#fuck Penelope featherington

[nyikondlovu]

I unfortunately do not care for Penelope. A lot of the characters are either classist or sexist or even hypocrites (Eloise being anti institution but benefiting from it) however Penelope is the biggest hypocrite of them all because she’s not sharing the gossip in an effort to expose the ton and make them better people, she’s doing it because no one pays attention to her so she would rather they feel as small as she does 

I cannot like her as a protagonist, and the fact that the show keeps trying to force her to be one is not working. I am literally least excited to see her and Colins “love story“ during season three… Trust I will be skipping a lot of it, and just stopping for Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury, Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton, and Anthony and Kate. 

I know in the Bridgerton fandom it’s like speaking into the void but like.

If Anthony and Ben and Simon don’t have STDs or bastards, if the Bridgerton coffers are super deep and old money with a hand wave about good investments and a single song montage of Anthony signing papers, if the Featheringtons can bounce back from housing an unmarried pregnant woman and scheming to marry her to a Bridgerton, if Marina can be considered a respectable married woman despite the nature of her scandal, if Daphne wasn’t forced to marry Berbrooke despite him and Anthony coming to an agreement and Berbrooke loudly announcing said agreement in public, if Daphne was let out of her social obligation with the Prince who was loudly and proudly courting her, if Simon was able to forgive literally being assaulted, if Kate was able to survive a regency era comatose concussion after being tossed from a horse directly onto a rock, if Edwina is able to show her face again after the public humiliation and still be desirable, if Kate and Anthony could get their happily ever after after because the Queen smiled while they danced, if Eloise can still be considered a lady and her family gets invited to balls despite being a political radical, if Eloise managed to go to the lower income side of town wearing jewel encrusted tiaras without ever being noticed or ruined from meeting with a man unchaperoned…

why on earth does everyone demand realism and realistic punishment and societal reaction for Penelope?? None of our other characters ever have been truly impacted by realism. So why now? Why this season?

[letsplayeternity]

Honest question, I've been rethinking the whole "Colin has done the same with Penelope Featherington" speech Anthony gave to Daphne and his mother in season 1 and the fact that when Colin talked to his brothers in 3x05 both Ben and Anthony were like "I didn't have a clue" and like... do we think Anthony spent the evening rethinking every single interaction he has ever witnessed between Colin and Pen and every single instance where he let things slide because "oh that's just eloise's friend?" and just banging his head against a wall as Kate laughs her ass off??

[danburys]

BRIDGERTON 3.8 INTO THE LIGHT

[darlingpeasant]

S1 Colin: “I am a gentleman”

*proceeds to break every single regency rule in the book with Pen*

[myfairstarlight]

s3e2 is so fucking funny. Colin spends the whole episode so happy to be spending time with Penelope thanks to their lessons but when it comes to putting them into practice he lightly points to a potential suitor for her to flirt with only for him to look like this immediately

His happy bubble burst. So stupid in love and he hasn't even had the life changing kiss under the moonlight yet boy does NOT know what's about to hit him

[polinsated]

[your-mums-nuts]

Okay but Penelope’s instinct to be independent after spending her whole life taking care of herself and being overlooked by the people who were actually meant to take care of her, clashing with Colin’s need to feel useful to his loved ones and cripplingly low self esteem, is literally all I’ve ever wanted.

[polinated]

BONUS POLIN WEEK 2024 | DAY 1 FAVORITE SEASON 3 SCENE: POLIN'S MEET-CUTE

[waltricia]

Jesus CHRIST she’s stunning

[dollypopup]

People don't give Penelope enough props for the absolute BRAVERY it took in asking Colin for a kiss!!! I am tired of the rancid takes of 'oh, it makes her look pathetic-' no. Penelope asking for that kiss is VITAL in her growth, and pivotal to Polin's love story. Some flowers for Colin, first, for having put in years of work into their relationship so that Penelope trusts Colin to the point where she would even dare to ask it of him, but flowers to Penelope for asking. She trusts him and she's familiar with him and she KNOWS she's safe with him, and she took a leap of faith. So much of Penelope's arc is hiding what she wants and who she is, melding into the shadows, putting on a front. She doesn't confide in much of ANYONE. Not even Eloise knew about her love for Colin, or her existence as Lady Whistledown. Penelope keeps so much close to the chest.

Which makes it such an amazing moment when she opens up with Colin. When she reveals what she desires, and when he responds with 'If you want this, I'll give it to you'. So in that scene, when she's heartbroken and sad, after she has written of her own humiliation in Lady Whistledown to circulate amongst the ton, adding her own name to her list of bullies, when she thinks she is well and firmly on the shelf, and Colin comes to check on her, and he won't allow her to think badly of herself, and he even goes so far as to bribe her maid to have a moment with her, she opens her heart up enough to ask him for what she wants.

