#Benophie is real!

[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.”

[sophiebaek]

Benophie Week 2024: Day 4 - Cottage

Places and moments at My Cottage.

[winterxfrost]

THE BENOPHIE ERAAAAA IS HERE

Finally, the Benedict and Sophie season is *here*, and it’s honestly everything. Their story has always hit different, and seeing it play out on screen? Feels unreal. The casting? Absolutely nailed it—these two are *perfect* for the roles. Can’t wait to watch their story unfold. The vibes are immaculate.

This season is about to hit me so haaaard!

[hopepaigeturner]

UPDATE

Chapter 6:

Real world implications hit Sophie and Ben.

Read on AO3 here.

“Benedict!” Hyacinth cried, running into the kitchen with Gregory hot on her heels—both in their pyjamas. “Hy, it’s not him,” Gregory argued trying to grab her phone. But Hyacinth whirled away. “It’s definitely him, Greg.” “Would both of you please stop shouting at each other and calmly tell me what is going on?” Benedict asked. Just as Hyacinth went to speak the front door slammed open. He barely got two steps before Kate, Miles and Neddy splurged across the threshold. “Kate, what on earth?” Benedict asked looking at her disarrayed hair and the wailing Miles on her arm. “What happened?” “They’re everywhere, Benedict,” she said, “They ambushed us.” “Who?” “The b----y paparazzi, that’s who!” 

[bipunkharrington]

So Sophie is actually transmasc and he and Benedict are going to live life as a quiet gay couple in a little cottage off somewhere, and he just has to put on a dress and try not to cringe at the name "Sophie" every so often when they have company, but all the household staff call them both "Mr Bridgerton" and Benedict calls him Tom or Tommy.

[mariailoveyou-guerin]

Luke Thompson Yerin Ha you could never be them actually! sorry they are my benophie the fact they are same age now this is the only yt man East Asian trope we care about getting in Bridgerton I’m sorry but she was the lady in silver she really did that oh benophie you could never

I actually habe real chest pains we never lost this bad it should’ve been them but it’s fine I’m just gonna edit their face in everything Luke T and Y so we can get real hot leads back like Sophie pretty but Benedict yeah need my real hot yt Eng man not his👴or 60y dumbledore 😔

ate their 15m of love story the chemistry tension and promo yeah Luke T could never they don’t make them like this no more wasian ships like this no more 😔 the way we could’ve had everything but instead we got Benedict Bridgerton that’s literally older then both of these actors

and this movie is 14y old 😔 we lost so BAD my chest hurts it’s actually legit hurting the hot leads we could’ve had but instead we get Yerin and her 👴 and when i make every non toxic non book benophie scene about imagine it all happening with them instead then what? Bridgerton

what i ordered(Chanel) VS what I got(Wish) Jess is 🤢

‪Look at this the perfect age too! They R my Benophie sorry but since she’s in it I’m just gonna imagine the story is about her and once I get that cameo from rob you’ll be so sick of me bc they R besties so if she did ask rob he’ll actually say yes like that’s her BFF ya dont knw‬

Look at the difference see what they are giving for a 15m romance the buzz serotonin and what Benophie arent giving for a 8ep full szn of period love romance show it’s giving coworkers! yeah not selling anything sorry my girl is trying but he never has chem with his love interest which is so funny because why not tho?

they even did the whole Asian world tour promo thing oh benophie LukeT you’ll never be them probably why Shonda hired the OG in this specific season she so real!

I love when actors are actually besties irl bc u can tell the chemistry just be hitting harder why LukeNic ate everyone up N now we gonna go back to coworkers like in s2 😔we lost so bad but at least we have Katie

the only ball and lady in silver that matters that cheap zorro mask benophie could never🤭🤭 🤭🤭🤭🤭

[thekatebridgerton]

Looking at the exes AU, I’m kind of pissed at Benedict for sleeping around. Granted, yes they aren’t dating but that would still be a tough pill to swallow if I were Sophie. I’m just imagining Violet, sick and tired of Ben being a hoe, let’s it slip one night that she’s decided to set Sophie up on a blind date much to Ben’s chagrin. “How can you do this to me mother?” “In all fairness dear, YOU were the one to end things with her. Besides, Sophie deserves to find happiness with someone. I know she would love to have children one day and with her looks they’d be gorgeous.”

