Literary Crushes

[Deleted]

Speaking of evil crushes, I also had a fascination with Iago from Othello and was extremely disappointed that Kenneth Branaugh played him in the movie. Nothing against Mr. Branaugh, I'd just hoped for somebody more sex-on-wheels, like Joaquin Phoenix.

Oh, definitely. When I first read Othello, I was horrified at my crush on Iago. I was fourteen and thought that it meant I was a bad person. Then I went onto the Literary Crushes thread on That Other Place and found many people proudly declaring their Iago love. I joined in. Having said that, I too was disappointed when I saw the movie, because Branaugh was so not my Iago. I think Cillian Murphy would make a great Iago.

[bee]

Best thread ever. Top mentions to Calvin O'Keefe, Gilbert Blythe and Marcus Flutie who have all been mentioned. Others that literally make my toes curl are Ronan Nolan from the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane, Numair Salmalin from the Immortals series by Tamora Pierce, Theodore Laurence from Little Women and Rob Wilkins from Meg Cabot's Missing series. Normally with these characters the tiniest romantic interaction with the heroine has me swooning ... they're so real and very, very crushworthy.

Jamie Fraser is pretty special too - incredible books, especially 1-3.

[petals]

The Count of Monte Cristo is dreamy. And granted he's not in literature, but I can't find any other place to put him--Batman. Yes, I think Bats is hot.

I have a thing for emotionally unavailable men. The more they'd ignore me, the more I'd want them!

[starskin]

My most embarassing literary crush is Sherlock Holmes.

Yeah....I know. I know.

[muskratmonroe]

starskin said:

My most embarassing literary crush is Sherlock Holmes.

Yeah....I know. I know.

If that's wrong, I don't want to be right. I fell in love with Sherlock Holmes when I was thirteen. I know I'd hate him in real life, but in fiction; misogynistic, arrogant, coke-addicted brains on legs totally grill my cheese. I wanted to be either Irene Adler or Violet Hunter in the worse way.

I've totally dredged up smutty Sherlock Holmes fanfiction as well. Unfortunately, it generally comes in two types- Holmes/Watson slash (oh God no), and Mary-Sues (blech). There some Irene Adler/Holmes fic, but there is a lack of available female characters in the canon. I love the Holmes/Watson relationship as it is and I don't think that Victorian/Edwardian male bonding thing has to be interpreted in a homoerotic way.

[Deleted]

I'm embarressed because I always wanted to marry Dr. Watson. He seemed so nice and loyal and sweet. And Doctors are kinda hot anyway. And Holmes always seemed like he'd be a bag of bones, whereas Watson seemed more substantial and huggable.

I also fancied Jonathan Strange- he was a cool dude, though being married to him would have driven me crazy because his work came first. But when his wife first disappeared and he went a bit mad with grief for a while.... *sigh*

At the moment I'm going through a big Patrick O'Brian phase, and am totally crushing on Stephen Maturin. Mind you, Paul Bettany may have something to do with that as he's meant to be pretty fugly in the books but I had seen Master & Commander first and although they tried to fug up Bettany to an admirable extent...I'd still do 'im. And I'm just fascinated by a man that nerdy and cerebral having this grand horny passion for Diana Villiers (I choose to believe they were at it like rabbits in the 2nd book even though it's never really spelt out...). And y'know, Doctor again.....

But my all time crush is Harry Flashman. Woof Woof! Yep, he's a total BASTARD but by God he loves the shagging. I really appreciate that in a guy! And he's pretty funny. And just when you think he's too much of a slut and too much of an a-hole and would sell his own mother down the river to get out of a fix and he's totally DISGUSTING and you can't be bothered crushing on him any more....then he lets slip how much he loves his wife Elspeth (even-though-they-both-screw-other-people) and how none of his conquests ever come close to her, and you're all *sigh* all over again.

Damn you Flashy!!

[johnboysmole]

I always got the sense that Jacob Flanders from Virginia Woolf's Jacob's Room was hot. I know he doesn't have a happy ending, but that doesn't stop the fact that I imagine him to be a studmuffin.

[Margo]

I liked Jonathan Strange, too! He seemed to be a smart guy, determined, with a sense of humour, and so on. And it was very touching when he was upset about his wife and did everything he could to bring her back.

[crankykate]

More love for Calvin O'Keefe right here. I also had a big-time crush on Rhys Thuryn from Katherine Kurtz's Camber books -- a red-headed doctor who's married to one of my absolute favorite heroines, Evaine MacRorie.

More recently, I might just have a teeny little thing for Aral Vorkosigan from the Lois McMaster Bujold books -- checkered past and all. (I like Miles fine, but he would drive me crazy if I had to, like, be around him for any length of time.)

[girlnamedcarl]

*cough*Morpheus from the Sandman comics.*cough*

What? What?!