You may vote once. Poll stays open till it warms up a little. Everyone please stay safe!
~ by Servetus on February 2, 2011.
Posted in career, Cold Feet, Damerel, fantasy, Guy of Gisborne, Harry Kennedy, heterosexual utopias, John Porter, John Standring, joy, Lee, Lords of the North, Lucas North, me, Mr. Thornton, North & South, objectification, polls, reality, Richard Armitage, Robin Hood, silliness, Sparkhouse, Spooks, squee, Strike Back, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, Venetia, Vicar of Dibley
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OMG! Had N&S on today! Best way to beat the winter blues away.
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@Rob said this on February 2, 2011 at 10:23 pm |
I think I’m headed home soon for some of that myself 🙂
Had your husband seen it already? 🙂
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servetus said this on February 2, 2011 at 11:08 pm |
He actually watched Star Wars. I had N&S in while I was creating a photo album. He came in my office saw that I was watchin N&S and just rolled his eyes and asked,”Are you watching the whole thing? Isn’t it like six hours?”
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@Rob said this on February 3, 2011 at 12:22 am |
Can I just say that the “look at me” scene STILL gave me butterflies in my tummy!!! Amazing! That’s why Armitage I can’t “quit you.”
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@Rob said this on February 3, 2011 at 1:32 pm |
He is awfully good at brooding, romantic angst, isn’t he?
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angieklong said this on February 3, 2011 at 3:48 pm |
Oh, and he’s never seen that before!
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:09 am |
I stayed home today because I really do think I have (or am trying not to get) the flu….and I spent today watching Dr. Track for the first time. Two lovely episodes done and two more when the fever is under control. So you know how I voted!
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Ann Marie said this on February 2, 2011 at 11:43 pm |
Hope you’re feeling better!
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:10 am |
Ok so I voted for Lucas. I love the thought of sharing a drink with him. But of course like another Kate who knows Lucas I’d be drinking single malt whisky.
I love the idea of those deep blue eyes staring out over the rim of a glass. that intense stare burning into your soul
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khandy said this on February 2, 2011 at 10:28 pm |
Of course, you made John Standring’s ministrations the ultimate hypothermia treatment in your own beautiful story. I guess alcohol doesn’t really warm people up, sadly. But you’re right, the eyes like fire …
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servetus said this on February 2, 2011 at 11:09 pm |
I really considered the mission to South Africa with JP but unless it involved sunbathing poolside, it sounds too scary for me!
Now couch snuggling with Harry, that’s more my style!
(I know that stubble friction with Guy was for you, Servetus!)
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Phylly3 said this on February 2, 2011 at 11:22 pm |
I haven’t voted yet. However, that is a strong contender.
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servetus said this on February 2, 2011 at 11:28 pm |
@Phylly3 Loved the “unless it involved something poolside” still laughing…
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Ann Marie said this on February 3, 2011 at 12:29 am |
Darn! I want to vote for more than one. I love the Dr. Track idea!
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Phylly3 said this on February 2, 2011 at 11:36 pm |
Yeah, I think that was the last answer 🙂
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:10 am |
I would have voted for the blazing fire and holding hands with dear John. However, even a BLAZING FIRE out on the MOOR and even with Standring would not be the BEST way for me to keep warm.
Darling Harry on the couch was a good one. Harry, however, is a “townie” and not my type.
I voted for the Sir Guy stubble nuzzle even though all the sword and spur clanking would be a bit unnerving.
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Mary Lou said this on February 3, 2011 at 1:10 am |
I think he might undress in preparation. I hope so.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:11 am |
I was leaning towards Lucas, but then I couldn’t resist Sir Guy and the stubble friction 🙂
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Musa said this on February 3, 2011 at 1:37 am |
I still haven’t voted, but it’s so hard to resist that possibility, isn’t it?
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:11 am |
This smorgasbord was sadistic! How to choose between Guy and Lucas? Copped out with voting Harry – oh dear, he’s taken, isn’t he? Wasn’t there a wedding or something? I goofed… can I please re-vote?
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fitzg said this on February 3, 2011 at 1:45 am |
That was my aim: to cause pain 🙂
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:11 am |
Of COURSE I had to vote for Guy. Do you realize what grief the man would have given me if he found out I voted for anyone else?
All the hair flicking, stalking around the house, muttering under his breath, manly sniffs, lordly sneers, not to mention kohl-rimmed azure eyes in full puppy dog mode (those get me every time!!) as he rumbles, “Lady Writer. I thought–I was your favourite? There’s–someone else?”
