#i'm will stop babbling now

[thelittleriza]

Joong and Dunk in a crime show !!!!!

[vulturevanity]

Anyway I can't get over the fact that before the incident Lorelai would encourage Molly to speak up. Both of their parents were too in their own heads to listen to Molly's quiet complaints, but Lori is loud. And Lori would use her loudness to speak for Molly, and Lori would teach Molly to be loud too, and even though Molly was kinda bad at it she still felt emboldened by her sister's support and encouragement, if only between the two of them. The Zoo skit in the 5th anniversary vod kills me about them

[sitelenco]

"the sea is so biiig!"

HER YAAAHHHHH!! I LOVE HER SMMMM 💛💛

i kinda miss drawing Okegom stuff so lemme bless your timeline with Memoca art skkhskhds

also hope you're having a great 2025 and hydrate too silly!! >:3

[spaceorphan18]

So, as a comment to my Season 1 meta, @mathgirl24 gave the interesting response of ::

I agree with the Lord Featherington stuff. It seems like he had zero connections to his daughters. In fact, with him and Portia as parents, and her sisters being how they are, Pen must have had a really kind governess as a child because I don't see how else she could have learned any goodness.

Which led to some fascinating thoughts!

It started me thinking -- how did Penelope become 'good'? But even -- is she 'good'? Does the concept of 'good' even matter?

Okay, so I'm prefacing this with -- Penelope Featherington Bridgerton is my FAVORITE character on this ridiculous show, and I adore her. But one of the reasons I adore her is that she can be a morally gray character. (Also, for clarity, I'm talking about show Penelope, and not book Penelope.)

So, let's talk about her parents and her possible, probable upbringing. It's probably to say that Lord Featherington was neglectful at best and possibly humiliating at worst. He never seemed to interact with any of his children (or his wife whenever possible) so I doubt he was much of an influence. If anything -- had it not been for the kindness of other male influences on her life (and I'll get to that in a second), I don't think Penelope would have had many positive thoughts concerning men.

Then there's her mother -- whom we know can be gossipy, catty, manipulative, and sometimes just mean. But... I would argue there's a difference between Portia and, say, Cressida's mother. Portia, despite doing so in the worst way possible, does actually love and care for her children. They (though you should put an asterisk possibly on it that 'they' are tied to status, and Portia does want status) are what she pays the most attention to, because she wants them to have a better life than she does. -- She doesn't believe it'll be through a loving means -- because she didn't find security through a loving means. But she does care enough about her kids, and she's not a doormat to her husband, that she would not do what Cressida's family does.

So here's the thing -- Penelope was mostly neglected by her father and while probably bullied a bit by her mother, was mostly neglected for her sisters from her mother, so Penelope was left to her own devices. (Which -- part of what's at play here is personality, too. She prefers the comfort of her books and her solitude -- and in a positive and warm environment, such as the Bridgertons, she might be like Francesca -- needing to step away and be on her own because sometimes it's too much.)

So, her sisters were raised in the shadow of her mother, and are dumb and sometimes cruel. But you know what Season 3 taught us? That even they could be redeemed. And as broken as their family unit seems to be at times, they do care for each other, and have a stronger sense of family bond than, say, the Cowpers.

My long winded first point is... that there is some family love there (even if you can categorize it as an abusive household) so, Penelope isn't completely devoid of all familial affection. But also -- leads me to, her family is an influence on her, and I think that she's (again) a much more morally gray character than so easily fits into a 'good' or 'bad' characterization.

Okay, so... we know her home life isn't great, how come she isn't as terrible as the rest of her family?

First of all -- her being the one being bullied all the time can push one to either conform (like her sisters did) or retract and go the other direction. On top of that, she recedes into books -- where there is often a more firm sense of right or wrong. Penelope, in a lot of ways, is self taught, and I think she's naturally smart enough to intuit 'good' and 'bad' just by the power of observation.

Secondly, there's always the argument of nature vs nurture -- and I'm of mind that both play a factor. And I do think that Penelope is, by her personality, a kinder person than her mother and her sisters.

But she does have a vicious side... (more on that in a moment.)

Thirdly, I do think there are some formative outside influence. Before I talk about the biggest and most obvious one, let's talk about the staff -- Rae seems to be a nice person. Varley, while I'm sure has a devious side because she's Portia's right hand man, is always kind to Penelope. And yes! I'm sure, there was a kind governess or teacher in her young life that did help teach Penelope what kindness is (at the very least).

