#that's another topic there like: meaning what the fuck i say

[myfairstarlight]

Good day friend! I've been really enjoying your takes for bridgerton this season :D Would love to hear your thoughts about part 2, particularly Colin's character portrayal if you're at all inclined!

Well hello there dear, thank you!

And what a coincidence, because Colin's portrayal, always the polarising topic in this fandom it seems, has been on my mind ever since I finished watching part 2... I shall ramble here then! I hope you do not mind a long answer, dear reader, for my last analysis post was not a quick read indeed. And I will now also stop trying to sound like Whistledown.

So, overall thoughts? I think he was handled mostly brilliantly, actually. And thus still despite the pacing issues (but that's an overall issue I have with the show, not specific to this season). Controversial take, already, so let's break it down a bit.

I will try to organise my rambling, but this is pretty much my immediate thoughts after watching the season. Perhaps I'll make a more organised and proper post later, adding Penelope's side, like my friends to lovers love letter, but we'll see! So:

Colin's journey to self-love

Because just like Penelope, though we arguably see it less, Colin has his own journey to loving himself because the thing with Colin is that he's still so insecure. Yes, he's more himself in part 2 now that he realised he's in love, he no longer tries to pretend to be someone he's not, but he still struggles to prove himself, and we see it in those last two episodes, when the truth is truly out. People are harsh on him for being so caught up in what Whistledown wrote and constantly celebrating the idea that LW might meet her demise, almost like a child who just got some sweets, but as we've seen in his discussion with Eloise after the reveal, it's because Whistledown calling him out at the beginning of the season for his new persona poked at his biggest insecurity, and he's still stuck on that, even more so now that he learns Penelope was behind the words, the one person who always made him feel seen and in this case, made him feel too seen. To me, him bringing up Marina so insistently was him grasping at straws, clinging to the one thing he knows for sure was unfair so he does not have to face the fact that what Penelope wrote was the truth (sidenote, was a little disappointed they did not have Penelope say she did try to talk to him about Marina but he literally did not listen and did not care that Marina loved another). He is still trying to find who he is and for a moment, he thought he had it, thanks to the very person now making him question everything all over again.

And oh boy does he not cope well.

Hero complex and what it means to be the man of the house

Colin has a hero complex. That's news to absolutely no one, unless you have not paid attention, so I won't make a list of the instances in previous seasons again. But we see it right away in e5 as he stands up for Penelope in front of Portia, then constantly shielding Penelope as soon as Cressida is involved. Penelope even thanks him for it, telling her no one has ever stood up for her of the sort, which fuels his hero complex. In fact, it is Colin's protectiveness that leads him to learn Penelope is Whistledown since he followed her out of worry, and that leads him to the realisation that she may not need him as much as he thought she did (and in his mind, perhaps she even just pretended to need him, to love him). And that, along with discovering that secret, shatters him. His whole sense of purpose, the one thing he thought he could for sure provide? Gone, just like that.

Even more so later when he learns she may be richer than him lol

So he overcompensates. When Cressida's blackmail is revealed, he does not listen, he jumps on the opportunity to prove himself, to protect his wife even if he's still mad at her, no one can disrespect her and his family so blatantly. As the man of the house, he needs to do what he must. And then he fucking fails and makes things far worse. And you know what? How satisfying it was that for once he failed, arguably when it was the most important for him, to remind him that hey, don't get on your high horse, listen to your wife and your family, don't try to handle everything on your own! (A lesson that Penelope also has to learn at the same time! That's marriage baby!) I like that he gets humbled twice, by Penelope and Cressida, the person he loves most and the one he despises so, yet they both throw the truth at him - he's privileged, as a man, and as a Bridgerton. He gets to question himself, travel to his whim, be even reckless like he just was because he will always have unconditional love from his family, but Penelope had to hide a part of herself to be able to do something she likes, meanwhile Cressida has to resort to questionable means to avoid getting married off to an old man. They do not have the luxury that Colin has to just do things. And it pains him to face that.

