#That Esquire article is coming out

[ofmdrecaps]

08/22-23/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; David Jenkins; Rhys Darby; Taika Waititi; David Fane; Samba Schutte; Madeleine Sami; Kristian Nairn; Alex Sherman; Bronson Pinchot; Damien Gerard; Vico Ortiz; Reminders to Vote; Adopt Our Crew: GalaxyCon San Jose Videos; Call to Action Aug 30th; Fan Spotlight: Citizen Dame Podcast; Truly Docked Event in Tx Reminder; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika;

== David Jenkins ==

David has been sharing more beautiful artwork by our crew. This time is the brilliant @thozaarmitage <3, and he's right, just SO GOOD.

Source: David Jenkins Twitter

== Rhys Darby ==

First up, some words of wisdom on how to success in life from Rhys' Tiktok!

Next up: Rhys' (And Minnie's!) movie Uproar won Best Oceania Film 2024 at the Septimius Awards!

Last but not least, it looks like Rhys has a new project coming up-- check out the article here!

Source: Variety Article

== Taika Waititi ==

Some "August b&w Shots" from a friend of Taika

Source: Christabel Rose Instagram

Previews of the season finale of Time Bandits!

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A post shared by Apple TV (@appletv)

And a short video by Rita.

Source: Rita Ora's Tiktok

== David Fane ==

David out with a John Asi!

Source: John Asi's Instagram Stories

== Samba Schutte ==

Samba's sharing more info regarding the upcoming Advanced Chemistry Theatre Screenings! You can buy tickets here!

📍 Arlington Capitol Theater 🗺️ Arlington, MA 🗓️ Date: 9/3 💬 Q&A 📍 Village East 🗺️ NYC 🗓️ Date: 9/4 💬 Q&A 📍 The Screening Room at 1313 🗺️ Wilmington, DE 🗓️ Date: 9/6 🕒 Time: TBD 📍 Lark 🗺️ Larkspur, CA 🗓️ Date: 9/7 💬 Q&A 📍 Harkins 101 via Phoenix Film Festival 🗺️ Scottsdale, AZ 🗓️ Date: 9/9 📍 The Ashland 🗺️ Ashland, OH 🗓️ Date: 9/10 🕒 Time: 4:30 PM 📍 More Info 📍 Laemmle Monica 🗺️ Santa Monica, CA 🗓️ Date: 9/12 🕒 Time: 7:30 PM 📍 Rodeo Cinema 🗺️ Oklahoma, OK 🗓️ Date: 9/18 📍 Gateway Film Center 🗺️ Columbus, OH 🗓️ Date: 9/18 🕒 Time: 7:30 PM 📍 Cinestudio 🗺️ Hartford, CT 🗓️ Date: 9/21 🕒 Time: 7:00 PM 💬 Q&A 📍 Esquire 🗺️ Cincinnati, OH 🗓️ Date: 9/22 🕒 Time: Matinee

Source: Samba Schutte's Instagram Stories / Good Deed Entertainments Instagram

== Madeleine Sami ==

Madeleine's been promoting Season 2 of Double parked! There's some shots of her and her costar as well as a new trailer! Check them out below!

Source: Madeleine Sami's Instagram

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A post shared by Madeleine Sami (@madeleinesami)

== Kristian Nairn ==

Kristian is going to be in New York City on September 24th at The 92nd Street Y for an exclusive In Conversation & Signing! You can visit 92 NY.org to get tickets!

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

Also~~ Kristian wrote a thank you note for @smudgeandfrank who recently saw him and the rest of the cast at GalaxyCon Raleigh! If you HAVENT seen their work, please check out their instagram!

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

== Alex Sherman ==

Alex has been poking his head out lately which we love to see!!

Source: Alex Sherman's Twitter

== Bronson Pinchot ==

More Ned Low Musings from Bronson as well as his other characters! (PS: Sorry Tumblr DOES NOT want to share this video for some reason? 1. You can visit it here on Instagram 2. More Ned Low)

Source: Bronson Pinchot Instagram

== Damien Gerard ==

Damien out at a secret studio in their Green Room! Looking forward to see what you're up to sir!

Source: Damien Gerard's Instagram

== Vico Ortiz ==

Vico's got more OFMD BTS up on Patreon!

Source: Vico's Patreon

== Reminders To Vote ==

Thank you @adoptourcrew for the reminders!

Source: Adopt Our Crew's Twitter

== Adopt Our Crew ==

One of the awesome things our friends over at @adoptourcrew have been up to lately is going to cons! They had some fun questions to ask our lovely cast and crew!

=Vico Ortiz=

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adopt Our Crew (@adoptourcrew)

= Kristian Nairn =

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adopt Our Crew (@adoptourcrew)

= Call To Action =

@adoptourcrew is asking for your help on August 30th to get OFMD trending again!

Source: Adopt Our Crew's Instagram

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Citizen Dame Podcast =

There's another episode of Patreon exclusive OFMD Weekly series up! This week is The Art of Fuckery. It's just as fun as it sounds, if you're a patron feel free to check it out! If not, and you're interested, you can become a patron on their Patreon!

Source: Citizen Dame Patreon

= Truly Docked Sept 21-22, 2024 =

We're just a month away from the Truly Docked event in Galveston TX, and events have been announced! You can still purchase tickets here!

Source: Truly Docked Instagram

== Love Notes ==

Hey there lovelies! It's the weekend for a bunch of you! Huzzah! Hopefully this week wasn't too crazy for you and you're getting a chance to take a load off! Tonight I really just wanted to say thank you for all your kindness. Seriously. You all remind me every day that the world isn't a dreary place, but one filled with wonder, light, and good-intentioned people. Whether you're sending @ofmdlovelyletters to crewmates, or sharing artwork/fics, or making beautiful gifs, or sharing stills, sending a quick dm to check in on folks, or a comment with something kind, you are making the world so much more manageable. Sometimes when I'm having a bad day at work, even if I don't have time to interact much, I just come on and scroll through tumblr and see all of the things you all are up to, and I can feel the warmth radiating from all the wonderful things you're doing.

I can feel the love, even when it's not directed at me, that's how much love there is out there. It's like coming home to a warm fire and a soft rug to lay on and a blanket, and a cup of hot tea to warm the soul. You all make so many tiny waves each day, and those waves come back and go on to make other waves, and there's nothing more wonderful than someone being kind when they could have been harsh. You make the world a better place. You make this world worth living in, and fighting for, and full of hope.

