#sometimes plain old romance is boring

[renku]

Shared Bliss

Soloist Choi Yunjin (Jini) x Male Reader

[Part 1?]

A/N: I just feel releasing this short fic for some reason. Maybe it’s my impatient ass or something. Anyway, I truly enjoyed writing this one so I hope you enjoy it too. Let me know if you’re up for a 2nd part. Ideas are also welcome to my inbox! Good day to all!

To define the relationship you share with Jini is difficult, but to be bothered by such trivial things is a waste of time. People are going to think what they want at the end anyway.

Both of you possess the same traits; carefree, live-in-the-moment type of people, cherish, and spend the youth before it’s gone. No commitments. Feel the joy of life outside responsibilities and duties. Time waits for no man at all.

It started in the old fashion way—kicked off as high school peers that escalated until college. Ironic as it is sounds, met at the same company and now coworkers in the present. Same department, just different sections and ahead of her for a year. Taking into account Jini’s exaggerated storytelling (at least from your point of view) on why she left her previous job: the weight of just being there was unbearable. She said that she’d rather work as a waitress at a pub or something.

Sharing various moments with each other, there’s this bond and connection that felt exclusive and genuine. A safe space—comfort and no judgement. Romance? It doesn't cross your mind a bit and not would even dare to step into that unfamiliar realm.

Here’s the thing: random chances often come by to bring good things, chaos, or something in between the two. In your case, Lady Luck bestowed upon you the last one.

It was one Friday night—her occasional invites for dinner or plain drinking session are something you’ve become accustomed to. A fifteen-minute ride is all it takes. Not bad, better to spend the rest of the night outside than get bored alone.

“Still gets me,” you thought, looking at the front of her house. The amount of detail and work she put are remarkable. After a few steps, you pressed the doorbell.

“Oh, hey loser. Thought you wouldn’t come,” she said, “Just a sec. I’m coming.”

She did not even bother to ask who’s on the other side, like she don’t have any visitor besides you. After waiting for a few seconds, the door opened, and there she is—Jini in her off-shoulder dress with rose imprint.

Stunning... Captivating... Tempting.

Three words to describe the sight right before you, in flesh.

Her dress did its job flaunting her figure. Her presence that exude an intimidating aura—fierce, attitude, and boldness. One fierece look and she can make anyone kneel in a matter of seconds.

“Hey, loser. Hey!”

“What?” you replied, still in shock.

“You zoned out, are you okay?” Jini asked, you just shook your head a bit.

“Sure?”

“Yeah, yeah... Hundred percent.”

“Come in then, it’s freezing out here.”

Few common dishes and cans of beer were already placed on the table in the living room. “Not much, but that's a free meal. Besides, I’m not a bad cook,” she winked.

“Full of yourself sometimes, aren’t you?”

“I think the word ‘confident’ is what you’re looking for, mister.”

“Fine, fine... Let’s just eat,” you said, before sitting and opening a can of beer.

“Hah! I won!”

Throughout the meal, different topics fueled the flow of conversation. Some of them were about work, things in the past, gossips, funny, sad, and anything that comes into mind until all that's left on the table were the beers.

“A question,” said Jini, bringing seat closer so she can lean forward towards you across the table.

“Be my guest.”

“Did you ever think about having sex with me?”

Making a surprised reaction would not change the situation so you just answered her in a straightforward manner. “Yes, and if I'm being honest, I can’t stop thinking about it the moment I stepped inside this house. You’re so fucking hot in that dress.”

Maybe it’s the alcohol, or just courage that came out of nowhere but you still said it, and who gives a shit anymore?

Jini finished her remaining beer looking at you. She stood up, walked slowly and sat down on your lap.

“Is that true?” her focus shifted on your lips.

“Yes.”

A split second was it all took. She kissed you, and you responded accordingly bringing it to a make out session. Sloppy, wet, and warm. Jini pulled your head closer as her tongue joins the action and so are yours. It wasn’t a fight for dominance, but rather an exchange of intentions; something beyond words and better expressed through actions.

None of you can’t stop as your hand began an exploration of its own—the smoothness of the silk dress gave the impression of touching her bare skin.

Jini broke free; hazy, lust-filled eyes remained in contact with yours.

“Dress.”

“Not so fast, pervert. My house, my rules.”

“Playing tough?” you asked, raising both brows. “I’m born tough, loser. Now take that shirt off.”

“Okay, I’ll play along.”

You took your shirt off swiftly in one motion, revealing a body built for years. Astounded, it occured to her that this is the first time she saw you shirtless. Keeping the composure she displayed moments ago is crumbling.

“Happy?”

“Oh, shut up.”

She initiated the kiss again—on your neck going downwards, taking her time to taste your upper torso sending sending you into a frenzied state. Her tounge plays one of your nipples, while her finger does the other by means of making these circular motions, teasing you.

“Fuck.”

Jini’s dirty assault continues and not a word has had left her lips since. She’s acting like a predator aiming to completely devour her prey whole with no intention to stop until she’s satisfied.

“Let’s see what you pack down here,” she said, before pulling in one go your pants and underwear. Jini’s subtle gasp was still noticeable after seeing your cock.

“Well?”

“N- not b- bad...”

“Touch it.”

“Wh- what?”

“You heard me. Just do it.”

It was already erect, and Jini didn’t even hesitate to wrap her fingers around it—contact sent an electrifying feeling as she executed few, careful slow strokes. Unbelievable. It totally feels like the first time. Her jerking you off was overwhelming that precum is already leaking from the tip.

“Oh- oh, shit... That’s good!” you exclaimed, grip tightened on the arm rest of the chair. You don’t want to cum and if you’ll do so, it’s better to land it somewhere more interesting. Grabbing her arm lightly to halt her actions, caressing her face.

“Why?” Jini asked, her face blushed.

You just stared at her eyes, before brushing your thumb on her pinkish lips. She gets the hint and she knew it was going to happen anyway, sooner or later. She nodded as a ‘yes’.

Jini seemed to hold back a bit but she opened her mouth anyway, sticks her tongue out as she starts to lick one of your balls. Fucking hell. She attempted to put one in her mouth, drenched from her saliva. Jini gives a slow, long lick from the base of your dick going to its tip, tasting that precum still flowing. She takes time to know your proud member.

“Ahhh~ fuck, so good! Keep going!”

Hearing words of affirmation encouraged her even more as Jini started to give attention to your head. Putting it just inside her mouth made wonders—her tongue swirls around it and the sensation is driving you crazy. Unknowingly placed a hand on her head for support from the pleasure that travels around your body, trying not to get consumed by her actions.

Jini starts to take more by pushing herself with her tongue tracing the underside of your cock until she reache the limit—tip reached the back of her throat. Her gag reflex is evident as she holds on for a few seconds before releasing your cock with a pop. Jini catches her breath for a moment, still maintaining eye contact after what she just did.

You stood up while Jini is basically on her knees. No words were spoken at the heat of the moment.

You just position your cock right away in front of her mouth, slowly pushing the tip to enter once again and Jini willingly accepts.

Moving your hips backwards slowly until the glans remained inside, one thrust forward and from there the pace started to build up as you just basically facefuck Jini. Subtle, suggestive moans from her were signs she's enjoying it.

Lasting this long was quite a surprise as the inevitable first release of the night started to build up fast. Primal instinct took over you—faster thrusts, lewd and squelching sounds, moans of pleasure from both of you get louder and you knew holding back was impossible.

“Ji- Jini... fuck... I’m about to cum!”

One final thrust as spurts and ropes of cum went straight down to her throat, and Jini just swallowed everything. Some were escaping the sides of her lips. The high feeling of orgasm disappeared and you went back to your senses pulling out your cock.

“Yum.”

Jini catched her breath after what you just did. It took her a few minutes before returning to a more relaxed state.

She looked even more sexy; scooping the remaining cum using her finger, putting it back into her mouth.

One word and you knew the night is far from over.

“Should we head to my room? You can still fill me somewhere else, right?”

“Oh, you bet.”

#kpop smut #kpop fanfic #idol x reader #female idol x reader #male reader #jini #jiniyxxn

[leonw4nter]

Hi🌸

I saw that you were accepting requests so I have one for you. How about bringing husband Leon to the reader's high school reunion? The reader is kind of happy to bring Leon to his old classmates but Leon is so handsome and all that your old acquaintances are wondering why your marriage happened in the first place.

I was thinking about Leon re4r or id, but you can choose anyone!🌸

A Playlist for My Dream High School Romance

Husband!ID!Leon x GN!Reader

Plain Jane: this is what you were in high school, though you didn’t really mind since there was more to being the most beautiful or the most outgoing in school. You always thought you dressed well; not the most fashionable but enough to look decent for school. You also looked fine, not too ugly or too beautiful with the round red framed glasses on your face. The lack of romantic experiences in high school sometimes bothered you but you didn’t mind it overall; you’ve seen the drama of high school romance in your classmates and ultimately decided that staying single is the best option for now… though sometimes you envied it when girls received flowers from their boyfriends or when you saw couples fill out the dance floor and slow danced during the prom. As a dramatic teen, you wailed to your pillow about how you’d never find the love of your life because you were too boring and how you’d always be the third wheel for every couple you’ll meet– hell, you were even confessed to because the boy was double-dog-dared to! You swore that you were destined to only daydream about falling in love with the man of your dreams, dancing under the rain or receiving carnival prices only scenarios that unfolded while you’re fast asleep.

Little did they know, they’d have the maker of their dreams to wake up to in the future; scenes ripped out of a romance novel were no longer bound within the confines of dreams. Leon was more than you’d asked for in the best way possible; he is more than just the beautiful combination of blond and blue, no. The first time you saw him, you thought he looked perfect, the epitome of beauty and charm. As you two got closer and he let you into his life and laid bare his scars for you, you saw that he is not a perfect man– far from it actually– yet you still loved him, maybe even more and much fiercely. You understood and listened to all his stories, accepted him for how he is, the same way he did with you.

Leon’s wedding ring momentarily flashed a bright gold as sunlight reflected from the band, his hands on the wheel as he drove you to your high school. A little nervous was an understatement for how antsy you’re feeling, though you found it stupid to feel this way since these people somewhat remember you and you’re just visiting the school– you literally went to this school for four years and managed to survive each time. Leon stopped the car at a red light, upbeat pop music playing faintly on the radio. He turned to look at you and saw you bouncing your leg, eyes focused and brows furrowed as you stared out on the road. You snapped out of the negative flurry of thoughts troubling you, jerking slightly as you felt Leon’s large hand on your shoulder.

“A penny for your thoughts,” Leon says as he sees you mentally pop back into the car with him. “You okay?”

You nod, giving him a half-smile as you place a hand on top of his that was perched on your shoulder.

“Yeah, just a little nervous,” you say. Just before you could let Leon say another word, you decide to speak up about whatever was bugging you.

“It’s a little stupid, I know. I mean– I went to school with most of these people for about 4 years and managed to do just fine. God, it’s silly of me to be nervous–”

“Hey,” Leon softly interrupts. “It’s only natural for you to be nervous about this. It’s been a long time since you’ve seen them and you’re expecting change in how they act and look and you’re not sure in what way they’ve changed.”

“Yeah that too but… you know, what if I’m like– too boring again?”

“Too boring?” Leon says in a confused yet gentle tone. “Honey, you’re not ‘too boring’ and if they think so then they can buzz off.”

Leon’s words caused some confidence to stir within you, feeling a little better about yourself. This isn’t like high school anymore. You got this! You got this!

Since the red light switched to green, Leon had to withdraw his hand from your shoulder and put it on the brake handle for the car to start moving again.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. If someone’s bothering you, just yelp and I’ll beat them up.” Leon joked.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

After a few minutes of Leon driving and hyping yourself up some more, he finally arrives at the school and pulls up into the parking lot. After a few moments of choosing the perfect spot to park, he gets out of the car first in order to open the door for you, which you thanked him for.

You two walked into the entrance and you looked around. Not a lot has changed, not even the color of the paint on the walls though you realized that they probably gave it a fresh coat since it looked much more vibrant than what your memory told you to expect. The lockers were still where they were when you still went to this school but they no longer had the scratched paint and rusting locks, along with the residue of glue from stickers that had been forcefully peeled off.

“Silverlake High School’s Silver Archers,” Leon quietly mutters to himself. “Your school’s mascot is an archer?”

“Yeah. Though we didn’t have an archery club, which I found kinda silly,” you respond.

Leon hums and continues to look at the trophy case, occasionally reading some things out loud.

“Honey look,” Leon says. “I found you!”

He points to a small picture in the case; it was you with your ratty old glasses and a silver medal around your neck, a small trophy on your hands along with some flowers. You lit up as you looked at that image, the memory clear as day; you had won second place in the inter-school extemporaneous speech competition with other neighboring high schools. You shared this fact with Leon, whose eyebrows flew to his hairline as he looked at you and then the case and back to you again, thoroughly impressed.

“I wifed up a genius,” Leon exclaims. “So you managed to win a competition where they asked the world’s most pressing questions and only gave you a minute to compose your answer in front of everybody? And you had to make sure that your answer would fit in 6 minutes? God you’re so cool.”

You giggled a little bit at that, suddenly feeling like the coolest person in this entire Earth. You thought that this win is truly a feat but these facts coming from Leon’s mouth? Your husband saying it? It was as if you were doing his job, saving the world and fighting off the stuff of nightmares with a pistol; it sounded even more impressive coming from him. Now, he was taking his phone out to take pictures of the other awards you’ve won that were displayed on the case.

“Leon, we gotta hurry. The reunion might’ve started already!”

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Luckily, you two made it on time. Like magic, you were less anxious compared to earlier and managed to find the courage to even greet some of your classmates. Leon was proud that you were breaking out of your shell to greet them, really feeling it with each laugh and conversation shared with some old acquaintances.

“Oh? Who’s that? He’s hot,” your classmate asks. “Never seen him around before. I wonder if he’s single.”

You turn around to where she’s pointing, only to see that she was pointing at Leon. Your husband. Oh he sure as hell isn’t single.

“Oh him? He’s Leon. My husband,” you say. You weren’t one to get jealous but to hear your classmate call Leon ‘hot’ and wonder if he’s single triggered a reaction out of you.

She looked surprised, looking back at you and then him and back at you again like a deer in headlights.

“Wait… really? Like you’re really married?” she asked and it didn’t sound like she was ready to ask how you two met; she sounded like she wanted to know how someone like him could marry someone like you.

“Yeah, I can make a quick run to the court right now for a copy of our marriage certificate,” you half-joke in order to hide the growing feeling of hurt.

“Uh, haha…,” she mumbles. “He’s everything actually- like he’s really good eye-candy. You’re lucky he chose you, you know.”

“I’m lucky he chose me? What do you mean by that.” you say.

“What do you mean?” She asks, oblivious to the fact on how mean that sounded. Or maybe she was just playing oblivious.

“Nevermind.”

You retreat from the group walking up to Leon and watch people socialize. Before he can even ask, the emcee for the reunion calls everyone’s attention and says some words but even the volume of that loud-ass mic was not enough to drown out the doubt swirling on your mind. You’re only pulled out of your thoughts when you hear her voice again, this time talking to other people about how shocked she is that you’re married to him, out of all people. The plain Jane married to the absolute 10 she’s ever seen and how it’s a little comical to look at when there could’ve been much hotter women. You also hate how she keeps glancing back at him and giggling, not even sparing a glance at you.

“That woman cannot stop looking at me,” Leon whispers to you as he subtly motions to her.

“Her? Yeah, she called you ‘hot’ and ‘eye-candy’. She’s a little surprised to find out that you’re married to me,” you moodily mumble.

