#Eloise is mad that she considered Penelope her best friend and treated her as such and Penelope never did the same to her

[dollypopup]

interesting that the reason her family is known as ostentatious, scandalous, charmless and unappealing is directly because of Penelope writing about her own family that way. in her very first article, she writes about her mum being tasteless and tactless and that she and her sisters are thrust upon the ton like sorrowful sows specifically because she doesn't want to be out in society and thus is doing so to remain invisible in her own self-preservation. Penelope purposefully *wants* to be unappealing, that's the whole point of the conversation in the daffodils. Eloise hates that she's under the microscope as a Bridgerton and Penelope loves the fact that she's invisible. That was their entire conversation.

I mean, it's such a headscratcher why Eloise would be upset that Penelope wrote unkind things about several women, including her sister and future sister-in-law (you know, the Eloise who told a guy that she'll never take it as a compliment when someone diminishes other women to 'elevate' her), ousted her pregnant cousin and then publicly derided her for days after, making it so she can't ever come back to the city, listened silently as Eloise vowed to find LW so she can convince her to retract her statements and return honor to the Featheringtons, broke up her budding relationship w/ Theo by gaslighting her and insisting that people already know she's seeing him, caring little to nothing about Eloise's passion for feminism and that she's in the midst of educating herself, and then exposed her as a 'political radical' instead of talking to her and coming up with a plan together

but yeah, okay, the various ways Penelope has betrayed Eloise pales in comparison to the REAL root of her upset: jealousy

Ok but Eloise is a gorgeous, popular, rich, connected and respected Bridgerton

Penelope has to fight for everything she will ever have—money, love, recognition, even basic freakin decency because she is from an ostentatious, scandalous, ridiculous looking family known for debts and scandals and charmless, unappealing daughters.

In my opinion I think Eloise’s feelings of betrayal are linked with feelings of jealousy because Penelope is actually doing something with her talent.

Penelope is heard even if she’s being heard under a pen name. Penelope has a legacy. Penelope is earning her own money independent of anyone else. AND she’s doing it all as an insipid wallflower, without help, as an unappealing Featherington.

And I think Eloise is bothered by that, even if she wants to believe her anger rests only in what Penelope wrote about her.

[petalsmooth]

I understand Portia.

I even think she is probably, in many ways, good representation for the life of a women in her position in regency England. Often you see mothers portrayed as empty headed, uneducated you wonder how they manage a household. Kind of like in Sense and Sensibility. Which I am not saying is untrue representation particularly as written in the era but I don't think all women were like that. They couldn't afford to be. They were few avenues for survival for women in their position and I absolutely can understand a woman like Portia being singularly focused less on their feelings and more on trying to provide them the security she did not have by any means necessary.

It doesn't change that she never even treated Penelope as she did the other two. They completely wrote Penelope off as a prospect. It's not like her two other daughters were amazing prospects themselves. They did not pay any attention to her, obviously. How else would Pen be able to sneak off to the printer's so often? She told her she is basically a fool for hoping for a match. Then when Pen scraps one up that's in wealth and title higher than anything the other two did, only then is she proud of her. Up until he doesn't propose. She's going to say some pretty ugly things when learns of the engagement too and just simply put...she's abusive to Penelope.

She says she's doing it to give her daughters a better life than she had but that is true of two daughters. At best maybe she feels she has done right by her in sense Pen won't starve from lack of food but she's clearly starving for approval, affection, attention...a big reason why she wouldn't want to give up W.D in fact.

Which is another big reason why I am not entirely on board with how they have presented the w.d issue up to this point because it's been so one sided in how people react with assumptions being made about her that just aren't true. And why I still am mad at Eloise because not ONCE has she taken a moment to think her conclusions may not have been accurate as to reasons for the column. She simply does not care to listen to Penelope. But she'll listen to Cressida...Pen's bully.

And even there by ep 4 you can see how alone Eloise actually is because Cressida doesn't listen to her, the way she never listened to Pen. Although to be fair, in upcoming ep Eloise isn't listening to Cressida either so neither are particularly good at listening. When Cressida abandons Eloise mid sentence on one of her rants (one of the few times Eloise looks like her old animated self)...you can feel the absence of where Pen used to be. You can also see still not really aware of anything but her own world, because your new best "friend" is clearly worried will be married to an old lecher and focused on trying to prevent it. Eloise doesn't have that fear because privileged with her family. But also apparently her brother causing a scandal interrupting a courting couple still doesn't make her think...uh...wait...are there romantic feelings here?

