i understand the whole 'colin was a jock in modern au' agenda. i do. i get it. especially the whole 'oh he was a popular boy on a sports team' thing. but consider, briefly and with indulgence, the following

colin was a burnout

listen. he canonically smuggled drugs across borders in the show. this man is smoking weed like no one would ever believe. he skips class. he loves to write and read for fun, but he gets bad grades in most of his courses, so he doesn't see much point in going to every class anyway. at first, as a kid, he would keep afloat by just trying really, really hard so his mum would be proud of him, but because of undiagnosed adhd, he falls through the cracks. gets in trouble for not paying attention. anthony keeps pushing him to work harder and gets upset when colin doesn't / can't and completely falls off the bandwagon. he's nice to everyone and he's a Bridgerton and he's hot so of course he's still well liked, but he's one of those 'don't bring that boy back for a date' kids that all the upper crust mums warn their daughters about. he got his chin scar from a skateboarding accident and listens to rock and metal and punk bands and pierced his ear with a safety pin and has a chip on his shoulder from being in his brothers' shadows

his first friend group was a bunch of prep boys who were high in the instep and he tried to fit in with them because that's the same kind of group anthony had, but eventually realized he didn't like them at all and just fucked off. he'd rather be alone than around people he didn't like. ended up being held back a grade and that brought him into the same class as Penelope who was pushed up a grade in contrast. Eloise asked her to tutor her brother so Anthony would get off their back and Pen's a total goody-two-shoes straight A student (with a secret rebellious heart) so she agrees and ends up crushing bad on him. lends him her eyeliner and everything. he's a terrible influence on her (her mum's words) but Pen likes it because she likes that she can be messy around Colin and he's still nice to her. they'd get high and go to the library and snog or he'd help her sneak out so they could sit on the swingset and talk. she encourages him to get good enough scores that he can pass (and maybe she helps him cheat a few times) and they kind of lose touch after he graduates because he didn't have many plans for his future. eventually, they end up meeting up again ten years later and she barely recognizes him without the dark clothes and eyeliner and they re-hit it off immediately.

+he doesn't buy any of his jeans pre-ripped but they all get messed up when he wears them to skateboard

+he's been suspended several times

+the only teacher he actually likes is Dr. Danbury who has the driest sense of humor ever and they track his attendance based on her Literature Class

+he shaved his head multiple times (at 12, at 14, at 15) in solidarity with his dad when Edmund was going through chemo and then never cuts it short again after he dies

+he steals Daphne's makeup

+he smokes cigarettes on campus and always carries around a lighter

+after he overheard Cressida making fun of Penelope's hair until she cried, he cuts off one of her blond pigtails when he was sat behind her in Chemistry and lied that it caught on fire during the experiment and he was just trying to save her (no one believed him)

+he can make a bong out of almost anything (making one out of an apple was his party trick for like two years)

+he begged his mum to let him pierce his lip but she got all upset about it and he would have still done it but she's his mum and the thought of actually disappointing her makes him want to gnaw his own arm off

+he did, however, pierce his tongue and somehow kept it hidden for ages from her

+he found a spiked dog collar that he wore as a bracelet until it completely fell apart

+he HATED Mr. Fife and swears up and down that's the teacher who made him hate maths

+Violet called him her 'little stormcloud' and it would always make him smile no matter how sulky he was feeling

+he got in fights a lot as a kid when he was small (and lost a lot as a kid) and Anthony got what felt like the 50th phone call from their mum fretting about how Colin was being bullied so he taught him how to box and asked Simon to take him to his classes. he liked hanging out with Simon and he looked forward to it every Saturday

+he used to steal weed from Benedict's supply. then, when they were grown up, in a funny twist of fate, Colin ended up being his plug instead

+his family did NOT know he and Penelope were together until Portia marched over, knocked on the door one day, and went off on her spiel about how he was corrupting her daughter and how her Penelope is a good girl who will not be SULLIED by that RUFFIAN

+Violet almost fist fights Portia at the kitchen table for calling her son a ruffian (he's a bit of a ruffian, but he's HER SON)

+Colin ended up going traveling after he graduated. He backpacked through South America and realized that actually, he loves learning about things. he just hates getting grades for it

+Penelope has a devious streak which he LOVES about her. She was the first one to suggest they ditch tutoring for the day when he was upset about Anthony and they ended up playing hide and seek in the library

+He used to sneak little notes for her in her books

Poor thing, she's dying from cringe 😔

Oh I know. And as much as I do get mindlessly watching Love Island after work, getting into it at that level, with live tweets, stanning these people, is weird. Idk it’s just weird.

I do think even in fandom you can be more normal though. I’ve done many different fandoms since I was about 15 years old and I’ve never seen this before.

Luke’s career did not skyrocket after Bridgerton S3. He’s not exactly booked and busy (although he’s not jobless. He has a steady job). His announcements are few and far between, and if you’re looking to him for content you won’t get it at a rate that makes you feel entertained. He can be a frustrating person to be a fan of if you’re just here for the acting and see potential in him to be more than just a background player in Bridgerton, or want to have more regular work to look forward to.

But the expectation that the fandom has that he hide out in his house never to be seen until he has career news for them is insane. He’s not content, he’s a person. The life of a working actor is full of rejection and false starts. We have no idea what Luke has auditioned for, what’s in the works or how he’s been managing his career in his downtime other than the very promising news that he signed on to new management that will be looking out for him in two different employment markets. Which is THEIR job, not his. They are supposed to be finding opportunities, deals, and auditions for Luke. So just because he pops up occasionally, enjoying his life and his loved ones does not mean he’s not working, that he’s not trying, or that he’s given up on acting. I’ve been unemployed before, and underemployed before, and even while I was desperately trying to find work in the field I loved, hanging out with the people who loved me through those hard times was a lifesaver. We have no idea what close calls Luke has had, what opportunities fell through, what moments it was between him and another actor who just edged him out for whatever reason. He’s not a singer who can put out an album at his own pace as long as he gets to the studio, or could be touring right now— he’s an actor who relies on other people to choose him and cast him for the right project in the right roles at the right time. There’s just so much more that’s out of his control, and yet the fandom moves as if the two industries are the same. And as frustrating as that can be for fans, we are on the outside looking in, but he’s talked about his struggle to find work before.