So yeah.. I just wanted to say thank you lovelies, you truly have helped so many people through so many things you'll never ever be able to comprehend, and you do it with love. Thank you for being kind, and loving, and you <3 PS: This made me think of you all, thank you for being that reason for me and so many others <3

Source: FullSpiritQuotes Instagram

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

Tonight's theme is disaster! Gifs courtesy of the magnificent @thunderwingdoomslayer and @celluloidbroomcloset!

[bcofl0ve]

new austin butler fan? start here!

hey there girl/pal/buddy/friend! welcome to the crazy train the endearing mad house that is the austin butler fandom. i joined the party after seeing elvis 2022 with my dad on a whim opened my third eye and have adored austin ever since. if you have any questions please please send an anon or send me a message, but i hope this post is useful as well!

media

congrats, i have a hyperfixation on being an update blog which means i have a masterpost of where to stream everything he's ever been in since he's started acting!

my personal favorite thus far is shocking no one, elvis 2022, but i'm really excited for everything coming out in 2024!

interviews

if you want to get to know austin the person outside of being an actor, i highly recommend checking out his episode of the marc maron podcast. content warning for talk about losing a parent- austin's mom who passed when he was 23 from cancer, and some allusions to domestic violence re: a step father. but that to say it's imo the most personal interview austin has ever given (and it makes me cry when i listen to it). i linked to apple podcasts but it's also on spotify!

austin's first ever interview from when he was 16 years old (article)

long- and personal, interview/profile via esquire from 2024 (article)

ruthie’s table interview - 2021 podcast with his good friend, chef ruthie rogers. some very sweet childhood talk in here.

austin butler drives greg williams back home (austin going back to his home town and visting his childhood home and elementary school)

austin butler plays with puppies - what the title says

in conversation: baz luhrmann and austin butler (article) - a very funny joint interview where baz and austin talk about filming elvis

austin butler @ the oscar nominees luncheon - the interviewer is jason kennedy, a long time buddy of austin's who also knew his mom. this was my favorite interview of awards season.

austin giving his publcist kate an honorary oscar - also from the oscar nominees lucheon press junket, so sweet! we love his ginger publicist around here (:

austin and lisa marie presley joint interview - lisa adored austin, and he mentioned in a different interview during awards season that when he was at graceland she took him upstairs for *3 hours*. if you're unfamiliar with the presleys, that is point blank unheard of for someone that isn't a blood relative. lisa passed away in january 2023 just two days after watching austin win his golden globe, and is very very missed. (lisa and austin at the globes)

another little lisa and austin interview, my personal favorite because of the hug!

so who's the girl?

austin is currently dating kaia gerber and has been since december of 2021! i'm working on a masterpost timeline of their relationship which will likely take...a while. but in the meantime the basics are that they like to make out in public while also being quite the private couple.

here is a very cute little video of the two of them after the elvis premiere at cannes and my favorite deuxmoi sunday spotting of all time- someone saying they were making out *in face masks* in line at erewhon.

like i said, they are veryyy private but that means the little tidbits we get are a treat! austin 'gushed' about seeing her walk in a celine show here, and here's a little clip of his smiley little self in the front row.

the two share a dog milo, who is the shining baby boy light of ausitn's life and came up no short of two billion times when austin was doing press for his ysl campaign this past summer. we love milo!

(and i also love that austin wears his gf's clothes sometimes, king!)

misc fun stuff

austin is close friends with ashley tisdale, and has been since the two of them met filming the movie aliens in the attic in new zealand in 2008. he's 'uncle austin' to her little girl jupiter, and they're also distant cousins!

speaking of aliens in the attic, 300 years ago in 2008 austin ran a little blog for his fans throughout filming which is just the darn sweetest most endearing thing to me. you can read the entries that i pulled from the wayback machine here and here.

some other austin-isms that i love

his habit of wearing shirts inside out

how everyone that works with him gushes about how kind he is

this little video of him when he was four years old

his dear sweet publicist kate having to hand hold his golden retriever self on track

the 27 he has tattooed on his wrist bc it was his late mom’s god number

and so many other things that would take me too long to list

if you have any questions that this post doesn't answer pls slide me an anon or a direct message! happy to have you here! <3

[nancydrewwouldnever]

Why does GQ mention a wedding in the online version but no mention of her name or the wedding in the print version? Sorry for bringing this up but I just don’t understand why things are being handled like this.

Simple. Magazines like GQ which have worldwide editions which have to be shipped to both subscribers and stores are printed almost a month in advance of when they hit the actual newsstands or subscriber mailbox. So, the actual print edition of any article has to be "put to bed" or finalized a month before it comes out. That means the print edition of the article will see no editorial changes after that point. [So, if we're going with September 9th as the date the supposed MA wedding took place, then the physical GQ magazine was already being printed at that time.]

However, digital editions of the same articles can be "live" for much longer, and can be re-edited even after posting. So, that's why you see the blurb about the wedding in the on-line article only; because they were able to call and confirm it with his PR team, which would have final approval over any changes to that article. Make no mistake - the fact that it was in the online article does mean it was seen and approved for publication by Megan.

Just for comparison: the Esquire 2020 online interview article was re-edited to delete more info even after it was first posted and screenshot around the fandom. It was interesting to compare what was taken out, which had to do with geography and lifestyle. And if you really, really want to have some fun, go look through Mike Sagar's tweets from 2020 around the time that interview was released. He makes a lot of interesting comments about how difficult it was to work with Chris' PR team, as they kept cutting and chopping up the article and forcing changes, and had to have final say on any change in any form of the article.

[mariacallous]

It was the literary scandal of the decade, the ultimate betrayal and, it turned out, the end of Truman Capote’s career. Published in Esquire in November 1975, “La Côte Basque 1965”, an excerpt from Capote’s then-forthcoming novel Answered Prayers, saw the celebrated writer share the innermost secrets (and most scandalous gossip) entrusted to him by his beloved Swans, the wealthy and glamorous group of high-society women that included Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Gloria Guinness, Lee Radziwill, Marella Agnelli and CZ Guest.

Visceral in its revelations of substance abuse, sexual assault, a murder cover-up, a graphic description of extra-marital period sex and, to top it off, bestiality, the article was a sensation for all the wrong reasons. It saw Capote deserted by his closest friends and shunned from the New York clique he had yearned to be a part of growing up – and, against the odds, had managed to infiltrate as an adult thanks to the success of his novels In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Capote’s questionable actions (and the irresistible drama they precipitated) form the backbone of Ryan Murphy’s long-awaited Feud, inspired by Laurence Leamer’s bestselling 2021 book, Capote’s Women. An all-star cast will bring the man and his muses back to life when the Gus Van Sant-directed series premieres this month on FX in the US, but what was the real-life fallout from the publication of “La Côte Basque 1965” like for Capote and co?

