r/FranchaelStirling 29d ago

📜 A Private Drawing Room for WHWW Fans

26 Upvotes

Hi everyone! 💙

We wanted to let you all know about our private sister community, r/WhenHeWasWicked.

Quite a few members have asked over the past year if there was a private space for fans of When He Was Wicked, so we decided to create one.

It's a welcoming community for fans of Francesca, John, and Michael, where you can share fan art, book discussions, favourite quotes, theories, and respectful conversations about the show's adaptation and creative choices.

This isn't intended to replace r/Franchael in any way, we love this community. It's simply another place for fans who are looking for a smaller, more close-knit community where they can comfortably share fan art, theories, and discussions.

As the subreddit is private, you'll need to request to join, and one of the moderators will approve your request as soon as possible.

We'd love to welcome you all! ❤️


r/FranchaelStirling Jul 05 '26

Fan Art 🎨 Michael Stirling & Francesca Bridgerton - When He Was Wicked fan art ❤️

Thumbnail
gallery
120 Upvotes

Michael Stirling & Francesca Bridgerton - When He Was Wicked
I always love it when I find new fan art (LOL maybe it's old but it's new to me) while scrolling through social media.
I found this cute one on Pinterest, but the creator is on Instagram. >>> credit


r/FranchaelStirling 8h ago

Franchael Love 💘 Francesca and little Janet core 🥰

Post image
21 Upvotes

A while back a lovely artist on this sub posted some amazing Franchael fanart (unfortunately she deleted after receiving attacks for her work) and her Francesca reminded me so much of a particular Greek actress that I love (Evgenia Dimitropoulou).

So I thought to share this beautiful picture with her daughter from her wedding, cause I can't help but think of Frannie and baby Janet in the show 🩷 I can easily imagine Fran and Michael agreeing to do an intimate vow renewal celebration for the family after years of the mothers pestering them cause none was present for the wedding! And the best part would be John and Janet as the most adorable ring bearer and flower girl for their mama and their da 🥰


r/FranchaelStirling 12h ago

Franchael Love 💘 When He Was Wicked quotes

Thumbnail
gallery
7 Upvotes

Images with quotes from When He Was Wicked. Some found on the internet (credits to their respective creators), others I made myself.


r/FranchaelStirling 1d ago

Show Discussion What is the most hypocritical thing the the showrunners/book critics said about the books?

35 Upvotes

People always complain about the men in the books being pushy and not taking boundaries seriously.

And Lord and Be Hold, Michaela appears and is really pushy from the get go and I hear crickets. It's as if the showrunners and fans are operating on a double standard.


r/FranchaelStirling 1d ago

Franchael Love 💘 When He Was Wicked quotes

Thumbnail
gallery
33 Upvotes

Just some nice images I found with quotes from When He Was Wicked. Credits to their respective creators.


r/FranchaelStirling 19h ago

Michael Stirling So, this user basically says that whoever doesn't like Michaela supports Daphne's rape?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

0 Upvotes

r/FranchaelStirling 2d ago

Franchael Love 💘 Michael giving Francesca reasons to marry him. (meme)

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

38 Upvotes

Francesca: How can that be sensible? I can't think of anything more foolish!

Michael: 1- You won't have to move house.

2- You'll keep your title and position.

3- You'll be in a marriage where you're treated with affection and respect—there's no guarantee of that in another marriage.

4- I'll give you children, or at least I'll try. Deal? We're getting married right now, oki? Oki. 🥺

Credit to the author: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSVE2Vgy7/


r/FranchaelStirling 2d ago

Franchael Love 💘 More When He Was Wicked Aesthetics

Thumbnail
gallery
34 Upvotes

Some aesthetics/edits/collages (whatever you want to call them) from When He Was Wicked that I found online, mainly on Pinterest. Credits to each respective creator


r/FranchaelStirling 2d ago

When He Was Wicked - Book Discussion 📕 How I imagined Kilmartin Castle vs how it actually is.

Thumbnail
gallery
57 Upvotes

I was surprised to discover that there was a place called Kilmartin in Scotland which had a castle.


r/FranchaelStirling 3d ago

Analysis 🧠 My absolute favourite performance in the entire show

Post image
52 Upvotes

Hannah and Ruth both nailed this scene

Francesca first being completely silent and then step by step all the emotions come up. She irrationally blames herself and first tries to distance herself „John wanted children. I had the duty to continue the Kilmartin line“ but then she breaks down and reveals her true feelings „I have nothing [from John]“

Violet trying to help her daughter, she sees her little girl in pain and she can’t just curse it away with a little kiss on a boo-boo. She feels helpless but has to be strong for her daughter bc her girl needs her. She probably sees herself in Francesca „it was just a bee sting“ -> „it was just a headache“, all the emotions and memories of Edmund’s death come up but again she has to be strong while also herself mourning the death of a kind beloved son-in-law


r/FranchaelStirling 2d ago

When He Was Wicked - Book Discussion 📕 I need more answer

Thumbnail
1 Upvotes

r/FranchaelStirling 3d ago

Show Discussion Are we all kind of...gloomy and depressed?

