These are some photos from last night’s South Bank Sky Arts Awards held at the Dorchester in London. I don’t want to oversell this, but three of my favorite guys in the world were in the same place at the same time. Tom Hiddleston, James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch were all there! James was with his wife Anne-Marie Duff, but it seems like both Hiddles and Cumby were flying solo. You know they’re close in real life too, so I imagine that there was some partying for them. I would like to be invited to that party. I imagine there’s a lot of wonderful dancing and drinking and flirting. Sigh…
As for who I personally would rather… even though Hiddles is looking really great in these photos and I flat-out love McAvoy’s ginger beard, I’m still going to say Cumberbatch. I would do absolutely filthy things to Cumberbatch. It’s his voice, of course, but it’s something else… like, I know this probably has no basis in reality, but I think Cumby might actually be into me if we met. Think about it – we’re both judgy bitches who love to talk smack about people. We’d get along so well!
Also – Cumby sort-of confirmed that Sherlock is not just going to have a third season (which they’re filming now), but that he and Martin Freeman have signed on to a fourth season too. EPIC OMG I CANNOT WAIT. Cumby also says that Sherlock’s “resurrection” is a “stonker”. This photo was tweeted of the Sherlock Season 3 read-through (I squealed):
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Hurray! Sher-lock! Sher-lock!
I’ll take Mr. Tiejens, please.
Fanty, I have wanted to discuss Parade’s End with you for awhile, but I am having the hardest time getting thoughts on paper. It’s a problem I have when something is kind of overwhelming. I’ll start by saying that I adored Christopher. I was just waiting for him to lighten the hell up & get away from that succubus Sylvia. Do you remember his line to his friend Vinnie: “She’s bitched me, old man.” The poor lamb—to go into a marriage feeling like this!
Hooray! I’m so glad that you’re here and ready to chat about it. I was starting to believe that I was the only person who had seen it!
It was so great, from start to finish. As I have said, I thought it was really funny, in its own way. I also thought that Sylvia and Christopher were completely well-matched, only too dysfunctional to see it. I felt very sorry for Sylvia, even as I despised her. She was much more fun than Valentine (who also creeped me out a little by never seeming more than 17 years old), particularly at the end when she was getting it on with Cumby, who really did feel twenty years older). I was just thinking about the Twilight post from today and I think that Valentine suffered from the same problem – idealized, passive female. It’s a flaw in the book, not the production, but she was supposed to be this sparky little thing of the future who opened something in Christopher, but I thought Sylvia was much more progressive, challenging and interesting than Valentine. The part when Sylvia went to France was absolutely brilliant.
No, not the only one—there are 2 of us who have seen it! I’m kind of surprised by this, because there was hype.
First of all, Christopher was hot. I like Cumby with the extra weight. I think there were two Christophers who dwelt in those beautiful suits. One for Sylvia, who liked order & wants things to look stable, & would “do the right thing”: marrying her because of a silly episode in a train carriage. Under that was a layer of rebellion that triggered him walking out of his job. The other Christopher was dying to break loose, & I thought his twitchiness showed us that. Like he was about to start yelling at everyone but just couldn’t let go. I understood his attraction to Valentine. I even liked that her name was Valentine, because love must win! I wonder if Valentine’s seeming out of her depth could be largely due to the actress they cast—she looked like a teenager who could be eaten alive by Sylvia, for breakfast.
I had the feeling Christopher was inexperienced with women—did you? It was so easy for Sylvia to “bitch him.” Notice the other dude who was probably the baby’s father felt no compulsion to marry her. I didn’t read the books, & I’m so glad to be able to ask someone who did about some things that seemed far too abridged. For instance, why did they begin with the scene in the train? How much introduction did Christopher have in the book, before this scene? I ask, because although Sylvia is completely believeable, climbing on within minutes of meeting a man, this seemed jarringly out of character for the Christopher we see after that scene. It puzzled me.
Before I forget to mention this, I adored the luncheon scene with the Reverend & his wife. Rufus Sewell was *fabulous* in this small part.
I still need to see this!
I think it is Cumby for me today. Yummy.
Evenin.
So, from what I remember, it doesn’t deal with Tiejen’s back story, but the love triangle isn’t the focus, either. It’s about WWI and it’s status as a turning point in British identity more than the love triangle that the show offered. It’s also modernist, so completely non-linear in its narrative, and I dare say a lot less logical than Stoppard made it.
I totally agree about CT – his repression is what made him so easy for Sylvia to seduce. That’s also what made Cumby so great in the role. Modernism is, in many ways, about shattering the conventional picture of the world, and carving out art in the spaces between the scattered fragments. Cumby’s got a great smile that gives so much weight to what he almost says. It’s the anti-Sherlock, in which everything is absorbed, processed and held in check.
Miss J – watch it. It’s not at all modernist, but a totally gorgeous, sweeping epic, and Stoppard NAILS the script.
Whoops, arrived late to the party, but I saw Parade’s End too, it was on HBO! It was really great, I enjoyed it (not just because of the Batch).
