JajaLala

There's probably at least another year or two until Bridgerton Season 5 BUT you know what??? I'm HYPE as fuck anyway, and you know why??

Season 5 is the Francesca/Michaela season, AKA F/F!!! We gonna get a huge, mainstream, high-budget season of a regency romance show focused on two women getting together!!! Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!



I'm a big fan of historical romance, especially the regency-esque variety, bc I love the sense of tension it builds. In such a repressed setting where the touch of an ungloved hand can send someone to a fainting couch, the romantic/sexual tension gets a delicious squeeze that's hard to replicate in modern-setting works. The original Bridgerton books, of which I've read the main eight, are fairly classic white cishetero mainstays of the genre, though I think their executions are strong and there's usually some relatable, complicated, or compelling character work going on (especially with regards to grief, and the messiness of post-marriage relations).

The Bridgerton television show SHINES by taking the setups and settings and the outlines that Julia Quinn has and being like... "Let's execute this but do whatever the fuck we want with costumes and casting--it's about the regency VIBES, not historical accuracy, and we can have fun in a way that includes all sorts of people and not JUST the white cishetero folks". The end result is a fabulous display of costume work and interwoven storytelling, where you get to follow many character threads over the course of all these seasons bc they've got the completed books to help guide them, but UNLIKE the books that were charting the initial course, they've got the whole map already laid out and can do whatever detours, elaborations, and foreshadowing along the way.

Is it occasionally still ridiculous? Yes, but that's part of what I LOVE about it. It's COMMITTED to doing its own thing and the result is brilliant. It's amazing to watch with friends bc there's ALWAYS something to talk about. And it allows folks who have not always seen themselves reflected in these exciting, juicy regency stories to see people who look like them be central.

Now in terms of QUEER stuff: Bridgerton has flirted with some queerness, but it hasn't taken center stage so far. Many people have wondered if Eloise, the feminist Bridgerton daughter, would end up being a lesbian, but it's pretty clear now that FRANCESCA is a lesbian, and I think considering the source material that is an EXCELLENT choice.

Long-winded discussion on the show's queer stuff so far and why Francesca is an excellent choice for a lesbian adaptation

Since the Bridgerton show did a lot with racial diversity, people have been curious about how far it might go in sexual diversity as well.

Eloise
The fandom latched onto Eloise (the fifth Bridgerton child) because she shows a lot of attitude and feminist desires to be free of the "marriage mart". She also has a close friendship with Penelope, and an enemy (who later sorta becomes a friend) Cressida--AKA her strongest relationships are with women. In the books, Eloise does NOT have these sorts of attitudes--she's depicted as strong-headed and ends up being a spinster, but she doesn't seem particularly feminist, and one of her favorite activities is looking after children. That makes the show's choices feel like a CHOICE--something done to foreshadow a sexuality change, perhaps?

But the show has ALSO gone out of its way to establish Eloise's potential romantic interest in men--there's a particular thread in (I think) the third season where she ends up talking to a newspaper boy and gets involved with some political radicals, and it's implied she develops feelings for this commoner boy SPECIFICALLY because he sees her and talks to her as a person with ideas worth listening to. Those feelings are quickly crushed and they are forced apart due to class differences, but I think that's the show trying to do a little foreshadowing/damage control for folks building up lesbian expectations for Eloise and saying: "Yes, she's our feminist who rails against the societal restrictions of women in the time period, BUT that doesn't necessarily make her a lesbian, she just isn't interested in most men because of their misogyny."

And that makes sense considering the show is, ultimately, beholden to the classic happy endings of the books: Marriage. The show gladly shows interracial marriage, but so far has given zero implication that the version of regency England they've created includes gay marriage.

I wonder about what sort of story they'll give Eloise in her season bc it's HIGH KEY a downer, already from the books and doubly-so when we consider how the show has changed some things...