She totally set up Sophie with Roger Rokesby, who happens to be the son of Benedict's aunt Poppy. Violet was sneaky, she pretended it was a meet cute, and look at that her handsome nephew the naval officer. In a cruise with his mom? Wow what a coincidence. Let's just not tell Sophie we're related

When Benedict demands to know why she did that Violet decides to pour more salt in the wound " Why because I want grandchildren of course, I may not get them from you, but Sophie is a different story, that darling girl loves me like a mother, I'm sure any child of hers and Roger is obviously going to call me grandmama... Admittedly if she had stuck with you, I wouldn't have to share my future grandchildren with Andrew and Poppy, but oh well, one can't have everything in life..."

Let Roger wine and dine Sophie. She deserves a fling in the french Rivera while Benedict hoes around.

But Benedict is now discovering that it hurts to think about Sophie building a home with someone else. And all his meaningless one night stands make him feel pathetic and empty. Only Sophie made him feel like life was worth living

Cue tortured artist collection of paintings dedicated to his muse, Sophie who he totally doesn't miss and doesn't leave embarrassing voicemails to in the middle of the night. Benedict takes this whole tortured artist phase very seriously. Doesn't matter that all he seems to paint is his beloved lady in silver.

And that's the tea

[biancadoes1]

After this past week is anybody else wondering what was the point of all the Lukola/Pollin content with the BTS videos, cast interviews and Shondaland liking the Luke/Nic married in real-life comments in the week before Christmas?

We were all hyped up and then it led nowhere. The last photos from them of the table read didn't even include Luke and Nicola. I know they are going to likely switch to mostly Benedict content, but really that's it? Any ideas how and if they are going to try to unite a fractured fan base whether it's the Benophie vs. Pollin stans or fighting Lukola ships? I'm new to fandoms, but this seems like a real mess.

I assume the viewer numbers aren't being counted officially anymore? Was it just to get us to buy Bridgerton merch for the holidays? It's left me feeling like it was only a crummy commercial.

To be fair, we were the ones expecting more from it based off nothing.

Season three was a hit and they’re capitalizing on it - this is a business after all.

They’re fully aware that Nicola and Luke draw eyes behind the fandom. The GA loves them just as much and catering to that audience can sell merchandise well beyond promo and press tours that ended six months ago.

We can’t feel jipped when we weren’t promised anything other than a 12 days of Bridgerton season 3. They delivered.

But no offense, I did not care about Golda’s wigs like at all.

[nostalgicmiscellaneous]

It's confirmed. Anti-polin and tulipanon is factually the same person, and uses some others tumblrs i'm compiling, together with more names of others tumblrs that are helping her with her lies, even goign as far as creating other social medias to continue their farce. Sad to see they amount of Kanthony and Benophie fans taking stupid fanwars too far and attacking actors. I believe in holding those people accountable for the lies and the participation on lies and hate. She sends fake anons to herself and use multiple fake tumblrs. She is portraying herself as Simone Ashley fan, Kanthony and a Benophie fan, but her ''thing'' is Benophie, who hates Polin and she hates Nicola (she hates Luke too but has been pretending not to so her target is only Nicola recently, but we know and have the receipts of her awful comments), because to her Netflix only loves Nicola, thus she hates them so, to a point of even creating lies and multiple accounts at social medias to hate on actors and lie about seasons. Yes, it's pure insanity because she's dissatisfied with how Netflix handled Kate and Anthony's story and the delay of Benophie. It's been more than two years and she's becoming more and more deranged. She's no insider, she has never worked on Bridgerton nor Netflix. And not even in the industry. She has no crew who has worked for Bridgerton and Netflix. When challenged to facts and names, departments and of people who work/worked there would know, she reveals herself for the liar and fool she is. You would laugh if you actually know how far from it she really is, who she really is. Everything she says is contradicted by actual crew and cast members, by the factual informations and by actual data. She tells your her opinions and manipulates you. She's a mentally disturbed person with a fixation. But even her manipulations are wrong. It's incredible. She knows nothing about the season 4 production and grabs only a few online public infos to pass to the naive people. And even that she manages to inform wrong. She has no idea how the production works, it's wrong take after wrong take, that anyone who works in any production spotted easily from the start that she was lying, that it was just a common fan. Her behavior would be enough to deduce that, but some people are naive enough ( not to say stupid enough) to fall for anyone who says they have inside information, and some are just malicious enough to do it because they can't separate real life from their hatred about a show, characters and actors, and want to believe. And it speaks on your ( lack) of diginity if you are mad at Shonda and Netflix but attack actors with lies.

