"They have come from everywhere, these Jews of Zionism—from Germany to Ethiopia to Poland to Morocco to France to Iraq to the former Soviet Union and a thousand other places. And most have come because their 'equal rights' in those places proved nonexistent in the face of a millennia of hatred. In Israel, often for the first time in history, they are citizens with rights. And they enjoy those rights because, and only because, of Zionism."

God how I wish there'd been articles like this years ago when people were tripping over themselves to deny any and all struggles asexual people face. The amount of times people demanded "proof" when we talked about our experiences. Well, there's certainly more research being published nowadays, if that counts as "proof". I hope they read it.

Today “asexuality is widely accepted as a sexual orientation in the literature,” Hille says, but cultural awareness remains in its infancy, especially compared with other orientations under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. Saying you don't experience sexual attraction is still like saying you don't eat, Hille explains, and “if you don't eat, there's something wrong with you, and you're hurting yourself.” Asexual people sometimes get this message not just from family and acquaintances but from their health-care providers. Shelby Wren, a health equity researcher at the University of Minnesota, published a study in 2020 in which 30 to 50 percent of respondents who had disclosed their asexuality in a medical setting said a therapist or doctor had attributed their asexuality to a health condition. The proposed diagnoses included anxiety, depression and, in one case, a personality disorder. “You don't know what's going to happen when you disclose your sexual orientation,” Wren says. “And for a lot of people, that stops them from talking about things that could be relevant to their health care.”

[...]

Refraining from disclosing one's asexuality to a mental health provider is often a “very rational decision,” Chasin says. “It's always much worse to be actively rejected and misunderstood.” For instance, asexual people are sometimes subjected to conversion therapy, a practice aimed at changing someone's sexuality or gender identity. It is banned for minors in 22 U.S. states because of its well-documented and extensive harms, including increased rates of suicide. A 2018 U.K. government survey of LGBTQIA+ people found that asexual respondents were the most likely to be offered conversion therapy and as likely as gay and lesbian people to receive it. A recent survey by the Trevor Project found that 4 percent of asexual youths in the U.S. were subjected to conversion therapy, on par with bisexual respondents. On the legislative level, bans on conversion therapy should explicitly reference asexuality, Benoit says. So, too, should professional associations of health-care practitioners, says Samantha Guz, a social work researcher at the University of Chicago. “Asexual people are made to be so invisible in our society that I don't think just having a broad call against conversion therapy is specific enough,” Guz says.

Even well-meaning doctors might unwittingly harm their patients. To a clinician, a patient who is worried that they should feel more sexual desire—and who does not know they are simply asexual—might initially look similar to patients who want sexual intimacy and could benefit from treatments aimed at increasing or restoring desire. Treatments for certain types of sexual dysfunction do help some people whose level of sexual desire leaves them distressed and unsatisfied, Brotto says. For some people, though, this distress may be coming not from an intrinsic desire to want sex but from external pressures such as partners or society as a whole. “I have worked with folks where it's taken us many, many months for the person to really understand how well asexuality fits with their identity,” as opposed to having an issue that is rooted in a health problem or a situational condition, Brotto says. Most doctors, though, don't know that such a distinction exists or is necessary, she adds.

"We are challenging people to face their own external and internal biphobia. We are demanding attention. We are redefining 'anything that moves' on our own terms."

So declares the introduction to Anything That Movies, a bisexual zine that ran from 1991 to 2001. Founded by editor and photographer Karla Rossi, Anything That Moves got its name from the stereotype that bisexual people will sleep with "anything that moves," and it sought to redefine these and other assumptions about bi people in its decade-long run. Rossi didn't respond to Mashable's request for comment.

All 22 issues of Anything That Moves are now archived by a group of young bisexual people and allies. Not only does the archive introduce a new generation to a rare instance of bi-focused writing, but it's also shockingly relevant to issues bi people face today.

Discovering the bisexual zine

Snippets of the introduction have circulated the internet in recent years, and they're referred to as the ATM "manifesto" on its website. The words caught the attention of bi writer Kravitz Marshall, but he had never seen other material from the zine.

In 2020, Marshall found the Anything That Moves website, a relic of the early 2000s with an incomplete archive. He then bought issue #16 from Bolerium Books, a source for out-of-print books and material related to social movements. Marshall scanned each page of the issue and uploaded it online for free; he had planned on doing this for all issues of Anything That Moves, but acquaintances on a bisexual Discord server expressed interest in helping. The discussion grew so much that they created a separate server.

"It was the first time I became aware such a thing existed and I became very excited at the thought of finding and reading more copies," said Jo, a bi femme activist who became involved in the project and now helms the archive email.

The group found issue #2 via Reddit, but believed finding all the issues would be a difficult process — until a member of the now-inactive archive server was able to gather PDFs of every issue through her university library.

"It was thrilling and such a relief," Marshall told Mashable, "because had this not happened, we might've had to do it the hard and expensive way."

"It happened so fast," Jo recalled. "I just remember about seven bisexuals, including Krav and myself, putting our heads together to figure out the best way to get our hands on all these copies and how to share them with the rest of the LGBTQ community."

Now, the work of Marshall, Jo, and a group of bi people and allies is gathered in the archive.

Joy and heartbreak of Anything That Moves

Reading through the archive is, personally, an ambivalent experience. Anything That Moves began before I was even born, and I feel kindred reading this decades-old work; it's like reading discussions I've had with bi friends back to me. The articles, reviews, fiction, and poetry in discusses visibility, (non)monogamy, the inclusion of trans people in bisexuality — to name merely a few topics still pertinent today.

Despite the joy of reading this bi-centric work, however, it's telling how little has changed since 1991.

Jo, who grew up in a conservative area, found the zine refreshing and comforting. "Even when you discover/read/watch anything regarding LGBTQ history, it’s very rare for any specific focus to be given to the bisexual community," they said. "Finding Anything That Moves was a shock to my system."

Marshall was touched by the "unfiltered life" within its pages. "There's urgency, there's knowledge, there's joy, there's righteous rage, there's lust," Marshall said, "and you don't have to go searching between the lines for it — it grabs your shoulders and shakes you until you reach the back cover."

Despite the joy of reading this bi-centric work, however, it's telling how little has changed since 1991.

For Jo, the experience of reading Anything That Moves has been both special and heartbreaking. "A lot of the subject matter is stuff that the bi community has been dealing with forever," they said. "The same stereotypes and heterosexism that bisexuals faced nearly thirty years ago are still very prevalent today."

"It really hits you that virtually nothing has changed about the outside perception of bisexuality and bisexuals," Marshall agreed. "Almost every single issue we grapple with now is a hand-me-down."

