#which had an interesting impact on Louis' image

[pascalcampion]

Jacque Tardi In the France I grew up in, Art was everywhere. I was interested in Graphic novels so I looked at everything I could. Not always understanding what I was looking at. Not always realizing the impact it had on me. Some of the books  I liked a lot have left very little mark on me.

Other books made a huge impact on me but it is only as an adult that I realized how much.

The work of Jacque Tardi is this second kind.

I would see his take on Nestor Burma in the pages of “A Suivre” and never read them.

It was gray. Dark, there was an inherent sadness seeping through the pages. Something about a world where people got the short end of the stick and knew about it

Tardi captured an essence of what French Life was like, away from the glamour of the Rivera or the lights of the Champs Elyse. This was NOT Louis De Funes.

It was all about small streets, rainy weather, cheap motels, the other side of the tracks. Literally!

The number of images depicting industrial warehouse by train tracks,  around the Paris area are innumerable in my mind’s eye.

I never EVER understood the stories. I don’t think my 12 year old brain was experienced enough to relate to the seemingly depressed mood permeating this world, and why people did what they did because they always seemed sad in the end

 No matter what the outcome was.

BUT

The artwork!!!  It was palpable. The smell of rain, the feeling of long, cold winter Sunday afternoons in a city. The mood of the nights, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes( which every French kid knew since it was EVERYWHERE , the smell of hard wood floor and worn out leather. The scope of the relationships. So human you could see it on the page.

The drawings were simple, clear. They were deliberate. 

I didn’t find them pretty, but it was clear they were MEANT to be this way.  They WROTE the feelings.

I collected everything I could find of his and barely read any. I would make my own trips in his world. It was that powerful.

Much later, Tardi started doing books on World War 1. Memories of his father who had served. 

The French perspective paralleled with the German perspective. Just like his Burma days, there was nothing pretty about it. It was gruesome, cold, and it felt real.

The people spoke the way people speak in the street. They looked like real people, they drank, lived and die without pizzaz. 

I find his later work to be some of his stronger works. 

His art is visual writing. 

It is not for everyone, I understand this. It is probably an acquired taste I didn’t ask for, but I love seeing his work and try to read/watch everything he comes out with. #Jacque Tardi

[louisisalarrie]

Ik they’ve been doing it their whole lives but it amazes me how well harry can lie. Like even when he said on stage ‘it’s about the female orgasm’ about WMS and was giggling n shit seems so genuine but obv it’s not

bro Harry has skated around denying larry for since larry existed. his “denials” have been very “uhhhh ummmm i…” and never flat out denying it. He’s a terrible liar and I know with the whole sweet creature interview like “oh I don’t wanna tell people they’re wrong but I’d lean towards no” is him trying to be neutral because he is really bad at denials and lying but also understands that a big part of his fanbase is Larries.

However… a bigger part of louis’ fanbase is Larries. But louis’ been doing these shitty half assed denials for years. They had Harry do like a few on his own, one in which he didn’t even really say anything and Liam jumped in. He’s an awful liar and always has been because he’s too giggly and shy amd yeah��� louis has copped it and he’s used to it, but I understand what you’re saying. And louis 100% copped it because he’s older, and has that awful relationship weird chats with SC, and Harry is his baby and can’t lie for shit.

BUT neither of them have ever said “no, im not dating the other person”, they dance around that. You can put it down to marketing and being elusive enough to not say a blanket no to keep us on board, but if they truly weren’t dating, they would t have addressed it.

Louis’ image and bbg and everything… it leaves him more room to “deny”. Whereas Harry is in a glass closet, and it’s in his best interest to skate around it so his sexuality can still be vague and a bit more open. If louis was to be as vague as Harry; it would be a massive impact on his image.

Larry has always been the biggest ship. BUT ziam particularly was huuuuuge also, the second biggest ship in the fandom at a point, and they never addressed it. Ya know? It’s such an interesting comparison!

Sorry this went off topic (maybe?? Idk) I’ve had a bunch of drinks with the crew tonight so that’s not helpful BUT im back from tour tomorrow so I’ll be more helpful I can imagine hahahahaha but I hope this comes across clear enough. Look up Harry denials on YouTube, you only come across larry denial compilations because Harry’s barely done it, and it’s always so fucking weird.

[gawaincomic]

I was wondering and you seemed like a likely candidate to know, do you know when red-headed Gawain first became a thing? It seems to have become the standard for his character, but I've never come across a description in the original sources that mentioned his coloring whatsoever. Did this start with T.H. White's depiction? Or *is* there an earlier description in a source I haven't read yet? (I'd also be curious if there are any og sources which give him a different hair color entirely!)

@luanna801 Thank you for the question! As you have guessed, this is something that really interests me, and I have looked into it in the past.

To be sure, I haven't read *all* the sources (I'm still reading) and some of my reading happened ages ago, so - maybe someone can correct me on this. But here is what I have found:

I can't recall a single medieval source that mentions Gawain's hair colour. Not one. I assume that the colour of a knight's hair was of no interest to medieval authors and readers, as long as he had a 'noble countenance'. This fact is striking to me because today, we often like to describe characters' appearances in great detail, but - nope, I personally haven't found any descriptions of his appearance except in the most general terms. (His clothes, yes!)

As far as I have been able to ascertain, red-haired Gawains are indeed descendants of T. H. White's Gawaine. I'm not sure I'd call the red hair 'standard', really, because I've found blond and brown and black-haired Gawains in post-White books, but it's clear that White has had a very powerful influence. Then again, his Gawaine is a striking character. It's also White who made Gawain Scottish and Gaelic. Medieval sources don't touch upon that at all (indeed, some say Lot is the king of Norway, so that would make Gawain Norwegian, but whether he's British or Norwegian, none of it seems to have any real impact on his character). Also, I've noticed that when people write a red-haired Gawain, they often give him character traits that also come from White.

For me personally, red-haired Gawain was a no-brainer because I really only picked up on him as a character in The Once and Future King as a twelve-year-old, and next I read Rosemary Sutcliff and Anthony Mockler, both of whom write Gawains who are clearly influenced by White. So that's the image that got fixed in my mind. But clearly, there are also a number of post-White Gawains around who are not particularly White-inspired.

Off the top of my head: Phyllis Ann Karr's Gawain in The Idylls of the Queen is blond, and Gillian Bradshaw's Gwalchmei in the Hawk of May trilogy is dark. Bernard Cornwell's little Gawain is blond too. In Het Zwevende Schaakbord, a 1918 Dutch novel by Louis Couperus, Gawain / Walewein has brown hair and brown eyes (OK, this is clearly pre-White but I'm putting it out here anyway). I've also found blond and brown-haired Gawains (and, indeed, a Black Gawain) in comics - and of course, there isn't a single red-haired Gawain on screen, a fact I deeply deplore 😅.

