Love Meme, Day Fourteen and Fifteen
Aug. 20th, 2016 03:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofleithianDay 14 - What is your favorite book pairing?
Okay, now we're really talking. Considering that a lot of my pairings in my formative fandom years came from books, I definitely have a lot to choose from.
-Beren/Luthien from The Silmarillion. Just an absolutely gorgeous pairing, considering how it involves Beren's personal healing after the hell he went through prior to meeting Luthien (and I think it really does show what healthy love looks like; healthy love is very healing, on both sides really. It's not really a case of one side healing the other, but both sides being healed by the experience. Or at least, both sides being happy together), and Luthien, instead of waiting around while Beren goes to find the Silmarils, goes with him to help him out. Luthien was definitely one of my earliest female role models -- stunningly gorgeous and kicking ass? Hell yeah. And the fact that she was willing to go to the House of Mandos to bargain for his release really does show the depth of her devotion to him. I have a lot of good memories of reading Tolkien's works, and Beren and Luthien's story in The Silmarillion was definitely one of them.
-This is a weird choice, without a doubt, but I'd say that Anakin/Padme could also count as a book ship considering that I first started shipping it reading the prequel trilogy novelizations. I remember reading their interactions together, especially in the Attack of the Clones novelization and just rooting for the both of them to get together just because R.A. Salvatore wrote them both so well. I really do hate how Salvatore wrote Han in Vector Prime, but in the Attack of the Clones novelization, he really wrote Anakin and Padme both extremely well. You really cared about the both of them.
-Roland/Susan from The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass. King really did a wonderful job in portraying two teenagers in love (Roland's fourteen years old when he meets Susan, Susan's sixteen, and it really makes what the both of them go through in the story, in the romance and outside of it, all the more heartwrenching considering that they're just kids. It really does make me despise Rhea all the more. *), which really makes what happens to Susan all the more heartbreaking. And there is something pretty powerful in the fact that she goes out declaring her love to Roland while she's burning to death. I mean, there's this crowd, which has basically been tricked by Rhea into burning an innocent child alive, and prior to that, they're basically physically degrading her, jeering at her, the flames are getting higher, and Susan Delgado's last gesture of defiance is to declare her love for the boy who's really the reason that Rhea's burning her alive in the first place. That's...honestly, that's pretty powerful. Well done, King.
-Alan Pangborn/Polly Chalmers from Needful Things. Needful Things is a pretty dark book, but the scenes between those two are genuinely lovely, and King really portrays the both of them as very genuine in their love for one another. It really just makes it even more infuriating when Gaunt turns Polly against Alan through one of the "pranks" he sets up the others to do (although I'd say his absolute worst act is what happens to Brian Rusk. I mean, the kid was only eleven, for fuck's sakes!) and even more awesome when Polly shows up in the climax to assist Alan against Gaunt (as well as Ace Merrill).
-Frodo/Sam from Lord of the Rings. I remember reading those books in middle school and just thinking that there really was something more going on between them than just friendship (though honestly, either one works. Love, friendship, friendship turned to love...any of those I'm good with). The Nostalgia Critic did say in his video on Top Eleven Dumbest Lord of the Rings moments that the films really kind of invented a lot of the subtext between the two, but...well, honestly, I think he's mistaken. There's definitely some stuff there in the books that's very suggestive of Sam, at least, being deeply in love with Frodo and Frodo not quite noticing (things like Sam describing Frodo as "old and beautiful", and, when Frodo's downed by Shelob, Sam stepping in front of him and Tolkien describing it as like a wild animal defending its mate). And honestly? It's quite sweet. In the Two Towers film, Frodo says that "Frodo wouldn't have gotten far without Sam" and honestly? I think it's definitely the case, I think he's right. Sam was basically the one who kept Frodo moving when things just got really, really bad and it seemed that moving any further was all but impossible. And considering all the bullshit that Frodo had to go through over the course of the series, he really did need Sam. A lot.
