For Me, Everyday is Guy Day . . .

At Facebook and the Richard Armitage Friends Network, Friday is Guy Day, time to share photos and fanvids celebrating The Black Leather Adonis himself, Sir Guy of Gisborne. (I am miserably behind at Facebook, too, so if you happen to have left me a message or a friend request in recent weeks, I am not ignoring you, I promise).

Guy was the character that introduced me to the wonders of Richard Armitage. He was my first ChaRActer and remains number one in my heart. Don’t get me wrong–I love Lucas and Portah and Mr. Thornton, the adorable Harry Kennedy, delicious bad boy John Mulligan, the passionate artist Monet with his incandescent  eyes, sweet, shy John Standring (my heart is very crowded). 

But it is Guy is his S3 glory–flowing glossy mane, expertly shadowed and lined eyes, and his magnificent new Milanese ensemble–that serves as my laptop background.  Guy is the character that appears most in my fan fiction, the character most frequently celebrated in my fanvids and the first one to start paying visits to my home in the ficlets that proved to be precursors to my Sloth Fiction.

He will tell you Lady Writer, my alter ego, loves him the best. And I do.

But part of the reason I love him so might surprise some people. Yes, I find him incredibly sexy. He appeals to my inner cave woman like it’s nobody’s business.

I adore his commanding alpha male attitude in a way I would never experience with a man in Real Life (I am much more the Harry Kennedy type). Guy’s commands, spoken in that extra-deep, earthy voice, send thrills and chills down my spine.

 

But the reason I love him the most is not his awesome good looks or considerable sex appeal.

It’s because he reminds me of my late dad.

Oh, trust me, Daddy and Guy look nothing alike. Daddy stood five feet, seven inches tall and was on the portly side (he did, however, have a striking aquiline nose). His favorite attire was a pair of Liberty overalls and a feed cap.

But Daddy was also a man with a quick temper; a man who felt much remorse once his anger died down. A man who longed for love from his family and never quite got the nurturing he needed growing up.  His mother became an invalid with he was a toddler and was a distant figure in his life; his father, a teacher turned well-to-do farmer, was a cantankerous, demanding fellow who fully believed in “Do as I say, not as I do.” He worked my daddy so hard on the farm he had to drop out of high school. He was too tired to pay attention in class.

He always felt like he had to prove himself to his family. Daddy would never hear a bad word spoken about his father. Abused children often are protective of their abuser.

Loyalty, you see, meant a lot to my father; loyalty, and being able to put his trust in others.

Daddy possessed a heartbreaking vulnerability at times. He could be so naive and easily manipulated by some of those in whom he placed his trust. If you were in need, he would give you the shirt off his back.

He craved affection. He loved his three girls deeply, even though he was rather ham-fisted in the way he showed it sometimes. He adored my mother and thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, I do believe.

 I think he would have done almost anything to make her happy.

He had flaws, my dad, like every parent; but there was also so much potential inside him.

He needed affection, loyalty, love, the right kind of people in his life to guide and encourage him to be the better man.

And when I see the knight who knelt and sought the hand of the woman he loved in order to save her; a man manipulated by the only father figure in his life, a man hungry for affection and too easily taken in at times, a quick-tempered man who could be harsh and brutal, but could also be tender and gentle, part of my heart yearns to protect him from harm. To let him know how much he is loved.

And that is why every day is Guy Day for me.

Guy of Gisborne after saving the Nightwatchman (Marian) from execution. Screencap courtesy of Richard Armitage Net.