I’ve got Parade’s End on Kindle, so it’s easy for me to search. I haven’t seen the TV series yet, but they’d have had to make it more linear than the book. The book is all flashbacks and memories and memories within flash-backs.
The train hook-up is mentioned 15% of the way into the series. Christopher is talking to Mrs Wannop while thinking about visiting Syliva, and simultaneously beating himself up for being attracted to Valentine. All you get is:
“God!”he said within himself, “if it’s sexual sins God punishes, He indeed is just and inscrutable!”… Because he had had physical contact with this woman before he married her! In a railway carriage; coming down from the Dukeries. An extravagantly beautiful girl”! [So yeah, C was totally a virgin.]
After guilting-out over the pre-marital sex, he thinks perhaps she led him on (though “no gentleman would think that of his wife”, so he feels guilty about suspecting her). Then it jumps to a memory of the pregnancy, and that for the last few months of it, C believed she was probably pregnant to another man.
But about 22% of the way in, C actually tells Syliva that he later investigated the matter, found out when Sylvia and Drake were hooking up and figured out that the baby was most likely his (Christopher’s). [Don’t ask how he figured out when Sylvia was/wasn’t fertile. The book isn’t clear, so just roll with it.]
Not sure how it’s shown in the TV version, but in the book, Drake first took advantage of Sylvia when she was drunk. (Though later a mutual passion develops.) Then he beats crap out of her the day before her wedding to C.
Sylvia is very much your classic domestic-abuse victim (reminds me of Rhianna). She’s got a warped idea of love/passion, so it takes her years to figure out that she should appreciate C.
Actually, now that I think about it:
Syliva = Rhianna
Valentine = Taylor Swift
Christopher = Tim Tebow
The Parade’s End love-triangle, re-cast for the modern era.
@ Lucrezia,
Thank you so much for your response! That does help a lot. Poor Christopher looked so shell-shocked in the train carriage scene, I was worried about him!
He seemed almost paralyzed by his propriety. His lack of experience also frames his relationship with Valentine perfectly.
Fanty & Lucrezia, could you help me out with the final confrontation on the staircase? I wanted to scream at the TV “That’s IT? Christopher is going to just stand there while his virago of a wife & Valentine tussle over him?”
I admit I wanted a lot more from that scene. It felt rushed. The tensions built, & then seemed to hang there. Of course Sylvia bounced back quickly, didn’t she? Did Sylvia love Christopher in the book? (As much as love could be attributed to her, which is to say, not much.) Look at the appalling way she treated her child.
Fanty, you said that you thought Chrissy & Sylvia were well-matched, but I didn’t see that. I’m recalling the line in the breakfast room when Sylvia’s mother told her, “Sylvia, you married above your intellect.” Oh yes she did.
Paralysed by his propiety is exactly it. The end of the parade = the end of idolising propiety, and C (and England) having to figure out a new set of ideals.
However, he’s not just unexperienced … there’s a passage where he basically says the point of seducing a woman is so that you can move in together and have uninterrupted conversations. (Which works for my Cumby fantasy, but your average guy is not thinking like that!) His sex-drive is very, very repressed. Since he’s not in tune with it at all, I can see it overwhelming him occassionally.
Does Sylivia love Christopher? Not in a healthy/functional way, but only obsessive love can drive that kind of hatred.
S is damaged, bored, and trapped with a man who’s indifferent to her. She seduced him because she thought she was pregnant, and doesn’t love him for himself, but she does come to respect his honour and intelligence. However, by that stage, she’s become obsessed with torturing him. There are flashes where she feels guilty, but cruelty is the only way she can provoke a reaction, so she keeps doing it. Meanwhile, C knows he’s driving her crazy with his indifference (there’s a passage where he likens it to keeping a racehorse cooped up in a stable – of course it turns wild), but he doesn’t bother to do anything to fix it. There’s definitely the idea that if C had a touch of violent passion about him, they’d have had a blow-out row that ended with him taking her up against a wall and the two of them living together happily ever after. But C isn’t Rhett Butler, so it never happens and he spends years pining chastely after a sweet young innocent instead.
As for the final confrontation, I haven’t seen the TV series, so not sure what they’ve done. I’m guessing it’s S showing up and announcing she has cancer, just when C & V are finally going to do the deed?
In the book, the final meeting is when S goes to visit a pregnant V (C is away on business). S wants to see what kind of woman managed to win C’s heart. S’s visit gives V the vapours, and S is accused of trying to provoke V into a miscarriage. S vehemently denies any such intention, hinting that she had a miscarriage herself and would never wish that pain on any woman (on C, yes, but never on a woman). She tells V she’s giving them the divorce and leaves.
Then Mark (C’s brother) drops dead. His last words were basically telling V to be a submissive little wife and not argue with her husband (C had been refusing to take M’s money, and V had been arguing with C about that.)