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angieklong said this on February 3, 2011 at 2:49 am |
I feel like we can’t make our decisions based on our fear of hurting people’s feelings … or on what might happen to us if we chose incorrectly. 🙂
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:12 am |
I’ve been guilted into things over the years. And those big, sad, beseeching blue eyes really do get to me. *sigh*
Anyway, he IS my favorite. And he isn’t here right now–he’s napping in my den with Thumper as the rain pours down while I work–so I am not just saying that to keep him sweet.
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angieklong said this on February 4, 2011 at 5:41 pm |
Luckily, he is a good choice. Though all of these probably are.
Hmmm. That in itself is interesting.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 9:04 pm |
Of course, we are only attracted to his characters, or so RA has said. But I think the Creator has certain–qualities–that are on loan to many of his ChaRActers.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:00 am |
Guy – surprised myself even!
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kaprekar said this on February 3, 2011 at 6:45 am |
And he is very, very grateful, Kaprekar.
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angieklong said this on February 3, 2011 at 3:49 pm |
I voted even though I’m not from North America, but in my place now also it is winter, I like (but not snowstorm!). For me is always the first place is Mr. Thornton. However, in this cold day, when it is snowing outside the window and the pavement is slippery at best would be Harry, a fireplace and red wine 🙂
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Ania said this on February 3, 2011 at 7:43 am |
mmm. I think there is a fireplace in the vicarage! Of course that might run you into Geraldine … 🙂
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:13 am |
John Porter, of course! Lucas though comes very close (he may drink vodka, but I prefer single malt, preferably Talisker or Lagavulin :-)!
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Nietzsche said this on February 3, 2011 at 11:24 am |
I feel like John Porter has the most body heat of all of these choices.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:13 am |
According to Layla, John Porter’s body heat is ginormous. But she is really shirty about sharing him at the moment.
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angieklong said this on February 4, 2011 at 5:45 pm |
Well, and who can blame her.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 9:05 pm |
I certainly don’t. I mean, I was the one playing matchmaker, after all. 😀
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:02 am |
I think that now that they are married they might both be rather insistent on monogamy.
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 6:52 pm |
Absolutely. As you will see when I finish with the last bit of Truce, they are very focused on one another. “I only have eyes for you . . .”
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:00 pm |
Can’t wait! 🙂
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servetus said this on February 7, 2011 at 8:42 pm |
I actually got some more written over the weekend. Two words: shower scene.
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angieklong said this on February 7, 2011 at 10:15 pm |
inarticulate moan.
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servetus said this on February 7, 2011 at 10:28 pm
*big grin*
Oddly enough, that is also much like what Milly said after she read it.
Just add water . . .
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angieklong said this on February 7, 2011 at 10:35 pm
Still, Harry likes books, Lucas is too busy, and Guy can’t read.
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fitzg said this on February 3, 2011 at 3:09 pm |
(Guy is looking over LW’s shoulder–wait a minute, what’s he doing at her office?–oh well): What does this Lady of Fitzg mean, Lady Writer? (sniffs) Of course I can READ. They may have made me look a total numpty on That Show but I am NOT an uneducated peasant.
LW (in soothing voice): There, there, Sir Guy, the Lady of Fitzg was having a little joke, that’s all. She was having a very hard time deciding amongst you and your fellow ChaRActers. I know for a fact she cannot get you out of her mind, even if she tried.
Guy: (draws himself up to his full height, tosses back his lustrous mane and raises a brow as a smirk appears on his handsome face): No, I don’t suppose she can . . .
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angieklong said this on February 3, 2011 at 3:59 pm |
@angieklong, OMG when Sir Guy raises a brow that I almost starting to regret that I voted for Harry 🙂
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Ania said this on February 3, 2011 at 5:54 pm |
He is the Master of the Eyebrow Raise, along with the Sexy Smirk, Smouldering Gaze and Manly Sniff. 😀
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angieklong said this on February 4, 2011 at 5:46 pm |
I’ve wondered for awhile about the extent of Guy’s literacy. It’s unlikely that he’d have been literate in English, anyway.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:14 am |
We currently don’t have snow, but if there was, well, I still could not choose…. So I chose that! Harry was a strong contender, I must confess, under snowy conditions. But… I could not not choose Guy. And then there’s Lucas. And John S. And Uthred of course. His mantle will keep you warm and safe…
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Elisabet said this on February 3, 2011 at 6:47 pm |
I’m surprised that Uhtred has not even been chosen once. I may have to pick that just to make a point 🙂
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:14 am |
🙂 Apparently we still are more visually oriented…
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Elisabet said this on February 4, 2011 at 8:04 am |
No one picked Damerel either.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 9:05 pm |
Angie, that is precisely why Lady of Fitzg TRIES to put Sir Guy out-of-mind: he takes up too flipping much room there!!
