#but still. i still want my privacy

[knifegremliin]

go fuck yourself.

[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

[al-luviec]

juvie buddies

[ishikawayukis]

obviously they won't say anything about it because they only comment on things that are nonsensical, but even kcarats are mad about this collab so i do wonder if they'll end up saying anything or will just act stupid lmfao

[owlheartt]

Take more of my art, neeeeeeeerd

[thebirdandhersong]

Lol. Lol. Lol.

[makorragal-312]

My Adventures with Superman must have saw my suffering from last episode's rooftop scene and peeped my plea for a Clois rooftop kiss because good lord, that whole scene exceeded my expectations!

The music.

The scenery.

The lighting.

The blushing.

The way Clark just lunged in and lifted Lois up.

The way he spun the two of them as they went further into the air.

The sun peeking behind Clark and Lois as they're kissing.

The forehead touch when Clark says "I love you, too."

The soft chuckle Lois lets out after he says it.

The smiles on their faces before Lois goes in for another kiss.

ABSOLUTE CINEMA.

[nametakensff]

.

[katyspersonal]

I've had one of the worst crying fits in a while just. Simply venting from time to time, to friends or the void, no longer helps.. I assumed there was the logic same as throwing up - you let it out and thus heal. But it seems like it was more like linking fire logic - it keeps offering remedy for as long as possible, but meanwhile all the banished darkness keeps stocking into a dam (the deep) until the dam inevitably fills...

My problem is that my biggest problem can not be solved. It is permanent. I thought I was strong enough to just assume it as my new life, but recent months the ugliest things possible are finding their way in my heart. In retrospective I suspected that the day where I finally die (metaphorically!) will come and it will feel like a blessing to finally give up and drown, no more struggle. The day it finally eats me could not come soon enough, I thought. And yet somehow after everything I feel nothing but scared and disgusted, and still clinging to the words offering focus I've heard before, to my concepts of morality even after I saw how it is all pointless. I don't know what it is that still makes me resist even if I see that I can't anymore and falling apart at the seams. Recently I even screamed for God's help even though I am not a Christian. It is this bad. I can't ignore or resist this problem any longer, I can't manage by just venting every time it hurts because the metaphorical dam is full, I can't solve it... What do I do...?

I am developing the feelings I didn't know I had capacity for and feelings that have no place in this world... unless they do, and I just don't see the way to "turn" safely. To accept all this without giving up or becoming a horrible person, but just 'allowing' it. In other words I don't know how to break in the same way as a chunk of metal melts to be shaped into a new thing. So I'll just break eventually, after I keep up for a bit longer. I have no choice but to let out and then immediately pick myself up with hope right after, but this option has expired its function.

[drakonovisny]

i've been complaining about my aunt and cousin ever since we moved in together, but now knowing that we're gonna move away soon is making me sad. i'm gonna miss them 😭

[jlf23tumble]

https://twitter.com/xrckdyou/status/1777312221044834377

The man could not be more clear. And he is so incredibly kind about it despite the fact it obviously bothers him for the reasons he says and likely others. So sad the people who want to “free him” are those keeping him in a box.

Thanks for this! I'd love to see the whole thing, but it's been harder to get full interviews this go round (that's on me, gotta dig, don't have time). That said, I did a quick lurk around twitter and tumblr, and jesusssssssssssss, he said what he said and was pretty clear, even resigned about it, and yet! You either get variations of a) wahh, he's gaslighting us again (which, lmao, nope) or b) well, he didn't deny it, LOLZ, #married. When I tell you he resents his fans, dot dot dot, oof, yeah, it's honestly no wonder

[angels444yuri]

cannot put into words how badly i want to move out. love my parents but i don't know how much longer i can go without complete control of my time,,,

[spideyhexx]

I did say was done talking about it but just wanna reply to the anon who sent me the long ask, I agree with everything you said like that’s EXACTLY how I feel and my best advice as im handling it too, is to just block accounts/pages whatever is causing those feelings or popping up, and if you find yourself thinking about it, or wanting to go check things, try to redirect yourself to smth positive!

