Howie ❤️

Howard Charles ❤️

Howie ❤️

Howard Charles 💗

I reckon Porthos was the quiet hero? of the quartet of Musketeers. Or he was underrated anyway. The others all get talked about for various reasons; but Porthos often gets overlooked. But he was a workhorse; a reliable generalist and a great strategist. You could always depend on him. It was often him that would see a plan before anybody else. Or danger. S3 of MUSKETEERS was a mishmash, but it was nice to see the Porthos character get his just desserts. Especially as Dumas' Porthos did well in the army and so did the real life Porthos that he was based on.

Porthos ❤️

“A gargantuan figure blessed with the greatest lightness.” My character grew up in the Court of Miracles, which is the 17th-century version of the modern-day ghetto. There were 12 in Paris and the one I grew up in was the biggest and the worst.I don’t know who my father is, my mother died when I was five, so then I basically had to fend for myself. Got into trouble here and there, I was a street thief, you know, a hustler of sorts. But also a romantic, someone who was in need of a family unit and love. The reason why the musketeers regiment is so important for Porthos is that it is the only family he’s ever known. There’s an amazing amount of passion and pride for Porthos in being a musketeer. The Fleur De Lis that he wears on his shoulder guard means the world to him. That brotherhood. 

Fraternity, loyalty, equality - those things are very important to Porthos. 

I liken Porthos to a human hurricane - on the inside, the eye of the storm, you’ll find peace, serenity, beauty… cross him or those he loves, the Musketeers, and you will find yourself in a tempest of discomfort. “

-Howard Charles

Porthos ❤️

Porthos is having a bad day

I just can't resist that smile...

Porthos ❤️

So yesterday, I had a nap and dreamed that Porthos and Aramis were arguing that ended with Porthos shouting "You want to kiss me so bad it makes you stupid" (Yes, Tumblr has rotten my brain)

Now it is my new conspiracy theory that the real reason Aramis was so stupid throughout the show was because he wanted to kiss Porthos

Mike, my sweet Mike ❤️

Random pics of Howard Charles from “Whitstable Pearl “ season 2 😀

My beloved Porthos ❤️

howard charles as porthos du vallon in the musketeers

My beloved Porthos ❤️

Musketeers

Aramis, Athos, d’Artagnan, Porthos 😀

Porthos!

okay! So, Porthos is a little out of character this series, no? Him saying ‘there is always a choice’ to Clementine’s claim of stealing out of necessity, irritable with Sylvie for standing up to bullying, emptying much-needed grain onto the floor. You know. All those caring, careful Porthos things. I have an explanation. 

Porthos is weary, this series, especially these first two episodes. He walks away from confrontations, instead of throwing himself enthusiastically into them. When Athos tells them to search Saint-Antoine, for example, and Aramis fights it while Porthos just does as he’s told. When he tells the grain master, who says ‘I have never killed a musketeer’, ‘and you never will’ he sounds… tired of it fed up. 

It reads, to me, as if Porthos has been to war. As if ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ are no longer such certain things in his mind. That fighting is more duty than joy, now. It also reads, to me, as if… Howard Charles has always played Porthos as gentle. We all agree that Porthos is gentle, but if you look at this scenes he’s given, it’s almost always his fighting that is highlighted. His brutality. I think it’s H Charles’ acting that twists that and turns Porthos into an inversion of it. Porthos in the novel is brute strength and relative stupidity. He’s a good man, who likes fighting, and is ridiculously strong. It is H Charles who really brings that kindness and softness to his character. I think that’s important here. 

Porthos says he could never give up soldiering, and clearly demonstrates on more than one occasion that he loves it. Perhaps, though, we can read into that in other ways. When he is a soldier, his skill is celebrated, he is respected, he is looked up to. He embraces people’s perception of him as violent, and uses it. He keeps his strategic mind and cleverness to himself. I am, by the way, talking about race, here. I don’t want to talk about it a lot, but the violence and brutality of Porthos feeds uncomfortably into the common perception of black men. As a soldier, Porthos utilises that perception. Whether it’s a-historical, something the writers and directors meant, something H Charles did, I dunno. I think that Porthos’ ‘I could never give up soldiering’, and ‘praise and glory are two of my favourite things’ are linked. Earning respect and position is something Porthos wants, needs, enjoys. 

