#IT’S FUCKING POLIN SEASON YALL

[magical-spit]

JUST FINISHED PART 1 OF BRIDGERTON S3. I AM UNWELL. I NEED IT TO BE JUNE ALREADY.

but until then, I shall be rewatching those 4 episodes. Over. And. Over. And. Over.

[zumiiisumsum]

I really appreciate how many of us in the fandom get to unite as one when it comes to that disgusting article about Nicola’s body, but I really need you guys to extend that same energy towards Luke as well. People are mocking him constantly for his looks (on TikTok mostly) and I just legitimately can’t comprehend why?? People are constantly commenting on his lips, and how it looks like he did botox, etc, and it’s really starting piss me off how some of you can become such big hypocrites. You don’t have to put an actor down just to praise another! They’re all BEAUTIFUL, it’s why they got casted in the first place!! I can’t believe we have to even say this shit because it’s just common fucking sense.

[dancingdorito]

y'all care way too much about these actors and their personal lives. get a fucking job and a life and let them live in peace, they don't owe you shit.

i'm so done w people who ship real life people and get MAD when they aren't dating, acting as if they know them personally bc they stalked them online (and sometimes in person). are you really so lonely and desperate for this to mean so much to you? i guess so.

get mad at celebrities who actually do harmful shit and not ones protecting their privacy. go back to your elementary education and think about how you would like to be treated were you in their shoes. then kindly fuck off to hell <3

i have so many other things i wish to do with my time other than scold mindless middle age horny people on the internet.

[lordandladywhistledown]

MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN HEARD AND ANSWERED

TOMORROW IS OFFICIALLY POLIN SEASONNNNN

[justfandomwritings]

An essay on why I won’t be watching next season.

1. Obviously actors have to promote their shows and hype them up. But the interactions between Nicola and Luke during the press tour were, in retrospect, clearly also acting performances, and it is rare to see acting within the press tour to the degree that those two put on while grossly exaggerating things like how sexy this season would be or how much Polin we would get. I don’t blame them. It’s clearly what they were told to do. And it’s fine to hype a show, but I think a lot of people felt genuinely lied to with the WAY this season was hyped.

2. The casting has been color conscious and inclusive in a way I greatly admire. But they have not been inclusive in other ways. And that’s not to say they should have to be. One show shouldn’t bear the responsibility of being inclusive to everyone and making up for an industries worth of exclusion. But we have exactly one size inclusive character in this whole show, and I’m not even demanding more, but to butcher the season of the only size inclusive person in this show this badly and in these ways sends me a clear message of what the writers thought they could get away with with a curvy actress and how they saw her.

3. The wait times for this season and next season are just too long. The hype dies down too much between seasons such that we care less and less each time we get a new one, especially when you only give eight episodes, regardless of their length. You know who also gave us a season in 2022 and then an eight episode season this year? house of the dragon. And they have to CGI a fuck ton of dragons. Yall were sitting on this season being done filming for over a year and for what? What did you do in post? A bee? And then to have the audacity to do it in two parts? Fuck off.

4. Add to that. The costumes and new sets looked so much cheaper this season than previous seasons. Where did the budget go.

5. The plot is too crowded. Maybe you thought a curvy girl couldn’t carry a season. Maybe it was bad writing. Obviously you needed Cressida and Eloise to have decent amounts of screen time but you also did half of Francesca’s story and set one up for Violet and Benedict that collectively took the majority of the screen time and left us with very little Pen and Colin. Which was a disservice you never gave Anthony or Daphne’s seasons and was why they were good. We got enough crumbs of the others to tell us what was happening but not enough to make them feel like main characters or to make it feel like an ensemble show. There were leads in season 1 and 2. This season it was an ensemble with too many moving parts. But everyone’s said that. It’s not surprising.

