#mlj lb

[bookcub]

My Lady Jane

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These are two of the best pages written in history

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me @ me: the horse jokes in my lady Jane are not that funny

me @ me: neigh they are

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Jane really does have the worst taste in books, huh?

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Jane is incredibly relatable

[ladytharen]

my lady jane watch party - 1.07 'another girl, another planet' (dir. stefan schwartz)

a little late to the watch party again because I keep sleeping in (trying out this """weekends""" things) but here we go! the best of schwartz's episodes! not even a contest.

+ we really start out this episode with it looking like jane is about to straight up be killed. but there's one for english rule of law - they have to remove her from the throne legally.

+ guildford watching from the forest, arriving just too late, is...very satisfying.

+ I almost think that jane is more upset about mary - who killed edward - getting the crown than losing it herself

+ katherine starts crying at the thought of jane being executed, which is a good detail, but I do want more scenes between them to explore their sisterhood.

+ frances isn't even willing to admit the possibility of jane dying yet. "there is always a way out if you know how to play the game. and luckily for us, gamesmanship is my second-best skill." combined with her panic over guildford-as-horse at the end, I know frances has vested all of her hopes in her eldest daughter. that explains so much.

+ edward doesn't have a shred of proof that he is who he says he is, and the only people who might recognize him either a) want him dead, b) are about to be executed themselves, or c) are powerless. he needs a plan (jane is good at plans, actually).

+ I do love that even with her execution looming, the servants in her childhood home are still standing by jane

+ mary is just so fixated on jane's execution! this isn't about gamesmanship, it's about the fact that jane was queen before her.

+ that said, frances yelling at her 10 year old daughter and kicking her out is not okay! and I think this may really be the last straw for katherine. after all, it's one thing if your mother does horrible things to you, it's another when she does it to your younger sister.

+ speaking of crumbs in this episode, at least norfolk argues for a trial for jane. a sham trial, for appearance's sake, but it at least buys jane time. but these comments about anne boelyn really do make bess commit to jane in a real way <333 and she takes the real risk of telling petunia to run after her failed stabbing attempt!

+ respect for guildford for refusing to give up on jane <3 he won't leave her, he won't abandon her, even if he's the only one! and that makes all the difference!

+ jane prepping for the trial is such a delight: she's got her books, she has a plan! and to be fair, she actually makes quite a good argument. it would have saved her life too, if guildford hadn't been caught.

+ fitz 10000% calls edward "your majesty" during sex, absolutely.

+ "you can't ban people, no matter how hard you try." excellent.

+ and we're at the guildford-sneaks-in sequence! it is great how he sneaks in and climbs the wall and, if jane had gone with him, I'm pretty sure they could have escaped. but she won't leave her family. this show definitely makes me think about family as a form of bondage.

+ "it's all my mother's fault" / "isn't everything?" :D

+ three cheers for the reunion! and guildford does try to stay focused on the escape, and to his credit, he does succeed in getting in! if he wasn't alone, maybe he wouldn't have been caught leaving :/

+ this is definitely my fave of the two intimacy scenes, and I am also delighted at how they have sex on top of all of jane's books. every detail of this scene is done well :D it's all been said before, so I'll just say: 13/10, fantastic choices all around

+ guildford really does seem to have this dissociative vibe after sex both times, until he's pulled back to jane. I'm sure there's something something peak happiness and then thinking about how he doesn't deserve happiness, etc etc.

+ jane's curls in the conversation about his first change look so great

+ "even if I don't prove my innocence, you can live. my family can live. this is what I shall think about if...I shall think about you." jane's whole expression during this scene! guildford's expression at the thought of jane dying! I'm here for it! suffering (TM)

+ poor charles being totally shocked that edward is alive <333 that's fair. I love that edward, fitz, and charles team up to try to save jane, though.

+ stan has such an evolution over this season, to the point that he is almost unrecognizable as the man we first meet by the riverbank. he's still a fop, but a dedicated fop willing to help guildford save jane who convinces his dad to do the same.

+ but by the time jane is heading to london, back at the family estate, guildford has already been discovered :(

+ fitz, you do know jane ;) you met her at her wedding! but he's still not obligated to save her. he's got to get his sister out from the zoo.

