Ramblings of the Blue Vamp Painter

She was dreaming and the whole world was painted in blue

[ihateornithologists]

(nine inch nails hurt)

note: i started drawing this before s3 so obviously no s3 events are included (and honestly idgaf)

based on a friend's comment on one of my older posts hhskskj i accidentally quoted this song and then decided i should do it not accidentally..

[sondergeist]

The Shapeshifter Armand…

“I think I might be a room without walls, a floor, a ceiling… An infinite nothing.” There’s a lot of symbolism in this one, I’ll probably do a full breakdown later :D

[sondergeist]

Ok I typed up my breakdown of this piece and got a bit carried away. Part artistic analysis, part character study, sometimes prosaic, sometimes poetic. A mix of how Armand sees himself, how others see him, how viewers see him and my own perspective on it all (this is a disclaimer).

It’s a bit stream of consciousness at times, and longer than I expected, but I tried to structure it best I could. If anything’s not clear I’ll try my best to clarify :’)

Full post under the cut:

The Gremlin. The Coven Master. The Soldier. The Monster.

Based on gargoyle and grotesque faces. A creature adorning a religious structure. They are said to be visual warnings of sinful behaviour, sometimes representing souls condemned for their sins, eternally punished in hell.

Others suggest they are agents of the devil acting on behalf of God. A soldier for Satan. The Children of Darkness. This is the form that will stand the test of time. This form is fortified. Armoured. Able to protect itself. Strong. Powerful.

And must be retrained. Hidden. It is shameful. An abomination in the eyes of God. Dangerous. Unlovable. But it is not restrained here. Its features are distorted, scrunched up, unhinged jaw, fangs drawn, horns sprouting from its skull.

There are no openings for eyes, no window to the soul.

It is frozen in stone, frozen in time, locked in intensity. I tried to keep the expression ambiguous. Is it an anguished scream? Manic laughter? A shouted command? A creature lunging to attack its prey? Lashing out? A snarl, a warning to stay back? To stay away before I hurt you?

This is the last thing Riccardo saw. The lost cause that made Marius give up on Amadeo. The creature that repels everyone, repulses everyone, most of all Armand. This is vampirism. This is the monstrous existence he wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Amadeo. The Muse. The Temptation. Beloved of God.

Based on Venetian Carnival masks, specifically the “gnaga” mask, worn by male sex workers to avoid being arrested for homosexual acts. According to Venetian law at the time, wearing a mask meant becoming the mask, playing a role, and the person under the mask couldn’t be held liable for anything they did.

Gnaga would make “meowing” sounds to entice passers by. Amadeo is often viewed as a tease, a devilish manipulator corrupting the otherwise good and righteous men around him. (Amadeo had a skill.)

I went back and forth on making it a human (whitewashed) mask like the reference on the right, but decided to go with this. There is a lot of symbolic meaning simply in it being a cat mask. Cats are domesticated animals. Kept as pets. Marius sees himself as having saved Amadeo from his savage nature. Groomed him to be the perfect companion.

Or maybe a stray creature to tame? A possession to be displayed, passed around? An extension of others, unable to be seem fully as a person. Beautiful. Delicate. Tempting. Requires discipline and teaching. Whitewashing and romanticising. Saving from himself.

The mask has no mouth to voice any objections. Ought to be seen but not heard. No discernible expression (all the easier to see whatever you want to see, to project whatever you want it to be, to paint however you want to remember it).

It is elevated in the line up. Pedestaled by Marius, but doomed to fall from grace. Pedestaled by Armand, as a good time in his life. This was when I was loved. This was safety. This was more than I deserved but I long for it anyway. This is what I will search for in everything.

Arun. The Boy. The Slave. The Wound. The Beginning.

Loosely based on Kushmandi Gomira masks, from West Bengal. They are worn during ritual dances to invoke benevolent forces and ward off negative energies.

This was the most difficult mask to decide where to draw inspiration from - I avoided basing any specific figures or deities, out of respect and feeling that that wasn’t appropriate for the intended meaning of the mask either.

The references I draw from are from an artist Parmesh Sarkar, who is inspired by the Gomira art form but combines it with outside influences. I felt this linked to the fractured memories of this time in Armand’s past, and the disconnect from his homeland and culture, from the time and place of his origins.