“Why is she surprised?,” he asks.

“Well, look at me and then look at you. You’re good-looking. Really good looking and I’m just here. To them, it would be more believable if you married some model or something. It’s like an ‘oh my god how did this marriage even happen’ moment.”

Leon looks at them, trained eyes staring them down for a solid few moments before turning his gaze back to you. “Well I kind of looked at me and then now I’m looking at you and I think you’re good-looking. Like really good-looking. I have a strong, intelligent, and independent person in front of me and I don’t think they need me but they still let me into their life. Yeah, I’m also having a ‘how did this marriage even happen’ moment’ because how did I get so lucky that out of all the people in this world, you fell in love with me and trusted the rest of your life and the lives after this to be spent with someone like me?”, he finishes. He’s looking at you like you’re the only thing in this world; he probably doesn’t need to look at the night sky in order to admire the stars when you have them in your eyes. The world just melted away into background noise, witness to the genuine love and loyalty Leon yields for you.

NOTE - Finally got to finish another request, a few more to go so just wait for that :)) I love being on break, can't wait for the summer break so I get to write some more (currently on a week-long break after exams, hopefully i passed with high scores on all exams!!). ALSO IT'S RE4R'S 1ST YEAR ANNIVERSARY WHERE I'M FROM LETS GOOOOO RAAAHHHHH 💪💪🔥🔥 I also got resident evil and dmc shirts I begged my mom for (she had no choice but to say yes /hj). Also I'm starting an AO3 account for devil may cry fics, if anyone's interested ;) That's all and thank you for reading my fics, esp to the anon who requested this- I hope you I lived up to your expectations <33 I <33333 UUUUUUUU

The dividers are from @plutism , the images are made by me (sourced from Pinterest).

#leon kennedy #resident evil #leon kennedy x y/n #fluff #leon kennedy fluff #leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy fluff #leon scott kennedy #leon s kennedy #biohazard #resident evil x reader #rebhfun #resident evil infinite darkness #infinite darkness leon #leon kennedy infinite darkness

[theladyofbloodshed]

Hello! I know you do book reviews and I was wondering, how you go about picking your next book read? I can either obsess over a story or I can be so heavily disappointed, there is no in between, which is why I’m picky because it can be exhausting so I was wondering if you might be okay with sharing some pointers ❤️

Helloooo!

I will be honest with you, I am mostly trying to plough through ones I already have on my shelf. Generally, I stick to fantasy and my loved ones know I stick to fantasy so they just go into a book store and pick one from there lmao. I got given a book voucher for my birthday in June and I still haven't spent it because I am actually quite picky when I choose the book myself. I'm not into crime or thrillers or plain romance unless there are fantasy elements because it's fun to dream! If there aren't dragons then what's the point?

I'm definitely more of a series person as I find that in stand-alones, you don't get enough time with the characters to be attached to them and sometimes things can get rushed. Or they start off as stand alones and get picked up to be a duology or more then suddenly a second plot is wedged into the end (Twin Crowns, Only a Monster, even Throne of Glass). Two standalones that I did really enjoy were Year of the Reaper and Empire of the Vampire.

I am terrible for looking at Goodreads reviews mid-book and spoiling it for myself, but I do see how many stars the book has on there. As an average rating, it's usually fairly well-aligned to my view too. If you have friends on there, it's also fun to spy at what they're reading or what they want to read. Here's my account. I haven't reviewed all of them on there, but on my bookstagram, I do put a short review.

I did try being an ARC reviewer, but the two I got, I didn't actually like lmao so I've scrapped that avenue. One was 834 pages and I was bored to tears by about page 34 and forced myself to get up to 200. It was hell.

Word of mouth helps. I caved into reading Ice Planet Barbarians because I saw it on here and instagram a lot - and I'm so glad! There are a lot of bookstagram accounts and certain books do pop up a lot like ACOTAR, the Cruel Prince and the Plated Prisoner. However, that's not to say it's good because it's popular. I saw the Starless Sea everywhere and hated it. Didn't get it. Found it so pretentious and boring. My friend also is a reader and although we do have different tastes, there is some overlap. She recommended The Binding to me. I would never ever have gone for that book, but it was brilliant.

I used to be involved with Reddit gift exchanges when it still happened, especially the book one. I got sent ACOTAR and Tower of Dawn from one of those exchanges, but both sat on my shelf for ages. I've just started Poison Study which I think I got in an exchange in like 2016? I think it's when I got ACOTAR too.

Sometimes, I just enjoy a good old fashioned look around the library or a book shop. I tend to go straight towards the YA section still despite hitting a terrifying age next year. Scythe was an unexpected find. I do tend to keep clear from dystopian books too because I find them a bit depressing, but this series was great. Also, don't be afraid to read books that aren't new. And don't be afraid to say "you know what, this book sucks, I'm not reading it anymore". That's something I still struggle with!

This was a long ramble with not many tips, but I hope it helped in some way!!

#asks

[danowh0re]

hiii, can i get a dano ship? ^^

hobies: listening to music, painting, drawing, singing and reading.

likes: plants, animals, nature, the sea, self expression, color blue, bears, collecting tiny spoons and mugs (i'm an old man ig), traveling, mithology, new knowledge, anime, rain, cold weather, food in general, sweets, sleeping, museums and existing in my room, history movies, fantasy and comics.

Dislikes: loud sounds, being bothered when sleeping, nosy people, exams, school, homework, stress, hot weather, maths, phisycs, not being taken seriously, tomato, people touching my stuff without me knowing, fuckboys (👺), going to the doctor and diets.

MBTI and enneagram: intj, number 4. (Idk if u need it but just in case 👍)

Description of myself?

i can be introverted or extroverted honestly but i'm more of an introvert, i just really really like calmness and value a lot the personal space of other people, my personality technically depends on who am i talking with and i adapt to he other person's humour (only if i like them). I am AlWAYS in my mind just bc i found this world boring or overly stressing (maladaptive daydreams go brrrrrrrR) and i obviously can't function without music. I like to plan my future a lot just to have something to look forward to but honestly sometimes i just go with the flow and try to not put too much pressure on myself, i value my freedom a lot. Apparently i'm also a very good listener but i totally suck at comforting people, if i don't give a solution to your problem then i'll probably just lay down with you and hug you if you want.

Romance and love language?

I'm a total virgin bruh, i haven't had a romantic experience in my life but i think i know how i would be if i was in a relationship.

First (and i'll say it again lol), i value the other person's personal space, always consent first. My love language is acts of service, i lOoOove taking care of people like that and just make them food, clean so they can relax, or even if my actions aren't acts of service i want them to know that they are totally safe with me. Sing them to sleep, spoil the hell out of them like buying little details that i know they will like, cuddles are a must as well, forehead kisses, praises and if i'm being overly afectionate i might just talk and tell them how much they mean to me.

Physical appearance?¿

plain plain looking. chubby, *t i G h s*, tanned cinnamon skin (ig that's my friends opinion lol), eye bags and depending on the mood i could look like i live in a cottage collecting flowers or like a backroom entity who spies on humans for fun.

this is a lot, congrats for reading this honestly 😭🎉

have a good time! 🌸💕

Thank you for how much detail you put haha!!!!

I SHIP YOU WITH HANK!!!!!

#ᶜʰᵃʳˡⁱᵉˢ ☞︎︎︎ ᴀsᴋs #charlies 1k b.l.t celebration

[stardewlily]

The Only Person I Need In My Life

A Stardew Valley ficlet about the relationship between Sebastian and my farmer, Lily. (I'll be posting their wedding on Valentine's Day because I'm a hopeless romantic and I just can't help myself!)

Synopsis: It's the night before their wedding and our two introverts are not looking forward to their bachelor/ette parties!

Cast: Original Female Character, Sebastian, Sam

Contents: Established Relationship (Engaged), Love, Romance, Fluff

Warnings: None

Lily snuggled closer to the man she loved. She was sitting between Sebastian's legs on the seat before his keyboard, his chest pressed close and warm against her back, his arms around her as he played his music. Every now and then he would nuzzle her hair, laying a gentle kiss on her cheek, just the simple feel of his head near hers, his breath soft in her ear, filling her with so much happiness she felt sure she would burst. They had been like this for the past hour, both starting out anxious at the thought of their impending bachelor and bachelorette parties and now completely at peace in each other's company.

An alarm started sounding and Lily felt Sebastian's body stiffen before he reached to turn it off. He sighed heavily and she could feel his spirit falling as though it were a tangible presence in the room. She bit her bottom lip as his arms came loosely back around her, fingers running half-heartedly over the keys, knowing that he didn't want to let go of her, didn't want to get up from this spot…

She twisted in her seat a little, looked up at him.

"Sebby… let's not go."

"What…?" His fingers hesitated in their movements.

"Let's not go!" she said more fervently. "I know you don't want to go any more than I do…" she tilted her head, mouth trembling slightly. "I know they'll be disappointed… but Seb… you're the only one I want to spend this night with."

He stopped playing, laid his hands flat on the keys.

"You're right." He closed his eyes, then let out a little laugh and opened them again. "Ah, you're right. I do appreciate my friends… I do… but sometimes…"

He looked down at her and smiled fondly…

"…sometimes I feel like you're the only person I need in my life."

His eyes were so tender…

"The truth is…"

He bent his head…

"…the only time I feel truly content is when I'm with you."

…let his lips touch hers.

"Stay with me tonight, Seb," she sighed into his mouth.

"I will, baby," he wrapped his arms around her and she melted into his embrace as their kiss grew long and deep.

"Hands up everyone who knew they wouldn't come!" Sam laughed good naturedly as he handed out drinks to all the partygoers.

A sea of hands shot into the air and his laugh grew even louder. He lifted his glass high. "This party was always just for us folks! Let's raise a toast to Pelican Town's most devoted couple and their wedding tomorrow!"

Glasses clinked together. "To Seb & Lily!"

More laughter ensued as the night peeked quietly in and somewhere in a peaceful farmhouse the gentle sound of piano music filled the air once more.

~The End~

Cute little page dividers by @chachachannah / Boring old plain green ones by me!

#stardew valley sebastian #sdv sebastian #stardew sebastian #sebastian stardew valley #sebastian sdv #sebastian stardew #stardew valley sebastian fanfic #sdv sebastian fanfic #stardew sebastian fanfic #stardew valley sebastian fanfiction #sdv sebastian fanfiction #stardew sebastian fanfiction #stardew valley fanfic #sdv fanfic #stardew fanfic #stardew valley fanfiction #sdv fanfiction #stardew fanfiction #stardew valley sebastian x original female character #sdv sebastian x original female character #seb x lily

[justshitandanime]

Furutsu Basuketto/Fruits Basket (Anime) Critic, opinion, no spoilers

One more of this kind of animes with the “the most boring girl somehow get all the guys” syndrome but a little better than expected. Even when the “reverse harem” tag is more a “2 boys fighting for a girl”...

Music and design? Average. Nohing to point. Some frames look great.

Let’s see the characters:

The girl? Well, is not the holy potato but is FINE. I dislike her original japanese voice (I hate sharp childish voices and she sound as if she is 4 years old) and is also very plain in some aspects, like, damn low reaction, is half of the time just watching what happens and let herself drag for what others do. She is sometimes so stupid that is a recurrent joke from others characers to point how DUMB she is. But her “traumatized” part give her some depth to her stupid always similing personality, so is okay. She is not like that just because the plot need it, she have a backstory.

Her best frieds (a badass semi gang blonde and a goth vibe semi witch) are by far my favorites and they both could keep the story way better than her.

The main boys? Kinda average, is the dinamic of always (introvert sensitive one vs extrovert impulsive one), so it happens as always happens.

There is also the pedo character but at least they don’t normalize it as something good but become in a recurrent “joke” of the others characters to tell him to not do anything illegal or he will end in jail. It should not even be there but ok, let’s put the “pedo is bad” mention as something barely good.

The true hero is her mom. Everyone should have her mom. I want her mom.

One of the very good things is LGTBQIA+ CHARACTERS!

One is openly bisexual AND clearly bipolar/Dissociative identity disorder.  

Another play in the “bigender/drag/ambiguous” as openly say to be “uke” (submissive homosexual).

Other guy put hints to have some kind of relationship with him, as to also like womans, so another bisexual.

Other guy use female clothes since was a kid, so probably trans!

The story is fine, and it have a little of plot that make you want to know more, specially with the “mistery characters” who are mentioned a ton of times but who take a while in show up. Also some hidden intentions grow with the chapters, so it also add some intrigue.

The season 1 is more a presentation of characters than anything else. The romance is very set aside and focus more in how the boy develop feelings, because she is like “lost” and her job is mostly react to others.

The season 2 get a little more dramatic and deep.

Score: 3.4/5 and 6.5/10 Will be a little slow unless you are very fan of this genre.

#Furutsu Basuketto #Fruits Basket #anime #anime review #anime opinion #anime critic

[rebeccaheyman]

The irony of the title is just... wow.

Review: Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan, narr. Hillary Huber (Penguin Audio, 7 June 2022)

Nora Goes Off Script is an almost-exact mashup of the publisher comps: Evvie Drake Starts Over meets Beach Read. From the former, we take a recently single white woman (through divorce rather than death, though you'll wish Nora's ex a worse fate) who ends up making a domestic arrangement with a famous person that eventually leads to *feelings*. From the latter, we have winky references to romance tropes from a writer who knows the formula for happily ever after but doesn't necessarily believe in it. Shared credit for the small-town setting and secondary cast of supportive family and friends.

Where Off Script falls short is plot. Leo (the Famous Person™️) leaves for work — you know, as a normal, working person does — and can't return to Nora's side exactly as scheduled. The rest of the book is a meditation on why he seems to ghost her, how Nora will persevere, and how she can leverage her pain to sell another screenplay (she writes TV-movie romances). When Nora and Leo eventually have an adult conversation and the reason for his behavior is made plain, it's obvious a single phone call or clarifying text message would have cleared up  the confusion and obviated all the drama.

That's right, friends: MISCOMMUNICATION TROPE ALERT. Next to amnesia, it's one of my most loathed narrative devices. These two walnuts could have had ONE CONVERSATION and the audiobook would have ended 3 hours sooner. Don't get me started on how the miscommunication originates when Leo takes the word of an 11-year-old as gospel, never checking in with the 40-year-old he's in an actual relationship with to verify the unlikely "truth" spoon-fed him by a salty minor. 

Hillary Huber's narration sounds bored, as usual. Her tone is flat and somewhat wry — the auditory equivalent of a raised eyebrow. I'm officially adding her to my list of narrators to avoid (current population: Justine Eyre).

Off Script reads like what it is: a story gleaned from the leavings of better books. Monaghan's prose, which is pleasant enough and sometimes yields a neatly-turned phrase, will trick most readers into thinking this is an inoffensive, even charming read. In reality, the novel is a book equivalent of the canned scripts Nora writes for romance channel movies: a story you've heard before, packaged to make you think it's something entirely new.

#book review #nora goes off script #audiobooks #tropes can be useful but seriously stop using the shitty ones

[blouptalking]

Come Rain or Shine

Ame Demo Hare Demo

Iri Arata

18 chapters (completed)

romance, comedy, school life, girl’s love

“Country-born Mikoto and student council member Ren have always spent their time after school together. But one day, that ordinary routine suddenly comes to an end… With Uchouten High School as the stage, the love and youth of these impressionable young girls is about to begin!”

