#julia/benjamin

[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.”

[didanagy]

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1995)

[ecnmatic]

Fear Street: 1994 (2021) dir. Leigh Janiak.

[horrorcrypt12]

Day 28 🎃:

Fear Street: Part One - 1994 (2021)

[mrspenmark]

Pride & Prejudice (1995) Episode 01

[murdockhawkeye]

i think others have def already said most of this - but i felt the urge to type it out here. i'm not exaggerating on this, when i say this - i think so often about how different s2 and s3 could've been

s2, i can see miriam in charlotte's place as the antagonist. the girls' skepticism would've been more understandable, with their complicated history with miriam predating s1. and i can actually see miriam in those scenes instead of charlotte, the comparisons with her and charlotte make so much sense

and there was definitely supposed to be more to the spellbook. but they just threw that away for a one-off ?? like what was that

(although given the shenanigans they were already having without it.. but still, to throw it away entirely?)

and then there's s3. sophie's actress def was supposed to play julia, but for whatever reason that storyline didn't happen. (i like the idea that julia was the tentacle though, esp with that scene rikki had with the tentacle)

the thing i really think about the most though is rikki's cafe being emma's cafe. i can totally see emma running the whole place. and for rikki, i want so badly to see her as part of the band, tbh. i think that might be my roman empire

(emma's cafe and rikki 'n the band. imagine rikki as the guitarist/bassist, with bella as the lead singer, and lewis as the drummer. what we could've had)

ash was definitely supposed to be in zane's place. i can see it. he's literally a business major. he def would've bought the juicenet cafe for emma. he also would've held the secret over her head because he's a little b-

[whoreofthecottage]

some Gold Digger gifs for @baubeautyandthegeek

[luegootravez]

Julia Almendra by © Benjamin Becker

[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.

[deafchild2000]

I don't care how you guys feel about Charlotte, if there's one thing I'm glad S2 (in it's prime) explored - it was generational merfolk magic.

(Admitting Charlotte truther here) I find it fascinating exploring Mako Island and the generations of mermaids over the years for many reasons. Let's be honest, there's plenty of H2O fanfiction on Fanfiction.Net that tried exploring the H2O gang growing up and having powers to various degrees. Some focus on adulthood and drag it out while others get to the marriage and children phase a bit too quickly, but a few stand out just right (and by right, I mean "I could read this as if I'm watching it on TV"). But what I gather trying to read is Next Generation fics. Some writers opt to say the girls had normal children and don't tell them the Secret - which leads to history repeating and the daughters and/or sons finding their way onto Mako and going through the Metamorphosis. Others say the children are born with their powers, therefore automatically in on the Secret. And I think I recall a fic that ventured into the girls (or maybe just Cleo) becoming grandmothers themselves.

(FYI: It's a lot more telling how long ago a fanfic was written if the mermen in them have orangey-gold tails or any other colors pre-Mako Mermaids.)

Overall, I do appreciate those stories, but that doesn't diminish my preference for the past mermaids or what they could've/would've done if taking the present canon into account. I wanna explore how being mermaids in the 50s had worked out, if Gracie's choice was what split the group up, or if it was the tip of the iceberg. But mostly, I wanna know why Gracie was the only one to have a family and the implications of her ties to Mako after no longer being a mermaid. Did Gracie leave and never look back? Could Annette have been an 80s mermaid if she had returned? And regardless of how she came in, was Charlotte being drawn to Mako and becoming a mermaid really shocking?

Or what about Julia? The only reason we found out she died was because her locket sold at an estate sale and ended up at a jewelry shop. But did that have to necessarily mean she was alone or could it be implied she did have family and they sold her stuff without realizing the significance of the locket? What if someone did try to look for it and couldn't track it down? Maybe, if not directly a grandchild, but a grand-niece or nephew?

So in that hypothesis, out of the 4 known members of the 50s group, Gracie and Julia had more reasons to have had families in their lives while Louise (an elderly widow) and Max (a recluse hermit) didn't.

