Who we are.
The Longbourn Loungers are an international fan group for Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice--specifically those who fell in love with the 2005 big screen version, though lovers of all versions are welcome and we all love the book best.
What we do.
While brought together by our mutul love for Pride & Prejudice we are more than a fan group, we are a family. We share our joys and sorrows while discussing literature, movies, music, day to day life, and anything else that strikes our fancy. The Longbourn Loungers have a history of encouraging creative expression through fan fiction, artwork, videos and other mediums and several of our members and former members have pursued creative professions.
History of the Loungers.
It all began on the official fan site for the 2005 movie of Pride & Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. That site was called the Longbourn Lounge. Many fans were dismayed to find that our beloved Austen-centric haven, where we had met so many like-minded individuals and shared so much fun, was being dismantled only a few short months after the release of the film. One enterprising member volunteered her time to create a new "home" for us and the Longbourn Loungers was born.
Our new site possessed a message board, personalized profiles, private mail system, photo galleries, and the ability to load original stories. One could comment upon a particularly fine drawing or piece of fiction, right beneath where it was posted. A pence system was instituted to encourage participation (if I remember correctly this was one of the features of the original site, having been used there for prize giveaways whereas for us it was just fun). The Latest News roll updated with each new addition to the site and a flourishing culture began.
At the group's zenith we had over 1,000 members from all corners of the globe and all walks of life. The Lounge was a place where women (and men, but really it's mostly women in this group) could respect one another and enjoy each other's company regardless of age, race, politics, economics, religion, or any other factor. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the diversity of membership the Longbourn Loungers became an online haven. We would embrace the high school student who couldn't share her love of Austen with friends, the English teacher, the artist, the writer, and the everyday goofball.
As happens with such communities, based as this was on a devotion to a film, the new wore off. Members became busy, found other interests, came less and less often to visit the site. When the company hosting our website decided to discontinue their free site service, a half-dozen or so members scrambled to copy files so that they could be moved to a new site. Pictures, artwork, poetry, fan fiction, comments on all of these, and cherished message board threads were copied onto computers in the hope that the Loungers would live again. For a while that seemed a possibility. The third site grew in membership to over 100 at last count. However, the member who headed up the move found that due to family issues she was unable to run the site as she had hoped. Those members who had helped with the move had drifted slowly away and no one stepped forward to share the responsibility. Thus it was that the Longbourn Loungers began a quiet decline.
It is perhaps sentimental to wish to go back to something that has been a source of joy but now has entered what could be deemed a most natural and inevitable death. It could also be called foolish to do so. Maybe it is both. I have been reluctant to let the Loungers go entirely, and while this site may stand as more a memorial than anything else, it is my hope that it may rise again--perhaps with the next adaptation. I sincerely hope that others found as much comfort, as much friendship, and as much happiness in the group as I found.
Thank you for taking the time to read our history, and may you have "a Darcy day."
Written by original Longbourn Loungers member Lady Indis Dress
Our new site possessed a message board, personalized profiles, private mail system, photo galleries, and the ability to load original stories. One could comment upon a particularly fine drawing or piece of fiction, right beneath where it was posted. A pence system was instituted to encourage participation (if I remember correctly this was one of the features of the original site, having been used there for prize giveaways whereas for us it was just fun). The Latest News roll updated with each new addition to the site and a flourishing culture began.
At the group's zenith we had over 1,000 members from all corners of the globe and all walks of life. The Lounge was a place where women (and men, but really it's mostly women in this group) could respect one another and enjoy each other's company regardless of age, race, politics, economics, religion, or any other factor. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the diversity of membership the Longbourn Loungers became an online haven. We would embrace the high school student who couldn't share her love of Austen with friends, the English teacher, the artist, the writer, and the everyday goofball.
As happens with such communities, based as this was on a devotion to a film, the new wore off. Members became busy, found other interests, came less and less often to visit the site. When the company hosting our website decided to discontinue their free site service, a half-dozen or so members scrambled to copy files so that they could be moved to a new site. Pictures, artwork, poetry, fan fiction, comments on all of these, and cherished message board threads were copied onto computers in the hope that the Loungers would live again. For a while that seemed a possibility. The third site grew in membership to over 100 at last count. However, the member who headed up the move found that due to family issues she was unable to run the site as she had hoped. Those members who had helped with the move had drifted slowly away and no one stepped forward to share the responsibility. Thus it was that the Longbourn Loungers began a quiet decline.
It is perhaps sentimental to wish to go back to something that has been a source of joy but now has entered what could be deemed a most natural and inevitable death. It could also be called foolish to do so. Maybe it is both. I have been reluctant to let the Loungers go entirely, and while this site may stand as more a memorial than anything else, it is my hope that it may rise again--perhaps with the next adaptation. I sincerely hope that others found as much comfort, as much friendship, and as much happiness in the group as I found.
Thank you for taking the time to read our history, and may you have "a Darcy day."
Written by original Longbourn Loungers member Lady Indis Dress
"Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure." ~ Pride & Prejudice