+ go bess! speak up for jane! sucks to be mary with everyone cheering for jane in the throne room.

+ and now jane knows edward is alive! it was almost a really great day for jane and charles

+ it's nice that edward wants to rescue jane by walking into the throne room and declaring himself, but jane is right. he needs power behind him to do so. and when edward leaves, he leaves to the sounds of cheering, thinking jane is safe - and runs straight into fitz trying to make things right <3

+ and oh man, here we go! just when jane thinks things will be okay, it's about to get much, much worse! this whole scene with frances screaming "that is a horse!", desperate to stop things before the reveal - it's so much!

+ lastly, this final shot of jane and guildford looking at each other, knowing the doom upon them: my heart!!! they deserve snuggles, not struggles!

[ladytharen]

my lady jane watch party - 1.06 'i feel free' (dir. stefan schwartz)

+ at least when jane is on the throne, she gets to wear a crown! I'll say this: the crown looks uncomfortable as heck

+ jane trying to raise an army through force is not...going well! but props to archer for pushing her out of the way of the crossbow shot D:

+ "yet our beleaguered ex-king remains stubbornly cismorphic" jeekers

+ I need S2 so I can have more of edward/fitz outlaw/thief otp!!!

+ at least jane accomplished firing dr. butts! that guy was the worst

+ lord dudley and frances are correct - jane really does need to consolidate her power. that said, if this is way jane is going to go down, there's no better way, tbh.

+ aw man, jane really does want to see guildford :( bu he's not there! and rupert didn't tell her until she comes looking for him.

+ "did he say anything else?" / "only that he's sorry, and uh, he didn't think you'd understand." sad face!

+ I never read guildford leaving as like, a permanent thing - just that he left to ~find a cure~ and then he'd come back - but I can see why jane would fear the worst.

+ "simple fact is, humans love to hate" sadly, lord dudley is not wrong. that does describe a lot of people. he's not all right either, though.

+ IMDB informs me that the ethian selling guildford to the ethian trader is called "owen", so: when owen is describing the transformation and how you feel free in that one moment, you can tell that guildford does feel it - and maybe, if he had the choice, he wouldn't hate it so much.

+ "I do not wish to discuss my wife" guildford is not here to examine his fight with jane, not yet!

+ frances is really auditioning scrope as a replacement husband for jane by having sex with him first. there are...no others like her.

+ 1 point deduction to william seymour for being afraid of frances! he'll get over that, at least, but you gotta be willing to stand up to the MIL

+ I like that 1) we get to see edward fighting for fitz's life, which I love, and 2) that we get to see him fight really well. we saw this from jane, and they learned together, after all.

+ I do love this dress that jane wears to the tournament/bowling!

+ "rain in england, I don't believe it" okay, buddy [rolls eyes] [sure jan.gif]

+ respect for katherine being the one to send the note to william, and to kiss him first, and to really go after her man. the grey women cannot be stopped from going after what they want, that's for damn sure.

+ jane is not...super great at diplomacy. telling norfolk he lost in front of everyone and then announcing the end of division laws tomorrow is just a recipe for disaster. it gets worse, later, with scrope.

+ stan really is GREAT at spilling the beans: the royal will is missing, guildford's a horse, guildford killed his mom, etc etc etc. no wonder lord dudley kept him away from court.

+ but at least stan reassures jane that guildford will come back! in fact, when jane hears a moment later via scrope that guildford is never coming back because her mother said so, she believes that more than she ever believed the alternative

+ back to guildford in the forest with a strange man with shackles D:

+ I know some folks in the fandom like jane with archer (we'll get to that again in 1.08) but I am irritated by frances saying that jane is "flirting with [her] new pet beast". god forbid women talk to men while trying to undo unjust laws without people thinking they're in love with them!

+ notably, while archer does have charisma, he's not willing to raise an army to help jane fight to save her throne, aka save the one monarch who is trying to protect ethians. even if he stayed because he has a crush on her (his "I don't know" in response to her query of why he stayed suggests this, at least?), he doesn't fight for her here, or in 1.08. others (susannah, guildford, frances, margaret) do. he's not required to use his army to save her - he's a leader with his own priorities, after all - but from a shipping perspective, meh. it also is kinda shitty that he expected jane to keep putting her neck out to defend ending division laws and then when the consequences of that arise, he peaces out.

