#I’m a Henry Tilney thing through and through

[bethanydelleman]

So I asked a while ago about which of our main men would change the most/least of their novels if they went back to the start (and I really loved the answers)…

But how do you think it would work vice versa? If our leading ladies went back to the start who do you think would change the most of their respective novels?

I feel like Marianne and Emma would probably change the most… but most of them would change things quite a bit I think.

Except maybe Fanny not out of lack of want to change things but because she has so much difficulty speaking up. I’ve got to admit I’m swaying back and forth on Lady Susan and Anne though. Bc Lady Susan is just arrogant enough to think that if she knows when/how things are going to go wrong then she can prevent them even when it’s something out of her control or that she doesn’t know the actual cause of. And Anne is quite a lot like Fanny in that she has trouble speaking up and also bc up until Lyme Wentworth is still very angry with her and I’m not sure there’s anything that she could do to mitigate that before then…

Thoughts? 💜

This question is in reference to this question.

I think the person who would change the most is Elizabeth Bennet, she's the only one who has someone she absolutely needs to save. (And Jane Bennet if we are counting her as a heroine.) Fortunately, I think rescuing Lydia would be in their power. Elizabeth would actually flirt with Darcy and she could drop hints about Jane loving Bingley. I think they could prevent Bingley from leaving and through that, prevent Lydia's trip to Brighton (ie take her somewhere else exciting with their wealth, as they take over the care of Kitty in canon). Also, knowing his true nature, they'd likely start some sort of whisper campaign against Wickham.

If only Elinor time travels, she would hopefully be able to inform Colonel Brandon about Willoughby earlier and stop W's romance with Marianne, but I don't think she could stop W&M on her own because she doesn't have any evidence of Willoughby's wrongdoing. She'd at least be prepared for the Lucy reveal and she knows it will turn out okay. I think she'd be intelligent enough to just not touch that and let nature take it's course.

Marianne would go for Colonel Brandon and snub Willoughby, it'd be delightful!. Poor Willoughby would have an ego crisis losing to an "old" man.

Anne Elliot doesn't have trouble speaking up, in my opinion, she just knows it's useless. She's been living with her father and Elizabeth for long enough to know that they won't listen to her. However, she would know the future which would be comforting at least and maybe she could prevent the Lyme fall. I think Wentworth would still wake up to his true feelings even without the fall and Anne is selfless enough to risk it.

Catherine Morland would likely avoid Isabella and her best to keep James from entering into his engagement. She would eagerly look forward to each time she knows that Henry Tilney is coming and would not even accuse General Tilney of being a murderer, not even once!

Fanny Price is actually kind of cruel, because the future would horrify her but I don't think she could do anything to prevent it. Edmund is ineffective, Maria wouldn't listen, and I don't think Fanny would dare approach Sir Thomas. So she'd just be EVEN MORE of a Cassandra and in acute pain the whole time. The fact that she ends up with Edmund would only be a minor consolation, given her personality.

Lady Susan would try again with her better knowledge, she might even succeed 😬 the horror!

Lastly, Emma. She's a tricky one because I don't know what she would do. She knows Elton sucks, she knows Jane and Frank are engaged, she's ashamed of her behaviour... Does she encourage Harriet to accept the first proposal or do the same thing as last time so she can enjoy a year with a friend? I think she would refrain from encouraging Harriet about Elton, and therefore avoid that heartbreak. Could she wiggle out of Elton's proposal? I don't know. It's going to happen eventually. She may discover that without her flirting with Frank, Knightley doesn't discover his feelings, so she's got to stick as close as possible to her original actions to prevent disaster! However, she would avoid the Box Hill debacle and refrain from bringing up Mr. Dixon with Frank.

[whenthegoldrays]

Okay, this is an incredibly half-baked thought because I’m only seven chapters into Northanger Abbey, and maybe I’m just reinventing the wheel by saying this, but I was thinking of how I said the other day that Austen taught us not to trust charming men and then gave us Henry Tilney, as a treat. And so when I got to Tilney’s introduction in the book, I was surprised by just how perfect he appears (yes, almost too perfect). If I didn’t already know what the book was about, I probably would be suspicious of him, especially after meeting characters such as Henry Crawford through Austen’s writing. But just a couple of chapters later comes John Thorpe, who is somehow the most hateable person I’ve ever seen in print, and it is a stark contrast. Catherine doesn’t really like him, she’s only a bit taken in because he’s one of the first people to ever flatter her. So I’m thinking — and a lot of the details of the plot before Catherine visits the Abbey are extremely fuzzy in my memory, so I don’t really know what’s going to happen next — that the point of Catherine’s arc in this book is to learn that sometimes, things (people) really are exactly what they seem, unlike in P&P, where the characters have to learn to look beyond outward appearances and first impressions to really get to know a person. Obviously, that’s somewhat a reduction — I know that there’s more to Henry than meets the eye, and Cathy still has to learn to watch out for Isabella, but it feels (based on posts I’ve seen and the bits and pieces I remember of the plot from watching the movie years ago) like that’s at least part of the bigger picture that Austen is trying to paint.

[jessamine-rose]

Hello there ^^ have you posted the list of books you're reading before by curiosity? If not would you mind sharing? I'm curious, if that's ok with you!

For those who haven’t seen this post, one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to finish my reading list. I picked 32 books/ stories from recs, classics, and titles which interested me. This is listed in ascending order, with my faovrites italicized (｀・ω・´)

I hope this satisfies your curiosity, Anonie!! I enjoyed most of the stories, and I’m excited that this resolution is almost complete. Pls excuse my ramblings bc I couldn’t help adding some subjective comments for each story :>

Edit:: Resolution accomplished!! The final three book reviews have been added~

♡ The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck

It’s the only playwriting script on my list, and I can only imagine how visually exciting the stage performance must be. I learned about this story from @/mcdonaldsnumberone :3

♡ The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen

This ended up on my list bc of Scaramouche. Need I say more??

♡ A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott

Aahhh this was so exciting to read. After rooting for the heroine’s liberation, I am both sad and awed by the ending. You can thank @/bye-bye-sunbird for this amazing rec (◍•ᴗ•◍)

♡ Poetic Fragments of Sappho (translated by Julia Dubnoff)

The emotions, the imagery, the references to Greek mythology *sobs* Sappho’s poetry is so intimate and beautiful, and I will be the first to cry if more fragments are discovered one day.

♡ We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

I appreciated the story more after reading the literary analyses. It’s pretty good.

♡ Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

I was curious about Murakami’s work due to his popularity. I liked his writing style in Document 1, but I couldn’t properly appreciate the story bc of the male-gazey parts.

♡ The Hand of the Enemy by Kerima Polotan

Polotan’s writing style is *chef’s kiss.* I think she did a good job at explaining “the political is personal” through her characters.

♡ The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft

I’m not personally into Lovecraft’s writing style so I think I’ll stick to the summaries. It was nice to learn more about cosmic horror through the source material.

♡ Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

The book isn’t my type, so I have no comments.

♡ Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

There are so many quotes which made me squeal as a yandere writer, and I can always appreciate a wlw vampire story. It inspired me to write for Yandere! Vampire Pantalone ( ´ཀ` )

♡ Heartless by Marissa Meyer

I love the whimsical writing style and Alice in Wonderland references. The food descriptions are so wonderfully written.

♡ Love and Olives by Jenna Evans Welch

My new favorite book by the author. Generally, I love how she writes about family, romance, and tourism. It helps that this specific story has connections to Greek mythology ✧˖°

♡ Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

A good satirical take on Gothic novels!! It was easy for me to fall in love with Austen’s writing and the character of Henry Tilney.

♡ Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I don’t plan to read the sequels, but I did enjoy Anne’s sense of imagination.

♡ The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

This book isn’t my type so I don’t have much to say about it ^^;

♡ Spells for Lost Things by Jenna Evans Welch

Another wonderful story by the author. I love the magic and mystery in it.

♡ My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

After falling in love with Rebecca, I had to check this out and now the author’s other works are in my next reading list. Simply put, I adored this.

♡ Creepover: It Spells Z-O-M-B-I-E! by P.J. Night

I read this out of nostalgia for the series and was utterly disappointed. It lacks many of the traits which made the other Creepover books so enjoyable to my younger self -.-

♡ The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

Honestly, what can I say?? Just read the story and see for yourself ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

♡ The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Another story which I can’t rlly comment on since the writing style isn’t my type.

♡ The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal

The horror and aesthetics is so artfully written, and Silas is an excellent example of an utterly despicable antagonist. I couldn’t stop reading until I reached the end.

♡ Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal

The freakshow/ circus setting offers a different morbid aesthetic. I can’t wait to read Macneal’s future works >:3

♡ You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

A good story about grief. It has a brilliant detail about how Sam’s calls affect the heroine’s communication with other people. I do think the story would’ve been better if it were longer.

♡ And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

An excellent murder mystery which made me go “?!! :0” when the culprit was revealed.

♡ Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

I subscribed to the author’s YouTube channel, so I was naturally curious about this. I liked the mecha concept and historical references, but I have to agree with some of the negative reviews. The fact that I’m not into scifi also influenced my capacity to enjoy this book.

♡ A Wilderness of Sweets by Gilda Cordero-Fernando

Mere words cannot describe how good and sad this story is ;-;

♡ Grimms’ Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm

All those fairytales + the writing inspiration it gave me……..*rubs hands evilly*

♡ Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

Again, I can’t say much about this book since I’m not into scifi + I’m not the target audience. I will say that I liked it more than Iron Widow due to the historical trivia, contemporary setting, and creative premise.

♡ Bone China by Laura Purcell

I am officially a fan of the author and I can’t wait to read her other works. More Gothic horror, here we go ٩( ᐛ )و

♡ Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

I now understand why @/diodellet and a book heroine cried reading this. Props to the author for the effective changes in writing style!!

♡ Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

It’s a good story but honestly not my type. There were times I found it hard to read but that might be due to the long paragraphs :T

♡ Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Another excellent mystery novel!! I like the self-aware protagonist, Knox’s Commandments, and the attention-catching title >:3

[jottingjane]

Last week after finishing Northanger Abbey, I ran upon this TikTok while casually scrolling without searching for Jane Austen-related content, surprisingly, and I saved it thinking of using it for a potential Tumblr post. (I posted the actual video this time instead of the link so hopefully it works) After our discussion yesterday, I thought it was pretty accurate. This TikTok takes a clip from Oscar from The Office dancing while a sped-up version of Karma plays in the background to appear as if he’s dancing to it. The video has an overlay text that says, “Jane Austen wrapping up a 200 page love story in the last 10 pages of the novel.” The point of the TikTok is to have a joke reach the Jane Austen community through the combination of various modern pop culture items (The Office, Taylor Swift, the sped up audio, etc.). The text overlay is to help you imagine that Jane Austen is the one in the video, dancing without a care in the world that she has just ended a romance that readers have spent an entire book reading about right at the end.

