Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:What we saw is a waste of the raw material provided by the books. It’s a waste of truly amazing actors and crew. And it’s a waste of the opportunity to tell the kind of story I
Book!AeneasWouldNever:What kind of story?
Book!AeneasWouldNever:Ulsie?
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:Summer Diaz is so talented. She’s also gorgeous.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:Yes. Both of those.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:I’m sensing a “but” in there somewhere.
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:Lavinia is supposed to be ugly. Not just plain, or dressed in unflattering clothing. UGLY.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:This is true, at least in Wade’s books.
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:That’s the fundamental beauty of the Lavineas relationship, BAWN.
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:She’s a woman who’s been insulted and devalued her whole life because of how she looks, even though she’s smart and brave and kind. Then Aeneas comes along, and he has his own baggage, but he sees her. He SEES her. He recognizes that everyone considers her ugly, but
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:Hesees her value. He grows to love her and desire her, even as she learns to trust him. Which is hard for her, but she does it, because she loves him too.
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:That’s the crux of the Lavineas story. As much as I adore Summer Diaz in the role, I can’t help but think casting her was a fucking waste of a meaningful story that people needed to see on their television screens.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:I understand what you mean. I’m not sure any other actor could embody Lavinia’s intelligence and determination quite so well, but—yes. You’re right. It’s yet more potential wasted.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:I imagine the actors see all that too. Even Summer herself.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:Aeneas’s story... I just
Book!AeneasWouldNever:I just have the feeling the heart of his story will be destroyed too. A man questioning his relationship to the values he’s been taught by his parents and making his way in the world. Finding his own moral code. Falling in love and learning to value both himself and that love more than his past and the duties imposed on him by others.
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:That’s a lovely way to put it.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:And in the final season, the showrunners will lay all that to waste. It’s going to hurt, Ulsie. The way it plays out will hurt me, and it’ll hurt you too. I’m so sorry.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:I mean, that’s what I guess will happen.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:Butthe Lavineas relationship is always there on the page, if not on the television screen. And I’m always here too, on your computer screen. Anytime you need me.
Unapologetic Lavinia Stan:I’m not sure I deserve a friend like you, BAWN.
Book!AeneasWouldNever:You don’t. You deserve so much more.
14
“I’M NOT ENTIRELY CERTAIN THE WORLD NEEDED A COCROFFINUT.”April popped the last bite into her mouth, sugar crystals sparkling on her lips. “However, I can now feel individual electrons orbiting the nucleus of every atom in my body. If that was the creator’s intent, mission accomplished.”
Marcus had to laugh, despite his preoccupation with her mouth. “I love it when you talk science-y to me.”
She smiled at him, freckled cheeks pink in the sun, and God, he’d never been happier to ignore Alex’s advice and his own best judgment. Never.
When she’d written him Monday evening, apparently willing to let him emerge from the hole he’d inadvertently dug for himself, he hadn’t hesitated or thought twice. Not given the misery of their days without contact.
The absence of April in his life had hollowed out each and every day. For an hour or two at a time, maybe, he could distract himself from that emptiness. With writing, with reading the scripts his agent sent, with binge-watching British baking shows alongside Alex. But in the end, there he was, always, alone in his echoing LA home. Lonely. Missing a dear friend and—more. Whatever else they were becoming together before he’d tripped one of her personal land mines.
So,yeah. Good judgment be damned. Despite all the complications of the situation, any chance to be with April, he’d take.
“Funny you should say that. The people at my new job have a group T-shirt, I found out this week.” With a careless sweep, she brushed crumbs off her chest and onto the sidewalk, where curious birds were edging closer. “It saysTalk Dirt-y to Me.”
