Slight delay...

Our apologies, everyone, but the short story contest conclusion is postponed to next year.

Well, January 1st, anyway.

Thank you for your patience, if indeed you are being patient, and we don't blame you if you aren't-- isn't it always a little funny when people thank you for patience when they really have no idea whether you actually are feeling patient? So thank you anyways for not yelling at us for our negligence. ;)

Or extreme busyness, as the case actually is.  (Life on Miss Marianne's part, at least, should be slowing way down sometime next week.)

Hope you all had a marvelous Christmas, and enjoy the festivities tonight, and we'll be back in 2014!

~Miss Dashwood and Miss Marianne

Game the Forty-fifth: P&P Yuletide Contest

Our next game will be testing your creativity!  We are hosting a short story contest here at the Club, and we think this will be fun for everyone.  The rules are simple.

• Write a story between 1,000 and 2,000 words and submit it to shelvesinthecloset95{at}gmail{dot}com.
• Stories are due by Tuesday, December 24th.
• The story must be about the characters in P&P-- any characters you like-- and may take place within the scope of the story-- i.e., as if it were a scene Jane Austen left out or forgot to include. *Miss Marianne washes Miss Dashwood's mouth out with soap*  Or, if you prefer, it can be a sort of sequel to the book, taking place after the book's events have ended.
• The story must be true to Jane Austen's original novel and if it takes place within the story arc, must not tamper with the events of the novel.  If it is a sequel-ish sort, it must not take too many liberties with "what happened next." Be reasonable and respectful to the Almighty Authoress and her work.
• The story must be Christmas-themed and must take place at Christmastime (any time during the month of December is fine).  
• The story must be historically accurate (to the best of your ability) and should contain Regency-era dialogue between characters (no modernization, please!).
• And, of course, the story must be clean and family-friendly.

You have a maximum of two weeks to write your story, as all stories are due Christmas Eve to be considered for the contest.  Miss Marianne and I will read and judge each submitted story, and choose one winner (with possible runners-up) from the lot.  If none of the stories submitted are particularly meritorious, we reserve the right not to announce a winner, blah blah blah.  The winning story will be announced on Monday, December 30th and published here at the Club for all to enjoy.  (So by submitting your story, you are agreeing to allow it to be published on this blog.)  There will be no other games until January 6, as the holiday season is rather busy for both Dashwood sisters.  :D

Looking forward to your entries!

Happy Anniversary to Us! (and the Club, of course)

It's been a whole year, folks.  One whole year of P&P95-related nonsense here at the Club, and the Dashwood sisters (yes, we're sisters-- well, actually Tweens, which is like sisters but a little bit better) are celebrating.  Separately, of course.  Because we're miles and miles apart in real life.

SOB.

Ahem.  That's not what this post is about.  This post is about our anniversary (our Clubiversary? nope, too cheesy) and the way we intended to celebrate it.  Because, see, we had big plans for this day.  We intended to write a Bashing of FakeP&P as a sort of fun party-ish post... after all, it's our blog and we can be as snarky as we wish.  Plus we needn't be afraid of offending 2005 fans because why would they be frequenting this blog in the first place, arewerite?  (Arewerite doesn't quite have the right ring to it... perhaps it's because our English teacher minds rebel against spelling "right" as "rite"...)  

At any rate, we ran out of time to get the post up today, so it will be along later in the month.  Do stay tuned... and thanks for sticking with us for a year!  (And a big hearty welcome to all the members who have been here less than a year, heehee.)

And now for a few stats, because those are fun.

Number of followers: 70
Number of members: 41
Most popular post: "And the winner of the 'Ask Mrs. Bennet' Contest..." (wonder why...? It is a mystery!)
Busiest month: July (so the giveaway was a success...)

Anyway, let's hear it!  Well, if you're not in a humor for applauding thunderously, here is some confetti to throw, because that's always fun-- as long as you aren't the one who has to clean up the mess. :D

What's been your favorite thing about the Club?  Is there anything you wish to see more of?  Do give us some feedback!

