October 9, 2012

Rewind! (Top Ten Fictional Crushes)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the bloggers of The Broke and the Bookish. This is a rewind week, meaning that I could pick any past Top Ten Tuesday topic. For this week I chose to reveal my top ten fictional crushes and I convinced Courtney of Courtney Reads A Lot to do the same topic, so check out hers as well! This could turn into a very long, very embarrassing list, so luckily I need to limit myself to ten choices. My ten choices are also characters I was introduced to years ago and thus gave me quite a bit of time to substantially crush on them.

Eugenides (The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner) — I think the livejournal group that I joined years ago aptly describes my relationship here: Eugenides stole my heart. Literally. I went into The Thief from the perspective of this seemingly crude, immature petty criminal. But as with basically everyone else in his story, I've drastically amended my prior thoughts. He's one of the cleverest, most realistic characters I've ever read about and will always be my main fictional crush. 

Harry Potter (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling) — How can you read the Harry Potter series and not fall in love with Harry's character? He's not perfect, but he is brave and idealistic and accepts the responsibility he has to save the world. And being able to read about Harry's transformation from an uncertain young boy to a man of strong principles doesn't hurt.

Prince Charmont (Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine) — Like Ella, I found myself really falling for Char through his letters as he spent many months in the Ayothorian court. As his name and traditional Cinderella role implies, he is charming. But Char is so much more than that: he's trusthworthy, caring, quick to laugh, and always seeking whatever is best for those he loves and his future kingdom.

Jesse de Silva (The Mediator series by Meg Cabot) — I haven't read very many of Meg Cabot's book (for shame, I know), but I absolutely loved her Mediator series, mostly because of Jesse. It doesn't matter that Jesse is a ghost. He's protective and caring and sexy and Hispanic. I also can no longer hear the word querida and not think of him.

Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen) — Who doesn't have a crush on Mr. Darcy? I have this thing where I really enjoy peeling back the layers of a character who seems like an utter jerk at first but who actually turns out to harbor more sympathetic tendencies. Mr. Darcy has been raised with certain societal beliefs, but he is willing to abandon those for the woman he loves. And it didn't hurt that in my favorite film version he's played by Colin Firth.

Gabriel (Archangel by Sharon Shinn) — I think that his extremely attractive angel body and the knowledge that he is to be the next archangel have given Gabriel a sense of entitlement. He's arrogant, yet he literally believes that whatever he wants to do is best for everyone. He is also fiercely loyal and protective and has the best male singing voice in all of Samaria. I would love the opportunity to test my will against his. Or just to be in presence at all.

Silk (The Belgariad series by David Eddings) — In a lot of ways, Silk is very similar to Eugenides. He prefers to keep his true identity hidden and provides the best one-liners and sarcasm throughout the series. He definitely has all the best speaking parts and is skilled in espionage. And what can I say? I have such a weakness for guys who use lots of wordplay.

Nealan of Queenscove (Protector of the Small quartet by Tamora Pierce) — Tamora Pierce has created so many lovable male love interests; there are a few men I can name from each of her Tortall series that I really liked. Neal will always be my favorite, however. I love his penchant for the dramatics and his wry sense of humor. And I sympathized with Neal's struggle between becoming a knight to defend people and becoming a healer to save people. Beneath his sometimes apathetic veneer he really cares about others.

Fan-fiction Draco Malfoy (various Harry Potter fan-fictions) — Obviously I need to clarify this here. What J.K. Rowling has written for Draco Malfoy is not enough to justify a fictional crush. Even with the hints of Draco's struggle in The Half-Blood Prince. I did, however, form a big crush on the Draco Malfoy most commonly portrayed in fan fiction — the bad boy who is cocky and insecure but good looking and not entirely evil. A la Cassie Clare's works and others. I know I can't be the only one here.

Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer) — And so my love of misunderstood evil characters continues. Artemis Fowl is all about knowledge and power and I've always been drawn to characters like that. He's a teenage genius. Sometimes caring about the good guy gets to be a bit much, but glimpses Artemis' humanity from plans less than perfectly executed really drew me to him. At least for the first few books I read, back when I was a tween.

