#line of duty bbc

[youstupidplonk]

Thought about flemson. Three dead ten injured

[thealdersgateoffice]

“You think I’m guilty, don’t you? You’re wrong. I’m not.”

Saskia Reeves as Selina Roberts in Cruel Train (1995)

[midnight-love-song]

They cross each other’s minds.

[luucydacus]

does anyone else remember being queerbaited by line of duty series 6

[tvthemesongs]

Line of Duty intro

[chaotic-toasters]

Immature

Leah Williamson x Teen!Gunner!R

“Oi! What’re you doin’ up there? Get down!”

You glanced down at your vice captain distastefully. “Why?”

“It’s dangerous!” Leah cried, standing at the base of the tree just outside the Arsenal training facility. “You could fall and break your arm or something!”

“So?”

“Uh—what d’you mean ‘so’?! You’re okay with getting a broken arm?”

You shrugged, gazing at the training pitches from your spot in the tall oak tree. “I can still play with a broken arm, eh?”

Leah’s mouth was agape. “No, you can’t!”

“Yes, I can!” you protested, climbing higher. “Katie scored a hat trick on international duty with a torn bicep! I’ll be fine.”

“Fucking Katie… you’re benched if you climb any higher!” Leah yelled.

You frowned. “Why?”

Leah scowled. “Because! You’re gonna get hurt!”

“Why?”

“Because! Those branches could break!”

“Why?”

“Because you’re heavy!”

“Why?”

“Becau—because! Get down from there!”

You stuck out your tongue, starting your descent. “Fine! You’re no fun.”

“Yes, I am! Just because I care about your well-being doesn’t make me boring!” the defender glared, taking a drink from her water bottle.

“Yeah, right! Steph cares about my well-being, but she’s loads more fun than you!”

Leah spit out her water, chasing after you as you sprinted into the building. “You take that back!”

-

“Who on the Arsenal squad is the best trash-talker?”

You glanced at the camera, then back at the BBC interviewer as you pondered the question. “Other than me? Maybe… maybe Caitlin.”

“Interesting,” he nodded thoughtfully. “And who would you say is the worst trash-talker?”

“Oh, easy. Leah Williamson.”

Kyra laughed as she walked past. “Oi, Lord Farquaad! Your kid just said you’re the worst trash-talker on the team!”

The England captain gasped indignantly, momentarily turning away from her media day activity set up nearby. “I’m great at trash-talking, what are you on about?”

You scoffed. “Oh, please. Your trash-talking skills are as bad as your bike riding skills.”

“OI!”

-

“Kyra,” you whispered, poking the Aussie that looked just as bored as you did at the seemingly unnecessary meeting. “Psst.”

She glanced over to make sure Jonas wasn’t paying attention, then looked over at you, lowering her voice. “Yeah?”

“When we get out of here… the sprinklers are on, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

The two of you went silent as Jonas glanced over, pretending to pay attention. “—have a better squad than them. If we go by the book, they will not be able to score…”

You smirked conspiratorially, voice even lower than before to avoid detection from some of your older teammates. “I’m gonna push Leah into them.”

Kyra grinned. “I’ll tell the admin.”

-

“Admin’s recording,” Kyra whispered to you as she jogged past, going to bug Steph. “Good luck.”

You grinned, waving to the camera discreetly before walking up to Leah. “Hi, cappy.”

She gave you a suspicious look, but kept walking. “What d’you want?”You shrugged as the two of you stepped onto the training pitch. “Just wanted to ask you what I should make for dinner.”

Leah raised her eyebrows, but nodded anyway. “Pasta’s always goo—OOF!”

“SURPRISE ATTACK!” You screeched, tackling her right into the nearest sprinkler’s line of fire.

“Get off me, you cheeky devil!” Leah protested, laughing. “I don’t wanna get wet! It’s cold out here!”

You snickered, wrestling her to the ground. “Womp womp!”

Nearby, Steph was shaking her head in amusement. “I swear, Y/N is like Leah’s Kyr—OI!”

