#ah well i did a benedict so i had to do a Sophie post

[hopepaigeturner]

Sophie Beckett & Female Power: Untapped Potential

That's right here we go, buckle up and in.

So, this is going to be a bit of a mix between creative ideas/character analysis mixing both Bridgerton the show and An Offer From A Gentleman. (AOFAG)

Currently, in the show, we have roughly seen two types of femininity (if I were to generalise). We have Lady Violet and Daphne exhibiting a more maternal take on femininity, and then we have Kate and Eloise (even Penelope) with a more ‘girl-boss’ femininity.

But I think in the character of Sophie Beckett, JQ laid the foundations for a different type of femininity, another facet of female power, which can be explored further in the show...

I argue that the show could emphasise how Sophie Beckett’s female power comes from her kindness and empathy, which enables her to create strong, female relationships. It is this female power that enables her to save herself and orchestrate her own emancipation.

Background: Cinderella & Female Power

Now, due to AOFAG being a Cinderella retelling, I can see how some people might assume the opposite from Sophie. I have already touched upon this in my other comment on @bridgertonbabe’s post concerning Posy’s role and some of those ideas shall be repeated here. Concerning ‘background’, I shall refer primarily to ideas/debates surrounding the 1950s Disney Cinderella, as I believe that is most prevalent in people’s minds when we talk about this topic.

As I said in that other post, many people critique Cinderella as an ‘anti-feminist’ figure, a ‘weak role model’ for young girls. Many argue that Cinderella does not have agency because events happen to her, she does not initiate them; it is her father’s death that leads to her servitude; the fairy godmother steps in and enables her to go to the ball, and the prince steps in and marries her.

However, when people brand this character as a portrayal of ‘weak’ femininity, I do not think they are considering that Cinderella is an abuse victim. While yes, some abuse victims can find their own ways out of abusive situations, it is very common that abuse victims need some type of intervention.

AND THAT DOES NOT MAKE THEM WEAK. NEEDING HELP IS NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS. NEEDING INTERVENTION DOES NOT MEAN YOU LACK AGENCY; IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE ‘LESS’ OF A WOMAN.

I believe it is the opposite. Cinderella shows amazing strength, because she is in this abusive situation BUT SHE STILL GETS UP. Cinderella still puts one foot in front of another, she has hope even in the face of great unkindness, Cinderella is still kind in the face of great unkindness.

Cinderella’s story might not teach girls how to stand up to the patriarchy, but it does teach young girls that sometimes, the strongest and most rebellious thing you can do, in the face of a situation where you can’t fight or scream, is to put one foot in front of another and hope. And I think that is such an important lesson not only for girls but for humanity. The world is confusing, the world can be bleak but hope and kindness can create a little light among the chaos.

So yes, events do happen to Cinderella. And yes, she does marry the prince. And in some parts of the film, she does not have as much agency as other Disney princesses. However, that does not mean she does not show female power, it is just that her female power is a little more subtle than Elsa’s.

Sophie Beckett and Agency: A little good, a little meh–but a lot of potential

Now I think, due to genre restrictions, time of publication, and perhaps the writer herself, that JQ does not give Sophie as much agency as possible.

Don’t get me wrong there are moments when Sophie does have agency. (There’s a really funny post from @sophiamariabeckett here, linking once again with @murielstacy and @bridgertonbabe)

As I mentioned in my Posy comment, Sophie’s kindness and empathy to Posy creates a bond strong enough that Posy is willing to defy her abusive mother and free Sophie. In this way, Sophie’s kindness saves her. It also shows that Sophie saves herself and does so by establishing female friendships.

However, I feel that with a couple of little tweaks, the show could take this idea from the books and expand it.

So, let’s take a look at events where Sophie is ‘saved’ or is ‘enabled’. And I’m either going to advocate how these events signify Sophie’s agency or I am going to give them a little tweak. Here’s the list I’m working from:

The servants push Sophie to attend the ball where she meets her Prince Charming AKA Benedict Bridgerton.

2. Benedict saves Sophie from her would-be-rapists.  

3.a Posy Reiling swoops in and unlocks the door for Sophie’s freedom-> twice.     

3.b The Bridgertons save Sophie from jail. (Particularly Benedict and Violet)

1)The servants push Sophie to attend the ball where she meets her Prince Charming AKA Benedict Bridgerton.

Now, JQ does not make it explicit, but she does mention that Sophie has a good bond with the servants throughout her childhood, often seen helping in the kitchen. However, JQ also writes that as she grew up, the servants distanced themselves.