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fitzg said this on February 3, 2011 at 7:24 pm |
So true.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:15 am |
Sorry, Fitzg. There is just so MUCH of Guy–he’s larger than life.
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angieklong said this on February 4, 2011 at 5:48 pm |
Totally tempted to say I couldn’t choose but in the end I had to go with Harry!! The words Harry/snuggle/couch/books was just too enticing a combination to pass up!! But for goodness sake Angie PLEASE don’t mention this to Guy after his sweet birthday message to me and what he called me!! Of course I know you are an expert at keeping him distracted so he doesn’t have time to read all this stuff!!
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Teuchter said this on February 4, 2011 at 1:46 am |
Yeah, keep Guy away from the computer, Angie.
Happy firthday, Teuchter.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:15 am |
As I said, Guy’s blissfully ignorant of all this at present, as he snores away in harmony with Thumper’s purr on the den sofa. It’s that kind of rainy day here. Wish I was with Guy on the den sofa right now. Thumper could take the chair.
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angieklong said this on February 4, 2011 at 5:50 pm |
@servetus. Thank you for the birthday wishes. I had a great day and decided to reverse my age when asked how old I was. Gave me the chance to fantasize that I would be just a few years younger than Mr Armitage instead of old enough to be his MOTHER!!!
As to The Question – since I cast my vote for Harry I’ve had all SORTS of guilty feelings as it felt as though I was neglecting all the others and I really had no wish to do that. I’m anxiously awaiting delivery of my LOTN audiobook so I’m wondering if I should have waited to cast my vote until after I receive it as Uhtred is still an enigma to me but dying to find out about him! Oh darn! Maybe I should have gone with my first instinct and chosen the “I can’t decide” vote!! At least that way none of those delectable creatures would have been offended!!!
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Teuchter said this on February 4, 2011 at 8:08 pm |
Ah, guilt: the question that keeps us focused on all the chaRActers …
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 9:06 pm |
@servetus,
I am letting you know officially that when I am finally better I am going to want to change my selection! I’ll even pick Uhtred if I can be “spread eagled among the buttercups”! 😉
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Ann Marie said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:22 am |
maybe that can be arranged 🙂
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:38 am |
servetus – no gain without pain? 🙂 (whoops slipped back into emo habits again. The printer drivers for W7 are awaiting installation from my personal Malcolm, so e-mail recipients are having to put up with endless emos, because I can’t scan my dumb cartoons). Probably Uhtred has fewer hits because many of us haven’t had, or found access to Lords of the North yet? It’s very unlikely that Guy was literste – kings some kings of that time weren’t always – there were clerks on hand. Doubt if Guy could have been literate in Norman French either…
Angie, whatever you do, kindly keep your computer locked safely from Gisborne. I don’t want the Black Plague on mine! 🙂 Slipped up again.. and, while it might not attract Gisborne’s Hewlett tendencies, you may address fitzg as Mistress Fitzg (in the mediaeval sense of the the honorific, of course).
Nietsche, as I re-watch recently acquired SB DVD, Porter grows on me more. As though Mr. A had to grow MORE…oh well, he’ll be shrinking soon. 🙂 Whoops.
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fitzg said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:09 pm |
@Fitzg,
Give in to the emoticons, you know you want to…why fight it….let go….come over to the dark side…we have cookies… and…chocolate…and Guy. 🙂
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Ann Marie said this on February 4, 2011 at 3:35 pm |
Me likee Porter very, very much. Superman wears Porter pajamas, you know.
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angieklong said this on February 4, 2011 at 5:51 pm |
I agree, IF Guy was literate, then only in Latin and only on a very basic level. Seems unlikely, though. This is casting no aspersions. Some of my favorite historical personages were probable illiterates 🙂
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 9:08 pm |
@servetus. Finding myself in “Defensive Mode” regarding Guy’s literacy or lack thereof. If both Marion and Robin are obviously able to read AND write why not our leather-clad hunk of manhood??? Just asking!!! I always imagined Ghislaine to be an educated lady somehow so never thought her children would be otherwise. Maybe I imagine too much!!!
Yipee!!! The sun is trying to come out after us being deluged by rain yesterday!!