He pointed to a piece in the inaugural issue called "This Poem Can Be Put Off No Longer" to display his point. Here are the first few stanzas:

The first several stanzas of "This Poem Can Be Put Off No Longer" by Susan Carlton, featured in the first issue of 'Anything That Moves.' Credit: Anything That Moves / Susan Carlton

The poem continues, but the point is clear from the start: Bisexual people aren't believed for who they are. They're belittled and told to "choose a side," that they're bisexual for attention. It's difficult to think that this poem is over 30 years old.

The poem "truly could've been written yesterday... or 50 years ago," said Marshall. "How long do we have to keep screaming the same things to the world over and over until people stop pretending we're speaking another galaxy's language?"

Stigma against bisexuality still persists today, and impacts people's lives: Bisexual people are more likely to be anxious and depressed; they're also more likely to experience intimate partner violence.

The stagnancy of the world's perception of bisexual people infuriates Marshall, he said, but it's imperative to still talk about these issues. "You can't just stop talking about these issues, so you just say the same things, because the world that needs to listen to you refuses to move on. And I'm not a fan of repeating myself," he said. "You just feel like you're going crazy."

The solace of Anything That Moves, however, is that even though progress has been slow, fellow bisexual people can relate to the shared experience detailed in its pages.

"How long do we have to keep screaming the same things to the world over and over until people stop pretending we're speaking another galaxy's language?"

After Jo came out, for example, they internalized that being bi made them "second-rate." They didn't feel welcome in cisheterosexual circles nor LGBTQ circles, a common feeling for bisexual people who feel like they're straddling both. Searching for issues of Anything That Moves, part of bisexual history, helped Jo connect with other bi people. Being able to meet others facing the same issues, and sharing this historical information and searching for more, has made the biggest impact on them and their identity.

"I don't feel as alone as I once did because bisexuals of today wanted to learn more about their bisexual elders," they said.

Those who have found the archive have also felt that connection. The archive team has received waves of emails, messages, and followers — some wanting to help, others thanking them.

"For the most part, people are just delighted to finally get to read the magazine," Marshall said.

Even this positive feedback echoes the sentiment of the time. Readers wrote to Anything That Moves, and some of those letters are published in subsequent issues. "You can see so clearly how life-changing these publications were to some people," Marshall said, "so thank God it was brought to the world."

"It's something I definitely needed when I was a closeted, bisexual teenager."

The archive has helped current bi readers ground in their bisexuality, Jo said. The archivists even connected with some former Anything That Moves editors, who discovered them through the project. "I'm just happy we got a chance to say thank you for everything they left for us to discover," Jo said.

There's still work to be done for the archive, like transcriptions for easier reading and sharing. Some people involved even planned on making an original virtual bi zine, Marshall said, but due to personal commitments, the idea fizzled out within months.

"I still hope it'll exist one day," Marshall said. "If by some miracle the future grants me that wish, I won't reveal its title, but I find it pleasantly cheeky."

For now, of course, there's nearly two-dozen issues of Anything That Moves. Jo believes the zine is a gift.

"I want to be able to share this gift with anyone else who may need it," they said. "It's something I definitely needed when I was a closeted, bisexual teenager."

I’m Still Here - A comment on media culture and perception 14 years later

I know I'm not the first person to make a connection between this 'Still Here' hat that Taylor wore last year and Joaquin Phoenix's 2010 mockumentary "I'm Still Here", but having now actually seen it, I can't not pick it up and comment on just how relevant this still is and how much it mirrors Taylor's experience and relationship with the media, especially as she herself described it during the reputation era. And seeing as this film is largely perceived as having flopped and fell on deaf ears, because the general public didn't get the commentary that was being made, I think it deserves a closer look and deep dive, even if it's 14 years later. I will be using the comments from a great article by Hanne Hermens, published in 2020 in diggit magazine (available here).

What is 'I'm Still Here'?

Back in 2008, actor Joaquin Phoenix announced his retirement from acting and proceeded to seemingly pursue a career as a rapper/ hip hop musician with limited levels of talent or success on that front. A lot of people thought it was a joke at first, but as the months went on and Phoenix descended into a scruffy, unstable version of himself, the majority of people seemed to buy into it and assumed that he'd just lost the plot. I was only 19 and living in Australia at the time, but I remember the media frenzy around this 'unhinged basket case' of a once famous actor when he'd apparently become something that was fair game for public mockery. Only a full 18 months after assuming this deranged public persona, did Phoenix reveal that it was in fact all performance art and his experience of the media and public engagement with his curated persona, a purposeful media scandal, was the subject of his non-fiction film. Somewhat not surprisingly, people didn't like being the butt of the joke and the film was perceived with a wave of outrage, people were calling him a liar, a con artist, and many other things. But just because the audience largely didn't like his way of holding a mirror up to celebrity and media culture, the question remains: Was this an elaborate hoax or was Joaquin Pheonix on to something with this portrayal?

It was certainly a big investment in a social experiment of how the media and public would react to a celebrity seemingly losing it and descending into chaos. And it did take a toll on Phoenix's mental health to be so publicly mocked, even though he'd curated this character and subsequent media storm intentionally. It does pose the question: Did he lie to everyone or did the media and public decide what his story was going to be because he dared to step out of his mold?

Hanne Hermens introduces the concept of narrativity in her article, a question of identity and authenticity when it comes to public figures and how they are portrayed in the media:

Personally, I think this film is a true masterpiece and just went completely over people's heads with the point it was trying to make. It was a very needed critique of celebrity media culture, and bear in mind this was 2010 when we barely had social media (!), it is so much more true and relevant today. And the bigger the celebrity, the more true it is. We create narratives and boxes for them that become truth, and don't you dare step out of it or you will be publicly humiliated... which brings me to our biggest current celebrity: Taylor Swift™

Taylor's relationship with the media goes as far back as her career is long, but has really taken a turn during her 1989 era, resulting in her her self-perceived cancellation in 2016 and her 'rise from the ashes' reputation era, which was very heavily styled around media narratives and it was the first time that she actually released music hitting back at the industry and media landscape. And, in particular, something that really reminded me of the points made above in the film and article, is the reputation prologue (the only words she ever said about this otherwise commentless album):

Like Hermens suggests, Taylor acknowledges the way the media narratives create truth for a celebrity in the eyes of the public. And she is making it very clear that she is the curator of her own narrative by 'what she choses to show us'. Something she also heavily emphasized in her 2023 TIME Person of the Year interview. So much so, that the article literally starts with "Taylor Swift is telling me a story..." and ends with the journalist wondering if everything he just heard and subsequently wrote about, was laid out for him to perceive in a certain favourable narrative. Maybe he felt tricked in a similar way to the public reacting to Phoenix's mockumentary, realising they were part of the game. But she does it in such a remarkable way that you can't help but play your part. Trust the greatest storyteller of our generation to beat the media at their own game. She has years of experience. But I think she's about done with this circus.

