#also not one but TWO Queer Bridgerton siblings in one season

[grace-williams-xo]

RAMBLING THOUGHTS AFTER FINISHING PART TWO. GONNA ADDRESS MY P1 THOUGHTS FIRST. SPOILER WARNING.

1 & 2: I think Debling could’ve worked in the second half, and I’m kinda sad Cressida didn’t get a happy ending. The Creloise fell of a CLIFF after ep 5 but I think it could still be saved

5: no cishet man has ever loved his wife more than Anthony Bridgerton I’m gonna be ill

6 & 12: kanthony’s absence was felt BAD in the finale, I think their reactions to LW were sorely needed. Also Jonny and Simone have both said they’ll be at every sibling’s wedding and stick around for years but they missed Francesca’s??? Also felt their absence too much then. They’re both booked and busy I think we’ll continue to only get a couple episodes a season from them

8: Francesca did get to thrive happy in pt 2 my baby I love her

9: I think they managed to disconnect the mondrich plot even further like 😭 once again, I don’t mind them their plot just feels very empty

10: Pen and Delacroix CONTINUE to be my fave duo I love them so freaking much and they can never get rid of it

13: Portia’s growth this season continued to be 10/10 I loved her and Penelope’s relationship it really showed what it’s like to be closely related to people you oppose and the process of needing to forgive and understand them for your own peace of mind

14: that was not how I was expecting Colin to find out about Whistledown

15: Marcus felt a little rushed in part two but I think I need to watch the whole season together to fully decide

17: this was indeed the longest 27 days of my life I got Covid day after it dropped lmfao

MY ~NEW~ THOUGHTS:

We finally got character development from Cressida and if they write her out I’ll be inconsolable (as will Jessica Madsen)

I hope they paid Golda Rosheuvel good for her feet exposure. Worth more than titties in this economy

I feel the need to tell everyone that £5000 in 1815 is in the realm of £500,000 today and we cannot brush over the fact Penelope has made herself the equivalent of a literal millionaire

Anthony has two moods ‘I’m obsessed with my wife’ ‘I want to win this game’ like it is comical how drastically different his facial expression is in the game of charades compared to pretty much every other scene

Anthony saying the marriage is perfect and not hard work and Kate being like BOY I will humble you,,,, doing the lord’s work I love her so much

At some points I felt like Francesca was fighting Anthony for ‘Violet’s least favourite child’ award lmao

John saying he’s off to look at the wainscotting was unfairly funny

Cressida in the red dress is even better than I imagined fuck even if she’s not gay then I am

Peneloise back together the universe is healing I love my babies all we need now is creloise lovers and peneloise friendship simultaneously I don’t like it being one or the other sue me

However much Brimsley is getting paid isn’t enough,,,, Hugh Sachs the man that you are

I adored Penelope’s wedding dress so much and as bitter as I am still about no kanthony wedding in s2, it felt kind of right somehow for Polin to be the first wedding we properly see in this show

Most of the costumes and makeup feel like they got worse,,,,, big ‘I hired a 14 year old’ energy. I don’t need historical accuracy but I would like a modicum of care and the costume/hair/makeup dept looking at a single historical reference from before 1850,,,, please

We all got the bi Benedict we’ve been asking for and I appreciate it, and recognise that he needed Tilley to explore that, but I still would’ve preferred if they first main queer experience was not a threesome

If they go straight into benophie in s4 (which idk, I’m so torn bc I feel like F, E and B all could work well next season) then I also feel like bi Benedict was just them throwing a bone for 5 mins but meant nothing

The CONTENTIOUS Michaela Stirling,,,,, I was undecided until I saw it but that was the definition of gay panic from Francesca and it worked so well I am so excited.

As your resident peerage expert, it is much easier for women to inherit titles in Scotland than England so I wonder (not that anyone on this show knows anything) if that was a reason they chose Francesca to be sapphic [general peerage info and female inheritance info if you care]

On the above, if they can canonically end racism with one marriage then they can end homophobia with one marriage as well

We all know Eloise was the easy and obvious choice to be the queer love story but part of me does kind of like them not taking the easy route, and them going something more unexpected, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want Creloise/Sapphic El like they had eight children let’s be honest

Finch’s sneeze and Phillips’s “now Varely! The bugs!” were unfairly funny

Everything Lady Danbury said to Penelope about suspecting her and what not felt very in character and you can fight with the wall idc

Did they tell us the name of Polin’s baby boy???

Hyacinth saying she thinks of Gregory as the family pet,,,,, girl you an icon walking amongst mere mortals

Predictions I got right:

Anthony didn’t kill Colin, but “are you gonna duel your own brother” lmao I was on the right track

I knew Polin would win the Featherington baby race and I love that for them (but why were Prudence and Phillipa pregnant most of the season, barely showing, Kate was showing almost immediately, and then in the epilogue the sisters all had baby’s similar-ish ages???? Give the writers room a calendar please)

I SAID FROM DAY DOT THAT THE FURNITURE THEY BROKE FROM SEX WAS A CHAISE I CANT FIND THE POST BUT I KNEW IT I FUCKING KNEW IT WHERE DO I COLLECT MY PRIZE SOME OF YOUR GUESSES WERE TRULY FUCKING COOKED

Okay that was too long if you made it this far I’ll make you cookie ily

[markantonys]

bridgerton s3 part 2 thoughts! full spoilers for the whole season, and i will also discuss some book spoilers relating to the future siblings - i haven't read the books and never will, but i know the main points of most of the siblings' stories due to Existing Online. haha i also briefly discuss some wheel of time book spoilers because i was reminded of a certain WOT couple at one point in these episodes!

first things first: I AM SO EXCITED THAT WE GOT NOT ONE BUT TWO (2)!!!!!!!!! CANONICALLY QUEER BRIDGERTON SIBLINGS!!!! AND MY TWO FAVORITES, AT THAT!!!! but i will save that for discussion at the end of the post because it is BY FAR my favorite aspect of these episodes.

but even with that aside, i definitely liked this half a lot more than part 1! screentime felt more balanced and it didn't feel like the sideplots were eating up as much time as it did in part 1.

penelope and colin storyline

they were Fine to me in part 1, but their story was more compelling in this half since we moved on from bland run-of-the-mill childhood-friends-to-lovers and into the meaty and much more unique emotional drama of how penelope being lady whistledown affects their relationship. just as i'd hoped for! and i thought the pacing of this was pretty good too because colin found out early enough that he had enough time left in the season to react properly and work through it, rather than it being some 11th-hour reveal that's hastily swept aside to make way for the HEA. it was juuuuust when i was starting to feel that the "colin makes a hater comment about LW in front of penelope, causing her to look ill with anxiety" shtick was getting old that he found out the truth, so, pretty good timing.

colin was more interesting in this half due to wrestling with the whole "penelope is LW" reveal, but overall, in the season as a whole, he was kinda giving us nothing. they really dropped the ball on him because he just never at any point felt like the co-lead character of the season. for daphne & simon and kate & anthony it felt like a pretty balanced exploration of both characters as individuals on top of the romance, but this season it was 100% the penelope show and colin felt basically like a prop. and penelope's a great character and had great stuff this season, so i enjoyed all the time spent on her, but we needed more for colin to go along with it. after 8 episodes, i still don't feel i know much about who he is as a person besides that he's nice and loyal. although on the flipside, i have no problem with male characters whose entire personality is loving their wives haha i love that shit! so a warm welcome for colin into the Wifeguy Club!

speaking of wifeguys, time for my WOT connection, which is that penelope and colin were SO gawene-coded in a couple scenes that it actually killed me! colin's lil arc of feeling kinda jealous of/intimidated by penelope's power as LW at first and most importantly his "what use can i ever be to her when she's so self-sufficient and doesn't need anything from me?" worries, culminating in him realizing "if the only thing i do in my life is love and support such an incredible woman, i'll be completely satisfied" (paraphrasing), i was like, that is soooo TOM gawyn with egwene being amyrlin!!! and when penelope had that line to him about like "i don't need you to take care of me, i never loved you because of what you can do for me, but because you're kind" (paraphrasing) i gasped and clapped my hand to my forehead because it was almost exactly what i had egwene saying to gawyn in my fic chapter that i posted mere days ago!!!!! literally shook to my core haha i was the leo dicaprio pointing at the TV meme x10 in that moment.

