Mini-Challenge #06 - Passion for Fashion
Belle's look tends towards classic lines but she enjoys having fun with her outfits as well. She wants clothing that make her feel feminine and that also give her an edge in work and on the street.
This outfit combines a lot of it. The pants and the blazer are perfect for the working world while the halter top hints at her after hours personality. The shoes are all female, but speak of balance and power in the day to day world. The necklace is a reminder that only she can give the key to her heart.
Belle’s Family Tree as compiled prior to her journey to D’Isigny - black ribbon denotes deceased.
Maurice French - her father (Billy Boyd)
Dianne French - her mother (Isla Fisher)
Her father’s parents - Thierry and Adrienne French (Kevin Kline & Helen Mirren)
Her mother’s parents - Charles and Marie Thérèse de Artois (Donald Sutherlund & Blythe Danner)
Parental Secrets
“Daddy! I’m home”
Belle’s voice rang out over the sounds of her father’s workshop. She heard a clank, then a thud, and then her father’s voice. “Ouch!” Oops. She winced in sympathy and began to wind her way through all of the various machines and parts of machines scattered about the floor. Another corner turned brought her face to face with her father. “Belle!” He swept her into a warm exuberant hug before leading her back into the house. He fed her lunch and listened as she spoke about school.
“It sounds like you’re having a good time, then?” he smiled. His eyes crinkled at the edges and he seemed a little slower than he used to be.
“Daddy, I wish you would reconsider and move closer.”
“Belle, sweetheart, I need to tell you something.” Maurice sat down and took her hand. “I know you’re worried about me, with you off at school, but you don’t need to worry. I’m fine here – I shall always be fine in this house and on this land.”
“Daddy-.”
“Belle,” he repeated her name as he shook his head. “Did you never wonder why we didn’t move? Not even during a good year? It certainly wasn’t any loyalty to the village. No,” he shook his head again. “If there had been a way to move and remain safe, we would have gone somewhere, anywhere that we might fit in. But we needed to stay here.” He took a deep breath. “Your mother…she did not want to leave us.”
“I know,” she nodded, giving him a bemused look.
“No, sweetheart, no you don’t.” He looked down at their hands and then back up at her. “Belle, your mother…didn’t die.” She reared back in shock, but he refused to let go of her hand. “She’s not dead, and she didn’t want to leave.”
Belle shook her head, shock still coursing through her. She didn’t understand – it wasn’t making any sense! If… Then… Her mind floundered and then she took hold of herself. Belle forced herself to breathe, her mind becoming almost ruthless in its shift to a logical processing mode. The shaking in her hands stopped and she focused on her father once more. “Then where is she? Why isn’t she here?”
“Because it wasn’t safe,” he told her in a quiet voice. “For her or for us.”
“Where is she?”
“I can’t tell you that, sweetheart.” Her mouth flew open at his reply, but he let go of her hands to take hold of her shoulders. “Belle, do you trust me?”
“Yes.” And she did. Despite everything she’d just learned, she trusted him to mean the best…and to want her safety.
“Then I need you to trust me now,” he told her. “I can’t tell you where your mother is and I need you to give me your word you will not go looking.” She bit her lip and he gave her a light shake. “Promise me.”
“I promise.’
Her father drew her into a warm hug and she rested against him as her mind whirled. She’d given her word, and she wouldn’t go back on it, but it didn’t stop her from wondering.
Where is your homeland? I’m from a small town in the south of France, close to the border with Spain – it is in the Aquitaine region of the country.
What are its people like? Insular and distrusting of outsiders…or anyone different from them.
Are you aware of its history? The town itself doesn’t have much more than day to day, but the surrounding area? It has some fantastic history! Eleanor of Aquitaine alone would prevent a simple answer, but then there’s the battle of Castillon, the last battle of the Hundred Years’ war…and anyway, you get the idea.
Are you patriotic or a social outcast? I love my home and my language…I just sometimes question whether or not I can actually like the people.
What are your opinions of home? Contradictory – friendly but judgmental, loving but suffocating, beautiful but trapped
Briefly describe a defining moment in your childhood and how it influenced your life. The first time I remember hearing people whisper behind my back as I walked home from the bookstore. I could hear them talking on and on about how I was “pretty, but…” That I was “attractive, and yet…” When I got home I went to my father’s workshop and talked to him about it. He told me not to listen to them – that they refused to see beyond the end of their noses. They were – and wanted to be – common. He told me I was unique – and that I should never listen to those who would drag me down.
What was childhood like for you? For the most part it was a time of joy and wonder. Father raised me and I would help him with his designs. The local children would tease me from time to time because I preferred reading to their type of playing, but father told me to ignore them.
Was it calm and peaceful or turbulent and traumatic? Mostly calm & peaceful…unless one of father’s experiments went wrong. Then it could turn turbulent without much warning.
Did you have any childhood friends? My father…and some of the animals around the area.
If so, who and where are they now? Still back at home
What stupid things did you do when you were younger? I tried to fit in with what the townsfolk thought of a “normal” …and I was miserable. I rearranged father’s tools because I thought they looked better my way. I snuck out to see a circus and once there I snuck into see the animals.
Which toys from your childhood have you kept? I have a stuffed bear called Vivienne
Why? What do they mean to you? She was the last thing my mother made for me.
If you didn’t keep any, why not? n/a
Do you have any deep, dark secrets in the past that may come back to haunt you? I…don’t think so? Not that I know of anyway.
Are you who you claim to be? Yes? Who else would I be?
Do you have any sort of criminal record? No
Who were your parents? Maurice & Dianne French
Were you raised by them? By my father, yes. My mother passed away when I was a little girl.
If not, then why didn’t they, and who did raise you? n/a
How did you get along with their parents? I never knew them.
What was your birth position in the family (i.e. first, second, third, x-th born; only child; etc.)? Only child
What was your family life like? Loving – father would reprimand me when he had to, but it was a loving atmosphere where I was encouraged to ignore disparaging words and concentrate on finding my own strengths.
Are there any black (or white) sheep in the family (including you)? No…? At least I don’t think so? Father has always been the creative, scientist type – right down to getting the “mad scientist” label from more than one. From what he tells me, my mother was extraordinary. I guess, having dreams and visions of something more fall right in line.
And I might still cry
And I might still bleed
These thorns in my side
This heart on my sleeve
And lightening may strike
This ground at my feet
And I might still crash
But I still believe