6. My biggest problem is the tone. The blame. Admittedly I’m a woman who relates strongly to Penelope so I’m not impartial here. But for a character who spends her entire life being abused by every single person in this show, who is pushed to her absolute breaking point before finally giving her mother and the tonne a taste of their own medicine. For that character to receive no grace, no understanding, no respect, for the vast majority of the season hurt. To not only have zero understanding of her situation but to frame the entire plot of the show around the fact that SHE alone should be sorry. To have minimal to no groveling from Colin over what he said last season, to have no acknowledgment of how he treated her as a safety net, to humanize Cressida who made her life hell with minimal acknowledgment of that fact, to have Eloise get ONE comment from Cressida of all people about her friendship with Penelope but no real reflection from Eloise or acknowledgment on her part or apologies for what a truly SHIT friend she was for DECADES. That hurt. Because the message is that sure, they can push you to your fucking limit, you can break after years of being bullied for your weight and your looks and your status. Your own mother and sisters hands can be filthy with insults and abuse. Your friends can treat you like utter garbage for years. They can befriend your bullies. Your soon to be husband can, very recently, insult you to his friends behind your back. But you owe them the apology for breaking after years of abuse. It’s not that the tonne couldn’t be angry or that they all should’ve fallen at Pen’s feet. It’s that those arguments never happen at all because once again, just like when she was being used and abused by everyone, everything was put on Penelope. And the cycle continues.

7. Colin should’ve groveled more. I know I said that in the previous point but it really ruined things for me so I want to emphasize it. I wanted that man on his knees the whole season, and I should’ve known I wasn’t gonna get that when y’all dropped the list of songs and there wasn’t any of the A List Yearners on the list. But I’m still mad.

8. Actually that’s a good point. Did anyone else think the songs didn’t go as hard this year? Except Pitbull were we excited about any of them?

9. You did the Pride and Prejudice ballroom trick with the dancing alone thing and you didn’t nail it. If you’re gonna do that trick it has to fucking HIT. (And it has to be enemies to lovers.) And you did it half assed. You should be ashamed.

10. There was a two second window there when Cressida asked the maid for help where I thought they were gonna swap lives and the maid would go with her aunt and Cressida would become a maid and I was like “holy fuck is Cressida gonna become Bennys love interest?” and that would’ve been better than what y’all did I think. And it would’ve justified her excessive screen time.

11. I love gender swapping Michaela and making Francesca bi. We love it. But why was Francesca immediately interested. Once again the writers don’t understand pining. Michaela is PINING for Francesca and can do nothing but love her from afar. Francesca loved John completely and whole heartedly. Michaela was a beautiful love story for her but was also a second chance. She loved John completely. She would never have an emotional affair on him. How did you immediately ruin such a beautiful second chance romance?

12. Where was Pen’s friendship with Anthony or Lady Danbury? Why wasn’t Colin proud of Pen the way he was in the book? To make her even more alone? To emphasize that she was alone and at fault and helpless? Fuck off.

I just don’t have it in me to watch this show deteriorate further.

[ashleyfanfic]

I have finished part 1 of season 3 of Bridgerton. Thoughts under the cut

So, I hesitate to really try to talk about everything that happened, so I’m just gonna concentrate on the Polin of it all.

First, let me say that Nicola and Luke should be fucking proud cause they killed it with Colin and Penelope. Especially Nicola able to convey so much heartbreak on her face. But then toss in Luke and the longing looks, the complete denial he found himself in, was just perfect. He did such a great job.

Second, Colin’s vehement hatred for Whistledown is gonna bite them in the ass. I mean, I get they had to change the reveal from how it happened in the books, but also… WHY!? Him finding her at St Bride’s church and confronting her and then the carriage ride all went together. Not that I didn’t love the carriage ride. I mean, I’ll get to that in a moment, but I did so love the reveal in the book. But also, Eloise knowing before Colin is gonna be a big fucking problem, it seems.

Third, we get it. Colin is a manwhore making his way through the brothels of England, and also a bit of a vouyuer if he pays. Lordy Jesus what is he gonna ask to watch Pen do??🥰🥰 dirty boy. But in all seriousness, between Benedict Anthony and Colin, those brothels are being kept up. Also, yall stay the fuck away from Gregory and don’t ruin that sweet little boy.

Fourth, Pen flirting with others in the ton was actually painful to watch. I have terrible second hand embarrassment. Actually sitting through it was nearly impossible. I had to up the timing on it so I could make it through. Kudos for Nicola for making that the most awkward shit I’ve seen in a long fucking time.

