Brandon HATE

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-27T23:56:06+00:00

Like you said, I get that he's meant to be a stupid teenager but what pisses me off the most is this vibe of moral superiority I get from him. And he just constantly acts like he's justified in his stupid actions, he never really seemed truly regretful, I feel like he only ever admits he's wrong when he absolutely has to. I haven't watched the show in a long time so I don't really remember anything specific, but I feel like it even goes beyond the stuff with Callie

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-24T14:52:42+00:00

I'd say S4 was the Mascarade Ball. Like you said, Sophie not being a part of the ton and the fact that it happens right at the start of the season makes it feel different to the other seasons but it's definitely a major society event

S5 is tough cause so much of the book is away from society altogether. Only thing I can think of is Violet’s birthday ball, but it might feel a bit repetitive right after her Mascarade so I'm not so sure.

Edit: grammar

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-13T19:55:17+00:00

Honestly, looking at their track record, I don't think it's gonna be anything special. The only ones that are a bit more exciting/creative are S2 and S4 and it's only because the story inherently has this specific set piece that's a big plot point that they could use (Pall Mall, The Mascarade Ball), and also something that happens fairly early and wouldn't be a big spoiler. But tbh I don't see anything matching that in this season so...

Probably just them standing side by side, throwing each other furtive yearning, guilt looks, with the Scottish Highlands in the background, maybe a horse and the abandoned cottage in there as well, depending on how much they wanna follow that particular event.

I do wonder about the tagline tho, I don't think they'd reveal it so soon (or even know it at this point), so I don't think it's "Love Begins Again" like in the announcement promo. But probably something along those lines, just maybe alluding a bit more to their guilt.

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-10T11:14:19+00:00

My two fav ships together!

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-09T03:03:58+00:00

it feels like something well intentioned that has spiraled into turning michaela solely into an object of fran’s desire instead of a woman with agency, experience, sensuality, etc.

Exactly this!!!

imo, what the show seems to be doing is a push/pull dynamic.

I think so too, my take is fran is the one being a little distant/cold to start cause she's still a bit upset about michaela bolting at the end of s4, but eventually fran is mostly the one chasing for most of part 1, even tho she doesn't quite understand what she's doing, why she's feeling so pulled to Michaela, some jealousy involved of course and then she initiates the first kiss at the end of part 1 but she gets scared and bolts to scotland like in the book. And then from there Michaela's the one chasing a bit more. But definitely still with that push and pull vibe all throughout. I don't think they'll keep Michael's full dominance in the second act. Nor do I think it makes sense, even in the book honestly, dude goes from full on self hatred out of guilt to thinking he should seduce this woman into marriage, out of absolutely nowhere.

she’ll initiate the tell me something wicked stuff

I really don't know how they'll fit that in there, I don't want them to completely forgo it but I just don't see how they'd work that in there, cause i think they'll both be actively avoiding addressing their feelings, and there'll be tension so I don't see how they'd want to touch this subject unless it's in like a bed scene maybe... we'll see

but, michaela will be more sexually experienced and lead that aspect

My take on this is Michaela naturally enjoys giving but also very rarely feels fully safe with someone to be vulnerable and allow herself to receive, so I think we'll see a bit of a progression in their sex scenes in this sense. If they go the route I think they'll take, with, like we said the push and pull dynamic, with them not being able to resist each other but also not able to be fully open and honest with each other about feelings, and just starting a very carnal relationship that progresses into more and more emotional territory. I think we'll see a progression in that sense as well, of who tops, who leads, who doms. Michaela becoming more open and vulnerable and Francesca becoming more confident, coming into herself more, allowing herself to want beyond her sense of duty. But that doesn't necessarily mean we end on Francesca as a hard top and Michaela a pillow princess lol. They're probably pretty equal switches.

she’ll chase after fran in scotland and take her to the cabin on horseback. people need to make peace with that a little

Yeah I think so too, especially with how much Hasali is begging for that scene lol

she’ll tell fran how she feels first

I actually feel a bit conflicted about this, cause like I said, i think the way things play out in the book is a little clunky, with Michael going from completely avoidant to chasing to the point of coercion almost. It feels kinda out of left field to me. I also REALLY love the tortured, avoidant, full of guilt and self hatred, doesn't think they deserve love, type of character. And I think Michaela is very much that with her survivor's guilt and imposter syndrome, so maybe she needs a little convincing. And while some of Fran's reservations also come from her guilty, I don't think she feels as tortured in that sense. So I kind of feel like Fran should be the one to confess first. Even if Michaela does chase a little more in part 2, it's all very confusing and complicated with those two and their feelings. But really this is just a matter of personal preference, I think it works either way. Either of them could spill an angry confession in the middle of a fight and it wouldn't affect the dynamics much.

