#opinion not facts

[hopepaigeturner]

Hope's Review of S3: Polin

Right...let the main show begin!

Note: These are my opinions, that does not make them right, nor am I posturing that they are the only opinion. Very up for discussion with y’all as long as it’s respectful.

Note: I do not stand for hate against any actors/actresses or writers. Please, please, do not send hate to them.

As I said in my past post:

I loved moments, far more than the writing.

Penelope:

Nicola Coughlan did so well this season as the lead. 10/10 acting from her. A great female lead who carried a lot of scenes. Also the representation of a plus size girl in the sex scenes was so good.

Penelope’s looks beautifully represented her journey—e.g. her hair, the colours of her dresses.

Penelope’s character arc and growth were the best part of the season hands down. The journey of her confidence so she could face her past, expose herself, step into the light was probs the best writing.

Portia and Penelope storyline. I liked that Portia came to understand her neglect and Penelope understood the similarities between them. I was worried in pt1 that they wouldn’t be able to do this, but thankfully they did.

Penelope and Eloise. Oooh, I loved the slow burn. I liked that it was obvious the longing between the pair of them, so I had no doubt that Eloise would reunite with Pen. I liked the parallel that Colin reconciled with Pen through reading her letters, and Eloise reconciled after reading Old Whistledowns. I also liked that Eloise did apologise to Pen. But whether Pen truly apologised back…a little murkier.

Penelope and Whistledown. I’m a bit mixed about this. I was glad that Pen took some accountability and received some heat from her actions. I am glad that we were shown that Penelope was starting to use her pen to ‘give voice to the voiceless’. I’m not sure a couple speeches really showed true remorse, I've had chats with others and rewatching the scenes she apologises but then counterargues it/justifies it. And the writers definitely shied away from some of the more pricklier parts of Whistledown. But I knew they were going to do that so 🤷🏻‍♀️

The whole Whistledown has always been a bit dodgy for me. Yes, in a patriarchal system, it is a woman making a successful business. But it is also profiting off the misfortune of others, and Penelope has not been kind. It’s not exactly #feminism. @dollypopup has a really good post here about Whistledown being all of Pen's worst qualities and she also has a really good resolution to this.

The decision to have Pen, not Colin, make the plan/decision to reveal Whistledown was a change I welcomed. It allowed Pen to have her moment and take control of her actions.

The decision to keep Whistledown…I’m wondering where the writers will take this going forward for there will be a lot more complications now. Will they show hostility? Will they brush it under the carpet? Will people be ‘fake friends’ to Pen?

Polin:

Same thing again, I loved moments but I was less impressed with the couple’s general arc.

The softness and giggles, and laughter between the two was so sweet to see. I was quite sold on the friendship aspect.

The mirror scene!! Need I say more?

I liked that amongst the Whistledown drama there was never the question about whether the two loved each other. It was never used to heighten stakes. However, the fact that Penelope literally just shouted ‘I love you’ in the face of Colin’s accusations on the street—and that was able to quell the ire in the moment didn’t do it for me.

The violin covers we got? Yellow, You Belong With Me, pov?? LOVED IT.

The wedding scene. Pen’s initial hesitation before Colin nods and encourages her. How they shot the vows. Penelope’s wedding dress. The holding hands. I found it really sweet and romantic.

All their dances? The fact that they love dancing together--swoon

But the writing…

I did like the progression of their friendship to lovers in part 1. I liked the lessons part, as it was basically Colin hyping Pen up, rather than Colin tutoring Pen as I first feared.

But in Part 2, Polin were a little sidelined? I felt that even though Whistledown was hanging over them in the latter part of the season, that the pair spent a lot of time apart. I think it didn't help that the subplots meant we literally had to wait long periods of time before we returned to them.

I’ve been hearing rumours about a lot of scenes, especially steamy scenes, being cut which makes sense because from the amount Nicola and Luke were talking about it I was expecting more. Then again, the ones we got were definitely…spicy. But also, in all honesty, if a production is running short for time and needs to make cuts, the first thing to go will be steamy scenes over dialogue/character scenes. Even if this is Boinkerton.

I cannot believe they cut out Colin's love speech from the book. Like, the classic Bridgerton love speech? His Bridgerton love speech? While I did like the one in the show, they could have easily added the other speech as the sentiment is exactly the same.

But I think the biggest problem with Polin was…

Colin’s lack of character exploration.

So, on we go to the equally most important character this season, even if he felt like the fourth or fifth.

