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belmottetower · 10 months

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fic rec fun

So wanted to get some hiatus rec lists going and encourage some self promo in my friends so how about sharing your top fics no matter how big or small - give us the links to your wonderful words with the Most hits/Most kudos/Most comments/Most bookmarks /Most words/Least words Tagged by @valonia47 Most hits:

and i'm known for giving love away The first fic in my main ot3 series, and probably the fic of mine that has been most popular since season 3. I'm not surprised really, if you left that season a fan of ot3 this might be the one for you. 26,302 hits. Summary:

Apparently this isn’t some fantasy scenario Keeley has dreamed up, and Roy is on board with the whole threesome thing. Jamie doesn’t need any more encouragement before saying yes to sex with two of the hottest people he knows. How the fuck do you cope with the beard. It’s so scratchy. Hate to think how raw you are down there. Keeley doesn’t take long to reply to his text. Shut up! Heard the second conversation went better than the first? 😏👨❤️💋👨 ------- In the first week back of pre-season training, Jamie’s misstep at the funeral finally comes back to bite him. Or does it? When Keeley and Roy approach him with a very unexpected offer — an invite into their bed — Jamie isn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, even if he wishes it was more than just sex.

Most kudos

This is the same as above and has 1,649 kudos so I'm going to cheat and plug my second most kudosed fic too.

I Get By With A Little Help

This is the first in a Roy/Jamie, canon divergent season 2 AU that follows the events of the season fairly closely, but with one change at the start affecting Jamie's relationships and actions. 1,030 kudos. Summary:

He can’t hang out with the boys, but he hates going home too. He hates being alone in his new flat, terrified that his dad will find out where he lives now and send them after him again. He’s taken to hanging round the club after training. He’ll find a quiet place to sit, pull out his book, and settle in for as long as he can before the stadium locks up for the night and he's forced to leave. He’s onto the 34th book to read before you die — Emma — and is surprised by how much he likes it. In comparison to his own drama, gentle scandals and gossip are a nice escape. Today’s reading location is the boot room. The new kitman has some magic way of making it smell of lavender instead of sweaty feet, and if Jamie puts a couple of towels on the bench, it makes a nice pillow to sit on. Mr Knightley is in the middle of yet another stern lecture — in his head, Knightley looks a lot like Roy, but he's not sure Keeley quite fits as Emma — when the door bangs open. Jamie jumps and is surprised to see Keeley standing there instead of Will, a guilty look on her face. — After a traumatic event Jamie falls apart, then puts himself back together again. He does the hard work, but he has a little help. Most comments

Most bookmarks

Okay the first here was and i'm known for giving love away with 564 bookmarks. The second was I Get By With A Little Help with 387 bookmarks. I won't do a full summary of number three, but I'll cheat again and link to it. It's in a language that you can't read just yet, another ot3 fic with 229 bookmarks.

Most words

A Little Better, All The Time The Roy POV sequel to I Get By With A Little Help, so you'd probably want to read that first! 46,825 words. I'll be honest I think a couple of my other WIPs either are already longer, or will definitely end up longer, but not in terms of published words. Summary:

He’d known Tartt could do it, but knowing it and fucking watching that masterpiece of a goal happen with his own eyes are two very different things. And best of all, he got to feel responsible for it. He had gotten to set that in motion for Richmond, for his player. Ted grabs him in celebration, and Roy’s still roaring and oh, fuck. Careful what you wish for, Kent. Jamie’s seeking out his gaze, flipping him off from the middle of the pitch and smirking before accepting praise and hugs from the rest of the team, and Roy had wanted Jamie to spark some emotion in him, but this? This is electric, this is overwhelming. Roy wants to fucking run out there, grab him in a bear hug of his own, and not let go. This might become a new problem. ___ Roy wasn't about to admit it, but he'd been sort of excited to see Tartt again. Except when he returns to Richmond, Jamie is... different. On the pitch and off it, he’s quieter, more reserved, a shadow of the person Roy remembers from last season. He’s determined to get to the bottom of the change.