Spoilers for Eloise's book and a potential Eloise season of the show, + TW for mental health issues

Basically the spinster Eloise becomes pen pals with a widower who has two kids from his late wife, then abruptly goes to visit him, takes care of his two kids while they kinda fight and argue a bunch, then gets forced to marry him by her family because she visited him without a chaperone, and then there's a whole thing where he's AVOIDING HIS OWN KIDS because he's afraid he'll be an abusive father and so leaves Eloise to completely manage them on her own, and she has to encourage him to spend time with his own children. Basically Eloise becomes this dude's nanny and then marries him, which doesn't bode well with the feminist Eloise we've seen in the show.

The show ALSO has already depicted the late wife. She was a significant secondary character in the first season, and showed up briefly in the third season, and the actress of the character has expressed that she finds the character's death in the book to be Pretty Fucking Distasteful (depression that leads to suicide), and I think would be difficult to sell to audiences considering we know and care about this character already.

So idk what they're gonna do about that one. Maybe the wife will die in an accident/illness? OR (in my boldest, wildest dreams) maybe there will be some sorta poly situation where Eloise lives with the husband and wife in an unconventional bliss. OR (another wild dream) the husband dies and Eloise lives with the wife as a "spinster nanny" who sleeps with her employer every night (I don't think that'll happen bc, despite various other changes, I think the show is committed to having the character "ships" remain the same).

Benedict
The second Bridgerton child, Benedict, is canonically shown to be bisexual onscreen. He's an *~*artist*~* and the show takes advantage of how the arts scene is more flexible with certain norms. We see background homosexuality in some of his art school scenes, and at some point he ends up getting involved with a guy or two, though clearly in a casual way.

Ultimately, his love interest is a woman (and the basis of season 4), but he explicitly acknowledges his attraction to all genders (lol it's kinda an awkward forced convo that I think was done for the sake of audiences, but I do like the confirmation).

Notably, he and Eloise are shown to have a particularly strong bond, setting time aside to sit on the swings together and kinda vibe about not fitting in. Kinda gives a queer siblings vibe.

Francesca!!!
Francesca was not particularly notable for the first season or two, but in season three she debuted, met John Kilmartin, quietly fell in love and got engaged. Her love story is calm; even though she has some big dramatic dudes vying for her attention, she is attracted to John because he is quiet and she feels COMFORTABLE around him. There's some discussion of her feeling like the large Bridgerton household is loud chaotic, and for her she dreams of a nice quiet, controlled household (lowkey there are some potentially autistic vibes for her), and John represents all that for her. They are like, legit cute, and clearly care for each other a lot.

However, season three ends on the button of John introducing his cousin, Michaela, and Francesca briefly stammering. This was the first indication of an eventual F/F season--in the original books, John has a male cousin Michael, so it seemed straightforwardly genderswapped. Still, up to this point, there was not a lot of queer stuff clear for Francesca. She was literally happily married to a man, and all seemed well.

SEASON FOUR however finds some good time to develop her and her relationships with John and Michaela. There's a funny (but also sad) little storyline about her struggling to find her "pinnacle"--AKA being like "I've HEARD of orgasms, but I'm not sure if I've had it with John??" this is partially motivated by her desire to have children, and thinking if she has her pinnacle she may be more likely to have a child. What follows is some forced attempts from her to make their sex life more exciting, which John NOTICES and is like "you don't have to force yourself to act like you're coming when you're not, let's take things slow, we got all the time in the world." Which is SO sweet and tender and makes it all the more devastating when John abruptly dies.

AKA we get to see that though their marriage is VERY loving, she considers John her dearest friend, there does seem to be a disconnect in their sex life where like... Francesca's fine, she's down to have sex with John, but there's no passion, no pinnacle. It screams compulsory heterosexuality in a sincere way--Francesca deeply WANTS to be a wife, to fit in, to have children and bear heirs for his estate, and she ESPECIALLY wants it BECAUSE she loves him, but it's not the kind of love that makes her excited to go to bed with him.