eloise and cressida storyline

wonderful to see eloise and penelope's friendship mended! i thought that whole arc was really well done this season, and especially in this half when eloise is dealing with her ex-bff being engaged to her brother who doesn't know she's LW but eloise knows and feels caught in the middle, just lots of messy, complicated emotions in that whole situation and they did a great job with all that.

i really enjoyed cressida in the first half of the season, but in this half it felt like she got a bit too much time. she also kinda reverted back to her mean girl ways (though out of desperation rather than malice), which was less interesting than the different, softer side we saw from her in the first half and made her time in this half feel like more of a drag. but overall, she's a very layered character and the actress did a fantastic job with her, and in this half of the season i always understood why she was doing what she was doing and sympathized with her. it can't be said that she didn't fuck around and find out, but i still felt bad for her in the end! i really liked the moment when colin with his rose-tinted glasses was like "but your family will forgive you and all will be well!" because that's what family has always been like to him, and cressida was like "ummm no, some of us have shitty families and you bridgertons are too naive to realize that", it was a very good moment.

(i will also say, i know this is a highly unpopular opinion for a queer bridgerton fan to have, but i was never on the eloise/cressida train haha i can 100% see the vibes that others picked up on, but they just never did anything for me for whatever reason! i know eloise was the "obvious" choice for a wlw bridgerton but i personally am so SO thrilled that they went for francesca instead, i guess just because i connect so deeply with her character in a way i never have with eloise. also, now that i'm thinking about it, i think eloise vibes the most like aroace to me, i struggle to picture her having a relationship with *anyone* of any gender.)

other storylines

i'm so happy for violet and marcus!! crossing my fingers that we'll see more of them in s4 since their romance is only just budding; it would be so interesting to see him interacting with her kids and getting integrated into the family dynamic (and for us to meet his kids too! though i acknowledge we don't need MORE side characters haha). and i loved the danbury siblings scenes and them getting to the root of their childhood issues and working them out. and of course, violet and lady danbury continue to be THE best duo of all time <33 i adore their friendship so so much, i can't even describe how much!

we got more time with kate and anthony in this half, and all of it was perfect. they're gonna be parents!!!! though alas, it seems like they've made their final exit from the show with them going off to live in india for a while. sad to see them go, but not surprised at all. i see lots of book fans whining about the prior leads leaving and how it's weird for daphne to not be at her own brother's wedding etc, and i do agree that the show/family is gonna start feeling kinda empty as the older siblings & spouses exit, but that's just a necessity of this medium. you can't have main cast be contracted for 6 more seasons just to show up for 2 lines of dialogue per season and hang out in the background of wedding scenes. you can do that in a book, but you can't do it in a tv show. just something we have to live with! and a lot of the complaints take such a "how DARE these actors want to move on with their lives and do other projects instead of dropping everything to prioritize having a minor role on bridgerton for the rest of this decade" tone, which stinks of Fan Entitlement.

i am curious about what might become of penelope, because it sounds like she's kinda continuing whistledown but just as herself and in a more responsible manner that won't hurt people (tho idk how a gossip column can possibly NOT hurt anyone haha the whole "penelope shouldn't give up LW because it's Feminist and Empowering and Gives A Voice To The Voiceless" narrative kinda had me going X Doubt). update: i just saw an interview with the showrunner where she confirmed that penelope will be in s4 and have a storyline. nice!

the featheringtons had much less in this half which i was glad about and they were taken more seriously and not just treated as comic relief, and portia had some really good scenes with penelope.

there was also much less of the mondriches, which i was fine with; i'm very fond of them and enjoyed their stuff this season, but it felt appropriate that they took more of a backseat in this half. i was sad will had to give up the club though! it felt like he had to fully capitulate to the ton and give up his own work that he's passionate about in order to win the esteem of snobby aristocrats, which was a bummer. the showrunner interview mentioned we'll be seeing them again in s4 and will be seeing some more of will's friendship with benedict, so i'm happy about that!

NOW ONTO THE GAYS!!!!

we've all been yearning for bi benedict ever since s1, and i can't BELIEVE it actually happened!!!! i'm over the moon!!!! and i'm so glad i watched the episodes straightaway without having seen any spoilers first so i got to experience the "holy shit, are they............are they going where i think they're going????" adrenaline rush completely pure and unknowing. it was the absolute most wonderful surprise!!! i'll give a lil summary here for those who are curious about how much queer content there actually is.

so, in episode 7 (or maybe it was the end of 6?) benedict gets invited to dinner with his female FWB and her male friend, who turns out to be her other FWB. AS SOON AS this invitation was extended i was like "oho, is benedict going to be needing 3 tickets to challengers?" so imagine my delight when it turned out that indeed, the 2 FWBs invited him in hopes of a threesome! benedict has a very brief moment of connection with/attraction to the man, and then he gets propositioned, but he's flustered and leaves. he returns to talk to his own FWB the next day and she explains to him about bisexuality and he's like icarly interesting.jpg and says that he's met men who like other men in the past but that he himself has never felt attracted to a man "before" (implying that last night, he did, for the first time). he does some soul-searching and then leaves his own brother's wedding reception to go have a threesome, which is extremely biconic of him. (at the wedding he also gives eloise a nice speech about how love is infinite, in the context of her worrying that colin and penelope marrying each other means they'll have less time for her, but it vibed to me like benedict is poly as well as bi, but who knows if that will go any further than this FWB threesome situation; i'd imagine his endgame will still be a monogamous relationship, but you never know!)

this storyline concludes with the female FWB admitting that she's caught feelings for benedict and wants to become serious (and monogamous) with him, but he politely turns her down because he feels "free" for the first time and wants to keep exploring life and isn't interested in a serious relationship right now, and might not ever be. my only gripe with the storyline is that i wish the male FWB had been introduced an episode or two earlier so we could watch benedict building a connection with him and feeling a budding attraction for an episode or two before the initial threesome proposition occurs to trigger him to actually acknowledge that attraction; as it is, it all happens kind of abruptly and our boy speedruns his entire bi awakening in the span of a single episode, bless him lmao but i'm assuming neither FWB will appear in s4 (they felt like one-season characters to me), so if so, it's fine to not spend too much time developing those specific relationships. the Point of the storyline was for benedict to realize he likes men too and likes non-conventional relationships, and that was accomplished with flying colors!

later on there's reference to "next year's masquerade ball" and i know a masquerade ball is where benedict first meets his endgame love interest in the books, so it seems just about guaranteed that s4 will be about benedict's book. i'm super curious about what direction it will go in! in the book, it sounds like their trope is Forbidden Romance, with the forbidden aspect being class difference (he's an aristocrat and she's a servant), so adding some kind of queer element as an additional reason for why it's Forbidden feels like a viable option, especially after s3 took pains to establish that benedict is interested in queer/non-traditional relationships.

but what form might that hypothetical queer element take? a monogamous m/m romance with genderbent sophie? or could we see trans or genderqueer sophie, in line with the cinderella metaphors about masquerade and disguise and identity and presenting differently in different environments? or might they go for some kind of poly or open relationship endgame for benedict? i don't know! there's so many options! it's also entirely possible that sophie will remain a cis woman and benedict will have a monogamous endgame with her, which i would also welcome because it is actually VERY rare to see rep of bi people ending up very happy in monogamous different-gender relationships, while still remaining firmly bi (most of the time bi characters end up in same-gender relationships, or end up in different-gender ones while dismissing their prior same-gender attractions as just a phase, or are chaotic sluts who cheat because they aren't content with only being with one person).

