#o: usher

[citizensun]

Queerness and the House of Usher (spoilers!)

See I just added these Thoughts to the tags in @quecksilvereyes 's post but now I have Feelings too

TFotHoU (or HoU, as I will refer to it here), as expected from a Mike Flannagan show, has a bunch of Queer Rep™ to talk about. HoU is, also, about remarkably evil people - amoral capitalists who'll step over anyone if it means they'll get something from it. And look! Some of them are queer! Kinky too!

That's bad queer representation... right?

The show isn't that clear when stablishing sexualities, but we see that at least three of the Usher kids - Napoleon, Camille and Victorine - have same sex SOs/assistants with curious job descriptions. Prospero's taste for orgies probably implies queerness too, but honestly I don't remember if he gets it going with any guys in the story. I honestly have no idea about Tamerlane's voyerism thingie and Frederick is the only one with a "traditional family" going on.

Unrelated, but: Leo is definitely cheating on his bf Julius. Completely dismissing about his worries for him too. And for his cat. That's objectively evil, clearly. Vic literally killed her fiancée Alessandra, though she didn't stuff her under the floorboard, which is an L when compared to Poe's original. Cam doesn't believe in true love. Perry blackmailed his sister in law. Mean. He's also got a surprisingly high kill count for the family's disappointment, but since unlike Roderick he only killed rich people, we stan. I don't belong in Kinky spaces so I haven't got a big take on Tammie, only that - well, she's completely dismissing of her husband and sees him as a prop, just like the sex worker she hires.

Huh.

See, the nature of a story called "the fall of X family" is that X family is going to be the main character. The title kinda implies that they're falling for a reason, ergo, they're despicable fucking people. And they're queer! They're very queer. Many flavors of gay. They're the main characters, and they're monsters, and they're gay.

No, that's not bad rep.

Queerness as a movement, a community and a theory is very focused on scaping a cisheteronormative society's binaries (ie man/woman, husband/wife, public/private) and creating living conditions to those who fall outside of these categories - mlms and wlws, the trans, the nbs, the aros and aces... we are all queer, strange and estranged from this weird and limited worldview. And so we create a community for ourselves. It's very focused on care and anti-stablishment. Since a cisheteronormative society tends to be very white, rich and western, it's also focuses on anti-racism, anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism. Y'all know that, this is Tumblr and we love leftist Discourse.

I also know many, many gay people irl who are not like that at all. Libertarians, anarcho-capitalists, terfs, completely apolitical people and the like. Sexuality at it's core is personal, not political, so there are gay people out there who are perfectly comfortable with their sexuality on an individual level but do not see the point of getting involved in the broader context. They're queer, but are they...?

Well—

Not to mention there's lots of asshole gays out there! Don't you have a shitty ex? Have you never been almost run over by a drunken butch who blew cigar smoke into your face? I have! Life experiences are just like that. Maybe you should touch more grass. You'll probably find a lucky gift from your neighbour's dog, who is an astrology-obsessed bisexual and also really hot but stopped making out with you at a party once she found out you're a pisces (the neighbour, not the dog).

(Granted, none of this is as bad as implanting an experimental heart contraption into the fiancée you just killed because she dared to have ethical principles and then being so consumed with grief you stab yourself in front you'd your dad but you know how it goes. We're not the 1%.)

My point is, queer people are people. We are complex. We fuck up, and sometimes there's still times to fix things and sometimes... there isn't. We're consumed by jealousy and regret and sometimes we're so locked into our own head we stop believing the rest of the world is real too. Just like any other people, because unfortunately, queerness isn't a sign of morality.

And even if queerness does mean community, kindness and acceptance, tell me... Where the hell would the Usher kids get those from? The people around them are not really peers – they're ass-istants, blowjob-giving apartments, orgy mates, heart surgery providers, hired fitness moneybags, perfect housewives. Even if the partners are all shown to care for the Ushers, there's still a distance, a power gap, that makes the relationships fundamentally wrong.

And the partners? Arguably they're the good queer rep in the show, but look – even when Julius and Alessandra are shown to be good people (or at least people with an ethical boundary), they're not the good gays, they're simply the good SO's to a family of psychos. Exactly like Bill and Morrie, who afawk are straight people.