I've seen the sentiment that part 2 has Penelope be more assertive than Colin, with the dynamic shifting again when it should not, and while it is true she is the one who seeks him out more, it makes sense, she is seeking his forgiveness all throughout the last two episodes. I love her, but you cannot argue she is not at fault here and Colin deserves to be upset and a bit withdrawn as he deals with the conflicting feelings suddenly assaulting him. Yes the entrapment accusation hurt especially since he was the one who couldn't keep his hands to himself, but with his history after Marina, it makes sense that's what his hurt mind decides to focus on that, to justify the fact he's still so upset (It does bother me he never apologises for that comment though, at the same time Penelope doesn't hold it against him. They, or the writers, probably forgot about it.) But I would also argue that him being so troubled, is a proof of love, he even says so to Eloise "you are lucky you've never been in love" because if he wasn't, this would be much easier to deal with. Despite it all, he loves her, he chooses her, he will protect her, he must. He decides to sleep on the sofa to still stay close to Penelope despite the fact he could just sleep in one of the empty bedrooms. He still reassures her during their wedding, with one look encouraging her to walk more confidently down the aisle, and he holds her oh so tenderly when they dance at the wedding breakfast. He's so upset, but he's still so much in love. Of course, unlike part 1, there's no urgency or desperation on his part, there's no Debling threatening to take Penelope away, or him trying to earn back her favours so of course suddenly his displays of love feel less outward. But again, they're arguing, no he will not forgive her so easily, and that's a good thing, yet he's still here to support and protect her, and that says so much because again, he could just leave, that would have no consequence to him as a man. And in kind, Penelope makes an effort to do better as well, no longer witholding any secret from him, and he sees that.

And deep down, he understands Penelope, we see it when he confronts Cressida and perfectly described why Penelope became LW without her telling him in such words beforehand, because he's had similar struggles, he just needs to admit it, and be okay to show this vulnerability with her.

Colin's writer struggles and jealousy.

Now, I must admit, this was the weakest and a bit disappointing part of his arc to me, which is why I'm writing it last. I wish we could have had more time exploring that, and not just being told so (hopefully in s4? Assuming the writers won't pull a Kate and Anthony and constantly have them leave for no reason). This, however, adds to the previous part and Colin's struggle to provide, be the man of the house.

Here his wife is, an accomplished writer, even if under a pen name, who may be richer than he, oh how it must have deepened his insecurity. After all, if he cannot provide protection, or financial stability, then what good is he to her? What good are his silly journals when compared to that damn column that has all of Mayfair on a chokehold?

And yet.

Is it not telling and precious that he kept all of Penelope's letters? And that they're the catalyst of reminding him why he loves her so much, and how her love for writing and her cleverness shine through and that it is unfair of him to expect her to give it up when he himself aspires to be a writer? Writing is what brings them together truly, the same way writing letters to each other was the precursor for him realising his feelings as well. He is at peace then, Penelope is Whistledown, and she shines with her pen, and Colin fell in love with her quill, long ago, he was just overcome with grief to realise Whistledown held the same brilliance.

And sure, Penelope does not need him to provide, but she loves writing so much, and it inspires Colin in his own writing as well. And I also think it's super cute that he was going through a writer's block until Penelope told him she's loved him for years and suddenly the gates were opened (granted, this was before the reveal but now imagine post-reveal, as he struggles to edit and write, Penelope comes up beside him telling him he's doing well and boom, he's determined to write again).

But, back to the topic at hand, most importantly... he offers her love and support, even through all this battle, he unconsciously kept caring for her, and that's what Penelope craves, just someone there for her.

And that? That Colin can absolutely be, and he will proudly take on the role of her husband rather than "the man".

So I think this about wraps it up! Colin is the definition of a sensitive man trying his best to tough it up, a third son who struggles to find a place in this world. But he found a woman who does not need him to be what he is not, the one woman who will love him not for what he can provide, but for who he truly is, kind and incredibly empathetic. The one woman who fell in love with him because she made him fall off a horse and instead of yelling because of a bruised ego, he laughed at his own expense.

And I just think Colin Bridgerton is neat.

Also as I hit post it's 2AM for me so if some of this doesn't make sense, that's why, don't hold it against me, thank you dear one <3

[fipindustries]

and while we are on the topic of dehumanizing, this reminds me of a shower thought i had the other day regarding harry potter.

yes, this is going to be yet another take about re-examining an element of that blasted series under a much more critical light now that i find the author to be a horrible person, but bear with me.

to my defense, i actually genuenly did thought this back when i was a kid reading these books, way before i knew anything about rowlings opinions on trans people, or indeed about trans people at all!

it always was a little weird to me those moments where dumbledore tries to stomp out of harry any inkling of empathy or mercy he might have towards voldemort.

i can think of three specific instances.

first instance is in book 6 when harry is feeling weary about the idea that he is predestined to kill voldemort because of a prophecy. dumbledore then exclaims something about how of course that harry has to kill voldemort, but not just because the prophecy says so, rather because of all the evil things he did that make him deserving of death. so harry thinks of all the crimes voldemort commited and he feels uplifted by what is descrived as "righteous anger"

the second instance is also in book 6, right after harry learns about the tragic story of voldemort's mom, where he actually feels kind of bad for her and asks why she had to die. to this dumbledore immediatly asks harry, almost incredulously "are you feeling pity for voldemort's mom?". to which harry instantly corrects himself and tries to spin it as somehow her fault for not using her magic to save herself and thus abandoning her baby.