now on to francesca. we know for 100% fact that her love interest has been genderbent into a woman, because she was introduced at the end of the final episode! so francesca's endgame love story is guaranteed to be wlw, which is so exciting! (for context, her book endgame love interest is john's cousin michael stirling, and in the show she met john's cousin michaela stirling, so that's how we know with 100% certainty.)

taking it back a bit to the rest of her story this season, we see her and john courting, then getting engaged and married in a small wedding at bridgerton house with just the family, because they both hate being the center of attention. it was all incredibly wholesome introvert4introvert content and i adored it!!!! kept going "this is literally my ideal marriage" during so many of their scenes haha

but there is somewhat of a question of, is francesca actually attracted to john/men in general? throughout the season and even after the introduction of michaela stirling, i assumed yes; francesca clearly adores john and states that she loves him, and her body language around him seemed to me to show attraction. but after finishing the season and reading discussion online, i saw people saying that francesca seemed disappointed with kissing john at their wedding (which i'd interpreted as her just feeling shy about kissing him in front of people) and that it was a marked contrast to how flustered and interested she is when she meets michaela. so for me, the jury's out on whether she's more bi-leaning or lesbian-leaning; now that i know canon wlw francesca is a thing, i'd need to rewatch the season again to analyze her behavior with john more closely to decide what vibe i'm getting there! because on first watch it wasn't even on my radar to consider that maybe she's not actually attracted to men.

i will admit, i would be kinda disappointed if she *isn't* truly in love with john, just for the fact that i found it so delightful and refreshing to see a quiet romance that's so different from the loud melodramatic ones, as is discussed many many times during francesca's storyline this season. and i did notice that francesca tripping over her words upon meeting michaela is exactly what violet had said she did when she first met her late husband, and violet was bringing this up to say "but your way of loving john is different from that and that's valid". so i definitely CAN imagine that maybe they're making a deliberate point here that, actually, the reason why francesca's love for john looks so different from other characters' for their spouses is because she does NOT in fact have spousal love for him, but rather platonic love that she's misinterpreted as romantic. but i would just be mildly annoyed if The Point turned out to be "actually, violet is right and True Romantic Love must always be flustering and tongue-tying and dramatic" lmao but that's a personal gripe for me as a very quiet person who loved seeing the type of romantic relationship i would prefer depicted with francesca and john; i can also see the counterargument that a storyline of a repressed lesbian trying to untangle her actual feelings from comphet and societal expectations would be very powerful and important! and particularly interesting to explore in this regency context.

now on to some bigger book spoilers. so from what i understand, in the books, john dies, leaving francesca as a widow, and her love story with michael is about dealing with grief and learning to open herself up to love again after loss. i've seen the argument that francesca actually being a lesbian who wasn't genuinely in love with john would cheapen this storyline, and i can see that point for sure, but otoh it's abundantly clear that she does have a very deep care and love for him regardless of whether or not it's romantic/sexual, so i think no matter what, we will still see her being very affected and pained by his death and struggling with guilt about falling for someone else (his cousin! a woman!) etc.

what i'm most curious about here is the timing! there was some leak that michaela's actress is allegedly booked as a small part in s3 and a main role in s4. i'd been wondering if maybe they would start combining books, but in the interview i read, the showrunner confirmed that the plan is still to do only one book/sibling per season, so it seems that s4 will only be benedict's book. which makes sense, because i believe in the books francesca is married to john for 2 years before he dies and then it's another few years before she starts romancing michael, so i'd guess s4 will just see francesca develop a friendship with michaela and then maybe john dies towards the end of the season, then we do a timeskip between seasons and s5 is about francesca and michaela. but then there's still eloise to contend with, maybe she would be s5 and francesca not until 6.

i really really hope we'll get some francesca-benedict bonding next season (or s5/6 depending on the timing of francesca having her gay realization; it seems still subconscious for her as of now) since they are officially The Queer Siblings!!! i need to see them find this out about each other and talk about it together and be confidants for each other. it will also be so fascinating to see violet & the other siblings react to a queer bridgerton endgame romance. violet wants her kids to be happy, but she sometimes struggles with realizing that what happiness looks like to them may not align exactly with what happiness looks like to her, so i could definitely see her needing to take a moment to readjust her perspective and realize that francesca not being able to legally marry michaela in a public manner known to all of the ton and have biological kids with her doesn't mean they can't be just as happy as her straight kids and their partners. (on that note, i remember that in the past people have suggested francesca could be a great candidate for a wlw bridgerton because her status as a widow allows her a lot more societal freedom than a never-married woman, so i love that the show went with her! i can totally see her endgame being that of a respectable widow living peacefully in the countryside with her Dear Friend.)

i remember straightaway francesca set off my gaydar in 3x01 when she was reluctant about entering the marriage mart and dismissive at the idea of finding True Love and going ??? when people asked what qualities she wanted in a husband, and there was a scene of her talking with other debutante girls and i went "man i would love it if she got a girlfriend" but never in a million years did i actually think that was a real possibility! so i'm SO thrilled that they're going there, and like i mentioned before i quite like that they went with the polite introvert sister instead of the outspoken rebel sister to be the gay one because it just feels like a subversion of expectations and stereotypes for me, and because all season i'd been seeing so much of myself in francesca and then, finding out she's gay like me!!!! cherry on top!! and then for michaela, in the books i believe michael is yet another rake, which the show sets up for michaela too with her joking about being even more scandalous than john's stories might make her out to be - the rake is the backbone of the regency romance genre, so getting to see a wlw version of the trope with a female rake is going to be SO much fun!! esp with the setup that francesca is fairly society-conforming as of now; michaela broadening her horizons could be something interesting to explore.

wow this post got super long lmao i'm just so excited! canon queer bridgerton siblings singlehandedly turned this show from "i casually enjoy it as a few hours of fun which i forget about soon after it's over" to "i'm literally frothing at the mouth i need the next season NOW" and That is the power of representation, baby!

[iddybyddybee]

I won't say I wasn't disappointed with how Creloise's story ended in Season 3 initially, but after finishing the season and thinking for a bit, I'm a little more neutral on the topic. Why? May I play devil's advocate for a moment and list two things that I got post-Season 3 for future queer representation.

Cressida's spiral in Part 2 reminded me of another Sapphic character's journey: Catra from She-ra. Catra was the main baddie for a long while, but in Season 4, there was a shift in her that made her push EVERYONE away, especially the people who were kind to her. She felt betrayed by the one person she felt the closest to, the one she loved. Catra sank so low and gave into her worst tendencies not only to make other people suffer, but also so that no one would see her suffer. That is what Cressida did, as well. In her final confrontation with Eloise, she wanted their friendship to continue and write as LW (a poor plan in hindsight since Eloise knew full well that she wasn't LW), and when Eloise refused, she immediately fell back on her bullying ways. That was enough for Eloise to end things, leaving Cressida's last good human connection gone and becoming entirely alone. She felt betrayed by someone she cared deeply about, and lashed out because of it. While it's over for now, I'm not quite giving up my hope on Creloise. Like Catra, she can be redeemed. Cressida really did show that Eloise influenced her in a positive way, despite the direction she took being not the greatest one, and Eloise even admitted that she genuinely liked being friends with Cressida during their start. Cressida may not appear next season, but maybe the one after that. Maybe she'll take the time in Wales to mature, come back and try to patch things up with Eloise.

As for not getting a canon WLW ship with a Bridgerton, we just got confirmation of not one, but TWO Bridgerton siblings being somewhere on the queer spectrum. All we wanted was at least one sibling to be queer, and now we have two. That's huge and also realistic! Like, in a family of 8, how can one of them NOT be queer? Even with me and my siblings, we have a collection of straight, ace, bi, and gay (we basically won the queer lottery). So there is still a chance for Eloise to be queer in some manner. Maybe she can be asexual, but find romantic feelings for someone? Maybe a woman? Perhaps... Cressida~? They already flipped the gender of Francesca's love interest, who's to say they can't completely change Eloise's love interest, too?