Reality or.... the manuscript?

If you are offended by the suggestion that Taylor Swift's public image is entirely curated and has very little to nothing to do with her real person, then please stop reading now. I think it is not too much of a reach to assume that at the very least, the majority of this larger than life persona she has become, is fake. If the songs on TTPD haven't given you that impression, you really aren't listening. In a way, her career so far has been an 18 year run of a show where she is the main character ("The years passed like scenes of a show"). And haven't the last 12 or so months given performance art vibes?? The Mayhem with Matty? The High School musical romance with Travis? The freakin Super Bowl?? Maybe I'm just too grossed out by it all, but it seems more fake and over the top than usual. And funny how most of the people she's hung out with during those months are all actors...

Relax, I'm not saying that she will pull the rug tomorrow and make all her little fans look like fools for believing in this show (although it would be funny...). But I think after all these years, it would be her prerogative to stop playing their game. Stop being a circus animal, or a toy in a box. The Tortured Poets songs are a warning (she said so herself in her summation poem) that, just like when Joaquin Phoenix pulled the curtain on his elaborate trick, many people aren't going to like what's coming. But I truly hope that this time, the message will not be so lost on people. Yes, we are all part of the problem. Our intrinsic nosiness and tendency to make celebrities into characters, remove their humanity and believe pictures in magazines more than their own words or art. We think we know someone, but the truth is, that we only know the version of them they have chosen to show us.

If we should be so lucky to meet the true Taylor some day soon, I for one, am excited to meet her.

i’ve recently come across an insightful video analysis that was reposted on tiktok, explaining the Gaza situation in depth and touching on the geopolitical and economic motivations that background it, along with the potential impact from the ethnic cleansing and the active genocide of Palestinian people by zionists. here’s a summary with some links to more-reputable news articles:

-roughly around a month ago, netanyahu declared his plan for a “new middle east,” an economic corridor stretching from India to the European continent, through the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and “israel.”

-due to the weakening of the US Dollar, this “new middle east” corridor serves as a hopeful (on their part) counter to China’s new ongoing “silk road.” it’s essentially a move for leverage on world economics, trade, and politics.

-Russia is the country with the largest proven reserves of natural gas. in 2022, Nord Stream 1 and 2 (Russia’s gas pipelines) were both blown up. sanction packages from EU ban Russian gas. no more Russian gas coming into Europe.

-Iran, the country with the second largest gas reserves, signs the Nuclear Deal in 2015-2016. the US backs out of the deal and reimpose harsh sanctions on Iran. Iran is barred from selling its gas and oil to Europe and others.

-with Russia and Iran out of the picture, “israel” (US-backed) proposes itself as a solution to EU’s gas shortages. in 2010, they find the Leviathan—a giant gas field in the middle east (Mediterranean Sea), off the coast of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria.

-Syria initially declines offers over its gas reserves; the US now controls 1/3 of Syria and all its oil fields, and “israel” regularly bombs it’s most vital port (Latakia). another major port is in Beirut, which mysteriously exploded in 2020. both Syria and Lebanon’s maritime activity are limited, including in trade and gas exploration.

-Gaza, also having its own unexplored gas fields, has been under siege, under naval blockade since 2007. the only working port left in the coast is haifa port in “israel.” “israel” is now the only one able to explore gas and implement an economic corridor, like the proposed “new middle east.” what the US and “israel” have essentially done is killed off the competition, stole their goods, and cornered the market.

-in light of Europe’s gas shortages, to get them gas before winter, “israel” attempts to “stabilize” the region by solving “the Palestinian question”—more than displacement, they’ve resorted to ethnic cleansing and genocide. basically an acceleration of their plan.

-what Palestinian resistance groups have done in response was because they were backed into a corner. tooth and nail, life or death. it did not happen in a vacuum.

it has always been a move for natural resources; Palestine, Syria, Congo—every move for destabilization framed as intervention. it has always been greed for capital.

update:

it’s come to my attention that the video in question might have some more pro-Russian leaning stances, and so i’ve deleted the google drive link to the reposted tiktok and the link to the actual tiktok as i do not wish to platform the denial, partial or in whole, of the atrocities done to Ukrainian people. i will keep the summary up with some parts omitted because i still do think it is an insightful analysis in general and i do think the knowledge is still useful and relevant.

No, transgender kids are not trans because of "social contagion"

The journalist Michael Hobbs writes over at X-twitter, referring to an article in Canada's National Post. He has also tweeted some other interesting arguments we are republishing here. They are relevant to the discussion about the British Cass-report, which has already done tremendous damage to British transgender kids.

[Refers to tween on how "social contagion" could be driving youth to identify as transgender]

Not only is this implausible on its face, but we have no evidence that it's the case and mountainous evidence that it's not. Years of this panic have not produced a single confirmed case of a minor being rushed into transition. Outlets like the Post focus on the narrow question of "social contagion" because it is plausible, but it's also irrelevant. Who cares if kids think they're trans for two weeks? But if trans kids growing up into happy, healthy trans adults is a *bad outcome*, it’s best to brush surveys of 20,000 people indicating high satisfaction and low regret under the carpet, surely?

Link to tweet.

From an associated thread:

This is Polite Transphobe position on gender-affirming care: We should ignore dozens of large-scale surveys, comprehensive clinic audits and observational studies showing low regret rates. Instead, we should listen to *hypothetical* data showing high regret rates.

Link to tweet.

"We have no idea what happens to them in adulthood" is straightforwardly false. We have numerous clinic-based studies with up to 6 years of follow up. We have surveys of 20,000 adult trans people. They unanimously indicate high satisfaction and low regret. When all of the data points in the same direction you can't just nitpick the methodology, you have to make an affirmative case for ignoring an entire body of research in favor of a hunch. You've had decades to produce evidence and you're still going, "Just you wait!"... The entire trans panic is based on the allegation that large numbers of children are being rushed into irreversible treatments without assessment. The Cass Report, like *all other research on this topic,* finds that's straightforwardly false....

Link to tweet.

