#because colin just courts scandal lets be honest

[softestaries]

Violet Bridgerton is truly gods strongest soldier. Every season she tells one of her children they're in love and every season they scoff in her face before causing seven different scandals to reach the same conclusion.

[quotergirl19]

My imagined Bridgerton season 3 episode 4 cliffhanger:

After seeing Colin & Penelope together at the season’s first few balls and events, Lady Danbury is convinced that there’s an attachment between the two “friends,” and since she has taken a liking to Penelope and she’s fond of all the Bridgertons, she decides to test her theory by sending a few handsome gentlemen Penelope’s way to see Colin’s reaction.

First the dimwitted but very handsome Mr. Harry Dankworth and then the charming and mature Mr. Marcus Anderson were encouraged to entertain the lovely but shy Miss and maybe even dance with her. Penelope naturally charms these men and Colin notices the way they are looking at her from across the room. Suddenly, a jealous Colin has swooped in to drag Penelope away, escorting her most scandalously behind closed doors alone to tell her those are not the sort of men she should be flirting with.

Penelope is livid because she was not flirting with them yet, she’d barely even spoken to them. But more importantly she needs a husband and Colin said he would help but now he’s getting in the way and potentially ruining her by taking her by risking them being caught alone. It’s the final straw for the newly blooming wallflower who sees no other way to get through to the man. Penelope asks why he is meddling when he isn’t her brother or father and he certainly isn’t jealous since he doesn’t even think of her as a woman and would rather die than court her himself so she cannot understand what his problem is.

Colin tells Penelope that she should not be willing to settle for just any man who speaks to her. She needs someone intelligent enough to protect her and her future but certainly not a known charmer who’s old enough to be her father. That she deserves the sort of man who understands and respects her and puts her first. Someone who will love her. But Penelope’s heard enough and insists that it took her a long time to realize that she cannot keep waiting and hoping for love because this is her third season and she has to give up on love and settle for the security of a convenient marriage with someone kind so she could to a life for herself and to plan her future with a good man.

Penelope turns to leave and Colin instinctively grabs her pleading with her not to go. He appears pained and desperate and she can’t bear the look in his eyes so she asks why he is doing this and begs him to just be honest with her. Colin confesses that he wants her, that he hasn’t been able to think of anything but her for weeks. That she’s all he sees. That he wants to hold her hand and dance with her and talk to her, to make her smile and kiss her. That he’s mad for her and can’t bear it and as he’s telling her, he’s wrapped his arms around her like he’s terrified of losing her. Penelope can hardly believe what is happening but finds herself touching his lips to silence him. She leans in and their foreheads are touching as her hands slip into his hair and he leans forward and kisses her.

Their first kiss is sweet, but it very quickly deepens and hands are moving, clothing was shifting and Colin has her laid out on a chaise. His hands were warm and her skin was soft and everything felt right. Penelope knew that what they were doing was wildly inappropriate and so did Colin but neither of them cared because all that mattered in that moment was that they wanted each other so desperately. Colin asks if she wants him to stop, she tells him that she wants him, that she wants whatever this is between them, forever. She tells him she’s his if he is sure that he wants her and he tells her, he’s never been more sure of anything in his life. That he needs her, that he belongs to her. That he will always belong to her. Body and soul.

Just then Eloise enters and they break apart. She is furious and accuses Penelope of trying to trap her brother but she won’t let Penelope get a word in and Colin is immediately defending Pen because she’s his intended and she’s going to be his wife so he demands that Eloise treats her with more respect and gets over whatever she is mad about. Eloise glares at Penelope and asks if she’s told Colin her big secret or if she intends to trick him into a lifelong commitment with Lady Whistledown.

