#the last two seasons of the show as in 3 and 4

[iddybyddybee]

I won't say I wasn't disappointed with how Creloise's story ended in Season 3 initially, but after finishing the season and thinking for a bit, I'm a little more neutral on the topic. Why? May I play devil's advocate for a moment and list two things that I got post-Season 3 for future queer representation.

Cressida's spiral in Part 2 reminded me of another Sapphic character's journey: Catra from She-ra. Catra was the main baddie for a long while, but in Season 4, there was a shift in her that made her push EVERYONE away, especially the people who were kind to her. She felt betrayed by the one person she felt the closest to, the one she loved. Catra sank so low and gave into her worst tendencies not only to make other people suffer, but also so that no one would see her suffer. That is what Cressida did, as well. In her final confrontation with Eloise, she wanted their friendship to continue and write as LW (a poor plan in hindsight since Eloise knew full well that she wasn't LW), and when Eloise refused, she immediately fell back on her bullying ways. That was enough for Eloise to end things, leaving Cressida's last good human connection gone and becoming entirely alone. She felt betrayed by someone she cared deeply about, and lashed out because of it. While it's over for now, I'm not quite giving up my hope on Creloise. Like Catra, she can be redeemed. Cressida really did show that Eloise influenced her in a positive way, despite the direction she took being not the greatest one, and Eloise even admitted that she genuinely liked being friends with Cressida during their start. Cressida may not appear next season, but maybe the one after that. Maybe she'll take the time in Wales to mature, come back and try to patch things up with Eloise.

As for not getting a canon WLW ship with a Bridgerton, we just got confirmation of not one, but TWO Bridgerton siblings being somewhere on the queer spectrum. All we wanted was at least one sibling to be queer, and now we have two. That's huge and also realistic! Like, in a family of 8, how can one of them NOT be queer? Even with me and my siblings, we have a collection of straight, ace, bi, and gay (we basically won the queer lottery). So there is still a chance for Eloise to be queer in some manner. Maybe she can be asexual, but find romantic feelings for someone? Maybe a woman? Perhaps... Cressida~? They already flipped the gender of Francesca's love interest, who's to say they can't completely change Eloise's love interest, too?

We're not going to get Season 4 for, like, two more years, so there's a lot of time to stew with what transpired. But I would like to remain optimistic. That's all we can do, for now.

[savagewildnerness]

The Score of S2E5/E12 Don't be afraid, just start the tape.

OK, Someone was asking about the repeated piano notes that recur in S2E5 so I thought I’d have a quick go through the episode.

Please bear in mind that I have not listened to the soundtrack for season 2.  In S2E1 I was so profoundly moved by the exquisite violin music in the first 15 minutes that I was totally overwhelmed and I had to watch the first part of the episode several times to take it all in and be composed enough to continue watching.  

The way the music impacted me there, hearing it for the first time alongside the drama, as intended, made me realise I absolutely do not want to listen to the score before watching the whole of S2 and so not feel the emotion from it as intended, alongside the drama the first time I watch the show!  

I’ll spoil myself by analysing every trailer to the millisecond and reading your analyses… but the music: NO.  I even regretted knowing the Come to Me reprise before it was in the show.  

And even the S1 score… I know it well, but I listen to it on CD in the car, so I’m not familiar with the track titles as I’ve never really looked at most of them…. So, that said - this will not be referencing tracks on the score.  Perhaps I’ll return to this in more depth - analysing the music more thoroughly and with reference to the score after the series is over, but for now…

Piano pedal:

The piano pedal and theme recurs 5 times in the episode, and looking at when, I realised it is all related to Louis uncovering his suicide attempt as it culminates (on the fourth occurrence) in the full theme…

I transcribed just the first bit of slow notes, which isn’t very interesting, but here it is:

Musically the theme is just 5, slow pedal C’s the first and last occurrence - bookmarking the delve into the uncovering of memory.

The second occurrence adds an Eb, suggesting it has somewhere it is starting to head towards… but is still just 5 slow pedal notes.

The third occurrence starts the theme for a fair amount the theme and the fourth occurrence is the full theme.

1 - 5 slow pedal C’s. This occurs in Dubai at this point:

Daniel: How often has Armand spared a life?

Louis: Armand could see I was partial to you

I.e. When Daniel first opens up the concept of exploring his and Louis’ memories of San Francisco, we first hear the pedal C’s

2 - 3 C’s, an Eb and a C - 5 slow notes.  This occurs in Dubai

Daniel: I want to know, for me, what happened between us

So, the first two occurrences are Daniel opening Louis up to the idea of exploring what really happened at the first interview in San Francisco.

3 - Slow pedal C’s and Eb’s into the start of a longer piano theme.  This occurs in San Francisco

This is when Louis is talking about Claudia leaving on the train and him staying behind with Lestat and then…

Daniel: And then what?

The theme starts as Louis talks about this first contemplation of suicide and continues through Daniel’s plea to be made a vampire

4 - Full theme in San Francisco

This begins after Louis and Armand’s argument; after:

Louis: I loved her (Claudia)

Armand: But she didn’t love you.  Not like he did.  Not like I have.

Louis: I know

I don’t know if this is on the season 2 soundtrack, but I’ll presume it is, and it’ll be this, full version that continues now in its full form, through Louis going into the sun.

5 - 5 slow pedal C’s in Dubai, as at the start

This occurs when Armand returns, at the end of the episode

Armand: I could see you were partial to him.  I preserve your happiness even when you don’t or can’t.