You've been warned and as i said, i'm still collecting data from these fakes blogs and have the next action outlined...for the sane Kanthony and Benophie fans, that i believe are the majority, know that their behavior is maculating your fandom, their behavior is being also sent to official offices, even though she is an insignificant and obvious troll, and resources aren't likely to be spent on her, but i fortunately have the means to do that, so i do it, to bring awareness at least. I advise you to hold these people accountable and decry them. It's the image of your fandom and your favorites names she is bringing issues to with her insistent abusive behavior and obsessive harassment.

[thebluemallet]

EARLY Predictions for Bridgerton Season 4

BENEDICT IS OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED TO BE THE LEAD FOR SEASON 4!

I've had this in my drafts for a couple of weeks. But now that Benophie is officially happening next season, I have some EARLY predictions for the next season. I'll have more predictions when we finally have a clip or a trailer, but for now I'm gonna cast a wide net for what I think will happen in season 4.

1- MASQUERADE!

They really name-dropped that masquerade ball like Tahani Al-Jamil name drops her celebrity friends. And they mentioned it in the promo with Luke T. The masquerade ball is happening! My guess is it'll happen somewhere in the first two episodes of season 4. This will be where Benedict meets his Cinderella/mysterious Lady In Silver/Sophie Beckett.

The code name for season 4 is supposed to be Vauxhall, where we saw Daphne and Simon launch their fake dating plot in season 1. That was a public ball, which means that anybody who could pay the fee could get into it. Perhaps we'll return there for the masquerade ball. Makes much more sense for Sophie to be able to crash that instead of a private ball at the Bridgerton house.

Let's just hope her carriage doesn't turn into a pumpkin before she can make her escape.

2- A Possible Time Jump

In Benedict's book, he meets Sophie at the masquerade, she runs away at midnight, and then he doesn't see her again for another two years. I think a time jump could happen again. Specifically for a few of my upcoming predictions.

Also, it would add to the drama.

Can you imagine the reaction from the fans with the screen fades to black and then some text fades in that reads TWO YEARS LATER?

3- Kate and Anthony Might Not Make An Appearance Next Season

Possibly an unpopular opinion, but I almost dont know why they bothered with having Kate and Anthony in season 3. It seemed like it boiled down to "We're here! We're hot! We're horny! And we're fucking off now! Bye!"

At least when Daphne showed up in Anthony's season she helped drive the plot forward and tried to help guide her brother on the bumpy road to matrimony. Anthony had one half-assed conversation with Colin about his engagement to Penelope. Kate did most of the heavy-lifting when it came to important talks with the family. She did most of the talking to Colin the night before his wedding to Penelope. (Not that it mattered because all of her work was undone the moment Charlotte showed up to the wedding.)

Kate also gets credit for speaking with Eloise to try and smooth things over between her and Colin. And then they left their family for a third time to go all the way to India, a journey that's going to take them six months one way.