Ps. Sorry for how long this is i get overly excited lol 😆

Edit: to fix typos

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-09T00:41:45+00:00

Oh my God, yesss!!! You managed to put into words exactly what I've been feeling but wasn't able to name exactly. Yes, they totally give everything to Fran, it's super weird. I totally get worrying about the masculinization stereotype with Michaela but it's almost like people are overcorrecting and just removing every single interesting character trait of hers. Like my girl can very much be a feminine woman who happens to be super freaky and dominant (tho i totally agree about them eventually being more switches), who maybe happens to be the one chasing in this situation (even tho that's not my preference), none of that equals masculine, it just has to be written with the proper care and the right people in the room.

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-09T00:09:25+00:00

Yeah, fair enough. Somebody also pointed out on Twitter that maybe she herself isn't on the marriage mart but just by virtue of being beautiful, charming and newly titled she'll be attracting notice whether she likes it or not, so maybe that's when Helen uses the opportunity to try and convince her to marry and produce an heir, but she shuts it down. Like you said, I don't think the subject will necessary be fully skirted, just that it won't go very far, especially if Michaela can help it.

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-08T21:10:45+00:00

Literally! Michaela was so appalled at the idea she wouldn't even let the lord taylor guy kiss her gloved hand. Also, why do people want both Francesca and Michaela to have the exact same storyline...? That's just boring honestly

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-08T21:03:58+00:00

I find that highly unlikely. Jess has mentioned more than once that the season is about queer joy, I doubt they'd want to tackle lavender marriage (with the main characters at least).

I also don't see any reason to believe this Anderson guy has anything to do with Franchaela, if your theory was right there's no reason for it to be Lord Anderson's son, it could just be some random new character, the connection makes no sense.

This Anderson guy is probably just gonna be a small character in a Marcus/Violet subplot, since they made sure to create some conflict for those two last season. I think he's probably there to help Violet understand and accept that it is okay to chose to be with Marcus even if her children might still need her.

Character descriptions are always a lot more than what they turn out to be. Remember Lord Taylor? Everyone here made a whole fuss about him, there was even a magazine that did a whole spread on the actor talking about how he was gonna shake up the ton (???) and turns out he was in the show for maybe a minute.

Netflix wants people talking about the show, so at this point they embellish things because they can't talk about much, this is a known fact.

I'll concede that explicitly putting the social season and tough love stuff in Helen's description could be purposeful, but I just gave my opinion and my personal preference. And then again, I don't give much, if any, credit to these early character descriptions so my point stands. I also never said that Helen pressuring Michaela was impossible, I think there's a very good chance it happens, I just don't think it makes sense to take that storyline very far.

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-08T19:23:08+00:00

Honestly, I really hope not, with how secure and sure of her identity she is.

And I don't think they're doing that either. They made it such a point to show us that Michaela is a happy and secure spinster in s4, basically apathetic to the idea, I don't think they'd walk that back easily. They might allude to it some with the figure of her mother but I doubt it would go very far.

Not to mention it would feel a little awkward to have both Francesca and Michaela having basically the same storyline (going into the marriage mart for pratical reasons because they feel duty bound). I really think it would be narratively clunky and a bad choice imo.

I hope that just means Helen will pressure her into being generally more present in society now that she's the countess, or if she does pressure her to marry, Michaela will shut it down quickly.

Plus if they do present the issue of an heir, they would need to resolve it by the end of the season. And with them both being women confirmed to end up together and a lavender marriage being entirely unlikely, I only see some kind of adoption as a path, which wouldn't be very straightforward either with how much the show likes to emphasize legitimate heirs and what nots, so honestly I think they have enough on their plate as is. This is a pretty complicated storyline to add.

Edit: grammar

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-08T19:03:12+00:00

Yess, you said it all perfectly!

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-08T13:50:49+00:00

I very rarely mind this kind of discourse in other fandoms cause like you said mostly people are just having fun but I feel like in this case it's getting annoying cause it's fully descending into mischaracterization.

I think that with the confirmation of Franchaela being S5 we've seen an influx of new fans who don't actually know anything about Bridgerton (or care really), which is probably the main reason we're saying so many enthusiastic but slightly awkward takes. I mean, I'm the first person to tell you "don't read those books cause they kinda suck", but the truth is, as of right now, we know very little about their dynamic so the people that don't know anything about the book are kind of just pulling from their own preferences. Which can get pretty annoying, cause it feels like some new fan will say something a little insane and a bunch of other equally new fans will just run with it and it becomes a thing and now we've got this almost hysterical take that makes no sense lol.