We're not going to get Season 4 for, like, two more years, so there's a lot of time to stew with what transpired. But I would like to remain optimistic. That's all we can do, for now.

[breakingstanding]

I am actually devastated over Michaela… not because I care about Michael or the book, but if they’re making Francesca queer, there’s no way they’re making Eloise a lesbian (which she SO clearly is!). I saw the spoiler of Franny and thought okay they can make 2/8 queer, and then I watched and saw they made Benedict queer too! I just can’t see them doing 3, especially 2 women.

It’s so disheartening because so many people have been rooting for sapphic eloise and I think hardly anyone was wanting Franny.

I think i’m more upset with this than if none had been queer because like ugh we were SO CLOSE. We could’ve had it all. like imagine how happy we could all be right now. 😭

they’ve been setting up queer benedict and eloise since season 1 so I just don’t understand why they would do this. (sorry for venting to you- none of my friends that’s watch are caught up yet)

Always happy for a vent, and I definitely feel you! I'm personally really excited about Francesca's storyline because I really liked her this season and Michaela is EXTREMELY hot lol - but I'm also frustrated that it's the sister we've had as a side character for one season who will be getting a queer love story, and not the one we've been invested in for three seasons.

Ultimately I think the frustration we are feeling is more because this is reflective of larger issues that always pop up in fandom than being upset about not getting a storyline we wanted for a character (although I'm not going to pretend that's not a factor too!) a) There's such a pattern in fan spaces for queer people to see themselves in a character and to recognise clear queercoding, and then to have straight people come in and condescendingly say "not all characters with x trait have to be gay" - as if we have an overabundance of queer characters and are trying to get our grubby gay hands on more. So much of the discourse around Eloise amounts to people saying "not all feminist characters have to be lesbians" which is crazy to me because WHERE are all these shows that are supposedly full of feminist lesbians?? Please tell me I would love to watch them!

b) Straight fans will get all different types of characters and plotlines for the heterosexual couples and then act like queer people are being greedy if we ask for more than one for us. Just within Bridgerton there have been three straight main couples already - and of the queer siblings we've also gotten to see a cute romance between Francesca and a man, and will likely see Benedict fall in love with a woman (this is not to diminish their queerness, obviously bisexual stories are incredibly important regardless of the gender of the love interests, more just pointing out the sheer quantity of m/f love stories straight fans get to enjoy).

It absolutely sucks that we exist in a TV landscape where instead of being excited about what looks to be a delightful relationship between Francesca and Michaela we are instead mourning the loss of other another character's queer potential. It's absurd that we are so rarely allowed to have multiple sapphic characters (who aren't each other's love interest) on the same show - particularly because in real life queer people tend to flock together!

The feeling reminds me of being part of the 100 fandom nearly a decade ago. I distinctly remember when it was leaked that Clarke and Lexa were going to kiss. The sapphic side of the fandom were definitely very excited - but there was also this strange sense of dread too. I saw countless posts of people bemoaning that now that she was gay they were definitely going to kill her off - and they were right! Bury your gays was such a common trope that we could see it coming a mile off.

This has felt like a very similar reaction. Queer fans spend a lot of time dealing with subtext and are very good at recognising tropes and patterns, and we know that the chances of Netflix allowing one their tentpole shows to have two sapphic main characters is slim to none.

I hope we are wrong and things are changing for the better, I really do.

I think the best thing we can do now is swallow our disappointment and make sure we support Francesca/Michaela fiercely to prove that there is an audience for sapphic stories.

[katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Do you have a favorite Bridgerton book/storyline?

Favorite/Least Favorite changes book to show?

So let me start this answer by saying that I haven’t watched any of season 3 yet. 🫣 Part of that is money reasons. We pared down our streaming services to the minimum when money was tight and I just haven’t gotten around to renewing my Netflix. Probably will once the rest of season 3 drops because… (book spoilers below the cut)

My 3 favorite books/storylines are:

1) When He Was Wicked (Francesca & Michael Stirling) because holy damn and hell and everything holy in between. Michael Stirling is the epitome of making consent sexy. That's all I'm gonna say about that, but I've seen enough talk and gif's floating around here to know that they've introduced John Stirling already and I am HERE for them laying the groundwork for a season five or six focused on Francesca and Michael Stirling.

2) Romancing Mr. Bridgerton (Colin & Penelope) asfklsjfksanfs. I loved how sweet their story is, enough that I am mildly concerned about how they're going to deal with the massive change on the show, i.e. the fact that book!Lady Whistledown didn't nearly bring ruin and humiliation down on the Bridgerton family at all, let alone twice. On the one hand, I understand why show!Penelope did this and I kind of love that they've given her this massive mistake, this huge flaw for her and Colin to work through. But also 🫣 I don't have an excessive amount of faith in them handling these kinds of changes well on the show because the show is all about The Drama. Which brings me to...

3) The Viscount Who Loved Me (Anthony & Kate) Look. I absolutely love some of the changes they've made while translating the books to screen. And I don't even care all that much for the historical accuracy of the show. They threw it out the window with season one and made it a brilliant alternate universe that allows them the freedom to not only give us a diverse cast but also give the middle finger to anyone who says "that' never would've happened." So I'm willing to forgive a lot of changes. Buuuuutttt.... having Anthony actually propose to Edwina, having Edwina actually believing she wanted to marry Anthony, changed the characters in a way that didn't sit very well with me. At least not with the way it was handled on the show.

So that covers my least favorite change they've made on the show so far, now for my two favorite changes.

Benedict. Gah he's so much better, such a more interesting and fleshed out character on the show than he is in the book. They've maintained his fantastic sense of humor and relationships with his siblings and somehow made it better by bringing in the pseudo underground culture of artists, the introduction of queer characters, and his cravats! I could write an ode to show Benedict's wardrobe it is FABULOUS. And while I know I said above that I don't really care for the changes made to Anthony's story, I'm kind of hoping they flip book!Benedict's story on it's head and see where they can take it. Because that book was one of my least favorites. Give him a man. Or give him a woman built like Luisa Madrigal but who sometimes dresses as a man and can pull it off. I don't care but do SOMETHING ELSE besides the nonsense that happens in his book and GIVE HIS PARTNER SOME FUCKING AGENCY.

Queen Charlotte. Look. She's not even in the books, but she's one of my favorite characters on the show. She and Lady Danbury own my whole heart, okay? And her spinoff show... I've only been able to watch it once because (other than the money issue mentioned above), I was crying literal buckets starting somewhere around episode five until the end and I binge watched that shit so what is that like six hours straight crying???? Also, having her as a character gave us Brimsley and Reynolds. (*whispers my poor overworked and beleaguered babies*) I wasn't overly fond of the role she played in dragging out the drama surrounding Anthony and Edwina, but that could've been avoided entirely if you'd given show!Edwina even an ounce of book!Edwina's compassion and understanding of her sister and had her do something equally dramatic like, oh I don't know... TURN HIM DOWN?!?!? (Can you tell I'm still salty about this?)

Alright, that's enough of that. I have a job interview to prepare for, but this was a nice distraction from my inevitable nerves.

Love,

kdnfb

[lamaison]

Some spoilery thoughts on season 3A of Bridgerton:

- Bridgerton batting 2 for 2 with the man glow ups. I really don't know what they're going to do when it's Benedict's turn since he already looks pretty good.

- BUT PENELOPE. Good lord, I'm usually attracted to masc women but I would let her step on me and thank her for it. Absolutely stunning, the gold standard of Bridgerton glow ups. Get that woman on a clinch cover STAT.

- Costumes on point as always. They're feeling more comfortable not sticking strictly to the Regency silhouette. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Kate in 3B because they said they were going to be leaning more on Indian inspirations with her.

- I was very pleased to see some disability representation with the debutante using British Sign Language and the lord in a wheelchair! I wish they were shown as more in-depth marriage options than just as brief singular moments. Like maybe showing Colin or Benedict dancing with the deaf girl and communicating with her.