And that is beautiful. It deserves props and recognition. To ask for what we want as women is radical, and I'm frankly sick and tired of people thinking she's 'pathetic' for it. Penelope is brave in this scene. She is brave and vulnerable and Colin is there to tell her that is okay. That it should be rewarded. That he will catch her and he is there and she is right to trust him. He is the safety net as she tumbles and steps into the unknown.

Penelope Featherington looked the man that she loves in the eye, and she asked him to kiss her. How many of us would have the iron spine necessary for that? Sure, maybe she thinks she's hit rock bottom, but she could have swallowed her truth as she so often did. She chose not to. Penelope Featherington, who only ever voiced her opinions on a page, anonymously, stood before him with nothing to protect her heart, bare-faced, and told Colin Bridgerton she wanted him to kiss her. That she wanted to be loved.

And he did. He did and it was lovely. It was a fantastic kiss, and in that moment, you can tell that she *was* loved. Is loved. He held her like she was starlight, precious, delicately grasping her chin, brushing her cheek; he pecked her once and then went in for more. That kiss had desire and longing and tenderness in it. It was gentle and wholehearted. It was them learning each other, the both of them flaying away another layer for the other to keep. Penelope asked him for what she wanted and she got it. And it was ultimately the catalyst for all her desires to come to fruition.

I feel like we as women are told we must be passive so often: don't be too loud, don't ask them out, don't look 'desperate'. But fuck that: Penelope is an active participant in her love story. She asks Colin for what she wants and he provides it for her eagerly. That kiss made him realize that what he felt for her was far more than just friendship, and it started with 'Would you kiss me, Colin?' and ended with him outrunning HORSES to catch up with Penelope so he could, on his knees, profess how much he wants her and how he can't stop dreaming of their kiss. She toppled that first domino. May we all be so courageous. May we all be so bold. May we all be so loved.

Penelope put her own love story into motion with that kiss. We should fucking applaud her.

[inklore]

LIKE HE'S SO FUCKING PATHETIC

[lordandladywhistledown]

Aaaand Colin falls in love in 3, 2, 1

[thewilddreamerrr]

OKAY ALRIGHT LISTEN UP BABES someone on X removed the music from the carriage scene and apparently Colin freaking Bridgerton says ''you are so beautiful" while kissing down Pen's neck and im- how am I supposed to function with this information??

The tweet in question. Your welcome and all that

[penelopecolinb]

it seems like some of you don't really understand the social implications in regency england for an unpopular debutante when her good friend who also happens to be one of the most eligible bachelors of the ton declares that she's not worthy of courting in her own damn garden after being seen taking multiple liberties with her.

it has nothing to do with the fact that he doesn't return her feelings. it has everything to do with how absolutely careless he was with her. even if he didnt realise he was leading her on, that's what he did. he made things harder for a woman who already had so little by her side. he used to be one of the reasons she could stand being part of the ton, but in that moment he instantly became just like one of her bullies. and obviously that breaks her until she becomes what we saw in the sneak peek for s3.

people will see how her friends treat her and think it's fine to mock her to her face. she is the embarrassment, the laughingstock and it was fine when she thought she had the bridgertons by her side. but now she knows what colin really thinks of her. he validated all the bullies she had, when she was mocked for her looks or her shyness. that is such a painful betrayal, especially when not TWO FUCKING SECONDS ago he claimed that she was special to him!!!!!!!

is that not worthy of grovelling?????? cuz i fucking think it is.

[rainybraindays]

Not to be that bitch, but if you're out here still saying Colin never apologized for the whole "I would never court Penelope Featherington" i think you need to maybe actually rewatch episode 1.

He very much does, as soon as he can once hes aware he hurt her. He addresses literally everything Penelope said hurt her about it. He says what he said was cruel and hurtful, he says that hes not embarrassed by her, he tells her hes changed and regrets doing something that hurt her. Its the most genuine apology anyone in this show has given.

How any of you have walked away from that seeing it as a fake apology makes me genuinely question what you think an apology is. Is he meant to fall on his knees crying and begging her to move on? Thats not an apology. Is he supposed to go "I'm sorry I fucked up, you're actually soso cool and so much better than me and everyone else" because thats love bombing.

Colin did it right, he came to her privately, apologized, addressed how he hurt her, reassured her he's not embarrassed of her and views her as his best friend, and said that he'd changed. Thats the correct way to apologize, thats how adults communicate. Everything that happened after that was in response to Penelopes frustration at her inability to be someone viewed as desirable in their society, and Colins want to prove how much he cares about her.

If we want to talk about non-apologies in this show, Colin is far from the first character in that line.

[polinsated]

Colin, I can take care of myself. Then what good am I to you! for @polin-erospsyche