(resume from Kadokawa)

Story: 4/10

I don’t even know what to put here since there’s no real plot in this manga. I thought it would talk about the club’s activity but they don’t even do stuff... I actually don’t even understand what the club is about anyway. The story is empty, there’s nothing to work with to make it entertaining.

The part about Fujishiro’s “betrayal” and Ren’s backstory felt like it was just here to make the story interesting but it was badly written.

Also, there’s a teacher-student relationship. It’s useless and not important to the story, I don’t know why the author tried to add it and justify it by making the teacher “just a home room teacher still university”. She’s still an adult going out with a high schooler and that’s very wrong. And the fact that it’s normalized piss me out so much.

Art: 5/10

The art is average. It’s not ugly but it’s not super pretty either. Apart from Ren and Mikoto, all the characters look the similar to me. If you take off their hairstyles they all have the same face.

Cast: 4/10

The cast is average, leaning on the bad side.

Ren is maybe the only good character but even her story arc is boring and rushed especially the part with her mom. It seems like the mangaka wanted to add a little bit of “spice” in the story but failed.

For Mikoto, she’s maybe the most boring character in the manga. She didn’t even got a story arc or even a single flashback. Other side characters got more time to shine. We know nothing about her apart from the fact that she comes from the country side. Why did she left? How her family and old friends feel about her moving? Does she feels homesick sometimes? Does she miss her peers? How does she feels about the culture differences between the rural side and the urban side? There’s so much material to build an average main character but none of that is used.

Going to the side cast, as I said, they all look the same. If you put their chara-design to the side you realize that they are not that important to the story. There’s some characters who get their backstory shown and even get in a romantic relationship but it’s not interesting at all and it doesn’t help the story. Their personalities are just boring.

Enjoyment: 5/10

With this review it seems like the story is bad but it’s actually not that unpleasant to read. It’s just very boring and plain? I didn’t especially enjoyed reading it but I didn’t hated it neither + it’s a short serie so it’s not like I had to force myself to read it. I think I wouldn’t have been so harsh if the teacher-student relationship wasn’t here. My enjoyment really dropped when I understood that the mangaka tried to justify this relationship.

Overall: 5/10

#Come Rain or Shine #Ame Demo Hare Demo #雨でも晴れでも #manga review #romance #wlw #gl #girls love #yuri #bloup review

[waitineedaname]

the problem with reading homestuck is that it permanently changes your brain chemistry and rewires your neural pathways. even if you're not into it anymore, you can never go back to a pre-homestuck state of being

#homestuck #happy thirteenth birthday you stupid comic. i wonder what your name will be #i havent been into homestuck for a couple years now but every now and then i get a wave of fondness for the characters #bc say what you will about homestuck but it had some really well written characters. the kind of one that sit with you forever #and i still think about quadrants more often than i should #theyre just a fun way to spice up character relationships! #sometimes plain old romance is boring #pitch and pale ships are just more fun

[provisionalsparkle]

The Boy Next Door

Reader x Bang Chan (Stray Kids)

[Genre] exes-to-lovers au, smut, angst.

[Word count] 6.7K

[Warnings] Smut. Angst. Unprotected sex, voyeurism, ample description of bodily fluids.

[Note] This is my contribution to @feliix ’s Summer 2 Lovers collab! Check it out!

Summer.

The season of fun and sun, careless joy, long days and warm nights…

For most people.

For you, this summer is about change. It’s about the little town you used to live in, the quaint house you grew up in, the smell of your mother’s cooking or the breeze from the yard, the sound of younger kids playing in the street. It’s about the big city you will go to live in, it’s purple and orange twilight skies, black silhouettes reaching toward the skies beginning to twinkle with golden lights, the noises of the traffic coming from evening bustle, the scent of the delis and restaurants that line the streets.

You were stuck between these two places, university having been a four year long limbo of boundless sex mislabeled as self-discovery, and now visit your home one last time, reminding yourself of the life you had there before moving on to another.

You think of the past with nostalgia, yet also with a restlessness that makes you want to run from everything. The stillness, the silence, the unchanging landscape in this little town is too unbearable, too unsettling. But it’s familiar, and it’s comfortable. The life you’ll soon live promises excitement, autonomy, it’s the adulthood you’ve fantasized about. It terrifies you too, and you have these horrible dreams about missing the payment of the most insignificant bill and having the entire world collapse on you because of it. You still don’t know how to do your taxes.

College is over, a new life awaits you in a big city after landing a rather ideal job, but it felt like you were leaving things behind. Funny how, after so many years of fantasizing about this grown-up life you suddenly felt like a lost child, scared to forgo the familiar.

It’s these sort of almost-quarter-life-crisis thoughts that fill your mind on a particularly warm afternoon. You’re indecently splayed out on a couch with as little clothing as possible, the door to the backyard is wide open, letting an occasional breeze waft in to disrupt the stifling stillness of the heat. The lights are off, and you were too unbothered to turn them on as the sun set, preferring to stare at a darkening ceiling as the evening sky turned purple.

There’s a familiar jingle of keys from the front door.

“Honey? You home?”

“I’m here, Mom.” You lazily answer back. She wanders from the hall to the living room, you can feel the judgemental look she gives you.

“Have you been laying like this all day?”, indignation lines her voice. Was it so surprising to find you like this?

“Yeah…”

“You can’t just lay here all day. Go out! Get some sun! Go play with those kids you used to hang out with from school!”

“I can’t Ma, I’d rather just plank here.”

“Oh goodness, Y/n. Give me one good reason you shouldn’t go hang out with them!”

“I’ll give you two: either they grew up to be total bitches or they had kids and became a bore.”

“I didn’t become a bore when I had you!” She exclaims, although it’s not too serious and some playfulness hides beneath the surface.

“Yeah, that’s because you’re a cool mom. They don’t make those anymore.”

“Hmm… well, I think you should make a bit of an effort.”

“Mom… it’s my last vacation you know -”

“You know what?!” She suddenly exclaims, her voice brightening like a lightbulb just radiated in her thoughts. “Mrs. Carson’s son is here with her for the summer too! I bet you haven’t seen him in ages, and he’s gotten so handsome.”

“Mrs. Carson?” You didn’t have any clue who that was.

“Well… you might remember her as Mrs. Bang, but Jane changed her name when she married Norbert a few years ago. She still lives next door and Christopher’s in town spending the summer with his mother.”

Bang…

Christopher…

You hadn’t heard that name in years. It surprised you a bit actually, and a hint of a smile came to your lips.

“Yeah, yeah, Mom… I’ll think about it.”

You wouldn’t admit… something did grab your attention. A curiosity of sorts.

You were fifteen years old when you had your first kiss. He was a short boy with a kind smile, a bit awkward really, but you had a fondness for him. It wasn’t about looks at all, all boys at that age were hideous and nothing would change your opinion on that, but you’d swoon whenever you saw him. It was mutual, an icky teenage infatuation that had your friends poking fun at both of you whenever you’d become giddy at the sight of one another. Hot faces, nervous glances, trembling innocent touches.

He sat next to you in chemistry and you’d hold hands under the lab table while the teacher gave class. His left hand always felt soft in your right one. Cute. It’s a bit silly but you’re glad you had that sort of adorable and silly romance. While it lasted, that is.

Christopher wasn’t a bad guy. He was stupid, like all boys that age.

When you saw him kissing another girl, of course you cried, but you knew it had to do with him being stupid more than anything. This simple looking girl that you had been friends with in elementary school, you can’t even remember her name.

You know why he did it, beyond his stupidity. Your mom had let it slip long before - you knew it was coming.

“Honey, would you believe? Mr. and Mrs. Bang are divorcing!” Probably just some hot gossip from one of her PTA yoga groups, no ill intention on your behalf. She didn’t know you were seeing Christopher - over your dead body. You were fifteen and a horrible student, you didn’t need to give your mother yet another element to ground you with.

“Oh no…” You acted as normally as you could, your first thoughts went out to Christopher first though. “Do you know why?”

“Well… I’m obviously not going to ask, duh! But I do know that Mr. Bang is taking the kid with him abroad.” What?! What did she just say? Chis is WHAT?!

“I - uh, what?” Act normal, act normal, act normal.

“Aww… sweetie, was he your friend?” Goodness, parents can be so oblivious, but it’s beneficial in this case. She doesn’t pick up on the depression of your mood.

“I guess.” A sniffle is about to threaten your composure so, in your teenage arrogance, you leave before your mother can see your teary eyes.

The subsequent days were strange. You expected Christopher to tell you the news, you expected to comfort him, you expected to live out the rest of your young romance as best as you could. And then… you saw him.

And he said nothing. He was cold, pushed you away. He must be going through a lot of pain, you thought. More days went by and he still said nothing, and his demeanor grew worse, no affection, no smiles. He must be having a hard time, you reasoned.

Sometimes you thought he was on the verge of saying something to you, like he was about to say something and the words threatened to come out but he’d suddenly pull away and swallow them. You didn’t question it really, it was so confusing but you just went with it.

You never held his hand in chemistry again.

Time made you realize that Christopher didn’t want to be with you anymore. You weren’t sure if it was because he stopped liking you, and that hurt a little, but you knew what he was going through, and you stood by him in case he ever chose to open up and cry on your shoulder. You’d be there for him.

When he kissed that girl, it didn’t really surprise you. Damn it, what was her name? You cried, you thought it was because you were ugly and your boobs were still pretty small - stupid reasons.

It took a few months for you to understand the real reason.

He left without saying goodbye. You never spoke to him after he kissed what’s-her-name. Maybe he tried to do so a couple of times, but you ran away or didn’t let him. Or maybe you remembered it that way to comfort you, just so you’d live with the thought that he tried to apologize, tired to make things right.

But the fact of the matter is he didn’t speak to you and he didn’t say goodbye. He didn’t want to.

He didn’t want to say goodbye because it hurt.

He was trying to ruin your relationship so you’d break up with him and he wouldn’t have to say goodbye, so that he could kill the feelings you had for him to spare you from the pain of his departure.

Or maybe you were just imagining it like that to make it a cuter memory and think about it fondly.

Maybe in the end, Christopher was just a horny teenage boy that cheated on you. Maybe.

Regardless, you giggle as you think back on the silliness of it all, and how serious and life altering it all felt in your childishness. It seemed so long ago, so distant, and you were so changed that it felt like it had all happened to a different person. You wondered about the man next door, and the entirely different boy who had once been next door. What kind of person had Christopher become?

University did you well. It was four solid years of irresponsible drinking and uninhibited sexual exploration paired with relatively easy academics. You don’t know how it happened, but it had been like a transformation from one day to the next.

You, sort of, kind of, absolutely plain and normal girl that no one would notice lest you stepped in their line of sight. One day, there you were - normal.

Two weeks in - boom. Confident. Your roommate was an okayish girl, another plain one. Then you started noticing how comfortable you were undressing in front of her, to change clothes or whatever, as if it was the most normal thing in the world - which it was. Wearing shorts and skirts became less of a worry, just something that felt better. Sometimes you’d be thrown icky glances from some boys, which you hated, but others were acceptably flirty and you loved those. The best ones were the boys that would get shy and who would quickly whip their heads the other way once you caught them staring.

That definitely flipped the switch. It made you feel strong, it made you feel damn good. You, who at the most had dipped a finger into the world of heavy makeouts during high school, now became a seasoned seductress of all kinds of men. So long as you could wrap them around your finger with your demeanor, so long as you could prowl over them and take the lead.

Ah… the good old days.

What was going to happen now, though? Four years later, no slightly inexperienced men left to be wowed. Everyone you knew was turning into a bland and bitter office worker. Was this the end of it?

To think that you’d be ending this glorious chapter of your life in this tiny town, lounging on the same stuffy couch in the same hot living room every day, having your routine philosophical melodrama where you’d stare at the ceiling in the afternoons until your mother came in inquiring if you were alive. It was a terrible fate.

A few days after the revelation of Christopher’s presence, which you would never admit had been circling your mind nonstop, your mother returns with another piece of information.

“You know, Jane and Norbert are having a get together of sorts next Saturday - just the usuals from the block.”

“Is that so?” You said with disinterest.

“In fact, I borrowed a baking pan from her last week… why don’t you go over and give it back to her for me? She might need it, and you probably haven’t left this house in days.” You didn’t reply, but you could feel her eyes on you, waiting for you to obey.

“Fine…”

The afternoon was enjoyably fresh, although your white t-shirt stuck to you like a second skin, the bikini top you wore underneath tracing its silhouette into the cotton. You lazily stomped your way to the house next door, admiring the tall window where you had snuck into Christopher’s room a couple of times during your short romance. A ladder was perched up against the exterior toward that window, they must have been fixing things up. The porch was full of cans of paint, tools, boxes. It was only when you rang on the doorbell, begrudgingly holding the large tray, that you realized that Jane might not be the one to open the door but instead it could be -

The door swings open and you gasp. Christopher.

Well… his face hadn’t changed much. But he was slightly taller than you remembered, far more masculine, oh, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Yeah, he was shirtless… jeans hanging low on his hips… shirtless… abs… fit waist… arms…

“Hi! Is Jane home?” Good… pretend you don’t remember him.

“I - Uh… no, my mom’s actually out right now.” He replied. His voice had grown deeper, and where did he get that accent? Wait - did he not remember you? Now, that just made you angry, but you wouldn’t let it show.

“Oh, well… my mother wanted me to return this.” You say handing him the tray, avoiding trailing your eyes downward.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll give it to her.” He says. He seems a little frozen, an expression between surprise and caution lingers on his face, but you don’t know if it’s good or bad.

There’s a moment of silence where you just stare at each other.

“Y/n…” He finally says. There’s hesitation in the way he says your name. He’s scared, not of you, but he’s scared about the fact that you’re on his doorstep.

You don’t say anything, calmly, almost coyly, waiting for him to continue. You’d gotten rather good at pretending you were calm, and the slightest tint of a smile painted your lips so you wouldn’t seem cold or ingenuine.

“Do you remember me?” He asks. You can’t help but huff, a tiny laughter really.

“Of course. You know, you haven’t grown much taller.”

With those slightly playful words, you turn to walk back to your home, and with each step your impression of the encounter with your childhood love became more bitter and less sweet.

It was strange how you thought about him, about it. The situation, that is. Seeing him, talking to him, both of you now being older. A few days of thinking now.

You don’t know why you thought about it so much, but you thought about it. You thought about it without knowing how you felt about it or what you thought about it. This man you had only gotten a glimpse of, too overwhelmed to take in his features properly, now walks around your mind freely. He wasn’t the boy you knew. He wasn’t the boy next door whose hand you’d once hold in chemistry, who you’d kiss before turning the corner towards both of your homes. The boy who left all those years ago.

No, it wasn’t that boy. It was that man, who kept perturbing you. What did you feel? Interest? Yes, there was something quite intriguing about all of this which sparked your curiosity. Lust? Of course, absolutely, the man next door looked divine. Suppose you could abstract the person from his body, so that you wouldn’t be so bothered by who he was and what he meant to you, and you’d easily bend over in front of him and invite him in.

You supposed a conversation was in place, though, because after all, he was still the Christopher. You couldn’t just go around fucking people like that anymore - unfortunately. That was something you got away with in college. It’s a shame college boys grow up to be boring men, sex gets more boring, they think they have all the authority… Maybe you should go back to school.

You’re sitting on the windowsill of your second floor bedroom, one leg hanging out and stepping onto the roof. Opposite to your window, beyond a neat shrub, is the window of the guest room of Mrs. Carson, formerly Bang, which seems unchanged from when you last saw it. You remember watching her from your room, also unchanged, using the TV in there to do some aerobics she followed along from a VHS… was it a VHS? No, that’s the machine. What were the things you used to put in the VHS? A cassette? No… regardless, eventually she must have started using DVD’s.

Damn it, it all seemed like thousands of years ago.

Damn it, you were still so melodramatic throwing around words like poetry over some Richard Simmons tape. Aha! It’s a tape!

Your crotch is being dug into by the window frame, and you let your weight rest on it, the slight grind tempting you to have a round of masturbation. But you’ll finish the cigarette you stole from your mother first. It tasted awful, it was another adult thing you couldn’t understand. Why did everyone at university smoke so much? It was just another thing their eager teenage selves did to emulate the adults in grown-up world, to feel a little more grown-up. Who the hell likes this stuff?

But you liked watching it burn, occasionally inhaling its airy and bitter smoke. It wasn’t your preferred type of smore. You preferred watching papers and matches burn, their sweet and rich smell, the warmth of the fire that would sting the edges of your fingers. Shame your mother only used a lighter, you didn’t like the smell of that fire either.

You just surrendered to watching the bright tip of the cigarette and the white streams that came from it.

“You know those are bad for you.”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” You exclaimed, your heart nearly jumping out from your chest. A man had sprung out from the window in the guest room of the Carson house, formerly Bang, and that man was Christopher Bang himself.

“Sorry I didn’t -”

“You almost gave me a fucking heart attack - what the hell?!”

“ - mean to startle you…”

“Damn it, Christopher!”

“Ah! So you do remember me?” He says with a bit of joy, but you just look at him, realizing that this is where the talk will come. His features grow a little more somber. He continues, “So… I guess I -”

“Where’d you get the accent?” You interrupt, genuinely curious. “You sound like the crocodile hunter.”

“Well… I was living in Australia with my dad.” He says it in a normal tone, but you make sure it doesn’t stay normal.

“Oh, so that’s where you went?” You both wince at what you just said. Yep, it’s finally time for that talk.

There’s a bit of silence, but you’ll let him be the one to fill it.

“I…” He sighs deeply. Uuhh… it’s quite a masculine sigh. “I didn’t know you’d be here. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again but I… there’s something I’ve always wanted to say.”

“I’m listening…” You say. It’s a flat tone, but it’s funny. You hope it’ll ease him.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry.” Some silence again, “I’m sorry for being an ass, I’m sorry for cheating on you -”

“Chris, we were like fifteen… you kissed a girl with braces, big deal.” You waved it off. Really, kissing that girl didn’t bother you so much, now almost ten years later.

“I left without saying anything.”

“Yeah, you did. Hard to not notice.”

“I was - I know it’s not an excuse, but I was going through a lot and I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“So you left without saying anything?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok… we haven’t spoken in years. I practically forgot about it.” No you didn’t.

“Did you?” He says. Was he hopeful when you insinuated he hadn’t hurt you as much as he thought he had?

“No, not really. I mean, yeah, you kissing another girl was pretty insignificant, we were just kids. It did hurt that you left without… I don’t know… There wasn’t any closure. There wasn’t a goodbye. I felt confused for a while, I guess.”

“I’m so sorry about that. But my parents were splitting up, I was going to have to leave everything behind. You were the first girl I loved and I was going to have to say goodbye and I couldn’t handle it. I was too hurt and embarrassed to even tell my friends. I wish I had done it differently.”

“Yeah, I wish you had too. I wanted to be there for you, you know? I wanted to hug you, hold your hand, tell you it was going to be ok.

“I really messed up there…”

“It’s okay Chris, you were just a kid. We were just kids.” You offer your sympathy but he doesn’t soften.

“Mhmm. Doesn’t make me feel less guilty about it.”

“Can I ask you something?” He nods, “Did you do all that stuff… you know, treat me that way, for real or where you…?”

“I was hoping you’d break up with me, get over me. That way we wouldn’t have to say goodbye and we wouldn’t get hurt.”

“I got hurt.” You admit.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” You insist. “It’s fine. We’re fine. We’re old and grown and fine. All of that’s in the past, I can’t blame you for acting like a kid. It’s okay.”

“Well I can agree with you there. We did grow up, not kids anymore.”

“You didn’t grow that much.” You laugh, he laughs too.

“You certainly did.” He’s being flirty. It could have been bad timing, but the mood felt right.

“Oh, you noticed?”

“Hard not to.” Goodness was he being direct. “You were really cute back in school, I had a crush on you for like, forever.”

“Really…Plain old me?”

“Really. And now here we are and I think I could have a crush on you all over again.”

“So you can go off and kiss another girl with braces and leave the continent?”

“No, I’m a one woman man.” He says while making himself comfortable on his own ledge. It’s getting comfortable overall, like you’re talking to someone you’ve known for the longest time, like a decade of separation didn’t do much harm.

“Well, well. And who is that lucky woman now?”

“There’s no one at the moment. I’m in the middle of some life changes.”

“Do tell.”

“I’m moving back. Well, not here, just in the country again. A big city, big job, kinda scary.”

“Seems we’re on the same boat. I just came back to say goodbye to this place forever and I’m ooout.”

“Did you finish school already?”

“Yeah… I wish I hadn’t though.” You think back on your experience with longing, lamenting it’s end.

“Wow, can’t relate. I couldn’t wait for it to end. What’d you miss about it?”

“Well, I didn’t have to work, grades were good and easy. And I guess, it was tons of fun.”

“How so?”

“Being on a campus full of horny and stupid guys - it was open game.” Chan hisses at your admission.

“I wouldn’t have taken you for that type.” He chuckles, “You would stutter for like the first two months we went out.”

“We were just kids.”

“I guess we were…”

Another comfortable silence as you stare off at the sky, your cigarette burnt through with only the spongy bud left to pinch.

“Chris?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m single too, you know.”

It might have been a bad idea, you said it on impulse after all, something quite instinctive having taken over you. Maybe you were just horny and Christopher was just hot, regardless, the conversation was over. Before he could even process what you said, and the implications to it, you had already slipped back into your darkened room and out of his sight.

Chan felt like a teenager again. Not in a good way.

Chan remembered your first kiss, holding your hand. He remembered your breasts being the first he had ever really noticed, your legs being the first he ever caressed. He remembers how you’d press your bodies together while you kissed, not really understanding what both of you felt, only understanding the urgency of it.

Now he can name those feelings, the ones that once belonged to an inexperienced boy, merely dipping his toes into the surface of that world. But now that he dove, and had dived into its waters several times, he knew how to swim in them.

Yet, seeing you made him feel like he didn’t. It made him feel like he couldn’t swim, like he couldn’t breathe. He felt like he was drowning.

The first moment he saw you on his doorstep he felt his stomach drop, a pang of guilt that had lingered on his mind during countless of sleepless nights hitting him with full force. He didn’t expect it. He thought he would never see you again.

And after taking another look, a longer look, it was like he was swimming in completely different waters. He felt submerged, and he didn’t know which way was up. He wanted to open his mouth and swallow it all up, let you drown him.

He hadn’t felt this raging feeling since he was a teenager. He certainly hadn’t had a specific woman make him feel like this until you.

It made him feel another kind of guilt. Shame even.

The following days he’d watch you, shamefully. His mother had him painting the house and when he stood on the rooftops he took his time to enjoy the view of you swimming in your pool, wearing tiny bikinis that stuck to your skin and showed the buds of your niples and the lines of your labia through the fabric. He would admit, shamefully, that he stopped watching from the roof because he needed to get closer to see these beautiful details.

He now watched you from over the fence in his backyard. Getting incredibly hard watching you swim, watching you oil your body down.

It was all horribly, horribly shameful.

But weren’t you the one that mentioned you were single? It had caught him off guard. He was being cheeky in that moment, but he didn’t know what waters he was testing then. Now he knew, and it was making him behave so, so shamefully.

Should he go over there, push you into a corner of the pool and pull your bottoms to the side? Should he kneel at your feet while your rubbing yourself with that golden oil, and beg you to let him fuck you?

It wasn’t just the thought of sex that drove him mad, it was you in general. How inferior he felt in front of you, like he had to prove himself. Every day he worked shirtless, hoping you’d get a glimpse of him, but you were just so unbothered by it all.

It was driving him fucking insane.

If only you knew.

Except - of course you did. Of course you did. This is what you craved, what you were best at. Driving boys, technically men but boys sounds tastier, to be absolute slaves to their desire for you. Christopher wasn’t doing a good job at hiding it. Did he really think that you would suddenly spend every day swimming in the tiniest bikinis after having not left your couch for over a week? They really are such stupid, fuckable animals.

And Chris was particularly fuckable.

Day four of his perverted project, he was hammering away at some boards in the back porch of his house. Your mother wouldn’t be home for hours, his parents were away for a couple of days.

Everything was perfect.

“Chris?!” You call loudly over the fence from your chaise lounge, carelessly flipping through a book. The hammering stopped, he had heard you. “Chris, it’s hot today. Don’t you think you should come over for a swim to cool down?”

Why on earth were you acting so damn unbothered and confident, he thought. Why on earth were you asking him over?

It’s only a matter of time before he circles his own house and slides in through the gate on your end. He’s still wearing jeans and a utility belt, gloves too. No shirt.

“You can’t really swim in those, take them off.” You hardly peered at him from over your sunglasses. He was just standing there, frozen. That’s usually a sign that you’re working your magic well. Good. “Come on Christopher, take them off.”

“I - uh, I’m actually not wearing trunks right now. Uhm… I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, you don’t have to go.” Insert unbothered page flip. “Why don’t you just undress and get in the pool so I can join you?”

“W-what?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He genuinely thought he had imagined it, maybe all of his hornyness was driving him insane.

“Christopher!” You whine. “You’re ruining the fun!” You slam the book shut and throw it over to the side, taking your sunglasses and hat off. “Chris, I think it’s obvious. Do you think I haven’t noticed you being a peeping tom for the past half week? Look! You’ve already got a tent in your pants and everything!”

“Fuck.” Shit, you were right.

“This is like, hmm, like an open invitation to fuck me.” You say with an eye roll, but your eyes roll toward his abs because they are absolutely distracting you.

“Are… are you serious?”

“Well… You want to, I want to. You’re nice, look like you’ve become quite a decent man - and I’m not just referring to your physique Chris. Maybe, just maybe, it would be an excellent idea if we finally fucked this tension away.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. You’re here for a few weeks, so am I. Why not enjoy each other while we can? After that we can just go our separate ways, just like before except we’ll end it on good terms.”

Too many points for him to argue with - you were right on all of them. He couldn’t disagree. In fact, he eagerly agreed. Little did he know you had this pitch rehearsed to perfection, to your benefit, because he seemed to be completely subdued by it.

“Fuck.” He mutters under his breath. Fumbling with his belt, zipper, exposing the line of his abdomen down to his hardening cock. A fat, heavy cock that swung between his muscular thighs. He was fully nude now, standing in front of you, his tan skin glistening in the sunlight. You’re quick to urge him over with a finger.

He pounces, but once he’s crawling over you on that narrow chair, he becomes slow.

“Hi.” You manage to whimper out, now feeling a bit small beneath him, feeling nervous even.

“Hey.” He’s just as nervous but there’s an energy that goes beyond either of your wills pulling you toward one another.

He kisses you. It’s a kiss you melt into, and he sinks his body against yours, with you spreading your legs so he can slot between them. His cock rests against your lower abdomen, his body pressing further into you.

You can’t help but slide your hand between your two bodies in an attempt to finger yourself, prepare yourself, but he stops you and pulls back.

“No.” He growls.

“No?” Is he going to leave you like this?!

“Let me.”

And you do. Chan lowers himself, adjusting you so he can easily bend over the chair while kneeling on the ground, and his hands shake as he dips the tip of his fingers into the hem of your bottoms, just slightly tugging at the material, playing with it before he starts to play with you. You’ve got the perfect view of him basically drooling over you.

He slides the bottoms to the side, but you pull at the strings at your hips, so they come undone and he pulls them away completely. Your lips and the juices coming from between them are just as glossy than your oiled skin.

He can’t help but dig in. Fucking you with his mouth, jamming his fingers in you. It’s an animalistic frenzy and it’s hot and slippery and sticky. You cum and your fluids spill over the impermeable cushion below, pooling under your ass. He can see every sparkling droplet fall from you.

It’s just a haze, he nearly jumps on you, bending your legs nearly over your head, bouncing his pelvis on your cunt like a trampoline, smacking with every thrust. You’re completely glued to one another. If he’s not abusing your mouth with his tongue then he’s biting on your shoulder or grunting, growling, into your ear. It’s filthy. You’re absolutely sure you’ve never been fucked like this.

He cums, several times, as do you. He pulls out each time, jerks himself off on your body, although a couple of times you urged him into your mouth and face. He pulls the triangles on your top to the sides, so your breasts are exposed. He made sure to cum on those too. Semen, sweat, squirt, oil, spit, everywhere there are droplets of your fluids shining on your body like jewels.

It ends with him lying on top of you, nearly sleeping from exhaustion, and your lips feel deliciously sore and sensitive, almost ticklish as he softens inside of you.

It happens again. Several times in fact. Many, many times. When his parents are away, when your mom is away, you fuck all the time. Just a little call of his name over the fence or from your window and he’d be running to you. You were too comfortable with one another to bother with formalities, it was like you’d never been separated. You’d wait for him on all fours, wet cunt on display for him to dive in, but he’d always greet you with a gentle kiss.

Fucking each others faces, drinking eachothers fluids. You even let him fuck you in the ass, multiple times, and he was the first guy to make you cum that way. You were just as hooked and as desperate as he was.

Things started to change though.

The welcoming kisses became longer, you’d talk between the rounds…

You’d fall asleep in his arms, or he in yours.

You’d fuck slowly, deeply, staring into each other’s eyes.

You’d talk to him, tell each other stories of all these years, asi if you had been together the entire time.

You’d smile as you made love, gently. You’d let him cum inside of you.

He’d hold your hand again. They were as soft and warm as you remembered.

You were holding his hand on one particular pink evening, your head resting on his heaving chest, teaching circles into his pecs and nipples. On your bed, in your quiet childhood room. It was a painful silence now. It had been weeks, weeks closer to your respective departure dates.

“I wish I had never left.” He eventually says. You don’t know what to say. “I wish we could have stayed like this for longer.”

“Maybe we would have broken up eventually, or left for college.” You ponder.

“Maybe I would have taken you to prom, or we would have had sex together for the first time…” He returns.

“On this bed? Hmm? With my cute school uniform?” You tease. “Yeah, maybe.”

“But I guess this is what was meant to be.” He sighs, as do you.

“I’m sorry.” Is all you can say.

“What for?”

“I don’t know, I just feel bad. I started this and now we have to go our separate ways again.” You feel something sting in your eye. You can’t cry now.

“Shh…” He coos as he hears you sniffle and feels you twitch. It makes his heart ache like it did all those years ago when he left.

“I - I…” You cry. “I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to go.”

He pulls you into his arms, crushing you in an embrace. Your eyes are closed but you feel the tears fall from his face, he’s crying too.

“I know… but what else can we do?”

There was nothing left to do, other than fuck the days away, crying, holding each other until it hurt. It was a horrible, horrible thing to have fallen in love with Christopher Bang this final summer.

You didn’t go with him to the airport. You didn’t want to say goodbye, you didn’t want to see where he was going.

But he did slip into your room that final night. You made love quietly, he kissed you as you cried.

He said it was the second time he loved you, and the second time he had to leave you.

It hurt much more this time around. Maybe you shouldn’t have done it, maybe you shouldn’t have gone next door.

Being in your house was unbearable once Chris wasn’t next door.