[hekateinhell]

It's always interesting to me when I see the famous Armand/Lestat BC quote floating around because I feel like a lot of the context gets lost in the sauce (it is such an impactful passage, and I absolutely love it for several reasons).

We all know this line Armand delivers while Lestat, who according to himself doesn't bow down to God or the Devil, is on his knees, looking up at him:

“I have loved you more than any being in all the world whom I’ve ever loved. I have loved you more than Louis. I have loved you more even than Marius. And you have never given me your love.”

Which is not entirely breaking news, like at all. But it's what Armand says afterwards, as he's concluding his tirade, that holds much more weight to me:

“Yes, even now, I love you, as they all love you, your minions seeking just a smile or a nod or a quick touch of your hand. I love you like all those throughout this palace who are dreaming of drinking just a drop of your blood.”

For all intents and purposes, he's basically telling Lestat, "There is nothing special about my love for you anymore. In allowing what you have allowed to happen here, you have successfully destroyed the love I had for you that set you apart from everyone else."

Whether or not this is actually true, I don't think it's a thought Lestat's ever had to contend with, especially coming from Armand who has been shamelessly apparent with his affections for centuries. Lestat is a pursuer, he loves the chase, and he easily takes many of his closest loved ones for granted - that they will be there when he wants them.

So it really says a lot that in the same scene where Lestat has just recovered Louis, Gabrielle, and Marius (who have been presumed dead up to this point), he also shares this:

The only thought in my mind, the only image, the only idea, was of Armand, and how Armand would feel when he too could hold Marius like this and know that Marius lived, that Marius had been restored, that all of them were safe and secure, and using my strongest power I sent the word to him. I sent the news. And I sent my love to Armand with it.

tl;dr: I just think they're neat!

[monstersinthecosmos]

May I ask you at what point it's clear Anne wrote/decided that Armand was physically a teenager? He doesn't seem to be written specifically as one during IWTV (especially) or even QOTD -- possibly why he's portrayed as a grown man in the early comic books and in the 1994 film?

Okay hahah full disclosure I’m writing this at work instead of working and I don’t have books with me to pull quotes so use your imagination or if anyone wants to jump in with some quotes please feel free!

So in IWTV he’s just described as a young man, and Louis doesn’t go crazy telling us too much about what he looks like. I have a few thoughts about this, and about how it influenced the movie and other incarnations of Armand:

Louis has spent most of his vampire life with a grown woman who looks like a 5 year old, so BIG FUCKIN DEAL LOL, wow ur 17? Get in line.

The movie specifically made him older & more spooky old world looking for the visual contrast, also to sidestep Louis’s rebound love interests both being children/young.

I don’t think we should get too nitpicky about the comic books like let’s, just. Lmao. Let’s leave that one.

By the time he shows up in TVL is when he goes from being described as “young man” to “young boy”.

I lied I do have this one quote:

This was a boy, as I had said, and he had a head of long curly hair, and he walked very straight and very simply through the silvery light and into the church. He hesitated for a moment. And by the tilt of the head, it seemed he was looking up. And then he came on through the nave and towards us, his feet making not the faintest sound on the stones. He moved into the glow of the candles on the side altar. His clothes were black velvet, once beautiful, and now eaten away by time, and crusted with dirt. But his face was shining white, and perfect, the countenance of a god it seemed, a Cupid out of Caravaggio, seductive yet ethereal, with auburn hair and dark brown eyes.

So there’s like, 12 years or whatever that she took between books and that gives her a lot of time to let her mental image and idea of the character to evolve, but also just her writing style is so different. I remember Anne saying that she also had Stella from The Tales of Hoffmann in mind when she wrote Armand, so he evolved from “ageless & androgynous” to “gleaming manikin of a young boy” !

For a visual reference, this is Moira Shearer as Stella, which Anne said was Armand in her mind:

And this is the painting Lestat mentioned:

But I think we are all aware of the tonal shift phenomenon between IWTV & TVL where IWTV is this like, heavy melancholy Gothic tome and then Lestat just shows up and fucking wrecks the place.  I don’t recall ever hearing her talk about this aspect of Armand and I don’t know if she had it in her mind the whole time, even if Louis didn’t take the time to describe it in detail the way Lestat does. I’d love to know how much of this was in her mind the whole time and if anyone has clues please let us know!!!!!!!

TLDR to answer your question, it’s ambiguous in IWTV and obvious in TVL.

HOWEVER.

I have this crack theory lmfao. !!!!!!!!!! About how Prince Alexi in The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty is also an auburn haired teenager, and how it was written in between the two VC books.

I mean like. Anne can say anyone has auburn hair but it’s just such a staple for Armand 2 ICONIC so how are you NOT gonna wonder about it when she’s writing BDSM porn? Idk.

There’s really no evidence for this except me with my Charlie Day board but sometimes I wonder if that break between books influenced her idea of him at all, and what impact it had on her prose for when she returned to Lestat, and I always wonder if they’re connected at all. IT JUST SEEMS SUSPICIOUS TO ME.

Like I mean. I think, there’s lots of teenagers in her books, so maybe this isn’t really much of a coincidence. But. I must wonder!

[alarrytale]

I agree that homophobes already dislike Harry so if Harry was to CO nothing would change there. Republicans and UK conservatives despise him. A while ago on twitter they were trying to get him cancelled for being a gr**mer, which they do with all gay men, and coming up with all kinds of conspiracy theories like him being a pawn to brainwash men into becoming more feminine. I think they turned on him when he went to the Met Gala and looked 'too feminine', and even more so with the Vogue photoshoot. I do worry that him CO will put his life even more in danger, as a public figure, and that he and his fans will be the target of homophobic attacks from the far right. Especially if he makes a huge impact. As they see him as 'brainwashing' others. That really scares me. I don't know how he can get around that other than increasing security and being really careful where he goes on tour. I agree that Harry's target audience is ready for him to CO. Like you said, he is a trendsetter. That's why people love him. He's always been ahead of everyone else but now he risks falling behind. If he continues stunting he's going to hit a wall. He'll either have to CO because the queerbaiting accusations will get too loud or go deeper into the closet. If he goes deeper into the closet I think that'll be more damaging to his career. People will see him as just another 'straight' male artist. Like you said, he's losing a lot of his older fans because of his stunting and his image. The superficial fans will eventually move on. I think HSHQ/Columbia greatly overestimate how damaging a CO will be. I don't think his fans are homophobic. They fantasize about him with women because they're led to believe that he is interested in women. If he was to CO then sure some fans will continue with their fantasizing but most of his fans will adapt. Bradrry was really popular on TikTok. It shows that there is potential there. He needs a complete image change to keep people interested.