This is especially evident in Northanger Abbey, and I imagine that it will be the same for other Jane Austen books as we got a little spoiler yesterday that everyone gets married. After reading through many chapters wondering if Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland will end up together, I found out that the answer was yes; however, it was wrapped up almost entirely at the end: Henry is in love with Catherine, things finally settle over with General Tilney after Eleanor gets married, and Henry and Catherine finally marry – the end. It feels like it’s rushed, and I wonder if there was a particular reason Jane does this? I’m not sure, but the book left me with some unanswered questions that I wish could’ve gotten answered. I would have liked to have known more about Eleanor’s marriage, what’s going on with Isabella after the mess she got herself into with James and Frederick, etc. I would love to figure out why Northanger Abbey just abruptly ends – it feels like it could have gone on for a little while longer.

[firawren]

Ranking Austen men by fuckability

In honor of Valentine’s Day, let’s talk about how good Jane Austen’s men would be in bed.

1. Captain Wentworth. Not only would he be focused on making it good for you, he also has the age and experience to be able to follow through on that. The Letter shows he’s romantic af, but he’s also got plenty of spice and angst. Plus, I’m sure he's fit from being in the Navy. 10/10

2. Henry Tilney. When not in bed, he's an all-around fun guy, so I'm assuming that would continue into the bedroom. I think he would be up for anything, even though he’s a clergyman. He's just missing the age and angst that put Wentworth in the top spot. 9/10

3. Mr. Darcy. He basically worships Elizabeth and I'm sure his fucking would reflect that. Might be a little too reserved at first, though. 8/10

4. Colonel Brandon. Super passionate and romantic soul plus age and experience would make it great. But, he might be too sweet. Needs a bit more spice to reach perfection. 7/10

5. Mr. Willoughby. Horrible human, but super hot and charming. It would be fake, but I think he’d put in enough effort to make it fun for you at least. 6/10

6. Mr. Bingley. Too nice. I can’t imagine saying filthy stuff in his cute little pure ears. I do think his enthusiastic personality would help him in bed, though. 5/10

7. Edward Ferrars. Too nice and blah. But, he’s honorable to women, so he would at least make sure you come first. 4/10

8. Mr. Knightley. If you’re into being bossed around in the bedroom, this is your man, but that’s not my thing. Love him as a character, but would be too scared of his disapproval to really enjoy fucking him. 3/10

9. Edmund Bertram. Nothing about him is appealing to me. I’ll give him a couple points for not being evil or narcissistic. 2/10

10. Henry Crawford. Too selfish to care about your pleasure. All he has going for him in bed is hotness. 1/10

11. Mr. Wickham. Wouldn’t care about making it good for you. Also hot, but he’s just The Worst, so I can’t bring myself to give him any points. 0/10

12. Mr. Collins, Mr. Elliot, John Thorpe. No to all of these douches. -1/10

[soft-october-night]

The Love Interests in the Works of Jane Austen: An Assessment

This is an "extremely scientific" and "thoroughly researched" ranking based on personality, money, family and connections, and is a bit of a blend between the book characterizations and the film characterizations (and is in no way only based on my own opinions). Here we go, grouped by book but not much else.

Edmund Bertram: absolute trash. His family has treated you unbelievably shitty since day one and not only has he BARELY noticed, he ALSO has treated you shitty. Will fall in love with someone beautiful and fun and when she dumps him will come crawling to you for a rebound. His passion for you is so lackluster that even the esteemed author who wrote about it barely spared a paragraph on your relationship. Has a job but only because his dad owns the land the church is built on. You’ll gain no connections or family by marrying him, since he’s literally your cousin.  0/10

Henry Crawford: There IS such thing as too much fun, and that is never clearer than in this man, who will try to seduce you as a game, freak out when his middling overtures don’t work and then try and seduce you “for really real” this time. You will definitely move up in the world if you marry him, and if you play your cards right it seems like his sister is also just REALLY into you, so see how that goes. Life will be pretty okay until you find him in bed with one (or more, who knows) of your relations. 3/10, 8/10 if you’re into that

John Willoughby: Will be like something out of a romance novel, you’re thinking he’s going to propose and then he just fucking ghosts you and embarrasses the fuck out of you at a party by acting like he doesn’t know you. Somehow marry him (congrats on the inheritance you must have, btw) and get ready to take a backseat to the whims of his aunt for as long as she lives. 1/10, at least you get to live in a nice house.

Edward Ferrars: Oh Edward. He’s a bit of a mess, isn’t he? Super kind, your family loves him, he made a bunch of stupid decisions in his youth that are coming back to bite him in the ass. He is loyal to an absolute fault, but you luck out when his fiance turns out to be a bit of a gold digger and dumps him when his mom disowns him. He doesn’t have a job and neither do you, but his family doesn’t wanna speak to him (lucky you!) and you’ll be happy and poor together if you two can work on your communication skills. 7/10.

Colonel Brandon: He’s got a nice house, the respect of his friends and the community, and he has a LOT of passion. He’ll give your sister’s penniless husband a job, dramatically rescue you from a rainstorm, make sure his dead girlfriend’s daughter is happy and taken care of even after your ex fucks HER over too, and is all around a pretty decent guy. Just. Uh. Maybe, kinda, sorta, needs to go after women his own age and is probably with you because you remind him of his dead girlfriend. 5/10 with the wildly inappropriate age gap, 9/10 without it.

Mr. Wickham: Please don’t. He’s a thirsty bitch who lives for drama and you think he’s fun until you find out he tried to sleep with one teenage girl and is making eyes at your fifteen year old sister behind your back. Marry him (through the grace of mysterious benefactors, cause he ain’t marrying anyone unless he’s paid the right price) and get ready for a life of being surrounded by military men in the north of England while your husband tries to fuck everything that moves. Work that out somehow with him and you might actually be happy. 0/10.

Mr. Bingley: He is a softboi who will do literally anything his friends tell him to do. He is SUPER rich, and marrying him will throw your sister’s into the path of other rich men and he is REALLY into you, but get ready to be sucking up to his sisters for literally the rest of your life. Unless he can ship Miss Bingley off to live with Mrs. Hurst, have fun trying to wage a war of barely concealed insults over the breakfast table every morning, and if you’re marrying Bingley I’m sorry but that is a war you just cannot win. He doesn’t have a job but he does have five thousand a year, and neither of you can manage money. You’ll love simply and deeply and be happy as any two can be. 8/10.

Mr. Collins: Last resort to rescue yourself from a life of being a burden to your parents until they die and then having to become a governess or something. Has a job but never shuts up about his boss. You will have to rearrange everything in your house according to his boss’ will. 2/10

Mr. Darcy: Is a anxious disaster who doesn’t know how to talk to girls at parties and needs to learn how say no to going out when he’s just not feeling it. He doesn’t have a job because he’s a landlord; he owns half of Derbyshire and has ten thousand a year, but turns out that all of that money and land can’t buy tact or charisma. Doesn’t know how to flirt and thinks he’s doing a great job (he’s not). He’ll propose to you out of the fucking blue one day by insulting literally everything about you, but don’t worry! Reading his letter unlocks Darcy 2.0. This patched version gives him humility, a personality, and he WILL gain the ability to rescue your family from utter ruin. Marry him and enjoy a life of luxury and witty ripostes, but beware! You ARE going to have to deal with Lady Catherine until the day she dies, not to mention Caroline Bingley’s barely concealed contempt every time you meet in polite company. Darcy 1.0 3/10, Darcy 2.0 8/10.

Captain Wentworth: Absolutely top tier. Has a job, has earned everything he has, including a fortune and the respect of his peers, superiors, and subordinates. His sister and her husband are practically the only happily older married couple you know, his friends are super fun and nice (even the dour one with all the poetry knows how to have a polite conversation). If you dumped him ten years ago on the advice of your almost comically shitty family yeah, he’s going to hold a grudge, but he WILL NEVER STOP LOVING YOU and the MOMENT he gets over his pride will do everything and anything in his power (including leaping the bounds of propriety!) to win you back. Based on his love, money, and connections you should RUN, not walk, into his arms TODAY and allow him to rescue you from your family and whisk you off to see the world on his ship, at least until Napoleon busts out of Elba. 12/10

Mr. Eliot: Will lose all your old schoolfriend’s husband’s money in a bad deal, has debts out the ass, might be trying to get with either you or the woman your dad has been flirting with for the last few years, you’re not sure. Is totally ruining the rekindling relationship you’re trying to get going with your far superior ex. He wants the land and title your dad has and will stop at nothing to get it. Marry him and you can move back into your old house (maybe? it’s a little unclear what with all the debts) but have every single cent your mother left you immediately put into some dumbass scheme. 1/10

Henry Tilney: another softboi who just wants to act in the school play while his dad and brother plan to ship him off to military school and berate him for not joining the football team. Bring him shopping with you to pick out dresses, spend long nights over tea chatting about books. Has a job, but again, only because his dad owns the land the church is on. Loves you even though you have some very strange ideas about his house, and will forgive you when he realizes you thought his dad either murdered or imprisoned his mom. If he can find the courage to tell his dad to fuck off and let him live his own life, expect a long, happy marriage of snuggling together in a window seat somewhere, sipping tea and reading. 9/10

John Thorpe: Trash bastard man. Peaked in whatever equivalent of high school he had. Shitty and rude to everyone, would post racist memes on facebook and start fights if he could, all while being shitty and manipulative and CREEPILY possessive of you. -2/10

Robert Martin: A sweet himbo farmer who just wants to love and worship you. He has a job, is pretty rich, and while his connections may not be above his class, he’s an earnest boy who wants to take care of you and be taken care of in turn. Marry him the first time, absolutely do NOT let your friend influence you against him, because who KNOWS if you will get a second proposal! (You will, he likes you THAT much.) Marry him and enjoy a sweet, simple life of exactly zero drama (unless your friend is around). 7/10

Mr. Elton: Trifling gold digging trash who doesn’t know what the word no means. Do not marry, unless you want to be censured by decent, hardworking people -1/10

Frank Churchill: Knows how to have fun, but you know there’s something more going on. He won’t let you see his letters, he sends out secret notes, then he smiles and tells you that everything is totally a okay. Another boy with ANOTHER overbearing aunt, only this one doesn’t know how to say no. Marry him if you’ve got the money, but he will always be longing after the poor girl next door that auntie wouldn’t let him married, and would have cheated on you already if she was into it. 3/10

Mr. Knightly: He’s your brother in law and you’ve known him almost your whole life, so that’s a little sus, but he is also the ONLY person in your entire life who knows how to tell you no (and you really, REALLY need to be told no sometimes.) He is extremely wealthy, but more importantly he’s kind and caring about people who are considered “beneath” him. He will break his weird no dancing rule to dance with your shy friend, he will ream you out for being shitty to unwed spinsters who value your opinion, and somehow has the correct read on everyone all the time. You will gain no connections by marrying him, since the two of you already have the exact same connections anyway, but the two of you should be content in a test of wills that will last a lifetime. You’ll be very happy as long as he doesn’t get super pedantic and start correcting you about everything. 7/10

[austennerdita2533]

I was doing some idle musing on Rory's boyfriends and Austen heroes, and what I came up with was that Jess is part Mr. Darcy and part Frederick Wentworth, and Logan is part Henry Crawford and part (in his best moments) Henry Tilney. Any thoughts?

