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As a third party to this discussion, I have to say that you are coming off incredibly patronizing with this response. There is, of course, always hyperbole in what fans say they want, but it exacerbates in fandoms, and I don't know how long you've been in the Polin fandom, in a lot of ways it doesn't matter, but to give some context, I've been here for two years. And I have watched the way the fandom has changed.

The fans want a lot of things, but many of these things hinge on Colin's humiliation, and on rejecting an empathetic reading of his character. What you list out as a laundry list of desires from fans is not universal. I was writing stories around the time of 'god, I just want them to find each other, I love them so much' and, slowly, we boiled the frog. We went from 'Colin is the imperfect man of her heart' to 'Colin is a fucking idiot who needs to grovel for her forgiveness'. When you say 'no true fan of Polin' who makes that distinction? You? Me? The council of Polin fans? The archives? Nic and Newts? The fans themselves?

Because there are certainly a lot of fans in Polin spaces that insist they have more empathy for Debling, an external plot device we know nothing about, to be with Penelope than our own main lead. There are certainly many fans who absolutely mean it when they say 'Colin doesn't deserve Penelope'. The jokes start as jokes and then spiral and boulder their way into popular fan desires.

Look, I love angst as much as the next person, but the reality is that the angst needs to be rooted in some sort of character growth. The fandom only wants Colin to grow in the direction of Penelope, to make her his entire world, and that just isn't romance. His jealousy, his making amends, it is not for him to be a full character in this fandom, but for Penelope to get what the fandom feels she deserves.

I, for one, am here for a story of tenderness and forgiveness, a story of 'I spent a long time thinking I saw you, but I see you so much more clearly, now'. A story of 'I always loved you as a friend and now it's grown to more'

Will we be as quick to call her stupid, an idiot, a fool, that she doesn't deserve him when she slanders him, her friend, in her publication, and then continues to keep it from him as their relationship progresses? When she lies and continues lying? Will we be as harsh when her ills are taken into account in the scope of their romance?

We shouldn't be, because a scorecard isn't romance. We want romance, and the humiliation fans have wished upon Colin does not fit that bill.

EDIT: And I forgot to say that fans like you and opinions like this have made this fandom a hostile place to Colin fans. You come here talking down to your fellow fan. Refusing empathy. You are defending the majority opinion as if it has not been done a million times before. As if Antis haven't taken our own posts as proof we hate half our couple. As if my friends have not been bullied from Polin spaces by fellow Polin fans. You do not reach across the table, but immediately claim immaturity on their part. You do not seek to understand or listen to the context, but to argue as though our hesitations in a fandom that has called for suffering and groveling is somehow unfounded.

You assume this post is shaming instead of what it is: an exhaustion for the unbalanced fandom dynamics in Polin. And I think you need to consider why that is. Why our fandom is constantly calling for blood. Why posts about how Colin should have died out on his travels go by uncontested in his own tags, but posts about how we want romance and not suffering and jealousy is somehow a hot topic. Why the polin subreddit is FLOODED with love for an OC we know nothing about, and constant calls for seeing Colin miserable

Because be so real right now, we, his very own fandom, do not love and appreciate Colin. And we certainly don't love or welcome his fans, either

Nic & Luke: This season is soooo romantic

The fandom: Groveling Suffering Jealousy

Is that really what y’all think romance is?

#for fuck's sake you have fans calling him a groomer and saying he can't get it up without viagra #let's take a good hard look at this fandom and how our view of 'romance' is so incredibly skewed #saphne and kanthony and benophie fans all step up to bat for both halves of their pairing #one day i hope polin does too

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I’m not going to put all the blame on Colin for being oblivious to Penelope as wife material for years when Penelope herself was still asking her mom for permission to play with Eloise in S1.

#also? this is me at debling #get the fuck away from her #you are 40 years old chasing a 19 year old #LEAVE #HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND BECAUSE BOY I'LL HELP YOU FIND IT!!!

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The way this fandom cares more about seeing Colin jealous than actually see Colin & Pen falling in love is insane. Like why are yall even here?