Fifth, Sir, that coat and open neck are sinful. But I approve. Carry on!

Sixth, that first kiss. Let’s talk about it. First, Colin bribed her maid to speak with her alone. Clever. The hopelessness that Penelope feels was so palpable. He felt wretched for her and I do think he feels a sense of responsibility for her, but also the need to try to rescue someone. And I think that’s what he sought out to do when she asked him to kiss her. However, it made him reevaluate EVERYTHING. He became awkward with her because of how it made him feel. She was embarrassed for asking, he was embarrassed because he liked it so much and it rocked his fucking world. It was really beautiful that it started out so tentative, but then the romance of it all caught up to them. And she, unbeknownst to her, left him wanting.

Seventh, dreaming about your friend now? Naughty dreams that were tamer than whatever you were doing in that brothel, but knocked you so completely in your ass Mister Bridgerton? Hmmm?

Eighth, the apology he gave her was actually really beautiful. Because it was honest and sincere. He hated he hurt her, he does value her, and she is his friend. Also, we see you with those fluttering lashes when you thought about Colin whispering in your ear at every ball. Well played. But honestly, after how hurt she was by what he said, it did take him off the pedestal she’d had him on. They were finally on even ground and not her looking up at him, theoretically speaking. She will have to give an equally compelling one when it’s revealed to him that she’s Lady Whistledown, especially since he proposed without knowing the truth. I only wish she hadn’t accepted without telling him first. My only really qualm with their love story.

Ninth, friends to lovers is a hard trope to pull off once one of the friends is in the friendzone. As they said, it’s hard to get off the wall once you’re on it. But I think they did a great job.

Tenth, Penelope reading Colin’s journal made it in and I’m so glad. She needed to see his temper a little. Part of him coming down from the pedestal is realizing that he’s not perfect and genteel all the time. Him cutting his hand and her tending to it, while also commenting on his writing was really a lovely scene. As was the moments before it.

Eleventh, the balloon scene. Colin staring at her while she was eating a pastry is unhinged. Mouth open and everything. But also, him realizing what was happening with the balloon because he’d been staring at Pen. And the swashbuckler ran to stop anything from happening. Pen then getting caught up staring, same girl same, and when she tried to run she fell. I felt that on an emotional level. I once fell out of bed because I got my foot caught in the opposite leg of my pajamas. We all clumsy out here. I know my ass would have face planted if I tried to run. But I liked all of it.

Twelfth, their meeting under the tree was super cute. Both fumbling with their words because the kiss did mean something despite what Penelope said. TBH, I would have had my maid check me for bugs after cause trees like those have them. Her paid was the MVP, honestly, that woman stayed so fucking far behind them I don’t know if she can say she was actually with them.

Thirteenth, it struck me that the advice Colin gave Penelope didn’t work because that’s really not who either of them are. They’re both weird little nerds who like to talk about the things that interest them even if no one else is interested.

Fourteenth, Colin chasing after Penelope twice as she left two different balls. The first time just shattered my heart. She had been hurt by the revelation, as she should have been, and then to have it rubbed in her face later was horrific. The realization on her face when she realized what everyone was talking about hurt my heart for her. She truly got a taste of her own medicine when she had to write an article about her own scandal. God he’s really gonna be pissed when he finds out she did that to both of them.

Fifteenth, I keep coming back to I wish she’d told him already about Whistledown. I fucking hope she doesn’t marry him without telling him. That would be hard to support. From the preview, I imagine Eloise won’t let that happen.

Sixteenth, Penelope’s new dresses were very lovely.

Seventeenth, I think I’m ready to talk about the carriage scene. Colin ran after her carriage and made it stop along the road so he could get in. Penelope was embarrassed and ashamed that her once chance to marry had slipped away. And Colin was so fucking relieved when she told him she wasn’t engaged to Debling. Also, Colin, you out here causing a doozy of a scandal by interrupting their dance. Like my dude! Carry on! And he did. I love that most of his confession was on his knees in front of her, making them eye level but also displaying his sincerity. I think that’s what’s so powerful about the scene. Luke did such a wonderful job conveying his desperation to make her understand and that he was genuine. She already knew she loved him, but thinking that he loved her had never crossed her mind. And that it was Penelope who finally revealed herself and her feelings for Colin to spark them into the spiciness.

