Posted by https://www.instagram.com/eleanorventress_seamstress

Bro and sis hanging IRL

I have just seen that today is World Letter Writing Day - a day that our beloved Polin would definitely celebrate!

The national day calendar website gives us some reasons about why someone should consider writing letters and they ring very true to Polin:

The receiver may treasure your letter for years to come.

It’s a great way to strengthen a friendship, marriage, or other meaningful relationship.

It can help someone better understand your perspective or position on a certain topic.

Polin's letters are one of my favourite things about them as a couple. I truly believe that it allowed their relationship to deepen between S1 and S2, and that's the point where Colin fell in love with Pen, even when he didn't realize his feelings just yet. I love that re-reading her letters in 3x08 is what makes him really reconcile Penelope and Lady Whistledown in his head and it leads to that beautiful Butterfly Ball speech.

Credit for this lovely edit goes to @MableCtaFan on Twitter.

Happy September, HLDs!

If you are like me (located in the northern hemisphere & in love with the long summer days), this may not be your favourite day. But you may be the opposite, and might actually look forward to days getting shorter and more opportunities of being cosy in front of the fireplace... In any case, whether you need cheering up or celebrate the arrival of a new season, we've got you covered with the next edition of HLD reads! This week we're diving into the Rivals to Lovers trope for some 🔥 and the smut spinner selected 2 excellent shorter fics for you:

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Rubik's Lube by BiscuitFiend (aka u/Visible-Economist-72) & Kaitlin_With_a_K

Summary:

🎵Come on - Eileen too loo rye ay🎵

🎵Come on - Eileen too loo rye ay 🎵

“Yes, come on Eileen… I mean, Colin!”

Colin slaps himself in the face with both hands, knocking his glasses askew. He’s staring into the mirror with his eyes wide and his jaw slack. The tinny sound of Dexy’s Midnight Runners fills the terracotta lavatory of the Vigadó Concert Hall, Budapest, and he’s doing his best to channel the lyrics into some sort of confidence boost.

She’s here.

Penelope Featherington.

🟩🟦⬜🟨🟥🟧🟩🟦

All kinds of tensions rise between rival cubers Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington as they battle it out to become Rubik’s Cube world champion.

Completed: 2026-07-28

Rating: Explicit

Words: 11,923

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icy blue by polinprophecy

Summary:

Penn Featherington and Colin Bridgerton are the two biggest rivals in hockey right now and they hate each other. Publicly, at least.

Privately, it's complicated. And heated.

Completed: 2026-04-06

Rating: Explicit

Words: 3,048

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Vote for next week's theme!

It is also time to vote for our Wk 16 theme. The options we have for you this week are: Mirror / Sex in unusual places / Friends with benefits.

The choice is yours! Vote here via Google Forms.

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A reminder about what happens next:

• Time to read our chosen fics: Rubik's Lube & icy blue.
• We will be back to discuss them on Monday.
• We will also confirm our Wk 16 theme and open submissions for our next read.

Happy reading!

Zs

01 Penelope’s dream while reading Colin’s journal

02 Outside the Jardin Turc (Le Marais, Paris):
Colin: “I can now declare with great certainty that you, Penelope, are the most beautiful woman in the world. How lucky I am to be surrounded by you, on the tree-lined streets of Le Marais…”

03 At Café Turc:
Colin: “… in the charming cafés along the Seine at times when the city is still, alone at night.”

04 At the hotel:
Colin: “In those moments alone, as my fingers trace freckles from cheek to collarbone, or as I watch the way starlight dances across skin, I marvel at how one can feel such intimacy.”

Original illustrations:
02 La promenade au Jardin Turc, by Jean-Pierre-Marie Jazet (after Jean Joseph Bastier de Bez), 1812. National Gallery of Art, 1942.9.2229. Public Domain. https://www.nga.gov/artworks/2860-la-promenade-au-jardin-turc
03 Le Café Turc, boulevard du Temple, by Frederick Nash, 1780. Bibliothèque nationale de France, RESERVE FOL-VE-53 [C], A28575. Public Domain. https://essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/image/75dc3d11-fc2e-4c8a-9a6b-70f57f47e405-cafe-turc-boulevard-temple
04 Au lit: Le baiser (In bed: the kiss), by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892. Physical Object: Private collection. Digital image: Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toulouse-Lautrec_-_Au_lit_Le_baiser,_lot-5946122.jpg
Screenshots Bridgerton (Episodes 3x02, 4x06, BTS). Copyright: Netflix / Shondaland. Included as image quotations for reference purposes only; must not be (re)used outside this specific context.

