Creature Of Mad Enthusiasms

"It would only beta read and leave comments"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/80971836

Summary:

She is the more rational choice for Darcy vs. the Bennets. She has education, manners, a fortune, and clearly, relatives that he likes. So many fan fiction authors make her vulgar and/or unfashionable, but she isn't! That is why Darcy enjoys hanging out with her in the beginning; he would not have her at his house if she was embarrassing. Even when angry with Elizabeth, Caroline does not dare go further in attacking Elizabeth at Pemberley. She has self control. She understands boundaries, which Jane and Elizabeth mostly do, but the rest of the Bennet family struggles with. This is why she's a foil for them.

As for Darcy, at the beginning, Caroline is a nearly perfect mirror of his opinions and snobby attitude. She is doing this on purpose as a way of flirting, but it's probably pretty close to her real personality anyway. She's right that Darcy looks down on Elizabeth's uncle being a lower class lawyer. She's right that he finds the Bennet family intolerable to marry into. However, as Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth and then reforms, Caroline's mirror distorts. That shows his growth in the novel. She, like Elizabeth, fails to update her priors, though to be fair to Caroline, she didn't build her knowledge of Mr. Darcy on first impressions. It's harder to change her mind because she did once know him very well.

Side note: this is also why people woobyfying Darcy hurts Caroline as a rational character. They start in a very similar place and love mean girl gossiping together, then he changes. When Darcy's flaws are erased, it makes Caroline look super irrational and much crueller.

an antagonist in a story is someone who stands in the way of the protagonist (not always the same as the main character! but in P&P it is), or at the very least is able to obstruct them, or something else. but caroline is not a villain because after darcy falls in love with elizabeth, she holds no real power. not even influence! she does try to sway darcy away from elizabeth by continuing to make jokes about her and her family, and while it can't be said that darcy doesn't disagree about the family in general, he is very quick to show his colours regarding his feelings for elizabeth. this might and probably does put caroline on the back foot, but she wises up relatively quickly, especially once she sees their behaviour at pemberley. caroline is an annoyance to elizabeth, and hurtful to jane, but she's not a villain. if darcy's opinion of elizabeth had never changed and elizabeth fell in love with him anyway, caroline might have had a villain opportunity then, but his opinion did change and it shuts caroline out of that role completely.

a villain in a story is someone who actually has power to derail things for the protagonist. to use a different example, what would change about the wizard of oz if the wicked witch of the west had lost all her powers, or never had any in the first place? without the ability to affect dorothy's storyline in any meaningful way, she is no longer a threat. caroline was never a real threat to elizabeth, and i believe this is true even before darcy falls in love with lizzie. i don't think miss bingley was ever really a contender to become darcy's wife, at least, not from his point of view. there would have been no point in darcy's waiting to marry her if she had any real shot at it, because we know from the book he can act quickly and decisively if he wants to.

this is why wickham is the true villain of P&P, and the only villain of P&P. it is his destructive impulses (and perhaps liking the idea of revenge) that nearly leads to the bennet family's downfall. the worst part is, they're not really his target. of course, he probably didn't hate the idea of getting to hurt elizabeth in the bargain because she was no longer taken in by him, but his actual target was always darcy and darcy's money, money wickham felt entitled to. the bennets were merely collateral damage in wickham's quest to try to inflict as much damage on darcy's bank account and his reputation and his social standing as he possibly could.

it's also why jane austen is such a brilliant writer, because she's got this whole vengeance plot going on and it's not even directed towards the protagonist! much of it takes place outside of the events of the novel and is already well underway by the time it opens. did wickham benefit from lydia bennet's neglected upbringing and education? absolutely. but even if lydia had never been in the picture, wickham would have still done what he did.

caroline bingley and lady catherine are definitely antagonists to elizabeth's protagonist, but they are not actually able to inflict harm in the way a villain can. i'm not saying they don't try, but they're not villains because they do not realise they don't have as much power as they think.

I knew immediately which pattern I had picked for this, and since it’s a relatively quick quilt to put together, I figured I aught to get ‘er done.

Now. Should I save this for my mum who LOVES sailboats (whose birthday is in November), or see if anyone wants it and do something else for Mum?

Edit: my mum saw the panel laid out on the table when she came over and just stared at me with big wide eyes. It’s definitely going to her LMAO

(Also, if anyone ever has trouble ironing their long seams in a straight line, I highly recommend a 4 foot aluminium ruler from a hardware store. The thing is a beast and is always straight as a whistle.)

I beg to differ

Book Aziraphale might give bastard-ish vibes, he is still an angel, and he still cares about his (best)friend/unofficial husband

Best exemple I have right now is this moment in the book :

At some point Warlock gets a hold of a gun and Aziraphale's first reaction is to perform a last minute miracle to turns the gun into a harmless water gun

And the water hits Crowley. Warlock was aiming the gun at Crowley, who was distracted with looking for the hellhound.

And then Az is hit by a cream pie

He wasn't even paying attention to his own surroundings, because he had to make sure Crowley didn’t get discorporated FIRST

felt compelled to capture this moment from yesterday

When you're talking about the design of the boat, you say "it".

When the boat is still being built, your say "it".

When the boat is nearing completion, you can say "it" or "she".

When the boat is floating in the water you probably say "she", unless there is still a lot of work to be done (e.g. no engine yet) then you say "it".

When the boat is officially launched and operating, you say "she". If you continue to say "it" at this point you are not incorrect but suspiciously untraditional. You are not playing the game.

If you are referring to a boat you don't really know anything about you may say "it" ("there's a big boat, it's coming this way"). But if you know its name, it's probably "she" ("there's the Waverley, she's on her way to Greenock").

If you are talking about boats in general, you say "it" ("when a boat is hit by a wave it heels over")

If you speak about a boat in complimentary terms, it's "she" ("she's a grand boat"). If you are being disparaging it may be it, but not necessarily ("it's as ugly as sin", "she's a grotty old tub").

If she has a boy's name, she's still she. "Boy James", "King Edward", "Sir David Attenborough"? The pronoun is she.

If it's a dumb barge (no engine), you say it. But if it's a rowing boat (no engine), you say she.