Colin is shocked when Penelope confesses, admitting that she had to do something to earn money to support herself and her family because her father had gambled away everything including her dowry and that she’d wanted to tell them but couldn’t risk anyone knowing, Eloise looks surprised but Colin is speechless. He tells her he thought he knew her but he was wrong and he has much to consider. Colin leaves. Eloise tells Penelope that she should have known better than to lie to the people trusted her. Penelope tells Eloise that she has a large family full of good people who love her, that she’s blessed with so many wonderful things because she’s a Bridgerton. But their friendship was the one good thing in Penelope’s life. That Eloise was the sister of her heart and the only person she was sure loved her in her whole life. Penelope was simply too afraid of losing Eloise to risk telling her. Because if she lost Eloise she would be completely alone in the world, and clearly she was right because the instant Eloise found out she abandoned her and never even cared enough to find out why Pen did what she did. Whistledown was the only way Penelope could make enough money to save herself and her mother and sisters. That she was raised to be a fine lady, the daughter of a Baron, who never questioned her mama. Lady Featherington had taken Penelope and her sisters to a poor part of town when they were girls and warned them that they could be ruined and end up shunned from society with nothing if they didn’t obey their mama. That Penelope would likely have been forced to be her mother’s unpaid companion and if she lived to old age, Pen would be on the street like a beggar with nothing. Left to starve or worse. She did it because it was the only way she could think of to save herself from that fate.

Before Penelope leaves she admits to Eloise that she would never have tricked Colin or married him without telling him the truth because she was in love with him and only ever wanted him to be happy, and the worst part was that she thought he might love her too but now he would hate her forever. Eloise tries to go after Pen, but Cressida Cowper stops her to mention that she heard quite the commotion coming from the room her brother went into with Penelope Featherington. That she wouldn’t have imagined that pudgy little nobody capable of doing anything remotely interesting but then she heard Eloise clear as day, calling Penelope Featherington of all people, Lady Whistledown and now she would personally see to it that little snake got was she deserved for daring to mock her in her gossip rag.

Eloise Bridgerton, who has never been at a loss for words was left horrified and heartbroken and without a clue of how to save Penelope when she spots Lady Danbury who is looking at her as if she too heard everything. Penelope was right not to tell a soul it seems. Because once Eloise knew, it was only a matter of time before she opened her big mouth, ruined her brother’s chance at happiness and put Penelope’s very life in jeopardy.

[thekatebridgerton]

Ok but imagine an AU where the Bridgerton are known as the ‘cursed’ family because everything bad always happens around them and it is known that anyone who marries into the family will die a untimely death. Violet is the miraculous survivor, though her darling Edmund passed instead, and is determined to figure this stupid curse so her kids could find love. Her daughters have trouble in the marriage mart and all the ladies run away from her sons in fear.

But then, eight people fell in love with each of her children.

I love the idea of the 8 Bridgerton having a different version of the curse. For example with Anthony everything goes well except something embarrassing always happens before he proposes, Benedict's lovers always ghost him after one night with him, Colin always finds out some terrible scandal about the person he's courting, Daphne always being friendzoned just as she thinks she's falling for someone, Eloise is always overcome with the inexplicable urge to be 'very very honest' (and insulting )with any man approaching her for courtship, Francesca's prospects are met with non lethal accidents, Gregory always finds his picks either inlove or engaged to someone else and Hyacinth's suitors just don't stick around long enough to figure out how her curse activates .

And then you have Kate, who is somehow okay with having the public know that Anthony proposed after sucking her boobs as long as he doesn't marry her sister. Simon who is delighted at dating someone rumored to be cursed and does NOT see Daphne as a friend. Sophie who pretty much IS fighting Benedict's curse because it wasn't her fault she had to ghost him after a one night delight, it was Araminta who didn't let her leave the house. Penelope an actual secret gossip columnist which makes her Scandal the most explosive of all and has means to protect herself, Phillip the guy who loves when Eloise tells him all his flaws so he can improve them, Michael who is so drawn to Francesca he's okay with risking death, Lucy who is engaged to a man so gay he gave her leave to falling inlove freely, and Gareth, a guy so stubborn he wants to find the source of the Bridgerton curse by sticking around Hyacinth.

Violet's children fall one by one. As they finally find their soulmate, which has to be the one person willing to fight the curse, just as Edmund fought for Violet

[invisibleinorange]

Chapters: 6/? Fandom: Bridgerton Rating: T Warnings: Presumed Character Death Relationships: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington,  Eloise Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington(besties),  Bridgerton Family Dynamics, Simon Hastings/Daphne Bridgerton Characters: Colin Bridgerton,  Penelope Featherington, Eloise Bridgerton, Anthony Featherington,  Benedict Bridgerton,  Portia Featherington Additional Tags:  Bridgerton, Polin Summary:  Unexpected bad news arrives for the Bridgerton Family (and friends) regarding Colin's travels. This will be a series that is set after "The Duke and I" or season one of the show. It is a companion piece to "Goodbyes". (#I’mHereToKillYouAllWithFeels)

Getting Eloise to leave her alone again had been quite the task, especially after she went catatonic upon being handed the letter.  She’d had to promise that there would be no further rash actions.

