Romance is My Anti-drug

maybe monsterfucker erotica doesn't need a plot but it certainly gives the whole thing a bit more substance

me being fascinated by the complex political caste system in the getting-rawed-by-two-dragons book

I love that Elizabeth and Darcy are so ready to effectively tell each other they're full of shit. This happens a bunch of times, but I was re-reading their conversation at the Netherfield Ball and they're both kind of refreshingly Done.

It's also pretty funny, because I suspect Darcy is thinking of this sort of thing in a later conversation at Rosings:

Truly devastated to discover I have the social grace of Fitzwilliam Darcy who made that disgraceful proposal at Rosings, because I read this as flirting too - and I do think in a way it was, since it shows two clever people finding a match and a rhythm unusual to each.

I often see one person clumsily insulting another for what appears pure spite, and feel strongly that behaviour being described as being like Elizabeth and Darcy quite mistakes the matter.

…Lizzy

#this is so freaking funny (itspileofgoodthings)

#adaptations really do often underplay how much#pride and prejudice#darcy’s ‘unexpected’ proposal#is basically the ‘did you just flirt with me’ ‘have been for the past [few months] but thanks for noticing’ meme#like this scene#or the one where Lizzy and him are ALONE in the Collins’ house talking about women marrying and moving far from home#& he’s trying to suss out whether she’d be cool with marrying him and living far away from her own home#and she is like ‘well obviously it’s fine if you have enough money to afford the travel’ and he’s like ‘oh?!? and uhhh…#you’re not super attached to your home yourself are you? like you’d be fine with not constantly visiting [your weird embarrassing family]?’#SHE IS SO CLUELESS

This is why I always say that Pride & Prejudice is not Enemies To Lovers.

Elizabeth is in a one-sided-enemies to lovers story. The book from Elizabeth’s point of view: Darcy: [compliments her] Elizabeth: This man is insulting me. Darcy: [gets up his nerve and asks her to dance after she makes a big deal of liking dancing] Elizabeth: He is trying to make me feel uncomfortable! Darcy: [tries to make conversation about something he thinks she is interested in] Elizabeth: I’m not sure what his angle is, but it must be awful since he said that one unflattering thing about me to his friend in a conversation I eavesdropped on! And also, hot!George says he’s an ass, so clearly him being nice to me must be nefarious!!!

Darcy, meanwhile, is over here in all his awkwardness thinking he’s doing a really good job of flirting with the girl he likes. He’s doing so well. It’s actually working! At first it seemed too good to be true, but she’s saying all the right things! She’s telling him how to meet up with her so they can spend time together! She’s putting up with his awful aunt and still lets him visit her despite all of that! He’s done it! He’s got the girl! He’s planning their wedding because he’s getting an A in romance, you guys.

Your child is so unimpressed with their external life that they have to live in their imagination and the subtle realms just to survive in the environment you created.

First time reading Ana Huang and I’m loving it so far

once again opening a ship tag on AO3 and opening a dozen fics and closing out of almost all of them immediately because they would not fucking act like that

why is it – i know why. this is a rhetorical question – that so many people have a fixed idea of what A Romance looks like and will mold the characters to fit it. rather than molding what the romance looks like to fit how the characters think and act.

like. i am drawn to repressed sarcastic bastards who would rather run into a burning building than verbalise their feelings. that is their appeal. why are you having them say 'i love you' while holding their partner's hands in full view of two dozen other people. stop that. they wouldn't fucking do that. other things can be a love confession. other things can be a display of affection. have you never anticipated someone's needs! done a task they hate without having to be asked! remembered their favourite food! rearranged your plans for their convenience! punched someone in the gut for insulting them! have some damn imagination!!!

hallmark movies won't tell you this but the love languages are actually access intimacy, in-jokes, learning the little details, attack dogism, and voluntary vulnerability

you know what hits me about the "on purpose on purpose im going to love you on purpose" "i'll take care of you, it's rotten work, not to me not if it's you" "im going to love you without a single string attached" "i don't know where to put it all the love i have for her, i'll take it" "i walked in love with you with both eyes open choosing to take every step"?

they all have the same desire, they all desire for someone to Want it, for love to not be an accident or something that happens without recognising it, they all have the overtones desire of wanting someone to deem you worthy of love, to see you and meet you and know you and Want to love you, to make that choice and stick by it because loving you or being loved by you is something so deeply worth it and fulfilling and moving and powerful that they Want it, in their soul they crave to love and be loved

they're such varieties of the basic desire to be wanted

they say these things and they mean "love me because i am lovable" not "love me because you find me desirable/you have realised you already do/you want something from me" etc

it's "love me because i am me and you are aware of that" and it's something you can just scream to someone when you can't find another way to say "i am choosing to love you because loving you is something i want to experience no matter the outcome"

love them . On purpose, on Purpose and by choice and intentionally you will Love Them

I think this paragraph has a lot to do with why Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland work:

Having heard the day before in Milsom Street that their elder brother, Captain Tilney, was expected almost every hour, she was at no loss for the name of a very fashionable-looking, handsome young man, whom she had never seen before, and who now evidently belonged to their party. She looked at him with great admiration, and even supposed it possible that some people might think him handsomer than his brother, though, in her eyes, his air was more assuming, and his countenance less prepossessing. His taste and manners were beyond a doubt decidedly inferior; for, within her hearing, he not only protested against every thought of dancing himself, but even laughed openly at Henry for finding it possible… Catherine, meanwhile, undisturbed by presentiments of such an evil, or of any evil at all, except that of having but a short set to dance down, enjoyed her usual happiness with Henry Tilney, listening with sparkling eyes to everything he said; and, in finding him irresistible, becoming so herself.

Henry is a second son, and not only that, his brother is HOT. Smoking hot, and from what we hear of him later, pretty charming, though not funny charming. Catherine takes one look at him, is like, “Well, other people might think he’s handsome,” and then focuses on Henry.

How often has this happened in Henry’s life? Is the usual way of things that a girl dances with him, finds out who he is and tries to trade up for his brother, Isabella-esq? I can see that happening to a second son, a mere clergyman A LOT. But the thought doesn’t even enter Catherine’s head, she’s all about Henry. She’s loyal, she’s disinterested, she’s not a mercenary. How gratifying it must be to be her first and only choice!

Is it any wonder that he falls in love with her? I say no.

My favourite historical romance trope is "men who don't know how shirts work".

Adding another cover to this post 🤣

Unabashedly horny romance novel covers are back baby!!! Nature is healing :)

No romance novels with cheerful animated covers and cringe floating fanfic tropes were harmed in the making of these books (although lbr they probably should have been).

Silver foxes, May/December, older heroines/younger heroes, look, Sarah’s buttons were installed young, ok? We’re talking age gap romances, how they played out in the early days of the genre, how they remain popular today, and what has happen (or not!) in the books to make them viable romance in 2021. We try to keep this one taboo but not dark, sexy but not erotic…but by the end, we’re not making any real promises.

Check all your Content Warnings before you begin with these books!

These are just a few of our picks. Check out the full list and let us know what you would add.

anxiouspartygrrl’s 9 Rules Shuffle

bad news guys i think i’m too romantic to live in this world

*slides u a note* do u want to run away to italy together & fall in love w me circle yes or no