#cause cressida was supposed to marry him

[ofduty]

”miss edwina, have i told you about my nephew? he is a prince. and he is available.” THE SIDE EYE AT CRESSIDA FROM HER MOTHER I GIGGLED

[terriblepersongreatseamonster]

Thoughts I had while watching episodes 6-8 of Bridgerton Season 3. Yes, I finally watched all of Bridgerton. Yes, I have many thoughts about episode 5, but I need more time to compose them. Don't read more if you don't want spoilers.

Episode 6

-Yay Francesca & Lord Kilmartin. I adore this couple almost as much as Polin.

-Eloise & Pen's first real talk in Pen's bedroom. Maybe they'll get their friendship healed.

-Violet & Lord Anderson 😍

-Why does Lady Danbury despise her brother?

-That little dance in the church 😍😍😍

-I get why Cressida did what she did. I would've done anything to avoid marrying an old creepy dinosaur as well. But she just makes everything worse and worse.

-That talk between Portia & Pen. I suspect it is supposed to be sweet, but I hate it, especially after seeing how things have been in the past. I don't trust or like Portia.

-Violet unable to show Francesca & John the same level of excitement & love as she gives Polin is hard to watch.

-Pen's sisters suck.

-I really, really, REALLY wish Colin had known the truth before he proposed & they had sex. That is something they changed from the book, and not for the better.

-Oh lord, Cressida is a horrid writer & both she & her mom know it 😬

-Benedict is not handling Anthony buying his place at the art school well. I hate that Benedict is denying his creative abilities. The man has talent and he's so hurt and doesn't believe in himself anymore, and it hurts to watch.

-I think what I hate most about Portia treating Pen decently is the fact that I can't believe it will last, nor do I think that Portia is being genuine. I think this is all cause she's trying to keep Colin's favor. And it frustrates me. Because Pen deserves better.

-The unfolding flower thing was cool.

-Oh boy, I feel so bad for Francesca. She just wants to be with John & be happy. Definitely bringing up some feels from my own engagement.

-Lady Danbury & her brother 😔

-i hate aimless Benedict.

-Colin twirling Pen is everything. I love happy twirling.

-I really appreciate the deaf representation this season.

-Cressida's red dress would be stunning if not for that horrendous giant bow.

-Colin is going to be writing so much smut for Pen. I guarantee it.

-Pen not wanting Cressida to take credit for all her hard work, boy do I feel that.

-I get that the queen is supposed to stand out from everyone else, but her dresses seem to be from a completely different time period. Like, I know that the costumes aren't necessarily period accurate, but wouldn't everyone be trying to match the queen's style of dress?

-Peneloise ❤️❤️❤️

-Ok, writing with a quill & ink in a carriage seems next to impossible to write something legible.

-Colin's face on discovering the truth 😔

Episode 7

-This fight. Oh god, Colin's crying. Pen's crying. I'm crying. This is brutal.

-Pen's issue of LW calling out Cressida 10/10.

-I've said it before and I'll say it again. I would watch the Lady Danbury & Violet show.

-Colin & Eloise's talk ❤️

-Really, Colin? You are the one who was alone with Pen countless times, constantly sought her out at events, ruined Debling's proposal, left her without prospects, & she "entrapped" you? I think not.

-I can't decide what I feel about the Tilley & Benedict & Paul storyline. Was it necessary?

-Flustered Violet getting called on by Lord Anderson is adorable.

-At least Cressida seems to feel so e remorse, though if they go the book route she will be all blackmaily by the end of this episode or the beginning of next.

-"Our mother adores you!". Benedict I love you.

-I really like the Mondrich family. Will loves his wife so much.

-I love Genevieve & Pen & wish we had more interactions between them.

-"No such thing as true love without first embracing your true self.". I think I need that on a shirt.

-As a very short girl, I love that they show Pen standing on raised areas to be more eye level with Colin.

-I'm glad Pen called him out.

-Welp he really was going to try to finger her on the street. Poor boy is so in love & horny even when he's mad 😅

-Kate & Anthony sitting Colin down 🥹

-Kate. I just. I love her.

-The little wave Anthony gives Kate as she leaves him alone with Colin 😍

-I am glad Lady Danbury & her brother are clearing the air.

-Lord Greer with the mansplaining of a nom de plume.

-Colin when he sees Pen in her wedding dress 🥹🥹🥹

-OMSquee that veil 😍😍😍

-I know people go on about the carriage scene, but the wedding vows are so beautifully done. I will be rewatching that many, many times.

-Holding hands. I love it!

-Pen's sisters being nice is just as weird to watch as it is for Pen to experience.

-"A lot of dust in here too" 🥺😅

-So they're shipping Kate & Anthony off to India?

-Oh, Pen, I too know those feelings of new husband off talking to others and ignoring you during the reception. It sucks.

-I love the shot of them dancing with no one else around.

-Anthony, do not ruin your mom's chance at happiness. I will be very cross with you if you do.

-The queen interrupting what should've been a Polin kiss 🤬

-I get that she's the queen, but this is shitty behavior.

-Eloise is proving to have learned to be a better friend, and I'm proud of her. That hug ❤️

-This is the season of Polin and on Polin's wedding night we have Benedict's threesome? Really? I don't mind the threesome, I applaud Benedict embracing his bi-ness, but couldn't they have done that in another episode?

-Great, Cressida is up to no good again.

Episode 8

-Colin, Colin, Colin. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

-Rae with the promotion to housekeeper. She deserves it.

-Yup, they're going with the blackmail plot. They kept that from the book, but didn't have Colin learn the truth of LW before the carriage make-out & proposal? I am definitely salty about some of the choices this season.

-Cressida, I get that you are at the end of your rope and are making poor life choices, but I really hoped that you'd grown as a person.

-The love I have for Lady Danbury is more than I can express.

-Also, that is a gorgeous chess set.

-Phillipa & Prudence's husbands. These poor guys.

-Francesca, I too long for the quiet.

-These threesome scenes seem almost as unnecessary as Colin's brothel scenes in part 1.

-Ok, Colin, your speech is beautiful, but you don't know how shitty Cressida's dad is. But also, that defense speech ❤️❤️❤️

-Peneloise is back and I love it.

-I am done with this fucking threesome. I am here for Polin content. They couldn't have waited for Benedict's season to do this???

-Lady Danbury & Violet ❤️❤️❤️

-And more of the threesome. I am beyond done with it.

-Oh, Polin the separate sleeping arrangements 😔

-THE LETTERS.

-Oh hey, they're not going to leave the solicitor as a dangling plot thread. Wondered if we'd get more from him.

-Francesca & Violet ❤️❤️❤️

-Violet & Lord Anderson. They are absolutely precious.

-The piano duet ❤️

-"The house is far too warm.". 😳🙄😳🙄

-THIS IS NOT BENEDICT'S SEASON. I'M SO FRUSTRATED. POLIN SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN MORE SCREENTIME.

-Ok, but I am so happy for more Benedict & Eloise on the swings. I've missed that this season.

-Pen's family does not deserve her.

-Oh, Pen, you have me in tears.

-Colin is so proud and in love 😍

-I really enjoy Finch.

-Well, with the blessing of Lady Danbury all is much better.

-"That was bloody brilliant." 🥹🥹🥹

-Violet dancing 🥹🥹🥹

-Did Francesca just fall for her husband's cousin???

-What was that??? 6 seconds of Polin smut? So much Benedict threesome and we get barely any Polin? Boo, I say. Boo.

-These babies are all giant.

Season 3 Part 1: Very Rewarchable

Season 3 Part 2: Oof.

[browneyedbeauty5725]

Bridgerton season 3, what to say. I loved it but I was also disappointed at the same time. Spoilers if you haven’t already watched it all

Disappointment #1 I understand what Kanthony fans meant about last season now. There were just too many subplots going on. There’s always the main plot and at least two to three subplots but at least two of those subplots tie into the main one and the other one doesn’t . We got that with Cressida’s story and the Featherington family heir. They tied into Colin and Penelopes story. Why Penelope was desperate to get married and why Cressida was so desperate to get the Whistledown reward.And the ones that didn’t were Francesca’s and Benedict’s but Francesca’s still made sense because her story starts after she’s been married to her first husband for a minute, she gets married her first season and then after a couple years we see her again so her storyline this season made sense so even though it didn’t tie into the main plot it still fit with the season as a whole especially if you’ve read the books. I hate to say it because I love him so much, but Benedict’s storyline was so unnecessary this season. I enjoyed him getting to explore himself and his sexuality but to me that’s something that could’ve been done in his season.

Disappointment #2 we didn’t get Colin’s speech “ I love you with everything I am, everything I’ve been, and everything I hope to be.” I just loved that moment so much in the books and I’m so sad we didn’t get to hear him say it.

Disappointment #3 I think we all knew as soon as we got the Featherington subplot that this is what was going to happen especially when we didn’t get the Penelope/Lady Danbury friendship which is the whole reason they named their firstborn after her but I’m still mad they took Agatha from us. They already took Amelia away with Simon n Daphne so they better still give us Agatha eventually when Colin n Penelope have a girl.

Disappointment #4 the entire season did feel really rushed but that’s because it kind of was cause they only give us 8 episodes and there were 600 other stories going on at the same time,thankfully we already had two seasons of Polin buildup to work with.

Like #1 Polin of course. I loved everything about them.

Like #2 The Featherington family subplot.I actually enjoyed Prudence and Philippa a lot this season. They were just so cute. I loved them being so excited about their ball. Also Mr. Finch and Dankworth are just the cutest. They are totally “my wife” bros like Colin. Portia was going through it this whole season lol. I loved her realizing and opening her eyes to how she’d treated and overlooked Penelope for years and them kind of realizing they had more in common than they thought. And just seeing that a lot of what Portia did was to protect her girls cause her husband kind of put her between a rock n a hard place.

Like #3 I still hate Cressida but I liked her storyline and the friendship with Eloise because one someone needed to put Eloise in her place a bit, and two it showed that even one of the most popular debutantes still had her reasons to be just as desperate to find a husband. I think it helped open Eloise’s eyes a bit more to really listening to people and not disregarding what they were saying simply because she didn’t want the same things and didn’t understand why they didn’t feel the same way she did. It showed that even the girl who is everything a debutante is supposed to be was having just as much trouble as someone like Penelope who was considered the opposite of what a young lady should be in society. It showed that she could be a genuine and nice person but she lets her own desperations and wants overcloud that and that she was willing to turn on someone she considered a friend to get what she wanted. Whereas when Penelope wrote about Eloise it wasn’t to help herself , it might’ve still been wrong but she had genuine good intentions.

Like #4 I loved how Eloise and Penelope’s friendship came full circle. I think they really needed the time apart because Penelope needed to see she was letting whistledown go to her head and not really thinking about who she was hurting at that point and I think Eloise needed to really see that she needed to start listening more and understand that just because someone’s opinions or wants were different than hers doesn’t mean they weren’t still important. And how even though she was so angry and hurt that she still wanted to protect Penelope when she was hurt. She also saw how easy it was to hurt someone herself without meaning to.

Like #5 I loved Penelope standing up for herself. I loved her owning up to her mistakes. Her saying I made some mistakes and could’ve handled certain situations differently and I’m sorry for them I truly am but I’m still proud of what I’ve done and achieved as a whole. And more importantly her not letting Colin bail her out of trouble. Her saying you know what no more lying. No more running and hiding, it’s time to take responsibility and own up to what I’ve done all I need you to do is love me and stand by me.

This last one isn’t necessarily a disappointment or a like. But them turning Michael into Michaela. I knew people were speculating and I’m not sure if it had been confirmed before the season dropped and I just didn’t see it but I was surprised by it. At this point in time I don’t hate it but I’m also not sure how I feel about it. I haven’t read Francesca’s book yet so it won’t really change any of that for me. It’s more of I don’t have any specific feelings about it at the moment and a wait and see how they do the storyline in that particular season for me kind of thing. I could absolutely love it.

Also I think it was made pretty obvious by Eloise bringing up the masquerade that Benedict’s season is probably next and I’m excited for him and Sophie but I’m also a little worried and curious about how they are going to tie his behavior in the book into the show cause oof Benny boy you was troublesome

At the end of the day I enjoyed the season as a whole, it was good.

[your3fundamentaltruths]

This is an insightful post.

Some additional thoughts, on both, but ultimately more on Eloise:

Generally, I'm seeing two strands of narrative so far following the first four minutes of episode 5: (1) Eloise is a bad friend for not knowing Penelope had feelings for Colin and it is reflective of a wider pattern of her not listening to Penelope and, in the alternative, (2) Penelope is a bad friend for not telling Eloise she had feelings for Colin and it is reflective of a wider pattern of her keeping an important secret from Eloise.

I don't think the front half of either of those statements is true. The second half of each of those statements is more complicated. I think the situation feels more fraught because of the wider history, but this isn't necessarily the fairest example for either Eloise or Penelope.

If we think it's understandable that Colin didn't pick up on Penelope's feelings for him because she has always been That Way with him (yes), then we have to say the same for Eloise.

I also think it's understandable that Penelope doesn't rush to share these feelings with Eloise for all the reasons stated above and that she has no reason to think anything will come of it (despite any hope she might harbor). So, while Penelope's feelings for Colin are important to her and impact her actions, it is not something she expects will have any impact on Eloise, so why cause herself embarrassment and rouse any negative feelings from Eloise by telling her? (The mortifying ordeal of being known.)

I ALSO think this is very, very true, for the reasons stated above: As a friend El didn't do a good job creating a space where Penelope could feel comfortable expressing her feelings.

I think this is the part that people who solely blame Penelope for not talking to Eloise seem not to consider. You have to allow room for people to express themselves in order for them to feel comfortable expressing themselves to you. And, with Colin, we do see that Penelope is capable of opening up when she feels comfortable. (Colin is, admittedly, capable not only of listening but also of reading between the lines in a way Eloise and many people are not. For instance, even though Penelope does not explicitly state that she wants to marry as she does to Genevieve, she says enough that Colin understands the underlying need and offers to help. Speaking of Genevieve, this is someone else whom - for a variety of reasons - we also see Penelope be more open with.)

This is also true: But at the same time, Pen never had the courage to tell El how those judgements were effecting her. How is El supposed to know that she's unintentionally hurting Pen if Pen doesn't say anything?

And it's not Eloise's fault that Penelope was raised the way she was or that society sees and treats Penelope the way it does, even if that does help explain why Penelope doesn't push back and insist on being heard as herself the way Cressida does. And we see the attendant contrast in Eloise's behavior toward Cressida.

However, it has to be said that Eloise often hasn't been very good at listening when people do speak or otherwise express themselves. We see Eloise be surprised at Penelope being interested in finding a husband when Penelope has expressed her own interest in marriage in the past. We see her not really understanding the stakes of Cressida's situation and making a joke when faced with Cressida's near-tearful distress at the possibility of being forced to marry one of her father's friends.

Relatedly (walk with me), we've seen Eloise be dismissive of Colin's letters (and Colin more broadly) prior to this season. She doesn't really seem especially interested in understanding any of her siblings besides Benedict in a meaningful way until now. I think a big part of her concern for/interest in Colin and his feelings this season is because she now perceives them to have things in common - not just Penelope and how she feels and thinks he would feel about LW, but their struggle to fit in, which likely feels more existential for both of them at the start of the season because of the absence of Penelope.

To me, all of this shows that Eloise has grown some but still has a good bit of growing to do when it comes to truly listening and empathizing, especially in understanding others whose circumstances are different (and often, in many ways, worse when it comes to her fellow women) than her own, in particular when it comes to things she disdains that are important (indeed, essential) for other women and girls. It would make for richer relationships, not just with Penelope but with everyone in her life, and I hope she does.

Communication is a two way street. Both parties have to be able to listen and talk. But for most of Penelope and Eloise's lives, Pen has been the listener and El has been the talker, so their communication inevitably broke down.

It's understandable why Pen wasn't honest about her feelings for Colin. Outside of him being El's brother, El has judged and looked down on anyone interest in marriage, which made Pen feel like El would judge her too. As a friend El didn't do a good job creating a space where Penelope could feel comfortable expressing her feelings.

But at the same time, Pen never had the courage to tell El how those judgements were effecting her. How is El supposed to know that she's unintentionally hurting Pen if Pen doesn't say anything? And this fear Pen has of being judged has transformed hiding her feelings to actively lying which only escalates the downfall of their relationship.

With their time apart this season we're seeing them becoming better friends for eachother as they work on themselves. For Eloise she needed someone like Cressida to call her out on her behavior and we see El being confronted with the fact that her words and judgements have consequences. For Penelope, we see her slowly learning to express herself as she gains more confidence. Neither character is fully where they need to be to make amends yet, but we still have half the season to go for that to change.

Pen and El have had some of the best character development in this entire show and the reason for that is because the writer's allowed them to make mistakes and be messy. They gave them a place to grow from, which will make their resolution so much more satisfying.

"Colin was her love, her passion, and her soul, but it was Eloise, more than anyone, who had shaped Penelope’s adult life."

[salmonthestoryteller]

Bridgerton S2 Rant -  I Don’t Like Theo

Time for Salmon says something not everyone is going to like - Fandom rant time.

This is about Bridgerton s2 - which I finally got around to watching because my sister gave me streaming services for Christmas. (If you're wondering who my favorite sister is…)

If you're a fan of Theo or the romance between Eloise and him, this post is not for you. I'm going to avoid tags as I often do when going full rant. Please respect that.

Time for a line cut.

I am not a fan of Theo. At all.  I have read what was supposed to be the point of Theo’s character.  However, watching the actual scenes we were given, absolutely none of it works for me.

For starters, Theo’s character is supposed to be a feminist.  But, sorry, no, Theo is literally sexist.  Furthermore, he is the epitome of someone who loudly supports a cause, while lacking any true understanding of the struggles of the people it is for and looking down his nose at them.

Let's start with their first interaction.  Obviously, the writers thought this was some sort of meet-cute where both are supposed to make misassumptions about each other and then realize they’re both wrong.  Except Eloise isn’t wrong.

Theo’s treatment of Eloise isn’t because she is rich or privileged.  It is because she is a rich, privileged woman. You will never make me believe that if Anthony or Benedict had been in front of him asking him questions that Theo would have dared respond to them the way he did Eloise.  Which means he acted that way strictly because she was a woman, only changing his tune once she “proved herself” by telling him off about her reasons.  If a woman has to “prove” to him that she’s intelligent in order for him to treat her as an equal, then he’s sexist.  Period.

While giving her the political pamphlets that inspire her to attend the rally does open up Eloise’s world a bit, that still really isn’t about privilege.  Or, it’s not about Eloise having privilege - it’s in fact about the opposite.  Eloise just came out to society - she was considered a child by society before this year. Her hems were not even dropped until toward the end of season one.  Her ability to move about was limited, and even now is still limited because she is unmarried.  Her interest in Lady Whistledown, and subsequent rebelliousness of wandering outside the bubble she has lived in, has done far more to teach her about the world than Theo does - despite it supposedly being the whole point of his character.

Let’s talk about their first fight.  He apologizes for it later, with the claim of simply trying to protect her.  But that doesn’t address the inherent problem with the sheer gaslighting lies that were his initial claims to begin with.

First of all, I would like to remind everyone that Penelope did not turn her friend into a ruined woman with her Whistledown article.  She references Eloise’s political affiliations, and specifically uses the plural term radicals.  Whether Eloise attended multiple political rallies or just the one is not fully delved into by the show - but the Whisteldown article is definitely written to suggest she had been meeting a group of people, and not just Theo.  Which, honestly, was the less damning of the two possible stories she could have written.

