𝐸. 𝒮.

how      bright    a      𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒅      shines. 

[edwinamond]

MARA'S EDWINA SHARMA from the netflix's bridgerton series, reworked & reimagined. this portrayal is mainly inspired by the events after season two, but tends to focus on edwina's engagement to prince friedrich, and her relationship with the queen & her family. i am more headcanon based than show based. affiliated with @friedricrown

[gatorprompts]

✧ — ⋆   𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 .

from   the    netflix    show .    misc    quotes     from     season    one .

“the brighter a lady shines, the faster she may burn.” “go on, then.  chastise me.” “i believe i should like to stay.” “you have no idea what it is like to be a woman.” “you would actually have to be interesting for me to bother spying on you.” “heirs have the responsibility, second sons have the fun.” “why must our only options to be to squawk and settle or to never leave the nest? what if i want to fly?” “there is nothing you can do.” “if you desire the sun and moon, all you have to do is go out and shoot at the sky.” “some of us cannot.” “why settle for a duke when one can have a prince?” “i never thought you capable of being my enemy.” “all is fair in love and war, but some battles leave no victor.” “the time has come to place our bets for the upcoming social season.” “i’d never miss such an important day for you and our family.” “flawless, my dear.” “they are watching you, now more than ever.” “put that book down at once, you shall confuse your thoughts.” “tilted, chaste, and innocent. this is what they have been raised and trained for since birth.” “where one suitor goes, the rest will surely follow.” “it seems out diamond requires a closer inspection.” “i presumed all your affections were already engaged.” “this is what i have been raised for. this is all i am.” “if i an unable to find a husband, i shall be worthless.” “i am in possession of something you are not.” “she made quite an impression.” “perhaps, your grace, it would be better if you refrained from thinking about me at all.” “you must ask yourself, are you merely the older brother, or are you the man of this house?” “i had to find you a husband, sister. so, be grateful that it is done.” “you haven’t bled.” “did you think i wanted to come here?” “to be around people like you, so out of touch? so superior?”  “we can pretend to form an attachment.” “i finally gave him a son.” “you assure me nothing.” “you are my worst failure.” “you are as useless as your mother proved to be.” “we shall do what women do, we shall talk.”

[edwinadaily]

CHARITHRA CHANDRAN AS EDWINA SHARMA BRIDGERTON 2.06

[edwinamond]

“heirs have the responsibility, second sons have the fun.” @rakereformed

the whisper between passed drinks makes edwina still, as benedict says it with that careless charm of his, shoulders easy, smile half-mischief, half-escape. as though the world were a ballroom and he merely meant to dance through it without ever being asked to lead. she does not scold him. she never has. instead, she studies him the way one studies a painting that hides more shadow than it first admits. there is truth in what he says, yes, the structure of their world rests on such distinction, but there is also something quieter beneath it. something that sounds suspiciously like longing disguised as laughter. she's the spoiled second daughter, the crown jewel of the sharma empire. but she's never quite shared in....fun. edwina folds her hands lightly before her, the gesture instinctive rather than rehearsed. she has spent enough of her life being measured against expectation to recognize when someone is pretending not to feel its weight. ❛ how fortunate for the second sons, then, ❜ she replies gently, her smile small but knowing. ❛ to be spared the burden of legacy and instead entrusted with delight. ❜ a pause, soft as silk. ❛ though i wonder, ❜ she continues, tilting her head just slightly, ❛ whether it is truly so simple. ❜ her gaze does not accuse; it invites. ❛ responsibility may wear a crown, ❜ edwina says thoughtfully, ❛ but freedom wears its own kind of pressure. to be charming. to be effortless. to never disappoint by caring too deeply. ❜ she has seen the way benedict deflects seriousness with wit, the way he floats just outside the frame of expectation, admired, adored, yet never fully claimed by it. there is privilege in that, yes. but also invisibility. she too understands what it means to be invisible. ❛ fun, ❜ she repeats, almost amused. ❛ can be terribly exhausting when one must always provide it. ❜

[edwinamond]

