#and Camilla reminds me so much of Vincent

[timaeusterrored]

Another Camilla Dunne scene that reminds me of Vincent

I just

UGH

Him looking at Johnny and Kerry like this

[bethanydelleman]

Belinda by Maria Edgeworth

I read Belinda because it is mentioned in Northanger Abbey:

“I am no novel-reader—I seldom look into novels—Do not imagine that I often read novels—It is really very well for a novel.” Such is the common cant. “And what are you reading, Miss——?” “Oh! It is only a novel!” replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. “It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda”; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language.

I really liked it, until the last quarter. I will not summarize the story because it’s just too long, so check Wikipedia if you need an outline, but spoilers ahead. I am mostly going to be comparing Maria Edgeworth to Jane Austen, because that’s why I read this book, but I want to say up top, I did enjoy this novel, but I also can see and appreciate more what Jane Austen was working against and why she is heralded as such a realistic author.

Belinda, the main character, was the height of a Mary-Sue: perfectly good, perfectly disinterested, perfectly moral, and apparently very beautiful. I liked Lady Delacour far more than Belinda. She is Belinda’s mentor. Lady Delacour was a hot mess, she is addicted to laudanum; she hates her husband; she’s still pining over her first love who married someone else; she erroneously thinks she’s dying of cancer after fighting a woman-only duel in breeches; she made her husband so jealous he killed her supposed lover in a duel; she’s fascinating. And her early descriptions of how she’s shining in public but a mess at home reminds me of modern influencers. Belinda and her love interest, Clarence, “fix” Lady Delacour by reuniting her with her daughter and pointing out that her husband loves her.

Lady Delacour is also suspicious and irrational, she begins to suspect without evidence that Belinda is trying to secure her husband once Lady D dies. I liked this, Belinda is NEVER irrational! Give me some Emma always thinking the wrong thing, give me some Elizabeth and her prejudices. Belinda was just too perfect! The only problem with Lady D was that we got a 36 page info-dump of her entire past. This is something Jane Austen spoofed in Northanger Abbey and I can see why. It was very strange to read.

The novel was also disjointed in a way that Jane Austen’s aren’t. Aside from Lady D’s extensive backstory, there was a huge section in the last quarter where Clarence had (before the action of the novel) been trying to build the perfect wife out of a random girl he found in the woods. Yes, I know. And he is the hero and still marries Belinda in the end. But it was very strange to begin this whole new story so late in the game, though the forest girl had been referenced time and time again, so she wasn’t a new character, but it was still very odd.

The redemption arcs were also far less believable than Jane Austen, Lord Delacour is a raging alcoholic, but he’s fixed in like a week by his daughter coming home and his wife not being an absolute jerk to him. Lady Delacour is advised to wean herself off laudanum and apparently she does it perfectly because we never hear of a relapse. Lady Delacour even becomes friends with the woman she hated (Lady Anne) and gives up her seven year rivalry with Mrs. Lutteridge. It just seemed like too much in too short a time. And then despite these magical turn arounds, Belinda won’t believe it is possible for Mr. Vincent to turn his back on gambling (I mean, I’m with Belinda on this, but in this universe people seem very fixable)

There were some amazing and insightful passages which gave some great insight into Jane Austen’s time period. Belinda’s aunt, a reputed match-maker, talks about how women need to take the first opportunity they are offered or they might end up at 35 as a perpetual dependent (Charlotte Lucas explained). Belinda goes into this big discussion where she points out that gossip can force couples together before they really understand each other’s characters or risk ruining their reputations:

“But after a certain time- after the world suspects that two people are engaged to each other, it is scarcely possible for the woman to recede: when they come within a certain distance, they are pressed to unite, by the irresistible force of external circumstances. A woman is too often reduced to this dilemma- either she must marry a man she does not love, or she must be blamed by the world; either she must sacrifice a portion of her reputation or the whole of her happiness.”

This book did include an interracial marriage, but don’t get your hopes up. The black servant Juba portrayed was a caricature, especially in the way he spoke and he was nearly scared to death by someone impostering a cursed creature from his country. So, not great. But he was there and did have a happy ending. Oh, also, the character who employed Juba the servant also had a dog named Juba...

The finale was strange, Belinda barely spoke and didn’t actually accept her marriage proposal (though it is implied she did marry Clarence). The solution seemed pretty contrived. Lets just say, when compared to Belinda, I can see why Jane Austen is hailed as a realistic writer and I appreciate so much more her flawed and human characters and heroines.

Next up: Evelina by Fanny Burney

[writingamongtheroses-archive]

Dorado Cousins

(That are written so far. Inspired by @rachywritessomething‘s question. Warning, mentions of death and blood, it’s long and there’s Spanish. I suggest SpanishDict.)