Louis and Armand: I had a hunch

Armand: Daniel might prove fruitful in later times

The other, creepy soundscape with distorted horror/electronic sounds (YUM!) happens for the first time after Louis’ suicide attempt when Daniel is mentioned and it scores all the horror elements with Daniel and Armand, where Armand is basically torturing Daniel, trying to find out what makes Daniel fascinating to Louis and Daniel is terrified he is going to die.

The first occurrence:

Louis: He’s alive?

Armand: The boy? The fascinating boy.  He’s fine.  He’s just fine.  Oh, he’s fine.  You’re fine.  We’re all fine.

It continues as Daniel recounts what he can remember - the corpse, etc. and develops as Armand seeks what makes Daniel fascinating

I didn’t really delve into this part, but - violins/strings and a more familiar to most episodes, though sparser, predominantly piano and violin score with lots of high and thinner notes than usual return when Lestat is mentioned between Louis and Armand and Armand talks about listening to the tapes and why Louis did the interview.  It’s very pared back, but the “The drum was my heart” theme (Ahh… is that the origin track for the theme?  Anyway - you know the theme dooo doooooo, do doooo dooooooo one!) is there with high pedal strings as Lestat speaks to Louis and it suddenly drops away as Lestat vanishes…

Armand’s “easeful death” talk with Daniel as he eases him to his death also has a more musically full (and  beautiful) theme.  It reminds me a bit of Moonlight sonata and has Armand-romance-theme vibes in its gentleness - beautiful, delicate and simple.  Then a violin comes in and it becomes increasingly poignant and emotional and eventually (I feel) it has a romance to it too, especially from when Armand says “It’s the comfort we all long for” - it sort of resolves to a musical home.

Again, there is more resolved piano & strings music at the end with Daniel and Louis.

OK, so only a little analysis.  I just watched the episode once and made a few notes.  I basically did it to work out if those repeated piano pedal notes had a specific connection.  And they do - it is specifically tied into (at least as I understood it, from my listening) the uncovering of Louis’ suicide attempt.

Let me know if you’d like me to look at the music ever in the future.  I dunno… part of me feels like killing a fairy to analyse stuff like this rather than just experience the magic, but also I find it very interesting.  This is only a first little touch on stuff.  I could analyse and actually think about it…

Gosh, I adore Daniel Hart’s score!  And I love how unusual and differently this episode was scored compared to other episodes…

Let me know if this was daft of me or if you’d ever like me to look into the music at all.

[penspolin]

Why Sophie won't be genderbent, exploring sexuality in Bridgerton

I've gathered some evidence for why Sophie will not be genderbent in S4. None of these are confirmed, of course, but I think this should help to alleviate concerns.

Probably the most obvious - they've already risked a lot by gender bending one character (Michael), so I don't foresee them doing it again.

Directly tied to reason 1, the show already made a change from Book!Benedict this season by making him canon bisexual. That is already one substantial change, and I personally don't see them giving both Francesca and Benedict gender bent endgames.

Directly tied to Benedict's sexuality, there is one particular scene that stands out a lot: during Benedict's last conversation with Tilley, he explicitly says that gender does not matter to him.

"Paul could be Patricia, or Polly, or Peter, or all three at once."

I'd argue this was included 1) to convey his sexuality directly to the audience through dialogue itself, 2) to highlight his concept of freedom, and 3) to emphasize that this experience is a bisexual (pansexual, potentially) awakening, not a homosexual one. I've noticed a standard in media to give characters an LGBTQ+ experience that confirms to them that they've never really liked the other gender (in this case, women) all along, they were just "playing pretend." But what we know very well by now from Benedict is that he doesn't play by society's game. If he was not attracted to women, he would not have been pursuing them for so long. Benedict having an LGBTQ+ experience this season makes him so happy because he's finally grasping at the freedom he once found in art. There is a lightness to Benedict in the last two episodes of S3 because he's broken through a barrier, admitted to a core part of himself, and lived the way he wants to, away from the watchful eye of society, in direct opposition to what society deems "appropriate."

Contrast Benedict's sexuality to what we've seen of Francesca, who has never expressed such explicit interest in both genders. Up to this point, she is a societal conformant, and we witness her struggle with that. While I do think she harbors deep feelings of love for John, her last scene with Michaela indicates that her love for him isn't romantic. It's also important to note - Benedict has had previous experience with a gay man; as far as we know, Francesca has never interacted with a member of the LGBTQ+ community and thus does not carry that same knowledge. As we've seen with other plots in Bridgerton, women were not often privy to the same knowledge and experiences as men (shielded, so to speak), and so her understanding of sexuality could be understandably limited.

4. Went off on a tangent there, but the final reason why I don't think Sophie will be genderbent: Sophie's identity as a bastard and maid derives conflict from her gender. Men, even illegitimate ones of wealthy families, were typically fairly well-off. I hardly think the bastard son of an Earl would be immediately cast out and turned into a maid or servant. Additionally, Jess Brownell has indicated that she doesn't want to mess with the books "too much," and while she's made some gender and sexuality changes, I do not foresee her changing something so pivotal. For this backstory to present conflict, Sophie must remain a woman.

[zumiiisumsum]

I may have to need a lot of time to process a lot of things about part 2 but I will say brief initial thoughts.