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Continue✨ Keep going✨

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Finally watched the Addams Family Values recently! and honestly. my main takeaway is

Debbie slays. And Joan Cusack is a QUEEN

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Sorry, not to be all 'no fun allowed' on main about this but like. . .maybe let's not. . .make jokes about how Luke continued a sex scene with his unwitting costar even though he 'so obviously' heard to stop because that's. . .kind of implying he assaulted her. . .

I just know he heard the Director LMAO

#tw: sa mention #i love these two and i get that it's a joke but like. . .that's not a joke you know?

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colin bridgerton, they could never make me hate you

#colin bridgerton #polin #bridgerton #i will always love him #y'all weird af hating on this man #when he's a sweetie pie and chaotic on main and has the face of an angel #literally the best man in this entire show and you hate him for why? FOR WHOMST!? #colin my beloved #you will always be number 1 in my heart #he's my darling #my sweetheart #MY CINNAMON APPLE

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Y'all are tripping over the most ridiculous things I have ever heard regarding Colin.

#colin my beloved #peeps are being unHINGED #i will forever love you my darling boy

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So Polin fam, I'm that user from the polin sub who tried to give spoilery context to the sensationalized sun article leaks about Colin, and no I did not do it to start drama or whatever, I've been waiting for a Romancing Mister Bridgerton adaption for more than a decade and Colin is one of my favorite regency male characters, so to see people just taking two out of context scenes from a gossip rag and using that to lambast his character is super frustrating. I expected people to calm down once they knew the context, not go on tirades that the season is ruined or Colin doesn't deserve Pen or they want NPC plot device Debling to snatch her instead, and it's so bizarre.

After thinking about it though, I think I understand why people reacted like they did. A good portion of this fandom does NOT give a crap about Colin as a character in his own right and only sees him as a prop for Penelope's happiness. That's why every polin video will be littered with "Oh, I want him to GROVEL if he ever wants to DESERVE penelope." As if he committed some horrific crime, as if he isn't the only one person who has EVER seen Penelope for who she was, who has sought her out when she was hiding in the corners and shadows, who noticed her and confided in her and tried to step in and protect her and her family. Sure, he's had his foot in the mouth moments, and sure he isn't perfect. But NEITHER IS PENELOPE. And that's the whole damn point!

They're both still so young and haven't even found out who THEY really are yet, in large part they are both sort of drifting and trying to do what society expects of them. It's no coincidence that their true thoughts have really only been spoken to each other! Because they're meant to take on that journey together, they're meant to be partners who grow and make each other better, and that takes TIME and it's never 100% perfect, because they are imperfect complex characters. Which makes them interesting!

I just wanted to clear it up and vent this out bc I'm even seeing people on tumblr screenshot my comments or make out what I said to be something it's not. Seriously, we are about to get an amazing season. I wish people would stop overreacting. I already know once the season comes out everyone whose been shitting on Colin nonstop because of 2 tiny as hell scenes will pretend like they loved him all along lmao.

#this is and i am not exaggerating the most beautiful take in the entirety of the polin fandom #in my 2+ years of being here #i absolutely agree with you and i want to thank you for voicing this #you are right and you should say it #and i am grateful that you did

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I think I have seen it all.

Apparently experimenting with drugs & sex in your 20s means you are a red flag who will never be able to be in a loving committed relationship.

All of this pearl clutching hysteria over things we’ve seen the other Bridgerton brothers do. Why don’t you just say the real reason you’re upset and that’s bc Colin is getting his own arc about his own demons & issues and he’s not spending 4 episodes begging Pen to forgive him.

