#armand i have to give it to you

[cvntdracvla]

WHAT A FUCKING GAG !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[holographings]

my softest, beigest pillow

[island-in-the-shadows]

When you really think about it, Daniel Molloy being a vampire is objectively terrifying. This is a guy who, as a mortal:

- Followed a stranger to a second location in peak serial killer era California.

- Was down to fuck in a coffin.

- Was down for fangs in his neck.

- Consistently interviewed dangerous or powerful people and was antagonistic to them.

- Literally never stopped when on the hunt for a story to the point it destroyed his personal life.

- Got on a plane in the middle of a pandemic with a degenerative disease because the guy he barely remembers following to some place on Divisadero, who he knows is an immortal killing machine, is offering Daniel his story and this also means Daniel could get some clarity on his fucked up memory.

- Has a big fucking mouth. He will just say fucking anything regardless of it being inappropriate.

- Has a fantastic bullshit radar.

- Beat a professional gaslighter at 3D chess.

...and then said powerful 514yo gaslighter gives this man litres of his, essentially, untouched blood and makes him his fledgling? Like...INSANE.

Daniel is, no doubt, EXTREMELY powerful and with a personality type that will probably make him a good vampire. Absolutely terrifying...and hot. God I hope he's still "sun challenged."

[in-kyblogs]

Doomed by the narrative - Doomed by her parents

[knownoshamc]

I've never made a vampire.

–

You'd like to be one of us? They always think they are different. Stronger, superior. Until the loneliness comes in. You'll be a monster. Will you eat humans like you eat your apple? One a night. No pity for the child, for the mother, for the invalid? How will you choose whom to kill? And when the last remnants of your era are gone? The cars, the hairstyles, the beliefs? How will you go on? How will you survive eternity?

[dreadfuldevotee]

I'd like to discuss the elephant in the room. Why did we get zero Loumand sex scenes? We got hints and implications, but season 1 was pretty explicit. Do we think that that's a creative choice or something else is happening?

I'm glad I ended up ruminating on this for about a week because episode 7 & 8 really solidified my opinion on it.

I do wanna start by saying that it's very clear to me that there was supposed to be more explicit scenes between them. There has been some thoughts tossed around that censorship happened with the 9 pm timeslot (as opposed to the 10 pm timeslot of S1). I believed this hearing Assad and Jacob talk about the BDSM dynamic between Louis and Armand, but what really sold me on this was Production Designer Mara LePere-Schloop talking about the bedroom set and more specifically about their beautifully carved custom headboard. (If you're a production nerd like me or just want to know more about the design philosophy of IWTV I recommend giving the entire thing a listen!).

I think there are several reasons I think as to why they decided to leave any more explicit scenes on the cutting room floor but above them all is: you cannot separate Armand's sexuality from his abuse. I am really against pulling a "well if you read the books" card but reading just the first couple chapters of "The Vampire Armand" makes me understand so much about not only Armand as a character, but the care being taken to his adaptation. It's clear to me that alongside Rolin & Co.'s commitment to not watering him down to a one-dimensional villain they are also trying to not fall into Anne Rice's tendency to romanticize his trauma.

Sex and sexuality is not the same pillar of Louis and Armand's relationship it was in Louis and Lestat's and so I don't believe their story suffers from the lack of on-screen sex. But I also firmly believe that maybe we don't need to be slutting out the character who we literally just watched talk about how he doesn't remember his life before being sex trafficked. And even when he was "freed" he was still being repeatedly assaulted at the hands of, and under the eye Marius de Romanus. Like it is extremely important to remember that Armand's craving for dominion in his relationships is a manifestation of trauma that deserves the same level of care and depth given to every other trauma portrayed in this show.

