#like yeah eloise was very severe on penelope

[tweedfrog]

As a matter of fact let's talk about it. Why the fuck did Eloise punish Cressida Cowper more severely for pretending to be Lady Whistledown than she punished Penelope for ACTUALLY being Lady Whistledown. AND CONTINUING TO PUBLISH???? Like?????

[myfairstarlight]

I've started to see takes saying Colin deserves better than Penelope, and claiming she "got away with everything", and to that I must say:

Whistledown was never created out of jealousy or anger. It was born from a lonely girl who wished to be part of a society that rejected her, so she wrote about it.

Penelope never pursued Colin. This wasn't some nefarious plan of hers like that take makes it sound like. He's the one who did all the chasing. Penelope was very much planning on distancing herself from him and the Bridgertons after last season. He's the one who couldn't let her go

She literally offers the annulment knowing there might still be people angry at her for Whistledown. That's her taking accountability and absolving the Bridgertons from dealing with her mess. Guess what he does again? He refuses, fully accepting the challenges ahead. Now that's marriage. And standing by his cancelled wife.

She decides to come clean in front of the whole Ton despite everyone around her trying to find an out for her. She could have taken the easy way out, lie to get the rest of the blackmail money needed, but she refused to drag the rest of the Bridgertons into this.

"Penelope faced no consequences" she is wracked with guilt for half the season, her closest loved ones turned away from her, and she got blackmailed. This is also a romance show the queen was NOT going to behead her as punishment, actually, go watch Game of Thrones instead

She was already changing the column to be more uplifting towards women and less confrontational with the Queen (even as the other debutantes talked shit about her, and the Queen threatened her). She was aware that her previous tone in her writing may have led to more problems. She is atoning for her past mistakes already.

Really looking back the only real mistakes she made was with Marina and Eloise. These were exceptions to what she usually writes as she exposed their secrets, not gossip. That's an important distinction to make. One the show itself does not make, actually.

You can add what she wrote about Colin too as an exception, since she was being petty and angry, and she regrets it immediately

She confessed everything to Violet. Granted, we do not see the letter, but she did come clean to the head of the family (since Anthony already left, otherwise I bet she would have told him too)

The one thing I agree with is that we had no closure for the Marina situation, despite her being mentioned several times.

But overall, she was remorseful, and she tried to fix things. She reached out to Eloise several times before they reconcile, she changed her column, and she now wishes to use her column to give a voice to the voiceless, the same way Whistledown helped her find a voice.

And Colin, well, he's only ever wanted Penelope, even after the reveal. Because Penelope remains the only one who truly understood him and supported him for being himself. Meanwhile Penelope is trying to be better. That's the key word, she wants to do better, so no she does not "get away with everything" because there was never malicious intent from her in the first place, but for the damage she did do, she wants to make up for them. And yeah, she's a goddamn mess, but as he said, she is his mess.

However, Colin did deserve better, but in terms of writing and screen time especially in part 2. We were told, more than shown, about his struggles, which is a bit of a shame when compared to Penelope's (and yet people still misunderstand her character, so).

[aduck8myshoes]

I know the writers won't give us an endgame wlw sibling, but think about the bridgerton family comedy they could milk out of that! Imagine:

In either a cold open cut-off or a cliffhanger, Cressida impulsively kisses Eloise and runs away, leaving Eloise completely blue screened. Eloise has no idea that lesbibabs exist, bc regency, and she is having lots of feelings she doesn't understand. She needs knowledge which to her means books, but where would one even find such a publication?

Cue Eloise trying to casually ask her two most worldly brothers where to find books about girl kissing. B and C spend a good 20 seconds looking back and forth from her to each other and going on just incredible face journeys. She's like, I just overheard some stuff and was curious this is not about me at all ahahaha, and they all suddenly have very important things to attend to that are not this conversation.

(Read more because this got long lol)

Colin has seen women have sex with each other in brothels, but he is an oblivious mfer that just discovered complex emotions last season, and probably had no idea there could be romantic feelings involved. So of course he goes to his wife about it.

Penelope is like, wtf, where is this coming from?, and Colin manages to not blurt out that it's about Eloise for a whole 10 seconds. Pen, who actually has a modicum of emotional intelligence, has heard her recently reconciled best friend complain for years that she doesn't understand why women want husbands, and is like, oh, some things suddenly make sense. She tells Colin to not worry about it and go to sleep.

Bi-nedict, who does know what a lesbian is, has heard his darling sister complain for years that she doesn't understand why women want husbands, and is like, oh, some things suddenly make sense.

Being the selfless brother he is, he heads over to the nearest artist orgy and asks around for some literature. They're like, oh yeah for sure, we have a zine club! (And then gets dicked down/pegged like he deserves.)

A few days later he gets a discreet delivery of underground pamphlets with names like "A Treatise on Human Sexuality" and "Like Yearns for Like: Observations on Attraction" as well as some he will NOT be giving to Eloise. (Zine club is very educational)

The less salacious pamphlets get awkwardly passed off to Eloise before bed and she spends all night in a montage of reading, recalling memories of Cressida (or possibly just women in general) being attractive, and working her way though her mini identity crisis.

At breakfast Violet sees her be like "Thank you for your... help. It was very... helpful" while not making eye contact with B, and mentally steels herself for whatever nonsense her kids are up to now.

For the next several episodes we watch them stumble upon Eloise as she attempts to get Cressida alone to talk (and then "talk") and have to try to keep anyone from finding out about the gal pals.

(Benedict going to duck around a corner only to see his sister sucking face and ducking right back out: Hey Colin and Penelope why don't we spend this entire ball standing right here blocking the entrance to this side hallway for no reason.