The masks are carved from lightweight wood then traditionally painted with bold colours and designs. This mask is not painted. Exposed. Incomplete. Interrupted. Stunted growth.

Misremembered and misshapen. Deformed; two mouths, two noses, too many eyes, seeing too much. Not quite a person (so do whatever you want with it). Twisted forms. Gaping holes; in the memories, in the identity, in the soul. Hollow. Hollowed out.

And yet, so full of pain, tears escape from what should be an inanimate object. So full of pain, the pain eclipses anything that came before it. Until the pain is all that is left. The wound that never heals. The thing that is impossible to look at, to remember, to acknowledge, to embrace… without feeling the crushing despair that comes with it.

Armand.

The only one with the capacity to change. The past is immutable, no matter how much we avoid it. We cannot control how others perceive us, no matter how meticulously we construct our image. The only one with a body attached, even if there is a void, a black hole beneath it.

The only one not looking at us, even though he faces us. Instead looking back on the other masks (because this form is also a mask, just as interchangeable and separate from himself, if there is a self underneath it all, as the rest of them). What is his expression, his feelings? Regret? Discomfort? Shame? Mourning? Disgust? Rejection? Acceptance?

There are several running themes and ideas across these masks. Dehumanisation. Identity (and lack thereof). The fractured self. Compartmentalising and repressing trauma. Self perception.

Becoming what others make you, what others see you as, what you must become to survive, what you could only ever be, what you were doomed to become, what you seem to doom yourself to become with every choice you make and every one that you don’t.

Who am I? Am I my history I have endured? The job I do not want? A room without walls, a floor, a ceiling? An infinite nothing? I do not know anymore. How do you begin to define yourself outside of all this? Is it possible to be more than what I was, what I have been made to be? I hope Armand can find out one day.

[anotherbluesunday]

This is so well thought out and said. I need to read it a second time but I will be giving more thoughts and praise for this later. 💜💜💜

[bluevamppainter]

No words. This is a masterpiece

[anotherbluesunday]

@bluevamppainter RIGHT?!?!! Like, I just finished my third read because this has so much to it and I’m so impressed by the thoroughness here. @sondergeist please say that you’re in the film and/or art history line of work because this is so well-written I feel as if it’d be like a fish to water if you were.

[bluevamppainter]

@anotherbluesunday It truly is amazing! I'm always happy to read and see complex analysis of Armand, but this art is beyond everything. The thought put into every detail is just *chef kiss*

[sondergeist]

The Shapeshifter Armand…

“I think I might be a room without walls, a floor, a ceiling… An infinite nothing.” There’s a lot of symbolism in this one, I’ll probably do a full breakdown later :D

[sondergeist]

Ok I typed up my breakdown of this piece and got a bit carried away. Part artistic analysis, part character study, sometimes prosaic, sometimes poetic. A mix of how Armand sees himself, how others see him, how viewers see him and my own perspective on it all (this is a disclaimer).

It’s a bit stream of consciousness at times, and longer than I expected, but I tried to structure it best I could. If anything’s not clear I’ll try my best to clarify :’)

Full post under the cut:

The Gremlin. The Coven Master. The Soldier. The Monster.

Based on gargoyle and grotesque faces. A creature adorning a religious structure. They are said to be visual warnings of sinful behaviour, sometimes representing souls condemned for their sins, eternally punished in hell.

Others suggest they are agents of the devil acting on behalf of God. A soldier for Satan. The Children of Darkness. This is the form that will stand the test of time. This form is fortified. Armoured. Able to protect itself. Strong. Powerful.

And must be retrained. Hidden. It is shameful. An abomination in the eyes of God. Dangerous. Unlovable. But it is not restrained here. Its features are distorted, scrunched up, unhinged jaw, fangs drawn, horns sprouting from its skull.

There are no openings for eyes, no window to the soul.

It is frozen in stone, frozen in time, locked in intensity. I tried to keep the expression ambiguous. Is it an anguished scream? Manic laughter? A shouted command? A creature lunging to attack its prey? Lashing out? A snarl, a warning to stay back? To stay away before I hurt you?

