#mr knightley headcanons

[girl-vampirka]

Mr. Knightley: drink every time Mrs. Elton mentions Maple Grove

Emma: deal

***

Emma, after listening to Mrs. Elton for one hour *too drunk to stand up*

[florencewelchsgrapejuice]

s/o to me and myself for promoting my own damn post with this poll

[frodothefair]

Fun little headcanon for post Flowers of Mordor.

Frodo by degrees does feel better, and eventually he feels well enough to travel, and when he does, he takes Marigold to see the seaside, and she absolutely loves it.

Now, most hobbits are afraid of the sea and large bodies of water in general, and they are afraid and skeptical of anything outside the Shire, but by dint of Frodo's influence, Marigold ceases to be just any hobbit, and develops a curiosity for the greater world.

(Meanwhile, Sam as he's seeing them off is repeatedly telling Marigold not to be afraid, but also overwhelming her with a million and one water-related safety tips).

Inspired by a passage in Chapter 19 of FoM, which readers have not seen yet, and the 2009 adapatation of Emma, where at the end Mr. Knightley takes Emma to see the seaside, where she had never been, on account of her father being ridiculously overprotective.

Speaking of which, Romola Garai, who was Emma in the 2009 miniseries, would have made a good fancast choice for Marigold, but she looks just the tiniest bit too old.

@konartiste @hippodameia

[rusakkowrites]

Time to retaliate! 🤗

For the headcanons: 🐅 for Mr Knightley

and 🗡️ for Emma :)

For the fic writing asks: 👀, 🏅,😈,🌙 ,👖,🌝

Thanks for the ask! <3 Answers under the cut.

🐅 Characterization: character habits, personality, etc. for Mr Knightley

This is a tough one! I do have a lot of thoughts and headcanons about Mr Knightley, but I’m not sure if any of them are particularly unusual. I suppose one thing where I might deviate from the norm in the fandom is that I’m not a huge fan of his characterisation in the 2020 film. I feel like he was made out to be a bit too… youthful, I guess? I also didn’t like the singing scene. I imagine him as being more staid and assured than he was in the film.

🗡 Fighting styles/combat for Emma

I think she’d be pretty useless in a fight! She’s always been very sheltered and protected, and her only sibling is so much older than she is that they probably never got into a real tussle. Emma would probably go into a fight really confidently but immediately discover that she’s in over her head. (And then Mr Knightley would rush to her rescue and scold her afterwards.)

👀 Do you have any WIPs that you would never let see the light of day? If yes, what are they about?

Nothing that I would censor due to the subject matter – and even if there was something I didn’t want to post on main, there’s always the option of using a secondary account or posting anonymously.

However, with multi-chapter stories, I’ve banned myself from posting any chapters before I’ve finished writing the entire fic. Even if I’m really close to the end when I start posting, it just stresses me out too much to see my buffer of chapters dwindling down while I’m still writing (and those last chapters always end up growing longer than I’d planned). So I guess that any WIPs that I don’t manage to finish are doomed to remain in the WIP folder forever.

🏅What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc)?

I’m really proud of all the work that I put into So Happy a Summer. I did have a good time writing it, but it wasn’t one of those stories that just flow out effortlessly – I had to push myself quite a bit to get it done. It was challenging but ultimately very rewarding.

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

I have received one or two comments about skimping on the fluff when writing romantic scenes. I personally don’t really enjoy multi-paragraph love confessions or detailed descriptions of tongues battling for dominance, so I tend to leave a fair bit to the imagination in my romantic fics. This is how I like to write, so the readers who would like more fluff are out of luck. :D

🌙 What time of day do you prefer to write? Why?

I would prefer to write in the morning, afternoon or early evening. However, I almost inevitably end up writing late in the evening or in the middle of the night instead. This is partly due to the fact that work interferes with my hobbies, partly because I have a terrible habit of procrastinating and partly because my creativity really seems to get going after 9 p.m.

👖 Are you a planner, plantser, or pantser? Is it consistent?

A plantser who leans more towards planning than pantsing. Some of my short fics are more or less unplanned or only have a vague outline in my head. However, for longer fics, I need some kind of an outline, or else I write myself into a corner and get stuck. My outlines vary from a few bullet points in a notebook to detailed timelines of events and generally go through a lot of editing and refining as I write – if my original plan doesn’t quite work, I have no compunction about tweaking it.

🌝 Who is one character you haven’t yet written for that you would like to?

I don’t think I’ve ever written anything about Sir Walter Elliot, but I feel that his character could be a lot of fun to explore! Also, I recently acquired a horrible plot bunny involving John Thorpe – can’t imagine why…

[lavellenchanted]

finished s3, that was a fun few hours. some spoilery thoughts:

samuel and lady susan were an unexpected highlight of the season

I liked georgiana’s arc of going from disillusionment to embracing hope again, but I’m not sure how I feel about them bringing back otis (especially since they kind of glossed over the fact that he was one of the first to set georgiana on the path of disillusionment and believing everyone wanted her for her money)

I also felt they’d allowed more nuance on the georgiana/harry/arthur situtation, which . . . actually is a very honest and practical setup for all three of them, and would give them all more protection and freedom to live as they choose 

and the ending as is kind of ignores the fact that harry is still going to be under pressure to marry and produce an heir

well maybe they’ll meet a nice lesbian couple in wales and form a happy lavender quandrangle

poor ralph

he did not deserve that

also felt there were a lot of classist undertones in how he and his entire life in general were implied to be not good enough for charlotte rather than it just being about charlotte loving someone else

very similar to how stringer was handled in s1

which is why I’m giving him the same headcanon I gave stringer, that eventually he meets a nice heiress who appreciates him and they live happily ever after