Colin

This is my biggest annoyance. We get all this complexity from Penelope, the journey of self-love and confidence, coming to terms with the past (although not as much as I would have liked). And also, all the development/healing with her family and Eloise. But we barely get anything from Colin.

And yes, this is a romance show that is geared towards women and a wish for complex female characters. But gosh darn it, you need your male romantic lead to be interesting too!!! He’s the main plot of the season!!

We had all this talk about him putting on a mask and needing to just be himself, we had Pen talking about his sensitivity, we had this interesting concept of jealousy around his writing. And yeah, we got a bit of exploration, (more talk rather than showing), but he did not get nearly enough screentime to explore these things in depth. And that’s so annoying. Just because he’s the guy doesn’t mean he shouldn't get a meaningful arc. I also think that is why Polin flagged for me in the second half, because you had a really developed individual and a half-baked one.

When Colin gets to the conclusion about his purpose being Penelope, we only got one prior scene of him on his own to show that he came to that conclusion. Only one?!?!? Why didn't we have a full scene of Penelope exploring with Colin why he was jealous? Or why he felt the need to put up a front? Or why he feels that he must prove himself to be worthy of her?

He's one of the main leads!!!

However, once again I did love moments:

I liked that Colin didn’t beat around the bush. Once he realised he loved Penelope he went straight for it and didn’t dawdle unlike other Bridgerton boys.

I liked that Colin cried at the Whistledown reveal. Also, the whole thing about him being sensitive. I really like that in a show that has a lot of classic masculine tropes they went with that direction. (Even if they didn’t execute it well).

I LOVED Colin putting Portia in her place. YAAAAS.

I really liked that Colin didn’t have to do a big act of love to be worthy of Pen’s love. A lot of traditional male love interests (I’m looking at you Disney Princes) must slay the dragon or swoop in with a grand gesture to be ‘worthy’ of love. I liked that Colin just needed to be himself. I found that refreshing for a male character. Although again, this could have been explored better.

I liked that through reading letters, Colin found a way to reconcile with Penelope, just as Eloise found reconciliation with Penelope through reading Old Whistledowns.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alas, the ghost of my English lit degree comes to haunt my brain once again.

Let me know what you guys think!

[astr0disiac]

"toxic yaoi" this "password" that

THIS being one of stan's lowest moments is the saddest thing i've seen and no one has talked about it what the freak :(

[kerrste]

I can’t beleive they just walked around like this for the whole movie

[demaparbat-hp]

She will (and he'll let her)

[naturecalls111]

unorthodox murder mystery

[brokenmachinemusings]

ok finally posting this on here but the fact they mirror each other. ugh they make me so ill i need a moment

[lucksea]

don't be scared, i'm your friend

[egophiliac]

(breathing into a paper bag) FRALIO....

can't believe they gave us another guy. oh my god. so I guess Kelka is more, uhhh, more OOO then, and Fralio is Ankh? not that it matters too much, although they do seem to be doing something with the connected Riders so. who knows. anything goes! or if I may, anything gOOOes! god. of course they're the Ambition parallel. of course they are. oh my god.

fortunately there's nothing else they can throw at me right now that could possibly --

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

cnetizen: it is not recommended that you call your partner baby..

[overheard-at-camp-half-blood]

“They changed the narrative from the books to make Athena bad.”

Athena was horrible in the books too, it was just glossed over by everyone. 💀

[cherry-pop-elf]

New Chapter

Anya x Reader

Can be read as platonic because we all want the best for her

SUM: Anya gets an abortion so you and the rest of the crew wait for her. You were the first one, however, to see her after surgery. Also because fuck you, abortion rights

Warnings: Abortion, sexual assault, jimmy, medical situations, abortion rights, domestic happy family

“How long is it gonna take?” Daisuke asked, as he was worried but also excited. Excited for Anya to feel better. Worried for well….Not like he’s had the best reactions to medical situations. Example A being Curly in the wheelchair next to him.

Curly was doing so much better now that he was actually on the planet again. The doctors were still jaw dropped that Anya was able to keep him alive with so little. Was not only a testimony to how she refused for him to die, but him refusing to leave his crew behind as well. It’s still a long journey ahead, but he was in clean bandages and clothes at least. Was even able to talk again. Sorta. Rather raspy but he will get there.

Jeez where to start on how you all got here to begin with.

“She’s going to be fine. Abortion is way less invasive than you think. It really depends on how far along, but luckily she isn’t too far for it to be to extreme. Not sure what type she went for, but whatever she chose she chooses. Just grateful we were able to return home before she reached to far along.” You would admit, as you would check up on Curly’s IV bag for him. Taking over Anya’s roll until she could return.