Penelope, who hasn't seen E in like an hour, putting 2 and 2 together: Ah yes, what an excellent idea brother-in-law! The view of everything in the opposite direction of that hallway is most splendid from this exact spot.

Colin, looking around, probably still oblivious: did Eloise go home?)

Anthony and Kate could be dragged into the effort as well at some point when they see something they shouldn't while looking for their own make-out spot.

And then when the drama hits and the relationship is revealed, they all put on their best shocked Pikachu faces while Colin finally gets it and is like, "oh wait is that why she was asking about-" before Pen stomps on his foot.

Violet lets herself give up for a full minute and just bang her head on a table.

[mandaplease10]

A Polin Take Nobody Asked for #7

Show Polin VS Book Polin Part 2

Comparing Polin in the show vs the books since so many are complaining about the differences. Part 1.

Show Polin: Falling in Love

I actually prefer their love story in the show because we really get to see it develop, plus it's a true friends to lovers trope compared to the book.

I know that several people think that Colin didn't have feelings for Penelope until Season 3, but I beg you to give their scenes in season 1 & 2 and the beginning of season 3 another watch.

Yes, there was the only Marina storyline, but it's very obvious that Colin was into the idea of her than actually being with her. He wanted a purpose/meaning in life and he thought by getting married was the answer. By that's another post for another day.

Personally, I think Colin started having more than friends feelings for Penelope at towards the end of Season 1 and got stronger in-between season 1 & 2 and even more in season 2.

What about the "Never Court Penelope line?" This was another example of Colin trying to fit in with society and trying to play down his feelings. Just before this scene, he talked about how special Pen was to him, so yeah it was a bad thing to say on his part, but it doesn't mean he didn't have some type of feelings for her.

When he comes back in Season 3, it's so obvious that he has feelings for her!!! His outfit at the garden party, the way he tries to flirt with Pen, and how upset he looks when she walks away from him. The fact that he is eager to make things right with her and willingly seeks her out. I mean, the mans speech in the Featherington Garden is practically a love declaration in and of itself.

Book Polin: Falling in Love

Colin returns back to Mayfair after being away for a while. He starts spending time with Pen and he notices there's something different about her. She's more confident and sure of herself and they have genuine conversations. We know how Pen feels about Colin and we get a little inkling of Colin slowly developing feelings for Pen. We get more uncertainty of whether Colin loves Pen because he doesn't really know what love is, he assumes it's a "thunderbolt from the sky" , but realizes it doesn't have to be. Loving someone is created by their smiles and spending time with them and never wanting to be away from them.

So, basically, I feel like in the show we get a better visual and story of how the two fell in love and why they love each other, whereas in the show, it's very quick and we aren't provided a lot of details/self journey like in the show.

Show Polin: Lady Whistledown Reveal

So many people hated how the show handled this storyline because it wasn't the same as the book. I actually like how they handled this, the only thing I wish they did differently is the timeline of events. I think Colin finding out would have worked better at the end of Ep 5 and then have Cressida's announcement as LW come out in Ep 6.

Regardless there are so many reasons why Colin reacted differently in the show compared to the book. The main thing is Colin is a decade younger in the book, so he's more immature and still finding himself. The other main thing is Colin has more issues with LW because of the whole Marina revelation, Eloise, and of course him not knowing himself. So, to him, he is finding out that the one person he thought he knew, the one person who he loves more than anything, has written these horrible things about him and people close to him (even if they were all true) and of course that is going to hurt. Especially, when you think this person has been 100% honest with you, only to find out they haven't and then you start to question everything.

Those two reasons in and of themselves are enough to justify his actions. Then the writers added in the jealously storyline on top of that, which makes it even worse.

Book Polin: Lady Whistledown Reveal

This happens before Polin actually get together, which means that there are no secrets amongst them when they get engaged or hook up in the carriage. However, the stakes also aren't as high because the worst thing LW wrote about Colin is the fact that he's charming. The biggest issue at first that Colin has is for Pen's safety, which makes sense. She's been living this double life, going to a shady part of town unchaperoned for years, and knowing that she's written things about some powerful people who could easily hurt her.

But one thing I keep seeing people who prefer Book Colin is how angry he got when she published after Cressida's announcement. He was so upset that he grabbed her arm to the point of bruising and mentioned wanting to kill her. So, yeah, Book Colin may not have separated himself from Pen, but he was very angry, more so than Show Colin.

Show Polin: Wedding & Aftermath

The simple fact that we even got a wedding, a wedding breakfast, a wedding dance already makes it better. I mean it was beautiful and everything I could have wanted for Polin. Yes, I would have rather them not still be at odds, but it shows that they were willing to put that aside and fight for their love despite them having trouble. That in the end they loved each other and they would make it work.

I wish we got them reconciling before the end of the episode 8, but when we look at other seasons, this is pretty much how those went as well. Hopefully, next season we just see them happy and if there is any drama they are a part of they are facing it together.

Book Polin: Wedding & Aftermath

We're told about the wedding. We don't actually get to 'see' the wedding happen in the book. Colin and Pen aren't at odds or sleeping separately. However, Colin is trying to deal with his jealously of Pen with her success of Whistledown. This all happens within the last few chapters of the book, so there really isn't much time to spend on how each are feeling in the moment until Cressida's blackmail comes in, which I will talk about in part 3!