Meanwhile, she kinda hates Michaela at first because Michaela is boisterous and makes John stay up late to gossip and play games. Though Michaela's homosexuality is not EXPLICITLY stated or shown, there's a particular scene where John sternly says that Francesca should NOT try to set Michaela up with any men, and Michaela has some lines about John being one of the few people she can be herself around (AKA John definitely knows Michaela is a lesbian, and accepts that about her). Eventually, after a fight, Francesca and Michaela end up making up and getting along quite well. When John dies, there's some tension between them but then another notable connection, including dancing together and holding hands as Francesca is like "Please stay with me while we grieve, you're one of the few people who understands how devastating it is to lose him..." only for Michaela to almost immediately FLEE off to Scotland (where the Kilmartin family is from).

ALL THIS TO SAY: Season four may center Benedict/Sophie, but there was also notable setup for Season five's upcoming F/F couple.

AND HOW DOES THIS PLAY INTO THE BOOKS? In the books, Michael has a huge struggle where he falls in love with Francesca at first sight... at her wedding to his cousin. He stays by her side as a friend, but then when John dies the guilt is too much and he flees. Some years later, when Francesca decides to rejoin the marriage mart, he happens to be back in town and discovers that he's totally still NOT over her, and sparks fly... still wracked by guilt, because he hates that he's "taken" his beloved cousin's place... not only the estate, but if he were to marry Francesca, it would feel like he's trying to completely replace him. It's messy, but ends up getting extremely passionate--Something that Francesca notes when comparing them IS that John felt safe, comfortable, but her eventual relationship with Michael is hot and passionate in a way that is different.

There are several reasons this is PARTICULARLY suited to a F/F adaptation: Number one being the happy ending potential. Firstly, as a widow, Francesca would be societally allowed to remain "single" for the rest of her days if she wished, and so if she took up a relationship with a woman there wouldn't be a looming specter of "you have to marry!"

Additionally, the Kilmartin estate is Scottish, and there is historical precedent that some Scottish titles could pass down to female heirs. AKA the conflict about Michael/Michaela feeling guilty for "benefiting" from their beloved cousin's death can remain the same despite Michaela being a woman. Additionally, this gives Michaela certain freedoms and assets that can support her ability to be independent even without marrying.

Thirdly, there's another layer added to the "John-safe comfortable VS Michael(a)-hot sexy" contrast when they're different genders. Having Francesca be a repressed lesbian gives a powerful punch to why her relationship with his cousin is so much more passionate. Making Michael(a) a lesbian ALSO gives another reason for Micahela to feel guilty for loving her cousin's wife--not only is it a betrayal to her beloved cousin, but there's also intense societal forces telling her that it's wrong of her to feel that way about a woman in the first place, and which motivates her to keep quiet and run away from Francesca rather than being there for her as a friend. And even when Francesca is back on the marriage mart, it remains a STRONG reason for her to NOT confess (in the books, it's just guilt holding Michael back. Francesca also often talks about Michael being Such A Good Friend who she starts to have some Confused Horny Feelings For, which honestly feels a little silly between a M/F couple where cross-gender friendships are often suspected of romance/lust, but is SUPER on point for a F/F couple where platonic feelings are assumed between two women).

All of this elevates and intensifies the already existing dynamics of love, lust, and guilt present in the original story.

The ONE major aspect from the first book I'm curious about how they're going to adapt is children. Francesca wants children very much in the book, and that's her motivation for going back on the marriage mart. She struggles with infertility, however, both with John and Michael. The book doesn't end with children, though the bonus epilogue (which the author wrote after finishing all the books I think) includes Francesca finally getting pregnant from Michael after she relaxed and accepted that she might not have children.

In the show, she's expressed a wish for children, but it was usually paired with some specific references to wanting to make an heir FOR John--tying it specifically to a duty she wants to fulfill, rather than necessarily just wanting children for children's sake. To me this feels like the showrunner subtly adjusting to foreshadow that Francesca may end up not having children at the end, and that will remain part of her happy ending. HOWEVER keeping at least some desire for children will ramp up the tension--if she goes back on the marriage mart looking for a man to help her have children, then it becomes tension-filled to go AGAINST those goals by fucking a woman who cannot help her have kids instead.