Least words

funnier than step brothers

Okay this is one of my AUgust fills, for a prompt where I was otherwise I bit stuck as to what I wanted to write. A rogue pairing for me - Colin/Isaac and very silly, but I will stick to the rules and link to it anyway. Word count 374. Summary:

“This is your fucking fault,” Isaac hisses at Colin from their place on the front pew. Colin’s not paying him any attention though, too busy wiping away his tears as he watches his dad marry Isaac’s mum. — Ted Lasso AU-gust Challenge Prompt #8: Adoptive Family

This was a lot of fun! I tag @goldiegaytime and @liesmyth to do it should you fancy it, no pressure though!

#my writing #writing asks #sort of #jamie tartt #roy kent #fandom: ted lasso #keeley jones #roy x jamie #roy x keeley x jamie #ted lasso fic #colin hughes #isaac mcadoo #colin x isaac

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pyramidofmice · 2 years

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tell us your fluffy gary hc 👀 ps that blank!steve carries a guitar is so important to me ;;

YES! I am NUTS about blank!Steve and his guitar.

Okay, here's a catch-all of my happy Gary thoughts!! :)

1) Gary had a private journal where he wrote poetry and song lyrics. It was very special to him. Gary and his friends often doodled or wrote on each other’s worksheets during class, and Gary saved his favorites in a sleeve on the inside of the journal’s cover. When the sleeve was full, Gary slid the papers between the pages like bookmarks.

2) Gary tried to look out for Peter, mainly by hanging around when Peter was scheduled to be in the same classes/places as Shane.

3) Gary and Andy hung out at Andy's house all the time. They knew each other before secondary, so Gary was a familiar part of the Knightley household.

4) On many school days, Gary would come home with Andy and spend a while there before going to his own house. If Gary had missed sleep, Andy would let him sleep in his bed while Andy himself did homework.

5) After the events of the movie, Gary is a father figure to his blank squad (whom I have dubbed the blank musketeers). I like the idea that he understands their feeling of being lost. Gary tries his best to give them the guidance and comfort he wishes he'd had growing up.

6) Gary encourages the blank musketeers as they form their own identities. Eventually, he doesn't even slightly think of them as copies of his friends, because he's gotten to know the blanks for who they've become.

7) Gary LOVED Mr. Shepherd's class. Partly because all of the boys had it at the same time, partly because Mr. Shepherd taught in a way that Gary enjoyed, and partly for the content itself. Gary became enthralled by the grandeur and sincerity of the texts they read. Some of that is due to Mr. Shepherd putting effort into making the material interesting and engaging for Gary, which most teachers never tried to do.

8) Gary's experience in Mr. Shepherd's class contributed to his occasional use of fancy antiquated words as an adult, despite a lack of general knowledge about literature (The Three Musketeers, King Arthur, etc).

9) Steve and Gary made each other a few mixtapes. Sometimes they’d play them in The Beast while hanging out with the guys, but sometimes they’d listen for the first time at home and talk about it the next day at school.

10) Gary and Andy had a tradition of eating their Halloween candy together. When they got too old for trick-or-treating, they would buy themselves cookies, as well as take the leftovers of what their parents had bought for trick-or-treaters.

11) I believe that Gary had a soft spot for Peter. I mean, really, he calls him the baby of the group! Some of Gary's opening narration implies that he didn't care that much about Pete, but heck, when is Gary honest about his feelings! I think that, over time, young Gary saw glimpses of Pete feeling truly comfortable. He realized that Peter rarely let his personality shine through. So, Gary was really happy whenever he got Peter to let loose and have fun.