Hi,

So, first of all it's important to remember that in regards to the far right, even though their voices are loud and sometimes seems overpowering, they are in the minority. Most of them talk a good game, but they are keyboard warriors, and they will never hang out in MSG, oxford street or in that little italian village where harry seems to spend his time. Outside of that Harry's got bodyguards with him. So the chances of a homophobic physical attack happening to him is slim. Okay? So i don't think you need to worry about that happening. Harry is also very good at responding to things like that. For example his speech to westbor**gh baptist church and his 'bring back manly men' ig post. So he's got that handled. I don't think any of this is what's stopping him from coming out. We as fans are also good at handling people like this. We've been trained to wrangle antis since we were baby larries. So i think we'll be fine.

To your second part. I agree that the fandom is ready for him to come out. But as i've said before, we don’t know what's currently holding him up. It might be louis (and bg), if they plan to come out together. I think harry being in a real and committed, long term relationship would please mostly everyone. We've had our time to project upon him. You can still do it, just understand that he also must be allowed to just live his life and be happy. He's almost 30 years old.

I think it will be such a weight off his shoulder when he does come out, that we might see a whole new man. In a good way. He'd be so much happier, free and joyful and i think all that would be infectious. Fandom would be ecstatic seeing him like that. I don't think he needs a complete image change, but i do think eventually he has to pick a side. He also needs to connect with fandom again, and i think coming out would fix much of that. If he gets closeted further i think it would harm him, his creativity, fandom and his career. People will move on from him i fear. So i hope they don't go there.

[robins-den]

hi hellow i've been planning this post for two months anniversary today so

HERE ARE MY OPINIONS ON THE RELEASED CHARACTERS OF ENGAGE but i might not do all of them and this is only their blurb and physical appearance unless i know more ty

Something I’ve noticed while doing this is the sheer amount of siblings there are?? Is there going to be a plot reason (I hope not honestly) or did a writer go ‘wait, it was pretty rare for royals to only have one kid because of the high chances of childhood death and stuff’ or did a twincest writer win the kink lottery or ? Why are there so many siblings… It makes me wonder if the Alear you don’t pick is going to be evil or something.

Why are there so many mount users in the desert? Can horses traverse sand now?? I always hated that mechanic but it was because it made you work around it. Except that you never had enough fliers or mages to actually work around it. Why are there wolves in the desert?

everything taken from serenes forest because its convenient godbless

image and text formatting is to make it not godawful on mobile

CHARACTERS IN THIS: Firene / Firenese characters, the three dragon guardians + Anna

Céline (VA: Akari Kitō) is the first princess of the Firenese Kingdom and Alfred’s younger sister. She’s a kind and innocent philanthropist who always strives to solve things peacefully. However, she won’t hesitate to fight for peace if necessary.

I hate the weird lace stuff and the fact that she just ... does not have a shirt. She looks too young for that to be interesting instead of 'girl what the fuck' and the sheer lace texture would be a genuine nightmare. she's another 'kind and innocent younger sister princess' which like, i feel like we've had at least one in every game, but whatever, the people like what they like.

Alfred (VA: Ryōhei Kimura) is the first prince of the Firenese Kingdom, a brisk young man who battles alongside the Divine Dragon. He’s a kind, disciplined and flower-loving pursuer of happiness.

I like that he has lace as well, it ties him and his sister together. I like his little leafy crown and that he has a love of flowers strong enough to be mentioned in his mini blurb. I don’t like that he’s Dimitri’s little brother, basically. Having one of the first companions look so similar to a protagonist from the last mainline game feels annoying. Also, the yellow white clothes, pale skin, blond hair, and black lines of lace make him look like a bee to me.

Chloé (VA: Saori Hayami) is a palace knight from the Kingdom of Firene. She’s easy-going and adores her liege, Princess Céline. Loves fairy tales and pretty scenery and is always seeking a picturesque combination of the two.

i dont like the boobed breastily down the stairs vibe of her armor (which really isn't armor) but if she's one of the few like it then i can accept it as a character trait. i don't like the armor period, though, it has a lackluster feel to it. I'm really hoping for an s rank between her and Celine. Chloe likes Fairy Tail Aesthetic because she likes Celine, who has a Fairy Tail Aesthetic. This is my most beloved and sapphic headcanon.

Etie (VA: Tomomi Mineuchi) is a palace knight from the Kingdom of Firene. She’s a noble lady who exudes elegance. Has a positive and active personality; devotes all her time to body-building

I like her facial expression, and I think her hair is cute without being overbearing. I like that she's stated to be noble and extremely elegant while also doing bodybuilding. I like how it's a 'yes and,', not an 'even though'. I don’t like that what I thought was a dress is a crop top, though. I think it’s better as a dress.

Louis (VA: Haruki Ishiya) is a palace knight from the Kingdom of Firene. He’s a gentle servant wearing massive armour. He always pays attention to how his friends are faring and seems happy whenever he sees them at peace.

Hello Kellam with curly hair. His arms remind me of Ruin Guards from genshin impact, actually. I don’t like armor knights much (i really value mobility and the sheer defense of armor knights has never been necessary for me to beat maps, even in the GBA games), but maybe his personality will convince me to use or reclass him. From what I’ve seen, I doubt it. I like the pointer clicker on his armor.

Boucheron (VA: Toru Sakurai) is a palace knight from the Kingdom of Firene. He’s a polite and kind young man. Born with a good physique and highly tolerant of others.

Logically the green accents on orange shirt is fucking hideous, but they manage to make it work with his armor, which keeps the orange from being extremely loud and the green from looking horrendous. He’s not that striking physically but for some reason I want to sit on his stomach and stare at his face for an hour. Also touch his face ??? I like that his tolerance of others is important enough to be mentioned here; I hope he has supports with people from other nations and when they do something not commonly done in his nation he’s like ‘oh, that’s pretty neat’ or the like. Maybe they did western market research and he’ll be a himbo lol.

Framme (Sayaka Senbongi) is a 33rd generation Dragon Guardian, protecting the Divine Dragon at the Land of Lythos. She’s Cramme’s younger twin sister and more determined and lively compared to her brother.

I like her shirt and gloves. I think they're fun. her hat nd scarf don't feel battlefieldy but y'know what, sure, go styling. Honestly I think she looks really cute with the soft bob cut so I wish she didn’t have that braid of hair(?), but the ribbon braided in makes it interesting. I like lively kid characters as long as they aren’t annoying about it, and twins / siblings can be fun if the writers aren’t annoying about it. The contrast between simple sleeveless shirt+skinny arms, and the huge thick gloves, scarf and hat gives her an energy that I really love. All the colors pair together extremely well.

Cramme (Kōhei Amasaki) is a 33rd generation Dragon Guardian, protecting the Divine Dragon at the Land of Lythos, alongside Vander. He is Framme’s older twin brother and was by Alear’s side when they awoke. A gentle priest who serves–and is also a fan of–Alear.

The fact that he’s outright a fan is…. Odd? I’m not going to say bad but we’ll have to wait and see. I love his braid and that it pairs with his sisters. I think his colors pair together less well than his sisters do, but I’m always a slut for arm cuffs. I like that he’s green, black, and beige to his sister’s white, pink, and beige. It’s a fun way to contrast and compare them. I wish the outfits themselves matched a bit more.