[dollypopup]

i don't talk nearly enough about how great Colin is

-excellent fencer, clearly dedicated to it. great taste in puffy shirts 10/10

-brave af!!!! idk about you, but the very idea of being out at sea for several months pretty much w/ no one who knows me scares the soul out of me. bruh is out here on a ship headed to a completely unfamiliar place w/ not one shred of fear

-he's such a good brother? the way he supported Benny was so sweet? and all his little quips with Eloise? they are the sarcastic siblings for SURE. boxing with Greg? playing hoops w/ Hyacinthe? his 'I'm clearly Daphne's favorite'? i adore him

-calling Anthony an ass in defense of Marina was ICONIC

-let's be honest, he was a real one w/ Marina all around. boi was out here defending her left right and center. and that scene where they go 'That's a. . .rather long engagement. . .' 'Or simply romantic! :D ' was adorable. then his 'Why does anyone, marry, Brother? For love.' line? so earnest! heart in his hands!!! and even after it all went kaboom he didn't say a bad word about her. told her he would still have married her if she just told him and he meant it. said that with his whole chest, too. got a reality check from her when he visited and then when asked STILL said 'we could have done more for her' KING 👏 SHIT. may we all have an ex that respects us this much

-canonically the best dancer out of the Bridgerbunch

-loves his mum with all his heart and soul. that scene where he's walking her up the stairs and they're joking around is so wholesome. that scene where Violet is looking for someone to escort her and A and B all flee the scene but Colin steps up? our boy is so sweet

-his scene w/ Jack where he's all puffed up and imposing and tall af going 'how dare you take advantage of them??? fix this shit, NOW' and then turning around and bashfully going 'i rehearsed that speech for hours' when he and Pen could talk privately again WAS ADORABLE, don't even TRY to deny it

-multitalented! our boy can do it all: he sings! he dances! he writes! he drinks his respect women juice on the daily! he fences! he's fluent in sarcasm! he rides horseback! he has anxiety! he's a flirt! he can't stop snacking! are you not entertained?

-also his scene w/ Will where he's like 'no, i fucked up, i insulted you and i messed with your business. i'm sorry and i'm making it right' was sexy as hell. he didn't have to, he could have totally just let it slide under the rug, but he took accountability and made amends

-speaking of sexy: our little rule breaker! holds Penelope's hands in front of everybodyyyy! no glove no love, who? writes her (love) letters while he travels! doesn't give a fuck about propriety! does drugs! I LOVE HIM

-so much integrity. when he messes up he takes full responsibility for it. he's nice as hell to Phillip, encourages his interests, nerds out with him. Stuck his whole neck out for Pen the Featheringtons. 'Do you think I would care that she loved someone else before? That would make me a hypocrite' apologizing to Pen before leaving for his tour. telling her she inspires him. is always there to escort his mum. everything good.

-lost and aimless, my beloved. he's just a dweeb putting on a front and it's so wonderfully relatable

-i love his hero complex. yeah, i said it!!! Dancing with Pen after Cressida spills the drink? HOT. Getting Marina away from the old dude clearly making her uncomfortable? HOT. Standing up to Jack? HOT. Getting Kate and Anthony to trudge along after that Pal Mall game? HOT. Daphne coming to him in the middle of the night demanding to know about the duel and him getting on a horse and heading out with her? HOT.

-he's sarcastic as hell. 'She likes me MUCH better than you, Benedict' 'Maybe he's still at the altar waiting for Miss Edwina' 'Of course not, you are *clearly* sober', Anthony: 'I wish to apologize' 'Are there locusts in the streets??? Blood in the Thames? Is the end of days upon us already?????' 'our host looks a bit fussy. do you think if he goes to bed we all have to leave?' and, of course 'Have you ever visited a farm?'

-he's just a lil shit w/ a heart of gold, how can you not love him?

[rainybraindays]

Seeing people call book Colin abusive and being like "he had no reason to be so mad about Whistledown )):" and like...yeah he kinda did?

Whistledown may notbe as bad in the books but she is in everyones business still, shes spreading gossip, and people do have a desire to find her. Hes afraid of what happens when they do. Because hes right, Cressida, to most people is the more pleasing option because shes popular but not liked and conventionally attractive and people will more easily shrug it off. They'll still be mad but they'll consider it par for the course with her and move on. Some may not even believe her, like Lady Danbury but if no one else comes forward they've no reason to think otherwise.

Penelope, short, chubby, unimportant to most everyone Penelope? That will piss them off. She doesn't have the social capital to keep herself from being ostracized, people will be pissed this person they look down on, a spinster, someone who never even talks, had such control over their lives.

Colins worried, he says it himself, about this, about he risks shes been taking for over a decade. Hes jealous she's found something thats her and he feels like he hasn't done the sames. Hes mad hes been lied to, feels like hes been made fun of with his Eloise theory, but most of all hes in love and hes frightened by the prospect of what could have happened to her. By what still could happen to her if she was found out.

The other scene also often quoted as Colin being abusive is him grabbing her arm at their engagement ball.

Do you remember what happened in that scene?

An issue of Whistledown is distributed midball, the one that ends up giving Cressida enough to blackmail her mind you, the one Colin had asked her not to publish and thought she had agreed not to. Penelopes inner dialog tells us this wasn't planned. She'd planned it for a different ball, so she can enjoy hers, she knows Colins going to be mad, and I bet you she doesn't want to argue on their happy day. Colin grabbing her, while done in anger, has always read to me less as some rage fueled behavior with no thought, but as a way to keep her from trying to sip away. He knows she doesn’t wana have this argument again. He likely doesn't even want to have this argument, but he knows they have to.

People often view this scenes as Colin being physically aggressive and this unbelievabley abusive person. They look at this, and have been yowling about how he treats her so unfairly. This fandon is horrible about not looking at the entire scene. The carriage scene has them arguing, Penelope bites back at him just as much as he snaps at her. Their engament ball fight leads to their first night together. This is them seeing each other at their worst. And in the end they still choose wach other

His anger isn't entirely jealous like some try to paint it. Theres genuine worry, hes afraid for her he says so himself. People keep saying how Penelope is afraid of him but shes not thats made clear several times. She's more afraid of them arguing because she thinks that it'll be enough to make him not choose her.

