#in another universe there's an iwtv show that's actually good

[covenofthearticulate]

I hope the show gets cancelled before we get to this point but I'm just saying, IF I were a writer on amc iwtv it would be so fun to write an episode from like a random npc's point of view for the concert. Not even OF the concert, like I don't want to see the actual show, I want the story of a girl who waited 10 hours in line to see The Vampire Lestat. I want the story of the girl who made friends with other strangers in line, who skipped out on school to go to the show, who drools all over herself while wearing horrible fake fangs. that's what we deserve tbh

[limonmelon]

One idea which I think is central to IWTV is the idea that becoming a vampire is the antithesis of improvement - stagnation. Your hair can't change length, your body will never grow, and as we know with Claudia, your hormones don't even change and you can be perpetually stuck in puberty.

But I love how this is reflected even in the vampire's art and creations throughout the show. The first song we see Lestat play on the piano is a jazz interpolation of a Bach song, his other song a piece created just to goad Louis back to him. Louis's photographs are derivative, and he has no patience to wait for his shots in order to actually capture the essence of his subjects, even if he has a good eye for art, and he drops photography quickly after one criticism. Claudia, who can't ever mature out of her teenage body, can't even make another vampire. The Théâtre des Vampires is struggling before Claudia becomes their main attraction, but it's not her acting that brings people - as we see her giving half-hearted performances to a crowd that barely seems to notice - but her exploitation. Armand had been a muse and model for other artists while alive, but he has no real motivation to make art, and he runs plays for 50 years until they're tired to a half-empty audience. He can also recognize good art, but he can't seem to make it himself. And they all have a horrible attitude towards criticism of their creations as well, sometimes even getting violent in their rejection of the words of critics or other vampires.

But you know who does create, and improves over time? Daniel. While he may have been terrible at interviewing Louis the first time, which he acknowledges, part of the reason he comes back to interview Louis again is because he knows he can do better. Over time he has become a great journalist and interviewer, winning Pulitzer prizes, writing books, working for major newspapers, even having his own Masterclass. He doesn't stagnate with technology, we see him using his laptop and talking about how his cell phone has become the great equalizer in the world or reporting. Being human has allowed him to grow and change and improve, to learn how to be better.

So I'm really curious to see how the handle Rockstar and Vampire Lestat next season, how his music is created, how in-universe critics are responding to it, etc. especially after this recent glam rock Rocky Horror-esque song has been released. I also wonder if being a vampire has changed how Daniel works as a journalist, especially now that we know his role in the next season will be him interviewing Lestat in this MTV Behind the Music documentary setting.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

I read GRRM’s interview regarding book vs show canon and I thought the way he was approaching an adaptation of his own story, and fiction as a whole, was very interesting. I do wonder though - does the concept of having a separate show canon kind of become like a cop-out? Because in that case, any TV/film adaptation can just decide to change the plot as they see fit and go “oh, well, that’s our canon, the book is a different canon.” Doesn’t it cease to be an adaptation after a point, or at least become a loose one? In the HotD context, a lot of the changes being made I actually quite like because I can see them fitting in the canon, because there’s nothing suggesting otherwise.

But say, Sansa marrying Ramsay (or, alternatively, the moment that show was dead to me) we can say with absolute certainty did not take place and will almost definitely never take place. D&D knew that too but they went ahead with it anyway; it’s not quite like the Scarlett example where it makes no difference to the story because this change does. I feel like the whole point of adapting written words into something visual loses some of its sanctity if we just accept TV changes a whole separate canon, as opposed to simply a change made by the writers (good change or bad change is up to personal opinion).

I have followed your blog for almost a decade so I’m really curious to hear your thoughts on the subject.

GRRM's "Scarlett example" -- his question of "how many children did Scarlett O'Hara have?", because in the book Gone With the Wind she had three, one with each of her three husbands, whereas in the movie she only had one -- has been his go-to when asked about the difference between book and show canon since at least 2012. Or to quote him from 2015,

How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have? Three, in the novel. One, in the movie. None, in real life: she was a fictional character, she never existed. The show is the show, the books are the books; two different tellings of the same story.