“i’d never miss such an important day for you and our family.” @ladiesilver

there is an uncanny stillness to the day, as if the moment where he dreams have come true is always too perfect to capture. edwina receives the words the way one receives a ribbon tied gently around the wrist, not tight enough to bind, not loose enough to fall away. the word family lingers. (edwina is always outside the ton, the sister to the viscountess, the adored jewel celebrated but somehow still distant. in sophie there is friendship, there is another kind of sisterhood to know someone as a woman and not as a girl) she smiles, and it is not the practiced smile of the marriage mart, not the gentle tilt perfected beneath chandeliers. it is warmer than that. unguarded. ❛ you speak as though you are still visiting us, ❜ edwina says softly, stepping closer so that their hands might meet without ceremony. ❛ but you belong here now. you have for quite some time, whether any of us were clever enough to admit it. ❜ she studies sophie’s face with the affectionate scrutiny of someone who has spent the past season learning the weight of love, not as spectacle, not as strategy, but as patience. she thinks of benedict’s laughter lately, lighter than she remembers it ever being. she thinks of the way he says sophie’s name as though it were something discovered rather than acquired. ❛ my wedding may be grander in scale, ❜ edwina continues, voice lilting with gentle humor, ❛ but i suspect yours will be the one whispered about with the most admiration. there is something terribly romantic about love that refuses to be hidden. ❜ her fingers squeeze sophie’s lightly. ❛ i am very glad you are here, ❜ she adds, and the sincerity in her tone leaves no room for doubt. ❛ not merely for the ceremony, nor the dancing, nor the spectacle of it all — but because it means we begin this new chapter together. ❜

[friedricrown]

❛❛ Then we are in agreement, ❜❜  Prince Friedrich answers, his voice warm with something like relief, as though her words have settled a question he had not dared to ask aloud. He glances down at where her hand rests so lightly at his arm, and for a moment he does not move at all — not out of hesitation, but reverence, as if this quiet closeness deserves to be acknowledged before anything else. ❛❛ I have never believed that beautiful things should be hurried. ❜❜ They begin to walk, slowly, their steps finding an easy rhythm beneath the arching branches of the garden. Sunlight filters through the leaves in soft fragments, catching at the pale silk of her dress, and Friedrich’s attention follows it there — not possessive, never pressing, only attentive in the way one becomes when something precious has been placed briefly within reach. There is a gentleness to her that draws him in, a warmth that feels earned rather than displayed, and he finds himself unwilling to break the spell of it with anything too grand.

❛❛ Waiting, ❜❜  he says after a moment, as though choosing his words with care, ❛❛ has always seemed to me a form of faith. Faith that what is meant to arrive will do so in its own time. ❜❜ A faint smile touches his mouth, soft and sincere. ❛❛ And I am content to have faith, if it is with you. ❜❜ He does not look ahead to crowns or futures yet unwritten. Instead, he keeps his gaze where it belongs — on her, on the quiet courage in her smile, on the way she walks beside him as though this were not a beginning to be feared, but a moment to be held. ❛❛ Take all the time you wish, Miss Sharma, ❜❜  Friedrich adds gently. ❛❛ I intend to be here for every step of it. ❜❜

[edwinamond]

she listens the way one listens to rain when it has finally begun to fall after a long, unpromising sky, not with urgency, not with doubt, but with a quiet gratitude that asks nothing more of the moment than to be what it is. his words do not rush toward her; they arrive carefully, as if they know she has spent too long learning how to brace for disappointment. and something in her softens, not all at once, but enough. she has always been taught how to receive attention, how to bow her head just so, how to smile at the appropriate moments, how to accept admiration without mistaking it for affection. but this is different. this is not a performance she must step into. it is an invitation to remain exactly where she is. ❛❛ you speak of faith, ❜❜ edwina replies at last, her voice gentle, reflective, as though she is discovering the thought even as she gives it shape. ❛❛ and i find i am grateful for it, not because it asks me to be certain, but because it allows me not to be. ❜❜ she glances down briefly, aware once more of how lightly her hand rests at his arm, how easily it could be withdrawn, and how little she wishes to do so. there is comfort in his steadiness, in the way he does not tighten his hold or claim the closeness as anything more than it has already become. patience, she thinks, is a rarer form of devotion than she ever knew how to name before.

