The Emerald Raven

At this point in my experiences, I am very sad with the Naruto fandom. Not just the NH or SS fandoms, but they are the worst of the bunch. But even parts of the NS fandom. Why can’t they realize how beautiful NaruSaku is. It is the only relationship that I can consider pure love. But I guess I have to explain what I mean by pure love. As a kid I watched a lot of Disney movies and I always thought to truly be in love meant that you loved their personality and not their looks. It meant doing anything to keep the other happy, even if you had to suffer. It meant their pain was your pain. As I grew up, I realized that was impossible. Love grows from a crush and crushes start from physical attraction.

But NaruSaku is a relationship where the love they have for each other is purely emotional(don’t get me wrong they are physically attracted to each other) 

But what they love about each other was their personalities. Naruto fell for her because she was similar to him

Sakura started to fall for him, when he showed her, his real self 

True, Naruto was immature with his feelings at first,

Sakura could be rough

But their relationship continued to change. Naruto praised her. 

He respected her.

He cheered her up

He motivated her 

  He put her above himself

Sakura worried for him. 

She comforted him 

She supported him 

She cheered for him 

She trusted him 

They like each other for who they are. 

Naruto is happiest next to her 

Sakura gives Naruto the tenderest smiles

Sakura’s pain is Naruto’s

The idea of Naruto hurt, hurts Sakura more than anything

They are selfless to the other

Their first care is each other

They done everything together. They had their laughs, their smiles

Their tears

They had their ups  

They had their downs

But they always forgave the other

What Naruto and Sakura share isn’t just love. It’s true love. Its love based on who they are. Not what they are, not where they come from, not even how they look like. They came to love and protect each other unconditionally. It wasn’t unrealistic, it wasn’t forced, they grew together, it was gradual. They have a relationship, that everyone deep down wants. They know the other, they seen each in their best, their worst. They work because they are similar, because they are kind to the other. They work because they love everything about the other. They work because they’re soul mates that grew together. So fandom open your eyes. Stop denying it, even if you don’t like the ship, admit you want your ship to be like NaruSaku. 

Well, nobody can know for sure what was crush and what was love, because we will never get an explanation of every frame, but each of us can understand every moments as we like. If we like to combine such characters as Naruto and Sakura, we will pair them. And if someone likes NaruHina and SasuSaku, we can’t help it, and the person is not to blame (and is NOT stupid or blind) for thinking Hinata’s character fits Naruto more or Sakura fits Sasuke. Those are just our opinions and that’s why we all different, we all have our experience in life and everyone have their ideal girl/guy, so the fact “She can’t be with him because they’re too different/too alike!” ISN’T actually a fact. But Kishimoto is a human too, so he has his own opinion and experience. Somehow he decided to make what he made, and I’m just trying to understand why he did it. I always considered myself as a smart person (so modestly), who wouldn’t make something from nothing, and who can see the things the way they are. To be honest, I thought I understood all the hints and parallels. I loved every moment either NaruHina, SasuSaku, NaruSaku or SasuNaru the way they were. I never thought like “OMG, what a disgusting moment! They holding hands/hug/CPR!11 Eww…” No, really. I am mostly SasuNaru fan, but I always thought NaruSaku was going to happen, so I shipped them too. I didn’t bash NaruHina or SasuSaku (though I hate them as couples), because I always loved how this “triangle” thing feels like. Loved every act and moment of EACH couple. Even after the ending which made me sad, I thought I can deal with it, and I was trying to understand why I wasn’t able to see it from the start. And then, happens this shitty interview, and I understood very well how strongly I can be disappointed by Kishimoto. I didn’t bash him, didn’t say this all were maden for money or something like that. I just tried to accept the ending he made, because I loved Naruto like more than my own life. And then, he says “Naruto feels true love for the FIRST time” (or something like that) and that thing with terrible woman: “…I thought of Sakura, but liking Naruto so suddenly would make her a kind of terrible woman…” And I couldn’t not to make this rant, yeah. Okay, you can say that Naruto will fall for another girl, you can make his hair short, but how dare you to say that he never loved Sakura, and this was just 10 years long childish crush? Well, lets see it, Kishimoto, I’m going to remind you about your own hints.

1.

Well, sure this is not explaining that Naruto’s love wasn’t a crush, I just want to say here: Naruto haven’t any reasons for loving Sakura (while Sakura fell for Sasuke because he was cool, and Hinata liked Naruto because he inspired her). In fact, Sakura wasn’t a pretty girl, so it’s not about her appearence, and she hadn’t even nice personality (she was kinda bitchy, specially for him), so, I guess, it was love from the first sight, huh?

2.

Has anyone noticed? I’m talking about Inner Sakura. Those panels proof that Naruto and Sakura are pretty alike and love the same kind of jokes. Seems like a weak argument, right? Anyway, I was trying to say another thing. Sakura is always fake in front of Sasuke. Obviously Inner Sakura is the real Sakura, she just couldn’t let her out because she tried to make an impression on Sasuke. She just agreed with everything he said. Interesting, but since he left and there was only Naruto by her side, Inner Sakura disappeared (was barely a moment in the beggining of Shippuuden). 

3.

Haha, can any NaruSaku fan make a rant without this moment?  Sure, you all know what I’m going to say, so I’ll try to put it in other words. Naruto has been changing almost every character in the manga. “From the evil jerk to a nice guy!” by Naruto Uzumaki! It is a part of his personality. So, how did he changed Sakura? Well, as I said it before, Sakura has not a nice character. She was always too egoistic, I believe. But after she met Naruto, she started to changing into a beautiful woman. She became kind, strong and selfless person, who, without even thinking, is ready to protect the people she loves. 

And how did Sasuke changed her? Did he ever inspired or supported her? In fact, there was no development in their relationship. But Sakura, at least, knows something about Sasuke’s life, she knows he was alone and she was always ready to protect both, Sasuke and Naruto. So, she’s been changing for them. You can’t say this about Hinata.

4. Yes, Naruto changed her, but what does she know about him? Does she know he’s a jinchuuriki, Sasuke’s his friend, he loves ramen, where he lives? Does she know anything but what was his dream and that he’s an amazing person? Anyone could fall in love with him and end up with him in chapter 700, and then we’d get a movie explaining this thing. In fact, we were never shown how Naruto thinks about her. Yeah, he said he likes people like she, he thanked her and they hold hands, but still he didn’t have any romantic thought about her or even blushed in front of her. And if he ever thought about Hinata in romantic way we would be shown at least how he admires her, like “OMG, she all this time loved me, I can’t believe it!” and even if he didn’t talk to her after this, we’d at least know he noticed and appreciated her love. But no. He didn’t.  And Sasuke, what about him? If we’d say as SasuSaku fans think: “Sasuke secretly loved Sakura and just was afraid to make her feel pain and lose her” (Well, it’s not it, at least because he wasn’t himself and he couldn’t think so properly of his actions). So, he tried to kill Naruto too, but he loves him as his BFF, and then he could love Sakura too, but just was insane and wasn’t responsible of his acts. Well, does Kishimoto SO bad in romance or friendship in this manga really means more than love? Sasuke’s reaction on Sakura’s confession:

Sasuke’s reaction on Naruto’s “confession”:

Yes, sure, Sasuke’s “You’re annoying!” can be taken as a lie, as I mentioned it before, Sasuke just wanted to save Sakura from himself. But, in such a moment, when Sakura confesses again, he could at least be surprised she didn’t give up on him, but it seems like Naruto, considering him his friend touches Sasuke’s heart much more than Sakura, considering him her love.  5. Sakura not only changed her character, but her feeling for Naruto, it can bee seen through many chapters:

Before it was cool [I believe, it’s not even a moment not for NS nor NH, they both just encouraged Naruto. Just saying that it’s the same]:

It just shows how more logical NaruSaku would be. Sakura now does everything to protect Naruto and his dream. She even lies to protect him. She feels guilty for hurting him, but Naruto doesn’t feel this way for Hinata. If Kishimoto planned NaruHina and SasuSaku from the very start, why did he spent so much paper to let us see how Sakura crying because she hurts her just-a-friend, but he didn’t show how Naruto talks to Hinata and Sasuke feeling guilty for hurting Sakura, and he leaves it to movie? Isn’t this stupid?  6. Hints which cannot be taken as “not hints”:

Sure it’s Yamato’s words and parallel with MinaKushi. Sure, Yamato as an ANBU knows people’s emotions and etc. And Kushina is a lot like Sakura, anyone should not deny it. Those moments were screaming: “NaruSaku!”.  There were some other hints like Sai’s words when he says Sakura’s gentle with Naruto, but I can’t find it now. Well, it’s interesting that Kishimoto made almost every girl tsundere, including Kushina, Mikoto [Sasuke’s mom], Tsunade and Yoshino [Shikamaru’s mom]. Looks like he likes that kind of women. By the way, When Shikamaru questioned his father about why he would marry such a domineering woman, his father responded that even the toughest woman will show her gentle side to the man she loves. 