- I saw a snippet of an interview with someone on the Bridgerton staff talking about how they're going to be adding some queer representation but I'll be upset if it's just as brief as the disability. They already kind of painted themselves into a corner by establishing it as a taboo thing in the first season. I got some mean lesbian vibes from Cressida in these episodes and I know (I know!) that they are locked into who all of the Bridgerton siblings end up with because of the books but come on. There are eight of them - statistically one of them has to be a little fruity. Looking directly at you, Eloise and Benedict.

- I kind of enjoyed Eloise and Cressida's friendship. It was an interesting dynamic and I look forward to seeing more.

- I hope the Featheringtons stick around forever. Every scene with the mom and two sisters was comedy gold.

- From what I understand Francesca's story is not as focused on her early life and first getting married so I'm not really upset that her courting storyline in this season is moving at a brisk pace. I like her a lot even if the actress looks like she knows what an iPhone is.

- I'm not as invested in Colin and Pen's story, but man do I feel the chemistry. The passion between them was incredible. I also appreciate that the show took the reaction to season one to heart and were much more conscious of highlighting consent. There's a lot that gets forgiven in historical romance novels, and there need to be adjustments when adapting to a wider tv audience and modern sensibilities. Also, did not think I would ever feel compelled by a romance scene set to an orchestral arrangement of a Pitbull song but here we are.

- Anyway, it was good and I'm looking forward to the second half!

[zucchinibread777books]

More Than a Best Friend Book Review

More Than a Best Friend (Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend) by Emma Alban Book Review

Summary:

When Beth enters her first season, she finds that the only friend she can make is the slightly infamous Gwen, who is already a few seasons in with no sign of a match. After learning that their (recently single) parents have history with each other, they become determined to set up their own match. Little did they know that they would find their own love in the process.

The good:

I thought that this was a super cute lesbian romance! It was just the right length for this kind of story and I’ll definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out.

I really appreciate that this wasn’t some sort of enemies to lovers arc. I’ve had to avoid a lot of lesbian romances recently because they all seem to start with one character who is just absolutely horrible but is excused because of some trauma they’ll reveal later. Those romances always make it seem like the two characters would be the most toxic relationship and I just can’t stand them. There’s also usually emphasis on one of them being closeted. Despite this being a period piece, there wasn’t a lot of focus on them coming to terms with liking someone of the same gender. Gwen and Beth were a cute match from the start and I found myself rooting for them immediately. Rather than drama between the two of them, it was mostly outside issues that prevented them from being together.

Even with those outside influences, there wasn’t really any homophobia against the main characters. In fact, there was no direct homophobia against them, just mentions of how society would view them. It’s a nice break for people who are tired of homophobia being such a main theme in queer stories.

I also really loved that there was an older lesbian couple in this story too. It’s so nice to see different generations of queer characters and have them give advice and talk to one another. Gwen especially had such a great support system and I was so glad they weren’t entirely alone as they went through their issues.

The Bad:

If you are looking for something historically accurate, this definitely isn’t for you. There were a lot of times I noticed certain phrasing and lingo that was so modern it took me out of it a bit. Not necessarily modern slang, but definitely not language that would be used in the time period it is set in. And as much as I loved the lack of homophobia, the amount of characters who knew and accepted their relationship was definitely not realistic.

Adding on to that, the sex scenes. They were very unrealistic for the time period, especially because of how entirely public they were. Even in the comfort of their own homes, they should have worried a lot more about being caught. I also just personally wish they weren’t so integral to the story. I understand smut is really big in the publishing world right now thanks to things like booktok, but once the characters had sex it felt like that was their only motivation for anything. The constant mention of each others fingers having been inside them really took me out of the story.

I’m always iffy on relationships like the one in this book too. Where parents get together and their respective kids also get together. Step siblings being a couple just feels odd to me. It felt right for the situation they were placed in but still.

This is also a personal pet peeve but I’m really not a fan of main characters having similar names. Beth and Gwen were very easy to confuse, being the same length and the only vowel being e. They were interchangeable in my brain for a while. Mason and Montson were even worse. If it weren’t for context clues, I would’ve assumed I misread and they were the same person.

Overall:

I thought this was really good, especially for a debut novel. It definitely took influence from a lot of popular stories, including Parent Trap and Bridgerton, but put its own spin on them. (It also reminded me a little of the comic High Class Homos) I enjoyed reading it a lot and it was a good break from the heavier-topic books that I was in the process of reading at the same time. I’m not sure it’s at the top of my reread list because it did hit a few of my pet peeves, but I definitely want to read the sequel. I’d also recommend it for anyone looking to read more cute lesbian romances!

3.5 Stars

[yelena-bellova]

prev anon with the opposing view point—thank you for being so kind in your response!

i just want to add one more thing: i really didn’t mean to say that anyone who is upset is maliciously trying to defend their upset (but reading over what i wrote, i don’t blame you for taking issue with it—very sorry for that!). my point, hopefully better articulated this time, is that quite a lot of the reasons for upset have answers, to me, if people were a) willing to think creatively and b) were already operating with the idea that a sapphic romance is the equal of a straight one. the reasons like: “losing michael” in place of michaela (women and men are not so different that a change in gender means losing a character entirely—michaela will be differently positioned in society but there are ways of writing her life that the core traits of michael remain); or “losing the infertility plot to a queer awakening” (gay women can have struggles with both infertility and wanting children—in fact i would say these two struggles compliment each other bc francesca’s desire for children could be the ultimate thing keeping her from committing to michaela and a resolution, such as adoption, would serve both stories. one need not be sacrificed for the other); or that it’s an “unoriginal” story queer story, a complaint that seems to imply that turning a straight romance queer somehow robs the queerness of its validty, thereby implying that queer love is fundamentally different from straight (the conceit of the show is one season per bridgerton sibling, to write an original story for the queer romance is treating it as different from the others, which is a disheartening thought); or the reason of “a black woman chasing a white woman” which is ignoring both the fact that we don’t know what happens in the show yet and also that the optics of a black man “chasing” a white woman is the actual fraught trope, given such a narrative’s racist and political history.

all this to say: when i, a lesbian, read the reasoning of people’s upset im struck by the lack of effort towards creativity in adaptation. the gender of francesca’s love interest should not have the power to ruin the story for people, and yet it seems to. which is a bit heartbreaking in turn.

Girl/bro/mate, no apologies necessary.

At the end of the day, people are going to disagree over the whole topic. As long as we’re all respectful and check the anger/hate/prejudice at the door, these discussions are useful to understand the other’s pov! 🩷🩷🩷

[dreamwritesimagines]

It’s CMA-

Wait re: threesomes thing: does she know about how people of the same sex sleep together? Or has she just not thought about it? Because like…. That kind of explains it… (cue clover asking her sister and her husband and wife about queer sex……….)

SCREAMING teddy I love you but OH NO!!! Clover is going to be so fucking stressed!!! Also they really need to lock his art room…… although maybe Ben will be fine because he has younger siblings so he kind of gets it?? (if I were clover I’d be having a panic attack, which she might have anyway)

Damn clover planning murder…. I mean I get it but that’s so dark….

I’m going to cry that he’s so chill about it. Genuinely brb sobbing over here

Him respecting her in his old art room and telling her that even though it used to be his, he’s still going to respect her as a human being and not treat her as if she’s the guest in his space…. Oh my god I’m so emotional over this chapter

Poor Ben pining so badly and also LOL at the bridgertons continuing to be oblivious to Charlie and Anthony

And then asking her if Colin could come in 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Did Colin think they were about to hook up?????!!!?!! LMFAO or did he just think they would be super mushy

SCREAMING clover ur so bold for someone who doesn’t even know how sex works LMAO.