“He never recovered from it,” says Ebs Burnough, director of the 2021 documentary The Capote Tapes, a five-year discovery project that saw him uncover hours of audio footage of Capote, and which gives the most thorough insight into the flawed figure to date. “[These were] friendships born and nurtured over 20-something years. All of a sudden, not one but all of his friends – who had been like his family, because he didn’t really have any family – were not speaking to him; there was literally nowhere for him to go. He was alone drinking, and the phone stopped ringing. He was a man alone on an island.”

Described by the New York Times as “the high-society temple of French cuisine”, La Côte Basque – just off Fifth Avenue and a stone’s throw from The Plaza – was a fine-dining eatery as famous for its juicy gossip as it was for its succulent Coeur de Filet Périgourdine. No one, however, dared to write about what was said and done there – until Capote. While his ostracising may seem like an obvious consequence for spilling society’s sordid secrets, Capote was flawed by the outrage.

Before publication, he boasted to People that he was planning on assassinating his characters with a pen instead of a gun: “There’s the handle, the trigger, the barrel, and, finally, the bullet. And when that bullet is fired from the gun, it’s going to come out with a speed and power like you’ve never seen – wham!”

Success was, in his head, assured, as Capote had been open about writing “La Côte Basque 1965”, bragging about the stories he would tell, continues Burnough. “He was working on that piece for over 20 years, so in his mind he didn’t anticipate the fall out because all of them knew he was working on it.” Upon the outrage, Capote was, “totally abandoned but also indignant”, he continues. “He even said, ‘Hey! What did they expect from me? I’m a writer!’”

Capote had form. “Remember, this was something he had done with Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” explains Burnough. “When you think about it, Holly Golightly is essentially a call girl, yet with Audrey Hepburn [playing her], and because it was so beautifully written, lots of New York socialites were saying, ‘Holly was based on me!’ There’s [even] a quote in The Capote Tapes where Babe’s daughter [Kate] says, ‘Mummy was so excited to be immortalised by such a famous author.’ So, I think he was certainly expecting great praise.”

Babe Paley was Capote’s most aggrieved victim of “La Côte Basque 1965”. In it, Slim Keith’s alias, Lady Ina Coolbirth, reveals to the fictionalised version of Capote, PB Jones, the story that Paley is said to have told Capote about catching her husband, CBS head Bill, in bed with another woman. When Capote rang the Paley household to see what they thought of “La Côte Basque”, Bill is said to have lied, claiming that it was thrown out before either of them could read it; a distraught Babe, who had read it, and who considered Capote her closest confidante, had terminal lung cancer at the time of its publication and never spoke to Capote again before her death in 1978.

Such dismissal of his work would have affected Capote, says Burnough, but the fallout from the Swans leaving him would have been even worse. “Babe Paley was his North Star. She was everything he aspired to be and everything his mother aspired to be. [His mother] had always wanted to be a socialite, so his obsession came from her wanting but not being a part of that world, and then abandoning him as a child. There’s a lot of mother psychology there.”

It makes total sense that Babe Paley was the victim of Capote’s worst betrayal, says Lisa Pomerantz, the New York-based brand expert with a lifelong obsession with Capote and his era of social commentators. “She was the one that opened up the most to him. He took total advantage of her because the others – Lee Radziwill, CZ Guest [et al] – were always more guarded,” she says. “The question is, did he do it knowingly? He was a tortured soul, mostly because of his relationship with his mother – that combined with his natural obsession with this aspirational life and Babe and Bill being the epitome of it.”

Having been sent from New Orleans to Alabama to be raised by relatives after his parents’ divorce, Capote is said to have been a lonely, introverted child searching for a sense of belonging. So why, having infiltrated the glitzy New York scene as a bonafide player, did he blow it all up?

In tandem with craving acceptance, psychologist Carolyn Mair muses that, deep down, Capote resented the world he had managed to become a part of. “People warmed to him and wanted to protect him as he projected an identity of both child and woman, yet his wit could be razor sharp. His ability to remember conversations verbatim made him a good source of gossip,” she says. “Yet as his psychological problems worsened, it seems reasonable to assume that his judgement also worsened.” Shocking others, she adds, “can also be a way of getting attention”.

The backlash from other circles would also have been keenly felt by Capote, continues Mair. “The Swans were the high society who lived aspirational lives and were the envy of women across the States and elsewhere,” she says. “Ordinary people would have read about these women and their lifestyles in the press and fashion magazines and would relate to them as if they were also their friends. The publication of ‘La Côte Basque 1965’ would likely have triggered a shocked sense of betrayal amongst the readers of popular and fashion press at the time.”

Perhaps the most interesting upshot of the “La Côte Basque 1965” scandal, though? The ways in which it laid the groundwork for tabloid culture, says Burnough. “This was an era [in America] when no one even talked about the fact that Franklin Roosevelt was in a wheelchair, let alone the affairs people were having, let alone as graphically as Truman did. As the late, great John Richardson said, ‘[Capote] took the lid off a pile of shit’ and it started the exposé culture we have today. It was a real ‘gotcha!’ moment for the rich and famous.”

[rainbowsky]

GG Esquire Cover Story

A lot of people have written me about the cover story GG did for Esquire magazine. There have been some interesting responses in my inbox, many of which have baffled me a bit, to be honest.

People have asked me for my thoughts on it all, so here they are! 😊

I've been picking away at this for ages, sorry it's coming so far after publication of the article. I have a few things like this in my drafts that are taking me a while to finish writing. I don't have the sustained resources to work on things for very long at a stretch these days.

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an OPINION piece - my take on the article. I have no special insight, and everyone is free to form their own perspectives and responses. Don't take what I say as fact. It's just one opinion among many.

The photos

I have to start out by talking about the photos, because they truly set the tone for (and perfectly illustrate) the article.

These are not the typical magazine spread photos that a lot of fans are used to seeing. Here GG is practically unstyled. The GG you would see in his downtime. His hair is tousled, his clothing is very casual. His poses are also very casual. He looks like he could be just hanging around his hotel room scrolling through his phone.

These photos are such a gift. They feel so fresh and candid and relaxed. Total Boy Next Door. I absolutely love them.