But with a time jump, that would give enough time for Anthony and Kate to go to India, have their baby, spend some time there, and then make the long journey back to be present after the time jump with a toddler.

(With how pregnant Kate was looking at the wedding, I would not be surprised if she gave birth at sea. She and Anthony did not think that plan through at all. And why the hell did they leave without attending Francesca's wedding??? And when the Queen was certain that a Bridgerton was behind Lady Whistledown???)

Anthony and Kate being absent would also be a convenient way to keep the Bridgerton House set around for a little while longer.

Anyway, sending Kate and Anthony off to India felt like a way to let Jonny and Simone do other projects for a season instead. Jonny himself is probably gonna be busy with all of the press for the upcoming Wicked movie. So if the announcement comes that they won't be around, I wouldn't be surprised.

4- Last Season for Queen Charlotte Queen Charlotte Lives Forever!

Bridgerton is not known for being 100% historically accurate. And let's face it, even if it were, people would still be complaining about the historical inconsistencies. But one thing Bridgerton is creeping up on is the year 1818. And it's in November of that year that the real-life Queen Charlotte passed away.

Season 4 will, I assume, start in 1816. If they do a one-year time jump, we'll get the rest of the season in 1817 when the main events of Benedict's book take place. If they do a two-year time jump, like they did in the books, then we'll be in 1818 and we'll be in the year we say goodbye to Queen Charlotte.

BUT, the showrunners have pretty much said that they've decided the show exists in an "alternate universe" and they're just going to keep Queen Charlotte around for a while.

The Queen lives. Long live the Queen.

5- Eloise Meets Sir Phillip Crane (?)

While the masquerade references were heavy-handed, the references to Philoise were more subtle. In episode 3x02, Eloise wears a dress that is patterned with the same flower that was gifted to her by Sir Phillip in the books. And in 3x05, when trying to make herself feel better about her betrothal, Cressida tells Eloise that the two of them can "flirt with widowers." The showrunners are slowly setting up the Eloise/Phillip dynamic--they have been since season 1. I think they'll set more things into motion in season 4 and set them up for season 5.

Eloise already expressed to Kate how she felt as if everyone was pairing off and leaving her behind. Benedict's marriage will end up being the tipping point for Eloise.

Phillip would have lived the life of a botanist/academic if it weren't for his brother's tragic passing. Perhaps his academic connections could play a part in Eloise's desire to meet new people and change the world?

If they meet in season 4, it could be the catalyst for them to begin to exchange letters like they did in the books. Which will ultimately set them up for their story in season 5.

Of course, this also means that Marina is going to have to die offscreen at some point 😐

6- Cressida Redemption (?)

One of my major gripes with season 3 was that they gave so much time to the threesome subplot that two other subplots seemed to have no real conclusion or were dropped completely. One of the subplots that didn't get wrapped up as nicely as it could have was Cressida's. We didn't see her reaction to Penelope unmasking herself as Lady Whistledown. She just kind of...left.

There is a long-standing fan theory that Cressida will have a part to play in the Benedict/Sophie story based on a piece of script that named Cressida's mother "Araminta". If this is true, then I think we'll see Cressida in some way next season. And maybe she'll get a happier ending. I never thought at the beginning of the show that I'd want Cressida to end up happy somewhere, but boy season 3 did a great job of making me actually sympathetic to her character.

7- Another Offscreen Wedding

One thing that I know frustrated Kathony fans last season was not seeing an onscreen wedding for Kate and Anthony. I mean, we saw a wedding, and Kate and Anthony were there, but he almost got married to the wrong person. The closest we got was Anthony disassociating so hard that he astral projected himself into an alternate reality.

The only onscreen weddings to canonical spouses we've seen have been the Daphne/Simon, Colin/Penelope, and Francesca/John weddings. But if anybody was hoping to see an onscreen wedding with Benedict in season 4, think again.

I believe that the drama of Benedict and Sophie's story will keep up through all eight episodes of their season. And, like Kate and Anthony's season, we'll flash forward in time at the end of the episode to Benedict and Sophie several months into their marriage. But we won't get to see the actual wedding.

