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larrylimericks · 1 year

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23Mar23

We’re feeling some internal friction At silver screen Louis’ depiction; All the world is a stage But it’s hard to engage When plot lines combine fact and fiction.

I get really rambly below the fold. Proceed with caution if you’re over the discourse already.

I debated seeing All of Those Voices in theaters. I didn’t see either of Harry’s films in theaters — Harries are too much of a wildcard, and I refused to sit through hours of squeals and gasps and reactions, not to the movie but to “omg! Harry’s going down on someone! omg, Harry’s bum!” So I was already tentative about seeing Louis’ film in a shared space, outside the protective silos of tumblr. But I bought a ticket, because I want to support him and because I was genuinely curious what story would be told. Then we got the trailer and I hesitated again, not wanting to watch a propaganda film. But, I’ve lived through all the other Bullshit moments, so I figured I could live through Bullshit on the big screen.

My theater crowd was great — pretty neutral aside from an amusing row of politely excitable Larries I was in secret solidarity with. And I pretty much loved the film. Well, 92% of it. I look forward to watching it again when it streams. I mean, it was an hour and a half of content featuring this fascinating creature we’re all obsessed with. I didn’t want to blink. I hung on his every word (when I could understand them). How cool to get, essentially, a long-form interview, where he’s not promoting an album and we’re not getting the same sound bytes. Louis is wonderfully open and vulnerable, and the story of his life (heh) is inherently compelling. The cinematography is beautiful. The behind-the-scenes are delightful and delicious. I can’t wait for the AOTV gif sets once we have it in high-def.

But it has some plot holes as wide and deep as the ones in Don’t Worry Darling.

First, there’s the confusing (to the uninformed) absence of a love interest. Louis is asexual, as far as the film goes. There’s not even a ghost of Eleanor, with whom he’s cumulatively spent a decade and who is supposed to have inspired so many great love songs and with whom he is supposed to have survived a pandemic. Props to E for living her best life now: going to see Scream on AOTV opening day, enjoying full custody of the pups, publicly supporting her assumed partner — sorry you got Kiki Layned from the film, but I’m guessing you weren’t even written into the script. (It’s not like the film was conveniently re-edited in the months since their break-up. Her stunt tapering was intentional.)

Then there’s the glaring absence of a baby mama (thank god; that family would have been even more insufferable). We’re cruising along for 45 minutes or so and then, wham, Dad!Louis enters the chat with a fully formed 6-year-old child. The kid just magically appears with no backstory — just like in real life ... twice (the first time with the pregnancy announcement and the second time with the revival of Dad!Louis after several years of dormancy, right in time for documentary filming. Just like Harry stunted with his co-star during filming and production, Louis stunted with his.)

The kid is cute, and faultless in this. The scenes are objectively sweet (as they were designed to be). But Louis, who normally keeps things very close to the vest, is all of a sudden an emotional spigot you can’t turn off when it comes to these scenes. It seems quite out of character. Which brings back to mind that this Louis *is* a character. The Freddie scenes just didn’t seem to have a point in the plot other than: Louis is a dad. And that role isn’t integral to the film’s story.

He’s incredibly emotional with Freddie, but the movie doesn’t tell us why. The storytelling gets lazy here. The lad/dad plot seems wedged in. The movie would be perfectly complete without it. I felt like it could have been integrated a few different ways: Louis experienced tragedy after tragedy after tragedy — loses 1D, loses his mum, loses his sister ... and then impending fatherhood either becomes another trial he must reluctantly face (in the surprise pregnancy narrative) or it helps him navigate the grief of losing his sole parent, his closest confidante. OR, Louis, not wanting to be like the absentee father he had, shows up for his own oopsie baby despite the unexpected circumstances. But there’s no exposition or rising action. No footage or photos from the first few years of the kid’s life that we haven’t already seen. Just an immaculate conception.

I think the most compelling narratives of the film are these:

Louis’ overcoming adversity after adversity after adversity. Holy hell. I lived through 1D ending, through the devastating news about Jay (god, I remember the shock and sadness of that day — it was incomprehensible), through the heartbreaking news about Fizzy, and then when you think Louis is gonna get his moment of victory with his first solo world tour, coronavirus pulls the rug out. (That sequence was well done: where we keep seeing the dates get closer and closer to March 2020, and we all know the villain that’s coming, but it’s still such a blow.) I lived through all that in real time, but seeing it in such a concentrated sequence really highlights the shit he’s been dealt, and hearing him open up about so much of it ... that’s the character development relevant to the film’s denouement. And getting to see Louis get what he deserves, finally, and hearing him acknowledge that he deserves it, was a lovely ending.