Now that I've shared mine, let me know who some of your bigger fictional crushes are/were!
author image

Amanda

Amanda loves few things better than sitting down with a cup of tea and a book. She frequently stays up far too late, telling herself she just needs to finish one more page. When she's not wrapped up in the stories of others, Amanda works as a children's librarian in a public library.

12 comments:

  1. You had me at 'Harry Potter'! I have such a huge crush on Harry and I don't think I'll ever love another hero as much :) And I like your specification of 'fan-fiction Draco. I completely agree with you and Jace made me love Draco more as well. Great list, thanks for sharing!

    New GFC Follower :)

    Here's my TTT post

    Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay for Harry Potter love! Harry is definitely one of my favorite heroes ever. I guess I should read The Mortal Instruments just so that I can read Jace as an extension of Cassie Clare's Draco? And thank you!

      Delete
  2. I knew Gen would be your #1. I must be psychic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This isn't in numerical order...not really. Though if it was Eugenides would probably be my #1 anyway. And call him by his full name - that's what he prefers. And because it doubles as his title it's just that much better.

      Delete
  3. Everyone keeps telling me I need to read The Queen's Thief series and here is yet ANOTHER confirmation. I better bump that up on my TBR right NOW. Of course I love Harry and Mr. Darcy too. I'll have to look up some of your other picks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahh yes, you NEED to read this series! Definitely one of the best and most complex series I've ever read for YA, although it's also well-written enough to be read and appreciated by both YA readers and adult readers alike. I'd be very curious to read your thoughts on this amazing series when you have time to get to it. :)

      Delete
  4. YES. I agree with the ones from books I have read. LOVE that you included Fanon!Draco. He really took on a life and character of his own in fanfiction and at times, I even had a hard time separating him from Canon!Draco because of all the fanfiction I read. STILL need to read The Queen's Thief series to see what this Eugenides character is all about...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha fanfic Draco certainly did. He is awesome and way better than canon Draco. If only that was how he was written...
      And YES! You do! If I had one book series to push on people, it would totally be The Queen's Thief series. It's been one of my top YA series since I was around 12 and it only gets better with time. Mostly because of Eugenides. But also just everything else about it is fantastic and just so well-written.

      Delete
  5. YESSS! I love Gen and HARRY! I love him so much...I feel like he gets overlooked because of Ron's humor and Hermione's intelligence, but Harry is the heart of the trio and he is SUCH a sweetheart. I'm jealous of Ginny - I admit it freely! ;) Darcy is amazing (although I prefer the 2005 Version of the Film) and I am so excited to read Archangel since I just picked it up recently, so Gabriel is someone I haveee to meet. AND FANFICTION DRACO YESSS! :D I read too much Harry Potter fanfiction. In fact, the Marauders have some of the BEST fanfiction (Lily and James, TONKS AND LUPIN) although there is a dearth of Ginny/Harry fanfictions unfortunately. I do admit to reading some Harry/Hermione fanfictions though since I love them, but Dramoine is the besttttt! ;) I actually haven't read Clare's fanfiction, but I read so many others and GOSH YOU READ FANFICTION TOO! You'd think more bloggers would read it, but if they do, no one admits to it, so this just kind of made my day! :D Awesomeeee list, Amanda! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha I love your enthusiasm! And yes, definitely jealous of Ginny. Ron just never did it for me. I'll admit I still haven't seen the P&P 2005 version, but I doubt it compares haha. I just love Colin Firth. OMG I can't wait to read your thoughts on Archangel - such a good book! And yayyy for Harry Potter fanfiction!:) Dramione was very good - and p.s. Clare's fanfic featured Dramione a lot. Like her Draco trilogy. What were some of your fave fanfics?? We totally need to discuss this haha.

      Delete
  6. You! Are you from Sounis? If so, hello! I freaked out when I saw Gen was your #1 and then freaked out further when you mentioned a livejournal group.

    My TTT: http://shelversanon.blogspot.com/2012/10/top-10-tuesday-rewind-top-ten-bookish.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was on Sounis for a little while! Around the time that A Conspiracy of Kings came out. But I haven't really been on livejournal at all recently. I guess you're on it/were on it as well? Yay! Nice to meet you! The Queen's Thief fans and Sounis members unite! :)

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment! I strive to make my blog the very best it can possibly be and I appreciate each and every comment on here.