This is IMO one of the most sensible ways for an author to look at adaptations of their work (even if I have gotten rather tired of GRRM using the Scarlett example specifically, pick something different George, we've seen it before lol). There is book canon and there is show canon. They are different parallel universes. They're separate canons because they contain changes made by the writers, and also because the very process of moving from the written word to visual media must involve some kind of change.

And this applies to all adaptations. That's why I brought up X-Men comics vs the Fox X-Men movies vs the X-Men cartoon (original 90s and 2024's '97). For example, there's 4 different versions of the Dark Phoenix Saga between those canons, at the very least. Wait, sorry lol, I forgot the Ultimate canon version. And the various in-comics alternate universe versions. And god knows when they finally bring the X-Men into the MCU they'll probably do yet another DPS there too. And that's only one of many storylines that are radically different between the various canons.

Or look at the various Interviews with the Vampire. Is the new tv show "not an adaptation" because its Claudia is a teenager rather than 5 years old as in the book or portrayed by an 11 year old as in the movie, thus resulting in extremely different relationships and a reshaped plot? (Among many other changes?) No. IWTV has book canon, movie canon, and show canon.

And I can't speak that well about Transformers since it's not a major fandom of mine, but go take a look at their various continuities if you want some more perspective about just how very far the meaning of "adaptation" can stretch.

Or hell, look at Stephen King, where among his many many many adaptations, some of which just barely resemble the original text, the only one he sued to have his name removed from was The Lawnmower Man, because they literally used an entirely different story and just slapped his title on it.

And then there's the movie Adaptation, which is a wildly meta-adaptation of the non-fiction book The Orchard Thief (it's a story about the process of adapting that book and involves a fictional version of the writer, the screenplay writer, and an entirely invented screenplay writer's twin brother)... and it was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for multiple film awards (and won a few times), and the original writer even said it kept to the book's themes.

Suffice it to say, HOTD has a long, long, long way to go before it could ever "cease to be an adaptation after a point". Changing the timeline to make Alicent and Rhaenyra the same age, or doing Blood & Cheese differently, do not even compare to what some book-to-visual media "loose adaptations" have done. Even GOT, as wildly terrible as their non-book storylines could be, both their changes to the text and after they had no actual text to work with, never became a "loose adaptation". Certainly it became a less than faithful adaptation -- and let's be real, it always was unfaithful for both themes and the essential elements of so many characters -- but it also always was a remarkably accurate adaptation of the whole span of Westeros (in geography and breadth of characters) and the general (not specific) book plot. (Consider previous attempts at adaptation that GRRM rejected, such as a single 2 hour movie, or eliminating Jon and Dany for being "irrelevant", or only making a Jon movie with none of the other storylines, etc.) Which is why, when GOT was different (and awful) it was such a betrayal, like a zombie or evil alien wearing the skin of your best friend or beloved child, and worse, that this twisted lookalike was the only version millions and millions of viewers ever saw and believed to be true.

But again, this just underlines what GRRM has said. "The show is the show, the books are the books." There is book canon and there is show canon. They are separate things. Parallel universes -- very close parallels, often touching in many places, but sometimes they're quite different. Sometimes the differences in adaptation enhance the themes of the original canon; sometimes the author may even consider certain adapted characters (Shae, King Viserys, Helaena) to be better than his original canon; sometimes you know there's only those tricky NDAs (and payments of lots of money) that prevent him from expressing his disappointment in more ways than dropping the Sansa TWOW preview chapter only days before the release of GOT S5. But perhaps if we're lucky, maybe one day we'll have yet another parallel canon to compare to the others.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Thank you for your consistently detailed analysis and speculation which have frequently calmed me down when I was concerned about the direction of the show. As long time VC fan, I'm not gonna lie, this show has often left me heartbroken- and not in a good way. I've been trying to get through it in hopes when we will finally get to see the real Lestat. But honestly, for me, if the drop is left in, than the character is done. There is no way to redeem him. And it just hurts because not only is it something that Lestat would never do to Louis, but it's something that was actually done to *him*. He suffered for years from that fall and it was one of the main reasons he went in the ground. It's important for his character development. I just don't understand the justification for leaving it as is especially since it isn't canon. I don't think I can take another 2+ years of Lestat being called an evil domestic abuser. How can audiences be expected to root for him. They won't. He will be condemned as the monster who dropped his partner from the stratosphere. Leaving it also ruins the L+L QotD flight. I just don't see the point in irrevocably damaging the main protagonist of the entire story. I'm heartbroken and furious. Please, help me understand.