That got my feminist hackles up, so the S/V confrontation got overshadowed, and I thought the whole thing ended on a bad note. But it’s very complex, and I should give it a second read … I might have just been in a mood and over-reacted.
Okay, I got totally into this discussion and just re-read the last bit of the book.
In Last Post, Sylvia is in an awkward social position. Her life revolves around social-status, and she’s too proud to play the simple abandoned woman (A man leave me? Never!). So she smears C’s reputation badly. But she has over-reached and people are starting to sympathise with him rather than with her.
She goes down to Mark’s place (where C and V are living), to find out info on V – more info to make for better/stronger gossip-smearing. But she’s also tentatively thinking about giving it all up and going to India with General Campion. She loathes him, but her social position would be much stronger away from people who actually know C, and thus disbelieve her lies.
At the gates to Mark’s place, she has a bit of a religious epiphany and realises the priest’s prediction was right: she has become quite vulgar. She starts to fear that cutting down the Tree has made God choose C’s side. When she’s accused of trying to harm V’s baby it’s the last straw. She’s willing to see herself as a bitch, but not as vulgar or evil. So in the end, she gives them the divorce and walks away.
The last words of the S/V confrontation come from Mark’s mistress: “It is lamentable that one man could inspire such passion in two two women … it is the martyrdom of our lives.”
Is that a bit more satisfying? I thought that bit was okay.
The very last section (from Mark’s perspective) was as unsatisfying as I remembered. There’s a waffly bit where he wonders if V is actually their illegitimate half-sister and their dad committed suicide because he couldn’t stand the idea of C and V in an incestuous relationship. He then decides that’s probably not true (to which I was all: “wtf Ford Maddox, did you just bring up and then dismiss an incest tangent … in the last few pages?! Seriously?!”). And I still hate the fact Mark’s dying words were to tell V to stop arguing with her man.
I ADORE McAvoy. No one can come close to touching him (except me :)).
Wow – thanks Lucrezia. You’re way better on the book than I am! I haven’t read it since my early grad school days.
EsCon – I agree that the ending was rushed. And, I don’t believe that after everything that happened, Sylvia just gave up so easily. It didn’t feel “true” – but again, I *think* that is from the book.
I also agree that she married above her intellect, but he was above everybody’s. I also think that Hall’s Sylvia saw the world in a similar way to CT, and that they were both equal in that sense.
Heh, it’s easy to be an expert on the book when it’s in front of you and the electronic version gives you a search function! 🙂
The fact you read it in grad school explains why you thought the love-triangle wasn’t the focus. I only picked it up when I heard about Cumby being cast as Christopher. Picturing Cumby as the lead = focusing way too intently on the sexy parts. Your reading was probably more accurate, but I bet I enjoyed mine more!
Actually, I want them all. At the same time.
This is like Christmas for my biscuit. My nether regions just went into overload. Miss Jane, please pass the smelling salts.
*SOB* Oh! The first time you see each other after the breakup is always *gulp* so hard. He looks so lovely… and dashing… and…
Here are the salts, darling. Never mind me, I will just be in the corner picking up the shards of my soul this bastard has cast aside so I can piece them together in some horrific afghan to cover the gaping hole that was my heart.
Oh Miss Eyre. You are a talented writer and Hiddles is a literary floozy. You can summon him back with one (ahem) gentle stroke of your pen.
Now if you don’t mind, Cumby and I have some time to kill before the old ball and chain arrives…
Miss Eyre, I think if you were to knit those sweet little heart & soul shards into a soft cuddly afghan & present it to Hiddles, he would melt like lavender butter on one of your scones. And come back to you.
Then you will have that Kay-Doo Smackdown situation again, most probably.
Alternatively, you might want to use those shards to build yourself a makeshift shank for when the said MissDoo comes back around.
I’m currently all about The Mac..what a dreamboat.
Slightly OT but did everyone see that Martin Freman’s partner has allegedly declared herself bankrupt. Toally sketchy.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2291478/Amanda-Abbington-partner-Hobbit-star-Martin-Freeman-bankrupt-120-000-tax-bill.html
I have a test today, so I became temporarily unable to shank you all (well, at least during this morning/afternoon).
But don’t stupidly push your luck, because I’ll obviously be back later.
Oh don’t think I haven’t tried. Last time he sent his “man” Luke over to issue some ridiculous excuse for why he wasn’t coming round this time, I grabbed on to his precious little leg and begged him to take me back to Kay-Doo’s and Hiddles’ place – just for a glimpse. But that little rodent kicked me off and then sent me to bill to have his pants pressed. I have stroked and knitted one, pearling two, baked, keened – none of it works. Last night he simply walked by offering a meager smirk.
I swear, when that E.L. James’ journal comes out, my plume will fly across those pages and Hiddles can read all about the damage he has inflicted.
ps – where is Kay-Doo, you know she was there and probably landed Hiddles finally and is just waiting for the right moment to gloat about it.
@Miss Kiki – odd article, isn’t it? I remember Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger postponing their marriage due to her bankruptcy over that town she owned. I think (and my knowledge on this is as flimsy as my dedication to diet) that in the USA you can be responsible for your spouses tax issues. It sounds like some legal wranglings to get her out of the soup. I imagine she won’t hurt too much from this “bankruptcy.”
I thought of that Alec Baldwin & Kim Basinger situation too. Don’t remember if Alec bailed her out of that or not. They were together when she bought that town in Georgia.
I must add that I think Amanda Abbington & Martin Freeman are so damn cute it’s almost unbearable. They’re cute separately, they’re cute together, & I’ll bet when they’re with their kids the whole world just stops & stares at how cute.
He does have that bright shiny smile doesn’t he? I am warming to the new haircut– he looks less like a Christmas angel now and it is easier for me to return to reading Rilke’s Duino Elegies (when I am not sending flirtatious glances in Cumby’s direction).
Fanty, I’m not sure I have the strength for this today. Look at the first pic of Cumby by himself….
I got shanked yesterday over Cumby & there weren’t even any pictures.
And you’re still recovering! I actually am not sure how long it takes to recover from blood loss after a slutshanking.
Although, to be fair, there was a Viking yesterday, a Fassbender (on a bender) today, and if you throw in Tom Stoppard for conversational purposes (mostly – yes, I know it’s weird), we might be able to work out a nice little rotation. I’m willing to make a deal.
I can safely say that today I am just here to admire (especially The Mac) after fighting so vigilantly for My Viking I’m not going to betray his memory by dropping my pants for the first 3 hotties that swing by
@Miss Kiki – didn’t you already do that, a few posts down?
No silly, they fell off, I didn’t drop them on purpose. Biiig difference, I’m now making a conscious effort to keep them on. Stop trying to drag me down.
Well, Miss Eve, if you don’t care enough to stick around and fight, you will have to simply accept the place EsCon and I assign you in the rotation.
Thank you, Fanty. But just to be on the safe side, I am applying for the Cumberbatch Protection Program, & would be happy to save you a place. Make it harder for Eve to find us.
Don’t you dare!!!
@EsCon. Good thinking. I shall seek protection in his pants. I doubt Eve will be foolish enough to wield any weaponry there.
Eve! May I remind you that I did not press charges for yesterday’s shanking? I would like to keep this friendly, now if you’ll excuse me I have to change the bandages.
What are you ladies talking about; don’t you know I have Hiddles wrapped around my little pinky. You can continue to bicker over the other two but Hiddles has been removed from the
equation.
Uh-oh. I wonder if Kay-Doo can materialize, in a puff of smoke, like Eve?
@V4Real:Those were the days I would slutshank people over Hiddles. As cute as he looks here, I am over him… *sigh*
But then again…I was over Fassbender and just saw the photo of his thread and … phew!
These men are mighty fine. Let’s hope ms KayDoo has inside info to share with us, she’s awfully quiet. I should maybe just get all interested on Tom (Hiddles) to see if she shows up.
@Eve: you see? now you have to fight for Cumby even with Kaiser… At least Kaiser knows she cannot mess with The Hiddles…
EsCon – Kay-Doo’s entrances are a bit more… how shall we say, aggressive? Bull in a china shop comes to mind.
But make no mistake, V4 – she will find you. Eve and Kay-Doo’s powers are mystifying.
@J.Eyre tell her to bring it on; I got my matador cape ready and I will slay that bull.
@Ms.M I’m glad you cleaned your hands of Hiddle; just don’t think about getting them dirty again 🙂
Well HELLOOOOO THERE greedy bitches!
Been working a lot, hence my silence… my work area has expanded, more like sky-rocketed and I am now flirting with the political scene, I was travelling around Europe with the Shimon Peres committee… a bit nervous but it went well 🙂
Anyhooooo back to the main thing : T.Fanty, you forgot your place here, back the F OFF, it is MAH Hiddleston!!!! I am not going to say warn you twice.
As for the rest of you bunch, j.eyre, EscapedC, Miss Kiki, V4Real etc… well you know who am I…. Eye-gouging around the corner… *flicks hair*
On a serious note, too funny though, he’s been wearing that suit for like the 4th or 5th time already, duuuuude make some effort 😀
Miss Kay, isn’t he famous though for his modest wardrobe (custom Armani not withstanding)? At night he still sleeps in mosquito netting, which I find sweet.
K-K-K-KAY-DOOOOOOOO!
You know, it’s just not a proper battle without you here. I mean sure, there plotting and shanking and gushing wounds and violent infections as a result, but it lacks a little… what? Heart? Spine? I just feel there is something missing if your heel is not being ground into my skull.
You know darn well that your boy left me so don’t throw your prominent cleavage in my direction. I am pouring my pain into a sampler that will hang over my bed as a constant reminder of my heartache.
Politics? That must be fascinating in this climate. I can’t wait to hear your stories. Glad you are well and feisty as ever.
ps – if you want Hiddles to wear a different suit, let him out to collect his others from our various closets. And don’t send Luke – he spends far too much time pooled on the floor sniffing Hiddles’ jackets. I have the BAFTA tux, btw. Shall I dry-clean it first?
@ Miss J, oh well he’s been to like 3-4 events with it… and the funny thing is, the suit is wearing him, not the other way round… Eh. But still what a cuteness he is ^^
@ j.eyre, oh yes dear, it’s been crazy, a phone call, aye politics is another kind of games, I’m still new to it so I can’t tell much at the moment… but yes my CV just went almighty upgraded 😀
Nah mah dear how can you say he left you, he never left me to begin with duh-duh-duh nice tryyyy! Here, have some warm milk. And ya can burn the bloody tux…. Imma personally find him a fine dark blue one with a white simple shirt, no vest underneath, with some brown shoes to break the dark blue tone… and voila!
Miss Kay! Welcome back – and congrats!
Firstly, I would like to defend my position (or lack thereof) when it comes to Hiddles. If you want him so badly, I will throw down my shank at your feet.
Secondly – I’ve been itching for an excuse to be crass all day, and you’ve handed it to me on a platter. One can scarcely condemn the well-worn suit when it (ahem) fits so snugly. I’m talking the second picture in which he’s holding the weird crystal ball thing. That’s all.
Ms KayDoo!!! I just saw it now, :). Congrats on your upgrade at work! I have to go now, need some rest for a very early and long day at work. Welcome back here!
Good to see you here again, Ms Kay-Doo! Your husband looks awfully happy here for a guy who is not allowed out of the house. He does wear the same thing too often, I agree. In fact, his photos all look the same. But he’s still cute as a button.
Miss Eyre & Fanty, I have realized that what Cumby really needs is a smoking jacket. He smokes, right? So he needs one. I am envisioning a midnight blue silk, with maybe a very small pattern. He will look very sweet in this, lounging by the fire in his velvet slippers, Sonnets in hand.
Yes, there is probably something seriously wrong with me wanting to dress him up like a paper doll.
o_O
http://cumberbuddy.tumblr.com/post/45289475228/lube-your-phones-i-just-made-even-more-aural
I…I…I can’t feel my legs.
Eve! Oh my God! Is he ~trying~ to kill us? That is really too much. Devastating. Thank you, grazie, obrigado!
Did you see the new photos on “buddy’s” page. They’re !@#$-ing gorgeous.
I see what you been about the legs. 😉
I don’t know if I’ve seen the ones you’re talking about. I checked her site this morning, but couldn’t concentrate on anything anymore after listening to *THAT*.
Then I almost lost it because I found out that that was only a part of a longer version originally posted on BBC’s official website. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to download it. Finally, I went to “Deareje” and she, nice as always, posted TWO links to files (available for download):
http://deareje.tumblr.com/post/45286659796/londonphile-the-angel-sings-dl-dl-tag-your
Once you’ve opened the link above, click on that “dl” (one is from rapidshare, the other from 2shared). You’re welcome.
I wanted to thank her but you must have a Tumblr account in order to use that “ask” feature…and I avoid social media like the plague.
By the way, I saw some great pictures on Deareje, too — she and Cumberbuddy often reblog each other (in fact, some of Buddy’s best pictures are reblogged from Deareje). My favourite:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/4d5e2f0a7f9719974957e0a3229e7c10/tumblr_mjocd8kLys1r92zk6o5_1280.jpg
Wait, why am I helping you have *MY* husband’s voice on your thighs?
*bangs head on desk and repeats to self “stupid Eve, stupid Eve, stupid Eve”*
@Eve,
Eve honey, calm yourself. His voice is still being whispered into my ear. I’m kind of an eargasm person.
Thank you so much for those fab links! I like Dearje’s tumblr also. She doesn’t seem to be nutty like the others.
I agree Benedict for sure, he just has that certain something. Followed closely by Tom. I have to say that lately James McAvoy has done nothing for me.
yes, this, perfectly stated. S’up McAvoy?
😀
Anne Marie Duff is looking at you Kaiser. Look at the way she has her hand on his shoulder. As if to say “He’s mine… and you’ll never have him.”
always McAvoy
I got dibbs on Hiddles.
I will gladly hand him over to you.
Slow down ladies, he’s MINE!
I’m with ya’ McAvoy for the win! Cumberbatch is gross and I like Tom but only in his Loki costum 😉
Yep, ALWAYS McAvoy. Lovely bloke with some of the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. And if Anne-Marie’s working he’s a stay-at-home dad who likes watching Strictly come dancing. They don’t make em better than that!
I agree with you on the Loki thing. Hiddleston doesn’t do much for me like this, in the costume though…
And Cumberbatch isn’t gross, but I don’t find him very attractive. Unless when he’s speaking because that voice does things to my ovaries!
Errrm I guess if I had to pick I’d go with Hiddles, but I’m not ripping my clothes off or anything. Cumberbatch looks like a lizard and McAvoy never did anything for me so yeah, they’re all yours. 😛
Phew! I was starting to fear that I’m the only woman alive who finds NONE of these men attractive. At all.