Vander (VA Yōji Ueda) is a 32nd generation “Dragon Guardian”, protectors of the Divine Dragon at the Land of Lythos. Cared for Alear who was asleep for ages and a reliable ally who’s sworn loyalty to Alear. Very serious and strict; the guardians’ mission is at the forefront of his mind.

Our jagen!! I really like his beard and hair. How many families got conscripted into staring at my bedroom? I wonder if the care was anything more intensive than standing guard at the doors of wherever it was and running off bandits and treasure hoarders. I’m curious if they entered the building on a daily basis [ for cleaning and making sure everything is okay, or maybe they live there? ], only on special occasions [ deep cleaning every few months or year or for festivals ] or fuckin never and only patrolled the perimeter. We’ll get the answer I’m sure, but I’m curious regardless. Relatedly, I’m curious if there were any signs of Alear waking up? If they knew it was beginning to happen or if it was completely out of the blue. 30 generations of your family getting paid to do nothing, and now you have to fight a cross continental war for the planet or some shit. 

Anna (VA: Saori Seto) is a merchant-in-training. It seems she’s traveling around each country, in search of treasures that can be sold for a high price.

She’s a lot cuter than her FE3H incarnation, thats for sure. It’s probably the posing but she’s actually super cute. Nice outfit that is visually solid without being overly complex and puff sleeves. I dig it. I’m interested to find out what merchant means as a class. We likely aren’t getting a separate convoy again, but (bold take) I actually found it fun. In training is fun; I wonder if we’ll see the endless amount of Anna’s again. I hope so. I hope she has supports again, and it’ll be great if it’s with people other than Alear. It’s interesting that her job / class is first and her name is below it, unlike all of the other character cards.

[caralara]

Would you share your thoughts about louis take on mental health

hi love, I wanted to take the time to properly respond to this, so apologies for the delay! This was sparked from the Music Week interview in which Louis says following, making the fandom have half a meltdown over what he said, saying he's lying for example:

Louis Tomlinson on mental health and music “In terms of One Direction, it’s often easy to stereotype these big evil managers or big evil label heads who demanded that we did this [or that]. It wasn’t really like that, I will say that everyone did their best by us, and I’m talking specifically about our mental health. However, being an artist is very individual and the pressures that you have day-to-day, no manager or record boss understands that. Until you experience it, you don’t understand it. Sometimes words are powerful, it can be a little throwaway phrase that comes from this suited label boss and you think about that for the next couple of months.”

I said in my tags that I thought this was aligning exactly what I thought Louis is on about, generally, and I was quite pleased with his response.

What he's saying here, is so important, especially in our fandom, in my opinion. It's easy to lock onto one evil mastermind who's supposedly pulling all the strings and easy to blame, but that's rarely how the real world works. The music industry is a part and a result of our society, and almost like a little society, a little cosmos itself. Everyone who works in the music industry was born and socialised in our society, and whenever loads of money and big egos are involved, as it is in the music industry, the ugliest faces of humanity make their appearances.

To me, what Louis is saying, is that from a rational, calm viewpoint that he - I am very sure worked very hard to achieve - found, there's not really one person at fault for making the time during One Direction tough on their mental health. That humans make mistakes, and that he also gives a lot of the people around them the benefit of the doubt that they truly were trying to look out for the boys. Unfortunately, other people don't always know what's the best for you, and that is something Louis also says in this quote, that if you're not in the situation yourself, you just don't understand the full impact of the circumstances. Let's say, the people surrounding them genuinely had their best interest at heart, but the way they were raised and grew up in the industry, to them Louis' best interest meant commercial success and fame, meaning they would try their best to maintain a certain image for them to make sure he would be commercially successful and famous while not completely breaking down. And to them, they would genuinely feel like all their actions were justified and the right decisions, because that is what they felt Louis' best interest was, and be genuinely appalled by anyone accusing them for exploiting Louis.

He also touches on the fact that similar circumstances can have very different effects on different people. Maybe he was coping better than others (like I believe, I think he was coping much better than Harry during 2013/2014, which led him to say yes to babygate to take some of the pressure of the closet off of Harry), and that it is generally a very, very complex matter.

To me, his quote speaks of understanding and kindness towards the people who simply didn't know better, and his wonderful phrase of "it is what it is" (and he's doing all he can to make the best of the situation instead of wasting energy with holding grudges). And don't get me wrong, I also believe that Louis still has a lot of rage and frustration in him towards specific people, because, again, he also is just human and it's not easy to forgive people that fucked your life over, no matter how badly you want to (looking at you "how do you sleep at night when you're just like me" and Simon), and believe it or not - those are both things he can have in him simultaneously, humans are wonderfully paradox and complex like that.

So, yeah. Just reinforcing my image of Louis being an incredibly thoughtful person, deeply interested in human psychology and someone who took the first part of the lockdown to really go into his own mind and search (and find) some of the peace he needed to be able to move forward freely :)

[cosmicjoke]

Wow, Marius sure has a bug up his ass about Akasha falling in love with Lestat, haha.  It’s almost shocking how bitter he is about it. 

I think what maybe makes this heartbreaking isn’t that Marius feels so spurned by Akasha (though it’s understandable why he does.  I mean, he did take care of her and Enkil for 2000 freaking years), but more so how it impacts Marius’ relationship with Lestat.  Lestat so obviously looks up to and respects Marius, so to see just how resentful and angry at Lestat Marius is over something he literally had no control over is sad.  I feel bad for Marius, truly.  The fact he’s survived for as long as he has is kind of a miracle.  But in a lot of ways, it seems, he’s every bit as responsible for his own miseries as Lestat is for his own.  The big difference between them though seems to be that, while Lestat is able to overcome his anger and resentment of others in short order, and forgive others, Marius seems to be hanging on to his, even while acknowledging his own hand in his problems.

What also seems increasingly clear as I read through “Blood and Gold” is that Marius’ own feelings of discontented loneliness and sense of not being able to be a part of the mortal world also impacted Lestat in a negative way.  One almost gets the sense that part of Marius’ resentment of Lestat is born out of the fact that, despite being told by Marius over and over again that as vampires, they can’t ever truly be part of the mortal world, Lestat still makes the attempt, and doesn’t himself ever really give in to despair, at least not for very long.   It’s interesting to think about how Marius’ resentment of that eternal optimism in Lestat mirrors the way that quality in him has been met by almost everyone in his life, because with Marius, we’re meant to think that he and Lestat are mirror images of each other, that they’re the most alike out of all the characters in the VC.  But as Marius keeps saying of himself, he lives this lie over and over.  His optimism or will to live is almost like an act, a lie he tells himself in order to keep on existing, whereas with Lestat, that optimism is very much real, very much a part of who he is.  It isn’t an act at all, or a lie he tells himself.  He really just does have that kind of self-belief and hope.  I feel like a lot of Marius’ anger at Lestat comes out of a jealousy for his ability to pick himself back up and keep going.  Again, thinking about the implications of that on their relationship is sad, because Lestat so obviously admires Marius, and specifically sought him out for guidance, and, essentially, Marius seems to have ended up projecting his own negativity onto Lestat, which as we know, lead Lestat down a very perilous path for a long time, with Louis and Claudia specifically, and with his own fears of never being able to be a part of the world, or give his existence meaning.  Marius certainly projected his own discontent on this front onto Lestat, driving home this dangerous and destructive notion that they, as vampires, lead a meaningless life. 

