Musings of an Introverted Geek: Nostalgic Book Crushes

Today's top 5 topic is nostalgic book crushes... which I'm expanding into old fictional character crushes!

This one is kinda hard. I had A LOT of childhood crushes, even on fictional characters. It's hard to go back and really pick out the ones that were legitimate crushes and not just characters I liked. Especially for female crushes. Not only was I closeted through my pre-teen and teen years, it's also tougher because there was always this weird conflict of simultaneously crushing on them and envying them so much that I wanted to be them.

But, I have chosen the top 5 that I distinctly remember being enamored with.

- Darien from Sailor Moon

Darien (or Mamoru) from Sailor Moon is the earliest crush that I remember. He - and his relationship with Serena (Usagi) - made my little heart flutter when I was in elementary school. (Of course, it's a little on the creepy side now considering I now understand that she's only 14 and he's probably around 18.) I used to watch Sailor Moon after school - when my siblings weren't hogging the tv - and it didn't take at all long for me to start crushing on him. I know he's animated, but he actually set the tone for many crushes that would come later... dark hair, blue eyes, and a sensitive soul. :)

- Christopher Ravena from Shattered Mirror by Amelia Atwater Rhodes

My jr high/preteen crush. It's been many years since I've read Shattered Mirror, but from what I remember, Christopher is very much the Edward Cullen before Edward Cullen. Although, I think he was far less controlling and less angry than Edward. Christopher was a melancholic and artistic teen vampire who refuses to drink from and harm humans...while his twin brother Nikolas - also a vampire - has no such qualms. Christopher sorta falls for Sarah, the female MC who happens to be a witch/vampire hunter going to school undercover to take out vampires. I remember there being a "will they, won't they" thing between both Sarah and Christopher, and also Sarah and Nikolas.

I was def team Christopher all the way!

- Topanga from Boy Meets World

Topanga is the only girl on this list because she's the only one I could think of where I absolutely remember having a crush on. I remember being so enamored with Topanga. She was funny and sweet, but she was also so free-spirited and she struggled with issues like her weight and other things that I was also struggling with. And she was great! She wasn't magical like Sabrina, or a badass like Buffy, but there was something about her that I really connected with. I had a crush on her, but I also wanted to be just like her.

- Harry Potter

Definitely my biggest high school character crush! I was a little late to Harry Potter. While most of the HP readers I knew started reading them back in elementary school or Jr High, I was a sophomore in high school when I finally got around to picking them up. And within the first two books, I was hardcore crushing on Harry! A crush that the movies only amplified! I have an embarrassing story to tell, actually. I was taking my O.G.T test (it's a proficiency test given to high schoolers in my state in order to graduate) in jr year and we had to write a short story. My story was about me going to Oxford University (ha! like that was ever a possibility) and meeting and falling in love with Daniel Radcliffe who was visiting the school. I think we met at a coffee shop and I had helped him escape his adoring fans. lol, I don't remember it entirely, but it was the first and only fanfiction I've ever written! :D

- Jesse from Mediator series

I'm not entirely sure when I read this series, but I think I started it in high school. Jesse is a hot, sensitive ghost "living" in a room that Suze, who happens to be a mediator and can see ghosts, moves into when her mom remarries. Jesse is such a wonderful character! Passionate and caring and powerful! I still love him and even though I know we just got a ten-years-later book like a year or two ago, I still want more!