Fictional Crushes - Page 3

Draken · 11-19-2004, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun-star

EDIT: Also, I would argue that fictional crushes and celebrity crushes aren't really the same thing. All you can know about a celebrity is their image, and so the closest thing to a relationship you can have with them is likely to be your own imaginative construction (not to shatter anyone's dreams here, guys

). You don't know anything about who they are, just who you'd like them to be. With fictional characters, on the other hand, you really can get inside their heads. You can follow their experiences, thoughts and development, often over a long period. Most likely you know their interior life better than you know that of a person you've got a crush on in real life. It's impossible for a fictional crush to be entirely physical, as celebrity crushes are - there has to be some element of admiring the character's personality as well. So really it makes more sense to have crushes on fictional characters than on real people you don't know anything about.

Also, this kind of reaction to a character is part of the novel-reading process. Most novels encourage readers to be attracted to their characters, and in some novels you could argue that it's the author's intention for you to fancy their character - Jane Austen wants you as a reader to find Darcy attractive, because otherwise you don't get why Lizzy likes him. L.M. Montgomery wants you to find Gilbert sweet because then not only do you understand why Anne likes him, but you accepts the message she's putting across in the character (he's self-sacrificing and loyal => self-sacrifice and loyalty are good) and you get emotionally involved in the plot because you want Anne and Gilbert to get together. If you don't have strong reactions to the characters, the author's failed to make you believe in them.

It only gets a bit dubious if you know it's against the grain of the novel's intention - as it is with Narnia, I'm afraid. No way did C.S. Lewis want little girls to fall in love with Caspian! But as any lit student will tell you, reading against the grain is seriously fun

And as I said, we're only kidding. I didn't mean to write such an essay... but I gave this some thought because it's such a common reader response that it's not really fair to see it as an abnormality, Janny

And PLUS Halo Jones is quite a cutey. But what you said too...

Trouble is with fictional crushes, while Halo started off being about the same age as me, she's much too young for me now!)

sun-star · 11-19-2004, 02:47 PM

That was a subtle way of saying 'shut up, sun-star, no one cares', wasn't it?

I'm just trying to lecture Janny into agreement

***Rían*** · 11-19-2004, 02:53 PM

That's a very good point, sun-star - I hadn't thought of it that way before - that we actually DO "know" the fictional character in the sense of we can know his/her "thoughts", so it's not just like a celebrity crush.

katya · 11-19-2004, 06:09 PM

Hmm...there's always someone I like in just about every book I read. I like Watsuki's interpretation of Captain Sagara Souzou in Rurouni Kenshin, but he was a real person. I have sort of a thing for him though. I did a picture of him from art and it's been hanging up in either my locker or my room since. (but Goku? That's just too funny!)
I kind of liked Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment. Is that weird?
I can't think of any more. Oh yeah, except the main character in the story I'm writing. But he's sort of based on someone from real life anyway, so, you know.

Fictional crushed are sort of fun and they just sort of happen, but seriously, you just can't beat those real life guys (or girls).

Draken · 11-20-2004, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun-star

That was a subtle way of saying 'shut up, sun-star, no one cares', wasn't it?

I'm just trying to lecture Janny into agreement

Oh sun-star as if I would! I loved your lecture. Just wanted to point out some of us are working at a much shallower level!

~Nolwë~ · 11-20-2004, 12:32 PM

Even old duffers like me can still have their world rocked by a fantasy character.
Predictably, my heart belongs to Aragorn. [Book or Film interpretation]
He's ruined me for other men.
If a guys's not wearing chainmale and hurling a big old sword around his head, then I'm just not interested.
Unfortunately, you don't get a lot of males who fit that description round my neck of the woods.

katya · 11-20-2004, 03:50 PM

And if you did, they'd probably be crazy or nerdy cos-players or something. *sigh* It's too bad.

Forkbeard · 11-22-2004, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Nolwë~

Even old duffers like me can still have their world rocked by a fantasy character.
Predictably, my heart belongs to Aragorn. [Book or Film interpretation]
He's ruined me for other men.
If a guys's not wearing chainmale and hurling a big old sword around his head, then I'm just not interested.
Unfortunately, you don't get a lot of males who fit that description round my neck of the woods.

Rosie Cotton for me....book or film version. A nice farm hobbit for me!

Minielin · 12-21-2004, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun-star

And until I can make a fuller list of my own, I have two words. Prince. Caspian. *swoon*

Ahem. It's all about Tirian. And Darcy, of course. Also Mr. Knightley from Emma... and Maximillian Morel from The Count of Monte Cristo. Tolkien-wise: Fingon, Maglor, Faramir, and Maedhros.

sun-star · 12-22-2004, 08:43 AM

I hope it's not disloyal to Lewis to say so, but Tirian and Caspian are basically the same character anyway...

brownjenkins · 12-22-2004, 09:36 AM

cool avatar minielin

Minielin · 12-22-2004, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun-star

I hope it's not disloyal to Lewis to say so, but Tirian and Caspian are basically the same character anyway...

Perhaps.

When people say "Prince Caspian" I tend to think more of the book Prince Caspian as opposed to Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which I mostly associate with Eustace.