I know, i am shocked that this is what passes for attractive these days. What??
We’re crazy about well cardiganed ginger (esque) dorks over here. CB is feeding a very niche market.
HIDDLES! Three piece suit, girls. Three piece suit.
Right?! So so hot.
His mouth-wide-open smile reminds me of Kate Middleton.
He does it for me only as Loki.
Them Brits in their three-piece suits. First Eddie, now Tom. Super yummy!
It’s the three piece suit that does it. My mother is sitting next to me and she says “that’s a man that cares.”
While I love me some Sherlock, Tom Hiddleston is charming as hell. And look at his smile! Kindness meets mischievousness and brains! Ugh, totally does it for me.
Oh. The Cumber Chameleon for sure.
Sherlock Hair > Assange Hair
Mcavoy. No doubt
I don’t get the other two. Mcavoy is my #1. Can’t believe we’ve gotten pics 2 days in a row. Feeling spoiled!!!
None of these pasty strange looking British dudes.
Cumberbatch looks soooo good with dark hair.
McAvoy Forever
+1
The weird thing with McAvoy, is I actually find him too boyish to be sexy too me. I totally acknowledge he is handsome…but he is so cute and little! The other two I could get naughty with. 😉
Sherlock…beyond excited!! I’m dying for good Sherlock! There’s been nothing; RDJ seems done and Elementary turned out to be sooo dull and predictable. Don’t let me down gentlemen!
Did you follow the story that a person who lives near Cumberbatch tweeted about his every move? He gave an interview about that and a friend of his Helen Rushbrook tweeted that person to stop. This disgusts me, poor thing.
Also: YAY series 4!!!
It disgusts me too, & now that I’ve said that, I will confess that I would love to know about Cumby’s every move.
And it is absolutely disgraceful….
Oh s**t! Conundrum!
1) The Batch. Just….gah. All of it works for me! I would ask him to recite dirty poetry during. Sherlock confirmed for a 4th season? YES!!!!
2) Hiddleston. That 3 piece suit and scruff combo makes me very tingly…and I can’t resist a gorgeous smile like that.
Conclusion: Can I have both of them?
James MacAvoy – dude, you’re awesome but there’s nothing there. I would buy him a round of beer at the pub though.
Allons-y alonso,
Of course you can! Lots of us here are collecting hot dudes like Precious Moments figurines.
Allons-y,
I’m at home, convalescing and watching the good doctor (instead of tackling the GIANT stack of midterms next to me), and thinking of you. Can I throw a little Matt Smith your way, as a distraction from the Cumby/Hiddles conundrum?
awwww T.Fanty: I adore Matt Smith, but there’s zero attraction. I’ve seen enough Doctor Who in my lifetime to see what happens when you love The Doctor. :p He’s like best friend material. 🙂 When it comes to Hiddles and Cumby I’ve got tunnel vision.
Drat! Worth a try.
I have to make lunches and breakfast and generally rouse Thornfield. I shall check back in later to assess the carnage.
Answer to rather? All – including Anne Marie.
I brought my gurney, first aid kit, and referee shirt. Reporting for duty, Ms. Eyre!
(Seriously, I’ve been out in the open for less then a day and there is a British Man post that promises to get ugly. Is this like my final test or something?)
Yes. And you must pick a side. Choose wisely, little one.
@T.Fanty: I will cut you some slack because you are in recovery process…
@ Miss M. Hie thee back to your lab. I’d like to put my Frankenhiddles request on hold for a while, and suggest that you investigate ginger cloning. It’s the only way forward at this point.
@T.Fanty: Pronto! I am already doing research on the primary scientific literature. Gingers produce a lot of pheomelanin pigment… I will read more about MC1R gene.
Now, you see, ladies? We didn’t have a referee. Now we do. We suddenly have a referee, & I say Huzzah! A referee should be neutral, & I appreciate that Promised Beer won’t be taking time off from referee duties to block slutshanking & head butting. Someone could get hurt. Like I have.
TheyPromisedMeBeer, welcome to the madhouse!
@EscapedConvict – Thanks for the warm welcome! 🙂
I feel like if I’m going to properly ref these things though, I’m going to have to call out of work every time I see one of these posts. On the whole though, this was much more civil than yesterday’s spontaneous skirmish, I will say. But you don’t learn unless through Trial By Fire, amirite?
Shiver me timbers, this is A-MAZING. I think my pants just fell off.
TheyPrimisedMeBeer, I would think long and hard before you decide who you’re going to pledge allegiance to because this is going to be bloody.
@Fanty & Kiki – by choosing sides, do you mean CB commenters or the British gentleman? Because I’ve already made it clear that unless one of those guys come rolling up in a muddy Ford F-150 with a mason jar of moonshine with my name on it, I’m not interested.