The Cass Report includes a comprehensive audit of every patient seen by the UK gender clinic from 2018 - 2020 but transphobes are demanding more data because it didn't find what they want. We've been doing this for years. Study after study finds long wait times, comprehensive assessments and regret rates below 5%. And every time, transphobes assure us that the *next* batch of data will reveal rushed transitions and thousands of detransitioners. Right now there is simply no evidence that large numbers of kids are being rushed into transitioning without assessment. Your entire case can't be "we don't know everything!" We don't, but we do know a lot and it consistently indicates that this is not a major problem. Yet another comprehensive gender clinic audit finds miniscule regret/detransition rate. How many of these do we need before this asinine panic stops? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38436975/

See also:

Dr. Cass Backpedals From Review: HRT, Blockers Should Be Made Available

Q&A with Cass published by TheKiteTrust

When your transgender brain is fully formed (on the Cass-report)

On why the Cass Review is heteronormative and anti-transgender

The absurdities of the British Cass-report on transgender health care

Exploration of the now-offline Far Cry 5 official websites

Part 17: Grace Armstrong

Recovered content

Grace, the second Gun for Hire to be introduced, had a description on the American website on (or even before) July 13th, 2017:

THE SNIPER GRACE ARMSTRONG Grace Armstrong is an expert sniper who served one tour in Afghanistan, and now works as a weapons instructor at her family’s shooting range in the Holland Valley. The Project at Eden’s Gate was a growing presence, but nothing she took seriously. Things came to a head when the shooting range was taken over by the Project and local police refused to help.

The archived page from February 9th, 2018, shows she then became The Marksman instead of The Sniper, and her description was modified as well:

THE MARKSMAN GRACE ARMSTRONG Grace Armstrong is an expert sniper who has won a bronze medal at the US Olympics, served multiple tours in Afghanistan, and returned home to work as a weapons instructor alongside her father at the family’s shooting range in the Holland Valley. The Project at Eden’s Gate was a growing presence, but nothing she took seriously at first. However, things came to a head when the shooting range was violently taken over by The Project, while local police refused to help. The resulting chaos led to the death of Pops. At that moment, something snapped inside Grace. She buried her father, unpacked her sniper rifle, and went hunting for the members of Eden’s Gate.

“Learn More” redirected to the article “The Hope County Resistance” from February 8th, 2018:

GRACE ARMSTRONG - The Sharp-Shooting Hero - SNIPER Name: GRACE ARMSTRONG Role: Gun for Hire Bio: Grace Armstrong is an expert sniper who has won a bronze medal at the US Olympics, served multiple tours in Afghanistan, and returned home to work as a weapons instructor alongside her father at the family’s shooting range in the Holland Valley. The Project at Eden’s Gate was a growing presence, but nothing she took seriously at first. However, things came to a head when the shooting range was violently taken over by The Project, while local police refused to help. The resulting chaos led to the death of Pops. At that moment, something snapped inside Grace. She buried her father, unpacked her sniper rifle, and went hunting for the members of Eden’s Gate.

This is what her information box looked like at least between March 27th, 2018, and February 7th, 2020:

The text is identical to the previous version, and the embedded video was this one:

Here is her description on the European site, where she remained The Sniper and not The Marksman:

GRACE ARMSTRONG THE SNIPER Grace Armstrong is an expert sniper who served multiple tours in Afghanistan, and now works as a weapons instructor at her family’s shooting range in the Holland Valley. The Project at Eden’s Gate was a growing presence, but nothing she took seriously. Things came to a head when the shooting range was taken over by the Project and local police refused to help.

“More Info” was a link to the Cosplay Reference Guide from June 2017:

GRACE ARMSTRONG Meet Grace, a local weapons instructor, long-range sniper and Army Veteran. With nothing left to lose, she’s ready to take on Eden’s Gate.

And the video was this one:

Commentary

In her 2017 description, Grace had served one tour in Afghanistan; in 2018, she had served multiple. In the game, she says she has a bullet in her pocket (the last one in the gun of a Taliban who tried to kill her, to remind herself she is a survivor) and adds, “Souvenir of my tour in Afghanistan”, which to me implies she “only” went there once.

She confirms she won a bronze medal at the Olympics, and in-game billboards (visible in the videos) even say it was in 2004, but I didn’t find anything about Grace being a weapons instructor. It’s believable, but if the shooting range mentioned on the website is the one that ended up being cut from the game, then I don’t know if the information is still relevant.

Speaking of this, in 2017, it seems getting her shooting range back from the cult was the reason Grace decided to fight them. In 2018, like in Far Cry 5, it became the death of her father, which she explains happened only two weeks before the Deputy arrived when Eden’s Gate ambushed their car because, “for years, [her] pops antagonized them”.

Even though we know thanks to outdated dialog and this interview from June 2017 (around 11:15) that the reason she originally wanted revenge against Eden’s Gate was the death of her son (who apparently doesn’t exist in the final version of the story), the child isn’t mentioned anywhere on the websites.

Under the cut are all the available source files, saved directly from the website, of the images you see in the screenshots:

welcome to my blog. is tumblr even relevant? has it been filtered down to the saddest and edgiest of all the internet-users? that’s what it’s always been, though, hasn’t it? I made this account when I was in middle school and I never even used it after that. I’m 20 years old now, and when I was 17, I accidentally shot and killed my friend. I won’t be sharing any personal information or the news article about it (as it says the name of the city I live in) until if and/or when I feel comfortable enough to do so. I went to prison for my crime. My incarceration began on March 19th, 2020 and ended on July 7th, 2022. That is 840 days. 27 months and 2 weeks. 2.25 years. Not a lot of time when compared to my sentence, 10 years with 5 suspended. Which means that I was supposed to be incarcerated for 5 years, then released onto probation for the last 5. I am currently out on parole and will be for the next two and a half years, which will then mark the start of my probation time. But, still, 10 years isn’t enough time for a homicide. I was very lucky with these things when you account for what I did. I am aware of this. I still went through many, many things while I was incarcerated. And, I wrote many of them down. While I was in prison, I thought to myself that whenever I did get out, I would anonymously share my writings to the internet, and subsequently, the world. And, that’s when I remembered my old Tumblr account. So, if this is something that catches your interest, I will be sharing my writing to you every time I feel the inkling to do so. I plan to post in chronological order, starting from oldest to newest until we reach the date of my release. Which I then continued in the Notes app on my iPhone, granted not nearly in such bulk, but still a handful. Until we eventually reach the day that catches up to the present, whatever day that may be. And then I will continue my writings through here. I do not wish for internet fame, sentiment or pity. I wish only to share the thoughts of a struggling young adult in the darkest years of his life. I would like to be heard, even if it is only by a few people. I would like to share my writings with you all.

Nimona, the 2011-14 webcomic by ND Stevenson, turned into a graphic novel published on May 12, 2015, and adapted into a full cast audiobook on October 4, 2016, has been adapted into an animated movie!

The movie premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France on June 14, 2023. Netflix released a teaser trailer on May 18, 2023, a clip on June 8, 2023, a full trailer on June 14, 2023, another big clip on June 21, 2023, more footage on June 22, 2023, and another big clip on June 27, 2023. The movie released in select theaters starting on June 23.

The movie released on June 30, 2023 on Netflix for streaming! You can also view the movie for free, legally, on YouTube, until February 26th, 2024. Netflix also released a free-to-read digital-only multimedia 358-page artbook for the movie.