I was struggling with the idea of edward having a full redemption arc but I appreciated they managed to find a balance with him

although I am furious that they gave him one of frederick wentworth’s lines, how dare they

also felt very frustrated with charlotte during the elopement, like “girls should be trusted to know their own minds” is a nice sentiment but augusta is a teenager being manipulated by a much older man who is a serial abuser of women, come the fuck on

similarly “she won’t be ruined, she’ll still be augusta” is a nice sentiment in private but came off as incredibly naive as to the public impact that sort of scandal would have on both augusta and the entire colbourne family, there is a reason lydia’s elopment with wickham is the dramatic climax of pride and prejudice

it just felt very obvious that these were 21st century writers

but very glad it did not end up with augusta and edward getting married, that girl deserves so much better

mr price gets a gold star for not being as much of a jerk as he could have been

him/lady denham and the doctor/vicar’s sister storylines both felt a bit contrived just to pair everyone they could off but they were enjoyable, so they can stay

mary parker is a socialist hero

charlotte’s hair was up for 95% of the season, it’s a freaking miracle

big darcy/knightley vibes in alexander going to get the brother he hasn’t seen in ten years just to help charlotte’s friend, 10/10 no notes

it was a very sweet ending, I liked the parallel to the ending of s1 (and I will never not be happy that sidney was killed off and we got a much better hero in alexander)

[masschase]

15 and 16 for Casey for the Saints Row Boss ask meme thing 💙

Ooh thank you I'm excited to get these again!

Boss ask meme

15. Are there any small things about them in the canon that you've really run with in your headcanon?

This is a question I recall really wanting someone to ask me when I made this meme and it's taken so long I've forgotten half of what I wanted to say 🤣

I'm going to go with what I still remember though I'm sure there's way more. Everyone knows I'm canon's bitch by this point. When I started my fanfic I wasn't thinking Matt x OC, I was thinking Matt and The Boss.

So I spent hours on wiki reading about The Boss, combined with what I remembered from actually playing, working in elements of a fitting backstory where I could, and that somehow made Casey. I kind of didn't realise she was an OC until tumblr 😅

Anyway, here are some of the results of that memory/research:

Likes Jane Austen, and the Brontës(male Boss mentions reading Jane Eyre a load of times). That somehow became her quoting it when she's drunk and with a lot of research bc that's really not my thing, drawing parallels between Emma and Mr. Knightley and Casey and Matt(but there's the odd Mr. Darcy joke too). God the fact I bought the Jane Austen collection and the Prose Edda (where the story of Ragnarok is from) to ship these two is not normal of me.

Doesn't like talking about life before the Saints/daddy issues.

I've used the whole 'Playa was originally called Mikey/Mickey" thing by making her middle name Michaiła and therefore Mikki bring one of her pseudonyms.

Somewhat interested in Nyte Blayde after Matt's mission(she's actually the one who appears on his couch at the time she knows he watches one time).

The idea that she rambles when she's emotional, particularly in the romantic sense, and that all of her partners will at some point have to shut her up with a kiss because of it, comes directly from the GatBoss romance scene. In fact the idea that she's not always the best at initiating physical contact even though she really wants/needs it kind of grew from that, too.

The whole going to a massage parlor way too young thing; there's a whole scene with a time-travelling Matt and Johnny seeing her come out of there.

Being bad with tech bc there are a few mentions in different games about that.

Liking robots when she was 6 is something that comes up a few times. I also ran with the fact that she and Matt are the only ones who call it "the robot".

Her voice mentions a therapist at times. I used that for at least one of the reasons she mellows out over time, especially between 2&3.

Surreal jokes such as "Asha, that light had a family."

I saw on the wiki that Boss is supposedly 6'2"; I made her 5'9" with 5 inch heels.

The fact the Boss uses the heavy pistol a lot in cutscenes is why her gold .45 Fletcher became her signature weapon.

As I say, there's probably way more! I don't want to make this so long that no-one reads it!

16. Is there anything from the games you've drastically avoided or downplayed in your headcanon?

This one I did actually answer before, but to summarise:

She's cis and even with the whole "she looked like a boy" claims, I've never made her in SR1's character creator (I do love some of the in game outfits for her though), plus I pretty much hc her always having her SR3/4 voice, just a little higher/more timid in 1.

She never went to college (referencing voice lines) because she dropped out of HS, though she did do some online study when she had time.

At the time I also said I didn't fill out her sr1-3 life much, but I have started to do that bit by bit. One I didn't mention for some reason:

SR3/4 Boss seems kind of stupid at times. Casey's pretty sharp tbh. She spends years hating that people underestimate her intelligence, but eventually kind of comes to terms with the fact that she's smart and that makes her kind of downplay it instead.

Recently, there's been more I've wanted to downplay for example:

I don't really like that I wrote in the Cyrus Temple thing. I like to think that's way downplayed, if she did have surgery for that it was minor, although that remains the time she decoded to stop getting plastic surgery for every scar and injury.