Again: Making Michaela a woman makes literally every aspect of this story juicier and more filled with tension.

The one thing I'd really like to see but am not sure will actually happen: I want to see Francesca talk some of her feelings out with Benedict (who is bisexual) and discover a connection there. Maybe some chatting with Eloise as well. The show is better at connecting the siblings throughout the storylines than the books, but idk if the director will think to include that... I think it could create some funny and touching scenes though.

SO YEAH I'M EXCITED. I am afraid of whether the execution will succeed in giving me the passionate lesbian tension and sex I wanna see on screen or not, but the setup is so good that I have to believe it'll make a bare minimum solid delivery. I've sometimes found the M/F couples melodramatic or overdone, but you better bet that I'll be cheering on literally all the same convoluted setups and cheesy storylines when two women get to be the subject <3 <3 <3

Back in college, I did a decent chunk of music production and enjoyed it, but I haven't gone very deep into it post-graduation. There's a lot of upfront equipment and software costs to it, and it's not as though I have a proper studio space, so I've ignored the thought/hobby for awhile. I have like, one USB microphone that a friend gifted me, which eventually I ended up using for my 2022 podficcing phase, but have not done much with outside of that.

Recently though one of my roommates has been doing song composition and asked about audio recording. I was like "Well I have the one mic, and GarageBand on mac computers is a pretty serviceable way to record music (Audacity too if you're very minimalist) but if you're trying to layer and line up multiple tracks on top of each other and make it sound NICE, we should probably get all this other stuff which is a lot upfront, let me google the costs..."

Slightly more technical details

A fancy recording setup involves several different components, including:

Audio Interface: Literally a box that combines all the various inputs/outputs and does some other key things. It keeps them all aligned with minimal latency. AKA normally if you record with a microphone directly USB-connected to your computer, and then listen to it through a set of headphones connected to the computer, then the audio signal has to travel all the way from the microphone through your computer and then to your headphones--and your computer is not designed for/trying to be able to to deliver that FAST. That's fine if you're recording and THEN listening back, but if you want to do both simultaneously (for example, if you sing a harmony on top of your melody track) then you're gonna introduce a weird delay/latency that makes it super hard to line up the parts properly. Using an audio interface which is designed to have minimal delay and line things up with themselves makes layering sounds on top of each other SO much easier.

Microphone with XLR cable: An audio interface only takes certain types of inputs, and for microphones it takes an XLR cable (big round thing with pins inside) that allows for an ANALOG signal. A USB microphone translates the audio to a DIGITAL signal, which increases latency, so audio interfaces typically only take the analog XLR. This was frustrating for me bc I do have a USB microphone, but even if I bought the interface I wouldn't actually be able to use that mic with it unless I ALSO bought a new microphone that had that XLR capability/connection.

Headphones: You connect a set of headphones directly into the audio interface (again, to lower latency), and that ALSO has its own preferred connector (TRS, I think 1/4 in? Think a regular audio jack but Extra Thick). You can connect basically any headphones with an adapter, but (1) you have to buy that adapter (2) you need a wired headset in the first place... unfortunately, I did not really have this, as I don't love headsets and the one set I have is bluetooth.

Cables, mic stands, etc: There's some various peripherals necessary to connect all the stuff and actually hold it up (especially holding up the microphone). Not crazy, but adding on top of everything else, it can feel overwhelming to ALSO have to choose and purchase.

And so I googled the equipment I'd need and found that it would be Quite A Lot... So I despaired like "Yeah I'm never getting into a proper audio recording phase again, it's too expensive to justify..."

But then I remembered the treasure trove that is Facebook Marketplace. And podcasting/song recording is the kind of hobby that some people get into and then drop (or they get beginner equipment and then upgrade), and maybe some of them might be willing to part with that equipment at a good price, and lo and behold! At first I was looking for just one item, but discovered someone was actually selling a small suite of the exact equipment I needed in a bundle for a CRAZY good price.

