Rottenwalrus

I am severely unwell. I enjoy Hannibal and IWTV to unhealthy degrees.

[rottenwalrus]

This frame. A deleted take of TWOTL ending scene. Mads putting his nose to Hugh’s neck?! I’m sorry. I’m SORRY. Hugh’s arm?! Mads hands?! I arrest my case.

[coldeveryseason]

so many creative choices in tvl make sense when you realize the goal of this season wasn't telling lestat's story or adapting tvl the book but using the premise of "adapting tvl" as the justification for a whitecentric rebrand and lowkey reboot of the whole show, as part of amc and rolin's effort to distance themselves from the "black queer show" image and black viewership of s1-s2 in order to pursue the "mainstream" (whiter, straighter) audience they always wanted. this is why most of the major arcs, especially the material given to jacob, delainey and assad, feel like retreads of the arcs they already had in s2, meant to cover plot beats from s1-s2 and overwrite how they were initially depicted in a way that's both more palatable for white viewers. in many ways tvl feels like 7 episodes of a "previously on..." sequence that flits through brief flashbacks and tells, not shows the audience essential information to get them caught up before the real story begins, and that's intentional- tvl isn't meant to be a story that stands on its own as much as a staging point to establish the new trajectory of the show, the new tone and narrative priorities, and invite the audience amc wants onboard and jettison the melanated s1-s2 audience amc thinks it no longer needs before the real story rolin wants to tell begins in s4.

the narrative seems not only spiteful and uncompassionate to its own established characters and audience but almost apologetic for having demanded that viewers hold empathy for black leads during s1-s2, for asking them to center black characters as protagonists and care about their interiority- the brutalization and humiliation of jacob and delainey's characters isn't just the nonblack writers engaging in a gratuitous fantasy of torturing black bodies and "humbling" black characters who've reached too far above their station, but also a way to restore the status quo that asserts the "proper" role of blackness is to be a site of inherent pain and mortification. racist viewers who rejected the show when jacob was cast in 2021 or at any point during s1-s2 bc the idea of getting invested in messy black leads put them off can now comfortably tune back in, assured that the show will never ask them to care about a black person more than a white person or think a black person's material suffering could matter more than a nonblack person's feelings and reputation ever again. the cruelty is the point, in many ways.

it's valid to criticize tvl for claiming to be an adaptation of the tvl book and failing at that on every level, from tone to sincerity to the fact that like. 80% of the book just wasn't adapted, but once you see through the marketing claims and realize the real purpose of this season was just amc's effort to do a soft reboot and relaunch their vampire show as a cynical whitecentric dramedy without drawing the ire of straight-up canceling iwtv, you realize so many of their choices aren't just writerly incompetence but a deliberate creative and network whitelash on multiple levels of production.

[coldeveryseason]

(tags via @leblogestunmonstre) right like when you look at the roles jacob, delainey and assad are playing, they aren't continuations of where their arcs left off at the end of s2 as much as the show trying to redo the same character beats in s2 in a way that asks less empathy for black characters from the audience and is a lot blunter and more flanderized.

s2- louis is consumed by grief for claudia while being gaslit by armand in the present day, as armand destabilizes louis' perception of reality and what happened in paris to conceal his true involvement in the trial. claudia enters armand's employ as an actress while unaware of the true danger of the paris coven and armand's own capacity for antiblack violence. near the end of the season, louis and claudia are lynched in a humiliating public spectacle that it's later revealed armand directed.

s3- louis is consumed by grief for claudia while being gaslit by armand in the present day- except this time armand just gloats about how much he was gaslighting louis. regina enters armand's employ offscreen as part of armand's elaborate scheme to fuck with louis' head while unaware of armand's capacity for antiblack violence. near the end of the season, louis and regina are lynched in a humiliating public spectacle where armand just straight-up personally tortures them this time.

