PenguinLife

8 years, 9 years. Still gross and wrong. Also, she looks about 40. When we warn the Gen Zs that sun damage is a real thing, they don't seem to get it.

Funny how millennials all still look so young and the Gen Zs jump from teens to midlife.

For everyone obsessing about what 🐜 posts and where. If Luke is not actually in the shot, let her be. We want her to find her way to employment so that she will exit this weird ass arrangement she has with Luke and Shondaland. You are working for her talking about it in these spaces, because curiosity killed the cat, yeah know.

My question is more. Where is Luke?

And no. I don't want a stolen pic of him on holiday. I want a actual post from him. At this point even a brand colab would do.

Can we just for a second discuss how funny it is that they thought the staircase scene would be the viral moment of S4 that the carriage scene was for S3.

First of all. The love declaration. The roler coaster of emotions. The slow progression. The request for permission. Penelope being wet and ready. Pen and Colin being complete equals in that moment. The carriage scene is so far superior to the weird lift, awkward passionate kisses. Her being as dry as the Sahara Desert that he needed to lick his fingers. No consent requested or given. He technically her employer at that point. It doesn't even compare.

I also find it hilarious that commentary from the carriage scene was that Colin should've licked his finger post action to taste Pen. Like how Heathcliff tasted Cathy on that mountain. Fucking hot. The pre action lick from Benedict stemming entirely from that discourse and they got it wrong. I want to just laugh.

When they were teasing Staircase in interviews leading up to s4 I totally thought they fucked on the Bridgerton entry staircase. I was like. Yeah that's going to be hot. But then what they did in the servant staircase was so not. The cringe when he offered for her to be his mistress. Too much honestly.

Maybe it's just me

Let's just talk about how fucking easy it is to establish that coworkers are just coworkers and that there is nothing more when it comes to TV and movies.

Zoey Deutch started in "Voicemails for Isabelle". A heart wrenching story about an older sister losing her younger sister to a horrific illness, her struggle to move on and find meaning in life. A series of happenstance leads a man to her, you can call it creepy, or red flaggy or her sister making it happen from the grave. It wasn't about finding love or a man saving her. It was about her moving on. He receives her voicemails that was meant for her sister. The cool thing is, her walls were up, except for when she was speaking to her sister and he resonated with her openness and vulnerability when he was in a series of performative relationships.

What I loved about the movie was how she gives him space for his feelings. She is not there to intrude and manipulate a memory. She wanted to give him a moment with the memory of his mom. He realises that he did the opposite and exploited her moments. Being self aware is a major turnon.

This is excellent writing, very good acting (just perfect) and also what we as an audience have been begging for. Off campus got it. Now Voicemails for Isabelle also got it.

But to my point. The two main characters had crazy chemistry that probably stems from knowing eachother for a very long time. I am not sure if they were actually friends. But they went to the same school when they were young.

Zoey on Tuesday/Wednesday posted to her IG an anniversary of her engagement to her fiance Jimmy. Publically acknowledging him and he commented. Mutual respect and acknowledgement. They left no room for rumours or assumptions.

I want to give her props for being a pro and managing the situation correctly.

Now to Nic and Luke. It is literally to late to do something like that now, so no ideas. Hahaha. Actually try it. I want to see you fail.

But funny how Luke has not once promoted 🐜 work. Gone to one of her "many" "professional" "work" related events and promoted her. He literally acknowledged her for walking in a street, twice. There is a hidden message there. Iykyk.

We have seen her at his work events, brand colabs, ect. But never not once at any of hers. He has been used by her family and friends to promote their businesses and establishments. But that is all. Not directly or with consent. Always stolen from accross the room.

Also, talking about anniversaries. Never not once posted about from either camp.

I read the article that Jess did for Shondaland, it really felt like she formulated the questions to answer very specific questions. Here's an idea. Jess can just write an opinion piece to post on Shondaland. This fakery is just so tiring.

They highlighted the Queer angle of S5. Interesting that Jess associates as queer herself. I really have no hope that s5 will be watchable for me as a straight woman. As much as I love love and support all kinds of lovestories. When I sit down to watch something to relax, I am gonna be choosing something that is made for me as the target demographic. I like watching men. As simple as that. I love them yearning, falling over themselves for woman, I want to see them pleasuring woman, treating them with love and respect. That is my jam. Bridgerton is pivoting like Ross and his couch to a different demographic. Will they make it up the stairs or get stuck around the corner.

I don't care for the argument that they deserve representation. Seriously, it is not such a novel thing anymore. Almost every show on TV has queer/lesbian/gay representation. It is not even a novel thing that it is a period piece or regency era. Yes they existed. Yes we know that. I am still not going to tune in for it. It is just not my jam.

Now if they added other storylines that is my jam, I would watch it. But with Polin/Kantony/Daphne and Simon being out. There is nothing left for me. Just saying.

Where on earth can I watch Seeking Persophene? I can't find it on any of the streaming services available in SA. SM is seriously spoiling everything.

Also want to mention how Yerin got 3 different posts on Shondaland for her role in The maids. Very strange don't you think. Nicola never got this much attention post her season, neither did Simone or Phoebe. They never mentioned any of their other projects.

I have something to confess. I wrote an entire post on things I would've done to improve S4. And I felt like I didn't give it enough of a chance. So I rewatched it, with attention. And my opinion didn't change. I just got so angry. Why on earth did Benophie get so much screentime compared to Polin in S3. Compared to Simon and Daphne it was on par. But it was so extremely obvious. I remember when S3 just came out Jess was asked about it and she said Bridgerton is an ensamble. But then in S4 they did the exact opposite. I remember how the Polin fans begged for the deleted scenes. That we now have established exists, and Nicola commented that there were none.

The reshoots have also now become evidence of them doing damage to Polin's lovestory. Wigbert, the Pen speech about being a woman, the Brothel scenes and the ick flirting scenes, all damaging their lovestory. None of it in the books. All added later on.

The reason is so loud. Same reason why Eloise and Phillip were pushed to S6. We might never see it. At this point I will never again watch anything produced by Shondaland.

Where are we now? Well, nowhere. It has been so fun over the last 2 years having a community to connect with. I appreciate every one of you. All over the world we connected on just one topic. We debated, we argued, analysed, obsessed and we loved two people. But sadly, like all good things, this too is coming to an end.

This week we had a freakout over a bingo clip where we barely saw Luke. Everyone clutching their pearls because of a blowup doll, but it was Luke reaching over a table to touch 🐜 arm that was really upsetting. Tbh, it really didn't mean anything, he might have done it to tell her to shut up, asked for a piece of gum, saw a bug on her shoulder, asked her when they could leave, or it was a gentle moment that made our collective Lukola alarm Bells go off. We have gotten used to Luke's dismissive behaviour toward 🐜 and it gave us permission to treat her like shit. We saw her through his eyes, he has no respect for her, so why would us. But this moment of tenderness changed how we interpreted their relationship and it was uncomfortable. The bottom line is, we don't like 🐜 on a very basic level. She is young, mostly unemployed, a very average dancer, terrible model, spend most of her time following a man around. Show absolutely no ambition to develop a career of substance. It doesn't sit well with us. There is nothing she can do to change that. Now is an intimate reach across a table enough to change our minds. Nope. We are pretty set in our ways.

What I noticed this week is that Luke is being exploited by a group of dancers in Cyprus. Generate some engagement for their various affiliated establishments, just before a dance performance in July. If you were in the same position, don't tell me you wouldn't do the same. It does tell us what they think of Luke. Absolutely no consideration for his career. They are not friends. It also seems like 🐜 is aware and letting it happen. Actually a little more than that, she is adding to it with her own posts.

I spoke about this in a previous blog. It is a form of manipulation. "We had no idea they would find the video, you weren't tagged or anything". Let's just ignore all the crumbs that lead to the discovery. "It was just my holiday dump, it's their fault for assuming it was resent and that it made it look like you were on holiday again".

Let's talk about Nicola. The "best friend" post from 🐀 was not even interesting. He is probably done with his project and needs more work. So predictable. Who cares. Interesting that we haven't seen Nicola since promo for MFT/Big Mood S2. The dish was filmed around that time and her week on SNL UK. All very close together. I find that most interesting.

Great news about Nicola on MITB S6. But I don't think it was a significant role given the other cast announcements. I would definitely tune in to see it. I mostly enjoy anything Nicola does. So yeah.

The question has been asked who is actually filming Bridgerton. I initially thought that they might be filming all the Scotland scenes. But interesting that Hannah hasn't posted any Bridgerton crumbs. No first table read post. No S6 lead pic. No SM push at all. It is very strange that we are not getting anything. No updates on filming locations. Did the entire Bridgerton Fandom just suddenly lost interest or are production on a break?

That would not surprise me at all. Maybe a little rewrite? Given that the scripts were all done before S4 dropped. Are they writing the ship? I deeply hope so.

It would literally mean the end of Bridgerton if they repeat what they did on S4. I really hope Netflix stepped in and gave them a good talking to.

Now I am not suggesting they are dropping the Francella storyline. That will still be the main lovestory. But maybe a shift in how they treat the rest of the characters and their storylines. Well, I hope.

But, will it he enough? They will need to do a proper campaign to change our minds. Otherwise everyone who has walked away from the show won't give two shits. Here is to hoping.

Now what is up with Luke and Nicola. Well. We will never know.

What is going on with Nicola vs Shondaland? This is still very interesting to me. Why did they fall out. Why the LW change, why is Nicola so aggressively distancing herself from Bridgerton?

Funny how with all the SM archiving that Big Mood S1 now has way more posts on Nicola's IG. It dominates that time period. It is interesting.

Nicola is no longer promoting anything Bridgerton.

This cringe video of Luke at a bingo evening. When was if filmed?

I feel embarrassed for him. Like these people don't want the best for him. I am pretty sure they are not happy about a 33yo has been actor hanging around.

If this is what Luke wants out there, then maybe he doesn't deserve to be famous. Maybe he doesn't deserve the attention. And maybe Bridgerton extra is all he wants in life.

So I have this nagging feeling that Luke N and Nicola are being blamed for it. And I just want to address that.

Jess and Shondaland had given up on S3 before they even filmed it. From the scripts to the filming to the editing it was crystal clear that it was just a filler season for Shondaland. They were sidelined for side plots and side characters. They abandoned their story pretty much from the get go. They had the least screentime out of all the couples.

Nicola and Luke brought it. Knocked it out of the park. They did the most. The carriage scene and the mirror scene were perfection. But the rest just left us wanting. The reshoots were misguided and badly executed.

So they launched the WT. I don't think the WT was arranged by Shondaland. It was a Netflix promo tour. Luke and Nicola again brought it. From the very first interview they stole the show. We became obsessed with them.

Shondaland didn't like how popular they were. They already had a hard time getting everyone to move on from the Duke. So they instigated the rollout of the adjacents. The thing is. If the half hearted rollout was just on Luke's end and Nicola and Jake sold it or the other way around, we might have fallen for it. But both couples sucked at it. They readjusted over and over again, just made it worse.

Writing this. I realised something. Luke and Nicola had always been loved by Netflix. It is totally Shondaland and Bridgerton that has sidelined them. I think there is pressure from Netflix to change the format of the show to include the old leads.

Back to my point: S4 promos started and it was bad. Luke T looked like an old man. They had these awkward fan interactions that totally looked staged. Luke and Yerin were total professionals. I even praised them for being normal colleagues. Part 1 dropped with Luke N and Nicola staying out of sight.

Unfortunately the audience didn't like part 1.