1. Shonda Rhimes, you’re such a fucking liar I swear to GOD! I will NEVER EVER trust anything you say ever again.

2. RIP Colin “My Wife” Bridgerton. They really gave away your spotlight to Benedict I can’t believe it lmao

3. I can’t believe they made me dislike Colin so much the last two episodes. He’s such a fucking baby post-lady whistledown like why is he REFUSING to just talk it out with her? Why is he REFUSING to love his hot fucking wife like that and sleep on the couch like a fucking man child?? WHERE WAS MY BOY IN PART 1???? HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MORE MATURE THIS SEASON WHAT THE FUCK DID YALL DO TO HIM???

4. Show not tell. SHOW NOT TELL. SHOW. NOT. TELL!!!!

5. On a brighter note, I love everything portia and featherington.

5. Editing was SHIT. I also beg yall to NEVER EVER let Tom Verica direct again. Ep 7 and 8 was all over the fucking place.

6. I love michaela sterling. Hated the threesome scenes with my very being and not because I dislike Bisexual Benedict but it just serves no purpose whatsoever, not even to Benedict’s character.

7. There was no “I love you with everything I amz

Colin Bridgerton, I am so sorry they had to write you that way ☠️ They rushed you so bad and all the other plots got what shouldve been your screen time for a well developed character development but alas….you got Jess Brownell to write you ☠️.

Im just disappointed and mad and heartbroken. I really was rooting for this season. I was happy like 24 hours ago…I loved episodes 1-6 I really do…I just don’t understand why they couldn’t just….dedicate a lot of the episodes to Colin’s characterization. I don’t understand why they couldn’t focus on developing him knowing full well he gets a lot of hate in the fandom already. They barely scratched the surface of his insecurities and he didn’t even get enough orgasms ☠️☠️. What are we even doing here. I can’t cope…

[be-curious-and-not-judgemental]

Here comes all my controversial takes.

Completely bored by Benedict this season. It felt gratuitous and unnecessary. Does he even remember he loves art? It seems he is only in season 3 for sex. All his funny faces he pulled in the first 2 seasons were lost. I know he had scenes outside of Tilley and his new male companion (I've forgotten the name) but he feels the most disconnected from the Bridgertons. In need of a rewatch cuz I know he had great moments, there just was a lot of sex filler for him this season.

I wasn't thrilled by Francesca's sort of disappointed face after kissing John at the wedding. Like it's this awareness that while she loves him, it's not gonna be about passion. And in the books, she loved John and would've stayed married had he not died. But also, damn, what ominous wedding vows! "Til you last draw breath." Uhh, thanks for the reminder that John is not long for this world.

Not a mention of Daphne. So odd, especially around the weddings.

I know JB was uber busy but Kanthony fans did not get a win this season. I haven't had the nicest interactions with that fan group but I can sympathize with the lack of scenes. They were always disappearing. And the writers seemed to keep telling us how happy they were but there wasnt a lot of pay-off. Makes me nervous about their future on the show, especially with how busy JB seems to be these days.

Definitely expected a bit more happy married Polin moments than what we got. Still overall happy with their story, but they were missing like two or three happy scenes. I missed their giggling faces after episode 5. I feel like they have decent potential for storylines in season 4. But Nic's star is on the rise, that's for sure, so something to pay attention to.

I'll post my wins for this season to counter balance any negativity. Overall, this will be a very watchable season. It's definitely my fave season, even with the hiccups along the way.

[aprilias]

During the last race weekend, I posted about making a stats post about three particular riders if it received a certain benchmark (one like). Since we reached that marker with ease, and I have nothing better to do with my time, I am presenting you the findings of this research.

The Context: Jack Miller’s "princess" rant was post-race at the Sachsenring on 18th June 2023, so it’s almost been a full year since then. In this rant he targeted Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez who were complaining about their Yamaha and Honda bikes not working last year and told them to shut the fuck up and stop complaining, a quote that seems to have aged poorly when looking at their results.

So let's see if this is the case...

Qualifying results:

(Also for reference, each of these will show 2023 and 2024 results separately because there will ofc be a spike for a certain someone who went from a Honda to a Ducati lmao)

For 2023, Miller did the best out of the three in terms of his average qualifying position, narrowly ahead of Marquez, and he also had the highest qualifying position of them all (his P2 at Silverstone in wet conditions).

Quartararo did the best in his inter-team battle with Franco Morbidelli last season, being the top Yamaha in nearly 85% of the races. Marquez was the top Honda in 9 out of the 13 races (with Joan Mir x3 and Taka Nakagami being the two riders to beat Marc to top Honda in qualifying last year).

However, when it comes to the three of them, it was Marquez that was able to qualify the highest on the grid, with him beating Quartararo and Miller in 6 out of the 13 races post-Sachsenring in 2023. Jack was top 4 times, with Fabio taking the remaining three (as you can hopefully see by the colour-coordinated gold, silver and bronze).

For 2024, it's clear to see that Marc has been the best out of these guys, with the highest average position, as well as being the only one out of the three to take pole position which he earned in Jerez. However, he has only been the top Ducati twice, in Jerez and COTA, but as well all know he has a year old bike to contend with the Pramacs and factory Ducati riders.

The rest of the data shows that both KTM and Yamaha have gotten worse, with Fabio and Yamaha failing to qualify in the top 5 so far this season, but despite this, he still leads the head-to-head against his teammate. Jack, on the other hand, has a respectable qualifying average so far in 2024, but has only been the top KTM once (in Portimao).

So far this year, Marc has been the best of the three 4 times, with Jack taking two and Fabio taking his one win over the three in Le Mans.

Sprint race results:

For 2023, none of the three riders had particularly good sprint record, with the highest average finisher (Miller) not having a good enough average to even score points.