Which is what makes Theo’s suggestion that Eloise would be protected if they were found together, and he the only one to suffer so laughable, I can’t even…

We literally have so many examples of how not okay Eloise can come out of this.

Daphne being blackmailed into almost marrying her attempted r*pist ringing any bells?

Daphne marrying Simon, not because she loves him but because they'd been spotted alone together by Cressida ringing any bells?

Lady Mary being all but disowned by her family for daring to marry a man below her station and her and her husband literally leaving the country so their family could live in peace ringing any bells?

Marina’s entire plot ringing any bells?

The only reason Eloise is okay after her political affiliations were known has nothing to do with her wealth or standing.  It’s because she is lucky enough to come from a family who honestly love and care for one another. Any other wealthy, privileged family?  She would have been shipped out of town.  But actually being caught with Theo?  Unchaperoned? Another family and chances were very high they would have disowned their daughter to save themselves and tossed her out to the streets.  

This is why I say Theo is not written as truly understanding the struggle of women in their current society.  If he did, he would never have made the suggestion that their continued association could not affect Eloise.

Then we get to their final scene, and are you kidding me here?

Who in the writers' room was like, “I’ve got a great idea.  Let’s mix consent in with Theo going off in order for Eloise to have a harsh lesson on privilege.”??

I’m sorry, but did everyone in the writers’ room collectively lose their brain cells the day that was suggested?

Because all I see is the unsurprising sight of a man throwing a fit because a woman dared reject his advances.

Also, his claim that Eloise was the one who wanted to “meet like this” is a lie.  It’s pure gaslighting.  All of their initial meetings take place during the day with other people around.  Theo is the one who decides that was too dangerous and moved their meetings to be private and at night.

Which is the very reason Eloise is worried and shuts them down after Penelope lies and says people are talking about their meetings, because - as all the previous plots I listed show - this is dangerous for both of them. Unless Theo thinks he’s up to facing Anthony at dawn for a duel.

Furthermore, Theo literally said he was trying to protect her when he initially sent her away.  But now that she’s decided they should stop to protect him, he refuses to believe her motives.  Goes right into accusations all based - once again - not strictly on her being a member of high society.  But on her being a high society woman.  And, of course, daring to not continue to pursue a relationship with him.  Because clearly, he’s god’s gift to women, and the only reason she could possibly not want him is if she was being a privileged snob.

Sure, Jan.

The housekeeper lecturing and telling Eloise off in season one for going through her things and being clueless enough to think a servant had time to write Whistledown’s columns was Eloise learning about her privilege.

Granville telling Benedict off for suggesting he and Wetherby don’t truly love each other was Benedict learning about his privilege.

Siena explaining to Anthony that she would be the one targeted by society if they went public, not him, was Anthony learning about his privilege.

Theo being angry and accusing Eloise of toying with him because she rejected his advances and wants to stop meeting him is a man being a jackass over a woman refusing him.

Simply put, the moment they made Theo both a man and a romance, there was no way to properly use his character for Eloise to learn about privilege.  Because of what being caught alone with a man could do to a woman’s reputation, there was never going to be a time having private meetings with Theo wouldn’t have put Eloise just as much at risk.

In order for Eloise to continue to have protected privileges, it would have to be a woman from the lower class she was meeting with.  That would have skewed the risks in her favor, and provided a way she could have learned about her privilege. (Not to mention another woman teaching her about the suffrage movement would have simply been more believable.  Sorry, not sorry.  It’s just the truth.)  And, as much as I would personally love some w/w on this show, it also needed to be strictly a friendship and not a romance.  Making it a romance is where the idea also falls apart.  Because that starts to mix consent and rejection into the story - and that doesn’t work with the idea of this being a lesson in privilege.  Because at the end of the day, rejecting someone’s advances is everyone’s right - regardless of the reasons.  That just needs to be respected.

If this had simply been a friendship and partnership with another female, and Eloise chose to break up the partnership and friendship over what Penelope said, claiming it was because of the danger? That could have been met with derision, with the claim Eloise was running back to her privileged life.  Was backing out because she lacked the conviction to truly support the causes she claimed she did.  Because, let’s face it, women’s right was a dangerous cause at that time.  But, in the case of a lower-class blue stocking friend rather than a male romance, the risk would never have changed.  So her withdrawal would have been rightfully suspect.

But Theo as Theo is written?  He’s nothing but a sexist jerk who's all lip service and no substance.

[pate-de-rolo]

No one asked but Bridgerton episode 4✨ no thoughts head filled only with rage and Daphne thirsting for Simon :)

1) “does that sack of grain have a German accent, or is it my imagination”

1.1) pop POP

1.2) “you don’t love me for my subtlety” boxing buddy/will and his wife are the real hero’s of the story

2) I wish only The Best for Philippa and her sneezy husband.

3) “delicate sensibilities” I know he’s supposed to say they but they literally ousted that skeeze for being a deadbeat absent father. “Delicate sensibilities my ass.

4) In 1 of the 2 drama classes I took we had a running joke that forearms were so sexy they caused addiction. This lead to a part in our final class performance where we had a “commercial break” that included an advertisement for “forearms anonymous”, a play on Alcoholics Anonymous but for attraction to forearms. Anyways I think Daphne would have related to that but, given the boxing scene and the sleeves

5) the painter and the Bridgerton👀👀

5.1) “you should come by my studio” just kiss already

5.2) I’m predicting some gay paintings

5.3) oh, no. I also, want not excepting that mr Bridgeton

6) respectfully those costumes must be painful like a sports bra that’s 2 sized too small

7) mama Bridgerton is such a DaphneXSimon shipper, good for her.

8) the way she slowly starts crying during “non of it was real mama” help

9) Cressida is literally just Daphne but painted mean because she actually knows what she wants smh

10) the servant telling Eloise she’s stupid and privileged is chicken soup for my lower-middle class soul

11) if Marina was ugly I just know lady Featherington would have thrown her down some stairs and hoped for the best.

12) Cressida is so ambitious and pretty, she knew she could snag the prince and if Simon wasn’t such an ass she could be married in Germany spitting on the lower class for fun by now.

12.1) I had a crush on Cressida from the hunger games oops. Also on the show version of Margaery Tyrell, she’s so interesting. Knowing the the GOT books don’t centre on her was devastating to me tbh

13) honestly who does Simon think he is coming in to crash the party and following her into the dark like “will you? Be happy? Do you really even like tHe pRiNcE” When he ghosted Daphne and completely disrespected their entire friendship. The audacity

14) [Daphne breathes tremendously] girl me too.

14.1) ok but the kiss isn’t what you should be apologizing bud (yes, he should apologize for just kissing her out of nowhere. I mean he should really be apologizing for being a little bitch about his feelings :)

15) they’re gonna… IN THE GARDEN?!?

15.1) ok but that is the uncomfortable kissing scene I’ve ever seen in my life imsosorry

16) ok so technically the brother was entirely in the right when he came in and I won’t judge him for that.

16.1) like, yeah, if I saw my best friend who—swore up and down he had honourable intentions with my SISTER and convinced me he was cool— giving that very same sister a hickey in the hedges yeah, I’d deck his ass too.

16.2) upon seeing his following “you will marry her” outburst I no longer am on the brothers side

16.3) “he dishonours you” maybe she just wanted to get railed in the garden, Anthony. Oh sorry, is that only allowed for opera singers? My bad. Continue.🙄

16.4) “you would rather die than marry me?” If only my mans simon knew how to talk about his feelings smh. He’s dragging her through the (emotional) mud because of his daddy issues.

17) “you can feel free to be yourself here” am I not supposed to see that as a lil fruity? Come on

17.1) the artist guy looks a bit old, I’m going to feel real weird if someone says they’re like 20 and 40

17.2) “come back any time… even for conversation” 🚬👀🏳️‍🌈?

18) I just want to be friends with Penelope she’s so sweet and deserves so much.

19) the artist brother coming back from painting nudes like “oh? Problems? Sorry I’ve just stared at tittys for the past few hours”

19.1) the three brothers dynastic is pretty sweet/cute ngl. Like yeah, Anthony kind of sucks but like in a vacuum it’s a fun trio

19.2) Anthony taking out his own [sexual] frustration on his friend and family is lame

19.3) oh shit he’s doing it for her. For the opera singer

19.4) the actor literally licked from her [the opera singer] collar bone to her mouth, I’m going to vomit

20) “exactly how insulted was she?” [exhales tremendously]. I love it. Boxing buddy is so disappointed but he’s a ride or die, we love it.

20.1) wow I can’t wait for the hangover duel [@frozenpretzl said in a deadpan voice]

21) this is filmed like mama Mia, like a musical converted to a movie.

22) lady Featherington is laying down the LAW. Iconic. She’s a bitch but her husband is a thieving bitch.

23) I passionately hate the use of pure white/black horses in movies. Of course they exist, but you’re 10x more likely just to have a good old red or brown smh

24) when he smiles when she says “I know you do not love me” like ‘she’s so dumb I love her so much’ aw

25) was the earring in the earlier episodes a mistake? Or? Is Simon just not able to have an earring? I’m confused.

[romanceromp]

Okay, so I’ve been processing this amazing show, and everything about it for a couple of hours now. I’m going to try to put them into some sort of order, but it’s probably still going to be messy and yeah.... whatever. Gonna cut again, cause it’s going to be long. 

Daphne:

I was not a Daphne fan in the book. I found her very disingenuous, and quite manipulative. She manipulated Simon so much to get him to marry her. And then the dubious consent scene when he was drunk was the nail in the coffin for her...

But, the show did a really good job of rehabbing her character from the book. I actually really liked her. I found that most of the decisions she made were based on the enormous pressure she felt to have a successful debut and the find a worthy husband. She was concerned about her family’s reputation, and setting up her younger sisters for when their time came. I never really thought about that pressure while reading the book. 

Simon:

I didn’t like Simon in the book either. He was way too pig-headed, I hated that he basically abandoned Daphne, it was just all around terrible.

Rege brought such a warmth to Simon’s character. I really felt for him, and while he was still quite pigheaded, HE DID NOT ABANDON HIS WIFE. He still cared enough to stay with her. HUGE IMPROVEMENT ON THE BOOK. I just loved him. I can’t really put it into words. He was wonderful even when he was being a jerk. 

Anthony:

I understand what they were doing with Anthony. Some may view it as character assasination, but I understand it completely. As Siena said, Anthony is lost. He’s trying to emulate what he thought his father would do in every situation, but he just got it so wrong every time. I truly did feel like he thought he was doing what was best, but he just wasn’t listening to his family, which he needed to. I loved the back and forth with Violet. I think by the end he had started to turn the corner, and would be more like book Anthony in caring for his families’ wants and wishes. 

I didn’t hate the love story with Siena. To be honest, it makes more sense to me than the book story of why he didn’t want to love his wife. He had his heart broken, and his pride wounded. The normal reaction to that is to avoid love again (I’ve been there before, I wholly sympathize). But I don’t think he was truly in love with Siena, he was infatuated with her, and I think that he liked he could let down his “head of the family” guard that he always had up. He could be himself around her without being judged. I understand why he wanted to keep being with her. 

It really did set him up perfectly for the next season where he will meet Kate and his whole world will turn upside down, and he will truly understand what REAL love is. I can’t wait to watch that happen.

Benedict:

I liked the introduction to Benedict’s artist storyline. I also REALLY enjoyed the introduction to Benedict not giving a FUCK about society’s standards. It all leads quite nicely to his love story with Sophie, the lady’s maid. 😊 

I also REALLY loved the Benedict/Eloise scenes. I adored them. They are so similar, and I really loved that the show explored that and that they challenged each other. It was wonderful, and I look forward to seeing more of that in the later seasons.

Eloise:

I kinda loved Eloise’s obsession with Lady Whistledown and trying to figure out who it was. I honestly thought in the carriage scene with Benedict and Madame Delacroix that she figured out that it was Penelope, good misdirect there show. Claudia really gave such a wonderful performance. I CAN’T WAIT to see Phillip being super annoyed at her talking all the time. CAN’T WAIT. 

The Peneloise friendship was so wonderful as well. I hated that little part when they were fighting, but of course, they were always there for one another when they needed it. I adored it. 

Colin:

I’ve already mentioned on another post that I didn’t like the Marina storyline. But now, thinking about it, maybe it wasn’t that out of character for him? We all know he kind of makes snap judgments and just goes with it, as in when he decided he wanted to marry Penelope and just essentially ran in to ask for her mother’s blessing within 5 minutes of deciding. 

I did appreciate him being a sensitive soul. He really is. He would honestly do anything to help someone he cared about. 

I suppose the Marina storyline sets up the LW reveal in his and Penelope’s story, as it’s much harsher knowing that Penelope was the one to reveal Marina’s pregnancy publicly. It adds a level of drama that we didn’t have in the book. He was just jealous of Pen in the book, which was a bit weak in my opinion. 

Also, I feel like we can still get the “what is love” conversation with Daphne in his book. I feel like based on this experience he could be confused about what love really is, if he thought he loved Marina, but was wrong. I just really loved that scene in the book, so I hope they keep it.

Penelope:

I ADORED PENELOPE. Except for when she was a jealous bitch and basically ruined her and her sister’s future by revealing Marina’s pregnancy. That was 100% out of character, as we know Penelope wouldn’t have done anything to ruin her family. They will definitely need to do some character rehabbing for that particular plot point in the future. 

But seriously, Penelope’s heartbreak absolutely shattered me. Nicola played it SO WELL. She cried, I cried. It was hard to watch. And to be honest, at the end when she was crying after looking out the window, I thought she was crying because Colin was leaving, and I completely forgot that her father had just died. Lol. I honestly believe she was crying more for Colin than her father. 

Anyways, Penelope still has my heart. I just wanted to hug her for 90% of her scenes. Don’t worry Pen, your time will come. 

Violet:

Violet was wonderful. I also really loved that they had Daphne tell her how terrible it was that she didn’t give a proper birds and bees speech to her prior to her marriage. I think this sets up Violet to prepare the other girls better for their marriages. 

I loved that she went toe-to-toe with Anthony a lot. He needed to be put in his place, a lot, and she did. It was wonderful. 

She was just in general the matriarch that we all came to love in the books. I think she really grew as a mother over the season as well. 

Other thoughts:

Nigel being the villain in the first half was shocking and such a departure from the books. Not sure I loved that choice.

Cressida’s hair crowns were wild, and distracting.

I LOVE QUEEN CHARLOTTE. I NEED A SPIN OFF LIKE YESTERDAY.

I’ve said this in another post, but Prince Friedrich’s storyline was unrealistic, and yes, I know it’s fantasy world, but it still was a reach, and wasted potential Daphne/Simon development time.

I loved seeing Sir Phillip and setting up that story. Are they going to make the twins older though? Are they going to move up Eloise’s story? So many questions remain from that plot point. Also, he is hot and can GET IT. Yum.

Lady Danbury was almost as regal as the Queen, and I LOVED her women’s only gambling party. It is 100% in character, and I wanted to go to that party. I also loved the mother role she took with Simon, and boy did he need her. I’m so glad she plays a role in each book, I need more of her.

Daphne’s speech at the end of the ball in the rain made me cry so much. It was beautiful. Phoebe did such a great job with it. I loved that both she and Simon got a monologue to explain how much they care and love one another, and that they were at different times. 

Overall, I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. I need season two ASAP. It’s going to suck waiting another year or more for it. I’m still fairly convinced we will see a season two. They just set up so much for future seasons, I don’t see why they wouldn’t continue the show.

[kriscme]