While GOOH kind of had to happen for a lot of my hc, I don't think it was quite like that(I can tell you for a fact Dex was not there for a start!). OK that's moving more from Casey to general universe but still 😅

I feel like there's more for both answers, but I guess I can always reblog with them later 😊

[kingsansa]

Not me coming back here to you about a headcanon that doesn’t exist but I’ve only talked to you about it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cnc01sqtjAJ/?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=

My dude. Literally. Says.

lube✨up✨the✨head

If that isn’t Jon’s repressed ass I dunno who else.

He might be the most repressed person alive Mr. knightley watch out!

[make-me-imagine]

Headcanons: Being under the mistletoe with George Knightley

This same headcanon with Mr Darcy can be found here

Requested by anon

-You would walk into the room and stop in the door way, looking around at the people, wondering who to greet first

-No one would notice you, they would all be involved with their games and conversations

-But someone would clear their throat behind you, startling you

-Turning you would be greeted by a smirking George Knightley

-After greeting each other he would lean down and whisper to you “Look up”

-Doing so you would immediately blush at the realization of where you were standing

-Mr Knightley would smirk even more at your reaction before clearing his throat and telling you a small fact about the mistletoe tradition

-Wondering how you were going to get out of this situation (not that you wanted too) you tried to rack your mind for a joke or reason to leave

-But before you could Mr Knightley would lean closer again before speaking quietly to you “It would be a shame to break the tradition”

-Not knowing how to respond you only nodded lightly

-Smiling, Mr Knightly would gently take you face in his hand and press a kiss to your lips

-You would be surprised, having expected a small peck, but instead getting a more passionate longer kiss

-After pulling away he would smile at you before glancing at the others in the room, all of whom were unaware of what was happening in the doorway

-He would then take your arm in his and lead you into the room without a word

-The rest of the night would go on normally, but this time, every time you and Mr Knightley would make eye contact you would smile about the secret the two of you now shared

[pirate-melody]

Evidence that Emma Woodhouse is demisexual

- the several times she says she plans to never marry

- her inability to notice Mr. Elton's flirting with her

- Austen characterizes how deep her friendship is with Mr. Knightley, and then the first person Emma ever describes as attractive is Mr. Knightley when she sees him in the ballroom two-thirds of the way into the book (in a way she never does for Frank Churchill)

- "His tall, firm, upright figure, among the bulky forms and stooping shoulders of the elderly men, was such as Emma felt must draw everybody's eyes"

- her disinterest in Frank Churchill (in a kind of, I could see us together but that's not what I actually want kind of way)

[sundiscsandemptyciphers]

La Belle Sauvage headcanon casting (and then I’m gonna take a break to actually do some work...)

Malcolm Polstead - Noah Schnapp

Alice Parslow -  Willow Shields

Lord Nugent -  David Harewood

Mrs Coulter - Keira Knightley

The Master of Jordan College -  Lennie James

Gerard Bonneville - Tom Hiddleston

Dame Hannah Relf -  Constance Wu

Farder Coram -  Jimmy Smits

Diania -  Helena Bonham Carter

Lord Asriel - James McAvoy

[ladyannelister]

lgbtq+ headcanon moodboard: gay George Knightley

[kopilang]

who in hq!! watches pride and prejudice?

a/n: my headcanons as i rewatch pride and prejudice and reread the hq!! manga

aran:

i know this ace and captain here is a hardcore pride and prejudice fan. aran has always given me a family-oriented type of character, given how he has a younger brother of his own and have the miya twins growing up. even though him and the miya twins may not have shared the same blood, they are still family, shown by how atsumu looks up to aran as a model older brother. aran would relate to both jane and elizabeth bennet (just the bennet family in general), and i think thats very sexy of him you know? anyways, i love aran. probably the type of p&p fan that had already read the book several times before he went into his honors/advanced placement high school courses and was very excited to have it be required reading. tried not to show how much he loves excited knows about it. probably had collected any jane austen-related books. have considered studying literature in higher education for the amount of times he gushes about the book. the type of fan who came across it himself in one of the movie channels, one time there wasnt any volleyball practice. ever since then, aran ojiro is a pride and prejudice fan.

miya twins:

they most definitely started watching pride and prejudice probably from either their mother or aran. or both, since both are good. again, similar to aran, both the miya twins really relate to the big family dynamics of the bennet family. would also be the type to plan fun little movie nights. i picture these two gremlins hunched over their shared computer, looking at pinterest board inspiration for a pride and prejudice themed movie night. osamu is lowkey considering having a pride and prejudice drinking game (oh god no osamuuu), while atsumu thinks he’s the coolest with making pride and prejudice memes and posting it on the internet. elizabeth bennet’s number one protection squad. atsumu probably had discourse in the internet over it. osamu spends a lot of time looking into regency era style cooking and wants to know if the boiled potatoes were excellently boiled as mr collins puts it; while atsumu window shops through etsy and the like for pride and prejudice themed stuff because why not and life’s too short anyways.

yachi:

similar with the twins, yachi probably found out about pride and prejudice by proxy of her mother’s influence. she probably had heard her mother talk about it once, and because she looked up to her so much, she would watch it whenever her mom works late, and that always happen (hence yachi memorizing the lines by heart). probably was the type of p&p fan that had read the book before she went into her honors/advanced placement high school classes and tried to really reign in her excitement over going through the book but in class format. she probably had gay panic watching the kiera knightly version. or bi panic, ‘cause of that one ballroom scene. also the type of fan to recreate the movie or play poster just for funsy. she had saved up her money to purchase tickets for her mom and her to go see the play adaption. made it a whole day trip as they traveled to the theater. she most definitely loves the aesthetic of the regency era and here for the gay-bi panic.