A week later, you’ve arrived at your new place. It had been a whirlwind and you stayed at a hotel the first couple of nights while your new furniture got brought in, most of your personal belongings only fitting in a couple of bags.

It’s kept you busy. That way you think about him a little less. Crying into pillows that have that certain ‘brand new’ smell isn’t quite as comforting as you’d expect. Everything seems unfamiliar, strange, artificial. Nothing here reminded you of him - it was for the best and you hated it.

The place is nice, bright. It’s on the third floor of a small apartment building, a couple of other doors beside yours in the hall. You go downstairs to grab a few packages that have arrived, carefully treading up the stairs in a kind of balancing act once they’re piled in your arms. It’s a choreography you can dance to with expertise, always denying any help from your neighbors.

However, you do fumble with the lock and handle once you’re at your door, holding the boxes up by pressing them against the door with your body as your hands blindly fumble with the keys, nothing but cardboard in your sight.

Nothing you can’t handle, until they start to slip.

“Woah, let me help you with that!” someone says behind you, and in your complicated state it’s a bit difficult to process what happens but the boxes are soon out of the way, said someone pulling them from you and freeing you.

And then you see him.

Him.

Your him.

He says your name and you’re too stunned to react. He’s in awe too. He drops your packages, and you’re certain some of them contain some makeup palettes but you don’t give a damn at the moment.

“What are you doing here?” You finally ask, frozen in place.

“I… live in 304.” He says.

“You live in 304?” He nods. “You? You’re serious?” He nods again, eyes still wide.

You both stand there, processing it all. This can’t be real.

“I live in 302.” you manage to say, after some time. Your voice is weak, all the air has left your lungs. You shake.

“You do?” He asks. Now you nod.

This can’t be.

But he cups your face, holds it like you’re precious and delicate, he kisses you. It is real. You kiss him back, harder. Eventually you’re both clinging to one another, gripping each other’s clothes desperately.

“You live here.” He says, little tears sparkling in the corner of his eyes. You nod, the same tears coming to you.

“I do. Mm-hmm.” The sniffles you let out seem so sweet to him, he swoons with how happy you are to see him. Knowing you feel the same joy he does - it makes him feel complete.

“I live here too!” He cries, laughing, smiling, beautifully.

One more kiss, just to make sure it’s real. You pull him in and kiss him one more time.

It’s real.

#bang chan smut #stray kids smut #skz chan smut #skz smut #bangchan smut

[iamthenightcolormeblack]

You Must Allow Me to Tell You How Ardently I Admire and Love Pride and Prejudice 1995

Wrapping up my Pride and Prejudice adaptation review series with my favorite of them all: the 1995 BBC miniseries that was my gateway to Austen. I decided to write about this show in part because a lot of younger Austen/Pride and Prejudice fans my age (17-18 years old) don't know that this show exists. Also, there is not as much content available for the miniseries in comparison to the popular 2005 movie.

A quick refresher and some basic information in case some one who hasn't watched this show stumbles upon this review: it consists of 6 approximately hour long episodes and stars Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.

REASONS TO WATCH (let's get the obvious out of the way):

Super faithful to the book (though there are a few notable exceptions). The majority of the dialogue is lifted directly from the book and all the major plot points are included. All the secondary characters are included and fully developed.

Visually beautiful. The producers strove to avoid the grainy video quality of earlier BBC shows. The show has many beautiful shots of the countryside and features lavish interiors from historic houses as well.

The characters act according to the rigid social norms of the Regency era, in keeping with the book's observations of Regency era society; lots of bowing/curtsying and "Miss (last name)" and "Mr. (last name)." Social reputation was determined by how closely one followed rules of etiquette; after all, Darcy was hated early on due to his impoliteness in not dancing with anyone at the first ball.

Costumes: The majority of the costumes were designed specifically for the miniseries because there were few Regency era costumes available at the time. The setting chosen for the show is the early 19th century (1811/1812), so there are lots of Empire style dresses, spencers, pelisses, and bonnets. Men get snappy suits (jackets, cloaks, waistcoats, white shirts) and cravats (Mr. Darcy wouldn't look so uptight and dignified without a cravat). The hairstyles are also accurate, featuring the curled bangs and classically-inspired styles that were popular in the Regency era. The only historical inaccuracy is that the women's dresses feature their chests (only evening dresses would have done so). Sometimes I wondered if Darcy was attracted to Elizabeth because of her cleavage. The costumes contribute to the character development and visually signal differences in social status; Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst wear garishly colored, over-embellished gowns and heavy jewelry in contrast with Elizabeth's plain white dresses. Darcy meanwhile wears dark colors (brooding and cold), in contrast to Bingley's lighter colors (warm and outgoing).

Many slice-of-life scenes depicting popular activities of the time and how "boring" the lives of the rich were (every day running like clockwork according to a schedule of the same old activities). In fact, the show begins with a shot of Darcy and Bingley horseback riding across the country, and there are other scenes where they go hunting for birds. The outdoor activities for men contrast with the shots of women from behind windows/doing indoor activities like sewing or flower arranging, indicating how repressive the social norms were for women.

The Elizabeth and Darcy romance is another compelling reason to watch and/or re-watch this show. The chemistry is amazing, to say the least, but most importantly, the show uses the advantage of its length to effectively develop the relationship; none of the romantic scenes are cut or rushed.

The characters are human. Many period dramas, with their focus on historical accuracy, focus too much on little details and turn fully developed characters into automatons because "they wouldn't have acted that way back then." This miniseries keeps in mind that the characters would have expressed themselves differently than a modern person would; after all, in Austen's time, it was considered "improper" to be open about emotions. To strike a balance between historical accuracy and humanizing characters, the series utilizes lots of veiled/repressed emotions (ex. Darcy's yearning stares) and nonverbal cues (Elizabeth or Lydia rolling their eyes) to hint at what the characters are thinking and feeling without having them act in ways that they wouldn't have; after all, they are still people of their time and would not have violated social norms so easily. The veiled emotions are great because they tap into the universal conflict of humans versus society, while increasing the sexual tension that powers the romance between Darcy and Elizabeth. When paired with the dialogue, it brings to light what the characters are attempting to hide or reveal about themselves.

The Casting:

All the actors are superb and the characters come alive before us. Here are some that stand out:

Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet. I mention her first because after all, this is Elizabeth's story and it's essential that our protagonist be the equal of our romantic hero. She's absolutely perfect in this role, conveying the wit, intelligence, and sarcasm of Elizabeth Bennet, as well as her self-confidence and pride in her opinions. Ehle masters the nonverbal cues (eye rolling, sighing with embarrassment, mischievous glances) necessary for showing Elizabeth's spunky side and delight in laughter. When necessary she has plenty of poise and stuns her opponents with her intellectual acuity. She's not a conventional beauty, but her smile is gorgeous and her eyes sparkle, much like the Elizabeth in the novel. Her voice is also very expressive, with a jocular tone that adds power to her insults. A common complaint I hear is that she is too old for the part (she was in her mid-20s during filming and Elizabeth is 20-21 years old), which is unfair since Firth was in his 30s and no one seems to complain about that, even though Darcy is 27-28 years old.

Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. The best Darcy (fight me). He gives the most complex portrayal of the character, balancing a stately, expressionless exterior with inner vulnerability and passion. He encompasses all the facets of Darcy's personality: his pride, social awkwardness, kindness and overpowering love for Elizabeth. Firth effectively conveys Darcy's pride by carrying himself in a stiff and rigid way, while his outward expression effectively marks him as arrogant and disapproving. He also masters the character's mannerisms; his cold and distant public self contrasting with the wit and warmth that only his closest friends (and eventually Elizabeth) know. Most importantly, Firth is a master of eye acting; he conveys so many emotions just through his eyes, like anger, pain, love, and amusement.

Crispin Bonham-Carter as Mr. Bingley. It's challenging to play good people because the enthusiasm can look forced, but I love the Bingley in this version because not only is he friendly (and has a very innocent, trusting look in his eyes), he has social skills (unlike Simon Woods, who is also a good Bingley but a bit too awkward at times: "I can read, of course.").

Anna Chancellor as Caroline Bingley. She nails the hauteur of the character and she's delightfully evil as well, often sneering at or mocking those she regards as below her. (The series diverges from the book by making Caroline and Louisa laugh; according to the Wikipedia article on this adaptation, laughter would have been considered impolite in Austen's time). Along with Louisa Hurst, they make the perfect duo of Mean Girls.

Benjamin Whitrow as Mr. Bennet. He BECOMES the character. His eye rolls, sarcastic smiles, and impatience with Mrs. Bennet are perfect; he clearly enjoys pushing her buttons and provoking her for his own entertainment. But most importantly, he clearly loves Elizabeth and shows fatherly concern for her, even though he cannot stand the rest of his family (with the exception of Elizabeth and Jane of course).

Alison Steadman as Mrs. Bennet. At times she gets annoying, with her grating voice and over-excitement, but it fits the character and brings to life Mrs. Bennet's foolishness and "poor nerves." It makes sense why Mr. Bennet cannot stand her and has to run away from her. She also has very vivid facial expressions, like her crazy winking just before Bingley proposes to Jane.

Adrian Lukis as Wickham: he's charming and deceptive. I notice that whenever he talks to Elizabeth, he always looks to the side or to his left as if thinking about which lies to tell (and I read that looking to the left is one of the signs that someone is lying).

David Bamber as Mr. Collins. He's so annoying and gross, with his cringey smile and signature hand wave. I love how can't seem to stand straight because he spends his entire life bowing to his superiors with cringing servility.

Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Lady Catherine de Bourgh: I love how she is super intimidating in this version. Without needing to shout, the changes in her tone of voice show how quickly she can jump from friendly condescension to utter displeasure in a matter of moments.

Side note: Some people claim that Elizabeth and Jane are "fat" in this version. I disagree because Regency Era beauty standards were different from today's; a lot of paintings from the time period show women who would be considered "plump" today (big chests and round arms). In general, skinny bodies didn't become popular until the 1920s, 1960s and 1970s, and 2000s. Please be careful when using modern beauty standards to judge period dramas.

PLOT AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

The script (written by Andrew Davies) emphasizes the connection between money and social status, as well as the importance of family connections. Thus we can see where Darcy's social prejudice comes from and how challenging it is for him to overcome, since he is the product of this culture and is surrounded by people who preach these values. One of the things I noticed when reading the novel was how rigidly the characters adhered to social norms and etiquette; the characters are trapped in prescribed spheres which they can't move beyond unless they have high social status or gain wealth/family connections.

A lot of events or character observations are unspoken/hidden in plain sight, which makes the book difficult to adapt to the screen. The majority of the book contains Austen's snarky commentary on the characters, interspersed with Elizabeth's personal thoughts on the people she meets. To develop the characters while maintaining the feel of the book, the script contains lots of added dialogue not in the book, which effectively incorporates Austen's humor to the story without the need for a narrator.

The Secondary Characters

The secondary characters are further developed and get more dialogue and other added scenes; their traits are exaggerated (ex. the mother being even more hysterical than in the book and Caroline looking rather ugly) in order to increase the comedy. Below are my favorite added scenes featuring secondary characters:

Elizabeth and Mary at the assembly ball: Mary asserts that balls are boring since "the rewards of observation and reflection are much greater." Elizabeth sarcastically responds that "We shall all have to be philosophers" in order to gain anything from "observation and reflection."

Every scene with Mr. Hurst in it. He's fat and he's always drinking, eating, or snoring loudly; it really brings home how lazy these otherwise "refined" people are.

Interviewing Jane: This scene shows just how fabulously evil Caroline Bingley is; right after Jane arrives at Netherfield from the rain, she questions Jane about her inferior family connections, sneering as her negative opinion about Jane is confirmed. Not until Jane succumbs to a fever does she stop her interrogation.

Lydia and Wickham after the elopement: Lydia often begs Wickham to go out for fun in the town, and he has to keep giving her false promises while he attempts to settle his debts. While we realize that she is a fool for running off with a deceptive liar, we feel pity for her because she is an innocent girl who succumbed to sexual infatuation and now has to pay the price for it by being married to someone who might not care for her.

Mrs Phillips has news of Wickham: While Mrs. Bennet is mourning over Lydia's elopement with Wickham and succumbing to hysterics, Mrs. Phillips rushes over to Longbourn to report that Wickham has lots of debts and was evil. Through the power of hindsight bias, they agree they knew of Wickham's evil nature from the start and they bemoan their misfortunes. It's a perfect translation of this passage from the book, with Mrs. Phillips standing in for the village:

"All Meryton seemed striving to blacken [Wickham], who but three months before, had been almost an angel of light. He was declared to be in debt to every tradesman in the place, and his intrigues, all honoured with the title of seduction, had been extended into every tradesman's family. Every body declared that he was the wickedest young man in the world; and every body began to find out, that they had always distrusted the appearance of his goodness."

My favorite non-romance scenes from the miniseries:

The opening: this scene, which isn't in the book, begins with two men (later revealed to be Bingley and Darcy) riding across the countryside to inspect Netherfield Park. The dialogue is quite interesting, as it is a glimpse of the friendship between the two men. Bingley is eager to move in to the house immediately, but still needs Darcy's advice; Darcy tells him that country people don't have polished manners and characterizes the country as "savage" (fits with his social snobbery and his later remark, in the book, that "even savages can dance"). The camera then cuts to Elizabeth alone watching the men (because she is the main character, after all), and her exuberant skipping back home reveals her unconventionality (though she is careful to do so when no one is looking, in keeping with the rules of propriety).

Introducing the Bennets: This scene reveals so much about the Bennet family dynamics. I love the contrast between the elegant house and the shouting and fracas inside. Our first glimpse of the family is of an argument between Kitty and Lydia over a mere bonnet. Mrs. Bennet is in hysterics and Kitty complains about Lydia being the favorite child; Mr. Bennet rolls his eyes with annoyance while reading his book. Elizabeth stops by the window, safe from the chaos within, and smiles knowingly at him. Mary looks on disapprovingly and gives a lecture about misfortunes as a learning lesson. On the way to the church, while Mrs. Bennet eagerly reports Bingley's wealth of 5,000 pounds, Elizabeth replies with the famous opening lines of the book: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man with a large fortune must be in want of a wife."

Mr. Bennet did call on Mr. Bingley: Mr. Bennet, while casually reading a newspaper, manipulates Mrs. Bennet into complaining and crying over Mr. Bingley. Once he reveals that he did visit Bingley, Mrs. Bennet does a full 180 (her mood swings in this version are on point) and starts leaping for joy, even giving Mr. Bennet kisses while he rolls his eyes. She even dances a jig with Kitty and Lydia (who both take after their mother in their attraction to redcoats). Lydia, being self-centered, starts complaining: "Lord I'm so hungry!"

The assembly ball: There isn't much dialogue in the book for this scene apart from Bingley attempting to convince Darcy to dance, prompting him to deliver the famous "she is tolerable" insult; most of the dialogue before it is added by the scriptwriters and perfectly complements Austen's satirical style, while linking social status to wealth. Elizabeth sarcastically observes that "the rich can afford to give offence wherever they go" and that Darcy might not be "quite so handsome if he was not quite so rich." Mrs. Bennet also misreads Darcy by encouraging him to dance, while he coldly replies that he rarely dances. Meanwhile, Darcy looks disgusted with the party yet quietly amused at Bingley having fun until he hears Mrs. Bennet trash talking him.

Dinner with Mr. Collins: Mr. Bennet is clearly enjoying himself by getting Mr. Collins to spew out more nonsense and Elizabeth can barely contain her laughter and has to hide her face behind her cloth napkin.

