#stacy's musings

[gleefullypolin]

Another of my musings, shall we? Indulge me...

Today, let’s talk about why Cressida was never set up as a redemption story in Season 3, but simply as a lesson for our three main character leads…

I’ve seen a lot of discourse around the treatment of Cressida in Season 3, and I find it kinda funny because Cress has always been a side character and never a main plot point and it was very evident this season that it was still very much the case. In Season 3, she was what is known as a plot device. The point of a plot device is to jettison the main characters forward.

So, let’s look at how they used her to do that this season.

Eloise Bridgerton:

Cressida was a huge plot device in moving Eloise’s story along in a heavy way this season. El has been very close to being stuck in quicksand for a while now. What do we know about her character between S1 to now?

She doesn’t want to get married.

She believes that women are held back but is questioning her place in society and what to do about that.

She’s angry at Pen and feels betrayed by friendship currently.

So, when we last left her, her closest relationship ended because Penelope was Lady Whistledown, she realized she knew nothing about the one person she thought she was closest with, her belief that her say in the world as a woman was rocked, and the one connection with a man she ever had, Theo, dissolved before her.

She goes off to the country and meets up with Cressida, the one person who hates the person she also dislikes the most currently, who befriends her and thus we start the new season.

But in the story, Cress is now there to show Eloise a different side of the Ton. Eloise has always had a not so small issue…her mouth. It NEVER stops. She literally never shuts up. Pen was the type where she let her go on and on and on, and never stepped in to stop her. But Cress is like... Ok shut up, stop talking now and listen because bad shit is happening to me and I need you to hear about it.

And El finally saw that life outside the Bridgerton drawing room, was shit. Not every Mama will protect you from marriage you don’t want, not every word said at a ball stays between friends, and not every friend is welcomed by your family. El had to grow up this year. She had to learn that her family protected her from things others were subjected to.

El whispered in the ballroom about her brother helping Pen find a husband and that rumor spread like wildflower and El was quick to blame that on Cressida, only to find out that it was her own mouth that spread the rumor because she didn’t think, she just spoke loudly in the ballroom with no thought of consequence for her actions. And it was Cressida who had to point it out to her, Plot point made.

Cressida was desperate to escape a life her father was forcing her into. El could have easily been forced into marriage to a man thrice her age, but she was not. But she was still El. And El was caught up in her own worries with Pen/Colin suddenly announcing their engagement and she didn’t listen to Cressida’s concerns.  She didn’t see the desperation until it was too late, and Cress stood up and claimed she was Lady Whistledown.

It was only once Cressida, with no other alternatives left on her plate, and no loving parent to guide her, chose a path that led her to take actions against Pen/Colin by writing against the Bridgertons and blackmailing them that Eloise truly was forced to face herself and forgive Penelope and see the difference in how Pen wrote versus how someone with no remorse or responsibility held the quill. Plot point made.

But she then sees the difference in how Pen stands up and takes responsibility for her actions, faces consequences, holds her own as a woman of the ton and gives her back a bit of understanding that a woman can have a voice in the world. Now we see El facing that she has much to learn and going off into the world with excitement to find it.

Penelope Bridgerton:

Cress has always propelled Pen forward as a plot device, the evil queen who tortures the princess as the knight in shining armor comes to her rescue.

Case in point, Season 1, spills her drink, Colin to the rescue, I’m afraid I’m to escort Miss Featherington to the floor. Season 2, she tries to take Eloise from her, for her to be rebuffed, then she dances with Colin happily for him to only use her as a ruse to once again save Pen from Jack Featherington’s ruby scheme. And then Season 3, she does take Eloise from her, stands on her dress for Colin to chase after her, then tries to defeat her in her pursuit for Debling as a suitor.

All of these plot devices move Pen’s story forward. They have a purpose of either knocking her down a peg or by having a man dive in to rescue her thus making her feel important. This season ramped it up a notch as Cressida came after her true worth. Lady Whistledown. Sure, going after Debling was part of it, but one could argue that Debling was a red herring. Pen never truly cared about him. But Lady Whistledown was her true value.