+ meanwhile, jane finds out guildford is in danger and is immediately ready to set out to find him herself. babe, I know nobody noticed the last time you went missing, but that was before mary was raising an army to fight you.

+ "jane. jane is the reason." / "jane, your wife?" and then poor guildford thinks for a second that he could get back to her just before owen mocks him with it.

+ guildford still has his dagger! owen hasn't bothered to disarm him! is this his first time kidnapping someone? or at least someone with a dagger?

+ guildford is really gambling with his life when he tells this woodcutter that he's ethian, but he really is running out of time. however, jane is right - not everyone hates ethians, and people do want to help each other. it won't happen everywhere, and not when their power is threatened, but not everyone <3

+ and now guildford is on his way back to jane, with clarity (yay!), but he's going to be too late

+ at least jane gets to briefly end division laws? for like, 30 seconds? in front of 5 nobles who are clearly wishing they could also leave? alas.

+ this whole episode, frances has been trying to save her daughter - with bad methods that I don't like, but still - and she tries once more again at the end. she has her flaws, but she does risk herself to try to save her, repeatedly. at least she's consistent!

+ I do wish susannah had been in this episode, especially at court. maybe she's running things back at the ethian camp?

[ladytharen]

my lady jane watch party - 1.05 'i'm gonna change the world' (dir. stefan schwartz)

a little late to the watch party but I'm here! this is actually a tougher episode to watch, especially at the end. I love suffering (in fiction). it has great emotional highs though, and I love that for it!

+ you know, I had a pretty good feeling the first time around that edward wasn't dead. no body, no death!

+ it is very funny that margaret beaufort is going around assuming anyone who she doesn't know is ethian is a verity. that's very verity-ist of you, margaret.

+ how did nobody find jane before she woke in the morning? did nobody notice the queen was missing? y'all have one job and that is to secure the monarchy, which I do not support, but still!

+ I need this scottish-ethian alliance explored more. they do say "scottish queen", but at this point (1553), mary is still in france, so is this message actually coming through her mom, marie de guise? does mary know what her mom is up to?

+ you can tell some of the ethians were trained how to fight as nobles, and others really not. of course, susannah's number one concern right now is that queen jane sent the guards. gotta sort out your girlfriend.

+ edward really did pick jane at least in part because of the argument that she was bethrothed and could have a son. he himself said that a woman couldn't rule! edward! I have some beef I wanna talk about with you!

+ it is silly how lord dudley thinks he just overwhelm jane into making guildford her king. did you really think that would work? why?

+ "that's castillian inbreeding for you" omfg

+ mary isn't wrong that she needs to be proactive in taking the throne or jane will unseat her in turn. she's not wrong, but this goes back to her trying to kill edward, so choices, meet consequences.

+ norfolk really is an expendable pawn, isn't he? also, WHY IS MARY EATING THE FLOWER? she is just so....out there. I don't know.

+ frances "to the left, left, my left, THE OTHER LEFT" lmaoooo

+ this scene between jane and susannah is really lovely. I get why susannah comes in outraged and ready to fight, but jane is able to convince her she wasn't in on it pretty quickly :D and then she goes to disband the kingsland guards. good on her!

+ let jane wear a crown around the palace! she's queen!

+ "don't say pardon, say what" :D

+ so there are "gods", but there's still "Satan". I need worldbuilding.

+ I love learning that jane taught susannah some latin, at least.

+ this conversation between jane and susannah about curing ethianism is interesting, because jane doesn't tell susannah about guildford. she doesn't tell anyone. if she told susannah about guildford and his sunrise/sunset issue, maybe susannah would try to help in another way, but jane doesn't risk it.

+ also, I gotta say, just because the "cures" people have heard about don't work doesn't mean there is no cure. you cannot prove a negative, after all. the point is that nobody should have to live in fear of being ethian in the first place, whether a cure exists or not.

