#letitia griffiths

Yeah, Darcy, have you made Nutella Waffles for Two for Lizzie yet? That, I think is the main question here. And we don't want a simple "yes" for an answer. We won't believe it until you show us a video of you making them. That should include the part where you and Lizzie share the waffles.

Ooh! Ooh! Or better yet. Make a vid of you and Lizzie dressed up as Clara and Ed, re-enacting the original vid! Sigh. Like the old days. (Except this time, you reverse roles. So that we see more of you, Darcy. No offense, Lizzie.)

Yippie! We've got new characters!!! Griff and Beau, siblings who are also rivals in business. Honestly, I still don't know what a spinning center is. And I'm too lazy to Google... Wait... Okay, I don't want anyone to judge me so I'm opening a tab and Googling... Oh! So it's a stationary cycling exercise thingie. That's nice. Now back to the sibling rivalry. For me, it isn't interesting yet. Maybe because it was weird and awkward that Bow just came in and disrupted what was supposed to be a commercial ad or something and that he and his sister fought in front of the camera. Perhaps everyone trusted that Domino would edit out those parts but, judging from the previous ep (ahem. "glitch". ahem.), we know that Domino likes the juicy parts just as we, the fans, like a good conflict of interests. Though I'm still not enthusiastic about the new characters, I am curious as to how their war would affect the building of Sanditon. It's refreshing to see that not only Clara has a voice in the town when it comes to matters of business.

Come to think of it... In wanting to make the story feel like it's a real story about a real town, WTS may create many more arcs and subplots. You know. Just to get the over-all feel of a town. They already have the regular folk (which are played by the fans). Somehow, they are right (if ever it really is their intention) to put in more characters, ergo, more stories in the plot. So we have the Mayor and his plans of rebuilding Sanditon. Then, we have Clara and her fight to save her ice cream shop (and probably to keep "old" Sanditon). We also have Ed's dilemma of job vs. affection. Then, there's that Clara and Ed shipping going on (as a collective rather than just part of Ed's arc). Let's not forget Gigi's management of Domino while getting involved in Sanditon. And, now, we have Griff and Bow. I assume there will be more new faces in the eps to come.

Analyze it and you'll see that it sort of follows the Austen way of storytelling (if there is. I am no expert). What is somewhat unique about Austen (compared maybe to other female writers of her time) is the social focus she inserts in her novels. It's a boy-meets-girl story but the boy and the girl are not floating around, detached from their worlds. In fact, Austen likes showing how the world, the histories in it, can shape the lives of individuals. Yes, Pride and Prejudice is a love story between Mr. Darcy and Lizzie Bennet but Austen pays great attention to detail not only in their relationship but also in the relationship of Mr. Bingley and Jane, the sketch and development of Mr. Wickham's, Charlotte's and Lydia's characters. Most of the conversations that Darcy and Lizzie share are about other people. Even at the end, when they end up together, it's because of what happened to Lydia. Emma is social too and though at face value it seems more egoistic in a sense that everything is about Emma, this singular lens reinforces the idea that everything can affect a single character rather than that one character changing everything. Austen novels are unlike some romantic novels nowadays where the couples are usually cooped up in their own universes. Sometimes an author would put in "love against the world" elements in their romance fiction but the outcome will seem to lack the multidimensional environment that we see in Austen novels.

I remember a scene in LBD (in the ep that made everyone squeal and utter sounds that were not very human-like) when Darcy confessed he wasn't sure if Lizzie wanted him because he watched the videos and they were mostly about Lydia. He adds "as it should be". For me, that was Austenian (there seems to be no official adjective for things related to Austen).

Welcome to Sanditon is becoming Austenian. By including other subplots, it's painting a single picture of a town. It has to be aware though. I think these subplots have to connect with one another and not be simple random stories. Having said that, this is what I expect in the next eps:

I welcome the new characters with open arms. I am sure they will be a fun addition to the story. However, I hope they have more between them than sibling rivalry. Will their business affect Sanditon Scoops? Will they help in showing the town that Mayor's plans can go well or will they be proof that Sanditon is not ready for competing spinning centers? Will one of them be an enemy to the EdxClara shipping?

Talking about EdxClara shipping... We got Ed's side. Now, we want Clara's! According to the thumbnail (is that what you call it?) of the link for the next ep, the next ep will be a Clara-narrated ep. Also, you can't make Mayor say "the office... or the ice cream shop" matched with a knowing smirk without giving us an EdxClara episode! That would be cruel!

I agree with one of the comments in YouTube. Make Darcy so worried about Gigi that he actually comes to Sanditon and makes us all die. Flat. In that beautiful moment, if it's not much trouble, have Lizzie with him. Thank you!

I suddenly missed Lydia. Are we ever gonna see the-Ly-di-a?! 

More characters maybe?

Am I the only one who wants to see what they actually do in craft night?! It would be fun to see Lizzie and Darcy try to knit something. Lizzie would be "Geez. This isn't easy. I think I made a hat or a hood of some sort" and Darcy would try not to laugh. He'll try to comfort her but then she sees Darcy's pretty sweater. "How in the world were you able to make that?!" Yeah. Strangely, I imagine Darcy can knit and sew. Which is weird because isn't that "beneath him" or something? Not that it's beneath rich people to do stuff with their hands but don't they have an unspoken rule about not tiring their hands. I don't know.

Btw, I like the over-excited I'm-on-top-of-it lil sis, Gigi. Although what happened wasn't an especially big deal, to a girl like Gigi who might be in her first on-her-own adventure, anything is worth fanspasming about. A true fan girl; close to our own hearts!

Vanessa Chester vs. Jenni Powell...