EPISODE: NOT SUCKING

Today, Lizzie's filming in her office at Pemberley again, and her opening mood seems pretty chipper. "Hello, viewers!" she greets. "I've had a very interesting morning here at Pemberley. I spent it in the studio! I brought in a bunch of my raw video blog footage...I mean," she laughs, "from the very early days, before we started shooting stuff that Darcy's employees really, really shouldn't see." She nods knowingly at the audience. "And we went through the editing process - very cool, I have to say!" Her eyes get wide and serious. "I really started to see different approaches to fine-tuning your cuts, and getting completely different takes on your finished video...yeah...wow." She makes a dismissive gesture with her hands. "Of course, it's not like we didn't cover the editing process at school, but...not like this. This is definitely the real deal, and the studio here is just packed with talent."

A cut, and she's asking dramatically, "So what the heck am I doing here?!"

Another cut, and she's frowning introspectively. "Charlotte should be here."

Another cut, and she gives a helpless sort of shrug.

Another cut, and she's back to monologuing. "But seriously...there is a lot I can learn from these people."

Another cut, and she's looking off thoughtfully into the distance. "Maybe I could spend a whole week sitting behind them and just watching them edit."

Another cut, and she lets out a bark of laughter, looking right at the camera. "Yeah, that wouldn't be annoying for them at all!"

Another cut, and she's smiling and shaking her head slowly. "Who would have thought that I'd be able to say working at Darcy's company was so awesome." Her smile deepens. "And, there's an additional perk to working here that has happened, too! My name is Lizzie Bennet..." she leans toward the camera, confidential-like, "...and I have another new friend: ...Darcy's sister!"

There's a brief pause in the narrative while the theme song and animated logo play, and then we come right back to Lizzie. "Yes, Internet," she continues, "Miss Georgiana Darcy came into the office yesterday afternoon, and apparently, one of the first things she did when she got here was nag her brother until he brought her to my office to meet me."

She chuckles, then her face gets serious and she shakes her head. "Sorry, that makes her sound like a whiny little brat. Which she isn't." Lizzie leans forward earnestly. "At all. I know this is an odd thing to tell you about someone who shares the same DNA as William Darcy, but Gigi is a really lovely person. I like her a lot. Do you remember when Fitz said she was a cool kid, and that she and I would get along?" She smiles and inclines her head in acceptance of her buddy's prediction skills. "Well...he was very right."

A cut, and she's shaking her head laughingly. "Fitz Williams, is there nothing you cannot do?"

Another cut, and she's pursing her lips a bit. "Now, I can see that some people might interpret her as standoffish, or stuck-up, but..." she snorts contemptuously, "those people would not be paying very good attention, and would be making bad assumptions, because it is pretty obvious that she's actually just naturally shy. When you're encouraging, and let her get comfortable around you? She really starts to open up."

There's a pause, and her expression turns introspective. "Yeah," she says in a sardonic tone. "Not snobby, just shy." She pauses meaningfully. "Sound familiar?" She lets out a big exhale. "Yeah," she repeats. Wryly, she continues. "I'm coming to realise...that might actually be a family trait." She looks abashed. "Turns out, that's probably her brother's deal, too." She winces. "I think I really misjudged him. And then," she continues in a self-deriding, fake-cheerful tone, even adding some jazz hands for effect, "I took that judgment, and turned it into a whole bunch of assumptions every time I saw him after that!"

She perks up a little, though, and points her finger at the camera. "But to be fair, that 'decent enough' comment? That sucked. Darcy? Not cool. And breaking up Bing and Jane? Also bad!" She looks angry again, and then pauses to reflect. "Although, I still blame Bing just as much there, really."

A cut, and she's looking worried. "I have no idea what I'll do if I run into Bing while he's here."

Another cut, and she's looking kind of freaked out. "And it'll be awkward as hell if I run into Caroline!"

Another cut, and she's holding her forehead. "Ugh, why do things have to be so complicated?!"

Another cut, and her shoulders are slumped. "But beyond those things that Darcy did? I'm...not sure anymore that he deserved all the anger I threw in his direction." She sighs. "To be honest, I'm feeling kind of down about my ability to read people's characters at the moment." A frown mars her brow and she speaks in a small voice. "I'm actually thinking I've often sucked at being a good person recently."

After a pause, a deep, fortifying breath lifts her torso, and she brings up her chin determinedly. "But! I am done with assuming bad things about people I haven't gotten to know yet! I am going to grow! And learn! And become a better person! I am going to actively start trying not to suck!"

She points an index finger into the air. "And I'm going to start by hanging out with Gigi! Who has..." here she starts looking nervous, "...invited me to play tennis with her tomorrow." She rolls her eyes. "I know, I know, I can hear you all now...'Wow, Lizzie, that sounds like really good exercise!'" She gives the camera a dirty look. "Why yes, yes, it will be good exercise...in humiliation!" She gesticulates wildly. "For the love of gawd, Gigi is nationally ranked! Whereas the last time I played, I was in high school...or was it undergrad?" She shakes her head, and a rueful expression crosses her face. "Doesn't matter, because she is going to wipe the floor with me." A frown. "Even though she's convinced that I'm worthy of playing her."

Lizzie rolls her eyes again. "Which is insane! But she says that Darcy told her I 'had a very fluid swing'." She looks directly at the camera with a dismissive expression. "You know why Darcy thinks that? I figured it out. He must have been watching me when I mimed a backhand smash to Fitz one time at Catherine De Bourgh's." She sighs. "Yes, that's right. Gigi thinks I'm a," she does air quotes, "'great tennis player', because her delusional brother saw me do an air swing and thought it looked good!"

She closes her eyes and shakes her head long-sufferingly. "I am so dead." However, she takes another deep breath, accompanied by a defiantly-raised chin. "But...she is my new friend...and I am going to start my resolution of not sucking as a person by...volunteering to suck at tennis." She looks resigned. "Yes."

A cut, and she's looking around the office. "At first I considered pretending to trip and hurt myself to get out of it, but this place is so ergonomically designed that there's nothing I can believably claim to have tripped over!"

Another cut, and she's looking directly at the camera with a mixed look of panic and entreaty. "Send help?"

Another cut, and her expression has become saucy. "Especially if that 'help' is Rafa Nadal." She wiggles her eyebrows flirtatiously.

Another cut, and she's leaning towards the camera, grinning and whispering squeakily. "So hot!"

A final cut, and she's looking profoundly horrified at herself. "Omigawd...did I just sound like Lydia?"

The screen goes black.