Kyra gleefully shoved Steph into another sprinkler set up a few feet away, cackling like a witch. “SURPRISE ATTACK!”

“HEY!” Steph cried, chasing after her. “You’re such a pest! Get back here!”

You laughed at the two aussies, then gave Leah a rough noogie with one hand and the camera a thumbs up with the other. “Love you, cappy!”

Leah stuck out her tongue, giving you a slight push. “You and Kyra are so bad.”

“Not nearly as bad as your culinary taste.”

“OI!”

[unreesonable]

Screenwriting advice from Mackenzie Crook, Reece Shearsmith & Jed Mercurio

Snippets from the 2015 Bafta Guru TV Craft Sessions - full video in link above. Transcript of the clips below

Interviewer: I'm delighted to be here with the TV and BAFTA Craft nominees for writing, both in comedy and TV drama. Our three lauded writers are Reece Shearsmith for "Inside Number Nine," Mackenzie Crook for "Detectorists," and Jed Mercurio for "Line of Duty." I'd like you all to tell us a little bit about each of your programmes. reece.

Reece: Well, "Inside Number Nine" is an anthology series, which is a very unusual thing, I think, to exist these days. I mean, you couldn't move for them in the '70s, and it was kind of what I grew up loving and watching. The half-hour play, "Play for Today," was a very appealing, enjoyable thing to me because you didn't know what you were going to get - same as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "The Twilight Zone," and of course "Tales of the Unexpected."

And that has gone out of fashion, I think, a little bit because of the mythical idea that if you're not following a set of characters, you won't return to the programme. And that's why they're not commissioned these days very much. But our argument, when we went in and pitched the idea of doing such a thing, was that if they were good you would forgive them for whatever they were. And I think we just really wanted to do that thing of kind of like chamber pieces - we talked about them being these quite claustrophobic little plays, and I think that was what drove us to do it.

Interviewer: OK and Reece what about the inspiration behind your series ?

Reece: Again, it was kind of just stuff that is enjoyable to research yourself. Some things came literally - "Sardines," episode of "Inside Number Nine," came when Steve and I write in a room in Muswell Hill and there's a massive wardrobe in the corner, and we were just literally one day - we'd been staring at it every day for however many months that we sit in that room, and then one of us said, "What about a game of sardines?" Initially, that was a funny idea just to think, well, we could just one at a time fill it with people arriving and hiding in the wardrobe. There was a version of that script that was simply that, and that was enough. Then we read it back and thought it's not enough - it's good, it's funny, and there's some quite funny dialogue in it, and it's slightly awkward, but there was something missing.

It wasn't until we went back in and peppered in the vague dread of the revelation of the child abuse that we realised that instantly elevated it into something much more fruitful. And that's always the way with our writing, I think. We are never satisfied with the first root idea of a gentle - you know, we tried to do it, and we can never do it, always feels lacking if there isn't somebody being murdered or some kind of dreadful extra element that just heightens it and gives you an element of jeopardy and peril in a supposed half-hour comedy that you would get in a drama. And I think that's why people are sometimes shocked by what we do because they are smuggled into a half-hour comedy, whereas you would be ready for it if it was at 9:00 on BBC 1 and you were set up for a drama. But I think we do things that are not that outrageous, but I think that they are a bit blindsiding because they are in the guise of comedy and maybe more powerful because of it.

Interviewer: And Reece for you - what's your writing process?

Reece: Well, we talk a lot, Steve and I. I couldn't - I admire the fact that these two write alone. I couldn't do it, I don't think. I think I need to have the instant reaction from Steve. If we can make each other laugh in the room, if it's comedy, then it goes in generally. But there's a lot of talking about - with these particular "Number Nines," being self-contained stories, we talk a lot about what the idea might be. Sometimes we've had - we've got an ending we might want to get to, or we've thought of a character that could be in something, and it's like crafting a story then and how do we most leanly tell it and what scenes do we need to get this across in however... you now, judiciously.