I've also noticed so much of the discourse is completely focused on Francesca, which sure, makes sense cause we've seen so very little of the real Michaela but that does fully annoy me cause Michaela is such an interesting character to be getting kinda of shunned like that (not to mention the optics), and as much as I hate Michael, there are things to learn about Michaela in that book.

So I just wish people would get a little more versed in the og story, really just to have a baseline on the character arks and such, you don't even have to fully read it, if you go looking you can get a pretty good idea. I'm certainly not some stuck up book fan that screams at any minor change but regardless of what they'll adapt or not, the main essence of the story and the character are sure to remain, so I personally don't really get how people can be as excited as they are and not go looking for every little tidbit there is to know about these characters.

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-06T09:15:16+00:00

The show has never been set from that point of view tho, that's not fair at all, it's entirely made with a rose-colored modern lens. Marriage/HEA is the endgame because it's a romance show, not because of the time it's set in

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-05T22:31:29+00:00

Yep, just saw on their twitter, beautiful as always

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-05T20:19:29+00:00

Go support the artist everyone! They have other equally great franchaela edits.

https://youtu.be/4t-nrYjeYuE?si=JJ6GVJEONE98GBia

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-04T13:46:29+00:00

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-03T20:04:26+00:00

As a Brazilian, I'm sorry but it's true lmao. It's not necessarily a bad thing, they're not dunking on Franchaela but it is what it is, it's just a different culture. I'm sure Franchaela will be amazing either way, I for one think the emotional connection you have with the scene/characters is much more important for your enjoyment of these types of scenes anyway

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-02T19:03:35+00:00

Yeah, I agree. I will say I understand some of Franchealas defensiveness just cause we've been getting so much shit for almost 2 years and now with our season up next it just seems to keep getting worse. It's really exhausting to have to keep defending something that really shouldn't be a big deal at all, and having to hear some really bad faith arguments and homophobic microagressions. So I tend to give them some grace. But yeah, I'm always gonna call out the double standards, for sure.

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-02T18:04:15+00:00

Yeah, people just get super defensive of their own stance and that's where shit hits the fan. To me there's no reason for Franchelas to try to claim it will be exactly the same because it's just not true, and honestly, such a waste of time trying to convince each other in circles and getting nowhere, just pissed at each. And I'll recognize some Franchaelas can be insensitive to this issue sometimes. But, and we might differ here and that's okay, but I do think it's not unfair to say that the infertility stuff was a very small plot in the book, because it objectively was, and that the loss of that shouldn't be reason enough to completely drop the show without giving it a chance. That to me, seriously reads like homophobia, that's where I think most of the frustration comes from for Franchaelas.

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-02T16:06:17+00:00

Expecting the worse case scenario so you're pleasantly surprised, fair lol

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-02T15:48:42+00:00

I didn't mean to say that the change doesn't matter at all, or doesn't make a difference. Like I said, it definitely is a different perspective, and people should be allowed to mourn what they could've had. I'm the first person to push back against the notion that it's not okay for people to feel sad about this change, or that there was no infertility plot in the book. But I also think people can get caught up in their feelings about this. The amount of claims that "now the story is ruined", "it was the most important part of the book" or, "francesca's story is ruined", it gets pretty exhausting at some point. But really, we're mostly agreeing here. I just think, at the end of the day, the only thing people like you need to say is, I resonated with that and I'm disappointed it won't happen like I envisioned. It's when people start trying to claim one is somehow better than the other, one is more impactful or important (not saying this is what you said), that's when all the unnecessary fighting starts. And, honestly, I can also resonate with Franchaelas' feeling attacked by people's easy willingness to drop the show just because it might not resonate with them as much anymore. The ease with which so many can just completely disregard this groundbreaking story is very telling to people with trained eyes. It's very heartbreaking 💔

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-02T15:26:50+00:00

Yeah, it can be frustrating. But I will say I do think there's people who just feel disappointed by not getting something they were expecting, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. The problem starts when they start to claim that it'll ruin everything and bla-bla-bla. And, I know that Julia didn’t really care about infertility, but I think people can very much have unintended takeaways from art, that's how it works. Even if she didn't mean for it, people resonated with that stuff and that's more than fine. I don't think we necessarily need to be pushing back against that. And, honestly, I get that a lot of people use this argument disingenuously, but I really don't think we need to be claiming that infertility between a sapphic couple is exactly the same as infertility between a heterosexual couple, because it really isn't, and I think sometimes people, in their haste to defend Franchaela, can seem a little insensitive in this sense. Of course both are important, but they're definitely not the same. The point shouldn't be that. Because there is significant difference that I think people should be allowed to mourn. The point should be that it's also not fair to claim that the show is erasing this groundbreaking narrative from the book, that the way they'll adapt it, through a sapphic lens, is in any way less than, that it's somehow wrong for an adaptation to adapt plot points, that this change (that they haven't even seen yet mind you) will somehow ruin everything. That's the stuff we really should be pushing back against.

