Jean/Lionel
May. 4th, 2005 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wisdomeagleThis is my favorite (read, only) pairing from As Time Goes By. I know I have about three people on my flist who watch it, but I think they deserve a post all their own, because this kills me dead.
Jean/Lionel
Oh, man. I'm glad![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jedi_penguin asked for this pairing, because I get to babble about what is, actually, probably my first OTP. I used to watch As Time Goes By in middle school, and I was a hardcore Jean/Lionel shipper, for real. I didn't really understand the pairing, then, not in any really significant way, but I did understand that it was absolutely, ridiculously adorable. It's something that would be one of my hardcore pairing kinks if there were anything else like it -- the reunited high school sweethearts. Especially since they don't just immediately fall back in love. The chemistry and sparkage that they've always had is still there, but they have to negotiate so much new material now. I love the way their former relationship is contrasted with the present-day relationship. Things were easier then because they were living a cliche, because despite the fact that it was real and new for them, it was still within the realm of understanding. The nurse and the soldier. It's a classic love story.
And then they get this fresh start. And they've changed. They aren't the same Jean and Lionel who were in love thirty-eight years ago, and I think that Lionel especially has trouble dealing with this, because he hasn't really had to deal with changing times the same way Jean has, especially changing gender roles. And I love the way they negotiate those changes, and the way gradually Lionel is forced to understand who Jean has become -- and the way he still loves her. The way, dammit, that they still love each other, despite their both being the most cranky, persnickety people on the planet.
When I started rewatching this, and watching it in order for the first time, with my girlfriend, my first thought on seeing Lionel was wow. He changes a lot. And I toldgvambat, "they mellow each other a lot." And this has proven to be true. Jean and Lionel do mellow each other, and I love the way they do that. The way each of them has flaws, and each of them is able to recognize and laugh at the other person's flaws and thus eventually their own. They strike me as such a real couple, and I love the way their more mature understanding of relationships is contrasted with the kids', especially Judi's, sheer romanticism. On the other hand, the kids are also capable of seeing things in Jean and Lionel that they can't -- like how sweet they are together. In that sense, the kids represent the audience itself, looking at the 'ship and smiling.
My favorite thing about Jean/Lionel, though? The way Jean absofuckinglutely melts when Lionel does something utterly sweet. It kills me every time, and makes me understand exactly why they are still SO RIGHT for each other after all these years, why they are still my first OTP after all these years. Yeah. I love them kind of a lot.
Jean/Lionel
Oh, man. I'm glad
jedi_penguin asked for this pairing, because I get to babble about what is, actually, probably my first OTP. I used to watch As Time Goes By in middle school, and I was a hardcore Jean/Lionel shipper, for real. I didn't really understand the pairing, then, not in any really significant way, but I did understand that it was absolutely, ridiculously adorable. It's something that would be one of my hardcore pairing kinks if there were anything else like it -- the reunited high school sweethearts. Especially since they don't just immediately fall back in love. The chemistry and sparkage that they've always had is still there, but they have to negotiate so much new material now. I love the way their former relationship is contrasted with the present-day relationship. Things were easier then because they were living a cliche, because despite the fact that it was real and new for them, it was still within the realm of understanding. The nurse and the soldier. It's a classic love story. And then they get this fresh start. And they've changed. They aren't the same Jean and Lionel who were in love thirty-eight years ago, and I think that Lionel especially has trouble dealing with this, because he hasn't really had to deal with changing times the same way Jean has, especially changing gender roles. And I love the way they negotiate those changes, and the way gradually Lionel is forced to understand who Jean has become -- and the way he still loves her. The way, dammit, that they still love each other, despite their both being the most cranky, persnickety people on the planet.
When I started rewatching this, and watching it in order for the first time, with my girlfriend, my first thought on seeing Lionel was wow. He changes a lot. And I told
gvambat, "they mellow each other a lot." And this has proven to be true. Jean and Lionel do mellow each other, and I love the way they do that. The way each of them has flaws, and each of them is able to recognize and laugh at the other person's flaws and thus eventually their own. They strike me as such a real couple, and I love the way their more mature understanding of relationships is contrasted with the kids', especially Judi's, sheer romanticism. On the other hand, the kids are also capable of seeing things in Jean and Lionel that they can't -- like how sweet they are together. In that sense, the kids represent the audience itself, looking at the 'ship and smiling.My favorite thing about Jean/Lionel, though? The way Jean absofuckinglutely melts when Lionel does something utterly sweet. It kills me every time, and makes me understand exactly why they are still SO RIGHT for each other after all these years, why they are still my first OTP after all these years. Yeah. I love them kind of a lot.
SQUEEEEE!!!!
Date: 2005-05-05 03:28 am (UTC)The way, dammit, that they still love each other, despite their both being the most cranky, persnickety people on the planet.</>
*grin* That is a PERFECT way to describe them!
SQUEEEEE!!!! redux
Date: 2005-05-05 03:50 am (UTC)Re: SQUEEEEE!!!! redux
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Date: 2005-05-06 06:33 am (UTC)