What a relief to see these photos. Nothing ostentatious or overstyled, nothing aggressively brand-forward (some of what he is wearing is his own personal clothing). Just GG. I nearly fainted. 😅

The article

The original article can be found here, and there is a fan translation here.

My relief in seeing these sweet, casual photos of GG was matched only by my relief in reading the article.

To be honest I'm rarely very excited about the sorts of interviews or stories that accompany these types of magazine covers. They are generally fan servicey puff pieces that cater to a certain type of reader - the kind of people who want to become more invested in an idol fantasy.

They tend to be fairly overtly PR pieces, aimed at positioning the idol in an appealing and often romantic, personable way that makes them more accessible to their fans.

I have often been dismissive of interview statements that other fans have taken to heart, which has caused some friction at times, but what can I say? I think a lot of what's typically covered is awkward, fake and fan servicey. I talk a little bit about that in this post.

I didn't go into reading this article with any particular expectation, except that my expectations were low and I wasn't expecting any surprises. But, much to my surprise, I found a smart, interesting, poetic, uncompromising look at a side of GG that we've rarely seen.

My biggest takeaway from this article was that GG wanted to dampen, rather than fan the flames of, fan fantasies about him; to give people a more realistic sense of who he is and what he's about.

I have rarely been prouder of him than when reading this article. It feels like with this interview he is setting boundaries and putting his honest self forward despite expectations and even demands about who he should be and what he should represent.

Sidebar Rant About Fan Culture

Sometimes I see GG's life as being like an episode of Black Mirror. He is a protagonist who has been strangled by his own fame, in some ways held hostage by people who believe that they made him who he is and put him where he is (despite the role they've frequently played in holding him back).

The situation for stars at his level is pretty crazy. Fans genuinely believe that they know better than their idols what is best for them and their careers, and they will - totally unironically and with a straight face - deliver lists of demands and conditions to their idol and their idol's management team that they expect to be met if the star hopes to maintain their love and support.

These demands can be quite detailed. How they want the management team to be structured, the types of projects they want the artist to take, the types of statements they want their idol to make, etc. It's insane.

And GG's fans have been especially difficult, because they are very deeply invested in old school ideas about fan culture that are no longer viable in the current climate. Pushing traffic, 'comment control' and 'clarification' (aka fan wars), attacking anyone they perceive to be a rival or opportunist or anyone they believe isn't treating GG how they think he should be treated (despite having no access whatsoever to verified information about how he's being treated - i.e. it's all based on their assumptions). Using dirty - even dangerous - tactics to try to harm rival fandoms, regardless of how much that puts GG at risk.

Despite the fact that their behavior has caused problems for him in the past. Despite the fact that he has repeatedly begged them to stop behaving the way they do. Despite the fact that his career has nearly been killed by this type of behavior. Despite the fact that there has been a seismic shift in how fan culture is being treated in China, and despite the policies that have been put in place to curtail some of that behavior. They just don't seem to have gotten the memo.

They have learned absolutely nothing from their past mistakes.

Increasingly, they do not seem to have his deeper interests at heart. At times they appear to be supporting him for their own vanity, clout and sense of accomplishment rather than genuinely loving him for who he is. They seem to take more pride in their ability to bring traffic, out-vote other fandoms and move brand merchandise than in who this sweet, smart man is and what he does.

They actively push some of the most toxic, hateful ideas you can find in fandom. They are some of the key drivers behind the whole 'desperate illiterate' hate campaign against DD, and in so doing put both GG and DD's careers at risk. They are constantly spreading hate and lies about DD and trying to bring scandal upon him. Any time an anti-DD campaign surfaces online, they jump on it and fuel it to the best of their ability.

These are people who have had so many opportunities to grow and change, and emulate GG's kindness and maturity, but have repeatedly failed the assignment.

Being a star can't be easy

I often wonder how GG really feels about his fans. How much of the fan culture mayhem he's fed up with, and how much of it he's taken in stride as part of the job. I know it drives me crazy, but he's obviously got a better perspective on it all and would be a lot more accustomed to it all.

As I said in a previous post, I think we need to treat the idea that he absolutely adores his fans with some degree of skepticism. There's a very real noose around his neck, and that can't feel great. I personally believe he wants to loosen that hold a bit.

With this article GG seems to be saying, "Here I am. Support me or move on, but this is the real me."

He seems to be setting some boundaries and giving fans a glimpse behind the curtain at the real him. He is challenging them to accept him for who he really is, or move on.

I feel like he is taking cautious steps toward loosening some of the stranglehold fans have over his career.

GG is a smart, savvy person. I have no doubt that he is well aware of the assumptions about him. I don't think it was an accident that this interview broke down some of those assumptions.

I love him so much. He continually blows me away with how sharp and tough he is.

Disillusionment and growth

Of course, that's not the entire story of the article. There is some alienation and loneliness here. Frustration and struggle with identity.

One of the most powerful lines in the entire article was when he said that he works for this Xiao Zhan guy as well. When he talks about not knowing anymore which GG is real and which is the persona.

"There are two Xiao Zhans, one of them is here, that’s me. There is another Xiao Zhan, the Xiao Zhan in quotes, but he is probably not me anymore. We are all working for him, including myself."

I admit I was surprised by how fractured he sounded. Not surprised that some of this has happening - that is totally to be expected given his fame - but surprised that he'd talk so openly about it. He's not normally so candid about his personal experience of fame, or about its emotional/psychological impacts on him. In his post-2/27 interviews he brushed off any notion of the emotional burden it was placing on him, for example, even though it would have been understandable had he admitted it.

What stands out to me in all of this is how powerfully he is distancing himself from his idol image and showing a mature, serious, in many ways ordinary person. How boldly he is reminding the audience that there is more to him than meets the eye.

Some might read that as cynical and jaded - the star who is playing the game by performing a role that's separate from himself. I read it as the opposite. I read it as self-actualizing and self-preserving. He doesn't believe his own hype. He is just doing a job, working for this persona, while maintaining his own integrity and independence despite all the pressure to perform and be perfect.

The mountain was such a powerful image. Climbing the mountain as a child and seeing it as this nearly insurmountable ordeal, and then later as an adult feeling like he can take a couple of long strides and be at the top. It is such a metaphor for his career and his success. And that speaks of a certain amount of demystification and disillusionment surrounding his dreams.

It was reminiscent of the line, "Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true" from The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell.

Certain jobs, when taken on, become something completely different from what we thought we signed up for.

I have often been asked why I don't open a restaurant. I always jokingly give them this very earnest and serious answer, "Because I like to cook."