Her brain simply ceased to function because Colin Bridgerton writing her any letter felt beyond the realm of possibility.  She wasn’t the kind of girl that any guy wrote those kinds of things to much less someone as perfect as Colin.

That was precisely the way she thought of him. He had been so perfect.

She couldn’t recall the first moment he transitioned from Eloise’s brother to the object of her every waking desire but that was because she’d felt that was as long as she could remember.

Not once in all those years did she allow herself the indulgence of believing that he could ever feel the same. His cordiality was the most she thought to hope for.

The only place that more could existence was in her very vivid imagination.

It was disorienting to go from extreme sadness to near ecstasy and then back to sadness once the reality set back in.  Had she had any inkling he was still alive, she would have run away from home and used her Whistledown earnings to find him.

It was those thoughts that comforted her once she was tucked in her bed and left to her own devices.  It played out so easily imagining arriving in Greece, tracking him down at some beautiful seaside inn.

She could almost imagine him scandalously shirtless on some beach, body glistening with the water from the sea and his trousers damp from having just taking an unplanned swim.  She could picture his handsome, charming smile and his eyes widening in surprise at the sight of her.

She would have started to run to him and finally said the words that she’d wanted to say before he left. The words that she knew now could have prevented his trip to begin with.

His response in her imagination was enough to leave her aching. She could almost feel the warmth of his hand pulling his closer, his mouth scandalously close to her own.  She could hear the chuckle from his lips and some teasing remark.

Her imagination dared not let it go further though.

The dream was what made her turn in her sleep, cry when she woke up in the morning and the reality sunk back in.  Whatever he felt for her, losing him had made her see the depth of her own feelings all the more.  She truly had loved him.

“I promise I’ll give him up forever if you just let him come home,” she uttered to an invisible God, knowing as soon as it was from her lips that had it ever come to fruition, it would be beyond her abilities to do.  She would never give him up, never stop loving him. She loved him so much that she’d sacrifice her own happiness a million times over just to know he was alive and well.  “I promise I’ll do whatever you want. You can’t possibly be this cruel.”

--

After a particularly intense debate, it was Benedict who ended up winning the battle of who would be the one to sacrifice on behalf of the family this time. He and Anthony agreed that it was vital that they ensure that his brother’s last known wishes were addressed.

Gregory was far too young to be considered a vital prospect so it had been between the two of them. Anthony had to sacrifice enough for their family.  As much as Benedict desired a different kind of life and he wasn’t quite certain marriage was a part of it. The only way to be assured that Penelope was cared for was for her to marry one of them.

He admittedly didn’t know the girl as well as some of his siblings. Eloise had always been his favorite though and as such, he knew that his sister wouldn’t have chosen an unworthy best friend. He also knew that Colin wouldn’t have been quite so worked up over a no one.

He’d shared a few dances with Penelope during the year mostly at his mother’s urging as a mercy. When he looked at her, he thought of her as the little girl she’d once been instead of the woman. There wasn’t attraction there but he found her congenial and kind.

While his parents had shared a great love story, his mother had never been shy to tell her children that not marriages were born of love. Sometimes, they were born of necessity. There was always room for companionship and friendship to grow into love.

He was uneasy about the whole ordeal but he was a man of his word. Once it was settled, it was simply a matter of approaching the discussion with Portia Featherington. If he were honest, such a conversation was far more frightening than the prospect of a marriage that wasn’t born of some unrelenting love.

He was almost grateful when Eloise brought news that she’d shared the letter because it had bought him more time.  He had to let the dust settle before he could even think to approach such a thing.  He nearly lost his nerve as he crossed the way to the Featheringtons and requested an audience with Lady Featherington.

--

It wasn’t the right season for callers, especially for her daughters.  The assumption when the staff announced Benedict Bridgerton had come to speak with her was that this was a mourning visit.  She couldn’t logically think of any other reason for such a visit.