I understand we got used to the iconic OG girls, but there are too many holes and plots to be left unexplored.

((Before I end on this note, let me send this off that next-generation tropes don't necessarily have to apply to children and grandchildren. I'll fan the flame that Kim Sertori could have received the torch and become a mermaid. Cleo and co. were off the college and with the moon pool supposedly damaged, it wouldn't be like more mermaid hijinx could occur...that they'd be aware of. And what if Taryn Marler (Julia in S2 and Sophie in S3) had been brought on as a twenty-something woman who endured Metamorphosis, unlike the teenagers before her? Her character - Rachel Samuels from Blue Water High S2, free to watch on YouTube - had a much more preferable persona for H2O, so why not combine them into someone fleshed out? Instead of the main characters having children or having them help out the next random group of teenaged Merfolk - why not focus on a narrative of a mermaid's siblings finally stepping into her shoes and a woman entering her adult years as a mermaid?))

[didanagy]

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1995)

[eclecticpjf]

Now watching:

[its-maemain]

Found the demos…

Screw everything but the fact I can hear the lyrics “And love you as one does”

[curiousb]

The Bingley Family Album: Volume XV

We're catching up with another member of the Bingley clan today - Benjamin, over in Sanditon, and his fiancé Walter.

Top of the list after getting his own place, was to adopt a dog from the animal shelter. Enter Moody! He reminds Benjamin a lot of his childhood pal Bella.

~ Libra

~ Doofus / Lazy / Friendly / Pigpen

He proves to be great company while Benjamin is alone at home during the day.

And the pair soon form a close bond. (He also sports some rather splendid facial hair, just like his master.)

He quickly becomes a favourite with Dog Person Walter too. His family never had any pets while he was growing up, but he's thoroughly enjoying having Moody around now.

Benjamin was also keen to set up his own dedicated art studio at home, to pursue his dream of perfecting a masterpiece.

He finds inspiration everywhere he looks.

Well, I guess his ambition to make his mark on the art world has to start somewhere!

Robert doesn't know about art, but he knows what he likes, and that includes his ex's oeuvre.

Walter meanwhile is still risking life and limb on a daily basis as an Adventurer. He's certainly well equipped for tackling the considerable risk posed by taking a shower.

Also on the agenda is hosting a house-warming party. Unfortunately, it turns into an occasion for Benjamin's past conquests to come back to haunt him - including his flings with Townie Chandler Platz (undocumented), Julia,...

...Robert and Anna.

While Walter was happy to be just one of many before their engagement, he now expects a little more commitment from Benjamin.

Now that they've reached a firm understanding as to the footing of their relationship, everything is soon smoothed over between them.

And - much to the surprise of both - it's hello, impending parenthood! But will Walter stay the course this time, or will he cut and run, just as he did in the past with Cassandra? (I've given up trying to rationalise same-sex pregnancy in my game - Sims aren't humans, they don't have the same biology as us, so it just happens, because I want it to! 😁)

[surfqueenoftheisles]

h2o just add water headcannon sophie and will are julia's grandchildren

okay hear me out because this one's gonna ruffle some feathers, we know sophie is money hungry and basically kim but older and a slight bit more jaded and ginger, but she looks a hell of a lot like julia from the 50's mermaids (crazy it's almost like they had the same actress, i know) what if julia was will and sophie's grandmother and the necklace got left to sophie and she sold it for some cash because they weren't that close and it was old and not really her style and it was worth a bit being rare and vintage? having julia be sophie's grandmother would explain her parents living on a boat/ wills affinity for the water (record breakinf free diver come on) and maybe even her fiery temper and attraction to 'bad boys' as well as the resemblance.

we know their family is australian even though they travelled the world because of the accents, will was homeschooled on the yacht with his parents and sophie likely was too, so that's who they were going to pick up their speech from and one of their parents being the child of julia would explain the connection to the gold coast/mako and assuming julia told her child about the sea like gracie told charlotte, it would explain why they chose to live on a boat and raise their children (will and sophie) at sea.