These arguments are necessary. They help Colin see her as a whole person, it helps him solidify that his feelings are as deep as he thinks. It helps Penelope see him as a whole person as well not just the man shes been crushing on her whole life, which she mentions in the book. It shows that they can get through the big issues in their relationship without falling apart.

And remember Cressida blackmails Penelope. Very much one of the things Colin was afraid of. The only reason he can do the big reveal is because its after they're married, and he tells Anthony and Simon whats happening beforehand. She has far more social capital as a Bridgerton wife than she ever did as a Featherington daughter

Should Colin have grabbed her? Maybe not, but I don't think thats enough to label him as an abusive asshole unworthy of love. You don’t always make the best decision, but one slip, especially one so minor as grabbing your partner so they can't slip away before you get to talk to them about a issue you know they won't like talking about, does not make you horribly abusive like some of you suggest.

And another related side note, a huge thing i see ALL the time, is how Colin's anger comes out of nowhere.

"ooooh in the other books colin doesn't have an angry bone in his body, hes so nice and relaxed, how could Quinn write him as such an ass in his own."

A temper not often showing is not the same as it not existing. When he says he wouldn't marry Penelope in the books? Very much an angry scene. Hes being teased after having her pushed on him by his mother, and hes tired of it and snaps aggressively to make it stop. Colin has always had a temper, it just wasn't nearly as important to the other books thus not explored. I know he says in the book how he doesn't think he has one, but we also tend to push away traits we view as negative when thinking on ourselves.

Anyway, please remember that Show Colin is going to have the worst reaction to the Whistledown reveal, as said by the cast themselves, and I'm kinda living for it.

[shameonmeeguiltypleasure]

This has been itching in my brain for a while but I kind of just assumed that Colin and Eloise were the exceptions with having darker personalities based on what Anthony said in an earlier chapter and never thought much of it until I read the latest update with Colin's inner monologue concerning his sisters' wrath. Add in the fact that neither of the brothers were surprised at Colin's violent outburst (although this could be just because they are both used to it). And now I'm wondering if Anthony is just an unreliable narrator or is the entire family dark as well?

And speaking of dark, I know you said Pen is an unreliable narrator when it comes to family but does that only concern their love for her or is she also unaware of her family's darker aspects?

BTW, i love SMB. Like literally the chokehold that your fanfic has on me is unholy.

I love you Anon, thank you so much for asking!!

So when I shared Anthony's pov in that earlier chapter, I was still hemming and hawing about the way I wanted to portray Polin's siblings. It isn't till recently I decided to fully commit to the dark side and give shades of grey & black to the characters. Your ask definitely reminded me that I need to update the tags with 'Unreliable narrator' as depending on the sibling and the perspective, the character will read differently.

This was also due to how Colin and Eloise's talk went. Their relationship is extremely complicated (if you haven't noticed lol). She'll give you her experience growing up with Colin when I get to work on her book. The Bridgerton Siblings aren't dark per se… they just had to adapt to Colin who was an incredibly unrelenting force as a child. After Edmund died, Violet fell into depression and Anthony was drowning with responsibility with Benedict & Daphne doing their best to help him stay afloat, Colin was sort of left alone. Eloise wasn't talking. Franny, Greg & Hyacinth were definitely more minded than Colin and Eloise.

And the assumption was that COLIN was looking after Eloise, helping her through the trauma and grief. That he was doing fine because he was smiling and charming visitors away from the door when they wanted to ask after Violet (He was in a way… but he's a kid in grief too). Eloise is the only one who pushes Colin because she knows the literal worst of him. They clash because they were essentially the forgotten middle children.

Also, in Colin's mind, a part of him thinks, if he's capable of the things he's done his siblings must be the same they just hide it better from him and the public. (So yeah, he's unreliable and biased). And Funnily enough, Ant&Ben think the same of Colin. (They all severely underestimate each other's impulse controls tbh)

Pen is an extremely unreliable narrator when it comes to her family. There is LITERALLY so much she didn't notice (Y'all get more insight in Ch12). As SMB Phillipa will be quoted saying:

"Penelope is the best liar of them all. Only Master Liars could sink themselves so deeply into believing a lie of their own making they'd forgotten the truth. Phillipa Admired her for it, it's what kept her safe throughout the years. It's why she could forgive her for the many years she'd spent missing her sweet little Penny…."

Depending on the Polin sibling you interview, you're gonna have them describing a very different kind of Polin.

Example:

Anthony: Colin's got a temper and is greedy, but he's harmless. He's a Gentleman! He was raised well, of course. (duh!)

Benedict: Mmmh, not exactly harmless, but he knows where to draw the line. Maybe don't tempt him to cross it?

Daphne: Colin wouldn't hurt a fly! He's far too kind for that!! Oh, what? No, he just asked if I could help him bury some bones a dog dug up in his backyard on Saturday. Mmh? This red stuff? Oh, my daughter's learning how to paint.

Eloise: Colin will skin you from your toes to your hair follicles, boil you in a cauldron and feed you to the poor for dinner as a soup with bread as a side dish. You laugh, but I'm not joking. Ask him what happened to Susan who called me a bitch last week. Do you really think it was a coincidence he volunteered to feed the poor as charity work recently? Did you not wonder where he got the meat so quickly?

Franny: Of course, I trust my brother. Was that a serious question? Colin doesn't lose his temper unless it's over something truly bad. What's his definition of Bad? I don't know, I guess if someone made one of us cry, then yeah…

Greg&Hyacinth: Colin doesn't do anything wrong. He's actually pretty boring. All he ever does is eat and moon over Penelope Featherington.

Featherington Sisters:

Prudence: Touch my sister and die. I refuse to say another word. A threat? Oh no sir, that was a promise.