12) Young Gary admired Andy a lot. Andy had goals he worked towards (ie rugby and law school) and didn't conceal his emotions as much as Gary did. In Gary's eyes, Andy was just overflowing with ambition and heart. Gary envied that. However, they got along so well that Gary could never dislike Andy. Their humor, values, and personalities matched perfectly, and they had years of happy memories...Gary couldn't help but adore him. So, though Gary called himself the leader, Andy inspired him so much that Gary sometimes felt like he was the one following Andy.

13) Gary has a habit of falling in love with a specific subject--main example being The Sisters of Mercy. However, his first topic ever was Egyptology. It began with picture books when he was a little kid. By the time Gary was in his early teens, Egyptology no longer gripped him like it used to, but he still found joy in anything ancient Egypt-related. He happened upon the ankh and winged goddess necklaces at a store and instantly bought them. Oliver called dibs on getting Gary an Eye of Ra necklace for his birthday, much to the annoyance of Andy, Peter, and Steve.

14) The Golden Mile was also a topic Gary fell in love with. He researched each bar, picking up information about the town in general as he went along. Gary keeps remnants of his favorite subjects, because they always have a special meaning to him, even if he's not especially interested in them anymore. Keeping the map and occasionally testing his memory of the order of the bars was a self-comfort thing for him.

15) One Halloween, Gary and Andy bought a mix for cupcakes and tried to bake them...then royally fucked up. Gary was bad at the math, Andy got frustrated trying to find kitchenware, and they were both distracted by joking around. Laughing at their mistakes only worsened the baking situation. They made up for it by eating all the frosting.

Thank you for sending me this ask!!! I may have gotten a little bittersweet with some of these, but with The World's End that's basically inevitable lol

#albossharuland #<-- aka Super Cool Person #the world's end #the worlds end #gary king #peter page #steven prince #andy knightley #guy shepherd #mr shepherd #andy & gary #blood and ice cream #aka #cornetto trilogy #gary & peter #gary & steven #the blank musketeers #pyra speaks

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samuel-de-champagne-problems · 3 years

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Wrap You Arms Around Me, Baby Boy

Summary: Sometimes love at first just might be the thing that’ll make you want to get married with paper rings.

Word Count: 2.8K

Author’s Note: This is one of @railmereid rejected fics! I saw that it was requested as a Taylor Swift/Paper Rings and I couldn’t help myself!

Content: Fluff like ridiculous fantastical fluff, brief innuendo

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem Reader

Wrap Your Arms Around Me, Baby Boy

JULY 4th, 2008

It was like she was floating. It sounds absolutely ridiculous and down right absurd to realize you’re in love with your neighbor’s co-worker at the annual FBI and Secret Service baseball game just within minutes of meeting him, yet she’s walking home with a skip in her step because she knows he’s the man she wants to marry. She thinks about all the what ifs, to all the times that they could have met, to all the almost encounters. Being in love with Spencer makes all the love songs sound like fulfilled promises and makes her call destiny tomorrow.

It’s not like her to fall in love with a man she just met, but somehow, as she rushes home, she’s never felt more like herself. She knows it’s crazy to feel that much about a person that she just met, but there’s something and there’s everything about Spencer that makes her crave more.

Humming the greatest love songs in her head, Y/N reaches her lobby and has to resist the urge to dance her way up the stairs to her apartment. What was it about that man that made her want to shake? What was it about him that left her thinking about the next time she’d see him even before they said goodbye for the first time?

Sinking onto the couch, Y/N eyes her laptop that rests on her coffee table. Unable to help herself, Y/N kneels on the floor and begins to type in Google, “Spencer Reid; FBI,”. It’s amazing, the milliseconds that it takes to bring up the many new articles about the elite BAU team and all their heroic adventures. At the top of the page, is a much younger, much more nervous looking Spencer. He’s wearing clothes that are all too big for him and looks like a lost little kid.

She scans the page, but her eyes catch what she can only assume is one of Spencer’s dissertations. Clicking the link, she’s brought to a PDF that’s nearly 250 pages long. Even the title of his dissertation is so Spencer that it makes her want to call him up and make him read it to her. Somehow she settles on reading Identifying non-obvious relationship factors using cluster weighted modeling and geographic regression in her best Spencer voice in her head.