7. Naruto’s “crush”:

“He really loves you”

In my previous blog I talked about the mistakes that Luke has made with his relationship and why fans cannot, will not, do not want to like his girlfriend. (Do you guys see what I did there?) - Most people wouldn’t care if he had a girlfriend (or they wouldn’t even know) if he didn’t make a few mistakes along the way.

Mistakes previously stated in last blog:  

Making dating life public. Befriending Antonia on Instagram. Always saying he was most like his character. His friends. Social media presence.

Now onto Part 2:

Luke should have been more active when it came to booking new jobs. He seemed to take the summer off before the Bridgerton press tour. While it does make sense that he wanted some time off before he was going on a months long press tour. He floundered in opportunities. 

I can’t say for sure if he was sending in tapes and auditioning for anything. Maybe he was and he just never booked anything. But it seemed like all he was concerned about was hanging out with friends and spending time on boats. 

I do get that he had just gotten out of a long term relationship and everybody takes that different ways. Breakups are hard and take time to get over. His way was to completely change everything about himself (and yes some of that had to do with getting into character) - from body to personality. 

(Personally I prefer when he had a bit more weight to him, he lost all of his ass!) - He was too focused on working his biceps than his glutes. 

So now because he doesn’t have jobs booked and the only time he does go do something (LA and Paris), he brings Antonia. This is another mistake! It seems like he just wants to take trips with her and not actually put in the work. Fans don’t want to see his dates, they want to see his talent. 

I think everybody and their mothers have had enough of Soho Farmhouse. 

All of the outrage could have been avoided if he had just kept everything secret from the beginning or avoided some of the key mistakes that were stated in Blog one. He should have reigned in Antonia and gotten her to stop posting about said trips/dates. People already hated them together and he was apparently content on digging himself even deeper. 

Which brings on the InStyle stunt that happened in LA (this was a cluster fuck mistake). People knew that they were together in LA. That would have been fine if Antonia didn’t then post the pictures on social media. It’s one thing to speculate, it’s another to have concrete evidence. 

It’s okay to not let people know everything. It’s okay to keep those memories to yourself. It’s okay to post these pictures (that they knew people would be mad about) on a private account. 

It’s like Luke thought that since people were already mad, it couldn’t possibly get any worse. He was wrong!

They were posted out of spite, that’s the only logical reasoning why the InStyle pictures happened. Antonia doesn’t have the comments turned on, if she was a kind person, she would delete them, like what is the point of them now? But both of them wanted to make their relationship known, they have wanted to announce their relationship for a long time and they weren't allowed.

The next thing that is completely insane is telling people in interviews how he was young and naive in his early 20s in interviews. This one is a huge mistake and a mistake that I’m not even sure Luke has picked up on. During those interviews people already knew about Antonia, and one of the issues people have, is her age. 

It seems like Luke may in fact still be naive. Because the lack of judgement to even say those words out loud is astonishing!

I think Luke has forgotten how to cater to his fans, which in turn has made them question everything about his decisions - which includes who he is dating. 

Because of the MULTIPLE mistakes and actions at every turn,  people will never accept Antonia/they weren’t ready to accept her yet. He has made her look like a ‘mean girl’, with no job, flaunting her not-so-secret relationship. 

(It sounds mean but it is what it is)

Ultimately the fans were not ready, they weren’t ready for him to go date a much younger girl. They weren’t ready for him to completely go 180 from his character of Colin. 

He should have taken a step back after New Years. He saw the backlash and should have stopped and thought about what he wanted to put out into the world/how he wanted to be perceived. Instead he went head strong into it and now I can’t see him ever being able to make Antonia a fan favourite. 

It’s like the Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde situation. People hated that relationship because of how it started out. They were never able to get the fans on board, all hope was lost when it came to that. 

But his next relationship with Taylor Russell, people loved. Because it had a good foundation. It didn't have the drama. It was brought out with care.

Luke and Antonia’s foundation to the public is non-existent. The foundation literally exploded and they kept on laying bombs. 

I don’t think people are ultimately mad that Luke has a girlfriend. I don’t even think they are mad because it’s not Nicola. They are mad because of the ongoing cluster fuck of actions that were made. 

If you have again made it this far, thank you so much for reading!

I could probably make a part 3! Hahah 

I want to start out by saying, I have been following the Bridgerton train since the season one release on Christmas day. It was a show that I knew nothing about and I became enamoured.

I have followed along with the show and the actors since the release. I find looking at human behaviour fascinating, as I work in a very customer service based industry. It is so interesting to me to see how the actors have conducted themselves, especially Luke Newton.