So Luke and Yerin started flirting. They copied what Luke and Nicola did on their WT. The touches, the laughs, even as far as Yerin meeting Luke's parents. Only it came across as awkward. The connection forced and unnatural. Sure there are these fringe fans that fell for it and they are still obsessively analysing every move.

But the majority of Bridgerton fans were not impressed.

So initially the promo clips rec in Jan with Luke N, Hannah and Claudia didn't mention Nicola at all. It felt like they over edited those clips. Like they were hiding something. People mentioned how off Luke looked.

By this time the Bridgerton IG was rolling out lots of Polin, Pen and Colin promo material. And then the clips from those promos with Luke Claudia and Hannah came out where Luke couldn't stop talking about Nicola. Any chance he could he brought her up. Maybe because he missed her or that he picked up on that they were trying to erase her so he just brought her up to be on purpose. And I like him for it. Smooth move Luke.

It is very clear Shondaland has serious beef with Luke and Nicola. I think it is because they feel that if Luke and Nicola were more convincing in their adjacent relationships, we would've refocused on Benophie and S4.

But here it is. If Luke and Nicola disappeared, had convincing relationships with 🐜 & 🐀 would it have made S4 better. Improved Luke T's lazy acting, improved the storyline, fixed E2s really bad pacing, improved the weird sexscenes. Not to mention the costumes, dialogue and side plots. The answer is NO. If S4 was just better, we would have liked it.

Blaming Luke and Nicola is just lazy. Not taking accountability for what they produced and admitting that it was just subpar.

At this point the ship has sailed. We collectively won't give Bridgerton another chance.

Unless they come out now to address it. Promising more Polin.

The adjacents are just making it worse. When I say we are over it. It is an understatement of note.

Honest question

I don't feel like the 🐜 posts are totally insync with Luke's at the moment. We have had this in the past and then they do a realignment. Like they did the concert last year.

I just have a feeling that she is currently in Cyprus and he is in London. Sporadically filming S5, auditioning, filming that promo for Generation N and whatever he was doing in the park the other day. She knew a little bit about his schedule and she is trying to match up with it to gain as much traction as possible.

Luke is not interested in pushing their "relationship" into the public eye. Whatever contract is in place, I think it is coming to an end soon.

He did not like her grid post, his social media person did. He also didn't post the Netflix promo, his comments on Will's post lacked his humour and tone. Now I might be wrong. He might just have changed.

Her story the other day, just why. To insinuate that they are in Cyprus, knowing the flack he is getting for him always being on holiday, was unkind to say the least. But then we know he was in London the week before.

Then the people article. Didn't see it myself. Blocked that shit after nose pick saga. It is not a respin from his camp. They have nothing to gain to try and lift her up. The fandom has spoken, over and over again. We don't like her. Bringing someone new into the picture would aid him tremendously.

I believe a break-up spectacle would be counter productive.

His new reps sign Luke, not Luke and 🐜. I am pretty sure they told him to limit his interaction with her publically. Only a legal agreement would justify her presence at the moment.

Also. That shadow vid has been bugging me. There is no way that was his arm. The distance between shoulder and elbow is impossible. So was that her arm, but then, how was her face facing that way. It must be AI. The selfie with her and Luke also looked like a group pic that was cropped. The angle and body placement is just off for a selfie.

She is really pathetic and sad.

I really hope this is my very last post about 🐜.

Knowing the new characters that have been announced, it just gives me the impression that they will do the same with Eloise. Introduce a new love interest that will make me hate her and not care about her lovestory with Phillip at all. Also realising that all the writers know how to do is turn the lead male characters into rakes before their season. Because in their brains women will always be responsible for mens moral compass. They will never take ownership of their characters.

I will never get over the totally unnecessary brothel scenes we had to endure for Colin. Anthony got an oprah singer, Benedict got a business woman and a rich widow, but sweet Colin got whores.

So what do they have planned for botanist father of 2 Phillip?

I just realised, the writing of this show has seriously gone downhill from S3.