I'm sure I'm not going to like everything said in the Pen and Colin argument because I clearly disagree with the writers on their slant of the column, but at least with Colin this is his best friend, fiancé and lover...they have a very intimate relationship, he gave her chances to open up to him and he really hadn't done wrong by her outside of the one time at a ball. He wasn't Eloise running through London unchaperoned with young single men and in my view should consider if Pen really wanted to ruin her would have said that. He also does not have all the details. Eloise had details and decided to take no ownership for her own actions. But however he moves past it, we know won't cut off contact for 6-8 months because she is too important to him to completely walk away.. She's important to Eloise too, but not more than Eloise's pride is important to her.

On one hand I want that friendship repaired because I miss their chemistry onscreen, I hate her with Cressida. I watched the whole show but I mostly fw through their scenes now because there is NO chemistry there. On other hand I don't want them as friends if Eloise remains the same self centered person using Pen as a sounding board but not accepting Pen if she deviates at all from her opinion. I mean Eloise actually said they used to plot to be spinsters together and thought that was what Pen wanted. I know it's taken from the book and I like that detail but it just shows how little attention paid to Pen. Did Pen really talk excitedly about that prospect Eloise, or did she merely go along with it because though no one would ever want her? Because I would guess the latter. Or did she merely not contest the idea with Eloise would suggest and presume Pen was onboard? I could see that too...

[thekatebridgerton]

I read your post yesterday about if - and how- mad the Bridgertons will be once they know Penelope is LW. You said 50/50… And i’m still confused about your reasoning, because i feel like you don't mention all.. so I decided to send you this message, and I hope you'll respond :-).

You talk about limited impact? How about her being cruel and malicious towards Marina to make herself feel better. (she could've just told Colin, left him a secret note if she was too afraid, why ruin her????) If they kill off Marina later on, it’s due to Penelope’s actions, because Colin would’ve married and they could’ve been happy. Colin probably would be because in s2 he was still in love with her. Also: how is calling Kate a beast and betraying your (best)friend like that, okay??? The Bridgerton’s should be very angry and i’ll hope they will be.

You know I debated on if I should answer this today, considering that I usually answer oldest to newest and there are more than 20 asks ahead of you as we speak.

But you had to go and send a message like this on a monday Morning. (my side of the hemisphere) right before I had my daily dose of chamomile tea, and gosh, I kept wondering what kind of person sends a message this strange on a Monday morning.

My answers came up as follows 1) Someone who got cero sleep on Sunday night and the day before 2) someone who hasn't been treated very nicely by their surroundings in real life 3) Someone who obviously didn't realize their message would reach me on Monday morning, Theory #4) that's the one that would be mildly offensive to hear because there's a chance I may be right about the kind of negative people you've been surrounding yourself by

Admittedly I may be projecting, after all I was kinda sleep deprived when I wrote the post you were talking about. So I went again and read it...And I still don't get what you're talking about. I sounded pretty logical to my ears.

Because remember, the post asked if I thought the Bridgertons would be mad at Penelope, not if I thought her actions were right or wrong.

Note that as a viewer and as a woman I don't hate Marina, I think she's a pretty neat and pragmatic character. But you're about to hear the protective sibling in me throw some Marina slader around. So stop reading and skip this post.

Because this is from the perspective of a protective sibling. Not from the perspective of a woman, or an omniscient viewer, or a friend, or your friendly neighborhood spiderman.

Here's the thing anon, I get that you sound like you don't have siblings over the age of 17 but I do. And moreover I'm very protective and loving towards my siblings. So here's my humble perspective since you were left confused about my reasoning:

If one of my brothers was about to be duped into marrying someone who didn't love him and she was planning on making him take responsibility for children he had no hand in creating. The person who let the gossip out about her, wouldn't be the bad guy in my eyes. Rather, the girl who tried to dupe my brother would. (whether that girl's life was destroyed or not, would be irrelevant, because I care about MY BROTHER, not some stranger who tried to trick him into marriage).