It was still pricey, enough that I feel motivated to get my money's worth, but I looked up the individual components online and found that I was definitely getting some BIG savings overall, PLUS I don't have to go hunting around for all the different little pieces--I could just go, pick it up, and have it all (and likely all compatible with each other). AKA, I found a perfect beginner's kit for a steal of a price.

So I connected with the person, who was trying to get rid of the stuff before moving out of the country, and got #blessed to be able to purchase it all for probably half (or less) what it might have been retail altogether. Yay!!!

I tested the setup with my computer (and with my roommates iPad, which she'll probably use for her song recording) and it all works/is functional and is compatible with each other!! Big wins! I recorded a little bit of music AND read out a real quick podfic just to test things out.

Podficcing tangent

I got really into podficcing back in 2022--I was experiencing a LOT of wrist pain, and podficcing was a nice activity where I just sat in a chair to talk and would barely use my wrist for 10-30 minutes per recording session. It gave me the satisfaction of a hobby and productivity, though I'll confess the EDITING and posting part involved perhaps a bit more wrist work than was ideal. Still, I got really into it and developed a whole workflow and method (especially for posting... do you know how few options there are to host audio where you can seamlessly embed the audio in AO3??)

However, I learned about some brilliant wrist exercises that eventually ended up saving my butt by bringing my daily wrist pain down to a manageable level. I'm extremely glad for that, but also the end result is I kinda dropped podficcing.

Well, now that I'm trying to get my money's worth for this audio setup, I'm hoping to get back into it again. After recording the test podfic, I went into my files and discovered I actually have SEVERAL podfics recorded from 2022 that I just never edited or posted... so while editing this new one, I edited one of the old ones at the same time and posted them both yesterday. I'm hoping to edit the few others that languished in my podfics folder as I do other new podfics as well. At this point, I've also become much more of an audiobook reader, so I think I may do an even better job podficcing in the future now that I've been more of a listener.

So I'm excited and going to try to get back into podficcing! I did a very quick slapdash test podfic with the new microphone, but I want to sit down and do one with a more organized physical setup. And then I'd also like to do a multichapter one... Oneshots are def the play for getting back into it, but I'd love to do a bigger long-term project. I've often enjoyed the investment of reading long fics, so I'd like for people who listen to podfics to also be able to listen to long fics too.

Unfortunately I've become much less of a fanfic reader in the past few years (been getting more into published books, life has been busy, tastes have refined so I'm pickier) and the end result is that most my AO3 bookmarks (where I would look for fics I might want to podfic) are just oneshots. On top of that, I generally prefer to podfic for people who have blanket permissions/transformative work statements that make clear whether they accept podfics of their work, which also limits my options in terms of authors.

I'd love to record a multichapter of like, 10-50k words. In the past I recorded a nice 15k, 3 chapter TogaChako fic that resulted in 1.5 to 2 hours of actual audio, and I found that a delightful little project that I'd love to replicate with something new. I also did the Ace Attorney behemoth (49k, 13 chapters) my best friend wrote where I recorded TWO versions--one where I was literally reading for the first time out loud and reacting along the way, and then a second where I read it normally/formally afterwards for ppl who just wanna hear the fic. The formal version ended up being around 5 hours I think? But it was a lot of fun to be able to engage and play with that fic for a long period of time.

I would love to have like... a Good Fic, That I Like, That's Relatively Recent (or like, I've recently read and aligned with my current tastes), that's a multichapter around 10-50k, from an author who allows podfic. But that's hard to find organically! So if anyone has any recs (especially if they're F/F within like, My Hero Academia, Fire Emblem Three Houses, or any other fandoms you've seen me yap about) plz let me know.

