family has already seen it and thought it was okay, but nothing to rewatch. They would think I was an idiot for watching this lame show over and over. I’ll admit to watching a tv show more than once or twice, but this is getting ridiculous. Still haven’t topped my North and South viewings. Thank God! This might be because Robin Hood is a ridiculous show that doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up.
But there in the middle of it is Guy like a lost little boy begging for attention. Yes, the killing is unconscionable. How could it not be? It is by any definition, but anything that horrible always has me asking why. I can’t help seeking to understand why people do the things they do, and especially if there is a glimpse of humanity. Guy delivers from the beginning. From the first show, he begins to let us in just little bit on the boy who wants to be affirmed.
It begins when Robin presents himself as Lord of the Manor and Guy takes him to task for not respecting him in front of the “populace.” The scene isn’t much, but it’s the beginning of the puzzle that is Guy. Like a corner piece that gives just enough sense of the finished picture to prompt someone to put the entire thing together.
The vulnerable little boy really emerges when he comes to visit Marian and invites her to Locksley, his new Gisborne, his mojo. It’s painful to watch this scene.
But then in two sentences about a woman changing her name, the man reasserts himself. PHWOAR! There’s the real mojo! That is one sexy scene and no one is even close to removing their clothes. Okay, where was I?
The little boy alternating with the seriously sexy man makes my head spin. No wonder women are swooning over this character, and I guess I’m right there with them. Damn that Richard Armitage is something else!
See Diary Part 9 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.
Entry — a couple of years ago:
I found this video of Richard Armitage discussing Guy of Season 1. I don’t know what happened, but he either completely missed on this character, misrepresented the character or the writers changed direction. Or, well, I just don’t know what else could have happened. But at this point it’s really hard to believe Richard Armitage was this off. He just seems too in tune with how things are perceived to miss this badly. Or was he just yanking everyone’s chain when he said he wanted to make them squirm. Maybe he didn’t mean squirm from disgust.
I’m intrigued by this complete miss. Must find out what happened. Can I ever really know what happened? It’s going to drive me crazy until I find out what happened!
Whether I ever find out, I just love the video. Richard Armitage seems like a really sweet person. I hate to use the word sweet because it has connotations of someone who’s benign. I could never associate the word benign with Richard Armitage. Maybe sweethearted is a better choice. I’m becoming so biased about this actor. Maybe he’s really a schmuck.
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.
[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
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
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.
RAFrenzy 