Alright, so let's talk about one of the most influential aspects of Penelope's life... the Bridgertons. We don't know when exactly Penelope's family first moved in across the way, but we do know, as Colin puts it, they were literal children. (Unlike the book -- where Pen was 16 when they met -- it's a big difference.) So, Penelope grew up, not only having a BFF who adored her, but having a surrogate family around her, who loved each other and who were good to each other.

But it's also interesting -- Eloise, as her closest friend, is not the 'good' Bridgerton (of the girls, I guess you could say Daphne or maybe even Francesca would be better candidates for that title?). Eloise has her own dark and trouble making sides, and the two of them are nefarious influences on each other.

Also interesting is the thoughts of the Bridgerton boys, all of whom, are nice to her -- (Which, omg, I need to put a pin in the side tangent of all of them represent different forms of good.) Anthony probably would always make sure she got home safely. Benedict would always be charming in her presence. And Colin is a kind soul all on his own. (Also should put a pin in this, too, cause there's another tangent about how a) Colin can have a dark side and b) Pen's corruption is good for him... but that'd be totally digressing.) And even little Gregory, I'm sure thought of her as a fun big sister.

My long winded (again, sorry) point is that the Bridgerton family did show her what 'good' can be -- and since she was a child when she met them, she effectively grew up as one of the family.

But all of this brings me to the point of -- is she 'good'? And does she need to be?

I think one of the most interesting scenes of Season 3 is in Episode 8 where she and her mother kind of come to an understanding. And it's acknowledged that they're more alike than either realizes. I don't think that the conception and execution of Lady Whistledown comes from someone who is fully 'good' (and well adjusted). There's so much morally gray there, and so much of LW that is selfish on Penelope's part. It is her way of dealing with a cruel world, but it's also reflecting some of that cruelty back out on other people.

And she does learn her lesson, and she does try to use it for the greater good (and there are sometimes when I don't think it's bad/evil in the way people sometimes use it to justify her being a /bad/ character).

So, I mean, I think Penelope is a fundamentally kind person, more so than her mother or sisters or even Cressida Cowper. But I don't know that she's 'good' in the way that, say, Francesca is more so a 'good' person all the way around.

But that's really, okay? Because Penelope is interesting, and human, and fascinating as a character. And the fact that she is so well rounded and gets to be messed up and make mistakes and not be good at times makes her all the better. At least in my opinion.

So yeah, idk if this stream of consciousness made a whole lot of sense, lol! But I just liked the thought of -- well, how did Penelope turn out the way she did. :)

[mischievouslittlecreature]

How the fuck do you manage to fuck up B&C? It was literally handed to the writers on a silver platter in the book as an impactful scene, and instead they gave us THAT!?

[ravencromwell]

The poem evokes human greatness and human vulnerability. People are “godlike” in their courage and skill, but even the greatest mortals fall and clutch the dust between their bloody fingers. The beautiful word minunthadios , “short-lived,” is used of both Achilles and Hector, and applies to all of us. We die too soon, and there is no adequate recompense for the terrible, inevitable loss of life. Yet through poetry, the words, actions, and feelings of some long-ago brief lives may be remembered even three thousand years later.

--Emily Wilson's introduction to the Iliad

[queerpyracy]

they should invent a weaving in ends that isn't the most annoying part of any crochet project

[softdreamlesssleep]

God, "I missed you" sex is the best

[whysamwhy123]

Hmmm. What if I attempted to write a piece of Trash and posted it anonymously?

[brionysea]

why would i write when i can procrastinate on tumblr instead

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

HI EVERYONE monday and tuesday are going to be my exam days so once those are over I'll be back to being active here and continue working on everyone's commissions 💚 this is just an announcement to keep everyone posted~ I'll respond to any unreplied messages soon, just give me time!

also, happy birthday to my fellow october celebrants! i'm aware that there's a lot of october mutuals here but i don't want to contact everyone to greet them especially if it's late so here's a generalized one 🎂 cheers to more years to come!

[natasha-in-space]

Deadass didn't eat anything in over 10+ hours, and I have the nerve to lay there and think 'hmmm, I feel kind of very weak, shaky and unmotivated.... I wonder what could have possibly caused this 🤔'

[iniziare]

When Naans entertains my thoughts, and then adds to them and proceeds to ruin me.

[rifleseye]

I THINK THAT'S THE LAST I'LL BE TAKING OF THOSE FOR A WHILE.

[kurokoros]

The last two days have been awful and I've basically been in tears the entire time I haven't been around other people because I'm PMSing and stressed and I feel like I made a mistake adopting this kitten. The cats are getting along fine, but I don't know if I'm ready emotionally to handle a high energy kitten.

[hazmatazz]

holy shittt i wish my therapist didn't quit and i didn't have so many issues