One Life to Live

Here’s the latest chapter.  Thanks to Ronja for permission to write fanfic of her Hunger Games fanfic “The Chance You Didn’t Take.”  It can be found on A03 as this can too (under Kris22).  Thanks for reading. Chapter 35 I wake to bright sunshine and the citrusy perfume of evening primrose wafting in from the open window.  Such a lovely dream I had last night.  I was following Prim through the woods and the further she took me, the happier I became, even though we never arrived at any place. But then I remember my current predicament and my spirits plummet again.  I turn to face Peeta, expecting to see him, but he’s not here.  The only sign that he was in my bed last night is the impression his head made on the pillow close to my own.  Somehow, we both seemed to have gravitated to the middle of the bed during the night. From downstairs I hear movement and two voices in conversation.  That could only be Peeta and Haymitch.  No one else would be in the Village and in my house at this hour.  The clock by the bed tells me I have an hour before it’s time to leave for work.  I use most of it to shower and dress.  I don’t want to face either of them just yet. They’ll only talk strategy.  Haymitch seems to have relished getting back into his old mentor role which is odd, because he hated it when he actually was one.  As for Peeta, I haven’t seen him like this since the Quarter Quell when he had us all training like careers.  There’s the same energy and focus.  It’s as if he’s determined to get me home a third time.  Only this time his reasons are . . . well, I don’t know what his reasons are but it is good to see him back to his old self.  I should make an effort to stop being so sulky and disagreeable around him.  It’s not his fault he doesn’t love me anymore and he is doing me a huge favor at risk to himself.   As soon as I see the food laid out on the table, I wish I had come down earlier.   Peeta has cooked my favorite breakfast of sausages, eggs, potatoes, bread, juice and hot chocolate.   I tuck in, ignoring Haymitch’s scowl.  It’s my house.  I’ll come down when I want to. “We keep to the schedule as planned,” says Haymitch.  “And it goes without saying – “ “Stay in love,” Peeta and I say in unison.  “And don’t be afraid to lay it on thick,” Haymitch adds.  “That’s what the public is used to seeing from you.  This isn’t an old settled relationship.  Or a continuation of one.  It’s brand new.  You want to avoid any talk that this has been going on behind Lace’s back and it’s why the wedding was called off.  After the cameras are gone, you still have to live amongst these people.  No one likes a cheater.” “It won’t be a problem,” says Peeta, as he starts to clear away the dishes.  I grab the plate with the potatoes before he takes it.  “It actually works out well.  Lace was worried that people might think the same of her and Arthur if their relationship became public too soon.  But if she and I both have partners, they’re far less likely to think that one of us had cheated on the other.  I’ll let her know sometime today that Katniss and I are together.” I bet that will shock her.  After all his talk of me being an illusion, he’d better have a convincing excuse for why he’s changed his mind.  But at least I know that he’s aware that Lace is with Arthur now. What’s most surprising though, is that he doesn’t seem upset about it.  And they’re still talking to each other. On Haymitch’s advice, we take the most public route into work so as to be seen by the maximum number of people.   That takes us through the main street past Lace’s shop.   I catch a glimpse of her through the window sorting through fabrics.  She has her back to us.  The shop next door is vacant but there’s carpentry in progress, probably for new fittings for Arthur when he moves in.  We turn down a side street and pass by Arthur’s shop.  He’s opened early as usual.  I don’t see him but I know he’ll be hard at work, saving for that factory he plans to own one day.   The salon is closed at this hour but I spy Flavius at the front desk, head down, consulting the appointment book.  He raises his head as we walk by.  I move closer to Peeta and rise on tiptoe to kiss his cheek before giving Flavius a wave. The news will be all over town by the end of the day.   We meet for lunch at the small park adjacent to the school.   It’s a hot day but the old oak tree provides plentiful shade.  We eschew the bench seat and sit on the grass because it looks more romantic that way.   I kick off my shoes to cool my feet and smooth out the folds of my dress.  It’s the sunset dress that Peeta likes.  It just happened to be the first thing on hand when I reached into my closet this morning. Peeta has brought us food from the bakery.   He holds out in each hand a white paper bag with the Carter logo on it.   “Beef or chicken?” “Um . . . beef,” I say.  Peeta hands me one of the bags and keeps the other.  It’s not a pie but a sandwich with layers of thinly sliced roast beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato and some kind of sauce. I take my first bite and moan appreciatively.  This might just overtake cheese buns for me. “Since when did the bakery sell sandwiches?” I ask. “Since last week.  And coffee and other beverages too.  It’s an experiment, to see how well it does.  In the Capitol, the bakery also functioned as a café, with indoor seating.  It will mean moving to larger premises but it might be needed anyway.  Did I tell you we’re getting cake orders from as far away as the Capitol now?  The one I did for Cressida’s wedding seems to have started it.” “That’s great, Peeta,” I say, genuinely happy for him.  But then a terrible thought occurs to me.  Cass told me that Peeta could get work anywhere.   What if he leaves 12 for the Capitol for bigger opportunities? I’m suddenly consumed with fear. I don’t want him to go. “I’ve also been offered a fourth share partnership in the business too, along with Julius, Cass and Cornelia,” he adds, his face alight with enthusiasm.   “They want to keep you,” I say. “Probably,” he concedes.  “But there’s more to it than that.  We’re more than just coworkers.  I feel disloyal saying this and no one could ever replace them, but in a way, it’s like having my brothers back.  And Cornelia is the woman one of them might have married.  Does that sound bad?” “Not at all,” I say, thinking of Johanna and how she’s like a sister to me.  Loved ones can’t be replaced but it doesn’t mean your circle can’t expand to include others.  “I suppose you won’t be opening a bakery of your own any time soon then?  Wasn’t that one of the plans you made with Lace?” Peeta gives a short, self-depreciating laugh. “That was never going to happen.  Responsible for running a bakery? Ugh!  I like what I’m doing now, decorating cakes and leaving the management side of it to others.   I think we just chose what we thought the other expected of us, not what we actually wanted for ourselves.    Lace would never have been happy giving up her shop to work from home.  She’s worked too hard for it.  And five kids?  At this stage of my life, I’m not even sure about one.” “Really?” I ask.  That was the only part of it that made any sense to me – that Peeta would want a large family.  “I thought you’d like to have children.”   From the school grounds nearby, I can hear the shrieks and laughter of children at play.  It wasn’t long ago that the mere thought of having to teach Peeta and Lace’s children had filled me with dread.  I was sure that if it was Peeta’s choice, they’d have had them straight off. “One day, perhaps,” he says.  “But I want to be in a better place than I am right now. You know, with the attacks and everything.  And we’re only twenty.  There’s plenty of time.” Twenty-one.   Lace is twenty-one.   “You?” he asks. “Oh, um, the same as you, I guess,” I say, surprised to have the question turned back on me.    “I’ll think about it when the time comes.  But for the moment, no.  I want to see how things turn out.  With the new government, I mean.  Whether the peace lasts.”  I want to be certain the Games will never return before I’m be ready to bring children into the world.   “I meant more general that that,” he says. “How do you see your future?  What do you want to do?” I take a moment to think about it.  My future isn’t something I’ve given much thought to other than in terms of what I can’t do because of my confinement.   But it dawns on me that even if had the choice to live wherever I wanted, I’d still choose Twelve.  It’s my home and the people and places I love are here. “Keep on teaching, I suppose, and finish getting my qualifications.   Mr Matson suggested I could teach archery to the older students.   So maybe I’ll do that.  I doubt there’ll be much hunting once the woods officially become national park so it seems a good compromise.  I can continue to use my skills and pass them on at the same time.” “Sounds perfect,” says Peeta, smiling at me. We go back to eating our lunch.  I see a few people walking past on the opposite side of the road but foot traffic around here is thin and sporadic.  It’s an out-of-the-way place to be seen but Haymitch’s rationale is that we can’t just frequent the popular places because that would cause suspicion in itself.  We have to appear as a normal courting couple doing what a normal courting couple would do. Picnicking in a sequestered park is apparently one of them.  But there’s at least one onlooker.  A squirrel, perched on one of the lower branches watches expectantly.  He seems used to people as he doesn’t show any fear. And probably used to being fed by them too.  I break off a piece of crust and throw it a short distance away.  He doesn’t hesitate.   He scampers down the tree, grabs his prize, and scurries back up.   I catch Peeta observing me, a look of amusement on his face. “What?” I demand.  He had better not be laughing at me. “It’s just seeing a new side of you, that’s all.  You know, relaxed.   One time, that squirrel would have ended up with one of your arrows through its eye. But now you share your lunch with it. I like it.  It means you’re in a better place now.  Not so concerned with survival.” Humph! The last time I heard anyone talk about me and survival was in the basement of a dingy little shop in the Capitol that sold fur underwear.  “Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can’t survive without.”  Gale said it, and Peeta didn’t refute it.  The same resentment I felt then wells up in me.  There it is again, the implication that any finer feelings are subservient to my need to survive. Not love, or desire, or compatibility, or even just throwing a crust of bread to a squirrel.  I didn’t get to defend myself then, but I will now. “That’s a horrible thing to say.”   Peeta’s eyebrows shoot up in a surprise.  “I hate that people think that of me – that I’ll put my own wellbeing ahead of anything else.  If I’ve tried so hard to survive, it’s because I had people depending on me.  What would have happened to Prim, or my mother, if I hadn’t been around to make sure there was food on the table?  Prim would have ended up in the Community Home and that meant as good as dead.  I’ll do anything for the people I love.  Die for them if need be.  I would die for you.  I –“ I stop short, remembering all of a sudden that I’m supposed to keep those feelings hidden.  Heat rises in my face.  “I mean – “And then it’s Peeta who cuts me short.  He takes my face in his hands and kisses me.  Really kisses me, not the closed mouth playacting kind, but softly, insistently, plying my mouth open with his own.  For a few seconds I’m stunned into inaction.  But then I feel that thing.  That thing that happened in the cave and on the beach.   And I put my arms around his neck and kiss him back hungrily, greedy for more.  He pulls me closer and we sort of meld together, the points of his body picking out the counter-points of my own and I moan somewhere deep in my throat. I forget we’re in a public space and only a short distance from a school.  Nothing exists but Peeta and me and when I feel his hand slip between my thighs under the cover of my dress, lightly as if seeking permission, my legs fall apart in open invitation and I will it to go higher, to that place that wants him so badly.

His fingertips barely make contact when from some faraway place the pulsating ring of a school bell sounds.  With great reluctance, I am dragged back into the present and reality returns with a thud.  I pull away, confused.  What just happened?  Why did he do that?  My head whips around looking for the audience he’s playing to, but there’s no one about.

“Don’t.  Don’t let’s pretend when there’s no one around,” I say, getting quickly to my feet.  It’s not . . . we shouldn’t do it.  It’s how lines get blurred.”  And people get hurt. People being me.  I shove my feet into my shoes.  “I have to go.  Class is about to start.  Thanks for lunch.”

I don’t wait for a response from Peeta. I race off, leaving him to dispose of the remains of our lunch, a look of bewildered concern on his face. The kiss leaves me shaken and it takes a concerted effort to concentrate on my work.  That was so close.  Too close. How am I going to get through this without breaking down?  There’s at least three weeks to go.  This week before the television crew arrives, the following when they set up, and after that a week of filming.  I don’t know how Peeta did it.  All that kissing and hugging on the Victory Tour.  And the nights on the train.  And then when we shared a bed in the Capitol just before the Quell.  It must have been torture.  As it will be for me tonight, and every other night until this is over.

Luckily, Peeta and I don’t finish work at the same time so I’m spared walking home with him.  As I’m home first, I set the table and prepare the food for dinner, allowing extra in case Haymitch turns up, which he probably will.  And then I go into the living room and take a book from the shelf.  I hope reading will be a distraction because I just can’t get that kiss out of my mind. It’s a book on conservation that Marcus left behind, and it’s as dry as you’d imagine but it does nothing to lessen the wetness between my legs.  I am so aroused; I’m fit to burst.  There’s only one solution.  I slip my hand under my dress to take care of it myself, and I’m just on the verge when I hear the front door open.  It’s Peeta.

I quickly open the book and pretend to be immersed in it.  

“Good book?” Peeta asks, as he comes into the room.  He takes the seat opposite and reads the title from the cover.  “’Wetland Techniques.”  I suppose we could all benefit by brushing up on our wetland technique.  Maybe I should read it after you.” “

Maybe,” I say noncommittedly, and lower my eyes back to the page.  I hope he’ll take the hint that I’m not in a sociable mood and go away.  

There’s a long pause.  “Katniss, I think we should talk about what happened at the park.”

I don’t think that’s a good idea at all.  If Peeta has a flaw it’s that he likes to talk about things that shouldn’t be talked about. It would be better for both of us if we pretended it didn’t happen.  

“Things got a little carried away, that’s all,” I say.  “It was bound to happen with us forced into this situation again.  We just have to be more careful next time.”  

“Is that what you want?” he asks, frowning. “I think it’s best, don’t you?  If we’re to get through this, we need to set boundaries. After all, we have to go back to living normally after this.  We have to stay friends.” I try to sound convincing but there’s a faint tremor in my voice.  I stare down at my book to avoid looking at him.

“All right, Katniss,” he says tiredly.   He rises from the chair.  “I’ll get dinner started then.  Haymitch should be here soon.”

After he leaves the room, I let out my breath. I don’t think he believed me but maybe that’s not important.  We only have to preserve the veneer.  But he makes it so hard.  Always wanting to open wounds instead of just leaving them alone.  I’ll just have to stay on my guard and make sure to keep him at a safe distance.  Obviously, Peeta isn’t averse to having sex with me if what happened at the park is any indication.  But then, I was practically begging him.  I know you don’t have to be in love to have sex.   And if sex is all I wanted from Peeta, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But I know, I just know, that if we went down that path, the floodgates would open and I’d be as helpless as ever and in an even worse place than I am now.  Nothing will have changed.  I’d still be in love with someone who isn’t in love with me.

While Peeta makes dinner, I take a shower.  A cold one. And change out of the sunset dress into something that makes me feel less vulnerable – tight-fitting trousers and a t-shirt.  I’d wear a chastity belt if I had one because I don’t really trust myself.  I wait until Haymitch arrives before I go downstairs. The less alone time I have with Peeta, the better.

Unfortunately, Haymitch doesn’t stay for very long after we’ve eaten.  I was hoping that he and Peeta would get the chess board out again so I could avoid interacting with him.  

“It’s Monday,” I tell Peeta, when he comments on Haymitch’s early departure.  “He wants to be home to watch “One Life to Live.” He’s something of an addict.”  I dry the last of the dishes and put it away while Peeta makes tea.  

“That’s the show Plutarch talked about, isn’t it?” he asks. “Yeah, that’s the one.  It’s the most rubbishy, most stupid thing ever. I was insulted when he compared us to Celia and Blake.  Idiots, both of them.”

“I can’t really comment.  I’ve never watched it,” he says, as he pours tea into two mugs.

I sniff derisively.   “Well, you haven’t missed anything.  I can’t think why Haymitch likes it.”

“Let’s find out.” “What?  You actually want to watch it?”

“Yeah.  I do.  You can explain the plot so far.”

He picks up one of the mugs and I take the other. “That will take about two seconds.” Nonetheless, I follow him into the living room and sit down beside him on the sofa. I guess there are worse things to do than watching television together, even if it is “One Life to Live.”  At least it’s a distraction and we won’t have to talk much.  My gaze flickers over to Peeta.  I’m acutely aware of him.  His well-muscled thigh only inches from my own. The fine blond hair on his strong capable hands.  Hands that can lift heavy sacks of flour yet wield a paintbrush with the most delicate precision.   Hands that were on me only hours earlier.  A throbbing starts between my legs at the thought of it.   I cross one leg over the other to alleviate the sensation but then quickly uncross them. The movement makes the crotch seam of my trousers rub against me in a most stimulating way.  I should have worn a dress.  

With a click of the remote control, the opening credits of “One Life to Live” appear on the screen.   I swallow hard and force myself to focus. “Well, Celia and Blake are from neighboring districts . . . “

[scarletwelly-boots]

Books Read 2019

It’s time again for my annual books read post (a little earlier than usual, but I couldn’t wait). I read 24 books in 2019, 4 books more than last year, though two are in progress and I expect to finish them by the new year.

It is year four of the reading challenge from Popsugar. There were 48 categories this year, so I got 50% again. Unlike last year, I did not change any categories, but I may have taken liberties with some again, we’ll see. So, without further ado, let’s begin the list. [Under the cut]

1. How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell (A book becoming a movie in 2019). Okay, so there have already been two movies in this series, but the last one (*sob*) came out this year, so it counts. I read this book and a few of the others in the series a few years ago, but revisited the first one this year. It’s really good, but don’t go into it expecting it to be like the movies. The character names are the same, but that’s about it. If you can get your hands on the audiobook version, it’s read by David Tennant, which is excellent. Definitely recommend; it’s just as good as the movies.

2. Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (A book that makes you nostalgic). This is another reread. My dad read the whole series aloud to my sister and I when we were barely older than Laura is in the first book. It was the series he read before the Harry Potter books came out, and we both got sucked into that series. So yeah, very nostalgic. This is a series of semi-autobiographical stories chronicling Wilder’s pioneer childhood, and this is the first in the series. Some of the language doesn’t really age well, but for the most part it’s a delightful book.

3. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, by Hank Green (a book you think should be turned into a movie). Holy. Shit. I was very, very pleasantly surprised by Hank Green’s debut novel (and yes, John Green is his brother). This is a mysterious book about first encounters and internet fame, with a queer young adult (like, really YA, as in post-college) protagonist. She’s kind of shitty sometimes, but I would argue all twenty-somethings are shitty sometimes (I mean, I literally typed “*sob*” two entries up, like I’m channeling my 2009 self, and I didn’t delete it.). I would highly, highly recommend. And apparently, SOMEDAY, there’s supposed to be a sequel, thank GOD.

4. Loki: Agent of Asgard, by Jason Ewing (a reread of a favorite book). I could actually get away with a reread for this one! I love this graphic novel series. I love how they depict Loki, how he finally gets a goddamn redemption arc. It’s a really fun read. Check it out.

5. The Beast Within, by Serena Valentino (a book inspired by mythology, legend, or folklore). A companion novel to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. I don’t really remember much about this book. It was weird. But like, it plays with the timeline and the curse a little bit, where the beast gets cursed but doesn’t become a beast immediately. He slowly transforms as his behavior gets worse and more cruel. Apparently he used to be friends with Gaston, but Gaston forgot about him once he finally transformed. Really weird. If you’re obsessed with this fairytale like I am, give it a shot. If not, it probably won’t be that interesting.

6. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (a book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie). Another reread. I know it’s a classic, but I seriously just love this book. 

7. Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diane Wynne Jones (a book about someone with a superpower). Another reread of a favorite book, what can I say. The movie is my favorite movie, but the book is better.

8. Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell (a book told from multiple character POV’s). Okay, listen. I had to reread this book, because it had been a few years and the sequel came out this year. Think of this as generic brand Harry Potter if Draco was a vampire, was Harry’s roommate, and helplessly in love with Harry. I’m serious, it’s generic brand. But damn if I don’t love it. @JKR, this could be us but Harry had to be the jock that married his high school sweetheart and grew up to be a cop. Definitely read.

9. Franny and Zooey, by JD Salinger (a book with no chapters/unusual chapter headings/unconventionally numbered chapters). My brother got me this book for my birthday. Before this I had only read Catcher in the Rye, which I started out hating when I was fourteen but turned into loving when I was nineteen. Honestly I think this novel is better than that one. I really loved it. Highly recommend. What’s it about? Who the fuck knows? But to quote my brother: “At its core, I think this book is about a smart brother and a smart sister. I think we can relate.” So read it and buy it for the smart brother or sister or sibling in your life.

10. 1916, by Tim Pat Coogan (read a book during the season it is set in). This is an Irish history book about the Easter Rising of 1916 and (what I didn’t know when I started reading it in April) everything that came after that can trace its cause back to the rebellion, all the way to the centennial of the Rising. The Easter Rising was the catalyst of Irish freedom. It was like the Boston Tea Party of Ireland, rather than the Battle of Yorktown (as in it kickstarted the War for Independence but didn’t immediately result in freedom), that is, if the instigators of the Boston Tea Party were rounded up, imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol, and a week later almost all executed by firing squad. It’s a tedious read if you’re not into Irish history or history in general, but I enjoyed it.

11. Loki: Where Mischief Lies, by Mackenzi Lee (a book set in space). Okay, technically it takes place on Asgard and Earth, but those are planets, and planets are in space, so it counts! I’m still reading it, but I really like it so far. (Honestly I maybe just like the idea of Loki in knee high black boots marketed towards women and black nails. I never promised not to be gay.)

12. Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman (a book set in Scandinavia). I’m sorry! I read this book every year. Neil Gaiman is an amazing writer, and we all know I’m gay as shit for some good Loki tales. 

13. Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer (a book that takes place in a single day). Okay, I know people love this fantasy series, and since it’s Irish I fully expected to, too. But I didn’t like any of the characters enough to read the rest of the series, least of all Artemis himself. I struggle to enjoy stories if I don’t like the main character, and Artemis was kind of a shit. Sorry, I did not like this one.

14. Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy (a debut novel). I just started this one, too, but I really like it already. I think the audiobook is read by the same guy that read Artemis Fowl, but already this is way better than that one. The characters are likable, for one (god, the bar is so low for fantasy books for me right now). It’s a mystery and a fantasy, and the main-ish character is literally an anthropomorphic skeleton detective. It’s excellent. I’m going to read the whole series. (I have to; my mom accidentally got me the 12th installment for my birthday.)

15. Red, White, and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston (a book that’s published in 2019). I read this twice. It’s so beautiful. I really expected it to be a shitty YA novel, but it wasn’t! It was very romantic (once they stopped “hating” each other), and gay. The premise sounds far-fetched: First Son of the United States falls for the Crown Prince of England. But, guys, it’s soooo gooooood. Highly, highly, highly recommend. 

16. The Wisconsin Road Guide to Mysterious Creatures, by Chad Lewis (a book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature). I mean, you can make your own decision whether these cryptids are real or imaginary. This is a travel guide to cryptids in Wisconsin, which I got on vacation earlier this year. I liked it, but reading a road guide for pleasure is admittedly kind of weird. Recommend if you’re planning a road trip through Wisconsin and want to stop at some cryptid, ghostly, or Nessie-like hotspots. Or if you just want to fuck Mothman, like me. (Dustybae’s not in this particular travel book though.)

17. Take Me With You, by Andrea Gibson (a book recommended by a celebrity you admire). Okay, so it was by a celeb I admire, not recommended by. This is a very quick read, of quotes from Gibson’s poetry. They are a queer spoken word poet with some really good pieces. They’re on spotify and apple music, probably among other sources. Recommend their work, but the book is very short, so maybe only purchase if you enjoy their work.

18. This is How it Always Is, by Laurie Frankel (a book about a family). This book was really, really good. It was passed around the aunts in my family until it got to my mom and I, which was really kind of a magical thing. It’s about a family navigating the challenges and gifts of raising a trans child. I cried a couple times, and it was so good. It’s written by a parent of a trans child, so it came from a place of understanding, and it was interesting to read this type of narrative from a parent’s perspective, when usually being genderfluid myself, I tend to consume media that is from the perspective of trans characters themselves. I had some very interesting conversations with my aunts and mom about it, and I really think this book changed my family a little bit, and I didn’t expect it to change me, too. Highly recommend. 

19. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Suzanne Clark (a book that includes a wedding). So the wedding is at the very beginning, and sadly not between Strange and Norrell. But it’s really good. Lots of magic, lots of regency-era Britishness. The book is huge, but there is a miniseries on Netflix based on the novel and that’s really good too. Highly recommend, and still in love with my man John Childermass. Hnng.

20. Wayward Son, by Rainbow Rowell (a book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter). Sequel to Carry On. Sheer madness. I loved it. Think of it as generic brand Harry Potter post-DH, if Harry sprouted dragon wings during the final battle, is gay as shit for Draco, and a year later Harry, Draco, and Hermione are set loose on America with .5 seconds of research, severe culture shock, one cell phone between them, and a half-assed plan to rescue Ginny who may or may not want to be rescued. Shit show, but well done and I’m fully invested and ready for the third installment.

21. Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman (a book with a two-word title). I’m sorry, I need to shift to caps for this. GUYS I FUCKING LOVE THIS STORY YOU HAVE NO IDEA IT IS THE GREATEST THING THAT HAS EVER COME INTO MY WORLD! I MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE WATCHED THE AMAZON SERIES THIRTEEN TIMES TO DATE AND IMMEDIATELY DEVOURED THE BOOK IN THREE DAYS. You don’t know what it’s about? Where have you BEEN?! An angel and a demon who are gay as shit for each other and love humanity way more than either of their respective sides. One downside is that as the miniseries came out like twenty years after the novel, my two favorite parts were only written for the series, and are not in the novel. But the book is still very, very good. 15/10.

22. Dumplin’, by Julie Murphy (a book revolving around a puzzle or game). I took game to mean competition, so this is about a beauty competition. I watched the Netflix movie first. I honesty thought I was not gonna like it, but holy shit it was amazing. Admittedly I think the movie was better (despite having Jennifer Aniston in it), but the book was really good, too. Recommend.

23. The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde (your favorite prompt from a past Popsugar reading challenge; a book with a queer protagonist). God, please read this book. This has been up there in my list of favorite books since I was fourteen. Oscar Wilde is a master storyteller, and Dorian Gray is intriguing and despicable and beautiful. I’ve already read this, but I love it too much not to.

24. Terrible Queer Creatures, by Brian Lacey (a book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent). Okay, so it’s not set there for the whole book, but gay monks and nuns are things. This was another birthday present, and an absolute hit. Combining two of my favorite things: Irish history and queer history. I had no idea a book like this existed. I’m still really excited about it. The only issue I have is that most of the one chapter dedicated to gay women involve biographies of people that were actually probably trans men, like Dr. Barry. They could have probably had a separate chapter and then a chapter of the clear lesbians and bisexual women (including trans women, of course). Lumping them in with the women in a chapter specifically dedicated to queer women did not seem particularly inclusive. But overall I really enjoyed the book.

Top Ten Books of 2019 post will be forthcoming.

[dracoisalooker76]

My Heart is Heavy, Part 2

This is Part 2 of “My Heart is Heavy” - my Everlark Bachelor!AU based on Season 23 of The Bachelor, featuring Bachelor!Peeta.

Part 1 can be read here.

...

Cressida calls cut and comes out from behind the camera with her eyebrow raised.

“Can you at least try to look a little less excited?” she asks, crossing her arms sternly but with the corners of her lips upturned. “You’re going to give it away with these inserts if you keep that shit-eating grin on your face.”

Peeta shrugs. “I can’t help it. She’s the one, Cress. Katniss is the one.”

Cressida moves her arms from a stern crossed position to her hips. “You know you can’t say that. We have to at least keep up the illusion that Glimmer or Cashmere could win this.”

He rolls his eyes. He knows that’s the script of the show. The filming they’ve done today will be for the penultimate episode and during a special finale he will, somehow, spend two hours determining which of the three women will receive the ring he doesn’t currently have in his possession. For the sake of the show, he can’t give anything away now, even though he already knows how it will end.

He has known for a while. It’s why Cashmere and Glimmer are here - they’re two of the favorites to go on to The Bachelorette. Since his feelings for Katniss became abundantly obvious to the producers and crew a few weeks ago, they’ve been giving him hints on who they would like him to keep in order to make good television. For the most part, he has gone right along with the script. It’s why, even though Clove told him she loved him last week during her hometown visit while Cashmere was still hedging her bets with the whole ‘I’m falling in love you’ line, he still sent Clove home. Bachelor host Caesar Flickerman put in his ear that he wanted her to be on the special ‘Women Tell All’ episode that airs the night after ‘Fantasy Suites’ and features the women who did not make the top three. Of course Caesar did. Clove caused the most drama of any of the girls in the whole season.

It’s all just a big game to Caesar and the producers, and even some of the women. But Peeta can’t help but think he got lucky with Katniss’s casting.

His biggest fear going on The Bachelor was that he would get played by some girl who just wanted fame and not a relationship. He does want to get married and have a family one day, so this is supposed to be the first step on that journey. However, over the weeks, a bunch of the girls have told him as they’ve walked out after the weekly rose ceremony that there were contestants still there who ‘weren’t ready’ for what Peeta wanted. But every week that passed, he would send a girl home he was convinced was the girl the previous one had warned him about, only to get another warning.

Luckily, he knows Katniss isn’t that girl. He thinks the girl everyone was talking about was Clove or maybe Glimmer, or maybe both. They’re both instagram models already, probably wanting to improve their views. Cashmere is older at 29 and definitely ready to settle down, since she has mentioned kids and her ‘ticking clock’ about a hundred times in the last couple of weeks. It’s not her. And of course there’s Katniss, but it’s not her either. So it’s got to be Glimmer if it wasn’t Clove.

Cressida knocks his arm and he tries to stymie the huge smile that has begun to re-form on his lips.

“Okay, let’s just try to get this sound bite done then you can go back to being a giggling school girl,” the producer jokes, turning around and getting back behind the camera. “So, tell me about tonight.”

They like to key in on sex with Katniss more so than either of the other girls. Most of it stems from her never being in a serious relationship, but at least some of it is tied to a moment of theirs in Thailand. While they were walking on the beach, the water looked so beautiful and Katniss offhandedly mentioned it looked prime for swimming. Peeta tore off his shirt so it wouldn’t get wet and Katniss covered her eyes, thinking he was going to strip naked and they were going skinny dipping on camera. Luckily, Cressida and Pollux gave them a minute so Katniss could stop hyperventilating off camera, but ever since they’ve run with the purity card with her.

But Peeta doesn’t want to talk about that on camera. That’s something personal to Katniss and he’s not going to play up the whole ‘she’s a virgin’ card that the producers want him to do.

“I mean, I can’t say I’m not excited. Physical intimacy is huge in any relationship,” he says, trying to choose his words carefully so no editors can piece them apart in final review. “But that doesn’t just mean one thing. Personally, I think just falling asleep beside someone speaks volumes about your comfort with them because that’s the most vulnerable you can be.”

Cressida shakes her head but doesn’t make him redo it. Instead, she veers into less serious questions about his time in Portugal before letting him go to get ready.

He knows that tonight is going to be huge for them and he wants it to be perfect. Katniss was a little shocked during the day portion of her date when he told her that Haymitch didn’t give him his blessing for an engagement. Her entire demeanor shifted for the rest of the afternoon and he wants to know what is going through her head. He knows he can’t say it on camera, but he is hoping that as soon as the suite doors close he can tell her that an engagement isn’t something he needs from her if it makes her family uncomfortable. He wants to leave Portugal with her by his side and if it means they take it slow until her family is okay with it, that’s fine by him.

That’s not to say he won’t have a ring ready just in case. He grabbed Prim’s number during his visit last week while Katniss and Haymitch were sent off to talk by the producers. He is hoping to use her guidance to design the custom engagement ring Neil Lane would design for the finale. Of course, that conversation happened before Haymitch refused a blessing, but depending on what Katniss says tonight he might get a ring ready just in case.

“Look, kid, I like you,” Haymitch had told him during Peeta’s visit to Katniss’s hometown. “You seem like a good one. But I’ve known you for all of five minutes and if you think I’m going to drive you to Jared’s, you’ve got another thing coming.”

“So, you don’t give your blessing?”

Haymitch had shaken his head. “She is going to decide what’s best for her and I’m with the girl.”

Of course, Cressida told him that that part would probably get axed and it would stop with him shaking his head. Too much gray area in that blessing for good television. When the show airs, Haymitch will be a firm a no instead of a no, but. Regardless, it wasn’t a yes like he got from the other families and that does bother him because he knows how close Katniss is to her family.

He lights a candle between their plates on the table that’s set up for them. Katniss should be arriving momentarily. They’ll eat, then get the key to their suite, and finally the cameras will go away. They’re mic’d almost the entire time they’re on this show, so he is excited to have true one-on-one time with Katniss without having all the crew watching their every move.

He hears a murmuring amongst the crew and turns to see what’s going on. Pollux has shown up, standing next to Cressida and talking in her ear. Cressida’s eyes widen but her face remains set, not giving anything away. Then Pollux backs away and starts to set up his camera and crew.

Peeta grins. If Pollux is setting up, it means Katniss is en route.

The idea of just being around her lights him up, filling him with a comfortable heat. He loves her. When he signed his contract, he didn’t think he’d actually find someone so perfect for him, but he did. He would just end the show right now if he could. He would ‘dump’ both Cashmere and Glimmer and wouldn’t wait another second to spend the rest of his life with Katniss.

A few of the overhead lights flick on and he watches as the producers and sound crew get into position. This fantasy suite isn’t a hotel. It’s a cozy cabin on the same resort space but he felt like this seemed more Katniss than the pristine white villas Caesar had offered. This one almost looks like it’s set into the forest, more like a fancy treehouse. It’s perfect for Katniss with her love of nature.

The gate opens and her transportation pulls into the parking bay. He stands up and smiles as a producer opens her door. She’s stunning. She wears a pale yellow dress that pairs with her purity theme almost too well, perhaps even chosen by a producer or the wardrobe specialist there to make sure the outfits the girls choose are right for the camera. He wonders if this is Cinna’s work because she looks sweet and comfortable, rather than overtly sexy like Cashmere, who had been trying not to expose anything on camera most of the night. Cinna might have been called in to make sure there wasn’t a repeat disaster like that.

She strides toward him slowly, eyes down, in a pair of ankle boots that shuffle on the uneven path. He meets her halfway, holding his hand out to help steady her. He hasn’t had to steady her before. Of the two, he’s definitely the klutz. But, she takes his hand and he gives it squeeze before pulling her in for a hug.

Cinna has ensured Katniss has worn the highest heels she can wear without falling over on the majority of her dates with him so on camera they fit better in the frames. Tonight when he pulls her into his arms, her face burrows into his chest and he finds himself grinning like a madman knowing that this is what it’s actually going to feel like when they go home. He’s not tall, but Katniss is tiny, much smaller than he even realized. He kisses the top of her head.

“You look beautiful,” he says.

She pulls away and smiles. “Thanks. So do you. I mean...you know.”

He chuckles and tugs her hand. “Come on, dinner looks great.”

The corners of her mouth drop and she bites her bottom lip, her eyes going back down to her shoes.

“I, uh, I’m not hungry,” she says quietly.

He shakes his head. One thing he learned quickly about Katniss is that she is always down for food. She is willing to try almost anything, including the cultural dishes that most of the other girls stuck their noses up at or could barely swallow as they traveled through Southeast Asia.

He puts his hands on her shoulders and realizes she is shaking. He wonders if maybe she’s nervous about tonight, so he leans in, hoping that the mics won’t catch what he says in her ear.

“If this is about the suites, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he says. “I’m not expecting anything. I’m just excited to have uninterrupted time with you.”

When he pulls away, he is shocked to see her eyes clenched shut and her olive skin brushed with a pink tint. A stray tear slips down her cheek and he quickly reaches for it with his thumb. She almost melts into his hand at the contact.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he murmurs.

She doesn’t immediately respond, so he pulls her over to a wicker couch on the porch. They sit down and her head tilts to the right, like she’s trying to not let him see her face.

“Can you tell me what’s going on? Maybe I can help,” he says. Right now, he feels pretty helpless watching Katniss cry and not knowing what’s going on. He isn’t sure how he can help, but he wants to do so. “Katniss?”

She shakes her head and lets out a breath, rubbing her temples with her fingers. “This isn’t how I wanted this to go,” she mumbles.

“What are you talking about?”

His heart is pounding. His head is spinning. He has no idea what’s going on.

“Katniss, please talk to me,” he begs.

“I’m not good at words,” she says.

Her hands wring together in her lap and he reaches to cover them with his hand, trying to calm her down.

“Well, can you try?” he asks. “Because...I have no idea what’s going on.”

She looks up at him with glassy eyes and gives a short nod before sitting in silence for what feels like eternity before she speaks.

“I’m going home,” she says.

He feels like she kicked him in the gut. What is happening? Does she think that she is the next girl gone? Does she really think that after everything they’ve been through that he is going to choose Cashmere or Glimmer over her? He shakes his head and puts his hand on her cheek.

“No. No, you’re not,” he says. “You’re going to get a rose. I’d give it to you now if I had it.”

He turns away briefly, but Caesar is nowhere to be found. It is late for him to be on set, but maybe someone has gone running to grab him so he can bring the roses. Peeta wants Katniss to know she’s safe tonight and has nothing to worry about.

He feels her hand on his cheek, mimicking his on hers, and he lets her guide his attention back to her. She’s shaking her head when their eyes meet.

“No, Peeta. I’m going home tonight. Haymitch and I are going to the airport now.”

His stomach bottoms out. She is leaving on her own. He can barely breathe. How did everything go from being almost perfect to this in the span of a few hours. It wasn’t like she had a lot of time by herself -

“Wait, Haymitch? Haymitch is here?” he asks.

She nods and he turns away from her and to the producers. Cressida and Pollux are standing together, neither one able to meet his eyes, so he glares at whoever in the crew can guiltily look his way.

“Haymitch is here,” he growls at them. Caesar’s probably with him in the transport, he thinks. They’re probably talking about poor Peeta getting his heart broken because ‘daddy’ said no. They flew Haymitch in for a story line. They put Peeta in this situation. They’re ruining this for him.

Well, he has one shot.

He turns back to Katniss and decides to screw the script. He knows he’s not supposed to say this and it’s probably all going to be edited out later but he has to try. He can’t let her leave without trying to convince her that it’s okay to stay.

“Katniss, I understand that I didn’t get Haymitch’s blessing and that your family is the most important thing to you. So, I need you to know that I’ve been thinking about this too and I’m okay not proposing to you at the end of this if that’s what you want,” he says. He tries not to take any breaths. He just needs to get it all out. “I just want to be with you. I want to fly home with you and be with you and I don’t care if it’s as your fiance or just a boyfriend. I just...I need you in my life.”

His voice shakes as he finishes and Katniss leans back into the couch, covering her eyes with one hand, the other wrapped around herself.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was supposed to go home a long time ago.”

Peeta’s mouth instantly dries. Suddenly, he can hear Enobaria’s voice in his head. And Finch’s. And all the others that warned him about the ‘girls who weren’t ready’ and his stomach turns as he lets out a shaky breath.

“So...this was all a lie...how you acted,” he says slowly. He pulls his hand away from her knee, where it fell when Katniss covered her eyes. “So you want to be the Bachelorette? You want to go on Bachelor in Paradise?”

Katniss’s head spins toward him frantically, eyes wide. “No. No. No,” she says. “I had no intention on being the Bachelorette at all. I just...you weren’t supposed to fall in love with me.”

“Why not?” he asks. He pulls at his hair. “I’m so confused. What are you even saying?”

“I told you I’m not good with words,”  she says. She presses the bridge of her nose between her fingers. “You can’t love me because I can’t give you what you want.”

He frowns. “Katniss, I want you.”

She nods. “I know.”

They sit in silence while it registers. Peeta leans his head against the back of the couch, running a hand over his face.

“So, you don’t love me,” he says. The words hurt just saying them. He can’t imagine what it will feel like to hear them.

Katniss covers her face. “I do, but I can’t,” she mumbles.

He isn’t sure he heard her correctly, but when he sits up to ask her for clarification, she is already standing up and walking away. He rushes after her, grabbing her hand. She stops mid-step and heaves, so he quickly takes her in his arms as the first sob breaks through. She clutches his shirt and he leans down to pick her up, carrying her back to the couch so they aren’t standing in the middle of all the crew lights. They’re still being watched, but at least it feels a little more private.

He sits down and keeps her on his lap, rocking her back and forth. He thought his head was spinning before but now it’s like it spun right off. He is so confused by everything she has said. Nothing makes sense. She looks just as heartbroken as he feels over the idea of her leaving tonight and Katniss is no actress. They did a drama class as one of the first group dates while they were still in LA and she was abysmal. Adorable, but absolutely terrible in a way that no one can fake. Katniss Everdeen will never win an Oscar, something Haymitch and Prim both reaffirmed when he visited her hometown, so he has a little hope left in him that maybe he can change her mind.

When her sobs quiet, her energy zapped as she rests her head against his shoulder, he kisses her temple.

“I’ll go as slow as you want me to go,” he says. “I will do whatever you want me to do. I’m all in. I just need to know that you’re willing to get there with me. Or to try.”

She sighs against his neck. “I’m not sure I’m capable of loving someone like that,” she whispers. “I’ve seen what it can do and I already feel so much for you that...I’m afraid...I’m afraid of what it would do to me.”

His body feels heavy all of a sudden, like it takes too much energy to even breathe. This is it. There is nothing else he can do or say to convince her. He never realized she had this aversion, this burden. How did he not see this? How did he never pick up on it before? Clearly, the other women saw it because he now knows Katniss is who they were warning him about - but how did they see it and he didn’t?

He closes his eyes. He was wearing rose-colored glasses. That’s how. He was in love. Or maybe not. Maybe he was infatuated. Whatever it was, it blinded him and it lead him here. The exact place he didn’t want to be.

In love with someone who couldn’t love him the way he loved her.

“You’ve made your decision,” he says. It’s not a question. She already mentioned Haymitch and the airport.

Katniss nods. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could let myself be what you wanted.”

He bites the inside of his cheek. He wants to say yeah, me too but even that seems worthless to say now. Nothing he can say or do can make him feel any better right now.

“Let me walk you out.”

He has walked a lot of women out at this point. Every rose ceremony, he has to say goodbye to someone - sometimes multiple someones - and more recently he has given them the opportunity to have him walk out to the transportation with them, allowing them the chance to get any type of closure they needed away from the prying eyes of the remaining contestants.

He has never felt this hollow walking someone out. He has never felt this broken. Maybe not even in his entire life.

They stop in front of the SUV and before he opens the door for her, they reach for each other. How is this happening? This has got to be some sort of nightmare.

She rests her forehead on his chest, right above the pounding of his heart. She can probably feel it.

“I’m sorry I was so selfish,” she murmurs, not lifting her head. “I should have sent myself home a long time ago. Then you could have found someone who isn’t...confused and...broken.”

He shakes his head and rolls his eyes. She still doesn’t get it.

“Oh, Katniss,” he says with a dark chuckle. “It’s been you for a long time.”

He really can’t say this. They might actually fire him for it, but he doesn’t care. He wants her to know.