-Detective Hodges/Janey Patterson in Mr. Mercedes. The relationship between them both...I heard some complaints that it was pretty rushed, but in my opinion, it didn't really feel rushed to me. It helped that the both of them really worked genuinely well together -- laughing together, Hodges comforting Janey after her mother's death, things like that. It just really sucks that Brady (the shit) ends up killing her; I honestly would have loved if she'd become a member of the group. Along with Holly, of course. (As proved in the finale of Mr. Mercedes, and a part of the finale of End of Watch, one does not simply fuck with Holly Gibney and expect to escape without a scratch)
-Ben Mears/Susan Norton from Salem's Lot. My only complaint really would be that they kind of hit it off too well; Ben's kind of spilling his backstory to her when they barely know each other (most people wouldn't really recite their autobiography to a complete stranger) ** but that being said, their scenes together are genuinely sweet and charming (stuff like their first meeting in the park, talking over ice cream sodas, etc. Even if they do seem to get attached to one another too fast, there is something about their dialogue together that feels, somehow, very real), and you grow to like the both of them -- the writer who's still recovering from the death of his wife in a motorcycle accident and the young college graduate. And yes, I will admit I definitely got swept along in the courtship between the both of them, in the exhilaration of it, juxtaposed against the growing menace of what exactly has set up shop (literally) in Salem's Lot. It really just makes things worse when Susan becomes a vampire and Ben has to stake her. It's one of Barlow's absolute worst acts. What he does to Father Callahan is another one of his absolute worst acts (and it actually did send me into a sort of shock reading it) but what he does to Susan is just heartbreaking.
-Elphaba/Fiyero from Wicked. Let's just say that Gregory Maguire really sets things up between them really well, and the scenes they share together later on are very moving, very chemistry-filled, at least in my opinion. I remember reading it when I was a kid (although there were definitely some scenes in there that, as a likely wee middle schooler, I probably shouldn't have read!) and shipping them pretty hard. And yes, I would say that the musical did it justice -- "As Long As You're Mine" is absolutely gorgeous.
* I think what really makes Rhea work as a villain is how successfully she manages to basically play everyone -- and I mean everyone -- like a harp. She manipulates the mob into burning Susan alive, there's a pretty disturbing scene where she hypnotizes Susan into trying to cut off her hair after a night she has with Roland (before Roland intervenes), and she manipulates Roland into accidentally killing his mother. Rhea's a monster. A very Magnificent Bitch-ish monster, but still a monster.
** And I think it's one of the few things that the miniseries actually got right -- having Ben delay his backstory and what happened at the Marsten house until much, much later in the miniseries, and having the both of them getting to know each other better. It just feels more realistic, in my opinion.
Day 15 - What is your favorite real life pairing?
Honestly, I can't say that I actually have many real life pairings; real life pairings kind of make me a bit uncomfortable because it feels like I'm intruding in other people's private lives. That being said, I have always found the story of Tolkien and his wife, Edith, to be highly touching and moving. And very lovely. The fact that their graves are labeled as BEREN and LUTHIEN (respectively) as well is very lovely. So I'd say that that is one of my favorite real life pairings. The other being Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh -- even listening to the both of them talking on the commentary track with Phillipa Boyens is very awesome.
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?
Day 17 - A pairing you thought would never work out, but did?
Day 18 - What is the cutest pairing?
Day 19 - A pairing you’ve rooted for since the beginning?
Day 20 - The 'can't stand the sexual tension anymore' pairing?
Day 21 - A pairing you like and no one else understands why?
Day 22 - A pairing you hate and no one else understands why?
Day 23 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out great?
Day 24 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out badly?
Day 25 - A pairing that was/would-be adorable, but could never work out?
Day 26 - A pairing that you hated and ended up loving?
Day 27 - A pairing that you loved and ended up hating?
Day 28 - A pairing that you will never understand?
Day 29 - What ship had the best proposal?