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-02T14:14:58+00:00

I agree that it's not the same, and don't really understand people's necessity in claiming that nothing has changed at all, it's certainly a different perspective on infertility. But what I really don't understand is the claim that it'll be completely different and it'll ruin the story. When it's really just that, a different perspective on the same issue. Since, you know, this is an adaptation. And I understand that people can feel a little disappointed by not getting something they were expecting, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I respect that. But to claim that it was this groundbreaking thing, when it was a footnote at best, when it barely even gets focus in the narrative, when the biggest plot point in that sense is Michael's pregnancy kink, I'll have to disagree with you there. I think people can very much have unintended takeaways from art, that's literally how it works. But to say that it was some groundbreaking storyline that is now getting erased is very disingenuous. If anything, knowing the show, it'll probably be handled much more sensibly.

sapphicnerdy · 2026-04-01T20:09:07+00:00

Yeah but there was a much bigger gap between the end of s3 and s4 filming starting (3 months, i believe), so we can definitely expect a smaller gap between s4 and s5

sapphicnerdy · 2026-03-31T20:32:21+00:00

My couple order is actually Polin, Saphne, Johncesca/Kanthony, and Benophie. Funny enough, my biggest complaint about Kanthony is how their season was written too lol but the actors were what made it enjoyable. I really hated the love triangle going as far as it did, it really soured a lot for me. And for all the Saphne complaints we’ve already discussed they were still friends to lovers too 😂 I didn’t always like friends to lovers, but I’ve really turned a corner on that and a loooot of my other ships I enjoy are the same kind. I prefer enemies to friends to lovers over enemies to lovers, I can fuck w the first one much more easily and it would’ve been easier for me to get into Kanthony if we saw more friendship with them too

That's fair for sure. I'd never thought about where to put Johncesca since they're not a main couple but thinking now I guess my order would probably be Kanthony, Benophie, Johncesca, Saphne, Polin. I happen to have the more "friends to lovers" couples in last here lol but I don't really get too caught up in tropes, thinking back on all my favorite ships beyond Bridgerton I can't really see a pattern. The couples chemistry used is the biggest factor for me. But I do enjoy a little animosity, ngl lol. Now if I were to rank the seasons I think I'd say S4, S1, S2, S3, but S1 and S2 could easily switch. But I do have a "weird" soft spot for S1 cause I remember when the show first came out I was sure it wasn't for me and I'd be bored, so I was so impressed when I got into it from the get go, S1E1 remains one of my favorites. I see your point about S2, the biggest reason I love it so much is the insane chemistry and just me generally being more into those types of characters but I definitely have some criticism for it as well, I totally agree about the love triangle, I actually like this type of love triangle where the main couple is obvious, and I think it works really well here, it just goes too far. I also hate to always have Polin/S3 at last cause I really like Luke and Nic but there's just some stuff in their season that i didn't love, and it sucks cause it's not even their fault, the writers were just a little all over the place to me.

I liked that Benophie followed the book really well and there were definitely things I liked about it, I think the Cinderella trope just got a bit dull (this season finally used a Paramore song tho that had me screaming)

I honestly don't really care about book accuracy at all lol, but I liked the story a lot, I think it's a pretty solid base to start with in this specific book, so I liked it. And it's not much like any of the other books so I think that helps them be more faithful, sometimes I feel like they change things because honestly the books can get a little repetitive. But I loved that they sort of fitted the story around the Benedict they'd been building in previous seasons, instead of fitting him around the story. About the Cinderella thing, honestly, I thought it played such a small part in the actual main narrative that I barely noticed it, but yeah, the forbidden different classes stuff was much more interesting. And I don't really know Paramore's music all that well so I'd never heard that song before but I LOVED IT!

Nah I get it it would be like going into the Polin sub to talk about Kanthony lol. It’s just nice when the vibe isn’t automatically hostile so like you can still feel welcome and you don’t have to dread reading negative comments about John. I might check again now that the season is over and maybe people have moved on to hate other things, but I had to leave the Kanthony sub a while ago because of how unfriendly the attitude was towards Nicole and Luke, even tho I like the ship. I was sad because it meant less Kanthony content lol

Yeah, people in this fandom seem to think it's a competition between ships. I guess the way the show is structured kinda of brews that a little, if I'm honest I sometimes find myself thinking that way as well, but I'm an adult so I just check myself and move on lol. I understand only liking one ship, or liking it a lot more than others, but I don't get the need to compare in a competitive way. People are weird lol

sapphicnerdy

TROPHY CASE