hinata:

ok hear me out….there’s no way that hinata was surrounded by both natsu and his mother and not have heard about jane austen at least once (im just kidding…unless). hinata probably saw that his mom purchase the 1990s manga adaption. hinata is a huge manga fan and when he picked it up, he at first didnt like it ‘cause it gave him shoujo vibes, but then he was devouring it like he did with one piece. he probably talks about it with his mom over cooking or setting up the table. he also may have scoured through his local dvd shop and tried to find the kiera knightly version, because natsu really loves kiera knightley. surprisingly not surprisingly, he really likes darcy as he is an older brother of a very talented younger sister, but he’s not gonna tell natsu that. no, no. he also wouldnt be looking into buying a set of three tickets to the play adaption once he gets up to the v-league and saved enough money for his mother and natsu, no, no, thats top secret, so secret he cant even tell kageyama ‘cause kageyama isnt immune to natsu’s charms, no, no.

terushima:

LISTEN UP FOLKS. this beach blonde gives me chaotic academia and i love that for him. i genuinely believe this chaotic schemey captain is a pride and prejudice fan and flaunts it. no shame, doesnt hide; he just is one. the type to carry a beaten up pocket size book around w so many annotations and jokes and doodles. maybe have used the book to slap someone during a fight who knows. he probably bought all the used copies from his local thrift store to give it to his friends and teammates. considered tattooing a quote before his mom caught wind and proceeded to chew his ass out. he not only loves the family dynamics of the book, but the word play. he loves the banter and how darcy and elizabeth go head to head. also their hairstyles in the kiera knightly version. jeez, he was excited to see the various hair, he mostly paid attention to jane and elizabeth’s. the type of fan to keep making fun of mr. collins and lady catherine de bourgh. had probably planned to dress up as lady catherine just for shits and giggles for halloween. the one in the classroom discussion talking shit about mr. darcy’s lacking in the flirting department. thank you for coming to my tedtalk.

[ladybirdwithoutdots]

I was just thinking about the fact Emma 2020 is clearly told from Emma's protagonist-perspective but Mr Knightley is the one character whose pov you see indipendently from her (or when she can see him) since his first scene, so he essentially is treated as co-protagonist by the narrative. Even his yellow riding coat seems to be a nod to Emma's own yellow ensemble but at the same time, it does place him in a co-lead role and there is even a parallel between Emma's scene with Harriet and his own scene with Robert Martin. One is meddling in Harriet’s personal life manipulating her, the other is accidentally finding himself on the side of a Harriet/Robert supporter, lol.

Notice for example that the only scene Harriet gets that is just about her (meaning not something functional to Emma's story or that Emma can see too) is the one in the end between her and Robert because it's the moment she gets rid of Emma's bad influence and makes her own choices following her own feelings, which signals her own character growth.  

For Mr Knightley it's a bit on reverse because he has a different character arc: he starts as an independent character from Emma but as the story progresses, while he's still independent, he also realizes how much he needs her and the thought of losing her brings him despair, and from that moment (the aftermath of the ball), everytime you see him again it's about Emma. His character arc is about realizing how much being alone and independent isn't enough for him anymore..everything he was sure of before is challenged, and he understands and admits he actually needs Emma more than he could have ever imagined when he met her. In fact, in the end it's part of his independence he is willing to give up to be with the woman he loves. There is something foundamental Mr Knightley learns, and it's also part of understanding Emma's loneliness better than he ever did before.

A lot of things about Mr Knightley kind of represent an epiphany of sorts. There are phrases from the beginning that are foreshadowing of his own journey and his character arc. You could say he has to eat his own words too sometimes, lol. For instance, in his first scene with Emma he teases her about people crying at Miss Taylor's wedding: in the end you see him moved to tears at his own wedding^. And of course there is the infamous "I want to see Emma in love and with some doubt of a return" that backfires so much 😂.

I think it's a clever way to highlight his own character arc from the book too. In the novel, you think he's very independent mostly at the beginning (*) but with time, you realize in retrospect how much he needed Emma and why he spent so much time with her and her father. He's ok alone, he's a dynamic, independent and kinda energic person, but Donwell is empty (love the movie shows how much it's preserved but only his room is *home*. Cue the dust sheets covering the furniture in other rooms) and deep down a part of him longs for a companion, someone whom he can share his life with. He doesn’t realize that or admit it at first, in a way he thinks he’s independent and unaffected by some things but he realizes that he isn’t. Deep down he wanted to marry and have kids like his brother, and he could've easily found himself a wife but he was already in love with Emma without realizing it, somehow ‘waiting’ for her without knowing he was essentially doing that (it’s the same for her, they both subconsciously put their feelings away because they think the one person they really want isn’t interested about them that way). It's the discovery of his own loneliness, and how much he loves and needs Emma, that helps him understand her and her own loneliness (that she compensated with the match making and trying to find a friend in Harriet after the loss of Miss Taylor) even better.  (*) (the beginning of the novel also coincides, for me, with the only time in the story where I do remember he’s older than her. By the time I get to the end, the more I realize he needs Emma and loves her, the more I forget about this aspect and he seems to be..younger. Funny enough, that’s also a moment in the story where Austen tells you that he comes across as young to Emma herself. The way she subtly hints that HE is the love interest is delightful btw.) 