Having Cressida take her prize, was the true crux of the plot device for Pen this season. Cressida stole her glory by claiming to be the one thing that Penelope truly felt she was worthy of. The power of Whisteldown. And once that was taken from Cressida by her proving to the Queen that Cressida was a fraud, once Pen felt she had beat her, Cressida struck the final blow in their showdown by trying to take away her worth and ruin her in the eyes of her family.

Having Cressida out her to her mother and then strike the blow to her new husband by demanding they pay her with blackmail and humiliation to destroy any hope of love and happiness that Pen had found was the final act of villainy in their story.

This was the part that Pen needed to propel her to take a stand, to allow her what she needed to say ENOUGH is ENOUGH and that she would not let this person take everything she loved away from her. She would not let Cressida deal the final blow in her life, her marriage, her family, her purpose. And it would not control her. And thus, she made her final move.

Colin Bridgerton:

Colin had a huge turning point with Cressida, and I did not see it coming. I will be honest when the scene came, I was like why the fuck are they wasting this scene between these two and he’s not having this conversation with this wife. But the more I sat on it the more it made sense because Colin couldn’t have this conversation with Pen. Because he was so hurt and so angry with Pen, he didn’t want to lash out and say mean things to her, but with Cressida, he didn’t care what he said to her. It was easier to say thing to someone he had no feelings for.

And thus, the blackmail conversation happened. Or Cressida/Colin’s Therapy hour was born. Because that plot point was exactly what happened. It was a way for us to hear Colin’s inner thoughts. In a book, it’s easy to know what the main character is feeling, because you read it. But in the show, you don’t get that intimate knowledge. Here we got to know what Colin was feeling.

He shared with Cressida that he left town wanting to hear from Pen, and when he didn’t, he withdrew from himself. He started to take away feeling, to hold back things he needed from others. He become Pod Colin! And then he talked to her about how Pen was treated by the Ton and by extension (CRESSIDA) He talked about loneliness and how that makes a person feel and for fucks sake he bared his soul.

And then he talked about how people pay this damned woman Whistledown to read what she has to say and boy if Cressida didn’t take 3 seconds to call him out for his whining and jealousy of his wife. Because that is what it was, and he recoiled as if she bit him. And thus, jealous Colin reared his ugly head. Plot point made.

And then Cressida, just like she had shown his sister, showed Colin, that outside the Bridgerton drawing room, life sucks. Cressida was able to hit him where things hurt, because she doesn’t care about Colin, she’s not Pen looking at him like he hung the moon, to Cressida, he’s just another spoiled Bridgerton. So, he gets to learn that you don’t always have a loving family to support you and welcome you back from mistakes and responsibility you don’t want with open arms. Sometimes your life just sucks, and you get forced to marry an old ugly man who wants 4 kids from you.

And then she charged him double for all her trouble and sent him home with his tail between his legs. Plot point made.

Colin now ready to accept that he failed, that he should have listened to his wife, and it was time to do things differently, returned to his wife perhaps ready to listen a bit more.

And thus, we see, that Cress was not a main character, she was there to propel our leads forward, to get them where they needed to be, and sometimes, just sometimes, the villain has to be the villain.

I’m not saying she will always be that, they did a good job making you feel sympathy for her this season, but this just wasn’t her season for redemption yet. Maybe in the future, but it wasn’t for Season 3.

[mb-blue-roses]

AtSV musings.

So, the final scene. With Gwen & her team.

[Image ID: A screenshot from the end of Across the Spider-verse. From left to right it shows Peni Parker standing on Sp//dr, Hobie Brown, Peter B. Parker holding Mayday, Gwen Stacy, Pavitr Prabhakar, Margo Kess, Peter Porker, and Noir Peter Parker. All are staring forward. End ID]

I have one question about this. So obviously B, Peni, Pavitr, and Margo probably still have their watches, and Gwen has the one Hobie gave her, but what about the others?

