“I was the imperfect first attempt”

A blog dedicated to Sir Arthur Guinness from the TV show House of Guinness || main blog - @waitingforsols ||

[splittheganthony]

The Guinness Siblings

[tyranasauruslex]

Thinking a lot about how Edward's perception of Arthur at the start of the series must have been shaped by their father. Arthur is chaos. Arthur is a train crash. Arthur is only half listening. But how would he know this without being fed it by someone else? They can't have worked together prior to Sir Benjamins death because of the age gap and Arthur going from Eton to Trinity College to London whilst Edward and the rest of the children were homeschooled.

Arthur being lazy is also inaccurate considering he's had a job since birth. As Sir Benjamins sole heir (up until the will reading) he would have been trotted out like a show pony to ensure the Guinness legacy lives on. He was then sent away to boarding school to make connections and be raised with other boys of high society. What he is, is tired. Depressed. Miserable. He wants a little house by the bay with a boyfriend he can dote on. But he can't have that and I don't think Edward quite understands that which is why he views his brother as being so careless and reckless with what he's doing.

We also have Arthur calling himself the "imperfect first attempt and Edward the perfect one" which even if that's how Arthur views them, that view has been built up by someone else. The inner circle all know that Arthur is gay so it stands to reason that their father did as well which is why he only left his son two options - conformity or destitution.

Arthurs low self esteem is palpable throughout the season, as is his never ending quest to find someone that will love him as much as he loves everybody else - this comes from a need that wasn't met during childhood, constantly being told there was something wrong with him. Edward experienced a very different Sir Benjamin to what Arthur did, but perhaps doesn't realise this until he gets to know the real Arthur, not Arthur the Fuck Up.

So it's interesting to note that Edward also didn't quite match up to his father's expectations either, otherwise he wouldn't have tied Arthur and Edward together so tightly. He did everything "right" - he's not a woman, he's not an alcoholic and he's not gay. So what did Edward do "wrong" that his father didn't see fit to leave everything to Arthur with the option to sell the brewery to Edward? I really hope we get a season two because I need the backstory of the siblings and their dad!

[imperfectfirstattempt]

Absolutely love the idea of Edward listening to their father complaining about Arthur over the years to the point where their father has instilled his negative views of Arthur in Edward’s brain over the years (regardless of if it was intentional or not). And that drives a wedge between the two brothers to the point where they argue all the time, and Edward is saying things like “Father was right about you.” Meanwhile Arthur just shakes his head and is like “you are just like him,” making comments about how Edward is just their father’s puppet/doesn’t know how to think for himself/is always sucking up to daddy dearest

[imperfectfirstattempt]

I can just imagine all of the siblings going to Arthur when they are having problems in relationships, not for his advice but for his comfort, because they know that if they make it clear that they’re being serious then he would actually listen and comfort them

[tyranasauruslex]

Arthur bodying the "I didn't even realise he was depressed" trope for an entire season despite saying stuff like:

"...when I'm sad..."

"...nothing but bleakness and blackness..."

"...bad fucking dreams..."

"... in search of an energy I'm not sure I have..."

"..half consumed by the flames of hell..."

*Every time he put himself down of which there are too many to list.

And everyone is like "Just pull yourself together" when he's on the verge of tears 24/7 or drinking but he doesn't drink as excessively or as obviously as Ben so everyone assumes he's having a good time.

sum1 pls come help this man :(

Edward going from not getting what Arthur had to be sad about to actually (mostly) understanding was the evolution we needed.

[imperfectfirstattempt]

Everyone being concerned about Ben being around guns when he’s drinking when in reality it’s Arthur they should all be worried about

[prettyvenoms]

I can’t explain this at all but I keep getting Arthur and Edward’s names confused because Arthur looks more like an Edward and Edward looks more like an Arthur if that makes any sense

Also is it weird for a family to take the one child’s middle name and recycle it for their other child’s name? Idk it just struck me as a bit odd

[mercurygray]

I think this is more of a family name recycling thing, overall. Their father was Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness because his mother's maiden name was Lee, and that's a pattern that happens in other parts of the family, too, to honor particular family members or emphasize a family connection.

Still confusing, though. I totally agree with you.

[imperfectfirstattempt]

I’m not sure why name recycling was a thing, but my dad’s side of the family is very much the same way in terms of reusing names.

My great grandfather is named John (fake name). He named his son, my grandfather, John. My dad, the oldest son, was given the middle name John. But then my uncle, my dad’s younger brother, was named John anyway.

When I asked my grandparents why, she said that this was because they didn’t know how many sons they would end up having. Because she got to pick my dad’s first name, my grandpa picked the middle name (John). Then when they had another boy, my grandpa got to pick the first name this time. He chose John because he wanted to continue passing his name down.

Anyway, I agree that it’s super interesting, but wanted to add that my family has a sort of similar situation going on. Honestly, I totally didn’t even think twice about them reusing names in the show

[imperfectfirstattempt]

​I need a million fics with the siblings taking care of and/or standing up for each other ​pls and thank you

[imperfectfirstattempt]

Love the idea of it being a regular occurance for Anne to sneak into Arthur’s room at night and just hold him like we see her do in episode 1. At some point Ben joins, and then later Edward joins too because even if he isn’t old enough to understand why Arthur is crying, he still just wants to comfort his big brother.

[imperfectfirstattempt]

Edward feeling guilty for leaving bruises on Arthur’s neck. And then Anne and Olivia being all concerned about someone hurting Arthur until Edward fesses up and admits it was him

[maleficent088]

Did anyone else burst into tears when Arthur Guinness said,

"And since I am kind to everyone but myself, I said yes."

No?

Just me? Ok.

[imperfectfirstattempt]

What if Anne and Ben were aware of the ways their father tried to rid Arthur of his homosexuality? Like maybe it’s a known thing between the three older Guinness children that Arthur has this trauma, but they had kept Edward out of the loop at the time because he was so young at the time.

And one now in present day of the show, one of them lowkey subtly references it in a conversation and Edward is just like “…what?”

[imperfectfirstattempt]

What if Edward pinning Arthur to the wall during the confrontation about the train tickets triggered Arthur to have a flashback/panic attack, cause suddenly Arthur the pressure around his neck feels like he’s back in the basement being “treated” for his homosexuality aka tortured

Oh! Maybe Arthur continues to be lowkey fearful of Edward after that out of instinct because Edward acted a little bit too much like their father

[imperfectfirstattempt]

Rafferty/Arthur but Olivia watches??

[imperfectfirstattempt]

We need to talk about how Edward lets them ride his horse while he walks like what an absolute gentleman

[imperfectfirstattempt]

Arthur feeling guilty after all of those people from the dance were rounded up by the cops because none of it would have happened had his uncle not sent them after him. And then refusing any tenderness because he doesn’t think he deserves it… yeah I’m not okay (and neither is he)

[imperfectfirstattempt]

“And these pictures, these…likenesses… they tend to show the candidate as perhaps a more perfect creature than he actually is?”

Oh baby you’re just drowning in your lack of self-worth, aren’t you :(

[imperfectfirstattempt]

I feel like Arthur would actually turn out to be an awesome uncle. And I know he tells them to shut the baby up when they’re taking that picture, but I feel like he’d be much better when they’re toddlers. I just know that he would make sure that no harm comes to his sibling’s children, like he looks at Anne’s baby and cannot fathom what would possess someone to hurt their own child like his father had hurt him