Liza forced herself to go home to shower- the hot office and fear for her life had produced sweat- and change before she went to tío Rafael's house.

The three-story house was where Liza had spent her childhood since she was ten. Her parents had disappeared after the same accident that left scars on her head and somehow, she ended up living with tío Rafael. She wasn't sure why- he was her great uncle, and she had Aunt Camilla-Rose and Uncle Jorge. But that did spare her from Candela.

Liza marched up to the door to give it a solid knock. There was a moment before the door opened, revealing Lynn. She had been a foster child when Liza moved in, although she had moved out years ago to become a cop. "Oh boy," Lynn said when she saw her. "You should probably wait, Abuelita-"

"¡Lynn! ¡Vuelve, querida, para que sepas dónde está la fiesta!"

Lynn turned to yell back. "Un minuto!" Liza had paled at the voice from inside by the time she turned back, rolling her eyes. "Sorry, Abuelita's here, raving about Candela's engagement party."

Liza winced. "Oh! Um..." She rolled her sleeve back to consult the notes written on her arms. "Who is she..."

Lynn took pity. "This guy named Tom. Don't tell her or Abuelita, but I don't think he was planning for it to go this far."

"Lynn!"

"Un minuto, Abuelita!"

There were scoff and some footsteps, approaching the door. Lynn gestured for her to run. "¡Un momento, dice..." Liza turned to sprint but froze at the old woman's voice. "¡Ah! Elizabeth, preciosa, ¡estás aquí!"

She turned, fixing a fake grin on her face at the sight of the old woman. "Abuelita!" The old woman pulled her into a hug. "¡Me alegro de verte! Otra vez."

"¡También me alegro de verte, nieta!" Abuelita pushed Liza away to smile even harder. That smile warned that talk about Candela, Abuelita's favorite, was incoming. Lynn and Liza shared winces. "¡¿Escuchaste las noticias?! Tom finalmente le ha propuesto a Candela!" She opened her mouth to reply, but her great-grandmother was already dragging her inside. They passed three more foster kids- Tucker, Huang Fu, and Anne- playing in the living room as they entered the kitchen. "Rafael, Candela y Tom, Marisol, mira quién vino de visita!"

Tío Rafael was sitting with Liza's cousin and her twin, as well as a blonde guy who must've been Tom, at the kitchen table. Rafael aimed a warm smile at his great-niece. "Hola, Liza."

"Hola, Tío Rafael." Liza turned her fake grin to Candela, who was gripping and nuzzling Tom's arm like there was no tomorrow. (He looked a bit lost.) "Congratulations, Candela," she said in English, for the benefit of Tom, as she pulled up her sleeve. "I'm so happy for you."

"Heh, it's no big deal," Candela said with a sweep of a hand, showing off the huge diamond on there. "I just knew Tom was the one." Liza shared an eye roll with Marisol and Lynn. "Anyway, the party's next weekend at 5. You can remember that, right?"

Everything went silent. Liza could feel everyone's eyes on them. She managed to regain her smile, nodding. "Of course! Now, as much as I enjoy your...company, I'm actually here to-"

"Oh my gosh! You have to hear how he proposed!"

Liza felt the urge to bang her head against something.

-_-

A large cardboard box, Liza and Ted Bear's Pizza written in neat cursive on the side, sat there. She grabbed it and clambered back down. From what she knew, most of her childhood had been spent at the place before her accident. Maybe the videos would explain why Ted looked surprised at her name, or even give some sort of hint of what the Puppet expected from her exactly.

Liza pushed the ladder back up to the ceiling and turned, prepared to start watching some cringe- "Liza?"

"Marisol?" She said, explanations welling up for the ghost gripping her shoulder and watching her cousin. "Why are you here?"

"I left my purse here." her cousin said, seeming to not even notice Doll. Did she not see her? "Why are you here?" Liza held up the box as an explanation. "Oh, yeah. You work there now, don't you..."

Liza nodded. "Yeah. Kinda got curious and decided to see if I could jolt anything."

"I'll watch with you!"

So that was how Liza found herself loading the first tape she found in while Marisol was popping popcorn.

-_-

"Huh...that was cute," Marisol said to break the silence. "What did you think Liza?" There was nothing. "Liza?"

Liza was hiding her face.

"Still weak to compliments, I see."

-_-

"Yes. They don't want anyone to know."

"Then how are you telling me?"

There was silence. Bun stared at Liza, her eyes slowly darkening. Remembering what happened when that had happened with Ted, she took a step back.