This is the last thing Riccardo saw. The lost cause that made Marius give up on Amadeo. The creature that repels everyone, repulses everyone, most of all Armand. This is vampirism. This is the monstrous existence he wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Amadeo. The Muse. The Temptation. Beloved of God.

Based on Venetian Carnival masks, specifically the “gnaga” mask, worn by male sex workers to avoid being arrested for homosexual acts. According to Venetian law at the time, wearing a mask meant becoming the mask, playing a role, and the person under the mask couldn’t be held liable for anything they did.

Gnaga would make “meowing” sounds to entice passers by. Amadeo is often viewed as a tease, a devilish manipulator corrupting the otherwise good and righteous men around him. (Amadeo had a skill.)

I went back and forth on making it a human (whitewashed) mask like the reference on the right, but decided to go with this. There is a lot of symbolic meaning simply in it being a cat mask. Cats are domesticated animals. Kept as pets. Marius sees himself as having saved Amadeo from his savage nature. Groomed him to be the perfect companion.

Or maybe a stray creature to tame? A possession to be displayed, passed around? An extension of others, unable to be seem fully as a person. Beautiful. Delicate. Tempting. Requires discipline and teaching. Whitewashing and romanticising. Saving from himself.

The mask has no mouth to voice any objections. Ought to be seen but not heard. No discernible expression (all the easier to see whatever you want to see, to project whatever you want it to be, to paint however you want to remember it).

It is elevated in the line up. Pedestaled by Marius, but doomed to fall from grace. Pedestaled by Armand, as a good time in his life. This was when I was loved. This was safety. This was more than I deserved but I long for it anyway. This is what I will search for in everything.

Arun. The Boy. The Slave. The Wound. The Beginning.

Loosely based on Kushmandi Gomira masks, from West Bengal. They are worn during ritual dances to invoke benevolent forces and ward off negative energies.

This was the most difficult mask to decide where to draw inspiration from - I avoided basing any specific figures or deities, out of respect and feeling that that wasn’t appropriate for the intended meaning of the mask either.

The references I draw from are from an artist Parmesh Sarkar, who is inspired by the Gomira art form but combines it with outside influences. I felt this linked to the fractured memories of this time in Armand’s past, and the disconnect from his homeland and culture, from the time and place of his origins.

The masks are carved from lightweight wood then traditionally painted with bold colours and designs. This mask is not painted. Exposed. Incomplete. Interrupted. Stunted growth.

Misremembered and misshapen. Deformed; two mouths, two noses, too many eyes, seeing too much. Not quite a person (so do whatever you want with it). Twisted forms. Gaping holes; in the memories, in the identity, in the soul. Hollow. Hollowed out.

And yet, so full of pain, tears escape from what should be an inanimate object. So full of pain, the pain eclipses anything that came before it. Until the pain is all that is left. The wound that never heals. The thing that is impossible to look at, to remember, to acknowledge, to embrace… without feeling the crushing despair that comes with it.

Armand.

The only one with the capacity to change. The past is immutable, no matter how much we avoid it. We cannot control how others perceive us, no matter how meticulously we construct our image. The only one with a body attached, even if there is a void, a black hole beneath it.

The only one not looking at us, even though he faces us. Instead looking back on the other masks (because this form is also a mask, just as interchangeable and separate from himself, if there is a self underneath it all, as the rest of them). What is his expression, his feelings? Regret? Discomfort? Shame? Mourning? Disgust? Rejection? Acceptance?

There are several running themes and ideas across these masks. Dehumanisation. Identity (and lack thereof). The fractured self. Compartmentalising and repressing trauma. Self perception.

Becoming what others make you, what others see you as, what you must become to survive, what you could only ever be, what you were doomed to become, what you seem to doom yourself to become with every choice you make and every one that you don’t.

Who am I? Am I my history I have endured? The job I do not want? A room without walls, a floor, a ceiling? An infinite nothing? I do not know anymore. How do you begin to define yourself outside of all this? Is it possible to be more than what I was, what I have been made to be? I hope Armand can find out one day.

[anotherbluesunday]

This is so well thought out and said. I need to read it a second time but I will be giving more thoughts and praise for this later. 💜💜💜

[bluevamppainter]

No words. This is a masterpiece

[sillystigmata]

Episode 7 bts.

[bluevamppainter]

3x07 TVL Ramblings

There's this book trilogy I love, Carnaval by Stephanie Garber. I read the first book and immediately fell in love, and even when the main characters of the second book weren't my favorites, I loved that book as well. And then Finale came along and…well, let's just Say it seemed that the author was eager to start her other trilogy, so it wasn't… The best. Well…watching this chapter brought similar feelings of just: What the hell? and Why??

First, the whole…torture thing between Louis and Armand. Seriously. Why? It's not that a confrontation between them wouldn't be necessary but like this?? Not only it cheapened Louis apology (since, yk, it was freaking TORTURED out of him) but it diminishes the whole talk about Armand being layered and complex and more than a cartoonish villain??? And yes, he's always been known for being petty and a manipulator, but not this kind of manipulative as to find a Claudia look alike and plant her in Louis life, also cheapening that interaction as well. And the branding, again…really? Assads emotional performance was what did this salvageable, but then again, this interaction could also have been played between Armand and Lestat.

Then, the Lestat long table dream. I think, in the end, it's a good theme, Failure, and Lestat coming to terms with the fact that, yes, his life is a disaster, but he's trying. And it was lovely seeing Paul again. But at the same time, was it necessary to make it this long?

I don't know, I guess I just had a different idea of how the finale was gonna be. There are posts here that put it much more eloquent. Maybe after a while I'll be able to find better words. But as of right now, I'm out.

[vorreitenertiqui]

Jacob talking about Armand during S3 press (Compilation)

Assad, after the revelations of the previous season, I wonder if you consider Armand as a villain of the story now, or maybe I'm not fair and that he's just one of many ambiguous characters of the show.

ASSAD: As an actor, I don't know– I don't think it's wise for me to think of Armand as a villain, I have to go in figuring who Armand is as a human being. When you think of someone as a villain you can almost think that they're a god; you deify them in some way. You put them on a pedestal or on a thing that simplifies them too much. So to me Armand is just a person, who has gone through very very difficult circumstances and those have shaped him to who he is. [...]

JACOB: To answer your question as well, I do want to say something about Armand quickly! Because I give Armand so much shit when I talk about the show all the time. And he is probably the character that I, Jacob, watch and I'm like, that guy gets on my nerves, he just seems to get things wrong at every stage. But I think something that this season goes into in a really powerful way, and I think reframes a lot of what you see of him before is that... he's what happens if you go through some of the worst personal atrocities from a very young age. So much cruelty is inflicted on you, and then you're just alone. And he tries to, I feel, Armand is continually trying to find community. And so, in one way it manifests in religious fundamentalism and this really dark sort of cult... he tries to control people. And then he just tries to find that– Louis becomes a bit of a weird sort of religious figure to him at some point. And then he's trying to recreate this diet– this horrific dynamic that was inflicted on him from a very young age. So I think there is a way that you can look at Armand and be like, that guy's evil, his behaviour's not cool on any level. But I think something that our show does really well is that there is a version of every single one of these characters –including Claudia, including Madeleine even– they would be the villain in a lesser story. But we spend the time on getting to know all of these characters and understanding why they make these decisions they make. And I think it's quite easy to pin the villain pin on Armand, and I am guilty of doing it myself. But actually, between Assad and Rolin and Hannah, I think he becomes in this season an even more fully formed, fully understandable character.

//

SAM: [The séance] is wonderful closure for these characters as well, because I think they finally get to acknowledge that they were terrible parents and that they really used somebody that's like, a roof shingle that flew off their house, and they had to fully deal with that, that they continued to carry her as this sort of idolized thing, but actually they used her as a crutch in their marriage, and this person is really angry with them and she finally gets her actual say. She finally gets the truth out at them both, which was she fucking hated them both. [...] And it's so devastating that she doesn't have a Louis or a Lestat in hell, and she's searching for Madeleine forever. [...]They now carry the fact that Claudia is suffering.

KELLI: Forever.  

SAM: Forever, and they did that.