Actually add that to my list of questions dear reader. Why did Daphne care more about Marina than Colin in s1 again? and why does Eloise?. Because as a person, they don't know her or her tragic backstory from Eve, and Colin is their brother, who they're supposed to have loved since diapers.

I'm with Anthony and Benedict on this one. I think the concerned sibling in me, wins out on the women supporting women side of me. If siding with the woman in the situation means my brother gets lied to by some girl who doesn't love him and tricked into step fathering kids. I don't care that my brother loved the girl, she didn't love HIM, and my brother deserves to be loved. So hear me, I'm picking the side that gets my brother out of that mess even if he ends up heartbroken.

And if it turns out that years down the line, that same person who spread gossip about that girl. Ended up marrying said brother. I still wouldn't think she's the bad guy.

Actually I'd probably be more angry if I had to endure a sister in law who tricked my brother into marrying her, despite not loving him and being pregnant with another man's baby.... But If you're okay with a sister in law like that and think your brother would be happy in that marriage, well, that's on you anon.

Me? I'd be pushing my brother to divorce that person as soon as I found out she doesn't love him and lied to him about it.

There's no accounting for one sibling taste in women, but if I had to chose between two evils, I'll take the sister in law who likes to publish people's dirty in her gossip column. Because if worse comes to worse, at least I know that one loves my brother and thinks honesty is the best policy. whatever methods of telling truth she may use. We may even get along in that aspect.

Also If my sister's best friend, published an article about her on the news that said she was hanging out with political radicals in a red light district on the day of MY wedding or any of our sibling's wedding. I wouldn't think my sister's best friend was out of line. I would be ripping off my wedding dress and holding my sister accountable for her behavior. AND then, after talking to my sister, I'd get mad at her best friend for not talking to me about it. But I'd definitely understand why she wouldn't. Because she's my sister's best friend, not mine and I'm older and I've given her no reason to think I'd believe her.

I think the only thing I'd realistically be mad at, would be if that girl spread gossip about one of my sisters not being good enough as a diamond for suitors to be flocking at her side, without my sister ever doing anything to deserve it. Because yeah, that wouldn't fly in my book. That's hurting my siblings feelings just because another one of my siblings is scaring away all her prospects and that's not her fault.

If the girl that's marrying my brother had her fun spreading gossip about people who aren't me and my family. I realistically wouldn't be mad at her. Not really. Why would I be?

Furthermore if she called my brother's girlfriend a beast, before that woman was even my brother's girlfriend, why would I be angry about it, it's not like I knew my brother liked that person back then.

So when I say it's a 50/50 what I mean to say is that to big families gossip is really easy to get over when there's another thing for people to talk about later on.

Yes people usually remember stuff 20 years down the line, but in big families we all know the aunt or the girlfriend or the cousin who used to be a gossip before she married in (the cult) the family. There's the uncle who has tattoos, and the other one who was in a country band. Everyone who marries in, had their own past, so chill.

In fact if you're from a big tight knit family, we all know stuff from everybody, and yeah we all gossip about it. Doesn't mean we love each other any less, or that we wouldn't beat up anyone who lets the story outside the family walls. But if my sister got caught by a paparazzi sneaking out of our brother's wedding to go to a political rally, excuse me but I'll hold her accountable, not the press, and then maybe I'll have a laugh with my mom about it when the fuss dies down. that's just how families are, or maybe that's just my experience with mildly functional ones.

I can't be the only one from a big family who wouldn't be mad if my brother ended up marrying Lady Whistledown. Because gossip comes and goes. But if someone really loves your sibling and you all as his family by extension, a lot of stuff can be forgiven, including what that girl has said in her gossip column.

But maybe that's just me. Dear readers with siblings you don't totally hate (and maybe even love). give me your opinion.