❛❛ for so long, ❜❜ she continues, her smile softening into something more thoughtful than bright, ❛❛ i believed that love must arrive all at once, fully formed, lest it disappear if left unattended. ❜❜ a quiet pause. ❛❛ but you make it seem… kinder than that. ❜❜ she looks up at him then, meeting his gaze with a courage that is still shy, but no longer uncertain. ❛❛ if waiting is faith, ❜❜ edwina says, warmth threading through her words, ❛❛ then i would like to believe alongside you. ❜❜ her fingers shift, not to grasp, not to claim, but to rest more surely, as if acknowledging the choice she is making without needing to announce it. ❛❛ thank you, ❜❜ she adds softly, not as courtesy but as truth. ❛❛ for standing where i can find you, rather than asking me to hurry toward you. ❜❜

[edwinamond]

perhaps this is another fairytale, she thinks. edwina has always believed that happiness is something one may choose, if one is earnest enough about it. that joy, like love, can be gathered quickly and carried away if one only dares. it is a belief she learned young, raised on lessons of grace and sacrifice, on the certainty that goodness is rewarded and that endings, if waited for patiently, will arrive neatly tied. so when sophie speaks (quietly, without drama, without accusation) the words do not strike edwina like a rebuke, but like a door closing somewhere she had not realized was open. a whispered some of us cannot by @ladiesilver catches her completely off guard.

edwina stills. she does not interrupt. she has learned, in these last years, the value of letting words finish their work before trying to soften them. sophie’s voice holds no bitterness, only truth — worn thin, practiced, the kind that has been carried too long to be spoken loudly. and suddenly edwina sees it: the difference between wishing and leaving, between dreaming of escape and surviving where one stands. she has been allowed to believe in flight because the world has always offered her a landing. how long has it been since she assumed that love was a matter of courage alone? how long since she believed that happiness could simply be taken, if one reached for it bravely enough? she thinks of benedict, kind, earnest, burning with the conviction that love is reason enough, and she thinks of sophie, who knows better than to mistake longing for safety.

edwina’s heart tightens, not with judgment, but with recognition. she has been learning this lesson herself, slowly, gently, in the careful way prince friedrich teaches her everything. that love is not proven by grand gestures, but by patience. that choosing is a privilege, never a guarantee. that some lives are bound by rules written long before affection ever enters the room. she looks at sophie then, truly, and there is no condescension in her gaze, only a quiet humility, newly earned. ❝ i forget, sometimes, ❞ edwina admits softly, the words tentative but sincere in her sadness. ❝ that not all doors are held open simply because someone wishes to pass through them. ❞ she does not suggest hope as remedy. she has learned the cost of offering that too easily. instead, she offers something steadier. ❝ i think… ❞ she continues, voice gentler now, stripped of its earlier certainty, ❝ i think it is braver to stay when leaving would destroy you. ❞

[gatorprompts]

✧ — ⋆   𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 .

from   the    netflix    show .    misc    quotes     from     season    one .

“the brighter a lady shines, the faster she may burn.” “go on, then.  chastise me.” “i believe i should like to stay.” “you have no idea what it is like to be a woman.” “you would actually have to be interesting for me to bother spying on you.” “heirs have the responsibility, second sons have the fun.” “why must our only options to be to squawk and settle or to never leave the nest? what if i want to fly?” “there is nothing you can do.” “if you desire the sun and moon, all you have to do is go out and shoot at the sky.” “some of us cannot.” “why settle for a duke when one can have a prince?” “i never thought you capable of being my enemy.” “all is fair in love and war, but some battles leave no victor.” “the time has come to place our bets for the upcoming social season.” “i’d never miss such an important day for you and our family.” “flawless, my dear.” “they are watching you, now more than ever.” “put that book down at once, you shall confuse your thoughts.” “tilted, chaste, and innocent. this is what they have been raised and trained for since birth.” “where one suitor goes, the rest will surely follow.” “it seems out diamond requires a closer inspection.” “i presumed all your affections were already engaged.” “this is what i have been raised for. this is all i am.” “if i an unable to find a husband, i shall be worthless.” “i am in possession of something you are not.” “she made quite an impression.” “perhaps, your grace, it would be better if you refrained from thinking about me at all.” “you must ask yourself, are you merely the older brother, or are you the man of this house?” “i had to find you a husband, sister. so, be grateful that it is done.” “you haven’t bled.” “did you think i wanted to come here?” “to be around people like you, so out of touch? so superior?”  “we can pretend to form an attachment.” “i finally gave him a son.” “you assure me nothing.” “you are my worst failure.” “you are as useless as your mother proved to be.” “we shall do what women do, we shall talk.”