Day 30 - Your favorite ship forever and ever and ever!
Okay, now we're really talking. Considering that a lot of my pairings in my formative fandom years came from books, I definitely have a lot to choose from.
-Beren/Luthien from The Silmarillion. Just an absolutely gorgeous pairing, considering how it involves Beren's personal healing after the hell he went through prior to meeting Luthien (and I think it really does show what healthy love looks like; healthy love is very healing, on both sides really. It's not really a case of one side healing the other, but both sides being healed by the experience. Or at least, both sides being happy together), and Luthien, instead of waiting around while Beren goes to find the Silmarils, goes with him to help him out. Luthien was definitely one of my earliest female role models -- stunningly gorgeous and kicking ass? Hell yeah. And the fact that she was willing to go to the House of Mandos to bargain for his release really does show the depth of her devotion to him. I have a lot of good memories of reading Tolkien's works, and Beren and Luthien's story in The Silmarillion was definitely one of them.
-This is a weird choice, without a doubt, but I'd say that Anakin/Padme could also count as a book ship considering that I first started shipping it reading the prequel trilogy novelizations. I remember reading their interactions together, especially in the Attack of the Clones novelization and just rooting for the both of them to get together just because R.A. Salvatore wrote them both so well. I really do hate how Salvatore wrote Han in Vector Prime, but in the Attack of the Clones novelization, he really wrote Anakin and Padme both extremely well. You really cared about the both of them.
-Roland/Susan from The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass. King really did a wonderful job in portraying two teenagers in love (Roland's fourteen years old when he meets Susan, Susan's sixteen, and it really makes what the both of them go through in the story, in the romance and outside of it, all the more heartwrenching considering that they're just kids. It really does make me despise Rhea all the more. *), which really makes what happens to Susan all the more heartbreaking. And there is something pretty powerful in the fact that she goes out declaring her love to Roland while she's burning to death. I mean, there's this crowd, which has basically been tricked by Rhea into burning an innocent child alive, and prior to that, they're basically physically degrading her, jeering at her, the flames are getting higher, and Susan Delgado's last gesture of defiance is to declare her love for the boy who's really the reason that Rhea's burning her alive in the first place. That's...honestly, that's pretty powerful. Well done, King.
-Alan Pangborn/Polly Chalmers from Needful Things. Needful Things is a pretty dark book, but the scenes between those two are genuinely lovely, and King really portrays the both of them as very genuine in their love for one another. It really just makes it even more infuriating when Gaunt turns Polly against Alan through one of the "pranks" he sets up the others to do (although I'd say his absolute worst act is what happens to Brian Rusk. I mean, the kid was only eleven, for fuck's sakes!) and even more awesome when Polly shows up in the climax to assist Alan against Gaunt (as well as Ace Merrill).
-Frodo/Sam from Lord of the Rings. I remember reading those books in middle school and just thinking that there really was something more going on between them than just friendship (though honestly, either one works. Love, friendship, friendship turned to love...any of those I'm good with). The Nostalgia Critic did say in his video on Top Eleven Dumbest Lord of the Rings moments that the films really kind of invented a lot of the subtext between the two, but...well, honestly, I think he's mistaken. There's definitely some stuff there in the books that's very suggestive of Sam, at least, being deeply in love with Frodo and Frodo not quite noticing (things like Sam describing Frodo as "old and beautiful", and, when Frodo's downed by Shelob, Sam stepping in front of him and Tolkien describing it as like a wild animal defending its mate). And honestly? It's quite sweet. In the Two Towers film, Frodo says that "Frodo wouldn't have gotten far without Sam" and honestly? I think it's definitely the case, I think he's right. Sam was basically the one who kept Frodo moving when things just got really, really bad and it seemed that moving any further was all but impossible. And considering all the bullshit that Frodo had to go through over the course of the series, he really did need Sam. A lot.