For simplified background, Disney cancelled the movie in 2021, but on April 11, 2022, it was announced that Annapurna would produce the movie, DNEG would animate it, and Netflix would distribute it for streaming sometime in 2023. I'm seeing a lot of confusion out there, so I'll make a summary of what else we know. I also keep the Nimona movie fanwiki page up to date with more info as it releases. Other good places to get news: ND Stevenson's twitter, his Tumblr, his personal site, the savenimona twitter, and the movie page on Netflix. While managing the fanwiki I found that Wikipedia's reference articles for the movie were kind of terrible and often quoted things not being said in the articles being quoted, even in their archive versions, so I would stick with first-hand accounts where possible, particularly what's coming from folks working on the movie and the companies making it. Below is a more detailed summary of info.

Nimona by ND Stevenson began life as a school project while Nate was in college. He was a tumblrite and posted the first pages on Tumblr on December 14, 2011. On June 19, 2012, he began publishing the webcomic in full on its own site. Sometime before November 2012, it was contracted for publication as a graphic novel after completion. The webcomic ended on September 30, 2014, and was released as a single graphic novel in entirety on May 12, 2015. It has currently been translated into 16 languages. Nate adapted it into a full cast audiobook that released on October 4, 2016 (you can hear a preview and purchase it via the link above). The graphic novel and audiobook are still available for purchase.

Apologies for maybe getting studio names wrong, some have changed over time. Anyway: the movie rights for Nimona were acquired by 20th Century Fox Animation in June 2015, to be produced by Blue Sky Studios. In June 2017, Fox scheduled the movie to be released on February 14, 2020. Patrick Osbourne was brought on as director, and it was planned to have the movie in the style of Paperman (Osbourne was animation supervisor of Paperman (2012), and went on to direct Feast (2015), which used the same style). After Disney acquired 20th Century Animation (as it was later called), the movie was delayed to March 5, 2021. There was reportedly pushback for queer stuff in the movie. Blue Sky is publicly stated to have shutdown due to the pandemic and money issues, which isn't relevant here, and I would be careful spreading rumors it was for other reasons. A lot of "successful" US companies shut down studios and departments en masse for other very dumb reasons, particularly in recent years, sometimes just because they aren't making as much money as their parent/shareholders wants them to and cutting salaries makes your profits look better to shareholders. The important part is: Blue Sky was being shut down, and Disney officially cancelled the movie in February 2021.

At some point around the cancellation, a video compilation of early release footage and sculpts seemingly from someone involved in the movie's production was released online. It was later taken down, but put back up by iO9 after the Annapurna, DNEG, Netflix production was announced.

After Disney shuttered Blue Sky, according to Variety, the Nimona crew, "led by former Blue Sky co-presidents Andrew Millstein and Robert Baird, shopped the animatic around town. The film caught the attention of Annapurna CEO Megan Ellison, who was familiar with the film and had been tracking the project. “I think anyone who has ever felt misunderstood or like an outsider will connect with N.D. Stevenson’s story like I did,” she said in press material for the film. “When I watched the storyboard reels I immediately fell in love with it. Nothing about it felt conventional or built off market research. It’s bold and mischievous and full of love. Nimona has such a powerful voice.”

Annapurna stepped in and signed up Millstein and Baird as executive producers. They created Shapeshifter Films so the team could finish “Nimona,” and subsequently joined the company, forming Annapurna Animation.

DNEG Animation was hired in the spring of 2021 to help with the animation, becoming collaborators on the film."

On April 11, 2022, it was announced that the film would be produced by Annapurna, animated by DNEG, and distributed by Netflix. Netflix also shared the first summary:

"A Knight is framed for a crime he didn't commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona, a shape-shifting teen who might also be a monster he's sworn to kill. Set in a techno-medieval world unlike anything animation has tackled before, this is a story about the labels we assign to people and the shapeshifter who refuses to be defined by anyone."

Between Netflix's posts and DNEG's Nimona page, as well as folks involved with the film talking about it, and new info released after the Annecy Film Festival announcement, we knew it would release in Summer 2023. Netflix released a primary cast article with images of what the characters look like from Netflix (be warned, both are very spoilery).

What is also interesting about the cast listings is that Ballister's last name was changed from Blackheart to Boldheart.

Sources for Business Insider said that Blue Sky's work would be incorporated into the film somehow. The second production seemingly wasn't started from scratch, and members of the Blue Sky production stayed on to work on the project. This makes sense, given the art was quite similar to what was in that footage released around the film's cancellation in 2021. DNEG crew have stated repeatedly, though, that although they did have a lot of material from the Blue Sky production, they had to make a lot of things from the ground up.

Quane released an official shot from the film on January 4, 2023:

It was announced that the movie would premiere on June 14, 2023, at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. (Post on Annecy's site, post on DNEG's site)

Two new stills were also released on April 25, 2023, with the Annecy Film Festival announcement:

On May 10, 2023, Netflix posted a new image for the movie:

The May 10 article also had a new movie summary:

"When Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), a knight in a futuristic medieval world, is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, the only one who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), a mischievous teen with a taste for mayhem — who also happens to be a shape-shifting creature Ballister has been trained to destroy. But with the entire kingdom out to get him, Nimona’s the best (or technically the only) sidekick Ballister can hope for. And as the lines between heroes, villains and monsters start to blur, the two of them set out to wreak serious havoc — for Ballister to clear his name once and for all, and for Nimona to… just wreak serious havoc.   

Directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, Nimona is an epic tale about finding friendship in the most surprising situations and accepting yourself and others for who they are."

Netflix released another still on May 17, 2023. On May 18, they released their teaser, the movie's first poster, and the announcement of the June 30, 2023 general streaming release date!

Netflix also added a new preview image to the Nimona page on the app, featuring Ballister and Ambrosius facing off behind Nimona.

And Netflix started selling Nimona plushies! Amazon (and possibly other vendors) are also selling shirts/jackets with official movie art!

Netflix released more footage of the movie on May 24, 2023! (it's around 6:31 in the video).

Empire magazine released another still for the movie on June 7, 2023, as well as an article in their June 8, 2023 issue.

Variety released a new still on June 11, 2023.

Netflix released a new poster on Jun 13, 2023!

More stills were released in an Entertainment Weekly article on June 14, 2023. And Netflix released even more. More teasers were put up on the Netflix app (though these are quite spoilery, so I'd advise avoiding them). The cast and crew did press tours throughout June 2023.

Again, the Nimona movie fanwiki page has more detailed info on all this.

Has anyone else noticed how much generativists like to make use of unmarked relative clauses in their English examples, regardless of naturalness? So e.g. Adger (2020) 'Syntax and the failure of analogical generalization' can take a sentence like so:

Anson kept the picture in the shed.

