#and the angst piles up

[hopepaigeturner]

All a Matter of Place

CONTEXT:

This flashback takes part in E4 as well.

After being presented to Lady Violet and hired as Eloise’s maid, Mrs Wilson takes Sophie to settle her in...

As she walks, Mrs Wilson talks.

“How long have you been in service?”

“Since I was fifteen Ma’am.”

“Hmm, a typical age. Well atleast you have some experience. Have you worked as a Ladies maid before?”

“Yes, I have, ma’am.”

“Good, good. Then let us hope you have the strength of character to weather Miss Eloise.”

“Character?”

Sophie asks behind the pile of clothes she has been handed.

“You shall find out soon enough.”

Mrs Wilson does not divulge further as she starts climbing the stairs to the servant’s quarters.

“Now, the Bridgertons are a very reputable family of this ton, thus my staff are held to the highest of standards. I expect my maids to be well presented, even-tempered and exemplary in every task they do. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mrs Wilson.”

“Good. Now,” Mrs Wilson open a door on the servant’s corridor. “Here are your sleeping quarters. You shall be sharing with Nadia who has recently returned to us.”

Sophie does not hear the rest as she looks around the room. Two beds fit comfortably in the space as does a wardrobe and a bedside table each. The curtains rustle with the moring air as sunlight streams through the small window.

Mrs Wilson notices Sophie’s mollification. She steps into her sight and says gently,

“The Dowager is a very generous mistress. We are very fortunate for her and the family’s kindness.” Her eyes harden “But that does not mean we should forget our place. Do you understand Miss Beckett?”

Sophie finally looks at Mrs Wilson over the pile of clothes in her hands.

“Yes, Mrs Wilson. I know my rightful place,” Sophie replies quietly…

✨Flashback✨

The viewer sees a carriage rolling out away from Penwood Place as if looking down from a high vantage point. The camera pans back to reveal a 15-year-old Sophie in mourning clothes staring blankly out.

Mrs Gibbons comes up behind her with a maternal smile.

“Sophia, dear, come away from there. You have not moved since the will reading started. Come have some tea—”

“Did you know that I only remember making my father smile once?” Sophie suddenly says.

“Sophia—” Mrs Gibbons sighs, as Sophie’s eyes seem to remain focused on the gravel even though the carriage is long gone.

“I was so happy I felt as if I could burst. And then moments later he was on the ground, dead.”

“Sophia,” Mrs Gibbons comes up and places her arms around Sophie’s shoulders but Sophie doesn’t seem to notice the embrace. “The doctor ruled it as a natural death, it was not your—”

There is a slamming of doors that echo down the corridors.

Mrs Gibbons winces: Sophie does not respond.

“I suppose they realised that she lied about the baby,” is all she says in that same detached tone.

There are the sounds of distant shouting and the crashing of furniture. Mrs Gibbons looks behind them, obviously frightened.

“Sophia darling, come down to the kitchen,” she tries to pull Sophie towards the doors but Sophie doesn’t move. Instead, she turns to Mrs Gibbons whose face pales further upon seeing the solemn maturity in Sophie’s eyes—eyes that seem far too old for such a young body.

“There is no use avoiding the inevitable, Mrs Gibbons. But you should go, I do not wish for your to be caught in the storm.”

“There you are, you insufferable child!”  Araminta cries as she storms into the room. Sophie and Mrs Gibbons curtsey. Araminta takes a breath, her lips in a tight smile.

“Ah, Mrs Gibbons. Please will you start packing all our belongings. It seems that the new Lord will be too drunk with his whores to do what is necessary.”

“Ofcourse your Ladyship,” Mrs Gibbns curtseys once more and goes to leave, “Come, Sophia—”

“No, Mrs Gibbons.” Araminta commands. “I would like a word with Miss Beckett, alone.”

Mrs Gibbons looks to Sophie, her expression betraying her fear. Sophie nods with a smile that is barely plastered on. Mrs Gibbons leaves with great reticence but just as she reaches the door Araminta calls, “Oh, and Mrs Gibbons?”

“Yes, your ladyship?”

“There is no need to pack Miss Beckett’s belongings. She will not be needing such superfluous things where she is going.”

Mrs Gibbons and Sophie share a tense look. But Mrs Gibbons is only a servant, so she merely curtsies and says,

“Yes, your ladyship.”

And then leaves.

Once the pair are alone, Sophie walks forward, eyes wide with concern.

“I do not understand. Are you sending me away? My father—”

Araminta rounds and slaps Sophie hard across the face. She steps forward and towers over Sophie, her features still beautiful even in her anger.

“Your father is dead—you saw to that. And now my daughters are losing their home—do you take delight in making people miserable?” she asks, as if genuinely intrigued. “Thank goodness for the dowries your father left them. I am certain the rest of his funds shall be poured down the throat of that drunkard cousin of his.”

Sophie is shaking, clutching her cheek.

“My father—”

“Your father left you nothing!” Araminta seethes in her face. “Yet has burdened me with a child he should have sent away years ago.”

Sophie’s lips quiver.