I think those are good Austen-to-GG-boyfriend classifications all around!

Jess has quite a few of Darcy's social anxieties in that he doesn't seem to like being around large groups of people at once, prefers to keep to himself, and doesn't talk or open up easily. Both characters also have a propensity for being taciturn and standoffish at times. They can rub some the wrong way as a result. In addition to that, they're introverted intellectual individuals who have embarrassing or disappointing relatives (i.e. Lady Catherine, Liz Danes). Their first "I love you" declarations are on par in Disaster Fireworks, too, don't you think? I mean, Darcy point blank calls Lizzie's entire family an embarrassment who is beneath him in social class AND manners and then still excepts her to accept his hand in marriage, which is so unbelievable it's hysterical, and Jess tells Rory he loves her after pulling a cross-country disappearing act that ended their relationship only to disappear AGAIN immediately after he blurts out the words, not even pausing long enough to blink, or like, to roll down his window so she can shout her reply at him as he drives by on his way out of town. It's next level Don't Do This romantic foolishness on both their parts. They deserve an award or a badge of honor or something to commemorate their mutual totally-bungled-that idiocy. 😄

Like Wentworth, Jess is the "suffer in silence" type. (I'd argue he takes after Luke in that way.) They both venture off on their own paths after they experience heartbreak, finding themselves, making something of their lives. For Wentworth, that means going to sea and amassing a fortune. For Jess, it means writing a novella and later working at Truncheon. And clearly they have the whole pining for the girl they love thing in common. Plus, there's that sense of mutual understanding that ripples through those two dynamics. Something that exudes "I know you better than anyone" energy because words aren't always necessary. They fall short. As Wentworth writes in his infamous letter to Anne at the end of Persuasion: "You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others." Jess and Wentworth are able to notice things about Rory, about Anne, that everyone else overlooks. Or plain don't see. The connection they share never truly dwindles no matter how much time has passed, either. It burns beneath the surface like an ember, waiting, flickering softly in the dust of what once was, of what still could be, perpetually on the cusp of catching flame again.

I'd also make an argument for Jess having some Mr. Knightley in him as well. They're both emotionally repressed as hell, for one. The frustration is rife, I'm telling you! Jess has a hard time expressing, sometimes showing, his feelings for Rory and I've always thought that falls in line with Knightley's "if I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more" vibe. And while Jess doesn't lecture in the same way that Knightley does with Emma, he isn't afraid to ask Rory the hard questions, he doesn't hesitate to deliver the harsh truths she needs to hear. Jess challenges Rory to be better, to be true to herself, in the same way that Knightley does with Emma.

Onto Logan now. I definitely see a lot of Henry Tilney in him and a decent amount of Henry Crawford as well. I've always considered Tilney to be Austen's most charming, sociable, good humored, and extroverted hero, and I think that tracks well with Logan. He's also outgoing, seems to have no trouble making friends, and when he puts his mind to it, will and can charm the pants off of almost anyone he meets. (Gilmore grandparents, especially. But he's no slouch with Luke, Lorelai, or Christopher either, is he?) Tilney and Logan are both bright, witty men with active playful minds. I think those traits act as catnip for Rory and Catherine, it's what attracts them. They like the stimulation. The never-know-what-they're-going-to-do-or-say spontaneity. It's adrenalizing emotionally, intellectually, and sexually. Another similarity between the two men is that they each have fraught relationships with their fathers who have an "image" or "expectations" for their sons to uphold. The fathers view their name, or the social strata where they belong, to be superior to that of other people. Tbh, Mitchum Huntzberger and General Tilney should form their own Cad Dad Club because they're both cads. 😂

Henry Crawford and Logan share a considerable amount in common, too. Wit, attractiveness, and considerable charisma aside, they also both come from wealth. They're privileged, entitled, and have essentially had free reign to indulge their whims and vices throughout their lives without many consequences. I think Crawford's more wanton in his exploits with the opposite sex than Logan, though. The man doesn't just flirt he seduces. And he does so without much remorse. Granted, I know Logan was a bit of a playboy, a casanova, or whatever you want to call him, when he and Rory first started up but he commits to her eventually and loves her. He does his best to make her happy. And he is a present, caring, devoted boyfriend most of the time (the bridesmaid shagfest and jetting off to base jump, cliff dive, I forget the specific thing rn when he's upset, notwithstanding) whereas Crawford's feelings/intentions with Fanny are a little more hazy. It's hard to know whether he was actually in love with her or if it was about the chase, since she wasn't responding to his advances in the the way he'd grown accustomed or had hoped she would. Fanny never trusts Crawford. Rory does love and trust Logan, so there's a marked difference there.

In addition to Tilney and Crawford, I also think it could be said that Logan has some of Mr. Willoughby's good traits. They're both passionate individuals, for one, and aren't afraid to show it. They lay it all out there. Go after things. Live life to the fullest. I admire that in both of them. Fanny and Rory needed a little bit of that in their lives, I think. It pushed them out of their comfort zones. In a good, productive way. That said, the men's zest and spontaneity could teeter into recklessness as well, which is behavior they both exhibited in different ways and at different times.

I'm sure I could come up with more if I thought about it longer but that's all I've got for now.

Anyway, thanks for the ask, sweets! This was fun to muse over! xoxo

[thebirdandhersong]

The Year So Far Book Ask

Tagged by @madamescarlette <3 thank you, darling!! (I DO SO LOVE TO TALK ABOUT BOOKS!!!!)

1. Best book you have read in 2021 so far?

HOW can I answer that!!!! Here is a top 10 because I cannot narrow it down!!

Middlemarch: read it twice this year (liked it the first time, LOVED it the second time)

David Copperfield: my new favourite Dickens. There is a lot of joy and compassion at the heart of this book, and I Loved it very much.

The Mill on the Floss: can’t explain the feeling I got from reading this book (tbh if you know, you know!! It warms your heart but it also makes you want to stand in the rain and cry)

The Queen of Attolia: a roller coaster. Very overwhelming. Was incredibly Shocked many times. (Also, who’d have thought?? Gen??? In LOVE??? Fantastic in concept and in execution)

The Adventures of Sally: a new favourite Wodehouse. You will laugh so hard tears will spring to your eyes.

Night Watch: this one stuck a knife in me and twisted..... but in a good way.

Anne of the Island: much-needed comfort read!!!

Leave it to Psmith: another new favourite Wodehouse. Modern rom-coms wish they could do rom-com like Psmith, Eve, and the umbrella that was Definitely Not His.

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette: A DELIGHT (speechless!!)

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street: ALSO A DELIGHT (still speechless!!)

2. Best sequel you have read in 2021 so far?

Ohohoho. All the Discworld sequels. (Especially A Hat Full of Sky, Night Watch, Thud!, I Shall Wear Midnight.)

Also, The Queen of Attolia. That book decimated me. Admittedly no one’s emotions are very stable at two in the morning, but I was an absolute Wreck that night (morning?).

3. A new release you want to check out?

I am behind on the times so my idea of ‘new’ is rather skewed.... I still really want to read Spin the Dawn, The Goblin Emperor, and Spinning Silver. And am making my way through Queen’s Thief.

4. Most anticipated book release of the second half of the year?

I... don’t follow new releases that much, to be honest. I am currently looking through the lists and don’t see anything I recognise s;lfdjsdlk;

5. Biggest disappointment?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I knew how it was going end, but i was still mad. (These days I like books with a hefty amount of Hope and that one.... definitely did not have that.) I also read Tess of the d’Urbervilles for the first time and remember being just... really frustrated with all the characters and about the lack of Hope in that one, too. I was also hoping to love I Capture the Castle and was a bit grumpy about the second half of the book!!

6. Biggest surprise?

The books I read because my friends loved them!! Such as The Blue Castle (Eden), The Man Born to be King (Magpie), Gourmet Hound (Eden), Queen’s Thief (Fran), Blandings Castle/Psmith (Rebekah), Discworld (I think I started reading it for the first time because of Fran as well)...... I also reread a bunch of old favourites (Lord of the Rings and a few Jane Austens) and they were even better than I remembered!! Which was just wonderful!! (though not very surprising, I guess!!)

7. Favourite new author (either new to you or debut)?

MEGAN WHALEN TURNER. I also have a new appreciation for P.G. Wodehouse (after crashing through all of his Jeeves books and most of the Blandings Castle audiobooks) and Terry Pratchett (after bulldozing through a good number of Discworld books, most of them two or three times) and Georgette Heyer (read my first few Heyers this year and had SUCH a blast).

8. Favourite new fictional crush?

In general: Ik-jun from Hospital Playlist (He’s not from a book sksfjkl ;sdfj k I wanted to mention him because I just love him a Lot)

In terms of books: Sam Vimes (sdlkfjs;kls) and Henry Tilney (I loved him before, but this year cemented him as one of the top, if not The Favourite Austen hero in my heart). I don’t know if Gen counts, because I feel very friendly towards him, and alternate between wanting to make soup for him and wanting to bonk him on the head with a cardboard tube.

Mal (from S&B) had some Really Good lines, too. Especially in the last chapter of Ruin and Rising.

9. Newest favourite character?

A whole PLATOON of them. Sasha and Lysander from @magpie-trove​‘s story, Beatrice and Romeo from @imissthembutitwasntadisaster​‘s story, Emilia and Lily from @itspileofgoodthings​‘s stories, Tiffany Aching, Granny Weatherwax, Helen and Irene and Costis from Queen’s Thief, Dorothea and Maggie from George Eliot’s books, Sally from The Adventures of Sally....

10. A book that made you cry?

Literally cried so many times this year over all sorts of stories. But a few off the top of my head:

The Penderwicks (all of them): cried from sheer joy!!!

Seven for a Secret: there are so many lines in the most recent chapters alone that brought tears to my eyes.

The Keys of Fire: which is The definitive Fairy Tail fanfic for me. I just love this story so much. And i was surprised all over again by the forgiveness and the love and the grace and the healing in this story this time around!!