Louis’ journey to find his footing and his confidence as a solo artist after unfathomable success as part of a group. But, in a sort of plot twist, he’s not really solo, is he? The film gives a lovely introduction to his band now — and in their own words, reveals that they’re not just a backing band, they’re a *band* band. Louis has let them in. He’s forged a new brotherhood. *That*, for me, was the heartwarming story. I loved those scenes, loved seeing Louis in his element, which is in a collective, where he is both king and jester at the same time. (Or perhaps Oli’s the jester. Thank fuck for him, man. Oli is the standout. The breakthrough performance. The comic relief. I want a spinoff series.) It’s easy to miss 1D and glorify those short years and think nothing will ever top it, but Charlie’s storytelling of the LT Band is remarkable. We’re left looking forward, not back.

I know Louis’ dedication to his fans and his fans’ dedication to him is a huge focus, but I don’t really enjoy watching commentaries on fandoms I’m a part of. I’m living it. I don’t need outsider context. And in a fandom as fractured as Louis’ (and 1D’s) there’s not a universal experience. The film depicts dedication as sleeping on streets for rail, hopping from country to country and draining bank accounts — because that’s the kind of “superfandom” that gets easily turned into a marketable freak show. Show me the documentary on the fans who organize the light projects, who run the fashion accounts, who curate livestream sources on show nights, who have turned giffing into an art and science, who help promote Louis in the absence of a competent marketing team, etc., etc. I also thought the interview with the American(?) girls talking about LATAM shows was shortsighted. And showing the rainbow factions but not addressing them? What a missed opportunity to talk about songs like Only the Brave becoming a queer anthem. Straight artists can have gay fans, you know.

But the film doesn’t make the kid relevant to any of those storylines. He could have been worked into the first, but wasn’t. It was like a standalone narrative, with footage from a narrow set of days. I was at both those L.A. shows. The energy was so different from night 1 to 2. And in retrospect it’s clear Louis was performing the first night so Charlie could get the right shots. More like a choreographed play than a rock concert. It makes sense now why the Clarks weren’t in the VIP box with Freddie — couldn’t have them cluttering the frame or distracting the actors. Just, everything about the Freddie scenes is heavy-handed. Make a sign for your dad! Draw his logo in the sand! Fly a kite at sunset! He’s the spitting image of Louis! (Len does all the heavy lifting.) And all the maneuvering it had to take to get all those shots from the L.A. show?! In the VIP box from behind (and from the front, and when he just happens to be mouthing along to Two Of Us), side stage watching Louis end the show, on-stage watching Louis approach Freddie after the show, on-stage catching the moment Louis gives the lad a shout-out ... Charlie had a shot list. But sure, nothing was set up, it was totally organic.

I’m still unsettled by how heavily Charlie laid it on at the first premiere press conference — *he* was the one to bring up the kid, and was weirdly emphatic that nothing was staged, nothing was forced. It had the same energy of the “It’s. Not. Real” thrown baby doll moment, only it’s Charlie insisting that It. Is. Real. Thou dost protest too much, me thinks.

And of course, the lack of interaction between Louis and Harry remains, as ever, the biggest tell. We get poignant post-1D Nouis and Lilo moments in the film, but no Larry. We’re spoon-fed these Very Emotional Moments between father and son (“love you,” “Darling,” mouth kisses), when the real story, the real emotion, the real connection is in just a few seconds of furtive glances between Harry and Louis in the backstage footage of the last 1D performance. Christ, the way Harry’s eyes bore into Louis — chin tilted down, eyes glancing up from beneath a furrowed brow, lips tight, disguising his attentiveness with a hair flip ... they mastered so many forms of silent communication. The quiet call and response, the depths of love and care and concern and protection contained in micro-expressions. Fuck, give me 90 minutes of that. Just a silent film of Louis and Harry looking at each other.

Anyway. Sorry this sounds so grumpy. I did really love most of the movie. But I haven’t made sense of why this film was made. I don’t know its purpose. Maybe the introspection forced by the pandemic lockdown is to credit for this glut of music docs (“docs”) lately. Maybe nine minutes frees him up for nine more months or nine more years. I dunno. He obviously wanted this story told in this way.

Seeing a movie requires the willing suspension of disbelief. You have to ignore critical thinking in order to enjoy the story you’re being told. You tune out your knowledge that everything is fake for the sake of being entertained. We know that Superman can’t actually fly, but we still buy tickets to the cinema. But, a documentary shouldn’t require us to employ this semi-conscious perceiving mode. Yet here we are. I’m just not sure how much more or how much longer we can suspend our disbelief to enjoy fandom.

#larry #louis #louis tomlinson #all of those voices #aotv #stunts #babygate #bbg #spoilers #aotv spoilers #limerick-lt #march 22 #2023

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lulublack90 · 1 month

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Prompt 22 - Mountain

@jegulus-microfic March 22 Word count 854

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James was fretting. It couldn’t be a good thing that both Black parents were at Grimmauld Place. He worried when Regulus was at Death Eater meetings as Voldemort was liberal with his use of the Cruciatus curse when his followers displeased him, but at least Regulus had a house to go to and didn’t have to keep up the facade for long. But with Orion and Walburga, he would always have to be on guard. Then there was also the selfish side that James tried not to think about too much. With Lord and Lady Black in residence, Regulus would never be able to slip away and see him, and James had gotten used to seeing him on a regular basis, what with all their adventures and Thestral meetings.

Sirius, on the other hand, was trying to convince himself that everything was absolutely fine because if he didn’t, he was going to end up breaking the door down of number 12 and yank his boyfriend and his brother out.

For now, though, James had to calm himself as they had an order meeting. No one else in the order knew about their true mission apart from Dumbledore and Mad-Eye.

Most of the Order was already sitting at the long table of whoever’s house they were using. James knew better than to ask. He and Sirius took their seats and chattered with the members they were friendly with. Frank and his new wife Alice sat quietly, whispering to each other and by the blush that kept creeping across Frank's cheeks, James didn’t want to disturb them. Mary had no such qualms.

“Oi, Alice, stop telling Frank what you’re going to do to him after the meeting and say hello.” It was Alice’s turn to blush.

“Sorry, honeymoon period.” She giggled sweetly. “How is everyone?”

James had to grit his jaw as Peter greeted him, chatting happily about his promotion within the Ministry. Sirius kept a tight hold of his arm under the table to keep him from ripping Pettigrew apart. They had to keep that secret. They’d deal with him in the end.

Lily wandered in just as Mary finished telling everybody about the disastrous cake she’d tried to make.

“Nearly burnt the flat down. I don’t know how Mum does it.”

James slipped her a note as she settled herself into her seat. He didn’t think anyone had seen as they were still enraptured in Mary’s description of the insanely fit fireman who turned up after she panicked and forgot she was a witch.

“Right, can we get started then?” Mad-Eye grunted, stopping all talk of the way the fireman’s biceps stretched his t-shirt so much that Mary was surprised it didn’t just rip apart. “So, I’ve gathered you all here because—” He was interrupted by Marlene banging the door off the wall as she entered late.

“You’ve got exactly 20 minutes of my time, Mad-Eye. Dorcas is waiting for me, and she’s said she’ll start without me if I’m not back on time.” James watched as Alastor Moody closed his eye and took a few deep breaths before he confronted Marlene.

“McKinnon, you’re late. Sit down and listen up.” His growling words were barely audible, but everyone in the room heard them. Marlene hurried over to Mary and took her place around the table. “Right as I was saying.” He glared at Marlene, who wasn’t embarrassed in the least. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a spy.” The room went silent.

Dumbledore had already told him they needed to alert the others that there was a spy. They needed the other members to be more careful with what information they told whom and more secretive with where they were talking. Dumbledore didn’t want to reveal that they knew it was Peter, but he wanted to limit what true information he was able to glean from the others.

James watched as Peter squirmed in his seat. He wanted so badly to just out him now and let the order have at him. But he knew how much Dumbledore wanted to use him. It made his blood boil.

Moody had a list of new rules that had to be followed in the letter. They were now under strict instructions not to tell even other order members what any of their assignments involved. “Now get out,” Moody ordered once the meeting was over. “I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to get through, and you’re all keeping me from it."

“I wish we could go to Evan’s.”James huffed at Sirius once they’d left the meeting, “I need Barty to describe his plan on how to deal with Peter.” The bubbling anger was still just beneath the surface, and he was having trouble keeping it in. If Sirius had had his dog ears at that moment, they would have perked up. He suddenly apparated, leaving James standing alone in the alleyway entrance.

A few moments later, Sirius’s dog patronus appeared. It opened its mouth, and Sirius’s voice called out. “Come on, loser, we’re waiting.” James felt the smile spread across his face as he apparated to Rosier House.

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