Hence why I applied for referee/medic duties. No emotional investment, other than amusement and sympathy. 😉
@TheyPromisedMeBeer: be wise and take @Ms Kiki’s advice! 🙂
@j.eyre et al: what happened to Gracie? Did she disappear or using another name to disguise herself? 😮
Where is Gracie – I haven’t seen her in quite some time? She’s a slippery one, I wouldn’t put it past her to sneak in with some alternate identity… and pretending to only like Southern men *quirks an eyebrow*?
@Miss Kiki – have a care dear – Mr. Rochester just slipped on your panties and now I have to deal with that.
Quick reminder:
http://www.cartercutlery.com/images/FromCatalogue/HandForgedNeckKnives_Large.jpg
http://www.gunholstersunlimited.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Lots-of-Knives.jpg
Well, clearly Ms. PromisedBeer has chosen wisely, she’s dining at Thornfield – isn’t she?
Yes, darling, this is a test – for all of us. I think CB can henceforth be referred to as The Capitol. Think about it, ladies (and gentlemen) – they floated a Liev Schrieber post the other day. Yesterday they ramped it up with Hardy, The Viking Prince and The Mac. Today the dangle this irresistible trinity? With Fassdong hanging out in another post? After the slaughter yesterday? Isn’t it odd that the Cornucopia keeps getting replenished? I imagine we will all be sitting for our portraits very soon.
Alliances are crucial, fellow Celebitches. We should all choose wisely.
Miss Eyre, I think it is very clever of PromisedBeer to decide to be a medic rather than a participant in the Pasty British Dude Games. For one, you can’t possibly do all that First Aid by yourself—I don’t think I would have lost nearly as much blood yesterday if you had had an assistant. And for two, she will need all her strength for the Southern Dude Games, whenever they happen. Skirmishes over dudes tend to flare up without warning, just when we are wearing our best clothes & have our hair just so. Remember your best Sunday bonnet, Jane?
Honestly EsCon – first I have to confront my ex and now my tattered Sunday Best? This week has been quite taxing on me.
Anyone riding by can tell PromisedBeer is brilliant. Not only does she wear the immunity of the white cross in the Pasty Brit Battles, she learns our tactics/maneuvers so when the Southern Boy Battles break out, we will be at a double disadvantage – 1) we are battling on her territory and 2) she knows all our weakness.
Although I will hate to soil another pair of slippers, I am a bit giddy at the prospect of a Southern Boy Battle. Our Pasty Brit Battles conjure up the images of the citadel scene in the Three Musketeers with the culmination of battle being interrupted for us to adjust our pin curls and have a spot of tea while the boys toss Cornish pasties back and forth. In the Southern Boy Battles I see mud-streaked faces, dust-covered leather chaps and denim shirts being torn, exposing rippled pectorals (the men’s, that is).
My being from California, I don’t even want to tell you how dull a Cali Boy fight is – wailing at the first hair out of place… *sigh*
Ms. Eyre (well, and all of you other ladies too)
Sorry that work took me out of the battle early, but I’m here with my sewing kit too, having seen Eve’s assortment of Slutshanks.
I will happily referee the Southern Boy Battle as well. And before yall all go getting suspicious about my motives, you know that friend of yours who somehow manages to have her own little mini-posse of boys like a boss? Like Quinn Morgandorfer? Yup. I’m THAT girl. Boys are like baseball cards – I’ll trade so long as I have some equivalent collateral to keep me company while someone else is getting to home base with my men. No need for bloodshed. I will be happy to offer my deer stand and bow gear to the highest bidder, though. It would make rent a little easier with that extra money coming in.
Really though, can we get some Southern Boy love up in here? Let’s switch from English to Western saddles sometime soon, ladies. Especially since right now, the South is where you want to be – it’s warm, full of flowers, and the water hole is getting to that perfect temperature for some night swimmin’.
@J.eyre: “Alliances are crucial, fellow Celebitches. We should all choose wisely.”
You should know by now where I stand, 🙂
@V4Real: Be thankful I haven’t felt anything for Hiddles lately and please, for your own sake, I gladly suggest you to not give me orders…or else I may get back on the hiddles bandwagon! 🙂
If you a FrankenHiddles, can I be your Igor? I promise to bring the right jar of brains. I am hoping I can get V.2 to read Mina Loy to me.
@Miss Jupitero: You can be Igor. Your first task is to acquire DNA samples from our favorite gingers. There is one big catch: consent or not consent we must follow scientific ethics to gather these samples! Oh, there is a second catch: we may need Ms KayDoo’s help, not sure if she will be on board. Are you ready?
Do we have to be strictly ethical, or will you accept actions that are morally dubious, but not technically against the law?
Because the US is way behind the UK in regards to DNA-privacy laws. So if you did it in the US, you could simply steal their “abandoned DNA” off a used cup or something, and bypass all those pesky “informed consent” laws.
(“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do” – Potter Stewart. I know the difference, therefore I’m ethical … right?)
I am a definite Miss Kaydoo fan, so working with her on this would a delight.