I think people have gotten too comfortable calling IWTV a romance when it has always been Gothic Horror. Romance and sex are pivotal to the story but I have found the demands for sex scenes this season a bit absurd and also? unfounded? Loustat share more kisses on screen but there are two sex scenes and both are very plot relevant. I truly figured we were all in agreement that the eroticism of this show is found in the various displays of power, and the dynamics it creates and not the actual clapping of ass-cheeks...which also wasn't happening in S1 either. S2 does not suffer because of the lack of sex-scenes, but the likelihood if it suffering trying to make one work is

[asthedeathoflight]

Idk why everyone is always so convinced Armand has a master plan behind the scenes. Like at this moment obviously his story doesn't line up and there's certainly a lot of things he's not saying. But i simply dont understand the appeal of a version of this story in which Armand was secretly in control the whole time. I think what makes him interesting is that he's weak. Hes a coward. Obviously him saying 'i could not prevent it' is a bald faced lie. But that doesn't mean the truth is that he CAUSED IT. I just think its way more interesting if he had nothing to do with the trial and he just kind of. Stood there and did nothing. Hes telling himself he could not have prevented it the same way Louis told himself Lestat didn't warn him about Claudia. Its not a calculated lie meant to deceive Daniel and Louis. It's a lie he's been telling himself for decades. The truth isnt complicated or clever its just very banal and therefore even more tragic. The truth is very simply that he could have prevented it, and he didn't.

[serpentarius]

cannot express how badly I want that vampire to kiss that old man

[e-vasong]

i understand that the lestat-daniel interview is going to take the form of a music documentary. and that is probably the best option. but i cannot stress funny it would be if they did youtube vlogs instead. i think daniel should post cunty little "on the road" and "backstage" videos where he interviews lestat. lestat barely answers the questions and instead talks directly to the camera, sharing thinly veiled messages for louis. daniel occasionally makes not-so-thinly veiled bitchy comments toward armand. everyone thinks lestat and daniel are talking to each other. theyre convinced that both the book and the vlog are part of some elaborate roleplay. they get cancelled for making their clearly sexual blood kink so public. and, most importantly, there is an obscene amount of RPF written about it. within a year there are like 20,000 fics about them. theres fanart on twitter. louis thinks that this is HILARIOUS and regularly asks daniel how his husband is in the bedroom. armand is completely oblivious until someone sends him a link to a Cosmopolitan article titled "Sex, Blood, and Rock 'n' Roll: the Love Story that Took the World by Storm" at which point he promptly shatters whatever glass he's holding (and everything else in his house) and tries to buy daniel a private island, which in turn sends the shippers into a frenzy, because now danstat has an attempted homewrecker???? they are so real guys omg

[soothingbaritone]

[noirve]

girl help i'm becoming embarrassingly parasocially attached to assad zaman in such a way that it's starting to feel like a crush

[robobee]

anyone else insanely horny over this shot

[eyestrain-addict]

Every time I start thinking about how we don't know who louis truly is because he doesn't even know who he truly is, I go a little more insane.

[lesbians4armand]

the velvet underground’s venus in furs 🤝 songs about sadomasochism that 100% fit the devils minion relationship 🤝 melt by siouxsie and the banshees

[charlie-rulerofhell]

IWTV -- I'll Be There For You

aka the happy times that both we and those six sweethearts (would have) deserve(d).

[gh-0-stcup]

Honestly, I feel like Daniel and Armand's break up was inevitable and a lot simpler than some people make it out to be.

Daniel wanted to be turned more than anything else in the world, Armand wanted more than (almost) anything else not to have to do that. Daniel's deepest wish was one of Armand's worst nightmares. To Daniel it was marriage, to Armand it was murder.

This isn't really a resolvable difference. It's clear from what we see of their fights that neither ever really understood the other's perspective on this. Daniel saw Armand's refusals as a lack of love, a lack of commitment. Armand saw Daniel's desire to be turned as a human romanticizing something they didn't fully understand.

The added factor of Armand believing turning Daniel inherently meant the death of their relationship doesn't exactly help matters. How can Armand have any kind of lasting relationship with someone he truly believes will end up hating him?

Seriously, imagine the kind of fucked up fights all this would cause. Daniel's got eternal life, a bunch of power, crazy heightened senses, and is having the fucking time of his life. While his partner is mourning his death, doomspiraling about their relationship, and generally seeming to regret ever turning Daniel. Which from Daniel's perspective, would equate to regretting saving Daniel's life.

AND this comes directly after Daniel had already fed up enough that he'd broken up with Armand, moved out, and stayed out of contact for 6 months.

There's no need to add Daniel seeing Armand's power as less special, leaving Armand for somebody else, them never actually loving each other, or whatever the fuck else. The core problem is already explained by how their relationship had gone up to the turning.