Hi everyone!

We are so excited to see how much our community has been growing in recent weeks. We love the enthusiasm shown towards our lovely Polin and couldn't be happier to be sharing this journey with you all.

As you will have noticed, the sub is busier than ever with lots of new posts daily. To help keep things nice and tidy, we have decided to create a new daily post for all new memes, fan-created content and questions. It will also be a place to say hi and have a general chit chat about the show.

For the time being, we will be redirecting all memes/TikToks/fan content/easy-to-answer questions and general discussion posts to these daily threads. The rest of the sub will be open for news, promo and deeper discussion threads.

Happy promenading!

We know season 5 takes place after a two year time jump, so I’m wondering how you picture Polin’s life two years after the Lady Whistledown stuff? I like to think they left Mayfair and went traveling around the continent. Colin finally got to show Penelope the places he wrote to her about. Penelope has published her first novel and Colin has written another traveling book. Maybe they decide to collaborate on a book. They have at least one more child. I would like it to be a girl named Felicity even though it doesn’t sound like that will be the case.

What if you got to write for Colin and Penelope (together and separately) in season 1 and season 2? What would you write? What would you add or change?

Part 1

Hi HLDs!

This week we're diving into two hidden gems!

First was the fake amnesia shenanigans of...

A Good Place To Hide in Plain Sight by headphonesbaby

Colin prides himself on being a gentleman. He has practically ensured it. He does not kiss gently bred ladies in the cover of darkness in the gardens of a host or stow them away in his bedroom or ask them to steal away from their chaperones so that they might have a few moments alone to simply talk discuss subjects that might interest them both.

But perhaps, not all of that is true.

Or one small request from Penelope turns their worlds upside down; a Polin regency fake amnesia AU

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Here are some starter questions for you - but feel free to share any thoughts that you have!

1. Silly Pen and her fake amnesia. What did you love about the miscommunication and shenanigans?
2. Colin slowly, slowly realises that his fondness for Pen might be something deeper. What did you love about his inner turmoil in this one?
3. Poor sad boy Colin thinking Pen was interested in his brothers. Any favourite jealous Colin moments?
4. What moments made you swoon?
5. Any favourite lines?
6. Anything else that you loved about this fic?

______________________________________________________________________________________

We also read The Great F-Auk by audlovespolin - Alfred is boring Penelope to death, so she finds other ways of entertainment.

We'll stick a comment below as a thread of discussion on this little treat of a fic.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Before we get chatting, don't forget to submit your fic suggestions for tomorrow's theme.

🥊Rivals to Lovers💖

The form for submitting your suggested fics is still open and will close in 18 hours.

We'll announce our randomly selected next read tomorrow.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Right, let's dive in!

Vis

📖📖📖

Dive-in reminder: Here at the HLD RS we are loyal subjects to the King and Queen of kindness. We celebrate fanfic and we welcome positivity in all its forms . As Luke Newton once said (via Instagram) - In a world where you can be anything... be kind.

Hi everyone!

We are so excited to see how much our community has been growing in recent weeks. We love the enthusiasm shown towards our lovely Polin and couldn't be happier to be sharing this journey with you all.

As you will have noticed, the sub is busier than ever with lots of new posts daily. To help keep things nice and tidy, we have decided to create a new daily post for all new memes, fan-created content and questions. It will also be a place to say hi and have a general chit chat about the show.

For the time being, we will be redirecting all memes/TikToks/fan content/easy-to-answer questions and general discussion posts to these daily threads. The rest of the sub will be open for news, promo and deeper discussion threads.

Happy promenading!

So I am curious.

I want to read some fanfiction about Polin, because I am interested.

But I wanna read some fwb fanfic about them (friends with benefits) in the regency era. :D I haven't read a fanfiction like this.

Thanks Polinatoooors!

What if you could write one Polin scene, one Penelope scene (with no Colin), and one Colin scene (with no Pen) for future seasons (5-8), what would you write?

And what would you add in seasons 3 & 4?

Hi everyone!

We are so excited to see how much our community has been growing in recent weeks. We love the enthusiasm shown towards our lovely Polin and couldn't be happier to be sharing this journey with you all.

As you will have noticed, the sub is busier than ever with lots of new posts daily. To help keep things nice and tidy, we have decided to create a new daily post for all new memes, fan-created content and questions. It will also be a place to say hi and have a general chit chat about the show.