“Do you remember, back on the very first group date, when we all stopped to have lunch in the park?” She shakes her head against his chest. “Well, I do. There was this little girl who was staring at us all sitting there and you could tell she and her mother were homeless because they were carrying all their stuff and sitting on a bench.”

“Rue,” Katniss whispers into his shirt. “I remember now.”

“Yeah, Rue.” He closes his eyes and pulls up his memory, seeing it in his head as he retells it. “All the other girls were sitting with me, fighting each other for my attention, eating their lunches, not a care in the world. And I looked over and you were gone. I panicked for a second until I saw Pollux put his camera down and smile. So I followed his sight line and I saw you walk over and hand that little girl your lunch bucket and the book you brought for the bus ride. You sat and talked to her for the entire lunch break and that mom looked at you like you were the sun in the sky.”

He gives her a squeeze.

“I’m sorry if I didn’t make it apparent until we were out of the US how much I fell for you, but just know it’s been you for a while.”

Katniss pulls away, bloodshot eyes wide. “There were still, like, twenty-five girls at that point and it wasn’t like all the attention was on me.”

Peeta gives a sad grin.

“Yeah, there were a lot of girls left then and I noticed all of them. But none of them held a candle to you. They still don’t.” He shrugs. “From the very beginning, I knew I was going home with you or with no one.”

She runs her hands over her face as she backs away from him.

“I want you to know that I do care about you at lot. That wasn’t a lie,” she says. “I never wanted to break your heart.”

He nods and leans down, pressing a final kiss against her lips. It’s different from every kiss they’ve shared before - this one tasting of salt and despair.

“I know,” he says when he pulls away, hovering close so hopefully this stays between them. “If you ever change your mind...you know where to find me.”

She nods her head and reaches up on her tiptoes to kiss him again before turning her back. She is in the large black window-tinted SUV before Peeta can even register what happened.

Then she’s gone.

He watches as the gate opens and closes for the SUV, leaving Peeta alone with the crew either staring at him or trying not to look. He turns around and narrows in on Pollux and Cressida, who are among the group guiltily looking away, and crosses his arms.

“You knew and you didn’t tell me.”

Pollux holds his hands up and Cressida rushes to speak.

“It all happened so quickly. We didn’t realize until...until Haymitch came that she was considering leaving. I promise.”

“But he was flown in to stir the pot,” Peeta hisses. “You knew Katniss was the one for me and you triggered her.”

Cressida crosses her arms. “She wasn’t ready and, yes, we brought Haymitch in to see if we could get some good one liners, but Peeta, as your friend and not your producer, this was going to end this way whether or not it was tonight or after the finale. She wasn’t ready and you can’t change that.”

All he sees is white and his hands clench together in rage. He knows deep down that Cressida is right in a way, but that sits in the bottom of his gut, under the layers of hatred he has for this situation. Even if Katniss decided to stay, they still brought in Haymitch to stir up drama for him and Katniss. They wanted to script it for television. They wanted to make Haymitch their villain, the reason why he couldn’t propose to Katniss. They probably wanted Peeta to wait and propose to her on the episode ‘After the Final Rose’ that they air live after the finale to bring in the views.

They’ve tried to script everything. And he’s done.

He rips off his mic and chucks it in the direction of the producers.

“I’m done,” he tells them. “I quit.”

He hears someone call after him as he turns away but he doesn’t care. He feels used and stupid and heartbroken. He just wants to be alone, as far away from the show as he can get himself. He walks to the gate and finds it locked, probably some sound guy has the remote and has barricaded him in.

He looks for another escape route. Not finding one, he begins to climb the steel barricade, Cressida and a few others screaming behind him. Someone yells for someone else to call Caesar to set and that’s the last thing Peeta hears before he carefully avoids the decorative top of the fence and jumps to the ground.

Katniss is gone. He’s gone. The crew can make their own TV now.

…

I debated including the fence jump because this has definitely diverged from the whole nonsense that was this season’s big drama. Katniss is not Cassie and Peeta is not Colton, though that’s where the idea originated and there are similarities. Ultimately, I gave Peeta his own spin on it so it’s not really a jump and more of a climb. I just really liked the image I had in my head of Caesar running through the Portugal wilderness ala Chris Harrison too much to remove it haha.

I know it’s not singing that gets Peeta in this universe, but I drew on Katniss’s maternal instincts here instead. Hope that’s okay.

I listened to “Got It In You (Acoustic)” by BANNERS for the majority of the time I wrote this chapter. I imagine that when this episode airs in this universe, this is the song that would play when Katniss was walking out/the car was driving away and she had her little talk to the camera as she left (which wasn’t written here but may come later)/Peeta standing there watching the car drive away.

There’s probably one more part to this for an HEA and maybe an epilogue (I have an idea for former-Bachelor Finnick and his YouTube talk show but...maybe not. We’ll see if it works).

[cornyregans]

The Beginning of the Feud

WARNING: This entry contains mentions of death and a variety of illnesses, some of which might be triggering to some people. As such, reader discretion is advised.

Obligatory Warning Word Count: 26 words Essay & Theory Word Count: 8,654 words Obligatory Thank You Word Count: 92 words Total Word Count: 8,772 words

  The divide between the Capp and Monty families is clearly symbolized in Veronaville, with both sides separated down the middle by a canal. The Monty family lives on the more rural, Italian-inspired western side, more akin to the city of Verona where Romeo & Juliet is supposed to take place. Conversely, the Capp family is located on the more populated Tudor-inspired eastern side of the river, more akin to Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon.

  The clear contrast between the two sides was most likely intentional, as the vast differences between the east and the west sides of the canal perfectly mirror the inability to of the feuding families to come together. Though, while we are aware of the feud both consciously through the narrative and subconsciously through the neighborhood’s design, we still cannot be sure about other factors: like the how's, the why's, the when's, the who's. While we know bits and pieces, EAxis has not revealed the whole story behind this feud, and at this rate, they probably never will. So, it is up to us to determine what we believe to have happened.

When did the feud start?

  The neighborhood biography for Veronaville states that the Capps and Montys have been feuding for “generations." From this statement alone, we cannot determine a concrete place in time, but it is possible to do so if we look deeper. Both the Capp family and the Monty family are currently in their fifth generation, a generation count not even the Goths of Pleasantview can boast about when first playing in The Sims 2. The longevity of both families brings up many possibilities for when this feud may have started; however, it is actually quite easy to pin down which of the five generations gave birth to this feud that has lasted for so long.

  When first playing Veronaville, a look at both the Capp and Monty family trees will show that the oldest living generation in both families is the third. When the game starts, there are three living third generation members when you combine the elders in both the Capp and Monty families. That being said, only one of them, Patrizio, belongs to either family by blood; both Isabella and Consort married into the Monty and Capp families respectively. However, a look at two of these sims’ biographies, those belonging to Patrizio and Consort, confirm that the feud began in this generation. If so, then when, specifically, did this long-running feud start? To answer that question, the best place to look may well be in the memories of both Consort Capp and Patrizio Monty.

  Looking at the memories of these two sims is not as easy as it sounds, as there are clear contradictions. According to Patrizio’s memories, he met Consort, became best friends with Consort, and lost Consort as a best friend after he became a teenager; meanwhile, Consort’s memories regarding these events all seem to happen in his childhood. At a glance, it looks like the feud probably started because Patrizio took Consort’s lunch money and never paid him back. However, there are two pieces of evidence revealing a contradiction in Consort’s memories.

  The first discrepancy appears when we look at Consort’s biography where it states that he and Patrizio were once “associates." When using this word as a noun, it indicates that the two were partners or colleagues in a business or at work. If Consort was a child, then there is no way that he and Patrizio could have been associates when the feud began, as a sim must be a teen or older to have a job.

  The second instance, and probably the most telling, is a picture of Patrizio and Consort at what is apparently some sort of farm (possibly the llama ranch alluded to in Patrizio’s biography). In this picture, the two young men, along with a blonde female sim, are clearly teenagers or older. This observation seems to confirm that, of the two, Patrizio’s memories of the events leading up to the feud seem to be the accurate ones, and that the feud likely began specifically when they both were teens.

Why did the feud start?

  Now that we have a more specific timeframe, we can work on the next question: the why. Much like with the when, the why can partly be answered by looking at the memories of both sims alongside some storytelling images. In both Patrizio and Consort’s memories, there is another sim that links the two together: Contessa Capp.

  A quick look at Consort’s family tree will show that he only became a Capp by marrying Contessa (his premarital surname was “Thebe”). Despite Contessa being Consort Capp’s wife, a look in Patrizio Monty’s memories will show that he had his first kiss with her. This is further backed up if we look at the storytelling image and combining that with the information found in both men’s memories. This leaves little doubt that the woman in the picture is Contessa Capp, and the man she is making out with is Patrizio Monty, not her future husband (who was instead standing off to the side).

  Another look at the memories of both men shows their friendship fell apart after they met Contessa; in fact, Patrizio’s memories show their friendship breaking down after he kissed Contessa for the first time. If we disregard Consort’s misplaced “grew up well” memory, his next memory following the dissolution of his friendship with Patrizio would be of him having his first kiss with Contessa. Conversely, Patrizio’s first memory following the dissolution of his friendship with Consort involves him getting fired from his job in the business career.

  While the memories seem to provide the bulk of the outline as to the why, we should probably also take a look at Patrizio’s biography, which asks whether he will “let his grudge against Consort Capp prevent him from enjoying his legacy.” This quote from Patrizio’s biography is rather interesting, specifically because Consort’s biography mentions nothing of the sort. As a result, the game seems to be hinting that Consort is most likely the aggressor of the feud. This is further backed up in the Monty family biography, where it is mentioned that Patrizio never forgot Consort’s “broken promise.” While neither biography provides a concrete answer to either question, they do give us a general idea of what could have caused their friendship to crumble.

Comparing and Contrasting Patrizio and Consort

  Despite both being lovers of Contessa Capp during separate points in her life, there are quite a few differences between Patrizio and Consort. In fact, by looking closely at each of these differences, it is possible that some of the components might help in answering questions about the feud’s origins.

  By looking at the naming themes for both men’s ancestors, there is already a clear divide. Most of Patrizio’s ancestors are named for characters from Shakespeare works set in Italy, fitting for a member of the Italian-inspired Monty family. His ancestors’ names are taken from plays such as The Merchant of Venice (his paternal grandparents Bassanio and Portia), Measure for Measure (his maternal grandparents Angelo and Mariana), and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (his parents Valentine and Silvia). While all of these characters are generally of the upper class, none of them seem to reach a rank higher than that of a duke, and even then, said duke (Angelo) is really a placeholder more than anything.

  On the other hand, half of Consort’s ancestors are named after characters from Troilus & Cressida, a play set in what is meant to be the later years of the Trojan War; his paternal grandfather was named after the King of Troy (Priam), while his parents were named one of the Trojan princes (Hector) and his Theban wife (Andromache). The other half of Consort’s ancestors were instead named for mythological figures related to the other half in the original source material; specifically the Queen of Troy (Hecuba), the King of Thebe (Eetion), and the unnamed Theban queen. 

  As a result, the biggest takeaway concerning the differences between Patrizio and Consort’s heritage is Consort’s ancestors were all inspired by mythological royalty; this stands in contrast to Patrizio’s ancestors, who were mostly just regular old nobles in Shakespeare’s plays.

  Another way that Consort and Patrizio differ is in how their lineage is passed down through generations. Most families in The Sims 2 are patrilineal, meaning surnames are passed down from father-to-child. The Monty family is a case of a patrilineal family, as a look at the Monty family tree will clearly show that it was Patrizio’s father who was born with the Monty name, while his mother possessed the surname “Capitano” before her marriage. Conversely, Consort’s family is matrilineal, meaning he inherited his surname from his mother.

  Even their first names happen to reflect how both sim’s surnames are passed down from one generation to the next. Patrizio’s name sounds rather similar to “patriarch,” a title denoting a male head of a family. Consort, on the other hand, is a term used to define a spouse of a reigning monarch, which symbolizes that he is not the true head of the family, rather that he is (or was) married to her.

Taking Contessa into Account

 Now that we’ve gone over Patrizio and Consort’s ancestry, heritage, and etymology, our next step is looking to see how well these components match up with those of Contessa Capp.

  A look at the Capp family tree will show that all of Contessa’s ancestors were named after ancient royalty. Contessa’s maternal grandparents, Cleopatra and Antony Capp, were named after Cleopatra VII Philopater and Mark Antony, two historical figures whose romance inspired Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra. Cleopatra was one of the last two pharaohs of Egypt, ruling alongside her son Caesarion from 44 BC until her death. As for Mark Antony, he was both a Roman politician and one of Caesar’s general. Her paternal grandparents, Julius and Calpurnia Caesar, were named after Roman dictator Julius Caesar and his third wife, both of whom were portrayed in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Finally, Contessa’s parents, Octavius and Scribonia, were named after the first Roman emperor and his second wife.

  Contessa’s name is the Italian word for “countess,” a noble title that is ranked below a marchioness but above a viscountess. While Patrizio and Consort’s names define their roles in their family’s dynamics, Contessa’s name is more of a middle ground. While her name is usually defined as being given to the wife of a count, the title of countess can also be hereditary in some cases. Given Contessa’s lineage, she would probably be more akin to a hereditary countess who rules in her own right, rather than one who obtained her title through marriage.

Comparing Contessa to Patrizio and Consort

  While Patrizio and Contessa may have had more in common regarding their roles in continuing their family lines, Consort and Contessa would have been more compatible when taking their lineage, ancestry, and etymology into account.

  Both Contessa and Consort’s ancestors were named for members of either ancient or mythological royalty; meanwhile, Patrizio’s ancestors were based on Shakespeare characters who were nobles, none of whom ran an ancient civilization. In terms of lineage, the Capps are and the Thebes are (or were) matrilineal, while the Monty family is patrilineal.

  Finally, because she is a daughter in a matrilineal family, the etymology of Contessa’s name (”countess”) works better with Consort’s (”spouse of a reigning monarch”). While Contessa’s name could work well with Patrizio’s (whose name sounds similar to “patriarch”), their lineage (her family being matrilineal, his family being patrilineal) instead causes their names to conflict with one another.

Sign Compatibility and Chemistry

  A look at both Patrizio and Consort’s zodiac signs tell us that the former is a Sagittarius (with the personality of a Cancer), while the latter is a Scorpio (with the personality of a Virgo). Patrizio’s personality shows that he has 8 neat points, 5 outgoing points, 4 active points, 4 playful points, and 4 nice points. As for Consort, he has 9 neat points, 4 outgoing points, 6 active points, 4 playful points, and 2 nice points. When comparing each man’s personality, Patrizio is shown to be nicer and more outgoing, while Consort is neater and also more active.

  Like her husband, the late Contessa was also a Scorpio (except, unlike her husband, she had the personality of an Aries). Contessa’s personality shows that she had 6 neat points, 6 outgoing points, 6 active points, 3 playful points, and 4 nice points. By comparing her personality to that of her husband’s, Contessa was nicer and more outgoing than him, but he was neater and more playful than her. When comparing her personality to Patrizio, Contessa was the more outgoing and active, while Patrizio is neater and more playful.

  A sim’s zodiac sign impacts both their compatibility with other signs and how much chemistry they have with other sims. As a Scorpio, Contessa, like her husband, would have been most compatible with either a Pisces or a Leo, and least compatible with a Libra and an Aquarius. While Consort shares a sign with Contessa, Patrizio is a Sagittarius instead, as such, he is most compatible with a Pisces or a Capricorn, but least compatible with a Libra or a Scorpio. By looking at these figures, this would mean that Patrizio would have actually been incompatible with Contessa.

  From Nightlife onward, sims can also have chemistry with one another depending on their aspirations, personalities, zodiac signs, and turn-ons/offs. Since turn-ons and turn-offs vary from playthrough to playthrough for the base game and University premades, we will be ignoring them during this essay and instead focus on the other components.

  By comparing Contessa’s aspiration to Patrizio’s aspiration, the two of them would be a Fortune-Family combination, which is given a score of +17.5. As for Contessa and Consort, two fortune sims, their score would be +35.

  As for their zodiac signs, Contessa was a Scorpio while Patrizio was a Sagittarius, this combination would be given a score of -17.5. As for Contessa and Consort, two Scorpios, their score would be 0 due to having the same sign. 

  As for the personality component, determining the overall score requires solving a rather complex equation. Luckily, since it’s such a small part of the overall score, my math-inept self will pass in trying to calculate the result (that’s not to say I didn’t try though, I did, I simply can't understand it).

  By combining the scores from the aspirations and zodiac signs of each pair, Patrizio and Contessa would have had an overall score of 0, while Consort and Contessa’s score would have been +35. Again, this is without the personality and turn-on/off components, so the scores here are only tentative. However, should we take these scores into account, it seems like Consort and Contessa may have had a higher score in both chemistry and compatibility than Patrizio and Contessa.

What can Shakespeare tell us?

  Shakespeare has written many a play about love, and a few of his plays tend to use a love triangle as a plot device. Many of Shakespeare’s works that focus on romantic love tend to end happily, but there are also those that don’t, such as Romeo & Juliet.

  The plot of Romeo & Juliet is at the heart of Veronaville. From the name of the neighborhood to the names of the feuding families to the names of the two teenage lovebirds. Heck, some pre-programmed events in this neighborhood can be seen as shout-outs to scenes from this play. However, unlike Romeo & Juliet, how your sims live their lives is your decision; you can choose to follow the script, or you can deviate from it instead.

  With this in mind, let’s look at the beginning of this feud by using Shakespeare’s work as a reference. While Consort and Patrizio are clearly meant to be parallels to Lords Capulet and Montague respectively, The Sims 2 does something that Shakespeare’s play does not, it provides some background information about how the rivalry could have started. If we look at the beginning of the feud within the context of Romeo & Juliet, and combining it information already mentioned in this essay, it is possible that the Romeo and Juliet of this particular generation could have very well been Patrizio Monty and Contessa Capp.

  So if Patrizio and Contessa are their generation’s Romeo and Juliet, then who is Consort supposed to be? For that, I believe we should look at Romeo & Juliet’s neutral family, the Royal House of Escalus. Like in Romeo & Juliet, Veronaville also has a third family of its own, that family being the Summerdreams. However, the Summerdream family is missing one key element found in Romeo & Juliet, and that is a character based on the third member of the R&J love triangle, Paris.

  In Romeo & Juliet, Paris is Lord and Lady Capulet’s preferred choice for Juliet’s future husband; however, there is nary a Paris counterpart to be found in present-day Veronaville. There is no other premade sim, outside Romeo Monty, that is even hinted at having any romantic feelings for the fifth generation’s Juliette Capp, nor is there is a sim her grandfather would prefer as her potential partner. The decision to exclude a character who had such a large role in the original play’s plot without even so much of a parallel sim is quite baffling, especially since there are love triangles from other plays that remain intact. That being said, perhaps the Paris counterpart was not supposed to be a part of the fifth generation, but the third.

  As I mentioned above, aside from receiving some suggestions upon first playing certain lots, The Sims 2 doesn’t really tell you what you’re supposed to do to progress. When performing any theatrical work, you have a script you must follow, you know how the whole thing will play out long before the first show. In Veronaville, you get to decide how this tale of two feuding families will play out. Will your Veronaville be a tragedy like the original play or a comedy where everything ends happily?

  While there is still a generation of Romeo & Juliet yet to play out, it is possible that there was one that took place generations before in Veronaville that played out quite differently from the source material. Because unlike in Shakespeare and the current set-up, it was Paris, not Romeo, who ended up with Juliet.

