#Asian Sophie

[sophiebaek]

Portraying Sophie Baek:

A guide to cultural sensitivity and respect

Things to keep in mind

———

Yay! Sophie Baek is finally here and with all of excitement of this casting, I think it’s also important to bring attention to the new intersectionality that comes with the character of Sophie (specifically show Sophie).

Why should you take my words into account? Well, as an Asian woman in society today, I feel that I am qualified to speak on this topic since I’ve experienced all of this.

All of my words come from kind intentions, and I purely just want to communicate to the fandom how to approach Sophie being Asian in a respectful way.

Asia is a gigantic continent filled with various countries that have a multitude of cultures and ethnicities. While on the surface they all seem similar, they each have their own customs and traditions that have meaning within our culture. Do not combine them.

It’s important to remember that not every Asian person is Chinese, Japanese or Korean (East asian).

With Sophie being Korean, please do not generalize when writing about what you think you know about Korean culture.

You like Kpop and Kdrama? Great! BUT that does not define what Korean culture is and you shouldn't use that content as a reference.

When writing, be aware of explicit and unconscious biases you have about Asian people.

Asian stereotypes (Model Minority, Dragon Lady, Lotus blossom, etc) are very harmful and spread false narratives about us. Stereotypes eliminate the dimensions of who we are as Asians (South, South East, East, North, West).

Please, please, please do not fetishize. Especially since Bridgerton is a romance series it's extremely important to be mindful of the scenarios you put in your fics.

This also includes the White Savior Complex we see a lot in media!

If you’re writing about something specific, research it and fully understand the content you are putting into your work. Feel a little iffy about if you should put it in your fic? Probably don’t then. It’s that easy!

It's always great to ask someone who is a part of the community as well to see if what you're writing about is appropriate or potentially offensive in any way.

Describing Sophie is something new as well. Be mindful on how you describe her and other Asian characters.

Let me be clear: descriptions like 'slanted eyes' or 'yellow skin' are harmful

Here are some great resources that go into further detail about specific things! Rather than me paraphrasing their words it's best to link the direct source. Even as a part of this community, these articles were a reminder of how I must keep myself in check as well!

Describing Asian Eyes

Some important tips on making/writing Asian OCs

writing east asian characters

The Depiction of Asian Characters - Book Edition

The Dragon Lady, the Lotus Blossom, and the Robot: Archetypes of Asian Women in Western Media

To wrap this up, I want to be clear that I’m not a professional on this topic, but as someone who has been affected by harmful portrayals in media, I feel compelled to share my perspective. My hope is to spread awareness and encourage others to be mindful of how they approach these subjects, especially if they may not be fully informed. It’s about showing respect, doing the necessary research, and recognizing the impact our words and content can have on real people and cultures. By staying educated and considerate, we can be more aware and thoughtful in our actions.

[rhaenyraqueenred]

Yerin Ha as Sophie Beckett

(or maybe Baek So-hye / Sophie Baek if they change her name like they did with Kate Sheffield to Kathani Sharma).

“She was utterly radiant, and Benedict suddenly realized that it was because she looked so happy. Happy to be where she was, happy to be who she was.”

[sweetbagel-sticks]

Between Daphne, Anthony, and Benedict, Violet’s mom must be rolling in her grave at the amount of mixed grandchildren she has 💀 I love it

[ghostofanovelwriter]

I wish to god that the writers room had done a better job at establishing Benedict’s sexuality earlier on in the series because now fans have it in their heads that in order to “properly” vindicate his pansexuality (Luke confirmed this in an interview) they have to completely change the narrative of Sophie’s story and take away her autonomy as a woman so that it’ll fit into their precious mlm regency fantasies.

Making Sophie a crossdresser during or after the ball literally does nothing to advance the plot. It makes no sense that she would dress as a man to attend the ball when the entire point of her going was to fulfill her dreams of entering into society recognized as a lady rather than a bastard. She and Benedict only reunite because he saw her as a lady in need of being saved from being raped, and her refusal to be his mistress speaks on so many levels on her identity as a woman and being treated as lesser due to such that wouldn’t work if Benedict was under the impression she was a man.

