bennett drama

[intrikate88]

LYDIA BENNETT WHAT ARE YOU DOING.

Okay, so, that video Lydia just posted.

What is going on and what happened in Vegas? I mean, Lydia's all uncomfortable with, like, EVERYTHING Wickham has to say, and of course he's all JK JK JESUS I WAS JOKING and The Lydia Face goes right back up. But it sounds like he bailed her out of some sort of trouble in Vegas? That maybe was a joke to him, but not so much to her? And then he "jokes" about her partying with pills while babysitting, kind of making Lizzie's point about public perception better than Lizzie ever did. Did whatever trouble she got into involve drugs? And, pretty obviously, they hooked up. Except she wants to leave it in Vegas, and G-Dubs wants to keep things going.

I don't like how he's pressuring her...

...but Lydia assumed Lizzie WASN'T watching her videos. So she wasn't avoiding dating Wickham because she didn't want to hurt Lizzie's feelings.

So Wickham's being a douche here, but Lydia isn't exactly unenthusiastic about jumping on his face, either.

But only after she starts being convinced Lizzie might have gone back on her word and be watching the vlogs.

New year, new Lydia-who-sleeps-with-guys-more-than-once? Or is this all to spite Lizzie?

And am I wrong for kinda shipping them ANYWAY? I KNOW HOW THIS ENDS JEEZ.

Comments

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Gdubs' manipulation is amazing. He's pressuring her and hits her in her weak spots and he is an incredible predator. And if we didn't know that something bad happened with Gigi and that something bad will happen with Lydia (and it's going to get bad)we might want to feel sorry for him. He is THAT good at it. He's an incredible liar and manipulator and he's very effective at shaming and humiliating Lydia and making himself out as hero.

[intrikate88.livejournal.com]

Incredible manipulator, due to the fact that even *I* am feeling the effects. I mean, he's so smooth he makes it look like he's not even an active part of all this at all and he just happens to be sitting on the couch while Lydia rides a roller coaster of terrible impulses all on her own. I know what's going on, I know he'll just be the absolute worst... and yet I'm still feeling like hoping that no, he's for real, Lydia's making a good decision, it'll all be fine... except I am totally kidding myself.

WHAT. THE. HELL. SHOW.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

yes to all this. We're reaching the point where the writing and acting is so good, I feel it's almost triggering, you know? Every single horrible manipulative situation I've ever been in or seen is replaying. He dances all over her. Yes, Lydia is an actor -- we can't discount her own willing participation in this. But he is masterful at playing on exactly her greatest vulnerabilities. If some people bring out the best, others so cleverly bring out the worse.

So what happened in Vegas that he "saved" her from? And my friend raykel is wondering if there's special significance to the Xanax? Maybe he's a dealer?

I'm still liking the idea of a crime involving attempted revenge on Pemberley Digital but it could be some sort of prescription drug heist attempt.

Any thoughts?

[intrikate88.livejournal.com]

It's all so good that WE'RE being sucked into it. Ack.

I hadn't thought about him maybe being a dealer. It's possible, I can't imagine he makes much money being a swim coach, so he could be supplementing his income by selling drugs- I was thinking that maybe that night in Vegas Lydia had a stash of Xanax or Ecstacy or something at the club and he was able to hide it/get rid of it and smooth talk their way out of her getting in trouble over it. And if he IS a dealer, he could have gotten Gigi started on drugs she wasn't prescribed back when she was in high school or something, and that part hasn't come out at all because it would be harmful to Gigi's career if that got leaked on Lizzie's videos.

[raykel.livejournal.com]

Trigging. YES. That's why it's hard to watch.

Here's something I'm wondering: did Lizzie share the letter contents with anyone else? In the book, she confides in Jane. But here I'm wondering, Lizzie not watching Lydia's videos makes sense, but wouldn't Jane? How does it take so long to get back to Lizzie and Darcy with everything so public?

[raykel.livejournal.com]

Hi, friend of rthstewart here. This is sooooo disturbing. The only reason I can continue to watch is because I know it's supposed to be disturbing, but I see these comments on the vid from some who don't seem to know the story and think it's awesome... :shudder::

OK. So Xanax. What does it do recreationally? Was it just a random choice of Drug Kids Abuse These Days or was it specifically chosen? This is going to go to very dark places.... (masterfully told and planned, btw. Missed that reference altoghether when I first watched Lydia's videos.)

[intrikate88.livejournal.com]

Hi!

Oh, yeah, on the disturbing front. The fact that it's so well-crafted that the audience, or at least me, is manipulated as well is just making it so much worse. And I just don't know what's going to happen because it's going to go south, soon.

Xanax is an anti-anxiety drug, pretty much everyone except me apparently can get a prescription for it from their doctor if they complain of anxiety, but it's easy to get a tolerance for (since it's a benzo) and so people can get addicted or just keep taking more and more of it to feel better about life. It's pretty fast-acting. I think if it was chosen for any purpose, it would be Lydia's easy access to it, and some people get very drowsy from it so if she took too much she could doze off while driving or some other activity that requires attention.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

My impression from the vid was that he was reminding her of the Xanax as an example of the theft and her bad habit of maybe showing off her illegal activity for all the world which is not a good idea -- and that yeah, I know what you did, and I'm not above using it to humiliate and shame you into doing what I want. I did not see the Xanax as necessarily related to Vegas. More than a lapse in judgement (Lydia's got poor judgement already) maybe she was trying to sell it and it went awry. It's not the sort of thing, as far as I know, that produces a real pronounced high. It's euphoria and feeling good and making you feel "chill." Certainly it is addictive, but not as addictive as things like oxycontin.

I could see this feeding more into whether she might be useful to him as a conspirator in crime, rather than anything specifically drug-use related -- though the crime could be dealing and transport. It's Lydia whose the user, see? Not me, says George. It's a great alibi. I think of George as more dealer than user. But it's all speculation. He might have gotten to Gigi and turned her into an addict or used her money to supply. I've been rather enamored of the idea though that with Gigi, he used her to try to steal from Pemberley.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

LYDIA BENNETT WHAT ARE YOU DOING.

MY REACTION. Oh, that girl is going to get so, so damaged with this one.