“Ya know….My wife had an abortion.” Swansea said, and it made all of you look over to him in pure surprise.

“What’s the funny look for? Ya think I’m a freak that would refuse my wife that? She needed it! The kid just….It ain’t my place, but the kid just wasn’t gonna survive. Either she carried it to term and die with em, or she just skips the heart ache. Not like it was her fault. We got two healthy girls at the end of the day. We got em because she got rid of that fucked up one.” He explained, as Daisuke seemed wide eyed in respect.

Explains why he snapped more clearly.

Anya had explained to Swansea what had happened, and before you pre Daisuke knew it Jimmy’s head was sliced off and rolling across the kitchen floor. Poor Suke threw up all over you from the sight, and shock. Then threw up again when he learned why he did such a thing. Lots of puking and crying. Fitting.

“Glad that damn company is dead. Whose wise idea was it to have a single woman surrounded by men. No offense you two-“ Curly would wheeze, before you would help him take his medication. Sure is easier to take pills when you actually give him water and take it slow. No choking or crying.

“Thats a can of worms I don’t want us to talk about.” Swansea would scoff. As a father to two girls he had a lot of things to say. Daisuke would be willing to listen, sure, but honestly you all had enough emotional fatigue to last multiple life times.

Thank god Curly was so high up on the food chain at the company. They knew they would get into more hot water if their, once, top captain suddenly vanished. Wouldn’t make their bankruptcy any smoother. For once they did the right thing and sent Simeon to save them.

Funny. A capitalist corporate organization took responsibility for their actions. For the right reasons? No. But they still took it. Strange. Isn’t it?

“Is she done yet?” Daisuke would whine, as you laughed at his childish nature. As if waiting on a sister to get out of the dentists office. You found it rather endearing honestly. That despite it all he was still having a heart full of love and excitement.

“Go play on your toy.” Swansea would grumble, as Suke whined. Regardless he would pull out his game boy. A nice excuse to play video games with out any guilt on wasting his time. Enjoying life shouldn’t be a burden.

“Need anything, Curly?” You would ask him, since you planned on going to the bathroom. Yeah Swansea and Daisuke could handle him, but you still wanted to be polite. Maybe you could grab him something from the vending machines. Maybe a soda. Some sugar in his system would do him good. Anya said that sugary bubble water of some kind, like sprite, can help quite a lot with indigestion.

“I should be fine. Thank you for asking though. Sorry you have to…” He would admit, as he looked himself over. His missing limbs now properly covered up with fabric to keep them clean, and allow him some kind of independence. The fabric on the stumps were padded. With enough practice and effort he would certainly be able to roll himself around.

Then again this was a world of space travel. He was going to get cyborged eventually, but you need to be healed first before such an intense operation. Can’t rush something like this.

“Hey. I do it because I can. Not because I have to. You are our captain. Let me be a good solider.” You teased him, and even in his broken face you could see a smile.

Swansea have you a head nod to indicate he would ‘take care of the boys’ and you were off to use the restroom.

Once done with that you would grab a soda from the vending machine for Curly, a bag of candy for Daisuke, and some pretzels for Swansea. As you were making your way back a nurse would motion you over.

“Miss Anya was asking for you. She has finished her operation, and wanted you to see her.”

You were surprised at that. You expected Curly to be her first guest. Did something go wrong? Oh you couldn’t help but freak out.

You followed after the nurse quickly, and all you were shown was Anya resting in her hospital bed. Tired, but relieved. Mostly. You saw that familiar stress in her eyes. That same stress she had when asking you if she made the right choice in asking Jimmy for help with medicating Curly.

That worry of if I did the right thing.

The nurse would leave you to alone, and you would quickly set the snacks aside. Now you were sitting next to her, in a chair, and holding her hand. Ready to be the shoulder she needed.

“Hey there Doc. How you doing?” You asked her, as you carefully stroked the back of her hand. Made sure to be mindful of all the tubes and wires.

“Well….It went far smoother than I expected. It was just so quick. They didn’t even need to put me under. The IV is more so for the issues I already had because of being stranded on the ship for so long. It was just so quick. So painless. Was just like pulling a thorn out of an arm. It was….Simple.” She would try and explain to you. Needing to make sure to stop herself before using doctor jargon.

“Too easy?” You puzzled.

“Yes. It was just….I expected pain. Pain and anxiety and horror. Suppose even a nurse can come to learn a thing or two…..”

