Quick note: you may notice that I'm here on a Wednesday. Yeah. So, my February posting schedule is all over the place right now. Which is not my favorite way for it to be? But so many things kept coming up! How can I resist February Fantasy Month? Pirate Blog Party? Jem Jones's new Quirk? (Spoiler alert: I can't). So you're getting this post on Wednesday, and then things-other-than-reviews for the next two Mondays! I hope you don't mind. :)
I don't know about you, but deep in the recesses of my mind, I think of my favorite book characters as friends. Or even family.
As much as I may joke about having literary crushes on Will or Aragorn or whoever, (and I do admire them and think they're cool and all that jazz), I don't actually have crushes on them. (Sorry to disappoint you.) Because they feel like family. And crushes on family are weird. All my favorite book characters are family.
This isn't something that happens to me with every book, nor every character. Boromir fits nowhere in my book-family tree. But...
Halt is a grumpy old uncle, and Will, Horace, Alyss and Evanlyn are cousins.
Aragorn is also an uncle, or maybe a father, and the hobbits are cousins. Or maybe siblings. Eowyn is a young aunt who I can look up to. Legolas and Gimli are older cousins whose adventures I yearn after.
Gen, Helen, Irene, and Sophos are older cousins who I look up to and want to hang out with all the time.
And that's just the beginning.
Shall I keep running down the list of characters I consider my family?
The Pevensies + literally every other character in Narnia ever
Septimus and Jenna Heap + Marcia Overstrand (who is an awesome fictional aunt)
Taran, Eilonwy, and the Fflan whose name I can never spell.
Harry, Ron, Hermione + practically all the Weasleys
Sophie and Howl (who are the spazziest, most ridiculous fictional aunt and uncle)
Picket, Heather, and Smalls. (Yes, I am aware that they are rabbits)
Ella of Frell
Eliza, Angelica and Alexander
*record scratch*
Yeah. So. That happened. They're...not book characters? I mean, sure, we can talk about it in a moment. But surely that's an anomaly in the list. Shall we continue?
Tonks & Lupin
Maddie, Queenie & Jamie (aka wonderfully fantastic fictional cousins)
Meg, Charles Wallace, Sandy & Dennys
Vicky Austin & Adam Eddington
Polly O'Keefe
Tony Stark & Pepper Potts
Thor & Jane
Captain America
Hawkeye
Natasha Romanoff
*epic record scratch*
Um. So. Yes. Well.
I've realized recently that I have somehow added (*counts*) ten non-literary characters to my list of literary family? (And yes, I'm highly aware that I left Dr. Banner off the list. I'm sorry. He doesn't feel like family yet. Maybe someday.)
How did that happen? And why did that happen?
I'm intrigued, because...
Movies (and/or musicals where I didn't even actually see them for years) don't usually fascinate me. They don't usually make me want to hang out with the characters for hours on end and fangirl obsessively over my new aunts/uncles/cousins.
Sure, there are movies I love. (Dead Poet's Society. Quiz Show. Contact. Deep Impact. The Hunt for Red October. Incredibles. Pirates of the Caribbean.) But usually it's because either it's just really fun to watch (the Incredibles...don't feel like family. Sorry guys) or because I love the themes they explore.
(The Princess Bride may be an exception to this rule. But of course, it's an exception to everything. And really, I feel more like Cary Elwes is family, rather than Westley. To be fair.)
And I never. Ever. Fangirl. Spastically. About. Movies. For. More. Than. A. Day. (This is practically a Rule Of My Life.)
HA.
I repeat: HA.
How long have I been Fangirling Spastically About Avengers and the other Marvel movies? Over a month, on and off.
Marvel has destroyed my internal barriers around fictional family. With some help from Hamilton.
And I'm not sure why?
I do have ideas about why. And they hinge around the fact that there's not a book.
Some part of why I don't usually connect with movie characters is because I don't usually have as an immersive experience with a movies as with a book. That's probably the case for most of the movies I watch.