Y/N clicks out of the pdf of Spencer’s dissertation, not before bookmarking it for later reading. She clicks on the “Images” banner of Google and is brought to a couple pictures of Spencer. Most of them are news articles about the BAU and their many cases. But one catches her eye. She can see that the article is about when Spencer joined the team; “The BAU Welcomes it’s Youngest Member, Dr. Spencer Reid,”

“Oh my god,” Y/N says, maybe a little too loudly because her cat, Mr. Knightley, jumps down from his cat tree in the corner of the living room to investigate the source of her squeal.

“Don’t judge, Knighty, I just may have met your new cat dad. Give me a couple of months,” She says, fully aware that she’s cooking up strangely sweet domestic fantasies involving Spencer and Mr. Knightley in her head.

Y/N looks over at the article, but can’t seem to tear her eyes from the picture. Spencer, with no doubt, is very attractive, but he looks so bright in the picture. His cheekbones are still just as sharp and his wide grin is still there, but there’s something a little more naive and optimistic about the way his eyes twinkle in the picture.

Pressing “Control, T” on her laptop, Y/N goes to her Amazon account. She looks at Spencer’s messy scribble on her hand, where she made him write his number and all his favorite books on her hand. It’s difficult to make out but, she places orders for The Illustrated Man, War and Peace, and The Little Prince.

It might seem crazy, but there’s something special about that Spencer Reid.

JULY 9th, 2008

“I’ll take an iced green tea, one Splenda please,” Y/N asks the barista at her local coffeehouse. She moves to turn, but bumps into a very tall and very lanky young man.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Y/N says, thoroughly embarrassed at her lack of spatial awareness.

“Y/N?,” The man asks, and as soon as Y/N brushes herself off, she realizes the man she ran into is no other than the boy who’s been occupying her daydreams.

“Spencer! Oh my goodness, you go here too?” She asks, trying to not let on how excited she was to see him.

“Um, yeah, you mentioned it the other night at Garcia's and I thought, well I should just check it out,” Spencer says nervously, scratching the back of his neck as he talks.

“Really? You took my suggestion?” Y/N beams, not so secretly thrilled that Spencer Reid took her advice.

“Yeah, I mean you seemed to really enjoy it, besides, I like that they’re transparent about where they source their coffee beans. Did you know that a standard cup of coffee requires more than 37 gallons of water, while most of that water is needed for maintaining a healthy plant, it’s still quite a bit. And as someone who lives on coffee, I think that it’s important to recognize the environmental footprint that our habits have on the Earth,” Spencer says quickly. He’s not the best at maintaining eye contact, but Y/N doesn’t find it less enthralling to listen to him. They stand there for a couple too many seconds just looking at each other, but for some reason it’s anything but awkward.

“Tea for Y/N!” The barista calls and Y/N excuses herself from Spencer to retrieve her drink.

“Is that The Illustrated Man? Looks like I’m not the only one who took some advice” Spencer asks, catching a glimpse of the book tucked under Y/N’s arm.

“Yes,” She says, slightly embarrassed that Spencer pays just as close attention to what she says and she does with him.

“Are you liking it? Maybe we can uh, sit and talk about it?” Spencer suggests, extending his hand to the small table that he claimed earlier. It’s covered with dusty copies of old books and what Y/N thinks are FBI case files that probably should not be left out in the open.

“I’d love that Spencer,” She tells him, unable to hide her smile.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

Who knew playing hard to get would be hardest on the person doing the ignoring. Even though she was exhausted from the pinning and waiting for Spencer to make the move, Y/N feels a little bad for ignoring his texts.

“I can’t do this anymore, Penny,” Y/N laments, throwing herself dramatically across Penelope’s bed as she gets dressed for a double date.