8- Crossdressing Sophie (?)

Admittedly, this is less of a prediction and more wishful thinking on my part. This is the route I would go down if I was writing for the show, anyway.

Show!Benedict now being canonically pansexual has opened up the possibility for him to have an LGBTQ+ partner. But I have a slightly different idea. One plot point of Benedict's book is that Sophie, after running away from her stepmother's house, cuts off all of her hair to sell when she's desperate for money.

I think Show!Sophie could still get her hair cut off like in the book, and then go around disguised as a man for safety/freedom of movement/job opportunities. Then Benedict gets confused when he discovers Sophie in "boy mode" because he hasn't felt this level of attraction to someone since his Lady In Silver.

Maybe we'll get a Victor/Victoria scenario out of it (woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman).

Like I said, this is less of a prediction and more of the route I would go down if I was writing for the show. It probably won't happen this way. But maybe I'll give fanfic writers some plot bunnies.

[doomed2repeat]

With US Tiktok ending, my hot take is this-

Bridgerton content on TikTok is probably the #1 reason why expectations are so skewed. Content creators take ship content and make edits there that play into the romance angle FAR more effectively than the show does. I’ve seen clips of Nicola and Luke from the tour edited in such a way that it removes the context or reorders it to make it romantic or sexual when the original clips hosted by the journalists were not. Best example of this would be a clip of the compliment battle I saw edited so that Luke put a picture of Nicola in his pocket, when it was actually a tweet about himself that he wanted to keep. It was done seamlessly, but it wasn’t what happened. Shipper content goes more viral than clips of Nicola or Luke saying they’re just friends, to the point where people fully claim that they never said it, when they have, multiple times, and the written interviews from articles don’t make a dent either.

I think this disconnect sold an idea I’ve seen where people complained they got more Polin from the tour than the show, or that the tour felt more romantic than the show, but it’s because of this constant barrage of Nicola and Luke content where it’s just the two of them, highly edited stylistically, set to romantic music, designed to create an effect. This is not to negate their chemistry, because they have TONS of chemistry, but this is to say Tiktok fan content set an expectation that the show- which has been designed to prioritize drama and conflict over romance despite the genre- could not match, as good as the season was in the end. Nic and Luke’s natural friendship is more open and modern than what Polin’s 1815 friendship can look like, leading some people to go “why don’t they have the same energy in the show?” Every clip of Luke and Nicola on tour was a fun, cute clip, and we got HOURS of content of the two of them. The season had subplots and fights and arguments and less screentime for Polin as a couple than the world tour had for Luke and Nic as costars. I get that.

But the effect knocks on to the actors, with people chasing the high they got from watching edited tour clips into the actors real lives. The tour BECAME the show for some people, that was their entertainment, even more than Polin (which I’ve also seen people say, that the WT was better than the season because it had more Polin) and because of this it contributes to Nicola and Luke not being treated as human beings or actors, but as content themselves. This culminated in the end of the WT being treated as a betrayal by some fans. It wasn’t the end of a promo cycle of a show, it was their favorite characters not giving them their favorite show anymore AND they didn’t get the ending they wanted.

Instead of going back to watching Polin content, they locked in on Luke and Nicola IRL, with the Polin fandom and the Lukola fandom being very distinctly different things. Those TikTokers are not making Polin content, they’re not excited about Bridgerton season 4 or moving on to Benophie or Luke T and Yerin, and they’re not even interested in what S4 means for the fictional characters of Colin and Penelope because that’s not really what they’re here for in the first place. Their content is Nicola and Luke, because what they like is what TikTok gave them, not what Netflix and Bridgerton gave them, and they won’t be satisfied until reality reflects the content that’s been fed to them. They’ll continue to seek it out, and nothing will ever be enough because the lines have been so blurred from the characters to the actors that there’s no respect for privacy or personal lives, just entitlement to access over a relationship we only saw so much of in the first place because they were promoting a show.