But I think another part of why I don't usually connect with movie characters is because they're usually book characters first. And so if I'm going to adopt them, I adopt them as book characters.
And, having never reading any Marvel comic books, or good fictional books about the real Hamiltons, I am free to assimilate them.
I don't know if that's the case. It might be. Maybe not. I mean, this has never happened to me with any other movies that there aren't books for (Incredibles, Quiz Show, Dead Poet's Society, etc.)
But for whatever reason, it happened. And I'm so, so happy that it did.
See y'all later, off to hang out with my new favorite aunt, Natasha Romanoff.
Is this how you feel about your favorite characters? How do you relate to your favorite characters? How do your favorite characters in movies and books compare?
I... don't initiate people into my family quite as easily as you, apparently. :) Though I have adopted the occasional extremely good friend in real life. There are a few people my kids refer to as "aunt" and "uncle" who aren't actually related to us.
ReplyDeleteBook characters are my friends. Sometimes my very dear friends. But I don't generally adopt them. Hm. That's an interesting way to look at them.
Okay, but I love that The Princess Bride is your exception to everything. Have you read the book?!?!?!? Because it might not be such a huge exception then. Or if you haven't, you REALLY need to add it to your list. Because it's fabulous, and I can't ever decide whether I love the book or the movie better. Also, --> "I feel more like Cary Elwes is family, rather than Westley. To be fair" <--- hahahahah, yes. True.
Well, the thing is, I don't actually initiate real people into my family very easily, but fictional people? If I love them, they're in in a heartbeat. XD
DeleteBook characters are my friends, too, but for books that I really love (like the ones referenced in this post), especially ones I read over and over, they somehow...become something more?
I have read the book! In fact, I'm overdue for a reread. :) But the thing is, I'm much more familiar with the movie, having watched that first, so it's what I think of when I think "Princess Bride". Not that the book isn't also FANTASTIC, because it is.
I love the concept of fictional characters being more like family members than crushes because that's definitely more accurate to how I feel about them too. Except Howl, I would marry him, if he didn't already have his perfect match in Sophie. I do think it happens more often with books than movies for me too. Love that Hawkeye's on there I feel like he gets overlooked a lot. A lot of the ones you listed feel like family to me too.
ReplyDeleteOh, yay! It's so cool that you think about book characters like that, too. (I honestly don't entirely understand what's so attractive about Howl? I mean, I love him and all, but I would not want to marry him. He would be such a pain to live with. XD But I respect that you would. :D). Hawkeye definitely gets overlooked, but especially after watching Age of Ultron a couple of days ago, he has a special place in my heart.
DeleteAh, I feel this! I was doing some kind of a tag a while back that included the question "Who is your newest fictional crush?" and I just....I don't really have crushes on many fictional characters. I LOVE them DEARLY, but--as you said--they're more like family.
ReplyDeleteSo many excellent characters! I would love hobbit cousins, aunts Sophie and Tonks and uncles Howl and Lupin, having family gatherings at the Weaselys, laughing at the banter of cousins Gen, Irene, Sophos, and Helen, visiting the Beufort-Stuarts in Scotland, hanging out with Very Cool aunt and uncle Hawkeye and Natasha--and EVERYONE.
Exactly! Why would you have a crush on a fictional character when you could incorporate them into your fictional family? Or at least, that's my take. XD
DeleteAh, it would all be so very amazing! (Especially visiting the Beaufort-Stuarts. That would be ridiculous. Especially if we brought Everyone Else, and Sophie was trying to make Gen and Howl stop being ridiculous, and the hobbits had stolen Hawkeye's bow just to "try it out", and it was all happening in an old Scottish castle...I'm going to stop now before I start getting sad that it can't happen in real life. :))
i adopt all and any fictional character that i love so i totally get you!!! And i definitely think of Steve Rogers as my older brother in my head XD
ReplyDeleteOh, you do it too? Yay! Ahh Steve Rogers is just the best. :)
DeleteI like this concept. I tend to think of fictional characters I really love as being . . . like, friends or people I look up to. But I like the family idea.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, I can definitely see them being like friends or heroes, too!