Now, this sentence is supposed to be ambiguous between two structures: [Anson [kept the picture] in the shed] and [Anson kept [the picture in the shed]], and then there's some hooha about how analogical exemplar-based models would predict that 'Which shed did Anson keep the picture in?' is ambiguous between the two readings when in fact it can only be a question of the first reading, not the second, which is explained because you can't form a question from something inside a relative clause.

But those two readings are not equal at all in terms of predictability. The first is a common formation (which we might abstractly outline as [keep OBJECT] LOCATION) that any native speaker of English comes across frequently and thus can easily generalise on the basis of the high number of examples (I keep my tools in the shed, Keep the secret under your hat, The Prime Minister keeps the documents in a red case and so on). The second, however, is a highly marked reading that requires a good deal of contrivance and context to be accessible to me (e.g. During Anson's search around the property, in a number of rooms he came across pictures. Anson kept the picture in the shed, but threw away the ones in the living room and kitchen.), and even then it still seems off to me.

Adger himself points out that the second reading is equivalent to a longer form Anson kept the picture that was in the shed, with an expanded relative clause. However, he doesn't quite seem to understand how much of an issue this is for his critique of exemplar-based theories, because that is the construction I find far more natural to use with that meaning that the shorter form, whether because of reasons of frequency or in order to avoid the ambiguity that would otherwise arise from [Anson kept [the picture in the shed]]. If anything, an exemplar-based model therefore does predict that Which shed did Anson keep the picture in? has only one reading, because the corresponding affirmative construction is overwhelmingly more common and general than the alternative.

I'll also note here Dwight Bolinger's point about these kinds of sentences from back in 1972 (here as part of a response to Chomsky making basically the same points in a 1971 New Yorker article):

On the other hand, in the garage does not characterize car; it only locates. But in as a preposition is not necessarily just locative; the furniture in this house is the stuff that furnishes the house, and it is characterized by belonging there. Consequently *It's the garage that he owns the car in is unacceptable while It's the house that he owns the furniture in is acceptable. ... And in English there is a requirement of "close association" in at least some cases. Thus it is normal to say She ate the potatoes in the frying pan-never mind the fact that this is an invitation to a pun. But it is not normal-in fact it suggests a forced pun-to say *She digested the potatoes in the frying pan. Their having been in the frying pan is one step removed and is no longer relevant. Similarly while it is normal to say The thief stole the jewels in the safe, it is not normal to say *The thief sold the jewels in the safe. In the safe is a phrase which is connected to the time of the theft but not to the time of the sale. On the other hand, The owner sold the jewels in the safe is normal; for him, in the safe can easily be connected to the time of the sale.

(I'll again note that even the clauses that Bolinger marks as being normal are still a little odd to me, but the point still stands).

Yet again seeing that generativists, in trying to provide counter-evidence to models that reject their conceits reveal that they don't actually understand the models they are critiquing.

About the Authors of Emails from an Actor

From Letters from an Actor:

William Redfield made his first appearance on the stage in 1936 at the age of nine and has been acting ever since. He has appeared in a wide variety of roles in productions from Our Town to Out of This World, from Junior Miss to A Man for All Seasons. He has also been in a number of motion pictures, the latest of which is Fantastic Voyage. He is a charter member of The Actors Studio. Mr. Redfield is married and has two children. He lives in New York City.

We'll get to know Redfield very well through his writing, and he was well-known enough that he has a Wikipedia page as well as IMDB and IBDB pages with long lists of credits. That Our Town mentioned was the original 1938 production, in which he played Si Crowell. He also did a lot of radio work, including 80 episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater, many of which can be heard here and here. And here are some film clips:

Redfield died in 1976 at the age of 49.

From John Gielgud Directs Richard Burton in Hamlet:

Richard L. Sterne is an actor by profession, and his credits as a young actor are indeed impressive. A graduate of Northwestern Uni­versity, Mr. Sterne appeared on Broadway in John Gielgud’s produc­tion of Hamlet starring Richard Burton, obtaining first-hand the material for this book. He toured with the National Repertory Thea­tre under the directorship of Eva LeGallienne, appearing in Liliom and She Stoops to Conquer. Mr. Sterne also appeared with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, as well as other roles in Love’s Labours Lost and Henry the Fifth. He was narrator of the film Good Night, Socrates, which won first prize in the Venice Film Festival in 1963. Acting, however, is only one of Richard Sterne’s talents. A musician-composer, he was musical director for the Champlain Shakespeare Festival in Vermont in 1965, and composed some of the music used in Gielgud’s production of Hamlet. Mr. Sterne is now living in New York City with his wife, actress Joann Rose, and was recently in Euripides’ The Bacchants at Lin­coln Center.

We'll barely get to know Sterne through his book at all, which is a shame. He seems like an interesting person - I mean, he hid under a platform for six hours to secretly record two of the biggest stars in the world! Ah well. It's also hard to find information about his post-book life. He's on IMDB and IBDB, but apparently he hasn't done much screen or Broadway work. I did find a page for him on Backstage, with a recent headshot and Off-Broadway and regional credits. Looks like he was acting as recently as February 2020, alternating in the non-singing role of the Coroner in Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1982-83 he worked with Eva LeGallienne again in her Broadway revival of Alice in Wonderland, starring Kate Burton - Richard Burton's daughter - as Alice. Here's a photo from that!

He's on the left under that big mask. So here's a photo where you can actually see his face, from a 1982 production of Henry IV, Part 1:

Sterne was interviewed for an article about The Motive and the Cue in April 2023, and as far as I know, he's still alive.

And about the editor, who is not an actor but will always be a theatre kid at heart: Hi, I'm @bewareofitalics, I've decided I'm okay with being perceived! When I'm not sending emails from 1964, I do things like write fanfic, document the Twelfth Night productions I've seen live, make deliberately terrible fandom valentines (I have Emails-relevant plans for this year :D), and recommend (or not) random obscure musicals. As far as I know, I am also still alive.

‘Is blogging still relevant in the age of TikTok and Instagram?’

What is a blog? I believe that most of the youngsters now do not know what it is. The word blog is a combined version of the words “web” and ‘log” (Weiner 2023). A blog is like an online diary or online journal, following a blog is like getting to know someone or watching their life just like watching a television series. There are many types of blogs, like food blogs, travel blogs, lifestyles blogs, health and fitness blogs, sports blogs, fashion and beauty blogs, and others.

Back to our topic, is blogging still relevant in the age of TikTok and Instagram? I would say yes, blogging is still relevant in the age of TikTok and Instagram. Granted that most people now are using TikTok and Instagram, but according to the research (van Dijck 2013) every single day, millions of individuals interact through social media. In December 2011, 1.2 billion users worldwide, 82 percent of the world’s Internet population over age 15 logged on to a social media site, up from 6 percent in 2007 (van Dijck 2013).