Quote:

cool avatar minielin

Thanks very much! I like it.

katya · 08-16-2009, 01:09 PM

Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin. (I like him enough to revive a 4 1/2 year old thread just to say so

)

Curufin · 08-16-2009, 01:44 PM

Jasper Hale and Eric Northman.

katya · 08-16-2009, 05:18 PM

I watched S. Darko the other night and thought of you, Curufin. I bet you can guess why.

GrayMouser · 08-18-2009, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katya

Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin. (I like him enough to revive a 4 1/2 year old thread just to say so

)

So you still think of hm as the bright falcon, and don't think they've turned him into an owl?

Midge · 08-18-2009, 09:41 AM

When I was younger, I read the Princess Diaries and really liked Michael. There was this series of books about ancient Celts which had this girl with seven brothers. She also gets married. About four out of the seven brothers I liked and of course, the husband. I never really was a Caspian girl. If books could have fangirls, I would have been one of Tirian's. I can't promise I'll like a movie portraying of him.

I like how most of the people mentioned above are from classical novels. There are a few exceptions, but not many. Lots of Jane Austen.

Or so it seemed to me.

BeardofPants · 08-18-2009, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falagar

Pah, Simon was annoying!

Never finished that series...

Have missed quite alot of good female characters me thinks...the best tend to be male (...possible I read to many male authors

). But Arya must be one of my all-time favorites. And that girl in Hobb's first triology.

Simon WAS annoying. I was very disappointed in the series (enjoyed his otherland series more).

Arya is awesome.

Curufin · 08-19-2009, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katya

I watched S. Darko the other night and thought of you, Curufin. I bet you can guess why.

Yes, yes I can.

And yes, I own that movie.

Bought it the day it came out.

katya · 08-19-2009, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

So you still think of him as the bright falcon, and don't think they've turned him into an owl?

I like him exactly how he is. He doesn't have to be a bright falcon or anything. Then, I have unfortunate and dangerous taste in men.

11-19-2004, 02:53 PM	#43
*Rían* Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!) Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Not where I want to be ... Posts: 15,254	That's a very good point, sun-star - I hadn't thought of it that way before - that we actually DO "know" the fictional character in the sense of we can know his/her "thoughts", so it's not just like a celebrity crush. __________________ . I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç å ™ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva!

11-20-2004, 12:32 PM	#46
~Nolwë~ Sapling Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: ~ over the hills and far away ~ Posts: 8	Even old duffers like me can still have their world rocked by a fantasy character. Predictably, my heart belongs to Aragorn. [Book or Film interpretation] He's ruined me for other men. If a guys's not wearing chainmale and hurling a big old sword around his head, then I'm just not interested. Unfortunately, you don't get a lot of males who fit that description round my neck of the woods. __________________ A star shines upon the hour of our meeting Elen s?*la lúmenn' omentielvo

12-22-2004, 08:43 AM	#50
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	I hope it's not disloyal to Lewis to say so, but Tirian and Caspian are basically the same character anyway... __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool.

12-22-2004, 09:36 AM	#51
brownjenkins Advocatus Diaboli Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Reality Posts: 3,767	cool avatar minielin __________________ Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever.

08-16-2009, 01:44 PM	#54
Curufin The Ñoldóran Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Mishawaka, IN Posts: 2,050	Jasper Hale and Eric Northman. __________________ Then Celegorm no more would stay, And Curufin smiled and turned away... ~The Lay of Leithian

11-19-2004, 02:47 PM	#42
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	That was a subtle way of saying 'shut up, sun-star, no one cares', wasn't it? I'm just trying to lecture Janny into agreement

11-19-2004, 06:09 PM	#44
katya Elven Maiden Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3,309	Hmm...there's always someone I like in just about every book I read. I like Watsuki's interpretation of Captain Sagara Souzou in Rurouni Kenshin, but he was a real person. I have sort of a thing for him though. I did a picture of him from art and it's been hanging up in either my locker or my room since. (but Goku? That's just too funny!) I kind of liked Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment. Is that weird? I can't think of any more. Oh yeah, except the main character in the story I'm writing. But he's sort of based on someone from real life anyway, so, you know. Fictional crushed are sort of fun and they just sort of happen, but seriously, you just can't beat those real life guys (or girls).

11-20-2004, 03:50 PM	#47
katya Elven Maiden Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3,309	And if you did, they'd probably be crazy or nerdy cos-players or something. sigh It's too bad.

08-16-2009, 01:09 PM	#53
katya Elven Maiden Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3,309	Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin. (I like him enough to revive a 4 1/2 year old thread just to say so )

08-16-2009, 05:18 PM	#55
katya Elven Maiden Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3,309	I watched S. Darko the other night and thought of you, Curufin. I bet you can guess why.

08-18-2009, 09:41 AM	#57
Midge Faithful Gardener Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: I walk here and there, they say... Posts: 3,603	When I was younger, I read the Princess Diaries and really liked Michael. There was this series of books about ancient Celts which had this girl with seven brothers. She also gets married. About four out of the seven brothers I liked and of course, the husband. I never really was a Caspian girl. If books could have fangirls, I would have been one of Tirian's. I can't promise I'll like a movie portraying of him. I like how most of the people mentioned above are from classical novels. There are a few exceptions, but not many. Lots of Jane Austen. Or so it seemed to me. __________________ In God I trust, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Psalm 56:11 "Starbuck, what do you hear?" "Nothin' but the rain, sir!" "Then grab your gun and bring in the cat." Make sure to check out the C.S. Lewis forum. Game threads, movie and book discussions and more!