Which leads us to HoU's parameter of morality - Auguste Dupin. He refuses to drink the Amontillado, symbol of all the Usher opulence over the years. He got screwed over by the Usher twins and by the Raven herself, but he refused to cave in (except for the informant part, admittedly). He's not a good gay guy; he is gay and he is a good man.

The fundamental difference between our show's main tragic yaoi couple isn't that Auggie is a happily out gay man (and therefore is good) while Roderick is a sad divorced hetero (and therefore is bad). Auggie is the richer man because he is a good man; he has a spouse and children and grandchildren he loves with all his heart. He has a family and a community and he has found a sort of happiness no money can buy. Roderick owns the world – but what does he really have? What do his children even have? How could they ever build communities for themselves if they were never in one? Their father made them compete for his love. He never nurtured their bonds, he just showered them with money and excess until it was too much for them to handle. Juno herself pointed out - they were never a family. The House of Usher was only that. A house. It is empty and soulless.

What is queerness without a community? How could the people who represent the relentless corporate normativity and cutthroat capitalism ever be good queer rep? How can they even be queer?

Hear me out: on the most individual, simple level, being queer is still about not fitting in. These kids are bastards. They are are PoC and women in a predominantly male and white dominated space. They're on top of the world, but they're still outsiders to their own House. How could they not be queer?

And yes, I know this discussion takes a different turn when it comes to representation in media, but it's not like Flannagan fell into a Hays Code-era flamboyant villain trope. Queerness is just there. Just like Victorine and August are both black people in (arguably) the opposite ends of the morality spectrum, there are queer characters of many kinds here. The story just happens to be about the fucked up ones.

HoU is a poignant critique of capitalism and a surprisingly funny adaptation of Poe. We'll judge it by that. It happens to be queer – more things should be.

[literaryspinster]

I only stan girl villains. It’s my right.

[alfredsnightmare]

A young man interviews former child-actor Rodrigo Usher, only to be drawn into his idol's nightmarish web of debauchery, murder, and other erotic delights from beyond the grave.

Here's a brief look at my new film, O Solar dos Prazeres Noturnos (Palace of Nocturnal Delights), a 30-minute homoerotic nightmare inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. Coming soon!

[uglynicc]

I need irl sapphic friends who will understand when I text them "Madeline Usher can step on me"

[weclassybouquetfun]

It was an end of a tradition - no annual Mindy Kaling / B.J. Novak Mark Seliger Vanity Fair picture! I need awards season closure.

But one tradition that stuck around was the unoffical Black excellence gathering.

You can tell who got there early: Rashida Jones, Jeremy O. Harris, Trevor Noah, John Legend, Nnamdi Asomugha, Shonda Rhimes, Franklin Leonard, Bethan Hardison, Donald Glover, Quinta Brunson and Kerry Washington.

Kenya Barris, Jeffrey Wright, Bethan Hardison, Ava DuVernay, Cynthia Erivo, Danai Gurira, Aldis Hodge, Lizzo (with boyfriend Mike Wright), Kerry Washington, Lena Waithe, Busta Rhymes, Anderson Paak, Jodie Turner Smith, Shonda Rhimes, Usher, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Ice Spice, Chloe & Halle Bailey, Babyface all the way on the side with Jeremy Pope beside him, Shameik Moore, Michelle Buteau, I see Laverne Cox, Tiffany Haddish, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Leticia Wright, Trevor Noah all the way in the back with Gabrielle Union and Dwayne Wade.

Seeing as Busta was there, I wonder if Trevor rapped for him again.

Too bad the lighting wasn't better.

2023's

-While not at the Vanity Fair affair- instead seen at pre-Oscar party was Teyana Taylor of A THOUSAND AND ONE (which she was incredible in).

Teyana was seen talking to her costar of the untitled Paul Thomas Anderson film which is slated for an August 2025 release, Leonardo DiCaprio.

which - of course - has started rumours that they're involved.

Teyana is too much woman for Leo.

[cleriic11]

@flanaganfilm I made you and Kate this!! Happy release day. 🎃🎃🎃🐦‍⬛💛

I'm so excited to watch!