KELLI: [...] Also why Armand needs to go to jail. [Laughter] But uh to wrap up, in episode–

JACOB: I want to say though! About Armand. 'Cause I'm always shitting on Armand and actually I think the thing that is really key about that scene is that it's Louis and Lestat! Armand might have set the seeds, Armand might have killed her, but so did they. Both of them.

KELLI: Yeah, they're all culpable.

JACOB: Yeah. Yeah. 

//

I have a very specific question for you, Sam, specifically related to the blood shower scene, which is that... after the many, many horrors these two– that he shared with this, you know, Gremlin that has wrought chaos upon him and his family, why does Lestat love toying with him more than he would want to like... just kill him.

SAM: Oh, wow. [...] I think it's great fun for Lestat to play with Armand in that way. I mean that's their dynamic. I think they both get a kick out of it. [...] Armand, bless him, is just trying to put meaning in their totally meaningless existence and Lestat's like "Dude, just have a good time." But, because Armand is the mouthpiece for this weird vampire cult and how you live and how we operate, they give each other meaning because then Lestat has something to rebel against. [...] it's good to have an enemy. Because if you have an enemy, then you have something to fight against. You've got purpose. I mean, they live forever. 

JACOB: They're so messy. And they need to be messy in order to give purpose to their existence; to give a sense of meaning to this all. And it goes too far sometimes: like Claudia being– but that I think is part of why Claudia's death is such a monumental earthquake, is that she's gone. Like they have to clash and contrast and collapse into each other and collide and destroy each other, but then come back and– like that's what this is, it's not like... I know I've definitely had some pretty reductive ideas about Armand in the past, but I think this is the fun of him, is that he's not just like– I love Armand in the Vampire Lestat! I will just say that. I just think it's such a delicious thing in this series.

SAM: And you haven't even seen all the episodes, right? So, I mean, like–

I've got one left.  

SAM: Yeah, he's a very– he's a wonderful character.

JACOB: The subway. That episode-ending in– is it episode four?

SAM: Five.  

JACOB: Episode five! That is one of my favorite moments, shots, expressions in the history of our show.

//

LIZZIE: [Armand] looks so beautiful in that [S3E5 closing shot]!

JACOB: So angelic!

LIZZIE: (Laughs) and he's just done the most evil thing!

SAM: (Shrugs) That's Armand!

[reticent-vampire]

another normal day at the normal things to say factory for assad zaman

[bluevamppainter]

Thoughts on TVL 3x06

At last, after two falls of the electrical grid of my country, I could finally watch episode 6, and since I've seen so much discourse about it I wanted to add my 2 cents.

First, the beginning of the chapter didn't feel like the other of the show (for me). It was more like…this cringey-awkardy feeling when you see two people who were together and messy and definitely wanna be together trying to act like friends? It didn't have the same loud energy of previous chapters, but I'm not complaining, it was just something I noted.

The dinner with Daniel. To be honest he's a character that I can't particularly read right now. Is he hostile to Loustat because of how they bully him sometimes? Is he siding with Armand purely as a way to be able to walk in the sun or is he actually against the Great Conversion? The rehearsal. Loved the song. This one and the one for Claudia are beautiful.

The discovery of Sofia/Gabriella and the tape. When I watched how it went (Daniel interviewing Armand as if he were a regular Joe) I loled so hard. Armand the king of pettiness and Daniel his petty nepo baby. Like, before watching the episode I thought Daniel told Louis on the dinner and the video of him and Armand was something Gabriella showed Lestat, not…what happened lol. But I enjoyed all the same. The argument after that was good, I really love Jacob and Sams performances.

Now, THE SCENE. Claudia. Like I said, I already read some of the opinions regarding the scene (some in favor, some against), but watching it was…wow. Like, at first I wasn't sure how I was gonna feel around it, admittedly because of my bias of Jacob, and hence, Louis, and I'm still not entirely on board with some things (like she saying she liked Lestat more because he was her blood and her maker when she didn't want that same blood turning Madeleine), but in the end I think she was just so, so angry and hurt, trapped in that place, in that hell for so long. And when Louis was all "what about the things you should be thanking me for?" That just, broke the vase. And just to clarify, she has all the right to be angry. The two men supposed to protect her not only chose each other over and over instead of her but ended up causing her death, and then they have the nerve to use her as ways to feel themselves better? And to make matters worse, she can't even be with her love, with Madeleine. It's so, so, sad, that after everything she suffered, she still is. Really, props to Delaney because that whole scene was simply amazing.

