lin·gua·phile |
Graduate student specializing in 18th century British literature with an emphasis on the novel. Lover of John Milton, Jane Austen, and Charlotte Bronte. (Yes, I know none of them published in the 18th century.) Occasional writer of lengthy fictions, seven-time NaNoWriMo participant and former Office of Letters and Light intern. Reader of much young adult and/or fantasy lit. Lifetime lover of Diane Duane's Young Wizards series, recently fanatic about Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy, blaming it all on Harry Potter. Wanderluster. Left my heart in London, reclaim it bit by bit through tea and Doctor Who and Sherlock and Downton Abbey. |
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Notes![oliviacirce:
zlot:
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Favorite Downton Abbey Scenes (That Didn’t Actually Ever Happen) : #1 - Mary and Lavinia’s tearful love confession [2x09 - “The Christmas Special”]
Lavinia and Mary have grown closer than ever in the months following Lavinia’s recovery from the Spanish Influenza, thanks to Mary’s steadfast presence by Lavinia’s bedside and their shared impatience with the love square they’ve found themselves entangled in. Mary’s engagement to Carlisle is becoming more set in stone with every day; meanwhile, Matthew’s determination to marry Lavinia has been ardently strengthened by her brush with death, and they’ve set the wedding date for December 31. In this memorable scene, hailed by critics as a surprising but elegantly executed and beautifully acted plot twist that no one but the internet fangirls saw coming, Mary pays a late night visit to Lavinia’s bedroom to wish her well … and instead, the two women are forced to ask themselves — and each other — what it is they truly want. (And then they run away to Paris.)
#ZLOT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT #ALL YOUR FAULT!
SELDOM AM I EVER BLAMED FOR ANYTHING SO WONDERFUL
aadflkjal;dkfj;lkajflk THIS.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic that Mary/Matthew is endgame because I am sort of addicted to people who end up with the very opposite sort of person that they thought was meant for them, but I am mortified by the way that the show went about doing this.
There are too few complex female relationships of all kinds represented on television, and Mary and Lavinia had so much potential to be the complex relationship that kept viewers interested. What if there really were two girls who were attracted to (or at least had deep and complicated feelings for) the same guy, but could — gasp! — also be friends with each other? Maybe even more than friends! Maybe it’s only one-sided — maybe Lavinia discovers during Matthew’s paralysis that she’s weirdly relieved not to have to have a sexual relationship with this man, maybe she loves Mary more than she could ever love her former fiance and admits this to Mary only to hear from Mary that the feeling isn’t mutual, and so Lavinia graciously bows out of her betrothal to Matthew (and there is still Matthew-Mary drama, and Matthew can still blame Mary for losing Lavinia). But maybe it is mutual! Maybe Mary and Lavinia meet each other because of a man but what they have turns out to be so much more than just Matthew, and maybe he’s ultimately a part of their equation and they all live together in a house in the country, and maybe he’s not and Mary and Lavinia go off to New York together and live it up in the roaring twenties!
But do you notice what all of these “maybes” have in common? In none of them does Lavinia get piously sacrificed to a narrative that suggests that the only valid, long-term, interesting relationships are heterosexual romantic relationships!
Bottom line: I may not even be sure if (or how) I ship Mary/Lavinia, but I would have really appreciated seeing the Mary-Matthew-Lavinia relationship play out at greater length and with a real equilateral triangle geometry going on (i.e. one in which Mary and Lavinia were allowed to develop a relationship as central and significant, though in different ways, as the one between Mary and Matthew). None of this “straight line” bullshit, please.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m147pzAPcm1qjjatao1_500.jpg)
zlot:
Favorite Downton Abbey Scenes (That Didn’t Actually Ever Happen) : #1 - Mary and Lavinia’s tearful love confession [2x09 - “The Christmas Special”]
Lavinia and Mary have grown closer than ever in the months following Lavinia’s recovery from the Spanish Influenza, thanks to Mary’s steadfast presence by Lavinia’s bedside and their shared impatience with the love square they’ve found themselves entangled in. Mary’s engagement to Carlisle is becoming more set in stone with every day; meanwhile, Matthew’s determination to marry Lavinia has been ardently strengthened by her brush with death, and they’ve set the wedding date for December 31. In this memorable scene, hailed by critics as a surprising but elegantly executed and beautifully acted plot twist that no one but the internet fangirls saw coming, Mary pays a late night visit to Lavinia’s bedroom to wish her well … and instead, the two women are forced to ask themselves — and each other — what it is they truly want. (And then they run away to Paris.)
#ZLOT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT #ALL YOUR FAULT!
SELDOM AM I EVER BLAMED FOR ANYTHING SO WONDERFUL
aadflkjal;dkfj;lkajflk THIS.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic that Mary/Matthew is endgame because I am sort of addicted to people who end up with the very opposite sort of person that they thought was meant for them, but I am mortified by the way that the show went about doing this.
There are too few complex female relationships of all kinds represented on television, and Mary and Lavinia had so much potential to be the complex relationship that kept viewers interested. What if there really were two girls who were attracted to (or at least had deep and complicated feelings for) the same guy, but could — gasp! — also be friends with each other? Maybe even more than friends! Maybe it’s only one-sided — maybe Lavinia discovers during Matthew’s paralysis that she’s weirdly relieved not to have to have a sexual relationship with this man, maybe she loves Mary more than she could ever love her former fiance and admits this to Mary only to hear from Mary that the feeling isn’t mutual, and so Lavinia graciously bows out of her betrothal to Matthew (and there is still Matthew-Mary drama, and Matthew can still blame Mary for losing Lavinia). But maybe it is mutual! Maybe Mary and Lavinia meet each other because of a man but what they have turns out to be so much more than just Matthew, and maybe he’s ultimately a part of their equation and they all live together in a house in the country, and maybe he’s not and Mary and Lavinia go off to New York together and live it up in the roaring twenties!
But do you notice what all of these “maybes” have in common? In none of them does Lavinia get piously sacrificed to a narrative that suggests that the only valid, long-term, interesting relationships are heterosexual romantic relationships!
Bottom line: I may not even be sure if (or how) I ship Mary/Lavinia, but I would have really appreciated seeing the Mary-Matthew-Lavinia relationship play out at greater length and with a real equilateral triangle geometry going on (i.e. one in which Mary and Lavinia were allowed to develop a relationship as central and significant, though in different ways, as the one between Mary and Matthew). None of this “straight line” bullshit, please.
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Notes
Normally I am the last person to dreamcast my own stories while I’m writing them. When I think of characters I think of them as individuals in their own right, both in terms of personality and appearance, not as based on any real-life people. But last night while watching Downton Abbey with a friend I looked up at the screen and thought, “Oh god, how have I never seen this before?” Because Jessica Brown Findlay, who plays Lady Sybil, is in fact a dead ringer for Noelle Leveque, main character of my novel-in-progress The Printer’s Tale.
(Source: angeladissected)
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Notes The Matthew/Mary Story, In One Sentence:
UPDATE: HOORAY! NOW EVERYBODY KNOWS!
HE IS FINALLY GOING TO PUT A RING ON IT.
All of my copious Matthew/Mary love aside (and believe me it is copious), I’d like to point out that there is a tumblr completely devoted to Downton caps with Beyonce lyrics. LIFE IS GOOD.
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NotesIn which Maggie Smith is actually the Dowager Countess. For real.
(Source: eatsleeptv, via damelola)
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