She’d had her staff bring him to the drawing room, standing once she saw him in the doorway.

There was a quiet exchange of bows, her eyes appraising before gesturing where he might sit. He had flowers in hand.  

“Can I offer you some tea, Mister Bridgerton?”  she asked.

“It won’t be necessary.”

“Well then, I must admit I’m most curious for the reason for you visit,” she said, eyeing the flowers with curiosity. “As you know, the season has been over for some time now and our home is in mourning. As it yours from what I hear.  We’ve all been so truly sorry to hear about Colin. It’s such a tragedy.”

Benedict wasn’t quite sure she was actually sorry about the loss of his brother. He remembered himself and presented the flowers though.  The whole conversation so far reminded him why he tended to avoid any interaction with the women.  He hoped Penelope wasn’t horribly attached to her mother because while he was perfectly fine accepting her as part of his life forever, he wasn’t quite willing to accept her mother.

“Well it’s quite indelicate but it is of the utmost importance that I seek your … permission,” he tried to explain, coughing into his hand to try and find words that felt unnatural. He’d always desired a different kind of life than this.  “Both of our families have experienced loss lately and it is my … wish to ease some of the pain both our families are feeling.  I would like to ask your daughter … Penelope to wed – clearly an extended engagement – respectful to our losses but a proposal none the less.”

If he could have grown a second head, Portia Featherington wouldn’t have looked at him any less bewildered and startled by this turn of events.

“It would be inappropriate to allow any wedding for the foreseeable future,” she started. She then began to try and manipulate the situation to better her situation.  The money wasn’t there to pay for a dowry. She’d honestly not been prepared to have to pay a dowry for Penelope since she assumed she’d end up as a spinster. “I wouldn’t dream to deny you a dowry –“

“It won’t be necessary,” he said, trying to keep polite.  The point was to assure Penelope got the happy ending Colin desired for her and frankly, he wasn’t sure someone else was going to come along and offer it. If that meant not receiving a dowry, so be it.  “I really must have your blessing in the matter though.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have Prudence? – Or Felicity in a few years even?”

“No.”

“Well then,” she said with a hand gesture.   “Help yourself to it then.”

The woman then proceeded to yell for her daughter so loud that it was any wonder that half the Ton didn’t hear her yelling.

Benedict hadn’t quite expected the whole thing to happen quite so… quickly.  If he must do this, he’d hoped to at least given it a bit of finesse.

Penelope did enter the room as requested though.

The two exchanged looks.

Penelope looked particularly meek and perhaps a little sad from where he was sitting. He’d never quite spent more than a passing second looking at her. There was no time like the present to begin though.  Penelope bowed slightly in greeting. Had it been outside the formality of her mother’s drawing room, she might have greeting him by name. Formality always seemed to slip away with Eloise’s siblings.

“Penelope, Mister Bridgerton and I just have the most peculiar conversation,” she said gesturing to the space next to herself so that her daughter would come sit down. The confusion on Penelope’s face became all the more clear.

“I wanted to seek your permission to court with the intention of marriage,” he said awkwardly. “I know that it’s off season and our families are in-”

Penelope was to her feet at once. Her face twisting in fury and confusion all at once.

“Are you drunk?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“Penelope?!” her mother bellowed, clearly not charmed by the outburst before she lowered her voice and murmured under grit teeth. “That is not way to talk to your only prospect of marriage.”

“It’s quite okay,” Benedict offered, excusing away the behavior.  “I know that it’s sudden but I assure you that my proposal is sincere. It’ll be a strike upon my honor should you refuse.”

“I refuse,” she said sharply.

Benedict had never quite seen the normally meek girl quite so riled up.  The red of her hair seemed to spread across her skin.  He seemed to take that as a sign she was quite angry.

“I cannot accept that answer,” he told her, unsure whether to laugh or be afraid.

“And I cannot accept your proposal.  If this is about your brother, he would think you an idiot.”

Portia Featherington looked unsure whether to tell her daughter to stop being insolent or enjoy the front row seat to the drama.  While she preferred when the drama stayed away from her own family, she did very much love to see it.  Clearly her daughter had forgotten the fact she was even there.