[dumbledearme]

~ read The Bridgerton Eight here ~~

The Modern Bridgertons:

Violet Bridgerton (1965—)

married her high school sweetheart at 18;

loves blackberry pie;

is a fancy ass woman but always acts with humility;

is known and respected by everyone in Great Hamptons;

always remembers everybody’s names;

is the queen of charity events;

has an intense flare for the dramatic;

lighted a candle for her husband everyday he was at war;

was strong for her children when he died and never cried in front of them;

cried a lot, alone, at night, in her room;

always supports her children in all their endeavors;

is obsessed with marrying all of them because she doesn’t want them to waste the little time they might have with their loved ones;

Edmund Bridgerton (1965—2009)

his favorite pie is blackberry pie because that’s what Violet likes;

his grandfather turned BCorp into a corporate company;

under his charge, BCorp became a “green company”;

was an eleven as a dad;

whenever his children were upset, he’d take his hands and put them on both sides of their head and they would just breathe together;

he was called to war world II when he was 34;

he was discharged with honor two years later for saving a fellow soldier;

he was stung by bees and died of anaphylactic shock;

Anthony Bridgerton (1991—)

1,84 cm/ 6′0″;

all he ever wanted was to be half the man his dad was;

he had to step up as the man of the family at just 18 years old;

he has been running BCorp and supporting his family ever since;

doesn’t have time for a good time; 

probably has forgotten what that is;

still, he’s been known to dally...

has a reputation as a player;

is afraid of intimacy;

work, work, work, work;

worries and protects every single one of his siblings because that’s what Dad would’ve wanted;

is always extra nice to his mother;

is dead scared of bees;

has hella good hair;

always dresses impeccably;

can be quite an ass.

Benedict Bridgerton (1993—)

1,87 cm; 6'2";

the artist of the family;

mostly paints landscapes;

doodles a lot;

often has paint on his hair and on his face and on his clothes;

is the only one who still goes to the family cabin by the beach;

graduated in fine arts at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome;

his paintings are sad and beautifully haunting;

believes in love at first sight;

is the tallest;the sweet Bridgerton;

is very protective of his sisters (that is the only thing that can prone him to violence, although in reality he wouldn’t hurt a fly);

very good with his hands;

a total and utter fool.

Colin Bridgerton (1997—)

1,75 cm; 5'9";

definitely the funny one;

the only one who has green eyes like Dad;

he's convinced that Holly Macclesfield is the love of his life, even after she cheated on him and got engaged to Nigel Berbrooke;

he travelled through Europe and Africa just to get away from the pain of it all;

he wrote a book about the things he's seen;

and the cultures he's experienced;

he majored in Greek and Roman architecture;

everybody likes him;

so charming, so handsome, so easy going;

the king of the easy smile;

he is never, ever, ever, ever sad;

he is never, ever, ever, ever mad;

what a dreamboat honestly.

Daphne Bridgerton (1998—)

1,68 cm;

slept with Eric Macclesfield and he broke up with her the following morning;

created a self-made business, the clothesline Daffiness;

is a fashion icon;

has a dying love for hats;

got a degree from the Université de Paris;

classy and edgy;

is the fun Bridgerton, always coming up with fun things to do;

wears a lot of sunglasses;

super independent woman who needs no man;

never, ever cries;

Eloise Bridgerton (2000—)

1,69 cm;

is a med-student in Sagaponak;

lively, talkative and genuinely fun;

sees the bright side in everything;

likes writing letters;

has zero time for men;

her favorite color was purple and she detested blood pudding;

the smart Bridgerton;

likes working with elders and children;

is very organized;

Francesca Bridgerton (2000—)

1,66 cm;

loves all things pretty;

is very feminine;

is very sensual;

always in perfect behavior;

the picture of sophisticated grace;

cares a lot about appearances;

a perfectionist;

is a seasoned liar;

had no filter;

spends most of her time at Flo’s Diner;

the love guru; she always knows when people have a thing for each other;

loves John *her boyfriend* in a platonic way;

has slept with a lot of boys; that is her way to hide what she really wants;

Gregory Bridgerton (2003—)

1,79 cm; 5'10";

he's favorite person in the world is Emma, the lunch lady;

he doesn't have a lot of friends, but he's friendly with a lot of people;

he notices the little people;

he's hungry ALL THE TIME; 

he's secretly a fantastic cook;

he likes picnics;

outside, not inside;

he's tall and lanky;

the awkward Bridgerton;

he's a hopeless romantic and then just hopeless.