I think we do that because we fear the idea of beginning and feeling a little bit wayward in where we're going. But we have done that before, and I think sometimes we've written ourselves... Much like the Coen brothers when they wrote "Blood Simple" - they deliberately enjoyed writing themselves into corners and then thinking how does the character get out of it rather than being kind of ahead of the characters, which is a joyous thing and also quite surprising to yourself.

With these, some of the surprises at the end we've changed - we've thought we've had one route in our mind and we've thought, "Actually, now looking at it, we've got a third of the way in, I think people are going to - this is obvious to us," so we've changed it. So that's hopefully second-guessing what people think the story might be going. So that's been enjoyable. Writing a lot, talking a lot, and then beginning to be able to write it down with what we need to get out of the scenes as far as exposition and trying to hide the exposition. And then finally there's a pass that's "and why is it funny?" and hopefully that's the final kind of bit that puts it into BBC comedy. You know, it is meant to be funny. A lot of our things are not funny, I concede, but it's because we kind of enjoy the drama and the tension and the release of that in the mechanics of telling a joke. So yeah, a lot of writing before we dare to write so that we're not trapped not knowing where we're going.

Interviewer: Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for being so talented, being so generous with your wisdom and your experiences, and the very best of luck tomorrow night.

All: Thank you, thank you.

[partywithponies]

Are you open to sharing your downloaded Keeley content at all? :) <3

Okay, let me give it a go making a comprehensive list linking all the Keeley stuff I've got! I'll put it under a cut because this is going to get long. Let me know if anything has the wrong link or anything.

Will make this the pinned post of my Keeley Hawes sideblog @misskittybutler and update it if and when I acquire any more stuff. (CBBC's Troublemakers can't hide from me forever.)

TV shows she's a main/regular in:

Ambassadors

Ashes to Ashes

Bodyguard

Cold Lazarus

Crossfire

Diana Dors: The Blonde Bombshell

Finding Alice

Fungus The Bogeyman (2015)

Honour

Identity

It's A Sin

Karaoke

Line of Duty

Mrs Wilson

Murdoch Mysteries (the TV movies)

Mutual Friends

Orphan Black: Echoes

Our Mutual Friend

Spooks

Stonehouse

Summer of Rockets

The Beggar Bride

The Best Man

The Casual Vacancy (I'm not happy about having JKR related content in my google drive either. but Keeley gets her boobs out and I am weak)

The Durrells

The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses

The Midwich Cuckoos

The Missing (season 2)

The Moonstone

The Tunnel

The Vicar of Dibley (very much stretching the definition of "main/regular" here, she's literally in two episodes, but you know)

Tipping The Velvet

Traitors

Upstairs Downstairs (2010)

Wives and Daughters

Year of the Rabbit

Movies and films:

A is for Acid

Adventurer: Curse of the Midas Box

After Thomas

Chaos and Cadavers

Complicity

(Complicity DVD special features)

Death at a Funeral (2007)

(Death at a Funeral DVD special features)

Flashbacks of a Fool

High-Rise

(High Rise DVD special features)

Hotel!

Me and Mrs Jones

Misbehaviour

(Misbehaviour DVD special features)

Othello (2001)

Rebecca

Scoop

The Avengers (1998) (this movie's a blast when you don't have a little bitch in your ear telling you it's one of the worst movies ever made)

The Bank Job

(The Bank Job DVD special features)

The Cater Street Hangman

The Lady Vanishes (2013)

The Last September

(The Last September DVD special features)

To Olivia

(To Olivia DVD special features)

Tristram Shandy/A Cock and Bull Story

Under The Greenwood Tree

Single episodes of stuff that she appeared in:

Agatha Christie's Marple

Canterbury Tales

Doctor Who

Forever Green

Heartbeat

Inside No. 9

Murder in Mind

Pie in the Sky (part 1) (part 2)

Shakespeare ReTold

Tricky Business

Non-fiction stuff she appeared in as herself:

CBeebies Bedtime Story

River Cottage: Three Go Mad

Would I Lie To You?