So, on the one hand, Sophie’s own actions and bond with the servants set up their motivation to get Sophie to the ball... Once again, her kindness and her ability to form friendships, enable her to step closer to freedom. However, I feel the motivation for Sophie to attend the ball could be stronger. So…

CHANGE: Sophie Beckett goes to the ball, because of her friendship with Genevieve Delacroix.

Firstly, I think that Sophie needs more characters to interact with and Genevieve Delacroix is a character that could easily be orchestrated with.

So, according to this change, Sophie Beckett and Genevieve Delacroix are good friends, and Sophie Beckett’s infamous silver dress—is one of Genevieve Delacroix’s designs.

Now, my book lovers. We can still have the servants and housekeeper Mrs Gibbons help Sophie to the ball. But I want the main reason Sophie goes to the ball, not because she deserves one night to ‘be who she was meant to be’, but because Genevieve asks her to.

Picture the scene. Genevieve and Sophie have been friends ever since Sophie was relegated to servitude. Over the years, the pair have gained a deep friendship through sharing dreams, pasts and storms of life. So, Sophie obviously knows of Genevieve’s talents as a designer. One night there is a masquerade ball, the biggest party of the season, and Genevieve turns up in the servant’s quarters of Penwood Place with a silver dress in hand. She’s finally ready to show her design to the ton but she needs someone to model it, someone who has the right accent, the right upbringing… someone like Sophie.

Now, Sophie is hesitant; by going to the ball Sophie would be risking the wrath of her abuser—Araminta. I can only imagine that this would create great anxiety for Sophie. But after a moment of hesitation, Sophie looks at her best friend who is ever so close to attaining her lifelong dream. So, Sophie accepts the silver dress. Sophie’s choice to put her friendship with Genevieve over the toxic & abusive relationship with Araminta enables Sophie to meet her Prince Charming.

Personally, I feel this is a greater motivation for Sophie to go to the ball than in the book. Also, if the show does not want to do a ‘fancy dress’ masquerade but a normal one, then Genevieve’s dress can facilitate this.

 2)Benedict saves Sophie from her would-be-rapists.

The problem I have with this scene is that, (like the trope in general), it draws focus away from the woman and onto the man. Scenes like this are commonly used to show how good the guy/romantic lead is, rather than anything about the situation the woman is in. 

Due to the show, we already know that Benedict would never dream of conducting himself like Philip Cavender. Further, in prior seasons we see Benedict's respect for working-class women (another post I could do). So, this scene is kinda redundant, but it can easily be adapted for a more modern audience.

CHANGE: Sophie is the one who frees herself.

The scene goes as normal, Sophie is running away and gets caught. Benedict is exiting the party and comes up to Cavender’s crew. But instead of intimidating Cavender into letting Sophie go, he merely distracts Cavender (with the intention to free Sophie). Sophie uses Benedict’s distraction to punch her way out of the men’s clutches and runoff. (Benedict standing for a couple of seconds utterly stunned at this very pretty woman who just felled three men in one swoop).

We still get a Benedict and Sophie reunification and Benedict still aids Sophie, but I feel this tweak gives a bit more power into Sophie’s hands. Once again, Sophie saves herself—a little more obvious than her other times.

3.a) Posy Reiling swoops in and unlocks the door for Sophie’s freedom-> twice.     

The first incident I refer to occurs at the beginning of the book when Posy unlocks the cupboard door that Araminta locked Sophie in, thus allowing Sophie to escape. The second is her dramatic entrance into the jail at the climax of the book with the will that enables Sophie to be freed from her cell.

These events should stay the same. Because Posy is awesome, and Sophie is awesome.

As I mentioned before (and in a previous post), Posy is the main piece of evidence highlighting Sophie orchestrating her own emancipation.

Sophie did not have to be kind to Posy. I think it is reasonable that Sophie could have grown to resent Posy. Perhaps, due to Posy’s silence, Sophie could have seen Posy as an enabler of her abuse. (Especially because Sophie was a child and so, would have had a child-like mentality).

NOW. DON’T GO HATING POSY. I DO NOT STAND FOR POSY SLANDER IN THIS HOUSE.

It is not Posy’s fault that she did not stand up to her mother. Posy WAS A CHILD. A child should not be expected or responsible for standing up against abuse, let alone responsible for standing up against a narcissistic, let alone standing up to her mother. Think about your own relationship with your parents. As a child, were you confident in pointing out when your parents did something wrong?