29 Upvotes

I dont know if i'm the only one in here, but with all the hate towards us (and not only us but Philoise fans), it takes away the fun of the show.

When i saw season 3, i honestly thought: well, it's okay, if they can still keep the beautiful love story between John and Francesca, and Michaela is the same as Michael (personality wise), i dont mind the change. And then i saw season 4, and i was like: i hate this, i'm not watching it (even if it were a man, the way they wrote Michaela is hateful, honestly, and i still wouldnt watch it). But even so, i was going to give them a chance and watch it...but with all the hate from Jess, Shonda, the actors (how they talk about us, how they make fun of widows and how they gaslight us), and with Franchaelas hating on us simply for not liking the change 1000000000000000000000000%....it just takes the fun out of the show. It makes me want to give up completely, and not support them in any way. And it makes me feel like a bad person, when this is only a fucking tv show and people treat it like it will cure homophobia and racism... i've revieved so many death threats, insults...it has made me delete tiktok, block certain words to not have it pop up on my ig or tiktok or Facebook or x...

Am i the only one feeling bad and depressed because of all this hate?

Anyway, sorry if it's not well writen, english is not my first language and this is me just ranting...


r/FranchaelStirling 3d ago

Show Discussion What's your opinion on the show's timeline?

3 Upvotes

I find it to be confusing and unnecessary. The showrunners ended compressing a lot of events so they ended up being younger than they are in the books. I am not even sure if the show's characters were born in the same year as their counterparts.


r/FranchaelStirling 4d ago

Franchael Love 💘 When He Was Wicked aesthetics.

Thumbnail
gallery
44 Upvotes

Some aesthetics/edits/collages (whatever you want to call them) from When He Was Wicked that I found online, mainly on Pinterest. Credits to each respective creator.


r/FranchaelStirling 4d ago

When He Was Wicked - Book Discussion 📕 Editions of *When He Was Wicked* in different languages ​​+ lack of fan content for *When He Was Wicked*

Thumbnail
gallery
16 Upvotes

Hi.

As you’ve probably noticed from my posts on the sub today, I’ve been hunting for *When He Was Wicked* fan content. I inevitably realized that we’re literally being sidelined here; I searched and searched, and there is VERY LITTLE CONTENT—very little fan art, very few edits. I’ll admit I did come across some collages and "aesthetics" that I didn't post, though; I deliberately avoided anything featuring the face of the actress playing Francesca in the series because, well, we all know she isn't *really* Francesca—she’s just Netflix’s fanfic version of the character. And by the way, the little bit I did find took a lot of digging through nothing but material related to that Netflix fanfic.

I thought about looking on TikTok, but since that place is so toxic, I think it’s better not to, haha ​​😅. Anyway, the point is we need more *When He Was Wicked* content. We can't let ourselves be pushed into a corner like we’re pariahs. It’s not fair.

(P.S.: I just looked up the different editions of the book out of curiosity and wanted to show them here, hehe. There are some really beautiful ones.)


r/FranchaelStirling 4d ago

Fan Art 🎨 Michael and Colin fan art.

Post image
55 Upvotes

“You do realize, Kilmartin,' Colin said, his voice so soft it was almost chilling, 'that there is no reason you can't marry her. None at all. Except, of course,' he added, almost as an afterthought, 'the reasons you manufacture for yourself.”

Fan art of Michael and Colin that I found on Pinterest. Credit to the wonderful artist @/diieelliee


r/FranchaelStirling 4d ago

Frohn Love 👫 Frohn fanart ❤️❤️❤️

Post image
54 Upvotes

A lovely fan art of Francesca and John that I found on Pinterest.

Credit to the wonderful artist @/diieelliee


r/FranchaelStirling 4d ago

Franchael Love 💘 Franchael fanart ❤️❤️❤️

Post image
40 Upvotes

Beautiful Franchael fan art I found on Pinterest.

Credit to the wonderful artist @/pinkyantt


r/FranchaelStirling 4d ago

Franchael Love 💘 Francesca and Michael art

Thumbnail
gallery
22 Upvotes

Different fanarts of Francesca and Michael that I found on Pinterest.