What The Durrells Did Next (documentary)

The Story of the Costume Drama

I didn't know what other category to put this in:

Ballet Shoes & More: A BBC Radio 4 Children’s Drama Collection

And I think that's everything currently!!

[phoenixyfriend]

Calls for Action, Call Your Reps: 2/13/24

This is USA-specific, as that is the place I live and know.

Find your elected officials.

Today, much of my information is coming from Democracy Now!, which I generally listen to as a podcast (functionally, it is a radio news broadcast, like NPR or BBC), and I am quoting from the text versions on their website.

The Senate passed a $95 billion military funding package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in the pre-dawn hours this morning. But the bill’s fate remains unclear after House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed the measure over its failure to include hard-line immigration restrictions. This comes after Johnson and other Republicans rejected an earlier version of the bill which did contain the border crackdown they had demanded. Johnson has told Republican congressmembers he will call a House vote on a stand-alone funding bill for Israel.

From the same page, we are hearing that President Biden is urging Israel to refrain from invading Rafah, where a million or so Palestinians are currently sheltering, but is not actually threatening any kind of repercussions for said invasion. Reports from both official sources (e.g. the Hamas-run health ministry) and less official (e.g. American doctors returning from relief services in Palestine) indicate that over half of the deaths in Palestine are children.

I am not going to pretend that I know what is going through Biden's head.

Both House and Senate:

Reinstate funding for UNRWA. While the claims made by Israel that employees of the relief agency were involved in Oct. 7th are troubling, THEY are not well supported, and western officials did not do their duty in investigating the claims before cutting funding. This arm of the UN is currently providing food, water, shelter, and medical care to the 2.3 million displaced peoples of Gaza. It is especially disturbing and concerning that the many children of Gaza, who are already suffering due to this conflict, are now having this support revoked. Many sources are also claiming that the evidence is flimsy at best.

Urge both Senate and House to refrain from funding Israel, or to at least put some strings on it. The IDF cannot be given funding without some regulations on what they can do with it. They have proven that they are unwilling to take steps to protect civilians.

FOR THE SENATE: Urge your senator to put their support behind Bernie Sanders and his motion to restrict funding to Israel until a humanitarian review of the IDF’s actions in Gaza has been completed. Cite it as Senate Resolution 504 if your Senator is right-wing enough to react negatively to the mention of Sanders by name. NOTE: This resolution was TABLED by the Senate on 1/16, but it is being brought back in as conditions continue to escalate.

FOR THE HOUSE: Urge your representative to put their support behind Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s petition for the US government to recognize the IDF’s actions in Gaza as ethnic cleansing and forced displacement, and put a stop to it. ALTERNATELY: recommend that they support House Resolution 786, introduced by Rep. Cori Bush, Calling for an immediate deescalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine.

On the House Floor this week, to call your rep about:

H.Res. 994: Married persons tax break. Vote nay. Loses billions in tax revenue and explicitly targets green energy.

H.R. 2766 and H.R. 4039: Condemnation of China's actions against the Uyghurs. Can't tell you which way to talk on this. Seems good on the surface, but given who's presenting it, I worry there's something worse tucked into the text. Hopefully someone can provide a better take.

H.R. 3016: IGO Anti-Boycott Act. Vote Nay. This appears to be intended to force US companies to do business with US allies instead of participating in boycotts. This appears, to me, to be an attack on movements like BDS. To Dem Reps, argue that this refuses the right of peaceful protest to US citizens. To Republican Reps, argue that this is a dangerous government overreach and that it is not the right of the government to force US citizens to purchase products and materials from specific foreign partners.

H.Res. 966: Condemnation of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7. Vote Nay. We know sexual violence is bad. Hamas has already been condemned for their actions. This is, at best, lip service. It is a waste of time. There are much bigger, more impactful things to work on, and this is going to waste time and resources in the Senate if it passes.

If you wish to support my political blogging, I am accepting donations on ko-fi.