With all that said, I do find Marius’ story pretty amazing.  I just got to the part where the city of Rome gets sacked, and before that, how he lived through the rise of Constantine and Constantinople becoming the capital of the Empire.  To know Marius lived through all of that is in itself an incredible thought and feat, especially when you consider how many vampires simply perish after a relatively short amount of time.  As given to depression as Marius seems to be at times, that is a trait he shares with Lestat, the ability to endure.  Though, again, I feel like where they differ is in Marius’ holding on to grudges and Lestat’s ability to forgive and forget.  Marius’ disdain of Mael is a pretty good example, lol.  Of course, I can’t entirely blame Marius for hating Mael either, given the history between them, and Mael doesn’t exactly help with his own, embittered attitude and blaming Marius for his own failings. 

[mi4017uvinduratnakara]

MI4017 Uvindu Ratnakara

An Analysis On The Sci-Fi Movie ‘’Arrival” (2016)

Introduction. This is a research analysis dedicated to the blockbuster film ‘’Arrival’’ by Dennis Villeneuve, adapted from the short story, ‘’Story of Your Life’’ (1998) by Ted Chiang. The focus of this research analysis is to understand how the film utilizes complex characters, plots, themes, narration and narrative structure to introduce the audience to a whole different perspective to sci-fi movies. Unlike other sci-movies where it is either action packed or highly technological, the story takes a linear route than from what sci fi usually is other than the action and technology the film clearly wraps around the idea of something unknown deeming to not hunt humanity as the sci fi genre. This has managed to garner the attention of the people who don’t usually watch sci-fi to take interest in the movie. These elements have long been presented in fictional works before, yet the film ‘’Arrival’’ have also seem to impact the film industry.

Talking about the Narrative

Arrival’s narrative takes a different approach than the source text- “Story of Your Life” (1998) by Ted Chaing. “I can’t have them spend a year in a room skyping with some aliens-this is not a film”, Eric Heisserer (Arrival Q&A). Eric had made several changes to the source text before he made the final script. One of the main changes being the fact the heptapods had actually arrived on earth and made the first contact, as he felt this helped to bring in the tension and conflict necessary for the film.

Image 1: shows the first visual contact of the spacecraft.

The Introduction to the unknown, Image 1, this scene serves as the first visual encounter for the audience with the alien spacecraft which showcases the humanity’s first steps into the unknown. The structured narrative builds suspense, curiosity and possible tension (Villeneuve, 2016). From the helicopter scene to scene in image 1, the build-up/preparations , the cautious approach before the reveal of the alien ship creates a tensed sense of anticipation. Right before the scene in Image 1 occurs, the film takes the time to introduce the characters, based on the main cast’s reactions , Dr Louse Banks and Ian Donelly. It helps the audience to understand their personality tropes and roles they play in the film. Through their professional nature and the cautious behavior they take (Heisserer, 2016). It foreshadows what sort of choices Louise will make based on her personality. As the story emphasizes on the themes of unity and communication internationally, the presence of the military personnel and scientists from different backgrounds helps to highlight the effort taken to globally understand the unknown. The premise also talks about the film’s broader themes of the need to cooperatively solve problems in the face of global challenges. This also applies to the real world as we try to unify ourselves against small conflicts in between countries.

Symbolism and Foreshadowing in the clip

As image 1 scene is rich with symbolism, the alien ship’s hovering presence and its monolithic design itself evokes an imagery of something that seems to be ancient and inscrutable. Hinting at the impact that the aliens will have on the human understanding.

Image 2: shows the main cast suiting up to go into the spacecraft.

The preparations and the ascent towards the ship (scene where image 2 is taken from) symbolizes the journey humanity takes towards enlightenment (knowledge) and discovery (Vermette, 2016). Based on what happens later on, the scene’s narrative also foreshadows aspects of Dr. Louis Banks and Ian Donelly’s relationship speculating something more to come. With how the scene inside the helicopter (the introduction) played out, it gave insight that both Dr. Louis and Ian are not exactly on good terms (rather competitive) as they both have different ethics.

Narrative Tension

The Jumped pacing of the scene gives depth to the narrative tension as the slow and methodical approach to the spacecraft mirrors the caution and methodical approach that is very necessary to communicate with the aliens. The pacing alone allows the audience to get to relate to the character’s senses of awe and fear/anxiety (Young, 2016).

By focusing on these narrative structure and elements alone, Arrival effectively builds a sense of anticipation and sets up the film’s exploration of the complex themes. The cautious state and approach to the alien ship did not only heighten the suspense but also lay the groundwork for the profound narrative developments that will follow along.

Talking about Cinematography, VFX and Colour palette.

Image 3: of the cast approaching the spacecraft: shot

The Color Palette.

The film's choices of utilizing muted grays, blues as well as dark greens in this scene (image 3) enchances the somber and mysterious tone of the film, making it more enriching as well appealing with the wide shots. The skies and the foggy environment too contributes to giving life to the otherworldliness in which it gives emphasis to the gravity of the situation (Villeneuve, 2016). Bradford Young utilizes the natural light to create a very realistic atmosphere, the light is subdued from the fog enhances the eerie tone of the scene. The use of soft lighting that contrasts with the dark negative shades creates a silhouette of the alien ship that highlights the foreign nature of the scene.  

The VFX and Cinematography

The alien spacecraft’s design is one of the most noticeable and memorable VFX in this scene, designed by Patrice Vermette, is a massive monolith that hovers above ground with smooth and dark surface. The VFX team at Rodeo FX have seamlessly blended the CGI ship into the live environment and making it appear convincing and real and physically present (Vermette, 2016). With the fog and mist used extensively to enhance the mysterious aura of the alien ship, the effects are sort of a combination to the practical on-set fog and digital enhancements. The mist is not only to obscure parts of the ship but, to create a suspense while it also assists in blending the elements of CGI with the live action footage making the ship feel as if it is natural (Rodeo FX, 2016). Director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Bradford Young uses slow and deliberate camera movement to build up tension. The use of wide shots helps to capture the scale of the ship (referring to image 1), emphasizing the immense, intimidating presence, as the close-ups of the characters’ faces (their reaction) conveys their amusement and apprehension, allowing the audience to relate to the characters (Villeneuve, 2016; Young, 2016). The compositing visuals of the set places the humans smaller compared to the spacecraft (image 3), which also symbolizes the themes of human's insignificant presence in the face of the unknown. the framing of the ships in a symmetrical position adds to the mysteriousness creating a very impactful and unsettling visual.

