I will always stand firm in my claiming far and wide that fandom is a lot more than just thirsting. That the reason people watch and fall in love and deeply internalize certain pieces of media — be they movies or television shows or comics or whatever else you might think — and their characters goes way beyond the actors and actresses that play them, or the way they look on the page.
Still, let’s all be very honest with each other: that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any thirsting involved in fandom activities ever. To wit: check out the tongue-in-cheek TikTok video that sparked this article and its resulting “Right Here, Right Here” meme, in which people take the TikTok’s audio and overlay it over the exact scenes from film and TV that turn their thirst levels way up past eleven. In fact, I think the great majority of fandom thirst is very fun, what with the social media fancams and the Tumblr hashtags and your phone camera roll filling with your obsession du jour until the situation becomes embarrassing for your camera roll. (Any references to one Aemond Targaryen/Ewan Mitchell is purely casual because I certainly have not saved like fifty posts about him across various social media platforms just in the past twenty fours hours.)
And that’s why the “Right Here, Right Here” audio that’s making the rounds on TikTok — at least on my For You page — is cracking me up so much. Because a good thirsting moment sometimes is exactly what you need, especially if you’re not taking it too seriously and are already having a good laugh about it yourself. Scrolling through the various videos made with the audio really has called me out in the best possible way and I just love it.
@michellegreenidge3 My favorite film of 2020 #janeausten #janeaustentok #emma2020 #emma ♬ original sound – ?
So, to the popular demand of absolutely no one, here is my very personal list of the five moments I would use to make “Right Here, Right Here” TikToks. Which are not the same, mind you, from the other arguably more popular trend involving fictional crushes, aka the “show your crush over the Wildest Dreams bridge.” It’s a completely different feeling with maybe just a little bit of overlap. I’ll explain more as we continue, so let’s go.
Dev Patel in the opening scenes of The Green Knight
To be honest I feel like Dev Patel is always a win — but there’s something in the look he sports during that masterpiece that is The Green Knight that just makes everything better than ever. The rest of the film then devolves into complicated mythology, wondrous special effects that are really worthy of a Medieval poem, and soul-shattering explorations of human nature, so there’s little time left to thirst. But those initial moments during the Christmas celebration in Camelot are definitely chef’s kiss. It’s got to be the curls.
Ben Solo’s little pre-fight nod in The Rise of Skywalker
Or honestly any Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. Could be Kylo Ren walking through the desert, Kylo Ren fighting against the Praetorian Guards, Kylo Ren going ham on an innocent console with his lightsaber, you name it. Do I think that the Sequel Trilogy is an absolute trashfire that squandered any potential it might have had due to the lack of one (1) cohesive idea? Obviously. Sadly I also am not immune to Adam Driver’s entire existence, especially if it comes with fighting skills — very few things are more attractive than a good duel — and that trademarked Solo Anti-Hero Swagger™. What can I say, there’s a reason he’s popular.
Killmonger’s “Hey auntie” in Black Panther
Killmonger is one of the best anti-villains that the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever put to screen. I obviously think that his general allure is also in no small part thanks to Michael B. Jordan, who played him brilliantly and with the right amount of scorching desire for revenge and dripping unscrupulous charm. And out of all his scenes in Black Panther, nothing beats the little smirk he gives the assembled council of Wakandan royalty and tribe leaders as he’s revealed as the son of Prince N’Jobu.
Aragorn opens the doors at Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers
Honestly, I’ve been living within the world of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy for so long that I only realized all the thirst moments I had during its three-movie run long after they had happened for the first time. Still, whether I knew it immediately or not, nothing beats Aragorn slamming open the doors to the Hornburg at Helm’s Deep, silhouetted against the light, while everybody believed him dead for good. This is incidentally also the perfect place to once again ask myself why Viggo Mortensen becomes hotter and hotter the dirtier and grimier he becomes throughout the course of the trilogy — it’s uncanny, really, and I’ve been wondering about it for pretty much the past fifteen years or so. Finally, I would like to extend a special mention to Éomer leaning on barrels of beer during the whole drinking game sequence at the Rohan celebration in Return of the King. Karl Urban ily.
Gong Yoo proposes a round of ddakji in Squid Game
This is where the difference between a thirst moment and a “Wildest Dreams” moment comes into play — told you I was going to explain it. Because you see, a polished-up Gong Yoo appearing seemingly out of nowhere to propose a game and have a round of slapping and being slapped? A thirst moment. One that left the entire Internet shaken when Squid Game dropped, might I add. But Gong Yoo appearing in his cozy jumpers and fluffy hair whenever Kim Go Eun’s character Ji Eun Tak blows out a candle in Sseulsseulhago challanhasin – Dokkaebi aka Guardian: The Lonely and Great God aka Goblin aka one of the most popular K-Dramas of all time? A “Wildest Dreams” moment if there ever was one.
So, now it’s up to you. Please do tell me all about which moments you would choose to put with an audio that jokingly goes “Right here, right here is where every morsel, every crumb, every particle of feminism in my body evaporated” — words can’t express how curious I am.
(image: New Line Cinema)