Marc earned the most points in the sprint races last year with 23, though he only finished in the points three times. Fabio scored the lowest number of points and had the lowest average position, however he was still able to earn a podium.

Marc and Fabio share the exact same record in sprints when it comes to beating their teammates, with the two of them being the top Honda/Yamaha over 50% of the time.

In the 2023 H2H, Marc was the best of the three across the 12 weekends (due to no sprint in Phillip Island), winning 5 of these battles; Miller took four sprint weekends and Fabio took 3.

Marquez clearly has the better record in sprints this year, with his average position of third leaving him on the podium. Fabio's average has improved since last year but he has only finished in the points once, and Miller's has also improved - with his average position ninth and meaning he would more often than not be in the points.

Marc, Jack and Fabio all currently have the better record against their teammates in the sprint races in 2024. Marc has a 100% record against his brother Alex, while Fabio has beaten Alex Rins in six of the seven sprints so far this year (which could've been 7/7 if he had completed the Mugello sprint). Jack has beaten Brad in 5 races out of the seven, however is still struggling when it comes to beating the rookie Pedro Acosta, as he has only been the top KTM bike once.

In the H2H between the three of them, Marquez takes it on the sprints winning 6/7 races. Fabio takes the other with his fifth place in Jerez.

Race results:

In the main races in 2023, it was Fabio who led the statistics between the three riders. Despite having the worst average qualifying, he won six of the 13 weekends against Marc and Jack. Marc took 4 while Jack took 2; although Assen is colour coded here, they all DNFd so it doesn't count, and it is coded in order of race completion (so because Fabio DNfed the latest he's gold if this makes sense).

Marc and Fabio once again had the better of their teammates in 2023, while Miller was only able to beat Binder in 23% of the races. This is even more damning for Miller when comparing the teammates' 2023 averages - with Binder averaging a finishing position of 4.8, while Miller's was 10.6. This is compared to Marquez vs Mir (9 vs 10.75 in Marquez's favour) and Quartararo vs Morbidelli (8.42 vs 12.23 in Quartararo's favour) where the battles are closer, and the riders are winning their team and factory head-to-heads despite being considered to have a worse bike than the KTM.

In 2024, it's clear that Marquez has the better race statistics, with three podiums and an average position of 5th. However, he has not finished as the top Ducati in any race so far this year, but he does have the better record against his teammate.

Quartararo and Miller have similar records with their average finishes this year, however Quartararo is the more consistent rider with more points and more races completed. He is also currently winning his head to head against teammate Alex Rins by finishing ahead in 57% of the races in 2024.

In terms of KTM, it has been a disaster year for Miller, who is yet to finish ahead of his teammate in any race this year and, consequently, has not finished as the top KTM. His average is significantly less than that of both Binder (6.71) and Acosta, the rider that will replace him next year, who has an average race position of 7th.

From this, Marquez has won the 2024 comparison in 6 of the 7 races, with Quartararo taking the remaining one.

In summary: Although he has done well in qualifying and sprints since these comments, Jack Miller has been outperformed by both Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez on inferior machinery (for Marc's stats from 2023). Marc has of course had the better of 2024 after switching to Ducati, but also has won out against the other two in qualifying and sprint races while on a Honda for 2023. Fabio does well in the races despite his relatively low qualifying positions, but is limited from achieving top 5s due to the Yamaha's capabilities. Jack does well in qualifying and sprints, but when it comes to the main events on Sundays, he lacks a bit in comparison to his rivals.

From what this data is showing, it seems as if Marc has comprehensively beaten Jack Miller despite his complaints about Honda in 2023, and Fabio has also narrowly done it due to his race pace. In short: those comments aged not-very-well to say the least.

If there's anything anyone wants to know or ask about then my asks are always open but I kinda had fun doing this!

[marlopawsome]

BRIDGERTON SEASON 3 SPOILER ‼️‼️

MY GOD CAN YOU FUCKING STOP CALL PEOPLE HOMOPHOBIC OR QUEERPHOBIC who are skeptical because of the genderswap of Michael??

1. The Writers made us doubt Francesca love for John with the kiss at the wedding and her „I forgot my name“ when meeting Michaela

In the books there is no doubt Fran and John love each other over the moon, they enjoy themselves emotional and physical

Michael falls first, not Francesca, Franny loves Michael as a friend and then with her overcoming her grief she starts to love him in a romantic way

Now we have a she’s married to John whom she clearly likes but we now doubt if it’s real love like Violet tried to convince her for 3 episodes and clearly she’s attracted to Michaela

So it’s not the Michaela is a woman it’s the whole do Fran really LOVE John or is it just mutual likeness? And why would they erase this love they had? They didn’t need to do that! They could have sticked to the book and let Fran fall in love with Michaela after John’s death

2. Michaels whole conflict was based of his GUILT taking EVERYTHING from John

Beginning from his titles and land, Michael never wanted that or the commitment coming with a title

We now had three seasons and Queen Charlotte with whole lot of conflict where WOMAN were on the brink of loosing everything because they could not inherit the title and lands

So after he inherits everything he really struggles to be around Fran, to be true to his feelings because he’s thinking „I am not taking the last thing John had from him!!“

How would that now go with a female Michaela?

As I said the SHOW showed us clearly no female could inherit land or titles

Damn it even was a crucial part in season 2 & 3 with the feaheringtons and changing that would made all the hardships Portia going through invalid

Also they could have just scrapped the Mondrichs/Lord Kent Plot altogether then

So again: it’s nothing to do with Fran should not love a woman BUT with the In-Universe Canon and how that can work out with one of Michael’s biggest inner conflicts? People are not AGAINST it they’re are just wondering how this could work out?