Also we’re getting the Colin/marina scandal?!!!!!??!!?!!? That’s like four scandals or near scandals in one season for that family!!! It’s like half the kids!!!!! Lmfaooo OMG. When it’s all four of them, Eloise is going to be so pissed cuz she’ll be under pressure when she’s supposed to have had YEARS!! Three siblings married in a few month span……. Omg…..

I love that they’re embracing using husband/wife as affectionate nicknames and goofing about it now. I also love that clover jumped right into teasing Colin and being comfortable around him without any preamble. Truly fitting in like she’d always been there.

OMG this chapter was SUCH a rollercoaster, and next week is the dinner!!!!!! Augh I’m already so nervous and excited!!!!!!!!!!!! There’s so much fluff potential but also angst and arguing and teasing and banter and potentially being triggering for her KAKCNNDJFJF

I also wonder if clover will be tense the entire time and not realize it because this is so foreign to her and won’t even notice until she snaps or starts crying at something insignificant or something (totally not projecting LMAO)

Also I forgot to mention- I wonder when the alarm bells will go off for clover’s family that she’s not gardening and stuff, and what they will do about it…. Josie will get angry at Ben for sure but idk tbh………..

I’m so nervous and also emotional over this chapter and the future story lololol

Okay love u lots!! Can’t wait to see ur reply:)

Hi my loveeee! ❤️

Oh she tried to ask Josie but Josie absolutely refused to give her the details😂 So she has her theories but she is more confused by the fact that there were three people there, not two 😂

She was on the verge of a panic attack but also, her mind was so focused on protecting Teddy that she couldn't even think about it 💔

Yesss the palette knife thing! 😱 I actually don't think she was flat out planning murder BUT she was gonna make him stop by all means necessary 💔 And even if she trusts Benedict, that trauma hit her back with its full force the minute Teddy did something that "might" anger him...😭💔

He respects her so much! ❤️

They literally can't even see how Anthony is in love with Charlie! 😂

Colin thought they were kissing at the very least 😏 But actually hooking up at the art room while his whole family is there, I doubt he thought that 😈 But I mean would they do it? 😏

Lolll she thinks she knows😂 Although she is rethinking that considering what happened at the party😂

The season of scandals! 😏 It'll be complete chaos 😂

Yesss and Clover doesn't even notice that! 😂 Like, she's so comfortable with the fact that they're married that she can even joke about it with him, it shows how much she's starting to trust him 😍

Oooh we will actually have lots of dinners in the following chapters and we're skipping this one so that it won't be repetitive 🥰 But we will see some dinners and it will be fun! ❤️

Josie will be so protective! 🥰 Like, rn they don't think anything of it, her not gardening because she's too "busy" in her honeymoon😏 But Josie will eventually bring it up and ask her why she's not doing it❤️

Thank you so so much darling! 😍🥰 ILY! ❤️❤️❤️

[viscountessevie]

The main focus of a season should be the lead couple and for secondary characters the bridgertons and the family of the love interest. I think the key should be to make the audience care about the siblings separately (as secondary characters) so we can be invested for the season each are the focus, instead of focusing on other families (you know who), LW and dead-end romances used for plot devices (Sienna) or to prove a character is not gay (Theo). Lady D can have focus, as a treat

Related to this ask

You're so right anon!! Thanks for the ask and waiting paitently for me to get to yours 😁

So the very first bit you're totally right the main focus should be the Bridgertons, it is called Bridgerton after all! And yess secondary characters and plot should be fleshing out the latest future Bridgerton and their family but in the case of the Featherflops, cameos the last two seasons would have been nice then shove them down Pelicans' throats in their season.

The LW reveal was so fucking unnesscary in S1 it just got dragged out and boring knowing it's her. It would have been more interesting to keep the reveal for their season like the book and minimise her crimes cos now she's just completely irredeemable.

Okay so the 'dead-end' romances is where I gotta disagree with you, anon. I actually adored Siena and Anthony. Then again I did start out as a show viewer then I met the formidable Kate via the books. After becoming a Kathony, I realised I wouldn't change Ant's S1 arc it really fleshed him out and prepped him for his story with Kate in S2. Yes, I bitch about how they fundamentally changed TVWLM in S2, but the one good thing the writers surprisingly pull off was Anthony's arc. The parallels and stark differences between his relationship with Siena and Kate respectively were *chef's kiss* and that was more than enough so I don't understand why we needed to add Eddie into the mix. Anyways I disgress. That's my take on how Siena served Anthony's arc and it worked especially in the manner of fleshing out the other Bridgerton sibs. I'm not saying all of them need to have a romance before their endgame but sometimes it helps.

You're so right to say Theo (and by extension Tessa - Ben's model classmate) were used to make El and Ben straightified this season but God forbid we let a single Bridgerton be queer. 😤

However, I did like Theo's purpose - should have been Theodora - to open up El to a world she's not experienced before and finally put some action to all her preaching while introducing the notion that she could fall in love. Because we love our little funky aroace lesbian but we also need to see her open to being in love before she settles ends up with Phillip. Otherwise, just like in the books it's going to be jarring for her to be super againdt love and marriage and then ends up with plant boy making it seem like she was only doing it cos she felt left behind in life by her peers.

Lady D deserves a focus as a treat!! But I no longer want her involved in EVERY Bridgerton romance. I love her but S2 made me annoyed with her because they basically had her replace Mary like wtf. They should just stick her to the romances she was involved in the books (Pelican and Hyreth) but I did like the change that LD was involved with Saphne cos she was Simon's godmom. But in the meantime aside from S3 and a poential S7, she and QC can vibe in the background maybe get a cameo from a certain grandson (god I would kill for childhood besties Hyreth).

Honestly we should just overthrow the writers' room and write the show. I swear whatever we seem to have come up with is miles ahead better than the mess the last 2 seasons have been. (S1 was pretty good as an adaptation; just hated the rushed resolution)

If you made it this far, thank you for reading!

[grace-williams-xo]

There is much discussion on the internet about how many seasons of Bridgerton we’ll get, and how it will be approached. I have a wild theory, if you wanna TLDR and skip the ramblings then scroll down to the bold.

While 8 seems far fetched, a lot of people are thinking 6 but I increasingly don’t even think that will happen (or if it does, it won’t happen well).

Jonny has said he’s committed to Bridgerton, and making whatever he projects he gets work around it, and that he/kanthony will be at all the siblings weddings. His commitment to the show and increasing career is well displayed in s3. He’s only in the first of the four eps (tbd for the second half, let’s hope more!) but he filmed Fellow Travellers at the same time (watch it if you haven’t) and Wicked also at a similar time. I think we can count on him/kanthony making at minimum 1–2 appearances per season, regardless of how long it lasts.

Arguably the other biggest star of the show rn is Nicola, so will be interesting to see what she does in Bridgerton s4. There’s a trend of the lead actor/s taking a back seat in the season following their spotlight, so wouldn’t be surprising if it happened also with Polin/Nicola and Luke Newton.

Now, the core of the issue is the remaining stories. (Preface, I haven’t read any of the books but I know most of the general plots). Consensus is that Benedict will be s4; and (or maybe but) all the s3 Benedict press is talking about him going through changes, evolution and inching toward the marriage mart. One could say this is set up for s4, but that doesn’t feel entirely right to me. The only plot that needs the set up is Polin because of the friends to lovers arc, and we got that in s2. (If there’s more benophie set up that makes sense that I’m not aware of, let me know!)

While I know Francesca is popular with book readers, and her character steps up in s3, we can agree that the next most popular sibling is Eloise. Eloise’s story is also the most hotly debated about how authentic the show should be to the books. I know many book readers want Eloise’s story to stay mostly as it is, and while the more I read about it the more I come around to it, I think that a problem is posed by the fact that Marina’s character is much more significant and invested in the series than the books (so I hear).

On the note of Gregory and Hyacinth, I also think that the viewers are too attached and invested to them as children to want to see them as serious romantic partners with anyone. This isn’t even touching on the fact s8 would be released in (crikey I just did the maths) probably 2030 or 2031 😭

In my head there are three possible options for the future of the show. (Four, three good options).