I imagine that Hobie has another one for himself, but does he have more bonus watches that Ham and Noir can use? I'm genuinely curious about this lol

[redxdesign]

[pande-monty-um]

There's a part of me that believes that Staci kind of did the impossible.

He managed to twist Jacob's teachings to serve his own needs and turned it around on them. I think he also proved that Jacob's conditioning was seriously flawed.

Jacob claims the prisoners are "recruits". Those who survive will eventually join the "herd". But the Faithful need to be certain that the converted ones will not turn on them or else there'll be too much in fighting and decent amongst them.

Even the Whitetail militia said that Jacob's conditioning was flawless and those who fell into Jacob's clutches could never be trusted again. Even we as the viewers falls for it.

I think Jacob's whole "Judas" speech kind of touches on that as well. He needs to show Staci off as a "betrayer" someone who joined up and was loyal but broke away from them, because if you looked at it any other way then the whole thing begins to unravel. Staci sowed the seeds of doubt throughout Jacob's compound. I bet people were asking "if someone so closely watched by Jacob was able to slip through the cracks then how many others in our midst are just waiting for their opportunity to strike?"

Jacob loved flaunting his control over Pratt, not only to the MC but to the other Faithful. It's like he was saying "look how well trained I can make 'them' (the non believers). He's at my beck and call and no one else would be able to accomplish this level of obedience but me". He wanted to show his Followers that he had the ultimate control of them. I dont think the idea of Staci using Jacob's teachings for his own gain and benefit as an individual wouldn't have crossed Jacob's mind at all. He saw Pratt as nothing more then a tool. A pawn on his little chess board. He was so secure in his belief that his conditioning was perfect.

It must have also been humiliating to Jacob.

To be seen as a Herald, an ultimate Soldier, in complete control of the "recruits" only to find this fatal flaw in his system.

Jacob needed to work fast to shut those thoughts down but also show Staci's actions off as inconsequential. Jacob was angry but waved Staci off. He basically said to the world "you're not worth my time and shouldn't be worth anyone else's" and left him to starve to death. Jacob's actions showed to, not just the Whitetails, but also the Peggies that Staci's actions were not enough for Jacob bloodying his own hands for (if that makes sense).

From what I've seen of others opinions and comments of Pratt on other platforms, alot if the far cry community also fell for Jacob's manipulation of the situation. They saw Staci the way Jacob wanted them to see him and dubbed him weak. I've read so many comments about people saying exactly that. Just parroting Jacob's words. But we all know what Jacob did to the ones that didn't submit. We saw them crucified on posts along the road, we saw burning piles of bodies in camps. Anyone who wasn't submissive or useful to Jacob was simply tossed aside.

It's actually really interesting for me to see because it just shows how deeply Jacob gets into the viewers mind.

I'm not saying Staci didn't fall for everything and wasn't affected by the conditioning, he definitely was and was changed for it but he also had an interesting way of coping with the trauma he went through and turning it around to make it fit his goals.

"They made me strong but now they are weak" it's all there for us to see but we're too busy being conditioned to think how Jacob wants us to think. "1, 2 ,3. 1,2,3,1,2,3 and then BAM. He's in your mind!"

Tldr/ In a way Staci shook the very foundation of the Eden's Gate community with his actions and Jacob's whole "what is the worst thing you could be" speech is just damage control.

I'd love to hear others thoughts and opinions on this as well!

[paintbrushnebula]

Have you ever thought about making a Ghostflower Tangled AU? Because I can't stop thinking about Miles with 70 feet of blonde dreads, and Gwen's failed smolder and begrudgingly guiding Miles to see the lanterns. It just works so well in my brain.