In conclusion, through these approaches to the narrative, cinematography and VFX is what sets up the film’s use of complex themes. The anticipation when approaching the ship adds the suspense necessary to create a complex film structure that inhabits fear of the unknown.

References:

Chiang, T. (1998). Story of Your Life. New York: Tom Doherty Associates.

Heisserer, E. (2016, November 12). Arrival Q&A. (J. Goldsmith, Interviewer)

Villeneuve, D. (Director). (2016). Arrival [Film]. FilmNation Entertainment, Bear Films.

Vermette, P. (2018, september 4). Arrival Q&A. (V. Videography, Interviewer)

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9a6EF-0O0A&list=TLPQMDQwNjIwMjToik1p3xSEzg&index=1

Young, B. (2018, August 9). The cinematography of Arrival. (C. Optics, Interviewer)

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSbbtSdf500

Rodeo FX. (2016). Visual Effects for Arrival

[qu-film-history-to-1968]

Fantomas Inspired Modern Day Films Through Disguises

By Julia Merolle

     The relevance of serials, crime, and spy films today is still important, especially after watching Fantomas (1913). The reason that these films are so important and relevant is because the tropes that they created when they were first made over a century ago are still used today in contemporary films. For example, in Fantomas, the use of disguise is important because it is used multiple times. This is also the case in contemporary films as it provides the viewer with a plot twist because sometimes we don’t even know the character is in disguise until a certain point.

     One quote that I decided to use, which shows the overall atmosphere at the time that a lot of these serials were popular, is from Britannica, specifically the chapter “The impact of the slump”. A quote from this chapter states, “Even in 1914 the United States had been the world’s leading economic power. By 1918 profits had enabled it to invest more than $9 billion abroad, compared with $2.5 billion before the war. The Allies, meanwhile, had used up much of the capital they had invested in the United States and had accumulated large public debts, many of them to the U.S. Treasury.” (Britannica). This quote is important because it shows that at around the time that these films were popular, the United States was the world’s leading economic power unlike The Allies because they had used a lot of their money towards the United States because of World War I. This shows that all of these films that were produced during the time in the Allied countries had more of a lower budget than those that were produced in the United States. Another quote that I found important from Zones of Anxiety: Movement, Musidora, and the Crime Serials of Louis Feuillade was on page 18 where the author, Vicki Callahan, states that Feuillade inspired cinema through his serials. The quote states, “Feuillade’s crime serials present one example of this alternative model in cinema history. These films suggest that Feuillade should be seen as more than a “transitional” figure in French film in that they (at least within the six serials that will be examined here) represent not simply an amalgam but rather a consistent and distinct visual and narrative style. Both Ben Brewster and David Bordwell see Feuillade’s work as part of a specific tradition in cinema history, mainly European based, built on “staging in depth.” (Callahan 18). This quote is important because it suggests that Feuillade inspired French cinema that came out after his films because his films are so distinct by being visually, narratively, and consistent. Callahan also points out that Feuillade built on depth and that was really important throughout the history of cinema, especially since Fantomas was made so early in the last century.

     When comparing Feuillade’s Fantomas to more contemporary films, I actually have two examples of contemporary films, primarily focusing on the disguise aspect of all of the films. The first image is from Fantomas itself. It shows how disguises are important and introduces them when relating them to crime and spy films, during the beginning of the last century. The first one that I had thought of was from the Sherlock Holmes series directed by Guy Ritchie. The use of disguise in both the first and second film are smart because we don’t even realize that Sherlock Holmes is the one in disguise until after the scene takes place. Ritchie does something interesting by rewinding the scenes and also using slo-mo to show the audience the cleverness of Holmes. The first image is a disguise that Holmes wears in disguise as a doctor. There are over 10 different disguises that he pulls off in both films combined, which is really interesting because again, the audience doesn’t even know they are him. The second example that I decided to use was from the recently released series Secret Invasion. This is a Marvel show which is primarily based on identities and disguises. There are many different examples of disguises since the show consists of shapeshifting aliens, but one that I thought was important to point out was the scene where Nick Fury is going through airport security and has a disguise on. This scene was very important to the show because he finally disguised himself in a scene, matching the aliens who have changed their disguises throughout each episode. I think Fantomas inspired the use of disguises in film, especially when relating to crime and spy thrillers. The images below show the resemblance over a century later.

[nbmsports]

