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Name: Erin Age: 36 Contact: PM or erinlmcmilli@gmail.com Timezone: MST Other Character(s): Eddie Munson (Stranger Things)

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Name: Daphne Bridgerton Door: n/a, all submissive round for new characters in May Canon: Bridgerton Canon Point: 1.05 Age: 21 Appearance: image History: link CR AU (Optional): n/a Personality: Positive Trait: Devoted The Bridgertons are a loving family and as the eldest daughter, it has fallen on Daphne to be a model for her younger siblings. While some personalities may clash, she considers it life's greatest purpose to love one's family, to someday have one of her own. She tells Prince Friedrich at one point that her family is the dearest thing in the world to her. While a debutante, she often asks eligible young men about their own families, wanting an idea if they share the same desire she has to have many children. She craves the kind of relationship her mother and father had, one of love and with a brood of kids. She mirrors this as her greatest ambition. Daphne's interest is to do as she must, to secure a good marriage and wed for her family's reputation, to establish the groundwork for her sisters to someday make good matches as well. She tells Eloise and Hyacinth this explicitly throughout her courting season, that "her success on the marriage mart will influence all of their prospects," that she is, "setting the standard for your future matches." There do come a number of times of scandal for her and while she does not want to be ruined herself, she also does not want that for her family. Daphne is a clearheaded and frank older sister. Eloise comes to her at one point asking if she is scared of what marriage entails, and she comforts her. She tells her that she's terrified and would be a fool not to be. When they were young, their father died suddenly and their mother grieved hard and had a difficult labor with the youngest child. Daphne sung to Eloise through the screams, trying to comfort her. Daphne clarifies that, yes Mama had a difficult night, but then she had Hyacinth in the morning and their family is "all the richer for it." While she and Eloise are nearly polar opposites, she says that she knows they will both find love some day. As she leaves with Simon after they marry, she gives Eloise her bedroom as a gift and tells her that she is confident her sister will pave her own way in life. She has a good relationship with her youngest sister, Hyacinth, too. The girl is always asking questions, especially about love and Daphne's future, and while not always chipper about it, Daphne does answer the questions, knowing that Hyacinth is simply curious. She has always been quite devoted to establishing all of the skills a young woman of her standing ought to to catch the eye of a good husband. She is studious in practicing the pianoforte, a skill regarded as desirable, so much that she composes a song. She is wholly adept at all types of dances, of showing expertly proper manners in public, and of curtseying perfectly. She impresses the Queen so much that she is named as the most incomparable young lady in the ton, declared to be the season's diamond. The Queen calls her flawless. Negative Trait: Calculating Daphne's grandest calculation is to play a ruse alongside her future husband, the Duke, Simon. When her prospects for marriage falter due to her eldest brother, Anthony's, interference and a scummy caller (Lord Berbrooke) is all she has, Daphne takes up Simon on his idea of the two of them playing a ruse of courting to ensure that she becomes desirable once more. A way to gain more marriage prospects, her ultimate goal. She does not believe the plan to be good, at first, calling it absurd. Yet it takes no time at all for Daphne to become entangled with the plan, negotiating with the Duke and putting on a well acted play for everyone in their lives. She tells him that he must attend a number of balls with her, send her expensive flowers to show his interest, to be coyly intimate in deliberate ways with her while they promenade (buttoning cuffs on her sleeves; being close.) All the while that her mother tells her that now that she has the attention of the Duke and no one else matters, Daphne subtly mentions that it won't hurt to have other callers. She welcomes, cherishes, desires the attention. So much so that she gets multiple proposals, turning them down, for she does want to find someone to marry for love. She tells her mother that she doesn't plan to put all of her 'eggs' in one basket, that she must collect more 'eggs.' Daphne uses this faux courting with the Duke to try to push Berbrooke out of the way, to get him uninterested in her. They "must fan the flames" to convince him and everyone else that they're right about to propose so he'll leave her alone. This backfires when Berbrooke attempts to blackmail the family with marriage papers. Stupidly and rashly, Anthony had promised Daphne to Berbrooke. Eventually, Simon tells Anthony about how Berbrooke had tried to assault Daphne, that she'd punched him to get him off her. Daphne is furious when she finds out that Simon did this, saying she can speak for herself, and that all of this will just make Berbrooke more entitled since Anthony told him he'd never marry her now. If not for calculations from her mother to spread gossip about Berbrooke, Daphne would have had to marry him. She'd accepted that. All of the plotting and bringing Simon into the fray all the more made Berbrooke even more willing to do what he needed to to get Daphne to marry him, and she nearly had to. After Berbrooke's blackmail, she points out to Simon that what they're doing isn't just a ruse; it's about her life, taking charge of it, and being unable to afford to do otherwise. She can't have it go wrong. She does give him an out, but is willing to continue to drag him along, too. Throughout all of the deceit, her and Simon do grow closer together and both begin to desire one another, to fall in love, to become friends and have earnest conversations. She grows attracted to him, dreaming of kissing him. They bond, he calls himself her general in their grand scheme. While courting and observing the rote behaviors of a woman appearing demure (on purpose) and the way her potential suitor responds, Daphne and Simon narrate the whole affair in whispers. Simon says she wrote the book on the very subject of what it means to court well. It's a compliment, but shows just how deviously perfect Daphne can make herself seem to be to get what she wants. Her growing attraction to Simon makes her falter and deflect the Prince's advances/interest, always noticing him at parties and balls and going to him. She doesn't fully realize that her drive is focused toward Simon rather than to a good, very eligible match that will her fulfill her greatest wish. She even asks Simon at one point: "Is it awful, that I'm enjoying it, fooling Lady Whistledown?" They are deceiving everyone, truly. The ruse is a game that bonds them, splinters her motivations. When Simon's aunt tells him that he needs to make a decision on being serious with Daphne or not, he makes the decision to cut himself from her. He becomes cold and tells her they were never friends, shattering Daphne. She'd started to love him, even if she hadn't yet admitted it to herself, much less him. However, to come back from this, she immediately makes herself to be prized, a diamond, wearing a white and silver dress, looking divine as she enters the room of a ball. She intends to be perfect, since it's what everyone wants from her, and her eye is set on getting the attention of the Prince once more. It works, drawing his and everyone else's attention. Her heart is not in it, though. She goes with the motions, constantly thinking of Simon, seeing him in random places, wanting to go to him but not doing so. The Prince intends to propose, and she shows hesitance rather than excitement. She's just not herself, and her mother confronts her, resulting in Daphne confessing the deception, crying, upset, and glad she does not have to pretend anymore. She is resigned to marry someone of highest worth, the Prince seeming the best option since he has shown an interest. She even tells her mother, before breaking down in tears, that she ought to be proud of her, that she'll marry a prince. The Duke does circle back into Daphne's orbit again, and they find themselves kissing one another and are not only spied upon by another debutante but with Anthony discovering them. Both men agree to participate in a duel due to Daphne's honor being besmirched, though Daphne interrupts it and tells Simon they were seen, and that she and her family will be ruined if they do not marry. Finally Simon tells her he can never give her children, but that he couldn't ask for such a sacrifice. Still, Daphne declares to her three elder brothers and Simon alike that they are to be married, making the final call for them both. Daphne wants a quick marriage to avoid scandal. She tells everyone how in love they are when they've never even discussed that. With one physical entanglement that was brief, it's clear that they share chemistry and attraction, but there is still a chasm between them that they do not close until well after they are married. She has no idea what to expect on her wedding night, feeling like Simon does not want to actually be with her and all along, that she's burned for him and would sacrifice her dream of having children for him. This isn't even on the table until they're already made their vows, the night of, right before they have sex. The lack of real communication will result in Simon also deceiving her (although a misunderstanding on his part) while she goes headfirst into the marriage. Negative Trait: Privileged Born into wealth and no worry over any material need has its weaknesses. Daphne is sheltered, telling her mother how she knows nothing about what to expect on her wedding night. This prudish approach to protect the virtue of daughters of wealth is widely accepted among families, but is nothing like what men of equivalent station or poorer people know of the world. It's a dam ready to burst if given the right pressures, this lack of knowledge. She does attempt to push for information, but is always interrupted by her mother when the subject is brought up. Eloise bursts in at one point to ask how women come to be with child, and Daphne is clearly curious. She does not learn though, only finding out that children come from a physical martial act. While it is after her canon point she'll be brought in at, this does come to bite her and drive a wedge directly between her and her husband: once she finds out what bodily fluid must be exchanged to conceive and learns that Simon had lied to her, had told her that he could not have children but was actually ensuring that he did not climax inside of her, she is destroyed. If only the known biological aspects of the time had been in her studies, she could have known better, would have stopped her heart the aching. Daphne truly wants for nothing, material wise. So much in fact that she certainly expects to have whatever her heart desires for physical possessions. It goes without saying that this is not an average person's experience, nor is it a reasonable expectation once she will be in Duplicity. It is not any sort of weakness at home, this is true, for the company she keeps are members of the ton, also privileged. She is among her peers, but her scope of the world is extremely limited because of it. Daphne points out time and again that she has no other alternative in life than to marry a worthy man, to have children. It is all she wants and knows, and Eloise points