Should note that a couple months or several weeks ago, I happened to let slip to my siblings that I unexpectedly got into Bridgerton, and now my sister is totally into Bridgerton. It was like me admitting that I watched it, gave her permission. 😅?

Now, she binges Bridgerton, to catch up on all 4 seasons, in the past few weeks, arrived late to a family get-together, and apologies to her coworkers about being a little sleepy. She tells them that it's because she stayed up late, catching up on Bridgerton, and her coworkers all pause for a second and reply "Fair". 🤣🤣🤣

So, last night, I showed her these video essays, because I love the youtuber's animations.

My sister is so new to fandom, that it was only a few months ago, she was asking me what a "trope" was.

So she was completely astounded at the descriptions of the Bridgerton books' versions of the leading men: toxic, "alpha", problematic, etc. She just kept repeating versions of "Why would anyone want that?!?". I didn't want to explain the merits of transgressive media and tolerating others' different though "extreme" tastes, within possible earshot of our parents.

So instead, I referenced her earlier, similar reaction to learning that Penelope's book had her lose 30 pounds before it allowed her to be romanceable. My sister was astounded and perplexed at that too. So I repeated an approximation of the video essay's info about the books' publishing dates, "Well, it's from 2006." She undoubtedly recalled all the skinny aesthetics of that decade and said that it made sense now, waves of judgement, spreading across her face.

So when my sister had an even louder, more absolute CONFUSION at the book Romance genre's trope of romantisizing toxic leading men, I just scrambled for the repeated explanation, "I don't know...! It was from 2006!" By the end of our reactions to these 2 video essays, "It was from 2006" had become our running joke, whenever she got irritated at another inexplicably popular Romance genre trope. 😂

Then I told her that joke I heard from another Romance book youtuber: We go to the bathroom in groups to get away from these types of guys; I don't know why they're appearing in the books we read. 🤣 (I think it was Jenna Moreci?)

Found out that my sister likes season 4 the best and season 3 the least. So I told her how I liked season 3 the most, and how I heard season 2 was the most popular, despite me being a little disappointed with it. (It's so nice to once again have a discussion at a difference of opinion, instead of my conversation partners going silent when I disagree about a movie, food, or experience. I wonder if I'm just used to this because most of my talking is with my sister?) She said she could see how I'd like season 3 the most and would have problems with season 2. And we both silently knew we were talking about me being aroace.😂

(Which again, is so funny, because I will eat up all the tropes, suspend my disbelief, and spend 99% of my fandom activities, enjoying shipping...if a story just convinces me that a couple enjoy each other's company FIRST, and make it entertaining for me, specifically. But the whole "hate someone so much, you don't notice you're in love" that my aunt once described to me and my sister... Well, that still gets disbelief and the same "to each their own"/"agree to disagree" that my sister and I both reacted to our aunt with, at that time.)

So she let me blab about how I was so looking forward to Anthony and Kate realizing they were on the same wavelength and were the only ones who could keep up with each other, but instead, they just argued and annoyed each other the entire time, and breathed into each other's mouths. And I said, "I don't know, I guess that's what they call "romantic tension"? If it is, then I don't think I like it." Then I blabbed about how I only seem to like tsundere couples written by Rumiko Takahashi, and how her tsundere couples were always somehow entertaining, whereas most push/push Romance couples just annoyed me.