This post will be about why I think people are truly upset by his behaviour.

(some of which I agree with and some I don't)

Luke Newton has been quite the monogamous dater. He dated his fellow co-star from The Lodge, Sophie Simnett. They were both very young at the time, it seemed like a sweet relationship, but young love normally never lasts.

Then he got into a relationship with Jade Davies. She is very active in the Theatre world and it seemed like this was a very good pairing. I think they complimented each other well. You could tell they loved each other. Ultimately they broke up at the beginning of 2023, because they 'grew apart', or so the tabloids have stated.

I do know that Jade did receive some hate (which is fairly common in the industry that Luke is in). I personally don't think that it was as bad as people made it out to be. A lot of people loved seeing Luke in love and proud of his girlfriend. They supported them as a couple. They supported it because there really wasn't anything to not support.

After the breakup is where Luke Newton went off the rails (in my opinion). He decided to become the typical fuck boy and didn't keep it secret.

This is where he made his first mistake - he made his dating life public and it definitely looked questionable. (and yes he made it public by following certain people and posting about all of his vacations). He had a 'type' going into this time in his life (young dancers). But ultimately fans were forgiving because he just got out of a long term relationship. He was hurting and it's okay to spiral a little at a time like that. Fans supported him because they wanted him to have a 'hot girl summer'.

At some point he meets his confirmed/unconfirmed girlfriend Antonia. She seems to get a long with his close friends and people took notice of them spending time together. But I think fans thought he was still spiralling, so he wouldn't actually get into a relationship, he was only have fun.

Then the New Years kiss video was released. Fans did not like this. But ultimately I don't think that was what caused the biggest issue, I think his second mistake was befriending her on Instagram. This is what sealed them as an unconfirmed relationship. Had they decided to not make this decision, I think people could/would have left them/her be. It could have been summed up with 'it was just a New Years' kiss.

I think that Luke had every intention to make this relationship public. I think that, that was his ultimate goal that day. But because of the press tour coming up, he was told not to. I also think that made Luke spiral even more, he was upset that he couldn't show off his girlfriend (and when you like or love someone you do want to do that) and decided to take some of his issues out on his career and fans (by liking everyone of her photos, letting her post photos with his clothing, letting her post photos with his arms and legs).

His third mistake was mentioning that he was the most like his character on Bridgerton (he has said this multiple times) and his cast-mates also say the same thing. Hear me out on this one -

It can be easy to separate the art from the artist. That is simple enough for people to do (I have seen it happen on many occasions). But there were multiple times that he would say he is the most like his character (saying this made the task of separating difficult) - and lets be real Colin was made for the female gaze. He is charming, attractive, loving and isn't superficial. He fell in love with the 'outcast', the one that isn't the 'typical' beauty. Fans held onto this, because Colin as a character made them feel seen. They couldn't separate Luke from Colin because he kept saying he was like Colin.

When they look at Antonia they don't see the outcast, they don't see the girl that looks like them, they don't see a 'regular' woman. She is the opposite of who Colin would end up with, so that would mean that Luke wouldn't go for her. Antonia looks like the girl who made fun of you in high school, the girl who on the outside looks like she hasn't had a trouble in her life, a girl who's social media is all about vacationing and looks staged, she doesn't seem real.

(I want to note that I have no idea who she is as a person, she could be the nicest person).

So now that Luke has made a bunch of people mad they will go on a deep dive. The first thing that people will look into is the age. And she is quite young. Too young in fact. I am on the side that someone his age shouldn't be dating someone who's brain isn't fully developed (this is a scientific fact), ESPECIALLY since there is also a power dynamic. (It's okay if you do not feel the same way).

Luke's fourth mistake was letting his friends post things about himself on social media. Yes, I know that you can't control everybody in your life. But they are his BEST FRIENDS, Luke could have asked them to not post anything about himself. That would have been the smart more.

Luke's fifth mistake was not having Nicola and the Bridgerton Instagram posts with notifications on. He should have liked every single god damn post that they posted. This would have appeased the fans, the fans love that shit. But instead he would like every single one of Antonia's photos and forget about his job. This decision further bothered fans because he stated that he was moving his social media to be work related. I will be honest - his social media is kinda a mess. His social media presence is definitely a mistake he has made.

He goes on the Bridgerton press tour with Nicola (who is amazing at her job), and all of the imperfections of his life are even more exaggerated, because Nicola is fucking great. Even though Luke and Nicola are a pair when it comes to Bridgerton, people will still compare them.