out how "taxing it must be, the game of pretend she she feels she must endlessly maintain." She will marry a man who will ensure she continues to want for nothing, but there are elements of pretend that Eloise is spot on about. That noticeably cuts at Daphne, even if she knows she will continue to be on the same path. Any time her machinations go awry, Daphne is left raw and uncertain. Her, society and her family's, own expectation of her play into this. She tells Anthony that he has no idea what experiences a woman lives, that he cannot possibly comprehend how her life is reduced to one singular moment. She's been raised to marry, it's all she is and that without a husband she has no worth or value. That sort of weight on her shoulders makes any moment of potential scandal or ruin of her name incredibly daunting. Anthony lords over her meetings with gentleman callers after she is named the diamond, making it difficult for anyone to be willing to put up with her obtusely interfering brother. He intends to play the role of matching her with an apt suitor, but picks apart at any man she names as a possibility. Daphne grows concerned, fearful for her own future potential, due to this and the ton's opinions egged on by Lady Whistledown's gossip column about how the diamond seems to be not so shiny or desirable after all. It is only through privilege that this is the life Daphne lives. Negative Trait: Direct When in high society, in public spaces with ears all around, Daphne is prim and proper, a lady through and through. She is never afraid to speak what is on her mind, though, when there is the security of family and privacy. Being direct is double-edged, the result of such sometimes coming with pain and negative results. She directly tells Anthony that she is regarded as damaged goods due to him, that he's scared off every worthy suitor. She also tells Anthony she cannot imagine a greater disrespect to her than promising her to marry Berbrooke. His misjudgment with Berbrooke leads him to then ask for her decision, first, to who she might marry. It's a plus to have her brother care about what she has to say, certainly, but neither of them are well equipped to manage marriage prospects without making errors that lead to possible scandals. When trying to get out of speaking to Berbrooke, Daphne goes into Simon's path to get his attention and to essentially use him as a distraction. When her mother invites the Duke over for dinner, she tells him what she thinks of him, that he's a rake. All of this creates a rift between them that has them at odds (at first.) She speaks to Simon while promenading, telling him that her mother told her that she should marry her dearest friend, and she wonders if that what marriage is all about? Not realizing she stumbles over her own thoughts at first, Simon is reluctant to tell her more until she demands what else a couple may do. This results in him sharing what masturbation is, but then it is one of the conversations he uses to cut himself off from her. He tells her that he has corrupted her, which Daphne says "I assure you, I am quite capable of deciding the bounds of my own propriety." She doesn't understand why he pushes her away but decides that she must have been wrong about him, emotional and cut to her core. When Anthony comes upon Simon and Daphne kissing and groping one another, he immediately puts a stop to it and challenges Simon to a duel. Once they are home, she tries to get her brother to change his mind. She stays up all night, pacing and finally going to Colin to demand the location of the duel. She rode her horse right in the middle of the duel while Anthony shot, just missing her. She put her own life in danger to stop either man from dying; furthermore, she realized that someone had overseen them kissing, so they must marry or she and her family will be ruined. Finally, Simon confesses to her that he cannot give her children and that he wouldn't have her make that sacrifice. But she declares to her brothers and Simon that they indeed will marry. This is the ultimate sacrifice for Daphne, saving her family's reputation but thinking she will never be able to have a baby. Another young lady looking for a suitor, Cressida Cowper, saw the kissing scandal. While at the modiste, she had an exchange with Cressida to suss out what the other woman really knew. It ends with Daphne declaring that soon she will be a duchess, and it would be better to be her friend than her enemy. All ego, Cressida isn't altogether impressed (thinking they may not marry at all), but her intentions of possibly scandalizing Daphne and Simon are for not in the end. Egging a potential gossip on could have ended poorly, but she took the risk. While part of her plan to ensure she does not become ruined, Daphne tells her mother she wishes to marry that same week. When the license is denied, she and Simon go to advocate before the Queen. Daphne declares that there is nothing amiss, that they are in love, that it was love at first sight, lying to try to get her way to the most powerful person in all of England. Potentially quite dangerous, and it is only because Simon steps in and tells the Queen the truth that they are allowed to marry. When she tries to speak openly with Simon, he will not do so and instead does his best to ignore her, to barely meet her eyes for three days before their wedding. When they arrive to the inn they spend their wedding night at, Daphne is flustered and concerned and calls Simon out for ignoring her. Inevitably, they come to realize that they are both in love and yearn for one another, and she tells him that it's him she can't sacrifice. Love will do that to a person, but it still means that she (for some time) believes she marries with no chance of starting her own family. Powers and Abilities: n/a Inventory: Two dresses (1 + 2) and one simple necklace Samples: TDM