[seoul-bros]

What lies ahead

Magnate posted photos of Jimin's basic training graduation on Instagram in which Jimin received the Division Commander Commendation. He and Jungkook worked hard and made a positive impression on their trainers and fellow trainees in the last five weeks.

"Hello, I'm ZM-illennial (メグナット) Did everyone bring an umbrella? Like it's going to rain soon It's cloudy, so for those who have been waiting for news of rain, we hope you have a moist day with our condolences to those who are worried.

If it's long, it's long, and if it's short, it's short. It's over, thanks to your support and constant interest and love, 1 year and 5 months is a long time, but it can also be a short time. ARMY was a great help Thank you from the bottom of my heart"

It's an inflection point in their military life and now the hard slog of soldier's duties begins. They will reportedly be assigned to one of the units of the artillery brigade.

It makes me nervous knowing that they and their fellow graduates are serving in the military at such a dangerous moment. It was chilling to read this news posted on the BBC website yesterday.

In a report published last week for 38 North, a US-based organisation with a focus on North Korea, former State Department official Robert Carlin and nuclear scientist Siegfried S Hecker said they saw the situation on the Korean Peninsula as "more dangerous than it has ever been" since the start of the Korean War in 1950.

"That may sound overly dramatic, but we believe that, like his grandfather in 1950, Kim Jong Un has made a strategic decision to go to war," it said.

"We do not know when or how Kim plans to pull the trigger, but the danger is already far beyond the routine warnings in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo about Pyongyang's 'provocations'."

No one will benefit from a fresh outbreak of war on the Korean peninsula and BTS members are now on the front line of any aggression. Although it is difficult to see at the moment, I hope there is a way back from the brinkmanship that currently characterizes North-South relations.

Post Date: 18/01/2024

[youstupidplonk]

I’m so close to being done with it it’s like three unfinished paragraphs but they’re key to the story 😭😭😭

[celticcrossanon]

“Last April, he suggested it would be pointless to train as a helicopter pilot if he never served. ‘I’d just be taking up a spare place for somebody else if they didn’t have me going out on the job,’ he said.”

Celta, the above quote is from Harry, as reported in one of the BBC articles you posted about his pilot qualifications. I agree that the general wording in the articles was carefully crafted to imply that H was an actual helicopter pilot when, in fact, he only achieved gunner/co-pilot status (ie, he could assume control of the aircraft in an emergency, in order to avoid crashing, if the actual pilot was incapacitated).

The above Harry quote, however, stood out to me as a sly back-handed insult by Harry toward William. As we know, William HAS earned his full helicopter pilot wings, and has served as both an RAF/military and a civilian helicopter rescue pilot, saving hundreds of lives. But Harry seems to be denigrating W’s achievement by saying why bother earning one’s pilot’s wings if one can’t serve in combat. What Harry’s pea brain fails to comprehend is that “going out on the job” encompasses more than just combat and taking lives. It also encompasses saving lives. Harry is eaten up with jealousy of William.

*

Aug 11 Ask

Hi Nonny,

It sounds like a dig at Prince William to me as well. Harry seems to be continually engaged in this one-sided competition with his brother, while his brother does not care about who does what first as long as they are both happy. 

I agree that active duty is not the only way to use your qualifications to serve people. Look at how many lives Prince William has saved during his career as a rescue pilot. That is just as valuable a use of the qualification as being on active duty, something that Prince William couldn’t do anyway as he is in the direct line of succession.

Harry is very jealous/envious of his brother, as you said, and he isn’t even trying to hide it anymore.

[midnight-love-song]

Do you want one of those crime drama jobs because it would be exciting and you could help people or do you just want a family who has your back

[mariacallous]

Human rights in Russia have “severely deteriorated” since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, culminating in a “systematic crackdown” on civil society, a UN report has found.

The investigation details police brutality, widespread repression of independent media and persistent attempts to silence Kremlin critics using punitive new laws.

Mariana Katzarova, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Russia, was denied entry into the country and compiled the report by speaking to political groups, activists and lawyers.