*sighs* (Sending you a big hug.)

So. Emotions seem to be very high on this already, and it hasn't even aired yet. I'm just pointing that out because... what we have right now is hearsay - maybe directly, maybe over a few people in the middle... but ultimately we haven't watched it yet, right? Other people have. Other people, with their own understanding, and their own takes.

And yes, it was done to him. Exactly. And as just said in another ask, he has not told his side of the story yet. The trial, so also that part of it... will definitely be scripted. And we already know that what we were shown... cannot be trusted. Not a 100%.

Let's watch first and then judge, please.

Because so far this show has excelled at elevating the source material.

Which is not to say that they cannot make mistakes, obviously. And who knows, maybe I'll be disappointed AF after. We'll see.

But... there's a reason why they revisit all that. There's a reason. And, given that we're segueing into s3... and therefore Lestat's story?

I don't know how they re-contextualize it. I don't. But I think we need to see the bigger picture - and that won't be done by s2. (And I have a feeling like it might not even be done by s3...)

IF they follow the book IWTV here... then Lestat will testify against Louis and Claudia at the trial, seemingly out of revenge (but actually under duress), he will witness her burn, he will have the yellow dress. Louis and Armand will break up. Lestat and Louis will meet in the later contested NOLA meeting. Louis will end up alone at the end of the novel.

I don't know how the revisit fits with the trial. You probably know my feelings wrt the diary and the pages etc but it seems they are not used as heavily as anticipated.

IDK. Given the in-universe publication of the book IWTV I think they will follow the beats above - and episode 5, and the drop, are likely part of the accusation then.

Now, we know that it will be revealed later that this was done with manipulation and torture. That it was Lestat who was thrown off the tower later, and who needed decades to heal. Which fits with the "mind call" in 2x05, doesn't it.

IDK. I just want to point out that even if... EVEN IF THAT DROP STAYS FOR NOW - there is a lot more to it and they have already hinted at that.

So.

Yes, I can very well do without another 2 years of shit-show by some people, especially those unwilling to take the step back for the bigger picture. But ... I have become much, much better at blocking.

And I am not going to let them take away my joy. Especially... ESPECIALLY that we know - WE KNOW - that TVL is up in s3. They already confirmed that.

Don't let an unfinished puzzle or some asshats take your joy either, dear.

[bluewithpurplepolkadots]

Honestly technically as an adult show for adults Stolas x Blitzo doesn’t actually… have to be good and healthy or what have you guys. Like at all. Not even a little bit.

It doesn’t have to be a Moral Lesson akin to Steven Universe or what have you because the audience is adults, not children. Can you imagine if iwtv was written that way? Like for kids? If they tried to sand off the edges for Louis and Lestat? It would be insufferable.

It’s kind of weird though because (I dropped the show three eps into season two) I’m getting the impression from what I’m hearing is that show… thinks that it is. Healthy I mean. Or is Trying to Impart a Lesson like said kids shows. Or is at least ignorant of the actual issues contained in the relationship as portrayed in season one: and deciding to blame Blitzo for Stolas’ issues?

