#Kyo Ra

[tampire]

Labyrinth / Sandman As requested by @violetoftheendless

[wizardofgoodfortune]

LYTA HALL & ROSE WALKER The Sandman, S01E08: Playing House dedicated to @violetoftheendless

[marvelsgirl616]

The Sandman Cast TUNDUM Portraits.

[writing-for-life]

Rose—Nekroticism Illustration

[filministic]

The Sandman (2022-…) 

[burnt-scone]

(A drawing of Rose Walker, the Netflix adaptation of The Sandman version. She squints and seems to be cringing. Her thought bubble says "This Bitch".

I assume she is listening to her uncle talk.)

[b-plot-butch]

LOVING the pink 💕💕💕

[tickldpnk8]

Justice for Vanesu Samunyai’s Rose Walker!

She is an awesome actress who got a bit of a bad rap when the show first came out. I’ve now watched and rewatched the show many times, and I think she was unfairly judged based on a few things out of her own control. Her scenes have become some of my favorites in the show despite me not actually liking Doll’s House in the comics.

I was responding to @writing-for-life’s rebuttal to this thread by @orionsangel86, and it made me realize that I really just need to write this all out in its own meta.

So first, some things out of her control:

There’s a definite shift in the tone of the production after Preludes and Nocturnes. I don’t want to say that they were making Doll’s House with a low budget, but it does feel like a Big shift from the dark, moody, high special effects budget of the first arc. They kind of signal that with having Sound of Her Wings/Men of Good Fortune in-between, but it’s jarring the first time you watch it.

There’s also a shift in the story archetype being told. Preludes and Nocturnes’ episodes are all riffs on different types of horror stories. Doll’s House is more magical realism or maybe boarderline fantasy or fairytale. With the shift, it’s the first time on-screen that you really see Sandman is an anthology of different stories and story types. Again, jarring to new fans.

They changed Rose’s backstory. Comic!Rose’s mom and grandma are still alive, and she doesn’t know Lyta Hall. When she meets Unity, she’s a passive observer to her mom bonding with her grandma. Show!Rose’s mom died from cancer just a few weeks ago after a long custody battle. She’s best friends with Lyta, whose husband died within the past year and who she was also friends with. When she meets Unity, it’s the only family she has left in the world.

Comic!Rose is a really passive character. She really doesn’t do much herself: things happen to her or around her…like the center of a vortex. But it means that she’s a bit of a Damsel. I think this caused many long-time fans of the comics to project onto her character what they might have wanted to see. So any portrayal of the character could have contradicted any head-canons folks had. (Just my guess)

Drawings vs reality. Like some other well-liked characters in the series, Samunyai doesn’t necessarily look exactly like the way Rose was drawn. I’m going to believe the best in folks and hope this isn’t folks disappointed in her race, but I’m sure for some folks that factored in. 😕 I know Kirby’s casting got similar complaints, and I think it’s unfounded for both of them.

So that leaves us with her performance.

In the other post, we were discussing Dream’s sexuality. I had brought up the alluring/seductive side of dreams and how Tom’s performance layers in an amazing amount of chemistry with literally Every actor on screen with him. So much so that it even added subtext to the Hob story that we don’t really get in the comics. (Go read @orionsangel86’s awesome breakdown of this.) And @writing-for-life chimed in that chemistry doesn’t have to be sexual: which I 100% agree with.

The only person he doesn’t have chemistry with at all? Rose Walker. I think it’s easy to dismiss this lack as poor acting when combined with the 5 points above, but I think it’s actually due to the incredible acting on Samunyai’s part.

In this version of the story, Rose is not only grieving, but is in a bit of a trauma response. She’s probably feeling numb and trying to hold it all together to settle her mom’s estate and find her brother. In addition, her vortex powers are awakening.

Comic!Rose showed her vortex/supernatural side through languid poses that hinted at that alluring/seductive side of dreams. It was a way to set her apart from the other characters on the page. The only problem with this is when she interacts with Morpheus at the end, imho. It’s a bit weird for them to both have that alluring seduction on the page together when she’s his niece.

Meanwhile, Show!Rose is in that grief/trauma headspace. It would not make sense to give her the same alluring quality that Morpheus is also exuding on screen. Especially once they reveal her relationship to him in the last episode of the arc. Instead, they show her “otherness” and supernatural power by making her immune to his chemistry. And then they build off of that by not damseling her and giving her agency.

If you’d like to see this in action, rewatch the scene where she first finds herself in the throne room. I almost get the sense that his chemistry is hitting a brick wall around her. She’s no nonsense and stays focused on finding Jed despite his questions.

The more I rewatch the series, the more masterful her portrayal reveals itself to be. I’m a huge fan now and can’t wait to see where they take her character in future seasons. Samunyai should be incredibly proud of her acting, and I can only hope fans are more embracing of her as she appears onscreen more.

[zorawitch]

i am just finding out now that vanesu samunyai got shit from reddit fuckheads for her performance as rose and??? baby if you're going to lie about "bad acting" to cover your ass as to your criticism of an actor that boils down to nothing but racism, you should at least make it believable

[tryan-a-bex]

Vanesu Samunyai sings her own song!

[tv-moments]

The Sandman

Season 1, “Playing House”

Director: Andrés Baiz

DoP: Will Baldy

[nowlander]

The sandman had absolutely no bussiness being as cute and and as sexy as it is

[kdim]

The Glory 더 글로리 (2023) | Episode 4

[fishfingersandscarves]

ending of lost hearts (colorized)

[filministic]

The Sandman (2022-…) 

[burnt-scone]

The Vortex

Rose is wearing the outfit she wore in the comic, bestie was just in her night gown ready for bed.