The Queen of Attolia/The King of Attolia: cried out of surprise and joy at nearly all the Gen/Irene scenes (not the beginning ones sl;fksdsdlfk jd but my heart did a great leap when Gen remembers seeing Irene dance)

Ruin and Rising: cried at the ending. Also because I was so happy. (There is no such thing as an ordinary love!!!)

Crooked Kingdom: cried at what Kaz did for Inej (couldn’t help it. That moment was beautiful)

(It has been quite an emotional year. The waterworks are triggered by the smallest things. But I’m happy to say that I’ve cried out of happiness mostly in the book department.)

11. A book that made you happy?

(Nearly all of them tbh!!! I have so many new favourite books from this year’s reading list alone!!!)

The Penderwicks series. Was in bliss for the whole week. I was also incredibly happy listening to the Discworld audiobooks, and reading new installments of Emilia and Seven for a Secret and The Stars Hold No Part In This!!! All the Wodehouse and Heyer books I read were delightful.... David Copperfield was so full of joy and grace and it made me want to prance in a field. All of the Anne books I reread were comfort reads. And of course The Keys of Fire, which kept me smiling for hours: I feel like a kid being handed an ice cream cone with three scoops and a cherry on top whenever I read it. Incredibly happy.

12. Most beautiful book you have bought or received this year?

The second-hand Vintage Classics Jane Austens!! :’) especially Northanger Abbey, which was in Excellent condition. Very floppy (unlike the longer Austens..... alas for Mansfield Park, which is harder to flip through) and fits comfortably in my hands.

And the Tundra Classics edition of Anne of the Island. (I liked the way the paper felt and the text was a really nice font and size!)

13. What book do you need to read by the end of the year?

OOH TONS. I’m still reading Anna Karenina (stopped because I thought: I need a happy story right now). Would love to keep reading Queen’s Thief (I’m taking it slow because they’re books that should be savoured), make some headway in Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey books, read more Georgette Heyer, start on The Goblin Emperor and a Bunch of books I've been meaning to read for a while (The Eagle of the Ninth, Piranesi, Phantom of the Opera, Surprised by Joy, Crime and Punishment, War and Peace are the main ones. This is an ambitious list but I’d like to read at least two of them before the year is out sl;kffdksl;dfjslk;)

tagging: @imissthembutitwasntadisaster​ @soldier-poet-king​ @septembersung​ @lady-merian​ @called-kept​ if you would like to!! And YOU, if you think it looks fun and want to give it a try!! :D

[mediaevalmusereads]

Northanger Abbey. By Jane Austen. New York: Dover Thrift Editions, 2000 (originally 1818).

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: literary fiction

Part of a Series? No

Summary:  A wonderfully entertaining coming-of-age story, Northanger Abbey is often referred to as Jane Austen's "Gothic parody." Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers give the story an uncanny air, but one with a decidedly satirical twist. The story's unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry's mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art. Executed with high-spirited gusto, Northanger Abbey is a lighthearted, yet unsentimental commentary on love and marriage.

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: anti-Semitism

Overview: I’ve wanted to do a proper read-through of Northanger Abbey for a while, so this seemed like an appropriate time. Even though this book isn’t “spooky” (and thus doesn’t fit the theme for my reading list in October 2021), but with all the creepy stuff I’m reading, I figure I’d read something that parodies those things. If you like Austen, you’ll probably love this book - it has all of Austen’s characteristic wit, as well as a likeable protagonist. While I personally found some aspects of the narrative lacking (thus prompting a rating of 4 stars), I still enjoyed myself immensely, and I would recommend this book to fans of 19th century literature.

Writing: I always forget how witty and delightful Austen’s prose is, as well as how unabashedly funny. I love the way that Austen doesn’t take herself or her plot too seriously, and my favorite parts of this book were when Austen poked fun at Gothic tropes.

There were some “serious” moments, however, which I appreciated, such as Austen’s defense of the novel form. Despite poking fun at the Gothic (and her protagonist), she never condemns anyone for enjoying these tales or for reading fanciful literature in general. In fact, she specifically calls out writers who, in her time, lambasted the novel form while writing novels themselves. It was a nice treat, especially for a book lover.

Plot: If you’re mainly attracted to this book for the promise of “Gothic parody,” I think you might be a tad disappointed. The “Gothic” parts of this book take up a small portion of the plot, which means most of this book revolves around a portrait of middle class life in late18th-early 19th cent England. Our protagonist, Catherine Morland, doesn’t go to Northanger Abbey until the second half of the book, so be aware that “Gothic parody” isn’t all there is to this novel.

That being said, I still found the general narrative to be a delight. I loved reading about Catherine’s experiences and watching as characters navigated blooming social relationships and misunderstandings. I was especially put on edge by the plot that involved Isabella/James/Captain Frederick Tilney, as well as the sabotage that John Thorpe tried to enact against Catherine’s relationship with the Tilneys.

If I had any criticisms, I would say that there were some plot resolutions that I found... not quite fulfilling. Isabella’s plot, for example, left me wondering who was in the right; Catherine seemed to believe her brother (James), but Isabella’s pleas also felt genuine, and Captain Tilney is known to be something of a scoundrel. I just wish there had been more closure to that thread, and perhaps a reconciliation between Isabella and the Morlands (even if the engagement was never restored).

I also think the romance between Catherine and Henry Tilney could have been a bit more developed. Honestly, I didn’t quite see what Catherine saw in Henry, and she was so young and naïve that I had a hard time believing her feelings were genuine. Henry likewise seemed to develop romantic interest out of nowhere, and though I felt that the two were good friends, I didn’t quite see how their relationship tipped into the realm of “potential lovers.” There was some potential for things to get a bit more “real,” such as when Henry reveals his family history to Catherine and she becomes ashamed (thus prompting some character growth), but Austen didn’t seem interested in pursuing that.

Characters: Catherine Morland, our heroine, is likeable in that she is naïve without being self-absorbed or stupid. While Austen describes her in rather unflattering terms at the beginning of the novel, it’s very obvious that Austen is doing so to poke fun at the popular literary conventions of her time, and Catherine’s kindness and charm ultimately win the reader over.

I very much enjoyed the friendships between Catherine and female characters such as Isabella Thorpe and Eleanor Tilney. At first, I was a little skeptical; I thought these relationships would turn out to be fake, but as they developed, I got the sense that Catherine felt genuine affection for these women, and was deeply hurt or concerned when something would go awry.

The male characters likewise felt like “real” presences in Catherine’s life. I liked the relationship Catherine had with her brother, James, and how much she felt betrayed on his behalf when all the interpersonal drama goes down. I also felt like John Thorpe was a sufficient enough antagonist, who seemed capable of making Catherine’s life difficult without being comically evil.

Henry Tilney, Eleanor’s love interest, was a mixed bag for me. Sometimes, I would really appreciate his attitudes and the things that he said. I very much admired the way he cared for his sister, and the way he opposed his father towards the end of the book. I also really liked how he handled Catherine’s naivete and reproached her without thinking less of her. However, I still got the feeling that there was something of an imbalance between him and Catherine, as he seemed more mature and wise, always “instructing” her and being very obviously the more worldly character. I wish Catherine had more to offer that would have made the two a better match, as I couldn’t quite see how their romance developed or how they both contributed something to the relationship.

TL;DR: Featuring Austen’s characteristic wit and humor combined with a likeable protagonist, Northanger Abbey is a delightful adventure sure to entertain any Austen fan. Though some of the narrative could have been developed and given a more satisfying conclusion, this novel is a fun comedy that pokes fun at Gothic tropes as well as mundane misunderstandings.

[tortoisesshells]

Top five alternate jobs Norrington could have had that would have worked out better for him.

I mean, wouldn’t nearly any job have worked out better for him? But then, what is “better”? On the one hand, I’m very much tempted to say that any occupation which cuts down on death-by-impalement is an improvement, but then, I do always hope that James Norrington (whatever universe/incarnation he’s in) can learn to turn his back on unjust systems. So here’s a mashed-up list of possible jobs, either in canon or in AUs, that might have worked out better for him?

(1) First-born son. Presumably inherits the estate, gets to dedicate his life to running it in a relatively ethical manner (since “I serve others, Mr. Sparrow, not only myself” is his in-universe statement of purpose, even if he doesn’t start of examining the larger picture of what, exactly, serving others means), main source of conflict would likely be his own emotional hang-ups and/or his own ambition, but the likelihood of being shishkebab-ed by undead pirates would be relatively low, all things considered.

(2) ... Clergy? If Norrington was still born the second (or more) son, going into the Church would also likely cut down on the risk of death-by-armed-starfish, and might lead him to work through some of his moral qualms vs. his dedication to law and order. There’s always the off chance he might end up more Mr. Elton than Henry Tilney (though honestly, now that I’m writing it out, the way I characterize Lawrence Norrington and Norrington’s as-yet-unnamed older brother in Customs and Duties owes a lot to General Tilney and Frederick Tilney?), and it does seem like the kind of life that might bore him.

(3) The next Captain of the Flying Dutchman. Okay, sure, he’s still ... not all that alive, but would get to stick around and preserve his character development.

(4) Coast Guard officer. I have no justification for this beyond my terrible half-baked Roaring Twenties AU that I’m heartily sorry has at all seen the light of day.

(5) Lawyer. Same concern about law and order, same balancing act between his own ambition and his sense of right and wrong, dramatically less chance of violent death? I swear I’m going to finish the modern AU someday.

[amandaklwrites]

Movie Review: Austenland (2013)

Genre: Rom-Com

Rating: 10/10

Movie Review:

Let me begin this review by saying this is my FAVORITE movie of all time. So it’ll basically me gushing over everything and having no bad comments whatsoever. Because I don’t typically have a lot of bad comments about movies I love, but nothing about this movie especially.

The whole idea of this movie is just my thing—a woman in our modern era goes to a place to experience the life in Jane Austen’s books?? Why can’t this be a real thing?? Please?

There is so much about this movie that is perfect. The humor is bloody brilliant. I have a very weird sense of humor (though I find almost anything funny), and this movie pretty much sums up why I find downright hilarious. The randomness, the silliness, the pureness of just straight up humor. Especially Jennifer Coolidge; her character, her lines. She played that role perfectly, as Elizabeth Charming, and I couldn’t get enough of her.

Jane is me. I’m not kidding. I am more in love with fictional men and stories than real life. I would prefer to step into a book and never come back. So Jane’s dilemma with life and men and dating is something I struggle with constantly. So, yes, I would spend my life’s savings on a chance to experience something like Austenland. I liked how Keri Russell portrayed her—just a typical everyday woman who wants to find something romantical and fantastical. So of course I connected with her intstantly. Even the personalities are similar—extroverted introvert. I could easily slip into her shoes and that’s probably the number one reason why I love this movie so much. It could literally be me doing all this, so I’m just experiencing it through Jane’s eyes.