She found “credible reports” of torture and allegations of sexual violence, rape and threats of sexual abuse by police.

The Kremlin has not commented publicly since its release.

Human rights abuses in Russia have been well documented during the Vladimir Putin era, but the latest UN report pays particular attention to how the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has accelerated what it says was previously a “steady decline”.

It details how laws passed in recent years targeting the spread of so-called fake news, and individuals or organisations deemed to have received foreign support, have sought to “muzzle” any opposition, both physically and online.

The new laws have led to “mass arbitrary arrests” and long prison sentences, it adds.

Among the cases the report highlights is that of Artyom Kamardin, who was jailed for seven years for reading an anti-war poem in public - an act authorities deemed to be “inciting hatred”.

Ms Katzarova told the BBC: “Russians are getting shockingly long prison sentences.

"It’s seven years for reading an anti war-poem, or saying a prayer by a priest which was against the war, or producing a play perceived to be anti-war. Two women are still in prison for that in Russia.”

She praised those who continue to organise despite threats and said she believes opposition to the war is quietly widespread.

“As in any totalitarian, authoritarian state, people don't want to get in trouble - it doesn't mean that they are supportive of some madness, an aggressive war against their neighbour,” she added.

The report accuses the government of seeking to propagate its views on the Ukraine conflict among children via the introduction of mandatory school lessons, officially labelled as “important conversations”.

“Children refusing to attend such classes and their parents are subject to pressure and harassment,” it adds. The report highlights the case of a fifth-grader from Moscow who was interrogated by police after skipping the class, before their mother was charged with “failing to fulfil parental duties”.

It found that many men sent to Ukraine “have been mobilised by deception, the use of force, or by taking advantage of their vulnerability”, while those who have refused to fight have been held in detention centres in occupied areas and “threatened with execution, violence or a prison sentence if they did not return to the front lines”.

Men from indigenous communities make up a disproportionate number of those drafted into the army, it found, and there is evidence “authorities have imposed travel restrictions, blocking exit routes from towns and villages during mobilisation sweeps”.

Ms Katzarova said: “Indigenous people… are really facing extinction if this continues.

"I think, partly my guess and the trends that indigenous leaders are painting, is that this is part of the Russian authorities really wanting to send to the front line ‘disposable people’, not the Slavs from St Petersburg or Moscow.”

Elsewhere in the report:

It accuses judges of acting as a “mouthpiece” for the government because of the depth of political interference

It describes Russia as an “increasingly homophobic society”, pointing to recent laws curtailing the freedoms of LGBT+ people

It says female anti-war activists have been disproportionately affected by the crackdown on dissent and are “even more vulnerable in custody”

It describes a “climate of fear and repression” amid widespread police brutality in Chechnya, adding that the southern republic should serve as a “warning” for what could happen elsewhere in Russia

The report deals with human rights in Russia’s internationally recognised borders, so does not comment on reported abuses in Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

[fizzyxcustard]

Anything Is Possible (5)

Masterlist of fan fiction

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Fandom: Robin Hood (BBC TV series)

Pairing: Guy of Gisborne x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Angst, brief smut, violence, mild sexual assault references, graphic depictions of being burned alive.

Summary: From the imagine, “Imagine you and Guy are in love but you are to be married to someone else. It feels like everything is keeping you apart."

Comments: If you would like to be added to or removed from my tag list, please let me know. Lord Edmund is based off Arnold Vosloo (from The Mummy)

After your midnight rendezvous with Guy in the barn, you were anxious. You were half expecting something to happen; maybe be dragged away and put into the stocks for defying orders. Edmund hadn't been to see you at all since your altercation with him, but as far as you knew, all wedding arrangements were still underway.

It was now two days until your wedding....

Your mother arranged through her friend's husband, the guard who had helped you meet with Guy safely, to meet with Gisborne. Plans and schemes were forming in her mind, and Mary, the seamstress, had even insisted that she would help out any way possible.

On the edge of a nearby wood, your mother met with Guy.

"Thank you for letting me see her," he said immediately.