“My brother wanted you to be happy and cared for,” the Bridgerton countered. “I simply wish to ensure that happens.”

Portia let out a soft ‘oh’ as if it suddenly made sense why a perfectly decent eligible bachelor would choose Penelope over one of her better daughters.  Though, she was also semi-impressed that Penelope had somehow convinced someone to look out for her.

“I can look after myself,” Penelope argued, rising to her feet. “I’ll never marry.”

Portia finally decided to interject.  “Not on my watch,” she told her daughter. “You best accept this proposal or you’ll end up on the streets. I won’t have you rejecting a Bridgerton.”

“This isn’t for negotiation,”  Penelope said looking murderous as she stormed her way out of the drawing room, slamming the door on her way out.

Benedict, despite being a bit shellshocked, could only laugh.

“Well, that went well.”

[thedeadshotnetwork]

Let's Not Forget the Apathy That Made Trump's Presidency Possible Susan Sarandon is about to get a large tax cut for her role in saving the US from a Hillary Clinton presidency; so is Colin Kaepernick. That’s 2017 in a nutshell: The country is beginning to experience the fruits of a misguided hatred of Clinton that helped make Donald Trump president. I’ve no doubt Sarandon and Kaepernick will put that money to good use in their personal lives. For decades, Sarandon has donated and worked for worthy causes . She's traveled to Nicaragua to help feed needy infants and their mothers, given to charities designed to help end world hunger, and supported civil liberty groups. Kaepernick rightly deserved all the accolades he’s received this year , including the comparisons to Muhammad Ali, a trailblazer willing to sacrifice the prime of a professional athletic career to promote a higher cause. And he’s donated a significant amount of money, and time, to causes he holds dear. I single Kaepernick and Sarandon out not because they are bad people, but because even conscientious Americans like them made a grave mistake when they allowed their distaste for Clinton and an imperfect Democratic Party to blind them to the threat of Trump. As the country continues to grapple with the consequences of his presidency, we should remember that we are here in part because some underestimated the threat he posed. In June 2016, Sarandon (who supported Bernie Sanders in the primary before endorsing Jill Stein) said on the Young Turks that “in a way” Clinton was more dangerous than Trump. “They’re both talking to Henry Kissinger, apparently,” she said. “She did not learn from Iraq, and she is an interventionist, and she has done horrible things, and very callously. I don’t know if she is overcompensating or what her trip is. That scares me. I think we’ll be in Iran in two seconds.” Well, Clinton lost—and many observers are worried that the US is inching closer to war with Iran. Kaepernick has used his voice to raise incredibly important issues even while being ridiculed and jeopardizing his professional football career. But he bought into a false narrative in September 2016 when he claimed there was little difference between Clinton and Trump, saying it was embarrassing to see the US have two “proven liars” as the presidential nominees. “You have to pick the lesser of two evils. But in the end, it’s still evil,” he said. He couldn’t even stick to that and didn’t vote in the end, claiming that either Trump or Clinton would just be “another face that’s going to be the face of that system of oppression. And to me, it didn’t really matter who went in there, the system still remains intact that oppresses people of color.” This is not a screed against either Sarandon or Kaepernick, each of whom deserves respect for choosing to use their privileged positions in service of those not nearly as fortunate. Individual voting decisions are always complex, and a few quotes can never fully capture any voter’s motivations. Neither is this an attempt to absolve Clinton of her flaws and faults. She was one of the least popular presidential nominees in American history because of choices she made. She should have anticipated the potential ramifications of setting up a private server for her emails while secretary of State. She could have mustered the courage or had the foresight to vote against the Iraq war. She and her husband could have decided against making high-dollar Wall Street speeches and other dubious choices that haunted her during the campaign. She used the term “super predator,” popularized by an Ivy League criminologist who wrongly anticipated a surge in violent crime among young men, particularly young men of color, to argue in favor of her husband’s 1994 crime bill. As secretary of State, she argued in favor of a robust military role in parts of the Middle East, policies that are still playing out in ugly ways in places such as Yemen and Libya and Syria. It is also true that her high level of unpopularity was partially built upon conspiracies, the sins of her husband, and double standards. She had been in the sights of America's right wing for decades and was accused of murder and being involved in a supposed secret child sex scheme. She was criticized for staying with her husband after his well-publicized affairs, but surely would have been criticized had she left him. She took the lion’s share