I think the writing really did fuck itself over waiting this late to confirm Benedict’s sexuality since now it’ll just seem like it’s queerbaiting or retconning the entire thing during the next season. At the same time, i also think the issue lies with the fans and their inner biases not allowing them to reason that pansexual people are capable of ending up with members of the opposite sex that doesn’t invalidate their sexuality.

[cogaytes]

on my hands and knees begging keepblr to put more thought into tam's clothing than just. things you would see a kpop idol wear. like every moodboard i see of him has the shirts with the first button undone and the multiple silver rings on each hand and i just. c'mon.

i would get it if i saw it applied more to other characters who canonically wear a lot of rings (sophie/fitz with the cognate rings + panic switches), probably accessorize a lot based on their character (biana), or might like something to fidget with (dex). but to see it with just tam, who is one of the few characters who hasn't been mentioned to wear rings in canon, makes it feel like those ideas came from...somewhere else.

[pulitzerwinner-willaferreyra]

I feel so awful for Sophie... To be a dark skin south asian girl with white parents and your father would rather make big moves at the racist fascist factory and let thrive an environment where you feel unsafe than just be in your life and be a parent. All this in the name of the paper bills that are going to absorb your tears.

[orangepeelshortbreadcookies]

My East Asian Sophie Beckett masterlist:

the origin of love series:

last time i saw you (we were just split in two) - Modern AU, inspired by Before Sunrise Trilogy (Completed)

Interludes - Modern AU, Sophie's immigrant backstory (WIP)

Curtain Story: The super serious, dark, dramatic and heroic rivalry of Miles Bridgerton and Charles Bridgerton - Modern AU, title is self-explanatory, childish hijinks, crack (Completed)

Oceans Away - Fantasy AU, fox fairy!Sophie, elf!Benedict, oneshot (Completed)

Thieves of Dusk - Morally Grey Bridgertons AU, Bridgerton meets Six of Crows meets Ocean's Eleven, Violence, Chaos (Completed! Sort of)

WELCOME HOME, SOPHIE BECKETT!

[sophiebaek]

Asian Sophie fancast! ✨

I literally drafted this post a week ago and with the news of the potential Sophie casting call I feel like it was a sign to share my thoughts 😊

—————————

This is all for fun and as Sophie’s arrival seems to be getting closer and more inevitable, so here are some of my Sophie fancasts! As a SEA woman I would love to see representation in the Bton universe and have always pictured Sophie as Asian. [EDIT] With the assumed confirmation that Sophie will be East Asian I’ve included actresses that I love and have been fancast of mine for some time; these actresses are all East Asian (chosen before the casting call) but I also want to call to attention the lack of non-East Asian representation we see at this time. Fancast are at the end!

This is a good time to bring up what Asian representation even looks like since the continent is so big! I will be referencing this Variety article.

So we’ve seen that Asian representation has had a “significant increase of Asian characters from 3% to 16% over the course of 2007 to 2022” and while that seems like a step in the right direction it’s clear that the entirety of Asia is still not represented in media.

The release of 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians saw the increase of Asian stories and characters; but only “90% of the most visible of Asian characters on streaming platforms were a light or medium complexion”. Right now Asian representation is mainly centered around East Asians, and while any representation is good it’s important to be knowledgeable that not all Asian people are descended from that area.

There is a large disparity on how we view the term “Asian”. There are so many ethnicities that are beautiful and deserve representation. A larger representation needs to be seen within the Asian diaspora and also mindfulness to avoid common tropes and stereotypes is extremely important.

Any ways, here are some of my favorite fancasts I have right now! Conveniently all of these actresses are mixed race and with the obvious fact that Lady Cowper’s name is Araminta, it’s assumed Sophie is somehow related to them (which is a choice I do not agree with if now that Sophie is casted as a POC).

Natasha Liu Bordizzo (29)

Known for: Ashoka, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, The Voyeurs

Ethnicity: Born in Australia, Chinese/Italian

Netflix connection: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Wish Dragon, The Society

Obviously Natasha is busy with her Star Wars projects but she’s been a longtime Sophie face claim for me!

Havana Rose Liu (26)

Known for: Bottoms

Ethnicity: Born in the USA, Chinese/White

Netflix connection: The Chair

The whole time I was watching BOTTOMS I was just so mesmerized by her beauty! She has this ethereal gracefulness that really makes me think of Sophie!