  As I said before, Shakespeare has written many a play revolving around romance. While there are potentially numerous parallels throughout various Shakespeare plays that can be used in identifying the origins of this feud, there is one play that I mentioned earlier in this essay, Troilus & Cressida, that I believe is worth looking at in greater detail.

  Much like Romeo & Juliet, there are two rival factions in Troilus & Cressida: the Trojans and the Greeks. Troilus, one of the princes of Troy, is infatuated with Cressida, the daughter of a Trojan priest, and the two eventually profess their love and vow to remain faithful to one another. Meanwhile, Cressida’s father Calchas has become a turncoat, pledging his allegiance to the Greeks in order to be reunited with his estranged daughter. After negotiations between Calchas and the Greeks, they agree to exchange a captured Trojan commander named Antenor for Cressida. When news reaches Troilus and Cressida, neither are happy about it; however, both still vow to remain faithful to each other while apart.

  Unfortunately for Troilus, the Greek prince Diomedes also has an interest in Cressida, and he begins courting her after she and Troilus are separated. Despite her vow to remain faithful to Troilus, Cressida acts coy and reciprocates his flirtations. Eventually, she briefly hands Diomedes a sleeve that was given to her by Troilus as a token of their love, only to exchange it for her body once she decides she wants it back. The suggestive banter ends with Cressida promising to wait for Diomedes to come and sleep with her later that night. After both Diomedes and Cressida leave the scene, Troilus, having witnessed their entire exchange from a nearby hiding place, vows to kill Diomedes in combat. Later when a letter from Cressida arrives, an enraged Troilus tears it up and proceeds into battle.

  While a love triangle is present in both Romeo & Juliet and Troilus & Cressida, they both play out in strikingly different ways. Romeo and Juliet both honor the vows they made to one another, to the point where both of them would rather die before breaking them. While Paris has feelings for Juliet, she never once reciprocates, and when she acts as though she does, she is instead planning to get out of her arranged marriage. Like Romeo and Juliet, Troilus and Cressida also profess their undying love for one another, however, once she is alone with Diomedes, Cressida plays along with his advances, unaware that Troilus is privy to the whole thing.

  That being said, the scene between Diomedes and Cressida can also be seen as the latter returning the former’s advances for her protection due to being a Trojan woman in a Greek military camp. As a result, her returning Diomedes’ advances could easily be seen as an act of self-preservation rather than being an act of treachery. However, even if this were the case, there is no way Troilus could have possibly known her intentions, as he witnesses the scene with absolutely no context, and has to trust the evidence before him.

  Perhaps Cressida tried to tell Troilus her side of the story in her letter? Though, the fact that Troilus disregards it altogether leaves its contents up in the air.

  Much like how Patrizio and Contessa can be seen as parallels to Romeo and Juliet, they also have a lot in common with Troilus and Cressida, with Consort acting as a stand-in for Diomedes. Given the ultimate resolution found in Troilus & Cressida, perhaps it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to suggest the feud began after Patrizio caught Contessa and Consort interacting in a romantic manner? Perhaps Consort’s broken promise had to do with him flirting with Contessa while Patrizio had feelings for her? However, while this scenario is certainly possible, neither Patrizio nor Consort possess any memories of an affair, though I can’t say I know whether the lack of memories on either side was intentional or not.

  However, should we assume that Cressida went along with Diomedes’ advances for her protection, perhaps we can look at this from another angle? Should we assume that Cressida’s allegiance to Troilus never wavered in Troilus & Cressida, perhaps Contessa may have wanted to remain faithful to Patrizio, and her decision to move on with Consort may have been out of obligation.

A Closer Look at the Involved Parties

  Patrizio, Contessa, and Consort are obviously the central figures of the Veronaville feud; however, much like a Shakespeare play dealing with similar conflicts, odds are this scenario also has a few secondary characters we might have missed. While Isabella Pantalone, Patrizio’s eventual wife, might be seen as a possible secondary character, the fact that Patrizio’s memories state their first meeting occurred after he lost his desk job makes me believe otherwise.

  So, if Isabella’s role in the feud isn’t introduced until later, then where can we turn to find our answers? Well, a look at both Patrizio and Consort’s memories show that both men’s parents were still alive when their friendship ended. In addition, should we also assume that either one or both of Contessa’s parents were also alive at that point, it is possible that all the parents may have played a role as well.

Capps

  Think back to Romeo & Juliet for a second. While Juliet is clearly infatuated with Romeo, her parents have other ideas and pursue a marriage between their daughter and Count Paris. The situation is somewhat different in Troilus & Cressida, as Calchas does not arrange a marriage between his daughter and Diomedes, but he is the catalyst of Troilus and Cressida's separation.

  By looking at the scenarios found in both plays, it would not be too far-fetched to assume that either one or both of Contessa’s parents may have contributed to helping jumpstart the feud. In both Romeo & Juliet and Troilus & Cressida, it is the female title character’s parents who are the greatest obstacles to the titular couples. In Romeo & Juliet, the Capulets try to push Juliet into a marriage with Paris, while in Troilus & Cressida, Calchas is the one responsible for ultimately separating the two title characters. Since Contessa is the only female sim to be found in this love triangle, she is the most obvious counterpart to both Juliet and Cressida in this particular situation.

  Now that we’re somewhat familiar with the roles Contessa’s parents could have played in the feud, it would probably be wise to look at their roles in Shakespeare’s plays. Unlike most sims, Octavius Capp’s Shakespearean counterpart appears in two separate historical tragedies: Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra. In Julius Caesar, Octavius is Caesar’s equally ambitious nephew/adopted son, though unlike Caesar, he was smart enough to hide just how ambitious he was. After his uncle-dad’s assassination, Octavius, along with Caesar’s friend Mark Antony, manage to persuade the public to sympathize with them after extolling Caesar’s virtues over his body. This results in the conspirators either committing suicide, being executed, mercy-killed, or hunted down by the angry mob who listened to Antony's speech.

  Following the events of Julius Caesar, Antony and Octavius, along with another character called Lepidus, have formed the second triumvirate, though their loyalty to one-another weakened prior to the events of Antony & Cleopatra. In addition, Antony also agreed to marry Octavius’ sister, Octavia, in order to prevent future conflicts.

  In Antony & Cleopatra, Octavius is portrayed in a more negative light. At the beginning of the play, Octavius and Antony, their relationship now strained, team up to fight against three pirates and cast their differences aside for the time being. However, after making a truce with one of the pirates, Octavius and Lepidus break it once Antony leaves. Though they worked together in breaking the truce, Octavius later betrays Lepidus and kicks him out of the triumvirate, leading him into a war against Antony and Cleopatra. In the end, Octavius ends up victorious and is eventually crowned as the first Roman emperor.

  Unlike Octavius, whose Shakespeare counterpart appears in two separate plays, Scribonia is one of the few Veronaville sims to not share a name with any Shakespeare characters. Instead, she was named after the historical Octavius Caesar’s second wife and the only mother of his natural child. Their marriage was unhappy and ended in divorce the same day their daughter Julia the Elder was born. Scribonia ended up outliving her daughter by Octavius, though both the date and cause of Scribonia’s death are unknown.

  Because Shakespeare never wrote about Scribonia, it is impossible to interpret her character traits through a Shakespearean lens. She was described as being “tiresome” and “morose” by her ex-husband, and “dignified and severe” by Seneca (a statesman and stoic philosopher). Despite these negative descriptors, Scribonia’s reputation has improved over time, as she is now seen as an “exemplary” Roman woman.

  Since their daughter Contessa is already dead when TS2 begins, there isn’t much information about Scribonia and Octavius out there. However, given their historical counterparts, it is rather interesting that Octavius was the one who took Scribonia’s surname in TS2 and not the reverse. While this seems to be a thing men do when marrying into the Capp family, we cannot be sure whether the Caesars were a matrilineal or patrilineal family. Therefore, this leads me to believe that Scribonia Capp may have more importance to the overall Veronaville narrative than meets the eye. While I do plan to cover Scribonia (and Octavius) in more detail eventually, I thought it would be a good idea to point this out since it could come in handy when coming up with a theory.

  In addition, neither sim appears in the memories of any living sims, meaning we cannot know which of the two predeceased the other. With this in mind, it is likely that the two were already dead before Contessa married Consort.

  Finally, despite not knowing when Scribonia and Octavius died, we do know how they died. According to her ghost, Scribonia died of old age. Also, while an Octavius Capp is shown to have died of electrocution in TS3, this Octavius Capp’s cause of death in TS2 is also old age according to his ghost. While this may be a commentary on life-expectancy during Shakespeare’s time, Scribonia and Octavius dying of old age should be impossible in normal gameplay since both were adults when they died and death by old age is usually restricted for elders.

  Since there is a contradiction between the ages of Scribonia and Octavius and their cause of death, this allows the simmer a little wiggle room in interpreting how they died. As for me, I tend to look at these two and classify their deaths as being due to natural causes. While this might sound similar to death by disease, I believe there is a distinction between the two. In TS2, the diseases that cause death tend to be contagious or acquired from external forces; however, the conditions that I believe could be in play for determining Scribonia and Octavius’ deaths would have been internal and non-communicable, like heart disease or cancer.

Montys

  Unlike Lord and Lady Capulet, Lord and Lady Montague take a backseat in Romeo & Juliet’s narrative, as such, they aren’t really a threat to the teenage couple’s happiness. While Juliet’s separate scenes tend to occur at her family home, Romeo’s separate scenes instead focus on his friendship with Mercutio and Benvolio, at least until the former’s death and Romeo’s subsequent banishment. They’re more reactionary characters than anything, as they only seem to fight with the Capulets when provoked.

  However, it gets a little weird when trying to find a similar counterpart in Troilus & Cressida. While it could be argued that Troilus’ parents might fit the mold given the role their son plays in the central romance, the king of Troy actually inspired the name of Consort’s paternal grandfather. However, in terms of Priam’s role in Troilus & Cressida, he seems to believe that continuing the war is pointless and tries to persuade his son not to fight.

  Perhaps we should instead take a closer look at the characters who gave their names to Valentine and Silvia Monty. As I mentioned back when I was comparing and contrasting Consort and Patrizio, Valentine and Silvia are named after two characters from The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The titular gentlemen, Valentine and Proteus, have been sent by their fathers to Milan, both falling for the duke’s daughter Silvia upon their arrival. The duke later suspects Valentine and Silvia have feelings for one another and locks Silvia up in a tower every night to keep him away from her. Once Proteus learns of Silvia’s nightly house arrest, he informs the duke that Valentine and Silvia are planning to run off and elope. This leads to the duke banishing Valentine from court and Proteus later telling Silvia that he has most likely died. While Silvia initially mourns the potential loss of Valentine, she later goes searching for him. Valentine and Silvia don’t meet again until the end of the play when Valentine rescues her from Proteus. In the end, the duke approves of the couple, and Valentine and Silvia end the play as husband and wife.

  Now that we have some knowledge of the Shakespeare play Valentine and Silvia originated from, perhaps we should see where they fit in their son’s memories. While Patrizio’s memories of when the feud started are reliable, the same cannot be said for any memories he has of his parents once the feud was underway. According to Patrizio, his father died after his son Claudio got engaged, while his mother died after Claudio got married. Since Claudio’s engagement and marriage occurred following Patrizio’s fourth “grew up” memory, this would mean that Patrizio was already an elder when his son was engaged and married to Olivia Dottore. With that in mind, Patrizio’s memories of both his parents’ are completely illogical since both of his parents died as adults.

  So, if Patrizio’s memories of his parents’ deaths are unreliable, then where can we turn to find our answer? Well, I think a good place to look would be in the memories of his wife and their three children. However, similar to the case of Scribonia and Octavius Capp, neither Isabella Monty nor her children with Patrizio have any memory of either sim. With this in mind, perhaps the most logical conclusion regarding their deaths is that they, like Scribonia and Octavius, died before their child got married.

  However, unlike Scribonia and Octavius, neither Valentine nor Silvia have any ghost in TS2 to help us narrow down any cause of death (Valentine does in TS3, but him dying from old age in Monte Vista contradicts what we know about him in TS2). In addition, Shakespeare's Valentine and Silvia are both alive at the end of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. That being said, Valentine is rumored to have died following his exile from court.

Thebes

  When it comes to Consort’s family, there isn’t any parallel in Romeo & Juliet, but Troilus & Cressida is another story. As I mentioned above, Consort’s parents, Hector and Andromache, were named for one of the princes of Troy and his Theban wife. With this in mind, perhaps it would be a good idea to look at their roles in Shakespeare’s problem play.

  In Troilus & Cressida, the two separate plots are the antitheses of one another. The A plot, revolving around the relationship between the two title characters, is the more comedic of the two. Conversely, the B plot is much more serious, building up to a dramatic battle between Hector and the Greek hero Achilles.

  As a whole, Hector is portrayed as an honorable man who places his duty above all else, though he isn’t exactly the sharpest sword at the smithy. In fact, the scene that most encapsulates Hector’s fatal flaw occurs when he decides to try on the gold armor of an enemy soldier he just defeated. This disastrous error in judgment leads to him being unarmed when Achilles and the myrmidons enter the scene and kill him.

  As for Andromache, she’s more of a minor character compared to her husband, especially since she only has six lines during the play, all of them occurring in the same scene. Each of Andromache’s lines consists of her telling Hector not go out and fight since she had dreams that he would die in battle. As stated above, her words end up falling on deaf ears and her prophetic nightmares come true.

  By looking at Consort Capp’s memories, we can conclude that Hector Thebe died after Consort had his first kiss with Contessa. While Consort’s memories are often full of contradictions, he is the only sim who remembers the deaths of both Hector and Andromache. Given Hector’s death in battle in Troilus & Cressida, it would not be a stretch to say his sim counterpart may have died as a result of the feud. As for Andromache Thebe, her son’s memories state that she died before he fell in love with Contessa.

  However, in between the deaths of his parents, Consort remembers getting a job. While this might not seem strange at first, Consort’s “got a job” memory occurs after his third “grew up” memory. Given the time frame provided by looking at Patrizio Monty’s memories, there is a clear contradiction since Patrizio’s “got fired” memory is placed immediately before he became an adult. Since Patrizio has lived more sim days than Consort when the game starts, their memories of their time together in the business career track don’t add up. However, should we compare their memories to the storytelling image, it is fairly obvious that Patrizio Monty’s memories of their time as associates are more reliable. However, should we remove Consort’s misplaced memory, then it seems as though Hector and Andromache’s deaths occurred one after the other.

  Hector and Andromache are similar to Valentine and Silvia in that they too lack a concrete cause of death. Unlike either Valentine or Silvia, Hector does die near the conclusion of Troilus & Cressida, in his case being ambushed by the myrmidons while completely unarmed. The mythological Andromache, on the other hand, has been stated to have died of old age, which should be impossible in TS2 given she was an adult when she died. This leads me to believe she may have died of natural causes like Scribonia and Octavius.

  Beyond piecing together their deaths, there is another peculiarity about Hector and Andromache. In Troilus & Cressida, Hector is clearly the one who wears the pants in their relationship; however, in The Sims 2, he was the one who ended up taking Andromache’s last name upon marriage. Much like in Troilus & Cressida, Andromache seems to take a backseat to Hector in mythology as well, with her only role being that of a wife. As such, this is something that always puzzled me, especially since, like the Caesars, it is unclear whether the Albions were meant to be patrilineal or matrilineal. If I had to guess, Hector taking Andromache’s surname in TS2 probably had something to do with either Troy’s ultimate defeat in the war (kind of a stretch given Thebe was sacked by the Greeks before Andromache was married), the plot of Homer’s The Iliad beginning in Cilician Thebe (again, another stretch), or so Consort and Contessa would be more compatible in a political sense (which is probably the case). However, since Andromache was the one who kept her surname upon marriage and not Hector, there may very well be some wiggle room, both in interpreting the marriage of the Thebes, and in expanding Andromache's importance to the Veronaville narrative.

The Beginning of the Feud

  Much like my theory regarding the tragedies, my theory about the beginning of the feud is just my interpretation about how this whole thing went down. As such, it should go without saying that none of the information here is in any way canon to the overall neighborhood narrative.

  With that little disclaimer out of the way, this is my theory on the beginning of the feud:

  Though the younger generations of Veronaville may find it hard to believe, there was a time when the Capp and Monty patriarchs once called each other best friends. This short-lived friendship between Patrizio Monty and Consort Thebe began and ended during their days working as executive assistants at Capp & Daughters Corporation. The two were driven by a shared desire to succeed and often spent their breaks talking about common interests. However, little did they know, they would later find another common interest in the form of a girl named Contessa Capp.

  Contessa Capp was an intelligent and popular student at the illustrious Veronaville Preparatory School. She was the student council president, a participant in several extracurricular activities, well on her way to becoming valedictorian, and the heiress to the large conglomerate where both men got their start. Given her both her appearance and her impressive resumé, it was no surprise that both Consort and Patrizio became infatuated with her. For her part, Contessa enjoyed their company and found herself interested to them both, but it was Patrizio, the more outgoing of the two, who was the one to ask her out. 

  Soon enough, the two teenage lovebirds formed a strong connection and would often sneak off to the Monty family’s llama ranch once their shifts ended. While there was some jealousy on Consort’s part since his best friend was going out with the girl he liked, he and Patrizio managed to remain on good terms, especially after Consort promised Patrizio that he wouldn’t tell the boss lady about them sneaking off to the llama ranch. However, Consort’s promise would later be broken once Capp family traditions got in the way.

  The Capp family had been in the inner circle of Veronaville’s high society ever since they teamed up with the politically-inclined Caesars. In order to hold on to their high status and maintain control of the political sphere, the Capps and Caesars arranged a marriage between Scribonia, the only daughter of Cleopatra and Antony Capp, and Octavius, the only son of Julius and Calpurnia Caesar. While Scribonia and Octavius grew up together due to their family connections, neither was all that happy with the idea of marrying the other. As a result, their marriage was very unhappy, and the two were little more than strangers following Contessa’s birth. However, despite their differences, the two did maintain a professional relationship, with Octavius following in his father’s footsteps by becoming Veronaville’s mayor, and Scribonia taking over Capp & Daughters Corporation following the death of her mother.

  Scribonia Capp became a widow after her estranged husband died from either a heart attack, or from being electrocuted when paramedics attempted to restart his heart (the coroner couldn’t figure out what killed him, and it's still a highly debated topic in Veronaville). In addition, Scribonia herself had recently been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. Not knowing how long she had left, Scribonia began looking for a suitable match for her daughter in order to ensure her business would continue for another generation. Eventually, she arranged a match that met her standards, though unfortunately for Patrizio, the suitable match for Contessa was Consort Thebe, the son of her best friend Andromache.

  Like the Capps, the Thebes were a matrilineal family and members of Veronaville’s high society. As such, many of the traditions followed by the Capp family were followed by the Thebes as well. One of these shared traditions involves arranging suitable matches in order to keep their blood blue. In Scribonia’s eyes, a marriage between her daughter and Consort Thebe seemed like a perfect match, that being said, she was unaware that her daughter was already involved with Patrizio Monty.

  Consort found out about his possible marriage into the Capp family while working overtime one afternoon. When he was called into Scribonia’s office, he feared the worst, but those fears were assuaged when he saw Andromache sitting in a chair in front of Scribonia’s desk. Upon sitting in the chair next to his mother, Scribonia asked one of the temps to fetch her daughter. However, Contessa was nowhere to be found in the building as she snuck out with Patrizio an hour earlier. Despite her daughter’s absence, Scribonia, ever the businesswoman, informed Consort of his potential future as a member of the Capp family. After learning he was selected as Contessa Capp’s husband-to-be, Consort told Scribonia that he had a good idea where her daughter might have been and that he would go and fetch her.

  Knowing his best friend’s habits like the back of his hand, Consort set out for the Monty family’s llama ranch. Upon arriving, he began looking for Contessa and found her making out with his best friend in the middle of the ranch. Once the two teenagers ended their passionate kiss, Consort called Contessa away and brought her back to the office, leaving behind a confused Patrizio.

  Upon entering Scribonia’s office, Contessa and Consort sat down in the chairs in front of her desk. Not long after they arrived, Scribonia broke the news to Contessa, who was at a loss for words. Having learned from her own loveless marriage, Scribonia told her daughter that she had time to think it over, as all potential matches must be agreed on by both parties before they can occur. After Contessa left, Scribonia asked Consort if he needed any more time to think it over as well. Five minutes had not even passed before Consort, whose infatuation with Contessa was just as strong as ever, agreed to the match.

  There was no denying that Contessa and Patrizio had a strong connection, however, they spent much more time kissing than talking. Whereas Consort was much easier for Contessa to have a conversation with, he was a little on the stiff side. Contessa agonized over the decision for nearly five days, though in the end, she chose to follow her family’s traditions and agreed to the match with Consort, who she hoped she would learn to love with time. While she did have feelings for Patrizio, she would be lying if she said she could see herself marrying him. While she found him handsome and charming, they didn’t have a lot in common. In addition, Contessa couldn’t help but wonder whether her feelings for Patrizio were of love or lust.

  The day she made her decision, Contessa pulled Patrizio aside before they were scheduled to sneak off to the ranch, and she told him that they couldn’t be together anymore. She apologized, stated that her decision was a family matter, and walked away, leaving Patrizio stunned and heartbroken. Patrizio did not learn why Contessa told him it was over until a party at the Capp Manor was held a few weeks later. While he and Consort were networking with some esteemed businessmen, Scribonia tapped her glass and announced that both Contessa and Consort agreed to the arranged marriage and would enter a courtship phase before finalizing the terms and agreements of the match.

  Upon learning of his best friend’s courtship with his former flame, Patrizio felt betrayed. After arguing with Consort for a few minutes, their argument escalated into a screaming match. It was during this screaming match that Consort let it slip that Patrizio and Contessa used to sneak off to the llama ranch to make out, inadvertently breaking his promise to keep his mouth shut. It wasn’t long before the screaming match turned physical, Patrizio threw a glass of wine at Consort, Consort implied Patrizio’s mother was a llama, the insults went back-and-forth until Patrizio ended up shoving Consort into a chocolate fountain.

  Both men were brought into Scribonia’s office following the party fiasco. Their boss did not hold back when she scolded them, pointing out how they made fools of themselves in front of several esteemed businesspeople and members of Veronaville’s high society. Consort ended up getting docked a week’s pay for his actions. Patrizio was not so lucky, as he found himself fired from his job, both for the damages he incurred by pushing Consort into an expensive chocolate fountain, and for sneaking off to make out with her daughter at his family’s llama ranch. After Patrizio and Consort poked each other for a while, Scribonia called security to escort Patrizio out of the building before any of her possessions could be damaged.

  After he was escorted out, Patrizio ran into Contessa as she was on her way to see her mother, leading to an awkward conversation between the two. However, as soon as Contessa tried to explain her rationale in agreeing to marry Consort, Patrizio stormed off in a rage.

  Patrizio’s firing did not go over well with the Monty family at all. Valentine and Silvia were already unhappy that Patrizio’s relationship with Contessa didn’t work out, as they both found her very charming. Valentine was also angered upon learning why Contessa stopped coming by the ranch and why Patrizio was out of a job. A few weeks later, Valentine and Silvia ran into Hector and Andromache while out at the Veronaville Market. Despite Silvia and Andromache’s pleas for them to stop, the two men soon engaged in a shouting match that quickly turned physical. Unlike the altercation between their sons, Hector and Valentine’s fight ended up turning especially ugly, and both men later died due to their injuries.

After the deaths of Hector and Valentine, the whole neighborhood started picking sides (usually depending on the side of the canal they inhabited). Valentine’s widow, Silvia, contracted a cold not long after her husband’s death that eventually turned into an awful case of pneumonia. She died ten days after her diagnosis. Hector’s widow, Andromache also did not live much longer after her husband’s death, as she ended up dying of respiratory failure. As for Scribonia Capp, she lost her battle with cancer before the marriage between Contessa and Consort was finalized.

Consort and Contessa, who found comfort in each other following the deaths of their mothers, eventually fell in love and agreed to the terms in their wedding contract, later marrying in a lavish ceremony at the Capp Manor. After becoming the new CEO of Capp & Daughters, Contessa ushered in a new golden age for her family’s company with Consort by her side.

While Patrizio didn’t succeed in the business track, he found much more success in the culinary career thanks to an aspiring chef named Isabella Pantalone. The two ended up forming a strong bond, eventually marrying and opening a restaurant together. Patrizio used the tools he learned from his time at Capp & Daughters to make the restaurant a financial success, while Isabella, a master chef in the making, created the finest menu Veronaville’s west side had ever seen.

The hostilities did not end with the third generation of both families, as the next two generations had their own share of Capp and Monty rivalries. That being said, most of the negative interactions between the families following the marriages of both couples were mostly restricted to verbal arguments and name calling. Thus, Veronaville had a reprieve from the violence that, until the tragedies, was referred to as the darkest period of the neighborhood’s history.

Final Thoughts

  While my theory may not include every element we went over in the essay, I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. In all my years playing The Sims, I’ve realized that everyone’s interpretation will inevitably diverge at some point. With that in mind, I have a tendency to suggest alternative points-of-view in these entries in case you’re trying to come up with ideas of your own.

  Much like my theory on the Veronaville tragedies, my theory about the beginning of the feud doesn’t completely follow in-game logic, though that’s probably inevitable given the lack of information EAxis provided us with. However, as I looked at some plays and some historical tidbits, I began to get a clearer picture of what I believed the catalyst of the feud could have been. Obviously, the love triangle played a part, but other than that there wasn’t really much to go off of, leading me to come up with scenarios inspired by Shakespeare’s plays and other relevant sources. While I could have only written about the feud by looking solely at the three central figures, I felt that it wouldn’t be right not to include some other relatives into the mix as well. After all, the neighborhood biography stated that the Capps and Montys had been feuding for generations, not just Consort and Patrizio.

  This topic has been in the works for over than a year, and I’m glad that I am now able to share it with all of you. As usual, I try to look at this topic through a Shakespearean lens, and I try to incorporate other relevant sources (in this case, some history and mythology) when neither Shakespeare nor the game can answer all of my questions. Given the lack of any concrete answer on this subject, there are many interpretations out there, and yours may be completely different from mine as a result. But regardless of any differences, we might have in our interpretations, I hope that mine was at least enjoyable to you.

Thank you so much for reading this essay and theory! If this is your first time reading one of these, I hope you enjoyed and will consider coming back for more in the future. If you’ve read one of these before and if you’ve liked and/or reblogged any of the past entries, I seriously cannot thank you enough. The reception that this project has gotten so far, especially the essay on the tragedies, completely surpassed my expectations. Once again, thank you for reading, and I hope you’ll come back and read more of these.

[everlarkbirthdaygifts]

Happy Birthday, noneyabidnes!

Today, we wish Happy Birthday to @noneyabidnes! We hope you’re having a wonderful day, full of cake and confetti! To keep your party going, the lovely @historywriter2007 has written a story just for you!

Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy your Everlark fighting over the bathroom in the morning story. I set it in MJ, but Peeta was rescued too. They would be over 18 by the point of the story and it is definitely M-borderline E.  

Small Space

Rating M / E

Katniss rolled over trying to figure out what woke her up, the sound finally hit her ears and she was immediately angered, especially when she sees the time on the clock on the wall of their room. He knows better, she needs to be the first one in the shower otherwise they will be late. To top it off this morning they were supposed to be doing another propo for Coin and she’d been more frustrated with both Katniss and Peeta. Katniss threw the covers off and rushed to the bathroom.

It had been a year since they were rescued from the Arena. Peeta arrived at Katniss’ side just as the hovercraft appeared overhead. Finnick sent them both up first, telling Peeta it had been mission to keep them alive and get them out. Next Beete was sent up and Finnick and Johanna had to hold on the ladder as the hovercraft fled the airspace above the arena. Katniss had been knocked out this whole time, but Peeta told her what happened and she saw the propo of the rescue. After they arrived in 13 they learned all about the rebellion and the retaliation against 12. The leaders of 13 realized their mission had been a success and were giving each other pats on the back. Katniss’ family met them, along with Gale and Annie who rushed to Finnicks arms. No who saw them could doubt their love. Peeta’s family was missing and they knew why his family was a part of the collateral damage. Even though he told her she could go with Gale, she stayed by his side as they were checked over at the hospital.

After a few hours, they were released with orders for more food to get their body’s back into shape and light schedules. Peeta was given his own compartment, while Katniss was told to bunk with her mother and sister. The first night in 13 she snuck out of her room and inched along the halls until she reached Peeta’s compartment. At first, he questioned her being there, but she finally admitted to him what she knew deep down all along, she loved him. It wasn’t for the crowds or Snow, it was for her. What she said on the beach was real, she needed him and tonight she needed to be there for him as he dealt with his loss.

Coin let this arrangement go for a couple of weeks, but she called them in before they disembarked for what was left of 12 for their first propo. Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch had been allowed to go alone once before, but this time they were going to be filmed. Gale would be there to share the story of what happened and they wanted footage of the Victors returning to their home. Coin gave them an ultimatum, she didn’t want to force them to marry, because she had more morals than Snow, or so she said. Instead, they had to either declare their love was real or Katniss needed to stay in her family’s compartment. They left without discussing what they would do.

Katniss held Peeta’s hand as they went to where the bakery had been, he squeezed her hand hard, tears streamed down his face. After they toured the rest of the damage they went to the woods where to take a break. Katniss sat next to Peeta and Cressida came over with the camera, she was asking questions Katniss knew would be coming.  

“Tell us Katniss, what it always real with Peeta?”

Katniss saw Gale look away out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t want to hurt him, but it was better for him to know. She looked at Peeta who nodded, he would support her either way, it was her decision on what to say. “No, it wasn’t.”

“But it seemed real,” Cressenda added.

“At first I thought it was all for the game, that Peeta had made all of it up to get sponsors. But when we were in the cave and he told the story about me singing as a child I realized it was different. He was telling the truth. Looking back I think I started falling in love with him then, but I was scared and confused. It only got worse as we got closer to 12 and I pushed him away.” Katniss smiled at Peeta who was hearing most of this for the first time. He never knew the real reasons she did what she did and she made a promise to herself to tell him more when they were alone. He deserved the know her fears, her hopes, and her dreams of a world where his child could be safe.  

She continued for the camera, “We grew closer on the Victory Tour and what you saw on the beach was real, I love him. I’m so glad we were both rescued and have a chance to grow together now.” She leaned over and gave Peeta a kiss, not the passionate one she wanted, instead one for the camera.

The declaration was enough for Coin and when the returned they had a new compartment, one made for a married couple, which meant a little larger bed. Other than that it was just as small as the first one, especially when it came to the bathroom, which was a source of constant contention.

There was a small shower, where Peeta’s broad shoulders left no room for Katniss to join, a toilet and a small steel sink. Effie had found a cart Katniss could use for her makeup so she could get ready for the propos since there was no counter space. They had a set way for them to get ready for a propo day. Katniss got in the shower first, then she could do her hair and makeup while Peeta showered. She could get dressed as he shaved and he would help her with the final touches before they left. If he got in the shower before her they ended up needing to use the sink at the same time and that didn’t work. One time Katniss actually spit toothpaste on his neck as the bent down at the same time.

Katniss brushed her teeth first hoping that would help and met Peeta at the shower curtain as was opening it. “What are you doing? You know I need to be in there first.”

Peeta took a towel from the wall and started drying himself off, he didn’t even try to hide anything from Katniss as he ran it over his head. “Sorry, you looked too peaceful and after both of us having nightmares last night I thought I should let you sleep a few more minutes.”

Katniss squinted and motioned for him to get out of the way, he was barely out of the shower before she reached around him to start the water again. He kissed her head before moving the two feet to the sink. She could feel his eyes on her as she pulled his t-shirt, which doubled as a nightgown for her, over her head and slid her panties to the floor before getting in.

Katniss tried to shower quickly for two reasons, first they were going to be late, secondly, showers were only warm for 7 minutes in 13, a way of conserving water. She reached out and got the towel, she still wasn’t as open with nudity as Peeta. After she’d secured the towel around her body she pushed the curtain aside to show just what she feared. Peeta was nowhere near done shaving.  

“Seriously Peeta, I thought you’d be done with the sink. I have to get my hair braided and makeup on and that’s the only mirror.”

Peeta at least had the decency to look sheepishly at her, “I got sidetracked.”

She put her hands on her hips while popping her right one to the side. Peeta’s thick swallowing told her that may have been the wrong move if she wanted to get him moving quicker but she continued anyway. “You always get sidetracked when I’m in the shower, that’s why we’re always late.”

Peeta took a step closer, since that’s all that separated them, and pushed her against the wall. “You don’t seem to mind when I get sidetracked any other time.”

She could feel him getting hard against her stomach, he was right she enjoyed when they were intimate, which had been a newer development. They wanted to go through normal courting, at least as close as they could get to normal, and they moved at their own pace. His hand went to the top of her towel, his eyes asking permission before he released it from her body. He watched as the towel fell to the ground showing her still glistening skin. Peeta gave her a crooked smile before slanting his lips over hers causing her core to tighten as she moaned into this mouth.

Her hand went to his towel, releasing it to fall next to her own. Peeta’s strong arms wrapped under her ass picking her up and pressing her firmly against the wall. His hand slid along the crease of her ass, stopping when he felt the moisture leaking from her slit proving she was ready for him. He rubbed along her clit a few times, making her groan when he pulled away. Peeta didn’t leave her wanting for long before she knew it his hard cock was positioned at her opening. Their collective moans filled the small bathroom as he entered her, pushing in again and again. It had to be quick, they were already late and this was sure to get them on Coin’s shitlist, but for now it was all about the way they felt about each other.

Katniss put her hands on Peeta’s shoulders and used them to get some leverage to move up and down as he pushed in harder, every move setting her body ablaze. He knew she was getting closer and started kissing along neck sucking lightly under her ear. Her head tilted back as her orgasm took over pulling him over the edge with her.

Peeta gently released her to the ground and used one of their discarded towels to clean her up. He kissed her gently on the lips, then her nose “Now we’re really late.” He teased.

“I know, we’re going to hear it this time,” Katniss replied pushing her way to the sink to fix her hair, she flinched when she saw the mark Peeta had left on her neck, now she’d have to fix that too.

Peeta came up behind her, wrapping her arms around her still bare stomach. “Maybe we give her something she really wants.”

“What’s that?” Katniss said as she put concealer on the spot.

“‘The Star-Crossed Lovers’ finally marry propo.” Peeta said.

Katniss spun in his arms and stared him down. “Why Peeta, I don’t know why we need to do that.”

“Because it will give us leverage to use later. We can bargain more for Prim and for things we want.” He replied.

“I don’t know Peeta, it’s our wedding.” She sighed back.

Peeta put his finger under her chin making her eyes meet his. “I know but we already did the important part, the toasting was just for us when we were ready. We’ve been married in our minds for a couple of months now and that's what counts. We can give her a party to show, maybe it will help energize the fight and speed it up so this war will finally end. What do you think.”

Katniss thought back to the night of their toasting, it was perfect. She’d turned 18 a month before and they decided together to make it official, even if it was just for them. Peeta was able to get an extra roll from the kitchen, where he’d been helping, and they used the light from a small candle to toast the bread. That night was the first time they made love, it was awkward at first since both of them were new at it, but they quickly found out what each other liked. She smiled at the thought and put her hand on his cheek, “Okay, we can offer up a wedding. But I have a serious question. Do you think we can lobby for a larger bathroom too?”

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, NAY! You’ve been accepted for the role of CRESSIDA with an FC change to Bree Kish. Admin Rosey: I am absolutely shrieking over the fact that we have our beloved, ferocious Celeste back in the group! You have taken the character that has been presented and added a number of layers to her that makes her so completely and utterly unique in her own right. The potential future that you have built up for her has me completely over the moon and there is nothing I am more excited for than to watch her grow -- or fail. Regardless, I’m ready for Celeste to kick ass! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Nay.

Age | Twenty-one & I shall smut plenty, thank you very much.

Preferred Pronouns | she/her.

Activity Level | Active enough? I don’t apply for characters I’m not stupid in love with, so I’ll truly want to explore them every chance I get and activity doesn’t have a chance of being an issue. I’d hedge a bet on being a pretty solid 7 out of 10, allowing for when I’m just too tired for my brain to function to produce any measure of eloquence~

Timezone | GMT+5.

How did you find the RP? | I signed away my soul to it, oops.

Current/Past RP Accounts | I’ve never RP’ed a day before in my life… what are you talking about…?

 IN CHARACTER

Character | CRESSIDA / Celeste Duval

{ NOTE: I’d really like to keep the FC change to Bree Kish, please. There’s just something about the red hair that really fits who I see Celeste as! }

What drew you to this character? | Have I told you how much I love this question? Because I love this question so much. It’s my favourite portion of the application: this opportunity to really go into actual detail about what it is about a particular character that gets you hooked. I so deeply enjoy the way it’s such a particular answer for every character—at least for me—that is very singularly attached to that one character, absolutely due to the fact that there is always a moment where I can’t resist it, whatever it is, the idea in my head or the skeleton, or long-paragraphed biography, or aesthetic concept.

With Celeste, it was empathy, to be completely honest with you. A part of me was already itching to sink my teeth into another character (and let’s just call that a testament to how quickly this group has restored the pleasure of this process for me) and I knew I wanted it to either be someone neutral, or a Montague – but I wasn’t expecting to casually, half-asleep, peruse through a biography & have to sit up in bed, electrified by a ZING! of connection. Let’s call that love at first sight. That’s what drew me to her. I read that biography, and my brain supplied a stanza from Plath’s Lady Lazarus: “Out of the ash / I rise with my red hair / And I eat men like air.”

But that’s a pretty brief cop-out of an answer, isn’t it? So I’ll at least tell you the many things about her that I am so in love with. I’ll tell you the way I love what a woman she is. I love her ferocity, and I love her humanness – which, I do want to clarify, isn’t necessarily not ferocious. I see Celeste as quite the discombobulation of aspects & emotions. When I speak of humanness, I mean that I love how vividly alive she is, and so intensely open to more classically tender feelings of adoration and hurt and sadness, yes, but also the more classically harsh emotions such as jealousy, and anger, and pettiness. I love her willpower, the sheer force of it that has tided her through so much of her life, and how it clashes with that very relatable, very painful internal need to be enough for our parents, to be accepted & loved by them, no matter how much you claim that you can do (and have been doing) without. I love what a sexy, confident, sassy, badass feminist she is. I see her as being extremely sexy, and 90% of that is how confident and unapologetic she is about taking up space. I genuinely just love what she represents.

And I want to be the one who develops her, with an integration of nuances that make her more than just a bold representation, and unravels a story that this wonderful, special baby deserves.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? | As always, this is prefaced with the disclaimer that these are all subject to change, and merely ideas to build off of & give a vibe for the things I’d like to do with this super dynamic character.

→ ONE. The first thing has to be the plotline with Easton. Oh, wow – she wants to slice him like cheese, my friends. I would really like to explore her playing with that, because I think the connection in her biography says plenty: she will exact revenge. Now, I could see this playing out in many, many ways, honestly, but my favourite one is her using Easton’s game against him. He wants to make her feel powerless? Well, Celeste Duval is very, very well-versed in making men feel powerful, when it’s really her who is running the show. I see her, by sheer power of will, being one of those people who gets shit done, and she’s exceptionally clever, or she wouldn’t have made it this far in life with so many odds against her from the get-go. That plotline is something I’m absolutely dying to play around with, because I truly believe that it can be what builds her up or it can be what ultimately undoes her.

→ TWO. This marriage between her & Tomas is absolutely fascinating to me. I very much believe Celeste to be one of those all or nothing! kind of people, and with Tomas, though she feels nothing, it is a relationship that has a very gravitational pull on so many other aspects of her life. It is a representation of the sacrifice she made for parents who have never treated her to a modicum of parental affection, who she swears up & down don’t matter, and still, infuriatingly, very much do. It is a roadblock to a happy ending with a person who Celeste reveres, who is the love of her life and the centre of her universe and the only3 time in her life she’s felt like she is home. I really want to toy with that; I want to see how far Celeste can pull this off before this man can tell that she is not, and never will be, in love with him. I want to see if she’ll get to a point where she won’t even bother to pretend anymore. I want to see the dynamic of their marriage. And I’ll admit – I want him to find out that she has very much not been faithful to him, and then I want to see where she takes that truth.

→ THREE. I would really like to see Celeste reach a place of peace where her parents are concerned. I want to take her on a journey that makes her let go of them, and for her to find love, specifically familial love, in some corner that shows her what that sort of relationship is truly supposed to be. This is because I have this sneaking suspicion that this huge leap could make a sincerely positive wave, and the ripples would spread out to the other areas of her life. Celeste is a very dynamic character, and an extremely emotional one, and I can see her interpersonal relationships having an extreme impact on the direction/mind-set she opts for.

→ FOUR. On a less wholesome note, though, I want to see her choices challenge her relationship with Isabella, too. I want to explore this love of theirs – and I want to stretch Celeste thin about it, making her choose between her reputation, her misplaced sense of duty to her parents, her pragmatism & ambitions, and weigh them against this person she never planned to meet or love. I don’t think there is anything in the world that is more precious to Celeste than what is between herself & Isabella; I don’t think there is anything more sacred. I want to see the lengths she will go to protect it. I want to see what she would sacrifice for it, how much of who she decided she would be she can let go of, how brave she can be, how it can cause her to grow.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Maybe…

 IN DEPTH

IN-CHARACTER INTERVIEW: 

What is your favourite place in Verona? 

By Isabella’s side, she knows, immediate and sure. There's no question about it. The location did not matter; a graze of her fingertips could make a church feel like it was made for sinning, a classroom for falling in love, a street for an exchange of the most intimate of secrets. There is no pause for contemplation. There is no need for questions.

Her smile is a secret — and privately, reverently, Celeste promises to keep it. Her shoulders lift in a careless shrug. “I don't favour places,” she smirks around the unabashed words. “I let them favour me.”

What does your typical day look like?

“Mmm,” the sound is soft, but never makes it to sweet. Gloss coats her mouth thickly, and it has nothing on the syrup drizzle of her words: “I detest the idea of typical. That was never the life I wanted to lead; routine makes me restless, and being restless makes me dangerous. Hasn't anyone told you about cornering animals? Doesn't end well.” And this once, it is not a lie. This is not surprising. There were many things that Celeste Duval could lie about, do it without so much as blinking twice – that was, all those except for those she cared not to.

This was a part of herself she chose not to sacrifice. Celeste refused to be bored. As her much-adored Zelda Fitzgerald had once written, it was chiefly because she wasn't boring. 

What has been your biggest mistake thus far? 

“How much time do you have?” she asks, wryly. The arch of Celeste's brows is sharp, caught between something caustic & amused. It isn't funny – and somehow, that nearly earns a snort of laughter from her. Was her whole life not one? She had been one every day of her life, become who she has because of it. A girl, pretty & useless; only an accessory or tool or toy.

Wasn't marrying Tomas? As if she cared enough for it to be a contender. Was giving her heart up, losing any will to fight off how easy it was to belong to Isabella? Not being careful enough, being caught by the Craven runt? Perhaps not slitting every Capulet bastard's fucking throat on her way out of the cage they put her in? 

Her laugh is poisonous. “There aren't enough hours in the world, mon chou.”

What has been the most difficult task asked of you? 

“Tasks are not asked of me. They are given; synonymous with an order. There is no second or third option; there is no no's or fucking maybes,” the words had all the potential to be serrated, cutting through the poor wretch they were flung at, unflinching. Somehow, they come out patient. Solemn. 

She leaves the answer at that, without truly giving one. Why would she? A lifetime's worth of being deemed weak, and there was a desire for an open admittance of it? HA! Celeste would be damned seven ways to Sunday before she fell for that. “Difficult is a subjective term. I fulfill my tasks; I rise to all challenges – and then, I conqueror them. That is the script I've penned for myself. Learn it.”

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

Capulets. Oh, the very word sets her aflame. It's enough to have her fists curling to white-knuckled bundles at her sides, quivering. Is she meant to forget how they took her, kept her as their little prisoner? Is she meant to forget the way Easton Craven uses the brightest thing she has ever known to solicit dark betrayal from her – using her, just like them, like she was a toy?

“There is one acceptable ending. The streets can run red with their blood. I only hope to contribute to the spillage.” She does not blink.

Extras: 

– pinterest board;

– headcanons:

Due to her mother being French, she was raised on a multilingual education. Celeste is, therefore, fluent in English, Italian & French – though, she automatically reverts to French cooing in situations calling for tenderness, and filthy, crude-mouthed Italian when she is angry.

Once, on her way home, Celeste was halted by a distinct, pitiful mewling sound from beneath a stairwell. A scrappy, runt of the litter, left abandoned, came home with her that day. She calls him Victor – after Victor Hugo.

There is no text in the world that Celeste Duval adores with the intensity she does the Les Misérables novels. Already, she has large chunks of it memorized, and it is not enough to keep her from curling up in a bathtub with one at the end of a hard day.

There’s very little in the world that a hot bath can’t make her feel at least a fraction better about. She spends entirely too much money on bath-bombs.

She deeply, deeply dislikes children. She has zero tolerance for their shenanigans, no thank you.

Though she is categorically partial to jewellery in general, she has an affinity for anklets in particular. It is very rare to see her without one wound around an ankle, typically her left one.

She enjoys a nice trashy tabloid with her breakfast, but she’ll watch some news after a raunchy round of sex.

Celeste thinks about quitting smoking at least once a day. The better half of a decade into the nasty habit, and she has yet to go through with it.

The one part of herself she was insecure about growing up, and the one part she is astonishingly vain about in adulthood is the same: her hair. She cares for it meticulously, for all that it is always in a very deliberate state of dishevelment.

She has an awful, awful nail-biting habit.

[wcnderwitcha]

    the camera blinks on, revealing two chubby cheeked children staring into it. 

   “ i think it’s working !! “ say the shorter one, a little girl with blonde curls all toppled onto of her head. she is dressed to the nines, certainly, with make-up heavily applied on her face. she did a decent job for a six year old. her dress looks more deserving of a award show stage than the living room where the video appears to be set. a tiara glitters on top of her head to match the rest of the glamorous jewelry she is wearing. not all of it looks like play jewelry, either. do her parents know what she’s been up to ?? probably not.

   beside her, a slightly taller, shy looking little boy dressed in similar fashion. a crown adorns his curls, too, but sits lopsided on his head. the way he fidgets in his fancy getup leaves one to assume he did NOT choose the lavish outfit he is wearing or have a say in the make-up detailed upon his face. he stands a little behind the girl, as if he expects her to protect him from whatever trouble the camera might cause. 

   one thing is for certain. 

   the little girl is DEFINITELY the BOSS.

  “ hello, world !! “ she begins, throwing her arms open wide. “ i am PRINCESS LOUISE CRESSIDA JONES THE FIRST !! this is my baby brother, prince heracles cymbelline jones the first. we’re royalty ‘cause my parents said so. we’re twins, but i’m older ‘cause i was born first by two minutes, which makes him the baby. we’re six years old !! well, six years and seven months ! we’ll be seven and no months in two more months ! today, we-- “ 

  “ pssst !!! “ a high-pitched voice sounds off from outside the view of the camera. “ sissy !! do i come in now ?? “ 

  “ not yet ! “ quickly replies louise to the faceless voice, holding her hands up to signal to whoever they are to remain in their place. “ i’ll tell you when. just wait. “ 

    she looks back to the camera and flashes a billion dollar grin. “ where were we ?? oh, that’s right !! today, we are going to be doing a DANCE SPECTACULAR !! my brother and i know how to dance because we watch LOTS of barbie and disney movies !! we’ve practiced for like, ELEVENTY BAZILLION hours !! so we’re really talented !!  you’re going to love watching us !! “ 

     “ but, sissy !! “ this time it is heracles that speaks up. “ what if they laugh at us ?? “ the seriousness of his tone makes such a fate sound worse than death. 

      it doesn’t faze louise.

     “ they’re not going to laugh at us, herc’. daddy and mommy say we’re ADORABLE, remember ?? that means they have no choice but to ADORE us, duh !! “ she returns her attention back to the camera. “ besides, we have a secret weapon that will make this dance spectacular the BESTEST in the WHOLE, WIDE UNIVERSE !!! and the galaxy, too !!! we have -- “ she pauses for dramatic effect. “-- A DISCO BALL !!! “ 

       a beat.

      another beat. 

       “--A DISCO BALL !! “ she tries again, waiting for whatever is supposed to happen to happen. when it doesn’t, she tries again, this time a little more insistently. “ A. DISCO. BALL ! “

        still nothing.

       louise looks off camera. “ seraphina !! that’s your cue !! “ 

         finally, another little girl totters onto the camera. her outfit is much simpler than either of her siblings, no tutu for her. just a pair of overalls over a white onesie. a red bow that’s half as big as she is sits on her head.  she bumbles around, looking lost, before coming to stand beside her sister, not even coming up to louise’s shoulder in height. 

       she gives the camera a friendly wave. “ hello, friends !! “ 

     “ before we begin, seraphina, is there anything you want to tell all of our bazillions of loving fans that are watching at home ?? “

      sera beams at the camera. “ i’m sera !! i’m--” she pauses, trying to count on her finger. she appears to get the wrong answer once or twice, but finally holds up two chubby little fingers. “--this many years old !! i love my mommy and my daddy and my sissy and my bubby !! when i grow up, i’m gonna marry the beast from beauty and the beast !! “ 

    “ good job, seraphina. “ louise grins. “ now wait ! i know what you’re thinking ! this is a baby, not a disco ball ! WELL, YOU’RE WRONG !  she is both a baby AND a disco ball !! watch and be amazed !! “ 

    she lifts up the toddler, no easy feat, and presses a loud smooch on sera’s cheek. sera squeals with delight !! a typical reaction of any toddler receiving love, but louise is right. that’s not all. 

    the glow starts subtly, at the root of sera’s light brown curls, but it quickly spreads until every bit of hair is shining brightly. pleased, louise sits her back down. 

    “herc, now ! “ she calls, rushing over to a stereo and hitting the buttons at the same time as heracles rushes over to turn off the lights. he has to stand on his tippy-toes, but he manages the task. the song begins just as the lights go out.

    some child friendly pop song begins to crackle out of the speakers loudly. illuminated by sera’s glow, the children break into dance. or, what they claim to be dancing. heracles starts jumping up and down. sera spins around and around and around. louise’s moves are the most complicated. a combination of the bop and the running man, she is going HARD. the youngest is having such a good time, sera seems to be starting to lift off from the ground. laughter starts to drown out the music as the children get lost in the fun they’re having. 

     light suddenly floods into the room from an opened door. all the children immediately stop their dancing to see who DARES to interrupt them and three squeals of delight are heard over the forgotten music. “ mommy !! daddy !! “ the children scream  in unison. louise and herc take off running toward the figures at the door, throwing their arms around the legs of their parents. little sera, now a foot off the ground, appears to be doing her best to get to them, too, in some sort of mid-air doggy paddle. 

     thankfully, their father doesn’t make her wait too long. he scoops her right up out of the air and nestles her against his suit jacket. sera giggles and squirms until she can get her arms around his neck and nuzzles her face in the crook of his shoulder. 

    “ what were you three doing, hmm ?? having a raid ?? “ coos the ever soothing voice of their mother, with both twins held into her arms. she looks from twin to twin with an amused smile on her face. 

     “ we were having a DANCE SPECTACULAR !! i was the host ! “ louise shouts, beaming with every ounce of pride she can muster. 

      “i was in charge of lights !! “ herc said, equally proud. 

       “ i was the disco ball !! “ finished little seraphina, wanting to make sure her older siblings didn’t forget her very important part. 

       “ goodness, we ARE in the presence of greatness ! such talent, our little darlings !! “ the impressed tone their father responds with isn’t faked. he could never fake the great awe he has for his children. “ i do have one question, though. why weren’t your mother and i invited to such a fantastic shindig ?? we love a good dance spectacular !! “

        “ we do ! “ their mother’s grin shines as beautiful as every other piece of jewelry she wears. “ we hate that we missed this one. “ 

         the children share a brief look of horror. how could they have forgotten to invite their parents ?? 

         louise is the first to speak up with a solution. “ daddy, mommy, you didn’t miss this one, though !! it was just on pause !! we can start the music again and keep going !! “ 

         “ oh, how splendid !! i can’t imagine better news, can you, my love ?? “ their mother gives their father a knowing look, grin shifting more into a smirk. “ i love watching your father dance. it’ll be wonderful to have it on camera. “

       the grin on their father’s face doesn’t budge, but there is a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “ oh, i don’t know. the camera’s taking up an awful lot of room. my dance moves are incredible, but they need so much space. . .we better turn it off. just this once. “

       louise shrugs. “ that’s okay !! we can just film it next time !! “

     her father and mother share another look. they both know he can’t lie to his children. thankful to at least having gotten out of it this once, he nods. “ next time, sweetie. for sure.”

     with a wave of his hand, the video goes dark. 

[heavyarethecrowns]

“The tabloids’ “playboy prince”

Prince Harry and Laura Gerard Leigh

Laura was the royal teenager’s sweetheart. Daughter of (the late) Colonel William Gerard Leigh , “a polo playing chum of Prince Philip” [75] , Life Guards officer, and World War II veteran. [76]  Laura was a fixture in the princely polo set and famously cuddled with Harry at the Badminton Horse Trials . [77] Prince Harry and Natalie Pinkham   A blush-raising photo in 2003  showed Prince Harry grabbing her boob at a party. They remained friendly after this and are frequently at the same parties.

Prince Harry and Tamara Drax Elements of the royal fandom liked the ‘idea’ of Prince Harry coupling with Tiggy Legge-Bourke ’s niece. The quadruple-barrelled name  was enough for some people. But it wasn’t meant to be. Tamara, the daughter of MP Richard Drax [78]  and first wife Zara Legge-Bourke, ended up marrying Henry Warhurst in April 2016 and Harry, as any friend or cousin would do, attended the wedding [79]   [80] .

Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy They dated for so long, albeit on-and-off, with so many Public Displays of Affection . They even had a few official or semi-official outings together [such as the Concert for Diana   &   the Prince’s flying school graduation ]. It was taken for granted by some royal bloggers that she must be the inevitable future Princess Harry.

Prince Harry and Astrid Harbord Astrid and her sister, Davina, are family friends. Astrid was invited to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. She is definitely part of his larger social orbit, frequently at the same parties and having many mutual friends. She is always on the list when bloggers list Harry’s former girlfriends, but there has never really been any solid indication that she was ever more than a very good friend.”

“Prince Harry and Natalie Imbruglia Asked if she and Harry truly dated, she says, “No. I know him. But no.” [81]  They went bowling together in 2013 [82]  and Natalie complimented his dancing skills. [83] Prince Harry and Caroline Flack “It wasn’t really a relationship,” she said. They were just “seeing each other.” [84]  She has called herself “Prince Harry’s bit of rough.” [85]   Prince Harry and Florence Brudenell-Bruce [86]   [87]   [88]   The “lingerie model” known as “Flee”  is supposed to have dated Harry in the summer of 2011, although this claim has yet to be substantiated by photographic evidence that they ever laid eyes on each other.

Prince Harry and Mollie King   According to Katie Nicholl, they dated in 2012. Nicholl quotes an unnamed “friend” of the Prince suggesting that Mollie was not discreet enough about their dates.

Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas [89]   They had a handful of dates in 2013 and 2014, all of which caused a media storm. A virtual love affair between the bloggers and her glamorous extended family ensued. The media hype overlapped with the launch of her post-dance school acting career, during which she was cast in a bit role in the Weinstein Company film Tulip Fever . [90]

source: Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex: A supplement to His Own Words Tell His Story Best

SUBMITTED

He never dated Astrid, Natalie or Molie. 

[bloodroyalsrpg]

  PUREBLOOD ♕  30 YEARS OLD  ♕  DEATH EATER

all who got to love him, saw always only the one side in him. many loved him as a refined and clever and interesting man, and were horrified and disappointed when they had come upon the wolf in him

You are a fox among wolves. A clever, grandiloquent strategist. Indomitably practical, as all goal-oriented individuals are. You were born the only son of a long line of only sons, the result of a family with a rich and shadowed history of being the powers behind proverbial and literal thrones; bred to be top of your class and defined by your intelligence and creative efficiency, patent produced for machination. Like so many of those within your inner circle, you have made oaths and taken the mark in service as a Death Eater. But loyalty is easy now. You believe in The Cause, in The Dark Lord’s new world order, and most importantly you have nothing to lose from your compliance.  But you’re not like these young glory hounds, running recklessly ahead. You may be doing all you can to further your Lord’s agenda, but you are also carefully, quietly laying groundwork for contingency plans in the event that all of this turns out to be a losing gambit.

CONNECTIONS

NARCISSA MALFOY

The Wife. You were never suppose to marry Narcissa Black; a different match had been made for you years ago. Sentimentality has never been something you’ve been accused of, but cliche as it sounds you fell in love. Not much has changed on that front since then: there is very little you wouldn’t do for your wife.

LAZARUS BURKE

The Resource. You are a frequent patron of his family’s shop: Borgin & Burkes, a treasure trove of dark magic artifacts. While it’s true you’re always happy to add to your growing personal collection, you have an ulterior motive. The Dark Lord has tasked you with hunting down the deathly hollows and so you have carefully cultivated a friendship with the young Burke heir to ensure he’ll keep an eye out and notify you first whenever anything of note makes its way into stock.

CRESSIDA YAXLEY

The Former Fiance. You were betrothed to each other when you were both very young; thrown together at every opportunity. You were good friends and would have made an agreeable match had you never met Narcissa. It may not have been love, but you did care about her and you regret the way things ended between the two of you.

   LUCIUS’ FC IS DAN STEVENS & HE IS TAKEN