“But he…he…”

Araminta cocks her head, a pitiful smile on her face.

“Oh, you truly believe that your father held some type of bizarre affection for you?” she coos. “No.” The word visibly strikes through Sophie. “He kept you out of guilt, trapped into caring for an inconvenience he made after a paltry affair. An inconvenience he has now saddled with me.  You made him miserable, and now you have made us all miserable.”

“A-Araminta—”

Araminta grips her arm, nails digging in, looking down at Sophie over her nose. Never has she looked like the evil stepmothers in Sophie’s stories—but this is no story. Sophie has known that for a very long time.

Araminta speaks low,

“From now on you shall address me as Lady Penwood just as all the servants do. You shall work from morning to night just as all the servants do. And you shall continue to do so, until you have paid off all the clothes, education and frivolities that have been wasted on you.” Sophie starts whimpering, “From now on you will stay silent.” The command reverberates through Sophie.

Araminta releases Sophie with enough force to cause her to topple onto the floor.

Staged in the centre of the frame, backlit by the light, Araminta looks down on Sophie from the door.

“By the time I return I expect you to have taken your rightful place in this household—or there will be consequences.”

Araminta slams the door shut, leaving a shivering Sophie on the floor. Eventually she sits up by the wall, curls into herself and cries—smothering her tears with her hand.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Purpose of the scene:

Fill in some gaps with Sophie's backstory

Reinforce to the audience some of the negative messaging Sophie has been exposed to...

Masterlist

PREV | NEXT

As always I’d love to hear your ideas/corrections/opinions and always open to chat or requests!

So, check out the list here, for more of my ideas.

Or check out the general arcs of my prospective S4 here.

[sarathrwizard]

I Care. Chapter 6 (part 1/2) (Rottmnt comic)

Donnie and Raph assemble the wheelchair back together for Leo. And honestly, after being stuck in bed for a week, Leo is super excited to get away from the med bay! On the other hand, Donnie doesn't think he deserves any gratitude for finding the wheelchair pieces. It was his fault Leo was hurt in the first place! Donnie wanted to set things right and fix Leo. Truthfully, it looks like everything would be okay! But... Leo's not out of danger yet.

Next Part:

---

Previous Part:

[ghost-bxrd]

Prompt:

Actor Au!

Where Batman and Co. are the most popular TV series and they’re currently filming Jason’s death.

Only Bruce goes so deep into acting he breaks down for real upon the part where he arrives at the warehouse and digs through the rubble for his child.

[isjasz]

The brainrot continues (Blame @vesperionnox and @cherrysherin we are dragging the whole server down with this au)

Part 1

[rcmclachlan]

Trademark: Top-tier Bucktommy writer + generally Cool + getting Buck pregnant

Thank you + thank you + thank you!

[quichequill069]

Save me goth x sunshine... SAVE ME-

Context: finally went around to watched all the episodes so far... Episode 7 and 8 are gonna kill me I already know it 😭😭😭

[sleepy-bear-tm]

You thought I was finished.

[moliathh]

my bbgirls

[indigosunsetao3]

Had a thought of about a new OC and the 141.

Perhaps a woman that’s closer to Price’s age, or even older. One that has life experience, that can handle her own and take care of herself. That maybe teaches the guy(s) something new for once versus the usual older boyfriend storyline of him showing her all new things.

And perhaps she isn’t as easily won over. Won’t put up with the tough bravado and cocky attitude because she can see right through it. Has known enough men in her life just like them so she knows the harder they try the more they’re hiding.

Rough plot under the cut. Feel free to chime in with thoughts or ideas.

What if one of the guys (all of the guys, some of the guys?) moves into a house on a lake? It’s a place to get away from life for a bit. Maybe they’re recovering from an injury, a retreat from war, or just a secluded spot for a bit of silence.

And what if there is a house next door, the house where she lives? The woman that keeps to herself, that the town whispers about because she’s so distant with everyone even if she always says hello and works at the local shop. They don’t realize she is trying to piece herself together after her own loss, too hurt to try and let anyone else in. Too scared to be shattered again.

But he realizes. He sees her sitting on her dock night after night watching the stars, mourning in the solitude. Sees the exhausted shuffle of her steps, the vacant eyes staring but not really seeing. He knows it well. It’s a face of someone who’s seen battle, who’s fighting a war alone and barely surviving.

So he tries to help. Pushes against those barriers she’s built to offer a hand to drag her from the pit. It’s a fight, every step a struggle as each brick comes down. And while he helps her, he realizes she’s healing a part of him too. A part he thought was long gone, too dead to bring back to life.

The lake offers a calm contrast to their struggles. It’s a place of peace and tranquility that helps ground them as they figure each other out. And, as if the water knows, it always brings them together when they need each other the most.

But life doesn’t stop, war doesn’t wait. They’ll be faced with a choice that will either break them further or make them whole again.

[brandwhorestarscream]

Im drunk as shit and I simultaneously wanna tuck starscream into a soft little bed and dropkick megatron into a black hole. I deeply love both of these characters

[rywritten]

What if after prison dream feelt like he was done with life or something and decided to go and kill himself so he goes to a high cliff but techno just happens too be there so just when dream was about to fall techno catches him by grabing him by the waist and holds trying too calm him down

woof! very dark prompt, but i like where you're going with this anon!

The storm was howling late into the night. The wind screamed in his ears, swirling in an ungodly hurricane of incomprehensible magnitude by the cliffside. Lightning cracked almost constantly in the starless sky. The trees swayed every which way the strong wind would bend it to its will. Rain fell and soaked through his cloak, yet he did nothing but stand at the very edge of the mountain.

Dream stood motionless, and the ground lay muddy and wet beneath his feet as if the earth itself felt his anguish.

For a moment, it occurred to him that what he's doing is dangerous and beyond careless, but then a part of him seemed to relish at the reminder. Good, it whispered. This is exactly what you need.

It would be quick.

A straight drop from the top of the world.

What would Sapnap think?

He only hesitates for a moment, lets himself indulge at the image of Sapnap's grief stricken face before he finally lets go, letting gravity do its thing as he slowly felt the invisible pull.

"Dream!"

The sudden scream had gone straight through his chest like a knife, drowning out the storm as he felt strong arms pulling him to the safety of the ground.

Then everything went quiet. Dream didn't need to turn around to know what was happening; to see who was there.

Techno had sent the both of them sprawling toward the forest, straight into a puddle of dirt and rainwater. They had landed with a loud thud, but Dream hadn't even felt the sting of sharp rocks grazing his skin. What he had felt was the displaced air, the vacuum that sucked at his cloak as he was physically pulled from imminent death and into the warmth of Techno's solid chest.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

He wanted it all to end.

"I don't know." He lies.

Dream felt Techno's arms tightening around him and if he felt them shake, he doesn't say anything.

"You're an awful liar." He hears Techno whisper next to his ears.

He isn't. Not really. Not when he's practically fooled every single person who used to care about him into thinking he was a monster.

"Never again." Techno tells him. "I don't know why you decided to do what you were about to do, but I'm telling you now I never want this to happen a second time."

Dream wants to laugh at him, at his command, as if he had any say in the matter. But he sort of wants to cry in his arms as well, soaking up all of Techno's warmth.

"Why did you stop me?" He asks him instead, refusing to meet his gaze.

"It could've been over," He was sobbing now. "I could finally put a stop to all of this."

"I don't care about how you feel," Techno nearly shouts, wiping at his tears with gentle hands despite the anger in his voice. "I care even less about who put that thought in your head. I will never never let you fall, Dream. Do you understand me? Never. You cannot die, not by your own hands and certainly not by mine."

[berryblu-soda]

ninjago reincarnation AU where the world ended, and from it´s ashes rose another, similar yet eerly different, growing and changing from being little more than a rock in space, to a modern society much more like our own (show to movie setting :D!). with new old faces, flashes of a world long gone, a simple wish at the end (beggining?) of it all, etc etc...

[isoobie]

queen of tears aka the most gut wrenching show

[dumplingsjinson]

List of “it’s not you, it’s me” prompts

“I think we should just… Not. There’s no point anymore.” 

“I guess we weren’t as compatible as we once thought.”

“I gave you so many fucking chances, yet you kept fucking them up. And I’m done. I can’t— I don’t want to do this anymore. I deserve better than whatever bullshit you’re giving me.”

“Can’t we just sit down and talk this out?” “Not this time.”

“You promised me a forever.” “I promised you no such thing.” 

“I’m done trying with you.”

“I will always love you, but just not in the way I wish I still could.” 

“This hurts me more than it hurts you.”

“I ended up loving something that wasn’t meant to be mine.”

“Maybe it’s… Right person, wrong time.” 

“And you are, without a doubt, the worst thing that has happened to me.”

“You promised me you wouldn’t leave me.” “I guess I don’t like to keep my promises.” 

“I didn’t promise you a forever. I promised you this lifetime.” “Yet you couldn’t even fulfil that.” 

“I’m done.”

“I don’t know what else I could do to convince you that I really did love you at one point.”

“You were my everything at one point, and I wish you still are.” 

“I’m sorry I fell out of love with you.” 

“You’re a mistake I’m never going to regret.”

“Let’s end this before we hurt each other even further.”

“There was a point when I cared.” 

“…You’re acting like we’re past tense.” “Because we are past tense.”

“When did you fall out of love with me?” “I don’t know. It just happened.”

“We were so good together. What changed?”

“I’ve run out of love to give to you.” 

“This? It’s over. We’re over.” 

“I’m sorry. I really am.”

“We had a good run, didn’t we?”

“I think we’re just not meant to be.”

“This feels like a goodbye kiss.”

“You’ll always hold a small piece of me with you, no matter what.” 

[hjemne]

Babygirl I have 38 thousand words of incomplete trigun fic spread across 8 wips and have no idea how to even start dealing with it

[thisghosts-obsessions-again]

Still thinking A's audacity to be so flirty in the demo after that heart-wrenching scene in B3. WHAT. IS. YOUR. F. END. GOAL????