Phillipa: Penny's adorable!! I miss her sometimes. Hmm? Oh no she's still living with Mama, I just miss when she used to stab tables and threaten cousin Alfie to hold his tongue or she'll stuff him full with stones and toss him in the lake. Alfie's afraid of water you see, but she was offering to teach him how to swim, he didn't need to cry about it. Isn't she sweet?

Felicity: Touch my sister and die. Don't even breathe next to her. What? Prudence did? Well… *loads shot gun*… I guess I'll save her the trouble. *BANG*

[firesnap]

Honestly the only problem I have with Eloise is that she’s written as a “strong female character” but the kind of female character that constantly belittles every other female without recognizing her privilege. Like yeah she can be like I don’t wanna marry, I wanna read books because I’m more than a babymaker/housewife/etc and that’s all well and cool but she can only be like that because her older sister married exceptionally well and can support and provide for her in every sense of the word. Like daphne set the standard for the rest of her family.

I feel like every time this kinda tomboy archetype is introduced in historically inspired media it’s at the expense of every female character that doesn’t fall into that archetype. Like I get what the authors are trying to do but it reminds me of the whole Sansa/Arya Stark debacle and how it seems like women can only be strong if they act masculine/follow “male” traits and reject everything associated with femininity. Love her though :3

They literally talked about this like six times to be completely fair. Like Daphne is my second favorite Bridgerton and flat out tells Eloise the only reason she can even entertain being a quirky outsider is because Daphne does all the work to make their family reputable. Her brothers call her on it. Penelope has brought it up to her, time and time again, that she's showing remarkable privilege that other women don't have whenever Eloise is being snide about marriage.

The whole plot with her and the print shop boy is emphasizing again that Eloise is so naive that most of her grandstanding comes from being sheltered than truly educated on things like women's issues. She thinks that so many problems can be solved if women just "choose" to do something different despite being shown that scandal and social expectations rob women of most choices. Eloise came off as unlikable several times when trying to get on Daphne's case about Daphne's social struggles and, again, I think it was to make it clear that she is very, very sheltered.

Also feels dismissive of the fact that Eloise definitely has traditionally feminine traits for the time period, many that aren't usually considered positive, and trying to jam her into a "tomboy" role that she doesn't really fit either.

Eloise is a socially awkward child that gets to hide behind her privilege and position to be noisy, but have no real direction or steel behind her words because she's never had to sit and seriously think about them.

But I like her because she's bad at social games, and she's bad at being a feminist right now, but she's got an eagerness to learn and genuineness that shows most of her really rank behavior comes from just a lack of real world experience.

[dollypopup]

interesting that the reason her family is known as ostentatious, scandalous, charmless and unappealing is directly because of Penelope writing about her own family that way. in her very first article, she writes about her mum being tasteless and tactless and that she and her sisters are thrust upon the ton like sorrowful sows specifically because she doesn't want to be out in society and thus is doing so to remain invisible in her own self-preservation. Penelope purposefully *wants* to be unappealing, that's the whole point of the conversation in the daffodils. Eloise hates that she's under the microscope as a Bridgerton and Penelope loves the fact that she's invisible. That was their entire conversation.

I mean, it's such a headscratcher why Eloise would be upset that Penelope wrote unkind things about several women, including her sister and future sister-in-law (you know, the Eloise who told a guy that she'll never take it as a compliment when someone diminishes other women to 'elevate' her), ousted her pregnant cousin and then publicly derided her for days after, making it so she can't ever come back to the city, listened silently as Eloise vowed to find LW so she can convince her to retract her statements and return honor to the Featheringtons, broke up her budding relationship w/ Theo by gaslighting her and insisting that people already know she's seeing him, caring little to nothing about Eloise's passion for feminism and that she's in the midst of educating herself, and then exposed her as a 'political radical' instead of talking to her and coming up with a plan together

but yeah, okay, the various ways Penelope has betrayed Eloise pales in comparison to the REAL root of her upset: jealousy

Ok but Eloise is a gorgeous, popular, rich, connected and respected Bridgerton

Penelope has to fight for everything she will ever have—money, love, recognition, even basic freakin decency because she is from an ostentatious, scandalous, ridiculous looking family known for debts and scandals and charmless, unappealing daughters.

In my opinion I think Eloise’s feelings of betrayal are linked with feelings of jealousy because Penelope is actually doing something with her talent.

Penelope is heard even if she’s being heard under a pen name. Penelope has a legacy. Penelope is earning her own money independent of anyone else. AND she’s doing it all as an insipid wallflower, without help, as an unappealing Featherington.

And I think Eloise is bothered by that, even if she wants to believe her anger rests only in what Penelope wrote about her.

[newtonsheffield]

hi!! can we get some headcanons (or a mini-fic) for the pics Nicola, Simone, and Charithra posted yesterday of what looks like a pretty epic brunch? thank you for humoring our requests :)

You can, You can, Because I'm obsessed with them.

Would you believe not a single person at work even asked me about Simone Ashley's instagram story???? I had to bring it up myself. Ugh I'm appalled with the lot of them.

Anyway! Here's how this went in the BSCU

"I have to go." Anthony groaned as his fiancée rolled away, catching her by the arm, tugging her backwards. "No, Anthony." Kate laughed kissing his forehead. "We have been far too in this little we just got engaged bubble. I'm going to lunch with my sister, your sisters and Penelope and that's the end of it." "But I like our little bubble." He said, ignoring the way his heart fluttered when she rolled her eyes, biting back a smile. "And don't we have fun in it?" His teeth nipping at her ear. Kate pushed lightly against his chest, smirking "We, have already had fun this morning, and several times last night. And now, I want some french toast and champagne. And beside, you could come."

