I love how he has seen her opinions of him and of herself and everything else and he understands that he can show he respects her by the valuing the things she values. WITHOUT making it about their potential for relationship or even making that the smallest factor in anything. But it isn't him backing down or just rolling over and pedestalizing her and saying "omygosh you're so smart and right about everything" either,

I think a key factor -and why they are perfect for each other - is that Darcy genuinely, on his own, values the same things Lizzie values. Her interest in communication, her ability to reach a broad audience in a unique way - the first is something Darcy shares (as Pemberely is proof of) and the latter is something that he know the value of (again, as per Pemberely).

I need to make a comparison post of Lizzie/Darcy and Belle/Rumpelstiltskin. Because SO MUCH of what I see with Lizzie and Darcy is, I think, exactly what Belle and Rumple need, and what I'm hoping for in the upcoming storyline. Because Lizzie isn't making Darcy "earn" her love or saying she'll stick by him if he agrees to get his shit together, she's living her life and he's living his and he sees that she has values worth respecting and he is reasonable enough to subsequently respect them as well. And that's what I want to see.

I would LOVE to read that post.