-Detective Hodges/Janey Patterson in Mr. Mercedes. The relationship between them both...I heard some complaints that it was pretty rushed, but in my opinion, it didn't really feel rushed to me. It helped that the both of them really worked genuinely well together -- laughing together, Hodges comforting Janey after her mother's death, things like that. It just really sucks that Brady (the shit) ends up killing her; I honestly would have loved if she'd become a member of the group. Along with Holly, of course. (As proved in the finale of Mr. Mercedes, and a part of the finale of End of Watch, one does not simply fuck with Holly Gibney and expect to escape without a scratch)
-Ben Mears/Susan Norton from Salem's Lot. My only complaint really would be that they kind of hit it off too well; Ben's kind of spilling his backstory to her when they barely know each other (most people wouldn't really recite their autobiography to a complete stranger) ** but that being said, their scenes together are genuinely sweet and charming (stuff like their first meeting in the park, talking over ice cream sodas, etc. Even if they do seem to get attached to one another too fast, there is something about their dialogue together that feels, somehow, very real), and you grow to like the both of them -- the writer who's still recovering from the death of his wife in a motorcycle accident and the young college graduate. And yes, I will admit I definitely got swept along in the courtship between the both of them, in the exhilaration of it, juxtaposed against the growing menace of what exactly has set up shop (literally) in Salem's Lot. It really just makes things worse when Susan becomes a vampire and Ben has to stake her. It's one of Barlow's absolute worst acts. What he does to Father Callahan is another one of his absolute worst acts (and it actually did send me into a sort of shock reading it) but what he does to Susan is just heartbreaking.
-Elphaba/Fiyero from Wicked. Let's just say that Gregory Maguire really sets things up between them really well, and the scenes they share together later on are very moving, very chemistry-filled, at least in my opinion. I remember reading it when I was a kid (although there were definitely some scenes in there that, as a likely wee middle schooler, I probably shouldn't have read!) and shipping them pretty hard. And yes, I would say that the musical did it justice -- "As Long As You're Mine" is absolutely gorgeous.
* I think what really makes Rhea work as a villain is how successfully she manages to basically play everyone -- and I mean everyone -- like a harp. She manipulates the mob into burning Susan alive, there's a pretty disturbing scene where she hypnotizes Susan into trying to cut off her hair after a night she has with Roland (before Roland intervenes), and she manipulates Roland into accidentally killing his mother. Rhea's a monster. A very Magnificent Bitch-ish monster, but still a monster.
** And I think it's one of the few things that the miniseries actually got right -- having Ben delay his backstory and what happened at the Marsten house until much, much later in the miniseries, and having the both of them getting to know each other better. It just feels more realistic, in my opinion.
Day 15 - What is your favorite real life pairing?
Honestly, I can't say that I actually have many real life pairings; real life pairings kind of make me a bit uncomfortable because it feels like I'm intruding in other people's private lives. That being said, I have always found the story of Tolkien and his wife, Edith, to be highly touching and moving. And very lovely. The fact that their graves are labeled as BEREN and LUTHIEN (respectively) as well is very lovely. So I'd say that that is one of my favorite real life pairings. The other being Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh -- even listening to the both of them talking on the commentary track with Phillipa Boyens is very awesome.
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?
Day 17 - A pairing you thought would never work out, but did?
Day 18 - What is the cutest pairing?
Day 19 - A pairing you’ve rooted for since the beginning?
Day 20 - The 'can't stand the sexual tension anymore' pairing?
Day 21 - A pairing you like and no one else understands why?
Day 22 - A pairing you hate and no one else understands why?
Day 23 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out great?
Day 24 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out badly?
Day 25 - A pairing that was/would-be adorable, but could never work out?
Day 26 - A pairing that you hated and ended up loving?
Day 27 - A pairing that you loved and ended up hating?
Day 28 - A pairing that you will never understand?
Day 29 - What ship had the best proposal?
Day 30 - Your favorite ship forever and ever and ever!