I must say, Emma has a similar journey about romance and marriage.  At first, she thinks it isn't for her and she tells herself that she doesn't want to marry, when really the thing preventing her is mostly duty towards her father. I think a lot of people misunderstand her character to ostensibly try to make her a modern feminist heroine, which isn’t a bad thing per se but often it ends up erasing a good part of her own character arc and what still is a very important point. The thing is, Emma does have a romantic heart that she tries to express through match-making by finding a companion for her friends, because in that moment it's the only way she feels she's allowed to experience romance too. Emma thinks she’s free but she really isn’t, psychologically at least she is trapped in a cage where her father’s needs are the priority no matter what her heart wants or may want. This aspect is important because at the beginning of the story, she's naive and an unreliable narrator of herself and her feelings. In the end, when her delusions shatter she realizes she isn’t as immune to some things as she thought she was, and she had always been in love with Mr Knightley. You could argue that it’s not so true Emma isn't interested about romance or marriage... she is, with the man she loves. She simply isn’t ready at the beginning, nor she thinks she is allowed to have what she wants.  In fact, she does a 180° about the whole "I don't want to get married" thing when he asks her to marry him, and she is pained by the idea that they wouldn't be able to marry asap because of her father. You'd think it wouldn't make a big difference for her either way given Mr Knightley would still be with them every day like be always was, and she could still preserve their routine that was so dear to her; but it's not enough for her anymore. Acting as friends only isn't enough anymore. That's why she's pained by the idea she may not be allowed to marry him asap: she longs to have a companion, to have an intimacy she wouldn't be allowed to have with him without being married. And when he does find a perfect solution so they can be together, she's conflicted about his sacrifice but also incandescently happy that they can marry sooner than she thought they'd be allowed to. The point is, part of Emma's coming of age arc is discovering her own sexual agency too, and the fact she finds herself wanting things she didn't think she even wanted before. Austen is subtle like you'd expect her to be in context but that’s what she implies in the end, in the most dignified way sure but she does that in the way Emma's feelings about marriage completely change when she knows she's in love and he loves her back.

It's also interesting to notice that, in a way, just like Mr Knightley understands some things about Emma better in the end when he discovers his own vulnerabilities, Emma also does start to fully understand and respect Harriet's feelings for Robert and his for her only when she herself realizes her own love for Mr Knightley, and thus she understands that marriage isn't necessarily just a matter of convenience like she thought it was. 

(ps: I headcanon Emma as demisexual/demiromantic, btw. I feel like a lot of things about her make even more sense when you think that beside the lack of experience, she is someone who needs to be in love and share a strong bond with a person to fully understand and want some things. The moment at the ball when she’s dancing with Frank but she’s completely distracted by how attractive she finds Mr Knightley is one of my favorites. She’s generically able to appreciate people’s beauty from an aesthetic perspective such as noticing someone has pretty eyes or hair etc, but when it comes to real attraction Austen is all about Emma finding Mr Knightley hot because it’s him, not really because he has this or that physical feature she finds pretty.)

[writingwithcolor]

I have a character based on Lizzie Bennet I’ve been thinking about making black (or mixed), mostly because I think it adds a modern dimension to her interactions with the Darcy character that are still in keeping with the original flavor. My problem is when it comes to her parents—they have a very unhappy, dysfunctional marriage and no matter how I try to look at it I can’t figure out how to not make them a stereotype about horrible black parents without destroying the integrity of the plot

Black or mixed race Pride & Prejudice, representing unhappy & dysfunctional Black marriage, Black people in history

On making choices when it comes to diversity

Disclaimer: not Black, just mixed, and only commenting as an outsider asking you to trace your logic. 

Making your characters more racially diverse is a wonderful thing, but you’ll need a better reason than “I think it adds a modern dimension.” It feels a bit too much like Lin Manuel Miranda’s whole “America then told by America now” quip with regards to Hamilton, which doesn’t actually pan out when you consider that the play erases the real roles of Black and brown people back then, has Black and brown people put slaveowners in a positive light, and underscores the problematic trend in Broadway to feature Black performers for diversity points without telling Black writers’ stories. 

Consequently, you need to think about your reasons for assigning race because you’re retelling a story from Regency Britain, a time when slavery on the continent was (only very very recently) abolished but still thriving in its colonies. It’s the reason why making any of your characters South Asian or Caribbean “for a modern dimension” will be similarly difficult. Trace your logic as to why you consider a Black headcanon to be more “modern” in comparison to the original work. Black people most certainly existed back when Jane Austen novels were published! 

It’s not my place to say “go ahead” vs. “don’t do it,” but there are just better reasons to make a POC character a certain identity! As for whether or not going ahead with writing a Black Elizabeth Bennet is appropriate or not, I defer to Mod Colette :)

~Mod Rina

Dysfunctional marriage & development

Sometimes, I think it helps to momentarily take race out of the equation if you find that your intrinsic biases are tripping you up. With that in mind, you actually have two, separate problems here. 

In what way is the marriage between the Bennets dysfunctional?

What are culturally appropriate ways for expressing that dysfunction?