Adeline Rudolph (29)

Known for: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Resident Evil

Ethnicity: Born in Hong Kong, Korean/German

Netflix connection: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Resident Evil

Adeline always caught my attention in CAOS and I wanted to see more of her! She also has quite a bit of projects lined up rn but I’ve loved using her in some edits!

[rhaenyraqueenred]

Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek.

“I suppose I might be induced to tell you that my favorite color is green, but beyond that I shall leave you with no clues to my identity.”

[lostinmac]

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki

[nadiajustbe]

I know people in HMC books speak English so there's not gonna be any kind of miscommunication between the characters, but sometimes I think about how it would be way more funny If there was some language diversity.

Howell Jenkins falls into the portal to an absolutely unknown, magical realm and... everyone speaks English. He was rather happy about it, finding it funny: it's a new, fantasy, fairy-tale based world with dragons and spells and seven-league boots and magic, and yet its habitants English. What are the odds?

However, it does not takes him long to realise (much to his own frustration) that, even though all of the locals native language is, in fact, English, it is pretty different from the English Howell himself is familiar with. He cant understand it quite well at fist, but it sounded like an odd mix of a modern language, specific dialects and an old tongue people was using around Victorian England/Middle Ages. It has so many words and unusual forms (Howell even called them "slang" once in a while), that it takes him a while to fully get every term and subtexts ms. Pentstemmon was referring to.

Their languages were similar just enough to catch the full sense of the sentence, but not enough to undertand all the little details, not cultural nor linguistic. It would even worst If he wasn't a big fun of Shakespeare and old Arthurian Legends growing up, letting alone studying old English (and old Welsh) at the university.

The language also differs from the area. Michael, for example, uses so many words you can hear in Porthaven only, regarding it's unique aspects. Sophie uses a lot of Market Chipping proverbs, and even more old terms connected with hats. The language he heard the King using wheh he got his first chance to met him at the time of his apprenticeship was so long, confusing and vivid, as If it was taken straight out of old English Literature books. And yet, English.

To this day Howell — at this point long-knowing as Howl Pendragon — finds himself confusing new terms, forms of words, proverbs and sayings. Maybe, he thinks, you have to be truly born there to understand all of - although he did better than anyone else would. Sophie seems to catching up just well.

—

Abdullah ends up with a flying carpet and the magical genie, exited to give away his fist wish to find the love of his love... only to not understand a word of what the genie is saying. This is how, instead of searching for Flower-In-The-Night, he now searching through a whole Zanzib for a proper translator from English because, here's the problem, If he can't understand the genie, then genie can't understand him, and If genie can't understand him, it's pointless to even try making a wish. He knows it's English: there's plenty people all around the world visiting the market, and he had even learnt certain words, important for making a trade, but that's not nearly close to a full sentence on unrelated topic.

With a great effort and after hours of searching for a really proffecional master of languages (who charges Abdullah nearly all of his money for one single session), he finally gets to the point. Except, here's another moment. That's where Abdullah finds out the wish has to be spoken from his heart and not through the other person. Here comes another catch — Ingarian English, no matter how simple or structured is, to put is simply, badly different from Rapshutian Arabic. It's not even the same language group!

So, he sits in the small, hot room near the glamorous bottle and tries to pronounce a bunch of difficult, complex words written on a paper, the kind that translator couldn't cut or simplify to ones he's familiar with, for a whole ten (to fifteen) minutes. And, as If trying to make his task as difficult as possible, genie, when he shows up, starts randomly breaking into the language translator can't even recognise, with no talk about understanding. Abdullah assumes it may be a secret genie language only this creatures know and, annoyingly, gets along with it.

After successfully wishing to understand (and use) English, he also finds out he can't wish for anything more language-related, and he shouldn't even bother himself trying to ask for a foolish things like an ability to speak every language in the world. Language is a big part of human's essence and otherwise shouldn't be messing with, just as magic focusing on it is strictly limited.

Using this fact, the genie also finds a loophole - from now on he speaks his secret genie language half of the time, stopping only when it comes to important tasks, because Abdullah "wished to know only one of his languages" and he, apparently, knows more.

This whole puzzle takes new turns, when, while traveling with the carpet, Abdullah meets the solider. Despite claiming being from Strangia, this strange man from the forest starts speaking with them in English in first and then, noticing they're from different country, easily switches to Arabic.