“Honey, that boy’s fallen hard for you, he’ll come to his senses soon. You’re a catch and he’ll realize that the good ones never wait,” Penelope counters.

Y/N, hating the idea of having to keep Spencer at arm’s length, groans loudly into Penelope’s purple and pink sequin pillow.

“It’s hard to ignore him when he sends me selfies of him reading the books I suggest,” Y/N says in a voice that’s so quiet one would think she’s talking to herself.

“You know he upgraded to an iPhone just so he can see all the pictures you send him, right? He made me go to the mall to pick out the phone and practically forced me to teach him how to use it,”

“Really?” Y/N asks, bravely picking up her head from the pillow to look at Penelope.

“Y/N that boy is even more clueless about love than he is about technology. He’s in love. L-O-V-E. Love. With you,” Penelope teases, zipping up a fabulous dress that’s made from blue and teal silk.

“Wear that one, Penelope, it brings out your eyes,” Y/N says, barely able to summon the will to ignore the incoming text from Spencer.

Spence 💖: I thought I saw you today. My copy of The Wide Sargasso Sea came and I finished it already.

“Ugh, Penny. Do you know how hot it is for men to actually read the books you suggest to them,”

“You’re in deep, Y/N,” Penelope says sympathetically, “but so is he,”

OCTOBER 28th, 2008

As it turns out, Y/N’s will when it comes to Spencer is next to non-existent. She’s not too sure when it began, but maybe that’s the beauty of it. They kind of just fell into a relationship naturally. One day their friendly coffee and book chats turned to lazy Saturdays spent curled up on Y/N’s couch with Mr. Knightely by their feet. They’re awkward hugs turned to equally awkward, yet simultaneously sweet kisses.

Spencer’s surprisingly heavily arm thrown lazily around Y/N’s stomach is a testament to how quickly her will crumbled before her eyes when he was close. Laying there at 2AM, Y/N was beyond exhausted, but watching the way the moonlight drips across Spencer’s nose and the sound of his steady breath is enough to keep her wide awake.

“You stare loud,” Spencer mumbles sleepily, moving his face deeper into the crook of Y/N’s neck. Even in their sleepy state, they manage to hold hands.

“I can’t help it, you’re just such a lovely work of art,” Y/N explains.

“I have to disagree on that one, my darling,” Spencer says, tugging a little tighter on Y/N’s waist.

“I missed you, Spence. You’re my hero, by, but sometimes I wish you can just be the hero in between my sheets. I miss you when you go away,” Y/N says, joining her hands with Spencer’s. She likes how the sweet, tender touch still makes her heart skip.

“Oh yeah,” he laughed, “Mr. Knightley doesn’t keep you warm enough, Y/N,” Spencer says, his voice low and gravely, but in the quiet hush of the street it was the most beautiful noise Y/N ever has heard.

“Don’t tell him I’ve said this, but you’re a much better cuddler than Mr. Knightley,” Y/N says, leaning in to press the lightest butterfly kisses along the bridge of his nose.

��It feels good that going away is hard, you know,” Spencer starts, “before you I never had someone really miss me. I never had someone to come home to,”

“It feels even better to be the one you come home too, Spencer,” Y/N says, she dips her head down and lightly kisses Spencer on the lips. He’s had lots of long nights at the BAU; she can see the way his dark brown eyes look a little more haunted and a little less sparkly.

“I’m so sorry, I can’t imagine how hard it must be for you to be alone,” Spencer confesses. His voice makes that gravelly sound again and Y/N swears that the sound is her anchor to this universe.

“It’s gonna be alright, Spence. We’re going to be just fine, sweet boy,” Y/N tells him, pressing two gentle kisses to both sides of his temples.

Spencer hums in something resembling frustration or understanding; or maybe some odd mix of the two. Y/N notices the way Spencer’s fingers seem to press into her body a little firmer. Like he’s forcing himself to remember that he’s really there in her bed at 2AM.

