the fact that they finally addressed this is so so important to me!!!! this is a massive elephant in every single scene, and in fandom discussions about armand, his sexuality, and the ways in which other characters interact with him. i really hope the show has the care to portray how asian men were perceived both when armand was trafficked and when he lived in venice with marius. his status as “exotic” would’ve made him even more vulnerable to the men and women seeking to “loan” him from marius.
armand’s entire view of himself and his sexuality has been warped by this exact stereotype. we keep seeing it over and over again in how he makes himself small and as unobtrusive and passive as possible.
oh, i just hope we get to see an exploration of it!!!!
check out the complete interview! it’s so insightful all around
As the manipulative Armand in "The Vampire Lestat," his character may not be easy to like, but he has still stolen many fans' hearts.
ok so a problem I personally have with the iwtv fandom is that they take everything at face value. every scene and every line. especially every line. specifically, the words used. they latch onto a word and cannot fathom that that word could be used as a euphemism, or sarcastically, or as an exaggeration, etc. it's like... watching children trying to engage with something that is a little more complex than what they are used to.
this refers in particular to how some parts of the fandom are interpreting and engaging with the lines "he's my companion", "I'm seeing someone" and allusions to Armand being Daniels "wife" etc. people are assuming that all these words mean exactly what they mean if you take them at face value; they think Armand and Daniel are in a romantic relationship already and so, Big Scenes we weren't shown happened off screen for sure and why oh why didn't they show them to us. I don't believe anything of that sort happened off screen. I don't think Daniel so easily forgave Armand or gave in to Armand. I don't think he considers Armand his companion, no matter what Armand tells Louis. they are very clearly fucking with the audience and seeding doubt and " what ifs" and hype for the couple, as a "what the fuck" moment for non-book readers and as a treat for book readers, but I do believe it's all theater. what we'll have in S4 is probably the meat of their relationship, with Daniel learning to know and understand Armand, having answers about his turning, about the stalking, and I do believe also about their past relationship. and they will show it to us, gradually, probably excruciatingly so, but they will, devil's minion is too important and too interesting a relationship to have everything happen off screen. first of all, Rolin said so in the last episode of after dark: he specifically said that if we get a S4, it will delve into a lot of meatier devil's minion stuff. he told us also we'll get Daniel's turning. and they gave us a very important line to cling on to: when Louis tells Armand he needs a love that cradles him, that's not a throwaway line you can easily forget about. it's one of those lines that is meant to be revisited and analyzed under the lens of future scenes, dialogues, choices. it's screenwriting 101. and no matter what fans say about this show, these screenwriters are professionals, and they know their job. maybe we should all collectively be a little less influenced by the opinions and reviews of fans, no matter how many followers they have online.
repeat after me: just because media challenges your expectations doesn't mean its bad. Just because you have to think about text and subtext to understand it doesn't mean its bad. Just because a piece of art makes sense in the allegorical realm doesn't mean its bad. Just because art demands your participation in the creation of meaning doesn't mean its bad. Just because there are different layers of meaning that could be simultaneously true doesn't mean its bad. It's okay if you feel uncomfortable and unsettled. That's the point of serious art.
And I can't believe I'm saying this about the fucking gay vampire show
My Body Swap Thoughts Because I Can't Handle Two Years of "Daniel's Getting Bodyswapped"
Daniel Molloy is not David Talbot. Period. Full stop. End of sentence.
Daniel Molloy is Daniel Molloy. He has been handed some traits of David Talbot, in the same way that many other traits have been redistributed between other characters.
His David Talbot traits? He's old. He's the Chronicler. A youthful looking vampire wants to fuck him. That's it.
Nothing about his character in any way is anything like David Talbot's (some people will argue he also gets the non-consensual turning, but I still maintain that Daniel will be receiving DANIEL'S book turning).
But there are two other characters who have also had David Talbot traits redistributed to them.
The first is Louis.
Louis is Lestat's companion and endgame. In a show adaptation of TTOTBT, there is no reason why they would not have Louis be the one to go on a rescue caper with Lestat. Daniel certainly isn't going to. They're not friends. I don't know that they're ever going to come back from Daniel hacking his head off.
The second is Raglan James.
Raglan James in the book is ex-Talamasca because he's been sacked for being a fucking freak. In the show he is still a fucking freak but he—like David Talbot—is a current Talamasca agent. Raglan is also apparently, by the time of the recording of The Failures, someone who Lestat considers a friend. Much in the same way that, by the end of QOTD, Lestat randomly, seemingly out of nowhere is besties with David Talbot leading into TTOTBT.
Now, some people are concerned that, because the last time we see Daniel he's squaring up with Raglan, he's about to get implicated in the whole body swap fiasco, but TO ME, that scene is all about Raglan having his lightbulb moment.
Personally I think that moment for Raglan, the confirmation of a soul, was the first time he's really considered that he could actually steal a body. The fact that he looks over to Lestat's head in the bag and then goes on to ingratiate himself in Lestat's circle, indicates that Lestat's is the one he wants (obviously, that's the body he steals after all).
All of this is to say that in the show universe, there is no reason for TTOTBT plot to involve a random third person who ends up permanently inhabiting an extra body. Is it a convenient option to have open on the off-chance they did need to replace Eric for some reason? Sure, I guess. But from all the vibes I'm getting, Eric is giving no indication of wanting to leave this show. Even in the Backstage Pass Short after the finale he's like, "I fantasize about the power of vampires, I can't wait to fight everyone". The man is locked in.
So no, Daniel is not "taking on David Talbot's storyline" in the show. He's being set up to fulfil Daniel's OWN storyline, that being the Devil's Minion arc. He merely has been given some traits that once belonged to David Talbot. As has Louis. As has Raglan James. A direct swap between Raglan and Lestat is all that needs to happen in an adaptation of TTOTBT. An extra body is superfluous.
The problem with loving gothic horror is that a lot of people who engage with it are going to hold it to the moral standards of like steven universe. And there is nothing we can do about this.
I have like, ten million thoughts rolling around in my fucking head, and surprisingly none of them are actually DM fears.
I feel like we're very much set up in a good place for DM in S4. Regardless of how much RPFing Eric and Assad were doing, Rolin has always been adamant that DM is in QOTD and that there would only be seeds this season. Sure, some of us hoped for more, others didn't expect anything. We got something in the middle. Everything and nothing simultaneously. I still think we're set up for good things moving forward as hard as it will be to wait. At least the soil for fics is fertile.
As for a whole bunch of OTHER stuff. Well, I need a little longer to articulate all that.
turnnoffyourmind
titsay
gummygunk
vaporwave