As they wander together, the soliders explains that he is non less confused than they are: he didn't even noticed he could speak English before the passer-byes from Ingary noticed him, and now, being with genie and Abdullah, he also remembered he knows Arabic. He adds that he can't recall anything before his duty in the army, where he definitely used Stangian and nothing else, but it feels like an strong knowledge he has, even If he doesn't remember learning any of this. He decides to wave it off, focusing on the cats and schemes.

The solider becomes a great translator for them along the journey, up to the day the got the inn. He does not understand the secret genie language, though. Especially when from the jinnies and angels they found out there's, in fact, no such a thing as a "genie language"

The story finally clears itself when Midnight and Whippersnapper turn into humans, the Solider turns into a bewitched Prince and the Royal Wizard surprisingly seems to recognize all of the words the genie was — and still is — using.

—

Charmain runs after Sophie with a long, old dictionary she has found in the Great Uncle Norland's Library. The Royals, of course, gave their honored guest the translator, but the things quickly becomes pretty private, with the search for the gold and all this story with lubboks, so Sophie tells them she's gonna manage it by herself.

To say the Dictionary is heavy is to say nothing: it's huge and thick, containing thousands of words from Ingarian English alone, split by topics, marked with tons of colors an additional moments. Even carrying it around is a whole different type of task.

Half of the time Charmain and Sophie communicate with gestures, context clues and even sounds. When they need to say something really long and complex, they write, leaning on the Dictionary, as it's a bit faster than talking. Still, at some moments Charmain has to flip through the massive pages, searching for the right word with her finger, while Sophie has to do the same. Till the end of the day the both learn some basic words from each other's language, which makes it easier.

The poor nanny has even harder times with Twinkle and Morgan, because she has no idea about what they actually want, except they both whining and crying, one louder than another.

Translator does not come in handy that much, as it looks like these children mix languages everytime when speaking to each other. She has to guess things all over the room to finally get what they need, and usually it's the most useless things ever, like striped pants and a bunch of toy horses falling from the sky.

They see Sophie and Twinkle arguing about something, but no one gets the topic of their screaming, let alone the reason why Sophie is so mad at this angelic child. Charmain asks Sophie about it, because she heard an unusual name along the lines of their quarrels, but Sophie looks too annoyed to explain, mumbling something in her native language with some sort of anger.

The only positive side of it all is that, If Chairman can't understand English, then the lubbocks can't either. Wich means that they didn't have to be as cautious when using Dictionary as they would have to If they understood each other perfectly.

Then she has to climb on the roof, where Twinkle is sitting. Charmain tries to dismiss all his attempts to start a dialogue till she's there, huffing and suffocating as she tries to get the Dictionary with her, trying not to fall.

Twinkle seems to be really proud of himself, saying he knows twice more languages that anyone else in this magical House. Charmain flips through the pages, asking either one of is the one she knows (Norlandian, I assume).

Twinkle says no. For a second Charmaine starts to really understand Sophie's feeling, fighting the urge to hit him on the head with this massive book.

Peter does not communicate with this new guest as much and, luckily, he knows the language Charmain speaks, so they don't have to struggle with a language barrier. The way speaks might be a bit different because of the area he grew up and the amount of hiding and spells he encountered, but there's nothing they can't handle. Luckily.

Calcifer knows the Saucepan song, but other than that his linguistic knowledge is far from perfect, certainly not as good as you'd expect from a fire demon. He also cannot use a Dictionary, because it will burn the second he'll come to close to it, and If this happens their main way of communication is basically gone. He makes up for it, talking with Twinkle, Morgan and Sophie, as well as being expressive enough to understand the basics or what he feels and plans. Sometimes someone (aka Sophie) has to translate what he is saying when she's near, wich is a bit longer than Charmain would wish, but still pretty plausible. She got that he desperately needs his logs, after all.

Twinkle could have used some kind of magical bubble to get them finally understand each other fully, but, again, magic connected with languages is pretty difficult and has its important limits, so it wouldn't last long. Little 30 years old boy is enjoying his childhood, running up the stairs and beating these huge bugs, not as much caring about Charmain all this huge book in her hands.

In the end, (as he turnds out to be) the Royal Wizard Howl is right - the only languages lubbocks can understand is punching.