Anthony groaned, "To a ladies lunch?" As much as he wanted to spend time with Kate, he practically ached to be close to her, always had really and ever since he'd proposed the pull have been even stronger, He'd been to one of Kate's boozy brunches before, and he always ended up being spun around the room while everyone applauded his backside. Not that he thought his sister's would be keen to do so. "Weeelll Penelope will be there, and you can try and push her and Colin together, you always like that." Kate teased, standing from the bed again. Anthony sighed. "No, you go. Newton and I will have a boys day, won't we buddy?" Newton turned his back on him a clear No thank you, Anthony.

And really, Anthony meant to stay home. And then he saw Kate emerge from the bathroom 20 minutes later. "Is that what you're wearing?" Anthony said quickly, his eyes raking over her long legs, her dress swishing against her thighs, Anthony's hands clenched at his side, desperate to touch her. "Yes? Why?" Kate said confusedly looking down at herself. "I'll be ready in ten." Anthony said standing suddenly. He would let every woman in England applaud his physique if he got to stand next to Kate wearing that dress.

40 minutes into brunch and it had become apparent that perhaps Anthony wasn't as subtle as he thought he was. If the way Eloise and Edwina were looking at him was any indication. "So, Penelope. Have you had a chance to read Colin's new book?" He said, watching her carefully. Penelope shrugged across the table at him, her eyes narrowing. "I did yeah. It was pretty good though I thought the red herring was a little obvious this time round." Kate snorted beside him. "Please tell him that. He's back in town you know. Just finished his book tour." She said pointedly. Penelope shrugged, excusing herself from the table. Anthony sighed as Edwina turned on him.

"Ohhhh Anthony. Is this amateur hour?" Edwina hissed. Anthony felt indignation flare in his chest. "I don't know what you mean." "You two are as subtle as a gun. If you want them together this isn't the way to do it." Edwina rolled her eyes. "And forcing two people to dinner is?" Anthony hissed back. "That got you your fiancée thank you! You wouldn't have Kate without me!" Kate snorted into her champagne. Anthony scoffed. "I did perfectly well thank you! We had oodles of sexual tension Edwina!" "Well, if you had oodles I'm not sure why I bothered." "Kate tell her!" Anthony turned towards his fiancée who was not even bothering to hide her laughter now. "Oh Yes honey, it was very hot." Kate said dryly. "Everything alright?" Penelope said sitting down again, her eyes brimming with curiosity.

"Oh, just... you know. Unresolved sexual tension. Anthony and I had oodles of it allegedly." Kate said smirking, completely ignoring The exasperated look Anthony shot her. And really, Anthony couldn't even be mad that Kate had stopped a random woman in the street and, only a very little sloppily said "Isn't my future husband so pretty?!" Because the way her arm felt around him was really very nice.

[collectionoftulips]

re kate and edwina, i think objectively the biggest problem with s2 is pacing and how rushed the last several episodes, or actually, the second half feels, and why it feels like what you mentioned wasn't entirely resolved. and if charithra isn't coming back for s3, then we can't even assume they deliberately left it to be further developed in subsequent seasons. a hugely unpopular opinion, but i didn't actually hate most of s2 plots, i don't think k&e's relationship was that badly done, at least the gist of the conflict, it just seems super rushed in the end. and it winds up being like, 5-6 episodes of tension/build-up, 6-7 is like a fallout and then 8th is like, everything is wrapped up nicely now very quickly and a lot of it offscreen. and i don't actually mind that not every conversation between kate, mary, edwina, was shown, we didn't need to see everything, but together with other issues with the writing, the season imo ends up feeling unbalanced. (another my opinion is that many fans were disappointed bc they wanted edwina to be a superficial background character whose only purpose would be to be a kathony cheerleader. the book edwina is hardly a well-rounded character to be realistic)

Yeah pacing is a huge issue in season two, which is a shame because if the pacing was more balanced I would like to believe some of these issues wouldn't be so severe.

Up until the announcement that Charithra isn't coming back, I just kinda foolishly assumed that all of the Sharmas would be permanent fixtures in season three (but in retrospect I think it was probably more fuelled by the fact that I connected to their family more than the other Bridgerton families for some reason).

I have a complicated relationship to the subplots of season two (or the other plots, I guess I might call them). Theoretically, I wouldn't have minded them but, I think, for me, the biggest problem is that unlike s1, the subplots in s2 were not really connected in any way to the main arc. In s1, the subplots would eventually reveal something to either Daphne or Simon or mirror the journey they were at, etc. That made all the different bits feel like part of a whole. I did not have the same feeling with regards to season two (and even upon rewatching it again I feel the same). It makes the subplots, to me, feel like filler or like I'm not entirely sure why I'm watching it. Penelope's story I guess was set up for s3, Eloise's arc I'm still not entirely sure what the main point of it was aside from the fight with Penelope (like the stuff with Theo I'm not sure what they were going for there).

Because season two felt like they lacked a bit of narrative connective tissue (if you will), I wonder if that's why the lack of Sharmas in s2 stands out to me? Like, if we can now sadly dispense with the idea that they get more space in s3 😢, they constantly hinted at backstories and plots (like Mary's whole deal etc) and the lack of showing any of those things stands in stark contrast to the intricate insight we got into the Featherington's financial situation. I think being shown everything would indeed be excessive, but there were certain things that I think they could have given maybe five more minutes to, at least for the stuff that really matters (which at least to me would include the relationship between Edwina and Kate considering they were both sort of vying for the attentions of the same man and a lot of Kate's conflict was how what she wanted went against the good of her family).

That's at least my general take that I'm gradually building as to why I feel like season two felt so unbalanced. That in combination with, as you say, they had to squeeze so much into the last two episodes. So I'm not necessarily disagreeing with what you're saying but complementing it with my own take, if you will.