[beau-gar]

VANITY FAIR 2023

www.beau-gar.tumblr.com

[the-kestrels-feather]

Tam pounding like 4 melatonin pills and still not being able to sleep is a mood

[britishchick09]

the fun things about the super bowl are seeing the commercials, taylor swift, the chiefs mustache guy from the snickers ad and rfk jr.'s jfk ad! ;D

i could care less about the super bowl part tho ;)

[lesellieknope]

kansas city chiefs more like kansASS city chiefs

[nepotizma]

' now what's bad is you're the one that hooked us up, knowing it should have been you. what's sad is that i love her but i'm falling for you . '

[fatedevour]

♢  —    @al-hazen​​​​​​ asked: where is all this coming from ? (akademiya-era, maybe?)

dusty toybox sentences: ACCEPTING!

   WHO the hell was this guy again?  A thought that crawled out NOT because Zandik was particularly INTERESTED, but more because it was a matter of if he could AFFORD to potentially piss him off. Although that was dangerous territory REGARDLESS right now since the Nagarjuna Herbads and Dasturs were currently LESS than thrilled with his antics. What a bunch of IGNORAMUSES. Wasn’t their Darshan the pursuit of knowledge at ALL COSTS? And yet they were HYPOCRITES. Refusing the very suggestion or ideas that Zandik offered or hypothesized over. Still. The Akademiya had many resources that he DIDN’T wish to lose. Especially with his send off from his village. He should play it safe...FOR NOW. His Darshan’s sage and Herbads might be upset, but Zandik’s skill excelled BEYOND his peers. They’d overlook it. AGAIN. But best not to add fuel. Especially when he’d unexpectedly been heard in the midst of venomous thoughts.

   “  ...My Darshan’s Herbads preach pursuit of knowledge and yet bound themselves. It is VEXING.  “  Zandik finally responds, arms remaining folded across his chest in a display more of arrogance than timidness. He might be a Dastur Trainee but he does NOT lower the BEAST-LIKE red eyes that stare at the man in front of him as most lower ranks would.  Haravatat. That’s what the outfit suggested at least. His arms unfold, palms facing upwards.  “  There was a new machine not observed before. I dealt with it with minimal injuries to the team and then wanted to bring it back for further study, but they REJECTED it. How can they claim to be NAGARJUNIANS if they are turning away the opportunity?  “  A SCOWL forms as his hands move to his waist and he looks away for a moment. But there was a DARKNESS in his eyes, a song of INSANE GENIUS, that for a brief moment appeared and then vanished again beneath red pools. An insanity thar would, in the centuries to come, simply THRIVE in clones. But for now it was alone in his own original eyes.

   It wasn’t like THIS man could or would do anything. Tch. This place was as much of a LET DOWN as any other place he’d been. But at least HERE he had resources at his disposal unlike the desert. (And resources he had certainly been secretly using for his own research methods. The Amurta branch was ABSURDLY easy to get into for him.)

   “  I was just venting my frustrations from months of facing this. They were rather ANGRY about my proposals in the medical and biological sections as well.  “  Blasphemy as they called it. But he’d answered this man’s question on where the anger had come from. Maybe he’d be LEFT ALONE now.

   Zandik did not apologize nor express any remorse for his wrathful words of his own Darshan’s members.

[putuponpercy]

My brain is trying to humanize James to the Rescue and so far I am sobbing kajdghkjadhgkajga

[iloveleggy]

[geekpopnews]

Super Bowl 2024 | Saiba onde assistir o campeonato

Super Bowl 2024, saiba onde assistir o maior evento de futebol americano e o show do intervalo apresentado pelo cantor Usher. #superbowl #usher

O maior campeonato de futebol americano, o Super Bowl, acontece neste domingo (11). Além de conquistar inúmeros torcedores, o intervalo do campeonato é o mais esperado entre muitos fãs da música. Esse ano o responsável em entreter a todos com seu show será o cantor Usher. Mas você sabe onde assistir o Super Bowl 2024? Portanto, o Super Bowl será transmitido pelo ESPN, Star+ e NFL Game Pass. Caso…