And I am not blaming Posy, I am saying that it was a possibility that Sophie would perceive Posy like this. Or at best, distance herself from Posy due to Posy’s association with Araminta.

But Sophie doesn’t. JQ makes a point in the prologue of AOFAG to show that Sophie goes out of her way to help Posy and be kind to Posy.

It is because of Sophie's kindness towards Posy that establishes a bond between the girls. A bond that enables Posy to be incredibly brave and go against her abusive mother by unlocking the door for Sophie not once–but twice. Through being kind and empathetic, Sophie enabled herself to escape that jail cell. 

3.b)The Bridgertons save Sophie from jail. (Particularly Benedict and Violet).

Now the only reason Benedict Bridgerton is in that jail is because he has fallen in love with Sophie. Once again, by establishing a relationship, Benedict is willing to propose and get her out of jail.

But more importantly, (or what I wish to stress more), is the presence of Violet Bridgerton. Violet Bridgerton is the one to threaten Araminta; Violet Bridgerton is the one who manipulates Araminta into instating Sophie’s legitimacy and removing herself from Sophie’s life and future. Now, in this case, it seems that Sophie does not save herself, Violet does.

But why does Violet do this? Sophie is merely a maid, a hardworking maid, yes; a maid with a suspicious past, yes. But still a maid.

Violet is a Dowager Viscountess, many levels of nobility above Sophie the maid, levels above Sophie the ‘ward’ of Penwood, and levels above Sophie the illegitimate child of an Earl. So why does Violet bother?

Because Sophie and Violet have established a relationship—a friendship.

Once again it is Sophie’s ability to create a female relationship that helps her gain freedom.

But then again…

CHANGE: The show should show more of Violet and Sophie’s relationship.

I feel in the book Violet does the most work in establishing the bond between her and Sophie. Further, JQ presents Violet's motivations to be mainly ones of intrigue concerning Sophie’s identity rather than friendship.

Now, this can stay the same, Violet initially invites Sophie to tea because she is intrigued by the plot holes in Sophie’s backstory. However, due to Sophie's interactions with her daughters and her kindness—that is how the bond is established.

Due to the longer ‘content time’ the show has than a romance novel, I think the show can expand on the nice interactions JQ gave us concerning Sophie and the Bridgerton women. Instead of telling us how Sophie has fit into the family, the tv series could show us.

PS. I actually have the idea that there should be one scene/instance when Sophie connects with each Bridgerton female. Concerning Violet, this is a very sweet conversation about motherhood concerning Eloise. (I am still manifesting the fan theory that Sophie will end up as Eloise’s maid and I also might have that whole storyline planned out. Woopsie).

Apologies. Back to the main show.

Through establishing a female relationship Sophie enabled herself, and even Posy, to be freed from their abuser. Through her own actions, Sophie set up the potential for her own rescue. She is not passive; she is active in her emancipation.

So after all that let’s do a whistle-stop summary of points so far:

Sophie does have agency in AOFAG, however, with a few little tweaks, this could be expanded upon. 

The show could have Sophie being active from the very beginning of her story and in other places with a few little tweaks. 

Primarily, Sophie’s agency is manifested through her kindness/empathy, which establishes relationships, particularly those with women.

Okay, ok Hope you’ve babbled on long enough—what’s your point??

Well, with my little tweaks, the three people who ‘save’ Sophie would be:

1)      Genevieve who gives Sophie the opportunity to go to the ball and meet Benedict

2)      Violet Bridgerton, who helps blackmail Araminta into establishing Sophie's legitimacy, further legitimising her marriage to Benedict.

3)      Posy

 What do all these people have in common?

These three characters experience Sophie’s kindness.

These three characters have a friendship with Sophie.

These three characters are all women.

So, S4 could use Sophie to show that kindness and hope have real power in changing a woman’s circumstances, (while presenting a complex female character with agency to boot). But S4 could also show the power of female friendships.

Now, Benedict and Sophie’s relationship should be the centre of the series, I am not disputing that. And while Benedict does ‘help’ Sophie in the prison, I think Benedict’s role is to help Sophie emotionally break free. By loving Sophie, showing her how worthy she is to him, and giving her the opportunity to experience a life of love without Araminta’s shadow, Benedict ‘saves’ Sophie. (Although once again it is Sophie’s choice to eventually accept this, and it is Sophie’s actions that made Benedict fall in love with her).

But alongside this, I think the show should emphasise the idea of female friendships being able to instigate change in regency society, particularly because these women already had limitations on their agency.