Your mother smiled and nodded her head at Guy. "I've promised myself that I won't let her marry Edmund. Seeing you two in the barn was the thing that made me adamant that I'm going to see this through. She's my child, my youngest, and it's my duty to make sure she's happy. Like all of us around her."

Guy sighed. "She knows that we would both gladly put our lives on the line for her."

"I was compliant with all of this, Gisborne. My husband made this arrangement with Edmund to make sure we were looked after. The money kept flowing to keep us comfortable. And now I detest myself for everything I've put on her shoulders. My friend Mary is trying her hardest to get hold of a poison. If we put it in his drink on the morning of the wedding..."

"But finding him dead before the wedding? Wouldn't that look suspicious?" Guy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not if the poison takes around an hour to work. Mary will be on hand for fittings on the morning, so she can easily get into Edmund's chamber to deliver the poison to his drink."

"If he drops down dead at his own wedding, surely someone will be suspicious of foul play."

"Then I will take responsibility for it," your mother said boldly. "She deserves a happy life. Of all my children, she's the one who has the kindness and compassion I wish the others did. All the others were able to make their own choices, and she hasn't had that. Promise me that you'll take care of her."

"That goes without saying. You know I will. "

Your mother stepped up to Guy and smiled at him. "There was a time like many other people in this town that I didn't like you. But now I see a good side of you, and I can see why she loves you."

Guy gave a lop sided smile as he thought of you. "I wonder why she gives her heart to me as freely as she does. But if there's one thing I know it's that my heart belongs to her in return. I will be honoured to take your daughter's hand in marriage."

*

The night before your wedding to Edmund and you lay awake. Every muscle was tight and rigid. All of the preparations had been going on around you; very little had been done by you, apart from attend regular meetings for dress fittings.

Your mother knocked on your door, holding a mug of fresh camomile tea.

With a smile, you beckoned her in.

There was a twinkle in your mother's eye as she sat down on the bed beside you and offered you the mug as you sat upright. "I have news," she said. "Good news."

"Edmund is dead?"

"Not yet, but he will be. Mary will be conducting his fitting tomorrow, and she has got her hands on a poison which will be in Edmund's system for around half hour to an hour before it takes effect. It'll mean going along with the morning as planned as to not rouse suspicion. You may need to meet him at the alter."

"I understand, Mother. Will Guy be there?"

Your mother couldn't help but smile. The sheer devotion that you two felt toward each other. "Of course he will."

You looked down and sighed. "I don't want him to have to see that. I know the wedding won't be going ahead, but I don't want him to see me in a gown intended for me to be wed to another man."

Your mother took your hand tightly. "Don't you think he understands what's happening? He intends to be there to make sure you are safe, as will I, and Mary, and her husband. We will all be there."

"What if something goes wrong?"

"Nothing will go wrong," a deep voice came. It was an all too familiar voice and it immediately made you grin.

"Guy," you whispered. "You've got to be careful coming out like this."

"Mary's husband is guarding. It was his duty tonight."

You crawled on your bed to the window and smiled at Guy. You drew your hand up his cheek, drowning in his steel blue gaze.

"I shall leave you have your privacy," your mother said, and left the room with a big smile.

Guy jumped in the window and shifted to the bed, leaning over you as the two of your kissed again.

"Will we ever see the day when we can do this as husband and wife?" you asked, stopping and pulling from the kiss.

"We will. I promise," Guy whispered, his lips trailing kisses from your ear, down your jaw and to your lips. Then he trailed from your lips down your neck and throat. He groaned against you, and whispered your name in need and want.

As the two of you climaxed a short while later, and fell down beside each other, you rested your head on Guy's bare chest. "I'll always be yours, Guy. Even if things go wrong tomorrow, I'll never be his."

"Shhh," he cooed. "Have faith that everything will go right."

"I don't want you to have to see me in that dress. It's not my wedding dress for you. I wish you weren't coming."

Guy moved and sat up, your bedsheet pooling in his lap. "Why would I not be there? How can I not be there?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows in disbelief at your comment.