[sophiebaek]

The amount of urls I have saved trying to predict Sophie’s new name if they change her surname…

[byebyelullabye]

1. bar sitcom

No one knows how a trio of grad students Penelope Featherington, Phillip Crane, and Edwina Sharma came to own a bar right in the heart of prime Mayfair real estate but everyone stops asking questions once the alcohol starts flowing. Featuring a cast of characters such as waitresses Sophie and Michaela, investor Simon Basset, cooks Finch and Colin, ruthless yet loveable Kate, hopeless romantic regular Benedict, and many, many more. (saphne, kanthony, benophie, polin, philoise, franchaela)

2. rock band (social media au)

Grammy-wining rock band The Ledgertons was formed in 2012, consisting of brothers Anthony (lead guitar), Benedict (percussion), and Colin Bridgerton (lead vocals and bass) before being later joined by their sister Francesca (keyboards) in 2018.

Snippets from interviews, Spotify, Wikipedia, Tumblr, Twitter (Elon Musk who? No, he was never born in this world) and everywhere else fans and stans of The Ledgertons (or Ledgerheads as they're affectionately called) can be found as they matchmake their way through the internet such as when Anthony goes on the highly popular YouTube show Curry Shop Date with Kate Sharma (making it the most popular episode to date), when Benedict accidentally reveals his crush on his favorite graphic artist Sophie Baek, Colin's years-long will-they-won't-they saga with Penelope Featherington, best friend and head writer of Arlington (Flixer's biggest period drama TV series), and finally, Francesca's not-so-subtle chemistry in a collaboration with popstar icon Michaela Stirling. (franchaela, kanthony, polin, benophie, minor grucy)

3. casino robbery

The Bridgertons own a chain of casinos from one end of the globe to the other but one night, the three brothers all get distracted in the original London casino and hotel that started it all. The trio wake up in one of their hotel rooms to find their account 3 billion pounds lighter with differing accounts of what happened the night before with each of them meeting the woman of their dreams. Anthony's lily-scented goddess, Benedict's Lady in Silver, Colin's Lady Whistledown, all possibly turning out to be in kahoots??? Now it's a wild goose chase but what are these brunet idiots really chasing: getting the money back or their future wives? (kanthony, polin, benophie, minor saphne)

4. The Holiday

Penelope, an Irish rose living in Paris, needs to get out. After a brutal breakup with Alfie Debling, she's sick of it. Lovelorn in the city of love? Not on her watch.

Eloise Bridgerton is not big on emotions. Maybe growing up in London has its side effects. When her office forces her to use her vacation days in the summer, she finds a lovely Parisian cottage for a house swap.

Penelope's and Eloise's lives will never be the same. (polin and philoise)

5. vigilante shit

Kate, Sophie, and Penelope run multiple money laundering businesses. ABC (cops) can't keep up (benophie, kanthony, kanthony, minor franchaela, philoise and saphne)

-----------------------

[hopepaigeturner]

Holiday Hiatus

Just wanted to put a quick note out there that I'm going on holiday and I'm gonna use it to take a break from Tumblr etc. Just as an opportunity to refresh myself.

But that does mean I won;t be able to update on many things until w/c 14th August. Please still comment and ask stuff, just know they won;t be answered till then.

And then Light In These Shadows....

I'm really sorry but this story is gonna have a long waitiing time. I;ve spent the last month desperately trying to write the net chapter and nothing is working. I've tried and tried but it's not flowing and I can't take shortcuts because this chapter is a very important chapter. So I'm gonna try and respark my love for this AU over the net couple months by trying a different tactic in the hopes that I can put out more chapters. But that means potentially a really long wait for an update...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your patience already, your lovely comments and I really hope that the wait won't be too long.

Thanks once again,

Hope x

[bohemian-nights]

Like clockwork, the moment that Sophie is almost surely going to be played by a Black woman there is a sudden uptick in the Sophie should be a man or trans because that would be “true representation” discourse.