Yes, these women do not topple the patriarchal pressures they were under, but they instigate change and freedom by supporting each other. And I think that is such an awesome lesson, such a wonderful story of female power to show on screen and is easily applicable to the 21st century.

And in the centre of this story is a woman whose strength isn’t in her fiery opinions or her vocal battle against the patriarchy; but a woman who saves herself through the bonds she establishes. What an amazing (and rarely told) example of a female character.

Sophie is not the antithesis of the typical ‘girl-bosses’ seen in Eloise Bridgerton or Kate Sharma but nor is she necessarily the maternal femininity seen in Daphne and Violet. Instead, she is a different kind of woman, her story showcasing yet another remarkable complexity of womanhood.

CONGRATULATIONS!! You made it to the end. Go grab a cuppa and a biscuit. 

 Thank you so much for reading the piece and I hope it was worth your time. 

Let me know your thoughts on whether you are in an agreement or not. Anything you want expansion on? Anything else you want to hear my over-analytical brain interrogate? 

Honestly, while I really didn’t like AOFAG as a book, (that’s for another post) there is so much potential to update it for S4–and not necessarily throw away the original story. 

Most importantly, I want to give a shout out to the wonderful @murielstacy who proof-read this post and gave me some great ideas. Please, please  go follow her. She has such a cool run of posts about Modern Bridgertons and royal fashion and so many other things (I know, sounds interesting, right? Go check it out!). 

Thanks once again.

Hope xx

[nobodysdaydreams]

❓ any WIP snippet you want! 😍 published lines or a section of a fic that you loved writing?

Not going to overload things at this point!! (But, mayhaps later...)

I hope you are having a good day <3

I am! Always nice to hear from you Sophie. I hope you enjoy these!

❓Any snippet I want? Very well. Here's a little teaser I like to call: "Giving the people what they want".

Curtain arrived at his office and pulled himself together just in time to be joined by his lunch guest.

“Where do you want her sir?” asked one of the greys, shoving Miss. Perumal forward.

“Oh, there’s no need for such roughness Cynthia, though I appreciate the precautions,” answered Curtain. “Please, undo those handcuffs. Miss. Perumal, it is so lovely to meet you, please allow me to apologize for all this chaos. May I call you Dipika?”

“No, you may not,” answered Miss. Perumal, sizing up her opponent.

More organized than Mr. Benedict, meticulous to a fault it would seem, in fact their styles seemed almost like night and day, likely a source of conflict between them in their youth.

Dipika glanced around the room and notice that Curtain's office had a dining table set for two with a freshly prepared meal waiting.

Curtain noticed her staring at the table behind him.

“Ah, very perceptive,” he noted. “Yes, I was hoping to get to know you better, explain things over a nice lunch. After your journey you must be famished, and I’d hate to be an inhospitable host.”

Explaining things over a meal. It was the same offer Mr. Benedict and his friends had given her when she met them in the woods.

“I don’t suppose I have a choice, do I?” Dipika asked.

😍I might have already posted about this, but I loved writing these SOS lines, so I'm posting it again. I think it's pretty self-explanatory, I love character parallels!

Constance silently took the remote and turned off the television, still staring at the screen so that Curtain’s face was replaced with her own when the screen went black.

“I remind you of him,” she said finally, after a moment’s pause. “Don’t I?”

“Who?” asked Nicholas.

“Nathaniel,” she replied.

Nicholas didn’t respond, stunned by the shock of hearing his brother’s name come out of someone’s mouth other than his own.

“That was his name,” said Constance, “wasn’t it? Before he called himself Curtain.”

“Well…um, yes,” Nicholas admitted, “but how did-”

“You called me that. Just now,” Constance explained, “when you were talking to me about chess.”

“Oh,” said Nicholas slowly, as he realized the gravity of his mistake.

“Well,” he continued awkwardly, taking a seat next to his roommate. “I… I didn’t realize that, and I’m deeply sorry about that Constance. I never meant to imply any kind of similarity, it’s just that…in many ways you children remind me of the way that he used to be. Kate at times can be just as independent and headstrong as he was, and Reynie and Sticky, each in their own ways, often remind me of my brother and of myself at that age. I believe my brother thought so as well, and the boys and I have had some discussions about that-”

“But it’s different with me,” Constance interrupted, “isn’t it?”

Nicholas looked back at his roommate’s knowing stare and wasn’t sure what to say.

Truthfully, it was different. Constance sometimes acted so similar to the way his brother had, almost identically in fact, but Nicholas had never thought that was a bad thing. If anything, she reminded Nicholas of who his brother really was, the sort of person he could become again. He hadn’t meant it to imply that Constance was in danger of becoming like Curtain, in fact the very idea sounded so absurd the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.  