1. Six seasons: with Benedict, Eloise and Francesca all getting a season. (Approx 2025, 2027 and 2028 release) (I think this would be the best option if the got their act together and made/released the seasons faster, but as the actors get busier I don’t see that happening)

2. Five seasons: with Benedict and Eloise getting a season. (The best (realistic) option imo).

3. Four seasons: Benedict season four, no Eloise. (The worst option imo).

4. Four seasons: Benedict season three AND four, Eloise season four. This is kinda why I made this post. Stay with me, hear me out.

All the indications that Benedict is evolving and stepping into the marriage mart this season make me think that they could be doing a lot more set up/start of the story than necessary for a brother who isn’t the lead yet. Beneloise are such an iconic duo that I think them falling in love together would be so fun. If they followed the book, then Eloise’s love is kinda long distance anyway. If they did do something different with Eloise (contentious, ik, I’m in two minds) and made her queer and/or not get married then it could also work well.

I don’t think this is the best outcome, I just think it might be the best outcome if we only get four seasons. The actors are all increasingly busy, and many (Claudia and Nicola especially) are already playing characters far younger than their characters.

Please let me know your thoughts on this rambling, especially if you’ve read the books. Tell me what will or won’t work!

–GW xo

[dinapaulson]

The Top Ten Times Bridgerton Titillated Me AKA Gave Life

After making haste to consume the series in a day, and the next rewatching Simon and Daphnes’ scenes only (highly recommend), at the crack of the following, I realized it was the magic of seemingly smaller moments, sometimes, in the form of behind-the-scenes and back story beauty, woven into the larger storyline expositions that really stayed with me—a storytelling feat Her Majesty, Shonda Rhimes, is known for. Here are the top ten times this happened, causing my cinephile soul considerable thought and feels. 

1. Simon’s bedside manner while Daphne is in labor

It struck me the first time while watching how—how shall I put it—calm Simon looked, while Daphne screamed and breathed her head off. No, calm is not quite the word—eerily still, without any emotion or exertion of his own. At first confounded by His Grace, I realized he was terrified; scarred and petrified into a place that had no emotion to rely upon. Would Daphne survive childbirth? Was he having an out-of-body experience, imagining, as I am sure he was told, his immense a**hole of a father pacing outside the room where the Duchess was giving birth to Simon, obsessed with the “outcome” and would not deign to be by her side, what that must have felt like, to be so cold and removed from life, feeling, humanity, and here Simon was, in perfect, firm love, at Daphne's side, being a whole part of their child’s birth? (When their son is born, his stock Simon-ness returns, as he, filled with emotion, gently holds their son from Daphne’s arms, then implies, impishly, because of the Bridgerton family tradition, their son’s name must begin with “A.”)

2. A chocolate will do just perfectly 

The perfection of friendship between Eloise and Penelope is well on display throughout the series. There was one moment that caught my breath for the sheer ease of what friendship is—truly relating without needing to fully understand the other but being, sitting, anyhow, in pure acceptance of the other and mutual situation. Such is what happens when Penelope tells Eloise, in gentle expository explosion, her path is and will be different, more difficult to navigate than hers, without having a sister who is a Duchess, and moreover, she thinks she wants a life different than the independent dream the two of them speak of. And, to that, Eloise offers a chocolate, and to that, Penelope's smile-inducing smile and simply reaching for one is friendship goals. 

3. “I beg your pardon?” 

As others have pointed out, there is plenty of hotness to Simon buttoning Daphne’s cuff as a clear metaphor for the sexual unbuttoning/buttoning to come. But, what gets me every time is Simon’s reaction to Daphne’s question, his face both gently confirming and sexily contorting, which seems to beg the idea that in a different house of language, not one for promenade but perhaps one a rake aka Regency f*ck boy would inhabit, this term had an, o, one might say, slightly less innocent meaning. 

4. The nighttime, swing chats between Eloise and Benedict

I dare say it was Eloise who checked her brother on his white man privilege that sent him (still) strolling to Henry Granville’s house to take a (completely protected, see white privilege) risk of himself as a potential new somebody, in this case, an artist. 

5. Were others hoping Henry and Benedict would have a go at it? 

I think I mistook their mutual intrigue for desire, though I dare say Benedict flinging himself with considerable umph into the ménage-a-trois with Madame Delacroix and her friend, may have been, in part, a turn-on from stumbling upon Henry with his love, Lord Willoughby, making love. I recognize this ponderance might be a stretch, but, if I may—remember that conversation A Happiest Season launched in queer Twitterverse about the likelihood, with multiple siblings, of at least one sibling being gay? Come on, there are eight of them! Tell me I am not the only queer fan who would love to see one Bridgerton explore a truthfully desired same-sex relationship on the show. 

6. “Simon” (**heart begins to ache**)

After Simon gives one of his best speeches, in episode five to the queen, in his and Daphne’s effort to persuade Her Majesty to assist them in getting a marriage license, so moved is Daphne by what he says, that she turns to him, as if no one else is in the room, with an emotive quiver, staring watery and straight into his eyes, and out comes a quaking: “Simon.” Indeed, Simon’s speech of the love from whom he cannot stay away nor let be the one who got away is the discursive, definitive foreplay to their physical consumption of each other. Later, he says quietly to her heart twisted back: “Everything I said to the queen was true.” 

7. “From the mornings you ease, to the evenings you quiet, to the dreams you inhabit, my thoughts of you never end...” 

Um. So, this is just one of the most perfect romantic things I have ever heard one human being utter to another. 

8. Also: this was a nearly all-female credited writer cast (with the exception of the series’ premiere and finale episodes, credited to showrunner Chris Van Dusen). I delightfully sighed as each woman writer’s name danced in Bridgerton font across my screen. What genius interplay of words that cut and bit and lobbed and heeled, then healed, revealed, and felt so completely—wonderful.  Here are the writing credits:

Janet Lin for episode 2, ”Shock and Delight”

Leila Cohan-Miccio for episode 3, ”The Art of the Swoon”

Abby McDonald for episode 4, “An Affair of Honor”

Joy C. Mitchell for episode 5, ”The Duke and I��� Sarah Dollard for episode 6, ”Swish” Jay Ross and Abby McDonald for episode 7, “Oceans Apart” 

Additionally listed under writers are Jess Brownell as Executive Story Editor on “Shock and Delight” and “Diamond of the First Water,” Joy C. Mitchell also as Executive Story Editor on “Shock and Delight” and “Diamond of the First Water,” and Abby McDonald as Staff Writer on “Shock and Delight” and “Diamond of the First Water.” 

9. Simon goes down—a lot 

At least two times we know of, but we may assume more, that giving Her Grace pleasure between her legs is something that comes easily, perhaps even needily, to him. Just that. It is hot and wanting and you know, with various talk about men not wanting to go down on women, well, representation matters. 

10. Choosing present over past 

This is a Golden Age TV theme of late, strong in the final season of Jessica Jones and luscious The Queen’s Gambit, though, perhaps, choosing to be present is the overall life theme, always, and just manifests differently in all of our journeys. The fabulously eviscerate Lady Danbury says: “Pride, Your Grace: it will cost you everything and leave you with nothing.” What Simon gains by choosing to be in his present is not only the opportunity to feel and develop a love, and family, with Daphne, but he gives himself space—cleans out the leftovers, once and for all—to fully inhabit the now, which means anything could be ahead. 

[pensbridgrton]

Any though of what next in second 2 of the bridgertons?

So this is like a mix of what I want to happen and what’s actually realistically going to happen:

I went character by character and naturally this got very long...

Anthony/Kate as the main focus. Developing Kate, Kate/Edwina/Mary, and establishing Anthony’s backstory - I wouldn’t mind seeing some Edmund flashbacks as well, like we saw with SImon

Nonwhite Kate (preferably darkskinned, passing the paper bag test). I’ve been beating this drum for a while and I won’t shut up about it, but nonwhite love interests for the rest of the series (Penelope being the exception.) (I have thoughts on Phillip but I’m ignoring that for now.)

