#suggesting the same thing

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

Hi! So I just want to ask for your thoughts on Harry's ambiguous image. He very publicly expresses his sexuality, so much that he is accused of queerbaiting. He presents as a gay man. Some things stood out to me last year. His really camp Coachella performance. BHG interview mentioning that his friends know how he identifies. His HH moodboard had some really camp pics which still haven't been released yet. Howard Stern asking about closeting in the industry but it was cut from youtube uploaded clips. Him kissing Nick at Venice. Olivia making comments about the lgbtq+ community and wearing pride stuff to his shows. The LNT vid being about public image vs private. His personal trainer being a Xander 2.0 (with encouragement from HSHQ). Him being really camp on his Europe tour. MP. Lots of things that went unnoticed but the fact he chose to do them interests me. He did reign it in after the RS backlash but then this year he kissed Lewis at The Brits and there were several vids of him flirting with different men. Looking at the whole picture it feels like a lot of progress. Harry's sexuality is now a hot topic and yes there are many who still automatically view him as straight but there is more speculation than before and it feels intentional, that he wanted this. He wouldn't have done MP otherwise. Having said all that, his womanizer image is still prevalent in the media and that is what people pay attention to because it's always there. Every few days there are articles about him dating a new woman. So I'm wondering what your thoughts are. Why did he choose this ambiguous image rather than hiding his sexuality? Is it because he had plans to CO but changed his mind and just stuck with the ambiguity for marketing purposes? Is it laying the groundwork for a CO in the future? Or does he have no intention in CO and is just a gay man living his life while in the closet? Is this image sustainable for him if he doesn't plan on CO anytime soon? A lot of the queerbaiting discourse is being pushed by the media so will he have to face this every time he gets a new beard? He's not going to be able to play another gay role again in a movie, the backlash was bad enough the first time. Will the backlash push him deeper into the closet, does he even care? By adding to a huge list of beards, will it make it harder to CO in the future?

So I have to start with saying I strongly disagree with your starting point. I think 'progress' is a really insidious way of understanding what's going on. Progress suggests a desired end goal and evaluates everything towards it. I don't think it's a good way of talking about someone who is closeted.

As well as that principled disagreement - I also disagree on points of fact. I don't think that what has been happening for Harry has been steps towards being out or being more queer in his performance. I definitely don't agree that the things you list are him presenting himself as a gay man.

First off I don't think a lot of these are about presenting himself as a gay man. So for example kissing men who are understood as being straight is not presenting himself as a gay man. I disagree with your interpretation of Late Night Talking. I have no time for the idea that the fan reaction to either Xander or Brad was something planned for by Harry's team, rather than just fans doing their thing.

Secondly, being out is not the only way of engagin with queer culture. By being a very camp, closeted performer, Harry is part of a long tradition - it's not evidence of some path to being out.

Finally, I think seeing what Harry said when interviewed by Better Home and Gardens as in any way steps towards coming out - completely misunderstands the dynamic. The whole point is that he's stonewalling and trying to avoid talking about things he doesn't want to talk about. The fact that people are pushing and asking him more and more and he's fending that off - isn't a sign of the direction he's stepping in, but a sign of how he's defending himself from taking steps he doesn't want to take.

*******

To answer your question - I think Harry wants to play stadiums and also engage in queer culture in his performances. I think he knows the contradictions in doing this - and there are reason that the character of Tom resonated with him.

We can't know the future. We can't know what he plans for the future now. And we can't know what will get in the way of that. All we can know is what's happening now. And right now Harry is playing stadiums and engaging with queer culture in his performances.

[basslinegrave]

pin-up

b&w originals

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

They just can't say no sometimes (even if some of them try really hard to resist)

[divorcedfiddleford]

leave the door ajar

[volchiitza]

clearly trying to stop fixating on "productivity" has actually improved my focus

[inkskinned]

as we enter the start of a semester and the dreaded Hour of Making Friends us upon us... if ur ever at a loss for what to say in one of those weird social situations where you only vaguely-know people, one of my favorite questions to ask is "what is your favorite food crime." a food crime is like the food combination that you love that other people find revolting. press them to take it further than pineapple on pizza, that's rote. food crimes is a good topic that has many benefits as it turns out all people are degenerates and also it will give you some cool ideas to try out later in the privacy of your own degenerate kitchen

the other good thing to ask is "okay but has anyone here ever been someplace haunted" bc it turns out if you ask most people directly they don't believe in ghosts, but many people are like "oh yeah i lived in a haunted house. ghosts aren't real tho"

[madeofjules]

katniss: "I could easily kill peeta, he isn't human anymore"

gale, right after: "do you want me to kill him?"

katniss: *unnerved, offended, taken aback, cannot believe he had the audacity to say that*

[fiepige]

Hobie and Noir both doing a two finger salute

[undeaddrabble]

Original

[puppyeared]

updated Sleight ref!!

[jaggedjot]

the notion that queer men can be flamboyantly theatrical, perform in drag, even occasionally refer to themselves with female pronouns, and nevertheless willfully uphold and enforce patriarchal norms, would have been a well worn complaint in any given 1970s lesbian collective, and yet

[mildarka]

wip :]

[parksrway]

multiple times now I've seen people genuinely claim that the solution to aphobia is for asexual and aromantic people to stop talking about their asexuality and aromanticism. if you think like this you need to be put in a meat grinder like actually

[thedisablednaturalist]

Theres a ton of inspiring game devs (and actual game devs) on this site and this is a message for them

Please include wheelchairs in customization. Include player characters who are in wheelchairs. I'm begging you.

There are less than a handful of playable characters in wheelchairs I can think of (and most of them are ableist haha funny characters like the guy from happy wheels)

I promise you, any extra work that needs to be done to make them playable IS worth it. I don't give a fuck if its not realistic. Most people can't fling fireballs in real life either.

Like I've seen prosthetics, I've seen glasses, when I've brought up wheelchairs to devs they say the best they can do is braces and maybe crutches or a cane. Maybe a hearing aid.

I've SEEN the amazing stuff that can be made, and I'm tired of devs whining that it's too hard. It's too late to add something that complex. Well maybe you should've thought about wheelchairs in the early stages instead of adding representation as an afterthought.

The only time we are thought of is when its a horror game or for a fucking joke.

[inkly-heart]

please don’t be sad little sprout, you are loved 🌱 🖤

🌱

[gayofthefae]

The sad thing about the Mike and El parallels in season 4 is that it's because they're both having their hearts broken at the same time.

El's is being broken by Mike. Because Mike's is being broken by Will.

They're in this together, in a way - as friends. Both getting their hearts broken at the same time. It's a rite of passage, isn't it? That's what Fifteen by Taylor Swift is about, isn't it?

"Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday but I realized some bigger dreams of mine. And [Mike] gave everything [he] had to a boy who changed his mind. And we both cried. 'Cause when you're 15 and somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them."

And there's something so soul crushingly beautiful in how platonically in sync they are by being so romantically out of sync. El and Mike are having their hearts broken at the same time. Like best friends. But El's boyfriend is having his heart broken by someone else. It should never have been in anyone else's hands to begin with.

He's breaking her heart by getting his heart broken.

So of course it culminates in the worst kind of solidarity within that.

In another universe, they would have cried together over the boys who broke their hearts, and I know that.

I wish they were friends in every universe.