“Where were you my whole life? Hmm?” Spencer asks, taking the opportunity to sneak his head into a warm spot between Y/N and chest. He places three lazy kisses on the skin exposed by the loose bed shirt. It’s the kind of kisses that don’t need to be perfect because the moment you open your eyes you know you’re getting more.

“Waiting for my hero,” Y/N says, raising her chin slightly so Spencer settles in so close he can hear her heartbeat.

“I bet you didn’t think he’d come with both a pocket protector and a gun,”

“Hush, go back to sleep, you’ve been working like crazy,” Y/N says, squeezing Spencer’s hand.

“Hmm, good night, my love,” Spencer says, before, like a light, he’s drifted off to sleep.

APRIL 21st 2009

It's the champagne. It’s making her think things that someone who’s only been in a relationship for less than six months should definitely not be thinking. But who is Y/N kidding, she’s had those thoughts since the night she went home and tried to stalk Spencer on the internet.

“Uncle Spencer! Magic trick! Magic trick!” Henry screams with joy, bouncing up and down to get Spencer’s attention.

“Okay, Henry, you ready buddy?,” Spencer says. Y/N thinks back to how cute he looked this morning when he was prepping all these magic tricks to show Henry and Jack.

“Ready, Freddy!” Henry squeals. His bright blue eyes practically glisten with admiration and happiness as Spencer folds two small pieces of newspaper into interlocking rings. Everyone should look at Spencer like the way Henry looks at him, Y/N thinks. He’s kids sure will, or rather their kids will.

She’s so lost in the thought of their kids, their babies, that Y/N doesn’t notice when Spencer, slightly buzzed from the champagne covers up her eyes with his hands.

“Guess who?” He says, in between giggles.

“Hmm, is it Greggory Peck?” Y/N says, facetiously, knowing that her crush on the actor caused Spencer to get a little sheepish.

“Unfortunately, it’s just me,” Spencer says, joining Y/N at her stop at the table. He looks so dashing in the navy blue suit and tie with light pink flowers.

“There’s nothing unfortunate about seeing your face, baby,” Y/N says, tapping her finger against Spencer’s very chiseled cheeks.

“How about we get out of here,” Spencer suggests, his voice low and his breath against Y/N’s neck. His proximity makes her face heat up. Not trusting her voice to work properly, Y/N gives Spencer her hand, signaling to him to take her wherever he pleases.

Walking away from the wedding, Y/N let herself think for even a second this could be her and Spencer’s wedding. Maybe it’s too soon to bring that up, she doesn’t want to scare Spencer off with her big forever plans, but she knows what they have won’t ever be found again.

“You seem occupied, Y/N,” Spencer deduces, he clasps hands with Y/N. He draws small shapes on her hand, letting her know, silently, that he’s here for her.

“Just thinking how much I love you, all of you Spence. I love all of your brilliant parts and all of your complications too,” Y/N says, unable to hide her gush from Spencer.

Spencer brings up Y/N’s hand that holds him to his mouth. He places the softest kisses on each of her knuckles. It’s a gesture that’s kind and sweet and leaves Y/N needing more from him. Each time she gets a little slice of love from Spencer, she’s immediately craving more.

“Y/N, I desperately want to marry you ever since I met you. I want to marry you so much and dance with you at the wedding and at night I want to twist my hands up in your hair as you writhe under my touch,” Spencer says, he’s grip on the Y/N’s hand telling her how serious he is about this.

“That’s good darling, because you’re the one I want,” Y/N says.

“Well, it’s a good thing Henry begged me to do this trick,” Spencer laughs nervously. He takes out those interlocking paper rings, and with a couple twists he has them separated.

“Now I though that this is probably not ideal and I’ve never been good at timing, I’m always a little early. But what I’m trying to say, Y/N, is that I can’t wait another second without being married to you,” Spencer says, he’s already down on one knee.

“Yes! Spence come on! Get off the ground and kiss me already,” Y/N yells, pulling Spencer up off the ground by his tie, eliciting giggles from her now fiancé.