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Teuchter said this on February 4, 2011 at 10:10 pm |
Putting on my historian hat: reading really was a different thing in the middle ages than it is now. It’s possible that a noble lady might be taught to read, but the question is why. Prayers could be said by rote, for example, and why else would she need to read? The book is not a common household item until after the mid-fifteenth century, and so reading tended not to be used (for example) for entertainment. It’s possible that an aristocratic lady might have some need to understand accounting practices but that would not necessarily mean that she could read prose above a very basic level. Again, I’m not saying Ghislaine didn’t read, just that it’s not obvious that she would have.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 11:09 pm |
Being able to read and write granted you special privileges in medieval society, didn’t it? It was such a rarity.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:05 am |
particularly during that century. It gets a bit better as time wears on. But still on average, current scholarship suggests that only c. 5-8% of western Europeans are literate at the beginning of the Reformation. Percentages would have been higher in cities/towns and in courts, of course, but in many rural communities there must have been no one who could read, or perhaps one person.
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 6:54 pm |
Adorable poll:)
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Avalon said this on February 4, 2011 at 4:10 pm |
Ann Marie, on my way over. Choc chips with nuts? Just hide them from GoG (Gog/Magog? – whoops, association of dubious thought, off on another tangent – fire irons, darkside vs light?) While GoG would make a fine half of the fire irons, let’s put Harry on the other half for light/dark balance…
GoG has a reputation for scoffing cheezits and Thai stir-fry, so I don’t want to find your cupboard bare when I get there. 😀
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fitzg said this on February 4, 2011 at 4:37 pm |
Dear fitzg,
Cupboard fully stocked…Check!
With nuts? My house is full of nuts! See you when you get here! 🙂 😉 😛
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Ann Marie said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:20 am |
Thai stirfry?
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 6:54 pm |
I was wondering about that, too. Although we do have stir-fry from time to time. And Kung Pao Chicken.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:03 pm |
I think there is some canon mixing going on here after that interview Mr. Armitage did that involved a cooking segment.
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:34 pm |
Ah yes, that would explain it. The Chatty Cathy girl. 😉
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:41 pm |
Well he is becoming very well traveled and I can imagine that some of his ladies have introduced him to *ahem* some exotic ideas….
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Ann Marie said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:38 pm |
He loves sampling all the local—cuisine. 😉
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:41 pm |
And, while further tangenting from the point, quotation in an article in Atlantic Monthly about Kipling in Vermont, leapt off the page (would it do so in an e-book – please advise).
Bagheera…”inky black all over, but with the panther markings showing up in certain lights like the the patterns of watered silk”. Please discuss – giggle.
So much for attempts to put GoG firmly in abeyance, and focus on the subsequent chaRaActers…
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fitzg said this on February 4, 2011 at 5:25 pm |
I read that article, too. Really interesting that he had to leave town.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 9:08 pm |
Poll is now closed.
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servetus said this on February 4, 2011 at 9:09 pm |
[…] are the results of the poll, since it’s above freezing here now for the first time in a few […]
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John Thornton declining in popularity as hypothetical winter warm-up companion « Me + Richard Armitage said this on February 4, 2011 at 10:48 pm |
Well there is a obsession with guy on here. Is this healthy I wonder after all he is a murdering henchmen.
I have a queston re guy fanfic do writers here feel that Guy is better received when he is paired with Marian or an AU.
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khandy said this on February 4, 2011 at 11:27 pm |
Khandy,
I am one of those who is very fond of Sir Guy. Your question regarding whether we like him with Marian or an AU I think depends on how good the story is written. One of my very favorite Guy stories has him with an AU named Cassia (The Tempest). Of course I’ve read several really great stories that pair him with Marian but again, the key was that they were good stories with good plotlines.
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Ann Marie said this on February 5, 2011 at 1:58 am |
I agree, Ann Marie, I think it’s more about whether or not it’s a good story that gets and keeps your attention than the pairing.
It may be Guy and Marian, or Guy and Meg, or some other character . . . I mean, I’ve written three different extended fan fics with Guy and he had a different love interest each time (of course, Rebecca in Night Falls is actually based on a character Lucy Griffiths played in Sea of Souls, but she only looks like Marian. Otherwise, she is very different . . .)
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:13 am |
agree with Ann Marie and Angie insofar as I think it’s not who so much as how — is it a good story, is the character drawn believably. For me as a reader if it’s going to be GxM then Guy has to either get her or she has to die. I am not interested in stories where Marian ends up with someone else …
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 6:56 pm |
Yeah, Marian only interests me if she is paired with Guy ultimately. I remember reading a fan fic where she married Robin but did not live happily ever after–he was a shameless flirt and cheater, as it turned out. Guy ends coming back into her life, they are drawn to one another, to make a long story short someone conveniently kills off Robin and she and Guy marry and do live happily ever after.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:08 pm |
See, I would read that story quite happily!
