#and i have so much to say about eloise/colin/penelope bc the dynamic is so much more interesting when u rly dig into it

[maskedquill]

just another thought but i think people saying colin loving penelope romantically is what made it so much easier for him to forgive her in a relatively fast amount of time aren't necessarily wrong but i also think that it's more than that , and a lot of it has to do with eloise.

bc imo eloise is the one person that colin knows loves penelope just as much as he does. and he spends eps 1-6 of season three trying to kind of make sense of why they've had that falling out , and honestly also hoping and encouraging eloise to reconcile with penelope. especially in 5 and 6 when he's actually kind of forcing himself to think about why they /both/ love penelope so much to convince eloise that the engagement is a positive thing. and in doing so he's also thinking about why he loves pen so much prior to finding out the brutal truth about her.

and a lot of ppl clown him for the "you're lucky you've never been in love" line and like ok i guess ... but also eloise is a mirror for colin in so many ways. so the fact eloise, who has every reason to unfriend penelope and be justified in her anger, has actually started to forgive her ... i think softens the blow a lot for colin. i think he's obviously going through it in that conversation (hence the lashing out) but like he's also realizing that he had expected eloise to be on his side and he thought that he wouldn't be alone in his anger over what penelope did to him , much like how he's never been alone in his love for her , but instead eloise was already forgiving her and i think that kind of added to the hurt but also the quickness at which he forgives pen. if that makes sense ??

[cinematicnomad]

hey! what don’t you like about bridgerton s3 wrt the book? haven’t read the books so i’d love to hear your thoughts on where/why it’s falling short!

ok anon you asked this ages ago and i decided to re-read the book before answering, but then got derailed and haven't finished it yet. i also haven't finished s3 yet even though the next batch of eps are out. i'm gonna answer this for sleepover saturday instead. i'm not really gonna bother with complaining about the show and more just going to say what i like from the book:

the book takes place, like, 10 years after penelope's first season? so she is decidedly A Spinster™ when the book takes place which i think adds a really interesting dynamic to the whole story! she's v much settled into her life and comfortable with where she is. like, does she have some fantasies? some longings? of course. but she also has more freedom (she and eloise start planning to move in together! penelope has a younger sister who she acts as the chaperone to at different balls!) and really knows who she is. she doesn't bother seeking a husband bc she's basically accepted that it's not going to happen for her, which is a GREAT time for colin to come back into her life.

the other thing i love about her being a spinster is just: penelope is able to have a lot of pUBLIC interactions with colin and others without the scrutiny paid to younger, eligible girls. the book has this great friendship that builds between penelope, colin, and mrs. danbury through the conversations they have at different balls in full view of the public, and i just find it more compelling for penelope and colin's friendship to be witnessed and yet still come as a surprise to everyone when they get engaged.

also, her friendship with lady danbury is so special to me! throughout the book penelope gains a lot of confidence THROUGH that friendship and through lady danbury's belief in her. penelope's growth isn't dependent on colin's attention. similarly, in the book, eloise and penelope are not at odds (eloise doesn't know the truth about whistledown's identity) and so you really get to see penelope's bond with the bridgerton's AND with colin together. she really does feel like part of the family which is so nice.

also, in the book colin finds out lady whistledown's identity BEFORE the carriage scene, so he enters into the engagement and the marriage with full knowledge of the truth. that feels very important to me and also, i feel, leads to a more compelling conflict between them as it's more about his own jealousy of her life's work then it is about the secret of it all.

there's more, obviously. the book isn't perfect, but there's more i love about it then don't and honestly during my re-read there have been a ton of scenes that i wished could have fit in the show but would not have made sense based on choices made in prior seasons

✨sleepover saturday✨

[devastatinglygreen]

Brosephine back to say “Did you ever know that your my heroooo”

When I tell you *that storyline* still makes me irrationally angry bc not only is it SO far removed from the book and the relationship between those characters (HIS COUSIN????) It changes the Polin dynamic so much. We knew as Polin shippers we’d have to deal with the “I’ll never marry/court Penelope” but to watch him do all of that right in front of Pen while book!Colin specifically says he never proposed to anyone else???? And Colin already has enough doubt and second guessing about his place in the world as the third son. VERY UNNECESSARY to add in some more insecurity and question of whether or not his real fiancé is lying to him! Nah for these reasons alone S3 will be superior bc at least it made fucking sense.

Also as a Plant Daddy and Eloise fan I’d love for their story to be next, and think it’d make the most sense given where the story left off (My conspiracy is given that Ben was often with Hy and Greg this season when he wasn’t being the story bicycle means he’s not mature enough/ready for his love story yet) BUT is that just going to be used as more angst for Pen given what *that storyline* meant for her? This is why I have CVDPTSD.

"you're everything i wish i could beeeeeeee"

it's so random, really. and to make her a featherington cousin when her being a bridgerton cousin is literally the crux of why eloise writes to phillip is wild but whatever.

we get it, the show likes love triangles but she wasn't even interested past her own interests and you know how shows often write women with an ulterior motive that either condemns or absolves them? it was like that but make her inherently unlikable on top of it.

also i feel like the triangle needs to know it's a triangle to work and also love triangles are awful and we need to stop relying on them because the show doesn't really put any effort into them. debling? colin never even speaks to him (10/10 no notes on that, that's hilarious actually) but stares hatefully. that man wasn't even aware there was one, he was like i need a wife and i want to see some penguins.