If I were to open a restaurant, food would be among the least of my concerns every day. I would have to deal with marketing, I would have to deal with staff and the day-to-day running of the facility, supplies, vendor relationships, finances and management. Food would be very low on the list of things I'd have time to concern myself with.

I feel like the same has happened for GG. He thought he was becoming a singer or an actor, when it turns out he was becoming a celebrity instead. Those are totally different jobs, with totally different demands, activities and limitations.

He enjoys taking on new roles and learning new things and expanding on his skills and working on interesting projects. I doubt very much that he enjoys managing a persona, or navigating fan expectations, or addressing yet another fan-created scandal. I doubt very much he enjoys being held to the standards the top traffic star position puts him under. I doubt he enjoys the restrictions it places on his career or on his personal life.

I doubt he enjoys the limitations on what he is able to show of himself in that job.

Having the kind of job where you have to hang up your personality at the door like an overcoat every day when you walk in - that's a lonely, lonely world to be in. Soul-destroying.

I have long felt that this situation isn't sustainable for GG over the long term. I have wondered what he will do to shift things into a more comfortable, more stable existence for himself. I feel like this article gives me some ideas about that. And it is a relief to read because I get the sense that he is fully aware of that problem, and working to address it for himself so that he can continue doing what he most enjoys - acting and performing.

We have all had these theories - I'm sure most of us have, anyway - that he is trying to shed the idol image, the 'traffic star' image at least to some degree so that he can be accepted as a serious actor with a serious career.

This is a common career path for idols who want to stay in the industry past their idol shelf life. But it's one thing to believe GG might be working on that, and another to feel like I can see him taking brave steps in that direction.

Some surprises, some not

There were some things that surprise me from this interview, and some things that I was not surprised by.

One thing that really stood out to me is how much his real personality shines through. The smart, witty, intense GG we've all seen in The Untamed BTS and in some of his XNINE activities. It was a surprise. I guess I was expecting to see the persona GG - not the real GG. It was so good to see him that I nearly got choked up.

This is the GG that is very no bullshit; blunt and honest. This was the GG who outed DD for using his own meme pictures or for sending him too many selfies. This is the GG who firmly stated he wanted the het scenes deleted. The GG who was very forthright, clever and affectionately prickly with his XNINE brothers.

GG has said in the past that he is not as sweet and sentimental as his fans think he is, that behind the scenes he can actually be ruthless and demanding. This is the GG we've caught glimpses of and that he is talking about in that statement. The real, unvarnished GG.

I didn't dare hope that he would be so candid. He is usually so image-conscious. Not 'fake' by any means, but conscious of how he is coming across and careful not to offend. But in this article he has brought himself unapologetically to the forefront and for that I love and applaud him.

Another surprise for me was when he was talking about how he handles his inner struggles. I was surprised when he said that he doesn't like to talk through his problems. I had always assumed that - as a very authentic, emotionally intelligent, compassionate, personable person - he would be the kind of guy who would reach out to others during times of need.

Instead he said that he doesn't like to talk about his issues. He had such clear and rational explanations for why that even though I can't relate to his approach, I can understand it. This approach can be interpreted as self-contained, self-sufficient and pragmatic. 'If it can be fixed, fix it. If it can't, set it aside. No point talking about it.'

There's something very Zen about letting go of what you can't immediately change, rather than dwelling on it or digging into ruminations about it.

I also found his rationale for avoiding other people's confidences interesting. He 'doesn't want to be a suspect', he 'doesn't want to be burdened by other people's secrets'. I can definitely see how his approach could prevent people from getting caught up in each other's drama, and his mindset reflects healthy boundaries that can help preserve friendships.

I can see GG's characteristic cautious self-protectiveness in this approach. He's smart, strategic and - based on many things he's said in this interview - quite introverted. This approach serves all those aspects of his personality.

There's that old saying, "loose lips sink ships" and that is especially true for someone so much in the public eye. It's good that he has the sense to keep his mouth shut about personal things.

There is wisdom to that approach. It reminds me of the old nursery rhyme about the owl:

A wise old owl sat in an oak, The more he heard, the less he spoke; The less he spoke, the more he heard; Why can't we be more like that wise old bird?

Having said all that, I don't personally share the same view or the same approach in my own life. I am very much someone who likes to talk things through, and who likes to be a listening ear and a support to others as well.

I think there is a lot to be said for the way this type of communication can deepen relationships, help people better understand each other and become more bonded. Sharing burdens, sharing feelings, sharing confidences. It's riskier but the rewards can be significant.

A lot of the biggest problems in the world come from lack of communication or from crossed wires. Talking with others face to face is a great way to clear up confusion and help people stay connected and bonded.

Being the sort of person people can confide in and who talks about things that are on my mind - this really enriches my life. Although I feel like GG has done a great job of making his approach make sense to me, and even seem appealing in ways.

I want to caution people from over-interpreting these statements from him to assuming GG is uncommunicative with DD. As someone who lives with a partner who is exactly like GG when it comes to 'talking about things', I think it's highly likely that GG has a different approach with those few people who are closest to him. There's a pretty big difference between being emotionally and socially open with friends and colleagues, and being emotional and intimate with a partner.

An ordinary boy

The article focuses a lot on his childhood and some of the nostalgia and memories of his past. It's so interesting and illuminating to read about where he came from, and about the parts of that ordinary boy that survived through to adulthood. The geography of the city and the buildings are used as a metaphor for the changes in his life.

He started out in the factory district, in low grey concrete buildings full of vibrancy and activity, passed through a rainy uphill commute and ended up among shining glass skyscrapers. What a journey he has been on, and he's only 31 years old!

The fact that he's been able to maintain his integrity and authenticity and avoid being devoured by the persona - that's such a testament to his character. He really is the whole package. Smart, strong, determined, sweet, compassionate, ruthless, creative, introspective, pragmatic, down-to-earth, cautious. I have always appreciated his breadth as a person. He is very multi-dimensional.

I've talked about that a bit in the past. It's part of why I feel so frustrated sometimes when fans have really shallow, superficial, fan-fictiony takes on his personality. The sweet, soft-hearted aesthete. The tragic beleaguered victim. The playful, cute, dorky romantic. The sexy, saucy, light-hearted, effeminate artist.

None of these takes can even scratch the surface of who he really is. The more I know about him the less I think I know, but I at least know one thing: he's so much more than fans give him credit for.