I legit just saw someone complaining about them giving us the first kiss from the book. I’m sorry if you’re complaining about us getting book scenes then what are you even doing here? Like if you don’t get the whole point of that scene is for Pen to vocalize her wants & for Colin to more affected by a kiss with her than his other experience then you clearly are missing the point

#is the fandom okay? like what is happening. . #penelope asking him to kiss her is GOOD #she has spent so long not voicing what she wants out loud #and colin helps her feel more brave and open and honest and so asking him for intimacy is important!!! #it's beautiful!!! #and in her doing so he sees her in a new way and falls so damn hard #so damn fast #like can people just calm down about this ship??? people who don't ship polin need to stop being in the polin tag #complaining about book scenes. . .beautiful romantic book scenes. . .from our canon couple #y'all

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“Colin groomed Penelope into enjoying his kinks” is the worst Bridgerton take i’ve ever seen I can’t believe people are being serious about it

#genuinely i am so confused by the people peddling that narrative #like. . .what the fuck is going on???? #very 'you keep using that word i do not think you know what it means' #as someone who HAS been groomed this is nowhere near any of that #even if the leaks are 100% true and all the sources are perfect and all (because no one would EVER lie on the internet) #HE WOULDN'T BE GROOMING HER #that's not what that is!! #colin would never in his LIFE abuse penelope!!! he would NEVER hurt her intentionally!!! HE ADORES HER #and they can explore intimacy TOGETHER and have a great time too because they have trust and tenderness and understanding for each other #'oh what if he wants something she doesn't' #he'd stop? like. . .obviously???? #they'd explore something else??? these people just hate colin and don't want to admit it

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"How dare Colin treat Penelope as a friend; leaning on her for support and as a shoulder to cry on. Give him the cold shoulder, Pen! Make him learn your friendship is important!"

#oh me oh my what an awful guy #how dare he care about her and voice it imperfectly #peeps out here hating him over one statement as if that erases YEARS of him finding her wonderful and voicing it aloud #he's just a dude he's gonna make mistakes or say things in a tone #yeah i'm a colin apologist i do not care #colin has always valued and cared for penelope and their friendship #i get it's a romance show and we want him to be in love with her ASAP but people act like his platonic love for her isn't beautiful as HELL #colin opened up to penelope in a way we haven't seen him do to ANYONE #and penelope also opened up to him!!!! #it is NOT like he's out here using her for his own personal gain #they are friends #he looks out for her and cares about her and writers her letters #and she looks out for him and cares about him and writes back #it's fRIENDS TO LOVERS!!! #FRIENDS!!! TO!!! LOVERS!! #FRIENDS!!! #TO!!! #LOVERS!!!! #THE FRIENDS IS IMPORTANT!!!!!

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Big agree. Being called beautiful is like. . .bottom of the barrel in terms of compliments. When Colin reminds Penelope that she is Penelope Featherington and she should never forget that, implying that she has worth because she is who she is, that is so incredibly heartwarming to me. At any point in their relationship, Colin has not ONCE allowed Penelope to say a single bad thing about herself. "I am a spinster" you are not a spinster. "I am the laughingstock of the ton" Could we go somewhere private to talk about this? "I would not hold it against you if you chose to give up on me" Don't say things like that

That dress looks beautiful, I mean it. Never forget that. Your exquisite necklace. Never forget that. It is good to see you. Never forget that. You have always been so loyal. Never forget that. Penelope, what a barb! Never forget that. Is something wrong? Never forget that. You are my friend. Never forget that. Your letters were always so encouraging. Never forget that. You are special to me. I will always look after you. Never forget that. You are Penelope Featherington, never forget that. Never forget that. Never forget that.

This man *adores* her. He adores her openly and honestly and without any expectation. He has always found her funny and charming and wonderful.

Colin Bridgerton is Penelope's biggest fan, and one measly compliment from a 40 year old man looking to make her 19 year old self his wife with no care for who she is as a person, with no understanding whatsoever of her history or her desires, with no real care for her personhood will EVER compare to that.

Ever.

I'm confused with a few people saying they now want Pen to be with Debling because he sees her as a woman, compliments her etc when Colin didn't, but I feel like it's a really unfair comparison. Luke said the reason Colin can't see that Pen is his true love match is because they met when they were so young. Debling is just meeting her now for the first time. I completely get this from Pen's perspective though, and I think the misunderstanding after their first kiss is going to be so heartbreaking on both their ends. For Pen, she might think it's pity/being nice because Colin would never see her that way. She's gotten her hopes up about him before only to be crushed so shes not going to let herself even go there. And for Colin, I dont think he knows that Pen ever had romantic feelings for him, so when hes struggling when seeing her with Debling he might think his feelings are unrequited and the kiss that meant so much to him didn't matter to her.