of criticism about policies—like the Iraq War and crime bill—that had widespread bipartisan support. The crime bill, for instance, was backed by most of the Congressional Black Caucus and many black activists concerned by drug-fueled gang wars in their communities. Bernie Sanders voted for it too . There were honest critiques of Clinton. But there was also a caricature of her as a liar and a fraud that ultimately helped Trump. And despite the claims that Clinton did not do enough for vulnerable and people of color, after college she did not head to Wall Street when she could have—she went to the Children’s Defense Fund instead. And she went undercover to expose racial discrimination in Alabama. And she was an important figure in the formation of a program that still provides health insurance for millions of poor children. And she, like so many other talented women, often sacrificed her own ambitions to help further her husband’s. When she was a senator she was praised by colleagues from both parties for her ability to get things done. She was not in favor of going into Libya because she wanted another war; she believed it would help prevent what some believed was a pending massacre . No, she is not from the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party, but neither is she an amoral warmonger. If she seemed likely to continue Obama’s interventionist policies and continue to use drones—well, Sanders said he would use drones to fight terrorism as well. There were honest critiques of Clinton. But there was also a caricature of her as a liar and a fraud that ultimately helped Trump—who didn’t have her record of public service or her experience. The narrative that both candidates were equally tainted by scandal was pushed by many disillusioned leftists and helped along by a media that gave a disproportionate amount of coverage to Clinton’s emails . Voters looking for an excuse to cast a ballot for Trump or stay home in disgust were given one by the anti-Clinton brigade. There were many other reasons why Clinton lost by a razor-thing margin, including James Comey’s last-minute decision to announce a re-opening of the email investigation and her campaign’s own poor decision not to aggressively campaign in the upper Midwest. But when a unique threat like Trump arises, we must be able to recognize it and respond accordingly. And that’s where Sarandon and Kaepernick, among others, failed. Sarandon and Kaepernick likely have real empathy for 800,000 or so DACA recipients whose future is uncertain . They may cry for the record number of civilian casualties that have resulted from the way Trump has prosecuted long-simmering wars in the Middle East. They probably hate that the Justice Department has rolled back the police oversight policies from the Obama administration. I’m sure they are terrified by how emboldened white supremacists are in the Trump era. But the decision made by voters like them in November—to prioritize their disdain for Clinton over everything else—helped pave the way for all of that, and more. It wasn’t just 63 million mostly white voters who put Trump in office; he was helped by Americans who deluded themselves into thinking there would be no material difference between a Trump and Clinton presidency. Had Clinton been president this year instead of Trump, DACA recipients and their supporters would not have to wonder whether they would face deportation come March and could be pushing for actual immigration reform. Had Clinton been president, 2017 would have been spent debating how best to improve and expand the Affordable Care Act rather than by a desperate attempt to save it. Democrats would have had a fifth vote on the Supreme Court to shore up women’s rights and voting rights. If there was a tax reform bill, it would have been better constructed to help the poor and middle class. Kaepernick and Sarandon were wrong: There was a big difference between Clinton and Trump, and we’ve been seeing it all year. The good news is that the tide has begun to change. The young black voters who were lukewarm to Clinton and those who opposed her for a variety of reasons are energized and have made their presence felt already in elections. We’ve seen it happen in Virginia and New Jersey and even Alabama, which is sending a Democrat to the Senate for the first time in a quarter of a century. For that, Democrats can thank the black vote, in particular black women. If they don’t take those votes for granted, they could retake one or both chambers of Congress in 2018. It was one thing to imagine a Trump presidency in the abstract; seeing the real thing in action has moved people like nothing else. For all the talk about whether Trump won because of an ill-defined economic angst among the white working class, greed among the richest Americans, or racism, there has not been enough about why Americans who should have—and in some cases did—oppose Trump didn’t set aside their differences and vote for the alternative. Politics is sometimes about voting not for the lesser of two evils but the best option you have—while simultaneously working to improve those options. I hope we have learned those lessons after 2017. If not, we will remain susceptible to a repeat of the disaster of 2016. Follow Issac J. Bailey on Twitter . December 27, 2017 at 02:54PM