Hyacinth Bridgerton (2005—)

1,73 cm; 5'8";

she's one tough cookie;

she will kick your ass;

she likes solving mysteries;

she's very competitive and a sour loser;

her best friend is Lady Danbury for some reason;

she has boxing classes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday;

she's not very patient but extremely tenacious;

she's opinionated;

she will fight you;

the scary Bridgerton;

the tallest of her sisters.

Katharine Sheffield (1994—)

1,68 cm; 5'6";

she majored in politics with a master in women’s studies;

she lives in the wealthy manor of the mayor, who just happens to be her stepmother;

she's a pescetarian Monday through Wednesday, fruitarian Thursday through Sunday, and a vegetarian ALWAYS;

she volunteers for Greenpeace;

she's an atheist, or she tries to be;

clumsy as hell;has a great sense of humor;

has a corgi named Newton;

‘not the easy way but the right way’;

she hates when it rains because she's terrified of thunder;

her fiancé, Mason, dumped her on his surprise birthday party while the guests were hiding in the dark.

Edwina Sheffield (1998—)

1,52 cm;

the ‘Incomparable’ of 1953;

has buttery-colored hair and startling blue eyes;

likes reading and silent films;

petite and delicate;

Mayor Mary Sheffield (1976—)

has always been relatively wealthy;

married a very poor man;

Sophie Beckett (1996—)

1,57 cm; 5'2";

her father owned the Marvelous Penwood Hotel where she grew up;

her father was her best friend when he was alive;

her mother left them right after Sophie was born;

when Sophie was six, her father married the New York socialite Araminta Gunningworth;

he died soon after;

and because he didn’t leave a will, Araminta got everything—the hotel, the money and Sophie;

her best friends now are Mrs. Gibbons, the housekeeping supervisor, and Miss Timmons, the cook;

she is a fan of What everybody sees but nobody talks about;

because she needs to live vicariously through other people;

she works as a housemaid at Penwood Hotel;

she never gets a day off.

Araminta Gunningworth (1973—)

fabulously evil;

evil incarnated;

Rosamund Gunningworth (1996—)

1,57 cm;

has an interest in art;

works in a gallery;

helped curate the exhibition: What’s in a name?;

her real goal is to impress Benedict Bridgerton and then marry him;

over her rich, hot, dead body!

spoiled and fabulous;

Posy Gunningworth (1998—)

1,55 cm;

a Shakespeare fan, she was the one who came up with the idea for the What’s in a name?

never really lost her baby fat;

tries her best to be like her mother and sister;

isn’t very good at being mean;

likes food, especially cookies;

Penelope Featherington (2000—)

1,55 cm;

lives next door to Bridgerton Manor and often comes over for brunch;

is best friends with Eloise Bridgerton;

is the youngest of three sisters: Prudence, Philippa and Phoebe;

has flat chest and nose freckles;  

bald head, flat chest, nose freckles and a dying sentence.  

was just twelve and finishing 6th grade when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia which gives her shortness of breath and terrible headaches;

was bald during the entire time she was doing chemo; she hated the way she looked without hair and was always avoiding mirrors;

is the Hampton Girl;

started what everyone sees but nobody talks about when she was seventeen;

fell in love with Colin Bridgerton, her best friend’s brother, when she was fifteen;

studies journalism;

has a secret account currently filled with money;

Phoebe Featherington (1998—)

1,57 cm;

the second youngest Featherington;

is nicer than her older sisters;

doesn’t treat Penelope like she’s going to break at the slightest touch;

is actually pretty normal for a Featherington;

Philippa Featherington (1995—)

1,65 cm;

waaay to loud all the time;

you know when she’s in the room;

never stops talking;

never talks about anything interesting;

gossips 24/7;

Prudence Farber (1993—)

1,65 cm;

thinks she’s better than her sisters because she’s married, y’all;

has a son called Preston;

she married Penelope’s oncologist;

she can’t stop bringing up the fact that she married a doctor;

Portia Featherington (1969—)

Simon Basset  (1991—)

1,85 cm;

has a stutter but hides like a pro;

was raised by Eva St. Clair;

is the sole heir of Global Hastings;

went to Harvard with Anthony Bridgerton;

lived abroad for most of his life;

is considered proud and above the company;

is actually just shy;

but also an arrogant little shit;

looks like he has no feelings whatsoever;

is in fact a very emotion person;

Philip Crane (1990—)

