To The World

But they loved each other. Knew each other better than anyone. Louis shared his story about that cousin... one night, quietly, almost out of nowhere. Armand held him. Like Louis did whenever Armand shared. They loved each other, but when they fought they went for blood. They knew where to hurt. Armand kept the lie. Louis kept resenting him for his role in Claudia's death.

Yet love remained. So did happiness. The passion had faded away, but they didn't need it. They loved each other, understood each other, even with rhe shadows in their lives.

Then it was over, and Armand still reaches for Louis after a nightmare. Louis still thinks he hears Armans around the house. He feels so guilty for missing someone that has hurt him. Armand buys books for Louis before throwing them away. Louis still take photos of pretty boats to show Armand. But he won't go back.

Plasticine Hedgehog (Пластилиновый ёжик)

You’re just not. And being white is not an excuse for not seeing this. Louis fans and Armand fans in particular have been noticing it because those two are most affected by this writing. You’re not crazy. You’re not being parasocial. It is that deep. The writers tell us repeatedly that they make this show very detailed, so you’re not crazy for reading between the lies. If they can plant hidden details in every episode, they can be aware of their biases and how they’re portraying the characters of colour. I’ve never understood the separation of these things. They aren’t different skill sets. If you’re a good writer, you’re a good writer.

I just want it to be clear because, as a white fan, it is so obvious. Disappointment is okay. Anything you’re feeling is okay, especially with the promise that this show presented in the first two seasons of being a post-colonial adaptation of what are frankly incredibly racist, xenophobic and orientalist novels.

I feel like some of these fans only want “book accuracy” when it is going to be used in a racist way in this race bent show. It is giving we only want to showcase interracial romantic dynamics if there’s one white person in it. We RARELY get any BIPOC x BIPOC pairings especially queer ones but now this show decided to blame Armand for everything. It decided to showcase to non-white queer men hurt each other for no real reason, no complexity or nuance at all.

TVL sucks and I feel sorry for any Asian, especially South Asian, fans who have to watch this racist fandom demonize a brown man. I feel sorry for the Louarmand fandom who got this crappy writing, and I feel sorry for my fellow black people who are being tone police for how we feel about Louis and Claudia’s treatment.