Not an expert on the books but I agree that book!Edwina was hardly a well rounded character (but she wasn't bad) and I didn't mind the sheltered spoiled younger sister vibe they went with her on the show (I don't understand entirely all the Edwina hate I hear being floated around) and I definitely like she got more of her own identity with flaws etc. so no complaints from me on that score.

Thank you so much for your ask ❤️

[fayevalcntine]

This fandom must chill and we can all agree on this. What is really sad imo is that it would have been better if the pr strategy and the promo has been decent. All this pushing for the love triangle was stupid (cause to me there wasn’t a love triangle but that’s another discourse), the soulmates sister thing was bs (and sorry but this is true). S2 is all about fucked up people doing fucked up stuff but trying to do good and there is nothing bad recognizing it. Every single character does something wrong in s2 and that’s okay. Instead we’re arguing cause people are villanizing/infantilizing characters and because people can’t separate reality from fiction the actors are the ones paying for it.

Yeah I agree. The promo is just a lot of weird incorrect assumptions and simplifications made for the plot because as you said, there wasn't even a love triangle in the first place and frankly what we got didn't even feel like a love triangle because even when Edwina talks about why she wants Anthony to propose, it's not about who he is but what his title and life consists of. The soulmates sister thing is just awkwardly placed for me because I actually do like the sibling relationship with Edwina and Kate but primarily because it's a very complicated one, like there's several layers within it and to just say that they're soulmates for each other is kind of.....false marketing? At least for the tone of which it was delivered because their relationship wasn't all simple fun, it was complicated and messy in the show and it would've been much better if the promo fully leaned into that since the messiness this season isn't even limited to Anthony, Kate and Edwina but to Penelope and Eloise at least.

[invisibleinorange]

Swelter Weather

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Bridgerton Rating: M Warnings: None at this point. Relationships: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington,  Eloise Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington(besties),  Bridgerton Family Dynamics, Eloise Bridgerton/Phillip Crane Characters: Colin Bridgerton,  Penelope Featherington, Eloise Bridgerton, Anthony Featherington,  Benedict Bridgerton,  Portia Featherington, Violet Bridgerton, Genevieve Delacroix Additional Tags:  Bridgerton, Polin

Summary: Colin Bridgerton is weary from travel and decides to spend the summer at the Aubrey Hall. While his initial plans were to avoid his perfect family, he ends up sharing the house with Eloise and Penelope. This is a Modern AU!

Additional Notes:  I still have plenty to write for my other series  but this is the first chapter in the Modern! AU which demanded release today.

There was something about the sweet freedom of being away from the crowded streets of London that Colin loved.  While he wasn’t quite ready for another adventure around the world, he did didn’t particularly care to spend the summer in his bachelor flat alone or at the family home surrounded by his perfect and over achieving siblings with their perfect marriages and lives.  Instead he opted to head to the family summer home in the countryside and it was everything he wanted.

He had fond memories of his childhood here.  Life was far less complicated when he and his siblings had been on fairly even footing.  There was nothing to worry about how they were going to spend their afternoons – hikes, swimming or even the occasional croquet battle.   No one had the same leisure between careers, families or school.

He had spent the last several weeks savoring his solitude and the quiet of Aubrey Hall. There were no schedules, no commitments and most importantly not a single person to bother her outside of the occasion phone call or text from a member of his family. If they were being especially annoying, he would turn it to silence and send them to voicemail until he would inevitable cave and respond because he did actually care about what was going on in their lives.

After a late night of eating takeout and watching a movie on Netflix, he had decided to simply not set an alarm clock for the next day. No one was going to complain about him sleeping in, so he did so. By the time he decided to move from his bed, the sun was already up the sky.  He wouldn’t have forced himself up then if it weren’t for the persistent growl of his stomach demanding his attention.  That was nothing new though. He was always hungry.

He pushed himself up from the comfort of his bed, padding his way down to the kitchen.   If his family had been there, he would have had to make some effort at making himself presentable but by having the house to himself, he could do as he pleased and that included going straight from bed to the kitchen.

He grabbed a frying pan and put on a couple of eggs before popping some bread in a toaster.  He hummed absently to himself as he moved back to the pan, working on properly scrambling his eggs.  He couldn’t quite remember the song but it was probably something he’d heard during his last stint in London at some social engagement or another.

“Colin,”  a voice came from behind, making him nearly jump in surprise at the sudden invasion of privacy.  He spun prepared to fight off the offender with a specula despite the fact he knew the voice belonged to Eloise.

He very quickly remembered his state of undress when he caught sight of not only his younger sister but also Penelope.  His eyes widened slightly and he froze, his face growing red with embarrassment. 

Penelope wasn’t any less pink. Their eyes met and then quirkly averted.  While he quite enjoyed the company of his sister’s best friend this was probably not something that would be on their topics of conversation.  He mentally cursed as his mind processed that over the years, he’d randomly had less than innocent dreams about the girl and a few of them started with happenstance just like this but Eloise was never part of them.  Now was not the time to let his mind linger to far there.  He decided to focus on the Eloise part.  His sister was a safe person to focus on.

Speaking of which, Eloise seemed to be the only person capable of taking action. She covered her own eyes, making a face that made it known that the whole situation was the stuff of terrors before blindly reaching for an apron that hung unused, extending it to her brother.

“Christ,” she muttered. “Cover yourself.”

Colin for his part did use it to cover his front not that the damage wasn’t already done. There was literally no way to escape the situation unscathed and he had no doubt his entire family would know about it by the end of the day. He really needed to go put on some actual clothing but first, well he felt like throwing an absolute hissy fit about the fact Eloise thought she could just show up unannounced.

“Did you think to maybe call before just showing up?

“It’s the family home. I don’t need your permission to show up. Besides, what kind of deviant runs around in the nude?  We need to sanitize the entire house now.”