Scientists Have Found a Hot Spot on the Moon’s Far Side

The rocks beneath an ancient volcano on the moon’s far side remain surprisingly warm, scientists have revealed using data from orbiting Chinese spacecraft.They point to a large slab of granite that solidified from magma in the geological plumbing beneath what is known as the Compton-Belkovich Volcanic Complex.“I would say we’re putting the nail in the coffin of this really is a volcanic feature,” said Matthew Siegler, a scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, headquartered in Tucson, Ariz., and who led the research. “But then what’s interesting is, it’s a very Earth-like volcanic feature.”The findings, which appeared last week in the journal Nature, help explain what happened long ago beneath an odd part of the moon. The study also highlights the scientific potential of data gathered by China’s space program, and how researchers in the United States have to circumvent obstacles to use that data.For this study, Dr. Siegler and his colleagues analyzed data from microwave instruments on Chang’e-1, launched in 2007, and Chang’e-2, launched in 2010, two early Chinese spacecraft no longer in operation. Because Congress currently prohibits direct collaboration between NASA and China and the research was financed by a NASA grant, Dr. Siegler could not work with scientists and engineers who collected the data.“That was a limitation, that we couldn’t just call up the engineers that had built the instrument in China and say, ‘Hey, how should we be interpreting this data?’” he said. “It would be really great if we could just have been working on this with the Chinese scientists the whole time. But we’re not allowed to. But, luckily, they made some of their databases public.”He was able to tap into the expertise of a Chinese scientist, Jianqing Feng, who met Dr. Siegler at a conference. Dr. Feng was working on a lunar exploration project at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.“I realized that combining the lunar exploration data from different countries would deepen our understanding of lunar geology and make exciting findings,” Dr. Feng said in an email. “Therefore, I quit my job in China, moved to the United States, and joined Planetary Science Institute.”The Chinese orbiters both had microwave instruments, common on many Earth-orbiting weather satellites but rare on interplanetary spacecraft.The data from Chang’e-1 and Chang’e-2 thus provided a different view of the moon, measuring the flow of heat up to 15 feet below the surface — and proved ideal for investigating the oddity of Compton-Belkovich.Visually, the region looks unremarkable. (It does not even have a name of its own; the hyphenated designation is derived from two adjoining impact craters, Compton and Belkovich.) The region has nonetheless fascinated scientists for a couple of decades.In the late 1990s, David Lawrence, then a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was working on data collected by NASA’s Lunar Prospector mission and noticed a bright spot of gamma-rays shooting from this location on the moon’s far side. The energy of the gamma-rays, the highest energy form of light, corresponded to thorium, a radioactive element.“It was one of these oddball places that just stood out like a sore thumb in terms of the thorium abundance,” said Dr. Lawrence, now a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. “I’m a physicist. I’m not an expert in lunar geology. But even as a physicist, I saw that stand out and said, ‘OK, this is something worth further study.’”The next revelations came after the arrival of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009. Bradley L. Jolliff, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Washington University of St. Louis, led a team that examined that high-resolution images of Compton-Belkovich.What they saw “looked suspiciously like a caldera,” Dr. Jolliff said referring to the remnants of a volcano’s rim. “If you consider these features are billions of years old, they are remarkably well preserved.”A more recent analysis led by Katherine Shirley, now at the University of Oxford in England, estimated the age of the volcano at 3.5 billion years old.Because the lunar soil acts as a good insulator, dampening the temperature variations between day and night, the microwave emissions largely reflect the flow of heat from the moon’s interior. “You only need to go about two meters below the surface to stop seeing the heat from the sun,” Dr. Siegler said.At Compton-Belkovich, the heat flow was as high as 180 milliwatts per square meter, or about 20 times the average for the highlands of the moon’s far side. That measure corresponds to a temperature of minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit about six feet below the surface, or about 90 degrees warmer than elsewhere.“This one stuck out, as it was just glowing hot compared to anywhere else on the moon,” Dr. Siegler said.To produce that much heat and the thorium gamma-rays, Dr. Siegler, Dr. Feng and the other researchers concluded that granite, which contains radioactive elements like thorium, was the most likely source and that there had to be a lot of it.“It seems to nail down more particularly what kind of material is really underneath,” said Dr. Lawrence, who was one of the reviewers of the paper for Nature.“It’s sort of a tip-of-the-iceberg type of thing,” he said of the original gamma-ray emissions. “What you see at Compton-Belkovich is sort of a surface expression of something a lot bigger underneath.”Volcanism is evident elsewhere on the moon. Plains of hardened lava — the mare, or seas, of basalt — cover vast swaths of the surface, mostly on the near side. But Compton-Belkovich is different, resembling certain volcanoes on Earth, like Mount Fuji and Mount St. Helens, that spew more viscous lava.Granite appears to be scarce elsewhere in the solar system. On Earth, granite forms in volcanic regions where oceanic crust is pushed down beneath a continent by plate tectonics, the geological forces that are pushing around pieces of the Earth’s outer crust. Water is also a key ingredient for granite.But the moon is mostly dry and lacks plate tectonics. The moon rocks brought back by NASA astronauts more than 50 years ago contained only a few grains of granite. But the data from the Chinese orbiters suggests a formation of granite more than 30 miles wide below Compton-Belkovich.“Now we need the geologists to figure out how you can produce that kind of feature on the moon without water, without plate tectonics,” Dr. Siegler said.Dr. Jolliff, who was not involved with the research, said the paper was “a very nice new contribution.” He said he hoped NASA or another space agency would send a spacecraft to Compton-Belkovich for seismic and mineralogical measurements.Such a mission could help test ideas about how a volcano formed there in the first place. One hypothesis is that a plume of hot material rose up from the mantle beneath the crust, much as what occurs under the Hawaiian islands.For Dr. Feng, his current visa allowing him to work in the United States is expiring soon. He is applying for a new one, navigating his scientific career amid U.S.-China geopolitical wrangling.“We are starting to study other potential granitic systems on the moon now,” he said. “Also, we will expand our models to explore the icy moons of Jupiter. Therefore, I am trying to stay in the United States as long as possible.” Source link Read the full article

[yessadirichards]

Johnny Depp makes comeback in scandal-hit period drama

PARIS

Johnny Depp's comeback film is full of scandal both on-screen and off, as he tests out his French in the role of King Louis XV.

There were rumors Depp only had a few minutes of screen time in "Jeanne du Barry", which opens the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday and has a nationwide release in France the same day.

But the 59-year-old actor is present for much of the film, even if his dialogue is kept to short phrases that help disguise his American accent.

Depp plays the 18th century monarch, who fell in love with a prostitute to the horror of much of his family and court.

He signed up for the role before the court cases against ex-wife Amber Heard involving bitter accusations of domestic violence that threatened to derail his career.

Maiwenn, the French star who directs and plays the lead role in "Jeanne du Barry", admitted she was worried about the impact of the trials.

"The film was shot last summer and he was coming out of his second trial," Maiwenn, who goes by a single name, told AFP.

"I had a lot worries. I was wondering: 'What will his image become?'" she said.

But Maiwenn said she had no doubts about casting Depp.

"It was so clear (he was right for the role)," she said, though she approached two French actors first.

Depp gives an impressive physical performance -- mostly through amused and imperious facial expressions -- and his short bursts of dialogue suggest a decent level of French for the actor, who was previously married to French star Vanessa Paradis.

Many still see Depp as a toxic figure, despite his victory in the last defamation trial against Heard, but he has already lined up his next film, directing Al Pacino in a biopic of artist Amedeo Modigliani.

Depp's trials are not the only scandal surrounding "Jeanne du Barry", however.

In March, a well-known French journalist, Edwy Plenel of Mediapart, lodged a criminal complaint for assault against Maiwenn, accusing her of approaching him in a restaurant, grabbing him by the hair and spitting in his face.

She refused to discuss the "ongoing case" with AFP, but admitted the assault in an interview on French TV this week, without going into details.

Plenel says it may have been motivated by articles about the rape allegations surrounding Maiwenn's ex-husband and father of one of her children, director Luc Besson ("The Fifth Element").

Maiwenn, now 47, got involved with Besson when she was still under-age and they married when she was 16 and he was 33.

She seemed somewhat irritated just being asked about her motivations for making "Jeanne du Barry".

"It's hard to always justify your desires. It was just like that -- she intrigued me," Maiwenn said, impatiently.

But she added that her first interest in the courtesan came from watching Sofia Coppola's 2006 film "Marie Antoinette".

"I always fantasised about making a period drama one day, but it was the discovery of Jeanne du Barry as played by Asia Argento that completely obsessed me," Maiwenn said.

Her film is a grand costume affair, shot in the Palace of Versailles, and its $20 million budget was part-funded by Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Foundation.

Maiwenn dismissed any ethical concerns about taking cash from the kingdom, which is accused of spending lavishly on culture and sports to distract from its myriad human rights abuses.

"It's proof that mentalities are evolving," she said. "And the 18th century is expensive."

[mayacatherineworld]

The Louis Vuitton trunk show was a sight I wasn’t really expecting to see. I had no real idea as to what the name on the syllabus implied, but I went to the location excited and cold. I suspected that maybe it would be a retail opportunity almost, like a showroom of various vendors. What I actually saw was more like an exhibit of commercial art. To be totally honest, I didn’t really know that the trunk was a symbol of the brand’s heritage, but after putting two and two together I remembered all the times I had seen the monogrammed bags in airports and train stations.