I think in series three we need to see Porthos renegotiate that. He needs to be given space where he can be both respected and gentle, a soldier and clever. We need to see him re-find his center, his morality. He needs to find his right and wrong. I do mean ‘his’, as well. Morality, right, wrong. They’re subjective. We see Porthos give in, I think, to an extent, to other people’s morality. We hear other opinions on his lips. We see him adhere to duty, and we see him accept with a calm weariness that he is good for fighting. We see his intelligence, but it’s not clear that he does. 

This is my reading of it, of his character and of the episode. It’s not necessarily correct or subjective, but this is how I find ‘my’ Porthos, as it were, in these actions. I am glad that Porthos got his own ‘story’, in this episode. I am disappointed that instead of focusing on his intelligence in discovering and tracking the grain, instead the majority of screen-time was given to him fighting. Again. I like watching him fight, he’s good at it, but I would like to see more of his kindness and gentleness, that I keep going on about, but H Charles plays it very well, adding that dimension to Porthos which the scripts seem to ignore. 

[tagging @canadiangarrison because it’s she who brought the inconsistency of character to my attention]

Howie!

We should totally talk about how H Charles plays the scene after Treville gets shot in ‘A Marriage of Inconvenience’, when Lemay and Aramis are operating. Because Porthos has all of two lines, but he does so much in the background. He’s uncertain which we so rarely see from Porthos. He sits down, stands up, hovers, isn’t sure where to put his hands. He rests his hands on his sword. His fingers tap. There’s a moment where he reaches for Treville and then pulls back. 

While Lemay is draining Treville’s lungs, Porthos makes the face above, and then looks so relieved (picture three). When Lemay says Treville is going to be okay, Porthos sort of trips over himself getting around the table to be near Treville’s head. The others play the scene well, and I love Porthos anyway, but I’ve just gotta give kudos to HC for doing so much and conveying so much. 

Also, we should totally be really happy about the end, when Athos strides off to do his thing, and Porthos holds out his hand. Into which Aramis places his sword. The three of them know each other so obviously, here. Athos says ‘stay here’ so Porthos follows. Obviously.

“I love Howard Charles”, that’s for sure!

I’m gonna come clean, I love Howard Charles…so I’m 100% biased here. He’s basically the world’s cutest bulldog in human form, and I just want someone to pick this character up and flirt with all the ladies (and men, if that’s your thing). In any case, what I have here is the marshal of the count’s court perhaps? An amiable guy that people just seem to like, and who likes people in return. The type of guy to charm a criminal right into a confession, and then throw the book at them…to the rack with him! I also have his sister coming up if you like, a twin perhaps who compliments his fun-loving nature with stringent duty. When separated, the two can go to opposite extremes to their detriment, but together they work perfectly.

“A gargantuan figure blessed with the greatest lightness.” My character grew up in the Court of Miracles, which is the 17th-century version of the modern-day ghetto. There were 12 in Paris and the one I grew up in was the biggest and the worst.I don’t know who my father is, my mother died when I was five, so then I basically had to fend for myself. Got into trouble here and there, I was a street thief, you know, a hustler of sorts. But also a romantic, someone who was in need of a family unit and love. The reason why the musketeers regiment is so important for Porthos is that it is the only family he’s ever known. There’s an amazing amount of passion and pride for Porthos in being a musketeer. The Fleur De Lis that he wears on his shoulder guard means the world to him. That brotherhood. 

Fraternity, loyalty, equality - those things are very important to Porthos. 

I liken Porthos to a human hurricane - on the inside, the eye of the storm, you’ll find peace, serenity, beauty… cross him or those he loves, the Musketeers, and you will find yourself in a tempest of discomfort. “

-Howard Charles

Howie!

Howie!

Avatars 200x320; Howard Charles