[northern-passage]

Genuine thought as a fellow trans dude, I’ve seen a lot of (obviously non-serious) questions on other blogs about characters’ genitals such as “how does it look like?” and similar, and I think we all know & understand that such questions are extremely inappropriate to ask and (I hope) no one would actually go around asking these questions irl. Idk, I think we should treat trans characters just like cis ones, without any special “precautions”, so to normalise them and not make cis people treat them like fragile boxes, a thing which happens to a lot of us irl. Hope this doesn’t come off as an attack or anything lol.

no worries, i didn't take this as an attack at all. i actually agree with you, that's why i mentioned feeling conflicted about it and also mentioned that i've changed my stance on how i felt about handling Noel and Clementine in game and in explicit intimate scenes.

however, for me the problem comes from the fact that people... don't ask these kinds of questions about cis characters? i suppose people do get cheeky "who is the biggest 🤪" asks but i would hardly compare the two. to be a bit crude, no one is going to be asking if a cis character has a dick or not, or "what does it look like". of course it's natural for people to be curious, and i honestly encourage the open discussion and am happy to see trans bodies being talked about more in a positive way, but not everyone is going to be comfortable with it due to the inescapable transphobia online and in the community. sending me that kind of ask is like sending out an invitation for a debate or a discussion that i don't necessarily want to have. i also just don't think people should default to asking a random IF author on tumblr dot com to describe what bottom growth looks like.

and with most of these asks typically coming from someone who is anonymous, i have no way of truly knowing what the tone is, what their intentions are or why this is being asked - is it another trans person? or maybe someone who is just genuinely curious? or, more likely in my experience, is it someone who is going to immediately follow up this message with something transphobic after i answer? do i want to roll the dice and find out?

so while i agree with what you're saying, it's important to consider the context and the reality we live in. the IF community is not kind to trans people or trans characters. and as a trans person, my first priority is protecting myself and my mental health. so what i mean when i say "precautions," is that those precautions are for me, because i've had to deal with transphobic harassment here for years now, and i try to mitigate it as much as i can. it's also for my personal comfort - again, to be blunt, i'm simply just not comfortable discussing a trans character's genitals with anonymous strangers on the internet. it makes me feel vulnerable.

also i do want to say i didn't mean for any of that to come across as a dig at other authors - if you're comfortable answering those kinds of questions, that's really only something you can decide for yourself. like i said, this is just coming from my own experiences in IF and for my own personal comfort - i have previously talked a lot about trans stuff and gender and sexuality here, when i'm feeling up to it, but it is something that is very draining for me and can also be very upsetting.

basically: i do agree that it's important not to other trans characters or treat them any differently than cis characters, but i also think there are ways to do it that don't require me answering invasive questions or questions that i don't feel comfortable with as a real life trans person, you know what i mean?

[kuromi-hoemie]

so like..

is the idea that as a compromise to only having to toggle off tumblr live once a month, you now have this permanent tumblr live icon regardless of ur setting choice stuck to the bottom in the middle of everything in the hopes that i click on it accidentally anyways even though it's clear i don't want it or? where is the NO 100% STOP GIVING ME THIS SHIT I DON'T ACCEPT YOUR POLICIES AND LITERALLY COULD NOT CARE LESS ABOUT TUMBLR LIVE AND WILL NEVER BE INTERESTED IN THIS TYPE OF FEATURE OR FORMAT.

@zingring @photomatt @humans idk how many feedback requests people have to cut tumblr for "no" to just be a valid response here. ppl aren't dumb and see u inching over the line trying to force this on them despite the snooze choice.

what, are there so many ppl snoozing and such a low adoption rate that you know you need to trick users into using it so you can "make number go up" or? 🙄

[evignonita]

asking your friends if they want to draw with you is like confessing to your crush and ask them if they want to be your partner idk why