As for the beheading, I was already spoiled sadly, but even if I wasn't, in episode 1 we see Louis pretty much alive and with his head (although one leg short but, yk). So, you already know that that wasn't the end. To be honest, I'm more worried about Daniel, I don't want him gone nor Eric.

And lastly, I just wanted to add, that I've read some people saying that Lestat saying he has the blood of Akasha in him absolves him of all the violent things he did. And that's…not how it works. Like Louis said: "It aint the blood. It's what you do with the blood". And, as the same Lestat said: "I'm a monster". They all are. They are all capable of doing monstruous things. Anyways that was all, sorry for the long rant.

[professional-rat-eater]

The scariest part of the 52 years of stalking isn’t even the stalking. It’s that Armand knows every bad thing Daniel has ever done and he doesn’t care.

Daniel knows he’s an asshole. He’s potentially the most self-aware character. He knows he hurt his ex-wives and his daughters. He understands that they hate him and he frequently validates their decision to do so. He gets it. He’s not hiding from his mistakes. He knows what he’s done. People leave him because anyone sane would. There’s no malice there. He knows who he is.

But here is this beautiful, ancient creature who has lived through some of the most incredible periods of human innovation in modern history, who lived in Renaissance Venice and witnessed Paris return to its former glory after World War 2 , who has been exposed to some of the most important works of art in history, who has had so much time to absorb humanity and all its most impressive creations, and this creature tells him he’s in love with him, some random kid he met half a century ago by chance.

And not just that he’s in love with him. That he was actively in love with him while he was doing all the terrible things. None of it ever mattered. Armand has seen every shade of Daniel’s soul, more than anyone else ever has, and he is in love with him because of it. It is one thing to have your mistakes exposed, it’s another entirely for someone to see them and decide to stay.

Armand has so freely given to Daniel what he has been trying to find for himself for half a millennia. The only thing he has ever wanted: to be truly known and accepted for everything you are, including the unseemly, ugly parts. How utterly and completely terrifying.

[maelancoli]

anyway they better not pull punches with akasha or twist her motivations. she is a villain. she is an evil, self absorbed, misogynistic queen who is willing to use violence to make the world comfortable for only herself, to make it bend to what she deems as correct. she orders the rape and mutilation of women who won't affirm her religious beliefs. she orders the genocide and colonization of nations because she does not like their cultural or religious practices. when she wakes she refuses to acknowledge her part in the pain and suffering she has caused or the domino affect in the vampiric world that was the result of her violence towards two women and the slaughter of their entire village. instead she victim blames, displaces the responsibility onto men as a whole, and goes on killing and trying to control women to bend to her idea of peace. and it makes her a fascinating villain and very real symbolism for many types of women who exist even to this day, claiming to have feminist morals but being exclusionary, cruel and violent to the women who don't fit their more privileged narratives. it's a relevant story. the world is full of terfs and women in power who trample those beneath themselves all while claiming to be feminist or empowered. that is who akasha represents.

[bluevamppainter]

This is the explanation I was looking for! My information about Akasha is very limited but I read what she did to the twins so I was confused on how she was this embodiment of feminine rage and suffering while also having done that. Thank you for this post.

[missbliss12]

Feed her only ashes.

[reticent-vampire]

Luke Brandon Field & Eric Bogosian as DANIEL MOLLOY insp. by @bratboymolloy

[mossycakes]

delainey is doing such an amazing job this season. i mean she always is fantastic but this season must be so challengjng with all the different ways she needs to act but shes absolutely nailing it. not even just regina as well, who of course has totally different mannerisms and a different voice and personality, but then youve got like. regina playing claudia but its distinctly NOT claudia, its clearly someone attempting to imitate her. like when she struggles with the accent or breaks character. and the reshoots from season one where she takes baileys place are so good. when she shows up in the red outfit while lestat is singing she captures the essence of that scene absolutely perfectly. shes truly such a master

[wibley-wobley-pixie]

Zutara natla fic reqs anyone has??