Florist GG AU

I wasn't remotely surprised to hear that he sometimes thinks of quitting. Even fans sometimes daydream about him quitting. Getting his life back, getting his freedom back. Living a quieter life. Surely there are many times when he is reminded of everything he is sacrificing to do what he does. Times when it feels like too high a price to pay.

But reading this article, I can honestly say that I feel he is up to the task he's taken on. He really does know who he is and what he wants, and he has all of the integrity, emotional and psychological strength to make the most of this career.

My hope that he will start to shed some of the toxic traffic fans and build a stronger, more enduring, more rational fanbase. That he will begin to break free of the shackles of stratospheric popularity and settle into a more stable, satisfying career as a respected actor.

AND SINGER. PLEASE GG! 🥹

It was such a great article, and I feel like I got a glimpse of something new about him that I did not know, which is so rare. I feel like I've been gifted more insight into him, and I have so much gratitude for his willingness to share that with us all.

Regarding candy

A few people wrote me in a big panic over 'what this article meant' for GG and DD's relationship. They had worked themselves up into a state where they felt that if GG and DD were in a relationship, GG wouldn't have said or felt the things he did in the article.

Glass-hearted turtles will need to transform themselves into tortoise-shelled turtles, or they will not survive this fandom. And frankly, those kinds of takes on things sometimes reflect a lack of life experience or realistic understanding of GG and DD as ordinary humans in a relationship.

Some turtles seem to view everything from or about GG and DD as either proof that they're a couple, or proof they are not, with no neutral content and no in betweens. In short, they look at everything GG and DD-related to see what kind of candy it is. And the thing they need to get through their heads is

👉🏻 almost nothing from or about GG or DD will actually be a candy. 👈🏻

Anyone who has ever been in a serious long term relationship knows, there's actually very little about our day-to-day lives that revolves around our partner. My interests and hobbies, most of my social interactions, certainly everything about my work has absolutely nothing to do with my partner. He almost never comes up as a topic or factor in any of it.

And yet we are happily married, and have been for a long time.

As I am frequently saying, GG and DD are individuals first, a couple second. We need to love and respect them in that same order.

This article is about GG and his career. It's an important article about his inner life experience as a celebrity. It has absolutely nothing to do with DD. I find it baffling why anyone would expect it to.

If you are looking for candy, most of the time you will find no candy. If that causes you pain, you are in the wrong fandom. GG and DD aren't here to give us candy. They aren't here to prove anything. Nor should we be. They don't owe us anything. Certainly not 'proof of life' in their relationship.

If you read that article and didn't get that message, then you missed the entire point of the article. GG was saying to everyone, "I'm not just what people think they see, I'm not just what people expect or what they want me to be, underneath I'm a real human being."

Turtles who remember that, and who are able to love GG and DD as individuals, will be longer-lived and happier.

GG and DD's relationship is for and about them. It exists for each other, not for us. I've no doubt they appreciate the love and support turtles give them, but it's not their job to feed us. It's not their job to be trained ponies prancing around for our amusement. They don't owe us anything. Certainly not any candy about their relationship.

More on fan expectations and black-and-white thinking here.

[lindszeppelin]

Firstly, I admire how you're always able to maintain a balanced perspective on these two, because it isn't the easiest lol.... As an Austin fan I wish the best for him etc. but of late, he looks incredibly miserable and uncomfortable in these types of "candid" pics. Shippers will reference that time in Esquire, I think, where he said he's "happy." These two couldn't be any more different, one is obsessed with attention (calling Backgrid any chance they get) while the other is more introverted. That L&S article didn't come out of nowhere... hope he's ok...

Oh thanks! It's very obvious what's going on here. It's not rocket science. These are two people that are miserable together, and they're riding the PRship train until it's the right time to dip. I hate that he has to be miserable at all. But seemingly this is the way the situation has to play out until the public ending.

[literaticat]

Hi, Jenn. I know you don’t rep adult, but I have an adult MS that’s really personal to me… and also triggering. I can’t imagine doing promo for it. Doing interviews and everything… I don’t know how I could. Do I have to? How do I even talk about it?

Q2: Do you think adult books require less personal interviewing and publicity as opposed to commercial or even most kidlit? I feel like it would be way harder to interview and do pub for like My Dark Vanessa or Beartown than a really fun MG about witches.

There are two questions about... ??? adult book publicity ???... which like, idk, I don't rep adult books????

But OK. For Q:1, yes, you probably DO have to promote your own book. But there are different ways to promote books, it's not like it has to be a non-stop series of invasive interviews.

I'd suggest you think about different angles -- ways to talk about your book. What is important to you here? What do you hope readers learn or understand, what's the takeaway you want to leave with readers?

It's OK to have boundaries around things you really don't want to talk about -- so explore the things you ARE willing to talk about. Like how you got into the headspace to write such a book. Like what you hope that other people affected by this kind of experience might do to heal. Like what it is like to write _____ {an unreliable narrator, or an abuser, or whatever your "thing" is!}

Your publisher can help you figure out things to do when the time comes -- for example, maybe there is ONE interview with a particularly good publication that would have a lot of reach. Or perhaps you don't want to do any interviews about the topic itself but you have other topics. Or maybe you would rather pitch ARTICLES or ESSAYS to publications about topics related to the book (that also promote the book) rather than do interviews. Heck, maybe there's an essay in this very question -- "How Do You Promote a Book When You Can't Talk About the Book? -- an essay by Jane Q Writer for Esquire in which the author explores the messy business of book promotion in the TikTok Era" or something.

Q2: Caveat that I have barely heard of those books and certainly haven't read them. I DO know that, sadly, most large mainstream publications don't give a rat's patootie about kid's books and certainly wouldn't deign to interview an author who wrote a fun MG witch book -- so while an interview for a fun MG witch book would almost certainly be "easier" in the sense of "it's more fun to talk about witches and kids books than it is to talk about abuse or whatever" -- that interview would probably have far less reach, since most adults don't read or care about MG books, so most large non-children's outlets don't bother covering them at all.

I did a quick google of your examples, though, and there are loads of interviews and articles about and by both those adult authors -- so, I guess they figured it out!

(And for the Q1 person, you might actually give "MY DARK VANESSA interviews" a goog yourself -- the first thing I found was the authors note in which the author gives a message to readers, and there are several interviews basically about how the author has these certain boundaries, but that explore things she IS open to talking about. The book is about a young woman who is in a... complicated relationship with an older teacher -- the author says that the book was inspired by some things she went through, but doesn't get into details about her own personal experiences -- but DOES talk about how she wrote the book, how her thinking about the topic changed as she got older, etc. So looking at that -- and other "difficult" books and how the authors talk about them -- might be good for you to look at as you think about how to talk about YOUR difficult book!)

