#it's the mix of witty banter and fundamental seriousness that makes the ship!

[anghraine]

I think one of the reasons that I've always been deeply annoyed by the conception of Darcy as a brooding, humorless love interest (and inferior because of it) is because I actually really enjoy his sense of humor.

Maybe it's because I don't have much of a sense of humor, myself (so I also find this annoying because of the assumption that not liking most humor is some kind of moral failing). But when I do find things amusing, they're often dry and understated asides that I find really funny. I love, for instance:

“I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow.”

Miss Bingley immediately fixed her eyes on his face, and desired he would tell her what lady had the credit of inspiring such reflections. Mr Darcy replied, with great intrepidity,—

“Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”

+

“I am afraid, Mr Darcy,” observed Miss Bingley, in a half whisper, “that this adventure has rather affected your admiration of her fine eyes.”

“Not at all,” he replied: “they were brightened by the exercise.”

I think my other favorite Darcy-Caroline interchange is even simpler, but I do find it entertaining:

“Tell your sister I am delighted to hear of her improvement on the harp, and pray let her know that I am quite in raptures with her beautiful little design for a table, and I think it infinitely superior to Miss Grantley’s.”

“Will you give me leave to defer your raptures till I write again?”

I also always laugh at the book version of this scene:

“That is a failing, indeed!” cried Elizabeth. “Implacable resentment is a shade in a character. But you have chosen your fault well. I really cannot laugh at it. You are safe from me.”

“There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil, a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome.”

“And your defect is a propensity to hate everybody.”

“And yours,” he replied, with a smile, “is wilfully to misunderstand them.”

Here, I also enjoy the use of a quite serious contemporary philosophical point (and the fact that he references it in a conversation with a woman at all, tbh), but the sudden shift to banter is what makes the interchange to me.

None of these are like ... haha-funny jokes, but I wouldn't find those amusing, anyway, while these always make me giggle.

#and i think it's evident that he does like elizabeth's sense of humor once he figures it out #so even though yes he's a fundamentally quite serious person #it's not that he doesn't find anything funny or never says anything that's funny #(and i don't mean in an unintentional way—he's obviously sharp-witted and knows what he's doing) #(most of the time anyway) #so the whole humorless brooding hero thing is just... meh #it's the mix of witty banter and fundamental seriousness that makes the ship! #(the brooding thing is weird in its own right wrt /book/ darcy bc he's described as usually calm and frequently smiling) #anghraine babbles #austen fanwank #austen blogging #lady anne blogging #fitzwilliam darcy #pride and prejudice #jane austen #long post

[retvenkos]

Hello! Congrats on 2.5k!! Can I please get 🔥 for atla, Narnia and choices? I'm a straight female, a ravenclaw and a Taurus. My mbti is infp and my enneagram is 4w3! It takes me a while to feel comfortable around new people but once I do I get really talkative and outgoing. I love reading, my favorite genres are fantasy and poetry. I really enjoy psychology, history, mythology and fashion! I love adventures, witty banter, joking around and having discussions on different topics. 🏵️

I'm kind, empathic and smart; I love helping out and people come to me to vent or for advice. I've also got excellent grades without really trying and I love learning about new things. I'm really stubborn and dramatic and I'm really withdrawn at times. I get frustrated easily and I'm quietly competitive. I love being in love and I can talk my way out of any sticky situations. I dislike taking things too seriously and being rigid in your ways. Thank you very much, I hope you have a great day! 🏵️

ATLA:

I ship you with Zuko!

i actually really dig this idea, so stick with me for a moment.

i know you said you don’t like people who are too serious or rigid in their ways, and while zuko is most definitely serious, he actually goes through a lot of transformation through the series, so i wouldn’t say he’s rigid at all. he’s actually pretty.... fluid? i guess

what i like about this is that at first, zuko thinks you are the shy, soft spoken one of the group, but then he actually joins the gAang, spends time with you, and realizes that is perception of you wasn’t actually the case at all? 

your talkative, outgoing, insanely stubborn (just like him, r.i.p.), and despite being good at things without trying, you get frustrated at life and you can get stuck in some places.

SURPRISINGLY, zuko is the one who helps you out when you’re frustrated - he has been there far too often, and he knows what it feels like to want something and never get it, so he’s actually the best person to help you out when you’re stuck in a rut. when he helps you out, you get a different take on the firebender, and since you are such a thoughtful and open-minded person, you start to reevaluate what you thought you knew about him.

meanwhile, zuko is insisting to himself that he only helped you because it was annoying listening to you whine about not being able to do it, and definitely not because he wants to be able to open up to you and get advice like the rest of the gAng. zuko is unsurprisingly losing this battle within himself.

then, the more time the two of you spend together, zuko realizes that he loves the way you can talk your way out of any situation and the way you are smart and bring up history and other things you’ve learned to help out the team. and zuko catches himself laughing at your banter with sokka and peering at you from across the fire at night.

and you start to soften your heart to zuko as well - you put more thought into his comments about his life before joining the gAang, you start to appreciate his determinedness and his dedication to better himself, and you start to think that maybe, just maybe, you like zuko.

have you noticed that this is a slow burn enemies to lovers? because i’m here for it

the two of you end up staying up the latest, waiting for others to go to sleep and wondering whether or not to say something to the other. after maybe three days, you eventually open up to him - someone has to go first, right?

and then he starts to talk about his past, too. and you give him the attention and advice that you give everyone else, and zuko likes the way it makes him feel inside - warm, without the burn of fire.

okay, this is getting a little long, but i just want to say that you and zuko do eventually get together (after much prodding by the others - toph is the most insistent and tactless) and it is honestly a good balance for the both of you - zuko can bring you back to earth and you can bring him up from drowning in the sins of his father.

and yeah i just really want it to happen for you.

Narnia:

I ship you with Caspian!

so why caspian? you ask. well, i think you have a steadiness about you that caspian could really benefit from - you are always there for him and have always believed in him on a fundamental level, and caspian deserves that.

at the same time, though, you offer a lot of adventure for caspian, which he loves. the dawn treader? the two of you thrive there - it’s the perfect mix of diplomacy and adventure where the two of you get to see new sights and visit far away places, but you have a purpose for being there, and you have to constantly look back (history!) in order to make decisions to move forward.

i think caspian would love your council a whole lot, we know he has a lot of respect for people, and despite being so soft and kind, you have a stubbornness that demands respect and you have an intelligence that earns it. i think that caspian would only ever think of you as his equal - if not his superior.

other people may be quick to put you down because of your softness and how shy you can be, at times, but caspian would never disrespect you like that, and he, too has a lot of those traits.

oh, and i hope you know that if anyone were to ever disrespect you in caspian’s presence, he would be ever so calm, but when he speaks, his voice would be tense and put everyone on edge and he would tell them to never speak to either of you ever again. their business is concluded, because caspian does not tolerate that kind of behavior.

also, can i just say,,,, caspian teaches you to sword fight. you learn and then the two of you spar together, and your competitiveness comes out and caspian absolutely adores it. and your banter while you are sparring! it would be so perfect and it would add so much excitement to an already exciting relationship.

also, i just think that you would be a great ruler because you have a charm to you and you are incredibly knowledgable. you would be able to make hard decisions, and if you ever regret them later, caspian would be there to reassure you that it’s alright.

Playchoices:

I ship you with Mal Volari!

alright, so first of all, mal would so easily coax you out of yourself, it’s like a super power of his. and once he does, he absolutely loves your more talkative, outgoing side. he will joke with you all the time, and he’s actually pretty knowledgeable? you guys could have a lot of interesting talks while going on the best of adventures.

(sidebar: your knowledge on history and mythology might come in handy on his adventures, and mal loves how intelligent you are.)

i definitely think both of you are very similar - i wouldn’t be surprised if you were originally coworkers of sorts, working similar jobs or managing to run into each other often, when on your travels. maybe you’re a contact of his, and he’s constantly stopping by for help. OR, maybe you are rivals, working the same jobs, and you actually quite like each other, your goals are to similar and your competitive streaks often have you fighting against each other

either way, the potential for banter is PEAK and mal makes it his personal mission to constantly mess with you. 

he loves how easily you get flustered! it’s his favorite thing to tease you and she you stutter out a response. it gives him a particular sort of joy.

mal also loves how stubborn and strong willed you can be, and yet how you can also be so kind. he rarely finds people who aren’t jaded nowadays, so you are like a breath of fresh air.

and mal is known for being over the top when trying to seduce contessas, but he’s also a closeted romantic on the inside, and he knows a lot of deep, raw love poetry that he keeps close to his heart and only ever whispers when he thinks you are asleep in his arms and the fire is dying.

one time you wrote down one of the poems and stuck in his hand before he went off on another adventure that took him from you, and when he read it, he got very flustered (he’s glad you weren’t there to see that) but decided to keep it, because that poetry was meant for the two of you, wasn’t it?

also, something great about mal is that he always keeps a level head - no matter what the situation may be. he’s definitely one of the few people who is able to bring you back to a sense of calm when you’re frustrated, and it’s actually kind of sweet.

and for all of mal being boisterous and insisting that he is an open book, he’s actually very guarded when it comes to the really hard hitting stuff in his life, and you are one of the few people he opens up to. he sees how kind and compassionate you are - amd completely without ulterior motives - and it’s something he’s always wanted.

when he opens up to you, it’s relatively slow, and honestly, you containmultitudess that you are slow to show yourself, so the two of you slowly get to know each other on a more intimate level, and it’s very soft and sweet. both of you really want to get to know the other, and you know the only way you can do that is by showing the other who you are, and so it’s a nice, thoughtful process that the two of you take.

idk, i just really love the idea of you and mal together asdfghjkl;

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