Anyway, I still need to figure out a good PHYSICAL set up. My roommates and I have a "hobby room", but it's already quite full of other stuff so trying to get a functional corner for audio stuff might take some time and additional little shelf/table stuff. All that is pretty cheap logistical management, though--not pricey and specialized equipment. In the future as I use it more and get comfortable I may discover I don't like different pieces or feel a need to expand... but at least then I'll have everything else set up, so I can just replace pieces bit by bit and still be functional instead of having to buy a bunch of stuff upfront.

Time to look back on the fic I posted in 2025! This year I wrote less than previous years, primarily due to doing grad school part time during the whole year. Though education is good, it made me sad to not have as much free time for hobbies... Oh well! I still found ways to write some :D. Pretty much all My Hero Academia... despite the manga being over, somehow I'm still obsessed.

Boku No Hero Academia
( My Whole Life for Yours )

( Nagantbot )

( Dear Himiko, )

( Magical Girl All Might )

( A 'Straight' Girl's Guide to Dating Your Best Friend )


No fandom
( Comprehensive Ao3 Fic In a Fic (Dark/Light Mode Compatible) )

Technically, I started posting SushiLover69 left a comment... this year (AKA the reason I was working out that Fic-within-a-fic stuff), but that's incomplete so I'll discuss it more on the year I finish it.

As with last year, the NWA Fic Fight was a great way to stimulate my creativity and push out a few oneshots in June. Aside from that though, I just finished up a big multichapter from last year, pushed out a short concept multichapter in October (and I guess started posting the SushiLover69 fic towards the end with no set update schedule). Most years I have a big multichapter project that takes up much of the year, but I had to scale back. Looking at my word count on AO3 for the year, this year had the lowest word count in the past five years.

Which makes me EXTRA excited for this coming year! Without grad school, I'll have more free time and energy that could potentially include fic time. I'm currently dealing with an excess of WIPs--while being unable to commit to posting a scheduled multichapter, I nevertheless have been puttering and starting/stopping various concepts, and now I'm in a place where I kinda gotta choose one and commit, but making that choice is hard.

For now, I'm in the midst of putting together a more manageable 5-6 chapter fic that I wanna use to ease back into posting. I also technically have SushiLover69 going, but I wanna keep that very casual and unscheduled.

Of course, since I'm done with grad school I ALSO have committed to wanting to do more "for fun" classes and activities (dancing, guitar, etc) that might end up leading to me still not having as much fanfic time as I would like... but at least I won't have so much homework!

Sorry I've been somewhat absent on here, both posting and commenting. For the past few months, my schedule has been mildly booked... as in usually SOMETHING going on each weeknight, whether that's date nights, friend phone calls, events, or classes.

Classes, yes, because I started grad school! I'm doing the classes online to stay flexible, but I try to attend every class during the "live" time to keep myself accountable. Unfortunately, adding on grad school classes to my schedule means 2-3 weeknights are occupied, plus extra time for homework/quizzes/etc...

Feels good, but I have been left with little time to sit down and focus on DW posts. My activity is likely to be come-and-go as my schedule keeps getting packed. Though I do have some free time, I'vee been trying to fill it with writing... I've started posting a new My Hero Academia multichapter (TogaChako) that has been encouraging me to keep writing to stay ahead of my self-imposed deadlines XD.

I'm still reading books in between various other things, and may do a reading round-up at some point. But if you don't see me for awhile, fret not... Life is just getting in the way of my beloved internet lifestyle XD. Hope all of you are doing alright!

Yayyyyy I got to the end of the first draft of my "Vampires and Werewolves in Space" romance/adventure story....

...Now I have to edit XD.

I have a tendency to leave a lot of [CHECK] or [CHANGE X] or [ONE WEEK? TWO WEEK?] kinds of notes or even whole [GO BACK AND ADD INJURY EARLIER] type scene-adding notes while I'm writing, so since I got to the end of the draft I've been gradually going back and editing those, plus trying to lay out a proper timeline for the events so when characters say "I last saw this person [X] days ago" I know how long to put XD.