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i'm gonna rant, and yes this is about certain screener spoilers from s3 that i've seen circling around the fandom. i've already had to unfollow someone because they were being so rude about this. im defending colin bc no one will.

some polin stans don't treat colin as his own character, they just simply see him as a means to pen's happiness or they treat him like an object. may i remind you the reason why the romance genre is a thing is BECAUSE men did that to women??

so even if these rumors are true, that doesn't mean colin HAS to be perfect in order to deserve penelope, because that is not what bridgerton is about. also, in this time period, sex worked differently! believe it or not! so if colin has a few scenes with sex workers to show how he bends to society's expectation for him or for character development or whatever, then so be it. polin will end up together either way.

to say that colin has "red flags" because he has sex with sex workers and has done drugs is so fucking dumb. do you actually hear yourself? WHAT person on earth do you know that hasn't had sex with someone they don't know or done drugs or both. be realistic. multiple times luke has stated that this season deals with how young colin and penelope are and how they are still finding themselves and navigating how to love under that burden of youth and immaturity. to say colin has red flags and PENELOPE DOESNT? bruh. I am a penelope defender to the death but she has made many questionable choices. These "red flags" are simple human actions, largely made off of good intention, and it doesn't make them evil or mean that they're gonna cheat on each other or anything. it just means that they're multi dimensional, and that they're like us in that way. because literally no one would relate to a character that never makes mistakes.

stop treating colin like he's just a way for penelope to get laid. he is a multi dimensional character like penelope is, which is why they work so well together. to say that these fictional characters can't make mistakes is unrealistic and stupid. the fact that i have to state that colin is not an object is not something new in this fandom. please be better.

please use your braincells.

#“stop treating colin like he's just a way for penelope to get laid” #THANK YOU OP

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at first, i hadn't seen anyone say anything about colin but then i saw what you're talking about and whew. suddenly they're talking about power imbalances and red flags like there were no power imbalances between any of the other brothers and their ladies of choice?

all of these men have power. including debling? he's a titled man looking for a wife in a society where it's considered inappropriate to refuse a dance if a man asks so like??? is there no power imbalance when it comes to penelope and debling? why are people acting like debling doesn't visit brothels? what if he does? i'm also going to guess he's not a virgin.

taking up some activism for sex workers in a tv show based on a time where visiting brothels was considered normal and rite of passage even is just a cover for being mad he's not going to be a virgin but penelope is. suddenly voyeurism is a red flag fetish that penelope won't be able to compete with? what? colin is going to cheat on her because he likes something? i don't even know what to say to that?

he is a grown man who is going to fall in love with penelope and they're going to discover each other together, he's not going to just wander off and fall into a brothel because it's two for tuesday?

agreed anon.

there's a lot of context people miss from the time period but then the don't apply the same logic to how we exist today, and it shows when people make assumptions like that. like yes they existed in a time where women experienced an extreme power imbalance and were kept in the dark about many things, but people also forget that people acted the same. human beings don't change behavior, and that's why many bridgerton characters are so relatable, because they make human mistakes that are timeless.

#thank god someone is being the voice of reason in all of this #i am fighting for my LIFE in my replies right now like this is not what grooming is #and yes there are power imbalances in bridgerton but the one between colin and penelope is MINUSCULE compared to others #colin respects penelope and he loves her #he has known her for forever and cared about her even before he saw her as a romantic or sexual option #it is ridiculous we're out here calling him a 'groomer' people do NOT know what that means and it's a very serious accusation #colin my beloved

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Just you

#save me boomdafunk #i love you boomdafunk #god this is so gorgeous. . .

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No matter how perfect or good he is that show will not make me like Debling. Everything about him screams that he's considerably older then both Colin and Penelope, so why is he pursuing a 19 year old? He's a creep.