(tho pour one out to knowing, with your whole heart, had there been another female for colin that pen had to suffer through, she'd have been called petty and immature if she'd acted at all the way colin did)

i do think s3 tried to fix some of his insecurity, pls no one throw tomatoes at me, by having him search for the physical connection with randoms that left him wanting. it was a very clear way to have him understand the difference in how he felt after being with penelope. and how clear they made it that he was in love, he was telling everyone about it, he wasn't using it as a defense to get people to take him seriously, he was like, i don't think you understand, i am losing my shit about being in love, this has never happened before i am stupid in love and also possibly the most motivated man on the planet i cannot pick a struggle. i need to see my wife immediately.

they were also not subtle about anthony being like at least you're getting married for all the RIGHT reasons this time. LIKE LOVE. because that wasn't it the first time, bro.

either way. still. they had to do way too much work to bring him back around to book colin's revelation of how nothing like penelope had ever happened to him before.

i would loooove eloise next but idk. i'm down for a conspiracy theory. and yesssss, you know they'd love to have shoved all the angst down penelope's throat about it. cvdptsd fr fr.

support group is tuesdays at 7pm. bring cookies. or cake (don't worry, we looked into it and it does not get you pregnant).

[utterlyinevitable]

becca lao, penelope featherington, drake walker + anthony bridgerton <3

My own child??!!!???? Mal how could you!!

will i get dragged by the grey face brigade for saying that Becca/MC works best as part of a dynamic? whether it’s the friend group or their romance it’s nearly her entire personality.  she is a product of the people around her.

I tried to do emojis for everyone but It required way too much dedication that I do not have for editing on mobile lol

I love this woman. I would die for this woman. I wish I was this woman. I cannot wait for her season. I am salivating just thinking about the character growth and the layers and the whole potential of what Shonda could do!!! as you know I am only consumed by this pairing and the juiciness that could ensue ESPECIALLY with the true romance of the series between Eloise and Penelope. Trying to repair their friendship the entire season my heart cannot handle it 💔

Drake was a literally the first pixelated character I fell in love with. He is the reason I continue to play Choices books. I miss my little ranch husband who goes along with my shit and treats me like an NFL player.

In my hc him and Anya got together that night after the billiards scene (after almost fucking on the pool table) he followed her back to her train car and they got freaky. Even though he didn’t want to deep down, he was an ass hat and left in the middle of the night while she was asleep so she woke up alone to Maxwell knocking on the door and girl thought it was drake she was so sad mad heartbroken and she kind of didn’t talk to him for an entire day which felt like 1800 months. somewhere in the whole hoopla of everything (bc I don’t remember most of the events of trr) Drake manages to talk to hanna of all people about what to do about his vague situation and eventually he does not take her sound advice and instead leaves the tour. Bby girl goes after him and that’s all folks.

(Yes his Sprite leaves much to be desired. At least the boys got bants)

Must I explain Anthony? He’s a precious bean with a smokin hot wife. I wanna be in a Lord and Lady Bridgerton sexwich.

***

if this was fmkk the answers would be fuck anthony (they don’t call him Capital R rake for nothing), marry drake (who needs a viscountcy when this i-only-want-you-to-be-happy man exists), kiss ms becca (cuz it’ll be the time of my life. this woman could rock my world with just one wink), and kill Penelope (soz girl. but you’ll be in a better place. Maybe Colin’s there too).

[aspoonfuloffiction]

Do you get frustrated with the hatred towards Penelope and her role as LW? There’s this massive comparison to LW in the books and how she didn’t spread such life threatening gossip, but as we clearly have seen from S2 they’re deviating from the books entirely. I certainty didn’t approve of what she did to Marina in S1, but from her perspective no one was listening to her - Portia, Marina, Colin. What difference would it have made if she went to Violet bc in her mind why would she listen to a 17 yr old Penelope. We see she has immediate regret over it and I think she does grow from it. Also people forget that without LW, they never would have found out about George. When Penelope finds out about Eloise and the queen, this time she goes to an adult - madame Delacroix, for advice. She’s the one who tells Penelope to drag Eloise and Penelope hesitates. Also the queen affections towards the bridgertons doesn’t make the scandal so horrible in retrospect.

Being approved until season 4 allows the writers to give Penelope a more dynamic story than what she had in the books. Now we’ll have to see her navigate her love story with Colin knowing she did shame his family, which just adds another layer of complexity because even though their characters were great their story does have a few plot holes. Also who’s to say that if they continue with the time jump like the books, the Bridgertons won’t appreciate what she did for them. Her column drove away Berbrooke from marrying daphne, made sure Colin wasn’t going to be in a marriage that was built on a lie and protecting Eloise from the queen.

Soooooo I am not the person to go to for LW sympathy. I find Penelope’s actions as related to Marina pretty inexcusable.

Off the top of my head I can think of at least 4 other options:

Tell Eloise who would believe her and whom Violet would certainly believe

Send a note to Anthony or Violet as Lady Whistledown with the truth

Pay off a Featherington servant to leak it to one of the Bridgerton servants…the staff talks word would get to Violet or Anthony.

And maybe Violet wouldn’t entirely trust any 17 year old girl but she’s known Penelope her whole life at the very least it would give her pause.

And the biggest mark against Penelope in this situation is that had it been any other man hell maybe even if Marina picked a different Bridgerton she wouldn’t have said a word.

Penelope was acting to save Colin but she was also acting out of her own self interest and she nearly ruined her family’s name and did ruin Marina because of it.

So yeah I do think show Lady Whistledown is a lot more vicious in the show but so as to not rag on Penelope too much I will say this:

I think Penelope is on a redemption arc. And if the writers nail it it could actually be quite a bit fulfilling. Lady Whistledown in the books goes pretty unanswered for but I think show!Pen is actually going to have to contend with the harm she’s caused and what role she’s playing in society. I think Eloise was the beginning with Pen’s anguish over publishing about her I’d like to see that pain over someone Penelope doesn’t know. A real reflection on what she’s done to people’s lives because she’s hurt as much as she’s helped.

Or they could go full ham and let Penelope be actually morally gray…we need more female characters like that too.