(Many thanks to my rly good friend @your-queen-shuri for being co-author of this concept. A bunch of ideas here are from her!)

[somethingsketchy3]

assuming that “Emily” is actually Sophie, ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT I WON????? ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT I WON HAVING AN EAST ASIAN SOPHIE???? ARE YOU TELLING ME IM GETTING THE REPRESENTATION I’VE BEEN BEGGING FOR????

it’s too soon to tell, but i will hold onto this huge piece of hope for as long as i can.

[littletofuna]

OH BENOPHIE NATION WE DID IT!!!

[tilly-tilly-2827]

Our beloved Sophie Beckett.

We adore you.

We love you.

And we will protect you at all costs.

[thekatebridgerton]

With all respect, does the hope for a latina Sophie mean hopes for her to have travelled from central/South America like Kate came from India?

I just wonder if the hopes for a latina Sophie are looking at the show with too much of an American view when the leads thus far have all been exclusively British/Irish. Finding a British actress with latin roots could be exceptionally hard given they are such a tiny demographic in the UK, unless the show hires outside the UK and gives her a migration backstory - a la Kate from India or Lady Danbury from Africa.

wanting a Latina Sophie literally just means 'portrayed by actress of Hispanic ethnicity'. This is the show that as you rightfully pointed out had an INDIAN family travelling trough Britain as tho there was no British occupation in said country. We all know they can do whatever they want and just gloss over the explanation like they did with the disappearance of the Duke of Hastings.

Sophie could come from Mexico and Bridgerton would be like ' yeah she's an immigrant, shit happened in her motherland' and proceeded to brush it over with the Queen Charlotte deux ex machina wig of ' we changed society with love'. Canonically Sophie's name in the book is Sophia Maria, it's hinted that her mother was a Singer. For all we Singer could have been Guatemalan, with a little bit of the kind of editing that gave us Papa Sharma. Was Guatemala even a country in 1800?, who cares, if the show doesn't go out of it's way to point it out, I certainly wont.

But all jokes aside, Sophie is most likely going to be black, it's Shondaland, who are we kidding. Lets play a little game of probability shall we? take a look at the actors in Scandal, Grey's Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder ( just off the top of my head) And, without counting anyone Caucasian, compare the amount of Black actors hired for speaking roles, with the amount of indian, asian, and Hispanic actors overlapping for speaking roles in the same season. Then come back and tell me what odds I'm looking at for a Latina Sophie, do it, I'll wait.

Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly fine with whatever ethnicity Sophie ends up being, but personally when I say I support a Latina Sophie its because Latinos are possibly the only community that so far has had no speaking roles in Bridgerton. In 3 seasons of diversity and poc blind casting, that's a problem that should be addressed. They made up a reason why interracial marriage was acceptable in the show, make up a reason for a Latino to have the Gunningworth title, it's not that hard.

But hey that's just my opinion.

[orangepeelshortbreadcookies]

Why, if this isn't one of the most disgusting news I've heard this week, second only to that of RFK Jr.'s modern Moby Dick real life adaptation. I guess what I wish John Glaser would do this season is: Do your fucking homework this time? Or work with someone who actually knows what the hell they are doing? Take a serious lesson or more in East Asian historical outfits, and actually consider with respect what works in East Asian (possibly South Korean) period dramas in terms of their costume design and Hair & Makeup.

And the easiest fix they could attempt with season 4? Get rid of the plastic, chemical-wastes coloured fabrics and the teabag fingerless gloves/Shein's self-harm bandages. Throw them in the trash, burn them in a furnace where they belong.

This is the show's last chance to do right by a story with an Asian woman lead. They have an opportunity to engage with a gigantic audience in East Asia and a large part of South East Asia. We're generally very welcoming to see our stories being told on a global stage (you can see the proof of that in the way many major news channels in EA have embraced and expressed excitement for Yerin). But that doesn't mean we will accept our cultures being disrespected, and we can be vicious when they are. See how Disney's live-action Mulan did abysmally in China? One reason for that disappointment was the ugly, underwhelming costuming. Had John Glaser spent 2 minutes considering India's fashion history with respect, he would have learned how rich, colourful and intricate a relationship Indians have with their fabrics and embroideries. The same goes for many East/South East Asian countries. I guess we just don't want to be treated like idiots and our cultures getting visually desecrated. I don't think that's too much to ask.