Representation for all communities is important(although that’s not what this rally is about), but Sophie Beckett is the last character in Bridgerton who should be gender-bent or made trans since her story is directly tied to her being a working-class biological woman.

It's because she's a woman that her only means of employment is as a maid. It's because she's a woman that she was almost raped by a pack of men. It’s because she’s a biological woman and fears birthing children who will be illegitimate and who may have to go through life as she did that she refuses to be Benedict’s mistress.

You can’t just plop a (white cause that’s what the real issue is) man or a (white) trans woman into her place without changing her story which is unique in the Bridgerton universe and dare I say the most empowering. So while yes it would be nice to see a gay love story on the show or a trans person, Benophie isn’t the couple to turn to for this representation.

And said representation definitely shouldn’t come at the expense of representation for Black women who are rarely shown as love interests or get to be leading ladies in media. Representation for Black women may not be your representation, but it's still representation for an under-represented marginalized group.

Seriously if your idea of representation hinges on the fact that Black women should step aside and wait “our turn”(aka we shouldn't be represented because y'all always come up with some excuse for why it isn't “our turn”) you need to reassess some things because that isn't going to happen any longer.

This also goes out to the people who keep saying that there are “too many” Black people on show therefore Sophie shouldn't be Black when the only Black woman* that has been featured has been Lady Danbury who is a side character who most certainly does not have a happily ever after(HEA).

*I love Queen Charlotte and both India and Goldie’s portrayal of her and I loved the spin-off, but both women are mixed.

Let’s not forget the people who said Sophie being Black would be too “problematic” since she’s slave(she’s not a slave you’re insulting the enslaved when you refer to her as such) while cheering on every other group of women playing Sophie.

That was what some said a year ago when people suggested Sophie could played by a Black woman, but now that it’s coming you’ve moved on from that excuse to needing to see two white men on your screens.

So once again this isn't about representation it's just another instance of fandom misogynoir aka trying to keep Black women off your screens useless we are there to serve you or be tortured.

Cause somehow seeing Patsey getting wiped and raped 23 million times is “powerful” representation, but seeing a Black woman being loved and cared for and getting a HEA with a man who adores her is “problematic.”

Again I do understand the ones who genuinely want to see themselves represented on screen, but to make this much of a fuss about a Black woman in the role of Sophie Beckett, it’s inexcusable.

Reference point to this rant.

[the-other-art-blog]

How can anyone honestly believe Cressida changed???

Sorry, but I do not buy the whole "my dad is mean and my mom pressures me so much and society puts me against women. so that's why I have been the biggest bitch for the last three years."

And it's very telling how some people are ready to forgive her, but they treat Pen as if she murdered someone and is beyond redemption.

May I remind you that Cressida was one of the people who judged Eloise and called her a "radical ruffian" after LW published her column about her.

Are we to believe that weeks later, she had an epiphany and decided to be kind to Eloise? No! She noticed the rift between Pen and Eloise and decided to go after El. She gets a Bton connection and leaves Pen alone and defenseless. Cressida has a direct beef with Pen, like all bullies she has a fixation against one person.

What's interesting is that despite their supposed tight friendship, El hasn't invited Cressida to have tea with the family every Sunday. It's like El knows that this is not a real friendship and Cressida will never replace Pen or at least whatever they have is not even close to what she had with Pen (I realize that this sounds like I'm talking about a romantic relationship, but so what, they're the second love story of s3). Also, the fact that the rest of the family hates Cressida doesn't help this relationship.

In 3x01 she bullied Pen TWICE. If El hadn't distracted her, Cressida would have said something mean to Pen. In fact, that's why El called her because she knew she was going to bully Pen. Then, obviously, during the ball, even El apologized to her.

Even in this gif below, and any other time, El looks embarrassed and regretful to be with Cressida. She is miserable and deep down (or maybe not so deep), she knows what she is doing is wrong.