To the first point: There is a difference between dysfunctional marriages that are static versus dynamic. My parents are in an interracial marriage and highly dysfunctional in many respects. However, they work hard to address these dysfunctions and present a unified front when it counts. They also, at the end of the day, respect each other. 

I’m reminded of the director’s commentary for the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice starring Kiera Knightley. Joe Wright purposely includes a warm, intimate moment between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet to show that they deeply care for each other despite their problems. A key point of character development for Mr. Bennet is when he realizes that both his complacence regarding the entail and his disinterest in his wife and children have compounded the problem of Lydia’s elopement. We also see that Mrs. Bennet loses some of her silliness as a result of interacting with her more upstanding son-in-laws, and she repeatedly iterates her anxiety as a mother to make sure her children are settled well. Without these beats in the original novel, the Bennet marriage would have devolved into sexist caricature, regardless of their race, and caricature is boring. Thus, I recommend you think about how you can show the Bennets have a dysfunctional, but dynamic marriage in a modern setting. 

To the second point: Once you have figured out how to portray a loving, dysfunctional modern couple, your next step is to consider culturally appropriate ways to contextualize their behaviors and relationship: 

Why has this couple not yet divorced? 

What are their priorities (i.e. cultural values)? 

What are the traditions that bind them together? 

How do they fight? 

How do they make up?

I defer to the Black mods on the optics of a non-Black person writing this story. Certainly, from a South Asian perspective, I think there are a number of interesting, culturally consistent possibilities that could make up for the bland Bride and Prejudice starring Aishwarya Rai. Ultimately, this sounds more like an AU fanfiction. I like to use such stories as private writing rehab/ training, which may be the most appropriate thing for you to do.

- Marika

Pride & Prejudice with a Black family could be very exciting! 

Don’t be afraid of putting Black characters in historical settings. You can certainly put it in a modern setting, but please don’t let it be because you’re afraid there’s something unrealistic about the original setting having a Black or mixed family.

As a Black reader, I’m a huge fan of inclusive historical settings, especially where we 1) aren’t always slaves and 2) there’s romance involved, interracial or otherwise. 

Regarding the dysfunctional family

I’ve said this before: Black characters are allowed to be flawed. We have imperfect perspectives, families and marriages, like humans do. It’ll ultimately come down to adding depth and not making it the single instance of representation.

Also, if I’m recalling Pride & Prejudice correctly, the dysfunctional aspects of the family don’t neatly feed into common Black family tropes, anyway. 

Harmful Black family tropes usually relate to 

Absent Black Fathers (Physically absent, usually)

Single Black Mothers, leading into her becoming a Strong Black Woman

Neglectful Black Mothers (so is she a single & strong mother or neglectful? Decide, society!)

Homophobic Black Family (parents, often the father more than the mother)

Hyper masculinity in Black fathers, sons, men

Abusive Black Parents (physical usually, sometimes emotional)

These dynamics can certainly exist in real life Black families (as with any group), but are rarely as flat and straight-forward as they’re portrayed by outsiders in the media. They may also relate to intercommunity matters with historical context. Such topics are best left to ownvoices to cover and add that most authentic and humanizing nuance. But again, P&P family dynamics don’t quite parrot your typical negative Black family ones. 

Marika said it wonderfully (regarding static vs dynamic characterization and adding a culturally appropriate lens to the Bennett relationship) so I’ll avoid being repetitive. 

On Black people & mixed families in historical settings 

Interracial marriages and common law marriages also have a long history too (and i’m not referring to slave-master unions.) A search will yield results and many images.

One example: Matilda McCrear (1857-1940) was the last known survivor of the transatlantic slave trade. She was in a common law marriage with Jacob Schuler, a white German man (also believed to be Jewish) for decades. They had many children.  Read more about her

Do some period and setting-appropriate research

I’m not saying that because I think this is an inappropriate role for your characters; quite the opposite! You might find some inspiration for the roles of your Black Bennett family. You’d be surprised how much Black people were doing, developing and inventing in America or otherwise,

So often Black characters are relegated to a slim subset of roles, usually involving slavery or servitude. While it’s an important and accurate part of history, too, it’s largely exploited as the only defining moment of Black history (Besides, perhaps, Ancient Egypt, which is largely whitewashed and also ignores great achievements all across the Continent). 

Did you know

About the history of the Moors in England?

The first African American state legislator (Alexander L. Twilight) was elected in 1836? 

About the decade or two in the United States (post-Civil war and Emancipation, pre-Jim Crow) where Black people had many more opportunities? For example, we could own property, business, public office, and get education. The West was even more “open” with their desperate need for settlers. Interracial marriage even had legal standing, depending on where you were. The late 1870s would unravel much progress, what with the end of Reconstruction and Jim Crow laws taking effect.

But it’s your story. Pick the setting and circumstances that suit your needs. And never forget; Black people existed! I wish we didn’t need a strict explanation to have portrayals in history outside of slavery or beyond the USA. Historical accuracy only gets strict when someone suggests adding BIPOC.

Still, I know we’re not “there yet” and it helps to ground readers into a “historically-supported” setting. Luckily, history will support our untethered existence if you research beyond the surface. 

More reading:

Representations of Black Family Life 

Stereotyped vs Nuanced Characters and Audience Perception 

Diversity in the 1920s 

~Mod Colette

EDIT:

P.S. There is a Black heiress in Jane Austen’s unfinished novel, Sandition!