She was hiding something, and you had an educated guess on what.

“You expected Jimmy to break down the door. Weren’t you?”

There was silence, but it told you everything.

“Scoot over. Move it sister-“ You were now crawling into the medical bed with her, moving the wires around, and soon snuggled into her side. Hugging her close, and especially with your arm over her stomach.

“You did the right thing. It’s your body at the end of it all. You took responsibility of taking care of yourself. You wouldn’t have been able to live a proper life. You went to med school. You don’t need me to tell you the horrors of pregnancy and birth. That alone is terrifying. But also you simply not wanting to be pregnant is enough. Ain’t no Jimmy’s gonna storm in and say otherwise.” You huffed, as she smiled. Her head leaning into yours.

“Yeah….No more Jimmy’s. Pretty sure Swansea will make sure of that.” She did her best to joke, and you were proud of her for it. This whole ordeal was hell. Hell none of you will ever truly walk away from. But that’s ok. You all had each other to lean on.

“I think I’m ready for everyone now.” Anya would whisper, as you gave her hand a squeeze. You were so proud of her. This was all such a nightmare, but she’s taking it in stride.

“Hell yeah.” You agreed, before climbing out of the bed. You made sure to grab the snacks, and exited the hospital room.

“Come on guys-! Anya is waiting on you-!” You shameless shouted outside of the room. She couldn’t help her face palm. Daisuke sure was an influence on you.

“I wanna push Curly!”

“Like hell you are-!”

They would bicker away, before Curly said ‘fuck it’ and did his best to roll himself over. He sure was a stubborn one. Made it half way before you figured that was enough work out for one person.

“Pretty far! Getting better at it-!” You encouraged, as the two men realized how far Curly rolled off on before finally following you two into Anya’s room.

“HAPPY NO BIRTH-DAY!” Daisuke would cheer, as Anya shook her head at such a joke.

“God dammit kid-“ Swansea side, before he came over to Anya. Giving her head a kiss. Just comforting her much like a father would.

“How many of us need to be in medical beds?” Curly would give a raspy snort, as Anya reached her hand out. He would lean his head over, and she would give it a stroke. As if all his hair never burned off. A means of holding his hand, in a way, compared to just grasping a limb.

She didn’t need children.

She had all of you.

What else could a woman want?

Since you were willing to read through this story to the end, and get a nice in depth look on the importance of such why not donate to some organizations? : D

Planned Parenthood

Nation Network For Abortion Funds

National Abortion Federation

The Bridge Alliance

The Satanic Temple

ActBlue

No worry on donating. Spreading awareness and signing petitions still help! The more people learn and understand the better! Could also like reblog with other organizations or petitions!

Abortion is healthcare!

[moyarb]

It’s not lost on me that when someone talks about how “Beyoncé is overrated” or that she’s “not that talented” I’m supposed to respect other people’s music opinions, but if I say Taylor Swift’s music isn’t my style or I don’t care for her that much it’s like I said the most heinous thing in the world and I don’t support other women.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Gaslighter? I hardly know her!

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[starry-bi-sky]

"Stillborn? No, no, still born." -- DPXDC AU

Based off a comment I saw where Bruce knew about Talia's pregnancy in the earlier comivs, and was ecstatic to be a father. So much so that Talia feared he'd give up being Batman for it, so when she gave birth she put the baby (Damian) on a doorstep and (seemingly) told Bruce that the baby was stillborn.

Instead of Damian, that baby was Danny! Meet Daniel Brown, the 14 year old foster kid whose been living with the Fenton family for the last two years. He's about two years older than Damian.

His last name, "Brown", was a generic surname given to him because the note he came with didn't have one on it. It just had the name "Danyal" on it, but albeit 'Daniel' was the one that had been put into the system for, I'll be totally frank here, racism reasons.

(I looked it up to make sure, and it's generally not permissible for foster parents to change the names of their foster kids even if it's a permanent residency, and for that reason Danny doesn't have the last name "Fenton".)

Danny's got ✨~issues!~✨ He's been through a handful of homes growing up, most of them terrible for a variety of reasons. Which has, as a result, left lasting scars. He's generally a very sweet kid, just very distrustful and jumpy. He's got the signs of a kid suffering from PTSD, and a handful of other issues including attachment and insomnia. His inferiority complex could rival Damian's, and that's going to make for an interesting mutual hatred for when they finally meet.