"I'm scared something will go wrong," you exclaimed. "The only wedding gown you should ever see me wearing is the one intended for you to remove on our wedding night."

***

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It is often described as a “literary mystery” and has caused much debate. Why did Cassandra Austen burn the letters of her sister, famous author Jane Austen? Miss Austen, a new four-part drama launching on the BBC on Sunday and coming to PBS in the U.S. in May, is telling the story from a perspective of sisterhood and sisterly love. “My own opinion on that is that she did an incredibly noble thing, rightly or wrongly,” Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, Line of Duty, It’s A Sin), who stars in the series as Cassandra Austen, said during a recent pre-launch event in London. “I know lots of Austen fans feel that it was an act of cultural vandalism, but I think she had great foresight. She couldn’t possibly have known about the world that we live in now, where everybody wants to know everyone’s innermost thoughts at every second of the day.”

Concluded the actress: “She couldn’t possibly have known. And to do this and make it about (Jane Austen’s) work and to look after her legacy in the way that she did, I think it’s the greatest act of love.”

The cast of the show includes such British stars as Jessica Hynes (Life After Life, Years and Years),��Rose Leslie (The Good Fight, Downton Abbey, Death on the Nile, Vigil), Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey, Shetland), and Alfred Enoch (How to Get Away with Murder, Foundation).

Andrea Gibb (Elizabeth Is Missing, Mayflies), who adapted the series for the small screen from Gill Hornby’s best-selling novel of the same name, echoed Hawes’ take. “Gill takes it apart and offers us a theory, and she gets us inside Cassandra’s head,” she explained. “So we sort of understand the sister that’s been vilified somehow by history. The idea that we could redeem her in some way, I think, is incredibly attractive to writers.”

Director Aisling Walsh (Maudie, Elizabeth Is Missing) also chimed in on that debate. “I think it’s love,” she said. “People don’t need to know that kind of privacy and that kind of intimacy that they have together as two sisters. What they need to know is how genius Jane was as a writer.” Concluded Walsh: “So for me, of course, it is total loyalty.”

Meanwhile, Gibb emphasized that the show tells a feminist story. “One of the reasons why I think we are sitting here all women on this stage is because we do see it as a story which puts women at the front,” she told the press event in London ahead of the launch. “It’s a feminist piece, we think, and we want it to be.”

Gibb also highlighted that the Austen sisters “were forging a life that was not acceptable in those days,” noting: “Women had no rights to property. If they didn’t get married, what did they have? And they were dependent on their husbands, on their brothers, and on their fathers.” So, the two women, “these two remarkable, amazing women, stood out… in that time and in that society.”

Describing their respective approaches showcased in the series, the writer explained: “Jane wants to write. She’s compelled, she’s obsessed, she needs to tell her stories. And Cassandra is like: ‘Okay, I’m going to do this with her. I’m going to be there for her.’ They are the ultimate feminists.”

What sums up the reality of those days was “the fact that the women are isolated from the men unless the men decide that they can be part of the situation,” Gibb concluded. “So, yeah, I think we hope that that’s what we forefronted and made clear and pushed feminism.”

Meanwhile, Christine Langan, executive producer on Miss Austen for Bonnie Productions, highlighted that “we have some very lovely men who worked on the show but also emphasized how strong a presence women had on the set. “We understood, even in the 21st century (and beyond), the places women can’t quite get their elbows out, especially to enter. They can’t necessarily get their voices heard still or earn quite the same amount,” she said. “Well, you know, it’s still ongoing – all of this. And some of the appeal of Austen is just that the rules are more firmly set, and so you can see the inequalities very, very clearly.”

Added Langan: “This inequality, it was catnip for so many brilliant female creatives behind the camera, in front of the camera to be allowed to play in this very, very free way with women having crises of confidence looking back at their life decisions.”

This year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Miss Austen debuts in the U.K. this Sunday on BBC One. In the U.S., it will premiere on Masterpiece on PBS on Sunday, May 4.