bridgerton/franchaela musings

ellie (25 y/o), black bisexual, she/her

[laumabina]

[nadyuuwatase]

Oh my God!

Go on IG and give this artist some love!

[jjadmanii]

cant wait to see fran be the obsessed husband devoted to her wife she was always meant to be. cant wait to see her wake michaela up with kisses while whispering ily over and over. cant wait for her to join the “ilovemywife” club. cant wait to see her gift mickie little compositions she wrote for her. cant wait to see her get insanely jealous when she doesn’t get her full attention. cant wait to see fran need to be constantly touching michaela and standing quietly at her side just to keep holding her hand.

[totally-not-evil]

no you don't get it, i cannot wait to see violet bridgerton become the most feral version of herself when she realizes that she gets to love match her child again. i want it to be an absolute side plot that she realizes that queer love is a thing. i just want her to go all out as a matchmaker.

talking like "don't be silly anthony, love is love. how lucky is she to find love a second time? who would i be to judge? who are you to judge? no, i will not let them out of the room, they are locked in until i hear two wonderful love confessions"

[sand-ecandoit]

Theories on michaela’s arc in season 5

hey everyone! i recently posted about how repression plays an interesting role in franchaela’s dynamic. while that post focused on fran because honestly, her repression’s pretty straightforward, i think that repression is a pretty big coping mechanism for michaela as well! it’s a bit harder to do this for michaela since we know a lot less about her in the show. i’ll mix show canon, book canon, and my interpretation of the character so far!

the main thing i think about is the juxtaposition between michaela’s self-assured confidence and free-spiritedness, and her deep desire to be accepted. she was open with john about wanting to be a spinster and (based on interviews), her queerness. he used his privilege as the head of the family to protect her from having to conform to societal expectations. that also gave her freedom to be adventurous and not partake in the hobbies that women were expected to have at the time.

however, that openness and deep-seated pride doesn’t mean that she’s unaware and unaffected by society. she still, to an extent, craves acceptance. this is just a theory, but imo, she has only shared her sexuality with john and her desire to remain a spinster is probably a friction point in her relationship with helen. so when john dies, she may be pressured by helen to finally enter society and the marriage mart. i dont think this will come from a bad place: to helen, michaela’s the last shot for the stirlings to keep the kilmartin seat. i can imagine that john’s sudden death could make her feel concerned about the future of the kilmartin line. to michaela, this will be yet another conflict: choosing to repress her deepest desires vs her duty to her family.

while i dont think this will be a massive plot point (it’ll probs just be in ep 1-2 and michaela wont take it too seriously), i think it works as a great way to build michaela’s character. she presents a free-spirited, devil-may-care, flirtatious, and extroverted mask, which i think is primarily to control how closely people scrutinise her and their expectations of her. if she’s upfront about being adventurous and flighty, then people dont expect anything from her and are comfortable accepting what she gives freely. they wont prod or question, but be drawn into her charm and her stories. it protects her from being too vulnerable.

this is not to say its all a farce. she’s naturally all of these things, but there’s more to her than meets the eye. it’s also something fran has already challenged a couple of times. michaela’s love for fran has pushed her to be more vulnerable and open, especially when she realises how much fran needs reassurance and understanding.

i also think she’s more of a duty-oriented and controlling character than people give her credit for. the way i read that scene where her and john were sitting at the fireplace was that she’s quite used to taking control. john may have trusted her opinion so much before fran entered the picture that she’s exerted some control or influence over some estate affairs.

so when she’s suddenly given control over the kilmartin estate and is finally obliged to stay in one place, i think a part of her will enjoy it and really rise to the occasion. but, she’ll feel heavily conflicted because she would have never gained such privilege and power that very few women ever get the opportunity to experience if john didn’t die. it’ll be another source of guilt for her and she’ll constantly feel pressure to meet the standard that john set. i would love to see her in her element, being great with her tenants and other people under her control. at some point, i would also love to see the queen being fond of her and finding her tenacity amusing. side note, it would also be so cool to see fran and michaela split some of the estate jobs!

another theory i have is, while michaela will probably be unashamed of her sexual history and sapphic identity, she may not imagine that she could be in a relationship. i don’t think michaela has ever let herself hope for a lifelong partner/wife because of how unlikely it would be to find someone willing to sacrifice so much for love. i think that she’s a “rake” because to her, that’s the only way she’ll ever be allowed to experience intimacy and attraction. so, she represses the more romantic, lovergirl side of herself to protect herself and make sure she doesn’t get attached. i think this is confirmed by michaela’s casting call that was leaked, so i think that will be really interesting to watch!