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Ann Marie said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:10 pm |
If I could remember the name of it, I would share it with you, Ann Marie. I think I read it on LJ.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:42 pm |
Teuchter, good point about Robin and Marian re: reading. Now, if we keep Guy firmly in the anachronisms of the BBC, we can imagine Ghislaine, convent-educated in France, teaching her children to read (after all, we know that Isabella could even write!) So, in the defection of her husband, Ghislaine had more leisure to educate her children.
Now, if I can work at my on-line literacy…
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fitzg said this on February 5, 2011 at 12:07 am |
Still trying to figure out how Marian learned Tai Chi . . . and Robin invented hang gliding.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:06 am |
@Angie, and Al Gore invented the internet.. 😉
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Ann Marie said this on February 5, 2011 at 9:41 pm |
LOL! We had one of our Lions celebrating 60 years of active membership in the club and the emcee for the event was giving historical highlights from 1951. He mentioned the first commercial computer being put into us, to which someone cracked, “Was Al Gore there for that?”
He’s never gonna live that down, I suspect.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:28 pm |
Guess I get a little touchy if it appears that RH could do ANYTHING that Guy couldn’t even though I have to throw logic out the window to do it!! If I really sat down and thought about it I would of course acknowledge that huge liberties were taken with the time period they were meant to be portraying but I just went along for the ride anyway. I got a kick out such improbabilities as they gave me lots of laughs so I just suspended reality when watching it, enjoyed it for what it was and pretended that Guy could do absolutely anything he chose to!!!!!
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Teuchter said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:53 am |
I am terribly protective of Guy myself, Teutcher. Well, he is like family to me, after all. He hangs out in my den, eats my food, naps a lot on the couch, tries to claim control of the remote control . . . it’s like I have a Goth teenager living with me LOL
With RH it’s probably best to check your realism detector at the door and just go with the flow. 😀
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:26 pm |
OK, sure. This would also tend to suggest that Guy is probably blogging somewhere as an apologia for his deeds 🙂
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 6:57 pm |
LOL! I am imagining Guy sitting at a computer, typing in a hunt-and-peck fashion, occasionally flicking back a lock of errant hair and sipping coffee from a “I Heart Richard Armitage” mug while Guy fanvids play in the background. Snacks would be close by, too. M&Ms–but only the green ones.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:47 pm |
When I was in high school, giving someone a green M&M meant “kiss me.” 🙂
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:51 pm |
He can give me green ones any time!!!!
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Teuchter said this on February 5, 2011 at 8:05 pm |
Supposedly, green M&Ms are like an aphrodisiac. 😉
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:30 pm |
@whomever started the Guy can’t read thread,
Pish posh…yes he can and he is fluent in reading and writing French too! And a smattering of Latin too…
You read it here folks…
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Ann Marie said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:24 am |
Well, I did want to say Guy is somehow reading things over my shoulder on this laptop if I don’t watch out, so he must have learned somehow, at some point. And he sometimes murmurs in French when he is napping . . . *thud* What were we talking about again?
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:30 am |
Gosh I love you Angie! so cute are the two of you..my missive to Guy will be in your email tomorrow if you don’t mind being an intermediary and will keep the contents secret?
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Ann Marie said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:41 am |
Why, thank you, Ann Marie. *grin* I would be most happy to serve as intermediary and I assure you, my lips are sealed. I can be very discrete when neeed be.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:46 am |
Sorry to be a pain in the ass, but it should probably be the other way round — fluent in Latin, with a smattering of French. In this period schools did not teach reading and writing of the vernacular languages because they were assumed to be unnecessary. You see a flurry of educated people expressing about what they perceive as their inability to write in their own vernaculars around the 13th century (because they haven’t been taught) that accelerates along with humanism and becomes serious at the Reformation when there is a serious vernacular writing push.
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 6:59 pm |
Yes, but his mother was French and I found this site very helpful…
http://cunnan.sca.org.au/wiki/12th_Century_Literature
Please don’t excoriate me, I’m just a helpless lay fanfic writer.. 🙂
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Ann Marie said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:16 pm |
First, I’ll say it really doesn’t matter what you write about Guy, because he’s not real 🙂 Seriously, have him write sonnets in German, that would make me really happy, despite years of forced reading in French I’ve never gotten all that into the language, though my recent conversational French lessons are starting to move me a bit.
Historically speaking, the standard work on this topic is Clanchy, From Memory to Written Record, which covers the period from the Norman invasion to the mid-fourteenth century. Clanchy’s position IIRC is that while French writing actually develops in England (not in France), Latin is still the preferred language of all of the important writers of the period, and the epic French vernacular poems of the 12th century are known primarily in oral rather than in written versions, although there are a handful of exceptions.