No further “historical accuracy” proof needed that Black people fit in these settings. Jane Austen herself includes a Black woman character in one of her novels (unfinished).

Some viewers may be surprised to see a Black heiress at the centre of ITV period drama Sanditon, but the “young West Indian of large fortune” actually comes directly from the pages of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel.

Miss Lambe (Crystal Clarke) arrives in the seaside resort of Sanditon under the protection of Mrs Griffiths, a middle-aged white woman whose other “charges” include the English Miss Beauforts. Her reputed £100,000 fortune makes her an immediate subject of interest to the other characters.

Read more here: Was there a Black heiress in Jane Austen’s original Sanditon?

[rusakkowrites]

For the DVD commentary, I need some details on the furnishings of Hartfield :D

“… I have been thinking over the arrangements upstairs, and I believe I have hit upon a fine solution. We shall do over Mrs Weston’s old chamber for a second dressing room. It is a very comfortable room, and I believe it will suit the purpose admirably. The wall-hangings must be changed, and I should like to order new curtains to match, but apart from that, I do not think much is required.”

“I am quite certain that you are correct.”

Mr Elton’s eyebrows shot up. The second voice belonged to none other than Mr Knightley, whom Mr Elton had quite expected to be at Donwell Abbey waiting for him. It was yet more evidence of Knightley’s recent peculiar absent-mindedness that he should be tarrying at Hartfield instead.

“I will send for samples to see what might suit,” continued Miss Woodhouse. Her voice was now so close that Mr Elton surmised she must be right on the other side of the shrubs surrounding his hiding place. “Mrs Weston has a very pretty pattern in her sitting room. I do not think the colour is quite what I should prefer, but perhaps something similar may be found in a different shade.”

It was just like Miss Woodhouse, Mr Elton thought ill-naturedly, to be so assured of her own importance as to blithely imagine that Knightley would give a fig about her refurbishment schemes. He rather wished that Knightley would set her right. Miss Woodhouse, if anyone, was in dire need of being taken down a peg.

“… As for the bedchamber, I think it will do as it is. Another bedside table might be needed, I suppose, but I believe the rest of the furniture will need no alteration – unless you perceive some overlooked flaw in my plan.”

“The furnishings of the room matter little to me,” came Mr Knightley’s voice. It sounded as if he and Miss Woodhouse were headed in the direction of the side gate. “My requirements will be satisfied as long as you may be found within.”

For an instant, Mr Elton thought that he must have misheard. Mr Knightley’s words seemed entirely incongruous. What business could he possibly have with Miss Woodhouse’s bedchamber furnishings, and why the devil was he speaking as if he would be making use of the room himself?

Yet Mr Elton’s hearing was proven quite intact by what followed.

“Oh,” Miss Woodhouse replied in a saucy tone, “I shall remind you of your words when you complain that the curtains let in too much light or that the bed is too narrow for two!”

Yay, another chance to talk about Emma and Mr Knightley! <3

This was a fic that I really enjoyed writing. The three previous fics I had written had been for a Big Bang event, a Reddit challenge and Fandom Trumps Hate, which were all a lot of fun, but afterwards it was really nice to write something with no deadline and no prompts or other rules to adhere to. Just something self-indulgent and a bit silly.

“… I have been thinking over the arrangements upstairs, and I believe I have hit upon a fine solution. We shall do over Mrs Weston’s old chamber for a second dressing room. It is a very comfortable room, and I believe it will suit the purpose admirably. The wall-hangings must be changed, and I should like to order new curtains to match, but apart from that, I do not think much is required.”

My impression is that both Emma and Mr Knightley are fairly practical people at heart. They're both used to being in charge of their respective households and to making decisions. I think they'd approach Mr Knightley's move to Hartfield in an organised manner and enjoy discussing all the details of their household management. (They'd also have plenty of time to plan due to Mr Woodhouse delaying the wedding.)

I headcanon Emma as having excellent taste, and of course she has the means to accomplish whatever decorating scheme that catches her fancy. Mrs Elton would no doubt find Emma's style disappointingly conservative and plain, but everyone else (including Mr Knightley) would feel that she she strikes just the right note: appropriate for her wealth and station in life but not overdone. However, she rarely makes many big alterations at once because Mr Woodhouse hates change so much. Just subtle updates a little bit at a time, preferably making a point of how each change makes their house safer and healthier to live in. Hartfield would have all the modern conveniences that Emma could get installed, but the rooms her father spends the most time in would not have anything too newfangled on view.

“I am quite certain that you are correct.”

Mr Elton’s eyebrows shot up. The second voice belonged to none other than Mr Knightley, whom Mr Elton had quite expected to be at Donwell Abbey waiting for him. It was yet more evidence of Knightley’s recent peculiar absent-mindedness that he should be tarrying at Hartfield instead.

I love dramatic irony in fiction, and I had lots of fun with Mr Elton's point of view in this story. Emma and Mr Knightley know what's going on and so does the reader, but Mr Elton is just grumpy and confused.

“I will send for samples to see what might suit,” continued Miss Woodhouse. Her voice was now so close that Mr Elton surmised she must be right on the other side of the shrubs surrounding his hiding place. “Mrs Weston has a very pretty pattern in her sitting room. I do not think the colour is quite what I should prefer, but perhaps something similar may be found in a different shade.”