1,77 cm;

is one of the very few inhabitants of Sagaponack;

is a biology teacher with a PhD in botanic;

is not comfortable around people; prefers plants;

owns a greenhouse where he spends most of his time;

is unbelievably unaware of how good looking he is;

his wife suffered from deep depression which culminated in an attempted suicide, which he prevented, but resulted in her death anyway;

has twin children: Oliver and Amanda;

he likes the rain and his favorite color is green;

always looks morose;

hasn’t smiled in years;

Michaela Stirling (2000—)

1,65 cm; 5'5";

she believes that she and Francesca are soul mates;

she has a step brother called John who is currently dating Francesca;

she belongs to an old and important family of the tons;

she is as gay as they come;

her hobbies include music and Francesca;

she's taking art classes but what she's really passionate about it photography;

oh and Francesca.

John Stirling (2000—)

1,78 cm;

Lucinda Abernathy (2002—)

1,70 cm; 5'6";

she's a ballerina;

she's 100% invisible when she’s around her best friend Hermione;

which is all the time;

she still has both her parents;

she's very practical and honest;

a very grounded sort of girl;

she fake-dates Haselby.

Richard Abernathy (2000—)

Hermione Watson (2003—)

1,62 cm;

her family left town six years ago, but now they’ve returned;

lives next door to Lucy and they’ve been best friends since childhood;

is the most beautiful girl in town, taking the crowd from Francesca;

every boy wants her;

every girl wants to be her;

is surprisingly sweet and nice to everyone;

is secretly engaged to Lucy’s older brother;

Gareth St. Clair (2002—)

1,85 cm; 6'1";

his mother died in a car crash when he was five;

he used to disappear from school with his friends to party;

has a very difficult relationship with his father;

he's devastated when his brother George dies;

he becomes the partial owner of St. Clair Enterprises;

both he and his brother were registered with their mother's surname;

he's the only grandson of Lady Danbury;

he wears a lot of leather;

he rides a motorcycle;

he chainsmokes;

has a lot of anxiety.

George St. Clair (2000—2020)

1,78 cm;

the prodigal son;

smart, good-looking and well behaved;

got into Harvard;

got along with everyone;

was heir to half of half of St. Clair Enterprises;

died of pneumonia at the age of twenty-one;

Angelo Guido (1975—)

mean and violent;

nobody likes him;

doesn’t like anybody;

is in charge of the half of the half of St. Clair Enterprises which used to be belong to his wife and their son after her;

wants Gareth to sign the company over to him;

absolutely loathes Gareth;

Lady Emerauld St. Clair Danbury (1950—)

1,65 cm;

co-owner of St. Clair Enterprises;

the company was founded by her grandfather;

she gave half of half the company’s shares to each of her daughters, Isabella and Evanora;

after Isabella’s sudden death, her share was kept in the hands of her husband, Angelo Guido, until their eldest son was of age;

her husband was an oaf, but she was genuinely fond of him and had difficulty accepting his death;

has a sharp tongue;

walks with a cane she sometimes uses to hit people with;

Isabella St. Clair (1978—2007)

she married a man thirteen years her senior;

barely a year into the marriage, he grew mean and violent until their love died away;

a few years later, when Angelo was on a working trip, she fell in love with someone else and got pregnant;

was a great mother and spent a lot of times with her sons;

used to call them bambinos;

kept a diary in Italian;

she died in a car with her supposed lover;

Evanora St. Clair (1972—)

got a job as a nanny when she was fifteen;

it was supposed to be a temporary job, but Eva ended up staying for eighteen years;

still works with children at a helping center for children with learning and speaking disabilities;

never married or had children of her own;

Nigel Berbrooke (1995—)

Holly Macclesfield (1998—)

Colin’s high school sweetheart;

they were together for years until she dumped him to be with Nigel;

is a bimbo ass girl;

loves unitards;

Eric Macclesfield (1996—)

Daphne’s ex boyfriend;

broke up with her soon after she gave him her virginity;

total douchebag;

thinks no means yes;

deserves some good punches in that pretty face;

works for Global Hastings;

Mason (1990—)

the unfunny comedian;

he and Kate were engaged for three years;

broke up with her in his surprise birthday party unaware that the guests were hiding and listening;

stupid;