JJ Feild. JJ Bloody Feild. I love this man. I think he’s a brilliant actor, but I love his character as Henry Nobley. He’s just a dreamy man (in the film and outside of it), and I knew instantly when I first saw this movie that I was going to love Henry. Yes, he’s the “Darcy type” (don’t hurt me, but I don’t like Mr. Darcy at all—I’m more of a Tilney person, which funny enough, JJ played as well), but I like him much more as the movie goes on. He’s just a sweetheart, and at the end, I loved him way too much. It’s just so wonderful and I want to cry.

Please don’t hurt me on this either, but I didn’t love Bret McKenzie. No, I liked his acting and I thought he was a great addition to the film with his character Martin, but I don’t find him that attractive. And I found him… fake from the beginning. So I never liked Jane and Martin together. I felt like something was up. But he was funny and Bret was great at the rake, and I loved the really crappy fight Martin and Henry had at the airport. It was just too hilarious.

Everyone else in the cast was absolutely wonderful. Jane Seymour as Mrs. Wattlesbrook was a great person to hate. James Callis as Colonel Andrews made me snort laughing. Georgia King as Amelia was an absolute mess and psycho, but I loved her. Ricky Whittle as Captain Eastwood was just too amazing. Everyone in this movie was great and I loved every single part. They all brought the movie to another level and were so fantastic with the comedy.

Like I have probably said a million times in this review, everything about this movie is great. The comedy, the storyline (I do love rom-coms, even if we know how it’ll end), the landscape (I LOVE England), the whole plot of her escaping to her dream place. Even with Jane realizing toward the end that this wasn’t right, that this was a bad game when you didn’t know what was real or not, that was realistic and I was glad they delved into that. The filming was perfect, the moments made me swoon (yeah, I said it, sue me). I just flipping LOVE THIS MOVIE!

This is the movie that I could just have playing over and over all day in the background, because it makes me feel so happy and comfortable, and that warm and fuzzy feeling. It’s THAT movie for me, which everyone has that movie. I pretty much know every line, I still laugh at everything, I fall in love with Henry all over again. Yes, it’s that movie, for sure.

I also want to say that I did read the book, after I first watched the movie a few years ago. And I loved the book too. They did a great job of pretty much sticking exactly with the book (well, the writer was one of the screenwriters) and embellished it a bit more. I do have to say, this is one of those rare cases when I love the movie more than the book. But just because more was added to it, because of the cast and comedy, and watching it all unfold. For me, it’s a better experience to watch it (since it’s perfect to me) than read the book. But that’s okay, because the author was extremely involved!

I will watch this movie so many more times in my life, I know it.

[bethanydelleman]

Possible Other Book Pairings Part 1: Pride & Prejudice

I’m kind of a strange JAFF writer because I have very few One True Pairings. The only pairing in Jane Austen I will not mess with is Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland because I love them too much. I’ll happily kill Elizabeth Bennet or make her and Darcy never meet. And I am always trying to get Fanny away from Edmund. I might write up some of these in the future, but here are my possible cross book pairings for P&P characters:

I wrote a Persuasion and P&P crossover (which you can currently read for free) and spoilers, the pairings were Louisa Musgrove & Bingley, Anne & Darcy, Elizabeth & Wentworth, Jane & Captain Benwick, and Caroline & Mr. Elliot (he likes her, it’s fine). I also prevented the Wickham/Lydia debacle and Mary married Mr. Collins.

Northanger Abbey: I think Darcy would be interested in Eleanor Tilney, but he’d probably see Catherine as a little sister. Bingley might be drawn in by Isabella Thorpe but he’d get over her pretty fast. Caroline divides her flirting time between Frederick Tilney and Darcy. I think Elizabeth would find Henry Tilney fun but I don’t know if they would actually work as a couple (they both like to talk too much). I think Jane might be better suited to Henry. Lydia would probably actually like John Thorpe and would definitely be BFFs with Isabella.

Emma: Emma and Darcy would probably like each other but that pairing would be THE WORST and WE CANNOT ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN. I am fairly certain that Darcy wouldn’t agree to move to Hartfield full time so we are safe. Emma and Darcy are basically the same person and I think they’d bring out the absolute worst in each other. Bingley would probably like Jane Fairfax, and I could see Frank Churchill being interested in Georgiana (aged up a little), though he’d flirt with Elizabeth. I think Elizabeth would be happy with John Knightley. Lydia and Kitty would be all gaga over the Hot Preacher Mr. Elton, but as he’s looking for money he’d be after the newly rich Miss King. Charlotte makes a play for Mr. Woodhouse. I could also see Jane being happy with Mr. Weston.

Sense and Sensibility: Darcy would probably love Elinor and hate Marianne. Bingley goes for Marianne’s looks, not sure if he would like her personality... but to be honest he might find it endearing. Lucy Steele would be ready to try for both Darcy and Bingley, probably focusing on the easier mark of Bingley. I think he would see through her and Darcy certainly would. Wickham would try for Sophia Grey. Elizabeth would probably love Willoughby and then be disgusted by him when she found out the truth. I could see Jane liking Colonel Brandon. I’m not sure if anyone pairs well with Edward… maybe Jane? Jane can’t marry everyone! Lydia and Kitty would be all over Willoughby but probably dismiss Colonel Brandon as too old. None of the men are rich enough for Caroline.

Mansfield Park: Bingley has trouble picking between the two beautiful Miss Bertrams but settles on Julia because she actually has an okay personality. Darcy is completely uninterested in them, but is drawn in by Mary Crawford. He clues in to her amorality WAY FASTER than Edmund and then falls for Fanny because she is awesome (she also activates Saviour Complexes and we know Darcy has one of those). Elizabeth would probably like Henry Crawford but if he tried the flirting-with-multiple-sisters thing she would shut him down (because she actually has good sister relationships). I could see Edmund maybe getting together with Jane. Caroline tries for Tom Bertram, since he’s the heir, and has very little success because she’s not a racehorse and that’s what he’s into right now. Lydia and Kitty fawn over William Price with all his exciting sea journeys. Henry Crawford probably wouldn’t actually marry.

(And yes, I leave out Mary Bennet a lot, I just don’t find her very interesting or likable...)

[hms-chill]

Sleep With Me

Ever since high school, Alex has been falling asleep to the same podcast: Sleep With Me, where a British man named Tilney tells rambling bedtime stories and gives positive affirmations. But after they're outed, the podcast goes quiet, and Tilney may be closer than Alex thinks.

Alex is a podcasts person. Not as much of one as Nora, but still, a podcasts person. Nora listens to them almost constantly, and when she finds one she thinks Alex would like, she recommends it to him. After his first accidental all-nighter in high school, when he'd been kept up not by work but by the stress of upcoming work, well, she'd had a podcast for that. A podcast called Sleep With Me, were a British voice rambles its way through boring stories and quiet affirmations until Alex drifts into dreamland.

Tilney, the voice of Sleep With Me, has been there for him since high school, when he'd been figuring out his recording equipment and Alex had been trying desperately not to think of anything outside of school, lacrosse, and a resume good enough to get him into the college of his dreams. The minutes (and hours) between going to bed and falling asleep were always the hardest, when his mind would race and he'd be left stranded in a dark netherworld, alternating between terror and exhaustion. But then he found Tilney, and the rambling voice gave him just enough to focus on that his mind could stop racing. Tilney would put out an episode a week, and Alex would listen to that episode seven times without reaching the end awake.

He's not entirely sure how or when it happened, but at some point, Alex started to rely on Tilney. He didn't notice at first, just incorporated the podcast into his bedtime routine and accepted it. There would be a new episode up every Monday, and if he looked forward to them, well, it was because listening to the same thing for a week got boring. But then there was a week without an update. It came just after the end of his junior year of high school, when his mom was officially running for president and he was starting to think about college and what being half-Mexican First Children could mean for him and June. The missed episode just added wondering where Tileny went to the long list of worries buzzing around his head. When the epizode came two days later, Tilney sounded different. He sounded tired, and for the first time, Alex started to think of Tilney as a person rather than just a voice. He became a friend, even, though Alex would never have admitted that.

But he would admit to being genuinely worried, especially when the episode started out with, "Hi, everyone. So I... my family has been having a hard time recently, so I'm just going to be reading a bit today. I know this isn't... this isn't a normal thing for me, and it isn't going to become one, but for a while I don't quite have the energy to write new stories, and I always tell you all to look after yourselves and that's something I'm going to try to do, too. I'm sorry if this isn't your thing; that's alright. I won't be upset if you'd rather listen to old episodes or take a break for a bit, but I promise I'll pick rambling books and I really appreciate your patience. We'll be reading parts of The Iliad today, and maybe parts of Les Mis later; we'll see how long it is before I get back to normal, but no matter what I'm going to be here to help look out for you. I'm not going to leave you, I promise; you can trust and count on me. "Anyway, today we'll be reading some about the Trojan War, specifically the lineages of the people involved. Like always, you don't have to listen to me. You can turn me way down so I'm just a mumble, or you can fall asleep or ignore me or anything. I just want you to be comfortable, and I want to help you relax and be here for you. If you do fall asleep, that's wonderful. You deserve a good night's sleep, but if you don't fall asleep, that's alright, too. I'll still be here for you; I'm going to look out for you, because you're important to me and you deserve someone who has your back, no matter what. No matter who you are or what you're going through, I'm here for you. I promise."

Alex has listened to the Iliad episode the most. He listened to it the night before his mom was elected, when he was so jittery that he nearly made it to the end. He listened to it that first night in the White House, when he realized the age of their new home and could feel the ghosts of ages past watching him sleep. He listened to it the night before the Royal Wedding, when he'd known he'd have to face Prince Henry and the rest of the British monarchy the next day. Somehow, Tilney made him feel like he could do it. Hearing Tilney's voice promise to be there helps.

'Sleep With Me' works for him for a few reasons. First, Tilney's voice is often exactly what Alex needs. It's soft enough to be reassuring, but confident enough that Alex trusts him. On some monkey-brain level, he believes that Tilney will protect him when he sleeps. But there's more than just the voice; the content of the podcast is what really sells him. Throughout the podcast, Tilney promises over and over that Alex is doing great, and he deserves a good night's sleep and a world that is kind to him. Tilney promises to look after and support him, and even when things feel overwhelming, Tilney stays calm and only a few taps away. Tilney is going to look after him and keep him company, no matter what he's going through or worried about. Through everything, Tilney's voice is a calming influence. His voice finds all the cracks in Alex's built up armor, and instead of asking to take that armor off, he rubs Alex's shoulders beneath it. He tries to get Alex comfortable, and if the armor comes off in that process, he lets Alex be the one to let it go. Every night, his time with Tilney feels like entering a bubble, separated from the public eye and the stress of college or family tension or whatever else may be bothering him. In his bubble with Tilney, he can be just Alex, an insomniac who trusts a voice to lead him to sleep.