Edit: I see a Eloise and Michaela are going to get woman’s the right to inherit land and titles plot and Fran has a daughter of John but would loose everything and Michaela wants to save her (although Fran has always her family in London)

3. Francesca wants to be a mother more then everything

And yes, wlw couples struggle a lot with getting pregnant and getting kids too

But In the books Francesca struggles to concieve, and after John’s death she miscarried

We don’t have a lot of screentime for this kind of life and struggles, besides in Queen Charlotte, and it would be cruel to remove this

Francesca wants to be a mother so bad and although adoption is a way (but I wasn’t shown in 4 seasons so it would be strange to just pop up in Frans story) or sperm donor (which I don’t think Fran would be compatible for) again it clashes with what the show runners established in the In-Universe Canon.

Surely they can implement that now, it would have just been better to build that up! Not a sudden „it’s possible now“

So the genderchange brings two major plotquestions for the characters and the way the show did it invalidates Frans Love to John

ALSO! That feels so much like forced queerness! We love and want and need queer representation! But we deserve good story’s, nice build up and true feelings!!

In the end we have to wait how the show runners execute the plot now, and what they gonna do, how the actors work etc and can’t say if it will fail or not

But to be critical and question the decision because of how the show handled a lot of topics crucial for the John/Fran/Michael Plot does not make one homophobic or queerphobic.

[justfandomwritings]

An essay on why I won’t be watching next season.

1. Obviously actors have to promote their shows and hype them up. But the interactions between Nicola and Luke during the press tour were, in retrospect, clearly also acting performances, and it is rare to see acting within the press tour to the degree that those two put on while grossly exaggerating things like how sexy this season would be or how much Polin we would get. I don’t blame them. It’s clearly what they were told to do. And it’s fine to hype a show, but I think a lot of people felt genuinely lied to with the WAY this season was hyped.

2. The casting has been color conscious and inclusive in a way I greatly admire. But they have not been inclusive in other ways. And that’s not to say they should have to be. One show shouldn’t bear the responsibility of being inclusive to everyone and making up for an industries worth of exclusion. But we have exactly one size inclusive character in this whole show, and I’m not even demanding more, but to butcher the season of the only size inclusive person in this show this badly and in these ways sends me a clear message of what the writers thought they could get away with with a curvy actress and how they saw her.

3. The wait times for this season and next season are just too long. The hype dies down too much between seasons such that we care less and less each time we get a new one, especially when you only give eight episodes, regardless of their length. You know who also gave us a season in 2022 and then an eight episode season this year? house of the dragon. And they have to CGI a fuck ton of dragons. Yall were sitting on this season being done filming for over a year and for what? What did you do in post? A bee? And then to have the audacity to do it in two parts? Fuck off.

4. Add to that. The costumes and new sets looked so much cheaper this season than previous seasons. Where did the budget go.

5. The plot is too crowded. Maybe you thought a curvy girl couldn’t carry a season. Maybe it was bad writing. Obviously you needed Cressida and Eloise to have decent amounts of screen time but you also did half of Francesca’s story and set one up for Violet and Benedict that collectively took the majority of the screen time and left us with very little Pen and Colin. Which was a disservice you never gave Anthony or Daphne’s seasons and was why they were good. We got enough crumbs of the others to tell us what was happening but not enough to make them feel like main characters or to make it feel like an ensemble show. There were leads in season 1 and 2. This season it was an ensemble with too many moving parts. But everyone’s said that. It’s not surprising.

6. My biggest problem is the tone. The blame. Admittedly I’m a woman who relates strongly to Penelope so I’m not impartial here. But for a character who spends her entire life being abused by every single person in this show, who is pushed to her absolute breaking point before finally giving her mother and the tonne a taste of their own medicine. For that character to receive no grace, no understanding, no respect, for the vast majority of the season hurt. To not only have zero understanding of her situation but to frame the entire plot of the show around the fact that SHE alone should be sorry. To have minimal to no groveling from Colin over what he said last season, to have no acknowledgment of how he treated her as a safety net, to humanize Cressida who made her life hell with minimal acknowledgment of that fact, to have Eloise get ONE comment from Cressida of all people about her friendship with Penelope but no real reflection from Eloise or acknowledgment on her part or apologies for what a truly SHIT friend she was for DECADES. That hurt. Because the message is that sure, they can push you to your fucking limit, you can break after years of being bullied for your weight and your looks and your status. Your own mother and sisters hands can be filthy with insults and abuse. Your friends can treat you like utter garbage for years. They can befriend your bullies. Your soon to be husband can, very recently, insult you to his friends behind your back. But you owe them the apology for breaking after years of abuse. It’s not that the tonne couldn’t be angry or that they all should’ve fallen at Pen’s feet. It’s that those arguments never happen at all because once again, just like when she was being used and abused by everyone, everything was put on Penelope. And the cycle continues.

7. Colin should’ve groveled more. I know I said that in the previous point but it really ruined things for me so I want to emphasize it. I wanted that man on his knees the whole season, and I should’ve known I wasn’t gonna get that when y’all dropped the list of songs and there wasn’t any of the A List Yearners on the list. But I’m still mad.

8. Actually that’s a good point. Did anyone else think the songs didn’t go as hard this year? Except Pitbull were we excited about any of them?

9. You did the Pride and Prejudice ballroom trick with the dancing alone thing and you didn’t nail it. If you’re gonna do that trick it has to fucking HIT. (And it has to be enemies to lovers.) And you did it half assed. You should be ashamed.