I'm convinced that the only reason why Cressida did not spread Pen and Colin's deal was because El had already called her out on her bullying in ep1. When El tells her that Pen may have a chance with Debling, she laughs! Why Cressida, why is it so far-fetched that Pen may attract the attention of a wealthy lord?

Oh, but my favorite is when Cressida said she tried to befriend El in s2. Like hell she did! First, she mocked her when it seemed El had screwed up her meeting with the Queen. But when El charmed the Queen (ten seconds later), suddenly she's offering her "a spot "an opening" in her circle, as if friendship with her was a selected club where only the worthy ones had access (Blair Waldorf who? And yes, it's an insult).

Cressida also complains about her lack of proposals as if she were a poor debutante who never got the chance to attract a suitor. The reality is that as the beautiful and popular single daughter of a lord, Cressida could have gotten married quickly. She didn't because even the horrible men of the ton could not stand her. Madame Delacroix said it in s1:

But to me, the biggest clue that she is still the ton's biggest bitch is her promo video. This last bit tells me that she's still the same.

Now, I'll be discussing spoilers for episodes 5 and 6 (because there's no way to avoid them unless you go offline). So, if you don't want to know, stop reading.

I will also be discussing potential spoilers that relate to s4.

You're reading this at your own risk!

So according to the ss that I've seen of ep 5 and 6 and the teaser, they are following the storyline from RMB where Cressida lies and tells everyone she is LW. In the book Lady D offers a reward, in the show, it will be the Queen. We know that Lord Cowper is practicing some economic violence by restricting Lady Cowper and Cressida's allowance until C marries someone wealthy. 5000 pounds is a huge amount of money in Regency England, so C will want it, plus all the attention from it. I don't know much else because I did not watch the recap videos. But this shows she's still an awful person.

Onto Benophie rumors.

Ready?

It is widely believed that the Cowpers are Sophie's family. Why? Because Lady Cowper's given name is Araminta. There were also mentions in s2 that Lady Cowper stole a servant from another house, something the Araminta of AOFAG did. That and a few comments on ig posts that mention Sophie were liked by the actresses. I'm very confident with this theory, especially with the amount of screen time the Cowpers have this season, including their domestic life. I'm sure Sophie is there working as a maid. I don't know if she is Lord Cowper's illegitimate daughter, but somehow she ended up there.

Behind the scenes, this is a recurring change adaptations use to economize in characters. The Cowpers and the Gunningworths can blend into one easily. Plus, imo, the Featheringtons already give the evil step-sisters vibe that would seem repetitive to people who haven't watched the show. They would seem to be mere replacements for the Featheringtons after they leave the show in s3.

If so, then Cressida fits the Rosamund character perfectly. Both are ultra-mean women, both spinsters, both capable of being cruel to someone like Sophie.

What about Posy? Here's where things get complicated, some believe that Cressida's redemption arc will make her a combination of Rosamund AND Posy. I think that is an absurd idea since as this post argues, there's no such redemption arc. Posy is a beautiful character who suffered domestic abuse from the very people who should have loved her. And I do not trust anyone who villanizes her for not speaking up earlier. She was the bravest person in the book for stepping up and defending Sophie, even at the risk of suffering Araminta's wrath. If Violet hadn't adopted her, who knows what would have happened to her.

I'm open to changing my mind after watching part 2, but right now, I would rather lose Posy completely in the show than give Cressida traits of her personality. Let her live in the books with her vicar! If Sophie has to lose her sole source of kindness in her house (aside from the servants), like Pen lost Felicity, then so be it.

ONE LAST THING: IF YOU HAVE MORE DETAILED SPOILERS, DO NOT SHARE THEM HERE, PLEASE!!!!! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANY MORE OF THE SEASON UNTIL I WATCHED IT ON JUNE 13TH. DON'T MESSAGE ME OR REPLY WITH SPOILERS.

WHOEVER SHARES MORE SPOILERS HERE WILL BE BLOCKED AND YOUR REPLY DELETED