We may have to settle for morally dubious and bring them over to New York. I’m fine with that. Abandoned cups? There are much better ways to get DNA samples. Brains are another matter. (Speaking of which, part of the plan was to graft on Simon Pegg’s personality, as well as reinvigorate and expand the literary taste factor, remember? Strategy ladies, strategy!)
Oh Muss Kaydoo, congratulations on the new job! My God I envy your glamorous life!
I am preparing the genes that govern a taste for Virginia Woolf. Very careful process this is, but it goes well with ginger hair and Scottish accents like melted gold, I promise….
Miss Jupitero, I adore you.
Virginia Woolf gene? Bravissima!
I miss Tom, I haven’t seen him for weeks!
I know!
My Hiddles withdrawals have made me quite testy, & I’ve had a killer week so these pics are much appreciated on Hump Day *ahem*
Sherlock! *jumpy claps* I’m still kinda in Hobbit mode though. Nevertheless, Squeee…Neither atm. Although Hiddleston is very dapper in his three piece!
I’ll just sit and wait for the melee to be over and take them out for drinks after all the usuals have shanked each other.
Cumberbatch, FTW. Drooling over him as we speak.
Hiddleston no doubt about it hands down!!
“I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purposes”
I would love for him to say that to me – LOL
Anna-marie duff ,kindly be a HUMANITARIAN ,and allow us to enjoy the Ginger spiced Avoy ,if not inreality atleast in the pics
NONE. All pretty ugly men.
Love that pic of Cumby in the blazer and open-necked shirt.
The power of charisma is a funny thing. I saw him in Tinker Tailor, he did nothing for me. Saw him in Atonement, didn’t even register. Saw the first season of Sherlock, thought he was a great actor, but couldn’t get the attraction. Then, all of the sudden, at some point in Season 2 of Sherlock I was all, give me that man!
This is also based on nothing factual, just my impressions of his interviews, but he strikes me as the type of person who talks a good game about wanting a partner who is his intellectual equal, but then ends up with a model-type.
I’ve always thought that about Cumby – same with the broody talk. I don’t think he’s making it up or thinks it’s a way to get the ladies on his side – I just think he thinks he means it but will always find ways to put it off, like I want kids by the time I’m 30, no 32, no 35. He’s the male JenAn. As for rather, I’d take them all – they could swap out, tag team style.
I have such a crush on McAvoy. Sigh. So talented, so handsome, so charming. (Not a fan of the beard, though.)
Also, I like the darker hair MUCH better on Anne-Marie duff. Very flattering.
The Cumber Charisma is blinding!!!
I don’t know but I’d prefer be drinking buddy with them instead of Brolin and co
I’m in for the Tom Tom club! 😉
I’ll take Hiddleston and Cumberbatch – one at a time, or together (whichever they’d prefer).
I love McAvoy, but cannot get into a married dude, so…
Also, that photo of Cumby and Freeman is hilarious! Are those grapes or olives?
None of these guys do it for me. The best thing about Cumby is his voice. He has a wonderful voice, but I prefer my Sherlock to be Robert Downey, Jr.
All FOUR. Because I love Martin Freeman too!
Tom all the way, you can keep that Sherlock dude and that xmen guy…. Tom rocks my socks.
Um so you really hafta ask? ALL HAIL ALL THAT IS CUMBY!!!In the past I might’ve said – Mc Avoy’s my boi – but he ain’t lookin so haute these days.. perhaps lose the ginge (yes no R) beard and maybe I could restructure my schedule to include him too.. I would NOT give up CUMBY however.. Nope.
I went through my McAvoy phase a year ago. Now I’m not as interested. I’ve got Cumby beach pics as my desktop. But Hiddleston has really been growing on me.
I’m actually going through bit of a Ben Whishaw phase right now (I saw BRight Star the other night. GREAT FLICK)
How about a Cumbie/Hiddles sammich with me in the middle? *sigh* Dreams…
Ugh none of them. Good actors with average looks.
Damn. This is tough. Well, Tom is mine, no question. But I’ve always had a hankering for the Mac. Love Cumby’s voice more than his looks….but that close-up pic of him is …. WOW.
I realize that my admission of attraction to Cumby has put me dangerously within range of Eve & that awful pic she posted up above…BUT, as a nurse, I think I can patch up my wounds quite well, and it is worth mentioning that this citrus-swilling bitch has been hitting the gym HARD lately, so…battle on! *tries to walk away confidently but looks nervously over shoulder hoping Eve has retired for the night*
*poof*
Congratulations, you got yourself noticed. That’s not good (for you, I mean).
Oh, Lemony…..*shakes head sadly*—
you’re on Eve’s Radar Screen now. You brave, brave girl.
Ahhh, I’m glad to see that the Batch is getting his season one lankiness back. He looked nice when he was buffed up for Trek, but I prefer this version more.
Cumberbatch!
all Hiddles, all the time.
HIDDLES!!!
A little too much beard for my liking, Mr. McAvoy, but love ya anyway. As for Tom, hot damn.
CUMberbatch, of course!