Like it’d be actually cool if they actually explored the fact Stolas clearly festishises imps. Like I have said before it could contrast his wife’s own bigotry with regards the hierarchy in hell.

Instead of the boring childhood friend obsession you could have this just be a thing for Stolas. Blitzo is just another notch on the bedpost. Stolas could even be known do this sometimes. Perhaps he scouts the lust ring a lot. He knows Asmodeus well in this scenario. Perhaps instead Stolas focuses on a singular imp for a while as his affair partner and then dumps them with varying degrees of subtlety. Everyone is aware whichever way it is. And yet maybe he does in fact catch feelings this time around for Bltizo. But it’s not enough. He can’t be trusted. Even if the feelings are real how the hell can anyone believe it?

Honestly when Stella was screaming at Stolas about the motel I (at the time) thought he was fucking someone other than Blitzo! I wasn’t sure if it was the servant Stella was throwing around but I wouldn’t have been surprised.

This is a show for adults for gods sake why are you being so limp handed about this. Season two has a big increase in Stolas content and set about making him boring. It’s kind of like the show tried to go for this weird middle ground between adult and child show and didn’t even quite hit the teenage area either because it just doesn’t jive with what came before.

[k-s-morgan]

Do you know any series similar to Hannibal? Cause you know he is so perfect I can’t find one.

Another ask: Hi hope u are ok what are Ur fav series and which series would u recommend that has like hannigram vibes into it

Thanks

--------

Hello! I don't think anything fills the Hannibal void, really, but there are some similar shows. Although most of them are so popular that you probably heard of them!

Interview with the Vampire is the latest creation. This and 'Hannibal' universes have a history of mutually inspiring one another, which makes it fascinating to watch both. IwtV features two co-dependent male characters in love; they are both monsters, but one is out and proud while another one is drowning in shame self-loathing. They have a surrogate daughter who's monstrous by herself, and they also share a tragedy. Darkness, possessiveness, mutually inflicted hurt, rich atmosphere - I'm very excited about IwtV.

Killing Eve, although I suggest watching without the last 5 minutes or so. Better stop at Eve and Villanelle hugging each other on the boat and the camera slowly floating away. This show is more light-hearted and entertaining: it features an actual psychopath who's obsessed with the FBI agent, who's in turn obsessed with her. I think their relationship is much shallower and they should have interacted way more, but it's still satisfying, and by the end, I finally believed they are in love.

Black Butler anime features a demon and his master who constantly play mind games with each other and other people. Both are killers, both are manipulative and smart, and they share an obsessive relationship.

There is the movie Let Us Prey that my friend recommended to me a long time ago, but I still haven’t watched it myself. It seems to fit the description, though.

As for my favorite series in general that would have at least something in common with Hannigram... Probably Xena: while my primary ship is Xena/Ares, Xena and Gabrielle are definite wives who kill bad people and who share a great dynamic that sometimes gets dark.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy/Spike is amazing. It's one of the most toxic but fascinating canon relationships I've seen, and the fact that they are the love of each other's life will never stop making me happy.

I'm a big fan of Merlin and Shadowhunters as both feature profound, beautiful, obsessive and co-dependent love, but they aren't really similar to Hannigram in any other respects. Supernatural and Destiel is also from this category: obsessive bond, two characters who struggle to live without each other and who are bad-asses, but they fight for good.

[lestatslestits]

so,,,,, iwtv poto thoughts 👀

OH BOY. I have many.

First of all, for the sake of establishing timeline/universes in this specific post, I’m gonna say we’re operating on the TV show universe/timeline for IWTV and the book universe/timeline for POTO. Partially because I think that’s the simplest way of looking at it, partially because I like the idea of the original Erik and Lestat interactions happening pre-Louis. And also before the main events of POTO, because I imagine Erik’s capacity for forming positive relationships with young attractive blond nobility go down considerably after that time.

Under a cut because this got long.