(something I'll get into later)

He still has the blanket he was found in. It's made of a very high quality material and is a beautiful emerald green with little golden thread accents, it's high quality as a result has Danny clinging onto a desperate hope that his bio family might be out there, and the only reason they gave him up was because of some outside factor. It's been taken a few times in old foster homes, and he's flipped out each time.

While he still calls Jack and Maddie by their names, he likes them well enough. The bar isn't that high though, and while they're some of the better foster parents he's had, "better" doesn't equal "safest". Their laboratory malpractice. Basically, C- Fenton Parents. They're negligent by virtue of being engrossed in their work, but they do care equally about Jazz and Danny. So he doesn't hold it against them that much.

He kinda prefers it that way, their loud affection is overwhelming and Danny doesn't know what to do with their attention, even if he craves it. It's a bit of a complicated situation.

They took in Danny because they genuinely wanted another child, but didn't want a big age gap between them and Jazz. It was actually Jack's idea to foster, and they discussed it with Jazz beforehand. She was all for the idea. Thus, a handful of weeks later, a ton of paperwork, and inspection later, and Daniel Brown entered their household with a trash bag in one hand and eyes like shards of stained glass.

His relationship with Jazz is kinda strained, but that's by virtue of her constant psychoanalyzing and helicoptering. Like with the parents, Danny's overwhelmed by the attention and also just, straight up doesn't like the fact that she's telling him that there's something wrong with him. He knows that, thank you. He pushes her away when she does this.

Other than that though? When Jazz isn't smothering him and is acting like an actual sibling and not a third parent, they're pretty close, and Danny really likes her. They've hung out a few times on their own volition, and Jazz showed him how to take better care of his long hair.

His school situation,, pretty similar to canon with the bullying, albeit with a few more instances of him blowing a fuse and lashing out against his attackers. He's a rather angry kid, but it's quiet. It builds up, piles on top of itself, until eventually, like a volcano, it erupts and burns everyone within radius.

Danny's got a fire core, not an ice core. Phantom's hair is made of white magma; thick and heavy, setting itself on fire when his anger runs hot. When he gets angry, his skin begins to char and split open to reveal pulsating lava underneath, and he crackles and pops like a raging forest fire.

I haven't decided yet on how he meets the batfam -- i've got two ideas but they're both in opposition to each other, and drastically alter how the rest of the plot goes. But I do know that him and Damian hate each other in the beginning. And it has nothing to do with inheritance or "being the blood son" -- although their blood relation absolutely plays the major role in their disdain for each other.

Simply put, they're jealous of each other for the same thing: thinking that the other was wanted.

Damian hates Danny because, unlike Damian, Bruce knew about Danny since conception and wanted him from the moment he heard about him. He had a whole nursery set up, and still does. He never took it down -- just locked the door. Damian was thrust upon Bruce without warning, and he feels like he forced himself into the family. And while on some level Damian knows and understands that Bruce wants him and loves him as much as his other children, that doubt and feeling of inferiority still remains. He looks at Danny and sees him with what Damian always feels he needs reaffirmed.

Meanwhile, Danny hates Damian because he looks at him and sees him with everything Danny's ever wanted. He hates him because Damian grew up knowing both of their parents, with one of them for most of his life, and then moved over to the other. There was never a moment where Damian was (seemingly) left to doubt his place within the family. Damian was raised with the very same woman who left Danny on a doorstep, with no clue to his identity beyond a little green blanket and a note with only a first name. Damian was wanted everywhere, and Danny was wanted nowhere. Damian is Danny's replacement in his eyes.

(It's the little revelation that Damian grew up with their mother that elevates Danny from being quietly envious of Damian to downright despising him. What did Damian do, that Danny didn't? He could live with Damian living with Bruce -- Bruce didn't know Danny was even alive. But him living with their mom? Are you fucking kidding him?)

Damian never outright attacks Danny physically, but it's not like he hides that he didn't like Danny. Meanwhile, Danny, in all his repressive anger, quietly despised him from a distance until finally one wrong snide side-comment has him blowing up and it becomes a screaming match. They're both just enough similar to each other that when they look at each other they really just see a mirror.

They'll work it out together, eventually. But it'll be ugly and cruel and explosive, and they'll start mending the bridge to become brothers in more than just blood relation in the end.

But yeah, stillborn Danny has... a lot going for him.

[astrhae]

+ bonus:

aziraphale not changing crowley's clothes (not even to add a tartan collar)

[christhopersturniolo]

in my head chris is the horniest man alive

look at his face and tell me he isn’t thinking about getting his dick sucked