DeleteI love this! I have so many characters that feel like family too so this was really fun to relate to
ReplyDeleteOh yay, I'm so glad you could relate!
DeleteGreat post! I agree completely as whenever people ask my fictional crush I say something like, "Uh, I don't have one? Here's a list of fictional kindred spirits instead!" Especially with Marvel as (in addition to what you said) Bruce feels like my uncle, Sam is a cool cousin, T'Challa is my older brother , Shiri is my younger sister (you'll get to her soon ;)), and Peter Parker is my twin in all ways. And it is just weird to have crushes on your family. XD
ReplyDeleteThe one exception is John Brooke from Little Women. I just love him tremendously and would marry him in a heartbeat if he a) was real and b) wasn't already taken. XD I don't know why exactly I love him so much, but I do.
Thank you! I have the same thing...someone just asked me today whether I had a fictional crush, and I was like..."Yeah, no, I don't have one, but...Aragorn is like my uncle? Does that count for anything?" XD
DeleteI have a feeling that I'm going to be adopting Bruce one of these days (I'm coming around to him, especially after Age of Ultron. His kind of nerdery appeals to me), and T'Challa, too! When we get to him, of course. (And I can't wait to see more of Peter Parker, and find out who Shiri is!)
Ah, John Brooke. He's awesome! I don't know that I have any sort of fictional crush on him. But I TOTALLY can see how you would! He's just...kind of perfectly perfect. :)
Aragorn is definitely my uncle. No doubt. And Heather is my older sister... while picket is my uncle also... hmmmmmmmm......
ReplyDeleteAnd Laurie is my brother. Jo is my best friend, and Amy is the one I go to when Jo and I are too alike.
Legolas is my brooding buddy. Or just poetic, prosy, ethereal chit chat.
But Aslan is my favorite. I swear this site and all the comments are exactly what every classics and *fantasy* readers relate to.
One last note: I love Anne Shirley, and I want to be friends with her, but she seems to be either the best friend I can only actually see once a year, or the voice inside my head. But we almost can't coexist. But I love the stories with all my heart. Gilbert, though, is practically my best guy friend that's super steady and fun but also insightful and honest. Also... he's definitely and ENTP which is awesome. I would marry him if he was real... and didn't know Anne. But they're too perfect for each other so it's beautiful to watch. I KNOW THEY'RE NOT REAL XD
...*sobs quietly and contents self to watch the wind in the trees*
Yay! Aragorn is an excellent uncle...and so is Picket, come to think of it.
DeleteI didn't even think of the Little Women characters, I don't think! It's so cool that they're in your fictional family. :)
Hah, that totally works. XD
Aslan is so excellent! Oh my goodness, thank you! That is such a huge compliment!!
Oh interesting! Is it because she's so similar to you, or so different? The Anne stories are the BEST, and Gilbert ahhh <3 <3 <3. I would probably marry him if he was real, too. :) But he and Anne are so perfect for each other! I just reread Anne of the Island, and GAH the ending is SO cute!
*pats you gently on the back*
I never thought of it that way, but now that you mention it, Charmain Baker is my twin. Identical twin, mind you. *Nervously chuckles*
ReplyDeleteAnd that is about all the fictional family I have, I mostly think of other characters as good friends.
Faramir
P.S. Having lag... is it because I have 20 tabs of microsoft edge, 3 of microsoft word, 1 skype tab, 2 file tabs, and one settings tab, for a total of 27 tabs open (I know that it's terribly irrelevant that I'm putting this here. Sorry in advance).
P.P.S. Don't suggest that I delete any of my tabs! I wuv them, and anyway, you can't stop me! MWAHAHAHA ~ Ahem. Sorry.
Faramir
Goodness gracious, you ARE Charmian Baker's twin. I never thought of that, but it is absolutely true. XD
DeleteHmm...maybe try using Collections in Edge? That might help. ;)
Good idea, thanks!
DeleteFaramir