1/30 Romeo and Juliet 1&2

So I've read this play multiple times, and no matter how many times I read it, it astounds me just how fast Romeo and Juliet fall in love with each other. What never clicked however, is that Romeo is actually super depressed at the beginning of this play. I know it's there in the text, but for some reason, it just was never a thing in my head. I also find it interesting that all this time, I never realized that Juliet actually had a brain and realized they were moving too fast.

I think I literally dismissed any possibility of it because well, the ending where they both decide it's a great idea to kill themselves.

I do think, however that this play is faaaaar better as a performance than as reading material. I saw at least one performance of R&J and it left quite the impression on me. Not because of the plot (because all I retained was guy and girl fall in love on sight, then kill each other three days later. A testament to our species -_-), but because of the performance itself. I remember loving the way the actors moved (there were bars they could climb around on) and the way they held themselves. Mercutio and Tybalt, especially, were phenomenal. Absolutely my favorite actors, which carried over to being my favorite characters. I remember being incredibly depressed that they both died, but damn they did an amazing job. I think this performance is probably the reason why I love seeing plays (each performance is different and unique and I love to see how actors and directors put their own spin on plays that have been done for hundreds of years), and its probably the reason why I love Shakespeare (not because of R&J, mind you - didn't even like them in the play), but because of the actors and performance itself. I owe a lot of thanks to this play and performance. 

2/13 West Side Story

I don't know what to say except that I did not like this movie and it was waaaay too damn long. This is definitely an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet though. All the death. All the dramatics.

All the DANCING! Seriously, give these kids an award for the dancing.
I honestly can't though. just the sheer amount of drama makes my head hurt. The fact that Anita blames Maria for Bernardo's death (if I'm remembering this correctly) is just asinine. Maria is Bernardo's sister. Show some respect and compassion for the girl who just lost family. Yes, love was involved, but it's not like Maria woke up that day and was like, "Hey, you know what? Today seems like a great day to have my brother killed."

I can't.

2/27 The Speckled Band, Final Problem, CAM, and Dancing Men

So my favorite story of this collection is absolutely The Speckled Band. This isn't the first time I've read it, but it's been over a decade since I did that I could only remember that there was a monkey involved (my memory is fantastic sarcasm). There were various things that I liked. For one, raise of hands, who loved the fact that Sherlock straight up bent a piece of iron back into it's perfect position.

Borderline Super Soldier that man is.

But also, what the heck is up with the uncle keeping a monkey and cheetah on his lawn? Who does that?

I would have been seriously surprised if it turned out that it wasn't the uncle who killed the sister. Not only does he have insane anger issues

but practically all his actions are suspicious. He might as well have had a glowing neon sign above his head saying, "It's me! I'm the killer!!!!"

Something else that I just remembered is my heart beating really fast when Sherlock and Watson heard the growling. When I first read it, I thought is was a demon or something (me and my brain, round of applause), but it just turns out to be the monkey riding the cheetah. lolololol

Anyways, 10/10 would read again. Sucks about the wife and husband dying before Sherlock could get to them in Dancing Men. sad face

4/24 Concluding thoughts on Dracula and Vampy things

Well, this was all sorts of what I wasn't expecting. Besides not being set in the country (Transylvania in specific), for most of the novel, Lucy's three suitors aiding in killing Dracula was not lurking in my mind. Also, what the hell? Why did Quincey have to die??? Rude. More importantly, where the hell was Van Helsing getting all of the communion wafers from? The man must have bags up bags that he pulls out of nowhere. Is he like Legolas and constantly having arrows even though, visually, he clearly only has a handful?

Also, am I right in reading that Dracula could turn into a wolf? Is he a mixture of vampire and werewolf? If so, it would make sense as to why he has hairy palms. Otherwise, I can only guess that he's like a spider, and the hairy palms are how he sticks to walls. =_=

On another note, apparently vampires having arithmomania is a thing? You apparently always have a bag of rice on you and if you come across a vampire, you throw rice and they'll be compelled to count the grains, giving you enough time to run away.

Another fun fact, apparently in the Balkans, vampires didn't have any bones and that's how you would identify them, or so I've read. And apparently if a vampire and a human have a child, a dhampir, the child will also be boneless. It's a strange notion, but this got me thinking, it was never mentioned if Dracula and his brides had offspring. Were they unable to because they're undead? I know in Van Helsing, they did have offspring (and lots of them).

If the women are no longer able to have children due to being dead, then logically the male vamps wouldn't be able to as well, so how would vampires have children (for the Balkan mythology)? Would it then be like with Blade and his mother being bitten by a vampire while she was pregnant with him?

It's amazing just how much vampire lore has expanded and been built upon since Dracula, but also very confusing as there are conflicting viewpoints and "facts," although conflicting myths have always been a thing (looking at you Greek mythology).