then the third instance is near the end of the final book when they are at king's cross purgatory vision, where harry finds voldemort's mutilated soul, that looks like a wounded baby that was skinned alive and is desperatly crying. harry's first instinct is to want to help him but dumbledore steps in and is like "you should step away from that". when harry asks what is it dubledore is like "ignore the baby harry, he is beyond help". after a while, harry stops feeling sorry for the baby and he starts to find the baby's desperate cries of pain annoying.

so in here we see three instances where dumbledore's advice makes harry more callous towards voldemort.

and to be sure. voldemort is ontollogically evil. he is the devil. as evil as evil gets. kind of the whole point is that this is the uncomplicated fully evil villain against whom all scorn and harm and violence is morally justified.

not saying this is like the worst message ever. having absolute evil that has to be vanquished by any means and against whom is really not worth to waste time considering their humanity is like, normal everyday stuff. this is a children's story so is not aming for moral complexity here. but still, as a kid i was not used to seeing a child hero that was presented with a Hated Enemy that he was fully justified in killing no questions asked. even aang, who is told by every mentor he has to kill ozai, he at least struggles with the question. luke tries to redeem vader at every turn. frodo makes a genuine attempt at being nice to smeagol and lets saruman go after the take back the shire. superman never ever killed. and then comes harry, a child hero from a children's story and the message is "yeah some fuckers just need to fucking die, the end"

[ahalliance]

qsmp francophone cubitos and their dynamic drive me wild, they all know they’re mutually lying and obscuring the truth to one another, they all know they’re keeping each other at arm’s distance, they all know they’re not as open as they once were when it was just them and the aftermath of a plane crash, but the love is still there. the worry and the concern. they pry information out of one another in supposedly subtle ways that really just convey how much they still care about each other. what’s your stance on the federation. how’s your code arm doing. even if in the end you don’t turn to me, please call out to someone. maybe looking out for yourself is looking out for others as well. i don’t know you anymore but i will protect the unknown anyway

[au-hemeanssomething]

I think having adhd means that if you fixate hard enough, you can shake off the need of proper human interaction [temporarily]

[nerosdayinanime]

"Im worried what people would think of you then, that you're just a personal whore or something- i don't want to ruin your reputation.."

"Are you kidding? 'My dick was so good i got promoted-' Thats the biggest flex i can think of!"

"Well, you're certaintly enthusiastic about this."

[lwcina]

the fact that the us government can continue funding and arming a genocide despite massive public opposition really highlights how inherently non-democratic the united states is

[widevibratobitch]

omw to play emotional support for my mom disguised as ✨fun family bonding time✨ for the rest of the week <3333 there's something so deeply wrong with me uwu teehee

[lonely--seeker]

For all the shit Twitter was talking about Hazbin hotel... I was not ready for chapter 4

[umilily]

waking up from a poorly timed nap to my friend once more making the worst possible life choices

[reefshark]

i think something a lot of people are already forgetting is that the doctor specifically told Kongo/Phos to burn the bridge once he crosses it, and are already getting antsy about what happened in chapter 98. To me this feels like him crossing the bridge? we still have, I believe, another volume or so At Least left to hnk and I think this next volume will be Phos’ process of ‘burning the bridge’. Like, we still don’t even know if Phos’ praying is bringing the result that is wanted, we just saw a giant explosion of sorts. That could lead to anything. 

[abyssalpriest]

if i disappear after saying that ive been assassinated no jokes aside if i take that down its not bc i disagree with it, you can still pin it on me as a belief that i think that shit should be said and ill put my whole ass behind it, but saying shit like that has consequences lmfao. also theres a time and a place to bring that up

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[todayisafridaynight]

mine WOULD be the justice arcana. if you even care or anything.

[sirompp]

just saw a l0whunt post where they KISSED feeling VERY violated even though it was properly tagged and i was the one who clicked on it anyway. but.

[sugaggukkie]

there’s this bts podcast that every now and then i listen to an episode or two of and the girls are way too nice and genuine for my cynical industry soul but i give them leeway bc they seem very sweet BUT. im listening to their album review of jack in the box and they did an entire lyric breakdown of equal sign and didn’t mention gay rights even once and im not saying they had to but they talked about literally every other injustice in the world that it could be referring to and didn’t even ALLUDE to it being about sexuality EVEN WHEN THEY READ THE LINE “LOOKING FOR LOVE IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT” LADIES…………HELLO???????

[the-breloominati]