#gold digger benjamin

[beyondthefold]

BEN BARNES as BENJAMIN GREENE Gold Digger S01E01 "Her Boy"

[binbonsescape]

Songs for You | The Bowery Ballroom - New York (February 10, 2023)

[cavillanche]

I am convinced that the hand to the face is a natural Ben move that translates into all of his roles.

[scorpiobox]

Ben Barnes | Gold Digger (2019).

[lily-avenue]

Musings on Gold Digger (2019)

** Warning contains major spoilers **

** Also warning: massively long-winded ramble **

Julia Ormond, Ben Barnes and an exploration of a may-december romance in the midst of complicated famillial dynamics and an underlying unease.

Both leads are very good. We see Julia Day (Julia Ormond) reclaim herself as she moves out of the roles to which she has been assigned, or perhaps more accurately, has assigned herself; while Benjamin Greene (Ben Barnes) treads the fine line of someone who is not entirely what he seems to be, and who in pursuing the path he has chosen, is moving both closer to, and further away, from what he needs. We all, or many of us at least, want to be known and loved for who we actually are.

The supporting cast are uniformly excellent, with each episode putting the spotlight on one of Julia's now-adult kids (Patrick, Della and Leo), her ex-husband (Ted), her ex-best-friend (Marsha), and her new lover.

The series poses a range of complex, thorny questions, such as what it means to take a much younger (or much older) lover; the immediate and long-term aftermath of domestic violence; the loss of confidence and trust following betrayal; the ripple effect of those pivotal moments that each of us have in our lives; and the small (and large) lies that we tell ourselves and each other.

Nearly everyone in Julia's life is openly and vocally "concerned" when she introduces the much younger Benjamin into her life, and the series also explores the cost of pursuing your own happiness in the face of others' disapproval.

For the most part, the two sons (Patrick and Leo) are Not Very Nice. While they are not necessarily unjustified in their concerns about Benjamin, and are each grappling with the fallout of their parents' shared history, how they act upon those concerns is rather unpleasant. (And slighly nonsensical. Patrick is a well-heeled lawyer, surely he would have hired a private investigater to do some digging?) Della, her daughter, is the most open of the three to their mother's new relationship. And while for the most part that isn't saying much, Della's growing acceptance and support of Julia's right to be her own person and the strength she demonstrates in doing so, make for a lovely subplot - particularly as it starts to positively impact her own life.

While the series asks a lot of questions, it doesn't necessarily answer them in a way that fully satisfies. We see Benjamin and Julia's attraction in numerous sex scenes, and it is fabulous to move from the early scenes, in which she turns off the light, to later scenes in which she has pushed aside some of her insecurities. But we don't see enough of their intellectual attraction, of the non-physical side of things, and of how they navigate the fact that in terms of cultural milieu, he has far more in common with her children than with her (sort of, that too is complicated). There are some lovely glimpses - the book of walks he gives her as a gift, for example, rather than ubiquitous and offensively-generic flowers. But their growing closeness is mostly given in montages of them walking around holding hands in various locales - we are rarely privvy to the intimate discussions that would show a deepening relationship.

Much goes unquestioned by Julia, which given her intelligence and life experience seems somewhat implausible, although perhaps newly discovered and unexpected love can make fools of us all? Her lack of curiosity about Benjamin's past, which clearly continues to affect him, or his financial situation (mid 30s, professional job, but about to be hounded by bailiffs?) is hand-waved away at one point. This is one of those instances where I cannot tell if it suboptimal writing (maintaining suspense at the cost of characterisation) or very clever writing (Julia tends to avoid conflict; her reluctance to ask questions to which she doesn't necessarily want to know the answer has precedence). Herein lies the dilemma of suspense-based drama: in keeping Benjamin an relatively unknown quality we lose the opportunity to get to know him and Julia as a couple, and that becomes problematic later on.

We experience Julia's growth as she takes responsibility for her own destiny, eventually starting to question what it is that Benjamin isn't telling her, and taking the necessary steps to find out more. And when she finds out more, and it is rather confronting, she still chooses to listen before coming to her own conclusions. But we don't see the same for Benjamin. His journey is more opaque, and because we only get very few snippits of his life before Julia, is largely for the viewer to infer, or only becomes evident after the fact. He wants to run away when things start to close in on him, but he doesn't. Ultimately his hand is forced and he breaks a long-held agreement with his brother to put his own needs first. (There is a small subplot about an engagement that didn't happen; a former girlfriend broke up with him the day he proposed, and one wonders if it was because he also told her the truth about his past.)

There are interesting contrasts between Benjamin and Ted. Both are outwardly well put together, but neither are what they seem. Ted is successful, wealthy and enmeshed in entitled middleclass-ness, while Benjamin is not, despite his facade of the urbane younger man.

But the outward trappings hide the fact that Ted is controlling and violent, while Benjamin - despite what the criminal justice system would say - is neither. And that contrast is backed up by the scene with Ted in the forest on the morning of the wedding, compared with that with Benjamin on the beach (in which Julia asks him to not touch her, and he listens and respects her wishes instantly). Even throughout the argument with his newly re-emerged brother Kieran, which escalates into low-level violence, Benjamin only ever reacts, never instigates.

And it would be entirely remiss of me not to mention Marsha, who has made her own bed, unfortunately with Ted in it. We meet Marsha just as she is beginning to realise the extent of the poor bargain she's made, and it really only gets worse.

I am still not sure whether the series simply had very high expectations of the viewer, or whether the script spread itself too thin and undercut itself. The distrust and deception that flows throughout the series was almost catching, and in the face of it I wanted stronger closure, a deeper resolution of the issues that came to light late in the piece. In the absence of that, Kieran's words after the fight with Benjamin resonate just a little too strongly for me. Are they actually in love with one another, or are they in love with what the other represents to them?

Is Benjamin a gold digger? Not, I think, in the traditional sense of the term. He sees in Julia an embodiment of the life he wants to have, but had always been excluded from. My take is that the attraction and burgeoning love is real, but that it is also inseparable from her aura of wealth, education and intellect, which are an integral part of who she is and how she moves through the world.

He was certainly not honest with her, and that also poses an interesting question about how much of our ourselves, and our actions, we can mask, ignore or conceal before sliding into deception or disaster. Alongside Benjamin editing his past to hide a terrible act (in which he played a supporting role but shouldered much of the consequences), we have a younger Julia peddling the fiction that all was well with her (first) marriage, Ted hiding his violent streak, Patrick having an affair, Leo knowing about Ted and Marsha but not telling his mother. The list goes on.

The lingering disquiet of how much of Benjamin is a performance, and how much is real, never quite leaves. We do see sharper edges to him at times, which are in keeping with what is revealed about his past (you couldn't come out of young offenders unscathed, and you certainly wouldn't get through it without developing some pretty decent survival mechanisms), although Julia herself is not privvy to them. It is in the rawness and desperation of a couple of his reactions that a measure of confirmation is provided that his feelings towards Julia are genuine. There is a two-fold element of unreliable narration with Benjamin, yet it feels not entirely unreasonable to conclude that Benjamin the construct is underpinned by a longstanding and deep-seated need, and has largely become Benjamin the actual. But how recent was this process, and was it a legitimate one? We don't ever really find out, and that matters when it comes to our central conundrum.

But as may have become evident throughout this long-winded ramble, one of my own personal failings is that I like my fictional endings to be happy, and unambiguously so. I want Julia to enjoy her 'after', just as much as I want Benjamin to revel in the safety and belonging she provides. So holding onto a suitable measure of optimism (or perhaps of wishful thinking - our characters may not be alone in their penchant for self-deception), let us now return to their wedding reception and one of my favourite scenes. Watching a truly beguiling Julia invite Benjamin to dance, and an utterly charming Benjamin follow her onto the dance floor, made me smile. A lot. And with that in mind I am going to find myself a glass of champagne, ensure my best smile is firmly in place, and head out onto the dance floor to wish the two of them my very best.

[ben-barnes-world]

[boykisserbenbarnes]

Benjamin Greene is constantly crying he's just like me fr.

[silverwolfdesign]

🡒 ✨ 𝐄𝐰𝐚𝐧 & 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐚 • 𝘉𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴 & 𝘈𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘈𝘳𝘫𝘰𝘯𝘢.

❝𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵.❞ - 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙁𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙘

[baubeautyandthegeek]

I told myself that you were right for me//But felt so lonely in your company//But that was love, and it's an ache I still remember – Julia/Ted (Past), Julia/Benjamin

A/N: Part 5/5 for this week’s prompts from @soheavyaburden​ ‘s A Year of Whump.

“Whore…” The word sits in the silence, then Benjamin speaks, his eyes blazing. He had seen how frightened Julia was, recognized it from the time she showed him every mark and bruise Ted left on her skin, trying to claim her even now. “Oh you WILL be sorry now…”

He's pushing and shoving as he gets Ted out of the house, dragging the man with him down the driveway, ignoring Julia calling him back. He’s still dragging the man even as they get closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. Ted stumbles, tries to dig his heels in and finally falls, Benjamin’s breath breaking the silence before he drops to his knees.

He stays there a while, breathing heavily. He heads home slowly, walking then running, losing himself in Julia’s embrace, a hand tangling into her hair even as he brushes tears from her cheek.

“It’s over, he’s gone. It’s over.”

[justlemmesignin]

My mom’s first impression of the DS9 characters

DISCLAIMER: My mom knows almost nothing about Star Trek and does not enjoy the sci-fi genre at all. She was also negatively biased towards the aliens, cause they creep her out.

Benjamin Lafayette Sisko

he likes arguing

sarcastic

intelligent

he is in charge

Kira Nerys

she seems inexperienced/too young

she’s trying to overcompensate for something/ try-hard

she’s some kind of researcher

Jadzia Dax

she seems upset but also happy?

she’s the diva of the group

she’s a nurse/ in the medical field

Julian Subatoi Bashir

clown/jester

when asked to clarify what his job is she replied: I said he’s a clown and I stick by it!!