[connorwyndham]

THE LITTLE MERMAID (2023) Directed by Rob Marshall.

[friedricrown]

❛❛ I would never rush a coronation, ❜❜  Prince Friedrich says softly, as though the notion itself deserves reverence rather than haste. He inclines his head toward her, not a bow, not quite, but something gentler, more intimate, the sort of gesture meant for one person alone. ❛❛ Some titles should be earned slowly. Savored. ❜❜  The gardens are in their full bloom, and yet his attention seems fixed on a single point within them. Edwina Sharma, standing in pale silk beneath the afternoon light, is all grace and quiet wonder — a beauty that does not demand notice, but receives it all the same. Friedrich watches the way her hands fold together, the way her lashes lower when she smiles, as though modesty were second nature rather than a practiced art. It stirs something unexpectedly tender in him, this gentleness, this calm that feels untouched by ambition. 

❛❛ In my country, ❜❜  he continues, voice lowering just enough to feel like a secret, ❛❛ we believe the rarest jewels are the ones that catch the light without trying. ❜❜  A pause, and then a smile — warm, almost shy, as if he is newly aware of the boldness of his own words. ❛❛ You do that. Catch the light, I mean. ❜❜ He offers his arm then, not with the confidence of a prince assured of victory, but with the hopeful courtesy of a man who wishes to walk beside her a little longer. ❛❛ Would you allow me this afternoon, Miss Sharma? ❜❜ @edwinamond

[edwinamond]

she has always believed that words can be held, if one is careful enough. so she gathers his gently, the way one might cup light between both hands, letting them settle before she dares to look up again. his voice is calm, unrushed, as if it feels like a kindness she did not know she was permitted to receive, and for a moment, edwina forgets entirely how to be anything but still. how long has it been since she'd allowed herself love and dreams? how long has she kept punishing herself for nearly stealing her sister's happiness? how long has she deprived herself of her dreams? of mornings softened by laughter and evenings unafraid of quiet. to be chosen not for spectacle, but for warmth. to never be unloved. and standing here, with a prince who speaks of patience as though it were a gift rather than a test, she feels something in her chest ease — a hope stretching, tentative but sincere. she smiles, small at first, as though unsure she has earned the moment yet. ❝ you speak as if waiting were a form of devotion, ❞  edwina says, voice lilting with wonder rather than wit. ❝ i think i like that very much. ❞ the gardens seem to hold their breath. she studies him from beneath her lashes, the careful distance he keeps, the way his regard does not press or weigh, only warms. she has been taught how to walk, how to stand, how to balance the expectations placed upon her head like fragile fruit, but this — being met halfway — feels like something else entirely. something far more gentle ❝ if time is what you offer, ❞  she continues, a shy courage threading through her softness, ❝ then i would like to take it. ❞ her hand slips into the crook of his arm, light as a promise, not possession but permission. ❝ i have never been very fond of rushing beautiful things. ❞  and as they begin to walk, side by side, edwina allows herself the smallest certainty — that perhaps the golden house she dreams of does not wait at the end of the path, but begins here, in steps taken slowly, with someone willing to linger beside her.

[l0veyourselfirst]

Charithra Chandran via instagram

[edwinamond]

❝  alice,   don’t you find this season’s weather to be most advantageous?    ❞     the picture of excitement,    the golden sister walks with an excitement in her step,  the cobblestone streets rumbling under their movement,  the pitter of the horses cheering beside them,   oh how she loves this place.   as the sun bathes them in light,   she can think of no place else to be in such warmth  —  to find her permanent warmth.   the season’s diamond teases her friend,  an arm in arm as the pair walks like children ready to have an adventure.     ❝  it’s simply marvelous,  do you not think so ? ❞     in her moments of wonder,   she follows the princess with a need to explore,   keeping up with the fast paced life of her most dearest friend.   edwina catches the difference in demeanor,   bracing herself for the words that are about to break through alice’s mouth.  