The Pall Mall scene is a given. I personally desperately want the library scene during the thunderstorm. 

Benedict: Canon! Bisexual! Please! The first couple of episodes are about him realizing he’s attracted to men, then an episode or two about him realizing he can be attracted to both men and women. And then, in the finale... during a Masquerade ball... we meet the lady in silver. (Would I love if its the man in silver? Yes. Will that happen? Probably not.)

Colin: So I’ve been rewatching S1 and I’m pretty positive they’ll have Colin return from Greece with a ‘glo up.’ We saw glimpses of his little shithead-ery, but now it’ll be amplified a bit more. More flirting, more meddling, more charming. I don’t want him to have a storyline actually - I want him to be a supporting character for other people. Meddling with Anthony/Kate, supporting Benedict, helping out Daphne, chaperoning Eloise around. I suspect minor Colin/Penelope crumbs - them being friends, Penelope not outwardly pining as much, Colin thinking it was a crush she’s over. Oblivious, supporting character, meddling Colin.

Daphne: Her (and Simon) would mainly be there to show up and mess with Anthony. I could see a small subplot about them adjusting to parenthood and somehow tying that into a friendship with Kate.

Eloise: Honestly... I have no idea where they take Eloise. Realistically, she’s out in society, probably looking into Lady Whistledown more. I could actually see her figuring it out in S2 and S3 having some of that fall out. What I WANT to happen is her realizing maybe she’s queer, bonding with Benedict about this, maybe straining her relationship with Penelope for a bit. What I absolutely want is for her to strike up a pen pal situation with Marina (which is how we check in with her/Phillip - through letters.)

Francesca: I just want her to show up a bit more. I don’t need a plot line for her or anything (unless they skip 2 years ahead in which case, gimme John!) but I do want them to establish her as the independent, quiet one who’s introverted and shit.

Gregory: Just hanging out. Chilling. Doing his thing. Would love tiny easter eggs of him looking up to his siblings and their romances.

Hyacinth: Also just hanging out, chilling. Continuing to be the busybody that she is. Would absolutely love if at some point they establish her visiting Lady Danbury (or, like someone else posted - introducing Gareth much younger and letting them be childhood frenemies.)

Penelope: I want her to grapple with her guilt. Feeling so bad about Marina that she intentionally goes out of her way to write articles helping people. I want her to kinda think “Colin cost me my friendship so he doesn’t deserve me right now” and even if she’s always going to love him, try to pretend she’s over him so she be friends instead. All her friendship with Eloise, of course. I would also love to see her and Lady Danbury’s relationship established too.

Lady Danbury: just being her incredible self. All the interactions with Bridgertons and Bridgerton-adjacents. I also want the second of last episode of every season to have a married ladies party so each heroine can party. So jot that down. 

The Queen: this one character that I’m really indifferent about. They’ll probably use her role to put stakes for the other characters and that’s fine. As long as anything isn’t actively ruining anything then I’m pretty okay with it all.

[sleepymccoy]

Okay, I watched Bridgerton!!!! Not only have I not read the books, I didn't know they existed.

I have understood, perhaps erroneously but whatever it's my grasp, that each season is probably gonna be focusing on a different Bridgerton sibling and their romantic pursuits. So I thought it'd be fun to have a punt at my guess for them!!

Under a readmore cos I got rambly and there's spoilers aplenty

Eloise

I want her to have a similar sort of arc to Daphne I think, but much more of her railing against being there. Basically I hope she meets some cad or erudite sort who wants to focus on his studies, not a wife. And they get married to get people to leave them alone. But like, they actually don't fall in love at first sight like Daphne did. I would be happy with a friendship that grows into something more intimate over the season, but not passionate really. I want her to have someone who opens every door that might be closed to her. Also kinda pleasant if he's openly adoring and willing to bend over backwards to give her what she wants, and her growth for the season is recognising that she can't just walk all over him

I doubt this bit will happen, but I have one thing I'd fucking love. I want Benedict to bring her to his queer parties. I think it'd be great fun for Eloise to dress up as a man and run around for a night learning what it could be. I reckon that could turn into her husband sneaking her into university

Penelope

I know she's not a Bridgerton, but she matters to me. I feel like they're setting her up to marry Colin, and I can live with that, but I want to see her being pursued! And adored! I've got two arcs that would sit well with me

One, Colin returns from his gallivanting and is like hot damn on sight and begins courting Penelope pretty much straight away. I feel like her secret identity wouldn't sit well with Colin, he's far too kind to be impressed by that, and I wonder if she would tell him and take the scolding or if she'd just dial it back and eventually stop writing without owning it

Her being poor now puts an interesting spin on it all. I feel like she's gonna develop a lot of resentment and dig her heels in and be quite a cruel Lady Whistledown next season

The other arc, and this one is my preference, is that Colin comes back late for the next season of flirting. He's still insta keen on her, but she's being courted by someone else. This guy is respectful, but a bit of a villain. He doesn't know her secret identity, but he unintentionally encourages it so so much. And drops her hints for new scandals. He's just generally a bad influence, but he sincerely likes her. She starts not interested but lets him court her cos that's what you do and it just means we get to see Penelope on the other side of unrequited love. I reckon he could be a one or two season arc for her until they want to focus on Penelope more, cos it'd keep lady Whistledown harsh and interesting. Then wrap it up a bit with Colin making a move

Benedict

Marry the tailor/dress maker lady whose name escapes me right now, explore life as a happy bisexual man. I want him to marry before Anthony does cos I think there'll be more drama that way. Who will produce good heirs of Anthony is being a romantic with too high standards and Benedict married someone with no name! Scandal! Maybe it's all down to Colin

Anthony

Meet a nice young lady of society who absolutely terrifies him. I want him to get his upper class marriage but I want her to have him by the balls. All of his risidual sexism will be flirted out of him

Colin

My view on the Colin/Penelope thing is different for Colin than it is for Penelope! Cos I think ending up with Colin isnt necessarily the best thing for her, I think she'd do well to mature and find someone who has always treated her as desirable. Colin's kind to her, I don't mean that he scorns her, he's just not keen. Cos they're mates.

But for Colin's story, this is beaut! It can be a wonderful friends to lovers arc and I think may be more realistic to the time than anyone elses. They're both thirdborns I think so there's no stress there, but they'll have a bunch of kids and if Anthony and Benedict don't come through on the blood line, Colin will.

But I do want him to have a fling while he's on his tour

Franchesca

I don't know shit about Franchesca, but I'm keen to meet her. Cos I don't know her, I'll take a guess at a personality. Cos fuck it. I think the sibling dynamic could do with someone very matter-of-fact and sensible. She's committed to a few seasons of courting until she finds someone kind and decent. I reckon it'd be cool to have her in society at the same time as Eloise, and have Eloise raging against the machine while Franchesca is just perfectly reasonable in the background, meeting and trialing and refusing suitors. Then on her season she falls completely ridiculously and dizzily in love with someone that no one approves of, for whatever reason.

And now I just ramble

I am absolutely fascinated in who is now in charge of the Featherington house. I'm sure they'll bring drama. They foreshadowed that pretty heavily and the end of the last ep. But I hope the sisters marry up and out of the situation their parents have left them in. I hope the humility in their position brings them closer as sisters and we start seeing some real support. I also wouldn't mind seeing their mum actually developed a crush on a man. Do widows remarry in regency? I'm sure they do

I think that's everyone. I hope Simon and Daphne come back occasionally and we get updates.

And I'd love to see some flashbacks of the Featherington father, they keep saying the parents were in love and I wanna know about it!

And I'm looking forward to meeting the suitors each season, we learnt a lot about Simon and I hope they keep that level of detail up

And I hope the Queen gets a friend!! Maybe Daphne? Maybe Eloise? Maybe Lady Danbury? I dunno. But I want to see the Queen getting some gossip for herself