Hi! YOU! YES YOU! You've got my number! Because I LIVE for Ghostflower x New Dream. Gosh, I live for Spider-Verse x Tangled, period! I've had it rotating in my brain for about a year now, although I guess I've never really talked at length about it or shared any of my ideas for a proper Spider-Verse x Tangled AU, have I?

I was a little embarrassed before, if I'm being honest 😅. But if y'all wanna indulge me, THEN HYYYES IMMA WAX POETICALLY ABOUT THIS AU TILL THE END OF TIME AND SPACE.

Rapunzel - Miles Morales Eugene Fitzherbert/Flynn Rider - Gwen Stacy/Ghost Spider Mother Gothel - Olivia Octavius Captain of the Guard - George Stacy King Frederic - Jeff Morales/King Jefferson Queen Arianna - Rio Morales/Queen Rio The Stabbington Brothers - Tombstone and Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider Maximus - Widow (Web-Slinger’s horse) The Snuggly Duckling Pub Thugs - The Sinister Six (they’re soft-confirmed to appear in Beyond the Spider-Verse after all) Pascal - isn’t in this AU.

So the overall plot of Tangled remains relatively the same, with the cast of Spider-Verse implemented into it, of course.

18 years ago, King Jefferson used the sundrop flower to heal the dying pregnant Queen Rio of Corona. Prince Miles is born with golden, ultra kinky 4c hair and magical healing powers, gets kidnapped by Mother Olivia, locked away in a tower deep in the woods, the whole shebang.

Now, Gwen Stacy is the secret identity of masked legendary thief Ghost Spider, currently a respected, high-ranking member of the Spider Society, a crime syndicate run by The Kingpin in the neighboring kingdom of Vardaros, the most powerful in the Seven Kingdoms due to its members' all wearing masks that hide their faces, rendering their identities completely unknown to anyone and impossible for any law enforcement to track them down. Recently, Ghost Spider has been commissioned by The Kingpin to steal the Lost Prince of Corona's crown from the palace.

So Ghost Spider has been on the run for years from the Captain of the Coronan Guard, Captain George Stacy, her father, who has no idea the masked thief he's hunting is his own daughter.

And don’t think I haven’t thought about the TV series exclusive characters!

Cassandra - Lyla (you have no idea how happy I was when I came up with that) Lance Strongbow - Hobie Brown/Rebel Spider Kiera and Catalina - Peni Parker and Margo Kess (they’re not kids in this though) Uncle Monty - Aunt May Varian - Miles G. Quirin - Aaron Davis Adira - Jessica Drew Hector - Miguel O’Hara The Baron - Kingpin (obv) Anthony the Weasel - Web-Slinger Baron’s Henchmen - Spider Society Lord Demanitus - Peter B. Parker King Edmund - Spider-Noir/King Benjamin Hamuel - Spider-Ham/Hamuel (he’s not called “Spider-Ham” ofc but he is still a talking anthropomorphic pig in this) Zhan Tiri - The Spot

Your concepts about Miles with golden dreads, Gwen's smolder, her taking him to see the LANTERNS OOHHHHHHH yeah imma just have to draw all that, sorry. Talking about it aint enough. Expect a buncha Tangled x Spiderverse fanart to be flooding my blog soon XD

[jacketpotatoo]

// atsv spoilers

I’m in love with the fact that Gwen looks absolutely devastated post-Guggenheim assemble where she successfully saves the people in the art museum and receives a nod of affirmation from Jess. The victory and the validation isn’t on her mind. I love the drums disappearing and leaving a ringing trill of her synth before she collapses on the floor in pain and exhaustion.

The drums are associated with intense focus and intense emotional turmoil. This is set up by the opening scene where Gwen “beats her feelings with sticks” while drumming. The drums represent the momentary ability to express her pent up emotions through action. So when the drums leave and the synth rings, musically, her adrenaline has run out. Spider-Woman did what she needed to do and Gwen Stacy is left. The synth extends to the next scene where she faces her father but it takes a soft, wavering tune. There are no drums to back it up. She is not spider-woman right now, she is Gwen and she needs her father to understand.