"I'm sorry, prima." She stiffened. The voice was Bun's, but it also sounded so small. "Lo siento. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm tired." A funny little noise escaped. It took her a moment to realize it was a wail. "I'm tired of being angry. I'm sick of this!" The last sentence came out with so much anger, it broke her heart. "But..." Hands rested on her shoulders. "We might be sick of it, but she's not."

"I'm guessing she is the one in Ted." The possessed Bun nodded. "Wait! There are five of the ghosts, but there's only four animatronics. Where's the..." She stopped as a cold realization crawled up her spine. "...fifth one." She turned to stare at Doll.

Like how dew would evaporate on a warm summer morning, Doll's features shifted. Liza felt her stomach attempt to riot as she took her in. Instead of unbroken skin and neat hair, her head looked crushed. Green eyes were almost falling out. The blood that leaked from her skull stained everything. Doll couldn't attach to her suit for some reason, which meant she had been left to wander the restaurant.

Until a sunny day in 2005.

Another push broke her out of her thoughts. "Look, it doesn't matter who is possessing who, you need to go!"

-_-

“You did it!”

Liza came slowly. When she opened her eyes, she was in an odd-colored void and felt weightless. “Okay,” she griped. “This is getting old.” Honestly, at this point, she had a right to complain.

“You did it!” This time, something wrapped around her. Liza glanced down to see the little ghost form of Manny.

“Oh, hey.” she said before pausing. “You can talk?”

He smiled. “Hi, prima.”

A gentle smile formed as she reached up to stroke her dead cousin’s cheek. “Hey, primo.” Despite being in the void, her voice was creaky with tears she was swallowing back. Now that she knew who he was, she could recognize his resemblance to Uncle Vincent and the pictures of long dead Aunt Candela.

“...Puppet’s really proud of you,” he said, snuggling into her touch. “He’s resting right now, he’s always tired after helping Goldie.”

“Goldie?” Looking around, Liza now recognized the void’s color.

It was gold.

“Yeah! Um...I used to be really scared of him.” Liza adjusted herself into a criss-cross position, cradling Manny in her lap. He adjusted to the new position easily. “But he’s sorry for hurting me. He even helped Doll fix you when Rebecca used Ted to hurt you!” Huh- that put the whole brain bleed theory about her eyes in a new light. She couldn’t help the touch to her forehead and the bared scars.

“He...uh, he did? Why?”

“Well…’cause we’re family. And family helps each other. Right?” Manny stared at her with eager eyes.

“Yeah.” Liza said after a moment. “Although someone should tell Abuelita that.”

“Daddy used to say someone should tell Abuelita a lot of things.”

She chuckled. “Yeah. Goldie...he called me a Suit.”

“Oh! Puppet’s my Suit, but we can’t switch out like you or Doll or Goldie can. And I’m sorry.” Manny said, eyes filling with tears. “It wasn’t- it shouldn’t have been like that. After...what happened to me and Doll, he got put away and now he doesn’t work. He was supposed to share power, not possess you, but he didn’t have a lot of options.”

Liza wiped away the tears that began to roll down his cheeks. “Hey, hey, don’t worry! I’m not mad, just a bit confused. That’s all.”

“So you’ll stay?!”

“Wha- Yes! Of course I’ll stay.”

He grinned brightly, tears beginning to dry. “Yay! She’ll stay! She’ll stay!” He began to bounce around the void, cheering. Liza chuckled as she watched him. Is this how their relationship would’ve been if he had lived? He soon returned to tackle her into another hug. “Gracias!”

“De nada.” she said. His sweet eagerness was honestly adorable. A sudden thought occurred to her. “Calworth! He didn’t kill Calworth, did he?!”

“No.” Manny shrugged. “You asked him not to, so he didn’t. Everyone is really close to their suits, he’ll listen to you. Puppet listens to me.”

Relief flooded through her. Calworth would receive the proper punishment. Killing was horrible. Nobody deserved to die, even if they were sick and twisted like the Threat. Liza shook her head at the thought that wasn’t hers, rubbing her head. “Puppet loves you a lot, you know.”

His smile turned shy. “Yeah, I know. It loves you too. It...loved Elijah too. That’s why it tried to give him Goldie’s power. But…” His smile was replaced by a sad frown. “Goldie...was too much.”

Oh.

That was how...

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. Elijah wanted it anyway, to make sure nothing like us happened again.” He suddenly sounded very old, reminding Liza that although it looked like he was younger and she was older, it was nothing like that. He was the older while she was the younger. “Goldie’s great to have around! He can protect us from Threats. But...he needs you.”

“I...thank you. For trusting me with this.”

Manny smiled. 

“I know you can do it.”

The void started to darken around them. Manny, however, glowed brighter.

The last thing Liza saw was the bright glow.

It was gold.