The logistics of this whole scene gave me a bit of trouble. I wanted Mr Elton to be able to eavesdrop and even peek at Mr Knightley and Emma without being discovered. My initial idea was to have him just outside the garden gate, behind a tree or something, but I felt like he'd be too visible there, so I put him in a little nook in the shrubbery instead. I'm not sure how realistic it would actually be for a Regency-era garden to have a bench almost completely hidden by bushes, though if people had garden mazes, I imagine a little walled-off bench wouldn't be too hard to accomplish.

It was just like Miss Woodhouse, Mr Elton thought ill-naturedly, to be so assured of her own importance as to blithely imagine that Knightley would give a fig about her refurbishment schemes. He rather wished that Knightley would set her right. Miss Woodhouse, if anyone, was in dire need of being taken down a peg.

Mr Elton spent the previous autumn praising everything Emma said and did, but that's definitely over! Mr Knightley, however, is another matter. In canon, the Eltons seem pretty eager to build a good relationship with him (which is unsurprising considering that he owns basically all the land in the area). Unfortunately for them, disliking Emma is a pretty certain way to earn Mr Knightley's dislike. And he's very invested in Emma's refurbishment scheme!

“… As for the bedchamber, I think it will do as it is. Another bedside table might be needed, I suppose, but I believe the rest of the furniture will need no alteration – unless you perceive some overlooked flaw in my plan.”

“The furnishings of the room matter little to me,” came Mr Knightley’s voice. It sounded as if he and Miss Woodhouse were headed in the direction of the side gate. “My requirements will be satisfied as long as you may be found within.”

I agonized over what exactly Mr Knightley should say to finally tip Mr Elton off. I wanted it to be inappropriate for anyone except a husband or future husband to say, but I didn't want to make it sound sleazy - I think Mr Knightley wouldn't be one for dirty talk before marriage.

For an instant, Mr Elton thought that he must have misheard. Mr Knightley’s words seemed entirely incongruous. What business could he possibly have with Miss Woodhouse’s bedchamber furnishings, and why the devil was he speaking as if he would be making use of the room himself?

Yet Mr Elton’s hearing was proven quite intact by what followed.

“Oh,” Miss Woodhouse replied in a saucy tone, “I shall remind you of your words when you complain that the curtains let in too much light or that the bed is too narrow for two!”

I wanted to show Emma and Mr Knightley being comfortable with each other, and I think teasing and banter would be a big part of that. I also think that their long-standing friendship would make it easier for them to discuss topics that are very relevant to their practical arrangements but also skirting the edge of propriety, such as sleeping arrangements. However, they definitely wouldn't be talking about such private topics if they knew someone else was in earshot!

I think Emma has a pretty good notion of what to expect from married life. She has both Mrs Weston and Isabella to talk to, after all. I also believe that Emma is the Austen heroine who is shown to be thinking most directly about her future children:

It is remarkable, that Emma, in the many, very many, points of view in which she was now beginning to consider Donwell Abbey, was never struck with any sense of injury to her nephew Henry, whose rights as heir-expectant had formerly been so tenaciously regarded. Think she must of the possible difference to the poor little boy; and yet she only gave herself a saucy conscious smile about it, and found amusement in detecting the real cause of that violent dislike of Mr. Knightley’s marrying Jane Fairfax, or any body else, which at the time she had wholly imputed to the amiable solicitude of the sister and the aunt.

I feel that the "saucy conscious smile" could be read as implying that she has some idea of how those children will come about. :D

Thank you for the ask!

[cataclysmcrows]

mr simon keyes for the ask meme please talk about him more,,,

I’d love to!!!!! I actually got a few requests for Keyes, so I’m glad you guys are interested in my Thoughts TM. 

(MAJOR AAI2 SPOILERS AHEAD)

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How I feel about this character:

God. I adore him. Like. Okay. I have a very specific type when it comes to the villains I like, and Keyes checks all the boxes for it. He's a smug little bastard, he's entertaining, he's a bit unhinged, and he's got interesting motives. In my opinion, he's one of the best-written villains in Ace Attorney, just because he has so much more depth than other villains in the series. Despite being a piece of shit, he's an interesting, likeable character, and you can't help but feel a little sorry for him. Definitely one of my favorite AA characters.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Manosouta brainrot disease real. I think that Keyes' dynamic with Horace Knightley is really interesting, and I honestly think about them, like, a LOT. If we're being honest, I'm just a sucker for a good tragic romance, and Keyes and Knightley's story is so tragic, no matter how you interpret their relationship. I've actually written a character analysis essay on Keyes and Knightley's dynamic, which you can read if you like! (Please read it. I spent a very long time on it.)

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

I think the concept of Keyes being friends with Simon Blackquill in prison is hilarious. My personal headcanon for them is that they wound up being cellmates and, while they absolutely hated each other at first, over the years, they ended up becoming reluctant friends. They keep in touch after Blackquill gets released.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I'm not sure how unpopular this opinion is, but like...I feel like I can see Keyes going through some sort of redemption arc post-canon in prison? It's implied in some lines at the end of AAI2 that he feels some level of regret about his actions, and I think the idea of him healing and becoming, at least slightly, a better person while serving his sentence is a really interesting concept that I'd love to see explored! I can't really see him becoming a saint or anything, but I think he could learn to regret the things he's done and attempt to make some amends. (Not to excuse the awful things he's done in canon, of course.)

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon:

I hope he gets some fucking therapy. That’s it.