There are one or two people in my writing group (and my roommate) who have expressed an interest in reading it... I want to share in three parts, maybe finish editing the first part, share that, then work on editing the 2nd and 3rd part while they read the first etc... but also I worry that while editing the other parts I'll want to go back and edit the first part in some major way, so I feel like I have to have it ALL done before sharing... but then again, it'll probably keep changing and adjusting for a long while, and it's okay if the literal first readers see it in a slightly malleable state, and their feedback might be able to help guide the edits.

Anyways, now that I've at least completed the first draft of this original project, I've recently found myself drawn to fanfic once again...

( Fanfic Projects in the works )

Although I'm easily fired up by fanfic (I think the larger/easier amount of external validation AND the worldbuilding/characters being done so I can just mess around makes it appealing), it's been gratifying for the past ~8 months or so to focus on some original stuff and relearning how to exercise those muscles that require developing a world and characters from the ground up. I think I'll continue my policy of only working on original stuff during my weekly writing group. Although I originally set that policy out of embarrassment and not wanting to talk fanfic with the writer's group, I like that it forces me to stay connected with original project(s) even as I play with fanfic on other days of the week.

For now I'll probably spend most of writer's group editing, but at some point, I may start that lesbian regency idea involving the dominant femme duke's daughter and the submissive butch marquis's daughter... but editing comes first!

I finished taking a swing dancing class a few weeks ago! It was like a 6-class intro course. I've gone swing dancing socially before and done like, the one-hour intro sessions they sometimes do at the beginning, but this was my first dedicated class really breaking down the fundamentals.

Ultimately I wish I had taken it as a lead. I think it was still valuable to take as a follow, especially towards the end as we did some slightly more complex (though still basic) things, but I feel like following is something that's fairly intuitive to me at this point. I can follow people on the dancefloor at the basic level--when leads throw more advanced stuff at me, sometimes I catch and respond well, sometimes I fumble, but I'm usually able to learn on the dancefloor itself while social dancing. It was good to have a few things broken down more thoroughly in the course so I understand better what certain leads are trying to do, but...

I want to become a stronger lead! I want to be able to drag my friends swing dancing and then whisk them along, and being a lead is the best way to do that. I've done some of those 1-hr intro sessions as a lead, so I know the basic footwork, but I feel like I would have REALLY benefited from doing that 6-week course as a lead so things are really broken down and I get to just practice every little move over and over. As a follow, I spent most the time just responding to the leads baby duck steps, which was usually easy and didn't always give me something new to learn/work with. As a lead, I think I would have been more engaged and the time would have been a lot more valuable.

They do run these classes multiple times a year--I would like to sign up again as a lead (you have to choose follow/lead when you sign up), but also I've just started a part-time grad school program that's been sucking up most of my non-work hours... so I'm gonna have to hold off for now. Until my class calms down, I think my dance time is gonna be limited. My current class ends in mid-August though, so perhaps I should make a goal to go to one of the social dances in late August...

Ah well, I still found it valuable (and a good way to get to know some leads in my area a little better! I'll hopefully recognize them at future social dances). I just would like to take it again as a lead at some point to get more out of it (or the more advanced classes as a follow, I suppose, but I think I'm more desperate to learn lead than fancy follow right now)

So I've been slowly plucking away at the classic Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë for awhile, and awhile back I finished it! Overall I really enjoyed it, loved the evocative and moody writing style, how twisty it was and how easy it was to get invested in Jane, I definitely see why it has endured as a classic, though there were a handful of little pieces that I was like "HMM this has not aged well or shows a certain unpleasant bias!"

( Details on Jane Eyre )

Soon after finishing it, I picked up Escaping Mr. Rochester by L. L. McKinney, an adaptation published in 2024! And had a fun time. It was a sapphic reimagining that focused on a certain section and addressed the biggest issue I had with the original.


( The details )

So yes: Jane Eyre is brilliant (newsflash!), but there's certainly room for adaptations to try new things with it. Escaping Mr. Rochester is on the simpler side, but it's doing something that makes me and probably many other people happy to see in a way that's accessible to many readers.

:D I think romance is my ideal genre to read. I'm a sucker for the tropes and the structure! It's just the right balance of exciting and safe that I almost always have a good time. So here's three I've read recently:

Bride, by Ali Hazelwood

( Fun! Vampire/werewolf lovers rejoice! )

Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters

( Fabulous adult romance! )

Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake

( It's a romance! But what's with all the LABELS? )

Reading all these romances while my girlfriend is traveling and Unavailable is perhaps evil to do to myself... but ahaha I'm still having fun even when I'm like "I WISH I COULD DO THIS WITH MY GF RIGHT NOW"

I finished reading An Island Princess Starts A Scandal by Adriana Herrera, and FUCK YEAH. A delightful lesbian scandal of a novel indeed!



( Details )

( Contrasting with Mortal Follies )

So lol don't worry, there's hot and sexy F/F historical romance out there that makes me squeal in delight. I'm glad I picked this up! Apparently it's #2 in a series with some M/F for #1 and #3, so I might check those out at some point, but since they're M/F I'm not in a rush.

I went to a line dancing event at a bar!

From what I can tell, line dancing is pretty accessible in terms of the moves. A lot of it is focused on the legs, usually just shifting weight, stomping, turning or the like. They put a bunch of moves together, and then you repeat that combination of moves a bunch of times during a song. My girlfriend said it's a dance that's "designed to be possible while holding a drink" ahaha. The hard part is putting it all together and remembering it! Especially since most the dances seemed to rotate around, so like you would start the dance facing one wall, and then when you finish the moves cycle you end up facing 90 degrees left, and start the dance over again facing that direction. I kind of liked that doing that provided a little challenge--I spent most of the night trying to follow other people, so since I was on the outskirts I would have a great view of the other dancers for 1-2 cycles, then I'd spend 1-2 cycles doing my best to attempt it myself XD (Badly).

The format at this place included some beginner's lessons, but a bunch of dances they just played the music and people came onto the dancefloor somehow knowing all the moves. Each song seems to have a unique series of moves, so I'm impressed by people who could remember so many! I did okay at the beginner's lessons (with some mistakes still lol), and abysmally when I attempted to learn on the spot during the un-taught dances XD (it seemed acceptable for people to try to follow on the sides). I think the hardest part for me was the way the dances would "spin" around, especially if some of the moves involves some degree of spinning as well... I found it hard to anchor what direction I was supposed to be facing and where the cycles of the dance began/ended. There were a few that had REALLY clear anchors (like a huge double-foot stomp where everyone would pause for a few counts to shake their hips) and that helped a lot to orient me and get me back onto track, but some dances were so busy that I couldn't get anything straight.

Still, was overall fun! I only stayed for an hour, but I can see how it would be super fun if I went more regularly and got more used to the specific moves and began to memorize particular dances. This location was a little trip away from me, so I don't think I'll be a regular at all, but I would do it again with an excuse for sure.

Now I miss my swing-dancing, though. A few of the songs were "partnered" dances, and idk if there's specific choreography for partnered line dancing, but most the people looked like they were just kinda doing their own thing, but they were doing it great! Line dancing was mostly individual which was great in its own way, but I wanna have a fun sexy time spinning my girlfriend around XD. Both of us weren't confident enough to join the partner dances at line dancing, though.

Fortunately: I finally got into a Lindy Hop swing dancing class! There's one I've had my eye on for awhile, but spots fill up so fast I kept missing sign ups. I finally caught it during an open enrollment period and signed up. I'm signed up to learn just follow for now. I'd like to learn lead so when I take people out dancing I can dance better with them and teach them fun moves, but it's probably good to start with building foundations in follow, and then I can take the class again as a lead in the future (hopefully, if I can catch the sign ups)

So I'll have that class every week for a month or two, hopefully it's helpful! As always, going out dancing has confirmed that dancing is my favorite form of exercise.