The mortifying dance with Mr. Collins: This version makes Collins even worse at dancing and he's so bad at it to the point that Elizabeth has to tell Mr. Collins which way to move. The best part is that Darcy is smirking while quietly observing it all, reinforcing his similarity to Elizabeth in that they both are amused by idiots (I love this little smirk as it's a brief moment where Darcy isn't wearing his mask of pride and conceit). Great acting as we see Darcy, while pacing the room, slip back into his proud facade when looking at the rest of the attendees at the Netherfield ball.

The Bennet family is improper: Mrs. Bennet makes the most absurd faces as she loudly talks about her plans for her daughters to snag rich husbands. Lydia and Kitty chase the officers and Lydia gets a brilliant one-liner: "Lord I'm so fagged!" which sums up her impetuous personality. Mary sings terribly about a dead sleeping beauty and (this part isn't in the book) Louisa aggressively shows off her superior playing skills by playing Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca extremely rapidly. It's so entertaining to read Austen's stories because of her female bullies; they are mean because they use their talents and "good breeding" to shame others. Elizabeth meanwhile sighs with embarrassment; only Jane and Bingley are happy together, oblivious to the horror surrounding them.

Mr. Collins introduces himself to Darcy: As Collins bows obsequiously, Darcy gives him an epic stare of death. Collins fails to get the signal to go away, and Darcy becomes very impolite (in the book he still bows to Mr. Collins in spite of his displeasure) and walks past the insignificant Mr. Collins, who looks after him still in awe.

Charlotte's married life: I love how the scriptwriter caught the implication of Charlotte keeping Mr. Collins outside through some added dialogue not in the book; Charlotte comments that "a whole day passes in which we have not spent more than a few minutes in each other's company" and that she "can bear the solitude very cheerfully." Here's the passage from the book:

..."Charlotte talked of the healthfulness of the exercise, and owned that she encouraged it as much as possible...When Mr. Collins could be forgotten, there really was a great air of comfort throughout, and by Charlotte's evident enjoyment of it, Elizabeth supposed he must be often forgotten."

First introduction to Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Lady Catherine sits on a golden throne while surveying her subjects with a hawkish look in her eyes. The overly grand and formal music perfectly complements her intimidating air. After happily recalling someone's gratefulness to her, she looks at Elizabeth with a scowl on her face, and her voice changes from joyful to harsh and condescending ("yes...yes.").

Confronting Wickham: Elizabeth counters Wickham while stealthily sipping tea (there is a lot of passive-aggressive tea drinking in this show) by telling him that she likes Darcy in spite of Wickham's attempts to slander him. Wickham is surprised but hides behind his charming fake smile.

Elizabeth meets Georgiana: Both of them are wearing light blue (foreshadowing of their close relationship). Georgiana is actually shy and bashful here like in the book; she looks downward and often turns to Darcy before she talks.

Caroline attempting to insult Elizabeth behind her back: After Elizabeth leaves Pemberley, Caroline points out how ugly Elizabeth is. I love how uncomfortable Bingley is this whole time, while doing nothing to stop Caroline, and Darcy is hiding his anger by sipping on some wine before he finally gets mad and burns Caroline ("it has been many months now that I have considered her one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance"). It gets even better; he literally goes back to the piano where Elizabeth played, followed by his dogs (a dog person is a good person). We then get treated to brooding Darcy by the fireplace (yes they definitely exaggerated the angst but I love it anyways).

Caroline insults Elizabeth behind her back yet again and Darcy can't take it: In this added scene after Lydia's elopement, Darcy, with an unhappy look on his face, is all alone at Pemberley with the Bingleys and the Hursts and missing Elizabeth. Caroline taunts him by asking if he misses Elizabeth; after losing his composure ("what?!") he cannot contain himself and storms out of the room.

Mrs. Bennet's epic meltdown: I know some people complain that this Mrs. Bennet is too exaggerated, but her hysterics in this version are the best. Her screaming and crying combined with her blaming everyone but herself make the scene even more comical.

Mr. Collins pays a visit: After hearing of the elopement, Mr. Collins visits the Bennets to tell them he's sorry about their situation but cruelly reminds them that they brought the misfortune upon themselves and that it would be better if Lydia had died. In the book, Mr. Collins confines his reaction to a letter, but having him personally come over adds further insult to the injury, because he shows visible happiness at having avoided the unfortunate connection.

Confronting Wickham yet again: Elizabeth subtly implies to Wickham that she knows he lied to her when alluding to his false claim that he wanted to be a clergyman. He is at a loss for words and Elizabeth decides to end it by giving him a warm but sarcastic smile (queen of awkward social situations) and reminding him that they are "brother and sister" after all.

Bingley asks Darcy for his blessing. Another glimpse of the Darcy/Bingley friendship which isn't in the book. Darcy apologizes for separating Bingley from Jane and Bingley, still dependent on Darcy, asks for Darcy's blessing before Darcy, with a smile on his face, encourages Bingley to go after Jane. Could this have inspired the similar scene in the 2005 movie where Bingley and Darcy practice proposing?

THE ROMANCE

Some first-time readers of Pride and Prejudice/Jane Austen novels tend to get frustrated because her stories have been characterized as passionate romances, so they come expecting palpitations of the heart and stolen kisses, only to be disappointed when the characters act in a restrained manner (and then they unjustly dub it as “wooden acting”), in keeping with the etiquette of the time. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen in general doesn't get very detailed about the emotions Elizabeth and Darcy feel; she often leaves the reader with descriptions of their outward appearance (ex. "blushing" or "pale") to let them imagine their emotions. In fact, some argue that she is wary of excessive passion; after all, Lydia's eloping with Wickham is seen in a very negative light. While Austen's characters do have emotions, in most situations they never let their feelings overpower them completely.

Much of the romance is instead developed through dialogue (witty conversations), in which Darcy and Elizabeth trade barbs but veil their affection. Unfortunately, because the dialogue is written in 19th century language, it is harder to interpret compared to emotions, and it's easy to miss the subtle nuances that are within these conversations. As a result, one needs to read "between the lines" and without historical or literary context, or familiarity with the book, it's difficult to do so. In order to develop the romantic relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth, the show relies on repressed emotions and nonverbal cues so that it can incorporate the original dialogue from the book while still giving the audience hints that they are falling in love with each other. Most communication is nonverbal after all, so this reduces the challenge posed by the language barrier.

In general, Austen's view of love is more altruistic than passionate; her romantic heroes are attractive in large part because they are selfless. After all, Darcy does prove his love for Elizabeth by helping Wickham marry Lydia to save her social reputation. Love is proven not through an outburst of emotions or consummation of desire but through acts of kindness towards the loved one.

The show also includes lots of additional Darcy scenes that are not in the book. Through these scenes (combined with the Darcy/Elizabeth scenes from the book) the audience gets to see Darcy slowly fall for Elizabeth from the very first moment he notices her and observe how he faces the conflict between his social prejudice and growing affection for Elizabeth. What this adaptation gets right is the tension between unconscious emotions/passion and the outward facade, as conveyed through Firth's eye acting. This conflict is an essential part of Darcy's character development; up until he makes his first proposal to Elizabeth, his growing attraction to her is only hinted at through occasional lapses in his self-control. The show makes it even more obvious that Darcy is in love with Elizabeth with the added scenes, where he is alone with his feelings. By making Darcy more vulnerable, the audience gets to question the validity of Elizabeth's prejudice while seeing Darcy as a human being rather than a statue.

Now onto Elizabeth, since the whole romance discussion tends to focus a lot on Darcy. Elizabeth's love for Darcy is less obvious, especially since she is absorbed with her hatred of him for the first half of the novel. The process of her falling in love with him is less dramatic than Darcy's intense stares. For much of the book, she remains unaware that she loves him, until she visits Pemberley, which has created the misconception that she's a gold digger. In fact, she goes through several phases before realizing that she loves Darcy: Respect, esteem, and trust. After reading Darcy's letter, she forms a grudging respect for Darcy by taking his word over Wickham's; in short, she gives him credibility but she doesn't quite like him as a person yet. Her friendship with Darcy is formed at Pemberley; only when they are "far from the madding crowd" can Darcy reveal his true self. Now that she respects and esteems Darcy, she unconsciously decides that she can trust him with the shameful news of Lydia's elopement, connecting them together with the secret knowledge of Wickham's true character. Only when she's about to lose Darcy and worries that his good opinion of her is lost, combined with her realization that he's her equal, does she conclude that she loves him (and this is the same in the miniseries as in the book). This seemingly logical process may be "unromantic" to a modern reader, especially compared to Darcy's emotional turmoil, but it represents Elizabeth's beliefs about marriage in action; after all she states that "only the deepest love would induce her into matrimony" and she also wants to avoid "a marriage in which either partner cannot respect the other." Given her hasty judgment earlier, she goes through a long process of evaluating her future partner's character (as well as considering her feelings) before she commits to this significant decision to marry. Thus, when she does decide to marry, it is a victory for mind as well as heart; the marriage will be a source of personal growth for both her and Darcy:

"...by her ease and liveliness, his mind might have been softened, his manners improved, and from his judgment, information, and knowledge of the world, she must have received benefit of greater importance."

Now onto the romance scenes and how they do justice to the book:

"She is tolerable." I love how Elizabeth is eagerly listening to Bingley unsuccessfully attempting to convince Darcy to dance with a smile on her face. After Darcy insults her as "tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me," she is bold and walks past him with a knowing smile on her face. He looks back at her eagerly sharing the story to the amusement of her friends and his interest in her starts.

The Lucas' ball: Darcy's staring is at peak intensity here (in real life this would probably be creepy but it's entertaining to watch). While Elizabeth is talking to Charlotte, with Charlotte taking notice of Darcy's staring at Elizabeth, he magically appears out of nowhere to do exactly that. The angry yet intense yearning in his eyes perfectly encapsulates this bit from the book, which comes right after Austen reveals that Darcy has started paying attention to Elizabeth: "Mr Darcy stood... in silent indignation at such a mode of passing the evening."

Darcy's offer to dance rebuffed by Elizabeth: Poor Darcy, his flirting skills suck. I love how he still appears very stiff and formal here ("all politeness" as Elizabeth saucily proclaims him), even as he states that "he would be happy" if Elizabeth would dance with him. Elizabeth is at the peak of her sarcastic powers here when rejecting him with a smile on her face and sparkling eyes.

"I have been admiring Elizabeth's fine eyes:" Caroline attempts to bother Darcy and as usual complains about how unsophisticated the country people are. Meanwhile, Darcy is still staring at Elizabeth, except that his face has become gentler and he betrays the hint of a smile. He even teases Caroline so that she will leave him alone.

Darcy playing billiards: In this added scene, Elizabeth runs into Darcy in the billiards room by himself (what a loner). He bows to her but she doesn't curtsy back as expected and runs out of the room because she hates him so much. He meanwhile tries to focus on the game after she leaves to get her out of his thoughts.

“Accomplished woman" scene: It's hilarious how Caroline is only pretending to read to flatter Darcy, and when Elizabeth makes her snarky comment pointing out how ridiculous the definition of an "accomplished woman" is, Darcy gives her the most intense staring ever like he's trying to seduce her (and somehow she's still oblivious to it all, like how?).

"Let us take a turn about the room." Darcy has a playful look in his eyes but still hides behind his mask of reserve. He and Elizabeth have an intense exchange where both shrewdly point out the flaws of the other person and I love how they both can't keep their eyes from each other. Caroline notices the situation and attempts to distract them by playing some really fast piano music so that Darcy will focus on her (what an ego Caroline has).

The bath scene: what a blatant attempt to make Darcy a sex idol (but it's really subtle so I wasn't too offended). We get a nice glimpse of his shoulders and while he's in the bathroom he stares at Elizabeth playing with a dog (in this adaptation they're both dog people so they'll totally get along).

The dance at Netherfield: Once again Darcy attempts to ask Elizabeth to dance with him and he actually succeeds. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is absolutely pissed off that she couldn't find an excuse to say no; love how she huffs, puffs, rolls her eyes, and vents to Charlotte. When the dance comes, the two are filmed as adversaries going to war. I love that there is a very long moment of awkward silence between them as Elizabeth is frustrated with Darcy and trying to figure him out. Luckily, the majority of the dialogue is included, even the part about Elizabeth trying to sketch Darcy's character. However, this is one of my least favorite Darcy and Elizabeth scenes because the dance is overly formal. The music itself is from the 17th century and likely would not have been used in the Regency Era. If you don't pay attention to the dialogue or haven't read the book before it's easy to see how one might perceive this scene to be boring and the acting to be stiff.

"Why does Darcy stare at me?" This is the first time we meet Colonel Fitzwilliam. I've seen lots of comments that he's quite good-looking in this version, and I wonder if this was done purposefully so that he'd be a romantic rival to Darcy. Back to the scene. After Elizabeth meets Darcy again at Rosings, Darcy does another round of intense staring and Elizabeth finally notices his gaze upon her; he looks away with embarrassment at being found out. She misreads his interest and remains insistent that he's her "severest critic." He meanwhile tries and fails to make small talk with her before giving up and staring out the window (his default response to getting out of social situations).

Playing the piano at Rosings: Lady Catherine can't stop talking (what a busybody) and Darcy heads over to the adjoining room, where Elizabeth is playing. Elizabeth, with an "arch" expression in her eyes, asks if Darcy has come to intimidate her, he is amused and tells her that she takes delight in "professing opinions which are not your own." It's interesting how he fidgets with his ring while telling Elizabeth he's "not afraid" of her, betraying his nervousness. I love this scene because it's one of the few times where Darcy's mask slips off; his eyes look gentle here and he has the hint of a smile. When Elizabeth asks him why he's "ill qualified to recommend himself to strangers" he stumbles a little before telling her he can't "converse easily" with them. Finally, Lady Catherine insists on having a part in the conversation, and Darcy rolls his eyes before returning to her.

I like comparing the Rosings piano scene to its equivalent in the 2005 movie because the Darcy actors show their social awkwardness in different ways. Macfadyen's Darcy is more gentle and has zero ability to talk to people, while Firth's Darcy is too intelligent for people to appreciate his wit and just stays away from them because he can't hide his utter disgust at their idiocy. I personally feel like disgust is closer to book Darcy. After all, Elizabeth does observe to him that "[his] defect is a propensity to hate every body."

Darcy pays a visit: I love how there is a moment of awkward silence while the two are socially distanced. Even better is when they share a knowing glance over Mr. Collins taking pleasure in Lady Catherine's designs for his comfortable house. It's another moment where Darcy almost lets his guard down, even asking if Elizabeth would like to escape Longbourn (ulterior motives), but hurriedly exits when he gets nervous.

The first proposal: Darcy comes into the room hurriedly with none of his usual composure and then paces the room like a caged animal before he cannot contain himself any longer and spontaneously declares his love for Elizabeth. It's significant that the proposal takes place indoors, because it signifies that Darcy hasn't abandoned his social prejudices yet (plus the house was designed by Lady Catherine). Some people have commented on the significance of the mirror (cold, unwelcoming) and fireplace (passion) as a representation of Darcy's conflict between his outer facade and inner self.

Interestingly, Austen gives Darcy little dialogue except for the opening "in vain I have struggled," instead telling us that he dwells on the inferiority of Elizabeth's connections. Below is the added dialogue from the show. I love how it remains overly stiff and formal (because Darcy can't express himself well without using formality) while making it clear that Darcy still cannot let go of his social prejudice and is proposing for the selfish reason of relieving his own pain (not romantic).