10. There was a two second window there when Cressida asked the maid for help where I thought they were gonna swap lives and the maid would go with her aunt and Cressida would become a maid and I was like “holy fuck is Cressida gonna become Bennys love interest?” and that would’ve been better than what y’all did I think. And it would’ve justified her excessive screen time.

11. I love gender swapping Michaela and making Francesca bi. We love it. But why was Francesca immediately interested. Once again the writers don’t understand pining. Michaela is PINING for Francesca and can do nothing but love her from afar. Francesca loved John completely and whole heartedly. Michaela was a beautiful love story for her but was also a second chance. She loved John completely. She would never have an emotional affair on him. How did you immediately ruin such a beautiful second chance romance?

12. Where was Pen’s friendship with Anthony or Lady Danbury? Why wasn’t Colin proud of Pen the way he was in the book? To make her even more alone? To emphasize that she was alone and at fault and helpless? Fuck off.

I just don’t have it in me to watch this show deteriorate further.

[clustermuck]

here why I’m upset with Colin’s characterization in part 2: when this show is all about Romance and our romantic lead spends the last 1/4 of the season being sullen, not listening to his wife’s side of things, and even actively shutting her down on more than one occasion after finding out this secret, I worry that with the little scenes of them dancing or holding hands or talking about their relationship is the writers telling us this behavior from Colin is supposed to be…sexy? Endearing? Romantic?

It’s not really…

Does Colin have every right to be upset that the woman he just discovered he’s basically loved his whole life without even him knowing it kept this huge secret that hurt a lot of other people he loves and puts that same woman he loves in constant danger herself? Sure. Absolutely!

But Colin, babe, YOU chased her down. You stopped her betrothal to someone else. You declared yourself first. I know you were declaring yourself to Pen and not LW, but don’t then turn around and act like Pen was conniving to get you to marry her. Like what?!?

And then after his convo with Kanthony, he CHOOSES to still marry her because he’s obviously still in love with Pen even if he hasn’t worked out the LW feelings yet. If he had his mind made up to marry her anyway, then his coldness towards Pen needed to end then and there. He can still be frustrated or unsure of how they’ll move forward, but at that point, after “I do,” Colin needed to realize that this just became Penelope and Colin VS. the Problem—esp after the Queen’s interrogation. He needed to step up, NOT continue to freeze out or fire shots at his wife.

There can be conflict without fighting or frustration or cold-shouldering and I get so annoyed when writers forget that. The last two episodes could have been so interesting and still frought with angst only having Pen and Colin on the same side.

Instead we get a beautiful, but I think kinda tacked on love declaration after Pen’s reveal as LW (as such, as beautiful and appropriate as the words were, it felt hollow) and then give us less than 3 mins of Happily Married Colin and Pen?!?!

That’s not romantic, guys.

I could be reading WAY too much into this…probably am…but to me, reading this half of the season another way is Colin bordering on emotionally abusive to Pen (yes, I know Pen has things to atone for, I know she’s not 100% in the right.)

So yeah…I’m really upset.

(Though I should note, I’m blaming writing and editing the most here, Nic and Luke acting this season with all their hearts and I know they would have made a better approach to their character arcs SO BEAUTIFUL if they had been given the chance…alas…)

**EDIT: I love these characters so much that I am ACTIVELY looking for someone to make an argument for the other side. I want to be told I missed something and Colin was softer, more loving than I’m seeing right now. Please…

[sirkusdyretbooks]

The last week these two books have hardly been out of my hands, I've been reading on the bus, in a park, on the bus stop, on a flight of stairs, co-reading with a friend, and whenever the opportunity arose. You see I watched the Netflix show right after handing in my Bachelor and thus got quite curious about the books written by Julia Quinn, and yes I couldn't wait to see the conclusion of Season 3. However, I was fairly surprised, as the books are extremely different from the Netflix show. So, here's my rambling about the two books, because I do love to ramble.

I do think most of the Bridgerton books can be read in any order as you deem fit, but continuing over to book 5 from book 4 naturally seems the best choice as they happen so close to one another. In fact book 5 overlapping with book 4's timeline in it's end, which however also does not do book 5 justice due to inconsistencies between the stories. I am just going to come out with it, as it actually bothered me quite a bit, as book 4 ends on the sentence "And no one saw them for several days" (before the epilogue). Yet, in book 5 Colin leaves Penelope to the country with his three brothers only 2-3 days after the end of the 4th book. 2-3 days is not "several days", at least not to me, and you would think at least Colin might have brought Penelope with him up to the country due to how book 4 ended. It just bothers me greatly.

Adding: Eloise NEVER finds out about her best friend Penelope being Lady Whistledown in any of these books.

Bridgerton Book 4: Romancing Mr Bridgerton

First of all, the three Featherington sisters have a younger sister, Felicity Featherington who has started her season upon the start of "Romancing Mr Bridgerton". Second, it's been over ten years since Daphne's and Simon's story, (which is the book I am currently reading), and Hyacinth is also out for her first season.

I really enjoy that time has passed. Penelope being almost 28, and she's basically a spinster at this point, together with Eloise whom has contracted her own little hobby to Colins dismay. Colin even think his sister is Lady Whistledown, and of course, we do not even get to know who Lady Whistledown actually is until Colin is the one to figure it out on accident.- Colin being too pre-occupied paying attention to Penelope, who is used to no one paying attention to her.