“why must our only options to be to squawk and settle or to never leave the nest? what if i want to fly?”   ♡   @worthfuls​​

what a notion flying is,   edwina wonders if alice is perhaps meant to explore the illustrious streets of mumbai more than she is meant to walk like a gilded princess.   edwina tilts her head,  a dearest smile for a dearest friend.     ❝   what a silly notion alice,   whatever business would you have in the sky?  ❞       she teases,    edwina wishes alice would see it from her  perspective for a second,   that alice could appreciate how unique a position they maintain,   how wondrous  an honor to be a princess,   to be as beautiful and magical as alice is.   a true gemstone,   an emerald amongst the gold.   ❝   there can be a peacefulness in settling,  don’t you think?   i would be most honored to settle. ❞  

[edwinamond]

how can she hate him?   hate.  an emotion edwina has never once experienced,  trained so hard by her sister she is now incapable of anything greater than a slight pain in her chest.  a pain she cannot even hold on to,    how can she stay mad at her own sister?   for not choosing herself?    how can she stay angry at kate,  but where can her anger turn to until the fire that burns in her heart turns to engulf the viscount in flames himself.     ❝  have you come for my forgiveness?    why bother?     ❞  she is filled with a sense of apathy,  but a tugging sense of duty.  of respect.  of love for her sister.  a love that transcends any pain he has brought to her life.   ❝  you owed me nothing,  but i would have appreciated your honesty viscount. ❞

“go on, then.  chastise me.”  ♡   @aviscount​​​

a twinge of anger,  the most fleeting sense of a wish that she could indulge him in such a request  [ but how could she do that?   to kate?  how could she ruin her sister’s own happiness,  a sister who has always picked kate first.  ]     edwina turns to stare at her feet,   avoiding his eyes    —   she cannot bare to see them,  to imagine the fantasy she was too engaged in to ignore reality . . .    she turns,  to leave.  the picture of grace that her sister made him to be.     ❝ why should i do that?   ❞  she asks,   her stare meeting him for a second.   ❝  my sister deserves to be happy & i see the way you look at her,   i see the way you long for her.    it is no one’s fault that you do not feel the same towards me.    there is no need for such anger viscount,   we are now family.  ❞

[edwinamond]

her  dreams  are  big . . .   of a golden home with windows that let in light after light,   to walk into a room filled with the laughter of her family,   to bathe in her own happiness,    her own family,    to never be unloved.   & she is lucky,       it is no secret that the sharma sisters are inseparable   where one goes,  the other will follow.   where her sister is,  edwina trails.  everything she knows is because of her,   the days she learned to walk are filled with the memories of her sister cheering her on,   kate has ensured edwina’s success in all of life,   as edwina balances the apple on her head,   a picture of grace,  she knows that whatever kate has willed for edwina’s training must serve the purpose to bring edwina to that golden house she dreams of,   to the prince waiting for her by the corner.    but in this moment,  she trips a second,   the apple tumbling & shame burning on her face.      ❝   my apologies didi,   —   i just cannot seem to get this right . . .   ❞   ​​

her eyes trail the fallen fruit,  until a hand like her own brings it up,   where edwina meets the eyes of her sister  :     to see determination bare its sweet fruit before her own eyes.  she laughs for a moment,   as kate does what kate does best — bring out the best in edwina.

“if you desire the sun and moon, all you have to do is go out and shoot at the sky.”   ♡   @aviscountess​

the words melt on her ears like soft cherry,    to ground her,  to bring her back to reality.    [ edwina knows what she’s saying,  what kate has been promising.  she works twice as hard as any of the ladies in london,   twice as hard as every other.  ]      edwina smiles,   breaking the seriousness of such a practical test of her own poise to face her sister    —   to remember she is never unloved,  not when kate is here.      she laughs before walking,   at ease.     ❝  you believe i can have both the sun & moon?  my,  your faith in me is too much didi,   ❞  she teases,   doe like eyes crinkle in a grin as she is filled with a warmth she has always known.    ❝  again.   this time,  i will get it right. ❞

[edwinamond]

to start with a blanket statement : i am not comfortable following the larger portion of the fandom that religiously attempts to compare daphne & kate, and, as a south asian woman, i am not leaning into any racist stereotypes or notions people have relating to the sharmas or their subsequent status in the greater fandom. i also am not following white people that write said muses of color from this fandom due to past experiences. 

[fen-ha-fuck-you]

Bridgerton Season Two  ⤐  Harmony