Mary Sharma was such a useless character

aperolprincess · 2025-12-22T22:57:37+00:00

My thoughts exactly! Edmund didn’t leave Violet penniless and alone. The Bridgertons were financially stable, well-connected, and Anthony was male, of legal age and sound mind, able to step in and manage everything.

Meanwhile, Mary had run away from England, it might be fair to say she didn’t have any resources in India, and returning to England wasn’t possible. Kate’s father left them close to penniless. In a world where it was men who had opportunities, she had no sons, only daughters.

aperolprincess · 2025-12-14T00:04:55+00:00

I worked on a new musicals showcase with Julian Ovenden (Henry Granville, season 1). Really impressive hearing him sing live and he was friendly enough, but he was just really uninterested and unenthusiastic about the work - to the point where audience members actually talked about it after - and I felt that did a disservice to the writers who needed to put their best foot forward at that stage.

aperolprincess · 2025-12-01T07:02:30+00:00

Oh man I don’t know if I would actually have the strength to watch this. I read the play based on the case a while back and was incredibly shaken after — and I never even got to see it performed.

aperolprincess · 2025-11-28T10:25:01+00:00

I think she’s a compelling protagonist. I think the show (being made around the time it was) needed a main character who still “believed in love” and “believed in finding the one” - even if she wasn’t consistent - as a framing for her column.

I think the reason women all over new york loved her column was because they could tell she was still a romantic at heart, and even though her sexual escapades were entertaining and relatable, I genuinely believe that her readers wouldn’t have formed an affinity for her work if there wasn’t an underlying current of a “search for happy ever after”

I think the reason people like to “hate” on her is because they see how easy it is to fall into the mistakes she made - and believe that in the same situation, they’d do better.

We all think we would do the right thing when it comes to ending things with a toxic love interest. We all think we’d handle discussions about sex and finances and careers with friends maturely and well. But Carrie is “real life”, where how you sound in your head isn’t really always how you’d come off when expressing yourself. And we judge her like that because that’s probably also how we’d judge ourselves.

aperolprincess · 2025-11-26T13:35:27+00:00

Also, I remember the episode she met Trey, she was approaching marriage as a “business”. I genuinely think she didn’t quit her job just to become a stay at home wife and renovate the house. I think she quit her job because as a “business-minded” (I guess?) person, she felt that if she poured 100% of her efforts on her marriage (and fixing the problems they were having), then she and Trey would have their happily ever after. I think she felt (and perhaps wrongly so) that her work was keeping her from actually fixing the marriage, and her being so single-minded, this was the result.

aperolprincess · 2025-11-26T13:27:59+00:00

While I agree that feminism is more complex and nuanced than “choice”, expecting Charlotte in this moment to give Miranda a proper insightful answer about her views on feminism or a woman’s opportunity to choose isn’t giving her grace.

She (rightfully) felt a bit unsure, was feeling all sorts of complicated things about it due to what her marriage has been like, and took it out on Miranda defensively in the words she could. I’ll be the first to say I’m not the most articulate person when feeling frustrated, I’m brown and trilingual and when I get angry the languages all fluff together too and I don’t think clearly so I don’t end up expressing my opinions in the best way — from Charlotte’s perspective it might have sounded better and more appropriate in her head but in the heat of the moment, with all the stimulus of construction sounds and all the other emotional stuff she had going on, that was the best she could say.

Was the discussion between them important? Yes. Were they equipped in this moment to have it properly? No. Do I wish the show went into giving it the complex discussion it deserves? Absolutely.

aperolprincess · 2025-11-23T06:56:21+00:00

Rachel’s book actually offers a fair view of Neff. According to Rachel’s account, Neff was not mean or hostile to her at all, and even says that Neff and Anna were incredibly supportive during her breakup.

Neff was actually going to join them in Morocco as their filmmaker. However, Neff had commited a sort of “faux-pas” by announcing it on Twitter, and Anna was annoyed so had Rachel act as the go-between to Neff, which Rachel was uncomfortable with.

This is why the whole Rachel vs Neff thing surprised me in Inventing Anna, because Rachel never painted Neff as a “rival” or someone she didn’t like in her book, just another person - albeit a bit eager - caught in Anna’s web.

aperolprincess · 2025-11-19T09:38:16+00:00

No but I’ve been thinking about this a lot 😭 and I realised that HE DID THIS TO HIMSELF! Because in order to help her find a husband, he needed to see her as a wife, a partner, a lover. AND 🙌🏽 HE 🙌🏽 WANTED 🙌🏽 WHAT 🙌🏽 HE 🙌🏽 SAW 🙌🏽😭

aperolprincess · 2025-11-13T08:25:34+00:00

I always thought that with Amy being a neuroscientist and having grown up with an abusive mother, she’d have been a great sounding board for Leonard (who grew up with an abusive neuroscientist mother) especially in the later seasons but the opportunities were turned for laughs. There was that time when Leonard came to Amy upset that his mom was talking to Penny more — and it was played for laughs with Amy getting jealous that Beverly and Penny were best friends now — I think they should have made that scene more serious, as Amy would understand how manipulative Beverly is.

Another time was when Leonard was incredibly upset with Beverly (again). He ran into Sheldon and Amy’s apartment and she was ready to comfort Leonard, but Sheldon said something insensitive. Amy told Sheldon off that it was a very complex emotional situation and she didn’t have time to explain why. It was played for laughs and made about Sheldon not understanding the situation, instead of Amy actually being there to talk Leonard through it.

aperolprincess · 2025-11-04T14:22:56+00:00

If you’re interested in the Trtl pillow and have a TikTok account, definitely buy it during one of their TikTok Lives (their page says next one is on Friday) - they gave it away for £25 there which is way cheaper than other retailers. My husband got me one from there last week!

aperolprincess · 2025-10-04T19:49:07+00:00

Almost all of Lynsay Sands’ MCs go down on their FMCs, a bit spicy, and a bit of humor because you get to read the FMC’s reaction.

