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Cuddling Edith Crawley
Jul. 11th, 2012 10:45 pmI've been under the weather for the past few days and have therefore been a) rewatching Downton Abbey episodes and b) reading, like, 2/3rds of the Downton Abbey fic at A03. I've come to the conclusion that there's a critical lack of Downton Abbey cuddling fic.
In a way this is not surprising, because I'm pretty sure the early twentieth century British aristocracy are the least cuddly people ever...but that just means they need snuggles more! Is there anyone in the world who would benefit more from cuddling than Lady Mary? (And anyone in the world less likely to allow anyone to cuddle her, ever?) Or Edith! I think we can all agree that Edith is desperately in need of cuddling!
Actually, I've got this vague fic idea wherein Edith holds a soldier's head on her lap. Possibly he's feverish and it calms him? So she's not being cuddled, but cuddling someone else is still a step in the right direction, right?
(I'm actually quite surprised that none of the soldiers proposed to Edith on the show - it's clear they all adore her, and she's nice to them, and "the wounded soldier falls in love with the nurse" is so common as to be a cliche.
Possibly that's why it doesn't happen. But I would be HAPPY to forgive a little cliche if it would give Edith some happiness. Perhaps it happened off screen? But Edith was sure he only proposed out of gratitude for her nursing...and he was mortified to have asked such an impertinent question, when he knew that his war wounds disqualified him from winning the heart of such a wonderful girl...OH THE ANGST.)
But back to calming the delirious soldier through cuddling. I could see Edith having a chat with Sybil - Sybil noting that Edith seems to have a real knack for nursing, and why doesn't Edith go through nurses' training? (I always wondered why she didn't, given she found the work so fulfilling and Sybil had already paved the way, as it were.) It could be an interesting window on Edith's insecurities - and also show Edith starting to overcome those insecurities a bit, so more hopeful than Edith character studies are wont to be.
There are a number of them over on AO3. I thought this one rather splendid: Fair. I can't improve on the author's summary: That you could not make people love you any more than they already did, no matter how you might try - that sometimes, things were simply not fair. That her life, it seemed, was one of those things.
I think it captures Edith perfectly: both the real pathos of her life, and her flaws - her infinite ability to hold grudges, her blinkered self-centeredness. It is of course unfair that Edith is always overlooked, but for goodness' sake she's the daughter of an earl, life has been quite unfair in her favor too.
In a way this is not surprising, because I'm pretty sure the early twentieth century British aristocracy are the least cuddly people ever...but that just means they need snuggles more! Is there anyone in the world who would benefit more from cuddling than Lady Mary? (And anyone in the world less likely to allow anyone to cuddle her, ever?) Or Edith! I think we can all agree that Edith is desperately in need of cuddling!
Actually, I've got this vague fic idea wherein Edith holds a soldier's head on her lap. Possibly he's feverish and it calms him? So she's not being cuddled, but cuddling someone else is still a step in the right direction, right?
(I'm actually quite surprised that none of the soldiers proposed to Edith on the show - it's clear they all adore her, and she's nice to them, and "the wounded soldier falls in love with the nurse" is so common as to be a cliche.
Possibly that's why it doesn't happen. But I would be HAPPY to forgive a little cliche if it would give Edith some happiness. Perhaps it happened off screen? But Edith was sure he only proposed out of gratitude for her nursing...and he was mortified to have asked such an impertinent question, when he knew that his war wounds disqualified him from winning the heart of such a wonderful girl...OH THE ANGST.)
But back to calming the delirious soldier through cuddling. I could see Edith having a chat with Sybil - Sybil noting that Edith seems to have a real knack for nursing, and why doesn't Edith go through nurses' training? (I always wondered why she didn't, given she found the work so fulfilling and Sybil had already paved the way, as it were.) It could be an interesting window on Edith's insecurities - and also show Edith starting to overcome those insecurities a bit, so more hopeful than Edith character studies are wont to be.
There are a number of them over on AO3. I thought this one rather splendid: Fair. I can't improve on the author's summary: That you could not make people love you any more than they already did, no matter how you might try - that sometimes, things were simply not fair. That her life, it seemed, was one of those things.
I think it captures Edith perfectly: both the real pathos of her life, and her flaws - her infinite ability to hold grudges, her blinkered self-centeredness. It is of course unfair that Edith is always overlooked, but for goodness' sake she's the daughter of an earl, life has been quite unfair in her favor too.