Last, the spiciness. Admittedly, the dream was rather tame considering all their talk of spicy. The carriage ride was more Bridgerton. Penelope touching his hair LIKE WE ALL WANT TO. The caresses, the kisses. And who knew that a Pitbull song could be romantic!? I love when the carriage stopped him asking if the carriage could just keep going! The laughs, two friends who are used to sharing giggles together who now have more fun pursuits. But then the determination on his face when he climbed out of the carriage. He knew before he moved he was going to ask her to marry him. The fact that Penelope didn’t immediately say yes, tells me she was probably still a little distracted by getting finger banged inside a carriage. Completely understandable. God, I hope her mother doesn’t give her the sex talk. The fact that her sisters had NO IDEA what sex was… well, I hoped she learned her lesson. Draw pictures for your daughters, ladies. Or ask Agatha, to do so. We learned in Queen Charlotte she’s not bad at drawing. But I did really love this scene and how intimate and sexy it was.

Last minute things I had on my mind about the others: as much as I wanted to hate Cressida and Eloise’s friendship, I kind of like it and that they’re comfortable enough to call one another out on their bullshit. GUYS, UNLESS MICHAEL STERLING IS GONNA BE PLAYED BY MICHAEL B. JORDAN IM HIGHLH PISSED THAT HE’S NOT GONNA COME WITH A SCOTTISH ACCENT AND LOOK LIKE RICHARD FUCKING MADDEN. I’m serious. I mean, should they have saved Rege for that role? I’m nervous. Is the only reason that Lady Danbury dislikes her bro is because he’s a rake? Another season of Benedict wandering aimlessly through life and diddling some lady. Honestly, I would have been happier if he’d ended up with Madam Delacroix. Is it possible her name is actually Sophie?

All in all, not a bad first half.

[egnogginbits]

i know it's just a minute, but it really shows the continuous carelessness and callousness in the manner of handling colin bridgerton's character.

it's heartbreaking how they keep reducing him to mere shreds of the character that he was in the books. sure, the series is WIDELY different from the source material, but shouldnt that have opened more opportunities to explore colin more in depth? i mean! he got to do his grand tours early in life, but we know nothing about whats going on with him in there only that his family dont respond to his letters much (which is by the way, what the fuck)

and guys polin is otp i love them + i will defend penelope with every vein in me, but colin is not some sort of price dangling overhead for penelope to claim after all that she's been through.

he's his own person, BUT where is that person??

will we ever get to know that person? so far i cant tell! what with him missing even in his own season's sneak peak or whatever

when i said polin is coming home i meant penelope and colin, and colin, bring him back after yall gave his personality to benedict, after yall make him go through all this bs, after yall set him off to grand tours with little reception from his family. bring him back home.

[nerdgirljen]

Got my Panel Moderation schedule for DragonCon

Liz is on the fucking ball with the Alternate & Historical Fiction Track! So at some point during the weekend, I will be moderating the following panels:

Lessons in Chemistry Fan Panel - It's probably going to touch on the show and the book... which means I need to watch the show. And I have all intentions on watching it... but now that I know that a certain character dies, I have to work myself up to watching it.

Bridgerton Fan Panel - Yall, it's Polin season, and I'm going to be ridiculous during this panel. I'm ready for Penelope and Colin's story to play out, and while I don't agree with how the showrunners ended them in Season 2, I'm ready for the carriage, the mirror, and Mr. Colin "My Wife" Bridgerton."

Cozy Mysteries & Crime Fighting Pets - This is the 3rd year of hosting a cozy mystery panel, and this year we're going to talk about the pets that are integral to the genre. And believe me, the good cozy mystery series always has a pet or two... sometimes even a ghost pet... or a fantastical pet... Or sometimes a familiar.

I'll also just be a panelist for their Boddice Ripping panel that will talk about books/tv shows/movies in the Alternate & Historical Fiction genre that talks about smut. That's pretty much all that's going on there. I admit that I don't read much historical romance - unless Nora Roberts western romances count - but I've seen Bridgerton and Outlander... and that's about it, so I may end up backing out of this one depending on the rest of my schedule.