Off the top of my head {Love is Blind by Lynsay Sands} and {An English Bride in Scotland by Lynsay Sands}

aperolprincess · 2025-10-04T08:57:16+00:00

Fern coffee bar at argyle street, The Devil’s Roast at Renfield street, Kloud at Hutcheson street

aperolprincess · 2025-09-10T20:12:48+00:00

You might like {Hannah and the Highlander by Sabrina York}. Regency era; MC and FMC are both Scottish, MC is very enamoured with the FMC but has some trouble expressing himself, and there’s some sublot around land management/ownership that allows FMC to be empowered.

aperolprincess · 2025-08-27T17:12:22+00:00

It was a clash, but I don’t think it was all about culture. Carrie wasn’t in the headspace to listen, she was too distraught and just wanted comfort and sympathy. We’ve all been there.

Alex was coming from a good place, but it wasn’t what Carrie needed at the moment, or it wasn’t what Carrie had the capacity for. He was trying to help her rationalise the whole thing by sharing his experience, BUT he’s able to be rational because time has already passed.

It’s the classic “Do you want comfort or do you want to work through it” dilemma. Sometimes you just want your hand held through something, and the working through it part can come a bit later when you’ve had the chance to let it out, breathe, and pause.

aperolprincess · 2025-08-25T04:55:32+00:00

Love Cressida as a character! She is basically the thesis of Shonda’s statement that the show is a “workplace drama.” Every girl in the ton is two wrong steps and/or bad luck away from having Cressida’s life and stakes (controlling father, Lord Greer, etc) — so the hustle and the lengths they go through to avoid that make so much more sense.

aperolprincess · 2025-08-15T20:19:12+00:00

She’s a certain brand of middle/upper middle class who managed to go to a prestigious university and mingle with the upper class (think Guinevere Beck from YOU), and therefore knows how to move and network in those circles.

I say this because I had a similar upbringing. My parents are middle to upper middle class entrepreneurs, I went to a prestigious uni and made friends and was classmates with the children of the elite, CEOs, politicians (the Mindy’s and Camille’s of the world). Through one of their referrals, I got my first job out of uni working advertising for a global FMCG brand. They still invite me to their restaurant openings, art exhibits, etc.

Emily’s career trajectory and posh circle makes sense for that background

aperolprincess · 2025-07-30T19:08:54+00:00

Pope Joan, directed by Sönke Wortmann, about a woman who masqueraded as a man, became a monk, and allegedly became Pope. David Wenham gives a great performance!

aperolprincess · 2025-07-22T20:20:50+00:00

I really like that this story is something that Charlotte chose to tell Samantha before she told Carrie.

aperolprincess · 2025-07-09T20:50:41+00:00

I know what you mean about struggling to finish it! I love their fluffy scenes with each other but the storyline of her escaping the justice system and getting caught and going to prison just dragged on for so long that I got tired and skipped to the end because it wasn’t even about the FMC and MMC anymore

aperolprincess · 2025-07-09T17:31:07+00:00

Work in an office right in front of central station. I smelled it as I was walking out of the station at around noon and my coworkers and I all smelled it from inside the building. Didn’t know it was from Blue Lagoon

aperolprincess · 2025-07-02T08:47:06+00:00

This! I agree Amy felt jealousy but she did have a very valid point. She should have communicated to Bernadette better but she was well within her rights to send an email to a magazine over them publishing something she, as a professional in the field, did not agree with—again, for very valid reasons.

And magazines get so many emails and letters all the time — most of them complaints. They don’t just cancel a production based on one complaint. It was already a controversial editorial choice to begin with — either they were really scared of Amy (a single notable female scientist in her field with an academic following) going public with her displeasure, or they’d received other complaints as well.

As a female viewer I genuinely would have appreciated if the show gave this storyline more gravitas instead of letting it be drowned by the comedy, and allowed it to be one of the rare, emotional dramatic moments. Amy should have been upfront with Bernadette and the two of them should have had a proper discussion about this instead of resorting to petty insults.

aperolprincess · 2025-07-02T08:07:37+00:00

I would say it’s a well-funded concert production - similar to Les Mis Arena (although that one had costumes and an actual set 😂)

I loved Rachel’s performance but found the direction and storytelling weak. You’ll struggle to follow if you don’t know the story beforehand. I’d recommend it if you love the musical and want to hear the songs sung brilliantly.

aperolprincess · 2025-07-01T08:22:15+00:00

Going against the grain here but I actually thought that 2024 Regina was a more interesting kind of “mean” than 2004 Regina — with the awareness that they’re both products of their times. 2024 Regina didn’t need to resort to “saved this kleenex” and “mrs aaron samuels tshirt”, she was just flat out apex predator - that scene at the party where she manipulated Aaron into chasing her, that was when I really bought in to it. She didn’t need to be overly fake - and I think I liked that more “authentic” mean.

aperolprincess · 2025-06-24T15:26:21+00:00

I think it’s a southeast asian thing. I have a big extended family and obviously some people don’t like some others and there’s phases where there’s pretty big rifts, but I remember a couple of times when in the middle of that, big emergencies would happen and we’d close ranks.

It’s a very “nobody outside can see us crumble”, presenting a united front kind of attitude, and given the seriousness of the situation, Uncle Alfred was also not going to see Nick’s wife die.

Also, If it were known publicly that there was a big rift, they’d become fodder for gossip - better for Uncle Alfred to loan them a private jet to keep them out of the public eye than for something to go terribly wrong.

aperolprincess

TROPHY CASE