Game the Forty-Fourth: Double Challenge Caption Contest {2}

Back in June we hosted a 'Double Challenge Caption Contest,' and as we received a number of entries, I've decided to do it again. :)

So. Here's how it goes.

Rather than giving you a picture to make up a caption for, you get to find your own. Any P&P screencap you want. The Club's stock is right here, and then for a very extensive selection, go here or here. It can be easier to find funny ones since the Club's screencaps don't usually freeze weird faces and that sort of thing. ;) But you can even take your own if you want to. It just has to be from P&P95. (Yes, thank you, Mary.)

There are three ways to submit your entry...
1) Comment on this post with a link to the picture in question and your caption
2) Make your own captioned picture, post it on your blog, and comment on this post with a link
3) Make your own captioned picture and send it to us at shelvesinthecloset95 (Gmail account)

Any questions? Let us know!

Please get your caption to us by the the time a new game is posted (probably on Monday). We'll select a winner within the next day.

Have at it, folks, and a very Happy Thanksgiving! :)

True/False Trivia Quiz: Answers

Here are the answers to last week's game, folks!

1. The lady who owned Luckington Court (Longbourn) and let her house be disrupted for the filming was offered the role of an extra in P&P, but declined.
True

2. The actors who played Sir William and Lady Lucas were married in real life.
False (as far as I know :P)

3. Colin Firth had read Pride and Prejudice before being offered the role of Mr. Darcy.
False. But he read it afterwards, and before playing Mr. Darcy, and has since read all of Jane Austen's novels, I believe, and has a proper appreciation for them.

4. Jennifer Ehle first read P&P when she was twelve, and adored it (and Elizabeth) from the very first.
True. Everyone give her a hand!!

5. Lucy Davis (Maria Lucas) originally auditioned for Lydia Bennet.
True. In fact, she almost got the part, but they wanted somebody more experienced.  They were impressed by how much work she put into it, though.

6. Crispin Bonham-Carter was partially chosen because he looked distinctively different than Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy so that no one would get them confused.
True.

7. Susannah Harker (Jane) and Jennifer Ehle (Lizzy) both had wigs made to play their characters.
False. Lizzy's hair was a wig, but Jane's was Susannah's own (dyed a bit lighter, and cut in front for the Regency style).

8. There was a slight panic when the dance scenes at Lucas Lodge were about to be filmed, because somebody had recently waxed the floor and it was far too slippery to dance on. The polish wouldn't come off so someone finally suggested un-slip-ifying the floor by mopping it with Coke, and it worked.
True! I found this hilarious.

And our winner is Kerry, with everything right! Everyone did a pretty good job though!

Game the Forty-Third: True/False Trivia Quiz

For my birthday I received a copy of the book The Making of Pride and Prejudice, which pleased me very much.  So as I've been poking through there, I've been gleaning all sorts of new and interesting trivia facts, so I decided to compile a little quiz.  All you have to do is identify the facts as true or false.

1. The lady who owned Luckington Court (Longbourn) and let her house be disrupted for the filming was offered the role of an extra in P&P, but declined.

2. The actors who played Sir William and Lady Lucas were married in real life.

3. Colin Firth had read Pride and Prejudice before being offered the role of Mr. Darcy.

4. Jennifer Ehle first read P&P when she was twelve, and adored it (and Elizabeth) from the very first.

5. Lucy Davis (Maria Lucas) originally auditioned for Lydia Bennet.

6. Crispin Bonham-Carter was partially chosen because he looked distinctively different than Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy so that no one would get them confused.

7. Susannah Harker (Jane) and Jennifer Ehle (Lizzy) both had wigs made to play their characters..

8. There was a slight panic when the dance scenes at Lucas Lodge were about to be filmed, because somebody had recently waxed the floor and it was far too slippery to dance on. The polish wouldn't come off so someone finally suggested un-slip-ifying the floor by mopping it with Coke, and it worked.

Answers will be posted this weekend.