Days 8 & 9
Ugh, had my neuroscience exam today. I feel much the same way about neuroscience as I do about my stats class: struggling to get through it now, planning to forget everything once it's over. Also, I'm discovering that some meals just shouldn't come out of a box.
Day 8: Which is your least favourite Austen couple?
Oddly, this one is fairly OTP-ish for the fandom, but I don't like it at all: Marianne/Brandon. There are a few reasons for that, but the biggest one is summed up here:
to see Marianne settled at the Mansion-house was equally the wish of Edward and Elinor. They each felt his sorrows and their own obligations, and Marianne, by general consent, was to be the reward of all.
What.
Look, I don't like Marianne. At all. But that doesn't mean Brandon should be rewarded with her because he's such a good guy. She is not a damn trophy.
And Austen kindly informs us that no, Marianne wasn't even in love with him when they got married, lol! I don't need my pairings to be super romantic, seriously. I understand it was a different time blah blah blah. So can I accept a man falling for a woman just about young enough to be his daughter? Yes, it's only mildly disconcerting with Mr Knightley and Emma. Can I accept someone marrying out of friendship and respect rather than ~only the deepest love~? Yes. I've repeatedly argued that I think Elizabeth is prepared to do this in P&P (though she didn't end up doing it, obviously). Can I accept a strong family element? Yes, I'm okay with Edmund and Fanny. It's not any one of these things (okay, maybe the trophy one, I'm very glad she never really went there again). Marianne/Brandon is like she took just about everything I could dislike in a heterosexual relationship and rolled into one squicky pairing.
(It's not often that I refer to someone else's fic to explain my feelings, but Alison's "A Brief Encounter" really encapsulates my discomfort with it.)
Day 9: Who is the most hated foe of a heroine?
Easy. Augusta Elton.
“She was your governess, I think?” Emma was almost too much astonished to answer; but Mrs Elton hardly waited for the affirmative before she went on. “Having understood as much, I was rather astonished to find her so very lady-like! But she is really quite the gentlewoman.”
Foe might be putting it strongly - antagonist, more like. She's small and nasty and entitled and presumptuous and grating and an incredible snob. Caroline Bingley was considerably less awful and at least had some reason to feel threatened by Elizabeth. Lucy Steele was fairly desperate. Isabella Thorpe is the only one who's really comparable, but she still pales next to the sheer unpleasantness of Mrs Elton. I don't even enjoy her the way I do Lady Catherine - she's just awful, even when she's trying to be pleasant. Like Regency lady Mitt Romney, or something.
Day 8: Which is your least favourite Austen couple?
Oddly, this one is fairly OTP-ish for the fandom, but I don't like it at all: Marianne/Brandon. There are a few reasons for that, but the biggest one is summed up here:
to see Marianne settled at the Mansion-house was equally the wish of Edward and Elinor. They each felt his sorrows and their own obligations, and Marianne, by general consent, was to be the reward of all.
What.
Look, I don't like Marianne. At all. But that doesn't mean Brandon should be rewarded with her because he's such a good guy. She is not a damn trophy.
And Austen kindly informs us that no, Marianne wasn't even in love with him when they got married, lol! I don't need my pairings to be super romantic, seriously. I understand it was a different time blah blah blah. So can I accept a man falling for a woman just about young enough to be his daughter? Yes, it's only mildly disconcerting with Mr Knightley and Emma. Can I accept someone marrying out of friendship and respect rather than ~only the deepest love~? Yes. I've repeatedly argued that I think Elizabeth is prepared to do this in P&P (though she didn't end up doing it, obviously). Can I accept a strong family element? Yes, I'm okay with Edmund and Fanny. It's not any one of these things (okay, maybe the trophy one, I'm very glad she never really went there again). Marianne/Brandon is like she took just about everything I could dislike in a heterosexual relationship and rolled into one squicky pairing.
(It's not often that I refer to someone else's fic to explain my feelings, but Alison's "A Brief Encounter" really encapsulates my discomfort with it.)
Day 9: Who is the most hated foe of a heroine?
Easy. Augusta Elton.
“She was your governess, I think?” Emma was almost too much astonished to answer; but Mrs Elton hardly waited for the affirmative before she went on. “Having understood as much, I was rather astonished to find her so very lady-like! But she is really quite the gentlewoman.”
Foe might be putting it strongly - antagonist, more like. She's small and nasty and entitled and presumptuous and grating and an incredible snob. Caroline Bingley was considerably less awful and at least had some reason to feel threatened by Elizabeth. Lucy Steele was fairly desperate. Isabella Thorpe is the only one who's really comparable, but she still pales next to the sheer unpleasantness of Mrs Elton. I don't even enjoy her the way I do Lady Catherine - she's just awful, even when she's trying to be pleasant. Like Regency lady Mitt Romney, or something.