I think Erik and Lestat would meet in Box Five. Couple of options here. One: Lestat would demand to rent it after someone let it slip that it was the only “available” box, but that it belonged to the Opera Ghost, and would offer such an exorbitant amount of money that they couldn’t say no. Two: while renting another private box, would hear that Box Five was off limits and haunted, and would be physically unable to resist the urge to go somewhere off-limits. Either way, he would end up there during a performance.

Erik would try to get Lestat to leave, obviously, using his typical ventriloquism and attempts at terror that had worked on others. Lestat would find it funny and immediately start goading him, asking him why he needed a footstool if he was planning on watching the opera alone, if Lestat was interrupting a clandestine meeting between Erik and a lover, what Erik thought of the opera, his opinions on the singers, etc. He wouldn’t know Erik’s name at that point, would probably just call him “Monsieur le Fantôme” because he had heard others refer to him as the Opera Ghost.

I think this would go on for. A while. Due to a combination of Lestat’s sheer stubbornness and love of causing trouble, and an actual growing appreciation for each other’s enjoyment of music and unhinged personalities. Also Lestat would be INCREDIBLY, OBNOXIOUSLY attracted to Erik’s voice. Even just his speaking voice.

Whenever they DO meet face to face (face to mask, as it were) I’m not sure what the inciting incident would be (but as per the usual it is probably Lestat’s fault). Lestat would probably originally assume that Erik was a vampire due to his unusual eye color and insistence on keeping his face covered. Add to that, an opera house is an excellent cover for someone who needs to sleep all day and stay awake all night, and an excellent source of prey (Lestat has probably claimed a few victims from particularly obnoxious patrons whose disappearances, ironically, got blamed on the Opera Ghost).

Lestat would most likely go snooping around and find his way to the House on the Lake, either before or after interacting with Erik face-to-face. Side note: Lestat would definitely be warned against this by the Daroga. Also, he would find the Daroga UNSPEAKABLY attractive. Look me in the eye and tell me Lestat de Lioncourt, DILF lover extraordinaire, wouldn’t find the Daroga hot. You can’t. But he would also ignore his advice completely. If Marius couldn’t stop him from making the stupidest decisions imaginable, this guy DEFINITELY isn’t stopping him.

Lestat would probably get taken down by The Siren, while trying to go across the lake. This is better for everyone, because I don’t think Lestat would cope well in the Torture Chamber. Not like. Because of the heat or anything. I just don’t think he could deal with the isolation, and the more disoriented he got, the more even the fake “sun” would break his brain. Actually, there’s some pretty good angst in there somewhere. This is a choose your own ending adventure now, decide if you like this or the next bullet point better and roll with it.

Unfortunately for Erik, Lestat can’t be effectively drowned or strangled, and aside from being annoyed about his hair and clothes getting wet, I think he would be surprisingly pleasant about the whole thing. Sure, Erik just attempted to kill him, but he ain’t special. That happens to Lestat lots of places. They are kind of at an impasse at that point. Lestat is unkillable AND he knows his way to the House on the Lake now. Also he definitely still thinks Erik is a vampire, and finding out that he sleeps in a coffin does not help.

I truly think that the two of them would end up in some kind of undefined and kind of messy relationship of some kind. There’s mutual attraction there (Lestat has a thing for violinists and Erik has a thing for blondes), but it’s not exclusively a romantic thing. There’s just some kind of understanding there, under all of the anger and pain and self-loathing between the two of them. Erik’s music entrances Lestat. Lestat is surprisingly level-headed when he sees Erik’s face for the first time (it’s still a bad day for everyone involved, but they make it through).

When he finds out that Erik is human, Lestat offers him the Dark Gift. Erik declines, because he has absolutely no desire to be immortal. Lestat is a little hurt, a little flummoxed. It’s not quite the beginning of the end, but not long after that Erik begins to coach Christine and to fall in love with her. Lestat, of course, doesn’t take that well. He wants Erik to himself. That’s when things start to fall apart.

When they part ways, there’s a lingering fondness and a lot of hurt. Erik works on Don Juan Triumphant for a week solid. Everyone questions where the handsome young man who has somehow been allowed to rent Box Five all this time has gone.

Lestat keeps up with the fate of Christine Daae and Raoul de Chagny through the papers when the events of the novel come to a head. When Philippe’s death comes to light, Lestat knows exactly how it happened.

The message isn’t for him. Not exclusively, at least. But when he reads “Erik is dead” in L’Epoque, he knows what it means. And it hurts.

[emileesaurus]

AMC IWTV PILOT THOUGHTS, mostly critical, mostly unfiltered, bear with me if I phrase something clumsily

Calling the original interview (which they're implying is the original book, somehow, even if it didn't get published in this universe) "a fever dream told to an idiot" makes me want to 1v1 the showrunner. It's so disrespectful that everyone watching with me had a simultaneous "dude, bad look" moment.

The lore changes are honestly baffling. Loved Louis saying "it was my last sunrise" while doing a 10AM interview behind tinted windows. Why get rid of the death sleep! It's such a big thing! (Why do they still sleep in coffins in this, actually? I wonder if they'll explain next episode?)

Stealing the hover bite pseudo-sex from the 94 movie but making it way less hot in spite of the full ass? Also awkward. I liked the thumb bite, that was kinda hot, but the rest of the scene was… like a worse version of another scene in the movie! The one where they share the girl at the play! The blocking was even the same, but their positions were switched. Odd choice to reference it so heavily when they're claiming to be so much more faithful.

The dialogue was… not good. Anytime something was almost subtle, they made sure to have another character say something to undercut it. It doesn't feel like a show that trusts its audience to handle nuance or complexity.

BRO THE SHITBOX SCENE???? Why was that even there! It was so vulgar and crass and unnecessary and I don't know what it added other than showing what Louis has to deal with in his demeaning life, but between that and Lestat killing Lily, I'm pretty unhappy with the brothel material so far. And hearing the N word ten minutes in was jarring. Not sure RJ was more qualified to write this than he was the plantation storyline.

Lestat CONSTANTLY infodumped about his backstory, but not in a way that allowed any other characters to interestingly or meaningfully react to it, which was so frustrating. He told Louis more about his past before making him in this episode than he did during all of Interview, but there was zero emotional weight to it. It felt more like Rolin Jones trying to prove he read the books by throwing in easter eggs. Look! Lestat is mentioning that he composed this song for a violinist he knew! Ignore how nonchalant he sounds while saying it and how totally meaningless that is to Louis, our point of view character! It's there for the audience, but what does it mean to Louis? Textually, nothing. I'm devastated, as someone who's made her hobby trying to write those specific reveals. It was just… there.

And as someone with a PhD in Loustat, their interactions didn't feel authentic to me. Lestat's speech in the cathedral was so weird. He fell for Louis because he saw him threatening Paul with a knife in the street, and he interrupts Paul's funeral to neg Louis for ghosting him after they fucked, which is pretty awful even for Lestat — who should understand grief! He fell for Louis in the book because he was mourning Paul so intensely, and his sensitivity and strong (if hypocritical) moral center intrigued him.

Here, I'm less sure what appealed to Lestat; this is a very very different take on Louis, and it seems more like he was attracted to his capacity for violence and… idk, something about the way he's stifled by social mores? I'm not trying to be dense, I couldn't get a good read on Lestat's motives, in spite of his long-ass monologue. I don't think the extra bonding time deepened their relationship, and I don't know if we gained anything by having Lestat drop the L word right away. Where is my two century slow burn?

Speaking of that: Lestat appears to be the cultured one this time and I hate it? Lestat introduces Louis to opera (while Louis has to pretend to not get it); Lestat owns his own luxury townhouse in the Quarter (the Rue Royale townhouse belonged to Louis in the novel). Where is the conflict with Louis thinking Lestat is an uncultured hick? Where is the angst of Louis thinking Lestat only wanted him for his money if Lestat is a property owner who dropped the L word before he ever turned him? Louis is supposed to be able to hold his intellectualism over Lestat, but this AU seems more like Lestat introducing Louis to that world? I can see why that would appeal to this version of Louis, if that's typically not allowed to a Black man, and I don't want to ignore how his race and time period inform his relationship to culture.

But it feels like they took away so much of the character's gentle, intellectual, introverted nature to give him "more of a spine." He admits in the confession scene that he's run to the bottle and the card tables and etc. his whole life. Paul died the morning AMC Louis was turned, well after Lestat had decided he wanted to make Louis his companion; in the novel Paul's death was the impetus for Louis's moral decline. It's an odd reversal, and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Why did they make his relationship with Paul so much more antagonistic and then make Paul's death so obviously not Louis's fault? Don't get me wrong, I'm not team "Louis did it" by any means, but it feels weird to have Louis PULL A KNIFE ON HIM but the day he dies they just have a nice conversation. He really just walked off the roof because he's cRaZy!

Does this Lestat kill mostly evildoers or not? I know in the books he's inconsistent about it, but this is supposed to be The Real Prince Lestat, so you'd think the writers would have a set idea of what his deal is, ethically speaking. So far his kills have been 1) a lamplighter; 2) a sex worker who Louis paid too much attention to; and 3) two priests. I want to know what he's going to claim he does! Also that exploding head punch was hilariously excessive!

Louis gives his whole monologue about the drumming of Lestat's heart while the music is a glorious swelling string section with absolutely no percussion. I thought that was marvelously bad sound design.

This take on Daniel sucks ass lmao

EDIT: I forgot to mention that between the cathedral scene and the dinner with Paul, Lestat is coming off as way more of an arrogant reddit atheist than he ever did in the books, where to me it seemed like he always had a strange sort of respect for sincere religious belief (as someone who lost his faith himself). idk, I know his thoughts on God fluctuated along with Anne's, but it struck me as out of character to have him so angrily fixated on this whole "religion is a lie" thing that he would trigger himself with it at the dinner table and self-righteously kill two priests.

idk dudes, I really wanted to say something positive, but I didn't enjoy almost any aspect of it. Maybe episode two will be less dour? These are just my initial impressions, maybe time and other perspectives will give me additional food for thought and I'll soften on some of it.

But chat with me if you've seen it! I'm curious to hear from other Loustat fans in particular, since it seems like a lot of us are really into it, and it just... didn't feel like my ship at all except in the most superficial possible way. I'm bummed! I wanted to be wrong, but most of my concerns have so far ended up being well-founded.

[wrestlingisfake]

Battle Riot III preview

This show is happening today, July 10, but it's actually a TV taping, so the only way to see it live is to be there in the building. That seems really weird, because I'd spent about a month getting psyched to check it out, and then a few days ago I realized MLW had never actually provided any broadcast or streaming information. They waited until the day before the show to finally explain that it will air on July 24 on beIN Sports, and "later this month" on Youtube. So that's weird.

Anyway, maybe I'll reblog this in a couple of weeks, to remind myself to watch it.

Battle Riot - This is a 40-man gauntlet battle royale with timed entries. Two men start the match, and every 60 seconds an randomly selected participant enters. The match can't end until everyone has entered, but they can be eliminated from the match at any time. Eliminations occur when a participant submits, gets pinned, or exits the ring over the top rope to the floor. After 39 eliminations, the last man in the match is declared the winner. The winner earns the right to challenge the MLW world heavyweight champion whenever they want.

So far twenty-eight entrants have been announced:

Alex Hammerstone (MLW national openweight champion)

Alex Kane (the "Suplex Assassin")

Aramis

Arez

Bu Ku Dao

Calvin Tankman (a big mean guy)

Daivari (Muhammad Hassan and Great Khali's buddy)

Davey Richards (former ROH world champion)

EJ Nduka (recently released from WWE developmental)

Gino Medina

Gringo Loco

Ikuro Kwon

Josef Samael (former NWA world champion)

Kevin Ku

King Mo (former Bellator MMA fighter)

King Muertes (fka Mil Muertes in Lucha Underground)

Kit Osbourne

Lee Moriarty (former IWTV champion)

Mads Krügger (a scary monster heel guy)

Marshall Von Erich (son of the legendary Kevin Von Erich)

Myron Reed (MLW world middleweight champion)

Richard Holliday (IWA Caribbean champion)

Ross Von Erich (also son of the legendary Kevin Von Erich)

Savio Vega (the 90s WWE guy)

Simon Gotch (from WWE's Vaudevillains)

TJP (former WWE cruiserweight champion)

Tom Lawlor (current NJPW Strong champion)

Zenshi (fka Shynron in Chikara)

That leaves twelve slots open for last-minute announcements and surprise entrants. Some of those spots could be used to debut stars that WWE recently released, or other big-name free agents. But I'd manage my expectations if I were you. They could just as easily bring in some old-timers, or minor-league journeymen, or no-name recruits.

I'm not up on MLW storylines heading into this match. All I've heard is that MLW's world champion, Jacob Fatu, has refused to defend the title against Alex Hammerstone. So Hammerstone needs to win this, moreso than anyone else in the match. Whether he does win remains to be seen; they could swerve the audience and find another way to get to Fatu-Hammerstone. It feels like the other strong choices to go over would be Lawlor, Richards, and Muertes, but I don't have a good sense of who MLW wants to push as they come out of lockdown.

The cool thing is that MLW doesn't have anyone so big that it would disrupt the pecking order to just suddenly push a total nobody out of nowhere. Like, in a Royal Rumble there are usually 6-8 world-class superstars and one of them has to win, and a dozen or so geeks who can't possibly win. But in MLW the gap between the top guys and the geeks isn't as vast, so it's easier to do a huge upset.

Richard Holliday vs. King Muertes - This is for Holliday's IWA Caribbean heavyweight championship. From what I gather Savio Vega brought the belt with him from Puerto Rico, and Holliday stole it after beating Vega in a non-title match. I get the impression that MLW initially didn't recognize his claim to the title, but now they seem to have stopped giving a shit. The match is billed as being contested under "Caribbean rules," which just means anything goes.

Muertes is a really big, mean Puerto Rican, so I'm reasonably sure he's the favorite in this match. He's part of a storyline where Dario Cueto from Lucha Underground has come to MLW to start over with "Azteca Underground." So I'm kinda thinking Muertes isn't going to lose anytime soon.

Ross Von Erich & Marshall Von Erich vs. Tom Lawlor & Kevin Ku - This is billed as a "bunkhouse brawl," which just means there are no disqualifications and the wrestlers are encouraged to use whatever they want as weapons. Lawlor turned on the Von Erichs in late 2019 and relaunched his faction Team Filthy, which Ku joined back in September. (Lawlor actually has versions of Team Filthy in both MLW and NJPW Strong, which seem to exist in parallel universes.)

I'm actually not even sure this match is really going to happen. It was announced last week but I can't find it on the MLW website, so it may have been quietly pulled from the card. I'm also not sure who I would pick to win--it would mainly depend on how soon they want to end the feud, which got delayed so badly by the pandemic.

Davey Richards vs. TJP - Richards recently returned to the ring after a lengthy absence. He was a big deal in ROH, PWG, and the indy scene until about 2013. Then he joined TNA/Impact right when the company fell off a cliff, and left in 2017 to become a doctor. I'm not sure he formally retired, but I wasn't expecting to ever see him again until MLW announced that they signed him. He's a fairly big "get" for MLW, which probably gives you an idea of the kind of star power they're likely to attract.

As for TJP, he's worked some MLW shows but he's not exactly a regular. He's more an Impact and NJPW Strong guy. So it makes sense to feed him to Richards here, and put Davey on course to chase a champonship.