and even the main "original" plot of the season, present-day gabistat, is just a structural copy of the same way they added loumand to the present day in s1-s2-

in the book, the main narrator (louis in iwtv, lestat in tvl) talks about his story alone, after he's already parted ways with a past companion who only shows up in flashbacks (armand in iwtv, gabrielle in tvl). in the show, this companion is an active part of the present-day story, has the 2nd most screentime of the season and is portrayed as more of a sinister antagonist who has the material power in their relationship with the main narrator and manipulates him and his effort to tell his story (louis' interview, lestat's tour) for their own ends. in the final episode of the season, the main narrator realizes their companion is evil(tm) and rejects them.

rolin's been talking about iwtv s1-s2 with total contempt but he's literally just redoing inferior versions of s2 plots for most of the cast, and most of the material that's truly unique to the season (the live concerts, the songs, the band and tour concept) have gone over with a resounding "it's ok i guess" to "eh it's mid" with most of the general audience. anything actually of substance is a photocopy of what they already did in s2, bc rolin has no new ideas of substance and always wanted to prioritize shallow spectacle and shock value over like. character development and emotional sincerity

[crafteeauthor]

"Simon mistakes Grace for an angel" listen hear me out. GRACE is half convinced SIMON is an angel. Think about it, after however many years away from any and all humans the first one he sees is in an ocean of blood with entirely unnatural injuries muttering something about being abandoned by "Eden" and "Father"?? He's talking about the doomsday Grace barely avoided like it HAPPENED to him. When he finally tells Grace about the eel he functionally describes being Jesus in the desert, thalassophobe edition. Also if I remember correctly he's like CRAZY strong

[rottenwalrus]

To add onto this! What if Simon does mistake Grace as an angel but i/ terrified of him instead of seeing it as a good thing. Cause anything godlike or religious in nature because of Eden and the blood ocean (the eel is basically a god) would probably make him extremely avoidant.

[armandyke]

Can't stop thinking about how the only times we've seen Armand lose control over his facial expression is when he is being rejected, and how he tries to force a smile each time 😭😭

gifs from @userarmand x x

[thevtuberlestat]

armand sees apology as a humiliation ritual where you crawl on the ground and let people kick you until they've satisfied every vindictive bone in their body and lestat sees apology as a great personal sacrifice where you give people enough gifts to buy their love send tweet

[sandushengshou]

[spacesmoss]

s3 practice

[likehandlingroses]

Is it true you were a stutterer as a child?

[angelpuns]

Doodled these guys this morning before the convention, currently working on doing the lineart :3

[lwqz52]

tw! a little suggestive :р

[home-and-having-tea]

One of my favorite Bloodymary tropes is Simon dropping some random childhood trauma lore and mandated-reporter-middle-school-teacher Grace going:

[subtlehysteria]

May I add some Bloody to your Mary with a dash of Adrian-Simon bestism?

[vermin-and-the-maggots]

Sir it's time

[miesozernacma]

A savior in desperation

↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ click for progress and closeups ( 0. 0) ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

[rottenwalrus]

This may be a controversial opinion: but for the first two seasons of IWTV? I don’t see devil’s minion too much. I’m aware it’s canon and will most definitely be adapted onto the big screen in future the season(s) but currently? I don’t see it yet. It feels a little forced to me when people talk about Armand “wanting that old man so bad” when we haven’t seen very much of that—at least not enough in my opinion to warrant them getting together YET.

A lot of people seem to think that Armand’s fake Rashid era was so impress Daniel (the low cut shirt, snide comments, giving him eyes, etc.) but it feels like they’re just boiling down his character to revolve around Daniel a little too much. Because while yes, devil’s minion will eventually become cannon, it’s a big EVENTUALLY. At the moment..? They strongly. STRONGLY dislike (or even hate) one another. Daniel thinks Armand is full of bullshit and Daniel ruined Armand’s relationship with Louis by exposing his bullshit

Plz correct me if I’m wrong/im open to discussion

[rottenwalrus]

….Sooooooooooo I’ve come around to Devil’s Minion and it now takes over my every waking thought

[saryasy]

Interview With the Vampire (2022-)

[spacesmoss]

wishing the great earth were not so empty of my old enemy