The drum returns like a heartbeat when she reveals herself and it goes badly. She’s Gwen but she’s Spider-Woman and the lines between the two blur. Her dad’s rejection of that part of her is as much a rejection of her, emphasised by the fact that in the background, the paint is dripping down in rapidly changing colours, reflecting her turmoil.

I love that Gwen looks devastated because, right from the start, we’re made so brutally aware of the suffering she goes through and has gone through. And this informs every interaction she has with miles - how he makes her feel okay. How when she’s Spider-Gwen with him, she’s inspired. So much depth added to her character with just one expression. I love this movie.

[killedbythegroove]

oh my god

[apollos-boyfriend]

what do you mean they're Stacy-ing all over my Gwenpoole. Why are they doing this

this is like. beyond parody. this is what people assume gwenpool is. like if you asked a non-comics fan what they thought gwenpool’s story was they would assume she’s a version of gwen stacy that took up the deadpool mantle like she does spider-man’s as ghost-spider. half the joke around gwenpool is that she’s notably neither gwen nor wade. the gwenpool title only really works for her and her alone because of that. it’s not something that can be thrown around like captain america or spider-man because the joke is that’s just her real-ass name

admittedly gwenpool herself will be in it as well. they’re not just rewriting her to be gwen stacy. but the choice to do so in the first place is so baffling. i’m gonna withhold total judgement until the issues actually drop but i am not enthusiastic for this one 💀

[helluvaslut]

"Hey guys, hope you don't mind I brought a friend over to the island."

[gleefullypolin]

Let's talk about that I love you reaction

Let's talk about the above 2 scenes.

Scene 1: Marina tells Colin that she loves him as she is trying to deceive him into marriage. She is then caught due to Lady Whistledown and Colin confronts her. When she is confronted about her deception, she is not apologetic. She states that she had no choice, that he was her best chance and she had no one to guide her in a better direction and she will not be shamed by him.

When he asks about her telling him that she loved him she tells him that she held him in the greatest esteem. Meaning that her declaration of "love" was also a lie. Everything he thought he knew was a deception.

Scene 2: Pen admits to Colin that she has always loved him. Not out of deception or lies, but something she meant. Now lets go to the confrontation. Colin confronts her about her lies, and Pen owns up to them, she is apologetic and admits that she knows how much damage she has caused. She does not give him any excuses for what she has done, but meets each of his questions with the reasons she did what she did.

When he asks her what good is he to her, lets remember, after Marina lied to him, even her love she declared to him was a lie, so now when confronting Pen, he has these same scars, these same wounds. How much of Pen's deceptions are lies. Is her love also part of the deception?

And thus when she loudly declares she loves him, not once, but twice, he is rocked. it stops his world on its axis and pulls him right out of their fight. This is what stops him in his tracks and and ends in their make out right there on the middle of the street. Because her love was not the lie. She was NOT Marina.

[ironman-tonystark]

I guess there must have been a spider egg sac in the lab, because today there were suddenly hundreds of baby spiders swarming around one corner of the ceiling. I couldn't help but wonder, is this how the spider-people reproduce and is that why there are so damn many of them?

[inafieldofdaisies]

[redxdesign]

[wxbslingers]

+ @inhcritance asked: ❝ You can’t stop me, but I’m flattered that you’re still trying. ❞ - For a Spider-person of your choice?

+ " Now where have I HEARD that line before ? " Arms crossed over her chest, Gwen arched a BROW in Harry's direction . This wasn't here world ; not her husband , but the SIMILIARITIES were already enough to keep her amused beyond COMPARE . There was the matter of HOW she'd been brought here, much less if anyone else in their little CIRCLE had made the jump with her , but that could WAIT for the time-being .

As much as she was already seeing the PROSPECTS of turning all of this against any of their ENEMIES . What better ally than differing versions of THEMSELVES ?

" Who exactly says I'm looking to STOP you ? "