+ I will say this for frances: she does try to get her daughter out of the marriage now that she knows he's ethian (and now that they have money and jane is queen) and the discovery of that could lead to jane's (and her's and katherine's and margaret's) death. she does, apparently, have a line she won't cross. she'll force jane into marriage but she doesn't want her dead and she'll fight to keep that from happening. it's a low bar, I know, but we're talking about period drama mother-daughter relationships, so the bar is pretty fuckin' low.

+ all that said, I don't know if frances would have protected jane the way lord dudley protected guildford if jane had changed

+ fucking laces!!! :D

+ "do you think I'll like it?" / "gods, I hope so" shout-out to this moment! guildford wants to do a good job :D he wants jane to have a really nice time ^_^

+ jane 10000% talks through sex, good for her

+ also, I'm never going to write this in a fic, so I'll just say it here: this is an episode directed by a man, so we get less direction on the sex scene that focuses on jane's pleasure, but:

a) I do love how they're smiling and so clearly happy through this. that's not the usual focus in a sex scene, especially a first time sex scene - the focus is usually on desire/wanting/urgency instead - and I really like this choice, &

b) imo the last shot is of guildford starting to finger her. there. I've said it, it's out there.

+ forehead kisses!!! not my weakness on the screen right now!!!

+ "If I wanted to slay you, sweetcheeks, you'd be slain" shot through the heart, and you're to blame, you give loooove a baaaaad name, a bad name -

+ so the morning after: in the last shot, guildford was on the left and jane was on the right, but when jane wakes up, they've switched sides, and horse!guildford isn't fully on the bed (how could he be?). he clearly woke up in time to move off the bed and then fell asleep next to jane again. I know all about staging changes, I'm from the rogue one fandom :D

+ too bad bess is moved off the chessboard for now, she really made things more interesting

+ weird that margaret wants to kill all verities when ethianism skips generations, so people in her own family - and children of ethians - would or could be verities.

+ lord seymour is a bonkers character but his scenes with margaret are a delight, as is choice to give a 10 year old a REAL SWORD.

+ lord dudley is REALLY designing crowns for guildford, what a fop

+ hey, at least mary is clear that she'll never respect seymour professionally. that said, at least she doesn't....shoot him with a CROSSBOW.

+ aw, guildford put one earring in each hand so she'd always pick right. that's cute. also, guildford giving jane his mom's earrings and telling her she's given him hope: we're going to come back to that at the end of this post. I saw in a fanfic - blast it that I can't remember which one - that guildford kept the earrings safe from all his father's spending and debt, which I really like.

+ this party is LIT! also, how cute that guildford keeps trying to hold jane's hand through the crowd. I'm looking at you, timestamp (33:44)

+ katherine does have so much jewelry (and pearls!) on, but she makes it work

+ guildford is very very nervous about being around a lot of ethians. does he think they're going to recognize him as one of them?

+ susannah looks SO GREAT, what a boos.

+ "I could heal england!" / "fuck england, heal me!...I trusted you." oof. ooooooof. I mean, I've seen people making ethianism into an allegory for all the folks pushed to the fringes of society, including LGBT+ folks and autistic folks, and there's so much you could do with that allegory in the current climate. why did they cancel this show?! however, there's also the element of the internalized hatred for yourself and how that can spill over into anger at others who don't deserve it, and this show is hitting the nail on the head.

+ awwww, katherine really wants to meet william! they are so cute! and then "I like your gown" / "my sister dressed me" and he LEAVES. somehow that was worse than jane and guildford's first meeting D:

+ I mean, I respect how stan sees frances ordering everyone around and is just like "let me worship her". that's a fair response to seeing anna chancellor.

+ does archer know he's got a guy in his crew who's selling ethians to an ethian trader? that seems like important information that should come up!

+ it's definitely interesting how close the show sticks to the basic arc of history - that jane becomes queen but then mary raises an army against her and deposes her almost immediately.

+ okay, back to this point: there's something to be said for the show disentangling guildford's need for a cure/the hope he sees in jane from his real affection and love for her. when he leaves, and discovers that jane is more important to him than a cure, that's growth, baby! even though he loved her already, he needed that clarity about his needs and priorities. we gotta do episode 6 so guildford understands himself and his relationship with jane. that's character introspection and development that we don't often get in these fast-paced plot-based 8-episode seasons and I am here for it.