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

“do you have the link to the interview??”

I’m very certain it was the Esquire Singapore interview which isn’t coming up when I search for it which is annoying. I remember reading it online when it came out

Did some sleuthing to try to find the esquire article but when you click on the link it says the page no longer exists :/ hopefully it’s archived somewhere, it’s a good interview

-

thanks so much anon. i realized that recently i had saved the direct link to the esquire interview while trying to collect articles about evan to share. luckily the wayback machine archived it. here is the quote about lindsay lohan :)

[austinslounge]

Hi can I ask by saying trouble in paradise what does that mean?

I mean what are the rumors that you have heard?

"Trouble in paradise" is just a figure of speech. It basically means that a relationship is "on the rocks", or is starting to have (or has been having) issues.

None of us know of course what's going on in their relationship 100% because we're not in it, but there have been some writings on the wall for a while now that things aren't as great as some shippers might think.

What signs you may ask? You might want to pull up a chair lol 😂

The fact that they rarely look happy or even connected as friends when we see them papped together (unless -- they're on the red carpet of course 😏)

The articles (especially from L&S) that have been coming out this year which have been nothing but negative on both sides from "sources" on each side of their teams.

Do we really need to bring up Austin in Paris during the YSL event last year? 👀 The man looked single, and Kaia was in the same city as him rofl 🤣

Their recent NYC pap stroll pics where they're both looking over it (enough said)

Then, the weird People.com article that conveniently came out right after that talking about how "happy" and "in love" they are. 🙄 I'm sorry, but truly happy couples don't need articles coming out about how "happy" they are after they are papped together looking humdrum lol 😅

The weird recent DeuxMoi "sighting" of Austin in the Cayman Islands (which was probably sent in by a nervous Kaustin fan) when we all know that Austin has been busy on a press tour for "The Bikeriders", and meanwhile, Kaia has been on the beach in the Cayman Islands with Camila Morrone grabbing her butt. 😏

Perhaps the weirdest thing of all is Austin's recent like on an Instagram post that was basically this dude saying that "when the devil can't get to you, he sends you a woman with two A's in her name", that ends in "uh". 👀 🥴 Some fans/shippers assumed he may have been thinking about Vanessa when he liked that reel. But let's think about this for a second - You're trying to tell me that Austin is still thinking about his MARRIED, about-to-pop and have a baby with another man ex-girlfriend, who he has always had nothing but GOOD things to say about (even after their breakup), who he mentioned and talked about (unprompted mind you) during the "Elvis" press tour and called a "friend", and who he recently said in Esquire that he still has "love" and "care" for? 🤨 Get real lol 😆 Mayyybe some are right and he was thinking about Vanessa. But to me, that would STILL be a red flag and a slight against Kaia because imo if you're a guy who's been in a relationship with your current gf of two years, and you're still THAT triggered by your ex that you have to like posts like that thinking about her - then he's obviously not over her. I personally think that reel he liked was him thinking about his current gf and situation lol, but to each his/her own. 😊

Either way you slice it, their relationship seems like one to not be taken seriously, because no woman or man in a serious and genuine relationship behaves this way imo.

But we can all agree to disagree of course.😊 These are just my own personal opinions and observations. I've probably missed some other signs, but those are the ones that came to my mind right off the top of my head.

[firsttarotreader]

Hey, I’ve been a frequent visitor on your blog for a while, I love it! I love reading your tarot readings. I know you’ve talked about a lot of them coming out to be true. You don’t happen to have like a list or something of them do you? I’d love to read through them!

Hello, thank you for the love!! 🫶🏼💜🍇 I don’t have a list, but I have a few posts with compilations of readings that were proven right by things Pedro said himself:

The bonus:

This one:

Another interview:

One more bit:

And yet another interview:

One more:

Other bits:

Check the tag #tarot reading, there are more there! These are just some of them! Have fun! ☺️😴

[jaerontaemo]

230319 — Jaehyun bbl update

Is everyone having a good weekend It's been a week already Time really flies Right, weekends in particular goes by faster, right? Weekend (t/n: "주말" jumal) Jamal (t/n: "자말" jaehyuns indo name) 🙃

You can feel how time flies when you're having fun or working hard.

If you think about it that way, we spent the past one week well, too. You did well You've worked hard I just came back from doing a stormy instagram update.

Has everyone seen the Esquire interview? I liked it and thought it was a good opportunity to honestly talk about my current interests and (my) usual thoughts about y/n. That's right, please give lots of love to April's issue when it comes out.

I'm sure everyone already knows from the departure articles. So I'll be spending some time with dojungs now. Have a good time everyone, I’ll come again.

[darlingjmiller]

the Most Important photo to come out of the Esquire article

[skippyv20]

Tea

. I would also bet they're reviewing the promo budget right now with the reception the Netflix mockumentary is getting.

Plus Markus Dohle, the head of Penguin Random House, Harry's publisher, quit several days ago, just a few weeks after PRH's hugely expensive acquisition deal fell apart. He had overseen the attempted purchase of Simon & Schuster for $2.175 billion, which the Justice Department successfully sued to stop on antitrust grounds. The ruling cost Penguin Random House and its parent company Bertelsmann more than $200 million. Especially early on in the pandemic, big publishers like Penguin Random House had a big jump in book sales that led to record-breaking profits. Even last year, publishers did VERY well -- Penguin sold 700 million copies of its books and reported record revenues in 2021. So not a coincidence that they announced Harry's memoir and book deal in July 2021, when everything was looking very sunny for publishing (which has been an industry in turmoil for a long time). But things have changed a lot in the last year -- book sales have softened, and publishers are dealing with inflation and supply chain issues, like paper. I saw in a NYT article about Dohle's resignation that adult nonfiction (Harry's category) has been "relatively weak". Two of Penguin's recent books, from bestselling authors Michelle Obama and Marie Kondo, were expected to be huge holiday bestsellers, are doing well but not living up to their expectations. And at this point, "not living up to expectations" is H&M's brand. How much of a promo budget will there be for Harry's book after the Netflix mockumentary? How much of an appetite will there be among book buyers for version 6,723 of Harry and MM's whingeathon? I hope Archewell still has money and warehouse storage space, because they're going to have to buy a ton of Harry's books lol. Also, this new article, "The Murky Path To Becoming a New York Times Best Seller", is a very good read and helpful to understand how Harry's book will magically become a NYT bestseller : )

