"P-racticality d-oesn't interest me! Love the life that I lead!" I've been keeping this to myself because for a long time I wasn't sure it was going to happen, but... I met Richard Armitage. I repeat: I met RICHARD. ARMITAGE. He gives me ALL THE ALL CAPS FEELINGS. His gravelly voice is what crème brûlée would sound like if it could speak to me. Mmm... Voices are my favorite and his is my absolute favorite! Naturally I want him to narrate the audio books of my stories one day... and possibly hand me my cup of coffee every morning with a sly, "Your bed-head has never looked better," but one thing at a time. Anyway, I took a whirlwind trip to NYC for the grand event. I had just met Andy Serkis, the genius behind Gollum who was so gracious and who I was able to string coherent thoughts together for, when this happened:
To think I went without smelling salts!
When he made his slow-mo exit from the building (haha... but really) all I could think was "RICHARD ARMITAGE" and "PROXIMITY" aka two of my favorite things. To say I spoke to him like someone who had just been hit with a tranquilizer dart would be a gross understatement. But to see him and hear him up close, someone who has captured my imagination with so many memorable characters on screen, was the perfect post-NaNoWriMo treat. He has this ability to focus in on you despite all the surrounding chaos that makes you a little weak in the knees. So naturally, I was super dignified while gazing at his lips and having an An Affair to Remember "all I could say was hello" type moment (though I was more like this in my head). Look! I'm actually blushing on camera! Oh my. This man. This man! So charming, so lovely, so gracious... Mariah, Caroline, and I were all a bit bewitched, bothered, and bewildered afterward. So looking forward to seeing him (and hearing him siiiiiiiing) in The Hobbit and all of the much-deserved success that follows.
As if this book wasn't special enough...
We spent a wonderful day in magical New York City, though stunned speechless the second half. But we livened up a bit in the One Direction pop-up store where we took our roles as the oldest people in there very seriously. We were the very definition of dignified and there was no singing or dancing to speak of... *cough*
Because Louis is the BEST!
This Friday you can see Richard Armitage along with Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman, and Sir Ian McKellen on Anderson Live where you just might see a camera lens crack when Rawrmy walks into the room, because I'm screaming so loud. Just a lucky guess... Can I squee one last time? I heard this voice! IN PERSON! *swoon*
It's hard to believe that NaNoWriMo
has been over for a week now. I'm still in shock. I've not touched my story since then, but
it's still on my mind 24/7... which might explain why I burst out
crying at my desk yesterday. A sweeping score, an epic preview for a movie, everything still draws me back to B and her great adventure.
So to answer the looming question, no, the story is not finished. I will blaze through the rest as soon as possible so I can have one messy rough draft, but first I have to finish grad school applications. Yay!!! My work is just beginning. But I'm still trying my hardest to bask in that same glowing sense of accomplishment I felt right around midnight on November 29th. I can't believe I actually did it!
P.S. Speaking of everything setting me off, you know since I'm basically a walking Allstate commercial i.e. "emotionally compromised teenage girl," this video went straight to my heart today. I feel rather delirious after watching it. The majority of the places I pinned on my secret pin board for my story were of Iceland. So many of these locations look like they tumbled straight out of my story... I would give anything to go!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CANNOT PROCESS THIS! I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES! YES! YES! HALLELUJAH! IT'S OVER! EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's the kind of day where I could punch even Tom Hiddleston in the face. Everything is going wrong. Everything. But mostly, it was waking up to the news that this was going to be the final season of Merlin. I can't even... begin to... express... MY FEELINGS!!!!!!! I realize this is a TV show, but this is me and I'm devastated. Yes, I have watched to the interview with Colin Morgan (COLIN MORGANNNNNNN) assuring me that everything comes to its natural conclusion in season five, but...
Confessions: 1. I actually started crying on the drive to work this morning. I could partly blame this on leaving home and the wave of emotion I'm feeling as NaNoWriMo tightens its grip (seriously, I am emotional enough with this alone right now), but... I just love this show. So much! I'm absolutely heartbroken.
My boyyyyyyys!!!!
2. I started watching Merlin when I was living in the bomb shelter in the middle of nowhere France. It was the darkest period of my entire life (and thus major inspiration for all of B's trials in my NaNoWriMo novel). I can't remember ever being so miserable or alone; honestly, it's something I try not to think about most of the time. At least the living in the bomb shelter bit. But in the seven solitary months I spent there, I became, I'll admit, irrationally attached to fictional characters. The first of these were the cast of Merlin. Somehow watching their struggles with magical beings, war-mongering kingdoms, and even each other gave me a sense of solidarity. But not only that, they gave me something to laugh about. It's not always the most serious interpretation of Arthurian legend, but it's certainly the most relatable. I laughed out loud every episode, cried here and there, swooned like mad... Nothing I say could ever do this series justice.
What am I supposed to do without my one and only knight in shining armor?!?!
3. I fell so hard for this show that I visited the set while they were filming season three. Once I found out some of it was filmed in France, that was it. Getting there in itself was a journey of epic proportions; it was nearly as difficult to get to as the bomb shelter itself. Seeing Pierrefonds, seeing Colin Morgan/Merlin's cheekbones up close and Bradley James/Arthur in his chainmail, made it all so real for me. It was magical and personal and finally put fiction where it belongs for me-in reality.
I will miss your cheekbones and everything attached to them.
4. The flowy red capes I'm always pulling out smelling salts for on this show are so near and dear to me that when it came time to pick a color for the capes worn by the army in my own story... well... there was only one way to go! 5. Merlin/Arthur is the reason I love bromance. It is bromance at its finest. Period. Moments like this were always my favorite:
Honestly, I feel like something has died. I'm so sad, but so in awe of everything this show has accomplished. Thank you, Merlin, for five wonderful years of magic, courage, loyalty, adventure, knightly bromance, flowy red capes, dramatic slow-mo sequences, and chainmail. I will never forget you and your flawlessness. Or the chainmail. Leave me if you must, but I will never leave this round table.