The carriage ride in season 3 actually is the carriage ride after Penelope was caught and they had a huge fight where Colin is upset about her putting herself in danger, going to such "shady parts of London" by herself, in which turns into quite the scandalous make-out session of course. In which at the end of the carriage ride Colin ask Penelope to be his wife. (Adding as I just watched episode six: They DID adapt it, but not of course the same way, here I enjoy the books version more).

I do have to comment, I absolutely love seeing more of Colins point of view, he is much more of a person in the book, as inner monologues do sadly not transfer well into tv. One parts of his human sides that I love and hate at the same time, is his love for food, he's always eating.

Here I will stop comparing it to the netflix show (and I shall enjoy the rest of the show when I do watch it).

The drama unfolding after is of course quite a thing, because it is of course not just Lady Whistledowns possible exposure by Cressida Twombley, who wishes to extort Penelope from all her Whistledown money, but also Colins jealousy towards his brothers and also fiancé for "having purpose", finding trust and support in his author-wife for his journals, which is absolutely lovely.

I really loved this book quite much.

Bridgerton Book 5: To Sir Phillip with Love

From the shock of Eloise's spinster friend Penelope marrying her brother Colin, thus no longer being a fellow-spinster she finds herself in a desperate need to maybe find something for herself as well.

Thus taking the recently widowed Sir Phillip Crane's invitation to heart, months even after it arrived, but just having to get away from her family, disappearing from the ball hosted by the Duke and Dunchess of Hastings, the very night Lady Whistledown was exposed, in which Eloise never found out of course. Showing up at Sir Phillip's door the morning after.

Sir Phillip wishes to find a new wife due to his dear Marina sadly passing away the year prior, due to being "melancholy". Especially, due to his twin children needing a mother. In which he hopes to find in Eloise. Eloise however, never was told of these two eight-year olds in the letters between them, but growing up with seven siblings, where three of them have had more than two children each, she is quite used to children at this point, which makes it not the worst match. However, the children are quite unruly, and are known for being absolute demons.

Having basically ran away from home, of course four Bridgerton men soon show up at Sir Phillips's door, demanding an explanation (Why Colin wouldn't bring Penelope is beyond me). Having been "alone" with a man for two days, Eloise is now of course un-marriageable, even if the only thing that happened was an eccentric kiss, and Anthony Bridgerton demands a marriage between them. In which Eloise wouldn't mind...had it not been for her brother's meddling hands. Sir Phillip is quite happy, Eloise will of course be a splendid mother to his twins. While Eloise wonders if this could at some point, maybe eventually be a marriage with love.

Another thing that bothered me in this book, was how Eloise wishes to speak to her sisters, especially Daphne for advice, but does not even mention Penelope. It almost seems like she has forgotten about her best friend, until the end of the book, where she gives birth to her first child, in which she names Penelope, after her best friend. Being the stubborn Bridgerton-woman she is and not naming her children in alphabetical order.

I was less of a fan of book 5 than book 4, but it was for sure enjoyable, and I do plan on reading the entire series, because why not? Everyone needs some British housewife porn in their lives.

[browneyedbeauty5725]

Bridgerton season 3, what to say. I loved it but I was also disappointed at the same time. Spoilers if you haven’t already watched it all

Disappointment #1 I understand what Kanthony fans meant about last season now. There were just too many subplots going on. There’s always the main plot and at least two to three subplots but at least two of those subplots tie into the main one and the other one doesn’t . We got that with Cressida’s story and the Featherington family heir. They tied into Colin and Penelopes story. Why Penelope was desperate to get married and why Cressida was so desperate to get the Whistledown reward.And the ones that didn’t were Francesca’s and Benedict’s but Francesca’s still made sense because her story starts after she’s been married to her first husband for a minute, she gets married her first season and then after a couple years we see her again so her storyline this season made sense so even though it didn’t tie into the main plot it still fit with the season as a whole especially if you’ve read the books. I hate to say it because I love him so much, but Benedict’s storyline was so unnecessary this season. I enjoyed him getting to explore himself and his sexuality but to me that’s something that could’ve been done in his season.

Disappointment #2 we didn’t get Colin’s speech “ I love you with everything I am, everything I’ve been, and everything I hope to be.” I just loved that moment so much in the books and I’m so sad we didn’t get to hear him say it.

Disappointment #3 I think we all knew as soon as we got the Featherington subplot that this is what was going to happen especially when we didn’t get the Penelope/Lady Danbury friendship which is the whole reason they named their firstborn after her but I’m still mad they took Agatha from us. They already took Amelia away with Simon n Daphne so they better still give us Agatha eventually when Colin n Penelope have a girl.

Disappointment #4 the entire season did feel really rushed but that’s because it kind of was cause they only give us 8 episodes and there were 600 other stories going on at the same time,thankfully we already had two seasons of Polin buildup to work with.

Like #1 Polin of course. I loved everything about them.

Like #2 The Featherington family subplot.I actually enjoyed Prudence and Philippa a lot this season. They were just so cute. I loved them being so excited about their ball. Also Mr. Finch and Dankworth are just the cutest. They are totally “my wife” bros like Colin. Portia was going through it this whole season lol. I loved her realizing and opening her eyes to how she’d treated and overlooked Penelope for years and them kind of realizing they had more in common than they thought. And just seeing that a lot of what Portia did was to protect her girls cause her husband kind of put her between a rock n a hard place.