At his full height, Spencer cups Y/N’s jaw delicately. There’s nothing salacious or seductive about the kiss. If anything, it’s a silent promise mixed with the sensations of clashing teeth and curious hands on the napes of their necks, daring to go closer to their hair.

Even when they pull away, Spencer and Y/N stay so close that it’s almost like they’re still intertwined.

“Tomorrow I’ll take you to whatever store you want and I’ll buy you the shiniest ring,” Spencer says, his mind calculating the next steps so he can already be Y/N’s husband.

“Spencer,” Y/N says, taking the paper rings from Spencer’s hand and placing each of them on her finger then Spencer’s, “I might like shiny things, but I’ll marry you with paper rings,”

Thank you for reading!

I hope that whoever requested this, enjoys it! It was a lot of fun to write :)

Taglist (Comment or Send in an Ask to be added!)

@calm-and-doctor

@shemarmooresfedora

@willowrose99

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds #Criminal minds x reader #spencer reid imagine #dr spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x you #criminal minds fic #criminal minds x reader #spencer reid x reader fluff

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narrator-scio-story · 7 years

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Let's Just Have Some Old-Fashioned Fangirling Over Jane Austen

I could call this post "What's Happening 8/29", like I've been doing for a while now.

But seriously, this blog has now evolved from providing short snippets of context about my own experiences in Science Olympiad to explain what I write about in the novel, to begging excuses for why I haven't revised anymore of the novel (news flash - I have no excuse), to now being the primary purpose of my writing.

This is my personal blog explaining the progress of my life.

So it doesn't really make sense to simply name every blog post to show that it's an update on my life from the date it's posted. I want to really explain what I'm going to be writing about in the title, don't I?

So this is a blog post about Jane Austen.

Of course I don't need an excuse to talk about Jane Austen. Why would I need an excuse, how could you ask that?

We've been in the process, the past couple of days, of driving back east after Colorado, in time for school to start. The day before we left I just about managed to finish reading Toni Morrison's Beloved. That was a part of the book pair I'd chosen for my summer reading for AP lit, so I insisted on rereading it in full even though I already read it back in November of 2015 (I know that because I can remember reading it before a certain concert, but whatever, the point is it was a while ago and I needed a refresher). Both the partner book for Beloved and the partner book for Mansfield Park were books I'd bought new on the book this summer and read on the overnight flight to the UK in July, so those were basically the two pairs of books I was choosing between.

Now, I know I'm getting out of order in my history, but I have a confession to make.

A rather embarrassing confession. I can't imagine how my girlfriend would react if she knew.

Not only have I not read Northanger Abbey since 8th grade, and not read Northanger Abbey in its entirety since 6th or 7th grade (aka the first time I read it! Yeek!), but last summer I actually didn't get through all the other Jane Austen novels.

Between my phone and my e-reader, travelling and staying in different people's houses, all the random bookmarks and quotations in different places in the books which I turn to frequently for comfort or to prove a point, I don't actually remember anymore how far I got. So we could say it's very possible I hadn't read Mansfield Park in 2 years.

How had I been getting my necessary fix of Austen instead? Well... Um... Oops... Er... Adaptions?!

Not to mention reading about the 200th anniversary of her death in news stories, but that should've only reminded me of what I was missing. Somehow I was getting the crying-at-happy-endings stuff from adaptions.

So you've heard about all the Netflix adaptions I watched in the UK, I think. And on the British Airways flight back to the US I watched the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice. My sister was shocked that I hadn't seen it before, she claims it's her favorite and she probably hasn't read the book not to mention she couldn't sit through the whole Jennifer Ehle one with me when I rented it on disc years ago. But there you go. I've seen it now, and it wasn't what finally convinced me to do my duty by the novels.