This is also a great book to read for other reasons because it puts literacy in its place — he makes the case rather forcefully that literacy in medieval society is not an index of intelligence, educational level, progress, etc., but rather of the status of certain kinds of legal issues.
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:27 pm |
Good point about the place literacy held in that time. We tend to see it through our 21st century mindset, with the thought of being a noble and being illiterate seems so incongruous.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:51 pm |
Clanchy makes the point that in this particular society, memory is really important to the point of being a sign of honor. That changes as legal disputes get more complex. But at the beginning of the period he discusses, memory had more legal validity than written texts. It’s only we, living in the post-Reformation period, who believe that written texts and the ability to read them are indices of cultivation.
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:54 pm |
@servetus,
Did I read this post correctly? Did you actually write that Guy is not real? Did you not get the memo that he is So Not Dead? Heresy I tell you, this is heresy! Not real eh? then who were you trysting with the other evening? A figment of our imagination? Tsk, Tsk, No more stubble for you young lady!
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Ann Marie said this on February 5, 2011 at 9:48 pm |
My thoughts exactly Ann Marie!! I have an idea he will say Servetus has to be “punished” *dreamily remembering Guy saying that to Marion*. I’ll bet she’ll submit to that!! Please check out the richardarmitageonline video clip from series 2 episode 5 called “You’ve been following me” and swoon all over again especially when he leans in close to her while he is talking! Be still my heart.
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Teuchter said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:03 pm |
“I told you I was on business . . .” That smile and the amused, flirtatious glint in those blue eyes . . . Guy can come punish me anytime he wishes. In fact, I volunteer to take Servetus’ punishment for her. Purely out of unselfish motives. Of course.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:36 pm |
Naturally Angie!! You are the very epitome of unselfishness!!
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Teuchter said this on February 5, 2011 at 11:06 pm |
you’re a true friend 🙂
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servetus said this on February 7, 2011 at 10:27 pm |
Ann Marie,
I just assumed Servetus was so giddy over the anticipation of her beloved Packers playing in the Big Game, she completely forgot Guy has indeed been Loved Into Being.
Guy also wishes to remind Servetus certain areas of–tenderness–on the good professor’s flesh are proof he very much exists.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:33 pm |
I should clarify that he’s not real according to historian’s definitions of being real. Of course, he is SND, LIB, etc., etc. 🙂 I only wanted to say that it doesn’t really matter how much he conforms to what we can piece together about the historical record of the 12th c.
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servetus said this on February 7, 2011 at 8:45 pm |
(oh — and — in my experience the SCA people need to be taken with a grain of salt. Apologies to any SCA members here, but I find that they usually have a very sort of nineteenth-century understanding of medieval history. The field’s moved on from there.)
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:28 pm |
Ann Marie and Angie – well, he SPEAKS French – but does he READ it? 😀
Please Angie, keep him away from the computer. Go feed him a chocci bic, or start a fight between Guy and Porter. Anything to keep him from spreading a computer virus. Then we’ll have to counter his malicious tendencies with Lucas and Malcolm…
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fitzg said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:48 am |
I will get back to you on the reading French question, fitzg. I still have a silly grin on my face from thinking about him murmuring la belle langue with that honeyed tongue, dark lashes brushing against his cheeks, raven mane fanned across sofa throw pillow . . . uhhhhhhh. Right now he and Harry are having hot chocolate and a slice of marble cake with chocolate ganache, so no worries. He does love to eat and it’s a great way to distract him.
(Porter is on his honeymoon, so no hope of starting a fight between Soldier Boy and Milord, oh Lady of Fitzg.)
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 2:56 am |
More importantly, what would there have been for him to read in French and how would he have obtained a copy of it? French literature is in its infancy in the 12th century — it would have been limited to saints lives and really about a dozen and half romances like Song of Roland and the Arthurian romances, along with the very first French vernacular poems. A great deal more would have been available to him in Latin.
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:07 pm |
Servetus,
I think I am going to go with Guy knowing some Latin–taught to him by Ghislaine?–and of course, speaking French as learned at his mother’s knee. As you say, Latin would have largely been the only thing available in that time period.
I do like to think Ghislaine taught him some poetry in French which he committed to memory. But that’s just the soppy romantic in moi.
Apparently Marian could read, as we see her delivering the announcement Vasey forces her to read before the townspeople. But then she could also do tai chi and karate. 😉
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:33 pm |
It was considered an accomplishment to be able to recite poetry, of course.