Nowadays, many people still use blogs, not only self-publishers, journalists, writers, marketers, and businesspeople also using blogs. Blogs are a powerful tool for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Businesses can post blogs with some keywords to help them grow the flow.

The length of the content we write is one of the most important SEO variables in 2020 for ranking highly. According to Rioja (2020), if we write a blog article that we want to rank, we need to make sure we are going into as much detail as possible. If we did not write at least 1500–2000 words per post, we would not rank. The ability to post long-form content is a benefit of blogging in this situation. The Instagram caption length restriction is 2200 characters, which is roughly 338 to 440 words. Instagram posts short-form information as compared to blogging, thus we are limited in how detailed we can make our captions. Because of the word limit of social media, users do not have enough space to introduce themselves in detail, whereas in blogs, users can present themselves more comprehensively. Therefore, blogs remain an indispensable platform.

The fact that blogging is still important in the era of TikToks and Instagram is also due to the wide range of content. Text, photos, videos, graphics interchange formats, and other types of media can all be included in blogs. We are limited to choosing between posting pictures or videos on Instagram and TikTok, though. Furthermore, we are only allowed to upload ten images in each Instagram post, and videos can only be one minute in duration. We may upload the video as a reel if it lasts longer than one minute, however, only one video can be posted for each reel post. Blogging also can be a digital diary. As we mentioned before, because of the word limit, we cannot express our emotions. In the age of TikToks and Instagram, many people use blogs to record their lives, just like a diary. Furthermore, there are many ways to earn money from our blogs. Some of the most popular ways to monetise include offering content by subscription, display advertisement, affiliate marketing, sponsorship, online courses, and eBooks (Shwake 2023). These monetised ways are quite easy compared to earning money on Instagram and TikToks. Instagrammers and TikTokers earn money in a few ways such as setting up an online shop, partnerships with other businesses, or live streaming. For me, we can earn money from blogs in a cosy and freedom style, as many people also earn money from their blogs, plogs, and vlogs. Instead of using Instagram or TikTok, most of them still choose to blog because it offers multiple monetisation avenues.

Lastly, despite TikTok and Instagram, blogging is still relevant today. Blogging is still vital even if many new social media platforms have grown up and may even be trying to mimic blogs. Additionally, a lot of people say that blogs are the ideal medium for expressing our emotions and making money. Also, I believe the blog is a great place for kids to improve themselves, as there is a lot of unhealthy content on TikTok and Instagram. I would not say there is not any toxic stuff on blogs, but as of right now, I have not seen any.

List of References

Jill Walker Rettberg 2013, Blogging, 2nd Edition., John Wiley & Sons, viewed 1 October 2023 <https://swinburnesarawak.instructure.com/courses/839/files/73195/download?verifier=7BsJ2Kl9b5O6ujtXzoGnueJ327TJYLfniNv80uSO&wrap=1>. Rioja, A 2020, What is SEO? Learn the Basics of Search Engine Optimization [2020], alejandrorioja.com, viewed 29 September 2023, <https://alejandrorioja.com/what-is-seo/>. Shwake, E 2023, How To Monetize a Blog in 2023 in 7 Effective Steps, Wix Blog, viewed 30 September 2023, <https://www.wix.com/blog/how-to-monetize-blog#:~:text=There%20are%20many%20ways%20to>. van Dijck, J 2013, Engineering Sociality in a Culture of Connectivity, Oxford University Press, New York, viewed 29 September 2023, <https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=457be821-4029-3b2e-87da-72784dc1f978>. Weiner, A 2023, What is a blog? Definition, types, benefits and why you need one, Wix Blog, viewed 1 October 2023, <https://www.wix.com/blog/what-is-a-blog>.

Hello and happy El WooWoo to you all. Thank you @aroace-genderfluid-sheep​ for the tag back and @you-remind-me-of-the-babe​‘s tag just arrived in my activity box!

Surprise, it is Thesis Wednesday after all! I know I said last Sunday that it’s going to be thesis free here, but to my dismay I found another Darling That I Might Have To Kill:

As indicated earlier, the term "queer women" is used instead of "lesbians". This is because there are more sexual identities than homosexuality. Yet homosexuality is the most common depicted in media (Bond, 2015; Sender, 2011). Bisexuals and pansexuals are depicted less because they threaten binary ideas about identity. This is why bisexuality is often portrayed as “one or the other” (Allen, 2022). Bisexual women are still portrayed as prone to cheating (Diamond, 2005). Asexuals are almost completely invisible, or they are not taken seriously by the media (Chen, 2020). Most of the characters are cisgender (Nölke, 2018) and trans women who appear in the media are often victims of (sexual) violence (Abbott, 2022) or they’re seen as a threat to cis women (Gill-Peterson, 2023). There has been improvement in recent years, with TV series such as Pose, starring trans women of color (Joyrich, 2022), but several articles indicate that there is still much room for improvement and argue for intersectionality (Annati & Ramsey, 2022 ; DeCeuninck & Dhoest, 2016; Rodriguez, 2019; Yue, 2014).

Basically, like other Kill Your Darlings, thesis edition, I don’t have to fully get rid of it. I just need to shorten it. This has proven to be quite difficult, since I think all information is relevant. Same can be said here with this snippet. But I guess I will have to cut out all from “Bisexuals and pansexuals...” to “... media (Chen, 2020)”, so that the core still stands: other sexualities are underrepresented.

The conflicting thing is that on one hand my advisor tells me to trim most of my theoretical background down (I mean, it is indeed too long), but on the other hand I need to show what the literature says about the core statements that I am presenting. This conflict is bigger with previous snippets that I have shared, but ugh, that is the pain of being limited to a thesis format. Might fuck around and obtain a PhD after all, only so that I have more room to include stuff. (That is a joke, I am not sure if I want to do a PhD.)

Anyway, I have also started the interviews. I had two today. Two more tomorrow. Two more on Friday... and so on. I need to transcribe a lot but the good news is that I genuinely love it. I absolutely enjoy hearing other people’s opinions on it. The two interviews of today also felt, well, inspiring almost. It was so nice. Aaaah.

The Dutch version, + a fun gif + the weather under the cut.

And now, te weather: @quizasvivamos​ @blurglesmurfklaine​ @coffeegleek​ @esperantoauthor @otherworldsivelivedin @caramelcoffeeaddict​ @sillyunicorn @bazzybelle @dragoneggos @raenestee @tectonicduck @nightimedreamersworld @urban-sith @thnxforknowingme​ @captain-aralias​@takitalks @justgleekout​ @cerriddwenluna​ @tea-brigade @ivelovedhimthroughworse @moodandmist @whogaveyoupermission @bookish-bogwitch @confused-bi-queer​ @ionlydrinkhotwater @1908jmd​ @special-bc-ur-part-of-it​ @larkral @chen-chen-chen-again-chen​ @cutestkilla​​ @nausikaaa​/@wellbelesbian​ @artsyunderstudy​​ @martsonmars​​ @facewithoutheart​​ @shrekgogurt @boyinjeans​

Old news but unfortunately still relevant

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israelis were united in their fight against Hamas, whom he described as an enemy of incomparable cruelty. “They are committed to completely eliminating this evil from the world,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew. He then added: “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.”