The trunks are an easily identifiable symbol of the brand, largely because they bear its logo ad Infinitum. The show itself, however, was a reimagined take on the visual concepts of the trunks. There were 200 commissioned different artists or collectives that each designed their own trunk. It was a really interesting concept and one thing I did really like about the exhibit was the vast variety of different approaches people took to making them. There was something individual about each of the designs, but I appreciated that they were pulled together in a very collective way. There were ones with screens, ones with paint, ones with all sorts of appendages and deconstructions. My personal favorite was the trunk that had a record player.

The record player trunk was designed by renowned music curator Benji B. It featured 200 of his favorite songs, and I really enjoyed just sitting in the room’s velvet padded walls and hearing the tracks play. It was an excellent collection of music, living up to Benji’s reputation. Outside the LV world, Benji is a tastemaker, DJ, radio host, and sound director. His curated selection has been vital for the development of our collective tastes. He’s also the Sound Director for Louis Vuitton, and respectively he plays a big role in the brand’s personality and image.

Louis Vuitton occupies an interesting position within the realm of fashion as well as that of public perception. It’s been around for 200 years, but still is seen to be quite fresh and young. It’s very popular amongst really all demographics, especially when it comes to the monogrammed brown and tan look as seen on many of the trunks. Personally, my main problem with this exhibition and with the brand as a whole is its very clear reliance on conspicuous consumption. A lot of the brand’s look is really impacted by logo mania, which I think in some cases almost supersedes its other designs. However, I think that generally speaking though, the brand still maintains it relevancy as a high-quality and heritage brand.

The pop up experience at the end of the exhibition was one that I honestly sort of predicted but I didn’t really mind it. From a marketing perspective, I think it was a totally amazing idea to the put that little store front up, because I’m sure plenty of people were inspired by the exhibit and motivated to buy product. Personally, while I loved smelling all of the different perfumes and checking out the books that they had, I didn’t feel particularly compelled by their product selection, and also because I considered it out of my price range anyway. It was mostly just smaller items and monogrammed items rather than their apparel lines. However, I did really love their basement interactive and creative space. It was super fun to draw my own trunk, and I appreciated all of the different materials they had down there to work with. It was a really individual and human touch that I felt was lacking a bit from the rest of the exhibit. I love really any opportunity to be creative!

Overall, I had a really fun time at the exhibition. It was accessible and multi sensory, even if it wasn’t super thought provoking. I didn’t necessarily change the way I viewed the brand, but I think it accomplished its mission of inspiring people with the human spirit.

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

But in this context we were talking about tabloids - and the tabloids absolutely discussed Harry in the frame of a middle-class entertainment Luvvvy, and Louis in a northern working-class frame.//

With respect, and remembering you only started following 1d in 2015, Jay and Louis were the epitome of middle class theatre mum and son. She drove him and the twins round the country for auditions and he got two non speaking parts in TV shows. Between 2010-12 they were covered like that in the tabloids. Eleanor with her Marlborough education and Man Uni degree is also middle class.

Harry up to 2014 was covered as the 1d womaniser, tomcatting round London fucking models while Louis stayed nicely at home with his long term girlfriend.

I really disagree with your characterisation of Jay and the dynamic (and the wider class analysis is pretty ungrounded - it's not only middle-class parents who drive their kids places). Jay worked as a supervisor for child actors while the twins were little, and then went back to (I think - she'd certainly done some training before they were born) working as a midwife. I think people who focus on the entertainment part of that are missing a really key point - childcare for twins is fucking expensive. Looking after children in this context was better paid than other jobs that she could bring the twins along to. Doing childcare, even on a film set, is not a middle-class job. As far as I know, Louis got work as an extra in those shows because he was there. I find it really frustrating that the entire material context has been stripped out of what Jay was doing. And even more frustrating to hear people suggest that the fact that Jay doing childcare work while her twins were babies somehow defines her as not working-class.

(And I think there are things you can say that complicate her class position - I certainly think she was pretty determined to do everything she could to build stability for herself and her children. But to focus on the time she was doing childcare while her children were small? Just bizzarre)

********

Harry being portrayed as someone who had sex with a lot of people in no way contradicts him being portrayed as a middle-class entertainment luvvy. If you want to send me some material of Louis and Jay being covered as middle class theatre family in the tabloids, I'd be interested. But nothing about this anon makes me trust your analysis.

[blackandwhlteaesthetlc]

I was reading an article the other day which was published by one of the biggest lgbtq+ organizations and unfortunately I forgot which one but it was a recent article and it talked about how the lgbtq+ community has been hijacked by trolls and a vocal minority of people with extremist views (the same happened with BLM), and that the majority of lgbtq+ people just want equal rights and better representation. They're not trying to force people out the closet or force people to make a statement on their sexuality or going around accusing people of queerbaiting or cancelling everyone (unless it's politicians). They're pretty chill people who just want more support. I was thinking about this in reference to Harry. The majority of the queerbaiting comments I see come from trolls who use it as a go to insult if they don't like him for whatever reason, and the ones who aren't trolls are so entitled and willfully ignorant. If you present them with any evidence or facts (politely) they get so defensive and angry. They're so set on their views that they will never change, even if Harry comes out. Even if he publicly had a male partner and kids, I'm sure they'd still accuse him of queerbaiting! It bothers me but it seems to be a vocal minority and they won't have any impact on Harry's career. I agree with what you said, the majority of people seem to either think he is closeted or are skeptical about his sexuality. So I guess it is much better to think of the positive. His image has drastically changed over the years. Hopefully his team doesn't mess this up.

That sounds so interesting. I’d love to read the article if you ever come across it again, anon. It’s such a complicated issue, isn’t it? I love and welcome all forms of representation. We’ve come so far as a community and it’s still so amazing to get the opportunity to celebrate a public figure that feels safe and supported enough to come out.

But just last month, Lil Nas X spoke out against BET for failing to recognize Montero with any nominations. And we had JoJo Siwa not getting invited to the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards after she got a haircut some people consider too queer. I watched the newest episode of Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars today with Ben Platt as a guest judge. In Untucked (the after show), he spoke to the competing queens backstage about how challenging it’s been to navigate his career as a gay man who happens to be feminine because the industry still very much upholds these standards that “leading men” should be masc presenting in order to be considered for a role.

It really hurts me to see people use their (both Louis and Harry’s) closet as a way to vilify them. Some people take for granted that despite their privilege, they’re both in an industry that continues to work against them in a lot of ways.

But as you said, we should consider the positive because they really have come so far. There will always be that very loud minority, unfortunately, but we can continue to be loud with our support too. And whether out or not, I feel very strongly that they feel that support and it must mean the world.

Thank you for sharing. ❤️