He listens to Sleep With Me on the way home from the Royal Wedding, when he's trying to sleep to avoid Zahra's glares and the fact that not even Nora seems to be fully on his side. Tilney doesn't care about the bizarrely expensive cake or the possible fallout of the cake-based disaster. Tilney isn't angry with him for a stumble that wasn't his fault.The podcast lets Alex enter a bubble away from cake-gate, and Tilney is there, promising that he deserves good things, and he's important, and that someone has his back no matter what. That's always Tilney's biggest point: he'll support Alex, no matter what happens or what Alex does. Tilney offers unconditional, unwavering help and support. It's exactly what Alex needs.

The next weekend, when he's trying to sleep in Kensington and everything feels wrong and old and full of pressure, Tilney is there to calm his mind. It's been racing with worries he'd never admit to that he'll mess up their fake friendship and ruin his mother's career, not to mention the fact that he'll have to spend all day with a dickhead. And after the trip, when it goes well and Henry now has his number, Tilney is there to help his too-fast brain stop trying to puzzle out just how much of a dickhead Henry really is.

Tilney is there for him through everything. He's there when Henry kisses him, calming Alex's racing mind then and in the weeks of ghosting that follow. At some point in the midst of the ghosting, Alex takes to Twitter. He uses his unofficial account, the one where he can admit his insomnia and his fears and all of the things he doesn't want the public to know about Alex Claremont-Diaz, First Son. On his personal twitter, he's just a boy named Alex, and that boy can shamelessly send a series of long, thankful tweets at Tilney.

@justAlex thank god for @SleepWithMe y'all this podcast is everything i need

@justAlex i've been listening for years but now it hits different

@justAlex long story short i'm in the middle of a personal crisis and @SleepWithMe is a miracle worker and the only reason i'm getting any sleep

@justAlex i highly recommend @SleepWithMe for insomniacs or anyone who likes to have someone there for them whenever/whatever is happening he's been one of the most consistently encouraging voices in my life for years and he deserves the best

@justAlex in conclusion yes i am a grown man who listens to bedtime stories when i can't sleep but insomnia's nothing to be ashamed of and a massive thanks to @SleepWithMe for telling those bedtime stories

Tilney likes his tweets. The next episode's introduction includes, "And I just want to say to anyone out there going through something hard, you'll be okay. If you're up late because there's a personal crisis or something you think you just can't do, I bet you can do it. I'm rooting for you, and I know you'll be alright. After all, you've gotten this far. You've done all the things you've done, and you've made it through every impossible thing up to this point. You can get through this, too."

And, like always, Alex feels a little less alone. Tilney trusts him, and he's going to do what he can to make sure Alex can get through this and the upcoming dinner and whatever comes his way next. And if Tilney's voice seems to sound like Henry's, well, that's because everything is reminding him of Henry these days. A British accent isn't an exception to that rule, even if it is a British accent that he knows belongs to someone else.

-

The night after the state dinner (and everything that follows it) marks the first time in years that Alex falls asleep truly alone, without anyone in the room and without Tilney's voice beside him. It's the first time in years that he hasn't had a reason to not listen to Sleep With Me, he simply doesn't turn it on because he doesn't need it. Henry has somehow slowed his brain down enough that he's able to sleep without Tilney's help. The next morning, he feels almost guilty about it. Tilney had been there, ready and waiting, and Alex had ignored him.

That night, though, Tilney is still there. He's still promising that things are going to be alright, and that Alex can get through anything. He's still promising unconditional support and help sleeping, no matter what.

It becomes a pattern. Alex doesn't listen to Sleep With Me on nights he's with Henry, mostly because it seems rude. He's not sure how to admit that he typically falls asleep to a bedtime story, and it seems strange to bring it up. Besides, he never quite seems to need Tilney's voice when Henry is around. That's something he should probably try to understand-- why he somehow relaxes more with Henry than with a person who's been comforting him for years-- but he's never been particularly good at exploring his own emotions. So he doesn't listen when he doesn't need it, and he hopes Tilney won't mind.

Tilney never minds. He's still there when Alex needs him, making a home in the podcasts app and telling rambling stories for sleepless nights. He's there when Luna betrays them, after Henry has to leave and Alex is left to wonder what went wrong. He has a new episode out early that week, and in the intro, he says, "I just want to be here for you all, because I want you to have someone who can help you out no matter what. I want to be someone you can count on, even if it feels like people are abandoning you, I never want to do that. And maybe I can't be a role model or anything like that, but I can be here to help you sleep, and if today's been hard, maybe a good night's sleep will help make tomorrow better. Of course, if you can't sleep, that's alright, too. I'm here for you no matter what."

It's an introduction that feels almost like it's made for him, and it's perfect. It provides the exact comfort he needs, and it quiets his mind, reassuring him that even if they've lost Luna and Los Bastardos and everything that his friendship meant, at least he has Tilney. Some things never change.

-

When Alex was a kid, his dad would take him and June camping. Every now and then, they'd go too early in the year, when the nights were still chilly. When it got too cold, Alex would lie on one end of a blanket and roll himself up into a burrito, and his dad would laugh and pick him up, holding him in one arm and a bundled-up June in the other. He'd show them the stars, pointing out the dippers and Hydra and occasionally bits of the Summer Triangle. Sometimes, he'd show them a planet. And when they were too cold or too sleepy to appreciate the stars anymore, he'd take them into the tent and zip them into mummy sleeping bags until only two tired, smiling faces were visible.

Tilney's voice, and the stories he tells, are made up of all the best parts of Young Alex's blanket burrito/sleeping bag bundle. It's the comfort of his dad's arms and the warmth and coziness of the blankets around him without the sweaty mornings. His voice is the cocoon that wraps Alex up in his own little world, a world of stars and planets and good, safe things. There is no room in that cocoon for anxiety or stress or family friends who've turned against him; those are kept safely outside the tent.

-

The first time Alex finishes an episode awake is the night after Henry leaves him at the lake house in Texas. His head is just too full, and not even the Iliad episode is enough to quiet him down. By the end, Tilney's voice hasn't changed much. He signs off with, "Well, that's all I have right now. If you didn't fall asleep, if you're still here with me, that's alright. I'm still rooting for you no matter what, and I'll be here in other episodes. I still want a good night's sleep for you, so don't give up, alright? Just keep trying, and let yourself rest while the next episode auto-plays, and I know you can make it happen. Thanks for listening, and goodnight."

If Tilney's voice sounds like Henry's, that's because every single thing in Alex's life right now is a vivid reminder of the fact that Henry's abandoned him. If Alex cries at the end, that's because he's lying on his side and his eye is leaking. It's certainly not because, with Tilney's 'goodnight', it feels like the only other person he's ever truly slept with is abandoning him, too. He doesn't feel alone in the world, adrift in the darkness with only his bed as a raft, that simple 'goodnight' severing his last tie to humanity and casting him into a sea of aloneness. He hasn't been abandoned by every person he's ever been close with or looked up to, one after the other. He has June and Nora and his parents and congress by thirty. He has what he needs.

He falls asleep near the end of the next episode, and he certainly doesn't cry through it.

He nearly finishes every episode that week. But on the plane ride home from London, he's asleep before the intro ends, finally relaxed enough that Tilney can work his magic.

-

That's not the only time he's awake for the end of the episode, though. He needs Tilney more when the DNC tapes get leaked, when he has to watch the world ship his sister and his boyfriend and there is nothing he can do. The day he goes on his fake date with Nora, when he's trying to be steady for Henry despite the feeling that the world is collapsing around him, Tilney tweets that he's having a bit of trouble that week but will have an episode out as soon as he can. Alex talks to Henry that night, and when he falls into bed, expecting to go back to the Iliad episode, he's greeted by an episode that's been up for mere minutes. Tilney's voice is as strong and comforting and magical as ever. He's there, in his booth and in Alex's podcast app, and he's going to keep Alex company. He promises to, his voice steady and self-assured, and Alex trusts him.

Despite everything, despite the knot of fear consuming his gut and the overwhelming surety that something else will go wrong, Tilney is able to put him to sleep. The last thing Alex processes is, "No matter who you are, I'm here for you. If there are parts of yourself that you've got to hide away right now, I'm here for those parts especially. I'm here for your weird thoughts and your smelly toes and the crush you can't admit. I'm here for every single part of you, and I'm going to do whatever I can to help you look after yourself, because you are undeniably someone worth looking after."

If he cries at that, at the knowledge that someone out there is going to actually support him, well, it's been a long day and he's infuriatingly close to his inaccessible boyfriend. He deserves a few tears.

-

Things go from bad to catastrophically worse. After weeks of teetering on the edge of a cliff, hanging onto their last threads of sanity, everything shatters to the ground around them. Their emails are leaked, their souls bared to anyone insensitive enough to read the personal letters of a pair of young lovers. Alex feels his whole world caving in.

On the plane to London, when he's talked to Henry but can't relax, when Prisoner of Azkaban can't distract him and pacing is out of the question because Zahra's stare pins him to his seat like a beetle, he turns on Sleep With Me and lets Tilney's voice read him some truly boring classics and calm him down. He doesn't expect to fall asleep, and he doesn't really, but for at least a few hours of the flight, he's able to stop panicking. Tilney pulls him into their little bubble, into the tent and the blanket cocoon of his unending support, and Alex tries to leave all of his baggage outside until they land.

-

He doesn't notice until he's flying home, but Tilney misses an upload that week. When he gets home, when he's talked to June and let the dust settle a bit and can finally take a moment for himself, he checks Tilney's twitter. Nothing, other than a few messages from past weeks promising he was doing his best in hard circumstances.

Of course Henry calls right as Alex is processing that, and of course he can tell that something is wrong, and because he's a good boyfriend, of course he asks about it. Which forces Alex to admit, "It's stupid. But there's this podcast I listen to, and the guy who makes it... this is honestly so dumb, and it's the tiniest thing I could possibly worry about, but I've been listening since high school and the guy who makes it has sort of just disappeared. There was supposed to be a new episode a day or two ago, and usually if it's late he'll tweet, but he hasn't. I don't know, it's dumb. I've never met the guy, but I fall asleep to him every night, and I know this is stupid, but it feels like... I don't know, like he's a friend or something. And I'm worried about him, since apparently I don't have enough in my regular life to worry about."

"I don't think it's stupid," Henry says, "he's someone you've started to depend on, and you trust him. Podcasts are a sort of intimate form of communication, and falling asleep with someone is intimate, too. If you've been listening for so long, it makes sense that it feels like he's a friend you have sleepovers with rather than a celebrity or something. I'm sure it's hard to feel like you've lost him, especially if he hasn't given any reason for it or any sign that he's alright."