Shrug.

I do know that I will be leading another Disney Vacations for Beginners panel for Kids Track. I'll be the only Travel Agent on the panel, and I will be bringing a bunch of giveaways and Disney Parks/Cruise Line info to the people who come to the panel. I'm going to try to not cry during the panel this year, but no promises. (We were talking about emergencies while on vacation, and since I had just gone through a vacation where Hurricane Ian decided to butt in... I was able to give my experience on how Disney treated guests who were stranded and had to stay to ride out the storm.)

As for panels for American Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I hope I'll get to do a few panels for them, but since there's not really been much in the way of MCU shows/movies come out, and since Arrow has been finished for a few years, I'm not entirely sure what panels I'd be most interested in... new Ghostbusters, definitely. Twisters? Hell to the yeah. And I have to face it, anything Top Gun: Maverick will be part of Military and Sci-Fi Media Track... I may need to ingratiate myself with them...

This post was mostly for @love-in-light, but if any of yall find yourself at DragonCon this year, feel free to hit me up! We can get a drink or something, or maybe wave awkwardly at each other since I'm shy af in meeting new people. Lmao.

[viscountessevie]

Benophie anon here (the first one!) Thank you so much for responding to my ask, it was part rant, part setting the record straight on how benophies were initially feeling after the s3 announcement. Also re: trivias response to my ask: I totally understand why you may not like the book, imo it's probably the worst written book out of the series as a whole, if irc it's also the shortest book in the series, and is at least a 100 pages shorter than rmb, which might explain the pacing (the book has like 7 scenes total) It's also pretty obvious jq just wanted to get the Ben's story out of the way and move on to polin already. I checked the publishing dates for the series and there is only 7 months between tvwlm and aofag, all the other books are a year apart!! So it was definitely rushed. I think the reason I like the story so much is because it has the potential to be phenomenal. Forbidden love, the inter class pairing and yes even the no 5 shenanigans. These tropes and ideas just do it for me. Their story has the potential to be great and I will forever hate jq for not having the skill or patience to deliver on that potential. As for the workplace harassment complaints: idk man let me enjoy my fantasy book in peace✌ . That's the beauty of having eight books in this series! There's something for everyone. The show has a golden opportunity to take what is the foundation for a great story and make some excellent television out of it. I do think that the the reason they skipped over ben is the cinderella aspect of the story, you must remember how much backlash that trope was getting a year ago, the producers probably got scared and pushed the season which is... fair ig? I just hope they don't feel the need to overcorrect the book, the cinderella trope is only like the first 5 chapters anyway and then its a straight forward forbidden lovers trope. The masquerade episode could be one of the best episodes on the show if done properly. Again: the ingredients for the perfect cake are there, The producers just have to follow the instructions and not add any weird shit in there. Sorry for the long reply lol, but you did ask us to write you and essay. (Also I might add on to this essay in a couple hours, I'm definitely forgetting some stuff)

Previous Ask by Benophie Anon

[Part 2 of this ask is below when I answer it!]

Hii bestie, I know this ask has been sitting in my drafts for a while but I'm briefly back to clear out my old asks :)

Thank you for the essay - I really do love reading them and it's just very nice to know that yall are willing to read mine and give the same energy back 😍 I truly have some of the best anons/mutuals/followers ever so thank you yall!

I'm always here to let yall vent and set the record straight - as I always say this blog is a safe space for anyone who wants to make this a safe space and isn't a bigot. I've also sent along your reply to Triv. I had a good chuckle at "Idk man let me enjoy my fantasy book in peace" you're so valid. Do let me know if you do end up reading The Millionaire Marquess since it's similar to Benophie - maybe it's the book that hits the potential of what you're talking abt with AOFAG!

Also hearing about how short the book is and the publication dates,,, JQ REALLY fucked over Benophie for Book!Polin huh that really sucks and I'm sorry to Benophies out there (well the valid ones, the homophobic and racist weirdos can get out of here).

I definitely understand your frustration with books not hitting the potential you see in them. I had that with a book I reviewed recently, Unladylike Lessons In Love (yes I am indeed showering you with all the HR recs because everyone deserves to read outside JQ)

Don't let the execs and higher ups off the hook, anon cos it's NOT fair that they completely messed up the order of the books. Not to mention how they butchered TVWLM. I don't think these people even care abour elevating the books - they just slapped the series name on it for the in built fanbase which ofc the racist part of that fandom got weeded out REAL QUICK after Regé's casting. Now they're using the characters of colour as props to switch out every season to draw in their POC audience. Well they can't do that with the cracker season so good luck to them.

I'm the same - I only enjoyed AOFAG BECAUSE of Luke T! I don't think I would have been as forgiving of Ben's privileged and lowkey creepy ass in the book if I had read the book first or if Ben was played by anyone else less charming.

I think they aged him down for the ignorance and navieté show version! Also to go with the Marina storyline. He needed to be young and dumb to be tricked by her I guess. Tbh your guess is as good as mine cos this show makes so many questionable choices.

Now at the heels of QC, S3 has a LOT stacked against it. But I don't think the execs or forerunners are gonna even bother trying to redeem her 🤡 so good luck getting the audience to root for her. They're just gonna She's All That it and call it a day tbh. It's going to be bland af and I won't be tuning in. I really am over Bton the show tbh. I'm only still discussing these things cos my blog is so tied to it and my friends are still in it lol. But as you and everyone who follows can see, I have been slowly moving away and expanding my tastes.

To end off, again thanks so much for all your asks! I really do hope S4 is Benophie and they do it justice! For you and my Benophie friends ❤

[viscountessevie]

Yall are fucking gross if you keep wanting Marina to DIE cos of book canon and for a Polin season??? Fuck yall are disgusting and if you think Marina NEEDS to die for these two white ass couples to be happy, please unfollow and block me

You are 100% right about marina’s death. I feel like the show will kill her off either way, but I personally don’t wanna see that happen. Id get it more if maybe she gets sick or something and then shes gone (because as I said before I highly doubt they’re going to keep her alive due to crane and Eloise) BUT LET HER BE HAPPY TO THE BARE MINIMUM!!!! That is all that I beg-

And the fact that with the announcement for s3's leads, there are actually people wanting Marina to die?? Or saying she has to die?? It's disgusting the way the show and pelican stans have reduced Marina to simply an obstacle in the way of two white couples getting their happy ending.

Marina deserves a happy ending, however it comes about, but she, out of everyone on that show, deserves to be publicly and disgustingly in love and happy and not an obstacle that needs to be removed for other couples to have their HEA.

Besides, Marina wasn't even relevant to Pen and Colin in the books at all! And in the show, she's married. Why does she need to die for Pen and Colin to be able to fall in love? This tells me that even pelican stans think that Colin's love for Marina is so great that she literally has to die for him to get over her and fall in love with Pen. Pen being Pen apparently isn't enough for Colin to notice her. Another woman has to die for him to finally count her as a woman.

How does any of that make for a good love story?

[zumiiisumsum]

Luke Newton’s facial structure is so symmetrically perfect that people on tiktok are actually thinking this man did botox lmao. I mean, you can criticize a fictional character all you want but to mock his looks like that doesn’t extend to the actor is just straight disrespectful and just ultimately FALSE. THE Luke Newton?? Unattractive????? 😭 Nah that’s just called talking out of your ass 😭😭

[somedayillbepeterpan]

It's so funny to me how people can get hung up on the stupidest things. You all have lips too 🤣 maybe try to look in the mirror and not project your insecurities on a fine-looking man.

I really appreciate how many of us in the fandom get to unite as one when it comes to that disgusting article about Nicola’s body, but I really need you guys to extend that same energy towards Luke as well. People are mocking him constantly for his looks (on TikTok mostly) and I just legitimately can’t comprehend why?? People are constantly commenting on his lips, and how it looks like he did botox, etc, and it’s really starting piss me off how some of you can become such big hypocrites. You don’t have to put an actor down just to praise another! They’re all BEAUTIFUL, it’s why they got casted in the first place!! I can’t believe we have to even say this shit because it’s just common fucking sense.