Like #3 I still hate Cressida but I liked her storyline and the friendship with Eloise because one someone needed to put Eloise in her place a bit, and two it showed that even one of the most popular debutantes still had her reasons to be just as desperate to find a husband. I think it helped open Eloise’s eyes a bit more to really listening to people and not disregarding what they were saying simply because she didn’t want the same things and didn’t understand why they didn’t feel the same way she did. It showed that even the girl who is everything a debutante is supposed to be was having just as much trouble as someone like Penelope who was considered the opposite of what a young lady should be in society. It showed that she could be a genuine and nice person but she lets her own desperations and wants overcloud that and that she was willing to turn on someone she considered a friend to get what she wanted. Whereas when Penelope wrote about Eloise it wasn’t to help herself , it might’ve still been wrong but she had genuine good intentions.

Like #4 I loved how Eloise and Penelope’s friendship came full circle. I think they really needed the time apart because Penelope needed to see she was letting whistledown go to her head and not really thinking about who she was hurting at that point and I think Eloise needed to really see that she needed to start listening more and understand that just because someone’s opinions or wants were different than hers doesn’t mean they weren’t still important. And how even though she was so angry and hurt that she still wanted to protect Penelope when she was hurt. She also saw how easy it was to hurt someone herself without meaning to.

Like #5 I loved Penelope standing up for herself. I loved her owning up to her mistakes. Her saying I made some mistakes and could’ve handled certain situations differently and I’m sorry for them I truly am but I’m still proud of what I’ve done and achieved as a whole. And more importantly her not letting Colin bail her out of trouble. Her saying you know what no more lying. No more running and hiding, it’s time to take responsibility and own up to what I’ve done all I need you to do is love me and stand by me.

This last one isn’t necessarily a disappointment or a like. But them turning Michael into Michaela. I knew people were speculating and I’m not sure if it had been confirmed before the season dropped and I just didn’t see it but I was surprised by it. At this point in time I don’t hate it but I’m also not sure how I feel about it. I haven’t read Francesca’s book yet so it won’t really change any of that for me. It’s more of I don’t have any specific feelings about it at the moment and a wait and see how they do the storyline in that particular season for me kind of thing. I could absolutely love it.

Also I think it was made pretty obvious by Eloise bringing up the masquerade that Benedict’s season is probably next and I’m excited for him and Sophie but I’m also a little worried and curious about how they are going to tie his behavior in the book into the show cause oof Benny boy you was troublesome

At the end of the day I enjoyed the season as a whole, it was good.

[mariailoveyou-guerin]

OMG yall two bisexuals and lesbain if they are bold enough to make Eloise one but I doubt it they’ll get so much for making it to gay and thay family the fans love so gay instead because it ruins their little 📚 fantasies

‪Don’t think I didn’t notice that Frannie felt that couldn’t even say a word stuff her mother said when she met Edmund 😂 OMG what a season BEST SEASON EVER no one is ever topping this season I’m so sorry to the 3 siblings who’s nexy probably sharing their stories in s4! ‬

Now I need polin happy and in love in s4 now please or a spin off and I need Penelope and Michela to be the best friend’s something I didn’t get with pen Edwina/Marina which I desperately deserved plz seeing pen hugging kissing Micheala my black a88 is so happy 

yea please god give me Penelope Michela besties era in s4 and John Colin and Francesca Colin besties in s4 and Francesca Penelope and I’ll never ask of anything else ever again please god why is seeing my new (now including Micheala and John) core 4 being this close making me cry I love polin Colin Penelope and my new babies John Frannie and Micheala please pen deserves a friend like Michaela and Frannie since Eloise couldnt be that for her before the last 5s of the shows ending!

‪pen getting a sister in law thats woc that’s kind loving funny something we couldn’t have earlier because of the drama but finally she has she deserves this so do I ‬

[milkteahoe]

'Purely for shock value' is some of the worst attempts at media criticism stg if les mis came out today people would say javert jumped off the bridge purely for shock value just because you haven't thought about it doesn't mean it has no significance to the story, separating the thing you don't like about it renders its theme incoherent/contrary to the message a character is defined as much by their breaking/turning point as their upward tragectory

Anyway

[catharusustulatus]

I just know. I just KNOW. That they’re bringing Eddie back, and the season will play out like this:

Vecna turns Eddie into Kas

The gang goes looking for Eddie’s body (in the UD or using El’s powers) and can’t find him

Kas! Eddie escapes or is sent out of the UD and starts trailing the gang

Dustin trusts Eddie and doesn’t listen to Steve or the gang, and it doesn’t go well

Either Kas! Eddie kills or hurts Steve, and Dustin blames himself and then sends them on a quest to go back in time to save Steve or stop Eddie’s death or something, or Kas! Eddie steals Steve or “turns” him

The rest of the season is about time travel and preventing season 5 from happening while some of the gang fight the government bad guys in the present 

The only other way I can think they would bring him back is Dustin and the gang have nightmares/visions of Eddie’s mangled body due to guilt and taunting from Vecna.

Will it happen? We shall see. But I bet you….

[thelassoway]

Tagged by @thesumdancekid , thank you 🍻

Comfort Shows:

1. Parks and Recreation

2. Futurama

3. Ted Lasso (season 1 only) + Carol of the Bells

4. Bob's Burgers

5. The Good Place

6. What We Do in the Shadows

7. The Last of Us

8. Schitt's Creek

9. 30 Rock

10. The West Wing

Tagging anyone who wants to do this!

[themthistles]

in my seasonal depressive spiral and i just watched 4 shows in a row which all turned out to be cancelled. idk if it's a cosmic joke of coincidence or the state of media is just that depressing at the moment