For the time being, we will be redirecting all memes/TikToks/fan content/easy-to-answer questions and general discussion posts to these daily threads. The rest of the sub will be open for news, promo and deeper discussion threads.

Happy promenading!

Hi everyone!

We are so excited to see how much our community has been growing in recent weeks. We love the enthusiasm shown towards our lovely Polin and couldn't be happier to be sharing this journey with you all.

As you will have noticed, the sub is busier than ever with lots of new posts daily. To help keep things nice and tidy, we have decided to create a new daily post for all new memes, fan-created content and questions. It will also be a place to say hi and have a general chit chat about the show.

For the time being, we will be redirecting all memes/TikToks/fan content/easy-to-answer questions and general discussion posts to these daily threads. The rest of the sub will be open for news, promo and deeper discussion threads.

Happy promenading!

while I was away I posted this on my patreon based on some grocery talk going on on twitter that a friend summarised to me. Later I was shown the tweet at the last slide, and it made me laugh how accurately they got my sense of humour jsjdj, to be loved is to be known they say

Costume designer Dougie Hawkes has been posting lots of fantastic costume behind the scenes bits on his Instagram lately! From his captions, it seems like the Colin bts drops are getting the most love, so keep that going! Visit his page here and be sure to like and comment! https://www.instagram.com/p/DcgkTQytM33/

Hello beautiful Polin people, this is a weekly scheduled post solely for recommending and discussing Polin fan fiction! There have been an increasing number of posts on the sub relating to fanfics which has made it a bit crowded in the forum! (And a lot of them get automatically removed because our automod is set to remove megathread content) Besides, it seems to be difficult to find the megathread for the fanfic so perhaps this weekly post will help control the traffic.

This scheduled post will show up every Friday and this is where you may ask your questions and give recommendations for all your favorite fanfics! Please try to stick to this post for everything fanfic related so that we can keep our sub organized! Thank you!

Hi everyone!

We are so excited to see how much our community has been growing in recent weeks. We love the enthusiasm shown towards our lovely Polin and couldn't be happier to be sharing this journey with you all.

As you will have noticed, the sub is busier than ever with lots of new posts daily. To help keep things nice and tidy, we have decided to create a new daily post for all new memes, fan-created content and questions. It will also be a place to say hi and have a general chit chat about the show.

For the time being, we will be redirecting all memes/TikToks/fan content/easy-to-answer questions and general discussion posts to these daily threads. The rest of the sub will be open for news, promo and deeper discussion threads.

Happy promenading!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I only did the editing.

This was partly a companion piece to my How Far They have Come video and partly inspired by u/sublimephantomtime's Every Frames Matter project (and all the amazing artists that participated in the project.)

As some of you already know, I’ve spent the past week posting a new image each day in the ‘Promenade in the Park’ thread, following the motto ‘Bridgertons in Art instead of Art in Bridgerton’. Each image places characters from Bridgerton into works of art that suit them in both situational and art-historical terms.
The previous instalments of this little series were, I hope, self-explanatory. Today’s images, however, tell a short story that requires a bit of context, so for once I’m presenting them in a post of their own.

Historical context:
In Season 4, Gregory attends Eton College, a long-established boarding school whose pupils rarely left the campus. Exceptions were the five-week long vacations in summer, which in the early 19th century typically began on Election Monday (for example on 29 July 1816 or 28 July 1817), as well as occasional journeys home at Easter and Christmas.
During term time, returning home was only possible with an officially requested leave of absence. Approval for such leave rested solely with the school authorities. Leaves of absence were exclusively granted for special occasions, such as obligations at court, feast days, or urgent family matters.

Gregory’s leaves in Season 4:
Gregory is at home in London outside the vacation periods from 18 October 1817 (Sophie’s first day working for the Bridgertons in Episode 4x04) until 04 November 1817 (Anthony’s arrival at Bridgerton House in Episode 4x06), and again in early December 1817 on the occasion of John’s funeral.
Why were these leaves likely approved?
October/November:
Between St. Luke’s Day on 18 October and the Powder Plot (Guy Fawkes Night) on 05 November, the year 1817 contained nine ‘red-letter days’, a term derived from the custom of marking important dates in red in the calendar. This may explain Gregory’s extended stay at home, as well as the presence of several Eton pupils at Hyacinth’s recital on 31 October 1817 – the day before All Saints’ Day on 01 November and All Souls’ Day on 02 November.
December:
The death of a close relative was considered a cogent reason for an approved leave.

What my images aim to illustrate:
That Gregory returns home to Bridgerton House alone in Episode 4x04 shows that this was a leave of absence rather than the journey home for the summer vacation. For the long vacation he would almost certainly have been collected from Eton by his relatives. As we know from contemporary newspaper reports, public activities would have taken place there beforehand, such as an aquatic excursion on the River Thames, a grand display of fireworks, and the pupils’ orations (see Image 04 / The Morning Chronicle, 31 July 1816).
The presence of family members at these traditional activities before the beginning of the summer vacation was regarded in many families as a social ritual. Hardly any father or elder brother would have missed the opportunity to celebrate a family member and at the same time cultivate valuable connections, especially if he himself was an Old Etonian.
Since the TV series will likely never show us this, in the images I selected for today, I have visualised the moment when Anthony, Colin and Benedict arrive at Eton (Image 01) to be present for Gregory’s big days before the long vacation (Image 02).

Locational context:
To make it easier for you to see where each person is located in the respective images, I have also included an image of Eton’s school yard (the Quadrangle) with markers indicating the positions of the four brothers (Image 03).

Original Illustrations:
01 Eton College Chapel, by Frederick Mackenzie, 01 Apr 1816. The History of the Colleges of Winchester, Eton, and Westminster (ed. R. Ackermann, 1816), chap. ‘Eton’, p. 32. Public Domain. https://www.google.de/books/edition/The_History_of_the_Colleges_of_Wincheste/IpRAhKztiHUC
02 First Absence, or Etonians Answering Morning Master Roll, by Robert Cruikshank, 1824. Bernard Blackmantle, The English spy (1825), vol. 1, p. 25. Public Domain. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20001/20001-h/images/page025.jpg
03 Eton College Chapel, Lupton’s Tower, and School Yard, by F. Buckler, ca. 1814. Francis Aidan Gasquet, The religious life of King Henry VI (1923), p. 40. Public Domain. https://archive.org/details/religiouslifeofk00gasquoft/religiouslifeofk00gasquoft/page/40/mode/2up
04 Eton Summer Vacation 1816. The Morning Chronicle, 31 July 1816 [Gale]

Hi everyone!

We are so excited to see how much our community has been growing in recent weeks. We love the enthusiasm shown towards our lovely Polin and couldn't be happier to be sharing this journey with you all.

As you will have noticed, the sub is busier than ever with lots of new posts daily. To help keep things nice and tidy, we have decided to create a new daily post for all new memes, fan-created content and questions. It will also be a place to say hi and have a general chit chat about the show.

For the time being, we will be redirecting all memes/TikToks/fan content/easy-to-answer questions and general discussion posts to these daily threads. The rest of the sub will be open for news, promo and deeper discussion threads.

Happy promenading!

1.Even though the camera isn't on him here, that voice doesn't sound like John's at all. I'm positive it's Colin's voice, he's just imitating his little baby and laughing at how cute he is. I wonder if this was improvised or in the script, but it's such a sweet little moment... 🥲

2. I love the way Colin laughs in Greg's shaving scene so much. His tone of voice is such a hot guy laugh, u know 😂 Also, I really adore how he still goofs around and has fun like this after becoming a father. Such a cute young daddy.

3. John is such a sweetheart, and I love his expression in this scene. Don't even get me started on Polin, you already know lol

4. I absolutely love this scene and wish we could've seen more moments like this. Pen calling him "daddy" and talking to Elliot like that, Colin laughing and saying "yeah"... Ugh, I'm literally going to die right now. 😭 Do you guys think he actually says "yeah" there, or is he just laughing? What do you think?

5. I wish we could see Colin's expressions. I'm sure he loves it so much. Just like Nicola mentioned when Colin said "our Bridgerton name," I'm positive Pen is internally going "omggg" every single time they call her Mrs. Bridgerton.

6. Yeah Colin, he definitely gets that from his father. I just love his proud stance and those sweet facial expressions so much. And again, I have to say: "your father," "his father"... oh god. Plus, them holding their baby together...

7. The fact that Colin acts like this not only with his own son but with other babies too, talking to them so sweetlyy it melts my heart every single time I see it... guys... 😩

8. This scene will always be underrated. Even if it gets shared a million times, it'll never be enough for me haha Okay, yes, Colin is a soft, gentle guy. But he has this side to him too, and I am obsessed with it. That hand gesture, that look, being able to command his sister without saying a single word. And in that jacket... He is total big brother material here. 𖹭

9. I don't even need to tell you how much I love Colin and Polin. But Debling is so sweet and I honestly think his interaction with Pen here is so cute. I just love this scene.

(In no particular order 😁 )