it also creates a flip in franchaela’s dynamic. obviously michaela comes into the season being the more self-assured person that has a shit ton of experience with being sapphic. she will guide fran in all the physical aspects of their relationship and open her up to so many ways a woman can receive and give pleasure. she will also probably be the first to confess her feelings since its attached to her reason for leaving her for two years. however, fran will be stuck between feeling this shared “primal,” intuitive attraction vs what she thinks is expected of her. so, she’ll say or do something that diminishes their relationship and hurts michaela.

however, after her big bridgerton fumble, fran probably wont want to stay in the shadows or love in secret. she’ll want to tell as many people as possible and make their relationship official in whatever way they can. i think that could cause a bit of friction between them because michaela could be overly pragmatic about love and dismiss fran’s desire to be more public, but it will come from michaela experiencing years of emotional repression and rejection. i think it will be so beautiful to see michaela feel like she is unapologetically accepted by the remaining stirlings and the bridgerton family because she never imagined anyone but john knowing her deepest desires.

i just cannot wait to see this multifaceted character develop next season and i really hope they focus on her enough to really build her character and her internal conflict. but yeah, what does everyone hope to see for michaela’s plot next season?

[tall]

[sand-ecandoit]

On francesca and repression:

i don’t know if this will be literal word salad but figured i might as well post in the spirit of franchaela week!

i was thinking about their scenes in season 4 recently and it hit me that i find their dynamic so compelling because they are both characters repressing their core desires which are exposed only by each other. fran is a character that struggles with identifying her emotions, especially ones that are more complex (RELATABLE MY GOD). she’s reserved, rational, and values order and control. while michaela shares some of those traits, what people are first met with is her extroversion, charisma, intelligence, and passion. outside of a shared attraction that fran is not aware of (yet), these traits and her lack of compliance with society’s expectations for womanhood naturally confound fran. however, what she doesn’t understand fully is that they reflect her deepest desire: to be unbound by societal expectations, to have michaela’s self-awareness and confidence, to live life on her own terms. she somewhat acknowledges this in their episode 5 conflict in the study room, but she only understands how it applies to her relationship with john.

consequently, we see fran voicing high society’s expectations throughout season 4, holding onto it as a shield against her confusion, envy, and grief. during michaela’s arrival in episode 4, fran is visibly affronted by michaela driving her own carriage because it is unbecoming for a high society lady. this shields her against her feelings of anticipation and probably attraction, what with her huffing and puffing sjdjwjehdb

in episode 5, she storms into the study telling michaela to get off the floor to not ruin her dress. in episode 7, fran and michaela bicker about how reserved and ceremonial british culture is during the funeral. later, fran yells at michaela and says that her culture essentially treats death like a circus. i find that scene in particular quite interesting because fran is yet again, visibly affronted by michaela’s suggestion, but she also looks defiant and haughty. these more dismissive emotions sheltered her from facing her grief head on, and her feelings of inadequacy, yet again.

i think what’s quite interesting about these scenes is that fran’s lack of understanding for her own emotions means that michaela’s stronger emotional intuition and grounded-ness help her understand and express herself, which, imo, is visually expressed through the motif of fran walking in on michaela sitting on the floor. this is definitely building up to either michaela walking in on fran on processing her emotions on the floor or her joining michaela on the floor, showing fran moving away from societal expectations and trying to fully understand and experience her own emotions. she hasn’t given herself many opportunities to just BE instead of thinking about what’s expected of her. the only scene that we’ve seen fran on the floor is after fully breaking down with her mother and grieving john/the baby that she hoped to have as a reminder of him. mildly off topic, but my bet is this scene will either be their first “tell me something wicked” scene or (for an angsty situation), after michaela recovers from her illness, fran dropping to the floor or crying in relief because she hasn’t lost another one of her favorite people.

something that i really hope they address next season is how unintentionally fucked up it is that john said that its more likely for a woman to conceive when she pinnacles. as much as we talk about fran being sexually repressed and desperate for a pinnacle (bc yes, of course she is), her primary motivation for achieving one this season was continuing the kilmartin line. she has never really considered sex for pleasure and pinnacles as something enjoyable outside of reproduction. she thought it was necessary for her to pinnacle to fulfill her “wifely duties,” which means she GENUINELY thinks that she’s broken and that its all her fault that john died without having a child. add the fact that her entire family just pops out babies like it’s nothing?! that is such a massive burden for fran to carry alone and i’m sure she’s internalised it so deeply.

