#liveblog of me reading jane austen if you wanna laugh

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Anne and Captain Wentworth whenever anyone talks about engagements in their presence:

[austennerdita2533]

Hi Ashlee!!! How are you and I love you and miss you 😘 This is totally random but I just started reading Emma for the first time (can you believe it) and I thought, who'd be better to talk about this than you? So anyway, I'm at the part where Jane Fairfax makes an appearance and I love how authentic Emma is written. Like that vague jealousy-adjacent "I don't get you and I don't wanna" resentment thing - oh, am I familiar with that. And Mr. Knightly, he's just...so involved in Emma's character improvement lolllll. Emma behaved decently for one dinner and he's all my loveliest proud is my middle name I swear I was laughing out loud at 2am this morning. And not gonna lie I'm looking forward to meeting this Miss Augusta Hawkins like the latest gossip in town. Okay so that's it for now but I'm sure I'll be dropping in for more liveblog if it doesn't bother you XD

ZORA, YOU PRECIOUS BEAN, HOW I HAVE MISSED YOU!!! Aside from being an absolutely horrible online correspondent since, like, 2019 and beyond, I am doing okay haha. There have been a lot of trying times and adversity in my life/family the past couple years so things have been in the "grin and bear it" stage for a while now. But you know me, I'm always over here trying to make the best of everything! I have so many people (like you) and things (like books and fandom) to bring me joy. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

But AHHHH! I'm so excited you're reading and enjoying Emma for the first time! I would be beyond disappointed if you didn't come and share your thoughts with me about it. That's my favorite Austen novel behind P&P. I love it to pieces!

Emma Woodhouse is such a relatable/believable character, don't you think? There's something so authentic about her flaws. She's a bit of snob for a good portion of the novel. Or at least she has a higher opinion of herself - as well as her matchmaking abilities - in large part because of her rank/elevated position in society. Her father and Miss Taylor/Mrs. Weston have helped indulge her in that. Knightley is great for her in that respect, though, because he isn't afraid to call her out. He keeps her in check. He makes sure her feet stay on the ground. I also love how they're always frank with one another. Honest. There's no pretense between them.

I'm also obsessed with Emma and Jane Fairfax's dynamic/interplay in this novel. It's so good! You'll come to see how there's jealousy-adjacent feelings (love that description, btw!) on both sides as you keep reading. For Emma, part of the reason why she gets so frustrated with and about Jane is she finds her to be too reserved. She seems to block intimacy between them when they should be/could be equals, for seemingly no reason, from Emma's POV anyway, so it makes her all the more nose-in-the-air resentful. It's great. I live for it.

Oh, and you may know this already, but Charlotte Bronte was so intrigued by Jane Fairfax's character in this novel that it was one of the catalysts that inspired her to write Jane Eyre.

Please come back with more liveblog thoughts whenever you want, Z. You're always welcome and I'd love nothing more than to chat with you about books. I am a proud bookworm, after all haha.

Sending you all my love, my friend! xx

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Marianne when Willoughby gave her a horse:

Elinor knowing they had nowhere to put this fucking horse and no staff to care for it:

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Fanny Dashwood:

The Dashwood girls: Food

Fanny Dashwood:

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Mary: Captain Wentworth said you were so altered he should not have known you again.

Anne, internally:

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Marianne Dashwood about Edward and Elinor:

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Me: Wait, who did Eleanor marry?

Jane:

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Sorry-- before i continue my reading today, i still need to process how off the rails Catherine went. This man allows you to stay in his cool gothic house with your friend and her hot brother. He is minding his own business, being an odd little man in his own home. Your friend mentions that her mother died in this house and that she happened to be away at the time.

And you immediately think "oh, this dad super killed her. He chained her up and locked her up in a dark room. He must've. There's no other explanation. I better investigate. Obviously a man like that would leave the evidence behind for five years. "

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Henry Tilney: Not only do I read novels, I actually loved the one that you're obsessed with right now.

Catherine:

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Admiral Croft criticizing a drawing of a boat:

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Willoughby: Okay so remember how I broke your sister's heart? Well actually, I only started fucking around with her because I had no real interest in her..

Elinor:

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Isabella Thorpe planning for Catherine to marry John while planning to marry James herself, then turning her attention to Captain Tilney when she realizes Catherine has her heart set on Henry:

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Me when John Thorpe kidnapped Catherine while she was waiting for the Tilneys to show up:

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The way Jane interrupted her own story to pop in and go off on a tangent about how novels and novel writers are so disrespected..

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Captain Wentworth: No one so proper, so capable as Anne.

Anne:

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Henry Tilney: It's a haunted house. Haunted as shit. Haunted as fuck.

Catherine: