Tripawed

I laid down with the devil and he has roots in me. All his spindly roots in me.

His wardrobe keeps to a lovely color palette with creams, reds, greens, and grays. Now look at what he wore in episode 5:

This is the first time we've seen him in all black. It looks familiar, doesn't it?

Armand is both a major and very very complex character in TVC. Possibly the most complex in the whole series. He's tragic, fucked up and fascinating and his physical appearance is a crucial part of who he is and has relevance to the plot in several instances, Claudia's eventual fate for example. He too was turned too young and it's something that absolutely affects his psyche. He too is eternally a pretty little doll, something that both has brought him unspeakable trauma and something he has learned to use to his advantage as a tool of manipulation. He's frequently compared to a Botticelli angel in the books and it's not just there as a superficial description. He's a devil who looks like an angel and as someone who grew up deeply religious it has fucked him up.

Obviously some people are attached to him being a pale redhead, just like people are attached to Lestat being a blue-eyed blond, but I'm fairly sure most of the concern from book readers is essentially "how much exactly have they changed him?". Because those changes will in turn affect other things, other characters, other relationship dynamics etc. And again, if anyone's physical appearance is relevant to both the character and the larger plot in TVC it's Armand's. So I'd even go so far as to say getting him right is one of the most important tasks especially if you're looking to adapt TVC in its entirety. He cannot just be any random dude in adaptation without it inevitably affecting other things.

Again, I don't believe the issue to virtually anyone is that they tweaked his background/ethnicity, but the "what else is different?". How much have they aged him up, is his overall backstory still the same? How much of the Rashid persona was an act? There are hints, sure, but we don't know yet. I understand that some people welcome the changes due to (perceived) age differences, interracial power dynamics etc. but... it should be a bit fucked up, you know? It's all fucked up. It's kind of the point.

And finally, if you ask me personally? My issue is much less his appearance than the fact that I'm not really getting anything tangibly and undeniably Armand from the character, not from the way he's been portrayed. He's a very blank slate at this point, and the only real hints throughout the season have pretty much been through dialogue. Telling, not showing. I've suspected from since before the show started airing and have been keeping a close eye on "Rashid" as a result, and the thing is, while I'm not sure if it's fair to place the blame on the actor at this point, I do think it was a mistake to introduce the character this way. Because doing justice to a character when you have to essentially play the character playing a character for a whole season without giving too much away, or getting a chance to do press etc.? That's a tough task on any actor, and as things stand I sadly can't say I'm convinced he succeeded.

and Erik will be one of the only people who reacts to Charles’s power with awe and curiosity and joy instead of fear. because he’s not scared of Charles being in his head for his sake, he’s scared of it for CHARLES’S sake (which is subtext … but also not? Erik refers to himself as a monster multiple times and it’s not something he’s proud it’s not a threat he holds over other people of it’s the result of pain and torture and loss and trauma. it’s what he was turned into now what he is. and the one time he tells Charles to stay out of his head it’s in response to Charles telling him he knows everything about him. “so you know to stay out of my head.” it’s not a threat it’s “so you already know what a monster I am.”)

because if Charles is in his head than Charles knows he’s a monster. and he doesn’t care. he doesn’t even think he’s a monster at all. he thinks he’s amazing and wonderful and good. Erik doesn’t care that Charles could control him it’s not a thought in his head. Charles knows everything about him and Charles doesn’t run and even Erik doesn’t kno whow much that’s worth to him.

and everyone else who finds out about Charles’s power is scared of him (rightly, he’s incredibly powerful) but it’s something that’s ironically very isolating from him because people are scared of what he’ll do to their minds and what he’ll do without them knowing, so they don’t trust him, they don’t want to be close with him. even Raven, his surrogate sister, tells him repeatedly to stay out of her head and doesn’t seem to trust him entirely. but Erik does he trusts him, Erik doesn’t mind that he’s in his head, Erik seems to WANT him there. and they’re standing there and they’re crying and it’s a beautiful memory and it’s the first time Erik’s been this close with someone since his family died and it’s the first time Charles has had someone know about his power and not fear him and they’re crying