I should probably just shut up, because the BBC show was intentionally anachronistic. That fact kept me from watching it for awhile and still occasionally annoys me. But since the canon itself is anachronistic there’s no reason that the fanfic has to be historically accurate. I just have read all this scholarship and so sometimes can’t make myself shut up. 🙂
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:37 pm |
It’s hard to break old habits, isn’t it, Prof? 🙂
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:52 pm |
yeah, it’s something I’m going to have to work on. Even among professors I have a tendency toward the pedantic …
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:55 pm |
Not to mention the note she wrote and have Vasey sign so she could go and visit Guy albeit secretly passing on another note at the same time. Now I’ve gone all breathless thinking of that scene where he is trying on the armour!!!!!!!!!! *Swoon* and *thud*!!
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Teuchter said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:38 pm |
One more historical comment — reading and writing are considered different skills within literacy. Research from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries suggests that many more people could sign their names or write elementary messages than could read the writing of others.
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:41 pm |
Of course you are correct Servetus. I can think of a modern day example of that. Many people I know who speak Scots Gaelic fluently, it being their mother tongue, cannot read the language at all. I wouldn’t even begin to try to learn it as words are pronounced nothing like they are spelled so I would only be able to learn it phonetically!
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Teuchter said this on February 5, 2011 at 8:02 pm |
There are similar phenomena among speakers of Yiddish in the U.S. (a smaller and smaller group) and among Jews who pray in Hebrew but never learned the alef-bet.
Language is an infinitely fascinating topic, nicht wahr?
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 8:07 pm |
It certainly is fascinating. My late husband had to learn Greek and Hebrew for Theological studies but decided to attend Modern Hebrew classes as a matter of interest and not a requirement. Being a Christian Pastor among mostly Jewish students he found most enjoyable.
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Teuchter said this on February 5, 2011 at 8:14 pm |
Ah, yes . . . If Only. Robin, why did you have to be playing Peeping Tom yet again???
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:53 pm |
@Teuchter, you are so right about RH! (I just keep trying to fight my Gisborne attraction – it’s not working) The whole production, notwithstanding flaws – which make it more interesting – was a lovely romp. And I have a feeling that it will, in future, be seen as having been unfairly under-rated at the time. The anachronisms, the High Street Marian costumes, and the great Mediaeval Casino were so much part of the fun. As well as memorable performances (outstandingly from Mr.A) as well as some other cast and guest members.
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fitzg said this on February 5, 2011 at 4:07 am |
@fitzg I don’t believe any other actor COULD have been Gisborne. He just brought him to life in front of our very eyes and really made that RH series IMO. So there is no way I can fight that attraction and come on!! – do we even want to try??? For instance today I was watching some episodes of SB and absolutely loved John Porter! Then I closed down YT and there on my screen was the oh-so-gorgeous Guy and once more I am “staggered by his beauty”!! Yep!! It’s an all-out obsession with him all right!! Of course I’m watching my Spooks Series 8 DVD’s these days and swooning over Lucas. Am I fickle or what??
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Teuchter said this on February 5, 2011 at 5:38 am |
it’s all Armitage, it’s all good … 🙂
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servetus said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:07 pm |
It’s an Armitage World, and we’re just here to enjoy the journey 😀
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:34 pm |
Guy blogging at his computer! 😀 (After biting off his glove.) In Norman French, Latin and Middle English. And his blog? “Fie Upon the Fans”? “Google Guy for a Gisborne Time”? “Gisbornus Nationalis Enquiris”?
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fitzg said this on February 5, 2011 at 7:56 pm |
LOL!! Everybody else has got a blog, why not Gizzy??
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:39 pm |
btw, I leave you alone for a day, to get the cats’ oil changed at the vet, buy some dog biscuits to send to Angie whom Gisborne is eating out of house (Would he eat dog bics, Angie? ) etc, and return to 101 comments on this thread…
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fitzg said this on February 5, 2011 at 8:03 pm |
Fitzg,
He accidentally did eat dog biscuits in one installment of Sloth Fiction. He thought they were Nutter Butters. Said they were actually pretty tasty.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:40 pm |
I am sat here with a very cute accountant in a cuddly jumper/sweater who is sulking. He is fed up with all this Guy talk and has asked me to point out that he won the poll not the leather eyeliner wearing bad guy and some recognission would not go amiss
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khandy said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:26 pm |
Aw, bless, Harry, my love! You are so sweet, smart, funny and endearing. Not to mention sexy. I basically married a version of you and there is a good reason you are regularly installed in my house as part of Sloth Fiction. You are my helpmate, my comforter and the peacemaker amongst the ChaRActers. And the kitties dearly love curling up with you and listening to you read aloud.