i want michaela to comfort fran and let her know that pinnacles do not affect conception and that it’s not her fault. whether it happens during their first sex scene or during an intimate conversation on the floor by the fireplace, i feel like it will be so integral to fran letting go of any guilt she feels toward john and becoming more accepting of her love and attraction to michaela.

overall, i think what the show’s building up toward is francesca learning to love (and maybe succumbing) to michaela’s uncontrollable and impulsive nature and maybe even embracing her own impulses and freedom from societal pressures. this doesn’t mean that fran will change her personality by any means. she’s always been sarcastic, witty, passionate, and relatively confident, but she doesn’t fully know how to listen to herself. she is disconnected from the full range of her emotions, which leads her to crave control and order so she at least understands those things. but michaela challenges that control and her desire to have it because she trusts and admires michaela more than she lets on. being with michaela allows her to just BE without any expectations, live in the moment, and be more spontaneous.

what are everyone else’s thoughts? hope i’m not too off base djjdjjdd

[pirenas]

[princessrhcenyra]

YERIN HA as SOPHIE BAEK in BRIDGERTON | SEASON 4 EPISODE 1 "THE WALTZ"

[goth-queen]

[kweerdragon]

Ross duffer did both

[thothirai]

hindsight being 20/20 really fucks me up because when i say i doubted myself about fran and mich being the leads for season 5 despite the foreshadowing being so obvious. like eloise and penelope setting fran up to state that she would never get married again, but eloise is down to attend more weddings??? instead people got angry at pen for implying a second marriage “too soon after john” even though fran’s actual story is just that, after mourning, she does eventually try to marry again.

BUT the real punch in the face for me was realizing michaela’s carriage scene is the first moment the show frames her from her own perspective instead of solely through francesca. they did not have to show michaela leaving. they could’ve kept all the emotional weight on fran, being devastated that she left without notice. fran not even noticing the maid leaving because she’s so confused. instead, however, the show deliberately centers the fact that fran is completely shattered by michaela leaving after promising she would stay. the parallel of fran’s shock and michaela’s guilt showing them both emotionally affected set up what’s to come. with the emotional twist of fran losing both john and then immediately michaela too, she may not have died, but she left a void where she should be. the show makes a point of michaela choosing to leave anyway, despite knowing what she means to fran. (that’s gonna set up the best kind of angst for fran worrying that mich won’t always be there, which isn’t true, but it’s a fear nonetheless)

yes, i know the reason is connected to fran. obviously. she’s in love with her. but that’s different from how the show had previously used her character. before this, michaela mostly existed within fran’s emotional orbit. even scenes like her crying in the hallway or reacting to fran screaming after finding john are still framed through francesca’s arc. the carriage scene shifts that. for the first time, the narrative pauses to follow what michaela is choosing to do with her grief and feelings, not just how fran experiences them. and honestly, that tracks with how bridgerton structures future leads. kate and sophie only have their seasons to be seen and then become a unit with their bridgerton spouse later on. penelope is the exception because lady whistledown gave her that space, plus she’s eloise’s best friend and the yearning for colin had to be set up. so, until the romance actually begins, michaela is still “john’s cousin” within the story structure right now, even if she’s fran’s endgame. but, come s5, she’ll be sharing the spotlight.

so when i see comments about the show giving michaela scenes that function for her own arc and from her own POV rather than solely fran’s perspective, it reminded me that that was her first scene without francesca involved, hinting at the start of her personal narrative.

it really was all right there.

[status-quo-hater]

I think one of the funniest abortion stances I've heard was from my parents neighbor. He's a like, hard-core libertarian viking larper guy who is very tall and very fat and very bald.

He believes a fetus is human with a soul, but also its "basically attacking the woman's body" so if she wants to get rid of it, that's "basically self-defense". He compared it to shooting a home invader. So he supports abortion not as healthcare, but as killing a baby in self-defense

[fagcrisis]

i hate the word spicy can we bring back calling things erotic

[maryoliveoil]

rolling up to Wendy's to get an erotic chicken sandwich

[kalmiopsis]

[dailyfranchaela]

[transgenderwaterrat]

anyway hoping that the generative AI bubble pops so disastrously that the tech industry becomes allergic to anything involving it for the next 1,000 years

[yorkshirearthurdent]

They should block chatgpt on uni WiFi the way they used to block coolmathgames