"In declaring myself thus, I am fully aware that I will be going expressly against the wishes of my family, my friends, and I hardly need add, my own better judgment. The relative situation of our families is such that any alliance between us must be regarded as a highly reprehensible connection. Indeed, as a rational man, I cannot help but regard it as such myself, but it cannot be helped. Almost from the earliest moments of our acquaintance, I have come to feel for you a most passionate admiration and regard, which, despite all my struggles, has overcome every rational objection, and I beg you, most fervently, to relieve my suffering and consent to be my wife."

Some people complain that Firth is too stiff during the first proposal, because at times he lapses back into his expressionless mask, especially when he starts pacing the room again while Elizabeth rejects him. But here's a passage from the book proving that Darcy does not give into his passion, undercutting the truth of his words: "He spoke of apprehension and anxiety, but his countenance expressed real security."

The best part of the first proposal is how the emotions gradually escalate and the characters struggle to veil their emotions behind formality. Elizabeth gets angrier until she is almost shouting at Darcy and he gets very defensive and starts claiming he's the victim, that he's suffering for love and because he's so ethical decided to tell her instead of hiding it from her. It calls to mind this particular passage from the book: "[Mr. Darcy's] complexion became pale with anger, and the disturbance of his mind was visible in every feature." I love how shocked he is when she rejects him forcefully, but luckily he redeems himself by exiting gracefully.

The letter: I really like the creative use of the voice overs as Darcy storms back to Rosings after his disastrous proposal and Elizabeth, overwhelmed with what has just happened to her, cries alone. They both have to acknowledge the criticisms that each has made of the other and they aren't ready to do so yet because they're still trapped in resentment of the other person. It's great that Darcy is shown to be angry when writing the letter, which he admits to Elizabeth much later after they are engaged. Lady Catherine, meddlesome as usual is calling after Darcy when he gets back and he slams the door of his bedroom in order to get some alone time. I also like how the miniseries gives us this additional scene of Darcy writing his letter and shows us that defending himself in writing is an exhausting process for him; the scene ends with a view of his desk, with lots of crumpled paper and broken feather tips smeared in ink.

Elizabeth's reaction to the letter. I like how this adaptation shows that the process of confronting her prejudice of Darcy is emotionally draining. When she first reads the letter, she still hates Darcy and spews out her anger. Then she re-reads the letter and starts to see things from his perspective. The flashbacks are great since Elizabeth does confront her "picture" of Wickham while reading the letter: "She could see him instantly before her, in every charm of air and address; but she could remember no more substantial good than the general approbation of the neighborhood." They also show that she does re-read the letter multiple times, unlike in other versions where she only reads it once and immediately overcomes her prejudice. To replace the inner monologue, Elizabeth confides all in Jane, revealing that "till that moment, I never knew myself."

"I will conquer this!" Another scene where Darcy struggles with his angst and can't forget about Elizabeth even while fencing.

Visiting Pemberley: I like the slow reveal of the house, there are lots of gorgeous shots of trees and nature before we see Pemberley. Lyme Park totally matches my mental image of Pemberley; the grounds are less formal and the house is perfectly nestled in a grove of old trees. The inside, while lavish, feels more cozy than Rosings or Netherfield. Also, there's some added dramatic irony when the aunt and uncle comment that the mistress of Pemberley will "not likely be anyone we know." Unfortunately the adaptation omits Elizabeth's realization that Darcy's social prejudice would have cut her off from her aunt and uncle had she accepted his first proposal; instead she seems to be sad that the house isn't hers.

The lake scene: Darcy gives into his angst; he takes off the suffocating cravat and stiff waistcoat to dive into his personal lake (and of course we know this didn't happen in the book). Darcy's swim is interspersed with views of Elizabeth admiring Darcy's portrait, indicating that both of them are starting to truly respect or love each other. Since Elizabeth rejected him, Darcy has been trying to purge his feelings for Elizabeth, intensifying his conflict between propriety and his heart. Diving into the lake is a figurative baptism in which his social prejudices are washed away, and he finally accepts that his love for Elizabeth is not sinful. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is starting to find the good in Darcy by contemplating his portrait (which is a literal metaphor for his character). Not only does she respect him (as I alluded to earlier) she now esteems him as a friend. She finally uncovers the man behind the cravat and regrets her misreading of him. And now we come to the wet shirt part; Darcy has been stripped of his outer armor, increasing the embarrassment once he unexpectedly runs into Elizabeth. The embarrassment is palpable because they both lose control and are at a loss for words, now that the rules of social propriety have been broken (the wet shirt); he asks after her family twice before abruptly ending the conversation. The scene is even funnier when Elizabeth throws up her hands attempts to run as far away from Pemberley as possible, her aunt and uncle trailing after her.

Darcy's garden tour: I love this scene because it highlights Darcy's transformation; he is less reserved and starts to break the ice with Elizabeth after getting over the embarrassment of seeing her in his wet shirt. Darcy's green outfit, in contrast with his usual black, emphasizes that he's comfortable in his own surroundings while still retaining his signature stateliness. One of my favorite moments of this miniseries is when Darcy is in a rush to find Elizabeth and show her around his house. When he nervously asks if she likes Pemberley and she affirms that she does, he smiles (one of the rare times he does so) and compliments her: "But your good opinion is rarely bestowed and therefore more worth the earning." Most importantly, he gets to show off his newfound social skills (surprising Elizabeth) and be a good host. The best part is when he helps Elizabeth into the carriage and then waits at the side of the road for her to look back at him and she looks back at him with a smile on her face.

The look of love: This is the best romantic scene in this miniseries and it makes me smile every time I watch Darcy admire Elizabeth's playing. The song choice is great--I read that it's from The Marriage of Figaro (18th-century opera) and it's about the "sorrow and pain" caused by "Love's sweet spell" that "naught can dispel." Darcy is looking at Elizabeth with extreme admiration, with a slight smile (as opposed to his usual "taciturn disposition") as she is playing the piano with Georgiana. Without saying a word, the joy in Darcy's eyes speaks to the depth of his love for Elizabeth, even after she rejected him (the acting is that good). Meanwhile, Caroline, completely oblivious to it all, attempts to insult Elizabeth by asking her if she misses Wickham. Georgiana is perturbed, Darcy is about to impulsively jump off his sofa, and Elizabeth, queen of polite escapes from embarrassment, helps Georgiana play. Elizabeth then senses Darcy's admiring gaze upon her and smiles back at him, reciprocating his feelings. In fact, this does happen in the book, though some liberties are taken to heighten the romantic tension (the piano music, Caroline being so impolite as to mention Wickham by name, Darcy's earlier admiration of Elizabeth). Here's the passage, which makes me appreciate how wonderfully this moment has been translated on film:

"'Pray, Miss Eliza, are not the --shire militia removed from Meryton? They must be a great loss to your family.' ...[Caroline] dared not mention Wickham's name; but Elizabeth instantly comprehended that he was uppermost in her thoughts... to repel the ill-natured attack, she presently answered the question in a tolerably disengaged tone. While she spoke, an involuntary glance shewed her Darcy with an heightened complexion, earnestly looking at her, and his sister overcome with confusion, and unable to lift up her eyes."

Darcy dresses with care: in this brief moment (not in the book) just before he rushes to the inn where Elizabeth is staying, Darcy purposely picks his green jacket instead of his customary black. It makes me think that he was going to propose to Elizabeth that day if bad things hadn't happened (dun dun dun!).

Lydia has eloped: This is the only adaptation to get this scene right. It's unfortunate how this moment is shortened in other adaptations, because it furthers the bond Elizabeth and Darcy have (connected by knowledge of Wickham's true character) while presenting Darcy with a test to prove his love for Elizabeth; it's even more significant that they are alone together. Elizabeth confiding in Darcy is an important sign that Elizabeth trusts Darcy. When combined with the earlier "look of love," it's further proof that Darcy still loves Elizabeth; his concern for her takes over his usual composure as he attempts to console her. Darcy even holds Elizabeth's hands in a departure from social propriety (in the book it says he could only look at her sympathetically). It's also the first time where Elizabeth loses control; she cannot compose herself enough to convincingly evade Darcy's questions and is forced to tell him the truth. When Darcy is about to leave (and he even looks back at her!), the romantic tension is heightened when Elizabeth realizes that she regrets telling him the truth, as she will never see him again.

The second proposal: at first I was disappointed because it wasn’t what I was expecting. I kept thinking to myself, “why don’t they kiss or hold hands?” Why isn’t there an explosion of passion, especially after we’ve been treated to some intense staring and longing? But this moment is beautiful in its own way. Darcy and Elizabeth don’t need grand declarations of love; they implicitly know they can trust and respect each other as equals. They both agree to forget about their past disagreements and now that they are free of “pride and prejudice” they can now love each other fully. In fact, the last few chapters up until the wedding are of them learning about each other through many spirited conversations, and Austen emphasizes that their process of personal growth is ongoing and will continue even after they are married; after all, Darcy "had yet to learn to be laught at, and it was rather too early to begin." Finally, "dearest, loveliest Elizabeth" will always be superior to "Mrs. Darcy;" it's more affectionate because he calls her by her first name after being forced by formality to address her as "Miss Bennet," and it affirms Elizabeth's individuality, in contrast with "Mrs. Darcy."

Below are some things I didn't like. The first half of this section contains minor nitpicks while the rest of it is my opinion on why Episode 6 is the weakest part of the show.

The floating Darcy head. At the beginning of episode 4 when Elizabeth is reminiscing about the failed proposal his face magically sprouts from a tree as she is observing the countryside. Then in episode 5 the floating head appears in her mirror. I think the Darcy voice over would have been enough; these weird “special effects” aren’t needed and are distracting.

The ridiculous worship of the wet shirt. I feel zero sexual attraction to the wet shirt and I don’t know why some people reduce Colin Firth's amazing performance down to "he was so hot in the wet shirt." The wet shirt religion has started an unfortunate trend in which many Austen adaptations have included the male heroes in wet shirts in a cheap attempt to appeal to the women. I bet Jane Austen is rolling in her grave at all the Austen adaptations in which the male hero is in a wet shirt. Whoever thinks wet shirts make her male heroes attractive is idiotic; we like Austen's heroes because they are good people and not because they wear wet shirts.

The engagement period isn't included: after Darcy and Elizabeth get engaged, they have to survive several months in Meryton before they can escape to Pemberley. This would have been a great opportunity for more comedic laughs that weren't included in the show:

Mrs. Bennet overcome with joy after finding out that Elizabeth has agreed to marry Darcy. In the book, Mrs. Bennet's negative opinion of Darcy immediately becomes positive and she crows about Elizabeth's material wealth.

Mr. Collins congratulating Elizabeth and Darcy: in the book, it says Darcy bore this as best as he could before shrugging when Collins was out of the room. It would have been fun to see Darcy and Elizabeth laughing over this secretly or exchanging knowing glances.

Elizabeth trying to keep Darcy to herself. After their engagement, they would likely have been invited to lots of balls, which would have tested Darcy's good manners. She knows he can't stand the villagers, so she has to keep him away from tiresome people. Imagine a montage of Elizabeth and Darcy trying to run away from people they dislike; it would be super funny.

The double wedding: I hate wedding scenes (with the exception of the one from The Princess Bride) because they are anti-climactic; now that our couple or couples is/are together the story's over, which disappoints me. Also the kiss is not very good (I suppose the top hat and bonnet got in the way).

Here's why I don't think the show should have ended with a wedding. In the last chapter of the novel Austen only dedicates ONE sentence to the wedding; she basically tells us there was a double wedding but moves on to life after the wedding. It would have been more interesting (and more faithful to the novel) to have a glimpse of what happens to the Darcys and Bingleys after their weddings. After all, Austen focuses on marriages (two people living together) rather than weddings (formal ceremony). She focuses on the marriage as a source of personal growth, since Elizabeth helps Georgiana become a more confident person, but is realistic in that the marriage isn't all smooth sailing; after all, the Darcys and Bingleys still need to deal with their troublesome relations. It doesn't make sense that this adaptation, which successfully translates a complex novel to film while adding something new to it ends an unconventional (for the time) romance with a conventional wedding.

CONCLUSION

This adaptation is amazing because it balances faithfulness to the story with creativity. It effectively focuses on the central themes of the novel without over-simplifying the material and focuses on historical accuracy to paint a detailed picture of Regency era society through Austen's eyes. Most importantly the acting and the comedy are excellent; this is more than a filmed version of the book.

The miniseries means a lot to me because I have learned a lot about the novel through watching it and reading other fans' comments about the show. There was so much about the novel that I didn't understand or know about and it was an absolute delight to re-visit various parts of the book that appeared on the show.

Thanks for your patience in making it this far; this post was an absolute monster to write. I clearly love this show and the story too much (as shown by the corny title) and I wanted to share some of the love with you.

@talkaustentome @austengivesmeserotonin @alljaneaustenallthetime @appleinducedsleep @firawren @austengeek @bitchynwitchy @colonelfitzwilliams @princesssarisa @obscurelittlebird @auralaesthetics @a-dreamers-universe @pep-pep-pep

#pride and prejudice #book adaptation #movie review #tv show review #pride and prejudice 2005 #pride and prejudice 1995 #colin firth #jennifer ehle #elizabeth bennet #elizabeth x darcy #mr darcy #mr bingley #1995 stan #this is the superior version #jane austen

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

Hi! I found your Dragon Age fanfictions on Ao3 and love them and sometimes check your blog too but don't have tumblr. What is this whole controversy about being 30 and liking Cullen being wrong? I feel like I'm missing something. Anyway, I'm 32, married, expecting twins and never felt too old for Bioware games. WTF

Hi there, thank you for the support, it means a lot! And congrats! :D

Well, to make a long story somewhat short, recently a video circulated on tumblr from TikTok, one of those “what your favorite X says about you” videos that’s pretty common on the platform, if a bit overdone. This one was a “What your Favorite Dragon Age romance says about you.” Some jokes I’ll admit I found somewhat funny, others just made no sense. (Someone explain how liking Isabela gives you “mommy issues,” I still don’t get that.)

However, what was most egregious to many, myself included, was what this person said about Cullen romancers. According to this person, all Cullen fans are “thirty year old white moms” who are “creepy,” and “Cullen won’t save our failing marriage,” and we need to “go back to making our kids chicken nuggets.”

So, various bloggers broke down what was wrong with this, other than the fact that’s it’s just plain not correct about Cullen fans (Hi there everyone, in case you didn’t know, I’m very Polynesian and a huge Cullen fan, also not a mom yet, though I would like to be one someday. :) )But the breakdown of why these statements are problematic is as follows (under the cut for length):

1. The comments were ageist. The TikToker wielded “thirty year old white mom” like it’s some sort of insult.  There is literally nothing wrong with enjoying a game at thirty, literally nothing wrong with being a mom and enjoying a game. I have news for everyone: when you have kids your life or personality outside of being a Mom doesn’t end. To this end, the comments came across as gatekeep-y.

2. The comments were also misogynistic. A woman in the kitchen joke… in 2020. Not only that, but related to the above, it implies that women can’t have hobbies outside of being a mom when they turn a certain age, and do you see the same thing being said about men and their sports teams, or fantasy football? I don’t know why it’s viewed as cringey to be a part of fandom when you’re an adult woman but dudes can still collect their Star Wars memorabilia into their thirties and beyond. Especially when:

3. Dragon Age is rated mature, and it’s always had the M rating even when it was just Origins. This is a game for adult audiences. If you’re engaging with the media online, I am going to assume you’re an adult. Not only that, this is an eleven year old franchise. People who played the games in 2009 can still enjoy them even if some of them have had kids during this eleven year period.