Joshua Shanes, a professor of Jewish Studies at the College of Charleston, explained that the biblical animosity toward the Amalekites stems from what is described as the merciless ambush they launched against vulnerable Israelites making their way to the promised land. The attack leads God to tell Moses to wipe out Amalek. Hundreds of years later, Saul nearly fulfills the command by killing all Amalekite men, women, and children. But he spares their king, who keeps his people barely alive by having a child. Many more generations later, one of his descendants, the villain Haman, goes on to develop a plot to kill all the Jews living in exile under a Persian ruler. The lesson, when read literally, is clear: Saul’s failure to kill every Amalekite posed an existential threat to the Jewish people.

Jews traditionally hear the story of the Amalek ambush and God’s decree that they be eliminated on the Shabbat service before the holiday of Purim.

The Brooklyn-born extremist Baruch Goldstein also saw Palestine as Amalek. In 1994, he slaughtered 29 Muslims praying at a mosque in Hebron, a city in the occupied West Bank that is sacred to Jews and Muslims. Goldstein carried out the massacre on Purim, one week after he would have heard the biblical retelling of the command to wipe out a rival nation. As the journalist Peter Beinart and others have written, the timing was not a coincidence.   

Goldstein’s grave has become a pilgrimage site for the Israeli far right. His tomb says he died of “clean hands and pure heart.” Goldstein’s admirers have included Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s current minister of national security. For Purim, a holiday on which Jews sometimes wear costumes, Ben-Gvir dressed as Goldstein on multiple occasions in his youth. He kept a picture of Goldstein in his living room until 2020. He has an extensive criminal record that includes convictions for supporting a terrorist organization and inciting racism.

The article ends with a shit ass "but we cant call the current conflict a genocide" as if indiscriminately bombing ppl for several weeks and murdering tens of thousands of civilians isn't genocide...

You and I do not agree on a pretty big aspect of Louis’ life but goddamn if some people from my neck of the woods don’t bury their heads in the sand about this situation. Maybe he should give up music and start a parenting podcast because that seems to be the real priority 🙃

No, but a point that I have been trying to make for years now is that whether you believe it’s real or not, the situation is still abnormal—and detrimental—and has been from the start.

Let’s not get into 2016, but a birthday cake was brought out for Freddie during JHO promo, that’s how far back this goes in being indivisible from how Louis is “promoted” in his solo career. BTY was launched with an exclusive in The Sun—this was the headline: Louis Tomlinson pictured smiling and laughing with girlfriend Eleanor Calder on break from filming his new music video in Doncaster; followed by a round of press about Freddie on his IG, and then an interview with Dan Wootton. Soon after there was an actual round of press about the E tattoo too after an “interview” with Andy Cohen that had four questions: about Zayn, 1D, Eleanor, and fatherhood. For his first ever UK festival performance debuting MY, the host radio station’s article was headlined: Louis Tomlinson talks about hs similarities to baby Freddie. One random verse about his non-famous girlfriend in WMI was highlighted for promo. For Walls album there were exclusive interviews with Telegraph, Metro, Sun, Independent—with content focused on his personal life and 1D reunion(!)—instead of features in relevant magazines. When fans made Walls chart again months after release there was immediately a new round of mini-me press—after the round about the picture shared by Briana on Father’s Day. In a year in which he released his first album, started and postponed his tour, and organized a record winning livestream concert, his main press was still about fatherhood. The latest Dutch interview is representative of too much of Louis’ promo: In Milan I spoke to Louis Tomlinson about his new album ‘Faith in the future’, his world tour, his son Freddie and of course about One Direction, and the article reads [loosely] ’the name Louis Tomlinson might not tell you anything, until I say 1D’ and then in a video of two minutes over half is about 1D and Freddie. Look at what TODAY Show has to say about Louis, August 2022: Tomlinson, known for his pranks and overall great vibes he brought to the band, also went solo after 1D stopped making music together. The singer released his first solo single, "Just Like You" in 2017, and followed it in 2020 with his first full studio album, “Walls." He also has a 5-year-old son, Freddie, who he co-parents with his ex, Briana Jungwirth. A line about his solo career with the wrong single. And fatherhood—and it will never make any sense why the non-famous mother should get name dropped all over the place.

You can find Louis in an article like Dad Admits He ‘Cannot Stand’ His 5-Year-Old Daughter, Hates Being a Parent under 'Stars Who Had Kids Young,' but not in a ranking of best solo singles from 1D members on Entertainment Weekly.

Louis has said he wants to be known as an artist, literally told an interviewer he was there to talk about his music—and she agreed, only to end the interview asking him about Freddie. And while there are artists whose parenthood is part of their image and included in promo, they are always known first and foremost as artists. That is not the case with Louis.

It’s not exaggeration to say almost every single interview and article over the years has made sure to mention that Freddie lives in LA with his mother, Briana Jungwirth. How is that interesting, how is that relevant, how is it something that bears continuous repeating? Same with the insistence on Freddie being identical to him—especially when for four years they were not even seen together. Article upon article—seriously, so many articles—about Freddie, and where they had to use pics he hadn’t shared himself and in which they weren’t together. How does that make sense?

Now he goes on Lorraine and not a breath between: as somebody who writes songs, somebody who performs, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it. I can’t believe your little boy is six. Though that makes sense for the show’s audience, I guess. Note BTM has only kept going down in the charts after the interview aired. Were there even performances booked in the UK?

Whatever you believe, the disproportion is abnormal, strategically unsound, and at odds with the goals and views Louis has expressed regarding his career and his privacy.

The focus on his personal life—and 1D—has made it so that it defines him to the public—we know interviewers were encouraged to ask for BTY promo, and what for? It’s done nothing to make people interested in his music. And it’s been years, why would people be any more interested now? In 2019 too you had interviewers asking about fatherhood as though it were something that had just happened to him, three years later, a novel talking point.

And how does promoting him as a tabloid personality fit in with an artist intent on building his artistic credibility, reintroducing himself as an artist defined by his music? Does it not undermine the artistic credibility he might gather with, like, that NME feature on his festival?

Won’t let this get any longer, but the situation has never and continues not to be normal and certainly not beneficial to Louis. And I would think any fan as a fan of his music, whatever they believe, would want better for him.