“Perhaps,” Nicholas admitted, “but only in the best of ways Constance. You remind me of the good person my brother once was-”

“He’s not a good person!” Constance objected, “That’s why no one wanted to adopt him. That’s why he started the Emergency. That’s why he goes on television and spreads lies about us.”

“My brother,” Nicholas replied hesitantly, beginning to feel overwhelmed, “has been through a lot-”

“You still blame yourself,” Constance noted, “It isn’t your fault he’s so awful. He made his own choices.”

Nicholas sighed and hung his head, unsure of how to continue.

The two sat in silence for a minute before Constance spoke again.

“Is that why you wanted to adopt me?”

Nicholas looked up at her.

“As a way to make up for leaving him? Or because you wish you could go back and change what happened?”

Nicholas wasn’t sure how to answer that question. A large part of him said no, that he loved Constance, and would always love her as his daughter, even if she never thought of him as her family, simply because she, all by herself, was so wonderful. And she deserved to feel loved, and safe, and special.

But there was a smaller, more sinister voice inside of Nicholas that smirked at the thought.

“Please,” it said, “as if this isn’t just another pathetic attempt to make up for your guilt. Even the girl can see right through it. And you call her wonderful, as if you actually cared about her, when you know that if she was in Nathaniel's place all those years ago, you would have left her too.”

Nicholas wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to argue with the voice, to say that that wasn’t true, or that it was a hypothetical scenario they would never have the answer to that didn’t matter anyway, but… he just couldn’t. After all, he had left his own brother. Who’s to say he wouldn’t disappoint this child too? Maybe he really was that horrible.

Thanks for the ask; I hope you're having a lovely evening!

[thekatebridgerton]

Hello, I just read your response to Benedict giving up everything to be with Sophie and I’m just wondering if he would really be shunned like that for marrying an earls ward? The only ones who know she’s illegitimate and a servant are the Bridgertons and I’m sure they blackmail Araminta to keep it a secret. It’s been a long time since i have read the book though so maybe I’m forgetting. I’m genuinely confused lol

Ah Dear Reader, do add this to the list of unspoken things Julia suggarcoats. So i’ll take a minute to spell this out. If you are one of those who wants to keep beleiving that Benedict sufferend no consequences from marrying Sophie and didn’t have to give up a lot of his class privileges for her. then do skip this post. 

Because I, with my limited knowledge of English lit, was under the impression that in ye olden times the word “Ward” was code for illegitimate daughter. In fact, Jane Eyre, arriving at Thornfield, initially doubt’s Adele’s parentage exactly because Rochester, bachelor gentleman that he is, has taken in a little orphaned girl and hired a governess for her. And honestly, me too, we will never know if Rochester is Adele’s father or not. And this is with Adele looking nothing like Mr Rochester in the book. 

But Sophie? Sophie looks a lot like the Penwoods. So the Bridgertons did what any respectable family at the time would have done if one of their sons wanted to marry the illegitimate daughter of another noble and claimed she WAS born into a wedded family that nobody knows about. So that on paper everything was settled enough. It was a common practice really.

Lets put it this way, even if the girl in question WAS born into well known wedded parents. Say if Sophie had been the legitimate daughter of a famous Mr Beckett and Mrs Beckett and they died leaving her an orphan. The Earl taking her as his 'ward' would still have been super sus, and raised all eyebrows, because he was neither her uncle or her distant relative. So speculation would always abound, why would a noble take an orphaned 'ward' who is not related to him into his household? unless she was his by blows.

On paper, the Bridgertons made her respectable, on PAPER. As in, for all extents of the law, Sophie had a right to be treated like a legitimate born citizen. But it's the same as if the Bridgertons had bought Benedict a title. Everyone would still know and talk about it behind close doors.

And yes the only thing keeping the ton from talking about Sophie's illegitimacy in public where everyone could hear, was in fact, Araminta's dubious silence. Because as long as Araminta doesn't confirm what everyone more or less already knows, then there's a thread of plausible deniability and the Bridgertons can prosecute anybody they want for slandering their beloved sister in law.

But like Anthony says, an illegitimate daughter at least is better than a servant. Benedict marrying a servant in the eyes of society would have definitely been... Sigh, how do I explain the amount of classist, and entitlement themes An offer From a Gentleman touches upon without sounding mean?