I was only at home, my own house, my own town, for a couple of days, but I did manage to invite my girlfriend to come watch the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma with me one of those days. (Why that one? Because it was the one that was streaming on Netflix. Clueless seems to have been taken off. Not to mention the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma was an Austen movie I hadn't seen before, and yet had tolerable reviews.)

I told her we could judge it's accuracy of the books together. She admitted to me that she'd never actually finished reading Emma because the main character annoyed her so much.

Then after we'd agreed to our plans anyway, she got sick and told me she couldn't come. So I flew out the next day without seeing her, but with it still downloaded within Netflix on my phone.

And eventually in Colorado, one bored afternoon, I have in and watched it on my own. And cried at Mr Knightley's confession of love at the end even though I didn't particularly approve the wording of it. Everything.

Then soon another bored afternoon in Colorado, another afternoon I didn't fancy doing anything productive, I scrolled aimlessly through YouTube and I suppose due to my old (8th grade-era) subscription to the Lizzie Bennett Diaries, found Emma Approved.

I watched as much as I could between my late afternoon discovery and going out to dinner that night. (Actually only 16 or 17 episodes?)

I woke up early the next morning - I couldn't stop thinking about it - and couldn't wait for my parents to be out of the house (for some reason I was determined not to watch it in front of them). Once they left, I devoted about the entire rest of the productive day to watching it, putting off until 9 and then 10 getting out of my pyjamas and showering, returning to the show immediately after, failing to put it down while I ate a breakfast of very old leftovers because anything else was too much distraction, forcing myself to stop for the few minutes I knew that I really, really, really needed to devote to my summer reading in my textbooks for APUSH and AP chem.

I finished the YouTube series quite early in the afternoon and, desperate for more, watched all the Q&A's and Frank and Jane's and even some behind the scenes videos. I had somehow become just so invested in those characters.

And then that night I really couldn't sleep. I must've gotten into bed at a normal time, maybe 10 pm, but I can remember checking my watch at 1 am and feeling not at all sleepy. All because I kept playing through the events of the show in my head. Imagining additional scenarios with Emma and Alex. Thinking about what those characters must have felt.

And in that, above in watching Gwyneth Paltrow's Emma, was the source of my guilt about not rereading Austen recently. I flew through Beloved, which I really did intend to use for my AP lit book, not so much because I'd already read it as because there was something else wonderful which I'd already read waiting for me as soon as I was done. Beloved made me emotional in its way but I was waiting for Mansfield Park, that beautiful home, what had been my favorite of all love stories the first time I read it even if I've since grown to care about others.

So, we spent the last couple of days driving east across Middle American states I've never visited before, me not doing any of the driving because I can't drive, and I've been busy with two of my favorite activities of all time: reading Jane Austen and photographing went turbines.

I got through all of Mansfield Park between yesterday's drive and this morning's, and although I normally go Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, I allowed myself to continue directly on into Emma. Not go back to the beginning once I'd covered my bases for AP lit.

I've seen so many adaptions of Emma (Clueless, a Masterpiece Theatre miniseries, the Gwyneth Paltrow one, now Emma Approved) that it seemed like I really did need to check it against the actual story.

I'd forgotten until I saw Emma Approved how much I'd enjoyed the Lizzie Bennett Diaries, back years ago. I just wonder why I didn't try Emma Approved earlier. And now I'm wondering if it would be practical to watch one episode every couple of lunch times with my girlfriend, or something. Of either show. Just to have watched something together, no matter how many times we'd watched it alone.

I still keep thinking of Emma Approved in my sleep, even with several days since I finished and the original books to care about. That was a good adaption, Alex's proposal was closer to what it should've been even if he didn't say "my dearest Emma, for dearest you will always be" and that's the phrase I swear I wait through the entire book for, which makes all of it worthwhile.

And having read so much in the car? To think I used to think that made me car sick!

I am very much a Janeite I think this is obvious by now.

#science olympiad #novel #jane austen #road trip #emma approved #mansfield park #ap lit

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