When looking at this whole situation I think that Luke is continuing to spiral. I think that he can be a bit stubborn and he is doubling down. He has to know the mistakes he has made. He has to realize that he could have dated Antonia and not made it a whole situation/scene. If a celebrity doesn't want you to know something about their personal lives, you won't know.

Final thoughts - I think that Luke didn't think about how some of his actions would/could have been perceived, I think he was ill prepared in some of his actions, I think that he is still learning to be in the spotlight, I think he is somewhat immature, I think that he is being destructive to his career.

I'm convinced Luke wanted to come forward with his relationship months ago. I believe he was told not to and he didn't like that answer. He has shown some spite because of it. There are also other mistakes that I didn't get into, if you want a part 2 let me know? haha

Have I lost some respect for Luke during the past year? Yes.

Do I realize that it must be hard to be in the spotlight? Yes.

Do I think that if Luke continues on this destructive path he will regret it? Yes.

Should we also give him a bit of grace? Yes.

Do I think he is talented? Yes.

His actions sure are questionable though!

I was at the afterparty today of the London screening & premiere and some info are confirmed that I happened to know from today and from before through insiders 1) Ben is the s4 lead & everyone already knows it and just like they used Polin season to build Fran story, they will use Ben season to build Eloise story 2) They thought about combining seasons but the idea fell through after fear of the fan's reaction. They thought about combining Ben & Eloise seasons first, but Ben fans have been eagerly wanting his season, so they decided to focus on him in his own season. The idea presented itself again about possibly combining Eloise and Fran seasons together in one season, but that idea feel through as well. So far each season will focus on a specific sibling 3) There is a possible spinoff or two they thinking about one would be between s3 & s4 and one between s4 & s5. the spin-off they think about it to happen between s3 & 4 is a young Violet spin-off. nothing is finalized yet but they have been seriously considering it 4) All the cast of s3 gave their agreement to come back in future seasons and they don't want a repeat of s1 leads not returning and JB did say he wants to be back as long as they need him even if as cameo

gossip side of things 1) Luke T & Harriet Cains did break up then went back together and now it's unclear what the state of their relationship is, but at least they are still friends. Things possibly will be clearer when him as the lead of the new season news will be out. She was seen with another man that she was cozy with at the NYC premiere, but Luke T has also said he video called her during that event according to a fan video

2) Bessie Carter was upset about something she read in her comments bit of it was unreasonable due to jealousy and comments that affected her for a bit and for a brief time it made her unfollow all her female co-stars 3) Claudia Jessie isn't engaged, but she is still in a long time serious relationship 4) Luke Newton's casual gf or what some call situationship he has with certain someone isn't over yet, but it isn't serious nor exclusive either. He hasn't been introducing her as his gf to anyone and calls her just a friend of a friend & came close to ending that relationship once. She didn't show up even at the after party, but there has been a talk that he and his friends possibly met her & her friends at another party later, but that is unclear and unconfirmed. He was seen however with his friends and his assistant leaving the London after party together. some of his team left with him as well 5) Nicola Coughlan Was dating someone but broke up with him by end of March. some speculated that she still might be with that person, but they are just still friends. The guy has common friends with her friends and the relationship ended in a friendly way. He was seen kissing someone else in April

Season 1

He asked and was rejected.

Season 2

He's not getting rejected this time, he simply says they're dancing.

Season 3

He's taking no prisoners, this is his girl, step away motherfuckers!

"Penelope opens her eyes first after every kiss to make sure this is real and Colin doesn't open them as not to wake up if it was a dream."

Side note but I would kill to see his reaction when he hears Colin interrupted Penelope's and Debling's dance lol.

Everyone sees Colin running after Penelope multiple times this season, and everyone assumes it's out of pity, rather than care. Like she's not even the one chasing him, he's the one doing it in all four episodes!

Colin Bridgerton: not one for wasting time.

His entire behaviour during the press tour so far has cemented the fact. Repeatedly berating his own character for "not seeing what's in front of him" - not a single word in defense of Colin's behaviour ... saying he finds consent super sexy ... saying that Colin would have loved Pen EVEN if she hadn't changed her look because it's not the glow up that made Colin fall in love ... and the fact that normally male leads would shy away from being tagged as soft / gentle / romantic in favour of some alpha hetero masculine posturing but here he is talking about how he watched all the romcoms and the videos Nicola sent him to make sure he commits and understands the shared vision for their characters ... thinking that A Thousand Years is the perfect song for Polin because he watched a Twilight edit with it.... I could go on omg.

Colin: