Before Portrait: a baby gay Marianne?

One of the things that I wonder about in Portrait of a Lady on Fire is whether Marianne has any prior experience of being attracted to girls/women. It's not mentioned in the film where Marianne comes from (Paris?) as far as I know, but given her profession as an artist, I imagine that she has more flexibility in meeting different kinds of people across the social hierarchy than Heloise. Today's post is a mini comic about Marianne, and an exploration of her younger days. In this scenario, she's about eleven or twelve years old. The title was inspired by the first line of Endymion, a poem by John Keats: 'A thing of beauty is a joy forever.' (In case you're unfamiliar with the story, Endymion is a shepherd and a demigod (yep, one of Zeus' many offspring) from Ancient Greek mythology, who is known for his legendary beauty. The Titan Goddess of the Moon, Selene, falls in love with him, and asks Zeus to grant him eternal youth. Zeus does this by making Endymion fall asleep. FOREVER!)

With that out of the way, I present to you A Thing of Beauty. Enjoy!

And there we have it! Hope this mini-comic brightened your day, and thank you so much for reading! Talk to you again soon! Much love, Rose P.S. Do you think that Marianne drew more French girls? :D P.P.S. Marianne is right-handed (not left), and I drew it wrong T-T