4/10 Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Fanfics, Oh my~

So, wow...that was a super intense last few episodes of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Holy hell, the whole sex tape and a Lydia we've never seen. Just...wow. Petition to keel haul Wickham, because that man is repulsive beast (and not beast in the good way either).

I have to say that I actually love this representation of Lydia, though. In Austen's novel, I hated her. There wasn't a single redeeming quality about her. In the LBD, we can actually see her as the child that Wickham took advantage of and it's not okay in any sense. While I hated what happened to Lydia, I loved that she showed another side of herself and was no longer a flat character. I also loved that she didn't end up with Wickham and that she might actually be able to have a bright future, instead of a miserable one that she no doubt had in the novel.

Also, what the heck was with the super cheesy last couple of episodes? Both Lizzie and Darcy were waaaaaay too lovey dovey and it was unsettling. On the plus side, I agree everyone in the comments section that Darcy is Lizzie's biggest fan.

crying It's freaking perfect lol. And Gigi ships Lizzie and Darcy so hard.

Speaking of Gigi, it seriously hurt the parallel between Gigi and Lydia with that fucking shitfuck Wickham. Just seriously?

 Why must you hurt me this way????

With the fanfiction, the one that stuck out the most was A Most Convenient Mishap. I've read that sort of fanfic before (there are numerous fanfics using that sort of situation), and every time, it's amusing. I honestly thought that it was going to end up as smut or at least a lime, but I guess that's a bit too much if they're trying to keep with the period and that Lizzy hated Darcy. Now she really has a reason to hate him, what with him presuming that she was trying to seduce him. Whop whop, mate. Better luck next time, and good luck getting on her good side now.

3/27 Pride and Prejudice Nasty, Filthy Wickham

So this is the first time I'm reading Pride and Prejudice and strangely enough, I'm rather enjoying it. I had trouble getting into it at the beginning, but after watching the BBC series, things are making more sense. I think the biggest problem I had was that I couldn't tell their tone of voice, and Austen rarely helped with that, so it clicked with the actors performance. I love Elizabeth, and Charlotte is super down to earth, which I appreciate (but hate the fact that she ended up with Mr. Collins because that man is a tool). At first, I severely disliked Darcy, but he grew on me after his personality switch in Pemberly.

It doesn't hurt that in the BBC series, he's played by Colin Firth, who I absolutely adore (and especially loved in Kingsman.

Such deliciousness~!)

Speaking of which, what the hell? That was quite the 180 in what seems like a rather short time. Did what Lizzy say really shock him that much?

But wow, the whole Lydia/ Wickham situation slapped me upside the head. I was not expecting that. I knew Wickahm was sleazy and suspicious, but really bro? And Lydia, what the hell? Does she not have a brain? Or eyes? Or maybe she has eyes and that's the problem because Wickham is some sort of gorgeousness, I guess? Seems nasty. Either way, sucks to suck for both of them because they'll both be miserable. Lydia will because Wickham is a two-face sack of shit with a debt problem and Wickham will be miserable because Lydia is a lot to handle (and I have the distinct feeling she'll have an affair, but then again I can see them both having affairs. Maybe it'll work if they agree to have an open relationship?) Either way, I'm not sorry for either of these characters.

pRiD3 & Pr3jUDicE

Ahh, the end of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and Pride and Prejudice along with it. I can see why a lot of people liked the diaries. I mean the jokes and dialogue were pretty corny for my tastes, but nonetheless still entertaining. It also serves as a pretty true Pride and Prejudice adaptation. With the characters names and attitudes still present and the storyline progressing in the same way the book does (with some changes here and there), it does pretty well to adapt the novel.

The few changes to the story are also nice. With the story taking place in our generation, having the story unfold via YouTube vlog is entirely appropriate. However, that limits how many characters can be in the story at one, which leads to characters being mentioned rather than seen in some parts of the vlog. Also, without actually seeing what’s going on in the lives of the characters, we only have Lizzie’s point of view which kinda makes the audience’s judgement of other characters a little biased.

The way they also try to modernize the story leads was bound to lead to some changes in the way the story progressed, but I don’t think any of them were undesired or really out there, and I think that’s what makes the diaries so popular. Also, I wonder how many people actually thought this story was real. Like…the acting wasn’t terrible, but I found it really hard to believe that this was someone’s actual life and that all this stuff was really happening to “Lizzie”. Idk…It could just be because I knew that this wasn’t supposed to be real, but I really can’t imagine anyone else thinking otherwise.

Overall, I can’t say that I’m more enamored with Pride and Prejudice or The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, but I’m glad I read it. At the very least, if a random person asks me if I have read the novel or if I know anything about the story, I could say “Why do you care? I don’t even know you…?”