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:43 pm |
Although I did not vote for Harry, I certainly would love to cuddle up with him on the sofa with a book. 🙂
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servetus said this on February 7, 2011 at 8:46 pm |
@angie, servetus, et al..
the idea of Gisborne using 21st century technology to expound on views shaped by the 12th century cultures is highly intriguing to me. I would read that blog!
I wonder what we would find?
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Ann Marie said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:43 pm |
It is a fascinating idea, isn’t it?
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angieklong said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:45 pm |
khandy, the GOOD guy did finish first. By one vote. That was my vote, incidentally). What more does he want? An Oscar? He’d settle for a BAFTA…
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fitzg said this on February 5, 2011 at 10:56 pm |
I think Harry wants some of the adulation Guy has. I have told him that would make the leather clad one jealous and he is not very stable when he is jealous
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khandy said this on February 5, 2011 at 11:27 pm |
It’s a good point that sometimes the people who add that little piece of “happy medium” to our lives also deserve recognition. We tend to ignore them because they are not squeaky wheels.
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servetus said this on February 7, 2011 at 8:47 pm |
I am so excited. My dear Benny who adds a big piece of “happy medium” is going to get a Singing Valentine next Monday, courtesy of a local ensemble raising funds for the cancer society. I chose “Let It Be Me,” which has really nice harmonies. I married the boy next door, more or less, and I never forget to appreciate what a good man he is–at least I try very hard not to.
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angieklong said this on February 7, 2011 at 10:26 pm |
Harry has it! Just because Heathcliffe/Lord Byron Gisborne has a bad influence on us doesn’t mean we want to spend the rest of our lives with him!
Sorry, Angie, but even post-redemption and post-Meg, Guy is still a tricky husband prospect 😀 Can’t help it if he continues to haunt; that “illicit piece of chocolate”?
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fitzg said this on February 6, 2011 at 12:27 am |
I’m not arguing with you, Fitzg. As I noted above, I am basically married in RL to Harry Kennedy. Dark-haired, tall and lanky, Math major and business manager, lovely sense of humor, kind and patient, enjoys reading, often has a merry twinkle in his long-lashed blue eyes, and he adores his missus. In RL, I’d never go for an actual relationship with someone like Guy. But in fanfic and Sloth Fiction Land, for me, he is irresistible.
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angieklong said this on February 6, 2011 at 12:40 am |
Not to mention he was my first–Armitage character that is. Before Harry, or John Thornton or John Standring, or any of the rest.
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angieklong said this on February 6, 2011 at 12:46 am |
Mine too, Angie. Saw him before the others and fell like a ton of proverbial bricks. Then came Thornton and Harry in quick succession.
Gisborne – chocolate! But also a character so presented in nuance and all the shades of black, grey, white, and brief flashes of silver and gold. It was a tour de force. And unfortunately, he has taken residence in my imagination.
Which I try to keep under control…for some reason…
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fitzg said this on February 6, 2011 at 1:32 am |
Thornton was my first experience – but strangely didn’t “fall” for him when he was on TV on our local public broadcaster. It wasn’t until I bought the DVD’s a few years later that it happened for me. I have no explanation other than I perhaps didn’t “need” him as much at first viewing!! How crazy was I??? I’m still hoping and praying they will show N&S on PBS!!
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Teuchter said this on February 6, 2011 at 1:45 am |
N&S was on PBS a few years ago, apparently, but somehow I totally missed it. I had never seen or heard of Richard Armitage the actor until RH aired on BBCA. Maybe–he arrives in our lives in a really memorable way when we most need him, Teutcher. I just know he helped me through some really dark times in my life and I will always be grateful to him for that.
Poor Benny thinks he is possibly coming down with something and doesn’t want to share. I had dropped off to sleep a little while watching TV with him and he woke me up and sent me to the other room 😦 I hope he feels better in the morning. Me, I’m just really tired. But I have a lovely little calico kitty who now wants to cuddle with me. Callie says “hello.” And I think I’m going to delve back into Jane Austen for a while and then call it une bonne nuit.
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angieklong said this on February 6, 2011 at 3:43 am |
Teuchter, hardly crazy. All part of servetus’s initial premise for this blog, ( Me + Richard – or that’s is how I interpret it) and lots of levity all around in the personal explorations of response to this actor. Which makes it fun, too. And the exchanges of perspectives.
If I had seen Thornton before the other performances, would have been intrigued, because the actor fits my physical ideal (forget I’m too short for him 😦 ) and the superb acting would have inspired further interest.
As for Harry, the DVD is popped into the player frequently (loved Dibley even pre-Harry) because it’s so cheerful and naughty. Re-watching Lucas 8 on both DVD and PBS. And Lucas 7.
But, Gisborne does intrude…
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fitzg said this on February 6, 2011 at 4:11 am |