The Murky Path To Becoming a 'New York Times' Best Seller

Publishing insiders tell Esquire why they find "the list" so frustrating—turns out, it's a data project full of contradictions.

www.esquire.com

100 million deal for Netflix. 100 million deal for writing books. According to the sugar fanatics and some media, you are looking at 300 million . Funny addition, huh. Really, when it comes to these deals, it is not as if Netflix, Spotify, PenguinRwnfom House wrote out blank checks. Yesyesyes,Sussex did receive BIG MONEY MILLIONS,TENS OF MILLIONS however contracts have clauses. Total deal is x amount, but only if, when and if x brings in the signed for ratings, number of books sold,etc, Megan got some big named women to sit for her podcasts. Ratings were ok to good to soso. People who follow Sussex only want the good, juicy gossips. People who do not like them only want the gossip. Media only wants the gossip. This Netflix first part was a good teaser. Next part has to bring on lies, more lies, good gossip. Harry’s book has to repeat, reheat it from his words and add

Great! Thank you❤️

[nancydrewwouldnever]

That 2020 Esquire interview, I wonder how Chris reacted to it after it was published. Throughout the interview he so desperately tried to avoid being shown as he was finally written down in the article, even though I 100% agree with the interviewer.

I find it interesting to think about that that was the last big cover interview he has done, in spite of having two huge movies coming out one month apart in 2022. Did the Esquire interview results turn him off them for good, or did his team decide not to book them again after that? Obviously, we'll never have an answer for it, but it is interesting to ponder.

[justablogger234]

ending a certain debate

So, earlier during the weekend my dear friend and fellow mileven supporter @mike-haters-dni were talking about el and her lab background. I eventually led myself down into the rabbit hole of confusion (luckily God got me out of it) and then my friend proceeded to get some answers from an interview from the duffers.

So this article talked about how the show was originally gonna be an anthology series but then the big bosses decided that people were gonna fall in love with the characters so they scrapped that idea. Then the next day i saw a ridiculous post that was ragging on el and I obviously responded to that ridiculous post and called them a moron 😊 . I then further proceeded to block them because if you hate el then i see no reason to look at your stuff.

Anyway, what got me so mad about that post besides the obvious was how they were describing el, saying we still don't know what she likes or dislikes or etc, all she does is put her hands up and screams. They also brought up will and how when the show stopped focusing on him and proceeded to focus on her it kinda went downhill. And wow that type of idiocy just astounds me. I personally think the person who made this post is an idiot. I also told them that she is the main character and some other moron told me she isn't.

So, to put an end to this ridiculous debate about el not being the main character when she obviously is, i grant you guys this wonderful piece of evidence.

Oh you guys don't wanna read this whole article don't worry i got you guys covered.

“Eleven was going to sacrifice herself to save the day,” Ross Duffer reveals in the book, according to ​Esquire. “That was always the end game

“But once we realized that the show was potentially going to go on longer than one season, we needed to leave it more up in the air, because deep down we knew the show just wouldn’t really work without Eleven," Duffer continues. "And at that point, we knew how special Millie was. If there was going to be more Stranger Things, Eleven had to come back

There you guys have it. The show can't work without el, there literally is no stranger things without her. Bottom line is if you like the show you have to accept the fact that she is the main character, SHE IS THE SHOW. It's as simple as that. Now this whole main character debate should be over.

P.S. will was only a plot device in season 1 and 2 and barely had that many scenes in season 1. El has been the main since forever, she's literally got all of this tragic but necessary backstory that feeds the whole show. I like to think that she was the secret main character of season 1 and we just didn't know it yet.

sorry for the long post I just wanted to make my point clear without making it hard to read. There will also be a follow up post to this as well

[art-of-manliness]

Odds & Ends: June 28, 2024

The Federalist Papers. With Independence Day in the U.S. being next week, I thought it would be a good time to revisit some civically-minded founding documents. So I picked up a cheap copy of The Federalist Papers and gave it a read. The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay between 1787 and 1788 to support the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The Federalist Papers argue for a strong central government to replace the weaker Articles of Confederation, emphasizing the need for a unified nation capable of managing defense, trade, and other national interests. My favorite parts of the essays were when the authors delved into group psychology and how to best deal with “factions.” They concluded that you can’t stop factions, but you can at least mitigate the potential damage they can cause. The Federalist Papers is surprisingly readable despite the dense political philosophy and sometimes archaic 18th-century language. If you’re an American, pick up a copy and read it this week. It will give you a better understanding of the Constitution.  Hitch Hair Clay. One of the issues I’ve run into with growing my hair out long is that it can get really poofy and frizzy. I’ve used a few drugstore products with some success, but none of them hold a candle to Hitch Pomade. Hitch was developed by barber Thad Forrester. If you’ve been following AoM for a while, you know Thad from way back when I did some YouTube videos with him on how to talk to your barber. I’ve been one of Thad’s beta testers for Hitch for the past few years, and he’s finally released it to the public. What I love about Hitch is that it gives my hair some hold, while still maintaining its laid-back flow. And because it adds a bit of moisture, Hitch also reduces the frizz. My favorite is the All Day Clay. Pick yourself up a jar.  The Fall Guy. Our family recently watched The Fall Guy and enjoyed it. Ryan Gosling plays a stuntman who has to track down the movie star he stunt doubles for who’s gone missing. The whole plot of the movie basically exists as a premise for setting up awesome stunts. The film is funny and action-packed, and the on-screen chemistry between Gosling and Emily Blunt is great. There’s no heady message with this movie. It’s just fun. It feels like a throwback to the popcorn-y summer action movies of the 80s and 90s. We need more of that.  No evidence sperm counts are dropping, researchers find. In the past decade or so, there’s been a lot of hand-wringing and alarmism about declining sperm counts among Western men. Books have been written about how it will doom the human race. What’s funny is that I’ve come across articles in issues of Esquire from the 1970s saying the same thing, along with predictions that by the 2000s we’d be living in Children of Men. Well, a new research paper challenges the widely held belief that sperm counts in men are declining globally. Analyzing data from 6,758 men who applied to be sperm donors between 2017 and 2022, the researchers found no significant change in sperm concentration over this period. However, they did observe a decline in motile (swimming) sperm from 2019 onwards, possibly linked to lifestyle changes during COVID-19 lockdowns.  Quote of the Week Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it. —John Quincy Adams Help support independent publishing. Make a donation to The Art of Manliness! Thanks for the support! http://dlvr.it/T8w5Zc