Miles O’Brien

ohhh, he’s irish, I like Irish people, they’re nice

talkative/ a people person

knows everything about everyone

bartender who drinks a lot of beer on the job

Odo

what does he inspire? hmmm fear

he looks like he’s dying

he’s the leader of an alien race

Quark

dread

executioner

gold digger

do people actually like him? her face was indescribable when I explained people are sexually attracted to him

Worf, son of Mogh, House of Martok

oh boy....(she kept staring at the screen for a full minute speechless - aliens really terrify her...newsflash mom your son’s an alien fucker)

Elim Garak

he scares me, he looks like a lizard (reptiles scare her, too)

but I think he’s a good lizard, he doesn’t seem as evil as the other aliens (she’s really not into aliens at all)

he’s the king of the lizard aliens

Female Changeling

no name no feelings no nothing (she said this in broken English when I told her she does not have an actual name)

she has a stone heart/ she’s cold and bitter

she’s the mother of the two guys in the back

Odo seems like a nice guy in comparison

Jake Sisko

aah, much better (meaning no more aliens), he looks nice

he’s a ladies’ man

Gul Dukat

he’s the father, brother, cousin, uncle to the other lizard guy

he’s arrogant/full of himself

he wishes he was in charge, but he’s not

Kai Adami Winn

she does not look like a lizard, but she’s not that far off either (meaning she might not look evil, but she actually is)

she’s kinda in charge of something

she’s evil

[triiskell]

Ben Barnes as Benjamin Greene in Gold Digger

[binbonsescape]

Ben Barnes

[cavillanche]

Benjamin Greene Appreciation Post

[scorpiobox]

Ben Barnes | Gold Digger (2019).

[fictionadventurer]

American Presidents as Blind Dates

George Washington: The perfect 18th-century man--handsome, well-dressed, fantastic dancer, excellent horseback rider. Unfortunately, he's a gold-digger.

Thomas Jefferson: He'd be thrilling and charming as a first date, very engaging intellectually and socially. But if you got to know him better you might notice something kind of...off. A hidden selfishness and cruel streak.

James Monroe: Jury's out on whether he was good-looking or not, but he liked dancing and music and fine dining, so he'd probably be a decent date.

John Quincy Adams: Great conversationalist. Brilliant and he knows it. Irascible. Not much of a sense of humor.

Andrew Jackson: A perfect Southern gentleman who's very concerned about protecting the honor of a lady. (But if you happen to be an opponent, watch out).

Martin Van Buren: No one knows, because this guy was an enigma.

James K. Polk: Would talk about nothing but politics. (Happened to marry a woman who talked about nothing but politics, so it worked out okay).

James Buchanan: Big, loud, charming, loves dancing, tells jokes, and is probably gay.

Abraham Lincoln: Awkward with women and prefers to be one of the guys.

Ulysses S. Grant: Not a great first impression, because he doesn't care much about clothes and is pretty rumpled. (Writes adorable love letters, though).

Rutherford B. Hayes: Charismatic, loves people, loves going to cultural events. Will probably take you to a lecture.

James Garfield: Extremely outgoing. Big, booming laugh. As likely to give you a bear hug as a handshake.

Chester Arthur: Amazing blind date. He's handsome, impeccably-dressed, and his entire job is wining and dining people. (That makes him a terrible husband, though).

Grover Cleveland: If you met him at a public event, he'd seem very cold and distant. In private, he'd be warm and funny (and he's great at doing impressions).

Benjamin Harrison: Amazing guy to take home to your parents. Extremely respectable. Pretty boring as a date, though.

Theodore Roosevelt: So exuberant and energetic you might get overwhelmed. Will take you hiking, and if you run into obstacles, you have to climb over it rather than go around. You'd better have a lot of energy if you want to hang out with him.

[readerinsertsaremyguiltypleasure]

Headcanon Alphabet Game

So, I have been really slack with my fanfic writing so I though it might be time for a prompt game of sorts. This is not a fanfiction game, I'm afraid, so no short ficlets; it's for headcanons only. But on the plus side, that means I'll be able to do more of them.

Below the cut is an alphabetized list of subjects as well a list of characters. All you have to do is send me a letter and a character name, and I'll tell you my headcanon for that combination. If you have specific questions or scenarios in mind about your chosen subject (e.g "What would this character do if this happened?"), feel free to add them, but you don't have to if you don't want to.

One character and one letter per ask, please. But there's nothing to stop you sending multiple asks😉(EDIT: Please use the ask box)

A - Anniversary B - Bondage C - Children D - Dates E - Emotions F - First time G - Gifts H - Hugs I - Insecurities J - Jealousy K - Kisses L - Love confessions M - Mornings in bed N - Nicknames O - Oral sex P - PDA (Public displays of affection) Q - Quickie R - Revenge S - Sexual fantasies T - Turn on/turn offs U - Unrequited love (or assumed unrequited love) V - Vanity W - Wedding X - X-Ray (what's under the clothes) Y - Yearning Z - Zzzz (sleeping habits)

Characters:

Billy Russo (The Punisher)

The Darkling (Shadow and Bone)

Logan Delos (Westworld)

Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia)

Benjamin Greene (Gold Digger)

Dhawan!Master (Doctor Who)