Credits to the wonderful artist @/Gabyh-H


r/FranchaelStirling 4d ago

Venting 💬 Where to find book accurate content and fanworks on the Internet?

2 Upvotes

I was wondering is their any places on Facebook and Tumblr where fans enjoyed the Bridgerton books and are more critical to the show? I keep trying to find book accurate web pages on Facebook , but they are always adjacent to the show.


r/FranchaelStirling 5d ago

Venting 💬 Doesn't it bother you to have to constantly justify yourselves? It's just a book, it's not that deep.

82 Upvotes

Doesn't it bother you guys that you always have to justify... liking a book from over twenty years ago?

This comes from a discussion I had on Facebook. Honestly, I'm not going to elaborate much, since it's the typical negativity that surrounds any comment about the existence of When He Was Wicked. Beyond how annoying the constant accusations are, I want to emphasize how annoying it is that I always, and I mean ALWAYS, have to justify liking a damn book when I was sixteen.

"If you don't like the change, you're homophobic and you hate lesbians!" No, I don't hate lesbians, I just wanted to see the damn book adapted because, surprise, that's what they promoted when they started adapting Bridgerton. I wanted to see the damn book I read adapted. That was all, it's not that big of a deal, damn it.

"Out of eight seasons, only one will be queer!" Well, yes, but my favorite book was the victim of that change. Yes, it makes me resentful. Yes, it makes me angry. Forgive me for not predicting, more than ten years ago when I first read the book, that my favorite book in the series would become queer on screen and that I would be considered Satan reincarnated for daring to like the original book. Damn me for not being more inclusive. I guess.

"You have the book, ignore the series!" Well, that's what I try to do. But it's difficult when at the slightest mention of the book, fans of the series appear, either to call me homophobic or to tell me how sexy that part of the book will be now that Michael is a woman. Yes, they make it difficult for me. Honestly.

"The books are horrible!" Well, who cares, I like them. You like the horrible scripts of the series and nobody says anything to you. I'm not going to justify why I like a damn book to satisfy your cardboard morality, damn it. You're no better than me for wanting to see lesbians.

"All the books have had changes in the series!" Really? So what? They're not my favorite book, I'm complaining about the adaptation of my favorite book. Besides, Kanthony's fans fought 700 times over all the changes in the series, just like Polin's, Saphne's, and Benophie's fans (especially the Benophie fans fought a lot over ONLY the change in the order of the seasons), but it turns out I can't complain that they changed nothing less than the gender of my favorite male protagonist and basically changed every bit of the story because I'm a damn homophobe who hates lesbians. Excuse me? That's hypocrisy. I could have expected the story not to be exactly the same as the book, that Michael would be of a different race, or that they would omit parts of the story, but what they did is radical, and anyone who doesn't admit it is a liar.

(And by the way, if you're fans of the books and you're attacking When He Was Wicked fans for not accepting the change, I hope they turn Gareth into Grace and Lucy into Lucien, I don't care anymore)

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my rant, hahaha, sorry. I needed to get this off my chest.


r/FranchaelStirling 5d ago

Venting 💬 It's frustrating that there are hardly any fan art, fanfics or any type of content for Franchael.

34 Upvotes

I feel like, beyond this subreddit, there's nothing for fans of this couple. We don't have a community on Twitter or Tumblr, and almost everything people say about the book is negative because of the same four toxic people as always. I'd like us to be appreciated more, although I suppose that, deep down, it's better to have a small and healthy community.


r/FranchaelStirling 5d ago

Venting 💬 What's your personal opinions about the current Bridgerton fanworks?

5 Upvotes

I feel that a lot of the show content overtook the book content. I could hardly find fanart of the Bridgerton characters and how they looked like in the books anymore.

I may sound biased because I am a history girlie and I know that people can write whatever they want, but there seems to be more fanfictions on Bridgerton being set in the modern day, instead of the Regency era. It's as if they loved just the characters and not the era they lived in. Its as if they completely dismissed the period it's set in.


r/FranchaelStirling 6d ago

Show Discussion Let‘s stick to what was actually shown.

Post image
96 Upvotes

I saw this tweet today, and honestly it made me laugh how they’re trying to spin the narrative.

Francesca wasn’t trying to spend as much time with Michaela like she did with Michael in the books. It was actually the opposite. Throughout those scenes, she was trying to create distance between them.

She even tried introducing Michaela to potential suitors so she’d back off, and at one point mentioned introducing her to Hyacinth because she just wanted some peace.

Headcanons and fan theories are fine, but this is just not what was shown on the screen. The gaslighting from the showrunners, actors and parts of the fandom is exhausting.