"I mean, yeah, it's not like this is normal for him. I can't remember the last time he missed an episode and didn't tweet about it, and all his recent tweets are about how things are tough for him, so... I guess I just hope he's okay. Like even if he's not going to keep making Sleep With Me, that's fine, I just want-- what?"

When he'd mentioned the name of the podcast, Henry had made a sound he couldn't quite identify. It's something like surprise, but he's not entirely sure how to classify it.

"You listen to Sleep With Me."

"I have since high school. Do you listen to it? I guess he is from your country; that could make sense."

"Alex, you bloody thick... I make Sleep With Me. It's a stupid thing Pez and I started in Eton's sound lab, but then it helped people, so we kept it up. Do I listen... bloody hell."

"No. What? But you... you're Henry, and he's Tilney, and your... your voice. It's different, I swear. I compared it to an interview and everything." That had been a low point. He'd been five days into a week of ghosting and desperately wanted proof that they were different, and Tilney only sounded like Henry because they were both posh Brits. He can see now that confirmation bias may have played a roll in his final decision.

"Of course my voice sounds different when I'm in an interview. Prince Henry of Wales, playing the part of a perfect little straight heir to the throne, is going to sound different from Tilney, who's hiding behind a mic and just wants you to sleep. What, did you think... I mean, 'Tilney' is a reference to my actual name. Do they not teach Austen in your American schools? Have you really never experienced the masterpiece that is Northanger Abbey? Has June never even seen the movie?"

"Well I don't exactly admit to my sister that I listen to bedtime stories to fall asleep! That's not going to get her to worry less about me. But hang on. That night after I went on a date with Nora, you had an episode out. You said you supported my weird crushes, I remember, because that felt so good to hear that someone wasn't upset about us."

"I edited on the plane and uploaded from the hotel, and that's... that's exactly what I needed to hear, so that's what I said, and I hoped it would help someone else, too."

"Wait. Damn. I'm still just processing this, I mean, I knew you were good at words. You've got an Oxford degree in fancy words, but dude. Sleep With Me is like... next level good at words. And it's so smart. Seriously. I've got a whole separate twitter that's like half just a fan account for Sleep With Me because I love it so much."

"No. You're not... JustAlex?"

"That's me."

"Back in January, when you said you were having a personal crisis--"

"That was you, you obtuse fucking asshole! I was having a personal crisis because you kissed me and I couldn't stop thinking about it no matter what I did."

"That would explain why we always seemed to have trouble at the same time." Henry's started to laugh just a bit, and Alex grins.

"Well, um, I guess it's nice to know I don't have to worry about Tilney. How are things there? I guess the Queen Mother hasn't had you assassinated yet?"

Henry laughs, and things start to feel like they're going to be alright again. They can still talk and laugh, they have each other, and they're putting the rest of the pieces back together one by one. When Alex starts yawning, Henry offers to hang up and let him sleep, but Alex stops him.

"You... you don't have to, but do you happen to have a copy of The Iliad handy?"

"I could certainly find it."

"Would... if you don't want to that's alright, but would you mind reading to me? Just for a bit. I... I really liked it when you read, on the podcast, I mean; it... those ones felt special." In the reading episodes, Tilney-- Henry-- wasn't a parent or a storyteller anymore. He was just like Alex, trying to make things work as best he could.

"Of course I'll read to you, Alex. I will read to you every night if that will help you sleep. Get ready for bed, and I'll go find the book and a particularly boring section."

When they come back together, Alex puts his phone on speaker and Henry starts to read, occasionally slipping in an 'I love you so much' or a 'you deserve a good night's sleep, and I'm glad I can help you get one'. Alex is snoring before long, and Henry closes the book. He picks up his phone and says softly, "I love you, Alex. You are the best, most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me, and I hope that someday, I get to watch you fall asleep to my voice. Until then, I will always be here for you, in impersonal bedrooms, in your podcast app, and someday soon, in your arms."

On AO3

[somewheremeantforme]

10 favorite female characters

Borrowing the tag from @pythionice because creating this list was surprisingly therapeutic. Although I now want to read everything on it again.

Tagging: anyone who would like to do it, but a gentle nudge in particular to @emberglows, @ciacconas, @lantur, @muffinworry, @imthemuthafuckingcricket, and @revenantmothling. No pressure of course.

1. Robin McKinley’s Beauty: my god, this was formative. Beauty and the Beast retellings are my bread and butter; along with East of the Sun, West of the Moon, it’s my favorite fairy tale. But this Beauty - bookish, practical, waspish, kind, achingly insecure, wonderfully strong - was everything to me. I was bookish and quiet too, and I’d never met a heroine with those traits until Beauty. (Yes, Hermione Granger is a bookworm too. No, she is not quiet. I liked her, but I could never relate. Such a Gryffindor.)

2. Sandrilene fa Toren/Trisana Chandler/Daja Kisubo: Yes, this is cheating, especially because their quartet isn’t complete without their foster brother Briar Moss, but I love these kids. Separately they’re gold, but it’s when they’re together that the best of them really comes out and I fall in love all over again. This was another formative influence. I first encountered these books when I was a year or so younger than the characters, and I grew up as they did. Also, quite frankly one of the best magic systems I have ever seen.

3. Tiffany Aching: Formative influence number three! She was my introduction to Discworld, though I actually read I Shall Wear Midnight first. What can I say about Tiffany Aching that hasn’t been said a thousand times before. I could never be her, but I would willingly be her sidekick, always and forever. That speech she gets against the Fairy Queen about selfishness? Dancing with the bees? Talking down winter? Literally life-changing. I get chills to this day.

4. Jane Eyre: last of the formative influences. I met her when I was thirteen, and I frankly worshipped her the way she worshipped Miss Temple. Now we’re more like friends. This article does a great description of her: “my favorite little creep in literature.”

5. Lyra Silvertongue: I never wanted to be her - I’m far too cautious and quiet, and I like it that way - but I would love to have a daughter like her. Lyra is a name I’m seriously considering for a future daughter.

6. Emma Bovary - Emma is selfish and impractical, yes, but also so starved and lonely. What really struck me, though, is how incredibly realistically her mental illness is written - and how much Flaubert hates her for it. I don’t think I’ve ever read another book where the author both understands and hates his creation so intimately. I loved her all the harder for that, and even more since I first met her when I was just starting to recover from mental illness myself.

7. Susan Pevensie: I wanted to marry her when I was fifteen. Tumblr (and to be fair, a lot of modern writers) tends to have a pretty fraught relationship with “the Problem of Susan,” and so did I for a while. I think now my stance is what Lewis himself set out in his foreword: “one day you will be old enough to read fairy tales again.”

8. Ley from Ruin of Angels: Ley is the bad girl every sapphic dreams of. Ley is the horrible ex everyone has nightmares about. Ley is an artist. Ley is manipulative, sharp as a scalpel, secretive and ferocious. I adore her.

9. The second Mrs. De Winter. I met her in my second year of college, when I was going through a rough patch and struggling with whether to keep studying for medical school or switch to ancient history (spoiler, I switched). Meeting this painfully shy, insecure girl and watching her grow into strength was one of the best things that could have happened to me. I cried. 

(As an aside, Max de Winter is my all-time favorite literary hero, second only to Henry Tilney. If you’re reading this and you have a feeling that this is meant to push you into reading the book, it is. You know who you are.)

(Natalie, I’m sorry, but I relate to Darcy far too much to ever want to marry him. He’s all yours)

10. Tullia Minor. “Although  younger, the fiercer of the two sisters.” Encourages a man known as The Arrogant to “greater heights of daring”. Obviously she and Tarquin are made for each other, but her father arranged her marriage to the wrong brother, so she casually kills her husband and talks Tarquin into killing his wife/her sister so they can get hitched. Has three sons and goodness knows how many daughters with him. Deposes her father with him. Is the first to hail her husband as king, to which he replies (again, a man known as The Arrogant), “Please go home, I don’t want you to get hurt.” Runs her chariot over her father’s corpse in the streets. Lady Macbeth, you wish you could be this cool. I am not entirely joking when I say I got my classics degree for the sole purpose of writing a novel about her.

Bonus: Elizabeth Sloane in the film Miss Sloane. I really do not like how her character arc ended, which is why she isn’t in the list proper, but the beginning, my god. Amoral and ruthless and absolutely sharklike. We need more women like her in media. Also, I would kill for her wardrobe (hers and Lorraine Broughton’s).

Bonus 2: Astrid Dane from V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic. Astrid as presented in canon ticks a lot of my boxes, but is missing something to make the whole come to life. The Astrid in my head - my Astrid - owns my soul.

Bonus 3: All the women on NBC’s Hannibal. All of them. I haven't finished the first season yet so I can’t say anything more concrete, but I would marry any one of them in a heartbeat.

[atundratoadstool]

if you don’t mind, what are you top 10 (or anything in the vicinity) gothic lit recs?

Sorry this took forever to answer! As is typical of me these days, I tend to answer my asks and empty out my drafts in big clumps around the time that breaks occur or semesters end (and guess whose semester just ended!). I also ended up puzzling over this question for longer than I thought, as I felt–given my blog’s general content–that there wasn’t much of a point in recommending Dracula and I wanted to avoid recommending any of the big titles in my field unless I was very personally attached to them (Don’t get me wrong, Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde, and Dorian Gray are all great things and you should read them, but they aren’t as close to my heart as Wuthering Heights or Northhanger Abbey.)

In any event, have my top ten gothic lit recs, ranked in rough order of my enthusiasm about recommending them.

1. Wuthering Heights (1847, Emily Brontë): I unapologetically love this novel and all the irredeemably awful people in it who are not Nelly Dean. (I’ve managed to find a sympathetic side to the character, but I still just viscerally dislike her.) It’s definitely my favorite gothic piece that seems to get accorded high status in the canon, and I first truly fell in love with it reading it out loud in the autumn with somebody I love, which is really the perfect way to encounter it.

2. The Werewolf of Paris (1933, Guy Endore): This novel is almost unknown nowadays, and it’s a real shame, as it ought to have been the werewolf genre equivalent of Dracula in terms of fame and influence. It deals with some heavy stuff (abuse, rape, incest, cannibalism, torture, suicide, massacres), both as regards the murders committed by the “monster” and the atrocities committed by collective groups of people and human institutions, and I’m not sure if I would completely agree with all of the moral messages it attempts to impart were I to re-read it today. Still, it’s a wonderfully written novel that treats its monster of choice with a subtlety I’ve not seen elsewhere in werewolf fiction, and it really appeals to the part of me who enjoys consulting Wikipedia to fact check the author’s own historical research.

3. Rebecca (1936, Daphne du Maurier): I have never simultaneously wanted to be and wanted to marry a first person narrator this much. This novel is a wonderful iteration of Gothic novels of the “I married this dude and his giant mansion has a spooky secret” genre, and Du Maurier’s use of language is breathtakingly gorgeous.

4. The Great God Pan (1895, Arthur Machen): Arthur Machen writes some of the best horror I’ve ever read, and The Great God Pan is remarkable as one of the few stories to truly unnerve me in the days after I read it. (I’m typically not one to be very rattled by books.) It’s mad science meets decadent aesthetics and it’s also a clear forerunner to some of the cooler stuff Loveraft does.

5. Northanger Abbey (1817, Jane Austen): Catherine Morland makes my fillings hurt with her sweetness, and Henry Tilney is forever #1 Austen hunk in my book hands down. I admit that I’m not much of a fan of early Gothic and Ann Radcliffe endlessly telling me about picturesque trees, but I’m intensely into this early parody of the genre, and I recommend it to anyone who might find themselves generally unenchanted with either Radcliffe or with Austen (given how different it is from her other novels).

6. Carmilla (1872, J. S. Le Fanu): Dracula will forever be the #1 vampire novel of my heart, but Le Fanu honestly has a much more beautiful prose style than Stoker, and I think that the short, ghostly, ambiguous novella he writes is a lot more chilling than Bram’s sprawling magnum opus. While Uncle Silas isn’t on this list (because it honestly wasn’t that great…), I think Carmilla’s also utterly fascinating as an inversion of the dynamics of Le Fanu’s major novel in which young women find strength in their love for one another in the face of genuinely malevolent patriarchs and meddling French governesses.

7. The Woman in White (1859, Wilkie Collins): Technically it’s “sensaton fiction,” but if there is an ominous figure lurking about the heath clad in white, I think your novel automatically gets to go under the Gothic umbrella. In any event, Collins is a fun, witty writer who knows how to write an enticing mystery, his use of the epistolary format is foundational and fun, and both Count Fosco and Marian Halcombe are majestically crafted characters that deserve the abundance of praise they typically get.

8. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824, James Hogg): Imagine The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde only it was written earlier and is more confusing. Now imagine all of the early Gothic sensationalized Catholicism that would be typical of the era has been subbed out for early Gothic sensationalized Presbyterianism. That’s what this book is, and it holds the strange distinction of being one of the few stories to truly unnerve my Master’s thesis adviser in the days after he read it. It’s also a useful educational story to give to people who need clear examples of how to tell if their new best friend might be the devil.

9. The Beetle (1897, Richard Marsh): This novel is terrible in a lot of great ways and great in a lot of terrible ways. (It’s also just terrible in a lot of terrible ways, like it’s portrayal of sickeningly orientalist murder orgy cults as directed by gender ambiguous insect people.) One of its peak terriblegreat features, though, is my fave, Sidney Atherton, a mad scientist whom nobody seems to notice is a mad scientist, even though he’s monologuing about making an unstoppable death gas and killing his romantic rival’s cat.

10. Trilby (1895, George du Maurier): This book is vile, antisemitic garbage, and I would not fault anyone for opening it up, glancing at one of Du Maurier’s illustrations, and hurling it through a window. Still, it’s an interesting read if you’re looking into the origins of The Phantom of the Opera or, like me, you are very interested in the literary history of mesmerism. This is like… the holy grail of literary mesmerism texts. I also honestly do find Svengali, as awful a stereotype as he is, to be genuinely sympathetic in his desires to bring the celestial music he hears into reality, and there are moments where I think the prose is very evocative (I love the chilling phrase “flageolet of flesh and blood” to refer to a mesmeric subject, for example.)

[rockinlibrarian]

Three Survey Memes

@e_louise_bates tagged me once directly and twice indirectly (I mean, since I'm already typing something here I might as well do the others too), so here. Please feel free to comment! I like discussions!

Survey One (what I was actually tagged for): Name my top ten favorite characters from ten different fandoms.

I feel like the way this is phrased, I should pick ten fandoms first and then narrow them down to the characters, so that's what I did. It's an easier way to find my favorite characters, anyway.

1. From Harry Potter: Luna Lovegood, obviously

2. From Tolkien: Samwise Gamgee, obviously

3. From the MCU: Peggy Carter, most obviously of all

4. From Star Wars: This is a product of me picking fandoms first, and then discovering I don't have an OBVIOUSLY answer this time. But when you get right down to it, I've always had a special place in my heart for Obi Wan.

5. From Diana Wynne Jones: Sophie Hatter. Stealing one from Louise there, but again, obviously.

6. From L.M. Montgomery: Stealing the fandom from Louise that time, but I on the other hand have to stick with Anne Shirley, because she may top my fave character list, period.

7. From Jane Austen: Rev. Henry Tilney, NOT stealing from Louise because again, OBVIOUSLY, as she well knows, too. :D

8. From Discworld: DEATH. This was hard, because as soon as I started thinking of Discworld, so many MUST INCLUDES came up. Tiffany! DEATH's granddaughter, whose name I totally had a minute ago when I first thought of it but now has suddenly slipped my mind as I'm typing it (my brain now keeps trying to tell me it's "Karen" but that feels utterly wrong Her last name's Sto-Helit. I think. EDIT: SUSAN! Of course. The second I hit "post")! Sam Vimes, one of the other great Sams of fiction! But who's there and perfect and wonderful through all of it? DEATH. So I'm sticking with that.

9. Uh, other Marvel properties that aren't the MCU: I just have to shout out again to the Loudermilk twins from Legion. They count as one person because they sort of are, and because their chemistry together just MAKES them, even though they both individually are pretty fun, too (Cary's dorkiness and Kerry's innocent enthusiasm for beating people up). There was like a block of three or four episodes this season without them and it nearly ruined the whole season for me.

10. No particular fandom I'm aware of but no list of favorite characters is complete without: Blossom Culp. From the books by Richard Peck.

SURVEY TWO, a writing one:

1. When did you start writing and how? In first grade I had this dream about a disgruntled Santa's elf taking our church hostage on Christmas Eve. It was a great dream, so I decided to turn it into a book. Recently I decided to revisit it-- the basic plot, at least-- as a picture book. And for some stupid reason I decided it needed to be in verse. It might work some day.

Early on all my story ideas came from dreams, actually. Still today, my subconscious does most of my story-creating. Last night I had one about this huge family that lived in a mansion with a public pool in it and had all sorts of hijinks. They were great. They lived on Chalk Street and the oldest girl's boyfriend was named Granger the Ranger. Anyhoo.

2. What is your favorite line from your own work? It's got to be "Concentration leads to Meditation leads to Levitation leads to Aviation," because that's just a way of life.

I'm also partial to anything at all that Billy Boyd says in the Pipeweed Mafia Stories.

3. Who is your writing idol, and how have they influenced you? Hmm, I wouldn't call Madeleine L'Engle my writing idol, but she has influenced me the most, with her way of seeing the cosmic in the very small and the individual in the cosmic. And I named my daughter after her. But my Patron Saint of Writing whom I occasionally call on for intervention is Diana Wynne Jones. I don't know why. She just seems to be who I need to get my writing juices flowing.

4. Which oc has the best family (found or otherwise)? Of my characters? Hmm, I've never really focused much on family in my works. Even found family. I guess Billy 'Arrison's uncle IS George Harrison, so probably that.

5. Which oc has the most satisfying ending to their story? Ah, I'm terrible at endings. None of my characters has an ending to their story, not just because most of my works have never been finished, but because I keep thinking of things that happen to them later. NO ENDINGS.

6. If you’ve gotten feedback on your writing, who is your readers’ favorite character? If not who do you think readers will fall in love with? Well, no questions there. Billy 'Arrison. I mean look how often he's come up already in this survey. If you ask anybody whose ever read my work to name ANY of my original characters, they will go with Billy. Heck, people who HAVEN'T actually read his story would pick Billy.

7. Which tropes (eg. Friends to lovers, fake death, white haired pretty boy) do you always find yourself wanting to write? All my stories tend to have the theme of disparate people becoming friends through having an adventure together. I recently wondered if that's because I've always thought friendship would be easier if you could cut out all the small talk, and having an adventure leaves no time for small talk.

8. What goes through your head when writing a scene? The... scene? Also, random entirely unrelated stuff. Because I have ADHD. My brain is impossible to follow anywhere.

9. How specific is your idea of your characters’ appearance usually? Do you draw them? (If so can we see it?) Facial features are usually fairly foggy to me. I get general shape and color, so, like, what their hair looks like, their size, their race. I get their sense of style, too-- often I give them a signature item of clothing whether in my mind or in the text. I've drawn a few of my characters, yes, but I'm not particularly good at drawing consistently.

10. What are you proudest of as a writer? That I can occasionally look back at things I have written and be delighted by them as a reader. Unfortunately most of these things I have written continue to not be finished.

SURVEY THREE, also about writing:

1. How many works in progress do you currently have? That depends on your definition of "in progress." If you mean ACTUALLY IN PROGRESS, zero. Zip. Unless you count a couple of GeekMom articles I have in the planning stage. Or unless you count not-writing. I have a living room renovation in progress at the moment.

How many works do I have in an incomplete status that I plan to get back to eventually? Hmmm. At least five.

2. Do you/would you write fanfiction? I'm not INTO fanfiction but I do/have written a few pieces when they occur to me. There's of course the Pipeweed Mafia, which is a mix of Inklings fanfic and real people fanfic. You could count me writing George Harrison into Billy's background real people fic. One of my works in possible occasional progress is a Firefly fic about how Zoe fell in love with Wash. Oh, I should have put Firefly on my list of fandoms above, just so I could name Kaylee. KAYLEE, people. But I haven't written fic about her. Anyway. I also once wrote a very short prompt response X-Files fic that always delights me. It's silly, and yet in character.

3) Do you prefer paper books or ebooks? Paper.

4) When did you start writing? First grade.

5) Do you have someone you trust that you share your work with? A few people. It depends on the type of work, who would be the best fit for it. Louise is in fact one.

6) Where is your favorite place to write? Someplace where I don't have real life demands calling on me. Oddly enough, I think I got some of my best writing done while working at the Children's Museum, during downtime. On slow days I'd write a scene on the back of my schedule. A page a day really adds up! Of course, on busy days that was unthinkable!

7) Favorite childhood book? Have I mentioned A Wrinkle In Time?

8) Writing for fun or publication? Depends on where I am in life. Now, it is for fun, unless it is an article.

9) Pen and paper or computer? First drafts pen and paper. Then putting it together on the computer.

10) Have you ever taken any writing classes? Yeah, I had some writing courses in college, and I also took correspondence courses twice.

11) What inspires you to write? Ideas. As I mentioned, I get a lot of ideas from dreams. But there's also, like, a swelling of words in my brain that needs to come out through my hands every so often. I called it "writeritis" as a kid, and I guess I still do.

TAGGING: Whoever. You know who you are, if any of this resonates with you!