“People who think they have the place to themselves,” he gruffed.

It was Penelope who came out of her shellshock enough to point toward the forgotten frying pan. “Uh, I think your eggs are burning,” she managed, though honestly it was any wonder the words came out in order.

“Shit,”  Colin murmured starting to turn back to the stove but it was Eloise who stopped him mid-spin.

“No,” Eloise said, reaching for the spatula and taking over the egg prep.  “We’ll finish this. You go find some pants for fuck’s sake. Penelope doesn’t want to see your ass. Right, Pen?”

Penelope was noticeably quiet for a long moment but to her credit she did nod at what Eloise was suggesting. It was probably for the best if he did find clothing. Colin decided to save Penelope (and his sister) from further embarrassment.  He moved past, trying to get to the door. He paused and did a little spin trying to keep some modesty not that there were any mysteries to be had at this point.

“Yes, wouldn’t want to traumatize her like that,” he said toward his sister before nodding, smiling cheekily toward her counterpart.  “Honestly, you can stay but  Eloise is ruining the fun. Try and ditch her before I come back, yeah?”

“I resent that,” he heard Eloise complaining after he left the room.

--

Penelope hadn’t been able to bear the thought of another summer locked away with her miserable family so when Eloise had offered the concept of a girl trip to the Aubrey Hall she’d eagerly accepted. It was only half way through the drive that the other girl had mentioned that they’d have to share the house with her brother.

The mere mention of Colin was enough to make Penelope’s heart skip a beat. She had a crush on him for more years than she could count anymore but he’d never given her any indication that he considered her more than a friend.  He was quite charming though and he was always kind.  When he would come home from jet setting around the world, he always made time to chat or dance with her.

It did very little to discourage the crush.

She had thought that with time and distance it would fade but all it took was a mention or a sighting for the whole dreadful thing to come racing back.  How Eloise wasn’t aware of the crush at this point was beyond her but since it was a relatively mute point he didn’t push it. She and Colin were friends but that was all they would ever be.

The last thing she’d expected upon arrival was for her eyes to be assaulted by full-frontal Colin. It wasn’t something she’d be forgetting anytime soon either.

“I’m sorry about that, Pen!” Eloise told her after a moment as she trashed the now slightly burnt eggs and decisively started over making enough to where they could all eat. It had been a long trip after all. “This stuff happens when you have brothers. At least he was alone not that it makes it any less gross.”

Penelope didn’t want to even think about that him having someone else there.  She nodded though. Eloise did have a point that she could only assume was accurate. She’d never had brothers of her own but she’d heard enough complaints about the Bridgerton Boys that she felt as if the mental picture was accurate.

“It wasn’t that gross,” Pen said after a long minute. “I mean, objectively Colin isn’t hard on the eyes.”

“Well he’s not your brother,” Eloise said making a face that made it pretty clear that she wasn’t interested in hearing how objectively not unattractive her best friend thought her brother was.  Maybe she didn’t know how far back it went and she wasn’t really aiming to ask questions about it but she was aware that Penelope had been into him at points.  She was also fairly sure at points her brother had probably been into her friend as well.  Nothing had come of it though and she definitely wasn’t going to try and encourage it lest it all go horribly bad.

Penelope didn’t push it for her part.

They began to work in silence creating a veritable breakfast feast for three and by the time Colin rejoined them wearing shorts a t-shirt they already had the plates made and juice poured.

“Well you might have invaded my very intimate breakfast this morning but I suppose I can forgive you for being angels who cook,” he said as she moved to take a seat at the table that was far too big for just three.  He did pause long enough to ruffle Eloise’s hair to mess with her before sitting in the end spot between the two girls.

“Someone has to be angelic when you’re clearly Satan incarnate,” Eloise responded stabbing a fork into her eggs and taking a bite.

“Only some of the time,” Colin confessed, laughing as he began to pick away at his plate. He offered a light smile toward their guest.  “Let’s be real, Pen is the only angel at this table. Us Bridgerton come from a long line of demons.”

Eloise made a fake gagging noise at that.

“That actually explains a lot,”  Penelope said after a long moment.

That managed to grab both of their attention, waiting to hear what she might have to say about demons and Bridgerton family members.

“I honestly believe you could be an incubus,” she said after a long moment, eyes directed toward Colin.

Colin nearly choked on a sausage at that, he recovered quickly though and fell into a fit on laughter.  Penelope always had been witty and the fact that she thought that he could be the incubus of the family was laughable. He wasn’t the person that most people thought him to be.  Of course, he was charming and could flirt with anyone but that didn’t mean he actually got anywhere. He couldn’t very well have his older brothers judging him for that though so he let people believe what they wanted to and didn’t go out of his way to correct them.

“You can’t just go around telling people that I’m a sex demon, Pen,” he said conspiratorially barely able to keep a straight face. “I mean, what I do in your dreams is between me and you.  Not everyone gets to survive with their soul intact.”

“You better not be doing anything to her in her dreams or your own,” Eloise said, kicking him in the shin. “My friend is off-limits.”

Colin frowned, reaching down to rub his shin.  He wanted to tell Eloise to mind her own business but before he could Penelope seemed to take it upon herself to handle that.

“Little late for that,” Penelope said knowing that by saying so she was declaring sides in this sibling battle.  Colin couldn’t be more smug about it either. Eloise looked as if she could kill them both.

“I’ll try to behave moving forward but I do hope it was as good for you as it was good for me,”  he said, though from the shit-eating grin on his face it was pretty clear that he wasn’t sorry at all.  Especially when his gaze moved from Penelope back to Eloise.  “Sorry El, I couldn’t help myself.”

“Of course not,”  Eloise said, shaking her head.

If this was how the summer was going to go, it was going to be a long one.