Finally I’d like to add that if the author HAD meant to leave it as “Benedict married An Earl’s ward” I wouldn’t have had to explain this. Because yes, say the Earl of Penwood had a life debt to some vicar or some soldier etc who saved his life and promised to take care of their child in the event they died. Earls did have wards that were completely respectable in ye olden times. But Juila didn’t and this is part of why yours truly least liked Bridgerton is Hyacinth. Because of This paragraph in her book 

(I’m going to take a moment to breathe out the enormous amount of rage this little exchange causes me, and just say that Gareth deserved better than a jerk like Hyacinth) 

 “in part because of her past” but you’re right dear reader Benedict and Sophie are definitely not being shunned by society by the time Hyacinth gets married.

The thing is, that Benedict doesn’t mind being shunned, he never regretted his choice to be with Sophie, or any sacrifices he had to make to marry her. I’m sure the life of a country gentleman agrees with him and that Sophie never feels she lacks anything for not being invited to balls or attend high society soirees. She’s got a bunch of upper class sister in laws after all, if Sophie wants to be a part of high society she can hang out with Daphne and Kate for a few days. And come back to live the life of a pampered country gentlewoman. lets put it this way, in status, Benedict and Sophie are more or less in the same line as Mr and Mrs Bennett. Country gentry, Somewhat related to nobility but not really part of it anymore. 

But Benedict grew up as the brother of a Viscount his whole life. He had a life filled with class privilege that he walked away from in order to marry a woman who was little more than a servant when he met her. And honestly yeah good for him. He came to his senses after being a supreme ass to Sophie during his whole book. Realizing that true love with Sophie was worth anything and he made it his mission to shower her with love for the rest of his life.

Benedict's book may not be my favorite but he definitely earns a lot of brownie points for how An offer from a Gentleman ended.

And that's the tea

[sirphillipcranestanaccount]

You summoned me with Colin Being Dumb, because that is my son and I love him but also I’d love to hear about the Philoise Treasure Hunt please and thank you! 🥰

So "Colin being dumb" is "I certainly won't marry Penelope Featherington" but in the L&F universe and because I love you, Beth, I'll post everything I have from it so far. (As incoherent as it is).

"Well, Ben, you did it, you got a girl who is much smarter than you to marry you," Anthony said, clapping Benedict on the shoulder.

"I learned from the best," Benedict said, giving Anthony a gentle punch on the shoulder and taking another sip of champagne.

Benedict had just finished throwing Sophie's garter, which had hit Colin in the face.

"Ah, there's the next man down the aisle!" Benedict said, lifting his glass at Colin's approach.

“No, no, I didn’t catch that garter. It ricocheted off my face, John’s the one who picked it up.”

and

“Do you want me to leave?” Colin said over Eloise’s shoulder to the door that he knew Penelope was behind.  “Of course she wants you to leave, dick-for-brains!” Eloise said.

As for "Treasure hunt:" that is a prompt from almost a year ago that I have been "letting marinate" (read: not finishing because Idk where to go with it) but here's a snippet!:

Phillip’s alarm went off at eight in the morning, like it usually did on Saturday. This morning, however, he turned over to kiss Eloise–which he made a point to do every morning–only to realize that she wasn’t there. 

“El?” he said into the room in case she was there. There was no answer. Instead, he turned to see a post-it on his bedside table.

“Go to the bathroom”

“Is this a clue or a reminder?” he asked out loud, but when there was no response, he just laughed to himself and stood up, walking to the bathroom.

When Phillip got to the bathroom he looked at the mirror to find another post-it note.

“Go to the kitchen”

Phillip picked up his phone.

Did you think I couldn’t get through my morning routine without your guidance?

Eloise: No, I think you’re pretty capable of getting yourself ready.

Then, what’s with the post-it notes? Also, where are you?

Eloise: Maybe you’ll find out if you follow the post-it notes

Can I get a hint?

Eloise: What do you think the post-its are?

Will you at least tell me one thing?

Eloise: Depends…

Are the twins with you?

Eloise: If you would have listened to the post-its you’d know by now, but yes. Now I’m done texting until you find me ♥️

Phillip sighed and made his way to the kitchen, “Okay El, what do you have planned for me?” 

Ask me about my WIPs!

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 21

Chapter Summary -  Six weeks have passed without contact and Tom hears the song Ain't No Sunshine, and only one person comes to mind, he looks at Danielle's Facebook page and comes to a small discovery, but he only knows half the story. When Benedict rings him up to vent his frustration, he finds out even more about Danielle and her recent work; but Benedict is not as negative about his feelings for her as Luke was.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

So apparently Irlam is the stunt co-ordinator for Game of Throne at present but was not for War Horse or The Hollow Crown, but hey, this is fiction, so we can bend the rules a little.

Also, I read before Benedict was having issues with his home and a boiler that was causing an issue with the neighbours, I am not so weird as to Google if that has been sorted.

So we'll just suspend belief a little, okay?

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog  @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

Ain’t no Sunshine when she’s gone

Tom found himself humming along to the song that was currently playing on his radio as he finished rinsing the protein shaker under the tap, cursing that he had to bulk up for another role, hating the long, strenuous process. As he began to sing the lyrics, a face came to his mind and he stopped singing; Danielle. He had not heard from her since he had left his mother’s six weeks before, he had not had the courage to ask her what happened with Paul, nor had he the restraint to hold back when she would inevitably tell him that she had forgiven him and taken him back. His curiosity getting the better of him, he went onto her Facebook page, hoping to see something there. Danielle was not the sort of woman to put up a hundred photos of her life or to put posts that cryptically made reference to her relationships, so he knew whatever it was he would find would be accurate. What he saw made him swallow hard.

There were several photos of her in a city, it wasn’t London, but familiar enough for him to recognise places, then one photo really caught his attention, a picture of her outside a football stadium and the caption ‘The place responsible for Wayne Rooney, level it’ and he recognised it immediately as Manchester. She was smiling happily and laughing in the photos, but all that went through his mind was the fact that someone had to be holding the camera, and only one person came to mind for that.

He was about to click off and throw his phone onto the sofa when a notification came up that she had changed her profile picture. As though wanting to have his heart torn from his chest, he clicked on it, wincing as he looked. It was her, sitting on what appeared to be the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. Her caption was simply ‘Bow down, Bitches’ and in it, he realised there was a few people tagged in the photo, all of whom he had never heard her mention before, but one name, he recognised. He clicked on it and realised he knew the man from his time on The Hollow Crown and War Horse, he was the stunt coordinator, Rowley Irlam, frowning, he wondered how Danielle had come to befriend him. A post on Rowley’s page caught his eye and he stared at the photo of Danielle, who had her arm around Rowley and another woman, all three smiling into the camera, the drinks on the table in front of them telling him it was some form of party; the caption caught his attention somewhat, ‘The newest member of the Behind The Scene geniuses that makes this great production possible, our new Safety Officer, Danielle Hughes, Keep us safe Danni.’ Tom stared at the words in front of him, ‘Safety Officer’ when had this happened, why did he not know about it? His mother and sister never mentioned anything, and usually, they were the first to discuss anything interesting in Danielle’s life.

He was about to ring his mum when his phone lit up in his hand, Benedict’s name greeting him. Sliding it to answer, he put it up to his ear. “Please tell me you’re in London.” Ben’s voice came over the line.

Tom chuckled slightly, “I am; you sound stressed.”

“I am selling this blasted house and moving to a remote mountain, where I have no neighbours, no moaning and no blasted complaining.” The older actor ranted.

“Still having issues with the boiler I take it?”

“I am going to pull the bloody thing off the wall. I am fit to strangle something.”

“Want to meet for lunch?” Tom offered, wanting to get out of his own head.

“I can’t, I have to wait for an engineer to come out, you’d think that in 2016 all you would have to do is just pull it out, get a proper one put in and not have anyone complain, but no, apparently getting a house done up in North London is nigh on an infringement on Human Rights on your neighbours.”

“You seem stressed.”

“No, really? Thank you for that Tom, I would never have gathered I was stressed.”

“Are Sophie and Christopher around or have they fled to somewhere less stressful, like Syria?”

“You are hilarious, no they are…I think she said Somerset or something, I was so stressed with this, I wasn’t paying full attention, don’t tell her that.”

“I am totally telling her that.”

“Asshole.” Ben retorted deadpan. “She is with her brother for the weekend, and thankfully so, they don’t need to be around this.” He sighed deeply before continuing. “Please keep me company.”

“Fine, I’ll have to see if Elle knows anyone who has riot gear, then I’ll be over.”

“I rather if she knew someone with Valium at this point.”

“I am sure she knows some.” Tom groused.

“What’s that about?”

“What?”

“Your attitude, what’s up?”

“Nothing, I will be there soon, don’t tear up the boiler or kill a neighbour.”

“I’ll try, but I make no promises.” Ben hung up and Tom grabbed his jacket, not caring about changing his slightly messy clothes, considering he was going to Benedict’s semi-construction site of a home.

*

“It’s not too bad.” Tom looked around.

“It still looks like a shithole,” Benedict argued.

“You only have the boiler to deal with, really.”  Tom pointed out.

“I can’t put in the new central heating until I do that, and that means pulling up floorboards.”

“And this is why I would never buy a house not already to my specification,” Tom commented. “It’ll get done.”

“Not if next door has anything to do with it, they are complaining mad, going on to the newspapers about it and everything. If they just gave me a month of work, I would have it sorted and there would be nothing more on it.” Benedict put on the kettle, “as it stands, I can’t get anywhere near sorted.”

“What do they have as their complaint?”

“It is disrupting the peace and tranquillity of the neighbourhood. If the daft cow did anything other than sitting on her arse all day, it wouldn’t even bother her.”

“Ben.”

“What? It’s true.” Ben argued, putting the hot water into the mugs. “I know I am being an ass, but I am just so pissed about it, I just want it done, I mean, I bought this when Sophie was pregnant, we thought it would be done before the wedding, much less when Christopher was born.”

“How is he?”

“Growing like a weed, seriously, do children ever stop?”

“I can only say from the point of view of an uncle, but from my experience, no, it appears not.” He gave a small smile.

Benedict gave him an analytical look. “What’s going on?”

“What?”

“Something is eating you, what is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.” Benedict eyed him carefully, “Whatever it is, you are better off saying it now, here in my house where you have some privacy, not explode it out in public later where you will be heard by everyone.”

“What are you on about?”

“You hold stuff in and ruminate on it until finally, it becomes too much for you and you effectively eject out whatever it is that is bothering you on the nearest person, so spill, what is it?”

“Elle.”

“And what about her?”

“She is in Ireland.”

“And?”

“Why?”

“Well, I may be grasping at straws here, but it may have something to do with the fact that Danielle is Irish, and since it is only about a couple hundred kilometres to out left, it would not be too extreme an idea for her to go there from time to time.”

“Do you remember Rowley Irlam?”

“The name rings a bell.” Ben thought hard of the name.

“He was the stunt coordinator on War Horse.”

“Ah yes, and Hollow Crown too.”

“That guy, he has a post on Facebook.”

“People tend to do that on Facebook,” Benedict was unsure what that had to do anything.

“With Danielle.”

“Right?”

“Saying she is a new member of a team.”

“Well, that makes perfect sense considering…Wait, you don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“That is why she was on set on Sherlock.”

“What?”

“Danielle was working on the set of Sherlock as part of an interview for a job as a Safety Officer, apparently she has been studying for it since she came here.”

“What, she never said anything like that to me.” Tom became indignant.

“She was only really able to apply for things in the past few months apparently. It was sort of hard for her to tell you when you were not talking to her.”

“She never mentioned it before, when she was studying, I could have helped her.”

“Exactly.” Ben pointed out. “She didn’t want your help, she wanted to get there by herself, and not name drop. Besides, dropping your name and mine doesn’t help in production, we come with a nice big fat ‘P’ stamped on us, remember?”

Tom gave a grunt in response. “How do you know all this?”

“I asked her that time on set, I asked her why she was there, she explained everything to me, and when the stunt coordinator was talking to her, he said he had a friend that would be interested in her help for something in Coronation Street, I told her to tell me how she got on, apparently she did well, and said about heading home for a few weeks.

“She was on the set of Game of Thrones.”

Benedict took out his phone and typed for a moment. “Irlam is the stunt co-ordinator for it.”

“So she is on the set there?”

“Atta girl Danielle.” Benedict commended.

“She is doing well.”

“Are you surprised?”

“She never mentioned anything to me.”

“When were you last talking to her?”

“The last time I was home, about six weeks ago.”

Ben groaned. “What did you argue about this time?”

“Nothing, we didn’t argue.”

“Then why weren’t you talking?”

“Because I…it doesn’t matter.” Benedict gave Tom a sceptical look. “What?”

“Nothing.” He stated shaking his head.

“You sound like Luke.”

“Do I want to ask?”

“Luke is implying I am in lust with her and need to get over myself, that it will never work, she’s too normal and that’s why I want her.”

“I think it is a bit more than lust if I’m honest,” Benedict commented. “What do you think?”

“I think I…I have no idea,” Tom admitted.

“I think you need to get yourself sorted.”

“She has a boyfriend.”

“And? No offence to the guy, but he’s not Tom Hiddleston.” Benedict grinned.

“You are not helping me through this at all,” Tom growled.

“I want my friend to be happy, remember, I have said that to you before.”