4. Related to that: most, if not all the developers, I’d imagine, are probably over 30. Should they stop making the games for us and make their kids chicken nuggets instead? Is this why we don’t have DA4?!

5. Cullen’s exact age is unclear from canon, he was probably around 18 in Origins, but there’s no way he’s not under thirty come Inquisition. A thirty-year-old crushing on another thirty year old is creepy because…?

6. I haven’t seen others mention this, but it’s something I gathered. To me, the video subtly implied the TikToker’s view that women need to settle down by the time their thirty with kids, which is pretty heteronormative IMO. I’m just not here for that you’re thirty you need settle down BS. I’m 26 and I get crap for being single, which is a whole other pile of BS I won’t get into here. I would like to someday, but there is nothing wrong with being 30 or above and single with no kids. No one has to “settle down” if they don’t want to, there’s no age where you have to “grow up” and stop engaging with things you enjoy.

Being involved in a few different fandoms I don’t see all the discourse but I did happen to see this, and as I said earlier I do not think the person who made the video meant any real harm. I understand the intent was to joke, but people can harm others under the guise of “jokes” all the time. I can tell you in my life, people have “joked” with me about needing to put on a grass skirt and dance the hula, and not understood why I’ve been offended because they just meant to be funny. Casual racism isn’t funny and neither is casual misogyny or ageism.

It was also discouraging to see people on the tik toker’s video laughing at the Cullen joke for being true, as apparently we need to “find a better romance.” And this lead me to say something in a post which I’ll repeat here, as this video managed to trudge up the same old discourse I’ve seen periodically on tumblr about Cullen since I’ve been here in 2017, and mind you, I started writing/tumblr THREE YEARS after Inquisition’s release: that all his fans are boring, basic, idiot women who just like him because he’s traditionally handsome and we just ignore his flaws in favor of his looks, and also he’s just the basic white guy in a slew of “more interesting” romances. Heck, early in this blog’s creation, I could see discourse within Cullen fandom about the “right” way to portray him. (I won’t get into this right now though, it’s a whole other kettle of fish, and this is a pretty nuanced topic in an already nuanced topic.) Speaking for myself, I actually don’t gravitate towards pretty boys. Cullen won me over with his mature romance route. And I like his arc in Inquisition and think it’s a good redemption-esque arc considering this franchise has a lot of characters to develop— but that’s another story as well.

Anyway, I digress. To me the post was less about Cullen and more about “older women” in fandom and how to some find older women here creepy. (and I’m sorry but if you think 30 is “old” I have to laugh.) Also, I have a secret for you: “older” women built fandom spaces as we know it, and we owe a lot of debt to those who paved the way for us to enjoy content, from the early days of the Star Trek fandom, and even before with fan zines.

Fandom is for everyone, and can we stop trying to box people who like A, B or C into certain categories, because your choices in a fictional game don’t speak for who you are in real life.

#fandom critical #replies #yeah lowkey nervous to bring this up again #but... #Anonymous #I did talk about this myself so it is what it is #lol I can’t imagine what tumblr discourse looks like when you don’t have it #😂 #also had no idea you could send anons without tumblr

[gffa]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark, coming August 25, promises to be a beautiful tribute to the just-completed animated series. The anthology will collect 11 stories by 11 authors — Lou Anders, Preeti Chhibber, Zoraida Córdova, Jason Fry, Rebecca Roanhorse, Greg Van Eekhout, Tom Angleberger, E. Anne Convery, Sarah Beth Durst, Yoon Ha Lee, and Anne Ursu — including 10 retellings of memorable episodes and arcs and one original Nightsisters-based story.  So if you loved the tales of Ahsoka, Maul, and clanker-busting clones, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark will give you the chance to experience them again in a whole new way. Like Captain Rex on a recon mission, StarWars.com reached out to each author to learn why they love The Clone Wars, and which stories they’re telling. Lou Anders (“Dooku Captured” and “The Gungan General,” based on the episodes of the same name): I love The Clone Wars for expanding the story of Anakin’s fall from grace. Skywalker really shines in the series, and we see what he truly was, and what he could have been, and by giving him so many opportunities to excel in the early season, his ultimate fate is that much more tragic. I also love the series for gifting us my all-time favorite Star Wars character, and one of my favorite characters from any universe — Hondo Ohnaka!      My chapter is a retelling of the first season story arc that plays out across the episodes “Dooku Captured” and “The Gungan General.” I wanted to explore this storyline because I find Count Dooku a fascinating character. Sometimes pure, mustache-twirling, mwa-ha-ha evil can actually be boring to write, but a villain who feels they are justified, either because of perceived slights or intellectual superiority or the failure of their rivals or birthright are much more interesting, and Dooku is a bit of all of this. For research, I obviously watched tons of Clone Wars. But I also read up on everything about Dooku I could find, and I listened to Christopher Lee and Corey Burton’s interpretation of the character over and over, trying to internalize their speech patterns. Dooku is so gorgeously supercilious. It was just a blast to get in his head and see the world from his perspective. (And the fact that the storyline gave me another chance to write for my beloved Hondo Ohnaka was an added bonus!) Tom Angleberger (“Bane’s Story,” based on the episodes “Deception,” “Friends and Enemies,” “The Box,” and “Crisis on Naboo”): There’s a lot to love in The Clone Wars, but I think it’s Ahsoka’s arc that really stands out the most. Ventress’s arc does, too, and the way that these arcs cross at the just the right moment is really great Star Wars!      My chapter is based on the “Crisis on Naboo” story arc. It’s basically a Space Western. The baddest bounty hunter of them all, Cad Bane, is hired to kidnap the Chancellor. What he doesn’t know is that almost everyone is lying to him, especially a fellow bounty hunter who is really Obi-Wan in disguise. In the TV version, we see it all from Obi-Wan’s point of view, so we know that Bane is getting played. In this retelling, we see it all from Bane’s point of view and, boy, is he going to be mad! To prepare I watched both The Clone Wars AND old spaghetti Westerns starring Bane’s inspiration: Lee Van Cleef. Preeti Chhibber (“Hostage Crisis,” based on the episode of the same name): I love the story that the prequels tell, but because of the nature of what they were trying to do — tell a decade and a half worth of story in three films — we’re missing major moments in what the war really means to the galaxy at large, and in the Skywalker saga itself. The Clone Wars tells us that part of the narrative, it gives us the shape of what entire populations of people had to go through because of this war manufactured by the ultimate evil. And within that scope gives us the hope and love and beautiful tragedy we associate with Star Wars on a larger scale. (Also, Ahsoka Tano — The Clone Wars gave us Ahsoka Tano and for that I will be ever grateful.)      I’m writing Anakin’s story during “Hostage Crisis” — an episode in the first season of The Clone Wars. I decided to write the story entirely from Anakin’s perspective, which meant being inside his head before the fall, but where we are starting to see more of the warning signs. And then there’s also the romance of this episode! Anakin’s love for Padmé is real and all-consuming and, as we eventually find out, unhealthy. So, this is a romantic episode, but one that shows us Anakin is ruled by his heart. And that that’s a dangerous thing for a Jedi. In order to best wrap my own head around what was going on, I watched the episode itself several times, and read the script, and then I watched the chronological episodes of Anakin’s run-ins with Cad Bane, so I could get a real feel for where he was with his understanding of Bane’s character. E. Anne Convery (“Bug,” based on the episode “Massacre”): I love it because I think it’s a story that manages, while still being a satisfying adventure, to not glorify war. It does this mainly by following through on the arcs of wonderful, terrifying, funny, fallible, and diverse characters. From the personal to the political, The Clone Warsredefines the ways, big and small, that we can be heroes.      My chapter is the “original” tale, though it still touches on The Clone Wars Season Four episode “Massacre,” with brief appearances by Mother Talzin and Old Daka. If I had to boil it down, I’d say that it’s a story about mothers and daughters. Honestly, it felt a little like cheating, because writing new characters meant I got to be creative in the Star Wars universe somewhat unencumbered by what’s come before. I did, however, have several long text chats with Sam Witwer because I was interested in Talzin’s motivations. We talked about stuff like her capacity (or lack thereof) for love. I think I came away thinking she was more a creature driven by issues of power, control, and the desire for revenge, whereas Sam was a little kinder to her. I mean, he is her “son,” so you can’t really blame him for wanting to think better of her! I always love a story within a story, and I was interested in the space where the high mythology of Star Wars and the home-spun mythology of fairy tales could intersect. I drew on my own background in mythology, psychology, and the language of fairy tales, plus I did my Star Wars research. Re-watching the Nightsisters episodes was just plain fun. Zoraida Córdova (“The Lost Nightsister,” based on the episode “Bounty”): The Clone Wars deepens the characters we already love. It gives us the opportunity to explore the galaxy over a longer period of time and see the fight between the light and the dark side. Star Wars is about family, love, and hope. It’s also incredibly funny and that’s something that The Clone Wars does spectacularly. We also get to spend more time with characters we only see for a little bit in the movies like Boba Fett, Bossk, Darth Maul!      My chapter follows Ventress after she’s experienced a brutal defeat. Spoiler alert: she’s witnessed the death of her sisters. Now she’s on Tatooine and in a rut. She gets mixed up with a bounty hunter crew led by Boba Fett. Ventress’s story is about how she goes from being lost to remembering how badass she is. I watched several episodes with her in it, but I watched “Bounty” about 50 times. Sarah Beth Durst (“Almost a Jedi,” based on the episode “A Necessary Bond”): I spent a large chunk of my childhood pretending I was training to become a Jedi Knight, even though I’d never seen a girl with a lightsaber before. And then The Clone Wars came along and gave me Ahsoka with not one but TWO lightsabers, as well as a role in the story that broadened and deepened the tale of Anakin’s fall and the fall of the Jedi. So I jumped at the chance to write about her for this anthology.      In my story, I wrote about Ahsoka Tano from the point of view of Katooni, one of the Jedi younglings who Ahsoka escorts on a quest to assemble their first lightsabers, and it was one of the most fun writing experiences I’ve ever had! I watched the episode, “A Necessary Bond,” over and over, frame by frame, studying the characters and trying to imagine the world, the events, and Ahsoka herself through Katooni’s eyes. The episode shows you the story; I wanted to show you what it feels like to be inside the story. Greg van Eekhout (“Kenobi’s Shadow,” based on the episode “The Lawless”): What I most love about Clone Wars is how we really get to know the characters deeply and see them grow and change.      I enjoyed writing a couple of short scenes between Obi-Wan and Anakin that weren’t in the episode. I wanted to highlight their closeness as friends and show that Anakin’s not the only Jedi who struggles with the dark side. There’s a crucial moment in my story when Obi-Wan is close to giving into his anger and has to make a choice: Strike out in violence or rise above it. It’s always fun to push characters to extremes and see how they react. Jason Fry (“Sharing the Same Face,” based on the episode “Ambush”): I love The Clone Wars because it made already beloved characters even richer and deepened the fascinating lore around the Jedi and the Force.      I chose Yoda and the clones because the moment where Yoda rejects the idea that they’re all identical was one of the first moments in the show where I sat upright and said to myself, “Something amazing is happening here.” You get the entire tragedy of the Clone Wars right in that one quick exchange — the unwise bargain the Jedi have struck, Yoda’s compassion for the soldiers and insistence that they have worth, the clones’ gratitude for that, and how that gratitude is undercut by their powerlessness to avoid the fate that’s been literally hard-wired into them. Plus, though I’ve written a lot of Star Wars tales, I’d never had the chance to get inside Yoda’s head. That had been on my bucket list! Yoon Ha Lee (“The Shadow of Umbara,” based on the episodes “Darkness on Umbara,” “The General,” “Plan of Dissent,” and “Carnage of Krell”): I remember the first time I watched the “Umbara arc” — I was shocked that a war story this emotionally devastating was aired on a kids’ show. But then, kids deserve heartfelt, emotionally devastating stories, too. It was a pleasure to revisit the episodes and figure out how to retell them from Rex’s viewpoint in a compact way. I have so much respect for the original episodes’ writer, Matt Michnovetz — I felt like a butcher myself taking apart the work like this! Rebecca Roanhorse (“Dark Vengeance,” based on the episode “Brothers”): I always love a backstory and Clone Wars was the backstory that then became a rich and exciting story all its own. The writing and character development is outstanding and really sucks you into the world.      I chose to write the two chapters that reintroduce Darth Maul to the world. We find him broken and mentally unstable, not knowing his own name but obsessed with revenge against Obi-Wan and we get to see him rebuild himself into a cruel, calculating, and brilliant villain. It was so much fun to write and I hope readers enjoy it. Anne Ursu (“Pursuit of Peace,” based on the episode “Heroes on Both Sides”): The Clone Wars creates a space for terrific character development. The attention paid to the relationships between Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Anakin and Ahsoka make for really wonderful and resonant stories, and give so much depth to the whole universe.      I was at first a little scared to write Padmé, as her character felt pretty two dimensional to me. But the more I watched her episodes in Clone Wars, the more dimension she took on. She’s such an interesting character — she’s both idealistic and realistic, so when corruption runs rampant in the Senate she doesn’t get disillusioned, she just fights harder. She has an ability to deal with nuance in a way that is rare in the Republic — and it means she’s not afraid to bend a few laws to make things right. In this chapter, the Senate is about to deregulate the banks in order to fund more troops, and Padmé decides to take matters into her own hand and sneak into Separatist territory in order to start peace negotiations. Of course, neither Dooku nor the corrupt clans of the Republic are going to allow for this to happen, so the threats to the peace process, the Republic, and Padmé’s life only grow. This arc is the perfect distillation of Padmé’s character, and it made getting into her head for it fairly simple. But I did watch all the Padmé Clone Wars episodes and read E.K. Johnston’s book about her, as well as Thrawn: Alliances, in which she has a major storyline. I really loved writing her. Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark arrives August 25 and is available for pre-order now.

#obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #asajj ventress #ahsoka tano #katooni #yoda #captain rex #darth maul #novels #news #long post

[streetsofsecrets]

@hammurabicomplex​  asked  :  🍵 – Is your muse a gossip? Do they like to meddle in other people’s relationship business? Do they like to play matchmaker? Would they let someone match-make for them? (angie)

        Is Angie a gossip? Yes. She has literally formed friendships with others based on her spreading dirt, or speculating things, about another person. Sometimes she does this with people because talking to them can be boring otherwise. They keep things casual, they try to talk about bland things for the sake of niceties and it’s all so dry.         Angie finds that when you want to gossip a new side of people can arise. But also, Angie feels there’s different kinds of gossipers. Ones who responsibly won’t let rumors and talk spread far, but they still laugh, gasp, or throw in their own additions. Then, there’s ones who just run their mouth and will tell everybody everything out of anger or something. Then there’s gossips who are just hateful and, as far as Angie can tell, wish ill will on most. They’re not people you want to get too close to. Then there’s people like Eve who act above it all, but when you least expect it they approach you and shyly ask for more info. They’re kind of annoying.       Would Angie meddle in another person’s relationship business? Depends. Some couples are just plain boring, in her eyes while others are not. Would she play matchmaker? Again, it depends. Is the other person looking to get into a relationship? Are they so sad and miserable to the point its annoying her? Yes, Angie will hook them up.       Angie’s not into the idea of someone matchmaking her with someone. She’ll want to know everything about them. How old are they? What are they like? What are their interests? What’s the weirdest thing they’ve ever done? Angie is admittedly not into the idea of seriously dating or romancing someone, so that’s why she has to know what she’s getting into.

#hammurabicomplex #angie / answers.